42 
NATURES APPEAL. 
existence the instincts of the wild man ; instincts which prompt 
him to hunt, to kill, to fight, to keep animals, to love desert 
and wild places, and so forth. And I maintain that these instincts 
are the forerunners, and indeed are part and parcel of that love 
for Nature which is the chief factor in the making- of great 
naturalists, and is, when the sense of beauty and reason are added, 
one of the highest of all the passions. I have spoken of the effects 
of animals upon such as have this instinct. I remember, vividly, 
the extraordinary effect the sight of a weasel had upon me when a 
small boy ; no other feeling is quite like it. Many, no doubt, of 
those present to-night heard a great bird naturalist speak, a year or 
two ago, at the University, and noticed the rapture with which he 
spoke of a certain owl who used to share his bedroom with him. 
He also made a remark which struck me ; he said that it was im- 
possible for anyone to be so happy as he had been watching birds 
in woods and fields near Clifton. I feel sure he was wrong, and 
that there are hundreds of people who experience the same inde- 
scribable pleasure when watching birds and animals ; and do not 
tell me that this is because the naturalist loves birds and animals 
and therefore takes an interest in them. It is that also, but there 
is, I am sure, something much more ingrained in our nature which 
produces these feelings, which, like all instinctive feelings, com- 
pletely baffle description. 
(5) Does the study of primitive races throw any light on the 
matter ? The savage is not the best person to give us information 
on abstruse matters ; but we can find out something of his attitude 
towards Nature. This attitude is certainly one of awe and wonder, 
often of terror, and mixed with these emotions is, no doubt, the 
instinctive pleasure that any wild creature finds in that which 
affords him the means of obtaining food, of feeling pleasant warmth, 
the refreshing influence of rain, and so forth. Whether an ordinary 
savage admires Nature, as we do, is a question. Probably not. He 
feels pleasure in it probably, as a wild beast might, without ever 
putting it into any form of language. But if a savage worships 
anything at all, it is the elemental forces of Nature, in which he 
embodies some good or evil spirit or the souls of his departed 
ancestors. 
Longfellow's poem of "Hiawatha" gives no doubt some more 
or less correct idea of the view of Nature taken by the North 
American Indians in their uncorrupted state. Everything is per- 
sonified ; even the larch tree speaks to Hiawatha and promises 
him its root and fibres for the making of his boat. The sacred 
evening star is a bead of wampum on the robes of the Great 
Spirit. But more reliable sources are at our disposal. In Sir 
Harry Johnston's book on the Uganda Protectorate there is a 
great deal of interesting information germane to our subject. 
Amongst most of the Uganda tribes ancestor-worship is practised. 
The spirits of departed chiefs (never the spirits of women, I regret 
to say) become in some way part of the forces of Nature (p. 752) 
and haunt trees and rivers, &c. Some African tribes dimly 
recognize a supreme God or Gods ; and it is interesting to note 
