The Wonders of the Jungle, Book Two

Book Two

D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO ATLANTA DALLAS SAN FRANCISCO LONDON

COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY D. C. HEATH & CO.

3 B 1

PRINTED IN U.S.A.

TO THE CHILDREN

My dear, I am now going to tell you many more Wonders of the Jungle, as I promised to do in Book I.

In that Book, as you will remember, I promised to tell you more about the elephants and about the laws of their herd. So I shall do so now.

Then I shall tell you about some animals which I did not describe in

Book I. Among These You May Like to Know Especially About the Tiger, the

lion, the leopard, and the wolf.

You may like to know how really clever some of these animals are, and how some of them have affections, just as we have.

But while you are reading about them, you must try to think. Then you will understand why these animals do certain things. And that will show how clever you are!

I have used a few new words in this Book. But I am sure you know them already.

Now I shall begin with the laws of the elephants.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE ELEPHANT HERD A REPUBLIC 1 The Duties of the President 2 He Must Provide Daily Food 3 He Must Provide Daily Drink 9 He Must Keep Order in the Herd 12 He Must Avoid Danger from Outside 18

II. WAR AND NEUTRALITY IN THE JUNGLE 26 Wise Elephant Leader Avoids War 27 Wise Elephant Leader Keeps Neutral 29 When it is Impossible to Remain Neutral 29

III. THE POLICEMEN OF THE ELEPHANT HERD 31

IV. THE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED ELEPHANT 39 The Princes and the Bad Elephant 40 The Trial of the Criminal Elephant--as in a Court of Law 55 The Infliction of the Punishment 57 The Rogue Elephant 61 The Brand of the Rogue 63 The Reward of Repentance 64

V. FLESH-EATING ANIMALS: THE FELINES, OR THE CAT TRIBE 66 The Feline has Strong Fangs 67 The Feline's Tongue is Rough 68 The Feline's Claws are Retractile 68 The Feline has Padded Paws 71

VI. THE TIGER 73 The Life History of the Tiger Family 78 The Tiger's Family Dinner 83

VII. THE TIGER CUBS' LESSONS 87 Tiger Cubs Learn to Kill Prey, After their Parents have Caught It 88 Tiger Cubs Take Part in Hunt to Catch Prey 90 Tiger Cubs Learn to Catch Prey by Themselves 91

VIII. THE TIGRESS MOTHER'S SPECIAL DUTIES 97 The Truce of the Water Hole 100

IX. THE SPECIAL QUALITIES OF TIGER AND TIGRESS 102 Both Tiger and Tigress Defend Their Cubs 104 The Tiger Family's Lost Dinner 110 The Tiger as a Heroic Husband 116

X. THE LION 128 The Lion Has the Fangs, the Tongue, the Claws, and the Paws of a Cat 132 How the Lion is Different from Other Cats 138

XI. THE LION'S DAILY LIFE 142

XII. THE LION A NOBLE ANIMAL 156 Androcles and the Lion 156 The Lady and the Lioness 163

XIII. THE LEOPARD 168 The Leopard's Ground Color and Spots 169 Why the Leopard has Spots 170

XIV. THE LEOPARD'S HABITS 176 The Panther: Popular Name For Large Leopard 180 How the Leopard Seizes his Prey 181 The Leopard's One Amiable Quality--He Loves Perfumes 182 The Leopard and the Lavender 183

XV. AMERICAN LEOPARD: THE JAGUAR 188

XVI. THE DOG TRIBE 194 The American Gray Wolf 196 The American Wolf Learns to Evade the Gun 200 The American Wolf Learns to Evade the Trap 202 The American Wolf Learns to Evade the Poison 205

ILLUSTRATIONS

ELEPHANTS AT WORK Frontispiece

PAGE

ELEPHANT LEADING HERD THROUGH THE JUNGLE 5

TRAINED ELEPHANTS AT THE COURT OF A KING 23

ELEPHANTS GUARDING A BAD ELEPHANT 33

POLICEMEN ELEPHANTS ARRESTING A CRIMINAL ELEPHANT 45

GOOD ELEPHANT HEADING OFF A CRIMINAL ELEPHANT 51

TIGER 75

TIGER PROTECTING HIS CUB 107

TIGER CHARGING HUNTING PARTY 121

GROUP OF LIONS 129

PUMA 129

AFRICAN LION 133

GIRAFFES 147

KANGAROO 147

ANDROCLES AND THE LION 161

LEOPARD 171

JAGUAR 171

THE CHAIN OF CONFLICT IN THE JUNGLE 191

GRAY WOLF 197

THE WONDERS OF THE JUNGLE

CHAPTER I. The Elephant Herd a Republic

The Elephant Herd a Republic

An elephant herd is a kind of republic, something like the United States of America, only much smaller and much simpler. So its leader is a sort of president. He is usually the wisest elephant in the herd.

You may like to know how the elephants choose their president. I shall tell you how they do that.

But you must first consider how the people of the United States choose their President. They find out who among their important men is best able to lead them in all the great duties of the nation. Then they choose him.

But if afterward they find that he is not leading the nation in the wisest manner, then the people of the United States choose another man to be their President the next time.

The elephants in a herd do something like that. They first follow the elephant who, they think, is best able to lead them. But if afterward they find that he is not leading them through the jungle in the right way, and that another elephant could lead them in a better manner, then they follow him instead. He then becomes the president of the herd.

"But what is the best way of leading the herd through the jungle?" you may ask.

I shall now tell you about that. The best way to lead the herd is to satisfy all their needs. So the president of the herd has four great duties.

The Duties of the President

First Duty: He must lead the herd in such a manner that all the elephants will get enough food to eat every day.

Second Duty: He must lead the herd in such a manner that all the elephants will get enough water to drink every day.

Third Duty: He must keep order in the herd, and not allow any naughty elephant to fight or quarrel.

Fourth Duty: He must guide the elephants in such a manner as to avoid all danger from outside; and if such danger does happen to come, he must guard the herd from that danger.

I shall now tell you about these four duties more fully.

He Must Provide Daily Food

Elephants are such large animals that they need a great amount of food. So they have to walk a long way every day, munching the leaves of the trees as they go.

They walk in line, one behind another, as that is the easiest method of walking through the thick jungle; for then one gap through the jungle is enough for all the elephants to go through, one at a time, and they need not make a different gap for each elephant.

Now you will understand that if that one gap is big enough for the largest elephant to go through, it is of course big enough for all the elephants to go through. So, if the largest elephant walks first, in front of the line of elephants, he can force a way through the thick jungle that will be big enough for all the other elephants who come behind him.

So usually the largest and strongest bull elephant is the leader of the herd--if he also has the other qualities of a president, which I shall presently describe more fully. To have all the qualities of a president, he must not only be strong, but also wise and clever. Why? Because even in merely going through the jungle a wise leader avoids many difficulties. It might be that the jungle straight ahead was very thick, and it would be hard to force a way through it; but by turning a little to the right or to the left, an easier passage could be made. This a wise leader would find out, and then turn in that direction.

Again, in the jungle, the ground is sometimes too soft; it might be made of clay which had become soft owing to rain a few days before. But elephants are such heavy animals that they cannot go far over soft ground, as their feet would sink in too deep. And the ground might be covered with bushes or tall grass, so that the elephants could not see to what distance the ground was soft. They might not mind going over soft ground for a few yards, but they would not like to go over such ground for a whole mile.

So a wise leader would know by glancing around how far the ground was likely to be soft; and if he learned that it was likely to be soft for a large area, he would turn at once and go around it. But a foolish leader might take the herd right into the soft ground, and they would all be stuck in the mud, and have a lot of trouble getting out of it again.

So if the herd has chosen merely the biggest and strongest elephant to be their president and he makes such mistakes as that, they soon depose him; that is, they no longer follow him. They look around for some other leader who can discover a better way, and they follow him instead. And if afterward they find that he is wise and clever, and does not make mistakes, they follow him as their leader every day after that, even if he is not quite so big and strong as the other elephant was.

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