DOCILITY OF ANIMALS. 265 



abundantly with the best food. When managed in this man 

 ner, these animals appear to be different creatures from our 

 oxen. The oxen of the Hottentots are favorite domestics, 

 companions in amusements, assistants in all laborious exer- 

 cises, and participate the habitation, the bed, and the table 

 of their masters. As their nature is improved by the gentle- 

 ness of their education, by the kind treatment they receive, 

 and the perpetual attention bestowed on them, they acquire 

 sensibility and intelligence, and perform actions which one 

 would not expect from them. The Hottentots train oxen 

 to war. In all their armies there are considerable troops of 

 these oxen, which are easily governed, and are let loose by 

 the chief when a proper opportunity occurs. They instantly 

 dart with impetuosity upon the enemy. They strike with 

 their horns, kick, overturn, and trample under their feet every 

 thing that opposes their fury. T^iey run ferociously into the 

 ranks, which they soon put in the utmost disorder, and thus 

 pave the way for an easy victory to their masters. These 

 oxen are likewise instructed to guard the flocks, which they 

 conduct with dexterity, and defend them from the attacks of 

 strangers and of rapacious animals. They are taught to dis- 

 tinguish friends from enemies, to understand signals, and to 

 obey the commands of their master. When pasturing, at the 

 smallest signal from the keeper, they bring back and collect 

 the wandering animals. They attack all strangers with fury, 

 which renders them a great security against robbers. These 

 brackelays, as they are called, know every inhabitant of the 

 kraal, and discover the same marks of respect for all the men, 

 women, and children, as a dog does for those who live in his 

 master's house. These people may, therefore, approach their 

 cattle with the greatest safety. But if a stranger, and par- 

 ticularly a European, should use the same freedom, without 

 being accompanied with one of the Hottentots, his life would 

 -be in imminent danger. 



Notwithstanding the many surprising actions which different 

 quadrupeds may be taught to perform, none of them, though 

 their organs are much more perfect than those of birds, have 

 ever been able to pronounce articulate sounds. But many 

 birds, without much instruction, learn to pronounce words 

 and even sentences. In parrots, the distinguishing accuracy 

 of their ear, the acuteness of their attention, and their strong 

 instinctive propensity to imitate sounds of every kind, have 

 justly procured them universal admiration. When in a state 

 of domestication, the parrot learns to pronounce the common 

 23 



