, was their strange
disposition to nastiness and dirt; whereas there appears to be a natural
love of cleanliness in all other animals." As to the two former
accusations, I was glad to let them pass without any reply, because I had
not a word to offer upon them in defence of my species, which otherwise I
certainly had done from my own inclinations. But I could have easily
vindicated humankind from the imputation of singularity upon the last
article, if there had been any swine in that country (as unluckily for me
there were not), which, although it may be a sweeter quadruped than a
_Yahoo_, cannot, I humbly conceive, in justice, pretend to more
cleanliness; and so his honour himself must have owned, if he had seen
their filthy way of feeding, and their custom of wallowing and sleeping
in the mud.

My master likewise mentioned another quality which his servants had
discovered in several Yahoos, and to him was wholly unaccountable. He
said, "a fancy would sometimes take a _Yahoo_ to retire into a corner, to
lie down, and howl, and groan, and spurn away all that came near him,
although he were young and fat, wanted neither food nor water, nor did
the servant imagine what could possibly ail him. And the only remedy
they found was, to set him to hard work, after which he would infallibly
come to himself." To this I was silent out of partiality to my own kind;
yet here I could plainly discover the true seeds of spleen, which only
seizes on the lazy, the luxurious, and the rich; who, if they were forced
to undergo the same regimen, I would undertake for the cure.

His honour had further observed, "that a female _Yahoo_ would often stand
behind a bank or a bush, to gaze on the young males passing by, and then
appear, and hide, using many antic gestures and grimaces, at which time
it was observed that she had a most offensive smell; and when any of the
males advanced, would slowly retire, looking often back, and with a
counterfeit show of fear, run off into some convenient place, where she
knew the male would follow her.

"At other times, if a female stranger came among them, three or four of
her own sex would get about her, and stare, and chatter, and grin, and
smell her all over; and then turn off with gestures, that seemed to
express contempt and disdain."

Perhaps my master might refine a little in these speculations, which he
had drawn from what he observed himself, or had been told him by others;
however, I could n