THE PLAINS OF PATAGONIA 215 



as we have seen, there are in life miraculous mo- 

 ments when the cocoon suddenly dissolves, or be- 

 comes transparent, and he is permitted to see him- 

 self in his original nakedness. The delight which 

 children experience on entering woods and other 

 wild places is very keen; and this feeling, al- 

 though it diminishes as we advance in life, re- 

 mains with us to the last. Equally great is their 

 delight at finding wild fruits, honey, and other 

 natural food; and even when not hungry they 

 will devour it with strange zest. They will gladly 

 feast on sour, acrid fruits, which at table, and 

 picked in the garden, would only excite disgust. 

 This instinctive seeking for food, and the delight 

 experienced in finding it, occasionally comes up 

 in very unexpected and surprising ways. "As 

 I came through the wood," says Thoreau, "I 

 caught a glimpse of a woodchuck stealing across 

 my path, and felt a strange thrill of savage de- 

 light, and was strongly tempted to seize and de- 

 vour him raw ; not that I was hungry then, except 

 for the wildness which he represented." 



In almost all cases those in which danger is en- 

 countered and rage experienced being exceptions 

 the return to an instinctive or primitive state 

 of mind is accompanied by this feeling of elation, 

 which, in the very young, rises to an intense glad- 

 ness, and sometimes makes them mad with joy, 

 like animals newly escaped from captivity. And, 

 for a similar reason, the civilized life is one of 

 continual repression, although it may not seem 



