132 WHAT DOES MAN LIVE UPON? 



whatever." This seems a very presumptuous speech to the 

 Theologian ; he reminds us angrily : " Man, bethink thyself 

 of thine end ; from dust thou earnest, and to dust must 

 again return." " What nonsense !" cries the Naturalist 

 with a laugh ; " that were a strange metamorphosis of 

 matter ! Out of air we were created, and at our dissolu- 

 tion we shall return unto it." This vexes the moralist, 

 and he thinks that the reproachful term of " windy 

 boaster" is once more to be proposed as the general title 

 of honour of mankind. The Naturalist now pauses. At 

 bottom it is by no means his wish to affront all these good 

 gentlemen. However, the paradox has been uttered, and 

 he must see how he can make it good. 



What do men really live upon ? The answers will be 

 various enough. The Gaucho who in the wide Pampas 

 of Buenos Ayres, managing his half-wild horse with incre- 

 dible dexterity, throws the lasso or bolas to catch the 

 Ostrich, the Guanaco, or the Wild-bull, consumes daily 

 from ten to twelve pounds of meat, and regards it as a 

 high feast-day, when in any hacienda he gains a variety 

 in the shape of a morsel of pumpkin. The word bread 

 does not exist in his vocabulary. The Irishman, on the 

 other hand, regales himself in careless mirth on his 

 " potatoes and point," after a day of painful labour he 

 who cannot help making a joke even of the name he gives 

 to his scanty meal. Meat is a strange idea to him, and he 

 is happy indeed, if four times a year he can add a herring 

 to season the mealy tubers. The hunter of the Prairies 

 lays low the Buffalo with sure bullet ; and its juicy, fat- 

 streaked hump, roasted between two hot stones, is to him 

 the greatest of delicacies. Meanwhile, the industrious 

 Chinese carries to market his carefully fattened Rats, deli- 

 cately arranged upon white sticks, certain to find a good 



