OF WILD ANIMALS 301 



murders are abundantly possible; but it is wholly against the 

 laws of nature for free wild beasts to kill one another in wan- 

 tonness. It is left to the savage races of men to commit 

 murders without cause, and to destroy one another by fire. 

 The family crimes and cruelties of people both civilized and 

 savage completely eclipse in blackness and in number the 

 doings of even the worst wild beasts. 



In wild animals and in men, crime is an index to character. 

 The finest species of animals and the noblest races of men are 

 alike distinguished by their abhorrence of the abuse of the 

 helpless and the shedding of innocent blood. The lion, the 

 elephant, the wild horse, the grizzly bear, the orang-utan, the 

 eagle and the whooping crane are singularly free from the 

 criminal instinct. On the other hand, even today Africa 

 contains tribes whose members are actually fond of practicing 

 cruelty and murder. In the Dark Continent there has lived 

 many a "king" beside whom a hungry lion or a grizzly bear is 

 a noble citizen. 



