MAN—HUNTER AND WARRIORANCIENT AND MODERN.

Forest and Bird, Issue 50, 1 November 1938, Page 8

MAN—HUNTER AND WARRIOR—ANCIENT AND MODERN.

man’s sole objective in life being the purpose of seeing how many beautiful living things he can destroy or maim! Some of the men and women that are part of human society are very proud of this primordial urge to slay, so much so that they have themselves photographed along with the defenceless creatures that they have destroyed, and have the pictures appear in the illustrated papers and magazines, thus proclaiming to the world their vanity and their primordial lust to kill and destroy. It has been said that civilization is a train. It drags along with it a great many things that rightfully belong to the past not only vestigial instincts, but also vestigial customs, beliefs and institutions. The gladiatorial contests of ancient Rome, the bear-baiting of four centu-

ries ago, the cock-fighting of fifty years ago, have passed away on account of the growth of human sympathy. In America, and in many countries, pigeon and live bird trap shooting stands condemned, and Continental bull-fight-ing is decaying. Let us hope the shooting of birds and the taking of our big game fish, for the sole purpose of giving pleasure, will shortly give way to a public humanitarian spirit that will condemn any practice or sport that entails suffering to the lower animals. In the words of Howard Moore, “It is of vast advantage to us to be able to recognise these vestigial features in order that we may more skilfully disentangle ourselves from them, and, at the same time, definitely turn our backs on them in our efforts to advance to a better world.”