may seem, this was a very simple
proceeding, for I taught him in a couple of days, thus:

On the stable door I fastened a piece of wood to act as a fall-latch,
which worked so easily that "Begum" could lift it with his nose and
allow the door to swing open. Then "Eddy" would march out, and wherever
I happened to be, would trot to me at the sound of my voice. Indeed, at
length he used to follow "Begum," directly he was released, to any part
of the island. Therefore, if I required "Eddy's" services when I was
quite at the south end of the island, I had only to send "Begum" to
fetch him, and away they would come together. This proceeding had only
one drawback, and that was, that "Eddy" would always help himself to a
mouthful of anything in the way of green food, which happened to be
growing within his reach, if he had to come near my little farm. I
verily believe that "Begum" used to take his friend past my crops on
purpose, although it was by no means the easiest way to get to the
Cotils, where my potato crop grew, and where I often used to go to get a
shot at the sea fowl on the Fauconnaire. As the crops were principally
for his own winter maintenance, I could not grudge him a bite of his
food in advance.

Many a time when I have landed from my boat very tired, after a long
cruise or fishing expedition, I have always found "Begum" waiting for
me, ready to fetch "Eddy," at my word, to help to beach the boat and
carry my gear up the cliff. This used to be of such frequent occurrence
that upon the end of the boat's painter I worked a kind of collar for
"Eddy" to pull upon in comfort. This collar I made of old sacking sewed
over with sennet, and I must say it was quite a success, for he would
hold his head out as naturally to receive the collar as a beggar would
hold out his hat for the reception of an alms.

The pigeons I brought with me and placed in the cote or tower soon
departed or died; possibly they were killed by hawks or other birds, but
that I never could discover. Anyway, the tower was not long tenantless,
for a pair of owls took up their abode there, and soon had a family of
six fluffy little fellows. Instead of destroying these birds as many
persons do in England, I allowed them to haunt the tower, in return for
which they kept the mice down, and I could not find that they did me any
kind of damage. I got quite to like their "to-whitting" and "to-wooing"
more than the monotonous "cooing" of the pigeons which