104 The Descent of Man. Pa in I. 



leat#r of the herd. Dr. Hooker informs me that an elephant, 

 which he was riding in India, became so deeply bogged that he 

 remained stuck fast until the next day, when he was extricated 

 by men with ropes. Under such circumstances elephants will 

 seize with their trunks any object, dead or alive, to place under 

 their knees, to prevent their sinking deeper in the mud ; and the 

 driver was dreadfully afraid lest the animal should have seized 

 Dr. Hooker and crushed him to death. But the driver himself, 

 as Dr. Hooker was assured, ran no risk. This forbearance under 

 an emergency so dreadful for a heavy animal, is a wonderful 

 proof of noble fidelity. 18 



All animals living in a body, which defend themselves or attack 

 their enemies in concert, must indeed be in some degree faithful 

 to one another ; and those that follow a leader must be in some 

 degree obedient. When the baboons in Abyssinia 19 plunder a 

 garden, they silently follow their leader ; and if an imprudent 

 young animal makes a noise, he receives a slap from the others 

 to teach him silence and obedience. Mr. Galton, who has had 

 excellent opportunities for observing the half-wild cattle in S. 

 Africa, says, 20 that they cannot endure even a momentary separa^ 

 tion from the herd. They are essentially slavish, and accept the 

 common determination, seeking no better lot than to be led by 

 any one ox who has enough self-reliance to accept the position. 

 The men who break in these animals for harness, watch assidu- 

 ously for those who, by grazing apart, shew a self-reliant dis- 

 position, and these they train as fore-oxen. Mr. Galton adds 

 that such animals are rare and valuable ; and if many were born 

 they would soon be eliminated, as lions are always on the look- 

 out for the individuals which wander from the herd. 



With respect to the impulse which leads certain animals to 

 associate together, and to aid one another in many ways, we 

 may infer that in most cases they are impelled by the same 

 sense of satisfaction or pleasure which they experience in per- 

 forming other instinctive actions ; or by the same sense of 

 dissatisfaction as when other instinctive actions are checked 

 We see this in innumerable instances, and it is illustrated in a 

 striking manner by the acquired instincts of our domesticated 

 animals; thus a young shepherd-dog delights in driving and 

 running round a flock of sheep, but not in worrying them ; a 

 young fox-hound delights in hunting a fox, whilst some other 

 kinds of dogs, as I have witnessed, utterly disregard foxes. What 



18 See also Hooker's ' Himalayan 20 See his extremely interesting 



Journals,' vol. ii., 1854, p. 333. paper on ' Gregariousness in Cattle, 



M Brehm, ' Thierleben,' B. i. s. and in Man," Macmiilan's Mag.' Feb. 



76. 1871, p. 353. 



