The Plains of Patagonia. 221 



progressed far in weaving its fine network of re- 

 straining influences over the primitive nature. The 

 network is continually being strengthened in the 

 individual's life, and, in the end he is cased, like 

 the caterpillar, in an impervious cocoon ; only, as 

 we have seen, there are in life miraculous moments 

 when the cocoon suddenly dissolves, or becomes 

 transparent, and he is pei-mitted to see himself in 

 his original nakedness. The delight Avhich children 

 experience on entering woods and other wild places 

 is very keen ; and this feeling, although it diminishes 

 as we advance in life, remains 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 delight, 

 and was strongly tempted to seize and devour 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- 



