ANIMAL COURAGE 67 



nose, and held it down until the bison brought its 

 feet forward and stamped the dog to death, without 

 inducing it to relax its hold. It is in the association 

 of man and animal that the nearest approach to human 

 courage is developed, enabling the creature to face 

 what it fears, and conquer natural shrinking by the 

 desire to please or to obey. So recently as the gales 

 of November 1894, an account appeared of two 

 attempts made by a retriever dog to swim to shore 

 with a line from a stranded ship. Very probably 

 neither the object with which he was sent or the 

 the danger was very clearly present to the dog's 

 mind ; but the task imposed must have caused some 

 reluctance, and called for the exhibition of disciplined 

 courage. When the self-sacrifice takes the form of 

 obedience to the notion of duty ; when no one is 

 present to issue a command ; then the act becomes 

 as purely moral as any similarly prompted exhibition 

 of human courage. The story of the dog * Gelert,' 

 which defended its master's infant from the wolf 

 when the house was empty, could probably be 

 supported by many instances in which the motive 

 was similar, though the circumstances were less 

 picturesque than those with which the legend has 

 invested the death of the dog of Wales. 



