226 RECORDS OF OLD TIMES 



CHAPTER XXIV 



The homing instinct — Andre's pigeons — Mr. Tegetmeier — Curious 

 instances of homing instinct in the dog — Quaint epitaph — The 

 agricultural labourer — Dialects — The agricultural labourer's rustic 

 speech — His humour — The worth and native shrewdness of his 

 character — His industry — Wages and the cheap loaf— Old times 

 and new — Bounties on foreign grown sugar — The growth of flax 

 and hemp — A chance for English agriculture — ' The backbone of 

 Old England.' 



As much interest is excited at the present time by 

 Andre's attempt to reach the North Pole, and a 

 discussion has arisen as to the reported arrival 

 of one or more of the homing pigeons which he 

 took with him, my old friend Mr. Tegetmeier 

 has raised the question as to the ' homing ' instinct 

 of various birds and animals. It may be interesting 

 to record an occurrence of which I was personally- 

 cognisant some years ago, illustrating the remark- 

 able instinct of dogs in finding their way home. 

 When the Queen's buckhounds, in the early 

 ' forties,' hunted the Vale of Aylesbury, the 

 hounds were brought down in a covered van from 

 Ascot Heath, by Gerrard's Cross, through Amersham, 

 a distance of forty miles. The pack was housed 

 in a large barn on their arrival at Aylesbury, and 

 the next day the hounds were taken to Cublington, 

 where the deer was to be uncarted, about eight 



