A HAPPY FAMILY. 
47 
never wanting; and were the heads of the family for one 
single day to forget their responsibilities, bloodshed and 
cannibalism would make a total ruin of our model 
Agapemone. 
Ten or twelve may be considered a fair number for 
any ordinary family, and on such a limited scale, some 
little generalship is essential for the preservation of 
domestic peace: but, as I first remarked, our family 
consists of thousands—in fact, we ourselves have never 
attempted a numbering of the people, and frankly 
confess we do not know how many within a thousand or 
two are dependent upon us. If I tell you they are all 
children of adoption,—for as yet we are unblessed with 
children of our own,—you will conjecture that we are 
keepers of an orphan asylum, a workhouse, or a prison; 
but such ideas will vanish when I assure you that we 
are strictly private folk, renting a humble country 
cottage, with a moderate amount of garden attached, and 
with a very pretty variety of rural scenery adjoining. 
The fact is, we are victims of a hobby. How many have 
gone mad, been ruined, traduced, ay, transported or 
hanged, for hobbies ! Yet w r e live in no fear that our 
hobby will entail future penalties, for it is simply a love 
for animals: and the passion is fed and strengthened by 
a strong curiosity to learn more and more of their 
histories and instincts, their relations to each other and 
to the general scheme of nature, and, above all, their 
capabilities for human companionship. Our little house 
is a sort of menagerie; not in imitation of the Zoolo¬ 
gical Gardens, or the Jardin des Plantes, nor yet on the 
plan of the Hospital for Animals at Surat,—for we have 
