Page:The Swiss Family Robinson (Kingston).djvu/246

206 youngsters had to be seen after; to prevent them straying to any great distance, for we had no wish to lose them, we tied round their necks little bells, which we had found on board the wreck, and which would assist us to track them. Juno, too, had a fine litter of puppies, but, in spite of the entreaties of the children, I could not consent to keep more than two, and the rest disappeared in that mysterious way in which puppies and kittens are wont to leave the earth. To console the mother, as he said, but also, I suspect, to save himself considerable trouble, Jack placed his little jackal beside the remaining puppies, and, to his joy, found it readily adopted. The other pets were also flourishing, and were being usefully trained. The buffalo, after giving us much trouble, had now become perfectly domesticated, and was a very useful beast of burden, besides being a capital steed for the boys. They guided him by a bar thrust through the hole in his nose, which was now perfectly healed, and this served the purpose just as a bit in the mouth of a horse. I began his education by securing round him a broad girth of buffalo-hide and fastening to it various articles, to accustom him to carrying a burden. By degrees he permitted this to be done without making the slightest resistance, and soon carried the paniers, before borne by the ass, readily and willingly.

I then made Master Knip sit upon his back and hold the reins I had prepared for him, that the animal might become accustomed to the feeling of a rider, and finally allowed Fritz himself to mount. The education of the eagle was not neglected. Fritz every day shot small birds for his food, and these he placed sometimes between the wide-spreading horns of the buffalo or goat, and sometimes upon the back of the great bustard, that he might become accustomed to pounce upon living prey. These lessons had their due effect, and the bird, having been taught to obey the voice and whistle of his master, he was soon allowed to bring down small birds upon the wing, when he stooped and struck his