THE GERBUA. 25 



may take refuge in its native deserts from our pursuits, but not froiw 

 our curiosity. 



But it is very different with the inferior ranks of the creation ; the 

 classes of birds, of fishes, and of insects, are all much more numerous, 

 and more incompletely known. The quadruped is possessed of no 

 arts of escaping, which we are not able to overcome ; but the bird 

 removes itself by its swiftness, the fishes find protection in their na- 

 tive element, and insects are secured in their minuteness, numbers, 

 and variety. Of all these, therefore, we have b:u a very inadequate 

 catalogue ; and though the list be already very large, yet every hour 

 is adding to its extent. 



In fact, all knowledge is pleasant only as the object of it contributes 

 to render man happy ; and the services of quadrupeds being so very 

 necessary to him in every situation, he is particularly interested io 

 their history : without their aid, what a wretched and forlorn creaturo 

 would he have been ! the principal part of his food, his clothing, and 

 his amusements, are derived wholly from them ; and he may be con- 

 sidered as a great lord, sometimes cherishing his humble dependents, 

 and sometimes terrifying the refractory, to contribute to his dolight 

 and conveniences. 



The horse and the ass, the elephant, the camel, the Lima, and rein- 

 deer, contribute to ease his fatigues, and to give him that swiftness 

 which he wants from nature. . By their assistance, he changes place 

 without labour ; he attains health without weariness ; his pride is en- 

 larged by the elegance of equipage, and other animals are pursued 

 with a certainty of success. It were happy indeed for man, if, while 

 converting these quadrupeds to his own benefit, he had not turned 

 them to the destruction of his fellow-creatures ; he has employed some 

 of them for the purposes of war, and they have conformed to his 

 noxious ambition with but too fatal an obedience. 



The cow, the sheep, the deer, and all their varieties, are necessary 

 to him, though in a different manner. Their flesh makes the princi 

 pal luxuries of his table, and their wool or skins the chief ornament 

 of his person. Even those nations that are forbid to touch any thing 

 that has life, cannot wholly dispense with their assistance. The milk 

 of these animals makes a principal part of the food of every country, 

 and often repairs those constitutions that have been broken by disease 

 or intemperance. 



The dog, the cat, and the ferret, may be considered as having de- 

 serted from their fellow quadrupeds, to list themselves under the con- 

 duct and protection of man. At his command, they exert all their 

 services against such animals as they are capable of destroying, and 

 follow them into places where he himself wants abilities to pursue. 



As there is thus a numerous tribe, that he has taken into protection, 

 and that supplies his necessities and amusements, so there is also a 

 still more numerous one, that wages an unequal combat against him, 

 and thus call forth his courage and his industry. Were it not for the 

 Uon, the tiger, the panther, the rhinoceros, and the bear, he would 

 scarce know his own powers, and the superiority of human art over 

 brutal fierceness. These serve to excite, and put his noble passions 

 into motion. He attacks them in their retreat, faces them with reso- 



VOL. in. c 



