galton.org 153
Early Sentiments
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firm believers in the joys of Mahomet’s Paradise, would not be more
numerous than among the Zulus, who have no belief in any paradise at all,
but are influenced by martial honour and patriotism. There is an Oriental
phrase, as I have been told, that the fear of the inevitable death is a
European malady. Approach of Terror at any object is quickly taught if it
is taught consistently, whether the terror be reasonable or not. There are
few more stupid creatures than fish, but they notoriously soon learn to be
frightened at any newly-introduced method of capture, say by an artificial
fly, which, at first their comrades took greedily. Some one fish may have
seen others caught, and have learned to take fright at the fly. Whenever he
saw it again he would betray his terror by some instinctive gesture, which
would be seen and understood by others, and so instruction in distrusting
the fly appears to spread.
All gregarious animals are extremely quick at learning terrors from one
another. It is a condition of their existence that they should do so, as was
explained at length in a previous chapter. Their safety lies in mutual
intelligence and support. When most of them are browsing a few are
always watching, and at the least signal of alarm the whole herd takes
fright simultaneously. Gregarious animals are quickly alive to their
mutual signals; it is beautiful to watch great flocks of birds as they wheel
in their flight and suddenly show the flash of all their wings against the
sky, as they simultaneously and suddenly change their direction.
Much of the tameness or wildness of an animal’s character is probably
due to the placidity or to the frequent starts of alarm of the mother while
she was rearing it. I was greatly struck with some evidence I happened to
meet with, of the pervading atmosphere of alarm and suspicion in which
the children of criminal parents are brought up, and which, in combination
with their inherited disposition, makes them, in the opinion of many
observers, so different to other children. The evidence of which I speak
lay in the tone of letters sent by criminal parents to their children, who
were inmates of the Princess Mary Village Homes, from which I had the
opportunity, thanks to the kindness
