452 'jHte CANADIAN NATtJRALiST. [Vol. vi. 



man." A much smaller admission would answer our purpose, as 

 all that is here contended for is that the struggle for any coveted 

 object, amongst even the lowest savage races known to us, is in 

 the main a spiritual contest and not a physical one. Even if we 

 suppose the struggle to be decided by purely physical arguments, 

 still success would by no means invariably attend the strongest, 

 but would be more likely, in the long run, to fall to the cleverest. 

 In the case of a contest between two male animals, such as two 

 stags, we may believe that the strongest is sure to win ; but this 

 would by no means hold good amongst even the lowest savages. 

 No races of men are known to us so degraded as to fight solely 

 with the weapons nature has given. But the moment artificial 

 weapons are employed, the contest becomes essentially one of 

 skill and not of mere streno'th. In other words, the result of the 

 contest -would depend mainly upon the mental characters of the 

 combatants, instead of on their relative physical strength. Take 

 the only case Mr. Darwin adduces in support of his view, namely 

 the case of the North American Indians, of whom Hearne says 

 that the men w^restle for any woman to whom they are attached, 

 and that "of course, the strongest party always carries ofi" the 

 prize." Any one, however, who has ever seen wrestling knows 

 that this last statement does not express a fact. Success in 

 wrestling depends only to a very limited extent upon actual 

 strength or even weight, but almost entirely upon skill. Not 

 only is this the case, but success in wrestling is largely influenced 

 by the possession of certain mental peculiarities, wholly irrespec- 

 tive of mere mechanical adroitness. 



Upon the whole, then, it is perhaps safe to conclude that even 

 the actual physical contests between individual men or tribes of 

 Mien, however savage, are ultimately decided by the mental 

 ich^racters of the competitors, as much as by an34hing else. We 

 may^ i^owever, go further than this. Admitting that women are 

 always lifeeJv amongst savage races to constitute a bone of con- 

 tention for ike men to fight over, still we need not admit that 

 success iu suicb :^ fight would always, or even generally, fall to 

 the strongest^ On th&- contrary, the man most skilful in the use 

 of his weapon, most fertif-G m resource, with the most inventive 

 genius, and with the most rcr^dy use of his tongue, would be at 

 least as likely to win a Kxii'e as th*e biggest and strongest of his 

 ■icompetitors. Mere brute strength is not always the ultima ratio 

 <evexi amongst the lowest savages. In some respec-Js savages are 



