Many books have been written about animals, and very good books too,giving a great deal of information. Most of them are called works ofNatural History; and they usually give some description of the birdsand beasts, fishes and insects, that are known to man. I am not going towrite such a book as that; but to say a little about different kinds ofcreatures that we are all in the habit of seeing, and to tell you a fewthings of some which have belonged to me, or have come under my ownobservation; so that, at least, I can promise to write nothing but whatI know to be true. I have not learned their characters and habits frombooks, but by watching them ever since I was a very young child; andmany a happy hour I have spent in that delightful employment.
One of the first things that it came into my little head to ask was,“How were the animals made; and why were any of them made wild andcruel, while some are tame and quiet?” I was told that the Bible gave ananswer to that question; and so it does. If we look in the first chapterof Genesis, where there is an account of the creation of the world, wef