208 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



servant to man. The Cow is invaluable for the milk it sup- 

 plies, upon which mankind is dependent for butter and for 

 cheese. 



The Bull. The Bull is a handsome animal and of great 

 strength, especially about the head and neck. Its fierceness 

 has often been turned to account by the farmer, for it is an 

 excellent animal to dispute a right of way, the force of its 

 arguments usually bearing down all opposition. It has been 

 known also to use its strength for the protection of other 

 animals. " Two robbers, " says the author of " Domestic Animals 

 and their Treatment," "took a pig, weighing fourteen stone, out 

 of its sty, and drove it along a lane leading towards Rother- 

 ham. On coming to a lonely path across the fields they 

 thought it would be better to kill the pig at once in this 

 quiet place, where no one would be likely to hear the cries 

 of the animal. One of the robbers accordingly took a knife 

 out of his pocket, and commenced cutting the pig's throat. 

 The poor pig struggled violently, and managed to escape 

 from his hands, running squealing into the next field, with 

 a fearful gash in his throat. The men ran after the pig, but 

 found in the field a bull grazing, who seemed at once to 

 understand the state of the case, and took upon himself the 

 championship of the wounded animal. The bull ran fiiriously 

 at the robbers, who fled for their lives, and only just managed 

 to escape a toss from his horns. They lingered outside the 

 fence, however, hoping that an opportimity would still ofier 

 of their catching the pig; but the pig wisely kept close to 

 his new friend, and the men at last were under the mortify- 

 ing necessity of going home without their booty. These men 

 were afterwards convicted of stealing sheep and corn, when 

 one of them confessed this affair of the pig, and thus ex- 

 plained what had been a great mystery to the owner, namely, 

 how it was that his pig came to be in a field at some dis- 

 tance from the sty, with his throat partly cut, and keeping 

 close company with the buU." Mr. Byam's " Central America" 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



