MEMOIR OF DAUBENTON. 
193 
of the duty apparently secondary ; to he in some degree 
as a.n eye and a hand to him ; and he found such an 
individual in the companion of his youthful sports, 
Daubenton. 
He indeed found in him more than he sought for, 
more even than he thought necessary for his purpose ; 
and it is not perhaps in the department in which he 
asked for his assistance, that Daubenton was most use- 
ful to him. 
In fact, it may he affirmed, that there never was a 
connection more appropriate. Both in regard to physical 
and moral qualifications, there existed between the two 
friends that perfect contrast which one of our most 
amiable writers assures us is necessary to render a union 
lasting; and each of them seemed to have received 
precisely those qualities fitted to temper those of' the 
other by their opposition. 
Buffon, of a vigorous frame and imposing appearance, 
of an imperious disposition, and ardent in all he under- 
took, seemed to have divined the truth and not to have 
observed it. His imagination continually placed itself 
between nature and himself, and his eloquence seemed 
to exercise itself against his reason, before having en- 
deavoured to sway that of others. 
Daubenton, of a frail temperament and mild look, 
and a moderation which he owed to Nature as much as 
to his own wisdom, conducted his researches with the 
most scrupulous circumspection. He believed nothing, 
he affirmed nothing, but what he had seen and touched. 
