62 THE INDUSTRIES OF ANIMALS. 



his qualities none more nearly approximates him to 

 us than his courage. There are no animals, not even 

 the great beasts of prey, who are so brave as Man and 

 the Ape, and who are capable of so much presence of 

 mind. It is perhaps this bravery which, joined to his 

 sociability, has most contributed to assure the supre- 

 macy of the one. As to the other, the road has been 

 barred to him by his better-endowed cousin; he is 

 disappearing before Man, and not before nature or 

 other animals. In thinly-inhabited regions he is still 

 the king. It is generally considered that the Lion is 

 the incarnation of courage, but he is the strongest and , 

 the best armed; there is none before whom he need 

 tremble. In captivity he allows himself to be struck 

 by the tamer, which the most miserable ape would 

 never suffer. The Lion will struggle with extreme 

 energy without calculating the difference of strength 

 between his opponent and himself, and will resist as 

 long as he is able to move. The Ape directs all his 

 courage and presence of mind to order his flight 

 when he has recognised a danger that is insurmount- 

 able. He does not act like those infatuated beasts 

 who lose their head and rush away trembling, in 

 their precipitation paralysing a great part of their 

 resources. A band of apes in flight utilises all 

 obstacles that can be interposed between themselves 

 and the pursuer; they retire without excessive haste 

 and take advantage of the first shelter met with; a 

 female never abandons her young, and if a young one 

 remains behind, and is in danger of being taken, the 

 old males of the troop go back boldly to save it at 

 the peril of their lives. In this connection many 

 heroic facts have been narrated. This animal has too 

 frequently been judged by comparison with ourselves; 



