MEMOIR OF DAUBENTON. 193 



of the duty apparently secondary ; to be in some degree 

 as an eye and a hand to him ; and he found such an 

 individual in the companion of his youthful sports, 

 Daubenton. 



He indeed found in him more than he sought for, 

 more even than he thought necessary for his purpose ; 

 and it is not perhaps in the department in which he 

 asked for his assistance, that Daubenton was most use- 

 ful to him. 



In fact, it may be affirmed, that there never was a 

 connection more appropriate. Both in regard to physical 

 and moral qualifications, there existed between the two 

 friends that perfect contrast which one of our most 

 amiable writers assures us is necessary to render a union 

 lasting; and each of them seemed to have received 

 precisely those qualities fitted to temper those of the 

 other by their opposition. 



Buffon, of a vigorous frame and imposing appearance, 

 of an imperious disposition, and ardent in all he under- 

 took, seemed to have divined the truth and not to have 

 observed it. His imagination continually placed itself 

 between nature and himself, and hie eloquence seemed 

 to exercise itself against his reason, before having en- 

 deavoured to sway that of others. 



Daubenton, of a frail temperament and mild look, 

 and a moderation which he owed to Nature as much as 

 to his own wisdom, conducted his researches with the 

 most scrupulous circumspection. He believed nothing, 

 he affirmed nothing, but what he had seen and touched. 



