ANIMALS OF THK 



way carnivorous. He cannot speak, although 

 furnished with a greater instinct than any other 

 animal of the brute creation. When the Negroes 

 make a fire in the woods, this animal comes near 

 and warms himself by the blaze. However, he 

 has not skill enough to keep the flame alive by 

 feeding it with fuel. They go together in com- 

 panies ; and if they happen to meet one of the 

 human species, remote from succour, they show 

 him no mercy. They even attack the elephant, 

 which they beat with their clubs, and oblige to 

 leave that part of the forest which they claim as 

 their own. It is impossible to take any of these 

 dreadful creatures alive, for they are so strong 

 that ten men would not be a match for but one 

 of them. None of this kind, therefore, are taken 

 except when very young, and these but rarely, 

 when the female happens to leave them behind ; 

 for in general they keep clung to the breast, and 

 adhere both with legs and arms. From the same 

 traveller we learn, that when one of these animals 

 dies, the rest cover the body with a quantity of 

 leaves and branches. They sometimes also show 

 mercy to the human kind. A Negro boy, that 

 was taken by one of these, and carried into the 

 woods, continued there a whole year, without 

 receiving any injury.* From another traveller 

 we learn, that these animals often attempt to 

 surprise the female Negroes as they go into the 

 woods, and frequently keep them against their 

 wills for the pleasure of their company ; feeding 



* Le Brossc, as quoted by Buffon, vol. xxviii. p, 70, 



