158 WHITE 



LETTER XXIV 



SELBORNE, Aug. i$th, 1775. 



DEAR SIR, There is a wonderful spirit of sociality in the 

 brute creation, independent of sexual attachment : the con- 

 gregating of gregarious birds in the winter is a remarkable 

 instance. 



Many horses, though quiet with company, will not stay one 

 minute in a field by themselves : the strongest fences cannot 

 restrain them. My neighbor's horse will not only not stay by 

 himself abroad, but he will not bear to be left alone in a strange 

 stable without discovering the utmost impatience, and endeav- 

 oring to break the rack and manger with his fore-feet. He 

 has been known to leap out at a stable-window, through which 

 dung was thrown, after company ; and yet in other respects 

 is remarkably quiet. Oxen and cows will not fatten by them- 

 selves ; but will neglect the finest pasture that is not recom- 

 mended by society. It would be needless to instance in sheep, 

 which constantly flock together. 



But this propensity seems not to be confined to animals of 

 the same species ; for we know a doe, still alive, that was 

 brought up from a little fawn with a dairy of cows ; with them 

 it goes afield, and with them it returns to the yard. The dogs 

 of the house take no notice of this deer, being used to her ; but, 

 if strange dogs come by, a chase ensues ; while the master 

 smiles to see his favorite securely leading her pursuers over 

 hedge, or gate, or stile, till she returns to the cows, who, with 

 fierce lowings and menacing horns, drive the assailants quite 

 out of the pasture. 



Even great disparity of kind and size does not always prevent 

 social advances and mutual fellowship. For a very intelligent 

 and observant person has assured me that, in the former part 

 of his life, keeping but one horse, he happened also on a time 

 to have but one solitary hen. These two incongruous animals 

 spent much of their time together in a lonely orchard, where 

 they saw no creature but each other. By degrees an apparent 

 regard began to take place between these two sequestered indi- 

 viduals. The fowl would approach the quadruped with notes 



