[Enclosure]

In the year ’45 I was quartered in Toronto in Western Canada.² The room I occupied overlooked a small court yard at the back of which was a guardhouse. The place being infested with rats the soldiers on guard were in the habit of setting large Iron Snap traps for catching this vermin & one day while sitting at my window I saw a small mongrel looking dog enter the yard & attracted by the smell of the toasted cheese approach the trap. He seemed puzzled & rather afraid of it, but after several inspections his greed overcame his prudence & making a grab at the tempting morsel the iron teeth of the trap closed upon his nose. He uttered the most dismal howls & the soldiers after enjoying his discomfiture for a little while released him & he bolted out of the yard with his tail between his legs in abject terror.—

To my surprise he returned within ten minutes. His nose was swollen which ga⁠⟨⁠ve⁠⟩⁠ him a ludicrous expression, but he had quite recovered from his fear & by his gestures betrayed the highest spirits as he stood wagging his tail & looking out into the road evidently inviting some by me unseen friend to enter.— By & bye a large burly dog trotted into the yard. The little fellow seemed delighted to see him & dancing around led him up to the trap which had been re-set.— the new comer no sooner sniffed the bait that he made a rush at it; the trap closed upon his snout & while he stood howling in agony & endeavouring to shake it off the little dog once more put his tail between his legs & ran off at full speed.—

On enquiry I ascertained that the big dog belonged to a public house in the neighbourhood & the little cur to a cobbler not far off. While accompanying his master to the taproom some days ago the small dog had been attacked & severely punished by the big one & the publican when I told him what had occurred burst into ⁠⟨⁠a⁠⟩⁠ roar of laughter “to think that knowing ⁠⟨⁠lit⁠⟩⁠tle brute had paid off old scores in that way”

There is no room to doubt that the dog brooding over his wrongs & feeling his impotence for open vengeance had by persuasion led his enemy to the trap & inflicted upon him the torture which but a few minutes before he had himself suffered.— The reasoning procees required to carry out his plan of revenge was complete & among the many instances of what is called Canine instinct I know of none which argues in a greater degree the possession by the dog of the power often denied to animals of entertaining sentiments & connecting ideas.—

Two or three years ago I saw an elephant belonging to the Board of Works in Ceylon³ being operated upon for ulcers on his legs. The operation consisted in repeatedly running a red hot iron, the size of a small poker into the wound. The animal evidently suffered excruciating pains but as evidently knew that its tormenter was acting for its good; had it thought otherwise it would have turned and trampled him to death. It was very touching to see how between each interval of the application of the Iron the poor animal rolled its head backward & forward with a grateful ⁠⟨⁠trum⁠⟩⁠pet of relief & then on a given signal raised its poor foot for a fresh infliction of pain.

No animal is more quick to resent an injury, or even an insult than the Elephant; and a judicious keeper knows well how far he can venture upon teazing, or playing tricks with his charge; yet in this case the keeper had no fear of causing great pain & this could only arise from his confidence in the extraordinary sagacity of the Animal under his treatment.