CHAPTER NINTH 



WILD LIFE IN WALTER 



'T'HE antelope has less reason to fear the 

 lion than has the minnow to dread 

 the pike. We think of timid antelopes and 

 roaring lions, but the former has good use of 

 its limbs, and so a fighting chance for its life; 

 but the minnows have little advantage in the 

 struggle for existence, and none at all when 

 the predatory fishes are in pursuit of them." 



This was written in a note-book more than 

 thirty years ago, and I let it stand as evidence 

 of how easy it is to be in error in matters of 

 natural history. 



When I went to school there was but one 

 teacher of the five that knew anything about 

 such matters, and he had the old-time views. 

 Then a fish was a mere machine so far as in- 

 telligence was concerned. We were told of 

 the cunning of foxes and the instinft of ants 

 and bees, but never a word of fishes. 



11^' 125 



