CHARACTERISTICS AND TEMPERAMENT 51 



That lie is stupid is undeniable, and though I will stupidity 

 not go so far as to say that he has no instinct, I main- 

 tain that this quality is certainly not well developed in 

 him, and that centuries of assiduous drudgery have 

 dulled, if not extinguished it. It may burst forth at 

 times at all events, he is credited with showing it on 

 occasions yet from amid the memories of the past 

 I can personally recall but few instances that came 

 either under my own observation or within my know- 

 ledge. It is extremely difficult to get him out of the 

 groove the force of habit is so strong within him. Try 

 and coax him to do something out of the beaten track, 

 and you might as well attempt to stem the mighty tor- 

 rent of the Mle. To gain your object you must drive 

 him, teach him you never will. He is a willing enough 

 machine, that you can do anything with or take any- 

 where, but he is only a machine, and must be guided. 



His stupidity is shown in various ways, but in none Want of 



. discrimi- 



so strongly as in his want oi judgment or discrimma- nation 

 tion in selecting proper herbs to graze upon. By 

 means of his strong olfactory nerves he is reputed to 

 detect poisonous herbs and shrubs and discriminate 

 between them, but such has not been my experience. 

 He requires to be taken to suitable grazing grounds, 

 and if left to himself will not find them out. He is not 

 an adventurous or inquisitive beast. Thousands of 

 years of slavish domestication have driven it all out of 

 him, and if the herbage is scanty and poor he will 

 not strike out for fresh pastures. Overwork in our ex- 

 peditions may in a measure account for this, but in 

 reality it arises, I think, from sheer stupidity and nothing 

 else 



E 2 



