KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



317 



ready at half-past two, we started again, neither 

 knowing nor caring which way we went, so long 

 as we kept within scent of the " Bald-Face Stag." 

 We now struck off to the left, and " Fino " soon 

 spied some rabbits. Literally mad with delight, 

 nothing could stop him, — off he went like a grey- 

 hound. But it was all of no use ; the little rabbits 

 only laughed at him, and this made him still more 

 mad. We rambled for some time, just where fancy 

 or " Fino " led — now in a swamp, or a bog ; now 

 fishing in little ponds ; searching under stones, or 

 the bark of trees, &c. &c. ; till our hearts were 

 gladdened by the sound of " Cuckoo ! Cuckoo!" 

 the first time we had heard it this year. It was 

 just eleven o'clock Suddenly, a peculiar bark 

 was heard from old " Fino ;" and looking round, we 

 saw his tail wagging at an unusually brisk rate. 

 On nearing the spot, we found him contemplating 

 a snake, some four feet long. At our approach, it 

 slipped into its hole ; and then, good bye ! After 

 this we broke into a singular field or rather opening 

 in the forest, where an aged bird-catcher was 

 plying his vocation. " Good morning, old gentle- 

 man ! " — " Good morning, Sirs ! " — and we soon 

 entered into a familiar chat with our ornithological 

 acquaintance. More than three-score years and ten 

 had evidently passed over his grey head ; whilst 

 his manners and language betokened him to be a 

 man who had seen better clays. Not that he was 

 to be pitied ! By no means ! Yet did he seem a 

 man of gentler birth than bird-catchers generally 

 are. We learned from him that his early life had 

 been spent near Liverpool, and that he had always 

 loved birds, and knew full well their different 

 songs ; — [Here " Fino " jumped up to me, and 

 whispered, " He is just the man for our Editor."]* 

 — but that he now took them, more by way of 

 amusement and recreation than from necessity. 

 Also, that both himself and his wife had got a 

 tolerable independence. I asked him if he had 

 heard the nightingale this season, and he told me, 

 " Yes, on the 21st April, for the first time." We now 

 parted from our friend, as he said he was going to 

 repose for about two hours before his dinner, as he 

 was getting old, and felt rather tired. On looking 

 around, we perceived a stone on which was marked 

 " Loughton Parish." We struck again through 

 the forest, retracing our steps. Hereabouts, old 

 " Fino " made an awkward leap of it. He was 

 after the rabbits and springing over a hedge, with- 

 out having sufficiently calculated his leap, or look- 

 ing before he leaped. He leaped, and fell, nose 

 foremost, into a soft bog. He was very wroth, but 

 a pond being near at hand, he soon washed his 

 proboscis, and forgot all about it. At length we 



* Hark 'e, " Fino ! " you read our Journal to 

 very little purpose, if you imagine we could like a 

 man who traps birds, be he young or be he old. 

 The practice of robbing birds of their liberty, 

 under any circumstances, whether for profit or 

 amusement, is brutal, — perfectly indefensible. The 

 accounts that have reached us this very month of 

 the barbarous atrocities perpetrated by these vilest 

 of vagabonds, in all parts of the country, are 

 heart-rending. The angelic voice of the nightin- 

 gale has pleaded for him in vain. He has sung 

 his own death-song ; whilst parents out of number 

 have been robbed of their feathered offspring with- 

 out mercy. So, " Fino," shut up ! — Ed. K. J. 



found ourselves au point de depart; and being 

 half-an-hour earlier than the time appointed, we 

 turned down a sweetly pretty lane to the right. 

 Here on a sunny bank, " Fino " found another kind 

 of sport, in the shape of some little fawn-colored 

 mice, which, however, I could not allow him to 

 hunt or annoy. We again turned back, and reached 

 the "Bald-Face Stag," precisely at the hour ap- 

 pointed, — very hot, rather tired, very thirsty ; and 

 with an apjpetit de loup. We were shown into a 

 snug little room ; and " Fino " soon curled himself 

 round in a corner, dreaming of his glorious sport 

 with the rabbits. Whilst dinner was getting ready, 

 we recollected that we had seen " Atalanta," 

 " Rhamni," " Persicariae," " Tiliae," " Verbasci," 

 "Menthastri," " Urticae," " Polychloros," "Bu- 

 cephala ; " that we had taken " Rhizofitha," and 

 obtained some interesting larvae, and our beetle 

 bottle contained " Cicendella Campestris," " Sca- 

 rabaeus Eremita," " Aphodius Gagatis," and many 

 others, as well as a quantity of water-beetles. 

 After a while, dinner was announced. Just fancy, 

 Mr. Editor, a beautiful knuckle of veal, done to a 

 nicety ; some delicious spring pork, tender brocoli, 

 Guinness's best, and Charrington's super-extra, 

 just to relish a capital cheese. Then, an adjourn- 

 ment to a neat little alcove in the garden, where 

 we enjoyed a fine Havannah, and some brilliant 

 sherry ; old " Fino," in the meanwhile, snoring at 

 our feet, having first disposed of the residue of the 

 veal and pork. Jolly were we all, — and merry. 

 At a quarter past four o'clock we started on our 

 return home, arriving at a quarter past seven. 

 An early supper and a sound sleep, saw us next 

 morning in tip-top spirits. — Bombyx Atlas, 

 Tottenham, May 13th, 1853. 



Cruelty to Animals, and its " Consequences." — 

 The recent death of Mr. Robert Owen, the emi- 

 nent East India Warehouseman, of New Bond 

 Street — which took place on the 9th ult., was 

 brought on, it seems, by a severe shock, occa- 

 sioned by cruelty to animals. The following 

 paragraph appeared in the Morning Post of 

 May 11 : — " The conviction, some short time 

 since," of one of the deceased's employees, a young 

 man named King, for his cruelty to a cat, is 

 said to have so worked upon Mr. Owen's natu- 

 rally sensitive disposition, as to have induced 

 the illness which has unhappily terminated in 

 his death, leaving a widow and small family." 

 — Do, Mr. Editor, print this in our Journal. 

 If that unfeeling wretch, King, has the smallest 

 portion of a conscience left, he may perhaps even 

 yet be brought to see that "roasting cats 

 alive" is not such a very " harmless amusement." 

 What has he not to answer for, in the death of 

 his late excellent master ! — Sarah P., Tiverton. 



[We would not add to the sting of torment 

 that must, we imagine, haunt the conscience 

 even of this very wicked man. He has indeed 

 a fearfully-heavy load of guilt to answer for ! j 



Cure for the Sting of a Bee. — In most cases, 

 the person stung can instantaneously obtain relief 

 by pressing on the point stung with the tube 

 of a key. This will extract the sting and 

 relieve the pain ; and the application of aqua 

 ammonia (common spirits of hartshorn) will 

 immediately remove it. The poison being of 



