.

"The explorer should have cached his shirt and other memorials at the
foot of the Pole, built a cairn upon it, and shook cayenne pepper on
top of all to keep bears away--but it is useless to advise explorers."

The ancient hereupon made a significant gesture to the curate, who
misinterpreted it, and brought more than he had required. He was very
much perturbed, for, as he explained, he had forgotten to bring his
purse with him. He consented, however, to use my purse for his needs,
and, after paying his shot, he, in an abstracted and melancholy manner,
put the change in his trouser pocket. There was only one shilling in
the purse so I did not like to draw his attention to the mistake. He
very genially returned my purse, and said he had conceived a great
liking for me.

XI

When the old gentleman came in I noticed at once that he was out of
humour. He had a large scar on his chin, and three pieces of newspaper
on his cheeks. He discharged the contents of my tobacco pouch into a
pipe which had a holding capacity of one and a half ounces, and then he
became more cheerful--

"I dislike extremely," said he, "the impertinent interference with
nature which men are nowadays guilty of. Not content with clamping our
feet in leathern boxes, our legs in cloth cylinders, our trunks in a
variety of wrappings of complex inutility, and then inserting our heads
into monstrous felt pots, we even approach ourselves more minutely and
scrape the very hair from our faces which nature has sown there for
purposes of ornament and protection; with the result, that it is
difficult for a short-sighted person to distinguish rapidly the sex of
the people with whom he comes in contact saving by a minute and tedious
examination of their clothing.

"This habit of shaving is one which is entirely confined to man. It is
the one particular habit that he holds apart from all other animals,
and, indeed, it is not an accomplishment upon which he need pride
himself, for in parting with his beard he has sacrificed the only
pleasant-looking portion of his face.

"It could easily be proved that hair and innocence have a subtle
relationship. No very hairy person is really vicious, as witness the
caterpillar, of whom I have not heard that he ever bit any one: while,
on the other hand, the frog, who is born bald, would doubtless be very
savage were it not for the fact that nature has benevolently curtailed
his teeth. Fishes, also, an uncleanly race, an