248 
Pliny's natueal history. 
[Book VIII. 
dashing them against a tree, and in this manner pay their 
ransom. 
CHAP. 5. (4.) THE INSTINCT OF WILD ANIMALS IN PEECEIVING 
DANGER . 
It is a wonderful thing, that most animals are aware why 
it is that they are sought after, and what it is, that, under all 
circumstances, they have to guard against. When an elephant 
happens to meet a man in the desert, who is merely wandering 
about, the animal, it is said, shows himself both merciful and 
kind, and even points out the way. Eut the very same 
animal, if he meets with the traces of a man,^^ before he meets 
the man himself, trembles in every limb, for fear of an am- 
bush, stops short and scents the wind, looks around him, and 
snorts aloud with rage ; and then, without trampling upon the 
object, digs it up,^^ and passes it to the next one, who again 
passes it to the one that follows, and so on from one to the 
other, till it comes to the very last. The herd then faces 
about, returns, and ranges itself in order of battle ; so strongly 
does the odour, in all cases, attach itself to the human foot- 
step, even though, as is most frequently the case, the foot itself 
is not naked. In the same way, too, the tigress, which is the 
dread of the other wild beasts, and which sees, without 
alarm, the traces even of the elephant itself, is said at once, 
upon seeing the footsteps of man, to carry off her whelps. 
How has the animal acquired this Imowledge ? And where 
has it seen him before, of whom it stands in such dread ? 
Doubt there can be none, that forests such as it haunts are 
but little frequented by man ! It is not to be wondered at, if 
they are astonished at the print of a footstep before unknown ; 
but how should they know that there is anything that they 
ought to dread ? And, what is still more, why should they dread 
even the very sight of man, seeing that they are so far supe- 
21 It is scarcely necessary to remark, that these statements respecting tlie 
sagacity of the elephant in connection with their teeth, are without foun- 
dation. — B. 
22 The word employed is vestigium; it is explained by ^lian to refer to 
the herbage, which has received both the visible impression as well as the 
odour of the foot. — B. 
23 In the case of a footstep, this must mean the ground with which the 
foot has come in contact. 
