•466 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
the parts may be traced from our engravings. The parts 
should be appropriately painted with water-colors. The 
toy should be made of moderately stiff card-board, and 
at the bottom be attached to a small block of wood, to 
serve as a stand. 
Xhe Doctor Talks about Indians. 
My nephews, like most other nepbews, have a great 
fondness for reading about Indians. There is much in 
their wild life to interest a wide-awake youth, and the 
books about them, which would 6eem to be mainly writ- 
ten by people who never saw much of Indians, possess a 
great attraction for all young people. As I have been 
much among the sav- 
ages, the boys frequent- 
ly ask mc to tell them 
a story about Indians, 
but being a very mat- 
ter-of-fact uncle, and 
never having seen an 
Indian that was not a 
miserable, lazy, lying, 
thieving specimen, my 
stories are altogether 
nnlikc those found 
in the books. I know 
thai there are some 
very excellent, civil- 
ized Indians, but those 
are not the ones that 
are met with, on " the 
Plains." The last story 
that I told the boys 
was one that illustrated 
the ingenuity an Indian 
will display in horse- 
stealing. The Apaches 
will steal anything, 
but their chief delight 
is to rob horses and 
mules. These animals 
are not only a neces- 
sity of their wild, rov- 
ing life, to carry them 
about, but also to serve 
as food. "What, eat 
horses and mules ? " — 
Yes, and very good eating they arc said to be. In many 
parts of Europe horse-meat is regularly sold, and in Paris, 
during the siege, it was considered a great lnxury. A 
military post was established at Dona Ana, in New 
Mexico. I don't know that you will find the miserable 
little place upon your maps, but it is upon the Rio 
Grande, some fifty miles above El Paso. At a military 
post there arc usually many horses and mules, and here 
there was quite a large herd to be taken care of. After 
much trouble and labor the quartermaster had built a 
large corral, which ia a Mexican name for an inclosnre 
where animals are kept. This was a large yard, sur- 
rounded by a thick wall of adobe, some ten feet high. 
Adobes arc bricks made of clay mixed with cut straw, 
formed in a mold about a foot square, and dried in the 
sun. These are laid up with mud instead of mortar, and 
are used to build houses, walls, etc. ; they answer a 
good purpose in a country where there is very little 
rain. Well, the corral was built of these adobes, and an 
enormous, heavy gate put at the entrance. The animals 
were driven, into the iuclosure every night, the gate 
bolted and barred, and, that no one might enter, a sentinel 
was kept pacing in front of the gate all night long. One 
bright morning, when the herders came to take the ani- 
mals out to graze, the gate was opened, but, instead of 
the usual noisy rush of the animals towards water and 
grass, there was perfect silence. Not a horse nor a mule 
was to be found ! The gate was all right and the sentinel 
had heard nothing. An examination showed that Indians 
had been at work, and very cleverly they did it. One In- 
dian had climbed over the wall, and the end of a hair lariat 
(a rope made of twisted horse-hair) was passed to him. 
The Indian within the inclosure and one without pulled 
the lariat back and forth, and thus quietly sawed through 
the soft adobe. The bricks, a3 they were loosened, were 
silently removed, and thus in a short, time a passage was 
made in the walls, sufficiently large for the animals to 
pass through. By the time the loss was discovered the 
animals were far away. Most of the people at the post 
were much amused at the ingenuity of the Apaches, but 
I know that there was one very cross man at Dona Ana 
that morning, and that was the quartermaster. 
A Trick or the Gulls. 
Who opened the first oyster ? We do not know, but 
suppose that it was done by some one who took a lesson 
from a bird. The gulls are well known for their ingenuity 
in obtaining food from mussels, clams, and other shell- 
fish. We suppose that all the boys and girls know the 
gulls. They are more abundant upon the sea-coast than 
elsewhere, but they are also found plentifully around the 
larger lakes and rivers, and they arc noticeable for their 
very long wings, which give them great powers of flight. 
They arc great gluttons, feeding upon whatever floating 
offal they can find, and catching fish with dexterity. When 
the tide is low, they arc ready for anything eatable that 
may be picked np along shore. Even those creatures that 
are protected by shells, such as sea-urchins, clams, mus- 
sels, and the like, fall a prey to the gulls. This kind of 
food, however, can not be got at without first breaking 
the shells, and the bird, being unable to do this by means 
of its beak, resorts to a trick which, were it not related 
by very reliable witnesses, would be difficult to believe. 
GULLS DROPPING CLAMS UPON THE ROCKS. 
The gull takes the shell-fish in its beak, rises high in the 
air, and then lets it'fall so that it will strike upon a rock 
and the shell be shattered. As soon as the bird lets the 
shell-fish fall, it at once darts down to secure its prey, 
for it well knows that there are a number of its fellows 
on the watch to avail themselves of the labors of their 
industrious companion. It seems astonishing that an 
animal so stupid as a sea fowl should know that a cause 
will follow an effect; that dropping from a bight will 
break the shell, and allow the food to be reached. Au- 
dubon tells of an instance in which he saw a gull let a 
mussel fall for three successive times before it succeeded 
in breaking it. There are some people who maintain 
that animals do not reason, but the conduct of these 
birds looks very much as if they were able _to reason. 
The engraving shows the White-winged Silvery Gull in 
the act of dropping a clam. 
Aunt Sue's Puzzle-Box. 
ANAGRAMS 
1. Toys I'm sure. 6. 
2. OtagEvaandus. 7. 
3. Ned tar duns. 8. 
4. Sin wed cash. 9. 
Stop myM. S. 
Sip gin, lady. 
Our father's hog. 
Ma, then bless it. 
5. Bud or cap. 
10. Nine nigs? Joy ! 
SQUARE WORD. 
11. 1. Incorrect. 2. A swift mover. 3. An earthy mix- 
ture used for paint. 4. A brain telegraph. 5. A 
color. n. H. Clark. 
TRANSPOSITIONS. 
12. Transpose a tool into a command. 
13. Transpose a decoy into a portion. 
14. An animal into a vegetable. 
15. An insect into a nickname. 
16. A household utensil into a conjunction. 
17. A domestic animal into a performance. 
Harris, 
geographical puzzle. 
(Fill the blanks with names of countries, rivers, towns, 
etc., so as to make sense of the story.) 
18. Once upon a time, while traveling in England, I 
stopped at an 1 (one of the tributaries of the Danube), 
and calling the landlord asked him what he could give me 
for snpper. He said I could have some cold a (a coun- 
try in Europe), and leaving me alone for a few moments, 
soon returned with that Mid two bottles, one of 3 (a 
bny on t»c coast of AfK: , nd the other 4 (anisland 
in the Indian Ocean). As I sat down to the 5 (a bay 
on the coast of Africa), he prepared to draw the * (a 
city in Ireland), but I told him that I was a disciple of 
temperance and would take only water. 
The ~ (a country in Africa) being quite 8 (a 
country in South America), I called a ° (a cape on the 
coast of Guinea) waiter, told him to prepare mc a 10 
(a city in England), and I would retire. Early in the 
morning I was awakened by the loud crowing of a large 
ii — (a sea in Europe) 12 (a city in Asia) rooster. With 
a boot-jack, a footstool, and several other mtesile-a-ntous 
articles of domestic furniture dexterously directed, I per- 
suaded him to leave the immediate neigborhood, and re- 
turning to my couch was just tumbling into a delicious 
dose, when a 13 
(a group of islands in 
the Atlantic Ocean) in 
the next room set up a 
most melodious racket, 
and effectually banished 
slumber from my eye- 
lids. I arose, dressed 
myself, and going down 
to the breakfast-room, 
I found the landlord 
sitting on his porch, 
14 (a city of Eng- 
land). I asked him if he 
could let me have a con- 
veyance to take me to 
the next town. He as- 
sured me that he could, 
and calling t<* a 16 
(an island in the Irish 
Sea), ordered him to go 
and harness the lfl 
(mountains in Africa) 
horse to the 17 fa 
sea in Asia) wagon and 
bring him around to 
the door. After paying 
my bill, which was just 
one I8 (a country in 
Africa), I bade my kind 
host 19 - — ■ (a cape on 
the coast of New Zea- 
land), and pursued my 
journey. W. McC. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE OCTOBER NUMBER. 
1. King William. 
2. WHITE 
RENEW 
I N A N E 
TENOR 
EWERS 
3. Pare, pear. 4. Heir, air. 5. All, awl. C. Sam, 
psalm. 7. Him, hymn. 8. Hugh, hew. 9. Mien, mean. 
10. Harrisburgh. 11. (Begin at the N, in the sixth line, 
and trace up and around.) Never put off till to-morrow 
what you can do to-day. 
12. Revenge is the only debt which it is wrong to pay. 
He that goes a borrowing, goes a sorrowing. 
A man at sixteen will prove a child at sixty. 
It is easier to blame than to do better. 
Good health is above wealth. 
13. Mixture. 14. Separated. 15. Furnished. 16. Im- 
provements. 17. Performers. IS. Predominance. 1ft. 
Instrumentalists. 20. Nuisances. 21. Scavengers. 22. 
Directors. 23. Conciliatory manners command esteem. 
Rebuses— 417. One should try to improve one's time. 
418. Still achieving, still pursuing, 
Learn to labor and to wait. 
419. Keep what you've got and get what you can. 
AUNT SUE'S NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Virginia Y. says u i think you arc quite a smart old 
lady or you could notmakesomanyhard puzzles." Why, 
Virginia, it is my nieces and nephews who are ''smart ;" 
not I. 
Minnie E. S. Why didn't you tell me more about the 
picture your teacher gave you ? 
W. McC. Thanks for your geographical pnzzle, which 
is very " acceptable," but I shall have to take the liberty 
of^condensing it somewhat. 
If I have failed here to notice any of my correspondents 
who expected a little word from me, the reason is, doubt- 
less, because they gave me no cine as to whether they 
were writing for the Puzzle-Box or the Sphinx. So, 
my darlings, if I have neglected any of you, I forgive 
you. 
Glad to hear from Lillie S., G. R. W., M. E. L., Minnie 
M., Hessa M. W., and Emmctt S. K. 
Those sending puzzles to Aunt Sde, Box 111 P. O., 
Brooklyn, N. Y.. will please specify whether their con- 
tributions are for the A gricitfhirist, or for Hearth and 
Borne. 
