In
Some Points Instinct Is Still Retained Among Savages.
It is related
that in the celebrated voyage of the French navigator, Bougainville,
a young lady, who had assumed
The male attire, performed all the hard
duties incident to the calling of a common sailor; and, even as
servant to the geologist, carried a bag of stones and specimens over
hills and dales without a complaint, and without having her sex
suspected by her associates; but on landing among the savages of one
of the South Sea Islands, she was instantly recognized as a female.
They began to show their impressions in a way that compelled her to
confess her sex, and throw herself on the protection of the
commander, which of course was granted. In like manner, the earlier
portions of the human family may have had their instincts as to
plants more highly developed than any of their descendants - if indeed
much more knowledge than we usually suppose be not the effect of
direct revelation from above.
The Mukuru-Madse has a deep rocky bed. The water is generally about
four feet deep, and fifteen or twenty yards broad. Before reaching
it, we passed five or six gullies; but beyond it the country, for two
or three miles from the river, was comparatively smooth. The long
grass was overrunning all the native paths, and one species (sanu),
which has a sharp barbed seed a quarter of an inch in length, enters
every pore of woollen clothing and highly irritates the skin.
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