148 MARK TWAIN'S SKETCHES. 



following sentence, which he instantly translated and laid before the scientists, in 

 a tremble, and it uplifted every soul there with exultation .and astonishment: 



" In truth it is believed by many that the lower animals reason and talk together?' 



When the great official report of the expedition appeared, the above sentence 

 bore this comment : 



"Then there are lower animals than Man ! This remarkable passage can mean 

 nothing else. Man himself is extinct, but they may still exist. What can they be ? 

 Where do they inhabit? One's enthusiasm bursts all bounds in the contemplation 

 of the brilliant ifield of discovery and investigation here thrown open to science. 

 We close our labors with the humble prayer that your Majesty will immediately 

 appoint a commission and command it to rest not nor spare expense until the search 

 for this hitherto unsuspected race of the creatures of God shall be crowned with 

 success." 



The expedition then journeyed homeward after its long absence and its faithful 

 endeavors, and was received with a mighty ovation by the whole grateful country. 



There were vulgar, ignorant carpers, of course, jis there always are and always 

 will be ; and naturally one of these was the obscene Tumble-Bug. He said that all 

 he had learned by his travels was that science only needed a spoonful of supposi- 

 tion to build a mountain of demonstrated fact out of; and that for the future he 

 meant to be content with the knowledge that nature had made free to all creatures 

 and not go prying into the august secrets of the Deity. 



