154 REASON AND INSTINCT 



eluded. I fly wildly, madly, with the last efforts of 

 expiring strength, up the hill-side, where a savage on 

 horse-back, standing resolutely in my path, forbids 

 escape in that direction. The yelling savages in advance 

 having lost my trail, wheel quickly round, and in another 

 moment I am encircled by the returning band, all thirsting 

 for my blood. Alas ! poor pussy ! one piercing scream is 

 heard above the yells of her inveterate pursuers as she 

 yields her last parting gasp. 



The fox dies fighting with his foes. No scream or cry 

 escapes him ; and with fangs fixed firmly in the flesh of 

 the hound which first assails him, his hold relaxes only 

 with his latest breath. The wild stag contends fiercely 

 with horn and hoof — raking, goring, and trampling on his 

 pursuers, until overpowered by numbers. But the sole 

 defence of the timid hare lies in her speed ; that over- 

 matched or worn out, she falls a helpless prey into the 

 jaws of her enemies. We read of warlocks and witches 

 in the shape of hares, and truly natural instinct has 

 supplied them with an almost reasoning power in the 

 extraordinary efforts they sometimes make to escape 

 pursuit. 



It is as nice a point to determine where instinct ceases 

 and reasoning commences, with the brute creation, as to 

 mark out the exact limits to which animal nature extends 

 before verging into the vegetable. It has often struck 

 me that the sea anemone partakes of both natures ; its 

 horns, which expand like a snail's in its natural element, 

 immediately contract on being touched by the hand of 

 man, and if severed rudely from its briny rock it fades and 

 dies. 



By instinct birds are taught to build nests, fishes to 

 seek spawning streams, and animals of every kind to 



