110 SAVAGE SURVIVALS 



only as he was true to them. Loyalty, therefore, 

 has been everj^vhere among primitive peoples one 

 of the highest virtues. Many instances are re- 

 corded of savages deliberately sacrificing their 

 lives as prisoners rather than betray their com- 

 rades. 



Since it is not possible to do those things that 

 are necessary for the welfare of the tribe without 

 endurance, this quality has at all times been 'high- 

 ly valued by savages. The American Indian vol- 

 untarily submits to the most painful tortures 

 without a groan in order to demonstrate his grit 

 and fortitude. 



In the rough, semi-frontier world in which I 

 lived as a boy, many of the ideals prevailing were 

 essentially those of savages. A common test of 

 manhood among us boys was the ability to endure 

 having a piece of skin pinched out of the knuckle 

 of the hand with the sharp finger nails. And a 

 boy who could show a whole set of pinched-out 

 knuckles was always looked up to by the other 

 boys as a sort of hero. We all wanted to be ' ' on 

 his side." 



Man's social nature was probably inherited 

 from his ape-like ancestors, who commonly live 

 together in loose bands or tribes. The social na- 

 ture means the tendency in living beings to flow 

 together, and live together, and help each other in 

 the struggle for life. Social animals have an af- 

 finity for each other. They are uneasy and in- 



