44 
HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
makes no interference with the practice; regula- 
tions do not prescribe what mascots may, or may 
not, be put upon a battle-ship; but general rules 
as to ship-welfare leave it to the commander to 
determine if a vessel's pet becomes a nuisance, 
and then order it's departure from the ship. 
Almost endless are the varieties of mascots, 
thus, aboard the ships of just the American Navy. 
Dogs are particular favourites, and few ships 
w ithout such aboard. Rest assured that the good 
old axiom anent : "Love me, Love my Dog," is 
recalled, in such event, by every sailor-man, and 
that the Captain's dog has it best, perhaps, of 
any living thing on the ship. 
Mascots, however, do not take the somewhat 
sensible form of dogs always alone. 
The officers in charge of the big naval-recruit- 
ing station at Cincinatti to-day, in chatting of 
the mascots for battle-ships they have known, 
recount of several ships to which a small donkey 
has been brought by way of harbinger of' luck. 
Sailors, given shore-leave, especially in the 
Levant, where the donkey is the beast of burden 
par excellence, will suddenly take a whim that 
a certain frolicsome beast will make a splendid 
pet, and so all "chip in" and buy, and bring 
aboard. 
just what happens to donkey when, for first 
time, the big cannons roar, and just what occurs 
when, for first time, he gets what might be called 
"donkev mal-de-mer" is left for another pen to 
describe Suffice it that donkey's owners take very 
good care to see to it that he is properly tied, or 
penned in at such time and, above all, that he 
gets in no officer's way. 
Another unusual pet of which these men re- 
late was a bear — :iio, not a big carnivorous chap, 
but one of the Asiatic fruit-eating varieties, to 
whom they might feed extra fruit from their 
own plates — honey, sugar, and all such tit-bits; 
whereupon Bruin would stay content and happy. 
Then to see him lumber about the deck, chasing, 
in play, this, that, the other sailor; to see him 
make for a bunch of grapes and be caught by a 
roll of the ship and tumble about till he caught 
himseffi; to see him stand on his hind' legs and 
beg, or sometimes to dance, after suitable train- 
ing. . . . well, big, heavy Bruin might be a 
nuisance indeed, but he was good sport neverthe- 
less. 
Deer, those of the smaller varieties particu- 
larly, are very common pets and mascots with the 
men-a' -war's men. There is always something 
attractive in the gentle helplessness of a fawn, 
and (his appeals the more when one meets such 
baby-deer amid the grim, death-dealing sur- 
roundings of a giant battle-ship. The playful 
leaps which the wee deer makes; the waggish 
scamper with which, by and by, it comes cross- 
deck, on call, to eat some tit-bit from the hand; 
the way it will leap over this or' that in its way, 
seeming to put its legs up under it, while in air, 
cause the hardest heart aboard-ship to admire and 
make one "take" to the cunning pet. Small 
Mexican deer, the officer tells us, will be brought 
aboard almost every fighting craft whose men 
stumble on such at those ports. 
Xor are all pets quite so usual. 
At least once in the knowledge of informant, 
a kangaroo was a pet on one of the big battle- 
ships. The kangaroo is a curious chap; what is 
more, he is hard to keep at best, and so, as fat- 
as can be recalled, he was carried just the one 
trip and then presented to some public park. 
Perhaps, truth to tell, the way he had with him 
ol sending out his paws and "side swiping" a 
man, or the way he had of swinging that tail 
with a lash, made him too unpopular to warrant 
his keep. 
The mascots, in every case, though, have it 
as good as animal-heart might desire. Officers 
aboard a battle-ship live aft and so are not 
bothered by the antics of pets on the forward 
deck, so that the mascot, be it of whatsoever 
sort, enjoys much the privileges of a. pet dog in 
your home. 
Goats are very, very popular, perhaps because 
there isn't so much trouble teaching them. The 
goat comes to know it's pen; know where it may 
lie and bask in the sun, where not; just what it 
may or may not do. There is a world of fun in a 
goat, especially when, truth to say, sailors tease 
it a bit, and :so Nanny or Billy are brought 
aboard, with a free pass to that end of the ship. 
Monkeys are still more popular and . . . 
well, you know the monk ! Again and again, 
out on the high seas, ships, passing afar, will 
wonder at what curious thing it be that is moving 
up and down the neighbour ship's mast. Inspec- 
tion by spy-glass will reveal it to be the ship- 
mascot, an ape. 
These mascots, whatsoever the sort, are led 
about meal times, usually, as suggested, with 
scraps from the sailors' own meals. Occasionally, 
as with the honey bear aforesaid, the sailors will 
buy, or beg, for the pet extra fruit or milk. 
Leisure hours at sea, then, say after 4 p.m., 
many and many a bluejacket will give to teach- 
ing, training, the common pet. Jack starts the 
job; a friend comes up, takes hand; a third comes 
along and adds to the group; then more and 
more and more.' Each man has suggestion of 
his own to make; each comes to like the pet, and 
