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Inquiries into Human Faculty
sheep, goats, fowls, etc., which are slaughtered in the temple and then divided among the
‘gods.’ Subsequently during the night they (?the priests) spread themselves about the town,
entering the houses in various quarters in search of further offerings. It is forbidden under
penalty of death to kill, wound, or even strike one of these sacred serpents, or any other of
the same species, and only the priests possess the privilege of taking hold of them, for the
purpose of reinstating them in the temple should they be found elsewhere.”
It would be tedious and unnecessary to adduce more instances of wild
animals being nurtured in the encampments of savages, either as pets or as
sacred animals. It will be found on inquiry that few travellers have failed
altogether to observe them. If we consider the small number of
encampments they severally visited in their line of march, compared with
the vast number that are spread over the whole area, which is or has been
inhabited by rude races, we may obtain some idea of the thousands of
places at which half-unconscious attempts at domestication are being
made in each year. These thousands must themselves be multiplied many
thousandfold, if we endeavour to calculate the number of similar attempts
that have been made since men like ourselves began to inhabit the world.
My argument, strong as it is, admits of being considerably
strengthened by the following consideration: —
The natural inclination of barbarians is often powerfully reinforced by
an enormous demand for captured live animals on the part of their more
civilised neighbours. A desire to create vast hunting-grounds and
menageries and amphitheatrical shows, seems naturally to occur to the
monarchs who preside over early civilisations, and travellers continually
remark that, whenever there is a market for live animals, savages will
supply them in any quantities. The means they employ to catch game for
their daily food readily admits of their taking them alive. Pit-falls, stake-
nets, and springes do not kill. If the savage captures an animal unhurt, and
can make more by selling it alive than dead, he will doubtless do so. He is
well fitted by education to keep a wild animal in captivity. His mode of
pursuing game
