REVERSION TO WILDNESS 95 



But however their outward aspects may differ, 

 they are of the same blood and know it. A feather- 

 weight bantam cock will stand up to an elephan- 

 tine brahma and fight him according to the rules of 

 the ring and next minute pay compliments to his 

 lady in language which she will be at no loss to 

 understand. And if the artificial conditions of 

 their life were removed, they would soon all lapse 

 alike to the image of the stock from which they are 

 sprung. This is well illustrated in a show case in 

 the South Kensington Museum exhibiting a group 

 of fowls from Pitcairn' s Island. These are descended 

 from some stock landed by the mutinous crew of 

 H.M.S. Bounty in 1790, which ran wild, and in a 

 century they have gone back to the small size and 

 lithe figure and almost to the game colour of the 

 wild birds from which they branched off before 

 history dawned. 



If we turn next to the Ruminants, the clean beasts 

 which chew the cud and divide the hoof, the puzzle 

 becomes harder still. Deer and antelopes are often 

 kept as pets, and become so tame that they are 

 allowed to wander at liberty. In Egypt herds of 

 gazelles were so kept before the days of Cheops. In 

 India I have known a black buck which regularly 

 attended the station cricket ground, moving among 

 the nervous players with its nose in the air and 

 insolence in its gait, fully aware that eighteen-inch 

 horns with very sharp points insured respectful 

 treatment. Mr. Sterndale trained a Neilghai to go 

 16 



