rasa is <3reen 



feet, head over heels down the incline and landed 

 on his back. Recovering from the shock, if there 

 was one, there followed a struggle to place the 

 roof of his house skyward, and, this accomplished, 

 the tortoise carefully surveyed his new surround- 

 ings. I wondered if he had a sense of direction, 

 or would attempt to climb the bank he had just 

 tumbled over. There was some hesitation, or 

 what appeared such, as if the tortoise was study- 

 ing the matter, and then it began to climb the 

 bank, which was less precipitous, directly oppo- 

 site where he had fallen over. Was this acciden- 

 tal or intentional ? I think the latter. The whole 

 manner of the tortoise seemed to indicate it, and 

 it certainly had one guide, its own traces, where it 

 descended to the bottom of the ditch. We know 

 so little of the mind-power of the lower animals 

 that it is always difficult to demonstrate anything 

 conclusively, and, unfortunately for the good of 

 compararive psychology, the eager out-door nat- 

 uralist is only too apt to overestimate the men- 

 tal capabilities of wild life. I thought, too, at the 

 time, what a happy way to cross our lives' deep 

 ditches, if we could but put it in practice. Shut 

 ourselves within ourselves, roll over, and trust to 

 luck. But how few have sufficient confidence to 

 do this. Half our lives we tremble on the bank 

 of a dry ditch and then turn back in despair. 



To lean over the side of the boat and peer into 

 the depths does not prove tiresome. There is al- 

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