796 THE DESCENT OF MAN 



Struggle. Otherwise he would sink into indolence, and the 

 more gifted men would not be more successful in the battle 

 of life than the less gifted. Hence our natural rate of in- 

 crease, though leading to many and obvious evils, must 

 not be greatly diminished by any means. There should 

 be open competition for all men; and the most able should 

 not be prevented by laws or customs from succeeding best 

 and rearing the largest number of offspring. Important as 

 the struggle for existence has been, and even still is, yet, 

 as far. as the highest part of man's nature is concerned, there 

 are other agencies more important. For the moral quali- 

 ties are advanced, either directly or indirectly, much more 

 through the effects of habit, the reasoning powers, instruc- 

 tion, religion, etc., than through natural selection; though 

 to this latter agency may be safely attributed the social in.- 

 stincts which afforded the basis for the development of the 

 moral sense. 



The main conclusion arrived at in this work, namely, 

 that man is descended from some lowly organized form, 

 will, I regret to thank, be highly distasteful to many. But 

 there can hardly be a doubt that we are descended from 

 barbarians. The astonishment which I felt on first seeing 

 a party of Fuegians on a wild and broken shore will never 

 be forgotten by me, for the reflection at once rushed into 

 my mind — such were our ancestors. These men were abso- 

 lutely naked and bedaubed with paint, their long hair was 

 tangled, their mouths frothed with excitement, and their 

 expression was wild, startled, and distrustful. They pos- 

 sessed hardly any arts, and, like wild animals, lived on 

 what they could catch; they had no government, and were 

 merciless to every one not of their own small tribe. He 

 who has seen a savage in his native land will not feel much 

 shame if forced to acknowledge that the blood of some 

 more humble creature flows in his veins. For my own 

 part, I would as soon be descended from that heroic little 

 monkey who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the 



