OF WILD ANIMALS 265 



Next to the plainly expressed desire to quench their thirst, 

 the dominant thought in the minds of those animals, one and 

 all, was the fear of being attacked. In some species this ever- 

 present and harassing dread was a pitiful spectacle. I wish it 

 might be witnessed by all those ultra-humane persons who think 

 and say that the free wild animals are the only happy ones! 



With the possible exception of the sanguine-tempered 

 elephants, all those animals were afraid of being seized or 

 attacked while drinking. One and all did the same thing. An 

 animal would approach the water-hole, nervously looking about 

 for enemies. The fore feet cautiously stepped down, the 

 head disappeared to reach the water, — but quickly shot upward 

 again, to look for the enemies. It was alternately drink, 

 look, drink, look, for a dozen quick repetitions, then a scurry 

 for safety. 



Even the stilt-legged and long-necked giraffes went through 

 that same process, — a mouthful of water greedily seized, and a 

 fling of the head upward to stare about for danger. Group by 

 group the animals of each species took their turns. The 

 baboons drifted down over the steep rocky slope like a flock of 

 skimming birds, and watched and drank by turn. Having 

 finished, they paused not for idle gossip or play, but as swiftly 

 as they came drifted up the slope and sought safety elsewhere. 



And yet, it was noticeable that during the whole of that 

 astounding panorama of ferae naturae unalloyed by man's 

 baleful influence, no species attacked another, there was no 

 fighting, nor even any threatening of any kind. Had there 

 been a white flag waving over that water-hole, the truce of the 

 wild could not have been more perfect. 



Effect of Fear in Captive Animals. Among captive 

 wild animals, by far the most troublesome are those that are 

 obsessed by slavish fear of being harmed. The courageous 

 and supremely confident grizzly or Alaskan brown bear is in 

 his den a good-natured and reliable animal, who obeys orders 

 when the keepers enter the den to do the daily housework and 



