76 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 
hears the roar of the wild beasts, and the 
headlong gallop of the frightened herds, and 
he finds the buttings and the kicks of other 
~ animals harder to endure than the blows from 
which he fled: he has peculiar disadvantages 
from being a stranger; the herds of his own 
species which he seeks for companionship con- 
stitute so many cliques, into which he can 
only find admission by more fighting with 
their strongest members than he has spirit to 
undergo. As a set-off against these miseries, 
the freedom of savage life has no charms for 
his temperament; so the end of it is, that 
with a heavy heart he turns back to the 
habitation he had quitted.” 
But though animals may not be free, I 
hope and believe that they are happy. Dr. 
Hudson, an admirable observer, assures us 
with confidence that the struggle for exist- 
ence leaves them much leisure and famous 
spirits. “In the animal world,” he exclaims,’ 
‘“‘what happiness reigns! What ease, grace, 
beauty, leisure, and content! Watch these 
living specks as they glide through their 
1 Address to Microscopical Society, 1890, 
