320 THE TEMPER OF ANIMALS 
a rule, ferocious and ill-tempered, a notion summed 
up in Mr. Burnand’s conclusion in Happy Thoughts , 
that most of the creatures with which he came in 
contact in the country were, “when not dangerous, 
always very uncertain.” The exact contrary would 
be nearer the truth. Animal temper is naturally 
pacific, equable, and mild. Bad temper is the privi- 
lege of more highly organized natures ; and the mild 
resentment of the placable tiger finds its development 
in the apoplectic fury of the mandril and the 
measured malice of mankind. Horace’s suggestion, 
that Prometheus added to the ill-temper of man the 
strength of a mad lion, must be taken literally. The 
general law of good-nature in the animal world makes 
the exceptions all the more remarkable. Quarrelsome 
species appear among a friendly tribe, just as an ill- 
tempered individual does in a kindly species. The 
ruminants are a most peaceful race, yet deer are 
savage, and so is that handsome Indian antelope the 
nilgai. A tame stag is a very dangerous pet, and 
even the beautiful roebuck has been known to kill a 
boy in a wild fit of rage. But the fiercest and most 
vindictive of all, with the exception of the Cape 
buffalo, is the South African gnu, which never loses 
its ill-temper when tamed, and always remains among 
the few dangerous animals which the keepers at the 
Zoo have to deal with. Hardly less ill-tempered are 
the zebras and the wild asses, which suggests that 
human mismanagement is not entirely to blame for 
the occasional ill-temper and obstinacy of mules and 
donkeys. To the ill-tempered species we may add 
