ISOLATED ATTENTION. 201 



and at the usual note he moved on towards the game, 

 but was surprised to see that the black object had 

 also advanced in an equal degree, and now stood in a 

 line with him. Still he was so eager after the bird 

 that Tie could think of nothing else, and approached 

 close to his prey before he perceived that a large bear 

 stood within a few feet of him ; and, in fact, just as 

 they were both about to spring on the bird, they 

 caught sight of each other, and each thought proper 

 to slink back. In this case, the bird, the man, and 

 the bear were all rendered insensible to impressions 

 which at other times would have been instantly per- 

 ceived, by the very intensity with which the senses of 

 each were concentrated on one object. With the 

 Tjader it was his mate, with the man it was the bird, 

 with the bear, ditto." 



The power which the senses acquire by this sort of 

 intense and isolated exercise often appears wonderful 

 to those who have never perceived otherwise than 

 passively. Civilised men marvel at the ease and pre- 

 cision with which savages make their way from point 

 to point, through dense forests, across wide plains and 

 prairies, over rugged mountains, and along deep val- 

 leys, and by night as well as by day. And some have 

 even surmised that the savage man has a sixth sense, 

 unknown to us. But it is only the result of exercise 

 and concentration. The white men who follow the 

 occupation of " trappers/' in the denies of the Kocky 

 Mountains, acquire the same perceptive powers as the 

 Indian, the same habit of drawing conclusions from 



