I I 2 THE SCENT OF MAN. 



they surveyed. Gradually however, they would work 

 round to windward, and then, the moment they caught 

 the scent of man, they scoured away over the plain 

 and soon \vere lost to sight. 



Man, Mr. Francis Galton has justly remarked, 

 until he has observed these things with thoughtful 

 attention, has no idea what an object of disgust he 

 is among the beasts, and how repulsive and frightful 

 to them is the slightest trace of that subtile odour 

 which encompasses the human presence about like a 

 cloak. 



When a wild beast comes across the trail of a man 

 some considerable time after he has passed by, he in 

 general stops, and proceeds to examine into the nature 

 of this terrible aroma which if it be novel to his senses, 

 causes him to smell curiously about along the trail, 

 as if in wonderment as to the origin of the noisome 

 effluvium, till at length fear gets the better of his 

 curiosity, and he takes to his heels. 



The elephant, the largest and most powerful of all 

 quadrupeds for example, is well known to have in its 

 wild state an extraordinary antipathy and dread of 

 man; and even a child, Mr. Gordon Gumming, the 

 well-known African hunter, informs us "can put a hundred 

 of them to flight by passing a quarter of a mile to 

 windward, and when thus disturbed they go a long 

 way before they halt " and in pursuance of the same 

 train of thought to which we have already given 

 expression in our remarks upon the rapid way in 

 which the intelligence of danger is communicated by 

 animals to each other, the great hunter goes on to 

 observe that " It is surprising how soon these saga- 

 cious animals are aware of the presence of the hunter 



