THE SENSE OF DIRECTION 119 



absolutely unexplored. I abandoned the boat and 

 the stream to ascertain if a short cut and ' carry ' 

 might not lead to an unencumbered continuation of 

 navigation, and suddenly came on a stream (the same, 

 of course), running, as it seemed, in a contrary direc- 

 tion. In less time than I could tell it I lost all 

 sense of direction, and though the sun was still 

 several hours high, I could not convince myself that 

 it was not shining out of the north, and that to get 

 back to my boat I must go in the direction contrary 

 to that in which I had left it. ... The agitation 

 which supervened in an instant was little short of 

 insanity." The ordinary course in such an emergency 

 would be to torture the brain with recollection and 

 inferences, and recover the track by an appeal to 

 reason. The traveller, having in his previous wander- 

 ings in the forest acquired the c< sense of direction," 

 did exactly the opposite. " I sat down, covered my 

 eyes, and had still sufficient command of my nerves 

 to wait for will to regain the power over reason ; and 

 when I opened my eyes I had my compass again 

 correctly." 



The sun was shining, so that by abandoning the 

 minor promptings of reason the traveller might still 

 have regained his course by referring to the sun as 

 guide. But the point is that he regained the sense 

 of direction without it. This instance would be 

 peculiarly interesting in any case, because the homing 

 instinct is seldom developed in a civilised man, and 

 more rarely still in one who is educated and able to 

 record his experiences. 



In uncivilised man it is far commoner, and the 



