TAME MONGOOSES . 
21 I 
antics, as much as to say, “ You are such a very small creature I 
will allow you to take liberties up to a certain point.” But, alas ! 
Tiny becoming bolder, gave an unlucky tweak to poor Smut's 
ears, which proved too much for his dignity and forbearance. 
Thoroughly roused, he seized poor Tiny, planting one of the 
beautiful teeth in his side. In rage and suffering Tiny flew 
round the various large flower pots in the verandah, his tail 
swollen to three times its original size, and it was a long time 
before he allowed himself to be caught, and the wound carefully 
bathed and dressed. But it taught Tiny the lesson, which 
perhaps we may all learn — to “ let sleeping dogs lie.” 
Mongoose No. 2 we used to call “ the small creature,” as she 
never grew any bigger ; she was my special pet, and used to do 
the oddest things possible. In their wild state the mongooses 
live underground, burying themselves by digging a hole with 
their paws. But these two, being allowed to go where they 
liked in tl;e daytime, and having the run of house and garden, 
rvere only shut up in their boxes at night. The pastime of this 
small creature was somewhat quaint ; she knew my husband’s 
dressing room quite well, and used to climb up by the window 
and get hold of his shaving pot of soap, push off the cover and 
commence burying both her small paws in it, scratching and 
digging it out as she would her own native earth had she been 
in her wild state ; then she would take the shaving brush in 
her mouth and rush off with it, hiding it in all sorts of impossible 
places — in the garden, sometimes the stables, or behind flower 
pots and bushes, as you may imagine, driving the master wild 
with this trick. The hunt for this shaving brush used to last 
for hours sometimes, the whole household being called to assist 
in searching for the missing treasure. Nor could we ever dis- 
cover her object in carrying it off. Sometimes she would dabble 
her paws in the inkstand and carry off the pen. However, 
when we left Bolarine, to my great grief I had to part with 
her, and gave her to a friend who used to write a great deal, and 
I trust she got over her delinquencies, for I do not think she 
would assist him much in his literary compositions. She was of 
a more tractable and gentle disposition than Tiny ; and since 
then I have never heard one word of her. 
The end of Tiny was very peculiar. He was very fond of 
going into the room where the native servants w r ashed up plates 
and dishes — a locality forbidden, as they find scraps of meat, 
which make them very savage. If they get hold of a piece they 
growl over it and never let it go, like a dog with a bone, holding 
it between their paws. Quite suddenly a soda water bottle 
exploded with a loud report and bang, which so frightened Tiny 
that never from that day could we find out where he went or 
what became of him, which w r e greatly regretted, as he was a 
most amusing pet. He would frequently sit up and beg like a 
dog. Sometimes we found him curled up like a ball on the sofa, 
or he would sleep on our laps, and after a long, long chase in 
