The Wonders of the Jungle, Book One

by Sarath Kumar Ghosh

Regarding the scheme of Book One, the animals are described in their daily life, and the main scientific facts and principles concerning each animal are woven into the narrative as a part of that daily life. But while teaching science to the child in that pleasant form, a few other purposes have also been kept in view:—

1. To cultivate the child's imagination. True imagination is the ability to visualize mentally the realities of life, not what is unreal—for which it is so often mistaken. Hence in this book the child is helped to visualize the animals in their actual haunts, and to see each incident as it actually happens.

2. To cultivate the child's reasoning faculty. The child is encouraged at every step to think and to reason why the animal does certain things; e.g. why the elephant does not drink directly with its mouth, but has to squirt the water into it with the trunk.

3. To teach a moral from the study of animals. The whole of Creation is one immense and beautiful pattern: so the child may well be trained to see the pattern in this also. And as a practical benefit from the study of animals, the child may learn thereby the value of certain qualities, such as obedience, discipline, and good citizenship—e.g. as in the remarkable case of the elephant, the buffalo, and the flamingo, as described in the text. In this regard I have kept in mind the very useful suggestions formulated a few years ago by the Moral Education League of Great Britain, under the patronage of Queen Mary, five of whose children at that time ranged in age from seven to fifteen. One of the functions of education is to present to the child the noblest and the most elevated of ideals. I have sought to do that in almost every chapter.

I have to acknowledge my obligation to the New York Kindergarten Association for its valuable cooperation in putting this book through a practical test. The Kindergarten Association on more than one occasion provided me with a large audience of children, ranging in age from six to nine, ex-pupils of the Association, who are now in the public schools.

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CONTENTS

	CHAPTER			PAGE
I.	[ The Midnight Pool]			[1]
		[Elephants Drink First—But Down Stream]	[4]
		[How the Elephant Drinks]	[8]
		[Why the Elephant Drinks with his Trunk]	[9]
II.	[ The Law of the Jungle]			[11]
		[How Buffaloes Come to Drink—In Rows]	[11]
		[Buffalo Knights Guard the Timid Deer]	[13]
		[Wild Pigs—Careless]	[17]
		[Red Dogs—Bold, Fearing Nobody]	[18]
		[Other Animals Come Alone]	[19]
		[The Law of the Jungle—Clear Water for All]	[21]
III.	[ The Elephants' Bath]			[23]
		[Elephant Child Obeys Mamma—or Gets Spanked]	[27]
		[How the Elephant Child is Bathed]	[29]
		[How the Elephant Child Learns to Swim]	[30]
IV.	[Elephants: The Tricks of the Jungle]			[35]
		[Elephant Child Learns to Feed]	[36]
		[Elephant Child "Swats" Tormenting Flies]	[38]
		[Elephant Covers Back from Hot Sun]	[40]
		[How Elephants Walk under Water]	[41]
		[How Elephants Break Down or Pull Out Trees]	[44]
V.	[Elephants: The Tricky Trap]			[49]
		[The Elephant Taps Suspicious Ground with his Trunk]	[50]
		[Elephant Tricks the Tricky Trappers]	[56]
VI.	[ Buffaloes: The Knights of the Jungle]			[61]
		[Buffaloes Cover Body with Mud against Flies]	[65]
		[How Buffaloes Guard against Tiger while Feeding]	[68]
		[How Buffaloes Know Danger is Coming—Three ways]	[71]
		[Buffalo Sentinels]	[73]
		[Buffaloes Make a Ring when Tiger Comes]	[78]
		[Small Animals Find Safety in Buffalo Ring]	[81]
VII.	[ Taming the Buffalo]			[83]
		[Wild Buffaloes Tamed Quickly by Kindness]	[84]
		[Little Boys Take Charge of Buffaloes]	[87]
		[How the Big Buffaloes Love the Little Boys]	[88]
VIII.	[ The Buffalo and the Boy]			[90]
IX.	[ Deer and Antelope]			[102]
		[Horns and Antlers Different in Three Ways]	[105]
		[Elk and Other American Deer]	[107]
		[Other Kinds of Deer]	[112]
		[Barking Deer—One of the Wonders of Nature]	[113]
X.	[ Deer and Antelope: Their Special Gifts]			[117]
		[Each Animal has the Gift he Needs Most]	[120]
XI.	[ The Camel]			[126]
		[The Camel's Wonderful Gifts]	[132]
XII.	[ The Camel and the Thief]			[144]
XIII.	[ Bears]			[151]
		[The Polar Bear]	[153]
		[American Bears]	[157]
		[Other Bears]	[159]
XIV.	[ Bears: The Tricky Trap]			[166]
XV.	[ Bright Birds]			[172]
		[The Flamingo]	[174]
		[The Parrot]	[179]
		[The Cockatoo]	[180]
		[The Peacock]	[181]
		[The Golden Pheasant]	[182]
		[The Snowy Egret]	[183]
XVI.	[ The Caged Parrot]			[187]

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