ANIMAL 
WHEN travelling up an incline about 180 miles 
from Albany, between Wagin and 
Beverley, the wheels of the engine 
belonging to a through trai from 
Perth failed to grip the line. The train was 
brought to a standstill, and then it was found 
that the metals for hundreds of yards were 
coyered by millions upon millions of black ants. 
The tiny insects were evidently treking, and took 
advantage of the smooth passage offered by the 
rails. The wheels of the engine crushed the 
ants and thus greased the rails, so that no 
purchase could be obtained. 
We. 
Mr. W. S. Wauss says that monkeys are known 
to be very fond of beer, and in 
The Results of Africa, the natives make use of 
Intemperance. x ‘ bY : 
this evil trait to capture their poor 
relations. The monkeys there are extremely 
fond of a beer brewed by the natives, who place 
quantities of it within easy reach and wait until 
their victims are thoroughly befuddled. In this 
state they are unable to recognise the difference 
between negro and ape. When the negro takes 
the hand of one of them to lead him off, a 
second monkey takes the hand of the first, a 
Ants stop 
a train. 
ANECDOTES. 
third that of the second, and so on. A single 
negro may sometimes be seen carrying off a 
string of staggering monkeys. 
7 
Tur mole, which is perhaps the most voracious 
of all animals, usually feeds on 
insects and earth-worms. But it 
will devour other animals, ineclu- 
ding rats and, sometimes, birds. The last-named 
it catches in a very ingenious, if cruel, manner. 
Buried in a mole-hill, it moves its muzzle very 
slightly just below the surface of the soil. The 
bird, thinking a worm is stirring, immediately 
darts down to seize it, but is itself seized by the 
mole, dragged below the surface, and devoured. 
Wa" 
THE voracity of the mole is such that it is caleu- 
lated that one of these animals 
will, independently of its other 
food, devour 20,000 earthworms 
in the course of a year. If kept without food for 
a day, moles die of hunger. The strength of the 
muzzle and forepaws of the mole is evident 
from the extraordinary rapidity with which it 
burrows its way through the earth. 
A Mole’s 
Tit=bit. 
It’s usual 
Menu. 
“The fox laid down, apparently to sleep.” 
54 
