THE ETHICS OF THE SAVAGE 255 



This same senseless hostility toward every one 

 from abroad, so spitefully exhibited by primitive 

 men, is also manifested by ants, who immediately 

 recognise and pounce upon an individual intro- 

 duced from a foreign colony, but welcome with 

 every demonstration of joy, even after a lapse of 

 weeks or months, a returning member of their 

 own society. The same spirit of exclusiveness 

 is found also in elephants. If by accident an 

 elephant becomes separated from his herd, he 

 becomes an outcast and a fugitive, never being 

 permitted in any circumstances to attach himself 

 to another herd (3). 



That the savage should entertain feelings of 

 friendship for those belonging to the same social 

 unit as himself is, considering the circumstances 

 in which it takes place, a perfectly natural phe- 

 nomenon. The members of his tribe are, to the 

 savage, the beings among whom he has come 

 into existence, and in the midst of whom he has 

 grown up. He knows and understands them, 

 and is known and understood by them. They 

 speak the same language as himself, and cherish 

 the same customs and traditions. They have 

 the same sacred trees, the same gods, the same 

 experiences day after day, and the same memories, 

 as he himself. They are his associates in the 

 chase, his allies in war, and his comrades in 

 sorrow and success. They are the only beings 

 into whose lives he has ever entered. They 

 constitute his world, and are to him the only 

 real beings in the universe. 



