AXIMAL RENEGADES. 



177 



earth and then mock the leanness of virtuous liberals ? 

 " La mort sans phrase /" 



Besides, dogs do not like to be interrupted in their 

 meals, and a carcass-feast makes them especially touchy. 

 I believe they are ashamed to be caught in an act of 

 that sort; they seem to feel that there is something de- 

 grading about it. Carrion-eating is always more or less 

 a last resort of famine : well-to-do quadrupeds leave such 

 things to the maw-worms. The chief carrion-eaters are 

 desert-dwellers, animals in peduced circumstances; for 

 I am sure that even hyenas and jackals prefer fresh meat 

 if they can get it. Vultures, on the other hand, have 

 a natural preference for their ugly diet : I once caged a 

 young galinasso, or Mexican king-vulture, and convinced 

 myself that his cadaverous predilections were incurable. 

 During my incidental absence he once remained a week 

 without food or drink, and when I came back, having 

 nothing else on hand, I gave him a young chicken, two 

 handfuls of bread-crumbs, and a bowlful of water. He 

 emptied the bowl to the last drop before night, but went 

 to sleep without having harmed the chicken. They 

 were together for the next four days, during which time 

 the gallina ate all the bread, while the galinasso starved 

 heroically; and when I killed the chicken he waited 

 another twenty-four hours before he touched it. 



The history of communistic insurrections shows that 

 the chief wrath of the rebels is apt to explode against 

 the tools of tyranny, while the sovereign can generally 



