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 AND OP^ 
 SHI 
 
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 Vast 
 
 HE 
 
 EMBEL 
 
EARTH, SEA and sKY 
 
 OR 
 
 MARVELS 01^ TliH UNIVI'RSE 
 
 A FULL AND ORAIMHC Dl'SCRIl'TIOX OF ALL THAT Ir5 WOXDFK FUI. IN 
 
 KVHliV CONTINENT OF THE (U.OBE, IN THH WORLD OF 
 
 NVATuRS AND TIIL: STARRY II i:AV1:NS. 
 
 COX I'AIXIXC. 
 
 ^h^illing HdVentoe^ on Land and Sea 
 
 RENOV.'XKD DISCOVICRIKS OF TIIK WORLD'S CrRl'.ATIvST ICXl'LORURS 
 
 IN ALL AGES, AND RK.AIARK A15LF PHENOMENA IN 
 
 EVERY REALM OF NATURE. 
 
 EMUUACIXG 
 
 The Strikiiio- Physical Features of the Earth 
 
 THE PECULIAR CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HUMAN RACE, OF AXLNLVLS, BIRDS, 
 IXSECTS, EIC, INCLUDlXi; A VINID DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans 
 
 AND OF THE POLAR SEAS, THE MONSTERS OF IHE DEEP, HEALTIFl'L bEA 
 
 SHELLS AXD PLANTS, SINOILAR FISHES AND DWELLERS IN IHE 
 
 WORLD OF WATERS, REM \kKALLE OCEAX CURRENTS, ETC. 
 
 -h 
 
 TOOUTHKR WITH THli 
 
 X 
 
 ^^111(121110 plicuoiiu'iia of* tlic ^olac aui( .Sianu ^U!:itcin.: 
 
 TtiE. ^VHOLE COMPRISINO A 
 
 Vast Treasury of all that is Marvelous and Wonderful 
 
 IN THE EARTH, SEA, AIR, AND SKIES. 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY DAVENPORT NORTHROP, D. D. 
 
 Author of "Mat-'eloits Wonders of the Whole World,"' etc., etc. 
 
 EMBELLISHED WITH OVER 300 FINE ENGRAVINGS 
 
 R. A. n. MORROW, 
 
 ST.. jomsr. 
 
Entered according' to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, by 
 
 J. R. JUNES, 
 
 In the Office of the librarian of Congres';, at Wahliington, D. C. 
 
 Wa 
 
 -''■■;l' 
 
i 
 
 ANIMALS OF THE TKOFICS. 
 
 .«! 
 
In the [ 
 
 ume whicl 
 
 tcrtainincr; 
 
 terest resp 
 
 people; re 
 
 vels of na( 
 
 the animal 
 
 A natur; 
 
 sions oi iIk 
 
 tion of Thi 
 
 In the fii 
 
 tries and cl 
 
 fore the ad' 
 
 able delu^rt 
 
 He sees im 
 
 imajj[inary c 
 
 Coniini; ( 
 
 of the crlobe 
 
 on Alps," vv 
 
 and landsli( 
 
 thousands o 
 
 sky, and th( 
 
 relics that i 
 
 creatures art 
 
 The varioi 
 
 h'gioiis rites, 
 
 exploits of hi 
 
 cost to explo 
 
 be seen, the 
 
 terestin.q^ anc( 
 
 ing revelatior 
 
^^^f 
 
 m\ 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Tn the preparatior. <if this wiirk, the object has been to furnish a vol- 
 ume which wouhl m itself form a complete hbraiy of knowledge ami cn- 
 tertainmLiit. Whatever is worth knowin<r, wlnitcver is of abscMbin;^ in- 
 terest respecliiiL,^ the history, manner.^ anti customs of stran<^e ami curious 
 people ; rcspectini:^ the sinG[ular animals of pre-historic times aiid the mar- 
 vels of natural history, including; the curiosities and unique creations of 
 the animal kin'^dom, will here be found. 
 
 A natural ilivision has been made accordin;^^ to the three <^reat divi- 
 sions oi the universe, Earth, Sea, and Skv, and the result is a combina- 
 tion of Three Hooks in one Volume. 
 
 In the first part of the work the reader is conducted through the coun- 
 tries and climes of the whole world. He is even led back to periods be- 
 fore the advent of man. 'I'he ancient world with its vast forests, remark- 
 able delu;^es, strancTe animals and <^iL,Mntic ui)heavals rises before him. 
 He sees immense quadrupeds and birds, more monstrous than any of the 
 imai^inary creatures of old mythology. 
 
 Coming down to a later period the reader visits the famous countries; 
 of the globe, climbs th^ mountain ranges of Asia, stands on " Alps piled 
 on Alps," witnesses burnin'j, volcanoes, j.xtmct craters, terrible avalanches 
 and landslides, moving glaciers, earthquakes that swallow cities with' 
 thousands of clieir mhabitants. the brilliant aurora painted on the northern, 
 sky. and the fatal ravages ol cyclones, and tornadoes. The mar\'(.'lous. 
 relics that are discovered under the microscope, together with living, 
 creatures are computed by tens of thousands to the square inch. 
 
 The various Races of Men. their customs, forms of government and re- 
 hgious rites, human sacrifices and savage wars are fully described. What 
 exploits of heroism, and bravery in the face of danger and death it ha.s 
 cost to explore these realms and reveal their amazing secrets! As may 
 be seen, the book aboimds in strange adventures, startling situations, in- 
 teresting anecdotes, de.scriptions of curious animals and the most fascinat- 
 ing revelations in natural history. 
 
 (iii) 
 
 f:^- 
 
IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In the second part of the volunic the reader is made a vo)-a.;er over the 
 world of waters and an explorer of its wonderful depths. He sees here 
 the vast variety of inhabitants in the briny deep, coni[)risinL,r innumerable 
 species of livin;^ creatures, from the coral insect, building its sini^ular is- 
 lands, up to the huge sea-serpent, that astounding monster an 1 object (if 
 terror. 
 
 He is shown in this Worltl's Atiuarium the lowest forms of life, fantas- 
 tic shrubs, brilliant sponges, bell-shaped jelly-fishes, tlu: hairy medusae, 
 the glutinous hag, the curious star-fish, the electric torpetU), the fishing 
 frog, creatures that wear armor, the sa\'age cuttle-fish the p^'arly nau- 
 tilus, the flv ing-fish, the voracious shark, the singing-fi>h and other mar- 
 velous creatures whose multitude is as the sands of the sea. 
 
 The perils of the deep, celebrated voyages and miraculous escapes, the 
 most terrible shi[)wrecks, the dangers of whaling cruises and the loss of 
 hundreds of lives, the notable feats of tlie diving bell and the deep .sea- 
 dredgings which have revealed miracles of creation in the cavernous 
 depths of the ocean, the venturesome exploits of p.,'arl-fi:5hing : these and 
 niN-riad other things are here placed before the reader in glouing descrip- 
 tions, with elegant illu.strations, the beauty and charm of which are 
 apparent on every page. 
 
 The reader finds that the \-olume docs not end liere, and that he has 
 more worlds to conquer. He has yet to survey the starry universe and 
 stand in awe before the abysses of infinite space, and be dazzled by the 
 armies of light that sweep over the celestial plains. He gazes at Arcturus, 
 Orion and the Pleiades ; at clusters of nebuLx which are found to com- 
 prise countless orbs ; at gigantic Suns, so distant that they are called 
 fixed stars, arrayed, as the astronomer's telescope assures us, in all the 
 gorgeous colors of the rainbow; at Constellations which must have been 
 old when man was young, and at fleets of myriad orbs sailing in the upper 
 deep, led by the I^ords and High Admirals of Creation. He beholds 
 showers of falling meteors, and the amazing flight of comets, " those em- 
 blazoned flags ot L)eit\'." 
 
 Old astrology is likewise scanned, and ancient Superstitions and Gro- 
 tesque Beliefs are described, together with Eclipses, Coronas, Auroras 
 and all Celestial Phenomena. 
 
 Curious OI 
 
 . God wi 
 
 the Eat 
 
 Birds ai 
 
 Species 
 
 Reptile- 
 
 Si.xty F 
 
 Island c 
 
 Walk, L 
 
 Raiiidro 
 
 Being.s— 
 
 Wonde 
 
 PRF 
 
 Astonishing 
 of Repti 
 Skeleton 
 Between 
 Historic 
 The Fan 
 tile Ooli 
 Strange I 
 that couI( 
 Without 
 
 HENRY DAVENPORT NORTHROP 
 
 THE 1 
 
 Nature's Dest 
 Frequenc; 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK I 
 
 THE EARTH. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 ALVRVICLS OK THE AXTEDH.UVLVN WdRED. 
 
 Curious Old Lcijends and Superstitions — A Chinese Quarryinan — A Scandinavian 
 God with liis Sledge- Hammtr — Strange Things Seen by a Sybil — Tiie Crust of 
 the Earth a Museum of Singular Relics— Footprints and Skeletons of Gigantic 
 Birds and I'^our-Footetl Animals — Hnormous Sizes and Uncouth I'ornis — Extinct 
 Species of Animal Li «. -An Inmicnse Fish-Lizard — F.xtraordinay Marine 
 Reptile — A Wing-Mngered Monster — A I'reak of Nature A Fossil Repti.e 
 Sixty Feet Long — The Scaly Hyhcosaurus — Discovery of the Mammoth — An 
 Island of Bones— The I luge Dinotherium - A Bulky Creature that could neither 
 Walk, Leap nor Climb — Natural History Printed on Leaves of Stone— Marks of 
 Raindrops. Trees and Birds on Rocks -Fossil Remains of Myriads of Minute 
 Beings — Layers of Various Kinds of Shells Forming Marble of Great lieauty — 
 Wonders of a Drop of Water Under the Microscope 'J") 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 PRE-HISTORIC MONSTERS OF LAND AND SEA. 
 
 Astonishing Convulsions and Physical Revolutions — Fabulous Traditions — Histories 
 of Reptiles Written in Stone— Gigantic Inhabitants of the Ancient Globe — 
 Skeletons of Extinct Animals found in Rocks — A Winged Monster — Combat 
 Between Enormous Reptiles — 1 he 1 luge Megalosaurus — A Vampire of the Pre- 
 Historic Age — A Creature Curiously Constructed— The Wing-Fingered Bird — 
 The Famous Iguanodon — A Vivid Picture of the Early Ages — Animal Life in 
 the Oolic Period — A Dragon on Wings — The Remarkable Dinotherium — The 
 Strange Hand-Animal— The Glyptoden — The Primeval Armadillo— A Creature 
 that could Swallow an Ox— Megatherium— Animals in Mortal Combat — A Bird 
 Without Wings— Flowers in Stone— Fossil Fishes — Beautiful Shells fiJ- 
 
 CHATPER HI. 
 THE TERRIBLE PHENOMENA OF EARTHQUAKES. 
 
 Nature's Destructive Agencies — Tremendous Forces Pent up Within the Earth — 
 Frequency of Earthquake Shocks — A Country in South America Never QumjI — 
 
 (V) 
 
 
.) 
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 Si-iiis of th.' A:)proachinK Disaster— A Part of our own C'Uintry Sunk by a 
 Convulsiuii— Tlie Great Karthquakc of Calabria— Hum. in 15ein;^'S Tosse<I in 
 the Air— Heavy Objects Wiiirling About— Farms Chanj;!!!},' PI ices -Jamaica 
 \'isitetl -i)estructi< n of the City of Lisbon— Tiie S' a Rusiiuig Madly on the 
 Shore— Terrii)le Loss of Life— I lorrors Multiplier! - Immense Fissures in the 
 F.arth— Great Calamity at Messina -Statistics Showinjj Ajipalling Destruction of 
 Life— Charltston in Terror— Java and Southern I'.urope Shaken 106 
 
 CIIAPTKR IV. 
 MOUNTAINS OF FIRI-:. 
 
 Terrible Imajjes of Grandeur— Open Mouths of Fire— The Earth a Seething Furnace 
 Inside— A Lii;hthouse in the Eolian Islands- Dull Thunders Shakiiiij Moun- 
 tains—A River of I'^ire Thirty Miles Lonj; — \'iolent Eruption of Maima Loa— A 
 Scene of Appalling Sublimity— Jets of Fire and Smoke a Thousand Feet Hi,L;h — 
 Connection Between Earthcpiakes and Volcanoes — Holl'man's Vivid Description 
 of I'"ier7 Stromboli -A X'olcano Bursting out of the Sea— Grah.im's Island in 
 Conflagration— A Party Caught by a Deluge of Ashes and Hot Stones— Cities 
 Buried IJr.der Floods of Lava from X'esnviiis — Remarkable Asiatic \'olcanoes — 
 A Strange New Zealand Tradition -The Sea Boiling and Driven Back 120 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 ADVFA'TURKS AMONG STRANGE PEOPLE. 
 
 Beautiful Islands Long Veiled in Mystery— The First \'oyage Around the World — 
 Zoological Gardens— Tlie Natives of the Pacific Isles — Variolas Types of Sav- 
 ages—The Remarkable Island of New Zealand— Life Among the Maorics — 
 Weapons of War— A Figthiug Race of Men — An Exciting Episode— Wicked 
 Treachery— Hideous War Dances— Queer Performances of an Old Chief- 
 Children Imitating the Art of War— Savage Cannibalism — Tragic Death of a 
 Blind Queen— A Chief in War Costume— Witches and Witchcraft— A Native 
 Priest — Huge Wooden Idols — The Sandwich Islands— Beauty of the Women — 
 Expert Swimmers — Extraordinary Feats of Surf Swimining— The Dagger that 
 Killed Captain Cook— A Splendid Race of Savages— Kamehameha Catching 
 Spears — The Manjuesans— Elegant Tattooing— A Chief Decorated from Head 
 to Foot — The Puncturing Needle 143 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 WILD TRIBES AND THEIR CURIOUS CUSTOMS. 
 
 A Remarkable Uncivilized Nation in South America— Description of the Arancan- 
 ians — A Curious Method of Sliaving — A Hairy Upper Lip Thought to be Highly 
 Improper— Disputes Sjtlled by Pulling Hair— Women who Paint their Faces- 
 Savages who Insist on Eti(iuette--Horses Superbly Decorated — Singular Saddle 
 and Stirrups— Marriage Customs— An Exciting Elopement— A Furious Com- 
 t)at— Export Horse-back Riders— Using the Lasso— Dangerous Adventure with 
 a Wild Bull — The Animal in the Toils— Disgusting Cannibalism — Preferring 
 Human Flesh to Pork— Old "Turtle Pond "—Savage Atrocity— A Fijian 
 Legend —The Fijian Is'ander's Canoe —An Ingenious Contrivance— Expert 
 
 
f 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 VII 
 
 Navigation — Natives of Romeo — Dyak Tirates — Small Men of Great Strens;th — 
 Extraordinary rhysical I-ndurance — American Indians— A Hotly l"itiuest>i, 
 Ball Game — An Old Arab Hunter — Capiurinjj a Hi|ipopf)tamus— The old 
 "River Kinj; " in his Glory — A Strnssj'e Against Udds— HariiiK of th" Nn 
 lives IT! 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CURIOSITIES OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
 
 Wonderful Revelations in Natural Hi.story — Vast Multitudes of Living Creatures — 
 Earth, Air and Water the Home of Life — Colossal Monsters of Forest and Jun- 
 gle—The Towering GirafTe— Ludicrous Movements — .\ Heautiful Creature— 
 I'ower of .Sc'lf Defense — The (iiraft'e in the(Jld Roiuaii Circus— A .Swift Chase 
 and Capture - The Striped Zebra— The Most Beiutiful of (J ladrupetls— Tlu' 
 King of Portugal and !ns l-'our Zebras — A Creature H.ird to be Tamed — Animal 
 Sacrifices in Eastern Countries — The I'onderous Rhinoceros - .Made to l'i<;lit 
 in the Roman Colosseum— A Monster Almost Iron-Plated — H aunt < of the Clumsy 
 Beast — Hunting tlie Rhinoceros— Fatal Stroke with a Sword -.Story of a Terri- 
 ble Encounter — The Voracious Crocodile— Killed at Rom in Games — Arabs 
 Wounded by Crocodiles — A IViendly Bird— The Attack witli a l)a^;ger — The 
 Famous Gavial of India — A Reptile on Wings— The Flying Frog — A Reptile 
 with Exquisite Colors 1!)3 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 WILD ANIMALS OF THE FORICST AND JUNCiLlv 
 
 Old Classic Tales Concerning the Lion — His Majesty Once a Native of Europe — 
 Leaping the Hedge Into the Trap— Captured by .Stratagem— liour.daries of the 
 Lion's King^'om — A Human Head in a Lion's Mouth— A Roar Like the Sound 
 of an Earthquake — Alarm of the Inhabitants of P ain and I'orest— Massive 
 Muscles and Immense Shoulders— A Singular Encounter — .Shocking Scene — A 
 Heart-Rending Cry for Help — Brute AtTection- The Sailor and Baboon— Living 
 stone's Adventure with a Lion— The Royal Tiger — Tamed for a Pet — Dreidful 
 Ferocity— .A. Guide Killed by a Blow— E.xciting Episodes in Tigtr Hunting- 
 Carrying Off a Buffalo—Savage Courts Entertained by Brutal Si^ort— ICIephaiits 
 Hunting the Tiger — The American Black Bear— The Labiated Bear — The Beat's 
 Song — Ludicrous Aniics — The Celebrated " Martin " — The Gigantic Hipnopota- 
 mus — Description of the Animal — Arrival of a River-Horse in Europe — Strange 
 Actions and Crowds of Curious Spectators 217 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 REMARKABLE TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE. 
 
 The .American Puma— Killing Prey for the Sake of Killing — Two Hunters in the- 
 Citskills — A .Sportsman's Shocking Death — Singular Encounter with a Puma — 
 Power of Gentleness upon the Brute Creation — The Great Grizzly Bear — A 
 Clumsy Creature— Blind Bears Regaining Sight — The Fam uis Jungle Bear — 
 Claws of Uniijue Constructio;i — Hunter's Ingenious Methods of Capture — How 
 
 I 
 
11 
 
 vm CONTENTS. 
 
 the "Jungler" Acts ia Captivi.y— The I5ear's Song— The Hedgehog— A Prickly 
 Covering— A Long Wniter's Sleep -Tae Hedgehog Proof Against Poison— The 
 Eternal Foe of Serpents— The Brazilian Porcu|nne— A Creature with an Extra- 
 ordinary Armor — Classic Legends Concerning the Porcuijine - An Animal that 
 Lacks Brains— Ci)mnion Porcupinr— Method of Sliowing Anger— A Quadruped 
 , Roiled up li!:e a B Ul -The Armadillo— A Thick Coat of Mail— A Rapid Digger 
 in the F:::artli— A Dom Coveretl lUlI— TumV'Hng Unhurt D nvn a Precipice -A 
 Sense of Wonderful Acuteness— Tiie Scaly Ant-Eater— A Toothless Animal- 
 Scales like those of a [•'ish— Tlie Agile Kangaroo— Curious Pouch for Carrying 
 Ycjung — A Long Leaper — Hard lighters — American Opossum — A Lover o1 
 Barn-yards — Odd Method of Transporting Little Opossums 244 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 WILD SPORTS IN THP: TROPICS. 
 
 The Bulky Elephp.nt -Tale of the Assyrian Queen — Panic and Frightful Carnage — 
 Ivory Palaces — Thrones of Elepliants' Tusks — Elephant Gymnasts — The Mon- 
 ster Frightened by a Horse — Revenge for an In-ult -Droves of (}ame — Passion- 
 ate Cry and Wild Rush — A Situation Apparently Hopeless— At the Mercy of 
 the Infuriated Beist -Exploits of Jan Wildeman — A Frightened S:otsman — 
 Immense Quantities of Ivory — Baldwin Pursued by an Eiephani — Miraculous 
 Escape— lixciting Chase — Goat:^kin Clothing Torn to Shreds — The Rhinoc- 
 eros — Powerful Animal — Hunted widi Elephants— Terrible Weapon of Attack 
 and Defence— Story of a Desperate Fight — Hunting Rhinoceroses with Horses — 
 Strange '' Rliinoceros Birds" — Mad Beast Attacking Hunters — Lucky Shot — 
 " I'^ire-Eating Rhinoceros" — Routing a Camp at Night— Horse Saved by a 
 Bullet — Sudden Up et of a Wagon--Helping the Young to Escape--Vast Size 
 of the Hippopotamu-- — Anger Easily Aroused — Manner of Himtingthe River- 
 Horse — Hiding Ui.der Water — Cumming's Adventure with a Hippo — Man and 
 Beast Splashing in the Water Together— Unique Surgical Operation — Steering 
 the Huge Creature Ashore — Boat Smashed by a Sea-Cow — Snatched from 
 Devouring Jaws- Crocodiles Startled from Slumber — Dangers of Gorilla Hunt- 
 ing — I'ierce Aspect of the Gorilla — Amazing Power of the "Wild Man"- Ele- 
 phants Routed by Gorillas— Tiie Fleet Ostrich — Modes of Capturing the "Flying 
 Camel" — Hunters' Disguise — A Flying Run— Baldwin and Andersson's Adven- 
 tures — Concern of the Old Birds for their Young L'64 
 
 u 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 SIGHTS IN THE WORLD'S MENAGERIE. 
 
 dan in tlie Jaws of the Lion— Meeting the Great Beast — Death from the Stroke < f 
 a Paw— Jacob Bok's Adventure — Lion's Gratitude — Magnanimity of the King 
 of Beasis— Shaking Mane and Lashing Tail — Tremendous Strength — Narrative 
 of Brehm — .Spectral Lemur— A Creature with Singular Eyes and Claws— Fine 
 TreeClitnbers -The I5abiroussa — Quadruple Tusks— A Restless and Ferocious 
 P>east— White-Lipped Peccary — Plucky Fighters— Wart-Hog— A Dangerous 
 Brute— Invader of Cultivated Fields— Expert Swimmer — Adventure of Captain 
 Harris — The Lithe Panther— Supple Muscles of Great Strength— Sudden Spring- 
 Thirst for Blood— Doctor Brehm's Remarkable Experience — An Old Dog-faced 
 
 f .\ 
 
?' in-' ■ 
 
 , . 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 IX 
 
 Baboon — Dreadful Encounter — Courage of a Malay Captain — The Tipir — An 
 Onmiverous Quadruped — Cousin of the Hippopotamus — A Fortunate Nose — 
 Whistling Tapirs — Tapir Domesticated — The Wallachian Sheep — Ilxtrac^nlinary 
 Horns — Splendid Growth of Wool— Mountain Sheep of Hokliara — Horns 
 of Surprising Size — A Dwelling on High Rocks — Flying l-'ox — Marvelous 
 Memljraiie — L'nitiue Product of the Animal Kingdom — Hanging from I'orest 
 Branches — Arctic Seals — EI .at l"ur — Hunting the Seal — Sea-Elephant— The 
 Walrus — Use of Tusks — Periis of Walrus Hunting 'M)6 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 FOUR HANDKD-ANIMALS. 
 
 The Gorilla — Giant cf the Forest — A Missionary's Explorations and Discoveries — 
 Curiosity of Civilized Nations Awakened — Gorilla Huts — Low Order of Intelli- 
 gence — Enormous Jaws and Physical Strength — The P"ir.;t White Man who Killed 
 a Gorilla — How (iorilias Bury their Dead — Thrilling Adventuresof Du Chaillu — 
 A Savage ComLat — The Orang-Outang — Man-like Ape — Awkward Motions — 
 Great Power of Mimicry — Dreaded Adversary — Laughable Tricks^Oran.i; of tiie 
 Prince of Orange — Esc ape from the Cage — Brute llentleness and Atlectiuu — An 
 O ang on Shipboard— Inveterate Tippler — Ravenous Thieves — Orang's Dc'ath — 
 Guereza Monk, y -l'"Jegant Decoration — Beauty of Color — Monkey (irimaces — 
 Droll Antics— Proboscis Monkey — Ample Dimensions of Nose — Dog-l'aced 
 Baboon — Immense Troops — Prowlers and Plunderers — A Chaplain's .Storj- — 
 Chased by Baboons — Lion Monkey — Irritable Creatures — Hairy Appenda.L;es...3;>2 
 
 ch.\]ti-:r XIII. 
 
 PKCU lAR SPECIES OF BIRDS. 
 
 The World's Favorites— Fairies of the Air— Orchestras on the Wing— Creatures 
 whose Clothing Grows on Tliem — Specimens of Cockatoos — Noisy Fli:.^hts — 
 Easily Tamed .iiid AlTectionate — Tiie Night Swallow — A Fine Streanur — I'eauty 
 of Color — Graceful Movements — Esculent Swallow — The Strangest I'"ood in the 
 World — Remarkable Nests — Sappho Humming Bird — Rainbow Colors Dart- 
 ing Through the Air — Sword Bill — Long Beak — Peregrine Falcon — Ancient 
 "Hawking" — A Bird Trained for the Chase — Combat in the Air — Secretary 
 Bird — A W.irrior with Wings — Death toSnakes— Power of Leg and Foot — Cour- 
 age; tiiat Never Fails — Remarkable 15irds' Nests — Titmousx." — Closing the Door of 
 the Nest— A Watchful Sentinel— Sociable Grossbfaks— Wonderful Nest— A Bird 
 that Sews w ith Thread and Needle — Tailor Bird's Nest— Three-Toeti Wood- 
 pecker — A Creature that Leaves its Mark — Penguins — Wings and Fins Com- 
 bined — "Sitting up Like a Major" — Description by Darwin — Traimng up ^'oung 
 Penguins— The World Renowned Pelican— Mnrvelous Sight — Great Assembly ol 
 Birds — Montgomery's Poetical Tribute to the Pelican 35-1 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE IMPI'JIIAL EAGLE. 
 
 Monarch of Mountain and Forest— Majestic Flights — Gazing at the Sim — Rapa- 
 cious Tyrants — Elevated Nest — Symbol of Roman lunpire — Tribute of Mrs, He- 
 mans to Wounded Eagle— a<\ma/ing Gift of Sight — Seizure of Marie Delex — A 
 
 a:' 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Monster of the Air — Children Carried Away on Wings — Frightful Encounters — 
 A Daring Rescue— Forest Knig on His Crag — Swift Descent —Shrewd Method 
 of Taking Prey — The ]5alc' Eagle — Dimensions of Sea-Eagle — Preying on Oiiad- 
 rupeds— Mated Once for Life — Osprey or l-'i^^h Fagie — Peculiar Foot and Toes — 
 Plunging Down from Vast IleigiUs — Claws of Astonishing Strength — Harpy 
 Eagle — Tenant of Mexico and South Americi — Hard I'ighter— Destroyer ( 
 Animal Life — Sure Aim and I'at.*! Wow — Feathers I'sed for Del;orati^lll^■- 
 Striking Colors of Plumage o7. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CHARMING CRK.VTURKS OF TIIK AIR. 
 
 Beauty of the Bird of Paradise — Strange Guesses—'- A Heavenly Residence "—Fly- 
 ing Against tlie Wind — Metiiod of Catching the Paradise iJird—Kisiirjj Above 
 the Gale — Plumage of Wonderful Elegance — Bird Seen in a Mirror —lastidii. us 
 Creature — Pride of Feathers— Pretty Hedge-Sparrow — (ireat Pains in Building 
 a Nest — Fine Snigers— Nightingale Learning the Hedge-Sparrow's Song— Dis- 
 covery of the Lyre-Bird — Singular Form of Tail — Graceful Appearance — Swift 
 Runner — Sudden Break in the Music — Savi.ges Decorated wiih Superb Feath- 
 ers— Tlie Swift Swallow — Ingenious At.Tial Oars — Long Flights- 1 Extraordinary 
 Migrations — Guesses by Scientific Men — "When the Swallows H' 'Uieward Fly" — 
 Argus Pheasant— Size and Color — A Beauty o^ Simiatra— Plumage Decorated 
 with a Hundred Eyes— Short Life in Captivity—* )ld Birds with G.iy leathers — 
 Story of Crtesus and Solon— "Golden-Flower Fowl" ofCliina—r^ar- Flying Alba- 
 tross Expert Fisher — Nest 15uilt up on the Ground — The Plumul Crane — 
 Milton's Description — Story of William the Conijueror- Habits of Crane l-^am- 
 ily — Ludicrous Vanity of a Crane — Dweller in Tree-Tops 3lil 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 CURIOUS SPECIMENS OF THE FEATHERED TRIP.!-:. 
 
 Tlie Odd-Looking Flamingo— " Bean-Pole " of the Bird World— I'^iery Plumage — 
 Elegant Appearance— Singular Nest— Remarkable Construction ot Jaws— The 
 " Kiwi-Kiwi "—Wingless Creatures— Descendants of the Ancient Dinornis — 
 New Zealand Chiefs Dressed in the Skin of the Apertyx — An Egg that Weighs 
 One fourth as much as the l)ird — Habits of the Apertyx — The Ostrich-Bird of 
 the Desert— Extraordinary Nest and Eggs — Birdlings Haiclied by the .Sun — 
 Aral)ian Stories of the Ostrich -Royal Carriage Drawn by a Team of Ostriches — 
 Riding the Two-legged Steed — Cuniring Methods of Capture American Os- 
 trich Described -Noisy Guinea-l'owl— Flesh of Fine Flavor— Consjiiiuous 
 Crest — Eggs Colored like tiie Plumage -The Sacred Ibis — Varied Colors ■ Bird 
 of Mexico — Egyptian \'eneration for the Ibis — Regular Migration— l-"mbalmcd 
 Remains in Egyptian Burial Places — The Giant Heron— Lonely Creature— In- 
 habitants of Marshes and Water Courses — Singular Habits — Set^king Prey - 
 Standing for Hours on one Leg — Little Herons— The Heron and f'alcon in 
 Combat — The Owl— Immense P'yes— A Night Prowler— White Owl — Tenant of 
 Barns— Voracity for Mice— The Owl Attacking a Man— Little Birds' Revenge — 
 The Darter— Long Neck— The Famous Stork-Remarkable Intelligence — A 
 Good Wife and Mother — Storks Sentenced to Death for Infidelity— The Adju- 
 tant—Blue-Headed Parakeets 413 
 
 Reptiles a 
 of Brt 
 
 Aiiim 
 
 Five-1 
 
 faces- 
 
 Pouch 
 
 Descri 
 
 A Gi 
 
 First 1 
 
 Dome; 
 
 derful 
 
 tare tl 
 
 toises- 
 
 How t 
 
 toise S 
 
 mon; 
 
 The Croco( 
 
 Jaws — '. 
 
 Crocod 
 
 mer— D 
 
 Charme 
 
 Poison 1 
 
 Fa-cina 
 
 Disgusti 
 
 Lines h 
 
 Vast Si/ 
 
 with M 
 
 Guinea 
 
 Ser|jent: 
 
 Tin-oate 
 
 World o 
 
 Descript 
 
 of Mud.. 
 
 intelligence 
 The (io: 
 C(iIoring 
 Extraord 
 Dragon-1 
 Gnats Mc 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 XI 
 
 iiim|^ 
 
 MARVELOUS CREEPING ANIMALS. 
 
 Reptiles of Antiquity — Animal Curiosities — Fanj^s of Deadly Poison — Strange Mode 
 of Breatiiing— Historic Chameleon — .Siiooting Tongue — Changing Colors — Two 
 Animals in One — A creature Asleep on one Side and Awake on the Otiier — 
 Five-Toed Geckos — Curious Suction Foot — Nimble Running on Smooth Sii - 
 faces — Tongue like a Dart — The Common Iguana — South American Reptile — 
 Pouch Under thv; Jaw — Huniing the Iguana — Lizards for Breakfast — Darwin's 
 Description of the Iguana — The Sja Guana — Attachment of Male for I'\'niale — 
 A G ill int Defender — Capital Swimmers — Bellowing Hull-Frogs — Frogs Giving 
 First Idea of IClectric Telegraph — Housed in Winter Quarters — Stories of the 
 Domesticated Frog — How a Frog Disappeared and what Became of Him — Won- 
 derful Horned-Frog — Tiie Mysterious Salamander — Old Notions about a Crea- 
 ture th.it could Resist Fire— Hum in Clothing that will not Burn — Land Tor- 
 toises—Finely Colored Siiells — Remarkable Longevity — Elephantine Tortoise — 
 How the Tortoise Feeds — Astounding Surgical Operation — Value of the Tor- 
 toise Shell— The Tun Siail —A Creeping Odtlity 441 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 MONSTROUS REPTILES OE THE TROPICAL WORLD. 
 
 The Crocodile — Power of Destruction— The Tyrant of tiie Tropical Seas— Double 
 Jaws — Teeth and Scales — Egg of the Crocodile — Old Stories of the luist — The 
 Crocodile's Little Friend — Danger Signal— A i arpoon Thrust — Swift Swim- 
 mer—Deadly Serpents — .-\ Cold Blooded Bosom Companion — Eastern Snake- 
 Charmers— Coolness Saves a Man's Life — Foolhardy Risk — Gnrling Killed — 
 Poison Working with Lightning Rapidity — Venomous \'iper— Dancing Snakes — 
 Fa-^cinaii »n of Music for Serpents — Death of a Notorious Serpent-Eater— A 
 Disgustin:< Glutton — Huge Boa-Constrictor— Blind Adoration of the Boa — 
 Lines by Southey— A Monster Swallowing its Bed- -Disgorging a Blanket- 
 Vast Size of the Boa — Enormous Muscular Power — Fed to Death— Tree Snakes 
 with M ignific nt Colors— The Slender Whip Snake— Frightful Acculent in 
 Gu1n-,a —Ghastly Fangs — The Egg-Eater — Immense Throat of a Tiny Creature — 
 Serpents of Surprising Beauty — Queer Popular Superstitions --Tlie Red- 
 Throated Lizard— Hideous Cristatus — The Curious Moloch— A Freak in the 
 World of Reptiles— The Pijia Toad — A Creature that Hatches Eggs on its Back — 
 Desrrii)tiori of tlie Ba'rachians— Death from a Toad — Winter's Sleep in a Bt tl 
 of Mud 4G7 
 
 u 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 MARVELS OE INSECT LIFE. 
 
 intelligence Among Insects — All Sorts of Insect Mechanics — Pillaging Pirates— 
 Till- (io'iiaih Beetle— Monstrosities and Freaks — "Little Devils" — Gorgro -; 
 Coloring of Shells and Wings — Jewelry Made of Insects — Wingless Butterilie — 
 P'xtraordinary Changes Through Which Insects P<a.;s — Metamorphosis of the 
 Dragon-Fly — Perfection of Organization— Wonderful Handiwork of Nature — 
 Gnats More than a Match for Men — The African Fly — A Dreaded Pest — Magnified 
 
Xll CONTEXTS. 
 
 Proboscis of a Cominnn Fly — Ainaziny Rapidity of Movement — Insect Gym 
 nasts and their Strength — Ingenious Mechanisms — Transformation of tlit 
 Common Onat — Insect Saws, Rakes, and Chisels Surpassing Man's Fine: i 
 Instruments — Curious Method of Talking — Fyes Like Telescopes — Military 
 Drill— The Remarkable Achievements of the Spider— i^n Insect Bett« r than it 
 Appears— Slave-Holding Ants— A Ct)lony Saved by an GUI Slave— In-ects that 
 Keep a Dairy- -Ants and their Milch Cow — Warrior Termites— lUiilders p;id 
 DL'stroyers of Towns 4'.)o 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 MUSF.UxM OF REMARKABLK INSECTS. 
 
 Anatomy of Insects Superior to that of Man — Curiously Formed Fggs— Lifting tlie 
 Lid and Stepping Out — Not Taking the Trouble to be Horn — Kggs Exquisitely 
 Decorated — S^"less Insects — Flying Lamps — Insects Illumi. aling Dwellings — 
 Hrilliant Ajipc ranees — Beetles — The Sacred Beetle of Fgypl — insect Under- 
 taker — Deatli Watch — Droll Superstition — Hercules Beetle — Six "Stars' Impris- 
 onment — The House Cricket — Poet's Address— Sliip Saved by a Cricket — How 
 the Cliirping is Done — Win-s Widiout Fii;4h'.— The Spider's Web — Ingenious 
 Mechanism — Water Spider — Huw Air is Ol^ained — A Complete Diving Bell — 
 Rapacious Bird Spider — lY-males Practicing Cantdbalism on their Husband> — 
 Childrjn Devouring Mothers — I'lr-ad of Myriads of I*"ibrfS — The (ireat INhnh 
 Family — Death's-Head M(nh — Fungus Growing on an Instct's Head — Rav.igers 
 of tiie I'\ire-;t — Visit to the Woods — Wliirhvind of Fire — \V iging Organized 
 War on Moths — Incalculable Di/struction l)y Mites— Stenognij'lit r^, Carpenters. 
 Joiners, Carvers among Insects — Wood-Boring Goat Moth — Making a Place for 
 Eggs — The Historic Locust — Ravages in the West — Flights of Devastation — 
 WHic-re Locusts Come From— Devouring One Another — Rapid Growth of 
 Young— Orchestra of Strange Instruments — Return after Scventet-n ^'ears — No 
 Forgetfulness — Ephemera — Creatures (;f a Day Described — liees and their Re- 
 markable Habits — Insect Intelligence 513 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 CURIOSITIES OF TIIE VEGETAHLE KINGDOM. 
 
 Living Seed in the Earth— The Tap-Root — Plants that Perspire— Catt:hiiig Water 
 from Trees— Garden Sun-Flower— .An Old Physician Livnig in a I'air ol Settles- 
 Vegetable Marvel— The Weeping Tree— Plant with a Movable Lid-Water 
 Treasured in Plants in the Burning De-^e-^t— Leaves that Flash Lightning— The 
 Famous Cow-Tree- Vegetable Milk— But, er Tree — Poisonous Compounds — 
 "Herculean Remedy "—lndia-Rubl)er Tree— GoUIku Wealth for tin- World — 
 Vegetable Giants — A^-toni^hing .Magnitudes— Eigliteen Guests T.iking Supper 
 in a Holl i\v Tree— Enormous Liine-Tree— Normandy Oak Tm-ned into a 
 Cliuich— Riding on Horseback Through Tree-Ctvitie.s- Colossal iViobab— 
 Strange B trial Place— Gigantic Ced irs of Calif irnia— Tops I'iv- Himdred Feet 
 in the .\ir— Giving a Ball on a Stump— Vegetable Longevity- -Methuselahs of 
 the Forest— Historic Lime at Friiiourg— Old age of the Fir-Army of Cortez 
 imder one Tree- -Legends of TenerilTe— Dragon's- Blood Tree— Where we gtt 
 Camphor— '^ Serpents of the Vegetable Kingdom"— Deadly Nettles— The Fatal 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xiu 
 
 Ml 
 
 i 
 
 Upas — Astounding Stories — Antidotes to Poison — Medicinal Treasures — Famous 
 Tartarian Lamb— Part Plant and Part Animal— Wonderful RalHesia— Plants 
 without Leaves Borrowing those of their Neighbors — Picturesque Sct-ne in the 
 Tropics — Giant Ferns — Mangrove Tree — Sea of Fire — Seeds Sprouting in Hu- 
 man Noses and Stomachs — Marvelous Enginery — Balloon Pufl-Ball 54o 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 PERILS OF MOUNTAIN AND DESERT. 
 
 Creation a Museum of the Marvelous — Awful Mountain Peaks with Veiled Faces — 
 Mont Blanc — Sovereign of Mountains — Attempt to Ascend the Giant of the 
 Alps — Ambitious Young Naturalist — A Complete Failure — Snowy Chasms — 
 Afraid to Sleep — Determined to Conquer or Die — Trembling on the Mountain's 
 Edge — Adventures of Jaccjues Balmat — Blinded by Exposure — Dari:ig Expe- 
 dition — Scaling Snowy Precipices — On the Far Summit — Miserable End of lial- 
 mat — World .Startled by an .Alpine Tragedy — A Russian Traveller — Twelve 
 Guides — ''Cowards!" — Forward— An Awful Disaster — Hurled Headlong Hun- 
 dreds of Feet — Death in the Deep Abyss — Bodies Left in tlie Yawning Gulf- 
 Running Frightful Risks— .Miraculous Escapes— Recent Gha-lly Discoveries — 
 Rivers of Ice — Famous Mer De Glace — Flower Garden in a Desert of Snow — 
 Hospital of St. Bernard — Travellers Caught in the .Storm — The Great .St. Ber- 
 nard Dog — Rescuing the Perisiiing — Exploits of the Dog " Bass "—Dangers of 
 the Desert — Cyclones and Columns of Hot Sand— .Air that .Scorches Man and 
 Beast — Graphic Description of the Storm — .Adventures in .Africa — Zambesi Falls — 
 Perilous Ascent of a Nile Cataract 57d 
 
 BOOK n. 
 
 THE SEA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MONSTERS OF TIIi: GREAT DEER 
 
 The Ladders of the Titans — The Watery Desert — A Great Unknown — Mysteries of 
 the Deep — Marvelous Products — Terrible Marine Monsters — The World- Re- 
 nowned "Kraken" — Battle with a Strange Foe — The Great .Sea Serpent — 
 Singular Stotit-s — Old .Sailors' Narratives — The Huge Ocean Giant — Curious 
 Habits of the Whale — Perilous and Exciting .Adventures — A Miraculous Escape — 
 The I'lying Dragon — .A Fish with .Spikes — Seized by a Shark—"" ? .Stomias- 
 Boa--The ILammer-Headed Shark — The Siamese Twins of the Sea 51"7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 MYSTERIES OF THE OCEAN. 
 
 Chinese Belief Respecting the Deluge — The Great Mexican Inundation — .A Huge 
 Gulf Swallowing Rivers — The World would be Dead Without the Ocean — The 
 
 -r V 
 
XIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Race-Course of Commerce— Varied Color of the Sea— Causes of the Different 
 Tints — Countless Myriads of Animalcules — Phosphoresence of the Sea— W. vts 
 Silvered with Flashing Light— A Magical Efiect— Cyclones and Tempests- 
 Strange Story of a Lost Vessel— Terrible Kury of Ocean Storms — Tiie Dreaded 
 Waterspuut— Ships Lifted Bodily from the Sea and Hurled Pack— The Myster 
 ions Argonaut— A Creature that Sails in a Boat— The Monstrous Octopus— An 
 Ink Battery— A Shot that Hit— Dreadful Encounter with a Cuttle-Fish— A Pearl- 
 Diver Attacked- Nautilus of the Pre-Historic Seas (>Iil 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE WORKMEN OF THE SEA. 
 
 The Ocean a Nursery of Life— World-Ma'^ers — Destruction of the Weaker Marine 
 Tribes — Half Plants and Half Animals— Graceful Forms and Brilliant Hues — 
 Flovversof Ocean— A-'tounding Multitude of Infusoria— Mountains Formed from 
 Tiny Shells— Islands L "It by Coral Insects— Magnificent Paris Built by .Inimal- 
 cules— ("oral Forests in the Sea — Coral Islands Hundreds of Miles in Extent — 
 Ships in Danger — The Birth of New Lands — The Marvelous Actinia — Plants of 
 Living Stone — Myriad Forms of Life in the Sea — Depths of Amazing Splendor — 
 The Humming Birds of the Ocean (J53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 RARE SPECIMENS OF OCEAN LIFE. 
 
 The Famous Narwhal — Many Teeth in One — Strange Superstitions as to the Sea- 
 Unicorn — A I'ormidable Weapon — The Best Kind of Ivory — Narwhal Fishing— 
 An Arctic Black Hole of Calcutta — Immense Size of the Narwhal — The Huge 
 Grampus — The "Kill.r" Capturing Seals — Story of the Whale — Flashes like 
 Lightning f^om the Waves — The Hairy Medu«3e — A Wake of Silvery Liglit — 
 "All Hands Ahoy!" — Whale Fishing and its Dangers — Sea-Birds and Their 
 Curious Habits — The Elegant Black-Backed Gull — Laughing Gull — "Haw, lui, 
 ha, Haw!"- Birds that are Pirates — The Sea-Mew and its Island Home— The 
 Wonderful Island of St. Kildare — Humming-Birds of the Ocean — Colors that 
 Dazzle the I'^ye — Beautiful .Specimens of Scaly-Finned Fishes — I'lag-.Sliip — 
 Coral-Fisii— Rock-Fish — Whip-Fish — Duke-Fish — Emperor- Fish — The Sharp- 
 .Sliooter ot the Sea — Good Aim and Successful Shot — A Fish With Two Lungs — 
 Burrowing in the Mud — Savage Fighters — A Fish that Hisses — The Frog- 
 Catcher — Curious Climbing Fish — Experiments with the Mud Jumper — A Slug- 
 gard that Proves to be Swifter than an Arrow 6()6 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE OCEAN. 
 
 Beautiful Dwellers in the Sea— Fishes with Wings— Both Water and Air their F.ie- • 
 ments— .Alighting on Ships— Curious Formation of I-ns- The Flying Gurnard 
 of the Mediterranean— Sailing Through the Air — Mounting on Wings to Leave 
 Enemies l?eliind — Prey for Sea Gulis — Swallows of the Ocean — The Growling 
 (lurnard— .Strange Noises — The Gurnard's Greediness — The Marvelous Red 
 Fire-Fish— The Terror of Arabian Fishermen— The King-Fish— Great Size and 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XV 
 
 Beauty — Savon' Meat — The Drum-Fish — An Orchestra in the Sea— Narratives 
 by Humboldt and Tennent — Tinkling Sounds of Great Sweetness— Taridise 
 Fisli arid its Singular Habits — A Haughty Male end His Brutality — The Sea Btit- 
 terHy — The Bridegroom — Winged Insects of the Deep 687 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 SINGULAR VARIETIES OF FISHES. 
 
 Amazing Contrasts in Ocean Life — The Great Sword Fish — Vast Size and Power — A 
 Creature Armed for Destruction — Formidable Weapon of the Sword Fish — A 
 Sword Left in the Timber of a Ship — The Whale's Great Enemy — The Ocean 
 Bat — Peculiar Attitude in the Water — Arms and Fins Combined — A Creature of 
 Hideous Ugliness — The Slender Pipe PMsh — The Netdle of the Sea — Strange 
 Pouch for Carrying Eggs — Color of the Pipe F"ish — A Dried Curiosity — Sea- 
 Horse — Body Clad with Mail — Tail that Grasps — Short-Nosed Hippocampus — 
 Peculiarities of the Short-Nose — The Skate— An luiterprisin;^ l>igger — Elej;ant 
 White Fins — The European Sting Ray — A Bag for the Infant Fi«ih — The Sea- 
 Devil — A Fish that Angles — Singular Method of Capturing Prey — The Extraor- 
 dinary Tape Fish — A Beautiful Marine Animal — Great Length of the Tape- I'ish — 
 The Sea-Cat— Silvery Color— Wonderful Healing Oil— Flat Fish— Turbot— 
 Plaice — Flounder — Sole — Spiny Sea Porcupine — Globe Fish — Sun I'ish — The 
 Sturgeon — An Ocean Delicacy — A Fish Fond of Mud t}i»9 
 
 jrg^l. 
 
 mm, 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 WANDERERS IN THE WORLD OF WATERS. 
 
 Hairy Creatures Roaming in the Deep — Immense Variety of Jelly-Fishes — The 
 Shining Sea—" Myriads of Living Points" — Bathers Entangled in Hair — Portu- 
 guese Man-of-War — The "Jelly" Curiously Born — Hunger never Satisfied — 
 The Trunk Fish— Mailed Rovers of the Sea — A Fish with Spurs— Famous Nar- 
 whal — F^xtraordinary Weapon — Finest Ivory in the World — Old Superstitious 
 Notions — The Race of Sticklebacks — A Spiny Covering — Strong Defence against 
 Foes — Sticklebacks in a Tub — Trying to Swallow an Eel— Fishes Puiikling 
 Nests — Desperate Fighters — Nest-Builder Discovered b) Agassiz — Great Trav- 
 ellers — Unlimited Greediness — The Fan Fish — Native of Indian Waters — Lump 
 Suckers — Strange Looking Creature— The Sea-Snail — Sucker Fish — A Fish that 
 Sticks — Towed Free by other Fishes — Riding Hundreds of Miles without Mov- 
 ing a Fin— Harness Fish — Toothless Swimmer — Delicious Eating — Hard Ar- 
 mor—Marvelous Turbot — Turbot Fishing — The Sly Silurus — Urchin Fish — 
 Balloon of the Ocean — Air Out and Fish Under Water — Arrow Pike- -A Dart 
 in the Sea— Hearty Eater--Vast Size— Real " Old Salt"— Sharks and their 
 Eggs 716 
 
 W¥ 
 
 El 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 LIFE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 
 
 Cicalures that Manufacture Limestone— Definition by Profes^or Dana— Marvelous 
 Builders in the Ocean — New Polyp Growing out of the Side of the Old One- 
 Coral Insects in All Seas — Luxuriance of Coral Life in the Pacific—Varieties of 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 Coral— How the Little Architects get their Mnterials— Rearing Islands from tne 
 Bottom of the Det-p— The Bermudas once a Coral Island— Tlie Sea Cucumber- 
 Strange Oriental Food — Harpooning Sea Cucumbers at the Depth of a Hundred 
 Feet — Hundred-Armed Sea-Star— Amazing I'ovver of Reproducing Lost Limbs- 
 Stomachs that go by the i^Iame of Fish—" I'^ive Fingered Jack "—Scavengers of 
 the Ocean— Death on Oysters— How the Star-Fish gets into an Oyster's Shell — 
 Droll Polyps— Animal-Plants— Actinia— Enormous Mouth— Sea Anemones- 
 Voracity Unparalleled — Life Multiplied by Tearing the Mody m Two -Astonish- 
 ing Tenacity of Animal Life 74- 
 
 CH AFTER IX. 
 
 EXTRAORDINARY TURTLES AND CRUSTACEANS. 
 
 The Great Marine Turtle —A Creature Born with Oars and Paddles — Swifr Swim- 
 mer — Dozing on the Water -Turtles' Nests in the Sand — Curious Youngsters- 
 Rushing by Instinct for the Sea — Turtle Hunting— Delicious l-"ood— Haunts of 
 the (}reen Turtle — Natives Lying in Wait— Human Cruelt\ — Coriareous Tur- 
 tle—The Bony Lobstf r— Monstrous Pincers — Powerful Weapons — A Propeller 
 Tail — .SheddingtheOld Crust— Escape from the Prison — New Growth of Shells — 
 The Numerous Crab Family— Singular Creatures— The Pea Crab — Hermit 
 Crab— Looking Around for a New House — Moving into the New Dwelling — 
 Tussle between a Shrimp and Cr;.b Where Crabs Abound — Crab Sentinel 
 Standing Guard — Casting oiT Hroken Limbs— Horrid Crab of Madagascar — 
 Sharp Points— -Strange Land Crabs 752 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 MOLLUSKS WITH PECULIAR SHELLS. 
 
 A Choice Mineral .Substance— Material for Ocean Builders — ''See what a Lovely 
 Shell " — Rare Mollusks — The Young Guarded — Repul.' ive Creatures in Beauti- 
 ful Dwellings — The Sea-shore a Great School of Instruction— Curious Pearl 
 Oyster — Helmet Shells — Cone Siiells — Gorgeous Hues — Interesting Bivalves — 
 Scallop Shell— Ornament of Pilgrims — Silken " Byssus "—Strange Material for 
 Fabrics— Treasures of the Pearl Oyster— Fondness of the Ancients for a G-.m — 
 Shakespeare on the Orient Pearl — Immense Wealth of Ceylon— Pearl Fishing 
 by Cingalese— Picturesque Spectacle — Firing a Cannon at Day-break — Ropes, 
 Knives, and Stones — Three Sieves — Form and Color— Pearls of Every Hue — 
 Allusion of the Historian Tacitus — Origin of Pearls — Emerald Fringes — Marvels 
 of Old Ocean's Bed 7t>5 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 SHIPWRECKS AND OCEAN ADVENTURES. 
 
 The Benefits of the Ocean very Costly— A Devouring Moloch— Human Victims 
 and Horrible Gifts— Ricli Cargoes Swallowed Up -Innun.^rable Human \'ic- 
 tims— Ships on Fire — Taking to the Boats — Sailors Familiar with Danger- 
 Horrors of the Great Abyss— Washington Irving's Grapliic Description of a 
 Shipwreck— Dismal Storier.— Startling Adventures of a Ship Captain— A Drown- 
 ing Cry Mingling with the Wind— Perils of Arctic V( /ages— Loss of the Ship 
 "Jeannette" — Ice Hammering at the Vessel— Meh-ille Taking a Photograph- 
 Hasty Preparations to Leave— Three Boats Lowered—" There She Goes 1" — 
 Encamping on the Ice— Boat Mounted on Sleds— Long and Toilsome Journey— 
 
 f 
 
 H 
 
 Silk 
 .Sea ( 
 and I 
 > iliac 
 
 I )tn-p 
 Mirai 
 
 II i<lo( 
 Wrec 
 by till 
 
 1 The Sun T 
 
 ery of 
 
 the Fi 
 
 High- 
 
 jngon 
 
 Immca 
 
 J of the 
 
 ored I. 
 
 Heavei 
 
 Strange Ap 
 Startlin 
 Stone— 
 Whizzii 
 of Burn 
 
 The Earth 
 Tons — ( 
 Reach t 
 Fires Ej 
 World- 
 Moon— 
 Feature: 
 Turned 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xvil 
 
 Silk Flag Unfurled on Bennett island— Capturinjj Arctic Animals — The Great 
 Sea Cuw— •' Funny Wee Fishes" — Terrific IJattle with Walruses— Fast Loading 
 and Firing— Lo-s of the " Essex" — Captain Pollard's \'ivid Narrative — Repeated 
 ^i.twicks of .III I iiinensf Whale —The Ship Stove — Three Little Boats on the Great 
 I)ee[> — A Barren Island — Fri.i^htful Sufferini^s — Again on the Trackless Sea - 
 Miraculous Esra'^e — Rescue of Men irom the Island — Horrid Cannibalism — Tor- 
 n idoes and Waterspouts — Elements at War — A Thousand Ships Go Down — 
 Wreck of the Royal Fleet— Immense Loss of Life— Huge Cannon Blown Away 
 by the Hurricane — An Appalling Scene , 774 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 THE SKY. 
 
 CHAPIKR I. 
 
 THE MARVELS OF THE HE.WENS. 
 
 The .Sun Twelve Hundred Thousand Times as Large as Our Earth — .Sublime Scen- 
 ery of the Midniglit .Sky — .Starry .Splendors over Head — Innumerable W^orlds in 
 the P'irmament — The Boundlessness of .Space — Imperial Suns Burning on 
 High — Heavens Piled on Heavens — \ Wonderful Journey Through Space — Fly- 
 ing on a Beam of Light — Rich Clusters of .Starry .Systems — Millions of World.s — 
 Immeasurable Distances — .Swift Motion Everywhere — .\stounding Revelations 
 of the Telescope — Lord Rosse's Ten Thousand Eyes — Far-Distant .Suns Col- 
 ored Like the Rainbow — Thomas Moore's Poetical Tribute to the Bright 
 Heavens — Sublin/*> of iVstronomical Srience 791 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 REMARKABLE PHENOMENA IN THE SKY. 
 
 Strange Appearances in the Heavens — Fiery Bodies Sweeping Through the .Sky — 
 .Startling Explosions — .\n Aerolite .Suspended in a Church — Fall of a Great 
 Stone — A Brilliant Meteorite .Seen in Connecticut — Balls of Fire Leaping and 
 Whizzingin the Air — A Red Globe Apparentlyas Large as the Moon — A.Shower 
 of Burning Stones — The Great Meteor at Hurworth S03 
 
 CHAPTER HL 
 A WORLD BURNED OUT AND DEAD. 
 
 The Earth Cushioned with Air -The Weight of Every Human Being .Seventeen 
 Tons — Our Nearest Planetary Neighbor — Time Required by a Railway Train t i 
 Reach the Moon— Lunar Mountains -Moon Tom by Furious Volcanoes — Tn.. 
 Fires Extinct — The Surface Cold— Craters and Caverns — Lunar Seas— A Desert 
 World— Eternal Silence— No Air nor Water- No Sky — Voung Lady in the 
 Moon — Perpetual Changes— White Crested Mountains — The Moon's Attractive 
 Features— The Moon a One-Sided Creature— Strange Conjectures as to the Side 
 Turned Away — The First yuarler—Immense Cavities in the Moon's Surface — 
 
XVIII 
 
 CON TENTS. 
 
 I ; 
 
 Measuring Craters -i^vciteiiiL-nt over I'irst l)is:ovtries— Droll Superstitions— A 
 Satellite Supposed to Rul« almost Hverytlung S12 
 
 CFIAPTKR IV. 
 MAGNinCKNT AUROR/'^L DISPLAYS. 
 
 Host Striking of Optical Splendors— Auror' ' Streams of Light Shooting Up- 
 ward — Trembling Gleams ana Flashes— Me. ry Dancers" — Lights of Rain- 
 how Colors— What Parry and Franklin .Saw -Tiie Heavens in Gay Attire — Lieu- 
 tenant Chappell's Auroral Uinbreila- Arcii of Silvery Light — The Canopy Glow- 
 ing with .Splendid .Scenery — Polar Night— .Six Months without a Sun — Animals 
 Dying of Gloom -Dazzling .Standards Unfurled— Magnetism -F'iery Tempests in 
 the .Siu'— .Magnetic Stones on liartli — Outbreak of Auroral Magnificence — Sir 
 John Herschel's Condncions — The Jeiki!\g Needle — Reference by Aristotle — 
 Northern Lights more Common than f.^rnierly in the N jrthern Zones 82(i 
 
 CHAPTKR V. 
 
 IMAGES IN THE HEAVENS. 
 
 Optical Plijnomsnon at Buffalo— Topmists Rising out of the Water— Deceitful Fog 
 Bank — I'l.xtraordliiary *' Fata Morgana' in Sicily —A Spectacle that Excites the 
 Populace— Ascribing the Mirage to the Devil -Prophecy Concerning Elec- 
 tricity — Pri-niatic Colors of Amazing Beauty — Troops of Clouds in the Sky- 
 Height of Clouds — Poetical Fancies from Ossian — Mist on the Water — Ac- 
 counting for Vapors — What Colors the Sun — The Great Orb .Shorn of His 
 Glories — Why the Sun is Red at Rising and Setting- Remarkaljle Halos — 
 Strange Mock .Suns— Parhelia — Historic Halos — What Gossendi Saw— Parhelia 
 0!)served by Hevelius — Beautiful Sky Picture in Tennessee— Perfection of 
 Creative Skill — Phenomena of Light -Wond-rful Waves and Circles— Light a 
 Magnificent Painter — Innumerable Vibrations S37 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 STRANGE WANDERERS THROUGH SPACE. 
 
 Sudden Appearances — Unusual Phenomena — Great History of the Heavens— Bodies 
 Governed by Solar .Attraction — Elongated Orbits — Marvelous Comet o( i6So — 
 Period I'-stimated at Tiiree Thousand Years — Thousands of Miles in a Minute — 
 Sir Isaac Newton's Prediction — Halley's Comet — A Frightened Emperor — 
 Shocking Calamities Supposed to be F'oreshadowed— Visitation Duringa Bloody 
 War — Hideous Peaces and Bristling Hair — Byron's Graphic Description — Sub- 
 stance of Comets — Thin Vapor — A Comet Enveloping Jupiter — The Poet Con- 
 der's Apostrophe 851 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MONSTERS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 Former Belief in Astrology— Strange Fancies— Olaus Magnus and his Absurdities- 
 Droll Description of the Great Sea Serpent— The Monster Attacking a Ship — 
 Statement by a Bishop— Cooking a Meal on the Back of a Leviathan — Legendary 
 History of Trees and Plants— Trees Bearing Water- Birds— Story of a Marvelous 
 Tree in Scotland— Belief of .Scientific Men in Ridiculous Fables — Queer Light- 
 ning Rod— Charlatans and Greenhorns — Roots of the Mandragora Carved into 
 Fantastic Shapes— Life Preserver of Gods and Animals — Alarming Eclipses..8o7 
 
 X 
 
 •\:iimjls th; 
 
 I'.in-Koii-Ci 
 
 '•"Iior, the f 
 
 Comlut wit 
 
 The Priiuev 
 
 Reni.irkable 
 
 £nornious V 
 
 The Great I 
 
 Fossil Skel'.'t 
 
 The Ramphf 
 
 Imtnense Vn 
 
 A Hugn ]]on 
 
 Ciigantic Skt 
 
 Footprints o 
 
 Footprints ol 
 
 Footprints of 
 
 C.'ialk under 
 
 Fossi! Rennii 
 
 -A Drop of W 
 
 Fxtinct Anin 
 
 Fierce Comb: 
 
 A Massive Ai 
 
 Tile Curious ] 
 
 The Ponderoi 
 
 The Ichthyosc 
 
 Singular Kept 
 
 Tile Flying D 
 
 The Immense 
 
 An Extrjordii- 
 
 A Group of Ci 
 
 The Arinadiiic 
 
 Tile Famous A 
 
 The Gigantic ] 
 
 Skeleton of the 
 
 Tile Dinornis- 
 
 Fossil Fishes R 
 
 A Zoophyte wi 
 
 Exquisite Fcssi 
 
 Antediluvian A 
 
Y"^ 
 
 iJ ^^iis 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Frontispieci 
 
 Aiiinials that Inhabit Tropical Countries 
 
 I'an-Kuu-Chte, the Creator ....... 
 
 i'lior, the Giaiit-(iorl of the Scandinavians .... 
 
 Coml>at with Kircher's Winged Dragon ... 
 
 'I'he Primeval Forest from whicli our Coal-Beds were Formed . 
 
 Remarkable Skeleton of an Immense Fish-Lizard 
 
 Enormous Extinct Animals — the Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus 
 
 Tlie Great Fisli-Lizard and Flying Reptile .... 
 
 Fo5siI Skeleton of the Pterodactyl 
 
 The Ramphoryncus or Creeping Bird ..... 
 
 Immense Pre-Hi>torir Animals — the Ignanodon and Megalosaurus 
 A Huge Bone-Plated Animal — the HyUeosaurus 
 Gigantic Skeleton of the Mammoth in tiie Museum at St. Petersburg 
 Footi)rints of the Labyrinthodon in Stone .... 
 
 B'ootprints of a Bird ........ 
 
 Footiirints of a Bird and Impression of Rain Drops. 
 
 Chalk under the Microscope ...... 
 
 Fossil Remains in Chalk. ....... 
 
 A Drop of Water as seen under the Microscope 
 
 Extinct Animals, the Skeletons of which are Found Solid Rocks 
 
 Fierce Combat between the Megalosaurus and Iguanc .ion 
 
 A Massive Antediluvian Animal — the Megalosaurus 
 
 The Curious Pterodactyl, or Wing-Fingered Bird 
 
 The Ponderous Ignanodon ..... 
 
 The Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus in Mortal Combat 
 Singular Reptiles of the Oolitic Period . 
 The Flying Dragon ..... 
 
 The Imniense Dinotherium .... 
 
 An I'^xtraordinary Reptile — the Labyrinthodon 
 
 A Group of Curious Hand-Anim.ils 
 
 The Armadillo of the Ancient World 
 
 The Famous Antediluvian Crocodile 
 
 The Gigantic Megatherium .... 
 
 Skeleton of the Megatherium 
 
 The Dinornis — A Bird without Wings . 
 
 Fossil Fishes Beddeo in Rock 
 
 A Zoojihyte with Fi^'e-sided Siem . 
 
 Exquisite Fossil Shells ..... 
 
 Antediluvian Animals of the Valley of Paris . 
 
 (xhc) 
 
 26 
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 3.S 
 
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 41 
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 Si 
 82 
 
 S3 
 
 S5 
 86 
 
 S8 
 
 93 
 
 95 
 
 97 
 98 
 
 IOC 
 
 ^ii 
 
XX 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Ancient Animals in the Thames Valley 
 
 EfTect of an Earthtjuake on the Sea 
 
 DesfiK tion of Lisbon by an Earthquake 
 
 Dt.'stnic tion of Messina . 
 
 Fissures Produced by an pjarthquake 
 
 Terrible Eruption of the Hawaiian Volcano — Mauna Loa 
 
 Volcano of Taal Luzon — Piiilippines 
 
 Flames bursting from the Crater of Stromboli 
 
 Volcano imder the Ocean near the Azore Islands 
 
 Volcanic ICruption at Graham's Island . 
 
 Chimney C'omposed of Prisms of Basalt — St. Helena 
 
 Birth of a Volcanic Island 
 
 Eruption of Vesuvius, August 26, 1S72 
 
 Representative Types of Pacific Islanders 
 
 The Grotesque Maori War Dance . 
 
 Interior of a Pah, or Native Village 
 
 A Native Chief in Full War-dress . 
 
 Te Ohii, a Native Priest 
 
 A Tiki at the Village of Roera 
 
 Grotes(|ue Wooden Idols 
 
 Housc-lJwcllcrs on the Sea . 
 
 King Kamchameha and the Spears 
 
 MarquL'san Chie*" .... 
 
 An Araucanian Marriage 
 
 Fijian Canoe in a Stiff Breeze 
 
 An Illanoan Pirate and Saghai Dyak 
 
 An Exciting Indian Ball Game 
 
 The 01(1 Arab Attacking the Hippojiotamus 
 
 Expert Dancers Amusing Si^ectators 
 
 The Giraffe or Camelopard . 
 
 Giraffes -n their Native Resorts 
 
 Wild Zebras of Southern Africa 
 
 The Indian Rhinoceros 
 
 Terrible Encounter with a Rhinoceros 
 
 The Curious Gavial of India . 
 
 Flying Dragon and Flying Frog 
 
 The Ini];erial Lion of Africa . 
 
 Livingstone's Narrow Escape 
 
 The Royal Tiger of India 
 
 Hunting a Ferocious Tiger 
 
 The Sloth Bear .... 
 
 The Hippopotamus or Gigantic River-Horse 
 
 " Obaysch " — First Hippopotamus Transported to Europe 
 
 The Puma or American Tiger 
 
 Grizzly Pear and its Prey 
 
 PAC.g 
 
 1 
 
 I«^? 
 
 The Jtmglt 
 
 107 
 
 The Prickl 
 
 I I 2 
 
 Porcupine 
 
 117 
 
 The Cornn 
 
 118 
 
 ( Bone-Plate 
 
 ^23 
 
 -Armadillo 
 
 125 1 
 
 'I'he Scaly 
 
 T2S 
 
 A Family c 
 
 130 
 
 ()pv)ssum C 
 
 ^33 
 
 Elephants i 
 
 135 
 
 Natives of.'' 
 
 139 1 
 
 Baldwin CI 
 
 141 
 
 1 Hunting th 
 
 146 
 
 1 Infuriated I 
 
 ^50 
 
 Camp Attar 
 
 152 
 
 1 Charge of a 
 
 155 
 
 1 Capturing a 
 
 159 
 
 Gorilla Tur 
 
 160 
 
 Hunting tin 
 
 i6t y 
 
 An Exciting 
 
 165 
 
 A Ht.'rd of C 
 
 168 
 
 An Oddity ( 
 
 169 
 
 Peccary or 5: 
 
 175 
 
 ^:iian''s Wa 
 
 180 Great Afric; 
 183 Omniverous 
 
 187 
 
 Spiral-Horn 
 
 189 
 
 Bokhara Mo 
 
 191 
 
 Wonderful I 
 
 196 
 
 Seals in thei 
 
 199 
 
 Walrus or St 
 
 201 
 
 The World-] 
 
 204 u 
 
 208 fe 
 
 Asiatic Oran 
 
 Portrait of tl 
 
 212 
 
 Guereza, wit 
 
 214 »' 
 
 Dog-Faced I 
 
 222 
 
 Lion Monke 
 
 225 
 
 AVhite and K 
 
 229 1 
 
 The Flag Ni| 
 
 233 ' 
 
 Specimens of 
 
 236 
 
 The Sappho 
 
 239' 
 
 The Sword-B 
 
 242 
 
 Famous Pere| 
 
 246 
 
 Secretary Bir 
 
 248 , 
 
 Nest of the '^ 
 
 IM 
 
I 
 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The Jungle Bear of Southern Asia . 
 
 The Prickly Hedgehog . 
 
 Porcupine and its Young 
 
 The C'oMunon I'orc upine of Canada 
 
 Hone-Plated Armadillo . 
 
 Armadillo Rolled Up and Erect 
 
 The Scaly Ant-ICater 
 
 A Family of Kangar^jos 
 
 Opossum Carrying its Young 
 
 Elephants in their Native Jungle . 
 
 Natives of South Africa Capturing an Elephant 
 
 Baldwin Chased by an Elephant 
 
 Hunting tiie African Rhinoceros . 
 
 Infuriated Rhinoceros Charging on Hunters 
 
 Camp Attaci<ed by Fire-Eating Rhinocrrcs 
 
 Charge of a Rhinoceros Suddenly Stopped 
 
 Capturing a Monstrous Hippoi)otanuis 
 
 Gorilla Turning upon his Pursuers . 
 
 Hunting the Ostrich 
 
 An Exciting Chase 
 
 A Herd of Cattle Attacked by an Immense African Lion 
 
 An OdJity of the Animal Kingdom — the Spectral I^mur 
 
 Peccary or Stag Hog 
 
 Elian's Wart-Hog 
 
 Great African Panther and Cubs 
 
 Omnivcrous Malay Tapir 
 
 Spiral-Horned Wallachian Sheep . 
 
 Bokhara Mountain Sheep 
 
 Wonderful Flying Foxes 
 
 Seals in their Native Haunts . 
 
 Walrus or Sea-Horse 
 
 The World-Renowned Gorilla 
 
 Asiatic Orang-Outang . 
 
 Portrait of the Orang-Outang 
 
 Guereza, with Beautiful Flying Mantis 
 
 Dog-Faced Baboons 
 
 Lion Monkeys Stealing Cocoanuts 
 
 White and Raven Cockatoos . 
 
 The Flag Night-Swallow 
 
 Specimens of the Esculent Swallow and Edible Nest 
 
 The Sappho Huraming-Bird . 
 
 The Sword-Bill .... 
 
 Famous Peregrine Falcon 
 
 Secretary Bird Killing a Snake 
 
 Nest of the Water-Hen . 
 
 xxt 
 
 PAr.B 
 . -250 
 
 • 252 
 
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 • 257 
 
 • 25y 
 
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XXII 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Iniincnsc Nests of African Social Grossbeaks 
 Xist of the Tailor liird . 
 'rhiee-Tocd ^Voocl pecker 
 'rufted Pcngpin 
 The Pelican , 
 
 Marie Delex Seized and Carried Away by an Immense E 
 \ uliure on his Mountain Crag 
 Sea-Ivigle and its Caj)tive 
 Fish EaLjle with Brood of Young 
 Ravenous Harj)y Eagle . 
 Royal l!inl of Paradise . 
 Cracelul Hedge-S] (arrows 
 Queenly Lyre Jtird 
 Ariel Swallows and Nest 
 Beautiful Argus Pheasant 
 Goklen Pheasant . 
 Wandering Albatross 
 Crested Crane and Virgin Crane 
 Asiatic Flamingo . 
 Curious Apteryx or " Kiwi " 
 American Ostrich . id Young 
 Crestetl Guinea Fowl . 
 The Sacred Ibis . 
 Giant Heron 
 The Strange Shoe-Bill , 
 Snow Owl and Screech Owl . 
 Sharp-Billed Darter or Snake Bird 
 The Gigantic Adjutant . 
 Blue-Headed Parakeets 
 Long-Tongued Chameleon 
 Five-Toed Gecko or Wall-Lizard 
 South American Iguana 
 The Sea Guana 
 Great Jumjiing Bull-Frog 
 Armor-Plated Frog 
 Giant Salamander 
 Elephantine Tortoise 
 The Tun -Snail 
 
 Famous Egyptian Crocodile . 
 Oriental Snake-Charmers 
 The Venomous Viper 
 Ravenous Boa-Constrictor Swallow! 
 Tree-Snake Devouring its Prey 
 The Ravenous Egg-Eater 
 The Moloch 
 
 nga 
 
 Fcwl 
 
 igk 
 
 PACE 
 
 370 
 371 
 372 
 374 
 
 3'^ I 
 
 3'^4 
 3«7 
 3''^9 
 393 
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 43° 
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 455 
 461 
 
 4^'3 
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 466. 
 K'9 
 
 475 
 480 
 
 482 
 486 
 490 
 492 
 
 I 
 
I 1 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 xxin 
 
 y 
 
 Pipa Toad Hatching Eggs on its Hack . 
 Li.'c and Mctanioi glioses of the Dragon-Fly 
 Magnified Proboscis ol'iiie Common Fly 
 Common Gnat and its Metamorplioses . 
 CalL'r])illars on the March .... 
 
 Voracious Chicken-Spider .... 
 
 Ant About to Milk Aphides .... 
 
 Village Built by Warrior Ants 
 
 Jvnopean Chir[)ing Cricket .... 
 
 'V\\c Mason Sjiider ..... 
 
 (r-eedy liird-Spider Devouring its Victim 
 New Zealand M(jth with Fungus Plume 
 'i'he Monk Bombyx — Chrysalis and Butterfly . 
 Wood-Boring Coat-Moth .... 
 
 (!arpenter Bee and its Little Chambers . 
 Creat Swarm of Migratory Locusts 
 Fphemera or Creatures of a Day 
 Dense Swarm of Bees ..... 
 
 Tlie Famous ^V'^eel)ing-^>ee .... 
 
 World-Renowned India-Rubber Tree 
 Extracting Milk from the Cow-Tree 
 Gigantic Chapel Oak in Normandy 
 Colossal Baobab of the Virgin Forests of Africa 
 Historic Lime-Tree of the Battle of Morat 
 Dragon's-Blood Tree of the Island of Teneriffe 
 Poisonous Tree or Upas of Java 
 Uni(iue Tartarian Lamb .... 
 
 Native Forest in Sumatra, with Elegant Specimens of Rafflesia 
 
 Hunting Excursion Through a Mangrove Forest 
 
 The Wine-Tree or Wine-Bearing Sago-Palm . 
 
 Gigantic Puff-Bali of One Night'.-, Growth 
 
 P.morama of Mont Blanc and Surrounding Mountains 
 
 Awful Catastroi)he in the Chasms of Mont Blanc 
 
 'J'he Mer de Ghu e — Famous Glacier of the Alps 
 
 Celelirated St. Bernard Dogs Rescuing a Traveler 
 
 Terrific Cyclone Hurling Columns of Desert Sand into the Air 
 
 The Huge Cuttle-Fish Attacking a Ship 
 
 Monstrous Polypus Met by the Steamship Alecto 
 
 A Monstrous Sea-Serpent as Described by Sailors 
 
 A Boat's Crew Attacking a Whale 
 
 Enormous Whale of the .Arctic Regions . 
 
 In the Jaws of the Great White Shark 
 
 The Hammer-Headed Shark .... 
 
 The Angel Fish ...... 
 
 The Pegasus Dragon 
 
 VAC.K 
 
 4') 3 
 497 
 500 
 
 5o« 
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 595 
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 61 2 
 614 
 618 
 621 
 622 
 623 
 
 
XXIV 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRAliONS. 
 
 i 
 
 icn 
 
 Light 
 
 The Spike Fish .... 
 The Stomias-Boa .... 
 Professor Siliiinan's Double Cat-Fish 
 Professional Divers Gathering Sponge 
 'I'he Historie Dehige and its Terrible Devastat 
 A Phosphores< ent Sea . 
 
 \Vliale and Fishes in Brilliant Phosphorescent 
 A Water-Spoilt at Sea 
 A Ship in Danger from Water-Spouts 
 Front View of the Immense Octopus 
 Glutinous Jelly-Fishes . 
 Beautiful Specimens of Star-Fish . 
 Crested Seal . , . . . 
 
 A Savage Foe .... 
 The Ancient Anmionite 
 An Island in Mid-Ocean Formed by Coral Insects 
 A Coral Shrub .... 
 A Sjjonge with Coralline Attached 
 Scaly-Clawed Crustacean 
 Specimens of Bivalve and Univalve Shel 
 White Actinia of St. Helena . 
 Catching a Huge Turtle 
 .\ Sea-Flower in Living Stone 
 A Stone with Star Clusters 
 Icelanders ("ai)turing Narwhals 
 Hairy Medusa: .... 
 Terilous Encounter with a Whale . 
 A Flo(k of Sea-Gulls . 
 The Singular Island of St. Kilda . 
 Speciirens of Curious Fishes . 
 The Shooting-Fish Catching a Bee 
 The Doko or Sahunander Fisli 
 The Mud-Jiunper or Climbing-Fish 
 A School of Flying-Fishes 
 Gurnards, or Fishes that Growl 
 The Red Fire-Fish 
 riie Opah or King Fish 
 Family of Paradise Fishes 
 The Sea-Butterfly .... 
 The Bridegroom Fish 
 The Sword-Fish Capturing his Prey 
 The Sea- Bat ..... 
 Pipe Fish and Sea- Horse 
 Short-Nosed Hippocampus 
 The Sharp-Nosed Skate 
 
 PAGE 
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 i) 
 
 
 Loon in tl 
 The Tape 
 The Sea-C 
 Flat Fish 
 Spiny Sea- 
 Sturgeons 
 Globe Fisl 
 Shooting 
 Swimmin: 
 Remark;'.!) 
 The Narw 
 Spiny Sticl 
 Sword or I 
 Tlie Suckc 
 Harness Fi 
 Old and Y 
 Fahak or I 
 Angler and 
 Cases of SI 
 Coral Arbo 
 Sea-Cucuni 
 Beautiful S 
 Marvelous ' 
 Curious Po 
 Natives Ca] 
 Coriaceous 
 Edible Tui 
 American I 
 Crabs Was! 
 The Ameri( 
 Great Crab 
 Beautiful C 
 Rare Specit 
 Madrepore 
 liei'iiet SIk 
 Bear's-Paw 
 Oyster witi 
 Ship Wrect 
 The " Jean 
 Savage Bat I 
 Shipwrecke 
 Waterspout 
 Terrible Hi 
 Relative Si; 
 Lord Rosse 
 
 
w 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Loon in tli'- Jaws of an Angler-Fish 
 
 The Tape Fi.^h .... 
 
 The Sea- Cat .... 
 
 Flat Fish ; Tiirbot, Plaice, Flounder, Sole 
 
 Spiny Sea- Porcupine 
 
 Sturgeons of the Caspian Sea 
 
 Globe Fish and Sun Fish 
 
 Sliooting Seals .... 
 
 Swimming Jelly-Fishes . 
 
 Remarkable Trunk-Fish 
 
 The Narwhal or Sea- Unicorn 
 
 Spiny Sticklebacks and Nest . 
 
 Sword or Fan-Fish 
 
 The Sucker Fish .... 
 
 Harness Fish .... 
 
 Old and Young Silurus . 
 
 Fahak or Urchin Fish . 
 
 Angler and Arrow Pike 
 
 Cases of Sharks' Eggs . 
 
 Coral Arbor and Mysterious Cuttle-Fish 
 
 Sea-Cucumber at the Bottom of the Ocean 
 
 Beautiful Specimens of Star-Fishes 
 
 Marvelous Plants on the Bottom of the Ocean 
 
 Curious Polyp ..... 
 
 Natives Capturing Immense Green Turtles 
 
 Coriaceous Turtle .... 
 
 Edible Turtle ..... 
 
 American Uobster and Spiny Lobster 
 
 Crabs Washed Asliorc by a High Tide . 
 
 The American Giant-Crab 
 
 Great Crab of Madagascar 
 
 Beautiful Coral Island Surrounding a Lagoon in the Pacific 
 
 Rare Specimens of Mollusks . 
 
 Madrepore Attached to a Mother-of-Pearl Oyster 
 
 I ici'iK't Shell of Madagascar, etc. . 
 
 Bear's-Paw Clam, etc 
 
 Oyster with Beautiful Pearls . 
 Shi[) Wrecked by a Furious Storm . 
 The " Jeannette" Crushed and Abandoned 
 Savage Battle with Walruses . 
 Shii)wrecked Sailors Attacked by Sharks 
 Waterspouts in the Southern Seas . 
 Terrible Hurricane in theTroi)ics . 
 Relative Sizes of the Sun and Planets 
 Lord Rosse's Great Reflecting Telescope 
 
 XXV 
 
 PAf.K 
 
 706 
 
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 750 
 753 
 755 
 756 
 
 757 
 760 
 762 
 
 763 
 766 
 767 
 768 
 769 
 770 
 
 772 
 776 
 
 779 
 781 
 
 783 
 787 
 789 
 
 797 
 804 
 
 If 
 
 ili 
 
 i 
 
 NJlI 
 
 i»Ji 
 
 \k.: 4 
 
XXVI 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Shower of Brilliant Meteors on the Ocean 
 Volcanic Craters on the Moon's Surface at Sunset . 
 Part of the Moon's Crescent during the F"irst Quarter 
 The P^arth as Seen from the Moon 
 Singular Aspect of the Moon's Surface . 
 Brilliant Aurora Borealis in the Arctic Seas 
 Auroral Flames in the Northern Sky 
 
 Ships Painted on the Sky by Atmo 
 
 Remarkable Appearances of Cloud 
 
 Halos and Parhelia 
 
 ParJK'lia Observed by Gassendi 
 
 Parhelia Observ d by Hevelius 
 
 Parhelia Observed in Tennessee 
 
 Intersection of Two Wave Systems 
 
 Ancient Sea-Serpent 
 
 Monster /»ttacking a Ship 
 
 Marine Dragon 
 
 The Bird Tree 
 
 Tree Producing Ducks , 
 
 Carved Mandragora Roots 
 
 pheric Refraction 
 Land 
 
 PAGE 
 
 807 
 
 KI7 
 
 ,S2C 
 
 S21 
 
 S3' 
 
 832 
 
 «3? 
 843 
 844 
 
 845 
 846 
 
 849 
 858 
 
 859 
 S60 
 
 861 
 
 862 
 
 863 
 
 I 
 
 a perfect 
 
 marvels c 
 
 of the \vc 
 
 to be ver' 
 
 of miL,rlit^ 
 
 work of 
 
 of the ear 
 
 it was bui 
 
 The Gr 
 
 of that fai 
 
 siirroundc 
 
 river of a 
 
 terrestrial 
 
 by two ni; 
 
 prevails ar 
 
■4m 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 THE EARTH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 MARVELS OF THE ANTEDH.UVIAN WORLD. 
 
 Curious Old Legends and Superstitions— A Chinese Quarryman— A .Scandinavian 
 God willi his Sleds^e-Hammer — Stran;;e tilings Set n by a Syljil— The Crust of 
 the Earth a Museum of Singular Relics— Footprints and Sl<eletons of Gigantic 
 Birds and Four-Footed Animals— Enormous Sizes and Uncoutli Forms — F.xlinct 
 Species of Animal Life— An Immense Fish Lizzard— Extraordinary Marine 
 Rtptile— A Wing-Fingered Monster— A Freak of Nature — A Fossil Reptile 
 Sixty P^eet Long — The Scaly HyKTosaurus — Discovery of the Mammoth— An 
 Island of Bones — The Huge Dinothcrium — A Bulky Creature that could neither 
 VV.ilk, Leap nor Climb — Natural History Printed on Leaves of .Stone— Mar' -. 
 of Raindrops, Trees and Birds on Rocks— Fossil Remains of Myriads of Minute 
 Beings — Layers of Various Kinds of Shells Forming Marble of Great Beauty — 
 Wonders of a Drop of Water Under the Microscope. 
 
 "^^^S^nHE scenes of creation astonish us, whether tipHftini; our look 
 we gaze at the brilliant heavens, or cast our e\es upon the 
 tiniest creatures of this lower realm. Immensity is everywhere. 
 
 -^^^ ^ It stands re\ealed in the azure dome of heaven, where ;;lows 
 
 a perfect dust of stars, and in the living atom which hides from us the 
 marvels of its organization. Tlr: ideas of the ancients respecting the birth 
 of the world, and the origin of its wonderful forms of life, appear to us 
 to be \'ery singular. We find curious old traditions and legends, stories 
 of might)' gods and enormous giants, who had something to do with the 
 work of creation. There were strange fancies, too, concerning the shape 
 of the earth, the boundaries of its lands and seas, the foundation on which 
 it was built, and the movements of the heavenly bodies. 
 
 The Grecian picture of the creation, as we scj it engraved on the shield 
 of that famous warrior, Achilles, represents the earth as a flattened disk, 
 surrounded everywhere, and in a circular form, by the sea, or rather In- the 
 river of ocean which defines the limits of the known world. Above this 
 terrestrial disk the solid sky is outspread like a dome ; a dome suiiported 
 by two massive pillars, which rest on the god Atlas. A similar absurdity 
 prevails among several ancient peoples. The .Scandinavians balance the 
 
 (25) 
 
 l^l! 
 
 M 
 
 w 
 
 !%il 
 
2r> 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 
 ear*-h on nine posts. The Brahmins fii^nirc it as propped up on four ele- 
 phants. But on what foundation do these nine posts and four elephants 
 repose ? What Anak of a god can support on his brawny shoulders the 
 burderi of the terrestrial mass ? Without pausing over these questions, 
 :Iet us complete our outline of the Grecian picture : The solid vault of the 
 :lijavens is traversed by the stars in chariots of silver, impelled by the 
 
 I'AX-ICOL--CHEE, THE CREATOR (FROM AN OLD CHINESE I'AIXTlNci). 
 
 rapid clouds. When the sun bursts upon human eyes, he emeroos from 
 the sea on tlie side of the east ; in the e\-ening, he re-plun^L;-es, on the west, 
 into the same great river. During the night, borne in a goldc/i car, he 
 re-ascends, beneath the earth, the pathway of the eternal ocean. There— 
 that is to say. below the earth — spreads another vault, corresponding 
 
 m its c 
 realm c 
 Pagan r 
 lasting r 
 
 When 
 
 and we s 
 
 I'^or instj 
 
 of chaos 
 
 Pan-Kou 
 
 ■n one hz 
 
 vith chi; 
 
 crust of 
 
 ^vildernes 
 
 tlie work: 
 
 mous ma 
 
 encumber 
 
 task. 
 
 On the 
 
 often dev£ 
 
 up the sui 
 
 of Scandi 
 
 quired a c 
 
 it was the 
 
 with a bla 
 
 blows brol 
 
 mountains 
 
 feeble old 
 
 age. Tho 
 
 that falls v\ 
 
 To us SI 
 
 giants labo 
 
 e\'er>^whert 
 
 cacy which 
 
 life , in anc 
 
 scattered tl 
 
 times that, 
 
 opens its al 
 
 of sand, th< 
 
 *■!% 
 
MARVELS OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. 
 
 27 
 
 in its curvature to that of the sky : the vault of Tartarus — the shailowy 
 roahii of the Titians, those rebellious and vanquished annals of the 
 Paj^^an mythology. Sombre and silent, Tartarus is shrouded in ever- 
 lasting night. 
 
 Chinese Legend of the Creation. 
 
 When we cast a glance upon creation, we are astonished at its vastncss, 
 and we see that none of our fictions attain the sublimity of its proportions. 
 For instance, the Chinese account of creation represents the first organizer 
 of chaos under the form of a feeble old man, enervated and tottering, called 
 ran-Kou-Che,surroundedby confused masses of rock, and holding a chisel 
 ■ n one hand and a hammer in the other. He toils painfully at his work, 
 . ith chisel and hammer, and, covered with perspiration, carves out the 
 crust of the globe, at the same time that he clears a path through a 
 wilderness of rocky masses. One shudders at the relative feebleness of 
 the workman to the immensity of the task. Well nigh lost amidst enor- 
 mous masses of shattered stone, which surround him on e\ery side and 
 encumber the picture, he appears to be a real pigmy exccutin ;■ a herculean 
 task. 
 
 On the other hand, the people of the North, looking upon their land so 
 often devastated by floods, thought that some god in his anger had broken 
 up the surface of it, and gathered the ruins into heaps. But to the children 
 of Scandinavia this deity was not a trembling used-up old man ; they re- 
 quired a divinity endowed with their own savage energ)-. In their eyes 
 it was the god of tempests ; the redoubtable and gigantic Thor, who, armed 
 with a blacksmith's hammer, and suspended over the ab\-ss, with mighty 
 blows broke up the crust of the earth, and fashioned out the rocks and 
 mountains with the splinters. Here we see already an advance upon the 
 feeble old Pan-Kou-Che ; strength is substituted for the weakriess of old 
 age. Thor snows like a revolted giant, raging and shattering e\'er\-lhing 
 that falls v.'ithin his reach. 
 
 To us such images appear very puerile. Instead of these old men and 
 giants laboriously occupied in hammering out the globe, we only trace 
 everywhere the invisible hand of the Creator. In one j^lace, with a deli- 
 cacy which passes all conception, it animates the insect with the breath of 
 life , in another, expanding itself to vast dimensions, it reins the worlds 
 scattered through space, and convulses or annihilates them. It is at such 
 times that, in the midst of its throes, our globe cleaves its mountains and 
 opens its abysses; and upon each of its gigantic ruins, as upoti each grain 
 of sand, the philosopher finds written a grand page of natural wonders. 
 
 
 liF" 
 
 ill 
 
1 
 I' 
 
 28 
 
 EARTH, bEA, AND SKY. 
 
 In the Scandinavian mytholocjy wc discover some pictures of the threat 
 events which then took place in the cartli and in the heaxcns. The 
 description ]iaints tlie ravaj^es of the volcanic eruptions and of the Avavi.-s 
 of a wild and untamed ocean. The inspired sybil relates that at this lime 
 the sun did not rise where it now docs, and that the East was invaded Ity 
 polar ices. I remember, .says the .sybil, nine worlds and nine heaveui'. 
 
 THOR, THK (.I.\Nr-GOD OF THE SCANDINAVIANS, RECONSTRUCTING THE Cil.OBE. 
 
 Before the sons of the gods raised the globes, the sun shone in the 
 South. In the East is seated the old woman in the forest of iron (the polar 
 ices). The sun is covered with clouds, the earth sinks in the sea, the shin- 
 ing stars dl.sappear from the heavens, clouds of smoke envelop the all- 
 nourishing tree, lofty flames mount even to heaven ; the .sea rears itself 
 violently towards the skies and passes over the lands. Neither earth 
 
 i 
 
 nor sun t 
 .s\'bil for 
 from the 
 Thus I 
 legends, 1 
 iiidtile ac 
 as -M. F\l 
 people, ai 
 belie\ed i 
 fal.iles of 
 monsters 
 as in the 
 on their i 
 at the prL 
 scenes an 
 fictions ol 
 who coul 
 perfi'ct cl( 
 tion turn( 
 minute pi 
 there, anc 
 with e.xtr; 
 tiie h'lml 
 representc 
 wliich sw 
 traveller, 
 to pi-(.:ven 
 Alps or S' 
 
 Anotlu 
 arms of 
 had just 
 also a w 
 the riche; 
 possessioi 
 
 When 1 
 the earth 
 parties : 1 
 to f\ le ; a 
 from the 
 

 MARVELS OF TMK ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. 
 
 20 
 
 nor sun exist any hnn^cr; the air is overcome by j:jlitterin!_f streams. The 
 .s\'bil for the second time sees the earth, covered with verdure, rise 
 from the sea. 
 
 Tluis tlie people of antiquity had their superstitions and their faljiilous 
 Icf^ends, but these were never so widely diffused as they became in the 
 J iii.I(ile ages, a period of simple ignorance and ardent fiith. At that time, 
 as 'SI. Figuicr saj'S in his excellent work on this epoch, al'. classes of tiie 
 people, and even a great part of the nobility, the magistrac}-, and the cler;.fy, 
 believed in magic. Learned men vied with each other in collecting all the 
 fal.Ues of their fi:)refathers and recording them in their works. The\' found 
 monsters in every kingdom of nature, and equally in the de[)ths of the sea 
 as in the heavens. They appeared to think men were coni[)elled to draw 
 on their imaginations for the marvelous, the absurdity of which amuser. us 
 at the present day, for we have learned that in the great realms of nature 
 scenes are presented which are more extraordinary and thrilling than any 
 fictions of ancient times. Yet the most eminent men (-f the middle ages, 
 who could discuss all branches of human knowledge of that da\' w ilh 
 perfect clearness, seemed to be struck with blindness as .soon as t!. ; '<'s- 
 tion turned upon monsters. One well-known naturalist describes with 
 minute jirecision all the localities in the Alps, all the animals to be found 
 there, and ever)' flower that blooms in their valleys. Every object is tlrawn 
 with extraordinary skill; there is so much delicacy in his engravings that 
 tlie h'unblest moss may be recognized. But along wi'J^ ♦hese faithful 
 repre.'-.entations of nature, we find frightful aerial monsters , w in^;. didgi 'iis 
 which swarm in the obscure windings of roads, and stop the alarmed 
 traveller. The perusal of the work of this author migh. well haw; sufficed 
 to prevent our credulous ancestors from venturing into the gorges of the 
 Alps or searching into their dark caverns ! 
 
 The Earth Born of Fire and "Water. 
 
 Another celebrated work represents sirens, monks, and men-at- 
 arms of the sea, all covered with scales, and as fresh ,is if they 
 had just withdrawn from the gulfs of Neptune. Kircher, who was 
 also a well-known writer, pictures frightful dragons which gUcud 
 the riches of the earth, and which must be vanciuisli ■ 1 l-jfore obtaining 
 possession of them. 
 
 \\'hen learned men began to occupy themselves w ili the formation of 
 the earth, they became divided into two very clea !/ dethied opposite 
 parties: the Plutonists, who attributed the crust of t'..: slohe exclusu'e!)' 
 to fire; and the Neptunists, who, on the contrary, '."ived e\'er\'thing 
 fron:i the action of water. The truth is that fire and v.aier have had 
 
 ■I :) 
 
 m> 
 
11 II 
 
 30 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 their share by turns. One part of the terrestrial crust is the result of 
 ignition, the other that of the deposit from water. It is evident that the 
 i^lohe is only a sun crusted over and partially .-xtini^aiished, the hard 
 ened surface of which hides the great interior furnace from view. 
 
 The L^dobe on fire, and Iramched into space, necessarily gave off 
 heat, and when after a long succession of ages it had sufficiently cooled 
 
 COMBAT WITH KIRCHER S WINGED DRAGON. 
 
 its surface became solidified, and constituted the primitive crust. When 
 this cooling process had made sufficient progress, the vapors from the 
 earth, an immense atmosphere of which enveloped the globe, became con- 
 densed and for ages descended upon the earth in torrents of rain. Gleams 
 of lightning and incessant peals of thunder accompanied these imposing 
 
 t 
 
 scenes o 
 ) ield us 
 
 At the 
 increase* 
 f )rced its 
 mountain 
 earth wa 
 it, but th 
 acquired 
 iMvater fo 
 it ^'.•as th'v 
 nounta'n 
 the depth 
 mcntionct 
 fifteen ha\ 
 the chain 
 fi'om pole 
 and assui 
 remodellet 
 of the eari 
 chains ha\ 
 and Ural, ( 
 
 It is cvi 
 the specie 
 epoch. K 
 times, eml 
 he says, of 
 antiquity, 
 the appeal 
 plants hav 
 must liav( 
 earth is o 
 at the exp 
 form new 
 
 The fir; 
 a luxuriar 
 beds — ant' 
 depths of 
 
 "H4:. i- 
 
>, 
 
 MARVELS OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN' WORLD. 
 
 31 
 
 scenes of the birth of our ^lobe, of which our imagination will never 
 )ielcl us more than an imperfect image. 
 
 Oriffin of the First Sens. 
 
 At the same time that, in the cour of ages, the crust of the earth 
 iiicreased in thickness, the cooling down, by contracting the glol)-.:, 
 f)rced its envelope to yield and break. These convulsions produced the 
 mountains which now diversify its surface. Whilst the crust of tiie 
 earth was yet thin, a slight effort of the central heat sufficed to rupture 
 it, but this only produced insignificant elevations. When this crust had 
 acquired greater thickness, its rupture, inasmuch as it required much 
 greater force, was only effected by means of the most violent movements ; 
 it v.as then that the Cordilleras rose into the clouds. The upheaval of each 
 mountain chain was necessarily accompanied by violent commotions in 
 the deptlis of the sea, and thence came those grand scenes of deluges 
 mentioned in the traditions of all nations. These great upliftings, of which 
 fifteen have been proven by geological science, terminated by the rising of 
 the chain of the Andes, the result of an immense rent extending almost 
 from pole to pole. Then the two Americas were lifted above the ocean, 
 and assumed their present shape. Thus fire and water successively 
 remodelled the surface of the globfc. It is to be remarked that the cru^t 
 of the eardi in breaking follows a fixed direction. All the great mountain 
 chains ha\'e been developed from the north to the south, as the Andes 
 and Ural, or from west to east, as in the Atlas chain. 
 
 Aniaziug' Destruction of Animal Life. 
 
 it is evident that each period had its peculiar organic forms, antl that 
 the species of animals of one epoch neither lived before nor after this 
 epoch. Humboldt himself, the most illustrious philosopher of modern 
 times, embraces this opinion without any qualification. Each upheaval, 
 he says, of these mountain chains of which we can determine the relative 
 antiquity, has been signalized by the destruction of ancient species and 
 the appearance of new forms of life. Numerous groups of animals and 
 plants ha\-e had their beginning and their end, and creative intervention 
 must have manifested itself at the appearance of each of them. Tho 
 earth is only an immense cemetery where each generation acquires life 
 at the expense of that which has just expired ; the particles of our corpses 
 form new materials for the beings which follow us. 
 
 The first layers of the earth that cooled down became covered witli 
 a luxuriant vegetation, the remains of which now constitute our coal- 
 beds — antediluvian forests, which the renins of man extracts from the 
 depths of the earth, to serve the wants of industry and his own dwellings. 
 
 1^ 
 
 r r'^ll, 
 
 S!'vl».f, 
 
 wm 
 
 '^M 
 
 l>? % 
 
32 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 Durin^f iliis period the whole surface of tlu j^Iobe \va:i covered with stran;^e 
 and tletise forests, where proudly rei;:^nL'd a h \:t of plants and trees, the 
 representatives of which at the present day play but a very humble part. 
 Here were palms and bamboos, there ^iL,v'intic moss-like plants, which 
 b>'re straiijht stems towering to a height of eighty to a hundred feet. 
 Then came immense growths, the stems of which remind one of a 
 reptile's .scaly armor. Lastly came trees of the family of our pines and 
 firs, their boughs laden with fruit. 
 
 Gigantic Growths of Vegretatioii. 
 These \ast primeval forests, which the course of ages was t(j anni- 
 hilate, sprang up on a heated and marshy soil, which surrounded t!i.' 
 lofty trees with thick compact masses of aqu:itic plants, intended to a:t 
 a great part in the formation of coal. The luxuriant vegetatit-n of llu 
 coal period was certainly favored by the enormous h-at ^\•hich tlu 
 scarcely-chilled terrestrial crust still preserved, as also hy the damijne.;3 
 of the atnKjsphere, and very probably by the great abundance of car- 
 bonic acid which it then contained. Although a thick and magnificent 
 mantle of foliage covered the globe, everything wore a s'range, gloomy 
 asptxt. luerywhere rose gigantic rushes and ferns, drawing up :\i\ 
 exuberance of life from the fertile and \-irgin soil. The latter in tluir 
 aspect resembled palms, and the lea-t breath of wind ^vavctl tluir 
 crowns of finely-cut leaves like flexible plumes of feathers. ,\ sl^y, ever 
 somb'.v,- c~'l veiled, oppressed with hca\y clouds the domes (.f th.-so 
 fon.sts : a wan and dubious light scarcely made visible the dark and 
 naked trunks, shedding on all sides a shadowy and indescribable h\\2 
 of horror. This rich covering of vegetation, which ''xtended from pole 
 to pole, was sad and utterly silent, as well as strangely monotonous. 
 Not a single flower enlivened the foliage, not one edible fruit loaded its 
 branches. The echoes remained absolutely mute, and the branches 
 without a sign of life, for no air-breathing animal had as }-jt appeared 
 amid these dismal scenes of the ancient world ! 
 
 One might say, in fact, that there was then no animal life to be 
 seen, for amid so many remains of the coral flora, which geologists 
 ha\-e so admirably reconstructed, they have only met whh a few 
 rare vestiges of one small reptile. This great contrast between the 
 richness of the vegetable and penury of the animal kingdom is explained 
 by the great quantity of carbonic acid at that time mixed with the 
 atmosphere, which, though particularly favorable to the life of plants, 
 must have been fatal to all animals endowed v.ith active respiiation. ]^v.L 
 though the atmosphere v,-as poisonous, the seas, on the contra/) .uniting to- 
 
 ft 
 
 i??S*.*' 
 
 
 i* 
 
 »i 
 
 m 
 
 mm 
 
 m 
 
 ^. •>■ 
 
 
f 
 
 1 
 
 'I 
 
 o 
 
 ■J 
 
 (33) 
 
M 
 
 E\RTH, SEA, AND SKV 
 
 gcthcr all coiuliiieii- nir.st favorable to lifc,\vcri' pco])lccl with .shelled mol- 
 luscs and fish. After havi-iL,r lent life to the {jrimitive ai^es of the i:j1o1k\ 
 these slraiiL^^e forests conipletel)- disappeared in the lapse of ages, and 
 the\- ha\e now bcconu; almost imi)ossible to recognize, owing to the 
 transformations the\- ha\e undergone in nature's inmiense subterra- 
 nean store-houses. Tlirre can, hriwexer, he no doulit about the matter 
 It is clearly the remain^ of these antique forests of our planet that con- 
 stitute the ca'A of the present time. Science, carrying its torch e\er 
 into the dark regions whence these remains proceeded, has discovered 
 all the constituent parts. Amid the black and gleaming masses of the 
 coal strata abundant impressions have been found of the plants which 
 produced our \ast beds of coal. 
 
 I>iso«>vory of an Antedihiviau 3fonster. 
 In the }car KS14, Sir F.verard Home published an account of .some- 
 large and very remarkable bones found in a rock, thirty or forty feet 
 abo\e the sea level, on the T-'nglish coast. The remains examined were 
 incomplete, anil the nature and haljits of the animal to a\ hich the\- be- 
 longed baffled all inquir\', until the tlisco\er\' of more perfect skeletons 
 unfolded a race of ^\ater reptiles, which received the name of ichthyosau- 
 aurus, or fish-li/ard. This strange creature ranging from twent\^ to more 
 than thirty ^eet in length, of A\hich ten .species are enumerated, had the 
 snout of a porpoise, the head of a lizard, teeth of a crocodile, the vertebrre 
 of a fish, and the patldles cf a v.hale; thus presenting in itself a combi- 
 nation of mechanical contri\ances which are now found distributed among 
 three di.stinct clas.scs of the animal kingdt)m. Persons to whom this sub- 
 ject may now be presented for the first time, will receive with much sur- 
 prise, perhaps almost with incredulity, such statements as are here ad\-anced, 
 It must be admittetl that they at first seem much more like the dreams of 
 fiction aiul romance than the sober results of calm and deliberate investi- 
 gation ; but to those who will examine the evidence of facts upon which 
 our conclusions rest, there can remain no more reasonable doubt ot the 
 former existence of these strange and curious creatures, in the times and 
 places we assign to them, than is felt by the antiquarian, -who, finding the 
 catacombs of Ei^ypt .stored with the mummies of men, and apes, anc' 
 crocodiles, concludes them to be the remains of animals and reptiles, thai 
 have formed part f>f an ancient population on the banks of the Nile. The 
 teeth of the lizard-fish, in some nistances amounting to two hundred and 
 ten, and the length of the jaws to more than six feet, qualified it for prey- 
 ing upon weaker creations ; and the half-dige.stcd remains of fishes and 
 reptiles, found witliin the skeletons, indicate the precise nature of its food.. 
 
 ■c.^^ . 
 
|iie 
 lie 
 
 a 
 
 I 
 
 MARVELS OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. 
 
 .'i5 
 
 A sinfj^le paddle of the fi)ur with whicli the animal Wiis fuinished some- 
 rimes contains more than a hundred hones, ^ivini,^ it ■j;rvdt elasticity and 
 power, and enabling it to proceed at a rapid rate through the water. Tiie 
 eye was enormously large, its ca\ity, in one species, iK-ing fourteen inches 
 in its longest direction. The eye also had a peculiar construction, to make 
 it operate both like a telescope and a microscope, so that the animal could 
 descry its prey b\- night as well as day, and at great depths in the water. 
 This fish-like lizard in some degree answers to the words of Milton* 
 
 
 REMARK.\BLE SKELETON' OF .\X IMMENSE FISH-LIZZ.\Rn. 
 
 With head uplift above the waves, and eyes 
 That sparkling blazed, his other parts besides, 
 Prone on the flood, extended long and large, 
 Lay floating many a rood. 
 
 The lizard-fish was an air-breathing, cold-blooded, and carnivorous in- 
 habitant of the ocean, probablj' haunting principally its creeks and bays, 
 fitted by its formidable jaws and teeth, its rapid motion and power of 
 vision, to be the scourge and tyrant of the e.\isting seas of its era, keeping 
 the multiplication of the .species of other animals within proper limits 
 
 '^ 
 
 41:: i > 
 
ill 
 
 36 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 N 
 
 Thouijh csscntiall}' marine, and admirabl}- adapted Ijv its orc^anization to 
 cut the waves, certain peculiarities of structure have induced tlie opinion 
 that tlic forward paddles niit,ditbe subservient to loconn^tion not only in the 
 \\ater,but on L-uul. J^roless' t Owen thinks that the iciithyosauri, like the ex- 
 i.-iiuLi" cnicodiles, nia}- ha\e C(.mie ashore to sleep, or resorted thitherto de- 
 posit their cl^l^s. The reniains of these animals occur in .^reat abundance on 
 the ] ",n:_;Iish c< >ast where the cliffs appear to be inexhaustible quarries of them. 
 
 A Strauge j^lariiia lleptile. 
 In the same strata in wlu'ch the remains of the ichthyosaurus are found, 
 another marine re[)tile api^ears, which received its name of plesiosaurus, 
 sit,mif\-inLj akin to the lizard, from its more closely resembliny^ animals of 
 this i^enus than fishes, especial!)- in the character ot the skeletoii. A 
 similar remarkable combination of forms app^;ars in this animal to that 
 which distiui^uishes its preceding" relati\e — the head dt a lizard, the teeth 
 of a cr(Kodile, a neck resemblini;" the body of a serpent, the ti'uiik and 
 tail (if an ordinar)- ([uadruped, the ribs of a eb.cUiielci in, anil tlu- paddles 
 of a whale. Such are the sti'an^e combinations of form cUid structure in 
 the plesiosaurus, a ;j^enus, the remains of w luch, alter internient for thou- 
 santls of years amidst tlie wreei; of million.^ of extinct inhabitants of the 
 ancient eartli, are at length recalled to ii.^ht by the researches of the yeolo- 
 y,"' L, and submitted to our examination in neark' as perfect a state as the 
 bones of .species that are now existing' upon the earth. Its most strikint^ 
 feature is the L;!'eat length of the neck, which has from thirty to forty 
 vertebnu, or bone joints, a lar^x.r nunil.)er than in an\' l-.nown animal, those 
 of l'\iiv^- reptiles \-ar\-in;4' from three to six, and tlu)se of birds from nine 
 to t\\ent)'-three. It has been therefore correctly compared to a serpent, 
 threatled throui^di the body of a tui-tle. That it was aciuatic. is evident 
 from the form of its paddles ; that it was marine is almost e([ually so, fi'om 
 the remains with which it is iniiversally associated ; that it may ha\-e occa- 
 sicMially visited the sIum-c, the resemblance of its extremities to those of 
 the tui'tle may lead us to conjecture; its motion, howe\er, must ha\e been 
 ver\- awkward (/ii lantl ; its loni;" neck must have impeded its pros^ress 
 throu_L;h the watei', presentini^- a strikinij^ contrast to the opjjanization of 
 the lizard-fish, :\hich so admirably fitted it for that i)u,-pose. May it not 
 therefore be concluded (since in addition to these circumstances, its res[)ir 
 ation must have required frequent access to air) that it swam upon or near 
 the surface, archiny; back its lony; necl; like the swan, and occasionally dartin<j 
 it down at the fish which happened to float within its reach? It ma)' per- 
 haps luue lurked in shoal water aloni( the coast, concealed amonj^' the 
 sea-weetl, and raisini;- its nostrils to the surface from a considerable depth, 
 
 ii 
 
 a 
 
 i;:' '^'^ 
 
 lilli 
 
(37) 
 
38 
 
 EARTH, SF.A, AND SKV. 
 
 ma\- ha\-c r.unci a secure retreat from the assaults of dancjerous enemies; 
 while the length and flexibility «>f its neck niay ha\-e compensated for 
 the want of strength in its jaws, and its incapacity for swift motion through 
 tin; water, by tlie suddenness and agilit>^ of the attack which they enabled 
 it to make on e\-er\- animal fitted for its pre)'. 
 
 The appearance of U\c animal, which is far less formidable than that of 
 the ichth}-osaurus, shows that it was more adapted to occupy the tranquil 
 Aaters of sheltered creeks and ba},-s than to brave the rough breakers of 
 the deep. The first almost entire skeleton of ])lesiosaurus was obtained 
 in 1S24, and since then a large number of .species have been established. 
 From the connected ar,d almost perfect state of the sk-eletons of ichthy- 
 osauri and plesiosauri, as if prepared by an anatomist, these animals appear 
 to iuu'e been suddenl}- destroyed and immediately embedded. As we 
 know that ri\ er fish are sometimes stifled, even in their own element, by 
 muddy water, during floods, it cannot be doubted that the periodical dis- 
 charge of laige bodies of turbid fresh water into the sea may be still 
 more fetal to marine tribes. Large quantities of mud and drowned ani- 
 mals have been swept down \nto the sea, by rivers, during earthquakes, 
 as in J:.va some years since ; and indescribable multitudes of dead fishes 
 have been seen floating on the sea, after a discharge of noxious vapors, 
 during similar convulsions. 
 
 A 3Ionstrous Creature of the Pre-Historic Age. 
 
 Contemporaneously with these strange animals, marine, fresh-water, and 
 terrestrial tortoises flourished, with crocodiles of extinct .species, and the 
 pterodactyle, or wing-fingered reptile, perhaps the most singular and mons- 
 trous creature of the ancient world, the type of which appears in no living 
 genus. This flying reptile had such a remarkable construction that it puz- 
 zled scientific men. Naturalists pored o\er its remains, but were unable to 
 assign them to their true place in the animal kingdom, some pronouncing 
 it a bird, others a reptile, and others a bat, till Cuvier took its skeleton in 
 hand. Behold, he observes, an animal, which, in its bone formation, from 
 its teeth to the end of its claws, is like a reptile ; nor can we doubt that 
 those characteristics exi.sted in the muscles and soft parts, in its scales, its , 
 circulation, and other organs. But it was, at the .same time, an animal 
 p;o\-ided with the means of flight, which, when stationaiy, could not have 
 made much use of its anterior extremities, even if it did not keep them 
 always folded as birds keep their wings; which, nevertheless, might use 
 its small anterior fingers to suspend itself from the branches of trees, but 
 when at rest must have been ordinarily on its hind feet, like the birds, 
 again ; md .'Jso, like them, must ha\-e carried its neck sub-erect, and 
 
 i 1 
 
 
THE GREAT FISH-LIZARD AND FLYIN'i KEiniLE. 
 
 m 
 
 if '1^ 
 
 't.::": 
 
40 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY, 
 
 curved backwards. 5.0 that its enormous head should not interrupt its ._ui- 
 libriuni. Ttcrodactvlcs had the liead and neck of a bird, the mouth and 
 teeth of a reptile, the wini^s of a bat, the body and tail of one of the lower 
 orders of animals. Their eyes were enormously lar<;e so that they could 
 seek their prey in the niL,dit. They could not only fly, but like the exist- 
 ing \-ampire bat, they had the power of swimminfr. Thus, like Milton's 
 fiend, qualified for all services and all elements, the pterodactyle was a 
 fit companion for the kindred reptiles that swarmed in the seas, or crawled 
 
 on the shores of a turbulent planet 
 
 The fiend, 
 O'er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare, 
 W'itli liead, hands, wings, or feet pursues his way. 
 And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or Hies. 
 
 C u V i e r , i n h i s 
 great work , pro- 
 nounces these fly- 
 ing reptiles the most 
 extraordinary of all 
 the beings Avhose 
 ancient existence is 
 revealed to us ; and 
 those which, if alive, 
 would seem most at 
 variance with li\ ing 
 forms. Man}' spe- 
 cies have been de- 
 termined, most of 
 them \-ar)'ing from 
 the size of a snipe 
 to that of a cormor- 
 ant. It is estimated 
 that the expanded 
 wings of this creature measured six feet in width. 
 
 Another reptile allied to the pterodactyle lived in this epoch. It was 
 the ramphorynchus, and was distinguished from the former by a long 
 tail. Tlie imi)rints which this animal has left upon the sandstone of the 
 period indicate at once the impression of its feet and the linear furrow 
 left by its tail. Like the pterodact)'le, the ramphorynchus, which was 
 a very strange creature, coukl not precisely fly, but, aided b\' the natural 
 p^.fachute formed, by tiie membrane connecting the fingers and the body, 
 it could throw itself from a height upon its prey. The footprints in the 
 
 FOSSIL SKELETOX OF THE PTEROD.VCTVLE. 
 
 ,1 
 
 i 
 
 soil an 
 in the ; 
 tcrior f 
 
 Not 
 were tli 
 rus. T 
 and pro 
 ous deti 
 in the s. 
 ance of 
 ered. \ 
 was equ 
 
 projjortior 
 
 abdonu'nal 
 
 tionate siz 
 
 covered w: 
 
 limb seven 
 
 presented 1 
 
 and were sii 
 
 with claws, 
 
 been less t 
 
 onstrate tli 
 
 reptile, and 
 
 hemlock tr 
 
 tion adapte 
 
 ^:. J 
 
MARVELS OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. 
 
 41 
 
 soil are those which always accompany the remains of the ramphorynchus; 
 in the rocks, and they show the imprints at once of the anterior and pos- 
 terior feet and tail. 
 
 Extraordinary Land Reptiles. 
 
 Not less remarkable than these inhabitants of the ocean and tlic air 
 were the land reptiles of the same period, the it^uanodon and mcf^^alosaii- 
 rus. The i_<j^uanodon had a very singular structure. Although the size 
 and proportions of its body and limbs have been determined from numer- 
 ous detached bones, and the few specimens in which several are collected 
 in the same block of stone, yet but a vague idea of the form and appear- 
 ance of the original animal can be derived from the relics hitherto discov- 
 ered. We may, however, safely conclude that the body of the iguanodon 
 was equal in magnitude to that of the elephant, and as massive in its 
 
 THE R.VMPIinm'XCIIUS OR CREEPING BIRD. 
 
 proportions; for being a vegetable feeder, a large development of the 
 abdominal region may be inferred. Its limbs must have been of a propor- 
 tionate size to sustain so enormous a bulk ; one of the thigh bones, if 
 covered with muscles and tissues of suitable proportions, would form a 
 limb seven feet in circumference. The hinder extremities, in all probability 
 presented the unwieldy shape of those of the hippopotamus or rhinoceros, 
 and were supported by very strong, short feet, the toes of which were armed 
 vvith claws, like those of certain turtles. The fore legs appear to ha\e 
 been less bulky, and were furnished with hooked claws. The teeth deni- 
 onstrate the nature of the food required for the support of this herbivorous 
 reptile, and the power of mastication it enjoyed; and the ferns, pines and 
 hemlock trees, with which its remains are associated, indicate the vegeta- 
 tion adapted for its sustenance. But the physiognomy of this creature,, 
 
42 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 i 
 
 I |i' 
 
 ll 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 '» 
 
 i 
 
 
 from the peculiar shai)c of the skull ami jaws require 1 {y^\- the attachment 
 and supjjort of tlu; powerful muscles necessary f >r the [^rindini^ of toui^h 
 vet,^etablc substances. nui>t luue differed entirely from that of all kn<nvn 
 reptiles. 
 
 The len;4th of the i;,_nianodon lias been \ariously estimated; the differ- 
 ence in the computation de[)endini; thief!)' on the extent assii^ned to the 
 tail, which in many lizards is much lont;er than the bod\'. If the tail of the 
 fossil reptile was slender, and of the same relative proportions as in forms 
 now existing, the lart^est individual would be fifty or sixty feet lont^. 
 
 Remains- of the mcLjjalosaurus have been found in se\-eral localities. 
 So many perfect bones and teeth have been discovered that we are nearly 
 as well acquainted with the form and dimensions of the limbs as if they 
 had been found toirether in a sin<de block of stone. The restoration of 
 the animal had been accordinc^ly effected agreeably with the proportions 
 of the known parts of the skeleton, and in harmony with the general 
 characters of the order of reptiles to which the mcgalosaurus belonged. 
 Baron Cuvier estimated this animal to have been about fifty feet in length. 
 Calculations founded on more complete evidence reduce its size to about 
 thirty-five feet; but with the superior proportional height and capacity 
 •of trunk as contrasted with the largest existing crocodiles, even that 
 length gives a very formidable character to this extinct rapacious rej)tile. 
 The restoration, according to the proportions of fo.ssil bones of the 
 megalosaurus hitherto obtained, yields a total length of the animal, 
 fron) the muzzle tc the end of the tail, of thirty-.seven feet, the length 
 of the head being five feet, the length of the tail fifteen feet, and the 
 greatest girth of the body twenty-two feet six inches. As the thigh 
 bone and leg bone measure each nearly three feet, the entire hind leg 
 must have attained a length of two yards, and indicated a foot, with the 
 toes and claws entire, of at least three feet in length. The form of the 
 teeth shows the megalosaurus to have been .strictly a flesh-eating crea- 
 ture, and these were fearfullv fitted to the destructive office for which 
 they were designed. They appear straight when young, but become 
 sligtly bent backwards in the progress of growth, and the fore part of 
 the crown, below the summit becomes thick and convex. They present 
 a combination of contrivances similar to those which human ingenuity 
 has adopted in the conscruction of the knife, the sabre, and the saw. 
 Enormuii.s Lizards of the Prehistoric Ago. 
 The world-renowned naturalist, Figuier, thus describes this gigantic 
 reptile: The megalosaurus was an enormous lizard, borne upon feet 
 5lightly raised : its length reached about forty-five feet. Cuvier consider- 
 
 15 
 
 ed that 
 
 of the r 
 
 ous arr; 
 
 animal 
 
 crocodi 
 
 The low 
 
 in a stra 
 
 the croc( 
 
 accord 
 
 partake 
 
 junction 
 
 a backw.i 
 
 After in; 
 
 Bucklanc 
 
 their con( 
 
 effect of , 
 
 incision li 
 
 backward 
 
 escape of 
 
 the same .j 
 
 of the ins( 
 
 Figuier 
 
 than the n: 
 
 the ancieni 
 
 The form i 
 
 on the upp 
 
 the marvel 
 
 of the elef 
 
 was formec 
 
 was herbivi 
 
 teristic orsr 
 
 the cocodii 
 
 say, in the 
 
 occupied b' 
 
 their mode 
 
 narrower w 
 
 suitable for 
 
 among the 
 
 We prese 
 
MARVF.LS OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. 
 
 I 
 
 ed that it partook of the structure of the reptiles wliich liaunt the banks 
 of the Nile and tropical India. The complicated structure and marvel- 
 ous arrangement of the teeth prove that it was essentially a llcsh-eating 
 animal. It fed probably on other serpents of moderate size, such as the 
 crocodiles and turtles which are found in the fossil state in the beds. 
 The lower jaw supports many teeth; it shows that the head terminated 
 in a straight muzzle, thin and fiat on the sides, like that of the gavial, 
 the crocodile of India. The teeth of the megalosaurus were in perfect 
 accord with the destructive nature of this formidable creature. They 
 partake at once of the knife, the sabre and the saw. Vertical at their 
 junction with the jaw, they assume with the increased age of the animal 
 a backward curve, giving them the form of a gardener's pruning-knife. 
 After insisting upon some other particulars respecting these teeth, 
 Buckland says, " With teeth constructed so as to cut with the whole of 
 their concave edge, each movement of the jaws produced the combined 
 effect of a knife and a saw, at the same time that th.' point made a first 
 incision like that made by the point of a double-cutting sword. The 
 backward curvature taken by the teeth at their full growth renders the 
 escape of the prey when once seized impossible. We find here, then, 
 the same arrangements which enable mankind to put in operation many 
 of the instruments which they employ." 
 
 The Colossal Tj»u:vno<lon. 
 
 Figuier also says concerning the iguanodon that it was more gigantic 
 than the megalosaurus: the most colossal, indeed, of all the reptiles of 
 the ancient world which research has yet exposed to the light of day. 
 The form and disposition of the feet, added to the existence of a horn 
 on the upper part of the muzzle or snout, render this creature one of 
 the marvels of the ancient world. The bone of its thigh surpasses that 
 of the elephant, the shape of this bone and feet demonstrates that it 
 was formed for travelling inland ; and its dental system shows that it 
 was herbivorous. The teeth which are the most important and charac- 
 teristic organs of the whole animal, are not fixed in distinct sockets like 
 the cocodiles, but fi.xed on the internal face of a dental bone ; that is to 
 say, in the interior of the palate, as in the lizards. The place thus 
 occupied by the edges of the teeth, their trenchant and saw-like form, 
 their mode of curvature, the points where they become broader or 
 narrower which turn them into a species of nippers or scissors — are all 
 suitable for cutting and tearing the resisting plants which are also found 
 among the remains with the reptile. 
 
 We present an engraving in which the iguanodon and megalosaurus 
 
 M't: 
 
1 
 
 t/5 
 
 < 
 n 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 y. 
 
 7; 
 
 o 
 
 Q 
 
 y. 
 
 y. 
 
 o 
 
 t/5 
 
 a 
 
 
 (44) 
 
 strM<,Tg' 
 also to 
 a vcgci 
 rcscinb 
 rescnib 
 compo> 
 some p; 
 tlic maj 
 
 Tlic 
 fouiul in 
 of the f> 
 
 
 e^^^ 
 
 t^i^^ 
 
 with thicl 
 spikes, re 
 rcstrialjii 
 j^ethcr it 
 When 
 and becoi 
 tiplication 
 mososauri 
 Mouse, ir 
 
 
Mr 
 
 MARVF.LS OF TIIF. .WTFDII.rVI.W \V<1KI.I). 
 
 45 
 
 I 
 
 struggle for the mastery in tlic centre of a forest, wliich enables us 
 alsotoconvey .some idea of the vegetation of the period. Here we nt^tc 
 a vegetation at once exotic and leinperate — that of the tropics, and a ilora 
 resembling our own. On the left we ob.serve a group of trees, which 
 resemble some of the plants i)f our forests. An entire group of trees, 
 composed of ferns, are in the background ; in the extreme ilist:ince arc 
 some palms. We also recognize in the picture the alder, the w\-ch-elm, 
 the maple, and the walnut-tree, or at h-ast .species similar to these. 
 
 A 3Iarv<'l<nis IJeplile. 
 The In'l.X'osaurus was .another enormous n^ptilc, whose remains were 
 found in tlie Tiljjatc Forest. This animal ap[)ears to have combined some 
 of the features both of the crocodile and iA' tlie li/ard. It \\.is cxered 
 
 A IIUC.K nONE-I'L-VrED .\N1MAI. — TIIK IIVL.l'.OSArKL'S. 
 
 with thick scales, and along the back was a row of long conical bones or 
 spikes, resembling the crest*:. This animal is supposed to have bceii a ter- 
 restrial, herbivorous reptile, be ween twenty and thirty feet in length. Alto- 
 gether it must have been of the most extraordinary reptilian organization. 
 When the ichth\'osaurus and plesiosaurus ceased to rule the ocean 
 and become extinct, the mososaurus took their place, to keep the mul- 
 tiplication of the .species of other animals within proper limits. The 
 mososaurus derives its name from the localit\-, Macstricht, on the Ri\-er 
 Mcuse, in Germany, where its remains have been chiefly discovered, 
 
 .ii; f 
 
 Wl 
 
•IG 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 and from tin- Greek word sdz/n's, a lizartl, to wliich triix- of animals it 
 bchMv^'s. Tlic occasional tiiscoverj' of bones and teeth of an unknown 
 animal in the limestone has loii'x since directed the attention of natural- 
 ists to the quarries of St. Peter'> Mountain. 
 
 I)ise«)\ t-rv ol' an Iminoiiso Fossil SUch'toii. 
 In 1770, j\I. 1 1' 'ffmann, win > was forming a collection of orj^anic remains, 
 discoviTed a s[>eeimLti, which lias conferred additional inlere. t oil this 
 localit\'. Some workmen, on blastinLT the rock in t)ne of the caverns ot 
 the interior "C tlie mountain. [)erceived, to their a.stonishment, the jaws of 
 an enormous animal attached to the roof of the chasm. The discovery 
 was inunediately made known to "M. Hoffmann, who repaired to the 
 s])ot, and f.)r weeks presided o\cr the arduous task of .separating from 
 tile rock the mass of stone containing the remains. His labors were at 
 length repaid b\- tlie successful extrication of the specimen, which lie 
 conveyed triumpiiantly to the hou.se. Unfortunately, the canon of the 
 cathedral, which stands on the mountain, claimed the fossil in right of 
 being lord of the manor, and succeeded, by a most unjust and expen- 
 sive lawsuit, in obtaining this precious relic. It remained in his pos.ses- 
 sion for years, and Hoffmann died without regaining his treasure, or 
 receiving any comj^ensation. The French revolution broke out, and 
 the armies of the republic ad\anced to the gates of Maestricht ; the 
 town was bombarded, but by tlie desire of the committee of scientific 
 men who accomi)anied the French troops, the artillery was not allowed 
 to play on that part of the city in which the celebrated fossil was known 
 to be contained. In the meanwhile, the canon, shrewdly su.specting why 
 such peculiar favor was shown to his residence, concealed the specimen in 
 a secret vault; but when the city was taken, the French authonties com- 
 pelled him to give up his ill-gotten prize, w hich was immediately trans- 
 mitted to the zoological garden at Paris, where it still forms one of the 
 most striking objects in that magnificent collection. The entire length of 
 the mososaurus has been estimated at from twenty-five to thirty feet ; the 
 number of its spinal joints is one hundred and thirty-three. Its skull 
 measures four and a half feet in length, and two and a half feet in width. 
 In the more recent dejwsits, the remains of immense animals are 
 found in great numbers; among the most remarkable of these is the 
 mammoth or ft)ssil elephant. Bones and tusks of elephants or mastadons 
 occur throughout Russia, and more particularly in Eastern Siberia and the 
 arctic marshes. The tusks are very numerous, and in so high a state of 
 preservation that they form an article of commerce, and arc employed in 
 the same works as what may be termed the living ivory of Asia and 
 
 \ 
 
 c. 
 
 X 
 
 r. 
 
 u. 
 
 r- 
 
 r. 
 
 c 
 
 p5 
 
 c 
 
 u. 
 
 ft 
 
 t/. 
 
 H 
 W 
 
 ij. 
 
 c 
 
v.. 
 
 C. 
 
 V 
 
 r. 
 
 u. 
 r- 
 r. 
 
 c 
 
 B 
 
 •J. 
 r. 
 
 PI 
 B 
 
 •J. 
 
 m 
 
 
 i^i# 
 
 (47) 
 
4S 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 Africa, thou,cjh the fossil trunks fetch an inferior price. Siberian fossil 
 ivory forms the principal material on which the Russian i\'ory-turner 
 works. The tusks most abound on the shores of the Fro7x-n Sea, and 
 the best are found in the countries near the arctic circle, and in the most 
 eastern re;^nons, where the soil in the very short summer is thawed only 
 at tile surface ; in some years not at all. 
 
 T>i.stM)Vcry of an ]-]ii<>rmous 3Iaininot]i. 
 In 1799 a Tun^i^usian named Schumachoff, who c^cnerally went to fish 
 and hunt at the peninsula of Tamut after the f.shini^ season of the Lena 
 was over, had constructed tor his wife some cabins on tlie banks of Lake 
 Oncoul, and had embarked to seek aiong the coasts for tusks, called 
 horns by the people of that rei^ion. One day he saw among the blocks 
 of ice a shapeless mass, but did not then discover what it was. In 1800 
 he perceived that this object was more disengac^ed from the ice, and that 
 it had two projecting^ parts, and towards the end of the summer of 1801 
 the entire side of the nnimal and one of his tusks was quite free from 
 ice. The sumiin^r of 18' )2 was cold, but in 1803 part of the ice between 
 the earth and tl'.e roanimoth, for such was the object, having melted 
 more rapidly tlian 'lie rest, the plane of its support became inclined, and 
 the enormous mas:, fell by its own weight on a bank of sand. In March, 
 1804, Schumachoff came to his mammoth, and having cut off the tusks, 
 exchanged them with a merchant for goods of the value of forty dollars. 
 For some j-ears the flesh of thi^' animal was cutoff for dog-meat by the 
 people around, and bears, »< olves, gluttons, and foxes fed upon it till 
 the skeleton was nea:!}' cle-ired of its flesh, Ab(Hit three-fourths of the 
 skin, which was of a reddish-gi v- color, and covered with reddish wool 
 and black hairs about eight inciies long, was saved, and such was its 
 weight that it required ten men to remove it; the bones of the head, 
 Avith the tusks, weighed four hundred and sixteen pounds. The skele- 
 ton was taken to St. Petersburg, where it may still be seen in the j\Iuseum 
 of Natural History, This animal must have been twice the ordinary size 
 of the existing elephant, and it must have weighed at lea.st twenty thou- 
 sand pounds. 
 
 There is not in the whole of Asiatic Russia any brook or river, especially 
 of those which flow in the plains, on the banks of which some bones of 
 elephants and other animals foreign to the climate have not been found. 
 But in the more elevated regions, they are wanting, as are the marine 
 petrifactions. But in the lower slopes and in the great muddy and sandy 
 plains, above all, in places which are swept by rivers, they are sure 
 to be found, which proves that we should not the less find them 
 
 through* 
 
 of searcl 
 
 rivers wl 
 
 down Wl 
 
 \-iew the 
 
 ing watei- 
 
 Russia th 
 
 In .spite 
 
 we can sc 
 
 of the L 
 
 and of th 
 
 is about 1 
 
 mountain^ 
 
 and their I 
 
 is formed 
 
 skulls of 
 
 rhinoceros 
 
 Xevv' Si! 
 
 sand, of ic. 
 
 new quanti 
 
 on a profii 
 
 summer in 
 
 isle of bon 
 
 all the ccn 
 
 mammoth, 
 
 withdrawn : 
 
 it is employ 
 
 as we know 
 
 isle of bone 
 
 China for f 
 
 upwards of 
 
 unuiminishc 
 
 and tusks d 
 
 The abun 
 
 has given fc 
 
 tlie north I 
 
 which lived, 
 
 not bear th 
 
 circumstanc( 
 4 
 
MARVELS OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. 
 
 49 
 
 throughout the whole extent of the country if we liad the same moans 
 
 of searchin<T for them. Every year in tlie season of thawini^, the vast 
 
 rivers which descend to the Frozen Ocean in the north of Siberia sweep 
 
 down ^vith their waters numerous portions of the banks, and expose to 
 
 \icw the bones buried in the soil and in the excax'ations left by the rush- 
 
 inc^ waters. It is curious that the more we achance towards the north of 
 
 Russia the more numerous and extensive do the bone repositories become. 
 
 In spite of the undoubted testimony, often repeated, of numerous travellers^ 
 
 we can scarcely credit the statements made respectin<T some of the island-^, 
 
 of the t^lacial sea near the poles, situated opposite the mouth of the Lena 
 
 and of the Indic^irska. All the islands nearest to the main land, which 
 
 is about thirt)'-six leagues in length, except three or four small rocky 
 
 mountains, are a mixture of sand and ice, so that when the thaw sets in 
 
 and their banks begin to fall many mammoth bones are found. All the isle 
 
 is formed of the bones of this extraordinarv animal, of the horns and 
 
 skulls of buffaloes, or of an animal which resembles them, and of some 
 
 rhinoceros horns. 
 
 Quarries of Fossil Ivory. 
 
 New Siberia and the Isle of Lachon are for the most part only a mass of 
 sand, of ice, and of elephants' teeth. At every tempest the sea casts ashore 
 new quantities of mammoths' tusks, and the inhabitants of Siberia carry 
 on a profitable commerce in this f jssil i\'ory. Every year during the 
 summer innumerable fishermen's barks direct their course towards this 
 isle of bones, and during winter immense cara\ans take the same route, 
 all the convoys drawn by dogs, returning laden with the tusks of the 
 mammoth, weighing each from 150 to 200 pounds. The fossil i\-ory, thus 
 withdrawn from the frozen north is imported into China and Europe, where 
 it is employed for the same purpose as ordinary ivory, which is furnished, 
 as we know, Ijy the elephant and hippopotamus of Africa and Asia. The 
 isle of bones has served as a cjuarry of this valuable material for export to 
 China for five hundred years, and it has been exported to luirope for 
 upwards of a hundred. But the supply from these strange mines remains 
 undiminished. What a number of accumulated generations of these bones 
 and tusks does this profusion imply! 
 
 The abundance of the remains of fossil elephants in the Russian steppes 
 
 has given birth to a legend of a very ancient origin. The Russians of 
 
 the north believe that these bones proceed from an enormous animal 
 
 which lived, like the mole, in holes which it dug in the earth ; it could 
 
 not bear the light, .says the legend, but died when exposed to it. A 
 
 circumstance curious enough is that this same legend of an animal living 
 4 
 
 lit' 
 
 iShi: 
 
50 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 undorcjrnuiKl I'.a^ spread to China. Wc read in the preat Chinese work 
 on Natural History, composed in the sixteenth centiir\-, of an animal that 
 was called by a name sij^nifyint; the mouse, which hides itself. The descrip- 
 tion says, it constantly confines itself to subterranean caverns; it resem- 
 bles a mouse, but is of the size of a buffalo or ox. It has no tail ; its 
 color is dark ; it is veiy stron;^ and excavates caverns in places full of 
 roots, and covered with forests. Another writer tluus expresses hinise'.t. 
 This monster haunts obscure and unfrequented places. It dies as soon a ; i,' 
 is exposed to the ra\-s of the siii or moon ; its feet arc short in proportion 
 to its size. It-; tail is as lon;^ a^ that of a Chinese. Its e\'es are small, its 
 neck short. It is very stupid and slu^Lnsh. 
 
 M/: 
 
 
 "imj\rt", I 
 
 I. FOOTPRINTS OF THE I.AnVRINTMODON IN' S.ANDSTONE. 
 
 FOOTPRINTS OF 
 
 .\ r.iun. 
 
 F(VVrPKlNT.S OF A lUKO AND IM I'KI'.SSloN OF KAIN IM'lOr.s. 
 
 In i>^34 an account was published of some remarkable' fissil footsteps 
 in the new red santlstone in Saxony. The largest track afipears to ha\-e 
 been made b}' an animal whose hind foot was eii^ht inches lon^;, thj 
 fire foot beini^ much stnaller. It received the name of chirothcrium, 
 owinrj to the rese:nblance of 'ts impressions to the shape of the human 
 liand. P'ossil skulls, jaws, teeth, and a few other bones of this animal, 
 have since been disco\-ered, and from some characteristics which they 
 possess — found at the present day only in fronts and salamanders, and 
 from the proportionate size of its fore and hind feet, also a characteristic 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 M 
 
 of the t( 
 hui^e fn 
 
 from thi 
 present 
 of the h 
 ter is fn 
 tracks, n 
 ered in t 
 largest f 
 of the st 
 rijiple in; 
 north of 
 President 
 distinct tr; 
 tlie impre-- 
 now comn 
 
 Similar 
 
 where trac 
 
 strata, at tl 
 
 blistered oi 
 
 isj)heres of 
 
 are someti 
 
 but in oth 
 
 direction, a 
 
 wind acconi 
 
 of .sandston 
 
 States, wjiii 
 
 evincini^'-, b_\ 
 
 \Niien tile ra 
 
 Walking; 
 
 defined cast 
 
 retreatintj;- ti^ 
 
 animals and 
 
 it. In the ; 
 
 red sandstor 
 
 tidal river, b< 
 
 by the actio: 
 
 the returning 
 
 two layers i 
 
OF 
 
 I 
 
 MARVELS OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. 
 
 51 
 
 of the toad and frog — tliis extinct animal is supposed to have been a 
 huLje frofj. It has more recently received the name of labyrinthodon, 
 from the peculiar structure of its teeth, which, under the microscope, 
 present a series of irre^^ular folds, resemblinc^ the labyrinthic \vindin[:js 
 of the human brain. The pictorial representation in the f )llo\ving chap- 
 ter is from a model at the London Cr\-stal Palace. Later a variety of 
 tracks, referred to the chirotherium, tortoises, and reptiles were (li-^co\-- 
 ered in the new red sandstone in the neighborhood of Liverpool. The 
 largest footprint A\as nine inches long, and si.K inches broad, the length 
 of the step approaching to two feet. Abundant footj)rints along with 
 ripple marks, ha\e been found on layers of the forest marble, to the 
 north of Bath. A communication to the Journal of Science, in i-S;^, by 
 President Hitchcock, of Amherst College, called attention to some very 
 distinct tracks in the red sandstone of the Connecticut valle\-, resembling 
 llie impressions left on the muddy banks of the river by the aquatic birds 
 now common to the locality. 
 
 3rarks of Kaiii l>r<)i)S in Solid Rocks. 
 
 Similar impressions of rain drojw occur in the Storeton quarries, 
 where tracks of the chirotherium are found. The under surface of the 
 strata, at the depth of thirty-two or thirty-five feet, presents a remarkably 
 blistered or watery appearance, being densely covered by minute hem- 
 is})heres of the same substance as the sandstone. The ini[)re~. ions 
 are sometimes perfect hemispheres, indicating a vertical fall of rain; 
 but in other cases they are irregular and elongated in a particular 
 direction, as if the drops had struck the surface oblicjuely, indicating a 
 wind accompanying the rain. President Hitchcock mentions specimens 
 of .sandstone in his possession, obtained from various parts of the L'nited 
 .States, which show footprints, ripple marks and rain drops, the latter 
 evincing, by a uniform elongation of shai)e, the direction of the wind 
 when the rain fell. 
 
 Walking along our shores in the present da}-, we obser\-e a well- 
 defined cast of our ov.n footstep left in the santl still wet from the 
 retreating tide, and similar distinct impressions made by the passage of 
 animals and birds across it, and by the descent of a shower of rain upon 
 it. In the same manner it is probable that the tracks which the new 
 red sandstone presents were formed on the shores of an estuar)', or a 
 tidal river, between high and low water mark — then dried and hardened 
 by the action of the sun and air during the subsiding of the waters — 
 the returning waves washing up mud to cover up the impressions, the 
 two layers uniting, to exhibit, if ever separated, the one a mould, and 
 
52 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 the othjr a cat from it. of the forms that have be?n there. The obser- 
 vation of ii'.-^' phenomena, now, to these unfolded by this geolop^ical 
 format; -n, a:-: of no mean importance and interest to mankind, in every 
 conditi )!! )f society. Many a depredator ha:: been detected by thj 
 correspondence of his foot to its imprint in the snow or loose earth 
 near the place of his crime. The North American Indian finds hi; 
 enjm\- by his trail, and can not only distin^^uish between the elk an I 
 \'\: buiTalo by the marks of their hoofs, but determine with i^rcat exact-- 
 iijss the space of time that has elapsed since the animals ha\-e passed. 
 In the deserts of Africa, tlie track of the camels proclaims to the Arab 
 whether a heavily or lightly laden caravan has crossc' the sands. But 
 
 from : he imprints prc- 
 .sented by the sandstone 
 formation, we gather in- 
 fo r m a t i o n respecting 
 what trans])irLd many 
 thousand:5 of _ -.ars ag(^, 
 catch a glimpse of the gi- 
 gantic birds and strangely 
 
 u^T^^^. ^O^i^^i"!^'^^ fiuadru:>-ds that 
 
 H'4 W'^^^Mk^hhimmm^^c, existed. ...l even 
 
 ha\-e indicated to us, in 
 a manner so plain as not 
 to be mistalccn, the di- 
 rection from which tlic 
 wind blew \\iii!e a slu n\er 
 of rain was falling. 
 
 \\"e fiud embedded in 
 the earth tlic fossil re- 
 mains of \-ast quantities 
 of animals ntT less remarkable for their minuteness and construction than 
 those already described in the preceding pages are for their colo^^sal size. 
 The}' are cal'ed animalcules, or infusoria. Their skeletons constitute nearly 
 ihe whole mass of some soils and rocks, man}' feet in thickness, and extend- 
 ing 'iver areas of several miles. Such is the polishing slate, in Bohemia, 
 which occupies a surface of great extent, i^robabK' the site of an ancient 
 lake, and forms slaty ."-trata of fourteen feet hi thickness, almost wholly com- 
 posed of the shields of animalcules. The size of a single one, forming 
 the polishing slate, amounts upon an a\'erage, and in the greatest part, to 
 one-sixth of the thickness of a human hair. Such is the statement oi 
 
 CHAF.K UNDER Till-: MICKO.SCOI'E. 
 
 Ehrenber 
 
 losopher, 
 
 so in tho.« 
 
 known nii 
 
 the telescc 
 
 star; the ( 
 
 me that tl 
 
 countries, 
 
 teaclics m 
 
 the familie 
 
 busy popu 
 
 The one tc 
 
 of the ins 
 
 c a n c *" o i 
 
 Morld I t 
 
 upon; the 
 
 redeems it 
 
 all insignifi 
 
 —for it tel 
 
 that in the 1 
 
 of every fo 
 
 and in the 
 
 ers of every 
 
 den, and in 
 
 \vaters of e 
 
 rivulet, then 
 
 worlds tcer 
 
 with life, 
 
 numberless 
 
 the stars abo 
 
 Tile comp 
 
 unique; for i 
 
 ica, strata con 
 
 is the case \\ 
 
 ing a deposi 
 
 towns of Ric 
 
 over which ii 
 
 the nature of 
 
 almcst entire! 
 
 prepared for r 
 
I 
 
 MARVELS OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. 
 
 53 
 
 Ehrcnbcrg, wliich naturally suggests the reflection of the French phi- 
 losopher, that if the Almighty is great in great things, he is still more 
 so in those which arc minute; and furnishes additional data for the well 
 known moral argument of the tlieologian, derived from a comparison of 
 the telescope and the microscope: The one led me to see a system in every 
 star; the other leads me to see a world in every atom. The one taught 
 me that this mighty globe, with the whole burden of its people and of its 
 countries, is but a grain of sand on the high field of immensit}-; the other 
 teaches me that e\'ery grain of sand may harbor within it the tribes and 
 the families of a 
 busy population. 
 The one told me 
 of the insignifi- 
 cance of the 
 world I tread 
 upon; the other 
 redeems it from 
 all insignificance 
 — for it tells me 
 that in the leaves 
 of every forest 
 and in the flow- 
 ers of every gar- 
 den, and in the 
 waters of every 
 rivulet, there are 
 worlds teeming 
 with life, and 
 numberless as 
 the stars above. fossil remains in chalk. 
 
 The composition of the polishing slate of Bohemia is far from being 
 unique; for in several other European localities, and very largely in Amer- 
 ica, strata consisting mainlv of fossil animalcules have been observed. This 
 is the case with the infusorial earth of Virginia, a yellowish clay, furm- 
 ing a deposit from twelve to fifteen feet in thickness, upon which ihe 
 towns of Richmond and Petersburg are built. The surface of the country 
 over which it extends is characterized by a scanty vegetation, owing to 
 the nature of the soil dependent on the minute organisms of which it 
 almost entirely consists. When a few grains of this earth arc properly 
 prepared for microscopic examination, immen.se numbers of the shields or 
 
H, > 
 
 54 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SIvV. 
 
 ca-^c-; of ani'Tialculcs arj vi-;ible und^r a maTnifyin; prvv:r of thrc- hun- 
 dred diaiiijtcr-;; in fact, the merest stain left by the cvaooratioii of water 
 in which some of the marl has been mixed, teems with thjse fjssil re- 
 mains. The farther we pursue o.ir iavesti^^ations in this direction, the 
 more wonderful do the discoveries become. 
 
 These or^^anisms are of exquisite structure and comprise many species 
 and jrenera. The most beautiful and abundant a -e the circular shields 
 .vhich are cle^^ant saucer-shapjd cases, elab ):-atjly ornamented with open- 
 in:;s disposed in curves, sonewhat resem!:)!;n ^ the machine-turned sculp- 
 turinir of a watch. These shells are from one-hundredth to one-thousandth 
 of an inch in diameter. Th j b )dy of the livin^^ animalcule was protected 
 and enclosed by a pair of these concave shells. 
 
 The Sinaliost Creatures ever Discovered, 
 
 Beds of infusorial earth occur in almost every quarter of the globe. A 
 large proportion of the sand of the Libyan desert consists of microscopic 
 fossil remains; and the marine sands of the Paris basin are in some locali- 
 ties so full of microscopic forms, that it is calculated that a cubic inch of 
 the mass contains sixty thousand. Many of the peat bogs of Ireland 
 contain layers of a white, earthy substance, which, when dry, is of the 
 appearance and consistence of brittle chalk, and this consists of the cases 
 of animalcules. 
 
 Infusoria abound also at the present time. They are generally to be 
 found in stagnant pools, an 1 not unfre [uently in springs, rivers, lakes and 
 sea-i; also in tlve internal moisture of li\-in.g plants and animal bodies, and 
 are i)robably at times carried about in the vapor and dust of the at;m(:)s- 
 phere. Unlike the larger animals, throughout the whole of which we 
 can trace one common type, the forms of these minute creatures are 
 varied and singular. Some are egg-shaped, others resemble spheres; 
 others again different kinds of fruit, funnels, tops, cylinders, pitchers, 
 wheels, flasks, cjls, serpents and many classes of animals with jointed 
 skeletons. 
 
 Some of th J animalcules are visible to the naked eye, as moving points 
 though the smallest are not more than the 24,000th of an inch in 
 diameter, a single drop of water having been estimated to contain many 
 thousands of them. They were formerly supposed to be little more thaii 
 mere [jarticles of matter endowed with vitality; but Ehrenberg has dis- 
 covered in them an apparatus of muscles, intestines, teeth, different kinds of 
 glands, ej'es, nerves, am! organs of reproduction. They not only propagate 
 by eggs, but b\' self-division ; and are the most rcproducti\'e of all organ- 
 ized bodie \ They possess a comparatively long life, and in general main- 
 
 I 
 
 •^'tv'. 
 
 ^. JR 
 
in 
 
 iiiy 
 
 Ian 
 
 lis- 
 
 of 
 
 itc 
 
 in- 
 
 |n- 
 
 I 
 
 MARVELS OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. 
 
 50 
 
 tain themselves pretty uniformly against all external influence, as do larger 
 animals. As far as is yet known, they appear to be sleepless. 
 
 It cannot but be a matter of great interest to learn, if possible, the use 
 of these minute animals in the economy of nature. That they are not 
 merel)' accidents in creation we maybe quite certain, and that they simply 
 enjoy life and do not contribute to the well-being of the vhole, may be 
 considered equally improbable, and too unlike the ordinary course of 
 
 A DROP OF WATER AS SEEN UNDER THE MICROSCOPE. 
 
 nature to be admitted for a moment. All things work together, and wc 
 may in all cases, safely inquire concerning the adaptation of any group, 
 however minute or apparently unimportant it may at first appear. 
 
 It has been ingeniously suggested by Professor Owen that these little 
 creatures are the appointed devourers of organic matter immediately be- 
 fore its final decomposition into inorganic elements. For, consider, .says 
 he, their incredible numbers, their universal distribution, their insatiable 
 
sr; 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV, 
 
 II 
 
 i« 
 
 voraci':y, and their invariable presence wlicrever animal or vcq'etable mat- 
 ter is under<;oin;^ decomposition in water. Surely we must be indebted 
 to them — the e\-er acti\e aivJ in\'isible scavcnt^ers of tlie world — for the 
 salubrity of our atmosphere; but they perform a still more important 
 office, perhai)s, in preventing;" the {gradual diminution of the present 
 amount of ori^ani/.ed matter upon the earth. Ant! it is not difficult to 
 understand in what way this result is produced, for, when the ori^anic 
 natter is in that state of comminution and deca\' which immediately 
 precedes its return from the ori^^anic to the inorganic world, these wakeful 
 members of nature's invisible police are everywhere ready to arrest the 
 fuL^n'tive particles, and turn them back into the ascending stream of animal 
 life. Becoming the food of the smaller infusorial animalcules, they a.<j;ain 
 sup[)l}' the voracity of the larger ones, and of numerous other small 
 animals, which in their turn are devoured by lar<^er ones, and .'•■o, by de- 
 i^rees, the substance fit for the nourishment of the most hii^dily orL,^inized 
 classes is brought back by a short route from the extremity of the 
 realms of organized matter. 
 
 Ski'Ictoiis Trnvelin;;" in tlio Air. 
 
 Tt is a remarkable and very interesting fact with regard to these 
 an inalcules, that their light skeletons, are capable of bemg transported 
 by the air in the form of fine dust to the distance of many hundred miles 
 out at sea; and the quantity so transported is often sufficient to cloud the 
 air, and form a .sensible deposit on the decks and rigging of ships. The 
 microscope alone is capable of proving whence this dust comes, but, with 
 its aid, they can be recogni.scd, identified, and traced to that continent or 
 island, which is not alwa\-s the one nearest at hand, where they are in- 
 digenous. It will not be surprising, also, since we thus find the bodies of 
 the animalcules themselves carried along by millions through the air, that 
 their eggs may be carried }'et farther, and prove a bond of union between 
 distant lands, whose other inhabitants have no relation. Who could have 
 imagined that the atmosphere is in this way the means of conveying to 
 distant .spots the invisible stony frame-work and the eggs of these little 
 bodies ? And )et it is impo.ssible to doubt the importance of such a mean. 
 Df communication in the animal economy. 
 
 The first animals produced, after the infusorias and microscopic plant- 
 animals, in the still warm, dense waters of the primeval seas, were such as 
 sea-stars and .sea-hedgehogs, whose very numerous organs present a sym- 
 metry ab.sent in the infusorias. These beautiful flower-like zoophytes, 
 covered the bottom of the sea where they were planted, rising, like a sub- 
 marine forest, to an elevation of several yards. The various solid parts of 
 
 their b 
 ton of 
 columi 
 
 Anil 
 makinii 
 brated 
 some c( 
 tions of 
 tion of 
 equally 
 and evei 
 abo\-e tl 
 many si 
 .species ( 
 which le 
 represeni 
 impress 
 How 
 common 
 •speak an 
 character 
 that reasc 
 of man hi 
 many cas 
 which wi 
 which sci 
 forces, re- 
 
MARVELS OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. 
 
 57 
 
 } un^'n-^'ii 
 
 their bodies had already some analogy with those constituting the skele- 
 ton of the superior animals, and thus formed, around a stem or vertebral 
 column, a complex framework destined to protect the \ital organs. 
 Iiiniiincriible Tiisocts Building- Islands. 
 
 Animals of this low organization multiply rapidly, and are capable of 
 making very important geological deixxsits. While, indeed, the verte- 
 brated animals and the larger and more complicated molluscs live for 
 some considerable time, and modifv during that time the tjeneral condi- 
 tions of organic existence, these little creatures may, b\' their rapid secre- 
 tion of solid matter from the water, and (owing to their brief existence) 
 equally rapid deposition of it in a solid form, lay the foundation of islands, 
 and even of new continents. The land thus formed may, when brought 
 abo\-e the sea level, be destined to last, with little change, throughout 
 many successive geological epochs, during which group after group of 
 species of the higher animals may be introduced and destro}'ed, some of 
 which leave no indication of their ever having existed, while others are 
 represented by a few bones, a tooth, a scale, or perhaps only by the faint 
 impress of a footstep. 
 
 How important, then, it becomes that wc should understand these, the 
 common hieroglyphics, even if their meaning is less full, and when they 
 speak an earlier and a simpler language than the others, since the sacred 
 characters which tell of higher e\'ents are so infinitel)' more rare, and f )r 
 that reason also more difficult to render. The most enduring monuments 
 of man him.self — his cities, his pyramids, and his lofty columns — are, in 
 many cases, built of these far more ancient and far more lasting objects, 
 which withstand the shock of earthquakes and the hand of time, and 
 which scarcely yield, even at last, to the slow influence of crystalline 
 forces, re-arranging the particles by the aid of heut and electricity. 
 
 ii*l' 
 
 ii 
 
 IH 
 
 h 
 
I 
 
 ' \ 
 
 chapti:r ti. 
 PRK-iiisTORic moxsti:r.s of land and sea. 
 
 AstonishiiiL; Convulsions and Physical Revoliitl>)ns — Fabulous Traciiti(jns — Histories 
 <<( Rcptiitts Written in Stone — Gigantic Iiiliabitants of the Ancient Globe — 
 Skeletons of Extinct Animals found in Rocks — A Winged Mcjnster— Combat 
 i*.<-tween Enormous Reptiles — The H'.'.jie Me,gaIosaurus — A Vampire of the Pre- 
 llistoricAge — A Cre.iture Curiously Constructeil — The Win.i;-I'"iugered IJird — 
 Tlie Famous I;j'.jaiiodon— A Vivid Picture of the Early Ages— Animal Life in 
 the Oohtic Period— A Dragon on Wings— The Remarkable Dinotherium— Tlie 
 Strange Hand-Animal— The Glyptoden — Tlie Primeval Armadillo— A Creature 
 that cculd Swallow an Ox —Megatherium — Animals in I\IortaI Combat — A P>ird 
 Without Wings— Flowers and Plants in Stone — Fossil Fishes — Beautiful Shells. 
 
 Hh^ observer who glances over a rich and fertile plain, watered 
 by rivers and watercourses which have, during a long course of 
 ages, pursued the same uniform and tranquil course ; the travel- 
 ler who contemi^lates the walls and monuments of a great city, 
 whose foundations are lost in the night of ages, witnessing, apparently, to 
 the imchangeableness of things and places; the naturalist who examines 
 a mountain or other locality, and finds the hills and \-alle\\s and other ac 
 cidents of the soil in the very .spot and condition in which they are des- 
 cribed by history and tradition ; — neither of these inquirers would at first 
 suspect that any serious subversion had ev^er occurred to disturb the sur- 
 face. Nevertheless, the spot has not always presented the calm aspect of 
 stability which it now exhibits ; in common with every .spot of earth, it 
 has had its con\'ulsions, its physical revolutions, whose story we are about 
 to trace. Buried in the depths of the soil, for example, in one of those 
 vast excavations which the intrepidity of the miner has dug, in search of 
 coal and other minerals and metals, there are numerous phenomena which 
 .strike the mind of the incjuirer, and carry their own conclusions with 
 them. A striking increase of temperature occurring in these subterra- 
 nean places is one of the most remarkable of these. It is found that the 
 temperature of the earth ri.ses one degree for every sixty or seventy feet 
 of descent from its surface. 
 
 If the interior of the beds be examined minutcl)', if, armed with the 
 miner's pick and shovel, the surrounding earth is dug up, it is not impos- 
 sible that the very first efforts at mining may be rewarded by the discovery 
 of some fossil form no longer found in the living state. The remains of 
 
 m 
 
 li 
 i 
 
 
 plants 
 
 ver\' c 
 
 ities, t 
 
 fragmc 
 
 \'egeta 
 
 remain 
 
 has toi 
 
 no loll! 
 
 li\-ing i 
 
 now so 
 
 tlie sur 
 
 gaiu'zat 
 
 then, m 
 
 these b( 
 
 Thes, 
 
 classed 
 
 the wor 
 
 in tile I 
 
 queatlie 
 
 to the a 
 
 the trad 
 
 the Tro 
 
 discover 
 
 we are a 
 
 found, w 
 
 fossilizec 
 
 The ii 
 sandston 
 rej)tiles 
 .sands, u 
 evidentlx 
 inij)ressi( 
 uliat spc 
 
 soil. St) 
 
 as the lal 
 
 a man. 
 
 impress ( 
 The lii: 
 
 and R( mi 
 
 •J 
 
PRK-HISTORIC MONSTERS OF LAND AND SEA. 
 
 59 
 
 I 
 
 plants, and animals bclon^in^ to the first ages of the world, are, in fact, 
 ver\' common ; entire mountains arc formed of them, and, in some local- 
 ities, the soil can scarcely be touched at a certain depth without \-ielding 
 fra;jjments of bones and shells, or the impression of fossili/.cd animals and 
 vcL^etables, the buried remains of extinct creations. These bones — these 
 remains of animals or vegetables which the pick of the young geologist 
 has torn from the soil — belong probably to some organic species which 
 no longer e.vists anywhere : it cannot be compared to any animal or plant 
 living in our times ; but it is evident that these beings, whose remains are 
 now so deeply buried, have not always been so covered; they li\eil on 
 the surface of the earth as plants and animals do in our days, for their or- 
 ganization is essentially the same. The beds in which they now repose, 
 then, must in other times ha\-e formed the surface ; and the presence of 
 these bones and fossils pro\-es that the earth has suffered great changes. 
 
 Thesj remains of the primitive creation had long been examined and 
 classed scientificall)- as freaks of nature, for so we find them described in 
 the works of the ancient philosophers who wrote on natural history, and 
 in the few treatises on natural historv which the middle ages ha\'e be- 
 qucathed tons. Fossil bones, especially those of elephants, were known 
 to the ancients, giving birth to all sorts of legends and fabulous histories : 
 the tradition which attributed to Achilles, to Ajax, and the other heroes of 
 the Trojan war, a height of twenty feet, was traceable no doubt to the 
 discover)' of the bones of elephants near their tombs. In the time of Pericles 
 we are assured that in the tomb of Ajax a knee-bone of that hero was 
 found, which was as large as a dinner-plate. This was probably only the 
 fossilized knee-bone of an elephant. 
 
 Tracks of Itt'ptiles in Stoin>. 
 
 The imj:)rints left upon the earth or sand, which time has hardened into 
 sandst(ine, furnish to the geologist a .series of \'aluable indications. The 
 rejitiles of the ancient world, the turtles in particular, have left upcMi the 
 .sands, which time has transformed into blocks of stone, imprints which 
 evidently represent the e.xact mould of the feet of these animals. These 
 impressions ha\-e sometimes been sufficient for naturalists to determine to 
 what species the animal belonged which thus left its impress on the wet 
 soil. Some of these present traces of the steps of the great reptile known 
 as the labyrinthodon or cheirotherium, whose foot resembles the hand of 
 a man. Another well-known impression is supposed to have been the 
 impress of the foot of some great turtle. 
 
 The historian and antiquarian ma>' tra\-erse the battle fields of the Greeks 
 and Romans, and search in vain for traces of the.se conquerors, whose 
 
 "^#1 fr 
 
 
i 
 
 60 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 armies rava<;c(l the world. Time, wiiich has overthrown the monuments 
 of their victories, has also effaced the imprint of their footstejj^; and of 
 millions of men besides, \\ hose invasions ha\c spread desolation o\er 
 Europe, there is not even a trace of their footstejjs. These reptiles, on the 
 contrar)', which rani^ad for thousands of j-ears on the surface of our 
 planet when still in its infancy, have impressed on the soil indelible recol- 
 lections of their existence. Hannibal and his lei^ions, the barbarians ami 
 their sa\a;.,fe hordes, ha\e passed over the land without leavin^_j a material 
 mark of their passage, while the poor turtle which dra;^^s itself alon^; on 
 the .silent shore of the j^rimitive seas has bequeathed to learni'd posterity 
 the ima;4e ami imprint of a part of its bod\'. These imprints ma\- be 
 perceived as distinctl\- marked on the rocks as the traces left in mi>ist sand 
 or in newlv-fallen snow bv some animal under our own e\-es. What trraxe 
 reflections should be awakened within us at the s'vj^ht of these l)Iocks of 
 hartlened earth, which thus carrv back our thouijhts to the Hrst aires of 
 the world, and liow insi<:jnificant the disco\-eries of the arch.neolojjjist who 
 throws himself into ccstacies before some piece of Greek or ICtruscan 
 pottery, wlun compared with these \eritab!e antiquities of the earth! 
 
 A'ast AntiMliluvian Forests. 
 As already observed, the products of the first epoch of the c^lobe were 
 vei^etable, consisting of immense forest growths, from which \ast coal- 
 beds were formed to furnish fuel for the subsequent races of men. The 
 secondary epoch contrasted strongly with that which preceded it, for now 
 the wonders of animal life burst upon us with their unique and fantastic 
 shapes. The reptiles astonish us by their number, their gigantic size, and 
 their unwonted forms; antique and incomprehensible inhabitants of the 
 globe, reproduced in all their parts to our wondering e\-es by the genius 
 of a Cuvier and an Owen ! It is to this epoch that the name of the rep- 
 tilian age may be most appropriately given, so completely did these 
 creatures then predominate on the globe; it was the age of a throng of 
 frightful lizards, compared to which our own arc mere pigmies, and which 
 possessed a form and character of their own. At this time li\ed the 
 ichthyosauri, veritable fish-lizzards, as is indicated by their name. These 
 reptiles, which must have spread terror through the ancient seas, attained 
 an enormous length. Their whole organization is a series of surprises. 
 With the vertebra of the fish they have the fins of a dolphin; and 
 while armed with the teeth of a crocodile, they display an optic globe 
 which is without any parallel. This eye, the bulk of which was some- 
 times as large as a man's head, was protected in front by a framework of 
 bony plates, and was beyond all doubt the most powerful and perfect 
 
 ^. 
 
 V. 
 
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 eart;i, sr:A, a\d sky. 
 
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 visual ai)paratus ever seen in creation. Hence the ichthyosauri ccnild 
 discover tlieir prey at the greatest as well as the shortest distances; in the 
 profound darkness of nic^ht, and in the depths of the ocean; tlie deh'cate 
 structure of the or^^an <f visit n hcht'^ protected from the shock ot the 
 waves b}' the bony buckler which surrounds tlie transparent globe. 
 
 Naturalists ha\'e investigated the remains of the.se animals with such 
 skill, that in spite of the destruction of the softer organs thou.sands of 
 5'ears ago, the)' have been enabled to make out tlu structure of the intes- 
 tinal tube! It has been shown that this was f)rmjd exactl\' like an 
 Archimedian screw, and was strictK' analogous to that of our sharks and 
 raj's. At the same time the nature of the food of these voracious reptiles 
 ha;, bem discovered. The petrified remains of footl wliich were found 
 proved that they devoured an enormous quantity offish, and even occasion- 
 alh' their own species, for small ichth\-osauri ha\-e been met with, in the 
 inclosed remains of the large ones. 
 
 Freaks of tlic A:mi!!ji1 Kin;;(!oni. 
 
 W'iih these terrible ruliTs of the ancient seas li\ed the plesiosauri, re;)- 
 liles eciual!)' strange, and whicli C"u\ier considered as the most singular 
 races of the earl\- woild. Tl' . wei-e remarkable for their turtle-h' e fins, 
 and especially for the thinness and extreme length (^f their serpent-like 
 necks. 1 he aiTangenieiit of the skeleton in the pi -sioraurus indicates 
 that it swam ortlinariK' < n the surface of the waxes, curving back its long 
 flexible neck like a swan, an 1 da:t.'ng f >rward with it from time to time in 
 order to seize the fish wIklIi ap-proach.ed it. Their paws, similar to those 
 of the sea turtles, show th.at the pi jsio-auri, lik-e these rei)tiles, sometimes 
 issued from the sea anil sought refiige amid the plants, in order to e\ade 
 their dangerous enemies, which were beyond all doubt the ichthyosauri. 
 
 If any of tlie anin^als which the ren.iote periods of the globe present to 
 our notice are to be looked ujxin as monsters, we submit that in this 
 respect the first jjlace is due to the pterodact}'li, which remind one of the 
 ancieiit dragons of legendar}- traditiftn. Their structure is so strange that 
 one docs not really know wliere to place them ; they were alternately 
 li>oketl upon as birds, mammals, and reptiles. De Blainville, embarrassed, 
 us indeed all tlu; learned world were, firmed a se[)afate class for them in 
 the animal kingdom. The aspect o( the pterodact\i was necessarily \ery 
 strange. \\'hen naturalists tried to restore their frames, the figures they 
 produced were more like the offspring of some diseased imagination than 
 realities. They were really reptiles furnished with large wings, and 
 resembled enormous bats, having a very pointed head sujjported on a 
 slender neck. 
 
 i 
 
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 mu 
 
 FJEKC) 
 
FIliKCE COMBAT lili LWKEN THE MEGALOSAUKUS AND KJUANGr/ON. 
 
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 ii 
 
 Kill 
 
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 V 
 
 ^^^HhP 
 
 ii 
 
 
 
 vf 
 
 \% 
 
\ j 
 \ i 
 
 64 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 At the period in the history of the world when the ocean swarmed with 
 sucli monsters as tlie ichthyosaurus, tlie land was tenanted by huge croco- 
 dile-like lizards. These were reptiles provided with feet; while those 
 inhabiting the sea were partly like fishes, and liad paddles to enable them 
 to swim. The largest of the land species was the iguanodon, so called 
 because it resembled in structure, and in the character of its teeth, the 
 iguana, a lizard common in the tropical parts of America. The iguana of 
 th>j present day only grows to the length of four or fi\-e feet, while the 
 iguanodon of f)rmer ages reached astonishing dimensions. The small 
 horn on its nose gave it a strange, dragon-like aspect ; but, notwithstand- 
 ing its enormous size and formidable look, it was probably a harmless 
 creature, like its modern relative, feeding only on \-cgetable substances. 
 
 A Terrible ?I ouster. 
 
 The megalosaurus, or " great lizard," was, on tlie other lic.nd, a dreadful 
 carnivorous monster, almost as huge as the iguanodon, butfarmore terrible; 
 for its immense jaws look as if they could ha\-e crushed through a bar of 
 iron, and its formidable rows of teeth were s])ecially adapted for cutting 
 ami tearing flesh : for some were arranged like those of a saw, while others 
 were curved backward like a sabre, and sharp all along the inner edge, so 
 that when an animal was seized by them it could not possibly escape. 
 The body of the megalosaurus was covered with strong plates like armor, 
 and its legs were longer in proportion to its size than those of other lizards. 
 As these monsters were not sluggish like the crocodile and alligator, but, 
 from their flexible, lizard-like structure, prol)abl\' swift and sudden in their 
 motions, the destruction of animal life by such must ha\e been immense; 
 and, indeed, their voracity may ha\-e been one cause of their extinction, 
 for when other food failed them they may ha\e attacked each other, the 
 large herbivorous animals, such as the mastodon and mammoth, not being 
 then in existence. From the plants preserved in the same rocks which 
 contain the remains of these creatures, we know that they must ha\"e lived 
 in a trojjical climate, fen- the vegetation chiefl}' consists of tree-ferns and 
 palms, such as only grow in hot countries. 
 
 The megalosaurus received its name from its gigantic size, although the 
 size is. in some respects, the character of least importance. The tribe of 
 lizards, one of the most important of the existing reptilian groups, forms 
 a link in the chain by which the animal we are now describing was con- 
 nected with known forms; but, iilthough analogies un([uestionably exist 
 between the lizard and the megalosaurus, and also between this animal 
 and the crocodiles, there }-et remain marked ami peculiar features sep- 
 arating it from both. It is now considered as one of an extinct family, 
 
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G(> 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SK^'. 
 
 I 
 
 ill! 
 
 i"t 
 
 pre-eminently remarkable for the L,n-cat hei^^dit at which all the 
 species stood above the <^round in proportion tf^all other reptiles; and the 
 hei^fht is indicated not less by the actual size of the bones of the extreini- 
 ties, than by the provision made in the skeleton to resist the jiressure of 
 an enormous weii^dit. 
 
 The inet^alosaurus was a i^igantic carnivorous land reptile, its body 
 oein'T of enormous si/e. It was clothed in scalv armor and stood with 
 'ts whole body considerably aboxe the L^rDund, in hulk and general ap 
 pearance rather resembling the hip]:)op()tamus than the gigantic alligators 
 of the present day. It was provided with a true rcptillian tail, the length 
 of which was considerable, although not nearly so great in i)roportion as that 
 of existingcrocodilesamlalligators. The head was terminated !;•}• a straight, 
 narrow, and long snout, not tapering, but compressed laterally. The teeth 
 were of mock-rate size. They formed, however, strong and powerful cut- 
 ting in.strumcin-^, for the f<»re part was sluirp and jaggetl, and the hind part 
 much thicker aiul blunt, while one set succeedetl another. 
 
 All Iii;>:(>nious ArraiiycnuMit. 
 
 The verteljnxi are somewhat peculiar in form, and [^resent nearly flat 
 surfaces to one another; but it is chicfl}- cue group, consisting of five, 
 firml)' cemented together into a solid mass, and distributing the weight of 
 the 1)ih1\' upon the hind'T extremities, that forms an exception to the ordi- 
 nary rei)tilian character, h'xcept the megalosaurus, and the two or three 
 'j.xtinct sptcies now groujx."d with it, and belonging to the same period, no 
 reptile has more than two bones cemented together for this purpose; and 
 this is found sufficient, because nnich of the weight is supported directly 
 upon the ground eitlu-r by the bod\- or tail of the animal. < )n the other 
 hand, all the hea\"\' land quadrupeds exhibit great strength and solitlity in 
 this part. It is interesting to find the long and powerful extremities of 
 this monstrous reptile thus combined with a structure altogether diTferent 
 from that of other reptiles, but nianifestl\- related to its habits. The vcr- 
 tebne of the megalosaurus thus united are not in a straight line, but 
 tlescribe a gentle curve with the concax'it)- downwards. 
 
 The bones of the extremities are long, large, and hollow, re.semhlirg In 
 this the corresponding bones of land quadrupeds. They exhibit, however, 
 a mixture of the characters ob.served in the crocodile and in some lizards 
 They are st) large, compared with the bones of animals most nearly allied, 
 tiuit, if the .same proportions had held throughout, the megalosaurus might 
 be compared with a cnx'odile sixty or .seventy feet long, did such a mon- 
 ster exist; Init the whole structure of the animal indicates considcM-ably 
 greater bulk and height in proportion to length than is .seen in other rep- 
 
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 fe-l 
 
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 Iht. 
 
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 EARTH, SEA, AND SK^^ 
 
 tiles. Tlie trunk was broad ;iiui drc]), the tail comparatively sliort, and 
 the limbs iinnsiially Ioiil;. WV havr no nu;ans o'' dccidinL: in what nian- 
 ncr the tail was carried. 
 
 A IN'«Mili;ir Ski'letoii. 
 
 This ^L^ii^antic ianil rci)tilc was accompanied by another, and still more 
 oddly constituted animal, connect! n;^^ the reptiles with birds in a manner 
 not less remarkable than that by wliich the m.',L,^alosaurus unites them with 
 (piadrupeds. Tiie plerodact\'l is :\ true ll\"ini.r rt.ptile. It exhibits, how 
 c\cr, in the \arions parts of its skeleton such strani^e reseml)!ances to 
 other and \-er_\' widely se])arated j^roups, that it was successi\ely described 
 as a bird and a bat, before it was acknowledijeil accordin;^^ to its true 
 analo^i^ies ; and this tiot withf)ut some ^rounil, since the mistake arose 
 from the presence of peculiarities of structure considered in each case as 
 ch.iracteristic of the two ;jreat classes of \ertebrata to which it was referred. 
 It is, perhaps, the most e\traordinar\' of all the beings of whose former 
 (.xistence the stud\' of fo.^ils lias made us aware, and is that which if 
 livinij would a))pe-ar most unlike any thin;^' that exists in the known world. 
 In the external form of tin- body the ])terodact)'li probably resemble the 
 bats or vampires; and some i^f the- sjjecies attain the size of a cormorant, 
 altlumt^h others were not larger than a snipe. Fhe resemblance, however, 
 to the bat tribe, was limited to the- form of the l)od\', for the head was 
 totally different, the snout bi in^ enormousl\- eloni^ated, and the ex'e.s 
 c.\ceedini;"ly lary;e ; while the origans of flii;ht or wins^rs wcri.' e\ en more 
 powerful in proportion, and the Ie_<;s were probabl}' ca|)al)le of beinL,^ used 
 in the water, assisting;" the animal to swim. Let us now consitler a little 
 more in detail some of the peculiarities of .structure i)f this strange monster. 
 
 In the first place, the skull, far from resemblini; that of a bat or bird, 
 resembles in its general proi)ortions. and e\en in some points of detail, 
 that of the crocodiles; and the re[)tilian analogies are co'.npletel)' pre- 
 .served in the ptisition and small size of the cranium, and in the enormoui; 
 length of the snout. The hnw.-r jaw is not less reptilian, and is pro\ ided, 
 as well as the upper jaw, with a long row of powerful teeth imi)lanted in 
 sockets, and successively replaced as the)' wire worn ami lost. The num- 
 ber of these tei>th was about sixty; the\- were conical like those of the 
 crocodile, but larger comi<ared with the si/.e of the jaw. The whole (jf the 
 other proportions of the head indicate a creature of great strength, Citjiablc 
 of darting down upon fislu.-s or pre}'ing upon the smaller land animals. 
 
 A Stiaii««'ly Foi'iikmI Creature. 
 
 The neck of the pterodact>-l. althougli it contains onl)' the usual luim- 
 ber of vertebr.e (seven,) mii-,t ha\e been of great length, and well fitted to 
 
 .supfiort ; 
 
 vision is ( 
 
 head, a s 
 
 Tlie leng 
 
 cates a I 
 
 fiigiit. I 
 
 the skull 
 
 unnatural 
 
 means of 
 
 the |)owri 
 
 the most ; 
 
 difC-rent f 
 
 The boi 
 
 external d 
 
 tn-mities ( 
 
 ted, that, i 
 
 and euabli 
 
 been adhei 
 
 great part 
 
 and as it d 
 
 reptiles wit 
 
 to by w hi( 
 
 preser\-i'(l i 
 
 this mod if 
 
 fingers, uj) 
 
 umbrella ; 
 
 but also fro 
 
 thumb is j 
 
 Tiiere is 
 
 is able to si 
 
 feet flying 
 
 animal in it 
 
 a series of i 
 
 pterodactyl, 
 
 a very singi 
 ha\'e ensure 
 'ds flying. 
 
 In order t 
 the .shoulde 
 
 n 
 
PRE-HISTORIC MONSTERS OF EANO ANI^ SKA. 
 
 tin 
 
 LH fh* 
 
 support and iii<>\'c tlv; ]:)()\v(.'i'ful hcadju'^t described, bin an uiuisual jiro- 
 vision is ()l)scrvablc in the neck, a:-'^istinL^ t<> invc additional strenj^th to tlic 
 head, a set of bony tendons niniiin;_j ali'iv.; the vertebr;e for tliis purpose. 
 The- Ien;.;t]i of tliL' neek corresponds \\''h v. liat we see in birds, and indi- 
 cates a perfect adaptation of the' animal foi- rapid aud loni;-eontinu'..'d 
 fli;^dit. In one specimen the head is thrown back so (dv, that tlu base of 
 the skull almost touches the tail, without the bon:-s a[)pearin;.f to be in an 
 unnatural position, l^u.t il is chielly in the bones of the e\tivniit)', b\- 
 means of which the animal was enabled to ll\-. at the same time retainiu;^ 
 the power of walk iuL,^ and in all probability of su immiuL;, that we fnul 
 the most sinL,^uIar of the mechanical conti"i\'ani.(N, and oI)sei"\-e a struiture 
 different fi-om that of an)- otiier species, either li\;n;4- or extinct. 
 
 A ISinl aiul It<'|>til(' Coiiibiiicd. 
 The bones which support the wini^s of a bird e.xhibit, in spit" of threat 
 external difference, a Ljood deal of similarity to the bones of the fort; (w- 
 tremities of ([uadrnpeds, and eveii rc-]>tilc-s; and it nii;^dit ha\e been expec- 
 ted, that, in ailaptin^L^ a species of either ot these latter classes for fIiL;ht, 
 and enablini^ it to live chiefl)' in the air, similar mcxHfications would liaw: 
 bten adhered to. But tlie fact '\< not so. Tlie win;;s(.f a bird i^u ^ a 
 j^reat part of their efficacy to tlu' father-; with which tluy ar,' covered ; 
 and as it did not enter into the plan of nature to pro\i(le ([uadrupeds or 
 reptiles with these appenda_Ljes, other mechanical cont!-i\ances :\vc re.->c)rted 
 to by which the power of flii^ht is obtained, anil the common inteL;ument 
 prcser\-ed in thebatandpterodactxl. In bats, which areflv'inL;' ([uaclrupeds, 
 this modification consists in the extraordinary development of all the 
 fini^ers, uj)on which skin is stretched like the silk on tin: rods c f an 
 umlirella; and this skiit extends not mere] v between the elongated finL-'ers, 
 
 but 
 
 ;dso from the last tinker to tin 
 
 and feet, ami so to the tail. The 
 
 thumb is partially free, and ser\es as a hook- for sus[)endim; the animal. 
 There is no really flyini^ rejitile now existin;^^ but in one sfiecies, \\ liicli 
 
 i.s able to su 
 
 pp 
 
 O! 
 
 t itself for a short time in th,.- air; there is a \er\- iiniier- 
 
 fect flyin<^r apparatus, which chiefly acts as a paraciiute, supporlin;.^ the 
 animal in its long leaps. This consists of an expansion of the skin o\er 
 a series of fal.se ribs cxtendintj hori/.ontalK- from the back bone. In the 
 pterodactyl, however, which is e\idently and expressly contrived for lliL;ht 
 a very sint^ular contrivance is introduced, and it is one which seems to 
 have ensured to the animal the power of walking ;ind swimming, as \\ill 
 as flying. 
 
 In order to effect this, the bones of the fore extremity, so far as regards 
 till' shoulder and arm-bones, the wrist and the hand, scarcely differ from 
 
 HI' 
 
 a.''ii 
 
 ! 
 
t%p%; 
 
 w ^ 
 
 70 
 
 KAR'IH. SKA, AND SKV 
 
 the orclinar\- piMpDitioii-^ of those bones in h'/ards, and correspond with 
 the diiniMisions of the In'nder extremity, so that i:p to tliis point there is 
 uo peciih'ar adaptation for t^\•in;^^ On exaniiiiinLj the hones of the fini^ers, 
 however, w-j find that the numhi'r of joints in that which corresponds to 
 
 the h'ttle fniLTer is increased to fi\ 
 
 e, and eacli joint is enormously le: 
 
 rth- 
 
 etu'd. To tin.' whole of the little finijer. thus ])roduced till it has become 
 lonL^iT than the hi id)- aiii I n.'.;k together, a inembran( )us u iw^ was attached, 
 whi( h was also fastened to the ri'st of tin; arm, to the bod)', and to a por- 
 
 tion of the hinder e\lremit\' 
 
 W 
 
 leii 
 
 therefore, the arm was extended. 
 
 the wini; was not nec("ssaril\' expanded, 
 
 and 
 
 •nK' became- so on tin 
 
 ittk 
 
 fin -J 
 
 e-r OemLT 
 
 al- 
 
 o stretcl 
 
 and th(> membran 
 ]W this contri\ance 
 
 th 
 
 out so as to be at ri^ht anj^les to the arm 
 mded on four sides 1)\- bone 
 
 en nearK' suri'oi 
 
 ssit\- ot t'mploNan!/ tlie w liole- ai'ui m 
 
 tlu 
 
 the 
 
 :h; 
 
 jneclianrsm o 
 
 f n 
 
 \'m'. 
 
 m til 
 
 th 
 
 M(l, or the whole hand as in tlu- bat, was 
 doiu- awa)- w ith, ,111(1 tlu- lly'iiL; ap])aratus beiiv^' confined to one tnv^er, 
 the .'irnis and hands coiild be readily and coininieiUly made us.,- of like 
 tlu- ( oircspondiii;^- extremities of other .aiiimab. 
 
 A Croatiire \vi(li I{<'marK;«bl<> Vyility. 
 
 The i^'reat jKculiarit-*, ihen, in the pteroilact)!, with re;4^ard to the 
 organs of loci>nu)tion, i- tlv- freeJ.om with which the arms ami lej^s could 
 act when the wiiit^s wen- not in use — and this i.xtends e\en to tlu; struc- 
 ture of the toes, which in the bat form onl\- a single hook, but in the 
 ])terodact)-l wl ix- free, and would allow tlu- animal to stand firmK' on the 
 j^n'ound, to walk about like a bird, to ])ereh on a tix-i-, to climb rocks and 
 cliffs, and possibl)- also to swim in the ocean. 
 
 We lia\e, therefire, in this ^inL,nilar ;;eiuis an animal which, in all 
 points (if bonx' strurtui't-, f''om the teeth to the extremii)- of the nails, 
 presents tlu; characti-ristics of ;i re|)tile. beiiiL.;- e\(,'n perhaps covered with 
 seal)' armor, aiul which was also a tnu- reptile in the important pecu- 
 liarities of the structun- of the heart and circulatins;- or;^;ins. Hut it was at 
 the same time ])rovided with tlu; means of ll)-in^r ; its wiuL^s, when not in 
 ust;, mi;.;ht be folded b.ick like those of a bird; and it could suspeml itself. 
 
 In- 
 
 claws .•rita( 
 
 to tl 
 
 iiL^'ers, ti-oiii the l)ianclu-s of a tr 
 
 f 
 
 It 
 
 s usu; 
 
 position, when not in nu'tion or susjx-nded, wnuld ])idbabl\- 
 
 ■itand 
 
 iiiij 
 
 on its hind tl-.-l, witli its neck iiir\i-d backwards, lest the weiidit of 
 
 th 
 
 e enormous lu-;id should disturb the i-iiuilibrium of tl 
 
 u- ammal 
 
 Revertinir now to tlu- m(-</alosaurus, it- 
 
 antic companion received 
 
 the name of i<aiano(Ion. This has alreadv been nicntioiud, but 
 
 we give 
 
 here a full description ot this marwious creature. It is known to lis by 
 the teeth and a consid(.;rable part of the skeleton. The teeth of the itru- 
 
 anod(jn 
 
 edge in 
 
 result ( 
 
 crown ( 
 
 the toot 
 
 out fron 
 
 rate tou 
 
 be adap 
 
 ime\ en, 
 
 so as to 
 
 therefore 
 
 Worn, th 
 
 x'idinL,'- f( 
 
 enabling 
 
 that fooc 
 
 The v^ 
 with the 
 Hat surfa 
 crocodile 
 beloni^inj. 
 cemented 
 extremitii 
 specimen 
 in lenL;th, 
 comes as 
 tude, hot! 
 well with 
 bones of t 
 imal. Th 
 exceeded ( 
 cxen be\'oi 
 measures t 
 claw was ; 
 ample base 
 The tail 
 tion than 
 standing, Ii 
 breadth in 
 ribs were v 
 
prp:-hist()RIc mon.sti:rs oi- land and sfa. 
 
 1 
 
 Hnt iuiAtm 
 
 I 
 
 J 
 
 anoclon arc ])at'tl)' cotiiposcil of Ixmc, j^racluall}- hccoiniuL;" sutler from the 
 edge inwards, ami partly of itiaiiu-I. 1)\- wliich tlicy arc surroumlcd ; the 
 result of this contrixaiicc hciiii; the formation of a slant suiface of the 
 crown of tile tootli, and tlieri'forc of a sharp cuttinLT edj^c. W'liile X'ouni;, 
 the tootli i)rescnts a sharp edL;c, and is lancet-shaped as it <;ro\vs furthci 
 out fiom tile jaw, and is then a powerful instrunu-nt, well adapted to sepa- 
 rate tou_L;h \'e<^etable fibres; while in its most advanced state it ceases to 
 be adapteil to this purpose, but is stroni^r and Hal. and at the same time 
 unc\cn, the pulp of the tooth j)rojecting from the surfaci', which is worn 
 so as to be iiearl}' iiorizontal, and formin;; a transverse ridi^'e. Tlu' teetli 
 therefore be;^in 1)\- bein;^ incisor^, and in the course (^f time, as tluy become 
 worn, the\' pass into the condition of ;^n'inders — a curious change, pro- 
 viiling for the animal a [)erpetual suppl\- of teeth of all kinds, some 
 enabling it to nij) oiT tough vegetabk; food, and otluis lulping to grind 
 that food properl)' jjcfore it is committetl to the st na h. 
 A Hoiiy StriK'tiin' of (Irrat Strenj' *i. 
 The vertebral column of the iguanotlon is ou a scale commensurate 
 with tlie \ast bulk of the animal. The \ertebra- themsehi^s ha\x" nearly 
 Hat surfaces, and aie large and somewhat wetlge-.iiaped hke those of the 
 crocodile. The neck is not known, since no rtebr.v lia\e \-et been found 
 belonging to this jiait. llu' sarcuni. or that part of the back-bone, 
 cemented together to distribute the weight of the Ixxly on the hinder 
 extremities, includes fue vertebne, as in the nu-galosaiuus ; and in one 
 .specimen this continuous solid ridge of Ijone measures .seventeen inches 
 in length, anil its breadth, though only eight inches at the forepart, be- 
 comes as mucli as thirteen inches towards the hinder part. Tlie magni- 
 tude, both in diameter and length, of the thigh and leg bones, corresponds 
 well with the large portion of the spine thus gras])ed. as it were, b)- the 
 bones of the pelvis, and strongl\- points to the terrestrial habits of the an- 
 imal. The total length of the extremities seems, in some ca.ses, to ha\e 
 exceeded eight or e\en nine feet, and the bones of tile foot are gigantic 
 e\en beyond the proportions tlius intiicated, since one of the separate bones 
 measures thirty inches in length, and the last joint of the toe. to whicli a 
 claw was attached, is fue inches and a half long. There was thus an 
 ample base for the \ast column supi)orting the body. 
 
 The tail of the iguanodon was probably very much shorter in proi)or' 
 tion than that of crocodiles, and was \er\' dissimilar. It must, notwith- 
 standing, have been large, ami tlattened laterally, being of considerable 
 breadth in the vertical direction near its attachment to the hmW. The 
 ribs were very large, broad, and long. 
 
 tft 
 
 
72 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKV. 
 
 i \ 
 
 While the boius oi llu: (.•xtrcniitics wc.-rc perhaps siv or ci-ht times 
 lar^^er ih.-m tho'-e of the ino.^-t [;ii,MiUic aHic^'ator, the wholi' leiv.;th of the 
 i|^aiaiioiI(in is not likely to Iiave exceeclcd thirty r<-'<-'t. Kvcn then, how- 
 ever, allow ini,f about three feet for the head, and assuniin,^^ that the neck 
 was .short, and tliat the tail was about thirteen fei't lf)ni;, w hich it is calcu- 
 lated would be the extreme size. \vc still haw a lenc^th of twehe fe(-t for 
 the bodv, and this is much more than i> seen in the trunk of any iivin^:^ 
 animal. The Ijody iK.inc,^ of this length, and jierhaps of more than cor- 
 responding bulk, ;uid lifted man>- feet from the .ground, rciichint; i;erhap.s 
 to the height of twelve or fifteen feet, mu>t have indeed been .sufficiently 
 monstrous, ar.l departed uidely enough from any known animal to justify 
 
 THE PONDKROUS IGUANODON. 
 
 the accounts that iia\ • hcMi given of its strange and marvelous j^ropor- 
 tions. 
 
 It is difficult to confine the iniaeination within due bounds when wo 
 endeavor to n call .scenes enacted during the earlier j^eriods of the carth'.s 
 history, and to picture these j)ast events with.out running into extrava- 
 gance, and without o\erstepping the limits of .simplicity and probability, 
 which .should al\va\s chaiacteri/.e natural historw There is, however, no 
 need of exaggeration in depicting the wonders of those ancient periods. 
 Let r.s i;r.agine ciurseK'es placed on a j)roiecting headland or hill of 
 
 niounta 
 cs(|ue ol 
 tile gre: 
 ing j)osi 
 trait of 
 di^taiuc 
 uliirh is 
 ing tow, 
 Thefii 
 animals 
 ada[)teil 
 di^tingui 
 and not \ 
 ruptl\- al( 
 the sjiall. 
 the niolh 
 pre\-. M 
 less adapt 
 
 While, 
 supposed 
 distance, 
 the cetiosa 
 raised part 
 the distaiK 
 like tail, 
 face, there 
 mous toc:s 
 teri/e this , 
 But anol 
 marine rep 
 motion, an( 
 tics of the 
 great fish-li 
 porpoise-lik 
 its poweiful 
 tail-fin. Tl 
 the ichthyc 
 enemies. 
 ilavInL; 1 
 
 "^r* 
 
1*KE-HIST()RIC MONSTl'.KS ("I" I.AM) AM) SKA. 
 
 iiKiuiitain liinolDiK-, anciiiitly. .i> uciw forming; a inoiniiicut aivl pii.tiii- 
 cs(iuc object, but coinmandiiiL; a \ icw of tin: open sia, which then covcrctl 
 the greater part of our iMaiui. riaml in imaj^iuation iu this conunaml- 
 iii;^ j)osition, let ns tiulea\(>r to recall the .-;ct.'nes once inaeted near .some 
 tract oflow Hat land — a >,ni(Iy .shore of the oolitic piTiod — on which, ata 
 ilistancc-, a few solitary i)alni trees stand out a;j,ainst the blue sky, br.L 
 uhi.h is backed by a more luxuriant t^rowth of jiines and ferns, c.Ktend- 
 ini;" tow ards the interior, a!ul crounini^ the tops of distant hit;]! ^roim<!. 
 
 The first object that .illiacts attention niiL;ht be one of the crocodilian 
 animals with its loiii; slender snout, and with extremities adnn'rably 
 aila[)ted for swimniinj^, combininL^ those pec iiliarities of stiucture which 
 distininiisji the teleosaurus. This am'mal mii^ht be seen nio\ in^j slouK', 
 and not without diffieultN-, towards the water, but when'there, dartiiiLj ab- 
 ruptly alonj^, pursuin;^ and d;\oiirin^f the small fishes that swarmed about 
 the shallows; these fishes, slu<^L;i>h in their nature, and chietly fee(lin;.^on 
 the molluscs which live near the shore, fallin<r a ready and abundant 
 prey. ?.Iaiiy other crocodilian monsters, of similar habits, but more or 
 less ailapted for a marine life, niiL,dit also have been .seen wanderins^ about. 
 ijcviatliaiis of t1l(^ Aiitrdiliiviiiii S<-:is. 
 
 While, howe\er, this was ;4oin;^^ on in the near \icinity i^f land, our 
 su[)posed ])osition would enable us to watch al->o the o|)en sea at a little 
 di.stance. 1 Ii-n ■ we could not fail beiiiL^ struck with that <;ij.;'antic reptile, 
 the cctiosaurus, easiK' recoLMii/ed b\' the dark outline of its huw head 
 rai.sed jiartly abo\e the surface to enable the animal ia breathe, while at 
 the distance of some twenty x'ards from this would be .seen its <;reat fish- 
 likc tail. Could our jiower of vision enable us to .see beneath the sur- 
 face, there mi-^ht also be ob.served those singular webbed feet, and enor- 
 mous toc;s arnud with lon^; powerful claws, which so strikin<^ly charac- 
 tcri/.e this creature. 
 
 Hut another Oi the monsters of the deej) demands our notice — a trul\- 
 marine re[)tile — t^is^antic in its proportions, admirably adai)ted for ia[)id 
 motion, and combiniiiLj some of the terrestrial and crocodilian peculiari 
 ties of the long-necked plesio.saurus, with the coinjjact proportions of tlu 
 great fish-lizard. Its huge crocodilian head contrasts .strongly with the 
 pc)rpoi.sc-like bod)-, which is attached without any inteixening neck; and 
 its powerful elongated extremities make up for the ab.scnce of a vertical 
 tail-fin. The sharks, w Inch were still alnindant and powerful, and even 
 the ichthyo-saurus itsett', could scarcely ha\e escaped from these terrible 
 enemies. 
 
 Having thus obtained glimpses of the sea and its inhabitants, let us 
 
 ! I 
 
THE ICHTHYOSAURUS AND PLESIOSAUKUS IX MORTAL COMBAT. 
 (70 
 

 PRK-IIISTORIC MONSTF.RS OI' LAND .WD Sl.A. ~'> 
 
 next turn our atU'iUiini to the ;ulj.uriit land. I iic loiiLf-'^noiiti'd and 
 otlur croCDtlilcs, which havi.- i^ori^^rd thcMiisi.-Kcs wilh M\ in thi- shallnw 
 water, ni)\v slccj) half huriL-d in the iniuldy and naked plains an shore. 
 Some of them. eii;litecn or twi-ntv feet Ion;/, adxanee on land with diiTi- 
 c:ilt\-, tlu-ir extremities Inini^^ far better adapted to swimmin^^ than walkin;_j. 
 Vreseiitly a noise is heard, and a luit^e animal advances, whose tiiie nature 
 and haljits we are at Hrst .-it a loss to understand. In its <^eni ral propor- 
 tions it is far longer and aNo taller than the lar^jest elephant ; its body 
 han;4s down near the ground, but its ]v/^ are iikt- the trunks of i^rtat 
 forest trees, and its fee-t f;>rm an ample base for the wist cohnmis which 
 press U])on them. Instead of loiv^ tusks, lar'.',e Ljrindim^ ti-eth, and a 
 truni< like that of the- i-lephant, this animal has an (.-xceedinidy t'jc )n;_;ated 
 and narrow .snout, armed throuj^ln ut w ith ran;j,es of .sharp and stron;^ 
 knife-like teeth, 'idle monster approaches, and ti>'ilden dnwnwilh one 
 of its feet, armed with powtihil claws, or eau!.dit between its lnU'; and 
 narrow 'aws, our crocodile is de\'oured in an instant. 
 Ins<»<'t>< of ."Marvrlous nrilliauoy. 
 
 I'ut there is yet another scene for us to contemplate. Still remainin;^ 
 at no ^Mvat distance from the shore, but advancin<.^ inland towards the 
 forest, let u.s ^vatch the inilden beetles, and the beautiful draL^on-flies and 
 other in.sccts as the\' flit ])ast in all the brilliancx' and chi.-erfulness of lux- 
 uriant and untamed nature. Tin; loft)' fonst trees, perhaps not nuich 
 unlike some i-xistinLj but southern jiincs, arewoxcn toL^^cther w ith thick- 
 underwood; and the o|)tn countr\-, when" it is not wooded, is brown with 
 numerou.s ferns, still the preponderatini;" xei^^etation, and distributed in 
 extensive groups. Here ami there a tree is .seen, o\erturne 1 and l\inL( 
 at its lenj^th upon the t;roup.d, j)reser\in^ its shape, although thorou;_,dily 
 rotten, and .serving as the retreat of the .scorpion, the centijK'de and many 
 beetles. A few c]uadrupeds, not larj^^er than rats, are distinL^uislu'fl at 
 inter\als, timid even in the absence of ik'uv^er, and scared)' appeaiin^^ 
 rr<im thvir shelter without LH'eat precauticMi. 
 
 .\ strangely formed animal, howe\er, is perceix'cd runnini;" alonL,^ upon 
 the _:4"roimd: its <reneral api)earance in motion is that of a bird, but its 
 body ai, I 1 on l,^ neck, its liead and wings, are not covered with feathers, 
 but are either quite bare, or perhaps resjilendent with glittering scales; its 
 proportion arc quite unliketho.se of any known animal; its head 
 is enormously long, and like that of a crocodile; its neck long and out- 
 stretched, or thrown back on the body; its fore extremities ha\'e four'" e 
 toes, but the fifth toe f tldetl down on the bod)-; its hind legs arc s' -t, 
 ami its feet perhaps webbed. This animal, running along upon uc 
 
 M 
 
 ^\^ 
 
'I'll ■ 
 
 ''^');i|' 
 
 ijlil': 
 
 
 y 
 
 
 
 KF 
 
 |i!lk.:i]L; 
 
 !i=|il|i/J!iiy'li'n'!|Ffr''i'i^' 
 
 7j 
 
 (7(>) 
 
 iiiu] till 
 its pccu 
 transfi> 
 
 lUit w 
 rc|)iilc, 
 r.(!iiu.'cti 
 air, and 
 
 t 111' Ci 111 
 
 \wj; clia- 
 
 tuR'd 1)3 
 
 liavc cvc 
 
 tyl, or w i 
 
 wins^s lia 
 
 est condc 
 
 j;i"Uiid, c 
 
 likcl\- it c 
 
 ten din L,'- i 
 
 Iiiiulcr lin 
 
 il must ha 
 
 iK'ck also 
 
 jaws like a 
 
 very Iar;^t 
 
 iiiJ4" fouiul 
 
 luivc lived 
 
 eaten fish, 
 
 the water. 
 
 which it li' 
 
 si'cins ti) h 
 
 nn\\. But 
 
 h'liL;' to qu 
 
 ModifiLH 
 
 matters of 
 
 [M'ctiirc tin 
 
 ho\\r\-cr ir 
 
 of tlic lon<' 
 
 time to tini 
 
 "ind-banks 
 
 >>and was al 
 

 PRK-IIISTOHIC MONSTERS OI' I.AM) AND SI A. 
 
 I ( 
 
 <,rr()iiii(l, piir^iii-s ,111(1 (lL'\()iirs llic little (Hi;i(lini)',(l wr lia\i' hrcii watching, 
 and IIkii |k rliaps (l.iils off towards the sea to Iccil upon tlic fislus, which 
 its jK'Ciihar powers would enable it to take, either pounciii_L^ upon and so 
 tnuistlxini; the \ictini, or i vcn occasional!)' (Ii\"in;^^ in search of pre\'. 
 
 The I'lyiii}; Li/.:ii*il. 
 Hut we have not yit notici'd the strani^est phenomenon. Tlii-. mailed 
 reptile, four of its fm^i-rs still free, but the fifth opeiiiil out, .md by a 
 connectin;^ niembiiuu.- forming; a win;4 of \er\' lari,H- si/e, ri>es into the 
 air, .111(1 llit^ about or hovers over-head, leali/.ini; ami even sur|ia-->inL;, in 
 till' Conditions of its existence, the wildest ni\-tholo^ical acconnis of (ly- 
 iiii^ dra<4()ns wiiich ■.•.ere.ul of, or tho>e repri-sentatioiis which we see pic- 
 tured b\' the p -iicil of the Chinese. Of all tin,' stranei- cri-atures that 
 have ever a])peared in the world, perhaps the stranLjcst was this plerodac- 
 t\l, or winLj-liiv^eicd itptiK.-. 'Ihe remain-; of one iiave been found whost! 
 wini^s had a spre.id ot twenty-seven feet, thus txceedin;,;" in ^'\/.c the lari^- 
 est condor of the Andtis. But it could fly in the air or walk on the 
 "•round, climb trees and rocks b\' nu;ms of its stroivr claw-, and most 
 likcl}' it coukl .swim in the water. Its win;.;s consisted of a membrane e.\- 
 tendinj^ from what we must call its fmiHMs all aloivj^- the bod_\' to the 
 hinder limbs, and from the size and form of these latter it i-- e\idi nt that 
 it must have walked or perched in the manner of a bird, to whii h its loiij^ 
 neck also i^avc some resemblance. Ikit it was a ll\inL; draL;on, and had 
 jaws like a crocodile's, armetl with sluirp-pointetl teeth ; and its evi s were 
 ver)' lar^c, probably adapted for sceini; at niLjht. heroin its remains be- 
 \n'^ f)und t()i;"ether with those of dragon-flies and be ties, it ai)])e,i:sto 
 have lived mostly on insects, whih" the lari;er kind are supj)osed to have 
 eaten fish, which the)- ma\- have seized like the .sea-j^ull whiNt ll> nu; over 
 the water. The pterodact_\i has utterl\' ])as.sed awa\' with thi' ai^c in 
 which it lived, and tliere is noliiinL;' like it now in nature-. In its time, it 
 seems to have filled the same place in the natural iconom\- that bats do 
 now. But the ])terodactyl was a reptile, a flv-inLf li. '.aid, while the bats be- 
 
 lon;4 to quite a different oriler of animals. 
 
 Modified, no doubt, b>' con-^iderable and evim impoitanl eha 
 
 lives in 
 
 matters nf detail, but still remainiiiir in a 
 
 II 
 
 es.se 
 
 ntial 
 
 pi >ints the ame, the 
 
 picture thus given may be looked on a-^ neither false nor exai-j^erated, 
 however imperfect, and as, to a ciMtain eNteiU, characterizini; the whole 
 of the loiiLj period durin_<j[ which the oolites were bein^; tleposited. From 
 time to time, in various places during- this period, coral reefs were formed, 
 ud-banks accumulated, and occasionally a considerable quantity of 
 
 m 
 
 baiul was also brou 
 
 ight 
 
 in 
 
 and thus there went on a scries of chan<rc.s. 
 
ir — 
 
 i 
 
 % 
 
 w 
 
 (7>i) 
 
 TIIK FLYING HKACiON. 
 
 rcsultin 
 clay, al 
 
 Surrc 
 and wit 
 tiicre e> 
 mej^alos 
 .so as to 
 vcfjclabl 
 tlu.'ir rcn 
 enable u 
 
 The d\ 
 larc-cst w 
 feet portic 
 it anionic 
 wit-h dcfcr 
 liithcrto i; 
 singular, 
 the ancicn 
 time tiiat ; 
 nearly ent 
 exposed V 
 defences, i 
 of the low- 
 in many re 
 the orbits. 
 a p!i)b()sci.'- 
 This c(.)l 
 said, .sf)me\ 
 phant, but 
 superior e\ 
 elephants, 
 merited thj 
 mal." Its 
 have been 
 lakes, or 111; 
 orous liko 
 herbai^'c .sus 
 that the eh 
 
PRE-HISTORIC MONSTERS ol" EAND AM) S1:A. 
 
 7f> 
 
 rcsultirif^ in tlie formation of many important beds oflimcstoni' and mucli 
 cla\', alon^,^ a coast-lino ^raduall)' adv:incin<j castwarcN, and probablv un- 
 iler'foiner numerous alterations of level. 
 
 SurroundeJ with a constantl\- renewed vegetation, in an atmosphere 
 and with climatic conditions probably atlmirablx' adapteil to its habits, 
 there existed another monstrous animal, more unueildy even tli.m tlu- 
 megalosaurus and tieading down whole forests in its advance, or^suiized 
 so as to clear awa\- a portion, at least, of the results of a rapid growth of 
 vegetable matter. These animals must have been verv nunu'rous \\ here 
 their remains liave been found; tlu-)' lia\'e furnislu'd sufficient material to 
 enable us to complete, in imagination, their sin;^nilar forms. 
 A Colossus of tin's Aiitu'diliiviai!) Aj;-*'. 
 
 The dinotherium is the most remarkal)le of the ancient animals, and the 
 largest which has ever li\ed. For a lon;^^ time \\e possessed ver}' imper- 
 fect portions of its skeleton, and Cuxier was induced erroneousl\- to place 
 it among the ta[)irs. The discovery of a lower jaw nearly perfect, armed 
 with defensive tusks descending from its under side, demonstrated that this 
 hitherto mx'stericnis animal was the tyi)e of a genus altogether new and 
 singular. Nevertheless, as it was known that there were some animals cif 
 the ancient world in which both jaws were armed, it was thought for some 
 time that such was the case witli the dinotiierium. Hut in 1S36 a head, 
 nearl)' entire, was found, and this fine fragme'Ut was carried to Paris, and 
 exposed to public \iew. It was nearl\- a }ard and a lialf long. The 
 defences, it was found, were enormous, and were carrie'd at the extremity 
 of the lower jaw-bone, antl much cur\ed inwards. The molar teeth were 
 in many respects analogous to those of the tapir, and the great holes under 
 the f)rbits, j )ined to the form of the nasal lione, rentlered the existence of 
 a proboscis or trunk ver\- proliable. 
 
 This coloss- s of the ancient world, res[)ecting which so una h has bet n 
 said, somewhat approaches the mastodon: it seems to announce the ele- 
 phant, but its dimensions were \astly greater than the li\ing elephants, 
 superior even to that of the mastodon and the mammotli, both fossil 
 elephants. From its kind of life, and frugal habits this monster scarcely 
 merited the formidable name imi)osed on it by naturalists, of "terrible ani- 
 mal." Its size was, no doubt, frightful enough, but its habits seem to 
 have been harmless. It is .^-^upposed to have inha!)ited the fresh water 
 lakes, or marshes and the mouths of great rivers, b\' preference. I lerbiv- 
 orous like the ele[)hant, it employed its proboscis probabl)- in seizing the 
 herbage suspended o\ er the waters, or floating on their surface. \Ve know 
 that the elephants are \er)- partial to tlu; roots of \egetables growing in 
 
[HV) 
 
 im: iMMKNsi: dinothi.kium. 
 
 flooded p 
 nnd prob 
 lock uhk 
 able to tc 
 the mode 
 move thei 
 for f^rindi 
 
 TllL- IlK 
 
 account ( 
 the time \ 
 extraordir 
 
 Si 
 
 '•„ t 
 
 m- 
 
 *'.-■■■■ 
 
 of monster 
 
 which, resci 
 
 of labyrimh 
 
 thing even c 
 
 impressions 
 
 prints of tin 
 
 first birds oi 
 
 The arma 
 
 ancient ordo 
 
 claws at the 
 
 6 
 
PRE-IIISTORIC MONSTERS OF LANO AND SEA. 
 
 81 
 
 flooded plains. The dinotherium appears lo have been .-.imi'ar\- orrranized, 
 and ])robably soii'^ht tu satisfy the same tastes. With the powerful mat- 
 tock which Nature had supplied him for peiietratin;^ the .soil, lie would be 
 able to tear from the bed of the river or lake nourishinir roots, for which 
 the mode of articulation in the jaws, and tlie powerful muscles intended to 
 move them, as well as the large surface of the teeth, so well calculated 
 for grinding, were evidently intended. 
 
 The more ancient of the secondary rocks ha\'e interested geologists on 
 account of the innumerable remains of shells which they contain. At 
 the time when these strata were being deposited lived one of the most 
 extraordinary reptiles of which we have any knowledge. It was a kind 
 
 -' -^M; 
 
 
 
 ^\ ■ A' 
 
 AN EXTRAORDINARY REPTILE — THE LABVK NTHODON. 
 
 of monster toad, so enormous as to equal an ox in size, the teeth of 
 nhich, resembling the windings of a maze, have pr(x;ured for it the name 
 of labyrinthodon. The rocks of this ancient epoch have taught us some- 
 thing even of the anatomical details of this animal, having preserved the 
 impressions of its footsteps. On the .same beds have been obser\'ed the 
 prints of three-toed feet, considered by some geologists as traces of the 
 first birds on our globe. 
 
 Thf armadillo, ant-eater and pangolins, are the living examples of an 
 ancient order of creatures which were characterized by largely developed 
 claws at the extj-emities of the toes. The order seems thus to establish 
 6 
 
(82) 
 
 A C ROUJ* OF CUKI0U8 HAND- ANIMALS. 
 
 ft.sclf as a ; 
 
 tliosc arm< 
 
 continent. 
 
 to the f;inii 
 
 presence of 
 
 the entire i 
 
 a mammifei 
 
 like the tur 
 
 teen teetli i 
 
 deep lines, ^ 
 
 iiind feet W( 
 
 vast inciunL 
 
 short, thick a 
 
 hy, a soh'd en 
 
 to be hexai^oi 
 
 represented ir 
 
 ^\•orld was suf 
 
 tlie chief diffe 
 
 which is mass 
 
 "f riny;s. In. 
 
 beings lierbivoi 
 
 Another fan 
 
 that they ]iad i 
 
PREHISTORIC MONSTERS OF LAND AND SEA. 
 
 sn 
 
 ftsclf as a zoolo;ncal link in the cliain between the hot.fjd animals an*! 
 those armed with claws. All these animals bclon^eil to the American 
 continent. The glyptodon, which appears diwing this period, bel<>n;^^c<l 
 to the family of armadillos, and their most remarkable feature was th;- 
 presence of a hard scaly shell composed of numerous .scales, which co\er 
 the entire upper surface of the animal fr(jm the head to tiie tail ; in .slioit, 
 a mammiferous animal, which appears to have been enclosed in a .sliJl 
 like the turtles: it resembles in many respects the ant-eater, and had six 
 teen teeth in each jaw. These teeth were channeled with two broad an ' 
 deep lines, which divided the surface of the molars into three parts. TIi,. 
 hind feet were broad and massive, and evidently desii^ned to supj). )it a 
 vast incumbent ma.ss ; it presented phalanges armed with luiiis or cla^vs, 
 
 
 
 THE ARMADILLO OF THE .\NCIENT WORLD. 
 
 short, thick and depressed. The animal was enveloped in, and prrit-cted 
 !)}•, a solid case, composed of plates which, seen from beneath, a])[)eared 
 to bo hexagonal in shape. The glyptodon load a near - lati\e which is 
 represented in the accompanying cngra\-ing. This armadillo of the earl; 
 world was supposed to have been a different nv'raber of the .same specie , 
 the chief difference in the two animals being in tlie structure of the tail, 
 which is massl\-e in th'^ first, and in the oth -r is composed of half a score 
 of rings. In other respects the structure and habits are the same, both 
 being herbivorous and feeding on roots and other vegetable products. 
 
 Another family of reptiles appears in this epoch, and their relics show 
 that they had a very singular construction. This is the teleosaurus. which 
 
 
 fe^%J 
 
84 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 recent investigations permit us t(^ reconstruct. The teleosaurus allows us 
 to form a pretty exact idea of the crocodiles of tl'.e ancient seas — those 
 curiassed reptiles, which the German <^eolo^ist Cotta describes as the 
 j^M'eai barons of the kinj^doin of Xei)tune, armed to the teeth and clothed 
 in .'in impenetrable iKinoply; the true filibusters of the primiti\e seas. The 
 teleosaurus has an anatomical resemblance to some of the present reptiles 
 of India. They inhabited the banks of ri\-ers, perhaps the sea itself; the\' 
 were lon<;er, more slender, and more active than the li\in_Lj species; the\ 
 Were about thirty feet in len<;th, of which the head was from three to 
 four feet, with their enormous jaws well defended beyoutl the ears, some- 
 times with an openin;^ of six feet, tIn-ou;^di which the)' coukl enj^ulph, in 
 the depths of their enormous throat, animals of the size of an ox. In the 
 ri\er (jan^es, in India, there is a huL^e reptile called the ^^asial, dis- 
 tin_L,aiislK:d fr'.)m the I'!L^r\-ptian crocodile in' the extraordinary shape of 
 head a'ul jaws: there is no other li\in_L,^ species of crocodile like it; but 
 Britain once possessed a crocodile resembliiiL; that of the Gaiv^es, and of 
 e\en hu\q;er dimensions. The teleosaurus was a reptile of that remnte 
 period that j:)recede(.! the ivj;c of the threat elephants and tillers. Its teeth 
 Were more numerous, and set closer toirethei', than those of the h'lJN'ptian 
 crocodile; and it was co\ered with plates on its under side as well as on 
 its back. ThouL,di it was lonj^er and more .-lender than the crocodile of 
 the Gan;jjes. and the wrtebra.' of its back-bone were united by flat plates 
 instead of a ball anti socket, it iesembled it more than any other animal. 
 An Oddity ofllio Aiiiiiiiil Creation. 
 
 In those ac;es, so \invj; passed aua\-, when such monstrous creatures 
 lurked amon<;st the reed-like plants of the ri\ers, and the forests of 
 stranj^a- trees were haunted by ixptiles of still more vast dimensions, jiow 
 different must the aspect of the couiitr}' ha\e been from what it is now I 
 
 The mci^atherium, or animal ( f Para;..;ua\', as it was called, is, at fn'st 
 view, the oddest and most extiaordinary bein^^ we ha\e yet had umler 
 consideration, where all ha\e been stran,^e, fantastic ami formidable. The 
 animal creation still j^oes on as if — 
 
 Nature made tliem and tlien broke the die. 
 Towartis the close of the last century, an almost perfect skeleton of this 
 ^M'j^antic animal was du,:^ up. at the depth of one hundred feet, in a bed of 
 clay on the banks of the ri\er Luxon, near Buenos Ayres. This skele- 
 ton was sent to the nuise'um at Madrid, where it now remains. The 
 nieL,Mtherium was armed with claws of enormous length and power, its 
 whole frame i)ossessin ^ an extreme degree of solidity. With a head and 
 neck like those of the sloth, its legs and feet exhibit the character of the 
 
 
 L-'i'tr'-f'ta' 
 
 '•^. 
 
 k4m 
 
 w 
 
 
f 
 
 Icr 
 he 
 
 us 
 of 
 le- 
 [he 
 its 
 nd 
 Ihe 
 
 THE FAMOUS ANIEDILLVIAN CROCODILE. 
 
 (8.5) 
 
86 
 
 EARTH, s::a, and skv. 
 
 armadillo and tl;.: antcatcr. Stirne specimens of ilv: animal give the meas- 
 urement of five feit across the haunclies, and the thigh bone was nearly 
 three times as thick as that of tlic elephant. The sjjinal marrow must 
 have been a foot in iliameter, and the tail, at the part nearest the bod\'. 
 tvice as large, or six feet in circumference. The girth of tiie body was 
 fourteen feet and a lialf, and the length eighteen feet. The teeth were 
 admirably adapted for cutting \egetable substances, and the general struct- 
 lure and strength of the frame for tearing up the ground in search oi 
 roots, wrenching off the branches of trees, and uprooting their trunks, on 
 whieii it principally fed. 
 
 TriF: r.IGANTIC meg.^tfiekium. 
 
 Hea\ily constructed, and ponderously accoutred, it could neither run, 
 •nor 1 ao, nor climb. It was an unwieldy monster, and all its movement 
 iv.iist have been necessarily slow. But what need of rapid locomotion to 
 an animal whose occupation, of digging roots for food, was almost sta- 
 tionarj'? And what need of .speed, for flight from foes, to a creature 
 whicli, by a single pass of his paw, or lash of his tail, could in an instant 
 have demolished the cougar or crocodile? WTicre was the enemy that 
 would ('arc encounter this leviathan of the pampas? Or if what more 
 
 power ^"11] 
 of lii.s ra 
 adapted 
 portion . 
 and cnjd 
 extinct, 1 
 nients of 
 
 If we 
 
 being stn 
 
 in all its 
 
 the aniin< 
 
 ization — 1 
 
 only l)een 
 
 the aninii 
 
 so odd or 
 
 intlividual 
 
 of the slo 
 
 gives ther 
 
 trees, who 
 
 consider t 
 
 feed upon 
 
 would app( 
 
 to the -spec 
 
 the megatl 
 
 e.xclusivel) 
 
 the soil, fii 
 
 an clephan 
 
 were found 
 
 the south 
 
 sons had U 
 
 stood upri< 
 
 to the disc 
 
 where the f 
 
 the bones c 
 
 air. It is ] 
 
 the tail to 
 
 midablc de: 
 
 were about 
 
 implement f 
 
 ^^RcB-..' J^. ■ 
 
PRE-mSTORIC MONSTERS OP' LAND AND SEA. 
 
 87 
 
 po\ver'"iil creature can uc find the cause that has effected the extirpation 
 of ills race? His entire frame was an apparatus of colossal mechanism, 
 adapted exactly to the work it had to do — strontj and ponderous in pro- 
 portion as this work was heavy, and calcuKitcd to be the vehicle of life 
 and enjoyment to a fji^^antic race of quadrupeds, which, thouj^h they are 
 extinct, have in their fossil bones left behind them imperishable monu- 
 ments of the consummate skill with which they were constructed. 
 
 A Gi^rantie Sloth. 
 If we ijlance at the skeleton of this animal, it is impossible to avoid 
 bein;4 struck with its unusually heavy form, at once awkward ami fantastic 
 in all its parts. It is allied to the sloths, which Huffon tells us are of all 
 the animal creation those which have received the most vicious or_i;an 
 i/ation — beini^s to which nature has forbid all enjoyment: which ha\e 
 only been created for hardships and misery. An attentive examination of 
 the animal of Paraj^uay shows that its ort^anization cannot he considered 
 so odd or awkward when viewed in connection with its kind of life antl 
 individual habits. The special ori^anization which renders the movements 
 of the sloths so heavy, and apparently so painful on the level ^rouml, 
 i;ives them, on the other hand, marvelous assistance when they live in 
 trees, whose leaves form their exclusive food. In the same manner, if we 
 consider that the met^jatherium was created to burrow in the earth and 
 feed upon the roots of trees and shrubs, every origan of its heavy frame 
 would appear to be perfectly appropriate to its kind of life and well adapted 
 to the special purpose which has been assit^ned to it. We ou^dit to place 
 the mejjjatherium between the sloths and ant-eaters. Like the first, it fed 
 exclusively on the leaves of t^ees ; like the sec(Mid, it burrowed deep in 
 the soil, finding there at once nourishment and shelter. It was larije as 
 an elephant or rhinoceros of the largest species. The remains collected 
 were found in the river Lu.xon, which runs throuijh the Ljreat plains to 
 the south of Buenos Ayres. A succession of three unusually dry sea- 
 sons had left the waters so low as to expose the skeleton to \iew as it 
 stood upriijht in the mud in the bed of the river. Further incjuiries led 
 to the discovery of two other complete skeletons, not far from the spot 
 where the first had been found ; and not far from them an immense shell, 
 the bones connected with which crumbled to pieces after exposure to the 
 air. It is probable that, like the armadillo, the mei;atherium employed 
 the tail to support the enormous weight of its body : it was also a for- 
 midable defensive arm when used as it is by crocodiles. The hind feet 
 were about three feet long and one f.)ot broad. They formed a powerful 
 implement for excavating the earth at great depths where the roots of 
 
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 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
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 vegetables penetrated. Solidly supported by the two hind feet antl the 
 tail, and in advance by one of the fore feet, the animal employed the fore 
 foot at liberty in hollowint; out the earth or tearin<; up the roots of trees ; 
 the toes of the fore feet were for this purpose furnished with lari^e and 
 powerful talons, which la\- at an oblique angle in relation to the soil, much 
 like the burrowing talons of the mole. The anatomical organization 
 denotes heavy, slow, and powerful locomotion, but solid and admirable 
 combinations for supporting the weight of an enormous creature; a sort 
 of excavating machine, nearly immovable, and of incalculable power for 
 its own jnu'poses. 
 
 Tlic skeleton of an animal similar to the megatherium has been found in 
 
 SKELETON OF THE MEGATHERIUM. 
 
 our own countrj-. In consequence of some hints given by Washington, 
 Thomas Jeffersor tj'scovered in a cax'ern of Western Virginia some bones 
 which he declared to be the remains of some carnivorous animal. These 
 bones Mr. Jefferson believed to be similar to those of the lion. Cuvier saw 
 at once the true analogies of the animal. The bones were the remains of 
 a .species of gigantic sloth, the complete skeleton of which was subse- 
 quently discoN'eted in the Mississippi, in a state of preser\ation so com- 
 plete that the cartilages still adhering to the bones were not decomposed. 
 Jefferson called this species the megalonyx. It partook of the character- 
 istics of the sloth ; its size was that of the largest ox ; the muzzle was 
 
 pointed 
 much 
 and \'er 
 claw le.- 
 pomts 
 lighter H 
 
 The J 
 
 complete 
 
 genuit}' 
 
 vegetabl 
 
 Their pr 
 
 locomoti 
 
 sloths, t< 
 
 back (lov 
 
 to sa)'p!-( 
 
 strong cr 
 
 with far i 
 
 they jnilli 
 
 the roots, 
 
 of their h 
 
 become, c 
 
 their a{)[); 
 
 heels firm 
 
 full force ( 
 
 nished wil 
 
 giraffe, wh 
 
 It has a 
 
 early ages 
 
 another. 
 
 lia\'e previ 
 
 these an in 
 
 many poin 
 
 sufficiently 
 
 anomalous 
 
 from that c 
 
 arity in tli 
 
 which, in s 
 
 in its prop 
 
 "^"M ? 
 
f^ 
 
 PRE-HISTORIC MONSTERS OF LAND AND SEA. 
 
 80 
 
 pointed; the jaws armed with cylindrical teeth; the anterior members 
 much longer than the posterior; two great toes, short, armed with long 
 and very powerful claws; the index finger more slender, furnished with a 
 claw less powerful also; the tail strong and solid: such were the salient 
 pomts of the organization of the megalonyx, whose form was a little 
 liflhter than the metratheriuni. 
 
 Sinjyuliir Habits of Prc-liistoric Animals. 
 
 The habits of these megatheroid animals, saj's Mr. Darwin, were r. 
 complete puzzle to naturalists, until Professor Owen, with remarkable in- 
 genuity, solved the problem. The teeth indicate that they liwd on 
 vegetable food, and probably on the leaves and small twigs of trees. 
 Their ponderous forms and great curved claws seem so little formed for 
 locomotion, that some naturalists have actuallv believed that, like the 
 sloths, to which they are intimately related, they subsisted by climbing, 
 back downwards, on trees, and feeding on the leaves. Jt was a bold, not 
 to .say preposterous idea, to conceive even antediluvian trees, with branches 
 strong enough to bear animals as large as elephants. Professor Owen, 
 with far more probability, believes that, instead of climbing on the trees, 
 they pulled the branches down to them and tore the smaller ones up by 
 the roots, and so fed on their leaves. The collossal breadth and weight 
 of their hind cjuarters, which can hartlly be imagined without being seen, 
 become, on this view, of obvious service instead of being an incumbrance; 
 their ap[)arent clumsiness disappears. With their great tails and huge 
 heels firmly fixed like a tripod in th.e ground, they could freely exert the 
 full force of their powerful arms and great claws. One species was fur- 
 nished witii a long tongue, capable of great extension like that of the 
 giraffe, which, by a beautiful provision of nature, thus reaches its leafy food. 
 
 All Extraordinary Xcok. 
 
 It has already been intimated that the destruction of animal life in the 
 early ages was partially due to the warfare waged by one species upon 
 another. This is illustrated strikingly by two monsters to which we 
 have previously referred. The plesiosaurus is the name gi\-en to one of 
 these animals. The name is applied in consequence of its offering in 
 many points strong analogies to the other reptiles ; but these are not 
 sufficiently close to prevent it from exhibiting a form most strange and 
 anomalous, and a structure equally remarkable, and differing considerably 
 from that of any other animal. The most striking and manifest peculi- 
 arity in the plesiosaurus consists in the enormous length of the neck, 
 which, in some species, not only exceeds in absolute dimensions, but also 
 in its proportion to the size of the animal, that of the longest-necked 
 
 IWI 
 
90 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 quadruped or bird. ' But the perfect mobility of this neck, of which we 
 nia)- form an idea by the number of joints it possesses, was no less remark- 
 able. The '^' Jfe, the lonc^est-necked quadruped we arc acquainted with, 
 has only seven vertebra: of the neck, not differing in this respect from the 
 other mammals ; the swan, the longest-necked bird, has twenty-three : 
 but the plesiosaurus is known, from some admirably preserved specimens, 
 to have had upwards of thirty, and perhaps as many as forty. In its pro- 
 portions, the neck in one species measures four times the length of the 
 head, and actually exceeds the entire length of the body and tail. It 
 was apparently thick and muscular near the body, but gradually became 
 slender t(nvards the head, which was small, and sometimes singularly dis- 
 jDroportioned in size to the other parts of tb.e animal. The head thus 
 reduced in size exhibits, however, rather a high type of organization. It 
 offers some of the peculiarities which characterize the lizard, especially in 
 the wide interspaces left between the bones ; in the existence of a strong 
 crest along the middle of the skull, indicating that the jaws were worked 
 as in lizards and not as in crocodiles; in the structure of the lower jaw; 
 and in the absence of a cross ridge on the fore part of the skull. But in 
 its general form, in the strength and size of the bones of the face and 
 jaws, in the rugged outer surface of the bones, and in the sockets of the 
 teeth, there is a distinct and well-marked approximation to the crocodile. 
 
 All Admirable C<»iitrivaiicc. 
 In the size and position of the breathing-holes, or external nostrils, we 
 find, however, a marked and interesting difference from all existing rep- 
 tiles, and a strong analogy to the corresponding part in animals allied to 
 the whale, offering a beautiful example of adaptation of structure 
 presented in very different animals, but producing similar results and 
 supplj'ing similar exigencies. These apertures are placed near the 
 highest part of the head, where they ^\•ould enable the animal most 
 readily to breathe, without exposing anything more than the apertures 
 themselves above the water, corresponding admirably with the marine 
 habits of the animal, as indicated by the structure of its extremities. The 
 jaus of the plesiosaurus are strong and rather spoon-shaped; they were 
 prcnided with a large number of teeth — probably not less than a hun- 
 dred — which were conical, slender, long, and pointed, slightly bent 
 inwards, and deeply grooved. These teeth had long fangs, and were 
 planted in separate sockets, as in the crocodile. They could also be 
 repeated and indefinitely renewed. It is probable that the animal could, 
 like some serpents, swallow prey actually larger than the size of its head, 
 the bones being so little attached that the cavity of the mouth could 
 
 a ridge 
 
 '^^-JL- 
 
ke 
 le 
 re 
 
 it 
 |e 
 
 PRE-H!STORIC MONSTERS OF LAND AND SEA. 
 
 91 
 
 become greatly dilated by a violent effort. There can be no doubt that 
 the habits of the animal were strictly carnivorous. 
 
 The plesiosaurus no doubt fed indiscriminately on whatever came 
 within reach, whether livinj^ or dead. Its powers of locomotion in the 
 water were great, antl its strength must ha\e been formidable; but it had 
 an enemy in the ichthyosaurus, from which there was probalily little 
 chance of escape. We have good reason to suppose that it could mo\'e 
 about on shore, and it probably did so with greater facility than the seal 
 or walrus; but it is not likely that it resorted frequently to the land, since 
 the sea appears to have been its more congenial abode. The animal just 
 mentioned as the fierce and powerful enemy of the plesiosaurus, which 
 was itself a voracious reptile, belongs unquestionably to the most remark- 
 able and anomalous species, but departed, perhaps, much less considerably 
 than the other from the present external form of marine animals. With 
 the exception of a larger head, and paddles somewhat more developed, it 
 was not very unlike the porpoise in its appearance, but it was a true rep- 
 tile, adapted for constant residence in the sea, and in that respect claims 
 comparison as being the ancient representative of the great existing tribe 
 of marine animals, of which the whale is perhaps the best known tyi^e. 
 J.aws Armed with Frljjrhtl'ul Tooth. 
 
 The head of the ichth\-osaurus was in all cases large compared with the 
 general proportions of the body, and in general fcM-m it resembled that of 
 the dolphin, the chief part of its magnitude consisting of a greatly elon- 
 gated snout, like that of some of tlie aquatic crocodiles of the present day. 
 The jaws are long, comparatively slender, and tapering to the extremity. 
 Along their whole length on both sides there is a continuous rowof coni- 
 ical teeth of large size, not inserted in separate sockets, but placed in a 
 kind of trough cut .>. the jaw, and merely separated from one another by 
 a ridge of bone. These teeth were constantly removed and replaced by 
 new ones during the whole life of the animal, an instance of those won- 
 derful provisions of nature which meet us on ever\' hand, and which 
 show the principle of all-wise design. 
 
 The structure of the lower jaw indicates a mechanical contrivance of 
 some interest, intimately connected with the wants and habits of the 
 animal. The jaw.-, themselves are, as we have seen, long and slender. 
 The teeth show that the animal was fierce and voracious, and analogy 
 teaches us that in such cases the jaws mustclo.se suddenly on their prey 
 with a snap, in order to ensure a proper hold being obtained. But a 
 slender lower jaw, however strong, would be very easily broken when 
 brought in contact with hard bodies, .such as the solid enamelled plates en- 
 
92 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 closinf; some of tlic fish of the liassic period. By a compHcatetl appara- 
 tus of several pieces of bone, arranged so as to distribute in some measure 
 the necessary shock arisin<r from tlie convulsive ierk made while the ani- 
 mal was in the act of sei/.ini^ its pre)-, we have this purpose elfected in 
 .several of the existin;^^ rei)tiies; hut something; more than this seems to 
 have been needed by the icthyosaurus, since it exhibits an example of 
 cross bracini^f, adding greatly to the efrecti\-e strength without increasing 
 the weight. \\y simply introducing a change of direction in the grain, as 
 it is called, or fiber of the bone, this purpose is accomplished, so that the 
 animal wa.s enabled to snap uith safet\- at the hardest and most solid sub- 
 stance that came within its reach. Ihe jaws of some specimens must 
 ha\e been u}Avards of six feet in length. 
 
 A Tolosoopie I'^yo. 
 
 The most remarkable peculiarit\- in the head of the fish-reptile besides 
 the jaws is the si/e and structure of the eye. The eyes were placed far 
 back on the head and behind the snout, with the nostrils or breathing 
 holes just in front, so tliat each time the aninial came tn the surface 
 to breathe, the eyes and nostrils, but no other parts of the head or body, 
 would be brought into the air. There can be no cjuestion that a \-nracious 
 animal like the ichthyosaurus, obliged froni time to time to appear above 
 water, and perhaps occasionalK- to come on shore, required ane.xtraordin- 
 ar)' provision, enabling it not only to see but to see distinctly, ever)- thing 
 passing around it. It was thus provided with a peculiar apparatus, en- 
 abling it to adajit its vision not onh- to shallow but to deep water, and not 
 onl\- to water but to air. This ai)paratuK effected its purpose b\- jiermit- 
 ting a change of shape of the pupil of the eye, according as circumstances 
 required; the pupil dilating at great depths, where but little I'ght is 
 transmitted, the shajx' flattening to allow of distant \-ision on shore, and 
 the whole e\-e pushed forwards to enable its owner to see objects close at 
 hand, thus affording ever)' variety of action to this important organ. The 
 bony scales which enclosed and defended the soft ball of the eye most 
 resemble what is seen in the golden eagle and some other birds of prey, 
 and may be best understood b)- a comparison with the scales of the arti- 
 choke, The structure is characterLstic of reptiles rather than of fishrs^ 
 and amongst reptiles is most remarkably shown in the lizard tribe. 
 
 A Gijfaiitie Uird. 
 
 The marveks of the pre-historic world are not confined to quadrupeds 
 nor swimming monsters. Other curiosities have been discovered, al- 
 though some of them must be a ^signed to periods less remote than those 
 
 M 
 
 I 
 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 THE DINORNIS — A BIRD WITHOUT WINGS. 
 
 (93) 
 
 
 ' I 
 
\ :U 
 
 $ 
 
 94 
 
 EA?.TH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 tii ! 
 
 1 
 
 in which the animals lived which have already been described. Very 
 few of the islands near Australia, except Van Dienien's Land, and very 
 few indeed of those other islands which form the numerous archipelagos 
 of the eastern and southern seas, are sufficiently well known, or have 
 such an extent of superficial deposit, that we could with any reason ex- 
 pect them to furnish many fossil relics. New Zealand is, in point of fact, 
 the only island from which such remains have been obtained ; and the 
 condition of the bones, and the circumstances under which tlie^ are 
 found, render it impossible to state very decidedly in what bed they there 
 occur. It is, however, something to knov/ that in these islands there ex- 
 isted formerly, and possibly not very long ago, a considerable and impor- 
 tant group of wingless birds, of which one representative, the apteryx, 
 still remains, although apparently that also will soon be lost. Many ex- 
 tinct species of these strange animals have been found in the gravel of 
 the northern island, and they vary greatly in size, some having been far 
 larger than the largest ostrich, while others were very small. In all these 
 the general character is nearly the same, the animals being much stouter 
 and more powerful in proportion than the ostrich, and ab--olutely without 
 
 any trace of wings. 
 
 Great Power and Speed. 
 
 An outline of one of these extraordinary animals, will afford some 
 notion of the vast proportions attained. The various species hitherto 
 determined h:ive all been referred to a single genus, under the name 
 dinornis. The legs of the diiiornis were powerful, and were no doubt 
 well adapted for rapid locomotion ; and in the apteryx similar power- 
 ful extremities enable the animals to run swiftly, and when attacked 
 to defend itself with great vigor. The apteryx is nocturnal in its 
 habits, and dwells in the deepest recesses of the forest, where gigantic 
 trees are interwoven almost inpenetrably with climbing plants, and 
 where, deeply secluded in the mountains, there occur open swampy spots 
 covered with bulrushes. It feeds on insects and seeds. 
 
 The islands of New Zealand, situated to the east of Australia, are still 
 further removed than that continent from the groups of islands in the 
 Indian Ocean; but, in spite of their distance, it is in these latter that we 
 find the nearest approach to the singular wingless birds just described 
 The dodo, which was brought to England and preserved in museums 
 more than two centuries ago, and figures of which have been given, ap- 
 pears to have inhabited the Mauritius and the island of Bourbon at no 
 distant period, although for some centuries it has not been seen in a living 
 state. Like the extinct wingless birds of New Zealand, it was nearly a\- 
 
 S'g 
 
 lied to th 
 massive, 
 There 
 in the oc( 
 to under 
 through t 
 fully at tl 
 found in i 
 rocks, tl 
 without , 
 exception 
 ed to one 
 groups 
 these gr- 
 called g 
 f r o m a 
 word 
 splendo" 
 scales o f 
 fishes bein 
 rally coate 
 polished e 
 and often e 
 ing a\-eryb 
 lustre. It is 
 ^he ganoid 
 whose rema 
 handed do' 
 us in the c 
 sandston< 
 >'ther roc 
 that period, 
 distinct spec 
 are remarkal 
 in some inst 
 with some a] 
 The most 
 head from w 
 cent-shaped 
 handle. It i 
 
 ^,Si4.- 
 
-'"t 
 
 PRE HISTORIC MONSTERS OF LAND AND SEA. 
 
 95 
 
 lied to the cassowary, also an inhabitant of the Mauritius, but it was more 
 massive, and of more clumsy proportions. 
 
 There were also creatures in those early ages which dwelt exclusively 
 in the ocean, some traces of which have come down to us, and enable us 
 to understand thw '^ature and characteristics of the tribes tliat wandered 
 throuc^di the great de p. Professor Agassiz discovered, on looking care- 
 iullv at the numerous species of fish, the fossil fragments of which are 
 found in the older 
 
 rocks, that all, >^i'->--ift:.V:^==»~^"~:-. 'ri > 
 
 without a single 
 exception, belong- 
 ed to one of two 
 groups. One of 
 t h e s e groups is 
 called ganoid, 
 from a Greek 
 word signifying 
 splendor, the 
 scales of these 
 fishes being gene- 
 rally coated with 
 polished enamel, 
 and often exhibit- 
 ing a very brilliant 
 lustre. It is chiefly 
 ^he ganoid fishes 
 whose remains are 
 handed down to 
 us in the old red 
 sandstone and 
 .'ther rocks of 
 that period. Sixty 
 
 distinct species of these fish have been mentioned and most of them 
 are remarkable for exhibiting strange peculiarities of shape, approximating 
 in some instances the structure of the lower order of animals, combined 
 with some apparent likeness to the class of reptiles. 
 
 The most extraordinary of these fishes, "the buckler-headed," has a 
 head from which its nam-^ is taken. This has been compared to the cres- 
 cent-shaped blade of a saddler's cutting-knife, the body forming the 
 handle. It is extremely broad and flat, extending on each side consider- 
 
 FOSSIL FISHES BEDDED IN ROCK. 
 
I ' 
 
 96 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 ably beyond the body, and the bones appear to have been firmly soldered 
 together, so as to form one .siiield, the whole head thus being apparently 
 covered by a single plate of enamelled bone. The body compared \\ ith 
 this sint^ular hv-id ai}pears extremely diminutixi:; the back is arched and 
 gradually recedes in elevation towards the tail, which is of moderate 
 length ; the fins are few in number, and not very powerful, but appear to 
 have possessed a bony ray in front, the rest of the fin being more 
 ^"Ibrous. The whole bod\' was covered with scales, \\hich varied in 
 shape in different parts, and seemed to have been disposed in series. It 
 has been sujiposed by Professor Agassiz that the singular shaj^e of the 
 head sei-ved as a sort of defence to this animal in case of attack ; and one 
 can readily imagine tliat the soft substance of the largest and most for- 
 midable of its enemies, would be injured by any attempt to swallow so 
 singular and knife-like an animal as the one before us. 
 
 Like many, and indeed nH)st of the species belonging to the ganoid 
 order cf fishes, and common in the older rocks, the bones of the head, 
 and the scales of this strange monster, were composed internally of a 
 comparatively soft bone, but each was coated w ith a thick and solid plate 
 of enamel, of extreme hardness, and almost incapable of injury by any 
 ordinary amount of violence. The detached scales, the bua^lcr-head, 
 and sometimes the complete outline of the animal, hax'ethus been able to 
 resist destruction, and are found in sandy rocks, composed of such coarse 
 fragments that their accumulation would seem to ha\"e been accomj)anied 
 with violence sufficient to have crushed to powder almcr^t any remains of 
 organized matter, and from which, indeed, we never obtain any fragments 
 of shells or other easily injured substances. 
 
 Beautiful Forms in Stone. 
 
 The muddy beds deposited after the sandstones, although they con- 
 tained a considerable proportion of carbonate of lime, were not in a con- 
 dition favorable for the development of coral existence, and the remains 
 of such animals are accordingly rare. This is not the case, however, with 
 one group of zoophytes, for they were singular]}- abundant, and were 
 manifestly an important group, perhaps assisting to clear the seas of an 
 undue proportion of the minuter particles of decaying animal matter. 
 The most singular of all these is the pcntacrinite, an animal so compli- 
 cated that the number of separate pieces of stone of which its singular 
 skeltlon is made up has been calculated to amount to many thousands. 
 
 It was provided with a long and powerful but movable column, made 
 up of a vast multitude of lozenge-shaped pieces, each marked with a 
 curious set of indentations, and each pierced with a central af)erture by 
 
 means ol 
 animal p 
 log of w 
 was parti 
 the colun 
 lar plates 
 membran 
 ating with 
 boscis. ". 
 rounded a 
 ble multit 
 arms, form 
 stony net-' 
 intercej)t a 
 stomach t 
 food fit 1 
 which wcv 
 \\atcr withi 
 specimens ( 
 often foun( 
 tached, it i 
 what was or 
 of decayed 
 through th(. 
 Fossil sh 
 large part o 
 posited by t 
 and in num 
 these appeal 
 altered from 
 pattern. In c 
 an impressio 
 nal form is 1 
 an entire ca.' 
 exterior anc 
 other cases 
 imbedding m 
 its mould. ' 
 stances, and a 
 in short. Pe 
 7 
 
PRE-HISTORIC MONSTERS OF LAND AND SEA. 
 
 97 
 
 means of whicli a communication was kept up diirin;^ life, eiiahlinj^ the 
 animal probably t<> attach itself to some marine substance, or a flcatin;^ 
 \o<r of wood. In the pentacrinite the stem was five-sided, and the body 
 \\as partly defended by a small cup formed of ret^ular plates risiiv^ from 
 the column, and partly enclosed by a multitude of very minute andaiij^^u- 
 lar plates fixed on a tough 
 membranous pouch termin- 
 ating with an extensive pro- 
 boscis. The body was sur- 
 rounded also by an incredi- 
 ble multitude of branching 
 arms, forming a complicated 
 stony net-work, intended to 
 intercept and convey to the 
 stomach the particles of 
 food fit for the animal, 
 which were floating in the 
 water within reach. Many 
 specimens of this fossil are 
 often found together, at- 
 tached, it would seem, to 
 what was once under surface 
 of decayed wood drifting 
 through the water. 
 
 Fossil shells make np a 
 large part of the relics de- 
 posited by the ancient seas, 
 and in numerous instances 
 these appear to be scarcely 
 altered from their original 
 pattern. In other cases only 
 an impression of the exter- 
 nal form is left ; sometimes 
 an entire cast o( the shell, 
 exterior and interior. In a zoophyte with five-sided stem. 
 
 other cases the shell has left a perfect impression of its form in the 
 imbedding mud, and has then been dissolved and washed away, leaving 
 its mould. This mould, again, has sometimes been filled up by soft sub- 
 stances, and an exact cast of the original shell obtained — a petrified shell, 
 in short. Petrified wood is equally common. The existence of marine 
 7 
 
 i|;i 
 
 mm 
 
 .m 
 
98 
 
 EARTH, SEA. AND SKY. 
 
 Il 
 
 'A 
 
 shells upon the summits of mountains had already struck the mind of the 
 ancient autliors. Witness Ovid, who in his celebrated book called the 
 " Metamorphoses," tells us he had seen land formed at the expense of the 
 sea, and marine shells lyinj^ dead far from the ocean ; and more than that, 
 an ancient anchor had been found on the very summit of a mountain. 
 The Danish geolojrist Steno, who published his principal works in Italy 
 about the middle of the .seventeenth century, had deeply studied the fossil 
 shells di.scovered in that 
 country. The Italian 
 Painter Scilla produced 
 a Latin treatise on the 
 fossils of Calabria, in 
 1760, in which he e.stab- 
 lished the organic char- 
 acter of fossil shells. 
 
 In France the celebra- 
 ted Buffon gave, by his 
 elo(juent writings, great 
 popularity to the notions 
 of the Italian naturalists 
 concerning the origin of 
 fossil remains. In his 
 admirable 'Epoques de 
 la Nature' he sought to 
 estiiblish that the shells 
 found in great quantities 
 buried in the soil, and 
 even on the summit of 
 mountains, belonged, in 
 reality, to species not 
 living in our days. But 
 this idea was yet too exquisite fossil shell.s, 
 
 new not to find objectors : it counted among its adversaries the hardy 
 philosopher who might have been expected to adopt it with most ardor. 
 Voltaire attacked, with his jesting and biting criticism, the doctrines 
 of the illustrious innovator. Buff:)n insisted, reasonably enough, on 
 the existence of shells on the summit of the Alps, as a proof that 
 the sea had at one time occupied that position. But Voltaire as- 
 serted that the shells found on the Alps and Apennines had been thrown 
 there by pilgrims returning from Rome. Buffon might have replied 
 
 to his f 
 
 mulatior 
 
 shells of 
 
 liundred 
 
 controve 
 
 which pt 
 
 no wisli,' 
 
 The v£ 
 
 lake or b 
 
 animals, \ 
 
 whilst hi 
 
 vvater-lilie 
 
 the Paris 
 
 named tht 
 
 called bee 
 
 the rocks 
 
 as in thosi 
 
 vicinity of 
 
 and marin( 
 
 fresh-watei 
 
 At Mont 
 
 quarries of 
 
 sum is coi 
 
 ^^'gg'ng th( 
 
 were discov 
 
 by the gyps 
 
 French natt 
 
 these Strang 
 
 At the CO 
 
 intense as i 
 
 teemed with 
 
 as it is now i 
 
 the forests o 
 
 climates, sue 
 
 Tile gigantic 
 
 no more in tl 
 
 thick-skinnec 
 
 was filled wit: 
 
 aspect. 
 
PRE-HISTORIC MONSTERS OF LAND AND SEA. 
 
 99 
 
 to his opponent by pointii\Lj out whole mountains formed b)- ttie accu- 
 mulation of shells. He niij;ht have sent him to the P\Tenees, where 
 shells of marine origin form immense mountains rising six thousand six 
 hundred feet above the present sea level. But his genius was a\crse to 
 controversy ; and the philosopher himself put an end to a discussion in 
 which perhaps he would not have had the best of the argument. " I have 
 no wish," he wrote, "to embroil myself with Mr. Buffon for a few shells." 
 
 The vale in which the brilliant city o( Paris now stands was once a 
 lake or bay, whose shores were fringed with forests of palms. Strange 
 animals, whose species have long since passed away, sported in its waters, 
 whilst huge crocodiles lurked amongst the thick reeds and large 
 water-lilies watching for their prey. The xalley is known in geology as 
 the Paris basin, just as the corresponding formation in the Thames is 
 named the London basin. They both belong to the tertiary period, so 
 called because it was the third in three great systems of rock formation; 
 the rocks being composed of the sedimentary deposit of water, and not, 
 as in those of the first ages, produced by the action of fire : those in the 
 vicinity of Paris being in strata or layers, containing alternately fresh-water 
 and marine shells, showing that the valley of the Seine was at one time a 
 fresh-water lake, and, at another, an arm of the sea. 
 
 Skeletons of Animals Found Near Paris. 
 
 At Montmartre, a hill a little to the north of Paris, there are extensive 
 quarries of gypsum, the material known to us as plaster of Paris. Gyp- 
 sum is composed '"f sulphate of lime, deposited by fresh water; and in 
 digging these quarries a great number of skeletons of various animals 
 were discovered, some of them being nearly perfect, having been preserved 
 by the gypsum which had hardened about them. And Cuvier, the great 
 French naturalist, restored them, and we can have a distinct idea of what 
 these strange creatures were like, in every particular except their color. 
 
 At the commencement of the tertiary period, the heat, though not so 
 intense as it had been in the preceding ages, when the tepid swamps 
 teemed with monstrous reptiles, was still as great in England and France 
 as it is now in the tropics. But the temperature was slowly cooling, and 
 the forests of palms were mixed with trees which still flourish in these 
 climates, such as the oak, wych-elm, alder, cypress, walnut, and others. 
 The gigantic saurians of the red sandstone age were e.xtinct and appeared 
 no more in the earth, and there grew into life the great pachyderms, or 
 thick-skinned animals; instead of the dragon-like pterodactyle, the air 
 was filled with quails, woodcocks, and curlews, and all nature wore anew 
 aspect. 
 
il 
 
 •"*5 
 
 i 
 
 ANTEU1LUVI\N ANIMALS OF THE VALLEY OF PARIS. 
 
 (100) 
 
 Thc 
 to two 
 or una: 
 for " ur 
 even lii 
 yond t 
 they \v 
 largest, 
 much h 
 stout le< 
 large, ar 
 tapir; a 
 eros, an( 
 The a 
 each oth 
 longing 1 
 now exis 
 its skull ; 
 divided, 1 
 into toes 
 was aboi 
 ably to a 
 otter. 
 
 Anothe 
 
 and was a 
 
 the water, 
 
 sembled a 
 
 vided like 
 
 only as lar 
 
 difficult to 
 
 possessing 
 
 and they \i 
 
 came into ( 
 
 the water r 
 
 vorous, livi 
 
 Remains 
 
 in the Isle 
 
 such abunci 
 
 ferent kind<^ 
 
 ■ ^;: 
 
,M' f ' V',- 
 
 PRE-HISTORIC MONSTERS OF LAND AND SEA 
 
 101 
 
 The animals which were so abundant in the Paris basin belonged chiefly 
 to two genera : the pal.totheria, or ancient animals, and the anoplotheria 
 or unarmed animals ; these latter, were so called from the Greek words 
 for " unarmed," and for " beast," because their teeth were arranged in an 
 even line all round, just as inn i; the canine teeth not projecting be- 
 yond the others, as they do in animals which can bite and tear, so that 
 they were defenceless. There were several species of palieotheria, the 
 largest, or great pakeotherium, being about the size of a horse, but it was 
 much heavier and clumsier, having a very thick body, supported on short, 
 stout legs, and its feet were divided into three rounded toes. Its head was 
 large, and was provided with a short trunk, or proboscis, like that of the 
 tapir; and altogether it formed a link between that animal and the rhinoc- 
 eros, and probably resembled them in its. habits. 
 
 The anoplotheria also comprise several species, differing greatly from 
 each other. The largest was about the size of a donkey but, though be- 
 longing to the pachydermata, the anoplotherium was like no one animal 
 now existing, for whilst in some respects it resembled the hippopotamus, 
 its skull partook of the character of that of the horse, and its upper lip was 
 divided, like the camel's ; and the bones of the feet, which were separated 
 into toes sheathed in hoofs, were like those of the hog. The body 
 was about four feet long, and it had a thick tail of equal length, prob- 
 ably to assist it in swimming; and its hair was smooth, like that of the 
 
 otter. 
 
 The Gazelle of the Early Ages. 
 
 Another kind, the xiphodon gracile, was about the size of a chamois, 
 and was as light and slender as a gazelle ; and instead of swimming in 
 the water, it bounded over the plains ; but though in this respect it re- 
 sembled a deer, and had a long neck and a short tail, its lip also was di- 
 vided like the camel's. Some of the species were very small, one being 
 only as large as a hare, whilst another was no bigger than a rat. It is 
 difficult to imagine creatures more defenceless than these animals were, 
 possessing neither horns nor claws, nor teeth that they could tear with ; 
 and they were probably soon exterminated when the large beasts of prey 
 came into existence. As it was, the chief enemies of those that frequented 
 the water must have been the crocodiles. The anoplotheria were all herbi- 
 vorous, living on seeds and green twigs, or the succulent roots of plants. 
 
 Remains of the palaeotherium and an aplotherium have been discovered 
 in the Isle of Wight, in strata similar to that of the Paris basin, but not in 
 such abundance. Altogether, Cuvier found the bones of about fifty dif- 
 ferent kinds of animals embedded in the gypsum, all of which are extinct. 
 
102 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 i H 
 
 u 
 
 besides turtles, and crocodiles, and bats, and various birds of kinds which 
 still exist on the earth. 
 
 Though Britain is now an island it was not always so. The researches 
 of geologists show that it was once united to the continent of Europe. 
 The fossil remains of animals discovered in many parts of England are 
 the same as those found in France, and a species of fresh-water mussel, 
 now extinct in that country, still li\es in the river Seine. The ilint imple- 
 ments, too, which prove that even at that early age human beings existed 
 on the earth, though there was no historian to chronicle their deeds, are 
 found to be of a similar type in England and France, and seem to show 
 that, at a far distant time, the same race of people inhabited both countries. 
 But these men were not our ancestors; they died out, or were extermi- 
 nated by the influx of tribes superior to them in intelligence, and the 
 shape of their skulls, which ha\e been dug up out of the gravel beds in 
 France, shows that they belonged to a different race from any now inhabi- 
 ting either country. 
 
 London Onot* a Great Menajftrie. 
 
 At that time the valley of the Thames must have presented a very 
 different aspect from what it does now, and it is supposed that the river 
 Thames was then a tributary of the Rhine. The vegetation was of much 
 the same character as at present, for, after lasting countless ages the great 
 tertiar}' period had come to an end; England was no longer covered with 
 groves of palm-trees and tropical ferns, and the strange animals of the 
 Paris basin were already extinct. The temperature, that had been gradu- 
 ally cooling, at length became so cold that what is known as the glacial 
 period, or age of ice. ensued. After a long interval, the climate grew 
 warm again, and it was at this time that man came into existence; at 
 least we may conclude so, for there are no certain vestiges of human 
 beings before the age of ice. The forest trees such as we .still now have, 
 appeared, and dense forests of oak, and elm and thickets of alder grew to 
 the water's edge. The climate too was probably not very different to 
 wh;it it is now, except that the winter was colder and the summer hotter 
 than in our day. 
 
 Rut if the trees on the banks of the Thames were of the sriTie kind 
 as at: present, it \vas far otherwise with the animal kingdom, for the 
 gigantic mammoth browsed on the young shoots of the oak, whose 
 branches gave shelter to troops of apes, whilst the woolly rhinoceros wal- 
 lowed in the mud and the huge hippopotamus came swimming up the 
 river. The wild horse and the as^ scoured the plains, and herds of bisons 
 and wild bulls roamed through the woods, that at night echoed with the 
 
ANCIENT ANIMALS IN THE THAMES VALLEY. 
 
 (lOIV, 
 
 
 im 
 
 
 If 
 
 mmim 
 
 ' - .i 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 * 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 r 
 
 Si ' 
 
 ^' 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Is 
 
 1 
 
 m 
 
 Hlffri 'A 
 
 r 
 
 P'...< j|. 
 
 
 mrk 
 
 rf' 
 
 
 
 Byi 
 
 ^ 
 
 ihI 
 
 
 
 R 
 
 . 7ii 1 
 
 iim 
 
 4« Mil' 
 
i ^ 
 
 104 
 
 EARTH, SEA AND SKY. 
 
 ; I 
 
 li 
 
 \\ 
 
 cries of the hyena or the growhng of immense tigers. There were sev- 
 eral distinct species of rhinoceri natives of Britain and other parts of 
 Europe, but they were not all co-existent. They first appear about the 
 middle of the tertiary period, but the species that lived then appears to 
 have given place to other kinds. Of the.se the woolly rhinoceros, which 
 had two horns, was the most common, and its remains ha\e been found 
 in an entire .state in the ice of northern Asia. Besides its woolly coat it 
 had another peculiarity, which does not exist in every living .species — 
 its nostrils were .separated by a bony partition. There was also a smaller 
 and more .slender .species, which had two horns, and another kind, no 
 larger than a hog. The hippopotamus, of which there were two species, 
 did not differ much from that of Africa. Its bones have been found, to- 
 gether with those of the rhinoceros, in many parts of London ; and a jaw- 
 bone of a hippopotannis, armed with a formidable pair of tusks, was dug 
 up at Peckham, and is now in the geological collection of the British 
 
 Museum. 
 
 A niiiltitiule of Savage Creatures. 
 
 It was at the close of the tertiary period, and ju.st before the appearance 
 of man, that many of the animals appeared which still inhabit Britain, 
 such as the hog and the horse ; but the first horses were very small, being 
 no larger than the donkey: there are no fossil remains of such horses as 
 we see now-a-days. One species of the deer was of gigantic size, and 
 there was a large .serpent, and the caves were the abode of huge bears, 
 that exceeded the grizzly bear of North America in size; and a terrible 
 creature, called the machairodus, now totally extinct, preyed on the deni- 
 zens of the woods. Flocks of birds flew through the air, and vultures 
 brooded on the rocks. Beavers constructed their dwellings in the stream, 
 and were not extinct till historic times. 
 
 In the valley of the Thames the remains of both arctic and tropical ani- 
 mals are found, and the reindeer, glutton, musk-sheep, and even the lem- 
 ming, once frequented Britain. It might be imagined that the.se animals 
 lived at different periods, but the bones of hippopotami are found with 
 those of the reindeer, and it is probable that as England was then united 
 to the Continent, and the land continuous, the animals migrated accord- 
 ing to the change of the .seasons, and the hippopotamus swam up the 
 rivers from France and Spain. The reindeer extended its wanderings as 
 far as the south of France, where it was at one time very common. 
 
 Amid the multitude of sa\'age animals which then swarmed in these 
 countries, the primftive human buings must have led a precarious exist- 
 ence. Armed only with flint-headed arrows and axes, or bone-pointed 
 
PRE-HISTORIC MONSTERS OF LAND AND SEA. 
 
 10-: 
 
 spears, they doubtless frequently fell a prey to the tiger or terrible cave- 
 bear. Their skeletons show that they were a small race of men, with 
 round heads and low foreheads, and very prominent ridges over the orbit 
 of the eye. They were probably something like the Eskimo or La[)land- 
 ers, and their lives were spent in hunting or in resisting the attacks of 
 
 wi'.d beasts. 
 
 Remarkable Products of Laiul and Sou. 
 
 The shores of the islands or of the tract of main land then existing were 
 apparendy low and swampy. Deep inlets of the sea, ba>s, and the 
 shifting mouths of a river, were also affected by numerous alterations of 
 level not sufficient to destroy, but powerful enough to modify the animal 
 and vegetable species then existing; and these movements were continued 
 for a long time. The seas were tenanted by sharks, gigantic rays, ami 
 many other fishes of warm latitudes, and abounded also with large car- 
 nivorous moUusca, capable of living either in fresh or brackish water. 
 The shelving land was clothed with rich tropical vegetation to the water's 
 edge, presenting to view the palm and the cocoa-nut, besides many of 
 those trees which now lend a charm to the Spice Islands of the Indian 
 seas. All these abounded also with indications of animal life. 
 
 The large rivers were peopled with crocodiles; turtles and tortoises 
 floated upon them; and these tenants of the waters, strange and varied as 
 they were, and unlike the present inhabitants of the district, were not 
 without resemblance to many species still met with on the earth. The 
 interior of the land, of which the surrounding waters were thus peopled, 
 was no less remarkable, and exhibited appearances equally instructive. 
 Troops of monkeys might be seen skipping lightly from branch to branch 
 in the various trees, or heard mowing and chattering and howling in the 
 deep recesses of the forest. Of the birds, some clothed in plumage of 
 almost tropical brilliancy, were busy in the forests, while others, such as 
 the vulture, hovered over the spots where death had been busy. Gigantic 
 serpents might have been seen insidiously watching their prey. Other 
 serpents in gaudy dress were darting upon the smaller quadrupeds and 
 birds, and insects glittered brightly in the sun. 
 
 I-.; 
 
n 
 
 I 
 
 ii 
 
 '■. \ 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE TERRIBLE PHEX()Mi:XA OE EARTHQUAKES. 
 
 Nature's Destructive Agencies — Tremendous Forces Pent up Within the Farth — 
 l're(|ULncy of ]']arth(|uakf Shocks— A Country in South America Never Quiet — 
 Siy;ns of the Approaching; Disaster— A Part of our own Country Sunk by a 
 Convulhion — The Great Kartluiuake of Calabria — Human Beings Tossed in the 
 Air — I leavy Objects Whirling About — Farms Changing Places — ^Jamaica Visited 
 — Destruction of tlie City of Lisb()n--Tlie Sea Rushing Madly on the Sliore — 
 Terrible Loss of Life — Horrors Multiplied - Immense Fissures in the Farth — 
 Great Calamity at ?'<-'ssina — S'atistics .Showing Appalling Destruction of Life 
 — Charleston in Terrv_ -Java antl Southern luirope Shaken. 
 
 ARTHQUAKi-!S arc the most fearful, and at the .same time the 
 [^ most destructive, phenomena of nature. They are motions 
 produred on the earth's s(Mid surface by a force originatinij in 
 the interior of the globe, aiid thence actin<^ upward. This force 
 appears to be subject to <^n'cat variations in its intensity. In most cases 
 the commotions occasioned by it on the earth's s.;'-face are exceedingly 
 slii;ht. The motion is scarcely felt, and passes away in the same moment. 
 The larger number of carthcpiakes consist of a slight trembling; of the 
 groimd, which can on\ be perceived by attentive obseiTation, and then 
 only under veiy favorable circumstances. When they have passed awa}', 
 it is impc^ssible to discover the slightest traces of their transitory activity. 
 But at other times they are attended with effects so terrible and destruc- 
 tive, that no ' ther calamit\' can be compared with them. When the 
 subterraneous force to which they owe their origin acts with a \it>lent 
 degree of energy, it produces such coiivulsions on the earth's surface, 
 that not only are the works destroyed that men lia\'e raised to render 
 their li\'es comfortable, and the buildings levelled to the ground that they 
 have erected to protect them against the inclemency of the seasons, but 
 in some cases the face of the country is changed that has been subjected 
 to their operation. It is happily the case that earthquakes attended with 
 such fearful effects are not of frequent occurrence; they would other- 
 wise render the countries visited by them uninhabitable for man and 
 
 beast. 
 
 Froinionoy of Karthqufikcs. 
 
 In coiMitries frequently subject to earthquakes, only those convulsions 
 which are attended by destriicti\c consequences are remembered by the 
 (lOG) 
 
 inhabj 
 or arej 
 persi »i| 
 inatioij 
 quake.j 
 other, 
 an e.\a| 
 within 
 were a1 
 
 '^^ 
 
IS 
 
 THE TERRIBLE PHENOMENA OF EARTHQUAKES. 
 
 101 
 
 inhabitants for any lon^ time after. The sli<]jht one.s arc hardly noticed, 
 or are only recorded by some curious observer. It appears, therefore, to 
 persons livin<^ at a i;reat distance from such places, and receixin^j infor- 
 mation of them only w hen producing some great calamity, that earth- 
 quakes are not frequent, and occur only at periods remote frc >m each 
 other. This, however, is an error. Earthquakes are very frequent. l)y 
 an exact observer not less than fifty-seven earthquakes have been noticed 
 within the spice of forty }-ears in the town of Palermo, in Sicily, which 
 were attended by such smart shocks as to be sensibly felt. 
 
 EFFECT OF AN EARTHQUAKE ON THE SEA. 
 
 In the town of Copiapo, in the extreme northern province of Chile, one 
 or more shocks are felt almost every day ; and though they commonly 
 pass off without causing aiy damage, the town has suffered by tlicm so 
 frequently, and so many li\'es have been lost by the downfall of build- 
 ings, that the inhabitants rush out of their houses as soon as the least 
 commotion of the earth is perceived. If it were possible, says Humboldt, 
 to obtain daily information respecting the state of the whole surface of 
 our globe, we probably should convince ourselves that this surface is 
 
108 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 Pi ; ' 
 
 I i 
 
 li 
 
 nearly always shaken at some point or other, and that it is subject to an 
 vMiintcrrup.cd reaction between th<: interior and the exterior. 
 
 SijfiiH of Coining Destruction. 
 
 Many persons are apt to suppose that those countries which are situ- 
 ated in the vicinity of active volcanoes are more frequently subject to 
 violent concussions than those which lie at greater distances from them. 
 This opinion is not correct; but it is true that earthquakes are common 
 in tlie nei<[hborhood of volcanoes. Every eruption of the mountain, and 
 even every new flow of lava, or every ejection of ashes, is accompanied 
 by a shock, which, liowever, is so slight, that it can only be perceived 
 by persons who are near the crater, or on the declivities of the volcano. 
 These slight .shocks can hardly be considered as earthquakes, as they 
 are not felt in the plarn at its base. But man}' eruptions are preceded 
 by real earthquakes. When the inhabitants t f a country surrounding 
 an active voicaio observe that the mountain has ceastd to emit smoke 
 from its crater, they consider it as a sign of an approaching earthquake, 
 and in many cases their fear has not proved unfounded. It may be 
 true that earthquakes are most frequent in countries lying in the vicinity 
 of a volcano ; bu': few of the more disastrous convulsions of this descrip- 
 tion have occurred in such localities. The greater number have hap- 
 pened at considerable distances from any active volcano, and even from 
 places which by the nature of the rocks shov/ that they have orce been 
 the seat of volcanic activity. It is also observed that earthquakes occur- 
 ring at no great distance from volcanoes are of comparatively short du- 
 ration, whilst the convulsions visiting countries lying far from them are 
 repeated almost daily for months together, and frequently several times 
 in one day. Of such a description were the earthquakes which were ex- 
 perienced during more than a whole year(i8i2)in the plains of the 
 Mississippi, and those which shook, in iScS, the Alpine valleys lying at 
 the base of Mount Cenis. 
 
 A Country Sunk by a Convulsion. 
 
 That part of the plain of the Mississippi River, which, in 1812, exper- 
 ienced a great number of strong concussions, and those repeated for sev- 
 eral months together, extends between New Madrid, on the Mississippi, 
 to the Little Prairie, north of Cincinnati. The principal seat of the 
 earthquake was consequentlynearlyequi-distant from the Gulf of Moxico 
 and from the Atlantic Ocean. The following particulars respecting this 
 earthquake are from Sir Charles Lyell : Flint, the geographer, who vis- 
 ited the country seven yca'-s after the event, informs us that a tract ol 
 
 many ni 
 three or| 
 was left 
 in the ci 
 \ev Mc 
 statetl thl 
 fifteen ni 
 horint; fc| 
 confusior 
 ing their I 
 The inl 
 wlicn the 
 umcs of 
 the trees 
 alluvial s( 
 experienc 
 earth \\-e 
 felled the 
 stationed 
 more thar 
 being swa 
 not far be 
 its course 
 some of t 
 perpendic 
 desolating 
 
 The u[ 
 earth, as 1 
 a hollow 
 ai. every 
 ing of a 
 which it 1 
 by them, 
 produced 
 quick sue 
 the imme 
 everj-thin 
 the great 
 granite n: 
 
\Wn': 
 
 THE TERRIBLE PHENOMENA OF EARTHQUAKES. 
 
 109 
 
 many miles in extent, near the Little Prairie, became covered witli water 
 three or four feet deep; and when the water disappeared a stratum of sand 
 was left in its place. Large lakes, of twenty miles in extent, were formed 
 in the coi..se of an hour, and others were drained. The ^rav^eyard at 
 \e\'- Madrid was precipitated into the bed of tiie Mississippi ; and it is 
 stated that the ground whereon the town is built, and the ri\er bank for 
 fifteen miles above, sank eii;ht feet below their former level. The neigh- 
 boring forest presented for some years afterwards a singular scene of 
 confusion ; the trees standing inclined in every direction, and many hav- 
 ing their trunks and branches broken. 
 
 The inhabitants relate that the earth rose in great undulations; and 
 when these reached a cei • lin fearful height, the soil burst, and vast vol- 
 umes of water, san.l, and pit coal were discharged as high as the tops of 
 the trees. Flint saw hundreds of these deep chasms remaining in an 
 alluvial soil, seven years after. The people in the country, although in- 
 experienced in such convulsions, had remarked that the chasms in the 
 earth were in a direction f-om S. \V. to N. E. ; and they accordingly 
 felled the tallest trees, and laying them at right angles to the chasms, 
 stationed themselves upon them. By this invention, when chasms opened 
 more than once under these trees, sex-eral persons were prevented from 
 being swallowed up. At one period during this earthquake, the ground 
 not far below New Madrid swelled up so as to arrest the Mississippi in 
 its course, and to cause a temporary reflux of its waves. The motion of 
 some of the shocks is described as having been horizontal, and of others 
 perpendicular ; and the "'="*'j'cal movement is said to have been much less 
 desolating than the horizontal. 
 
 Human Beings Hurled Through Space. 
 
 The upheaving shocks are accompanied by violent upliftings of the 
 earth, as if repeated explosions were exerting their force upon the roof of 
 a hollow cavern, threatening to burst open the ground and blow into the 
 ai. every thing placed on it. They may also be compared to the burst- 
 ing of a mine, which explodes with great force and removes the earth 
 which it meets within its passage. When the surface of the earth is split 
 b)' them, it is hardly to be conceived what terrible destruction must be 
 produced in a few minutes by such convulsions following each other in 
 quick succession. There are numerous instances on record which prove 
 the immense force with which these shocks act on the surface and on 
 everything on it ; some of them, indeed, appear almost incredible. In 
 the great earthquake of Calabria, 1873, the most elevated portion of the 
 granite mountain mass of the Aspromonte was seen to move up and down 
 
 |i^:. 4 
 
 •f n 
 
 !«<_ 
 
 *l J 
 
no 
 
 FARTM, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 I •: 
 
 wM'i 
 
 I ' 
 
 rapidl} •; persons were raised from the ground and thrown to a distance 
 from the place where they were; houses were removed from their site 
 and carried to places higher than those on v hich they had been built. 
 The foundation of many buildings was removed from beneath the ground 
 with such violence, that the stones were broken to pieces and scattered 
 about, and the hard cement which 1 ..ted them was crushed into 
 
 dust. After the great earthquake of kiobama, in 1797, on the table land 
 of Quito, the corpses of several of ♦^^he inhabitants of the town were found 
 on the top of a hill, separated from the place by a river, and several hun- 
 dred f .'et higher than tiie site of the town. These persons had been 
 hurled to the top of the hill by the violent upheavings of the ground. 
 The rotatory shocks are certainly the most destructive, but are those 
 also which occur most rarely. They have only been observed in the 
 most calamitous earthquakes, and not in all of them. The whirling 
 motion puts the surface of the earth into a movement resembling that of 
 the sea when agitated by irregular waves crossing and repulsing each 
 other in different directions. In the earthquake of Catania, in Sicily, in 
 1S18, many statues were turned round, and a large piece of rock had its 
 former position from south to north changed to that of east to west. 
 Several instances of this kind were observed after the great earthquake 
 of Valparaiso, in Chili, when that town was levelled to the ground. The 
 large church La Merced presented the most remarkable ruin. The tower 
 was built of bricks and mortar, and its walls up to the belfry were six feet 
 thick. They were shivered into blocks, and thrown to the ground. On 
 each side of the church were a number of square buttresses of good solid 
 brick work, six feet square. Those on the western side were all thrown 
 down, as were all but two on the eastern side; these two were twisted 
 from the wall in a north-easterly direction, each presenting an angle to 
 the wall. The twisting to the north-east was noticed in several other 
 places. In a village thirty miles north of Valparaiso, the largest and 
 heaviest pieces of furniture were turned in the same dir.er.tion. 
 
 Singular Confusion Caused by the Moving of the Ground. 
 In some instances it has been found that large pieces of ground had 
 exchanged their respective situations. This was the case at several places 
 in Calabria, after the first great shock had passed by. A plciication of 
 mulberry trees had been carried into the middle of a cornfield, and left 
 standing there; and a piece of ground sown with lupines had been forced 
 into a vineyard. For several years after the earthquake, lawsuits were 
 brought in the courts of Naples to decide the claims which had origina- 
 ted in the confusion of territorial possessions by the effects of that terrible 
 
THE TERRIBLE PHENOMENA OF EARTHQUAKES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 catastrophe. Facts of a similar description are rccortk-d as ha\ing 
 resulted from other earthquakes, such as that of Riobamba, where also 
 several lawsuits were brought in the courts respecting the possession of 
 pieces of ground, which had exchanged their positions. Ikit HumboUlt 
 has recordjd a still more extraordinary fact. When he was surveying 
 the ruins of the destroyed town of Riobamba for the purpose of making 
 a map, he was shown the place where the whole furniture of one liou.se 
 was found buried beneath the ruins of another. The upper layer of the 
 soil, formed of matter nnt possessing a great degree of coherenc)', had " 
 moved like water in runnin;^ streams; and we are compelled to suppose 
 that these streams flowed first downwards, then proceeded horizontally, 
 and at last rose upwards. The motion in the shocks which were experi- 
 enced in Jamaica, 1 692, must have been not less complicated. Accord- 
 ing to the account of an eye witness, the whole surface of the ground had 
 assumed the appearance of running water. The sea and the land ajjpeared 
 to rush on one another, and to mingle in the wildest confusion. Some 
 persons, who, nt the beginning of the calamity, had escaped into the 
 streets, and to the squares of the town, to avoid the danger of being 
 crushed under the ruins of the falling houses, were so violently tossed 
 from one side to the other, that many of them received severe contusions, 
 and some were maimed. Others were lifted up, hurled through the air. 
 and thrown down at a distance from the place where the)- had been 
 standing. A few who were in the town were carried away to the hamor, 
 which was rather distant, and there thrown into i j sea, by which acci- 
 dent, however, their lives were .saved. 
 
 The Terrible Earthquake of Lisbon. 
 The earthquake of Lisbon happened on the 1st of November, 1755. 
 The day broke with a serene sky and a fine breeze from the cast. About 
 nine o'clock in the morning the sun began to grow dim, and about half 
 an hour later a rumbling noise was heard, which proceeded from under 
 ground, and resembled that made by heavy carts passing over a distant 
 ground covered with pebbles. This subterraneous noise increased gradu- 
 ally, but quickly, so that after a few seconds it resembled the firing of 
 cannons of heavy calibre. In th's moment the first shock was felt. Be- 
 fore its violent concussions the foundations of many large buildings, 
 especially the palace of the Inquisition and several churches gave way, 
 and the whole of .hese edifices were levelled to the ground. After 
 a short pause, perhaps of not more than a minute's duration, three 
 other shocks followed in quick succession, by which nearly all the other 
 larger buildings, palaces, churches, convents, public offices, and houses 
 
 
112 
 
 EARTH. SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 
 were thrown down. All these shocks occurred in a space of less than five 
 minutes. 
 
 At the time the first shock was felt in the city, some persons were in 
 a boat on the Tagiis River, about three miles distant from the capital. 
 They were astonished at heariiij^ the boat making a noise, as if it were 
 runr.ini,' aground, as they knew it was in deep water. In the same 
 lUKinent they observed on both banks of the river that the buildings 
 
 were tumblin": down. 
 
 iVbout four minutes later a similar noise was 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF LISBON BY AN EARTHQUAKE. 
 
 heard under the boats, and other buildings were seen falling to the 
 ground. During this time a strange commotion was observed in the 
 water of the river. It appears that at some places the bottom of the river 
 was raised to the level of the water. Many vessels were lying in the har- 
 bor opposite the town. Some of them were torn from their anchors and 
 dashed against each other with great violence; in others the sailors did 
 not know whether their vessels were afloat or aground. 
 
 Tin 
 t'MTor (.: 
 tluy wi 
 ilescripti 
 Icr the n 
 ble vcld 
 hours, ai 
 Tag us ri 
 uoull ( 
 })l"ted tl 
 fv;ms (i; 
 of water 
 this fa\'oi 
 effects of 
 stone-buil 
 by the ca 
 refuge, w," 
 quickl)- a.-- 
 sea. The 
 water attai 
 a IcbS \X)lu 
 
 It is .sta 
 lion, no^ k 
 it appears, 
 was a h()H( 
 churches : 
 stone, su ffc 
 reduced to 
 shock was 
 which had 
 tli:; walls o 
 a i the shoe 
 ■vva<? imposs 
 
 In additi 
 and the inr 
 ravages of 
 and publisl 
 dark anoth< 
 described — 
 8 
 
,'e 
 
 in 
 il. 
 ro 
 le 
 
 as 
 
 le 
 e 
 
 THE TKRRini.E PHI-NOMnXA OF i:.\UTIlnUAKES. 
 
 \\:\ 
 
 The minds < f tlic inliabitants hail n.)t \-ct had time t > recover from iho 
 t'Tior caused b/ tliis terrible .intl (luite unexpected catar.trophe, when 
 they were a;.^a:n phu^^^ed int^ dismay by a i)henomenon ( f a different 
 de.scriiition, but hardl)-le.s.s terribloand destructiw. A').)ut lialf an hour af- 
 ter the most s jverc shocks had ceased, the sea rushed suddenly v.iili incredi- 
 ble velocity into the river. A!thou[jh the water had been ebbin ^ f )r two 
 hours, and the wind blew fresh from the cast, the sea at the mouth < f the 
 Ta;4us rose instantaneously about (nvty feet above hi;;h water marl:. It 
 UfM.ill certainly ha\e laid more than half the town under water, and com- 
 pl' ted the Work of destruction, liad iv t the ian^e bay, which tlie river 
 f)';ms opposite the caijital of Portugal, permitted this enormous \olunie 
 of water to spread itself o\'er a surface of many s'p.are miles. Ihit even 
 this fa\'orable circumstance did not entirely exempt the city from the 
 effects of an inundation. The sea entered the lov.eT streets, and a lar^-e 
 stone-built quay, which had been probably detached from its foundations 
 by the earthquake, and on which about three thousand people had tal.en 
 refuj^e, was sudden!}' hurled b(~)ttoni upward, and every soul was lost. As 
 quickly as the water had filled the river, so quickly did it retreat to the 
 sea. The hi'.di wave, however, returned threj or four times before the 
 water attained its usual level, but e\-ery time w ith a diminished force am! 
 a less \-o!ume of water. i 
 
 Frightful Loss of LifV'. 
 
 It is stated that, by the effects of the earthquake and (-f the inunda- 
 tion, noi less than sixty thousand persons perished. The larger number, 
 it appears, were crushed by the ruins cf the fallincj churche.-;. I-'or as it 
 was a holiday, a great number of persons were at their devotions in thj 
 churches and convents, which, being ver\- substantial edifices buiit (,r 
 stone, suffered much more than the houses of pri\ate persons, and ;'.-ere 
 reduced to heaps of ruins by the first sliock. Tov/ai'ds even iiv; a smart 
 shock was felt; it Mas strong enough t ) split the walls of several houses 
 which had still kept their position. The rents caused by this shock- in 
 th::: walls of these houses were more than hcCS a foot wide; but as .''.ocn 
 n;lhe shock had passed away, they closed again, an 1 s) firmly that it 
 wa'j impossible to find a trace of them. 
 
 In addition to the horrors occasioned by the shocks c f t^i j earthquake 
 and the inroads of the sea, the devoted inhabitants were exposed to the 
 ravages of fire. An English merchant residing in Lisbon, who escaped, 
 and published an account of the calamity, says: As soon as it grew 
 dark another scene presented itself, little less shocking than those already 
 described — the whole city appeared in a blaze, which v.a; s) l.)right that I 
 
 
i- 
 
 Ml 
 
 114 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY, 
 
 could easily sec to read b) it. It may be said without exaggeration, it 
 was on fire in a hundred diiT.'rent jjlaces at once, and thus continued burn- 
 ing for sixdiiys together, without intermission, or the least attempt being 
 made to stop its progress. It went on consuming everything the earth- 
 quake had spared, and tlie people were .so dejected and terrified, that few 
 or none had courage enough to venture down to save any part of their 
 substance ; every one had his eyes turned towards the flames, and stood 
 looking on with silent grief, which was only interrupted by the cries and 
 shrieks of women and children calling on the saints and angels for suc- 
 cor, whenever the earth began to tre.able, which was so often this night. 
 and indeed I may say ever since, that the tremors, more or less, did not 
 cease for a quarter of an hour together, I could never learn that this 
 terrible fire was owing to any subterraneous eruption, as some reported. 
 
 Horror Addc<l to Horror. 
 
 The 1st of November being All Saints Day, a high festival among the 
 Portuguese, every altar in every church and chapel (some of which have 
 more than twen;y) was illuminated with a number of wax tapers and 
 lamps, as customary; these setting fire to the curtains and timber work 
 that fell with the shock, the conflagration soon spread lo the neighbor- 
 ing houses, and being there joined v.ith the fires in the kitchen chimneys, 
 increased to such a degree that it might easily have destroyed the whole 
 city, though no other cause had occurred, especially as it met with no 
 interruption. The nobility, gentry, and clergy, who v.-ere assisting at 
 divine service when the earthquake began, fled away with the utmost 
 precipitati(jn, every one where his fears carried him, leaving the splendid 
 apparatus of the numerous altars to the mercy of the first comer ; but 
 this did not so much affect me as the distress of the poor animals, which 
 seemed sensible of their hard fate ; some few were killed, others wounded, 
 but the greater part, which had received no hurt, were left there to starve. 
 
 From the square the way led to my friend's lodgings, through a long, 
 steep, and narrow street; the new scenes of horror I met with here 
 exceed all description ; nothing could be heard but sighs and groans. I 
 did not meet with a soul in the passage %vho was not bewailing the death 
 of his nearest relations and dearest friends, or the loss of all his substance; 
 I could hardly take a single step without treading on the dead or the 
 dying; in some places lay coaches, with their masters, horses, and riders, 
 almost crushed in pieces; here mothers with their infants in their arms; 
 there ladies richly dressed, priests, friars, gentlemen, merchants, cither in 
 the same condition or just expiring; some had their backs or thighs 
 broken, others vast stones on their breasts; some lay almost buried in 
 
 the rub 
 
 left to pi 
 
 In A- 
 
 quakes 
 
 and in s( 
 
 the battl 
 
 Antioch 
 
 which, 5. 
 
 thousant 
 
 by anoLJi 
 
 volcanic i 
 
 in tile ye 
 
 quakes li; 
 
 twelve till 
 
 few of tlic 
 
 No eart 
 
 historical 
 
 vulsion in 
 
 and whicl 
 
 lar in char; 
 
 show that 
 
 this kind ( 
 
 ties whicli 
 
 insignificai 
 
 lives, a ver 
 
 accounts o 
 
 early part ( 
 
 destroyed 1 
 
 a wide ter: 
 
 reason to bi 
 
 the most 1 
 
 hurry multi 
 
 One of t 
 
 which, in tl 
 
 engulfed a 1 
 
 the line alor 
 
 to the oppo; 
 
 awakened b' 
 
 as we bury t 
 
li no 
 at 
 
 a est 
 
 indid 
 but 
 lich 
 
 |dcd, 
 rve. 
 
 leath 
 fice ; 
 the 
 Icrs, 
 [■nis ; 
 :r in 
 lighs 
 Id in 
 
 THE TERRIBLE PHENOMENA OF EARTHQUAKES. 
 
 115 
 
 the rubbish, and cryinj^ out in vain to the passengers for succor, were 
 left to perish with the rest. 
 
 In Asia, Africa, Europe and South America, as we h:i\-e seen, earth- 
 quakes have levelled whole cities and numbered their victims by tens, 
 and in some instances hundreds, of thousands^ In Judea, at the time of 
 the battle of Actium, 31 B.C., an earthcjuake killed ten thousand })eoj)le. 
 Antioch has been visited by several of still greater magnitude, one (if 
 which, 526 A.D., is said by Gibbon to have slain two hundred and fiftj- 
 thousand persons, and the .same city was visited about sixty years later 
 by another that made thirty thou.sand corpses. The earthquake, whh 
 volcanic eruption of Vesuvius, that wiped out ^lerculaneum and Pompeii 
 in the year 63, need only to be mentioned. In more modern times earth- 
 quakes have slain one hundred thousantl at Calabria, Sicily, in 1783; and 
 twelve thousand in the Argentine Republic in 186 1. These are onl)- a 
 few of the great calamities of this kind that history records. 
 
 3I()re Koecut Convulsions. 
 
 No earthquake has visited the territory of the United Stales within the 
 historical period which can be compared in extent or energ}' to the con- 
 vulsion in August, 18S6, that was felt from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, 
 and which wrought such terrible disaster in Charleston, yet shocks simi- 
 lar in character but less in degree are of constant occurrence. Observations 
 show that on the Atlantic slope there is on an average one disturbance of 
 this kind eveiy month. These, however, as compared with the calami- 
 ties which have desolated other parts of the world are ver}- small and 
 insignificant. In the Charleston disaster ninet)-si.x persons lost their 
 lives, a very insignificant number compared with the destruction, graphic 
 accounts of which come to us from other quarters of the globe. In the 
 early part of 1S87 a frightful earthquake in the southern i)art of luirope 
 destroyed more than 2000 lives, and .spread desolation and suffering over 
 a wide territory. Neither cholera nor any other pestilence has mure 
 reason to be dreaded than one of those terrible convulsions which demolish 
 the most massive buildings, wreck the fairest cities, and in an instant 
 hurry multitudes of human beings out of the world. 
 
 One of the most destructive earthquakes of modern times was that 
 which, in the Island of Java in 18S4, destroyed thirty thorsand lives, and 
 engulfed a range of mountains forty miles in length, leaving no trace of 
 the line along which it extended. Immense clouds of dust extended even 
 to the opposite hemisphere. The Vv hole civilized world had its attention 
 awakened by this extraordinary con\'ulsion. It literally buried niountains 
 as we bury the dead. 
 
 :i!li 
 
I! 
 
 n() EARTFI, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 Til til •• (.artliquakc ;it Cliafl.v-ti'n many buildings v/cre d riKiK: bed, and 
 pi'-at d ■structioii of proi)i,rty iv^ultcd f;-o;n the terrible visitation, )-et 
 Of n ..M',.':-':i':j the friL;litfiil hiixoc made by some European earthquakes, our 
 A::ij;-;L-.:n cit\' wa-; extremely fortunate. The truth of this statement will 
 a;\)('i- i! \, c look a', tlie account cM'ven of that tremendous convulsion in 
 th; i 'an i of vSicil}- wliich o-._'rtli;-."A- nearly the whole of the beauti"!;! 
 city of Messina, with a cjreat los'^ of life. The shore f)r a consideraljle 
 di-tanrc alon:;- the coast was rent, and the ground aloiiLj the port, Mhich 
 WMs bjfore (juite le\'c!, became afterwards inclined towards the sea, the 
 de[)lh of the water li.-uin;^. at the same time, increased in several parts 
 through the d'splaceinent of portions of the bottom. The quay also 
 subsided about f miLLen inches !)elow the level of the sea, and the houses 
 near it \\-ere much rent. 
 
 \ <{i"aplii<' I)os<'r!i»J!i>u of the Awful Ciilaiiiity. 
 
 l^ut it ^\as in tlie cit\' its /If tliat the most terrible desolation was 
 wrought — a coinplication of disasters having f >llowed the shock, more 
 especiall)' a fierce contlagration, whose intensity was augmented by the 
 large stores of oil kept in the p'ace. An authentic account of this cal- 
 amit}' has been preserved in a report sent by the Senate of the cit}' of 
 Messina to tin; King of Naples. It runs as fallows: Your IMajesty's 
 feeling heart will, we doubt not, be touched by the deepest sorrow at the 
 harrowing spectacle of a splendid city instantaneously changed, by a ter- 
 rible and unexampled e\-ent, into a heap of ruins. The concussions of 
 the earth, coming in successi(>n e\-cry quarter of an hour, with incon- 
 ceivable violence, ha\e oxerthrowii, from top to bottom, c\'eiy building 
 whatever. The royal palace, that of the archbishop, the whole of the 
 maritime theatre, the pawn repositories, the great hospital, the cathedral, 
 the nioiiasterii's and n.unncries — nothing has escaped destruction. The 
 religious recluse-; are seen running through the streets in dismav, to see':, 
 if possible, some place of refuge and safet}-, with the small number of 
 persons cscajied like themselves, almost b}' a miracle, from this overthrow 
 Tlij si^.dit i; fearful ; but there is one yx more terrible — that of tli<: larg- 
 <cst proportion of the citizens, dead and d.\ in;;, buried beneath the ruins 
 of their dwellings, without its beuig possible, from the want of laborers, 
 to render assistance under such circumstances, to withdraw f-om beneath 
 the rubbish those still breathing. Shrieks and cries, groans and sighs — 
 all the accents of gri. f are e\'erywhcre heard; while the impossibility o\ 
 redeeming from death tlK)se wretched \'ictims, renders still more har- 
 rowing the voice of despair that appeals in wain f -ir help and compas- 
 sion. 
 
 A new 
 their lior 
 seen all at 
 begun ab< 
 died \'ari( 
 crun'iblin; 
 with his t 
 rendered 
 gnish the 
 
 ucd to de\'o 
 
 and the mo,^ 
 
 To so nia 
 
 beyond dcs 
 
 thrown, bre 
 
 been obligee 
 
 vessels ladji 
 
 shops and u 
 
 the bak-ers h 
 
 turned a sick 
 
 longer grind 
 
 *^W(^ ■•• Jft" 
 
was 
 more 
 
 ,' the 
 s cal- 
 ity of 
 
 st\''s 
 
 it the 
 
 a ter- 
 
 )ns o( 
 
 icon- 
 
 Idinij; 
 
 f tlic 
 
 dral, 
 
 The 
 
 r of 
 |irt)\v 
 lafLi;- 
 ruins 
 )ror:-, 
 icath 
 hs— 
 t>' oi 
 
 'lar- 
 ipas- 
 
 Tlli. TERRIBLE PHENOMENA OF EARTHQUAKES. 
 
 11" 
 
 A new scourge has been added to all these calamities, and auL^ncnts 
 their horror. From amid the ruins of the overthrown buildings tliere is 
 seen all at once to arise a ra;^in;^f fire. Unhaj)pily — the first sIk^cIcs ha\;n ; 
 be:.,^un about dinner-time — the fires, then lighted in tlie kitchens, had kiii- 
 dled various combustible substances found amoiiL^ thj rcma'ns of the 
 crumblin;^ houses. The kin^^'s lieiitjnant instantly ha.-ten.d t > the sp'it 
 with hi.s troops ; but the iib.-iolute want of laborers and ncj lf.;l appliances 
 rendered all efforts unavailing, and it was i:npossible, n -t ( :;'._,- to extin- 
 gui.-^h the fire, but even to sto[) the progres.-, of th,: llair.cs, v.iiich contiu- 
 
 ■ r^^ 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF MESSINA. 
 
 ued to devour the sad remains of a cit}-, once the glory of her sovereigns, 
 and the most nourishing in the kingtlom. 
 
 any simultaneous disasters ha\'e to be added a thou-^and others 
 
 T 
 
 o so m 
 
 r1 
 
 )eyond description liorriDlc 
 
 Tl 
 
 le corn macrazines lia\in 
 
 •11 (U'er- 
 
 thrown, bread, that most needfiil of aliments, fi! 
 been obliged immediatel)' to remedy this evil, by ( 
 vessels laden with this commodit\-. IV.it hov.- in 
 
 The S mate ha-^ 
 1 tain'n : in harbor th,: 
 
 ;i';e breatl v»hen the 
 
 shops and utensils adapted to this trade are Iviried under the ruin.;, \^ hile 
 the balccrs have either perished or fled? T!i ,• w itor-courses 1 
 
 KU-lllLf 
 
 been 
 
 turiK 
 
 nsK 
 
 le, tl 
 
 le public fountains a,"e drain \1, an 
 
 1 th 
 
 ill 
 
 Ion; 
 
 Ter grind corn. 
 
 Tl 
 
 i.s a I :rava-ion < 
 
 f di 
 
 le nulls can no 
 
 has reduced almost to 
 
 mm0 
 
 «i 
 
 m 
 
118 
 
 EARTH, SEA AND SKY. 
 
 ; ! 
 
 il 
 
 despair the rcmainin;^^ inliabitants, who demand with loud cries bread for 
 their sustenance. Some bemoan their goods and chattels, others their 
 parents. 
 
 In spite of the zeal and activity shown by the magistrates in restraining 
 robbers, there are )-et to be found wretches, without either humanity or 
 religion, who, regardless of this Divine wrath displa\-ed before their eyes, 
 liave pilla;.;ed not only jjrivate hciuses but also the public edifices and the 
 j.au r.-repositories. Naught then, save the powerful protection of }-our 
 Majesty, can redress such manifold misfortunes, so rapid in their succes- 
 sion, and gi\e new existence to this city, which requires to be wholly 
 restored. The Senate beseeches your Majesty instantly to transmit the 
 needful succors of men and money, to clear the roads covered by ruins 
 
 
 Kissi.'Ki':s PKoni-cr:D bv an earthquake. 
 and corpses. The Senate eciually entreats )-our Majesty to send to this 
 c!t\' provisions (>( all sorts, for tlu^ subsistence of the inhabitants dispersed 
 in the plains, and who, destitute of food, will be obliged to take flight, to 
 the grca.t dei.iment i.fyour rowil treasury. 
 
 According to official reports matle soon after the events, the destruc- 
 tion caused by the earthqi;ak-es throughout the two Calabrias was im- 
 mense. The loss (if lif; V.MS appalling — 40,000 having perished by the 
 earthquakes, and 20,000 more ha\ing subsequently died from priwationard 
 ex[')i)-;ure. The greater nninl)er were buried amid the ruins of the houst^s, 
 while others perished in the fires that were kind.ed in invest of the towns, 
 particularly in (>[)pido, where the (lames were fed by great magazines 
 of oil. Not a few, especially among the peasantry dwelling in the country, 
 were suddtinl;,' in/;;rif hI in fv-;sures, which, seen in all directions, gave the 
 
 were o 
 there b 
 hunger 
 Havin;. 
 b\- the 
 cries fo 
 
 Of St 
 Havin cf 
 lier hu; 
 liarbor. 
 boy hac 
 husbaiu 
 ningbac 
 from hi 
 she fou: 
 directioi 
 and at 1 
 infant, si 
 securing 
 mansicm 
 still gras 
 A few- 
 woman, 1 
 jority of 
 o\-er e\e 
 dangei's r 
 sa\-age pt 
 to their p 
 ing ruins 
 tajigled a 
 Several 
 after the 
 i'un-, orfn 
 who wcrt 
 thirst. 
 
this 
 
 :rscd 
 
 t.to 
 
 truc- 
 iin- 
 thc 
 art! 
 
 wns, 
 
 Allies 
 
 liitty, 
 
 the 
 
 THE TERRIBLE PHENOMENA OF EARTHQUAKES. 
 
 11 'J 
 
 frrounc 
 
 tlu 
 
 api 
 
 )carance of haviiiLT bucn shivered like sjlass. Manv wh 
 
 o 
 
 were only half buried in the ruins, and who mi^^lit have been sa\'etl had 
 there been help at hand, were left to die a liny;erini:^ death from cold and 
 hunijer. Fcuir Auc,mstine monks at Terranut)va perished thus miserably. 
 }Iavin</ taken refutre in a vaulted sacrist\', thev were entombed in it alive 
 by the masses of rubbish, and lingered for four days, durin;^ which their 
 cries for help could be heard, till death put an end to their sufferings. 
 
 A 3l()th<'r jviHl Child Prrisli. 
 
 Of still more thrilling interest was the case of the Marchioness Spadara. 
 Having fainted at the moment of the first great shock, slv: was lifted by 
 her husband, who, bearing her in his arms, hurried with her to the 
 harbor. Here, on recovering her senses, she observetl that hex infuit 
 hoy had been left behind. Taking advantage of a moment when her 
 husband was too much Oi.;cupied to notice her, she darted off, and. run- 
 ning back to lier house, which was still standing, she snatched her babe 
 from his cradle. Rushing with him in her arms towards the staircase, 
 she found the .stair had fallen — so barring all further progress in that 
 direction. She fled from room to room, chased by the falling materials, 
 and at length reached a balcony as her last refuge. Holding up lier 
 infant, she imploreil the few passers-by for help; but they all, intent on 
 securing their own safet}-, turned a deaf ear to her cries. Meanwhile her 
 mansion had caught fire, and ere long the balcony, with the devoted lady 
 still grasping her darling, was hurled into the devouring flames. 
 
 A few cases are recorded of de\-otion similar to that of this heroic 
 woman, but happily attended by more f>rtunate results. In the great ma- 
 jority of instances, however, the in tinct of self-preser\ation trium[)hed 
 over e\ery other feeling, rendering the wretched people callous to the 
 dangers and sufferings of others. Still worse was the conduct of the half- 
 sa\age peasantry of Calabria. They ha.stened into the towns like \ultures 
 to their prey. Instead of lielping the sufferers, they ransacked the s.nok- 
 ing ruins for plunder, robbed the persi^is of the dead, and of those en- 
 tangled alive among the rubbish, perpetrating still more atrocious crimes. 
 
 Several cases occurred of persons being rescueo all\e from the win:, 
 nfter the lapse of man)-^ days. Some were deii\-ered at the end of three, 
 h )ur, or five days, and one even on the seventh day after interment. Those 
 who were thus rescued all declared that their direst sufferings were from 
 thirst. 
 
 'mM^ 
 

 CHAPTER IV. 
 MOUNTAINS OF FIRE. 
 
 Terrible Iiiiaj^fS of Grandeur— Open Months of Fire —The Earth a Scetiiing Fur- 
 nace Inside— A Lighthouse in the Eolian Islands- Dull Thunders Sliakii^g 
 Mountains — A River of Fire Thirty Miles Lonj,' — \'iolent Eruption of Manna 
 Eoa— A Scene of Ai5i>allin.L; .Sublimity — Jets of Fire and Smoke a Thousand 
 Feet High— Connection Iktween Earthcjuakes and Volcanoes — Hoffman's \'ivid 
 Description of Fiv.ry Stromboli— A Volcano Bursting out of the Sea— Graham's 
 island in Confla:;ratiun— A Parly Caught by a Deluge of Ashes and Hot Stones 
 — Cities Buried Under Floods of Lava from Vesuvius— Remarkable Asiatic Vol- 
 canoes— A Strange New Zealand Tradition — The Sea Boiling and Driven liack. 
 
 ICICN from afar, xoicanocs only t^ive a very inij)erf>jct idea of what 
 they are. To appreciate tlicir phenomena antl their ra\age.s, 
 cur e\-es mu>t siir\-ey their depths. All is then changed, and 
 the grandeur of the spectacle strikes the ir agination, graving 
 terrible images upon it. \Vc are astonished at the immensiiy of their 
 fire-spouting mouths, and at the vastness of the la\-a streams which flow 
 from thorn at certain times. Some men of science have expressed their 
 wontkr that the intericM' of the earth can furnish matter sufficient for 
 these; eruptions, but a uttle rellectiun will show that no great contraction 
 of the crust of the globe is required to feed them. Violent eruptions do 
 not usually emit more than 1 300 cubic }-ards of lava, and seldom so 
 nnich. This quantity, supposing it spread equally over the surface of the 
 globe, would not form a la)-er so much as the ten-thousandth of an irch 
 in thickness. A contraction of the earth sufficient to shorten its radius 
 half an inch would furnish matter for five hundred violent eruptions; and 
 on consulting the history of recent volcanic phenomena we arrive at the 
 conclusion that a contraction of one inch and a half is sufficient to have 
 supplied the lava thrown up in all the eruptions that have occurred on 
 our planet during the last 3000 years. 
 
 The loftier volcanoes are, the less frequent are their eruptions. The lava 
 which they vomit forth, issuing from furnaces the depth of which is prob- 
 ably the same in every case, it is clear, that for the waves to mount in the 
 chimneys of those which are very high, a much greater force is required 
 than in others. Thus one of the smallest of all, Stromboli, is always 
 throwing out flames; since the days of Homer it has served as a beacon 
 to navigators approaching the Eolian Islands. 
 (120) 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 ■*1 
 
 ^, - J, 
 
LIGHTING A WELL OF NATURAL GAS. 
 
 (121) 
 
 • 1 
 
 'm 
 
 >i 1 
 
 Ml 
 
 
 
 n :■ 
 
i ^ 
 
 i 
 
 ^: ii 
 
 ,,,| 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 122 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 I* 
 
 Volcanic eruptions show that the earth is stored with combustible ma- 
 terials, such as coal, oil and j^as. That there should be such a thinrr as 
 natural jjas, which needs on'y to be ignited to prove its capacity for burn- 
 ing, is one of the striking phenomena of nature. Natural gas has been 
 di.icovered in several localities in our own country. Among these are 
 Pittsburg, Pa., and F'indlay, Ohio, where the su])ply appears to be inex- 
 haustible, being derived from wells sunk from i.oco to 1,500 teet. 
 
 Our illustration shows the process of lighting the gas escaping from a 
 new well, before pii)e connections are formed. The tall standpipc repre- 
 sents a huge gas-jet turned on, from which a volume of g.is is escaping 
 with a kind of dull roar. This could be lighted by hoisting a burning 
 torch. The more common method is to fire at it a Roman candle. Sud- 
 denly the iinniense jet becomes ignited, a great flame rises, and swaws 
 and roars ii. the wind, and at night illumines the surrounding darkness, 
 producing a strange, weird appearance. 
 
 Groat Streams of Liquid Fire. 
 
 The form of the Hawaiian volcano named Mauna I.oa, is a flattened 
 dome, and this is its most remarkable feature. The idea of a volcano is 
 so generally connected with the figure of a cone, that the mind at once 
 conceives of a lofty sugar loaf ejecting fire, red-hot stones, and flowing 
 lavas. But in place of slender walls around a deep crater, nhich the 
 shaking of an eruption may tumble in, the summit of the Hawaiian vol- 
 cano is nearly a plane, in which the crater, though six miles in circuit, is 
 like a small quany hole, the ancient orifiee being not less than twent}'- 
 four miles in circumfen.-nce. A violent eruption of Mauna Loa took 
 place in the )-ear 1 843, which is thus described by the Rev. Titus Coan : 
 On the loth of January, just at the dawn of day, we discovered a rapid 
 disgorgement of liquid fire from near the summit of Mauna Loa, at an 
 elevation of about fourteen thousand feet above the sea. This eruption 
 increased from day to day for several weeks, pouring out vast floods of 
 fiery la\a, which spread down the side of the mountain, and flowed in 
 broad rivers, throwing a terrific glare upon the heavens, and filling those 
 lofty mountainous regions with a sheen of light. This .spectacle contin- 
 ued till the molten flood had progressed twenty or thirty miles down the 
 side of the mountain, with an average breadth of one and a half miles, 
 and across a high plain which stretches between the bases of Mauna 
 Loa and Mauna Kea. After many weeks another missionary and m)-- 
 self penetrated through a deep forest, stretching between Hilo and the 
 mountain, and reached the molten stream, which we followed to the top 
 of the mountain, and found its source in a vast crater, amidst eternal 
 
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 I of 
 
 in 
 se 
 n- 
 hc 
 es, 
 iia 
 
 ly- 
 
 iie 
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 lal 
 
 w 
 
 p) 
 
 K 
 
 n 
 
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 f»l 
 
 ipi. 
 
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 (fift] 
 
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 124 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
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 i: 
 
 \^ 
 
 snow. Down the sides of the mountain tiie lava had now ceased to 
 flow iii)()n the surface ; but it had fin-med for itself a subterranean duct, 
 at the depth of fifty or one hundred feet. This duct was x-itrified, and 
 down this fearful channel a river of fire was rushini^ at the rate of fifteen 
 or twentv miles an hour, from the summit to the foot of the mountain. 
 This subterranean stream we saw distinct!}' through se\eral lar_L;e aper- 
 Uu'es in the side of the mountain, wliile t!ie burnintj flood rushed fear- 
 fully beneath our feet. Our visit was attended with peril and inconceiv 
 able fatigue, but we ne\er regretted having made it, and we returned 
 deeply affected with the majesty, the sublimit)-, the power, and the love 
 of thai God who '' looketh on the earth anil it trembleth. who toucheth 
 the hills and they smoke ; whose presence melteth the hills, and whose 
 look causeth the nK)untains to flow down." 
 
 A I^i«»ry ]\[(>iintaiii of llemarkablo Formation. 
 
 IMaiina Lua presents the curious feature of having two distinct and 
 sceniinglv unconnected craters — one on the summit of the mountairi, and 
 another on its flanks, at a much lower level. This last is named Kirauea, 
 and is perhaps the most remarkable volcanic crater in the world. It was 
 \isited by Mr. Ellis, a missionary to those parts, who has given an ac- 
 count of it in his missionary tour. The approach to it lies over a vast 
 tract completely cox'ered with old lava; and Mr. Ellis describes his \'isit 
 to it in the following terms : The tract of la\"a resembles in appearance an 
 inland .sea, bounded by distant mf)untains. Once it had certain!)- been in 
 a fluid state, but appeared as if it had become suddenly petrified, or 
 turned into a glassy stone, while its agitated billows were rolling to and 
 fro. Not onl)' were the large swells and hollows distinctly marked, but 
 in many places the surface of those billows was covered b)- a smaller rip- 
 ple, like that observed on the surface of the sea at the springing up of a 
 breeze, or the passing currents of air, which produce what the sailors call 
 £1 cat's paw. After walking some distance over the ground, which in 
 several places sounded hollow under our feet, we at length came to the 
 edge of the great crater, where a spectacle sublime, and even appalling, 
 presented itself before us. 
 
 A Scene of Appalling' Sublimity. 
 
 Immediately before us yawned an immense gulf, in the form of a cres- 
 cent, about two miles in length, from north-east to south-west ; nearly a 
 mile in width, and apparently 800 feet deep. The bottom was covered 
 with lava, and the south-western and northern parts of it were one vast 
 flood of burning matter, in a state of terrific ebullition, rolling to and fro 
 
 ■'^.:.^*. 
 
i 
 
 MOUNTAINS OF TIRE. 
 
 12.") 
 
 its fiery surges and flamin^:,^ h'llows. I'ifty-one conical islands, of varied 
 form and size, containin^^ as many craters, rise cither round the cdi;o or 
 from the surface of the burnin;^ lake; twcntv-two constaiitK- emitted 
 
 rr" 
 
 
 .'■■"'sfi.-; 
 
 
 VOLCANO OF TAAL LUZON— PHI LI PPINKS. 
 
 columns of grey smoke, or pyramids of brilliant flame; and several of 
 these at the same time vomited from their ignited nnouths streams ci 
 lava, which rolled in blazing torrents down their black indented sides into 
 the boiling mass below. 
 
 
 
 
 
 'i^ 
 :^ll 
 
 iSfeil 
 
 ,.-'»> 
 
12G 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 !i 
 
 '•> si. 
 
 
 r f> 
 
 This great crater was also visited by Messrs. Dana and Wilkes of the 
 United States' exploring' expedition. The)- describe the light from the 
 glowing lava to bo so intense as to form rainbows on the passing rain- 
 clouds. The lava appears almost as liciuid as water, and its surface is 
 agitated by waves resembling those of the sea, and breaking, like them, 
 ii[)on the shore formed by the bordering terraces of solid lava. Some- 
 times they rise to a hcij^ht of between sixty and seventy feet. The lava, 
 thus tossed into the air, cools in its descent, and falls solidified on the sur- 
 face of the molten lake, like pieces of broken ice. One peculiarity of 
 this volcano is its tendency to throw out its lava in jets to an enormous 
 height. The lava seems to be first forced up in the interior of the moun- 
 tain nearly to the top of the great crater ; but instead of overflowing its 
 brim, it opens a passage through the sides (^f the cone at a considerably 
 lower elevation, so that the pressure of the liquid in the interior forces it 
 from the orifice in a jet, whose height is in proportion to that of the 
 
 inner column. 
 
 I31oo<l-l{cd llivers of Destnietiou. 
 
 The lava-jets thrown up from INIauna Loa during a great eruption in 
 1852, are estimated to have reached a height of 500 feet — those of some 
 later eruptions double that height. The lava, as it ascends, is described 
 as being white-hot ; but in its descent it acquires a blood-red tint, and it 
 comes down with a fearful noise. The quantities of lava ejected during 
 some of the recent eruptions have been enormous. One stream is de- 
 .scribed as having travelled fifty miles, with an average breadth of three 
 miles. A great stream, which burst forth from the side of the mountain 
 in 1855, reached a distance of si.xty miles from its source — burning its 
 way through the forests, and advancing at the rate of about a mile in 
 a fortnight. In 1859 this volcano was again in vigorous action, throwing 
 up intermitting jets of lava to the estimated height of 800 or 1000 feet. 
 From this great fiery fountain the lava flowed down in numerous streams 
 spreading over a width of five or six miles. One stream, probably 
 formt^d by the junction of several smaller, attained a height of from 
 twenty to twenty-five feet, and a breadth of about an eighth of a mile 
 Great stones were also thrown up along with the jet of lava, and the vol- 
 ume of smoke, composed probably of fine volcanic dust, is said to have 
 risen to the height of 10,000 feet. 
 
 An eruption described •'s having been of still greater violence took 
 place in 1865, characterized by similar phenomena, particularly the throw- 
 ing up of jets of la\a. This fiery fountain is said to have continued to play 
 without intermission for twenty days and nights, varying only as respects 
 
MOUNTAINS OF FIRE. 
 
 127 
 
 the height to which the jet arose, which is said to have ranged between 
 100 and looo feet, the mean diameter of the jet being about lOO feet. 
 Tliis eriii)tion was accompanied by explosions so loud as to have been 
 heard at a distance of forty miles. A cone of about 300 feet in heiy;ht, 
 and abtjut a mile in circumference, was accumulated round the orifice 
 whence thejet ascendetl. It was composed of solid matters ejected with 
 the lava, and it continued to glow like a furnace, notwithstanding its ex- 
 posure to the air. The current of lava on this occasion flowed to a dis- 
 tance of thirty-five miles, burning its way through the forests, and filling 
 the air with smoke and flames from the ignited timber. The glare from 
 the glowing lava and the burning trees together was discernible by night 
 at a distance of 200 miles from the island. 
 
 In the early part of 1KS7, Mauna Loa was again in action, presenting 
 startling spectacles similar to those just described. It is literally a mount- 
 ain of fire, roaring and thundering, and belching out lurid flames and 
 immense rivers of lava. This is one of the amazing phenomena v.-nich 
 have so long rendered the group of the Sandwich Islands an object of 
 su»'Dassing interest to the whole civilized world. Here we find one of the 
 great breathing places of the inside world, that tremendous furnace upon 
 which we live. What gigantic forces, what red hot, bu'ning materials, 
 ivhat awful abysses of flame and fury this world of ours holds in its deep, 
 mysterious and unknown recesses! 
 
 Counection Between Earthquakes and Volcanoes. 
 
 The connection between earthquakes and volcanoes is so evident that 
 it hardly admits of any doubt. But a number of facts have been col- 
 lected which evidently show that there must exist a subterraneous con- 
 nection between these phenomena, even when they occur at great distances 
 from each other. Some of these facts are ver)* interesting and curious. 
 Stromboli, a small volcano situated on one of the Lipari Islands, which is 
 in continual activity, and never ceases to eject volcanic matter and smoke, 
 fell suddenly into a state of inactivity when the plain of Calabria was 
 visited by the great earthquake. The distance between the volcano and 
 the centre of the earthquake does not much exceed fifty miles. Hum- 
 boldt mentions that for many months the volcano of Pasto had uninter- 
 ruptedly continued to emit a column of thick smolce, which suddenly dis- 
 appeared just at the moment when the valley of Hambato was convulsed 
 by the earthquake which levelled the town of Riobamba to the ground. 
 In this ca.se the distance w'as two hundred and twentv miles. On the 1st 
 of November, 1755, a whirling column of smoke ascended from the crater 
 of Mount Vesuvius, which is commonly a sign that the volcano is in a 
 
 
128 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 state of disturbance; but all at once the {\o\v of smoke was stopped, 
 and that w hich had issued reentered the crater. The distance between 
 Lisbon and Mount Vesuvius exceeJs one thousand two hundred miles. 
 As it is a well-established fact that the strong oscillation of the eaith dur- 
 ing the gn.-at earthquake of Lisbon extended to the centre of luigland, 
 Lombardy, and the Alps, and even to Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, it 
 can hardly be considered a bold assumption, when it is supposed that this 
 change in the crater of Mount Vesuvius was effected by that earthquake, 
 
 FLAMES BURSTING FROM THE CRATER OF STROMBOLI. 
 
 thus showing a connection between the earth's convulsions and its vol- 
 canoes. Similar coincidences have been repeatedly observed. 
 
 When Hoffman the great Prussian geologist, ascended the peak of 
 Stromboli, and reached the crater, he lay down and hung o\-er its precipi- 
 tous side, while held firmly by his companions. He was thus enabled tn 
 look right down into its fiery depths, and of the scene whicli they pre- 
 sented he lias left on record a vivid description : At the bottom of the 
 crater were three mouths in a state of activity. The central and princi- 
 pal one was 200 feet in diameter; it was in no way remarkable : it smoked 
 
 ^;/-,j^. 
 
MOUNTAINS OF FIRE. 
 
 129 
 
 slightly, and its sides were encru.itcd with several coats of yellow sul- 
 phur. By the side of this main vent, but nearer the precipice, was 
 another, only twenty feet wide, i\\ which I observed the i;low of the 
 liquid column of lava that at 'ntjrvals played upon the surface. The 
 lava was not, as an ardent imagination depicts it, a burning mass, vf>mit- 
 mg forth flames; but shone like molten metal, like iron flcnving fro:n t'.ie 
 lurnace, or like silver at the bottom of a heated crucible. This molten 
 mass oscillated to ar.'d fro, and rose and sank. 
 
 A Scene of Awful Oraiuleiir. 
 
 The surface regularly rose and fell at rhythmic intervals. A i)eculiar 
 noise was audible, like the rush o[' air entering by gusts through the door of 
 a mining furnace. A cloud of white vapors rose, upheaving the la\a, which 
 fell back after each commotion. These vapor-clouds carried off the sur- 
 face of the la\a numerous fragments of red-hot scoria, which danced in 
 the air as if tossed to and fro by in\'isible hands, in a rhythmic measure, 
 above the edge of the opening. This regular and attractive movement 
 was interrupted at intervals of fifteen minutes by more violent \-i!)rations. 
 The mass of w hirling vapors then remained immcnable for a uKMiient, or 
 e\en sank back a little, as if it was inhaled by the crater, from whose 
 depths the lava surged up nn^re furiousK', a^ if to encounter it. Then the 
 ground trembled, and the sides of the crater .'^hi\ered as they inclinjd in- 
 wards. It was a veritable earthquake. From the mouth of the crater 
 proceeded a hoarse reverberating bellow, and at the end an immense balloon 
 of vapor grew on the surface of the lava rising up with a sonorous and 
 thundering clash. The whole sm'face of the lava splintered into fragments 
 was then ejected into the air. The heat now became insupportable; and 
 a sheaf of flames shooting suddenly upwards, fell back in a fiery rain on 
 the surrounding district. A few balls rose to a height of 1200 feet, and 
 described, as they swept over the heads of Hoffman and his companions, 
 parabolic curves of fire. Immediately after each of these explosions, the 
 la\-a retired into the bottv:>m of the crater, which \'awned like a black and 
 awful gulf; but speedily its glittering surface rose again, and reconi- 
 men':ed its ordmary rhythmic play. 
 
 Voloaiiic ^^louiitains llurstiiiy from tlio Sea. 
 
 The most remarkable phenomenon produced by the concurrence ol 
 earthquakes and \olcanic agency is the emerging of new islands from the 
 sea. Tl'e)' rise sudtleiil}-, and their appearance is attended with nearly all 
 the phenomena accompanying eruptions ; they exist for some time, and 
 then they commonly disappear graduail}-. It is a circumstance W()rthy to 
 be noticed, that such islands make their appearance repeatetlly on the 
 
130 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 ' U 
 
 I 
 
 same spot, and that such spots may be pointed out in each of the vol' 
 canic systems of Europe, and have been repeatedly discovered. 
 
 
 
 
 VOLCANO UNDr.R Till'. OCKAN NKAR THE AZORK ISLANDS. 
 
 In tlu v(>!.-an:c .system of the Azores tho ;pot where the volcanic 
 islands ap[)c .r i^ al:)oi:t a mile west of the w-'stern extremity of the Island 
 
 St. Micl 
 
 — in \C): 
 
 fact, thai 
 
 reappear 
 
 the first 
 
 1720 wa 
 
 the eject 
 
 as at a si 
 
 twenty f i 
 
 fifty feet 
 
 In iSi 
 
 nicrous s 
 
 shoclvs ci 
 
 f'o-.n time 
 
 ob.';cr\-cd 1 
 
 like tliiint 
 
 muskets. 
 
 'if the coll 
 
 i^jniicd ro 
 
 rinn'ii;^'- c>l 
 
 creased, b\ 
 
 attained it: 
 
 and a laiu 
 
 lui:I nearly 
 
 [yreatest elc 
 
 red feet. 
 
 across the 
 
 ;t hioh sta: 
 
 i-lecli\ities c 
 
 round it cK 
 
 than fifteen 
 
 :n..tiv;n fror 
 
 name of th 
 
 of its suddei 
 
 In the 1\ 
 
 there occiii- 
 
 file inhabitc 
 
 Miiake. Jof 
 
 oui ( . the St 
 
MOUNTAINS OF FIRE. 
 
 131 
 
 ic 
 
 St. Michael. An islanl has risen there above tlie sea at different periods 
 — in 1628, in 1720, and 181 i. It has been considered as a remarkable 
 fact, that about ninet}'-one or ninety-two years have passed between the 
 reappearances cf the island. Respecting the phenomena which attended 
 the first appearance of the island nothing is known; but the second in 
 1720 was preceded and attended by a very high column of smoke, and 
 the ejection of ashes and pumice stone. Its declivities were \-ery steep, 
 as at a short d stance from iis shores no ground was found at a depth ol 
 twent)- fathoms. Its cle\alion was estimate^^l at about three hundred and 
 fifty feet al>o\e the sja \:vA. After two years it disappeared. 
 
 In iSll the forinaticn rT the island was preceded b)' severe and nu- 
 merous shocks on the north-western side of St. Michael. IkTore these 
 shocks ceased, a column of s;iu>!;e rose out of the sea, within which, 
 fro;ii time to time, large masses of b'.ack cinders, sand, and ashes were 
 obser\ed rising, accompanied In- frcqu :nt Hashes of lightning and a noise 
 like Lr.mider, which was compared t) a continual firing of guns and 
 muskets. In a short time a black botly was percei\'ed to form the base 
 of the column, and was soon recognized as the upper border of a crater- 
 brined rock, rising fiom the sea, which, on the fourth day after the be- 
 rinn'nL: tif the ijhenomenoii, formed a coherent mass. This mass in- 
 creased, by the addition of iiew matter, and in less than a month luui 
 attained its largest dimensions. The eru[)tions of matter then ceased, 
 and a landing could be effected on the shores of the island. The island 
 l;aJ nearly the form <^f a circle, and was about a mile in circuit. Its 
 greatest elewition abo\'e the sei level was estimated at about three hund- 
 vc-A feet. In the middle was a circula;- crater, which, b}- an opening 
 across the solid mass, communicated with the sea, frcjm which water, in 
 a hi'jh state of ebullition, was continualU' and rapidix' flo\\in,j. The 
 decli\ities of the island towards th j ser were \-er\- sti.e["), and the sea 
 roiMitl it deep; for at a distance o( tweKe or fiftecin xards it was more 
 th.an fifteen fathoms tleep. Captain Tillard, who had witnessed its for- 
 :n,.tiv;n from the adjacent shores, called this island Sabrina, after the 
 name of the wssel undv'r his command; ami furnished a full de^cripti(J^ 
 of its suddt'ii and extraordinarx' a|)pearance. 
 
 In the Mediterranean, near Sciacca, on the south-west C(\ast of Sicily, 
 there occurretl, in 1S31, a submarine eru[)tion of a \-ery interesting kind. 
 The inhabitants of Sciacca had experienced seveial slight shocks of carth- 
 (juake. John Corrao, the captain of a Sicilian vessel, perceived rising 
 ouL < . the sea, at a spot distant about thirty miles south-west of Sciacca, 
 
ll ^p 
 
 jn2 
 
 EARTH, SF.A, AND SKY. 
 
 U 
 
 :ui immense jet of waler, w liich was thrown u[) with a thuiitlerin^j noise 
 to a s^ivat hel;;]it, at iiiter\als of about a ([iiai-ter of an hour. Tiiis jet pro- 
 duced a t!iicl< mi^t, tliat soon spread itself owr tlie sea, which was \-ery 
 rou.'^h :it th'' lime. The sm-fice of the w .iter ere lono- became cowred 
 with a reddish, scum, and many dead fishes were sei-n (loatini;- about, (^'ii 
 passin;^- near the spot two days .ifterwards, Corrao f^iund the jet still play 
 .n;4, and he estimatiMJ its heii^ht to be about si.\t\-, and its diameter n[)wanl-: 
 if ei;.;ht hundred feet. Tlie cloud of vapor from the jet nxse, accordint; tc 
 his estimate, to between tweflt\- and thirt\- times the heisjht to wliich the 
 water ascended. 
 
 An IslaiKl Iphoavod from fli<* 3I('<lil<MTa!»('aii. 
 
 All this while a thick mist \eili;d the liori/.on from the inhabitants of 
 Sciacca ; but lati r they percei\eil the air to i)e per\aded b\' a strong sul- 
 phurous snirll, an ! tlv.y saw d'-ifting toward the sliore L;"reat quantities of 
 black dross, wiiich aecumulated on the beach. Multitudes of deatl fishes 
 were also seen lloatin;^ on the water. On the following day they beheld, 
 rising out of the sea, at the spot before indicated, a great column of what 
 seemed b\- da}- like black smoke, but which b\' night became illuminated 
 !>}• tlie glare of fire gK'wing fi-om beneath, liright scintillations were also 
 perceieed to be thrc)wn up amid the smoke, and hjud reports, as if from 
 h.'a\w- ordnance, were occasionally heard. 
 
 Xot long afterward, while sailing near the spot \vhere these phenomena 
 had bee-n seen, ("orrao discoveret! tliat there had been upheaved an island, 
 I;-. 'in nine to twehe feet high, ]ia\ing in its centre a crati:r whence jets of 
 \,il)or antl clout!-, of \-oicaiiic ashes were being thrown out. Towards 
 e\ening, the same da\-, a small luiglisli boat desiiatched b\- Admiral 
 llotham approached 1 le ])lace, aiul found the height of the island in- 
 ereasetl to upwards fif se\'ent\- feet, and its circumference to nearl)' three- 
 quarters of ;i mile. The sta all round was co\-ered witli dross of a choco- 
 late-brown color, and in the intiirior of the crater there was a small lagune, 
 ceinmiunicating with the sea by a narrow channel. The water in the 
 lagune was reddish. Only a few vears before tiiis e\-ent, soundings liad 
 liL'eii taken close to this spot, and the tlepth was found to be one hundred 
 fuhonis. 
 
 [ he scene of these extraordinarx' phenomena was \isited by Captain 
 .Swinburn, of tlu.' Ro\-al Xaxw, ami Hoffman, the Prussian I'-eoIogist. 
 riiey could not approach nearer tin- i>land than two mik's, so great was 
 the agitation of the sea, and sutdi the ([uantil}- <:f dros.s being" thrown out 
 b\- the x'olcano. ]-]vcn at that distance some of the glowing stones fell 
 into their boat. According to their obser\ation>, the diameter of the 
 
 ^,..4.-^' 
 

 It. 
 
 ii 
 
 MOUNTAINS OF FIRE. 
 
 l:;:] 
 
 crater appeared to be about 600 feet, aiul the island v,as au^mientini,' from 
 nioni' nt to moment by tlic accumulation of ejected n'-alters, which f r 
 the most part fjU near tlie p.lace whence tliey were throw n u[i. Tliue 
 rose from the creiter a coUiinn of acjueous vapcir mixed with volcan.c 
 substances to the height of iSoo feet. ()ccasi( na'.ly qu,-.nt;ties (^f bi.ick 
 dross were thrown up in the midst of tliis c<.!uirn; l)ut, vJ-.at wa^ n.iie 
 striking, there rose during their obserxations a\ast c< huv.n i f tliick Hack 
 nmoke, which was .shot up with great virknce to the h.eight of about Tec 
 feet, and then .spread itself into a form resembhng a luig'e pine-tree. \n 
 the midst of tliis dark column, glowing stones were heciuenu)- tossed up 
 
 VOLCANIC ERUPTION AT f.RAHAM S I.ST.ANn. 
 
 to great heights, accompanied b\- a noise like the rattling of hail. Vsup- 
 tions of this sort continued ffir periods varying from ten minutes to :\p 
 hour, and were separated by intervals of rest, during which the aqueous 
 /apors ascended in perfect silence. 
 
 Tiic annexed engraving, copied from a .sketch by Kellin, an Italian 
 artist, sho.vs the appeirance presented by the i.sland during the eruption. 
 It attained, at its highest point, an elevation of about 200 feet, while it.s 
 circumference increased to about three miles. This remarkable volcano, 
 which is known a^ Graham's Island, did not long maintain its positi<-n 
 above water. It was finally reduced nearly to the level of the .sea. and 
 
 ^- 
 
s 
 
 
 134 
 
 EARTFI, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 not loncj afterwards it disappeared altogether. When soundings u' .le 
 
 taken, there was found a dan;4erous reef where the island had been. It 
 
 is composed of a central mass of black rock, surrounded by l)anks of 
 
 sand and \-olcanic stonjs — the hii^hest point '>f rock bein;^ only nine feet 
 
 under v.-ater. 'Sl^vc recent soundings show that this shoal remains in the 
 
 same state. 
 
 Far- F:uu<'<l V<'suvius. 
 
 Of t!ie two hundred active volcan )es, or thereabout, whicli are scat- 
 tered over the face of the globe, the most interesting are those constituting 
 the Mediterranean group. Vesu\ius, b\- reason of its remarkable associa- 
 tions, and its being the only acli\-e \-olcano on the ICuropcan continent, 
 in\-ites our attention, h'or man\- long ages prior to .\. d. y.), 3donnt Vesu- 
 vius had existed a-; ;;n e.xtin :t \-olcano, retaining, howe\er, some traces of 
 its having been once in a slate of activity. It was a mountain of '.arge 
 dimensions, but of modc^vate heiglit. Its sidjs were c!otlii:d witli gardens 
 and \'ineyards, presenting a most luxuri;int \egetatiin. .Strabo describes 
 it as surrounded by beautiful farms o[ gre.it fru it fuliiess, a;iJ richl)- 
 wooded except at the top, where it A\as (lat and barren, and v\l:ere the 
 slaggy appearance of the stones led him to suspect there had once been 
 a burning ciater. The dangerous cliaracter of the mountain, however, 
 was generally so little suspected, that besides many \illas, the cities of 
 Stabi.'t;, Herculaneum, and Pompeii, had been erected at its base, and 
 their inhabitants had dwelt for many generations in undisturbed security. 
 
 It was not until the j-ear A. n. 63 that an\' alarm was excited in the 
 minds of those dwelling in the neighborhood of Vesuvius. In that year, 
 however, both the mountain itself and all the country around it were 
 shaken by a violent earth(]uake, which (werthrew a considerable number 
 of houses in the cities. This C(m\'ulsion v^as succeeded b\' about si.x- 
 teen years of profound repose, during which the houses that had been 
 thrown down were in the course of being rebuilt. 
 
 First Great Eruption. 
 
 On the 24th of August, a. d. 79, occurred the first great recorded 
 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. A \ivid description of it has been fortun- 
 ately handed down to us, in a letter addressed to Tacitus by the }-ounger 
 Pliny. His uncle, the eldjr Pliny, was at the time in command of the 
 Roman fleet at Misenum, where he had with him se\-eral members of his 
 family, including his nephew. It was from this point that the eruption 
 was first descried. They saw rising from the top of the mountain wh:it 
 se :ied to them hke a column of dense black smoke, but which was in 
 reality a great volume of dust, ashes, and stones, thrown up by the force 
 
MOUNTAINS OF FIRE. 
 
 lO.-i 
 
 cf va;)ois rushiiv^ f.-oni tlu \cnt wliich had been oponcd in the volcano 
 l'lin\- likens it to a tall pine-tree throwin;^ out threat Ijianchcsat its top. 
 Struck with wonder at this ph.enunienon, the elder Puny, a r,;an <.!' i)h!l 
 
 CHIMNEY CUMTOSKD oF I'RIS.MS OF 15ASAL1 — S 1'. IH'.LENA. 
 'v-;ophical spirit and inquirin ; mind, hastened with a pirty towa; Is tlic 
 shore, that lie nii^^dit land and examine more narrowly thi.s rema -kabr'" 
 convulsion ( f nature. He first steered for Retina, tlv^- modern Resina.bul 
 
 :4'^ 
 
I 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 -1 •: 
 
 ■ 
 
 :| '! 
 
 
 : -i 
 
 t 
 
 j 
 
 'i; ' 
 
 IJ ! 
 
 w 
 
 m 
 
 III 
 
 I 
 
 136 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 was prevented from landini^ there by tremendous showers of ashes and 
 hot stones, and by the sudden retreat of the sea. He then made for Sta- 
 biai, where he disembarked, and hastened to the house of his friend Pom- 
 ponianus. Here he remained till the evening, occasionally gazing at the 
 mountain, and exerting himself to allay the fears of those around him. 
 As night drew on, streaks of fire were seen here and there on the moun- 
 tain side, which he attributed to the burning of the woods and villages; 
 but to show how little he was personally apprehensive of danger, he re- 
 tired to his chamber, and erelong dropped asleep. 
 
 Trying- to Kscape a Shower of Falling' Stones. 
 
 Meanwhile the fall of stones and ashes in Stabi;\: itself wa.xed fa<t and 
 furious. The inner court of the villa was becoming rapidly filled, and 
 Pliny's servants, now fully alive to the imminence of the danger, roused 
 their master, who immediately joined his friend Pomponianus, whom he 
 found with his family and household already assembled around him, Tiie 
 party now consulted together as to the best course to be pursued ; and 
 percei\-ing the probability of the villa being buried erelong in the stones 
 and ashes, they resoKed on endeavoring to effect their escape. T)-ing 
 pillows on their heads with napkins, to shield them from the falling 
 stones, they sallied forth. Although it \\as morning, the darkness was 
 deeper than that of midnight, and they had to grope their way through 
 the laden atmosphere by the light of torches. They succeeded in gain- 
 ing the beach, with the intention of escaping by water; but the sea was 
 so tempestuous, as to render embarkation impossible. His servants 
 spread a sail-cloth for Pliny, who lay down to rest. But presently flames 
 and sulphurous vapors rose from the ground and dispersed the party. 
 By the help of two of his servants who remained with him, Pliny suc- 
 ceeded in rising : but he had scarcely attained his feet, when he fell down 
 dead, being overpowered by the suffocating vapors. 
 
 Cities Buried and Destroyed. 
 
 The cities of Stabiae, Herculaneum, and Pompeii, were entirely buried 
 under the immense mass of ashes and stones, thrown out by the moun- 
 tain during this dreadful eruption. So suddenly did the fatal shower 
 come upon them, that many of the inhabitants perished in their dwel- 
 lings or in their streets. No lava was ejected from the mountain on this 
 occasion ; but it is suspected that, along with the ashes and other loose 
 materials, there was a considerable eruption of fluid mud. For, while 
 Pompeii was buried only in ashes and loose stones, Herculaneum is en- 
 tomcd in a much more consistent substance, which has evidently been 
 once in a plastic condition, and which appears to be composd of volcanic 
 
MOUNTAINS OF FIRE. 
 
 127 
 
 ashes cemented by mud. This former plasticity is proved by the casts of 
 statues and masks which have been found here. The showers of volcanic 
 ashes, dust, pumice, and stones, continued to fall on those devoted cities 
 for eight successive days, accompanied by torrents of rain, which would 
 doubtless tend to unite together the loose materials. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that the volcanic ashes from Pompeii, on being 
 examined under the microscope by Ehrenberg, were found to contain a 
 large proportion of little shells. This curious circumstance raises a proba- 
 bility that the mountain, previous to the eruption, had been \cry exten- 
 sively cavernous, and had contained large collections of water, in which 
 the diatoms had been profusely propagated, forming enormous beds, wliich 
 were thrown out from the summit as fine dust by the force of the elastic 
 vapors acting from beneath. Possibl\', ho\ve\-er, the deposits of these shells 
 may have been formed at the bottom of the sea, in the neighborhood of 
 the mountain, and been forced into the volcanic focus along with the sea- 
 water, whose sudden conversion into explosive steam, through contact 
 with highly heated materials, ma\- have causetl the eruption. 
 
 Dij^fging^ for Lost Cities, 
 
 It was not until the year 17 13 that any traces were obtained of the 
 buried cities; and notwithstanding the greater thickness of the overl\-ing 
 masses, it was Herculaneum that was first disco\'ered. In the course of 
 that year a well was being sunk, and the workmen, to their surprise, came 
 right down upon the theatre, where they soon after found the statues of 
 Hercules and Cleopatra. Owing to the difficulty of cutting through the 
 superincumbent materials, and the stiffness of the substance in which the 
 buildings are embedded, but little progress has been made in th.' disinter- 
 ment of this city, in comparison with what has been done at Pompeii, 
 whose site was not discovered till forty )'ears afterwards. Of the latter 
 city a large proportion has been laid open, and the entire circuit of the 
 walls ascertained to be three miles, so that its population must have been 
 considerable. Many of the public buildings and private houses have been 
 exposed, and their valuable contents removed to a museum in Naples 
 devoted to the purpose. Some whole streets have been cleared ; and 
 among other places of interest the cemetery of Pompeii has been located. 
 
 There are a few volcanoes on the continent of Asia, and many more in 
 its adjacent islands. In Kamtchatka there are several, which have been 
 in eruption at no distant period. One of them which is 15,000 feet in 
 height, consequently covered with snow and glaciers, had a great erup- 
 tion in 1829. Within 700 feet of the summit, there was formed a crater 
 which poured forth an immense torrent of lava. Its progress was for a 
 
 m 
 
 iM 
 
 8 
 
 ki^^M 
 
 
 
 
 mm 
 
 
 "..inlfli 
 
 t-;4i 
 
 Ml 
 
«iii li r 
 
 133 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 I 
 
 H 
 
 \\ 
 
 time arrested by the snow and i^laciers ; but the [;lowin;T ma'-s at lcn;,^th 
 became so great that it burst through tiiis barrier with a horrible roar, and 
 ramc thundering down the >teep decHvity of tlie nioiuitain. The noise 
 wai iieard at a distance of fiftv miles. IVut it is in the Asiatic Islands that 
 \'')lcanoes arc both nurst numerous and mcrst active. Among the near- 
 I -it to the mainland is llarren Island, in the Bav of Ben'/al, lo the soiitli- 
 ward of the coast of Pegu. The whole <>C this island .seems to be notli- 
 iiv^ else than a large \'olcanic crater. The walls, on their outer sides, 
 rise from the sea with a moderate ascent; but <>n the inner side they are 
 nearly pjrpendiculir, and enclose a circular ha^in. into \\hich the sea 
 finds access b}' a iireach. In the centre of this basin rises a volcanic 
 cone, about 500 feet in hci;';hl, which is fref]uently in action. 
 
 A I^Iornlaiii S\vull<)\vc(l Up. 
 
 Java is most reiiiarkablc for tiv.' number n( its active volcanoes, distin- 
 gui-lied by the grcit quantit)' of sulphur and sulphurous va[)ors which 
 they discharge. Tlure ar ; in Ir.M no less than thirty-eight \-olcanoes 
 whici'. have been l.:n iwn to b'.- in acti\ity,and one of them attains a height 
 of 1 0000 feet. In 1772 there was a great eruption of the volcano named 
 Pa[>and;iyang, (bu'ing whiich a large portir)n of that mountain, formerly 
 one of the highest in Ja\a, was swallowed up. The f )!l';)\ving i ; the nar- 
 rati\-',' of this e\'cnt, given by Horsefield: The account which has 
 remained on record asserts tliat, near midnight there was observed 
 about the mountain an uncommonly luminous cloud, by which it appeared 
 to be completely enveloped. The inhabitants, as well about the foot as 
 on the decli\ities of the mountain, alarmed by this ap[)earance, betook 
 themselves to flight; but before they could all save themselves, the 
 mountain began to gi\c way, and the greatest part of it actually fell in 
 and disappeared in the earth. At the same time a tremendous noise was 
 heard, resembling the discharge of the heaviest cannon. Immense quan- 
 tities of volcanic substances, which were thrown (^ut at the same time and 
 spread in every direction, propagated the effects of the explosion through 
 the space of many miles. 
 
 It is estimated that an extent of ground, of the mountain itself and its 
 i'nmediate environs, fifteen miles h^ig and fully six broad, was by this 
 commotion swallowed up in the bowels of the earth. Several persons, 
 sent to examine the condition of the neighborhood, made report that 
 they found it impossible to approach the mountain on account of the 
 heat of the substances which covered its circumference, and which were 
 piled on each other to the height of three feet; although this was fully si.x 
 weeks after the catastrophe. It is also mentioned that forty villages, 
 
 : -.E--. .:■;■ j^ -.-av-Ji^T-.-. 
 
MOCNTAIX.S OF FiRK. 
 
 139 
 
 pa?lly swallowed up by the L:^rmin'I, and partly cnvorc 1 \y th • ■ -ili-Jtanccs 
 thrown out. were dcstro\-ed on thi-i occasion, and tliat 2 )IJ of ili • inhab- 
 itants perished. .\ proportionate number of cattle wa^ a! ; > d -tn lyed ■ 
 and most of tiie plantations of cotton, indigo, and coffj.-, a\ the a-ljacent 
 districts, were buried under the volcanic matt.n. 
 
 New Zealand, we- may re nind the reaeler, CDU-ists (.f twi la' ;.• i->landi 
 and one small, named respective!;/ X >rth. Mid 11 •. an 1 S mth Is'and, 
 '\ ht.-y arc of volcanic origin, .and a guar |) M't'');i "i" th -jrarca is occupied 
 t)\' a few actix'c and several extinct \-.)lcanojs. in N-iilh. Klaiid tlu:vi>l- 
 
 BIKTH OF A VOU \NIC ISLAND. 
 
 cano of Tongariro is 6ooo feet high, and constantly emitting clouds ci 
 smoke. Tongariro is not an isolated conical mountain ; on the C(nitrar\-, 
 it is rather a very complicated volcanic system of powerful and still active 
 cones. No accounts have ever been given of any of the natives ascend- 
 ing Tongariro; the dread of the infernal powers seems to ha\-e di\-erted 
 them from such a design. To the south of Tongariro rises Rua]:)ahou, 
 the bases of the two mountains blending into one another by an imper- 
 ceptible incline, and forming a kind of table-land about ten miles broad. 
 On this table-land lie four lakes, two of which are about three miles 
 across ; the others considerably smaller. One of them is named Taran- 
 
 
140 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 ! - 
 ! ^ 
 
 w 
 
 aki ; the river to wliich it ,c;i\-es birth empties its waters into the Whan- 
 ganni, and a sin^iihir tradition attaches to tliis lake. 
 
 The natives tell you that tlie mountain Taranaki formerly stood, like a 
 third ^iant, by the side of Tongariro and Ruapahon. They remained on 
 frienilly terms, as |j;iants should, vmtil Taranaki attempted to carry off 
 Pihinija, the wife of Tongariro. Tliercui)on the latter f[uarreled witli 
 ium, and dealt him a blow on the head which made him fl\-. lie 
 descended the course of the \Vhan.,^anni, nnd following the deep chasm 
 of that r.ver, approached the sea, where to-day he rears his colossal but 
 solilan- bulk near the coast. During liis journey, a couple of fragments 
 detached themsehes from his forehead; and to-day, 1)\' way of provin^; 
 th -■ truth (^f their stor\-, the n:itives point out two masses of rock, differ- 
 ing from the volcanic formations around the Whanganni, which are [^^nnd 
 at about eigiiteen miles from its source. 
 
 Occasionally a \-er_\- loud report, similar to the firing of a cannon, 
 attended ^\■ith a Hash of lightning, is heard to proceed from a stream of 
 la\a. This happens when the la\a nuis over a ; warnpy ground or a ver}' 
 moist soil. The conversion of the water into .steam, and its decomposi- 
 tion, produce a commotion which fir scmie moments i; able to .stop the 
 progress of the stream. The steam breaks with great noivj through the 
 mas;, tears asunder the crust of scoria which envelops it, aad throws 
 botli the la\a and the scoria into great confusion. As a portion of the 
 steam is decomposed, the hydrogen explodes, and produces the loud 
 report above mentioned, with the accompan}-ing flash. 
 
 TlM' Ocean 3Ia(le to Boil. 
 
 The influx of the running lava into the sea has given occasion to manv 
 ele\ated poetical descriptions. It is represented as an awful spectacle, as 
 a struggle between two inimi'^al elements. But in all these pictures the 
 event is much exaggerated, though the facts which give rise to them arc 
 true to a certain extent. When the hot lava reaches the si;a, the water 
 with which it comes into immediate contact is suddenl\- raised to the 
 boiling temperature. It is consequently converted into steam, which 
 process is attended with a loud, hissing sound. But as by the conversion 
 of the water into steam a great quantity of caloric is absorbed, the cold' 
 which is thus generated speedily converts the surface of the glowing mass 
 into a thick and solid crust, by which all communication between the 
 liquid lava and the sea is directly intercepted. Then the sea water sinks, 
 of course, below the boiling point. The hardcn^^d lava is, however, 
 pushed farther into the sea by the succeeding masses, and thus the sea is 
 compelled to recede. In this progress the lava frequently splits ; but in 
 
 the same 
 violence tl 
 
 / 
 
 ^M^^ 
 
 n' 
 
 ^^^ 
 
my 
 
 as 
 
 he 
 
 ire 
 
 Iter 
 
 Ihc 
 
 [cb 
 
 Ion 
 
 )kl' 
 
 MOUNTAINS OF FIRE. 
 
 141 
 
 the same moment the aqueous vapors issue from the rent with such a 
 violence that the water is prevented from penetratitv^ into its recesses. 
 
 ^ 
 
 ERUPTION' Ol'" VKSLVILS, Alc-UST 'ii;, 1.--7J. 
 
 Whilst this process is in action the water becomes turbid to some distance 
 from the lava, and fish which chance to be in the \-icinity arc killed. 
 
 i*-}^ 
 
if 
 
 ''is? 
 
 I 
 
 142 
 
 EARTH, SEA AND SKY. 
 
 I 
 
 w 
 
 The masses of lava which arc thus protruded into the sea are some- 
 times of very considerable dimensions. At tlic eruption of Mount Vesu- 
 vius in 1794, a stream of lava, after destroying the town of Tone del 
 Greco, entered the sea, and drove it back to a distance of three hundred 
 and eic;hty feet from its former sliores. The width of this mass is.accord- 
 int; to an exact measurement, twelve hundred and four feet. It is 
 elevated fifteen feet above the sea, and is believed to have an equal 
 depth under water. The la\a, therefore, which entered the sea durini^ 
 this eruption, forms a mass nf more than thirteen millions of cubic feet. 
 The streams of lava llovvin''- from INIount Vesuvius which have reached 
 the sea are numerous, as may be inferred from the fact that tlie eastern 
 shores of the Bay of Naples for about ten miles are formed by a succes- 
 sion of promontories composed ofhua. The same observation applies to 
 the eastern shores of the Island o( Sicilv, where the coast for a distance 
 (if more than thirtv mil ■ ; consists of hifih cliffs of lava, with onI\- a few 
 spots between lliem of '.)w tracts of moderate e.\cent covered with a soil 
 deposited by the sea At some places these la\"a cliffs are more than fifty 
 feet hii^h. 
 
 In the published accounts of eruptions we find that particular care has 
 jjeen taken to notice the \'elocil\' wi'di which the stream of kua ad\-anced. 
 Hy comparin;; these statements it is found that the difference in this re- 
 spi'ct is veiy threat. .Vs an inst-:icij in which la\a ran with extraordinary 
 rapidit)', that of AKnint Vesu'-ius in 1794 may be adduced. This stream 
 of lava took only six l:onis to run irom tlie spot of the eruption to the 
 sea, a distance of moie tliaa .'."ur miles. Much t^reater still was the 
 velocity of that stream which, in 1 So..', broke out from the southern de- 
 clixity of Mount Vesuvius. It .'.■: .^aid that it moved with the rapidity of 
 wind. In a Qw minutes it had reached the vineyards; and an author 
 asseib; that in four minutes it passed over a space of thrce-qLiarters of a 
 nn'le in leni^th, thou_L;h the slope over which it ran was \-ery gentle. 
 
 Since the commencement of the present century the eruj)tions of Vesu- 
 vius ha\-e been frequent, and sometimes of long continuance. Durin"- 
 one eruption lliere was observed a peculiar phenomenon — the wapors 
 issuing from ilie crater presenting three di.stinct colors, green, white and 
 black. Another eruption was ushered in by the tumbling down of tho 
 principal cone, which had attained a height of upwards of 600 feet. It 
 fell with a dreatlful crash, and on the following evening there commenced 
 an eruption which la.sted continuou.sly for twelve days. The internal 
 detonations (if the mountain were terrific; while the quantitv of ashes 
 and other matters thrown out darkened the noon into midnight. 
 
 I; 
 
 Beautiful 
 
 a.t^es — ' 
 
 Weapt 
 
 Treat 
 
 Childre 
 
 Blind (^ 
 
 Piiest- 
 
 Iv\|)ert 
 
 Killed 
 
 Spears- 
 
 to Foot 
 
 W^' 
 
 
 
 tl 
 
 that its cxi 
 This brave 
 on foot, acr 
 Ocean, and 
 be seen frc 
 reached the 
 its calm wa 
 who could 
 solitude, an 
 co\'cn'. 
 
 Wlien he 
 he pluiT^ed 
 took posess 
 that was th 
 ders of the 
 tants. 
 
 Seven ye 
 ered the sti 
 first launclu 
 
 iff 
 ■^■. J, •■* • 
 
IC- 
 of 
 lior 
 
 vvj; 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 ADVENTURES AMONG STRANGE PEOPLE. 
 
 Beautiful IsI.hilIs I.ong: Veiled in Mystery— The First Voyage Around the World- 
 Zoological Gardens — Tiie Natives of the Pacilic Isles — Various Types of S.iv 
 ages — The Remarkable Isiaiul of New Z.-aland— Life Ainon_sj the Maories — 
 Weapons of War— A Fit^luing Race of Men — An Exciting I-]pisode— Wicked 
 Treachery— Hideous War Dances -Ouecr IVrformances of ai Old Chief — 
 Children hiiilating th • Art of War — Savage Cannibalism — Tragic I3eath of a 
 Blind Oueen— A Chief in War Costume — Witches and Witchcraft — A Native 
 Priest— Huge Wooden Idols- The Sandwich Islands - Beauty c:f the Women — 
 Expert Swimmers -Extraordinary i'Y-ats of Surf-Su immiiig — The Dagger that 
 Killed Captain Cook — A Splendid Race of Savages — Kamehameha Catching 
 •Spears — The Marcpiesans — Elegant Tattooing — A Chief Decorated from Head 
 to Foot — The Puncturing Needle. 
 
 T is stiani;e to think of the time when the \ast tract of water 
 which we call the Pacific Ocean, and whiclt covers nearl)- half 
 the globe, with all its wonderful and beatitiful islands, was un- 
 known to the ci\'ilized world. \'et it was on!)' in the year 1513 
 that its existence was discovered by a Si).iniard of the name of Balboa. 
 This brave and [)atient man made liis wa\-, w ith the utmost toil and peril, 
 on foot, across the isthnuis which separates the Atlantic from the Pacific 
 Ocean, and havin;^ been assured by his Indian guides that the sea was to 
 be seen from a certain mountain, he climbed it all alone, and, when he 
 reached the top, there sure enough lay the broad ocean on the other side, 
 its calm waters glittering in the sim, ami stretching away and awa_\' — 
 who could say where ? No wonder that l>albf)a fell on his knees in the 
 solitude, and thanked God for having guided him to make so great a dis- 
 covery. 
 
 When he at last gained the shore on the cither side i)f thj mountain, 
 he plun .,a'd at once into the water, with his drawn sword in his hand, and 
 took posession of it in the name of his king, Ferdinand of Spain. And 
 that was the beginning of the discoveries of all tli : treasures and w<mi- 
 ders of the Pacific Ocean, with its countless islamls and strange inhabi- 
 tants. 
 
 Seven years after Balboa's journey, Magellan, a Portuguese, discov- 
 ered the .straits which now bear liis name, and, passing llirongh them, 
 first launched a European ship in the Southern Sea. On he 'ailed, 
 
 a43) 
 
 «tl= 
 
lit 
 
 1 1: 1 
 
 144 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY, 
 
 1. h 
 
 across the immense tract of calm, untraverscd water, he know not whither. 
 IIiiw amazed the sea-gulls and the flying-fish must have been at tlie 
 sight of the great strange object, making its way across the blue expanse ! 
 Perhaps they took it for some gigantic bird, with huge white wings and 
 an enormous appetite, and fled in terror. One would think even the little 
 ri])i)ling waves themseh'es nnist have been astonished at such a new sen- 
 .iatiun us that of a ship clea\iiig its ^\•a\■ auKjng them. 
 
 The First Vo.vaj;*' Aromul tlio World. 
 
 Magellan discovered the Ladrone, and afterwards tile Philippine Is- 
 lands. His shi[), the I'icloiy, performed the hrst \-o\-age ever made 
 rouml tlie W(jrld ; but the great diseo\erer himself ne\er received the 
 thanks and praise of his king and country, w Inch he hatl so justly earned. 
 He was killed by the nati\es in one of the Philippine Islands. Afterwards 
 various Spanish, Dutch, and British na\igators followed Magellan's ad\en- 
 turous course across the waters of the Pacific, and disco\ered other 
 islands of the I'olynesian Group, so named from a Greek word signif)-ing 
 " man\- islands." But the m )st important and extensi\e disco\eries in 
 this region were not made till' the latter part of the last centur\-. 
 
 It is curious to remember that only some hundred and \\\W ^•ears aero 
 man)' lantls whose names are now so familiar to us were as unexplored, 
 and, indeed, unknown to the civilized world, as the coimtriesin the moon, 
 if theie are such, are now. Many birds and beasts which we may now 
 see an\- dav in the Zoological Gardens liad never entered the imagination 
 of an Amerit:an. Flowers and creepers now common in (»ur gardens and 
 green-houses were utterK' un]<noun. William Penn would ha\e been as 
 much astonished if he had been sliown a kangaroo as we should be now 
 if we met Alice in Wonderland's " Mock Turtle." Our great navigators 
 and explorers ha\'e brought many new objects of interest and beauty 
 within our reach, and have added to the comforts and luxuries of our 
 lives in all sorts (>r ways; but what far more wonderful changes the arri- 
 val of the white men and their ships have brought to the new lands them- 
 selves, and their more or less savage inhabitants! We have taught them 
 and brought them a thousaml ;n)od and useful things. It is sad to think 
 that we ha\'e also taught them things that are neither good nor useful, 
 and gi\en them things which can c.dy do them harni, 
 
 A l^i'aufifiil T-land. 
 
 Of the manv beautiful islands in the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand has 
 perhaps the greatest interest f^r us. If we look at the globe, we shall 
 see that it is on the other side of the world, still if we could Innd there 
 to-morrow we should i)robably foel more as if we were in our own couii- 
 
 try than w 
 pletcly ]ia\ 
 and built t 
 climate, toi 
 the atmos] 
 slight dam 
 i)ut w Inch 
 Of all tl 
 largest ext 
 unbroken s 
 and north 
 land to it 
 thousand r 
 nr.iiv of w 
 .)f the oeeo 
 disco\ered 
 man ; but t 
 was n.ally 
 hundi'ed }e 
 
 Though ; 
 ])la;Us and ii 
 aboriginals 
 Miode of life 
 inally from 
 haps, in the 
 thuir \\i\y of 
 together \\\ ' 
 ing wo\Tn f 
 weapons, an 
 also cultiwat 
 \isions agaii 
 selves, the\-i 
 they had no 
 handed dow 
 
 rile one \ 
 world, where 
 weapons, wa 
 conceal him.- 
 blows witlioi 
 1(} 
 
 
ADVENTURES AMONO STRAXCr: PEOPLi:. 
 
 I I.") 
 
 try than \vc sliould do if wc visited an\- other ])art of the world, so com- 
 pletely lia\e Europeans filled it widi their own people, plants, and animals, 
 and built towns and villaL,^e.s almost like those in their own land. Tiie 
 climate, too, is in some respects like our own, hut warmer and finer, and 
 the atmosphere is clear and brit^ht, and the sky very bhu'. 'i'here is a 
 .sliL;ht dampness in the air, owin;^ to the water by which it is surrounded, 
 but which keeps the folia_L,^e and the ^^rass green and luxuriant. 
 
 Of all the islamls in the world. New Zealantl is surroimded !>>• the 
 lart^est extent of water. The .^reat Pacific ( )cean stretches awav m an 
 unbroken sweep, on the east to South Aiuc'rica, on the west to Australia, 
 and north and south to the arctic and antarctic rei.;ions. The neai'est 
 land to it is, on one side the y;reat ishuul of Australia, about a 
 thousand miles ofif, and on the other the bi:autifid South S,a I-l.mds, 
 m nv of whose foundations are so marvelousl\- reaivd from the d ■)ths 
 ,)f the ocean b\- m\Tiads of tiny coral insects. New Zealaiul was tu'st 
 disco\ered in the yi;ar 1642, 1)\- the famous Dutch na\i;4ator Ab .1 Tas- 
 man ; but the nati\es would not allow him to l^o on shore, and noihini^r 
 wasnalK' know 11 ai)out it till Captain Cook landed there, more ti:an a 
 hundred x'ears later. 
 
 Captain Cook Amoiiy llu' XfW Z«'alaiul<'rs. 
 
 Thoupjh so near Australia, it is stranj^^^ly unlike it in its climate, in its 
 plants and animals, and above all in its nati\es ; for while the Australian 
 aboriginals are one of the lowest of all <a\a,ne tribes in appearance and 
 mode of life, the Maories of W'w Zealand, sui)[)osetl to hax'C come oriLj- 
 inalK' from the Mala)' race, aie a line, intelligent tribe of men. and per- 
 haps, in the condition in which wc first found tl:em, the most ci\'i!ized in 
 their wa)' of li\ing of an\' sa\ aj^e jx-ople. Cajitain Cook found t!i 'm li\ in.^ 
 tosjether in \illaires, in huts niade of wood am.! reeds. The\' wore cloth- 
 inir woven from the nati\e fla.x, and ch-ed w ith bark, and thev made stone 
 weapons, and instruments of \arious kinds, and cooked their food. I'hc)' 
 also cultivated the land, and made laws about property, and stored [)ro- 
 \isions at^ainst bad times. Being much L,M'\'en to fij^htini; amonj:j them- 
 seUes, the)- m.ule foils and defences of the most iiiLjenious kind. Thou;4h 
 the\' had no written language, they had all sorts of songs and proverbs, 
 handed down from generation to generation. 
 
 The one great object of a Maori's life is war. In those parts of the 
 world, where missiles, such as bows and arrows or spears are the principal 
 wea[)ons, war becomes a series of skirmishes, each individual tiying to 
 conceal himself as much as jiossible from the enenu', and to deal his own 
 blows without exposing himself to retaliation. But when the weapons 
 10 
 
 #1 
 
 
 ?5, 
 
\\ 'i'HI 
 
 i : I 
 
 II 
 
 ri 
 
 > 
 
 L 
 
 f 
 f 
 
 
 KKPKEbENTAIlVI': 'n PES Ol-' PACIFIC ISLANDEKS. 
 
 (UO) 
 
 arc cif ii 1 
 
 assumes 
 rc'scniblo 
 which rq 
 
 In forn 
 weapon 
 ihcy arc 
 friend, the 
 tlirowinc' 
 hospital)] e 
 short chil 
 b\' tlie anc 
 tlie cross- 
 con\cx in: 
 cxactl}' id 
 merel}- stri 
 the cncni)- 
 him do\vii 
 
 Before tl 
 known, the 
 suspent! th 
 mat, so thai 
 ha\ ing oste 
 each man w 
 plan pursu( 
 until each : 
 chief, the c 
 moment it 1 
 
 E\en afte 
 j^et hold of 
 dance, whic 
 reality, the ^ 
 riL;ht and le 
 in^r so dear 
 tion when i 
 Vo>-arrc " th 
 but for the 
 a tragic issu 
 
 
ADVENTURES AMONG STRANGE PEOI'Li:. 
 
 147 
 
 are of a nature that necessitates liantl-to-liand combat, warfare naturally 
 assumes a ditferent aspect, and. if the forces be at all disciplineil, more 
 resembles the war of civilized nations than the independent siny;le combats 
 which represent war in most sa\a;^e countries. 
 
 A Siiif;ular \V«'hM)iiu» to a I'l-ioiul. 
 
 In former da\s the Maori warriors used to emplo\- the sjiear, but that 
 weapon 's now more rarly used. A few specimens are still retained, but 
 ihey are inteiided, not to be used against an enemy, but in welcominL; a 
 friend, the chief who receives his guests pointing the spear at them, and 
 throwing it toward them, as an e\idence of liis peaceful disposition and 
 hospitable feeling. The first and most important weap(Mi is the merai, or 
 short club. This weapon is exactl\- analogous to the >hort sword used 
 l)\- the ancient Romans, and in some cases resembles it so closel)- lliat if 
 the cross-5_ i.ard were remox'ed fi'om the swoul and the blade rendered 
 convex instead of flat, the shape.-< of the two weapons would be almost 
 exactl\" identical. When a Alaori fights with the merai, he tloes not 
 mereh' strike, his usual nunement being to thrust sharply at the chin of 
 the enemy; and if he- succeeds in striking him with the point, he cuts 
 him down with the edge before he can recover himself. 
 
 Savsijfo Trcaclwry. 
 
 Before the fierce and warlike character of tlie New Zealanders ^\■as 
 known, they took several \essels by the use of the merai. It was easy to 
 suspend the short club over the shoulder, where it was hidden b\' the 
 mat, so that when a party of natives came on board, ajjparently unarmeil, 
 ha\ ing ostentatiously left thei^r spears and other \\eai)ons in tlu-ir canoes, 
 each man was in fact armed with the weapon that he most trusted. The 
 plan pursued was, that the ]\Iaories should mingle freely with the crew, 
 until each man was close to one of the sailors. At a signal from the 
 chii'f, the concealed merai was snatched frt^ii beneath the mat, and in a 
 moment it had crashed through the head of the selected \ictim. 
 
 Even after this ruse was discovered, the higenious Alaories contrived to 
 get hold of more than one \essel under pretence of exhibiting their van 
 dance, which in a moment was changetl from the mimicr\- of battle into 
 r-ealit}', the warriors leaning among the spectators antl dealing their blows 
 right and left among them. Shi[)-taking seems, indeed, to be a proceed- 
 ing so dear to the New Zealander, that he can scarcely resist the tem[)ta- 
 tion when it is offered him. In Tyerman and Bi'nnet's " Missionary 
 Voyage " there is an anecdote of an atlventure that befell them, which, 
 but for the timely aid of a friendly chief, would undoubtedly ha\e had 
 a tragic issue. 
 
 ii'l 
 
 •■■ i, V!' 
 
 iMm 
 
 1' *ifiil 
 
 
m 
 
 W 
 
 ilH 
 
 ,1 ? 
 
 
 148 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 The ship had arri\ctl off New Zcalaiul, and while at anchor the follow 
 iui^ events occurred : This niornin^r our little vessel was surroundetl with 
 canoes, containin;^ se\eral hundreds of the natives, of both sexes, who pres- 
 ently climbed up, and crowded it so much that we were obliged to put a 
 bar across the quarter-deck, and guartl it from intrusion. The commerce 
 in various articles, on both sides, went on pretty well for some time, till one 
 provoking circumstance after another occurred, which had nearly led to 
 the .seizure of the ship and the Ujss of our lives. In the confusion occa- 
 sioned by the great throng in so narrow a space, the natives began to 
 exercise their pilfering tricks, opportunities for which are seldom permitted 
 to slip awa\- imimpr<)\-ed. .Suddenl)' the cook cried out, '' They ha\'e 
 stolen this thing:" but scarcely had he nametl the thing (some kitchen 
 article), when he called out again, " They ha\e stoK-n the beef out of the 
 < pot!" and then a third tiuK,', "They ha\e stolen m\' cooking pan!" 1^-es- 
 ently another \"oice bawled out from the forecastle, "laptain ! the\' luu'e 
 broken open your trunk, anil carrietl away j'our clothes!" 
 
 Up to this time we had been in friendly intercourse w ith the chiefs, 
 rubbing noses, and purchasing their personal ornaments and other curi- 
 osities, suspecting no mischief. But now , in the cmu-se of a few moments, 
 without our i)ercei\"ing the immediate reason, the whole scene was 
 changed. We found aftei"ward that the captain on hearing of the auda- 
 cious thefts abo\e mentioned, had become .'ingry, and while endeax'oring 
 rather boisterously, to clear the deck of some of its intruders, one of 
 them, a chief, on being jostled by him, fell over the ship's side into the 
 sea, between his own canoe and the xessel. This was seized instantan- 
 cousl\- as the pretext for commencing hostilities. The women and 
 children in the course of a few minutes had aU disappeared, leaping over- 
 board into their canoes, and taking with them the kakaous, or mantles of 
 th'^ warrior^. The latter, thus stripped for action, remained on deck, of 
 A\hich, before we were aware, the)' had taken complete possession, and 
 forthwith made us their prisoners. 
 
 Tlireatt'iiod with Instant Death. 
 Tremendous were the bawlings and screechings of the barbarians, 
 while the)' stamped and brandished their weapons, consisting principall)^ 
 of clubs and spears. One clu'ef with his cookies (his slaves) had sur- 
 rounded the captain, holding their .spears at his breast and his sides, on 
 tin,' larboard quarter of the vessel. The chief w ho, with his gang, had 
 been trafficking with Mr. liennet, now brought his huge tattooed vi.sage 
 near the white trader, screaming, in tones the mo.st odious and horrifying: 
 "Tongata, New Zealandi, tongata kakino?" This he repeated as rapidly 
 
ADVENTURES AMONG STRANGE PEOPLE. 
 
 149 
 
 ii 
 
 ■''-#,.. 
 
 as lips, tongue and throat could utter the words, which mean, " Man of 
 New Zealand, is he bad man?" Happily Mr. Bennet understood the 
 (juestion (the New Zealand dialect much resembliiiL^f the Tahitian); 
 whereupon, though convinced that inevitable death was at hand, he an- 
 swered, with as much composure as could be assumed, " Not batl; the 
 New Zealander is a good man;"' and so often as the other, \n ith indescrib- 
 able ferocity of aspect and sharpness of accent, asked the same question, 
 which might have been a hundred times, the same answer was returned. 
 
 "But," inquired Mr. Bennet, "why is all this uproar? Why cannot we 
 still rub noses, and buy and sell, arid barter, as before?" At this moment 
 a stout sla\e, belonging to the chief, stepped up behind Mr. Bennet, and 
 pinioned both his arms close to his sides. No effort was made to resi.st 
 or elude the gigantic grasp, the white man knowing that such would ac- 
 celerate the threatened destruction. Still, therefore, he maintained his 
 cahnness, and asked the chief the price of a neck ornament which the 
 latter wore. Immediately another slave raised a large tree-felling a.\c 
 (which, with others, had been brought to be sharpened b\- the ship's com- 
 pany) o\er the head of the prisontM'. This ruffian looked with demon-like 
 eagerness and impatience toward his master for the signal to .strike. 
 
 FriglitCul Savage FtTocity. 
 
 And here it may be observed that our good countrymen can have no idea 
 of the almost preternatural fur\- which saxages can throw into their ilis- 
 torted countenances, and infuse into their deafening and ap[)alling voices, 
 when they are pos.sessed by the legion-fiend of rage, cupidity and revenge. 
 Mr. Bennet persevered in keeping up conversation with the chief, sa\-ing, 
 "We want to buy hogs, potatoes, fish, of xou." Just then he percei\ed 
 a \-outh step[)ing on deck with a large fish in his hand. "What shall I 
 give you fir tliat fish?" — " Wh_\', so man\' fish-hooks." — "Well, then, put 
 your hand into my pocket aiid take them." The fellow did so. "Now 
 put the fisli down there, on the binnacle, and bring some more, if you 
 ha\e an)'," said Mr. Iknnet. At once the fish that he had just bought 
 was brought round from behind and presented to him again for .sale. He 
 took no notice of the knaver}', but demanded, "What shall T gi\e nou for 
 that fish?" — "So many hooks." — "Take them. 1 Ia\'e \-ou no other n>h 
 to .sell?" A thiid time the same fish was offered, and tin: same price in 
 hooks required and given, or rather taken, b)' tlir xxntlor, out of his 
 jacket pockets, which happened to be well stored uilh this currency for 
 traffic. A fourth time Mr. Bennet asked. "Have )'ou not another fish?" 
 At this the rogues could contain their scorn no longer, but burst into 
 laughter, and cried, "We are cheating the foreigner!" supposing that 
 
 ■ ' (1 
 
 I' 
 
 i :|« 
 
\ 
 
 150 
 
 EARTH, .Si:.\. AND SKY 
 
 their customer was not aware how often tlie\' had caught him \\ ith the 
 .same bait. The nati\e.s were ])leasecl with their own shrewdness. 
 
 By this ingenious plan of pretending to be the chipc of the Maories, 
 
 ■ thl: grotesque maoki war dance. 
 Mr. Bennet contrived to gain time, of "hich he knew that e\ery minute 
 was of the greatest importance, and at last he was rewarded for his 
 
 courage< 
 chief, wli 
 
 Before 
 a war dai 
 of [he X( 
 gi\es Inn 
 dances, a 
 i\Iaori w; 
 di.sciplint 
 is loose a 
 
 mg and 
 
 .seKes as 
 arrange tl 
 passit)nali 
 thrusting 
 tures \\'\{\ 
 begin.s w it 
 the stamp 
 ilar propo 
 Sudden 
 air, as if , 
 down on i 
 song is rai 
 to side, e.- 
 The efTeet 
 to make t 
 gi\en u]) 
 frightfully 
 si on. Evi 
 aflects the 
 of the ene 
 Maories g 
 excited th, 
 
 On one 
 requested 
 But in a si 
 stamps so ] 
 that thev s 
 
 
ADVENTURES AMONC. STRANGE PILt^PLE. 
 
 151 
 
 m' 
 
 uitc 
 his 
 
 couraL^CDLis tliploniac)- by llu: arrival <>( a bnat, in which was a frinuUy 
 chief, who at once cleared the shii). 
 
 Ilith'oiis War Duiuts. 
 
 l^elMve a i)arlv enc:a''e in \\ai-, tlu\- think thenisilxrs Ijcuind to join in 
 a war dance. There are war dances in almost all sa\ a<;e tribes, but that 
 of the New Zealander surpasses theui all. In dher cases, each warrior 
 rjixes hiniself ui) to the excitement ef the nionu'nt, and sh'iut^, \clls, 
 dance.^-, and brandl. dies his weapons as he seems to think fit; l)ut the 
 Maori wanior's dance is of a far different character, boin;^ t^uided b)- a 
 di.scijjline and precision of drill to which that of the Russians thenisehes 
 is loose and irregular. The)' be<^in by smearinj^ the whole of their cloth- 
 ing; and b\- painting- their faces A\ith scarlet ochre, so as to make thcm- 
 .sehes as hitleous as possible. When they assemble fertile dance, they 
 arrange themseh'cs in lines, mostly three deep, and e.xcite their naturally 
 passionate disposition to the highest pitch by contoiting their faces and 
 thrusting out their tongues as an act of dehance, interspersing these ges- 
 tures w ith shouts, yells, and challenges to the enem\-. Ihe dance itself 
 begins with stamping the feet in ])erfect time with each other, the \igor of 
 the stamp increasing continually, and the excitement increasing in sim- 
 ilar prt)i)ortion. 
 
 Suddenl}-, with a )cll, the whole b(Kl)- of men leap sideways into tlie 
 air, as if actuated b)' one spirit, and. as the)' tom h the groiuul, lome 
 down on it with a might)- stamp that nialavs the earth tremble. The war 
 song is raised, and in accordance with its rh)thm the men leap from side 
 to side, each time coming ilownwilha thud as nf some huge engine. 
 The effect of the dance upon the performers is e.xtraordinai) . It seems 
 to mahe them for the time absolute maniacs, their whole nature being 
 gi\en up to the furious excitement of the moment. Their faces are 
 frightfully contorted, and thus assume an absolutely demoniacal expres- 
 sion. F.ven when war is not impending, the magic inlluence of the dance 
 aftects tin; performers as strongly as if the\' were close to n pah or fort 
 of the enemy,' ready for battle; and when, as is sometimes the case, the 
 Maories give a dance in honor of a visitor, they become so furiousK' 
 excited that the)' are (luite dangerous until the)- ha\-e had time to cool. 
 
 Straii}'«» Antics of a I'liiol'. 
 
 On one such occasion a ])arty of Maories who had visited a ship were 
 requested to exhibit their war dance, and ver)' good naturedl)' did so. 
 But in a short time their measured leaps became so vehement, and their 
 .stamps so powerful, as the)' shouted the martial rh)'mes of the war song, 
 that they shook the whole ship as if by blows of a battering-ram ; and 
 
 1^ 
 
 » 
 
 W 
 
 m 
 
 
 «iii 
 
^^tr. 
 
 \s 
 
 152 
 
 F.ARTII, SF.A, AND SK^■. 
 
 the commandinL,^ officer, fearful that they would absolutel)- smash the 
 deck, be_Lji;etl them to desist. His entreaties were in\aiii. exin if they 
 were heard, thouLrh it is verv likelv that in their furious excitement, the 
 dancers were deaf to ever)- s(jund exce[ji the war soni,^ which the\' were 
 yellinjr al the top of their voices; and the dance proceeded to its end, 
 and did not cease until the performers were (juite exhausted by the 
 furious exertions thev had made, desistinir onlvwhen compelled to d- .''>. 
 
 
 'mmm. 
 
 jifi* ■ ■ 
 
 __%r/£i' __ _ „ 
 
 INTERIOR ol'' A I'AII OR NATIVI-: VlLLA(iE. 
 
 The most kulicrous part of the dance was the conduct of the chief. 
 He had been treated Vvitli much attention, and presented with a full suit 
 of na\al uniform, of which he was miLditil\- i)roud. and in which he 
 stalked the deck to the threat admiration of his subjects. When he was 
 asked wlu-ther the war danc(> could br LMx-en, he at once ordered his fol- 
 lowers t) accede to tin: request, .-md at fust stood <|uietl_\- b)- while they 
 went throuL'.h lluj performance. The influence of the dance was, how- 
 ever, l0(. Lontagious to be resisted, and raiiidl)- extended itself t" him. 
 
 First he n 
 then he 
 them, an( 
 N'elled, an 
 ^^arments 
 nient died 
 The am 
 the\- appe, 
 of them a 
 of warrior 
 hundred, 
 in his han 
 the back;, 
 dance is ta 
 and under 
 in^r the dai 
 
 We ha\e 
 Maori. U 
 and seldon' 
 when aslee 
 childhood 1 
 t^ames of t 
 Just as boy 
 them with 5 
 f'rts, and e 
 sticks instee 
 mounds of 
 i)t the more 
 
 These in 
 warfare. T 
 jM-ound, as 
 an irregular 
 w ith many : 
 ior in numbi 
 case, resort i 
 'ir \ ilkuj^es. 
 iieering, ami 
 tended t< i fu 
 times on th 
 
 W^ 
 
ADVENTURES AMONG STRANGE PEOPLE. 
 
 153 
 
 First he merely swayed his body in rhxthni with the steps of the dancers, 
 then he joined sottovocc in thr s(jng, then he be^^an to stamp in time with 
 them, and at hist threw off all restraint, spranij^ into line, and leaped, 
 \-elled, and stamped as enthusiasticall\- as any of them, splittin-^^ Jijs new 
 •^rarmeiits to pieces, and i)resentin;4 a very sorry siLjht when his excite- 
 ment died away. 
 
 The aimexed illustration represents a portion of a party of warriors as 
 thc\- appear when jjerforming their war dance. ( )nl)the first three ranks 
 of them are seen ; but the reader must ])ictiiie for himself the Ioul,^ line 
 of warriors stret'-hinijinto the distance, numberin_L( often from one to two 
 hundred. The leading chief is seen in fiont, with his green jade merai 
 in his hand; and another but inferior chief is stationed behind him. In 
 the background is shown a portion of the i)ah or \-illage in which the 
 tlance is taking place; a chief's storehouse for food is seen on the right, 
 and under the shelter of the houses are seated the womc n who are watch- 
 ing the dance. 
 
 3Iiini<- Warlarr Anions C'liildrcn. 
 
 We ha\e alread\- said that war is alwas's in the thoughts of a genuine 
 Maori. Unlike the \aporing Fiji warrior, who is always ready to boast, 
 and seldom ready to fight, preferring to knock his enemy on the head 
 when asleep, the Maori is a bra\e soldier, accustomed from his earliest 
 childhood to deeds t)f war. .\ mimic war forms one of the favorite 
 games of the Maori children, though it is necessaril)- restricted to boys. 
 Just as boys of our country build snow castles, and attack anil defend 
 them with snow-balls, so do the )Oung New Zealanders build miniature 
 f )rts, and enact on a small scale the deeds of actual war, using light 
 •sticks instead o{ the merai and patu. The\- make their forts jjy erecting 
 mounds of earth, and building the fortresses of stakes, in exact imitation 
 of the more substantial architecture of tlv- xi-ritable pah. 
 
 These ingenious villages well exeniplif\- tlie whole system of Maori 
 warfare. The two opposing parties seldom meet each other in the open 
 ;n-ound, as is the case with civilizetl warfare; neither do the}' employ 
 an irregular skirmishing fight among trees or under co\er, as is the case 
 with man>- savage tribes. The attacl^ing party is sure to be very super- 
 ior in numbers to their foes, and the latter, knowing that this will be the 
 case, resort to the system of fortification, anil entrench themsekes in forts 
 or\illages. These \-illages ai'i- marvelous exam[)les of uncivilizetl engi- 
 neering, and are admirably adapted to the purpose which the>- are in- 
 tendeil to fultil. They are alwa_\-s placed in some strong situation, some- 
 times on the seashore, simietinies on heights, and one or two of the 
 
 ^flsl^^lf 
 
 ^■•(l 
 
\s 
 
 164 
 
 KARTil, si: A. AND SKV. 
 
 stroni,fcst aic biiill on the \i r\' vilj;c i>f ;i pripciuliculur precipice, .s(i that 
 they cannot be attacked on three sides, while the tburtn can only be ap- 
 [jroaclunl b\' a narrow and awkward path, aloii;^ which on!)- a few men 
 can [)as.s, and which can be diTeiuKd b\- a loii-iparatively limited innni)er 
 of the be>it.\Ljed. 
 
 Thi;\- are feiieed loiuid with \er\- strniv^ p<'->ts, la-^hed t(>;^etlur so 
 firmly that tlu\- are al)let'> ri'si>t any ordinary attack. Since- fnearm^ 
 were intr<)duc<il. the Marries ha\e motlified tlu; stnuliire ol the pahs tr 
 suit their new wea[j()n >, ihrDwinL; out angles to secure a nankin;^" fiii', and 
 filling the intu-ric^r w ith trenches in which the defentlers can lie secure 
 from the fire of th.- enemy. Since experiencing the terrible power of 
 shells, the natives haw: learned to construct cn>ss-walls in tlu- trenches, 
 which not only guard the inmates from the fragments of the shells, but 
 prevent an enfilading fire from doing much d.uiiage. Ri He-pits are also 
 constructed with singular ingenuity. One j)ah was remarkable for bt-ing 
 built over a iunnt)er of boiling springs, which were used as traps for the 
 enemy when the fut was besieged. 
 
 Cauyht ill Ji Trap. 
 
 The reader may remember the unf >rtunate business at the Gate Pah, 
 at Tauranga. When tal^en by storm, the pah a[)peared to be empt\- and 
 deserted, the natives ha\ ing apparently escaped, according to their cus- 
 tom, when they found the place no longer tenable. They had, however, 
 laid a trap, into wT.ich the assailants fell. When the latter had scattered 
 themselves o\er the interior, and were (juite off their guard, picking up 
 arms, utensils, and other objects lying carelessly about, a terrific nuis- 
 ketr\' fire was opened from under their very feet, the natives having con- 
 structed pits in which they hiil themselves until the enemy were attracted 
 within their range by the weapons and implements which they had laid 
 on purpose to act as a bait. The men, who were entirely off their guard, 
 and many of whom besides were Init raw recruits, were struck \\ith a 
 sudden panic, and. with a few honorable exceptions, rushed out of the 
 pah, followed and cut up by the fire of the wily foe. 
 
 Of course the repul.se was but temporary; but such a stratagem a.'- 
 this is sufficient to show the military genius of the Maori, who, if he 
 becomes an enemy, is one that cannot be despised with impunity. This 
 system of taking the enemy by surpri.sc is the usual mode of fighting 
 among the Maories, w ho displa\' wonderful ingenuity in contriving am- 
 bushes, and enticing the enem\- into them. If the assailants succeed in 
 taking the pah, a terrible massacre alwa>-s ensues. Every man is killed 
 who is capable of wielding a weapon, while the women and children are 
 
 carrietl o 
 there is 
 future of I 
 their own 
 right of 
 'The b' 
 
 
 rt) 
 
 eaten. So 
 which char 
 bad as the 
 great chiel 
 murder sor 
 
.M)vr.NrrRi:.s a.monci siRANGi-; ii.ui'i.}:. 
 
 ■>') 
 
 carried off to become the slaves of the eoiiquenirs — a doniii fmni wliich 
 there is no escape; the unfortunate wonuii, thi*ir cliildren. and any- 
 future offspring, beinjjj slaves without tiie possibilit)' of release, not even 
 their own tribe bein:^ able, accordini,^ to Maori law, to interfere with the 
 rit^ht of the captors, and take from them their lawful captives. 
 
 The bodie> ■ 'f tiie warriors arc of cour>e reserved to be l)aked and 
 
 A NATIVK CIIIF.F IN VVIA. WAR DRESS. 
 
 eaten. Sometimes even the prisoners fall victims to the thirst for blood 
 which characterizes these islanders ; and in this respect the women are as 
 bad as the men, if not worse. For example, the principal wife of a veiy 
 great chief, named E*Hongi, was accustomed, even though blind, to 
 murder some of the captives, when they were brought home b>- her for- 
 
 1'' 
 
 f 
 
 ^^iM 
 
! (';l'ir{ii' 
 
 156 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 i 
 
 (i 
 
 midablc husband. Her own end, was, however, more tra<;ic than that of 
 any of her victims. E'Hont^i was in the habit of making long excursions 
 to different parts of the countr\-, in which lie took his wife with him. On 
 one of these excursions she fell sick, and had to be left behind. In con- 
 sequence of her blindness, added to her debilit}', she was unable to act in 
 her own defence, and a number of dogs, discovering her weakness, tore 
 her to pieces and devoured her. 
 
 She seems, h()\v-e\-er, to ha\c been a woman of unexceptionally stronp 
 feelings of vengeance. She had a little sla\e-girl to attend upon 
 her, toward who'ii she evinceil a strong attachment. The little creature 
 was interesting and good-tempered, and her mistress was apjjarently so 
 fond of her that she was spared the experience of the misery of slavery; 
 she was onl)' a favorite. 
 
 Tray if Eiul of tho Hliiid Qiiooii. 
 
 E'llongi retiirned from one of his successful expeditions of war, but had 
 left a son upon the field of battle, and the lamentation was great. The 
 petted sla\e-cliiltl laid her head upon the lap of her mistress, and poured 
 out her share of the geniral sorrow. But the spirit of vengeance or of 
 insane ri'tribuiion came over ''. e heart of the bereawd mother ; ,i .'d she 
 carried the child to the water, and cruell\- suffocated her in satisfaction of 
 her selfish sorrow. It was not long after this incidei that she met with 
 lier death. AV'hen she was left l)ehind,a small shed w.is erectetl on poles, 
 according to nati\e custom, and a supply of food was placed near her. 
 When the p.trty returned the shed was lying prostrate, and among its 
 ruins were the whitened bones of the inmate. It is sui;)i)osed that the 
 wind blew d :)wn the shed, and so enabled the dogs to reach her. 
 
 This same l^'llongi was a rcall)- remarkable man, and earned a great 
 name for wiscU)m and courage. Ihuingmadea \-o\'age to h'ngland, he 
 threw all his energies into strengthening his militar)- power, and took l)ack 
 with him a quantity of muskets and ammunition. He came back to his 
 own countrx' exactly at the projK-r time. A long and somewhat desul- 
 tor\- war had been going on between the W'aikalos and other tribes, in 
 whicii the ti 'liner had. after many vicissitudes, been victorious, and, 
 aft'''- finall\- coniiuering their enemies, luul returne'd to their country in 
 irum:ph. 
 
 Just then I'VIIoiigi came back to his own tribe, distributed his firearms 
 among the best warriors, and w hen he had instructetl them in the use of 
 the new and terrible wea])ons, entered the W'aikato country, and attacked 
 their grreat \illage. The W'aikatos, ha\ing onl}- tlu'ir clubs, and not 
 having sunk the trenche. which in these da}'s are dug in every pah that 
 
 *<, 
 
ADVENTURES AMONG STRANGE PEOPLE. 
 
 157 
 
 is intended to resist an assault, could not contend against firearms, and in 
 a few minutes the fort was taken. 
 
 The slauL;hter on this occasion was terrible, two thousand warriors 
 heini:^ killed, and their bodies eaten l)y the victorious tribe, who built vast 
 numbers of ovens for the special jiurpose of cooking the bodies of the slain. 
 1^'or many years afterward the remains of the ovens, and the whitened 
 bones of the two thousanil warriors, might be seen as tokens of the terrible 
 scene, where feasts were kept up until all the bodies had bee>n consumed, 
 and e\er\' e\'il passion of unrestrained human nature was alUjwed to ha\c 
 its full s\\a\'. 
 
 Prisoners without number were captured on this occasion; and indeed 
 the su])ply of sla\es thus obtainetl so far exceedetl the demand for them, 
 that the tribe killed many of them on their journc)- home, merel)- to rid 
 themseKes of them. l^'Hongi, though known to be a man of the most 
 determined courage, not to say ferocit\\ when engagetl in war, and rather 
 disposed to behave in an overbearing manner toward those whom he con- 
 sidered as his inferiors, was at the same time peculiar]}- mild and cour- 
 teous in his demeanor to his ecjuals, and toward strangers was remark- 
 able for his gentle treatment. 
 
 The religion of the .Maories is a curious mixture o( sim[)licit\- anilelab(M'- 
 ation, having the usual superstitions commo ^ > all sa\age tribes, and be- 
 ing complicated with the remarkable system ot " tapu," or " taboo" as the 
 word is sometimes spelt. Of real religion they ha\e no idea, and, so far 
 as is kn(nvn, e\en their sujjerstitions lack that infusion of sublimity which 
 distinguishes the religious systems ofman\' sa\'age nations, The\' ha\ea 
 sort ot indetinite belief in a good and e\il inlluence ; the former going by 
 the name of Atu.i, and the latter of W'aii'ua. Now, .\tua is a word that 
 has a peculiar significance of its own, It ma\- signify the I)i\ine Ivsseiice, 
 or it ma\' be ap[)lie(l to an\' object which is considered as a visible re[)re- 
 sentalive (-f that essence. 
 
 A Siii^'iilar liiritb'iit. 
 
 Thus, if a Maori wishes to speak of (iod, he would use the word .\tua. 
 iuit he would eiiuall)- ap[)l}' it to a !i/ar<l, a bird, a sun-rav or a cloud. 
 There is one species of li/ard, of a lovelv green color, which is held in the 
 greatest veneration as a living representative of divinit)-, and is in conse- 
 quence always dreaded as an .Atua. The following incident, narrated by a 
 tra\'eller, will show how deepl\- the belii-f in witchcraft and the supposed 
 infiuence of the Atuas ob'.ains among tho.se who are still heathen. A 
 missionary was shown some small green li/ards pre.servetl in a vial of spir- 
 its, Muriwenua and another man being in the room: We forgot at the 
 
 
 Pi 
 
 n 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 r 
 
 'Hi 
 
 
 
 
 IkI 
 
 P 
 
 41 
 
 ■ a ■ M 
 
 ■■ hX . '^fW 
 
(1 'i'll'l'' 
 
 1. 
 
 ' 1 
 
 \ ' 
 
 ■■ 
 
 \\ 
 
 m 
 
 158 
 
 KARTII, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 nioiiicnt that the little creatures in the \ial were atuas, or L^ods, according' 
 to the siij)erstiti()us belief of Maori polytheism, aiul inadvertently showed 
 
 them to the man at the table. X 
 
 ins 
 
 Iciciileaii ti-ame sinani 
 
 Dae I 
 
 displayed sii^ns ( )f extreme h 
 cried out, " f shall dii- ! 1 si 
 
 o sooner did he perceiw: the atuas thai\ 
 : as from a mortal wountl, and his face 
 The old chief, on discovering;" the cause, 
 lall die I" and crawled aw.i\- on his hands .■<]{] 
 
 « I1T( M', 
 
 knees; \\hile the other man stood as a (kfence between the chief and the 
 atuas, chanL;in!4" his position so a-, to form a kind of shield, till Muriwenua 
 was out of the iiilluencc of their supposed powxr. It was a danL;erous 
 mistaki' to exhibit these atuas, foi- the chiet is \ery old, and in the course 
 of nature, cannot Ii\e lon^!", and, if he dies shortK', liis death will certainly 
 
 ascii 
 
 bi'd to the baneful si-'ht of the lizard u'od- 
 
 ani 
 
 1 I shall be accuseti 
 
 of xsiteluratt. In coiuiectioii willi this superstition about the lizard, the 
 same tra\eller mentions a straUL^'e notion whieii pi'e\ails re<^ardin_L;' a spider. 
 
 Ciii-ioiis liclict' in Witeli«Tiif(. 
 ach of tlu' west coast is found a small, l)lack, antl \ervvenom- 
 
 On tl 
 
 le oe 
 
 ous si)Uler. 
 
 It^ 
 
 bite b 
 
 exceeduiL;!)- pamhil, and even danc^erous, 
 
 an 
 
 le 
 
 n 
 
 itives think that if he bites a man and 
 
 esca[)es, the man w ill die. 
 
 dt: 
 
 Hut if 
 
 he conti"i\-es to catch tile sj)ider, and m 
 
 Kes 
 
 a circle of flie around it so that 
 
 it perislu's in the Hames, then the man i'eco\ers as the spider die^ 
 
 Till,' extent to which the imaLrination of the natiws is excited 1)\' their 
 
 n 
 
 ear o 
 
 f witi 
 
 hcraft is scarceK' cre( 
 
 !ibk-. There was one woman who was a 
 
 Hi 
 
 vcrv celebnited witch, and exercrsctl extraordmar\" muuence o\er the 
 niintls of the people, who looked upon her as a superior beini;'. On one 
 occasion, when anL;r\' with a man, s|u.- told him she had taken out his heart. 
 
 The man eiUirelv l)elie\ed 
 
 li-r, 
 
 and died from sheer terror, 
 
 It is a rather curious fact that, contrary to the u.sual custom, these heath- 
 en piiesls did not oppose the Christian missionaries, but were amon;^ the 
 tir^t to leceiw tin- new religion. .Some of them sct-m to ha\erecei\ed it 
 
 t(i() ha-til\' and without sufllcienl knowled 
 
 >f it- 
 
 niini ii)les, as we see 
 
 from th ' miserabk; tra\i.vsty of Christianit)- whicdi has spruULC ^^M' " 
 wars amou-.'' the Maories, and which i-- in W'W 7a 
 
 f late 
 
 aland w hat the system 
 of raepin;^' is in China. The [)ricsts aie, as a I'ule, the most ex[)ert artists 
 and wooilcarvers in the country; so that the word priest is often applieil 
 b)- the nati\es to a man who is skillful in any art, no matter whether he 
 be a (priest or not. The annexed illustration is a portrait of a \'er)- cele- 
 brateil piitst. 1 lis n.imewas Te ( )hu. The portrait was obtained duriiii; 
 a i;reat meeting; of chiefs at the capital. '\c ()hu (listinL,aiished himself 
 
 itl 
 
 crreati\- on 
 
 this occasion, rumu'iv-" about after the fashion of Maori orators, 
 
 shak 
 
 uu 
 
 his loni 
 
 and uriz/led locks from sitle ti 
 
 ■;tam[)ing 
 
 fur- 
 
rt. 
 
 it 
 
 \U- 
 m 
 Is 
 •d 
 u: 
 
 r- 
 
 ADVENTURES AMONCi STRANGE i'llOPI.E 
 
 l-V.t 
 
 ou 
 
 slv on the trround.and uttcriiiL;- his speech in u sinijularlydeei) and ^()n- 
 
 onuis \(>ice. 
 
 In l!ie back'Toinul of the skrtcli ina\- bi.' seiii Iwm renKiilx.ihK' articles. 
 The one, whicli is the half of a canoe, stuck upright in tlu' L,n-onnd, 
 marks the ^Ljrave of a deceased chief; and the other is a pole, on whiel: 
 are hun;^ a calabash ot 
 water and a l)asket of 
 food, with which the 
 spirit of the deatlcan re- 
 fresh himself when he 
 returns to visit the scene 
 ol" his lifetime. Some- 
 times a dish of cookeil 
 pi_L;eons is added; and 
 in one case a model of 
 . I canoe, with its sail and 
 p.uUUes, was placed on 
 the tomb, as a convey - ||]T^^Ji 
 ance for the s(nil of the 
 departed w^'en he 
 wished to cross tlu.'wa 
 ters which lead to the 
 eternal abodes ot the 
 
 .'■pirit. 
 
 I'A'il spirits are sup- 
 
 [)oscd to haunt certain 
 
 spots, which are in con- 
 
 se<|uence, a\-oidcd by 
 
 the New Zealander. =^_„„^^ 
 
 Ab)untains are especial 55^f ^- = _=_^_ 
 
 obi(,'Cts of his \enera- "-^^^^^^JSS^^IJ^ 
 
 tion, and those which 
 
 are loft)- enoii!.4h to 
 
 have their tops covered "■• ""i"' -^ nativk I'KIF.st 
 
 with ])i'ri)etnal snow are speciall)- feared. He tancies that [\\<-y a 
 
 inhabited by straiifre and monstrous 
 
 sit continually on their whittiied to|)s, and that every brecv.e which blows 
 
 from them is the voice of ihe spirit which haunts it. In consequence of 
 
 these superstitions, the- natives can no more be inilucc:d to ascend one of 
 
 these mountains than to approa<di a burial j^round. There i.s a strange lo- 
 
 re 
 /.e 
 
 :Sk* 
 
 
! mil 
 
 100 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 ]\ 
 
 l^cnd of a spot near Mount I'.^niont. Owing to the nature of the (ground, 
 a stroiiLf clieniical actieui is constantly takini^ phice, which _L;i\cs out great 
 cjuantitits of sulj)hr.n,tte(l h\-(h-oj^ren Ljas. 'Hie nativi's sa\' that in former 
 da\'s an alua was chMunecl near tlie' spot, and that c\-er since tliat time his 
 body lias been ilecomposin;.;, thus aecountiiiL; fi)rthe straiiL^e phenomenon. 
 
 Theie arc many represen- 
 tations of the luiman form, 
 whic'i are popularl)- be- 
 lieved to he idols. It was 
 foruKrly supposed that the 
 ^reen jai le < u'liaments which 
 are worn sus])ended from 
 the neel<, \\ere idols; hut it 
 is now known that the\- are 
 merelv ornaments, derivinir 
 their sole walue from being 
 handed down from one !^en- 
 eration to another. Three 
 e\amj)les of the so-called 
 idols ai-e here given. One 
 (-i them is remarkable fir 
 its L;iL';antic proportions and 
 curious shai)e. It is about 
 siNteen feet in height, and 
 instead of consisting tf a 
 single human figure, as is 
 usuallx' the case, the enor- 
 mous block of wood is 
 car\edi into the semblance 
 if\' two figures, one abo\o 
 th.e olhtr. This arrange- 
 ment Is not uncommon in 
 Xew Zealand, and is found 
 also in Western Africa. 
 A i-iKi \r I'iii-. vii.LAdi: OF Koi.KA. Tills gigantic tiki stands; 
 
 together with se\eral olhets. near the tomb of the daughter of an old 
 chief, ami, like the monument whicn it seems as it were to guard, is 
 one of the finest examples of native carving to be found in New Zeal- 
 and. The' precise object of the tiki is uncertain; l)ut the protruding 
 tongue of the upper figure seems to show that it is one of the numerous 
 
 defiant st 
 
 lower figi 
 
 tion, fishec 
 
 in the ilh 
 
 elaborate 
 
 parts of 
 
 which dc 
 
 liips. A 
 
 the village 
 
 the backg 
 
 around the 
 
 many plai 
 
 phormium, 
 
 Zealand f 
 
 this wonc 
 
 mysterious 
 
 carving ste 
 
 others, all 
 
 traordinary 
 
 such tikis 
 
 in the i 
 
 drawn fror 
 
 taken at 
 
 koko. Alt 
 
 quite so la 
 
 double tiki 
 
 they ate of 
 
 size, as nio 
 
 b)' contras 
 
 with the fig 
 
 woman wh( 
 
 ing by on( 
 
 The firmt 
 
 witchcraft ] 
 
 New Zealai 
 
 not to such 
 
 which no oi 
 
 high rank, \ 
 
 that he ha; 
 
 are likely 
 
 11 
 
ADVENTURES AMONG STRANGE PEOPT,L. 
 
 IGl 
 
 defiant statues which abound in the islands. The natives say that the 
 lower figure represents Maui, the Atua who, according to Maori tradi- 
 tion, fished up the islands from the bottom of the sea. As may be seen 
 in the illustration, nearly the whole of both figures is carved with most 
 elaborate curved patterns, which descend over the arms, and adorn those 
 parts of the statue 
 which do duty for 
 hips. A portion of 
 the village is seen in 
 the background, and 
 around the tiki grow 
 many plants of the 
 phormium, or New 
 Zealand flax. Near ^ 
 this wonderful and 
 mysterious piece of 
 carving stand several 
 others, all of an ex- 
 traordinary type. Two ^fj 
 such tikis are shown 
 in the illustration, 
 drawn from sketches 
 taken at Whakapo- 
 koko. Although not 
 quite so large as the 
 double tiki of Roera, 
 they are of very great 
 size, as mav be seen 
 by contrasting them 
 with the figure of the 
 woman who is stand- 
 ing by one of them. 
 The firmest belie fin 
 witchcraft prevails in 
 New Zealand, though grotesque wooden idols. 
 
 not to such an extent as in many parts of Africa. In cases of illness fo • 
 which no ordinary cause can be discovered, especially if the person be of 
 high rank, witchcraft is alwaj^s suspected. If a chief, for example, fancies 
 tliat he has been bewitched, he thinks over the names of those who 
 are likely to have a spite against him, and pitches upon some un- 
 11 
 

 [.Jilt, ( 
 
 162 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 if 
 
 : I 
 Pf' 
 
 iii 
 
 .1!!' 
 
 fortunate individual, who is thereby doomed to death. One curious 
 example of .such a murder is related by a missionary. He met a 
 party of natives, who told him that a woman, a relation of the chief 
 Navvaka, had been shot by another chief, who suspected that she had 
 bewitched his son. The youny man had been taken ill, and, though 
 the woman in question did her best to cure him, he died. His father 
 took it into his head that she had killed him by her incantations, and, after 
 loading his musket with stick, shot her through the body. As, however, 
 she was the relation of Nawaka, it was expected that the chief would 
 demand compensation for her death, and that the murderer would have 
 to pay a very hea\-y sum. 
 
 There are several modes of witchcraft ; but that which is most prac- 
 tised is performed by digging a hole in the ground and invoking the 
 spirit of the person wiio is to be bewitched. After the incantations are 
 saitl, the invoked spirit appears above the hole like a flickering light, and 
 is then solemnly cursed by the witch. Sometimes, instead of digging a 
 hole, the witch goes by night to a river bank, and there invokes the 
 spirit, who appears as a flame of fire on the opposite bank. A curious 
 account is given of a district which is supposed t(j be the .special abode 
 of witches. It is situated in the northern island, and consists of steep 
 and barren hills. The inhabitants of this district are few and scattered, 
 and have the reputation of being the greatest witches in tlie country. 
 
 They are much feared, and have little connection with the neighboring 
 tribes, who avoid them, if possible. If they come to the coast, the natives 
 there scarcely venture to refuse them anything, for fear of incurring their 
 displeasure. Like our witches and sorcerers of old, they appear to be a 
 \erv harmless people, and but little mixed up with the quarrels of their 
 neighbors. It is a curious fact thatmany of the old. settlers in the country 
 have become complete converts to the belief in these supernatural powers. 
 Witchcraft has been the cause of many murders, in consequence of {x^o- 
 ple declaring on their death-beds that they had been bewitched. 
 Strange Scenes in tbe Sandwich Islands. 
 
 Few people among the wild races of men are more interesting to the 
 traveller than the natives of the Sandwich Islands. The men are tall, 
 active and powerful, and in color are of an olive brown, the precise depth 
 of tint varying much according to the exposure to the sun, so that the 
 skins of the chiefs are much lighter than tho.se of the common people. 
 The hair is jet black, and not in the least woolly, being sometimes quite 
 straight, and sometimes wavy. The face is mostly wide, and is a very 
 handsome one, the only fault in it being a tendency to width across tho 
 
ADVENTURES AMONG STRANGE PEOPLE. 
 
 163 
 
 iiostrils. The men all wear the maro or malo, which is a slight girdle of 
 cloth, and ha\ ing this, they consider themselves dressed for all purposes 
 of decency. They also have a tappa, or bark-cloth garment, \\hich is 
 twisted round the waist, and falls below the knees, while the better clas'^ 
 wear also a sort of majile, to shelter their skin from the darkening sun- 
 beams. 
 
 The great chiefs have also mantles made of a sort of network, into 
 each mesh of which are interwoven the feathers of various birds, the 
 most precious of them being that which supplies the yellow feathers. 
 This is one of the honey-birds, and under each wing there is a single 
 yellow feather, one inch in length. King Kamehameha, had a cloak 
 viiade of these feathers alone. It was four feet long, and eleven feet at 
 the bottom. No less than nine successive kings died before this priceless 
 mantle was finished. The head-dress of the chiefs is of so graceful and 
 classical a form as absolutely to startle the spectator. It is a helmet 
 made of wicker-work and covered with feathers, the shape being e.xactly 
 that of the ancient Grecian helmet e\en to the elevated crest which runs 
 o\ er the top. It is not intended as a protection for the head, the material 
 being too fragile for such a purpose, but is simply a badge t)f rank and 
 wealth. Mostly they are covered with scarlet and yellow feathers, 
 disposed in broad bands or belts, and the wealth of the wearer may be 
 known by the proportion which the yellow and scarlet feathers bear to 
 
 each other. 
 
 A Keiiiaikable F<'inalo Beauty. 
 
 The women, when young, are singularly beautiful, and retain their 
 good looks longer than is usual among Polynesians. Like the other sex, 
 however, they generally attain to great size in their latter }-ears, those of 
 the better sort being remarkable for their enormous corpulence. This 
 development is pr(jbably owing, like that of the Kaffir chiefs, to the great 
 quantity of porridge which they are continually eating. When young, 
 however, they are exceedingly beautiful, their features having a peculiar 
 charm of their own, and their forms being like those of the ancient 
 Grecian statues. An American traveller gives a most animated descrip- 
 tion of a native girl, in his interesting work on the Sandwich Islands, 
 showing that the partial civilization to which the natives have been sub- 
 jected has not destroyed their beauty of features nor .symmetry of form. 
 In truth to nature, it may be safely asserted that beauty is not confined 
 merely to the saloon of the monarch, nor to the tapestried chambers of 
 the patricians. It is more frcniuently found amid the lowlier walks of 
 life, on the desert, or the distant isle of the ocean. 
 
I mn 
 
 i(;4 
 
 EARTir, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 
 ! \ 
 
 'f- 
 
 n 
 
 In this instan;e I wish t> be understood as spcakincf of physical 
 beaut)- onl\-. On leavin<; the shore-road to ascend the mountains for 
 1 1.ihiwa, I met just such a specimen as has often driven men mad, an<l 
 w h(5se possession has many a time paved tiie way to the subversion of 
 em[)irc on the part of monarch?. She was rather above the medium 
 size of American women. Mer finely chiselled chin, nose, and forehead 
 were singularly Grecian. Her beautifully moulded neck and shoulder-; 
 looked as though they might have been borrowed from Juno. The de- 
 \elopment of her entire form was as perfect as nature could make it. 
 She was arrayed in a single loose robe, beneath which a jirctty little nude 
 foot was just peepinf'" ou:. Her hair and eyebrows were as glossy as a 
 raven's wing. Aroc h^v head was carelessly twined a wreath of the 
 beautiful native flow. i h r lips seemed fragrant with the odor of 
 
 countless and untiring kisses. 
 
 But lier eyes! I ne\er shall forget those eyes! They retained sjme- 
 thing that .spoke of an affection so deep, a spiritual existence so intense. 
 a dreamy enchantment so inexpressively beautiful, that they remind.-d 
 one of the beautiful Greek girl M\Trha, in Byron's tragedy of "Sa/dan- 
 apalus," whose love clung to the old monarch when the flanieof tiie finvr- 
 al pile formud their winding sheet. In no former period of my life had I 
 ever raised my hat in the presence of beauty, but at this moment, an-l in 
 such a presence, I took it off. I was entirely fascinated, charmed, spell- 
 bound now. I stopped my horse ; and there I sat, to take a farther glance 
 at the fair rcalit}'. And the girl stopped, and returned tlu glance, while a 
 smile parted her lips and partly revealed a set of teeth as white as snow, 
 and of matchless perfection. I felt that smile to bean unsafj atmosphere 
 for the ner\'cs of a bachelor ; so I bowed, replaced my hat and paj-'scd on 
 my way, feeling fully assured that nothing but the chisel of Praxiteles could 
 have copied her exquisite charms. And as I gently moved past her she 
 exclaimed in the \-ocahulary of her country, " Love to you." 
 Extraordinary Agility in tlie Waters. 
 The semi-amphibious nature of the Sandwich Islanders is well known, 
 lioth sc.xes turn their aquatic powers into a means of amusement. There 
 is a salt-water lake called Loki Nomilu, which was .said by the natives to 
 be the handiwork (^f the terrible fire-goddess, Pele, who dug deep into the 
 ground in search o( fresh water, but was baffled by the .sea finding a sub- 
 terranean entrance, although the lake is many yards from the shore. Be- 
 ing angry with the sea for its misconduct she took her departure, and took 
 up her abode in the crater of the great volcano of Hawaii, which is called 
 by her name. There is little doubt that the lake in question is the crater 
 
 
 a. 
 
 r 
 r 
 •—1 
 
 •y. 
 
 c. 
 (/-■ 
 
 r 
 
 r. 
 
 r 
 
 > 
 
 tr 
 
 in 
 
 lift 
 
(IGo) 
 
 til' ! 
 
 ' ■.■-iir 1.1 
 
 ^^< 
 
 ! ft 
 
 m 
 
 n 
 
 mr. 
 
 niSBfib ' 
 
 I lilLlJ 
 
 fi 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 •I' 
 
 ;ff« >.~v 
 
 .Ji. 
 
 ■-'u- 
 
I 
 
 t 
 
 i J'i'" 
 
 li 
 
 ' m- 
 
 S'll 
 
 iG«J 
 
 KARTH, Si:.\. AND SKY 
 
 of an extinct volcano. A traveller went to visit this extraordinary lake 
 and gives th<; following account ( fthe mode by which its actual d pth was 
 ascertained; Having been informed that this lake was fathomless, I felt 
 only more solicitous to test the mystery. There were no means, howev- 
 er, on the premises ; and, two women excepted, the little village was tem- 
 porarily deserted. There were several canoes on the shore, but the lake 
 was much disturbed by a heavy north wind, so that they wouKl have been 
 rendered nearly useless. But I felt as though I could not abandon the 
 expediti(Mi. The gentleman who accompanied me thither informed the 
 women of my object in coming, and assured them that I was cxtrefiiely 
 anxious to know the depth of the water in that lake, and that we would 
 wait until some of the men returned from their fishing excursion. But one 
 of them soon i)rovided a remedy. She proposed swimming into the kike 
 with a sounding line to make the required measurement. Our remon- 
 strance against such a measure was in vain, for she resolutelv assured us 
 it would be not only an easy performance, but afford her much satisfaction 
 to ha\e an opportunity of serving me. She procured a piece of wili-wili 
 wood, exceedingly light, about six feet long, and as man\' inches in diam- 
 eter. This she insisted on carrying to the north end of the lake. 
 Xovcl Feat of a Foiiiale Swiminor, 
 
 After wading in until she could swim, she placed the log firmly under 
 her chest, keeping it there with one hand and retaining the sounding line 
 with the other. In this position she struck down the lake, .stopping at in- 
 tervals to let down the line, which she kni:)tted at the surface of the water 
 every time she found the bottom. This done, she would gather up her 
 line, replace her log and resume her course. And she pursued this plan 
 until her task was done. It would be superfluous to .say that this feat ex- 
 cited our admiration, or that we compensated her for her pains. It was the 
 most no\'el exhibition I had ever .seen ; nor could I fully realize it until I 
 remembered that in these islands as in other parts of Polynesia, and the 
 Caribbean Sea, the women and girls are the best swimmers. The Haw- 
 aiians are almost amphibious. Volumes might be written detailing their 
 e.xtraordinar) feats in the water. It is owing to their frequent bathing that 
 man\' of the women of Polynesia display such an exquisite physique. 
 
 A favorite amusement of the I lawaiians is swimming out to sea on boards 
 maile from the bread-fruit tree. It is quite a national sport and \ery ex- 
 citiuLT in rough weather. Ilax'incr swum out to some distance with these 
 boards under their arms, they ride over the breakers on them towards 
 the shore, generally lying face downwards, but the most expert bathers 
 kneel, or even stand up on their boards, mounting each roller at the 
 
ADVENTURES AMONG STRANGE PEOPLE. 
 
 107 
 
 right moment, so .as to keep cxactK- on its curl. They arc also wonder- 
 ful divers. 
 
 Some of the weapons used by the Sandwich Islanders are tathcr cur- 
 ious. In the first place they have the spear, which is made of a chestnut 
 colored wood, which takes a high polish, and is usually barbed at the 
 point and brought to a flattened point at the butt. They are exceedingly 
 skilful in the use of this weapon, not only in throwing it, but in warding 
 off the weapons that arc flung at them. Kamoliameha, the well known 
 king or chief, was celebrated f(jr his skill with the sj)ear. He used to 
 stand with a spear in his right hand in front of six men, also armed with 
 spears. At a given signal they flung their .spears simultaneously at him, 
 when he would strike three aside with the spear in his riglit hand, 
 and catch the other three in his left hand. Our illustration shows 
 the king performing this dangerous and remarkable feat. These spears, 
 which are intended to be thrown, are from si.x to eight feet in length, and 
 are made to fly straight by being tapered gradually from the liead to the 
 butt. There is another kind of .spear, which is used as a pike. This is 
 from twelve to fifteen feet in length, and is not barbed. 
 
 The sling is another of the Sandwich weapons. It is of considerable 
 length, and the receptacle for the stone is made of plaited matting. The 
 .stones are oval in shape, and are ground down for the express purpose, 
 so that the slingers evidently possess much accuracy of aim. There is a 
 modification of the -sling, the use of which .seems to be forgotten at the 
 present day, and even in Captain Cook's time was far from universal. 
 The stone is cut of an oval shape, with a groove round it, much like a 
 lady's tatting-needle, and the cord is passed round the groove with a half- 
 hiteh, so that when the end of the sling is liberated, the .stone flies off 
 Some of the.sc .stones obtained by Captain Cook were made of haematite, 
 or blood-.stone, and were very hea\y, weighing at least a pound. It was 
 rather curious that, although there was little difficulty in purchasing the 
 stones, which must have cost much trouble in making, it was not possible 
 to persuade the natives to part with the cqrd by which they were flung. 
 
 A Barbarous l)a5?Er<*>*« 
 
 Another of their weapons is the dagger. The material of which it is 
 made is a very hard wood, something like ebon\-, and it is shaped niuch 
 like the ordinary steel dagger, except that it has no guard. It is about 
 two feet in length, and is secured to the wrist by a cord passing through 
 a hole at the end of the handle. Some of these daggers are still larger, 
 and double-pointed, being held in the middle like the antelope-horn dag- 
 gsers of India. The weapon has a mournful interest from the fact that 
 
 ti 
 
 m 
 
 f 
 
 
 «f •*•»*■ 
 
 li 
 
 
I] ■ 
 
 itJS 
 
 rARTII, .sr.A, AND SKY 
 
 , 1 
 I 
 
 when Captain Cook was murdorcd his bod)' was pierced with inmimcrahlc 
 woiiiiiK lUo.'tK- iiKidc bv woodtii da!j,ijer.s, tlu)ii;j:h one of the natives had 
 a da;^':^; r made ( f iron, which the)' snatchet.! from each other's hamU in 
 their ea'^fjrnos to inflict fresh wounds. 
 
 Liki- most of tile l'ol\nesian Islands, the Marquesas arc surrounded 
 The inhabitants are splendid specimens of humanity, 
 
 'iti 
 
 witn Cora 
 
 1 reef. 
 
 eei>.. 
 
 the men beini,^ remarkable for their ^ii;antic size, great stren^^th, and fine 
 
 KINO KAMEHAMEHA AND THK SPEARS. 
 
 shape, whicli emulates those of the an::ent Greek statues. One of the 
 chiefs was measured carefully, and was found to be si.\ feet ci^^dit inches 
 in hei^dit. and .said that he knew another chief who was at least a foot 
 taller than himself In general they wear but little raiment, a .sli-rht piece 
 of bark cloth round the wai.st being the only garment which they think 
 needful, tlij place of clothing being supplied b\- the tattoo. There are 
 man\- nations where this decoration is worn ; but there are no peoi)le on 
 
ADVnNTi;RF..S AMONG STRANGE PEOPLE. 
 
 ICO 
 
 the face of the earth who carry it out so fully as do the Marquesans, 
 c\ery part of their bodies, e\en to the crown of the luad and the tin;4i..rs 
 and toes, bcin;^ c<neri(l with the pattern. This extreme elaboration i> 
 onl\- to be founil in the men. the wctnu-n contentin;^ thenisehes w iih a 
 bracelet or two tattooed on their arms, and a few similar ornanuiUs here 
 and there, thus affording a marked contrast to the other sex. 
 
 Sometimes a rich 
 islander v. ill, either 
 from ^\ iierosity, 
 ostcnat i iiu, or 
 love to his wife, 
 make a feast in 
 honor (j1 her u hen 
 she h.is a bracelet 
 tattooeil round her 
 ann.oi- pvMlia;.s her 
 ear ornamented. .\ 
 hoL! i> then killed, 
 and the fri.mls of 
 botli sexes are in- 
 \ited to partake of 
 it, the occasion of 
 the feast bein;.; made 
 known to tliem. It 
 is expected that the 
 >ame courtesy will 
 be rL'tu'iiod in case 
 <»f the w if; f'f any 
 of tliC ^;ue .1-; bein;; 
 punctured. This is 
 on J if the few oc- 
 casions on which 
 women are . lowed 
 to eat ho'.^'s flesh. 
 
 The fi_L;urcs v ith which the body is tattooed arc chosen with f,n-eatcare. 
 and appropriate ornaments are selected for the different parts. They con- 
 sist pn-irtlx- of animals, partly of other objects which have .some refer- 
 ence to the manners and customs of the islands; and every fi^t,ni re has 
 here, as in the Friendly Islands, its particular name. Upon an accurate 
 examination, curved lines, diamonds, and other designs are often distiiig- 
 
 M.AKQUES.AN CHIEF. 
 
 
! mm 
 
 111 
 
 170 
 
 1-^ 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 , t 
 
 
 I. 
 
 : III! 
 
 uishable between rows of punctures, which resemble very much Grecian 
 crnanients. The most perfect symmetry is observed over the whole 
 body. The head of a man is tattooed in every part; the breast is com- 
 monly ornamented with a figure resembling a shield; on the arms and 
 thighs are strips sometimes broader, sometimes narrower, in such direct- 
 ions that these people might be very well presumed to have studied anat- 
 omy, and to be acquainted with the course and dimensions of the muscles. 
 Upon the back is a large cross, which begins at the neck and ends with 
 the last vertebra. In the front of the thigh are often figures whicl. seem 
 intended to represent the human face. On each side of the calf of the 
 leg is an oval figure, which produces a very good effect. The whole, in 
 fact, displays much taste and discrimination. Some of the tenderest parts 
 of the body — the eyelids, for example — are the only parts not tattooed. 
 Each finger has its own pattern, so that the hand looks as if enclosed in 
 a very tight-fitting glove. 
 
 A Singular BiiKiness. 
 
 The mode of tattooing is almost exactly like that of the Samoan 
 islanders, except that the puncturing needle is made of the wing-bone 
 of the tropic bird. The Pijcration is always conducted in certain 
 houses belonging to the profess'onal tattooers, who lay on these buildings 
 a tapu, which renders them unapproachable by women. As is the case 
 in .Samoa, the best tattooers are men cf great importance, and i)aid highly 
 for their services, a Marquesan thinking that he is bound to be liberal to- 
 ward a man to whom he is indebted for the charms which he values so 
 highly. These men gain their skill by practising or the lower orders, 
 who are too poor to pay for being tattooed, and who would rather wear 
 a bad tattoo than none at all. A considerable amount is generally ex- 
 acted al each operation, which lasts from three to six months; and so 
 elaborate is the process, that a really complete tattoo can hardly be finished 
 until the man is thirty years old. 
 
 By the time that the la<t piece of tattoo is executed, the first generally 
 l)cgins to fade, and if the n^an is rich enough he has the pattern renewed. 
 Some men have been tattooed three times, and, as the patterns cannot be 
 made to coincide precisely with each other, the result is that the whole 
 skin b-'comes nearly as dark as that of a negro. In this state it is great!}- 
 admired, not because the «;ffect is agreeable to the eye, but because it is 
 an intlubitable mark of wealth. The pigment used in tattooing is the 
 well-known candle nut, burned to a fine charcoal and mixed with water. 
 
 i I 
 

 1 
 
 rHAx"TF.R VI. 
 WILD TRIBES AND THI<:iR CURIOUS CUSTOMS. 
 
 A Rt.-inarkal)le I'licivilized Nation in Soiiili America— Description of the Araucanians 
 — A Curious Metliod of Siiavinj; — A ILiiry Upper I.ip Tiious;iit to be lli;;lily Iin- 
 proj)er — Disputes Settled by Tulliu^ Hair— Wonun who Paint their Faces— Sav- 
 aj^es who Insist on Etlcjuette- Horses Superbly Decorated— Singular S.Mldle and 
 Stirrups— MarriageCustonis--An Exciiinj; I-^lopenient — A Furious Combat — Ex- 
 pert Horse-back Riders — Using the Lasso— Dangerous Adventure with a Wild 
 I5uil— The Animal in the Toils — Disgusting Caimibalism — Prefeniiig Huitian 
 Flesh to Pork— Old " Turtle Pond"- Savage Atrocity— A Fijian Ue-end— T!ie 
 Fijian Islander's Canoe — An Ingenious Contrivance — Expert Navigation — Na- 
 tives of Borneo— Dyak Pirates— Small Meti of Great Strengtii- I"'\traonlinary 
 Physical ICndurance— American Indians — A Hotly Contested Hal! Cianie—An 
 Old Arab Hunter— Capturing a Hippopotamus — The Ohl " River King" in his 
 Glory — A struggle Against Odds — Daring of the Natives. 
 
 N tile southern j)rirt of South America is a territory occupied by 
 tlic Araucanian nation. This title was given to them by the 
 Spaniards, just as was the name of Pata^onians to their southern 
 j..'^-_Jll neighbors, and, althout;h it is an incorrect one, it has been ac- 
 cepted for so many \'ears that it cannot be conveniently changed for the 
 more correct designation. Tlie people are rather below the middle height, 
 strong, thick-set, broad-chested, and much inferior in point of form to the 
 North American tribes. The head is narrow, anfl low in front, broad and 
 high behind, and the back of the head falls in almost a direct line with 
 the nape of the m ck, a peculiarit\- by which an Araucanian may almost 
 invariably be distinguished. The foot is as remarkable as the heati. It 
 is very short and broad, and rises straight from the toes to the ankle with 
 scarcely any cur\e, so as to produce a /ery high but very clums)' looking 
 instej). 
 
 Most of the Araucanian tribes ha\e but little beard, and what they 
 have they eradicate after the usual fashion of .savages, plucking out the 
 individual hairs instead of shaving. A traveller who had the opportimity 
 of seeing the operation performed thus describes it: At one house where 
 we stojjped I .saw an Indian, w ho at first sight seemed to be a white man, 
 from the fact that his l)eard was grown as though unshaven for a week. 
 He looked red and blotched, and was continually raising his hand to some 
 part of his face, wearing all the while an expression of patient endurance. 
 
 (171) 
 
 'If* 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 -' 
 
 1 
 
 
 »fll ■'■*'■ 
 
M 
 
 I 
 
 i\ 
 
 
 172 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 A close scrutiny showed that he was engaged in shaving. These Indians 
 
 pull out or nip off the beard with small steel tweezers. This instrument 
 
 was originally a clam shell, but, by intercourse with the whites, they ha\ c 
 
 been able to procure a more elegant article. Every dandy carries his 
 
 tweezer" hanging at his neck, and at leisure moments amuses himself b)' 
 
 smoothing his face to the taste of his painted mistress. The arguments 
 
 they use in defence of their treatment of the beard are precisely those 
 
 used by shavelings the world over. 
 
 They do not content themselves with merely removing tiie hair from 
 
 the chin, cheeks, and upper lip, but pull out the ej'elashes and eyebrows, 
 
 substituting instead of the latter a slender curved line of black paint. 
 
 They say that the presence of the eyelashes hinders them in the j)ur>uit 
 
 of bee hunting, a sport of which they are very ft)nd, and on which lluy 
 
 pride themseh'es greatly. Some of the younger warriors ha\e allowed a 
 
 very slight fringe of hair to remain on the upi)er lip, Init the okler cliiefs 
 
 think that it is an innovation on the ancient customs, and (.liscounteiiance 
 
 it as far as they can. Tiie hair of the head is cut short at the top, but is 
 
 allowed to grow long at the sides, in order th it it may be easily gras[)ed, 
 
 just as the North American tribes leave one long lock on the crown of 
 
 the head so as to assist the eneni)' who slays them in getting off the 
 
 scalp. 
 
 I*iilliiif;: Hair to Setth' Disputes. 
 
 When two lads quarrel, they .settle the dispute with a fight, which is 
 
 conducted, not by blows of the fist or with a weai)on, but b}- pulling the 
 
 hair. " Let us ])ull hair, if you are not afraid," cries one of the disfjutants 
 
 to the other. The challenge is never refused. Off goes the poncho, or 
 
 upj)er garment, if they happen to h-: wearing it, the lower garment is 
 
 tucked tightly into the belt, the combatants aliow each other to take a fair 
 
 grasp of the long locks, and the struggle begins. Each tries to twist 
 
 the head of his opponent so as to bring him to the ground, and when 
 
 he has once fallen, the)- loosen their gra-sj), rub the backs of their heads, 
 
 take a fresh grasp, and repeat the struggle until one of them )ields. 
 
 The combat over, all animosity vanishes, and they are good friends 
 
 agam. 
 
 Like that of the men, the hair of the women is divided into two long 
 tails, one of which hangs over each shoulder. The tails are wound 
 round with spiral strings of blue beads, and their ends are connected by 
 a string of twelve or fourteen brass thimbles, which hang side by side, 
 like a peal of bells. Besides thise ornaments, the \\onHn wtar a sort of 
 cap, made entirely of beads, and falling over the back of the head as far 
 
 as th'^ SI 
 thimbles, 
 elal)orate 
 queues ar 
 iiorns, a fi 
 hair in its 
 
 Paint is 
 but ornanii 
 mixed wil 
 The usual 
 eyelids, an 
 scalloped \ 
 and a thin 
 are all rem 
 the women 
 exceeding]' 
 
 Etiquett!. 
 occasion ai 
 ceremonial. 
 domain, exj 
 sliall pa\- h 
 qucnce, so 
 Beiu'Miew t 
 the territor; 
 demand wl 
 traveller aiK 
 brought ou 
 signal was , 
 in a numbe 
 daunted, in 
 attack, whei 
 .'■'omelhing, 
 
 The travc 
 that it was j 
 chief with ; 
 friendship, 
 gift, swt)rc e' 
 to accompar 
 
 ''■«*v^;.'rf»4ii,i 
 
 ifl 
 
WILD TRIBES AND TMEIR CURIOUS CUSTOMS. 
 
 173 
 
 a"? tlv^ .shoulders. Its lower edge is decorated with a row of brass 
 
 thimbles, like that which connects the two queues of the hair. This 
 
 elal)orate head-dress is only worn on great occasions, while ordinarily the 
 
 queues arc wound round the head, the two ends projecting in front like 
 
 iiorns, a fillet, usually studded with beads, being employed to keep the 
 
 hair in its place. 
 
 Faces Painted Ked and Black. 
 
 Paint is worn by both sexes, but chiefly by the women, and is anything 
 but (irnamental. It is invariably of two colors, red and black, which arc 
 mixed with grease, so that they can be applied and removed at pleasure. 
 The usual j)lan is to have a broad red belt from the ear, taking in the cheeks, 
 eyelids, and nose, the lower edge of the belt being sometimes edged and 
 scalloped with black. The eyelids and lashes are also edged with black, 
 and a thin line of the same hue takes the place of the eyebrows, which 
 are all removed except a very fine row of hairs in the centre. Some of 
 the women fiirthcr decorate their faces by spots of black paint, and are 
 exceedingly proud of these ornaments. 
 
 Death Threatened for Breach of Etiquette. 
 
 Etiquette is so highly valued among the Araucanians that on one 
 occasion an I'^nglish gentleman nearly lost his life by neglecting a 
 ceremonial. It seems that every chief, no matter how petty may be his 
 domain, expects that every stranger who passes through his territory 
 siiall pa\- him a tribute. The amount of the tribute is of little conse- 
 quence, so that something is given as an acknowledgement of rank. 
 Bein;;new to the country, the gentleman in question was passing through 
 the territory of a chief, when he was stopped and asked for tribute, a 
 demand which he refu.sed to pay, on the ground that he was only a 
 traveller and not a trader. Thereupon a young man leaped into a cabin, 
 brought out a trumpet made of horn, and blew a blast upon it. The 
 signal was answered in all directions, and from every side there poured 
 in a number of mounted and armed warriors. The traveller was not 
 daunted, in spite of the martial array, ccKked his pistols, and awaited the 
 attack, when his guide ran up to him, and begged him to give them 
 .something, if it were only a pocket-handkerchief 
 
 The traveller saw at once, from the smallness of the suggested present, 
 tint it was a mere question of etiquette, and munificently presented the 
 chief with a jack-knife. Enmity immediately gave way to enthusiastic 
 friendship. The old chief was quite overcome by the splendor of the 
 gift, swore eternal friendship with the traveller, and sent a guard of honor 
 to accompany him for several miles on hi.s way. 
 
171 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 Like the yVmcrican tribes in [general, tiicy have become VvmhJ iful 
 adepts in tile U.-.C of the horse, the chmate, the natives, and tlv.- ]i(,rsi.- 
 scenani;,'" to a^'rec with each otiier in a way which is really jeniar liable, 
 fori.klcrinj^ that the animal is of comparatively late iuLroductiou inti 
 Araucania. Unlike the Pata^jonians, they pride themselves on the massive 
 solidity of the accoutrements with which tiie\' betli/.cn their horses ; and, 
 althou,;h thc\- care little about the individual animals, and are rather hard 
 masters to them, they bedeck the horses in the most l.i.\ish maimer 
 
 rheir saildles are made very much after tlu: fashion emplovi-d by the 
 I'ata;4onians, bcin^ little more than rutle wooden framed. A few skins 
 are laid on the back of the horse, the saddle is placed on them, a saddle 
 cloth of thick le.itiur is tiirown o\'er it. and the whole apparatus is com- 
 plete. The bridle is m;ide, like that of the Pataijonians, of twisted hide, 
 or so-nelimcs of a number of strips of horse-skin plaited tos^cther, a few 
 threads ot silver bein;^ mingletl with them. The bit is generally the 
 ordinar)' .Spanish bit, with its cruelly powerful arrangement of curb ancl 
 ring. 
 
 The stirrups are generally nothing more than a piece of cane twisted 
 into a triangular form, and hung to tlu- saddle by leathern cords; IjmI the 
 wealthy Araucanians ])ride themselves in having these articles of -olid 
 
 silver. 
 
 Sti'siliiifJT a l$rid«*. 
 
 Marriage anicing the Araucanians is an fxld mi.xture of ccemonies. 
 Tlieoreticall}', the bridegroom issupposed to steal his wife against lurc-twn 
 will and in o[)position to the wishes of her parents; [jracticall}-, hebia'sher 
 from her p-arents. who ha\'e long looked upon their daughter as a \aluai)le 
 article, to be soKl to the first purch.a.ser wli>' will give a suftkient price, 
 Sometimes the match is one of affection, :'• ", »oyoungpeopleunderstand- 
 ing eai.h other perfectly well. Music is tl u iial mode by which an A;- 
 aucanian e.\presses his feelings, and the usual instrument is the jews liarj) 
 The lo\cr is never seen without his jews-harj) hanging from his neck, tied 
 ui)on a little block of wood to [prevent itfrom being injured, ami decorated 
 with -firings of many colored beads. l*'urnished with this indispensable in- 
 strument, the lover seats himself at a little distance from the object of his 
 choiei'. and produces a .series of most dolorous sounds, his glances and 
 gestures denoting the individual for whom the\' are meant. 
 
 After a I'ttle while, the lover thinks that he had better proceed to tin? 
 4!Mrriage. .Should he be a weallhy man he has no trouble in the matter; 
 but if not, he :'oes among Ins friends and asks contributions from them. 
 One gives an o.\, another a horse, another apairof silver spurs, and so on. 
 
WILD TKIBICS AND THEIR CURIOUS CUSTOMS. 
 
 1 
 
 ( o 
 
 Tt IS a point of honor to make these contrib'ition.s, anM rqaal'-'so to return 
 tlicin at some time or other, jven if tlio intended bri(Ie<;ro(ini )i,-;s . > wait 
 until in his turn he can sell his eldest gul. Next, the friends oftlu: y(nin<^ 
 man assemble, all mouiUcd on their best liMfscs, andproceed in a bod)- to 
 the house of the girl's father. Five or six of the best speakers dismount 
 and ask permission for the marriage, extolling to the utmost the merits of 
 the bridegroom, and expatiating (mi the liappin-'ss of his daughter on bc- 
 
 AN AKAUCANIAM MARRIAGE. 
 
 ing married to such a man. The father, treating the matter as gravely as 
 if he had not done the same thing himself, makes a speech in his turn. 
 
 All this ceremony is intended to give time to the \ lungmanto huntfor 
 his intended bride, and, until he has found her, they will go on with their 
 speeches. As soon as the young man discovers the girl, hescizes her and 
 drag.s her to the door, while on her part she screams and shrieks for pro- 
 tection. At the sound of her voice all the women turn ovit, armed with 
 sticks, .stones, and any other weapons which come to hand, and rush to 
 
 m 
 
 
^ 
 
 
 ., 
 
 1 
 
 M 
 
 1 
 
 '' 1 
 
 1 !? 
 
 ii 
 
 Ill 
 
 • 
 
 * 
 
 \ 
 
 w 
 
 i7n 
 
 EARTIT. SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 her help. The friends of the brideirroom in their turn run to help their 
 friend, and for some time there is a furious combat, none of the men cscap- 
 inj^j without some sharp bruises, and the girl screaming at tiie top of her 
 voice. 
 
 At last the bridegroom dashes at the girl, seizes her as he can, by the 
 lianil, the hair, or the hei.-ls, as the case may be, drags her to his horse, 
 leaps on its back, pulls her up after him, and dashes off at full speed, 
 fc)llo\ved by his friends. The relatives oftho girl go off in pursuit, but arc 
 constantly checked \)y the frientls of the bridegroom, who keLptluiii back 
 until he has dashed into the forest with his bride. They halt at the skirts 
 of the forest, wait until the sounds of the girl's screams and the g.illoping 
 of the horse have died aua)-, and then disperse. 
 
 The young couple are now left alone until they emerge from the wood 
 on the .second day after the abduction, when they are sujjposed to be man 
 and wife. That all the fighting and screaming are a mere farce, is evident 
 from the fact that, if a man should offer himself who is nut acceptable to 
 the parents of the girl, and should proceed to carr}- her off, one of her rel- 
 atives blows the horn of alarm, as has already been mentif>n'd, and all of 
 the male relatiotis turn out and drive off the intruder. Sometimes, howev- 
 er, he succeeds in gaining the bush before he is caught, an 1 in that case 
 the marriage b>»lds good. Some few days after the marria^/.', tli • friends 
 call on the newh'-married couple, and bring tlie contribuli< n> which they 
 hatl i.Momised The whole party then pro jed to the hor e of the girl's 
 father, antl offer h.M these goods, which are taken as if they \\; re mere of- 
 ferings, and not the price fo<- which the girl was sold. Bein ;• >ati<fu'd with 
 the presents, he expresses himself j)lea.sed with the matter, and congratu- 
 lates the \-oung C(»upK ai'd their friends, 
 
 K\jM*rt f l<»i's(;niaiiship. 
 
 The Araucanians arc admirable ridi.'rs, though their seat would not 
 please an American riding master. They depend entirel)' cii balance for 
 retaining their seat, ?nd seem rather to hang on the horse's back than to 
 hold 1))' any grip if the knee Indeed, a stranger to the countr\- always 
 thinks that an Araucanian rider is on the jioint of being thrown, m> loose 
 is liis seat, wlureas tfte '. ery idea that hecan by any possibilii) be thrown 
 never enters his mind, i Ic and his horse seem one being, actuated by 
 one mind. A traveller once .saw a horse take fright, and lap sideways 
 from the object of terror. Me thought that the rider must be flung by 
 the suddenness of the movement; but, to all appearance, the man took 
 fright and -hied at the same moment: with his horse. 
 
 The Aiaucanians make a free use of the lasso. This terrible weapon 
 
fe»«^' 
 
 WILD TRinF.S AND THEIR CURIOUS CUSTOMS. 
 
 177 
 
 is simple fnouL;h in principle, bcinrj nothing; more than a leather rope, 
 f(trt\* feet in len^^th, with a noose at the end. It is matle of a number of 
 tlionL;s of raw hide, plaited into a round rope, alxnit three-ei_L,duhs of an 
 inch in diameter; so that, althou^di it api^ears wvy slender, it real!}- pos- 
 sesses enormous stren^L^th, and an elephant could scarcely brealc it. When 
 the hasso is to be used, the thrower takes the rin;^ in his left liand, and 
 the lasso in the riL,dU, ami separates his arms j-o as to make a runnini; 
 noose ne.'irly six feet in len;^th. riras])in;^f the vu\<^ and the cortl with his 
 left h;md. he slips his ri^^ht hand ali'n;; the rope so as to double it, and 
 there lipids it. Wlun he throws it, hi: whirls it roniiil his hi'ad until the 
 noose becomes (juite circular, and thin hurls it at ill;' obi.ii, thr( i\\ in;.^ 
 after it the remaintler of the rope, wliic h lias hiui ;;in coils on his left. aim. 
 As it passes through the air, the noo-c bicduies _L;raihially smaller, so 
 that the thrower can always ^M'aduate the diameter of the noose to the 
 object which it is intended to secure. 
 
 Tlirilliiiy: .\<lvrii(ur»'s \\ith \\ ild Aiiinials. 
 
 The skill with which the)- Hiu;.; this noo^r is woiidi'iful, as ma_\ be srcn 
 fi-oin the- folldu in;_;- account of a struj^ijle with an inl"uiialed bull ; the cap- 
 lure of a p.ulicular animal from a herd, withui a ran;.;e of pasture ultciK- 
 unbounded e.\c<pt by miiuntaius and ri\er->, is oft.n difficult, and L;i\es 
 rise to many \er)- e\citin.; and luilicrou> scenes. I'.\cn wlim takm. the 
 captiws are nut ea .\- of niana;j,enurit, their attachment for old associates 
 manifesting itself in fre(|uent attempts to return. 
 
 ( )ne particular l)ull L;a\ e j;reat ti'Uible. lie was a noble fellow, of 
 spotless white — such an one as l)ore the beautiful h.uropa throu;^h the 
 riKenician (k't-p. or siu h an one as mi^^ht be worshipped <in the shores 
 of the Gaiv^es. After a lorn;- time he was lassoed, ami the hoi-sLinan, who 
 luul literall)- taken the bull b)- the horns, started off coinplacentl}' to lead 
 liim to the place of ^^athering. liut his bullship did not take the iJjoing 
 as a mattei- of course; for, with a mad bellow, he charj^^ed ujxin his cap- 
 tor, who, seein;^ a \er\' formidable pair of horns dashini; toward him. 
 started at full ^jallop, still holding fast the lasso, which he in \ain tried to 
 keep taut. The hor.se was jaded, and "old whitey" was fist ^^aininL;. 
 Another Indian bounded forward, and, dexterously throwing his lasso, 
 caught the unoccupied horn, bringing up the pri-^oncr with a round turn. 
 
 The bull was not yet conquered. After plunL;mg, pawing, bellowing, 
 and tossing for a while, lie changed his tactics. Making a rush and a 
 feint at one of his annoyers, he wheeled about suddenly, and nearly suc- 
 ceeded in catching the other on his horns Things were becoming more 
 complicated than ever, when, as the infuriated animal stood head down, 
 12 
 
 3';5j f^#s" i"'*^ 
 

 n 
 
 178 
 
 EARTH, Si:\, ANT) SKY. 
 
 i. 
 
 with his tail >tiick out at an an^lc of fift\'-fi\c de^rfcs, a third horseman 
 canic to th(j attack, and uliirUnir Iiis lasso w ith a jerk, cau-dit the caudal 
 
 •-•\triMiiit\' in a ninnin-jf 
 
 knot. 
 
 A 1)r<»ll Dilciiiiiia. 
 
 Tluisthc two men at the sides were .sale, provitlod that th.- man behind 
 
 <ei)t his i.is.so strained 
 
 But 
 
 I fjuestion in the rule ot three now arose 
 
 f thi 
 
 If three men e.itcli a hull, one by each horn, and one by the tail, and all 
 
 j)idl in diflerent ihrcctions, which way can th 
 
 hich 
 
 bu 
 
 11 
 
 . o line .see 
 
 nied 
 
 able to work out the answer: b",t a man named Katrilas was ready for 
 all emergencies, and, dismountin|^^ he started to the assistance of his 
 companions, armed with a lon;4- lanei- and ai'; old poncho. Runnintj 
 I)erore the bull, he threw the poncho on the j^Mound, a few i)aces in front, 
 the men behind slacketietl a little, and the bellowing; cai)ti\i' made a des 
 perate plunL;e' at the red cloth. A jerk- on the Liil stopped further i)ro- 
 <^res.s, till Kati'ilas, pickiiiL; up the [)oncho on the tip of the lance, tossed 
 
 il several vardi in advance. 
 
 11 
 
 lere was another slackenin 
 
 th 
 
 another 
 
 jerk, and so on, until the "critter" was brou_;lit to tlu; ilesircil spot. 
 
 The n.xl trouble was to loo.se the capti\e. Sundry scientific pulls 
 brouj^dit hnn to the !.;round, and Katrilas, springin;^- f irward, stripi)ed tlu- 
 lassos from his horns. Ikit another remained on the tail. That no one 
 would venture to untie, f)r the bull had risen, and stood rrl.arimr franti- 
 calk' aroimd. An hulian, unsheathinLT iiis loni: knife, ran full tilt at the 
 extended tail, and with one- blow severed the greater part of that useful 
 member from ih^ bodw The la.st was litiially the " unkindest cut of all." 
 The poor biute was fiirly conquered, lb.' stootl with head hanging, e\e- 
 glariuL;. the . mguc lolling from his frothy mouth, his <mcc spotless coat 
 defiled with l.)am and dirt, while the (.Irip, driji. drip, of the warm blood 
 upon his heeU rendered the abjectncss of his miser\- complete. 
 
 Ilorril)]o (*aiiiiil>alisni. 
 
 We naturally associate cannibalism with the South Sea Islanders, 
 especially the I-'ijians. The nati\e Fijians are ele\-er enough at conceal- 
 in.: the existence of cannibalism when the\' find tliat it shocks the white 
 
 men. 
 
 A !• 
 
 uroi)ean eotton-^rower, who had tried unsuecessfui]\' t « intn 
 
 1, after a tolerabl)' ItMig ixv^ide 
 
 li.iee the culture of cotton into I'iji, foi.iiu 
 
 tlial fiur or fivi" human beings were killed and I'aten wi-ekly. Tl 
 
 plent\' of food in the place, pigs were num 
 
 ■nee 
 
 lere wa- 
 
 ei-ous, and fish, fruit antl \ege- 
 t.ibles abundant. Ihit the pjeopleate human loodies as often as the)- could 
 get them, not from any superstitious moti\e, but simply becau.se the\- 
 j)referred human flesh to pork. Many (^f the people actually takj a pride 
 in the number oi' human bodies which they have eaten. One chief was 
 
WILD TRIBRS AND THKIR Cl'RIOUS CUSTOMS. 
 
 179 
 
 looked upon with ^ncat respect on account of his fats of cannibahsm, 
 and the people ^^avc iiini a title of honor. They called him the Turtle- 
 pond, coniparin^t^ his insatial)le stomach to the pond in which turtles are 
 lapt ; and so proud were they of his deeds, that they even _L;a\e a name 
 .if honor to the bodies brouj^ht for his consumption, calling them the 
 ■ Contents of the Turtle-pond." 
 
 -V <'as<> 4>r Sliockiii^' A<n>fi(j. 
 
 One man gained a L;n at name among his peo[)lc by an act of peculiar 
 atrocity. I le told his wife to build an oven, to fetch hre-wood for heating 
 it, aiul to prepare a bamboo knife. .\s soon as she had concluded her 
 labors hei' hu^balld killed her, and baked her in the oven which h.'r own 
 hamls had prepared, and afteiuard ate lur. .Somttinits a man h.is been 
 known to take a\ictini, bind him hand and foot, cut .slices from his arms 
 AA'\ k.-gs. and cat them before his eyes. Indceil, the h'ijians are so inord- 
 ;iiate!\- \ain, that the\' will do an)-thing, no matter h< iw horribli', in urder 
 I I j^ain a nameamon,,^ their p.'ople. Cannibali.'.m is ingraaud in t!ie\ery 
 nature of a I'ijian, and i \tends through all clas>es (>f societw It i-> true 
 that there are Mnue persons who ha\e ne\,er eaten (loli, but there is 
 always ;i reason fir it. I'.\ery I'ijian ha-^ his sjji.-cial ;;od, who i-; supp(.).sed 
 to ha\e his residence in Mime animal. ( Uu- gml, fir cxampK', li\ts in a 
 rat, as ^\■e ha\c alirad)' seen ; anotlu'r in a sh.irk ; and >o on. Ilu.' wor- 
 shipper of that god nr\er cats the am'mal in w liich hi> di\ inity resides; 
 and as some gotls arc sujjposed to reside in human bodies, tlieir wor- 
 shipjjers ne\er eat the flesh of man. 
 
 .Nccording to the accounts of some {>f the ohK.-r chiefs, there, was a 
 time when cannibalism did not exist. Many )'ears ago. -ome strangers 
 hmn a distant land were blown upon the shores of l-'iji,and received hos- 
 [litabK' b\- the' i'-landers, w ho incorporated them into their own tribes, and 
 made much (f them. lUit, in process of time, these people became to(j 
 pciwerl'ul, killed the h'ijian chiefs, took tlu'ir wi\es and propert)-, and 
 iHuiped their oIVkw In this emergene\- thepeoi)Ie consulted the priests, 
 who ."-aid that the h'ijians had Ijrought their misfortunes u[)on themselves. 
 They had alU)wed strangers to live, wheri'as, " h'iji for the I'ijians" was 
 tile -j-olden :ule, and from that time e\-er\- male .stranger \\a.> to be killed 
 and eaten, ami e\ery woman takin as a w ife. 
 
 Terrihle SacrHicc of lliiinan fAi'v. 
 
 A- the Fijians set such a\ahie on human ilesh, it is to b..' expected 
 that tluy will iiuent a \arii't\' of excuses for obtaining it. For example, 
 when a chief builds a house, he kills at lea-^t one hum.m \-ictim to cele- 
 brate the event. If he builds a large war canoe, a series of sacrifices 
 
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 EARTH, Sr:A, AND SKY 
 
 takes j)Iace. A man is kilLd, for cxnniplc. wiuii the keel is laid, and, if 
 tlie chief be a very powrrfL;! one, he will kill a \ictini as each plank is 
 fixed in its place. I'Aeii when it i^ finished the slau'^diti.r is not over, as, 
 in the first place, the planks of the new vessel have to he washed with hu- 
 
 ncxt. the launch must he connneinoratrd in tlu 
 One chief s/ained sonic notoriet\' li\' hindinv 
 I luuninr of nicii, and la\in'.r them side !)\- de alontr the shore to act a 
 
 iiian blood, and in tlu 
 same ua)- a-; the buiKIiii; 
 
 I I HAN CA.NOH IX A STIFF I'.KKHZF 
 
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 .Spcakinr ofth • I^ijian canoi', which i.ia\* be called one of the institiit 
 
 lull- 
 
 of thtj countrx', the best exampK: is the double canoe, where two boats an' 
 placed side In* side. The two canoes arc covered over, so as to keep out 
 the water, aiul are connected by a iilatform which projects over the outer 
 cdi;es of both boats. Hatchways are cut through the platform, so as tu 
 
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WIFT) TRIRES AND TIIi:iR CTRIdUS Cl'STOMS. 
 
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 ciKiMc the sailors to pass into the interior of the cano -s. In the illustru- 
 li'>n a man is slxu enierL;in;4 from the hat', h ofUu; outer i an or. Upon this 
 platform is erected a sort of ileck-house fn' the principal person (,n hoaril, 
 and on the top of the deck-house is a platform i>n whiJi stantls the ca[)- 
 taiii of the ve.->>el, so that he may j.d\e liis orders from this elevated po>,i- 
 ti'iM, like the captain of a steamboat from the paddK-hnx orhriil-e. Thi^ 
 j)o»iti<'n also enables him to trace the course of the turtle if they should b.. 
 < njija-ed in the profitable chase of that reptile. 
 
 The mode Mfniana^inti the vessel is (.•.xtrenulv in-'eiiious. The shirt 
 mast works on a pi\ot at the foot, and can be slacked over to eidier end of 
 the n'cs^jI. When the canoo is about to iret under wav, the lunf \ard is 
 drawn up to the he.idofthe nia^t, and tin* latter inclined, so tli.it the mast, 
 the yard and the deck form a lrian;^le. The hal\'ardsare tlun made fast, 
 and act as stays. When the vessel is wanted to [40 about, the mast is 
 slacked off to the other end so that the stern becomes the bow, the tack 
 and the sheet change jilacesand a\\a\* j^ocs the\essel on the other course, 
 
 31<'rr.v HoatiiMMi Siiiy:iii;; Soiijjs. 
 
 It will be seen that such a canoe sails e([ually well in either direction, 
 and, therefore, that it can be steered from either vml. The rudder is a\ery 
 iarL^e oar, .some twenty L'et in len;^lh, of which the blade occupies ei;;ht, 
 and is si.xteen inches wide. The leveraL;e of such an oar is trt'memlous, 
 and, in a stiff gale, se\eial men an; recpiired to work it. In order to rc- 
 liev'c them in some de;4ree, ruckli;r-bands are used , but e\en with this as- 
 sistance the men have tlifricidt}' in keepiui; the canoe to her course, and 
 are nearly sure to recei\'e s(Miie \er}- sliarp blows in the sitle from the han- 
 dieof the steerinij oar. Sometimes a sutlden j^ust ofwind, ( >r a lai;,;e wave, 
 will Iirinij rouiul the rudtler with such \iolence that the handle strikes a 
 man in the side and kills him. With all these" drawbacks, car.oe sailin;.^is 
 a favorite occupati<)n with the l'"ijians, who are as merry as possible while 
 on board, sinj^ing sone^s to encourai^^e the steersman, watchin;^ waves and 
 L^ivini.^ notice of them, and addin;^ to the joyous tumult by beatint^ any 
 drum that they nia\' happen to ha\e on board. E\en when the wiml fails, 
 and the canoe has to be propelled b\' t>olin;^ ifshe should be in shoal wa- 
 teT, or by .scullint^ if she should be too lar out at sea for the ]>. iles, the crew 
 ilo their work in i^ani^s, which are relie\-ed at re;^^ular interwiN, those who 
 are re.stinij sinj^dn;.^^ sou'^s ami encouraL^in;^^ those who are at work. 
 
 I''<Tn«'ify <>r l>yak I'irute.s. 
 
 With the exception <f Australia, which ma>' take rank as a CfMitinent, 
 liorneo is the lart;est island in the world. It is situated in the troj)ics, the 
 equator passin;^ nearlv'throui^di the centre of it, and forms the centre cjfthe 
 
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 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 Indian Archipelago. Until late years, scarcely anything was known of 
 Borneo, but since the late Sir James Brooke accomplished his wonderful 
 scries of exploits against the piratical tribes that infested the coast for more 
 than a thousand miles, and destroyed all commerce, the country has been 
 tolerably explored, and the manners and customs of its inhabitants 'nves- 
 tigated. It is thought that the number of Dyaks (as the natives of Bor-' 
 nco are called) does not exceed forty thousand, many tribes of which have 
 never been near the sea. The sea Dyaks are about three times as numer- 
 ous as the land D}-aks, and are at the present day much what the old sea- 
 kings were in days gone hy. They are essentially a nation of rovers, li\-- 
 ing by pirac\-. They are taller than the Land Dyaks, who seldom exceeti 
 five feet six inches in height, and much fairer in complexion. The skin of 
 the Land Dyak is brown, whereas that of the Sea Dyak is many shades 
 lighter, and has been comparedtothe color of a n^^w saddle — ahue which 
 admirabh' suits the well-developed forms of these people. They are very 
 proud oftheir complexion, and the women are fond ofanexcuse for throw- 
 ing off the jackets whicli they wear, in order to e.vhibit their smooth satiny 
 skins, polished and shining as if of new bronze. 
 
 Pirates aiul tlioir Boats. 
 
 In order to show at a glance the appearance of various t''ibes of Bornc- 
 ans, two D}'aks are represented in the engraving, llu' left hand figure 
 represents an Illinoan pirate. These men are found on the n^ >rth-western 
 coast of Borneo, not very much above the island of Labuan. The Illino- 
 ans possess many large and formidable war boats, which are armed in the 
 bows with a \er\- large gun, and ha\-e, after the fashion of Bornean boats, 
 an upper deck, whicli serves asaj^latform for the combatants and a shelter 
 for the rowers, who sit beneath. There is a small cabin astern tor the cap- 
 tain, abr)ut the size of a dog kennel, but the boats ha\e no other sleeping 
 accommodation. The paddles with which the rowers j)ropcl the vessel are 
 shaped rather curiously, looking at a distance like mere sticks with flat 
 disks of wood fastened to their ends. The boats arc steered by an oar 
 rudder at the starboard side of the stern, and each is furnished with a mast 
 and huge sail, which can be raised in a few minutes and struck in almost 
 as many seconds. Although the Illinoans arc wealth}- tribes, and possess 
 quantities of fire-arms, they are rather afraid to use these weapons, and 
 trust in preference to the spear and parang. 
 
 The Illinoans were instrumental in the murder of twonatiw chiefs who 
 were friendly to the F.ngHsh, and who had been su.spected of aitling the 
 cession of Labuan. Oneofthem, named Bud-ruddeen, a man of celebrity 
 as a warrior, did not fall unavenged. When the enemy approached he re- 
 
 tired to his 
 whom Vvou 
 to the very 
 dangerousl 
 inner chani 
 
 and then, fir 
 there in rcac 
 The othe 
 south-easter 
 of the men. 
 
WILD TRIBES AN'3 THEIR CURIOUS CUSTOMS. 
 
 183 
 
 tired to his house, totjether with his faxorite wife ant! his sister, neither of 
 whom would lea\e him. By theaidofhis followers, he fought desperately 
 to the very last, until nearly all his men were killed, and he himself was 
 dani^erously wounded. He then retired with his wife and sister into an 
 inner chamber, while the enemy crowded into the house in search of hi n 
 
 AN ILLIXOAN TIRATl': AND SAGIIAI HVAK. 
 
 and then, firing his pistol into a barrel of gunpowder which he had placed 
 there in readiness, blew to pieces himself, his two relatix'es, and his enemies. 
 The other figure represents a Saghai Dyak. This tribe lives on the 
 south-eastern coast of Borneo, and is remarkable f )r the superb costumes 
 t)f the men, who ha\e about them an air of barbaric splendor, which they 
 
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 184 
 
 EARTH, SEA. AND SKY. 
 
 are exceedingly fond of displaying. Wearing in common with all Dyaks, 
 the chawat or waist cloth, they take a pride in adorning themselves with 
 short <■ ii:s made of tiger or leopard skin, or rich and embroidered cloth; 
 while on their heads they wear magnificentcapsmadeof monkey-skin, and 
 decorated with the beautiful feathers of the Argus pheasanc, two of the 
 largest feathers being placed so that one droops over each ear. All these 
 r3yaks have a very singular profile, in consequence of their habit of filing 
 their teeth and so reducing their bulk, those who have concave teeth pre- 
 senting the most curious outline. 
 
 Comparatively slight and ft;eble as the Dyaks look by the side of the 
 stalwart an^l muscular European, their strength is really wonderful, and 
 enables them to perform tasks which the powerful white man could not 
 by any possibility achieve. On a journey, when a European has fallen 
 from sheer fatigue, a Dyak has taken the burden with which the fallen 
 man was laden, and added it to his own, without seeming to display any 
 particular sense of having increased his own labor ; and when the stran- 
 ger, in spite of the relief, has lain down in absolute inability to move, a 
 little wiry Dyak, has picked him up, put him on his back, and proceeded 
 on his journey with perfect ease. 
 
 Aiiiaziii;ijr Strength of liittle Dyaks. 
 
 The Dyaks are able, in some astonishing manner, to penetrate with 
 compaiative ease through jungles which are absolutely impervious to 
 luu'opeans. One of these men, while on the man h with .some English 
 soldiers, exhibited his strength in a very unexpected manner. The path 
 was a terrible one, all up and down steep and slippery hills, so that the 
 Chinese coolies who accompanied the party first threw away their rice, 
 and lastly sat down and H'ept like v "dren. The English sergeant, a vet- 
 eran, accustomed to ha-d marching, both in China and India, broke down 
 at the first hill, and declared his inability to move another step under the 
 load which he carried. The commander of the party asked one of the 
 Dyaks to carry the sergeant's burden, and promised him an additional 
 piece of tobacco. The man was delighted with the proposal, and accepted 
 it. He was already carrying food for three weeks, his whole store of 
 clothes, one twelve-pound shot, two twelve-pound cartridges, a double- 
 barrelled gun, a hundred rounds of ball cartridge, and his own heavj' 
 sword and spear. Such a load as this, which would be almost too great 
 even for a man walking on good roads, .seemed a mere trifle to the agile 
 Dyak, who went lightly and easily up and down paths which the for- 
 eigners could hardly traverse even without having to carry anything ex- 
 cept their own weight. 
 
WILD TRIBES AND THEIR CURIOUS CUSTOMS. 
 
 185 
 
 So little indeed, was he incommoded, that he strapped the whole of the 
 sergeant's kit on his back, and walked off as easily as if the whole load 
 were but a feather weight. No one who has not actually trax'erscd those 
 paths can form an idea of the miseries attending the journey. The j)aths 
 themselves are bad enough, but in addition to the terribly severe labor of 
 walking, the traveller has to endure mosquitoes, sand-flies, intense heat 
 at mid-day, \nd intense cold at night, thirst, wet, and every imaginable 
 discomfort. 
 
 Yet the native seems quite easy in the journey, and gets over the 
 ground in a manner that is absolutel}' exasperating to foreigners who 
 accompany him. He is able to push his way through prickly thickets 
 and morasses in a way which seems almost inpenetrable. Indeed, he says 
 himself that it is impenetrable, and that he achieves these feats by means 
 of certain charms v/hich he carries about with him. 
 
 Physical Feats of Savage Tribes. 
 
 The extraordinary agility of the natives of Borneo finds a rival in the 
 physical endurance and rem.arkable nimbleness of our own Indian tribes. 
 The game which is most characteristic of the American Indians is the 
 celebrated ball game, a modification of which goes under the name of La 
 Crosse. The principle on which it is played is exactly that of foot-ball 
 and hockey, namely, the driving of a ball through a goal defended by the 
 opposite party. We will describe the game as it is played by the Choc- 
 taws. 
 
 A ball is carefully made of white willow wood and ornamented with 
 curious designs drawn upon it with a hot iron. The ball-sticks, or rac- 
 quets, are much like our own racquets, but with larger and more slender 
 handles, and with a very much smaller hoop. Each player carries two 
 of these sticks, one in each hand. The dress of the players is very simple, 
 being reduced to the waist-cloth, a tail made of white horse-hair or quills, 
 and a mane of dyed horse-ha-'r round the neck. The belt by which the 
 tail is su.stained may be as highly ornamented as possible, and the player 
 may paint himself as brilliantly as he likes, but no other article of cloth- 
 ing is allowed, not even moccasins on the feet. 
 
 On the evening of the appointed day, the two parties repair to the 
 ground where the goals have already been set up, some two hundred 
 yards apart, and there perform the ball-play dance by torchlight. Ex- 
 actly in the middle between the goals, where the ball is to be started, sit 
 four old medicinemen, singing and beating their drums, while the players 
 are clustered round their respective goals, singing at the top of their 
 voices, and rattling their ball-sticks together. This dance goes on dur- 
 
 
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 lit * 
 
 186 
 
 EARTH, SEA AND SKY. 
 
 in^ the whole of the ni<^ht, so tliat the players are totally deprived of 
 rest — a very bad preparation, as one would think, for the severe exertion 
 of the eiisuini^ day. All the bets are made on this nii^ht, the article 
 staked, such as knives, blankets, t;uns, cookin;^ utensils, tobacco, and 
 even lu)rses and doc^s, beii\L( placed in the custt)dy of the stakeholders, 
 who sit by them and watch them all ni^^iit. 
 
 The Kxeitiii^ Coiitost IJoj^^ius. 
 
 About nine o'clock on the next mornin;^ the play be<jins. The four 
 medicine men, with the ball in their custody, seat themselves as before, 
 midway between the !_^oals, while the players arran;^e themselves for the 
 attack and defence. At a i^iven sii^nal the ball is ilun;^ hiyh in the air, 
 ami as it falls, the two opposin;^ sets of pla)'ers conversj^e upon it. .Vs 
 there are often sc\eral hundred pla)-. rs on each sitle, it may be imagined 
 that the scene is a most animated one. 
 
 In these desperate .strut;q;les for the ball, where hundreds are rumiinLj 
 to,;ether, and leapin;^ actually o\er each other's heads, and darting be- 
 tween their atkersaiies' legs, irii)ping, and throwing, and foiling each 
 other in e\er\- possible maimer, and ev'ery voice raised to its highest key, 
 in shrill yelps and barks, there are rniMd successions of feats and incidents 
 that astonish and amuse far beyond he conceptit)n of an}' one wlu) has 
 not hatl the singular good luck to witness them. 
 
 Tn these struggK;s, e\ cry mode is used that can be dex'ised to oppose 
 the progress of the foremost, who is likely to get the ball; and these ob- 
 structions often ine.'t tlesperate indi\'idual resistance, which terminates in 
 a violent scuflh'.an 1 sonietimes in fisticuffs. Then their sticks are drop-pcd, 
 and the i)cUlies are umnolested, whilst they are settling it between them- 
 sel\-es, except by a general stampede to which those are sul)ject who are 
 ilown, if the ball ha^jpen to pass in their direction, lu'cry ^vea[)on, by a 
 rule of ail ball jilax-ers, is laitl b\' in tlie respective encam[)ments, and no 
 man is allowed to go for one; so that the sudden broils that take place 
 on the gror.nd are presumed to be as sucklenly settled without any proba- 
 bilit\' of personal injur}', and no one is allowed to interfere in any way 
 with the contentious indi\'iduals. 
 
 A Very Lively Seriiuinag-e. 
 
 There are times when the ball gets to the ground, antl sucl: a confused 
 mass is rushing together around it, and knocking their sticks together 
 without a possibilit}' of anyone getting or .seeing it for the dust that the}' 
 raise, that the spectator loses his strength, and ever}'thing but his senses; 
 when the condensed mass of ball sticks and shins and bloody noses is car- 
 ried around the different parts of the ground, for a quarter of an hour at a 
 
 ^^ i 
 
WILD TRIBES AND THEIR CURIOUS CUSTOMS. 
 
 18V 
 
 time, without any one of the masses being able to see the ball, uhich 
 they are often scuffling for several minutes after it has been thrown (^(( 
 and played over another part of the ground. 
 
 For each time that the ball was passed between the L;oals of either 
 part)', one was counted for their game, and they halted for about one 
 minute when the ball was again started by the judges ul" the l)la\-, and a 
 similar struggle ensued ; and so on until the successful part)- ani\(.d at 
 
 A\ i:XCiriN(i INDIAN UAI.L (iA.Mi:. 
 
 lOO, which was the limit of the play, when they took the stakes. In this 
 game the players are not allowed to strike the ball with their sticks, or 
 catch it in their hands; though to do so between the netted ends of the 
 sticks, and then to run away with it, is a feat \\ hich each player tries his 
 best to accom[)lish. 
 
 Sometimes the men are kind enough to indulge the women with a ball- 
 play, and to present a quantity of goods as prizes, hanging them across a 
 a horizontal pole, in order to stimulate the players by the sight. Such 
 
 
 
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 1^ 
 
 188 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV 
 
 inferior beings as women arc not, however, allowed to use the ball and rac- 
 quet of their superiors, the men, but play with a couple of small ba_i;s filled 
 with sand, and attached to each other by means of a string about eighteen 
 inches in length. ICach of the pla\'ers is furnished with two slight sticks, 
 about two feet in length, and with these sticks the)- dexterously catch the 
 sandbags, and ih'ng them toward '.':e goals. The women play withciuite a-; 
 much enthusiasm as the men, and ti. ■ game often assumes the appearance 
 of a i'"eneral battle rather than of a i)astime. 
 
 A Ileniarliablo Old Iliiiitor. 
 
 The strength and agility vvdiich characterize the savage tribes extentl 
 in many instances into advanced age, so that at a period of life when 
 civilized races would expect only feebleness and bodily decay, we find 
 those races which live nearest to a state of natu'-e exhibiting suri)rising 
 bodily vigor. Baker, in his animated narrative of his travels through 
 Africa, gives a picturesque description of an old native engaged in the 
 dangerous pursuit of hunting the hippopotamus. 
 
 He says: One of the old llamran hunters, named Abou Do — an ab- 
 breviated version of a very long string of names — was celebrated as a 
 howarti, or hippopotamus hunter. This fine old man, some seventy years 
 of age, was one of the finest corceivible specimens of humanit}-. In 
 spite of his great age, his tall form, six feet two in height, was as straight 
 as in early youth, h's gray locks hung in thick curls over his shoulders, 
 and his bronze features were those of an ancient statue. Despising all 
 encumbrances of dress, lie stepped from rock to rock as lightly as a goat, 
 and, dripping with water, and bearing his spear in his hand, he looked a 
 very Neptune. The hunters came upon a lierd of hippopotami in a pool, 
 but found that they were too much awake to be .safcK' attacked. 
 The Veteran Plunges into the Torrents. 
 
 About half a mile below this .spot, as we clambered over the intcrxcn- 
 ing rocks through a gorge which formed a powerful rai)id, I observed, in 
 a small pool iust below the rapid, an immense head of a hippopotamus 
 close to a per^. ;ndicular rock that formed a wall to the ri\er, about six 
 feet abo\e the surface. I j)ointed out the hippo to old Abou Do, who 
 had not seen it. At once the gravity of the old Arab disappearctl, and 
 the energy of the hunter was exhibited as he motioned us to remain, 
 while he ran nimbly behind tho thick screen of bushes for about a lum- 
 dred and fift;\' \-ards below the spot where the hippo was unconsciously 
 basking, with his head above the surface. Plunging into the rapid tor- 
 rent, the veteran hunter was carried so;ne distance down the stream, but, 
 breasting the powerful current, he landed upon the rocks on the opposite 
 
 side, ai 
 toward 
 fine xk 
 Iiij:)po, 
 
 Abo I 
 he had 
 
 fll 
 
WILD TRinES AND THEIR CURIOUS CUSTOMS. 
 
 ISO 
 
 side, and, rctirin;.; to some distance from the river, he quic]-;!)- advanced 
 toward the spot beneath wliich tiie hippopotamus was l\■inL,^ I had a 
 fine \iew (if the scene, as I was lyintj concealed exactl)' opposite the 
 hippo, who had disappeared beneath the water. 
 
 Abou D(j now stcakhily approached the ledge of rock IxMieath which 
 he had expected to see tJ\e head of the animal ; his li)nL,-,sine\v)- arm was 
 
 THE OLD ARAB ATTACKING TIIE HirPOPOTAMUS. 
 
 raised, with the harpoon read\' to strike as he carefully advanced. At 
 length he reached the edge of the perpendicular rock, the hippo had van- 
 ished, but, far from exhibiting surprise, the old Arab remained standing 
 on the sharp ledge, unchanged in attitude. 
 
 No figure of bronze could have been more rigid than that of the old 
 river-king, as he stood erect upon the rock with the left foot advanced, 
 
 V14.1 
 
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 ino 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 and the liarpion poised in his '-^ady ri;^ht hand above his head, while m 
 the I'Tc lie heltl ihe loose coils f.f rope attachetl to the anihatch buoy. 
 Vor about three minute.; lie stood like a statue, t,^azin_L^ intently into the 
 clear and deep water beneath his feet. 
 
 I watclu.'d ea;^ferl\' forth.' reappearance of the hippo; the surface of 
 the water was still barreMi, when suddenly the right arm of the statue 
 descended like Iit;htninc,f, and the liarpoon shot perpendicularl)- into the 
 pool with the speed of an arrow. What river-fiend answered to the suiu- 
 nions ? In an instant an enormous pair of open jaws appcarcil, f illowed 
 b\' the uuL^ainly head and form of the furious hi}:)popotamus, who, s[)rinL;- 
 in;4 half out c^f the water, lashed the river into a foam, and, disdaining;- 
 the concealment of the deep pool, he charged straight up the \iolent 
 rapids. With extraordinary power he breasted tlie descendiuij stream ; 
 gaining a footing in the rapids, about (\\c feet deep, he ploughed his way 
 against the broken wa\-es, si:ndingthem in showers of .sj)ray upon all sitles, 
 and upon gaining broader shallows he tore ah^nij through the water, with 
 the buo\-ant float hopping b.-hintl him along the surface, until lie landed 
 from till- ri\-er, started at full gallop ahjng the dry shingly bed, and at 
 length disappeared ''n the thorny jungle. 
 
 The 3lii<l<l<MUMl Ii«>;isl ("liarj'iiij'' at Mis Foes. 
 
 During one of these llights, the hippopotamus tO(.)k it into his head, 
 that the ambatch f \'it was the enemy that was damaging him, and 
 attacked it furiously. Taking athantage of his pre-occupation, two hun- 
 ters swam across the ri\-cr, carr\-ing with them a \cvv long cuid toui'h 
 rope, and holding one end on each bank and " sweeping," as the sailors 
 .sa}', they soon caught the float in the centre of the rope and brought it 
 ashore. The hippopotamus then made a charge, and the slackenciJ 
 line was immediately coiled round a rock, while two hunters fi.xed 
 additional harpoons in the animal ; and though he made si.K charges at 
 his f)es, bit one of the ropes asunder, and crushed the lance-shafts 
 between his teeth like straws, the hard}' hunters got the better of him, 
 and his death was onl}- a matter of time. 
 
 In the water, the crocodile is e\('i^ a more dangerous antagonist th;in 
 the hippopotamus, and yet the Ilamrans attack it with their harpoons, 
 boldly entering the water, and caring no more for crocodiles than fir so 
 man\' frogs. 
 
 The great agility of some sa\-age tribes is wonderfully displa}-ed in 
 their \-arious dances, many of which, while being' wild and grotescpie, aiv 
 yet such as to astonish the beholder. A traveller gi\'es us a \-i\'id picture 
 of a scene witnessed once among the D\-aks. Two warriors had been 
 
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 192 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 (l.incii\i; in a riiv^^ wIk-ii, acconliiiL; to custom, luiinau heads just captured 
 in battle were suddenly presented. 
 
 The appearance of the heads \\as a si<;n for the music to play louder, 
 for the war crv of the natives to be more energetic, and f >r the scream^ 
 of the danceis to be more piercing. Their motions now became more 
 ra[)id, and the excitement in proportion. Their e}'es glistened with 
 unwonted brightness, the i)erspiration dropped down their faces; and 
 thus did N'elling, dancing, gongs, and tom-toms become more rapid ami 
 more \iolcnt ever\' minute, till the dancing warriors were ready to droj). 
 A farewell \ell, with emphasis, was gi\-en In- the surrounding warriors; 
 immediately the music ceased, the danceis disa[)[)eared, and the tumultu- 
 ous excitcnuiit and noi-^e were succeeded by a d 'ad silence. 
 
 -V ([uai'ter of an hour elapsed, and the |)reparations were made for 
 another martial tiance. This was performed b\' two of the Rajah's son^. 
 They came forward, each luu ing on his arm one of tlie large D)-ak 
 shields, and in the centre of the cleared space were two long swords l\'in;.;- 
 on llij floor. The ceremc^ny of shaking hands was g(nic through ; the 
 music then struci: up, and they entered the arena. 
 
 Nimble .■>Iov«'iu<'iits and Loml AVar ('ri<'s. 
 
 At first the}- confined themseh'cs to e\-olutions of defence, springing 
 Uou\ cine side to tlie other with wonderful cpiickness, keeping tlu.i;- 
 shields in front of them, falling on one knee, and perf)rming \arious 
 feats of agility. After a short time, the\' each seized a sword and th.n 
 the display was \-ery remarkable, and proved what ugl\' customers the)- 
 nnist be in single conflict. Biows in even- direction, feints (.f ever\- 
 description, were made by both, but inwiriably received upon the shield. 
 Cumbrous as these shields were, no oi)ening was left; retreating, pursu- 
 ing, dodging, and striking, the body was never exposed. 
 
 Occasional!}-, during this performance, the war cr}' was given b}' tiic 
 surrounding warriors, but the combatants held their peace; in fact, the}- 
 could not ai'ford to open their mouths, lest a point should be exposed. 
 It was a most masterly performance. 
 
 After a while these performers became too tired to proceed without 
 refreshment, and their place was taken by four or five others, carrying 
 blocks of wood having a feather at each end. The foreign guests took 
 tiiese objects to represent canoes, but were told that they were rhinoceros 
 hornbills, and were thought by all competent judges to be fine works of 
 art. Suddenly a number of gongs were beaten, and over the mass of 
 human beings arose swords, heads, rhinoceros hornbills, and cat-o-nine- 
 tails in profusion, the Dyaks being for the time half mad with excitement 
 
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chapter vii. 
 curiositip:s of the animal kingdom. 
 
 iVonderful Revelations in Natural History — Vast Multitudes of Living Creatures- 
 Earth, Air and Water tlie Home of Life— Colossal Monstersof Forest and Junj^lc 
 — The Towering Giraffe— Ludicrous Movements— A Ikautiful Creature— Pouf.r 
 of Seif-Defense— The Giraffe in the Old Roman Circus— A Swift Chase and 
 Capture — The Striped Zebra— The Most Beautiful of Quadrupeds — The King of 
 Portugal and his Four Zebras— A Creature Hard to be Tamed— Animal Sacri- 
 fices in Eastern Countries — The Ponderous Rhinoceros — Made to Fig'.it in tlie 
 Roman Coloseum — A Monster Almost Iron Plated — Haunts of the Clumsy 
 Beast — Hunting the Rhinoceros — I-^atal Stroke with a Sword — Story of a Terri- 
 ble Encounter — The Voracious Crocodiles— Killed at Roman Games — Arabj 
 Wounded by Crocodiles — A Friendly Bird— Tlie Attack with a Dagger -The 
 Famous Gavial of India— A Reptile on Wind's — The Flying Frog— A Reptile 
 with Exquisite Colors. 
 
 AVTNG given a full description of the antediluvian world and 
 the sinf:jular animals — monsters they may truly be called — 
 which inhabited it ; havin^; depicted *he extraordinary changes 
 which have been going on for many ages, resulting in the for- 
 mation of our globe as we see it at the present time ; having witnessed 
 the great convulsions which have desolated cities and destroyed multi- 
 tudes of human beings, and beheld the fiery outburst of volcanoes with 
 their startling phenomena; having traversed distant realms and observed 
 the curious features in the life of savage tribes, we are now to turn our 
 attention to the animal creation in its [)rcsent aspect'", and notice the 
 latest and most extraordinary developments in the great realm of natural 
 history. 
 
 In whatever direction we turn our eyes, we everywhere meet the varied 
 forms of animal life. Earth, air, water, are all alike occupied b)- multi- 
 tudes of living creatures, each fitted especially for the habitation assigned 
 to it by nature. Every wood or meadow, every tree or shrub, or tuft of 
 grass has its inhabitants; even beneath the surface of the ground, nimi- 
 bers of animals may be found fulfilling the purposes for which their 
 species were called into r <istence. Myriads of birds dash through the 
 air, supported on their i'c .. -lered pinions, or solicit our attention b\' the 
 charming song which they pour forth from their resting-places; while 
 swarms of insects, with still lighter wings, dispute with them the empire 
 13 (19;]) 
 
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 194 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 1! ^ . i 
 
 of the air. Tlie wai'^rs, whether salt or fresh, are als(j filled with h'ving 
 organisms; fishes of many forms and varied colors, and creatures of yet 
 more strange appearance, swim silently through their depths, and then- 
 shores are covered with a jorofusion of polypes, sponges, star-fishes, and 
 other animals. To whatever elevation we attain on the mountain-sides, 
 to wliat ,'ver tlepth in the ocean we may sink the lead, everywhere shall we 
 find traces of animal existence, everywhere fifd ourselves surrounded by 
 living creatures, in a profusion and variety ' aich may well excite our 
 wonder and admiration. 
 
 Nor are these phenomena confined to any region of the earth ; on the 
 contrary, the diversity of clima*^e only adds to the variety of objects 
 which the zoologist is called upon to contemplate. Thus the bold 
 voyager of the inclement regions of the North, in losing sight of those 
 productions of nature which met his eyes at home, finds, as it were, a 
 new creation in his new abode, — seals, by the hundred, basking in the 
 scanty rays of the Arctic sun; or diving into the deep waters in search 
 of their finny prey, and the whale, rolling his vast bulk in the waves, and 
 ever and an^n driving high into the air his curious fountain of spray. 
 The air is peopled by innumerable flights of marine birds ; the sea b}- 
 still more countless swarms of fishes ; and the land affords a habitation to 
 the elk and the reindeer, the Arctic fox, and other creatures peculiar to 
 
 those regions. 
 
 Amazing- Abundance of Animal Lite. 
 
 If we tuin our steps southward, to the tropical regions of the earth, 
 the abundance and variety of animated beings increase more and more. 
 Here the colossal elephant and the unwieldy rhinoceros, crash through 
 primeval forests; the lion and the tiger, and other predatory beasts, prowl 
 through the thickets, seeking for their prey ; on \-ast plains, countless 
 herds of antelopes browse in fancied security, or dash swifdy past at the 
 approach of danger ; gigantic snakes lie coiled in horrid folds among the 
 bushes, or hang from the trees awaiting their victims. The air and trees 
 swarm with birds of gorgeous plumage, and insects of strange forms and 
 brilliant colors. Nor are the waters less bountifully provided with inhabi- 
 tants : every form with which we are acquainted in our own seas is here 
 represented, but with still greater profusion and variety. 
 
 Full nature swarms with life. 
 Through subterranean cells, 
 
 Where searching sunbeams scarce can find a way, 
 Earth animated heaves. The flowery leaf 
 Wants not its soft inhabitants. Secure 
 Within its winding citadel, the stone 
 
 member rou; 
 
 m4 
 
CURIOSITIES OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
 
 l'J5 
 
 Holds multitudes. lUit chief, the fortst boughs, 
 That dance unnumbered to the playful breeze. 
 The downy orchard and the melting pulp 
 Of mellow fruit, the nameless nations feed 
 Of evanescent insects. Where the pool 
 Stands mantled o'er with greeti, invisible, 
 Amid the floating verdure, millions stray. 
 
 Thu.s wc are cnconipas.scd with the niarvelou.s. On every haiul there 
 are creations, some of extraordinary magnitude, others of surprisint^ niin 
 utcness, which awaken our curiosity ; and in studying these \arieil forms 
 of life we find a new wonder at every step. 
 
 An Aiiiinal of Il<'iuark:iblo lloivfiit and IScsiiity. 
 
 It malces little difference where we begin in our delineation. We will 
 take a trip to tlie tropics, and get a view of one of its most curious and in- 
 teresting animals — the giraffe. The giraffe — which has been humorously 
 described as " an antelope run to seed" — is fon>. of a wooded country. 
 The leaves of trees are its principal food, antl especially a species of mi- 
 nio.sa. Green herbs are also very agreeable to it ; but its structure does 
 not admit of its feeding on them in the same manner as our domestic 
 animals, the ox or the horse. It is obliged to straddle widely; its two 
 fore feet are graduall}' stretched widel\' apart from each other, and its 
 neck, being then bent into a semicircular form, the giraffe is thus enabled 
 to collect the grass. The tongue, also, has the power of motion to an e.x- 
 traordinary degree, and, at the same time, one of extension, so as to per- 
 form, in miniature, the office of an elephant's proboscis. Coiling this 
 member round the branches of trees, it draws them down between its 
 \ciy movable and flexible lips, and tlius nips off the tender portions. The 
 tongue can taper to a point, and is capable of being formed into a ring. 
 
 This remarkable animal is distinguished from all the other ruminants 
 or cud-chewing animals, by several important characteristics. The body 
 is short and supported upon very long legs; the dorsal line slopes down- 
 ward toward ti.-, i amp, the withers being greatly elevated, and from this 
 it was long confidently asserted that the fore-legs were much longer than 
 the hinder pair, althougli this is not the case. The neck is excessively 
 long, and the countenance exceedingly gentle and pleasing in its expres- 
 sion, the eyes being remarkably full and lustrous. The giraffe is the 
 tallest of all ruminants, the males not uncommonly measuring fourteen 
 and sometimes eighteen feet from the top of the head to the groimd. The 
 females are usually a foot or two shorter. 
 
 The giraffe is not a ver>' swift animal, and when pursued its gallop is 
 described as exceedingly ludicrous, the hind-legs being brought f irward 
 
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 ii 
 
 M 
 
 THE GIKA.FFE OR CAMLLUrAKD. 
 
 (lOG) 
 
CURIOSITIES OF THE ANIMAL KINCiUOM. 
 
 197 
 
 at each step completely in adwance of the anterior (Mics, apparently a foot 
 or two on the outside of them; in this fashior the giraffes contri\c to get 
 over the ground pretty rapidly, with a curious springing motion. A\cry 
 swift horse may possibly overtake them, and the rider may then select 
 his victim from the herd, cut it off from its companions, and sh(v t it at 
 his leisure. When g"ing at full speed the heels of the giraffe constantly 
 throw up dirt, sticks, and stones in tlie faces of its nearest pursuers, but it 
 never appears to attempt to defend itself imless brought to !?ay ; in this 
 case it; weapons arc its hoofs, with which it kicks out so rajjidly and 
 vitrorousl\- that do'^s will not \'enture to attacic it, and it is e\en said that 
 it can beat off the lion in the same manner. Tlu: flesh of tlvj^e animals, 
 when young, is considered very good ; that of the old ones is coarse. The 
 skin is very thick" and hi-j-hh- \alued by the natives of South .\frica, who 
 consider the leather formed from it to be the best material for sanchil soles. 
 They also u.se the skin in ihc fc iination of vessels to hold water, aiul 
 sometimes as a covering for their huts. 
 
 Colossal Size autl Grace of 3Iov<'nieiit. 
 
 Cunnning gives us the following li\-ely description of the giralTe, at 
 libcrt}' in his native regions: 
 
 Tliese gigantic and e\([iiisitel\' beautiful animals, which are admirably 
 formed by nature to adorn the forests that clothe the boundless plains of 
 the interior, are widcl)- distributed throughout the interior of Southern 
 .Africa, but are nowhere to be met with in great numbers. In coimtries 
 unmolested by the intrusive foot of man, the giraffe i.: found generallv- in 
 herds \-arying from twelve to sixteen ; but I lia\e not unfrequentl\' met 
 with herds containing thirty indi\-itlua]s, and on one occasion I counted 
 fortv together; this, however, was owing to chance, antl about si.xteen 
 may be reckoned as the a\"erage number of a herd. These herds ai'c 
 composed of giraffes of \arious sizes, from the young giraffe of nine or ten 
 feet in height, to the dark chestnut-colored old bull of the herd, who.se ex- 
 alted head towers above his c ompanions. Some writers ha\'e discovered 
 ugliness and a want of grace in the giraffe, but I consider that he is one 
 of the most .strikingly beautiful animals in the creation ; and when a herd 
 of them is seen scattered through a grove of the picturesque parasol- 
 topped acacias which adorn their native plains, and on whose uppermost 
 shoots they are enabled to browse by the colossal height with which na- 
 ture has so admirably endowed them, he must, indeed, be slow of concep- 
 tion who fails to discover both grace and dignity in all their movements. 
 
 It is very difficult, almost impossible, to take a mature giraffe ali\'e ; 
 for they run with such speed and with a succession of such wonderful 
 
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 EARTH, .SI:A, and SkV. 
 
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 bounds, that the swiftest horses can scarce!)- oxertake them. Tn order to 
 cai-ture them, the jjeriod when the j-ouhl,^ are suckhni^s i.- .'.elected, when, 
 if the captor is fortunate enough to keep the younj^ster ah\e for a few 
 da\-s, it becomes ([uiet, ani! even tame; but very often the poor cajjtive 
 refuses all nourishment, and dies of consumption. 
 
 Tlu-s Foos of tlK' fiiiaflV-. 
 
 Tile chief enemies of the giraffe are the lion and ])anthcr. In the open 
 plain i; distances them with ease ; but if it is surpri.sed from ambush, it 
 exhibits both coi'.rage and strength in resisting its assailant, striking with 
 its forefeet with such f )rce as to prove occasionall}' fatal to the f >e; but 
 too frequently its efforts are unaxailing. The giraffe must number man 
 also among its enemies. Tiic Hottentots hold its fiesli in higli esteem. 
 llv ^y.vr^ in wait f(^r it at a favorite feeding or watering-place tlu)- shoot 
 it with poisoned arrows. The more frequent use of Hre-arms in hunting 
 this beautiful animal will certainly before long lead to a comi)lete annihila- 
 tion of these wonderful and docile creatures. 
 
 Ihe ancients were acquainted with the giraffe, bi the Kg}-ptian paint- 
 ings or bas-reliefs wdiich ha\'e been handed down to us, there are figures 
 Avhich represent it; Plin\-, Oppian, and Heliodorus also make mention of 
 it. The Romans possessed living specimens of this animal, which the)- 
 exhibited in their circuses, and it apjjcared in the processioti >4' the 
 "Triumph." Several giraffes were introduced into Europe during the 
 miiidle ages. Buff^JU was unable personally to examine this animal ; but 
 the illustrious tra\'eller, Lexaillant, who died almost in povert)', after 
 li;i\ing sacrificed his fortune to long and {)erilous journeys in .Vfrica, sent 
 the Zoological Garden, at Paris, the first stuffed giraffe which that institu- 
 tion possessed. 
 
 A Siicce.s.sliil Capture. 
 
 Levaillant thus gi\es a description of the chase by which he became 
 possessed of this rare animal: I began one day to hunt at sunrise, in the 
 hope of fuiding game to aild to m)- provisions. 7\fter hours of riding, I 
 percei\ed on a brow of a hill seven girafles, which ni)- dogs imniediately 
 attacked. .Six of these immediatel)' took- flight in the same direction, but 
 the seventh, surrounded b\- ni)- hounds, went off another wa)-. At this 
 moment my companion was walking and leading his horse b)' the bridle; 
 in less than a second, he was in his saddle and pursuing the herd. I fol- 
 lowed the single one with all speed ; but, notwithstanding the efforts of 
 my horse, it gained so much on me that, on turning a corner of a hillock, 
 it was quite out of sight, so I relinquished the pursuit. My dogs, how- 
 ever, were not long in reaching it; f(>r the\' soon came so near as to force 
 

 
 
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 GIRAFFES IN TIIKIR NATIVE KESOKTS, 
 
 (199) 
 
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 200 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 it to com<' to a lialt to defend itself. From where I \va. I heard them 
 baying ; and as the sounds seemed all to come from the same place, I 
 conjectured that the hounds had driven it into a corner, so inmiediately 
 hurried towards tne spot. 
 
 I had scarcely reached the top of the acclivity, when I perceived the 
 C'iraffe surrounded, and <;ndeavoring to keep off its as.sailants, by kicking. 
 I laving dismounted, with one shot from my rifle I knocked it over. 
 Delighted with my \-ictory, I was returning on foot to call my people 
 round mc to skin and cut up the animal. While I was looking for them 
 I saw a native, who was eagerly making signs to me, which at first I 
 could not Ml liie least understand. But on looking in the direction in 
 which he was pointing, I percei\ed, with surprise, a giraffe standing up 
 under a large ebon}' tree, and attacked b}' my dogs. I thought it was 
 another one, and ran towards it, but found it was the animal I liad first 
 attacked, which had managed to get up again, but fell down dead just 
 as I was about to fire a second shot. 
 
 Who would believe that a success like this could e.xcite in my mind 
 transports of joy almost akin to madness ! Pain, fatigue, cruel want, un- 
 certainty as to the future, and disgust at the past, all vanished, at the sight 
 of my rare prize ; I could not look at it enough. I measured its enormous 
 height, and gazed with astonishment from the mstrument of destruction 
 to the animal destroyed b\' it. I called and recalled my people, one by 
 one ; and though each of them might ha\e been able to do as much, and 
 we had all slaughtered heavier and more dangerous animals, yet I was 
 the first to kill one of this particular kind ; with it I was about to enrich 
 natural history, and, putting an end to fiction, establish the truth. 
 An Aniiual Klejjaiitly Formed and 3Iarked. 
 
 The zebra, sometimes called the horse-tiger, is generally esteemed not 
 only the most beautiful of the equine family, but one of the most beau- 
 tiful of quadrupeds, on account of the markings of its .skin. The 
 ground color is white, or yellowish-white, but the head, body, and 
 legs to th'» hoofs are regularly striped, mosth- crosswi.se, with deep 
 brown-black bands, lighter in the middle. From this form of marking 
 ,ve have the word :^cbracd, significant of a regular banding of the skin of 
 an animal. The ears of the zebra are long, the neck short and deep, 
 with a sort of dewlap under the throat, produced by a loose fold of the 
 skin ; the mane is short, and the tail "parsely clad with long hair. The 
 form resembles that of the ass, but the size nearly equals that of the 
 horse. Wild and swift, this .species lives in troops in the bold ranges of 
 craggy mountains remote from the abode of man. Its disposition is 
 
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 WII.D ZKIJKAS 01' SOUTHERN Al'RICA. 
 
 (201) 
 

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 EAF^TH, SEA. AND SKY. 
 
 S'lva^c and inuactahlc, and it is by no means casil)' obtained, not only 
 from its llcctncss, but iVoin the nature (>f the locaHties it freiiuents, where, 
 'ike tlie wild ass (jf Thibet, in tlie " wilderness and the barren lan<l is his 
 dwelling; he scornetii the multitude of the city." Ncvertiieless, ze'M-as 
 have been taken to Europe and jilaced in the menageries. All attcn^.Dts 
 to domesticate them, or *o train them to the service of man, ha\e failed- 
 about p. century ago, however, the King of Portugal had four of them, 
 which he sometimes drove harnessed to his carriage. 
 
 The zebra is larger than the wild ass, sometimes attaining the size of a 
 mature Arab horse. Thi.s elegant animal is a nativi: of the Cape of Good 
 Hope, and probably the whole of southern, and a part of eastern, Vfrica. 
 Irax-ellers state that the}' ha\-e met with it in Congo, Guinea, and v\bys- 
 sinia. It delights in mountainous countries, anil, although it is less rapid 
 than the wild ass, its paces are so gootl that the best horses are alone able 
 to overtake it. The zebra lives in di()\cs, but is very shy in its nature; 
 it is endowed with powers of sight that enable it to perceive from great 
 distances the approach of hunters. It is, consequentl}', very difficult to 
 capture a mature living specimen. 
 
 That it is impossible to reduce this quadruped to a domestic .state is 
 currently beiieved. In contradiction, we would state that a female zebra, 
 which had been caught young, and .sent b)- the Governor of the Cape 
 of Good Hope to the Zoological Gardens in Paris, was so tractable that 
 it allowed itself to be approached and led almost as rcadih- as a horse. 
 The zebra was not unknown to the ancients, who called it hippo-tigris. 
 A historian relates that the Emperor Caracalla killed on a certain da}-, in 
 one of the circus combats, an elephant, a rhinoceros, a tiger, and a hipijo- 
 tigris. Diodorus of Sicily speaks of the hippo-tigris, although in rather 
 obscure terms. The kings of Persia, during certain religious festivals, 
 were accustomed to sacrifice zebras to the sun, a stock of which were 
 kept by these potentates in some of the islands of the Red Sea. 
 
 The Zebra's Native Country. 
 
 The zebra is only to be met M'ith in the most eastern and the most 
 soutliern parts •^f Africa, from Ethiopia to the Cape of Good Hope, and 
 thence to Congo; it exists neither in I^in'opc, Asia nor America, nor 
 e\en in all the northern jiarts of Africa; those which some travellers tell 
 us they have seen at the Brazils have been transported thither from Africa ; 
 those which others arc reported to liave seen in Persia, and in Turkey, 
 have been brought from Ethiopia ; ami, in short, those that we have seen 
 in our own country are almost all from the Cape of Good Hope. This 
 point of Africa is their true climate, their native country, and where the 
 
CLRIOSITIKS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
 
 203 
 
 Dutch lia\c ciiiplox-cd all their care to sui)jcct thcin and to iviulcr tiuiii 
 tainc, without haviiii^ i)ccii hitherto able to succeed. One that was cap- 
 tured was \-ery\\ild when lie arrixed at the royal iiiena^^erie in I'rancc ; 
 and he was nes'er i-ntirely tamed : nevertheless, he wa-^ broken for the sad- 
 ille; but two men held the bridle, while a third mounted him. The 
 mouth of the zebra is very hard ; his ears so .sensitive, that lie w iiues 
 ulienevcr an}' person goes to tf)uch them. He is restive, like a \icious 
 Imrse, and obstinate as a mule; but there is reason to believe, that if the 
 zibra were accustomed to obedience and tamcness from his earliest \ears 
 he would become as mild as the horse, and might be substituted in his 
 
 [ilacc. 
 
 Tlu' H(>riic<l ItliiiKX'cros. 
 
 \ow that we are describing the marvels of animal life in the tropics, 
 there is another singular c[uadruped, a monstrous creature, that deserves 
 especial mention. Rhinoceroses were much more numerous in remote 
 eras than the\' are at present. There have existed numerous different 
 species, .several of them living in temperate and e\en in cold climates — ■ 
 a> France, German)-, and Russia. The.se animals are no longer found, 
 except in the hottest portions of the old World. Aristotle sa>'s nothing 
 of the Rhinoceros; but Athcnaeus, Pliny, and Strabo mention it in their 
 works. The first Rhinoceros mentioned in histor)- figured in n frtc 
 gi\en in Eg}'pt by one of the Kings. Later, Pompey, Augustus, the 
 emperors Antoninus and Heliogabalus, brought some into luirope, and 
 made them fight in the Coliseum, at Rome, sometimes with the hippo- 
 potamus, and sometimes with the elephant. We must then pass on to the 
 si.\teenth century to find in European history any new mention of thesj 
 animals. In i 5 13, P^manuel, the King of Portugal, recei\ed from India 
 a one-horned rhinoceros. Albert Durer made an engraving of it on 
 wood, which was for a long time copied and reproduced in works on 
 natural histoiy. Only this representation of it is ver\- ine.xact; for Albert 
 Durer had executed it after an incorrect drawing sent him from Lisbon 
 into Germany. During the eighteenth century, a rhinoceros was brought 
 t<y Holland; two were taken to London at the end of the same ccntur\'. 
 The' menagerie at Versailles bought one of these last-named animals, 
 which \er)' soon died. Since the beginning of our century civilized na- 
 tions l:a\'e rcceixed man\' of the.se gigantic and curious quadrupeds. 
 
 The great Indian rhinoceros inhabits the regions situated beyond the 
 Ganges, and especially the valley of Opam, along the ba.sc of the eastern 
 Himalaya Mountains. Its head is short and triangular; its mouth, of a 
 motlerate size, has an upiJer lip, which is longer than the lower, pointed 
 
 'lli**=tiMit?i 
 
 ■Wl^i 
 
\ i 
 
 204 
 
 'I ^\m. 
 
 
 !i|W| 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 and movable. It lias in each jaw two strnnfj incisive teeth. Its eyes arc 
 sniall ; its cars arc rather lon^ and mo\able. The h<irn upon its nose i> 
 pointed, conical, not compressed, sometimes two feet in length, and 
 
 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 KMt^. 
 
 
 
 
 
 THE INDIAN RHINOCEROS. 
 
 slit,ditl>- cur\-ed backwards, "^his singular weapon is composed of a clus- 
 ter of hairs closely adherent ; for when the point is blunted, it is often 
 seen divided into fibres resembling the hairs of a brush. This horn is, 
 
 however 
 yellow i 
 
 The n 
 
 It> sliou 
 
 with a si 
 
 furrowed 
 
 Thus, as 
 
 Indian r 
 
 cloak ha 
 
 ])icces. 
 
 creases c 
 
 scared)' i 
 
 w ith a fc 
 
 curl)' wo( 
 
 Tlic gi 
 
 elephant, 
 
 three toe.' 
 
 The tail i 
 
 and near 
 
 like the w 
 
 such a pc 
 
 other larq 
 
 only servt 
 
 for itself i 
 
 ence. So 
 
 roots on v 
 
 animal, frc 
 
 backward.- 
 
 of its neck 
 
 rhiiioceroj 
 
 it as perfe 
 
 Its prin 
 branches ( 
 which is e 
 almost in 
 kept in a > 
 and carrot 
 the groun 
 
 ♦III, V 
 
u 
 
 cL'RiosrriEs of the animal kingdom. 
 
 205 
 
 however, vcr\- sdlid, hard, of ,i brownish red on the outside, of a golden 
 }-ello\v inside, and black in the centre. 
 
 A l*oii<lerou.s Armor. 
 
 Tile neck of this animal is short and covered with folds and creases. 
 Its shoulders are thick-set and heavy; its ponderous bod\' is covered 
 \vith a skin remarkable for the deep wrinkles or creases wilii which, it is 
 furrowed, backwards and across the forecjuarters, and across the thiijhs. 
 Thus, as it were, to all ap[)earancc cut up into plaits of mail, the .threat 
 Indian rhinocenrs seems to be covered with a cloak made for it. This 
 cloak has, indeetl, been compared to a suit of armor of well adjusted 
 pieces. The hide is, howe\er, so thick and hard that, without these 
 creases or folds, the animal, imprisonetl, as it were, in its armor could 
 scared)' mo\e. It is of a dark color, nearl\' bare, <^enerall\' provided only 
 w ilh a few coarse and stiff hairs on tlu- tail and ears, occasionally with 
 curly woolly hairs on certain parts of the body. 
 
 The great Intlian rhinoceros is heav\- and more massive than even the 
 elephant, on account of the shortness of its limbs. The feet have each 
 three toes, of which one sees nothing but the hoof which covers them. 
 The tail is short and thin. This huge creature lives alone in the forests 
 and near rivers and marshes, because it is fond of wallowing in the mud, 
 like the wild boar, which it sometimes resembles in its habits. Though 
 such a powerful animal, it rarely attacks before it is interfered with ; the 
 other large animals fear it, and con.sequently leave it unmolested. Its horn 
 onlv serves it for moving branches out of its wa\- and for clearing a road 
 for itself in the thickets, in the midst of which it passes its taciturn exist- 
 ence. Some naturalists ha\-e said that it uses its tusks for tearing up the 
 roots on which it is fond of feeding; but in order to turn up the soil, the 
 animal, from the position of its horn and from the horn being curved 
 backwards, would be obliged to assume an attitude which the shortness 
 of its neck and its general conformation render impossible. A wcumded 
 rhinoceros of this species has been seen to cut the reeds on either side of 
 it as perfectly as if done with the sharpest incisive instrument. 
 
 All UutaiueaT)le Bejist. 
 
 Its principal food consists of roots, of succulent plants, and of small 
 branches of trees, which it tears off, seiz.es, and breaks with its upper lip, 
 which is elongated and movable, and which it uses with great adroitness, 
 almost in the same way in which the elephant uses its trunk. When it is 
 kept in a state of captivity it eats bread, rice, bran soaked in water, hay, 
 and carrots. Its clumsy shape, its short legs, its belly almost touching 
 the ground, render this animal very ugly and ill-favored. Its diminutive 
 
"I* 
 
 :« mm 
 
 w 
 
 1 • I 
 
 20G 
 
 EARTH. SKA AND SKV. 
 
 eyes seem to indicate a Idw order of iiUcllii^ciiii'. And so the ihinoct'ros 
 is a dull beast, l)iiisc[ue, and almost untanicabU'. Wlicii it is not irritated, 
 its voice has a ^MX-at analogy to the grunting of a [lii;; if it is angerctl it 
 utters sharp, piercin;^' cries, that can he iKard at great distances. 
 
 In India, in former times, the rhinoceros was hunted on li,L;ht, ([uii 1; 
 horses. The huntsmen followed it from afar off, and without ans' noisi> 
 till the animal became tired and was oblij^ed to lie down and sK'ep. Tlu ii 
 the sportsmen aj)proached it, takin;^ caie to keep to leeward, lor it ha> a 
 \er\' acute sense of smell. When tlu'\- were within shot, the\- dismounted, 
 auned at the head, firetl, and L;alloped away ; for if the rhinoceros is onl\- 
 wounded, it rushes furiousl)- upon its a^Ljj^ressors. When struck by a 
 bullet, it abandons itself whollv to ra^e. It rushes straisfht forwaid, 
 smashing!;, (n'erturnin;^, tramplin;^' under foot, ami crushiiiL;- to atoms 
 e\'erything which is unfortunate enous^h to be in its road. Its pursuers 
 can a\oid these formidable attacks b}- making digressions to the right or 
 left, for the course taken by tile rhinoceros is always straight aheatl, never 
 turning out i)f its direction or retracing its steps. 
 
 A Daiijii'i'oiis PastiiiK'. 
 
 If the Indians dare to run the risks involved in such dangerous sport, 
 it is because the skin and horn of the animal are of great \alue. Sports- 
 men also find the skin of the rhinoceros of utility : it is made into leather, 
 which is so hard that it <-ui onI\- l)e cut with great tlifficultv bv the best 
 steel. Tile Indians like the tiesh of the rhinoceros; but tile Chinese are 
 excessively fontl of it. Al'ter swallows' nests, lizarels' eggs, antl little 
 dogs, there is notiiing to be compared, according to the Cliinese, to the 
 tail of a rliinoceros, or to a jell\- made from tiie skin. Let us adtl, tliat 
 tlie Cliine.se attribute to tlie horn of this pacliyderm mar\-elous pn)per- 
 ties, among otliers that of destro\'ing tlie effects of tile most deatll\- poi- 
 .sons. The Asiatic kings, wlio had too often to l^e afraid of poi.soned 
 beverages, liatl their drinking-cups made of the horn of the rhinoceros; 
 these cups w ere considered by them of inestimable \alue. 
 
 In menageries, the Asiatic rliinoceros is generall\' a gloomy, but a 
 mild and obedient animal. But sometimes the constraint in wliich it is 
 retained gives it fits of impatience and fury, Avhen it becomes tiangerous. 
 In its despair it lias been known to dash its head \iolently against the 
 walls of its stable. Generally, however, it recognizes its keeper's au- 
 thority, and shows itself conscious of his presence and grateful to liim for 
 his care. Tiie African rhinoceros was known to the ancients, for its effiij-v 
 is found on medals struck in the time of the Emperor Domitian. It has 
 o*\ its nose t,vo conical horns, inclined backwards. The foremost horn is 
 
crRiosiTiEs or thf. animal KINC.DoM. 
 
 "2(1" 
 
 two .ind a half feet Ioiil;, the seioiul much slu)rtcr. Hidden (hirin^L; the 
 cla\', it saUies out at iiijj;ht, to cat the ><>iing bouj^hs covered with lca\cs. 
 Aiur feeding; it wallows, eoveiin^^ itself with repeated la\ers of mud, to 
 preserve it from the stin;4' of the ^ratl-flics — its small but troublesome ene- 
 mies. When the mud is dr\-, it falls off, exposing the animal to fresh at- 
 tacks. To alla\- the irritation caused by these anno\-ini;" insects, it rubs 
 it'clfai^ainst the trunks of trees, and ilurinj^ this operation it <;rumbles 
 md ;^'runts so hnidly that it betrays its place of retreat to the hunters 
 who attack it and kill it b\- shootin;^ arrows into its flank, the most vital 
 portion of its bud)', and in which a wound is certain to pio luce death. 
 
 Iliiiitiii^ tli<> Kliiiioeei'os. 
 
 ( )ther hunters pursue on horseback and kill the rhinoceros with extra- 
 ordinary couraj^e and adtlress. Two nun ride on the same iiorse. The 
 one is dressed and armed with javelins; the other is naked, and has noth- 
 ing but a lons^ sword in his hand. The first sits on the saddle, the .second 
 riiles behinil him on the horse's rump. As .soon as they (;et on the track, 
 t!ie\' start off in pursuit, takin^jcare to keep at a great distance from the 
 rhinoceros when it plunges into the thickets, in the midst of which it 
 opens for itself a broad passage, which closes as the animal passes on, but 
 the moment it arrives in an open spot the\- pass it, and place ihemseKes 
 opposite to it. The animal, in a rage, hesitates for a moment, then rushes 
 furiousK' upon the horse and its riders. Tliese a\oid the assault by a 
 (juick movement to the right or the left, and the man who carries the 
 long sword lets himself slide off on to grountl without being perceiwd 
 b\' the rhinoceros, which takes notice onlv of the horse. Then the cour- 
 ageous hunter, with one blow of his formidable weapon, cuts through the 
 tendon of the ham or hock of one of the monster's hind legs, which 
 causes it to fall to the ground, when it is despatched with arrows and the 
 sword. The grandees of Abyssinia also engage in the pursuit of the 
 rhinoceros. But thev attack these animals with guns. It is in this wav 
 also that the Hottentots and the colonists of the Cape of Good Hope hunt 
 this paclu'derm. 
 
 A Horse and ^tidor Tossed in the Air. 
 
 Little inferior to the -jlephant in strength, though by no means ap- 
 proaching it in sagacit)', the different species of rhinoceros manifest an 
 irascibilit}' against man which waits not for provocation; or rather the 
 sight of a man is itself a sufficient provocation to excite a paroxysm of rest- 
 less fury. One traveller mentions a Hottentot who had acquired a repu- 
 tation as a bold elephant-hunter, who on one occasion had his horse 
 killed under him b)' a rhinoceros. Before he could raise his gun, the 
 
 i\v 
 
 MitH, If!' 
 
 i| 'i 
 
 ♦ 
 
 ■ 
 
 *^ 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 
 
 1 
 
 #1? 
 

 '' 
 
 H f^l 
 
 ^r 
 
 1 1 
 
 1' 
 
 
 i 
 
 208 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 enormous beast ruslied upon him, thrust its sliarp-pointcd horn into the 
 horse's chest, and threw him bodily, rider and all, over its back. The 
 
 TEKKIULE liNCOUNTEK WITH A KHIN'OCF.ROS. 
 
 savage animal then, as if satisfied, went off, without lollowini^'' up its 
 victory, and before the Hottentot could recover himself sufficiently for an 
 avengini; shut. 
 
CURIOSITIES OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
 
 209 
 
 One of Livingstone's men met with a similar adventure. He was once 
 stalking two of these beasts, and as they came slowly to him, he know- 
 ing that there is but little chance of hitting the small brain of this animal 
 In- a shot in the head, lay, expecting one of them to turn his shoulder, 
 till he was within a few yards. The 1 unter then thought that by making 
 a rush to his side he might succeed in escaping; but the rhinoceros, 
 too quick for that, turned upon him, and though he discharged his gun 
 close to the animal's head he was tossed in the air. My friend, adds 
 Doctor Livingstone, who gives the account, was insensible for s(Miie time, 
 and on recovering found large \\(.)unds on the thisjh and l)od\-. I 
 saw the one on the former part, still open, and fi\e inches long. The white 
 species, though less savage than the black, is not always quite safe, f(.)r 
 one, even after it was mortally wcnuided. I'nacked a horse, and thrust 
 the horn through to the saddle, tossing a> same time both horse and 
 rider. 
 
 The rJono-Platod Crocodile. 
 
 One species of the crocotlile must be classed among the veritable curi- 
 osities of the animal creation. It has not the size of its great antcdilu- 
 \ian ancestor, a full description of which has already been presented to 
 the reader, but in its native clime it has l<)ng been regarded as a civature 
 very remarkaljle in construction and hal)its. 
 
 The crocodile was considered a sacred animal b}' the ancient EgX'ptians. 
 In ruins of temples mummies of croc >diles are still found in a perfect 
 state of preservation. The Romans introducetl li\ ing crocodi'es at the 
 national games in the Colosseum. .At fii'st onl\' fi\e were imported, but 
 under the Kmperor Augustus thirt}--six were killed in the circus of 
 Flaminius. Sexeral ancient metlals represent this reptile, the I^od)- of 
 which perfectly resembles those now fountl in the Nile. There is a ti'ul)- 
 \\onderful fact in the natural history of the crocodile. Listen to what 
 Herodotus, the father of histor\-, tells us with regard to it : Wluii the 
 crocodile takx's its food in the Nile, the interior of its mouth is always 
 co\ered with flies. All birtl-^, with one single exception, tlee from the 
 crocodile ; I)ut this one, the Nile bird, far from a\-oiding it, flies tow anls 
 the reptile with the greatest eagerness, and renders it a \ery essential scr- 
 \ ice. K\-ery time the crocodile goes on shore to sleep, dud at the mo- 
 ment when it lies extended with open jaws, the Nile bird enters the mouth 
 of the terrible animal and delivers it from the insects which it finds tliere ; 
 lIic crocodile shows its recognition of the service b)- ne\er harming the 
 bird. This fact, reported by Herodotus, was h^ng considered to be j 
 fable, but a naturalist, who formed part of the conmiission that Bona- 
 14 
 
 J 
 
 ^^ 
 
§it 
 
 ■iikt'M 
 
 210 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 parte took with him into I^i^ypt, had on several occasions opportunities 
 of pro\inL,f the truth of the historian's narrative. 
 
 In a memoir read to the Academy of Sciences he says it is perfectK- 
 true that there exists a little bird M'hich flies about, perpetually seekini^^, 
 even in the mouth of the crocodile, the insects which form the principal 
 part of its nourishment. This bird is like a plover. The fl\', which thu> 
 torments the crocodiles and e\en excites them to madness, is no other 
 than our common gnat. M\riads of these insects haunt the banks of thc 
 Xile, and w hen these giants of its waters repose on its margin to warm 
 themselves in the sun, they become the ))rey of these insignificant 
 pigmies. It is like the ^\•ar between the lion and the mouse, described by 
 La Fontaine. Crocodiles are more \'oracious than alligators. Has'sel- 
 quist asserts that in Upper Egypt they often dex'our women who come to 
 draw water, or chiklren plaj'ing upon the banks of the Nile. Geoffrox- 
 Saint Ililaire says, that in Thebaid Napoleon's army often met with 
 Arabs nmtilated by the crocodiles. Sir Samuel Baker also mentions, in 
 his late work on the " Nile and its Tributaries," the cra\'ing of these 
 amphibia for human flesh, and the dread they are held in by the na- 
 tives. ■ 
 
 A 3Ionster Devouring Cliildron. 
 
 Livingstone gi\-es the following account of these fero'"ious animals: 
 The crocodile, says the famous traveller, makes many victims every year 
 among the chddren who are so imprudent as to pla\- on the banks of the 
 Liamljia when their mothers go to fetch water. The crocodile .stupifics 
 its \ictim with a blow from its tail, then drags it into the river, where it 
 is soon drowned. In general, when the crocodile perceives a man it 
 dives, and furtively glides a\va\' from the side which he occupies. Some- 
 times, on the other hand, it precipitates itself with surprising agility to- 
 wards the person it has discovered, which may be noticed from tlu 
 disturbance caused on the surface of the water. An antelope which i- 
 being hunted and takes to the water, in the lagunes of the Barotse \alle}-, 
 a man or a dog who goes there to seek for game, will scarcely fail to be 
 seized by a crocodile, of whose presence he has not the slightest sus- 
 picion. It often happens that, after having danced in the moonlight, the 
 )-oung natives will plunge into the water, in order to refresh themselves^ 
 when, being seized by an alligator, they perish. 
 
 This mode of attack (striking with the tail) is also one of the methods 
 adopted by the alligator of America for disabling its prey. A .sportsman 
 whose veracity is undoubted, while shooting wild fowl on one of the 
 tributaries of the Lower Mississippi, had the fortune to witness a fight 
 
 between a 
 
 struggle b} 
 
 \'ielded to t 
 
 times both 
 
 the alligatoi 
 
 tunit}', and 
 
 l)ack, where 
 
 one of its fc 
 
 hurled both 
 
 telling of th 
 
 the lapse of 
 
 and swam j 
 
 the gallant c 
 
 Crocodile,' 
 
 dangerous tl 
 
 "Chinese" C 
 
 taut of Khart 
 
 that is to say 
 
 Mehemet Be; 
 
 diles appeare( 
 
 executions b 
 
 nati\-e whom 
 
 carcasses of 
 
 habituated to 
 
 afterwards the 
 
 were exposed 
 
 Natives of j 
 
 uhich is throv 
 
 tians are repor 
 
 pierce him in 1 
 
 to be equally t 
 
 ^\'here there is 
 
 monster with 
 
 v.-eapon at theii 
 
 i.. leather, intc 
 
 sLiflbcated or c 
 
 cessfully for tin 
 
 the ordinary r 
 
 trail they leavt 
 
 >fll 
 

 CURIOSITIES OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
 
 Ill 
 
 between a bear and an alli^Mtor. He was called to the scene of the 
 strugLjlc by the noise made by tlie combatants in the dry cane, that 
 \'iclded to their pressure as theyfou^dit in each other's embrace. Several 
 times both ceased, only to reco\-er breath and fiesh enLr-;-)- ; at leni^tli 
 the alligator missed striking the foe with its tail, ]')n:in seized the opjjor- 
 lunity, and with all his efforts succeeded in turnin;^ the ainphil)ian on its 
 hack, where he held him for some minutes, at tlie same time j^mawini; 
 one of its fore-shoulders. A final struf;i;le of the now-worsted alli<^ator 
 hurled both into the water, where they disappeared, the disturbed surface 
 lellin^f of the dreadful contest that was being prolonged beneath ; afte'r 
 the lapse of over a minute the bear came up, evidently much fiti;_^ued, 
 and swam ashore, the .•■portsman forbearin;^ to wound, or possibh- kill, 
 the gallant conc^ueror. 
 
 Crocodiles, it is said which ha\'e never (viteii human flesh, ai'e much less 
 dan:;erous than those that have acquired a taste f )r it. Mr. Conibes, of 
 "Chinese " Gordon's expedition, .states that he was a;sured b\- an inhabi- 
 tant of Khartoum, who had reached the town wiLii tlie ICgyptian trooj)s — 
 that is to say, before the horrors committed by the Desterdar, acting with 
 l\Ichemet Bey, wlio had been Governor of the .Soudan — that the croco- 
 diles appeared to be cjuite indifferent to iiuman llesh ; but after the n.iany 
 executions b\' drcnvning ordered bv IMehemit Bj\-, as lu was told b\- a 
 iiati\e whom he interrogated — " since tlu; Xile has been loaded with the 
 carcasses of m\- brethren, the monsters which inlial.it it ha\e Ijecome 
 habituated to substantial food, which they scarcely knew before, so t' nt 
 afterwards those swimming in the river, or e\"cn bathing on its banks, 
 were exposed to inmiinent danger." 
 
 StablxMl Uiidor AVator AVitli a Dny{,'or. 
 
 Natives of Africa shoot the crocodile, or attack it with a barbed ja\e!m. 
 which is thrown by hand, and aimed at the fore-shoulder. .Some Iv.i\"p- 
 tians are reported to be daring enough to swim under the crocodile, and 
 iiierce him in the bellv with a dagger. The negroes of Senegal are said 
 to be equally expert. If the}- surprise the animals in parts of the ri\er 
 where there is not sufficient water for them to swim, tlie\- attack the 
 monster with a lance, commencing the assault by aiming with their 
 v,-capon at their enemy's eyes and throat ; then tlirust'ng their arm, encased 
 u. leather, into its mouth, they hold it open till their eneni}- is cither 
 suffocated or expires under its wounds. Traps are also employed suc- 
 cessfully for their destruction. In Kgypt the natives dig a deep hole in 
 the ordinary route of the crocodile, which is easil)- discovered by tli" 
 trail they leave in the sand — this is covered with branches and earth, 
 

 212 
 
 EARTFI, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 which falls in when trodden iii)on ; the captive is th'jn killed, often with 
 the most brutal crueltw At otlier times a thick cord is at ached to a 
 tree, at the other end ot which a lamb is held b\' a hook. The cries of 
 the lamb attract the crocodile, which, in its attempt to carry off the bait, 
 is taken. 
 
 •^ 
 
 THE CURIOUS G.WIAI. OF INDIA. 
 
 Still another method f)r the destruction of these repulsive-lookinrr crea- 
 tures has been adopted by lMiy;lishmen in India. A dead animal is pro- 
 cured, in its abdomen is placed a loaded shell, to which is attached a 
 
 -a\iai 
 
■^-; 
 
 
 is pro- 
 ached a 
 
 CURIOSITIES OF THE ANIMAL K!NGI-C)M. 
 
 21;] 
 
 wire made fast to an electric battery; n'hon the bait lias been sei/.ed and 
 carried to the bottom, the shell isexplodL-d, and invariably maims or kills 
 the crocodile. 
 
 The ^axials have lon^ narrow cylintlrical muzzles, sli;,ditl)' inflated at 
 the extreoMty ; the teeth are almost the same, hdlh in niiinbei- and sha[)e, 
 (in each jaw; the two first and the fourth of the lower jaw pass into 
 notches or inilentations in the upper jaw. The j^avials art: (iiii'dv remark- 
 able for their lon^ Lead, its t\-pe bein;.; the t;"a\ials of the (jan;j(s. It is 
 of a deep watery ^reen color, luuin;^ on the upp 'r pail numerous irre<,ni- 
 jar brown spots- in the youn;.;, the back and limbs are trans\crsc!\- 
 Lantled with blac'i. the lower part i.s of a pale whitish yellow; the jaus 
 are marked with brov.n, the claws an; of a clear horn color. This sjji.cii s 
 is not so carni\-orous iS the others, and is consequiiitl)'less drt .KK-d. 'I lie 
 ^a\ ial of the Cjan^es is supposed to brthi' lar;^est of the existin;.^ -amian-. ; 
 its lent;th, as given by one trave'ller, is 'wnteen feit f>ui ii^ lies, a!- 
 lh(.ui;h in re.ility this Icni^th is often exceeded. 
 
 The <:;avial of the Ganges has the jaws produced to an enormous 
 length, forming a long, slentler snout, at the extremity of which there is 
 .. large cartilaginous protuberance, in which the nostrils arc situated. The 
 teeth are \ery numerous, and nearly equal in size throughout the whole 
 of the jaws. It is wcb-footed to the extremities of die toes of the hind 
 feet. This species is found abundantly in the fresh waters of India, 
 wheie it sometimes attains a length of thirty feet. It is not dangirous 
 to man nor the larger cjuadrupeds. It was known to the ancients, .T^lian 
 mentioning the existence of a crocodile in the Tiangc;: which had a hoin 
 at the extremity of its nose. Though there are several ma.'ked \.ii iet es, 
 there apjx^ars to be but one species. 
 
 The Flyinji;- Ora^oii. 
 
 At the present da\' we have no examples of reptiles which can realK' 
 fly, though we have some which, like the flx'ing squirrels, are able to 
 swee]) for some distance through the air. '1 l.ese animals are known by 
 the ]iopular name of the fl\'ing dragon, in consequence of their res( m- 
 blance to the conventional dragon of fables. There are several species 
 of them, all agreeing in form and general habits. The tail is \ery long, 
 very .slender, and tapers to a sharp point. 
 
 The structure by whiih ihese reptiles are enabled to pass through the 
 air is very remarkable. As the reader may see by the engraving, the 
 sides of the body are expanded like those of the flying s([uirrels, but the 
 expansion is obtained in a different manner. In the flj'ing stjuirrel, the 
 skin of tr.e sides is expanded with the membrane, which is opened by 
 
 
 mm 
 
 'li 
 
 r-'^i 
 
 •i; ■ '- *" 
 
 
 
*f I 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 J i 
 
 ii 
 
 1 f 
 
 i ifl;| 
 
 214 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY 
 
 stretching out the legs ; but in the flying dragon the ribs are employed 
 for the purpose. 
 
 The reader will distinguish the difference between the two kinds of 
 ribs. There are the "true" ribs, which occupy the upper part of the 
 chest, and which have their ends resting on the breast-bone; and the 
 "false" ribs, which occupy the lower part of the chest, and which ha\c 
 their ends free. It is by means of the latter set of ribs tuat the expansion 
 of the sides is managed. 
 
 The fal.se ribs, instead of being, as they usually are, much shorter than 
 
 FLYING DRAGON AND FLYING FROG. 
 
 the others, are generally lengthened, or, to be more accurate, they are 
 furnished with \'ery long and slender appendages. These additional 
 bones arc so joined to the ribs that they can be .spread out laterally, or 
 laid against the sides at the pleasure of the animal. When they are 
 spread, they very much resemble the sticks of an opened fan, and as they 
 are connected with each other by a membrane which is formed from the 
 skin of the sides, they offer a very wide surface to the air. 
 
 The movements of the flying dragon are curiously like those of the 
 flying .squirrels of c>ur own countrx', and the fl>'ing marsi.pials of Aus- 
 tralasia; and indeed, if the fl>ing dragon and the opossum mouse were 
 
CLRIOSITIES OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
 
 215 
 
 simultaneously to spring from one tree to another, their sweepin^^ flif^ht 
 would have been almost identical, and it would not be easy to distinguish 
 between the two animals. 
 
 There is another point in the structure of the fl\'ing dragon which has 
 been thought to have some effect in increasing its buoyancy when in the 
 air. In common with many arboreal lizards, it possesses a large pouch 
 under the throat, which it is capable of inflating to a very great extent. 
 When the lizard is preparing to launch itself into the air, it inflates this 
 sac simultaneously with spreading its wings, if we may use this term to 
 express its peculiarly constructed side. Many naturalists ha\e thought 
 that the principal object of this sac is to increase the buo}'anc\- of the 
 luiimal while in the air. It does probably have that effect, but buo\'ancy 
 is not its chief object, for the reason that the inflatable {)ouch is found in 
 many lizards which do not possess the expansible sides, nor the power of 
 skimming through the air. The fl\-ing dragons are tolerably plentiful in 
 Borneo, Java, and the Philippine Islands. 
 
 Tlu' Flyiiif- Fioff. 
 
 Man)' readers must be familiar with the pretty tree frogs, which are 
 niiw so plentiful in ferneries. Their habits are curiously contrar}- to 
 those of the ordinary frogs, for they abandon both earth and water for 
 the trees, and lead an arboreal, and not a terrestrial or aquatic life as do 
 tlielr fellows. In order to enable them to ascend trees, the}- are furnished 
 with sucker-like ai)[)endages at the tips of their toes, and with these they 
 can cling firml}- to any smooth object, such as the trunk of a tree, the 
 surface of a leaf or even a flat piece of glass. 
 
 In the last-mentioned case, it is interesting to examine with a magnify- 
 ing lens the structure of the suckers as thc\- are pressed against the 
 glass, and to note how instantaneous is their action of exhausting or 
 admitting the air at will. This structure, indeed, is absolutel}- necessary 
 for the creature's existence. It lives upon insects, and if it were to depend 
 for its subsistence upon those which come within its reach, it would 
 stand a good chance of starving. But, aided by these marvelous de\-el- 
 opments of the feet, it is able to spring at a passing insect, to catch it, 
 and to affix itseK instantaneously to another branch. There are many 
 species of tree frogs, spread over a large portion of the earth, but the 
 most remarkable at present known is the flying frog of Borneo. 
 
 If the reader will refer to the accompanying illustration, he will see the 
 ll\-ing frog shown in the act of passing through the air, its toes being 
 widely spread, so as to stretch the membrane which connects them. In 
 proportion to the size of the reptile, the extent of surface which can be 
 
 •> --'sr 
 
 ■Jii 
 
 Si*: 
 
 il 
 
ii 
 
 M 
 
 1' iii.l;i 
 
 1 If^ • 
 
 IK 
 
 ! * 
 
 ? ' 
 
 F 
 
 1 
 
 i ' ■ 
 
 1! 
 
 Hi 
 
 21 G 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 thus opposed to tlie air is very great. The body of the frofr is about 
 four inches in len;^th, while the web of eacli hind foot covers a space of 
 four scjiiare inches, and if the webs of all four feet be put toL,^ether, they 
 will l)e seen to equal a space of twcKe scjuare inches. It is evitlent 
 enou''h, therefore, that a creature which is onlv four inches in len'j;tli. 
 and which is able to spread a flat membrane of twelve square inches, 
 would be upborne for some distance throuLjh the air, if it onl\- projected 
 itself with some force. 
 
 Willis and Ft'ct Coiiibiiusl. 
 
 Except that the hmbs do not seem to be mo\ed when the froc; passes 
 throui^h the air, there is but little difference between the structure of the 
 bat's win^,^ and the membrane of the flyin^^ fi'f^g. each beint;- nothinijj hut 
 an e.xistinL; membrane developed and expanded by beini;' attached to the 
 lengthened toes. In order, also, to assist in the buo\-anc\-of the creature, 
 the body is capable of considerable infiation. In hfe it is a \ery hand- 
 some species. The back is a rich deep green, and the under surface \-el- 
 low. The webs are Ijl.ick, adorned with streaks of yellow. 
 
 Probably these cnormousl\- dc\'eloi)ed feet are used f)r swimming as 
 well as for fiiLfht, and in that case thev will form a remarkable analo-n- 
 with the wings of the extin:;t pterodact\•ls,^\hich are pro\edwitli tolerable 
 certainty to be organs adapted to the water as well as to the air. 
 
 The body of the edible frog, sometimes attains a length, from the ex- 
 tremity of the mu/.zle to the end of the hind feet, of si.x to eight inches. 
 The muzzle terminates in a point; the e\'es are large, brilliant, and sur- 
 rouniled with a circle of gold color. The mouth is large; the bod\-. 
 which is contracted behind, presents a tubercular and rugged back. It 
 is of a more or less decided green color on the upper, and \\hitish on the 
 under parts. These two colors, which harmonize well, are relieved b\* 
 three yellow lines, which extend the whole length of the back', and by 
 scattered black marblings. It is, therefore, much to be regretted that 
 prejudice should cause some at least of us to dislike this prett}' little 
 creature. 
 
I , ,:(^ 
 
 III 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 WILD ANIMALS OF THE FOREST AND JUNGLE. 
 
 Old Classic Tales Concerning the Lion— Mis Majesty Once a Native ol lairopL — 
 Leaping tiie Hedge Into the Trap —Captured by Stratagem — iiouiularies of tiie 
 Lion's Kingdom— A Human I lead in a Lion's Mouth — A Roar Like tlie Sound of 
 an Earlluiuaki^ — Alarm of the Inhabitants of Plain and I'^jrcst — Massive Muscles 
 and Immense Shoulders— A Singular Encounter— Shocking Sciiu— A Ikart- 
 Rending Cry for Help — Brute AITcclion— The Sailor and I'aboon — Livingstone's 
 Adventure With a Li(jn — The RoyalTiger — Tamed fora IVt -Dreadful l-'erocity 
 — A Guide Killed by a Blow — Exciting Episodes in Tiger Hunting— Carrying OlT 
 a liuffalo— Savage Courts Entertained by Pirutal Sport— Elephants Hunting the 
 Tiger— The American IMack Bear — Die Labiated Bear — The IV-ar's Song — Ludi- 
 crous Antics — The Celebrated " Martin "—The Gigantic Hippopotamus— De- 
 scription of the Animal — Arrival of a River Horse in Europe — Strange Actions 
 and Crowdi of Curious Spectators. 
 
 1 1 K trtic lions bcloiii^ excltisiv^cly to the Old World, and they were 
 
 btit confined at present 
 
 comin;_j more scarce in 
 
 those parts of the earth. There can be no dotibt that lions were 
 
 4R I^JP formerly plentifully and widely difftised, 
 t^' to Africa and Asia, they are daily bee 
 
 once found in Europe. Herodotus records that the baggage camels of 
 the army of Xerxes were attacked b\- lions, the other beasts and the men 
 remaining untouched. Pausanias tells the same tale, and also states that 
 lions often descended into the plains at the foot of 01\'mpus, which sepa- 
 rates Macedonia from Thessah' ; and that a celebrated athlete slew one 
 of them, though he was unarmed. Plin\- affirms that the lions of Europe 
 were stronger than those of Africa and Syria. Lions have disappi:ared 
 from other parts of the world, as E.g\'pt, Palestine, and Syria where they 
 once were evidently far from unccMiimon. 
 
 ICzekiel speaks of a lion — an animal with which his people must have 
 been acquainted: "Then the nations set against him on e\ery side from 
 the i)ro\'inces, and spread their net over him ; he was taken in their pit." 
 Thus, there is an allusion to the practice of the Arabians and of othei peo- 
 ple. They dug a large circular pit. and at night introduced into it a goat, 
 which they bound to a stake or pillar of earth at the bottom, and then so 
 inclosed the pit with a hedge of branches, that it could not be .seen, leav- 
 ing no entrance. The lion, hearing in the night the voice of the goat, 
 prowled around the hedge, and, finding no opening, leaped ever, and was 
 
 taken. 
 
 (217) 
 
 m 
 
 
 \ti 
 
tiii'" 
 
 i,' 
 
 ] lum 
 
 218 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 When the hunter proposed to catch him in his toils, he stretched a ser- 
 ies of nets in a semicircuhir form, by means of lonj,' poles fixed in the 
 jfround; three men were placed in ambush, amon|^ the nets, one in the 
 middle, and one at each extremity. The toils beint^ disposed in this man- 
 ner, some waved flamin^f torches, others made a noise by beatin_LC lli-ii 
 shields, thinking that lions were not less terrified by loud sounds than b\- 
 fire. The men on foot and horseback, skilfully combining their move- 
 ments, and raising a great bustle antl clamor, rushed in upon them, and 
 drove them towards the nets, till, intimidated by the shouts of the hun- 
 ters and the glare of torches, they approached the snaie.:. of their own ac- 
 cord, and became entangled in the folds. 
 
 In the sandy deserts of Arabia, in some of the wild districts of Persia, 
 and in the \ast jungles of India, the lion still maintains a precarious foot- 
 ing ; but from the classic soil of Greece, as well as from the whole of 
 Asia Minor, both of which were once exposed to his ravages, he has been 
 utterly dislodged and extir[)ated. In the \ast and untrodden solitudes of 
 Africa, from the immense deserts of the north to the trackless forests of 
 the south, he reigns supreme and uncontrolled. From the Cape of Good 
 Hope, howev^cr, he is annually retiring farther and farther before the per- 
 secution of man. 
 
 All Knornioiis Moutli. 
 
 The opening of the lion's mouth is of great extent in proportion to 
 the size of the animal. In travelling menageries it has long been the 
 custom, "more honored ia the breach than the obser\-ance," howe\ci-, for 
 a keei^er to thrust his head ir*'n a lion's mouth — a practical i^roof of its 
 capacity — to the no small amusement of some, and the equal terror of 
 others, among the gaping spectators. The muscles which move the 
 lower jaw are also of great bulk, and the point on which the\' immediate- 
 1)' act is brought so far forwards, in consequence of the breadth and 
 shortness of the muzzle, as to give them the highest degree of attainable 
 force. 
 
 There is yet one peculiar distinction of the lion, as well ^s of all ani- 
 mals of the .same famil)', which dcsei-vcs particular attention. The most 
 obtuse of their senses is that of taste. Accortling to Desmoulins, the 
 lingual nerve of the lion is not larger than that of a middle-sized dog 
 The tongue of all animals of the cat kind is an organ of mastication, a 
 well as of taste. \Vhate\'er flesh a lion's teeth may leave on a bono i : 
 scraped away by the shaq) and horny points, inclining backwards, of his 
 tongue. 
 
 The roar of a lion sonietimes resembles the sound which is heard at 
 
WILD ANIMALS OF THE FOREST AND JUNGLE. 
 
 219 
 
 the moment of an earthquake; antl is produced by layinj^ his head on 
 the jjround. and utterin;^ a half-stiCed ^rowl, by wliich means the sound 
 is conveyed alon>^ the earth. Thj instant it is heard by the animals rc- 
 [)Osing in the plains, they start u\: in alarm, fly in all directions, and even 
 rush into the datv^cr they wish to avoid. This fearful sound is produced 
 l)\' the jjjreat comparative size of the larynx — the part of the throat that 
 fMrms the upper part of the windpipe. 
 
 Terrible IJojir <>1" the Forest Kiii^'. 
 
 The roarin^f of the lion lias aiwaj's been a proverb. When heard 
 within a distance of a mile or two during the silence of tiie ni^Mit, it awes 
 all livin;4 creatures. When this great voice echoes over the plain the 
 cattle tremble in the farms, and follow with anxietv its \;uious modula- 
 linns, in order to inform themselves of the direction in which the enemy 
 is approaching. If the lion comes to prowl around the inclosure in 
 which they are sheltered they exliibit sx'mptoms of the most intense fear. 
 Their sense of smell alone suffices to indicate, even at a considerable tlis- 
 tance, the dreaded presence. 
 
 It is in spring that the lion seeks a mate, and when an alliance is 
 firmed they show themselves most devoted to one another. Until the 
 female has \'oung, the lioness follows her lortl everx'where, and most fre- 
 ([uentl}- the male is charged with providing the common subsistence. It 
 is said that he pushes his gallantry so far as to refuse to eat first, and that 
 he does not a[)proach the prey captured by himself until the lioness is 
 satisfied ; and, on the oth:r hand, the latter defends him u ith energitic 
 fury if he be attacked. 
 
 The immense masses of muscle around the lion's jaws, shoulders, and 
 fore arms, saj's Livingstone, proclaim tremendous force. They would 
 seem, however, to be inferior in [)owerto those of the Indian tiger. Most 
 of these prodigious feats of strength, that I ha\e seen performed by lions 
 — such as the taking away of an ox — were not carrying, but dragging, 
 or trailing the carcass along the ground. They have sjjrung, on some 
 occasions, on 'o the hind quarters of a horse. They do not mount on 
 the withers of a.i eland, l)ut try to tear him down with their claws. 
 
 A Ferocious Struji's'le. 
 
 Livingstone gives a singular encounter, as described to him in a letter 
 frim Mr. Frank Vardon ; Oswell and I were riding along the banks of 
 the Lein[iopo, when a water-buck started in front of us. I dismounted, 
 and was following it through the jungle, when three buffaloes got up, and, 
 after going a little distance, stood still, and the nearest bull turned round 
 aad looked at me. A ball from the two-ouncer crashed into his shoulder 
 
 :l';f 
 
 li't 
 
 '* .WliF' lilt: 
 
 ,«'.' 
 
))il;;iil 
 
 I IB 
 
 ll 1 
 
 ii\ 
 
 220 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 and thc\' nil three niatlc off. Oswcll and I followed as soon as I had re- 
 loaded, and when we were in si^ht of the buffalo, antl ^^aininL; on him at 
 every stride, three lions leaped on the unfortunate brute; lie bellowed 
 most lustily as he kept up a kind of running fight ; but he was, ef course, 
 soon overpowered and pulled down. 
 
 We had a fine view of the struggle, and saw the lions on their hin 1 
 legs tearing awav with teeth and claws in most ferocious stvle. W'eereot 
 ii() within tliirt)' yards, antl, kneeling down, blazed awa\- at the lion-.. 
 My rifle was a single barrel, and I had no spare gun. ( )nj l.oii fjll dead 
 almost on the buffalo; he had merely time to turn towai'ds us, seize a 
 bu^li w ith his teeth, and drop dead with the stick in his jaws. The se-^- 
 oncl made off immediately; and the third raised his head, coolly looked 
 round for a moment, then went on tearing anil biting at the carcass as 
 hard as ever. We retired a short tlistance to load, then again ad\;uijed 
 and fired. The lion made off, but a ball that he recei\ed ought to lui\e 
 stopped him, as it went clear through his shoulder-blade. lie was fal- 
 lowed up and killed, after having charged several times. Both lions were 
 males. It is not often that one bags a brace of lions and a bull bui'lalo ip. 
 about ten minutes. It was an exciting adventure, and I shall ne\er for- 
 get it. Such, my dear Livingstone, is the plain, uir.arnishei-l accoi.nt. 
 The buffalo had, of course, gone close to where the lions were I\ing 
 down, and they, thought the opportunit\' too good a one to be lost. 
 
 Ssifety only in Dlstanoo. 
 
 When encountered in the daytime, says Li\ingstono, the lion stands a 
 second or two gazing, then turns slowly round, and walks as slowly away 
 for a dozen paces, looking over his shoulder; then begins to trot, and, 
 when he thinks himself out of sight, bounds off like a greyhound. IJy 
 day there is not, as a rule, the smallest danger of lions, which are not 
 molested, attacking mun, nor even on a clear, moonlight night, except 
 when they ha\e young; this makes them bra\-e almost an}' danger; antl 
 if a man happens to cross to the windward of them, both lion and lioness 
 will rush at him. Ihis docs not often happen, as I became aware of two 
 or three instances of it. In one case a man, passing when the wind blew 
 from him to the animals, was bitten before he couUl climb a tree; and, 
 occasionally, a man on horseback has been caught by the leg under the 
 same circum.stanccs. So general, however, is the sense of security on 
 moonlight nights, that we seldom tied up our o.xen, but let them lie loose 
 by the wagons; while (M1 a dark, rainy night, if a lit)n is ii. the neighbor- 
 hood, he is almost sure to venture to kill an ox. Mis apjjroach is alwaj's 
 stealthy, except when wounded ; and any appearance of a trap is enough 
 
WILD ANIMALS OF THE FOREST AND JUNGLE. 
 
 221 
 
 to cause him to refrain from makin;^ the last spring. This seems cliar- 
 acteristic of the fehne species. 
 
 When a Hon is hungry, he will do what he would not under other cir- 
 cumstances. Thus, one had been neat a Bushman's hut the whole nit;ht, 
 doubtless on the look-out for prey. Two Hechuana iierdsmen, attending 
 the cattle near the place next mornini;, saw him, and ran towards a 
 neighboring kraal, or village, to inform the people. On their way thither 
 they met six natives coming to attack the formidaijie creature, having 
 alread)' heard he was there. Advancing, they fired and wounded, but 
 did not disable, iiim. I'Jiragcd by the smart, he took some steps, when 
 the natives instandy leaped from their horses, formed them into a cl^se 
 line, with their tails towards the lion, and took their stand at the hor>cs' 
 heads. 
 
 The lion now flew on a Bechuana, who was not protected by the inter- 
 vention of the horses, and who tried to defend himself with his sheep- 
 skin cloak. The lion, lu)wever, caught him by the arm, threw him on 
 the ground, and, while the poor man still tried to defend himself, by 
 keeping his cloak wrapped round him, the lion got under it and gnawed 
 j)art of his thigh. His Ik'chuana companion at that time threw his spear, 
 which penetrated the man's cloak, and entered the lion's back. The 
 same man threw another spear, but, instead of taking the direction he in- 
 tended, it pierced the bod)' of a dog that was barking near. The natives 
 would have fired, but they were afraid of shooting the man. To dri\c 
 him away, ]u)wc\cr, if possible, they made a great noise, ami threw some 
 stones. The lion then left the man and rushed toward them, when they 
 again checked his attack by turning the horses round. Me next crept 
 under the belly of a mare, and seized her by the fore legs, but, with a 
 powerful kick, she made him let go his hold. In revenge, and b}- one 
 .stroke of his paw, he tore open the bod\' of the mare, and retired. After 
 this, he tried to get round the horses to the men; but when within two 
 yards of one of them, and on the point cf making a .'-pring, he was h.ap- 
 pily killed by a musket shot, the ball penetrating behind the ear. 
 
 A Terrible Scene. 
 
 Mr. Gordon Gumming, who has earned for himself a rather uncn\ia 
 ble reputation by his ruthless slaughter of animals, graphicalK- describes 
 a terrific scene: All had retired to rest, when suddenl}-the appalling anti 
 murderous voice of an angry, bloodthirsty lion burst upon my ears with- 
 in a few yards of us, followed by the shrieking of the Hottentots. Again 
 and again the murderous roar of attack was repeated. We heard John 
 and Ruyter shriek, "The lion! the lion!" Still, for a few moments, we 
 
 
!-Mi|||i|ii:| 
 
 222 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 \ \ 
 
 
 thougln he was but chasiiv^r onj of the d^<r^ roiina the kraal, hut the 
 next instant John Strofulus rushed into the midst of us, ahnost speoch- 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 less with fear and terror, his eyes burstinrr from their sockets, and shrieked 
 out, " The Hon ! the Hon ! he has got Hcndrick ! he dragged him awny 
 from the fire beside me. I struck him witli the burning brands on his head. 
 
 t'le cntivuK 
 
WILD ANIMALS OF THE FOREST AND TL'XGLE. 
 
 223 
 
 but he wouldn't lot go his liold. Ilcndrick is dcatl ! O God I 1 Icndrick 
 is dead ! let us take fire and seek him ! " 
 
 The rest of my people rushed about shriekin^,^ and \-elling as if they 
 were mad. I was at once an;^ny with them for their foll\-, and told th.em 
 that if they did not stand still and kc^'p quiet, the li^n would have another 
 I if us, and that very likely there w. is a troop of them. 1 orflered the 
 (logs, w'hich were nearly all fist, to be made loose, and the fire increased 
 as far as cmdd be. I then shouted Ilendrick's name, hut all was still. I 
 told my men that Ilendrick was dead, and that a regiment of soldiers 
 could not now help him ; and hunting my dogs forward, I had every- 
 thing brought within my cattle kraal, when we lighted our fire, and closed 
 the entrance as well as we could. 
 
 In tlu' Jaws <)<■ Deatli. 
 
 Tr ajjpeared that when the unforunate Ilendrick rose to dri\e in the ox, 
 tlie lion had watched him to his fireside, and he had scarce!)- lain down 
 when the lirute sprang ujion him and Kuyter (fo!" Ijoth ia_\- under one 
 blanket), with his appalling, murdei-ous nMr; and, roavin.g as he lay, 
 grappled him with his fearful claws, and kept biting him on the- breast 
 and shoulders, all the while feeling for his neck; hax'ing ;',ot hold of 
 which, he at once dragged him away backwards, rovuvl the bush into the 
 dense .^liade. As the lion lay on the unfortunate n-ian, lu; fainlh,- cried, 
 " Help me! help me! O God, men, help me!" After which th ; fearfiil 
 beast got hold of his neck, and then all was still, except tliat his com- 
 rades heard the bones cracking between the teeth of the lion. 
 
 The Irishmen ha\'e remarked that the lion generally kills and ('e\-ours 
 his pre\- in the morning at sunri.se, cm- a*: sunset ; when, therefore, they in- 
 tend to kill the.sc animals, they notice where the spring-bucks are graz- 
 ing at the rising of the sun, and by observing, at the same time, if they 
 ap{)ear frightened and run off, they conclude that they ha\e been attacked 
 by the lion. Marking accurately the spot where the alarm took place, 
 about eleven o'clock in the da\-, when the sun is p(nverful,and theenenn- 
 they .seek is supposed to be fast asleep, the}' carefull\- examine the 
 ground, and, finding him in a state of unguarded security, the\- lodge a 
 poisoned arrow in his breast. The moment the lion is thus struck, he 
 .springs from his lair and bounds off as helpless as the stricken deer. The 
 work is done ; the arrow of death has pierced his heart without even 
 breaking the slumbers of the lioness which may have been lying be- 
 side him; and the Bushman knows where, in the course of a few 
 hours, or even less time, he will find him in his last agonies, or actually 
 dead. 
 
224 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV 
 
 Sir George Davis, who was Kiij^^lish consul at Naples, when a ^rcat 
 plat^ue ratted there, retired in consequence to Florence. Visitin;^, one 
 day, tlie nienaj^^erie of the Grand Duke, he noticed a lion at the further 
 end of on J of the dens, which the keepers stated they had been unahli;to 
 tame, thi)ui;h c\ery effort had been made for upwards of three years. 'S'ft 
 no sooner liatl Sir George reached the i^ate of the den, than the lion ran 
 CO it, reared himself up, purred like a cat when pleased, and licked llij 
 hand that was put throuLjh tlie bars. The keeper was astonished, and, 
 frightened for the safety of his visitor, entreated him not to trust an a))- 
 i),n-ent fit of frenzy, as the lion was the most fierce and sullen of his tribe 
 lie had e\er seen. This, however, had no effect on Sir George, wlv iii- 
 si^ed (in entering the lion's den. The moment he got in the lion maiu- 
 fested the gri'atest delight, threw his j)aus on his shoulders, licked his 
 fice, ran about him, and purred like an affectionate cat. 
 
 This occurrence became the talk of h'lorence, aiid reached the ear <■( 
 the Grand [")ul-:e, who sent for Sir George, and requested an interview at 
 the menagerie, that he might personall}' witness the conduct of the lion. 
 
 " .\ captain of a ship from Barbar)-,"" said Sir George, "gave me thi. 
 lion w hen c]uite a whelp. I brought him up tame ; but, when I though: 
 him too lai'ge to run about the house, I built a den for him in my courl- 
 } aid. h'rom that time he was ne\-er {KM-milteil to be loose, excejit when 
 brought to the house to be exhibited tt) m\- friends. When he wa-- r!\c 
 years old he did some mischief b)' pawing and playing with peo[)le in his 
 frolicsome moods. Having gripped a man one da\' a little too hard, I 
 ordered him to be shot, for fear of incurring an)' guilt. On this, a fiieiul 
 begged him as a i)resent. Mow he came here I know not." 
 
 "Vour friend, Sir George," said the Grand Dake, " was the very same 
 person who [)resented this lion to me." 
 
 Dovicc of a Liouoss to Save Her Youiiy. 
 
 The f )llowing well authenticated fact heli)s to re\-eal the nature of thi-^ 
 wondtifiil anin.Kil. Part of a ship's crew being.sent on shore, on thecoast 
 of bulia, for the pur[)ose of cutting wood, one man, induced b\' curio^iiy 
 to sti-a)- to a consitlei'able distance from his com[)anions, became givail}- 
 akuined as he saw a larcre lioness walking towards him. On her comin': 
 up, however, his fear was allayed; she laid down at his feet, looking \er\" 
 earnestU- first in his face, and then at a ci-ee a little wa\' off, and all,'- 
 wards proceedcLl t^) the tree, \'et looking back, as if she wished the s.iilur 
 to follow her. At length he ventured, and approaching the tree he -aw 
 a huge baboon, with two cubs in his arms, which he immetliatel\- .sup- 
 posed to l)e those of the lioness, as she couched down like a cat, and 
 
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 22<) 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY 
 
 eyed them intcntl}'. Afraid to ascend the tree, the man decided on cut- 
 tine,^ it down ; provided with his axe, he set earnest!)' to work, the honess 
 watcliini,r apparently ever)' movement ; as soon as the tree fell she tore the 
 baboon in pieces, and then turned round and licked her cubs. She now 
 returned to the sailor, rubbed her head fondly against him, and then car- 
 ried away her cubs one b\' one. 
 
 A Savage Attack Uixm ljivinjfstoiie. 
 
 The villagers of JMabotoa, among whom was Livingstone, were much 
 troubled by lions, which leaped into their cattle-pens and destroyed thrii- 
 cows. To such an extent did the lions carry their depredations that the 
 natives announced their belief that the)' were bewitched — " given into the 
 power of the lions by a neighboring tribe " — and sought Livingstone's 
 advice on the subject. Well knowing that if one troop of lions is killed 
 the others frequently take the hint and lea\e that part of the countr\-, 
 he gave the villagers advice to that end, and, in order to encouragt' 
 them, offered to lead the hunt. The lions were found (>n a hill cox-ered 
 with trees, and about a (]ua '^*"a mile in length. The men circled the 
 hill, and gradual!)- edged ii .loser and closer, sothattlie game might be 
 completely surrounded. Presently the native who accompanied Living- 
 stone spied a lion sitting on a piece of rock and fired at him, the ball 
 missing the beast and striking the rock on whicli the animal was sitting. 
 The animal turned, bit lil^e a dog at the spot where the bullet liad struck, 
 and then bounded off to the shelter of the brushwood. 
 
 Presently Livingstone .spied another lion in much the same situation as 
 tlie former, and being not more than thirty yards distant from it, let ll\- 
 botli barrels. The villagers frantic with jo)-, were for rushing in on theii- 
 enemy at once, but Livingstone a\1io through the bushes could see his 
 game still on its legs, with its eyes glaring and its tail bolt upright, 
 checked their impetuosity, and requested them to wait until he again 
 loaded his gun ; but while in the act of ramming home his bullets the 
 natives set up a sudden and frightful cry, and raising his head, there was 
 the wounded lion fairl)- springing at him. 
 
 Livingstone was standing on a .slight eminence, and in his great leap 
 the maddened beast caught the missionary by the shoulder, and lion and 
 man rolled to the ground together. y\nd now comes a curious fact — the 
 better worth noting, because from its dangerous nature the experiment is 
 rather unlikely to be tried even b)' the mo.st enthusiastic zoologist. 
 Growling horribly in my ear, says Livingstone, he shook me as a terrier 
 does a rat. The shock jiroduced stupor, similar to that which seems to 
 be felt b\- a mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of 
 
 f i|*ll 
 
WILD ANIMALS OF TIIIv IX)I>:i:sr AND jrXGI.K. 
 
 2-J7 
 
 tlrcaniincss, in which there was no sense of pain or fcehn^ of terror^ 
 thoui;h quite conscious of all that was hai)[jcninL;. It was like what pa- 
 tients partially under the inlliience of chloroform describe, wiio see all 
 the operations but feel not the knife. This sinL;ular condition v. a ; not 
 til'.' result of any mental process. Tlie shake annihilated fear, and al'ow- 
 1(1 no .sense of horror in looking;' around at the beast. 
 
 The gi eat fore-paw of the lion was pressing heavily on the back' of 
 Li/ingstone's head, and lu almost insensibls' turned ti> relime himself ot 
 tlie pressure, and at that \'ery instant th • animal leaped from his prostiate 
 \ :ctim to attack one of the natives who had otTered to shoot at hiin, hut 
 his piece missed fire. This man he bit in the thigh, and left him to 
 spring at the neck of a second native, who, armed with a spear had come 
 to the rescue. The exertion, h>\ve\er, was too much for the mortally- 
 wounded beast, and so, with his claws bedded in the spearman's shoulder 
 
 he rolled oyer and died. 
 
 Tlu' Asiatic Tij;<'r. 
 
 Xearh' eciual to the lion in strength, and, perhaps, surpassing him ii> 
 activit)', the tiger has generall}' been placed second in this tribe of ani- 
 mals. Its general foiin antl appearance are so well known, that a few- 
 words of description will suffice. The tiger has no trace of the shaggy 
 mane which adds so greatly to the bold-looking front of the lion; and 
 his countenance, scowling under the different passions, coin-e\'s tlie idea 
 of wanton treachery and cruelty. In shape he is moie slender and 
 lengthened than the lion , the head is rounder, the whole form is r.iore 
 c.tt-like, and all his motions are performed with apparent ease and great- 
 est grace. 
 
 The tiger is exclusively an Asiatic animal, and his range extends 
 lint only over the more southern part of the continent, but to the 
 larger islands of the Archipelago, where he is particularl\' destructix'c. 
 llf is as tall as the lion, but not quite so powerful ; he is, houe\er, more 
 a;.^ile, more graceful, and more insidious. Me crouches, and mostly 
 springs in the same maimer as the lion and other feline animals; he is 
 more ferocious, and will even fight witli the lion. He seems to cLlight 
 in blood itself, for he will kill several victims, suck their blood, and lea\e 
 their carcasses to be devoured at another opportunity. 
 
 The color of the tiger is a bright orange tawny, white underneath, and 
 broad black stripes on the back, sides, and tail. In seeking his prey he 
 takes the most enormous leaps ; he can be tamed to a certain extent, 
 but is never to be trusted. He prowls both night and da\'; and in some 
 places, the deva.station he has caused is terrific. Nothing can e.xceed 
 
 
I 'J] 
 
 22.S 
 
 KAKTll, SEA, AND SKY 
 
 111 ) 
 
 I 
 
 H 
 
 i 
 
 
 the tragic tal'-s that arc told of him, in the countries wlierc he exists in 
 numbers; and in one part of India, it is said that at least three hundred 
 h'ves are taken every year, within a district containnii^ seven villai^es, 
 independent of an enormous number of sheep, treats, and cattle. 
 How the J:i<'plmiit Deals With the Tijfcr. 
 
 i [iMses will not stand in his presence with any steadiness; and the ele 
 pliant is re--t!ess ^vlieii in his vicinit}-. This sai^acious animal (jfcen man- 
 atees to shake him off; and if he takes hold of his trunk, he tranij)les on 
 him with his fore-feet and so destroys him. If he cannot di.slodge h/n 
 from his body, he lies do\vnup(^n him, and attempts to kill him by rollin^' 
 In's ponderous \veii;ht upon him. Seldom, however, is the tiger the ac;- 
 gressor, unless lu- be- driven to it by hunger, or maddened by pain ami 
 dispair, and then he struggles till he dies. He hides himself witli sut h 
 caution antl skill that travellers are laid hold of without being aware of 
 his nearness. 
 
 The histor\' of an unfortunate guide is an instance of the immediate- 
 mischief which ensues from the first blow of one of these powerful cvv:\- 
 tures. The man reiiionstrated with the officer, whose party he was con- 
 d!::ting, on th : imprudence of marching before daylight; but the officer, 
 suj> losing it to be laziness, threatened to punish liim if he did not go. 
 TliL- man took his shield and sw ird, and w\alked along the narrow path, 
 bor'lered on each side 1)\- high grass and bamboo. After going five 
 miles, the officer Jieard a tremendous roar, antl a large tiger passed hini, 
 so close, that he nearl\' brushed his horse, and sprang upon the guide. 
 The latter lifted up his .shield, but he was down in an instant, and under 
 the tiger's paws, w hich seized him with his teeth, growled, and looked at 
 the officer. The tiger was attacked, and so severel)- wounded that he 
 tlropped his x'ictim ; but it was all o\er with the poor guide, the first blow 
 having literally smashed his head in pieces. 
 
 A Deadly I$low. 
 
 In a plain near the Narbudda river, a party were hunting a tiger; but 
 the b-'ast did n )t seem inclined to come to a batde with his antagonists. 
 Me trotted across the plain, and as he passed an unfortunate cow, he 
 raised his paw, gave her a blow on the shoulder, and she fell. He went 
 on, and when the hunters examined the cow, she wms dead, he havin!^ 
 left the print of ever}- toe,anl,in fact, ever}' part of his paw upon the 
 shoulder i)latle, without making the smallest wound. 
 
 A tiger had sprung upon the shoulder of an English officer. Lieutenant 
 Colnett'.s elephant, who in this .situation fired at him, and lie fell. Cnn- 
 ceiving him to be di.sabled, the Lieutenant descended from the elephant 
 
WILD AXIMALS OK THI-; lOKKST AND JUNGLE, 
 
 229 
 
 for the purpose of clc.spatchint,r him with his pistols; hut in ah_L^htin,<^ he 
 came in contact with the tiger, whicli had only crouched for a second 
 
 sprinfT, and which, catchini^ hold of him by the thii^h, drai^ged him some 
 distance along the ground. Having succeeded in drawing one of a brace 
 
 !:l 
 
 ii*:3 
 
 «lill!l 
 
:t 
 
 .J 
 
 ,11 
 
 ^ 
 
 •230 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 of pistols from his iK'lt, Lieutenant Colnctt fired, and lod_t,feti a ball inthe 
 body of the tii^^er, when the beast became em aged, shook him violenth-, 
 without letting go his hold, and made off towards the thickest part of the 
 jungle with his prey. In the struggle to disengage himself from tin- 
 clutches of the animal, the Lieutenant caught hold of the tiger by both 
 his ears, and succeeded, rfter some time, in throwing the beast or m- 
 sitle, when hea\'ailed himself of his momentary release to draw forth tlitj 
 it.-maining pistol, and placing the muz/le at the breast of the tiger, sh(.t 
 liim through the heart, lie then returned to his elephant, which he 
 mounted without assistance, feeling at the moment little jxiin from his 
 wounds, although he received no fewer than thirty-five, from the effects 
 of which he long afterwards continued to suffer. 
 
 Wil«l Fury of u Ti^ios.s. 
 The people of Chittagong were alarmed by the appearance of a tigress, 
 which was first discovered among some cattle that were grazing at the 
 mouth of tlie river. On the first alarm, the natives of the vicinit\ as- 
 sembled with all speed and advanced against her. Irritated by this >lic 
 sprang furiously upon the i)erson nearest to her, and wounded him si-- 
 verel}'. The immediate attack of the crowd, however, was successful in 
 rescuing the man fi-om her grasp. On this the tigress, finding herself 
 hemmed in on all sides, and seeing no wa\' of a\-oiding the multitude, 
 except b\- the ri\-cr, took to the water, and swam about fixe miles 
 closely pursued by the natives in their bcxits, until she landed under a 
 tree in a dockyard. Here she laid herself down, apparently much 
 fatigued; but before the people in the }ard could get their fire arms reaih-, 
 she had, in a great degree, recovered her strength. Several shots weie 
 fired at her, and two of them ])enetrated her bod}', one of which lamed 
 her. 
 
 Rendered desperate by this, she advanced against her new opponents, 
 and singling out a European gentleman in the yard, who was provided 
 with a cutlass, she sprang upon him before he could make use ot his 
 weapon; knocked Iiim down \\ith her fore paw, .seized his head in her 
 mouth, bit off a considerable partof the skin of his forehead, and wounded 
 him in several places. After this, she sprang upcMi a natix-e, fracturetl his 
 skull, and otherwise lacerated him s(^ dreadfully that he died next day. 
 She then entered a thicket close by, where she was allowed to remain im- 
 mole.stetl. On the morning of the following day she had got about a 
 mile further from the water side, and near to a Sepoy village. Here she 
 was surrbunded by about a thousand natives, when, although she was 
 very lame, she sprang fiiriously on several of them, and wounded one poor 
 
WILD ANIMALS OF THE FOREST AND JUNGLE. 
 
 231 
 
 woman so dreadfully, as to occasion her ticalli. A fortunate shot, lunv- 
 cvcv, laid the animal prostrate. 
 
 There is an account of a tanie tv^cv which was brouL,dit from I'hina in 
 an I'.ast Indiaman, which was so far domesticated as to admit of every 
 kind of familiarit}- fiom the people on board, lie seemetl to be ([uite 
 harmless and as playful as a kitten. lie frecjuently slept with the sailors 
 ill their hammocks, and would suffer two or three of them to re])ose their 
 heads upon his hack, as upon a pilUnv, while he la}' stretched upon the 
 ilcck. In return for thi--, he would nowan<l then steal their meat. IIa\- 
 in;4" one day carried off a piece of beef from the car|)enter, the man fol- 
 lowed the animal, took it out of his mouth, and l.ieat him severel)- for the 
 theft, which punishment he suffered with all the patience of a do^. lie 
 would frequentl)- run upon the bow-spril, climb about like a cat, ami per- 
 fiirm a number of tricks with astonishin;^ agility. There was a doi;' on 
 hoartl with whom he often played in the most amusing manner ; he was 
 onl}' a moiith or six weeks old when taken on boai"d. 
 
 Tilt' (iiant <»t' tli<> Jiinj-U'. 
 
 A buffilo, belonging to a peasant in India, ha\ ing fallen into a cpiag- 
 mire, the man was himself unable to e.xtricate it, and went to call the as- 
 sistance of Ins neighbors. Meanwhile, a large tiger coming to the spot, 
 seized upon the buffalo, and dragged him out. When the men came to 
 the place, they saw the tiger with the buffa]i> thr(~)wn over his sh(.)ulder, 
 in the act of retiring with him towards the jungle. No sooner, howe\-er, 
 <liil he obser\e the men, than he let fall the dead animal, and precipitately 
 escaped. On coim'ng up, they found the buffah^ (juite dead, and his 
 whole blood sucked out. .Some notion ma}- be gaine^d of the immense 
 power of the tiger wheti it is remembered that the ordinar}' weight of a 
 buffalo is abo\e a thousand pounds, and, consecpienlly, considerabl}' more 
 than double its own weight. 
 
 Combats between these animals were once frequent in the island of 
 Ja\a, and, when they were to fight for the amusement of the court, they 
 were brought into the field in large cages. The place was surrounded 
 h}- a body of people four feet tljep, with levelled pikes, that, if the 
 creatures endeavored to break through the}- might be inmiediateh- killed. 
 When all was in readiness, the cage of the buffalo was first opened at the 
 top, and his back rubbed with the leaves of a plant, \vhich occasioned 
 him intolerable pain; then the animal leaped out. roaring most dreadful- 
 1}'. The cage of the tiger was then opened, and fire thrown into it to 
 make the bea^t ciuit it, which he generalK' did, running backwards out of 
 it. No sooner did the tiger perceive the buffalo, than he sprang upon 
 
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 2.32 
 
 EARTH, SKA. AND SKY. 
 
 him; his hii,i;c opponent .stanclin:,' cxpcctin;^r him, with his horns on the 
 ground, in order to catch him u])on them, antl throw him in the air. If 
 tlie buffalo succeeded, and the tii^^er reco\'ered from his fall, lie was gen- 
 erally indisposed to niirw the contest; and if the tii^er avoided this first 
 attempt <if the IjiiHalo, he sprang upon him, and, seizinL( him in the neck 
 or other parts, tore his flc^h from liis boms. \n most cases, however, the 
 strength of the buffalo o\ercame the address and ferocity of the tiger. 
 
 naiiJsirM* S|M>r(. 
 
 On another occasion, a lofty bamboo [)alisade wa ; erected at Siam. 
 which occujjied an area of about one hundred fut scpiare. Into this en- 
 closure two elephants were introduced, with their heads and trunks 
 shielded by a kind of mask. A large tiger \\as now brought from its den, 
 and held with cords till <ine of the elephants approached, and inflicted 
 two or three blows on its back with his trunk, so liea\il\' that it fell 
 stunned as if dead. Thv n the)- loosed llie tiger. No sooner did he re- 
 cover than he sprang wi'ili a tlrca;!nil ro.ir at the elephant's trunk, stretch- 
 ed out in the act to strike him, km the' war)- elephant diew uj) his trunk, 
 and, receiving the tiger on hi^ tusks, hurled him into the air. This 
 checked the fur)- of the tiger — as ii \.ell might — and it ga\e up the con- 
 test with the elejihant ; but h^; ran scx-eia? tinier round th palisade, fre- 
 quently sprinjdng at th;: spectators. Afterwards ilnix: elephants were 
 set upon him, and the'v, in Invn, dealt him such hea\y blows that he 
 again la_\" senseless, and wouhi ha\ e been killed, had not the struggle 
 been stop[)ed. .Such a trial ol stren;;!!!, howe\er, was wanton antl cruel, 
 but it placed be}'ond all doubt the " ])luck " ( f the tiger. 
 
 The onl)' animal, sa\'s a traveller in tii'- I'ast. toLuid suitable to assist iti 
 the capture of the tiger is the eleiihajit, which ofle'U (.lispla\ s great cour- 
 age and coolness in the chase, and at times a .sagacity which has sa\ed 
 the rider's life. ( )n notice being gi\en that there was a tiger in the 
 neighborhood, the whole station was aroused anil in a state of piepaivi- 
 tion liegan to i)roceed to the co\'er; the elephants wen: brouglvt out, and 
 the tumult that arose before all was ready, between dri\-e!"s, dog- and 
 horses, elej)hants and their masters, was indescribable, k'rom ten te 
 thirty of these animals, each carr\-ing a sportsman armed with rilles of 
 various descriptions, have generally started for the jungle (though some- 
 times a field of nearly one hundred ele[)hants ha\e been out), ami C(;ni- 
 menced regularly to beat fcjrthe game. 
 
 Socking- the Gaino. 
 
 We found immense quantities of game, wild dogs, hogs and the ncil- 
 ghie, literally the blue cow. We, however, strictly abstained from firing. 
 

 '=Sr*'?y*'*' 
 
 
 HUNTING A FEROCIOUS TIGER. 
 
 (ii:i3^ 
 
 ^^mM 
 
 mm 
 
 
 ft 
 
 r, '31^ 
 
1' li 
 
 i 
 
 R i 
 
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 I m 
 
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 iiit 
 
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 f.ar'hi, si:.\. and sky 
 
 rc.scr\iii;4 ov.v whoL- baUcrv for tlu: iiol^lrr ;;ainc — tlu- liijcr. ll was 
 pcihaps rortmialc that \vc did not find one in tlic thick part of the foi\st, 
 as tlic ti' rs well- so close set, and so intcrwown with thorns and parasitic 
 plants, thai tlu: fKph.mis wrvc often ohlitjcd to clc.ir for themselves a 
 passaj^e by tlu.ir own j)ressing exertions. It is curious, on thesi; occa- 
 .sioiis. to see the enormous trees these animals will overthrow on a \\oi<l 
 from the liriver; the\' place their foreheads a_L,Minst the obnoxious plant, 
 twistini; their trunks round it, and ^M-adually bendin<,' it towards tii- 
 i.;roun(l, until the\' can place a foot upon it. This done, down comes ilu; 
 tree w ilh crashin;^ stem and upturned roots. The elephant must be will 
 (•(lucali'd to actomplish this dut}' in a L;entleinan-like manner; that i-;, 
 uitlicut roarinLj sulkiK', or shakin;^ his master b)- too violent exertions. 
 
 ( )n cUariuL;" the wooil, we entered an open spact; of marshy tjjrass, iiut 
 thiic fet hiL;h ; -i ku\L;e herd of cattle wi-re feedint;" there, and the herds- 
 man was sitting" sinL^ini;" under a bu^h ; when, just as the former began \n 
 mo\ e before us, up sprant^^ the ver)' titter to which our visit was intended, 
 and cantered off before a baie ])lain, dotted with small patches ofbii^h- 
 juULjle. lie took to the op.n country in a st)'le that would ha\e nioir 
 become a fox than a ti^er, which is expected b\' liis pursuers t > fiL;htan(l 
 not to run ; and as he was flushed ^fn the flank of the line, onl\- (uk; 
 bullet was hred at him ere he cleared the thick Ljrass. He was unhurt, 
 and we pui'sued him at full speed. 
 
 All Kxcitiii}*- ('ai»tiir«». 
 
 Twice he threw us out •)y stoppin*^ short in small strips of juns.:jle, and 
 tearin;;' back after we had passed ; and he had gi\-en us a ver\' fast trot of 
 about two miles, when an officer, who led the fielil, at last reached him 
 b\- a capital shot, his elephant beini;- in full career. As soon as he felt 
 himself wounded, th :• ti<^er crcj)! into a close thicket of trees and bushes, 
 and crouched. Tlu two leading; .sportsmen oxerran the spot where in; 
 lay ; and as I came up I saw him, throuL;h an aperture, risin<^ to attempt 
 a charge. i\I\' ilrixer had just before, in the heat of the chase, dropped 
 his goad, which I had refused to allow him to reco\er ; anil the elephant 
 lieing notoriously .savage, and further irritated by the goading he liaii 
 undergone, became, consequent!)-, unmanageable; he appeared to see the 
 tiger as soon as myself, and I hat! onl\' time to fire one shot, when he 
 suddenl)' rushed with the greatest fur_\' into the thicket, and falling on 
 liis knees, nailed tlu> tiger with his tusks to the ground. 
 
 Such was the \ioience of the shock, that my servant, who sat behind, 
 was thrown out, and one of m\- guns went overboard. The struggles ef 
 my elephant to crush his still resisting foe, which had fixed one paw on 
 
WILD ANIMALS OF THE FOREST AND irXOI.F. 
 
 2'^r, 
 
 ti'll 
 
 his eye, were .so i-iierjj^ctic that T was rthhs^cc' to huld on with all my 
 strctlirth to keep tiu'self in thi: seat. I h-- seeond l)ari\ 1. t<>o, of the uuii 
 which I still retaiiud in ni\- hand, w nt off in the scuille. tli- hall passin r 
 ilosc to the (l;i\er's ear, whose situation, poor fellow, \\a^ an)-tliiivM)iit 
 enviable. As soon as ni\- clepiiant was prevailed upon to lra\c the 
 killin^^r jKirt of the business to the sportsmen, the)' ;^a\e the roU!;hly- 
 iis'd tii^er the tjo b\-. Tt was a \ery fine female, with the most l)eautifiil 
 s!<in I ever .saw. 
 
 Tho Famous lilack Itcar. 
 
 This animal inhabits every woodeil district of the American continent, 
 fioin the Atlantic to tie I'acific, and from Caroli;i.i to the shores < f tin.' 
 Arctic Sea. i.ian has, liowtner, i^raduall)' tirive'i it from its haini. ; to 
 make way for his works, and has compelled it to take rcfus^ein themouii- 
 tains and the immense inland forests. In Canada it is still found, an I it is 
 tolerably numerous on the Western coast, as far as California. 
 
 The black bear is smaller than other American bears — the total len;^th 
 of an adult .seldom cxcccdini^ fi\-e feet. Its fa\orite food is berries of var- 
 ious kinds, but, when these are not to be procured, it preys on roots, in- 
 sects, fish, ci^gs, and such birds or (piadrupeds as it can surprise. It does 
 iii>t eat animal food from choice ; for, when it has abundance of its favorite 
 \e;^rctable diet, it will pass the carcass of a deer without tcnichi'iL,^ it. 
 
 It is rather a timid animal, and will seldom face a man except it is 
 wounded, or has its retreat cut off, or is urc^ed by affection to defend its 
 vount;. In such instances it^, siuni^th renders it a dan_L^erous assailant. 
 The female lias been known to confront her eneni_\- boldly, until she had 
 seen her cubs attain the hitjhest branches of a tree, when she made off, ev- 
 idently considering; them to be in safety, but lea\in_L; them, in fact, an ea.sy 
 prey to the hunter. The speed of the black bear when in pursuit, is not 
 \ery threat, 'in^l a man ma}' escape from it, particularl\- if he runs into a 
 willow grove, or amonj^ loose grass ; for the caution of the bear obliges it 
 to -Stop frequcntl}-, and ri.sc on its hind legs, for the purpose of reconnoiter- 
 iiig. A black bear, however, has been known to make off with a si)eecl 
 that would have baffled the fleetest runner, and ascend a nearl\- periien- 
 dicular cliff, with a facility tiiat a cat might en\y. 
 
 One of the most curious of this race of animals is the labiated, or sloth 
 bear. This animal, on its first arri\al in hairope, was taken f>r a sloth, but 
 Blain\'ille proved that it is a .species of bear. It is a favorite with the jug- 
 glers of India, who consider its ugliness an attraction. The cartilage of 
 the nose is capable of extention, and the lips of considerable protrusion, as 
 may be seen if the .spectator hold a morsel of fruit or biscuit at a proper 
 
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 23(; 
 
 KARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 distance for exciting the animal to exert this faculty. The muzzle is elon- 
 jjated, and, as well as the ends of the feet, is whitish or )-ello\vish. The 
 
 
 
 
 
 li'^i: 
 
 THE SLOTH BEAR. 
 
 forehead ri.scs almost abruptl)' frcmi the muzzle. Upon the under side of 
 the neck and breast is a white mark, resembling the letter Vor Y. With 
 these exceptions, the fur is tleep black, with here and there some brown 
 
WILD ANIMALS OF THE KORKST AND JUNGLE. 
 
 237 
 
 spots, and is rather long, particular!}- round the breast, in old specimens. 
 In bulk it is about the size of the brown bear. 
 
 The food ofthis species, in its natural state, consists offruits, honey, and 
 the white ants, which arc so numerous and destructive. It inhabits the 
 mountainous parts of India, where some cavern is its retreat. In captivit}' 
 it is mild but melanchol)-. .\ pair lived fur some time in the (jardens of 
 ilie London Zoological Society, \cr\' sociabl}-, and often la\' huddled to- 
 gether, uttering a kind of rattling, but low, whine, or purring, which was 
 continuous and monotonous, but not entire!}' immusical ; indeed, it was 
 termed by more than one who heard it their song. The paw ^vas gener- 
 al!}' at the mouth when they made this singular noise. 
 
 In India, bears will often continue on the road, in front of a palanciuin 
 for a mile or two, tumbling and p!a}-ing all sorts of antii:s, as if the}' were 
 taught to do so. I believe, sa}'s Johnson, in his "S!;- ,. .les" of that ct)un- 
 tr\-, it is their natural disposition ; for thc}' are certainly the most amusing 
 creatures imaginal^le, in a wild state. It is no wond.r that they are led 
 a!:)out with monkc}s to amuse mankind. It is astonishing, as well as lu- 
 dicrous to see them climlD rocks, and tumljle, or rather roll down precipi- 
 ces. If the}' are attacked b}' a person on horsebac!;, thev stand erect on 
 their hind legs, showing a fme set of white teetli, and make a crackling 
 kind of noise. If thc horse comes near them, they tr}'tocatch himliy the 
 legs ; and, if they miss him, they tumble o\er and over several times. The}' 
 are easil}' speared by a person mounted on horseback'. 
 
 Capers <»1" t'u* W<)l•l^l-llen<>^VIKMl "3Iartin." 
 
 The drollest and nio ;t accomplished of all bears was the celebrated 
 Martin, of Paris, who ;j dancing, climbing, curtseving, tumbling, beggin >■, 
 and man}' other antics, were the delight of e\er}' cliild in tlu meLro[)oli ;, 
 and of man}' grown-up children also. It is tru;-, that the nursemaitls en- 
 dangered the lives of their charges, bv liolding them over the sitle of the 
 pit in which he was kept; but as nor.e did fall, they continued to amuse 
 them.sehes and their nurslings at thc same risk. One morniuLr earh', he 
 very clever!}' withdrew the bolts of his pit door, and sallied forth 
 on his hind-legs to take a walk. The keepers of thc garden had not 
 risen; but the dogs were on the alert, and surrounded Martin, jumping 
 and barking, half in play and half in earnest. This roused the men, who, 
 rushing out to see what was the matter, beheld the beast in tlie midst of 
 the canine troop, his tongue lolling out of his mouth, and an e.\prcssion 
 of fun and cnjo}'ment in his countenance, which was indescribable. 
 
 Never was the malignant scowl, so often noticeil in bears, from pulling 
 the third e}'elid half over the eye, seen in poor Martin's face; yet he be- 
 
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 238 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 11 i 
 
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 came iin])()pular from the cupidity of one of the .sentinels. Tliis man 
 fancied lie saw a five-franc piece Iv'inL^ in the bear's pit, and determined tu 
 j;o cku'inL;' the ni;.dit, w lien he would he on duty, and secure it. I le accord- 
 inj^l)' pro\ ided himself \\itli a laddei', and \\ hen the j^uard was chan<^etl, 
 was found l\in;.^ lifeless at the bottom, the coveted piece in his hand, 
 which pr<)\ed to Ijc n()thin<j but a larL^i; button. No marks of \iolence 
 were to be seen upon liis body, but the contusions on his head seenu:d to 
 tell that he had lalleii from the ladder when near the toj), and so met hi-> 
 death. Whether he liad been friL;hlened or seized with giddiness, or 
 whether Martin had shaken the laddei", no one could .say; the animal was 
 -sittin;.;- ([uietly by his side when his fate \\as first made known. 
 
 The stoi-\- lied like wildtire from one end of Paris to th,: other, and in 
 a short tinii: the populace were full)' coin inced that Martin had killed 
 him; and this, combiiu'd with other e.\aL;e'erations, induced them to (kn:k 
 in mullituik s to see the nuirck'rous bear. Afterwards, two balls of arsenic. 
 wrap[)e(l up in some sweet substance, were fouml in the pit, fortunatel\- 
 before Martin had touched them; and the authorities of the <.,rardcn 
 thout^ht it pruileiit to remove him to a den in the manaj^erie. The front 
 of these dens was closed al ni|.dit with a sliding" shutter, pulled down by 
 insertine^ a hook at the end of a Ioiil;' pole into a riiv^-, which rini;- when 
 down, ser\'ed to admit a bolt. This did not please Martin, and the keep- 
 er never could accomplish the fastening, till some one else went to the 
 other side to take off the bear's attention; firtlu; moment the shutter 
 was down. Martin inserted his claws and pushed it up a^ain, and this 
 practice continued as Iohl;' as he existed. 
 
 Tlic Umvioldy 1Ii|>i>(>i)<»taiiiiis. 
 1 lip[)opotamus, the Roman name,t)f Greek origin, for the river-horse, 
 i.s still retained by modern zooloijists a.s the generic ai)pellation of these 
 animals. They are natives exclusively of iXfrica, where — thouj^h much 
 more liniilc-d than fvirnieiK' in the raiiLTC of their halMtat — thev inhabit the 
 banks and beds of the larger rivers, and of the inland lakes from the 
 Gariep to the upper Nile and its tributar\' branches. The hi[)popotamus 
 is, howe\'er, not restricted to these, for it is also a marine animal. It is 
 difficult to decide whether it ])refers the ri\er or the sea for its abode 
 during; the day. When there is an opportunit\' of choice, some select 
 tlie .sea, and others the ri\-er. 
 
 Scarcely, if at all, inferior to the elephant in bulk, this massive animal 
 is much lower in stature, from the shortness of its limbs. Its body, like 
 an enormous barrel supported on four thick pillars, almost touches tlie 
 tjjrovnid ; the head is ponderous ; the muzzle is swollen ; and the great. 
 
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 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY 
 
 thick li|)s, .stii(l(K'il with wiiv-likc bristles, cntircl}' conceal the projeclm 
 incisors of the lower jaw, and the huL;e cur\etl tusks, or canines ; th 
 mouth is wide; the nostrils open on the top of the swcjllen muzzle; anil 
 the cNes, which are very small, a;e situated hiuh on the head; henc , 
 when in the water, the animal, by raising" mercK' a small uuper section ( f 
 the head abo\e the surface, c;;n both breathe and look around — tiic bo(l\ 
 I ".nainin^ submerged. The ears are small and pointed ; the tail is sliort, 
 and furnished with a few wiry bristles. The toes — four on each foot — an 
 tipjjeil with small hoofs. The hitle is coar:>e, naked, and of threat thick- 
 ness. 
 
 This pari is made into \arious articles, as shields, wliips, and walkin<^r 
 .sticks. W hips in Iv^ypt iivc made of its skin, and form an impoitaiil 
 article of trade with the S'lmaar and Dalfour caia\'ans. To render tlu 
 narrow strip pliabl',-, the)- must be rubbeil with butter or t^rease. In 
 Iv^A'pt, where the\' are in general use, anil the dread of every ser\-ant and 
 peasant, they cost from half-a-dollar to a dollar each. In colder climate-., 
 even in S\'ria, the)' l^ecome brittle, crack and lose their elasticit) . 
 Apin'ai'jiiu'c and li:il>ils of the IfiviT-Ilorsc. 
 Ik'tween the skin and the Hi-sh is a la)-er of fat, which is .-altv! and 
 eaten as a delicac)' b)' the Dutt h colonists of South Africa, bideed, tl;c 
 epicures of Cape Town do not disilain to use their inlluence wi'h the 
 countr)' farmers to obtain a preference in the matter ( f " ;-ea-cow's sped:," 
 as this fat is termed, when salted and dried. The llesh, also, is e.vcellent. 
 The larL;e canines are much \alued b\' dentists, as the)- make from the;M 
 better artificial teeth than can be obtained from the ivor\- of the 
 elei)hant. 
 
 The [general color of the hippopotamus is dusk)-, brow nish-ri'd, jjassin" 
 on the sitles and limbs into a lii:jht purple, retl, or brown ; the imdei 
 parts, the lips, and the e)elids, are lij^lit wood-brown, witli a tini^e d 
 flesh-color; the hinder quarters and the under surface are freckled with 
 s[K)ts of dusky brown; the hairs of the tail and ears are black, those ( n 
 tile muzzle yellowish-brown. The male fUr exceeds the female in siz •. 
 The liippopotamus is j^n-egarious, wary, and cautious. 
 
 riiese animals feed chiefly t)n ^rass, resortini^ to situations near tin. 
 banks of ri\-ers whicli sup[)lv that food. In districts full)- inhabited Iv 
 man they generally pass the tla)- in the water, and seek their nourishmer.t 
 during- the niL;iit ; but in localities differently circumstanced, the)' often 
 pass a portion of the day a.s well as the niidit i.m drv land. In countries 
 in which the ni^ht-time constitutes the i)nl)- safe period for leavini; the 
 water, the)- are e.\ceetlini;l)' war)'. 
 
WILD ANIMALS OF THE FORKST AND JUNGLE. 
 
 241 
 
 In Dargola, a narrow strip of countr\-I\-inL,^ on l)oth sides the Nile, the 
 hr!r[)oon with which the natives attack the hippopotamus terminates in a 
 flat, oval-shaped piece of iron, three-fourths of tlit; outer rim of which aie 
 sharpened to a very fine cd<^c. To the u[)per part of this iron one end of 
 a lontj, stout cord is fastened, and the other is tied to a thick piece of 
 liL,dit wood. The hunters attack the animal either by day or h_\- ni^ht, 
 liut they prefer the former, as it enables them better to escape the assaults 
 (if their furious enemy. One part of the rope, with the shaft of the har- 
 poon, the hunter takes in his riL;ht hand ; in the left he holds the rest <>f 
 the rope and the piece of wood. He now cautiously a[)proaches the ani- 
 mal when he is asleep durin_<^ the day on some islantl in the ri\ er, or he 
 looks for him at niL,dit, when the hippopotamus is likel\' to conic out of 
 the water to graze in the corn fields. 
 
 When the huntsman is about seven paces from the Ix-ast he throws the 
 spear with all his might, and, if he is a good marksman, the iron pierces 
 tiirough the thick hide, burying itself in the ilesh deeper than the barbed 
 point. The animal generally plunges into thewat(;r; and, though the 
 shaft of the harpoon may be broken, the piece of wood which is attached 
 to the iron floats on the surface, and shows whixt direction he takes. 
 There is great danger shouUl the hipjiopotamus spy the huntsman before 
 he can throw his spear. He then springs forward with the utmost fur}-, 
 and c'ushes him at once in his wide, open mouth. 
 
 As soon as the animal is fairly struck, the huntsmen, in theii" small c.i- 
 noes, cautiously approach the floating wood, and, after fastening a strong 
 rope to it, they hasten with tlie other end toward the large boat which 
 contains their companions. The huntsmen now pull the rope, when the 
 animal, irritated by the pain, seizes the boat with his teeth, and some- 
 times succeeds in crushing and overturning it. Meanwhile his assail- 
 ants are not idle ; four or fwc more harpoons arc plunged into liim, and 
 every effort is made to drag the beast close up to the boat, so as to 
 give him less room to plunge about in. Then they tr\- to di\ide the 
 strong ligament that holds the head in its place, with a sharp weapon, 
 or to pierce his skull. Since the bod\' of a full-grown hippopotamus 
 is too bulky to be pulled out of the water without a great number of 
 hands, they generally cut him up in the river, and bring the pieces to 
 
 land. 
 
 Story of nn Iniportod Hippopotainus. 
 
 In ?klay, 1 850, the good ship" Ripon " steamed uip to her berth in the 
 Southampton Water, and \-arious strange sights did she jirescnt to inquir- 
 ing eyes. The most striking was an aged Arab of noble bearing, but by 
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 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 no means clean, looking" calmly out of one nf the ports ; aiul, next in in- 
 terest, a youni^ one, who outdid all the bo}"s on the (iua\- could do, b\- 
 draw.inL,^ out of his ra;4i,n.'d dress a splenditl cobra, whose hiss, and the 
 spreadinL,^ of whose hood, luid m^ chance of a parallel. A dark-skiiined 
 Nubian, who went by the name of Hamct, had arrived with the first iiip- 
 popotamus that had reached lun'ope since the lunpcror Cominodus 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 "oiiAVSCIl — FIRST IHPPOI'OTAMUS TKAX-roKTED TO EUROPE. 
 
 slau<^htered five of thc>e hu^e animals in the ria\ian Amphitheatre at 
 Rome. 
 
 His HiL;hness Abl:)as I'asha. with _L,nvat liberalit)-, had the animal 
 brought to Cairo at hi^ own expense, from the White Nile; a lieutenant 
 
WILD ANIMALS OF Till-: FOREST AND IL'NGLK. 
 
 •J43 
 
 aiul ;i [)art\- of ten Nubian soldiers formed liis escort: a boat liad been 
 built on ])urp()se for him. 
 
 I laniet, whose services had been enL,^aL;ed at Cairo, from his experience 
 ami skill in the care and manac^ement of animals, had some amusin;^ 
 incidents to relate as to his extraordinary charj^^e. It was clear, for in- 
 -.tance, that he had attracted to himself, and that most deservedly, the warm 
 affections of Obaysch, the name ^i\en to the animal from the i)lace where 
 he was captured. Thus, I lamet slept side b}- side with him at Cairo, 
 and in the same way he slumbered durini^ the first week of the \-oyai^e. 
 But as the weather grew warmer, and Obaysch lar_c;er and larger, thouc^h 
 "povcrt)' makes us acquainted with stranc^e bedfellows," the cliari^c of a 
 hippopotamus did not necessarily, it was thouc;ht, rentier such an incon- 
 venience imperative. I lamet had, therefore, a hammock slung fiom the 
 beams immediately o\er the place where he used to sleep — ^^just o\'er, in 
 fact, liis side of the bed, his position being rai.sed some two or three 
 feet. Assuring Obaysch, not onl\' b}' words, but by extending one arm 
 mer the side so as to touch him, liamet got into his hammock and fell 
 asleep, when he was suddeiiK- awake-d b\- a jerk and a hoist, onl}- to find 
 himself close b)- the side of his companion. Another experiment at sep- 
 arate sleeping was attended 1)\' the same successful mcnements on the 
 part of Oba\"sch, and, till tluy arri\eil at .Southam[)ton, Ilamet desisted 
 from any further trial, as he a\oided, in all wa)-s, any irritation of tlie 
 animal. 
 
 Recentl)', a female hippopotamus, was safel\- deposited in the gardens 
 of the Zoological Society. It was ascertainetl. during the voyage, th.at 
 •she was not insensible to music, for, when an\- one of the musicians on 
 board played his instrument near her, she in\ariably raised her head in 
 the attitude of listening. The keeper, also, an Arab snake-charmer, was 
 in the habit of exciting the attention of his charge b\- a kind of musical 
 call, which she answered b\- \i!)rating her great bulk" to and fro, w ith 
 c\ident pleasure, keeping time to the measure of the keeper's song. At 
 the date just mentioned .she was about four months old, and w cighed 
 aho\e a ton. She was f.-tl In- her keeper opening her moutli with his 
 hand, which he thrust down her throat, covereil with milk and corn-meal 
 
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 CiiAPTl«:R IX. 
 
 ri<:markabl1': types of animal life. 
 
 The American Puma — Killiiij; Priv for tlie Sake of Killing — Two Hunters ni ilie 
 Catskills — A Sportsman's Shocking Death — Singular l-'ncounter with a Punm— 
 Power of Gentleness upon the Brute Creation — The dreat Ori/zly !5ear — A 
 Clumsy Creature — lllind Bears Regaining Sight — The I'anious Jungle Jk-ar— 
 Claws of Unique Construction — Hunters' Ingenious Methods of Capture — How 
 the "Jungler" Acts in Captivity — Tlie Bear's Song — The Hedgehog — A Prickh 
 Covering- -A Long Winter's Sleep — Tlie Hedgehog Proof Against Poison — T!il- 
 Internal Foe of Serpents — The Brazilian Porcupine — A Creature with an Extra 
 ordinary Armor — Classic Legends Concerning the Porcupine — An Animal tli.it 
 Lacks Pjrains — Connnon Porcupine — Method of Showing Anger — A Quadruped 
 Rolled up like a Ball--The Armadillo— A Thick Coat of Mail— A Rapid Digger 
 in the Earth— A Bone-Covered Ball — Tumbling Unhurt Down a Precipice— A 
 Sense of Wonderful Acuteness — The Scaly Ant-Eater — A Toothless Animal- 
 Scales like those of a Fish— Tlie Agile Kangaroo — Curious Pouch for Carryint,^ 
 Young — A Long Leaper — Hard Fighters — American Opossum — A Lovt r of 
 Barn-yards — Odd Method of Transporting Little Opossums. 
 
 III'. jiLima, sometimes called the couLjuar, has a very extensive 
 ran^^e over both North and South America. The total len;^t]i 
 of the adult is from four feet to four feet and a half, that of 
 the tail fr(Mii two feet to two feet and a half The females 
 arc somewhat less. The fur is thick and close, of a reddish-brown, 
 approaching nearly to the color of a fox on the back. It lii^htens on the 
 outsides of the limbs and on the flanks, and on the belly becomes of a 
 pale reddish white. The muzzle, chin, throat, and insides of the legs, are 
 grayish-white, and on the breast the color becomes more marked, and is 
 almost pure white. The part from which the whiskers spring, and the lips 
 and the backs of the ears, are black ; the whiskers themselves white. On 
 the face and flanks of the young animal there are some indications of 
 stripes or brindling ; but when the puma reaches maturity these are lost, 
 and the color becomes entirely uniform, except where it shades into a 
 jialertint. 
 
 Though very active in climbing, this animal seems more to frec[uent 
 the grassy plains of the southern i)art of America anil the marshy meadow- 
 lands bordering the rivers, than the forest, and is found in a country so 
 open as to be frequently taken by the lasso, when attacking the herds. In 
 the northern districts it inhabits the swamps and prairies, li\'ing chiefh- on 
 (•-Ml) 
 
RKMARKABLE TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE. 
 
 •24 ■■ 
 
 (lilTcr.nt species of deer, on whicli it is said to drop down from a tree, 
 which it had ascended to watch their path; or it makes inroads on the 
 h()_;s of tlie squatter, who has trone to the unopened countr\-. Other 
 kinds jf food, are sought after and taken without much discrimination. 
 
 L'lilike most of the other animals of the tribe, it is not satisfied with the 
 soizure of a single pre\' , but, when meeting with a lierd of animals, will 
 ki'l as many as it can, sucking only a small portion of the blood from 
 each. It is thus extremely destructive among sheep, and has been know n 
 to kill fift\' in one night. Active means are therefore constanth* re(|uin(l 
 for its destruction, and it is either hunted, speared, or shot. 
 Fatal EiU'ouiitor in tlio C.atskills. 
 
 Two hunters went out in ([uest of game on the Catskill Mountains, in New 
 York, each armed with a gun and accompanied by his dog. It was agreed 
 between them that they should go in contrary directions round the base 
 of the hill, and that if either discharged his piece, the other should cross 
 the hill as expediously as possible, to join his companion in pursuit of the 
 .;aine shot at. Shortly after separating, one heard the other fire, and, agree- 
 ably to their compact, hastened to his comrade. After searching for him 
 for some time without effect, he found his dog dead and dreadfully torn. 
 Apprised by this discovery that the animal shot at was large and ferocious, 
 he became anxious for iiis friend, and assiduously continued the .search 
 tor him; when his eyes were suddenly directed, by the deep growl of a 
 luinia, to the large branch of a tree, where he saw the animal crouching 
 on the body of a man, and directing his eyes towards him, a[)parently 
 hesitating whether to descend and make a fresh attack on the sur\ ixor, 
 Mr to relinquish his prey, and take to flight. 
 
 Conscious that much depended on celerit)-, the hunter discharged his 
 piece, and wounded the puma mortally, when it and the bod)- of the man 
 nil together from the tree. The surviving dog then Hew at the prostrate 
 beast; but a single blow from his paw laid him dead In" his side, blind- 
 ing that his comrade was dead, and that there was still danger in 
 approaching the wounded animal, he retiretl, and. with all haste, Ijrought 
 sc\'cral persons to the spot, where the unfortunate hunter and both t\\c 
 dogs were Ix'ing dead together. The skin of this animal was pre.served 
 in the Museum of New York, as a memorial of the story. 
 Curious Atlveuturo Witli a Funia. 
 
 The following curious encounter with a puma is related by Sir E. Head, 
 in his "Journey Across the Pampas: " The fear whicli all wild animals in 
 America have of man is very singularly seen in the Pampas. I often 
 roile towards the ostriches, crouching under the opposite side of my 
 
 
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 nil-: PUMA OR AMERICAN TKIKK. 
 
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 niaiiUainet 
 supremac)' 
 
 raniients. 
 
REMARKABLF-: TYPf-S ol' ANIMAL LIFE. 
 
 i>4: 
 
 hors(,*'.s neck; but I always found that, altliou^h ihcy wouM allow any 
 loose horse to approach theiii, they, even when \'oun;j^, ran from nie, 
 thoUL^h little of my fiL^ure was visible; antl when 1 >aw them all enjoyiiv^r 
 tliLinseJN'es in such full liberl\-, it ua^ at Hrst not [jleasiiv^ to observe that 
 one's appearance was e\er)'\\ here a siL,MKil to them thai the)- shoukl lly 
 tVom their enemy. Vet it i> by this fear '" that man hath (lominioii owr 
 the beasts of the held "ami there is no animal in South .\merica that does 
 not acknowled;4e this instincti\-e feelini^. As a sin;_;ular proof ol this, 
 and of the diffeience between the wild beasts of America and the Old 
 World, I w ill \enture to relate a circumstance which a man suicerely 
 .i--ured me had happoned to him in South America: 
 
 He was trying;' to shoot :>o!ne wild ducks, and, in order to approach 
 them unpercei\'ed, he put the corner of his ponclio (which is a sort of 
 loll;,;', narrow t)lanket) over his head, and crawlin;^ alon^j the ;^round ujjon 
 his hands and knees, the piMicho not only covered his bod\-, but 
 trailed alon;^;" the L^M'ound behind him. .\s lie wa.-. thus cree])in_;- by a 
 \m-'^c bush of reeds, he heard a loud, sudden noise, between a bark and 
 a roar: he felt somethiuL; hea\y strike his feet, and, instantl)- jumpini; up, 
 he saw, to his astonishment, a ku\L;e puma actually standin;.^ on his 
 poncho; and, perha[)s, the animal was e(piall\- a^tonisheil to find himself 
 in the immediate presence of so athletic a man. The inan told me he 
 was unwilling to fire, as his ;4un was loatled with \er}' small shot; and he 
 ilierefore remained motionless, the puma standin;^ on his poncho fur 
 iuan\' seconds: at last, the creature turned his head, and wall<iiV4 \ei"y 
 -.lowh' away about ten wards, he stooped and turjied aiiain : the man still 
 maintained his i^round, up(Mi which the [)uma tacitlv' acknowledi^ed his 
 supremac}'. and walked off. 
 
 3Iakiiis P<'ts of Wild Boasts. 
 
 The puma is \cx\- easily tamed, and becomes harmless, and e\-en 
 affectionate. Kean, the acu.r, possessed one, called " Tom," which 
 followed him about, and was often introduced to com[)an\' in his drawiiv^- 
 room. Another was extremel)- ij^entle and playful, and showed no 
 s\-mptoms of ferocit)' to stran;j^ers who went to see it. Tt rejoiced <^reatly 
 in the society of those to whose compan\- it was accustomed; laid d(v,\-n 
 on its back between their feet, and played with the skirts of their 
 garments, exactl\- like a kitten. It was \-ery fond of water, frecpiently 
 jumping into and out of a large tub, greall\-[)leased with the refreshment. 
 
 It was brought fr<->m the cit\' of St. Paul's, the capital of the district of 
 that name, in the Brazils. During its voyage it was on intimate terms 
 with several dogs and monkeys, none of which it ever attempted to 
 
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 KARTlf, SKA, ANT) SKY 
 
 injure ; nor did it c\ uii attempt to return the petty insults which the latt.r 
 sometimes offered. Hut if an imfortunate f..\vl or ^^oat came within il. 
 reacii, it was immediately snapped at and killed. While in T,„ui(,n. ii 
 escaped into tlie street durin^r the ni-ht. but allowetl itself f. be taken by 
 a watchman, without offerin^r even a show of resistance. After its arri\ al 
 in ICdinburj,di, it was not indul^ad with li\in<,' prey, and the only animaU 
 
 GKIZZLV liEAR AND ITS I'Ri:V. 
 
 which fell victims to its rapacity were a duck and cock-pheasant, both u( 
 which approached inadvertently witiiin the circle of its spring, and were 
 each killed by a blow of its fore jiaw. 
 
 The griz/ly bear is to the animal tribes of America what the Renewal ti- 
 ger is to those of Hindostan and the lion to those of Central Africa. It 
 IS the most savage of its race and the most tenacious of life of all quad- 
 rupeds. The European brmvn b;;ar and the American black bear are 
 
 rcL,^aining of 
 
 1^ 
 
Ki:M.\RK.\rU.K TVPrS OF ANIMAL Lli'l'. 
 
 24'J 
 
 closely allied, and arc similar in habits, al'ih(>i;L,h the ftnincr is fiorcir and 
 inorc sanc,aiinar\'. They arc excellent clinilxrs, passionateK' fDiul of 
 lioncy, ^Tcat dcvourcrs of roots and <^recn corn, and especial enemies to 
 li(i;4s and small calves. 
 
 The ^riz/.l\- btar is larger, heavier, clumsier and stronircr, than the 
 otliiMs. It easily crosses broad streams by s\vimmin<^ and w lien enrai^ed 
 t.\cn attacks its enemy in the water. U is not afraid of man .imi mair/ a 
 hunter has fiiU'-n a \ictim to its powerful claws and jaws. Indians and 
 tra;)pers relate wonderful stories about its ferocit}' aiul strength. The 
 tctiacit}' of life of the i^rizzl}' is \'ery <;reat and a woui'"', that lIocs not kill 
 it rit;ht out. is often more daui^erous to the hunter than tr. the bear itself 
 For this reason the Iiulians consider the killing of a <^riz;'.ly as a proof of 
 jjrowess of the youni;- warrioi-, ewn more so than tin- slayini,^ of an 
 ciieiny. A necklace of the claws and teeth of a t^^izzly is considered on ■ 
 of tlu.'ir L;reatest and most honorin^^ ornaments, because the Indian is not 
 allowed to wear it, e.\cept he killed the bear himself 
 
 Restoring' Sijflit to Bliiul lii'ars. 
 
 It is said that the mere scent of man causes the grizzly to run away. 
 The other animals are as much afiaitl i>f the scent of the ^n-izzl)-, as this 
 animal is of that of man. In capti\it\- the orjzziy does not act different!)- 
 fidin its I''uro[)ean cousins. Two grizzly bears in the Zoological Garden 
 of London became utterl\- lilind and it was resolved to perforin an opera- 
 tion on them. By administering chloroform they were stupefied, and 
 then the operation was performed. When they came to, they staggered 
 about as if recovering from drunkenness, but later on seemed to enjoy the 
 re[,^aining of their eyesight. 
 
 A Creature ^\^^\l Monstrous Claws. 
 
 The home of the jungle bear is the continent of y'Vsia, especiall\- the 
 southern part, and the Inland of Ce\-lon. It frec[uenth- is found in moun- 
 tains and solitar\- forests, ami also near the habitations of man. ( )n the isle 
 of Ceylon, during the great drouth, it l<.;ft its hiding places, and was met so 
 often b\- the inhal)itants that the women hatl to relinquish their accus- 
 tonieil baths and al)luti(.iis in the rivers. These bears frecjuentl}' fright- 
 ened them a\\a\', \-et w ilhout an\- intention, because they have fallen into 
 the ri\er while drinking, and on account o{ their clumsiness are not able 
 to n;ain dr}' land. 
 
 During the hot hours of the da\- the jungle bear rests in self-dug holes. 
 It is \ery sensitive to heat, and suffers greath' when fiMxed to cross the 
 hot and dry mountain plateaus. Its soles are nearly scorched by the 
 heat, so much so that it is sometimes unable te) walk. 
 
 
 
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 THE ILN(jLE liEAK OF ftOUTilEKN ASIA. 
 
 llcdj^cliocj;' e 
 
ri:m.\rkai;i.k Tvri:s df animal i.ifk. 
 
 251 
 
 The liuntcrs therefore wait until the hi.'ar is nearly exhausted b\' the 
 heat bclMi-c the\' attack it. It i^iMierall)- api)ears to hi: harnile>s wliik; 
 travelin;^' throujjjh the mountains, l)ut becomes very dan_L;erous when 
 Avoundcci. It is one of the sin^^ular facts of the animal lcin;^tloni that 
 some quathupccls which a[)[)ear to be naturally stupid iiad slui^^gish are 
 vet capable of bein'^^ t.uiL^ht to do things which they ne\er would do of 
 themselves. Creatiucs posses.scd apparently of a \-ery !o\v order of intel- 
 iigiuce are susceptible of instruction, and under man's patient tutelage 
 caii he made to perform all kinds of tricl^s. .At the command of his mas- 
 ter, the horse will walk a narrow [)lank, pick out a handkerchie-f of a par- 
 ticular color from a number ha\-ing other colors, sho.it off ,i 'j^un, anil, in 
 conipaiu' with otlier liorses, go through a niilitar)- driii. oi- w.ilt/., and 
 keep step to music. The sagacitx' of the dog is pro\-erbial. This animal 
 can be so taught as to surprise us by its rem.nrkable feats. The same is 
 true of bears, especially the jungle bear, which can be made to go tlwough 
 n great variety of movements quite foreign to its natural actions and 
 habits. 
 
 Tli<» Tr«Mly»>lioy. 
 
 The common lietl-jfeho.--, an insccti\-orous animal, has a hea\\' lorm, 
 .short hmbs, and .->lo\v motion. The upper part of the bod_\- is co\eretl 
 with sharp prickles about an iiwdi loiv;. ai-ranged in clusiei-s, divergent 
 and crossing each other, of a browni-h-blaok- with a white point; the 
 head is clothed with hard, brownish haij-s aiul the underpaid of the body 
 wiih a dirt\- white lur. The J n e toes ar,: armed with long nail-, the mid- 
 dle the longest, suitable f )r digging. The soles are co\-ered with naked 
 tubjrcles, [possessing an e' < jais't,; sen-^e ot touch. 
 
 The animal is able- to roll it-.elf into a ball and pivser\e this attitude as 
 long as it pleases without nvjeh i;ribit, j)i-e>enLing to its ( iii_-mies a thorny 
 mass, which the most \o!-ai:ious and powerful dare not attack. The 
 hedgehog cmceals itself during the da\- in burmws or natui'al holes, 
 coming out at night in .seaich (4" woi-ms, insects, snails and fruits. There 
 is t\o liedgehog in Ameiiea; the pi^-cupine, armed with qujlls, is ^oino- 
 tinies cailed by this name. 
 
 Th" usual resideive of the- ■ .animals, whiih are found in the tempi'rate 
 parts ( f Asia and l".uroi)e. is in thickets. It ma;/ be in some degree ren- 
 dered domestic, and has been fi-e(|uent!y introduced into houses for the' 
 purpose of destroying cockroaehe-. and beetles, which it pursues and de- 
 vours with great avitlit)-. .\ttlu; commencement of winter the hedgehojr 
 wia[)S itself up in a warm nest (.f drieil moss, grass, or lea\"es, and sleeps 
 out the rigors cT the season. When t.d<en out and [ilaced bet^'re a hre it 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 :|: 
 
 Hi 
 
 1>i; 
 
m- 
 
 fill 
 
 252 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SK^■ 
 
 soon recovers from torpidit\'. The female j^roduces from three to six bl'nd 
 ones at a birth, whicli are soon cox'ered with prickles, like tho.se of the 
 parent animal. 
 
 The hed^^ehot^ is said to be \er\' delicate catini,''. The skin was vised bv 
 tile ancients for the purpt)se of a clothes brush. 1 Ikj most \iolent animal 
 
 poison.- 
 
 have no effect on the hed<reho' 
 
 This 
 
 renders 
 
 it of 
 
 pecuhar 
 
 value in forests, where it destroys a e^reat many noxious reptiles. Fi^ht- 
 .'tween the hedLreho^s and vipers have been witnessed, in which, after -c 
 
 bet\ 
 
 ver\' se\ere and ])rolonL,^ed encounter, the hedgehog seized the viper by 
 
 rill': TKicKi \' iii;i)i.i-.ii()i; 
 
 the head, which it grouiul between its teeth, compressing the fangs ani! 
 glantls of poison, ami then de\ourin;.; e\-ery part of the body. Tl 
 
 1; 
 
 hedLi"eho!_r receiwd .se\e:al uoi.nds on the ears, mouth, and e\en tli 
 
 tongue, without ajipearing to experience an\' 
 
 if tl 
 
 le ordiiKUA' s)'m[)t( 
 
 )m- 
 
 produced b\' the \\n.;n of the \ii)er. According to piu'siological n 
 
 oles 
 
 It IS not easih' unikT 
 
 11 111 
 
 Jii iw a w.ii 
 
 Ill-blooded animal could stantl tli 
 
 bites of the viper, which would cause the decompositi<>n of the blood 
 
 in 
 
 o 
 
 ther 
 
 animals and occasion d( 
 
 atli. 
 
 The i^iM/.ili.iii treL'-porcu[)in.- is abuii(l;r)t in ("luiana, Brazil and Bolivia, 
 
REMARKABLE TYPES (JF AXIMAL LIFE.. 
 
 l>5a 
 
 and (cQih on the fruit nf palms. Like its cousins it sleeps duriuLj tiie day 
 sitliiiL;' on a tree. It t,n-eatly dislikes to be touched and by a sudden 
 int)\einent tries to intimidate an\' one who approaches it. When cauL;ht 
 b\' the tail it becomes tame and ])Iiable and then can be taken on the arm 
 without tryinij to bite. When irritated, it erects its (^uills and then ap- 
 pears to be twice as large as it rcall\' is 
 
 The ancients were acquainted with the porcupine, and .\ristolle alludes 
 X<) llie story of its power in .shooting its quills to a distance at Us enem\-, 
 -^how'.ig that this illusion had thus earl\' taken possession «>f the popular 
 m d. .i"ie tale is dwelt upon by Pliny \\ith his usual lo\e of the mar- 
 \Liouy, u:J.. Elian, ( )i)pian, and Claudian ha\e repeated the story with e.\- 
 a^j^erations. In suddenl)' raising his .spin\- armor, a loose tpiill may be 
 detached by the porcupine, but the power of throwing them to a distance 
 docs not exist except when shedding its coat. 
 
 A Croatiirc with a Fonuidablc Armor. 
 
 The use of the quills is simpls- that of a defensixc armor, but as this 
 seems a cumbrous de\'ice for sucli a purpose, we are led to insist on find- 
 ing other acKantages to be derived from them. Hence, Thunberg tells 
 us that he was informed that the Ceylonese porcupine had a \ery curious 
 method of fetching water fir its \-oung, naniel)', the (]uills in the tail are 
 said to be hollow, and to ha\e a h<^le at the extremit}-, antl the animal 
 can bend them in such a manner as that thev can be filled w ith water, 
 which afterward is discharged in the nest among the )'oung. Such in- 
 ventions, to hel[) nature out, so as to satisfy a narrow conception of her 
 works, are doubtless the source of many of the common-place errors in 
 respect to animals of peculiar organization; but the truth certainl\- is, 
 that the porcupine finds his quill armor an exceedingly convenient, use- 
 ful, and effectixe defence, and he would be as imperfect without it as a 
 wasp without its sting, or a cock without its spurs. 
 
 The porcupine is an exceedingl\- stupid creature, and hence, no doubt, 
 nature supplied him w ith his formidable covering as a compensation for 
 his lack of brains ; as an indispensable provision in order to put him on a 
 level with other brutes of his order. The modes l^y which nature equalizes 
 her fa\'ors are infinitel\' diversified: some animals she endows with in- 
 stincts, some with gifts analogous to reason, some with strength, some 
 with dexterity, some with defensi\e or offensive wea|)ons. The hare has 
 speed, the squirrel activity, the marmot caution, the bea\er ingenuit)-, the 
 rat most or all of these qualities; the porcupine, destitute of all, has his 
 cjuiver of arrows, which he shakes in the face of his foe, to frighten him if 
 he is a coward, and to pierce him if he has the courage to make an at- 
 
 f 
 
 .1 
 
 i. 1!l 
 
 Tt 
 
 ■I ,h..Al 
 
 
 l^U''" 
 
 \ 
 
 
 Ji.i;ittii, ' 
 
 1 
 
 Ifti 
 
 
 : 1 
 
 
 
 III 
 
 
 Hi 
 
 ) 
 
 #1 
 
 ^liii 
 
 :y ■' r^ 
 
' J 
 
 i 1 
 
 i 
 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 n 
 
 K 
 
 P 
 
 iuc oil the 
 •Aiih hair. 
 spiiA- co\-on'i 
 porcupine, ai: 
 thirt)- poipiii- 
 hair and spirt 
 Tiic fur is ; 
 coarse aiul 1) 
 ihc C(.)arso h;i 
 hiKiry tint. 
 ,th • upper sur 
 while Willi ih 
 
 ♦v f i 
 
m 
 
 '■•,\1i|K') 
 
 mm. 
 
 
 
 'I 
 
 ■■iW 
 
 i 
 
 
 f^:,'^- 
 
 REMARKA11LI-: TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFH. 
 
 'lor, 
 
 tack. In case of nood. he will run hackuard :il his vw-my, and thus 
 strike his sharp-pointed arrows into him. Without his (pulls, the porcu- 
 pine would seem to be a sin-ularly uniueanuv^r, uncouth, and helpless sot; 
 with them, he has a position in history, and fi;4ures in literature as the 
 emblem of human fretfulness and conceit. 
 
 Rodents arc called the animals which are furnished with two remarkably 
 lar^^e and loni; front teeth in each jaw. but which have no canme teelh. 
 Their feet have claws and are formed for leapin-; as well as f .r running. 
 The porcupines, which belon-' to this familx'. have two fr.Mit t-cth, set 
 nhli-piely in each ja v, and L,n-inders ; they have four toes on the f .re and 
 
 
 
 iHi; COMMON i'oKCLl'l.Si: I'l' eWN.VDA. 
 
 fi.e on the hind fjet, and the b >d>- is cowred with >piP'S imerinix.'d 
 ui'h hair, d'o the he<l-eho-- they liave a further similitude than in ihe 
 s')irv co\erin-- of their bodies. The best known H,)ecies is the Can.ula 
 porcupine, ai)out two and one half f(x:t Ion-, wei-hin- from t\vvnt\- to 
 thirty pounds. It api)ears lar-er than it really is, from the len-t!i of the 
 
 hair and spires. 
 
 Vwc fur isL;eneraH><lark brown, soft, Wv)oIl\- anil ;^n-ayish ne.\t the skin ; 
 coarse and bristb- in some parts, si.K or seven inches Ion;;- on the liack; 
 the coarse hair usually havin-- dirty white points, i^ivin-- to the whole a 
 hoary tint. Tlie .spires more or less hidd.'n b\' the fur and abumlant on 
 the upper surface of the head, bodv and tail, are several inches lon:.^^ and 
 while with dark i)oint->. It is found l/etween northern Penn.sj-Uania and 
 
 H 
 
 M \': • Mil 
 
 % 
 
 «'<! 
 
1 
 
 IS^ 
 
 I'f 
 
 !\ 
 
 
 pM, 
 
 m 
 
 '2r)C, 
 
 IiARTH, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 to the cast of the upper Missouri Ri\cr. It is an excellent, thoui;Ji a slow 
 climber, is not able to escai)e its enemies by flij^iit, but cannot be attacked 
 even by the larjjest (lesii-eaters with impunity. 
 
 Do<js, wolves, the lynx and the couL,Hiar have died, from the imflanun.i- 
 tion i)roduced by its ijuills. These are loosely attached to the skii^. ami 
 barbed at the point, so that tliey easily penetrate, retain their hold, and 
 tend continually to become more deepl)- inserted. When irritated, it erects 
 its quills, and by a cjuick lateral movement of the tail, strikes its cnenn-, 
 leaving the mouth, nose and tonc^ue beset with its darts. Whenever these 
 animals are irritated or offended, they stamp forcibly on the ground with 
 
 15()\l>l'I.ArKD .XKM.VDILLO. 
 
 their hind feet, somewhat in the manner of rabbits, making at the- same tinic 
 
 a kind of grunting noise. 
 
 The usual method of defence adopted by these animals is to recline on 
 one side, and at the approach of their enemy to rise up tpiickly, and gore 
 him with the erected quills of the opposite side. It is stated that w 1k:i 
 the porcupine meets with serpents, against which it carries on a perpt tii;ii 
 war, it closes itself up, like a ball, concealing its liead and feet, and then 
 rolls upon and kills them with its bristles, without running any risk of 
 being woundetl itself 
 
 This armadillo belongs to a familv of mammals, intermediate between the 
 
REMARKABLE TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE. 
 
 2.->7 
 
 sloths and ant-catcrs. They arc distinji;uishcd by th^ possession of molar 
 ttcth only, and have a sinj^ular coat-armor coverin'j their whole body and 
 head. It consists of three bony bucklers embracin.; the head, shoulders 
 and rump, the two latter solid and capable of little movement, but con- 
 nected by transverse bands of smaller plates, which are very pliable and 
 elastic. The tail is armed with an annular band. The le<;s are short and 
 stout, covered with scaly plates, and furnished with powerful claws for 
 !)iirrowin^ in tlie ground. The teeth are cylindrical, varying from seven 
 
 ARMADILLO ROLLED UP AND ERECT. 
 
 to eighteen in number on each side of each jaw, and when the mouth is 
 closed they shut one into another. 
 
 The armadillos are mostly nocturnal, and perfectl\- inoffensive ; they run 
 with great speed, easily outstripping a man, but when pursued imme- 
 diately commence burrowing with rapidity. Their ordinaiy food consists 
 of fallen fruits, roots, worms, ants and carrion. When tho armadillo is in 
 danger of being attackxd by its enemies, it rolls itself up in the manner 
 of the hedgehog, and, except its nose, leaving nothing but the shell in 
 view. 
 
 In this position it sometimes resembles a large ball flattened at the 
 17 
 
 
 ill 
 
258 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 sides, and it continues in this position till the danger is past, and frequently 
 for a long time afterwards. 
 
 If the animal happens to be near a precipice, it will sometimes roll itselt 
 over, and generally falls to the bottom unhurt. These animals root up the 
 earth in search of food ; they live in burrows, which they dig in the 
 ground, and which they seldom quit, except during the night. Although 
 they are natives of the hot climates they will live in temperate regions. 
 They are hunted with small dogs, which are tr'\ined up for this pur[)ose 
 The hunters know when they are concealed in their holes by the number 
 of flies which then hover round, and their usual mode of forcing them out 
 is by smoking the burrows or pouring in water. If they begin to dig, 
 the animal digs also, and, by throwing the earth behind it, so effectually 
 closes up the hole that the smoke cannot penetrate. The Indians are 
 very fond of the flesh of the armadillo. 
 
 The armadillos see but indifferently, particularly in brigl: si'^shiny 
 weather; but their sense of hearing is extremely acute, and ariipl^ com- 
 pensates for any imperfection of sight. When alarmed by an^ unusual or 
 strange sound they prick up their ears, stop for a moment to satisfy 
 themselves of its distance and direction, then commence a precipitate re- 
 treat to their burrow, or, if that be too remote, begin to nstruct a new- 
 one. Smell is, however, by far the most acute of iheir senses. Azara 
 tells a singular story, which strikingly illustrates the intensity of this 
 sense in the armadillos, as well as the unerring certainty with which, by 
 a kind of intuitive knowledge of the principles of engineering, they are 
 enabled to direct their subterraneous course to any particular point. Hav- 
 ing arranged a trap for the purpose of taking armadillos, and having 
 placed in it, by w-ay of bait, a cock with a small quantity of maize to sup- 
 port him, it so happened that a few grains of the maize fell through be- 
 tween the boards which formed the bottom of the trap. An armadillo ar- 
 rived during the night, and wishing to get at the maize thus accidentally 
 spilt, opened a trench or burrow at some distance from the trap, and with- 
 out deviating a hair's breadth from the straight line of his direction, 
 pushed it on to the very spot where the grain had fallen, and possessed 
 himself of the booty. 
 
 The Pangolin or Scaly Ant-Eater. 
 A burrowing toothless mammal is found in the warm parts of Africa 
 and Asia, living in holes, which it digs in the ground or in hollow trees 
 and feeding upon insects, especially ants. The largest species is the 
 short-tailed pangolin, three or four feet long; it is found in India or Cey- 
 lon ; the scales are deep brown in the adult animal, and hard enough to 
 
 exasperated tl 
 
REMARKABLE TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE. 
 
 259 
 
 turn a musket ball. The flcsli of the pan^folins, which arc pmbably the 
 best protected of niamnials aj^ainst carnivora, i.s delicate and niiicli prized 
 by the natives of Africa. 
 
 The pangolins have no teeth ; their mouth is long and tubular, and the 
 tv ,'iie cylindrical, and extensile. In their general appearance these ani- 
 niMS greatly resemble the lizards. They are, however, truly mammifcr- 
 oiis animals, bringing forth li\ing offspring and nourishing them in the 
 same manner as other quadrupeds. The scales with wliich the bodies of 
 th.'sc extraordinary animals are covered, are not attached to the skin 
 by their whole under surface, but only by their lower extremities, and 
 thus, like the quills of the porcupine, are movable at pleasure. When 
 
 THE SCALY ANT-EATER. 
 
 exasperated the animals erect them, and when attacked, they roll them- 
 selves into a ball and present to their enemy a surface armed on ever)- 
 side. 
 
 The scales arc sharp at the points and of a substance so hard, that f)n 
 collision, they will strike fire like flint. The mode in which these animals 
 feed is similar to that of the ant-eaters. They lay df)wn in places fre- 
 quented by insects and extend their long, cylindrical tongue upon the 
 j^^round ; the insects are attracted by the viscous fluid with which it is 
 covered, and run upon it in great numbers. When the animal finds that 
 its tongue is sufficiently covered, it suddenly withdraws it and swallows 
 its prey. 
 
 'Mm 
 
 
 ' '.tril-: 
 
Ill 
 
 ft 
 
 lIlM' 
 
 I 9 
 
 «|l 
 
 ! till 
 
 l!;^*^ 
 
 1 1 i 
 
 ifll* 
 
 L'»;o 
 
 KARTH, SFA, AND SKY. 
 
 The kan^^-lrl)() is a marsupial animal, that is, an animal with a pouch tiir 
 carryinj^ its younj;. It is peculiar to Australia and the nei^^hhDriii;^' 
 islands. The fore limbs are usuall)' very small in proportion to the hind 
 Ic^s, which are lari^^e and powerful. Kanj^aroos are ve<^etable feeders, 
 browsini,^ like runu'nants, and, like these, occasionalK- chew the cid. 
 The}- \ary in iieis^ht from that of a hare to that of a man. When brow^ 
 \n'^, they applv' the fore feet to the ground, but at otlier times rest \\]u,\) 
 \\\j tripod, formed by the hind legs and powerful tail with the forepart <■} 
 t!ij l)od\- inclininj^r sliL;lul\- forward. The\- arc the only marsupials which 
 are not of nocturnal habits. 
 
 The larL,'est and best known species is the Ljreat kani:^aroo discovered in 
 
 1770 on the coast of \ew .South Wales durini,^ Cook's Hrst voya^fe. .\n 
 
 adult male in the British Museum measures more than fi\'e feet from tlu' 
 
 tip of the nose to the root of the tail, the latter beini; three and one-half fci.'t 
 
 additional ; the female is about one-third smaller. Tile hair is moderateh- 
 
 lon.,^ and soft, of a general gray-brown above and paler below, and end <>i 
 
 the tail black. It prefers low grassy hills and plains, and open distrirt^, 
 
 where it browses upon the herbage and low bushes. The fore feet ,ui 
 
 j)reliensiU', or adapteil to seizing and grasping, and are used in the \ariui,:, 
 
 offices connected with the care of the voun'r. Kantraroos are not Lien- 
 
 erally gregarious, but live in families ; their skin is \-aluable for leather, 
 
 which is esteemed for shoes and gloves; the flesh is also considered a 
 
 delicacy. 
 
 Ti'rrible Figiiters. 
 
 Kangaroos lia\e xast strength in their tail ; this they occasionally use 
 as a weapon of defence, for they are able to strike with it so violent a bliw 
 as even to break a man's leg. But this is not their onlj- weapon, for w Iimi 
 hunted with dogs thev use both their claws and teeth. On the do'js 
 .seizing them they turn, and catching hoUl with the nails of the fore paws, 
 strike the (.log with the claws of their hind feet, and sometimes lacerate 
 his body in a shocking manner. 
 
 The kangaroi") generally feeds standing on its four feet, like otiier (inad- 
 rupeds, and it drinks by lapping. In a state of captivity it sometimes 
 '.springs forward and kicks in a forcible manner with its hind feet, during 
 V hich action it props itself on the ba.se of its tail. It has a singular f"ac- 
 Uit)' of separating to a considerable distance the two long fore teeth of the 
 upper jaw. 
 
 Singular Arrsiiig'eineiits for Carrying' the Yoiiiijf. 
 
 The female seldom produces more than one j-oung one at a birth, ami 
 so exceedingly small is this that it scarcely exceeds an inch in length, and 
 
 lit ': 
 
A lAMlLV tjF K.\.N(.Al<CHi 
 
 (12(51) 
 
 J 
 
tl 
 
 2G2 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 li 'I ■' 
 
 %m 
 
 : 
 
 7i I I 
 
 wcif^'hs but twcnty-onc grains. It is received into the abdominal poucli 
 of the mother. At this period of its j^rowth its fore paws are compara- 
 tively lar^e and stron^^ and the claws extremely distinct, to facilitate \[-> 
 motion diiriii<.j its residence in its mother's pouch. The hind le^'s, wlii. h 
 are afterwards to become very bony and stout, are then shorter and 
 smaller than the others. 
 
 The >-ounij onj continues to reside in the pouch till it has nearlv 
 attained maturit)-. It occasionally creeps out for exercise or amuse- 
 ment, and even after it has quitted this retreat it often returns to 
 
 OrOSSU.M CAKKVINO ITS YOUNG. 
 
 it for shelter on the least indication of danger. Kangaroos live in 
 burrows under the ground and subsist on vegetable substances, chiell)- 
 grass ; when they feed in herds of thirty and forty together, as thc> 
 sometimes do, one of the herd is generally stationed as a guard at 
 a distance fro the rest. Their eyes are furnished with winking 
 membranes, capable of being extended at pleasure entirely over the 
 ball. 
 
 From the general form and structure of the kangaroo it is evident that 
 its chief progressive motion must be by leaps ; in these exertions it has been 
 seen to exceed twenty feet at a time, and this so often repeated as almost 
 
REMARKABLE TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE. 
 
 263 
 
 to elude the fleetest <:jrey-hound, and it is able with case to bound over 
 obstacles nine feet or more in height. 
 
 Tlio Aniorioaii Opossum. 
 
 The opossum, found in the soutl^-.Tn part of our country', has a pointed 
 head, wide ^ape, numennis sharp Teeth, a rou<;h ton<;ue, ears lar;^e and 
 naked, small eyes, the tail lon^^ , tapering, flexible, and prehensile ; the toes 
 arc armed with sharp, stron^^, curved claws. In its habits it is mostly 
 nocturnal and arboreal, feeding; alike upon insects, eggs, birds and fruits. 
 It sometimes invades the barn-yards, and destroys the poultry, it is said, 
 for their blood. It is a good deal hunted, and mi<nifests much dexterity 
 in escaping, by creeping away amid the grass, and sometimes pretending 
 to be dead. In defending itself it bites severely. It is sluggish in its 
 nio\cments, and will sometimes lie on its back in the sun for hours; it 
 often suspends itself from the brush of a tree by its tail. It is very prolific, 
 producing from six to fifteen at a birth. The young at this period are 
 well formed, and weigh from three to four grains each. As soon as pro- 
 duced, they are shoved into the pouch by the mother with her snout, and 
 there find their food by instinct. Their growth is very rapid ; at a week old 
 the)' weigh thirt)' grains. They remain in the pouch till they are able 
 to move about. At the age of four weeks they may be .seen peeping out 
 of their sack ; a week afterward they venture forth, but keep close to the 
 mother, and hold on to her by their tails, often riding on her back. 
 
 Sometimes with a dozen young ones of the size of rats, thus clinging 
 around her legs, neck and bod\-, and some of them dragging along on the 
 ground, she may be seen going about in .search of food. At this age these 
 animals are pretty. They remain with their mother till about two months 
 old ; they then learn to take care of themselves, but continue in the 
 vicinity, seeming still to be under maternal gaurdianship in a certain de- 
 gree. Meantime another litter is produced, and during the .season a 
 third, and some of all these ma\'be seen at once with their prolific parent. 
 In winter, if the climate is cold, the opossums become sluggish, but not 
 torpid like the woodchuck. They are common in all the Southern and 
 Southwestern States, and in California and Mexico. They are also found 
 in the Middle States as far north as Penn.sylvania, and sometimes m New 
 Jersey. 
 
« 
 
 \\ 
 
 CHAI'Il-.K X. 
 WILD SI'oKTS IX Tin-: TROPICS. 
 
 The I'.iilky I-lcpliant— Tale of tlic Assyrian (Jiieen-r'anic and ITiglitliil Carna'^'t- 
 Ivciy i'alaces— Throiic-s of I-:ie|>liant.s' Tusks— Elepliaiit liyiiinasts— Tlic; Mr.u 
 siir r ri^htiiuil by a Horse— Rtvenge fur an insult— Droves of Game— I'assioii- 
 ate Cry and Wild Kusli -A Situation Apparently Hopeless — At the Merry m 
 thr iiiMiri.ited I'.east- i;x|)loits of J. in Wildunan— A Frightened Seotsnian-- 
 lunmnse (Juantilies cT Ivory— Baldwin Pursued by an Elephant— IVIirariiJon-; 
 l':Mape— 1-:.\( iliui;- Chast — (".((atsl^in Clotiiing Torn to Siireds— The Kiiinuc- 
 eros -I'oweiful Anini.il — I huited witli Klephants—'l'errible Weapon of Attack 
 and Defense— Story of a Desperate l"i,L;ht— Hunting Rhinoceroses with Horses— 
 Stranj^e " Rl'.inoccros iiirds '"— Mad lieast Attacking Hunters— Lucky Shut— 
 " l'ire-i:ating Riiinocert)s "—Routing a Camp at Night— Horse Saved by a 
 lUillei — Sudden Upset of a Wagon— Helping the ^'oung to F ^cajje— \'ast Si/i- 
 of the liii'popotamus— \n.L;er Easily Aroused— Manner of H'mtiiigthe River- 
 Horse — I lidiiig I'ikKt Wati r— Cummiiig's Adventiue with a H';;po — Man and 
 Heast Splaslnng in tile Water Together -Lni(iue Surgical Operation Steering 
 tiie iluge Cre.iture Asiiorc — Boat Smashed by a Sea-Cow— Snatched from 
 Devouring Jaws- Crocodiles Startled from Slumber— Dangers of Corilla Hunt- 
 ing- I'ierce Aspect of the Gorilla -Ama/ing Row er of tlie " Wild Man "- I'.le- 
 pliants Routed by Gorillas -The Fleet Ostridi— Motles of Capturing the " Mying 
 Caiiu 1 "-Hunters' Disguise -A I'lying Run — i'>aldwin and Andersson's Adven- 
 tuies— Concern of the Old Birds for their \'oung. 
 
 1' \\c _o() ])[v:U, desirous to trace the earliest kiiowledo'e of t]i< 
 elepluiiit, we are lost in traditions rel'errino- to heroes or kin-~ 
 whose names siu-\i\e, but of whose acts, h()Ue\er famous, ii. 
 record remains. Thus, Bacchus, one of the conc]uerors of I 
 dia, i> .s.iid to haw Ixen the fust that yiil>ed tiie ele[)hant to a car ; aiu 
 accordino- to Lucian, he l)roUL;ht not only o'enis, hi t the hones of ele- 
 phants fiom I'.lhiopia, which were deposited in the temple of l)ea Svri.i. 
 d hi<iUL;hout the Iliad of Homer, i\-oiy is ijutonce mentioned, and that 
 notice occiws in the tiescription of the bit of a itor.se's bridle, belonoiuL; t' 
 a Trojan. Hut in tlie Od\-sse\-, the palace of Menelaus, after his return 
 from his \ oyai^es in Iv^) pt and I'luenicia, is em-ichetl with t)rnanients ot 
 ivory, as well as amber and [i;oU\. Of the imion of gt)ld and hiny of the 
 Greeks antl Romans in works of art, \\e ha\e main' accounts. 
 
 Ancient historians, such as Diodorus, the Sicilian, relate the followini; 
 tale: — Semiramis, the Assj-rian Queen, Ionised for the conquest of India, 
 (2(54) 
 
 ii- 
 1 
 
 i.Mi 
 
WILD Sl'ORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 2<)r, 
 
 but (Itcadcd the elephants which Stabrobates, the kin;^ she purposed at- 
 tai kiii'4, could brin^' into the fiekl. She therefore directetl 300,000 black 
 ,,X(.ii I" be slain, and oflhe skins, sewn toLjether anil stutTed with straw, 
 artituial elephants to be formed, so that each one iniLjht be carried b\' a 
 cainci, and directed b)- a man. All this beinL,^ secretly di>ne, and the 
 liMr^cMif the army familiarized with the machines, Semnamis took tin- 
 nddalthe head (^f an immense force of ca\alry and infantr\-. Slabro- 
 li.iti -, nii-an while, hatl increased the number of his elephants, and fnr- 
 ni-^h (1 llieni completel)- with offensive and defensi\-e armor, lie sent 
 einha-^-adors to the (Jueen with protests ai^ain^t her iinasioii and threats 
 iif hi)- tlestruction, but her repl\' was a smile, and proceeding; to ihe In- 
 ilu-> --he ^ank a thousand of his vessels, and took a i;reat mnnbir of cap- 
 tives. Stabrobates feii^iled a [lanic, and Hetl ; the feint took; Senu'ramis 
 en is^iil the river, and pursued the Inilianswith the i^Meater jiart of her 
 fiirces. 
 
 In lier front she placed the artificial elephants. Stabrobati. s repented 
 it\W." retreat when he heard of their number, but he w.in conilnrted bv 
 [\w tidiuL;s of deserters as to their true character. Semir.unis, snpposiiiL; 
 tile cheat umliscoxered, led on the attack ; the machini-s frii^hteind the 
 Imi'-l^ so that the\' threw their riders, or rushed with them amoii;.; the 
 ciieinv. i>ut \ain was the contention when the true elephants of .Stabro- 
 bates came up ; dreadful was the carnaLje. The Ass\-rian-' tied, and the 
 life of their Queen, pierced in the arm by one of his arrows, and in the 
 shoulder by one of his tlarts, was onlv saved by the lleetness of her horse. 
 
 Palaci's and Tliroiu's oC l\<>ry. 
 Til; ."^criptiu'cs contain no allusion to the elephant till the time of 
 Uavid, when we funl mention is made of "ivory |)alaces." In the rei;4n 
 (if Sol .niou ivorv was imporl(.d bv the vessels of Tharshish fimn India, 
 with other proiluctions of that country. We read of "a invat throne of 
 ivor}"," .uul afterwards of " benches and horns" of the same substance, as 
 it firmed part of the merch;uidise of "the prouil citv " (tf Tvre. 
 
 Half a ci.ntur}- after the death of Ale.xantler, in the battle oi" lleraclea 
 (u. c. 2^0), were — 
 
 Cuirassiers all in steel forstaudinjj fijijht, 
 
 Cliariots, and elephants inilurstc! vv'ilh towers 
 
 Of archers. 
 
 It Is siate'd in the historv of the Maccabees, that in the army of Anti- 
 ochiis " to every elephant the)' appointed a thou.saritl men, armed with 
 coats of mail, ami five lumdred horsemen of the best; the.se were ready 
 f never)- occasion; wherever the beast was, and whithersoever he went, 
 
 '^ ■'""llllh;-! 
 
 
 •I .!';. 
 
 
 11; 
 
m t 
 
 ^M\ 
 
 •illHI^' . 
 
 n 
 
 2G() 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY 
 
 thc\' went also ; ind upon tlic elephants were stron^; towers of wood. 
 filled with armed men, besides the Indian that ruled them." 
 
 Hannibal crossed the Alps with elephants, consitlerin^r them indispen- 
 sable to the conduct of the war; and when they perished he was supplied 
 with lari^^e reinforcements from Carthai^a'. At the battle of Canna (u. c. 
 2 1 6), the incitlents occurred which are thus ^n\'en b\' Siliu.s Italicus 
 
 The yet prevailinj; Roman, to withstand 
 The fury of these monsters, gives command 
 That burning torches, wheresoc'er duy go. 
 Should be opposed, and sulph'rous flanusto throw 
 Into their towers. This, with all speed, oboy'd, 
 The eUpiiaiits they suddenly invade ; 
 Whose smoking backs with llanie-; coile< ted sliined, 
 That, driven on by the tempestuous wind, 
 Thrnu;.;!! liieir hi.gh bulwarks fire devouring spread, 
 As ulicii on Rliodope or I'indus' head 
 A sht-pheril scatters lire, and through the groves 
 And woods, like a hot plague, it raging moves, 
 Tlie leafy rocks arc fired, and all the hills. 
 Leaping now here, now there, bright X'ulcan fills. 
 But when the burning sulphur once begim 
 To parch their skins, th' unruly monsters run 
 Like mad, and drive the cohorts fiom their stand ; 
 Neither durst any undertake at hand 
 To fight them ; but their darts and javelins throw 
 At distance: buruin.g, they impatient gr<jw, 
 And, through the heat of their vast bodies, here 
 Ami there, the llames increasing bear ; 
 Till, l)y th.e smootn adjoining stream, at last 
 DeceivM themselves, into 'l they heatiUtng cast ; 
 And with them all their llames, that siill appear 
 'liove the tall banks, till, b(jth together, there, 
 In the deep channel of the llood, expire. 
 
 In stately show these animals bore a conspicuous part: 
 
 Trami)ling the snows 
 The war-horse reared, and the towered tlephant 
 Upturned his trunk into the nmrky sky 
 
 In the year 8oj an elephant was sent to Charlemagne bj' Ilarouii .\i 
 
 Kaschid, caliph of the Saracens. Milton has .said: 
 
 The unwieldy elephant 
 To make them mirth used all his might, and wreath'd 
 His lithe proboscis ; 
 
 .uul, accordinj^ to /Klian, the elepiiants of Germanicus were trained ii 
 
 lake part in the performances of the Roman theatre. On one occasion 
 
 twelve of the most .sagacious and well-trained were selected, which marched 
 
 f:i:iM0'»r» 
 
![■! 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 20: 
 
 into the theatre with a rej^ular step at the voice of their keeper, some- 
 times in a circle, and sometimes divided into parties, scattering flowers 
 o\cr the juvement. The Romans, after this disphu', feasted the elephants 
 \\itli prodic^al luxury. Splendid couches were placed in the arena, orna- 
 intnted with paintinj^s, and co\cred with tapestry. Ik-fore the couches, 
 upon tai)les of ivory and cedar, was spreatl the banquet of the elc[)hants, 
 in \ cs>rls of ^old and siKer. 
 
 ( )n the preparations beini; completed, the twelve elephants marcluci in, 
 >i\ males clad in the robes of men. and six females attiretl as women. 
 I lir\- laid down in order on their couches, and at a sij^nal extended their 
 minks antl ate with prai.seworthy moderation. Not one of them ai)peared 
 I lie least voracious, or manifested any disposition for an unequal share of 
 the food or an undue proportion of the delicacies. They were as moiler- 
 ate also in their drinl<, and receiveil the cu})s that were pre.sentetl to them 
 with the i;reatest decorum. 
 
 i<]|('pliaiit.s oil the Ti;>'lit Kopc 
 
 Accordinc^ to Plin\-, at the si)ectacles L^iven by Germanicus, it was not 
 an uncommon thini; to see elephants hurl javelins in the air, and catch 
 lln in in their trunlo, fi;4ht with one another as <^dadiators, and then exe- 
 cute a Pyrrhic dance. Lastly, the\- danced upon a ro[)e, and their steps 
 were so practised and certain, that four of them trav'ersed the rope, or 
 rather parallel ropes, bearin^i; a litter, which contained one of their eom- 
 pani<in-<, who feigned to be sick. .Such feats seem scarcely credibk', but 
 nKin\- ancient writers of aulhorit\' airree with Plinv, that the (■U'phaiits 
 trained at Rome would not onl\- walk forwanl alon^ a rope, l)iit lelire 
 l)ackwaril wilhixpial precision. Antl Husbeciuius, who visited Constanti- 
 nople about the middle of the sixteenth ci'iitur)-. tliere witnessed an elephant 
 not onl\- dance with accuiac\- and elei;ance, but ])la>- at ball with ;^aeat 
 skill, tossing- it with his trunk and catchin;^ it ai^^ain, as easil\- as a man 
 could with his hands. An old writer tells us that Cesiir, havin«^f attt-mpted. 
 unsuccessfully, to cross the Thames, covered a larf^e elephant which he 
 had with him with a coat of mail, built a lart^e turret on his back, and 
 fillini^^ it with bowmen and si inijers, ordered them to pass first into tlv 
 stream. The Hritons were terrified at the si^rht of this unknown and mon- 
 strous animal, and tied in the wildest C(Mifusion. 
 
 .Matthew Paris relates that, about the year 1 255, an elephant wa-> sent 
 o\erto I"n<^laiul as a ^rand present from the Kini,^ of France to 1 lenry III ; 
 and states that it was believed tc be the first and only elephant ever seen 
 in [".iv^dand, or even on th;'.t side the Alps; and that, consequentl\', the 
 people tloeked in lar<re numbers to beln)ld so ijreat a novelty on its arrival 
 
 Mil . ■ . • 
 
 'U»<iyiiiLi1 
 
 wmm. 
 
 % 
 
i^ 
 
 (2<;r) 
 
 KLlil'llAM- l.\ llli:iK NMIVK |U.\<.I.K 
 
^ #-^ 
 
 
 ^'^M 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 WILD SmRTS OF THF. TROPICS. 
 
 2G9 
 
 .viiT"!;"' Mo C!(»--o Rolls, one of about tiiis date is extant, in which the 
 '-:i),ri!'l ! f ]\.e:it is t)rderLtl to proceed to Dover in person to arran^^e in 
 V, ii.iL Mail 'er the uin;^'s elephant mi^dit be most conveniently l)roiiL;ht 
 (j\v.'-. and t(/ provide a ship, and other things necessary to coincy it: aiiil 
 ih-riun;^ that, if the kin;.^'s mariners jud^a-d it practicable, it should be 
 ,' : !;^ht h> London by water. Another order was shortl)' afti-r issued to 
 '.; ■ >lii..'-' fs of London, conimandin;^ them to cause to be l)uilt, without 
 li iav, ^ii tne Tower < f Lonilon, a house, fort}' feet in leuL^th and twi nty 
 111 i)r'-'adth. for the kinL;'s elephant; and directing that it should be so 
 suoii_,l>' constructed that. whene\er there should be neetl, it nii-ht be 
 adapted to and used for other jjurposes. Xe.\t \'ear. the kin-, in like 
 manner, commanded the siieriff"to find the said ele|)hant aiul liis kee[)er 
 such necessaries as should be reasonable and needful." 
 
 Tli<* Hnjit' AiiiiiialN Sjiy:u*it.v. 
 The tame ele[)hant soon becomes reconciled to other tlomcstic quad- 
 rupeds. Me has been said to ix" afraid of tile horse, but the e\]K rjiuee 
 (if .Sm' ICmersoii Teiinent fax ors the belief that it is the horse whuh i~» 
 alarmed at the a.spect of the elephant. Of this fact he records an in-lance, 
 which ue ([uote, because it illustrates at the same time the peculiar -a.;acity 
 (it the threat animal, and illustrates als(j the disposition to make .l;o. kI usc 
 of liis tusks, when he happens to Iia\-c tiiem : One eveniiv^. whiUi ridin- 
 in the \i("init)' of Kand)-, n-y hor.-^e evinced some excitement at a iioisc 
 wliich approached us in the thick juni;lc. and whieh consisted -il .i repe- 
 [•'■ n of the ejaculation iinnph-! urinf/t .' in a h(n'irse and dissatisfied tone. 
 A turn i'': the forest exi)laineil the nn s.''n-, by bruv^in;^ me fic ■ t > fa^e 
 \»;:!i .1 tame elephant, unaccompanied In- an)- attendant, lleva- Lilxir- 
 ir f painfull)' to carr\' a ht.-avy beam i.^i umber, which he balaiii- •(! a:ross 
 a's lusks; but th., palhur')- l)ein<4' narrow, lie was forced to ocnd his hi. i 
 (11 oiu; sitle to permit it to pass cndwa)'s , and the exertion and iuion- 
 \ciiieni\. combined, led him to utter the dissatisfied sounds w huh dis- 
 iirbed the compo'iife of my horse. On seein;^^ us halt, the c'lephiint 
 raised his h ad, reconnoitered us for a ni.omcnt then threw down the 
 liniiicr, and forced himself backwards anionic the brushwootl. s,, ;i>; i,, 
 leave a passaije, of which ho expected U'. to avail ounselves. .M\- hoi-se 
 still hesitated, the- tiepliant observed it, and impatiently thrust himself still 
 deeper into the juiv.de, repeatinif iiiscry of uvinpJi ! \w a \oice e\iiientl\- 
 ni( ant to cncoura_!:;e us to come on. .Still the horse trembled ; and, 
 aiixjous to observe the instinct of the two sairaciou.s creatures. I forboii; 
 Hiiy interference — aL;ain the elephant wcdj;cd himself further in amoiv^st 
 the trees, and waited imi)atiently for us to pass him; and aftei ilu liorse 
 
 
 r*pt,.f-#f#|:|?f-^; 
 
270 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 1; 
 
 t 
 
 ih ♦ 
 
 had done so trciiil)linL,^ly and timidly, I saw the w isc creature stoop and 
 take up his hea\)' burtlcn, trim and balance it on his tusks, and rcsmn, 
 his route, hoarsely snortiuj^, as before, iiis discontented remonstrance. 
 
 An Kh'pliuiit's K<»vt*iij»«'. 
 
 An elephant is said ntver to forget an insult. Wolf, in his " \'oyaj^'e 
 to Ceylon," relates the follow niij anecdote : A person in that island, who 
 lived near a place where elephants were daily led to water, and often s.it 
 at the door of his house, used occasionally to give one of these animals 
 some fi;4-leaves — a food to which elephants are very partial, (^nce he 
 took it into his head to play the elephant a trick. lie wrapped a sionc 
 round with fig-leaves, and said to the driver, " This time I will gi\e him 
 a stone to cat, and see how it will agree with him." The driver an- 
 swered, that the elephant would not be fool enough to swallow a 
 stone. The man, however, handed the stone to the elephant, w hicli, tak- 
 ing it with his trunk, immediately let it fall to the ground. " You sec,' 
 said the keeper, "that I was right;" and, without further words, drove 
 away his ele[)hants. After they were watered, he was conducting them 
 again to their stable. The man who had played the elephant the trick 
 was still sitting at his door, when, bi fore he was aware, the animal r.ui 
 at him, threw his trunk around his body, and, dashing him to the ground. 
 trampled him immediately to death. 
 
 The tenderest affection, it may be remarket!, appears to subsist be- 
 tween the elephant and the calf. When merchants bring elephants to 
 anyplace fi>r sale, it is a pleasant sight to see them go along. There are 
 old and young together, and when the old are gone by, the children run 
 after the little ones, and leap upon their backs, giving them something to 
 eat; but they, perceiving their dams are gone forwaid, thiow the chil- 
 dren off without hurting them, and double their pace Hruce mention^ 
 that a young elephant came boldly out to defend its wounded motiier. 
 and ran upon the men and horses, heedless of its own life or safetx , till 
 one of the hunters ran it through with a lance. 
 
 I*«'t'uliar liistiiK'tH of tin* IJrrat Bt'ast. 
 
 The head of the African is smaller, rounder, more elongated, and 
 less irregular than is that of the Asiatic kind ; the ears are nt.-arly twice 
 as large, and the tail not above half the length. On the banks of the 
 Fish river this animal abounds. As many as three thousand in a troop 
 have been seen in that local it)' ; indeed, the surrounding country ap- 
 pears to have been the abode of elephants for ages, the paths or beaten 
 roads made by them intersecting it in all directions. 
 
 Of one territory, comprising an irregular area of about two million 
 
WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 •271 
 
 acres, from which the Kaffirs were expelled, and which was rcsortetl to 
 b\ wild animals in considerable numbers, Pringle gives the iollowing 
 highly graphic account : 
 
 fhe upper part of this extensive tract is an exceedingly wild and be- 
 wiklering region, broken into innumerable ravines, encumbered with 
 rocks and precipices, and impenetrable woods and jungles, and sur- 
 rounded on almost every side by lofty and sterile mountains. During 
 our first day's journey, although we saw many herds of large game, 
 such as quaggas, gnus, liartebeests, koodoos, with a variety of smaller 
 antelopes, there was no appearance of elephants; but in the course of 
 the second day, as we pursued our route down the valley of the Koo- 
 nap river, we became aware that a numerous troop of these gigantic 
 animals had recently preceded, as footprints of all dimension'-, from 
 ei;4ht to fifteen inches in diameter, where everywhere visible; and in the 
 swampy spots on the banks of the river it was evident that some of 
 them had been lu.xuriously enjoying themselves, by rolling their un- 
 wiekly bulks in the ooze and mud. 
 
 Hut it was in the groves hn'.l jimgles that they had left the most strik- 
 ing proofs of their recent presence and i>eculiar habits. In many places 
 paths had been trodden through the midst of dense, strong forests, other- 
 wise impenetrable. They appeared to have opened these paths with 
 great judgment, always taking the best and straighlest cut to the next 
 open savanna, or ford of the river ; and in this way they were of the 
 greatest use to us, by pioneering our route through a most difficult and 
 intricate countr)', ne\er yet traversed by a wheel-carriage, and great 
 part of it, indeed, inaccessible even on horseback, except fur the aid of 
 those powerful and sagacious animals. 
 
 In such places (as the Hottentots assured me) the great bull elephants 
 .always march in the van, bursting through the jungle as a bullock would 
 through a field of hops, treading down the thorny brushwood, and break- 
 in"; with his proboscis the larger branches that obstruct his passage; the 
 females and younger part of the herd follow in his wake in single file ; 
 and in this rejanner a path is cleared through the densest woods <ind for- 
 ests, Nuch as it would take the pioneers of an army no small labor to ac- 
 complish. 
 
 Almost Fatal Advonturc. 
 
 .1 little squadron, engaged in surve\-s of Africa, Arabia, and Madagas- 
 car, on taking lea\e of the latter island, proceeded to the Bay of Delagoa. 
 A ;iart\- .set out to ascend 'iic of the rivers, for the purpose of hunting 
 the hippopotamus. Whilst they were in quest of the haunts of these feuge 
 
 
 :5- *M 
 
1 1 
 
 272 
 
 EARTH, SFA AND SKY 
 
 animals, a slirill, ann[r>- scream reached their cars, and, presently a midship- 
 man, ruslied from the reeils. his face covered with blood, callin^f louii;y 
 
 
 y. 
 
 y. 
 
 B 
 
 
 for assistance to Lieutenant Arlett, who had just been attacked b>- an 
 elephant. The party proceeded to the spot, and found their unfortunate 
 
 1 Ik: aniin 
 
 trunk in tlui 
 
 tunu'd slmr 
 
 hciiini; dow 
 
 ;iltiiiii)ti.'d to 
 
 lii-i pursuer, 
 
 t'lji of a tree 
 
 liini In' his 
 
 tuiiirtl shorl 
 
 a^aiiKt the t 
 
 iui> uci^Ljht 
 
 hurtinL,^ the 
 
 <(\\\ rojlowed 
 
 man cryint^ 1 
 
 liis pursuer, 
 
 sinpc, where 
 
 instantly firc( 
 
 uith increase 
 
 and fell — the 
 
 As soon as 
 
 once more to 
 
 tli)urished in 
 
 struck sensel 
 
 appeared hop 
 
 scrcanu'nrj wil 
 
 m 
 
 
WILD SPORTS OF THK TROPICS. 
 
 273 
 
 comrade stretched niDtionless on his back, covered with blootl antl (hrt, 
 ami liis eyes slartiiiL; from their sockets, in all tlie expressive liorror nf a 
 \i(ilcnt death. It was some time before he showed aii)' symptoms of life; 
 thL\' succeeded. ho\\e\er, in carr\ in;4 him on board, where he [gradually 
 rcci'vcreil ; and, when he became sufficiently collected, he ^a\ e an atxrouiu 
 (,f what had befallen him, which shows the extraortlinaiy sai^acity of th: 
 elephant, even in its wild state. At the fust approach of the animal, he 
 thi)U!4ht lie had stumbled on an enormous hippopotamus. 
 Struck Sciisrli'ss to th<^ (iroiiiul. 
 
 'riic animal, which appeared hi^dil\- irritated at the intrusion, wa\ed its 
 Iniiik in tlu; air, ami, the moment he sjjoke, reared up on its hind Kj^s, 
 turiK'd short round, and, with a shrill, passionate cry, rushed aftir him. 
 hcarinijdown the opposin;^ reeds in lii^ way, while Lieutenant Arktt \ainly 
 attcni])ted to effect his escape. I'or a short time ht: had hopes of eludinL,^ 
 hi-; pursuer, as the animal percei\ed one of the scaiiun mounted on the 
 t.i-i of a tree, about twent)' feet hi^h.and three in circumference, menacint; 
 hiin !))• liis voice and gestures while preparinjj^ to fire. The ekphant 
 turned short round, and, shrieking,' with rai;e, m.ule a kind of spriiiL; 
 against the tree, as if to rc^ach tiie object of his attack, when his j)onder- 
 (lus wei^dit [)rou<.^ht the whole to the i^round, but. fortunatel)', without 
 luntinLj the man, who slippid aniouij the reeils. The ferocious animal 
 still followed him, foamiiii^ w illi ra^e, to the risint^ bank of the river, the 
 man cryini;" loudly, " .\n elephant! an elephant!" until, closel\' pressed by 
 his pursuer, both the man and the elephant came ui)on the to[) of the 
 slope, where the part), who hail heard his cries, were prepaicd. ami 
 instantly fired a \'olle\' as the elephant appearetl. This made him return 
 with increased fur\' to Arlett. who, in his eaj.(erness to e.^cape, stumbK-d 
 and fell — the hu<^e beast runninjj; over liini, and severel\- bruisin^^ his ankle. 
 
 As soon as he had passed, Arlett arose, and limpint.,^ w ith pain, attempted 
 (ince more to retreat, but the animal returned to the attack ; his trunk was 
 tkiiirished in the air, ami the next moment the unfortunate officer was 
 struck senseless to the ^^round. On rccoverinf.^ himself, his situadon 
 appeared hopeless, his hu<^e antagonist standing; oxer him, chafini:; anil 
 sireaniinfjj with ra^^c, poundiny; the earth w ith his feet, and plouLjjhinL; ii 
 with his tusks. When the party first saw them, Arlett was 1\ \n<^ between 
 the cle|)hant's le^s, and had it been the intention of the animal to destroy 
 him, placing a foot on his senseless body would, in a moment, have 
 crushed him to atoms ; but it is probable that his object was only to 
 punish and alarm, not to kill — such conjecture being perfectly in acct>rd- 
 ancc with the character of this noble but revengeful beast. 
 IS 
 
 « 
 
 -ii- 
 
Kf 
 
 
 
 274 
 
 EARTH. SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 Lieutenant Moodic, in his anuisini^ " Tlmi Years in South Africa," ^ivc; 
 the Collowin^ account of his elephant huntinf^: 
 
 Sonic montlis after forming; my new settlement, I cnj^a^cd a HottcntDi 
 to shoot elephants and buffaloes for me, on condition of receiviiii,' hall . f 
 the profits. This man, who was called Jan W'ildeman, was a most expi.' t 
 hunter, rarely failinj^ to kill on the spot whatever lie fired at. lie wa> a 
 complete wild man of the woods, and had as main' wiles as a fo.\ in i 
 capin*; the dani^ers to which he was t!ail\' exposed. His activity u.i 
 mo.st extraordinary ; and I was often surprised at iiis nimbleness in cliinli- 
 iui;' the lii^diest [wcs to <^ct at u ild \ines L;rou in;^^ o\er their to|)s. Whil. 
 1 was consiilerinj.,' how I could j^et up, he would take hold of onv • >f ili • 
 " baboon's ropes," as they are called, which han;^^ in festoons from tli 
 branches, and, in a few seconds, he would be j/erched like a crow on tJU' 
 top. enioyin_!4 my sur])rise, and llinL,nn_i( ilown whole bunclu's of the fruit. 
 Tlu)Ui4h naturally timid, he had ac(iuired, b\- h>n,L,^ practice, such entire 
 confidence in the correctness of his aim, that he would ;^o rii^ht up to an 
 elephant in the woods, and brin;j^ him down with the first shot. .Some- 
 times, howc\er, his <.;un would miss fire, when he would betake hiiuitlt 
 to hi> heels, and, by his aujility, ne\er failed to effect his escape. 
 
 ♦♦Wlu'ie'll We Iliin?" 
 
 W'ildeman came t<i inform nu', one e\eninL,s that he had shot ijiree 
 elephants and a bulValo ; and tli.it there w;is a nouul,^ elephant still n 
 mainini; with the body of its dead mother, w Inch he thoui;ht mielu Ik- 
 cauijjlit and brought home ali\e. There happened to be two fiit'inU ui'.li 
 me from the district of .\lban\-, w ho had ne\er seen an elephant, an . 
 whom, therefore, I persuaded to accomj)an\' me. 
 
 As soon as we had finisheil our breakfast, we .set off, accompanied hy 
 Jan W'ildeman, my llotteiUot, .Speulman, and their wi\es, to as>i-t in 
 cuttini,^ up the buffalo, and carrx-in;^ tlu' llesh home, ICnterin;.' the lon-t 
 Jan first brou_i;ht us t<t the carcass of the buffalo. He next kd iis to nn^ 
 of the elephants lie had killed, and showetl us the place whence he lia<l 
 fired. The ball had entered the shoulder in the slantin;.^ direction, and 
 pas.scd throu<4h the heart. This was an exceediuL^l}' difficult shot, a> h. 
 required to be very near to hit the ri|j;ht j:)lace, for the ball to [jeiietratc 
 throu<^h such a mass of skin and flesh. 
 
 After following several of the patiis made by these animals and .stiu;.,'- 
 i;lin<^ throucjh the tangled mazes of the forest, we ascended a steep, sandy 
 ridge, covered with low bushes, near the shore, and. on reaching the tep, 
 we came' in sight of the carcass of another of the elephants, ami llu' 
 young one standing by it. A few paces from it, we saw a large elei^liaiit 
 
WILD SPORTS OF TIIR TROPICS. 
 
 275 
 
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 brnwsirifj amonj^ the low bushes. He sinci;. ws as soon as wo npiu'arfcl 
 on tiic top of tiic hill; and thiowinj,' up his trunk, and spii-adin^ his 
 luiL,H' (.ars, uttiTfil a most discoitlant cry. " Gownatsi !" cjaculatcil Jan 
 Wildcnian, " that's the rascal that <^'d\c nic so nuich trouble je-^tcrda)- ; 
 he's as cunninj.; as the devil." The do^s instantls- assailed the animal, 
 and, .liter several ineffectual attempts to seize them with his trunk, he 
 niadi' off Tlu do;_;s now attacked the \-oun!^' elephant, and chased him 
 u]) the steep, santl_\- hill where we were standincj. M\- \isitor>, who were 
 iinaccu.stomed to l.u'Lje j^anu', wi-re e.\ceedin_L;l>' ai^itated. I'liey li.id 
 l)rf>UL;ht a ^am with thetn, for form's sake, but had nej^lected to Imid it. 
 One of them, who was a .Scotsman, seized me b)- the c-oat,anil eied out, 
 ill i;ieat aL;oiiy — " I'.li, man! whaui'll we rin ? — whanr'll we tin f It was 
 III) Use telling; him that there was not ;ui}- dan;^ei-, for he still k( pt fast 
 hoM of me, sa\'in;4, "What! nae dan;.^'er, man, and tlu' beist comin' ri;_;ht 
 ap ainaiiL^f us? 1 say, man, w hat'll we At'? W'haur'M uc lin?" The 
 somen instincti\el)- ran ami ^iiuatted behind the bushes. 
 
 Tlir <;iJin«' ICs<'M|M>s. 
 
 As .soon as I Could break lo()^e from tlu- ijrasp of my couiitrvman, I 
 ran to endea\or to s' i/; the youn|4 elephant li_\' tlu' tiunk, and Speulman 
 Iddk his stand i <u the < 'p; io-,ite side for the same' jjurpose'. 1 w ,i - a I' ini^hed 
 at the nimbleiiess with which the animal a^ce-nded the sti ep kill. .\s he 
 ,ip[)roached the spot where we stood, wi- found he was niueh older than 
 \\c expected, and, alter makin;^ an in'tlectual attempt t ■ ;,et hold of hi^ 
 tninlv, we were obli;,;ed to L;i\c him a free pas>a'.';e betwe'eii i; :. I now 
 pitkt'd up my •j^un. and i,a\ e chase to him ; but he ran s.. fa>t that f ci uld 
 net ('\crtake him. 
 
 1 \\,i-> well pleased we had not succeedetl in seizin;.^ him, as. in all pro- 
 lialiilit}-, he would ha\ e' done us some serious injur}' with his ti',>ks, wliic h 
 wen- just appeariiv^ at the root of the trunk. When the} are onl}' .i f'W 
 dav'- okl, there is no difficultN' in catching them, and the\' become docile 
 almost iinmedialel}-. 
 
 Idephants are still numerous in the interior, and are killed botji b}- tJic 
 Kaffirs and the Hoers. The elephant hunt seems to Iia\'c [jcculiar fiscina- 
 tion for the latter — men .md bo}-s, from the' ac;'e of fouitee'n to .se\ent}-,/ 
 f'lllouint,^ the exciting' sport. An l',n;_;lishman, howewr, is said to bear 
 awa}- the palm as the most fearless hunter; for, durin;.;" one }'ear, he 
 remained in the N'eldt without co\er for nearl}- thrt.'c months, accompanied 
 by two half-caste scr\ants. These three are .said to haw; killed, tluriiiL;" 
 that period, sevent}' elephants, the tusks of which weighed three thousand 
 pounds! Ivory is exported by these Boons in lar^e quantities; those of 
 
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 Zaiitpansbcrc; alone, in the short space of three months, having brou'^lit 
 sixty thousand pounds, Dutch weight, or nearly thirty tons. 
 
 A 3IiracuIoiis Escape. < 
 
 W^ilhani Charles Baldwin, in his book on " African Hunting from Xatjij 
 to the Zambesi," relates two very thrilling adventures with elephants, lie 
 says : Meeting upon one occasion five Lull elephants, I ga\e chase, sin- 
 gled and drove out the largest, and gax'e him a couple of j^ills to make him 
 quiet ; he shortly turned and stood at bay, about forty } ards off, and thcr 
 came on with a terrific charge. My newly purchased horse, Kebon, w iiich 
 I was riding for the first time, stood stock still, and I intended to gi\c the 
 elephant my favorite shot in the chest, but at every attem[)t to raise the 
 gun for the purpose of so doing my hiM'se conmienced tossing liis h( a 1 np 
 and down, and entirely prevented me from taking aim. During ni\- at- 
 tempts to pacify and steady him, tlie bull charged, and I fired at raiiilnin, 
 and whether the ball whistled uncomfortably near the horse's ear or not I 
 can't say, but he gave his head so sudden a jerk as t^ throw the nea;- iviii 
 over on the off-side ; the curb-chain came undone, and the bit turned rJi;!n 
 round in his mouth. 
 
 The huge monster was less than twenty \-ards off, ears erected lil^-.; two 
 enormous fan.s, and trumpeting furiousl}'. Having no command AvhatcvLr 
 of my horse. I du'j:^ the long rowels in most sa\"agely, when Keljon sprang; 
 straight forward for the brute, and I thought it was all up ; I leaned <nxr 
 or the off-side as far as possible, and his trunk was within a few feet ofmi. 
 as I shot close by him. I plied the rowels, and was brought again to a 
 sr.dden stand by three maj)ani-trees, in a sort of triangle ; a \igorous dii;, 
 and he got through, my right shoulder coming so v'olently in contact with 
 one of the trees as almost to unhorse me, slewing my right arm behind 
 my back, over my 1; ft hip. I know not how I managed to stick to niv 
 gun, 14 tbs. weight, with my middle finger cmly hooked through the trit;- 
 ger-guard, my left hand right across my chest, holding by the end uf the 
 reins, which, most fortunately I had in my hand when I fired, and in thi:- 
 fashion we went at a tearing gallop through a thick tangled bush aiul 
 untlerwood, mostly hack-thorns, o\-er which my nag jumped like a 
 tjuck. 
 
 He was very nearly on his head three or four times, as the soil was vcr\ 
 heavy, sandy, and full of holes. The monster was all this time close in my 
 wake; at length I got clear from him, and he turned and made off in the 
 opposite direction at iiis best pace. As .soon as I could pull up, which I 
 managed after performing three or four circles, I jumped off, right(^l my 
 bridle, and went after him like the wind, as he liad a long start, and I wa- 
 
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 277 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 .frtid of losin- him in thick bush. After givin- him ton shots, and sus- 
 taining three more savage charges, the last a 1, nv^ and silent one, far trom 
 
 pi asant, as mv horse had all the puff taken out of him. and he could only 
 manage to hold his own before the brute, to my great .satisfaction he at 
 lcn.^'th fell, to rise no more. 
 
 
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 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 The other incident is as follows : Wc found a troop of eleven or t\velve 
 bull elephants in a thick hack-thorn bush on the ban! < f the river. A^ 
 they crashed away I rode h.ard in the rear, shouting lustily, and siny;lctl 
 out the largest bull. I rode close under his stern, and he cleared a jjalh 
 for me. 1 Ic turned to see who had the audacity to ride so near, for the 
 horse's nose touched him, when I gave him a bullet behind the shoulder,' 
 and cleared out of his path. In reloading I lost him, and, cantering on his 
 spoor, he veiy nearly caught me, as he had stopped and turned round just 
 where the path turned suddenly and sharply tf»thc right, and I was almost 
 under his very trunk ere I saw him. 
 
 Kiiiiiiiii$jr tor Dear Life. 
 
 He was lying in wait, and made a terrific charge, trumpeting furiously; 
 the horse whirled like a top, and away I went, with both rowels deep 
 in his flanks as I threw myself on his neck. It was a very near shave ; 
 his trunk was over the horse's hind-quarters. I went through bush that, 
 in cold blooc", I should have pronounced impenetrable, but did not conic 
 off scatheless ; my poor hands were shockingly torn, and my trowsers, 
 from the knee, literally in shreds, though made of goatskin. After giv- 
 ing tiic elephant two more bullets I lost him. The dogs were frightened 
 to death, and would not leave the horse's heels. 
 
 I shortly came across another troop of bulls, which sta'ted off against 
 the wind, leaving such a dust behind them that I was half smothered. 
 I went, at last, a little wide of them, on the weather-side, and was able to 
 get a view of their tusks, and I rode out one with beautiful long tusks. 
 He very soon lessened his speed, turned, and before I was aware, charged 
 me. I could not turn in time, and, therefore, fired right between his eyes. 
 The shot struck him about an inch above the left eye, and brought bin 
 on one knee, and I was able to get out of his way. He then took up a 
 position in the bush, and I loaded and gave him tvvo more bullets in the 
 head, one in the centre of his forehead. 
 
 He kept backing farther and farther into the bush, with his two enor- 
 mous ears erected like fans, and, as I was thinking the last shot must tell 
 on him, he made the longest and most furious charge I ever saw; he 
 fairly hunted me, wh.ile I was half loaded, clear away. I rode in a circle 
 to endeavor to dodge him, and at length succeeded. He stopped at last, 
 and I began to reload. I had none but conical balls, and the gun was 
 foul. I could not t^-et one down. I sought in vain for a stone, and at 
 length, in despair, took up a thick branch, and, what with hammering the 
 ramrod, and dri\ing it against the trunk ofa tree, I at length got the bul- 
 let home : but my ele[)hant had made good use of his time and got away. 
 
WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 279 
 
 Rhinoceroses are found in the same regions of the Old World as those 
 jnluibited by the elephants ; they live like them in the forests, aud feed 
 exclusively upon coarse herbage and the leafy twigs of trees and shrubs. 
 They appear, as a general rule, to be peaceable animals, unless irritated; 
 ill this case they charge with great fury upon their enemy, holding the 
 luad down, so as to present the point of the horn toward h'm. They 
 arc generally hunted merely fur the sake of sport, but the natives of the 
 countries inhabited by them kill them for the flesh ; walking sticks of 
 great beauty are cut out of their thick hides, and their horns are worked 
 into boxes and drinking-cups, to the latter of which the eastern nations 
 attribute the power of detecting poison in any fluid put into them. 
 Glg'antic Creature Clad in Armor. 
 
 Tlic most celebrated is the Indian rhinoceros. Of this the head and 
 neck are rather short ; the eye is small and lateral, and the animal can- 
 iK>t see in front, more particularly when the horn is full-grown, as it 
 stands in the way of vision. The body is about nine feet Ivng and five 
 feet high ; in its structure it is peculiarly massive, heavy, and hog-like, 
 and often weighs six thousand pounds. It has a single horn from two to 
 three feet long. The skin is of an earth color, hard and thick, and often 
 turns a musket bullet; its surface is rough, especially on the croup and 
 di)\vn the fore-shoulders ; its folds are very distinct, and resemble plate 
 armor. It is almost wholly destitute of hair, except at the tip of the tail 
 and on the margins of the ears. This species inhabits Ilindostan, Siam, 
 and Cochin China ; shudy and marshy places in the neighborhood of 
 rivers being its * liosen haunts. It is fond of wallowing in the mire some- 
 wnat in the manner of hogs. Its food consists of grass and branches of 
 trees. The flesh is not unpalatable. 
 
 This powerful animal, living amid the tall, rank vegetation of the jun- 
 <;les of India, and especiall)' along the marshy borders of the Ganges, the 
 l^urrampooter, and other great rivers, is commonly hunted with the aid of 
 clei)hants. They are usually found in small herds of four to six, led on 
 by the most powerful among the troop. Their first instinct is to fly from 
 siieh an attack, but if hard pressed they rush upon the ele[)hants and 
 . ejk to thrust the nose beneath the belly and rip them up by a fierce toss 
 of the horn. The elephants, however, avoid this movement, and turning 
 the back, receive the shock in that quarter, usually with little damage. 
 Often, however, the impetus of the rhinoceros precipitates the elephant 
 in a headlong plunge to the ground, and finding this to succeed, he 
 will repeat the operation several times in succession. Formerly it was 
 found that the hide of the rhinoceros was impenetrable to ordinary 
 
 *■■;.„ 
 
 
ifilil' 
 
 280 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 musket balls; they arc now easily brought down by larger and harder 
 bullets. 
 
 The Indian rhinoceros is that usually brought to Europe and America, 
 and which we are familiar with in the manageries ; it is also that whii h 
 is best known in histor}-. The Romans became accjuainted with it 
 toward the close of the republic, and Pompey introduced it into the cir- 
 cus. It also figiu'etl iii the ti'ium[)hal })rocession of Augustus with Cleo- 
 patra — the biautiful Queen of lv-;"\"pt and the hoggish rhinoceros coir, 
 hining to swell the pomp of the \-ictor! Representations of this aniiii.il 
 also a[)|Kar on \ari(jus ciins of this period, ami in the inr)saics of R(jme. 
 
 <)1<1 Story of Ji l^inums Tig-lit. 
 
 In the fanciful tales of the Arabian Nights a curious jiassage tells us 
 that the rhinoceros f>ughtwith tlu.' elephant, pierced his belly with his 
 horn, ami carried him off on his head; but the fat and the blood filled 
 his eyes and rendeivd him entirely blind, so that he fell prostrate on the 
 earth. In this state o{' things a huge bird came and carried them both 
 off to his young ones in his prodigious talons. It is curious to trace the 
 threads of truth even in the wildest popular fiction : the manner of fight- 
 ing here imputed t'i the rhinoceros is according to nature, and as to the 
 roc — a bird as big as a \illage uindmill — late discoveries have shown 
 the bones of extinct species twel\-e or fourteen feet high, the tradi- 
 tions of which may well have been wrought into this gigantic feathered 
 monster, which, the story sa\'s, flew awa\- with both animals. 
 
 IJoth varieties of the African black rhinoceros are extremely fierce and 
 dangerous, and rush headlong and un[)ro\oked at an)' object which at- 
 tracts their attention. They ne\er attain nuich fat, and their flesh is 
 tough, and not much esteemed 1)_\' the Uechuanas. Their food consists 
 aluK^st entirely of the thorny branches of the wait-a-bit thorns. Their 
 horns are much shorter than those of the other varieties, seldom exceed- 
 ing eighteen inclies in lengdi. TIie\' are fmel)' polished by constant 
 rubbing against the trees. The skull is remarkably formed, its most 
 striking feature being the tremendous, thick ossification in which it ends 
 above the nostrils. It is on this mass that the horn is supported. The 
 horns are not connected with the skull, bein-^- attached mereU' bv the 
 skin, and the}' ma)' thus be separated from the head b)- means of a shar[) 
 knife. The)- are hard, and perfectly solid throughout, and are a fine 
 material for various articles, such as drinking-cups, mallet^3 for ritles, 
 and handles for turners' tools. The ho.n is capable of a very hiidi 
 polish. 
 
 The eyes of the rhinoceros are small and sparkling, but do not readily 
 
 WiL 
 
 ^1 'Hi' iil m 
 
WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 281 
 
 observe the liuntcr, provided he keep to leeward of them. Thj sldii is 
 extremely thick, and only to be penetrated with bullets hardened with 
 
 solder. During the day, the rhinoceros will be found lying asleep, or 
 standing indolently in .some retired part of the forest, or under the base 
 
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 282 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 of the mountains, sheltered from the power of the sun by some friendly 
 throve of umbrella-topped mimosas. In the evening they comnienee thei; 
 ni ^litly ramble, and wander over a great extent of country. They usual- 
 ly visit the fountains between the hours of nine and twelve o'clock at 
 ni:,dit. and it is on these occasions that they may be most successfully 
 hunted, and with the least danger. 
 
 Spasms of Uncontrollable Fury. 
 
 The black rhinoceros is subject to paroxysms of unprovoked fury, of. 
 ten plowing up the ground for several yards with its horn, and assaulting 
 large bushes in the most violent manner. On vhese bushes they work fur 
 hou's with their horns, at tho same time snorting and blowing loudly ; 
 nor do the}' leave them in general until they have broken them into 
 pieces. All the four varieties delight to roll and v,allow in the mud, with 
 v.hich their rugged hides are generally encrusted. Both varieties of the 
 Llack rhinoceros are much smaller and more active than the white, and 
 avc so swift that a horse with a rider on its br.ck can rarely overtake 
 them, yet they are often hunted with horses. Both attain an enormous 
 size, being the animals next in magnitude to the elephant. They fc"cl 
 .solely on grass, carry rPdch fat, and their flesh is excellent, being prefer- 
 able to beef They are of a much milder and more inoffensive disposi- 
 tion than the black rhinoceros, rarely charging their pursuer. Their 
 .speed is very inferior to that of the other varieties, and a person well 
 mounted can overtake and shoot them. 
 
 The description of the famous rhmoceros birds is \-ery interesting, ilc- 
 fore I could fire, says a well-knowh explorer, several " rhirioceros birds" 
 b\' w liich he was attcndeel warned him of his impending danger by stick- 
 ing tlicir bills into his car, and uttering their harsh, grating cry. Thus 
 aroused, he suddenly sprang to his feet, and crashed away through the 
 jungle at: d rapid trot, and I saw no more of him. 
 
 The^c rhinoceros birds are constant attendants upon the hippopotamus 
 and the four varieties of rhinoceros, thei.' object being to k 'd upon the 
 ticks and other parasitic insects that swarm upon these animals. They 
 are of a grayish color, and are nearly as large as a common thrush ; their 
 voice is very similar to that of a mistletoe thrush. Many a time have these 
 ever-watchful birds disappointed me in my stalk, and tempted me to invoke 
 an anathema upon their devoted heads. They are the best friends tlie 
 rhinoceros has, and rarely fail to awaken him, even in his soundest nap. 
 "Chukuroo" perfectly understands their warning, and, springing to liis 
 feet, he generally first looks about him in every direction, after which he 
 invariably makes off. 
 
 fl'd 
 
WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 283 
 
 If we examine the skull of a rliinoceros, we shall find that just under the 
 place where the root of the horn lies, there is a peculiar development of 
 t'lc bone on which the weight of the horn rests. Now, it is well known 
 that of all forms intended to support great weight, tlie ar^h is the strong- 
 est. Such, then, is the form of the bone which supports the horn ; and 
 ill order to prevent the jar on the brain which would probably injure the 
 animal when making violent strokes with the horn, one side of the arch is 
 left unsupported by its pillar; so that the \^hole apparatus presents Tie 
 appearance of a strong l)ony spring, which, allhough very powerful, would 
 'icid sufficiently on receiving a blow to guard the animal from the shock 
 which would occur, were the horn to be placed directly on the skull. 
 Such a structure as this is not needed in the case of the elephant, as that 
 animal never strikes violently with its tusko, as the rhinoceros does with 
 its horn. 
 
 Th'it such is the intention of the structure is well shown by a curious 
 circumstance that took place .luring a rhinoceros-hunt, and which shows 
 that the animal can suffer severely from a blow on the horn, if that blow 
 is gi\cn ill a different method from that which the creature is in the habit 
 of enduring. 
 
 .Some hunters were engaged in the pursuit of the rhinoceros, and 
 
 had roused one of the animals from the thicket in which it was en- 
 
 gac;cd in rubbing itself against the trees, after the usual fashion of the 
 
 creature. 
 
 Method of Attack. 
 
 The skin, although thick, is very sensitive between the folds, and suffers 
 nuicli from the attacks of the mosquitoes and Hies. The rhinoceros, to 
 allavthe irritation, rubs against trees, and has a curious custom of trruntinLT 
 loudly while performing this operation, and thus guides the hunter to its 
 place of refuge. The}' are thus enabled to steal through the underwood 
 unijcrceived, as the animal is too much engaged rubbing his sides to pay 
 any attention to sounds which would at any other time send him off in 
 alarm. By crawling along the ground, after the manner of serpents, the\' 
 generally contrive to inflict a mortal wound before he is aware of their 
 presence. 
 
 In the present case, the hunters were endeavoring to act in the same 
 manner, but the intended victim became alarmed, brokethroucrh the wood 
 and ma 'e the best of his way towards a large cane-brake about two miles 
 • listant. The whole ])arty pursued him, and the poor animal was speedily 
 t-onverted into a living pincushion, the place of the pins being supplied by 
 speart:. 
 
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 L84 
 
 EARTH. SEA. AND SKY. 
 
 The number i\iu\ j.cvcrity of the wouiKl:i appear to have confused his 
 rain, fur instead of keeping his straic^ht course toward the canes, h- 
 
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 X 
 
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 turned off short, and dashed into a narrow cjully without any exit. The 
 ravine was so narrow that he broke to pieces man}' of the protrudinij 
 
WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 285 
 
 spears as ho nislu'd in, and when he IkuI fairly entered, there was barely 
 room to turn. The assailants now had it all their own way, and one of 
 them standing on the brink of the ravine took aim at his head, and stretehed 
 him on the ground apparently lifeless. All the hunters now jumped into 
 tiie ravine, and set to work at cutting him uj). But scarcely had they com- 
 menced when the animal recovered from his wound, and struggled uj^on 
 his knees. Out went the hunters as fast as they could, and had it not been 
 fi)r the presence of mind of one of them, who hamstrung the rhinoceros 
 before he ran away, in all probability se\eral of the men would have 
 forfeited tlieir lives. 
 
 Curio.sicy induced the hunters to search for the wound that had thus 
 stunned the animal, and they naturally expected to find the track of a ball 
 through the brain, or, at all c\ents, a wound on the skull; but after some 
 search they iound that the ball had only struck the point of the foremost 
 horn, and had carried off about an inch of it. 
 
 This is a very curious circumstance, bccausethc blow was a compara- 
 tively slight one, and the shocks which the animal inflicts upon itself in 
 the daily occurrences of life must be very severe indeed. But the whole 
 structure of the head and horn is intended to resist heavy blows, while it 
 is not capable of sustaining a sharp, smart shock without conveying the 
 
 impression to the brain. 
 
 A Costly Boarder. 
 
 About a hundred and fifty years ago, one of these big beasts was 
 brought to London from Bengal. lie was a very costly animal ; though 
 only two years old five thousand dollars were expended in providing him 
 with food and drink. Every day he ate seven pounds of rice mixed with 
 three pounds of sugar, divided into three portions. He also ate plenti- 
 fully of hay, but he much preferred fresh vegetables, grass, and herbs. 
 Me drank a great deal of water. He was so quiet and well-behaved, that 
 he let people handle him, unless he was annoyed, or wanted his break- 
 fast. The well-known specimen in the Zoological Gardens in London 
 couldn't bear the noise of the roller used in keeping the gravel pathway 
 in order which adjoined his den; his hearing was very quick, so that 
 even while enjoying his dinner he stopped, and started aside, to listen. 
 
 Bingley gives the following account of a rhinoceros brought to Eng- 
 land in 1790. It was then about five yeirs old. It was somewhat tamed ; 
 it would walk about when desired to do so by its keeper ; it would let 
 visitors pat its back. Its daily allowance was twenty-eight pounds of 
 clover, the same quantity of ship biscuit, and an enormous amount of 
 greens. It was fond of sweet wines, and would drink four or five bottles in 
 
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 EARTH. SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 a few hours. He made notliiii^ of drinking fifteen lails cf wakr in ll;c 
 course of a day. If he saw a person with fruit or any food that he v. i; •, 
 fond of, he would ask for a share, in a very pretty n anner for so hut^c a 
 beast, making a noise somewhat hke the bleating of a talf ilc elite! ( f 
 iiinanimation, caused by sli[)ping the joint t)f cne of his fore legs. Some 
 doctors made openings in his skin, in order to rcliexe his pain. These 
 were ahva\'s found cjuite heaK;d up in the course of t\vent)'-fi)ur hours. 
 
 
 
 CAMP .\TT.\(KF.n i;V " FIKE-F.ATINi; KlllNOCEKOS. 
 
 Mis death happened near Portsrnouth, and the mayor ordered him to bo 
 buried on the common at Southsea. A fortnight afterwards some natur- 
 alists dug up the remains to preserve the skin and the most valuable of 
 the bones, but the diggers were nearly overpowered by the stench of the 
 body. 
 
 There is no doubt that the elephant ami rhinoceros sometimes fight to- 
 gether madly, when they are in a wild state. Some years ago there was 
 a specimen in the Regent's Park Gardens, that contrived to get into the 
 
WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 287 
 
 (Icn of an oUl clcpliant there. They were afterwanl the best friends in 
 th • wnrUI, and it was amusin;.^ to see how ciuict th..- rliinoccros would 
 stand wliilst his j^reat friend scrubbed his back with his trunk, and occa- 
 •, unally gratified himself by a sly pull at his tail, to make the rhinoceros 
 turn his head, if his attention was inken off by visitors. 
 
 We ha\e said that the horn is ntjt fasteneil to the skull, but simply 
 c. innccted with his skin. It is not generally known that it can be removed 
 by [)assing a sharp knife round its base. The skin is so strong and 
 thick, that it can only be pierced by bullets of a peculiar make. The n^- 
 ^jroes of ./\frica know this perfectly well, and make it into shields and 
 bucklers. His pla\ful antics are somewhat useful ; thus he will poke his 
 hiirn inl«) the ground, and tin n dri\ing it along at a great rate, pushing 
 with all his mighty force and strength, he will make a furrow broader and 
 deeper than that of a plough. Those who have watched his habits tell us 
 that he does this, not because he is in a passion, l^ut in the pure enjoj-- 
 ment of health and spirits ; just as when a little bo\' or girl, or dog or 
 kitten, scampiMs about a lawn. 
 
 Some species tif this aniii;,d are wild, and can be easily tamed ; the 
 powerful Indian ih.noceros is the shyc-t, and the double-horned the 
 wildest. Mason, in his work', entitled " Burmah," remarked that the 
 common single-horned rhinoceros is very abundant. The double-horned 
 is not uncommon in the southern pro\inces; and then he alludes to the 
 fire-eater of the Burmans, as distini^uished from the common single- 
 horned kind. The fire-eating rhinoceros, lie tells us, is so called from 
 its attacking the night fires of travellers, scattering the burning embers, 
 and doing other mischief, being attracted by unusual noises, instead of 
 flcL'ing from them as most wild an mals do. Professor Oldham's camp- 
 fire was attacked by a rhinoceros, which he fired at with a two-ounce 
 bdl; and three days aft(>rwards the body was found, and proved to be 
 of the two-horned species. The skull of that individual is now in the 
 muscimi of Trinity College, Dublin. The commonest of the African 
 rhinoceroses has been known to manifest the same propensity, and so 
 has even the ordinary American tapir. In general.however, the Asiatic 
 two-horned rhinoceros is an exceedingly shy and timid animal, and one 
 of the largest size has been seen to run away from a single wild dog. 
 SluMldiiig Horns aiul Getting X<'\v Ones. 
 
 The horns of a rhinoceros, consisting merely of agglutinated hairs, may, 
 under rare circumstances, be shed in a mass, and subsequently renewed. 
 A great one-horned rhinoceros living in the Zoological Garden at Mos- 
 cow, did actually shed a horn, which is now in the museum of that city, 
 
 i^itM 
 
M 
 
 
 288 
 
 EARTH, SEA, ANO SKY. 
 
 and another lias since grown in its place. So the rudimentary frontal 
 horn of the old female of the same species now in the London Zoo- 
 logical Gardens was roui^hly broken off on one occasion, and the bloud 
 flowed very profusely; but another liornlet has since been developed in 
 its place, and there can now be no doubt that the same occasionally hap- 
 pens with wild animals. 
 
 IJrautirul Appcaraucc iiiul<'r the Microscope. 
 
 On a casual glance at a rhinoceros, the horn is the first object which 
 strikes the eye. This projection is not a horn, but only a growth fr( m 
 the skin, and looks, when cut crossways, like a congeries of hairs; and 
 if the hair be chafed towards its root, it will split up into innumerable 
 filaments much resembling coarse horse-hair, and bearing a close simi- 
 larity to the whalebone fringe of a whale's mouth. 
 
 Under the microscope a section of rhinoceros-horn presents a most 
 beautiful appearance, and even this can be closely imitated by tying a 
 tuft of hairs tightly together, soakinj»; them in fine glue, suffering them 
 to cool until they form a kind of rod, and then cutting a section like thit 
 of the rhinoceros-horn. ]f cither of these preparations be examined with 
 po'arized light, the colors arc gorgeous in the extreme. 
 
 E\'en in South Africa the horn of the rhinoceros is very x'aluable, as it 
 can be cut into knobbed sticks which will stand almost anv treatment with- 
 out breaking. This property renders it especially useful for ramrods, as it i.^ 
 fir stronger than wi)od,aiul possesses all the good properties of iron or ;;tcL! 
 without its w^eight or propensity to bend or break. 
 
 Savage Attack on Horses. 
 
 The ])owcr of the horn is terrific, and its efficac)^ has been found iii 
 several disastrous incidents. Both the African and Asiatic species arc 
 liable to sudden and unaccountable fits of anger, during which the ani- 
 mal will rush at any object that is near him, whether animate or inanimate, 
 and dash it to pieces. One renic .<able instance of this propensity took 
 place at Dinapore. Some officers had gone down to the river for shoot- 
 ing, and had formed a small encampment by the river. Reports were 
 rife of a neighboring rhinoceros; but they took no particular heed, for 
 natives are sekk)m very truthful, and retired to rest with no fear of dan- 
 ger. One morning, just as they were about to rise, a great commotio! 
 was heard ; and on running out to see what was the matter, they found 
 that a rhinoceros was attacking their horses, and goring them violently 
 The poor hor.ses being fastened, according to custom, were not able to 
 resist or escape ; while the natives, according to their custom, had all 
 run away, and hidden themselves in a neighboring jungle. 
 
WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 289 
 
 There was, however, little blame to be attached to them ; for when the 
 rhinoceros, after venting its rage on the animals, turned upon their nias- 
 
 ters, they, too, took to then* heels, and thouL;ht themselves fortunate in 
 finding a tree, up which they scrambled, and were for the present secure. 
 19 
 
 
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 HiiL;' ' 
 
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 ililii^^ 
 
 II 
 
 290 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 1; . ill't'^t^ 
 
 The rliinoccro;;, b.owovcr. watclicd them for a loiv^ time, in hopes tliat 
 they would descend ; but on the rising of the sun, he sh)\\l\' retreated 
 into liis haunts, every now and then casting an angry look over his shdiil- 
 der. The brute was afterwards killed by a nali\e hunter, who concealed 
 himself near its hiding-place, and sliot it with an iron ball from a jin;^%dl 
 or matchlock, which carries a very large bullet, and is generally used b\- 
 the natives for destrox'ing the rhinoceros and other wild beasts. TIk 
 hunter conceals himself near some place where he knows the animal wil! 
 pass, and, resting his gun on the fork of a branch, he gets a steady aim, 
 and is very seldom required to Hre a second shot. 
 
 When the terrified gentlemen came down from their tree, they went to 
 see what harm the rhinoceros had done, and found several of their horses 
 fearfully gored. One poor animal was saddled at the time; and the horn 
 of the rhinoceros had penetrated through saddle-Hap and padding, frac- 
 tured tw(^ ribs, and made an aperture through which a small hand mi;^ht 
 be passed into the horse's lungs. 
 
 Sometimes the rhinocere^ attacks inanimate objects, such as bushes or 
 trees, and assaults them in the most violent manner, not leaving them 
 until he has broken tliem to pieces. Ploughing up the ground with the 
 horn is al' o a favorite mode of expressing rage. 
 
 A Horso Sa\o<l by a I><'a<lly Shot 
 
 One traveller relates that on one occasion he tied his horse to the limb 
 of a tree, and in compan\- with his native attendants went a short distance 
 away, when he was horrified on returning to discover a huge rhinoceros 
 in the very act of making a deadly charge upon the animal, and so near 
 that the horse had already reared on his hind legs in the effort to csca[)e. 
 There was no time to be lost. The hunter raised his gun, took sure aim, 
 and in an instant checked the onward rush of the enormous brute. 
 
 All rhinoceroses are fond of wallowing in mud, with which the body is 
 not unfrequently encrusted, and their senses of hearing and smell are most 
 acute, but not that of vision, so that they ma\' be closely api^roached by 
 keeping to leeward of them. On one occasion the wagon of a friend of 
 Andersson was attacked by one of the.se animals : \Vc heard shouting aiul 
 firing, and on looking in the direction whence the noise proceeded, discov- 
 ered to our horror, a rhinoceros rushing furiou.sly at us at the top of his 
 speed. Our only chance of escape was the wagon, into which we hurriedly 
 flung ourselves. And it was higiitime that we should seek refuge, for the 
 next instant the enraged beast struck his powerful horn into the bottom 
 plank of the wagon with such force as to push the wagon several paces 
 forward, although it was standing in very heavy sand. Most fortunately he 
 
WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 21»1 
 
 attacked the vcli'clc from behind ; for if he liad struck it at the side lie c<nihl 
 h.M !'!)' have failed to upset it, ponderous as it was. From the wai;on he 
 made a rusli at the fire, overturninjr the pot we had j^laced alonL,^ side (.f it. 
 anil scattcriufj tJie burninij brands in every direction. Then. witli( ut doiny 
 an\- Uirthcr damage, he proceeded on his wild career. 
 
 Tlie flat-lipped or white rhinoceros (so called from its general pale 
 C()l(ir) is a \ery different animal from those of which we have been titat- 
 iii^. It grows to more than six feet and a half high at the withers, w here 
 tlvjre is a sort of square liump, and its head has an exceedingly h^ng ante- 
 ri(ir horn, attaining to more than four feet in length, whilst the hind hoin 
 is \Liy short, not exceeding sev'en or eight inches. Its color is of such a 
 IJL^lit neutral gray, as to look nearly as white as the canwis covering of a 
 wagon. Baines, describing a freshly-killed one, tells i:sthat the skin was 
 )f a light i^inky gray, deepening into a bluish neutral tint on juirts of the 
 JKad, neck, and legs. The limbs, shoulders, cheeks, and neci; were mai ked 
 with deep wrinkles. The mouth was very small, and the limbs \sere 
 dual fish compared with the bulk of the carcass. The eyes were small :\nd 
 <L't lilt on the side of the head, with no prominence of brow, and in s'lch 
 a position as to discredit the assertion that the rhinoceros can see only 
 what is .straight before it. Chapman estimated the weight of one of these 
 wliitc rhinoceroses as being probabl}- not less than 5000 pounds. 
 Timely Ilolp for the Youn^- lihimu'eros. 
 
 The male, he sa\'s, measures six fjjt eight inches at the withers, carries 
 his head so low that his chin nearlv swco'. the ground, is constanilv 
 swa\-ing his head to the right and left wluii suspicious, and its calf, in- 
 stead of going behind or at the side, always precedes the dam, and 
 when fleeing is helped on b\' her horn or sn )ut. The back' of this 
 animal is tolerably straight, the croup being as high, or even higher, 
 than the withers. It mox'es each ear alternately backw^ards and forwards 
 when excited, and the ears, when thrown forward, turn as if on a pivot 
 so as to bring the orifice innermost. In the other African rhinoceroses 
 the two ears are moved together, and not alternately. The ears are 
 poinletl or tufted. 
 
 This animal is of a comparatively mild and gentle disposition; and 
 unless in defence of its yovmg, or when hotly pursued, or wounded will 
 \er)' rarel\- attack a man. It is gregarious in families, the individuals 
 comprising which are greatly attached to each other; and it utters a 
 long sound, and not such a startling, whistling snort as do other species. 
 It is an indolent creature, and becomes exceedingly fat by eating grass 
 onl\'. 
 
 
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1 \ 
 
 
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 i: ' ■ ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
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 1 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 2ftl2 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 The hippopotamus is cxclusi\-cly an inhabitant of .Vfrica, in r.ian\- .f 
 the rivers of which it i ; t)lcraijl\' abundant. It is a lar!j;c animal, tli- 
 males, accordin<^ to some travellers, attaininL,^ a lent^th of fourteen or i"!- 
 teen feet. It feeds entirely upon \'ep^etable substances, cropping the Ir.r.r- 
 A^j and bushes on the banks of tiie rivers, and occasionally visitinij tlie 
 cuiti\-ated [grounds durin<^f the nit^ht, when it does lij'reat daniaL,^e. It 
 jiasscs most of its time in the water, where it swims and di\'es witli ;rrcat 
 rase, and is said e\en to walk at the bottom. When the head of ihj ar,- 
 i;na! is Ijelow the water it rises frequent!)' to blow it out from its no>triU, 
 iiiakin<; it ascend in two jets. 
 
 Tlio FonK'ious fIii>i>oi><)t!iiiius. 
 
 ( h^ shore, it trots lieaviK', but with considerable rapidity, and when two 
 of tliem meet on solid ground they frequently flight ferociously, rearin;;- 
 up on their hind feet, and biting one another with yreat fury, so thai, .ic- 
 cortlini; to African tra\-ellers, it is rare t<i find a liippoi)otamus which ha-; 
 not -ome of his teeth ]:)roken, or tiie scars of wounds upmi Iris IxkK-. 
 WIku not irritated the\- appear to be quiet and inoffensive ; but ,i \cr\- 
 trhlin<;' irritation is sufficient to rouse their ani^'er, when the}' attairk ih.j 
 oft;'nder most furiousl)- witli their teetli ; a hippopotamus which had 
 beer, touched accidentally by a boat has turned upon it and to-n 
 out se\eral of tlie planks, so that it was witli difficulty the crew 
 L^ot to shore. .\ hippopotamus has also been known to kill some cattK- 
 which were tied up njar his haunts, without the slit^htest p:-o\ocation. 
 
 In Harris's " Sports of South Africa" we ha\e the foUowin:; accurate 
 account of the habits of the hip{)opotamus : This animal abounds in the 
 Limoopo, dix'idin;,;" the empire with its amphii)ious neic;hb»,ir tlie crocotjilc 
 Throui^'hout the nii^ht the unwieldy monsters miy^ht l)e lieard snorting; 
 and blowins^ durinL;- their acjuatic Ljambols, and we not unfrec[uently lie- 
 tected them in the act of sallying' from their reed-i^n'own co\'erts, to cjraze 
 by the serene lii^ht of tlie moon; never, however, venturini^ to any dis- 
 tance from tile' liver, the stronghokl to which they betake themsehes ( ii 
 the >niallest alarm. 
 
 ' Occasionally, during;' the day, they were to be seen baskin^X on tli( 
 shore, amid ooze and mud ; but shots were most constantK' to be had ,a 
 their uncouth iieads.when protruded from the water to draw breath; anii 
 if killed, the body rose to the surfece. Vulnerable oni\' beiiind the car 
 however, or the eye, which is placed in a prominence, so as to reseiiihic 
 the garret window of a Dutch house, they require the perfection of riile 
 practice, and after a few shots become e.xceedini^ly shy, exhibiting the 
 snout only, and as instantly withdi-a.ving it. The flesh is delicious, re- 
 
 
 7. 
 
 C, 
 
 c 
 
 c 
 
 
 s 15? 
 
v:;ld sport:; or the tropic::. 
 
 2:t;i 
 
 ; mbiin;^ pnrk in Havnr, and aboundini^ in fat, whicli in the colony is r'.j- 
 scr\ i-(ll_\- esteemed tlie greatest of delicacies. The hide is lipward (S r.n 
 
 7. 
 
 C 
 
 ■^ I I 
 
 
 inch and a half in thickness, and beint; scarcely flexible, may be dragj^cd 
 from the ribs in strips like the planks from the ship's sitle. 
 
 mi 
 
'^mm 
 
 
 294 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 Cummin^ says that the track of the hippoi)otainus may be div-- 
 guishcd from any other animal by a line of unbroken herbage whicli is 
 left between the marks of the feet of each side, as the width of llic space 
 between tlie rii^ht and leO, leL,rs causes the animal to place its feet Sf) coii- 
 sitlerably apart as to make a distinct double track. It may be remarked 
 that the hippopotamus, as well indeed as the elejihant and rhinoceros, is 
 fast disajjpoariii;^ in all the countries where it exists, before the incessant 
 and destructi\'e war made upon it by fire-arms. It could resist, and fol- 
 ates did resist, the rude and ineffective vvcapons of sa\ ai^cs and barbar- 
 ians, living and multiplying in spite of them ; but the species must soun 
 yield to the destructive propensity and power of civilizv^d men. 
 At Close Qiiarter.s with u Hippoiiotaiiius. 
 
 After seeing the animal [)lunging about in his bath, diving with ease, 
 ami traversing the bottom of the tank as if it were dry land, one can the 
 better appreciate the difficulties attending a struggle such as is related bv 
 Cumnu'nLT in the followinsj; lines : 
 
 There were four of them, three cows antl an old bull. They stood in 
 the middle of the river, and, altliough alarmed, did not appear aware u\ 
 the extent of the impending danger. 
 
 I took the sea-cnv next me, and with my first ball I gave her a mortc' 
 wound, knocking loose a great plate on the top of her skull. She at once 
 commenced plunging round and round, and occasionally remained still, 
 sitting for a few moments on the same spot. On hearing the re^jort of 
 my rifle, two of the others took up stream, and the fourth dashed down 
 the river. The)' rolled along like oxen, at a smart pace, as long as the 
 water was shallow. I was now in a state of very great anxiety about ni\- 
 wounded sea-cow, for I feared she would get down into deep Nvater, and 
 be lost, like the last one. Her struggles were still bearing her down 
 stream, and th.; water was becoming deeper. To settle the matteT, I 
 accordingly fired another shot from the bank, which, entering the roof of 
 her skull, passed out through her eye. She then kept continually splash- 
 ing rountl and round in a circle in the middle of the river. I had great 
 f ars of thj crocodiles, and I did not know that the sea-cow might not 
 attack me; my anxiety to .secure her, however, overcame all hedtation. 
 Sv) divesting myself of my leathers, and armed with a sharp knife, I dashed 
 int) the river, which at first to.»k me up to my arm-pits, but in the middle 
 
 was shallower. 
 
 A Strugg-le to Get Ashore. 
 
 As I ap]-)roached Ik'hemoth, her eye looked very wicked at me, but 
 
 she was stunned, aiul did not know what she was doing; so, running in 
 
WILD Sl'ORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 295 
 
 upon her, and sci/.inj^ her sh(irt tail, I attempted to incline her course to 
 land. It was extraordinaiA' what enormous strength she still liad in the 
 uali.'r; I could not guide her m the least, and she continued to splash, 
 antl plunge, and blow, and make her circular course, carrying me along 
 uitli her as if I was a fly on her tail. 
 
 h'inding her tail gave me but a poor hold, as the only means of secu- 
 ring my i)rey, I took out my knife, and cutting two deep parallel incisions 
 through the skin on her rump, and lifting this skin from the flesh, so that 
 I could get in my two hands, I made use of this as a handle, and after 
 some desperate hard work, sometimes pushing, sometimes pulling, the 
 sea-cow continuing her circular course all the time, and I hokling on her 
 rump like grim death, e\-entually I succeeded in bringing this gigantic 
 and most powerful animal to the bank. Mere the Bushman (piickly 
 brought me a .stout buffalo-rheim from my horse's neck, which I passed 
 through the opening in the thick skin, and moored Behemoth to a tree. 
 I then took my rifle, and sent a shot through her head, and she was 
 numbered with the dead. 
 
 SlipiM'ry Caudal Appoiulajfo. 
 
 In explanation of one part of this description, the difficulty experienced 
 by I\Ir. Cumming in holding b)' her tail will be easily understood b\' those 
 who have examined the member in question. The tail of the hip[)opot- 
 anius is a flattened, naked affair, about two feet long, as thick as a man's 
 wris':, and slightly fringed at the extremity with a few long bristles. If 
 \\c imagine this tail flung about in the death-agony of a full-grown hip- 
 popotamus, it will not be difficult to conceix'e the almost impossibility oi 
 holding on by the liands, especially in the water, which is the natural 
 element of the brute. 
 
 Lander relates a thrilling experience that befell some of his companion.s 
 on one of their explorations. A hi{)popotamus happened to rise inuler 
 their boat, and .struck her back against its keel. Irritated by the unex- 
 pected resistance, she dashed at the boat w ith open jaws, .seized the side 
 between her teeth, and tore out seven planks. She then .sank for a few 
 seconds, but immediately resumed the attack, and if one of the crew had 
 not fired a musket in her face, would probably ha\e worked still more 
 harm. As it was, too much mischief had ueen already done, for the loss 
 of so much planking had caused the boat to fill rapidly, and it was only 
 by severe exertion that the crew succeeiled in getting the boat to shore 
 before it .sank. The boat was providentially not more than an oar's length 
 from the bank when the attack took place ; but had it been in the centre 
 of the river, few, if any of the crew, would have escaped to tell the tale. 
 
 M 
 
 3 
 
 %'! 
 
pfpififi 
 
 •'! 
 
 i 
 
 T 
 
 296 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AXD SKY. 
 
 The sliock from beneath was so violent, th. t the steersman was thrown 
 completely out of the boat into the water, but was seized and draw n iii 
 aL,'aiii before the hippopotamus could fret at him. 
 
 Taxliir, the author of "A Journe\' to Central Africa," gives the follow- 
 in^' iutcrestin^ narrati\-e : 
 
 On the same tlay I saw the first hippopotamus. The men discerned him 
 about a ([iiarter of a mile off, as he came up to breathe, and called my 
 attention to him. Our vessel was ^-un towards him, and tlie sailors shouted, 
 to draw his attention : " Mow is your wife, old bo\- ? Is your son married 
 yet?" and other like exclamations. The)' 'iisisted upon it, that his 
 curiosit)' would be excitetl by this means, and he would allow us to 
 approach. I saw him at last within a liundred yards, but onl\- the enor- 
 mous head, whicli was more than three fee*" i.i breadth across the (.-ars. 
 He raisetl it w ith a tremendous snort, ojienint;" his luis^e mouth at the 
 .same time, and I thou^Ljht I had ne\-er seen a more fris^htful-hjokins^ mon- 
 ster. I le came up in our wake, after we hail pa.s.sed, and followed us (ov 
 some time. 
 
 I )irect!\- afterwards we spied fi\-e crocodiles o.i a sand-bank; one of 
 them was of a grayish-yellow color, and upwards of twenty feet in length. 
 We a|)proached quietU' to within a few )ards of them, when my men 
 raised their poles and shouted. The beasts started from their sleep, and 
 dashed quickl\' into the water, the big yellow one strikii-g so violenli\- 
 against our hull, that I am sure he went off with a headache. 
 
 Advt'iitin'i' with u Gorilhi. 
 
 Siv)rts in the tropics are not confined exciusixely to four-footed beast."'. 
 There are creatures strongly resembling man which are sought by the na- 
 ti\es, and sometimes are s\'stematicall\' hnnted, as would be a tiirer or 
 an elephant The equatorial coast of Africa has furnislied a gig.uilic 
 kintl of man-like ape, which affords a curious confirmation ol' an old 
 classic story. 
 
 Somewhere about the sixth centur\' before the Christian era, one 
 Hanno is reported to ha\'e sailed from Carthage, through the Pillars e' 
 Hercules, on a voyage of exploration along the coast of Africa. In tlic 
 recortl of this voyage there occurs the following pas.sage : — " Passing the 
 Streams of p'ire, we came to a bav called the Horn of the South. In the 
 recess there was an island like the first, having a lake, and in this there 
 was another island full of wild men. Hut nnich the greater part of thciu 
 were women, with hairy bodies, whom tlu interpreters called ' Gorillas.' 
 But pursuing them, we were not able to take the men ; the\- all escape'd. 
 being able to clin.b the precipices; and defended themselves with pieces 
 
WILD SPORTS OF TFIE TROPICS. 
 
 207 
 
 ofi'ick. But three women, vvh() bit .iiid scratched those who lee! them, 
 wciv not whlin*^ to follow. However, having killed them, we flaN-cd 
 till 111, and conveyed the skins to Carthage; for we did not sail an\' fur- 
 ther, as provisions began to fail." 
 
 The " wild men " of the ancient navigator were doubtless idcnlical 
 with the great anthropoid aj^e lately re-disco\ered, to which, in allusion 
 to tlk' old story, the name of gorilla has been given. The region in 
 ([111' tion is a richly wooded country, extending about a tliouhand 
 niilis along the coast from the Gulf of Guinea southward ; and as the 
 ffoiilla is not found beyond these limits, so we may conclusively infer 
 that the extreme point of Hanno was somewh'-re in this region. 
 
 Sava^t^ Itival of 3faii. 
 
 This great ape makes the nearest api)roach of any brute-animal to the 
 human form; it is fully ecpial toman in stature, but immensely more 
 bn ad and muscular; while its strength is colossal. Though exclusix-ely 
 a fruit cater, it is described as always manifesting an enraged enmity 
 towards m;ni ; and no negro, even if furnished with fire arms, will enter 
 alone into conflict with an adult male gorilla. lie is said to be more 
 than a match for the lion. 
 
 The rivalry between the mighty ape and the elephant is curious, and 
 leads to somewhat comic results. The old male is alwa\'s armed with a 
 stout stick whe.i on the scout, and knows how to use it. The elephant 
 has no intentional evil thoughts toward the gorilla, but unfortunatel)- they 
 ]o\c the same sorts of fruit. When the ape sees the elephant busy with 
 hi^ trunk among the twigs, he instantly regards it as an infraction of the 
 law- of property; and, dropping quietly down to the bough, he suddenly 
 brin;,;-> his club smartly down on the sensitix'e finger of the elephant's 
 proboscis, and drives off the alarmed animal trumpeting shrilly with rage 
 and pain. 
 
 The )'oung athletic negroes, in their ivory hunts, well know the i)row- 
 CSS of the gorilla. He does not, like the lion, sullenly retreat on seeing 
 them, but swings him.self rapidly down to the lower branches, courtin;,; 
 the conflict, and clutches at the foremost of his enemies. The hideous 
 aspect of his visage, his green eyes with their glaring fire, his open 
 mouth and fierce-looking teeth, the savage hand-like claws which form 
 the entl of his lower extremities, all render him an object of terror. 
 When he is pursued, as he is sometimes by daring natives who are his 
 natural enemies, he will defend himself with the utmost courage, and has 
 been known to attack his foes with indescribable furv. Our emrraving 
 represents a combat between a gorilla and his pursuers. The description 
 
 s|*>i^. 
 
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 298 
 
 EARTH, SEA. AND SKY. 
 
 is given by a traveller who heard the story of the adventure from the lips 
 of the nati\e.s, after they had barely escaped with their lives. Gorilla liunt. 
 
 
 GORILLA TURNING UPON HIS PURSUERS. 
 
 ing is dangerous business, yet there are those who, for the sake of the 
 excitement, engage in it, taking at times fearful risks. 
 
 his great ( 
 

 WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 299 
 
 Tn the barren wastes of Africa, and also of Asia, the traveller, as he 
 i()urne\s wearily onward, ineetin<^ with but stunted herbage and no water, 
 sees from afar somethin<j that alarms him. It looks like a body of horse- 
 men scourin;^ the desert, and, as he fears bent on [)lunder. Tlure is no 
 \\,\v of escape, and as he looks hither and thither the dreaded cjbject ap- 
 pioaciies. Then his heart beats more freel)-, and his spirits revive. The 
 h;uul of horsemen, as he supposed it to be, turns out to be birds. And 
 he is not the first traveller by any means who has made the mistake, and 
 im.i;4ine(l the ostrich to be a man on horsback. 
 
 Ill the fu'st place, the ostrich is quite as tall, and as he runs swiftly 
 dltnvj, there is nothin<; at a distance that he more resembles. He al\^•ays 
 feeds in a llock, and the barren wastes have been his home from time im- 
 ineinorial. I le eats ^rass, and <^rain when he can ^et it, and does nc^t 
 ^ccm to care for water. There are people who have said that the; os- 
 trich never drinks. 
 
 Brcaktust of Stoiios uiid Lcatlicr. 
 
 However that may be, his appetite is the most curious part of him. He 
 will swallow almost anything; he can pick u[), and you miy;ht wonder 
 where lie did pick up the thin<;s that ha\e been found in his stomach, 
 were it not for the cara\ans that now and tht;n come acro.ss the de.sert. 
 Pieces of leather, nails, lunijis of brass or iron, to say nothin<^ of stones, 
 all L^o down his throat with ease. 
 
 He has a hu<je crop, and then a <;reat strong t^izzard. And besides 
 these, he has a cavity <'"it mi<^ht be calletl a third stomach. So he is 
 well provided. Of couns :, stron<j^ as his dii;estion may be, he cannot di- 
 <:^est either nails or stones ; and some people explain this by sayint^ that 
 his ^reat crop wants so much to fill it, that he is obliged to put in all he 
 can ^et. And others say that the stones and brass and leather help him 
 to dij^^est his other food, in the same ^vay that grit or <^ravel helps our 
 poultr}' at home. 
 
 The ne.\t curious thint^ about the o.strich is the pair of winces that na- 
 ture has given him. The wing is nature's machine by which the bird 
 can siij port itself in the air, and dart or .sail through it as we may see 
 j\er\- c'a\-. But in some birds the wing fails of this purpose, ami is of no 
 use at all to fly with. There are two reasons why the wings of the os- 
 'lich cannot bear him into the air. They are very small to begin with, 
 and his great body is too heavy to be rai.sed by any such means. And be- 
 sides, the feathers of the wings are different from those of other birds. 
 
 Look how firm and conijiact is the wing of the swallow or the rook. 
 The feathers fit close together, and the little plumes on each feather hook 
 
 t{ 
 
 t '1 
 
. « 
 
 I :• 
 
 no) 
 
 KARTII, .sn.\, AND SKY. 
 
 into ci\<:\\ other by those exquisite h'ttie catches that arc aniotv.^ the mar 
 rels of" nature. If \'ou ])ass \-our fini^fr ovi.t tiic wiii^j it feels like inw 
 smooth surface. Hut in the win;.; of the ostrich the httle phmies aiv 
 loo.sc, and (loat h<.^htly about. The ostrich docs not use his wiiii^s t<> :ly 
 with. thou;^h he spreads them out as he runs. 
 
 The Flylnt,' Camel. 
 
 Me is in many respects so hke an animal, that he forms ahnost a liu!; 
 between the animals ami the birds, bideed lie is so like the camel tli.i 
 he is called the camel-binl. His foot resembles the lK)of of the canul. 
 It has only two toes, and both point forward ; and the first is lon<rer than 
 the second, and ends in a thick hoof-like claw. And the ha!)its of ilu 
 ostrich re.^emble tho.se of the camel ; they both li\e in the sandy desert, 
 and are able to ^m) a very lon^ time without drinkinL,^ The ostrich d. ts 
 not make anv nest, but merely scoops out a hole in the .sand. When t!u' 
 proper season comes, the mother ostrich be<;ins to la\' her c^ljs ; she la\s 
 about a dozen, and they are very lar^e, ami of a dirty w hite color. In the 
 day-time she lea\'es them under the burnini,^ rays of the sun ; but when 
 ni^ht comes, and the air is cooler, she broods over them. 
 
 The natives of the countrj' g;o out looking for the e^s^s of the ostrich. 
 One monster eg^ has in it as much as thirty of our hen'.s egs^s, and is 
 considered a great dainty. lUit the}' are \ery careful how they set about 
 the task of robbing the nest. They choose the time when the mothiT 
 cstrich is away, and then they take a long stick and push the eggs out of 
 the hole. If they touched any of thc'm with their fingers, the ostrich 
 wouki find it out in a minute, and go into a great rage. She would break 
 all the eggs that were left with her hoof-like feet, and never lay in that 
 place again. Sometimes a number of mother ostriches will la}' their eggs 
 in the same nest. 
 
 In some parts of Africa there are tribes of men who eat ostriches, nut 
 from glutton}', but because they can get very litde else. They keep them 
 as we do cattle, and make them quite tame. The ostrich is by nature 
 gentle, though it is .so large, and soon makes himself contented near the 
 dwelling of his master. Sometimes his master rides upon him, and takes 
 a journey. 
 
 Tlie beautiful feathers of the ostrich are so admired, that great pains 
 and trouble are taken to procure them. The Arab comes with his swift 
 h )rsc in search of the ostriches. A flock of them are quietl}- feedinj; 
 together on the plain. If it is mid-day, they strut about, na[)ping their 
 wings as if for coolness. When they perceive the eneni}- the\' begin to 
 run, at tirst gently, for he keeps at a d: -lance, and dr-es not wish t(^ alarm 
 
 "1 ]; 
 
WILD SPOUTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 mi 
 
 thmi nil lie ilian he can liclp. The win^s of the bird keep workitv^r lil<o 
 lu.i sails, and lie ^ets over the ground so fast that lie would soon i)e out 
 (if >i;4lit if h- I'an in a stiaiifht line. Hut he is so foolish as to keep run- 
 hiiil; from one side to the other. The hunter, meanwhile, rides straight 
 uii, and when his horse is exhausted, another hunter takes up the game, 
 
 HUNTING THE OSTRICH. 
 
 and so on, allowing the poor bird no rest. Sometimes, in a fit of despair, 
 he hides his head in the sand. 
 
 Another method adopted by the ostrich hunter is to disguise himself 
 in the skin of one of these birds, and, armed with his bow and poisoned 
 arrows, stalk about the plain imitating the gait and motions of the ostrich. 
 Moffat thus describes a hunt of this kind : 
 
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 liiii 
 
 302 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 A kind of flat double cushion is stuffed with straw and formed sonic 
 thin<r like a saddle. All except the under part of this is covered (.\cr 
 
 2 
 
 ' '.)' -.Sivy ^- 
 
 "••^MiiHmiil.^iJiLi !'i.iili)iniiit:l':H,iii'^ l;'! 
 
 with feathers, attached to small pegs, and made so as to resemble tlv 
 bird. The head and neck of an ostrich are stuffed and a rod introduced, 
 and the Bushman intending to attack game whitens his legs with an>' sub- 
 
 is ap;ani sto 
 
\u 
 
 '.N 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 303 
 
 staiic<' he can get. He places the feathered saddle on his shoulders, takes 
 the l)i)ttoni part of the neck in his right hand, and his bow and poisoned 
 aiTdWs in his left. Such as the writer has seen were most perfect mimics 
 (if the ostrich, and at a f-'w hundred yards' distance it is not possible for 
 the eye to detect the fraud. This human bird appears to be picking away 
 at tlie verdure,. turning the head as if keeping a sharp lookout; shakes 
 his feathers, now walks and then trots, till he gets within bow-shot, and 
 when the flock runs from one receiving an arrow he runs too. The male 
 ostriches will, on some occasions, give chase to the strange bird, Avhen he 
 tries t>) elude them in a way to prevent them catching his scent ; for when 
 once the)' do the spell is broken. Should one happen to get too near in 
 niusuil, he lias only to run to windward, or throw off his saddle, to avoid 
 a stroke from a wing that would lay him prostrate. 
 
 The Arabs of North Africa pursue the ostrich on horseback ; not at a 
 dash, however — one exciting run and victory decided — but in a deliberate 
 and business-like way. A flock having been sighted, the Arabs put their 
 steeds in motion, and hold them at sufficient speed to keep in sight the 
 fluttering army in advance. When the evening comes, the Arab pickets 
 his horse and rests for the night, and his tired game, finding it is no longer 
 pursued, sinks to the earth and rests too. Next morning the chase is 
 coninienced, the clicking of hoofs rouses the still weary bird, and once 
 more he braces his limbs and pursues his hopeless flight. So the game 
 continues, till, tired to death, and with drooping and bcdraggleel wings, 
 the poor ostrich comes to a dead halt, and the gallant Arab hunter safely 
 approaches and cuts its throat. 
 
 The Dlow that Ends the Chuso. 
 
 Toward the approach of the rainy season, when the days are intolerably 
 hot and sultry, the ostrich may easily be ridden down by a single horse- 
 man. At the above-mentioned period the protracted drought tells e\en 
 on this invulnerable bird, and he may be seen standing in a stupefied 
 manner with his wings outspread and his beak wide open. Under such 
 circumstances he offers but little resistance, and though for a few moments 
 he may make hard running, his speed is not enduring ; and presently he 
 is again stock-still and stupidly agape, waiting for the hunter to knock 
 him on the head with his " shambok," or knobby stick. 
 
 Our illustration depicts a chase of an ostr'ch described by Ikldwin. 
 Andersson relates that in certain parts of Southern Africa the ostrich is 
 run down on foot. " I have myself seen the Bushmen accomplish this 
 exploit on the shores of Lake Ngami. They usually surround a whole 
 troop, and with shouts and yells chase the terrified birds into the water, 
 
 I 
 
H 
 
 III 
 
 304 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AXD SKY. 
 
 where they are, of course, speedily killed." Harris, on one occasinn, fell 
 in with a party of caravans chasin^^ an ostrich on f )ot, and, when they .^ot 
 close enough, " shyin<j " aft.:r th:; fljein;^ birel, th^-ir clubs strikin'^^ tli- 
 bird's legs and eventually laming hini. " When the ostrich is slain," sa\s 
 the last-mentioned authority, " the throat is op..'n jd and a ligature pa.-M! 
 below the incision. Several hunters then raise the bird by the head ;ui i 
 feet, and shake and drag him about until they obtain from the a[)crtLn\> 
 ni'arly twenty pounds of a substance of mingled blood and fat, of th ; con- 
 sistence of coagulated oil, wliich under the name of ' manteque ' j^ 
 employed in the preparation of dishes and the cure of various mala:lios." 
 
 Some African tribes take the ostrich in .snares, similar to those usil in 
 the capture of the smaller species of antelope. A long cord ha\-in4 ;^- 
 the end a noose is tied to a sapling, wliicli is bent down, an J the iiMnse 
 pinp.ed to the ground in such a manner that when a bird t eads within it 
 the sapling .springs back by its own natural elasticit}', suspending the bird 
 in the air, only to be released from its sulTerings by death. Others a;.;ain 
 are .said to employ ostrich feather parasols, or rather massy plume.s — such 
 as adorn our hearses — while hunting wild animals of every descri])tion. 
 Thus in ca.se of a wounded beast charging a man, the latter, just at the 
 moment he is about to be .seized, whips the big plume off his head, and 
 thrusting the spike to which i!ie feathers are bound into the ground, slips 
 off. While the furious animal vents his rage on the nodding feathers, the 
 wild hunter steals to its rear and transfixes it with his weapon. 
 
 Fair Piay aiul no Favor. 
 
 In hunting the ostrich the mode most favored by sportsmen is to lie in 
 wait at the margins of pools and springs where the birds come to 
 drink. They swallow the wat'r deliberately, and by a successio'.i of 
 gulps. While staying at Elephant Fountain, Andersson shot eight uitli- 
 in a very short period. " Lying in wait," however, and taking athantagj 
 of your game from behind a wall or hedge, is by no means a . .. rule a 
 fa\<irite sx'stem with the hunter. If an animal has " fight" in it, notliins' 
 gives the true sportsman greater pleasure than for it to demonstrate the 
 same tc.) the fullest extent — sharp steel against talons ju.st as sharp and 
 terrible, swift bullets against swift and sudden springs and bounds and 
 death-d-'aling fangs. Should the animal chased be dependent on its 
 fleetness for safety, again the true sportsman would meet it with its own 
 weapons, and stake bit and spur on the issue of the chase. 
 
 Andersson relates th : particulars of a chase after young ostriches by 
 himself and a friend, and which is none the less interesting that it bears 
 witness to the tender solicitude of the ostrich for its progeny. " While on 
 
 ever, we si 
 
 
WILD SPORTS OF THE TROPICS. 
 
 805 
 
 the road between the Ray and Scheppniansdorf we tliscoxereda male and 
 female ostrich, with a brood of youn;^ ones about the size of ordinary 
 barn-door fowls. This was a sight ^we had loni,^ been looking for, as 
 Galton had been recjuested by Professor Owen to |irocure a few craniunis 
 ()f the young of this bird. Accordingly we dismounted from our oxen 
 and gave chase, which i)roved of no ordinary interest. 
 
 Cuiiniiij; Dodg-tj to Save the JLittlo Oiios. 
 
 The moment the parent-birds became aware of our intention they set, 
 off at full .speed, the female leading the wa)', the young following in her 
 wake, and the male, though at some little distance, bringing up the rear 
 of the family party. It uas \ ery touching to ob.servc the anxiety the old 
 birds e\'inced for the .safety of their young. Finding that we were 
 quickly gaining upon them, the male at once slackened his pace and di- 
 verged somewhat from his course; but seeing that we were not to be di- 
 verted from our purpose, he again increased his speed, and with wing.s 
 dr()oj)ing .so as almost to touch the ground he hovered round us, now in 
 wide circles and then decreasing the circumference till he came almost 
 within pistol shot, when he threw himself abruptly on the ground and 
 struggled desperately to regain his legs, as it appeared, like a bird that 
 is badly wounded. 
 
 Ha\ing previously fired at him several times, I really thought he 
 was disabled, and made quickly toward him ; but this was only a dodge on 
 his part ; for on my nearer approach he slowly arose, and began to run in 
 an opposite direction to that of the female, which by this time was consid- 
 erably ahead with her charge. After about an hour's severe chase, how- 
 ever, we secured nine of the brood, and though it consisted of about 
 double that number, we found it necessary to be contented with what we 
 had bagged. 
 
 20 
 
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 CHAPTER XI. 
 SIGHTS IX THI<: WORLD'S MICNAGKRIK. 
 
 Man in the Jaws of the Lion — Meeting tlie Great I5east-- -Death from the Stroke of 
 a Paw — ^Jacob Dok's Adventure — Lion's Gratitude — Magnanimity of the Kini,^ 
 of Beasts — Shaking Mane and Lashing Tail— Tremendous Strength — Narrative 
 of r.rohm — Spectral Lemur — A Creature witli Singular Eyes and Claws — I'ine 
 Tree-Climbers — The Babiroussa — Quadruple Tusks — A Restless and Ferocious 
 Beast — White-Lipped Peccary — Plucky Fighters- Wart-Hog — A Dangerous 
 Brute — Invader of Cultivated I'ields — Expert Swimmer — Adventure of Ca])tain 
 Harris — The Lithe Panther — Supple Muscles of (ireat .Strength — .Sudden .Spring- 
 Thirst for ]51()od— Doctor Ihxhm's Remarkable Ivxperience— An Old Dog-fared 
 Baboon — Dreadful Encounter— Courage of a Malay Captain— The Tapir An 
 Omniverous Quadruped— Cousin of the Hippopotamus — A Fortunate Nost — 
 Whistling Tapirs— Tapir Domesticated— The XVallachian .Sheep — P'xtraordinary 
 Horns — Splendid Growth of Wool — Mountain .Sheep of Bokhara — Horns 
 of Surprising Size — A Dwelling on Hi<ih Rocks— I'Mying Fox — Marveiou.s 
 Membrane— Unique Product of the Animal Kingdom — Hanging from Forest 
 Branches — Arctic Seals —Elegant Fur — Hunting the .Seal — Sea-Elephant — Tiie 
 XValrus- Use of Tusks — Perils of Walrus Hunting. 
 
 T the present day lions are onl}- foinid in Africa and Asia. Xor 
 are the\- an\' longer to be seen in the lloly Land, though they 
 are often alltided to in the l^ihle. It is a taw ny animal, and is 
 very .strong. Tlie African lion is different from the Asiatic, 
 and the African Vums themseK'es seem to consist of four or fi\-e kinds. 
 It was formerly believed that the}- had i)rickles in their tails, which ren- 
 dered them w ilder and more ftn-ious when the\' lashed their sides. TlicV 
 are not often found in forests; the)- seem to like best the shelter of the 
 low common that creeps along the sides of streams. The powerful l^rutc 
 sometimes carries u(C men. 
 
 A Cape lion has been known to seize a heifer in his mtuith.and thouL^li 
 the legs dragged upon the ground, he carried her off easih'. Anotlur 
 conx'eyed a horse about a mile from the spot where he had killetl it. .\ii- 
 other, that had carried off a two-year old heifer, was followed on the 
 spoor, or track, for fi\-e hoiu's b\- horsemen, when it was foinid thai 
 throughout the long distance the heifer had touched the groiuul onl\ 
 once or twice. To avoid these blood-thirsty beasts, whole villages arc 
 sometimes built in the upper branches of trees. The African lion gener- 
 ally lives upon ccnvs, calves, antelopes, and animals of this description. 
 (HOG) 
 
SIGHTS IN Till': WORLD'S MKXAGERII':. 
 
 ;i«)7 
 
 lUirchcll, tlic tf.'ucUcr, ;;i\cs an interesting account of his meeting one 
 ,)f lliL'se i^reat licasts : The ilay was exxcedingly pleasant, and there was 
 n<A ;i cloud to be seen. I'^or a mile (■>r two we travelled ahniLj by the 
 banks of the river, which in this part abounded in tall matrushcs. The 
 tloLjs secmetl much to enjoy prowling; about, and examiniuLj every bushy 
 ')lacc, and at last met with some object anionij the bushes which caused 
 iheni to set up a most vehement and determined barkins^. We explored 
 tliL' spot Avith caution, as we well knew, from the peculiar tone of their 
 barlx, that it was what we expected It to be — lions. 
 
 lla\in!_^ desired the doL,^s to (li-i\e theni out, a task which they | "- 
 fdMiu il with great willingness, we had a full view of an enormous black- 
 ni.uiLd lion and lioness. The latter was seen onl\- for a minute, as she 
 made her escape up the ri\er under the concealment of the rushes ; but 
 the lion came steadily forward, and stood still to look at us. At this 
 iiimutc we felt ouv situation not free from danger, as the animal seemed 
 |)iv|)aring to spring upon us, and we were standing on the bank, at the 
 distance of only a few \'ards, most of us being on f tot and unarmed, witli- 
 oiit any "isible opportunity of escaping. I had gi' '■ uj) tny horse to the 
 hunters, and was on foot myself; but there was no time for fear, and it 
 was useless to attempt avoiding him. I stood well upon mv' guard, hold- 
 in;4 my pistols in my hands with my finger upon the trigger; and those 
 who hail muskets ke[)t themselves prepared in the same manner. But at 
 this in-tant the dogs flew boldly in between us and the lion, and sur- 
 rounding him, kept him at bay 1j\' their violent and resolute barking. 
 Fju'iiiy- tlM- Monarch of tlio Forest. 
 
 The courage of those faithful clogs was most admirable ; the)- ad 
 vanecd up <> the side of the huge beast, and stood making the greatest 
 clamor in his face, without the least appearance of fear. The lion, con- 
 .-icious of his strength., remained unmoved at their noi.sy attempts, and kept 
 his head turned towards us. ,\t one moment the dogs, percei\'ing his 
 c\e thus engaged, had adx'anced close to his feet, and seemed as if they 
 would actually sei/.e hold of him; but they paid dcark for their impru- 
 dence, for, without discomposing the majestic and steady attitude in 
 which he stood fi.xed, he merely moved his paw, and at the next instant 
 I brheld two l\'in.g dead. In doing this, he made so little exertion, that 
 it was scarcely perceptible by what means they had been killed. Of the 
 time which we gained by the interference of the dogs not a minute was 
 lost. We fired upon him ; one of the balls went through his side, just 
 between the short ribs, and the blood began to flow, but the animal still 
 remained standing in the same [)osition. We had now no doubt that he 
 
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 i,fnt to a <j;vc'< 
 
 'doa 
 
 spnnj^ing or t 
 "1 his conceal 
 fj'it as thoii<:l: 
 
 
SIGHTS IN THK WORLD'S Mi:X.\< •xJ-:RIF.. 
 
 300 
 
 would spriiiLj upon us ; every j^mi was instantly rc-loatlctl ; but, happily, 
 \vt' were mistaken, and were not sorry to see him mo\e (|uietly away, 
 tlii)i!"h I had hoped in a few minutes to have been enabled to take hold 
 of his paw without danj^er. 
 
 I'",ven where the hunter has been seized with a jjanie and pursues, a 
 timely recovery of self-possession lias saved him. Spa man le'.ates that 
 Jacob Bok, of Yee-koe-rivi-r, one da\' walkiuL-^ ovlt his land with his 
 loaded !^nni, imexpecteill)- nu-t a lion. IJein^; an excellent shot, he thou;^ht 
 hiiii-.elf pretty certain, from the position he was in, of killinj;- it, anti there- 
 fore tired his [Mece. Unfortunately he- ditl not recollect that the charf^e 
 had been in it for some time, and therefore was damp, so that his piece 
 huwj; fire, and the ball failini^ siiort, entered the L;round close to the lion. 
 
 In consec[uence of this he was seized with a pam'c. and took directly to 
 i'.is Iicels; but bein;^ soon out of breath, and close!)- i)ursued by llii" lion, 
 hv jumped up on a little heap of stones and there made a stand, present- 
 in ' the butt-end of his L;un to his adversar)-. full}- resolved to tlefend his 
 litl' as well as he could to the utmost. This tle{)ortment luul such an 
 effect upon his pursuer, that he also made a stand, and lay down at the 
 (listance of a few paces from the heap of stones, seemini^ly c[uiLe uncon- 
 cerned. Jacob, in the meantime, ditl not stir from the s'?tl; besides, he 
 hati in his fiijjjht unfortunately dropped his ])ow-der-horn. At ieni;th, after 
 waitiuL;- a good half-hour, the lion rose up, and at tirst went \-ery slowly, 
 and step by step only, as if he had a nn'nd to steal off; but as soon as he 
 <'ot to a i^n-eater distance, he l)e_!4an to bound away at a rapid rate. 
 
 Story of :i Ilosfueil Slavo. 
 
 In old books of Natural History, there is a stor)- aboui a slave, calied 
 by some Androcles, and others, as for instance Gellius, /Vndrodus, who 
 cured the foot of a lion, which had be(?n dan;.^erously wounded by ;i 
 .splinter. Some years afterw-ards, the lion was cau^-ht, and tak(;n to the 
 i^reat circus at Rome, to form part of a show of wild beasts. One da\' 
 the slave, perhaps for some L,n\-at crime, was dri\en irito the circus, to be 
 ie\-i)ured b)- the lions. His old fi-ie-nd innnediately reco^nisetl him, and 
 defended him with rare zeal and tend -rness. The slaw was liberated. 
 and owed his life to the ijood memory of the wiM beast. 
 
 Unless pro\'oked, or very huiiL^r)', the lion does not attack any animal 
 opcnI\'; but when roused b}' fimine, he is said to fear no danr^^er, and to 
 he repelled b\' no resistance. Generally the lion takes his prey by 
 .sprini;ing or throwin;.-; himself upon it with one vast bound from the place 
 oriiis concealment. Should he miss his leaj), he will not follow his prey; 
 but as thoui^h he were ashamed, turning around towards the place where 
 
 
H 
 
 310 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 he la>' in ambush, he slowly, and step by step, measures the exact Icivrtfj 
 between the two points, as if to find how much too short he had taken 
 his leap. 
 
 The lion is said to be a ;jjreat coward or at least deficient in courarrc 
 proportionate to his threat strenL,rth. 
 
 There have been instances where the lion deviated from his mode of 
 attack of sprint^ir^^ upon his prey. He has often been .seen to despise 
 contemptible enemies and j)aidon their insults, w hen it was in hi.s power 
 
 
 frMwi''f^mM^ 
 
 AN ODDITY OF TIIF, ANIMAL KLNCiDO.M Sl'i:CTKAL LEML'K. 
 
 to have punished them, lie has been known to spare the lives of sucli 
 creatures as were thrown into his cat^e to be devoured by him, to live 
 peaceably with him, to aftord them part of his sustenance, and sometimes 
 even to want food himself rather than deprive them of the life which Jiis 
 generosity had spared. 
 
 The lion is commonly said to devour as much at once as will .serve him 
 for two or three days, and in captivity he is usually allowed four pound^^ 
 of raw flesh for his dail\- subsistence. His jaws are so powerful that lie 
 
SKiHTS IN THK WORLDS MENAGllKIK. 
 
 in 1 
 
 can break the bones of animals with case, antl ho often swallows thcin 
 all mi; with the flesh. His tongue is furnishrtl with reversed prickles so 
 larL^e and strong as to be capable of lacerating the skin. 
 
 When he is enraged or in want of food, lie erects and shakes his mane, 
 aiul beats his tail against his back and sides. While he is in this stat'.', it 
 is certain death to any [jerson who happens to approach him. The 
 lioness is smaller than her mate and destitute of a mane. The lion is a 
 nocturnal animal; only when forced he leaves his lair during the day. 
 Only after midnight he ai)proaches the habitations of man. Espying a 
 licrd of cattle he will commence roaring for the purpo.se of putting the 
 cattle to flight and then to capture a victim. Dr. I^rehm asserts that once 
 he was present when a lion, having killed a heifer two x'cars old, jum ;)ed 
 with the victim in his mouth over a thorn hedge nearly nine feet Iiigh 
 and then dragged it to his lair. 
 
 The roaring of the lion in quest of prey resembles the sound of distant 
 thunder, and being re-ech(X'd by the rocks and mountains ap[jals the 
 whole race of animals, and puts them to a sudden flight. 
 
 The Asiatic varietv of the lion is inferior to the African in size, streu'th 
 
 and fierceness, with less ample mane, and with less width of head and 
 
 nobleness of bearing. 
 
 The Sin'ctnil Leiiinr. 
 
 l.cmur is the name applied to about thirty species of monkeys. 
 Tlie\' are divided into five principal genera, inhabiting chiefly IM.ula- 
 •fascar, a few livinu in Africa and the warm regions of Asia and its archi- 
 pclago. 
 
 The animals ha\'e two sharp claws on each hind foot, all their other 
 nails are Hat. In their habits and economx-, as well as in their haiul-like 
 paws, the lemurs are like the other monkeys. They princii)ally differ 
 from those animals in the shajie of the head, which is somewhat like that 
 of a dog, and in the great length of their hind legs. The latter are so 
 long, that when the lemiu's \\alk on all-foiu-s, tlu'ir haunches are consider- 
 aiil)' more elevated than the shoulders. 
 
 Hut this structure is of great acKantage to them in climbing trees. 
 Many of the species are so active that they leap from branch to branch 
 with a rapidity which the eye is scarcely able to follow. The lenun's 
 derive their name from their nocturnal habits and their noiseless mo\e- 
 nients. They live in the depths of the forests, antl only mo\e by night, 
 the entire day being spent in slee[). Tleir food consists of fruits and in- 
 sects which latter they take while they are sleeping. 
 
 The spectral lemur is of a grayish-brown color, and li\es in the forests 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 ♦m 
 
 m 
 
312 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 , I 
 
 m;fi% , 
 
 li 
 
 mwi'. 
 
 of the Indian archipclacfo, its loncj tarsi, or hind-lc^s, cnabliiiL,^ it to U-ap 
 like a fvo'^, and its curious c\-cs j,nvin_Lf it a sin<;ular appearance. 
 
 Tile Dutch nanie of babiroussa means sta,Lj-hoL,r. There is reason to 
 think- that the ancients were not alto_L,fether unaccjuainted with this animal. 
 Ph'ny notices a wild boar with horns on the foreheatl, found in India- 
 and Cosmos, a writer in the si.\th eentur\', u.ses tlie term hot;-deer, as the 
 cLvsii;nation of an Indian animak I b)\\ever tliis may be, it is (miK- re- 
 cently tliat naturahsts have become well acquainted with it and its habits, 
 though skulls of these animals have been brout^dit in abundance bv ves- 
 si.'ls tradincr amonir the Moluccas. 
 
 Sli5lil 
 
 / 
 
 
 !'KCC.\KV OR .SlAG-llOC. 
 
 The babiroussa differs somewhat iri tlentition from the hoi;-, the incisors 
 being four above instead of si.\, and the molars fi\-e on each side, in either 
 jaw. The upper canines, or tusks, of the male emerge directly upwards 
 from their apparently distorted sockets, and sweep with a bold arch back- 
 wards, attaining to a \erv great length. The skin is thick, coar.se, of a 
 blackish tint, and sparingly beset with \ery short, bristly hairs. The 
 tuslcs of the lower jaw are long, .strong, and sharp, emerging like those of 
 the boar. The tusks of the upper jaw do not pass out between the lips, 
 but cut their way through the skin, nearly halfway between the end of 
 the snout and the eyes. The tusks of the lower jaws are formidable 
 
-Uj) 
 
 ■^1 
 
 
 .-if 
 
 i,</lt 
 
 V 
 
 ncisoi's 
 1 cither 
 :)\varcls 
 1 back- 
 50, of a 
 The 
 lose of 
 10 lips, 
 end of 
 lidable 
 
 SIGHTS IN Tilli: WORLD'S MF.NAGI'.RIR. 
 
 31 :i 
 
 wi'api'iis. The male, when adult, cciuals the larifost ho^; ; the fonialo is of 
 niiK h iniorior size, and dostitiito of the curled up^)o|• tusks, or has them 
 ^^uiy ruilimeiitary. 
 
 This annual is found in tlio marshy fDivsis in the interior of Hourou, and 
 ,)tlur of the Moluc I islands, as Aniboyna, and also Java, whore it assi;ci- 
 atts in troops. Its habits resemble those of the wild ho|^% and it is restless 
 and ferocious. Accordin;^ to Lesson, it foods chiotly on niai/.e, preferring 
 lliat -Tain to other articles of diet. It i> partial to the water, and swim.s 
 with the ^freatost ease, often erossini; the straits between adjacent islands 
 without any ilifficulty. In a .state of captivity, as in the London Zocjlo^ical 
 Garelens, and the Paris Monaj^erie, this animal seems to be contented. 
 
 The "XVhito-LipinMl Peccary. 
 
 The animals of this .species congregate in numerous bands, .sometimes, 
 it is -aid, to more than a thousand individuals of all ages. Thus united, 
 tlu-y frequently traverse extensive districts, the whole troop occupying an 
 ex'cnt of a league in length, and directed in their march, if the accounts 
 of the natives are to be credited, by a leader, who takes his station at the 
 head of the ft)rcmo.st rank. Should they be impodetl in their progress 
 bv a river, the chief stops for a moment, and then boldly i)lungos into the 
 stream, and is followed by all the rest of the troop. The breadth of the 
 river and the rapidity of the current appear to bo but trilling obstacles in 
 their way, and to be overcome with the greatest facilit}'. (^n reaching 
 the opposite bank, they j)roceed directly on their course, and continue 
 their march through the plantations which, unfortunately for the owners,. 
 may happen to lie in their wa\', and which they sometimes completely 
 dc\astate by rooting in the ground for mai/.o. or potatoes, or devouring 
 such fruit as they find there. If the)- meet with anything u.nusual in 
 their way, they make a terrific clattering with their teeth, and stop and 
 examine the object of their alarm. When they have ascertained that 
 there is no danger, they continue? their route without further delay; but 
 if :i Iiuntsman .diould venture to attack- them when the\' are thus assoTii- 
 i)iccl in large numbers, ho is sure tol)c surrounded by multitudes and torn 
 to jiieces by their tusks, if he is so unwise as to neglect his only ciiance 
 of escape, which consists in climbing a tree, and thus getting fairly out 
 of their reach. The smaller bands are by no means equally courageous, 
 and always take to flight at tht> first attack. 
 
 An Animal Hard to Conquer. 
 
 In (iuiana, Sonnini was surrounded by a herd of peccaries, exasperated 
 at tile havoc made among them by the fusils of himself and his compan- 
 ions. Betaking himself to a tree, he hoheld at his ease how theycncour- 
 
 mM 
 
 -,|;» 
 
 i;*i' 
 
 ' 51^ 
 
m 
 
 'flit ft 
 
 iiifli 
 
 314 
 
 F.ARTH. SKA. AND SKY, 
 
 a^'c'd, by their {^ruir.s ami In- riiljliiii;^ tli-ir siKnits toj^cthcr, those that 
 were uountlecl fioin tlie allots above, still nuiintainin^r their ground uith 
 bristles erect and e}es fiery with raije. The)- sometimes stood an inces- 
 sant fiisilade of two or three hours before they ([iiitted the battle-field aiul 
 left their dead to the coiuiuerors. After such encounters comes the fe-iival 
 oi the travellers. A ^reat i,Midiron — so to speak — of sticks, fasteneil in the 
 ground, and some three feet in height, w ith numerous small branches laid 
 on it in a tran\erse direction, is got read)-. ( )n this sylvan cookin^-appa- 
 
 '^^^2>:: 
 
 /KLIAN's wakt-hog. 
 
 -^lr.:iP«'""'- 
 
 rTKXw?, the pieces of peccar\' pork are broiled ()\'cr a slow fire kept uj) durinL; 
 the ni'.dit. Sonninf dwells enthusiastically on these forest feasts. 
 
 The wart-hoG;' is found in Africa from v\byssinia to the Guinea and 
 Mozambique coasts. It is remarkable for pos.se.ssint^ f )ur tusks, two of 
 which proceed from the upper jaw and do not pass out between the li')>. 
 but throiifrh an aix-rture in the skin, half way between the end of the 
 .snout and e\'es. The sockets of the two upper tusks arc curved upwards 
 and c^ive a sinq-ular appearance to the skull of the animal. It is very- 
 ferocious and cannot be liuritv-d without danLfcr. 
 
SK.lllS IN I'm: U'<»RI.I)S Mi-,N.\tiKRlK 
 
 ;{l.j 
 
 When taken youni; it can be l;inuxl without much difficulty, and con- 
 ducts itself much aftrr the maimer of the pi;^. ( )nly the male has the dou- 
 ble pair of tusks, the female only i)ossessin<; those i)elonL;in;4 to the under 
 jaw in a rudimentary dej^ree. It lives in troops and thus does much dam- 
 age to the cultivated grounds, especiall)' of mai/.e, of which it is very 
 fond. It is a j^ood swimmer and often takes to tlu- water in order to 
 cross a stream. It feeds on roots and bulbs, which it di|^s out of tile 
 "round, but also on worms, lar\;e, and e\'en carrion. 
 
 Lcsuli'i* of tlic llrrd Finally Itroii^ht Douii. 
 
 This species, sometimes calletl /Elian's wart-ho;^, was found fust in 
 Korilofaii, but afterwards, in greater abundance, on the eastern slope <if 
 Abyssinia. It haunts low bushes and forests, and has a habit of creep- 
 iii'^f on its bent fore limbs in cpiest of foot!. In this attitude it usrs its 
 tusks in >^Iiggini;' up or tearing out of the grountl the roots or plants, 
 which constitute part of its diet. When thus engaged, it pushes its body 
 Imuard by means of its hind legs, in order to move ahjng. 
 
 The capture of another species is tlni > describetl bv Captain Harris: 
 Rrturning one dri//.l\- morning f-omthe banks of the Limpo[)o, with tlv,- 
 sjjoils of three noble water-bucks packed u[)on my horse. I chanced u])on 
 a very large tlrove of the unclean beasts, feeding unconcernedly on the 
 slope of a hill ; and the sleet obsciu'ing my rille sights, I shot no fewer 
 than three bullets at the diabo ical-looking boar without touching a bris- 
 tle; the whole part)', with a general grimt, scampering off after each dis- 
 charge to a little distance, then wheeling abouc to 'show a menacing 
 fiont, lifting their whip-la.sh tails at the same time, antl screw ing horrilile 
 laces at me. Hut the fourth missive trippt.'d up the hoar}- general ; and, 
 although .shooting a i)ig may sound somewhat oddly in the sporting ears 
 of my brother Ninn'ods, I can assure them that whilst we had no horses 
 til s|)aie, *' the head of that ilk swine " proved a pvhc well worth the lead 
 .md gunpowiler that hatl i)een exix-nded on it. Gigantic, ant! protruding 
 like those of an elephant, the upper tusks were sufficiently hooked to ad- 
 mit of the wearer hanging himself up by them to rocst, as did his ances- 
 tors of )-ore, if the ancients are to be believed. By all who saw these 
 trophies in the colony, they were imariably taken for the ivories of a lii{)-| 
 popotamus, the best that I afterwards saw measuring less than one-half 
 
 their length. 
 
 The >Ius(Milar Panther 
 
 Is a large African spotted cat, considered by some naturalists as a variety 
 
 of tin,' leopard. If not distinct s[K^cies the panther and leopard are \'ery 
 
 marked \arieties. The former is more powerful, darker colored, with the 
 
1' 
 
 T ^ 
 
 ! • .1 
 : ^ i 
 
 i\m 
 
 ilM- 
 
 m'^ 
 
 I 
 
 nm 
 
 fill 
 
 (;!u; 
 
i 
 
 !;i T, 
 
 
 
 SIGHTS I\ THE WORLD'S MENAGKRIK 
 
 ;u7 
 
 niaikinLis arranged witli considerable reL,ailarit)- and the tail lonc^^cr in 
 ni('[)i)rtion. This is probably the animal so abundantly sufoplied to the 
 public spectacles of ancient Konie, hundreds luuinc^ been exhibited to- 
 ifcther. 
 
 It is an expert climber, \er\' active and readily traineil. The panther 
 of Siuith America is the jaL;uar. The len^^th cjf the i)anther is usually 
 iiv)re than six feet, exclusive of tlu' tail, which is about three feet loni^ 
 '["he color of the upper parts of the l)i>d\- is bright yellow with numerous 
 black, roundish, or somewhat annular marks, several of which have in the 
 centre of each a black spot. The luidcr parts of the body arc white. 
 
 The panther lurks in ambush amongst the bushes and springs with a 
 sudden leap on passing animals. So prompt and rapid are its movements, 
 that few escape. In \ain may the \ictim seek for refuge e\en in the 
 trees; the panther notwithstanding the size and weight of its body still 
 ])ursues with almost incredible agility its \ictim and dispatches the same. 
 It has none of the noble qualities of the lion. 
 
 A Blooillliirsfy Creature. 
 
 i'he thirst for blood is insatiable, and its ferocity is such, that even when 
 subjugated and in the jiowcr of man, it seems rather to be subdued than 
 tunetl. Tn the panther all the peculiarities of the cat family are combined •; 
 i» is a beautifi'.l animal, nimble, powerful, active, cunning, courageous, but 
 also deceitful, shrewd, insidious, wild, re\'engeful and bloodthirsty. 
 
 l)r. Brehm relates a reiiiarkable exi)erience with a [panther, lie and 
 his followers tra\'elled one da\' throuLih the Bogos mountains in y\frica, 
 when suddenly they Inward the challenging barking of the dog-faced 
 baboons; they resolved to try their rifles on them. Some of the shots 
 missed, others hit their marks, and tiie victims either were killed outright 
 (ir tried to esca[)e. One old dog-faced baboon which had received a wound 
 in the neck, came tottering down the rocks and turned toward.s the \-al- 
 Icy. They did not pay any further attention to this animal, expecting to 
 find it "dead in a short time, and fired several more shots at .some of the 
 other baboons. 
 
 Suddenly the)- noticed great excitement among the monkeys, and at 
 the ?:ame time the\- heard a wild noise in the valley, while all the old nia'.e^' 
 baboons came to the edge of the precipice, ami looking down showed 
 great anger and excitement. All at once a loud and furious barking of 
 the dogs, which had remained in the valley with the pack- mules was 
 heard, and some of the men cried for help. Looking down, Dr. Brehm raw 
 a panther running towards his men, but apparently employed with some- 
 thing else, which he could not discci-ii on account of the bixly of the 
 
 
 !isii.''';«HiM^i 
 
 mum: 
 
 i:m 
 
'01 
 
 ;ns 
 
 KARTH, SEA AND SKY 
 
 ill 
 
 if 
 
 nnimal liidin;^- it. Tlicn two shots were hoard, and tlic jjantlier dis- 
 iippcaicd. 
 
 Brchin hurried to the spot, and soon found in a dense bush tlie panliur 
 dead, and about ten feet from it the body of the old dog-faced baboon. It 
 was apparent that the wounded baboon was, in spite (»f tlie shootini;, w hile 
 passin<r the place of concealment of the panther, attacked by thi.s animal. 
 It had jumped on the back of the baboon, antl had been carried l)\- it 
 down to the spot where their lifeless bodie- were found. 
 
 Kcinai'kable Kncoiinter Avitli a I*aiitli('r. 
 
 The following interesting particulars of an encounter with one ofthe.se 
 animals are from the pen of a gentleman M'ho witnessed it ; 
 
 I was at Jaffna, at the northern extremity t»f the Island of Ceylon, when, 
 one morning, my ser\ant called me an hour or two before my usual time, 
 with " Master, master! people sent for nia.ster's dogs — tiger in the town!" 
 Now, my dogs chancetl to be some very degenerate specimens of a fine 
 .species, called the Poligar dog, which I should designate as a sort of wiry- 
 haired gre}-hound, without scent. I kept them to hunt jackals ; but tigers 
 are very different things. By the way, there are no real tigers in Ceylon; 
 but leopards and panthers are alwa\"s called so, by ourselves as well as by 
 the natives. Tliis turned out to be a panther. M\' gun chanced not to he 
 put together; and, while my servant was doing it, the collector and two 
 medical men, who had recently arrived, in consequence of the chok la- 
 morbus having just then rea':hed Cej'lon from the Continent, came to my 
 door, the former armed with .! fowling-piece, antl the two latter with 
 remarkably blunt hog-spears. They insi.sted ui)on setting off, without 
 waiting for m\- gun — a proceeding not much to my taste. 
 
 The tiger (I must continue to call him so) had taken refuge in a hut, 
 the roof of which, like those of Ce)-lon huts in general, sj^read to the 
 grountl like an umbrella ; the onl\- apt'rtureinto it was a small door, about 
 four feet high. The collector wanted -to get the tiger out at once. 1 
 begged to wait for my gun; but no — the fowling-piece (loaded with ball, 
 of ccnirse,) and the two hog-spears were cjuite enough. I got a hedge- 
 stake, and awaited m\- fate, from ver\- shame. At this moment, to m\- 
 great delight, there arri\-ed from the f.rt an k'nglish officer, two artillery- 
 men, and a Malay captain; and a prett)- figure we should have cut 
 without them, as the e\ent will show. I was now quite ready to attack, 
 and my gun came a few minutes afterwards. The whole scene which 
 follows took place within an enclosure, about twenty feet square, formed, 
 on three sides, by a strong fence of palnu'ra leaves, and on the fourth by 
 the hut. 
 
SIGHTS IN THI-: WORLD'S MENAGllKIK. 
 
 319 
 
 Ai the door of" this the two artillciynicn planted thcinscl\-es, and the 
 Mala\' ca[)tain got at the top, to fri<^ditcn the tis^er out, by worryin;^ it — ■ 
 an c';i-^v' operation, as the luits there are cov^ered with cocoa-nut lea\es. 
 ()n(; of the artillerymen wanted to go in to the tiger, but we would not 
 miHlr it. At last, the beast sprang. This man received him on his 
 h;i\(inct, which he thrust apparently down his throat, firing his piece at 
 till' ■^aine moment. The bayonet broke off short, kaxing less than three 
 inches on the musket ; the rest remained in the animal, but was invisible 
 to us. The shot went, {)robabl\', through his cheek, for it certainly did 
 iidt seriously injure him, as he instantly rose upon his legs, with a loud 
 roar, and ])laced his paws upon the soldier's breast. At this moment the 
 animal appeared to me about to reach the centre of the man's face. 
 Thrown over the Wild Ueast's l[<'iul. 
 
 I li.ul just time to observe this when the tiger, stooping his head, 
 sei/cd the soldier's arm in his mouth, turnetl him half round, staggering, 
 till! \v him over on his backhand fell upon him. Our dread now was that, 
 if we fired upon the tiger, we might kill the inan. For a moment there 
 was a pause, when his comrade attacked the beast exactly in the .same 
 manner as the gallant fellow himself had done. He .struck his bayonet 
 into his head; the tiger rose at hmi — he fired; at this time the ball 
 took effect, and in the head. The animal staggered backwards, and we 
 all jxiured in our fire. I le .still kicked and writhed, when the gentleman 
 with the hog-.spears advanced, and fi.xed him, while he was finished by 
 Mime natives beating him on the head with hedge-stakes. 
 
 The brave artilleryman was, after all, but slightly hurt. Me claimed 
 the skin which was very cheerfully given to him. There was, however, 
 a cr\' among the natives, that the head should be cut off. It was ; and in 
 so doing the knife came directly across the bayonet. The animal meas- 
 mi'd little less than four feet, from the root of the tail to the muzzle. 
 There was no tradition of a tiger ha'/ing been in Jaffiia before. In- 
 deed this one must have either come a distance of almost twenty miles, 
 nr ha\e swum across an arm of the sea nearl}' two in breadth; for 
 Jaffna stands on a peninsula, with no jungle of any magnitude. 
 
 The Malay Tapir. 
 
 The tapir belongs to the genus of ungulate mammals having the nose 
 prolonged into a short, movable probo.scis. The tapirs look like hogs 
 but the legs are longer. They inhabit the moist tropical forests of 
 South America and of the Malayan peninsula antl archipelago, usually 
 .sleeping by day in retired places and feeding at night on fruits, grapes 
 and other vegetable substances, though they are as omniverous as the 
 
 l;:|ii 
 
 III* 
 
IH 
 
 I 
 
 fe 
 
 
 3*20 
 
 ItARTH, Sr:A, AND SKY. 
 
 hog. They arc fond of roIliriL;- In the niiKl and water and arc excellent 
 swimmers. 
 
 In its liabits the tapir has a considerable resemblance to the b.ippopota- 
 mus; yet in many ijarticuiars it reminds us also of the elephant and of 
 the rhinoceros. Its skin is so thick and hard as to be almost impenLtra- 
 ble by a bullet. Althoui;h its natural tlisposition is indicative of mildness 
 and timidity, yet if its retreat is cut off it has courai^e and strcn<;tli to 
 make a most powerful resistance, both against man and dog. In feeding 
 
 
 
 OMNIVKROUS MALAY TAl'IR. 
 
 it uses its long projecting nose in tlu' same manner as the rhinoceros 
 applies its upper lip to grasp the food and convey it to the mouth. 
 
 This proboscis is an instrument of great flexibilit\'- and strength and in' 
 it, as in the trunk of the elephant, are situated the organs of smell. 
 Notwithstanding its clumsy appearance the tajiir is an e.\ceedingly active 
 animal in the water, where it swims and dives with great facility. Like the 
 hijjpopotamus it is able to continue immersed for a considerable while, hut 
 h is forced to occasionally ri.se to the su.face in order to breathe. 
 
 organ of th 
 
 
excellent 
 
 ppopota- 
 it and (if 
 n[)e'n(.tra- 
 niildiK'ss 
 •cnt:jth to 
 a fccdiiiL;, 
 
 '/■: ■:,^ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^^»-^ 
 
 ■.\;- 
 
 hinoccros 
 
 th and in' 
 
 pr siiK'U. 
 
 [ly active 
 
 Like the 
 
 ,'hilc, hut 
 
 SIGHTS IN ■[•\IK WORLD'S MI:N'AGERIE. 
 
 :v2l 
 
 Its \oicc is a kind of a wliistlc, which the hunters ea.-^il\' imitate and 
 b\- this means lure it to its destruction. When at rest the tapir usually 
 sits on its haunches like a doij. Only (lurin.^thc pairin;j^ season the male 
 lives in company of tlic female. To the latter beloni^s t!ic whole duty of 
 rearing;" their offsprini;-. This she leads to the water and she seems to 
 deliijht in teaching it to swim. If they arc cau-ht \-oung the tapirs may 
 without difficulty be tamed and rendered even in so-tic dei;"reo d.imestic. 
 The Malay tapir is somewhat lar^^er and iskiiDV.n by the ;_;ra\-ish-white 
 color of the loins and hind ([uarters, which t;i\es the animal an a[)pear- 
 ancc as if covered w ith a white cloth ; the other parts are deep black. 
 T^iioriiious Strongtli and I'^icrce Disposition. 
 
 Vcw animals of equal si/:e ha\'c so extensive a ran;^e as the iVmerican 
 ta[)ir. It is found in every part of South America to the cast of the An- 
 des, from the Straits of ]\Iay;ellan to the Isthmus of Darien ; but it appears 
 to be most common w ithin the tropics. The inmost reces.ses of dee[) for- 
 ests are the chosen haunts of this species, which is not L;rei;"arious, and 
 flies from the proxinu'ty of man. Inoffensive and identic, the ta[)ir, from 
 his prodigious strength and the toughness of his hide, is no easy pre\' to 
 the native liunter, notwithstanding his poisoned arrows, nor e\en to the 
 better armed .sportsman of Europe. When attacked, the fust thing it 
 does is to rush to the river, clearing a path througli the intertwined un- 
 derwood by dint of muscular exertion. Mere it often happens that 
 neither men nor dogs can follow. If tracked to the water, it plunges iii, 
 and defends itself against its assailants, seizing the dogs with its teeth as 
 they swim towards it, and inflicting on them the most tlesperate wounds. 
 
 The tapir is a most indiscriminate swallower t)f ever_\ hing, filthy or 
 clean, nutritious or otherwise, as the accumulation found 'u a stomach 
 (.lissectcd by Yarrell showed. Tieces of wood, cla\-, pebbles, and bones, 
 are nc^t unfrequently taken out of the stomachs of those which are killed 
 in the woods; and one kept by D'A/.ara not only gnawed a silver snuff- 
 box to pieces, but swallowed its contents. The short proboscis if this 
 creature, thou[di incapable of being employed like the more complicat.;d 
 ort^nui of the elephant, is yet manifestly of great use in enabling it, by 
 scr\in;; as a hook, to pull dov»n boughs or fruits, and to collect together 
 and L;uide to its mouth roots, succdent plants, or other substances on 
 which it feeds. 
 
 In some parts of South America the tapir is domesticated. Sonnini 
 saw numerous individuals walking at liberty about the streets of Cayenne, 
 whence they Avere accustomed to .stroll into the neighboring woods, re- 
 turning at night to their iionie; nor were they by any means destitute of 
 ill 
 
 '^i^l 
 
 iiiiilllf 
 
 t i. ii> 
 
 

 intclli;^vi 
 !)}• \ario 
 
 than the 
 woi'I aloi 
 source ol 
 F]iiroj)e 
 of brcec's 
 most imp 
 merino, in 
 The \\i 
 twisted in 
 d'uv^y and 
 perfectly w 
 straic,dit t\\ 
 like its rcla 
 and unruly 
 
 Its liorn 
 
 striking anc 
 
 differs mate 
 
 merino shoe 
 
 Icjigth, pcrft 
 
 tile back on 
 
 tile ]iair is .s] 
 
 tlx' male m^ 
 
 scries of spir 
 
 in the female 
 
 1 
 
 Lieu tenant 
 
 saj-s : After i 
 
 and in the lie 
 
 of sheep care 
 
 kir<,dii/.. Son 
 
 animal which 
 
 inhabits the s 
 
 tliesc large he 
 
 to follow. \^ 
 
 «orc sure to i 
 
 lifli! 
 
SIGHTS IX THE WORLD'S MENAGERIE. 
 
 
 intflli'-;x'ncc, but seemed fond of their masters, whom they acknowledged 
 1)\- \arious tokens of attachment. 
 
 The AVsillsu'Iiiaii Shoop. 
 
 1-\'W animals rentier greater and more essential ser\-ices to mankind 
 than tlie sheep. They su[)pl\' us both with food and clothing, and the 
 \\ok\ alone of the common sheep affords in some countries an astonishing 
 source of industry and wealth. They came into northern and western 
 Kiirope long after the goat. The domestic sheep presents a great \ariet\' 
 ofbreec'.s; several of them have received distinct specific names. The 
 most important breed of sheep as regatds the texture of the wool is the 
 merino, in modern times brought to the greatest perfection in Spain. 
 
 The wool ascending o\-er the forehead and cheeks is fine, long, soft, 
 twisted in silky spiral ringlets, and naturally so oily that the Heece looks 
 ding}' antl unclean from the dust and dirt adhering to the outside, but is 
 perfectly white underneath. Another species is the black-headed sheep with 
 straight twisted horns, called the Wallachian sheep. It is ver}' stupid, 
 lilvc its relatives in different parts of Europe, but at the same time vicious 
 and unruly and of amazing strength. 
 
 PictiircsiHie Head Ornaments. 
 
 Its horns are very large, .spirally contorted, adding greatly to its 
 striking and picturesque appearance. Its wool, if wool it can be called, 
 differs materially in texture and quality from that of the common or the 
 merino sheep. Instead of being curly and in silky ringlets, it is of great 
 length, perfectly straight, and beautifully fine, falling from the middle of 
 the back on either side of the animal almost to the ground. On the face 
 the hair is short and rusty black, on the body it is white. The horns of 
 die male mostly rise almost perpendicularly from the skull, making a 
 scries of spiral turns in their ascent, the first turn being the largest, while 
 in the female they diverge, taking a lateral direction. 
 
 Tlio Kat.shkar or Mountain Sheep of IJokhara. 
 
 Lieutenant Wood, in his work, " Travels to the Source of the Oxus," 
 says: After reaching an elevation of thirteen thousand five hundred feet, 
 and in the neighborhood of the source of the Oxus, we saw many horns 
 of .sheep careles.sly thrown about, ai)parently the result of the chase of th • 
 kirs^diiz. Some of these horns were surprisingly large, and belonged to an 
 animal which seems to stand between the goat and the sheep, and wdiich 
 inhabits the steppes of Parnis in herds of man\' iiundreds. The ends of 
 these large horns stood out above the snow, and showed to us which road 
 to follow. Wherever we found a greater number of them piled up we 
 were sure to stand upon an old kirghiz summer-camping-ground. 
 
I 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 1 . , , 
 
 324 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 Ill dcscribiiv^ one of tlicsc animals, Lieutenant Wood sa^vs : It was a 
 jji-oiid animal, as liigli as a two-years fiHy, with a venerable beard and twd 
 splendid horns, Avhich, together with the head, were of such a great weight 
 that it was difficult to lift it from the ground. The e\iscerated bodx- was 
 a full load for a pou}-. The flesh was tough and bad, but is saiil to 
 become more tender and better tasting in the fall. The full-grown katsl,- 
 
 nOKHAKA ISK^UNTAIN SHEEP. 
 
 bar is about six feet long, three to four feet high, and weighs about (our 
 hundred and sixty pounds. 
 
 In all probability this animal is n >t only found in Northern Thibet, bi;t 
 also on the table lands of Central Asia, abva\'S in rockv districts, ^vhc.c 
 it seeks shelter from its pursuers, and never descends beyond the snow- 
 line. Zewolski found during the winter herds of five to fifteen, ewii 
 t\ventv-fi\e to thirt\-. I-'ach herd had two or three bucks, one of whom 
 
SIGHTS I\ THH WORLD'S MCNAGERIE. 
 
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 had lliL' Icai! aiul L;cncral direction. Tlic\- place an vmcoiulitional 
 
 confuli-'ncc in liic leader, and as soon as he starts to run the others 
 
 \o\\o\\ him without hesitation. It is tlifficult to tell which is the more 
 
 ])Lautiful animal c^f the ^reat plains of Thibet, the wild yak w the 
 
 kat-likar. 
 
 The Flyiiif; Fox. 
 
 This animal belont^s to the family of baL.s, and is a mammiferous cjuad- 
 nipcd. The skeleton of the bats combines a ^n'eat degree of li;^ditness 
 will) peculiarities in the anterior extremities suitable for purposes of fli^lit. 
 The faculty of (light depends on an entirel\- different organization in the 
 bird and in the bat. The princi[)al part of the bat's flying membrane is 
 strctcheil between the enormously ek)ngated fingers, and from them 
 rcflLcted to the posterior extremities; while in the birds the parts which 
 correspond with fingers are so rudimentary, that the hand can liardly be 
 said to exist. 
 
 Bats ha\e a \ery exalted sense of touch, which, as Cuvier disco\-ered, 
 resides in the flying membrane. This membrane arises from the skin of 
 the flanks and consists of an abdominal and a dorsal leaflet twisted into an 
 exceedingly thin and delicate network. It includes notonU' the arms and 
 hands, but the hinder extremities, being prolonged between the legs and 
 spread the length of the tail, forming a sensitive surface, entirely dispro- 
 portionate to the size of the bod)-. 
 
 Great Deliejwy of Ory:anizatioii. 
 
 To increase its sensitiveness it is nearl\-, or wholl\-, destitute of hair. 
 The bat is made acquainted with the distance of bodies by the different 
 modifications impressed upon its membrane b}- the impulse of the air. 
 The fur of bats is exceedingly fine and soft. The\- fl}' to a considerable 
 height and with great rapidity. The\'are nocturnal; in the warm summer 
 e\x'nings they sally forth in search of pre\- ; the\- pass the winter and 
 indeed the most of the j'ear in torpidity, without cither food or motion, 
 sus[)eiKlcd in some dark place. During the time the\- remain in this state, 
 most of the animal functions arc suspended and scarceK' perceptible. 
 The action of the heart and arteries becomes so exceedingly languid, that 
 the pulse can hardly be felt, and if respiration beat all carried on, it is also 
 sDvery .slow, as scarcely to be discernible. The animal heat sinks greatl)- 
 below the usual standard and digestion becomes altogether su.spendixl. 
 None of the fimctions seem to go on, excepting a \-ery slow degree of 
 nutrition and an interchange of old fir new matter in the depositor)'' cells 
 of the body. 
 
 The female makes no nest for her offspring ; she is content \\ ith the 
 
 
 
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 WONDERFUL FLYING FOXES. 
 
STCHTS IN" Tlir: WORLD'S MliXAGKRIR. 
 
 327 
 
 fir't h<^lo pile finds, where .stickiiij^^ herself by her hool-:-- a;4aitist tlie siMcs 
 
 nt'lier apartment she permits her noiuil;- ones to cIIul,^ to her. W lu n she 
 
 1)1.' ins to grow luingiy and finds it necessary t<i go ahnxul in seareli of 
 
 f,ioil, she takes her little ones off and sticks them to the wall in the same 
 
 manner that she had hung before. There the\- immo\aljly cli^L,^ and pa- 
 
 licnll}- await her return. 
 
 Marvel iMis ^Iniihraiic. 
 
 The flying fox is fountl from Mast India to Madagascar and iidiabits 
 forests and gardens in great numbers. It is gregarious and if possilile 
 rests during the day suspended heads-downward on the branches of 
 shady trees. It is said that sometimes they attach themselves to the 
 branches of trees in such a profuse number, that these branches are broken 
 off by their weiglit. 
 
 The fl}'ing membrane, which the\- w rap around themselves, piotects 
 their eyes from the rays of the sun, but lea\es space enough f)r breathing 
 and hearing. Their sleep is continued as long as the sun shines, but is 
 now and then temporariK- interrupted by the animal, to clean and oil the 
 membrane, which is done by touching and stretching e\ery part of it by 
 aid of the snout and tongue. This being done, the fox wraps itself up 
 again in the membrane. They cannot be kept in captixity for a long 
 period, because the fl}-ing exercise is essential to them. Boils break out 
 on their flying membranes and death soon follows. 
 
 R«'iiiJirkjil)l«» Cliaraetcristics of Polar Ni'als. 
 
 The seal is an aquatic carnivorous mammal. Seals li\e chief!)- in the 
 Arctic and Antarctic 5eas near the coast and often at the mouths of 
 rivers, preying on fish, crustaceans and cephalopod mollusks. The\- are 
 gregarious and migrator}-, fond of particular spots, leaving the colder 
 arctic recrions in w inter for milder seas. The herds are usualK- of the 
 same species and when different, each species keeps b\- itself rarel)- fight- 
 ing with t! e others. They are fond of crawling out of the weiter uj^on 
 rocks, beaches and ice floes, always keeping a good lookout and j^lunging 
 into the water at the approach of an enem\-. In the breeding season they 
 fiLiht fiercely. Their bite is severe and the wounds made bv their teeth 
 will not heal readily either on their own, or the human bod}-; some of 
 die larger .species are veiy powerful. 
 
 Their voice is a kind of a bark, not unlike that of a d(jg. They 
 can remain under water twenty minutes and even lontjer and their 
 animal heat is among the highest found in mammals. Their senses of 
 smell and sight are \-er\- acute. The\- are easik- tamed, affectionate and 
 docile. 
 
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SIGHTS I\ TUV. WORLD'S MF.NAGERli:. 
 
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 Few aniinals arc more tenacious of life than seals; the larL;i.'r species 
 are killed with a lance tiirust into the iieart, anil th-j smaller ones arc 
 .stiiiined 1)\' a Mow on the nose from a loui^-lumdled hanimer or bludj^coii. 
 The l".s(iuiinaux liunt them in li|^ht boats with lances, or sjuar them at 
 links in the ice where they conic n[) to breathe ; tt) them the seal supplies 
 f.K.J, oil for li^ht and warmth, skins for clothes, boots, utensils, tents and 
 1)1 ■al'^. sinews for thread, and lines and membranes for underijarnu.'nts ami 
 window covcrini;s. The oil is of superior ([uality, and if prepared froii: 
 the fresh animals is transparent, free from odor, and not unpleasant of 
 taste; the skin by a peculiar proccssof Esquimaux tiinninj^ makes a water- 
 proof leather. 
 
 A> articles of commerce seal skins are of two kinds, hair skins and fur 
 >kiiis; the former are used ft)r makinij garments; the latter, now chiefly 
 fnun Alaska, for finer purposes ; all seal skins, however, have a mixture 
 (if coarse hairs and finer fur. The females produce two or more y(»unL^ 
 ,incs at a birth. These, in northern climates, they deposit in cavities of 
 the ice, and the male makes a hole throu<,di the ice near them for a speedy 
 cduiniunication with the water. The manner in which the male .seal make 
 their holes is astonishiuLj; neither their teeth nor their paws have any 
 share in the operation; it is performed solely by their breath. When the 
 fcinales come out of the sea the}' bleat like sheep for their )'ouni;-, and 
 lhou<,di they often pass among hundreds of other young ones before they 
 come to their own they will never make a mistake. 
 
 Uniqiu' Swiiuininjjf S<'liool. 
 
 About a fortnight after their birth the j-oung ones are taken out to .sea 
 ami instructed in swimming and .seeking their food, and when they are 
 fatigued the parent is said to caii}' them in\ her back. It is said that 
 their growth is so rapid that in fifty-four hours after their birth they 
 become as active as their parents. 
 
 The common seal attains a length of four to six feet; the color varies 
 much, but is ijeneralK" Ijrownish above antl \-ellowish white below, 
 \ariously mottled, and sometimes pied and marbled. The Greenland or 
 lia;[) seal is about si.x feet long; the males are grayish white, the females 
 are brownish with blackish spots, and the )-oung snow-white. They are 
 found in herds on the coast of Greenland on flcnating ice, rarely venturing 
 on shore or shore-ice. These are the nnxst important of all to the Esqui- 
 maux, who harpoon them from their kaiaks. The oil is the best and most 
 aliundant in this species, and the skins form an important article in the 
 fur trade. 
 
 The bottle-nosed seal or sea-elephant is the largest of the .seal family,. 
 
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 330 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 attainiii;^^ a length of t\vont\--li\c led ami niurc, w itli a circunifcicncc nf 
 sixteen lect, the si/.c as well ;ls the proboscis justifyinj^' this name. Tlir 
 males are i^enerally ilark grayisli blue or brown, and can clont;ate the 
 proboscis to a loot in length; the females are dark olive brown abo\c' and 
 yellowish below, and do no not have the nasal appcndaij^e. ']"he haii- is 
 coarse, but the thick skin is in much request for harness leather. .\ 
 .single animal will yield fourteen to fifteen barrels of blubber from wIulIi 
 the oil is obtained, as in the whale. The}- are found in lari;e hertis on 
 
 r^uAr i • ... 
 
 
 
 
 WALRUS OK SEA-HOR.SE. 
 
 the shores of the islands of the Antarctic Sea, L^^oint^ north in winter to 
 the coa.st of Palajjfonia. This species is half as large as the Greenlaiu! 
 whale, ami \ery much larger than the largest elephant. 
 
 The walrus moose or sea-horse, is a marine arctic mammal, resemblin;; 
 the large .seals. It attains a length of twelve to fifteen, sometimes twent\ 
 feet, a circumference of ten feet, and a weight of nearly a ton. The 
 color is blackish in the young, brownish in Uic adult, ami more ami 
 more w hite with age. The food consists almost entirely of the bi\al\e 
 .sluUs attached to the sea weeds, which it tears from the rocks, and 
 
 ha\e uniti 
 
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 inter to 
 I'L-nlaiu! 
 
 SIGHTS IN THE WORLD'S MENAGERIE. 
 
 331 
 
 occa'^i"iially of fish. It is distributed in the arctic regions nf buth hr-iii- 
 i)lu'rt'^, often confined to limited districts far removed from each other. 
 
 Thi.' capture of the walrus is more dangerous and less remunerative than 
 that of the seal and is pursued both by land and sea. The tusks, which 
 protrude downward from the upjier jaw, afford a \ery white and hard 
 ivory. The skin makes a porous leather more than an inch thick ; the 
 fl sh is eaten by the Ivsc^uimaux and by arctic voyagers. 
 
 The uses to which the tusks are applied b)- the walrus are the scraping 
 (if prey out of the sand and to aid them in their ascent upon islands ot 
 ice, and as weapons of defence against the attacks of their enemies. 
 When irritated these animals are sometimes ver\- furious and vindicti\e. 
 When suipriscd on the ice, the females Hrst provide for the safety of 
 their young ones by flinging them into the sea and con\'eying them to a 
 secure place; they then return to the place where they were attacked to 
 re\enge any injury they may have received. The\' are strongly attached 
 to each other and will make every effort in their power to liberate a har- 
 pooned com[)anion. 
 
 Swift Kovoiijfe upon the Attaokiiig- I?oat. 
 
 A wounded walrus has been known to sink beneath the surface of the 
 ocean, rise suddenly again, and luring with it multitudes of others, which 
 IvAvc united in an attack on the boat, from which the harpoon was 
 thrown. Great numbers of walrus rcgularl)' \-isit the IMagdalene Islands 
 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence every spring. They crawl up the sloping 
 rocks of the coast in multitudes and when the weather is fair, they 
 remain for man)' days; Init on the first a|)pearance of rain, they retreat 
 to the water. Formerly their herds ha\e been known to amount to se\-en 
 or eight thousand. 
 
 In the night the hunters endea\or, taking ad\antage of a sea wind, to 
 pre\ent the animals from smelling them, to se[)arate those which are farth- 
 est advanced from those nearest to the sea, drixing them in different di- 
 rections. When separated the\- are killed with leisure, those nearest to 
 the shore becoming the first \ictims. It is .said that as many as fifteen 
 hundred walruses ha\e been killed at onetime. They are then skinned 
 and the fat, that surrounded them, is taken off and rendered into oil. 
 rile skin is cut into slices two or three inches witle aiul exported for 
 traces and glue. The animals frequentl\' weigh from 1500 to 3000 
 pounds and )-ield from one to two barrels of oil each. The whale-tailed 
 moo.sc or manati, and the round-tailed nianati, belong to the family of 
 walrus. The avarice of man has greatly reduced the number of walruses 
 and to-da\' a herd (^f several hundred is rarelv seen. 
 
 (Sk 
 

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 CHAPTER XII. 
 FOUR-HAXDED AXIMALS. 
 
 riie Gorilla — Giant of the Forest — A Missionary's Explorations and Discoveries— 
 Curiosity of Civilized Nations Awakened— Gorilla Huts— Low Order of Intelli- 
 gence— Enormous Jaws and Physical Stren;^th — The First White Man Who Killed 
 a Gorilla— How Gorillas Bury their Dead— Thrilling Adventures ofDu Chaillu— 
 A Savage Combat — The Orang-Outang — Man-like Ape — Awkward Motions- 
 Great Power of Mimicry — Dreaded Adversary— Laughable Tricks — Orang of the 
 Prince of Orange— Escape from the Cage— r5rute Gentleness and Affection- An 
 Orang on Shipboard — Inveterate Tippler — Ravenous Thieves — Orang's Death— 
 Guereza Monkey — Elegant Decoration — Beauty of Color — Monkey Grimaces- 
 Droll Antics — Proboscis Monkey — Ample Dimensions of Nose — Dog-Faced 
 Baboon— Immense Troops — Prowlers and Plunderers — A Chaplain's Story- 
 Chased by Baboons — Lion Monkey — Irritable Creatures — Hairy Appendages. 
 
 I^^ the size and form of the gorilla, Professor Owen remarks, " no 
 other idea of its nattire than that of a kind of htunan beincr 
 would be stiggested ; but the climbing faculty, the hairy body, 
 and the skinning of the dead specimens, strongly suggest that 
 the\- were great apes. The fact that apes, the closest observed resem- 
 blance to the negro, with human stature, and with hairy bodies, still exist 
 on the west coast of Africa, renders it highh" probable that such were the 
 creatures which Ilanno.the explorer, saw captured, and called ' gorillas,'" 
 Battell, an P>nglish sailor, while a prisoner of the Portuguese, in Angola, 
 speaks, it is belie\ed, of the same creature, which, he says, is called 
 " poiigO)" '1'^"^' "^ which he seems to have entertained precisely similar 
 notions: — " 1 le is in all proportions like a man. but that he is more like a 
 giant in stature than a man; for he is very tall, and hath a man's face, 
 hollow-eyed, with long hair upon his brows; his bod\' is full of hair, but 
 not very thick, and is of a dunnish color. He differeth not from man but 
 in his legs, for he hath no calf He goeth always upon his legs, and 
 carrieth his hands clasped on the nape of his neck when he goeth upni 
 the ground. They .sleep on the trees, and build .shelter from the rain. 
 They feed on the fruit that the\' find in the woods, and upon nuts, fir 
 they eat no kind of flesh. Thc>- cannot speak, and have no more uucKm-- 
 standing than a bea.st. The people of the countr\-, wlicn they travel in 
 tlie woods, make fires where they .sleep at night, ami in the morning, 
 when they are i:onc, the pongoes will come and sit about the fire till it 
 (;i:5l>) 
 
FO R-HANDED ANIMALS. 
 
 333 
 
 o-oes out; for they have no undcr.standin;^^ to lay the wood together. 
 Tiicv i;o many together, and kill man)- negroes tliat travel in tlie woods. 
 ]\Ian\' times they fall upon ele])hants, wliich come to feea where they are, 
 and .'■■i' beat them away with their clubbed fists and pieces of wood that 
 tluA" will run roaring away from them. These pongoes are never taken 
 alive, because they are so strong that ten men cannot hold one of them ; 
 but they take many of their >'oung ones \\ith poisoned arrows. The 
 \i>ung pongo hangs on its mother's body, with its hands fast claspctl 
 about her, .so that, when any of the countiy people kill any of the females, 
 tlicy take the young, which hangs fast on its mother. When they die 
 among themselves, they cover the dead with great heaps of boughs and 
 wood, which is commonly found in the forests." 
 
 Iiitorostiiiy Discoveries by a 31issioiiavy. 
 
 or these creatures no further account was given, until attention was 
 devoted to them by Dr. Thomas Savage, a member of the Boston Society 
 of Natural History, and at the time a medical missionary. On his vo\-age 
 lo America from Cape Palmas, he was unexpectedly detained on the 
 Gaboon ri\er, and the month of April, 1S47, was .spent at the house of 
 the Rev. J. L. Wilson, .senior missionary of the American Board of For- 
 eign Missions to West Africa. Soon after his arrival, Mr. Wilson showed 
 him a skull, represented by the natives to be that of a monkey-like animal, 
 remarkable for its size, ferocity, and habits ; and the doctor was led to 
 believe that it had belonged to a new species of orang. Intent on further 
 iincstigation, and, if possible, on deciding the point by the inspection of a 
 specimen ali\e or dead, Mr. Wilson entered cordially into the matter, and 
 promised his full co-operation ; and having been a resident in the covmtr\- 
 for several years, well acquainted with the chiefs and people, highly 
 regarded by them, and speaking freely their language, he was able to 
 render the doctor advantages of signal importance. He did not succeed, 
 however, in obtaining either a living or a dead specimen, but only several 
 skulls of the two .se.xes, and of different ages, with other important parts 
 of the skeleton of the gorilla. These portions were afterwards ably 
 described, with several engravings, in a quarto pamphlet, on the return of 
 l^r. Savage to America, by Dr. Wyman, professor of anatomy in Harvard 
 Uni\'ersity. 
 
 Professor Owen has reccntlv given a full and most elaborate descrip- 
 tion of this creature, from which only a few particulars can now be taken. 
 The lofty ridges of the skull, he aflfirms, give to the face of the gorilla a 
 most forbidding appearance ; the thick covering forming a scowling ]ient- 
 house over the eyes. The nose is more prominent th,an in the chimpan- 
 
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 334 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
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 zee or orang-outang. The mouth is very wide, the hps large, and the chia 
 very short and receding. The huge canine teeth in the male are vltv 
 frightful. The eyelids have eyelashes, but there are no eyebi-ows ; the 
 ears are smaller in proportion than in man, and much smaller than in the 
 chimpanzee. The length of the upper limbs is not greater than in man 
 when compared with the trunk ; they seem longer through the dispropor- 
 tionate shortness of the lower limbs. 
 
 The arm is longer than the forearm, which is remarkable, and the 
 thumb reaches to beyond the first joint of the fore-finger, while it docs 
 not extend to that joint in the chimpanzee or other ape. The hand ox- 
 cites attention from the breadth, thickness, and great length of the palm ; 
 the fingers appear short, iper quickly at the ends to the nails, which are 
 not larger or longer than .n man. The back of the hand is hairy as far 
 as the divisions of the fingers ; the palm naked and callous, and the thumb 
 scarcely half as thick as the fore-finger. The leg has no " cal'"' and 
 grows thicker from the knee to the ankle. The sole of the foot is more 
 walked upon than by the chimpanzee, or any other ape. The hind thumb 
 or great toe is stronger than in those creatures ; it stands out like a lari^e 
 tliumb from the rest of the foot ; its base sweJls below into a kind of ball; 
 the nail is small and" short. The sole is wider than in man, the foot more 
 like a hand, but one of huge dimensions and immense power of grasp. 
 And yet, the gorilla, judging from the structure of his grinding teeth, 
 
 lives on fruits. 
 
 A Creature with Awkward Movements. 
 
 The gait of the Gorilla is shuffling ; the motion of the body, which is 
 never upright as in man, but bent forward, is somewhat rolling, or from 
 side to side. The arms being longer than those of the chimpanzee, it does 
 not stoop as much in walking; like that animal, it advances by thrusting 
 its arms forward, resting the hands on the ground, and then orivinsj the 
 body a half-jumping, half-swinging motion between them. In this act it is 
 said not to bend its fingers, but to make a fiilcrum of its hand. When it 
 assumes the walking position, it balances its huge body by bending the 
 arms upwards. 
 
 The gorillas live in bands, which are not so numerous as those of the 
 ciiimpanzee. Only one adult male is said to be seen in a band ; and when 
 the young males grow up, a contest takes place for mastery, and the 
 strongest, by killing and driving out the others, establishes himself as head 
 of the band. Dr. Savage says, " the silly stories about their carrying off 
 women from the native towns, and vanquishing elephants, are unhesi- 
 tatingly denied." Their dwellings, if they may be so called, consist simply 
 
THE WORLD-RENOWNED GOKIl.IA. 
 
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 336 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 of a few sticks and leafy branches, supported bytho limbs of trees. The 
 
 natives call the <^orilla a f>ol, to make a house without a roof, in a country 
 
 where tliey have so much rain. They say he has not so mucli .sense as a 
 
 certain bird, which Mr. Wilson pointed out to l^r. Savaf^e, which niakts 
 
 a larj^rc nest with a titjht roof, then daubs it w ith mud in the inside, aiui, 
 
 unfolding its wings, whirls round and round till the crevices are all fillcl, 
 
 and the inside is smoothly plastered like a house. The huts of the ".jorilla 
 
 are only occupied at night. These animals are exceedinj^ly femcidus. 
 
 The few that have been captured were killed by elephant hunters and 
 
 native traders, as they came suddenly upon them while passing thrMir^rh 
 
 the forests. 
 
 Frightful Soreanis and Terrible Ferocity. 
 
 When the male is first seen he gives a terrific yell that resounds far 
 and wide through the forest. His enormous jaws are widely opened 
 at each expiration, his under lip hangs over the chin, and the hair\- 
 ridge and scalp is contracted on the brow. The females and yomvi- 
 disappear at the first cry. He then approaches the foe, pouring out 
 in quick succession his horrid yells. The hunter waits his ad\ance 
 with his gun extended ; if his aim is not sure he permits the animal to 
 grasp the barrel, and as he carries it to his mouth, according to his 
 habit, the hunter fires ; should the gun fail to go off, the hunter is at 
 the mercy of the huge beast, and in such an unequal combat he is speedily 
 dispatched by his furious foe. 
 
 The killing of a gorilla is considered an act of great skill and courage, 
 and brings to the victor signal honor. A slave to a native, from an 
 interior tribe, killed a male and female, and from these specimens wc 
 hav^e collected the materials of our description of the species in general. 
 On one occasion this .slave had killed an elephant, and, returning home, 
 met a male gorilla, and, being a good marksman, brought him speedily to 
 the ground. He had not proceeded far before the female was obserwd, 
 which he also killed. Such acts, unheard of before, were deemed almost 
 superhuman; his freedom was immediately granted, and his name made 
 known as the prince of hunters. 
 
 The gorilla was first introduced to the scientific world by Andreas 
 liatell, who gave an extensive description of this monster. There are 
 specimens of the animal, more or less complete, in the collections at 
 Philadelphia, Boston, London and Paris. When Du Chaillu returned to 
 the United States in August, 1S59, from the country about the Gaboon 
 Ri\'er, he brought with him complete specimens, male and female, both 
 skins and skeletons, in excellent preservation. Du Chaillu is the first 
 
 '!.«, 
 
FOUR-HANDED ANIMALS. 
 
 ;];i7 
 
 ■white man who killed a ;4orilla witii his own hand, or who had an 
 opportunity to study its habits in its native forests. 
 
 The adult male is from fuc to six feet high, thoU!4h after death it may 
 be stretched bey<ind tiiis. It far surpasses man in the dimensions of the 
 head, neck, body and arms and in the width of the shoulders; some arc 
 saitl to measure from seven to nine feet from the end of one outstretched 
 hand to that of the other. It is princijjall\- an inhabitant of the woods. 
 Its favorite mode of prot;ression is on all fours. When it assumes the 
 erect posture it flexes the arms upwaril or crosses them on the nape in 
 order to counterbalance the tendenc)- of the trunk to fall forward. 
 Hands Tlisit Can lionU a Gun Bairol. 
 
 Its strenj^th is enormous not only in the jaws, which can crush the 
 barrel of a m\isket, but in the hands and feet, which it uses in attack and 
 defence. The males are \ery ferocious, i,renerall\' attaekin^; man and 
 animal intruding' upon their haunts. It wcumded the g-orilla is more 
 terrible than the lion. They advance on the enemy in an erect position, 
 a few steps at a time, beatin;^ their i:)reasts with both hands and roarinc:^ 
 terribly. When near enough the\' spring; upon him and destroy him with 
 their powerful hands. Few monsters that roam the forest are furnished 
 with .such powerful means of diifence, or use them so sa\;ii;el}". It is 
 next to impossible to captiu-e the full-groun i^orilla alive. If, however, 
 the old ones can be despatcheil, the \'ounr^ gorilla can be taken. 
 Du Cliaillu's Orapliif l><'sorii>tion. 
 
 The great gorilla, as slain 1)\- Du Chaillu — and he shot several large 
 .'nales — did not, in an\' case, appear t(^ die hard ; but it must be remem- 
 beied that he allowed the beast to get close upon him before he gave him 
 the fatal shot. It is, he sa)'s, a maxim with the well-trained gorilla-hun- 
 ters to reser\e their fu'e till the \er\' last moment. E.xpericnce has shown 
 them that — whether the enraged beast takes the report of the gun for an 
 answering defiance, or for what other reason unknown — if the hunter fires 
 and misses, the gorilla at once rushes upon him ; and this onset no man 
 can withstand. One blow of that huge paw with its nails, and the poor 
 lumter's entrails are torn out, his breast-bone broken, or his skull crushed. 
 It is too late to re-load, and flight is xain. I imagine no animal is so fatal 
 in its attack on man as this, for the reas(-)n that it meets him face to face, 
 am' uses its arms as its weapons of offence, just as a man or prize-fighter 
 wouUl — onl\- that it has longer arms, and \astly greater .strength than the 
 .strongest boxer the world ever saw. In all my hunts and encounters 
 with this animal, I ne\er knew a grown male to run off 
 
 The hunter, looking with fearful care to his priming, stands still, gun 
 22 
 
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 •KARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 in hand, often for five weary minutes, waitin<,f with ^rowinfr nervousness 
 for the nu)nient when he may relieve his sus|>ense b)' firin^^ I ha\e 
 never fired at a male at greater distance than eii;ht yards, and from four- 
 teen to eiijhteen feet is the usual shot. At last the oppcjrtunitv 
 comes ; and now the gun is quickh' raised, a moment's an.xious aim at the 
 vast breadth of breast, and then pull tri<^<,fer. Fortunately, the i;orilla 
 dies as easily as man ; a shot in the breast, if fairly delivered, is sure tn 
 brin;^ him down. He falls forward on his face, liis lon<^, muscular arm- 
 outstretched, and uttering- with his last breath a hideous death-cry, hall 
 roar, half shriek, which, while it announces to the hunter his safet\-, \ct 
 tingles his ears with a dreadful note of human agony. 
 
 In his attack, at least upon man as his adversary, the male gorilla has 
 a mode of doing it that is \'ery peculiar; and if correct, as describctl b\- 
 Du Chaillu, it has the stamj) of being remarkably uniform among the spe- 
 cies. The similarit}- of manner taken by several <>f these male beasts, in 
 going to the encounter, is ([uite surprising, since it looks like the result ol 
 some drill, which these animals hatl previousl\- put into practice b\- con- 
 cert. But the gorilla's brain warrants no such supposition; antl his con- 
 duct, general and particular, gives proof of the presence of onl\- a slender 
 amount of intelligence. " The corresponding small amount of brain," 
 says Du Chaillu, " in the male gorilla, and the e.\cessi\-e preponderance ol 
 the cerebellum or back brain, with its enormous strength, would seem to 
 corroborate our opinion of the excessive brutality of this beast." How, 
 then, is the uniftrmit}- of the operation to be accounted for? Is it in an\- 
 wa)' instinctive? Here, however, the oddK' offensive attitude put on b\ 
 the gorilla while entering the scene of conflict shall speak for itself 
 lilxcitiii^' Combat with an Iiumoiiso Gofilla. 
 
 One day, after travelling some hoiu's in search of the great ape, Du 
 Chaillu tells us he fcnmd his first gorilla in a dense and impenetrable part 
 of the forest. Suddenly Miengai, a native, uttered a little cluck with his 
 tongue. Inniiediately I noticed a noise, as of some one breaking down 
 branches or twigs of trees. This was the gorilla. I knew at once, b\' the 
 eager and satisfied looks of the men. We walked with the greatest care, 
 making no noise at all. The countenances of the men showed that the\ 
 thought themselves engaged in a \-ery .serious undertaking. Suddeiil}-, 
 as we were creeping along, in a silence w'hich made a heavy breath seein 
 loud and distinct, the woods were at once filled with the tremendous 
 barking roar of the gorilla. 
 
 Then the underbrush swaye rapidly just ahead, and presently before 
 us stood an immense male gorilla. He had gone through the jungle on. 
 
FOUR-HANDED ANIMALS. 
 
 IV.]\) 
 
 li!~ all-rours ; but wlicn he saw our party he erected himself, and looked 
 us boldly in the face. He stood about a dozen yards from us, and was a 
 si'fht I think I shall never fori^et. Nearly six feet high, with immense 
 both', huLje chest, and great muscular arms, with fiercely glaring large 
 deep gra\' eyes, and a hellish expression of face, which seemed to me like 
 some nightmare vision ; thus stood before us the king of the African 
 
 forest. 
 
 lie was not afraid of us. He stood there, and beat his breast with his 
 hu'c fists till it resounded like an immen.se bass drum, which is their 
 nidde (if offering defiance; meantime giving vent to roar after roar. The 
 roar of the gorilla is the most singular and awful noise heard in these Af- 
 rican woods, and closely resembles the roll of distant thunder ah^ig the 
 
 sk\-. 
 
 Deinoiiish Monster. 
 
 Mis e)'es began to flash fiercer fire as we stood motionless on the de- 
 fepsi\e. and the crest of short hair which stands on his forehead began to 
 tuitcli ra[)idly up and down, while his powerful fangs were shown as he 
 a'Min sent forth a thunderous roar. And now, trul\-, lie reminded mv of 
 nothing but some hellish dream-creature — a being of that hideous order, 
 half man, half beast, which we find pictured b\- oUl artists in some repre- 
 sentations of the infernal regions. He ad\anced a (c\v steps — then 
 .stopped to utter that hideous roar again — adxanced again, and finally 
 stopped when at a distance of about six yards from us. And here, ju.st 
 as he began another of his roars, beating his breast in rage, we fired, and 
 killed him. 
 
 With a groan, which had something terribly human in it, and )-ct was 
 full of bruitishncss, he fell forward on his face. The body shook convul- 
 si\ely for a few minutes, the limbs moved about in a struggling way, and 
 then all was quiet — death had done its work, and I had leisure to ex- 
 amine the huge bodv. 
 
 This gorilla onset, then, is remarkable as being attended by advances, 
 halts, roars, and beatings of the breast, and it is all the more striking 
 since it is not the conduct of an individual alone, for this celebrated trav- 
 eller and strongly nerved hunter says, that the others of this species, shot 
 b\- him, behaved in the \'ery same way. 
 
 Tlio Oran}j;"-Outanjf. 
 
 This is the common name of the large tailless anthropoid, or man-l'ke 
 apes, of Southeastern Asia and the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The 
 adult orang or pongo is more powerful and less anthropoid than the 
 chimpanzee. It represents in Asia the gorilla of Africa and varies in 
 
 mm% 
 
 ■ ?i 
 
 \m' 
 
I' > 
 
 i » 
 
 ••FT III I 
 
 'II 
 
 ^40 
 
 EARTH, SKA. AND SKY. 
 
 hcii^ht from five to sovlmi feet. The Honiean poiv^o has loiv^ loo-,;' hair 
 of u deep fuscous color, apiJroachin;^ in some parts to black, the adult muk 
 ha\"in_L,^ lar^e fatty protuberances over the cheek bones, not tound in ;ho 
 Sumatran species. The)- are fond of low, marshy, well-wooded re_L;iiiiis, 
 their whole or;^ani/,ation beini;- titled for i)ro^ression on trees. 
 
 The\' seldom m()\e far t>n the j^round and then on all-fours m hv 
 s\vint;int; the bod)- awkwardl)' forward between the arms supportid by 
 the bent knuckles. Tlie\- build a kind of a nest or lair on trees, \vhci\ 
 they spend the niL;ht, leaving;- it late in the mornini;, w hen the suii |„is 
 dispersed the dew and thoroULjhl)' warmetl the air. They do not ii\c \\\ 
 .societ)' except when a pair ha\e a family in char^re. 
 
 The fooil consists of fruits, nuts, lea\-es, tender i)lants, and is entin'ly 
 vei^ctable. In capti\ it\- the disposition of the orant4--outan^- is j^^entK' and 
 affectionate. Their intelliL;ence and i)t)wers of imitation are remarkable 
 and they ^-et to be fontl of the food of man, especially his drinks. >uc\\ 
 as ardent spirits and coffee. They are i)erfectly devoid of the disj^ustin^ 
 ferocity so conspicucKis in some hu\t4"er baboons and monkeys, and in '^cn- 
 cral are so docile that the\- mav be tau_L;ht to perform with de.xterit}- a 
 j4reat \ariety of tricks. 
 
 An A<lv<'i'sar.v to bo SIiiiiiikmI. 
 
 This nionke)' ne\er walks erect, except, when it assists its clumsy nin- 
 tions by takin;;" hokl of brandies, or, when threatened b\' an enemy. The 
 pictures that re[)resent it walkinij erect by the aid of a hu^e stick, arc 
 entirely ima,;inar\-. In a wild state, the orang-outani^^s are said to be sav- 
 age and ferocious and if a negro should wander in the woods and be dU- 
 co\ered by them, it is alleL;ed that they attack and kill him. With a 
 piece of wood in their hantls or with their lists only, they are able to 
 drive off even the elei)hants. It is said, that durin^^ the breedinsj^ season 
 the males leave their habitations ov lairs to the females and their xouni,'- 
 sters and that, as soon as the youni;- ones have attained a sufficient de- 
 cree of strength, they hang on the breast of their mother with their arms 
 clasped fast around her. 
 
 Man\- interesting stories are told about the tricks and the intelliij;ence 
 if orang-outangs, while in captivity. A female orang-outang from Bor- 
 neo was brought alive to Holland and lodged in the menagerie of the 
 Prince of Orange. She was very gentle and exhibited no symptoms o[ 
 fierceness or malignity. She had a melancholy appearance, yet loved to 
 be in company. Many times when her keepiM' sat near her on the groiind 
 she would take the hay of her bed. arrange it by her side, and with the 
 greatest affection in\ite him to sit down. 
 
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 342 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 M' 
 
 
 One morning she contrived to escape from her caj^e and soon aftor- 
 wards was seen to ascend tlie beams ami oblique rafters of the buiUliivr 
 The efforts of (ouv men were necessary to secure her. She wouKl (at ol 
 almost every kimi of food that was ^iven to her, but she livetl chiefly on 
 bread, roots and fruit. She also ate meat both boiled and roasted, as 
 well as fish, and was fond of eL;|;s, the shells of which she broke with 
 her teeth and then sucked out the contents. This animal was seen aiu! 
 described by the great naturalist Buffi m. 
 
 (^f an orang-outang which Le Compte .saw in the Straits of Malacca, 
 he says that all its actions wcie so imitati\e of those of mankind ami ii> 
 ])assions were so e.\i)ressi\c and live!}', that a dumb person could scarcclv 
 ha\e rendered himself better understood. This animal was cxtrenicly 
 gentle and showed great affection towards every person from wlium it 
 recei\eil an)- attentions. Its agility was almost incredible. 
 
 The chimpanzee is a much livelier and more light-hearted animal than 
 the orang-otitang. 
 
 An under-aged specimen was once brought to England from Ja\ a, and 
 in order to be made secure, was fastened to a strong staple ; but his 
 keeper had no sooner done it, than he liad unfastened it, and run away 
 with the chain; but finding its drag embarass him, he formed it into a 
 coil, and threw it o\er his shoulder. Other attempts to secure him failed 
 also, anil he clung to the ropes of the \essel with sucli pertinacil\- and 
 power of muscle, that though the sailors sometimes shook them w ilh the 
 utmost violence, he still retained his hold. At times he would appear to 
 be pla}dng the pranks of a child in anger. 
 
 The Oranjjj-Oiitanj'- in Hysterics. 
 
 When tantalized with an orange, he would gi\e utterance to the most 
 violent shrieks, swing himself furiously about the ropes, and then with 
 ])iercing screams rush at the side of the \essel, as if with the intention i'> 
 commit suicide by throwing himself o\-erboard. When off the Cape, th/ 
 temperature became low, especialh- in the morning; and the tropical 
 orang, like a true thermometer, indicated the full extent of the chan;.,fe, 
 by descending from the mast, shuddering with cold, and endeavoring to 
 make himself snug in the arms of any one of his friends to derixe heat, 
 .screaming \iolently if any attempt was made to remove him. Me died in 
 less than twf) years after his arrival. 
 
 One being con\-cycd to Holland was observed, when about to lie down 
 on shipboard at the approach of night, to prej^are her bed by shakiiv^ 
 well the ha)- on which she slcjit, and after putting it in ])roper order, 
 would wrap herself snugly up in the c^uilt. In addition to the makiiiL; of 
 
 h 1 
 
\i 
 
 FOUR-HANDi:U ANIMALS. 
 
 n4.T 
 
 her bod very neatly every day, she was accustomed to bind up Ikt head 
 with a haiidkercliief before she retired to rest. 
 
 Tlie former, on the voyage to Holland, noticed that the padlock of her 
 chain was opened with a key. The ape soon be;4an to practise the 
 iii.iiitruvre, by taking up a little bit of stick, and after putting it in the 
 kt\-hnlc of the lock, endeavored to open it by turning the stick in all 
 directions. One morning when on shore she escaped from her chain, and 
 
 ^x^S::. 
 
 
 rnirrRAiT of thk orang-outang. 
 
 during the time of her libcrt\-. she took the cork from a bottle of Malaga 
 wine, and appearetl higliK' gratified with the contents, which she drank to 
 \\\<: very last drop, and then put the bottle in its place again. 
 
 It is said of Milo, of Crotona, that he saved the life of Pythagoras, his 
 tutiir, by his amazing strength, but lost his own by an equal amount of 
 folly. lie was so strong that he could carr}' a bullock four years old 
 upon his back, and he therefore fancied he could tear up a tree by its roots 
 like an elephant, and then break it to pieces. Having accomplished the 
 
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 '%: 
 
 
 
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 IMiii'J 
 
 
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 II 
 
 iiiliHir^t 
 
 344 
 
 EARTH, SFA, AND SKY. 
 
 former, his strength beciinic cxliausted in tlie attempt at the latter, ami 
 when the tree was half cleft, Milci allowetl liis fingers to become piiuiicd 
 in the crevice at the moment when the reuniting force of the tree was 
 gaining its power o\-er tliat of his own • antl being tlien held fast, tJK- 
 wild beasts came and devinired him. 
 
 A Cunning- l>evU't'. 
 Now it apjK-ars that the instinct of the orang, in a similar case, imparts 
 to the animal a wisdom superior to that of Milo; fr, accortliii'- ti 
 Gemelli Carreri, these creatures sometimes descend from the mountains 
 to the sea-coast, where they find some food in a species of shell-fish, nar- 
 ticularl}' in a large sort of oyster, which they find l\'ing open on the shoro, 
 Before putting in their paws, they take the jjrecaution to insert a stoiu: 
 between the shells, to prevent their closing together, and thereby crush- 
 ing their clutches. They then drag out their i)rey in safet\-, and cK-xour 
 it at their leisure. 
 
 A naturalist who had two orangs, male and female, in his house in 
 Bata\ ia, sa\s that when any person set his e\e intentl\- ui)on the female, 
 she would throw lierself into the arms of her male, and there conceal her 
 face in his bosom. Of the male and female taken on board, the f imur 
 fell sick during the V())-age, v.nl submittetl to be treated in the manner (if 
 a human patient. His disease being a kind of inflammation, led tlu- 
 surgeon to bleetl 'lim twice in the right arm, and ever afterwards the ape, 
 when disccnering any return of In's indisposition, did not fail to hold mit 
 his arm for the purpose of again letting blood. 
 
 Orangs often go forth in large numbers to plunder gardens and \illagcs. 
 If there is no appearance of any person near, he makes signs to his com- 
 panions to enter the vineyard (u- (Mxharci, and begin their i)lunder; hut 
 as soon as the sentinel perceives anj'body coming, he instantly sets up a 
 loud cry, and the w hole company scamper off with the utmost preiipi- 
 tation, and jumping from tree to tree, retreat to the mountains. It is a 
 great cuiiosit)' to see these animals retreat, f )r the females carr\' f )ur or 
 fi\-e \-oung ones ui)on their backs, and with this heav}' load leap with great 
 agilit)' from branch to branch, though great numbers of them are tai en, 
 notwithstanding their cunning. When they are angry, they bite; but while 
 they are coa.xed they are \-ery tame. Those that are tamed perform \\<m)- 
 dcrs, and imitate mankind in almost everything they .see them do. 
 
 AHV'ftiiif;- Doatli. 
 As we ha\e the means of knowing how the orang-outang dies, it \v\\\ 
 pcrhai)s not be considered irrelevant to our purpose if wc allow its de- 
 scription a place liere b\- wa\' of concluding our references to the 
 
FOUR-HANDED ANIMALS. 
 
 ;Uo 
 
 habit-^ I'f t.lii'^ siiiL^ular animal. The manner df its death is trul)- affect- 
 iiiM^aiuI probably such that no humane person would wish to see it a 
 seci'iul time. A male oran_L^ Mas killed at Raml)ooin by the crew of a 
 ship. I'rom an article in the Fjicyclopiedia Britannica, we (juote thi.s 
 description : 
 
 lie was upwards of seven feet in heii^htwhen placed in a standin;^' jios- 
 tiire, antl measuretl ei^^ht feet when suspentled !)}• the neck for the pur- 
 po>e of beins^ skinned. On the s[)ot where he was killetl, there weie 
 several tall trees, wliich Ljreatly prolont^ed the attack; for such was liis 
 strcni^th and a^t,n"lit\' that his pursuers were unable to take a determinate 
 aim, until they had f.lled all the trees but one. He received nunurous 
 halls before lie was brought down, and then he lay upon the t^round as 
 ckaii, exhausteti by many wounds, w ilh his head restinL,' on his folded 
 arm. It was at this time that an offict.'r attempted to {^i\e him tlie finish- 
 iiv_; stroke, b\' thrusting;" a s[)ear throUL;h his boi'.x^ ; but he instantly 
 sprung upon his feet, wrested the wea[)on from his antaLjonist, and shi\ered 
 it in i)ieces. This was his last eff()rt, \vt he li\-ed some time afterwards, 
 aiul drank, it is said, threat ([uantities of water. He appeared to ha\e 
 travelled from some distance to the place of the " untowartl event," for his 
 1cl;s were caked w ith mud up to the knees. On the reception of each 
 dcadl}' wound he placed his hand o\-er the injured [)ortion, and distressed 
 cAcii his relentless pursuers b\- the human-like at;on\' of his countenance. 
 Indeed, his piteous actions, and j^reat tenacity of life, are said to lia\'e 
 rciiilered the scene altofjether hisj-liK- affecting. At the same time, it 
 seemed odtl that so much sentimental iK'rc(.:[)tion should have been vouch- 
 safed to tho.sc who committed the onslaui;ht. and wh(^ were under no 
 absolute necessit)' of brinLjin;.^ the business to so tra;j;ical a close. 
 
 The GiuToza. 
 
 The general color of this nu)nke)- is black. The sides of the liody and 
 top of the loins are ornamented with Ioiil;', [)endent, white liairs, formiuL; 
 a nin;_;e-like mantle. The face is encircled by white, and the tail ends in 
 a white tuft. It is found in .South and \\\'st Abyssinia. The i^ucre/.a 
 wliirh is the Abj'ssinian name of this species, li\es, according- to Riippell, 
 in inall families, tenanting;- the lofty trees in the nei^diborhood of runnin;_; 
 waters. It is active and livel\', ami at the sair.e time Ljentle and inoffen- 
 sive, li is the prettiest of all the monkeys, and our illustration ;^nves an 
 i(Ka of its strikin;^ ap|)earance. It is an excellent climber. I'ormerly 
 the skin of the L^ueroza was used by the .Abyssinians for tlecoratinrr their 
 sliields, but with the introtluction of fire-arms the demand for shields and 
 tur this co\-eted decoration ceased, and this is untloubtedlv a fact to be 
 
 '^%mr-^ 
 
^111*:!^ 
 
 34G 
 
 EARTH, SEA. AND SKY. 
 
 t 
 
 NIH 
 
 ■^lllfll ; 
 
 ft 
 
 glad of. becadse there exists no more instigation to hunt this beautiful 
 and entirely harmless animal. 
 
 It has the head, face and neck, back, limbs and part of tail coxxrci 
 with short black velvety hair, the temples, chin, throat and a band over 
 the eyes white, and the sides, flanks, from the shoulders downwarci, and 
 loins clothed with white hair. 
 
 Like all the others, these monkeys are pre-eminently a sylvan race; 
 they never abandon the forests, where the\' li\e in society untler the 
 guidance of the old males. They seem to be much attached to i)artic- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 GUEREZ.V WITH BEAUTIFUL FLVINCi M.VNTLK. 
 
 ular localities. Each tribe or family has its own particular district, into 
 which individuals of other tribes or species are never allowed to intrude, 
 the whole conimunit)- uniting promptly to repel an)' aggression, either im 
 their territor}- or their individual right. So strongly is this propensity 
 implanted within them that they carry it into our menageries. Noth- 
 ing is more common than to see monkeys of the same species unit- 
 ing to defend one of their kintl against the tyranny of a powerful 
 ojjpressor, or to resent an>- insult offered to a member of their little 
 community. 
 
 These animals generall\- take up their quarters in the vicinity of a run- 
 
FOUR-HANDED ANIMALS. 
 
 347 
 
 nino- stream, and seldom approach the habitations of men, or invade tlie 
 
 culti\ated grounds of the gardener and husbandman. No doubt it is tlieir 
 
 spirit of union and mutual defence which prompts them to collect mund 
 
 trawllcrs, and. by their chatterintj^. i^rimace, and other means in their 
 
 power, endeavor to prevent an intrusion into the spot which they regard 
 
 as their own. 
 
 CJrotesque Antics of Monkey Tribes. 
 
 The Italian boy, with his oli\'e comple.\it)n, and long, dark locks, whom 
 you pass in the .street, with grinning teeth and with hand to his hat, is 
 oriiidint:^ an organ, on which sits a monkey fantastically dressed, wh(^se 
 dut\' consists in performing a certain number of gambols on the pave- 
 ment, and carrying to his master the pennies they earned for him. The 
 si'du recals the times long since passed, when the merry-making couple, 
 the minstrel and the monkey, were constantly welcomed by barons bold 
 and ladies fair in hall and bower; nor can we forget that when a great 
 change took place in English manners, the monkey continued a faxorite, 
 thouL;h admittance was refu.sed to the minstrel. 
 
 The extraordinary proboscis monke\- is remarkable for a peculiar <le\el- 
 o|)ment of the nose, rudimentary at an earl\-age, but afterwards fiirniing a 
 pnhoscis cai)able of being dilated, luning ajiertures underneath the bent 
 (Iduii point, and divided from each other b\' a tliin cartilage. The ears 
 are small, and the face, together with the palms, are (T a Ic-aden color, 
 with a slight tinge of yelUnv. On the sides of the neck, w hieh is short, 
 and on the shoulders, ihe hair is long com[)ared with that ot" the rest of 
 tile l)o(.l\-. The top of the head and the ui)])er portion of the l^ack are of 
 a rich chestnut brown, the sides of the face and a stripe o\cr the shoul- 
 deis are \-ellow ; the general coloi' of the bod}- is of a sand}'-red. The 
 tail, like some other parts, is dark above and yellow beneath, and is some- 
 ' what tufted at the tip. A full beard, in the males, curls up under the 
 chin, and reaches almost to the nose. 
 
 The male is remarkable for his size and strength, and must he formid- 
 able, from the largeness of his canine teeth. The female li-: considerably 
 smaller. According to W'urmb, " these monkeys associate in large troops ; 
 tin ir cry, which is deep-toned, resembles the wortl kahait!' This name 
 ha^, therefore, been g!\-en to the long-nosed nionkex'. Wunnh also says, 
 'They assemble tnorning anil e\-ening, at the rising and setting of the 
 Sim, along the borders of rivers, and are to i)c seen on the borders of loft)' 
 trees, when- the)- offer an agreeable spectacle, darting with great rapidity 
 from one tree to another, at the distance of from fifteen to twent\- fyet. I 
 ha\e not obser\-ed that the)- hold their nose while leaping as the natives 
 
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 ' ( 
 
 348 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 say tlicy do, hut I have seen that they then stretch .nit their paws in a re- 
 markable manner." 
 
 The baboons belonrr to a fomily of monkeys, which is called cvno- 
 cephalus by Cuvier. They are among the lari,rcst of the four-han.lcd 
 animals. Their strength is enormous; they arc fierce and mali'crnant 
 and their habits are disgusting. In a wild state they are very cumiimT 
 
 nOG-F.\CKI) liAnotJNS. 
 
 and when attacked are dangerous enemies. They run well on the 
 ground and are also excellent climbers. They feed on fruits, roots, tie 
 tender twigs of plants, and occasionally on eggs and young birds, In 
 captivity they will cat almost anything. When confined in a cage they 
 will sometimes shake its bars so powerfully as to make tiie .spectators 
 tremble. 
 
FOUR-HANDED ANIMALS. 
 
 ^41) 
 
 la Siiim they are said to frequently sally forth in great numbers and 
 to attack the villa<jes, while the inhabitants are occupied in the rice har- 
 vest, and to plunder the habitations of \vhate\'er provisions they can lay 
 their hands on. In captivity they are alwaj-s savage and ill-natured; 
 thev frequently grind their teeth and fret with great fur\'. The dog- 
 faced baboon is from four to five feet high. The head and fice greatly 
 re-iemhle those of a dog. The hair is peculiarly long and shaggy as 
 f.ir as the waist, but short on the hinder parts. The face is naked and the 
 cars are pointed and concealed in the fur. These animals usually con- 
 o-rci^ate in vast companies. Among the mountains near the Cape of 
 Good Hope, there are immense troops of these baboons or of a kind 
 called ursine baboons. When any person approaches their liaunts, they 
 set up a universal and horrible cry and then conceal themselves in their 
 fastnes.ses and keep silence. 
 
 A Pjuk of Thitvos. 
 
 They seldom descend to the plains, except for the purpose of plun- 
 dering the gardens, that lie near the foot of the mountains. While 
 plundering they place sentinels, to prevent a surprise. The)' break the 
 fruit in pieces and cram it into their cheek pouches, in order afterwards 
 to eat in leisure. The sentinel, if it sees a white man, gives a loud }"ell 
 and the v/hole troop retreats with tlie utmost expedition. 
 
 This baboon is also found in Abyssinia and Nubia, where they live in 
 caverns and fastnesses which are protected against the weather by o\er- 
 Iianging rocks. When attacked they defend themselves by throwing 
 larj^e stones at their enemies. In capti\ity the)- are generally kept 
 cliaineil to a pole and their agility in climbing, leaping, and dodging an)- 
 one that offers to strike them is almost incredible. It is impossible 
 at the tlistance of a few yards to hit them with a stone. They will either 
 catch it li]<e a ball, or will a\-oid its blow w ith the most astonishinsj' a<jilit\'. 
 
 Awkward Situation. 
 
 A strange encounter with a troop of baboons in Kaffraria, occurred to 
 the Rev. l\ Meming, Chaplain to her Majest\''s forces, who relates it as 
 fillows : Whilst on an excursion to Perrie Hush, the authoi started from 
 the \illage alone for the jjurpose of visiting the saw-pits, which were about 
 a mile or more towards the middle of the forest. Having reached the.se, 
 and traiisaclt'd the business in hand, he was informed of a small ri\-ulet, 
 at .1 little distance further among the woods, forming some \er\- pictur- 
 es(]ue cascades, and the banks of v hich were covered with a beautiful 
 .111(1 rare kiiul of llower. 
 
 Seiluceil b\' the wild loveliness of the scene, he ad\-anced furthe'- on, at 
 
 
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 ("-«w>^* 
 
 ! i 
 
11 • 
 
 il. ' 
 
 1 1 
 
 Mi 
 
 i.i 
 
 i|-*fi' 
 
 350 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 the other side of the stream, aloUL,^ what is called a Kaffir path ; bvit, s. ., ,n 
 
 i^ettini; off this he became entangled in the bush and underwood. fhr 
 
 foliage o\'erlieatl beintr so thick as to exclude tile sun, a small ixickci- 
 
 compass was the only safe guide; and, whilst trying;- to adjust and steady 
 
 this, he was saluted b\- a volle\- of broken >ticks ami berries from o^i^r- 
 
 he.ul. Never dreamiuL,^ of such an attack, and not being able to .see 
 
 the slighest vestige of animals near, he still continued his occupatiun, 
 
 when a second similar salute made him gladl\- pt)cket the comjjass, uiid 
 
 make towards the low ground in hopes of fnuling the stream, ihis \w 
 
 soon reached, and, when on its bank, more easily recovered the lost path. 
 
 During his periile.\it\-, however, the chattering overhead soon betra\i d 
 
 the assailants to be a large herd of baboons, whom he now thought, w luii 
 
 clear of the thicket, he might tease in his turn. AccordingK' he cmn- 
 
 nienced throwing stones at such as were within reach ; when, instead nf 
 
 taking to flight, as he expectetl they would, to his great consternation \,c 
 
 beheld, from e\-ery tree near him, fne or six of these great creaturr^. 
 
 swinging from branch to branch, and making towards himself and the 
 
 groimd. 
 
 A IJiUM' For Lifo. 
 
 Having no gun and no whi]) with him, he now thought it full time to 
 decami), which he immetliately did. running faste'r, probal)l\-, th.in e\er lie 
 did before or has done since, and pursued at full cry — if cry the dreadful 
 noise could be termed — by fifty or sixty ugly, awkward wretche-, that 
 seemed to mock at the courage of their ad\-er.sar\-, and certainly despised 
 his ill-judged plan of attack and defence. At the saw-pits, howe\er, they 
 sounded a halt, fearing that he would fnid a reinforcement there among 
 the saw\-ers. Hut this, to his gieat dismay, was not forthcoming, as they 
 hail goni' home to the \illage foi' dinner, lie therefore tried to increa-^c 
 his speed, and finall)- succeeded in getting away from them and i)ack to 
 I'errie, \ery glad indeed to escape soeasily ; anil his face and i)oots telling 
 rather plainl)- there whether he had been following alter the beautiful, ur 
 the baboons after him. 
 
 A baboon alone would doubtless be found an awkward customer; for 
 his great strength and activit}', and the powerful canine teeth with whi. h 
 he is furnished, would render him a formidable enem_\-, were he, from dis- 
 peration, forced to .stand and defend his life. It is most fortuna*-e that the 
 courage of these animals is merel\- .sufficiiMit to induce them to act on the 
 defensive. This, indeed, the\- only do against a man when driven to it h\- 
 fear; othei-wisi' the\- generallx' prefer prudence to \-alor. I lad tluir 
 combati\eni'ss been proportice'd to their ph\sical power, coming, as they 
 
FOUR-HANDED ANIMALS. 
 
 iirA 
 
 (jo fit ([ui-nll)-, in bodies of Iwo oi- three hundred, it would be impossible 
 lor natixes ti> l;o out of their villa;j[es, exeept in parties, and armed , and,, 
 in-tC'id of little boys, regiments of armed men would be retiuired to^uard 
 the corn-fields. 
 
 I have frequently seen baboons, sa\s a traveller, turn on doi;s. and have 
 heard of their attackini; women, whom the\- may ha\e accidentally met 
 
 -y-y 
 
 I.ION MoNKEVs sri:.Ai,iNG C( )t:o.\N L'TS. 
 aldiie in the roads or woods. ( )n one occasion I was told ol a woman 
 who wa> so grie\-ousl\- maltreated by them, that, althoUL;h she was suc- 
 CDUred by the opportune help of some passers-by, she died a few da\-s after, 
 frniu the fri.;ht and ill-treatment she had enckux'tl. 
 
 A baboon was described b\- Huffon as not alto<^ether hideous, and >-et 
 as exciting horror. It appeared to be continuali\- in a .state of sa\aL;e fe- 
 rocit)-, grindini;- its teeth, perpetually restless, andagitated b)' uni)rovoked 
 
 M 
 
 \ ■ KS 
 
 mmA 
 
 
 ■*■' ''•iiifi&.-'''i# 
 
1il 
 
 It 
 
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 i^lfil 
 
 352 
 
 EARTH. SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 fur)'. It \vas obliLjed to be shut u]) in an inm cat^e, the bars of whicii it 
 
 struck freqiicntl)' with its hand, ami thus excited the apprehensions Mt'thc 
 
 spectators. 
 
 TIk; Lioit .>loiiiv(;y <»r ^lai'ikiiiii. 
 
 ()nr illiislralioii represents tliis prett)' hltle rechlish nionke)', which is 
 foinul in the forests of tropical l^razil, between the twenty-seconil and 
 t\\cnt\--thir(l (ki^m; of southern latitude. It lives on hiL;h trees, and iVfils 
 on fruits and small insects. With its cousins, this [^rctt)- little animal 
 shares the propensities antl bad habits. It is timid, distrustful, ra>il\- 
 e.\cited and passionate, and ne\er shows much affi-ction for its master, 
 like other higher develoj^ed monke\'s. 
 
 They live in pairs, and seem to get along with each other ver}- well. 
 In capti\ity the\' are fed with boiled rice, fruit and wheat bread, but iiuw 
 and then they must be given some meat or insects, because animal fuod 
 is essential to their well-being. 
 
 '["he monke\- called the entellus is held sacred in some parts of India, 
 particularly in Lowii" Bengal. The origin of the extreme xeneralion 
 which multitudes cherish for this animal is inxolved in the obscurity of 
 thL;ir early histor\', and may be traced back to the most remote perimls. 
 The su|)erstitions and traditions of the Brahmins, in reference to monkeys, 
 hold a i)rominent place in the " Ramaj'an," which has been st\lc'l a 
 " great epic poem." It describes a struggle between tlie Mindoo gods, on 
 the one hand, under Rana, and a nation of demons on the other, wlm arc 
 called Rackschasas, and who under their King Ra\'ana, are supposed to 
 reside in the Island of Ceylon. The former, assisted by an invuhurable 
 trijje of monkeys, untler their chief, Hoonuman.at length triumphed mcr 
 the latter. 
 
 Some years ago, a rajah spent 100,000 rupees in marrying two 
 monkeys, with all the paratle of a Hindoo wedding. The festivities (in 
 such an occasion always take i)lace at night. As the bride-groom goes 
 forth to the house of the bride, or as he returns to his own habitation, 
 or to that of his father, he is accompanied by numerous friends and de- 
 pendents, bearing lamps and torches. When he a{)proaches cither 
 house the inmates rush out to meet him, and greet him with their con- 
 gratulations and best wishes. Tlie path is covered with garments, and 
 lamps, like fire-flies, sparkle in great numbers, all around. 
 
 On the so-called marriage of the monkeys, there were seen in tlu pro- 
 cession, elephants, camels, horses richly comparisoned, palanquins, flam- 
 beaux, and lamps. The male monkey was fastened in a gaily-decked 
 palamiuin, having a crown on his head, with men standing by his sid"^'*** 
 
FOUR HANDED ANIMALS. 
 
 .'553 
 
 fan liirti, ^i^ they would a human being. Then followed singing and 
 
 claiicuig girls in carriages, and for twelve days the festivities were car- 
 
 riotl on at the monkey's palace. 
 
 A \ery different feeling to that manifested at the monkey wedding is 
 
 soinrtinies displayed. Mr. Ward, the missionary, states that he heard of 
 
 aiiiLirrel between two Brahmins, one of whom w.is paid by a rich Hindoo 
 
 to repeat daily the ceremonies of the worship of Hoc . iman in his house; 
 
 tl.e other said, "Thou refuse of Brahmins; thougainest a subsistence by 
 
 worshipping a monkey!" Such cases, however, are only exceptional. 
 
 In Ahinenadab, hospitals were built for the benefit of monkeys, where 
 
 thousands were kept in fancied ease and indulgence. Gorgeous temples 
 
 were erected, 
 
 With pious care a monkey to enslirine ! 
 
 Motleus, in his " History of India," describes a temple of great magnifi- 
 cence ; it was supported by no fewer than seven hundred columns, and in 
 fi cat of it was a spleiulidpo- '"co for the reception of the victims intended 
 fcr the sacrifices. Linschc 'en elates, that when the Portuguese plun- 
 tlcrod a palace, in the islar 1 of '.-jylon, they found in a little gold casket 
 the tooth of a monkey — a relic held by the natives in such veneration, 
 that they t)rfered se\'en hurdred thousand ducats to redeem it; but it 
 was burnt by the Vicerr)y to stop the progress of such idolatry. 
 
 Among the superstit js tales told by the Hindoos in reference to the 
 monke}-, there are some of a ludicrous character. Thus, the monke)- is 
 sail] to have carried off the mango from the garden of a celebrated giant 
 whom he had overcome ; but as this act of theft was committed after the 
 surrender of the giant, it drew down upon the monkey the vengeance of 
 the gods. To evince their displeasure, therefore, they blackened the face 
 and hands of himself and his race! 
 
 In the war already described, Hoonuman, it is said resolved to set fire 
 to the Island of Ceylon, and to destroy his enemies at once, by means of 
 a tar-barrel tied to his tail. No sooner was the plan devised than it was 
 executed ; but in the act of burning out his foes, a mischance on which 
 he had not calculated occurred — his own tail caught fire. Stung by the 
 pain, and fearful of losing so ornamental and valuable an appendage, he 
 was about to extinguish the flame by plunging into the sea, but the tribes 
 of the ocean vehemently remonstrated against such a course, which 
 threatened them with being broiled, and compelled him to desist. 
 
 i!3 
 
CHAPTICR XIII. 
 
 PI':CULIAR SPICCIKS OF BIRDS. 
 
 1 
 
 
 The World's Favorites— Fairies of tiie Air— Orcliestras on tlie Winj; — Cn'atnrcs 
 whose Clotiiiiij^j Crows on Them — Specimens of Cockatoos — Noisv i H;.;liis- 
 Easily Tamed and Affectionate— The Night Swallow--A l"nie Streamer— llt-anty 
 of Color — Craceful Movements— Esculent Swallow — The Strangest Fund inihe 
 World -Remarkable Nests — Sapjiho Ihimniing llird - Rainbow Colors Dart- 
 ing Throngh the Air — Sword liill- Long 15eak— Peregrine I'alcon — Amient 
 "Hawking" — A Bird Trained For the Chase— Combat in the Air- Secrttarv 
 Bird— A Warrior with Wings— Death to Snakes— Powtr of Leg and Foot— Cour- 
 age that NLJver I'ails —Remarkable Birds' Nests— Titmouse- Closing the Dixir of 
 the Nest — A Watchfnl Sentinel— Sociable Grossbeaks — Wonderful Nest — A Bird 
 that Sews with Tiiread and Needle— Tailor I'ird's Nest — Three Toed Wood- 
 pecker — A Creature that Leaves its Mark — Pengnins— Wings and Fins Com- 
 bined — "Sitting up Like a Major" — Description by Darwin— Training up"\diin^ 
 Penguins — The World-Renowned Pilican- Marvelous Sight — Great Assenihlyof 
 P>irds— Montgomery's Poetical Tribute to the Pelican. 
 
 IRDS, saj's P"i<;uier, are the .spoilt ciiilch'cn <>f nature — tlic fuMir- 
 itcs of creation. Their i)lumage often a.ssunie.s the most re>i)Icn- 
 dent colors. They have the iiappy privilege cf nioxinu j], 
 space — now fliitteriuL;' through the air, hunting the insect which 
 flits from flower to flower; or soaring high aloft, to .swooj) u[)on the vic- 
 tim marked for their prey ; again cleaving the atmosphere, and perforniiiig 
 joiu-neys of \ast extent with great rapidity. Mankind cannot fail to ad- 
 mire these wingeil beings, which charm at once by the cleganci- of thuir 
 form, the melod)- of their song, and the graceful impetuosit\- of their 
 movements. 
 
 Of all the animals by which we are surrounded in the ample luld oi 
 nature, there are none more remarkable in their appearance and habits 
 than the feathered inhabitants of tlie air. The)' pki)- aroiuid us like fa ry 
 spirits, elude approach in an element which defies pursuit, soar out of si^rjit 
 in the yielding sky, journey o\'er our heads in marshaled ranks, dart like 
 meteors in the sunshine of summer, or, seeking the solitary recesses ofthe 
 forest or the waters, tiiey glide before irs like beings offanc\'. They diver- 
 sify the still landscape with the most lovely motion and beautiful associa- 
 tion ; they come and go with the change of the seasons, and as their 
 actions are directed by an uncontrollable instinct of provident nature, 
 
PFXULIAR SPECIES OF BIRDS. 
 
 35fv 
 
 nit nature, 
 
 the}' may be consitlcrcd as concomitant with the beauty of the surround- 
 
 ini( scene. 
 
 With what L;rateful sensations do we hail these faithful messeni;ers of 
 sniiii.,' and .summer after the hipsc of the dreary winter, whicli compelled 
 tlu'in to forsake us fir more fa\-ored climes! Their songs, now heard 
 from the leafy gro\'.s and shadowy forests, inspire delight or recollections 
 of the pleasing past in ever}- breast. How volitate, how playfully capri- 
 cious, how musical and happ\-, aie these roving .syl[)hs of nature, to whom 
 ihi: ( arlh. the air. and the waters, are almost alike habitable. Their lives 
 arc .spent in boundle-is action, antl nature, w ithan onmiscient bene\-olence, 
 has assisted and formetl them for this wonderful display of i)erpetual life 
 and vigor in an element almost their own. 
 
 Itciuarkablc (iotliin^- of liirds. 
 
 The clothing of the skin (>f birds consists of fjathers, which in their 
 natun- and develoi)ment resemble hair, but are of a far move ccmplicated 
 striKUue. A perfect feather consists of the shaft or central stem, which is 
 tuhular at the base, where it is inserted into the skin, and the barbs or 
 fihres, which form the webs on each sitle of the shaft. The two jirincipal 
 miHlifications of feathers are quills antl plumes, the former confined to the 
 wings and tail, the latter constituting the general clothing of the body. 
 Besides the common feathers, the skin of many birds, and especially of 
 the aquatic species, is co\-ered with a thick ccxiting of ilown, which con- 
 .sists of a multitude of small feathers of peculiar construction; each of 
 these dt)wn feathers is composeil of a \er)' small, soft tube iniijcilded in the 
 skin, from the interior of which there rises a small tuft <>! soft filaments, 
 without an\- central shaft. 
 
 This downy coat fultlls the same office as the soft, wooll\- fur of many 
 quadrupeds, the ordinary feathers being analogous to the long, smo<jth 
 hair by which the fur of those animals is concealed. The skin also bears 
 a L^ond man\' hair-like appendages, w hich are usuall}- scattered sparingly 
 over its surface; they rise from a bulb which is imbedded in the skin, and 
 usually indicate their relation to the ordinarj- feathers by the presence ofa 
 few minute barbs toward the apex. 
 
 Once or twice in the course of the year the whole plumage of the bird 
 is renewed, the casting of the old feathers being called moulting, bi many 
 cases the new clothing is very different from that which it replaces, and in 
 birds inhabiting temperate and cold climates we can frequently distinguish 
 a summer and winter dress. This circumstance has given rise to the for- 
 mation ofa considerable number of false species, as the appearance of the 
 birds in these different states is often very dissimilar, and it is only by an 
 
 III' 
 
 
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 4 m 
 
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 am 
 
 mmr 
 
 mm)' 
 
 I w 
 
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 it 
 
 WHITE AND RAVEN COCKATOOS. 
 
ri:cLLiAR spi-.cii;s of birds. 
 
 ;J57 
 
 accurate stiuly of ilio livin;^' aiiiiuals, uliicli is of courst; aiiii'):.L impossible 
 Willi luaiiy exotic biitls, that such mistakes as these can be i)re\eiitetl or 
 rcctifiecl. Another fertile source of similar errors is to be found in the 
 (lilTerence \\hicli very commonly exists between the two sexes, a difference 
 uliiih is often so ^reat that, w ithout particular information deri\ed from 
 the (observation of birds in tluirnatixe haunts, it would be impossible to 
 afLr the males and females to their proper partners; and the diOiculty is 
 still further increased by the fa- 1 that the younjj ot'all birds in their first 
 I)linnaL;e differ more or less from their parents, and frequently only acquire 
 their iiiaturo dress after the lapse of three or four x-ears, the plumaije un- 
 der'-'oinij" a certain chani'e at each moult. 
 
 Tho N<>so-C'o«*ksito(» and l{av«Mi-C"<»<'katoo. 
 
 Cockatoo is the name gi\en t) a certain family of parrots from their 
 peculiar call-note or cr\'. About a do/en species are found in the forests 
 of the Moluccas, l?ra/.il, and Australia, some preferrini; hij^di trees near 
 rivers and swamps; others the open plains. The)- are shy and hard to 
 approach, thouj^di their presence is ea--ily known from a distance by the 
 loud screams from their vast flocks. They feed on wi^etable substances, 
 seeds, nuts and bulbous roots, which they di^ up with their stron;j^ claws. 
 
 This j^fenus embraces some of the most beautiful species. They are 
 gciicrall}- of larL;e size, of a ^hite plumaLje, tini^eil with rose color or 
 sulphtir \-ellow. ami with lari;e crests. Amon;^ the finest is the tri-color 
 cresteil cockatoo w itli a crest of scarlet, yellow and white, with the tips 
 directed forward, which the bird can open and shut like a fan. The 
 whole of the bod\- is white, tinj^cd with crimson on the neck, breast, 
 sides ant-l under the tail and winL;s, which are remarkable for their 
 powdery surface. 
 
 Another species peculiar to Australia is the nosed cockatoo, character- 
 ized by a ver\' lar_i;e and stront,^ bill, the wings moderate and the tail 
 rounded. The\- li\e in small flocks in woods near rivers, feeding on the 
 bark and fruit of the eucal)'ptus. Their flight is heavy and nois\'. They 
 are \ery shy and more fierce and w ild than other parrots. The eggs, two 
 or three in number, are laid in the hollows of decax'ed trees. One of the 
 finest species is the raven-cockatoo or great black-cockatoo. It is a 
 beautiful, large bird li\ing in the forests of Australia and the eastern 
 islands and generalh- feeding on the fruits of the eucalyptus, but, different 
 from other parrots, occasionally eating fat worms. They generall)- li\e 
 in flocks of four to eight birds. Their flight is heavy ; it seldom ascends 
 to a great altitude in the air. 
 
 The cockatoos are easily tamed and an f a \er}- affectionate di.sposi- 
 
 i 
 
 *i J9l'' 
 
 ^\: f 
 
 ^l'|Kil?y' 
 
 i 
 
 "ml 
 
 m 
 
mi 
 
 !l 
 
 358 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 tion. Travellers in New South Wales arc unanimous in saying 
 that the impression made by the profusion of tiiese maj^niifkein 
 birds surpasses tlescription. As far as known, the black or raven- 
 cockatoos, kiy their c\rrr^ in the hollows of trees. In captivity they K.-ed 
 on grains of hemp or oats, boiletl corn, and are very fond of snails and 
 worms. 
 
 The t}-pical -enus called swallows, havint^ more than (ift\' species, em- 
 braces several well known swallows both in vVmerica and in the Old V\'.)rld 
 
 3'%^. 
 
 P 
 
 s^ y^'^-im^i'^ 
 
 ^^^^} 
 
 
 1I#«II 
 
 TH1-. I-I.A(; MGIl 1--\\.\(.I.C)W. 
 
 Then- lood con^ist-^ of insects which liic>- take on the wing, usualK- in 
 the nei-hborhond ofwatLr; they drink on the wing and often \\;i-li 
 themselves b\- a sudden nlun"-o 
 
 They fly at the rate of a mile a minute in their ordinary 'evolution^, h'lt 
 are rather awkward on th.e ground ; their sight is very acute. The\-(lv 
 low in damp weather, where the insects arc most abundant and thence arc 
 supposed to f)retell rain. They are most numerous in the tropics, mi- 
 grating to and from temperate regions. 
 
 Swallows are easily distinguished from all other birds not only by 
 
 I. if^ I 
 
.^nificunt 
 ir ravcn- 
 :hc>- toed 
 lails and 
 
 ;cies, cni- 
 d V\'urld. 
 
 ~ -Ji^.:'^ 
 
 uialK- in 
 
 .•n wa-ii 
 
 tioii^, l)'it 
 
 HMic;: arc 
 Dies, mi- 
 
 only hy 
 
 !il 
 
 ^^o^y'J) 
 
1 > 
 
 siilli; . 
 
 ffll 
 
 ^il' 
 
 m 
 
 mo 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 their sjjcncr.il .stnictiirc, but b>' their twitterin;^ voice and their inaniit i- of 
 
 hfe. Several .s])ecies of ni;j[ht-s\\ allows are found, anioni; which tliu Ha i- 
 
 niijht-swallow, as shown by our illustration, is one of the most intcrest- 
 
 in^^ and beautiful. This bird is foinid in the tropical res^ions of Central 
 
 Africa. 
 
 Salaii^aiio or Ksciilnit Swallow. 
 
 The salangane is somewhat smaller than the wren. Its bill is thick; 
 the upper parts of the bod\- are brown, and the under j)arts wliitish. '[])(■ 
 tail is forked, and eacii feather is tipped with white. The nest of this Ijjril 
 is e.\ceedin_L;l\' curious, and is c()mj)osed of sucli materials that it is n,,\ 
 only edible, but is considered a tlelicacv b\' the ej)icures of Asia. U 
 i^enerall}' weij^hs about half an ounce, and is in form like a s.uicci', 
 or one-fourth of an e;^Lj, with one side flatteneri, which ailheres to ihc 
 rock. The texture resembles isini^lass or <^um-drii|^on, and the si wral 
 kiyers of the component matter are ajjjjarent, it bein;;" built of j)anc!s 
 or soft slimy substanc;', in the same manner as the martins form llu-ir 
 nests of mud. 
 
 There is a diffeience of ojjinion as to the materials of whicli this n st is 
 com])osed ; some suj)j)ose it to consist of sea \\():"ms or mollusks, oi- tlio 
 .spawn of lishes ; others, of the .sea(]ualm, a kind of cuttle fish, or a L;luti- 
 nous sea-plant calKd aijal-ai^al. and others assiMt that the swallow s r.il) 
 (jther birds of tlu-ir et^gs, and after breaking their shells ap;)I\- the white 
 of them in the compositit)n of their nests. 
 
 Eatiii},' llinls' Nisls. 
 
 Tile best kind of nests which are free from dirt are dissolveu in biotli, 
 and are said to gi\e it an excellent flaNor, or the)- are used as .stuffiiiL^ of a 
 fowl. The)' are fouml in vast numbers in dark ca\erns of islands in tiie 
 .Soc'o Ai"chipelaL;o, and arc sold in China at from one thousaiul to liluen 
 hundred dollars for about seventy-five pounds. 
 
 The nests adhere to each other and to the sides of the ca\i'in, ni'istly 
 in rows, without any l)reak or interruption. Tlu'\- aie a consicK ra!)le 
 object of traffic among the Javanese, nian\' of whom are cm[)lo\'ed in it 
 from tluir infanc\-. The birds after liaving spent nearly two moiuln in 
 preparing their nests lay two i:'^'^^ u hich are hatched in about fiftc n 
 da\-s. When the young birds become fledged it is the proper time to 
 take the nests, and this is regulail;.'done three times a^'ear, ami is t'ffectnl 
 by means of ladders, by which the people descend into the cax-erns. This 
 operation is attended with much dangtT. It is estimated that the an!ii;.i! 
 export of these iiests from J.i\a into China represents a \alue of (;)ie mil- 
 lion fi\< hundred 'housand dollars. 
 
PECULIAR SPIXIMS OI' BIRDS. 
 
 561 
 
 riii' 
 
 MM) IirMMlN' 
 
 •A'AW 
 
 Til -ir n;unc is (K-riwd fioni the huiniiiiiv.,^ nuisc they iiuikc with tlieir 
 v\iii,_;->. Ill whalcwr lalitud!*, tlicir nianm-rs arc the same; \cry quick 
 ami active, ahnost consiantl\- on thi- wiiv/, as th.-v dart in thebricrht sun 
 thi'v displax' tht'ir bills ail colors. T]ie\' rarely aliij[ht en tlie ground, 
 hut perch readiK' <>n hraneh •-;. Their nests are delicate, hut compact and 
 
 JiiU'd 
 
 with the softest \e 'etahle downs, about an inch in diameter and 
 
:UV2 
 
 EARTH, SEA, ANU SKV. 
 
 depth, and pciclicd on tivcs. shrubs and rccds. T;'- -^^ i'ttlc- bnds .- 
 very pu^^nacioiis and will aim. k .ui> intruder l "KiUii; near tlKir m'stT 
 rhey are incitlentally hone\-Late;.s, bul essentially insectivorous. 
 
 Tlie sapplKj huninuny-bird. wluci! is found in 15oli\ ia. is of .scarlcirni 
 color on the upper part, tiie iieaci anu undc-r parts Iumul; ,,f a <;re<ii hiu' 
 which is li-hter and bri^i,rhter at the throat. The win-^ are oFa p 
 
 purple- 
 
 llll". SWdKl) till I.. 
 
 brownish color and the tail feathers of -arnet color tipped, witli i'wl- 
 brown. Th(> color of the female on the upper parts is L,^reen. wliil. tl. 
 under parts an- <j[ray and the tail feathers lis^^dit-red. 
 
 Of all the luminiin!,r.bi,-(ls the sword bill has the longest bill, and car 
 therefore easily be discerneil from the others. The hill Is of the smu 
 
 lliiyiand (Voi 
 
 Alter this 1 
 held hooded 
 A contest th 
 triviiv {<> as 
 
birds arc 
 :hL'ir iiots. 
 
 scarlrl rni 
 a jJiirpL- 
 
 
 
 >', 
 
 (fyf 
 
 ith I'a-k- 
 liili llu 
 
 am! car 
 llic -aiiu 
 
 PECULIAR SPECIES OF RiRDS. 
 
 3G3 
 
 lenf^th a-^ the body of the bird, :;liL;htly bent upward;-, a Hitl. tlrttencd at 
 
 the point. The male is of gieei', the head of co|nier .,o!fv,^an-J Hw under 
 
 parts of bronze color, the wings brown. The home of tii'i bird is yuito 
 
 and Venezuela. 
 
 The IN'rt'firiiio Falcon. 
 
 The falcons arc found througliout the world rec^ardl'. -■ 'ifLliir.ate; tlic}' 
 arc powerful and rapid liters, ho\erin;^ over their prey -nd da-ihinj;' per- 
 pciulicularly upon it. They pursue birds chiefly, but alLaek also small 
 iiiiatlrupeds. The common or peres^n-ine falcon, also called the duck- 
 hawk, is solitary, except duriiii; the pairinc^ (>f tln" breeding season, wiiicli 
 i> in vi'ry early s[)rin_i;' ; it is founil in all parts of the United .States and in 
 Cuba, coming to the south in the \\ inter months. It is distributeil over 
 ti'iiiperate b'urope where the country is mountainous and the sea coast 
 piwipitous. 
 
 Before the invention of gunpowder, falcons were \ery fiec[uently trained 
 
 to pursue herons and \arious kind of game, and falconry was a favorite 
 
 sport of kings and nobles. Even now falcons arc used for this purpose 
 
 in the Orient, esi)ecially Persia. Falconr_\-is the art of training falcons or 
 
 other birds of ]ircy for the chase, the " haw king," as it is called in I'ng- 
 
 laml. 
 
 A 15ir<l usod in iio Chas*'. 
 
 The practice of hunting \\ ith falcons is \ery ancient in lCuroi)c and Asia, 
 and was in existence in the fourth and fifth centuries, and was common in 
 IJiglaml from the eighth century to the time of thf" St; .irts. Thj Per- 
 .sians are skillful in training falcons ti> hunt all kinds of l)irds, and e\'eii 
 ijazclles. The peregrine falcon was in tln' pain .• days o'' hawking one of 
 tlu' favorite falccMis chosen for that snort. L-; tfcnrlh ;>nd swiftness 
 arc very great, enabling it to strike down its p- a it!; ;^,reat ease. From 
 it-; successful pursuit of duck.s the Americans c::'i it di;ck-liaw!<. 
 
 There is a peculiarit>- in the method of attack ■. iiich this bi.u employs 
 when |)ursuing small game. Instead of merely da'n'rig at its prey and 
 ijrasping it with its claws, the j eregrine falcon st:'ke«; icwi-th its brca>t antl 
 ■vtuns it with tile \-iolence (jf the blow before sei;dng it with its claws. 
 Thi; courage of the [)eregrine falcon is so great that it was g'jnerally e:n 
 jjloved to take the heron. 
 
 Battle ill the Air. 
 
 Aft-'r this bird had been roused the falcon, which had previously been 
 iiild hooded (»n the falconer's hand, was loosed from its bonds and ca-toff 
 .A contest then generally took place betwe. ii the hi'ron and falcon, each 
 striving t'> ascend above the other, lu this eont'-stth.e Hilcon was alway;-. 
 
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 FAMOIN rKRKr.KIM. F\1(()N. 
 
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 vict(>rii>i 
 
 
PRCriJAR SPHCIKS OK lURDS. 
 
 .'.(ia 
 
 victorious, and after it had aUaincd a certain aliitiide it swept or" sl.x.p.'d ' 
 i,p,,n the heron. When the falcon was cK>sed with its prey, they both 
 caiiv dou-n together and the sportsman's business was to n-aeh the phice 
 of conHict as soon as possible and assist the falcon in the battle. 1 he 
 n--cMine falcn chan-es the color of its plumage several times before it 
 in-ivcsat full maturity. It builds (m ledges of rocks, laying four cgg-s 
 of a redtlish-brown color. 
 
 SECRET.VKV lUKD K11.I.1N<; A SNAKK. 
 
 There is a very warlike-! oking bird which might, at first -ight, be 
 thought to belong to the tritx- of long-legged storks or cranes. But if 
 you examine his cun-ed beak, you will see that in realit\- he is a bird of 
 prcv. Indeed, .some people call him the " secretary eagle." 
 
 The- rca.son why the name "secretary" has been given him is becastsc 
 of the crest of feathers on the bade of his head, that have a fancied 
 resemblance to a pen .stuck behind the ear of a person employed in 
 
Illl 
 
 »«! 
 
 ^lii 
 
 n()«) 
 
 KARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 %vritinj;. I5iit In- iiii^b.t be saiil tn have a link with another I'aniiK- .,f 
 birds, namely, the riiniiiiv^ birtls. He cannot <;rasi) hke the ea^k-, and 
 lie (Ii>cs not \\w, hke his noble relati\e, on hi^fh mountains, or soar 
 towards thi: clouds. ( )n the ei>ntrar\-, lie keeps on the s^round, ami runs 
 lieie and theie on his h'H^r k-^s. So that it is rather a dilTicult matter to 
 find out where to pkue' him amoni^ our feathered friends. 
 
 lie is one of tiie most useful birds, and in certain parts of the world i^ 
 eherisheil with the utmost can'. He tloes not object to li/ards, and i\rii 
 beetles, by wa\' of \-.ariet\- ; a. id as he runs about on th'? hot, ilusty phuiK 
 of Africa, he finds plent\-. Hut this is chiKl's pki)- ; he likes best of 
 all to do battle witii a serpent. Many xiiionious snakes are found in 
 these hot Countries, and the natives dread them i)eyond measun. |t 
 is true the snake will rarely attack a man, and, as a rule, ;^lides a\\;u- 
 from him; but sometimes he nia\' chance to come too near it, .i^ it 
 lies coiled up, and if its terrible fanj^^.s do but touch him, he is sure to dj,,'. 
 
 No Qusir<<*r Tor tlu^ EiUMiiy. 
 
 The secretary bird is always on the lookout for this natural eneni\-(if 
 man. In the picture he is eni^aL^eil in a fierce battle with a .s('r|)ent. '["h,' 
 serjient is, as you see, in a raj;e. j'Xt first all its attempts weredirectrd to 
 t;ettinfj back to its hole, but its (.•neiii)- was more than a match Im- it. 
 Whichever way it turned the bird hopped in its path, and stood with 
 flashinfj eyes and outspreatl wint;s. Then the .serpent was f.iirly musrd 
 It raised itself up, swelled out its dn'adful iv.ck, and darted out its faiii^'s. 
 For a moment the bird <.:,a\e wa\' a little, ami seemed as if coiisidiiin.; 
 uhat to do. 
 
 But his courac^e soon re\i\ed. I le was resoKed not to be cheated nt" 
 his prey, so he covered himself with one winL,^ as with a shielil, and 
 struck violently at the serpent with the other. The serpent was knocked 
 down b)' the blow, and every time it attempted to rise, the bird struck at 
 it attain. At last the snake coukl rise no more, and the bird killed il by 
 striking its )u;ul with his bi.ak. 
 
 Such lattles are often taking place, and the bird is much admired f^r 
 liis courage. lie is considered a most valuable member of societ)-, and 
 his family have been invited over to the plantations in the West Indies. 
 Here they are highlv' tsteemed, and no one ever thinks of harming them. 
 The jViantations abound in snakes, and their number is thinned bv the 
 introduction of these their inveterate enemies. 
 
 When the snake is small enough, the bird snaps it up, and carries it olT 
 to the top of a tree. Then he lets it drop, and follows it, as it descends. 
 with much adroitness, so as to be ready to strike it when it lies stunned 
 
 :Xii:^" 
 
•I - li 
 
 FFXL'LIAR SPKCIl-S OF BIRDS. 
 
 :\C>7 
 
 on tlie .^rouiKl. lie dors not always strike with his wiiv^r, but with tho 
 solo <'f his foot. 1 Ic- aKva>s kills his prey before he devours it. 
 '' Serpents are not his only food, for he preys upon lizards and tortoises 
 ami inserts. The hot unwholesome marsli i^ full of insects, and the sec- 
 retarv bird thins their number; so that every way he is useful. He and 
 
 NKST oi' I'lii". w.\ri:i;-iii:N. 
 his partner make a lar-v nest, in which two ei:j-s arc laid. He does 
 not choose his partner witiiout fii^hlino- a i^vcat many battles. Yet he has 
 not at all a fierce temper, but rather otherwise ; and after the choice has 
 been made tiiere are no more quarrels. 
 The whole tribe of wrens and titmice make us forget their tiny size in 
 
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 EARTH. S1:A, and SKY. 
 
 tile skillful finish (if their uoik, .iiul tlu- (klightful love whidi ivii;ns in 
 every family; it is '^<)Ineti^les a perfect inai\el to witness. 
 
 Among these eharmin;_j j^iiests of our thickets can he distinj^aiisluii the 
 common wren, which Iniikls a nest similar to a little uiuler^M-ouiul \u)u^^; 
 Then comes the lon^-lailed titmouse, the i^lohular abode of which dues 
 not exceed the size of the fist, and which is made of moss and liclitn 
 riu' mother onl\- inters hy an excessive! \- narrow o])enin^, and often 
 nourishes ti'U or tweKr little ones. It is ([uitt inexplicable how so inmic,-. 
 ous a family can be crowded into such a n.u'row little chamber. ( )ik 
 would thinl' the)- must be ^tilled; but f'"' >'ouni^ birds. h( .ipid one n,,,,,^ 
 another, are only so much more thorou;4h!,. .vanned, and the wholt bruod 
 li\e liapp)' and <^ay in their tin\- little bed. 
 
 'ridiioii.so and \(>.>«t. 
 
 In respect to the elcL^ance of its construction the penduline titniMih^ 
 astonishes the ol)ser\er still more. Its nest, suspended to the branch ufa 
 tree, has exactly the shape of a chemist's retort, onl)- that instead of b' in- 
 manufactured of such hard material, nothnii,^ enters intt) the composition 
 of it but fine moss and down. The opening is carefully wo\en ; not unc 
 vegetable fibre protrudes beyond the other! Who can describe in wlt.it 
 a mar\-elous manner the bird, while still on the wing, approaches it-, nest. 
 enters and issues b\- an openiii;.; w hich seems to ha\e scarce!)- the tliaiii- 
 cter of its bod\', anel without ever deranging a fibre? 
 
 The huts of SOUK- sa\ages remain constantly open; their limited 
 capacity has not \'et taught tliein to inxent tile protecting door. Spiders 
 are more ingenious. There are some which understand how to scciive 
 tiiemselves in their subterranean abodes by a skillfull)- constructed ddor. 
 Some birds take analogous jirecautions. 
 
 Jerdon details the curious domestic arrangements of some specie-; the 
 males of which, at the time of laying, imprison the female in her nest. 
 The)' close the entrance to it by means of a thick wall of mud, leavin;,' 
 on!)- a small hole by w hich the hen breathes and protrudes her beak to 
 receive her food. To this, indeeel, her too stern spouse brings ever\- mo- 
 ment some morsel for her to peck at, for to his ])rai.se be it said, that 
 though he is barbarous enough to immure her, he feeds her with the 
 most tender solicitude. This enforced retirement only cca.ses with the ter- 
 mination of the hatching, when the pair break the prison-door. 
 
 In his vo)-age to India Sonnerat sj)eaks of a Cape titmou.se, the nest of 
 which, shaped like a bottle and niade of cotton, merits notice. While 
 the female is hatching inside, the male a most watchfiil sentinel, remains 
 outside, resting in a pouch made for the purpose, fixed to one side of the 
 
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 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY 
 
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 neck of the nest. But when his mate moves off and he wishes to follow 
 her, he beats the opening of the nest violently with his whv^, ami suc- 
 ceeds in ciosin<^ it, in order to pro-.<'ct his young from enemies. 
 
 In respect to in<renuify of construction developed by the love i>f familv 
 and work, there is nothinij that can be compared to the doings of the so- 
 ciable grossbeak. This little Cape bird, of the size and appearance of 
 our sparrows, lives in numerous societies, all the members of which unite 
 to form an immense city, having the appearance of a circular timber- 
 work, embracing the trunk of some great tree. There are sonictinies 
 
 more than three hundred little cells, which means 
 that it is inhabited by more than six hundred birds. 
 This nest is so heavy, that Lexaillant, who brou-rlit 
 one away during his travels in Africa, was ()b]i'.!;c(i 
 to employ a wagon and .several men to remove it. 
 When they are seen at a distance in the landscape, 
 we might think we were looking at huge roots 
 suspended to the trunks or branches of the trees 
 scattered about, and round which a multitude of 
 birds are playing. 
 
 We ha\-e .said that amongst the winged trilje 
 specimens of all industrial arts are found. ( )iie 
 would scarcely expect to find regular seamstresses 
 among them, for the beak of the bird seems ill 
 adapted enough for needle-work, and yet some of 
 these animals produce work exactly analogous. 
 
 We do not here in an)' way allude to the weaver- 
 birds, the nests of which, made of fine grass and 
 known to all the world, represent an inextricable 
 NE.ST OF THE TAILOR net-work ; butto thetailo.-bird, a charming e.xotic 
 ^i^^ species, which takes two very long lanceolated lea\ c-> 
 
 and .sews the edges of them, neatly whipped by means of flexible [^rass 
 in the form of thread. After this the female fills the little sack which 
 they form with cotton, and deposits her pretty young ones upon thi^ 
 downy bed, which is gently rocked by the lea.st breath of wind. This 
 nest, which is extremely rare, is a real masterpiece of ingenuity. 
 
 Woodpecker is the common name of the numerous climbint; birds. 
 They are very active, living in woods and forests, continually tai)piiiLj 
 with the bill the surface of trees to discover soft places, in which are lurk- 
 ing the insects and larva;, on which they principally feed. They are i^en- 
 erally solitary and usually silent; the principal noise they make being 
 
 c:-:; 
 
 
 M 
 
 the water, 
 breeding s 
 (.living wit 
 'IS fins, \\\ 
 .howe\er, 
 their assist 
 motion an 
 qiiadrupeii 
 tells us tlic 
 
PECULIAR SPECIES OF BIRDS. 
 
 ;i7i 
 
 produced by striking the bill ai;aitist the trees. The three-t<ied wood- 
 pecker is the German representative of this family. It has a dull green- 
 ish black color with scarlet patches on crown, crest and cheek, under 
 wiivs and chin white lined with sulphur yellow. 
 
 In the penguins the feathers of the wings arc rudinientar)', and covered 
 with skin, so that they are like fins. These arc very useful in swimming, 
 but do not enable the birds to fly. There are .several .species, abounding 
 ill the Antarctic Seas, where they pass the greater portion of their time in 
 
 ^>, t);., K.^ 
 
 f^->--^'^- 
 
 
 ■Q^^ 
 •^^ 
 
 THRKE-TOED WOODPECKEK. 
 
 the water, and appear rarely to stay any time on land, except during the 
 breeding .season. In the water they are exceedingly active, swimming and 
 diving with the greate.st facility, and making use of their little naked wings 
 as fins, when engaged in the latter operation. When in motion on land, 
 iiowever, they employ the.se in place of an anterior pair of legs; and by 
 their assistance contrive to scuttle along so rapidly that when they are in 
 motion among the tussocks of grass they might readily be mi.staken for 
 quailrupeds. They do not appear to have ver\' acute .sensations ; Sparman 
 tells us that he stumbled over a sleeping one and kicked it several times 
 
 
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 'liP 
 
 % 
 
.•'>72 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 i'» 
 
 
 without di.sturbiii;_j its rest. Forstcr sa\-s that he left sexeral uf ilun, 
 apparently lifeless while he went in pursuit of others, l)ut they afl.T- 
 ward yot up and marched off with their usual ;^M-a\it>'. They haicli 
 their ei;L;s by holdinc; them between their thighs, and when threati.iKc! 
 with (lani^^e.-, move awa>-, still retaining;" them in thi.s position. Dunn- 
 
 TUFTED FEXoUIX. 
 
 the period of incubation die male fishes for the ft'male, and after the 
 yount; are hatched both parents are engaged for a time in pr'icurin;., 
 their food. 
 
 Mr. Darwin gives the following pleasant account, the scene of the adven- 
 ture being the Falkland Islands, where these birds abound : One da}-, 
 
PECULIAR SPECIES OF BIRDS. 
 
 'Mil 
 
 havin'4 placed myself between (Mie of these i)enL,miiis and the watei', I was 
 much amused by watching its habits. It was a brave bird, and. till reachin:.; 
 the >ea, it regularly fought and drove me backward. Nothing less than 
 lRa\v blows would have stopped him ; every inch gained he firmly ke])t, 
 standing close before me, erect and determined. When thus opposctl, he 
 cfjiitinually rolled his head from side to .side, in a very odd manner, as if 
 the power of vision only lay in the anterior and basal i)art of each eye. 
 This bird is commonly called the jackass penguin, from its iiabit, wiiile 
 onshore, of throwing its head backward, and making a loud, strange noise, 
 very like the braying of that animal ; nut while at sea and undisturbed, its 
 note is \-ery deep and solemn, and is often heard in the niglit-time. In 
 diving, its little plumeless wings are used as fms ; but on the land as front 
 lo"s. When crawling — it may be saitl on four legs — through the tussocks, 
 or on the side of a grassy cliff, it mo\ed so very quickly that it might 
 readily have been mistaken for a quadruped. When at sea, and fishing, 
 it comes to the surface, for the purpose of breathing, with such a spring, 
 and dives again so instantaneously, that I defy any one at first sight to be 
 sure that it is not a fish leaping for sport. 
 
 How the Old J5ir<l Rears tli<' Voiiii};-. 
 The following interesting account, probably referring to this species, is 
 furnished by Captain Fitzroy. He is speaking of Noir Island: Multitudes 
 of penguins were swarming together in some parts of the island, among 
 the bushes and tussocks near the shore, having gone there for the purpose 
 of moulting and rearing their young. They were very valiant in self-de- 
 fense, and ran open-mouthed by dozens, at any one who invaded their 
 territory, little knowing how soon a stick would scatter them on the 
 ground. The young were good eating, but the others proved to be black 
 and tough when cooked. The manner in which they feed their young is 
 curious and rather amusing. Tiie old bird gets on a little eminence and 
 makes a great roise, between quacking and braying, holding its head up 
 in the air, as if it were haranguing the penguinner}-, while the young one 
 stands close to it, but a little lower. The old bird, having continued its 
 clatter for about a minu.e, puts its head down and opens its mouth w idel\', 
 into wJiich the young one thru.sts its head, and then appears to suck from 
 the throat of its mother for a minute or two, after which the clatter is 
 repeated and the young one is again fed ; this continues for about ten 
 minutes. I observed some which were moulting make the same noise, 
 and then apparently swallow what they thus supplied themselves with ; so 
 in this way, I suppose they are furnished with subsistence during the time 
 they cannot seek it in the water. 
 
 ::ii!ilir:jni'<fii 
 
\w 
 
 374 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 Tlie wcb-footcil pelicans arc large and hea\}', with immenrc extent of 
 wini;, and arc excellent swininiers. The expansive pcnich, whose ela>ticitv 
 is well known to all who have witnessed the sha[)es into which it i'^ 
 stretched and formed by the itinerant showman, will hokl a considnahh 
 number of fish, and thus enables the bird to dispose of the suDcrthiou-, 
 quantity which may be taken during fishing expeditions, either for it, 
 own consumption or for the nourishment of its j-oung. In feeding tiir 
 nestlings — and the male is said to supply the wants of die female w In ii sit- 
 ting, in the same manner — the under mandible is pressed against the luik 
 
 and brea-t, to 
 
 assist the bird m 
 disgorgini; t lu- 
 contents cf th- 
 capacious pouch; 
 and duiin- this 
 acti^Mi the red 
 nail of the upper 
 mandible would 
 appear to coiiie 
 in contact with 
 the breast ; thus 
 laying the foun- 
 dation, in all 
 probabilit\', for 
 the fable that the 
 pelican nour- 
 ished her younL,^ 
 with her blood, 
 and for the atti- 
 tude in wliich 
 the imagination 
 
 of painters has placed this bird in books of emblems, with the blood 
 spirting from the wounds made by the terminating nail of the upper 
 mandible into the gaping mouths of her offspring. 
 
 The neighborhood of rivers, lakes, and the sea-coasts, are the haunts of 
 the pelicans, and they are rarely seen farther than twenty leagues from 
 the land. They appear to be to a certain extent gregarious. Levaillant, 
 upon visiting Dassen-Eyland, where was the tomb of a Danish captain, 
 beheld, as he says, after v,ading through the surf and clambering up the 
 rocks, such a spectacle as perhaps nexer before appeared to the e\"e of 
 
 THK I'ELICAN. 
 
 cai^l 
 
PECULIAR SPECIES OF BIRDS. 
 
 .'575 
 
 mortal. "AH "^ 'i sucklcn there arose frt)ni tlie whole surface of the 
 isjaiul an impenetrable cloud, which formed, at the distance of forty feet 
 abn\c our heads, an immense canopy, or rather a sky, composed of birds 
 of c\ery species, and of all colors — cormorants, sea-L^ulls, sea-swallows, 
 pelicans, and I believe the whoU; winded tribe of this part of Africa were 
 here assembled. All their voices, mixed to<;ether and modified according; 
 to their tlifferent kinds, formed such a horrid music that I was oblij^ed to 
 co\cr ni\' head to give a little relief to my ears. The alarm which we 
 sj)rcacl \\as so much the more i^enerai among these innumeraljle legions 
 (if birds, as we principally disturbed the females which were then sitting. 
 T1k\' li.ui nests, eggs, and young to defend. The\' v.ere like furious 
 harpies let loose against us, and their cries rendered us almost deaf. 
 The\- often flew so near us that they flapped their wings in our faces, and 
 though we fired our pieces repeatedl}' we A\ere not able to frighten them ; 
 it seemed almost impossible to disperse this cloud. We could not mo\-e 
 line .step without crushing either their eggs or their }-oung ones ; the earth 
 was entirely strewed with them." Tile same traveller found on the Klein- 
 Rrak River, while waiting for the ebb-title, thousands of pelicans and 
 flamingoes, some of dee; ro.se-color and others white. 
 
 A Pollt'aii Ccinetory. 
 
 The subject of Montgomery's beautiful poem, " The Pelican Island," 
 was suggested by a short pa.ssage in Captain Flinder's voyage to Terra 
 Australis, in which he describes one of those numerous gulfs which in- 
 dent the coasts of New Holland, and ai'c thickly spotted with small is- 
 lands. " Upon two of these," he says, " we found man\' \'oung pelicans 
 iniable to flv. Flocks of the old birds were sitting upon the benches of 
 the lagoon, and it appeared that the islands were their breeding-places; 
 lint only so, but from the number of skeletons and bones there scattered, 
 it would .seem that, for ages, these had been selected as the closing scene 
 of their existence. Certainly none more likel)' to be free from disturb- 
 ance of everv kind could have been chosen, than these islets of a hidden 
 lagoon of an uninhabited island, situate upon an unknown coast, near the 
 antipodes of Europe; nor can anything be more consonant to their feel- 
 ings, if pelicans have any, than quietl)' to resign their breath, surrounded 
 b\- their progeii)-, and in the same spot where they first drew it." 
 
 Ihc following is one of the poet's pictures of the training of the young : 
 
 On beetliiijj rocks the little ones were marshall'd ; 
 There by endearments, stripes, example, urged 
 To try the void convexity of heaven, 
 And plough the ocean'b horizontal field. 
 
 H^ijiif'- 111 
 
37() 
 
 EARTH, SEA, /.ND SKV, 
 
 'I'iiuoroiis, at first they fluttered round tlie vcrg^-, 
 
 l;alaiiCL-d and fiirkil lliuir liusitatiii.;' winys, 
 
 Thun put them fortli again with steadier aim ; 
 
 Now, graining courage ;;'? they felt llie wini! 
 
 Dilate their featliers, fill their r.iry frames 
 
 With buoyancy that bure tiiem from their feet, 
 
 Tiiey yielded all their burthen to the bree/e, 
 
 And sailed and soared where'er their guardians led. 
 
 Ascending, hovering, wheeling, or alighting, 
 
 Tiiey searched tiie deep in (juest of nobler game 
 
 Than yet their inexperience had encountered ; 
 
 With these tiiey battled in that element, 
 
 Tl.eir wings or fins were equally at home, 
 
 Till conquerors in many a desperate strife. 
 
 They dragged tlieir spoils to land, and gorged at leisure. 
 
 Another picture, from the same ^raj^hic pen, ma\- well hi.' added: 
 
 Day by day, 
 New lessons, exercises, and amusements 
 lunployed the old to teach, the young to learn. 
 Now floating on tlie blue lagoon behold tliem, 
 The sire and dam in swan-like beauty s'.eering, 
 Tlieir cygnets following through tlie foamiijg wake. 
 Picking the leaves of plants, pursuing insects. 
 Or catcliing at the bubbles as they brake ; 
 Till on some minor fry, in reedy shallows, 
 With (lapping pinions and tmsparing beaks. 
 The well taught scholars plied their double art, 
 To fish in troubled waters, and secure 
 The petty captives in their maiden pouches , 
 Then hurry with their banquet to the shore, 
 W^ith feet, wings, breast, half swimming .ind half-flying; 
 And when their pens grew strong to fight the storm. 
 And buffet with the breakers on the reef 
 The parents put them to severer proofs, 
 
;t' 
 
 CIIAPri'.R x\v. 
 
 Ti !•: iMri:RiAi. i:a(",i.i:. 
 
 Mun;ir< h of MoiiiU.iiii ami T'oifst — Majestic I"lij;;lits — CiaziiiLj at the Sun — Rapa- 
 ( iiius Tyraiils — l^levated Nest— Syinljol cjf koiiKiii I-.iiijiire — Tribute of Mrs. 1 ie- 
 mans to Wounclcd ICaj^le — Amazing CjIU of Sight — Sei/ure of Marie Delex — A 
 Monster nf tiie Air— Children Carried Away on Wings— I'rightful I'ncoiinters — 
 A Daring Rescue— Forest Kinp^ on Mis Crag— Swift Descent — Shrewd Methotl 
 of Taking Prey— The Ijald Eagle— IMinensions of Sea-ICagle — Preying on (jiiad- 
 niiK-ds— Mated Once for Life— Osprey or J-"ish Eagle— Peculiar Foot and Toes — 
 i'hniging Down from \'ast Ileiglits— Claws of Astonishing Strength— llarpy 
 Ragle — Tenant of Mexico and South America — Hard Fighter — Destroyer of 
 Animal Life— Sure Aim and I'"'ital Blow —Feathers Used fur Decorations — 
 Striking Ct)lors of Plumage. 
 
 III'". caL^lc.thc niMiKircli of the mountain forest v o\erwhicli iic has 
 rcinicd since tlic creation, is still foinul exercising;' his dominion in 
 the ancient rntl remote woods of ]"",urope, Asia, and Americ.i, but 
 more particularly in the northern parts. Nuttall thus describes it : 
 Near tl jir rocky nests they are seen usiiall)' in pairs, at times majestically 
 soarins^rto a\-ast heii^ht, and ga/.in;^ on the sim, towartl Avhich they ascend 
 until they disappear from \ie\v. L'rom this sublime ele\-ation they often se- 
 lect their devoted prey — sometimes a kid or a lamb frcnn the sportin;^' flock, 
 or the timid rabbit or hare crouched in the furrow, or sheltered in some 
 b''sh. The lar<^cst b'rds are also frequenth' their victims, and in extreme 
 WcUit the\' will not refuse to join with the alarmed \ulture in his cadaver- 
 ous repast. After this ^or<^in<^ meal the eai^le can, if necessar\', Hist for 
 se\cral days. 
 
 The [)recarious nature of his subsistence, and the violence by which it 
 i . constantly obtained, seem to produce a moral effect on the disposition 
 of this rapacious bird; though in pairs, they are never .seen associated 
 with their young; their offspring are driven forth to lead the same unso- 
 cial, wandering life as their unfeeling progenitors. This harsh, and ty- 
 rannical disposition is strongly displayed even when they lead a life of re- 
 straint and confinement. The weaker bird is never willingly suffered to 
 eat a morsel, and though he may cower and quail under the blow with 
 the most abject submiss'on, the same sa\-age deportment continues to- 
 ward him as long as he exists. Those obser\ed in steady confinement 
 frequently uttered hoarse cries, sometimes almost barkings, accompanied 
 
 m: ^^iiwijf 
 
iilfii*'. 
 
 37« 
 
 EARTH, SI:A, and SKV. 
 
 b\' wipe rolls hn-athinj^s. stron^l}- cxjircssivc of tlicir ardent. uiK'hk in,,-., 
 aljlc, ami sa\aL,'(j appetites. Their fire-dartiii^r eyes, lowcriii;^ hmws, t],,. 
 foreheatis, restless ilisj)ositi<)ii, ami terrific jjlaiiits, together with tluir pow- 
 erful natural weapons, seem to assimilate them to the tiper ratlur than 
 the timorous bird. "S'et it would appear that tluy nia\- he niKkn ,1 dd- 
 cile, as the Tartars, accorilini;' to Marct) I'olo, weie said to tame tlii^ ^uv- 
 cies to the chase of hares, foxes, woKes, antel(i|)es, and other kiinU ,,1' 
 larj^e j^ame, in whicli tluy displa\-ed all the docilit)' of the falcon. 
 
 The lon<4e\it)' of the eaj^lc is as remarkable as its strength; it i^ 1^- 
 lie\ed to subsist for a centurx', and is aljoutthree j'earsin Kainin;^ il.( ,Mn- 
 pletc growth and fixed plumaj^fe. This bird was held in high estiinaihui 
 by the ancients on account of its extraordinaiA- maL;nitude, couraj^r, aiir] 
 .san<;uii'iar\' habits. The Romans chose it as an emblem for their im- 
 perial .standard, and from its aspirinL;^ flight and majestic soaring it w. is 
 fabled to hold communion with hea\en, and to be the favorite messiiv.'fr 
 of Jo\e. The Tartars ha\e a particular esteem for the featlu'rs of tlv 
 tail, with which thi'y supi'rstitiousI\- think' to plume iivcincible arrow-. |i 
 is no les.s the \enerated war-eagle of our northern aiul western alx.riL^iiks, 
 and the caudal feathers are cxtremeK* \alued for head-dresses, and a- ^.i- 
 cred decorations {ov the pipe of peace. 
 
 A Xest ill tlic Tn'c-Tops. 
 
 The eagle builds its nest upon the tops c)f trees, and [) refers those wliick, 
 have the greater number of climbing shrubs about them. Where such 
 arc not to be found, it selects a buslix- thicket, in which it forms a s|)a- 
 cious e\-rie of sticks and twining branches, laid nearly flat, and lined wiih 
 a thick la\'cr of hair inartificially disposed. The female lays two fL;;_;.s. 
 nuich pointed at one extreniit)', and dotted and .spotted with crimson nn 
 a ground of brownish-red. 
 
 The eagle Qe\ours the dead and the living. Sometimes four or fuc 
 unite to pursue a pre\' that a single one could not master. D'Azara 
 states that he has seen them hunt dow'n red buzzards, herons, and otIuT 
 large birds; and it seems the\' pre}', not only on a variety of smaller crea- 
 tures, but also on young fawns and lambs. Often do they feast, too, mi 
 what others hax'c taken. Thus, if an eagle sees a vulture with a piece 
 of flesh, it will pursue him, and compel him to disgorge it ; and the sports- 
 man is not unfrequently foiled by this bird coming and bearing off the 
 game before his eyes. 
 
 It is not improbable that similar habits of solitude in the lion and the 
 eagle, together with their magnitude and strength, have given rise to 
 their titles, so generally current, of king of beasts — king of birds. Jons- 
 
 t k 
 
cstmi;iliun 
 
 THE IMPERIAL EAGLE. 
 
 :179 
 
 ton ••'a\"^ i'l «*'i "'^' work, " I'Ji^daiul b\- ;i Person of Ouality : '" — " The 
 ci'^lf cliallcnijLth .nc first place, not that it is the best dish at table, for 
 nolle will eat it, but because it is the kin^f of birds." The ancient Greeks 
 wxw (if the same opinion, for Pindar sjocaks of " the ^'reat eai^de, the chief 
 maL;i>tiate i>f the birds." 
 
 DiL^Miitx- and majesty a'-c the common attributes of the eai^le. I I(.ncc 
 Mis. neinans.addressinL^one of these birtls which has been wounded, thus 
 
 •>|)Ccik- : 
 
 Eagle ! this is not thy sphere ! 
 
 Warrior bird, what seek'st thou here ? 
 
 Wherefore by the fount lin's brink 
 
 Doth tliy royal pinion sink ? 
 
 Wherefore on the violet's bed 
 
 Lay'st tiiou thus tliy drooping head ? 
 
 Thou, that hold'st tlie blast in scorn, 
 
 Thou, tliat wear's! tlie wings of morn ! 
 
 Eagle ! I'lagle I thou hast bowed 
 From thine empire o'er the cloud ! 
 Thou that hadst ethereal birth. 
 Thou hast stoop'd too near the earth, 
 And the hunter's shaft hath found thee, 
 .And the toils of >. 3ath hath bound thee — 
 Wherefore did'st thou leave thy place, 
 Creature of a kingly race ? 
 
 Stern :md unsocial in their character, yet confident in their strength anti' 
 
 efficient means of defense, the ea<.;les delight to dwell in the solitude of 
 
 inaccessible rocks, on whose summits they build their rude nest and sit in 
 
 lone majesty, while with their keen and piercing eye they sweep the plains 
 
 Ixlow, e\en to the horizon. The combined extent aiul minuteness of their 
 
 vision, often including not merely towns, \illages, and districts, but 
 
 count'.ii's and even kingdoms in it.s \ast circuit, at the same time carefully 
 
 piercing the depths of forests, the mazes of swamps, and the intricacies 
 
 of lawns and meadow.s, so as to discover every moving object — even the 
 
 sly ;uk1 stealthy animal.? that constitute their pre\- — form a power of sight 
 
 to which human experience makes no approach. If wc connect with this 
 
 amazing gift of\"ision the power of flight which enables these birds to 
 
 shoot through the heavens so as to pass from one zone to another in a single 
 
 (lay and at a single flight, we shall readily comprehend how it is that they 
 
 have in all ages so impres.sed the popular imagination as to render them 
 
 the standing types and emblems of power. In ancient times the Jon 
 
 was the representative of kings, but the eagle, soaring in the sky, was 
 
 made the companion of the gods, and the constant associate of Jupiter 
 
 himself 
 
 
 .a 
 1 
 
 •1 • 
 
 i-jif 
 
 mi 
 
 tflHIAff^ 
 
 .'.'' ;' ' 
 
IT 
 
 ll 
 
 r; 
 
 3H0 
 
 HARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 Alth()ii<;h in our (la\s tlu: carrj'in^f itff of ("lanx'inedc is noi re-cna<te(l 
 yet tl?c iiilial.iitants of mountainous countries ha\c .some t^round for accus- 
 inj^f the ca^^lcs of bearing olTtheir chililreii. A well known fact of tliis 
 kind took place in llie \'a!ais in IS-'i'^. A little ^irl, fne years old, < .iJIf.l 
 Marie Drlrx, was playin;^ with one of her companions on a um^sv- ■^\i<\>v 
 of the mountain, when all at once an eai;le swoopi-d down uj)oii h r mil 
 carrii-d her awa}' in sjjite of the cries and presence of her )'oun'4 fiinul 
 Some peasants, hearing- the screams, jiiistened to the spot, hut ^oll■'ht 
 in \'ain for the child, for the)' found nothing but one of her sh^t^ 
 on the eils^e of the [jni ipice. Ihe child, howewr, \\as not carried to 
 the cattle's nest, where onl\- two eaglets were seen, surrounded 1)\- heaijs 
 of goat and sheep bones. It was not till two months aftei' this that 
 a .she])herd disco\ered the C(^rpse of Marie Delex, frightfulK- nuitilaled, 
 upon a rock iialf a league from where she had been borne off. 
 
 i:a.i;l<> aiKl Child in the .\ir. 
 
 .An instance of tliis kind, which occurred in the autumn ofi86S, is thiw 
 narrated b\' a teacher in county Tipjjah, Mississippi : A .sad casualtv 
 occurred at my school a fjw daj's ago. The eagles ha\e been \-ery tr< luble- 
 some in the neighborhood for some time past, carn'ing off pigs and lambs. 
 No one thought they would attempt to pre\- upon children ; but on Tliurs- 
 da\', at recess, the little boys were out some distance from the Iimise, 
 pla)-ing marbles, when their .sport was interrupted by a large ea^lc 
 sweeping tlown and picking up little Jemmie Kenney, a ben' of eiL;lit 
 years, and flying awa}' with him. The children cried out, and when I 
 got out of the house, the eagle was so high that I could just hear the 
 child screaming. The alarm was given, and from screaming and 
 shouting in the air, the eagle was induced to drop his victim ; but his 
 talons had been buried in him so deeply, and the fall was so great, that 
 he was killed. 
 
 The Abbe Spallanzani had a common, or black eagle, which was so 
 powerful, that it could easily kill dogs much larger than itself When a 
 dog was cruelly forced into the room where the eagle was kept, it imme- 
 diately ruffled the feathers on its head and neck, taking a short fliijht, 
 alighted on the back of its victim, held the neck firmly with one foot, ,so 
 that there could be no turning of the head to bite, while one of the flanks 
 was grasped with the other, and in this attitude the eagle continued, till 
 the dog, with fruitless cries and struggles, expired. The beak, hitherto 
 unemployed, was how u.sed to make a small hole in the skin ; this was 
 gradually enlarged, and from it the eagle tore away and devoured the 
 flesh. 
 
MAKi. DKLEX SE.ZKI) AND CAKK.EU AWAV BV AN IMMENSE EA<a.F. 
 
 m 
 
 
 :::ai| 
 
 
 '-•r 
 
 ^*l 
 
 fii 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 -« 
 
 ; 1 
 
 ;: • -. i' « -|S 
 
 '■'mi^. 
 
!■ 
 
 '^^B ■ i 
 
 |l|l|ipi: 
 
 ^MHB- 
 
 '-M^Hp^': 
 
 382 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY 
 
 Ebcl relates that a youn^ hunter in Switzerland, havin^i^ clisco\enil an 
 eai^le's nest, killed the male, and was descendin^^ the rocks ti) captun; the 
 younf^ ones, when, at the moment he was puttin;^ his hand into the cleft 
 lo take the nest awa}', the mother, indignantly pouncing upon liini, tixcti 
 her talons in his arm, and her beak in his side. With great presence of 
 mind, the hunter stood still; had he moved, he would have fallen to the 
 bottom of the precipice ; but now, holding his gun in one hand, aiul 
 supporting it against the rock, he took his aim, pulled the trigger with 
 his foot, and shot the eagle dead. The wounds he had received confined 
 him to his bed, however, for six weeks. A somewliat similar storv is 
 related of the cliildren of a Scottish peasant, who were surprised, in their 
 endeavor to take away some young eaglets from the nest, by the return 
 of the mother, from whose indignation they had great difficulty in escapin"-. 
 
 A peasant, with his wife and three children, took up his summer (luar- 
 ters in a cottage, and pastured his flock on one of the rich Al})s that ■■<\\:v- 
 look the Dranse. The eldest boy was an idiot, about eight )-ears of a;'e- 
 the second, fi\-e years old, but dumb; and the third, an infant. One 
 morning the idiot \\as left in charge of his brothers, and the three had 
 wandered to some distance from the cottage before they a\ ere niisscti ; 
 and, when the mother found the two elder, siie could discover no trace of 
 the babe. A strange contrast was presented by the t\\ o children ; the 
 idiot seemed transported with joy, while his dumb brother was filled w ith 
 consternation. In vain did the terrified parent attempt to gather finin 
 either what had become of the infant. But, as the idiot danced about in 
 great glee, laughed immoderately, and imitated the action of one who had 
 caught up something of which he was fond, and hugged it to his breast, 
 tile poor woman was slightly comforted, supposing that some acquaint- 
 ance had fallen in with the children, and taken away the babe. 
 
 A Happy Rescue. 
 
 But the day and the succeeding night passed without any T -lings of the 
 lost one. (^n the morrow the parents were earnestly pursuing cheir search, 
 when, as an eagle flew over their heads, the idiot renewed his gesticu- 
 lations, and the dumb boy clung to his father with frantic shrieks. Now 
 the dreadful thought broke upon their minds that the infant had been 
 carried off by a bird of prey, and that his half-witted brother was delighted 
 at his riddance of an object which had excited his jealousy. 
 
 Meanwhile, an Alpine hunter had been watching near an eyrie, hoping 
 to shoot the mother-bird, on returning to her ne.st. At length, waiting 
 with the anxious perseverance of such determined sportsmen, he saw her 
 slowK' winging her way towards the rock, behind which he had taken 
 
 
cd abdut in 
 
 s deli*jhtLd 
 
 THE IMPERIAL EAGLi:. 
 
 ;i.s;} 
 
 .ji^iov, wlion, (in her nearer approach, ho heard, to liis horror, the cries 
 ot" an uilant, and then beheld it in her fri<^htful ^rasp. Instantly his 
 rcNohc was made, to fire at the eagle the moment she should ali_i;ht on 
 the in>t, and rather to kill the child than leave it to be devoured. W'itli 
 I silent pra\'er, arising from his heart of hearts, he poised, directetl, and 
 <lisclKU"^ed his rifle; the ball went .rough the head or breast of the 
 
 VULTURE ON HIS MOUNTAIN CRAG. 
 
 eaj^le; with indescribable delight he bore the babe away; and, within 
 iour-and-twenty hours after it was mis.sed, he had the .satisfaction of 
 restoring it — with wounds which were not serious, on one of its arms and 
 sides — to its transported mother's bosom. 
 
 The night of the bald eagle, when taken into consideration with the 
 ardor ami energy of his character, is noble and interesting. Sometimes 
 
 i : ii 
 
mm 
 
 ^'-=2 
 
 iom'' 
 
 'MM, 
 
 SEA EAGLE AND ITS CAPTIVE. 
 
 (384) 
 
thp: imperial eagle. 
 
 ;5So 
 
 the human eye can just dlsccm him, like a minute speck, moving in slow 
 curvatures along the face of the heavens, as if reconnoitering the earth 
 at that immense distance. Sometimes he glides along in a direct horizon- 
 tal line, at a vast height, with expanded and unmoving wings, till he 
 -rrailually disappears in the distant blue ether. Seen gliding in easy cir- 
 cles over the high shores and mountainous cliffs that tower above the 
 Hudson and Susquehanna, he attracts the eye of the intelligent voyager, 
 and adds great interest to the scenery. At the great Cataract of Niagara, 
 the world's wonder, there rises from the gulf into which the Fall of the 
 Horse-Shoe descends, a stupendous column of smoke, or spray, reaching 
 to the heavens, and moving off in large black clouds, according to the 
 direction of the wind, forming a very striking and majestic appearance. 
 The eagles are here seen sailing about, sometimes losing themselves in 
 this thick column, and again reappearing in another place, with such ease 
 and elegance of motion, as renders the whole truly sublime. 
 
 High o'er tlie watery uproar, silent seen, 
 
 Sailint^ sedate in majesty serene, 
 
 Now midst the pillared spray sublimely lost, 
 
 And now, emerging, down the rapids tossed, 
 
 Glides the bald eagle, gazing, calm and slow, 
 
 O'er all tlie horrors of the scene below; 
 
 Intent alone to sate himself with blood, 
 
 From the torn victims of the raging flood. 
 
 Audubon describes a bald eagle pursuing a swan, as follows: The ne.Kt 
 moment, however, the wild trumpet-like sound of a yet distant but ap- 
 proaching swan is heard : a shriek from the female eagle comes across 
 the .stream ; for she is fully as alert as her mate. Tlie snow-white bird is 
 now in sight ; her long neck is stretched forward ; her eye is on the 
 watch, vigilant as that of her enemy; her large wings seem with difficul- 
 ty to support the weight of her body, although they flap incessantly. So 
 irksome do her exertions .seem, that her very legs are spread beneath her 
 tail, to aid her in her flight. She approaches ; the eagle has marked her 
 for his prey. As the .swan is passing the dreaded pair, the male bird 
 starts from his perch, in full preparation for the chase, with an awful 
 
 scream. 
 
 Flijyht Like a Flash of Lightning. 
 
 Now is the time to witness a display of the eagle's powers. He glides 
 
 through the air like a falling star, and, like a flash of lightning, comes 
 
 upon the timorous quarry, which now, in agony and despair, seeks, by 
 
 various maneuvers, to elude the grasp of his cruel talons.* It mounts, 
 
 doubles, and willingly would plunge into the stream, were it not prevented 
 
 25 
 
 i 
 
 
Mi 
 
 III 
 
 n ' 
 
 hi \ 
 
 !,1 
 
 38() 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 by the oajjjlc, which, loni^ possessed of the knouleclj^e that, by such a 
 strataL^ein, the swan might cscai;)e him, forces it to remain in the air jjy 
 atteinpting to strike it with his talons from beneath. The hour of 
 escape is .s(M)n given u|) by the swan. It has ah'eady become much weak- 
 ened, and its strerigth fails at the sight of the courage and swiftn(>-, of 
 its antagonist. Its last gasp is about to escape, when the ferocious cu'^lo 
 strikes with his talons the under side of its wing, and, with unresisted 
 power, forces the bird to fall in a slanting direction upon tlic tharcst 
 shore. 
 
 \V'\. again, when two of these eagles are hunting, in concert, sonnj 
 bird which lias alighted on the water, this writer sa\-s : At olliur linics 
 when these eagle.s, .sailing in search of prey, discover a goose, a duclc, or 
 a swan, that lias alighted on the water, the)' accomplish its destruction in 
 a manner that is woilliy of our attention. Well aware that the walcr- 
 fo\',l ha\e it in their power to di\e at their approach, and therebv elude 
 their attempts upon them, they ascend in the air, in opposite dir^'ctions, 
 o\er the lal<e or ri\er i^n which the object which they arc desirous of pos- 
 .sessing has jjeen observed. I^olh reach a certain height, immedial i\ af- 
 ter which, one of them glide. wiLli great swiftness toward the piv; the 
 latter, meantime, aware of the eagle's intention, dives the moment before 
 hz reaches the s[)ot. The pursuer then rises in th.e au', and is niet h\- its 
 mate, which glides toward the water bird that has just emerged to breathe, 
 and forces it to plunge again beneath the surface, to escape the talons of 
 this second assailant. The fu'st eagle is now poising itself in the place 
 where its mate formerl\- was, and rushes anew, to force the quarr\- to 
 make another plunge. By thus alternately gliding, in rapid ami (ifton- 
 repeated rushes, over the ill-fated bird, the}- soon fatigue it, when it 
 stretches out its neck', swims dccpl\-, and makes for the .shore in the hope 
 of concealing itself among tlie rank weeds. But this is of no a\ail ; for 
 the eagles follow it in all its motions; and the moment it approaches the 
 margin, one of them darts upon it. 
 
 The Soa Easle. 
 
 In the penus iialia;tus belong the fishing or sea eagles, the best known 
 :uid lari'cst of which is the white-headed eagle. The length is about 
 ilr.ee feet, and the extent of wings seven feet ; the female is somewhat 
 larger. Its usual food is fish, but it cats the flesh of other animals, when 
 it can get it and often seizes quadrupeds and birds of inferior fiiglit, and 
 when {ires.sed by hunger will feed on carrion. The flight of this bird is 
 very majestic ; it .sails along^ w'ith extended wings and can ascend until it 
 disappears from view, without any apparent motion of the wings or tail; 
 
 ; -! ■' 
 
^5^:^:^ 
 
 -'• -T^ ' ' ^ ■ < 
 
 by such a 
 the air, Ijy 
 - hopr (if 
 uich ucak- 
 swiftnc.ss of 
 cious caL^lo 
 unrcsihteu 
 ll'ic nearest 
 
 iccrl, Miiinj 
 iilhc'r tunes, 
 , a duclc, or 
 ;struct!(iii in 
 : the watcr- 
 icrcby elude 
 e directions, 
 rcius ()t pos- 
 nediateiy af- 
 ic prey ; the 
 ment bifore 
 s met by its 
 1 to breathe, 
 lie talons of 
 in the place 
 quarry to 
 and (;ften- 
 it, when it 
 in the hope 
 c) a\ail ; for 
 roaches the 
 
 Ibest Known 
 
 th is about 
 
 I somewhat 
 
 [mals, when 
 
 flight, and 
 
 Ithis bird is 
 
 tend until it 
 
 i<rs or tail; 
 
 
 
 ■: .■■ifii 
 
 % 
 
 Fisu EAULE wrni nuoui) Ob" voi;n<;. 
 
 (:'.S7) 
 
 '■fesj 
 
PL. 
 
 'I' 
 
 I; , 
 
 '! 
 
 3SS 
 
 EARTH, SI:A, and SKY, 
 
 and from the L;"rcatcst luiL^ht il tlcsccnds with ;i liipiclit}-, w hicli can srarcclv 
 be followed b\' the eye. I'hc power of win^ is nor more remarkahli' than 
 the ccmsumate skill with w hich the stroiv,; pim'ons are made to c't tlv -ij,- 
 
 These birds live to a s^reat i\'j;c. The)- are gener illy seen in Mairs an' 
 the imion seems to last for life. The attachment oi the old birds t' i their 
 \'ounL^ is \-er\' great. The breeding season commences about March aiiil 
 thongh each male has but one mate tluring its entire life, many and ticrc^' 
 are the battles, which arise about the possession of these spous(..s. 
 
 The Os|»r<'.v or l^'isli Ivanio. • 
 
 The u liite-tailed .sea eagle of Murope, called also ospre\', is distribute i 
 over the nortliern ])ortions of tlu ( )ld Wmld. It feed.s principiUy en fssh 
 and when unable to obtain Hsh, on sea birds, young .seals, and anv small 
 animals which it -an surprise. The length from the point of the beak to 
 the end of the tai. is about two feet, and the expanded wings nu;asurc 
 somewhat more than fi\e feet. 
 
 The wings, when cU^.sed, reach beyond the end of the tail. The head 
 is small, and is brown or l)lack, with white at the top. The upper parts 
 of the body and the whole of the tail are brown, and the breast is white. 
 It is a singular circumstance in the formation of this bird that the outer 
 toe turns easily l)ackward, so as on occasion 'o have two of the toes for- 
 ward and two backward, and it has a much larger claw than the inner 
 one. This, and the roughness of the whole foot underneath, are well 
 adapted for the st :uring of its prey. 
 
 A Sud<l<Mi I*lniij>*'. 
 
 During the .'-pring and summer months the osprey is frecjuentl}' seen 
 hovering over the ri\ers for minutes without visible c'nange of [ilace. It 
 then suddenly darts down and plunges into the water, whence it seldom 
 rises again without a fish in its talons. When it rises in the air it shaken 
 off the water and pursues its way towards the woods. The' bald eai;le 
 which, on the.se occasions, is generally on the watch, instantly jnu-.sues 
 the osprey, whereupon the latter drops the fish. The former immediately 
 pounces at this prey and never fails to catch it before it reaches the water, 
 leaving the osprey to begin its work afresh. Sometimes the osprey will 
 fight with the otlier for its rightful property, and though generally con- 
 quered in the end, a fight of this sort has been kept up for upwards of 
 
 half an hour. 
 
 The Harpy EagL^ 
 
 The harpy eagle is of the size, power, and fierceness of the true cackles, 
 
 It has a crest of numerous broad, black feathers on the back part of the 
 
 head, which is raised by excitement and depressed in tranquillity. The 
 
is (listril)ul'j 1 
 ip'illy on fish, 
 nd any small 
 if the beak tr, 
 in<r.s measure 
 
 THE IMPERIAL EAGLE. 
 
 
 hack an>' winss arc bn.u ni<h-!)lack. each featlier teniiinatint; in a narrow 
 s^ti'ak '-•■' ligli'ter shade; .'.-e under surface i^ pure wliile; its \vin<^s arc 
 slKutJts uis and talons robust, its ^^-neral aspect severe and savac^^c, 
 
 wi 
 
 th 
 
 methins ^f '^1'*' gloomy expression of the owl. It inhabits 
 
 RAVENOUS HARPY F.Ar.T.r. 
 
 Mexico and the n.^thern portions of South America. It preys on sloths, 
 monkeys, fawns, and other quadrupeds, and especially the younij ones 
 Ono. of the species, which was being carried to England, killed and 
 
 « b 
 
 *: 
 
 ^1' 
 
 it m ^ I 
 
 h 
 
 I' 
 
 ■<)* " 
 
il 
 
 890 
 
 KARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 devoured a kii!^- /ultiirc which was in the same ca<^e. After its arrival a 
 cat was put into the cage, and this it struck with its focit, uistamlv 
 breaking its back. It has been known to break a man's skull by a stroke 
 of its powerful b'U. 
 
 D'Orbigny tells of one which, ha\ing been pierced entirely throtigji 
 the body by two arrows of the Indians, still Tiercel)' attacked the persons 
 around him. and was finally dispatched with (iifficulty. This formidable 
 species inhabits the edges of forests, and i.s particularly f(*nd of seekiri" 
 its prey along the banks of rivers; it seems not to fear man, but allows 
 his approach with an air of defiance. 
 
 The Short- WiiiKod Tyrant of tin* Forest. 
 
 The shortness of the wing.s of the harpy eagle, when compared with 
 tiiose ol the golden eagle of Europe, and tiieir rounded form and breast, 
 though well adapting them for a continued steady flight, render them less 
 efficient as organs of rapid aerial evolutions than those of the latter, but 
 as it inliabits the woods and does not prey upon birds, but upon animals 
 incapable of saving themselves by flight, its powers of wing arc in 
 accordance with the circumstances as to food and locality under which it 
 is placed. 
 
 The harpjy is the crested, crowned tyrant, and destructive South 
 American eagle. Its length is from two and a half to three feet and the 
 spread of the wings five to six feet. Its general color is dark brown 
 above and white below. The feathers of the breast are -/ery lon^ and 
 loose. It lives in the dark forests of inter-tropical America, es|)ecially 
 near the borders of great river/, and preys on .sloths, monkeys, large birds 
 and on young deer and other quadrupeds of that size. 
 
 If the harpy eagle soars not aloft, hovering over plains and nniunUiins, 
 it threads the woods, and with unerring aim, strikes its defenceless vic- 
 tims. Death seems the work of an instant ; the strongest of these animals, 
 powerless in his grasp, is clutched and expires. Strong as are th.^- talons 
 of the golden eagle, great as is the muscular development of its limbs, 
 •and- formidable as are its claws, they .seem almo.st trilling compareil with 
 those o' the harpy eagle. It is interesting to compare the skeletons of 
 these birds. The bones of the harpy are in thickness more than douhl; 
 that of the golden eagle, and the enormous size of the talons is sufficient 
 to convince the observer of the ease with which tiiis fierce bird couKI 
 bury its claws in the vitals of its prey. In its native region.-, the liarn;.' 
 eagle is by no means common. It is eagerly hunted by the natives, ho 
 consider the feathers of this bird as their proudest decorations. 
 
■ its arrival a 
 'ct, instantly 
 1 by a stroke 
 
 ■c-ly throiigli 
 
 the persons 
 
 s foniudahlc 
 
 d of scekin-: 
 
 o 
 
 1, but allows 
 
 mparcd with 
 1 and breast, 
 Icr them less 
 !ic latter, but 
 ipon animals 
 .viiig are in 
 idcr which it 
 
 ictivc South 
 feet and the 
 dark brown 
 V loULi and 
 es])e!:iall)- 
 'dV'^c birdi 
 
 irnuntains, 
 .'iiceles.s \ic- 
 :.se animals, 
 
 th.o talons 
 its limbs, 
 
 )arecl with 
 ikcletons of 
 
 lan doubl: 
 IS sufficient 
 
 jjird could 
 
 the harpy 
 atives, ho 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 CHARMING CREATURES OF THE AIR. 
 
 H.auty of the Bird of Paradise — Strange Guesses— "A Heavenly Residence" — Fly- 
 ing Against the Wind — Method of Capturing the Paradise Bird — Rising Above 
 the Gale — Plumage of Wonderful Elegance — Bird Seen in a Mirror — Fastidious 
 Creature — Pride of Feathers— Pretty Hedge-Sparrow — Great Pains in Building 
 ^ X^-st — Fine Singers — Nightingale Learning the Hedge-Sparrow's Song^Dis- 
 rovery of the Lyre-Bird— Singular P'orm of Tail — Graceful Appearance — Swiit 
 Runner— Sudden Break in f 'ie Music —Savages Decorated with Superb Feath- 
 ers— The Swift Swallow -Ii.genious Aerial Oars— Long Flights— Extraordinary 
 Migrations— Guesses by Scientific Men — ''When the Swallows Homeward Fly" — 
 Argus Pheasant — Size and Color- -A Beauty of Sumatra — Plumage Decorated 
 with a Hundred Eyes— Short Life in Captivity — Old Birds with Gay Feathers — 
 Story of Crccsus and Solon — "Golden-Flower F"owl" of China — Far-Flying Alba- 
 tross — Expert Fisher— Nest Built up on the Ground— The Plumed Crane — 
 Milton's Description — Story of William the Conciueror — Habits of Crane Fam- 
 ,ly_I,udicrous Vanity of a Crane — Dweller in Tree-Tops. 
 
 ME birds of i)aradise have great diversity of beauty. Some of 
 them have thinly-barbed feathers to cover the closed wing, so 
 prolonged as to form immense tufts, and extending far back- 
 ward beyond the body. The most fanciful conjectures have 
 been entertained in reference to the habits of these birds. By some they 
 have been regarded as inhabitants of the air, living only on the dew of 
 heaven, and never touch!. .^ the surface of this terrestrial sphere ; and 
 others, while believing they never rested on the ground, have considered 
 that they subsisted on insects. Some have ranked them among the birds 
 of prey, and others — including Buffon — asserted that they had no feet, 
 and could neither walk nor swim, and were incapable of any other means 
 of progression except by flight. 
 
 i,ome little mystery beclouded the views of many, in consequence of 
 the fact that the people of the islands where the bird of paradise was first 
 obtained have paid little regard to the .study of natural history. The fact 
 is, that its legs being large and strong, and neither ornamental nor required 
 in the skins made up for general commerce, were cut off; while the 
 natives, thus concealing what they regarded as a deformity, considered 
 themselves entided to augment their demands when they offered the bird 
 for sale. The purchaser of it in civilized countries naturally inquired for 
 the legs of which it wao destitute, and the seller began to think that it could 
 
 (391) 
 
 i':'!tli..,if»^^ 
 
 11 f 
 
 '^-'.^■'H 
 '^i#- 
 
 H* 111 
 
 1i 
 
 ,1' 
 lit 
 
 
 i V it 
 
« 
 
 a{)2 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKV 
 
 I: t 
 
 WMi 
 
 n 
 
 ha\c none. MaviiiLj ani\ctl at this sati- factory conclusion, it was a lu-ces- 
 sary inference that a bird -.vithoiit Icl^s niiist hve in ihr air, uliicli \\',\.U\ 
 render theni unnecessary ; the extraoriliuary beauty dI ihc i)hinia,i,u .I'wl.'d 
 to tile deception, and as it was considered lO have " iieavenly l)rauiv," n 
 was tliou;4ht aiso to lia\e a " heavenl)' resilience." In accor(IaiiC( wiili 
 this \icw its name was _L;i\-en, and the liiisL rt'ports which haw been pnip. 
 ai^ated on the subject have thus a Hence Linuicu^ .uid tlie ultlcr 
 
 writers styled the binl af^oiia, oi loouess, although the nian ulio jiuio- 
 duced the bird to scientific obsor\-ation in luirope distinctl)' stated thai it 
 was in no [)roiiiinent res[)ect different from other birds. 
 
 I*ai'iidis<> liinis in the .Vii*. 
 
 Tile true resitlence. or breeding-place, ot these birds seems to be I'apna, 
 or New Guinea, whence lhe>- make occasional excursions to sonic smaller 
 nei_i;liborin;^ islands. The\- ll\- in llocks of about thirty or fort)-, led, it i.s 
 alleL;ed, b\- a siiude bird, which the natives call their kin;^', but which is 
 said to be i^{ a different s])ecies. It is t'urther pi\teniled, that u In ii this 
 bird s(.'ttles the whole ni!_;ht settle also, in conseiiuence of which tluv 
 sometimes ])erish, beiiii;' unable to rise aL;ain. owiiii; to the peculiar -tnic- 
 turc of their wint^s. They also alwa>'> ll}- aj^ainst the wind, lest their 
 plumaj;-e should be discomposed. While llvini; ilie\ make a noise like 
 starlings, but their common cr\- rather resembles that of a ra\en. and is 
 veiy audible in windy weathe-r, when they dread the chance of heiiiL^ 
 thrown upon the s^round. In the Aru islaiuls the\' an seen to perch un 
 Ioft\' trees, and an; \ariously captured by the inhabitants, with bird-lime 
 snares and blunted arrows. 'riiouLjh many are taken alive, they arc 
 alwa_\-s killed imnuxliately, embowelled. the feet cut off the plunietl skins 
 fumii^ated with sulphur and then dried for sale. The Dutch >hips 
 fre(pientin!4- the sea between New Guinea and Aru, a distance of about 
 twenty miles, not unfrcquentl\' observe flocks (^f |)aradise birds cro-^ini; 
 from one to the other of these i)laces, but constantlx' ai^ainst tiie wind. 
 Should a s::jale arise, tlie\' ascend to i i^reat heicjht, into the region^ of 
 perpetual calm, and there i)ursue their journey. With respect to their 
 food, we ha\e little cert.iin information from the older authors, some of 
 whom assert they prey on small birds, a supposition which is favored by 
 their strenij^th of bills and lej^s, and the vigor with which the\' act in self- 
 defence. They are said also to feed on fruits, berries, and butterflies. 
 Plmnod Bird of Gracetiil Plight. 
 
 A recent account of these birds in a state of nature is given by Lesson. 
 
 The birds of paradise, he says, or at least the emerald species live in 
 troops in the vast forests of the Papuans, a group of islands situated under 
 
11 
 
 'P1 
 
 ■11 
 
 i;;i i 
 
 
 m 
 
 KOVAL lilKO OF rAKAlM-l': 
 
 (\m) 
 
 1 
 
i''M: 
 
 '. i 
 
 ,.|TT 
 
 r^(i! 
 
 I !' 
 
 ■plll 
 
 N 
 
 ' 
 
 N* !^ ; 
 
 : 
 
 ;'.!» 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 the ccitiator. and which is cojiiposcd of the islands Arou, \Vaj;ioii, and the 
 great island callcti New (iuinea. They arc birtls of passa^'e, chaiviivr 
 their cjuarters accf)rdinc; to the monsoons. The females conirrc-c^al- jn 
 troops, assemble ujion the tops of the hiL^hcst trees in the forest, and all 
 cry toc;ether tf) call the males. These last are always alone in the midst 
 of some fifteen females, which compost; their seraglio, after the manner ()f 
 the gallinaceous l)irds, 
 
 ('ol<»r4Ml Pliiiiiii^c of Siirpi'isiii};' I-Mc^Miifc. 
 Soon after our arrival at this land of prt)mise (New Guinea) fir ilu 
 naturalist, I was on a shootinL,^ excursion. Scarcely had I walked s. uno 
 hundred paces in those ancient forests, the daufjhters of time, whose 
 sombre depth was perhaps the most magnificent and statel\- sij^dit tliat I 
 had ever seen, when a bird of paradise struck my view: it flew gracefullv 
 and in undulations ; the feathers of its sides formed an elegant and at rial 
 phimc, which, without exaggeration, bore no remote resemblance to a 
 brilliant meteor. Sur|)rise(l, astounded, enjo\-ing an inexpressi!)lc rrr.itifi- 
 cation, I devoured this si)lenciid bird with my eyes; but my emotion \\a> 
 so great that I forgot to shoot at it, and did not recollect that I luul a ^im 
 in my hand till it was far awa)-. 
 
 One scarcely has a just idea of the paradise birds from the skins which 
 the Papuans sell to the Mala\'s and which come to us in America. The 
 people formerly hunted the birds to decorate the turbans of their chiefs. 
 They kill them during the night by climbing the trees where they perch, 
 and shooting them with arrows made for the purpose, very short, which 
 they make with the stem of the leaves of a palm. The campongs, or vil- 
 lages of Mappia and of Emberbakenc are celebrated for the quantitv nf 
 birds which they prepare, and all the art of the inhabitants is directed to 
 taking off their feet, skinning, thrusting a little stick through the body, 
 and drying it in the smoke. Some more adroit, at the solicitation of the 
 Chinese merchants, dry them with the fi;et on. 
 
 It is at the rising and setting of the sun that the bird of paradise goes 
 to seek its food. In the middle of the day it remains hidden under the 
 ample foliage of the teak-tree, and comes not forth. He seems to dread 
 the scorching rays of the sun, and to be unwilling to expose himselfto 
 the attacks of a rival. 
 
 Bennett, in his " Wanderings," gives the following account of a bird of 
 paradise which he found in an aviary at Macao, where it had been con- 
 fined nine years, exhibiting no appearance of age; 
 
 This elegant, beautifully colored creature has a light, playful, and 
 graceful manner, with an arch and impudent look ; dances about when a 
 
CIIAKMIN(i CRKATUKES OK THE A IK. 
 
 3Ua 
 
 visitor ;ii)i)roaches the cage, and seems delitjhted.it beiiij; made an ob- 
 ject of admiration; its notes are very peculiar, resembhn^ the cawing of 
 the raven, but its Kines are by far more varied. During four montlis of 
 the vear, from May to August, it moults. It washes itself regularly 
 twice daily, and, after ha\ ing performed its ablutions, throws its delicate 
 feathers up nearly over the head, the (juills of which have a peculiar 
 structure, so as to enable the bird to effect this object. His food during 
 confinement is boiled rice mixed with soft egg, together with plantains 
 and living insects of the grasshopper tribe ; these insects, when thrown 
 to him, the bird contrives to catch in his beak with great celerity. 
 
 Passioiiato I'ridc of Dress. 
 
 I have observed the bird, previously to eating a grasshopper given 
 him in an entire and unmutilateil state, place the insect upi)n the perch, 
 keep it firmly fixed with the claws, and, divesting it of the legs and wings, 
 devour it, with the head always placed first. He rarely alights upon 
 the ground, and so proud is the creature of his elegant dress, that he 
 never permits a soil to remain upon it, and may t'requently be seen 
 spreading out his wings and feathers, and regarding his splendid self in 
 every direction, to observe whether the whole of the plumage is in an 
 unsullied condition. He does not suffer from the cold weather during 
 the winter scson at Macao, though exposing the elegant bird to the 
 blcik northerly winds is always very particularly avoided. 
 
 The sounds uttered by this bird are very peculiar; that which ap- 
 pears to be a note of congratulation resembles somewhat the cawing of 
 the raven, but changes to a varied scale of musical gradations. A 
 drawing of the bird, of the nafural size, was made by a Chinese artist. 
 The bird advanced steadily towards the picture, uttering at the same 
 time its cawing, congratulatory notes ; it did not appear excited by rage, 
 but pecked gently at the representation, jumping about the perch, knock- 
 ing its mandablcs together with a clattering noise, and cleaning them 
 against the perch, as if welcoming the arrival of a companion. After the 
 tii'il of the picture, a looking-glass was brought, to see what effect it 
 would produce upon the bird, and the effect was nearly the same ; he 
 re^iirded the reflection of himself most steadfastly in the mirror, nevei- 
 quitting it during the time it remained before him. When the glass was 
 removed from the lower to the ujiper perch, he instantly followed, but 
 would not descend upon the floor of the cage when placed so low. 
 
 Paradise Bird in His Glory. 
 
 One of the best opportunities of seeing this splendid bird in all the 
 beauty of action, as well as display of plumage, is early in the morning, 
 
 
Wki 
 
 
 
 f i .1 
 
 ;}!)() 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 when he makes his toilet; the beautiful plumage is then thrcnvn out 
 and cleaned from any spot that may sully its purity by being passed 
 gently through the bill ; the short chocolate-colored wings are ex- 
 tended to the utmost, and he keeps them in a steady flapping motion, as 
 if in imitation of their use in flight, at the same time raising up the deli- 
 cate long feathers over the back, which are spread in a chaste and ele- 
 gant manner, floating like films in the ambient air. 
 
 I never yet, says I^ennett, beheld a soil on its ftMthers. After ex- 
 panding its wings, it would bring them together so as to conceal the 
 head, then bending it gracefully, it would inspect the state of itsplumaqe 
 underneath. This action it repeats in quick succession, uttering at tlic 
 time its croaking notes ; it then pecks and cleans its plumage in every 
 part within reach, and throwing out the elegant and delicate tuft nf 
 feathers underneath the wings, seemingly with much care, and with not 
 a little pride, they are cleaned in succession, if required, by throwiniT 
 them abroad, elevating them, and passing them in succession tlnoui'h 
 the bill. Then turning its back to the spectator, the actions above- 
 mentioned arc repeated, but not in so careful a manner; elevating its 
 tail and long shaft-f^'athers, it raises the delicate plumage, forniin'^ a 
 beautiful dorsal crest, and throwing its feathers up with much grace, ap- 
 pears as proud as a lady in her full ball-dress. 
 
 Having completed the toilet, it utters the usual cawing notes, at the 
 same time looking archly at the spectators, as if ready to receive all the 
 admiration that it considers its elegant form and display of plumage de- 
 mand; it then takes exercise by hopping, in a rapid and graceful man- 
 ner, from one end of the upper perch to the other, and descends sud- 
 denly upon the second perch close to the bars of the cage, looking out 
 for the grasshoppers which it is accustomed to receive at this time. 
 
 This bird is not at all ravenous in its habits of feeding, but it eats rice 
 leisurely, almost grain by grain. Should any of the insects thro\^n in- 
 to the cage fall upon the floor, it will not descend to them, appearing to 
 be fearful that in so doing it may soil its delicate plumage: it therefore 
 seldom or ever descends, except to perform ablutions in the pan of 
 water placed at the bottom of the cage expressly for its use. 
 
 Tlu' Iledgi'-Sparrow or Siskin. 
 
 The siskin or hedge-sparrow is a common bird in all the high part> of 
 Europe. They build generally near the extremities of the branches of 
 tall fir trees or near the summit of the tree. They build a nest of small 
 twigs of birch or heath outside, and neatly lined with hair. Their eggs 
 are a bluish white spotted with purple or red. The bird closely resein- 
 
n tliro^vn out, 
 ■ being passed 
 .villus are ex- 
 ing motion, as 
 ig up the (Icli- 
 chaste and cle- 
 ars. After rx- 
 to conceal the 
 of its plumafjc 
 uttering at the 
 image in every 
 lelicate tuft nt 
 2, and with not 
 .1, by throwing 
 :.ssion through 
 actions abovc- 
 r ; elevating its 
 lagc, forming a 
 luch grace, ap- 
 
 ig notes, at the 
 receive all the 
 
 )f plumage de- 
 grace ful man- 
 descends sud- 
 
 je, looking mit 
 this time. 
 
 but it cats rice 
 cts throve n in- 
 
 n, appearing to 
 e : it therefore 
 in the pan of 
 
 ise. 
 
 high part^ of 
 he branches of 
 a nest of small 
 r. Their eggs 
 closely resein- 
 
 GRACEFUL }I KDGE-SPAKROWS. 
 
 (307) 
 
 ■I ^m 
 
 ifflilrs' ilii i .' 
 
 ^i 
 
 Jim * 
 
 'P'*: 
 
 ft*'. > J 
 
ir 
 
 f 
 
 f 
 
 ^98 
 
 EARTH, Sr:A, AND SKY. 
 
 rs 
 
 bles the common .sp:iriow in appearance. They arc excellent sino-e 
 and can easily be domesticated. There are about forty species of tliis 
 pretty little bird which by its f^entle ways and its beautiful song has en- 
 deared itself to the inhabitants of continental Europe and the British 
 Isles. 
 
 A nestling nightingale learnt the notes of a hedge-sparrow that sann- 
 near to it, for want of other sounds to imitate ; and it was extraordinary 
 to hear the gentle, although agreeable warble of the latter attuned to 
 the full compass and power of the nightingale. The effect was most 
 pleasing, although, of course, not equal to the natural notes of this bird, 
 not one of wliicli he retained. Indeed, many birds are almost entirely 
 imitative, and m default of hearing the parent bird, they borrow notes 
 of others: soft-billed birds always jn-eferring the song of soft-billed 
 
 birds, and z'/rc versa. 
 
 Tlu> I.yio-Bird. 
 
 In the beginning of the present century, a party of rather turbulent 
 Irishmen were sent on a voyage of discovery to New South Wales. The 
 go\ernor hardly knew what to do with them, and he thought the hard- 
 ships of travelling in an unknown countr\' would cure their restlessness. 
 When they returned, they brought with them a bird which they cailcd a 
 pheasant. Its si.ze was that of a connnon hen, of a reddish blaclc color, 
 and with strong black legs. It had a crest on it-j head, but its tail was 
 the most extraordinary part of it. It spread out in the shape of a lyre, 
 and was composed of se\-eral feathers f f a ligl'.t brown color, inclininjj; to 
 orange, and shading into silver. The end of each frather was jjlack. 
 The feathers were of a different texture, alternatel}' thin and thick. 
 
 The tail has not the dazzling .splendor of the peacock, but it surpassc; 
 it in beauty of shape. There are, as ynu see, twolarge cruA-ed f ailKis, of 
 black and brown striped., that curve into the form of a lyre, and between 
 them are a number of finer ami gauze-like f.;athers that fill up the space 
 and give them a most elegant appearance. Nothing so striking or grace- 
 ful hatl been e\er imagined, ami yet it had been hidden in the wild Inishes 
 of Australia from time immemorial. 
 
 Of all the birds the lyre-bird is the most difficult to catch sight of, much 
 less to procure. Its large strong feet are made for running, antl it is con- 
 .stantlv going up and tl(~)wn among the brushwood, from the top of the 
 mountains to the steep and stony gullies below. It carries its tail erect, so 
 that it can come to no danger. It has a loud cry, which may he heard a 
 long way off, and another note, which may be called a song, but wliich 
 cannot be heard unless you are close by. 
 
t singers 
 JS of this 
 g has cn- 
 le British 
 
 that sang 
 ^ordinary 
 ttuned to 
 ivas most 
 this bird, 
 >t entirely 
 row notes 
 soft4)il!cd 
 
 turbulent 
 lies. 'Hie 
 the hard- 
 jstlcssiicss. 
 cy called a 
 lack color, 
 ts tail was 
 of a lyre, 
 dining to 
 a-i black. 
 ick. 
 surpassc:; 
 athers, of 
 between 
 the space 
 or i;race- 
 1(1 bushes 
 
 ul 
 
 It of, nuich 
 1 it is con- 
 to[) of the 
 lil erect, so 
 H' heard a 
 but which 
 
 QUEE 
 
 'r* 
 
 (399) 
 
 li 
 
M. 
 
 f 
 
 lift 
 
 400 
 
 EARTH, SEA AN'P SKY 
 
 The naturalist <^oes througli unheard-of toils to catcli a sii;lit ifthe 
 birds. I le lies hidden among the brushwood, and hears their loud siir;;'- 
 notes, for days together, without bcin^;- able to obtain a glimpse ( fthcin 
 Quite dcterminetl to doso, he does not give up his point, but climbs aiMiKr 
 the gullies and ravines, where he has to cling to trees and creeping ulanu 
 to keep himself from fdling. 
 
 These are the spots where the birds often resort ; but if so much as a 
 branch cracks, or a stone rolls over, they take the alarm and are l; .iie 
 i'^'cn when the hunter has come up with one of them, he has to crawl 
 among the branches of the trees and remain perfectly motionless. If the 
 bird is not singing, or engaged in scratching for food, it is almost sure to 
 perceive him if he stirs either hand or foot, and it vanishes as ifbviiia'ic 
 
 It runs with the utmost rapidity, aided by its wings, over roclcs or lorr,; 
 of wood, or whatever comes in its way. It does not often fly into atn.c. 
 except to roost. It scratches about the ground and thie roots of tr':cs to 
 pick up seeds and insects. Its nest is xery large, and like that of the nia.- 
 pie. There are twelve or sixteen eggs in the nest, of a white color, witlia 
 few light blue spots. Tlie young birds scamper about with the utnidst 
 rapidity, and hide themselves amongst the rocks and bushes. In sonvj 
 places, where roads have been cut through the bush, the bird is more fre- 
 quently seen, and a man on horseback can approach it more easiK' than 
 when on foot. It seems less afraid of the horse than of the man. Soiik- 
 timesit is pursued by dogs, that are taught to rush suddenly upon it wlion 
 it leaps down from its roosting-place in the tree. And sometinx's the 
 hunter wears one of the beautiful lyredike tails in his hat, and keeps it 
 moving about while he hides in the bushes. The bird is taken b\- sur- 
 prise at what he supposes to be one of his own species, and comes within 
 
 reach of the gun. 
 
 No Time to be Lost. 
 
 Another w^iy is to whistle, or make some unusual sound, upon whieh 
 the bird will come forth out of curiosity, and allow himself to be seen ;b;;t 
 unless tl2 gun is fired in a moment, he is halfway down the valley. In 
 (deed, shooting the lyre-bird is totally different to any other kind of sport, 
 and the most clever sportsman could do nothing unless he ui' Icrstuoil 
 the nature of the country and the habits of the bird. The native is by far 
 the most expert hunter of any. He likes to deck his hair with the plum- 
 age of the lyre-bird, and to glide noiselessly among the bushes with a L,niii 
 in his hand. So cautious is he, and so silent, that he can always approach 
 nearer to it than any one else, and rarely suffers it to escape. 
 
 Besides its running powers, the bird can take very wonderful leaps. 
 
CHARMING CREATURES OF THE AIR. 
 
 401 
 
 At one ]''ap it can rise ten feet from the ground. Its habits are sohtary ; 
 but tw o lyre-birds have been seen at play, chasing each other round and 
 round, and carrying their elegant tails in an upright position. It has 
 also tlie habit of making a round hillock, on which it comes every day 
 and erects its tail, and tramples the ground, and utters all its notes — 
 sometimes mocking those of other birds, and even making a howling 
 noise like that of the dingo, or native dog. 
 
 Resides its loud full call, which may be heard echoing to a great dis- 
 tance, it can sing the little song we have mentioned. The strain is often 
 broken off suddenly, and then resumed again. The nests are sometimes 
 placed on the ledge of some projecting rock, or on the stump of a tree, 
 but always near the ground. One of the nests which was seen by a 
 naturalist was deep, and shaped like a bason, and lined with the bark of 
 trees and fibrous roots. 
 
 Mail the Foe of the Auiuuvl Creation. 
 
 " It is much to be regretted," Mr. Bennet justly remarks, "that hu- 
 man beings are so eager to destroy, even to extermination, the races of 
 animals, useful or dangerous, which may be found in a new country. In 
 the settled parts of a colon}', the harmless kangaroos and emus are 
 rarely .seen, when they might be easily domesticated about the habita- 
 tions. The same remark applies to the lyre-pheasant. Why are they 
 not domesticated before, by extermination they are lost to us forever ?" 
 
 The tail feathers are detached entire from the bird, and are sold in the 
 shops in Sydney in pairs. The price was formerly low, but as the bird 
 has, from being destroyed, as it was not aforetime, become rare, the tails 
 fetch five to ten dollars per pair. About the ranges of the Tumal coun- 
 try, where gun has seldom been carried the}' are more frequently seen. 
 Mr. Bennett is our authority for the following particulars : 
 
 This bird has its young, like all the wild animals, in the country, and 
 can there be most easily procured. It is heavy it' flight, but swift of 
 Tiot. On catching a glimpse of tlu sportsman, it runs rapidly, aided by 
 the wings, in getting over logs of wood, rocks, or any obstruction to its 
 protrress ; it seldom flies into trees, except to roost, and then rises only 
 from branch to branch. These birds build in old hollow trunks of 
 trees which are lying on the ground or in the holes of rocks. The nest 
 is formed merely of dried grass or dried leaves, scraped together. The 
 female lays from twelve to sixteen eggs, of a white color, with a few 
 scattered blue spots. 
 
 The young are difficult to catch, as the}'- run with rapidity, concealing 
 themselves among the rocks and bushes. The lyre-bird, on descending, 
 20 
 

 ■A 
 
 
 
 
 iaSSm 
 
 
 ARIEL SWALLOWS AND XESTS. 
 
 (402) 
 
 The 
 
CHAR 'ING CREATURES OF THE AIR. 
 
 403 
 
 from high trees, on which it perches, has been seen to fly some distance. 
 It is more frequently observed during^ the early hours of the morning, 
 and in the evening?, than during the heat of the day. It scratches about 
 the ground and the roots of trees, to pick up seeds and insects. The 
 aborigines deck their greasy locks with the splendid tail-feathers of this 
 bird, when they can procure them. 
 
 The Swift Swallow. 
 
 The mechanism of birds is admirably suited to aid their rapid flight. 
 '1 heir aerial oars, moved by mu.scles of e.xtraordinary power, easily adapt 
 themselves to all the hazards of their peregrinations through the elevated 
 regions of air. There are animals, as the swallow, for instance, to which 
 flight is so easy that thc\' seem to make i\ sport of it. A passive force 
 further assists their sii-^pension in the plains of the atmosphere; air, 
 rarefied by the warmth of the body, penetrates into all its cavities and 
 even to the interior of the bones. Rendered thus specifically lighter, 
 like Montgolfier balloons filled with warm gas, they float without eflbrt 
 amid the clouds. Such is the daring flight of those condors which 
 Liunched themselves from the frozen summits of the Andes towards the 
 .sky, and soon disappeared from the sight of D'Orbigny, without one's 
 being able to explain how they ccuild breathe so rarefied an atmosphere. 
 
 The bird, though endowed with such a slight frame, nevertheless sur- 
 
 jia.ssos in strength the ponderous engines which glide along our railroads. 
 
 It.s vessels and fibres, notwithstanding their wonderful delicacy, work and 
 
 resist more energetically than our heavy wheel-work and ca.st-iron tubes; 
 
 in the one is seen the finger of God, in the other only the genius of man ! 
 
 Launched like an arrow into space, the bird, playing the while, silently 
 
 clears twenty leagues an hour. A locomotive going at high pressure, 
 
 on\cloped in fire and smoke, attains the same speed only by consuming 
 
 heaps of coal a..d water amid the infernal uproar of its wheels and 
 
 pistons. 
 
 Excu^^^ions of Hiiiidrods of Miles. 
 
 Accordino- to Sir Hans Sloanc.the sea-mews which nestle on the rocks 
 of l^arbadoes take every day a journey over the sea of four hundred 
 miles to amuse themselves and seek for food on a distant island, the 
 indu.stry of the animal thus excelling that of man. 
 
 On their adventurous excursions birds follow their track unerringly, 
 guided by sensations of an unknown nature and of extreme delicacy. 
 among which sight and smell play a great part. All historians re- 
 late that after the battle of Pharsalia, the putrid emanations from the 
 dead heaped upon tlv: ground attracted the vultures from Asia and Africa, 
 
I : 
 
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 1^1 ! 
 
 ill 
 
 
 
 
 
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 {■■Hlfe 
 
 
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 mII'* ' 
 
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 11 
 
 BhI 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 in ■ 
 
 
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 119 1 
 
 ^^^H' 
 
 
 
 
 fWtt 
 
 404 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 which came thither to make their repast. It is certain, accorciinfT to 
 Humboldt, that if a horse or cow be killed in Mie most solitary passes of 
 the Cordilleras where orio might think not even condors could exist 
 several of these sordid carnivorous birds, attracted by the stench, are 
 soon seen arriving in order to gorge themselves with the putrefied tlcsli. 
 
 The migrations of certain birds arc understood ; we know whence tlie\- 
 start, where they halt, and where ihey end thiMr journey. Thus, for in- 
 stance, in autumn, bands of quails which are emigrating, constantlv ar- 
 rive exhausted at the island of Malta, where they meet with fatal linspi- 
 tality. They are taken in swarms in the streets of the town and on the 
 roads, and as the inhabitants cannot consume the whole of this livinrr 
 harvest, it is sent to distant markets. 
 
 Singular Disappearances. 
 
 The mysterious emigration of the swallows has particularly occupied 
 the attention of observers. Men could not make out what became of 
 these charming visitors when they suddenly disappeared, and not long 
 ago the strangest suppositions were indulged in on this head. 
 
 As these birds in autumn seek their prey in the swamps, and seem to 
 plunge into them, it was for a long time believed that they buried them- 
 selves in the mud, only to issue again with the return of the spring 
 warmth, which re-animated them after a six months' asphyxia, or slum- 
 ber. Glaus Magnus, a northern naturalist, more erudite than observing. 
 was the first who propagated this fable, going so far as to maintain that 
 the Norwegian fishermen often take in their nets a number of swallows 
 along with the fish. It was even asserted that if the poor birds, all soiled 
 with mud, soaked with water, and stupefied with cold, were exposed to the 
 heat of a stove, they were seen to become speedily dry and return to life. 
 
 Linnaeus, Buffon, and even Cuvier believed such stories ! Ought we to 
 consider this as a reproach on their parts, when we see that some physi- 
 ologists of our own time obstinately maintain that certain animals can 
 be reanimated ? 
 
 The idea that swallows winter in the mud of our marshes was so pop- 
 ular, that a German academy thought it advisable to examine whether 
 there was any foundation for the opinion or not. This learned body ac- 
 cordingly proposed to give their weight in silver for all the swallows 
 brought out of the water, but ihe prize was never claimed. The n\ost 
 astonishing part of the matter is to find Cuvier believing in such a fable. 
 He says, " It appears certain that swallows become torpid during winter, 
 and even that they pass this season at the bottom of the water in the 
 marshes." 
 
CHARMING CREATURES OF THE AIR. 
 
 405 
 
 As the swallows have for a loncj time concealed their winter residence, 
 it became the subject of all sorts of conjectures. Some naturalists main- 
 tained that, instead of cmi<;ratinij to distant rei^ions, they hide themselves 
 anil become torpid in the depths of some cave, just as the bats do. One 
 of the most reliable of these men, Larrcy the sur;^eon, mentions havinj^ 
 discovered in the nei[^hborhood of Maurienne a grotto, the roof of which 
 was lined with a mass of swallows which kept themselves attached to it 
 like a s\\ arm of bees. 
 
 I)Ut the experiments of Spallanzani have destroyed all these false creeds. 
 The learned abbe found that the swallows which he wanted to throw into 
 a .state of hybernation in an ice-house, did not become torpid, but died. 
 
 Atianson has tau^^ht us that the swallows of southern Europe betake 
 themselves to the Senegal during the cold season. Those which are 
 scattered through adjacent lands unite together at autumn on the shores 
 of the Mediterranean, and when an irresistible desire impels them to 
 depart, cross this sea in numerous troops. Thus then in summer the 
 swallow builds its nest under the sumptuous cornices of palaces, and in 
 winter inhabits the huts of Senegambia. 
 
 AH do not attain the goal of their pilgrimage. The waves engulf those 
 which have reckoned too much upon their strength, unless some pro- 
 pitious rock or ship happen to be at hand to lend them refuge. During 
 one of mv wanderings across the Mediterranean, savs Adanson, some 
 strayed swallows happened, when we were mid-way between tlie two 
 coasts, to fall totallv exhausted on the deck of the frigate which was 
 carrying me towards Africa. Every one on board, soldiers and sailors, 
 overwhelmed them with attentions, which they received without exhibit- 
 ing signs of fear. When they had at last recovered from their fatigues, 
 tliey recommenced their journey towards the high regions of Senegal, 
 and perchance rested beneath the cabins of .savages long ere w^e had 
 greeted the ports of Algeria. 
 
 The Wanderers' "Welcome Return. 
 
 But after long and perilous journeys the.se charming visitors of our 
 dwellings return each year with touching fidelity to find their old domicile 
 di'^im. If the rains and winds have injured it, the architects cjuickly 
 repair it before making it witness of their loves. Spallanzani has even 
 noticed that the feathered couples become strongly attached to their 
 particular nests. Having fixed party-colored ribbons to the feet of s jme 
 of them, he recognized them the year after, when they came to take pos- 
 session again. He saw them return thus for eighteen successive sum- 
 mers. How many among us never enjoy such a long tenancy! 
 
 mm^^^ 
 
' » 
 
 40(; 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 u 
 
 Another species of the same ^roup, tlic arid swallow, fondh- ivtiirns to 
 its r'..'pii!jlic, formed of as^Ljloiiieratetl nests, and more inj^r^'mcn;,]^. ,.,,j,_ 
 structed than those of our swallows. These nests resemble so nuin\- wiilu- 
 necked bottles hiin;^ by the bottom in inaccessible places. 
 
 The ArgTMS Plicsisaiit. 
 
 The pheasants ha\-e a short, convex-, and stron^jj bill, the head more or 
 less covered with carunculatetl bare llcsh on the sides, which, in sonie 
 species, is continued upwards to the crown, and beneath, so as cm Inn - 
 under each jaw, and the Ics^s, in most of the species, are furniNlni] wuh 
 spurs. The females produce many youn;.^ ones at a broo^l. These thi,v 
 take care of for some time. The nests of the whole tribe are fninu.] 
 on the i^round. The common jdieasant is about three feet \>m-^, i,\ 
 •Ahich the tail forms onedialf; the male is bright rufous abtur, tht 
 head and neck blue with L;i'een and f^oldcn rellections, and \aric'.;,itr.l 
 with black and white. Its habits are much like those of the comiiiDii 
 fowl. 
 
 One of the prettiest species is the an^us pheasant. It is about the size 
 of a common fowl ; the uniler part and lower neck are reddish bniwn, 
 spotted with \'ellow and black; the back ochrey yellow with black an.! 
 brown spots; tail deep chestnut with white sjjots, surrounded b\- a black 
 rin^;' ; secondaries about three feet lonL,f and brownish, but when spread 
 adorned v.ith beautiful oscillated spots, like those in the jjeacock's tail. 
 
 The female is dull chestnut red, \aried with \'ellowish l)rown and black- 
 without the de\-elopmcnt of the tail feathers and secondaries. It is Inund 
 in the A)rests of Sumatia and the other large East Indian islands, where 
 it li\-es in pairs. The name argus i>heasant is derived from the number 
 of ej'e-like spots with \\hich its A\inL;' feathers are covered. 
 
 Sliort-Livod IJeauties. 
 
 These birds are extremel)- sh)-, and very difficult to be kept ali\c for 
 any length of time after they have been taken from the woods. In a 
 .strong light the\' appear to be dazzled, and when exposed to such, they 
 seem to be melancholy and inanimate, but in the dark the\- rec<>\cr all 
 their animation. They have a cry not unlike that of a peacock, and their 
 wings and tail feathers are in considerable request for female head tlressc>. 
 
 Other pheasants are the horned pheasant and Impe}-an pheasant (so 
 called in honor of Lady Impey). an inhabitant of Nepaul and the Him- 
 alaya mountains, both very beautiful birds. 
 
 It is a curious fact that the hen bird, when she is getting old, will often 
 assume the beautiful colors and gay plumage of her mate, and become a 
 sort of natural curiosity. Next to the peacock, the pheasant carries away 
 
 C 
 
 m 
 
 11 
 
 
 
^' r<.'t'.ii-ns to 
 ituisly n,!',. 
 in;in\- wiJc- 
 
 atl more or 
 i-'li. in SdHK- 
 
 us Id hail/ 
 
 ni^lu-il Willi 
 These ihev 
 
 arc fdiiiierl 
 jet li'iv.;-, (if 
 
 ab<i\e, tile 
 1 \-aric;.Mtci| 
 he coniDii.n 
 
 Kiut the si/A- 
 ilisii brown, 
 1 black aiii! 
 J b\' a black 
 vhen spread 
 Dck's tail. 
 :n and !)lack 
 It is found 
 lands, where 
 the number 
 
 ept ali\e for 
 oods. In a 
 ;o such, they 
 y' rcc(i\er all 
 ck, and their 
 !iead dresses.' 
 pheasant (so 
 nd the llim- 
 
 )ld, will often 
 
 nd become a 
 
 carries awav 
 
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 408 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 .-ippy 
 
 the palm in beauty, lioth for the hwcly color of his plutnes. aiidtlir h.ii 
 nianiicr in wliich they arc blended. 
 
 'I'licTc is an old story told about the famous king of L)'dia, Cni,-sii>, wh,, 
 was said to be the riehest nionareh in the world. lie was one day .scatr.i 
 on hi-i throne, ii\ liis roj-al robes, and in all his ma;^Mii licence, and as'u (' 
 Suh.ii, the (1 reek j)hiloso[)her, if he had ever seen anythiiv^j so fine. [^ 
 wa> rather a foolish question. And Solon replied, that having seen t!i- 
 ,1)1 aiitiTul plunia;;e of the pheasant, he could not be sur[)rised by anv otlu r 
 j^iandjur that mii^ht bj displayed before him. 
 
 The pheasant, thus grandly attiretl, is no less admired when served in) 
 at th ■ ta!)le. His flesh is so delicate that its delicacy once became a 
 pro\erl), and when a doctor in those cla>'s wished to recommend an ariii.K^ 
 of diet, he used to .say it was as nice and as wholesome as the flesh of the 
 plieasant. 
 
 There are many \arieties of the pheasant, such as the spotted pheasant-; 
 of China, and l!ie gold and silwr pheasants, also brought from th.it 
 couulr}-. The <la;ly life of the pheasant is very much like that of tluj 
 grouse, llehncsthe thick i)lantation or the tangled wood, and duriiiL;- 
 the summer and atiUnnn has the habit of sleeping o\\ the ground, tho!i;.;h 
 in the winter a tree is chosen on which to roost. 
 
 l-'arly in the morning he \-isits the open fields, and searches f )r the ten- 
 der shoots of the glass an 1 of many of the meadow j)!ants, and wHl pick 
 uj) worms aiul insects. Latm- in the season, acorns, and beech mils, and 
 uikl berries form articles of diet. But during a severe winter the bird- 
 reciuire to be icd, or thev would suffer from hunger. Then thev beconu 
 very tame, and onu- when the\' are called. 
 
 Tho Goldt'u Plioasaiit. 
 
 The golden pheasant is derived from China. Its name there i.s said by 
 Latham to be " kinki," or " kinker," which signifies " golden-flower f(nvl." 
 It is a fax'orile in that country, as may be seen by its frequent occurrence 
 in Chinese paint'ngs. 
 
 Ill our country this bird has hitherto been preserved only in a\'iaries, 
 w l;ere it is shielded from the cold of winter and supplied with food. In 
 cai)ti\!ty it breeds freely. It is one of a race remarkable for beauty. 
 
 The golden pheasant is much smaller than the common one. Th.' 
 len;',th of the male is about three feet, of which the tail measures twenty- 
 three inches. The head is ornamented with a beautiful silky crest of a 
 fine amber-yellow. 1 he feathers of the back of the head and neck are of 
 a rich orangc-rcd edged with a line of black, and capable of being raist il 
 at will. Lower down, so a.s to lie on the top of the back, the feathers arc 
 
 >^,w• 
 
 
 IX,.- 
 
 / 
 
is said by 
 ovvLT fowl." 
 occurrence 
 
 ill uviarii's, 
 
 CHARMING cri:atl'ki:s of tiik aiu. 
 
 -109 
 
 l,„^y ^rrccnish-black. Tlu; back is rich yellow ; the win^s deep blue at 
 their base, the under surface intense scarlet. 
 
 TIk ic are four species of albatross, of which throe are found jirinci- 
 iull\' in the seas of hot climales and the fourth within the Antarctic Cir- 
 cle. Ill ■'^•'^'-N these niarinj birds are sometimes as larj^e as a swan. Their 
 .viicral color is white, the upper j),u-ls are markeil with black lines. Tiie 
 
 GOLDEN PHEASANT. 
 
 ([iiill feathers are black and the tail is rounded and of lead color. The 
 bill is of pale yellow and the legs of flesh color. 
 
 The powers of ni;jjht of the albatross are exceedinfrly great ; it is al- 
 most always on the wing and is equally at ease during the stillest calm, 
 or n\-ing with great swiftness before the most furious gale. Thc\' are 
 very \orarious, and feed on fish and niollusks. The shoals of flying-fish 
 
 \..U 
 
 ■li'n» 
 
 ' I ■ « 
 
 '1ll^^:Hfiim|.J' 
 
 
 » 
 
1 ; ■ i 
 
 i'i 
 
 410 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 suffer L,n-catly from the voracity of these birds. The}- also often purs'' 
 the sliuals of .sahnon into the mouths oC hu'<,re rivers aiul su gor^e ilkir- 
 selves, as, notwithstanding their otiierwise extraordinary' powers (jf flight 
 to be prevented by their \vei<^ht and consequent stupidity e\en from ri-Jn . 
 The)' always fish in fine weather and retire into the harbors when tlu; w in<' 
 is boisterous. Their voice \ery much resembles the bra\-ing of an a,>i 
 
 WANDEKliNc; AL BATROSS. 
 
 In South America they build their nests about the end of .Septenihci ; 
 these are formed of earth on the {ground and are from one lo threr feet 
 high. The eggs are as large as those of a goose and have the silicic 
 property of their white not becoming hard by boiling. When atteniptcil 
 to be seized, the albatross makes a vigorous defense with its bill. 
 
 Cranes are found in numerous flocks, in the northern parts of luirnpo. 
 Linn.eus describes their api)earance in Lapland, and Pennant says they 
 
CHARMING CREATURES OF THE AIR. 
 
 411 
 
 also visit Russia and Siberia. The nest of the crane is made among long 
 
 liL'ibage, reeds, and the lu.xuriant vegetation of swampy tracts, and scMiie- 
 
 luno on insulated ruins. Two eggs are laid, of a pale dull-greenish 
 
 color, blotched with brown. The food of this bird consists not onl\- of 
 
 nain and \egetables, but worms, frogs, and snails. Cranes are said to 
 
 make great havoc in the corn when it is green. Of their migration Mil- 
 
 t .'11 sa>-s • 
 
 Part loosely wing tiie region ; part, more wise, 
 
 In common, ranged in figure, wedge their way, 
 
 Intelligent of seasons ; and set forth 
 
 Their airy caravan ; high over seas 
 
 Flying, and over lands with mutual wing 
 
 Easing their flight: so steers the prudent crane 
 
 Her annual voyage, borne on winds ; the air 
 
 Floats as they pass, fanned with unnumbered plumes. 
 
 Flocks of these birds are seen, at stated times, in France and German}-, 
 oassing north and south, as the season ma)' be, in marshalled order, high 
 intiic air, dieir sonorous voices distincth' heard e\en from their ele\ated 
 course. Occasionally they descend, attracted by newly-sown fields, cm- the 
 prospect of finding food in marshes, on the borders of rivers, or even the 
 shores of the sea; but generally they continue their flight unchecked 
 towards their destined resting-places. 
 
 W'illoughby says, " The flesh is very savor\- and w ell tasted, not to .say 
 delicate;" and indeed it seems to have been highl}- prized in former 
 days. Pegge says, " William the Conqueror was remarkable for an im- 
 mense stomach, and withal was so exact, .so nice and curious in his re- 
 pasts, that when his prime favorite, William Fitz O.sborne, who, as steward 
 of his household, had the charge of the curey, served him with the flesh 
 of a crane scarcely half roa.sted, the king was so highly exasperated that 
 he lifted up his fist, and would have .struck him, had not Kudo, who was 
 appointed steward immediately after, warded off the blow." At the en- 
 thronizatinn of George Newell, an English archbishop, 204 cranes were 
 .scr\ed ; and in the "Northumberland Household Book," the price of the 
 crane is marked sixteen pence. At an ancient marriage-fea.st, one of the 
 items is, " 9 cranes, every- crane three shillings and fourpence." 
 Habits ol' tlio (!rauo Faiiiily. 
 
 Cranes are large birds frequenting marshes and open plains, migrating 
 to warm climates in winter and returning to the north to breed. The)- 
 fl)' usually at night in large flocks, following a leader in two diverging 
 lines not unlike ploughshares, at a great elevation and sometimes uttering 
 loud cries. Their food consi.sts of reptiles, fish, mice and other small ani- 
 
 I! 
 
 1^^ H i 
 
 jt 
 
 
412 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 mals, insects, seeds, roots and grain. They are very shy and diffic'ilt to 
 api)roacli from the acuteness of their sight and hearing. In caijtivitv 
 they become gentle, feeding on vegetable substances. 
 
 The crowned or crested crane is slender and graceful, and is cft'^n 
 kept in captivity for its beauty and docility ; its voice is remarkal)l\- shni] 
 When the cranes are on the ground they are said to set guards duriii" the 
 night. 
 
 The demoiselle crane is remarkable for the idea that it appears to i- ve 
 respecting its own beauty. Its deportment is very singular and at times 
 even ludicrous. It moves about with a consequential air, lian-'inrr its 
 head first on one side and then on the otlier. It then will run sonic 
 
 
 
 CRESTED CRANE AND VIRGIN CRANE. 
 
 t:^venty or thirty yards treading only on the tips of its toes, as if it were 
 trying to pick its way over a very dirty road. Then it will ha\c a little 
 dan«e all to itself and suddenly stand .still again quite composed, as if it 
 had been doing nothing at all. 
 
 From these habits naturalists have named this bird demoiselle, or pea- 
 cock crane. Its daily habits are very regular. At sunrise it lca\cs its 
 resting place in search of prey along the banks of a stream. About two 
 hours later it takes a bath and then amuses itself in the above descriDcd 
 manner. Sometimes a short e: cursion is made in the afternoon, but (.gen- 
 erally one meal suffices for the whole day. They select their resting 
 place in dense forests on high trees, never on the ground. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 CURIOUS SPECIMENS OE Till': EEATHERED TRIBICS. 
 
 n,e Odd Looking Flamin.u;o— " Bean Pole " of the Bird World— Fiery Pluniaj^e- 
 Ele.i;aiit Ajipearance — Singular Nest — Remarkable Construction of Jaws — Tlie 
 "Kiwi-Kiwi" — Wingless Creatures- Descendants of the Ancient Dinornis — 
 New Zealand Chiefs Dressed in the Skin of the Apteryx— An Egg that Weighs 
 One-f;)urth as much as the Bird— Habits of tlvi Apteryx — The Ostrich — Bird of 
 the Desert— Extra(3rdinary Nest and Eggs -Birdlings Hatched by the Sun — 
 Arabian Stories of the Ostrich— Royal Carriage Drawn by a Team of (Ostriches- 
 Riding the Two legged Steed — Cunning Methods of Capture — American Os- 
 trich Described— Noisy Guinea-Fowl — Flesh of Fine Flavor — Conspi nous 
 (]rest— Eggs Colored like tlie Plumage— Tlie Sacred Ibis — Varied Colors — Bird 
 of Mexico— Egyptian Veneration for the Ibis— Regular Migration— Embalmed 
 Remains in Egyptian Burial Places- Tiie Giant Heron — Lonely Creature — In- 
 habitant of Marshes and Water Courses— Singular Habits— Seeking Prey- 
 Standing for Hours on one Leg— Little Herons — The Heron and Falcon in 
 Combat— The Shoe-Bill— Strangest of all Birds— The Spoon-Bill— A Voiceless 
 pird— The Owl— Immense Eyes— A Night Prowler — White Owl— Tenant of 
 Barns— Voracity for Mice — The Owl Attacking a Man— Little Birds' Revenge — 
 The Darter— Long Neck— The Famous Stork— Remarkable Intelligence — A 
 Good Wife and Mother— Storks Sentenced to Death for Infidelity— The Adju- 
 tant—Blue-Headed Parakeets. 
 
 HERE are few birds so odd in their appearance as the flamingo. 
 Its body is not so large as that of the stork, but its legs arc like 
 long stilts. Indeed, they may be said to be quite out of pro- 
 portion to its size; when it standi up it is six feet high. The 
 head is small, but is furnished with a very long bill, whicii, as you see, 
 curves down from the middle. The end of the bill, as far as the bend, is 
 black, and then a reddish yellow. The tongue is large and fleshy, and 
 fills up the whole of the bill, and the tip is gristly. Its long legs rather 
 link it with the waders, but the three front toes are united bv a web. as in 
 the case of the water-birds. 
 
 The plumage of the head, when in its full perfection, is deep scarlet, 
 with black quills. As it strides about upon its stilt-like legs, with its 
 enormous length of neck, we should regard it as a most uncouth creattire 
 but for its splendid scarlet robe, that excites our admiration. It lives with 
 its companions in a flock, and the flock stand in a line, like sentinels, clad 
 in their red uniform. One of the band acts as a watchman, and if any 
 danger approaches, utters a scream like the sound of a trumpet. Then 
 
 (413) 
 
 ■p 
 
 i 
 
 : ■'iflli 
 
 1;;. 
 
 M^*l 
 
ll 
 
 hi 
 
 
 41t 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 the whole flock rise in the air with loud clamor, and look very much like 
 a fiery cloud. 
 
 The creeks and ravines of tropical countries in Asia and Africa abound 
 with flamingoes. They arc seen standing, as in the engraving, and pre- 
 
 -^'mmmi'wm^ 
 
 
 ASIATIC FLAMINGO. 
 
 sent a most grotesque appearance. Their way of feeding is ver}^ peculiar 
 They twist their neck in such a way that the upper part of the bill touclic' 
 the ground, while they disturb the mud with their webbed feet, and raise 
 up the insects and spawn of which they are in search, 
 
 In the summer the flock of fiamingocs will take a journey northward a? 
 
CURIOUS SPECIMENS OF THE FEATHERED TRIBE. 
 
 41. J 
 
 far as tli- Rhiii;:. When they are on the winij they have a ver)- splendid 
 appearance. The)' look like a great fiery triangle. All at once the\- 
 s'ackcp their speed, hover for a moment, and then alight on the banks of 
 \]]: river. They range themselves in the usual line, place their guards, 
 ami l)cgin at once to fish. 
 
 Ci)!\sidering the enormous length of its legs, you would wonder hov 
 'he bird contrives to hatch its eggs, or what kind of a nest it builds. It 
 ;> a p.! ison bird, and forms its nest of mud, in the shape of a hillock, with 
 a hole at the top. Here the mother bird lays two eggs about the size ot 
 those v>r the goose. The nest is high enough to allow her to throw her 
 Ici^s across it and sit upon the eggs, in an attitude as if she were riding. 
 Tb.c flamingo sitting on its nest in this manner has been compared to a 
 man i'H a high stool, with his legs hanging down. The ne.st itself is very 
 curiov!^, and is solid nearly to the top, and then hollow like a basin. 
 
 Flaiainjfoe.s in the Snare. 
 
 The bottom of the nest is in the water, and the bird usualh' lias its feet 
 in tlie water. In some oarts of the tropics, the birds are tamed for the 
 sake of their .ikin,w '"' ; used in swans' down. They are caught in 
 snares, or else decoyed by tame flamingoes that are used on ]:)urpose. I he 
 tame iliiningoes are driven into places frequented by the wild ones, and 
 meat is laid upon the ground. As soon as the wild flamingoes see the 
 others eating the meat, they come forward to obtain a share. A battle 
 ensues between the birds, and the bird-catcher, who is hidden close b\-, 
 watcliLS his opportunity to dart forward and .seize the prey. 
 
 There are two kinds of flamingoes — that of America is of a deep red, 
 while ihe one in Asia and Africa is rose-colored, with black wings. In old 
 times til.: flesh of the flamingo was considered a dainty, and even now 
 the j'oinig bird is thought by some people to taste like partridge. But 
 the people in these days, who have tasted it, say it is very disagreeable. 
 
 There was a tame flamingo that lived a little time in our latitude. It 
 used to dip its bread in water, and to eat more in the night than in the day. 
 ft was \cry impatient of cold, and would go so near to the fire as to burn 
 'ts toes. One (f its legs was hurt by an accident, and it could not use it 
 lUit it contrived to walk all the .same, for it put its head to the ground 
 an'l used its long neck as a crutch. 
 
 .\s tile flamingo frequents the sea-coast and the adjacent marshes, it 
 has the power of swimming, and its toes are partially webbed ; and thus 
 it may fearlessly venture even beyond its depth, nor apprehend being 
 carried away by tlu retiring tide. Its food consists of small fish, shells, 
 and water insects, for th,^ capture of which its beak is most singularly 
 
 
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 /..stru 
 
 Pii!(!;j; 
 
 
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416 
 
 f:8 
 
 ilir 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 constructed ; in lcnc;th it is ncarl\- five inches; the upper niand'' Ic is hen 
 downwards in the middle, at an acute angle, as if broken, the jacc {]nm 
 the angle to the point being a broad flat plate, of a somewhat inal fi 'iiru- 
 the lnwer mandible, which is the larger, is so adjusted as to fit the aivlc 
 witli its edges, its under surface being gently arched downwards. Tlic 
 edges of both mandibles are furnished with a row of tooth-like ciniiiencis 
 those of the upp'.'r being the larger. 
 
 The use of the mandibles is like a strainer, all >wing the water to pass 
 ttn-ough, but retaining any small body, as an in.sect or a fish. In, se.uch- 
 ing for food in the mud, at the bottom of waters, the upper and not the 
 under mandible is applied to the grounti ; the Hat ])ortion of its .surface 
 being well adapted for pressing close down on the soft bed of the marsh 
 or creek. Hence, in that situation, the inferior nian>!ible is placed unprr- 
 most, and by its motion works the disturbetl and turpid water thidUL'h 
 the two, as is seen in ducks and other aquatic birds. 
 
 The first year the flamingo's livery is of a grayish clouded white ; the 
 second, the white is purer, but the wings are tinted with a beautiful rose- 
 color; in the third )'ear it attains full plumage. Its color is then ex- 
 tremely rich and brilliant, being of a fine deep scarlet on the back, and 
 roseate on the wings, the uuill-feathers of the wings being jet black. The 
 hues of the bird become more intense during succeeding years. A flock 
 of these tall and splendid birds, moving about on the sea-beach, with 
 their plumage reilecting the glowing rays of a tropical sun, is a .spectacle 
 never to be forgotten. 
 
 Tlu' Apti'ryx or Kiwi-Kiwi. 
 
 The apteryx is a native of New Zealand and belongs to the ostrich 
 family. These birds are found in extensive and thick beds of ferns, in 
 which thev hide. Thev are nocturnal and feed on worms, snails, insects 
 and larva,\ run swiftl}' and defend themselves with their powerful feet. 
 Their name is derived from the apparent absence of wing.s, those imm- 
 bers being merely rudimentary. When hunted by dogs, it seeks refuge 
 among rocks and in the chambers which it excavates in the earth. In 
 these chambers its nest is made and the eggs laid. 
 
 The natives hunt it with great eagerness, a~; tiie skin is used for the 
 dresses of chiefs, who can hardlvbe persuadeil t > part with a single skin. 
 The bird has a singular haljit of resting with the tip of his bill placed vn 
 the ground. The nostrils of the apteryx are placed almost at the \ciy 
 extremity of the bill. The aborigines of New Zealand give it the name 
 of Kiwi-Kiwi. Their eggs are extraordinarily large and weigh about 
 one-fourth as mucii as the female bird. 
 
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 27 
 
used for the 
 
 siiv^lc skin. 
 
 ill placed en 
 
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 it the name 
 
 ■we i nil about 
 
 
 
 
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 CUK10U:d APTERVX OK " KlWi. 
 
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 (417) 
 
 
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 418 
 
 EARTH, SliA, AND SKY. 
 
 Thoui^li the ;iptcr\-.\ has no \vin_L,^s, yet tlicrc arc small mcmhers 'm-ow- 
 iiiL^r out of the part of" the body from which the \vin;_;s of birds arise 
 The feathers are soft and (Icxible, and furni>hcd witli exli-enuK fnvj 
 hair, so that the co\ering of the apteryx lias, at a distance, exactly tiiL' 
 ai)pearani.X' of coarse fur. The len;,;th from the point of th.e ])\]\ to ilii^. 
 end of the tailless body is about thirty-two inch-.s ; but the bill \aiies 
 L^reatl}' in lcnL;th, and it is supposed that the female lias the lon!.;t.r I)il1. 
 It a[)pears that worms, insects, and probabU' snails, are the fjod of [\]\^ 
 .species. 
 
 Gould, the naturalist, has become accpiainted with sewral speciuun of 
 this bird. Me states that its favorite localities are those co\ered unh ..y. 
 tensi\-e and dense beds of fern, amoni^st which it conceals itself, and 
 when hard pursued by dos^s, the usual mode of chasinLj it, it takes refn-re 
 in the cre\-ices of rocks, hollow trees, and the deep holes which it exca- 
 vates in the [ground in the form of a chamber. In these latter situations 
 it is said to construct its nest of dried ferns and L;i'asses, and there de- 
 posits its cgLjs. 
 
 The natives of New Zealand hunt it for the sake ()f its tlesh, of whith 
 they arc extremely fond. Until the approach of ni<;ht it buries its If in 
 tlie recesses of the forest, and then \entures firth, in couples, in seaivh of 
 food, whicli they discover in darkness with the greatest ease. Tiie cr\- of 
 this bird resembles the sf)und of a whistle, and it is by imitatint^^ this that 
 the hunters are able to take it. Sometimes it is chased by doj^s, aivl at 
 others .secured by suddenly coming upon it with a lij^hted torch, \^ hen it 
 makes no attempt at fli^^ht. 
 
 The llichly Apimroletl Ostri«h. 
 
 The ostrich, the camel-bird of the Arabs, has been celebrated f oin the 
 earliest antiquity. It is found throughout Arabia and Africa, e\er_\-\\hjrc 
 shunning the presence of man and preferring the solitude of the desert. 
 The food of the ostrich consists of the tops of the various shrubby plains 
 which the most arid parts of South Africa produce in abundnnce. It is 
 easily satisfied with regard to water, that it is constantly to be found inlh 
 most parched and desolate tracts which e\en tlie antelopes and f li" b |^|s 
 of prey have deserted. Its cry at a distance so much resem!jles tluit .i 
 the lion, that the Hottentots are said to be sometimes deceived b\- it. 
 
 The male ostrich of South Africa usually associates to himself foM two 
 to six females. Tiic liens lay all their eggs together in one nest, the nest 
 being merely a shallow cavity scraped in the ground, of such dimension-^ 
 as to be conveniently covered by one of these gigantic birds in inenliatinii. 
 An ingenious device is employed to .save space, and give at the same time 
 
 so 
 
!S»""tTT»- 
 
 ci'Rious sri:ci.Mi:N.s of rin-: !"i-:atiii:ri:d TRir.ns. 
 
 n!> 
 
 to a! 
 
 ihe c^^'~!,-^ tlicir clue share ofwarnilh. I'.acli oiu' ofihc (.■L;y;s is made 
 to -laiul \»'ith the narrow eiul on the hoiiom of the iie.it, aiul the broad eiul 
 ui)\vards ; and the earth which has been scraped out to form the ca\ it\- is 
 (.•niplojcd to confine the outer circle, and kee[) the whole in the proper 
 nrisition. The hens relieve each other in the task of incubation durini; the 
 ,la\', and the male takes his turn at ni,i;ht. w hen his superior strenL,dh is 
 iv(iiiired to protect the c<^<^>< or the newl^'-lletl^aHl younL,^ from the jackals, 
 t.iL;cr-cat>, and other enenues. Some of these aiiimals.it is said, are not 
 iiiifrcqucntly found Ix'iiiL;- ilead near the nest. destro}-ed b}- a stroke from 
 the foot of this powerful bird. 
 
 Rciiiiirkablo Xost. 
 
 Xo fewer than sixty cl^ljs are sometimes found in and around an 
 ostrich's nest; but a smaller number is more common ; and incubation is 
 occasionally performed by a single pair of ostriches. I'^ach female la\-s 
 from twelve to sixteen eg^'s. They continue to la\-durin;4 incubation, and 
 even after the young brood are hatched. The supernumerar\- cgijs are not 
 placed in the nest, but around it, beini; desiL^nied to aitl the nourishment 
 of die >'oung birds, which, though as large as a pullet when first hatched, 
 arc i)robably unable at once to digest the hard and acid food on which the 
 okl ones subsist. The period of incubation is from thirty-six to forty days. 
 Occasionally the nest is left by all the birds in the middle of the day, the 
 heat of the sun being then sufficient to keep the eggs at the proper tem- 
 perature. 
 
 As to the passage in the Book of Job (xxxix. 14), it may be remarked 
 that within the torrid zone the heat of the' sun's lays renders the incuba- 
 tion of the female unnecessar\-, excepting, perhaps, at night ; but in the 
 cooler latitudes she is assiduous in performing the maternal office. In 
 CaflVaria, the Rev. J. Broadbent, on approaching an ostrich's nest, 
 remarks: — " We saw the female sitting upon it; and though she had been 
 disturbed before by the Hottentot, she remained till we were \-ery near, 
 and then ran off at the report of two guns which were fired. The ground 
 was sandy for several miles round, and covered with thinly scattered 
 hushes. There lay a great number of loose ostrich feathers about the ne.st, 
 uliich appeared to have come off the female while sitting, and she had the 
 naked appearance which domestic fowls have at such times. 
 
 " The eggs were forty -two in number, and were arranged with great 
 apparent exactness. Those which were in the circle we found to be quite 
 fresh, at which I expressed my surprise. The Hottentot informed me 
 that these had been provided for the ostrich against the hatching of those 
 in the middle, when she would break them, one after another, and give 
 
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 ''IT '|:i 'in 
 
Mi 
 
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 4l>(» 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 thcni to her youii^- ones for food ; and that by tlie time the\' weiT all dis- 
 posed of in this manner, tiie )-oun;4 ostriches would be able to L;oal)ii,a(i 
 witli tlieir motlier, and i)rovide for themselves such things as the desert 
 afforded. This fact affords a fine instance of animal instinct." 
 
 An entire xolnmi' mij^ht be filled with fables rei:orded of the ostrieji 
 Accordins^" to the Arabs, it is the proj^eiiy of a bird and a camel. ( )iil 
 ./Vrabian author states that it is atin.itic ; another maintains that it ni\cr 
 drinks; some that its principal foi>d consists of stones and bits of ir,,)) 
 Buffon himself asserts that it mi_L;ht swallow red-hot iron, proxided iji, 
 quantity was small. Pliny and (followini^ him) Pierre Belon, state thai 
 when the- ostrich is pursued it fancies itself safe if it can place its head he- 
 hind a tree, belies'ini,^ that, as it cannot see its innsuers, they cannot see it. 
 
 Strjiiif;<5 Ar(icl<'s of I>i<'t. 
 
 That the ostrich is extremely xoracioiis is certain. yVlthou;^!) the 
 senses of si^ht and hearing" are so hiL;"hly dewdoped that it is said tti (!i^- 
 tinL;iiish objects six miles off, and the slij^htest sounds excite its ear, the 
 senses of taste and smell are \ery im[)erfect. This is the c.xplaiuiticin 
 given for its readiness to swallow unedible substances. In a wild slate it 
 takes into its stomach lar^^e pebbles, to increase its digestix'e powers; in 
 captivity it i^ori^es bits of wood and m(.;tal, pieces of tjlass, plaster and 
 chalk, i)iobably with the same object The pieces of iron found in the 
 botly of one dissected b\' Cuvier "were not only worn awa\'," sa\^ the 
 5^ reat naturalist, "as the\- would likely be by trituration against other hard 
 bodies, but they had been considerably reduced by some digestive juice, 
 and presented all the evidence of actual corrosion." 
 
 Herbage, insects, mollusks, small reptiles, and even small mammalia, 
 are the principal food of the wild ostrich ; when it is in a state of domes- 
 ticity even young chickens are devoured by it. It is capable of eiuluriiv^f 
 hunger and thirst f )r many days — about the most useful faculty it could 
 pos.sess in the arid and burning deserts which it inhabits — but it is (juitea 
 mistake to suppose it never drinks, for it will travel immense distances in 
 search of water when it has suffered a long deprivation, and will then 
 drink \\ith evident pleasure. 
 
 The muscular power of the ostrich is truly surprising. If matured it 
 can carry a man on its back ; and is readily trained to be mounted like a 
 horse, and to bear a burden. The tyrant Firmius, who reigned in P-Ljypt 
 in the third century, was drawn about by a team of ostriches; even now 
 the negroes frequently use it for riding. 
 
 When it first feels the weight of its rider, the o.strich starts at a slow 
 trot ; it however soon gets more animated, and stretching out its wings 
 
CURIOl^S SPECI.MHNS OF THF. FKATFIFRFn TRIBFS. 
 
 421 
 
 talo-"'^ t" niiuiiii;-; witli sulIi rapidit)' thai it sicins scaiccK' to touch the 
 (rniuiul. To the wikl animals which ran ire the desert it offers a success- 
 fill resistance by kicking, the force of ^\■hich is so threat that a ])lo\v in tiie 
 chest is sufficient to cause death. Verreaux states that he has seen a ne- 
 <rro kilK'il by such a blow. 
 
 Man succeeds in capturin_<^ the ostrich only by strataLjem. The Arab 
 1)11 his swiftest courser would fail to ^et near it if he ditl not b\- his iiUel- 
 li''-ence sui)ply the deficiency in his ph\-sical i)owers. "The \c>j;^ of an 
 )stricli rnnnin;4 at full sjjeed, " saj-s Dr. Livin^jstone, " can no more be 
 >ccn than the s[K)kes in the wheel of a vehicle drawn at a i;allo|)." Ac- 
 cordin:4" to the same author, ih .■ ostrich can run about thirty miles in an 
 ]j,,j,i — ;i s[)eeHl and endurance much surpassing;" that of the swiftest horse. 
 Takiii','- tlw Ostrich by Arti(uM>. 
 
 The .Vrabs, well ac(iuauited with these facts, follow th'in for a day or 
 tweal a ilistance, without {)ressing too closely, yet sutficientl)' neai" to 
 prc\ent them from takin;^ food. When the\' ha\-e thus starved and 
 wearied the birds, they [)ur'.ue them at full speed, takin;^- ad\-anta;.rc of the 
 fact, which observation has tau^^ht them, that the ostrich never runs in a 
 straight line, but tlescribes a curve of cjreater or less extent. Awiiliii;.; 
 thcinseh'es of this habit, the horseniiMi foll(-)w tlu,^ chord of this arc, a;id. 
 rcpcaiin;^ the stratai;em se\-eral times, tne\' ^radualiv [i;rt within reach, 
 when, inakin;j^ a fuial da-sli, the\' rush impetuously on the harrassed birds, 
 and 1) -at them down with their clubs, avoidini:^ as much as possible shed- 
 din;4' blood, as this tlepreciates the \'ahie of the feathers, which are the 
 chief inducement of their pursuit. 
 
 .Some tribes attain their object by a rather siny;ulni artifice. The hun- 
 ter covers liimself with an ostrich's skin, jjassinj^- his arm up the neclc of 
 the bird so as to render tlu mo\-ements more natural. 1>\' the aid of this 
 disi^iiisc, if skilfully manai^ed, ostriches can be ajiproached sufficiently 
 near ti> kill them. 
 
 The Arabs also lumt the ostrich witb doi^s, which pursue it until it is 
 cenii)letely worn out. In the breedinc^ season, ha\in_L,r sous^ht and found 
 out where the ostrichs lay their ci^^^s, another artifice is to d\<^ a hole 
 within i^unshot of the spot, in which a man, armed with a L^un, can hitK' 
 himself The concealed enemy easily kills the mal(> and female birds in 
 turn, as they sit on their nest. Lastly, to lie in wait for them clcse by 
 water, and shoot them when they come to quench their thirst, is often 
 successful. 
 
 The American ostrich is scarct.'ly more than naif the size of the African 
 species, from which it also differs in havin;^ the iiead covered with feathers. 
 
 
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I Riors si'i;ci.Mi;\s oi' riii; ii ,\riii,Ki:i) triiUvS. 
 
 1 2.- J 
 
 ui.l iIk' Kct ruini-.lu(l u ith three liu'^. It i'>iir;i n .i;ly iiiiit"..i in ;^iay 
 I nt.a'iil llic feathers of the wiiv^s anil tail, altlMii-h eloni^ated, possess 
 II,, M^- ( il the beaiit)' i>\' those (if the true ostiieh ; tlu)- are onl)' t-in ployed 
 111 the inamifactni-e ot" li;^ht chistinL;-l)rooni>. It is \ery aSuiil.nit in the 
 .'It it n'.iiii-i of tropical .\nierie,i, where it is pursiu-il > lU hoi-^eI;.ieK-. an 1 
 ciwinivil either by the l;i>>o, or I)_\- throw ill ;_,^ at its Ic;^rs an in .li'uii'.ent 
 fdini (1 of two hea\\' halls or stones, attaelu'il to;^ether l)y a leathern tlion:.^ 
 Mr, i)ar\viii,\vho had frii|uent opportunities of ()I)ser\ in;_j these ])ir(|s 
 ^iivs that the)- take the w.iter n-ailily, and swim across broatl and ia[)id 
 livers, and even frmn island to islantl in hax's. 
 
 '\'\\iV are said to he pol\-;^anions ; the male l)iril prepares the in'^t. col- 
 lects the CL^L^s, which are fieipiently laid I)\' the females at random on the 
 <M'tiiind, and performs all the duties of incubation. Mr, l^arwin coiiln'ms 
 these (>!)ser\alions, and sa\'s that four or fue fem.ile-; li.uc been seen to 
 hie in llu; same nest, and that the male when siltinL,^ lies so close tiiat he 
 himself nearly rode o\er one. At this time the males are s.iid sonii-limcs 
 to he \er\' fierce, and they h,i\'e been known to attack a m.m on horse- 
 back, tr\-in;^ to kick and leap on him. 
 
 Le \'aillant fonnd a female ostiich on a nest containin;jf thirt)--two e_L,^L;s, 
 and twehe ei^'i^s were arranged at a little ilistance, each in a separate 
 ca\it\' f >rined for it. He e-mained near the place for some time, and saw 
 tlin' other females come and alternately seat themselves on the nest, each 
 silting for about a (juarter of an hour, and then i;i\'inL,f place to another, who, 
 while uaitint;, .sat close by the side of her, whom she was to succeed. 
 
 TIu' <;uliu'a-F<ml. 
 
 The t;uinea-ftnvl is a !_;"allinaceous bird of the turke\' family. Guinea- 
 hens aie i)eculiar to ^Africa, where they frequent woods on the banks of 
 rivers, in large flocks. They feed on grains, grasshopjjers and other in- 
 sects. When alarmed they attemj)! to escape by rimning, rather than b)- 
 fli;.;ht. The common guinea-hen is slate colored, co\'ered all over with 
 ri)iind white spots and is about the size of the common fowl. The)' are 
 VL'iy nois)' and troublesome, ahvavs quarreling with the other inmates of 
 the poultr)' )'ard, and the)' are hard to raise from the delicacy of the 
 young and their liability to disease. 
 
 Their ilesh is of fine flavor and their eggs are excellent. They are great 
 feeders, requiring to be fed beyond what they can pick up by themselves 
 and are apt to injure tender buds and flowers. The crested guinea-fowl 
 or pintado has a crest of black feathers and the bodv black with blue spots ; 
 the mitred pintado has the head surmounted by a conical helmet and 
 is black, white .spotted. 
 
 'I' 
 
 M\ 
 
 
il 
 
 vm 
 
 424 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 The four snrcics of pintado hitherto known are all nati\-es of Africa and 
 of islands adjacent to the African coast. Ihcir mode of feedint^ is siir.il.ir 
 to that of the domestic poultiA'. They scrape the ground with theii- feet 
 in search of insects, worms or seeds. The females lay and hatch their (. r.Ts 
 nearly in the same manner as the common hens. The ct^Ljs, howew', arc 
 
 
 
 CKi:sTr.D fil'INEA-FOWr,. 
 
 smaller and have a harder shell. Huffon states that there is a remarkaoK 
 difference between the cgf^s of the domestic ij^uinea-fowls and those which 
 are wild ; the latter being marked with small round s[)ots, like those (M1 
 the plumage of the birds, and the former being, when first laid, of a ijiiitc 
 bright red and afterwards of the faint color of the dried rose. 
 
 The \-oung birds, for some time after they come into the world, arc dcs- 
 
Id. arc dcs- 
 
 (TKIOUS SPECIMENS OF THE FEATHERED TRII'.ES. 
 
 \2r> 
 
 titutc of ihc helmet or calU)u.s protuberance, \\hich is .so cons[)icuous on 
 
 the liL'ails (4" the old ones. The [guinea-foul is a restless and clamorous 
 
 l^jitl, Durinj^ the nij^ht it perclies on high places and if disturbed, 
 
 alarms c\ery animal within hearint^ by its cry. These birds delif^ht ii\ 
 
 lollin '" themselves in the dust for the purpose of riddin;^ themsehes of 
 
 insects. 
 
 The SatTod Ibi.s. 
 
 There are about half a do/en species of this wadins^- birtl, includini; 
 three in the United States. The red or scarlet ibis is about twcnty-eii^ht 
 inches long, its bill si.Kand one-half inches, and the extent of its wings a 
 little over three feet. This bird, whose color is a uniform bright scarlet, 
 is found ill South Americaand the West Indies. The white ibis, or w hite 
 curlew, whose [)lumage is pure white, is very common in the Scnithern 
 Atlantic and Gulf States, occasionally straggling as far north as New Jer- 
 scx'. Its llesh has a v^ery fishy taste anil is rarely eaten e.\cei)t b\' the In- 
 dians. 
 
 The glo'i^)' ibis, a smaller species, is about twent\'-one inches long. 
 Its general color is chestnut-brown, with the back and top of head me- 
 tallic green, glossed with purple. It exists in great numbers in Mexico 
 and li.is been found as far north as Massachusetts. Of this genus there 
 are about twenty species fountl in the warmer parts of Africa, Asia and 
 .South .Vinerica, one of which is the Sacred Ibis of the Ivgyptiaiis. It is 
 abmit as large as a domestic fowl, and is found throughout Northern Africa. 
 
 This bird, which was reared in the temples of ancient Egy|)t and wiis 
 L-nibahned, frecjuents overflowed lands and dry ])lains and feeds on frogs 
 and small at|uatic lizards. It is a migratory bird appearing simultaneous- 
 ly w ith the rise of the Nile and departing as the inundation subsiiles. It 
 is a remarkable fact, that the ibis does not x'isit lvg\'pt regularly an)- more 
 as of old, breeiling in the .Sudan. As soon as it arrives there it takes 
 possession of its well seK'cled l)ree<ling jilaces, from which it untlertakes 
 c.\cursions in search ot pri.'\-. It is not afi'aid of the nati\es and can of- 
 ten be seen among the cattle herds picking up a grasshopper here and a 
 flog or li/artl there. Dr. Brehm met, on his tra\'els up the Blue Nile, so 
 many of this beautiful birtl, that he was able to kill twenty of them with- 
 in two d.u's. The female lays three to Unw white eggs of the size of duck 
 eggs. This bird is easily domesticated and is found in man\' zoological 
 gardens of Europe ami America. 
 
 hi Egypt the ibis was regarded with great veneration l)y the ancients, 
 who kept them in their temi^les, and embalmed them after their deatli ; 
 thoiHands of their remains are still found in the burial places amid the 
 
 
; '} ■ 1 . ■ 
 
 !|pil' 
 
 » 
 
 420 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SK'i . 
 
 ruins df ancient ]•". ;yi)t. \'iU"i()U.s rea'-oiii jia\'c been L;ivcn i". n- lii,,,^!^, 
 ti)ni,.so;nj saxMiiLT tliat tlu ibis destroN-cd ihj noxious scrpcnls \\lr.:li wax- 
 so numerous in that counli')-; others that llK're was su[)|)ose(l t > be .mhiic 
 analo;.';y b..'t\veen the ])hnna;_je of tlie b: .1 and one of the pba-.es of tl^ 
 moon; wln'le a third f)j)inion is that the i^ii'ds were re;.,^arded v.illi f;(\,,v 
 because, their annual miL;-ration into lv4}j)t tak in l;' place at tla- jx i!,m' , i 
 the risinij of the Nile, they were consideretl as the liarbinL;xis i i ih.it 
 e\ent. 
 
 Herons are found in most parts of the world, migrating to thew.uujci 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 THE SACKKD IBIS. 
 
 regions as winter comes on. They are generally seen alone, st.uulmg in 
 swamps, pools and sliallow rivers waiting for their prey, with tlic long 
 neck drawn down between their shoulders ; but no sooner docs a rtptile 
 or fish appear, than the bill is darted forth and the animal imtnetii.itcly 
 swallowed. The common lieron of luirope, is of bluish-ash color \,ith 
 a black crest on the hind head and the fore-part of the neck white with 
 black dots. Its food consists of fish, frogs, aquatic insects, mollusks, 
 mice, moles and similar small animals. They generally build their 
 
. I'M' ill, > cus- 
 
 .s \vh;.;li ueiv 
 
 -'ll 1 ) ItC Miini; 
 
 )].;t-.c.s (if t!ic 
 
 ■ll V.illl f;iV(ir, 
 
 n;4<.Ts ( 1 thai 
 to IIk' Wiirmt-i 
 
 I '\ 
 
 
 
 c, stamlinsT in 
 ith till' lung 
 docs a nptile 
 initiicdi.ttolv 
 sh color with 
 ck vvliilo with 
 :t.s, niolliisks, 
 ly build their 
 
 CLKIOUS SPECIMKNS OK THE Fi:.\Tl IKRl'.D '1 IBI.S. 
 
 42^ 
 
 no 
 
 '■;t ill t^'it; \'icinity of a river. There exists about a luiiuired difforent 
 sot^cics of herons. The giant-heron, which is rc{)rescnted in our illu-^tra- 
 tjoii is an extremely foimidablo enemy to the seal)' tribes. Theie is in 
 f,(.li water scarcely a fisli, however large, that the heron will not srri!<e 
 at .uid wi'untl, though unable to carry it off; but the smaller fishes are 
 liisciiiof subsistence. His method is, to wade as fir as he can go, int<-. 
 tiio uMter, and then patiently to await the approach of his prey, inti; 
 hxh, wIku it comes within his reach, he darts liis bill with inevitable 
 ;i,iii. VVilloughb}' sa}-s, he has seen a heron that had in his stomach no 
 t'fwcr than seventeen carp. 
 
 Tlu; hen in. as he stands fishing for his food, is the \-ery picture of 
 patience. I'or some time he has been sU)wly stalking about on his long 
 Ic'N, watching for his pre\-. Now he approaches stealthil)' into the water, 
 la\iiv; down one f )ot after another with the utmost caution. He does 
 ii.it want to alarm the llsh that ma\' be swimming merrilx' about, or the 
 little l"i\'that is .sporting playfully in among the stones. He does not want 
 eitluT of them to know that he is there. He will stand thus for hours, 
 until \ou hardly know w hether he is alive. 
 
 .Suddenh', howex'er, the hai)py moment comes. The fish that had per- 
 hap-^ caught sight of him and swam away, has forgotten his fright; and 
 the \\y that lay hidden under the stones feel sure he must have gone by 
 this time. But the\' do not understand the nature of their enemy. 
 Nothing can weary out his patience or make him forget. The moment 
 the \ictim comes within the right distance, down goes the bill with its 
 sharp edge, and the pre\' is seizetl antl de\-oured. lie has an excellent 
 appetite, and can devour more in a meal than one would belie\ e. When 
 he has finished eating he goes away into some quiet place, and stands on 
 one leg for hours. He may be called the prince of the wading birds. 
 
 Herons place their nests among the tall reeds, at some distance one 
 from the other, and only a few feet above the high-water mark. The 
 iicst is large, and made of sticks, without any lining, antl is quite flat. 
 The eggs ha\'e lather a thick shell, ami are of a light blue green color. 
 Moth birds sit on the eggs, which take a month to hatch. 
 
 A Solitary liird. 
 
 Before we lea\e this bird we must sa\' a few words about the night 
 herons that li\-e in the cetlar swamps. The cedar swamp is j)crhaps tlu 
 most dismal spot you can imagine. The ground underfoot is like a bog, 
 co\c'-ed with great bushy limbs and logs of fallen trees. And the trunk.^ 
 of the cedars grow side by side to the height of two hundred feet, and so 
 clo.se together that a man cannot 'nish him.jlf between. And there are 
 
 * iii'll 
 
 fill! 
 
 swrnm 
 
 ■: {\i 
 
 mm 
 
 

 J 
 
 n 
 
 428 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 no branches, except at the top, where the trees are all matted together 
 so as to shut out tlaylig'ht. 
 
 Nothing breaks the dreary silence except the chirp of a few birds, or 
 the harsh scream of the heron. And if the wind gets up, the tall stems 
 clash together, and rub one aijainst the other, and make such creaking 
 and such hideous noises that the effect is something awful. 
 
 ■■~ '.■-'•.. 'v> t '• •• 
 ^ . 'I i-\ ^ • ■ 
 
 iVrr; 
 
 :^^c<^%I:C±£SSP^ 
 
 GI.\NT HEKOX. 
 
 Every spring the herons come to the cedar swamp, and take posses- 
 sion of their old nests on the cedar trees. All the branches near the 
 place where they live are completely battered and broken down by thcni, 
 and the ground is strewed with feathers, and fishc;-;, and pieces of old 
 nests, and all kinds of rubbish. And we can hardly describe the noise, 
 
CURIOUS SPF.CIMKXS Oi' THK FEATHERI'.n TRUCES. 
 
 429 
 
 for it is cnou'jh to deafen }'uu. They kcej) repeating the note " qua- 
 nua," until the Indian gives them the name of " ciua-birds." 
 
 The little herons are some time before they know how to lly, but they 
 somi !)C""in to crawl about the branches, and get to the top of the tree 
 to look out for their parents. They are terribly afraid of being caught, 
 and if by chance any one comes that way — and the Indian thinks young 
 heron as nice as pigeon — thc\- scramble out of the way a-; fast ab they can, 
 and hide themselves in the mud. 
 
 Tlu' llenui's I^ii<>iiii4>s. 
 
 The herons are birds of passage, and their going and coming depend 
 on the sui)i)ly of food they can obtain. Tin y build their nests in com- 
 panies, like the rooks, in lofty trees, in the neighborhcoil of streams and 
 rivers, and such places are called heronries. 1 hey are very fond of the 
 society of the ravens, although the ravens often return their friendship 
 by carrying off their eggs. Tlie falcons and the weasels are also great 
 enemies to the young birds. The heron le.ives the care of hatching the 
 brood to his partner, but when this task is over he assists in providing 
 the family with food. When the young biids are strong enough to get 
 their own living, the parents drive them away, and they take each a 
 separate course, and begin the world on their own account. 
 
 There are still many heronries in different parts of luirope in the 
 grounds of noblemen, where some stream meanders through the domain. 
 
 In one of these places, a heron was standing as usual, patiently waiting 
 for his prey, when a fine large eel came insight. Down went the prong - 
 like bill of the heron, but, in his eagerness, he plunged it too near the 
 head of the eel. The long, snaky botly was left at liberty, and it twisted 
 itself round and round the neck of the binl until it strangled him. The 
 heron was found the next day, dead on the bank, with the eel, also dead, 
 twisted round his neck. The owner of the mansion had the two 
 creatures, just as they were, preserved as curiosities, and as such they 
 are .still to be seen. 
 
 In the winter fish are not so plentiful, and the heron has to be satisfied 
 with frogs and snails and worms, and even the duck-weed that floats 
 upon the pond. At these times he becomes very thin and poor, and is 
 nothing but feathers and bones. 
 
 01(l-Tiino Sport Avith the Heron and Falcon. 
 
 In the old days of falconry, hawking the heron was considered the 
 highest feat that could be accomplished. The powerful wings of the 
 bird enabled it to rise so high that it put the powers of the falcon to the 
 test. That was the time when the herons were preserved with the utmost 
 
 !i ' "' 
 

 1 
 
 t 
 
 y 
 
 1 
 
 
 h' 
 
 
 
 '4fHlt> 
 
 isi,i#i 
 
 m 
 
 'II 
 
 I iff 
 
 
 
 
 
 (4.".()) 
 
 THE STKANCiE SIIOE-lilLL. 
 
CURIOUS SPECIMENS OF THE FKATin:Ri: I) TRIBES. 
 
 4;J1 
 
 carr, anil the heronries watched over and provided with every necessary. 
 ilicrc .lie old heronries .still to be found in ancient parks. 
 
 '1 1)0 young heron soon becomes tame, and gets reconciled to 
 cnpiivtw but the old ones pine away and die. In the old da\-s, however, 
 ;,ii(! \vh( n the heron had to be procured in order to train the hawk to fly 
 ill ii 111, lie was crammed w th food like a turkey. Often, after this had 
 !)(cii il"ne, the bird would become tame, and follow his owner about for 
 iilIls, ami Cdine when he was called, and take food from his hand. 
 
 In mnst cases the bill of the fishing bird is Jined towards the point 
 with b. istles. The bristles point backward, so that the food can slip 
 e,iMl\ over them, but it cannot come back without being caught on the 
 bristly iiocks. There is no crop at all. and the food goes at once into 
 the stomach. 'I he throat of the heron has the power of stretching out 
 ulun It ^ulps down a fish too big for it. It stretches into .i fan-like 
 .shipc, and then comes back again when the fish has gone down- 
 
 Tho Shoo-Bill. 
 
 Til'' most singular bird of Africa and e\en of the whole globe is piob- 
 al)l\- the shoe-bill. It has a bulky bod}-, a thick neck, a large head and 
 a ciiriiuisK- formed bill, not unlike a clumsy wooden shoe. Its color is 
 an a^li}' gray, with jet black wing feathers. 
 
 The shoe-bill is the giant of the wading birds and is found in pairs or 
 smaller societies as remote as possible from human habitations, mostly in 
 the impenetrable swamps of the White Nile and some of its tributai-ies. 
 At llie approach of man it tlies away, and when frightened by shots it 
 rises to a great altitude and ne\'er ri'tunis to its swamp as long as there 
 is any suspicion of danger. This bird selects for its breeding place a 
 .small ele\ation in the reeds, either immediateh' on the border of the 
 water or in the swamp, mostly where surrounding water renders an ap- 
 proach difficult. One of this famil)' is similar to the foregoing. 
 
 A<niati<' Spooii-Iiill. 
 
 The spoon-bill has its name from the spoon-like manner in which both 
 the upper and the lower jxirts of its bill terminate. It is in other resi)ects 
 lilt' the stork and the heron, and lives upon tlie same fo(ui. They are birds 
 efpas^a "V. Theyspendth.'ii-simimerin Holland, and then pass into Italy or 
 cw 11 .Afrieaf )r the wintei'. Their nests are made of reeds bound together by 
 weeds, and are in the mitldle (^f the ri\er, only a few inches above the 
 .surface of the water. The nest is not lined, and is just large enough to 
 allovv th ' mother bird to sit on the eggs, while her partner .stands beside 
 her. .Sometimes they build on high trees, and. indeed, prefer it. 
 
 They feed on fishes anil insects and shrimps, and other such diet; but 
 
 Iv 
 
 1^- 
 
 iiPI 
 
 
 v^i 
 
}l 
 
 4:52 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 K 
 
 
 if [)ivss'jd with hun,Ljer, will cit almost anythini^. The whole wi ihc 
 ])liima5re of the spoon-i)ill is piiii; white. cxcc])t :i baiul of fcallurs in thi' 
 front of the neck that is a buff color. It has a beautiful plume of fcal.hor'-' 
 on its head. Its leL;s and toes and claws are black; and tlu' tn'. ;ii^^, 
 connected by a membrane The beak is black, excejit at the rounded 
 ])art, where it is yellow. 
 
 SNOW OWr. AND SCKKECII OWL. 
 
 There i.s a curious fact about tlie spoon-bill that must not be passed 
 over. It is one of the very few birds that possess no organ of \dicc, ami 
 it cannot utter a single note. There is an entire ab.sence of those niii.s- 
 cles tiiat can contract and dilate the air-tubes by which the voice is 
 formed and uttered; in .some birds the.se are like a musical instrumcii* 
 and enable them to pour out their songs. 
 
\ ■ T-— "). 
 
 CL'RIOL'S SPECIMF:NS of the FEATMIiRF-D TRII'.ES. 
 
 43;j 
 
 Much iti the same manner as motlis differ from butterflies, do owls 
 differ fioni the falcons. The owls are nocturnal and pursue their 
 prey in the nij^ht ; the falcons flyings altot^ether in the day time. They 
 fjed principally on small birds and quadrupeds and on nocturnal insects. 
 Their eyes are so constructed that they arc able to sec much more il s- 
 tinct'y in the dusk of * le evening than in the broad glare of sunshine. 
 All ammaU by the contraction and dilation of their eyes have in some 
 defrree the power of shutting out or admitting light as ihcir necessities 
 require; but in the owl this property is observed in a singular perfection 
 and ill addition to this there i:: an irradiation on the back of the c}c, 
 which greatly aids their vision in the obscure places they frequent. 
 
 In winter owls retire into iioles in towers and oltl walls and pass that 
 sca'^on in sleep. There arc about fifty species, of which twenty are fur- 
 nisheti with long feathers surrounding the openings of ihe cars anti 
 calle'cl hoins. In their g( ncral mode of life the owls may be consideret! 
 as the cats of the feathered tribe. 1 he snow owl has a very small round 
 head; about the eyes the feathers are ranged as if proceeding from a 
 common centre in the middle of the e\"e. The plumage of these owls is 
 very elegant. The L'gs arc of a beautiful yellow hue, the bill jet black 
 and the tongue is cleft. 
 
 Pursuod by Aii.ijry Owls. 
 
 The owl is one of the birtis that is very rarely seen. The reason is 
 because of" his secluded habits and his dislike to facing the light. It 
 must be something unusual that c:ui biing him out in the day-lime. 
 
 A gardener was once working in a garden when he heard a \ery 
 .strange noi'-c from the top of a tree. As he was very expert, he climbed 
 lip to see where the noise came f,om,and what it was that made it. 
 When hv got half way up the tree, two fierce white creatures daslicd out 
 and attacked him willi beak and claws, making at the same time a ter- 
 rib c screaming. They were, as the intruder soon found to liis co.'-t, a 
 pair of owls taking care of their young in a nest at the top of tlie tice; 
 and an owl in a passion is no pleasant object to meet with. 'I he 
 man Inuried down as fist as he coidd, but he had some ckfficulty in 
 keeping off the owls. Tn spite of the daylight, they darted at him again 
 and a'.^ain. wheeled round his head, and even pursued him, much 
 scr.itchjd and frightened, to the very door of his retieat. 
 
 Ihit, as a rule, the owl lies very safe and snug in his roost, and docs 
 not stir till twilii^ht. lie is a very curious bird, ami we must sfiend a 
 few tnintites in m iking rather a close acquaintance with him. lie is a 
 bird of prey, for he hunts mice and rats, and even small birds if they 
 
 OS 
 
 «iii. 
 
 
 % ' 
 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 "% 
 
 r [r 
 
 ■4 
 
4ltli 
 
 4;m 
 
 EARTH, SF-A, AND SKV 
 
 chance to be about in the twilic^ht. His feet are formed on purpose' to 
 grasp the prey. The toes are feathered ; the first toe is the shortest 
 and the fourth toe is longer and can be turned backwards. The cl.iw; 
 are long and curved, and very sharp. 
 
 The plumage is very fine and soft. Tiie eyes t)f the owl are very larfre 
 
 .<>^/ 
 
 
 ■■■'••;'/ \ I, i 
 
 '^^f^/'/'».9^ 
 
 siiAur'-r.ii.i F.n dartf-r ok snakk hikd. 
 
 and the circle of feathers round them rellccts the li,!;lit upon them as a 
 reflector does upon a lam[). But the worst of it is that these lar^e oves 
 take in more light than the owl can bear. In the day-time he is blinded 
 by the excess of light. This makes him appear as if he were stupid, and 
 he blunders about as though he had lost his senses. 
 
re very Ku-f^c, 
 
 crRioi:s spFxiMiiNs ()i- Till': i-kathered triuks. 
 
 435 
 
 'Ilu' little birds hate the owl, for he pounces upon them whenever he 
 can. It is fine sport to thcni if, by any mistake, tlie owl chances to be 
 abio.uliii day-time. 1 licy soon find it out, for one tells the other, and 
 tliore is an uproar at once. It is never generous to take advantage of a 
 clcf-ncelcss enem\- ; but the littie birds do not think of this. They have 
 iiianv wrongs to revenge, and tlu \- {\\ at his face, and even peck him, 
 taking care, however, to keep away from his claws, and they scold, and 
 ciri\e him about to their hearts' content. As a rule, he does not try to 
 ckfciul himself, but flutters dizzily about, and stares with his great eyes. 
 But if he stops and turns round upoi; them, the rabble rout at his heels 
 take to llight in a momeni. 
 
 IJut the eyes of the owl, though they do not help him much in the 
 da\-iinie, are of the utmost service in the twilight. lie can see the 
 smallest speck on the ground, or the tiny mouse in the corner of the 
 bam. And the farmer rathc-r likes him on this account. One barn 
 owl IS as good, and will do as much work, as a dozen cats. Hut as 
 there is no rule without an exception, .so there are owls that can see bv 
 d.iylitiht. The sncvvy owl is one of these. 
 
 His flight is noiseless, like that of the other owls, but he can continue 
 on the wing for a long time. Sometimes he hunts in the air. lie spies 
 a piL;eon or a wild duck, and he sets himself to follow it. With his 
 swift and steady iiight he soon gains upon it. Then he strikes it with 
 his talons, a little in the same manner as the h.iwks do. 
 
 He loves the margin of rivers or streams, and if there is a rapid, or a 
 waterfall, he is all the better pleased. There he stations himself, for 
 plenty offish are sure to be drawn over, and then he pounces upon 
 them, lie also goes to a trap in which some small animal, such as the 
 rat, is caught, and de\-ours it. His diet consists also of larger prey, 
 !^uch as hares and squirrels, and his meals are excessive. You would 
 wonder how his stomach could hold the amount of food put into it. 
 But, happily, it has the power of stretching out like india-rubber, which 
 exactly suits him. Tie is considered a bird of ill omen, and few people 
 like to meddle with him. 
 
 The L(»iij;-N<«<'k('<l l>ait<'r. 
 
 The daiters have a small head and a very long slender neck. Their 
 bill is long, straight and sharp-pointed and at its base are the nostrils, 
 situated in a long conspicuous fissure. The face and skin are bare of 
 feathers. The f.ar toes are short and webbed together. Two species 
 arc found in America and the third in Ceylon and Java. They live al- 
 most entirely on fish which they take by darting forward their bill. 
 
liflPIT 
 
 >v n 
 
 %\i 
 
 4'M 
 
 EARTH. SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 TI12 most apparent atul reiiurk.iblc part of its body is tlic Ion-/ and 
 slcndjrneck, which is constantly in motion except tluriii}^ fli'b'i'. wli' 1. it 
 becomes immovable and extended and forms with the tail a straight .ind 
 liorizon'.al line. The principal footl of the darter is fish, which, if .sniall 
 enough, it ^ wallows entire, but if they are too hirgc, it (lies off with 
 them to some rock or stump of tree, where fixing them under one of its 
 feet, it tears them to pieces with its bill. It fjenerally buihU its 
 nest on rocks or trees, but always so near to the river, that it tin m 
 case of ilancjcr precipitate itself into it. They are very cuiiniii^^ ami si- 
 gacious when surprised in water. Their head, which is the on'v pirt 
 exposed, disappears the instant the hunter approaches, and if missed 
 once it is in vain to think of appro.ichinLj them again, as they nevi i- shnw 
 themselves again, except (or the niouient lu.cessaiy for bn-.atliin;^'. 
 
 The IJenowned Stork. 
 
 There arc .several species of storks, the most important being ilvc white 
 stork. It measures about forty inches in height ; length to end of tail, 
 forty-two inches; wings, extended, seventy-six inches; its pluma;^^e is 
 white; the wings are fringed with black. This is the species best kiioun 
 in luu'ope. I lollaud and Germany are its favorite residences ; and Alsace 
 is the part of France in which they are most frccjuently met with. Iti- 
 so rarely seen in I"'ngland that there it has become almost a matter of 
 legend. It is very conmion in the warm ami temperate parts of Asia. 
 In the month of August it leaves ICurope to visit Africa, whence it returns 
 in thj following spring. This migration is not caused by temperature, as 
 the stork can bear severe cold. It is a mere (luestion of sustenance; for, 
 feeding as it does princii)ally upon reptiles wliich remain in a complete 
 state of torpor during winter, it is naturally compelled to .seek its food 
 tl sew he re. 
 
 The stork is of a mild nature, and is easily tamed. As it destro\s a 
 host of noxious creatures, it has become a useful helper to man, who, iiu'. 
 ungrateful, gives it succor and protection. In ancient I'vg>'pt it was ven- 
 erated on the same score as the ibis ; in Thcssaly there was a law wliieii 
 condemned to death any one killing these birds. I^vlp at the present day 
 the Germans and Dutch esteem it a fortunate omen when a stork selects 
 their house for its home, and they even furnish it with inducements to do 
 so by placing on their roofs a box or wheel, which forms a foundatifn for 
 the bird to build a nest, which it constructs of reeds, grass, and feathers. 
 
 IMayliil I»<;t of tlio Household. 
 
 When the stork ha ; attached itself to a place, and is kindly treated, r, 
 sometimes gives up the habit of migrating. It cannot however, quite '^d 
 
CI Kiors Sl'FCCIMKNS ()!•• Till. I'l'.A'niKRi;!) TRIMi:S. 
 
 4:57 
 
 the loir.; and 
 fli^lU.wlKi-. It 
 I straight .inJ 
 hich, if s:ii.ill 
 flit-s f)ff With 
 dcr one of Its 
 Ily builiU its 
 that it cm in 
 lining ami s,i- 
 thc only p irt 
 :uid if missrd 
 vy ncvrr shmv 
 athing. 
 
 •oini; the white 
 to end of tail, 
 its ijhiina^^^c is 
 ics bL,'.st known 
 .'s ; ami Alsacr 
 let w ilh. It 1- 
 st a matter of 
 
 parts of Asia. 
 cncc it returns 
 cmpcraturc,a> 
 istcnance; for, 
 
 in a complete 
 I seek its f )od 
 
 ; it destru\'S a 
 
 man, who, nut 
 
 ypt it was veil- 
 
 IS a law whiLli 
 
 he present day 
 
 a stork selects 
 
 icenieiits to do 
 
 foundatit n for 
 
 , and feathers. 
 
 lully treated, i: 
 ever, quite '^d 
 
 rid of agitation wlun the scasiui fur departure tome-. Occasion.s have 
 been i>.n' >\ n where it yielded to the appi-als of it.s wild companions, and 
 wa-i allured away to join the band of travellers. But this separation is 
 otilv temporal-)' ; iie.xt year the truant returns to tlu; old house, and a;:;ain 
 takes pos.session of its domicile. It exhibits preat pleasure in renewing 
 acquaintance with former friends, and is not long in placing itself on a 
 footing of familiarity with them. It frolics with the children, caresses 
 the parents, plagiei the doL;s and cats — in a word, manifests a gaiety and 
 .susceptibility of affection which one would hardly expect to find in a bird 
 f^cnerally dull and taciturn. It presents itself at the family meals, and 
 take-; its share of th ni. If its master tills the (M-ounil. it follows him step 
 by step, and devours the worms which are turned up by tlK> spade- or the 
 plough. 
 
 The .'■tork may ccrtainlj- be taken as a model for all mothers. Us love 
 fur it-; progeny sometimes even approaches heroism. We w ill gi\c two 
 tuiuliing instances: In 1536 a fire liroke out in the city of Delft, in 
 Ildlhmd. A stork, whose nest was j^laced on one of tlie Iniining 
 buildings, made at first every effort to save its )-oung. b'inalK-, seeing 
 its inal)ility to assist them, it suffccd itself to be burnt with the 
 lo\i(l ones rather than abandon them. In 18 jo, at another fire at 
 Kelbra, in Russia, some storks, when threatened by the llames, suc- 
 ceeded in .saving- their nest and oflspring by siM-inkling them with 
 water, which they brought in their beaks. This la>t fact proves to 
 what extent intelligence may be produced under the influence of parental 
 
 love. 
 
 The Stoiiv u Good AVilc. 
 
 The- stork is not only a good mother, but she is also an excellent wife. 
 The attachment which these birds show for each other when they are 
 once [)aired has lonj^ procured for them a high reputation for conjugal 
 fidelity. Thus, in the Tyrol, a male stork was known to ha\e refused to 
 migrate, j)assiny: several winters by the .side of his mate, which, in con- 
 ■^equcnce of a wound in her wing, was unable to fl}-. 
 
 We mu.st, however, add that some lady storks are by no means slow in 
 condoling themselves for the loss of their hu.sbands. y\ few days of 
 mourning, as a matter of form, and their grief ends. Sprungli notes the 
 case iif one widowed stork which contracted new bonds after two da\-s. 
 Anotiier gave evidence of the most guilty perversity. The lady began 
 by betraying the confidence of him with whom she had united her des- 
 tinies ; his presence had evidently become insupportable te) her, and slie 
 finally killed him with the help of her accomplice. 
 
 '^-«^ii 
 
 _li^**«J 
 
I) 
 
 i 
 
 1 §f''^' 
 
 
 
 
 ' 1^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■■ ■«■•" -• 
 
 f'' 
 
 (4;{.s) 
 
 nii; (iK.ANiu; adjutant. 
 
CURIOUS SriiCIMliNS OF THE FKATHERKl) TR115ES. 
 
 4;}9 
 
 These errors of the female render the hii;li morality of the male bird 
 more conspicuous. Witness the followinL,^ stor)', related h)- Xeaiulcr : — • 
 
 A lumiber ')f storks had taken u]) their abode in iIk- market-town of 
 laiimii. in Bavaria. Perfect harnmn)- reiL;ned in e\er)- faniil)-, and tluir 
 \'wc< were passed in hap[)iness and Ireedoin. L'nfortunatelx', a female, w ho 
 liad heen up to that time the most correct of matrons, allowed licrself tO' 
 be led .iw.i)-by the idle i^allantries of a youni; male ; thi- took place in the 
 absence of her mate, w ho was enj^ai^ed in seeking fi)otl lor liis familv. This 
 juiiltv intimac)' continued until one da\" the male, returning' unexijcctedly 
 Ix.aine convinced of her infidelity, lie did not, however, venture to take 
 the law into his own hands. I le arrait^ned her before a tribunal comi)osed 
 of all the birds at the time assembled for their autumnal nii;^n-ation. Mav- 
 iii<4 statetl the facts, he demandeil the severest jud;.^nnent oi" tiie court 
 against the accused. The unfaithful s[)ou.se was condinmed to death by 
 un;uiinious consent, and was inuiiediately torn in pieces. As to the male 
 bird.althiiu^h now aveni^ed, he departed to bury his sorrows in the recesses 
 of s((tne desert, and the place which once knew him afterwards knew him 
 III) more. The I'^rench naturalist, h'ij^uier, (piotes the fore^^'oin;^- remark- 
 able slaU'inent mad*..' by Neander. 
 
 .Jralousy Dciiiaiuliii;^- I{«'V<mij;o. 
 
 Ihe storks of the Levant manifest a still i;reater suscejjtibilit)-. Thein- 
 h,il)itants of Smyrna, who know how far the males carry their feelin;^s of 
 C'»niu;4.il h(ini:)r, make these birds the subject of rather a cruel anmsenieiit 
 by pl;uin<;- hens' ei;;^s in the nest of the stork. At slight of this unusual 
 production the male allows a terrible suspicion to j^naw his heart. B>- the 
 help of iina;.;ination, he persuades himself that his mate has bctrax'ed him; 
 and in spite of the protestations of the poor thin;..^', he delivi'rs her over to 
 the other storks, which arc: attracted b\- his cries, and the innoci'nt and un- 
 fortunate victim is pecked to pitxes. This feature in its charaeter h;i^ no. 
 a little Contributed to the universal ostimation the stork is held ni. 
 
 The stork speei(.-s called the adjutant, inhabits India; they feed on rep- 
 tiles andall kinds of filth, and this fact h.l■^ \)ccn the means of ^ecuriii;^ for 
 them the ijjoodwill of th>- p.Mple. in tli • lar^e cities of I lindustan they 
 are as tame as do^^^s, and elcar the streets of I'very kdnd of f^arbai^c which 
 litters them. At meal-times they never fail drawiiv^ themselves up in lini..' 
 in front of the barrack-s, to cat ihe refuse thrown to them by tlie soldiers: 
 their sjjhittony is so t;ri;at that th v vv ill swallow enoinious bones. At Cal- 
 cutta and Chanderna;.n)re they arr protocted 1)V' law, whic h inflicts a fme 
 oft n 
 
 guineas on anv one killing; one of these birds. 
 
 rile Ion;.;- white feathers, celelirated foe tlu'ir delicacy and airmess, which 
 
 
Ih 
 
 11 
 
 '^1 
 
 lA 
 
 !NI 
 
 441) 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 arc used in iho adornirn'iit <>f ladies' bonnets, and known in commerce Iw 
 the name (jf marabou feathers, conic from this l)ird an 1 th.; African mara- 
 bou. Consequently, in spite (jf their uijlincss, a f^ood many are reared in 
 a domestic state in order that oui- fair ones may obtain their favorite dr- 
 oration. 
 
 The bluc-hcaded parakeet, not lar;_jcr than a common sparrow, is on'v 
 found in Borneo, Sumatra, Banka, and in tlu- southern part of Malakka 
 
 '■' •■■^■•>, •- ;x>' . 
 
 
 ^A^^" 
 
 ^M^^-'-v"^^ 
 
 ULUK-HIiADED PARAKEETS. 
 
 Its pluma^^c is a brii^ht tureen, with a darl: ultramarine blue spot on top 
 of thj head, a triangular yellow spot on the back, a .scarlet-red, elliptical 
 spot on the throat and some yellow and black winij and tail-feathers. 
 They arc very erf-iciTnl and li\el\' little birds and are racily domesticatiMl; 
 their plcasini; manners and identic ilisposition rendering- tiieni ^real f.i- 
 voritcs. 
 
chaiti:r XVII. 
 
 MARVICLOUS CRl'J'JMXG ANIMAl.S. 
 
 Kcptiles of Antiquity — Animal Curiosities — Fangs of Deadly Poison —Strange Mode 
 of Breatliing — Historic Chameleon— Shooting Tongue -Changing Colors— Two 
 Animals in One — A Creatnre Asleep on one Siilc and Awake on tlie Other — 
 I'ive-Tocd Geckos — Curious Suction I-'oot — Nimble Running uii Smooth Sur- 
 fues— Tongue like a Dart — The Common Iguana — Soiitii Ameriran Reptile — 
 Poiuli I'nder the Jaw — Hunting the Iguana — Lizanls fur llreakfast — Darwin's 
 Dcsi liption of the Iguana — The Sea Guana— Attachnunt of Male for Female — 
 A Ciallant Defender— Capital Swimmers — I'jellowing lUillFrogs — I'rogs Giving 
 I'irst Idea of FJectric Telegrapli -Housed in Winter 'Jiiarters— Stories of the 
 Doineslicaled Frog — How a Frog Disappeared and what I]ecame of Him -Won- 
 deihil Horned-Frog — The Mysterious Salamander- Old Notions about a Crea- 
 ture that could Resi>t I-"ire — Human Clotliing that will not I'airn -Land Tor 
 toisfs— I'inely Colored Shells — Remarkable Longevity — ! .lepiiantine Tortoisi — 
 ilow the Tortoise I'eeds — Astounding Surgical ((jm ration — Value of the 
 Tortoise Siull — The Tun Snail — A Creeping Oddity. 
 
 N acquaintance witli reptiles nia\- he traced backwards to a very 
 remote period. The saci"cd Scriptures, esjjecially th<ise of the 
 OUl Testament, have numerous passa_L,n;s alhidincj to them ; and 
 the ancient monuments of the I"><::^\-i)tians jjrow that the great 
 qioiil-s of the tortoises, the lizards, the serpents, and the froos were well 
 known to that peojile. Tho.se forms of animal life must, therefore, have 
 attracted attention from the earliest times; while a natural ilesire to ascer- 
 tain which of them were danoerous must ha\e led to particular inijuirx-.in 
 ortlcr to soKc the doubt. It is exidcnt, moreover, from the ancient writ- 
 ing's of Atluna-us, as well as of 1 Iri-odotus, the father of histor}-, and the 
 contcinporar)- (-f the prophet Malachi, that notion.s not merel\' \at;iie but 
 j)iV(ise were entertained re.s])octin;4 many species of reptiles. 
 
 Kcj)tiles form, iinqtiestionabl)', a most ri'markable class of ammated 
 hciiii;s. Some arc of strange and imcoulh aspect, and others, resplend- 
 ent with burnished hues, i^litter like steel and ;j^olil amidst the rays of the 
 sun; Hot a f'w are stroiv^^ and ferocious, and of all it maybe said they 
 supply abundant materials f)r interestin;^ ami in.striictive c-\amination. 
 
 TIk-sc creatures teem within the tropical latitudes. They tenant alike 
 the land and the ocean ; some prefer the ri\-erand the morass ; while many 
 aif arboreal in their habits, flittin;^ from spray to spra\', and from leaf to 
 leaf, in chase of insects. Reptiles suarm in sandv deserts, amono- dense 
 
 (1 11 J 
 
 !!i)'|lii|Jii 
 
 I b 1:11,11 - |lr»r^ 
 
 il^ljfjl. 
 
 m^i 
 
 m 
 
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 4f 
 
 m 
 
 :!: m 
 
 442 
 
 EARTH, SP:A, and SKY. 
 
 aiul tansj^lcd brushwood, in luiinid forests, and in pestilential su amps' 
 they colonize the ruins of ancient towns and cities, palaces and temples 
 and often lurk unsuspected in the dwellings of men. 
 
 In the more temiK;rate kititudes of the globe the number of th';sc 
 animals is greatly iliminished ; none are terrible from their size, and \cr\- 
 few are to be dreailed for their poist)n. Passing still farther northwards, 
 a few species remain which are harmless, while one or two besides, thou"h 
 furnished with poison-fangs, are capable only of destroying crcaturt's of 
 small si/e or a weak frame. The vijjer of Northern luu'ope is the w\n\-- 
 .scntative in our latitude of the numerous deadly snakes which infest iho 
 countries of the tropics; and the harmless common ringed snakt' lakes 
 the place of the mighty p\'thon of Java and Bengal. 
 
 IiOCiiliti<'s \vli(*r<' Itoptiles urt' frozen Out. 
 
 AcKaneing to the countries of the polar circles, we cannot find the 
 snake, the lizard, the toad, or the frog. The low state of the tempe ratine, 
 the condition of tlu: land and the water, and the deficiency of snails, 
 in.sects, and other small animals, their usual food, combine to e.\clii<l.' 
 reptiles from tln-se (ksolate regions. 
 
 W'e may remark at the outset that reptiles, like birds, spring fiom a;i 
 egg. The great marine tortoises, for example, come every )'ear, at dicir 
 appointed times, to deposit their eggs in the sand on the shores i^^ the 
 sea and banks of rivers, near strands of gentle declivity. There the 
 fenuiles hollow out a sort i>f rude, but strong vaulted nest or oven, a> it 
 may be termed, wherein the eggs may have the benefit of the concen- 
 trated ra)-s of the sun, so as to enjoy an ccpiable heat, as in the instance 
 of eggs under a sitting hen, but under circumstances whicli do not jjer- 
 mit the body of the mother to impart the neces.sary warmth. The >hell 
 of these" eggs is generally solitl, and their form globular, or of a . Iii)!t 
 cylimlrical shape, ecpialK' rounded at the extremities, A female tmtk will 
 lay as man}' as a Jumdred at one time. 
 
 The re[)tiles diffi-r from other animals in the mode of their respiration. 
 Mammals bri\'ithe b\- expanding the cavity of the chest occupied b\ ihv 
 lungs, into \\hi> h, accordingly, the air enters, through the trachea, oi 
 windpipe, to fill up the vacuum occasioned by the dilation of the cavity. 
 Now, this action supposes a certain degree of mobility in the walls of ihc 
 chest, or, in other words, of the ribs and sternum, or breast bone, uiiieli 
 encircle it, independently of the action of the diaphragm — the great umi^cIi' 
 of res[)iration, which parts the ciiest from the abdominal cavity ; but in 
 tortoises the walls of the chest are immovable; they cannot be e.xpaiuleii; 
 the bones an- all locketl into oiu- solid mass, and tlu-re is no diaphragm 
 
 
MARVIiLOUS CREEPING ANIMALS. 
 
 ua 
 
 partiiiL; the cavity occupied by tlic heart antl lun^L^s from that containin<; 
 llir rest of the viscera. There must, therefore, be a pecuhar mechanism bv 
 which the hmgs become filled, and this is clearly discoverable. 
 
 If we watch a froi^, for instance, we catuiot readil}' discover that it 
 ijrealhcs at all, for it never opens its mouth to receive fresh air, and there 
 is no motion of the sides to indicate that it respires; and yet, on any sud- 
 den alarm, the animal miiy be observed blowint,^ itself up. as if by some 
 internal power, thoui^h its mouth continues all the while to Ix- closed. 
 The throat, however, may be observed in frequent motion, as if it were 
 cccmomizin;^ its mouthful of air, and transferring; it backwards ami forwards 
 between its mouth and the lun<^s ; while, if we look to the nostrils, a twirl- 
 iiv motion may be noticed at each movement of the jaws; fm- it is, in fact, 
 throuj^di the nostrils tliat the frog receives all the air it breathes. 
 A Cr«'iitiire Strimylcil by Opriiiuf'- its Mtxitli. 
 
 Tlu' jaws are never opened but for eatin^j ; and the sides of the mouth 
 lorin a .sort of bellows, of which the nostrils are the inlets, and by their 
 alternate contraction and relaxation the air is swallowed, and forcetl into 
 the uachca, so as to inflate the huv^s. If the mouth (,f a fro;^ be forcibly 
 kept open, it can no longer breathe, because it is tlepriw.'d of the power of 
 swallowing the air retiuired for that function ; and if the nostrils be closed, 
 ill like manner it is suffocated. 
 
 The respiration of most of the re])tile tribes is performetl mi a similar 
 manner. The fact is, t.iat the air is forced 1)\' the action <;f the tongue 
 ami mouth tlu-ough the trachea into the lungs, by an act resembling that 
 of swallowing; or rather, in the manner in wliich the ball or hollow butt 
 t)fan air-gun is charged by re[x.'ated strokes of the piston. 
 
 The tortoises lia\-e lungs of great extent, passing backwards untk.'r the 
 ba-'k-plate, and reaching to the posterior part of the bod\'. Turtles, w iiich 
 are aquatic, derive great ad\-aniages from this stiucture, which enables 
 them to give buoyancy to the body — iMicumbered as it is by a heavy 
 .shell — by intr.xlucing into it a large \'olume of air; so that the lungs, in 
 fact, .serve the purpose of a large swimming-bladdei'. That such was the 
 |)iirpose of this structure is evident from the \'olume of air recei\eil into 
 the lungs being much greater than is recpiired for the sole pur|)ose of 
 I'e^piration. 
 
 All reptiles are cold-blooded, sluggish, and inert ; subsisting on a scanty 
 allnwance of food. The heart of the frog may be regarded as consisting 
 '•r I ingle ventricle and a single auricle. From the former there proceeds 
 (ine gr(\-\t arterial trunk, which is properlv the aorta. This soon divides 
 inui twd trunks, which, after sending branches to the head and neck,. 
 
 HM^ 
 
ri h 
 
 11 
 
 
 »•* 
 
 ?■ 
 
 > 
 
 
 '»l'l' 
 
 J.()NCi-T()N(.l 1.1) CIIAMELKON. 
 
 (4U) 
 
MAK\I:L()LIS Cr-IKRPING ANIMALS. 
 
 445 
 
 ;) .1 
 
 bend ilouiiwards, and unite to form a sinL;lc trunk, which is the liescend- 
 in"^ aurla. From this vessel proceed all the arteries, which arc distriljuted 
 to the trunk and to the liml)s, and ihcsi- arterial ramification^ are continued 
 into [he threat venous trunks. 
 
 The heart of the tortoise has two distinct auricles — the one rcceivii 
 
 ihi 
 
 hldod from the i)ulni<:iiar) \-eins, the other, from those i)( the body 
 ■ Generally; so tluit tlie mixture of aerated and \it:atetl blood take; place-, 
 
 m 
 
 !t in the aiM'ich-, but the \enti-icle. When all tlie cax'ities are distended 
 
 !th blootl, the two auric! 
 
 )einu" nearlv of the ;ame size a:; the \ent 
 
 IK le. 
 
 tJK uhede lias the a[)pearance of the union of ihiee hearts. On a similar 
 {(kill the circulatiri;.; system of the serpents iu ccnstnicted. 
 
 Tlu; Fainous Cliainclooii. 
 One character of the chamelec n consists in tlu tonL;i:e beiivj; cylindri- 
 cal, worm-like, capable of bein;^ inwitly e!on|.^'ited, and terminatinrj in a 
 fleshy tubercle, lubricated with a \i-^cid .sili\a. .\nolher ar)pears in the 
 
 surface ( 
 
 ,f Ih. 
 
 e skin heini; coveied with ho;ny ^'■.aiuile: 
 
 in >t(.'ad cf scale 
 
 A third is seen in the deep and compressed form ( f the bod\-, which is 
 
 surnio 
 
 untetl b\' an acute dor- al ridi'- 
 
 fourth, in the tail 1 
 
 n'AU'j- rou 
 
 nd. 
 
 tai)i 
 
 eriii'. 
 
 anc 
 
 1 capable of j^raspinc', ; and a fifth, in ih.e parrot-like structure 
 
 of the feet, which have each fwc toes, divided into two opposin.; sets — 
 three beinc; placed outwardly and two inwardly, connected to ;t'ther a; far 
 as the second joint, and armed with five sharji claws. 
 
 The head of these am'mals is very lar<;e; end fi-om the shortness ( f the 
 neck, it seems as if set upon the shoulders. The upper part [generally 
 
 pr 
 
 esell 
 
 ts an elevated central crust ; an! a ridijed arch i.-. over each orbit t 
 
 (> 
 
 the nuizzle. 
 
 Tl 
 
 le internal oi\^an of hearing; is entirely concealed. The 
 
 meutli is ver\- wide; the teeth are sliarp, small, an. 1 three-iobed. The 
 wheie of the ball of each e)-e, excei^*^ tlu pui^il, is covered with skin, and 
 firms a sinc^Ie circular e\elid, with a central orifice. The furrow between 
 the I all of the eye and the cd'j^c of the orbit is very deep; and the eye- 
 lid, closely attached to the ball, nio\es as it mo\es. As each eye l:as an 
 iiukptndent j)ower of motif n, the axis ( f rnc cje nay I>e seen directl)' 
 upwards or backwards, wliile ih.at of the other is in a ec'iitrary directicn, 
 ■•i\in'e- to the creature a stran_L,a' and most ludicrous appearance. 
 
 The 
 
 chameleon was once 
 
 said to live on air; but iiuects, slurs 
 
 md 
 
 such like creatures form its food. For their seizure its tongue is especially- 
 adapted. With the exception of the fleshy tubercle forming its lip, it 
 consists of a hollow tube, which, when withdrawn into the throat, is 
 fokleil in u[K)n itsidf, somewhat in the way in which a pocket telescope is 
 shut up. When fully protruded, it reaches tj a distance al least ccjual to 
 
 
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 '<k 
 
 ,p|i(a 
 
1 'I' 
 
 ;'h>^, ■ 'H^ 
 
 H 
 
 'ii 
 
 
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 446 KXKTII, SF.A, ANT) SKY. 
 
 the chameleon's bf)d\- ; ami is hiunchcd forth and retracted witli rrmal 
 
 rapidity. An insect on a leaf at an apparently hopeless distance, or a 
 
 drop of wal<r on a twi^', is t^one so instantaneously, that the spectator i^ 
 
 astonished. " T ne\"er knew," said an acute f)bserver, " a chaniele. n I 
 
 lonjj^ kept miss his aim Init once, and thi.-n the (\y was on the otliL'r sid-^ 
 
 of the L^lass.'' 
 
 Curious Sliiftiiii;' Colors. 
 
 The remote cause, says Weissenborn, of the difference of color in tlii; 
 two lateral halves of the chameleon ma}-, in most cases, be distinctK'- 
 referred to the manner in which the li:-^dit acts upon the animal 
 The statement of IVIurra)-. *hat the side turned towards the IiL;ht is al\va\-,s 
 of a d.'irker color, i> p .•rfectk' true. This rule hokls p^ood as well w ith 
 rc-fercnce to I 'i \ ' and diffused li;-,dit of the sun, or moon, a^ to 
 artificial li_L;ht. 'en u -.en the animal was moving; in the walks of mv- 
 tjjarden, and happened to ■• .ne near cnoui^h to the bf)rder to besli,.!,(l 
 l)\' the box edjj^iiiL;-, that side (so shaded) would instantly become lc<s 
 ilarkly colored than the othci-. Now, as the li_L;ht in these casc;s scldun! 
 illumines exactly one lateral half of the animal in a more powerful nianiicr 
 than the otlu r, and as the middle line is constantly the line of deiiiaica- 
 lion between the two different shades cjf color, we must e\identl\' refer 
 the different effects to two different centres, from which the ner\c)us cur- 
 rents can only radiate, under such circumstances towards the or;^\uis 
 situated respecti\'el)' on one side of the mesial line. 
 
 Over these centnvs, without doubt, the or^^an of vision immediateh- pre- 
 sides ; and, indeeil, we ouj^iit n^t to wonder that the action of li!.;ht has 
 such powerful effects on the highly irritable organization of the chanieK'on, 
 considering.^ that the e\-e is most hi;^dily develoj)ed. The lun^s are hut 
 secondarilx' affected ; but the\' are likewise more stroni^ly excited on the 
 darker side, which is constantly morecon\-cx than the other. 
 
 NotwithstamliiiL,^ the strictly symmetrical structure of the chanieleeii, 
 as to its two JiaKes, the e\-es move independently of each other, and oii- 
 vcy tlilTereiit impressions to their respective centres of perception. Tin 
 coiiseciuence is that, when the animal is ajj^itated, its movements appear 
 like those of two animals ^lued toi^cther. l-!ach half wishes to nio\c iis 
 own wa\', and there is no concordance of action. The chameleon, there- 
 fore, is not able to swim, like other animals : it is so fri^^rjitened, if put mtn 
 water, that the facultx' of concentration is lost, and it tumbles about as if in a 
 state of intoxication. On the other hand, when the creature is undis- 
 turbed, the eye which receives the stroiv^cst impression propac,^'ltes it to 
 the conunon centre, and prevails ujjon the other eye to follow that impres- 
 
MAKVKLUIJS CRKKl'lNti ANIMALS. 
 
 447 
 
 -ion and directs itself to the same ol)jcct. Ihe ciuinieleon, moreover, riiay 
 be aslcei) on one side and awake on tiie otlier. When cautiously approach- 
 iivr niv specimen at ni^ht, with a candle, so as not to awaken the whole 
 animal, \>v tiie shakini^ of the room, the eye turned towards the flame 
 umild oiKMijand bet^in to mo\'i', and the corresponding;' side to change 
 color; whereas the other siile would remain for several seconds lonL;er in 
 its torpid and unchan<^eable state, with its eye shut. 
 
 Tlu' <i<'<4ios or Wall Lizards. 
 
 The family standing;' next to the chameleons is that of the ijjeckos, 
 havin"^ characteristics which prevent their heini,^ confounded with any 
 other "roup. One part of their structure may be illustrated by a playthiuLj 
 of llu' writer's bo\'hood, w hich, simjile as it was, often conveyed much 
 iiistniction. It consisted of a piece of leather, about four inches in diam- 
 eter, havinij; a strini^ with a knot at the ind, passed thron<^h the centie, 
 which, ilipped in water, and pressed down with the foot -i a stone, raisi'd 
 it at pka-^ure from the ground. The reason of it-; cioinLj - o i easily under- 
 .stood. The ed<^es of the wet leather, bi-iuLi elosel)' ])re, ed, ..tuck so firmly 
 to the surface of the stone, as to resist the force of the striuLj wlun it was 
 pulled upwards; the consequence was, that a hollow \ is formed in the 
 iiiidtlle of the leather which was destitute of air, or w' at is talleil a \acnum. 
 
 This effect arises from a tendenc\' that i-.xists in ail boiiics to adhere 
 to;j;ether, provided the contact of their surfaces is sufficic-ntly perfect — a 
 propert)' which is termed the attraction of cohesion. Were the leather 
 (lr\-, it would not adliL're to a rouL,di surfact', because the contact could 
 ii.it t)c reixlered sufficientl)' perfect ; but wlun saturated with water, the 
 interstices of the leather are filled with that lluid, and tlu- ine(iualities of 
 the surface, which would prevent close contact, are remo\-ed. As then 
 the central part is drawn up by the .string;, the hollow thus produced must 
 nccessaril)' be a Naeuum, since the air cannot pass through the leather to 
 supply it; in this state, therefore, the atmos])here presses on the exterior 
 n( the leather, and, like an)' other wei;_;lu, pre\-ents it'- risini^f from the 
 stone — the pressure b('ini;' equal to fifteen pounds on (.wer)- s(|uare inch of 
 suifice. As, howe\er, the atmospiiere, by its pressure, ultimatel)- forces 
 its \va\- throuj^h the ed;^a's of the leather, the interior becomes filled with 
 air; it consecjuently balances tlut external wei!_;ht, which had before C( n- 
 fined it, and the stone falls to the i-arth. 
 
 This toy of childhoofl — the box's " sucke'r" — will ser\e to explain the 
 peculiar mechanism with which the li^ecko tribe is provided for effectinsj^ the 
 adhesion of the feet to the objects to which they are applied. The\- art-, 
 be it obsL-rved, nocturnal animals; their ft)od coiisi.sts of insi-cts, which 
 
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 w 
 
 k^^ 
 
 iii. ■ .' ( 
 
 i^m 
 
 
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 448 
 
 EARTH, .SI:A, and SKY. 
 
 they obtain by waitini^ in ambush for thcni, or by t;ivin^ them chase i-it,, 
 the liolcs aiul crevices to whicli they retreat for refu^t^e. In pursuin"- tlkm 
 they traverse tlie surface of the smoothest substances, pass over the ceil- 
 ings of rooms, suspend themselves on the under side of a leaf, climb the 
 
 
 
 FIVK-TOEI) (iECKC) OK WALL-LIZAKD. 
 
 bark of trees, penetrate the caviiies and clefts of rocks, and ascend w^.lls; 
 accomplishing all of these extraordinary movements with the greatest 
 facility. 
 
 Accordingly, each foot is provided with five toes ; all, except the tlnimb, 
 being terminated by a sharp curved claw. On the under surface of cacii 
 
MARVELOL'S CREEPING ANIMALS. 
 
 I4J) 
 
 toe arc* sixteen transvcrsi; slits, Icadiiv^ to the same minihcr of cavities; 
 tJK'si' npcn forwards, ami tlieir LXtcriial cd^e is serrated, apiu-ariiii^f like the 
 teeth of a small-toothed comb. All tliese parts, toLjether with the cavities, 
 .irc covered or Uned with cuticle. Helow them are larLie muscles, w hicli 
 draw down the clan ; antl from tiie tendons of these muscles ari-^e two sets 
 ,.| siii.illei Muiscles, situated so as to be put on the stretch, when the ft)rmcr 
 :irc ill action. 
 
 1>\ ilu- contraction-- of these' muscles, the ririfices of the cavities, to w hieh 
 ihcv helonL;. are opened, And the serrated edj^es applied accuratelv to the- 
 .sinfaee> with which the feet are in contact. Thus, as in the hoj-'s j^lay- 
 tliiiii;. iidhesion takes place, and awicunm is ])roduced, which is terminateil 
 ;ii die will of the -^ecko, b\- the admission of the air. 
 
 [•Or the purjiose of seizin;^ the insects, on which it feeds, the li/ard 
 iLrts o;it with astonishing;- xelocity its foria-d toni^ue. This is beset with 
 a-.pen lies which are scarcely discernible, but wliich ate of L;reat use in 
 ..atchin;^ its pre)-. This li/ard is capable of existing;" for a h'lv^- time with- 
 out [\><n\. Previously to the breedint; seasons both female and male chan;j,e 
 their skins, and this the)- a^ain do about the be;^innin'4 of winter. Tluy 
 pass that .season in a state of torpor, more or less complete arcoidin;.; to 
 the riL;or of the climate. 
 
 TlU' .Siii;;iiliii- Krptih' Naiiu'd l};'iiaii:i. 
 
 Till- common ii^uana inhal)its a threat part of .South .America. These 
 reptiles are easil)' recot^ni/.ed from the huL;e pouch niiderneatli the neck, 
 nii(! the dentated crest \vhich e-xteiids from the head to the e\t;\:mit)- of 
 the tail. The tail, feet, ami boil)- are co\'ered with small scales. On the 
 upper part their color is a more or less decided orecn. sometimes be- 
 coiiiin;4 blue, at others slate-colored; the lower part is of a xellowish 
 ;.;reer.. The sides present /it^^zai^", roundish, brown scales, edii'ed with )'el- 
 l(i\v , frecpientl)- a yellow line is traced oblitpiel)- in front of the shoulder, 
 and some specimens are sprinkled with lirown; others ha\e the limbs 
 .spotted with brown on a black (.ground. When full i^rcnvn it attains the 
 kiv^nh of four feet. They are \ery identic creatures, ami perfectl)' harm-. 
 less, feedin;4 almost exclusively on \e<^etables. The)' are hunted for their 
 tiesh, which is excellent; and the)- are most numerous in .Surinam ami 
 Brazil. 
 
 The tan,<,nie is curiously used by the animal to draw footl into the 
 mouth, and to forward it down the ^nillet, or to repel it at will, and the 
 only use of the palatal teeth appears to be to .secure the food while the 
 tonf,nie moves forward to afford fresh assistance in its journc)- down the 
 tliroat. Between the lower jaw and the chest is a poucii, which the ani- 
 29 
 
 
 *,«! 
 
 ■ fm 
 
 Ai 
 
m 
 
 4 
 
 
 ^1^ 
 
 (430) 
 
 ijOLTH AMIiKlCAN IGUANA. 
 

 MARVEI.OUS CRKEFMNG ANIMALS. 
 
 '151 
 
 nial (Ir.iu^ in i>r ovtctvls siimiltaiicDiisly with tin.' c<)ni|»rc^si()ii or swcllinfj 
 oiitdf the body wlun iiirai^^ccl or excited. The portion of tlic pouch at- 
 taclicd to the jaw is iiitlatahlc, and food is .sometimes retained in it for a 
 cniisiderablc period. 
 
 Tiiis iLjuana is not averse to water, when not too cold, takin^^ to it only 
 when the .sun is .shinin;^; in fact, not movin;j- about much at any other 
 'inic. Its mode of swimmini^ differs from that of other li/ards, inasmuch 
 a-; it places its four lej^s close by the siile of its body, and swims en- 
 arcl\" with its tail. It di\'es with great facility, and remains sometimes for 
 .1 considerable time underwater. The tail is a very \aluable limb ; for, 
 besides being the sole mean.s of .swimming po.sse.ssed I)\- the animal, it is 
 of great use in climbing trees, and it i.s a more important weapon of de- 
 ftiice, a blow from it being frequently sufficient to inflict a severe wound 
 Viyforous U.sc of Teotli and daws. 
 
 In fact, this reptile is rather formitlable when brought to bay in the 
 \vo<nls. It is hunted by the natives with dogs trainetl for the purpose. 
 The dog, immediately upon scenting it, gives tongue, and, if on the 
 ground, the dog seizes it by the neck, and either kills it or maims it, 
 which makes its capture easy; if in a tree, the iguana is either shaken 
 down — a matter ordinarily of no small difficulty — or the branch is cut off. 
 It is almost u.seless to attempt to find these reptiles without dogs, as the 
 resemblance of their color to that of the trees which they iidiabit prevents 
 them from being easily .seen. Few dogs but those accustomed to the 
 .•^port will touch them, as, in addition to the blows which they ii.dict with 
 the tail, they bite and .scratch furiously; and when once they lay hold of 
 anything with their teeth, they can only be made to let go by an induce- 
 ment to bite some more attractive object offered to them. They run into 
 holes when chased, if an opportunity offers, and when their eyes are hid- 
 den from \ iew they fancy that their whole bod\' is .safely covered. The 
 flesh, particularh' of the female, is a great delicacy; it is cooked in \ar- 
 ious ways, sometimes in a fricas.see with the eggs whole, sometimes 
 roasted or stewed. The eggs have a ver}' glutinous consistence. 
 
 Within the limited area of the small archipelago of the Gallapagos, 
 situated unu ■' the equator about ten degrees west of South Americ; , 
 'there are two remarkable species of iguanida^, of which the habits ha\ e 
 been described and commented upon by Mr. Darwin in his volume enti- 
 tled the " Voyage of the Beagle!' One of these is particularly so, because, 
 as that naturalist observes, it is the only existing saurian which can prop- 
 erly be .said to be a marine animal. In the whole of that group of 
 i.slands, as he tells us, there is only one rill of fresh water; yet this rep- 
 
 ii 
 
 <^"''"lf!l;i|| 
 
 %L 
 
[i 
 
 ' .'fiffllif 
 
 ',- 
 
 Ifc 
 
 4.52 
 
 KARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 I:f 
 
 tile frequents the sea-beaches, antl no cither parts of the islands. 1 \v ;i,]f|,j 
 that it is the only known e.xistin^ hzard that feeds exclusively on a(ju,itic 
 productions. 
 
 The sea-i;"uana ai-cordiiiL; to Darwin, is \'ery common on all the 
 islands throughout the archij)elat;() of the (iallapa^os. It li\es exdn- 
 si\e]y on the rocky si-a-bcaches, and is never fountl — at least, I ueveT siu 
 one — L'\('ii ten )'ar(l> inshore. It is a hideous-lookin'T creature, of a dirtv 
 hhick color, stupid antl slu^ijish in its mo\'enients. The usual lenvtii nf 
 
 ^^^iii' 
 
 hffiis 
 
 ^^^^^ 1 : • 
 
 /' ■. ri.-iTA'/'/i f„;„ 
 TMK .SI-:.\ OUANA. 
 
 rt full-i^rown one is about a yard, but there are some e\en four feet i'liv^. I 
 have seen a large one which weif^hed twenty pounds. On the l>lan(! nf 
 Albemarle they .seem to grow to a greater size than on any other. Fhcsc 
 lizards were occasionally seen some hundred yard.i from shore s\\imi,iiiu[ 
 about; and Cajitain Colnett. in his " Voyage," says, " they go out to .sea in 
 shoals to fish." With respect to the object, I believe that he is mistaken; 
 but the fact stated on so good an authority cannot be doubted. 
 
 When in the water the animal swims w ith the greatest ease and quick- 
 
Is. Hr;„l,ls 
 
 y (111 aipi itic 
 
 MARVELOUS CREEPING ANIMALS. 
 
 4o3 
 
 diiiiiii 
 
 )\- a serpentine nidwment of its body and llattcneci tail — \\h- Ic^s, 
 
 tliis time, beinu;" motionless and closcl)- eollapsed on its sid 
 
 A 
 
 •aman on 
 
 board sank om\ with a liea\\' weight attached to it, thinkin<r 
 
 tluH til kill It (iii'eetly; hut wiun.an hour alterwards, he drew ii| 
 
 th( 
 
 line. 
 
 ih> 
 
 was ( 
 
 II lie acti\e. 
 
 Th 
 
 uir limbs and stron^^ claws arc admirabK- 
 
 iulaptcd for crauliiiL;' o\er the ru!^_L,H'd and fissured niassfs of la\a which 
 \\\here there form the coast. In such situations, a L^roiip of .si\ or 
 
 ,c\cr 
 
 >L\X ! 
 
 if the.se u<jl\' re|)tiles may oftentimes bo seen on the black rod 
 
 I 
 
 f(\\ Krt <ib.i\c the surf basl-HiiL; in the sun with outstretched k 
 
 I 
 
 iiiKiieil the stomachs ot se\eral, continued Mr. Darwin, and in each 
 ca.sc f iiind it larj^ely distended w ith minced sea-weed of that kind which 
 n rows in thin {oliaceoiis <,'\pansions of a bright ^reeii or ilull rc'il color. 
 1 ilii lint rei:ollect haxinL;- obscrxed this sea-weed in an\- cpiantitx' (Ui the 
 
 tidal I- 
 
 (iCK> 
 
 aiul 
 
 I 1 
 
 Kue reason to believe tliat it •'■rows at I lie !)<ittom of 
 
 a, a 
 
 t some little distance from the coast. If >ueh is i 
 
 ic case 
 
 tlK 
 
 hjecl of these animals occasionallx' L;'>inL,^ <»ut to sea is explained. 
 TIk' food of this li/ard,e(piall\- with its coinpresscil form of tail, and the 
 
 LC 
 
 itam 
 
 act of its liax'inLT I)e(n si en \-oltintaril\' swimmin 
 
 "J" < I 
 
 ut at sea, abs 
 
 o- 
 
 luteK' iiio\e its acpiatic habits; ne\ertl 
 
 Here 
 
 IS ill 
 
 1 this respect one straiu 
 
 leless, aswe ;ue told b\- Darwin, 
 anoinalw nainel\-, that when fri'dlt- 
 
 cnc( 
 
 ! it will not enter the water. I'"roin this cause, it is ea-^\' to dii\e 
 
 tl 
 
 lesc 
 
 li/anis ui 
 
 )wn to an\' 
 
 littU 
 
 point o\erlian;_;in;4- the sea. where they wi 
 
 ill 
 
 .sodiier allow a pers<in to catch hold of their tail than jump into tlu' water. 
 The\' do not seem to ha\e any notion of biiiu;.; ; but when much fri;_dit- 
 cncd the)- squirt a drop of fluid from each nostril. 
 
 Darwin's KxpcrioiMM' \vi(li a Lizanl. 
 
 (^n 
 
 e (la\- 
 
 I 
 
 carried o 
 
 ne to a deep pool left b\' the retiring tide, and threw 
 
 it in se\eial times a-; iar as I was abl 
 
 line to the spot w lu-rc 
 
 I StO( 
 
 It 
 
 .swai 
 
 It in\ariablv returned in a direct 
 n near the bottoir., w ith a wrv 
 
 graceful and rai)id mo\emenl, and occasionall)' aided itself o\er the iiiiewn 
 Touiul w ith its f(X't. As soon as it arri\etl near the marsjin, but -till 
 
 bciiv. 
 
 Weed 
 
 pas.M'd 
 it C(iiil 
 
 under the water, it either tried t i conceal itself in tiie tufts of sea- 
 
 or It entered some crex'ice. 
 
 W 
 
 leii It tiiou''lit llu' daiiLTer was 
 
 it crawled out on the dry rocks, ami sluiflled .iwa_\' as ([uickly a-- 
 
 d. I 
 
 sewral times cau 
 
 ght th 
 
 lis same lizard b\- drixiiiLr it down to a 
 
 [idiiit, and, thoui;h pos.sessc 
 
 dof 
 
 sucli per 
 
 feet 
 
 Kiwi'i's of tlixiinf and swim 
 
 iniiiL;, nothini; would induce it to enter the water ; and as often as I threw 
 it ill it R'turned in the manner above describi-d. IV-rhaps this sin^i^ular 
 piece of apparent stupidit)' nia\' be accounted for b\- the circuni.stance that 
 this ic[)tile has no enemy whate\er on shore, whereas at .sea it must often 
 
 ^mm 
 
 mm 
 
 m 
 
li'i iiii 
 
 'V ■ ■■ 
 
 
 ill 
 
 m^ 
 
 III 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 iNi 
 
 454 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 fall a prey to the mimeroiis sharks. Hence, probably urt^cd by a fixed 
 ami lu'reditary instinct that the shore is its place of safet\-. u haUvrr liu- 
 enieri^ency nia\' be, it there takes refuLje. I askeil se\eral of the inhab- 
 itants if they knew where it laid its eg^s ; they said, that althou^jh well 
 accjuainted with the es^L,^s of the other kind, the}' had not the least knuw- 
 led<;e of the manner in which this species is propagated. 
 
 These lizards are very cpiick in all motions, and climb with astoni-.lijn'r 
 a;4ility. I'he females are smaller than the males ; their appearance is 
 more gentle and pleasini;. They arc sei-n c;-.ithcrin;^ alonc,^ the beach 
 about two months after the end of winter for the purpose of depo.silinf 
 their eL;;.;s in the sand of the sea-shore. 
 
 A Gallant DoIVmiso. 
 
 During the sj)rini; of the \'ear the male exhibits great attachment 
 towards the female. He defends her even with fury, attacking evcT\- 
 animal that seems inclined to injure her, ami sometimes fasten^ lijs 
 teeth to the enem\- so firmly, that it is necessary either to kill him or to 
 beat him on the nose to make iiim ciuit his hold. It cannot uiiliout 
 difficulty be killed witii blows or even In- gunshot wounds, but it dies 
 almost instantly if even a .straw is put up its nostrils. 
 
 These animals are found in a great number on the Galapagos Island.s, 
 where tiiey lix'e on the rocks only a few feet tlistant from the sea. They are 
 excellent swimmers by a snake-like movement c)f tile body and tail, hut 
 never using their feet, which are laid closely to the body and never 
 moved. It is a singular fact tnat when alarmed they seek refuge on the 
 rocks and not in the water, althougii they are more or less aquatic ani- 
 mals. 
 
 Elft'tric Toh'ffiaph Snjf}'«\st4Ml by (ho Fro}»-. 
 
 The foot of a frog is often selected for ob.serxation in the microscope, 
 as beautifulK' illustrating the circulation of the blood. It is also worthv 
 of remembrance that Galvani, Professor of Anatomy at Bologna, remarked 
 on one occasi(^n that when the limbs or nerves of a frog were j)ut into 
 conununication with the muscles of the thigh, by means of an electric 
 conductor, the limbs were violentK' convulsed. Thus he disco\ereil a 
 force hitherto unknown, which he called animal electricity. Hut X'olta, 
 another Italian, observing that the effects were far greater when the con- 
 necting medium consisted of two different kinds of metals, inferred that 
 the principle of excitation existed in the metals, ami not in the nerves of 
 the animal. He therefore argued that by their contact there was devel- 
 oped a small quantity of the electric fluid, which, being transmitted 
 through the organs of the frog, produced the convulsive movements. And 
 
 
 W:^^ 
 
C.RF.AT lUiVPING HULL-FKOG. 
 
 nr.')) 
 
 m 
 
 111. 
 

 \ 3!lf 
 
 ! ' 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 4.0(J 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 to lln-^ conclusion must bo traced, anion;^ luiportant (liscovcrif:s the in- 
 vention of the electric tele,L;rai)li. 
 
 The toni;i.c of tliese animals performs a leading;" ])art in tl.t ca))tL:;r (^f 
 thv prey. Ft-- structure, in the ij^reater j^ortion of tliis L;rou;\ i- allotrc^'u-. 
 aiioinalous, .md its inscilion is eciuallv at variance wiili ilie mode a l.,|)tc(J 
 in liu- other vertel)rated animals. It is ver\- soft, tleshy almost tlir m.rlj. 
 out. and is not supported.il its !)ase !))• any bouy structure. 
 
 This or;.4an is providt.d with a ti'uacious sticky secretion ; ami, u lun ii 
 touches the pre\-. the latter adheres so firmly to it that it is carnal 
 back with the tonj^ue into the mouth. There it is, hi luo-t ca.ses ..m- 
 pressed, iinoK'ed ajjjain in a glutinous sort of sali\a, and almost instantly 
 swallowed. The motion of tlu'owing out auvl retuinin;^ the toiv^Mie is 
 often pi.-rformed with a rapidity which the e)-e can hardly follow. Ihi^. 
 muscles, whose office it is to move the bones, cartilages, and other parts 
 of the mouth, a^ i more especially upon the lowir jaw, upon the hasi: nt 
 the mandil)le, and upon the toni;ue. which, after bt.'iu;^ shot forth. i> re- 
 turned <uid swall.iwed, as it were, witii the cajitured prey, and tlk lu [ of 
 defilutition is eontinurd till th<> food i> lod'jcd ui the stomach. 
 
 (iloiii;^ iii(o WinN'i' (,>i«in(<T.s. 
 
 The h'oL; hybeinatrs, like ail om- np . _ .issiu;.; tlu' colder lU'Utl'.s df 
 the year in a state of toipor, buried deep in the mud at th(.: 1. .itnin of 
 poinls or sluLji^ish streams. Thei'c they conj^nv^^ate in nuiltitutlc s, ,i!l 
 huddled closi'ly toj»ether, so as to form almost a contin.uous mass. l".ai!\ 
 in spring;' the}- re-appear, and durinL,^ llie month of March the f'liiaic 
 deposits her e;4i;s in the water. Duriri'^- sunuuer the froo- is \e'.y a.nivi 
 and \oracious, dexouriu;..; the lai;_;er insects, and i-specially slii;^-;, which 
 are a favorite food. To the <.;ardener or cultivato'- of culinary veL;ctal)ks 
 it, iheix'fore, renders sjKcial scrxico; a'^6. as Mr. Bell obscr\es, "this cmh- 
 sidtM-.ation ou;^dit surely to wei^h. even w th those who are iusensihK' to 
 the appeals n( liumanity, m lavor of lUis harmless and much j)eiseciilcil 
 race." 
 
 The sudden appear.nu e of fro^s and toads in ])hu'es where the)- were 
 U't i)re\ioirsly seen is uot an uncommon occurrence. Violent rains have 
 acconipanietl tlieir appearance, and such showers iiavc been and still arc 
 belie\-eti hy some to be anionc^r the phenonicMia of nature. 
 
 " Natiu'ali^ts," .sa\-s Dumeril, " kmnv tliat the sudden aj)pearance of 
 youn<.j frogs on the surface of the earth, aiul in places where they did net 
 .seem to exist prc\iously, lias in all times roused public attention :\nd 
 curiosit)', tlu; supposition l)ein;^ that they jiad fallen from the sky. W' 
 find, in f.ivi, traces of this belief in .Aristotle, in some passages of Athc- 
 
I! '3^^ 
 
 MARVFLOTJS CREEPING ANIMALS. 
 
 457 
 
 r.T'.!- .ukI -Elian, and ^f tlie moderns, in Gcsncr; in many volumes of the 
 (^iirious Tilings of Nature,' in the works of Kay .ti.d i'losc of R>.Lii. 
 I'jabiTatc discussions have been entered into on the subj •el. Ciirdan 
 wa-^ viL,f<>ri'iisl\- attacKi. d h\' Sealiger, lor having gi\cn cr^-dit to tliis sort 
 of spnntaricous production. Pison thought that these toads did not fall 
 fniini d from the skies, but that the\- si)rang from the animali/.ing aetit)n 
 ofdu' lain on the clods of fertile earth, lie was abi\' answered by Len- 
 
 liliii-." 
 
 Tryiny to Solve a l»nz/,l<>. 
 
 Rnli. admitting the facts to a certain degree, propcsed the following 
 explanation: — "These toads and frogs do not ai)[)ear until it has rainetl 
 f,ir ^iinie time ; but these animals hatl l.)een h'<.^ehi'd tnany da\'s previously ; 
 or, rather, having undergone their complete transtormation, had quitted 
 the water in which they hail l)een dewloped as tadpoles. 1 hose little 
 frogs, then, la}' covered and concealed in the chinks of the earth, under 
 stones and clods, where, in consequence of their lying motionless, and 
 often also on aciount of their du^ky color. tlie\- escaped the eye." This 
 is, (Ktubtless, the true stati: of the case : conceaietl in fissures and crevices, 
 ami I xhaustetl by drought, they la>- till the welcome rain restored them 
 t(i .miniation, and in\"itt'd their >udden ajipearance. 
 
 •• Dr. W. Roots, of Kingston," sa}s IMr. Hell, " informs me tha' 'C was 
 ill p(i»es>iun ft)r several years of a frog in a perfect slate of domestication. 
 It a])pears that the lower offices of his house were what is conmionly 
 called undergrt)und, on the banks of the Thames, that this little reptile 
 accident. ill\- ap[)eared to his ser\. mis. occasionally issuing from a hole in 
 the skirting of the kitchen; and thai during the tlrst year of his .sojourn, 
 he fii'-tantl)- withdrew upon their a])pioa(h ; but on their show ing him 
 kindness, ,uid offering him such food a-^ ihev thought he could partakt 
 of, lu' gradiiall)' accpiired iiabits of familiarit\- and friendship, cmd during 
 the follouing three )-ears lie regularly came out every day, and particu- 
 ladyat the hour of meal-time, and partook of the food which the .servants 
 _L;avc him. I5ut one of the most remarkable features in tins artificial state 
 of existence was his strong partiality for warmth, as during the winter 
 .seasons he regularly (and contrar\' to the cold-blooded tendency of ills 
 nature) came out of his hole in the e\(.ming, and fiirectly made for the 
 hcarlh, in O'lUt of a good kitchen i'wc, wheie lie wouUi continue to bask 
 ami enjoy himself till the famil}- retirerl to re.st. 
 
 " riiere happened to be, at the .same time a fa\'orite old domestic cat, and 
 a sort of intimacv and attachment existed betw^een these incongruf.us 
 inmates; the fi-og fi-e(Uientl\- nestling under the warm fur of the cat, 
 
 :' ''I!!!,. 
 
 f 
 
 .jjj.^^r. 
 
 ^ 
 
wm^ 
 
 mm 
 tiir 
 
 458 
 
 KAKTH, S(;A, AM) SKY. 
 
 while tin: cat apptarccl cNlrt'inily jealous of intcniiptiii;; the roinfort, ■\l■^^\ 
 convcuiriuc I if llic ti'o|^. riiis curious scene was oiwn \v itiirsserl l^y 
 many hi.'sides llic Uniily." 
 
 I'^vtraoi-dinay Traits ol" tlw lJuH-Fro}»'. 
 
 America has se\eial frogs t)f huge size and sonorous voice, of w lii,], 
 one is the huii-fro;.;. Its croakin;^ sounds are like the hellowini;- of il.,;ll, 
 and are louder uhm uttered below the surf:\ce. Tliis statement is, 
 prohabK" oxercharijcd. Audubon simpK' says, its voice is louder than 
 that (if an\- <'l]ier species, and ma)' be distintU' heard at the disi.unc ,,t' 
 fort)' or fifty yartls. i Ic adds : It is paiticularl)- fond of su( h suiall [nwr 
 streams of water as aic thickly sliaded b\' overhauL^ini;- bushes. It sits 
 for hours, durin;.;the middle of the da}-, baskini; in the sun, near the niar- 
 ij[in of the water, to which it betakes itself by a i^reat leap, at the least au- 
 ])earance of danL;er, divini;- at once to the bottom, orswimminc; to the on- 
 l)osite side. In the .Sr)uthern .States it is heard at all seasons, but princi- 
 pally durin<^ the sprin_Lj and sunnncr months. Its flesh is tender, white, 
 and affords excellent eatin<^. Tiie hind le;_;s, howt'wr, are the on!)- i).iits 
 useil as food. The)' make (.wcellent bait for the lari'.i'r cat-fish. .Some 
 bull-frog.s wi.-igh as much as half a pound. I haxc L;enerall)' used the 
 <.jun for procuring them, shooting with \ery small shot. 
 
 A resident at Fort I'.rie relates that near the town is a deep, nuiclily 
 creek, with low and marsh)- shores, and here the bull frogs are found in 
 great numbers duiing the sunnncr montiis. .Standing at his own door, 
 he could distinctl)- h<ar their sonoron. music booming across the water, 
 although the distance was o\er three miles. 
 
 Although naturally shy and timitl, he succeeded in taming one, after 
 an intercourse of a couple of months. ]\c was then residing on tlic 
 banks of a small lake, which was well .st<icked with various kinds of ex- 
 cellent fish, [jart/C liarly one sort — those known by the name of" salmon- 
 trout." 
 
 During the summer, he sax's, I used fretiuently to angle in different 
 parts of tile lake for them, and also would place floating lines across some 
 of the convenient bays ami inlets. My usual bait was a small li\c fidi, 
 to prcKure whic'' I lunl to angle with a small hook, baited with a small 
 Worm, in tlie sha'.iower water near the shore. One da)-, while I was tlui.s 
 employed, I observed a large bull-frog pcrciied upon a prostrate tree, x.'hich 
 lay partly immersed in the water. Having caught a sun-fish, just at the 
 moment I first oljservcd the bull-frog — and that sort of fish being the 
 least desirable kind of bait for trout-fishing — without unhooking it I 
 .■swung it as neUi the frog as practicable. 1 saw that he an.KJously watched 
 
i-iiintort> a;ui 
 ivitncs.sci.l by 
 
 ico, f>f which 
 
 MIILJ of. I 1). ill, 
 
 .statrniriit i^, 
 i louder lh;in 
 k: (lislani'i; >if 
 
 eh small pure 
 slics. Il MtS 
 near the inar- 
 t tin; K:a^la;)- 
 iir^- ti ) tlv I'p- 
 is, hut priiiin- 
 tcniK'!-, whiU:, 
 .lie only ]y,nU 
 it-fish. SdiiK' 
 :rall\' used the 
 
 I deep, nuulil)- 
 
 s arc riuiitl 111 
 
 lis ( lu 11 dour, 
 
 OSS the water, 
 
 iiii;4 one, alter 
 ■.iilini,^ on tin- 
 ands ol e\- 
 of " sahnon- 
 
 e in different 
 
 ;s across sonic 
 
 mall live fidi, 
 
 with a small 
 
 ile I was thus 
 
 ate tree, x.'hich 
 
 1, jusi at the 
 fish bciii;4 tin 
 iliookiniy it 1 
 jusly watched 
 
 ^fARVF.L()US CREITING AN'IM M.S. 
 
 469 
 
 the iii''vcinents of the fish, and, after some further attempts, 1 succeeded 
 inphiL'ii^ it within a few inclies of him, when lie darteil (juickly upon it, 
 and Ii.ul it in hi.s ea[)aeii)us month in an instant. I tlun drew him <^einly 
 towards the small skiff in whii h ! was sitting; but as hi appro, uhed it he 
 stru'^ded so \iolentl\', that he either let ;.^o his hold or aeeideiitall)- lost 
 it for he disappeared in the water lor a tew siconds, when I oh^tixed his 
 •TCcn head ilose aloni^r side of liis la\oritc restinL,'-placc,and shortl)'aftiT- 
 \vard-> he- \entured quite out of the water, and took up his original 
 
 abode. 
 
 After this our first inter\'iew, I found him <lail\' oeenp)ing tin- same 
 place; and ni order to improve our aei(uaintanee, I treated him regularly 
 to a sun-fish breakfast. When our dail\- intercourse had eontiiiiieil fo** 
 sdHU' weeks, I determiiKil upon taking him prisoner, i'orthis pniposi' I 
 baited .i large hook- with a sun-fish, uhieli I threw towards him ; ami the 
 1)1 ]i)i frog, uncoii.scious of any haini, seized it with his usual a\ itlily, w hen 
 I struck the line somewhat sn.artly, and found that i had hooked him. 1 
 then drew him gentl)' towards me, and, after some fruitless resistanci- on 
 his part, hauletl him into my skiff lie seemed dreadfull)' alarmed on 
 niv la\ing liold of him, in order to relie\e him of the hook and fish, which 
 he had iiearl}' swallowed; and ha\ing performed the operation without 
 paininij him more than necessar\ , and ha\ing detained him loi- half an 
 hour, I tiien permitted liini to plunge into his nati\e element. 
 The Pros' TuiihmI aiul on Familiar 'r«>riiis. 
 
 I supposed that our accju.iintance woukl probal)l\- i.:n(\ lu-iv, but no 
 such thing; f>r on the following morning, when I re[)aired torn}- fishing- 
 LMOund, 1 found liim at his wonted station. I fed him dail\- as before, ant! 
 could perceive tliat he allowed ine to approacii iiim much closer, witliout 
 exhibiting the degree of alarm he had done at first. 1 one day tietl a fish 
 to tlic line without an\ iiook, and after he had laid hold of it, pulled him 
 quietl}- into tlu- l)oat, when he stnigglecl \-iolently, ejected the fish Uom 
 his .stomach, leaped overboard, and swam to his place of ri'fuge. Our in- 
 tercourse after this became daily more familiar ; so that, in tlie lapse of a 
 few weeks, he would mount upon the llat part of an oar. w luii I hehl it 
 clo>e to him, and alight from it in the opposite end of the >l-iff from where 
 I sat. Thither I would throw him a small sun-fish or two, whicli lie 
 cjuickly disposed of; after which he would ..mp o\crhoard, or again 
 mount the fiat part of the oar, in order to be handed back to hi.s resting- 
 place. 
 
 .Soon after tliis, he would take his accustomed allowance from my 
 hand; at last permitted me to lumdle him gently, still, however, e.xhibit- 
 
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 EARTH. SRA, AND SKY. 
 
 intj sonic dcj^rcc of timidity. After tills, I took him across the lake, and 
 confined him in a ho;^shead, open at both ends, which I ])lacetl Dear thr 
 shore, where the water was oni\' about a foot tleep. In tlie centre uf thr 
 hogshead I jjUicetl a stone for him ti) perch upcjn, wliich arose jii^l al)u',c 
 the surface of the water. He remained a few da\s in tliis confinement, 
 eatim;" from ni)- hand, until one day 1 found him missiut^, and concluded 
 he had been (K\(>ured by minx or an otter. But on examinin;^ the slinre 
 for a siiort. distance, I disc<)\ered liini perclied on a deca\'intj log, cIo^m i(, 
 the water's etlgc. ( )n calling;- him b\' the name (Ral[)h) to which I had 
 lately accustomed him, I thouL;ht that he recot^ni/.ed my voice imnucli- 
 atel\-. I took him in my iiand without his attemptiu;.^^ to escajje. 
 
 NiiM'ly ('iiii;;iit. 
 
 The next nidrniuL;- he a;^ain was missiuL;-. when 1 went in search, and 
 found him neai- tlu- same place as before. I now determined [<> u.itch 
 his uK'de of escapiuj;, f)r which puri)ose I hid myself in the I)u>lu< closf 
 b)-. I had remaiiu (1 there but a few minutes when I saw him sprin;' 
 o\ei' the upper eduie of the ho;j;shead into tile water. The fact \\a^ thi^, 
 thai, from his <j;vvi{[ muscular stren<;th and ai^ilit)', he was able, at a ^iu'^lt 
 effort, to lea]) f.iirly owr the top of the cask, which was three teet ikt- 
 peiidicular alx'w the top of his supporting; stone. ( )n disco\-orinL; tlii-, I 
 removed the stone, and in its place t^aw him a lloatiuL; piece of wood tn 
 perch upon, uhicii I found to answer ni)- purpose completidy; for iijion 
 hi> makin'4' a sjjrini;, tlie perch L^ave \\a\' under the eff )rt ; he tin nhv 
 lost his balanct', and all his attempts were unavailing. Ilaxiu!^ salisfied 
 nn-self of the practicabilit}- of making a domestic pet of a wild indi iVoi;, 
 I made a present of Ralph to the daughter of a friend of mine, who 
 promiM d to be kind to hin\ and to ha\e all his wants eared for. Hut 1 
 afterwards understood that the lake had been visited by a treiiuiidiui- 
 storm, which had overturned Ralph's prison-house, when, of coeisr, lij 
 escaped; but whither, or what became of him, no one could e\cr dll. 
 
 A friend of mine, wdio lived close to the outlet of a small lake, within 
 a few miles of the scene of Ralph's adventures, usi'd to bestow a v;r<::i[ 
 deal of care and attention upon the rearing of )onng ducklings ; hut, 
 after all, had the mortificat on to find his efforts fruitless. The old oik- 
 would hatch fine health)- broods ; but as sorm as the\- were strong enouL;li 
 to waddle to a sedg\- stream that issued from the adjoining lake, one or 
 twodail)' di.sappeared, to the great annoyance of my friend. Having miF- 
 fered those continual dei)redations for two or three seasons, he oiii; da\ 
 witnessed a nice young duckling gradually disappear under the walcr; 
 but judge of his surprise when he beheld a huge bull-frog crawl out iipnri 
 
MARVELOUS CRKEIMNG ANIMALS. 
 
 401 
 
 ARMOK-I'I.AIKI) KRO(i. 
 
 from his capacicnij; mouth I The mystery was thus solved ; the bull-frog 
 hail swallowed all inv fiieiul's young ducks. 
 
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 EARTH, SEA. AND SKY. 
 
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 Thu family of fnij^s pass most of their time in the water, h-Swv^ excel- 
 lent swimmers ; the Icnt^lh <if their iiiiul.limbs enables them to makctim- 
 siderable leaps ami thus trawl loiv^ distances in search of waiter. Sonic 
 species prefer moist localities and damp woods, when^ ihcy hide under 
 leaves ; others dwell in subterranean hollows, which they d'v^ on the bor- 
 ders of marshes, comin;^ forth at e\enin^ or on rainy (.lays. ^\11 the sijc- 
 cies, when adult are carnivorous and all are very voracious. Froths arc 
 found all over the globe. 
 
 The horned fr(\^ is a true batrachian, in which the head is niorc o: 
 rouglu-ncd or spiny. It is three times as large as the common U^yj^ .->'ul 
 has an enormous mouth. An iguanian lizard, which in its general aspect 
 somi-what resembles a frog, and in its sluggishness a toad, is sometimes 
 called a horn-frog; but it is a true lizard an 1 in no respect a batrachian. 
 
 The Mysterious Salaiiiaiulcr. 
 
 This creature, inhabiting Central Europcandthemountainous parts of the 
 south of I'AMope, is black, with )-ellow spots, and has numerous prominent 
 warty excrescences on the sides, and the tongue very large. The body of 
 the .salamander is largely covered with warty glands, which secrete a milky 
 fluid, of a glutinous and acrid nature, like that of the toad, which, if not 
 cai)able of affecting the larger and more highly organized animals, appears 
 to be a destructive agent to those of le.sser power. Thus, Laurenti pro- 
 voked two gray lizards to bite a salamander, which at first attempted to 
 escape from them, but, being still persecuted, conveyed some of this fluid 
 into their mouths. (One of the lizards dietl instantly, and the other fell into 
 convulsions for two minutes and then expired. Some of this juice was 
 introduced into the mouth of another lizard ; it became convulsed, was 
 paral>'tic on the whole of one side, and .soon died. 
 
 Such is the onlj'fnmdation for the notion so long cherished that the .sala- 
 mander was one of the riiost venomous of animals. Xicander gives an 
 api^alling instance of the symptoms produced by its bite. The Romans 
 looked on it with horror as most destructive, and considered it as deadly 
 as hemlock or aconite. Hence a proverb arose that he who was bitten by 
 a .salamander had need of as man\- physicians as the creature had spots; 
 while another was, " If a salamander bites you, put on your shroud." 
 
 But the chief absurdity was the belief that this creature was incombu.si- 
 ible — that it not only resisted the action of fire, but extinguished it, ;Mid, 
 when it .saw the flame, charged it as an enemy which it knew well how to 
 vanquish. Even so late as 17S9, Pothonier, the French consul at Rhodes, 
 relates that, while sitting in his chamber there, he heard a loud cry in his 
 kitchen, whither he ran, and found his cook in a horrible fright, wIm in- 
 
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 (■lANT SAI.AMANDKK. 
 
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 secure it. At his first attempt the creature, which, he .sa\-s, had been nin- 
 tionlcss up to that time two or three minutes, ran iiit(j a corjKr (ifthc 
 chimney, havin<,r lost the tip ot' its tail in escai)in.t;, and buried itself in a 
 lieap of hotasiies. In his second attempt tlic consul was .successful, drew 
 the animal out, whicli he describes as a small lizard, plun;(ed it into s])irits 
 of wine and gave it to l)uff^)n. I'othonicr was, doubtless, stroni^dy uiidrr 
 the influence of preconcei\-ed notion.s. 
 
 A cloth said to be made of the skins of salamanders was declared to bo 
 incombustible ; but even Marco Polo was shrewd enough to obser\e tliat 
 
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 ELEPHANTINE TORTOISE. 
 
 such fabrics were really made of a mineral substance since well know n as 
 asbestos. The old writers termed this " salamantler's wool ;" and such 
 was probably the salamander cloth sent by the Tartar king to the Rdnian 
 pontiff, in which the so-called "holy napkin" is ])reserved. 
 
 The race of giant tortoises are spread through the hotter and tem- 
 perate parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. The.se creatures, in 
 their natural state, lead a quiet, unobtrusive life; wandering, generally, 
 but little from the .spot where their existence commenced. The snake 
 •darts onwards swift a;* an arrow, the quick-eyed lizard can scarcely be 
 
to the Roman 
 
 MARVELOUS CREEPING ANIMALS. 
 
 4Cu) 
 
 seen a'^ it passes ; but tlic tortoise creeps slowly aloiit;, and, unable to 
 escape danger by speed, withdraws liis head and linibs on the approach of 
 an enemy, antl trusts in his natural armor for defence. The density of the 
 shell (if the land tortoise is, indeed, very considerable; and the former, 
 from it-- elevation and convexity, is capable of sustainin;^, uninjured. ;i 
 hi'li degree of pressure, thus preserving the internal organs. The plates 
 (if liiirn covering it arc often most elegantly marked with alternate raised 
 lines ami furrows, and, at the same time, beautifully colored. 
 
 Land tortoises, though they never enter the water, are frecpiently met 
 with in the neighborhood of lakes and rivers. Here vegetation is luxu- 
 riant, and the soil moist or soft — the latter circumstance being by no 
 means unimportant; as they dig in the earth holes or burrows, in which, 
 during winter, in extra-tropical latitudes, they bury themseh'es, and remain 
 in a state of torpidity till the return of spring. It is, also, in holes which 
 Uic}' dig that the females deposit their eggs, which are then covered up 
 and left, the warmth of the sun being sufficient to bring them to maturity. 
 Neither the eggs, nor the young ones hatched, are objects of solicitude to 
 the parents. It is remarkable that, like young chickens, tortoises h.ave a 
 hard tubercle at the end of the beak before being hatched, for the pur- 
 pose, it is fairly presumed, of breaking their prison-shell. 
 
 All Old Settlor. 
 
 Tortoises, in common with cold-blooded animals, whose circulation is 
 languid, are remarkable for tenacity of life. They will not only bear 
 .serious injuries without death, but without much apparent suffering. In 
 ordinary circumstances the duration of the life of these creatures is \ery 
 protracted. We arc not sure, indeed, of the period at which, according 
 to the laws of their physical system, they cease to live in their native 
 regions; but we know that e\en in our uncongenial climate, instances are 
 on record of tortoises attaining to what, compared with the life tif man and 
 quadrupeds generally, may be termed a very great age. 
 
 Murray, in his "Experimental Researches," in allusion to the Peter- 
 lK)rouL;h tortoise, gives us the following interesting [particulars : — " From 
 a document belonging to the archives of the cathedral called the ' TJishop's 
 l)arn,' it is well ascertained that the tortoise at Peterborough must ha\e 
 been about 220 years old. IJishop Marsh's predecessor in the see 
 of Peterborough had remembered it above sixty years, and could 
 recoL^nizc no visible change. He was the seventh bishop who had 
 worn the mitre during its sojourn there. Its shell was perforated, in 
 order to attach it to a tree, and to limit its ravages among the strawberry 
 i)orders." 
 
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 4(50 
 
 RARTH, si: A. AN' I? SKV 
 
 Like otbcr oviparous quadrupeds the tortoise can subsist t(^r an amaz. 
 in_L^ lcni;tii of time without food. They are very tenaeious of lif, , _^ 
 mail named Red;, to prove the extreme \ital tonaeity of a t.>!-, ,ls^. 
 made a lari^o openini^ in the skull, and took out all the brain, \ a^h. 
 ing out the ca\ity so as not to leave the smallest partiele, and Uun wiih 
 the hole open, set the animal at liberty. It marched off without su\.inin . 
 to have received the slightest injury, except closino[ its eyes, which it 
 never afterwards opened. In a short time the hole closed and in about 
 three days a complete skin covered the wound. In thi.'- manne- the ani- 
 
 THE TUN-.SXAIL. 
 
 mal lived without any brain for ^i.\ months, walkinc^ about and nio\iiicj 
 its limbs in the .same manner as it had done pre\-i(nisly to the operation. 
 
 Tortoi.se shell is the production of the imbricated turtle. a species whirl; 
 is found in the Asiatic ami American seas .jid sometimes in the AKditci- 
 ranoan. The shields of this species are far more -;tronL,f. thick and clcai 
 than those of any other. Tliey are first steeped in boiliii;^ water, alter 
 whicii they may be moulded intc) almost an\- form. 
 
 The family of tun-snails is interesting^ for various reasons ; tiu'ii- shell 
 is round and thin. The molhisk has a larp^e. cjTo-shaped, thick foot, 
 which can be greatly e.\[)nnded b\" ailmitting a large quantity of water. 
 The head is flat and broad ; and the\- have a lar^e thick trunk, 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 MONSTROUS REPTILES OF Till-: TROPICAL WORLD. 
 
 The Crocodile— Power of Destruction — Tliu Tyrant of the Tropical Seas — Double 
 J,uv.s— Teeth and Scales — lOgij of tlie Crocodile — Okl Stories of tiie i.!ast— The 
 Crocodile's Little Friend— Danger Si,;;n:d— A Harpoon Thrust— Swift Swim- 
 „^gr — Deadly Serpents— A Cold-lMooded IJosoni Companion — P2astcrn Snake- 
 Charmers— Coolness Saves a M.ui's Life — Fi)o!hardy Risk — Gurlin;j; Killed — 
 i^uisua Working with Lightniiv^j Rai-idity — Venomous Viper — Dancinj:^ Snakes — 
 Fasci:i.uion of Music for Serpents— Death of a Notorious Serpent-ICater — A 
 Disgaslinj^ Glutton— Huge Boa-Constrictor — liliiul Adoration of the ]'.oa — 
 Lines hy Southey— A Monster Swallowing its Bed— Disgorging a Blanket — 
 Vast Size of the Boa — Knormous Muscular Power— l''ed to Death— Tree-Snakes 
 with Magnilicent Colors — The Slender Wiiip Snake — h^ightful Accident in 
 Guinea — Ghastly Fangs — The Fgg-Kater — Immense Throat of a Tiny Creature — 
 Serpents of Surprising Beauty -Queer Popular Superstiticjus — The Red- 
 Throated Lizard— Hideous CriiUatus— The Curious Moloch— A Freak in the 
 World of Reptiles— Tile PipaToad— A Creature that Hatches Fggs on its liack — 
 Description of the Batrachians — Death from a Toad — Winter's Sleep in a Bed 
 of Mud. 
 
 •^ -V 
 
 
 V the eagle is the kin-^ of the .lir, the hon the despot of the for- 
 est, and the >,vhale the nioiuuch of the deep, the crocodile lias 
 for the exercise of his undisputed control the shores of tropical 
 seas and rivers. Livin;^' on the confines of land and water, this 
 formidable reptile is the .-.courge of those human beings who arc com- 
 pelled to re.siile near its haunts, for it surpasses the tiger, lion, or eagle in 
 its power of destruction. 
 
 The teeth are inii)lanteu in a single row, and continually maintained 
 perfect by an organic system which ensures their immediate reparation; 
 for each tooth is hollowed at the base in such a manner as to form the 
 cell or sheath for its s-iccessor. The new tooth presses on underneath 
 the old one, so that the first is developing while the second is decaying. 
 In some species the front teeth of the lower jaw arc so long and sjiarp 
 tiiat they perforate the edge of the upper jaw and appear abo\e the mtiz- 
 zlc when the mouth is closed. Baron Cuvier says, " The lower jaw being 
 continued behind the cranium, the upper one appears to be movable." 
 The mouth is without lips, consequently, whether walking or swimming, 
 their teeth are visible. 
 This conformation gives the crocodile a terrible and alarming aspect, 
 
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 408 
 
 EARTH, SEA AND SKY. 
 
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 increased by its eves, wiiich are placed obliquely and close lot^retliLr. \[< 
 tail is lonc^, taperin;^, and flat on the sides like an oar; enahliii" it 
 to direct its course throuL;h the water, and swim with rapiditw Tin. 
 skin is coriaceous, thick, and resistant; beinc^ ct)vered with plates of 
 different size, accordin;^^ to the parts of the body they jjrotect. (in 
 the skull and face the skin adheres to the bone, and there is no tia(\ 
 of scales. 
 
 The scales which defend the back and the U])i)er ])art of the tiiil ivx 
 sfjuare, and form hard bands pos.scsscd of threat flexibility, which prevvnt 
 them from breaking. Down the centre of the back there is a ridi^a, which 
 adds to the stren^^th of their armor. Thus, nature has i)rovided for the 
 safi'ty of these animals by covering them with a cuirass capable of resist- 
 ing anything but Hre-arms. Tlie plates which cowr the belly, neck, tail 
 and legs, are also ananged in bands, but are less hard, and n(.)t crested. 
 
 Crocodiles are oviparous. The females of the Nile deposil: their v^'ys 
 where the solar heat soon brings them to maturity. But in certain coun- 
 tries, sucli as in the neighborhood of CaytMine and Surinam, the egLjs are 
 buried under a nuHuid of leaves which the alligators form. This imdcr- 
 goes a kind (jf fermentation, the result of which is an increase of temp- 
 erature, which produces the desired result. 
 
 Lacepc'de describes an egg in the Museum of Natural History in Paris, 
 which was laid by a crocodile fourteen feet in length, killed in L'p|)L'r 
 Egyi)t. This egg is only two inches and a half in length, and two inches 
 in breadth. It is oval and whitish. Its shell is cretaceous in substance, 
 like the eggs of birds, but not so hard. At the time of birth crocutlilcs 
 are only about six inches in lengtli, but their growth is very rapid. Seiz- 
 ing water-fowl as they swim on the surface, pursuing fishes in the depths 
 of the lagoon or ri\er, or grasping in its jaws a large aninial, as a p\'^ or 
 a dog, on ihe bank, the crocodile plunges beneath ^he water in order to 
 drown its victim, and, were its throat open, wcnild suffer great inconven- 
 ience ; but there is a valve which prevents its occurrence. 
 .Vnoioiit KcvoroiU'C for the Croci.dilo. 
 
 Strabo telks a strange story of a crocodile he saw when he visited 
 Egypt, about four hundred years after Herodotus was there. " In this 
 district they honor the crocodile very much, and they have a sacred one 
 wiiich hves by itself in the lake, and is quite rame to the priests, lie is 
 called Suchos, and is fed with bread, and meat, and wine, whicl, he gets 
 from strangers who cor.ie to see him. Our host, who was a person of 
 importance in the place, accompanied us to the lake, taking with him 
 from table a small cake, some roasted meat, and a little cup full cf some 
 
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 oirth crocodiles 
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 FAMOUS EGYPTIAN CROCODILE. 
 
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 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
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 sweet liquor. We found the crocodile lying on the marj^in of tin.- lake 
 Tile priests went up to him, and wliilc some opened his mouth, aiiotiur 
 crammed into it first the cake, then tlie meat, and last ot all, jjourcd the 
 drink down his throat. The crocodile, after this treat, jumped into the 
 lake, and swam over to the other side' 
 
 According to Herodotus, crocodiles are sacred with some of the 
 I'^gyptians; but are not so with others, who treat them as enemies. 
 Those wlio dwell about Thebes, and the lake Mcvris, loe'c on tlicni as 
 very sacred , and they each train up a crocodile, which is rendered (juite 
 tame. Into tlu ears of these crocodiles they put crystal and tjjold ear- 
 rings, and adorn their fore paws with bracelets. They give tluni ap- 
 pointed and sacred food, treating them as well as possible while alive, 
 and wiien dead they embalm and bury them in the sacred vaults. But 
 the people who dwell about the city I^Ucphantine cat them, not con.Milci- 
 ingthem sacred. 
 
 " The crocodile," continues the historian, " is blind in the water, but 
 
 very quick-sighted on land; and because it lives for the most part in 
 
 the water, its mouth is filled with leeches. AU other birds and beasts 
 
 avoid him, but he is at peace with the trochilus, because he receives 
 
 benefit from that bird ; for when the crocodile gets out of the water on 
 
 land, and then opens its jaws, which it does most commonly toward the 
 
 west, the trochilus enters its mouth and swallows the leeches. The 
 
 crocodile is so well pleased with this service, tb.at it never hurt- the 
 
 trochilus." 
 
 The Croc<»iilo's liittlc Friend. 
 
 This singular stor)', related also by Pliny, is confirmed by a recent 
 and accomplished writer, Mr. Curzon. " I will relate," he says, "a fact 
 in natural history which I was fortunate enough to witness, and which, 
 although it was mentioned so long ago as the times of Herodotus, has 
 not, I believe, been often observed since; indeed, I have never met 
 with any traveller who has himself seen such an occurrence. 
 
 '' I had always a strong predilection for crocodile-shooting, and had 
 destroyed sexeral of tliese dragons of the waters. On one occasion ! ' 
 saw, a long way off, a large one, twelve or fifteen feet long, lying asleep 
 under a perpendicular bank, about ten feet high, on the margin of the 
 river. I stopped the boat at some distance, and, noting the place as 
 well as I could, I took a circuit inland, and came down cautiously to 
 the top of the bank, whence, with a heavy rifle, I made sure of my ugly 
 game. I had already cut oT his head in my imagination, and was con- 
 sidering whether it should be stuffed with its mouth open or shut, I 
 
MONSTROUS REPTILI'S OF THIi TROI'ICAL WORLD. 
 
 !71 
 
 n of thf lake. 
 outh. anoilKT 
 ill, poured the 
 ni|)C{i into the 
 
 sonic of ilic 
 1 us enemies. 
 [•'c on tlicni as 
 •cndcred quite 
 and j^old ear- 
 ^ive them ap- 
 ic while alive, 
 d vault.s. But 
 , not con.Milci-- 
 
 the water, but 
 : most part in 
 rd.s and beasts 
 se he receives 
 f the water on 
 ly toward the 
 leeches. The 
 iv'er luut^ the 
 
 d by a recent 
 i says, " a fact 
 ss, and which, 
 lerodotus, has 
 vc never met 
 ce. 
 
 oting, and had 
 one occasion I ' 
 T, lying asleep 
 margin of the 
 ^ the place as 
 
 cautiously to 
 lire of my ugly 
 
 and was con- 
 )en or shut. I 
 
 peeped over the bank : there he was, within ten feet of the sight of the 
 rifle. 1 was on the point <<f llriiig at his eye, when I obiervcd tli.it he 
 was attended by a bird called a zic-zac. Il is of the plover species, of a 
 rrajish color, and as large as a pigeon. 
 
 " The bird was Wci '"'ng up and down close to ihc croeoLlile's nose. I 
 NUMoose 1 moved, for suddenlj- it saw mc, and instead of tlying away, as 
 any respectable bird would have done, he jumped up about a foot from 
 the ground, screamed ' /ic-zac ! zic-zac!' with all the powers of his 
 vi)ice,and dashed himself against the crocodile's face two or three times. 
 The great beast started up, and. immediately spjing his danger, made a 
 jump into the air, and, da.-^hing into the water with a splash which cov- 
 ered me with mud, he disappeared. 
 
 Tiie zic-zac, to my increased admir.ition — proud,apparently, of having 
 saved his friend — remained walking up and down, utteiing his cry, as I 
 thought, with an exulting voice, and standing every now and then on 
 the tips of his toes in a conceited manner, which made me justly angry 
 with his impertinence. After having waited in vain for some time, to 
 see whether the crocodile would come out again, I got up from the bank 
 where I was King, th/ew a clod of cait'.i ;il the zic-zac, and came back to 
 the boat, feeling some consolation for the loss of my game in lia\ing wit- 
 nes.-^ed a circumstance, the truth of which has been dis[)uted by several 
 writers on natural history." 
 
 Curious Dans'oi' Siynal. 
 
 It is also worthy of remark thai ILamet, the intelligent attendant on 
 the hippopotamus, when brought to JMigland, said he knew the bird, 
 which he described pretty accurately. A naturalist took him down to 
 the museum in the Zoological (iardens. when he at once pointed out a 
 sj)ur-winged dotterell, or pkner, as the bird he meant. This species, it 
 appears, is con.stantly found in the places where the crocodiles land, and 
 iins about hunting for insects when the crocodiles are lying asleep. The 
 appearance of th( hunter immediately excites a noisy note from the plo\-er; 
 the crocodile wakes, ami the natives believe that the bird is the croco- 
 dile's friend and watchman. The natives of Dongola call it by a name 
 which means the cousin or niece of the crocodile. 
 
 The structure of the crocodiles renders it difficult for them to bend 
 their bodies sidewa\-s ; whence the notion of throwing them out, when in 
 pursuit, by doubling back. There is a story of an l£nglishman running 
 before a large alligator, wnich came out of the lake Nicaragua, and was 
 gaining on him fast. He would have been soon overtaken, had not some 
 Spaniards called him to run in a circle, and baffle it by compelling it to 
 
^,___jjy 
 
 7:11 JIT 
 
 H rifllfj 
 
 472 
 
 !■ ARTM, SEA, A\D SKY. 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 resort to the laliorious operation of turniiiLj should it be Innit on . Mn^n- 
 uinij tlic pursuit. 
 
 The crocodile is caut^lit at tli • [)resent da)- in Doiv^ola for tlie sake of 
 the llesh, which is regarded as a deHcacy. Tiie most favoral)le mi, ,n 
 is the winter, when the animal usually sleeps on sandbanks, t-njoyiiv; th,. 
 warmth of the sun ; or the sprin_:^, after the pairin;^ time, when the f ;ii;ilt 
 reL;ularly watches the sand island where she has buried her eL;\L;s ; and 
 on the south side of it — that is, to the leeward — the huntsman, tliiro 
 fore, d\'j;s a hole in the sand, throwin<^ up the earth to the side he ex- 
 pects the crocodile to take. 
 
 The CrocodiU^ St:ibbc<l to Death. 
 
 In this hole lie conceals himself, and, should the crocodile fail [<> ob- 
 serve him, it comes to the accustomed spot, and soon falls asleep. Tht,. 
 huntsman then darts his liarpoon with ail his force at the animal ; for, in 
 order that the stroke may be successful, the iron ought to penetrate' to the 
 depths of four inches at the least, for the barb to be fixed fast. The 
 crocodile, on being wounded, rushes into the water, and the luiiUsinan 
 retreats to a canoe, with which a companion hastens to his assistatui- ; a 
 piece of wood attached to the harpoon by a long ccmxI swims on the 
 water, and shows the direction in which the crocodile is moving. The 
 huntsmen, pulling by this rope, drag the crocodile to the surface of thi^ 
 water, where it is pierced by a second harpoon. 
 
 The iron part of the harpoon is a span long, and formed towards the 
 point like a penknife, being sharp at the end and on the edge. ]^c\-i.ii(i 
 this edge there is a strong barb, while on the back of the blade a piece 
 projects, to which the, rope is fastened. This iron head is affi.xctl to a 
 shaft of wood, eight feet in length. The sk-ill of the harpooner consists in 
 giving the weapon sufficient impulse to iiicrce through the coat of mail 
 which protects the crocodile. W'Iku tlie crocodile is struck, it hi.->he,s 
 violently with its tail, and cndea\'ors to bite the rope asunder. Vn pre- 
 vent this, the rope is made of about thirty separate thin lines, not twi'sted, 
 but simply placed together, and bc^und at intervals of every two feet. The 
 thin lines get between the teetli, or become entangled round thein. 
 It frequently happens that the harpoons, by the pulling of the mciijtreak 
 out of the animal's body, and it escapes. 
 
 " If 1 had not seen the fact with my own eyes," sa>s Kiippell, " I could 
 hardly ha\e belie\-ed that two men could draw out of the water a croco- 
 dile fourteen feet long, fasten his muzzle, tie his legs over his back, and 
 finally di.'spatch him, by plunging a sharp in.strument into his neck, sn a.s 
 to divide the sj^jinai chord." 
 
Ill on idiiiin- 
 
 MONSTROL'S REPTILKS OF T!IK TROPICAL WORM) 
 
 !?;} 
 
 Ill ^ iiiii- of tlic 'vers of Africa the ncj^rocs arc hold en )u;4h, and. in- 
 deed. skilfLil cnoii<Th, to combat the crocodile in his own elciinnl, and, 
 ariiK d only with a sharp da<T;^cr, dive beneath hini, and i)liin;.:;e the 
 wtapi'ii in his bod)'. It often liappens, however, tliat tiie coiiil)at is fat.il 
 to the nian, and frecjuently his only cliance to esca[)e is to force his 
 (lauLjer, or, if this be lost, his thumbs, into the animal's eyes with all his 
 mi 'ht, so as to produce <jreat pain and blindness. 
 
 An Arrow in tho Wator. 
 
 Ill the water the crocodile seems to enjoy its wiiole stren;^th with j^reater 
 advaiitas^'e, than on land. Notwithstanding its size anti apparent clumsi- 
 ness, il moves about in the water with considerable agility. Although the 
 (Tcat length of its body pre\eiits it from turning suddenly round, it 
 swims forward witli great \'elocity v. lien about to seize its prey. On land 
 its tiiotion.s are more embarrassed and it is con-setpiently thenr a less 
 dangerous enemy than in the water. 
 
 ()n hot days great numbers of these animals lie basking on the banks of 
 ri\crs, and as soon as they observe any one approaching the\'])lunge into 
 the w ater. 
 
 The \'oung of the crocodile are produced from eggs — deposited in the 
 
 sand and hatched by the heat of the sun. The female is said to be 
 
 e.NtreiMclv cautious in depositing them unobserved. Tdie general number 
 
 of etiirs is from eighty to a hundred. Thev are not larger than tlu^se of a 
 
 goose and are covered with a tough white skin. She carefully fills up the 
 
 hole before she leaves them. They are hatched in about thirty days. 
 
 The young ones, on emerging into the air, immediately run into the water, 
 
 where nuiltitudes of them are devoured by fish and even by larger animals 
 
 of their own .species. The ichneumon and the vultures seem peculiarily 
 
 appointed to destroy the eggs and so abridge the enormous fecundity of 
 
 the crocodile. 
 
 Tho l>eiully IJacc of Serpents. 
 
 It is in this class of animals that we find the most terrible of all creatures ; 
 more potent than the rou.sed lion, the enraged elephant, the deadl)' shark-, 
 or the mailed alligator. In the whole range of animal exiiitence, there is 
 none that can compare with the venomous snakes for the deadly fatality 
 of their enmity ; the lightning stroke of their poisonous fangs is the uner- 
 ring signal of a swift dissolution, preceded by Lorture the most horrible. 
 The bite of the rattlesnake has been known to produce death in two min- 
 utes. Iwen where the consummation is not so fearfully rapid, its tlela\- is 
 but a brief prolongation of the intense suffering. 
 
 The terrible symptoms are thus described: — a shar[) pain in the part, 
 
 
 .^ -jH W ' -I 
 
 ft liif 
 
 ''iil-r 
 
 \^- 
 
 \ '. ' 
 
 
 
 i 
 1 
 
 %' 
 
n 
 
 471 
 
 KAKIir, SKA, ANP^ SKY. 
 
 which becomes swollen, shiiiin;^, hot, red; then livid, cold, and insenMlile. 
 The pain and inflammation spread, and become more intense ; fierce shdut- 
 inLj pains arc felt in other parts, and a hurnint; fire pervade-, the uIimIc 
 body. The eyes bi.'Ljin to water abundantly, then cmne swoonin^js, ct^Kl 
 sweats, aiul sharp pains in the loins. The skin becomes deadly jjal'j or 
 deep yellow, while a hhuk wati.My blood rims from the wound, uliicji 
 chancres to a yellowish matter. Violent headache succeeds, and ;v;i(.ldiiiij-,^, 
 faintness, and overwhclminij terrors, burnint^ thirst, ^ushin;^ dischaii^ns of 
 blood from the orifices of the body, convulsive hiccouf^hs, and death. 
 
 A (!obrsi's Poisoiuiiis V<mioiii. 
 
 Huckland has describetl the awful effects of a dose of poison received 
 from the cobra-di-capello in his own person. I'ortunately it was a most 
 minute dose, or we should not lia\e received the account. A rat wJiich 
 had been struck by the serijcnt, Auckland skinned after its death. lie 
 scniped the interior of the .skin with liisfiuLjer-nail, for^ettinj^ that he had 
 an hour before lieen cleaniiiL^ his nails with his penknife. In so doini;, he 
 had .slightly .separated the nail from the cjuick, and into this little crack the 
 poison had penetrated. Though the orifice was so small as to have hi.'en 
 unnoticed, and though the venom was not received direct from the serpent. 
 but luul liLxn diffused through the .system of the rat, the life of the opera- 
 tor was almost sacrificed. 
 
 In India, where the species is common, its propensity to haunt liMiises 
 frecpiently brings it luuler notice, atid many accidents c^ccur. It seems, 
 however, on some occasions to be placably tiis[)osed, if not assaulted ; and 
 some singular escapes are on record, of [lersons who have had pres- 
 ence of mind enough to let it alone. One is told ofan officer who, havini,^ 
 some repairs done to his bungalow, was lying on a mattress in the veranda, 
 reading, nearly undressed. Perhaps his book was (jf a soporific tendcnc\', 
 f)r he dropped asleeii,and awaked with a chilly sensation about his breast. 
 Opening his eyes, he beheld, to his horror, a large cobra coiled up on his 
 bosom, within his open shirt. 
 
 He saw, in a nn)ment, that to disturb the creature would be higliK 
 perilous, almost certainly fatal, and that it was at present doing no harm, 
 and ai^parently intending none. With great coolness therefore he lay 
 perfectly still, gazing on the bronzed and glittering scales of the intruder. 
 After a period which seemed to him. an age, one of the workmen ap- 
 proached the veranda, and the snake at his footsteps left his warm berth, 
 and was gliding off, when the ser\'ants at the cry of the artisan rushed f»i:i 
 and destroyed it. 
 
 In October. 1852, Gurling, one of the keepers of the reptiles in the Lun- 
 
son rccriwjd 
 L was a most 
 A rat which 
 i death. 1 Ic 
 ; that he had 
 so doin^f, lu: 
 ttle craclc the 
 to have 1)1 vn 
 11 the serpent, 
 of the openi- 
 
 launt houses 
 r. It seems, 
 ■isaulted ; and 
 vc had pres- 
 rwho, havin;j; 
 1 the veranda, 
 
 ific tendency, 
 out his breast, 
 [led up I'M his 
 
 dd be highlv 
 )hv^ no lianii, 
 refore he Ia\- 
 f the intruder. 
 workmen ap- 
 :s warm berth, 
 ian rushed or.t 
 
 es in the Lon- 
 
 ■»'"#! 
 
 :^t: 
 
 ^s,^\ 
 
 IP 
 
 S!l 
 
 1 
 
 M 
 
 
 Ml 
 
1|h **•' 
 
 
 kirn 
 
 
 176 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 don Zooloi^ical Gardens, was bitten by a cobra-di-capcllo, and dice]. The 
 circumstances of the case are worthy of recortl. GurHn;^ left liis hunie 
 in company witli another keeper, on the evenin;^^ before, and they spent 
 the night at a leave-taking party of a friend going to Australia. On 
 returning to their duties, the\' had a quartern of gin at a public-house, 
 another afterwards, and again another at eight o'ch)ck. The gin laden 
 blood circulated through the brain; and reason, ]:)rudence, and tiie plain- 
 est sense of imminent iiazard, \rere alike overpowered. 
 
 During the previous year, there had been an exhibition of Ivgyptian 
 snake-charmers, but they had performed with cobras deprived of tiicir 
 poison-fangs. But the impression made on Gurling's mind coming upper- 
 most when he entered the reptile-house, he determined to emulate the 
 Egyptians with the serpents as they were. A newl\--arrived ^Morocco 
 poison-snake was Hrst taken out of its cage, grasped by its middle, 
 flourished aloft, and thrown like a lasso ab(nit his neck ; wh(.:n, hap])il\- fir 
 Gurling, it was not aroused so as to bite. An assistant-keeper, who 
 appeared to enter the room at this crisis, entieated him, "for God's sake, 
 to put back the snake ! " but the infatuated man replied, " I am inspired," 
 and laughed at the warning. 
 
 Dradly Poison Doiiij;- Swift Work. 
 
 Having replaced the Morocco veiiom-snakc in its cage, Gurling ciied, 
 ■' Now for the cobra! " and, lifting up the glass fi-ont of the cage, renu)\ed 
 the one as he had done the other. The cobra was somewhat torpid, from 
 the cold of the preceding night, and the man placed it in his bosom. It 
 then revived iuid glided downward round his wrist, its head t;inerLnn'^ 
 from beneath the back part of his waistcoat. The man grasped the cobra 
 by the body, about a foot from the head, with one hand, drew it out, 
 seized it lower down w ith the other hand, and was in the act of lloini'-h- 
 ing it aloft, as he had done the other snake, when, as he held it up in fiont 
 of his face, the cobra, suddenly expanding its hood, struck ' im lik-e liL;ht- 
 n:ng between the e}-es, plunging its poison f.mgs into the skin of one side 
 of the bridge of the ni-)se, and scratching the opposite side with the teeth 
 of the lower jaw. 
 
 The man was staggered by the blow; the blood streamed down his 
 face. He called for help, and his companion fled; but liow long he was 
 awa\' he could not tell the coroner's inquest, " being," as he said, in a 
 maze." 
 
 When assistance ari-i\-ed, Gurling was found seated in a chair, havin;; 
 restored the cobra to its cage, and closed down the front glas-^. He was 
 -Still sensible and collected when placed in the cab that conve)-ed him to 
 
MONSTROUS ri-:ptiles of the tropical world. 
 
 477 
 
 the hospital, but expressed, in already palsied s])ecch, his full CDnviction 
 of speedy death. 
 
 On rcachinjj the h-jspital he appeared almost, if not quite, unconscious, 
 anil iinabli-' to support his head. His face \/as livid, and his res[)iration 
 very ini[)erfcct. He moved himself uneasily, pointed to his throat, and 
 moaned. The p(nver of utterance "'as the first lost; then that of vision; 
 aiul, lastly, that of hearinc;, Thi i)ulse i:jradually sank, the e.\tremitie.s 
 became cold and torpid, and he died without a convul ion or a strufjjLjle, 
 about an hour after recei\ inij the \\ ound. The heart's action was renewed 
 |)\- mechanical inllation of the luniks, and artificial respiration, which at 
 one time raised the pulse to seventy-five beats in a minute, was kept up 
 half an hour after the natural breathinL,^ had ceased, and when the nervous 
 system was dead. GaKanism was tried, but it hatl no effect. 
 Slraiij;*' Incantations of Snakc-CliarnuTs. 
 
 The trade of serjjent-charmini;- is \ery ancient, and at an early date 
 Africa was the chief theatre of thc;se who practised it, and were called 
 psylli. Pliny says .serpents were fri_L^htened away by the mere .smell 
 of these ps\-lli ; and informs us that they came out into Italy to show 
 their feats, and e\en brout^ht scor[)ions with them. They arc still to be 
 found e.xercisin;,;" their craft all o\-er Asia. 
 
 I'^fTypt is, probably, still their principal abode. A traveller states that 
 he has met with many persons amoncj the more intelligent of the K^iyp- 
 tians who condemn these modern psylli as impo.sters, but no one who 
 has been able to account for the most common and interesting of their 
 performances. 
 
 The most famous snake-charmers, he says, are durweeshees, or Moham- 
 medan monks. The charmer professes to discover, without ocular i)er- 
 ception (but perhajjs he does so by a peculiar smell), whether there be 
 any .^eri)ents in a house, and if there be to attract them to him, as the 
 fowler, by the fascinations of his voice, allure> the bird into the net. 
 They have been known to do this in broad daylight, and when stri[)[)ed 
 naked. 
 
 The performer assumes an air of mystery, strikes the walls with a short 
 palm-stick, whistles, makes a clucking noi.se with his tongue, and .spits 
 upon the ground; and generally says, " I adjure you, by God, if ye be 
 above, or if ye be below, that ye come forth ; I adjure you by the great 
 name, if ye be obedient, come forth ; if ye be disobedient, die 1 die ! die I " 
 The .serpent is generally dislodged by his stick from a fissure in the wall, 
 or drops from the ceiling of the room. 
 
 It is sometimes suspected that a servant carries the reptile. The most 
 
478 
 
 KARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 expert charmers do not take witii them venomous serpents until thev 
 have extracted their worst teeth. Many of them, Hke Phny's psylli, carry 
 scorpions in their ca])s, next to thi'ir shaven crowns; the stinjr, perhaps 
 havin<r been blunted. 
 
 On the prophet's birthda}' the durweeshes perform some of their '.great- 
 est wonders. Many live serpents were eaten durinc^ the traveller's visit. 
 Whenever a devotee did this, he was, or affected to be, e.Kcited to do so 
 by a kind of frenzy. He pressed very hard, with the end of his thumb, 
 upon the rejitilc's back, as he ;^rasped it, at a point about two inche^^rom 
 the head; and all that he ate of it was the head and the i)art bctwctn it 
 and the point where his thumb pressed, of which he made thar ny 
 four niouthfuls, anil thr^'w awa>- tlu; rest. 
 
 Doatli of tlH' Fumoiis "El-focI." 
 
 .Serpents are not, however, always handled with impunit)', even by 
 these people. A few _\-ears ac^o a durweesh, who was called " bLl-fcjl," di- 
 the elephant, from his bulky and muscular form, and Ljreat strength, and 
 who was the most famous serjjent-eater of his time, iiavinii^ a desire to 
 rear an enormous serjient which his boy had brou .;ht him, with others 
 collected in the desert, put this one into a basket, and to weaken it kept 
 it for several days without food. He then put his hand into the baskrt 
 to take it out, for the pur])ose of extractin;^ its teeth, but it immediattiy 
 bit his thumlj. He called out for help; but there were only woiinii m 
 the house, and they fjared to come to him, so that many minutes chipscil 
 before he could obtain assistance. He died in a few hours. 
 
 The serpents on which the charmers i)( Iv^yptand India exercise their 
 art are chiefly cobras, which are best adaptt-d for the display of their 
 j:)()wers. The air of mystery thrown over their operations had led many 
 to withhold from them all credit. Hut that snakes maybe brought imder 
 the intluence of music appears to be be\'ond dis[)ute. 
 
 On this point a gentleman, then of hii^h station in tlie Ivast India Com- 
 pany's service, made the followinir statement : " One morninc;", as I sat at 
 breakfast, I heartl a loud noise and shoutini^ amonc^st my pauuKiuin- 
 bearers. On intiuiry, I found that they had seen a lar^^c hooded snake 
 (cobra-di-capello), and were trx-injr to kill it. 1 immediately went out, and 
 .saw the snake climbin<g up a very in'i^h t:jreen mountl, whence it escaped 
 into an old wall of an ancient fortification. The nn'ii were ai'uu; 1 with 
 their sticks, which they always carried in their hands, and had attempted 
 in vain to kill the reptile, which had eluded their pursuit ; in its hole it 
 had coiled itself up secure, whilst we could see its bright eyes shinin;.^. 
 I had often desired to ascertain the- truth of tin- rtM)ort, as to the elfect of 
 
MONSTROUS REPTILKS OK THl' TROPICAL WORLD. 
 
 479 
 
 Tiuisic on snakes; I therefore inquired for a snakc-catclicr. I was told 
 thcic \v::s no person of the kind in the village; Init after a little inciuiry, I 
 lu'ard there was one in the \'illai;e tlistant three miles. I aeeordini;ly sent 
 f,)i him, keeping striet wateh over the snake, whieh never attempted to 
 escape wiiilst we, its enemies, were in sight. About an hour clap.sed, 
 vhcn iny mes.senger returned, bringing a snake'-cateher. 
 
 Suako Dancing- to Mii.si<'. 
 
 "This man wore no covering on his head, n r: anv on his j^crson, ex- 
 cci)ling a small piece of cloth round his loins, lie had in his hands two 
 liaskets, one containing tame snakes, one emiity. These, and his musical 
 pipe, were the only things ho had with him. I made the snake-catcher 
 leave his two baskets on the ground at some distance, while he ascended 
 tju' mound with his pipe alone. He began to play; at the sound of 
 nuisic. the snake- came gradually and slowly out of its hole. When it 
 was entirely within reach, the snake-catcher seized it dexterously by the 
 taih and held it thus at arm's length; whilst the snake, enraged, darted 
 its head in all directions, but in vain ; thus suspended, it has not the 
 power to round itself, so as to seize hold of its tormentor. 
 
 " It exhausted itself in vain exertions, when the snake-catcher ilescended 
 the l)aiik, dropped it into the empty basket, and closed the lid. 1 le tln-n 
 bei;ai) to play, and after a short time, raised thi- lid of the basket; the 
 snake darted about wildly, and attempted to escape; the lid was shut 
 down again quickly, the music always playing. This was repeated two 
 or three times; and in a very short interval, the lid being raised, the 
 snake sat on its tail, opened its hood, and danced as quietly as the tame 
 snakes in the other basket, nor did it again attempt an escape. This, 
 having witnessed with my own eyes, I can assert as a fact." 
 
 The Coiiinum Vii>or. 
 
 The venom of the viper, in our country at least, is not by any means 
 .so virulent as that of the serpent scourges in hotter regions. In the case 
 of a bite, ammonia or hartshorn given internally, and fomentations ap- 
 plied to the part, to be gently rubbed afterwards with oil, are the reme- 
 dies usualK' employed. Tlie instances are very rare in which the bite 
 proves fatal ; and such in.stances generally occur in hot weather. 
 
 The viper varies constantly as to color ; the ground color is mostly 
 olive, sometimes deep brown, sometimes yellowish brown, and sometimes 
 brick retl. It is commonly asserted that the viper brings forth its young 
 alive. This .statement is both true and false. The young are produced, 
 like those of all other serpents and lizards, by '.neans of an egg ; l)ut 
 the membrane which surrounds the young is broken at the moment of 
 
 1; 
 
 tjr^tv'*' 
 
 m^ 
 
 
 1 
 
 H<H]< 
 
mi 
 
 'lit! * 
 
 ■■n. 
 
 iS! r,2iiiie 
 
 uiliiil 
 
 % 
 
 480 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 birth, so that they can uncoil themselves at once. These, thouf^h but a 
 few inches in Iciii^rth, crawl about, and are as fierce as the parent, throw- 
 ing themselves, when molested, into an attitude of defense and hissin'^ 
 
 
 ,v;:=^ 
 
 
 THE VENOMOUS VIPER. 
 
 with anger. It is from this circumstance that the name viper is derived; 
 being forrn.;d from two Latin words, viviis, "alive," and pario, "to brincj 
 
MONSTROl'S RErTiLES OF THE TROPICAL WORLD. 
 
 481 
 
 forth. " In many places it is called " adder," fro:r. the Anglo-Saxon ncdn\ 
 moaning loivcr, from its creeping position. This term is, of course, 
 equally applicable to all serpents, and has, in fact, been so applied. 
 
 " S.\'cral intelligent folks," says White of Selbornc, " a'^sure me, that 
 thcv have seen the \'iper open lier mouth to admit her helpless young 
 cldWii her throat, on sudden surprises, just as the female o[)ossum does 
 Jkt bniiid into the pouch, upon the like emergencies; yet the London 
 , i|)L'r-':atchcrs insist on it that no such thing ever happens." We are dis- 
 •)Oscd to think that they are right ; at all events, there seems to be no 
 I'act adduced by any naturalist to sustain the contrary statement. 
 
 SwallowiiifT Too Much. 
 
 Mice, lizards, anil nestling birds are the food of this species. " I have 
 in ni\' possession," ;-a)-s Bell, "a specimen of a small x-ijier in a dying 
 '-tato, in the act of actempting to swallow a mouse, which was too large 
 for it, the skin of the neck being so distended as to have burst in several 
 ])laccs," In another instance, a viper was found in the neighborhood of 
 Lausanne wiiich had sei/.ed a common lizard of full size, and swallowed 
 it. The \iper was a young one, and the lizard nearl\- as long as itself 
 It also a[)i)eared to have been \ery strong, and to have retained itsvitalit}- 
 11 mg after it descended into the stomach of its devourer. The con.sequence 
 \vas, that it scraped with its little nails, until it made a hole through the 
 side of the viper, and the fore leg was completely protruded. The 
 specimen is preserved in the museum at Lau.sanne. 
 
 Tb.c .Tsping, called in England the aspic, is produced in Sweden. It is 
 a small reptile, seldom exceeding six inches long, but more virwlenr, it is 
 said, than the common \-iper, of which some naturalists regard it, and 
 pcrhap-^ correctly, as a mere variety. Acrcll states that Linnaeus saw a 
 woman perish in consequence of the bite of one, notwithstanding every 
 assistance. The effects of the bite are followed by intense anguish and 
 vomiting, the tongue swells and stiffens, the limb becomes inflamed, cold- 
 ness supervenes, and occasionally death ensues. 
 
 The viper, or ajhch, is referred tevi.'! Scripture, as an emblem of malig- 
 nity and mischief. This is not, however, our conmion species, but one 
 much more dangerous. It mav be the one considered bv Latreille tlie 
 aspic of the ancients, or a larger species, which is extremely venomous, 
 and found in the country bordering the Euphrates. 
 
 The Terrible I?oa-Constrictor. 
 
 There arc four species of "boa," all of which ha\'ebeen described as the 
 boa-constrictor ; and it is always difficult to identify any particular spe- 
 cies of serpent referred to by travellers, on account of the loose manner in 
 31 
 
 V 
 
 mm 
 
 'M' 
 
 VH 
 
 ?*.*.i. 
 

 ^»V^ 
 
 I.: , J 
 
 
 482 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 which the name is generally employed. The boa-constrictor is remark- 
 able for the beauty of its markings. A broad chain, consistini^f aUemairlv 
 of large blackish and somewhat hexagonal marks, and of pale ov^; daslies 
 extends along the back. These gigantic snakes frequent the m..rsiit.'s 
 and luxuriant margins of the rivers, and fresh-water lakes of intertn ojc;,] 
 
 RAVENOUS ROA-CONSTRICTOR SWALr.O^^•I^'G A FOWL. 
 
 America, and reign the terror of man and beast. They can climb, swim, and 
 dcirt along the ground ; and hence there is no safety for the deer in its swift- 
 ness or the monkey among the branches, or the large fish in the waters. 
 To these varied pon-ers combined with a nature daring, ferocious, and 
 bloodthirsty, the ancient Mexicans rendered religious veneration. Their 
 
MONSTROUS REPTILES OF THE TROPICAL WORLD. 
 
 483 
 
 supreme divinity was represented with a snake in his liand, or coiled 
 
 n utu! him anil his altar. 
 
 On a bl.ie throne, with four huge silver snakes, 
 
 Ar. if the keepers of the sanctuary, 
 
 Circltd with stretching neck and fangs displayed, 
 
 Mexitli vatic ; another grown snake 
 
 15elted with scales of gold his niunstcr bulk. 
 
 To adopt tlie words cf Lacepode, in reference to the boa, " This threat 
 
 power, this indomitable force, its gijj^antic lenijth, the lustre of its scales. 
 
 the beauty of it- colors, have inspired a sort of admiration, niinL,ded with 
 
 affrii;iit, in the minds of most people in a sa\a!j^e condition ; and, as all 
 
 that produces terror and admiration, every creature that appears to be 
 
 endowed with a tj^reat superiority over other beinc^s, hardly fails to create 
 
 in minds little enlightened the idea of a supernatural accent, it was not 
 
 without relit^ious fear that the ancient inhabitants of Mexico regarded this 
 
 serpent. Whetlier they supj)osed that an enormous ma.ss, c.xecutinrf 
 
 iiinvcinents so rapitl, could not be .stirred but by a divine inspiration, or 
 
 that the)' only regarded the animal as a minister of the omnipotence of 
 
 the God of heaven, it became the object of their worship. 
 
 Making- a Divinity of the I5oa-Coii.strictov. 
 
 "They gave \^. the title of 'emperor', in order to designate the preemi- 
 nence of its endowments ; and, liaving adopted it as the object of their 
 adoration, they devoted to it their particular attention. None of its move- 
 ments, speaking in a general sense, escaped them ; none of its actions 
 were to llicm niattci"s of indifference. As its protracted hiss caught their 
 ear, they listened with religious trembling, for they deemed that these 
 sounds, these signs of the various passions, or feelings of a being, \\hich 
 they logarded as supernatural, must be connected with their destiny. 
 
 " It has happened, that these hissings have been much stronger, and 
 more frequent on the approach of violent tempests, pestilential diseases, 
 cruel wars, or other public calamities. Indeed, it is frequently the case 
 thnt epidemic maladies are often preceded by a violent heat, an extreme 
 dryness, a peculiar ,-,tate of the atmosphere, a highly electrical condition 
 of the air, bv which the snakes would be greatK excited, and led to utter 
 hissings louder than usual ; however, this maybe, the hissings of the boa, 
 the 'divine boa', were rega.ded as forewarnings of impending evils, and 
 listened to with the utmost consternation " 
 
 A fearful picture of the blind and impious adoration paid to the fero- 
 cious boa, often tamed by the priests, for the purpose of overawing the 
 multitude, is finely drawn by Southey, in his poem of " Madoc : "— 
 
 Mm 
 
 '*■ i} 
 
 'I'V.i^ll 
 
 H 
 
 V 
 
 A . 
 
n 
 
 IT' 
 
 I'l 
 
 484 
 
 tARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 mmiM.^ 
 
 rorth from the dark recesses of the cave 
 
 The serpent came ; the Hoamen at the si.i;ht 
 
 Shouted ; and they who held the priest, appdl'd, 
 
 Relaxed their hold. On came the mighty snake. 
 
 And twin'd in mxny a wreath round Neulin, 
 
 Darling aright, aleft, his sinuous neck, 
 
 With searching eye, anil lifted jaw, and tongue 
 
 Quivering, and hiss as of a heavy sliovver 
 
 L'pon the summer woods. The Britons stood 
 
 Astounded at the powerful reptile's bulk, 
 
 And that strange sight. His girth was as of man, 
 
 But easily could he have ovtrtopp'd 
 
 Goliath's helmed head, or that huge king 
 
 Of Basan, hugest of the Anakim : 
 
 What then, was human strength, if once involved 
 
 Within those dreaoful coils ! The multitude 
 
 Fell prone and worshipp'd. 
 
 Stcclman, in his expedition to Surinani, had an adventure with one o! 
 these boas, which shows their vast power and activity. On leavin^r ],;< 
 boat, he had scarcely proceeded abov^c twenty yards tliroucjh mud and 
 water, when he discovered a hu<^e .snake rolled up under the fallen lca\cs 
 and rubbish of the trees; and so well was the animal covered, that it wa:; 
 .several minutes before he distinctly perceived the head of the monster, 
 which was distant from him only about sixteen feet. It was rapidly vi- 
 brating its forked tongue, and its eyes, from their uncommon brightness, 
 glittered like sparks of fire. He raised his gun, and fired ; but luissiii;.,^ 
 the head, the ball went through the body. 
 
 In a moment the aninia' struck round, lashing the ground witli such 
 force as to cut away all the underwood as if with a scythe, while the imid 
 and dirt flew in all directions. Following up the attack, Stednian, who at 
 first retreated, now ventured on, and found the snake at a short distance 
 from the former station, quietly lying among fallen leaves, rotten bouf^rhs, 
 and moss, which concealed all but the head. He fired again ; the animal 
 was again woimded, and violently flounced about, throwing a shower ot 
 mud and dirt around. At the third fire, the animal was shot through the 
 head, and soon expired. The length of this snake, which the negroes 
 declared to be young, was upwards of twenty-two feet ; and its thickness 
 that of a boy about twelve years old. 
 
 Sw.illo wins' a Be^. 
 
 One of the boas of the London Zoological Gardens once .swallowed his 
 bed, to-wit, a large railway blanket wrapper, instead of two rabbits, which 
 had been left him for his supper ; when the problem propounded was the 
 life or death of the reptile. Thirty six days after, however, he evaded 
 
ire with one o! 
 3n Icavin;^ hi< 
 ough mud and 
 he fallen leaves 
 red, that it \va:i 
 )f the monster, 
 was rapidly vi- 
 rion brij^htness, 
 d ; but missiiii; 
 
 ound with such 
 , while the mud 
 5tedman, who at 
 a short distance 
 , rotten bounjhs, 
 ;ain ; the animal 
 ing a shower ot 
 hot through the 
 ich the negroes 
 md its thickness 
 
 :e swallowed his 
 ■o rabbits, whicii 
 )ounded was the 
 ever, he evaded 
 
 MONSTROUS REPTi'.ES OF THE TROPICAL WORLD. 
 
 485 
 
 the catastrophe by beginning to disgorge the blanket. A watehman, 
 iroing his nightly rounds, caught him in the act ; he prescntl\' called 
 another watchman to his side, and Mitering the cage the\' assisted the 
 boa, both of them giving a slow, careful pull at one end ; and thus he 
 completed his task. 
 
 The wrapper was about five feet wide and six feet long ; it proved to be 
 t-,.. '■H the exception of a few small holes and rents, and an appear- 
 
 ance of rottenness in two or three places. The colors were nearly all 
 discharged, so that the fabric was of a dingy, slaty gray. 
 
 After disgorging the blanket, the boa ate nothing during a whole week, 
 but resumed his usual habits, by drinking a large quantity of water. This 
 is said not to have been the first time such a feat has been performed in 
 the Gardens ; and a serpent is even stated to have reman -d the \'ictor of 
 his blaid^et. 
 
 The boas are tlu largest of serpents, and though without venom, their 
 enormous muscular power enables them to crush between their folds large 
 animals, which they first lubricate with saliva and then swallow whole 
 by their enormously dilatable jaws and gullet. They never attack but 
 from necessity, always engage with open courage and conquer only by 
 superior strength. Three species are found in Asia; the rest are confined 
 to the warmer parts of America. The great boa, the largest of all the 
 serpent tribe, is frequently from thirty to fort>' feet in length and of pro- 
 portionable thickness. Their rapacity is often their own punishment; for 
 whenever they have gorged themselves by trying to swallow their prey 
 entire, they become torpid and may be approached and destroyed with 
 safetv. They at that time seek for some retreat, where thev mav lurk for 
 several days and digest their meal in safety. The least effort then will 
 destroy them ; they scarcely can make any resi.stance ; and equally un- 
 qualified for flight or opposition, they are easily assailed. 
 
 Boautifiil Tree-Suakos. 
 
 There are many serpents of very slender form, which, while living 
 more or less on the land, frequently ascend trees, especially in pursuit of 
 their prey. They are generally nimble, harmless, and beautiful species. 
 
 The whole of the serpents composing these genera live in woods, en- 
 twining themselves among the branches of trees, and gliding with great 
 rapidity and elegance from one to another. The.se habits, combined with 
 the graceful slenderness of their form, the beautiful metallic reflection 
 from the surface in some species, and the bright and changeable hues in 
 others, place them among the most interesting of the serpent tribe. 
 Their food consists of large insects, youn<.'; birds, and so forth, which the 
 
 IIIBBHIIifqSB- M 
 
 
 
 I'Jt'im 
 
I'» 
 
 >L 
 
 Tl! 
 
 m 
 
 ■ ' 
 
 \i 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
 illf 
 
 486 
 cxtraordi 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 cxtraordmary size of tl)o head, and widtl) of the ^Mpc. a.ul the .rr,,t ,.;, 
 atalDihty of the neck and ho<!y. cnaL-le them to suallou-, notuith'sta'.uli'n " 
 
 ^V>V^'N> 
 
 TREE-SNAKE DEVOURING ITS I'REV. 
 
 the small size of these parts in a state of rest, undisturbed by hun-er 
 When the skin is distended either by food or during inspiration, the 
 
MONSTROUS :^I:PTILES OP' THE TROPICAL WORLD. 
 
 487 
 
 scales are separated from each other, aiul the skin, which is of a tlifferent 
 CI >lor, becomes visible in the interstices, produciiv^ a curious ictimhited 
 ai)|)earancc. Notwithstanding^ the poisonous mark was affixcil by Lin- 
 n.uus to the only species known to him, it is well ascertaincil that they 
 are all of them perfectly harmless; anil it is asserted of some species that 
 till' t IiiUlren arc in the habit of tamin;^ and playin;^ with them, t\\ inin^ 
 tluni round their necks and arms, and that the snakes appear pleased at 
 bcini; thus caressed. 
 
 TIk" \ariety of whip-snakes are distin;4uished for their thin, slender 
 b(Ml\-, which enables them to wind themselves around the branches of 
 trees and lay in wait for their prey. They are only at Jiome on trees. 
 On the ground they are slow and clumsy in their motion. They are noc- 
 turnal animals and therefore very danj^erous to all small \'ertebrates which 
 happen to visit a tree, which they have chosen as their habitation. They 
 feed ow birds, lizards and froLjs, ami are said to be very Noracious. The 
 whip-snake of Ceylon has a very pointed mouth, for what purpose is not 
 explained yet to the satisfaction of scientists. 
 
 Poisonous Tenants of Forest and Plain. 
 
 Many of the snakes of South America are highly venomous. One of 
 these is called, from its prowess and power, the bush-master. I'Vightful 
 accidents occur in the forests of Guiana by this terrible species. Sullivan 
 gives us the followinj^: his host, a few days before, had sent a ncj^ro to 
 open some sluices on his estate; but, as he did not return, the master, 
 thinking he had run away, sent another negro to look after him ; tliis 
 nei,M-o went to the place directed, and found the aian quite dead, antl 
 swollen up to a hideous size. 1 Ic was bitten in two places, and death 
 must have been instantaneous, as he was not more than three feet from 
 the sluice. They supposed that it must have been a bush-master that 
 hail killed him. 
 
 The couni-couchi, or bush-master, is the most dreaded of all the South 
 American snakes, and, as his name implies, he roams absolute master of 
 the forest. They will not fly from man, like all other snakes, but will 
 even pursue and attack him. They are fat, clumsy-looking snakes, about 
 four feet long, and nearly as thick ris a man's arii^; their mouth is unnatu- 
 rally large, and their fangs are from one to three inches in length. They 
 strike with immense force ; and a gentleman who had examined a man 
 after having been .struck in the thigh and died, told the narrator that the 
 'A'ound was as if two Tour-inch nails had been driven into the flesh. 
 
 As the poison oozes out from the extremity of the fang, any hope of 
 being cured after a bite is small, as it is evident that no external applica- 
 
 1! 
 
 'M 
 
 
 "'IflWffi; "j ';! 
 
 3\ 
 
4«8 
 
 EARTFI, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 tioii could liavc any immediate effect on a poison deposited an inch antl a 
 half or two inches below the surface; the instantaneousness of the djath 
 dei)ends upon whetiier any hir^e artery is wounded or not. 
 ScriH'iits of Astoiiisliiii^ Itciiiity. 
 
 Many serpents aie remarkable ft)r their i^reat beauty of colorirpj, r.r for 
 the pattern of their markin^^s; but on account of the poisonous pnipirt',- 
 so many i)()ssess, the whole order is popularly re<^arded with liormr an! 
 apprehension, and the most foolish tales are current respecting \.iri'<ii> 
 species of them. Thus many people suppose that there are snakes w Jiiih 
 rob cows of their milk; and the skeleton of a chilil beini^r found in tiu' 
 same hollow with a number of harmless snakes it was concluded, as a 
 matter of course, that the ser[)ents must have both killed the child and 
 .stripped off its flesh, a thinj^ which no snake coulil possibly do. IVoplc 
 are prone to exa^^erate, and commonly evince a fondness for the iu,u\ cl- 
 ous, which induce those of hot countries more especially to declare c\cr\- 
 .snake met with to be the most venomous one in their country; and thus 
 travellers often come away with cxceedint^ly erroneous impressions im the 
 subject. 
 
 The Indian rei^ion surpasses every other part of the ^lobe in the num- 
 ber and variety of its serpents ; and almost every in\'estiyation of a linutcil 
 but previously unexplored district, is tolerably sure to add lar^^ely to our 
 previous Inowledj^e of them. What, however, the late Sir Emerson Tm- 
 ncnt as.serts oftho.se inhabiting Ceylon is equally ap[)licable to other part- 
 of the Indian rey[ion. Durini^ my residence in Ceylon, he remarks, I 
 never heard of the death of a European which was cau.sed by the bite of 
 a snake; and in the returns of coroner's inquests made officially to my 
 department, such accidents to the natives ap[X'ar chiefly to have hap[)Lncd 
 at night, when the reptiles, havin<^ been surpri.sed or trodden on, indicted 
 the wound in .self-defence. For these reasons the Cingalese, when obliged 
 to leave their houses in the dark, carry a stick with a loose ring, the noise 
 of w hich, as they strike it on the ground, is sufficient to warn the snakes 
 
 to leave their path. 
 
 Fooli.sli Popular Siiporstitioiis. 
 
 In some parts of the vast Indian region the natives regard the harniles- 
 chameleon as venomous; in other parts various geckos or other lizard>. 
 In Bengal there is a cin'rent notion regarding a terrifically po'sonous 
 lizard, which is termed tlie bis-cobra, but which has no existence e.\cept 
 in the imagination of the natives, who bring the young of the monitors 
 and occasionally other well-known lizards as specimens of the object of 
 their dread. Again, the little burrowing snakes which, superficially, have 
 
MONSTROUS REPTILES OF THE TROPICAL WORLD. 
 
 489 
 
 imicli the appearance of carth-WDriiis, arc there ptipuhirly re^ardetl as 
 hi.rhly pi)i.sonous, tliou[,Mi not only are they harmless, but physically 
 incapable of wounding the human skin. Stran^^ers who arc little versed 
 ill zoology are commonly led astray by such errors on the part of natives 
 of those countries, and, unfortunately, there is a number of stock vernac- 
 ular names which are applied to very different .species in different local- 
 ities. 
 
 Thus Europeans in Intlia are familiar with the appellatir)n " carpet 
 snake," as denoting a very tleadly re[)tile,but nobody can there point out 
 what the carpet snake really is; and the one most {generally sup[)oscd to 
 bcai' that name is a small innocuous snake, which is ccMiimon about 
 huiuan d\vellinj;s. In the Australian colony of Victoria, however, the 
 appellation of car[)et snake is bestowed upon a terribly venomous species, 
 while in the neighboring colony of New South Wales, a harmless and 
 L'VLii useful creature is habitually known as the carpet snake. 
 
 With regard tr) the poison of venomous snakes, attention has lately 
 been directed to the virtue of ammonia, as already stated. This should be 
 administered internall)', mixetl with alcoholic spirit and wa*"er, in re[)eated 
 iloses; and it should also be injected into a vein — about one drachm of 
 the liquor ainiiionue o( ihc shops being mixed with two or three times 
 that (|uantity of water. The patient should be kept moving as much as 
 possible, and the effects of a galvanic battery should also be tried in cases 
 where animation is nearly or quite suspended. B\' these means it is 
 asserted that quite recently some very remarkable cures have been effected 
 in Australia. 
 
 The serpents have many enemies among mammalia, such as the well 
 known mungoose, also swine, and various ruminating c[uadrupeds as 
 deer and goats. In the bird class, the famous .serpent-eater, or secretary- 
 bird of South Africa, is one of their chief destroyers ; and there are \ar- 
 ious other snake-devouring birds of prey, besides the great African 
 f][round hornbill — even the peafowl, sundiy .storks, and other waders, sel- 
 dom fail to attack them when opportunity offers. Comparative!)' large 
 birds of the kingfisher family prey chiefly upon snakes and lizards in 
 Australia; and of reptiles, besides those snakes which prey upon others, 
 the monitor lizards frequently seize and de\-our them. 
 
 3Ioiistrous Egg Eater. 
 
 The enormous swallowing power of snakes is vividly illustrated in a 
 vciy small snake, the opposite extreme from the huge creatures we have 
 been considering, the so-called egg-eater of South Africa, a little fellow 
 not more than a foot long, of which we give nearly a life-size illustra- 
 
 m 
 
 ^p 
 
m 
 
 
 i 
 
 * . 
 
 (41)0) 
 
mil 
 
 'mim 
 
 m\\ 1 'Jii- 
 
 MONSTROUS REPTILES OF THE TROPICAL WORLD. 
 
 491 
 
 tion. With jaws not more than an inch apart when wide open, it will 
 swallow an ordinary hen's ccjg without breaking; it. If such be the capac- 
 ity of a snake not more than twelve inches loni^, what must be the great 
 (nilp of one thirty feet long and of proportionate thickness ? 
 
 It may seem an incredible statement to many persons that any reptile 
 possesses beauty, yet among these crawling creatures, disgusting in many 
 in-<tances, there are forms and colors unrivalled, or at least unexcelled, in 
 aii\' other part of creation. There is, for instance, what is called the red- 
 thrcitcd lizard. 
 
 This bjautiful reptile is a native of the West India Islands. Its color is 
 (rrccii, more or less tinged with blue. There is no dorsal crest; the tail 
 is large, strong, and slightly depressed at its base — its remainder being 
 sltiulcr, and slightly compressed ; a minute dentated ridge runs along its 
 upper surface. The scales on the back and sides are very small, some- 
 what (i\al and granular, and of equal size. Tho.se on the under parts are 
 sniiHith.and overlay each other. When irritated, the throat swells, and 
 becomes as red as a cherry. 
 
 ".Some years since," says Mr. Bell, " I had two living specimens of the 
 beautiful little green creature of the West Indies. I was in the habit of 
 feeding them with flies, and other insects ; and having one day [)laced in 
 the cage with them a very large garden .spider one of the lizards darted at 
 it, but only seized it by the leg. The spider instantly ran round the crea- 
 ture's mouth, weaving a \ery thick web round both the jaws, and then gave 
 it a se\ere bite on the lip, just as this spider usually does with any large 
 insect which it has taken. The lizard \\as greatly distressed, and I re- 
 moved the spider, and rubbed off the web, the confinement of which ap- 
 peaiLtl to give it great annoyance ; but in a few days it died, thcnigh pre- 
 viously in as perfect health as its companion, which li\-ed for a long time 
 afterwards." 
 
 In contrast with this is an ugly creature which deser\-es notice. 
 
 The Cristatus. 
 
 In that group of islands called the Galapagos, near the Equator, in the 
 Pacific Ocean, this lizard abounds, and the species is found there in great 
 numbers. It selects a rocky shore for its place of resort, and appears 
 never to be found far inland. Specimens four feet in length have been 
 discovered ; the usual length, however, is about three feet. In rare in- 
 .>^tances its weight reaches twenty pounds. The appearance of the cristatus 
 is very repulsive. It would be impossible to convince some persons that 
 there is any beauty in the tribe of lizards. They are slimy creatures, un- 
 pleasant to the touch; they lack the soft plumage of the dove or fur of 
 
 I :• 
 
 If 
 
 
 'IN 
 
 ^Mm 
 
 m 
 
fiiPi 
 
 492 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 tlic seal ; they do not fly gracefull}' through the air, as birds do ; f^^ the 
 most part, tliey do not c\en swim, as man)' fishes do, with a moveiiunt \ erv 
 attractive; tlie}' crawl over rocks, tree branches, through tanq;led 'M.l^^^.•.s 
 alon^ the edi^^es of slimy pools, and repel one by their stealthy, cr •i.pincr 
 moticMis. They have never been regarded as among the beauties ,.f cn" 
 ation. 
 
 Yet there are tribes of lizards whose cold skins wear tints as ricli as 
 those of the beetle or the butterfl)'. This, however, is not true of the 
 cristatus, which is a rare specimen of ugliness. Probably in the e\-r.s (^f 
 
 
 
 THE MOLOCH. 
 
 its own species it has many points of beauty, and it ought, thercfnre, to 
 be considered that the work of nature is a success. This lizard is touini 
 frequently among the lava beds of volcanic islands; its strong claws [)c- 
 culiarly adapt it for such a place of resilience. 
 
 The moloch is an Australian iguanian reptile, and is the most fcrociniis- 
 looking of the lizard tribe, though harmless ; it is as ugly as any of the 
 representations of the fabled basilisks and dragons. They live in sandy 
 districts and sometimes dig themselves into the sand, slee[)ing at iiij^ht 
 and leaving their resting-place during the day in search of pre}-. They 
 
lit, therefore, to 
 izard is found 
 strong claws [)c- 
 
 MOXSTROUS ktPTILES OF THE TROPICAL WORLD. 
 
 493 
 
 princiDally feed on ants, but are said to be also herbivorous. Like other 
 li/an!-, they deposit their eggs in the sand. 
 
 A Hideous Toad. 
 
 It IS proper to caution the reader against believing all that has been 
 wriitc n about the longevity of toads. Neither must implicit faith be gi\en 
 1 1 tlu- discovery of the living animal in the centre of stones. "That 
 tj.icl^. frogs, and newts, occasionally issue from stones broken in acjuairy 
 
 
 "^-^^diV^c^^rZ 
 
 ^ ""'- Mil 
 
 — ""-V 
 
 
 
 ^-W^' 
 
 m^^ 
 
 ^.^^^ 
 
 'jtClJilij^iza 
 
 PIPA TOAD H.VrCHING EGGS ON ITS HACK. 
 
 or arc discovered in sinking wells, and even taken from coal-strata at the 
 bottom of a mine," is true enough ; but, as Buckland observes, " the evi- 
 dence is newr perfect to show that these amphibians were entirely en- 
 closed in a solid rock; no examination is inade until the creatu. . 
 is discovered by the breaking of the mass in which it was contained, and 
 then it is too late to ascertain whether there was any hole or crevice by 
 which it might have entered." 
 
 ,|jlifl.>fji^ji 
 
 
 i. m-$ M ^1 C -f it ^|v 
 
ilg^ 
 
 1 1 
 
 494 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 These considerations led Buckland to undertake certain experinit nts to 
 test the fact. He caused blocks of coarse oolitic limestone and sandstone 
 to be prepared with cells of various sizes, in which lie enclosed toad^ rif 
 different asj^es. The small toads enclosed in the sandstone were found 
 to die at the end of thirteen months; the same fate befell the lar<.fcr ones 
 during the second j'car; they were watched through the glass covers f»f 
 their cells, and were nex'er seen in a state of torpor, but at each successi\o 
 examination they had become more meagre, until at last they were found 
 dead. This was probably too severe a test for the poor creature^, the 
 glass cover implying a degree of hardness and dryness not natmal to half 
 amphibious toads. 
 
 This animal, the common toad, is badly provided with means of pro- 
 gression, is timid and solitary in habits, and shuns the sight of man, as 
 if it comprehended the repugnance with which it is regarded. It is, 
 nc\ertheless, susceptible of education, and has been tamed. Pennant, tin. 
 zoologist, relates some curious details respecting a poor toad which took 
 refuge under the staircase of a house. It was accustomed to come c\civ 
 evening into a dining-room near the place of its retreat. When it saw 
 the light it allowed itself to be placed on a table, where the host furnished 
 it with worms, wood-lice, and various insects. As no attempt was made 
 to injure it, there were no signs of irritation when it was touched, and it 
 soon became, from its gentleness, the object of general curiosit)- ; e\ en 
 ladies came to see this strange animal. The poor batiachian Ywal thus 
 f)r thirty -six )-ears ; and it would probably have lived much lonirer had 
 not a tame crow, living in the house, attacked it, and put out one of its 
 e\'es. From that time it languished and died. 
 
 Nearly allied to the common toads the Surinam toad holds i:s place. 
 Its physiognomy is at once disagreeable and peculiarly odd ; the head is 
 fiat and triangular, a very short neck .separates it from the trunk, which is 
 itself depressed and flattened; its eyes are extremely small, of an olive, 
 more or less bright color, dashed with small reddish spots ; it has no 
 tongue. There is only one species of pipa, viz. : the American pipa, 
 which inhabits Guiana and .several provinces of Brazil. The most re- 
 markable feature in this batrachian is its manner of reprodur'iion. It 
 is oviparous; and when the female has laid her eggs, the male takes' 
 them, and piles them on her back. The female, bearing the fertilized ova, 
 reaches the marshes, and there irimerses herrelf; but the skin which sup- 
 ports her future progeny soon becomes inflamed, causing an irritation of 
 the integument, which continues till all are absorbed into the skin. The 
 young are ra\iidly developed in these dorsal cells, and soon born. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 MARVELS OE INSECT LIEE. 
 
 [iitellitjonce Among Insects— All Sorts of Insect Mechanics — PillaRin;^ Pirates— 
 The Goliath Beetle— Monstrosities anil Freaks — "Little Devils "—CK)r,L;e()uf 
 Colorinjj of Shells and Wings — ^Jewelry made of Insects — Windless Butterilies — 
 Extraordinary Changes Tlirough Which Injects Pass — Metamorphosis of the 
 Dragon-Fly — Perfection of Organization— Wonderful Handiwork of Nature — 
 r,,i;its More than a Matt !i for Men— The African Fly— A Dreaded Pest— Magnified 
 Proltoscis of a Ct)mmon Fly — Amazing Rapidity of Movement — Insect Gym- 
 nasts and their Strength— Ingenious Mechanisms— Transformation of the 
 Common Gnat- Insect Saws, Rakes, and Chisels .Sirpissing Man's Finest 
 Instruments — Curious Method of Talking — Eyes Like Telescopes — Military 
 Drill— The Remarkable Achievements of the Spider — An Insect Better than it 
 Appears — Slave-Holding Ant--— A Colony .Saved by an Old Slave— Insects that 
 Keep a Dairy — Ants and their Milch Cows — Warrior Termites — Builders and 
 Destroyers of Towns. 
 
 O a marvelotis delicacy of nr<^ranization insects join a still ir.ore 
 marvelous intelligence. The perfection of their tools would 
 lead us to suppose thena ca[)able of executing works of bound- 
 less variety ; it i.s these that Rennie has designated as the archi- 
 tecture of insects. In fact, these minute creatures often rear construc- 
 tions of an elegance and size which we should be far from expecting from 
 them. Among insects there arc evidentlyarchitects, masons, upholsterers, 
 paper-makers, joiners, pasteboard-mal-:ers, and hydraulic-engineers. Others 
 dislike work, and are veritable pirates, always engaged in war and pillage. 
 We rind also in this class extreme; of size and strength. One gigantic 
 beetle, such as for instance the Goliath, may exceed the size of the 
 .straii'ht-beaked humming-birds, which he would pitilessly strangle in his 
 claws if he caught them in his pith; while another insect maybe so 
 small, .so calculated to escatie notice, that we only discover it by the aid 
 of a magnifying-glass. 
 
 The insect class shows in every part a harmonious organization, which 
 at the first glance distinguishes it from all others. Nevertheless, it is per- 
 haps the .section of the animal kingdom in which we observe the gieatest 
 diversity of form ; some insects indeed display at times such anomalies 
 that we can only make them out by their fundamental characteristics. 
 There are even frequently extreme differences between the male and the 
 female. Others possess such a singular exterior that they exacdy resem- 
 
 (495) 
 
 »l»fpt'||||'i 
 
 1 ■■ 
 
'I l^' ■ f 
 
 40G 
 
 EARTH, SEA. AND SKY. 
 
 mi' 
 
 ble leaves of trees, having the same veins and coloring; when they are af- 
 rest we might take them for leaves, and even the greedy bird is deceiwd 
 by them. It is the wings that are transformed into green membranes 
 whieh give the animal the appearance of an animated leaf 
 
 Some insects again are remarkable from the strangeness of their aspect, 
 the breasts ofwhicli are studded with points, plates, or most fantastic knobs, 
 wliich transform them into so many monstrosities. On looking at sonic 
 of them one might take them for an insect masquerade, a veritable sjxirt of 
 nature, a collection of freaks. So much was the old entomologist Geoffn)\- 
 struck with their form, that he gave them the name of " little devils." One 
 cannot really conceive what purpose so many fantastic appendages, so em- 
 barrassing to their figure and movements, can serve among these fra;^ilo 
 tribes, for they are all of the smallest dimensions ! 
 
 Hues that Rival Gold aiul Sapphire. 
 
 If anything in insects surpasses the diversity of forms, it is the prodigious 
 variety of coloring. Their mantles gleam with the richest hues in nature. 
 Their sheen can only be compared to that of jewels and metals. The pur- 
 est gold and silver, the sapphire and the emerald, gleam on their wings and 
 corsages ; their tints mingle and encounter or imperceptibly shade into 
 each other. Some groups are remarkable for the richness of their gar- 
 ments. One variety owes its French name of "millionaires" to its metallic 
 lustre; others gleam like precious stones, and are used instead of them in 
 India and China, where they are made into trinkets for women, such as 
 pins and ear-drops. 
 
 As the great Lanna^us said. Nature takes no leaps, and among insects 
 she proceeds as elsewhere, by insensible transitions. We are accustomed 
 to recognize a butterfly only by its ample wings ; nevertheless naturalists 
 ha\-e discovered many .species of this order which are wingless. lUit al- 
 though we see some individuals of this group deprived of these organs, 
 others exhibit the vestiges of them to show the gradation. 
 
 Singular Transformations. 
 
 Born in one shape the insect dies in another, and the metamorphoses 
 which it undergoes are the most important act of its life, and the most ex- 
 traordinary phenomenon in physiology. Organism, functions, all things 
 change : the ugly caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly gleaming with 
 azure and gold, and if this butterfly were restricted to the fresh leaves of 
 which it devoured such quantities in its youth, it w'ould die of inanition; 
 it requires a more delicate nourishment now that it has become adorned 
 with its brilliant wings, and only lives on the nectar of flowers. 
 
 The libellula, or dragon-fly, when it appears in its last dress, assumes 
 
f their aspect, 
 iitastic kn()l)s, 
 •cing at stinic 
 
 among insects 
 
 letamorphoses 
 Id the most cx- 
 )ns, all things 
 gleaming with 
 fresh leaves of 
 of inanition; 
 [come adorned 
 
 |ers. 
 
 Idress, assumes 
 
 LIFE AM) MEJAMORFIIOSIS OF TUK DKAGON-l'LV. (l. THE PERFECT 
 
 INSECT. i). — THE INSECT CASTING ;)FF ITS WORN-OUT 
 
 NVMPH's skin. <• d. — LARV.T. AND NYMPHS. 
 ;i2 (497) 
 
 ^^?«:i«ip'. 
 
 ^^if 
 
 ( : 
 
J' '' . '.in' I t 
 
 I) 
 
 *lff* 
 
 iff* 
 
 (illl 
 
 t 
 
 
 - !•;' 
 
 41»>' 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 different habits. It has passed all its life beneath the water in tlu: rendi- 
 tion of an ii^noble lana. soiled Mith mini and filth; but now that thetiiiK' 
 has come, it aspires to soar into the air. I lax'inj^^ mounted on some i.lant 
 or otiier, it attaches its aquatic t^arment to it, and ecjuips itself with hril- 
 liant uin_L;s of ^au;:e which bear it a\va\'. The nietamorphoris is so radica! 
 and its new wants so imperious, tliat if we attempt to retain the in-nt a 
 sinj^lc minute lonj.^er in its ancient element it will perish on the sp^t h 
 has lived till now in shail(i and tainted vater ; henceforth it can .iiU 
 breathe the pure air and in a [^dowini^ liu'^'-- 
 
 Tile grown insect iliffers so wideK' from the youn;.^, that one eaniint In 
 the least recocjni/.c thj one in the other. Tile scarab.'eus, or sacred li tie, 
 with its emerald sheath, which was worshipped in ancient I->y;\pi,(l(iu> iint 
 in the h;ast resemble the hideous subtenanean worm which produce^ it; 
 a sinj^ular nietamori)hosis, in which, according; to ("loury, the nation-, on 
 the banks of the Nile onl\ beheld the s\-nibol cf the transmi'Mation ,,f 
 
 souls. 
 
 Marvels of Insect Organi/ation. 
 
 The torch of anatomy has shed a flood of hght upon the or;^^ani/,tli' i 
 of the inferior animals, and the microscope, by allowing us to piy inio t!i 
 most inacces.sible nooks of it, has unfolded before our eyes a imrizdii a. 
 vast a.s it was unexpected. Rut it must be admitted, that if the investii;.!- 
 tion of infinitely small beings has acquired such an advanced d(,L;rcc n\ 
 certainty, it owes it to men who have often dexoted all their li\es to {\k 
 object. Lyonet, of Germany, passed nearly all his life in studxiiii; a 
 caterpillar which gnaws the wood of the willow, and produced on tliiv 
 insect only one of the most .splendid monuments of human patience. 
 
 Goedart, a Dutch painter, spent twenty of his best years in w atchiii:; 
 the mctamorpho.scs of in.sects — a most interesting spectacle for him wjio 
 looks at it with the eye of religion. Hence, in the midst of our iii(i>t 
 brilliant parties (into which affliction will yet make its way despite hntli 
 pomp and gokl), he felt tempted to exclaim, "Ah! let me rather sec a 
 buttertl)- born. In his puniest creatures God reveals his power and 
 majesty; you, in your splendid fetes, often di.splay only your weaknc.\^ 
 and mi.sen.- ! " Anatomically and physiologically .speaking, the human 
 mechanism is very rude and coarse, compared to the exquisite delicaq 
 revealed in the organism of certain animals. 
 
 In her .slightest sketches nature knows how to unite power to an exquis- 
 ite fineness of mechanism ; the first glance at in.sects proves this, and thus 
 so soon as their Interesting history is displayed before us, we feci n(5 loiij^cr 
 temjited to treat them with the disdain that poets have shown. A simple 
 
• in th< t-(.n(li- 
 ,• that thr t;nv 
 
 (111 SOIilL' jlhllU 
 
 tsclf with bril- 
 ■ is is sm nulical 
 n the insert ;i 
 n the s])!'!. 1 1 
 ih it can ''nly 
 
 : one canuut In 
 r sacRil h ■ 'il,;, 
 Ivj^ypl.doe-- nnt 
 ch produci-- it; 
 the nation-^ an 
 ansniii^ratiun cf 
 
 the op^anizati"! 
 s to pry into t!v: 
 vc^ a horizon a^ 
 
 if the invcsti;4a- 
 anced dei;rcc <4 
 
 icir h\'cs to tliu 
 in stiulyiiT^f a 
 roduced "ii thi^ 
 
 n patience. 
 
 ars in watchiivj; 
 le f<ir him who 
 
 st of our Ill(l^l 
 
 a)' despite b^tli 
 
 nie rather sec a 
 
 his power and 
 
 \'our weakness 
 
 mti, the human 
 
 quisite delicac} 
 
 le 
 
 ver to an exquis- 
 •cs this, and thus 
 we feel no lon'^'cr 
 A sinipk' 
 
 lown. 
 
 MARVELS OF INSECT LIFE. 
 
 I!i!» 
 
 biitterll)'. a sinL;ie \\y hunil)les the pride of man. and tlL'^pitt- of hiiu le\els 
 
 Ills forests, devours his crops, and retUices him to ile^pair. An insect of 
 
 thi-^ kind petrifies the countryman w ith terror, while its stins^ is death to 
 
 hinil 
 
 ^fiiii Coii(|ucr<>(l by Gnats. 
 
 Simple little two-\vint,fed flies, ^Mials and mos(.[uitoes, the puny loolc of 
 whii !i would ne\er lead one to dread a^^j^ression from such a ([uarter, are 
 nc\'.rtheless enemies of the most incon\'ein'ent kind to our species. In 
 some countries, where they swarm by m\-riads on all sides, man is sub- 
 jected to their empire, and onl\- a\dids their attacks by adaptiiv.;' his abode 
 and manner of livin;^ to the emergency. At the time \\ lun tlu' mos(]iii- 
 tdis are most prevalent in SencLjal, the nei^n-oes, notwithstanding' the con- 
 straint of such a kind of life, remain constantly en\eloped in the mitWt <jf 
 thills smoke. For this pur[)ose they set up reL;ular roosts formed of 
 branches, ami suspended above masses of wood which burn peq)etuall\' 
 beneath them. Squatted on these they recei\-e their friends durin<^ the 
 cla\ ,and at ni[,dit, heated from below antl smoked on all sides, they stretch 
 themseK'es on them in order to sleep. 
 
 A sim[)le fly in Africa does still more ; it disputes the laiul foot by foot ; 
 there is a strugj^le between it and man as to which shall ha\e pos.session. 
 Where it lives it pre\ents him from carrx'ing on aj^riculture, and liniits 
 his explorations ; he can onl)- become master of the soil when he has 
 exterminated it. This fl\-, i-eneralK- called " tsetse " bN' the natives, is 
 shaped like our common .species, and seems to all appearance equally 
 inoffensi\e, but its mouth secretes a \-enom the activity of which by far 
 surpasses that of the most redoubtable serpents. It only requires a few 
 of its stin;4s to overwhelm the strongest o.x ; and yet if we attempted to 
 ascertain the weight of this deadl}' agent by means of the most tlelicate 
 balance, it is so small that we should find the calculation impossible. 
 
 The domestic fly, inoffensi\e in our dwellings, torments without ceasing 
 those who travel in hot countries. There it is dreaded more than the 
 hy;ena and jackal, and men can only guard against it b\' having a crowd 
 of slaves about them. In some of the villages of Upper Kgypt traveller.-; 
 ha\e sometimes seen in their mother's arms children who.se faces were 
 infested by such compact legions of flies that they looked like crawling 
 black masks. All were hard at work with their probosces, the delicate 
 anatom\-of which surpasses everything one can imagine. 
 
 In the domain of the infinitcl)' little the plu'siological phenomena as- 
 tonish us no less than the extreme slightness of the motive organs ! A 
 single comparison will demonstrate this. When wc communicate an 
 
 ■'I 
 
 m^$ 
 
 H 
 
 t- 
 
 iMmm ,« 
 
 :iii 
 
 
 ■ ■]. 
 
 rm 
 
 m 
 
noo 
 
 KARTII, SEA. AN'D SKV 
 
 i^'iy 
 
 ■,1! 
 
 I 
 
 ■■m 
 
 olcvattiij^ in(>\i'iiuiu to I >ur . inns, and siulck.iil)- biin;^' tlicni hack t" ?!),« 
 body, a second oC tinu- will scarcely siilficc for the act; hut, according to 
 the experiments of I h-rschel, some iiist-cts vil)rate their witi'^s sc^^ ;,il 
 hunch'eil times in this sliort period! T.atoiir affirms that a laiat \ ihrates 
 its \vini;s 500 times in a secontl. 
 
 Nicholson Ljoes still fnrther ; he asserts that the xihrations of the wini- 
 
 of the common flN'are as man\- as 600 in a second, since it passes tin-MiiL;li 
 
 >^ , \ , _/ / space at the rate of six fi.i.i 
 
 ^ \i^£4^vv'0^l'' in this time. iJiit tlii-; .,h- 
 
 ser\er adds, thai fir lapn] 
 fli^i;lit\vc nnist multiply this 
 number l)y six, uhicn im aii> 
 that in a seconil, or the time 
 ■y-- i^-^jL^v' ^\*-' I'equire to execute a siii- 
 "■ -"iCr/;^'' J~ ^le movement of (<iie 1 if Mnr 
 members, the fi}' with its 
 win;^ can i)erfonn ^^xjo. 
 The mind is stupefied at 
 such calculations, and y; t 
 tlu\- are of imimpeacli.ihJL- 
 accurac}' ! 
 
 After this we are no 
 ^3^V' -^ longer astonislied at tiic 
 actix'ity shown by some hut- 
 terllies, such as the sphinx, 
 when they rifle the tlower^ 
 of our t^ardens. They ilit 
 from one to the othei" wiili 
 the sjx^ed of an arrow, aiiii, 
 lilce tile sti-aiL;ht-beakc(l 
 hummint4"-bird, the_\- han- 
 motionless before the co- 
 rolla, plunginc; their Ion;; 
 tongues to the botteni in 
 
 MAGNIFIED I'ROBOSCIS OF THE COMMON FLY. ^-^^.^y^^ j-O sip the HcCtar, 
 
 whilst their wings are agitated b\- moxements which the e\-c cannot 
 follow ! 
 
 The delicacy of these aerial oars is not less remarkable than their ninve- 
 nients. However gently we take hold of the wing of a butterfl\-, <^ur 
 fingers never leax'c it without having some particles adhering, which -ccin 
 
 
 lUiuwJi'^^-" 
 
hack t" rhi' 
 acconliii,' to 
 
 x'nVJ,^ SL-\i ;,il 
 ;4li;it xilinUrs 
 
 Is of tlir win '4 
 ;isscs thrwii-h 
 ■ate Df six fi.t.l 
 
 Bui Ihi^ I'l)- 
 that for r.qiiil 
 t nuiUii)l>- tlii^ 
 c, whicii inr.iii> 
 ihl, or the linic 
 
 LXtA'iitL ;i sitl- 
 t of one of iMir 
 c tl)- with its 
 prrfofiii _V'"0- 
 s sUi[)cfif(l at 
 itions, ami yd 
 uniiiii)cacliable 
 
 MARVKLS OF INSECT LIFE. 
 
 oOl 
 
 oni>' a nnc (hist, the source of the nia;^Miificent coloriiii^' of the insect. But 
 when this ihist is submitted to microscopic examination, the observer is 
 ■uirpriseci to see that each of these grains represents ahttlc flattened plate, 
 icn'^thened out and of a fine complicated structure, which reflects the most 
 
 ina;j;ical colors. 
 
 Notwithstanding 
 th' i r minuteness 
 and the delicacy of 
 their anatomy, oth- 
 er insects e x h ib- 
 it a comparative 
 stienf^^th which 
 astonishes us. Al- 
 though it is almost 
 ])ueri!e to speak of 
 the flea, still we may 
 take it for an in- 
 •-tance, as it is un- 
 foitunatcl)- known 
 eMTywhcre. I'on- 
 vielk;. in his inter- 
 estiuLj work on the 
 "Invisible World," ^^ 
 maintains that it can r 
 raise itself from .he ^ 
 i^round to a height 
 equal to two hun- = 
 (Ired times its stat- 
 ure. At this rate, a 
 man wouUl make 
 little effort in jump- 
 ping o\er the Capi- 
 ti'l at Washington, 
 er the highest 
 church spires; ami 
 a [jiison would be an impossibility unless the walls were built more than 
 a quarter of a mile in height. 
 
 In the case of insects inhabiting the water, the most admirable precau- 
 tions prevent the fluid from forcing its way into the air passages. Some- 
 times at the entrance of the respirator}- organ there is a door, with five or 
 
 COMMOX (iNAT AXI> llS MiyrAMOKl'IIOSKS : 
 XVMIMIS AND I'L:KI'i:cr INSECTS. 
 
 il«: 
 
6<)2 
 
 i:.\F'lTH. .Si:.\. AND SKV. 
 
 m 
 
 
 mM 
 
 a«3i 
 
 II 
 
 six Itaws iifthf ui'ist iiv^cniniis inccli.ini'^m, wliiili the animal npin, ..r 
 sluits at w ill. It 1 iiil)- (ipiii ^ tlu'inuli'ii it citiius t<» tlu! surfaix- of a nm)! 
 to brcatln- ; u luii it plmv^cs into tlicdcptlis the lca\c.s oftliis little air-(|.i.,f 
 arc closily shut, and tlio jin.niniatic channels aro cfTi.aciously (lcfcn'|((l 
 aj^ainst the in\'."isi(in oftlu' li(|uicl, which would dislurh the or;^anizatinii 
 This is seen in the laiVii uftho comnion y;nat, which swarms in our ■ra. 
 nant waters. 
 
 Ill the lai'L,U'r animals the rcs|)irator\- function is jHTfornied h_\- the ,ii.| 
 of a di-tinct, restricted apjiaratus, confinrd to one ri';_;ion of the hocK , In 
 the insi'cts it has a iinuli l,ir;j/'r tield of anion. Tlii air diffuses it-If 
 e\i.'r)-where, and after luuini:; o\ erllowcd the inti'rnal or;_;ans by means of 
 ])articular \esscls, w hich ari; easily distinguishetl In- their ])carly tiiti, ii 
 reaches the extreme tirniinations of the feet an<l antenna'. h"or this 
 purpose these are pro\i(k.'d with a most remarkable structure. The\- aic 
 composed of fine layers, rolled in, like the metallic thread in an rlastic 
 brace. This arran;.4ement ser\es to keep their \^alls separati-d. auil i.. 
 facilitate the free circuiatiou of air lhrou;.;h their imperceptible canals. 
 
 M:i<-liiii('i',v i'or Itrcntliiiit;'. 
 
 I'A'i'r}' person must have seen, and with some disi^ust too, a white lar\a 
 uith a lonij tail, which liws in tin,' tilth)' stai;nant waters of our court^aivl 
 roacLs, and which is \ ul^arh' calletl the mai^got. The extraordinary tail 
 to which the animal owes its name is an or_L,ran of respiration. }tcr)ntaiii-; 
 twovessels which disseminate the air through all the body of this tly-lara, 
 for .such it is. These two ai'i'ial canals arc enveloped b\' tubes of a diffr- 
 ent calibre, which tit one into another and move exactl}- like the tubes <>{ 
 a telescope. 
 
 This Worm, not ha\ ing any swimming organ, pos.sesses in this ingeninu^ 
 arrangement a means of constantly opening the orifice of its breathing ap- 
 paratus at the surface of the water, whate\er may be its lex'cl. If tlic liq- 
 uid sink in the puddle which it inhabiis, all the tubes enter one another 
 like those of a telescope and the ai-rial tubes Mind inside them. If, on the 
 contrary, a violent shower should make the water rise above its bounds, 
 chey are all projected outwards, being drawn out as far as possible so that 
 their orifices still reach the surface. 
 
 The final intention of nature is so manifest in this circum.stance, that if 
 we, in imitation of Reaumur, plunge one of these larv.-e into a glass citi- 
 taining only a little water, and the quantity of this be gradually augment- 
 ed, the insect's tail lengthens in proportion antl even acquires an extraordi- 
 nary size, in order, without quitting the spot, to serve the wants of respir- 
 ation and open out on the surface of the fluid. 
 
in our st;i"'- 
 
 ;iiis mu'cniMU- 
 
 ancxtraorili- 
 
 MARVKLS OF INSECT I. IFF.. 
 
 :)0;{ 
 
 \ln\\ riig.m'd and coarse the works of man apjjeai' b)- the side of those 
 of iiarurel t'oin[)are the instruments which the insect uses fm its work 
 with diose which we einplo)', Mehold its saws, its rakes, its bruslics, its 
 clii^il-^; Compare them with ours, and you will at once achnit that all )'ou 
 kn"'.\ li"^^' tn fabricate is only very inferior to what it possesses. The 
 ^call'cl of the anatomist seems to ha\e an ed^e of delicate W()rkmansl)i[); 
 its polish attracts us; examine it with the microscope, and \'ou are sur- 
 mised to see it transformed into a coarse saw-blade. It is the same with 
 the point of a neetlle ; it becomes an imperfect awl. Scrutinize the scythes, 
 till' dart'^. or the rake of an inject, anil ever\thin<; tiiere reveals the power 
 wf the Architect of so many marvels. The claw of the lion is immensely 
 loss cijuiplicated than tiiat of the spider! 
 
 Talkiii« by Toinli. 
 
 In the creatures which we are now stU(lvin_L,f the tactile facultv' acquires 
 a marvL'lous development; it supplies the want of a lani^ua^^^e ; the ants 
 talk to each other by touch. ( hie could not believe this if a careful ob- 
 .scr\er had not ilemonstrated it, and yet the fact is so certain that an)' one 
 can at an\* time verify it. When two of these intelligent insects jpeet in 
 ihcir career, we see that they touch I'ach other differently with their an- 
 tciiiKi'. and that after doiiv,;- this the)' seem to form some fresh resolution, 
 inconsequence of this tactile coniinumcation. 
 
 The follow in<:j experiment, umlertaken b)' II u be r, "rives incontestable 
 cviticncc in favor of tiie fact. I (aviivj; thrown a colony of ants into a 
 ilosfd anil ilarkened chamber, he remarked that first they all scattered 
 in disorder; but he soon noticed that if an iniliviilual in the course of his 
 porcLjrinations discovered an outlet, he returned to the midst of the 
 Dthcrs; of these he touched a certain number, and after this mimic com- 
 nuinication the whole population as.sembled in regular lines, which 
 marched out under one common thouj^ht — that of freedom regained. 
 
 Telesoopie Ixves. 
 
 Ill all the large animals there are but two eyes; in this respect the 
 smallest insect is infinitely better provided tiian they arc. The ant, the 
 visual apparatus of which is one of the least perfect, pcjssesses fift)-. The 
 common tly has 4000, and in certain butterflies many thousands h.ave been 
 counted. I^ach of these organs, too, presents, in microsco])ic proportions, 
 the greatest part of the structures which help to form the globe of our 
 eye. Closely packed together, these eyes make up for their immobility 
 b)- their bulk, and this is so great that in some flies it almcst covers the 
 head, and even constitutes a fourth part of the weight of the bod)'. 
 
 This powerful entic apparatus exhibits some curious modifications 
 
 
 ^■1 H 
 I I 
 
 

 fci 
 
 tf 
 
MARVELS OF INSIXT Lll-K. 
 
 505 
 
 which reveal the habits of insects. Those which seek their prey by night 
 have their eyes more dee[)ly set, in order better to absorb the least lumin- 
 ous rays. In the flesh-eating insects they are larger. In some acjuatic 
 >pccics the head is furnished with several pairs, some directed upwards, 
 others downward, in such a way, that while swimming on the surface of 
 the water the animal can see at the same time the fish which menaces it 
 tiom the depths, and the bird wliich is about to swoop down upon it. 
 From the former it escapes by flight, and from the latter by di\ ing. 
 Military Movnin'iits of Caterinllars. 
 
 Some insects, when they remove from their dwellings, observe a degree 
 of Older which is ver)- remarkable. (Jne species has become celebrated 
 on account of the law which its lar\;e constantly follow during their per- 
 egrinations. When the troop issues from the lair or .sack in which the 
 whole family have been sheltered in a mass, one caterpillar marches at the 
 head; then come two; after that three ; next four abreast, the squadron^ 
 .ilway^ augmenting and marching regularly one after the other. Their 
 files, which sometimes stretch out for a length of thirty to forty feet, in 
 this \va\- make numerous w'ndings o\er the downs and roads, imitating 
 tht order of a procession in movement. This has ])rocured for the but- 
 tertly which gives birth to this dangerous cohort the name of " proces- 
 sionar}' bomby.x." When the\' are encountered, it is necessary to let 
 them alone, for nt;ither man nor animal can disturb their inarch, or even 
 a[)i)roach them without being severely punished for it. The hairs which 
 cover tiie.se caterpillars bect)me detached during their evolutions, ami 
 iloat all about the army ; it is extremely dangerous to inhale them, for so 
 -non as any enter the lungs, an obstinate and distressing cough ensues. 
 
 Inset't \V<'av«'rs. 
 
 Although Minerva, in her jeaK)usy, broke the loom of Arachne, even 
 th(m;4h transformed into a spider, the obscure ri\-al of the goddess never- 
 ihekss executes wonderful tasks. Some spiders are remarkable for the 
 |)erfeetion of their wea\ing ; in others the arrangement re\'eals the most 
 astute intelligence. In the former category ma\- he placed the regularly 
 circular nets which the spiders of our gardens stretch from branch to 
 brancli; in the other the webs of the species which invade our dwellings. 
 
 These latter, usually built in the corners of the walls, exhibit a horizon- 
 tal net soiled with dust, which is in a sense on'y the basement floor of the 
 carniverous insect's structure, for it is in tiie threads irregularly crossed 
 abo\e this that the prey gets entangled and lost. But the most ingenious 
 part of tl'.is destructive engine is the lair in which the hunter lies ensconceil. 
 It is a veritable circular tunnel, with a double outlet ami serving a double 
 
 a- 
 
': ) 
 
 ■'\ 
 
 :^*'tf 
 
 i;h ., 
 
 if iff I i 
 
 .500 
 
 KARTil, S1:A, and SKV 
 
 purpose: one outlet is horizontal and opens upon the web ; the other k 
 \ertical and i^iNes passage behnv. It is from the former that the sr.jticr 
 humehes itself upon its pre\' ; the other fills the office of a trap-do(jr. 
 
 The spider takes the i^reatest care never to leave on its ueb the car- 
 casses from which it has sucked the blood ; such a charnel-house would 
 alarm its li\-in_L( pre\ . So soon as a lly has been immolated, the in-rct 
 seizes it, drags it to its tunnel, and ejects it by the lower opening, llui-. 
 
 TIIK VORACIOUS CHICKEN-SPIDER. 
 
 when we look at the part of the floor below, we are as<:onished at the 
 numbers tliat ha\'e fallen victims to the sanguinary spider. Sometinns 
 also this hidden exit serves for it to escape b}- when menaced by some 
 serious danger. But this is a very rare case ; its special use, its exclusive 
 purpose, is to receive the debris of the spider's repasts; a fact not noticed 
 by any observer until a comparatively recent date. 
 
 The disgust insjjired by th , spider is not well founded. No insect pos- 
 .sesses more intelligence or a more wonderful structure ; the ugliness of 
 
; the other is 
 lat the spider 
 trap-dour. 
 5 web thL' car- 
 l-house Would 
 ted, the insi.ct 
 veiling, riui-. 
 
 it^^onishcd at the 
 pr. Somctiint"^ 
 Inaced by sonic 
 |se, its exclusive 
 ^act net r.oticcd 
 
 No insect po<- 
 Ithe uirlincss of 
 
 MARVF.LS OF INSECT LIFI-.. 
 
 o07 
 
 the in_,'cnious Arachiiis is forgotten so soon as we look at it without pre- 
 judiL' The dant;er which alarms some persons is not well toiinded. It 
 is true there are spiders the bite of which is as formidable as tiiat of our 
 vipers, but they only inhabit tropical countries. The spider finnid in cel- 
 lars i-^ the only one the bite of which can be considered as attended with 
 danger, and the results of its bite, althouijh some cases are relatetl in 
 which it has been fatal, are limited to a sharp pain and some su<dlin!.>; and 
 iiitlaiiinialion. The ncjtorious tarantula itself, when more closely stud- 
 ied, loses its stranj^e prestige; its bite has ceased to produce the furious 
 danein;4 mania so much spoken about, even in medical woi-ks. 
 
 Some well-known spiders, which are almost as large as the fist, somc- 
 tim:s fasten on chickens and pigeons, seizing them by the throat and 
 killiiiL; them instantaneousK-, drinking their blood at the same time. 
 Hence in Columbia, where these disagreeable guests are common 
 enough, they are called chicken-spiders. 
 
 Slavt'-Holdiny Inseots. 
 
 Strange as it may seem, there are insect tribes which bring others 
 into subjection and lord it over their fellows, as if they were human be- 
 ing.s. This is true of one species of ants. The ingenious Iluber wanted 
 to see how far the dependence of the two social classes went, and soon 
 perceived that the chiefs, left to themselves, were absolute!},- unable to 
 provide for their wants even in the midst of abundance. 1 his naturalist 
 liaving inclosed thirty Amazons with a plentiful provision of food, but 
 without any slaves, saw that they fell into a state of profound apathy, 
 although he placed the larva? and nymphs alongside of them in order to 
 stimulate them to work. All occupation ceased immediatel)-, and the 
 recluses would every one have died of hunger rather than eat alone. 
 Many had already succumbed, when it entered the head of the Genevese 
 savant to furnish them with a slave. She was scarcely introduced among 
 the dead and dying when she was at work, giving food to the survivors, 
 lavishing her care upon the joung larv.v, and constructing shelter for 
 theni. She saved the colony. Nothing can be more incredible than 
 these facts, and yet they have been verified with the most scrupulous 
 care. 
 
 But the extraordinary customs of these ants differ somewhat accord- 
 ing to the localities which they inhabit, and the number of slaves which 
 the nest contains. In Switzerland I luber observed that the slaves gen- 
 erally work at the construction of the dwelling inhabited by the tribe, 
 and that, like vigilant gatekeepers, they open the outlets at daybreak, 
 and carcfuUv close them when evening or a storm of rain comes on. 
 
 «' 1 :: 
 
 ^^ u 
 
 i'T' 
 
50S 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY, 
 
 ■ 
 
 ll» 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 m 
 
 
 i 
 
 ill 
 
 i' 
 1 
 
 All kinds of ants do not so easily adapt themselves to slaxerv. Thcif 
 are some very small ones, such as the yellow ant, which set the Amazons 
 at defiance, and although much weaker, frighten them by their niien • 
 courage supplies the want of strength. Hence the blood-red ant, w hjch 
 is one of the most thorough-gomg slave-makers wc are acquainted witli 
 
 ..,1 never attempts to 
 
 * plunder the dwell- 
 
 ing of the yellow 
 ant, which fii.^hts 
 with fury to defend 
 its home, its family 
 and its liberty. 
 This is so con- 
 stantly the case 
 that one naturalist. 
 to his great .sur- 
 prise, found a little 
 tribe of this valiant 
 species under a 
 stone close to a 
 nest of slave-mak- 
 ers. They knew 
 how to make them- 
 selves respected 
 there, and e\cn 
 frightened the oth- 
 ers by their war- 
 like attitude. 
 
 The slave-mak- 
 ing tribes are not 
 occupied solely 
 with the capture of 
 slaves; they fre- 
 quently spread out 
 over plants in order 
 ANT ABOUT TO MILK API 11 PES. to carrv off ilie 
 
 aphides. These are their cattle, their milch-cows, their goats; people 
 would never have thought that ants were a pastoral race. They arc ex- 
 tremely fond of a sweet liquor which distils from two little teats which 
 the aphis carries at the extremity of its back. We often find them 
 
li 
 
 MARVELS OF INSECT LlFi;. 
 
 009 
 
 scattered over the surface of vegetables sucking this fluid from indi- 
 viduals by turns as they encounter them. At other times, accompanied 
 by their slaves, they carry off the aphides, and imprison them in their 
 dwelling, in order to milk them at leisure, and there they are nourished 
 exactly like stalled animals. 
 
 Huber discovered that the ants are so greedy after this sweet liquor, 
 that to procure it more conveniently they make covered ways which 
 lead from their nests to the plants inhabited by these miniature cows. 
 Sometimes they carry their foresight even to a more incredible extent. 
 In order to reap a richer harvest from the aphides, they leave them on 
 the plants which they habitually feed upon, and with finely-tem- 
 pered earth build them a species of little stables in which they imprison 
 them. 
 
 Arcliitrcts ami Dostroyrrs ol" I'owiis. 
 
 If we trans])(>rt ourselves to tropical rei,: .ns, where nature, more vig- 
 orous, nuiltiplies on every side the sources of life, we see insects disputing 
 with man for e\ery foot of pos.session. They make a regular war of it, 
 invading his pi, t-'ons or his dwelling — a .savage pitiless war — which 
 imist at times hi .^Lided by the cannon. This is the case with the war- 
 ri()i-,mt in the neighborhood of the Ceipe of (iood Hojje. which has attrac- 
 t.d the attention of every traveller by its extraordinar}' buildings, and the 
 lia\()c it makes. 
 
 These termites, or white ants, as they are frecjuently though wrongly 
 called, li\e in republics composed of differmt sorts of indi\itluals : the 
 males, which have wings; and the workmen, soldiers, and cpieens, which 
 liave none. The workmen are onl\- occupied in constructing buildings. 
 The mission of the soldiers is to defend the colon\- and maintain order. 
 Lastly come the females, true queens, worshipped by the whole popula- 
 tion which look to them for the continuance of their race. The}- are only 
 monstrous egg-sacks; regular egg-laying machines of the most astonish- 
 ing fecundity. 
 
 The dimensions and solidit}- of the nests of the warrior termites, com- 
 pared to the weakness of the insect, have always excited the a.stonishment 
 of travellers. They are sometimes twenty feet in height. Their pyramidal 
 form ^ivesthem the look of a colossal sugar-loaf enlarged at the ba.se, the 
 tlanks of which are roughened by little accessory hillocks. When one 
 tra\-erses a part where the colonies of termites abound, one might take 
 them at a distance for an Indian village. The walls of these dwellings 
 are so solid, that the wild cattle climb upon them without crushing them 
 when the)- place themselves there as .sentinels ; and the interior contains 
 
 ..Pi* 
 
 |i* 
 
 r r.i'^'i 
 
 
510 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 
 y\ 
 
 chambers so hu-f^^c, that a dozen men can find shelter in sonic of tlujin • 
 the hunters place themseh/es in them to lie in wait for wild •mals. 
 
 .>Iaii'.s Ar<'hit(M'tiiro OutdoiK'. 
 
 Resides these extraordinar}- chambers, we find also in this kind of sncial- 
 repiiblic cit\' lon^^ f^^alleries, of the calibre of our lar_L;"e cannon, and which 
 extend as much as tlirce or four feet into the ^'round. The monuiiiiin< 
 of whicii we are proud are trilTinf;" matters compared to those buik In- 
 these frasjjile msccts. The nests of the termites arc often 500 tinii-- a-- 
 lon;j[ as their bodies, and it has therefore been calculated, tliat if wl ;;a\c 
 our houses a proportional height, they would bi' four or hve limes as In .ji 
 as the p\'r;!.mids of l*>gypt. 
 
 Other termites, instead of constructing these astonishing abodes, ()ccu]>\- 
 themselves mischiex'ously in attacking those of men, and iinade iln, m 
 sometimes from the roof to the foundation ; everything then goes to rui'.i, 
 house and furniture alike. These insidious depredators make their \\a\- 
 silenth- undergrtuind, and tunnel long galleries, by means of which ihey 
 all at once in\ade the dwellings. Then the\' penetrate into all the timber- 
 work, and totally destroy the interior of it, only leaving a surface as thin 
 as a wafer. Nothing reveals their hidden havoc to the e\-e ; we see our 
 hou.se, we belie\e in its real existence, while we pos.se.ss only a pliantMin 
 of it — a house of cards which falls at the first shake. Smeathman, whu 
 has left us such an interesting historj' of these creatures, relates that tlicv 
 sometimes destroy large towns, which have been deserted by their inhab- 
 itants. 
 
 A lad)' resident says that in the districts of Africa where she lived, the 
 termites onl\- take a \ery short time to devour an entire dwelling. A 
 staircase of \er\- fair size is eaten in a fortnight; tables, arm-chairs, and 
 chairs in much less. Often at Sierra Leone, on returning to one's hoiwc 
 after a short absence, only the ghost of the furniture is to be found. The 
 exterior .still posses.ses all its freshness, but the substance is gone, and 
 every piece that is hollowed out falls to powder beneath the hand of any- 
 one who touches it, or under the weight of any one who sits down u[)on it. 
 Nests Laid Out with Streets and Canals, 
 
 Instead of the conical domes ornamented with little bell-towers, grouped 
 together in villages in the middle of the plains, some species of this group. 
 such as the tree-termite, prefer to suspend their nests amid the larijc 
 branches of the strongest trees. These aerial masses, mingling with the 
 foliage of the trees, are very striking, for some of them are larger than 
 our hogsheads. The ne.sts, which are extremely porous, present inside an 
 inextricable labyrinth of tortuous canals ; they are formed of a matrix or 
 
some of them; 
 1 •••nals. 
 
 s kind of Micial- 
 non, and which 
 "he monuniunts 
 those huiU hy 
 n 300 tiiiir^ a'- 
 that if \V(' ^a\c 
 ■c times as hi^^ji 
 
 abodes, occupv 
 
 id invade ihcm 
 
 jn c^^ocs to niiii, 
 
 make their \\a\' 
 
 of which ilk\- 
 
 T all the tiniJKT- 
 
 : surface as thin 
 
 ye; we see o:ir 
 
 :)nly a phantom 
 
 iieathnian, who 
 
 lates that they 
 
 Dy their inhab- 
 
 e she lived, the 
 dwellin;^. A 
 irrn-chair>, and 
 to one's hou-;e 
 3C found. The 
 c is jTone. and 
 le hand of an\- 
 down u[)un it. 
 
 owers, grouped 
 s of this i^roup, 
 imid the lari^e 
 glincj with thii 
 re larger than 
 csent inside an 
 of a matrix or 
 
 (')11) 
 
512 
 
 EA^vTH, SEA, AND SKV, 
 
 * \ 
 
 compact paste composed of fine particles of wood, gum, and juice-, of 
 plants. 
 
 For some years past two species of this kind have been established in 
 France, and ha\"e caused very serious havoc. The devouring cohorts ot" 
 the light-shunning termite have invaded several towns, where then 
 fangs have completely undermined a number of houses which have 
 fallen in. Atone time these hateful depredators set to work to gii,.\v 
 the prefecture of La Rochelle and the archives, without any person sus- 
 pecting it; wainscotting, pasteboard, papers, were all annihilated with- 
 out any external sign of this havoc appearing. At present the papers 
 of the bureaux are onl\' preserved by keeping them in zinc boxes. At 
 another place the termites, having gnawed away the props of a diniiv^- 
 room without its being perceived, the flooring collapsed during a party. 
 and the entertainer and his guests sank through. 
 
 In tropical regions there are ants of other species which are not le-s to 
 be dreaded than the devouring termites. They do not annihilate 
 houses, but they invade the fields and build there enormous nests which 
 look like so many little mountains fifteen to twenty feet high They 
 multiply to such an extent in certain plantations, that the colonist is 
 obliged to abandon them. Sometimes, however, he resists the invaders, 
 declares a war of extermination against them, and fires their dwellinirs 
 by the aid of some combustible materials. Sometimes artillery charged 
 with grape-shot is employed to overthrow the lofty ramparts of these 
 ants, and scatter both the ruins and the architects. 
 
 Thus is man obliged to attack an insect with the cannon. Sometimes 
 he resorts to the mine, a step he is compelled to take again.st certain 
 winged ants in the tropical countries, which sink their nests twcntj'-five 
 feet in the ground, and these are so compact that they can only be torn 
 up by the aid of powder, and by overturning all the earth round about 
 them. Midler relates that in Brazil, entire provinces on the banks of 
 the Parana have been in this way transformed almost into deserts. 
 
ami juices of 
 
 , established in 
 ring cohorts of 
 ;, where their 
 is which have 
 work to gn>.\v 
 ny person sus- 
 lihilated with- 
 sent the papers 
 inc boxes. At 
 ps of a diniiv^- 
 during a party. 
 
 1 are not lc--s to 
 
 not annihilate 
 
 Dus nests which 
 
 et high They 
 
 the colonist is 
 
 ^ts the invaders, 
 
 [their dwcllin,;s 
 
 tillcry charged 
 
 parts ol" these 
 
 in. Sometimes 
 against certain 
 ests twcnty-tive 
 n only be torn 
 th round .ibout 
 n the banks of 
 deserts. 
 
 CllAITKR XX. 
 
 MUSF.UAr OF ri:markable INSI-.CTS. 
 
 AiDiMiiiy of Insects Superior to that of Man— Curiously Formed l-lg-s — Lituiig tlie 
 Lid and Stepping Out — Not Taking the Trouble; to be Born — Kggs Kxiiuisiiely 
 Decorated— Su.xless hisects— Flying Lamp;;— Insects Illuminating Dutliings— 
 iiriiliant Appearances -Beetles— The Sacred r.eelle of Egypt— Insect I'nder' 
 taker— Death Watch —I 'roll .Superstition — Ikreuies Beetle — Si.\ Years' Impris- 
 onment—The House Cricket— I'oet's Address— .Ship Saved hy a Cricket — How' 
 the Chirping is Done — Wings Without Flight— The Spider's Web— Ingenious 
 M.j(hanism— Water Spider— Mow Air is Obtained — A Complete Diving Bell- 
 Rapacious Bird Spider — Females Practicing Cannibalism on their Hnsl)ands-- 
 Children Devouring Mothers — Thread of Myriads of Fibres- The Great Moth 
 Family— Death's-I lead Moth — I'ungus Growing on an Insect's Head — Ravagers 
 of the Forest — Visit to the Woods— Whirlwind of Fire — Waging Organized 
 War on MoUis — Incalculable Destruction by Mites— .Stenographers, Carpenters, 
 [oiners, Carvers among Insects — Wood Boring Cxj.it Moth — Making a Place for 
 i:ggs— The Historic Locust— Ravages in the West— I'lights of Devastation — 
 Where Locusts Come From — Devouring One Another — Rapid Growth of 
 \iiung- Orchestra of Strange Instruments — Return after Seventeen Years— Xo 
 lorgetfulness — Ephemera -Creatures of a Day Described— Bees and their Re- 
 markable Habits— Insect Intelligence. 
 
 UR heart, the structure of which, is so admired and so admira- 
 ble, is nevertheless only a \er}' coarse forcing-pump compared 
 with that of an insect. All the apparatus of the central oroan 
 of cireulation is limited to two largo openings, each furnished 
 with two valves or valvelcts, intended to prevent the reflux of the blood ; 
 but if, bv the aid of the solar microscope, we prtjject all the transparent 
 bodvof an insect upon a huge screen, one is astonished at the magnificent 
 spectacle offered by the movement of the blood. 
 
 The heart is represented b\' a long vessel which occupies all the back 
 of the animal, and into which the circulating fluid precipitates itself b\- 
 eight or ten lateral openings, like small streams converging towards a 
 more impetuous current. Enough valves rise and fall to allow entrance 
 to the fluid and hinder its return. In the interior of this lengthened heart 
 larger valvules, to the ntmiber of si.\ or eight, are folded back against the 
 wall to let the blood pass forward, and re-open directly afterwards, during 
 each contraction, in order to prevent it.s flowing backwards. Vessels 
 arranged in loops are distributed to all the members. 
 
 33 (-^l-^) 
 
 :: i, 
 
 'U 
 
 Wm 
 
514 
 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AN'D SKY. 
 
 ■Sv"-^.?,» 
 
 i •• 
 
 Tlu: course of tlir Ijlood in the colossal insect seen u[)on the screen 
 resembles so man)- little streams bearing <^dobules more or less lirai)(.(l 
 up; this is pro\e(l by the strictest evidence, and \et w ho would h.ljcvi' 
 that Cuv'ier and his school uouKl never credit this plienonienon ? bi tend 
 of looking, which was so easy, they preferred to deny the circulaticii in 
 the insect, and to regard its wonderful heart as a simple secreting \L-sri 
 shaken by ccMitractile shocks. It is thus that physiological si ii iicc 
 adw'inces ; a hundred battles are re([uisite to make men adnn't the must 
 easily verified truth. 
 
 Tiiis extraordinary construction extends e\en to the eggs of inlets. 
 There are some, the extremit}' of which is surniouiUetl b\- a cii iv.ii i,f 
 points ; others (.xactly rejjresent a delicate miniature saucepan, the \i 'Hii!'- 
 inhabitant of whii h, in order to be boin, has only to lift up the lid. 
 
 The egg of the louse, which disgusts us so much, presents this cunnus 
 structure, but in addition its opening is embellished b\- a little projec tiiv 
 rim, and a groo\e into^\hieh the edge of the cowr eiUcis in such a man- 
 ner as to close it air-tight. A still more ingenious mechanism is seen in 
 some of the wood-bugs. The }'oung insect does not e\en retjuire t.i lift 
 the lid ; there is within a regular spring on which this office devoKvs : 
 at the moment of birth he has only to emerge, and oiu,' may say with 
 justice of him, that he does not e\en take the trouble to be born. 
 Ejfjjs I*!iiu<rd and l>eli<'atel.v Eii.uraved. 
 
 The surface of these eggs is often remarkable on account of theexciui- 
 site fineness of its entwined ornamenting. Some are co\ered wiihhune 
 ribs which extend from one eiul to the other; others displa)' onl\- fnc 
 lines artistically engraved; others again have the surfaqe co\ered with a 
 mesh of lace. For them nature has exhausted the riches of her palcti'j; 
 they are dyed with the sweetest or tiie mo.st glittering tints of blue, grctii 
 and red; some absolutely resemble mother-of-pearl, and there are st)nio 
 that one mi^ht lake for so man\- charmiiv little pearls. 
 
 The sexua'iit)- itself of insects offers some curious particulars. There 
 are not only males and females among them, but some of their republics 
 have, in addition, individuals absolutely deprived of sex; these are the 
 neuters, which alone work and constitute the element of their pr^^perit\• 
 and power. .Some are true workmen, others \aliant soldiers. But these 
 individuals, which we recognize by their former their particular '.veapnns, 
 are in truth only aborted females ; the bees themselves know this perfectly, 
 
 To all these marvels of insect life we must yet add the inexplicable 
 phenomenon of the dazzling light which they project into the midst of 
 darkness, which soinctimes in their flight furrows the air with Ion? 
 
)c)n the screen 
 
 or less hi',i[)L(l 
 
 woulil l)rlicvi; 
 
 ■non? In t'li'! 
 J circul;ilii>n in 
 si-crctini;" \^ --il 
 ilof^ical sv ii ncij 
 :i(lniit the nio^t 
 
 •<riJS of i!l-^^'CtS. 
 
 [ by a crov.ii ^t 
 :cpai"i, tlujy>'iin;^ 
 ij) the lid. 
 (.•nts this curious 
 little projririn.^ 
 s in svich a r.iaii- 
 anisiii is smi in 
 en ivnuire t" lift 
 
 olTice dcvolw's; 
 e may say witli 
 be born. 
 <1. 
 
 lilt of the eX([ui- 
 \-ercd with lar-'c 
 
 lisplay only fiic 
 co\-ere(l wilh .i 
 of her palellc ; 
 
 ts of blue, L;rcLn 
 there are some 
 
 hiculars. There 
 their republics 
 ; these are the 
 their j^ro^pcrity 
 liers. But the-^e 
 irticular weapons, 
 |.)\v this i)erfectly, 
 the inexplicable 
 ito the midst of 
 air with Ion? 
 
 MUSF.L'M OF KK.MARKAIil.i; INSECTS ol"> 
 
 stream- of Hrc, and sonietimes peacefully illuminates the folia;^eon which 
 
 thc\' rcpo.sc. 
 
 Kver\' person knows tlie j^low -worm which in the autinnn L;i\es oui' 
 
 rrecu turf the appearance of a stany hea\en. 15ut in South .America 
 
 lliere are phosjihorescent insects of far superior s])lendor. Tile <^reat 
 
 !a:iterii-ll\" can .su])ply the place of a lamp with ihe brio Jit li;^lit w ith which 
 
 H-; nil iii-trous head j^Ieams. .A female traxtller relates that at Surinam 
 
 -lie sometimes reati the newspapers by the .'.id of a sin_L;le <mr of these 
 
 tlyin-- l-un])S. 
 
 Li\iii;;r Lamps in Dwolliii^s. 
 
 In tile Antilles the phosphorescence of these insects is e\-en niatlc 
 JaiK' u--e of; they employ there a liMiiinou- beetle the corslet of which 
 becomes daz/liiu;' in the gloom. In Cuba tlie women often inclose- se\- 
 Lral of them in little cai^'es of Ldass or wood, whicli tlvy liaiv.;' ii[) in their 
 i-noiiis, and this !i\inn; lustre throws out sufficient li'-iit to ser\-c to work 
 !i<-. Tra\ellers tliere also, in a difficult road, lii^lit tiiiir jjatli in the mid- 
 dle of the ni^i^ht by atlachiiii;- one of ihese beetles to each of their feet. 
 The Creoles sometimes .set them ;n the curls of the liair. where, like 
 loplendeiit jewels, they o'ive a niosi faiiv-like asjx:ct to their heads. The 
 neL,n'csses at their nocturnal dances scatt'.,'r these brilliant insects o\'er the 
 lobes of lace which nature ])ro\ides for them, all woven from the bark of 
 die laia'tto. In their ra})id and lascivious movements they seem envel- 
 ii[)ed in a robe >.)( fire. It is the conOaL^ratioii of Dejanira witliout the 
 ii >rror. 
 
 The perfect female of a beetle, destitute of win;^s and eh'tra, with which 
 the male lly is furnished, kindles her lis^ht, which issues from the last three 
 ^e;.:;ments of her body, and is of a beautiful sulphur color, and always puts 
 it out between elex'en and twelve o'clock, shinin;^- no more for the rest of 
 the nicjiit. 
 
 A very extensi\e <;-roup of beetles \\ known by about 2,ooo species in 
 the Collections of naturalists. They are distinuislud fiom others by pe- 
 culiarities of the antenna;, which terminate in a lar;4e club or knob, a.n .' 
 this also varies considerably in form.. To this genus belons^s the sacred 
 beetle of the Egyptians. It is about one inch long, or rather more, and 
 >f a black color. It is met with not only in Egypt, but in the south of 
 France, Spain, and Italy, and seems to be diffused all over Africa, as fxr 
 .south as the Cape of Good Hope. The ancient Egyptians held that it was 
 sacred to the sun; and, regarding it as typical of that luminary, which is 
 the source of light, heat, and all abundance, looked upon it as the em- 
 blem of fertility in general. Representations of it are frequent among 
 
 BPWBI 
 
 if 
 
 ' .'] 
 
 -. • -;!-. --:•?• 
 
i.' 
 
 mill I 
 
 IIP 
 
 [' 
 
 4 
 
 r.n; 
 
 KARTH, SEA, ANH SK^•. 
 
 tlu'ir hiLTiij.;ly|)liii's,;iti(l sciilptuii'd imii^f^dfilaicriniiulon lluir riii-s,]), ^^;, 
 larrs, and <itlur oriianK'iUs. It wascvin rinl)aliiU'(l \\ ilh lln^m uUli- d, ath 
 
 A lal)()ii<'us task is iicrfornicd I))- an iiisic t !))• noiiU'aiis iiiicdiiinion in 
 sdim- liualilirs (.ailed the i)iiryin;4 hci'tlc. ( ilcditseh, a forciL;ii iiatui;:livt 
 had oftiii ivinarkid that dead iiinK^, when laid iipi'ii tiu- t;i(iiiiiii and 
 L'sprcially it" upon l(l(l^^• carlh, w rre almost sure lo di^ai.pi .u- in the cMiirsc 
 of two ( ;|- thieo d.i_\s, and often ol t\\el\ e lioui s. To a ceitain tile caiisi> 
 he ])la(.:i.'d a mole on one of th'.; beds ot his ;.'a:'(len. Ii had di-appuarn' 
 1)\- the third moiiiin;'. ; and on (hj^idn^- wheic \[ had been laiti. he fouivi 
 it huried to the depth ot" three inches, and under it T in- hcetli -<, \\!ii<[| 
 si'emed to I)..- the a;^ents in this sin^"u!ar inteiinent. Not iKTCcivin • aii',- 
 thiu'^" p.utienlar in the mole, lu huried it a;.;ain ; and on exaniiniii- il at 
 till' i.Mul ot" six (!a\s, If l'()ui-,d it swarmed with tiu- oTsprin^' of t!i' her- 
 ties, whieh he natniall}' concluded had buried the carc.iss l"or t'ood to -^uii- 
 plv their future \i lun-'. 
 
 A liiM'th* tlia< is i)n liulorlakor. 
 
 To place tins beyond doubl, he ci>ntinucd lii> expe'rinient, and in tlft\ 
 (la\'s lour bei^tles had I)niied, in a small spatx' of e;'.;lii, loin" fio'.;-,, ili;,, 
 small birds, two fishes, one niok, and two L;rasshoppeis, bi.-sides the en- 
 trails of a hsh, and two nioisels of the hniy;s of an ux, all evidLiith 
 intemled for the same pur])ose. 
 
 The su[)erstitious finiry ol tlu death-ualch has arisen from the Sdimij. 
 omitted b)- one spi;cies of beetles. A reiient w ritei' lemarks : "All tha; 
 has been related ol the heroic constanc}' ot the AuK'iican sa\aL;es \\lii;i 
 taken and tortinvd b}' their enemies, scared}- comes up to that whici: 
 these little creatm-es cxiiibit. Vou may maim them, pull them linibfr'ii 
 hnib, rtxist them alive oxer a slow Hre, but \'ou will not L;ain \i urciu!; 
 not a j(Mnt will they move, uoy show b\' the least sxniptom that ihcy suf- 
 fer pain. Do not think, howe\er, that I luue tried these experiiiicnt> 
 upon them nu'self, or that I recommend you to tlo the same." Otic -jk- 
 cics was ob.scrwd by Latreille to produce the souml calK'd the " (.Icatli- 
 tick," b\' striking- its jaws upon wood. On this occasion it was iniiikiii- 
 ately answered from within b\' a precisely similai' sound. 
 
 The sta;jj beetles are ch.iefiy found in rotten and decaj-ed wood ami 
 under the bark of trees, where they remain concealed durint; tl.e day, flyiiK 
 about and feedint;' on the lca\-es only in the evenini^. The month of Juiy 
 is the time, during;' which they- are principal h' seen. The males lia\cijaa: 
 strcUL^th in their mandibles, or jaws,Avith which they arc able to pinch qiiiu' 
 severely. Stat:^ beetles may be kept alive for a considerable time, if supplioii 
 witli the fresh leaves of oak or willow or with sweeteMied water. iMcqucntiy 
 
tlu'ii" rin-^.uii k- 
 tluiu allcr tit atli, 
 11-^ uui'iiniiunn ill 
 urriL;!! natur;:li-l 
 \\\v ^rouml, aiul 
 K .ir in ill'' *:i»iirsc 
 iiilaiii llic causi: 
 . ha. I ili-ai)i)(-'anj(! 
 jcii laid, 111.: fouiv: 
 • ur hrt-tli-, whicli 
 a pcivrivin^ aiiy- 
 ,11 'xaniiiiin'.; il at 
 ^jiriu'j,' of \\h- ln'''- 
 
 ,SS \l IV tin 111 tl > <\\\)- 
 
 riiiU'iU, ami in litt;. 
 li. Ii.ur lVn',',>, llii-i- 
 i(;r^, besides {])■■ ir- 
 i)S, all I'viiKntl;. 
 
 ■n from the souml- 
 Icinarks: "AH tlw. 
 ican sa\a;j;cs \\lu:i 
 up to lliat \\hk\' 
 l„i!l their, linibfr-'u 
 i.it -ain >■' urom:: 
 )lon\ that ihoysiii- 
 thcsc cxixM-inicnts 
 same." One spi- 
 called the " dcatli- 
 Isinn it was imnicdi- 
 
 d. 
 
 decayed wood m 
 n-inc:tl.eday,flyin. 
 The month of July 
 ■he males have '^Mt 
 |c able to pinch quite 
 lible time, if supplier' 
 1 water. 1" rcqucntly 
 
 EUROPEAN CHIKI'INO CRICKET. 
 
 (517) 
 
 i| 
 
 S^J 
 
 i!*#i:^ 
 
 •CI 
 
 i 
 
IWil'i 
 
 III 
 
 :>\x 
 
 EARTH, SR A, AND SKY. 
 
 scMJial cf their hculs arc found nrar tdj^cthcr and alive, while the ti;'nk-^ 
 and abdomens are nowhere to be seen. I'his luiist be the resiik ot s,\ci\ 
 battles, which at times take place amon;4 these, the fiercest of tlu 'iiMct 
 tribe, d'he}' do not tl}' until most ^A' the birds ha\e retired to rest. 
 
 The females ileposit their eL;_i;s in worm-eaten or decayed trce>. Thi.. 
 lar\-.e. whii,h are rountl :\n<.\ whitish with rust-colored head and lec;-, .ne 
 nourished under the bark. In this state they pass six years. When aijoni 
 to underlie their chanL,fe into a chr>'salis, each insect forms a hard .m.i 
 solid ball of the form of an c'^ij;. Whi'ii the perfect insect issues forth, ii 
 is at first (piite soft. The larL;"est of this family is the hercules beetle. It 
 is a native (jf trcj,.ical America. 
 
 Till' CoiiiiKui II<>u,s«»-Cri<*k<'t. 
 
 This insect is found throughout the temperate /one ; it fre(iuents h(.)iisLS, 
 and prefers the vicinity of fires. The adtlress of the poet to this civatnrc 
 
 is very pleasin;^ : 
 
 Liltlc imiiat'-, full orniir!l). 
 Cliirpiny mi my kitchen lu.ulli, 
 Wheresou'er Ijo tliine abode, 
 Ahvays harliiii.L^er of good, 
 I'ay lue foi lliy warm retreat. 
 With a song more soft and swiet ; 
 hi return tliou shaU rective 
 Sucli a strain as 1 can give. 
 Tims thy praise shall l)e (.xprcss'd 
 Inonensive, uelcomt- giii^t ! 
 Wliik- the rat is on llie scout, 
 And the mouse willi curious snout, 
 Witli vvliat vermin else hifest 
 F.very dish, and spoil the best : 
 Frisking thus before the fire. 
 Thou hast all thy heart's desire. 
 
 Tiuiugii A voice and shape they be 
 Form'das if akin to thee, 
 Thou surpassest, happier far. 
 Happiest grasshoppers that are ; 
 Theirs is hut a summer's song, 
 Tliine endures the winter king, 
 I'ninipaired, ami shrill, ami clear, 
 Mek)dy throughout the year. 
 
 The celebrated natm-alists. Linnajus and Honnet, were disposed in con- 
 sider insects as deal ; but tlie knowledsjje of Shakespeare was more accu- 
 rate ^\ lien he made Mamilins say : 
 
 I will tell it softly. 
 
 Yon c-ii kets shall not hear it. 
 
MUSEUM OK rf:markai;i.k insects. 
 
 r,i!> 
 
 A-^ soon as it becomes dark, the chirpin;^ of crickets increasi-s, ami they 
 conic runniiiLj forth, often in ^L,acat nuinbers, from the si/.e of a Ilea to that 
 (if their full stature. The instrument on which the male plays C()n^ists of 
 sir. 'ii^', roiij^h strin_L;s in the \vin^r-cast?s, by the friction of which against 
 cavil other a sound is pioduced aiul communicated to th<,' membranes 
 >tii U'licd between them, in the same way tluit the fin;_;er pioduces \ ijjra- 
 timi-- on a tambourine, which are diffused o\-.r its suriace. 
 
 In nio>t people', the chir]) ot the cricket con\eys to the mind llie idea 
 ,,|"a peifectl)- happy beini;-. Thus, to the I'rince's tpiestion, ".Shall \\t' be 
 iiiltia' ? " I'oins answers, " As merry as crickets." Tlie learned Scali^^er 
 t.Kik -^uch a fanc\- to their soul;, that he was accustomed to keep them in 
 I l)iix in his stud\'. ( )sbeck states that the Sjianiards confine some insects 
 ,;| an allied <j^enus, in cai^es, for the sake of tlieir soni;, and in some parts 
 (,f AiViia, it is said, the common house-crickets are kept and i'v(\ in a kind 
 if iron o\in, and sold to the native^, who like their chirp, and consider it 
 a ;4ivat sonorific. 
 
 A Crickrt Siivos a \'<*ss<'l froiii Shipwrt'i-U. 
 ( )n one occasion, according;" to Southe\-, the son;^ of an insect of this 
 L^cnus was the means of sa\in_L,f a vessel from shipw rc-ck. The incident 
 (iccurred in the \'0)'aL;e of Cabe/.a de \'ara towards ]-?ra/.il. When they 
 IkkI crossed the line, the state of tiie water was inquiretl into, aiul it was 
 hinul that of a hundred casks there remained but tiiree, to su[)[)ly four 
 liimdred men and thirt}' iiorses. U[)on this, the captain 'j,a\e oiders to 
 make the ne'arest land. Three days they .stood tow arils it. .\ soldier, 
 wild set out in ilbhealth, had broUL;ht a i^rillo, or around cricket, with 
 him fiiim Cadiz, thinking; to be anuiseil b)- the insect's \oice; l)ut it had 
 been -silent the whole way, to his no little di.sappointment. Now, on the 
 fdurth inorninLi-, the irrillo bcLran to siiv^^ its shrill rattle, scentin'', as wa^ 
 Iniinediately supposed, the land. Such was the miserable watch that had 
 been kept, that u[)on lookins^ out at the warning;, the\' perceived hiL,di 
 rocks within bow-shot, ac;ainst which, if it hatl not been for the insect, 
 thc\- must inexitabl;.- ha\e been lost. They had ju.st time to drop anchor. 
 Fnim hence the)' coasted alon;^", the grillo sinewing e\'ery night, as if it 
 had been on shore, till they reached the island of St. Catalina. 
 
 Like many noisy persons, crickets like to hear nobodx' louder than 
 thciu.solves. Ledelius relates that a woman, who had tried in \ain ever\- 
 method she could think of to banish them from her house, at last got rid 
 of them by the noise made by drums and trumpets, which she had pro- 
 cured to entertain her guests at a wedding. They instantly forsook the 
 hou.se, and she heard of them no more. 
 
 !i-ji^ » 
 
 ■i*. 
 
ill iMi -M 
 
 It 
 
 520 
 
 EARTH, SEA. AND SKY. 
 
 -i ■!' 
 
 Ikunelli, an Italian naturalist, kept several field-crickets in a cliamhi.-r 
 They continued their crinkini,^ soii;^ through the whole da\', hut ^!l^J 
 moment they heard a knock at the door tliey were silent. He suh. 
 sequently invented a method of imitatin;^ their S(unuls, and when lie dj,! 
 so outside the door, at first a few would venture on a soft whisjHi-, and 
 by-and-by, the whole j^arty burst out in chorus to answer him; but (>n 
 repeatin;^ the rap at the door, they instantly stopped aL;ain, as if alarnicd. 
 He likewise confined a male in one side of his garden, while he ])iit a 
 female in the other at libertx', which began to leap as soon as she luard 
 the crink of the male, and immediately came to him — an experiment which 
 Brunelli frecjuently repeated with the same result. 
 
 The common house-cricket of Europe is about an inch long, of a \ol- 
 lowish or clay color mixed witli brouii; it dwells in the cracks of walls 
 and floors and in the \icinity of warm places, where it remains during tlie 
 da\-, coming forth at night in seai'ch of tootl. It is a most indefatigable 
 musician commencing its tune at tw ilight and keejiing it up till da}--light. 
 This tune is produced by rubbing the hard intern.il border of due win^f 
 ccner against a honu' ridge on the imder surface ( f the other. 
 
 There are se\eral species of crickets in America. Though ihc^e in- 
 sects ai-e furnished with long legs behind and brawny thighs adapted fur 
 leaping, yet, wIkmi dri\en from their holes, thc\- show no acti\ily, but 
 crawl along in so lifeless a manner, as easily to be caught; and thiniL;li 
 they are providetl with a curious apjiaratus of wings, they never exuit 
 them e\'en when there seems to be the greatest occasiim f(^r it. 
 Aiiiaziiif'" 3Ioclianisiii of the Spider's AVel). 
 
 Slight and even simple as the threads of the spider may ap])ear, they 
 are not so in reality; and this forms (Mie of the man\' examples in which the 
 eye of the naturalist discovers some concealed elegance or complex uilcIi- 
 anism, which, though daily visible, is concealed from those 
 Who walk through nature with their half-.shut eyes. 
 It has been incontestably shown that a spider's thread, e\-en spun by tlu 
 smallest species, and when so fine that it is almost imperceptible to our 
 senses, is not, as- we sui)po.se, a single line. A spider has a spinneret, 
 showing several little projections, each of win'ch contains a great man;. 
 tubes, so that a space oiten no larger than the pointed end of a pin liib 
 one thousand of them. 
 
 From each of these tubes, consisting of two pieces, the last of which 
 has an exci:edingly fine point, an amazingly slender thread proceeib, 
 which Immediately after unites with all the other threads, so that one e.il} 
 may be formed. Thus, from each spinner there issues a compound 
 
MUSFX.M OF REMARKABLE INS X'TS. 
 
 521 
 
 ;s in a cliainhcr. 
 c day, but tlu; 
 ilcnt. lie Mii)- 
 k1 when lie <Ii.l 
 lift wliisiKT, and 
 cr liini ; but f.n 
 1. as if alannvci. 
 , while lie ]iii{ a 
 on as she h< an! 
 cperiment which 
 
 h loni;", I if a _\-el- 
 e cracks of waiU 
 nains dviriii;^; tiio 
 i(-)st indefati;4ahlc 
 up till da_\--liL;lit. 
 
 ikT of one AilV^' 
 
 )ther. 
 
 rh()u<4"h lhe>e in- 
 
 lij^dis adapteil f >'• 
 no acti\it\', but 
 
 ;ht ; antl thouL^h 
 "ie\- never exert 
 )r it. 
 1). 
 
 ay appear, they 
 )les in which titc 
 r comjilex niech- 
 se 
 es. 
 
 \-en spun by i!k' 
 rcoptible to our 
 has a spinneret, 
 lis a i^reat many 
 end of a pin lia- 
 
 the last of which 
 thread procec(l^ 
 so that one only 
 ucs a conipoiincl 
 
 thread, and these fine threads, at about a tenth uf un inch tinni the point 
 of the spinners, again iniite and f;)rni the cordage of the spider's web.eacU 
 of which is composed of hundreds of fibres. 
 
 Looking into a large glass globe, filled with water, in which are ini- 
 merged several portions of aipiatic vegetables, some floating on the sur- 
 foce and some lying at the bottom, there may sometimes be seen amongst 
 the blades of grass and bits of reed, a sort of purse, closely resembling 
 in >liape and size a pigeon's c^g, but pierced transversely tin-ough the 
 middle. It is filled with air, and perfectly closed, e.xccpt in its lower part, 
 where there is an aperture just sufficient for the ingress and egress of a 
 very small spider. A strong and semi-transparent substance, resembling 
 white gauze, forms the te.xture of the bell, firml\' mooied antl anchored to 
 the submerged plants by threads and cables, w hich hinder it from mount- 
 inn' to the surface. 
 
 Watch the latly of the mansion coming out of her retreat. I ler length 
 is about one-eighth of an inch, her body is brown, and upon the upper 
 part of the back is drawn a dark patch, having four little dots on its 
 centre. This spider li\es under water, and yet requires air to breathe. 
 Her Maker has taught her how to solve a problem which woultl have 
 baflled the genius of Newton. 
 
 All Ins<M't nivinj;- IJoll Suppli*'*! -with Air. 
 
 She swims on her back, and her abdomen is en\eloped in a bubble of 
 air, which., reflecting the j^risnuitic colors, looks like transparent mother- 
 of-pearl. She then rises to the surface of the water, and elevates above 
 it the lower portion of her body. Once on the surface, she breathes 
 strongly, inhales as much air as she possibly can ; then she gets beneath 
 the water, and gi\-es out gently the liquid particles with which her lungs 
 are gorged to excess. The long, silk\', clammy threads which co\er her 
 retain in its place around her the bubble with which she is surrounded. 
 This (lone, she dives with precaution, and carries into hernest a provision 
 of air, to replace what she had consumed. 
 
 When (Mice ensconced in her nest, she lies in ambush, with her cunning 
 little he.id lowered, watching for any pre\' that may chance to pass. \Vt)e 
 to the tiny worm that wriggles on the stalk near her den! She darts for- 
 ward, .seizes him, and bears him off to her be(.l of impermeable gauze. 
 Curious, indeed, is that little dwelling. While it was in process of making, 
 it was naturally filled with water ; but when once the work w as ended, it 
 became necessary to expel the water, and rei)lace it by atmospheric air. 
 'lo attain this end the spider had to make more than a hundred trips to 
 the surface. Each bubble that she introduced mounted towards the top 
 
') 
 
 0-2-2 
 
 KARTII, Si:.\, AND SKN' 
 
 i 
 
 l)y its s]" rific li^Iuiuss, displaciiiL;' a;; eijuai ([uaiitity of watrr, wliicli v., is 
 torcccl DUt llii-(Uigh llu,' orifice be low , until the IkII coiUaiiU'd notliiiiT !,,n 
 air. 
 
 XmiK-rous and \.irioiis arc the mason spiders ; hut tl;e one reniarl.al)],. 
 species is found in the south of France. She usually .selects for h' i- iv ^t 
 a place bare of f];rass, slopini;- in such a manner as to carry off the wau r 
 and of a firm soil, without rocks or small stones. She di^s a nest a f mi 
 
 or two in dcjiiji, 
 and ofadiaiiKter 
 c(in.il throii.Ji- 
 out, sufficieiu tu 
 admit of Ju,- 
 easily j)assiiiM-. 
 She lines this 
 ; with a tapesir\- 
 of silk, o-liied t(. 
 ■ the walls. 'I he 
 door, wliich is 
 circular, is c.ii- 
 structed of many 
 layers of ^aith 
 kncatlcd and 
 j bound toL;ellicr 
 with silk. I'A- 
 ternally, it is llat 
 and rou^h, ci li- 
 re sjjond iiif^- t(i 
 the earth anninil 
 the entrance, I'nr 
 the purj)ose, no 
 doubt, of ( .in- 
 cealment ; on the 
 
 ^Ii:!s^fl^'i;!i:iil;:ahiili;iki;in;!li^ 
 
 THE MASON .SPIDER. 
 
 inside it is convex, and tapestried thickly with a web of fine silk. 
 
 The threads of this door-tapestry are prolon,t]^ed, and stronj^K- attaclkil 
 to the upi)er side of tlie entrance, forming- an e.xcellcnt hinge, which, 
 when pushed open b}- the spider, shuts again by its own weight, without 
 the aid of spring hinges. When the spider is at home, and her tlniu 
 forcibly opened, she pulls it strongly inwards, and even when half opeiictl 
 often snatclies it out oftlie hand; but, when she is foiled in this, she re- 
 treats to the bottom of her nest, as the last resource. 
 
MCSIirM Ol' KilMAKK.Mll.I': INSi'.CTS, 
 
 52.i 
 
 •r, w liicli \■.,l^ 
 ! notliiiiL; lull 
 
 c I'L'iiiarlv.ilj'u' 
 ■; fur li'-r ii: ^t 
 iff llic ^\;^u•^, 
 
 ;i iK"-t ;i \' lOt. 
 two in ilr|iiii, 
 1 of ;i iluuiiclcr 
 lal lhr(iu;.ji- 
 ., siifficiriu In 
 in it of lur 
 sily pasMtiL;-. 
 c lines this 
 .li a taprsiry 
 
 silk, ^llK d tu 
 
 J walls. '1 lu 
 or, which is 
 rcular, is C(in- 
 ructcd of many 
 j-crs of laith 
 eadcd and 
 nd toL^L'thcr 
 silk. V.K- 
 uilly, it is Hal 
 roui;h, cm- 
 si)ondino,- to 
 rartli arouiul 
 entrance, Icr 
 ■ purposi', tio 
 ubt, of c.m- 
 ilment; on the 
 silk. 
 
 ni«'-lv atlachcd 
 hint;e, which, 
 eight, without 
 and her d^or 
 n half opened 
 1 this, .she rc- 
 
 lU 
 
 th 
 
 Sp 
 
 )Klei's arc found in e\er\' hahi 
 
 III wa 
 
 rin chinales. 
 
 'II 
 
 le males ai 
 
 tahlc 
 ul fe 
 
 portion o 
 
 fll 
 
 ic 
 
 ' K >' )C 
 
 bill 
 
 lie 
 
 males li\e sei)aratel 
 
 and tin 
 
 alter 
 
 are iiios 
 
 t fw^\ 
 
 iieiitK' se'cii and art 
 
 th 
 
 ai'LU'r 
 
 All 
 
 ;ireearinvoroiis, devour 
 
 111 
 
 nieiit- 
 
 Innu 
 
 pre)', suckins^ the juices and somi-tiim 
 
 swallow 111''- tlu 
 
 The females a 
 
 re 
 
 :iu:rall\- reail\- to attack and feed on tho nial 
 
 es. 
 
 i\( n in the reproducinj^^ season, and both sexes are fonil of fiL;lilin;,;, the 
 \;mi]iiished bein;^ de\ourcd. The)' are \er_\' cleanly and spend much time 
 
 111 Cu 
 
 anin 
 
 V' their limbs iVoiii dirt bv the toothed combs and brushes on llu 
 
 iiLHi'lihle 
 
 n makni'. 
 
 tl 
 
 leir wchs, 
 
 thi'\- a 
 
 ccoi 
 
 nmodate themselves to cir- 
 
 iiiiHtances, dispkiyiiiij L;reat perse\eiance, inL;enuit\' ami almos 
 
 t int^ 
 
 Lrciux'. 
 
 Iiey c:u\ 
 b; 
 
 fully 
 
 'uaixi 
 
 thei 
 
 tl 
 
 • '■s. so 
 
 metimes canyini; about with them 
 
 [\h- -silken bai;', which contains them, and are affectionate to their \'o 
 
 UU'. 
 
 liicli in some cases (k'\(iiri" their mother 
 
 They descend by their silken 
 threads — head downward, but climb up on them liead upward, rollint^them 
 lurinL;' the ascent. The thread cannot be used the second 
 time fir the same purpose. The L;i;nus nu'gale contains the largest of the 
 spiders. The crab — or bird-spiilcr of .South .\nierica — is about three inches 
 
 into a ' undle ( 
 
 leiv. 
 
 Its bocK' is \ 
 
 ininll lUKl 
 
 kill! 
 
 cry hail)' and blaclcish 
 
 di 
 
 It is 
 b. 
 
 vcvy powe 
 
 rful. 
 
 jumi 
 
 )in<'- 
 
 ng small oirus.and spins no we 
 
 The irvtut .Molh Tiibos. 
 
 Like the owl, which so much resembles many of them in style of plum- 
 
 age 
 
 tile moths <>enera!i'c remain conccaK'd in their retreats durincj the cl 
 
 ly. 
 
 quietly reposing till the growing darkness calls them forth to visit the 
 deu)' dowers, and re\el in the enio)'ment of existence, till the dawning 
 da\' dri\es them to their wonted lurking-places. 
 
 is law of nocturnal 
 
 life 1 
 
 las. 
 
 howe\'i.M', its exceptions, for we 
 
 find 
 
 one 
 
 fainil)' to consist of species which are active onl\' on the aijjiroach of even- 
 
 iiil;' oi' earlv ni 
 
 tl 
 
 u.' mornnu 
 
 few I 
 
 )enu 
 
 as diurnal as tlu 
 
 l)U 
 
 tterfl)' 
 
 anil 
 
 Hitting in broad da)- from flower to llower in 
 is the fimil)' of the .sphinxes, or hawl;-nioths. 
 
 (lues 
 
 t of hone\'eil f )()d. Thi.^ 
 
 T 
 
 lese 
 
 insects are reinar 
 
 Die 
 
 for their si/.i. 
 
 aiu 
 
 1 the extent of their 
 
 WIIV'S, w 
 
 hich are extremcl)- \igorous, and well adapted for rapid tlight. 
 Their name of hawk-moth was derix-ed from the resemblance of their nro- 
 
 'I'ess 
 
 ion throuuh the air to that 
 
 a hawk ; but it is greater to 
 that (if some of the humming-birds. Tlu: remarkable attitude often as- 
 suiiird b\' the caterpillars, resembling that of the fal)ulous s])hinx of the 
 ancients, suggested to Linn;eus the scientific term b)' which they are 
 still denominated. 
 
 The death's head hawk-moth a])pears to be distril)uted over ICnglaiid, 
 
 ''^"■;w.i 
 
 ft 
 
''iflii 
 
 tl'ilbflEW St 
 
 u 
 
 
 MP"" 
 
 (JKiiEDY UlKU-bl'IUEK DEVOURlMi ITS VICTIM. 
 
 (524) 
 
'■'■[Vm 'ff hi: 
 
 MUSEUM OF REMARKAHLK INSECTS. 
 
 r>-2r> 
 
 and luiropc L;t-nc rally. Its thorax, so siiif^ularly bcariiiL; the rii;iirc of a 
 liuinan skull, has il'IhIci';(1 it an object (4' terror td the superstitious. It 
 \aiies from f uir to Uvc inches in tlie expanse of its wint^s. The upper 
 pair are brown, \aiietl w ith black ; the disk is marketl w ilh unihilatin;^ 
 lines of black jiatches, and [)i)uderetl \>. ith white; the hind uin^s are dull 
 ()ran;4:e. 
 
 ( )iie of the most pu/.zliiiL; souhlIs to the incjuirer is that of the death's- 
 luad moth, when it is caught and kept a prisoner. .Sometimes it is like 
 that of a mouse, but much more piteou>. Reaumur, atlei- nuntioninL; 
 inan\- experiments, concludes with the coin iction that " in the more nii- 
 nule part of nature's wo'-ks there is aluaws soiuethinL;" which we cannot 
 cxjilain." lie thought it most probable tliat the cry cair.e from the head, 
 perhaps from the mouth, or rather from the tonj^ue, and it mi!j,ht be by 
 the friction of the feelers aL;ainst the toiiL^ue; for when he unfolded the 
 >piial tonL;ue with a pin, the cry cea-ed, but it was renewed the instant it 
 was coiled up attain between the feelers. lie then prevented tlu' pal|)i 
 from touchinL^ the ton^^ue, which also stopped the S(nind, and when only 
 one was [)ermitted to touch it, the sound was much more feeble. 
 TIk' .Vniiiiai wiMi a Vi'f^cfsibh' Ilciul. 
 
 That there are more thinL.';s in Iieaxcn and eailh than are dreamed of in 
 our philosophy, is abundant!}' pro\en by a stutly of natural history. We 
 ccmie upon sur[)rises the further we pursue oui' imestit^ations. Who 
 would have believed, withcnit the actual (.lenu)nstration of the f;ict, that 
 there could be a union between a lix'inL^ moth, an insect, and a \eL;etal)le 
 tjrowth ? 
 
 A fun;j,"us is known which ne\ei" throws except on the bodies of dead 
 spielers; another only appears on the surface of horses' hoofs in a state of 
 putrefacticMi. CJne little parasite of the same family, the isaria of the 
 spli\nx, has hitherto only been observed on certain nocturnal moths. 
 Stiil more curious facts are known; for instance, that of a funy;us never 
 f )und onl)' on the neck of a caterpillar of tropical countries. It is always 
 solitary on this, and of enormous size in proportion, bein^^ often four or 
 fi\e inches hi;j,h. Another species of funi^us is an outgrowth from the 
 head of the New Zealand moth in its larvae state, as represented in our 
 euL^raving, which con\e\'s an accurate idea of one of the most astounding 
 discoveries in the insect world. 
 
 Kavaj»crs ot Forests. 
 
 In considering those creatuies which work fearful destruction on veg- 
 etable life, we naturall)- expect to see animals on the stage, the bulk of 
 which nuist be in propoition to their formidal)le powers of dexastation, 
 
 mmm 
 
 I 
 
 
 il 
 
 iM 
 
 .■* ' 
 
 
 ^IPI- jl 
 
 i{iig|ir^ 
 
"H 
 

 
 ■■^''^■.il 
 
 
 T//r 
 
 .■:^Xi:- 
 
 ilfef 
 
 ^'^ 
 
 'I 
 
 
 
 
 '■'nc^.. 
 
 :\ :rr-_ 
 
 ■^ .^' 
 
 MUSIAM OF RKMARKABLF. IXSKCTS, 
 
 527 
 
 hut it is quite the contraiA-. It is n»it tlie auiocli with its sliaiji;\- niaiie, 
 nnr the powerful stai,f, nor tlie wild boar that ra\aL;es or cleslro\s (Uir 
 f, ,1. -t->, but till)' insects which slaui^hter its a.i;eil tries. 
 
 if, when the warm bixath ot spriiv^ driw's awa}' tlu- ri;^dr of wiiiltT 
 ail'! i\ilews life in tlu: Ileitis, we enter one of the i^reat conifeious wooils 
 (,f the continent of Europe, we are a-^tonislud at the tumult and aili\ ity 
 which prtxail in lieu of the silence we went there to seek. h".\erylhin^ 
 1^ in nio\ ement. 
 
 (Groups of ,woodm(Mi, foresters, and overseers mo\e about by Inuulreds, 
 and stretcli awa\' like colunuis of skirmishers; it is a complete arm)- in 
 ihc field, which opens out where\er there is a lar_L;e space, and of which 
 the winL;'s are sometimes lost in the windings of the roads, or hidden l)y 
 liie projection of some hillock. This mass of men always moves in order, 
 distributed in troops connnanded b\- experienced leaders. They are all 
 pic Aided with lon_L,r weapons, uhicii ;it a distance mii^hl be tak:en for 
 lances. 
 
 Id sew hen;. ai;ain, we find a leni^th)' train of pit)neer.s rec;'ularl} posted, 
 and xanishinj^r in tlu' distance, all animated with fe\-erish acti\it\', are hol- 
 Iiiwiiv out the soil, antl makin"-, for manv leaL-ues, lonij- trenches which 
 follow the roads antl ser\e to isf^late the different districts of the forest 
 fiDin one another. 
 
 Forests WrapiKMl in <alai-in<4' riaiues. 
 
 Or if the 'excursion be made by m'oht, another spectacle awaits us. 
 The whole foi'cst seems to be on fire. In ever\- ixu't are burnin(:r </reat 
 trees, erect and isolatetl, like hu_L;e ihreateninL; torches, the flame of which 
 rises to the clouds and casts a baleful L;lare on all around. .A few for- 
 esters, standini;" in silence, contemplate the pro<jress of the conila_i;ration, 
 and watch its ra\aijes. Lastly, at other times, as a final resource, the en- 
 tire forest is i^iven up a pre)- to the flames, and whirlwinds (T fire, men- 
 aciiv,;' and dreadful, spread on every side ; a woocK" rei;ion, formerly so 
 fertile, is entirely de\'oured by fire and only an immense mountain of char- 
 coal remains of all this mass of wealth. 
 
 We ask ai^ain.st what formidable enemy such an army of men has been 
 iiinehed! Who are the}- o()ino- to attack with their rods which they 
 l)raiidish on all sides? What redoubtable aggressors are the others 
 attempting to stay the march of, with the long trenches they are scooping 
 out? Why these frightful fires in the middle of the night? Why this 
 L;eneral conflagration ? 
 
 This formidable enemy is at times only a single insect, but it menaces 
 everything with its destructive tooth, and men prefer decimating the for- 
 
 
 € 
 

 i) ;m^' 
 
 i-.>s 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 ^ i 
 
 i iiUlii 
 
 B i 
 
 est to losiiifT it entirely. One is really stupefied at seeint:^ so rnan\- .inri 
 such energetic efforts directed solely against the proven)- of a sinipK; hut- 
 tern)-, but its caterpillars sometimes multiply to such an extent that it is 
 necessary to exterminate them utterly in order to preserve the forest tiMin 
 ruin, in one part the woodmen and their families, who are called wut 
 i'// liuisse, arc only occupied in crushinj^ this deadl\' race upon the trees 
 In anotiier the others are cuttini^^ off the infected districts by ditches, m 
 order to check the invasion of the caterpillars, which, when they liaw. 
 devoured ever\'thini; in one place, proceed in inmiense bands to uuade 
 the hi-alth)- localities. 
 
 Hut in spite of so much labor, tnan is sometimes \-anquished 1)\- the in- 
 sect, and there onh' remains one extreme resource — that of .settiuL;' lire to 
 the forest and biu-nini;' the invaders. All this war of extinction, of which 
 we have just i^iven a succinct account, is only directed a;^ainst a sr,ia!I 
 number of our enemies, as for the most part they are able to e\ade ihc 
 emi)ire of the art^iculturist, and their formidable ami)- defies our weak- 
 ness. 
 
 War Doflai'(Ml .Vj;aiiist si 3Ioth. 
 
 These great works are particularly undertaken a;_jainst certain ni;4ht- 
 moths, for the\' are simple phahi^n.v, which are to be classed among the 
 most destructive ra\agers of the forests. They are attacked in their 
 three different ')hases ; their caterpillars are crushed as they climb the 
 trees. 
 
 When after devouring a complete section of the wood, the\' pour 
 forth in serried colunms to attack a sound part, they fall into trenches 
 hollowetl out by the pioneers, and when they fill these, they are stilled in 
 a heaj) b\- co\ering them over with earth. The great fires lighted at 
 nisjht are directed acrainst nocturnal moths. The glare attracts them, 
 and they are soon scorched by the flame in consequence of going too 
 near it. 
 
 Tile pine bombyx enjo\'s the sad prerogative of being placed in the 
 front rank of the enemies of our forests. It is the most hurtful insect to 
 the tree of which it bears the name. It especially attacks wood from 
 sixty to eight)' )-ears old, and many examples are known of forests at 
 this age being totall)- destroyed by the.se caterpillars, which the German 
 wood-growers call pine .spinners, on account of the numerous cocoons 
 with which they cover the leaves of this tree. 
 
 The foresters equall)' dread another moth, commonly called the monk 
 or nun, on account of its robe being laced with black and white like that 
 of certain devotees. It is all the more fatal because its caterpillar attacks 
 
so many rind 
 ■ a simple but- 
 xtcnt tliat it is 
 :hc forest tioin 
 arc called out 
 ipon the trees, 
 
 by ditches, m 
 lien they luiw 
 aiids to mvadc 
 
 shed by the in- 
 f settiivj," lire to 
 ction, of which 
 aijainst a sr,)all 
 >lc to evade I lie 
 jfies our weak- 
 
 t certain ni;j;ht- 
 
 sscd among the 
 
 lacked in tlieir 
 
 they climb die 
 
 ood, the\' pour 
 1 into trenches 
 ey are stitkd in 
 fires lighted at 
 attracts them, 
 :c of going too 
 
 ig placed in the 
 |h artful insect to 
 :ks \v(M-id from 
 l^vn of forests at 
 lich the German 
 merous cocoons 
 
 Icalled the monk 
 
 white like that 
 
 literpillar attacks 
 
 « 
 
r,■^^\ 
 
 F.ARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 rh 
 
 U'd ('111}- the coniferous forests, hut in addition all forest trees, such as tin. 
 birch, oak and beech. Its biitterllies are met with in autumn, and sume- 
 tiinc'. in such abuntlance that at a distance one miL;ht taketluin for >iio\\- 
 flakes driftniy- about. The re_L;ular e.xterniinations of which w- lia\f [jic- 
 viously spoken, are also directetl a^^'iinst this nionk boniby.x. 
 
 Havoc l>.v Tiii.v Crcaliiivs. 
 
 AmoH'^^ the butterllies, the i);'o'.u'n)- <»f which deva.states our woods, it 
 is necessa!)- to mention also the pine-ealin;^ species. Its cateri)illar>, 
 which .sometimes multii)l\' in an iwtraordinarv way, make j^M'eat havoc in 
 the pine forests. The)' are particularly to be dreadeil, because the)- ^Imw 
 themselves \ery early, and devour the\i)un;^f shoots. The)- are met with 
 the same incurs as the others; their invasion is checked bv- Ircncho. .md 
 in some places bv' herds of pii^s which eal ihem in heaps. l>"or this pui- 
 jxisc the pi;4s are sent to the forests towards the montli of .Xui^ust, ri Uuk 
 at which the)- seize the caterpillars as the)- ilesceutl from the trees in or- 
 tler to h)-bernate under the moss or earth 
 
 Other insects, in lieu of attackin;^' stems or leavi-s. attach themselv-; to 
 the buds. One of them produces great havoc bv- L^navviuL;' tho^e ot tl)( 
 j^ine. Its caterpillar, which is veiy small, bcint^ introduced beneath the 
 scales of the bud, i^niaw s a i)art of it in such a wa)- tiiat the stalk, v\ari)eil 
 at the verv- core. loses its straightness, twists, and becomes defonnetl. 
 We can see from a ilistance when these- artisans have assailed a pari .it a 
 Wood, b\- the straiiL^e aspect which the tops of the trees present. All lli. 
 terminal buds are more or less contorted, instead oi possessing their ii'ir- 
 mal direction. It is to this result that the species owes its name of piiK- 
 twister, by which the foresters generall\- (lc;signate it. 
 
 .Some clestro\-ers, instead of this openl)- declared war. operate siieiitlv 
 and in the shade ; these are conci'aled enemies, which nothing can track. 
 .ukI we do not suspect their presence till the)' ha\-e slain their victim, 
 .Some li\e on wood and hollow out ample tortuous galleries in ii. v\h!ch 
 \er\- s[)eedil)' modifv- the organism of the tree so profoundl}-, that the 
 strongest succumb to it. Others work between the bai'k and the sap- 
 wood, using up materials that offer less resistance to their teeth. 
 Iiisoot T.vpojfrapluM's ami Stc'iioj-raplnTs. 
 
 In the former category must be })laced the cossi, these enthu.siastic car- 
 penters. Anotiier, again, is the oak bomb)'.\-, the caterpillar of which i~ 
 accustomed to follow a .straightforward track in the centre of the v-muiil; 
 boughs in our forest trees. 
 
 In the second category ma)' be ranked the numerous legion oftviw- 
 gra[)hers and stenographers, so called from the character of the cnLscl- 
 
1, such as iIk 
 in, and smnc- 
 
 wv hiiu' \Ax- 
 
 our woods, it 
 s calcr\)illiU>, 
 <^ix'at luuoc in 
 iiisc they -liow 
 y arc nici wiih 
 y ircnchf--. .iiul 
 l-'or lhi-< \UM- 
 .\u;4ust,;i liniL 
 the trees in oi- 
 
 h tlieniseU ■> U* 
 iui; iho-c ct il'' 
 :ed benealli i!i> 
 le stalk, waqu-l 
 
 )nies (iefornKil. 
 ailed a pari "I a 
 
 i-csent. All ilv 
 ssin^- their iV'i 
 
 s name ot pi'ir- 
 
 ojierate silently 
 ahint; can track, 
 ain their victim, 
 ries in it, which 
 loundU-. that the 
 li-k and the sap- 
 ir teeth. 
 
 rs. 
 
 [enthusiastic car- 
 
 jUar of which i- 
 
 re of the y-un- 
 
 Is le'^ion of tyiw- 
 ■i- (if the cnlscl" 
 
 MUSEUM OF RF.MARKAHI.K INSKCTS. 
 
 o:',! 
 
 lin-^s with which thi'>- so dcplc)rabl\- oriianiem the >urfacc (»f wood. I'ach 
 species invariably draws the same dcsif;n, so that we can always dis- 
 cover the workman by his work without seeing what enemy we have to 
 
 lull 
 
 (Ir.i 
 
 with. 
 
 Almost all these laborers are of vcr\- small size. Their teeth, with 
 (kadly quickness, cut numerous galleries between the wood and the 
 bark, invading both parts at the same time. These tiny ravagers are 
 ottm not more than about the sixth of an inch long, and hence as their 
 bodies are slender in proportion, tliey only require a very narrow trench 
 to i)romcnade in at their case. Nevertheless, as each insect procreates 
 to a great extent, the number of g.iUeries hollowetl out by a single 
 family sometimes covers a large part of the surface of a tree, and if the 
 species multiplies round about it, the result of its work is to detach the 
 entire bark, which falls to dust. 
 
 Tlie attentive observations of foresters have shown that nearle always 
 a pair of tyjiographers enter the tree toi^ethcr by perforating the bark, 
 ami this first task accomplished, they hollow out at this spot a central 
 gallery, which is nothing more or less than a nuptial chamber for the 
 two spouses. Here, resolved to make their lives as agreeable as possi- 
 ble, they pierce for this purpose two to four holes in the hark, which 
 are simpl)' ventilators, intended to air the little chamber, and possibly 
 also to light the windings. 
 
 Of all these wood-cutters, the ty()ogra[)her hostrichus is regarded as 
 the most dangerous. It ra\'ages the forests of fir-trees in such a manner, 
 that often not a single tree escapes its attacks. It is doubtless in order 
 ti' L^ive an idea of the extent of its depredations, tluit naturalist^ luue 
 bestowed on such a little insect the alarming name of the " great pine- 
 
 gnawer. 
 
 h'.ach product has its enemy. Sujiposing our apples and plums are 
 
 gnawed and injured b\' worms, still their soft tissue cpn'te admits of such 
 
 mischief being done; but fiuits so hard and well protected as those of the 
 
 pines seem as if they ought to be safe from such attacks, though this is 
 
 certainly not the case. 
 
 IiistM't Carp<Mit<'rs. 
 
 The name of joiners is given to those legions of in.sccts which, with 
 their powerful mantlibles, cut and divide wood, either to nourish theni- 
 seKes with, or to construct little rooms furnished witli partitions, and 
 destined to receive their offspring. 
 
 hi the first category is found the lar\-a of the goat-moth, a night-moth 
 which sometimes reaches a length of four or fi\-c inches, and is thicker 
 
 i^f] 
 
 \ m- 
 
 ■■'H 
 
till 
 
 h 
 
 W()()n-!'.()KiN<i (;()Ai-.\iorii. 
 
 (^:{:i) 
 
Ml'SF.l'M OI" KHMAkKAr.LK INSKCTS. 
 
 ri.v.) 
 
 tli.u; Uk-' fiiiL^d". ltL;iia\\s the inside of L;rcat trees, and scoops oiil in 
 till If trunks lari;e and lonj^ tortuous L^'illerics, wliich sometimes suffice to 
 Isill them. We see that it works all the more zealousl\- because its lah^ir 
 i.-, to satisfy a want; it lives on wood. 
 
 When .several of these powerful caterpillars att.icl; an elm al the same 
 tir.u' it ."^inks very rai)idl\'. This insect has sometimes been seen to utterly 
 cicstn",' lari;e avenues of loft\" trees; hence the name of wood-destroy in;^' 
 cossus has been <;iven to it. 
 
 We find artisans endowed with a \er\- different kind of in_L;enuit_\', in a 
 certain tribe ot bees 
 called carpenterdjees, 
 on ,icc<uint of their 
 irrcit skill in working; 
 \vo(h1. The\- lixeprin- 
 cipall}- in tropical 
 cnuiitries. One kind, 
 lidW'Acr, inhabits our 
 latitudes; il has the 
 InuK of a L;reat hnm- 
 1)K-I)ee of the most 
 beautiful blue color, 
 and is known b}' the 
 nanie of the carpenter- 
 bee Im])elled merely 
 by uuiternal instinct, 
 it- work, which con- 
 si-ts of as man_\- little 
 cliambers as it la\s 
 t'^fi^s, is a masterpiece 
 "f skill and foresitrht. It is ijeneralK- beams that this bee attacks. It 
 cuts in them, lenijjthwise, canals wliich are a dozen inches deep ami more 
 than a third of an inch wide. 
 
 When one of these i^reat excavations has attained its entire len<;th, the 
 iirtisan occupies itself in shelterin^^ its oflspring in it. For this purpose 
 it divides the !_^roove into as many little chambers as it is about to deposit 
 c<^s;,i^. Each of these chambers receives one ec:^^ onh-, and before cU>sin^ 
 it hermetically the bee .stores up a mass <»f honey and pollen which will 
 suffice for all the wants of the larva that is to be born there. After this 
 the skillful carpenter, b\' means of finel>--rasped wood atj;glutinatcd with 
 its saliva, constructs a slender partition which separates each one trom 
 
 c.\Ki'i.NTi£R i;i:l: and its littlk chambkks. 
 
 m'^^> 
 
 
 filfi 
 
 
 
 
 « 
 
 "Hi: 
 
 ■'t 
 
 ^rt'ta 
 
i)i 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY 
 
 that next to it. In the lon<^ excavation which it has hollowed out the 
 insect thus forms a dozen little cellules, which are stutTcl with alimen- 
 tary pap. 
 
 When the little creature is born, it finds itself sufficiently restrictL-J as 
 to space, but in proportion as its food diminishes, its movements beco;ne 
 more free. The aliment has been wisely proportioned to its wants; the 
 life of the larva terminates at the momc-nt when famine is about to 
 set in. The chrysalis rests imprisoned in its little chamKer, but when 
 the tly has thrown off its coverini^s, air and light are absolutolv 
 re(]uisite for it. It then gnaws the i)artitions which intercept its way, 
 and launches its(.'lf into the atmosphere, soon in its turn to com- 
 mence labors similar to those its mother executed. Such is its 
 
 destiny. 
 
 The 3Iijiratiii^ {.lOciist. 
 
 The < )rient and all the south of Asia as well as the west of the United 
 States are subject to being ra\aged b}- the migratory locust. Their dev- 
 astations are most extraordinary. Their liosts obscure the sun and every 
 trace of x'cgetation disappears in their track. Locusts ha\e committed 
 consitlerable ra\ages in America; most of the ile\astation popularl\- 
 attributed to grasshoppers really belongs to locu.sts ami most often to the 
 red-legged species. They ha\ e pro\ed especially destrueti\e to the gra>.i 
 of salt nu'adows, clo\er, corn and \egetables, until arrestetl by the eatiy 
 fn )sts. 
 
 The Rocky Mountain locust is popularh' known as the grasshopper, 
 During if^73-74-75 the insect attracted unusual attention and in the en- 
 piecedented amount of injur\-, which it entailed on the farmer of the 
 West, it proved a national calamit)-. It has been estimated, that $50,000, 
 000 would not co\-er the loss occasioned to the country by its rav.i^^.^ 
 during these three yeais. It is doubtful, whether in their native home 
 the insects show a tendenc)' to nn'grate, except when forced b\- nece>sit\-. 
 The\- are sluggish in the cooler parts of the da)' and tly principalK be- 
 tween the hours of 10 A. M. and 4 ?. M., and then onl\-, w hen the w iiul is 
 in the direction they wish to go. Their life is limited by the spring and 
 autunm frosts and all that hatch in the spring perish at the ap[)roaLh nf 
 winter, .soon after the eggs are laid. 
 
 The grasshoppers travel ijo immense swarms, iu)t in any particular direc- 
 tion, but in search of food. The}' walk and hop alternately, moving at 
 the rate of about three )ards a minute. As they grow older, their num- 
 bers are continually reducetl, not only by attacks of enemies ai'd b\- cli- 
 matic intluences, but by devouring one another. ■ 
 
 i 1 
 
• restrictt. I as 
 lents bccoMic 
 ts wants; liie 
 ; is about tn 
 •cr, but when 
 re absolutely 
 rcept its way, 
 turn to corn- 
 Such is its 
 
 of the United 
 ;t. Their dev- 
 sun and every 
 i\e comniittvd 
 tion popularl)- 
 ost often t't the 
 \e to the L;'ra-> 
 ;d bv the cadv 
 
 [articular diroc- 
 L'ly, movini; at 
 her. their mmi- 
 lies and \)v cli- 
 
 ilREAT .-^WARM UK MU.KAloKV LUClSrs. 
 
 (.-.,S.-.; 
 
 J.,. 
 
\^ 
 
 mi . 
 
 r" 
 
 o:;o 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 Tlic first (.lay of their appearance their numbers are coniparativelx- few, 
 the second they come by m\-riacls ; and \-et a da)' or two miL;ht pa>-< he- 
 fore they reached their full number. At early morninLj the insect, in ih,- 
 pupa state, ma\' be observed issuin^^ from the earth in every directimi, h\ 
 the help of a set of stroils^lx'-barbed claws on the fore-lei;s. Its color is 
 tlieii of a uniform dull brown, and it stron_L,dy resembles the jx-rfect itinct 
 in form, exceptin;;- the absence of u iiigs, ornameiU.and antenn.e. Tliu tirst 
 impulse of the imi)erfect insect, on detachinL,^ itself from its ,t;ra\e, is ti, 
 ascend a few inches, or even feet, up the trunk of trees, at the foot of wiii.Ji 
 their holes a[)pcar in the ^n-eatest number, or upon the rail fences, which 
 are soon thickly spreatl with them. In these positions they straiijhtwav 
 fix themseK'es firniK' b\- their barbed claws. 
 
 I lali an hour's obsei-wilion will then show you the next chaiv^e which 
 is to be under<^oiie. A split takes place upon the shell, down from tJio 
 back of the luad to the commeiiceUKiit of the riiv^s of the al)(,lonKn, and 
 the labor oi >eli-exlric.itioii follow s. With maiu'a throe and main' a >tiMin. 
 \'ou sc\; the tail and hiiul leLjs apjjcar throuj^h the rent; then the uiiiL^s 
 extricate themsel\-es painfull)' fi'om a little case in the outer shell, in which 
 the)' la\' ex([ui^itel}' foldetl ui),I)ut ilo not x'et unfurl themseK'es ; and la-^Uv, 
 tlu' head, w ilh its antenn;e, disenL;ai;es ii-elf, and )'ou behold before ndii 
 the new-born insect freed from its prison. The sloui,di is not disentailed, 
 but I't-'inaiiis firml\- lixed in the fibres of the wood ; and the insect, laii;^uidl\- 
 cnpN ling a few inches, remains, as it were, in a daze of woiuier and n^lon- 
 ishment. 
 
 All this i)asscs before the sun has gained his full strength. As the 
 day advances, the colors of the insect become more lively ; the wings at- 
 tain their full strength, and the bcnl)' dries, and is l)raced up for its future 
 little life of activit)' and enjoyment. 
 
 The ]>Insie Beg'ins. 
 
 Between ten and eleven the nevvl)' risen tribes begin to tune their in 
 struments ; )'ou become conscious of a sound, filling the air far and 
 wide, different from the ordinary ones which may meet your ear. A 
 low distinct hum salutes you, turn where you will. It may be compared 
 tt) the simmering of an enormous caldron ; it swells, imperceptible- 
 changes its character, and becomes fuller and sharper ; thousands sccin 
 to join, and by an hour after mid-day, the whole country far and wide 
 rings with the unwonted sound. Tiie insects are now seen lodged in or 
 flying about the foliage above ; a few hours having been thus sufficient 
 to give them full strength and activity, and bring them into full voice. 
 
 The pretty insect, for it is truly such, with its dark body, red eyes, and 
 
MUSEUM OF REMARKABLE INSECTS. 
 
 o.JTT 
 
 its glassy wings interlaced by bright yellow fibres, enjoys but a little 
 week; and that merry harping which pervades creation from sunrise to 
 sundown, for the time of its continuance, is but of some six days' dura- 
 tion. Like all those of its tribe, the sound produced is not a voice, but 
 a strong vibration of musical chords produced by the action of internal 
 muscles upon a species <A' lyre or elastic membrane, covered with net- 
 work, and situated under the wings. 
 
 During the whole period of their existence, the closest attention does not 
 detect their eating anxthing; antl, with the exception of the trilling injur)- 
 rccei\ed by the trees, con.setiueut upon the])rocess obserxetl by the female 
 in l,i\ ing her eggs.thes' are perfectly innoxioiis. The eiul for which they 
 siX'Ui tt> be sent to the uj)per d;i)' is pure)}' confined to the propagation of 
 their s[)ecies. A lew days after tluir first appearance, the female begin> to 
 la\' her eggs. When her time conu,'s, she selects one of the outermost 
 twigs of the fore>t trees or shrubs, and sets to wofk and makes a series of 
 longitudinal jagged incisions ii^ 'he tender bark and wood. \u each of these 
 slie la\'s a row of tin\" eggs, and then goes to work again. 
 
 Sii<l<h'U l{<'.smT<'rfi«n! .Vl't<'r S('\«'iitot'ii Vt'sirs. 
 
 Ma\ing deposited to her heart's content, she crawls up the twig a few 
 inches yet farther from the termination, and placing herself in a fitting po- 
 sition, makes two or three perpentliculai- cuts into the very pith. I ler 
 duty is now terminated. J^oth male and female become weak, the H^rmer 
 ceases to be tune''ul ; the charm of tiieir existence is at an end ; they pine 
 a\v;i\-, become blind, fall to tlie ground b\- mvriads, ami in ten or hfteeii 
 days after their first appearance they all perish. Not S(\ how\,\er, their 
 seed. The perforated twigs die, the first wind breaks them from the tree, 
 and scatters them upon the ground. The eggs give birth to a number of 
 "Smaller grubs, which are thus enabled to attain the mould without injury; 
 and in it they disai)pear, digging their wa\- tlown into the bor^om of the 
 earth. Year goes after year, summer after summer, the sun shine> in \ain 
 to thein ; they " bide their time !" The recollection of their existence be- 
 gins to fade, a generation passes awa\' : the surface of the country is 
 altered, lands are reclaimed from the forest, .streets are laid out and tram- 
 pled on for years, houses are built, and pavements hide the soil. 
 
 Still, though man may almost forget their existence, God does not. 
 What their life is in the long interval none can divine. Traces of them 
 have been found in digging wells and foundations eight and ten feet un- 
 der the surface. When seventeen years have gone by, the memory of 
 thcin returns, and they are expected. A cold wet sprin., may retard 
 their appearance, but never since the attention of man has been di- 
 
 pii^ii 
 
 mnm 
 
 i 
 

 i^ ' 
 
 Jt 
 
 ill 
 
 0;i8 
 
 EARTH, SEA. AND SKN 
 
 rected to them, have they failed ; but at the appointed time, jjy one com- 
 mon iinpidse, tiiey ri-e troni the eartli. i)iercin5T their way throu;^]! th^ 
 matted sod. throui^h the hard trani])led clay of the pathways, throuli 
 the gravel, between tlie joints of the stc)nes and pavements, and into tlie 
 very cellars of the houses ; like their predt-cessors, to be a marvel in the 
 land, to sing their blithe song of love and enjoyment under the hri'^ht 
 sun. and amidst the verdant landscape ; like them, to fidfil the brief ilu- 
 ties of their species, and close their mysterious existence t)y death. 
 
 Tlu' I'plw'nu'ra. 
 
 Linnneus has given this name to a genus of insects of the onlci of 
 neutropher.i, from their appearing in tlie winged state only for a da\-. 
 The body is long, slender and soft, the wings are very unecjual, and the 
 abdomen has long articulated appendages. Tliey are usually called Mav 
 flics. The mouth of this insect has no jaws, but is furnished with four 
 very short thread-shaped feelers. The wings are erect, the lower ones 
 much the shorter, and the tail is terminated by long hairs or bristles. 
 They differ in many respects from all other insects. 
 
 Their larv;e live in water for three years, the time they consume m 
 preparing for their change, which is performed in a few moments. The 
 larva, when ready to quit that state, rises to the surface of the water aivi 
 instantaneously freeing itself from its skin becomes a chrysalis. This 
 chrysalis is furnished with wings. It flies to the nearest tree or wall, 
 and there quits a second skin and becomes a perfect ephemera. In this 
 .state all the species live but a very short time, some of them scarcely 
 half an hour, having no other business to perform than that of continuing 
 the race. 
 
 A Creature Born and n.viiij? without S«M'inj:;^ tlio Sun. 
 
 liut few of them ever see the light of sun, being produced after sun- 
 set during the short nights of summer and dying long before the dawn. 
 The females aided by the threads of their tails and the Happing of their 
 wings, suiii)ort themselves on the surface of ihe water antl in an ahnrvst 
 upright position drop their eggs (sometimes 700 <>r Soo) in little clusters 
 into the water. These insects are remarkable for their elegant flii^ht; 
 the\- are continually rising and falling. When the\' move their wings 
 the\' rise ; but if their win-js, though spread out, remain motionless, as 
 also the silk)- hairs which form their tail, they fall again. They ina\- be 
 seen in myriatis in places where there is much water. 
 
 We have said that the ephemera live only for a few hours. This is the 
 general rule; but their existence can be i)rolonged for ten or fifteen days 
 by preventing their copulation. If, however, the duration of the life ot 
 
, by one com- 
 througli the 
 vavs, throw 'h 
 ;, and into the 
 , maiA'fl in the 
 dcr the hri'j^ht 
 il the brief 'III- 
 )y death. 
 
 f tiic order of 
 )nly for a day. 
 equal, and the 
 illy called May 
 ished with fnur 
 Lhe lower ones 
 lirs or bristlis. 
 
 ley consume in 
 moments. The 
 )f the water an-i 
 duysalis. This 
 st tree or wall, 
 mera. In thi> 
 them .scarcely 
 lat of continuing 
 
 Lr.s. This is the 
 
 in or fifteen days 
 on of the lite ot 
 
 EHHliMERA OK CKEArUKEb OF A DAY. 
 
 (539) 
 
 ttP= »' 
 
 .1*.. 1 *a 
 
f 
 
 ''Nf 
 
 *i 
 
 i 
 
 M 
 
 ^L 
 
 mi^ 
 
 f»: 
 
 I 
 
 > 
 
 m 
 
 pi: 
 
 540 
 
 e.\k:i(, sea, ani> sky. 
 
 ih'jsc in-^ccts is so sliort when they h.uc ivaclicl the perfect st.iti , .iiul 
 when the conformation of the month i)revents ihein from taking; .iiu- 
 nourishment, their larv.c state is of vei)- Uini^ continuance. Suaninkr- 
 <lam in his curious Memoir, entitled "' \''ita Ephemeri," is authority for tlu; 
 statement that it is not less than three jears. 
 
 The bee is probably of Asiatic orij.^in, whence it has spread over Ku- 
 rope, ha.s been introduce<l in America and is found in nearly all the 
 warmer portions of the world. It has two stomachs, the first is a lircc 
 membranous bag, pointed in front for the reception and retention f)f (ho 
 honey; no digestion takes place in this, the analogue of the crop oi 
 birds. Digestion is performed in the second stomach, which is of a 
 lengthened cylindrical shape, communicating with the first stomach and 
 with the '..r ' b_\' a projecting valvular apparatus. Tiie muscular 
 
 strength oj le jc . is very great and their flight is rapid ^N. hive of 
 bees consi.sts of thre^ ' inds, females, males and workers. The female- 
 are called queens, not more th.in one of which can live in the same hive. 
 Her pre-ence is necessary for its establishment and maintenance. 
 
 The males are called drones, and may exist by hundreds and even 
 t'lousands in a hive. The workers are b}- far the most iiunierous. The 
 queen lays the c^g^, from which the race is perpetuated ; the males il, 
 no work and are of no use except to reproduce their species, after 
 which they soon die or are killed ; the workers collect the honey, se- 
 crete the wax. build the cells and protect the young. The females and 
 workers have a sting at the end of the abdomen, but not the males. Tln\ 
 weapon consists of an e.xtensile sheath enclosing two needle-shaped 
 dirts of great fineness, placed side by side. Toward the end the sting 
 is armed with minute teeth, like those of a saw, whence it happens that 
 the anim d is frequently unable to withdraw the sting from an enemv 
 that it ha.s pierced, causing its own death. When the sting enters the 
 fle.sh the acrid poison is squeezed into the wound from a bag near its 
 
 base, 
 
 Prt»|M'r llcspct't for the Queen. 
 
 The poison is a transparent fluid with a sweetish and afterward acri' 
 t.iste and acrid reaction. The queons are more peaceable and less dis 
 nosed to sting, than the workers. This is the largest and is easily rec- 
 ognized by the slowness of her march, by her size and by the respect 
 and attention paid to her. She lives in the interior of the hive and on!y 
 leaves it to lead out a new swarm. If she be removed from the hive, the 
 whole swarm will follow her 
 
.-rfcct staU , .1 1.1 
 om takiiv^ anv 
 cc. SwainiiUT- 
 utliorit\- r .r till' 
 
 afterwartl acr i' 
 lie and less cli'^- 
 iid is casiK' rci - 
 i by the respect 
 le hive and only 
 om the hive, the 
 
 DKNSI". ,>\VAKM OF BEES. 
 
 (•'^41) 
 
 .!: 
 
 m' 
 
 if; 
 
 Will 
 
 
 i% liiif < 
 
 ■iSii 
 
 hi: ( . 
 

 .'J 
 
 & 
 
 
 »^ 
 
 1':" 
 
 
 Hfif 
 
 512 
 
 i:.\RTH, SF.A, AND SKY. 
 
 The workers in July and August coniiiKncc an indisciiininatc attack 
 upon tin- drones, chasing them into the bottom and corners of the hive, 
 killing them with their stings, and. casting out the dead bodies, 'jliis 
 destruction extends even to the eggs and larva of males. The workers 
 are females, in which the generative organs are not developed. Tlu-v 
 are divided into nurses and wax workers ; the former are the small(.;.-.t 
 and the weakest, ill adapted for carr\ing burdens, antl their business i.s 
 to collect the honey, feed ami take cue of the grubs, com[>lete the cells 
 commenced by the others, and to keep the hive clean ; the others pro- 
 vision the hi\e. collect hone}-, secrete and prepare wax, construct the 
 cells, defend the hive from attack, attend to the wants of the queen, and 
 carry on all the hostilities c)f the community. 
 
 On the loss of the ([ueen the hive is thrown into the greatest reii- 
 fusion. The food of bees consists principally of the honey etl fluids <itid 
 the pollen of flowers. The formation of wax is the office of the wa.v 
 workers. The quantity of wax secreted dej)ends on the consuiiii)tion ot 
 honey. 
 
 When a hive becomes too crowded preparations are made for the 
 emigration of a swarm with a queen ; scouts are sent out in advance to 
 select a proper place for the new hive, and the workers collect an extra 
 quantity of provisions to be carried with them. During the preparations 
 a great buzzing is heard, which ceases on the day of dej^arture. When 
 all is ready, the signal is given by the workers, and the queen, with all 
 the departing swarm, rushes to the door and rises into the air. They 
 follow the queen, alighting with her in a dense cluster, and returning to 
 the hi\'e if she does. After a rest at their first landing place the sw.um 
 collects into a close phalanx and flies in a direct line to the sielected 
 spot. Two or three swarms will be sent ed'f in a summer from m oki 
 hive. 
 
;iiniiuit.c attack 
 crs of the liivc. 
 I bodies. This 
 The VV'irkeis 
 /eloped. They 
 re the smallest 
 heir hu.siness i> 
 [ii[)letc the Cells 
 the others pro- 
 ve, construct the 
 the queen, ami 
 
 e i^reatest coii- 
 
 leyed fluids and 
 
 ffice of the \va.\ 
 
 consumption ot 
 
 e made for the 
 
 jt in advance to 
 
 collect an extra 
 
 the preparation-^ 
 
 parture. When 
 
 ([ueen, ^vith ail 
 
 the air. Thry 
 
 nd returnini; tu 
 
 lace the swarin. 
 
 to the iiclectal 
 
 er from in old 
 
 CHAPTER XXT. 
 
 cuRinsiTii-:s OF TiiK vi:Gi:TAni J-: Kixr.noM. 
 
 Living; Sfcd in tlie Eartli— The Tap-Root IMants tliat IV-rspire C.itcliinj; Watrr 
 Iroin Trees — Garden Sun-l'lower— An Old Piiysician Living in a Pair of Se.il<js 
 \'cj;etable Marvel — The Weeping Tree— Plant wiUi a Movalile I.id— W.iier 
 Treasured in Plants in tiie Burning- Desert— Leaves tjiat Flash Lightning— i he 
 I'amoiis C\)\v-Tree — Vegetable Milk — lUitter Trer Poisonous Conipoiintls — 
 "Herculean I'ieinedy" -hulia Rubber Tree— Golden Wealth for the World 
 Vegetable Giants— Astonishing Magnitudes -Kightetn Guests Taking Suj^i'lt 
 in a Hollow Tree -laioruKnis Linie-Tree— Xorniandy ( )ak Turned ir. > a 
 Church — Riding on Horseback ThrouL;!! Tree-Cavities Colossal lia )l)ab - 
 Strange Burial Place— Gigantic Cedars of California— Tops Five Hundred I\el 
 in the Air— Giving a Ball on a Stunii)- Vegetable Longevity— Methuselahs of 
 the I'orest— Historic Lime at Fribourg— Old A'j.e of the I-"ir— Army of Cortez 
 under one Tree- Legends of Teneriffe— Dragon's- Blood Tree -Where ue get 
 Camphor— "Serpents of the Vegetable Kingdom "—Deadly Nettles— The P'atal 
 I 'pas — Astounding .Stories — .\ntidotes to Poison— Medicinal Treasures — Fanions 
 T.irtarian Lamb Part Plant and Part Animal-Wonderful Ratllesia— Plants 
 without Leaves Borrowing those of their Neighbors — Picturesque Scene in the 
 Trollies — Giant I'"erns^Mangrove Tree -Sea of Fire — Seeds Sprouting in Hu- 
 man Noses and Stomachs -Marvelous F.ngincry — Balloon Puff-li-ill. 
 
 OMMIT a seed to the earth; plant, for example, a haricot bean 
 at the ilepth of two inches in moist vegetable soil, and if the 
 temperature is riiiht the seed will not be slow to germinate, 
 first swelling, and then bursting its outer skin. ]W this ad- 
 nurable arrangement, of which nature permits us to contemplate the 
 wonderful results, hut without as )'et enabling us to comprehend the 
 strange myster}-, a plant in miniature, eventually the counterjiart of its 
 parent, will, after a time, reveal itself to the observer. In the meantime, 
 tun parts, very distinct, make their appearance : one, yellowish in color, 
 usually branched, sinks into the soil — this is the root; the other, of a 
 pale, greenish color, takes the opposite direction, ascends to the surface, 
 and rises above the ground — this is the stem. 
 
 The design of the Creator of the world seems to have been to embel- 
 lish and make beautiful all which was to be exposed to our eyes, while 
 that which was to be hidden was left destitute of grace or beauty. 
 Leaves suspended from their branches balance themselves gracefidly 
 with every movement of the air ; the stems, branches, and flowers are 
 
 the ornament of the landscape, and satisfy the eye with their beauty; 
 
 {rAii) 
 
 if 
 
 
 
 . i '„ 'i 
 
 
 B^ ' 
 
 ■i-^i 
 
 
 ^■r! 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 w 
 
 
 ^liiH: } 
 
1 
 
 
 ■ * 
 
 ft 
 
 l«ill(l 
 
 f^M^ 
 
 \ 11 
 
 ii 
 
 iJI 
 
 ^^^^ll. 
 
 h^u 
 
 Ji.- «.;*+.''■ 
 
 Iv I I 
 
 nu 
 
 F.AKTu, sf:a, and SKV. 
 
 but the root is witliout colors or brilliancy, and is iisuall)- of a (lull nm 
 form brown, yet performs in obscurity functions as important as those ot 
 stem, branches, leaves, or flowers. Yet how \ast tin- difference betwcni 
 the verdant top of a tree, which rises graceful and elej^'ant into mid air — 
 not to spf.ik of the flowrri it bears — and the coarse ma>s of its roots 
 divided into tortuous branches without harmony, without symmeti ,-, 
 and formin^j a tani;led, disortiered mass ! These organs, so little fu- 
 ored in their appearance, have, however, very important functions in the 
 order of vegetable action. 
 
 All plants which germinate with two seed leaves have, at first, a single 
 ■descending root, the tap-root. I'rom this central tajj-root, lateral root- 
 branch out more or less regularly, and these lateral njots subdiviilr 
 again and again. In many cases, especially at first, the lateral rnots 
 issue from the tap-root with great order and regularity, as much as in 
 the arrangement of the branches of a young fir-tree; in oUlcr i)lants this 
 ord T is lost. The tap-rout is conspicuous in the dock and in sccdiinji 
 fruit-trees; its upper portion in many cultivated plants, such as the lr>jt.t 
 and carrot, expands under cultivation, ami becomes abnormally ilcsliy. 
 
 l?ut all roots are not planted in the soil. 'I'here are some plants which 
 
 develo[) roots in water, as the duckweed which never touches the earth. 
 
 Others nourish themselves on the tissues of other plants, as the nii.sth;- 
 
 toe, a singular parasitic plant, which forms tufts or branches of a delic.itc 
 
 pale green, attaching itself to apple-trees, poplars, and a number of otl»cr 
 
 trees. Some roots appear, moreoxer, to have no other function than to 
 
 fi.K tluj plants to the soil ; they seem to contribute nothing to their 
 
 nourishment. 
 
 Living' on Air. 
 
 In the Museum of Natural History of Paris there has been for some 
 
 years a magnificent Peruvian cactus, of an extraordinary lieight. w liich 
 
 has been growing vigoi'ously, throwing out enormous branches with 
 
 great rapidity. Its roots are shut up in a box three feet s([uarc, filled 
 
 with earth, which has never been renewed and never watered. It i^ 
 
 therefore evident that in this case the roots have little to do with the 
 
 nourishment- of the plant. Other instances confirm these inferences. 
 
 " In a country where many months pass without a drop of rain falling," 
 
 says Hilaire, " I have seen, during the dry season, cactuses covered with 
 
 flowers, maintaining themselves on the burning rocks by the aid of a few 
 
 weak slender roots, which sink into the dried-up humus which ha.s found 
 
 its way into the narrow clefts of the rock." Nevertheless, most plants 
 
 are nourished, to a large extent, through their roots. 
 
of a dull niii 
 ant as tho>c' .it 
 rcncc bctucLii 
 into mid air — 
 ss of its roots 
 )ut symiu'jtiy, 
 i, so little f.u- 
 unctions in xhr 
 
 it first, a sinLjU- 
 )t, lateral root- 
 'oots siihdiviil' 
 \r latcr.d routs 
 , as much as in 
 )lder plants this 
 and in scedlmj^ 
 ;uch as the liLct 
 )rmally ilesliy. 
 mc plants which 
 uches the earth. 
 s, as the mistlc- 
 hes (if a delicate 
 lumber of otlicr 
 notion than to 
 othinsJ to their 
 
 been for some 
 y heiyht. which 
 
 branches with 
 
 t sfjuarc, filled 
 watered. It i-^ 
 
 to do with the 
 lese inferences, 
 of rain falling." 
 es covered w ith 
 
 the aid of a few 
 ,vhich has found 
 ;ss, most plants 
 
 CURIOSITIES OF Tin: VEGF.TABL1-: KINODOM. 
 
 Mr) 
 
 Vi*;^ctablc pln'siolo;^y approaches very nearly that of animals. Like 
 them plants exhale moisture al)undantly by their whole surface. It is this 
 wliiJi, condensed upon the leaves by the cold of nit^ht, forms on them 
 limpid little drops of water, which the vulvar incorrectly ascribe to a 
 deposit of atinospiicric moisture. 
 
 TJie idea that plants trans[>ire like animals is due to Muschenbrocck, 
 one of the professors who have contributed most to rcnderinij the univer- 
 sity of Ixyden illustrious. I'or this purpo.se he covered with a plate of 
 lead the whole circumference of the rotjt of a wliite popp\', so aUo prevent 
 the vapor of tlic earth from interferini; with his experiment. The plant 
 u;ls then covereil with a bell-t;lass cemented to the lead. After that eacii 
 niornin.ij when the naturalist came to visit the imprisoned plant he observed, 
 that even durintj the driest nights its leaves were covered with an iiinu- 
 merahle (piantity of those drops of water to which the name of dew is tjiven, 
 and that the sides of the f^lass them.selves were quite obscured with it. It 
 is not then from the air that the dew of the meadow and the leaf comes, 
 but, as the Dutch naturalist learned, from the sweating of the plant ; dew 
 is only their pcrs[)iration condensed. 
 
 Phmt.s that llaiii. 
 
 This fact being thoroughly establisheil, it only rcmaineil to decide the 
 animmt which vegetable transpiration produces. Mariotte tried a very 
 elementary experiment on this head. Having cut off a branch and ccjv- 
 ered the section with nnpermeable cement, he observed that the leaves, 
 while withering, hail lost two tea-spoonfuls of water in two hours, at a 
 time when the air was tolerably warm. The naturalist therefore concluded 
 that in twelve hours the branch would lose a dozen tea-spoonfuls. 
 
 Hut such an estimate was far from being exact. Guettard managed 
 better; he conceived the idea of not separating the branch from the plant, 
 but of enclosing it in a globe of gla.ss, ti-rminating outwardly in a neck 
 which was inserted into a flask. When all was hermetically sealed, the 
 moisture transpired, condensing- itself little by little on the sides of the 
 t^lobe, fell drop by drop into the bottle situated beneath it, and could be 
 collect. '1 without the slightest loss, so that nature was left to herself 
 
 Wh. 1 on a burning summer day, exhausted and streaming with perspi- 
 ration, we .see in the by-nook of a parterre the garden sun-flower, we admire 
 its heavy Poral crown turned towards the luminary which it ceaselessly 
 accompanies in its course, and its ample and motionless leaves ; but this 
 apparent calm vails a most unexpected vital energy. 
 
 Who indeed would think that the perspiration exhaled by the lcav< '•f 
 the plant is more copious than that which moistens our foreheads ? . *t 
 
 iW' Hi 
 
 i 
 
 'T^l 
 
[') 
 
 846 
 
 I'.AR'I'H, SKA, AND SKV 
 
 i\ 
 
 S 
 
 sciiMK i; I), IS ])ro\((l this ; afl-'r djinDnstratin,; tlu' cxi-^U'iuc of vrq-rtable 
 traii-i[)ir.ilii III, it has daiud to csliinate roniparativcly \\\:' piochut «>f it. 
 
 An oM physici.in of I'a'.hia, Sanctoriiis, who^c originality has luc-inie 
 CL'Iib;ati (1, li.id the patience to pass a !.',i\'at part of hi-shfc in a pan- if 
 scales, \vci;',h in '; and ii'-\\ci_^hiii;j^ himself c\'cry niinntf in t!ic <!a\-. in mdcr 
 to ascertain liow much l.>ss his hotly underwent by trans]uration. 
 
 I lales, \\ ithout havin;,,^ thj same p. rseveran.'-, attempted to ascertain 
 wliat weiidlt of water a sun-flower lo^t daily hy its leaves. l<'or lius pu;- 
 jMJse h>" |)ut one of these plants into a pot, tlu' up;)er surf.ice of wliiiii, 
 herm lieally closed willi a j»lat(.- of Ka 1. <'nly presented one .small pcel< 
 thioii'di wh.ieh it could !)■ \vate!'.d. liy weii;hin;f this sun-flower daiiv 
 his s;;ales showed him that it lost, by the transi)iration of its lea\-cs only, 
 twenty ounces i>f wa!"r in the 1 w ; nl\'-four hours, heini; seventeen timr? 
 
 as threat a> our own. 
 
 But the \e;4etable m.iiwl in r(.'s])(;et to trans])iralion is the weepin;^^- 
 tree, wlucli was seen soiiie )'eais a;.;o in one of tlu; Canary Islands. The 
 witer fell like copious rain from its tufted roIia'.;e. Cvjliected at the iwt 
 of the tiee, it fortm.'d a kind of pond, from whiih the inhabitants of the 
 vicinity furni-^hed themselves with water. 
 
 AVtM'piii.y- Trt'c. 
 
 At Inst, sa\s a naturalist, I .susi)eeteil some cxa,:jgcration in the accounts 
 given by tra\'ellers as to tiie transpuation of this tree, but after scciiiLj an 
 arbo:e-;cent fuchsia in one of [Iw. iri'een-iunisis of the botanical rardin of 
 Rouen rain down so much water upi>n the plants round aljout it lh;it it 
 was necess.uy to remo\e them, I luwe bclie\ed their statements. 
 
 The in sensible transpiration is demonsti-ated by the most simple cxpuri- 
 mciU. Il i ■; onl\' lu-cessary to [)l ice a plant underadi\' b 'll-c^lass, the 
 base of which is piunL;eil in niercur)-. In a few seconds all the iiiikT 
 surface of the tdass is covered with tin_\ drops of water, \ Inch beceinc 
 condensed and i un (low nwards. 
 
 In the " llisior)' of the Canaiy Islands," by Galindo, it is slated tl;.r 
 there w;i> at h'crro a laurel-tree which, according to Roulin, furnisiied lii;' 
 natives of the island with drinking water. This fluid distilleil drop by 
 dro;) from the folia:re, and was preserved in cisieins. This marvchni- 
 vegetable fountain was, (.luring part of the da_\\ enveloped in a cloi;,!, 
 from the bosom of which it (.Ircw its supply of water. I'iut the tnulitifn 
 of the tree (juoted b_\- the old historian of the seventeenth centur}- is ni 
 longer found among the con(pierors of the island. 
 
 The leaves of other plants, more tenacious of the perspiration they dis- 
 til, collect it in little cujis, which are found at their ends, sometimes 
 
rocliict of ii. 
 ity lia> brc.ivar 
 life ill ;i p.iir "f 
 Ik: (la\'. in milor 
 )iration. 
 
 ted li> ascertain 
 I'or llus pur- 
 irl.icc- of which, 
 one .small iiL\i< 
 sun- flower daily 
 " its leaves omy, 
 seventeen Uma 
 
 is the weepin;^^- 
 ry Islands. Th'-" 
 lected at the f )ot 
 nhahitanl^ of tht' 
 
 m in the accounts 
 lit after seein- an 
 )tanical t^ardm ul 
 d about it tlutit 
 Jcincnt-. 
 )>t simple expcri- 
 ; y bell-c;lass, tk 
 ;vls all the inner 
 ; . \ hirh Imo'IIK' 
 
 , it is statrtl tlial 
 
 lilin, furnished the 
 
 distilled drop by 
 
 This marvcloih 
 
 I oped in a clout., 
 
 Ikit the tradition 
 
 inth ctutuiy is iv 
 
 spiration thcyili- 
 iMids, sonietinwii 
 
 (547) 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 "inr' 
 
 AW 
 
548 
 
 IvARTlI, Si:.\, AM) SKY. 
 
 i)^ ilf It 
 
 constaiitlx open, soiiictimcs closintr and opcnini; by means of ;i niovahlo 
 lid. 
 
 In the first rank we ou^ht to plaee the famous |:)itcher plant. Its leaves 
 display a stroni; mid-rib, which extends beyond the blade and ends m. ;,ti 
 ck\q;ant cylindrical cup, provided with a hint^ed lid, which spontaiKua^K' 
 opens and closes accordint^ to tiie state of the atmosphere. Durin,; Uir 
 ni_i;ht this lid sinks down and hermetically closes the little \asc, which 
 then fills with limpid water exhaled by its \\alls. Durinfj the day ihc 
 lid is raised and the fluid ex'aporates more or less completely. The iirn- 
 eficent nepenthe has oftt-n cjuenched the thirst of the Indian lost in hi> 
 burning deserts. 
 
 In the marshy f^jrests of Southern America Providence lias intrusted 
 this tadc to another distillinL;" plant, the purple .sarracenia, the structure of 
 which is no less eccentric. Its leaves, uniting at their edges, are trail ;- 
 formed into elegant cups, the narrow opening of which is surmounted hv 
 an ample green auricle decoratetl with scarlet reil \-eins, to which the 
 species owes its p.ame. These cujys, presents from the empire of noi.i. ami 
 which rise fiom spot to s|iot at the feet of the traveller, are filled with pure 
 and delicious water, for the benefit of which he is all the more grateful. 
 as he is encircled by nothing but marshes, the water of which is luke- 
 warm and nauseous. 
 
 Some i)lants, instead of tlistilling their resinous products drop bv dnip, 
 form a gaseous vapor, ai.d this clings so clo.se around the plant, that if, 
 during the twilight of a still, burning hot summer day, we approacl it 
 witli a lighted candle, the vapor takes fire, iuul j)roduces a bright li;^ht 
 which envelops all the foliage, sparkling like the substances burned in the 
 theatres on the torches of the furies, Tiiis can i^e seen in the fra\inelia 
 cultivated in our gardens. .Should the atmosphere be less tramiuil, the 
 experiment is easily made by surrounding the plant with a glass case. 
 So soon as an ignited body is plunged into it, a general combustion i-nsuev 
 
 Plants that I'lasli Li^litnin^'. 
 
 Other plants, during darkness, project inexplicable gleams of iiLjlit. 
 This extraordinary phenomenon, which is attributed to electricity, u;b 
 first pointed out by Madenioi.sellc Linna^nis, and afterwards recogni/.eil Iv 
 some naturalists. 
 
 When speaking of vegetable secretions, we cannot, in the present day, 
 omit a beautiful tree of the family of sapotaccaj, formerly considered use- 
 less, but which furnishes us with one of the mo.st precious substances- 
 gutta-percha. Spn-ad over the coasts of .Sumatra and Java, its pioducc 
 has only been advantageously worked during the last twenty years. Like 
 

 f 
 
 .ns of ;i niwv.ihlc 
 
 )hiiit. Us k-avcs 
 c ;iiul ciuls 11' ,i'i 
 h spi)ntanLuii-.ly 
 :\c. l)iirin;.;l'nr 
 ittlc vase, which 
 \\iv^ the (lay ihv 
 ctcly. Tin.' li'ii- 
 iidian lost in his 
 
 ICC lias iiUnistcd 
 a, the stnieluiv of 
 celiacs, are tian ;- 
 is surmounted hy 
 :ins, to which the 
 inpire of flora, and 
 ire filled with pure 
 the more 'grateful. 
 lof which is luko- 
 
 aleams of light 
 to electricity, \\;b 
 rds recogni/.cd hy 
 
 1 the present day, 
 
 y considered usc- 
 
 ous substances— 
 
 Java, its pP)ducc 
 
 M> 
 
 \voklu-kenuwm:i) i.ndia-kuuuek ikice. 
 
 (549) 
 
 'Mm 
 
1| 
 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 "HI 
 
 M 
 
 sr.() 
 
 i-.AR'ni, si:a, and sky 
 
 till- .t;t)l(l of ( aliforiiia, lliis tree lias rauscd {^ cit social i h.uii^c.-. ,,i the 
 
 count lies ulu'rc it throws. 
 
 A Trrr that liivrs Milk. 
 
 In (.'.ir.ieas, in St)iilh Aiiu-rica, i^rows llie cou-trcc \\ !;ic!i, u h. n its 
 trunk Is uouiui. 'I. furnishes an abundant supjiK- oi in;ii:. of whi.i: tlii- 
 liavL'lK-r can ronfuk'nlly drink freely, for it unites all the (lualitie-s i.f tlic 
 milk of ()Ui- (li)inestic animal, which it entirely replaces in some countries 
 ol America. We take the followinij extract from the journal of a lia\rlKi 
 in Sovith Ameiica : Supplied u itii vessels, \vc went on a few j-arti^ furilur. 
 when we stopped uniler an iMiormous tree, one- of the i;iants of du- i^\v>\. 
 Its trunk was covered with deeply scored reeldish and ruj^^i^fi' 1 haiK. A 
 native patted it, ^ayin;4. "This my cow." Another tree of the s.uiu 
 species, but much smaller, L,n-ew near. I le ran to it, and saying,', " Small 
 cow s^ive betti:r inill, ," bej^an to attack it with his axe. \{Wx luakiii'.^ i 
 few strokes, out llowed a perfectl\- white licpiid, which was caught m tli,- 
 monkey-cup. The milk continueil to How in <;reat abundance, s(. \\y,\ 
 wo soon had four cups filled full of the temptini; licpiid. ( )n tastiui; ituc 
 found it sweet, and of a not un|)lea.sant flavor, aiul wonderfully like milk 
 
 ( )ne of the trees which yield our internal economy services as iin|)(inant 
 as the precetiinLj is the butter-tree It furnishes the -nc lmocs of the \i-ei 
 with a secretion which thoy substitute for the InLn'edient used in our 
 kitchens, and with which the\" prepare all tluMr food. It is sold ahuii 
 dantly la iheii- markets, where it is known as shea-butter. 
 
 Natuie offjrs us in profusion the greatest contrasts. On one side, 
 with generous and beneficent hand she lavishes food and salutary reme- 
 dies; on the other, she only distils poisons, as though in the laboratory 
 of Medea. Here we see opium perspiring like a nnlky dew from the 
 heads of our poppies, and berojning so indispensable to the art of medi- 
 cine, that Sydenham, tin; lljpp-)crates of modern times, saitl lie would 
 renounce his profession were lie deprived of this powerful aiutdync 
 There we behold the [loisons of belladonna, datura, and henbane, by 
 turns useful and deadly. 
 
 lUit no tree bears in its invisible laboratories such precious crystnl- 
 as the cinchona; nature f)ffers us no other medicine v\hicli is .so potent 
 The cinchona alone arrests the ravages of deadly fevers in then lut.il 
 progress ; without it many coimtries would be uninliabitable. nian\- jou'- 
 neys impossible. Hence, in their entliusiasm about its marvelous 
 power, many physicians, in imitation of Torti, have given it the name of 
 " herculean remedy." 
 
 As respects the milk or cow -tree, Humboldt, wiio analyzetl it.'^ pr" 
 
 
ili:inL;c.> .u th(r 
 
 \s!;icli, -a1'. n its 
 .Ik, t)f whi'li the 
 c (iualilii> ">' till' 
 in some ci>uuliics 
 irnal of a uavrlloi 
 few yai\i^ furilur, 
 iants of Uu- f in^t. 
 
 niLj'^e i liark A 
 tree of llie Ninu 
 ikI sa\■in'^^ " Small 
 Afler inakiiiLi i 
 
 was caui;ht m ili-- 
 abundancr, ^'> ili, t 
 On lastini; il vm 
 lulerfuUy lik^ "'ili 
 Tvicesas iiuii'M-Mir. 
 ■L'-roe>. of th<- Ni^oi 
 erlient useii m niir 
 It is sold d\)M\ 
 
 ter. 
 
 sts. On one M(!c, 
 and salutary rcnu- 
 h in the laboratory 
 ilky dew from the 
 to the art of nicdi- 
 nies. said lie wou'.d 
 powerful anodyne 
 a, and henbane, by 
 
 \h precious crystak 
 which is SO! '"tent 
 fevers in then' fatal 
 Lbitable, many jour- 
 Lvit its marvelous 
 [riven it the name of 
 
 
 EXTRACTING MII.K I-KOM TIIK 'OW-TKir. 
 
 «i. 
 
 jiillS| 
 
 
 
 •.M) 
 
 analvzcd its pro- 
 
55:i 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 ti 
 
 ilEiiili^^ 
 
 ff 
 
 ^WBUbl 
 
 !i. 
 
 
 ■\ 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 Mil 
 
 ducts, states that its physical properties are exactly similar to those of 
 cow's milk, except ihar il i.> a little more viscous. It is remarkable for 
 containing an enormous quantity of wax. This substance constitutes 
 the half of its weight, and hence the learned chemist proposed to culti- 
 vate the tree in order to extract the wax. 
 
 Mystoriivs of Vo^rtablo lAVv. 
 
 Like animals, j)lants ma\- be infinitely little or infinitely hu^i^e ; the latter 
 astonish us by tlieir coUos.sal proportions, w hile the former esca[)e (uir ken 
 and are only revealed by the microscope. The study of the developni. nt 
 of plants in respect to their mere si/.e pre.senls us with curious contracts. 
 
 Some rudimentaiy ])lants, such as the a.scophori, mouUl funi^M uhieh -o 
 frecjuently in\ade our bread, and the asptr;_;illi uhieh we often see forniuiL; 
 <;lairy repulsi\e-lookinc^ films in the Ihn'ils wr drink, pt)ss(;ss only analiiin-t 
 invisible stalk. Woody plants, on the ct»ntrary, often astonish us Ijy the 
 enormous dimensions of these parts. 'I he old auth(>^,^ who describe (ici- 
 many tell us that there were trees there, from the trunl< of one (-if which 
 beats were made which carried as many as thirty men 
 
 I^'rom the times of antiquity the luxuriant growth of the plane-trci-s on 
 the banks of the l)osphotus and the Black Sea has been the subject of n- 
 mark, and the botanists of our day ha\e provetl that what our forefathers 
 said was in no way exa(.:j;,;erated. 
 
 Men wt re almost inr'in.ed to disbelieve the account of I'lmy, who .-.t.ites 
 that \v. his time there was in Lycia a stout thiivinc; plane-tree in tlu- timrK 
 of w hieh was .Neen a vast j^rotto cirdity-one feet in circumference, the wh<lc 
 extent of wl'iich had been tapestried by naliii\ with a i^rcen and \tl\ely 
 hanL^in;.,' < f moss. Licinius Mutianus, j^overnor cf the pro\ince, chanutd 
 with the deli( ious coolness of this rural hall, .^ave a supper in it toeii^httt ii 
 uuest.- fioni his suite. Aft<:r the ori^v the\- transformed the scene ot thi ir 
 festivity into a dormilor), and comlortably jiassifl the nii;ht there. 
 
 This fact liu^ been fiill_\' coi'.firmed Iiy modem tra\elleis. l)e Candolle 
 rel.iles that accordin;_j to I lu- of theiii, there still exists in the neicjjhborlmcMl 
 of Constantinojile an eiioinious linK--tree, the trunk of which is quite ,is 
 ample as that of whieh we lia\i' l)ei'n speakin;^. It is 150 feet in circiim- 
 fer nee, and ;ilso present-- a ra\ ity vSo let t in circuit. 
 
 A Tver 'riaiisrornicd into a Chmcli. 
 The Re\. j, Ray, an l-aii^lish clerL:j_\-man who wrote a \aluable work tui 
 botany, speaks e,f an oak- e.sistini^ in his time in (lermany which wa-^i^t 
 such dimetr^iotv- ;hat it had been transformed irito a citadel. To ronlnic 
 ourselves niore .strictly to the truth, let us just say that its interior served 
 as a ijuaiil house We mav here mention another tree of the same kuid, 
 
ir to those of 
 ;markable for 
 cc constitutes 
 loscd t(i culti- 
 
 igc ; tllL- latter 
 jscapc <Hir ktii 
 c ckvclopiiKiit 
 ious coin lasts, 
 'iiiit^i u lii( h s(i 
 en see ImniinL,' 
 only an alnin t 
 nish us by the 
 ) describe (in- 
 
 r (MIC of w iii( ii 
 
 j)lane-tie(.s on 
 e subject (i( r 
 (lui- forefathers 
 
 inu , wild states 
 ee in the tnink 
 
 i \ 
 
 
 III ,!■, 
 
 ; 'i| 
 
 .:,:i:| 
 
 r 
 
 ^•'¥:^:,.:*1H 
 
 ;gil 
 
 r;rf :f.# I? ^; ■#•■## ^. 
 
1 fl 
 
 N • : 
 
 * 
 » 
 
 6fr1 
 
 F.ARTII. .SI:A, and SKY. 
 
 M 
 
 i» ■ 'I I 
 
 still ^rowinc,' in N'ormaiidy, and whith, in contrast to tin- other, has been 
 consecrated to piety. This is ilic cha|)cl oak of Alloiu illc, in which there 
 is an altar dedicated to the Virijin, where on certain days nias>, is saiil. 
 The ample hollow ot this tree not only iurnishcs an oratory, but aljove this 
 a slccpinj^-roonj has been scooped out; tlnre is a bed in this room touliirh 
 access is ^jained by steps outside : it is the abode of an anchorite. This 
 tree, which iKrrhaps sheltered in its shade tlu' companions of theSei^nv n. 
 tie Ik-thencf)urt when on their way to embark for the confiui.-st of tlic Ca- 
 naries, is hehl in j^reat veneration in the country. 
 
 One of the most illustrious and philosopiiic botanists, Mar(iuis, re- 
 nowned alike for his eminent position and knowledge, mea.su red the 
 trunk of this tree, and i'ound that it was thirty feet in circumference near 
 the ground. There may be seen on the banks of the Bosphorus pi. me- 
 troes the trunks of which were pierced with enormous cavities. In the 
 neighborhood of Smyrna there is one of these trees celebrated for it.s 
 size and antitjuity. I'he stem which is hollowed right through, is spread 
 widely out at the base, and represents three columns, '\hich converj^c 
 towards each other, forming a sort of porch beneath which a m.in on 
 horseback can pass easily. 
 
 A Vo^ctnhle (iioliatli. 
 
 Yet the baobab on the banks of the Niger, in its splendid luxuriance 
 of growth, surpasses even all the gi.mts of the Hosphorus. It is espe- 
 cially remarkable for its thickness, contrasted with its waiU ot hei;^ht 
 It is a colossus of ungraceful look. ( )i e.iMonally without lea\es, hear- 
 ing them only in the rain\' season, its ulntish conical trunk, scarcely 
 fifteen to twenty feet in height, is mon- than a hundred feet in circum- 
 ference at the level of the grountl. ihis short and robu.'-t support is 
 IV cessary to sustain its increiiiljly large dome of leaves, the bulk of 
 which is sometimes so great that, seen Irom a distance, the baob.ib look^ 
 rather like a small forest than .i single trei-. Its large branches are liliy 
 to sixty feet long. When time has iiollowetl out the stem <.!' unc ii 
 these noble trees, the negroes make use of the cavit\'. Sometimes tliey 
 turn it into a place of amusement, a rustic retreat where they can smoke 
 their chibouques and take refreshment ; at other times they convert ;t 
 into a prison One of these is known of which the Scnegambi.ins liavi- 
 converted the mtcrior into a council-h.ill ; the entrance is covered with 
 sculptures which point out the high destination resetvcd for it. 
 
 The leaves are of a deep green, and divided into five unequal parts. 
 each of which forms a narrow lanceolate fignre, radiating iVom a com- 
 mon centre, the outermost being smallest. Die tlowors. which t;row 
 
CURK)SIIII-:S OF THK VIi lETAMLK KINGDOM 
 
 nr^sy 
 
 singly in a pendulous position, before iie appearance of the leaves, arc 
 I.irfje and white, crumpled at the ed^jc, he petals being much reflexed ; 
 the stamens numerous, and collected into a tube, which spreads at the 
 top into an umbrella-like head, from which rises a slender curved style, 
 terminating in a rayed stigma. 
 
 The bark and leaves of this tree possess considerable emollient proper- 
 ties, of which the natives take ad\antaL;e. The nali\es n\ikc a dail\ iim- 
 of tile pouiuletl leaves of llu- boabab, which they call /<//<', to mi. \ with 
 their food, for the pur[)ose of mducing perspiration. Its flowers an' pro- 
 portioned to the gigantic trunk, their breadth being from five to six inclus. 
 The fruit, called by the French settlers on the Senegal monke\- bread, is 
 ovoiil, pointed atone of its extremities, ami from eight to eighteen inches 
 long by six or seven broad. It encloses in its interior from ten to forty 
 cells, containing kidney-shaped seed, surroumled 1)\- mucilaginous pulp, 
 which is sweet, and of an agreeable flavor ; the juice, when extracted and 
 mixed with sugar, forms a beverage \ery useful in the putrid anil pestil- 
 ential fevers of the counliA". The friul is transportetl into the eastern and 
 southern parts of Africa; and the Arabs carry it to the conntrie> round 
 Morocco, whence it finds its way into ICgypt. The negroes take part of 
 the damaged fruit and the ligneous bark, and burn them for the sake of 
 the ashes, from wliich they manufacture soap by means of palm oil. 
 
 Stran^'e Burial Phico. 
 
 They make a still more singular use of the trunk of the baobab ; they 
 deposit in it the bodies of those among them whom they consider im- 
 worthy of the honors of sepulture. They select the trunk of some 
 baobab already attacked and hollowed out b\- insects or decay; they in- 
 crea.se the cavit)-, and make a kind of chamber, in which they suspend 
 the body. Ihis done, they close up the entrance of this natural tomb 
 with a j)lank. The body be'conies perfectly dry in the int^'rior of this 
 cavity, and becomes a perfect munun\- without further preparation. This 
 kind of sepulture is esjiecially reserved f)r the Gueriots ; they are the 
 musicians and poets, who preside at all fetes and dances at the courts of 
 the negro kings. 
 
 During their life this kind of talent give^ tlu:m influence, and makes 
 them respectcii by other negroes, who 'ook upon and Ikmiot tluni as sor- 
 cerers ; but after death this n^spect is succeded I)\' a kind of horror. 
 These superstitious peojjle imagine that if they consigned the body of 
 one of these sorcerers to tlu' earth, as the\' would the bodies of other 
 men, they would draw up(Mi themselves the celestial malediction. I lence 
 tile monstrous baobab st'r\'es as their resting place. It is a strange senti- 
 
 t*^h *• 
 
n 
 
 y- 
 
 w 
 
 
 iiiifi 
 
 (o.-»(J) 
 
 COLU.-..-AL IJAalJAli 1)1.- Tin: VIKiWN 1.0Kii.STo OF AFKICi,. 
 
l^l, 
 
 p 
 
 
 CURIOSITIKS OF TMK VKOETAIU.R KIXCDOM. 
 
 .).»/ 
 
 mcnt which leads barbarous people to bury their poets between heaven 
 ami earth in the heart of this vei;etable kint^. 
 
 Vet whatever astonishment we may feel at the extraordinary »Iimrn- 
 sions attained by the trunks ot certain trees, the heiiiht to which others 
 irach strilvcs us still more th.m their <^rowth in diameter. Ihc kinjj of 
 our forests, the oak, which poetic fiction looks upon as tin- emblem of 
 passive force, rears its crown of leaves one hundred feet above the soil. 
 
 In the Ivisl the impijsin<j remains of the ancient forest employed in 
 l)Uilding the temple of Jerusalem, the cedars of Lebanon, the object of 
 so much veneration, and wliich the pilrjrim only api>roaches with tiic 
 sounds of a hymn on his lips, spread forth their dark sheets of verdure 
 at a height of 150 feet above the mountain. Supported only by its lle.xi- 
 ble column, which yields and bends beneath the force of the tempest, 
 the wax-palm on the Andes balances its wavin^^ crown in the bosom A 
 the clouds 2CKD feet above the heit^hts whereon it j^rows. 
 (jSiaiits with I1<-:i(1h in tlKt I'loiids. 
 
 Hill no trci: rears its head towards the sky so boldly as the gitjantic 
 cedar of California. One colossus of this species, now hurled down and 
 stretched upon the rock, presented when it stood erect and threatening^ 
 a liL-if^ht of more than 490 feet, that is to say, about ei<;ht times the ele- 
 vation of a house of five stories. It was above i ^o feet in ci. cumfcrence 
 
 The bark of the trunk of one of these giants of our American forests 
 was transported in part to the Crystal Palace at London, where it formed 
 one of the most splendid curiosities, until accidentally destroyed by fire 
 in 1866. It was a monstrous column, above 130 feet in hcij^ht, and 
 which at the level of the ground had a diameter of nearly thirty-four 
 feet. At San hVancisco a piano was placed and a ball given t(^ more 
 than twenty persons on the stump of a cellar which had been brou<:;ht 
 thither. The age of this colossus corresponds to its dimensions. By 
 counting the number of annual rings in a transverse section, it was as- 
 certained that the.se monstrous trees must be several thousand years old, 
 .so that they seem to have stood erect and unshaken amidst many of the 
 commotions of the crlobe 
 
 Alongside of these giants stretched prostrate on theground, man only 
 looks like a pigmy and feels his littlcne.«is. He calls them the mammoths 
 of the forest, to show that, like those frightful animals which surpassed 
 all others in their size, they tower above all the vegetable kingdom. 
 
 VogotJiblo Fjonffovity. 
 
 Rut if anything ought to astonish us in the life of trees it is their lon- 
 gevity ; we might even go farther, and speak of the principle of eternity 
 
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 wliicli is clearly latent in some species, the death of which seems rather 
 to depend upon fortuitous ( ircunistances tiian on the fact of a^e. llic 
 life of animals is quite ephemeral compared to that of our trees. Minute 
 investii^ations have thrown considerable li^^ht upon the chronoloi^y of 
 many of them. Some of them live commonly 200 or 300 years. 
 
 The pine and ^reat chestnut can assuredly extend their existence U> a 
 term of 400 or 500 years. In the island of Teneriffe are found many ven- 
 erable pines and enormous ch'.'snut-trces, which, in all probability, were 
 planted there by the Conqui.stadores at the commencement of the fifteenth 
 centur\-, the epoch of the invasion of this island. The former are dis- 
 tinguishable from the others, owinc^ to the conquerors havins^ in their 
 piety decorated them nearly all with little madonnas, which are still .seen 
 suspended to their boughs. 
 
 The lime-tree of Morat, planted at Fribourg on the day of the cele- 
 brated battle, is one of the oldest trees in Europe. This glorious event 
 in the history of Switzerland, having occurred in the year 1476, the ven- 
 erated tree, which is encircled by a colonnade;, and of which the aijed 
 branches are upheld by a framework of wood, must be now more than 
 400 years old. 
 
 The fir attains a still greater age. In some of the most ancient forests 
 of Germany, situated on mountain summits, as many as 700 annual layers 
 have been counted on sonic of the trees cut down there. 
 
 The olive-tree, so rev. 'red in ancient Greece, and which inspired such 
 beautiful ver.ses in the tragedy of yEdipus by Sophocles, reached a much 
 greater age, according to the ancient myth. Pliny even asserts that in 
 his time the celebrated olive-tree which Minerva cau.scd to spring from 
 the ground at the epoch of the foundation of the city of Cecrops was still 
 to be seen in the citadel of Athens. 
 
 Sheltering an Army. 
 
 An immense tree on the road from Vera Cruz to Mexico is celebrated 
 for having sheltered the whole army of PVrnando Cortez beneath its mighty 
 shade. Its birth, according to some botanists, seems to date from an epocli 
 so remote as to be almost beyond our ken. As its trunk, which is 1 17 feet 
 in circumference, surpas.ses that of the baobabs, and as its growth is slower 
 that theirs, De Candolle supposes this tree may be several thousand years 
 old. The army of Cortez was composed of six hundred Spanish fo^t- 
 soldicrs, forty horsemen, and nine small pieces of artillery. 
 
 Meanwhile we ought not to be astonished at seeing some botani.sts look 
 upon trees as so many beings, the life of which is unlimited, and many of 
 which, born amid the debris of former cataclysms, still vegetate full ofsap 
 
r 
 
 h seems ratlin 
 t of at;e. I'lic 
 tr(X's. Minute 
 chronolos^y nf 
 years. 
 
 existence Ui a 
 lund many \xu- 
 robability, were 
 ; of the fiftctiuh 
 "ormer are dis- 
 laving in tluir 
 ;h arc still sccii 
 
 lay of the cclc- 
 
 jrlorious event 
 
 1476, the veii- 
 
 /hich the ai^t'd 
 
 now more than 
 
 ancient forests 
 lO annual layers 
 
 1 inspired such 
 
 cached a much 
 
 asserts that in 
 
 to sprint^ from 
 
 !ecrops was still 
 
 CO is celebrated 
 rjcath its miL;lUy 
 c from an ei)och 
 ,hich is 1 1 7 feet 
 rowth is slower 
 thousand years 
 d Spanish fodt- 
 
 e botanists look 
 :d, and many of 
 Tctate full of sap 
 
 n 
 
 m 
 
 I IK;]: Hi!: 
 
 (559) 
 
660 
 
 EARTH, SEA AND SKY. 
 
 and vigor. Dc Candollc, who pvits forward tliis opinion, considers th 
 giants of our forests as so many aLji;regatcs of individuals, or buds, annu- 
 ally succeeding on the stem, which thus represents a living' soul. 'I liis 
 .stem grows on, century after century, and only succumbs by accident, as 
 when struck by lightning, or when its suckers cannot find nutritive juices. 
 Thus then, we repeat, actual science demonstrates what antiquity liail 
 only dimly seen. 
 
 ii 
 
 dragon's-hlood trek of the isl.\nd of tenekiffe. 
 
 The slow development of the trunks of certain trees at once ca'ls i ]; 
 images of immobility and eternity. The dragon's blood tree of the Cana- 
 ries awakens such thoughts. Thrice famous for its strange look, its vast 
 size, and its antiquity, this dragon's-blood tree is equally so for the station- 
 ary condition of its growth. In the legends of Teneriffe we are told that 
 tliis singular tree was worshipped by the Guanches, its original inhabit- 
 
CURIOSITIES OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 
 
 5(11 
 
 ants; and it is related that in tlic fif'tcLntli ccntur)- mass was celebrated in 
 the interior of its trunk, a fact e\en lately attested by the vestig-es w hieh 
 WLi-e seen of a little altar. This tree ^n-ows so slowly that after a tolerably 
 lon.Lj,- interval of time it was not p(>ssible to verify an\- chaiii^e in its cir- 
 cuniterence. 
 
 n was accuratel)' measured in 1402 b_\- the companions of Bethc-ncmirt 
 at the time when the\' discovered the island, that is to sa)-. mi-ie than 4X5 
 yeais ayo, and since then it has in vo \\a\- increased in diameter. Time 
 ha> passed o\er without touchin;.^ it. Humboldt, when he ascended the 
 peak of Teneriffe in l/(jn, nvasured this tree a little abo\e the le\-el of the 
 ground, and fiiund it forty-fn-e ieet in circumfeivnce. 
 Wlu're ('aniplior Comes From. 
 
 Whilst the cinchonas and tlie cinnamon conceal their acti\-e juices in 
 the thickness ol the bark, other trees, such a^ the camphoi- laurel, spread 
 thcni tlirouL;"h all their ori;"ans — stems, roots, and leax'cs. These trees, 
 covered with brilliant ;^la/ed leaves of bri;,;"ht L^reen. ornament the re- 
 [TJons of India and ja\a. The camphor which the\- furnish is extracted 
 in the easie.st manner: all the nati\-es ha\e to do is to break up the tree 
 into small pieces, and heat thesi; in water, when the precious essence con- 
 denses on the li(-l of the retort. 
 
 The seeds of some plants are used by the Chinese as soap. Sowerby 
 has suf^-gested that the leaves < I the soapwort miL;ht be used for the pur- 
 pose, as they imdoui)tedl\- were in by-_L;one times, especially it is said by 
 the mendicant friars. The lather formed by boiling or bruising the seeds 
 in water has all the effect t)f soap, .md readil_\- removes grease, .so that we 
 here find nati, spontaneous!)- developing a great manufacturing pro- 
 di' t, which under man's liands has taken two thousand years to bring to 
 its ])resent perfection. 
 
 IV^neath the bu^-ning sun of India, where the naja distils its dreadful 
 venom, the nettles secrete a mortal poison I'his analog)' to the reptile 
 is doublv- exact, so that we are not at all astonished to see a German bo- 
 tanist call the urtic.e " the serpents of the vegetable kingdom." It is in 
 fact b)- the sa.ne kind of organ that the plants introduce the venom into 
 a wound ; and if we look at the minute tpiantit)' withi which one of thei • 
 hairs inoculates us, not perhaps tiie hundred and fifty thousandth part ot 
 a ^.rrain ! — at the rapidity and intensity of the .symptoms — it i.s clear that 
 the poison of the nettle is the deadliest known. 
 
 Our indigenous sjiecies only produce a burning sensation, wh'ch is 
 soon dissi])ated, I)ut those of tropical countries give rise to very seriou"^ 
 results. Leschenault says that he has seen the stin^ of the indented 
 86 
 
 ll^ji'lffti 
 
i 
 
 ii 
 
 502 
 
 KARTII, Si: A, AXn SKY. 
 
 nettle briii;4' c»n the nmst lutniblc sufrciiiiL;- for ;i wliolc week. Another 
 species, which ljiow.-. ;iL Timor, and which the natives call the tle\il's leaf 
 produces such serious wounds, that, accordiiic^ to Schleiden, aniputation 
 is tlie sole means ofsa\in;^^ life. 
 
 Tho ratal I'lias. 
 
 In the niitlsi of this fearful cohort of deadly i)lants, the upas-tree ..f 
 Java stands prominentl)' out as one of those which distil the most tirrihlc 
 juices. Its action is such that a weapon dipj)ed in it at once kills ,iiiy 
 an'mal it strikes. TraveHers relate havin.L^ seeti sexx-ral criminals die in 
 si.K minutes after beini;' pricked below the bosom witli a lancet dii)pcd ii; 
 the juice of this tree. 
 
 \o tree has been the subject of so many ricHculous fables as the upas, 
 and till cpiite lately they were popularly believed. ( )n the faith of a Dutch 
 surgeon it was related tliat the upas Howed from a unic[ue and sin-.ular 
 tree, which \eL;etated in the mitlst of a fri^ditful s'/'litude in Ja\a, " the 
 valley of death." Accordin;.;- to this traveller, no lixinL; creaturt: could 
 resist the poisonous \a;)ors which it e.xhaliMl, and for three or tour leai^nics 
 around only dead bodies and skeletons of men aiul animals were to Ijc 
 met with. The biixls themsel\es which ventured into the surroundiii;'- 
 
 air fe 
 
 the irround as if sti uc]< b\' lisihtnin'j". Criminals condemned t( 
 
 capital punishment alone essa\-ed the ta.sk of wresting its infernal protluce 
 from the tree. Nfany tried the jjcrilous journey, but very few returiitd 
 from it. 
 
 It is disgraceful to be obliged to admit, that we owe the refutation oi 
 this fabulous narrative to so recent a writer as Leschenault. This travel- 
 ler noticed that the famous poison is furnished by two species of trees 
 whicii grow amid the forests of Ja\a. So far frt)m exercising a deleterious 
 influence upon all that surrounds them, they are encompassed by a luxu- 
 rious vegetation, while birds, lizards, and insects lend animation to their 
 boughs and foliage. Tlie learned Frenclinian. while examining one of 
 these trees which he had had cut down, had his face and hands co\ercd 
 witli exudation flowing from the l^roken branches, yet he experienced no 
 bad effects from this circumstance. 
 
 But it is very different when the juice of the upas is introduced uMo the 
 organi.^m b\' means of tlie smallest puncture. A wound of this kiml de- 
 stroys a dog in five or six minutes, as Magendie noticed in his ex];erinients. 
 Eight droj)s of the juice injected into the veins of a horse kill it directly, 
 3Iodiciiio Stored up in tho Vegetable Kinjfrtoin. 
 
 Other plants, more happily gifted, in.stead of tliese deadly poisons 
 elaborate at the same time medicinal aeents and nutritive matters. One 
 
m\ 
 
 jck. An(-)thcr 
 :hc devil's \r:\f 
 cii, aniputalioii 
 
 ic upas-trcr "f 
 ic most tiTiihlr 
 once kills any 
 riniinals da: in 
 ancet dipped in 
 
 .Ics as the upas, 
 faith of a Diitih 
 Lie ami siivjailar 
 k- in Ja\a, " iho 
 >• creature CDuld 
 J or four Icai^ucs 
 mals were to 1)0 
 the surrountlin;^^ 
 lis condemned U> 
 infernal produce 
 cry few reluriKd 
 
 the refutation of 
 lit. This travel- 
 species of trees 
 in^ a deleterious 
 Dassed by a hixu- 
 imation to their 
 aniining one of 
 d hands covered 
 le experienced no 
 
 troduced into the 
 of this kind dc- 
 his exp-erimeiits. 
 
 Le kill it directly, 
 
 deadly poisons, 
 ,-e matters. One 
 
 POISONOUS TKl'.K OR UI'AS OI" |A\A. 
 
 (5f53) 
 
 !■; . I I f! . .L 
 
 ( 
 'I' fl 
 
 Ul.- 
 
 t 
 
 i; 
 
 nil 
 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 1 
 
 ^M 
 
SSIB 
 
 5(it 
 
 EARTH, SEA AND SKY. 
 
 li 
 
 ir 
 
 of these products furnishes a reined) in sickness, another increases the 
 luxury of our tables. This is the case with the rhubarbs. Their Iar>c 
 roots are c|uite full of purgative and stren^^thenin^^f principles, whilst ihij, 
 leaves display .strong .stalk.s wiiic'.i serve for food. In our countr\- an 
 enormous quantity is consumed in the .sprin<,^ for pastry and side-di>lus, 
 and at this time of the year trains of vehicles heavily laden with rhnharl) 
 lea\es are seen arri\inL^ at our markets. 
 
 For lon^f a kind of s\nipathy between certain plants has been obs(.T\((i 
 to exist, as if one lo\ed to be under the shade of the other. Thu.; on the 
 banks of cur rivulets the amaranth-colored flowers of the purple loose- 
 strife constantly adorn the vicinity of the willow. Other j)iants, on the 
 contrary, seem to experience an aversion one for the otiier, antl if man 
 inconsideratel)- compels them to approach each other, they lant^uisii or 
 die. The flax plant, for instance, .seems to ha\e a manifest antipathy for 
 the scabious. At the present time these peculiarities are ex|)iaine(l In- 
 assuming that the rojts emit protlucts favorable to certain species and 
 hurtful to others, 
 
 3Iarvol<>iis ICastorn Story. 
 
 Among the strange stories to be found in the narratix'es of the earl\- 
 travellers, few are more strange than that of the vegetable lamb of Tar- 
 tar}-. This story, as believed b\' the reading i)ublic,and even b)- the nat- 
 uralists of two centuries ago, is so marvelous, and so obviously absurd, 
 that the greatest wonder is that it e\ er could have been thought to be 
 true, even bv the most credulous in a dark age. 
 
 It was believed that in an elevated and uncultivpted salt-plain of groat 
 extent, west of tin- rixer Volga, there was to be found a wonderful crea- 
 ture, half animal and half plant, to which the natives gave the name of 
 barometz, meaning little lami). .Struvs informs us that the Tartars ami 
 Muscovites esteem it ver\- much, and the greater part preserve it with 
 great care in their tlwelling.s, where he had seen many of them. 
 
 To obtain it the Tartars .sow in the ground a seed like that of a melon. 
 from which in due time rises the strange i)lant, having the figure of a 
 Iamb, with the tcet, hoofs, ears, and the whole head, except the horns, o! 
 that animal, distinctly formed. It grows on a stalk about three feet in 
 height, being, according to one version, rooted to the ground bj' its four 
 feet, while another account raises the whole lamb, feet and all, from the 
 ground on a single stem, on which it is able to turn, and also to bow 
 itself downwards to the herbs on wliich it feeds. It lives as long as there 
 is grass and herbage around it, but when it has consumed all within it.s 
 reach it flies and withers away. Its skin is covered with a very white 
 
increases tin. 
 Tlieir lai'Ljc 
 .'s, whilst tlu ii 
 .ir couiiti'v an 
 id sitlc-(li>liL's, 
 I with rhiiharl) 
 
 been ohs(.r\ rd 
 Thii.; Mil til'- 
 ' purple loiise- 
 p'.ants, on the 
 er, and if man 
 cy huiL^uisp (ir 
 t antijjathy fur 
 J explained 1)\- 
 in species and 
 
 js of the early 
 ; lamb of lar- 
 ,'en b\- the nat- 
 viousK' absiu'd, 
 thou<rht to be 
 
 })lain of threat 
 vonderful crea- 
 e the name nl 
 le Tartars and 
 reserve it \\idi 
 t'nem. 
 
 at of a melon. 
 the fi'^ure ol a 
 )t the hoi-ns, ot 
 It three feet in 
 
 nd b)- its foil I- 
 id all, from the 
 d also to bow- 
 ls lono- as there 
 d all within its 
 h a very white 
 
 ii 
 
 cuRKJSiTiEs Ol' riiH \-i:gktaiii.i-; KIXi.Ix i.M. 
 
 Oti") 
 
 down, as fine as silk, and is i^rj-^atly jirized by the Tartars, who pull it imT, 
 and wear it as a rover for the head. Inside it is c(;nipo.;ctl of ilcsh and 
 bones, and when wounded it i;ives out a lic[uid resembling blood. W'ob.cs 
 are said to be the only animals that will eat it, aiul the\- are \er\- foiul of it. 
 
 L'MQUE T.\KTAKIAN LAMB. 
 
 Specimens of this remarkable production were looked upon as tiie 
 rarest treasures in the collections of the curious in days gone b}-. Two 
 different specimens have been described in the " Philosophical Trans- 
 action.s " and a third has its portrait Lji\en in an enijraving in Mr. 
 
 
 m 
 
 ir:ilJ 
 
 '."'kM^W 
 
 ^Wi- 
 
 
 'itm-m 
 
i m^ 
 
 ffiS:' 
 
 uC^Ct 
 
 EAh'TH, Si:.\, AND Si^^•. 
 
 Diruin's - I'loui r (iardi-ii." aiul its history told in the tlorid verse of that 
 work. These various fii^ures ha\e In-en introduced !)>' the artist into !iu' 
 acconii)an>-inL,' illustration, uhieh not only i^ives tlu; old (able, hut it^ 
 modern interpr^'tation as well. 
 
 The" lanil)"is a n.ilural production, ^reall\- hel])ed in the de\el..p- 
 nienl of the j)articulars in which it most resembles that ere aturc l)\ ij,.. 
 in^^i'uuits- of the natives. The body is a portion of the creei)in-- st-'m ,,t 
 a tribe of ferns, which ^^enerall\' ^row as erect as trees. This stem i- 
 densely co\ered with beautiful jointed silky hairs of a rich i^olden cojur 
 On the surface next the j4ronnd a few roots are p;i\en off, while the leavo 
 —or fronds, as they are called in ferns — sprin-' from the upper surfa. ••. 
 'I he fronds are as much as tueUe or fourteen feet hii,di, and ha\i' a |..ii.^ 
 bare stalk bef<Me the leaf is spread out. The Tartar takes a suitable pwi 
 tion of this creepinL;- stem for a body, deprives it of the roots, and ( f all 
 tile leaf stalks except four, which are intended to be the leL;s, two sli'Mt 
 ones for the ears, and a stumj) for the tail, and then turnin;_M't up-ade- 
 down, trims the stem, and so produces this mar\el of the early explMmx. 
 The fern is a native of Eastern Asia; it lias been introduced into nur 
 conser\atories, where it flourishes, producing;-, after a few years' -^mutli. 
 ^aiod specimens of the " lamb. 
 
 Ihe silky hairs of this fern form a fa\-orite remed_\- anioni;- the Cdinicsr 
 foi- checking; the flow of blood b\- apply in l^^ them to a wound, in the same- 
 way as felt or cobwebs are used b\- some people in this country. The 
 more fibrous and elastic haiis of several .species of the .same group, na- 
 tives of the Sandwich Islands, are lari^ely exported from these islaiKb tn 
 California and Australia for stufhn<j cushions, and similar puqioses. 
 
 The Kamtvsia. 
 " Conu' with nie, sir ; come ! A flower, \ery large, beautiful, wonder 
 ful I'' exclaimetl a Malay, who drew tlie attention of Dr. Arnold [n a 
 flower, remarkable alike for its enormous size and its anomalous structure 
 and habit. Ami the surprise of the Mala}- was nothing compared uiih 
 that of Dr. Arnold and his companions. Sir Stamford and Lad}- Kallks, 
 when, following their nati\e attendant, they saw among the bushes cf a 
 jungle a flower apparent!}' springing out of the ground, without stem e 
 leaf, and measuring at least a \'ard in diameter. The first news of tlii- 
 remarkable disco\-er\' created a great amount of curiosity in Europe, and 
 no papers ever read at the Linnrean Society can be compared, for the in- 
 interest they excited, with those in which the illustrious Robert Brown 
 described this wonder of the vegetable world. 
 
 Sir Stamfortl Raffles having been appointed governor of a settlement in 
 
^, 
 
 CrRl(»SITIi:S Ol' Tin-; VIXIKTAULF. KIXtlDoAl, 
 
 507 
 
 )ri<l vcrsc" of that 
 the artist i'iUm tiic 
 
 lid fahlr, l);it ii>, 
 
 1 111 tlk' (k\clM])- 
 t Cl\:atllli- 1)\ li|.. 
 cr(jc[)iiiL;- st'in i,| 
 s. This strm i. 
 ich golden cni(ir 
 "", while till' lca\(.;.s 
 
 and ha\L' a !> iiiv 
 cs a suitahlc pur- 
 ' roots, and I f all 
 ic 1c"l;'s, t\\ I > sli'.rt 
 iirniny; it iip-.iik'- 
 c cai'ly cxplnrcis;. 
 roduccd into nur 
 '\v years' s^rowdi. 
 
 lon;^' til;' riiiiirsc 
 
 »und, in tin- sanif 
 
 s country. Tlu: 
 
 same 5^'roii];, 11,1- 
 
 leautiful, wondi r 
 
 ")r. Afiiold t'' a 
 
 nialous stnictuiv 
 
 ;■ compared w ilh 
 
 )f a settlement in 
 
 Sumatra, and impelled l)\- his L^reat Io\-e for nature, resoKed to explore 
 that litile-k.ioun island. On iiis lust journe\-, in iSiS, he took with him 
 1 )r. Arnold, an anient and proniisini;' naturalist, who diei.1 as a new world 
 ^\ as opcninjT before him. He, however, discovered this ^d^anlie llowcrj 
 
 his drawings and descriptions were left unfinished, but his patron carefully 
 preserved andpeifected them, and Robert Ilrown perpetuatei' the memory 
 of both in connection with the plant, b)' naming it Rafflcsia Ar)ioldi. 
 
 The most striking feature in the RaffLsia is its enormous size ; indeed, 
 it is the largest and most magnificent flower in the world. It is compo.sed 
 
 ■■< ' 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 ' i 
 
 , ^ 
 
 m 
 
 W" 
 
 i 
 
 ' -2 
 
 i . I ! 
 
 Hf V 
 
 
 
 '\X' 
 
 I'-: ■ 
 
 
 
 -5 ih . 
 
 4 -.r,.^ 
 
 4l1 
 

 "vNm 
 
 m0 
 
 5f!8 
 
 EARTH. SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 im 
 
 I 
 
 11 
 
 r^ V. 
 
 ofliVL: roiindisli Icaws or petals, each a foot ultoss. nfa brick red color 
 but covered with numerciis irre;;ular }TlI()\vi>li w liile sweUiiii^s. 'Mu. 
 petals siirrdiiiul a lari^o cup nearly a foot wide, tlie margin of which beats 
 the stamens; and this cup is filled \sith a tle-.hy di-k-,the upper surfaci; . it' 
 which is e\er\\\heie covered with curved j)roject:<)ns, like minialuiv 
 cow's horns. The cup, when freed frt>m its contents, would hold ahmt 
 twelve pints «/f water. The llmver weiL;hs fiftet'n pounds. It i^ \irv 
 thick; the petals bein;.; fioni one to three-(|u. liters of an iiich. 
 <iiorj;«'<>iis I''h»Avrr willi Hrpiilsivo 0<lor. 
 
 A flower of such dimensions and wei;j;ht miL;ht bo expected to be a 
 treasure to the perfumer ; but, alas, its odor is exactly that of tainted 
 beef! Dr. Arnold supposed that even the flies whiclt swarmed over the 
 flower when he discovered it were deceived* by its smell, and were de- 
 positinL,^ their eg;^s iti the thick disic, taking,- it for a piece of carrion ! 
 
 Another cause of wonder to the little band of explorers who discov- 
 ered it, was that they ccndd find no leaves connected with it. It sprau'r 
 from a small, leafless creeping stem, about as thick as two fingers. Now 
 a plant w ilhont le:ives is like an animal wathout a .'stomach ; for the 
 leaves are to the plant what the stomach is to tlic animal ; they scpaiMto 
 from the air the food needed for the growth of the plant. Without 
 them tliere could be no wood, no bowers, no fruit, no seed. Plant-;, 
 therefore, have leaves — soine consist of only a leafy expansion, and c\' n 
 the single cells of minute and microscopical plants are really leaves re- 
 duced to their simplest structure. 
 
 There are, however, strange plants which are actually leafiess, making 
 up for this want by using the leaves of others. Such plants are called 
 parasites, because they feed on the nutritive juices of others. Thrusting 
 their roots into the living tissues of other plants instead of into tli • 
 earth, they appropriate the pre{)ared food of these plants, and at once aji- 
 ply it to their own purposes for the production of stem, or fiowcr, or 
 fruit. The most familiar example of such a parasite is, perhaps, the 
 dodder, one kind of which infests cultivated flax, while others are found 
 on clover, heath, and whin. The gigantic RaJJIcsia belongs to this class. 
 Without a vestige of foliage, it rises at once from the long slender stems 
 of one of the wild vines of Sumatra — immense climbers, which are at- 
 tached like cables to the largest trees in the forest. 
 
 The buds push through the bark like Httle buttons, continuing to 
 grow until they have the aspect of large closed cabbages, and in about 
 three months after their first appearance, the flower expands. It re- 
 mains but a short time in perfection, soon beginning to rot, leaving only 
 
CURI().SlTIi:S OK TIIF. VKGETABLl-: KlNi.Do.M. 
 
 rm 
 
 rick red culor. 
 L'lliiiL;s. 'i iv 
 of which hi .11 1 
 |)]-)cr surfiici.- ..(■ 
 like iniiiiatmv 
 lid hold ah' lilt 
 Is. It is \Liy 
 
 cpectcd to \m: a 
 hat of taiiitcil 
 irincd over tlu 
 , and were de- 
 of carrion ! 
 ■s who discov- 
 i it. It sprang 
 ) fin;:jers. X'AV 
 imach ; for tho 
 ; they .sci)aiMtc 
 lant. Without 
 
 seed. Plants 
 ision, and c\'' n 
 
 illy leaves re- 
 
 afless, niakiii;^ 
 
 nts are callul 
 
 rs. Thrustiii; 
 
 d of into til ■ 
 
 uid at once ap- 
 
 or llower, or 
 
 perhaps, the 
 
 lers are found 
 
 s to this class. 
 
 slender stems 
 
 which are at- 
 
 continuing to 
 i, and in about 
 pands. It rc- 
 t. leaving only 
 
 the central disk, which becomes a larfje, rough fruit, filled with multi- 
 tude of small, simple seeds. 
 
 Itrilliaiit 'l'ro|tu-iil .Srciir. 
 
 One of the arms of the Delta, through which the /.ainhtsi pours its 
 waters into the .sea is the Congone. v\ richly colored pulure unfukls 
 ilsilf before the cyvs of the explorer who attempts to tra\el 1)\' it into the 
 iiitiiior of the country. The first twenl)- miles is shut in hftui'cn marshy 
 lands and m;uigro\e trees, the latter often dr.iped in \ahial)le liclKiis, w Inch, 
 ii.iui\er, (io not seem to he gallu'U'd. (iiaiil ferns, shi'uh-liki- i).ilm trees 
 blinded here anil there with the w iUl date ))alm, are .s^xn throughout the 
 forest, but the greatest number of trees found in them aie the ni;uigro\e 
 tree, or rhi/ophora. 
 
 These true amphibious ])lanls do not lo\e to he fettered to the 
 ciiitli, hut throw out w ick.'-spn ading roots into the bed i f the ri\er, and 
 iinl content with this, send down fr.mi their wide-spit'ad hranehes 
 aerial roots like strong ro[)es, which strike root as soon as th^y^ ton ii the 
 _L;round, pro\ iding the parent stem with fresh support and nouris.uueiit, 
 but making the tangle of roots by the shore almost impenetrable. The 
 clusters of their pale yellow fruit contrast pleasaritly with the bright green 
 leaves, but are not good to eat. In many places patches i4 milola, with 
 large pale yellow blos.-.oms, co\er the shore. Rope is made from the bark 
 of this plant, and it is principally u.sed for the lines to which the harpoons 
 arc fastened; harpooning being the fa\()iite method of the uati\es f )r ca[)- 
 luring the hippo] )otamus. 
 
 As we ad\"nce, screupines become \isible, and on passing from the 
 
 Congone into the Zambesi we find some of them as high as church steeples, 
 
 and Livingstone tells us of the remark made b}- an old sailor who said 
 
 that to finish otT the picture " there only wanted a grog shop h_\' the 
 
 church." h'urther on, the lemon trees begin to be visible. The sombre 
 
 woods re-echo to the jox'ous, merr\' song of the kingfisher. As the steamer 
 
 ploughs through the winding river l)ed, a pretty little heron or brilliant 
 
 kingfisher rises with a ci\' of terror fi'om the ri\er bank', flies beftire irs for 
 
 a short ilistance and settles quietly down, to be scared away again in a 
 
 little time. The beautiful fish hawk sits on the crest of a n^'angrove tree, 
 
 to iligest ids breakfast of raw fish: he has made up his mind not to .stir, 
 
 and it is onl\' when we are close upon him that bespreads his wide wings 
 
 and takes to flight. 
 
 Billowy Soa of Fire. 
 
 The brilliant ibis, with its keen sen.se of hearing, catches the unaccus- 
 tomed sound from afar, and springing up from the mud, where it is enjoy- 
 
 ■'fyiiflf'' I 
 
 I 
 
 ™ 
 
 • : If ■ 
 
 ;,!« 
 
 
 % 
 
(1 
 
 ( 
 
 lil 
 
 m \^^ 
 
 '\v}^ 
 
 H , a 
 

 
 Cl'RIOSITIES OF THE VEGETABLi: KINGDOM. 
 
 571 
 
 hv a quiet family dinner, is far away l)c'f()n' tlic (lani;cr approaclus, uttcr- 
 in' a loud hoarsely contcm[)tiU)Us ha I ha I ha I as it Hies. The rhi/.ophcra 
 
 are now 
 
 behi 
 
 ind us, antl in their i)!ace stretch wide le\e 
 
 S () 
 
 f rich l)lack 
 
 car 
 
 th, co\ered with piant o'rasses, which rise ab()\c the hnnter's head, and 
 
 make the chase inipo 
 
 ssible. W'hc-n the sjrass withei-s, it is set on hre 
 
 and the conflai^ration pri' ' nts an\' threat abumlance of trees from beini;- 
 • q-own ; for onl)' a few va leties, such as a fan [)alm, are able to escape the 
 
 sea of tn"e w 
 
 hich 
 
 raises every year across the i^rass)' plains 
 
 Ret 
 
 ween the 
 
 th 
 
 bananas and ccjcoa palms on the ri<^ht bank of the ri\er appear se\eral of 
 the natixe hats; the\- stand only a few feet abo\ e the moist j^round, and 
 
 ai'i-' 
 
 built on piles and entered b\- means ( 
 
 .flad 
 
 aers. 
 
 T 
 
 le soil IS wy\ 
 
 fertiK 
 
 an( 
 
 the i^ardens are reallv' excellent. Rice is _<;roun in ^reat abundance; 
 
 I)ea-, and a little cotton and suiiar- 
 
 atalas 
 
 'ourtls, tomato. 
 
 ;oln, onii ins, 
 
 ca 
 
 lie are obtained 
 
 It IS 
 
 said that in the course of a ft'W \ 
 
 ears 
 
 tl 
 
 le 
 
 pi)ta- 
 
 tocs lose their taste, and assume the tlax or this i)roduct has w lu.n frost-bit- 
 
 tcii. 
 
 Ctil 
 
 t was Leuwt-n 
 tl 
 
 hceck wiio first of all noticed that tlu 
 
 \ (.' 
 
 •tal.)l 
 
 e seed 
 
 ntams the ^ouni;' plant in miniature, tracetl out in the midst ot its en- 
 
 \eloues, ; 
 
 UK 
 
 1 onl 
 
 \- w 
 
 aitinsj" for fa\orin<'" ciri:iimstances to expand its lea\ t.-s 
 
 aiul 
 
 lowers. 
 
 Tl 
 
 uis, lookin;4" plulosophicallx' 
 
 at the snbjt.'ct, w 
 
 e ma\' sa\' 
 
 that certain j)!ants are \i\iparoii- 
 imi)atience of the embryo is so _t 
 
 dherc are e\en some in which the 
 
 reat, thai in order to reach the air 
 
 and 
 
 li;4ht more (.|uickl)', it precipitatel\- escapes from its eL;;^' whik' this still 
 adheres to the nn^ithcr. 
 
 Kxtraordiiiary 31aiiyi"ov<' 'rr<M>-I"'isli. 
 
 This peculiarit)' is seen in the many;roves, siianL;e iilanls, half-tree, half- 
 tish, liviuL;' half-pluuL^ed in the .sea or the lai^^oons of tropical America, 
 and India. .Suspended al)o\e the water by their bent branches, often 
 ([uite co\'ered with o\sters, these trees let drop throu;.^h their foliaL;e Ioiil; 
 
 n)o 
 
 ts of embr\"os which luu'e LTcrminated in the 
 
 uit. 
 
 Tl 
 
 lese, pel 
 
 rfectb 
 
 adapted to the work the\' ha\e betore them, are like little [)ointed clubs, 
 and lia\e attained a length of from ten to fourteen inches at the time 
 when the\" are to fall into the water; so that the\' sink deep into the nuid 
 which encircles the mother plant and fc^.rm a fanu'l}- i;roup arounc' her. 
 
 Some parasites germinate on the plants or animals on the surface of 
 which we find them. This occurs in the microscopic fungi which attack 
 
 (uir liair and beard 
 
 and 
 
 bri 
 
 on most harassinsj' diseases, tetters and 
 
 tinc;e, as the labors of the microscopists of our day ha\e placed be\'(^nd 
 a doubt. Similar to these are certain parasitic plants, which are never 
 fouiul except ujion certain insects. 
 
 'mm f 
 
 
 ij 
 
 - 'T S. 
 
 Bf 
 
 
 ^HWt I 
 
'> : Hfi' 
 
 572 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 
 m 
 
 * 
 
 » 
 
 
 
 \im 
 
 At other times <^orniinati()n takes placo under \er\' straii_L;e eondiii.ins. 
 Vaiuleniionde saw ehiklren in whose ikxscs peas had germinated tiMin 
 havinp^ been imprudentl)- introdueed. Another pli\'sician, lin'ra, nun- 
 tions ha\'ing opened the hotly of a sohlier whose stomach was fillrd with 
 barle\- wliicli was devchipincf itscH' there. 
 
 Plants, like animals, lia\'e a cireulation. It is to that universal L;cniiH 
 Claude I'errault, at one and the same time physician, architect, and natu- 
 ralist, that we owe the disco\ery of this phenoment >!i. The sap, which i- 
 in tact the blood ot the plant, circulates throuL;h its \csscls by nican^ of a 
 power possibl}- t^reatl}- exceeding- that which dri\es the blood throiivdi 
 the arteries of an elephant. The celebrated I hiles made a wr)- curidii^ 
 experiment on this subject. IlaN-ini; fitted a Ion <.^ tube to tlu stem of a 
 x'ouni;- \ ine which he had severed, he saw this fluid rise forty-four f rt 
 hi<4li. Tiiese results appearinij^ very extraordinar\- to the I'^rench ])h\Niolri. 
 Joists, the}' soon repeateil the exj)eriments of the f )reiLMi philosopher, hut 
 the)- were t.^reatl\- astonished to see that they were within the marl<. In 
 fact, Dc Candolle, who was one of the last to mo\e in the matter, noticed 
 that the force with which the sap rises in the \essels of the plant is ei|ii;i! 
 to the pressure of two atmospheres antl a half, or to the weii^ht of a coluiiin 
 of water eight)- feet in height. 
 
 TreiiieiHlous I'^iif-iiicry of Troc's and Plants. 
 
 Fhus in an occult function, wiiich is performetl so mysteriousl)- in tlie 
 \egetable kingtlom, experiment rexeals a powerful energ\- — an energy 
 which surpasses the visible and timuiltuous circulation in the largest 
 animals. Man)- auth(M-ities ha\e stated, not without some foundation, 
 that the sap rises in the \-essels of the \ine with at least five times as much 
 f(Mce as the blood circulates in the crural artery of the horse — the most 
 important blood-vessel of the thigh — and with se\en times as much force 
 as in the same vessel in the dog. 
 
 It is certain that the blood which the heart projects so violentl)- into the 
 vessels of large animals is not dri\en with so much power as impels the 
 sap in its ascending mo\ement. Indeed, ex[)eriments made on the ox 
 and horse ha\'e shc^wn that the impulse given to the arterial blood U(iuUI 
 onh' raise a column of blood about (5 feet 6-^4 inches; the advantage is 
 therefore not at all on the side where it was supposed to be, since accord- 
 ing to what has been already stated, the vegetable circulation raises a 
 weight fourteen times greater than does that of the largest mammals. 
 
 Thus there are vessels of plants, which though not so thick as a hair, 
 are yet more powerful than those of animals that are thicker than the 
 finger. After having made his experiments on the force of ascent in the 
 
w 
 
 ant;'L' conditions. 
 germinated finm 
 an, Hn'ra, nini- 
 1 was filled with 
 
 universal L;oniii> 
 hitect, and natii- 
 "he sap, w Inch i- 
 Is b)- means nf a 
 ■ blood ihrdii'.di 
 e a \'ei-\' curimH 
 to the stem of a 
 se forty-four f ct 
 I'rench i)h_\siiili>. 
 philosopher, hilt 
 n the mark. In 
 c matter, noticed 
 he plant is e(|iia! 
 :i^ht of a column 
 
 iits. 
 
 teriousl)' in the 
 
 t-ri;'}' — an ener;4y 
 
 1 in the lar'^cst 
 
 ;ome foundation, 
 
 "C times as much 
 
 lorse — the most 
 
 s as much fnrcc 
 
 iolentl)- into the 
 er as impels the 
 nade on the ox 
 ■ial blood would 
 the advantai^e is 
 je, since accord- 
 :ulatiori raises a 
 t mammals. 
 ) thick as a hair, 
 ;hicker than the 
 • of ascent in the 
 
 THE WINE-TKEli OR Wi.NE-liliAKlNG SAGO-1'ALM. 
 
 (573) 
 
 I. ! 
 
 
 • i:f 
 
!i 
 
 i 
 
 574 
 
 EARTH, Sr.A, AND SKY. 
 
 sap, Hales attempted to ascertain the rapidity witli which it moved. In 
 order to arrive at this point, he hollowed out a deep hole in the soil, laid 
 hare a small root of a tree, introduced it into a tube filled with water 
 and plunged the tube into mercury. To his great astonishment he very 
 soon perceived that the metal rose in the tube half an inch per minute. 
 
 The sap is formed and moves with such force in certain plants, that it 
 ,is not uncommon to be able to extract a large quantity of it in a shmt 
 space of time. The sugar-maple, scattered over our northern states, pro 
 duces a bucketful in a day. It is from this tree that they get the niapK- 
 sugar consumed throughout the country. 
 
 In the tropical countries a tree yields a product not less precious to 
 man — a wine ready made. This is notliing else than the sap of a species 
 of palm — the wine-bearing sago-palm, whicli grows in Western Africa, 
 and the name of which characteristically indicates the benefits it yields. 
 This vinous sap is mild and sweet when first drawn, but a few hours af- 
 terwards it ferments, and then becomes a most intoxicating drink. Jt is 
 very witlely used, and the tree yields it in profusion. The negroes 
 quickly fill their calabashes with it by hanging them to the petioles of 
 the leaves, which fur this purpo.se are cut off soon after their birth. 
 
 The vegetable circulation has such energy, and the liquid whicii it 
 
 bears away is produced at such a rate, that Scott assures us that out of 
 
 certain birch-trees there Hows, in spring, a quantity of fluid equal to 
 
 their weight. 
 
 Struiigi; Tilings ^(U'kiMl iij* in Trees. 
 
 .Some few years ago, when a large tree in the environs of Orleans was 
 cleft, a cavity quite closed up was found towards its centre, containing a 
 death's-head and crossbones. The astonishment of the public was ex- 
 treme, <uk1 the prodig)^ was talked about everywhere. But realK- thr 
 whole turned upon a \ital phenomenon of which pln-siology gi\es a coiu- 
 ])lete explanation. At a distant epoch some anchorite of the forest, ]ia\- 
 ing probabl)' hollowed the tree, prostrated himself and pra\'ed before these 
 human relics, which he placed in the excavation. Then the recluse ha\ iiiL,' 
 di.sapjjeared in the course of years, nature took up the work again and 
 ingeniously preserved the oratory b\' covering it with thick woody la\ers. 
 
 During the siege of Toulon a ball from the English fieet entered deep 
 into the stem of a pine standing near the town. The wound is now in- 
 \-isible. .Should this tradition be lost, how a.stonished would any one be, 
 on cutting down the tree, to find this enormous mass of iron ! Generally 
 the denser {)lants are, the slower is their growth ; on the contrary, the 
 ■softer their tissues the more rapidW are they developed. 
 
' T 
 
 CURIOSITIES OF THE VEGETAULH KINGlx ) M. 
 
 ;;.;> 
 
 11 it moved. In 
 in the soil, laid 
 [led with water, 
 shment he very 
 ich per minute. 
 n plants, that it 
 of it in a sliiut 
 :iern states, pro- 
 y £^et the mapk- 
 
 less precious to 
 sap of a species 
 U'cstern Afrii a. 
 jnefits it yields. 
 a few hours af- 
 niT drink. It is 
 The nei^rocs 
 the petioles of 
 heir birth, 
 liquid whicii it 
 s us that out of 
 f fluid equal to 
 
 of Orleans was 
 
 re, containing;' a 
 
 public was i \- 
 
 But realh- thu 
 
 UA' <ji\'es a cnin- 
 
 the forest, lia\- 
 
 ed bef(M"e these 
 
 L' recluse ha\ iiiL; 
 
 work aL;ain and 
 
 wood)' layers. 
 
 :et entered deep 
 
 )imd is now in- 
 
 uld any one be, 
 
 on ! Generally 
 
 le contrar\-, the 
 
 '^" i. 
 
 I ! 
 
i.^. 
 
 CIIAITKR XXI I. 
 PERILS OF MOUNTAIX AND DESERT. 
 
 n 
 
 Creation a Musciun of tlie .Marvelous— Awful Mountain Peaks with Veiled Faces- 
 IMont l>lanc— Soverei.q;!! of Mountains— Altenij)! to Ascend the Giant of iIk 
 Alps — .\nibitious Young Naturalist — A Complete Failure— .Sno.vy Chasms— 
 Afraiti to .Sleep — Deterniiiu d to Conquer or Die — Trenil)ling on llie Mountain'^ 
 Fdge— Adventures of Jaccpies Balniat — Blinded by K.^posure— ! )iring F,.\p. 
 dition— Scaling .Snowy Precipices— On the Far Summit— MiserahU f^nd of lial- 
 mat — World Startled by an Alpine Tragedy— A Russian Traveller — 'iwclvc 
 Guides — " Cowards ! "—Forward — An Awful Disaster — Hurled lleadh^ng lliin. 
 drod.. ->f Feet — Death in the Deep Abyss—Bodies Left in the Yawning Ciulf- 
 Ruiinin^ Frightful Risks-Miraculous Fscapes — Recent Ghastly Disci iveries— 
 Rivers of Ice— Fa.mous Mer De Glace— Flower Garden in a Desert of .Snow - 
 Hospital of St. Bernard — Travellers Caught in the Stornr -The Great .St. per- 
 nartl Dog— Rescuing the Perishing— F.xploits of the Dog " Bass" — Dangers of 
 the Desert -Cyclones and Cohnnns of Hot Sand — Air that .Scofclies Man and 
 Beast— Graphic Description of the Storm — Adventures in Africa— Zambesi Falls— 
 Periloiis Ascent of a Nile Cataract. 
 
 VRIAI).S of JntcrcstinL^ anil curious discoveries, facts and mar- 
 vels, ha\'e alread\- e.xciled our astonishment and admiration in 
 tliese pa^'es. If there is aii\thing in the wliole world to cause 
 au'prise, impart useful information, captivate the imaginatidii, 
 hold the reader spell-bound, and so fascinate him as to render Ju'm eaL;er 
 for each new disclosure, we are confident that it is to be found in tliis 
 \-olume, which ma}' justly be called an ej)itonie of the marvelf)us in e\ci\- 
 realm of creation. 
 
 But before passing to the second bt)ok, and di\in<4 into the manifold 
 mysteries of the \-ast\' deep, that great .storeliouse of wonders, A\e are to 
 complete our sur\e\' t)f the land b}' a tour of the mountains and deserts. 
 Behold, then, the auftil peaks whose bald heads \ail their faces at times 
 with clouds, and the wide, .sandy plains, those oceans on shore, as tlic\- 
 may proper!}- l)e called, which abide from age to age in their forbiddiiT^^ 
 desolation and solitude ! These must not be overlooked. 
 
 Mont Blanc, as far as Europe is concerned, may justly be sung as — 
 
 The Monarch of mountains, 
 which the genius of nature crowned 
 
 On a throne of rocks, in a robe of clouds, 
 With a diadem of snow. 
 Let us examine some of the narratives of the different attempts which, 
 (576) 
 
I'KRILS OF MOUNTAIN ANb DESERT. 
 
 0< / 
 
 have been made at various epochs to climb this immense colossal mass, 
 iv;^^ardecl as ii'-'.ccessible by man until the close of ilie last ccnturx'. 
 
 riic summit of Mont iManc is 15,739 feet ab()\e the sea-le\el. Prior to 
 tiie celebrated Morace Jk-iiedict de Saussurc, no person had conceixxil the 
 uLa of climbini; its scarped Hank. It was not ewn Imowii wlnlher die 
 rarefaction of the air at elevations so loft}- would not pro\e fatal to human 
 life. 
 
 Sanssure was not twenty j'cars old when he first dreamed of attackin.4 
 the _L;i«;it of the Alps. In his first visit to Chamouni, in 1760, the youn;^ 
 naturalist published it abroad in all i)art.s of the xailey that he would gi\e 
 a sufficient reward to the guides wiio disco\ered a jiracticable route to 
 Mont Blanc. He e\en promised to pa)' the da)''s wages of tliose w lu^se 
 attempts provetl fruitless. Rut his liberal offers led to no result. 
 
 It was not until fifteen years afterwards, in 1775, that four guides of 
 Chamouni succeeded in making the perilous ascent. After triumphing 
 (i\er the obstacles which opposed their progress on the glaciers, incess- 
 aiitl\- intersi'cted by immense cre\asses, the four guides i)enetrated into a 
 great valle\' of snow, which seemed as if it would directly approach Mont 
 Blanc. The weather was exceedingly favorable ; they enc(-)untereil neither 
 too precipitous slopes nor too wide crevasses, and apparently all things 
 pronnscd success. But the rarefaction of the air, and the rewrberation 
 of the sun's rays on the da/.zling surface, fatigued them bexond endurance. 
 Succunibing to weakness and weariness, the}- found themsehes constrained 
 to re-descend, without iuuing met with any insupei'able oljstacle. 
 ^ An Attempt Kiuliii^' in Failure. 
 
 Seven years later, three other guides of Chamouni, made the same 
 attempt, following in the track of their predecessors ; only they took the 
 precaution of passing the night on the Montague de la Cute, and did not 
 venture until the following morning upon the glacier which ascends frtmi it. 
 
 After traversing it in safet\-, they followed iij) the \-ale of snows which 
 rises towards Mont Blanc. Tlu'v had alread\- .r<.'ached a L'^reat elevation, 
 and were pressing forward in blithe confidence, when tlie boldest and 
 most courageous among them was suddenly seized with an unconquerable 
 longing for sleej). lie Ijegged of his comrades to continue the ascent 
 without him; but they refused to abandon hini in such a condition, or to 
 suffer him, as he w ished, to sleep on the snow. Renouncing their enter- 
 prise, they all returned to Chamouni. 
 
 It is certain that e\en without the accident of this inopportune lethargy, 
 these three men could never have reached the goal of their acK-enturous 
 expedition. They would have still had a long distance to travel before 
 37 
 
 

 " ^:M 
 
 M : , ■ f^ 
 
 t !■' -.'':■ •\^. 
 
 .itt 
 
 678 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 arriving ixi Mont Blanc, and the heat fatigued them excessiveiv. More- 
 over, they were without appetite ; the wine and the provisions which they 
 carri :d possessed no attractions for them. So that one said seriouslv 
 that if hv. had to recommence the enterprise, he would not load hinisclf 
 r/ith any provisions, but take only an umbrella and a smelling-bottle. 
 When we picture to ourselves a robust mountaineer scaling the slopes ^)'i 
 the Alps with an umbrella in one hand and a flask of eau de Cologne in 
 the other, we gain, by this singular image, a vivid idea of the anomalous 
 difficulties and unfamiliar conditions which are associated with the ad- 
 venture. 
 
 Looking at the annexed engraving, the reader will be able by the 
 figures to locate the various mountains as named below : 
 
 I. Mont Blanc, 15,739 feet. — 2. Dome du Gouter, 14,40c feet. — 5. 
 Aiguille du Gouter, 15,550 feet. — 4. Glacier des Bossons. — 5. Glacier tie 
 Tacconay. — 6. Aiguille du Midi, 12,850 feet. — 7. Chaine du Brevent ct 
 des Aiguilles Rouges. 
 
 Again Conipollod to Retreat. 
 
 On the I2th of September, 1785, at eight o'clock in the morning, Saus- 
 sure and Bourrit, Canon of Cologne, accompanied by five mountaineers 
 loaded with provisions, furs and coverings, philosophical instruments, straw 
 and fuel, began their march to the conquest of Mont Blanc. 
 
 After five hours of this fatiguing labor, the incline gradually grew 
 steeper, and the quantity of fresh snow augmented at each step. Balniat, 
 therefore, went forward to survey the remainder of the ascent, but .speedily 
 returned with the information that the newly fallen snow was so dense in 
 the upper parts that the summit could not be attained except at the ri.^^k 
 of life, and that the mountain-peak was covered two feet deep in snow, 
 which rendered progress impossible. His gaiters were, in fact, covered 
 with snow even above the knee. 
 
 Great as was the regret which they experienced in abandoning an en- 
 terprise so au.spiciou.sly commenced, Saussure and Bourrit wisely resolved 
 to prosecute it no further. At the point where they halted the barome- 
 ter shoAved an elevation of 1 1,250 feet. The guides now urged an ininio- 
 diate departure. The sun's rays had melted the snows and rendered the 
 descent dangerous. But walking cau<-'ou.sl)% and supported by their 
 guides, the travellers returned without accident to the plateau at the ba-^c 
 of the Aiguille du Gouter, and thence rc-descended to the cabin. 
 
 The rock on which this enterprise had been wrecked wts the lateness 
 of the season. Saussure resolved to repeat the attempt in the following 
 year, but at an epoch which shoald render less probable and less forniid- 
 
sivew. More- 
 ons which they 
 said seriously 
 3t load himself 
 imcUint^-bottlL'. 
 g the shipcs ,)f 
 de Cologne in 
 the anomalous 
 d with the ad- 
 be able b\' the 
 
 [4,40c feet. — 3. 
 . — 5. Glacier de 
 ) du Brcvent et 
 
 2 morning, Saus- 
 ve mountaineers 
 struments, straw 
 ic. 
 ^n-adually grew 
 1 step. Balm at, 
 ent, but speedily 
 was so dense in 
 xcept at the ri>k 
 et deep in snow, 
 in fact, covered 
 
 mdoning an en- 
 t wisely resolved 
 ted the bGrome- 
 ur<red an imme- 
 ind renderctl the 
 ,ported by their 
 iteau at the ba^c 
 
 le ca 
 
 w^s 
 
 bin. 
 s the lateness 
 
 in the following 
 and less forniid- 
 
 I 
 
 M 
 
 111 
 
If r* 
 
 I'il 
 
 ^i 
 
 580 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 able tlic obstacle of frcsh-fallcp snow. As a preliminary, and to liijlUcn 
 as far as nii^ht be the fatii^ue o.'the last cla\''.s ascent, he ordered his Wv. 
 oritc ;,niide, I'ierre ])alinat, to coistriict a new hut at a point consideian;. 
 a')')\e the Pierre-Romle — that is, at the foot of one of the ridges of tlu- 
 .\';;uilU; dii Gouter. I le rec<^nuiiended him at the same time to ni.iku 
 liuious explorations on f'"" * of the mountain, so as to tlclermine < ii 
 
 'he nio.t feasible route. 
 
 Pierre Ijalniat tc-ok to himself two other 'guides, and on the r)th of fu' ■ 
 17S6, they went to [)as.s the night in the hut at the Pierre-Ronde. 'I'h • 
 started at ila\'-l)reak, and follow ing the same track w hich Saussure ha ! 
 taken, ascended to the Aiguille, and fmally to the Dume du Gouter; hut 
 not without severe suffering from the rarefaction of the air. 
 
 While Pierre liahuat ajid his friends were ascending the Aiguiiii.' dii 
 (jouter b\' the incline of the Pierre Ronde, three other Chamouni guido 
 attempted it b\' another route. As it was then believed thatth • Dome du 
 Gouter was the onl)' way by which Mont Blanc could be ai)proaclied, soin ■ 
 of the Chamouni guides had dixided into two troo[)s to test the coiupai-- 
 ali\e facilities of the two routes leading to the Dome. I'ranfjois Paccard, 
 !\Iichel Cachat (surnamed T/w Giiriit), and Joseph Carrier, composed i!i • 
 jiecond detachment. The}' were joined b\- another guide, Jacques Palniat, 
 who for some years had been indepenclentl)' seeking the \\k\<\ to Mkiii 
 Blanc, and for whom was reserved the glor\- of first discovering it. 
 K slciiij;- LilV' on the 3l(Miiilaiii's Kdgc. 
 
 The two groups of guides iiaving reunited, tra\-ersed a \"ast snow- 
 field, and gained the long ridge which connects the Dome du Gouter with 
 Mont Blanc. But this ridge, which strikes between two precipices, each 
 6000 feet in height, is so narrow, and of so abru[)t an ascent, that it 
 pro\-cd utterly impracticable to reach Mont IManc by it. The guides on!)- 
 acknowledged this e\itient fact with much reluctance. Jaccjues Balinat, 
 however, persisted in o ntinuing the adventure. He risked his lifj on the 
 narrow ridge, and to mo\e forward was obliged to place himself on all- 
 foiu's upon the species of dos d' (". ic (ass's back) formed by this terrible es- 
 carpment. I lis companions, frighten jd at his temerit}', abandoned him, 
 and redescentled to Chamouni. 
 
 After bra\e but fruitless efforts, Jacques Balmat was forced to desist from 
 his impossible cn'cri)rise. lie retraced his steps, still straddling along the 
 ridge, like a child on his grandfather's stick. But he found himself de- 
 serted by his compani(/ns, who, we ma)' add, felt no great sympath}- for 
 him, because he had followed them without their consent. The gallai^t 
 mountaineer, picjucd by their cowardly abandonment, resolved to remain 
 
 ■ \ ' '\ 
 
and to li^fhtrn 
 ifdcrcd his fa\ 
 it considcraii, . 
 
 c fidL^cs of th.: 
 
 time to ni.ik: 
 
 () dctcriniiiL- < :) 
 
 thcriih "f J'.r • 
 -Rondc. 'I'll ■ 
 \ Saussurc ha I 
 (hi Gouti. r; hr.l 
 
 tlic Ai'-^uillL' (l;i 
 hanvt'ini i^uido 
 latthj Dome du 
 iproachetl, smn.- 
 test the conipir- 
 raufjois I'accari!, 
 ,'r, composed ih; 
 Jacciues Ikihiiat, 
 ic road to ^[l>Il'L 
 )\-erin_Lj; it. 
 
 a \ast siiow- 
 
 du G(iuter widi 
 
 j')reci[)ices, each 
 
 ascent., Uiat it 
 
 he u'uidcs oiiU" 
 
 acques Bahnat. 
 
 ■dhis hfe on thf 
 
 himself on a!l- 
 
 ihis terril)^'^^- 
 
 al)andoned him, 
 
 :cd to desist from 
 ddhn^ alonL^thc 
 umd himself lie- 
 ;at s_\-mpath\- f'^' 
 nt. The 'j,a\hvX 
 polved to remain 
 
 PERILS OF MOl^NT.MN AND DICSF.RT. 
 
 581 
 
 a'on J in t'.i J. -^e frozen wastes and desolatj wildernesses until he liad dis- 
 covered a practicable mode of ascending Mont H'.an.-. Instead of returnin,^ 
 to Chaniouni, he descended to the (irand Plateau, where he resohcd to 
 pass the nic^ht. 
 
 The Giand Plateau of IMont lilanc is a sli^hlK'-inclincil plane, of about 
 2000 scpiare acres, .situated upwanls of 9750 feet above the sea ; suept by 
 continual a\alanches and cxposetl to the most bitinj^ winds; f )r it is siu"- 
 rounded on all sides by peaks of snow , where the traveller can tliul neither 
 rock nor stone to serve as a shelter or a restin^^-place. luen duriiiL; the 
 smnnier, and in the sun, the thermometer here marks al\va\-s zero. In 
 thi^ awful desert Jacques Halmat, without covering, haviuLj oul\' his man- 
 tle and his alpenstock, spent the ni^dit, crouchin;^ und.-r a cia;^, and but 
 poorly ilefended ayainst a small, tlriz/.lin;^, frt)zen snow, which fell inces- 
 santly. 
 
 I'^iiuliii^' a l*iitli\vay to the Sov<'r<'i};ii B*oak. 
 
 At daybreak he resumed his explorations of the mountain. It was 
 fliiis that he discovered the proper direction in which to climb the " sov- 
 ran peak" — namely, by following up the valley of snow which stretches 
 from the point known as the Grands Mulcts, and ascending from thence 
 to Mont Blanc by a moderately steep acclivity. The bad weather, snow, 
 excessive coUl, and want of provisions prevented Jaccjues Halmat from 
 pushing forward to the goal ; but, in redescending the v alley, he ascer- 
 t lined with exactitude the actual course to be pursued in order to gain 
 the summit. 
 
 On returning home, Jacques Balmat ^ ept for eight-and-forty hours 
 without once awakening. 
 
 The incessant refraction of the sun's rays upon the snow had so 
 fatigued his sight, that he suffered severely from diseased eyes. A phy- 
 sician, nnmed Paccard, who resided in Chamouni village, relieved him 
 frcn the ophthalmia. In gratitude for his cure and acknowledgment of 
 his skill, Balmat revealed to him his great discovery, and proposed to 
 him to share the glory of accomplishing the first ascent of Mont Blanc. 
 Dr. Paccard accepted the proposal joyfully. 
 
 On the 8th of August, 1786, the two adventurers commenced thei. 
 daring expedition. They had only confided to two persons the secret 
 of their project before carrying it into execution. So they accomplished 
 alone this lengthened and dangerous route, which our Alpine climbers 
 no\v-a-days Jo not attempt except with a numerous and well-provided 
 escort. All their stores consisted of a couple of woolen coverlets, in 
 which to wrap themselves at night under the shadow of some projecting 
 
 If' 
 
 *"">! 
 
lilHifl 
 
 
 582 
 
 nARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 rock. It is difficult to untlerstantl how these two men, reduced to their 
 
 own resources, in the niitlst of these desolate wastes, these ice-bound 
 
 deserts, which had never before been troddrn by human foot, could 
 
 reacli the <j^oal they liad proposed to thetnsclves, in spife of the snows 
 
 and th ; precipices, the cold, and the rareficticn of the atmosphere. lUit 
 
 it is certain that, after passing the night under a rock on the plateau i<i 
 
 the Grands Mulcts, they ascended, i ii the following day, to the " monarcl' 
 
 of mountains." 
 
 Tlu^ 3IiraeU' I'crlornird. 
 
 Tlu; inhabitants of Chaniouni, meanwhiK.-, had assembled in crowds, 
 antl, by means of their telescopes, could perceive the two iierocs on the 
 topmost peak of Mt. Blanc — that is, of the loftiest mountain in luiidpt-, 
 which had hitherto been considered utterly inaccessible to man. Jaciiue^ 
 Halniat and Paccard remained for half an hour on the h(Mse-shoe rid-^e 
 which forms the actual summit. But, owin;^^ to the continual reflection 
 and da7.zlini,f <^leam of the sunlit snows, Paccard, when he rec^jained the 
 valle}', was almost blind; while lialmat's face was swollen, his li[)s were 
 coni^^estetl with blot)d, and his eyes were sorely fatigued. 
 
 " It is strange," said Paccard to his companion next morning; " I hear 
 the birds sing, and it is not day ! " 
 
 " That is becau.se you cannot .see," replied Balmat ; " the sun has ri.sen, 
 but the swelling of your eyelids renders )ou temi)orarily blind." 
 
 Hap[)ily this accident had no fatal con.sequences. Dr. Paccard dieil i\\ 
 
 1830, at the ripe age of seventy-nine. As for Jacques Balmat, he per 
 
 ished mi.serabl)', in 1834, at the bottom of a precipice. Some vague 
 
 rumors had induced him to believe that a vein of gold existed on the 
 
 flank of one of the lofty peaks which shut in the \alley of the Sixt nn 
 
 the northeast, and he started in search of it. But the place indicated 
 
 proved inaccessible ; it was necessary to advance along a narrow cornice, 
 
 beneath which descended, sheer and sombre, into the abyss a precipice 
 
 nearly four hundred feet in depth. The sight froze his blood with tenor. 
 
 But sometime afterwards, accompanied by a chamois hunter, as rash aiul 
 
 intrepid as hlm.sclf, he renewed the attempt. lie ventured on the narrow 
 
 cornice — a few step.s — and he disappeared in the abyss! His body was 
 
 never found. 
 
 A Tragedy tliat StartU-d the World. 
 
 It was with a purely scientific object that Dr. Ilamel, councilor of the 
 Russian court, betook himself, in 1 821, to the foot of Mont Blanc, to .soak' 
 its snowy peak. This eminent man of science travelled at the cost of the 
 Russian Government, to undertake certain inquiries into the physical con- 
 
:duced to thoii 
 icse ice-bound 
 an foot, coulil 
 J of the sni)w> 
 iosi)hero. Hut 
 the plateau of 
 I the " monarcl' 
 
 led in crowds. 
 ) heroes on the 
 tain in luirctpc, 
 man. Jacquo 
 lorsc-shoe ridi^c 
 itinual relloctii'ti 
 he retrained the 
 Ml, his hi)s wxw 
 
 ornm'T; 
 
 I lirar 
 
 \c sun has risen. 
 :)lind." 
 
 Taccard died in 
 Ikdmat, he per 
 e. Some va;j;uc 
 existed on tlie 
 y of the Sixt on 
 place indicated 
 narrow cornice, 
 ibyss a precipice 
 ood with terror. 
 Iter, as rash and 
 d on the narrow- 
 Id is body was 
 
 councilor of thi; 
 nt Blanc, to .scale 
 It the cost of the 
 Lhe physical con- 
 
 PERILS OF MOUNTAIN AND DESERT. 
 
 683 
 
 dition of the globe, and wa.s everywhere attended by a train of all kind.s 
 of instruments of observation. We shall describe the ascent of Mont 
 Hlaiie attempted by the Russian physicist, not for any scientific resultii 
 (ibtaiiied from it, but on account of the catastrophe which abruptl)' tt-rmi- 
 nated it, sad recollections of which are still fresh in the \alle\' of I'ha- 
 niDuni. 
 
 On the 3rd of Au}.(ust 1S20, a first attempt was made by Dr. Ilamcl,7'/4 
 the glaciers of Mionnassay and the Aiguille du Gouter; but the ()uU)reak 
 of a storm, and the cloud-masses which hung uponthemounlain.com- 
 pclleil him to descend. 
 
 It was on the I Sth of August that he recommenced his ascent. He 
 was accompanied by two ICnglish gentlemen, Mr. Dornford and Colonel 
 Gilbert Henderson. Twelve guides escortt-d them, under the leadership 
 o\' Marie Coutet. 
 
 i Ia\ing started from Ciiamouni at six .\. m., it was four r M. when 
 they arrived at the Grands Mulcts. It is here that travellers alwa)s halt 
 to [)ass the night. A part of this rock is shaped like tin; letter L ; a 
 ladder and some poles co\-ered with canvas were arranged against it so 
 as to form a sort of triangle, in whose interior Dr. lianiel and his com- 
 [lanions spent the night, h'ing upon straw. Hut in the evening the 
 weallier grew .stormy, and the rain began to fall. The atmosphere wa:s 
 heavil)' charged with electricity, and the balls of the electrometer danced 
 so ra[)idl\' to and fro as to excite alarm. Throughout the night the 
 thunder never ceased to peal. 
 
 Storm ill tho 3IoniitiUiis. 
 All the following day the rain continued, and the snow, which at first 
 only fell upon Mont IManc, began to approach the region where our 
 travellers had encamped. The bad weather lasted through the second 
 night, which was spent, like the proceeding, under the miserable shelter 
 of the tent. 
 
 The commonest prudence should have dictated to the travellers an 
 immediate return to Chamouni. The guides, lia\'ing coirsulted together 
 at day-break, were unanimously of this opinion ; but when they intimated 
 their decision to Dr. Hamel, he formally rejected it. It was then deter- 
 mined that three guides, Jacques Coutet, Joseph Folliguet and Pierre 
 Favrct, should go to Chamouni for a supply of provisions, which were 
 niiw running short. 
 
 It had been .settled that they should rest quietly in their encampment 
 until fair weather returned; but at 8 A. M., on the sky brightening. Dr. 
 Hamel decided he would immediately set out. The guides, who realized 
 
 
 ih^ 
 
 
 i 
 
 'lit 
 
 m. i 
 
 fflj 
 
 pi 
 
 
 111 
 
 
 
 |»i.„4li; 
 
W) 
 
 584 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 iL '■•!! 
 
 all the peril of traversing in the midst of frij^htful precipices the fresh faHcii 
 
 snows, refused to obey so imprudent an order ; one of them, Au"u-tc 
 
 Teiraz, burst into tears ; he threw himself into the arms of a comrade, 
 
 exclaiming : " I am a lost man ! I shall perish on the mountain !"' 
 
 This sinister presentiment was verified, for Auguste Teiraz was one of 
 
 the victims of the catastrophe. Colonel Henderson himself was df ih,.- 
 
 same opinion as the guides, but Dr. Hamel, stamping his foot, and looking 
 
 the Englishmen full in the face, muttered the word " Cowards !" An 
 
 Englishman, after that, could no longer hesitate. Each person made his 
 
 preparations in silence, and they began tiie ascent. The first part if the 
 
 journey was accomplished without accident, and the weather became \cr\- 
 
 bright and beautiful. Without much difficulty they ascended the Dome 
 
 du Gofiter, and reached the great plateau which extends at the base of 
 
 Mont Blanc. 
 
 Halting for a Hoarty Broaklast. 
 
 " Merc," says Dr. Ilamel, in his narrativeof the event, " our guides con- 
 gratulated us, .saj'ing that we had now surmounted every danger ; no 
 mc'TC crevasses, no more hazards. Never had an ascent been accom- 
 plished more quickl}' or with less difficult)' ; in fact, the snows had just 
 the degree of consistency suitable for easy marching; they were not too 
 hard, and yet the feet did not sink too deepK- in them. No one felt ill, 
 though all of us had for sometime experienced the effect of the rarefaction 
 of the air ; ni)- pulse beat one hundred and twenty-eiglit times in a minute, 
 and I felt an incessant thirst. Here our guides invited us to breakfast, 
 for, said they, up higher you will have no appetite. 
 
 " A tablecloth was .spread on the snow at the threshold of the great 
 plateau, and it ser\-ed both for chairs and table. Everyone ate with gusto 
 his half of a fowl ; I made various arrangements for my experiments, and 
 the observations which I propo.sed to take on the summit. I wrote two 
 notes to announce our successful achievement, leaving onlv a blanl^- to be 
 filled up with tiio exact hour. It was nn' intention to attach them to a 
 •pigeon which I had brought with me, and which I ])roposed to release 
 on the summit, to see how he flew in so rarefied an air, and also to ascer- 
 tain if he could retrace his way to Sallanches, where his mate awaited 
 him. We preserved a bottle of our best wine to drink on the peak to the 
 memory of De Saussure. 
 
 "At nine o'clock precisely we resumed our journey, and toiled towards 
 the summit which rose before our wistful eyes. ' Would you take a 
 thousand pounds,' said one of my companions to his countryman, ' to <^o 
 back instead of ascending?' The reply was, ' I would not return for any 
 
icsthc fresh fallen 
 f them, Aui;u<tu 
 ns of a coniiadc, 
 ountain!" 
 eiraz was one of 
 msclf was cf the 
 ifoot, and looking; 
 ' Cowards I" An 
 person made his 
 c first part i 'f the 
 \ther beeame \'ery 
 :ended tlie Dome 
 h at the base of 
 
 " our fTuides con- 
 every dani^^er ; no 
 cent be(.:n acconi- 
 le snows had just 
 they were not too 
 No one felt ill, 
 of the rarefactinn 
 times in a minute, 
 us to breakfast, 
 
 lold of the L^rcat 
 
 one ate with ;4usto 
 
 experiments, and 
 
 nit. I wrote two 
 
 only a blank to be 
 
 attach them to a 
 
 iroposed to release 
 
 and also to ascor- 
 
 his mate awaited 
 
 on the peak to the 
 
 and toiled towards 
 ,Vould you take a 
 ;ountryman, ' to go 
 
 not return for any 
 
 PERILS OF MOUNTAIN AND DESERT. 
 
 585 
 
 sum that could be named.' We 
 were so full of hope and joy at 
 seeing immediately within our 
 reacli the goal of our enter- 
 prise." 
 
 At this moment the travel- 
 lers were ascending what the 
 i^uiidcs call "the hood of Mont 
 Blanc ;" that is, the last snowy 
 incline which leads to the top- 
 most peak. At the foot of this 
 glacis yawns an immense 
 crevasse of ice, twenty yards in 
 width and fift)' in depth. They 
 n<nv marched in single file, one 
 after another ; the first guide 
 was Pierre Carrier, the second, 
 Pierre Balmat, and the third, 
 Auguste Teiraz. Next came 
 Julien De\-oissous and Marie 
 Coutet. Behind the.se, .still in 
 single file, marched five other 
 guides. Dr. Hamel, and the 
 two Englishmen. 
 
 It was probably this order 
 of march which led to the ca- 
 tastrophe. By advancing in a 
 single line, the)' furrcnved, as 
 with a ploughshare, the newly 
 fallen snow, which had not j^et 
 had time to consolidate with 
 the old. Thus divided by a 
 I'lng .section, the portion of 
 snow which the cara\-an had 
 tiampled separated suddenly ; 
 it glitled over the other snow. 
 .All the party was carried with 
 the avalanche down the steep 
 declivity at whose base opened. 
 
 ill' 1,1 
 
 AWFUL CATASTROPHE IN THE CHASMS 
 OF MONT BLANC. 
 
 as if to engulf them, the immense crevasse to which we have referred. 
 
 m^ 
 
 m 
 
 f 9 # 
 
'M 
 
 
 %. 'i 
 
 586 
 
 EARTH. SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 The mass of frozen snow which in this wise broke loose was looo yarck 
 in length, by seventy in breadth, but not three feet in depth. 
 
 liverybody was thrown down and rolled in the snow. The three guides 
 who led the way, Pierre Carrier, Pierre Balmat, and Auguste Teiraz, were 
 dashed headlong into the crevasse. Julien and Marie Coutet, propelled bv 
 a more violent impulse, were fortunate enough to sweep across the abyss and 
 fall into another crevasse, happily not so deep, and hal f full of snow, from which 
 they were easily extricated. By a merciful Providence, the other guides. 
 Dr. Hamel,and the two Englishmen, arrested their descent on the border 
 of the gulf The}- had rolled over and over from a height of 300 feet. 
 Crushed and Buried under Snow and Rooks. 
 
 Julien Devoissous and Marie Coutet remained a moment without con- 
 sciousness. Julien, with his head beneath him, was wounded all o\li 
 with blows received against tiie narrow sides of the crevasse. Marie C'lU- 
 tet was half buried in the snow, which filled this chasm for a depth of si.\t_\- 
 feet. Embedded up to his neck, he was unable to make any movement, 
 and his face wore the purple color of asphyxia. He called with a stru<4- 
 gling voice to his companion ; Julien, having succeeded in liberating him- 
 self, made use of his alpenstock to clear away the snow which coxered hi- 
 friend's body. The two mountaineers remained for some minutes seated 
 opposite one another without uttering a word ; they thought that the\- 
 alone had survived this fall. 
 
 Happily it was not so. Several of their comrades, having almo^t 
 miraculously escaped the avalanche, clung to the edge of the crevasse 
 which had so nearly proved their tomb. One of them, Mathieu Balm.it, 
 contrived to slide along it, and to carry assistance to the others. He 
 threw to them a hatchet, with which they hewed out steps in the ice. 
 When they had gained a sufficient height he extended to them an iron- 
 tipped pole, and drew them out of danger. 
 
 In the depths of the Frightful Abyss. 
 
 The travellers newfound themselves assembled in one spot; the\- 
 counted their numbers. Three guides were missing; the three who had 
 formed the vanguard. They had fallen into the great crevasse. Matli- 
 ieu Balmat had seen them precipitated into its abyss ; and Julien Coutet, 
 at the very moment of his own fall, and while rolling over and o\er, had 
 noticed something like a black-colored leg flash rapidly before his eyes, 
 and descend in the crevasse ; undoubtedly it was Auguste Teiraz, who 
 wore black gaiters — the same who had shown so lively an apprehension 
 when Dr. Hamel, in defiance of warnings ,-ind counsel, had given the 
 imperious order of departure. 
 
PERILS OF MOUNTAIN AND DESERT. 
 
 587 
 
 Doctor Hamel was prostrated with regret and pain. As for the two 
 Englishmen, words cannot describe their keen remorse. They flung 
 themselves down upon the snow ; they seemed temporarily bereft of 
 reason. They declared they would not quit tiie accursed spot until they 
 had recovered, dead or alive, the three unfortunate men of whose loss they 
 accused themselves. 
 
 In spite of the remonstrances of the guides, Mr. Dornford and Dr. 
 Hamel descended into the great crevasse, their bodies half burieil in the 
 soft snow. They sounded everywhere with their iron-tipped staves, but 
 encountered no resistance. With all their strength they shouted the 
 names of the missing guides ; but at so immense an elevation the rarified 
 ;iir produced but feeble sounds. 
 
 Presuming that they were buried under a thick stratum of snow, 
 Hamel thrust in his staff to its entire length, and stretching himself on 
 the surface, he held the staff firmly with his teeth ; then he listened with 
 profound attention. But there came no answer ; nothing troubled the 
 s.lence of that lugubrious sepulchre. 
 
 A Grave in Internal 8 now. 
 
 They were compelled to discontinue the fruitless search. Dr. Hamel 
 and his companion returned to the pl-iteau. The unfortunate guides 
 were lying at least 150 feet deep in the snow. There was no recourse 
 but to abandon them, and, since that epoch, no tourist who makes the 
 ascent of Mont Blanc can pass without a throbbing heart the abyss of ice 
 where perished so miserably the three inhabitants of the valley. 
 
 As the day advanced the cold became icy ; for at that elevation our 
 travellers had nearly attained the height- of Mont Blanc itself. They 
 h i(! spent two hours in fruitless search on the borders of the great cre- 
 visse; it was absolutely necessary they should begin the descent, if they 
 did not wish to be overtaken by night and darkness in the midst of the 
 preci|iices, and incur the hazard of being frozen to death. 
 
 Tne guide Mathieu Balmat then drew near to Dr. Hamel, and looking 
 iiim full in the face, even as the doctor had confronted him on the morn- 
 ing of that fatal day, — 
 
 "Well, sir," he exclaimed, "are we cowards; and will you still 
 asc- nd ?" 
 
 Tne doctor replied by giving the signal of return. He wouid fain 
 liive persuaded some of the guides to pass the night on the edge of the 
 crevasse, and there await the succor which was hastening up from 
 Clnmouni. It was, perhaps to doom them to death, The suggestion, 
 tliercfore, was received by the guides with indignant remonstrances, and 
 
 '•■ «}., 
 
 1<«l»' 
 
 i 
 
 1^ !» * 
 
h 
 
 :^i f:' 
 
 .088 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 they reproached the foreigner with having caused by his obstinacy the 
 death of their comrades. 
 
 Stranj'o ami Paiiirul Sensations. 
 
 On their liomeward route each related the sensations he had nndcrc^oii , 
 at the moment of the descent of the avalanche. Juhen Coutet had rdlld 
 over thrice before, bounding across the great crevasse, he fell into th 
 small one. He attributed his safety to the circumstance that he caniei', 
 slung across his back, the barometer-case of the doctor, which had hLid 
 him momentarily suspended on the brink of the abyss, whence he had 
 rebounded like a ricochet shot. Marie Coutet had seen four of the fnc 
 guides who preceded him fall with their feet uppermost; only one secnicd 
 to preserve his upright attitude. As for himself, he had felt hurled alonL,^ 
 like a cannon ball, and in the twinkling of an eye, lo, he was lyin<,r 
 lialf buried on a bed of snow! A second afterwards, another of his 
 comrades seemed to drop from heaven by his side ; it was Julicn 
 Devoissous. 
 
 The only one of the guides not swept away by the avalanche was 
 Mathieu Balmat. Divining what had happened ; comprehending, w ith 
 the instinct of a mountaineer, that the new snow had separated, from tb.c 
 old, and was gliding in one mass down the incline; gifted, moreover, with 
 prodigious physical strength, he thrust his long iron-tipped pole through 
 the recent snow, which was not above three feet deep, and planted it in 
 the older and indurated soil. l?y exerting all his energy he was able to 
 cling to the pole, while the avalanche carried away beneath him his com- 
 panions and his brother, Pierre Balmat, to Hnd a sudden and terrible 
 death at the bottom of the abrss. 
 
 Fortunate Eseape lor Some of the Party. 
 
 Thrown down and rolled o\er like the others, Dr. Hamel had found 
 himself fortunately checked on the edge of the crevasse. Colonel Hen- 
 derson was driven much nearer the fatal brink, and had only been ar- 
 rested in his headlong course by the mass of snow which surmundcd 
 him. He was completely interred in it, even his head being covered, and 
 was only extricated from it with great difficulty. On arriving at the 
 Grands Mulcts they met the three guides despatched in the mornini;- to 
 obtain a supply of provisions, and who now returned with the rest of the 
 expedition. All these brave mountaineers, struck with a kind of stupor, 
 deplored with one \-oice the death of their comrades, and the distress into 
 which the event had plunged their families. 
 
 The two Englishmen contributed very generously to their relief, but 
 Dr. Hamel, whose conduct throughout was characterized by want of feel' 
 
his obstinacy the 
 
 he had iindcri^niv: 
 Coutct had rolled 
 e, he fell into tli : 
 :e tluit he carric(', 
 r, wiiicli had held 
 s, whence he had 
 n four of the five 
 only one secnicd 
 1 felt hurled alon^r 
 lo, he Nvas lyin^i,^ 
 Is, another of his 
 2] it was Julicn 
 
 lie ax'alanche was 
 lprehendinL,^ with 
 jparated, from th.c 
 jd, moreover, with 
 )ped pole through 
 and planted it in 
 gy he was able to 
 ,'ath him his coni- 
 Jden and terrible 
 
 rty. 
 
 Hamel had found 
 ;e. Colonel 1 Icn- 
 ad only been ar- 
 vhich surrounded 
 >eing covered, anil 
 n arriving; at the 
 in the mornini;- to 
 itli the rest of the 
 a kind of stupor, 
 d the distress into 
 
 :o their relief, but 
 :d by want of feel' 
 
 (589) 
 
 i-il^l'! 
 
 'I 
 
 mm 
 
 iW 
 
fl 
 
 M 
 
 Bil; .« 
 
 590 
 
 EARTH SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 ing and a headstrong arrogance, took nj part in providing for them. 
 
 Nothing, however, could console thj mother of one of the three \ ictiin-^, 
 
 Pierre liahnat. Sh.e wept incjssantly; three months afterwards shj 
 
 died. 
 
 <;tia.stly DiscMivorics of a Keoeut I)au'. 
 
 On ^he 15th of August, 1S61, was fulfUled the last episode of this sor- 
 rowful tragedy. A Chamouni guide discovered on the glacier des Bos- 
 sons two human skulls with their integuments, and an arm with the haiul 
 still adhering, the whole clothed in ruddy flesh. A few fragments of ba;4s, 
 and clothes, and other signs, left no doubt that these ghastly wreeks had 
 belonged to the two guides, Pierre Balniat and Pierre Carrier. I'iiially, 
 on the 1st July, 1863, forty-three years after the catastrophe, the gln.cicr 
 des Bossons surrendered some additional human remains ; a foot, C(nercd 
 with its flesh and nails, still attached by the muscles to a fleshless tibia 
 By the side of the foot lay a compass, probably Dr. Mamel's, which the 
 guide Auguste Teiraz had carried. It was a grandson of the \ictini 
 Joseph Tciraz, photographer of Chamouni, who chanced upon this >ad 
 discovery. 
 
 Many ascents of Mont Blanc have becu undertaken since those described 
 in the preceding pages. Mountaineering has, in truth, become a mania; 
 in h'ngland an "Alpine Club" has been formed for its scientific develop- 
 ment ; and the Mont Blanc route is now so well defined that it has been 
 successfull}' accomplished by ladies. Few adventurers, however, escape 
 without some more or less dangerous mishap; and there seems nnicli 
 good sense in the words with which Captain Sherwill, one of the 
 number, ends a recent narrative : — " I advise no one to undertake 
 an ascent, for the result can never have an importance proportionate 
 to the dangers which you must incur, and in which }'ou must involve 
 o'thers." 
 
 Kivors of Ice. 
 
 Among the most wonderful phenomena of the mountains must be men- 
 tioned those great frozen rivers which move so slowly toward the \ alle\s, 
 yet never melt. 
 
 I'>\-en Lord Macaulay's school-boy knows by name the famous Merde 
 Glace, or pjs-see, of the Chamouni valley. We know that words, when 
 wielded by a master-.spirit, are powerful to move the hearts and agitate 
 the minds of men ; to realize the highest dreams of the poet's fancy and 
 embody the airiest creations of the romancist's; but, assuredly, no word.s 
 can convey even the feeblest idea of the wonders of this vast frozen sea 
 — girdled, as it is, by a giant range of frozen mountains — lit up by a 
 
 i:i 
 
PERILS OF MOUNTAIN AND DESERT. 
 
 591 
 
 , 1' 
 
 idin^ for them. 
 
 ic three \ictiins, 
 
 afterwards slv.' 
 
 ;odc of this sor- 
 jlacier dcs Bos- 
 n with the hand 
 laments of baj^s, 
 stly Av recks had 
 arrier. Finally, 
 )plie, the ^In.cicr 
 ; a foot, coxincd 
 a fleshless tihia 
 nel's, which the 
 n of the \ictini, 
 :1 upon this vu! 
 
 J those described 
 
 peconie a niaiiia ; 
 
 :ientific dcveldp- 
 
 that it has been 
 
 lowever, escape 
 
 re seems much 
 
 ill, one I if the 
 
 :; to undertake 
 
 :e proportionate 
 
 ou must invoke 
 
 ns must be nicn- 
 \ard the \al!c}s, 
 
 i famous j\Ier de 
 lat words, when 
 arts and agitate 
 )oet's fancy ami 
 redly, no words 
 s vast frozen sea 
 IS — lit up by a 
 
 myriad fantasti and ever-shifting rainbow hues, and rendered awful by 
 
 its intense solitude and silence ! 
 
 /dl that expands the spirit, yet appalls, 
 Gathers around ; 
 
 and nowhere does man feel more terribly dwarfed and humbled by a sub- 
 limit)' which he is wholly unable to comprehend ! 
 
 The most striking portion of the Mer de Glace is the Glacier de Tal- 
 ofre, where a solitary rock, about seven acres in extent, and nowhere le.'.s 
 than 9000 feet above the sea, is clothed with beautiful herbage, and, in 
 August, dressed out in flowers — an oasis of poetry in the midst of the 
 most awful desolation — a Calypso's island set in a sphere of azure ice — 
 \.\\2 Janiiii, or Garden, as it is appropriately called, of a palace of Titans. 
 The 3Ioiiutain Traveller's Friend. 
 
 Situated between Switzerland and Savoy, is one of the most dangerous 
 passes of tiie Alps. In these regions the traveller is often overtaken b\- 
 the most severe weather, even after days of cloudless beaut)-, when the 
 glaciers glitter in the sunshine, and the pink flowers of the rhododendron 
 appear as if they were never to be sullied by the temj)est. But a storm 
 suddenl)' comes on; the roads are rendered impassable by drifts of snow; 
 the a\alanches — huge loosened masses of snow or ice — are swept into 
 the valleys, carrying trees and rocks before them. 
 
 Of the Monastery, nearly on the top of the Great St. Bernard, Rogers 
 
 says : 
 
 It is a pile of simplest masonry, 
 With narrow windows and vast buttresses, 
 Riiilt to endure the shocks of time and chance ; 
 ^'et showing many a rent, as well it niigiit, 
 Warred on fur ever by the elements. 
 
 No': a bush is to be found near the edifice ; even the wood fiir its fires 
 is fitched from the Forest of Fewet — a distance of four leagues. FL\en in 
 the height of summer it always freezes there early in the morning. The 
 Hospice is rarely four months clear of snow; its a\'erage depth around is 
 seven or eight feet, and sometimes there are drifts rising to the height of 
 forty feet against it. 
 
 Its inmates have been pictured by^ Rogers as 
 
 Answering, and at once, to all 
 Tlie gentler impulses — to pleasure, mirth ; 
 Mingling, at intervals, with rational talk, 
 Music ; and gathering ne vs from tliem that came 
 As of some other world. But when the storm 
 Rose, and the snow rolled on in ocean waves, 
 When on liis face the experienced traveller fell. 
 
 
 1,1: sii 
 
 ■ 1%-. 
 

 692 
 
 EARTil, SEA, AND SKV. 
 
 iifib 
 
 ' 
 
 
 ^l^^^r 
 
 SheltcriiV-j his lips .'iiid iU)Strils witli liis hands. 
 Then all was changed ; ami, sallying with tlicir pat k 
 Into that blank of nature, they became 
 Unearthly bein<;s ! 
 
 So, not merely in poeti)', hut in fiict, it often occurs. It is a rule (.f 
 
 the Ah)naster)-, that every day, whatexx-r the weather may be, two able 
 
 men, called iiiarouicrs, accustonied to the mountains, should jiroceed, the 
 
 
 ***?»\ 
 
 I ji- — ^>i^ 
 
 
 ^u^^,-^^^ 
 %'A^' 
 
 
 CEi.r.p.K \rr.n st. ]'.i:kN.\i<n noes rescuing a 
 
 ;a\'i:i.i.i'.k. 
 
 one Lowartls the Italian .side, the (ther towai'ds the \'al!ais. The}- t!a\- 
 erse the pass durin;^ the whole ( f the day, each one attended hy a clo- — 
 with a Hash of spirits fastened to l:;s ncel; — keepini;a path opened in the 
 snow, and watchin;^- for passen;',ers. If the ;/,'c?/w//Vr meets \\ith an}- per- 
 son bewildered or exhausted, or his dog intimates that any one is uiuli:- 
 the snow, he instantlx' renders aid, or runs to the Hospice to gain assist- 
 ance. Conducted thither, all that is i)racticable for the sufferer is done 
 promptly and zealously. 
 
PERILS OF MOUNTAIN AND DF.SKRT. 
 
 505 
 
 The (logs originally were brought from Spain. The monks, ha\-ing 
 ncL;lfCtc(.l to keep up a larger stock of the old race, it was nearly de- 
 stro}-ed by a malad\-, about forty \-ears ago, when, from necessity, the 
 present race was introduced. One of them, named Barry, saved a great 
 number of lives; and another dog, called Jupiter, was also very success- 
 ful. One day lie saw some person pass the Hospice, and immediately set 
 out after the traveller. After some time, his absence was remarked, ami 
 on: of the inaronicrs, pursuing his track, founil him posted over a drift of 
 snuw where a poor woman, w ith her child, were about to perish. But 
 these he was the instrument t)f saving from death. 
 
 Sir T. 1). Lauder had a puppy of about four or five months' old. pre- 
 sented to him by a friend, who brought it from the Great St. Bernard. 
 
 Doff Actiiijf as ]*ostinan. 
 
 When a dog attacked l^ass, as he was called, in the street or road, he 
 would run away, rather than quarrel ; but, when compelled to fight, he 
 turned upon the foe, threw him down, and then, without biting him, 
 would lay his whole immense bulk down upon him till he was nearly 
 smothered — a mode of treatment which was attributed to his youth. 
 
 Of his strength, the following is an instance : — It was the duty of the 
 postman — to whom Bass took a special fancy — besides delivering letters, 
 to take a bag from one receiving house to another, an<l this he gave the 
 dog to carr\', which followed him through ail the villas in the neighbor- 
 hood, where he had deliveries to make, and always parted with him op- 
 posite to the gate of the Convent of St. Margaret's, and returned home. 
 When his owner's gate was shut, to prevent his following the postman, 
 the dog always leaped a high wall to get after him. 
 
 One day, this postman, from some cause or other, sent another man in 
 his place. Bass went up to him, curiously scanning his face, whilst the 
 man rather retired from the dog as if anxious to decline his acquaint- 
 ance. But Bass, following, showed strong symptoms that he meant to 
 have the post-bag, while the man seemed equally intent on retaining it. 
 At length, as all liass' civil entreaties failed, he raised himself on his hind 
 legs, put a great fore paw on each of the man's shoulders, laid him flat on 
 his back in the \ jad, and coolly walked away with the bag. The man 
 got up, much dismayed, following the dog, and trying, in vain, what 
 coaxing would do ; but he \vas relieved at the f rst house he called at b}- 
 being told that the dog always carried the ba^. Bass walked with the 
 man to all the houses at which he had to deliver letters, and along the 
 road till he came to the gate of St. Margaret's, where he dropped the bag, 
 
 and, making his bow to the postman, returned home. 
 38 
 
 
 
 
 -.1:1 
 
h ilfrif! 
 
 no 4 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AM) SKY. 
 
 I. 
 
 M. 
 
 i\ 
 
 ^^#}iv 
 
 til 
 
 
 M 
 
 Not alone on the mountains is human life cnciatifTcrecl. Wliirlwitui- 
 and tempests sweeping hill and sandy plain are the breeders of destruction. 
 
 Violent whirl wintls are often seen in the midst of ^reat conflaL^rati-.i^. 
 A cane forest surrounded by a few isolated trees on the border of ilnj 
 Blaek Warrior River in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, broke out into ^aulc^ 
 which spread o\-er a surface of twenty-five acres. Whirlwinds of various 
 forms ^vere seen in the hottest part of the fire. At first they were cuni- 
 paratively sli<^dit, not exceedinc^ thirty-fi\-e or fort)' feet in iiei;^dit. but :\> 
 the fire spread they rose to a heit^ht of more than two iumdied {\,v[. 
 The flame antl the smoke arisin<^ from the whirlwinds were wholK-disiinrt 
 from the general mass sent up by the fire. Even when tlie fire had burnt 
 out in a great part of the forest, the whirlwinds still rose above the ashes. 
 The wind was blowing from the northeast when the fire bro]<e out, hut 
 shortly afterwards the wind blew near the ground from all sides t 
 
 oward 
 
 the centre of the fire. The columns of smoke rose more than si.\; hun- 
 dred feet vertical in the air, and then suddenly bent toward the southwest, 
 clearU' showing where the north wind struck them. 
 
 Fires I*ro<liU'iiig' "Whirlwinds. 
 
 Immense whirlwinds are often seen accompan)'ing the large clearinL,^ 
 fires of the backwoods. Se\-en acres of timber and brushwood were 
 fired at Amherst, ^lass., on a war;n windless da}', when the smoke and 
 flame united in a large, whirling, cylindrical column, accompanied by 
 violent roaring. At a similar fire in Stockbridge, the whirlwinil was so 
 violent that it t()re ui> \-<,)ung trees six to eight inches thick, and hurled 
 them fift\- feet high in the air. Similar wiiirling columns ha\e been 
 observed abo\e the craters of acti\'e volcanoes. On the 8th of .\\m\, 
 1866, a pillar of ashes rose above the volcano of Santorin during;- an 
 eruption, with the usual thunder and rumblings, and suddenly shut up in 
 the form of an immense steam screw to a height of 19,000 feet. Some- 
 times the \apors contained in the whirlwinds condense above the column 
 of smoke, and form clouds, sending down lightning and rain. 
 
 The simplest form of the whirlwind is that observed on calm da}-s, on 
 large squares or cross roads, when sand and leaves are lifted and whirled 
 round for a few seconds. Dust Avhirhvinds of considerable size are some 
 times obseived in tiie Russian steppes; but the best known phenomena et 
 this kind are the high sand pillars of Sahara, which ha\-e been falsely 
 reported to be able to bury whole cara\'ans. Even in Australia these 
 rotary dust pillars are met Avith, generally being seen upon shadowless 
 plains. It is thought that these Australian wlilrlwinds are the channels 
 which carry the heated air from the ground ij the higher strata. 
 
.^: Miirs.S'-.i^ss. 
 
 ed. Whirlwind- 
 :r.s of (lestruciioii. 
 :at coiillaL^'nilinn-.. 
 ihc border of iliu 
 
 out into flaiiic', 
 rUvinds of varimis 
 ;t ihcy ui-fc ciini- 
 
 '\\\ lKi:j;ht. but ;i> 
 ,\vo bundled tvxt. 
 crcwbolly tlisiiiict 
 tiic fire b?id burnt 
 ^c above tlie ashes, 
 fire broke out, but 
 m all siiles towan! 
 lore tlian six lum- 
 /ard tbe southwest, 
 
 tbe larc^c clcariiv^f 
 d brushwood were 
 len tbe smoke and 
 1, accompanietl by 
 J whirlwind was so 
 s thick, and hudcd 
 oUnnns have been 
 1 the 8th of April, 
 Santorin durin- an 
 ,uddenly shot up in 
 9,000 feet. Sonie- 
 - abo\-i; the eulunin 
 111 rain. 
 
 1 on caini days, on 
 ■c lifted and whirled 
 rable size are scmii 
 nown phenomena I't 
 [\ ha\'e been falsely 
 in Australia these 
 ;n upon shadowless 
 ds are the channels 
 kher strata. 
 
 
 ■mm 
 
 Im fill 
 
 (595) 
 
500 
 
 'mi' ' 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 r? 
 
 V 
 
 m^i 
 
 Instcail ^^( th ■ n'!!in;^f waves and cool breezes of the sea, this fiincnal 
 re;j;! >n only ^nws out l)iirnin<; {^usts.scorchinj,' blasts which seem tn is>iic 
 fioin the ^'ates ot hell; these are the simoon or poison-wind, as the wnnl 
 sil^nifiis in Arab. The came! driver knows this formidable enemy, and >,, 
 soon as he sees it loomin;^^ in the hori/.tm, he raises liis liands to JKawn 
 r.nd implores Allah ; the camels themselves seem terrified at its approaeii. 
 A x'eil (if reddish-black in\ades the plcamini^ sky, and verj'soon a tenihlj 
 .'.nd bin-nine^ wind rises, bearing; clouds of fine impalpable sand, which 
 .^everel\• irritates t!ic e\'cs and throat. 
 
 Di'cadl'ul Destruction by Siuid-Storiiis. 
 
 The camels squat down and refuse to move, and the travellers ha\-e no 
 chance of saflv except by makini; a rampart of the bodies of their 
 beasts, and co\erinc,r their heads so as to protect themselves a^Miiist 
 this scourge. I-'ntire caravans liavc sometimes perished in these sand- 
 storms; it was one of them that buried the army of Cambyses when it 
 was tra\ersm;^ tiie desert. 
 
 Camp, in his charminL;- work on the Nile, describes in the follouin'i- 
 terms one of these desert tempests. It comes towards one, he savs, 
 «;rowinc;. spreadincj.and atl\-ancinij as if on wheels. Its oxerhan^in;^^ siin- 
 mit is of a brick color, its base deep red and almost black. In propor- 
 tion as it approaches it dii\-es before it burning effluvi;i. like the breath of 
 a lime-kiln. Ik-fore it reaches us we are covered with its shadow. The 
 sound it makes is like that of a wind passing through a pine-ft)rest. So 
 soon as we are in the midst of this hurricane the camels halt, turn their 
 backs, throw themseh-es down, and lay their heads upon the sand, .\ftcr 
 the cloud of dust comes a rain of imperceptible stones, violently hurled 
 about by the wind, and which, if it lasted long, would quickly flay the 
 skin from those parts of the body unprotected by the clothes. This lasted 
 {^^■c or six minutes, and was frightful. Then the sky became clear a^^ain, 
 and ga\e the same feeling of sudden change to the eye as a light sud- 
 denly brought into a dark place. 
 
 Whirlwinds are generally preceded by a sultry, oppressive air; some- 
 times by absolute calm ; but the state of the wind never appears clearly 
 c<innected with the phenomena. The storm pillars vary greatly in form; 
 the sand columns being generally funnel-shaped, and the water-spouts 
 like a pipe surrounded at the base by whirling vapors and foaming water. 
 The height and diameter are also variable; some of the highest have 
 been estimated at 6,000 feet. In many cases the damage caused by the 
 water is of such a kind as to show that there has been an influx uf air 
 from every side toward the base of the column. 
 
;ca, this funorcal 
 ch sccni to is^in' 
 .ind.as the wmi-.I 
 Ic LMicniy. and .so 
 hands to hfavcn, 
 .1 at its apiirnaLli. 
 ry soon a tcrrihlj 
 abio sand, which 
 
 s. 
 
 ravcllcrs have no 
 : bodies of their 
 cniselves a;4ain>t 
 ed in these saml- 
 Jambyses when it 
 
 ; in the following 
 ds one, he says, 
 Dverhanj^ini^siim- 
 ack. In proper- 
 like the !)reath of 
 its shadow. The 
 I pine-forest. So 
 Is halt, turn their 
 the sand, .\fter 
 violently hurled 
 quickly Hay the 
 thes. This lasted 
 came clear a-ain, 
 \c as a lii^ht siid- 
 
 cssive air; somc- 
 V appears clearly 
 y greatly in form ; 
 the water-spouts 
 nd foaming water, 
 the highest have 
 ige caused by the 
 1 an influx of air 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 THE SEA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 MONSTERS OF THR GREAT D;:EP. 
 
 The Ladders of the Titans— The Watery Desert— .X Cire.at I'liknown- Mvsti ries of 
 tlie Deep — Marvelous I'roducts — Terriljle Marine Monslrr-^ — I lie Wdrld-Rf 
 nowned "Kraken "—Rattle with a Stranpe F(«*— Tlie (treat Sea-.Ser|)eii>— 
 Sin:j;tilar Stories— Old .Sailors' Narratives -The Hui;e Ocean Giant— Curious 
 Habitsoftiie Whale — Perilous and Excititig Adventures — A Miracidous Escape— 
 Tlie riyins: Dragoon— .\ Kisli with SiMkes — Seized by a .Shark— The Stomias 
 Boa — The Hammer Headed Shark — Tlie Siamese Twins of the beo. 
 
 O behold the sea! It is tlie dream of every landsman, citizen or 
 peasant, who dwells in the interior of an o(;ean-\\ashetlcountr\', 
 however little he may care for the grand .s:enes of nature. The 
 mountains attract in the .same manner ♦.he inhabitants of the 
 plains, but not so .strongly. Me may, with some degree of effort, embody 
 them for himself with the aid of the pictures lie has seen, or the descrip- 
 tions he has read. Certainly, when at a later time foilune permits him 
 with admiring eye to view these gigantic monuments of our])!anet's 
 ancient convulsions ; when he sees, on the platforms which are but their 
 first steps, the enormous masses rising, on wlu)se flanks the vast forests 
 appear like patches of moss, and which are in their turn surmounted by 
 l)!les of rocks with summits apparently piercing the celestial \ault, he 
 discovers but a faint resemblance betw^een their reality and the concep- 
 tions he has formed of them. 
 
 And if he undertakes to climb these ladders of the Titans ; if, at an 
 elevation of some thousands of feet, he ca.sts his glance over the plains ; 
 if he peers down into the aby.s.scs lying open before his steps ; if he mark.i 
 the cascades leaping from crag to crag with a thunderous roar antl bury- 
 in;^ themselves in gulfs where whiten their f )amy waves ; if he climbs to the 
 wintry regions where the rocks are of ice, where the soft moss and crisp 
 ^recn turf are replaced by peqietual snows, where he is lost — as it were — 
 in space, where legions of moving clouds hide the earth from his vision, 
 
 (597) . 
 
 
 
 t ■ 
 
 m 
 
 ''"{ 
 
 
 i 
 
 <■■ ^ ! 
 
 HJ 
 
:?') 
 
 598 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 ii 
 
 I 
 
 11 
 
 LI f 
 
 I V 
 
 a 
 
 f . 
 
 mm 
 
 1'^ 
 
 where the difficult air impedes his respiration : then he will think of the 
 pahr\- hmdscapes below with a scorn attempered by pity. 
 
 Ikit the mountain^- are still the earth. There man may live on the 
 proceeds of the chase or of his industr\\ There he may build hiniM.lf 
 a house. There flourish plants and animals with which he is familiar. 1 [c 
 marches there with a firm foot. The very dan;^ers that threaten him — the 
 pr<:ci])ice, and the torrent, and the storm, and the a\-alanch — are onl\- ;ui 
 enlar<;cment, so to speak, of those which eveiywhere surround liim. In 
 a word, he is as much at home on the mountain-peak as in his own fields; 
 the form and aspect alone are different. 
 
 Grandeur of the "World of Waters. 
 
 But it is otherwise with the ocean. He who has never seen it can form 
 no just conception of it. Vainly does he seek a resemblance in the master- 
 pieces of the painter's art, in the great rivers, the great lakes, the \ast 
 extent of the plains, farms, or prairies. Nothing can ever paint to him 
 the liquid immensity. Brought face to face with ocean, he will remain 
 speechless and stupified. And what will it be if he goes down to the deep 
 in shi[)s, loses sight of earth, and finds himself suspended between the 
 water and the sky, sustained above the aby.ss by a few planks? Overliis 
 head, the infinite space; under his feet, a capricious and shifting element 
 — capricious, at least, in appearance — to day, calm, benign, and motinn- 
 le.ss ; to-morrow, furious and implacable, hurling one against another its 
 foam-crested waves, longing to engulf his frail bark in their formidable 
 embrace. 
 
 It is then that he will feel the sentiment of his own weakness crouinL;^ 
 upon him, with the idea of infinity. His temerity will at first astonish 
 and terrify liim. He will think with admiration of the forgotten hero 
 who first dared to launch himself upon the sea in a boat, and confront the 
 unknown; of those who, bolder still, imdertook the desperate enterprise 
 of disccn-ering the end, the boundary of the watery desert — sailing, sailinij 
 from the other side of the world, until they should meet with the land 
 .seen by the mind's e}'e beyond the horizon. Then the tranquil courage 
 of the .seamen, their skilful manceuvres, their familiarity with this great 
 liquid world, which they both know and love; all this tends by degrees 
 to reassure him. A certain enthusiastic pride will succeed the humble 
 dread of his first moments; he will enjoy man's fierce struggle against the 
 elements. If a storm break forth, he will rejoice to witness it, as a young 
 soldier, after the first few musket shots, feels a fierce delight in the battle, 
 And as the soldier, when once more seated by his fireside, proudly ex- 
 claims : " I was in that war ; I fought on such and such a famous field;" 
 
will think of the 
 
 MONSTERS OF THE GREAT DEEP. 
 
 599 
 
 he too, in his turn, will cr>', " I have beheld the sea ; and not only from 
 the harbor, the pier, and the summit of the cliff, but I have seen it beneath 
 my feet ; I ha\'e seen it alternately serene and stormy, agitated and asleep ; 
 I have bounded o'er the waves to the roaring of the tempest; 1 have 
 struggled against it — and here I am ! " 
 
 3rysterics of the Sea. 
 
 This indeed is a fortunate man, for he has seen the ocean. But has he 
 scon it truly? No. For the ocean is not, like the mountains, an accident on 
 the surface of the earth ; it is a world, two and a half times as large as' 
 our own, if ^ve consider only its surface, and it envelops ours on every 
 side. It is a world which nourishes legions of strange beings in its 
 depths, in its vast coral forests. It is a world which man, after so many 
 centuries, at the cost of so many sacrifices, scarcely begins to know, far 
 from having conquered it. 
 
 Like to the great gods of the ancient barbarians of the North and the 
 East, the ocean — a greedy and terrible power — makes us pay every year 
 by hundreds of human lives for the favors it bestows upon us. How 
 many has the enormous Sphinx devoured of those who have attempted 
 to divine its enigmas, to pierce its mysteries! What matters it ? The 
 uork goes on, and goes forward. The human eye has penetrated that 
 formidable night. Science already comprehends the laws which govern 
 the marine world and connect it with the terrestrial, and has learned the 
 part which the seas perform. 
 
 It has done more. By a series of inductions based on an examination 
 of the constitution of our globe, it has succeeded in ascending to the 
 origin of things; in unlocking, so to .speak, the archives of nature, and 
 composing a history of the ocean, a history so logical, so satisfactory to 
 the mind, so harmonious with existing facts, that we cannot refuse to ac- 
 cord it a very high degree of certainty. 
 
 Marvelous Pro«liu't.s of the Ocean. 
 
 We are to study the ocean in its actual condition ; its regular or tumult- 
 uous movements, the causes which produce and the laws which go\ern 
 ihcm. Exploring the shores of the seas, their surface, and ab)-sses, we 
 sec developed the prodigious .series of beings which inhabit them: fan- 
 tastic plants; rudimentary animals scarcely distinguishable from plants; 
 microscopical creatures which svirm in incalculable myriads, agitate, 
 labor, and multiply — molluscs, crustaceans, fish, reptiles, gigantic amphib- 
 ians, even birds; for among the winged race there are hundreds of species 
 which belong to the marine not less than to the aerial world. 
 
 mi i 
 
 
 
 :fMfj||( 
 
GOO 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 
 w*! 
 
 fi, 
 
 !|^ ilil^ 
 
 
 ;il. 
 
 We show the ocean plouj^hed in every direction, exca\'atod in its 
 
 depths and explored by man, and exercising; a powerful inllucnce on tiio 
 
 proL^ress of science and civiUzation ; less, indeed, by tiic immense rK:hc.s 
 
 whicli it ofifers to our forced, than by tlie obstacles which it opposes to 
 
 our encroachments, and b)- the problems which it proposes for us to 
 
 solve. 
 
 Kxtraordiiisiry ^Isvriiic 31<nist('r. 
 
 No forms of life on our ^^lobe are more calculated to awaken suipri-c 
 than those which are found in the mysterious depths of the ocean, straii.;' 
 stories and descriptions of which have come to our notice. Man}' wninl- 
 rous tales are on record of gigantic polypi, living in the polar and tropical 
 seas ; fierce and redoubtable monsters, of size and strength sufficient to 
 o\-ercome and de\-our the largest whales, and, conseciuently, far more 
 easiU- able to destroy an\' unfortunate niaiiner who may have fallen oxer- 
 board, or incautious swimmer who ventures to sport in the waters fre- 
 quented by them. Accounts are given of monstrous creatures, capable of 
 entangling ships, and of seizing with their arms not only men, but even 
 whales of huge dimensions. Mention is made of a motister whose atni-; 
 were thirt\' feet in length, and so thick that a man could scarce! \- cla^n 
 them. Mention is also made of other animals of the same kind, uiiMse 
 arms measured from seventy-five to one luuidred and twent)^ ^cct\ V'm- 
 all\', the cclef)rated "kraken," which has been the theme of so main- \r,- 
 mances, was of no less a girth in its up[)cr portion than half a league, aiid 
 woultl ha\e capsized the largest vessels, had not their crews severed the 
 arms with which it held them. The truth is, that in the Pacific Ocean a 
 .species does exist of enormous dowlopment. 
 
 The Hii^o Octopus. 
 
 One of the most eminent of modern naturalists, Ehrcnberg, has com- 
 municated to the Berlin Academy of Sciences some observations well 
 deserving' notice. His paper, relates to soundings made on the Green- 
 land coast by the English ship Ihill-doi^. He savs the accounts given 
 strikingly accord with the old legends that tell of marine monsters living 
 at the bottom of the sea, and enveloping with their arms all things that 
 approached them. What Pliny says of enormous polypi thirtv feet lon:^, 
 and weighing seven hundred pounds, has been regarded as an exaggera- 
 tion. ]5ut an immense creature was captured which might be callcil 
 " whale-sla\'er," for it was taken while engaged in a struggle with one ot 
 
 these giants of the .sea. Some portions o{ the body of this gigantic 
 polypus are preserved in the Copenhagen Museum. 
 
 We cannot, therefore, doubt that the depths of the .sea, where vcgcta- 
 
 f f. li 
 
f I # » 
 
 * 
 
 cxca\'atcd in its 
 influence on tho 
 : immense rh:lics 
 cli it Disposes to 
 (Eposes fijir us t.; 
 
 ) awaken sur].iri<c 
 he ocean, Strang,- 
 :e. Many wmul- 
 polarand tropica! 
 v^ih sufficient to 
 [uently, fdv more 
 ' have fallen ovcr- 
 in tiic \\aler< frc- 
 :atures, capabic of 
 ily men, but ewn 
 »nster \\ho--e aiin> 
 .ild scai'cely clasp 
 same kind, whose 
 went\' ^eet! l'"in- 
 e of so many nv 
 lialf a lea;_;ue. and 
 crews sewred the 
 ,c Pacific Ocean a 
 
 •nber^. lias coin- 
 observations well 
 ide on the Green- 
 accounts ^nvcii 
 e m< insters living 
 ms all thiiiL^s that 
 -)\ thirty feet Ion;, 
 d as an exa<^;^fera- 
 
 might be called 
 •uggle with oivj of 
 
 of this gigantic 
 
 ;ea, where vcijcta- 
 
 K 
 
 (OUl) 
 
 :'rs 
 
'' :''Pi lij 
 
 H 
 
 G02 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 bles flourish eight handred feet in length, are also peopled with monstrous 
 animals, whose organism is adapted to these unknown regions, whence 
 they but rarely emerge. Their very real appearances have formed the 
 basis of the mysterious traditions which, for two thousand years, have 
 been transmitted from generation to generation of mariners, and which 
 have given birth to the fantastic creations of the kraken and the sea- 
 serpent. 
 
 Almost simultaneously with the appearance of Ehrcnberg's paper, 
 Berthelot, the French consul at Teneriffe, minutely related an encounter 
 with a gigantic polypus, in the open sea. On the 2nd of December i86i, 
 said Berthelot, the steam despatch-boat AUxto, commanded by Lieutenant 
 Bou}-cr, dropped anchor in our roads on her voyage to Cayenne. This 
 ship had encountered at sea, between Madeira and Teneriffe, a monstrous 
 polypus swimming at the surface of the water. This animal measured 
 from sixteen to eighteen feet in length, without counting the eight for- 
 midable arms covered with air holes, that encircled its head. Its color 
 was a brick red; its eyes, placed level with the top of its head, were pro- 
 digiously developed, and glared with a frightful fixedness. Its mouth 
 was like a j)arrot's beak. Its body, much swollen towards the centre, 
 presented an enormous mass, whose weight might be computed at about 
 4400 pounds. Its fins, situated at its posterior extremity, were rounded 
 into fleshy lobes of a very great size. 
 
 It was on the 30th of November, about half an hour after noon, that 
 the crew of the Alccio, descried this terrible cephalopod swimming along- 
 side. The commander immediately stopped his vessel, and despite the 
 animal's dimensions, manceuvred to catch him. A slipknot was made 
 read}-; muskets were loaaed, and harpoons prepared, in all haste. But 
 at the first balls fired the monster dived underneath the vessel, quickly 
 reappearing on the other side. Attacked anew with the harpoons, and 
 after receiving several discharges of musketry, he disappeared twice or 
 thrice, each time showing himself a few moments afterwards at the sur- 
 face, agitating his long arms. But the ship continued to follow him, or 
 rather checked her course according to the animal's movements. This 
 chase lasted for two or three hours. 
 
 A Struffgle Avitli a Strange Foe. 
 
 Tile captain of the Alccto grew anxious at all risks to capture this 
 novel kind of foe. Nevertheless he durst not hazard the lives of his .sai- 
 lors by lowering a boat, which this monster would have readily capsized 
 by seizing it with one of its formidable arms. The harpoons aimed at it 
 penetrated its soft flesh, and flew back without inflicting any mortal in- 
 
I»^^^ 
 
 vlth monstrous 
 :gion.s, whence 
 ive formed the 
 nd years, have 
 icrs, and which 
 1 and the sea- 
 
 niberg's paper, 
 i an encounter 
 )ecember l86i, 
 1 by Lieutenant 
 Cayenne. This 
 ffe.a monstrous 
 imal measured 
 [ the eight (or- 
 lead. Its color 
 head, were pro- 
 :ss. Its mouth 
 irds the centre, 
 iputed at about 
 were rounded 
 
 iftcr noon, that 
 kumming aUong- 
 and despite the 
 
 not was made 
 all haste. But 
 
 vessel, quickly 
 : harpoons, and 
 peared twice or 
 irds at the sur- 
 ) follow him, or 
 vements. This 
 
 to capture this 
 lives of his sai- 
 •eadily capsized 
 )ons aimed at it 
 any mortal in- 
 
 c 
 
 r 
 
 rMBll 
 
 m\ 
 
 
 mm 
 
 (003) 
 
 i p 
 
f 
 
 h 
 
 C04 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY, 
 
 V > 
 
 !lill 
 
 jury. Several balls had hit it in vain. At length it received a shot 
 which seemed to wound it seriously, for it immediatel) >mited a great 
 quantity of froth and blood mixed with glutinous matter, which dif- 
 fused a strong odor of musk. It was at thi:i crisis that the saiJDrs 
 contrived to catch it with the running knot, but the rope glided alon^j 
 the mollusc's clastic body, and only stopped when near the extrcmitv 
 at the junction of the two fins. They attempted to haul it aboard, 
 and already the greater portion of its body was clear of the watur, 
 when its enormous weight drew the rope right through its fle.sh, and 
 separated the hinder portion from the remainder of the animal. Tlvn 
 the monster, released from its bonds, fell back into the .sea, and dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 Whatever may be the reality of the facts with which we have just been 
 busy, and the scientific value of the commentaries suggested b\' them. 
 we must ackno-n-lcdge that the story of the gigantic polypus, the subject of 
 such maivelous tales, is deficient neither in grandeur nor poetry. It is 
 undoubtedly of Danish or Norwegian origin, as is shown by the com- 
 pletely northern sound of the name of " kraken " bestowed upon the 
 mon:;ter. According to the ancient legend, the kraken is a foul, collos- 
 sal boast, of shapeless body, with arms as long as the longest serpent, 
 and covered with innumerable suckers. He does not content himself 
 with attacking the other denizens of the ocean ; he lusts after the flesh 
 and blood of man. It is especially at night and in the fury of the tem- 
 pests, that he rises from the bottom of the abyss to assail the unhappy 
 voyagers overtaken by the whirlwind. It then embraces the masts and 
 rigging with its gigantic arms, and endeavors to drag down under the 
 seething waters the ship and all on board. The sole means of escape is 
 by severing its tentacles with blows of an axe ; yet it is by no mean-! 
 certain that they will not grow again immediately, like the heads of the 
 hydra. It is easy to understand the terror with which the recital of the 
 frightful exploits of such an enemy mu.st formerly have inspired ignor- 
 ant minds prone to superstitious fancies. 
 
 The Famous Sea Serpent. 
 
 The fabulous history of the great sea-serpent ascends, like that of the 
 giant polypi, to a sufficiently remote antiquity. Pliny and Valerius 
 Maximus both describe an amphibious serpent swimming in the shallow 
 shore-waters, and only sailing out to sea when he had grown to such 
 dimensions that movement became impossible for him, or, at all eycnts, 
 very difficult, anywhere else than in mid-ocean. A French author, 
 Belleforest, in his " Cosmographie," comments on the passage in Pliny 
 
 If". 
 
 .:iii? 
 
ceivcd a shot 
 mitcd a great 
 cr, which dif- 
 at the sailors 
 
 glided along 
 the extremity 
 lul it aboard, 
 of the water, 
 
 its flesh, and 
 mimal. TiVlh 
 
 sea, and dis- 
 
 have just been 
 :sted by them, 
 , the subject of 
 
 poetry. It is 
 n by the com- 
 ived upon the 
 
 a foul, coUos- 
 ngest serpent, 
 ontent himself 
 
 after the flesh 
 
 y of the tem- 
 
 the unhappy 
 
 the ma<ts and 
 
 ')\\n under the 
 
 s of escape is 
 
 by no means 
 
 heads of the 
 
 2 recital of the 
 
 aspired ignor- 
 
 ikc that of the 
 and Valerius 
 in the shallow- 
 grown to such 
 r, at all eyents, 
 "rench author, 
 ssagc in Pliny 
 
 MONSTERS OF THE GREAT DEEP. 
 
 605 
 
 referring to this marine serpent, and does not hesitate to furnish the 
 most circumstantial details n;specting it. According to him, though of 
 cnllossal dimensions, it was gifted with extraordinary agility. It flung 
 itself on barks and small ships, capsi/.ed and dashed them in fragments 
 by striking them with its huge tail, and afterwards swallowed all their 
 crews. Belleforest adds, with admirable simplicity, that if the ship was 
 too large for the creature to crush it, it drew, or rather propelled it to- 
 wards the shore, in whatever direction the wind blew; then waited pa- 
 licntl)' until the seamen, compelled by hunger or in the hope of escape, 
 ventured upon deck or attempted to gain the shore. That was the mo- 
 ment for it to pounce upon them and crush them with its teeth — for 
 teeth it had, according to Belleforest. It had also the head of the wolf- 
 dog, with ears pricked back behind. Add to this a body covered with 
 yellow i-h scales, and a croup curving in tortuous folds, and you will have 
 an exact portrait of the monster; the same, in all probabilit\', which 
 Neptune stimulated to devour the son of Theseus. 
 
 Belief in the Kvistencc of a Terrible 3Iouster. 
 
 In the north of Europe, a belief in marine creatures of strange form 
 and prodigious dimensions is widely spread and deeply rooted in the 
 minds of the masses. Fishermen and sailors confuse the kraken properly 
 so called, or gigantic polypus, and the great sea-serpent, designating both 
 bv the name of kraken, and libcrallv attributing to them the most astonish- 
 ing and incompatible characteristics and forms. Norway has an uncon- 
 querable faith in the reality of the great .sea-serpent, and a.scribes it to the 
 northern seas for a dwelling-place. Pontoppidan, Bishop of Bergen, sa.y§ 
 that the Norwegians cherish so strong a belief in the actual existence of 
 this monstrous reptile, that whenever he spoke of it in a dubious manner, 
 his listeners broke into a quiet laugh, as if he had doubted the existence 
 of the eel or any other common fish. The name of the ocean-serpent in 
 the.se regions is the kraken; they also refer to it by a name which signi- 
 fies the scourge of the sea. 
 
 The Norwegian fishermen, says Pontoppidan, all affirm, without the 
 least contradiction in their accounts, that the monster covers a mile 
 and a half of ocean with the upper portion of its back. The fish, sur- 
 l)rised by its ascent, flutter a moment in the humid hollows formed b\' the 
 protuberances of its external envelope; then from the floating mass issue 
 numerous spikes or shining horns, which rear themselves erect like masts 
 crossed by their j-ards. These are the arms of the kraken. Here, then, 
 is a resuscitation of the kraken ; the .serpent transforms itself into a poly- 
 pus: it has arms, and what arms! Such is their vigor, tkat if they seize 
 
 1 r 
 
 * 
 
 
J'' 
 
 
 i! 
 
 GOG 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 upon the ricjGjintX of a sliip of the h"ne, they will infallibly capsize her! 
 After reniaininj^ some time on the waves, the monster redescends withihc 
 same slowness, and the dani^er is not less for tiie vessel whieh may 1)- 
 within its range; for, while sinkin;^, it displaees such a volume of water 
 as to occasion whirlwinds and currents not less terrible than those of the 
 famous Maelstrom. 
 
 Sucli is in Norway the jiopular belief respectint:^ the sea-serpent. The 
 old Scandina\ian writers attribute to it a leni^lh of 600 feet, with a lua. 1 
 resembling,'- that of the horse, black eyes, aiul a kind of white mane. 
 According; to them, it is only met with in the ocean, where it suddenly 
 rears itself uj) like a mast of a ship of tlie line, and i^ives vent to hissiiv^^ 
 noises, which apjxill the hearer, like the tempest roar. The NorwcL^ian 
 poets compare its proujress to the flijght of a swift arrow. The fishermen 
 sa\' it re\'ol\es sometimes in a circle around the doomed vessel, whose 
 crew thus find themselves assailed on every side. 
 
 The Terror of tlio Polar Seas. 
 
 In this description of the sea-serpent we think it possible to reco<:jni/.c 
 another fantastic animal, the" i;reat white whale " of the Greenland coa--ts, 
 hunted for two centuries by the Scotch whalers, which they called " niahy 
 dick," and rej^arded as the terror of the Arctic Seas. Accordini^ to these 
 mariners it makes its appearance now at intervals ; but is of so venerahK- 
 an age that its botly is completely covered by vegetation and marine 
 mosses, in whose midst live attached to it, as to a rock, multitudes of 
 shell-fish and pol\-pi. 
 
 The traditions of the North speak also of a marine monster which was 
 stranded one da\' on the beach of one of the Orkney Islands. It is saiil 
 to have measured eightv feet in length and fourteen feet in circumference, 
 to have worn a long bristling mane, which, luminous in night and shadiuv, 
 grew dull and dark during the daj'. Despite the fantastic character > 4" 
 some of those details, we may add that their general veracity is attested 
 by the depositions taken in presence of the local authorities ; and that 
 even a Scotch naturalist. Sir Everard Home, proposed to class this mon- 
 ster among the fish of the Squalidai family. 
 
 In England and the United States a belief in the great sea-serpent ha- 
 always been exceedingly popular. The Linnean Society of Boston pub- 
 lished some \-ears ago an authentic report establishing the fact that, at 
 certain inter\-als, a prodigious monster had been seen in Boston Ba}'; that 
 on one occasion it showed itself about thirty miles from Boston, and was 
 examined by some competent persons informed of its return. Accordini,^ 
 to the narrative we are speaking of, the monster exhibited the general 
 
ly capsize her! 
 sccnds with the 
 which may ho 
 oluiiic of water 
 an those of the 
 
 i-serpcnt. The 
 jet, with a liead 
 of white mane. 
 lere it suddenl)- 
 
 vent to hissiuL; 
 The Norwe^Maii 
 
 The fislieniien 
 l1 vessel, who^e 
 
 ble to recoj^nizc 
 ireenland eoa-l<. 
 jy called " niahy 
 ;ordini^ to these 
 of so \-eneral)le 
 ion and marine 
 :, multitudes of 
 
 nster which \\a> 
 uids. It is saiil 
 1 circumference, 
 ;htand shadow, 
 tic character "t 
 acity i.s attested 
 rities ; and that 
 class this niun- 
 
 sea-serpent ha- 
 of Boston pub- 
 the fact that, at 
 oston Bay; tliat 
 Boston, and was 
 rrn. According 
 I ted the general 
 
 (()(>7) 
 
 'm0.i 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 ,Wf, 
 
 ,f*M 
 
 11 
 
 
 i^ ell' 
 
 Mi 
 

 ill* 
 
 \m 
 
 008 
 
 EARTH, SF.A, AND SKV. 
 
 shape an.l outlines of a serpent. Its aL^ility was extreme. When the 
 weather \\a.s calm and the sun hot, it remained on the surface, alternatcK' 
 jiluni^nni^ in the water and exposin;^ in the air tlu different portions of its 
 annular bt)dy. 
 
 In the archives of the town of Plymouth is preserved a Ioul,' abstract of 
 verbal depositions made by a multitude of seamen, which affirm the ex- 
 istence in ocean of this mysterious animal. And it is a remarkable cir- 
 cumstance that all these depositions, with the exception of some sUl^Iu 
 differences of detail, fully at^ree upon the general conformation and enor- 
 mous dimensions of the mc^nster. 
 
 A fisherman attests upon oath to have seen a stran<;e animal, of a ser- 
 pent's shape, extraordinary size, and brown hue, sometimes baskini; tran- 
 quilly on the surface of the water, sometimes swimming with incredible 
 swiftness. Another witness affirms that he saw in the same locality an 
 immense beast, whose head resembled that of a rattlesnake. A third h.ul 
 seen the monster open its enormous mouth, which he also compares to 
 that of a terrestrial serpent. Other individuals announce similar facts, and 
 accompany them with details which a]:)pear very natural. Thus, a sea- 
 man relates that he fired a musket-shot at the monster, just at the mo- 
 ment that, having drawn tolerably near the ship, he dived as if to a\-oi(l it: 
 but that, at a short distance off, the monster raised its head anew; that 
 they very simultaneously felt the grating of a scaly body against the \es- 
 sel's keel, and that soon afterwards they saw the .serpent's tail lashing the 
 surface of the sea, and making the .spray and foam besprinkle the veiy 
 
 mariners. 
 
 Testimony of an Kye Witness. 
 
 Some \-ears aero the United Service Joiifual inserted a letter in ^\•hich 
 an eye witness described the appearance of the sea-serpent on the shore 
 of Nah.ant. I had with me, says this witness, an excellent telescope. 
 When I reached the strand I found many persons assembled, and soon 
 afterwards we saw appear, at a short distance from the .shore, an animal 
 whose body formed a scries of blackish curves, of which I counted thir- 
 teen. Other persons estimated the number at fifteen. The monster 
 passed thrice at a moderate speed, traversing the bay, whose waters 
 writhed in foam under its huge bulk. We could easily calculate that its 
 length could not be much less than fifty to si.xty feet. This, at least, I can 
 affirm, without presuming to say to what .species belongs the animal which 
 I have ju.st seen. 
 
 A short time afterward the officials of Essex county, in the State of 
 Massachusetts, received the deposition, formally drawn up, which follows: 
 
. i » ' 
 
 no. When the 
 face, altcrtiatiK* 
 t portions df its 
 
 hiULj abstract <>f 
 
 1 affirm tlic c\- 
 
 remarkahlc cir- 
 
 of sonic slii^rht 
 
 lation and cnnr- 
 
 .nimal, of a ser- 
 es baskint; tran- 
 <; with incredible 
 same locality an 
 :e. A third had 
 .Iso compares to 
 similar facts, and 
 \\. Thus, a sea- 
 ■, just at the nio- 
 
 as if to avoid it; 
 lead anew; that 
 
 against the \es- 
 s tail lashiuL,^ the 
 
 crinkle the \"erv 
 
 letter in which 
 nt on the shore 
 client telescope, 
 iblcd, and soon 
 shore, an animal 
 
 I counted thir- 
 The monster 
 y, whose waters 
 calculate that its 
 his, at least, lean 
 :he animal which 
 
 in the State o( 
 .which follows: 
 
 MONSTERS OF THE GREAT DEEP. 
 
 009 
 
 I, the undcrsif^ned, Grcsham Bennett, .second master, declare tliat on the 
 6th of June, at seven a.m., while navi<,fatin;^ on board the sloop C/>iir(>nf, 
 on her way from New York to Salem, the vessel bein;^ about fifteen miles 
 fmni Race Point, in sight of Cape St. Anne, I heard the helmsman cry out, 
 ami call me, .saying that there was something close to tiie ship well worth 
 looking at. I mn immediately to the side which he pointed out, and .saw 
 a serpent of enormous magnitude floating on the water. Its liead rose 
 about sc\en feet above the surface ; t.he weather was clear and the s a calm. 
 The color of the animal in all its visible parts was black, and the skin 
 appeared smooth and free from scales. Its head was about as long as 
 that of a horse, but was the perfect head of a serpent, terminating on the 
 upper part in a flattened surface. We could not distinguish its eyes. 
 I saw it clearly from .seven to eight minutes ; it swam in the same direc- 
 tion as the sloop, and went nearly as quickly. Its back consisted of humps 
 or rings of the size of a large barrel, separated by intervals of about three 
 feet. These rings appeared fixed, and resembled a chain of hogsheads 
 fasteneil together; the tail was beneath the water. The part of the ani- 
 mal which I .saw measured about fifteen feet in length; the mo\'ementof 
 its rings seemed undulatory. 
 
 A X<>v«'l Discussion. 
 
 There ensued in the scientific journals and societies a very anin'.ated 
 discussion, but one of novel character, in which everybody took a side 
 for or against the great sea-serpent; only its opponents, instead of 
 denying purely and simply its existence, maintained that what had 
 been taken for an animal was nothing else than some enormous vegetable 
 waif stretched out upon the surface of the Ocean. 
 
 Something is due to the influence of ancient traditions and venerable 
 fables, which have been handed down from generation to generation, and 
 which, while powerfully affecting the more credulous and impressible 
 minds, are not without theii effect even upon cooler judgments. The 
 superstitions of the past have a strange vitality in them. We pretend to 
 despise, to ignore them; we very learnedly di.scuss their origin, and ex- 
 pose their absurdity; yet \vho can say that he is wholly free from their 
 far-reaching power? U iknown to ourselves, perhaps, they color our 
 fancies and direct the course of thoughts, and surprise us into a sudden 
 acquiescence in moments when the cool intellect is oft its guard, 
 and the excited brain has surrendered itself to the dominion of fancy. 
 It is to this truth Schiller has so finely alluded in his " Wallcnstein," 
 in a passage where Coleridge's translation may be owned to surpass the 
 original : 
 89 
 
 ;-.^m' 
 
» 
 
 ;'; 
 
 GIO 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 ' 
 
 Still 
 
 Doth the old instiiirt bring hack the olil names; 
 Aiul to yon starry workl tliey now are gone, 
 Spirits or gocl-^, that ustnl to siiare this earth 
 Willi man as with their friend ; 
 Vondur they move, from yonder visible sky 
 Slioot inlliienre down ; and even at tiiis day 
 'Tis Jupiter who brinc^s whate'er is Jjreat, 
 And \'eniis who brings everything tliat's fair. 
 
 An Tmmon.sc Ocoau (iihint. 
 
 The Greenland whale frequently attains the lens^th of seventy feet, but 
 its ordinary dimensions are about sixty. lucn the latter is a colossi! 
 stature; it presupposes a weii^ht of about .seventy tons; and a whale of 
 this length and mass will not be less than from thirt}'-six to forty feet in 
 circumference, measured a little in front of tiie pectoral fms. The latter 
 are from seven to ten feet lonj^; the tail, which is triangular in shape, is 
 from eighteen to twentv-two feet broad. Naturalists ascribe to soiiu 
 species still more j^igantic dimensions. Thus the Northern ronuial 
 sometimes exceeds ninety-fi\'e feet in Iciv.^h; and the two species wli; h 
 inhabit the waters of the Aleutian Islands attain, accordini^ t(j simij 
 authorities, the astoundin<^ length of 170 feet. The cachalot, or spcrni 
 '.vhale, is about the same size as the Greenland or common whale; yet 
 individuals have been discovered, we are told, which, like the roniual, 
 measured eighty to ninety feet in length. 
 
 Nearly all stay-at-home naturalists — the naturalists of the closet — ha\-c 
 repeated in their treatises that the blowers, when they rise to the surface 
 of the water for breathing, eject through their vents great spouts of v.-atcr, 
 which indicate their whereabouts from afar. This fact is uni\-ersally ad- 
 mitteil, and c\-ery picture of whales or cachalots represents them with the 
 indispensable j'^t leaping from the summit of their head. Yet, accordinj; 
 to those obser\ers who have seen the whale elsewhere than in books and 
 museums, it is not water which the animal propels through its vents, but 
 the vapor of water, just as all terrestrial animals expire their breath; only 
 this vapor, on coming into contact with the cold air, immediately con- 
 denses, at first in a white cloud, and afterwards in a small fine rain. Such, 
 at least, is the .statement of Scoresby, no mean authorit}-; and it has been 
 confirmed by an old seaman, a well informed and highly talented man, 
 who spent .several years in the exciting pursuits of the whale-fishcn-, 
 and who has had opportunities of observing some hundreds of those 
 animals. 
 
 A profound instinct of sociability seems one of the characteristic 
 
'^1 
 
 tsir* 
 
 MONSTERS OF THE GREAT DI-.IT. 
 
 »;ii 
 
 seventy feet, but 
 tor is a colos-.il 
 aiul a whale of 
 < to forty feet in 
 fins. The latter 
 ;ular in ^hape, is 
 ascribe to snmj 
 Northern ronuuil 
 vo speeies whi ;h 
 cordint; to sduvj 
 ^ehalot, or sperm 
 •union whale; ytt 
 like the rorqual, 
 
 the closet— have 
 rise to the surface 
 Lt spouts of v.-aler, 
 is universally ad- 
 Ints them with the 
 Yet, accordiiv^ 
 |han in books and 
 |UL;h its vents, but 
 :heir breath; only 
 
 immediately con- 
 ll fine rain. Such. 
 1-; and it has been 
 
 hly talented nun, 
 Ithe whale-fishcrx', 
 
 .undreds of these 
 
 the characteristic 
 
 traits of their naterc. and this instinct manifests itself, in several species, 
 by the powerful an 1 reciprocal affection of the mother and her youn;^. 
 Tlie same attachment exists between the ii'.ale and his mate, and, like tlie 
 maternal sentiment of affection, reveals a touchin;^ character, since it al- 
 most always prevails over that instinct which in m 'st animals keeps 
 down every other — too frequently even in man himself — the nuan, cow- 
 ardly instinct of self-preservation. The ^i'^antic whale, in spite of its for- 
 midable appearance, is a very inoffensive, an. 1 usually a very timiil ani- 
 mal, ready to fly at the sli_Ljhtest appearance of dancjer. A'tt an inl;ej)id 
 courage is kindled i-.i the breast of this oeean-giant when he sees one of 
 his young attacked or wounded ; but his sole object is to withdraw it 
 from its peril, to expose himself in its plaec to the assaults of the en.iny, 
 and if it dies, to perish with it, for the poor bjast wdl never abandon it. 
 Unprovided with weapons, he can in no other wise defend it; nor decs 
 he ever make the attempt, for he is wholly deficient in tiu instinet of 
 combat. Me can suffer, but he caimot fiijht. 
 
 CJroat l><'striietioii of ^Lirino lAlV. 
 
 The whales live in families rather than in herds. Their food is exclu- 
 sively animal. They prey upon fishes, worms, molluscs, small articu- 
 lated animals, w hich they eni^ailf in immense quantities in their enor- 
 mous thro it, ejecting^ the water they have swallowed, after depositiiv^- 
 their prey in the capacious recesses of their stoinach. Whales have no 
 teeth in either jaw; but the upper, which is extremely nariow, is fur- 
 nished with numerous horny lamina: — the whalebone of commerce — 
 desc :nelinLj perpendicularly from the palate, and varying in propoitional 
 breadth and length in the different species. The whalebone consists (,f 
 numerous parallel laminae, each of which ii formed of a central coarse, 
 fibrous lay T, lying between two strata, which are compact and externally 
 polished. The filaments are very numerous, and fill up the cavity of the 
 mouth sufficiently to form a most complete and efficient strainer; ar 1 as 
 the throat is extremely small, not being large enough to admit even the 
 smaller fish, die food of whales being consequently restricted to very 
 small animals, such a structure is necessary in order to retain the whole 
 of whatever is t,d<en into the mouth. 
 
 Enormous Quantities of Oil. 
 
 The common, or Greenland whale, is chiefiy found in the Arctic Cir- 
 cle, thou, di it is also met with in other parts of the world. Its usual 
 length is sixty feet, and its circumference from thirty to forty feet. The 
 lips are five or six feet high; the tail is of immense breadth; the gen- 
 eral color a blackish gray. Its thick cutaneous layer of fat or blubber 
 
 mm iii 
 
 
b 
 
 4 
 
 liUli 
 
 (G12) 
 
MONSTERS OF THE GREAT DEEP. 
 
 613 
 
 yields a large quantity of oil ; upwards of twenty tuns for each whale of 
 ordinary size. 
 
 The female of this species, like most others of the cetacea, is extreme- 
 ly attached to her young, and often rushes into the most imminent dan- 
 ger, and even upon certain death, to rescue or defend it. The whalcn 
 take advantage of this affectionate attachment, and strike with the har- 
 poon the young whale, quite sure that the mother will before long ap- 
 proach for the purpose of saving her offspring, but frequently, in fact, to 
 perish with it ! 
 
 Exciting- Capture of tlie Ocotiu Monarch. 
 
 The whaling ships which belong to F" ranee, Engl.ind and the United 
 States, are each of them always accompanied by five or six boats. The 
 boats are generally four-oared, and carry besides the four rowers, a har- 
 pooner and an officer. When they have arrived in those latitudes where 
 they hope to find whales, a man is posted on the look-out on some high 
 part of the ship, from which hj can see to a long distance. The moment 
 he perceives a whale, he gives the signal agreed upon IxTorehand, and 
 the boats are launched. In the bows of each of them stands the har- 
 pooner; at the stern is the officer. Roth, with fixed eye and outstretched 
 neck, watch for the approach of the gigantic creature. This is indicated 
 by an eddy, a submarine vibration, and a roaring like the suppressed 
 noise of distant thunder. The animal has shown the extremity of his 
 black muzzle above the water. We know already by what alternations 
 of blowings and soundings the creature makes its evolutions in the liquid 
 medium. The whaler notices in what manner the whale inclined its tail 
 to guess the direction which it has taken, whether its soundings will be 
 long or short, and then changes his direction according to the require- 
 ments of the moment. It is the exact knowledge of these details which 
 makes the expert whaler. So the manceuvres of the boat vary consider- 
 ably, according to circumstances. 
 
 It is easy enough to approach to within fifteen or twenty fathoms of 
 the whale. But the difficulty is to arrive sufficiently near it to allow of 
 a successfiil attack being made upon it; that is to say, to within two or 
 three fathoms' distance. Blows from the tail and the flippers are now tc 
 be feared. When the boat is sufficiently near, the harpooner prepares fc 
 cast the harpoon, lie stands with his thigh fitting into a hollow of the 
 boat, holding his weapon with both hands. When the officer considers that 
 the favorable moment has arrived, he cries out, "Strike!" When from a 
 false calculation as to distance, awkwardness, or fear, the harpooner has 
 thrown his weapon badly, the whale promptly frees itself from the instru- 
 
 
 -II 
 
 n 4W 
 
 m 
 
 '1 
 
 i\ 
 
-t ■» 
 
 1') ■ 
 
 
 ppipipiii?'- ■''■'•■ 
 
 i^'f-'-'tfin ( J 
 
 liffffl 
 
 t 
 
 
 i ' ■ ■ 
 
MONSTERS OF THE GRE T DEEP. 
 
 G15 
 
 mcnt which has wounded it, by a sharp contraction of its muscles. As 
 
 soon as it is free, the animal starts off, and it is then useless to attempt 
 
 to follow it; it is lost sight of after fifteen or twenty minutes; in most 
 
 cases its companions accompany it, and arc for the future more difficult 
 
 to approach than they were formerly. If, on the contrary, it is made 
 
 Id L to the boat, it quivers and seems to shrink under the blow; excited 
 
 1)\' the pain, it prepares to make its escape; hindered in doing this by 
 
 the dart it carries in its f^.esh, it at first hesitates, so that an ordinarily 
 
 skilful harpooner is able to send a second harpoon into it; at any rate in 
 
 a few minutes it dives. 
 
 A Critical Moinont. 
 
 The officer then changes his place, and proceeds to take his post of 
 action. Up to this time he has directed the mancjcuvres; now he is going 
 to act himself. More than two hundred fathoms of the line are already 
 in the sea, and the animal is still diving. The force of the plunging is 
 so great, that if there were anything in the way of the rope it would make 
 the boat capsize. The line has been known, as it was unrolling itself, to 
 catch a man by an arm, a leg, or even by the bod\', and drag him down 
 into the sea, from which he did not rise again till the part caught hold 
 of had been cut through by the friction. It is difficult to form an idea of 
 the coolness required in these preliminary maneeuvrcs: it is necessar\' to 
 ha\c at the same time great resolution, extreme promptitude, and the 
 utmost prudence. If the first opportunity is missed, all chance may dis- 
 appear, and the fruit of long labor is lost. To judge from the uneasy air 
 of certain officers, one would say that they were afi'aid, so anxiously 
 do they look all round, and watch every little thing; but by the direction 
 of the line, they know whether the whale is diving perpendicularly down, 
 swimming along under the water, or mounting to the surface, and they 
 manoeuvre accordingly. The crew must blindly obey its officer; it must 
 be nothing but a rowing and back-watering machine, for all of tlieir lives 
 depend on this. In these solemn moments fear takes possession of some 
 sailors. As soon as the whale is made fast, they become of a livid pale- 
 ness ; they lose their heads ; they see nothing, hear nothing, and can 
 no longer obey a single command. It is very remarkable, that old 
 sailors are more exposed than young ones to this excessive panic. When 
 uiLii are not soon cured of this unfortunate fear, they cease to make 
 part of the crew of the whale-boat, where their presence could only be 
 demoralizing to the others. Harpooners, too, until then intrei)id, ha\e 
 been known to become all of a sudden, and without any apparent cause, 
 incapable of throwing a harpoon with force and accuracy. The simple 
 
 ^ ^llf 
 
 
 
 lif 
 
 |-. 
 
 i, 
 
 W" 
 
 
 H\ 
 
h 
 
 GIG 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 v> 
 
 fl 
 
 !' > 
 
 fact of tlic whale being close at hand strikes them with terror ; their 
 arms, paralyzed by fear, suffer the weapon to fall flat and harmless on the 
 cetacean, which, warned by this simple touch, escapes as fast as jKxssi- 
 ble. The true whaler knows no fear : he braves death, but is prudent. 
 
 A Desperate Flig-ht. 
 
 Fortunately the animal does not know how formidable it really is ; ii 
 it is only when it tries to escape that it causes disasters. At each blow 
 the animal makes hoarse and metallic roarings, which can be heard for 
 a distance of miles; what it spouts forth, is white, thick, and rises to a 
 great height, until, after a lucky hit has been made, two columns of 
 blood escape from the blow-holes, rise int the air, and in their fall red- 
 den the sea for a great way round; from ti.is moment the whale is con- 
 sidered as good as dead. However, the animal may still be lost ; the 
 distance, the night, or the state of the sea does not allow of the vessel 
 following it. On the approach of its death the whale collects all its re- 
 maining strength, and in a disorderly flight, without an aim, without any 
 consciousness of danger, without ho[)e of saving its life, it .swims along, 
 overturning everything which it meets with on its way. It sees nothing, 
 t'nrows itself at random on the boats, on a rock or on the shore. 
 
 Very soon a general shiver runs over the whole body ; its convulsions 
 make the sea froth and boil. At last it raises its head for the last time; 
 for the last time it looks for the light, and dies. Having now become an 
 inert body, it turns over and floats with its back downward, the belly on 
 the surface of the water, the head hanging a little down under water, on 
 account of the different weight of the different parts. Its death some- 
 times takes place during a dive; the carcass then comes to the surface, 
 and floats without our being able to observe the phenomena which accom- 
 pany its death-struggle. 
 
 A Perilous Adventure. 
 
 The pursuit of the whale, whether that .species which our hardy mari- 
 ners seek amidst the ice-floes of the Polar Seas, or the still huger kind 
 which wallows in the boundless Pacific, is one full of peril, aiul its annals 
 arc crowded with strange and terrible adventures. Swift and sudden 
 deaths ; the shattering of a boat into fragments, and the immersion of 
 the crew in the freezing sea; the dragging of a man into the depths hy 
 a turn of the tangled line round his leg or arm are but too common 
 incidents in this warfare with the leviathan. One instance of this last- 
 named accident is on record, in which the sufferer escaped with life, to 
 tell the harrowing tale of his own sensations. 
 
 An American whaling captain in the Pacific was fast to a sperm whale, 
 
to a sperm whale, 
 
 MONSTERS OF THE GREAT DEEP. 
 
 617 
 
 which " sounded," or descended nearly perpendicularly. The line in 
 .swiftly running out became suddenly entangled ; the cai)tain was seen to 
 stoop in order to clear it, and in a moment disappeared o\cr the bow. 
 The boat-steerer .seized an axe, and instantly cut the line, in hope that, by 
 the slackening, the unfortunate man might become freed. .S(_'\-eral min- 
 utes had elapsed, and hope had wellnigh become extinguished, when an 
 object was seen to rise to the surface a little way off. It was the body nf 
 the captain, which in a few seconds was lifted into the boat. Though 
 senseless and motionless, life seemed to be not extinct, and the usual rem- 
 edies being applied, he revived, and became, to use his own phrase, "as 
 good as new," when he gave an account of his singular e.scape. 
 
 Suddonly Dragged Overboard. 
 
 It appears that in attempting to throw the line, a turn caught his left 
 wrist, anrl he was dragged overboard by the descending whale. He was 
 perfectly conscious as he was rushing down with great ra[)idit\', and it 
 seemed to him as if his arm would be torn from its socket, from the re- 
 sistance of his body to the water. Well aware of his peril, he knew that 
 his only chance was to cut the line, but with his utmost efforts he could 
 not raise his right hand from his side, to which it was pressed by the force 
 with which he was dragged through the water. 
 
 On first opening his eyes it appeared as if a stream of fire was passing 
 before them; but, as he descended, it grew dark, and he f.lt a terrible 
 pressure on his brain, and there was a roaring as of thunder in his ears. 
 Yet he still remained conscious, and still made \ain efforts to reach the 
 knife that was in his belt. At length, as he felt his strength failing, and 
 his brain reeling, the line for an instant slackened by the whale's pausing 
 in its descent; he reached and drew his knife; the line again became 
 tight, but the edge of the keen blade was across it, and in an instant he 
 was freed. From this moment he remembered nothing, until he awoke 
 to light and hie and agonizing pain, in his bed. 
 
 Devoured by a Sbai'k. 
 
 The whale may cause the deatii of the sailor who pursues him, yet 
 does not devour him. This, however, cannot be said of the great w hite 
 shark, the voracity of which is well known, many instances of which arc 
 on record. About thirty natives of the Society Islands were once ; o- 
 ceeding from isle to isle in one of their large double canoes. .\ st. :i 
 coming on, the lashings of the two canoes were torn apart bv the vi^U liCe 
 of the sea, and they were separated. Their depth and narrowness ren- 
 dered them incapable of floating upright when single ; and, though the 
 
 i« 
 
 1 
 
 ^ niBai » \ 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 a I 
 
 
 
f' ■ '"I 
 
 ) Iv. 
 
 ■f M 
 
 
 •Pi 
 
 il 
 
 y 
 
 |P8| 
 
 'IV' 
 
 618 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 crew strove hard to keep them on an even keel by balancing the weight, 
 they wore cveiy moment capsized. In these circumstances, they endeav- 
 ored to form a raft of the loose spars and beams, the boards and paddles, 
 which they could get at, hoping to drift ashore thereon. From their 
 numbers, however, compared with the small size of the raft, the latter was 
 pressed so deep, that the waves washed above their knees. At length the\ 
 saw the horrid sharks begin to C(41ect around them, which soon grew so 
 bold as to seize one of the shipwrecked wretches, and drag him into the 
 abyss. 
 
 Another and another followed; for the poor islanders, destitute of any 
 weapons, and almost exhausted with hunger and fatigue, and crowded 
 
 IN THE JAWS- OF THK fJKKAT WHITE SHARK. 
 
 together on ihcir submerged narrow p'.a'Jorm, could neither defend tliom- 
 selves nor e\'ade their ferocious assailants. Every moment made the 
 conflict more unequal, for the sharks, attracted by the scent of l)In()d, 
 gathered in greater numbers to the spot, and grew more and more aiu'a- 
 cious, until two or three of the mariners only remaining, the raft floated 
 .'• ■> as to elevate them beyond reach of the savage monsters, which cdii- 
 tlnned to threaten them, antl lingered around, until the waves at length 
 bore the suivi\'ors to the beach. 
 
 The white shark sometimes attains the length of between twent}- and 
 thirty feet. His head is of a broad depressed shape, terminating in an 
 
MONSTERS OF THE GREAT DEEP. 
 
 Gil) 
 
 obtusely pointed snout; the huge mouth, capable of admitting the thigli, 
 or even the body, of a man, affords ample room for a thick tongue; the 
 e\-cs have a bluish or greenish cast, and a peculiar stony glare. The 
 stomach is of vast size, and dilates to an extraordinary degree; the brain 
 is small. Broad, strong and pointed are the pectoral fins. The French 
 name rcqii'ui is derived, it is said, from the Latin requiem, and signifies 
 that if a man falls into the sea in the presence of this voracious animal, 
 his comrades may repeat for him the usual prax'ers for the dead. His 
 swiftness of motion is such that he can outstrip the swiftest ves.sel, and 
 his strength so great that no unarmed man can cope with him success- 
 full)'. Observe, too, that his teeth are n.)t incased in bone, like those of 
 quadrupeds, but in cartilaginous sockets, which enables him to raise or 
 lower them at his pleasure. When, therefore, he seizes a victin of more 
 than ordinary vigt^r, he '^loves them all, either in succession or simulta- 
 neiuisl)-, and multiplie.=' the number of wounds which he inflicts. With 
 one siiai) of his powerful jaws, a shark of average size will cut a man in 
 two. We need not wonder, therefore, that he is more dreaded by sailors 
 than any other monster of the monster-haunted deep. 
 
 A Creature "with Fiery Scales. 
 Frequently, in the West Indian seas, the negro crew of a boat will 
 cease rowing, and with a significant air indicate to the voyager the hid- 
 eous form of a shark following in the rear, and apparently waiting f^r 
 some false movement or sudden accident, which, by capsizing the frail 
 skiff, may provide his rawnous maw with fo<jd. Frequently, too, on tem- 
 pestuous nights, when the wind and the sea seem to howl a funeral 
 dirge, the sliark' appears in the midst of the heaving billows ; the seamen 
 recognize his presence b\- the phosphorescence — the "elfish light'' — 
 
 The flash of golden fire — 
 that glints from his shining scales, and know that he lusts after a victim. 
 In tr(i[)ical waters he f )llows the ships with indefatigable patience, ready 
 to swallow the unfortunate who ma}* fill overboard, or the dead mariner 
 whose body is committed to the deep as to a last resting-place. ]"or thi.s 
 \-oracious creature the dead and the living are equally satisfactory prey. 
 The " fierce joy" of a difficult and even dangerous struggle, the in 
 tense gratification of contjuering a great destroyer, would be sufficient 
 motives to animate the sailor in hunting the shark; but, besides, se\'eral 
 useful products arc (obtained from the monster. His thick, hard sl;in, 
 suscei)tible of a fine polish, is employixl for sheaths and ca.ses. His liver 
 yields an oil identical in its properties with hat of the cod's liver, and ca- 
 
 '«>;- 
 
 ii* 
 
 •I 
 
I') 
 
 G20 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 ^f^M: 
 
 
 ''"''BCk'- 
 
 pablc of being applied to the dressing of skins. His flesh is leathery, it 
 is true, but eatable in extremities. 
 
 Wc borrow from an eye-witness the story of the capture of one of 
 these destructive yjt not wholly useless animals: A shark of great si/.c, 
 certainly not less than thirty-five feet in length, had ventured to dvivx 
 near our vessel. As we were then becalmed, and had nothing to do, wc 
 hailed the pleasant burst of excitement, the agreeable relief to our mon- 
 otonous occupations, which he was likely to afford us. Ey way of pic- 
 caution, and to keep him occupied, we flung to him a pair of old boots, 
 which he conscientiously swallowed. However, he as yet needed no lu- 
 ticement ; for while the calm lasted, and so long as our ship did not make 
 more than three or four kn(-)ts per hour, the shark ne\-er stirred from tlie 
 wake of our floating palace. While he amuses himself in plunging and 
 diving in the wake of the ship, everybody is in a state of tumult uptm 
 deck. We arrange our warlike engines, and make ready for the battle. 
 An enormous fish-hook is attached, by means of a bit of iron chain, to 
 the extremity of a long and stout cable. The bait is a large piece nf 
 pork, just such another piece as the monster has already swallowed, while 
 it lay soaking in the sea-water in readiness for the crew's dinner. 
 
 Capture of a Ferocious Shark. 
 
 At length all is ready. The captain holds in his grasp a well greased 
 harpoon ; the slip-knots of the cable glide with complete ease, and are 
 disposed within reach of the hand. Everybody has collected on the 
 quarter-deck. A sailor flings the hook into the sea, and the fishing be- 
 gins. TliJ shark now ceases to plunge and wheel about the ship; ho 
 smells the bait, and lazily swims towards the floating piece of pork, lie 
 has learnt long ago that so small a prey cannot escape him. Immediate- 
 ly that he touches it with his snout, he turns on his side, opens his huLjc 
 mouth, and swallows it. But at this moment the cable is violently jerked, 
 forcing the fish-hook into one of his jaws; two hands catch firm hold cf 
 the rope, and begin to tighten it, while the shark plunges about in wrath 
 and pain, churning the waters into foam. Sometimes the hook breaks ; 
 in such cases the game must be recommenced. The shark, with torn 
 iiiid bleeding throat, nevertheless swallows a second bait with ec[ual a\id- 
 ity, ha\'ing been made no wi.ser by wounds already received. 
 
 As soon as we are satisfied that the hook is securely fixed, we draw tho 
 animal alongside. The man placed at the post of honor, generally, as in 
 the present case, the captain, vigorously darts the harpoon into his bod}-, 
 It is necessary that the iron should so far penetrate into the flesh that the 
 movable portion form a cross with the a.xis of the lance. We have then 
 
;.sh is leather}', it 
 
 MONSTERS OF THE GREAT DEEP. 
 
 621 
 
 two points of attachment, ami raise the shark out of the water by means 
 of the cable of the fish-hook and the rope of the harpoon, drawin;^- up- 
 on both simultaneousl}-. The animal once lifted from the sea, loses a 
 part of his strens^th ; his fins and tail have no longer any point of sup- 
 port. Notiiing is easier, while he hangs by the ship's side, than to pass 
 a slip-knot round his tail. The three ropes which now hold him fast run 
 quickly over pulleys fixed to the yard-arms, and the shark is speedily 
 landed on the quarter-deck. 
 
 The prisoner is captured, and his punishment not long delayed. In 
 vain arc all his struggles; in \'ain the repeated and heavy blows of his 
 tail, which threaten to crush through the planks, A sailor plunges a 
 
 THE HAMMER-HEADED SHARK. 
 
 hand-spike into his throat, to hold him down, while another severs his 
 tail with an axe. In this mutilated condition he is completely harmless 
 and powerless; though a blow from his tail would kill a man, or, at all 
 events, break his thigh. The monster rendered defenceless, we cut it 
 open and extract the heart, which is immediately flung overboard. Some- 
 times a portion of the stomach is put aside to be eaten; sometimes the 
 animal is stripped of his skin, which is dried, while the dorsal spine is 
 fashioned into a handsome walking-stick. The liver, also, will probably 
 be utilized, being rich in iodized oil. 
 
 One species of shark is called the hammer-headed. It has a head dila- 
 ted on each side to so great an extent as to resemble some colossal ham- 
 
 AM: ■M 
 
 . Mi 
 
^ff -•;,•;, 
 
 I) mki 
 
 ^m 
 
 G22 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 Hi 
 
 I 
 
 i< |l: 
 
 I I 
 
 
 # 
 
 mcr ; such an one, for instance, as may have been wielded by the hand of 
 Tiior. The eyes, which are very lari^c, are j)laced at each extremity; the 
 mouth beneath, as in others of its tribe It is a native of the Mediter- 
 ranean and Indian Seas; no less formidable from its voracity, than fri;^^ht- 
 ful from its hideousness. It also frequents the blue waters of the Vol- 
 njsian Islands. Its usual leni^th is nine or ten feet. 
 
 The an^jel fish, or monk-fish, however, surpasses the former in ugliness, 
 and one could almost believe its creation to have been a freak of nature 
 in some distempered dream. It owes its na )ie to the popular wit which 
 
 sees an adniira- 
 
 __ ^^gF^^:;•^gijv 
 
 
 ble jest in the 
 name of the crea- 
 ture, contradict- 
 ini^ its appear- 
 ance. Or u e 
 ma)' ascribe it to 
 the shape and 
 p^j^ position of its 
 extended fins, 
 which may be 
 taken to repre- 
 sent wings ; just 
 as the name of 
 monk- fish refers 
 to its rounded 
 head, whicli 
 
 seems enveloped 
 in a hood. Very 
 large is this head, 
 with wide mouth, 
 and small e}-es; 
 behind each an 
 
 THE ANUEL FISH. 
 
 orifice in the shape of a crescent; — the whole resembling one of those gro- 
 tesque masks which a country boy sometimes forms out of a hollow pun^.ji- 
 kin. The back is of a pale ash color, and extremel)- rough, with a pr; \ly 
 line marking the centre. The belly is white and .smooth; thepectora i, 
 are 111 ge ; the ventral fins are also horizontally extended. It is satisfacto. to 
 add that the animal's ugliness by no means belies its disposition; it is ex- 
 ceedingly fierce, voracious, and dangerous to approach. It sometimes at- 
 tains the length of seven or eight feet, and the weight of a hundred pounds. 
 
5y the hand of 
 .extremity; thu 
 f the Mc'ditcr- 
 t}-, than fir^ht- 
 rs of the re!;- 
 
 u:r in ui;lincss. 
 freak of nature 
 Hilar wit whicli 
 es an adniira- 
 e jest in the 
 ime of the civa- 
 ire, contradict- 
 g its appcir- 
 II c c . Or w e 
 lay ascribe it to 
 ,ie shape and 
 osition of its 
 xtended fins, 
 hich may be 
 ken to repre- 
 nt wings ; just 
 the name of 
 lonk-fish refers 
 its rounded 
 ead, whicli 
 ems en\'eloped 
 a hood. Very 
 rgeisthis luad, 
 ith wide mouth, 
 nd small e\'es; 
 hind each an 
 le of those gro- 
 a hollow pun^.p- 
 i.withapr; dy 
 he pectora ii 
 s satisfacto. . to 
 sition; it is e\- 
 t sometimes at- 
 undred pounds. 
 
 MONSTERS OF THE GREAT DEEP. 
 
 G2n 
 
 If the seaman's imagination could convert the heavy unwieldy tins of 
 the angcl-fish into supposed wings, it would certainly effect a similar trans- 
 formation, and with much greater case, for the fins of the so-called fl>'ing- 
 fish. Fishes of this genus are enibled to spring from the water at inter- 
 vals, and to maintain a brief temporary flight in the air, through the 
 extraordinary size of their membraneous fins. They undertake those 
 cTrial escapades for the purpose of escaping from the jaws of the dolphin 
 and other fishes which pursue them, but in avoiding one danger they 
 freciuently fall into another, and become the prey of the large aquatic 
 birds. The greatest length of time they can keep on the wing appears to 
 be about half a minute, and their longest flight 220 to 250 yards, while, 
 when hard pressed, they will rise as high as twenty feet. It must not 
 be supposed that 
 they have the 
 power of cle\-at- 
 ing themselves in 
 the air after ha\- 
 inif left their na- 
 tive element; for, 
 onwatchingthem, 
 they ha\e often 
 been seen to fah 
 much below the 
 elevation at which 
 they originally 
 rose from the wa- 
 ter, but never in 
 
 an\' one instance, ._^-_--"^'" --r.---=^-; 
 
 ha\e they been thi-: pegasus dr.agox. 
 
 observed to rise from the height at which they first sprang; the elewation 
 they first take depends on the power of the first spring or leap they make 
 on leaving their native element. The flying-fish, in the tropical seas, may 
 be seen rising from the water in countless shoals, when pursued by a foe 
 or disturbed by a passing ship. They leap from the glancing crest of a 
 waw, and, sweeping forward, dive into another, to wet the membrane of 
 the;! fins, and in this manner continue their flights for a considerable dis- 
 tance. Several species arc found in the Mediterranean, and the Indian 
 and American seas. 
 
 The most extraordinary genus is that of the pegasus, or flying h>)rse. 
 They have a snout, with a mouth beneath it, and movable, like that of a stur- 
 
I A 
 
 G24 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 PL. i 
 
 fjcon ; the fins arc larj;c,and are four in number. The drafjon pcjrasus is 
 curiously constructed ; its body, broad and flattened, is aniuxl with si-v- 
 eral radiated shields or bony bunches; the diameter of the h)\ver part nf 
 the body suddenly decreases ; the tail is small and slij^htly rountled ; and 
 the whole posterior portion of this unj^ainly fish may be compared to 
 that of a crocodile. It indubitably bel on^'s to the same family as tlie 
 sea-horse, pipe-fish. It has a tubular jaw, and a short, deep, compressed 
 bod\', in\ested ii\ scales as in a kind of armor. The males have pouches 
 on their tails, in which the eggs are carried until hatched. They swim 
 in a vertical position, with the tail prepared to grasp any ol)ject it may 
 encounter; the horses with which Posidon, if you like, drives his char- 
 iot through the coral halls of the deep I 
 
 A Hideous Inhabitant of the Sea. 
 If it is true that most marine shells, in the exquisite gracefulness of 
 their design and the intense glow of tiieir coloring defy description or 
 imitation, and compel the admiration of the most imliffcrent, it is eciually 
 certain, on the other hand, that the world of fishes offjrs a variety of un- 
 shapely types and of repulsive and hideously grotesque physiognomies, 
 which must equally be the despair of the author and the artist, while ex- 
 citing a sense of loathing in every mind. Similar shapes could only ex- 
 ist in the disordered imagination of some fanciful [fainter, or some lunatic 
 poet ! And Boileau has proved his ignorance of icthyology by his asser- 
 tion that — 
 
 No serpent is there, and no monster vile, 
 
 Which, imitated by the artist's toil, 
 
 Shall not the well pleased eye of Taste beguile. 
 
 Assuredly he could never have seen the hippocampus, the angel-fish, 
 the pegasus, or, transcendant in its ugliness, the stomias-boa, which finds 
 a vigorous competitor, however, in the spike fish. The least ungainly 
 and repellent, those which delight the well pleased eye by their slender, 
 shapely body — their scales shining with gleams of silver, pearl, or azure 
 — do not compensate by these advantages for the disgustful character of 
 the most essential part in the entire body — the head, But they win the 
 admiration of the philosopher, nevertheless, by their admirable adaptation 
 to the peculiar medium they inhabit; by that perfect branchial apparatus 
 wiiich enables them to extract for breathing purposes, the air held in solution 
 in the water: it is the fins, so admirably arranged for the co-ordination of 
 all its movements; it is its powerful muscles, its strong and supple body; 
 and it is that peculiar organ which, filling with air or empt}'ing at the an- 
 imal's will, augments or increases its specific lightness, and causes it to 
 
if 
 I 
 
 MONSTERS or THE GRF.AT DEEP. 
 
 G-.V) 
 
 •apjon pocjasus is 
 aniuxl \vith scv- 
 he lower part ( 'f 
 y rounded ; and 
 be compared to 
 ic family as tlio 
 leep, compressed 
 es have pouches 
 ed. They swim 
 y object it may 
 drives his char- 
 
 2 gracefuhiess of 
 fy description or 
 rent, it is ecpially 
 ; a variety of un- 
 » physiognomies, 
 2 artist, while ex- 
 js could (Mily cx- 
 ', or some lunatic 
 ogy by his asser- 
 
 ile. 
 
 ^s, the angcl-fish, 
 -boa, which finds 
 [e least ungainly 
 by their slender, 
 |r, pearl, or azure 
 fctful character of 
 kit they win the 
 [irable adaptation 
 Inchial apparatus 
 lirheld in solution 
 co-ordination of 
 Ind supple body ; 
 Iptying at the an- 
 land causes it to 
 
 rise or sink with extreme facility: in a woril, tlie fish is, /^trr cxccUcnce^ 
 the a(|uatic animal. And it lias, like all (lod's creatures, its own perfec- 
 lion, and a beauty of its own, resulting from tii.it p'jrfection. 
 
 To sum up, tliis true son of the water, as mobile as .Ls mother, glides 
 ill rough it by nitans of its mucus, cleaves the waves with its iiead, 
 C.A lies them with ils muscles; in fine, with its strc ng fins it cuts, it 
 fiius, it .steers. The smallest of these powers would suffice. Tlie fi h, 
 miting them all, is tlie aSsolutc tvpe of movement. l*or this reason on - 
 i! li'iits to watch it swimminu, as one delights to watch a bird HN-in^- ; 
 (lie sees so clearly that it is in its own element ! And tliL-reforc jx-ople 
 sav, naively but justly, " v\s happy as a fish in the watc:." As for its 
 till ans of attack- or defence, they are worth but little. The monster 
 sharks — such as 
 till- white shark 
 and the sw<^)rd- 
 fbli — are almost __^ ' 
 the only ones ac- "^^3 
 tiially equipped for ""^^^^ 
 combat; the fust -e 
 with its terrible 
 iiK ivable arsenal 
 of teeth., the sec- 
 ond with its keen, -: 
 heavy, and jagged '}. 
 sword. Other 
 species are also 
 provided with a 
 
 kind of beak, TIIK SI-IKK FISH. 
 
 (ormed by the horizontal extension of the bones of the head, which has 
 led to their being designated in all languages, ancient and modern, by the 
 ' xpressivc name of sword-fish. T5iit it does not appear that eitlier their 
 bon;' lance, or the great dimension; of the.9e fishes, which frequently 
 at'an the length of ten to thirteen fjet, renders them \-ery formidable. 
 Their manners arc inoffensi\e, nay, even sociable; and it is most often by 
 r.ccident, or when exasperated that they drive their weapon into the ship's 
 keel, or into other inert bodies, and by so doing snap it off. 
 
 I'rofessor Silliman's name is well luiown as that of an American sa- 
 V uit who delighted in making the public pcquaintcd with the novelties 
 tha*^ came under his observation, .' nd with the discoveries of science, 
 riie accompanying engraving represents a double cat-fish tiiat was pre- 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 "It^ 
 
<J26 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 h 
 
 sented to the professor a few years ago. It was taken alive in a shrimp- 
 net at tile nioutli of Cape Fear River, near Fort Jolmsun, North Caro- 
 lina. The two fishes were joined much in the same manner as the Siam- 
 ese twins, by a piece of skin on tlie breast, the point of union bcini; 
 marked by a dark streak, otherwise the appearance of the skin was not 
 found to differ from that of the fish's belly. There was no connection 
 l)ctween the viscera of the fishes, but the intet^ument was holluw or 
 ihnible, so that when an incision was made in one of the fishes and 
 ihe entrails taken out, a fiexible probe could be passed throuj;h 
 into the body of the other. The intj^ument was thin and \ery fle.xi- 
 ble, so that the two fishes could almost swim together in the natural 
 
 position at the same 
 time. The difference 
 in the size of the two 
 fishes is worth ro- 
 markinjjj. It is quite 
 CN'ident that the larger 
 one mu.st have got tlij 
 start of the other in 
 the race of life, and 
 that it continued to 
 appropriate the lion's 
 share of the good 
 things which fell to 
 their joint lot. The 
 little fish, indeed. must 
 have shown some 
 THE STOMi.\s-BOA. de.xterity to live at 
 
 all, and surely deserved infinite credit as a "snapper up of unconsidered 
 trifles." 
 
 The lowest of all, in the tribe of fishes, has rather an ugly name. It 
 is more like a worm than a fish; and Linn;tus, the famous naturalist did 
 class it with the worms. It has been examined with great care, and is 
 found t) be a relation of the lamprey. It has really no skeleton at all. 
 A bare tube, or thread, of gristle runs through the body, and when 
 boiled the whole tube goes to jelly. It has no eyes, and you would siip- 
 po.se it to be the mo.st defenceless of its tribe ; but it is a very unpleas- 
 ant neighbor, and is quite able to take care of it-self Blind though it is, 
 It contrives to get inside some other fish. Mow it can do so is not clear- 
 ly known, but a fi.-,h has been found completely devoured, the skin only 
 
 If* 
 
MONSTERS OF THE GREAT DEEP. 
 
 G27 
 
 live in a shrimp- 
 un, North Caro- 
 ner as the Siain- 
 of union bcin'^' 
 Lhe skin was nut 
 as no conncctiiiii 
 [ was lioUow tir 
 f the fishes ami 
 passed through 
 1 and very flexi- 
 er in llic natural 
 ;tion at the same 
 J. The difference 
 he size of the two 
 es is worth rc- 
 -kin^^ It is quite 
 lent that the lander 
 must have^ottlij 
 "t of the other in 
 race of life, and 
 t it continued l> 
 opriate the lion\ 
 e of the i:^<>ntl 
 <^rs which fell t > 
 r joint lot. The 
 e fish, indeed, must 
 shown some 
 terity to live at 
 of unconsidered 
 
 m ugly name, it 
 ous naturalist did 
 great care, and is 
 no skeleton at all. 
 body, and when 
 d you would siij)- 
 s a very unpleas- 
 ^lind though it is, 
 lo so is not clear- 
 red, the skin only 
 
 remaining, and the glutinous hag within it. The hag has eight feelers 
 around its mouth ; they have a very acute sense of touch. As the fin- 
 gers of a blind man can almcst do tiie work of eyes, so these feelers 
 guide the blind fish, and help it to fin I its food. On the palate there is 
 a single to )th like a hook. The fish hooks on to its prey, and is thought 
 by some naturalists to make a hole for itself to get in. It keeps hold 
 until the two rows of teeth that are upon the tongue can come into play. 
 It eats with its head buried in the fish it is devouring, so that Nature lias 
 made the same provision that she has in the case of the laniprex'. 1 h: 
 breathing holes of this disagreeable creature are placed so far back that 
 it can eat ami b eatiie at the .sanie time. 
 
 It is called the gluti- 
 nous hag because there 
 arc pores down each side 
 of its body that give 
 out a glutinous matter. 
 When the creature is at- 
 tacked it can tiirow out 
 a quantity of this slimy 
 secretion, and hide itself 
 in it. It IS sometimes 
 called the borer, becau.sc 
 it bores or pierces into 
 its weaker neighbors. 
 
 We have been speak- 
 ing of some of the mon- 
 sters of the great deep, profesfok silliman's double cat-fish. 
 but the .sea itself is really the great, unparalleled monster of the globe. 
 
 Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of gold, 
 Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels, 
 All scattered in tlie bottom of the sea. 
 
 Ocean conceals under its mass of waters, at variable depths, divers 
 (Substances which have appeared to man peculiarly worthy of his covetous- 
 ness. None assuredly are comparable in utility to the flesh of fish, the 
 fat of the cjtace ms or amphibians ; but we are so made that, under a 
 pretence of civilization and progress, we estimate things in an inverse ra- 
 tio to the services they render us ; we value as most precious those (^f 
 uhich we have the least need, and no .sacrifice to obtain them appears too 
 great for us. W^e .scorn or waste the true treasures which a bonntifiil 
 Providence has placed liberally and lavishly within our reach, and we suf- 
 
 1 !] 
 
 I!!- ■'If'! 
 
 '■<»^^: 
 
 
!') 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (028) 
 
 I'KHFIISSIDNAL DIVERS GATHERING SPONGE. 
 
 I ■ 
 
MONSTERS OF THI-: GREAT DEEP. 
 
 G21) 
 
 for poor wretches to dare death, and endure all kinds of fatit^ueand priva- 
 tion in procurinLj for us some ^aily-colored ^ewi^aws or j^litterin;^ toys, 
 which, far from adding to our happiness, do but divert u^ from the search 
 after that which is really desirable. 
 
 Not content, then, with penetrating into the bowels of the earth to se- 
 cure those shining, gleaming stones which we dignify as " precious," \vc 
 must also pierce beneath the liquid element to snatch from the ocean- 
 bed those intrinsically valueless products, with which it is stj easy to dis- 
 pense, and with which, in effect, millions of persons do dispense, and yet 
 fintl themselves neither the poorer nor the less happy. The reader will 
 surmise that we are referring to mother-of-pearl, pearls, and coral. There is 
 a fnirth submarine product which merits a greater degree of indulgence, 
 and even whose utility we cannot wholly ignore, while questioning 
 whether this utility is really proportionate to the efforts of obtaining it. 
 
 A KusiiH'ss that Sliort-'iis l^ifc 
 
 There is no worlc, however painf il or homicidal it may be, for which 
 we shall not find the men. Thousands consent to bur\' themselves alive 
 in the dark, hot, stifling galleries of mines sunk hundreds cjf fithoms 
 ileep. to explore the x'eins of coal or tlie metalliferous strata. O'Iv.ms 
 make no difficulty of descending beneath the waves, f(M- the ijurpo ;e of 
 collecting on rock or sand the .sponf^e, the fantastic coralline s['ar, the 
 iiiother-of-pearl shells. These miners of ocean are known by the name 
 of divers. The incessant repetition of a violent and unwholesome exer- 
 cise, terrible dangers, maladies which they contract almo 1 infallibly, and 
 which to a greater or less extent abridge their days, — such ar; the sacri- 
 fices, the martyrdom, by which these pf)or wretches earn their scanty 
 pay. This they call "gaining a livelihood," and the majority of them 
 Noluntarily atlopt this amphiliious exi?;tence, so antagonistic to the physi- 
 cal organization of m;m ! It should be remarked, ne\-ertheless, that the 
 diver's profession is not one of those which the first-comer consents to 
 embrace. It has long remained the occupation of certain populations, 
 among whom it is generally hereditary, and who arc gradually inured to 
 it by the force of habit, by the difficulty of finding an\- other emi)lo\'- 
 ment of their strencrth and faculties, and hv the modifnations which an 
 abnormal kind of life slowly effects in the tcmi:)erament and ])h)'siologi- 
 cal functions. It is thus that the sponge-fishery is exclusively practist-d 
 by the Greeks and Syrians; that of coral b\' the Genoese and Neajjoli- 
 tans ; that of pearls and mother-of-p.arl, in Asia by the Cingalese and 
 Malays, in South America by the Indians and negroes. 
 
 Sponges were formerly caught in the Red Sea and along a great part 
 
 
 mm 
 
 s 
 
 m 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 )^:h^ 
 
 
' '■ ': ^■ 
 
 \ I 
 
 ■*;i 
 
 ii 
 
 iHt 
 
 m 
 
 kl 
 
 1 
 
 W 
 
 
 1 
 
 ihi 
 
 1 
 
 ■ ^"^ 
 
 ¥, ' 
 
 i 
 
 ' 
 
 I 
 1 
 
 
 m 
 
 ;i 
 
 630 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY, 
 
 of the north coast of Africa. At present, the fishery is principally pur- 
 sued in the Greek Archipela;.;o, an J on the Syrian shores. It is open tr. 
 all nations ; but the Greeks and Syrians alone follow it up as a reij^u- 
 lar trade, and make its products the staple of a regular commerce with 
 the West. Operations ordinarily begin early in June and terminate 
 in October ; but the least favorable months are those of July aiul 
 August, h'ach boat usually carries four or si.v men. The sponges aix 
 found at a tlistance of lOOO to 2000 yards out at .sea, on banks of rocks 
 formed by molluscous debris. The finest specimens lie at a dei)th of 
 twelve to twenty fathoms; thosd collected in shallower waters are o;' in- 
 ferior cjuality. 
 
 M'vrvc oils Kvploits of Spoiige-Divcrs. 
 
 At the opening of the fishery, the Greeks and Syrians arrive at Smyr- 
 na, Bj}'ru()t, Latakia, aiul RIkxIcs in large shallops, which they dismantle 
 in ordjr to equip th,; small craft suitable for their operations, and then dis- 
 pjrse along the coasts. The fishery is conducted in two ways. Vox the 
 common kinds they emplo\' three-toothed harpoons, h)- means of which 
 ihey catch hold of the sponges. But this implement would injure the fi- 
 ner species ; ami in quest of these skilful divers descend to the bottom of 
 the sea, and carefully detach them with a strong knife. Hence the differ- 
 ence of price between the divers' sponges and the harpooned sponges. 
 
 The Greek divers are, as a rule, bolder and mure skilful than the Syr- 
 ians. Those of Kalminos and Psora are the most renowned. While 
 they can remain in the water longer than the Syrians, their fishing is gen- 
 erally more abundant. They dive to a depth of twenty fathoms, w hile 
 their rivals, for the most part, cannot descend beyond fifteen or twenty 
 fathoms at the utmost. The Greeks devote themselves more particularly 
 to the fishing of the large sponges called "Venetian," although the\- sell 
 them b\' wt.'ight four or fi\e times cheaper than the fin.e sponges; but the 
 iiiferioiit)- in price is balanced by the much greater facility of the fishing. 
 Importers have introduced into European connnerce, within the la-^t 
 f .w years, a species of sponge collected on the coasts of the Lucayos 
 Islands, in the Caribbean Sea, which is known as the Bahama spoiv.^c. 
 It is of a peculiarly attracti\'e appearance, thanks to its fine close tis- 
 sue, and to tin.' preparations which it undergoes in order to give it a 
 beautiful pale blonde tinge ; but it is hard, strong, and without solidity, 
 
)rincipally pur- 
 It is open to 
 
 up as a ru^u- 
 lonimcrcc with 
 and terminate 
 : of July and 
 \c sponges are 
 banks of rocks 
 
 at a depth nf 
 aters are o" in- 
 
 arrive at ?nn-r- 
 1 they dismantle 
 IS, and then dis- 
 ways. I'or the 
 means of which 
 lid injure the fi- 
 to the bottom < if 
 -fence the differ- 
 oned sponges. 
 
 than the Syr- 
 owned. While 
 ,- fishing is g-'n- 
 fathoms, while 
 teen or twenty 
 ore particulady 
 lough they sell 
 )onges ; but the 
 y of the flsh^v^^ 
 within the la-t 
 of the Lucayns 
 Bahama .spoU'^e. 
 ts fine close tis- 
 er to give it d 
 thout solidity. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 MYSTERIES OF THE OCEAN. 
 
 Chinese Relief Respectiiii; tlie I)c;lii,q;e—Tlie Great Mexican Inundation — A Ilujre 
 Gulf Swallowim? Rivers — The World would be Dead Williout the Ocean— 'llie 
 Race-Course of Commerce — Varied Color of tlie Sea —Causes of tlie Diflerent 
 Tints —Countless Myriads of Animalcules — Piiospiiorescence of tlie .Sea — Waves 
 Silvered with I'lashin.L;^ I-ij;ht — A Ma,t,Mcal ElVect — Cyclones and Tempests — 
 Strange Story of a Lost Vessel — Terrible Fury of Ocean Storms — The Dreaded 
 Water Spcnit— Ships Lifted Bodily from the Sea and Hurled Bark — The Myster- 
 icuis ArgDiiaut— A Creature that Sails in a Boat — The Monstrous Octopus— ,\n 
 Ink-Battery— A Shot that Hit -Dreadful Encounter with a CuttleFisli— A IVarl- 
 Diver Attacked— Nautilus of the rrellis'oric Seas. 
 
 ONPX'CIUS,the Chinese philosopher and law-givcr, born more 
 than five centuries before Christ, begins hishistory of Chinaby 
 speaking of the I'.mperor named Jas, whom he represents as 
 making the waters How Ijack, which then raised themselves to 
 the heavens, while the\' batlud the foot of the highest nioimtains, cover- 
 ing the smaller hills and inundating the plains. This statement is not 
 only from an authority of high repute, but is especially interesting as 
 showing a belief in an early deluge among the people of the " Flowery 
 Kingdom." Traditions of this are everywhere found in the East, and 
 such, evidences from marine shells and the formation of the earth's sur- 
 fice as must be considered more conclusi\e than tradition. 
 
 ;\ deluge of (piite moderate date conveys a tolerablj- exact idea of 
 the phenomena wdiich must have been exhibited in the earl\- time, and 
 we recall the circumstances as assisting us to comprehend the true na- 
 ture of the ravages the deluge inllicted upon Asia in that ancient period. 
 At six days' journey from the city of Mexico, there existed, in 1759. a 
 fertile and well-cultivated district, where abundance of rice, maize and 
 bananas grew. In the month of June frightful earthquakes dis- 
 turbed the soil, and were continued unceasingK- during two whole 
 months. On the night of the 28th of September the earth was violently 
 convulsed, and a region of man\' leagues in extent was slowly raised un- 
 til it attained a height of about 500 feet, forming a plateau man)- leagues 
 S(iuare. The earth undulated like the waves of tl? sea inateriifjest; 
 thou-^ands of small hills rose and disappeared in turn, and, finally, an 
 immense gulf opened, from which smoke, fire, red-hot stones anel ashes 
 
 ((VM) 
 
 li 
 
 .■'^|?f 
 
 i^^. 
 ■^ 
 
U :1 
 
 1 
 
 
 '. t 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 'l, 
 
 [ 
 
 i 
 
 r 
 
 F 
 
 
 ll 1^ 
 
 /•oo 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 we e viuK'ntl)' discharged, and darted to prodt't^ioiis licif^hts. Six- 
 mountains surged up from the gapinij gi^'lf; aiiiong whicli the volcaiih 
 mountain of JoruUo, which rises 2 1 50 feet above the ancient plain, is 
 the most prominent. 
 
 .\t the moment when the oarthciuak'e commenced thi- two rivrrs ( f 
 Cu timbo and San Pedro flowcil backwards, ini:ndatin<; all thi; plnn 
 now occupied by Jorullo ; but in the upheaving region, while it c ui- 
 tiniied to rise, a gulf opened and swallowed the rivers. They re;:[)- 
 p.-arcd to the west, but at a p'>int ver_\- distant from their ancient be !. 
 This inundation reminds us on a small scale of the phenomena which 
 attended the deluge described in the Hebrew annals. That period of 
 overwhelmiiv.;' ilisaster, an overflow which buried hills and valle\-s alike 
 is past, and the sea now knows itsfi.\etl boutuls. and the land has rearu! 
 its bulwarks, iieyond which the great tloods do not pass. 
 
 Th«5 S»»si a frri'at Foiiiitaiii of J.iCc aii<i Ilcaltli. 
 
 The ocean plays a wvy im])ortanl pari in the inand economy of nature. 
 .Swept b\- the incessant winds, its \ast surfjice e( nlinealK- inspin.s ilk- 
 various Leases which load the atmos])here ; in its enormous mass it en^Uilf-; 
 tile debris carried down to it by ih- ri\ers and Ireams which ha\-e wa-^ii- 
 td the contin.'iits and islands, and restores to the atmosphi're, in the (mm 
 of vapor, thost' purified waters which descend upon the L-arth in tlu; ^lla])l■ 
 of rain or snow, or dew. These waters again ilow back into the: oci.ui 
 through the streams, the brooiss an<I the ri\ers ; and thusan eternal ciicl • 
 is established, an unending \-o\-age, which maizes the same waters seive for 
 the support and renewal of the world's organic life. 
 
 'i'he ocean b\' its exhalations which refredi ;uid moisten the air, iioiu- 
 ishes \-egetable liR:. and furnishes the neeX'ssary alimi'Ul foi- those adiniia- 
 ble channels of running water thai are ewr nowiiv;-, and yet ne\-ei- eniptw 
 But for the bt'iiellcieiit iulluence' of the xapors which e\ery moment esc.ipc 
 from the surface of the sea, the whole i-ailh would sick'cn and withei- into 
 an inanimate deseit ; ami if the ocean slowly or sudcktily tlried up, all nr- 
 gani/ed nature would probabK' be annihilated. 
 
 'I'lic World's Ciivat lii!i;hway of CoinnuM-fo. 
 
 Xe\-ertheless, the immense and profounil seas offer no obstacles to th ■ 
 commercial intercourse of nations, whom th.-y ouly separate in appear. iiu ; 
 ih : maiitime highway's now tra\ei-'.ed b\- such long processions of -hin 
 are fww antl broader than those of earth ; their maintenance laj's n.> kr- 
 ilcn upon human comnumities, f )r they are kept uj) by nature. ( >:i ■ it 
 the most remarkable features of the sea is its continuity. With the excen 
 tion of some inland reservoirs which the ocean long ages ago abandeiud 
 
s heights. Six 
 lich the volcanu- 
 : ancient plain, is 
 
 tin,' two rivrrs f f 
 ing all thi; pliiii 
 on, while it c mi- 
 ers. They rc,:p- 
 heir ancient Ix'l. 
 phenomena which 
 :. That periol of 
 and valleys alike 
 le land has re.utcl 
 ss. 
 
 [Oilltll. 
 
 :c(»nonn' of nature. 
 irally insjiiMs tlio 
 lous mass it cn;nilf-i 
 1 which have wa-;i- 
 .;i)lH'rc, in the fmin 
 ■ rarth in the -hapr 
 ick into the <H> ,111 
 us an eternal eircl ■ 
 me waters serve ior 
 
 ,Un the air, nmir- 
 t for those ailniira- 
 (1 yet never eniiJly. 
 
 r\' moment esc.ijK' 
 a-n and withei' into 
 \\y diied up. .ill "r- 
 
 leriM'. 
 
 no obstacles t > tii 
 uate in appearane ■ ; 
 iroci'ssious oi .'hip' 
 enanee lays n.' l^>i'- 
 
 )y nature. < ^n ' "' 
 With the e\cep- 
 
 rcs ago abandwujd 
 
 MYSTERIES OF TIIF. OCE.\X. 
 
 G33 
 
 in the hea.t of the continents — sucii as the Dead Sea and the Caspian — it i.s 
 one and indivisible. It embraces th : whole earth with uninterrupted w a\e. 
 
 iU 
 
 
 iii 
 
 ■l 
 
 'iBj 
 
 The color of the sea varies greatly, at least in appearance. According 
 to the evidence of a host of observers, the ocean, when seen by reflection, 
 

 634 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 presents a tint of ultramarine blue, or livel}' a/.ure. When the air is pure, 
 
 the tranquil surface of the waters seems of a brii^hter and more radiant blue 
 
 than the skies. In cloudy weather this passes into a sombre j^rcen ; wlih h 
 
 becomes darkh' or luridly brown when the sea is agitated. At sunset llic 
 
 \va\es are kindled with glowin<; hues of purple and emerald. Or, as I'.y- 
 
 ron sings — 
 
 O'ci tlie huslied deep the yellow beam lie tlirows, 
 Gilds the green wave that trembles as it grows. 
 
 A variety of local circumstances also influence the color of the ocean-wa- 
 ters and sometimes clothe them with a marked and permanent hue. If 
 the bottom be of white sand, and the water not very deep, its tint will he 
 gra\'i^h o.' a|-ple-;;reen ; if the sand be yellow, the green is deepene<i and 
 dark ' "^he neighbf)rhood of reefs is frequently indicated by the 
 "proUv need olor." of the surrounding sea. In the Hay of Loango the 
 waters seem of.; arning red, because such is the natural color of its bed. 
 
 At other times a peculiar tint is given to the waters by colored animal- 
 cules. The Red Sea owes its coloring to a microscopic alga. The sea- 
 waters — conden.sed by the spontaneous action of the solar rays — in the 
 salt-marshes of Southern France assume, when they have arrived at a 
 certain stage of condensation, a beautiful red color, which is owinj lo 
 some animalcules with a reddish shell that live in sca-watcr under this 
 condition, and die (a strange and curious fact!) as soon as the water ])e- 
 ccMiies more highly condensed, or is diluted by the effect of rain. Navi- 
 gators frequently traverse long green, red, white, or )-ellow belts of water, 
 whose tints arc derix'ed from certain microscopic Crustacea, medusas, y.Ko- 
 ph)-tes, and marine i)lants. Such is the case with the "Sargasso Sea "of 
 the Atlantic, which lies midwa)' between the Azores, the Canaries, and 
 the Cai)e de Verde islands, occupj'ing a space equal in extent to the 
 whole valley of the Mississippi. Another Sargasso vSea is found in tlic 
 Indian Ocean ; and a third just outside- the Antarctic Circle. 
 
 The Liylit of tlic Oooaii. 
 
 It is to a similar cause we must refer the magnificent phenomenon ef 
 the phosphoresence of the sea, which delights and astonishes the \nv- 
 ager in the Indian Ocean, the Baltic, the yVrabian Gulf, and elseu here, 
 In the Indian Ocean, Captain Kingman traversed a zone fully twentv-ftuir 
 mile.s in width which was so full of j)hosphorescent animalcules as to pre- 
 sent, at nightfall, the appearance of an immense field of snow. These 
 animals, nearly two inches long, were formed of a transparent gelatinous 
 matter. The reflection of the solar light upon this substance gave to the 
 surface of the water a milky appearance. 
 
_'n the air is pure, 
 more radiant blue 
 bre jrrccn ; vvhiili 
 d. At sunset the 
 ;rald. Or, as I'.y- 
 
 )WS, 
 
 s. 
 
 • of the ocean-wa- 
 rmanent hue. If 
 ep, its tint will he 
 n is deepened ami 
 indieated by the 
 5ay of Loani^o the 
 al color of its bed. 
 )y colored aniiiial- 
 ic alt^a. The sea- 
 solar rays — in the 
 
 have arrivetl at a 
 viiich is owin;,; to 
 a-\vater under this 
 1 as the water be- 
 et of rain. Xa\i- 
 
 ()W belts of water, 
 .cea, medu.sas. zcn- 
 
 ' Sargasso Sea" of 
 , the Canaries, and 
 in extent to the 
 ^ea is found in the 
 "ircle. 
 
 A PHOSPHORESCENT SEA. 
 
 (635) 
 
 « ;5 , 
 
 .^m 
 
 
1 > !j 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 ; 1 ' ' 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 0:10 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 P 
 
 ^*n.. 
 
 The phosphorcsence of the sea is an imposing and magnificent specta- 
 cle. Tlie ship, when cleaving " the liquid plain," seems to advance in ih^ 
 midst of golden and vermilion flames, which flash off from the keel lik^' 
 electric lightnings. Myriads of stars seem to float and play on the ri:)- 
 pling tide; they multipl)- — they unite — they swell into one vast fuM nf 
 fire. The scene is one which in its fantastic and almost weird char.u t:; 
 iiia\- well remind the spectator of the sight that dazzled the Ancient Mar 
 iuL-r, de.scribed by Coleridge : 
 
 Tlu-y movfd in tracks of shining wliite, 
 And when they reared, the ellish liy;ht 
 Fell olT in iioary flakes. 
 
 Witiiin llie sha<l()\v of the ship 
 
 I u'.itclud their ricii attire ; 
 
 Blue, glossy green, and velvet black. 
 
 They coiled and swani ; and every track 
 
 Was a flash of golden fire. 
 
 That infusoria} should tint the sea is, imdoubtedly, a marvelous ])he- 
 nomenon ; but the)- do more — they brighten, they enkindle it! Ihc 
 phosphorescence of ocean was long a m\-stery, before which man's rea^nii 
 stood confounded, and \\hich inspired him with mingled feelings (,t' 
 admiration and terror. Luminous water! The sea on fire, and yd 
 harmless, and still preser\ing its cold or warm temperature! I low extra- 
 ordinary a mirage! How strange an anomal)'! It is only in modem 
 times that science has sought an explanation of the miracle; and tii;^ 
 explanation, wlun at length obtained, reposes upon another prodigy 
 not less astonishing than the forn^r. 
 
 Waves Tipped Witli Lightninjjr. 
 
 In our temperate climates, and in that region of the Atlantic wliich 
 extends between the English and h'rcnch coasts, we .see the ocean plio- 
 phorescent only in summer, ami in seasons of great warmth and tran- 
 quility. Then the foam of the wa\"es which die upon the ribbed saiul, 
 the .spray which is chiu'ned up by the boatman's oar, or the steamer's 
 paddle-wheel, the wake of the vessel, the drops which .spring upwards 
 w hen a stone is flung into the water — all .seem composed of a lumiinnis 
 -now with keen steel-blue reflections. But this spectacle ma)- not be 
 compared with the scenes presented by the great tropical sea, hot an 1 
 electric, and teeming with life. There the phenomenon occurs both ;; 
 bad and fair weather. In the latter case, the waves seem to dart light- 
 nings like a storm-cloud. Cook and several other navigators lia..' 
 observed the pho.sphorescence in these regions in misty weather and una 
 billowy sea. 
 
magnificent spccta- 
 is to advance in the 
 f from the keel like 
 md play on the ri-)- 
 iito one vast fiLltl o( 
 lost weird charactc; 
 id the Ancient Mar 
 
 ,', a marvelous pho- 
 ' enkindle it ! '1 he 
 ; which man's naMiii 
 mingled feelings i4 
 :a on fire, and \et 
 rature! I low extra- 
 t is only in modem 
 le miracle ; and tii,> 
 on another pi'odi,^y 
 
 ' the Atlantic which 
 see the ocean plio- 
 ;at warmth and tran- 
 )on the ribbed saiu!, 
 oar, or the steanicr's 
 hich spring upwards 
 posed of a luminous 
 pcctaclc may not h- 
 tropical sea, hot an'. 
 icnon occurs both ;n 
 ; seem to dart liglit- 
 :hcr navigators have 
 istv weather and on a 
 
 ;l^ 
 
 m 
 
 
 Jifl-illj 
 
 i\i 
 
 
 
 
 
 JlJSi- 
 
 i\\ 
 
 H 
 
 ! "li: 
 
638 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 5, 
 
 He who has not been a witness of this phenomenon, says Ilumholdt 
 can form but an imperfect idea of the splendors of so grand a spectacle. 
 When a ship of war, driven by a strong breeze, ploughs tiie foamy waves, 
 if one clings to the hal\ards, he is a witness of a scene of peculiar nia". 
 nificence. I'^ach time that in its rolling motions the vessel's broadside 
 emerges from the waters, vermilion flames, like lightnings, seem to i-,^ut. 
 from the keel, and dart toward the licjuid surface. 
 
 Vivid JotH «>!' rianic. 
 
 Two French naturalists, who have accompanied several expediiions 
 round the world, ami traversed the ocean in every direction, have inaiiv 
 times had occasion to admire this illumination of the waters. ScaixxK- 
 has day disappeared, they say, before the scene begins, and millions nf 
 luminous bodies seem to roll in the midst of the waves. The intensit\- 
 of the light increases on the sides of the ship or the rocks against wliich 
 the billow breaks; each stroke of a boat-oar produces vivid flamiii - 
 jets; and the swiftly-moving vessel lea\es behind her a long furroudf 
 fire, which gradually fades away as it recedes in the distance. 
 
 Ordinarily, it is through a natural or artificial perturbation of the 
 
 waters that the phosphorescence becomes perceptible ; but sometiiiKs 
 
 also the sea is spontaneously phosphorescent, and one discovers immrnsc 
 
 luminous tracts kindling over the liquid plain, extending, contracting, dr 
 
 elongating, antl following all the graceful curves of its undulati()n>. 
 
 Who cannot conceive that in the days of ignorance and superstition such 
 
 appearances would give rise to numerous fables? No phenomenon is 
 
 better calculated to inspire man with a species of religious stupefaction. 
 
 Since science has undertaken the task of penetrating the secrets if 
 
 nature, of discovering tlie key to each of her enigmas, the phosj)h(>res- 
 
 cence of the ocean lias lost none of its claims to our admiration, if \\c 
 
 refuse to regard it with superstitious awe or credulous terror; and, thouijh 
 
 we have succeeded in ascertaining its cause, we are still unable to explain 
 
 that cause itself , 
 
 Every Wave a Liy:ht-Hoii.se. 
 
 , In stormy weather the rolling billows arc all lighted up, and swell and 
 break in silver-flashing foam. Glittering bodies, which might be mistaken 
 for fiery snakes, .seem to pursue each other, to overtake each other, to dis- 
 appear, and again to flash forth in living lustre ! 
 
 Known from time inmiemorial, the phenomenon of the phosphorescence 
 of the sea has been obsened by all navigators. It is of frequent occur- 
 rence in certain regions of the ocean, especially in the Indian Sea and 
 under the tropics. The radiance lights up the crest of the waves which, 
 
 llu' 
 
MYSTRRn-S OF Till- OCFAN. 
 
 g;]9 
 
 as they fall back, scatter it abroad in every direction ; it clinjjjs also to the 
 holm, and seems to escape from the waves tossed off tiie vessel's bow ; it 
 pUus also about the weedy rock and billow-beaten reef In tlu- still, 
 shadowless ni^dits of the tropic world the effect produced by this phe- 
 nomenon is trul)' magical. 
 
 This phosphorescent lustre originates in the presence of a multitude i>f 
 molluscs and zoophytes which glitter with a radiance originated b\- them- 
 selves. They emit a fluid so susceptible of expansion that. wIkii swim- 
 ming zigzag, they describe upon the water a series of brilliant tracks which 
 extend with singular rapidit)-. 
 
 Cjt'loiies at Sea. 
 
 We have been describing one of the milder phenomena of the ocean. 
 There are scenes, however, of a wild and terrible description which neither 
 pen nor imagination can ade(iuatel\' tlei)ict. The hurricane, pmpcrly so 
 called, is a cyclone animated by a g\ latory movement. I^raiule, in (ier- 
 maiix', and Redfield, at New York, demonstrateil that the tempest is 
 generally a progressive whirlwind, which moves forward while rotating on 
 itself I'elix Julien has ascertained the direction of the g\-ratory move- 
 ment of cyclones from his experience of a terrible hurricane in whose 
 centre the frigate was involvetl on w hich he was .sailing. 
 
 The breeze, he says, blew from the south-east; the sea rolled hcavilv. 
 Towards evening, the bart)meter sank abruptly beneath the lowest limits 
 marked on its scale. The wind as it freshened veered to the .south ; it 
 gradually increased in force, and ended by breaking loose with irresistible 
 violence. At midnight, in sjjite of the most energetic exertions, the dis- 
 masted frigate, without helm, without sails, la)' on her broadside, with her 
 rigging in tatters, and her deck swept by a furious .sea. It was not unlil 
 two hours later that we reached the centre of the c)xlone. A sudden 
 calm succeeded the first crisis of this atmospheric convulsion, but it was 
 of brief duration. The winds which hail abandoned us in the south re- 
 appeared in the west and north with the rapidity of lightning. We entered 
 the second segment of the circle of the storm. Caught this time on the 
 Kit, our ship heeled over anew, unable to resist the enormous pressure 
 
 directed against her side. 
 
 A Straiiffc Vision. 
 
 Tlij tempest just spoken of was distinguished by a .strange and gloomy 
 episode, by one (^f those scenes equally fantastic and heart-rending, which 
 the implacable ocean rescrv'es, with supreme irony, for the poor unfor- 
 tunates whom she has overwhelmed with sorrow. The corvette w hieh 
 accompanied the frigate as a tender had di-appeared in the mc/ec. I laving 
 
 '■\'m 
 
 t 
 
 '( 
 
 <"•''> 'ii 
 
04U 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 escaped the peril, and, l\v means of a jury-mast, rrainetl the appointed 
 
 rendezvous at St. Mary, in the island of .Ahidat^ascar, the seamen of tin, 
 
 frit^ate explored in \ain all the creeks and indentations of the coast ; m 
 
 \ain the}' daily siu-veyed the horizon in e\-ery ([uarter, iiDpeful that tlu 
 
 corvette, only driven from her route by the tempest, would return iiiiM 
 
 port. 
 
 A month passed by, a montli of deep anxiety, and expectation had .i! 
 
 IjnLjth i^Wcn place to the most poignant rej^ret, when one mornini; tlv 
 
 look-out man si'^^nalled in the west a dismastetl \-essel ilrivint^ towartls ihi 
 
 shore. It was not a dream, says Julien; the sun was ,t;lou in;^, the -1,\- 
 
 limpid and unstained. The warm air trembletl on the horizon. I\\i !\ 
 
 t^'lescope, ])ointed in that direction, ccMifirmetl the exactnes.i of ihc fn.t 
 
 intimation. Hut our t-niotion soon became niore profound, ll w.is im 
 
 Ioniser a ship adrift which appeared to us, but a raft loaded with lui ii,,nii| 
 
 towed by boats from which signals of distress were \\a\ing. 'Ihe iuia^is, 
 
 moreo\er, were clear and sliarpl)' defined; the lines perfectU- disiinct. 
 
 ( )n board the frigate, captain, officers, sailors, all, for severa' hou -<. 
 
 were a jirey to a feverish hallucination, and followed with ea.;i ;!\- 
 
 wistful e}-es the details of this indescribal)le occan-.scene. .Admiral 1 )i.— 
 
 fo^^srs, then in command on tlie Indian station, despatchetl in all haste 
 
 the first steamer which arri\-ed in the roads to the assistance of tli'.sc 
 
 li\ iiig wrecks that the ocean seemed to rest(>re to us from the dejilli of 
 
 its al)\'sses. 
 
 Tho Doliisioii I>issii>at(Ml. 
 
 The day began to sink; night, as is the case in tropical climes, \va<- 
 
 nlready gathering o\er the .sea witliout an\- inter\al of twilight, when the 
 
 .-//v7/////<v/('.v arrived at the end of her mission. She checketl her course 
 
 in the midst of floating spars, and low<-re(i her l)oat<. .All around, her 
 
 crew continued to descry masses of men in a tumult of a Mlation, str-.teh- 
 
 ing their hands to he.-u-en in hopeless entreat}-; the}- could hear th< dull 
 
 confirsed murmur of a great number of \'oices blended with the strokes 
 
 of oars in the water. A few seconds more, and the}- would clasp in iheir 
 
 arms their broth.ers snatched from the vei-}- jaws of ileath ! 
 
 Dreams of the night, dehisions vain, 
 Why sport ye witli the anxious hiain? 
 
 1 In boats plunged into the mid>t of tiiick brandies of trees torn awiy 
 
 fidm th',' neighboring shores and tlrifting witl; all their foliage in ili' 
 
 coimter-curreiits which remount to the north. Thus the strange \i>i"n 
 
 xanished. Thus was dissipated the last hope which a deceitful niiiie;v 
 
 had, as it were, evoked from the depth of ocean. Thus foinidercd anew 
 
 iA 
 
MVSTERIKS OF THE OCEAN. 
 
 641 
 
 d the appointed 
 ic seamen nf tli( 
 of i\\c coa-^t ; in 
 hopeful that thr 
 ould return iut" 
 
 qiectatinn had at 
 one nioniinL; thr 
 ivint; towartls \\v: 
 LrlowiiV'', the sk\- 
 
 horizon. h.\ery 
 ctnes.i of thr fiv^t 
 ound. It w.e- Um 
 led witli men, ami 
 in<4. The in;a;j;'s, 
 
 perfectlx- distinct, 
 (ir several hou^, 
 ^ved with lie^eiiy 
 le. Admiral !)(.■■;- 
 tched in all lia^tc 
 vssi.stance ot tlv'^c 
 
 from the di'plh of 
 
 ipieai chmes, wa-- 
 .\viliL;ht, when tlu: 
 iceked her course 
 All around, licr 
 agitation, stretch- 
 ould hear the dull 
 d with the strokes 
 ■ouid cla^p in their 
 ith ! 
 
 ,,f trees torn aw.iy 
 
 heir folia|-;e in ihr 
 
 the stran<^fc \ i>i"" 
 
 a deceitful niirai^c 
 
 us foundered anew 
 
 under our eye.s the unfortunate cor\-ette with the three iuindred \ictini.s 
 which -sho had on boanl ! 
 
 Deceived by the resemblance of certain effects, several authors con- 
 found the cyclones with the wind-spouts, and indifferently make use of 
 one or the otlier word to desii^nate the rotatinj^ tempests, the w hirlwinds, 
 I.) which the Hrst alone c.m correctly be ap[)lied. 
 
 Appall iii<>' Fury of tlu^ Tompcst. 
 
 Their ordinary forr.i, .says the elotjuent Miclielet, is that of a funnel.^ 
 A seaman overtaken by one said to me: "I saw mvself, as it were, at 
 the bottcjin of a crater of an enormous \'oleano; around me, nothin;^ but 
 darkness; above, an ai)erture and a gleam of h'l^ht." Tiiis is technically 
 called the e\-e of the storm. Once involved in it, there is no hope of 
 (lra\vin;4 l)ack ; it lu)lds )'ou in its i_;iasp. Savaj^e ro.ulnj^s, plainti\e howl- 
 iiv^s, rattlini; and shrieks of tlie tlrowned, the tjroans of the unfortunate 
 vessel which, ha\'in;^ spruni; to life a;_jain as in her own fore;t, bewails lier 
 approaching end, all this appallini,^ tumult doi's not prevent )-ou from 
 hearin;^ tiie shrill hissin;4s of serpents in the shrouds and riL^^ini^f. Siid- 
 ilenly, silence! The nucleus of the wintl-s|)out then passes afar in a 
 hurst of horrible thunder, which deafens and almost blinds voi;. \'ou 
 recover yourself. It has rent and .split the masts, and not a sounel was 
 heard! 
 
 The crew arc frecpiently afflicted f )r a h'lv.r time afterwartls wilii weak- 
 ened eN'csisrht and blackened fin-j-er-nails. They remember with liorror 
 that at the moment of the passa^^e n( the wind-s[)out, as it drew upwards 
 the water, it also seemed to suck in the shi[), and hold her susjjentled in 
 the air and above the sea; then lettin:; her l^o, it ])lunL;ed lu-r down a;4ain 
 into the abyss. 
 
 In this impressive [)icture — a masterpiece (jf description — we recoLjinze 
 
 the cyclone or \vind-s[)out. The water-spout, pro[)erly so called, some- 
 
 tinu's aceom[)anies the cyclone; but it is also produced inde[)endeiul\' ot 
 
 tli.il plK.-nomenon, cUid a[)i)ears due to a \iolent disturbance of enuilib- 
 
 riuni in the electric condition of the atmosphere. Of all storm-[)heiiom- 
 
 ena, it is assuredly the most curious to obser\-e, and the most terrible in 
 
 its effects. 
 
 The .Host Curious Scouts in Nature. 
 
 It consists of a ver)' dense cloud, surcharLjetl with the electric fluid, 
 
 and am'mated i)\- irrej^ular inox-ement of c.xtraordin.uy rapidity. This 
 
 e'enid nearly always assumes the shape of a cone reversetl. Its color is 
 
 a deep gray, its aspect frightful, and no less so are the s\-m[)toins which 
 
 hec[uently [jrecede it. The sky lowers; the day grows dark; the sun'.s 
 
 41 
 

 I 
 
 h 
 
 012 
 
 EARTH . SI'.A, AND SKY. 
 
 li,L;lil becomes sickly and Nellowi.Nli , the air a prey to violent aL,n"tation • 
 the hurricane sweeps over the field-, or the waves wilii ominous whisi- 
 linL;s, accompanied !))• a tluU lio.use murmur; it seems as if a volcano 
 boiled and seethed in the entrails of the earth ; then breaks the watrr- 
 out. h'lashes of liL^hlniuL; and bursts of tlunulei swiftly succeed c.i 'i 
 ther; the hail fills, cjr rather hoxei's, with a perpetual crasli. Bui Ih 
 
 flu- mo>t appalliiii; circumstance is t!; 
 
 
 are (inl\- accessar\- plienoint na. 
 
 A WA 1 1 . 
 
 -I'Ml'T AT SEA. 
 
 jet black cloud which strttidus from a!)(^\-e or below, making' a \n\i.\ \n- 
 low and aroimd it, and attractiiv.^", by thr force of the fluid with which it 
 
 t witiicrs. wrenches, and uproots; houses, wliuli, 
 
 rees, w luc 
 
 is loaded, t 
 
 in till' twinkliiKj of an eye, it shatters into ruins ; men ami animals, wli'iii 
 it carrii's offatid daslics, stunned and blecdiii;^, a^^ainst the L',ix)und, at 
 I iU)rmoiis distances. 
 
mysti:riks oi' rni-: ochan. 
 
 <Jl:i 
 
 iolcnt ai^itation ; 
 ominous whi-l- 
 as if a volcau" 
 ri'aks llu' watrr- 
 lly suc-cc't'd c h 
 :rasli. Hul th 
 cimistam-.c is tin 
 
 inakini;- a \<'ui I". • 
 
 fluid witb wlii^'li it 
 
 cts; houses, uli''li^ 
 
 and animals, wli-i'i 
 
 iust the LMX)UUcl, a: 
 
 Rctuecn the terrestrial <uid the niaiiiie watei-spout then- is onl)- a dif- 
 ference (if effects, whicli natuiall)' \ar\-, accordin;,;^ as llir meteor encoun- 
 ters on its passage the luin eaith and solid ijodie^, or an extensiw ma--s 
 (if deej) waters. 1 lie action of the waLer-spoiit ou the si a cannot he bet- 
 ter compared than to a kind of suction. Inunediat( ly heuealh the (. \lre;n- 
 it\- of the clouc^l)' cone is fornud, on the suit, ice ol tli ■ waxes, a s\;nmelri- 
 cal coUi:, which rises so nuich hi;.; her, and w hc)>e h.isr i-. so much l.u'mr 
 in pi'oijortion as the \olume of the uater-spoul is i;reaUr, and ils electric 
 force more considerahlc At the- same lime, the sea rises in the tlistance ; 
 biittnmless preci[)ices, white \\ilh " wrathful foam," e\ca\ ale themscKes 
 around the li([uid mount. lin; the wa\(>s linstle and idll one upon ;mofuer, 
 
 if#.. 
 
 
 -r^^-,rjs^^ 
 
 I^S^N^^^ 
 
 A snir IN DANol.K FROM W \ tK K-SI'( )L'I > 
 
 ith thi- rollin.', lluindei\ 
 
 nip 
 
 uilli a roar \\hi(h iniuLdes wi 
 
 which finds Ik'rself, n>it ah)ne in the tiacl< _.., ^.>-,.. 
 
 I — hutewn at a short distance fi-om till' lin-' w hiih 
 ' •■:•'■;- ■■' ■-'^ ....:... .. ,,itlj. 
 
 she is lost, without hope I 
 
 Woe to th, 
 f the scour_L;e — in such a (.a^e 
 
 she is lost, without liope I — l)ute\ \ n at a sh, nt distance hom the hn-' w hieh 
 it traverses. She also is drawn within its influence, dra|.^_L^ed thiiher with- 
 out possible n>sistance. Her masts ar,.- swept by the board, ihe xioleiice 
 of the wind rends her sails to fra;;inents; she ni> loui^rer oiiey.^ iier helm : 
 she must follow the meteor. Sometime uhe ves.sel is literall)' raised aboxc 
 the \\;u'es, then flun;;" back iniot'ie abs'ss, and then '•n^.^ulfed. fn- from all 
 
 lie \\;u'es, nieii nun;,; nat K mioiiie ai>\ss, aim men '•n^.^uiien. lai" Udin ail 
 niniaiiaid. Yri it is a curiou ^ fiet th, it the seaman is not ;ilways defeiico 
 ess ai^ainst his formidaijle i-neni}'. Authorities not unwoithy of credit .T- 
 
 ' f*: 
 
 ■J 
 
 'h 
 
 ">il',{i 
 
 til 
 
 'r. : 0:A — ■ 
 
014 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY 
 
 I 
 
 firiM that the discliarL;c of a cannon, aimed d.K-ct';. >t d'o flank of tliis 
 tiioui-tain i)f water, cuts it into two parts. Tiio lo-vev sinks back uL^aiti 
 into thu- bosoni of the sea ; the ui)]X'r trunk is carried . wuy by the cloud, 
 
 and at some sliort distance reiiescends in rair. J>t(tit is difficult for sh 
 to take up siirli ;i position that they can brinc:^ their broailsitles to bear 
 
 il).s 
 oil 
 
 tl 
 
 le si)out, V. ithout .ip|)roac iiini^ so ne, 
 
 u' as to fall within its inlluenci. 
 
 r 
 
 u- water-spout di->sip,iti's like ordiiiar)' storms, when the electric e'l] 
 
 111- 
 
 librium is re-e -tabli-hi-d in the atmosphere. h'ortunateK-, it i. of rare o( - 
 currence, e\en in the tropits, where it ma\' freciiientl)' tra\e'-^e a widr .ura 
 without encounti'rin^f a siiv^le \-essel. l"'aiconer's dcscriptii n of ih 
 nomenon may here ap])ropriately be j^ix'en. 
 
 Now oil tlic' larlxianl quarter thev desirv 
 
 uie- 
 
 .\ li(itii(l coluinii towLTin.L;' shoot on liij^li ; 
 The foainiiii!^ base tlie ani:;ry wliirlwiiuls sweep, 
 W'liere riirliii:< billows roust- tin- fearful deep : 
 .Still round and round tlie tluid vortex Hies, 
 Dillusing briny vapors o'er the skies. 
 
 Tl 
 
 le y;uns \vf re prinieil 
 
 tl 
 
 >rth 
 
 le vesst'l iiorthuanl veers, 
 
 Till her i)Ia( k battery on the column bears : 
 The nitre fir" d; .ind, while the dreadful soniu 
 Convulsive shook Ih'- -,I umbering air aroiii'fl, 
 The walerv volume, trtinbliii •• to the skv, 
 
 Hurst down, a dreadful dili 
 
 fr 
 
 otn nil niiiii 
 
 Th 
 
 e expandiii 
 
 .11 Iremliled as ii t. 
 
 And felt with swift re< nil her sur>;e> -well ; 
 
 Hut soon, this transient imdiil.ition o'er. 
 
 The sea subsides, the wiiirlwiiifls rage no mure. 
 
 Not alone in tempests, water-spouts, and l^amin .;■ phosphorescent li;lit 
 
 if the i^reat deep; tiiere are creatures wliiiii 
 
 ■hi'ir habitation, whose siiv'iilar coiistru. ti.'i! 
 
 i> we di^co\ I'l" tho \\i >nd'.'r' 
 
 malxe the unexi 
 
 )|cre>i (I 
 
 a;i<l 
 
 al)its will nwer cci 
 
 excite our interest and suriirisi 
 
 A ^I.V'iirrMHis Inliiihitant <>1" the Sen. 
 
 Th 
 
 iirali-- 
 
 papt'r nautilus, or ar: 
 
 •■onaut, has been lor a;'es a niar\il tot 
 
 le n;il 
 
 4, and e\c-n the ancients L;a\'e graphic descriptions of it in both piost 
 and jiortr)-. it is a kind of poulpe or i uttledlsh, without an\- inl'rii.iJ 
 skelet'iii ; it has ei;,;ht arni-., pio\ ided with suckers; two of them are i \- 
 p.anded into bioad nuinbraneous webs, with which the animal ;-;rasp- it- 
 shell wh'ii it is svsimminL',, an<l b)- means cf whii h it firms and secittc^ 
 its sliell. This is (K'cply grooved, and is\ei_\- thin, transi)arent, and si 
 flexible when wet that the sides ma.y be pressed t<iL;ether. Tin- for 
 c\cc-edin''l\' beautiful, beinij- somewhat boat-shant-d, .ind th 
 
 111 i- 
 
 (loat 
 
 s in it in smh a manner 
 
 ■ tliat 
 
 all 
 
 some author^ iuuc supposed the .iit ol 
 
 e crciluiv 
 1 th 
 
,1'J flank of this 
 
 ^iiiks b.ick ;u',;iin 
 
 vay by the cloiu!, 
 
 < iliff^nilt for ships 
 
 );ulsiclcsto bcir "ii 
 
 I its iniluincr, 
 
 II the electric v;.iui- 
 •1\-, it i ' of rare i>< - 
 rave'-<e a wi'le an a 
 riptii ;! of this phv- 
 
 
 
 'i.'iO'«''M:''^*i^<. 
 
 --••)i- 
 
 /•'■ 
 
 H 
 
 m 
 
 i.h 
 
 
 ep. 
 1 : 
 
 il veers, 
 
 MfC 
 
 ihosphorcsceiUli jit 
 
 e a 
 
 re creatures 
 
 W llM ll 
 
 S'.IVJU 
 
 lar con^tru. li'ii 
 
 surprise. 
 
 ISra. 
 
 iuar\e 
 
 to liie I'i!'. 
 
 MIS 
 
 ,f il in botli proNC 
 
 withou 
 
 t anv intrm 
 
 ;a 
 
 Itwo of then\ an: i x- 
 he animal -rasp- it^ 
 ,it forms and secrete^ 
 transparent, and s(> 
 The fi^rni i'- 
 1 the ireatuic 
 tl the all "i 
 
 •tl 
 
 UM-. 
 
 ant 
 
 ,iip])Ose 
 
 (il.U 1 IMH'.-) Jl'.l I.S-l'i-IU..^. 
 
 0;^^.) 
 
h mM ' ' 
 
 i 
 
 }f 
 
 64(! 
 
 KARTir, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 navigation was dL-rivi-d Wow il. Wlun the creature sinks to tiie boUoin 
 it ciawis upun its 1cl;s, cair\-iii;4 its liouse on its back, like a snail. 
 
 It lias been discovered that if the shell be broI<en, the animal will set 
 to work with itstw" hands or trowels to mend it; that it will not onK- 
 close np cracks, but supply parts that are broken awa\', w ith the same 
 material as that which composed the orii^inal fabric. In repairin;^^ ii, 
 shell it will even take aiKantas^e of pieces of shell that come in its u;iy, 
 and solder them in to fill uj) a cre\ici'. It appears that the animal is 
 c.\trcmel\' sensitive, and sometimes in fright it becomes separated fidm 
 the shell, and conse(]uent!\' dies ; it howexer occasionall)- cpiits its triic- 
 mt nt \dh.intaril)', and again resumes it. When in its shell there is a 
 considerable \acuum at the bottom. 
 
 We are indebted foi' some careful and curious observations on this 
 interesting species to Madame Power, who resided at Messina, and for 
 .several }'ears tlevoted he!■.-^e!f to the study of these animals. In order to 
 determine whether the shells nally were produced li)- th>.se creatures, she 
 I)laced t\vent\--si.\ iA' them in a vessel and bi'oke the shells in different 
 wa\v-.. She had the satisfaction of seeing them immediatel\' proceed to 
 co%er tile broken parts with the ^ail-s and b\- wrinkling them upon tiic 
 parts, close the fiactures. I'he ilr>t d.;}' the new substance was thin iinil 
 delicate as a cobweb, but it thickened and hanleiied gradualh-, until in 
 about thirteen days it had become perfectly firm, and sh(.ll\' as the uii- 
 WMindcfl part, though sori,.-uhat mon- o]ia(|ue. 
 
 The Ink-IJottlo (>r (hr Oeruii. 
 
 11 
 
 aru. oiiaul i^ a native of various seas, but it is most common in tlu 
 
 Mid •..M'ranean. and e-<[)eeiall)' in the vicinitv of Me^-ina; here it is fouii'l, 
 even in the ])orl, all ih • year, but is most abundant in autiiini,, and in ihc 
 liuiddv parts of the '>ay, where tile boats lie thickest. When on ;1k; 
 .surface, if they observe any |)eison, they fold the -^ail-arms over the sin 11, 
 di-posf the rowing arms v\ithin it, and sink. If tliev lia[)piii to 1)0 
 belli alh. wiieii alarmed, tliev eject their ink, to gain time to hide tlieiii- 
 : -ues in the mud. 'riiosi- in thi" cages of Madame Power, afti-r the iiik- 
 l)ag >,;•-> emptied, would, if still pursued, spirt water frotn the funnel, tluii 
 ' ]\!ink within the shell, covereil with the .sails. When e;dm and (jiiict, 
 .uul uiv-nnscious of being observed, they would exhibit their many beau- 
 ♦k's, rowing along with tiu-ir arms, lluir full sails tinged with eh'gaiit 
 colors, resting their extremities on the two sides of the shell, or cmbraciii;^ 
 it ilh them. When pressed bv hunger thev would come almost to the 
 siuiaee, and \>, 'i -u Madame Power offered them food, tlu-v would snatch 
 it out of her li.iiid- aiiil 'n'eedily ilevour it. 
 
ks to the botlum 
 c a snail. 
 c animal will set 
 X it will not liiily 
 V, with tlu- sunc 
 In rcpairin;^ i^ 
 . conic in its way. 
 hat the animal is 
 js scparatctl finm 
 xUv (luits its tcnr- 
 s shell there is a 
 
 servations on this 
 ]\Iessina, and \'<y 
 inals. In oixler to 
 .hcse creatvn-es, shf 
 . shells in cliffevriit 
 .•(liately proceed h> 
 U'j^ them upon tin- 
 tancc was thin and 
 grailually, until In 
 d shellv as the iin- 
 
 idst common in tlu: 
 ia; here it is found, 
 autmm., and in tl'.c 
 est. When on tla; 
 irnis o\er the shell, 
 they happen to 'be 
 ime to hide tluiu- 
 ower. after the ink- 
 o'.ii the funnel, then 
 r'.i I'.ilm and quiet, 
 ', their many beau- 
 untied with elei;ant 
 c shell, or cmbracin;^ 
 ,>nie almost to tlu' 
 , they wouUl -natch 
 
 ^Ki 
 
 m 
 
 %^m 
 
 m li 
 
 m 
 
 

 ' 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 018 
 
 EARTH. SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 The c;^fL;s arc lik'c niillclsccils, pcrfectl)' transparent, attached by fila 
 
 iiunts of l)rinianl gluten to a coinnion stem of the same. Three cla\- 
 
 after the e;4L;s had bieii disco\ered, ihc h'tlle poiilpes were oljser\ed in 
 
 the shell of the parent, witlioiit any shell, like small worms. Soon after 
 
 they began to show buds with two rows of points on them, the riidinKMU-- 
 
 of the arms and suckers; the sail arms appeared first by several d;i\--,. 
 
 On the sixth da\- the first \estii;c' of a shell was seen, very thin ami 
 
 fle.xible. The eL;|;s are found in the interior of the spire of the parent. 
 
 the young between the roof of the spire and tiie mantle; the infant shell 
 
 seems to be first deposited in the end of its parent's spire, whose form it 
 
 tlius assumes; but after a while it carries on the process wilhoiii aid 
 
 Two or three eggs are developed at a time; when the young ai-e al)oiit 
 
 three-cpiarters of an ineli in length, the\- inelose theinscK'es in the spiiv 
 
 of the parent, where the)' remain four daws to aci|uii-e the shell; ihiTi 
 
 da>'s iiKire they remain under the body of the old one. and are then 
 
 ejected. It is a \ery curious fact that all th.: argon. luts hitherto f jund 
 
 are females, whence it is supposed th.it the males are of a different torni, 
 
 antl without shells. 
 
 Tin* lii<l<>oiiN Octopus. 
 
 I'our species ot ,irg"naut are know n, all, howi'\er. closeK' resembling 
 this which we ha\ e dcseribed : the) inhabit the open se.i throughout the 
 warm -parts k>\ the globe. 1 his meludes the eight-ai'ined cuttle-fish, 
 ancieiuly called /^('/r/^/zs, winch has been abl)re\iatetl into the popul.n 
 title of piiulpe. It has no ^Ik'H, and no skeleton, but has two conicil 
 pieces of horny substances imbedded in the back, one on e;ich si(K<. TIu 
 bod\-, whi^.h h.is a globular torm, is a sott. ji'llydikc se.bstance, covered 
 will) a thick, ilark-colori.'d, leather)' skin. IIk arms in- legs are eight ii? 
 number, aiul are man\' feet in length. The ainuial mi>\is with it-^ lieiid 
 either up or d' iwn ; w hen it walks on the ground or on the boUom i,\ die 
 sea, it is in ilie latter jjosition. The .arms are e.ach fiu'nished with on..- 
 liundred anil twent)- p.aiis df sucking-cups, making nearly two thou iml 
 in all; b\- nie.ins of these the\- are able to maint;iin ,i powerfiil grasp upon 
 their j)re\" ; in<Ieed the .arms ma\' sooner be wrenched off t!ian forced U' 
 loose their huid. It, howewr, the\- .ire thus torn asundei', the_\' .ire ^<»>\) 
 replace'd b)' spMut.'ineous growth. The .'ii'ms of this spc-cies ;ire esteeiurd 
 good food b\- sonu' of the people around the Me'iliterran^an, where it is 
 common. 
 
 The e\'e ><{' the cuttle-fisli is lar;ge and exceedingl)- keen-siglil'.i! ; 
 the whole bod_\' ' if the creature is phosphorescent in the dark, and tlu 
 eyes shine like ihosi. of .i cat. The mouth is placed m the s[)acL' incli'scl 
 
 liKii. 
 
fittachcd by fila 
 ic. Three thiys 
 ^erc ()l)scrvc'(l in 
 ins. Si toll Httir 
 n, tlic riuliniriu- 
 l)y several day--. 
 II, very tliiii aiiii 
 ire of the parent 
 ; the infant slull 
 re, whose lunn il 
 cess williDiit ail I 
 rouni; are abmit 
 :K-cs in the spire 
 the shell ; three 
 ne, and are then 
 ts hitherto ioiimi 
 r a different form, 
 
 loscly rcscnil)lin;4 
 a throut;hout tlu; 
 arniL'd cuttle-li>-i!, 
 into the pi'pii'ar 
 t has two cnniea! 
 n eaeh --ide. 'I !)•■ 
 u:l)stance, covernl 
 r le<^s are eit;ht in 
 )ves uilh it- h'.'iul 
 the l)olloni ot the 
 nrnished with "n> 
 irly two tiiou--a;ii! 
 werful i^'as]:) ii])!'!! 
 oi'f t'.ian forced i 
 der, the\- are s.h.u 
 ecies are esteenu il 
 an. an, where it i- 
 
 Mi\' keen-siL^hted ; 
 the dark, and tin 
 the space inclose 1 
 
 MVSTKRIES OF THE OCEAN. 
 
 G49- 
 
 by tlic arms; it consists of a thick circular lip around an orifice; beneath 
 this lip, and ])artiall\- appeariiit; through the orifice is a beak like that of a 
 parrot, excepting; that the short mandible is the n[)[)ermost; these mandi- 
 bles tlo not co\-er boiu-, but their interior is filled with a fibrous substance 
 of threat strength and solidity. The muscles in whieli tin- jaws are 
 inibedtlcd, and by which the)- are worked, are extremely powerful; tlu: 
 jaws are, in fact, capable of s'rippin;.;' off the armor from crabs and 
 lubstcrs, and of cuttin;^ up the llesh ot" fishes. It has a stronL;, muscular 
 
 ^^)i,V 
 
 ii^',''"'^^^/. 
 
 
 
 
 i!i;.\LTii'Ui. ^riA iMKNs v\' sr.\K-i"i.sii. 
 i;iz;'.ard, limxl with a Kather\- ^kin. In thi> -i/,/.ard the food is around to 
 piiip. It UM)- be termed the milMiopprr where the jurist is ground. 
 
 In aiiilition to its othc- extraordinar\- endowments, the cuttle-fish i.s 
 supplied with an ink-bag enfolded in the mass of the liver, containing 
 the sub.stance called s^pia, and fornierl\- used, it is .said, by the Chinese, 
 in makinc; Indian-ink. The creature lias the i)ower of ejecting this 
 through its siphons pl.iced on the h-ft side of the abdomen, so as to rcn- 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 i . 
 
 If 
 
 
 
 !!■ 
 
 
 
 j«i 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 m 
 
fi'jO 
 
 HARTII. SF.A. AND SKY. 
 
 
 ■•<< 
 
 h 
 
 fp 
 
 dcr it an effectual means of defense. PdWerful as it is, howiAcr, for the 
 destruction of various kinds of sea an.mals. it has enemies superior m 
 strength to itself, sucli as the grampus and the cachalot. When its 
 quick eyes perceive one of these luige monsters approaching, it ejects a 
 quantity of its inky lluid into the water, wliirh immc-diately spreads 
 arouml into a dirk cloud; while the enemy is floundering about, be- 
 wildered and astonished, in this murky fog, the nimble cuttle darts away 
 and conceals himself in the mud at the bottom, or the safe fissure of 
 some neighboring rock. 
 
 The use of this ink-b,ittery as a means alike of defensive an u .)*Tcnsivc 
 warfare, is evinced by an anecdote of a liritish officer, who on a certain 
 
 4,i 
 
 ■'^y'^""^^ 
 
 • mi. J- ..= 
 
 — .-= -•T>"»=i 
 
 llIK CKl^lKI) sK.AI,. 
 
 occasion, had gone ashore to collect shells, luippcning to be attired in a 
 pail cf .^now-white pantaloons As he was walking about, he suddenly 
 came upon a cuttle-fish, snugly harl>ored in the recess of a rock. V n 
 a moment the two stared at eacli other with mutual surprise: after ;i 
 time the officer advanced a little, wlun, quick as thought, the poulpc 
 discharged a spray of ink, and taking good aim at the snowy pants, 
 spattered them with indelible stains, which rendered them, ever after, 
 unpresentable. 
 
 This species seems to be widely distributed in almost all ^eas. In the 
 North Atlantic it is usually of small size, but in the Mediterranean it i? 
 sometimes so large as to weigh a hundred pounds; the bod>' of one has 
 been seen of the size of a barrel, and with arms as thick as those of a 
 
to bo attired in n 
 
 ibov.t, he siuldi.nly 
 
 s of a rock. 1' >' 
 
 1 surprise: after ;i 
 
 K)ui;ht, the poulwe 
 
 the snowy pants, 
 d them, over after, 
 
 |)st all seas. In the 
 Mediterranean it \^ 
 he body of one Im- 
 :hick as those of a 
 
 MYSTFRIES OF THE OCEAN 
 
 651 
 
 man. In the tropical seas thty are said to bf much larijer.and so fierce 
 ns sometimes to attack boats and dra^ tluin under water. VVc arc told 
 tli.it in the Indian waters, such thincjs have actually happened, and in 
 cirtain localities the boatmen always keep themselves supplied with axes 
 to cut off the arms of these monsters, in case of an attack. 
 
 Their remarkable spirit, as well as their strenjjth, is evinced by an 
 ■ulventurc which Mr. Hcale, an Knj^lishman, hail with one of them .unon;^ 
 the rocks of the Honin Islands, where he had f,n)ne ashore to seek for 
 shells. As he was mo\in<f about, he was suddt nly arrested by seeinij 
 at his feet a most extraordinary lo(>king animal, crawlinij toward the 
 
 surf, wliich it had only 
 just K ft. It was creep- 
 incj I in its cii:jhi le«]fs, 
 which, from tlr^ir soft 
 and flexible nature, bent 
 consideralily uiu'k r the 
 weitjht of its bod)', so 
 that it was lifted by the 
 effort-; of its limbs only 
 a small dist.uut' fi. 'in 
 the rocks. It appe.yed 
 much ak'-med at sceinj.^ 
 him. and made every 
 effort to tiscipc. A mo- 
 ment after, the appar- 
 ently enraij;ed animal 
 11 fU'd its head with its 
 ^SsSi.:i,-t^''itii/^l-r. . .; . JarL^e projectinf:^ eyes, 
 A sAVAi.r. I oi:. and looinj^ its hold of 
 
 thr rocks, suddenly sp-an;^^ upon Mr. Bcale, and cluiv,; to him by 
 means o.f its suckers with j^reat power, endeavoriivj; to I'.et its beak, which 
 .iiild UiAv be .seen between the roots of its arms, in a ])ositii)n to bite. 
 .\ Musation of horror prrxadid his whole frame, when he found that this 
 hideous animal had fixrd it-^df t" him s<i firm!\-. Its cold, slimy -rasp 
 was extremely sickening ; and he loudly called to the captain, who was 
 at some distance, to come and release him from his danti^erous a.ssailant. 
 The captain quickly came, and soon released him, by destroying his 
 tormentor with the boat-knife, which he accomplished by cutting; away 
 portions at a time. 
 
 The ])resence of this monster in the tropical seas often adds a fiesh 
 
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 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 danger to the ordinary perils of pearl-diving. It has been known to at- 
 tack men under water, and numerous instances are recorded of its fatal 
 assault. ( )nce within its powerful grasp, the situation is extremely criti- 
 cal. It has no mercy on its victim, and when it throws about him its 
 immense arms he is in the jaws of an embrace that means death. The 
 natix'es are compelled to arm themselves with the most effective weapon 
 against a foe s(j ferocious and hard to overcome. 
 
 The ammonites, a curious genera of mollusks, become quite special in 
 the secondary epoch, and disappear altogether before our age. Thc\- ai^j 
 characteristic of a very early period, and each zone is characterized b\- its 
 peculiar species. The name is taken from the resemblance of the shell tn 
 the ram's-horn ornaments which decorated the front of the temple of Jup- 
 iter Ammon and the bas-re- 
 liefs of the statues of this 
 pagan deity. They were ce- 
 phaloj)ode mollusks with cir- 
 cular shells, winding in spirals 
 on the same plane, and di\-ided 
 into a series of chambers. 
 
 The animal only occupied 
 the outer cavities of the shell ; 
 all the others were \'oid. A 
 tube issuing from the first tra- 
 versed all the ca\itics. This 
 enabled the animal to rise to 
 the surface, or sink to the bt)t- -1 ^^^'^^ 
 torn, fir the ammonite could 
 at pleasure fill the chambers 'nir. axcif.nt am.monite. 
 
 or e.xpel the water, thus rendering it lighter or heavier as occasidn 
 required. T'^e nautilus of our seas is provided with the same curious 
 organization, and reminds us forcibly of the ammonites of geologiial 
 times. Shells arc the only traces which remain of the ammonites. Like 
 a little sculler, the anuuonite floateil on the surface of the water; like 
 the nautilus, the shell was an animated skiff. What a curious asucei 
 these primitive seas must lia\e presented, covered by myriads of these 
 mollusks of all sizes, rowing about in eager pursuit of their prey ! 
 
w. 
 
 1*. 
 
 icon known to at- 
 :ordcd of its fatal 
 is extremely criti- 
 iW's about him its 
 leans death. Tin- 
 effective weapon- 
 
 ne ciuite special m 
 Lir atie. They arc 
 haracterized by its 
 Lnce of the shell to 
 the temple of Jup- 
 
 m^mf^^- 
 
 
 
 MMONITE. 
 
 leavier as occasi'!!i 
 
 \\ the same curious 
 
 iiites of j,;eolo;j,ical 
 
 ammonites, l-i^-*' 
 
 of the water; li'^e 
 
 lit a curious aspecl 
 
 myriads of these 
 
 Ithcir prey ! 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE WORKMEN OF THE SEA. 
 
 The Ocean a Nursery of Life— World- Makers— Destruction of the Weaker Marine 
 Tribes — Half Plants and I Ir.'.f Animals — Graceful Forms and I'lrilliant Hues- 
 Flowers of Ocean— Astouiuliiiij Multitude of Infusoria — .Mountains i'orint'd from 
 Tiny Shells— Islands Built by Coral Insects— Ma.-,nnticent Paris Built by Animal- 
 cules—Coral l'"orests in the Sea -Corallslands Hundreds ofMiK-s in E.xtent — 
 Ships in Danger— The Birth of New Lands— The Marvelous Actinia— Plants of 
 Living Stone — Myriad T'ornis of Life in the Sea — Depths of Amazing Splendor — 
 The Humming Birds of the Ocean. 
 
 L^^jIIh^ circulation of the ocean, its pho.sph<)resceiice, and the tints of 
 color belonginc^ to certain seas, make known but imperfectly 
 what can he accomplished b\- the incalculable numl)ers, the 
 prodii;ious fecundity, and the devourin<; activity of the minute 
 animals, .scarcely perceptible individually, w itb. whicli it teems, ^\■t ideol- 
 ogy demon.strates that it was they which laid the foundation of animal 
 life in that immense cradle, that inexhaustible " nursery " as Maury calls 
 it; it is they which maintain a never-varyint^ identit)' in the C()m[)osition 
 of its waters, absorbing and changing the mineral and organic properties 
 with which these arc ince.ssantl\- loaded. 
 
 There are some which serve as the food of .stronger and superior spe- 
 cies ; these, in their turn, nourish the fish and crustaceans, which are 
 themselves devoured by far larger fishes. There are others which are in- 
 defatigable architects. 
 
 A myriad laborers ply their task. 
 
 And what it tends to never ask. 
 
 The work how grand ! the means how small ! 
 
 What wondrous order reigns o'er all ! 
 
 They construct the fantastic edifices that from the depths of ocean 
 mount to its very surface, and spread afar, ramify, and terminate in coral 
 reefs and islands. Michelet calls them "world-makers." Others, finally, 
 by dying, have accumulated at certain points their skeleton wrecks, and 
 Iia\e formed numerous banks, and shallows, and entire beds of deposit, 
 where the geologist to-day may study these first-born of creation. These 
 infiisoria, these polypes, were preceded, in the primeval sea, in the 
 universal ocean, by vegetables properly so called, similar to tho.se which, 
 at the present time, are met with in the torrid zone. 
 
 (053) 
 
 y^<i 
 
f 
 
 i 
 
 rl 
 
 
 ii 
 
 ffli 
 
 m 
 
 ^-:> 
 
 
 
 654 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 These vegetable speeies, then, have remaiiutl ahiK).st stationary ; then- 
 number is new eonfined within comparatively narrow limits, and we slc 
 nothing in this Nej)tunian flora which at all a[)proache.s the astonishin"- 
 variety of the terrestrial, although there are flowers of the ocean whose 
 beauty ri\als that of the lily and rose. The genera or tribes \\liich really 
 compose the flora of the sea are those zooplntes (half plants, half animals), 
 tiiose lithe >ph\tes (half plants, half stones), which cover its mountains and 
 \alleys with forests of coral and niadrc[)ore with gigantic and inextricabK- 
 inter-wo\en branches : such are the anemones, the actinias, the marvelous 
 shells which, thanks to their graceful forms and brilliant hues, are orna- 
 ments no less rich and curious for the submarine meadow and plain, than 
 for our terrestrial fields the flowers are that expand in the sunshine and 
 are fed l)y the morning dew. 
 
 Plants and Animals Ccunbintjd. 
 
 These mixed Ijeings, with a vey jtativo life, yet provided with organs 
 pro[)er U) the animal kingdom, ami endowed ^^ ith instincts and Hieulties, 
 rudimentary, it is true, ijut clearly manifest, are one of the most charac- 
 teristic featurevs (.f the Neptunian creation. It i.s not even certain whether 
 this creation has reall)' produced any plants, properly so called, and 
 wlKther the weeds, so long and so unhesitatingly classed in the \'egetable 
 kingdom, are not also pi'oduced like the corals and lithophytes, by tlic 
 polypes, or living creatures, inhabiting them, which there develop and re- 
 produce themselves indefinitely. 
 
 Let us now^ consider the infusoria, the world makers, whose debris are 
 discovered in prodigious quantities among the remains of the primitive 
 creation. The name "infiisorioi " has been given to them because thev 
 were first obserxed in liquids holding in dissolution or in infusion particles 
 of matter. The accumulated spoils of these infim'tely small (organisms 
 constitute a notable part of the solid crust of our globe; and we our- 
 selves are eye-witnesses of the phenomena of continual reproduction and 
 destruction by which they made read)', at the epoch of tlic ancient geo- 
 logical formations, the habitation of man. 
 
 Astonlsliinjf 3Iultitude of Animalcules. 
 
 According to Khrenberg, a cuImc fnch of the Tripoli sand which is 
 still in the course of formation in the environs of Bilin, in Bohemia, con- 
 tains thousands of shells of the infusoria which produce this friable su]> 
 stance. The same naturalist states that, so great is their power of re[)ro- 
 duction, one million of these animalcules are born in a few days. Bear- 
 ing these facts in mind, it is not difficult to understand what immen-'e 
 masses of matter must have been deposited by the innumerable genei.i- 
 
•i'4'i 
 
 It stationary ; their 
 • limits, and \vc sec 
 ics the astonishin;^ 
 f the ocean whose 
 tril^cs \\hich reall\- 
 ilants, half animals'), 
 r its mountains and 
 tic and incxtricaMy 
 nias.the marvelous 
 iant hues, are orna- 
 dow and plain, than 
 n the sunshine and 
 
 ovidcd with orc,^in> 
 stincts and facuUics, 
 of the most charac- 
 even certain whether 
 jerly so called, and 
 ssed in the \ec,^etable 
 lithophytes, by the 
 here develop and re- 
 
 jrs, whose debris arc 
 lins of the primitive 
 ) them because they 
 
 in infusion particles 
 cly small organisms 
 
 lobe; and we our- 
 ual reproduction and 
 
 of tliC ancient c,^co- 
 
 1 
 
 iules. 
 
 1 ipoli sand which is 
 lin, in Bohemia, cun- 
 duce this friable sub- 
 their power of repro- 
 n a few days. Bear- 
 stand what immen -e 
 innumerable gene i a- 
 
 TiiK workmp:n of thk sea. 
 
 6/J5 
 
 tinns which have succeeded i me another duriuL;- the low^ periods of tiic 
 primitive epochs, ant! which ha\e co\ered with accumulated sediment the 
 recks of fier}' ori;^in that formt'd the first cru-tof tlu- earth. The fcvssil 
 (jrbris of larger shells are also found in \ast masses, w hich sufficientK- 
 iiulicate the infinite multiplication of life in the ilense warm waters of the 
 primeval seas. 
 
 The illustrious |;e(jlot;ist. Huekland, afth-ms thai the shells of infusoria 
 form a considerable jjortion of the entire mass of se\eral mountains ; as, 
 tor instance-, the formations of the Alps, the Carpathians, and the T) re- 
 nees. The lamous colossal Sphinx, and the hu_L;est of llu' l''.!_;\[)tian pyr- 
 
 T«%.- 
 
 ■V. 
 
 ^'ti«^J 
 
 .:ir 
 
 ^^"bli ^ ' "^ ^'^ ' '--p3&— ^"jJi^.'/^'^S 
 
 AN 1.^LANI) IN MID-OCEAN FORMED IIV COKAI. INSIXTS. 
 
 amids — that which is <^renerally distiuL^uished by the name of C"lKM)ps — 
 are constructed of a limestone wholly composed of tiiesc minute crea- 
 tures which are everywhere wideh' distributed, and which, by their count- 
 less le^jjions, seem to have sout:jht a compensation for their extreme dim- 
 inutiveness. The sand of the sea-shore is so filled with them that one 
 may justly say it is half composed of them. In an ounce of sand, in 
 the West Indies, it was estimated that there were nearly four thousand of 
 individuals. 
 
 Tile banks formed by the remains of these beings impede navitj^ation 
 and render it dangerous, obstruct the gulfs, fill up the liarbors, and, in 
 
 "■ i|^ 
 
 
 ^^lllttiil 
 
 \Hi 
 
 Wi i 
 
 % 
 
 1 1 
 
656 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 conjunction with the madrepores, construct those islands which from 
 time to time emer<;e in the warm rcgioris of the [^n-eat ocean; and this 
 nMe, actually played out to-day by livint; species, was formerly filled by 
 those which are now found onl)- in a fossil condition. 
 
 At the epoch of the coal formation a sin^.de species built up in Russia 
 enormous beds of lime-stone. The deposits reveal an immense quantity in 
 the white chalk in luigland. Finally, in numerous localities, and especial- 
 ly in the environs of Paris, the limestone-,L;"rit encloses an infinite number. 
 
 A COKAL SHKUI!. 
 
 Paris, as well as many neii^hboring towns and \illa^^cs, is almost wholl\ 
 built with these infusoria. Thus, then, animals, hardl\- perceptible to the 
 unassisted eye, change to-day the depths of the waters, antl have, at var- 
 ious t^eolot^ical epochs, filled up basins of a considerable area. This fact 
 shows us that each animal has its allotted task, and that with time — time 
 of which nature takes no count — the animals which appear to us so con- 
 temptible on account of their smallness, might change the aspect of the 
 globe. 
 
THE WORKMEN OF THE SE.\, 
 
 G57 
 
 ands which from 
 
 ,t ocean; and this 
 
 formerly filled by 
 
 buih up in Riissia 
 nmcnse quantity m 
 ilities.andcspccial- 
 an infinite number. 
 
 
 % 
 
 
 trcs, is almost wholly 
 1^11 y perceptible to the 
 M-s, and have, at var- 
 iable area. This fact 
 [that with time— time, 
 appear to us so con- 
 Ivre the aspect ofth*-' 
 
 This is not the only, nor is it the most curious example, that we mi^^ht 
 put forward of the immense share gwcn to the zoopliitcs in the construc- 
 tion of the earth's crust and the ocean's bed. One species lias only played 
 a passive part in this phenomenon, consistin<:j simply in the accumulation 
 (if sheds over places lonj^ covered by the waters. This is not the case 
 with another species, the polypes, whose astoundint^ labors are almost in- 
 credible. Not only are these remarkable for their rapid increase but they 
 arc admirable workmen, skillful engineers, building up in the liquid depths, 
 witii the materials there held in su.spension, massive monuments which 
 
 A SPONGE WITH CORALLINE ATTACHED. 
 
 dwarf into the work of pigmies the most gigantic constructions of ancient 
 and modern peoples. 
 
 In the torrid zone, says Cuvier, where the lithophytes are numerous in 
 species and propagate abundantly, their stony trunks intertwine themselves 
 into rocks and reefs, which, rising to the surface of the water, close up the 
 mouth of harbors, and lay the most terrible snares for navigators. The 
 sea throwing up sand and mud on the summit of these reefs, .sometimes 
 raises their surface above its own level, and forms them into level islands, 
 which in due time rich vegetation vivifies. These polypids belong exclu- 
 42 
 
 'l a* ■) 511 
 
 ^MPjl 
 
 li 
 
^l') 
 
 mmm 
 
 658 
 
 EARTH, SEA, Al'D SKV. 
 
 k 
 
 .sivcly to tropical rcy,"ions, and rarely overpass the 27th parallels of noith 
 and soutli latitude, unless in localities marked by special conditions, as 
 where the iVtlantic is warmed by the Gulf Stream. 
 
 They arc also found amoncj the IJernuida Islands — Shakcsjieare'-; 
 "still-vex't r>ermoothcs." The troi)ical rct^ions of the P:icific Ocean 
 abound in prodigious quantities of coral, which have been converted int" 
 Sunimer-isks of Eden, lying in dark purple spheres of sea. 
 
 We know that these lithophytcs have given the name o'" the " Cora! 
 Sea "to the "glowing tracts" comprised between the north-east coast 
 of New Holiand, the south-east coast of New Guinea, the Solomon 
 Islands, the New Plebrides, and New Caledonia. Ihey abound, more- 
 over, in the Persian and Arabian Gulfs, as well as in the part of the In- 
 dian Ocean comprised between the ?.lalabar coast and the Island of Mida- 
 gascar. Flinders romputcs a reef of polypids situated on the east coast 
 of Australia, and known as the Great Barrier Reef, i>t a length of 1086 
 miles, and he describes it as without gap or break over an crctent of 380 
 miles. Groups of coral islands exist in the Pacific, M'hich spread o\cr 
 an area of 1080 to 1 300 miles in length, and 3.^0 to 435 miles in breadth : 
 such are the dangerous Archipelago, and those which the Russian na\i- 
 gator, Kotzebue, named Radack. 
 
 Vast Beds of Living' Ktono. 
 
 These lithophjtic, or coral banks, are generally developed with 
 extreme .slowness. Ehrenberg ascribes to certain isolated pol}'pii-Is in 
 the Arabian Gulf, which measure only two to four yards in diameter, an 
 antiquity of several thousands of years. The coral reefs affect various 
 forms; nevertheless, the most general consist, at least in the Pacific, of a 
 ring or belt of dry ground, circular or oval, enclosing a lagoon of shallow 
 and tranquil water, abounding with zoophytes and mollusks. These 
 islands scarcely rise above the level of the water, and the ser surround- 
 ing them is often of unfathomable depth. Out of thirty-two exaniintd 
 by Beechey, twenty-nine had lakes or lagoons in the centre, the b.iscs 
 formed of coral; and as these are gradually filling up by the labors of 
 the insects, and the deposition of sand and lithophytic matters, they will 
 in due time vanish, and a uniform mass of land present itself. At Durics 
 Island, the central lagoon was partly enclosed by trees, and the water 
 being exquisitely transparent, the reflected picture was one of extreme 
 beauty. The corallines were of various colors — rose, pink, azure, yellow, 
 lilac, snow-white; and numerous small fish of brilliant hues, darting 
 rapidly to and fro among the coral labyrinth, produced an effect ol 
 extremely fantastic character. 
 
THE WORKMEN OF THE SEA. 
 
 651) 
 
 larallels of nuith 
 al coui-litions. a> 
 
 ^ — Shakcspeave'*^ 
 ic r-.icific Ocean 
 lu converted int.- 
 ; of sea. 
 
 lie o'" llic " Coral 
 north-east coast 
 lea, the Solomon 
 ey abound, niore- 
 :he part of tlic In- 
 le Island of Mada- 
 d on the east coast 
 It a length of 1086 
 er an erctent of 380 
 which spread o\er 
 ,5 miles in breadth: 
 h the Russian navi- 
 
 ly developed witii 
 Isolated polypi ^Is in 
 rds in diameter, an 
 reefs affect various 
 tin the racific.ofa 
 alagoonof shaliov. 
 ^ mollusks. These 
 .d the ser surround- 
 [hirty-two examined 
 he centre, the bases 
 lup by the labors oi 
 lie matters, they ^vill 
 nt itself. AtDurics 
 Itrees, and the water 
 was one of extreme 
 I pink, azure, yellow, 
 liUiant hues, darting 
 •oduced an effect of 
 
 The examination of a coral reef, says Captain Basil Hall, during the 
 different stages of one tide, is particularly interesting. When the sea 
 has left it (ov S(»me time, it becomes dry, and appears to be a compact 
 rock, exceedingly hard and ragged; but no sooner does the tide rise 
 a<;ain, and the waves ^egin to wash over it, than millions of coral worms 
 protrude themselves from holes on the surface which were L)cfore quite 
 invisible. 
 
 These animals are of a great variety of shapes and sizes, and in such 
 prodigious numbers, that in a short time the whole surface of the rock 
 appears to be alive and in motion. The most common of the worms at 
 
 \ 
 
 \' ^Y; 
 
 
 mm 
 
 
 v, ;./ •-' 
 
 
 
 
 ^ i^^jsij3. 
 
 
 SCALV-CLAWKD CKUSTACEAN. 
 
 Loo Choo was in the form of a star, with arms from four to six inches long, 
 which it moved about with a rapid motion in all directions, probably in 
 search of food. Others were so sluggish that they were often mistaken for 
 pieces of the rock; these were generally of a dark color, and from four 
 to five inches long, and two or three round. When the rock was broken 
 from a spot near the leve! of high water, it was found to be a hard solid 
 stone; but if any part of it were detached at a level to which the tide 
 reached every day, it was discovered to be full of worms of all different 
 lengths and colors, some being as fine as a thread, and several feet long, 
 
 4»« 
 
 i^y 
 
 
GGO 
 
 EARTH, SHA, AND SKY. 
 
 \i 
 
 r* 
 
 generally of a very bri^rht yellow, and sometimes of a blue color; while 
 others resembled snails, and some were not unlike lobsters and prawn, 
 in slripe, but soft, and not above two inches long. 
 
 The [growth of coral ceases when the worm which creates it is n^^ 
 lonfTcr exposed to the washing of the tide. 'J'hus a reef rises in the fonii 
 of a gigantic cauliflower, till its top has gained the level of the highc-t 
 tides, above which the worm has no power to carry its operations, and 
 tliL- reef, consequently, no longer extends itself upwards, 1 he surroun !- 
 ing parts, however, advance in succession till they reach the surfac, 
 wh;-re they also must stop. Thus, as the level of the highest tide is the 
 eventual limit to every part of the reef, a horizontal field comes to be 
 formed coincident with that plane, and perpendicular on all sides. 
 
 SPECIMENS OF I5IV.\L\K 
 
 AND UN:VALVE -SHELLS. 
 
 The reef, however, continually increases, and being prevented from rro- 
 ing higher, must extend itself lateralK' in all directions; and this growtii 
 being probably as rapid at the upper edge as it is lower down, the steep- 
 ness of the face of the reef is preser\'ed ; and it is this circumstance which 
 renders this species of rock so dangerous in navigation. In the first placi;, 
 they are seldom seen above the water ; and in the next, their sides arc so 
 abrupt that a ship's bows may strike against the rock before any chan^^e 
 of soundings indicates the approach of danger. 
 
 When the reef is of such a height as to be almost wholly uncovered at 
 
■; Jt? 
 
 1 id . ^ " 
 
 blue color; whil- 
 asters and prawn, 
 
 h creates it is n^^ 
 if rises in the forivi 
 ;vel of the highest 
 its operations, aivl 
 Is. Thesurroun 1- 
 reach the surface, 
 hiLjhest tide is the 
 field comes to be 
 on all sides. 
 
 
 SHELLS. 
 
 r prevented from sc- 
 ions ; and this growtli 
 ower down, the stccp- 
 is circumstance which 
 ion. In the f^rst place 
 lext, their sides are so 
 3ck before an>- change 
 
 t wholly uncovered at 
 
 THE WORKMEN OF THE SEA. 
 
 (i(>I 
 
 |(i\v water, the /.i)oph)-tes discontinue their toils. Ik'low the line which 
 
 they iiave traced, you then discover a continuous stony mass, composed 
 
 of shells and mollusks, with their bristlinjj spikes, and fra^anents of coral 
 
 connected by a calcareous sand, proceeding from the puKeri/ation tif the 
 
 sliclls. It often happe'rs that the heat of the sun penetrates this mass 
 
 when it is dry, and causes it to split open in many places; the waves 
 
 tlien possess sufficient force to divide it into blocks of coral about six feet 
 
 lorit; by three or four and a half feet broad, and to hurl themupdi the 
 
 reef; this operation terminates in the ele\ation of such a crest tiiat the 
 
 hiLjh tides only wash o\er it at certain j^eriods of the j'ear. 
 
 The sand does not exiierience an\' further chanj^e, and offers to the 
 
 seeds brouj^dit thitlier by the waves a soil wherein ve<;etation fiourishes 
 
 with sufficient rapidity to speedily overshadow its da/zlinc^ white surface. 
 
 W'liole trunks of trees, transported by the rivers from other countries and 
 
 other islands, find there at lenj^th, after a protracted voyaLje, a restin<r- 
 
 place. Some small animals, such as insects or lizards, are conveyed 
 
 ainonj^ them, and usually become the first inhabitants of these reefs. 
 
 l"\en before the trees are thii^k and leaf)^ enough to form a wood, the 
 
 sea-birds build their nests among them ; stray terrestrial birds seek refuge 
 
 in the copses ; and finally, long after the polypes have accomplished their 
 
 uor'- man appears, and erects his hut on the fertile soil. 
 
 Millions of millions thus, from a^e to nge, 
 
 Widi simplest skill and toil unweariable, 
 
 No moment and no movement unimproved. 
 
 Laid line on line, on terrace terrace spread, 
 
 To swell the heightening:, brigiiteninj;, gradual mound, 
 
 By marvellous structure climbing towards the day. 
 
 Each wrouglit alone, yet all together wrought. 
 
 Unconscious, not unworthy, instruments, 
 
 By which a Hand invisible was rearing 
 
 A new creation in the secret deep. 
 
 Omnipotence wrought in them, with them, by them ; 
 
 Hence, what omnipotence alone could do. 
 
 Worms did. I saw the living pile ascend, 
 
 The mausoleum of its architects, 
 
 Still dying upwards as their labors closed ; 
 
 Slime the material, but the slime was turned 
 
 To adamant by their petrific touch ; 
 
 Frail were their frames, ephemeral their lives, 
 
 Their masonry imperishable. All 
 
 Life's needful functions, food, exertion, rest. 
 
 By nice economy of Providence, 
 
 Were overruled to carry on the process 
 
 Which out of water brought forth solid rock. 
 
 II 
 
 I ':• 
 
 * 
 
 
I 
 
 i. 
 
 6G2 
 
 EARTH. SFA, AND SKY. 
 
 Atom by atom thus the burthen jjrew, 
 Iacii like an infant in its ^nnvth, till Time 
 Delivered ocean t)f tli.it monstrous birth — 
 A coral island stretching east and west. 
 
 But there are coral formations even e\ceeclin<^r in wonder anything uv 
 have yet observed. There are plants and hvini^ stones ri\alliiiir tb.,- 
 beauty of any flower oarden bh)oniinLj 141011 the hind. The httle insects 
 appear to ha\e an e\'e fov symmetry and excpiisite coU)rs. 
 
 The flowerinj^ actinia has hnv^ flexible branches ramified towards the 
 extremity, which resemble the branches of a tree. 
 
 Theie is also an actinia called the [)lumosa which is t^enerally wliitr, 
 but is sometimes yellow or oran^^e, tile mouth of which is surrounded by 
 lobes, furnished with numerous tentacles, or branches. One of those 
 
 WHITE ACTINIA OF ST. HELENA. 
 
 forms is presented in the engraving which is annexed. These arc siiimh- 
 animated stones. 
 
 Thus under a surface much less varied than that of the mainland, 
 remarks Humboldt, the sea contains in its bosom an exuberance of life ot 
 which no other region of the globe affords any idea. Charles Darwin 
 ju.stly observes that our terrestrial forests do not afford an asylum to 
 nearly so many animals as do those of ocean. For the sea has likewise 
 its forests, consisting of the long marine herbs which flourish in shoal 
 and shallow, or the floating banks of fucus which the waves and cur- 
 rents have detached, and whose loose and slender branches are raiseil to 
 the surface by their air-swollen cells, consisting, moreover, of those stony 
 plants, embracing immense areas both in height and breadth, whose 
 encroachments would become formidable were it not for the extreme 
 slowness with which the polypes accomplish their indestructible work. 
 
omicr anythintj \k<: 
 ()iu;s ri\;illin;^ thi. 
 Thc litilo insects 
 3r.s. 
 :uniricd towards the 
 
 is <4cnrrally wiutc, 
 ;h is surrounded t>y 
 ics. One of thcM. 
 
 ^ 
 
 THE WORKMI-N OF THE SEA. 
 
 Ot).'{ 
 
 There arc glorious forests, as well as the superb tjardens where ocean 
 (li>])Ia\*s all the t,'orL;eous treasuies of its living flora, and tlu-re are 
 animated plants which have \on<^ perplexed and einharrassed oiir scien- 
 tific men; embarrassed them not unrt;asi)nabl\', nor are they \et free 
 from trouble, only the trouble has ciuuv^ed it', directicn — for tn-day our 
 naturalists, having recognized as animals the stran-c half-foinu d beings 
 which they formerly took for plants, have be^nui to a->k- if tho-'C utiicr 
 
 'V» mat • flV iL>->^ -A, 
 
 if' 
 
 1^ -l:' 
 
 If 
 
 I (1 
 
 These arc simpl} 
 
 lit of the mainlam!, 
 
 exuberance of lite ot 
 
 la. Charles Darwin 
 
 ifford an asylum to 
 
 the sea has likewise 
 
 ;ch flourish in shoal 
 
 the waves and cur- 
 lanches are raised to 
 
 :ovcr, of those stony 
 land breadth, whose 
 
 lot for the extreme 
 
 indestructible work. 
 
 CATCHING A HUGE TURTLE. 
 
 so-called plants may not also be animals, or at least polypes; whether, in 
 
 a w.utl, the whole vegetable kingdom is not a fiction I 
 
 What hidest thou in tliy treasure-caves and cells. 
 Thou hollow-sounding and mysterious main? 
 
 The sea conceals arcana in its depths which no glance can penetrate, 
 
 which no genius can depict except with the help of imagination. In the 
 
 a(.M-ial and terrestrial worlds, and e\en in the celestial space, nature 
 
 liberally unrolls before our eyes her marvelous pictures. From one 
 
 I 
 
 11 
 
 
tl 
 
 ^mmm' 
 
 k 
 
 664 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 pole to the other we may explore all the parts of our domain ; '.ve riu'ty 
 ransack the very bowels of earth ; or, raising our gaze towards the 
 firmament, contemplate the immense panorama of the worlds, measure 
 the dimensions and the distances of the stars, follow them in their 
 courses, calculate their orbits and even their densities ; but of this ocean, 
 this thin stratum of water a few thousand yards in thickness, stretched 
 over our planet, we know by sight only the surface and the border-. 
 There only can man grapple with Neptunian nature; and so mucli as he 
 is permitted to embrace — the strange, grand, and diversified character i.f 
 the scenes which ocean presents in certain regions and under favorable 
 
 A SEA- FLOWER IN LIVING STONE, 
 
 conditions — increases our regret that we are reduced tr ,uch limited and 
 fugitive glimpses, by leading us to presume, from the little we can sec, 
 the splendor of that which remains unseen. 
 
 A seaman placed in the midst of the ocean, saj's Maury, experiences, on 
 contemplating its surface, sentiments similar to those of the astronomer 
 when he obseiA'es the stars, and interrogates the night upon the profun- 
 dities of the skies. We may judge what his feelings are, in fact, from tiic 
 following description, which a learned German traveller, Schleiden, iia^ 
 given of the spectacle presented to the navigator in the boundless plains 
 of the tropical sea: If we plunge our glances into the liquid cr\-stal of the 
 Indian Ocean, we shall see realized therein the marvelous appearances of 
 
 ■ i 
 
tlomain ; we may 
 gaze towards the 
 le worlds, measure 
 low them in their 
 ; but of this ocean, 
 :hickness, stretchy i 
 e and the bonier-. 
 anil so much as lio 
 jrsified character '.f 
 and under favorable 
 
 yfii^:* 
 
 tc ,uch limited and 
 he little we can see, 
 
 aur>\ experiences, on 
 se of the astronomer 
 ght upon the profun- 
 are, in fact, from the 
 eller, Schleiden, ha> 
 the boundless plains 
 ; liquid crystal of the 
 velous appearances of 
 
 THE WORKMEN OE THE SEA. 
 
 605 
 
 the fairy tales oi our infancy. Fantastic shrubs are decked with livin^j 
 flowers. Everywhere glow the most brilliant colors ; glaucous greens 
 alternate with brown and yellow ; rich purple tints subside into the liveliest 
 retl or intensest blue. 
 
 Rosy, yellow, or peach-colorefl '^rusts cover the deca\ed plants, and are 
 tliemselves cnxeloped in black ; ^sue which resembles the most delicate, 
 carved ivory. By their side waver to and fro tiie yel'ow and blue fans of 
 
 
 '^r^^ 
 
 
 A STONE WITH STAR CLUSl'ERS. 
 
 the gorgons, richly wrought like jewels of filigree. The sand is besprinkled 
 
 with sea-hedgehogs and sea-stars, of fantastic forms and varied colors. 
 
 Resembling gigantic cactus flowers, glittering with glowmg hues, the sea- 
 
 aneinones adorn the rocks with their crowns, or spread over the ocean-bed 
 
 like a growth of brilliant vines. The humming-birds of ocean — small 
 
 gleaming fishes, some bright with a metallic splendor of azAire or vermilion, 
 
 some with a gilded green or dazzling silver lustre — play around the coral 
 
 bushes. 
 
 Each moss, 
 Eacli shell, each crawling insect, holds a rank 
 Important in the plan of Him who framed 
 This scale of beings ; holds a rank wliich, lost, 
 Would break the chain, and leave behind a gap 
 Which nature's self would rue. 
 
 ri' 
 
 ''^Hi 
 
 
 Vi 
 
 ill 
 
 ■4 '-^ 
 
t:( J;: 
 
 I') 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 RARE SPECIMENS OF OCEAN LIFE. 
 
 ^ i 
 
 The Famous Narwhal— Many Teeth in One — Strange Superstitions as to the Sea- 
 Unicorn — A Formidable Weapon— The Best Kind of Ivory— Narwhal Fishin^^— 
 An Arctic Black Hole of Calcutta — Immense Size of the Narwiial — The Huge 
 Grampus — '' The Killer " Capturing Seals — Story of the Whale— Flashes like 
 Lightning from the W^aves — The Hairy Mediisie— A Wake of Silvery I.i^^lu— 
 "All Hands Ahoy ! "—Whale Fishing and its Dangers— Sea-Birds and I'lieir 
 Curious Habits — The Elegant Black-Backed Gull — Laughing Gull—" H.iw, ha, 
 lia, Haw ! "—Birds that are Pirates — The SeaMew and its Island Home— The 
 Wonderful Island of Saint Kilda — Humming-Birds of the Ocean— Colors that 
 Dazzle the Eye— Beautiful Specimens of Scaly-Finned Fiihes — Flag-1'ish— 
 Coral-Fish — Rock-Fish — Whip- Fish — Duke-Fish — Emperor-Fish— The Siiarp- 
 Shooter of t'leSea — Good Aim and Successful Siiot— A Fish Willi Two Luhljs- 
 Burrowing in the Mud— Savage Fighters— A Fish that Hisses — The Frog- 
 Catcher — Curious Climbing Fish — Experiments with ti.e Mud-Jumper— A Slu"-- 
 gard that Proves to be Swifter than an Arrow. 
 
 ARWHALS differ very little from porpoises in their general form 
 and the color of their bodies ; but at the first glance thc\- are 
 easily to be distinguished from all other cetaceans by the sinL,ui- 
 lar tusk with which nature has provided them. Of th.e two 
 incisive teeth implanted in the upper jaw of the narwhal, one is almost 
 entirely wanting, whilst the other is prodigiously lengthened in a strai^^ht 
 line, and is simply an enormous stiletto, which is rounded with a spiral 
 fluting, a sharp point at the extremity, and which is of one-third or half 
 the length of the animal. This strange creature has then but one tooth— 
 and what a tooth ! It is, in fact, a sword of ivory. In the Museum of 
 Natural History at Amsterdam and other collections, there is a narwhal 
 skull with two fully developed tusks. 
 
 There ha\'e been, both among the ancients and the moderns, many stories 
 about the narwhal's tooth. It was formerly considered to belike the horn 
 of the unicorn, which was situated on the middle of the forehead. This 
 fabulous being resembled, they said, the horse and the stag. Aristotle 
 and Pliny have described it, and it is represented on many ancient monu- 
 ments. It was adopted by the chivalry of the middle ages, and has often 
 decorated the trophies in military futes. 
 
 Informer times people attributed to the tooth of the narwhal, which 
 they called the tooth of the unicorn, marvelous medicinal virtues. They 
 {QQ6) 
 
 i- 
 
RARE SPECIMENS OF OCEAN LIFE. 
 
 GG7 
 
 FE. 
 
 tions as to tlie Sea- 
 —Narwhal Fisliin^— 
 Marwhal — The Huge 
 IVhaie— Flashes like 
 ;e of Silvery l-i;^ln— 
 Sea-Birds and Their 
 ing Gull— "Haw, ha, 
 s Island Home— Tlie 
 ; O.-ean— Colors that 
 Fishes -Fias,^-lMsh— 
 •or-I'ish— The Siiarp- 
 sh With Two Luniks - 
 t Hisses— The Fro;j- 
 ,Iud-Jumper— A Slug- 
 
 ii their general form 
 st glance they are 
 eans by the s'wv^n- 
 ;em. Of tlie two 
 lal, one is almost 
 lened in a strait^ht 
 nded ^vith a spiral 
 if one-third or half 
 en but one tooth- 
 In the ]\Iuseuni of 
 there is a narwhal 
 
 )derns, many stories 
 
 to belike the horn 
 
 he forehead. This 
 
 be stag. Aristotle 
 
 liany ancient nionu- 
 
 lages, and has often 
 
 hie narwhal, which 
 iinal virtues. They 
 
 considered it an infallible antidote to all poisonous compounds ; they were 
 persuaded that it counteracted all the liurtful properties of venomous sub- 
 stances. Ciiarles IX., dreading lest he should be poisoned, was very 
 careful to put into his cup of wine a piece of the sea-unicorn's tooth. 
 Anibroise Pare was the first who dared to lift up his voice against such 
 errors. Very soon after the unicorn ceased to be an object of e.xorbitant 
 price on account of its supposed virtues. It then passed from the apoth- 
 ecary's laboratory to the naturalist's collection, where it was long preserved 
 tinder the name of horn or tusk of the unicorn. 
 
 The true nature of this horn was shown for the first time by a naturalist 
 who had found it affi.xed in its socket in a skull similar to that c^f a whale, 
 ikit it was not till I671 that Frederick Martens gave a tolerably correct 
 description of the narwhal. These narwhal live in the neighborhood of 
 Iceland and in the seas which wash the shores of Greenland. They gather 
 together in the creeks of the ice islands, and travel in bands. It would be 
 very difficult to take them if they did not live in troops ; for, when isolated, 
 thev swim with such rapidity as to escape from all pursuit. Hut when 
 the\' are near together they mutually embrace each other, and are easily 
 catight. When the fishing-boats glide cautiously in between their long files 
 they close their ranks, and press against each other so much that they par- 
 aly;:e each other's movements ; they become entangled in the tusks of 
 those near them, or else, lifting their heads in the air, they rest their tusks 
 on the backs oftho.se which are in front of them. They can from that 
 minute neither retreat, nor advance, nor fight, and they fall under the 
 blows of the sailors, who are in the boats. 
 
 How tlio Narwhal Obtained its Name. 
 The Icelanders manufacture with the narwhal's tusks their arrows for 
 the chase, and the poles which they use in the construction of their huts ; but 
 they do not eat its flesh, because they believe it to be venomous. The 
 name this animal bears was given to it by the Icelanders. The meaning 
 of the word is, " Whale that feeds on dead bodies ;" for the word /w/'m 
 their language means dead body or carcass, and the word iv/nr/, w hale. 
 This is not the case, however, with the Greenlanders, and other inhabitants 
 of the North, who esteem it excellent. They dry it by exposing it to 
 smoke. The oil furnished by the narwhal is, it is said, preferable to that 
 of the whale. 
 
 Naturalists are not agreed as to the use of the narwhal's formidable 
 weapon. They say that they use it in their attacks on the whale, and that 
 they kill this monster by running their sword into its belly. Lacepode 
 says that their tusks have been found deeply implanted in the bodies of 
 
 » 
 
 ^^^^^^^^Hr' 
 
 A ^ m^ 
 
 , \ 
 
 (,. 
 
 PlNi 
 
 •j'-T 
 
 ii 
 
i''^t£ 
 
 6G8 
 
 EARTH, SFA, AND SKY. 
 
 whales ; but other authors formally deny that battles ever take place be- 
 tween these two terrible combatants. Narwhals sometimes rush with 
 prodij^ious speed and force against vessels, which they no doubt take for 
 some gii^antic prey. If the animal attack the ship on the side as it is 
 sailing, the tooth, imbedded in the wood, breaks off; but if it attack it from 
 behind, the narwhal remains fixed to the ship; it is then dragged uiong 
 
 ^nd towed till it dies. 
 
 A Savage Weapon. 
 
 Certain naturalists, relying on the fact that the nanvhal's tusk is smooth 
 towards the end, which is sometimes rounded, and, as it were, worn awa\-, 
 have concluded that the animal uses its horn for piercing ice, when it 
 wants to come up and breathe and to .save itself a long journey to the 
 open water. Others have thought that these traces of wear and tear ol 
 its weapon arise from the friction of it in sand or against rocks, when the 
 animal is looking there for its food, which consists of cuttle-fish, flat-fish, 
 cod, ray, oysters, and other mollusks. And, lastly, it has been stated 
 that the narwhal uses its natural lance for attacking its prey, for killing it, 
 and perhaps also for te u'ing it up before 't devours it. Thus the nar- 
 whal's tooth would seem to be at the same time an instrument whicli 
 serves to satisfy the wants of the ordinary life of the animal, useful to it 
 for its respiration, its nutrition, and, at the same time, an offensive and 
 defensive weapon. 
 
 Narwhals are not always brutal and warlike. Scoresby saw some \cr\' 
 merry bands of these marine animals; they raised tlieir horns and crossed 
 them, as it they were going to fence, and they followed the ship with a 
 sort of wild curiosity. The i\ory of the narwhal's tusk is an object of 
 value ; it is more compact, harder, and susceptible of a finer polish than 
 that of the elephant. It is on this account that visitors to the library nf 
 Versailles are shown a walking-stick made of narwhal ivory inlaid with 
 mother-of-pearl. Of this ivory is made an ancient throne of the kings of 
 Denmark, which is to be seen in the Castle of Rosenberg. 
 
 A most excellent observer remarks that the narwhal is gregarious, gen- 
 erally travelling in great herds. I have seen, he relates, a herd of many 
 thousands travelling north in their summer migrations, tusk to tusk 
 and tail to tail, like a regiment of cavalry, so regularly did they rise and 
 sink into the water in their undulatory movements in swimming. It is 
 very active, and will often dive with the rapidity of the right whale, tak- 
 ing out thirty or forty fathoms of line. These schools are not all of one 
 sex, but consist of males and females mixed. The use of the tusk has 
 long been a matter of dispute : it has been supposed to use it to stir up 
 
RARE SPECIMENS OF CCEAN LIFE. 
 
 GGO 
 
 its food from the bottom ; but if such were the case, the females would be 
 sadly at a loss. They seem to fight with them ; for it is rarely that an 
 unbroken one is obtained, and occasionally one may be found with the 
 point of another jammed into the broken place, where the tusk is young 
 enough to be hollow, or entirely lost close to the skull. 
 
 A Popular Breathing Place. 
 
 Fabricus thought that these horns were to keep the holes open in the 
 ice during the winter; and the following occurrence seems to support his 
 view: In April, i860, a Greenlander was travelling along the ice in the 
 vicinity of Christianshaab, and discovered one of those open places in the 
 ice which, even in the most severe winters, remain unfrozen. In this hole 
 hundreds of narwhals were protruding their heads to breathe, no other 
 open spot presenting itself for miles around. It was described as akin to 
 an Arctic Black Hole in Calcutta, from the crowding of the narwhals in 
 their eagerness to keep to the place. Hundreds of Hskimo and Danes 
 resorted thither with their dogs and sledges and while one shot the ani- 
 mal another harpooned it, to prevent its being pushed aside by the anx- 
 ious crowd of fishermen. Dozens of narwhals were killed, but many 
 were lost before they were brought home, the ice breaking up soon after. 
 In the ensuing summer the natives found many dead washed up in the 
 bays and inlets around. Neither the narwhal nor the whale are timid 
 animals, but will approach close to, and gambol for hours in the imme- 
 diate vicinit}- of a ship. 
 
 In the female of the narwhal the tusks are rudimentary, but are about 
 ten inches long, rough, and with no inclination to spire ; in fact, not un- 
 like a miniature piece of pig-iron. On the other hand, the undeveloped 
 tusk in the male is smooth and tapering, and wrinkled longitudir.ally. 
 Double-tusked narwhals are not uncommon. The\* have been seen swim- 
 ming about among the herd, and several such skulls ha\'e been pre- 
 served. The color of the animal is grayish, or velvet-black, with white 
 spots, sometimes roundish, but more frequently irregular blotches of no 
 certain outline, running into one another. There are no .spots on the tail 
 or flippers, but waxy-like streaks shade off on each side at the junction of 
 the tail, which is white at the line of indentation. The female is more 
 spotted than the male. The young is, again, much darker; and ' idivid- 
 uals have been seen which were almost white, like the one Anderson 
 describes as having come ashore at the mouth of the Elbe. In a female, 
 killed at Pond's Bay, the stomach was corrugated in complicated folds, 
 as were also the small intestines. It contained crustaceans, bones of 
 fishes, and an immense quantity of the horny jaws of some species of 
 
 
 : i 
 
pi 
 
 n 
 
 i 
 
 
 WmiLuu.ujUMii 
 
 (670) 
 
RARF. SPECIMENS OF OCEAN LIFE. 
 
 r.7i 
 
 cuttle firnilv packed one within the other. Tlic narwhal is chicfl)- an in- 
 hat-'tant of the Polar regions, and very rarely strays to temperate l;iti- 
 tiuies; still fossil remains of it have been found both in England antl 
 I'lance. A male taken entangled among the rocks at the entrance cf the 
 sound of Weesdale, in Zetland, measured twelve feet, exclusive cf the 
 tu-^k. Such is the velocity of this animal and the impetus of its course, 
 tliat it has been kncvn to plunge its tusk through the side of a \esscl, 
 wliich has been snapped off in the timbers by the \-iolence of the 
 blow. 
 
 We must allude, in passing, to one or two other animals belonging to 
 thi^ group. 
 Among the 
 nin^t remark- 
 able is the 
 ;^rampus, a 
 lui;4e creature 
 from twenty 
 to thirty feet 
 in length, 
 with his jaws 
 armed with 
 nnv of tiir- 
 midable teetli. 
 His voracit)' 
 is '^ucii, that 
 he is call,'! 
 •■the kille;, ' 
 and \vontlerfiil 
 stories are told "-^i'^^' medus.e, 
 
 of him b\- the Greenland whalers. One of them .says, "Where these 
 appear all the seals disappear, else they make desperate slaughter among 
 them, for thev have such .sagacitv and .skill in catching them with the 
 mouth and fins, that thev are sometimes seen loaded with five at a time — 
 one in the mouth, a couple under each fin, and one under the back fin I" 
 
 Another enormous creature belonging to this group is the whale, of 
 which a further descript' .n is not needed here, but which furnishes an in- 
 teresting incident, related by a traveller, and one worth reproducing. The 
 .chip's crew had been compelled to abandon their vessel, and what followed 
 is told in the graphic language of the narrator : The night following our 
 abandonment of the ship was made memorable by a remarkable specta- 
 
 !!'■ 
 
 ,|H 
 
rl 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 672 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 clc. Slumbering in the bottom of the boat, Jail and I were sudden!/ 
 awakened by Samoa. (Jarl and Samoa were two of the ship's crew.) 
 Starting, we beheld the ocean of a pallid white ccjlor, coruscating all over 
 with tiny golden sparkles. But the pervading iuie of the water cast a 
 cadaverous gloom upon the boat, so that we looked to each other like 
 ghosts. For many rods astern, our wake was revealed in a line of rushin;^^ 
 illuminated foam; while, here and there beneath the surface, the tracks of 
 sharks were denoted by vivid, greenish trails, crossing and recrossing each 
 other in every direction. Further away, and distributed in clusters, floated 
 on the sea, like constellations in the heavens, innumerable medusa., a 
 species of small, round, refulgent fish, only to be mel with in the South 
 Seas untl the Indian Ocean. 
 
 Suddenly, as we gazed, there shot high into the air a bushy jci of 
 flashes, accompanied by the unmistakeable deep-breat'iing sound of a 
 sperm whale. Soon the sea all round us spouted in ft)untains of fire; 
 and \ast forms, emitting a glare from their flanks, and ever and anon 
 raising their heads above water, and shaking off the sparkles, showed 
 where an immense shoal of cachalots had risen from below, to sport in 
 these phosphorescent billows. 
 
 A Sudden Plmijje and Silvery Wake. 
 
 The vapor jetted forth was far more radiant than any portion of the 
 sea ; ascribable, perhaps, to the originally luminous fluid, contracting^ 
 still more brilliancy from its passage through the spouting canal of the 
 v.hales. We were in great fear lest, without any \icious intention, the 
 leviathans might destroy us by coming into close contact with our boat. 
 \Vc would have shunned them, but they were all round and round us. 
 Nevertheless we were safe; for, as we parted the pallid brine, the peculiar 
 irradiation which shot from about our keel seenied to deter them. 
 Apparendy discovering us of a sudden, many of them plunged headlong 
 down into the water, tossing their fiery tails high into the air, and leaving 
 the sea still more sparkling from the violent surging of their descent. 
 Their general course seemed the .same as our own ; to the westward. 
 To remove from them, we put out oars, and pulled towards the north. 
 So doing, we were steadih' pursued by a solitaty whale that must have 
 taken our boat for a kindred fish. Spite c" all our efforts, he drew 
 near and nearer ; at length rubbing his fiery flank against the gunwhale, 
 here and there leaving long strips of the glos.sy transparent subscance. 
 which, thin as a gossamer, invests the body of the cachalot. 
 
 In terror at a sight so new, Samoa shrank. But Jarl and I, more 
 used to the intimate companionship of the whales, pushed the boat away 
 
\.r^ 
 
 h 1 
 
 I were suddenly 
 the ship's crew.) 
 ruscating all. o\Lr 
 
 the water cast a 
 ) each other like 
 n aline of rushiiv..; 
 rface.thc tracks of 
 id recrossing each 
 
 in clusters, floated 
 erable medusa., a 
 ^vith in the Soutli 
 
 lir a bushy jei of 
 thinsjf sound of a 
 
 fountains of fire; 
 id c\'er and anon 
 
 sparkles, showed 
 below, to sport in 
 
 e. 
 
 any portion of the 
 fluid, contracting' 
 
 )uLing canal of the 
 ous intention, the 
 
 tact with our boat, 
 nd and round us. 
 brine, the peculiar 
 1 to deter them, 
 plunged headlong 
 he air, and Icavin:^ 
 
 t of their descent, 
 to the westward, 
 owards the north, 
 e that must have 
 r efforts, he drew 
 inst the gunwhale, 
 sparent subscance. 
 halot. 
 
 Jarl and I, more 
 had the boat away 
 
 RARE SPECIMENS OF OCEAN LIFE. 
 
 07; J 
 
 from it with our oars, a thing often done in th-.- fisiicry. T^ut, to my 
 great joy, the monster at last departed, rejoining tht; shoal, whose lofty 
 ■^poutings of flame \vere still x'isible u\)on the distant line of ihr hori/on, 
 showing '.here like the fitful starts of the aurora borealis. 
 
 The sea retained its luminosit_\- for about three hours, at the (.xpir.'itiou 
 .'f half that [)crioil beginning to fade; and, excepting oceasiona! f.iint 
 ijh.iininations, eonseciuenl. upon the rapid darting of fish nndi-i- water, the 
 [liknouicnon at last wIkjIIv disappeared. Heretofore,! had bt liL-ld scwtal 
 (.xhibitions of marine phosphorescence, both in the Atlantic and raeific ; 
 i)iit nothing in comparison with what was seen that ni-ht. In the 
 
 
 PERILOUS ENCOUNTER WITH .V WHALE. 
 
 Atlantic there is very seldom an\' portion of the ocean luminous, except 
 t!i'' crests of the waves, and these mostly appear so during wet murky 
 weather. Whereas, in the IVcific, all instances of the sort previously 
 coining under my notice had been mai'ked b\' patciies of greenish light, 
 unattended with any pallidness of the sea. Sa\e twice on the coast 
 of Peru, when I was summoned from ni)- hanmiock ])y the alarming 
 cry of "All hands ahoy! tack ship!" and rushing on deck, beheld 
 the sea white as a shroud ; for which reastju it was feared we were on 
 soundings. 
 
 It appears, on the whole, that the Norwegians were the first to capturj 
 43 
 
 r 
 
 
 
i! 
 
 ii^. u 
 
 1*1 
 
 074 
 
 KARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 the whalf, .ami that as tail)' a> the nil th century. \Vc next find the; Ris- 
 cayans so actively cn^a^a-ti in the business as to furnish harpooners to ihc 
 lui^dish, Dutch, and I-'leinin^s, w ho, in vhe sixteenth century, comniencij 
 the whale fishery near Newfoundland. The Dutch were at first far nioiu 
 .successful than the iMiL^lish ; but ton ards the close of the last century, tlic 
 latter j^^irtk'tl themselves to tlu .uul soon outstripped all tlu'ir com- 
 
 petitors. W'hale-fishint^ is undertaken in boats, which approach as ,i. n- 
 as possible to the animal. The haipooner strikes his weap(Mi into th. 
 back, either by hand, or In* firiiv^^ it from a ^un. The former mc-thod, if 
 adroitly practised, is effective at the distance of eight or ten yards, the 
 latter at the di.stance of thirty )-ards. 
 
 I^raiitic I'^irorts to I'^seapc. 
 
 The wounded whale makes a con\-ulsive effort to escape, and this is the 
 moment of danger to the purs-iers, for it inflicts the mo.st violent blows on 
 the boat from its head, tail, or fin, as it dives — its favorite method (;f 
 attempting to e.scape. Its average stay under water is about thirty 
 minutes. On its re-appearance, the boat that harpooned it, together uidi 
 the others that have come to assist their comrades, start in pursuit, and 
 each harpooner, as he comes up to the whale, plunges his weapon into its 
 back. The time occufjied in the capture of course varies with the powers 
 of endurance of the whale. Scoresby .says he has known a whale killed 
 in twenty-eight minutes, while in the chase of others sixteen hours h.ive 
 been fruitlessly employed. After the capture the carcass is towed aloni^r. 
 side the wiialer's ship, and " flensed " — that is, its blubber and whale- 
 bone stripped off; the bones and refuse are thrown into the sea. 
 
 J^ut what mz.y properly be called the inhabitants of the .sea are not all 
 monsters of the dct'p, nor fishes less in size, and less formidable in appear- 
 ance. There are sea-fowls, birds of air and water, which excite our won- 
 der by their beauty, daring exploits, great strength of wing, and curious 
 instincts. Whoever has seen the.sc attractive sea-birds near the shore, or 
 far out upon the deej), must hav;ibcen struck with their appearance, and 
 their manner of life upon the great world of waters. 
 
 There are se\'cral species of gull, a very numerous race, dis[)cr.sed 
 along the shores of the ocean in nearly all parts of the world. These 
 are exceedingK- \oracious birds, continually skimming over the surface 
 of the waves in .search of their finny prey, and often following the shdals 
 of fish to great di.stances. They generally congregate in vast numbers 
 at their brccding-pl"ces, which are mo.st frequently rocky i.slands or 
 headlands in the ocean. Most of them are somewhat migratory, 
 v-.sually visiting northern regions during the summer for the purpo.sc of 
 
RARK SPECIMENS OI" OCEAN LFFE. 
 
 (n.-) 
 
 next find llu: Bis- 
 larpooncrs t" ihc 
 itury, comnKiiCLvl 
 c at first far ninrc 
 c last century, the 
 )cd all their cdiu- 
 
 apprtiach as in ;ir 
 > weapon inl(; llu- 
 former nielhod. if 
 
 or ten yards, UK- 
 
 ape, and this is the 
 ist violent bhjws on 
 ravf)rite method (,f 
 jr is ab'Mit thii-y 
 -d it, toi;ether v.iUi 
 start in pursuit, and 
 his weapon into iu 
 ies with the powers 
 ")wn a whale killed 
 sixteen hours have- 
 ass is towed alon-^r. 
 ilubbcr and whale- 
 o the sea. 
 the sea are not all 
 rmidable in appeav- 
 ich excite our won- 
 winir, and curious 
 Is near the shore, or 
 cir appearance, and 
 
 |)us race, disi)erscu 
 the world. Then 
 icT over the surface 
 [ollowin<^ the shoals 
 ite in vast numbers 
 rocky i.slands or 
 iiewhat mii;ratory, 
 Ir for the purpose of 
 
 incubation. The following lines gi\i' an accurate j)icture of the.se rc- 
 tnarkable birds : 
 
 On nimble \vinj;the ^-ull 
 
 Sweeps lioominj; by, intent to cull. 
 
 Voracious, from the billow's breast, 
 
 Mark'd far away, his destined feast. 
 
 i^ehold liini now, deep plunging, dip 
 
 His sunny pinion's sable tip 
 
 In the green wave ; now lightly skim 
 
 With wheeling flight the water's brim ; 
 
 Wave in blue sky his silver sail 
 
 Aloft, and frolic with the gale, 
 
 Or sink again his breast fo la\ e. 
 
 And float upon the foaming wave. 
 
 The p[reat black-backed oiiU is about thirty inches lon^^ ; hack Icad- 
 j^ray, head, neck, and lower parts white; breeds in marshes; male and 
 female assist in makin<; the nest, which is of grass ; the eggs are three. 
 This bird flies with great ea.se, and swims buoyantly on the water. It 
 feeds chiefly on fish, and also sometimes on small birds. It has been 
 known to destroy weak lambs ; it is common in the European and Ameri- 
 can .seas. The laughing or black-headed gull is .seventeen inches long, 
 and, according to Wilson, is one of "the most beautiful and sociable of 
 its i^enus." They make their appearance on the coast of New Jersey late 
 in .April, and do not fail to give notice of the arrival by their familiarity 
 and loquacity. The inhabitants treat them with «-he .same indifference 
 that they manifest toward all those harmless birds ,hich do not minister 
 eiUier to their appetite or their avarice, and hence the black-heads may 
 be seen in companies around the farm-house, coursing along the river 
 shores, gleaning up the refuse of the fishermen, and the animal sub- 
 stances left by the tide ; or scattered over the marshes and newly-plowed 
 fields, regaling on the worms, in.sects, and their larv;e, which, the bounty 
 of nature provides for the sustenance of myriads of the feathered race. 
 
 A Babel of Birds. 
 
 On the Jersey side of Delaware Bay, in the neighborhood of Fishing 
 Creek, about the middle of Ma} , the black-headed gulls assemble in 
 great multitudes, to feed upon the remains of the king-crabs which the 
 hogs have left, or upon the spawn which tho.se curious animals deposit in 
 the sand, and which is scattered along the shore by the waves. At such 
 times, if any one approach to disturb them, the gulls will rise up in clouds, 
 every individual squalling so loud that the roar may be heard at the dis- 
 tance of two or three miles. It is an interesting spectacle to behold this 
 species when about recommencing their migrations. If the weather be 
 
 'i 
 
 1 : • 
 
,• ' ""mmmmmimmSm:^ 
 
 G7<; 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 calm, tiicy will rise up in the air, spirally, chattering; all tho while to ravM 
 other in the most .sprii^htl)' manner, their notes at such times resemhlm.^r 
 tile cacklin;^- of a hen, but far louder, chan^inij often into a luni'jtajhijui^ 
 /t(i:o .' the la-^t s\llal)le leii-^rthened out like the excessive lau^li of a tu- 
 <^no. When mountin^L; anil min^lin;4 toi^ether, like motes in the suii- 
 beams, their black heads and winL,f-tips, uul snow-white plumaj^e, ;^ivc 
 
 A FLOCK OF SEA-CULLS. 
 
 them a very beautiful appearance. After gaining an immense heii^ht 
 they all move off, with one consent, in a direct line toward the point of 
 their destination. This bird breeds in the marshes. The eggs are three 
 in number, of a dun, clay color, thinl)- marked with small, irrci^ular 
 touches of a pale purple, and pale brown ; some are of a deeper dun, with 
 
RARi'i s!'i:cimi:ns of ocean ijfi:. 
 
 <;77 
 
 larger marks, and less tapering' than others ; the c^^ measures two inches 
 ami a ijuarter by one inch ami a half. 
 
 The lari^er ijiills are rarely seen excej)t on the hii^h seas. They lead 
 
 lilt.' life of pirates. They cannot di\'e or plun<;e on acci '11111 of the >i/e of 
 their feathers. So the\' plunder their ntii;hl)t.rs. and -nauli the tl^h out 
 (if their mouths. 'I'he smaller ljuIIs arc often mar the >liore. The)- u heel 
 about, or skim on the waters, tlu'ir siKer)- win^s shinin-; in the sun. 
 .Sometimes they .seem to tread or walk on the wa\es, upheld by their 
 .strong; pinions. The\- will t\en asei'ud the ri\ers in search of pre)-. 'I'hey 
 are nois)-, ^ireed}-. and rapaciou.s. The)- (ra] on .ill kincb of creatures, 
 
 THK .SINGULAR ISLAND OF SAINT KILDA. 
 
 dead or ali\e, even ])ursuin^- the shoals of herrini;s on their wa\' to and 
 from the sea, and thinninL,^ their ranks. They plunye headloni;- on the 
 fish, and snatch it from the waters. 
 
 It happens, now and then, that the l^uII does not succeed in carr\-in;j" of! 
 the i)re\'. The frit^ate-bird, if he chance to be near, will take a fanc\- to 
 the fish himself Tie will tlart upon the j^ull, and force him to drop it. 
 Tlieii, by a dexterous swoop, he will catch it in his beak and devour it. 
 The gulls have all the fierce nature of the sea-birds, and it is not .safe to 
 be at their mercy. 
 
 Once it happened that a fishing-boat was upset near to the seaport town 
 
 Ufil 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •i 
 
 
 
 
 riii- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
.-it 
 
 msmm. 
 
 678 
 
 EARTH, SP:A, and SKY. 
 
 Ill 
 
 t, . .. 
 Ik s 
 
 of Yarmouth. All the men on board were drowned except one. He was 
 a ^ood swimmer, and tried hard to reach the shore, but the tide was 
 as^ainst him, and he drifletl out a long way from land. As he floated, 
 exhausted, and almost ho-peless on the water, he heard a flappin;^^ of win^s. 
 It was a party of sea-gulls coming to seize him for their prey. He could 
 fjel their wings tf)uch his face, and he tried to strike at them with his 
 arms, and drive them away. 1 lappily, at this \ery moment a .ship canic 
 in sight. He cried out with all his might, the mar at the helm heard him, 
 and soon after, a boat came to rescue him. 
 
 The family of the gulls is a very large one, including all kinds of 
 varieties. There is the black gull, the herring gull, the Iceland gull, and 
 many otheis ; antl there is the green-billed gull, ov the sea-mew; the sea- 
 mew has a hoarse, harsh \-i)ice, between a laugh and a scream; on wild 
 rocky coasts the strange note of the bird is often heard. 
 
 A lihak BinUStatioii. 
 
 Ocean birds have places of resort where they are sometimes found in 
 imnu-nse numbers. Saint Kilda is an island which is only six miles round. 
 Cjrcat roci ^ shoot up idl along the coast, and there is only one place 
 where people can land. Indeed, they cannot land at all unless the weather 
 happens to be fine. It is one of the group of Lslands on the coast of .Scot- 
 land, called the Hebrides. There is one rock, or precipice, which is the 
 highest in all I'litain ; the view from the top is grand. Far below, tlif 
 while foam of the t)cean dashes about; you are thirteen hundred feet 
 above the level of the .sea. 
 
 In this wild lonely spot the sea-birds love to dwell, and the bare naked 
 rock is coxercd with them ; the air is darkened by them; the waves below 
 are ali\e with them. lu'erN- narrow ledge is crowded with birds, Ifx-uii 
 were to roll down a stone, a strange confusion would happen. Down it 
 would go among the thousands of birds sitting on their nests, and clouds 
 would (\y out and darken the air. But when the stone reached the bot- 
 tom of the rock, and la\' there cpiitc still, the panic would be over. The 
 frightened birds would come back to their nests, and begin to sit again. 
 
 There is the great auk, which is a little like the penguin. The mother 
 auk does not sit on her eggs, but holds them close to her body till tinw- 
 are hatched. If she is disturbed, she waddles away, taking her eggs witli 
 her. Her mate all the tinu; is \ery busy. He goes fishing every day, 
 and brings her home plent\- of food. When the young bird is hatched, 
 both parents fish for it, anil it gets so Hit that it can hardly stir. But the 
 parent birds ge-t thin with the hard work they are doing. There are a 
 great many gulls at .Saint Kilda. One of them is called the kittiwake. If 
 
I except one. He was 
 ore, but the tide was 
 land. As he floated, 
 rtl a llappinj:,' of uin'^s, 
 then- prey. He could 
 rike at them with his 
 ' moment a ship canic 
 it the helm heard him, 
 
 ncludintj all kinds of 
 , the Iceland .i;ull, and 
 die sea-mew ; the sca- 
 ld a scream ; on wild 
 card. 
 
 e sometimes found in 
 s only six miles round, 
 ere is only one place 
 t all unless the weather 
 s on the coast of Scot- 
 orecipice, which is the 
 rand. Far below, the 
 thirteen hundred feet 
 
 11, and the bare naked 
 hem ; the waves below 
 ctl with birds. If \i)u 
 .ild happen. Down it 
 their nests, and clouds 
 tone reached the bot- 
 would be over. The 
 id bcc^in to sit again. 
 )enguin. The mother 
 : to her body till tlie\- 
 ■, taking her eggs with 
 ics fishing every (ia\', 
 'oung bird is hatched, 
 I hardly stir. But the 
 : doing. There are a 
 ailed the kittiwake. If 
 
 W\ 
 
 !« 
 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 \kl 
 
I 
 
 1 
 
 1 ■ 
 j ■ 
 
 
 680 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 5'ou go near the nests of the kittiwakes. th y will all fly out, and begin to 
 cry " Kitti-wake ! Kitti-wake ! " till you are nearly deafened. 
 
 vSaint Kilda is not a pleasant spot to live in. The wind blows .so fierceh' 
 that people cannot build houses more than four feet high. If they clitl, 
 the house would be blown down. They make as much room as they can, 
 by digging into the ground, but it is like living in a cellar. They have 
 no windows, but only holes in the roofs of their houses. And there an; 
 little places round the walls, something like ovens to look at ; these arc 
 the bedrooms. There are not more than a hundred people living on tlu- 
 island. They are not unhappy, though the place is so dreaiy. They 
 keep a few sheep, to eat the patches of grass which grow here and ihcrc 
 among the rocks. And in one place, which is a little sheltered from the 
 wind, they can till the ground. Hut their great riches are on the ledges 
 and among the crevices of the rocks. I lere live the birds of Saint Kilda, 
 including the fulmer, which give them food, and light, and medicine, and 
 warm beds to lie upon in the cokl winter nights. 
 
 ][iiiiiiniii,t>' IJirds of the Scsi. 
 
 There is one class of fishes which must be mentioned on account df 
 the peculiarity of their fms and their beautiful colors. The technical 
 name of them is the cluetodon ; a name at once descriptive and nmre 
 readily comprehended would be scaly-finned. The head and moutii of 
 the chactodon, or scaly-finned fishes, are small, and they ha\e the pn\\\r 
 of pushing out and retracting the lips so as to make a tubular orifice. 
 The teeth are mostly bristle-shaped, flexible, moveable and \ery numer- 
 ous. The gill membrane has from three to si.x rays. The body is scal\', 
 broad and compresscxl, and the Un<. are generally terminatctl with pr'ckles. 
 
 The reader will obscrxe in the annexed engra\'ing six specimens of 
 clunctodons. Their names, as numbered in the illustration, are as follnus: 
 I, the flag fish; 2, the coral fish; 3, the rock fish; 4, the \\hip fisli ; 
 5, the duke fish ; 6, the cmjieror fish. 
 
 In beauty and \-ariety of colors the scaly-finned fishes are not inferiorto 
 the most beautiful birds or butterflies. On account of their brilliant colors 
 they can be called tlie humming birds of the sea. Rings, stripes, spots 
 of the most intensi\-e blue, purple and velvet black, gold and silver, pink, 
 in short all the colors of the rainbow are represented. This fish feeds 
 principally on insects that ho\er about the water it inhabits. 
 
 The flag fish frequents the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and theAVesteni 
 part of the Pacific Ocean. Its colors are black, white and orange yellow. 
 The coral fish is fountl in the ocean between the Red Sea and the Chinese 
 waters. White, black, j-ellow and pinlv are its hues. In the rock fish 
 
! ■ . m 
 
 high. If they did, 
 1 room as they can, 
 cellar. They ha\c 
 es. And there are 
 
 look at ; these ai(.: 
 :?ople living on llic 
 
 so dreaiy. Tiicy 
 row here and there 
 sheltered from the 
 s are on the ledges 
 irds of Saint Kilda, 
 
 and medicine, and 
 
 ined on account df 
 rs. The technica! 
 scriptive and more 
 lead and mouth of 
 ley have the pnwcr 
 ce a tubular orifice. 
 le and \-ery nunier- 
 The botly is seal)', 
 nated with jM-'cklcs. 
 ; six specimens of 
 tion, arc as follows: 
 ; 4, the whip fish; 
 
 2S are not inferiorto 
 their brilliant colors 
 lings, stripes, spots 
 Did and silver, pink, 
 d. This fish feeds 
 labits. 
 
 an and the Western 
 
 and orange yellow, 
 
 ^ea and the Ciiincsc 
 
 . In the rock fish 
 
 % • 
 
 ' Sii., 
 
 
 '^ 
 
 THE SIIOOTIXG-FISH CATCHING A BEE. 
 
 ((J8i) 
 
■f .;f 
 
 ■i 
 
 it 
 
 h\ 
 
 682 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 white, black, lemon yellow aiid orange are represented. It frequents the 
 ocean between I^astern Africa and Otahaiti. The whip fish is found in the 
 Indian Ocean. Its colors are yellowish gray, black, and silver white with 
 lemon-yellow fins. 
 
 The duke fish and the emperor fish (cluctodon dus. and impcrator) 
 also frequent the Indian Ocean. Their colors arc black, white, gray, 
 yellow, deep blue \iolet and greenish brown. The shooting fish is found in 
 Java, where it i.s kept in tubs and aquaria for pleasure. The flesh of this 
 species is white and sa\ory. The bat cha^todon found near Ceylon is a 
 large sp'xies with \ cry broad fins. 
 
 The Sharp-Shootcr of the Sea. 
 
 One of this s[)ecies is the shooting fish. When it sees a fly at a distance 
 on any of the plants in the shallow water, it approaches veiy cautiously, 
 coming as much as possible perpendicularly under the object, then putting; 
 its botly in an obli(iue direction with mouth and eyes near the surface, it 
 remains for a moment immovable. It then shoots a drop of water from its 
 snout with sucli dexterity that, though at the distance of several feet, it 
 seldom fails to bring the fly or bee into the water. 
 
 In countries where this fish abounds, it is frequently kept in vessels of 
 water, and affords much entertainment by the dexterity displayed in 
 shooting at the flies, which are placed on the vessel for the purpose ; it 
 generally approaches to within five or six inches before the drop of water 
 is ejected. A Ja\'anese species exhibits the same curious instinct. It has 
 a wide mouth, with a lower jaw considerably projecting ; it throws a large 
 jet of water with such force and precision as almost invariably to bring 
 down a fly at the distance of two or three feet. 
 
 The Frog Catcher or r>oko. 
 
 The African lung-fish has two lungs and is probably a connecting link 
 between the vcrtebrata and the leptocardii. It is found in tlie White- 
 Nile and its tributaries, generally in the mud. During the dry season it 
 burie. itself in holes three or more feet deep, which it digs itself, and leaves 
 its hiding place at night to catch frogs and crabs, which are its main f)nd. 
 During the rainy season it builds long walks or grooves in tlie mud. Its 
 movements arc rather slow and like those of a snake or a worm. 
 
 Dokos are seldom found in pairs ; and are very quarrelsome. If they 
 meet by accident, they forthwith commence fighting; the consequence of 
 which is, that wc rarely find a specimen whose tail is intact. If a man 
 treads on its tail the doko shows fight, hisses like a snake and tries to 
 bite. On account of its savory meat the negroes kill it either with spears 
 or catch it with hook and tackle. 
 
 ^ *^^iS^JU 
 
,'! ' 1 
 
 RARE SPFXLMF.NS OF OCEAN MKR. 
 
 6S:5 
 
 It frequents the 
 
 ish is found in tht; 
 
 silver white with 
 
 s: and imperator) 
 ack, white, gra>-, 
 ingfishis found in 
 The flesh of this 
 [ near Ceylon is a 
 
 i a fly at a distance 
 2S very cautiously, 
 bject, then puttiiiL^ 
 near the surface, it 
 )p of water from its 
 2 of several feet, it 
 
 kept in vessels of 
 erity displayed in 
 )r the purpose ; it 
 I the drop of water 
 LIS instinct. It has 
 it throws a lari^c 
 invariably to bring 
 
 a connecting link 
 )und in the White 
 
 the dry season it 
 rs itself, and leaves 
 1 are its mainf >ih1. 
 cs in tlic mud. Its 
 r a worm, 
 rrelsomc. If they 
 the consequence of 
 
 intact. If a tn^m 
 nake and tries to 
 
 either with spears 
 
 Tf the water, wliich the doko has chosen for its habitation becomes 
 dried up, it wraps itself in a kind of a capsule of mud and remains there 
 (lurini^ the dry season. Livin^; dokos have been broui;ht to l''uropc in 
 Mich a state. How hjng they sleep is not known, but it is a fact that they 
 can remain in this condition for several months withoiit injur\'. As 
 ^onn as one of these capsules is put in water of the temperature of 
 middle African rivers the doko shows signs of life ; it commences to 
 move, first as if it were drowsy, but after an hour it becomes li\-ely, al- 
 
 Tin; POKO OK SAI.AMAMH.R FISH. 
 
 tliough it seeks dark places and generall)' remain.^ al tlie l)ottom ot the 
 basin. After a few da\'s hunger makes itself felt, and then it pa\'s atten- 
 tion to e\'ery mo\-enient near the surface of the water in the hope of cap- 
 turing some prey. Meandering, it comes to the surface, tal<es the piece 
 of meat or the frog offered and returns to its former ])lace. Ddl^os have 
 been kept for several years at the aquaria of London and Berlin. 
 
 Ifthere is a fish, which deserves the name of climber, it is the mud- 
 juni[)er, or mud-pu[)py. Its pectoral fins seem to be constructed to en- 
 able it to climb. These fins are more like feet than fins, and are gener- 
 
 l^fjl 
 
 "¥ % 
 
 i*^mM 
 
 I 
 
 
 5 l| 
 
h 
 
 li 1H MI J » 
 
 
 ■ ■ . , !It 
 
 684 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 
 ^Jl 
 
 
 ally used like feet. The inutl-fnipijies li\e more in and on tlie inu(.l tliaiv 
 i.i the water. They hunt for their prey on land, mostly la\-, like sal.-inian- 
 ders on the mud, run around like the lizards and fall upon their pn\' so 
 suddenly that they very seldom miss it. If they are threatened by an 
 
 '^X ?C^V^:- 
 
 
 
 ,y ^' Uc^^^jx/ n : ^'L ;/: 
 
 THF, MUn-JUMi'KK OR CLIMIlINci FISH. 
 
 enemy they shoot across the mud like an arrow, bury themselves in it 
 and hide themselves in that way. They often climb up the roots of man- 
 grove trees and are able to remain out of water for several hours. 
 
 The superintendent of the Natural History Department of the Cr\-stal 
 Palace, London, received from Western Africa four blocks of hard, thy, 
 
K ;K Sl'PXl.MENS OF 0CI:AN LIFK. 
 
 686 
 
 muddy clay, sewn up carefully in a canvas wrapper. TIil directions were 
 that they should be placed in a tank of fresh water, at the temperature 
 (if eight\'-three ''ei^rees. This \\as done, and in a short time the clay be- 
 came softened, and crumbled away, and the inner case or cocoon, in 
 which a climbini; fish was inclosed, floatetl motionless to the surface. This 
 case, or cocoon, is probably nothinL,^ more than the la\-er of mud mixed 
 with the mucous exudint; from the body of the creature. The ca\it}' is 
 moulded by the coiled-up bod)', and often, perhaps usually, bears the im- 
 pression of the scales. 
 
 It was not louLi" before this cocoon became ai^itated : it was evident 
 that the fish was endeavoring^ to extricate itself ; a few strut^gles, and it 
 hatl burst away; inmiediatel\- it began to swim about, and then diving 
 into the mud at the bottom of the tank, sheltered it.sclf from further ob- 
 sor\ation. The next morning two more emerged from tluir cocoons, and 
 in the course of the following tla\- tin; fourth of the party lloated to the 
 surface, but it was dead. 
 
 The three living ones were supplied with earth worms, small fi'ogs, fisli, 
 and occasionally with raw tlesh, and began very eager!",- to f.'i.cl. They 
 did not, however, live together in peace, for thev were seen at times to 
 assault each other. One of them, probably in an effort to esca[)e from 
 its antagonist, leaped out of the tank, antl got into the large fountain- 
 basin, where it remained among the gold-fish and the water-lilies. The 
 two others lived on for some time, ap[)arently agreed, \\ hen it was 
 suddenly discovered that only one sur\i\-cd, having actuall\- killetl its 
 companion, and, with the voracity of a cannibal, hail left onl}' the 
 head and some part of the bod\-, probably that which it liked least, 
 undevoured. In three months it grew rai)idly, actualK' doubling its 
 
 length. 
 
 Doatli of the Fish-Cannibal. 
 
 It was now transferred to the basin from which the other — the com- 
 panion of the lilies and gold-fish — was withdrawn, and placed again in the 
 tank, where it suddenly died; and thus the destroyer of his fellow alone 
 survived. Ilvre it continued to thri\'e at libert)', but was rarely seen, and 
 when observed near the surface, it was apparently sick, and finall> was 
 taken out dead. The exterior of the animal has been carefidl\- preser\ed, 
 and may be seen by any visitor to the Reptile Department of the British 
 Museum. This creature masticates the <'ood much, frequently putting it 
 forward, almost quite out of its mouth, and then gradually diewing it 
 back again. It rises frequently to the surface of the water to breathe, 
 and at other times sup[)orts itself on its fin-like appendages, and with the 
 
 .^k 
 

 
 
 
 686 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 aid of its tail, raises its body from the ground, the fins bcin^j bent or 
 curved backwards. 
 
 The movement oi this animal is generally very slow, and would givr 
 one an idea that it was very sluggish ; this, however, says a well knouti 
 naturalist, I have go(xl reason to know is not the case, as, in attemptin.,^ 
 to capture tlu one at hberty in the large basin, it darted away with tli 
 rapidity of an arrow. I have reason also to believe that the animal fuvls 
 its food as much by scent as sight. With reference to the cocoon, the 
 end covering the nose of the animal is rather pointed, and has an aperture 
 about the size of a pin's head, which I have no doubt enables it to breathe 
 during its state of torpor. The animal, when in its case, is coiled near])- 
 twice round ; and I observed in each of the blocks of clay a small hole, 
 about the size of a mouse-hole, which was quite smooth on the inside, as 
 though the fish had crept through it. 
 
 The Savory Shad. 
 
 Tile .\mericanshad is one of the mostabundantof our American fishes, 
 and is held by many authorities, among them Frank Forester, as " the most 
 delicate of existing fishes," though its numerous sharp bones are an 
 admitted drawback. It is from one to two feet long, appears along our 
 coasts in the spring, and entering the rivers, ascends them for the purpose 
 of tlepositing its spawn along the banks. At this .sea.-^on they are caui^ht 
 in large numbers by nets. They will also take the hook bated with a 
 gaudy fly, and afford good sport to the fisher. Those of the New England 
 rivers are deemed the best, tho.se of tlu Connecticut taking the first rank. 
 They are eaten fresh, and are also extensively put down in barrels. When 
 this country was first settled they were more abundant than at present, 
 and afforded the natives a large part of their subsi.stence. At that period 
 the salmon was very abundant in the northern rivers, and less esteemed 
 than the shad ; it was therefore cu.stomary for the fishermen, who caught 
 both kinds in their .seines, to require the people who came down from tlie 
 countiy to buy shad, to take a certain portion of salmon. 
 
 The American alewive, is eight to ten inches long, appears like a small 
 shad, and was formerly held in New I^ngland to be the young of that fish. 
 It is taken in considerable numbers with the shad, and has similar habits, 
 it is put down in barrels, and commands a good price. 
 
fins bcin" bent or 
 
 w, and would jjivi 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE OCEAN. 
 
 utili;! 1 'wellers in the Sea — Fislies with Wings — Roth Water and Air their Kit- 
 ii.cnts — Alighting on Ships — Curious P'ormation of Fins — The Flying Ciuinard 
 (if the Mediterranean— Sailing Through the Air — Mounting on Wings to Leave 
 I'.neniies Behind — Prey for Sea-Gulls — Swallows of the Ocean — The Growling 
 Ciurnard — Strange Noises— The Gurnard's Greediness— The Marvelous Red 
 Fire-Fish — The Terror of Arabian Fishermen— Tiie King-I-'ish- Great Size and 
 Beauty — Savory Meat — The Drimi-Fish — An Orchestra in the Sea -Narratives 
 by IIuml)oldt and Tennent— Tinkling Sounds of Great Sweetness— Paradise 
 Fish and its Singular Habits — A Haughty Male and His Brutality — The Sea But- 
 terfly — The Bridegroom — Winged Insects of the Deep. 
 
 rn^LRl"^ are beautiful creatures in tiie s^reat deep with colors as 
 gori^cous a.s those of butterflies ; moreover, like butterflies^ 
 some of them have win^^.s and rise like birds from the surface 
 of the sea. The flyin;^ fishes, when in their own element, are 
 constantly harassed by various fishes of prey, and it is supjxjsed that 
 their flights are performed for the purpose of escapin<^ from these ene- 
 mies ; when in the air, however, they are subject to the attacks of various 
 species of gulls. 
 
 Whether the.se fishes possess the power of Hying, in the true sense of 
 the term — that is, by beating the air with their members — or whether 
 their large fins merely serve as parachutes to sustain them in the air for a 
 time, after a leaj) from the water, is not yet fully ascertained, observers 
 having given different accounts. The latter is, perhaps, the prevailing 
 opinion of naturali.sts, and is that of the more recent investigators. 
 
 I have never, .says Bennett, the naturalist, been able to see any percus- 
 sion of the wings during flight, and the greatest length of time that I have 
 seen this volatile fi.sh on the fin has been thirty seconds by the watch, and 
 their longest flight mentioned has been a few hundred yards. The most 
 usual height of flight, as .seen above the surface of the water, is from two 
 to three feet ; but I have known them come on board ship at a height of 
 fourteen feet and upwards; and the)' have been well ascertained to come 
 into the the channels of a line-of-battle ship, which is considered as high 
 as twenty feet and upwards. But it must not be supposed they have the 
 power of elevating themselves in the air after having left their native 
 
 element; for, on watching them, I have often seen them fall much below 
 
 (687 ) 
 
 m- 
 
 "M 
 
 1 a 
 
 iiii 
 
 91 
 
 ™ii j 
 
 1 
 
 In ill; 11 
 
 i lliikili 
 
\h 
 
 V 
 
 
 1 
 
 ■ t 
 
 
 "-r- 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 sjuiiiyf 
 
 '688 
 
 KARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 the elevation at which liiey first rose from the water, hut ni:ver, in any 
 one instance, could 1 observe them rise from the heij^ht at which Uu.v 
 first .spran<^; for I rci^ard the elevation they take to depend on the pnurr 
 of tile first spriiiL,^ or leap they make on leaviiv^ the water. 
 
 Judt;in_i; from the foregoiiiL^ and similar accounts, it would appear tint 
 siMiicthint; beyond the mere leap of the fish would be ivijuired to accmint 
 for such threat heii;hts as fourteen or twenty feet, at which these fi-h;, 
 iiave been seen. If they cannot ily, as might be su[)posL-d on examining 
 the structure and position (jf their fins, it seems proI)al)le that they t.ikc 
 advantaL^e of the wind at times, and so adjust their fins as to be carri.jil 
 upwards by it. Two species are \ery abundant — the former in lii- 
 IVIediterranean Si-a, and the latter in the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 The comnidii tlv-ini;- fish is twelve to f)urteen inches lon^.,^ and ii.h 
 the \entral fins placed anterior to the middle part of the bod)-; it ina\- 
 thus l)e disliii;_M;i^lK-d from the fis-inij t^urnartl i>f the Mediterranean, 
 which has the fins j)laced behind the middle of the bod\-. These fins aii 
 also much smaller in the true fl\-in<.^-fishes. The species now under e ):i- 
 sidcration belon!.;s to the .Atlantic, and is most common in the tropical 
 portions, thouc;"h occasionally found on the luiropeanand North American 
 coasts. They aiv often seen to leap b\' liundreds and e\'eii thousan !-; 
 fi-oin the water, chased by other fishes. They ]ia\-e the power oflli-lit 
 b)' beating;' the air and rising upon it with their fins, and sail along, sus- 
 taining and ])rolonging their course by sj)reading their f]n^. Yhcy ii>j 
 into the air by \'igorous leaps, and occasionally ha\e fallen on the tL'cks 
 
 Oi ships. 
 
 The riyiuj;- Gurnard. 
 
 The Hying fishes generally inhabit the seas of hot climates; but tliev 
 are occasionally found within the teinpeiate regions. The flying gurnaiil in- 
 habits the Mediterranean Sea. The fiN'ing fish has numerous enemies in 
 its own element and to aid its escape, it is furnished with its long pectoral 
 fins, by means of which it is able to raise itself into the air, where it 
 is often seized by the alj^atross and the sea-gull. Its flight is short, about 
 a hundred yards, but by touching the surface of the sea at inter\-als to 
 moisten its fins and to take fresh force and vigor, it is able to greatly in- 
 crease, this distance. 
 
 Flying fishes are seldom seen to rise singly from the water; they gen- 
 erally appear in large shoals. Navigators in all tropical seas are familiar 
 with these sprightly fitnhes, which relieve the monotony of ocean life as 
 birds do the silence of the forest. The character of the long pectorals, 
 the strength of the muscles which move them, and the size of the leng 
 
f, but n'.>VL.T, in any 
 S\[j,\\t at whicli tliiy 
 
 cpciul on tllC pnurr 
 
 atcr. 
 
 t uouUl appear that 
 
 rcipiirt-'d to uccnaiit 
 ,t wliich those fi-h •> 
 posLid on cxaniiniii;^ 
 hablc that tlicy take 
 fins as to be carricil 
 — the foimer in '.Si': 
 .•an. 
 
 nchos loni^ and li;b 
 of the body; it may 
 f the Mediterranean, 
 )ody. These fins aiv 
 ccies now under c )a- 
 nmon in the tropical 
 land Nortli American 
 
 and even thousan !s 
 •e the power of tlii^^ht 
 IS, and sail alon^^s su- 
 their fins. They ri-^c 
 /c fallen on the djcks 
 
 )t climates; but they 
 The flying ijurnard in- 
 numerous enemies in 
 with itslon'g pectnral 
 nto the air, \vhero it 
 ts flii^htis short, about 
 he sea at intervals to 
 t is able to greatly in- 
 
 1 the water ; they i;cii- 
 opical seas are familiar 
 3tony of ocean life as 
 of the long pectorals, 
 d the size of the long 
 
 *^ ,j m^ ^a. I .^U I W MM TT ^ 
 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 A SCHot.*!. OF M,VI.\(; FISHES. 
 
 vi«jr' 
 
 itt. 
 
 ■ ■:u 
 
 i! 
 
 (CSII) 
 
t ■' 
 
 ,t^' 
 
 
 O'K) 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 arch, to which they are atluclictl, arc the essential conditions (jf ihrjr 
 tiij^Mit. The common llyin^^ tish of the Mediterranean is rarely morciLin 
 sixteen inches long, and is found in all parts of that sea. There are f-c 
 species on the coast of North America. 
 
 GURNARDS OR FISHES THAT GROWL. 
 
 The eyes of these fish arc so prominent, as to admit of their seeing dan- 
 ger from whatever quarter it may come, but in case of emergency, they 
 are able to push them somewhat beyond the sockets, so as to consider- 
 ably enlarge their usual sphere of vision. They are frequently either 
 unable to direct their flight out of a straight line, or they suddenly bc^ 
 
 rl 
 
BrTTKRI'LIF.S ol' 'rili; OCFAN. 
 
 COl 
 
 Cfimc c-'xhaiistc'd. for .'.oUK'tinu's wlioU' slioaU t>f then, fall .>ti l)()ar(l of 
 sliil).s. They have sotneuhat the inatiticr (»f the swallow in thi air. except 
 that they fl>- in straij^fjit lines, and their hlaik hacic-, their white l)illi( s, 
 ikI their forked and expanded sails, gi\-..' tlu'in rii'.i'h the sam-' ai)pear- 
 i.iice as that of these hirds. 
 
 The Cln»\vli;:pr CJ.n-r.anl. 
 
 The gurnards, or sca-eocks, have always attiactet! attention ( n account 
 ■ t l!ie j^M-unil)lin_t,Mioise which the\' make w luii taken ont of tlv wate; . 
 Tlic\- are carni\-orons and predatory fishes. Tlvy inhabit the North S-a 
 .iiul tile Ijaltic, but a'e also f mnd in \arious other part' (f t'le ocean 
 Their weapons of defence are their shai-p dorsel f.ns. with which tluy at • 
 tempt to inflict a wound. The j^ManiiljJin'; iiois^- tin-}' produce by com- 
 [iressinfj their bodies and c.\i)ellin;.^ the air thrnu;.di their j^dlU. 
 
 Till}' chiefly reside in the depths ofthe .sea, where tlvy ha\t' a plentiful 
 
 suppl}' of food in crabs, lobsteis and crustaceous .-minials. While it is in 
 
 the water, the col(.)r.s ofthe Ljurnard are brilliant and beautiful, esprcially 
 
 in the broad sunshine, as the}' then \ary with e\er\- motion ofUie fish. 
 
 It is vei"}- voracious, and de\'ours ahiio^t e\-er_\-l]iin;4 i'at;',blL' that conies 
 
 in its way. 
 
 A Fish Avilli J'uT.v ( olors. 
 
 The most beautiful fishes, as far as colors arcconcerncd, are tlie ptt ;\ i(U;s, 
 
 although their form, especially the huad w it!i it-; ])ricklcs. j^ills or spires, 
 
 has no claim to beauty whatever. About twent\--tw() bands, ofa ])ink hue, 
 
 run in pairs and nearly parallel to each other across the bod\-. while, where 
 
 the breast fins arc connected with the bod)' there is a lap^^e white spot. 
 
 Similar white .spots are distributed on the fins. This fish is found all over 
 
 the Indian Ocean, from the coast f)f Africa to .Australia. The rcrl fire-fish 
 
 is not a flx-iuL^ fish, n -ither is it a fast swimmer; the points of its fiiibones 
 
 casil}' break off, and fir that reason the fish is i;reatl\' feared liy the 
 
 Arabian fishermen. 
 
 The ()i>ali or Kiiiy-Fish. 
 
 The opah is cme ofthe most beautiful specimens ofthe varieties we are 
 considering. Under favorable circumstances it attains a length of six feet 
 and a weight of nearly two hundred pounds. It is one ofthe most beau- 
 tiful fi.shcs in existence, steel-blue, violet and pink hues being prevalent. 
 Its flesh is very savor\-, being considered as good as that of salmon. The 
 Icelanders value it on account of its alleged great medicinal qualities. 
 
 The Drum-Fish. 
 
 As we have already described the gurnard, or growling fish, it will be 
 interesting to the reader to take a glance at another tenant of the sea, 
 
 it* 
 
 ■I''-- ,.,.;MJS_ 
 
(J'.t2 
 
 EARTH, Sn.\, ANT) SKY. 
 
 which is also rfinarka!)lj f )r ih,.- sound it i)roduc':-.. Ihcf^urnards ,-uc 
 wondcrfuUv colored, but the drum-fish surprises us b\' the sin'mlar siumvI 
 it makes. This fish, t'.vj niaiL,n-e, is most abundant alwn;^- the south-.Tn 
 side of the Mediterranean, but is taken off the shores of Spain, France, 
 and Ilai\-. The maig're is _<;rcr(arious in its I.a!;i'LS swimming;" in shoals, 
 whicli litter a purrinij noise so loud a-; to be h.ard f.oni a depth of twen.t}- 
 fathoms; and from this circumstance, the fi.hjMneri are often enabled co 
 
 Till' Kl-.l) l-IKi:-FISH. 
 
 take several in thi.'ir net with certa!nt\-, their noise betrax-ingf their exart 
 locality. Their capture, however, is not a very safe or easy task, f )r lliv 
 maii^M-e is from three to si.v feet and upwards in lenL;-th, very strony and 
 resolute, and ii struj^-f^les with the utmost desperation, knockinL:^ the ir n 
 about, till one of them can manai^e to strike it a heavy blow on the head, 
 and so deprive it of Hfe. It appears alwa>'s to have been in orcat request 
 with epicures ; and as, on account of its large size, it was always sold in 
 pieces, the fishermen of Rome were in the habit of [iresentin^^ the Iv. id. 
 
BUTTERFLIES OF THE OCEAN. <!'»•"> 
 
 which was considered the finest part, as a sort of tribute ti> the thre'e 
 local maj^istrates, who acted f )r the time as C()n-;er\-atnrs of the eit_\'. It 
 is the uniiDrina of tlie ancient Romans, and is of a i;eneral siKery gra\', 
 iiichnin!:^ to brov.n on the baclc, and pure sih'er on the under parts. 
 
 Allied t "1 the niai;4re ai'e some fi-^h remarkable f >r their !.;i-eat size, and 
 the noise th.'y sjnd f )rth, and wliich has led to their bein;^ called " drums." 
 According to Mitchill, it is when they are taken out (^f the w.itir that they 
 ^er.J fn'th this noise; but Schiepf says that it is under the water; that 
 
 
 
 ^m 
 
 
 
 
 ^«ft<»:;; 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 I! 
 
 THE OPAIf OR KI\G riSH. 
 
 this noise is dull and hollow; that se\-eral indi\'iduals assemble round thn 
 keel of ships at anclior, and that then their noise is most sensil.ile antl cm) 
 tinuous. This account may seem extraordinar\-, \-et it is perfectly co!i- 
 ferniable with the following statement: Ideutenant White relates, that 
 being at the nioutli of the ri\'er of Cambodia, his crt-w and himself were 
 astonished by .some c.\traordinaiy sounds which were heard around the 
 bottom of their vessel. It was like a mixture of the bass of the organ, 
 the sound of bells, the guttural cries of a large frog, and the tones w hich 
 
 m. 
 
 . y\ 
 
 Ik !!l( 
 
r^ pi i wii I I I I ,j. 1 ^ 
 
 694 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 imagination might attribute to the largest harp ; one might liave said ilir 
 vessel trembled with it. These noises increased, and final! \' firnicd a 
 imix'crsal chorus over the entire length of the vessel and the two sides. 
 In pro[)orti(;n as they went up the river, the sounds diminished, and llnall\- 
 ceased altogether. The interpreter told Lieutenant White that they were 
 producctl by a troop of fishes of an o\al and flattened form, which ha\-c 
 the faculty of strong!}' adhering to \arious bodies by the mouth. 
 Stninyo Noises Hoard on Shiiiboard. 
 
 Humboldt met with a similar fact, but w ithout suspecting the cause, 
 ()ne e\ening, towards seven o'clocls', the \\liolc crew were astonished lj\- 
 an extrai)rdinar)' noise, w liieh resemljled that of drums beating in the air. 
 At Urst it was attributed to the breakers. It was Ii!<e the noi.sc of the air 
 which escapes from fluid in a state of ebullition. Those on board began 
 then to fear there was a leak in the vessel. The noise was heard unc;jas- 
 ingiy in all parts of the ship, till about nine o'clock it ceased altog .tlicr. 
 The drums, according to Mitchill, swim in numerous troops, in the shal- 
 low bays on the .south coast of Long Island, where the fishermen fniJ 
 them dining the summer. Schoepf .say.s that the)' are f )und in still greater 
 al)iuidance, and during the whole year, along the coasts of the Carolina ^ 
 and Florida. 
 
 Some other creatures, ha\ing a similar power, are alluded to !)\- .Sir 
 I'/nerson Tennent. He states that when \'isiting Batticaloa, on the noril\ 
 of Ceylon, he made inc[uiries relative to the musical sounds alleged to issue 
 from the bottom of the lake. The fishermen vouched fir the truth of tlic 
 storv, statin.'' that the sounds arc heard onlv during the dry season, an 1 
 cease when the lake is swollen by rains. In the evening, says Sir luner- 
 son, when the moon had risen, I took a boat and accompanied the fisher- 
 men to til." spot. We rowed al)out two hundretl yards north-cast of tlk' 
 jett}', b)' tlie fort gate. There was not a breath of wind, and not a I'ippic, 
 but that caused by the dip of our oars ; and on coming to the point already 
 mentioned, I distinctly heard the sounds in question. 
 
 They caaie ut) from the water like the gentle trills of a musical clionl 
 or the flint vibrations of a wine-glass when the rim is rubbed with a wet 
 finger. It was not one sustained note, but a multitude of tiny sound'^, 
 each clear anil distinct in itself; the sweetest treble mingling with tlic 
 lowest bass. On a[)pl)'ing the ear to tlie wood-work of the boat, tlio 
 sound was greatly increased, in volume by its conductor. They varied 
 considerably at different pomts as we moved across the lake, as if the 
 nimiber of animals from which they proceeded was greater in particular 
 •■.pots ; and occasionally we rowed out of hearing of them altogether, 
 
night have said the 
 id fma!!}' f;_)rniud a 
 and the two sitks. 
 iiinished, and finall\- 
 diitc that thc\- '.vctl 
 (.1 form, which haw 
 he mouth. 
 1(1. 
 
 spectiuL,'' the caiiso. 
 rtere astonished ])y 
 s beating in the air. 
 the noise of the air 
 ;)sc on board be^jan 
 ' was Iieard unceas- 
 t ceased alto;4Jthcr. 
 troops, in the slial- 
 the fishermen ImkI 
 found in still L;reatcr 
 sts of the Carol iiKi- 
 
 ■ alluded to b\- Sir 
 icaloa, on the north 
 mds alleged to issue 
 
 for the truth of the 
 the dry season, an 1 
 ing, say.s Sir ICmer- 
 )mpam'ed the fisher- 
 lIs north-cast of the 
 id, and n(^t a ripple. 
 
 to the point already 
 
 of a musical chord 
 > rubbed with a wet 
 -ide of tiny sound-^, 
 mingling with the 
 ik of the boat, th: 
 ictor. They varieil 
 the lake, as if tli: 
 Tcater in particular 
 )f them altogether, 
 
 / ' 
 
 m. 
 
 m, 
 
 'IV 
 
 ■ t]i ! 
 
 *i 
 
 (095) 
 
■»Wi 
 
 V) 
 
 696 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 until, on rcturnincf to the oricrinal localit\-, the sounds were at once re- 
 newed. 
 
 The beautiful paradise fish, which in China is kept, like the goltl fi^Jj, 
 in aquaria, is one of the most interesting^ of the finny tribe. 'Y\v.-v 
 spawn in capti\'ity much more readily than gold fishes. 
 
 For experiment two females and one male were put in a tank". 'V ■ 
 former soon selected for themselves certain corners, where they receive. 1 
 the visits of the male. Soon the females commenced to play with each. 
 other. When the male approaches the female it spreads its tail and fins, a> 
 can be seen in our illustration, and takes a darker hue, while the female 
 adopts a nearly perpendicular position, holds up its fins as far as possible, 
 
 THE .SE.\-IiUTTi:KFLV. 
 
 and turns around on its own axis, after the male takes a similar position, 
 but in the opposite direction as the left part of our illustration shows. In 
 this case they pkiyfully turn around each other, and the male trembKs ; 
 often the female imitates these tremblin;^ motions. 
 
 Sometimes a disagreement occurs between the male and female, .uid 
 then the male treats the latter in a most cruel and brutal manner, hiliii;^ 
 her fins, tearing out her ej'cs and even killing her. The paradise fi ;li i- 
 of a reddish and greenish hue. 
 
 In the Mediterranean, wherever the coast is rocky, tiie sea-butterlly is 
 never missed ; it is occasionally found in the Atlantic Ocean. Its fiesh is 
 without a taste and is therefore only eaten by the poorer classes. The 
 
were at oiicc re- 
 
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE OCEAN. 
 
 697 
 
 head and fore-part are lan^e, and somewhat blunt in appearance. It has 
 a large dorsal fm, with a large colored mark like that .-fa butterfly ; and 
 (ithcr parts of the body are embellished with variegated colors, combining 
 to make this one of the most remarkable of the finn\- tribes. It may 
 properly be classed among the butterflies of the ocean. 
 
 I'ishermen have given several names to another beautiful fish, one ( f 
 which, the bridegroom, proves that they recognize its beauty. It is found 
 in deep water; it very seldom leaves its regular place, and if it does so, it 
 ioon returns to it. Like the cal, it hu's in wait fur its pre\-,then suildeiilv 
 attacks it, and ne\-cr undertakes ;i second attack, if it misses the lli-st time. 
 The fish has a very .-.a\-ory meat and is generallv caught with tlra '• nets. 
 
 
 
 >^^^^^- 
 
 
 f'"<.''^<Z=te 
 
 ^v!C;t=;^ 
 
 Till-: liRini'.cKOOM FISH. 
 
 There are countless swarms of moths which come out, on a sutnnier's 
 evening, when it is getting tlusk. The)- ha\e lain hidden all da_\'; hut no 
 sooner is the sun down, than m)-riads issue forth to look for prey. They 
 arc called night-flying insects. 
 
 There are some little creatui'cs in the sea, that are \-ery much like in- 
 sects, and have the same habits as the moths; the\' ha\e been called the 
 winged insects of the deep. And another name has been gi\en tn them ; 
 thi'v are called wing-footers, because the\' whiil about, as if tluy l;ad 
 wings. Thes(> wings are two fm like flaps, which [)roceed from the f)re- 
 niost part of the body. In realit\' the flaps are onl\- one organ. A bun- 
 dle of muscular fibre passes through the neck, and spreads out at each 
 iide like a paddle. 
 
 11 » 
 
 fir 
 
\'.\ 
 
 
 ; 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 698 EARTH, SI' A, AM) SKY. 
 
 These little creatures have no foot to creep on, or arms to ,-cize thfi: 
 pre)'. lUit they have a distinct head, as the cutlle-tish has. SoniLliiiics 
 the head is hidden in a thin transparent shell. When the animal is 
 alarmed, it draws its uinj^^s, and, indeed, its whole body, into the s!i.:il. 
 l)iit thouL';h the wing-footer .seems to sport about, and be .-^o innocent -xw 1 
 harmless, it i ; furnished with an array of weapons that can scarcely Ik 
 surpassed. Let us take one of the tribe — the little elio, on which th: 
 whale (cc(\a — and look at it throus^di a microsco;)e. What are those six 
 feelers that project from its liead ? And why are they of that red and 
 speckled hue? Look more closely, and you will see that a number of 
 tiny points are dotted all o\-er them. There may be thousands of the<c 
 points. Each point or speck is a sucker, like that of the star-fish. Aiul 
 it can be pushed out, and can seize hold of its pre\- in the same manner. 
 When the little clio does not want its weapons, it draws them in, and 
 they lie hidden and protected by a kind of sheath that co\"ers them. 
 
 Look a little further, and you will see a mouth furnished with sharp 
 horny teeth, that have a metallic lustre, and shine in the sun. The toHL^ue 
 has hooked spines on it, that curve backwards, lil^e those of the cuttle- 
 fish, and help to dracj the food down into the stomach. The merr\' little 
 clio is terribl}- armed, and when twilii^dit comes, hosts of these little crea- 
 tures whirl about in search of prey. They dance merrily on the wa\-es, 
 sinkinc^ and rising, and seeming to be full of gambols. The sea is ali\e 
 with them, but their gambols do not last long. Before the mornini; 
 dawns, they have disapi)eared, and no trace of them is to be seen. 
 
Tlie nicrr\' little 
 
 1-, -T' ■■'-' 
 
 CIIAPTKR VI. 
 SINGULAR VARIHriI<:s OF FISHKS. 
 
 Aina/iii;; Contrasts i.i Oc^mu Life — Tlie Cireat Sword l"i;.li — Vast Si e ami Towlt— A 
 CJcaliire Artn..d for DL-siruclion -Fonniiiabltj Weapon of iIk- Sword I'i ;li— A 
 Sword I>eft in tlie Tiinbc-r of a Shii) — The Whale's Grtat I'mriiy— Tlie < nean 
 Bat- -IVculiar Altitude in the Water— Amis and l'"ins Coniljir.ed A Cre.iture of 
 Hideous Ugliness — The Slender Pipe I'"isli— The Needle of tlie S>.m- -Si range 
 Pouch for Carrying i^g.gs— Color of the Pipe I'ish — A Dried Curi' isily— Sea- 
 Ilorse — Body Clad widi .Mail— Tail that Grasps— Short-Nosed 1 lippoeanipus — 
 Peculiarities of the Short Nose —The Skate— An Knterprisiiii; ni,L;j;;ir-- Mlcgant 
 White I'iiis — The European Stin- Ray— A Bag for the Infant I'ish— The Sea- 
 Devil— A Fish that Au'^les —Singular Method of Capturing Prey - The Kxtraor- 
 dinary Tape l'"isli— A Beautiful .Marine Animal — Great Len;^l'i wf the Taiie l'"i;,h 
 —The Sea Cat -Silvery Color-Wonderful Healing Oil— i'lat I'ish Tur!)ot— 
 Plaice— Flounder— Sole— Spiny Sea- Porcupine — Globe I'isii — Sun li>,h— The 
 Sturgeon — .\n Ocean Delicacy — A li^h l^'ond of .Mud. 
 
 O (ine can examine the forms <>f life in the mighty oci^an with- 
 out beini^ impressed with the marked \arieties and contra -its 
 constantly presented, h^ishes of ever}- shape, size, ;ir:d manner 
 ()f e.Kistence, have en^^^aged the attention of the natiiialist, ami 
 here, as everywhere in the threat realm of nature, the fiirther he pui-sues 
 his investis.'"ations the more wonderful do the discoveries l)econu\ < )ne 
 of the sinj^iilar creatine's of the sea, concernins.^ which a \'olume miL;ht be 
 written, is the sword-fish. 
 
 Sword-fishes are very lars^e and powerful animals; the)' often j^row to 
 tlie len;^th of twenty feet and more. They are \-ery voracious and attack 
 and destroy almost e\-er\' li\-in^ thin_L^ that comes in thi-ir wa\'. They 
 belong to a family of marine spiny-rayed fishes, allietl to the mackerels 
 and are so calletl from the prolongation of the snout into a long horizon- 
 tally flattened sword-like weapon. The sword consists of a h>ng, strong 
 lione, projecting from the nasal part of th.e head, and is capable of doing 
 immense dainage to an\' animal which is so unfortunate as to cross the 
 path of this .savage monster of the sea. 
 
 The common sword fish is found in the Mediterranean and on both 
 sides of the .\tlantic ; it uses its sword to destroy its enemies and 
 sometimes strikes at vessels, burying its weapon deep in tluir timber. 
 When the British ship "Leopard," after her return from the coasts of 
 Guinea and the West Indies, was being refitted and cleaned, the ship- 
 
 
 iU 
 
 N' 
 
 f. 
 
 '-■■ ;!' 
 
 ' i 
 
mm 
 
 w 
 
 
 THE SWORD-FISH CAPTURING HIS PREY. 
 
(' 
 
 SINGULAR VARIETIES OF FISHES. 
 
 701 
 
 \vrif4l1ts fouiitl in her botluin, pointinL;' in tlic di recti ^n horn the stern 
 
 towards the head, part of the sword or snout of one (4' these fishes. On 
 
 the outside it was rou^h and the end, wliere it was broken ^^iT, appeared 
 
 like a coarse kind of is'ory. The fish is supposed to have f )llo\\cil the 
 
 -hii) when under sail. The sword had [)cnetrated the sheathinj.^, which 
 
 wa-; one inch thick, had then passed throuj^h three inches </f plank, and 
 
 bcxond that four inches and a half into the timber. The force reipiisite 
 
 to effect this must have been ver)' .i;reat, especiall\' as tlu; .-hock was not 
 
 felt by the persons on board. 
 
 A few years ay;o the ca[jtain of an ICast Indiaman rei)orte<l another 
 
 instance of the wontlerful stren;4th which the sword fish occasioii.illy 
 
 cxliibits. The bottom of his ship hacJ been peirced throu<^h in such a 
 
 THE SEA-BAT. 
 
 manner that the sword was com')letely imbedded and the fish killed by 
 til- violence of the effort. 
 
 The sword fi.-.hes and the whales are -,M-eat enemies. Tliey n.-ver 
 meet without coniin;^- to battle. Sometimes two sword fi.hes make 
 common cau.se a^:,^ainst a whale, and the l)attle often lasts until the sword 
 fish loses sicjht of thj whale, wliich is at lenj^th compelled to swim off. 
 his superior agility cnabliuL,^ him to c\o this. In the .sword-fish piercino- 
 the whale's body with its swoixl, it seldom does great harm t<.) the anima 
 from not being able to penetrate tnuch beyontl the blubber. 
 
 The above illu.stration does not represent the peculiar attitude, which 
 
 1 {■( 
 
 I 
 
 f ... 
 
 If: 
 
 
 ,M-i 
 
 ti' 
 
 t. 
 
 1 
 
 
 I 
 
 Hfl 
 
 \l 
 
 H 
 
 ' I 
 
 w 
 
 
h 
 
 702 
 
 EARTH, si; A, AND SKY. 
 
 the bat-fish a.s.su:iK-.s wh^-n up.tn th.: sca-bottoni, fn' which its feet fir 
 flippcr-hkc pectoral I'lns well aclapt it. This attitiitic is sf)nie\vluit like 
 that of a fi'o^^ but the entire boi^l^,- is .supporte-i by tlu pectorals and bal- 
 anced in an oblique position b\- the caudal fm. When the bat . \\i>]i i , 
 nKi\e, they hop aloi\^; h'oni p. unt ti) point b\- usin;^" the pectorals as fctt, 
 aided to a certain extent by the buoyant action of the surrountliiv; water. 
 When not upon the bottom they move about in a manner similar tn dt!:.::- 
 fi.-'hes, b)- the action oi the caudal fm, halancin;.; themsekes I.>y mu\(_- 
 nient.s of the pectorals. 
 
 PIPE FISH AXD SE.\-IIORSE. 
 
 This animal is one of the iu;lie.st of the fmny tribe. It belonq-.s to the 
 family of anglers or sea-devils. Its pectoral fins are attached to an up- 
 per arm. It is \-ery voracious and its flesh is eaten bj' the poor aloni; 
 the coast of the Mediterranean. 
 
 About tv, enty species, to which these specimens belong, are described, cf 
 which in Europe the best known is the great pipe fish, sometimes callcl 
 needle fish. In the male the po.stcrior part is broader than the rest, with 
 two soft flaps folding together and forming a kind of pouch for the reccp- 
 
SINGULAR VARIETIES OF FISHES. 
 
 70;J 
 
 tion of the egfTs, which, it is believed, are placed there b\- tlu- female. Its 
 Li)U)r is pale brown, transversely barred with darker hroun. The serrated 
 pipe fish attains a lent^th of twenty-eit;ht to tliirt\- iiuhcs of which the 
 caudal filament is ten or twelve inches. The color i; liL,dit dral) with a 
 n.irrow brownish-blue band alon;^^ the sides, tlie throat \»hite and the 
 >ides silvery. It is fouiui from Massachusetts to the coast ^^C l^razil. 
 
 Fish Resembling si IIcusi'. 
 
 This fish is one of the most common, and is often ke[)t In- the fish-rmen 
 in a dried .state to sell as a curiosity to seaside \'isitors. This species, says 
 Couch, may be seen slowly movinfr about, in a sin_i;ular maniv;r, horizont- 
 al!}' orperpendiciilarl)-, with the head downwards or upwards, ;md in c\e: y 
 attitude of contortion, in siarch of food, which seems chiill\- to be wat-T 
 ia-^ects. Yarrell obserx'cs, that these fishes are supposed to Ijc a!)le, by 
 (illatini^ their throat at [pleasure, to draw their food uii their cylindiacal 
 bcak-Iike mouth, as water is drawn up the pipe of a s\-rin;.;e. The sea- 
 horse is an osseous fish with tufted gills, of the family of [)ipe-fis]ies. 
 The snout is proloiv^-ed and the head elevated po-teiaorly, somewhat 
 resemblin;^ a horse's head The botl)- is mailetl and spiry. The tail is 
 without a fin and prehensile, and by means of it they sus[)end themselves 
 t I sea-weeds and other submarine objects. The e\'es are prominent; tlie 
 MDUc'a, in which the mates carr\' the eLTirs till the\' are halehed, opens at 
 tile commencement of the tail. The)' exist in all parts of the temperate 
 and abundanti}' in the tro])ical oceans. 
 
 Specimens of this fish ha\'C, it is said, been occasionally found curled 
 up in oyster-shells; but of their general habits little is known: the fol- 
 lowing extract from VarrcU's work is therefore the more interesting: I 
 had two female specimens of hippocampus, or sea-horse, healthy an 1 
 active, which had Ijcen living twelve days in a glass vessel; their actions 
 b.ing equally novel and amusing. .\n appearance of search for ;i rent- 
 ing place intluced rnc to consult t .eir wishes b}- placing sea-weed and 
 straws in the vessel ; the desired effect was attained, and has afforded me 
 much to reflect upon in their habits. They now exhibit many of their 
 peculiarities, and few subjects of the deep have displayed in prison more 
 sport or more intelligence. 
 
 When swimming about they maintain a vertical position, but the tail 
 is ready to grasp whatever it meets in the vater, quickly entwines in any 
 direction round the weeds, and when fixea Llie animal intently watches 
 the surrounding objects, and darts at its prey with great dexterity. 
 When both ai^proach each other, they often twist their tails together, 
 and struggle to separate or attach themselves to the weeds ; this is dont 
 
 iii 
 
iv 
 
 ^k^v^: 
 
 i()\ 
 
 EARTH, SI' A, AND SKV. 
 
 # 
 
 by the hincicr pnrt of ihuir checks, or chin, whicli is also used for raisinrr 
 the body when a new spot is wanted for tin; tail to entwine afresh. The 
 eyes move independently, as in the chameleon ; this, with the brilliant 
 iridescence about the head, and its blue b.inds, forcibly remind the 
 observer of that animal. 
 
 The ray, a citilayinous fish, is popularly called skate. The smooth 
 ray, or coinmon skate, of the northern coast t-f America is of a unifmni 
 liglit brownish color above, and tiin'^y white below. It attains a len^nh 
 of from three to five feet, and a weight of two hundred jjounds, and is 
 found from New York to the British provinces. 
 
 Its flesh is being extensively consumed, and the fleshy parts of the 
 pectorals are .''aid to be beautiftilly wliite and delicious. It feeds on fish, 
 crustaceans and moUusks, and is very voracious. It digs up clams with 
 its powerful soade-like snout, crushing them easily with its flattened 
 
 tieth. There are 
 eight or nine species 
 in European ^\•aters, 
 sonu.' attaining a 
 weight of several 
 hundred oounds. 
 Several species are 
 common in the Lon- 
 don market, where 
 the females are 
 known as maids. 
 SHORT- xosr.i) HIPPOCAMPUS. 'llie American whip 
 
 occurs on the coast of the Middle States, and attains a 
 length of from five to eiglit feet, including the tail. It is not 
 uncommon on the shores of New Jersey, and is caught both by liook 
 and seine. 
 
 I'he jjrincipal use made of this species and of all the rays in this coun- 
 try is to extract the oil from the li\-er, which is emploj-ed f )r \arious do- 
 niostic and medicinal purposes. The European sting-ray is common in 
 the .Mediterranean and on the southern Atlantic coast. It twists its loni; 
 tail around its prey and its enemies, causing veiy severe lacerated wounds. 
 Its flosh is not eatable. From the month of May until the beginning iif 
 September the females are occupied in producing their offspring. This 
 they usually do on crafts and in places where they arc liable to little in- 
 terruption. Each of the young ones is enclosed in an oblong angular 
 bag, about half an inch thick in the middle. These aiu .called pui-ses hy 
 
 stmg-ra) 
 
IIIP 
 
 'I 
 
 III 
 
 SINGULAR VARIF.TIES Ol' FISHES. 
 
 <)., 
 
 o used for r,ii>.incr 
 A'inc afrcsli. Tlu.' 
 with the brilliant 
 ■cibly remind the 
 
 ate. The smooth 
 ca is of a unil' uni 
 It attains a lenj^th 
 L-d pomids, and is 
 
 fleshy parts of the 
 
 It feeds on fish, 
 
 :ligs up clams with 
 
 with its flattened 
 eth. There arc 
 •^ht or nine species 
 , European waters, 
 jnic attaining a 
 ci;j,ht of several 
 .uidred pouncU. 
 
 veral species arc 
 >niniiin in the I.cn- 
 -yn market, where 
 "le females arc 
 
 lown as maids. 
 
 le American whip 
 
 es, and attains a 
 tail. It is not 
 rht both by hook 
 
 ; ra\-s in this cmm- 
 ;ed f M- \arioiis do- 
 ray is common in 
 ;. It twists its loni;' 
 lacerated wounds. 
 il the bec^inning of 
 ir offspring". Tins 
 c liable to little in- 
 an oblong angular 
 c 'tailed pur-'-'cs hv 
 
 ♦lie fishermen and after the fish have escaped, arcr freuucnlly ca-t aslmn 
 bv the tide. 
 
 The common angler, or fishing' frog, also called the .sea-devil, is tal 
 
 en 
 
 111 ,1 calm from boat.s or ves.sels at sea, on the honks ( f long 1 
 
 me 
 
 with a 
 
 IHK SHARP-N'OSEn SKATE. 
 
 piece of dog-fish or a herring for a bait. This very curious fish is usually 
 
 about three feet in length, but has been known to measure five feet. The 
 
 head is wide, and the mouth nearly as wide as the head; the eyes arc 
 
 large, the pupils black ; the lower jaw which is the longer, is bearded or 
 4.5 
 
 m 
 
 ^ 
 
V) 
 
 roG 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 fringed all round the edge; and both jaws arc armed with numcnuis 
 teeth; tlic bod}- is narrow, compared with the breadth of the head, aiid 
 tapers gradually to the tail. The whole fish is covered with a loose skin. 
 The color of the upper surface of the body is uniform brown ; the under 
 surface of the body, the ventral and pectoral fins white, and the tail almost 
 black. 
 
 On the top of the head are three long filaments ; of these, tw(j arc 
 seated just above the muzzle, the other rises from the back of the head. 
 These filaments a.e supported by bone, and movable in all directions, es- 
 pecially the first, which, tapering like the finest fishing-rod, ends in a 
 broad, flattened, silvery tip. The pectoral fins are broad and thick-, and 
 serve the place of hind feet, for the \entral fins are placed far anteridi- to 
 
 them on the 1)(k1\-. 
 The angler is in- 
 satiably voraei(His, 
 but it is a slow 
 swimmer ; it is 
 formed, in fact, for 
 taking its piiy in 
 ambush. It rejioses 
 on the soft nuul or 
 sand, in sonu favor- 
 able lurking-place, 
 C.^i^- and, stirring u[)tlic 
 ■^■'~^~ mud with its pec- 
 toral fins, tlul^ dv 
 scures itself in a 
 murky cloud bc- 
 }-ond which appear 
 
 its long filaments, and, especially the first, with its glittermg tip, 
 offering an attractive bait to other fish. Thus stationed, this crca 
 ture quietly expects its victim. On rove the .shoals of fish, eai;or 
 in quest of food. They pass one after another in succession, till nt 
 length one espies the bait. For^vard the fi.sh darts, either to exam- 
 ine or .seize the expected prize; but at that instant, aided by the bicaJ, 
 feet-like pectoral fins, the watchful angler springs up, and captures Ins 
 prey. Such is the success of this voracious tyrant, that the fishermen ex 
 amine its stomach, and sometimes obtain from it a considerable number 
 of scr\'iccablc fish j-et alive, which it had ju.st swallowed. Tt is not, li"W- 
 ever, always that the angler thus obtains his food ; he is sometimes .seen 
 
 LOON IN TTIF, T.\WS OF AN .NNOFF.R-FISH. 
 
mcd with numciuus 
 dth of the head, and 
 red with a loose skin. 
 m brown ; the iindrr 
 ite, and the tail ahnost 
 
 its ; of these, two arc 
 . the back of the head. 
 le in all directions, l<- 
 fishing-rod, ends in a 
 broad and thick, ami 
 .1 placed far anterior to 
 them on the Ixuly, 
 The angler isin- 
 f satiably voraci(nis, 
 ^ but it is a slow 
 swimmer ; it is 
 formed, in fad, for 
 J7 taking its prey in 
 ambush. It reposes 
 .- on the soft nnul or 
 i^ sand, in some favor- 
 able lurking-place, 
 si- and, stirring uptlic 
 mud \\ith its pec- 
 toral fins, thus cib- 
 scures itself in a 
 murky cloud bc- 
 yonil which ap])car 
 .jtl^ its glitterin- tip, 
 s stationed, this caa 
 .shoals of fish, ea^or 
 ,• in succession, till at 
 (larts, either to exani- 
 nt, aided by the broad, 
 up, and captures Ins 
 t. that the fishermen ox 
 a considerable number 
 llowed. It is not, liow- 
 • he is sometimes seen 
 
 SINGULAR VARIETIES OF FISHES. 
 
 ro; 
 
 floating on the surface, ready to snap at whatever prev comes within his 
 >udden dart. Even the broad-winged loon is made his victim. 
 
 The immen.se voracity of the "angler" is one reason why he is sought 
 by fishermen, who desire him not for the .sake of himself but of the small 
 ti.'.h which cram his stomach till it is puffed out of all due si.ze. The 
 angler-fish's fishing-line is a unique contrivance. It is one of several 
 
 nable spines rising from the back of the head, arranged somewhat on 
 he plan of a hook, and it can be swayed in any direction at the will of the 
 
 nil 
 
 THE TAPE FISH. 
 
 fish. So, if it is tired and lazy, the fish does not need to go prowling 
 and hunting for a meal, but takes it easy in the ambuscade of mud in 
 which it hides, and waves the bait temptingly back and forth. The 
 beautiful adaptation of nature in this bony apparatus to help the ugly 
 fellow to a dinner without putting him to any trouble is a most curious 
 feet. The angler-fish is only found north of the capes of the Dekuvare. 
 On the 23rd day of February, 1788, a fish more than thirty-three feet 
 in length, a foot high, three inches broad, and four hundred pounds in 
 weiij;ht which never had been seen before by the fishermen, was thrown 
 
 ■■ t 
 
 m 
 
 it 
 
'.-h 
 
 h 
 
 ■HI 
 
 :-^: 
 
 *;» 
 
 J 
 
 \ ■ 
 6.1 
 
 
 
 i\. 
 
 7()S 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 upon the coast of England. It was called the tape fish. Eight years 
 later another fish of this kind was found by several women and since then 
 several tape fishes have been thrown upon the shore, one of which was 
 seventy-eight feet in length. This fish is said to be very beautiful, ami 
 its flesh is \'ery savory. 
 
 Sea-cat is the common name of certain cartilaginous fishes which 
 fcim a group intermediate between the sturgeons and the sharks. Thev 
 arc oviparous, the large eggs being enclosed in a leathery capsule. In 
 
 ~ fflilli'^'-W .''(..i'"ji>&» \v.^,'"-. ' •'r,'' ^'v A'- ■ ■%' '\~r--". 
 
 ^CMENUr sa 
 
 IHK SF..\-C.\T. 
 
 the northern sea-cat the eyes have a greenish pupil, surrounded by a 
 white iris, and shine, especially at night, like cats' eyes, whence tlit 
 common name. The Cvjlor is silvery, with brown spots; the tail is near- 
 ly as long as the body. It attains a length of three to four feet and is 
 found in the North Sea and northern Atlantic, where it pursues the 
 shoals of herring and other migratory fishes. The flesh is tough bur 
 the Norwegians use the eggs as food, and extract the oil from the livei 
 for its wonderful healing properties. 
 
 The tribe of flat-fish comprehends the turbot, plaice, flounder and sole. 
 
fish. Eight years 
 ncn and since tin n 
 , one of wliich was 
 very beauliful, ana 
 
 dH, surrounded by a 
 s' eye3, whence tlu 
 DOts; the tail is near- 
 ;e to four feet and is 
 vhere it pursues the 
 e flesh is tougli buf 
 the oil from the bvei 
 
 ce, flounder and sole. 
 
 (7(111) 
 
 t " I 
 
 1*1- 
 
 :*! 
 
 if 
 
') 
 
 
 
 710 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 These are generally confined to the muddy banks of the sea, where 
 tile)' can bury themselves as far as the head, for the purpose of cscapiivr 
 their enemies. They seldom rise far from the bottom. h"or tlu- 
 want of an air-bladder to buoy them up, which most of the other fishes 
 possess, they are compelled to use their pectoral fins in a similar ni.ui- 
 ncr as birds use their wings to rise in the air, and this is nt)t done without 
 considerable exertion. They generally swim with their bodies in an ob- 
 lique position and feed on such aquatic animals as come in their wa\'. 
 The halibut, the turbot and others grow to large size. 
 
 The eyes of the whole tribe are situated on one side of the head. While 
 the under parts of their body are of a brilliant white, the upper parts 
 are so colored and speckled as to render them aln ost imperceptible wlu n 
 they are half immersed in the sand or mud. Whenever they see any 
 danger they sink into the mud and there stay motionless. Not bein;^ 
 furnished with any weapons of defense, these fishes owe their securitv lo 
 
 this stratagem. 
 
 liovers of tlie Sea. 
 
 The turbot is found on the northern parts of the English coasi in 
 greater abundance and of greater excellence, than in aii\' other part ot the 
 world. It sometimes measures six feet in width and weighs over two 
 hundred pounds. The left side is brown and covered with small tuber- 
 cles, and the right side or lower surface smooth and white. The eyes 
 are on the left side. It keeps on sandy grounds and is a great wan- 
 derer, usually in companies, living near the bottom, and feeding on 
 small fish, crustaceans and mollusks. Though voracious, it is particu- 
 lar in its choice of food, and will bite at none but fresh bait. Its flesh is 
 white, fat, flaky and delicate, and has been highly esteemed from remote 
 antiquity. The American or spotted turbot, called also New York 
 plaice, and watery flounder, is from twelve to eighteen inches long, and 
 six to eight inches wide, sometimes attaining a weight of twenty pounds. 
 It occurs along the coast of New England and the Middle States, and 
 is a delicious article of food. 
 
 The common species of halibut grows to a length of from three to six- 
 feet, varying in weight from one hundred to five hundred pounds. It i^ 
 found from the coast of New York to Greenland, and also on the northern 
 shores of Europe. In summer it is caught by hook and line in shallow 
 water, retiring to deeper in the winter. It is exceedingly voracious; its 
 flesh is coarse and dry, but much esteemed by some persons when boiled 
 and fried. The fins are considered a delicacy. In many parts of England 
 the turbot and halibut are sold indiscriminately for each other. The\arc 
 
SINGULAR varii:tii:.s of fish I- s. 
 
 11 
 
 i of the sea, wIkto 
 urjjosc of cscapiivr 
 bottom. For tlu- 
 of the otlier fislie- 
 s in a similar ni.ui- 
 is not done without 
 eir bodies in an nh- 
 come in their \va\'. 
 
 of the licad. While 
 e, the upiXT pai ts 
 imperceptible wlu n 
 never they see any 
 onless. Not bein;T 
 )we their securitv to 
 
 »e English coast in 
 an\' other part of the 
 id weighs o\-er two 
 •d with small tuber- 
 d white. The e\'cs 
 and is a great wan- 
 Dm, and feedini; on 
 icious, it is particu- 
 sh bait. Its flesh is 
 :eemed from remote 
 ;d also New York 
 en inches long, and 
 it of twenty pounds. 
 Middle States, and 
 
 of from three to six 
 idred pounds. It is 
 also on the northern 
 and line in shallow 
 ngly voracious ; its 
 :)ersons when boiled 
 ny parts of England 
 ch other. Thevarc 
 
 however perfectly distinct. The eyes of the turbot are on the left, whilst 
 those of the halibut are on the right of the head. 
 
 Tlie common flounder of Massachusetts varies in length from ten to 
 twenty-two inches, and in color from dull slate to rust>- and biackish-bnnvn ; 
 the scales are small and the surface is smooth. Mounders are \er\- tena- 
 cious of life and may be transported considerable tii->iances, and ma}' i)e 
 naturalized in brackish and e\en in fiesh water. Tlv,' distortion of the 
 flounder family admirably adapts them for suinuningon tlu- bottom, where 
 the situation of t)oth ex'cs on the upper surface of the head allows an e'.K- 
 
 SI'IN(i SF.A-I>ORCUPINE. 
 
 tensive range of vision. The common sole has the body more elongated 
 than in most flat-fishes, with a blunt and rounded muzzle. The length is 
 from ten to twenty inches and the color runs from dark brown above and 
 white below. It inhabits the sandy shores of Great Britain, and is one of 
 the best and most delicious fishes for the table. The New York sole is 
 si.K to eight inches long, ilark brown, marked transversely with irregular 
 black bands, and has small scales. It is found from Nantucket to Nortii 
 Carolina. 
 
 Sea-porcupine is a common name of fishes with comb-like gills and 
 spines, with which the body is studded. In one genus the spines are 
 
I 
 
 ¥9 
 
SINGULAR VARIETIES OK FISHES. 
 
 •i:i 
 
 lont^, thin, sharp with two root-like processes and capable of erection. 
 There are nine species, of which three occur on the coasts of the United 
 States under the name of balloon fish. They are not uncommon on the 
 coasts of Massachusetts and New York, where they ^^o by the names of 
 puffer and swell fish, ^lobe fish, urchin fish and spine bell\-. 
 
 Sturgeon is the name of cartilaginous hshes of the class of gan<iids. 
 The)' are generally large and inhabit the northern temperate sea.s of both 
 ciiasts of America, eastern Eurojie and western Asia, from which they 
 ascend the rivers in s{)ring to si)awn. returning- tt> the salt water in 
 autumn. Some species are also found in the great American fresh water 
 lakes. Their food consists of any soft substances which they stir up 
 from the bottom with '-=^=^=^- 
 their snout, and of 
 fish. lhe\' tre- 
 quentl}' jump out of '^^_, 
 the water. 
 
 The common stur- 
 
 freon of Europe attains S*^^| | 
 
 a length of si.x to ten 1^^^^^ 
 feet and sometimes ^^- ' "^'^ *-»^ 
 more. It is found in r;/ '"^ 
 the Caspian and Black 
 Sea^, antl the ri\-ers 
 opening into them, 
 anil sometimes on tiie 
 coasts of Great Rritain 
 and the l^altic. The 
 
 flesh is largelv con- globe Fisii .\nd sun-f^ 
 
 sinned in Russia, fi-esh, salted, and nickled. A larg ^ species also found in 
 the seas and rivers of southeastern Europe is the beluga, attaining a 
 length of twelve to fifteen fet,'t and a weight of twelve hundred pounds, 
 and occasionally much larger. It ascends the ri\ers opening into the 
 l'as|)ian and Black Seas with other and smaller .species. Its fiesli is 
 tough, its air bladder furnishes a supply of isinglass, for which great 
 numbers are caught in Russia, h'rom the roe of the female, which some- 
 times constitutes one-third of the weight of the fish, caviare, a dish once 
 considered a delicac)- b)- some, is made. The skin is used for harness 
 leather, and the dorsal cord, cut in pieces and dried, is used as food. 
 
 The sterlet, fovnitl in the C.ispian ^ea, furnishes a mo.st delicious food 
 anil the best ea\iare. In North .America sturgeons are not found norih of 
 
 iili 
 
ih 
 
 714 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 ^ 
 
 ir 
 
 it 
 
 i 
 
 5? . ' ■ 
 
 
 1 
 
 ■i V 
 
 where the mean annual temperature is about thirty-tlirec degrees. They 
 seldom enter clear cold streams, hut ascend muddy ri\-ers in lar<4e num- 
 bers. 
 
 The sharp-nosed sturgeon attains a length of three to seven feet; it 
 is found on the coasts of New England, New Brunswick and No\-a .Scotia, 
 and is common in Long Island Sound from the middle of June to Octo- 
 ber. Tt is taken by harpoon and in nets. The short-nosed sturgeon 
 attains a length of two to five feet, and is so common in the Hudson that 
 its flesh in the market has been known as iMbany beef 
 
 In some ri\-ers of Virginia sturgeons are found in such numbers that 
 si.K hundred have been taken in two days with no more trouble than put- 
 ting down a pole with a hook at the end to the bottom, and draw in;.; it 
 up again on feeling it rub against a fish. '1 hey are, however, chiclly 
 caught in the night with harpoons, being attracted by the light of torches. 
 The fecundity of this fish is e.vceedingly great. 
 
 The globe fishes are most remarkably constituted. They are coxcixd 
 merely with a multitude of sharp spines, differing in length and nunihcr 
 in \arious .species; their number, when they are small in size, compensat- 
 ing for their inferiority. Defended b}' a host of s[)eai"s, to Ijc levelled at 
 pleasure, they are safe, for the}- severely wound tlu; mouth of every lish 
 that \entures to snap at them as prey, or the hand that attempts to cap- 
 ture them. But independently of these defensive arms, they are endowed 
 with a power which renders them still less exposed to the attacks of their 
 enemies. This power consists in distending themselves with air, so as to 
 resemble balls of spines, and of floating on the surface of the water. 
 Thus di.stcnded and floating, they are always upside down, and so carried 
 along. When these fishes wish to rise to the surface, in order to avoid 
 danger, they distend themselves to the full, which brings out all the spines 
 in battle array, and so mount rapidly upwards. When they wish to de- 
 scend again into the deep, they contract the sides of the body, compress 
 the air, assume an elongated form, which is that of the body in reality, 
 and thus gradually sink. 
 
 Two .species of sun-fish are occasionally seen off our coasts, of which 
 the short sun-fish is the most common. This fish is of circular form, and 
 though there is a caudal fin, united to the dorsal fin and the under fin, 
 there is no tail. The jaws are armed with an undivided cutting ed^e. 
 This fish is very shining ; it often grows to a great size, and has been 
 taken weighing three hundred pounds, but such large specimens are veiy 
 rare. 
 
 .- I* 
 
-ee degrees. They 
 i\crs in lar^c nuin- 
 
 :e to se\-en feet ; it 
 ;k and Nova Sent in, 
 111.' of June to ( )(_to- 
 ort-no-^ed sturLfcon 
 in the 1 ludson that 
 ■f 
 
 sueh numbers that 
 re trouble than ])iit- 
 ;om, and draw :n;j, it 
 ,re, however, chiell)- 
 the light of torehc.s. 
 
 They are coxcivd 
 
 length and nunihcr 
 
 1 in si/e, eonipensat- 
 
 irs, to he levelled at 
 
 mouth of ever)- iish 
 
 lat attempts to cap- 
 
 s, they are endowx d 
 
 ) the attaeks of their 
 
 res with air, so as to 
 
 u-face of tile water. 
 
 lown, and so carried 
 
 :, in order to avoid 
 
 igs out all the spines 
 
 en they wish to de- 
 
 the body, compress 
 
 the body in reality, 
 
 n\T coasts, of which 
 of circular form, and 
 and the under fin, 
 ivided cutting ed[j;e. 
 : size, and has been 
 e specimens are very 
 
 SHOOTING SEALS. 
 
 (715) 
 
 r 
 
 l\ 
 
 'i 
 
 It' 
 
 ill 
 
 5).». 
 
* :.'■: 
 
 f • ; 
 
 i > 
 
 mmm 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 ciiArri'-.R \ii. 
 
 WANDERKRS IN Till-: WORLD OK WATI-.RS. 
 
 Hairy Creatures Roamin.-j^ in the Deep— Immense \'ariety of |elly-I'"ishes — The 
 Shiiiiiii^ Sea — " Myriatls of LiviiiL,' Points" — Batiiers llntanyled in Hair— Portu 
 guese Man-of-War— The "Jelly" Curiously Horn — Hunt,'er never SatisfiLcl— 
 The Tnuik Fisli— Mailed Rovers of the Sea— A I'Msii with Spurs -Famous Nar- 
 whal — Extraordinary Weapon — Finest ivory in the World— Old Superstitious 
 Notions— The Race of Sticklebacks— ^A Spiny Covering -Strong Defence a,t;ainst 
 I'oes — Sticklebacks in a Tub — Tr\ing to Swallow an Eel — Fishes lUiiiclin;' 
 Nests — Desperate Fighters — Nest lUiilder Discovered by Agassiz — Great Trav- 
 ellers — Unlimited Greediness — The Fan Fish- Native of Indian Waters— l.nmi) 
 Sucker— Strange-Looking Creature — The SeaSnail — Sucker Fish — A ]'"ish that 
 Sticks— Towed Free by other Fishes — Riding Hundreds of Miles without Mov- 
 ing a Fin — Harness P'ish— Tootiiless Swinuiier — Delicious Eating— Hard Ar 
 mor — Marvelous Turbot — Turbot Fisiiing — The Sly Silurus — IVchin L'isii— 
 l^alloon of the Ocean — Air Out and Fish I'nder Water— Arrow Pike— A Dart 
 in the Sea — Hearty Eater — Vast Size— Real "Old Salt" — Sharks and their 
 p,.„s 
 
 F the growth of the jcll\--fish an intcfcstini^^ stor\- may be told. 
 A little ()\al both', C()\ered with \er)' fine hairs, swam ab(uit in 
 the sea for some da\-s, and then fixed itself by its smaller lower 
 end. The opposite end now became depressed, the fmir corners 
 beceinie lengthened, and these were soon changed into tentacles, which Sd 
 miilti[)lied as to cover the upi)er end. Then ti'ans\erse wrinkles might he 
 obser\'ed on the body at regular distances, appearing first abo\e anil \ci\- 
 slight, afterwards extending downwards, btit all growing deeper aiu! 
 deeper, the edge of each one becoming serrated, or saw-like, so that the 
 creature [)rcseiits the ap[)earance of a pine cone, surmoimted by a tiifi d 
 tentacles. A separation is meanwhile going on, until the divisions rescnihlc 
 a pile of cups placed within each otlier. The upper ring is first detacluil, 
 the others successively follow, and each one continues its development 1)\ 
 itself, luitil it becomes a complete medu.sa, or jelly-fish. Thus what w a- 
 at first a single individual becomes, bv minute division, a number of cii 
 tirely distinct animals. Moreover, the upper segment is not de\-elopc(i 
 like the rest: it is intended merelv to favor their growth bv securing and 
 preparing the substances they need ; and its office appears to be per- 
 formed as soon as the other .segments begin to be dependent. 
 (716) 
 
\v.\xi)i:rf.rs in tiii: world of watiirs. 
 
 VATRRS. 
 
 ( )f\\\c jelly-fishes there is an iiniuense \ariety : 
 
 Some in Inigc masses, some tliat you may l)rins: 
 In llie small ((jinpass ola lady's rini; ; 
 Figured by liand divine, there's not a gem, 
 Wrouglit by man's art, to be compared with them. 
 
 They consist ,i;encrally, when full L;n)\vn, of a lari^e, circular, , gelatinous 
 disk, convex abo\e, and sonieuhat concave on the luuler surface, fioin 
 \\hich the feedin.i,^ or-ans lian;^ pendent. Straiv^^e to say, little tlshcs, 
 ilarmed by the .siL;ht of an eneni)-, rush under this mushroom or um- 
 bre'la-likv, form, to remain tmtil the danq;er ispa>l, and the-n emerge a^ain 
 to sport and play about their shelteriuL,'' friend. I'resh lit^ht is bein;^r con- 
 tinually thrown on the structure, \'arieties, and habits of the ji'Ilv-fish ; and 
 tJK' more we know <>f them, the greater is our astonishment and admira- 
 tion. 
 
 Astounding, indeed, is the stoi-j'ofa medusa's growth; }-el, if possible, 
 >lill more so is the fact that this creature has eyes, each of which is agela- 
 liiious spherule of a drt-p red tint, protected on each side liy two jjaiis of 
 JMiig, pendant lobes. When crushetl beneath the compn'ssorum. it dis- 
 (.iiarged a multitude of prisms of In'giily refractile substance, set close 
 
 together. 
 
 Uni'ivuIhMl lirilliaiiry oJ' <Im' Oreaii. 
 
 Night often presents to the voyager a phosphorescent scene (.f unri\ ailed 
 
 splendor and beauty. It is as if the .sea were an immense ])lane of glass 
 
 studded with diamonds of the first magnitude ; orasiftlu: liuninou.s points 
 
 with which its whole surtace is literally bestrewed were s[)arks of fire- 
 
 If they are regarded, as the\' ha\-e been, as efflorescences of flanu;, lh(.y 
 
 pass the side.s of tiie \-essel e\ery nioment, and form in her wake a traiu of 
 
 brilliancy such as no ccMiiet " e'er drew o'er half the heavens." .Sir Walter 
 
 Scott thus pictures it in \i\id words : — 
 
 Awaked before the rushing prow, 
 The mimic fires of ocean glow. 
 Those lightnings of the wave ; 
 Wild sparkles crest the broken tides. 
 And flashing roiuul, liie vessel's sides 
 
 With elfish lustre lave ; 
 While far behind, their livid light 
 To the dark billows of the night 
 A gloomy splendor gave. 
 
 Poppig in his " Voyage to Chili," .says : From the top-mast tiie sea 
 appeared, as far as the eye could reach, of a dark red color, and thi.s in a 
 streak the breadth of which was estimated at six miles. As we sailed 
 slowly along, we found that the color changed into a brilliant purple, so 
 
 .<! V. 
 
 sW 
 
 
 !f< 
 
 1-^ 
 
 n«h. 
 
 Willi 
 
I) 
 
 
 *■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 718 
 
 EARTFI, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 m 
 
 bir 
 
 that even the foam which is seen at the stern of a shij) under sail, \va- if 
 a rose color. The si^'ht was very striking', because this purple streak \\,i-, 
 marked by a very distinct line from the blue waters of tiie sea, a circiuu- 
 stance which we the more easily observed, because our course lay directlv 
 throu,i,di the midst of this streak, which extended from south-east to nnrth- 
 west. The water taken 'ip in a basket appeared, indeed, quite transpan nt 
 but a faint purple tin<;e was perceptible when a few drops were placed U[ (-n 
 a piece of white china, and moved rapidly backwards and forwards in tin. 
 sunshine. 
 
 Iii(iiii(«> Xiiiiitiors of Aiiiiiialciilos. 
 
 A moderate mai;nifyinL; <^lass showed these little red dots, which only 
 with ^reat attention could be discovered with the naked eye, to consist n( 
 animalcules, which were of a s[)herical form, entirely destitute of all exier- 
 nal or^Ljans of motion. We sailed for four hours, at a mean rate of six 
 miles an hour, through this streak, which was seven miles broad, befoic 
 we reached the end of it; and its superficies mu.st, therefore, have hvax 
 about a hundred and sixty-ei<jiit scjuare miles. If we add that these ani 
 mals ma)' have been ecpially distributed in the upi)(.'r stratum of water to 
 the depth of six feet, we must confess that their numbers infinitely sur- 
 passed the conception of the human understanding. 
 
 Hence Crabbe says to the sea-side visitor — 
 
 Willie thus, with pleasinu: wonder, you inspect 
 Treasures the vul.L;ar in their scorn reject. 
 See as they float alouf; the entangled weeds, 
 Slo\vI\' approacli, upborne by l)Iadcl<,'ry reeds; 
 Wait till they land, ami yuu shall then behold 
 The fiery sparks those tangled fronds enfold ; 
 Myriads of living points : the unaided eye 
 Can but the fire, and not the form, descry. 
 
 Spallanzani affirms that this phosphorescence is owin^, in the medusrc, 
 to a glutini)us substance issuing from certain parts of the bod)'. Ex- 
 pressed into different liquids, as into salt water, but especially into froh 
 water, warm, or milk, it gives to them a phosphoric light. A single jell\- 
 fish, he says, thus expressed into twenty-seven ounces of cow's milk, ren- 
 dered it so resplendent that wc might have read the character of a letter 
 by it at the distance of three feet. The dead medusa possessed for a con- 
 siderable time its phosphorescence, and it was renewed by pouring water 
 upon it, even some time after it had ceased to shine. 
 
 Two jelly-fishes, out of an immense variety, are, according to Forbes, 
 the only true nettles of our seas. One of these — the hairy cyanea — has a 
 dingy, dark-brown disk, about a foot across, and it drags after a great 
 
WANDKRI'.RS I\ THF. WORLD OF WATERS. 
 
 711^ 
 
 ) undcT sail, wa^ if 
 
 s purple streak \v,i, 
 
 tiu,' Sea, a circimi- 
 
 coursc lay dircctlv 
 
 ;oiith-cast to north- 
 
 , tpiitc transpari. Ill 
 
 )s were placed u] . n 
 
 and forwards in ih,. 
 
 •d tlots, which iinlv 
 •tl eye, to consist ol" 
 estitute of all exter- 
 a mean rate of six- 
 miles broad, befi-iL' 
 icrefore, have l)rLii 
 atld that these aiii 
 stratum of water to 
 ibers infinitelv sur- 
 
 pect 
 
 Is. 
 ds; 
 )ld 
 d; 
 
 intj, in the medus.T, 
 of the body. \ix- 
 L^spccially into fresli 
 jht. A siny;le jelly 
 ; of cow's milk, rcn- 
 character of a letter 
 oossessed for a coii- 
 :d by pouring water 
 
 xording to Forbrs, 
 lairy cyanea — has a 
 drags after a great 
 
 number of fiLiments, like coarse hair. Woe to the bather who comes into 
 contact with one, for to get out of its entangling meshc-s seems impossible, 
 until the creature, finding its course impeded, uncoils its liair, and leaves 
 liiin to himself W'e ha\e known more than one instance of <rrcat suffer- 
 ing from such an accident. There a[)pears a considerable redness in the 
 parts which ha\e been t(nichcd, and swellings of the same color. Dicciue- 
 niare .sa\-s : After the end of some da}'s, when the pain is gone by, ilie 
 heat of the Led will cause the blisters of the skin to re-api)ear. 
 
 SiKltlcii Collapso. 
 
 Another singular fact should not be onn'tted. If a common i'-llv-fish be 
 taken from the sea or the shore in some vessel and cairietl home, and if it 
 be looked for a few hours after, it will be gone. All that remains will be 
 water, not distinguishable by tlie chemest fnMU sea-water, except a small 
 piece of membrane: }'et these, with life, f.)rmed a medusa — a creature 
 with many powers. 
 
 Jell)'-fishes would hardly be seen in the water, were it not for their 
 bi'autiful colors. The common \arieties mo\c by the alternate coiUrac- 
 ioiis and dilations of the gelatinous disk; others, like the Portugese 
 man-of-war, have a large vesicle, which sup[)orts the whole coinmunit\- at 
 the surface of the ocean, motion being effected l)y the C(jntractile tenta- 
 cles and the contraction of the air bladder 
 
 This class presents the curious phenomena of alternate generations. 
 The " tubularia," common in pool-, left by the tide, hangs like a Hower 
 fioiu a slender tube, with the mouth surrounded by tentacles, each ani- 
 mal connected with the rest of the C(jmmunit\- and each mouth receiving 
 nutriment for the whole. The \-oung of this h\'drt)id do not resemble 
 the parent, but are little, delicate, translucent jell\--fishes, like little ( ups, 
 from which hang down long threads and a proboscis at the end, which is 
 the mouth. B\' the side of the buds branching out from the jjarent hang 
 bunches of little s[)heres, from wiiich the jelly-fishes are produced. 
 Along the proboscis of the floating cups are other spheres of eggs from 
 which are produced little pear-shaped bodies, which grow into the first 
 mentioned branching hydroid. The grandparent therefore resembles the 
 ^n-andchild and the hydroid is reproduced through a generation of jelly-, 
 
 fishes. 
 
 A Huiifrry Race of Creatures. 
 
 Some very handsome jelly-fishes do not originate from any hydroid, 
 
 but reproduce themselves by eggs. They are very voracious, feeding 
 
 upon minute crustaceans, almost any small marine creatures, decaying 
 
 animal or vegetable matter, and even their own species. 
 
 
 ''!n- 
 
 r « f 
 
 « . ■*; 
 
(720) 
 
WANDERERS IN THl- WoRI.D Ol' WATERS. 
 
 7-) 
 
 721 
 
 The Portugese man-of-war is ver)- poisonous to the touch. In picking 
 up .specimens stranded on tlie .shore of Key West, Ma., the hands offish*^ 
 ormeii have been severely stung by them, the burning, smarting pain 
 lasting for hours. It may be compared to a coh)ny of hwhactinia, in 
 which there are nutritive and reproductive zooids antl inechi-a buds. 
 
 'Ill 
 
 n 
 
 
 ) I 
 
 n 
 
 r^ 
 
 ^OL,^f^»fe 
 
 KICMAKKAHI.I': TKl NK-IISII. 
 
 Some of the.sc jelly-fishes arc \er>- small, not larger than the head of a 
 ])in. 
 
 The trunk or C(jffer-fish belongs t<i the class of mailed fi.shes ; most 
 of its body being covered with a iiard shell, made up of hexagonal plates 
 fimily united together along the edges. These plates are generally 
 Muitc rough and so arranged a.s to present a very ornamental appearance. 
 
 
 'i 
 
 'M' ■ 
 
 
 \ 
 
 "'{[ 
 
 
 •J- 
 
 iii 
 
 HI 
 
Ill , 'f?"';:^'-^ 
 
 I 
 
 722 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 The mouth of the fish is small with prominent teeth, iim\ the dorsal and 
 ventral fins are situated far back near the tail, v/here the coverinj:^ of the 
 body is soft, so that the fins, including the caudal extremity can be u-jd 
 in propellinL,^ the body through the water. 
 
 In some species there are a number of sharp spurs on different parts 
 of the body. This fish is found mostly in tropical waters, where it ofte;! 
 grows to a length of a foot or more. Specimens are also t ken now and 
 then along the shores farther north. It is of no practical value as a fnod- 
 fish and very little is known about its habits, or the animals upon which 
 it feeds. It is very clumsy and can easily be caught by the hand. 
 
 Formei'ly the strong and imperishable shell, or armors of tlic trunk- 
 fish were collected and brought to Europe as a curiosity. The trunk- 
 fish is believed to be poisonous ; the stomach is membranous and very 
 large; the liver is also large, often yielding a considerable quantity df 
 oil. Yale's trunk-fish, found on the coast of Massachusetts and Xew 
 York, has two abdominal spines. 
 
 The Narwlial. 
 
 A well-known denizen of the northern seas, the sca-unicorn, better 
 known as tiie narwhal, from the Gothic, signifying " beaked whale," is no 
 less interesting. The head of the narwhal is round and convex in fnnit, 
 the lower jaw being without teeth, while from the upper jaw springs the 
 curious weapon which gives this animal its world-wide reputation. It i- 
 only in the male that this strange beak is developed, it being merely the 
 development of the left tusk, which increases rapidly till it becomes a 
 long, spiral, ta[)ering rod of ivor}-, sometimes attaining the length of W-n 
 feet. Speculation as to the purpose of the narwhal's horn has been baf- 
 fled, though that it is employed in some definite task is evident from the 
 fact that the tip is always smooth and polished, however rough and ui- 
 crusted it ma\' be toward the base. It is probable that it is a weapon u[ 
 attack, for narwhals have been often seen to joust and playfully chaiL^fe 
 each other, fencing with their long ivory lances as they churn up the sea 
 , in swift charges. So it is probable that the narwhal horn is analogous to 
 the tusk of the boar or horn of the deer. 
 
 The i\or}' of the narwhal's horn is remarkably hard, solid, close ir 
 fiber; perhaps a better article than the tusk of the walrus or the elephant. 
 It has, therefore, a very considerable commercial value. In former tiiiiev 
 the entire tusk was believed to be of incalculable value. Supposed to be 
 obtained from that fabled animal, the unicorn, it had. it was imagined, nia;.,'- 
 ical qualities, among which was that of transforming the deadliest poisons 
 into harmless potions. 
 
, and the dorsal :in(I 
 
 the coveriivj^ of the 
 
 :tremity can be u-jd 
 
 rs on different part^ 
 vuters, where it often 
 J also t ken now and 
 tical value as a foml- 
 aninials upon which 
 t by the hand, 
 armors of the trunk- 
 iriosity. The trunk- 
 lembranous and very 
 isiderable quantity of 
 ssachusetts and New 
 
 le sca-unicorn, better 
 " beaked whale," is no 
 d and convex in frimt, 
 upi)er jaw springs the 
 vide reputation. It i- 
 :d, it beini^ merely the 
 Mdly till it becomes a 
 ning the lenj^th of ten 
 il's horn has been haf- 
 sk is evident from the 
 3wever rough and en- 
 
 that it is a weapon ^l 
 : and playfully char;^': 
 
 they churn up the sea 
 al horn is analogous to 
 
 y hard, solid, close ir 
 walrus or the elephant, 
 alue. In former times 
 . alue. Supposed to be 
 1, it was imagined, ma;,!- 
 the deadliest poisons 
 
 WANDERERS IX THE WORLD OF WATERS. 
 
 I --I 
 
 This antidotal ([uality was necessary to the unicorn, w hich was sup- 
 -v.sctl to li\c in deserts among loathsome beasts and poisonous reptiles. 
 When the unicorn went to the springs and ])o()ls whieh had been poisonetl 
 b\' the contact of other wnomous mouths, the- simjjlc dipping of his horn 
 in the water made it pure again. Thus, in those days when kings sus- 
 pected poison in e\er\- wine ehalice, the pos.scssion of this supijoseel uni- 
 corn's horn eased their ro\-al minds not a little. 
 
 The narwhal is held in great esteem in (ireenland, for, independent of 
 its value, it is a harbinger of the connngof the whale. The ivory of tlie 
 
 tusk is put to a great variet\' of uses, anil many a narw hal perisiies b\' 
 means of the tooth which has been extracted from some neai' kinsman. 
 It is easily slain, as it possesses no great j 
 
 )ouer o 
 
 f d 
 
 l\ln'^ 
 
 It 
 
 seldom de- 
 
 scends over two lumdretl fatlujins l)elow the surface, and when it rises 
 the animal is so tired as to be easily killed by a speai- thrust. Whaling 
 slii[)s are alwaj's on the outlook for narwhals, on account of both the oil 
 and the ivory, and lances are used to ca[)ture the pla_\-ful animals, w hich 
 seem to have but little fear, and gather around the fatal boats with great 
 curiosity. As they congregate in large herds, a very large catch is often 
 a matter of only a few hours. 
 
 
 ,1 J 
 
 ill 
 

 724 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 Their tusk is a long, hard, spiral and sharp pointed weapon which pro- 
 jects from the anterior part of the upper jaw. When urged with all tl.' ir 
 force it will penetrate even into the solid timbers of a ship and the body of 
 no animal is sufficiently hard to resist its effects. The tletached weapon , nf 
 the narwhal are deposited in many cabinets as the horns of the fal)ulcMis 
 quadruped the unicorn. The females produce each a single young one at 
 birth and this they nourish for several months with milk. 
 
 The Sti<'kIH)ji<lvs, 
 
 Several species of stickleback are found in fresh water ponds aiui 
 streams, and one species exists in tlie salt water. They are very active 
 and voracious, and live on aquatic insects and worms. They are inch: 
 ded, under a great diversity of names, in the Natural Historj' of e\cr\- 
 luiropean country. They should even exist as far as Greenland, if it bo 
 true indeed that Fabricius saw there the same .species, and not some one 
 of those of America. 
 
 Their extreme multiplication is surprising, for the eggs of the stickle- 
 backs are large, and they cannot lay many of them. It is true, on the 
 one hand, that they have but little to dread from other fishes, as tlicv 
 are defended against them by short and sharp spines ; but they haw in- 
 ternal and external enemies by which they are unceasingly tormented. 
 Thus, one species attaches itself to the skin, and sucks their blood, while 
 another sometimes almost fills the entire abdomen, compressing their 
 intestines, and reducing them to a very small space. 
 
 Bloch assures us that these fishes live but three years. They are ex- 
 tremely agile, lively in their movements, and of an active disposition. 
 Backer states that they leap vertically out of the water, to more than the 
 height of a foot, and that in an oblique direction they can make sprinj;s 
 st.n more considerable, when they are obliged to pass over stones or 
 other obstacles. They can subsist a tolerably long time out of the water, 
 especially when they fall into the humid grass. Their voracity is ex- 
 cessive. Backer has seen a stickleback devour, in the course of five 
 hours, seventy-four new-born fish, of one species. 
 
 Tlu> Three-Spiiu^d Stickloba<k. 
 
 The stickleback with three spines is the most common species, and i.s 
 distinguished by the body being protected at the sides with shield-like 
 plates, and the possession of three spines on the back. It is of an olive- 
 color above, and silvery white beneath, and varies from two to throe 
 inches in length. In the breeding .season, the male assumes a pink hue 
 on the under parts of the body, and the general color of the upper parts 
 is brighter, and often green. 
 
WANDKRERS IN THE WORLD OF WATERS. 
 
 72.-) 
 
 , weapon which pro- 
 ur^^cd with all their 
 ship ami the b(xl\- df 
 detached weapon-, of 
 oriis of the fabulnus 
 L sint^lc young one at 
 lilk." 
 
 h water ponds and 
 L'hey are very active 
 IS. They are inch: 
 ral Histor}' of e\ery 
 IS Greenland, if it be 
 ^s, and not some one 
 
 • eggs of the stickle- 
 II. It is true, on the 
 other fishes, as they 
 s ; but they ha\ e in- 
 :easini;ly tormented, 
 ks their blood, while 
 1, compressing; their 
 
 rears. They are ex- 
 1 active disposition, 
 ter, to more than the 
 ey can make springs 
 pass over stones (^r 
 ime out of the water, 
 Their voracity is cx- 
 n the course of five 
 
 mmon species, and i.s 
 sides with shield-like 
 :k. It is of an olive- 
 s from two to three 
 I assumes a pink hue 
 or of the upper parts 
 
 A naturalist thus describes the habits of these fishes, during their con- 
 finement in a tub: — When a few arc first turned in, they swim about 
 in a shoal, apparently exploring their new habitali(.)n. Suddenly one w ill 
 take possession of a particular corner of the tub, or, as it will sometimes 
 happen, of the bottom, and will instanth' commence an attack on his 
 companions; and if any one of them ventures to oppose his swa\-, a reg- 
 ular and most ferocious battle ensues. 
 
 SI'INV sriCKI KliACKS AND NEST. 
 
 I once .saw a very lively stickleback engaged in taking its prey troiii a 
 clump of sea-weed, in doing which it assumed every posture between 
 the horizontal and perpendicular, vv'ith the head downward or upward, 
 thrusting its projecting snout into the crevices of the stones, and seizing 
 its prey with a spring. 
 
 Having taken this fish with a net, and transferred it to a vessel .if 
 water, in comoany with an eel of three inches in length, it was nut !on? 
 
 mm 
 
 r 
 

 1 
 
 72») 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 before the latter was attacked and devoured headforemost — not, indeed 
 altogether, for the eel was tcjo large a morsel, so that the tail remained 
 hanging out of the moutii ; and it was obliged at last to disgorge the 
 eel partly digested. It also seized from the surface a moth that fell on 
 the water, but threw up the wings. The effect of the passions on Uic 
 color of the skin in the species of this genus is remarkable; and ihc 
 specimen now spoken nf, under the influence of terror, from a dark olive 
 with golden sides, changed to pale for eighteen hours, when it as siul- 
 dedly regained its former tints. It spawns in spring, and the young, 
 not half an inch in length, are seen along the sea-margin in summer. 
 A Fish lliat 3Iak«>s ji Nost undj'r "Wator. 
 
 Nearly thirty years agi>, the following remarks were made by an intel- 
 ligent observer, unaequ.iinted with Natural History as a science, and 
 who was not aware of what was then closely .studied by others on a kin- 
 dred species : In a large dock for shipping on the river Thames, thous- 
 ands of pricklefish were bred some years ago, and I have often amused 
 myself for hours by observing them. While multitudes have been en- 
 joying themselves near the shore in the warm sunshine, others have 
 been busily engaged in making their nests — if a nest it may be called. 
 It consisted of the very minutest pieces of straw or sticks, the exact 
 color of the ground at the bottom of the water, on which it was laid, so 
 that it was next to an impossibility for persons to discover the nest, un- 
 less they saw the fish at work, or observed the eggs. 
 
 The nest hT* a top or cover, with a hole in the centre, in which arc 
 deposited the eggs or spawn. This opening is frequently concealed hy 
 drawing small fragments over it ; but this is not always the case. Many 
 times have I taken up the nest, and thrown the eggs to the multitude 
 around, which they instantly devoured with the greatest voracity. These 
 eggs are about the size of popi)y-seeds. and of a bright \'ellow color: 
 but I have seen them almost black, which I suppose is an indication 
 that they are approaching to life. In making the nest I observed that 
 they used an unusual degree of force when conveying the material to its 
 <lestination. When the fish was about an inch from the nest.itsudtlenly 
 darted at the spot, and left the tiny fragment in its place, after which it 
 would be engaged for half a minute in adjusting it. The nest, when 
 taken up, tlid not separate, but hung together like a piece of wool. 
 
 After this statement was made, Costa ga\e great attention to the habits 
 of the stickleback. lie watched the whole process of the constructinii 
 of the nest, the laying of the eggs by the female, and the care taken n\ 
 them by the male. lie says: The stickleback has the foresight to cover 
 
 
■If 
 
 c forcsi<rht to c^ncr 
 
 WANDERERS IN Tin: WORLD OF WATHRS. 727 
 
 the nest heavily with saml. to prevent its beiiit^ swept away by the 
 waters; and they ^iue toL^ether ihe materials of wliicl: the nest itself is 
 composed, by means of the nuieous exeretion w liieh exudes from their 
 bodies. To make sure that all parts of the nest are united with suffieieiit 
 solidity, the fish suspends himself in the water innnediatel\- aho\e it, with 
 his head downwards, and makes rapid vibrations with hi-, peetoral fins and 
 his tail. By this means, any parts of his duellini; which are not properly 
 constructed at once become loose and detached, and he in>tantl>' darts 
 clown and repairs the defect. 
 
 DuriuLj an entire month, he is the sole L^uardian t)f the ei^'L^s which the 
 females la\' within, and he has to defend them, not oul)- aL,'ainst the 
 attacks of other fishes, but ai^ainst the ferocious antl unnalinal appetites 
 of the parents themseKes. J le remo\es the stones which accumulate at 
 the mouth of the nest, he enlar^^es the oiK-nino;, and !>)• the sini^ular 
 \il)rations of his tail and fins, he changes and purifies the water in the 
 neit;hborhood, and in short he never relaxes his care of the j'oun^;' until 
 they are full}' able to provide for themsel\-es. 
 
 Nt'st-liiiildiu}^ Hussars. 
 
 There are two fishes in Demarara, the flat-headed hassai , and the round- 
 headed hassar, which make nests like the sticklebacks. Sir Richard 
 Schomburgh, when recounting his "Travels in British Guiana," .states 
 that not only does the hassar form a perfect nest for its spawn of all 
 kinds of fibres from among the aquatic plants, but it watches, with the 
 most acti\'c maternal care, till the young brood escape. The nest, like 
 that of the magpie, is a real work of art. In April the hassar begins 
 forming the nest, until it resembles a hollow globe flattened at the Doles, 
 the upper one of which reaches the surface of the water. An orifice, 
 adapted to the size of the mother, opens into the interior. The negroes 
 frequently capture the hassars, by putting their hands in the water, close 
 to the nest ; when the guardian parent, rushing to a repulse of the in- 
 vader, is dextrouslv seized and thrown en the land. 
 
 These two fishes, so much alike in their habits, exhibit a remarkable 
 difference in the material of their nests ; the flat-headed hassar using 
 leaves, and the round-headed forming its fabric of grass. At certain 
 seasons they burrow in the l)ank, and it is only in the rainy season that 
 they make their nests and la>' their eg^^- Often have I been surprised, 
 .says Hancock, to observe the sudden appearance of numerous nests in 
 a morning after rain occurs, the spot being indicated by a bunch of froth 
 which appears on the surface of the water over the nest. Below this the 
 eggs arc placed on a bunch of fallen leaves or of grass (the round head 
 
 ii*= 
 
 IP 
 
 11 «... 
 
Ip^^-"l^>- 
 
 '28 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 H 
 
 Sltliii' 
 
 of grass, the flat head of leaves) which they cut and collect together. 
 By what means this is effected seems ratlier mysterious, as thev arc 
 destitute of teeth. It may possibly be by the use of their serrated arm.s, 
 which form the first ray of the pectoral fiiis. 
 
 Agassiz alludes to a nest-building fish, which he observed in Lake 
 Sebago, in the State of Maine ; and others have been observed in Aus- 
 tralia. Thus, Mitchell says, in his work on "Tropical Australia:" In a 
 dry part of the river (Maronoa). I met with many in.stances of the sin«^- 
 ular habit of the eel-fish or jcw-fish. I had previously observeii else- 
 where, in the aquatic reeds growing in extensive reaches, clear circular 
 openings, show ing '.vhite parts of the bottom, over which one or two 
 fishes continually s>vam round in circles. I now found on the dry bed 
 that such c • •• s r nsisted of a raised edge of sand, and were fitted with 
 stones, somt >Ia.g. ps a man's closed fist. Suranigh, a native, told 
 inc that this was a nc. ' if a pair of these fish, and that they carried the 
 stones there and made it. The general bed of the river, where we saw 
 these nests, consisted wholly of deep, firm sand, and that the fish had 
 some way of carrying the stones to such spots seemed evident. 
 Fishes that siro Groat Travellor.s. 
 
 Nearly all the species of sticklebacks or mackerel are gregarious, and 
 unite in immense shoals. Some of them are migratory, making Ioul; 
 vo)'ages at certain seasons of the \-ear. It is believed that they arc all 
 eatable. From the elegance of its shape, ami the brillianc\' of its colors, 
 the mackerel, u hiii alixc, is (Uie of the most beautiful fish that fre(|UciUs 
 our waters. The mackerel season is a \ery busy and profitable one en tin: 
 Ih'itish coast. They are taken in great quantities b)- drift-nets reachiiiL; 
 about twent\' feet below the surface, and e.xtending for more than a mile. 
 
 The mackerel will Ijite at almost any bait, especiall)' anything resemb- 
 ling a living prey. Their xoracit)' has scarcely any bounds, and when 
 the\' <'et amoncr a shoal of herrings thev make such havoc as fretiuentlv 
 to drive it a\\a\-. After the)- are taken out of the water the\' exhibit a 
 phosphoric light. The sticklebacks recei\e their name from the prom- 
 inent isolated spines, which aie found along the back in front of the doi- 
 .sal fin. The\' are generall\- \ery acti\e, ami are confined to the temper- 
 ate and arctic /.t)nes of the northern hemisphere. Theie are a number of 
 species, which, besides the spines along the back have spines in connec- 
 tion with some of the other fins, and the sides are ifeneralh' ornamented 
 with tjuite large and thick scales, so that the sticklebacks are well pro- 
 tected against most other carni\'orous fishes. The fresh water species gener- 
 ally have nests u ith openings in the sides, and the nests are guarded b\- the 
 
ind collect together, 
 jterious, us they arc 
 f their serrated arms. 
 
 le observed in Lake 
 en observed in Aus- 
 cal Australia:" In a 
 nstances of the sint;- 
 ously observed clse- 
 eaches, clear circular 
 r which one or two 
 )und on the dry bed 
 and were fitted with 
 inigh, a native, told 
 ;hat they carried the 
 ; river, w here we saw 
 and that the fish had 
 ned evident. 
 ■rs. 
 
 :1 arc gregarious, and 
 
 natory, making lon^f 
 
 vcd that they are all 
 
 ifilliancy of its colors, 
 
 ul fish that freiiULiits 
 
 profitable one on tin: 
 
 jy drift-nets rcachin;^ 
 
 for more than a iiiilc. 
 
 lly an\'thing rescnih- 
 
 ^y bounds, and when 
 
 1 havoc as freciucntly 
 
 water the)- exhibit a 
 
 name from the pnmi- 
 
 k in front of the tlor- 
 
 nfiiud to the temper 
 
 here are a nunil)cr n! 
 
 \\c. si)ines in coniicc- 
 
 uenerallv ornamented 
 
 lebacks are well pro- 
 
 h water species gener- 
 
 ;ts arc guarded b\' the 
 
 vvandp:rers in the world of waters. 
 
 •2[f 
 
 males. Tiie fifteen-spined stickleback forms its nests among the sea-weeds, 
 and binds its eggs firmly together until they are hatched, the males guard- 
 ing them meanwhile, the same as do the males of the fresh water species. 
 
 While the common sword-fish is found in the Mediterranean and on 
 both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, the fan-fish is an inhabiUuit of the seas- 
 of the torrid zone, especially the Indian Ocean. It is said to keep itself 
 near the surface of the water so that its large dorsiil fin protrudes. Its 
 mode of living is similar to that of the common sword-fish. 
 
 Tlie lump-sucker is a common and remarkable species of fish inhabiting 
 
 
 S\V(»K1> UK IAN-FISH. 
 
 the Hritish seas, and belmigs to a faniil\- popularly known as sucking- 
 fishes. This one is a large-bodied, small-finned fish, bearing on iis back 
 an elevated crest or ridge, ainl ha\*ing a powerful sucker under its throat, 
 formed of the combined pectorals and ventrals. Before the spawning 
 .season it is of a brilliant crimson C(^lor, mingled with orange, pur[)le, ;uid 
 blue, but afterwards changes to a dull blue or lead color. 
 
 When full-grown it is rough with tubercles, but when \er\- young is 
 smooth and beautifiil, and marked with brilliant stripes of \arious hues. 
 In ihe .seas of the Orkneys, in June, numbers of the >'')ung fish, half an 
 
 iili 
 
 K'' 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 i If'' i 
 
 L 
 
 ili^ 
 
 iilr 
 
 'i 
 
.TTTTr ■ 
 
 
 7;;o 
 
 EARTH, SI'A, AND SKV 
 
 inch in IcnLjth, arc seen saininiing around tlD.itin;^^ sca-wccds. In the oM 
 fish tlic sucker is so powerful that a pail of water, ct)ntainin;4 some iral. 
 Ions, has been lifted up h\- a p^-rson holding; the tail of a lump fish adh. ;•- 
 ini^ to the bottom. It ranges from the shores of Greenland to those nf 
 the south of England, and westward as fir as the coast of North America. 
 The eyes are large, and, it has been said, " made it look like a . ,!t 
 ir (jwl," whence one of its common appellations is the "sea-owl." It i. 
 Laken with lines and hooks j the baits are sand-worms, shell-fisli, herriii • 
 or sprat cut u[). 
 
 •IIII'I .SL'CKKR l'l.-ill. 
 
 This strange-looking fish may often be seen exposed to view in the shups 
 of the London fishmongers. Its flesh, and particularly that of the male, is 
 regarded as excellent. It is chiefly in i\pril and May that the lump-sucker 
 is taken, as it then afiproaches the shore for the purpose of breeding. 
 
 Anotlier genus of this famlK' con-.ists of a number of small fislics 
 which ha\e two disks on the under surface of their bodies, one formed iw 
 the pectoral and the other by the ventral fins. The\- thus adhere t^ 
 stones, rocks, and shells. The\- ha\e wedge-shaped, defenceless bodies, 
 smooth and without scales, often painted with the mo>t defined and 
 
,ccds. In llu' <.M 
 ilainiiv^ .sonic yai- 
 1 hniii) iish aclhi.T- 
 cnland to those of 
 of North America. 
 it l(M)k hkc a L.it 
 ; '* .sea-owl." It i 
 , shell-fish, lierrin.; 
 
 1 to view in the slinps 
 ly that of the malt', is 
 [hat the Innip-siiL-kcr 
 dse of hreedinL;. 
 iber of .small fishes 
 nlies, one formed hy 
 hey thus adhere I' 
 1, defenceless bodies, 
 e mo>t defined and 
 
 \vani3F-:ri:rs i\ tiik wwri.d oi' \vati;r.s. 
 
 '31 
 
 HARNESS FISH. 
 
 and their upper mari^in is beset with fine teeth. By means of this appar- 
 atus these fishes attach them.selves to rocks, ships, or bodies of other fishes, 
 especially sharks, which transport them to places where food is abundant 
 and often from the tropics to the temperate regions. None of the species 
 feed upon the fish to which they are attached, their food beint^ small fishes 
 and floatini^ animals. The ancients believed, that this small fish had tlie 
 power of arrestin<4 the progress of a ship by adherini; to the bottom. 
 
 The harness fish exhibits a great number of bony scales or shi Ids, two 
 strong bones protrude fnMii the upi)er jaw and the mouth is toolliless. It 
 
 i.n 
 
 
 I 
 
 hi 
 
 H 
 
 Siii 
 
 Pi 
 
 j**.,*,.-^ 
 
I" iiPi 
 
 732 
 
 EARTH, SEA AND SKY. 
 
 • '■■;' 
 * 
 
 J I . 
 
 ■ 
 
 is found in the Mediterranean and in parts of the Soiitli Atlantic Sea 
 and only approaches the coast for the purpose of spauiiini;. It is saitl, to 
 hve alone and to be al)le to swim uitli ^neat velocit)-. It feeds on niL-dii- 
 s;u and niollusks and is said to be hij,dil\' esteemed for its fine and dcii- 
 cious flesh. For the purpose of taking' off the armor of this fish bcfr.r-- 
 [jrejiarintj it for the table, it is nccessar)' to scald it, because this arni(;r is 
 impenetrable to the knife. 
 
 Tlir SIu<r(;isli Turbot. 
 
 The turbot is of a shcjrt and broad form, and rather deeper than inaiu- 
 of the flat fishes. Its prevailing; c()k)r is brown, and the whole of the cnj- 
 oretl side is studded with hard and roundish tubercles It is called in 
 Scotland the rawn fleuk, and the rannack fleuk. 7\s the turbot docs 
 not possess the power of ra[)id motion, it would be liable to speed\- cx- 
 termination by its numerous enemies, were it not so formed and endduiil 
 as to render it quick in perceivint; dani^er; while it is also guarded hv 
 its habits, which occasion it constantly to be near the bottom, and also 
 by its color, for while one half of the fish is nearly white, the oilier 
 half ;ip[)roaches to the muddy color of that part of the element 
 in which this fisli resides. The [josition of the eyes is also sin<rulaiiy 
 adapted for .sccurini; its safety. They are not placed on each side 
 of the head, but onl\' on that side which is uppermost when it is in 
 motion. 
 
 The turbot is most active in the night-time, when, perhaps, its enemies 
 arc less viLjilant ; ami in the day-time it lies at the bottom, with its dark- 
 side ujipermost, and is consequently difficult to be distint^uished. It i^ 
 said that, when ap[)rehensi\-c of danger, it will remain perfectly still. 
 Man is, probably, its most active enemy. Great care is necessary in luu- 
 m'^ a suitable bait; foi-, thou;^di xoracious, the turbot is delicate in its 
 choice of food. A piece of herring; or haddock is commonh- useil for a 
 bait, but if it has been twelve hours out of the water, thoucjh not tainted, 
 ihe turbot will not take it. Man\' \'ears ago, and it may still be the case, 
 th'.' Dutch i)in-chased of the Thames fishermen the lesser lampre\-, for 
 bait, to the \ahie of several thousand dollars a }-ear. The Scarboroip^li 
 fishermen were accustomed to obtain a supply by land carriage from the 
 river Wharf, a distance of about sixty miles. 
 
 The fishery is carried forward to the north-eastern coast, h'ach person 
 is provided with three lines, which are coiled upon a flat, oblong 'piece of 
 wicker-work; the hooks being baited, and placed very regularly in the 
 centre of the coil. Each line is furnished with fourteen score of hooks, 
 at the distance of six feet two inches from each other. The hooks 
 
c South Atlantic Sea 
 l\v^inL,^ It is said, tu 
 y. It feeds on nieilu- 
 cl for its fine and deli- 
 nor of this fish Ijcfore 
 because this arnur is 
 
 licr deeper than many 
 1 the whole of the coj- 
 ercles. It is called in 
 As the turbot does 
 e liable to speed}' ex- 
 ) formed and endowed 
 
 it is also guarded by 
 ■ the bottom, and also 
 L-arly white, the other 
 part of the element 
 yes is also sinf^ulaily 
 
 placed on each side 
 permost when it is in 
 
 n, perhaps, its enemies 
 
 bottom, with its dark 
 
 )e distinguished. It is 
 
 remain perfectly still 
 ire is necessary in liav- 
 urbot is delicate in its 
 s commonh' used f^r a 
 ter, thouf^h not tainted, 
 it may still be the case, 
 the lesser lamprey, for 
 •ar. The .Scarborou;^di 
 
 land carriai^e from the 
 
 rn coast, h'ach person 
 1 a Hat, oblonfT piece of 
 1 very re<;ularly in the 
 :)urteen score of hooks, 
 ch other. The hunks 
 
 VVANDKRER.S IN THT: WORLD OV UATER.S. 
 
 •.JO 
 
 arc fastened to the lines upon " steads" of twisted horse-hair, twenty-seven 
 iiiehes in lengtli. 
 
 When fishiuLj, there arc alwa>s three nun in each boat, and conse- 
 quently, nine of these lines are fastened toi^ether and used as one line, 
 extending nearly three miles, and furnislu'd with two thousand fwv hun- 
 dred and twent)' liooks. An anchor and a buo\- are hxed at the first end 
 
 OLD AND YOUNG SILURUS. 
 
 of tile line, and one more of each at the end of each man's line; in all, 
 four anciiors, which are commonly perforated stones, and four buoys, 
 made of 1-ather or cork. The line is always laid across the current, and 
 remains on the ground about six hours, as it can only be shot or hauled 
 at the turn of the title. The rapidity of the tide on this coa.st prevents 
 the use of hand-lines, and therefore two of the men, commonly .rap 
 
 1;. : 
 
 M 
 
 ' V . i 
 
 I'r 
 
1') 
 
 w 
 
 K 
 
 734 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKV 
 
 thciTiscKcs in a sail and sleep, while tlic other keeps a shar[) lookout, (o 
 observe tiie weather, and from fear of bein<^ run iloun by ships. 
 
 The boat is abcnit one ton in burden, rather more than twenty feet l<.iv\ 
 extreme breadth fi\e feet, ami it is rowed with three- [)airs of oars. A 
 larger description ot boat is also used in the ScarborouL^h turbot rislicr\. 
 It is forty feet K nii;, tlfteen broad, anel of t\\ ent\--fi\e t( ms burden, and is call- 
 ed the " ti\ <.■ men boat," lhoUL;h usuall)' na\ igaled by six men and a boy ; Inii 
 one of the men is hired to cook, and does not share in the protils with the 
 other five. When they reach the fishinj^-ground thev anchor, and piocccd 
 to fish, and beinij provided with a double set of lines, the\- haul one ami 
 shoot another every turn of the tiile. The\' y;enerally run into harl)ur 
 twice a week to deli\er their fish. Similar means arc emplo\-ed aloni; \W- 
 .southern coasts, but the London market is chiell)- supplietl b}- the iJuiuh 
 fishermen. 
 
 The fishinc]^ season commences in March, ami terminates in AuL;ll^l. 
 The Dutch are supjjosed to ha\L' drawn not less than hall" a million dol- 
 lars a \-ear, for the sup[)l}' of this fish to the London market alone. Tin- 
 I'jii^h'sh fishermen purchase at sea larL;el\' of thel^utch ; ne\ertheless, the 
 Dutch send lioats latlen with turbot up the Thames, each boat brin;4iiv.; 
 about one hundred and fifty fish. The Danes also are saiil to derive alaiL^*' 
 income for .sauce to this lu.\ury of the table, extracted from a million of 
 lobsters taken on the rock)- shores of Norway. The finest turbot are taken 
 on the Flemish banks, ami the banks called Broad Forties. l''.xcellent h-li 
 are also taken bv the h'rench fishermen, on the two lar<^e sand-banks calleil 
 the Varne and the Riili^ru, stretchini; towards the French coast in the Cliai!- 
 nel, not many nnles from Do\-er. I'hese they sell to the ICnglish out at 
 sea, or send into Dover. 
 
 The average size of turbot is from three t«> ten pounds weight; but 
 some of huge size have been occasionally taken, which have weighed 
 from fifty to seventy pounds; and one was caught near Whitby, which 
 weighed one hundred and ninety pounds. 
 
 The Sly Silurus. 
 
 The sheat fish, as it is sometimes called, a member of another family, 
 is found not only in almost all the fresh waters of Europe, but even iii 
 those of Africa and Asia. Pliny described it as existing in the Nile. Bhich 
 mentions that specimens weighing from seventy to eighty pounds have 
 been taken in canals near Berlin. 
 
 The two very elongated barbules of the upper lip are sup[)ortcd by 
 extensions of the intermaxillary bones, which increase the sphere of 
 action and consequent utility of these organs of touch, by extenduig 
 
WANDI-.kKKS IN THE WORIJ) UF WATKkS. 
 
 7;i5 
 
 their influence beyond the ranj^e of the shorter psrts of the lower lip. 
 Thus it is shown to be a ground-feeder ; and Hloch scatesth.it it seldom 
 leaves its hole except during storms. 
 
 Another family have the head furnished with a rough, flat buckler, 
 and broader than in any other silurus, because the frontals and parietals 
 give out lateral plates, which cover the orbit and the temple. They 
 come from the Nile, the Senegal, and from some rivers of Asia. Their 
 Ocsh is not good. 
 
 The singular urchin fi-^h inhabits the Mediterranean and sometimes 
 ascends the Nile. In deep water they swim like other fishes, but when 
 irritated thry come to the surface and take in some air, which blows them 
 
 H 
 
 
 n 
 
 IF 
 
 FAlt.AK OR URCHIN FISH. 
 
 lip, so that their wrinkly, lax abdomen, which is capable of considerable 
 extension, becomes smooth and then looks like a ball from which 
 numerous small spines protrude. Whilst in this state, the\' are unable 
 to swim, and would fall a prey to other fishes, if they were not protected 
 by their s[)ines. As soon as the danger is over, the fish allows the air 
 to escape and is then enabled to again use its fins. The I'ahak is ten- 
 acious of life and is able to be out of water for a long period of 
 time. Its flesh is eaten by tlu; poorest Tellahs, but its roe is considered 
 poisonous. 
 
 The pike has various names in our language, as pickerel, luce or lucie, 
 and, in Scotland, gedd. Pike of small size arc often called jack. The 
 
 m 
 
 -iM**^l: 
 
i 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 MP' ■ 
 
 ( 
 
 .;! 
 
 
 f 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 73G 
 
 EARTH. SKA. AND SKY. 
 
 habit of the pike is to remain under the shelter of water-plants, until his 
 attention is attracted by some passing victim, when, like the tiger sprin<T- 
 ing from the jungle, he rushes forth, seldom, indeed, missing his aim. 
 The jaws au'i palate of the pike are most formidably armed with sharp 
 teeth, of various sizes. 
 
 Of the daring and ferocity of this fish many authenticated instances 
 are on record. Walton says: " Gesner relates, that a man going to a 
 
 .ANGLE) AND AKKOW I'IKI-:. 
 
 pond (where it seems a pike had devoured all the fish) to water his muk, 
 had a pike bite his mule by the lips, to which the piko hung .so fast that 
 the mule drew him out of the water, and by that accident the mule 
 angled out the pike." .And the same Gesner observes, "that a maid in 
 Poland had a pike bite her by the foot, as she was washing clothes in a 
 pond. But I have been assured by a fiiend who keeps tame otters, 
 that he halh known a pike, in extreme hunger, fight with one of iiis 
 
WANDERERS IX THE WORLD OF WATERS. 
 
 i->t 
 
 iter-plants, until his 
 ike the tiger .sprin<r- 
 J, missing his aim. 
 r armed with .sharp 
 
 lenticatcd instances 
 a man going to a 
 
 h) to water his niuk; 
 
 e hung so fast that 
 ; accident the mule 
 ves, "that a maid in 
 kvashing clothes in a 
 
 keeps tame otters, 
 light with one of his 
 
 otters for a carp that the otter had caught, and was th<-n bringing <iut of 
 the water." At Trentham, Staffordshire, a pike .seized the licad of a 
 .swan, as she was feeding under water, and gorged so much of it that both 
 fish and swan perished; the keepers perceiving the swan fi.\ed with its 
 head under water for an unusual time, took a boat to go to tlie bird's 
 assistance, but it was too late. Varrell says, " The luad keeper of Rich- 
 mond Park was once washing his hand over the side of a boat, in the 
 great pond in that park, uhen a pike made a dart at it, and he had but 
 just time to withdraw it." 
 
 A gentleman in Weybridge, walking one day by the side of the river 
 Wcy, near that town, saw a huge pike in a shallow creek, lie imme- 
 diately pulled off his coat, tuckeil up his shirt sieexes, and went into the 
 water to interrupt the return of the fish into the river, and to endeavor 
 to throw it out on tlie bank by getting his hands under it. During the 
 attempt, the pike, finding he could not make his escape, seized one of 
 the arms of the gentleman, and lacerated it so much that the marks of 
 the wound were vi.sible for a long time. The following anecdote is taken 
 tVom one of the public papers, August 25, i S46 : — "On Thursday, Mr. 
 Collet, in company with a friend from London, was fishing at Shepper- 
 ton, for barbel, when the bait was taken by a roach, which, in its turn, 
 was instantly seized by a pike. The line was drawn in, the pike con- 
 tinuing its hold upon the small fish till near the water's edge, when it 
 siidtienly leaped from its victim, and threw itself on the bank, when both 
 i)ike and roach were captured. The pik'c weighed nine pounds ; and, on 
 o[)ciiing it, in its stomach were found three small fish, a water-rat, and a 
 young moor-hen." 
 
 Groat Size and A.stoiiishiiifj Afjr. 
 The voracity of the pike is connected with its rapidity of gr(>wth, which 
 necessitates an abundant supply of nulrinu.Mit, and in\-ol\-es at the same 
 time extreme celerity of digestion. .V young j)ike is recordeii to reach 
 ilie length of about eight inches tluring the first year, tf) that of tvvrlvc or 
 fourteen during the second year, and of eighteen or twent\' inches during 
 the tliird; after this, its increase for sevi'ral successive years, where stores 
 flood are alnmdant, is at the rate of three or fnir pounds a \"ear. lught 
 [iilce. of abcHit five pounds each, liax'c been ascertained to devour eight 
 hundred gudgeons in three weeks. Some idea from this may be f «rmetl 
 I if the havoc this fisli must make in llie lak'cs or riv(>rs in whirh it is 
 [tleiuifiil, and of the necessity of encouraging the breeils of inferi(M' fishes, 
 a; the bream and others, for its due maintenance. 
 The pike not only lives to an extreme age. but attains to c.xtraordinarj' 
 47 
 
 
 w 
 
 (!'■ 
 
 :- li 
 
 4 m.tf^ 
 
1 
 
 * 
 
 
 lii! 
 
 I 
 
 i^ 
 
 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 (linicnsidiis. Pennant speaks of one ninety }-ears oi a^c ; an.! viesner rii.- 
 tices a pike taken at I lailbrun, in Suabia, in I4':i7, wiLli ?■ b;a/e i rin^- ,it- 
 tarlie<l to it, on \vhich was inscribed in Greek eharaoters, 1 aui llir f.,|; 
 ^vhich was first of all put into the kike by the Lands of llic g >,'ernn;- ni 
 the universe, Frederick tlie Sccontl, the 5th of October. 1230." Tii.< 
 fish must, therefore, liave been at least two hundred and sixty se\en \cais 
 oUk It is said to ha\e weiijhed three hundred and fifty pounds. 
 
 In the lakes of North America a species of pike, called the niuskalli .n- , 
 _L;ro\v.-, to an enormous size. It must not be supposed that the L'.;-|.;er inl: 
 are, the better is tliclr flesh f >r the table. Walton rightly sa\-s, " ( )ld oi 
 
 \cr\- great pikes have in 
 them more of state tliar, 
 g()(^dness, the smaller ur 
 middling-si7.ed i)ikes beiiv.;. 
 !)}• the most and choicest 
 palates, observed to be tli. 
 best meat." In warm aii'. 
 sunny weather, the piki 
 mostly swims near the .Mir- 
 face, and ma', be often s • 
 
 luxur'atinc: in 
 
 the 
 
 s ;;n- 
 
 CASKS Ol" SHARKS KCUA. 
 
 !)eams, lulled into a soyi oi 
 
 slumber. It is not diffni:',! 
 
 at such times to draw d 
 
 wire noose, fastene-d to ti.i 
 « 
 
 end of a rod or long stall'. 
 
 o\er its head and body. 
 
 and lantl it by a sudd-.n 
 
 jerk. 
 
 The angler or goose-fish grows to a length of four to five feet and 
 weighs from i 5 to 70 j)ounds. Its ai^petite is most voracious and it feed- 
 upon all kinds of fisii. ( )n its iieatl are two elongated bony apj)en(la;^^c<. 
 curiousl)- articulated to the skull by a joint and capable of movement iv 
 any direction. The fish crouches close to the bottom of the sea and h\ 
 the movement of its pectoral fins stirs up the sand and mud, and agitate 
 the bony appendages amid the turbid cloud produced. The small fishc 
 observin-f the mudd}- water and taking tiie filaments for worms approach 
 to seize Jiemand are instantly engulfed in the capacious jaw f)f the ant,'lcr. 
 The vr racity of the angler is so great, that when caught in a net with other 
 fish, it generally <'j\()urs some of its fellow prisoners. 
 
WANnr:i:i-.ks in thk world ok wati.rs. 
 
 lud 
 
 rifrlulv sa\-s, •' ( )1(1 
 
 One of tlic mightiest wanderers in tlic \a-ly deep is 'Jk shark, referred 
 ti) in a preceding; chattel'. He has six rov-s of tc„lh. u li • li lie dov, ii when 
 they ire not usetl ; Init the nmincnt a fisli approaches, up ilii.\- .ill st.nl. 
 rcaily'or action, 'i hey are very Ljreat teeth, nearly two inches bniail. ami 
 of a tiiree-cornered shape. Tiie edges are like a saw, anil as sharp as tlu; 
 siiaqjest knife. 
 
 No creatnre, not e\-en man, has nnich chance aL;ain->l thoc terriMc 
 teeth. If a man f.ills overboard from a .ship, w h.ere tlic-^c monsters abound, 
 he is almost sure to be swallowed by ;i shark. l'\ir a. shark can swall')wa 
 man with case ; and he is alwa\"s follow iui; in the wake of the ship, to see 
 what lie can get. 
 
 The female shark l.-u^s two eggs, insteatl of a great shoal of i:ggs, as 'v.ost 
 ri>hes do. The egg lias a kind of horny covering, and there are tendrils, 
 or. as they are culleil. procos.ses, shooting out fro'U the co\ering. riuse 
 tendrils get entangled among tiie sea-weeds, aiul so hold the egg in oin- 
 place, instead of letting it drift into danger. The little fish is doubled nj) 
 in liie egg ; but b\-and-by it makes its wa\- out, and begins a life of cruelty 
 anil i)lunder, as its parents did before it. 
 
 \\"e need not wonder that the sliark is so drea'ed b}- the s.ailors. In 
 the midst of the tempest, when the winds are he.vling, and tin- night is 
 without moon or .stars, a shining light will here and there be seen he.aving 
 on the billows. The sailors know full well what it is, ard point it out to 
 each other. 
 
 The light comes from the scaly botl\- of the shark, which is close at 
 hand. If a .seaman is washed overboard, or if ihe vessel should be wrecked, 
 the shark has a ban(iuet. 
 
h 
 
 
 ""k 
 
 ^=111 
 
 f) 
 
 V. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 LIl'i: AT Tin: BOTTOM OF TIIK SKA. 
 
 Cri-atiiri'S tliat MaimfHctnre Limestone— Definition l»y Profe.ssor Dana— Man'elous 
 'Uiikkrs in tiic ( )c'Lan -New Folyp Growinj; out of the .Side ot" tiie Ukl One- 
 Coral Insects in Ail .Se;'.s — Luxuriance of Coral Life in tiie Pacific — \'arieties of 
 Coral— How the Little Architects get their Materials— Rearing Islands from the 
 Bottom of the Deep— The Hernuidas once a Coral Island — The Sea Ciicnm!)er— 
 Strange Oritiital I'ood — Harpooning .Sea-Cucumbers at the Depth of a Ihiiuln d 
 I'Vet— I Iunthe<l-.\rnu-d .S<a-Star — .'\nia/ing P(jucr of Reproducing Lost Limhs - 
 .Stomachs tliat go I'v the Name of I'ish — " Five Fingered lack " — .Scavenger-; of 
 the (Jcean — Death on ( )ysters— How tiie Star-Pish gets into an Oyster's Sin 11 — 
 Droll F'olyps—.Xnimal-Plants — Actinia— Enormous .Mouth— Sea- Aneiudues— 
 X'oracity Unparalleled — Life Multiplied by Tearing the Body in Two— .\stonisii- 
 ing T'.iia( iiy of .\nimal Life. 
 
 HE coral polypi are remarkable for secreting a limestone sup- 
 port or cornl stock. Coral is the stony frame which belonijs 
 to pol>pi iind may be called their skeleton. Professor Dana 
 c.iUs it tlic corallum and the coral of a single polyp in the mass 
 is called the corallct. It is formed within the coral animals by secretion, 
 carh individual adding to the common structure by the involuntary 
 secretion of calcareous matter. 
 
 The coral> :vi' the result^ of a growth analogcu-s to that of the bones 
 jii otiicr animals. Coral is a carbonate of liine, like common limc-^tonc, 
 and it is ta .(.n by the polyp from the .sea water or from its own food. 
 Coral pol>\is jjroducc cj.'gs and young, like other animals, and also 
 multiply through a process of budding, which is like the growth by 
 buds in the vcgct-ible kingdoin. A new polyp commences as a mere 
 prominc-ice on the side of an ok' one; soon the mouth and tentacles 
 appear, then both continue growing, each adding to tlie calcareous 
 Mccumui.'tion within and each sending forth new buds to be developed 
 into new ',>o1yps. In many species of the coral family each branch 
 tc!,ninates u' what is called the parent pol\ps, these terminal pol\-ps con- 
 tinuing i.' g''^^^' '^'"' -"^"^^ '"^t ^''^ same time making new polyps for the 
 sides of the branch by budding. 
 
 In tho brain crral, instead of each pol)-p having a separate cell with its 
 mouth over the centre if it, there are a large number of poK'ps coalesced 
 along a sinL;le furrow and a row of tentacles along cither side. Among 
 (740) 
 
fessor Dana — Man'plous 
 : Side of tlie Old Oik- - 
 tlio I'acific — Varitties of 
 Rearing Islands from the 
 d — The Sea Curum!)er— 
 . the Depth of a Jliindred 
 eprodiicing Lost Limbs— 
 ed Jack "—Scavengers of 
 > into an Oyster's SIk 11— 
 ^lonth— Sea- Anemones- 
 Body in Two— Astonish- 
 
 iting a limestone sup- 
 frame which belonrjs 
 ton. Professor Dana 
 iigle polyp in the mass 
 I animals by secretion, 
 e by the involuntary 
 
 js to that of the bones 
 <e common limestone, 
 ir from its own food. 
 ler animals, and also 
 s like the <;rowth by 
 ommences as a nicre 
 mouth and tentacles 
 ng to the calcareous 
 buds to be developed 
 1 family each branch 
 se terminal poh-ps con- 
 
 g cither side. 
 
 !i 
 
 lift 
 
 iffi 
 
 ,'i ^ 
 
 * 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 COKAL AKlit>K AND MVbJEKlOL:^ CLilLE II2II. 
 
 (741) 
 
 ■|: dk.^^ 
 
!'i> 
 
 '^r; 
 
 712 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKV. 
 
 tlir tribes of corals some species or other arefountl in all oceans fnim the 
 C'.juator to the j)o!ar rej^ioiis and to the lowest cle[)ths explored by niim. 
 Tiiose tribes, which produce the ^neat coral reefs, the astr.eas, niaclif- 
 j)ores and iiieaiKlrinas are de\'eloped with peculiar luxuriance in the 
 wannest parts of the J'acific, where the temperature \aries from si'\Lnt\-- 
 fi\e to ei_;;lu\'-rue dei^rees. The hiL,dier the temperature the ^n-eatrr is 
 tlie profusion and \ariet\- of the coral reefs. The different varieties n\ 
 coral consist almo-^t sold)- ()f carbonate of lime. There is a small portion 
 ot animal matter and also of phosphate of lime. 
 
 Skill of tlir liiiildi'i's in SolccMii}; Mat4>rials. 
 
 The soluble salts of sodium, which form the i^reater ])art of -xdid 
 matters contained in sea water, ai'e rejected by pcjlyps and onl)- thost' 
 materials are made use of which aie best fitted for producing- the iiio^t 
 substantial structures. IJy their removal the waters of the ocean aiv 
 kept of uniform composition. The soluble impurities p,oureil into tlinn 
 by the rivers, but for some >uch provision, would accumulate, as the fic>h 
 water alone is carried olf b\' evaporation. 
 
 The coral animaU and marine shells are the a^Ljents destined to keep 
 pure the waters of the _L;reat deep, to take up and store away the e.\ces> 
 of the lime salts and preserve the balance in this department of nature. a> 
 the vei^etable growth perfoiins a similar office in keepini^r (iown the exces-; 
 of carbonic acitl in the atmosphere. 
 
 The ocean currents s|)read llvir waters amon;j[ the coral proves as the 
 v. inds convi'V' die air thioui;!! the f>i"ests. The coral which is used in 
 it\\elry is called precious coial. It is mostly obtained in the Mediter- 
 ranean, till' Harbar}' coast furnishin;_; the dark-red, .Sardinia the- )\'llo\\ or 
 salmon colored, and the coast of Italy the rose-pink; in I'.urc^pe aiiil 
 America the 1. liter is most valued. whiU' in the OriiMit the darl-c-red is pn- 
 ferreil. The coral fishermen with larije ruck' nets break off the coral \vn\v. 
 
 the submeri^'ed rocks. 
 
 >Ia;'uifi('<Mit C'onil Kim'Is. 
 
 Coral reefs are abundant in the West Iiulies, but still more so in tlu 
 
 Central Taciuc, where there are a much i;reater number of sjjecies of corals. 
 
 .\lon'4 the l^ra/.ilian coast as far south as Cape Trio coral reefs are found 
 
 I 'ana divides coral reefs into outei' or bairier reefs and inner reels. Ihi 
 
 barrier reefs are foi-med fi-om the growth of corals exposed to the open 
 
 sea^ while the inner or frint;inL,r reefs are formed in (pn'et water between a 
 
 barrier reef and the island. As coral reefs arc usually built upon islaiu^ 
 
 which are slowiv sinkin-^. barrier reefs are .simply ancient frini;iivv'''cfs 
 
 formed when tlu- island stood hi,i;li r above the sea; the\' arj built uj)as 
 
LIFE AT THF. nOTTOM Ol' Tlli: SKA. 
 
 •4;j 
 
 n all oceans from the 
 lis explored by man, 
 , the astra-as, madio- 
 ir luxuriance in iIk- 
 
 \arics from se\inty- 
 crature the j^reater is 
 
 different \arit;ties of 
 ere is a small portion 
 
 atorials. 
 
 i;reater part of solid 
 olyps aiul only those; 
 )r producini;' the mo>t 
 .ers of the ocean aic 
 itics p,onreil into tlirni 
 :eumulate,as the fioh 
 
 ;ent.s destined to keep 
 store au'a\' the excesv 
 jpartnieiit of nature, as 
 jepitiLj down the excess 
 
 the coral j^roves as llic 
 joral which is used in 
 tained in the Mediter- 
 Sartlinia the \-el!o\\ or 
 •pink ; in k'urope and 
 ent the dark-reil is piv- 
 )reak off the coral fnm! 
 
 )ut still more so in llv; 
 ibcr of s[)ecies ot corals. 
 o coral reefs are foinn'. 
 > anil inner reefs. 1 lie 
 l.>i exposed to the open 
 ;i (pn'et water between a 
 lally built upon islands 
 ly ancient frini,dn;j: 'vcls 
 .•a; 'diey arj built ujias 
 
 rai)idl\- as the land .sinks ami thus the top of the reef kteps at the le\el of 
 
 the .sea. 
 
 Darwin has estimated that some reefs are at least 2000 feet in thick- 
 iios. '1 he Bermudas are the remnants of a eoral island (^.Atoll) and aie 
 situated farther north than any other reefs. 
 
 SiM-Ciu-miihcr <»r Tr«'paiiy:. 
 
 Sea-cucumbers have a sli^^htly cylindrical boti)-, sometimes vermiform, 
 providc'il with numerous tentacular suckers. .At each extremity occurs 
 an orifice. Ihc mouth occupies the anterior cxtremit)- ; it is surrounded 
 widi very complex branchin<T tentacles, which the animal can com[)letcIy 
 draw in, and which are set upon a circle of bony {)ieces. 
 
 The circulatory apparatus of the holothuri is, or sea-cucumbers, is 
 exceedingly complicated, their digestive tube' is vers' long, their secre- 
 tory organs are numerous, and their muscles powerful. When disturbed, 
 tlK\' sometimes contract themselves so vi(dentl\'as to burst asuailer, and 
 vomit forth their intestines. There are holothurias in every sea, and 
 several species which live on wei dy and surf-beaten rocks. One of the 
 lar-fest species lodges .and iiouri>hes a curious parasitical fish. In some 
 Ci'untries the coriaceous substance of tlu.-se animals is used for food. 
 Tiie poor iidiabitants of the Neapolitan coast consume it larg(dy ; and 
 the .\siatic people S('ck with avidity a species of h dolhuria to which 
 they ascribe peculiar virtues. 
 
 Long famous under the name of " trepang," bestowed upon it by the 
 Malays, this holothuria is the staple of an e\tensi\-e eommeici^ betwta-n 
 all the Indian islands of Malaysia and China, Cambodi i and t'ochm- 
 China. Thousands of M.day junks are eijuipped yearly for the fishing 
 of the zoophyte, and English ami American ships an- engai^cd in its s.de. 
 
 The trepangs of the inhabitants of .Sumatra form one of the most con- 
 siderable branch(>s of the CO isting trade b.-tween IJorneo, Sumatra, the 
 .Moluccas, the Pa[Hian lands of M.ilawsia and China. 
 
 A Harpoon a lliiii(lr<'<l Vvt'i Loii^jt. 
 I'or the rest, their sub.stancc, according to travellers, has no siiecial 
 divor, at least if the taste be not masked by the enormous liosi- of apices 
 or aromatic substances with whieh the i\Iala)-ans overload their food. 
 1 he fidiing for ho'othurias requires great patience and dexterit\-. The 
 Malax s, bending over the prow of their boats, hold in their hands several 
 long bamboos arranged like the joints of a fi-hing-rod, the la>t joint ter- 
 ninating with a shnrp hook. At the favorable s(.'ason, that is, in tlu- 
 calms, the eyes of these sl>:illful fishers pi-ree the depth of the waters, 
 And easily discover, at a distance frequently not le.ss, as we are as^ured, 
 
 1 ■ 1 
 
 4 -mM^^ 
 
T 
 
 cr. U 
 
 I » 
 
 Mi 
 
 \ m 
 
 % 
 
 »i 
 
(^ 
 
 LIFE AT THE HOTTOM OF THE SEA. 74.'. 
 
 than I20 feet, the holotluiriii cliii^'in^r to the coral or rorks. Then the 
 liari)Oon, cle.sccndin<j ^..fily, .strikes its victim; and the M.iLiy rarely 
 misses his aim. 
 
 Sca-fiicumbcrs arc ijcncrally sirall on the coast nf X, w I'.n-iaiui, hut 
 att.iiii a lai'L^cr si/c in t!ic liay of l'"i.iul\- and on the l'.anks ,a Nculoimd- 
 laiid. On the nuul Hats ..f the Morida wcU the)- a v Nomctinu-s seen 
 uunv. than a foot lon^; and three or four inches in circninference. WMuiv 
 collected for food, t'le takin;^^ and preparati' mi i .f tiie trepan;^ enipl. .y a i;real 
 many CiiiiK'se, Maui\-s and l'ol\-nesians. 
 
 The best are found on reefs of nii.xed coral and sand in the hVejee 
 groups in one or two fathoms of water, and are obtained b\- divin;^^ 
 Ihey a.e boiled in their own iKpiid, then ilried on sl.i;_;es in heatetl 
 houses, ami meet with a ready sale at hiidi prices in the Chinese market- 
 a> an in;_;ietlieut for rich soups. 
 
 Ast«'ri!is or Sra-Stars. 
 
 The species of star-fishes conniion on (<ur coasts has the firm ron\-en- 
 tionally <,nven to the celestial stars upon banners anil in h' laldic desij.Mis. 
 The ra\s, whicii are common!)' i)ut erroneously takni |oi elaus, and 
 which reall)- ft)rm a part of the animal's body, are ^aMierall)- fue in num- 
 ber, united very symmetrical!)- round a central disk. In some species the 
 ra\s are L;reatly mulliplieil, and amount to as man)- as thir')-antl upwards. 
 They then l)ecome loo.ser, more e!('n;^ali. d, and more Hexible, L;i\ in^ the 
 animal the api)earance of a liaii)- root. 
 
 The upper part (;f the bod)- is co\-ered with a hard, thick skin, wrinkled, 
 and of a retUlish color. The lower part is whitish, ancl when the animal 
 is alive, \-on may see there, moving; to and frolike worms, its innunieiable 
 lenacles. Its mouth is in the centre. I'.hrenberL;" is inclined to believe it 
 also pos.ses.ses an or^an of vision. 
 
 The sea-stars, often very small, and r.iore rare!)- of medium size, are 
 all, as their name indicates, inhabitants of the ocean waters, and aie 
 foimd at various depths ; but many amon^f them belonL;' to the shore, 
 and the tide at its ebb frequently leaves them hiL;hand dry up'on the land. 
 A threat number of species are known as distributed in e\er)- sea, and 
 more Ljenerally in the tropical waters. The asterias proper, when 
 arrived at an ailult a,!j;e, move with tolerable rapidit}-, either swimmin;.;' 
 or irawlinjT. 
 
 These radiata feed on dead or livin;jj animal substances ; tliey are 
 very voracious ; their prey has sometimes been found whole and undi- 
 gested i-,1 the stomach. They frequently banquet upon mollusks. In 
 the .spring, and at the beginning of summer, their ovaries swell consid- 
 
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 <\'y. 
 
 V^> 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
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 IIIM 
 
 112 
 
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 ► 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. MSEO 
 
 (7)6) 872-4503 
 
 ■^ 
 
 V 
 
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 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 -JS 
 
 I 
 
 i :■ 
 
 erahly ; they deposit their spa v/ii in suitable localities, and ci^.c.^'^Hv 
 upon sandy shores exposed to the solar rays ; it is this spawn, we are 
 told, which renders mussels dangerous as food at a certain season of the 
 year. On shores where they are very abundant, the country people 
 collect them to manure the ground : it is the only advantage which 
 man can derive from them. 
 
 Lost Limbs Growing Out Asaiii. 
 
 The most remarkable feature in the organization of the asterias is 
 their power of reproduction. One, two, three of their rays may be 
 crushed without endangering not only their e.xistence, but even the in- 
 tegrity of the individual. Provided that but one remains attached to the 
 central disk, these losses are easily repaired. It seems that in certain 
 cases the shedding and renewal of the rays are spontaneous. This 
 marvelous faculty would seem to indicate, among the asterire, a very 
 intense vitality. One cause of death, however, they cannot withstand 
 for many hours; namely, banishment from the sea. Left by the ebb 
 upon the shore, they cannot live. Even in the captivity of the aquaria 
 they sicken and die, either for want of prey, or because they miss the 
 movement of the incessantly renewed waters. 
 
 A conmion species, found on the coasts of New hjigiand, and gen- 
 erally called " fi\e fingered |ack," are but walking stomachs ; their office 
 in the economy of nature Deing to devour all kinds of garbage, which 
 would otherw ise accumulate on the shores. They eat also li\ing crusta- 
 ceans, moUusks, and e\en small fish, and are believed to be very destruct- 
 i\-e to oysters. They are not used as food. 
 
 The common star-fish of the North American coast is considered to be* 
 the same as the Kuropean species. The colo -s vary from reddish to )cl- 
 lowish, an i the diameter from an inch to more than a foot. The snake, 
 or sand star is another .species. In most .seas a very singular species, the 
 arborescent star-fish is found. 
 
 A Woiidor of B<Mlily Constnictioii. 
 
 It is a pleasant sight when one of these animals is placed in a glass 
 vessel containing .sea-water, and its various movements are attentively 
 watched. Then it will be seen that it has, in fact, several hundreds of the 
 sucker-like legs, each one a perfect tube, which, when the animal wishes, 
 becomes filled and extended, while the fluid is as readil}- withdrawn into 
 the vesicles of the body. We have heard of Argus with his hundred e\'cs, 
 and of Briareus with his hundred hands, but we are not told that each eye 
 could find a separate object to contemplate, or that each hand could lie 
 cmploj'cd in some distinct manipulation. It seems, however, as if each 
 
itifS, and ^^.^.(.^'^lly 
 this spawn, \vc are 
 
 certain season of the 
 the country pcopL- 
 
 ly advantage which 
 
 on of the astcrias is 
 )f their rays may be 
 ncc, but even the in- 
 miains attached to the 
 eenis that in certain 
 spontaneous. This 
 y the asteria.', a very 
 ,ey cannot withstaiul 
 ea. Left by the ebb 
 Dtivity of Ihe aquaria 
 ecause they miss the 
 
 w luigland, and gen- 
 stomachs ; their office 
 
 ids of garba;.^e, which 
 eat also Hving crusta- 
 
 :d to be very tlestruct- 
 
 )ast is considered to be 
 y from redchsli to )-el- 
 an a foot. The snake, 
 ry singular species, the 
 
 'tion. 
 
 lis is placed in a glass 
 ements are attentively 
 several hundreds of the 
 hen the animal wishes, 
 readily withdrawn into 
 with his hundred eyes, 
 J not told that each eye 
 I at each hand could b^' 
 Ills, however, as if each 
 
 f^ (If 
 
 i I 
 
 1]1-:AUTIFUL specimens OV SlARllSll. 
 
 (747) 
 
'» 
 
 ' -. i ■ . 
 
 f ■ ' 
 
 —TT* .--■ ■ ■ 
 
 
 
 • / -. ! 
 
 
 % 
 
 748 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 \c<^ of this animal had an independent action, being capable of darting; out 
 in various directions, as if, like a living lever, it were seeking- the bc^t 
 fulcrum, to render its highest service to the movement now taking place. 
 
 In the possession of a sea-star it is very easy to witness its voracity; for 
 only let a morsel of fish or of sl moUusk be placed within reach, and thithrr 
 it will go clasping the prey as soon as it is gained with its rays, and absorb- 
 ing it into the stomach, to which there is an opening on the other sj.lc. 
 In the eagerness it thus manifests it fulfills its appointed destiny. It is 
 one of the scavengers of nature, ordinarily working silently in the deep 
 waters, devouring, from tide to tide, the ever-accumulating matter, which. 
 left undisturbed, would destroy every species of life. So strong is the {)re- 
 dilection of these creatures for garbage, that the angler has frequently 
 wished they would suspend their vocation, since scarcely has the baited 
 hook sank to the bottom of the water than he has felt " a bite," only to 
 find that he has caught a sea-star — a luckless beginning, perhaps, of a 
 series of disappointments the same in kind. 
 
 Oysters SudtU'iily Paralyzed. 
 
 Might we suggest a banquet for a party of sea-stars, it should be the 
 contents of an oyster barrel, without any specification of the spot whore it 
 was filled. "But how," it may be asked, " can their shells be opened ? In 
 what way can the resistance of tiie abductor muscles be overcome ? 
 Where is the oy.ster-knife of the sea-star for the banc^uet you propose?" 
 
 And assuredly it is not, as Appian imagined, in one of its rays. The 
 supposition of the ancients that the sea-star, like a besieging force, took up 
 a position that would secure the best point of attack, and, seizing the 
 moment in which the oj'ster unwarily opened, however slightly, the valves 
 of his shell, thrust in a ray, gradually insinuated its whole body, and so 
 devoured the assailed — a notion which was also entertained by Bishop 
 Spratt — ha.-> proved to be utterly fabulous. For, having reached an oyster 
 by its locomotive power, antl placed itself on its prey, it pours out a para- 
 lyzing fluid, and instils it between the sheh.-.; as soon as they are open, the 
 stomach is thrust in, and the captive is devoured, however long his house 
 may have been his castle. 
 
 A sea-star was found clinging round a shell-fish which was pierced 
 with a hole, through which the creature had inserted a sucker, and this 
 aperture was attributed to the in\ader. But we have no proof tliat this 
 animal pos.sesses any boring power. The probability is, therefore, as 
 Professor Forbes suggests, that the hole was pierced by.a marine worm 
 and that the sea-star, in this instance, was merely " sounding with its 
 sucker the prospect of a meal." 
 
apablc of darting out 
 LTG seeking the best 
 it now taking place. 
 :nc.ss its voracil\' ; for 
 bin reach, and thither 
 1 its rays, and absorb- 
 ig on the other si^lc. 
 jinted destiny. It is 
 
 silently in the tlccp 
 ilating matter, which, 
 
 St) strong is the pre- 
 mgler has frequently 
 arcely has the baited 
 felt " a bite," only to 
 inning, perhaps, of a 
 
 :ars, it should be the 
 
 n of the spot where it 
 
 phells be opened ? In 
 
 Liscles be overcome? 
 
 [uet you propose?" 
 
 one of its rays. The 
 
 sieging force, took up 
 
 ick, and, seizing the 
 
 er slightly, the valves 
 
 whole body, and so 
 
 itertained by Bisliop 
 
 r.g reached an oyster 
 
 , it pours out a para- 
 
 as they are open, the 
 
 wever long his house 
 
 1 which was pierced 
 :d a sucker, and this 
 ve no proof that this 
 ility is, therefore, as 
 d by.a marine worm 
 " sounding with its 
 
 N '1: 
 
 H 
 
 ■ f 
 
 MARVELOUS PLANTS AT THE BOTTOM UE THE OCEAN. 
 
 m 
 
 IN 
 
 (749) 
 
 Hill I 
 
 71 
 
i'^ 
 
 V I 
 
 iO 
 
 
 
 EARTH, Sr:A AND SKY. 
 
 f; 
 
 I\)l\-p was a name formerly applied to the three classes ot" radiata, th? 
 coral animals, jelly-fishes and echinodcrms ; i^ is no^v generally rcstrici-.,! 
 to the first class, called zoophytes. Polj-ps are radiated animals usii:illv 
 attached at the base witii a coronet of tentacles above and a ti:)othlcss 
 mouth at the centre and an inner alimentary cavity, to which the nioiiih 
 
 is the only openin^^ They reproduce 
 by buds or egf^s and posse-;s no special 
 organs of sense. The Monoxiina 
 Darwinii, which our illustration repre- 
 sents, was discovered ami described 
 by Prof. Ilffickel, of the Uni\-ersity of 
 Jena. The actinia or .sea anemone is 
 the type of this class, the different kinds 
 of actinia and coral i)oU'ps haxin;^^ the 
 same general shape and structure. 
 They are of a somewhat oblong fmin 
 and when clo.sed resemble a truncated 
 cone. They are fixed by the base and 
 from the upper part of their bod\- oc- 
 casionally extend several teniacles, 
 which are arranged in retjiilar cir- 
 cles. The mouth is situated at the 
 top in the centre of the tentacles. They 
 are capable of \arying their figure, but 
 when th.eii tentacles are fully expanded, 
 they have the appearance of full-blnun 
 flowers. Many of them are of \eiy 
 beautiful and brilliant color. They 
 feed on shellfish and other marine ani- 
 mals, which they draw into their nKiutli 
 by means of their arms and they eject 
 tlie shells and other indigestible parts 
 through the .same opening. 
 
 The mouth of these animals is 
 CURIOUS POLYP. capable of great extension so as to 
 
 allow them without injuiy to swallow very large shells. The whole interior 
 of their body is one civity or stomach. They have the power of proi;res- 
 sive motion, but this is extremely slow and is said to be performed by 
 loosing their base from the rock, reversing their body and using their ten- 
 tacles as legs. 
 
LIKE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SI-..\. 
 
 ■51 
 
 The common sea anemone (actinia) is to be found between tide marks 
 1,11 rocks under sea weeds or in tidal pools, but throws most luxuriant on 
 the piles of bridj^^cs. The actinia is the type of tlie sin^de pol^-ps as dis- 
 tinguished from tlie compound coral polyps. 
 
 It is a curious fact that the sea-anemones, of which tlurc is a 
 great diversity, are like Achilles, invulnerable except in one spot. They 
 will bear an extraordinary amount of cutting and tearing, if only the 
 base is kept unlacerated. Exquisite little creatures, torn in two by the 
 splitting of the stones on which they rested, have displayed each hai" 
 acting as vigorously as if nothhig had interfered with its integrity. In 
 tile course of some weeks not a trace was left that they had ever been 
 wounded. The Abb«' Dicquemare relates that he cut an anemone in 
 two transversely, when the uppcrportion instantly expanded its tentacles 
 and began feeding ; in about two months tentacles began to grow from 
 the cut extremity of the other portion, and thus he obtained two perfect 
 anemones in the place ot one. How marvelous is the tenacity of 
 animal life 1 
 
 ill 
 
 * ^ 
 
 ^?: 
 
 Hi. 
 
■WW 
 
 30 
 
 !■ 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 J 
 
 CIIAPTICR IX. 
 EXTRA(3RDINARY TURTLES AND CRUSTACEANS. 
 
 riie Grerit Marine Turtle -A Creature Born with Oars and Paddles— Swift .Swim- 
 mer — Dozing on the Water— Turtles' Nests in the Sand— Curious Younj;stLTs— 
 Rushing by Instinct for the Sea — Turtle Hunting-Delicious Food— Haunts of 
 the Green Turtle — Natives Lying in Wait— Human Cruelty — Coriaceous Tur- 
 tle — The Rony Lobster— Monstrous Pincers — Powerful Weapons — A Propeller 
 Tail— Shedding tiieOld Crust— Escape from the Prison — New Growth of Sliclis— 
 The Numerous Crab Family — SingUiar Creatures — The Pea Crab— Hermit 
 Crab— Looking Around for a New House— Moving into the Nev Dwelling- 
 Tussle between a .Shrimp and Crab— Where Crabs Abound — Crab .Sentinel 
 Standing Guard— Casting off Broken Limbs — Horrid Crab of Madagascar- 
 Sharp Points— .Strange Land Crabs. 
 
 HE group of marine turtles has the rstrncture .so mcHlified as to 
 be well adapted to all the animal's habits. Its limbs are re- 
 solved into .stronc^ oars and paddles, which it uses with great 
 dexterity, propelling itself with surprising power and swiftness 
 — the green and hawk's-bill turtles in particular, — "and," says Audubon, 
 " remind you by their celerity, and the ease of their motions, of the 
 progress of a bird in the air." 
 
 The food of the green turde consists of marine plants, especially the 
 sea-wTack; and, like cattle in a meadow, it grazes at the bottom of the 
 sea, where it can remain for a considerable time, its nostril being furnished 
 with a valve which closes when in the act of diving; and it is furthermore 
 sustained by the large extent of its lungs, as also by tlic moderate 
 demands of a slow circulation. It has sometime^ been seen in tlie act of 
 floating on the surface of the water, as if indulging in a sleep, sweetly 
 induced by the gentle undulations of the waves ; and its captors have been 
 known to take advantage of this habit, by then making their approaches, 
 to surprise and take their prey before it has time to effect its escape. 
 
 The marine turtle inhabits a wide range of the torrid zone, and the 
 shores of the Floridas, many of the West India Islands, and the Indian 
 Ocean, the Isle of France, and the Gallapagos, are the places of its most 
 noted resorts. 
 
 We come now to advert more particularly to the most entertaining, the 
 most curious point, in the history of the marine turtle. The young turtle 
 comes from an egg which is hatched, not at home in ihe sea, with which 
 (752) 
 
rustacI':ans. 
 
 iiid Paddles — Swift Swim- 
 id — Curious Youn^sturs— 
 delicious Food — Haunts of 
 Cruelty — Coriaceous Tur- 
 ul Weapons— A Propeller 
 — New Growth of Shells- 
 -The Pea Crab— Hermit 
 into tlie Nev Dwcllin.^;— 
 ; Abound — Crab Sentinel 
 ;d Crab of Madagascar— 
 
 :ture so modified as to 
 )it.s. Its linihs are re- 
 lich it uses ^vith great 
 g; power and swiftness 
 -"and," says Audubon, 
 their motions, of the 
 
 e plants, especially the 
 
 :s at the bottom of the 
 
 nostril bcimi furnished 
 
 CD 
 
 ; and it is furthermore 
 dso by the moderate 
 been seen in tlie act of 
 ng in a sleep, sweetly 
 d its captors have been 
 iking their approaches, 
 3 effect its escape, 
 e torrid zone, and the 
 slands, and the Indian 
 the places of its most 
 
 most entertaining, the 
 
 'tic. The young turtle 
 
 in ihe sea, with which 
 
 i 
 
 
 t 
 
 
 NATIVES CAPTirKINt; IMMliNMi GKEKN TURTLES. 
 
 •18 
 
 (7r)3) 
 
1^ ' 
 
 754 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 the mother is alHcd both by habit and structure, but on land, which is 
 quite foreic^n to her nature. She comes out of the ocean, from a very 
 lonij distance — huncheds of miles even — to search on the shore f(jr a plac- 
 suitable, not to any individual want of her own, but to the process of 
 incubatin<^ her eg^s; and, somehow or other, she always happens to liml 
 those localities which offer all the required conditions. A low, sandy, .mil 
 solitary beach is the kind of spot she seeks for makin<.j her nest. 
 
 To perform this duty, she starts on her vo\-ai;e in the early piivi of thi 
 summer, traversing; the sea, not individuall)', but collectively, in a nuilti- 
 tudc; the females being accompanied by the males as far as the precincts 
 of the land. After sunset, the former leave the water, drag themselves 
 inland over the beach, make their nests in the sand beyond high-w.itir 
 mark, lay their eggs in large numbers, and there leave them in chargt; of 
 the sun, whose fostering influence is said to bring forth the brood ii; ihc 
 course of from twenty to thirty days. The young turtles appear ^vith 
 shell unformed, and white as if they had been blanched. At once all 
 seem to underscand that they are away from home, and their only effort 
 is to get as quick as possible into the sea, apparentl)' as well acquainted 
 with the way to it as if they had traversed it a hundred times before. 
 They enter the ocean of less size than a dollar, and no more are they seen 
 out of it until a weight of four or five hundred pounds has been attained: 
 but how long such a size requires, and where all that time is spent, aiv 
 questions that will not be easily answered. 
 
 Cute l)«'vice for Hiding' I'^ffjJTS. 
 
 According to Sir J. K. Tennent, and no doubt he is correct, the turtle 
 forms a curve in going to and from the sea, as if seemingly aware that 
 such a direction was the one most likely to deceive the depredator. Aii 
 opportunity is afforded on the .sea-shore of Ceylon for observin;; a 
 remrukable illustration of instinct in the turtle, when about to dc[)()sit its 
 eggs. As if conscious that if she went and returned by one and the same 
 line; across the sandy beach, her hiding-place would be discovered at it^ 
 farthest e.Ktrem'ty, she resorts to the expedient of curving her course, so 
 as to regain the sea by the different track ; and after depositing her egi:;s. 
 burying them about eighteen inches deep, she carefully smoothes ovei 
 the surface to render tiie precise spot indiscernible. The Singhalese, 
 aware of this device, sound the line of her march with a rod till they 
 come upon the concealed nest. 
 
 Though previously timid and suspicious, yet during the time of lay- 
 ing her egg-i the turtle may be approached and even mounted ; still, for 
 all that, she remains unaffrightcd and immovable. 
 
It on land, whicli is 
 c ocean, from a \Liy 
 t the sh< >fc for a i)laco 
 at to the process of 
 ^vays happens to find 
 s. Alo\v,santly,anil 
 iiiLj her nest. 
 \ the early part ( if ihi 
 ;)llectively, in a nuilti- 
 as far as the precincts 
 •ater, drat; themselves 
 id beyond hit,di-\vater 
 ;ave them in chari^c of 
 forth the brood ir. ihc 
 ng turtles appear with 
 latiched. At once all 
 ic, and their only eHovt 
 nitly as well acquainted 
 
 hundred times before. 
 1 no more arc they seen 
 tmds has been attained; 
 
 that time is spent, arc 
 
 he is correct, the turtle 
 if seemingly aware thai 
 
 c the depredator. An 
 :,eylon for observin- a 
 jicn about to deposit its 
 
 ed l)y one aiKl the same 
 luld be discovered at it> 
 curving her course, so 
 Ifter depositing her eg-^^. 
 Carefully smoothes ovci 
 
 lible. The Singhalese, 
 
 Ich with a rod till they 
 
 [during the time of lay- 
 Ivcn mounted; still, for 
 
 EXl.vAORDINARV TURTLES AND CKUSTKACK ANS. 
 
 < o-t 
 
 
 Persons who search for turtles' eggs are provided with a light stiff 
 cane, or a gunrod, with which they go along the shores probing the sand 
 near the tracks of these animals, which, however, cannot always be seen, 
 on account of the winds and heavy rains that otten obliterate them, 1 he 
 ne.sts are discovered not only by men, but also by beasts of prey, and the 
 eggs are collected or destroyed on the spot in great numbers, as on 
 certain parts of the shores iumdreds of turtles are known to deposit their 
 eggs within the space of a mile. They form a new liole each time they 
 
 lay, and the sec- 
 ond is generally 
 dug near the first, 
 as if tlic animal 
 were quite uncon- 
 scious of what 
 had befallen it. 
 
 It will readily 
 be u n d c r s t o o d 
 that the nunKrous 
 eggs seen in a 
 turtle on cutting 
 it up could not be 
 all laid the same 
 season. The 
 whole number de- 
 posited by an in- 
 dividual in one 
 s u m m e r m a y 
 amount to four 
 hundred, whereas, 
 CORIACEOUS TURTi.F.. if the animal is 
 
 cauL;lit on or near her nest, the remaining eggs, all small, without 
 shells, and as it were threaded like so many large beads, exceed three 
 thousand. In an instance where that number was found, the turtle 
 weighed nearly four hundred pounds. The young soon after being 
 hatched, scratch their way through their sandy covering, and inmiediately 
 betake themselves to the water. 
 
 The green turtle sometimes attains a length of five to six feet 
 and a weight of 500 to 600 pounds. It received its name from 
 the color of the delicious fat, which enriches the soups and other 
 dishes of turtle. It is abundant in the tropical waters of the torrid 
 
 HI- 
 
 l!..j 
 
 m 
 
t 
 
 750 
 
 i;.\UTll, .Si:.\, AM' SKY. 
 
 7i: 
 
 
 zone, whence i^reat miinbers are exported alivt- to llie Northern States 
 anil ICuroinr. 
 
 As the turtles find constant abunilancc of food, the\- have no oe^.■a^i()Il 
 to (niarrel with animals of tiieir own kind. The)' (lock peaceabl)- {<>■ 
 L;cther, hut the\' do not seem to have any kind of associations, like many 
 other hcTilini; anin.uls. Tlu- les^s of <^reen turtles l)i:ar so j^reat a rL'stinh- 
 lame to Tins, as to al'fcn-ci them little service, i-xcc-])! in swiInmin;^^ 
 
 The old females, notwithstaiulinLj the\' only eonu- on shore in tile iii^lit, 
 in order to de[)osit their et;<^s, are often caught !>>■ the natives, who arc in 
 waiting;- about their haunts and who either kill them b\- t>lows w ith a ( hib 
 orturn them over . v.,., ,^,v; ,;.<_>. 
 
 on their backs. 
 It sometimes re- 
 ([uires the efforts 
 of several men, to 
 turn one of them 
 o\iT ,ini\ then 
 
 
 :-\ 
 
 
 
 K7. <*' 
 
 
 they must em- - ■ Ui^^"^' -^■:%..- 
 plo\- luuKJspikes 
 or poles lor that 
 p u rposo. The ' 
 back- shell in this 
 species is so llat 
 as to render it 
 impossible lor the .;^ 
 animal to recover 
 its pro])er posi- 
 tion when once 
 it is thrown upon 
 its back. i-.Diin.E tukii-k. 
 
 The coriaceous tmtle, is (lislin;jjiiished from the rest, as its name iiii|)]ic> 
 b}' the peculiar nature of its shell, which consists of a coriaceous or leather}' 
 .substance, checked o\e!- itsentire surfaci^ b)-numerous hcxai;onalan(l[)enta- 
 j>-onal niarkini;s, which, however. are so lio'htls'traced as in nowise to impair 
 the ;j;eneral smoothness. I-'ix-e stront:ijly prominent ritlt^es tra\ersc tlu' 
 whole lenc^th of this leather)- cuirass, and there is no imder or thoraic shell. 
 The color is a dusk\' brown, jialer on the inferior parts. The tail is short, 
 and sharply pointed; a stron;^- leathery skin covers the lar^cje, loni; Ici^s; 
 the head is larg^e, and the u]-)per mandible so sin_L;^ularly notched at the tip 
 that it resembles two larL""e teeth. 
 
 "^ ' ^:^ii:;^S^ 
 
B p 
 
 .he iNorthorn Slates 
 
 j\- liavc no occaMnn 
 llock pcaccabls t"- 
 .ociations, liki- in.my 
 ir st> <j^rcat a ivsnnli- 
 1 s\vilnn\in'^^ 
 ,n sht'iv in tlK- ni-ht. 
 ic natives, who aiv in 
 by l>lo\vs with a club 
 
 
 
 
 'iy^ - 
 
 
 m: 
 
 m^ 
 
 .-*. r-^'r— 
 
 w 
 
 ■m' 
 
 -t, as its name iin|)lio 
 
 coriaceous 
 
 or leathery 
 
 hexagonal and pcnta- 
 
 ll as in nowise to impair 
 
 In rid-a's traverse 
 
 the 
 
 un 
 
 der or tlvrai 
 
 c -^lici 
 
 Its. The tail is short, 
 
 the larjge 
 
 loncf Ic 
 
 ar 
 
 •Iv notched at the tip 
 
 ii 
 
 } i i 
 
 fi'l'? 
 
 1 J ' 
 
 "l 
 
 ^^r * 
 
 H 
 
 N 
 
i ipi t* 
 
 ' ' ii 
 
 1^ !• t 
 
 1 :v 
 "1,1 ■ 
 
 fo8 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 This species of turtle inhabits the Meclitci-ranean,and has been found at 
 times on the French and I uighsli coasts. It occasionally wanders as far as 
 the shores of South America and Africa. Some individuals measure seven 
 and eight feet in lenj^th, and weigh a thousand pounds. 
 
 The edible or green turtle's one of the largest of the genus, measurin"- 
 above six feet in length, and weighing from five to six hundred pounds. 
 Its shell consists of thirteen dorsal segments or divisions, surrounded by 
 twenty-five marginal pieces, and its form is somewhat heart-shaped, or 
 like the shield worn by mediaeval soldiers. Its color is a dark brown. 
 
 The Bony Lobster. 
 
 This is an example of a genus of crustaceans, remarkable for tlicir 
 long tails and tremendous claws. It is found in the greatest abundance 
 on our coasts, in clear water of no very great depth, at the time of de- 
 positing its eggs, about the middle of summer. The head and thorax of 
 this creature are blended, as in the scorpion, into one portion, which is 
 covered by a dorsal shield or carapace above, and below by a narrow 
 plastron, to the sidej of which the legs are attached. The first pair of 
 limbs are remarkably developed, possessing great power ; and the last 
 joint consists of large pincers, acted upon by voluminous muscles, and 
 capable of inflicting severe injury. The two pairs of pincers differ in 
 form and use. The left hand pair have their opposing edges firmly 
 dentatod, and are employed in seizing and cutting the prey. The right 
 hand pair seem destined for holding, anchor-like, on any fixed objects, 
 and thus mooring the animal amidst the dashing of the tempest-tossed 
 waters. Of the four succeeding limbs on each side, the first two end in 
 small pincers ; the rest are simply pointed. 
 
 Along the under surface of the tail are what are called false feet. Of 
 these there are five pairs. These false feet assist, perhaps, in swimming; 
 and in the case of the female, are of use in enabling her to affix the eggs 
 or spawn, by means of a glutinous fluid, to the undc surface of the 
 abdomen. In the lobster, and other species of the group, the tail is the 
 great organ of locomotion, and hence the extraordinary development of 
 the muscles composing its internal structure. 
 
 Gettiii,n a New Dress. 
 
 Clad in hard, unyielding ai'mor, to which, when once formed, no aikii- 
 tion, by way of growth, can possibly be made, a lobster changes its cal- 
 careous investment at certain intervals, until it is fully mature. Nay more, 
 the covering of the eyes, the cornea, the lining membrane of the stomach, 
 with the teeth, and also the semi-tendinous expansions to which the mus- 
 cles of the claws are attached, are all periodically thrown off. It is only 
 
fi 
 
 EXTRAORDINARY TURTLES AND CRUSTACEANS. 
 
 r)9 
 
 when released from their armor tliat tlicse animals increase. The soft 
 body, liberated from its close imprisonment, suddenly pushes forth its 
 <rro\vth ; the vital eneri^ies are, as it were, summoned to the task of en- 
 lar'nng the frame, and a new investment is acquired, to be aL;ain cast off 
 at the appointed period. 
 
 (^nc of these changes is described by Couch. Tlv^ manner in which 
 the lob.ster escaped was not to be mistaken. Throut^h the middle of the 
 carapace, or coat of mail, ran a line as straii^ht as if it had been cut by a 
 knife; and evidently formed by a natural process of separation, for it even 
 proceeded throut^h the centre of the snout to the terminal pointed process, 
 at the root of which it turned off on the ris^ht side ; so that the least ef- 
 fort of the animal was sufficient to afford it a passage. 
 
 Sometimes lobsters throw off their claws in consequence of fright, and 
 often they will hold on to an object till the claws are tc^rn off. To some 
 extent these lost parts are reproduced. They are very acti\e in the water, 
 and can spring to a considerable distance ; they feed chiefly at night. 
 They are voracious, and eat any animal matter that comes in their way. 
 Immense numbers of the European lobster are taken, but the means of 
 increase are abimdant, twelve thousand four hundred and forty-four eggs 
 havin"" been founil under the tail of a single female. The common 
 American lobster, abundant on our coasts from New Jersey northward, is 
 used in very brge quantities; it is nearly twice the size of the common 
 l-jiropcan species, weighing from two to thirty-five pounds ; the av:;rage 
 \veii(ht, however, being four pounds. 
 
 The fl resit Shore Crab. 
 This crustace-ui may frequently be met with. The French, who arc as 
 familiar with it as we are. call it very properly le cnibc ciiragC' ; for only 
 attempt to touch it, and it will run along the sand, greatly excited. Seize 
 it before it can succeed in burying itself, its claws become defiant, it will 
 tr\-->>';th all its might to seize and pinch the fingers in whicli it is held ; 
 and if it has no other resource, will leave )-ou grasping a claw or claws, 
 and make off as if it suffered no pain. Any or all of these legs may be 
 thrown off on the suffering of injury, but not with ecjual facility in all the 
 species; for in some, as in the conmion crab, if they be crushed or broken 
 without great violence, they arc sometimes retained, and the crab will in 
 no longtime bleed to death. To save the crab the fishermen proceed to 
 twist off the limb at the proper joint, or give it a smart blow, when it is 
 rejected ; and in either case the bleeding is stopped. 
 
 According to Couch, casting the shell of the common crab takes 
 {)lace by a seperation of the dorsal from the lower part of the carapace. 
 
 '! i: 
 
 if"*! 
 
iiii 
 
 « 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 » 
 
 
 \ 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i t 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 } 
 
 
 % 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I^H^' 
 
 
 (700) 
 
EXTRAORDINARY TURTLIIS AND CRrSTACIlAXS. 
 
 ■01 
 
 the animal lyini^ on its back during;- the i)niccss. Prior to this in tlie crab, 
 .md probably in the lobster and others, the llcsliy contents of the linib- 
 cascs shrink very considerably ; otherwise, tli ilesh could not be extri- 
 cated, for it does not appear that their shells are fissured. The newly ex- 
 tricated crab — not unlike a lump of dough inclosed in membrane — has, at 
 first, strenLjth to crawl to some hole as a place of safety; there it absorbs 
 as much fluid as will distend its ori;ans and their connnon covcrin<'-, now 
 flexible as \'el\'e-t, to the full extent of tlieir capacity. Thus the deposi- 
 tion is made of the calcareous crust, accordini; to the iiewly-acnuired bulk 
 of the animal, which is proportionately the most increaseil in the vouuL'est 
 individuals. 
 
 The Vvii C'lab. 
 
 The pea crab is another curious creature, ver)- commonlv found in the 
 common mussel, and especialK' in those taken from rather tleep water. 
 "On one occasion," says liell, " T dred;_^ed i^reat numbers of these mol- 
 lusca on the coast of Dorset, and found by fai- the greater number of 
 tlu-in witli one or two of these little soft-bodied crabs within their shells; 
 for the females are much more comnKjn than the males. The latter .sex I 
 have occasifMially taken a[)art from the mussel-shells; the former ne\er. 
 The\- also occasionally inhabit the common cockU-, in which 1 have now 
 and then found them, as \\ell as very rareh' in the oyster." The velvet 
 crabs, so called from the \elvety substance with which the shells are cov- 
 ered, and which extends e\en to the limbs of the animal, are ainoni^ the 
 most beautiful in appearance. The\- are of a redtlish color, tinL;e{I with 
 blue. One ofthem,\ery conunonly found, has colors remark>-i!)l\ bright; 
 it is about two inches and a-half Ioul;', and much esteemed for footl. 
 
 The IF«Miuit Crab. 
 
 The hermit crabs ha\e the whole hinder part of the bod\- covered with 
 a coriaceous membrane, instead of a hard, calcareous armor. .Apart, tlum, 
 from special defence, how could they escape beinir bruised and broken 
 among the rough .stones of a rocky beach, when a rolling tide- lashes the 
 shore, or becoming an easy pre\- to their iMiemies? lUit instin.t sup[)lies 
 all that is retiuired. The hermit crab selects an empty turbinate shell 
 fitted to its size, when, introducing its l;ul, it retreats backwards, and in 
 the recesses of its apiM-opriated dwelling llnd-; security. It is onl_\- the 
 right of one of its [lincer claws that is largel}- de\-eloped, and with this it 
 both shuts and guards the entrance to its home, the caudal paddle of 
 other creatures being unnecessary in this instance. It is changed, in fact, 
 into a sort of anchor, by which the hermit crab retains a firm attachm :nt 
 to the bottom of his dwelling. I lere secure, he peers out in quest of prey ; 
 
 
 
 !■'■ 
 
 i 
 
 
 n; 
 
 I, 
 
 ,.^ 
 
 |i 
 
 ; 
 
 
 ■i'l 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 i 
 
 P4 'I '1- 1> 
 
 fill, 1 
 
f 
 
 i-' 
 
 i..:ii. 
 
 ^SBi 
 
 7(i2 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 
 and, carrying his castle with him, may be seen, often with otliers, enjoyin<T 
 his repast. 
 
 UnHke the univalve or bivalve, which enlarges its dwelling on increas- 
 ing its size, the hermit crab, when grown too large for its dwelling, s-cks 
 and finds a more spacious tenement. In no race of beings is such a 
 practice known as this. Peculiar, however, as is their sagacity, one 
 species is specially remarkable for forming so intimate an attachment to 
 the cloak anemone, that the latter being fastened to the hermit crab's 
 
 shelljtheir mouths 
 are so combined 
 that they always 
 feed together, ac- 
 cording most 
 where many other 
 creatures would 
 least agree. On a 
 change of dwell- 
 ing, the hermit 
 crab has been seen 
 anxiouslytransfcr- 
 ring his friend to 
 his new abode, 
 and even pressing 
 him down with a 
 claw to complete 
 his adherence; 
 and another has 
 been beheld fail- 
 ing to do so, after 
 many efforts, and 
 sooner than give 
 
 THE AMERICAN GIANT-CRAB. 
 
 up his friend, returning to endure the inconveniences of his old dwelling. 
 Of the crustaceans, however, there is an endless variety; and we give 
 an amusing instance of the green crab's fox-like craft, as related by Qua- 
 trcfages; One day I threw a large arenicola (lug-worm) into a pool of 
 water several feet in extent. A troop of little shrimps, which were 
 sedately enjoying themselves in the clear element, dispersed in alarm, 
 startled by the noise made by the fall of this strange body, but, rccoxci- 
 ing themselves in a moment, they rallied, and, while the annelid was 
 endeavoring to bury itself in the sand, one of the youngest, and con- 
 
ith others, enjoying 
 
 iwclling on increas- 
 r its dwelling, s<cks 
 )f beings is such a 
 their sagacity, one 
 te an attachment to 
 the hermit crab's 
 shelljtheir mouths 
 are so combined 
 that they alw.iys 
 feed together, ac- 
 cording most 
 where many other 
 •- creatures would 
 -- least agree. On a 
 ^ change of dwell- 
 ing, the hermit 
 -:. crabhas been seen 
 anxiouslytransfer- 
 ring his friend to 
 his new abode, 
 and even pressing 
 , him down with a 
 claw to complete 
 his adherence; 
 and another h.is 
 been beheld fail- 
 ing to do so, after 
 many efforts, and 
 sooner than give 
 of his old dwelling. 
 ariety ; and we give 
 ft, as related by Qua- 
 [vorm) into a pool of 
 hrimps, which were 
 I, dispersed in alarm, 
 e body, but, recover- 
 ile the annelid was 
 youngest, and con- 
 
 f 
 
 EXTRAORDINARY TURTLES AND CRUSTACEANS. 
 
 763 
 
 
 
 l^- 
 
 sequently the most venturesome of the party, seized the creature by the 
 middle of its body. 
 
 Emboldened by this example, the others lost no time in imitating it, 
 and the poor arenicola was pulled about in all directions, until a full- 
 crrown shrimp, darting from behind a tuft of corallines, dispersed his 
 fecoler comrades, and appropriated the booty to himself I soon saw, 
 however, that he would be compelled to divide the spoil, for at that very 
 instant there poured forth from the moving sand some scores of small 
 creatures, which, conscious that a victim was at hand, wished to partici- 
 pate in the feast. Without any sign of uncertainty or hesitation, they 
 moved straight 
 forward towards 
 the arenicola, 
 ^rhose body was 
 covered in the 
 twinkling of an 
 eye with those vo- 
 racious mollusks. 
 I thought his fate 
 definitely settled, 
 w h e n a small 
 shore-crab issued 
 from beneath a 
 stone, put to flight 
 the shrimp, and, by 
 dragging off the 
 arenicola, very 
 ncarl}- up.set all 
 
 the others, which forthwith hurried back to their sandy haunts. Then, 
 however, a large edible crab appeared on the scene, and the poor 
 little crab was obliged, in his turn, to beat a retreat, in order to 
 escape out of reach of the formidable pincers of his stronger kinsman. 
 P)Ut he still kept a watchful eye over the dainty morsel which he had 
 tasted, and, taking advantage of a moment when the larger crab was • .tii- 
 drawing from the field, from some temporary emotion of alarm, he rapidly 
 .seized the long-disputed arenicola, and carried it for safety to some dis- 
 tance from the water's edge, where he might devour it at his ease on dry 
 land. 
 
 I'lu: crab of most importance as an article of food on the Atlantic and 
 vGulf Coast of the United States is the blue crab. This is one of the 
 
 GKK.XT CR.A.H OF MADAGASCAR. 
 
 
 1 ' 
 
 '■-lit 
 
 
70 J 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 swimming species, and is found especially in estuaries and brackish 
 waters from Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico. Other specie^-- of tJK- same 
 cla^s, found in the West Indies, antl on both coasts of Central and Si.Mtli 
 America, are extensively used for food. The rock-crabs are sonictinies 
 sold in New England, and similar .species are conmion in California, whlK' 
 another species is much used on the coasts of luirope. 
 
 When the claw of a crab is brui.sed it bleeds, and the animal .sccnis Id 
 suffer much pain. For a while it moves it from side to side, and tiKii 
 holding it stead)' in one direct position, the claw all of a sudtlen gi\\.> a 
 sudden crack, and the wounded part drops off; not at th.e joint, but in the 
 .smoothest '^'irt of the limb. Crabs frequently have serious fighis bv nu an- 
 of their ^r-'ai 'lav.s,with which thev break or cut off their adver-ar\ \s k'-s 
 
 The American crab, with its enormous claws, is about a foot and a lialf 
 in length. But its appearance is not so terrifying as that of the partlunopc 
 liorrido \ a crab frequently met with on the shores of the islands of Ri'uii- 
 ion, Madagascar, aiid the Mauritius. Its whole body, its claws and nippci>, 
 bri.stle with hard, long, sharp, and menacing joints. The figure given in 
 our text is a reduced copy from an illustration in Milne-Edward's valuable 
 moncgraph on the crustaceans of Reunion. 
 
 I '-I 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 MOLLUSKS WITH IM'CULIAR SHICLLS. 
 
 A Choice Mintial Substance— Material for Ocean Bnikiers— -'See wliat a l.ovtly 
 Sliell "— Rare Mollusks— Tlie Young Guarded— K(i)ulsive Creatines in lieauii- 
 ful Dwellings— The Sea-shore a Great School of Instrnctiuu— Curious IVarl 
 Oyster— Helmet Shells— Cone Siiells— Gorgeous Hues— Interesting Hivalves — 
 Scallop Shell— Ornament of rilgriins— Silken " Ryssus "— Stran.i;e Material for 
 I'abrics— Treasures of tlie I'earl Oyster— F"ond!Uss of the Ancients for a Gem- 
 Shakespeare on the Orient Pearl— Immense Wealth of Ceylon— Pearl Fishing 
 by Cingalese— Picturesque Spectacle— Firing a Cannon at Day-break— Ropes, 
 Knives, and Stones— Three Sieves— I'^orm and Color— Pearls of Fvery Hue- 
 AUusion of the Historian Tacitus— Origin of Pearls— Emerald l->inges— Marvels 
 of Old Oceans Bed. 
 
 HERE is a certain material spread throu.t,diout nature in pro- 
 
 ^ ISk ^'ifjious abundance; the result of tlie combination of cari)onic 
 
 ac'd with Hme, and which, according to the rules of chemical 
 
 nomenclature, is scientifically known as carbonate of lime. This 
 
 substance plays a most important part in the mineral kinc>;doin, and under 
 
 the different forms which it assumes constitutes for man one of those 
 
 sources of wealth he appreciates so much the less because they are indis- 
 
 pcnsai^le to him, and therefore bestowed b}' nature willi a lavish hand. 
 
 What is carbonate of lime? Why, it is marl — it is chalk — it is l)uildim;- 
 
 stcne — it is also alabaster and marble. It is that of which Tennwson sings 
 
 in these lines : 
 
 See wiiat a lovely sliell, 
 
 .Small and pure as pearl, 
 
 Lying close to my foot, 
 
 Frail, but a work divine, • h 
 
 Made so fairily well, 
 
 With delicate spire anil whorl, 
 
 How e.xfiuisitely minute, 
 
 A miracle of design ! 
 
 In the animal kingc'^m, the same substance absorbed, elaborated, and 
 
 secreted by those myriads of seen and unseen workmen of which we 
 
 have already spoken, becomes for them, too, as for us, the matter 
 
 with which they btiild and fashion their asylun?, their habitation. Car- 
 
 b(Miate of lime is the outer coat of those innumerable creatures which 
 
 ha\e aided in building up our capital cities; it is the pol\-pid of the zoo- 
 
 [)liyte, the armor of the crustacean, the house of the moUusk ; it is those 
 
 beautiful shells of all dimensions, of such varied forms, such \-ivid colors, 
 
 
i') 
 
 7G(J 
 
 EARTH. SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 with sucl. da.zlinnr reflections, uliich we justly pri.c as the admiral.l 
 masterp,eces of the innnitable artist ; it is motha-Upeari ; l^l^^^^':, 
 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 #Vii;"i;'Jif;::;.:'ii:,r;'i;i 
 
 *;' 
 
 
 
 
 II.T,l''':i!':,;|j,<v,i J',; :,:'^,-^ 
 
 
 If 
 
 n 
 
 
 '11 
 
 
 i i:i 
 
 jiiji.i > m' 
 
 f' . 
 
 'ill ■ , 1 lifln 
 
 '■|liili.r:!i 
 
 5ii''i 
 
 III-, n 
 
 'i'i'iii'''|lr"' 
 
 
 :.:.,:■. ,1,1 ; I 
 
 Itself; sung by poets, and ranked Pmong the most precious gems 
 
 I he mollusks would be at once delivered up defenceless to the snares 
 
ri/-c as the adniirabk- 
 f-pcarl ; it is tlu.- pcail 
 
 ■ 1' ,'IK .i 
 k 1 ailjlLL.' 
 
 1)1' ' 
 
 IC. 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 is ^ 
 
 V //. ■ 
 
 V 
 
 3G£i' 
 
 -^ 
 
 ■yi' 
 
 D 
 
 IK'' 
 
 i^. 
 
 rSl' 
 
 a 
 
 t^lv/ 
 
 /, 
 
 Hbv 
 
 < 
 
 ^Bv^i 
 
 J 
 
 llt) 
 
 /-, 
 
 M? 
 
 >j 
 
 R»?' 
 
 < 
 
 HL>',:' 
 
 ->- 
 
 
 J*p||''lii 
 
 brccious gems. 
 icnceless to the snares 
 
 MOLLIJSKS WITH PECULIAR SHKI-LS. 
 
 roT 
 
 of their enemies, if nature had not endowed theiu with the marvchius 
 faculty of constructing;' a soHd enveh)pnient, which serves tliem instead of 
 ,1 skelet j.i, since their muscles adhere to it, and in which they can shut 
 tl:cmselves up as in a fortress. Only a very small number possess, as a 
 substitute, either a kind of internal shell, or an exceptional vi<4-or and de- 
 velopment of their aj)paratus of locomotion, attack, and ilefence. Nearly 
 all live entirely in tiieir shells, and perish immediately thev an.' tleprived of 
 thiin. In some cases they are not born with the shell, but no sooner luue 
 ihcy cmeri^ed " -- 
 
 tioni the egg than 
 the calcareous se- 
 cretion begins, 
 and in a few mo- 
 ments accjuires 
 sufficient consis- 
 tenc\' to protect 
 the young animal. 
 The reader will 
 perceive that in 
 the study of so 
 vast a science it is 
 impossible tor us 
 to engage our- -r^^^^j^-^?^ 
 selves, and that we ;.^- ' 
 must be contented -^ 
 with rapid glances 
 at? feu- of its more -'" 
 remarkable points. 
 But, undoubtedly, 
 the most interest- 
 in;vfeatureofthese ^^ke specimens of m.u.hsks. 
 
 mollusks. for him who does not pretend to arm himself uith microscope 
 and scalpel to examine minutely their anatomy and the functions of their 
 organs, is their shells ; graceful and attracti\-e works, whose rich and 
 diverse tints, and elegant forms, contrast so singularly with what we must 
 acknowledge to be the disagreeable aspect of the beings which pnnluce 
 them. An aspect which in very few cases justifies the delicate fancies of 
 
 the poet : 
 
 The tuiy cell is fodorn, 
 
 Void of the little livini; will 
 
 That made it stir on the shore. 
 
 
 t I I 
 
 • t ; ■ 
 
 »^ 
 
 '\ 
 
 m 
 
im 
 
 7i>H 
 
 KARTII, SI'A AND SKV 
 
 rfl 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 Hid lie stand at tli"; diamond door 
 < )!" Ills houst^ in a rainbow ("rill ? 
 I )id lie pusii, when lie was unrurled, 
 A jjoldcn toot -n a fairy horn 
 Thronj^b h'^ " water-world? 
 
 liut of wliat value would be cription, necessarily dry, inconiplote, 
 
 and inexact, \\here only the ni(jst ski! Till and artistic brush or pencil tan 
 
 h()])e to Ljive the faintest realization of the truth? To fully appreciitc 
 
 such objects, and their rare and subtle art, we must sec them, must att( n- 
 
 tively in\esti;^atr 
 
 
 their infinite de- 
 tails, not one (if 
 which should es- 
 cape our notice. 
 Thisi)leasant ta--k 
 we recomnienil to 
 the reader ; it is 
 one which he can 
 . -j^r-^'X^rc^ casiK- take upon 
 ^^if'r^^wVil-'''^^ himself, as e\ er\- 
 £'il>^.4":^S'i-.r!l inch of sea-shore 
 £-t • is rich in subjects 
 for study, and he 
 may also obtain 
 ^'Jf:0'^_ ' access to our j^reat 
 Ji-0^^ public collecti'in-^. 
 'Jfl#^ The wealth of 
 -— our seas, however, 
 may not be com- 
 pared to that 
 of the tropical 
 'ocean. It is from 
 
 the latter only we obtain tlie gigantic fridacnas, some of which 
 weigh five hundred jjounds, and are used in Catholic churches as 
 receptacles of the holy water; while the Polynesian islanders convert 
 tliem into mattocks and other tools. There is also the great triton, 
 from one to two feet long, which serves the savage for a martial 
 horn ; the apex of the spire beintr perforated, a rude music is produced 
 by blowing through the aperture. Other shells are converted into snuff 
 boxes. The nautili, with their pearly secretions are polished and 
 inounted in beautiful opaline vases. We have also the mother-of-pearl 
 
 
 MADKEPOKF', ATTACHEn TO A MOTMF.K-OK-PEARI. OV.STEK* 
 
 .f4H 
 
MOLLUSKS WITH I'FCl'IJAk SHKI.I.S. 
 
 7<;!) 
 
 )r 
 
 led. 
 
 larily dry, incompleU;, 
 
 ic brush or pencil cati 
 
 To fully api)ruci:itc 
 
 sec them, must attt n- 
 
 tively investigate 
 
 their infinite (k- 
 
 tails, not one i>{ 
 
 which should is- 
 
 cape our notice. 
 
 ThispleasanttaA- 
 
 , we recommend [i> 
 
 S^ the reader; it is 
 
 £K one which he can 
 
 fc^-r\ easilv take upon 
 
 ^^^\ 
 
 l-iVi'v himself, as e\erv 
 
 iji^V; inch of sea-shme 
 pi- ' is rich in subjects 
 P for study, and he 
 may also obtain 
 <;--' access to ourL^reat 
 ^ ])ublic collectii.iis. 
 ^% The wealth of 
 f~.- our seas, however, 
 may not be com- 
 pared to that 
 of the tropical 
 ocean. It is from 
 mas, some of which 
 Catholic churches as 
 si an islanders convert 
 also the great triton, 
 savage for a marti;il 
 ide music is produced 
 e converted into snuff 
 s are polished and 
 o the mother-of-pearl 
 
 iTER- 
 
 oyster, and the ear-shells distingui.><hed by the pearly jridcscence of the 
 interior surface. Then there is a pearl oyster containing the beautiful 
 andcostly substance called mother-of pearl ; besides other shells of all 
 forms and sizes, whose enumeration alone would oecupy many pages. 
 Mention must be made of the great helmet-shells, characterized by the 
 tri ini,'ular disk of the inner lip, and by the angulated outer lip — these 
 shells are finely sculptured by Italian artists in imitation of antique 
 ranieos; therichly- 
 
 ,:olored olivas of _--i^SI:P?®L 
 
 tropical coasts; the 
 coni with thick- 
 shells rolled up, as 
 ji were, in the form 
 oi a cone, all very 
 elei^ant in shape, 
 and of glowing 
 hues, and innumer- 
 able small ocean 
 gems, so finely 
 wrought that no 
 lapidary can imitate 
 them, and that the 
 e\esei/cs but slow- 
 ly all their perfec- 
 tions. 
 
 ."Shells may be 
 di\ided into three 
 j^reat classes, — the 
 
 nni\al\es, bivaKes, ■.--:■..■ ..^■■■■v^ 
 
 and multi\-alves. '• — iii:lmet .siikli. oi- m.m).\(;,\>c.\r. 2. — si'inv kock 
 
 The former con- 3.— s.\ni>i.i: shki.l. 
 
 sists of a single vaK'e or piece, which almost al\va\'s affects a nion 
 or less niodified spiral form. Nearlx* all the most beautiful shells 
 belong to this class. We must except, however, the tridacnas, which 
 are bi\alves, that is, formed of two symmetrical halves conforming 
 accurately to one another. The most edible shell-fish, such as the com- 
 mon oyster, the pecten, or scallop-shell, worn by ])ilgrims who had visited 
 the shrine of St. James in the IIol}' Land, the hi[)popus (or horse's foot, 
 whose undulating edge, radiated fluted columns, and variegated coloring, 
 command general admiration), the mussel, and others, are likewi.se bivalves. 
 49 
 
 It 
 
 ifi 
 
 m s 
 
770 
 
 KAKTH. SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 ^ 
 
 F«^1 
 
 t 
 
 1.; 
 
 ■A 
 
 
 m 
 
 ^^L__ 
 
 -^' mM'' 
 
 The or^aii which secretes the calcareous matter comiM)sin;^r the simple 
 double, or multiple shell, is called the mantle, because the animal (.;,ii 
 conceal within it, by contraction, most of its other organs. A.l tlK in,,!- 
 hisks have a mantle ; but in some — like the cuttle — it only secretes a 
 
 kind ol internal shell, anil in others — the polypus, for example it i> 
 
 wholly inactive. AmonLj all the conchiferou.s mollusks, the al^c of th, 
 mantle remains invariabK' free and mobile. (^iMtain univalve mdlUisks 
 
 form the opeiriii^ 
 of IJieir lial)ita- 
 tion with a Kind 
 of horny li.l ,„• 
 cover, calcarciius 
 and compact. 
 
 The mantic df 
 ace[)halous hi- 
 \alves produces 
 anumberofsilkv 
 filaments drsi'r. 
 
 natedtliel)\ssus, 
 by which the 
 shell is attached 
 to rocks or other 
 marine bodies. 
 The byssus of 
 certain mollusks 
 consists of ele- 
 ments of _t,n-eatt'r 
 or less leni^tli: 
 but that of the 
 winL:^-sh(dl, i^ es- 
 pecially leiiiark- 
 able for itsabmi- 
 
 
 I. — iu>:aks i'aw clam. 2. — shei.i. with ins.sus. 
 
 3. FUSUS LONGISSIMUS. 
 
 dance, its fineness, its brilliancy and softness, almo.st approaching^ in the-!' 
 qualities to woven silks. The filaments arc extremely strong, and the 
 color, a reddish brown, never fades. The ancients fabricated a sort 0! 
 stuff from these filaments ; and in Sicily they are still sometimes niami- 
 factured into gloves and other articles of dress. 
 
 In Italy, it is made into various articles; and there are few museums 
 without a glove or a stocking woven out of this substance. Some stock 
 ings of this silk were presented in 1754 to Pope Ben'^dict XIV. In the 
 
!'' 
 
 MOI.l.LJSKS WITH I'lX I LIAR Sill. I. IS. 
 
 71 
 
 r)mposin;4 the simple, 
 iiisc the aiiiniiil can 
 rt:;ans. A. I iIk im.l- 
 Ic — it only .secretes a 
 s, for example — it is 
 jsks, the cd'j^c of thi 
 in univalve- nidlUi.sks 
 form tlicopeniuL; 
 of llieir li;il)ita- 
 tion with a kind 
 of horny lid nr 
 cover, calcareous 
 ' and compait. 
 
 The mantle of 
 ^if' acephalous hi- 
 «^i valves priidiu-cs 
 a number of silky 
 filaments desi<^- 
 I natedthel)\-ssus, 
 ')^ by which the 
 ^^ shell is attached 
 ■ , to rocks or other 
 ■il? marine bodies. 
 ^'■^ The byssus of 
 -r- certain niollusks 
 r consists of ele- 
 ments of i;re;ite:- 
 CM- less lcn;.^nh; 
 but that of the 
 win'j::-shell,is es- 
 pecially remark- 
 able for its abun- 
 st approaching in the?c 
 remely strong, and the 
 Its fabricated a sort ol 
 still sometimes mami- 
 
 there are few museums 
 ubstancc. Some stock 
 Be-'^dict XIV. In the 
 
 ;us. 
 
 great exhibitions <.f late years, a lar^o nnmlKr of article-^ have been cx- 
 I'.ibited, manufactured from this substance, as -.veil as specimens of the silk 
 for making u[). 
 
 IN'Uil Oystrrs and 'I'ludr Tr«':iMin>s. 
 
 The passion for pearls was at its height alxuii the period when Roman 
 freedom was extinguished, and in the imperial city jxarls were \alued as 
 highly as precious stones. A pearl, irlebi.ited in I'liny'^ time, was bought 
 by Tavenier for $50,000. In .\sia this taste was of more ancient date, nor 
 has it ever declined. A string of jjearls of the largest si/e is an indispen- 
 sable part of an I'.asttrn monarcii's decorations. It was thiK that 'I'ippoo 
 was ad(jrned when he fell before the gates of his capital ; ami the rulers 
 of Persia iiave for ages been similarly decorated. Shakespeare gives us 
 the following collocpi}': 
 
 CUopatra. — How goes it with my In.ive Antony? 
 
 /f /f r<75.— Last thlti^ lie did, dear c|iiceti, 
 He kiss'd— tlif last of many doubled kisses — 
 This <irient pearl ; — his s|)eeeh sticks in my iieari. 
 
 Clfopatra.—^WwG ear must pluck it ll)ti"-e. 
 
 Alexas.— '■ Godd friend," >|Uoth he, 
 
 " Say, the firm Roman to .i;reat Iv-cypt sends 
 Tliis treasure of an oyster." 
 
 The pearl oysters, like those with which we are familiar, lie in banks, at 
 [greater or less depths in the .sea. Such banks, for exami)le, occur on ilie 
 we-.tern side of the island of Ceylon, about fifteen miles from the .siiore, 
 where their average de[)th is about twelve fathoms. Here the greatest <it 
 all pearl fisheries has been carried on for many centuries. The\' seem 
 alwaj's to ha\'e been considered the property < if the king or kings of Ce\lon ; 
 but since the occupation of the island by the British, the [)rivilege of frill- 
 ing on them has been sold sometimes by auction, the sales being made only 
 for one season. 
 
 The pearl fishery alwa}'s begins in the month of A[)r;l, because the sea 
 has then a beautiful tranquilit)' ; and is generally continued to the middle 
 or end of May. It attracts to the coast not only a multitude of the Cinga- 
 lese, but the crowds of speculators from all parts of the vast Indian penin- 
 sula, who.se variety of language, costume and manners is described as very 
 striking and pleasing. On the eve of the fishery there is a curiou.s and 
 picturesque spectacle. 
 
 The signal for beginning the fishing is given at day-break by the dis- 
 charge of a cannon ; on which a countless fleet of boats, that have started 
 for the shore at midnight, and, favored by a land breeze, have reached the 
 oyster banks before dawn, cast anchor in the respective parts for which 
 
 
 
 \ \i 1 ! 
 
 ..I 
 
 ''' i 
 
 (If* 
 
 '"If 
 
 m 
 
 4'» 
 
 
•» 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 i 
 
 i' 
 
 1 
 
 i ''I I, r«li ■ 
 
 r fffpf 
 
 772 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 their owners have contracted, or at wliich they arc appointed to work 
 Inspectors are in attendance to prevent any irre;4ularity in these respects. 
 Tiiat they may descend throui;h the water with greater rapidity to th.c 
 bank round w hich the oysters are chistered, the divers jilace tiieir feet oii 
 a stone attached to the end of a rope, the other end of which is made fast 
 to the boat; they carry witli them another rope, the extremity of wiiicli is 
 lield by two men in tne boat, wliilst to the U)wer part that descends w uh 
 the diver, there is fastened a net or basket, livery diver is also proviiled 
 witli a stroni; knife to detach tlie oysters, or to serve liim as a defensive 
 
 
 @i^^?t*^ >-\'-V^ }4-^i-4: - 
 
 SHELL WITH BEAUTIFUL PEARLS, 
 
 weapon if he should he attacked by a sliark". On touchin^^- the prround, 
 they feather the oysters with all possible speed, and. havino- filled their net 
 or basket, they quit their hold of the rope with the stone, pull that which 
 is held by the sailors in the boat, and ra])idl>- ascend to the surface of 
 the sea. 
 
 Pearls of an inferior description are formed in a fresh- water bivalve, It 
 is probable that pearls from this sc^urcc, collected b>' th.e ancient Rriton.s, 
 may have given ri.se to the statement by Tacitus in liis " Life of Agricola." 
 of pearls, '' not very orient, but jxde and wan," being among the indii^^c- 
 nous products of Great Ih'itaiiL 
 
.MOLI.IJSKS WITH I'ECLM.IAR SIII'.I.I.S. 
 
 773 
 
 The orii^n'n of pearls lia^ led to nuicli discussion, but it should he remem- 
 bered that the instinct of eve'ty shell-duelKT is prepared to meet all the 
 cxiL;'encie.s of its bein;^. Ho\ve\er rouL^h and ruL^i^ed be the exterior of 
 its abode — Ljradually adapter I to its <^ro\\ th — the interioi- is in\ ariabl\- made 
 exquisitel}' smooth, and often hi;4hly irideseeiU. Ar.d should some i;rain 
 of sand or other substance I'liler its dwellin;^, and be likely to irritate its 
 tt'nder body, it wraps it up in the iridescent substance which it secretes at 
 pleasure, and chan,L,^es it into a ])earl ! 
 
 In our sea-side walks, wi- may often see — 
 
 Riieks, roiit;h with linii)ets aiul l)ro\vn 1,ui,l;1" wred, 
 Jut lure ami tlure — wliilst on tlie sturdy clilf 
 Its (•;il)le sure the crafty mussel spins, 
 basiling- itself fur safety to the rock. 
 
 Here ami tiiere, 
 Si)eckletl with slaty spots of };reen, that l(.!l 
 Wliere 'n(;ath their enieraUl frint^es cockles hiile, 
 Slrani^e shells, tiie marvels of okl ocean's bed, 
 Are strewed around. I lave they been always iiere'' 
 Or came tluy hither from far distant sliores, 
 Unwilling, captives of careerin;^ waves? 
 
 1! 
 
 1 1 
 
 >i touching the cjroinvl, 
 id. havini;- filled their nd 
 le stone, puU that which 
 ascend to the surface (if 
 
 a fresh-\\atcr bivalve. It 
 I by the ancient Britons, 
 inhis"Lifcof Agricola." 
 vr anion cj the indii;c' 
 
 <i--v^ 
 

 CHAPTKR XI. 
 
 SHIPWRECKS AND OCEAN ADVENTURES. 
 
 'i) :h 
 
 '1 lie Ilenefits of tlie Ocean very Costly — A Devotiriiij^ Moloch — Hmnan Victims 
 and Horrible Gifts — Rich Cargoes Swallowed Up — Innumerable Human Vic- 
 tims—Ships on Fire — Taking to the lioats — Sailors Familiar with Danger- 
 Horrors of the Great Abyss— Washington Irving's Grapliic Description of a 
 Shipwreck— Dismal Stories — Startling Adventures of a Ship Captain — A Drown- 
 ing Cry Mingling with the Wind — Perils of Arctic V(}yages — Loss of the Siiip 
 "Jeannette" — Ice Hammering at the Vessel— Melville Taking a Photograpli— 
 Hasty Preparations to Leave— Three Boats Lowered — -'There She Goes !" — 
 Encamping on the Ice- Boat Mounted on Sleds — Long and Toilsome Journey - 
 Silk Flag Unfurled on Bt nnett Island— Capturing Arctic Animals -The Great 
 Sea-Cow — " Funny Wee l'"is!ies" — Terrific Battle with \v"alruses- Fast Loading 
 and Firing— Loss of the " Esse.x" — Captain Pollard's Vivid Narrative — Repeated 
 Attacks of an Immense Whale- The Ship Stove — Tliree Little Boats in tiie Great 
 Deep — A Barren Island — Frightful Sufferings— Again on the 'I'rackless Sea — 
 Miraculous Escape — Rescue of Men from the Island — Horritl Cannibalism — Tor- 
 nadoes and Water-Spouts — l^knuiits at War — A Thousand Ships Go Down- 
 Wreck of the Royal Fleet — lmmen.>t' Loss of Life — Huge Cannon IMown Away 
 by the 1 lurricane — An Appalling Scene. 
 
 HE benefit.s of ocean arc imiticnse ; but we must own that they 
 are very dearly purchased. Certain ancient races made for 
 themselves deities ofthe most greedy and sanguinary character; 
 the Moloch ofthe Canaanites, the Teutates ofthe Gauls, granted 
 nothing to the prayers of their votaries unless tlieir prayers were accom- 
 panied with the most horrible gifts. Perfumes, gold, precious stones, the 
 blood of animals, could not suffice them; they demanded human victims; 
 the more tears these offerings cost, the more they were valued; they were 
 required to be renewed at definite e[)ochs, which however did not pre- 
 vent the god fr(M-n insisting upon an increase under certain circiun- 
 siances. War and peace, harvests, great enterprises, public calamities, 
 were so many occasions for which the poor wretches submitted to the 
 caprices of these niDUsters to pour otit piously the blood of their prison- 
 ers, their slaves, their fellow-citizens, even of their own children. 
 
 Alas! human sacrifices have not ceased with the worship of these 
 false gods ; and it is not only some few barbarous races, but even the 
 most polished Christian nations, the most civili/.ed and the most en- 
 lightened, who i):iy a giiastly tribute to Ocean, the new Moloch. We 
 (774) 
 
lNTURES. 
 
 SHIPWRECKS AND OCKAN ADVI'.NTrRF.S. 
 
 
 do not speak of the ships lost, of the rich cargoes swallowed up — these 
 would be little ; but one trembles to think of the innumerable victims 
 who have perished in the bosom of the waveS; and of whom every year 
 increases the funeral record. 
 
 If mariners had only the rock, the reef, the hidden shoal, and the 
 tempest to fear ! But so many other dangers threaten, ami may at any 
 moment overcome them, even when they imagine their security com- 
 plete. For those who go down to the sea in shii)s, no element is more 
 formidable than fire. It can only be extinguished by sinking the vessel, 
 so that the unhappy mariner has but to choose between two kinds of 
 death. There is no refuge, no means of safety, except the boats, into 
 which the panic stricken crew often precipitate themselves headlong, 
 and freciuently capsize them by overloading. 
 
 .Another too frequent cause of disaster is collision. Two ships at ni"ht, 
 or in a dense fog, encounter each other, to the serious injury of both, and 
 usually to the utter ruin of one. Tliis danger would seem the most easily 
 avoided; and such, indeed, might be the case, if the nautical regulations 
 were more strictly preserved, and if ships in bad weather inwiriably showed 
 their lights. But men grow familiar with danger, and ne</lect these pre- 
 cautions, which, moreover, under certain circumstances would still be 
 insufficient. 
 
 Wasliiugton Irvinji's Do.soription nV a Wr<M'k. 
 
 Washington Irving, poet and historian, one of tlie literal-}- glories of 
 America, has described with his wonted elegance and vi\acity the imj)res- 
 sions produced upon his mind by his first vcn-age. We w ill tjuote the 
 ninst characteristic episc^de of his charming narratixe : — 
 
 " W^e one day descried scMiie shapeless object drifting at a distance. At 
 sea everything that breaks the monotony of the surrounding expanse 
 attracts attention. It pro\'ed to be the mast of a ship that must ha\'e been 
 completely wrecked, for there were the remains of handkerchiefs by which 
 some of the crew had fastened themselves to the spar, to pre\e!it their 
 being washed off by the waves. There was no trace by which the name 
 "if the ship could be ascertained. The wreck hail e\-idcntly drifted about 
 for many months; clu.sters of shell-fish hatl fastenetl about it, and ^' ''■^[i; 
 sea-weeds flaunted at its sides. 
 
 " Hut where, thought I, are the crew? Their struggle has long been 
 over — they have gone down amidst the rcnir of the tempest — their bones 
 lie whitening among the caverns of the deep. Silence, oblivion, like the 
 wa\ fs, have closed over them, and no one can tell the story of their end. 
 What sigl have been wafted after that ship! what prayers offered up at 
 
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 SHIPWRECKS AND OCEAN ADVENTURES. 
 
 i i 
 
 the deserted fireside of honvj! How often has the mistress, ,he wife, the 
 niother pored over the daily news to catch some casual intelligence of this 
 rover of the deep? Ifow has expectation darkened into anxiet}', anxiety 
 into dread, and dreatl into despair! Alas I not one memento may ever 
 return for \o\c to cherish. All that ma\- ever he known is that she sailed 
 from her port, 'and was never heard of more!' 
 
 "The sioht of this wreck, as usual, gave rise to many dismal anecdotes. 
 Tnis was particularly the case in the e\ening, whon the weather, which 
 had hitherto been fair, began to look wild and threatening, and gave 
 intlications of one of tiiose sudden storms which will sometimes break in 
 upon the serenity of a summer voyage. As we sat round the dull light 
 of a lamp in the cabin, that made the gloom more ghastly, every one iiad 
 his tale of shipwreck aiid tlisaster. I was particularly struck with a short 
 one related b}- the captain. 
 
 The Captain's Tluilliiiu Story. 
 '" As I was once sailing,' said he, ' in a tine stout ship across the hank.' 
 of Newfoundland, one of those heavy fogs which prexail in those parts 
 rendered it impossible for us to see far ahead e\en in the da\--time, but at 
 night the weather was so thick that we couKl not distinguish aii)' object 
 at twice the length of the ship. I kept lights at the mast-head, and a 
 C(Mistant ^\■atch forward to look out for fishing-smacks, which are accus- 
 tomed to lie at anchor on the banks. The wind was blowing a smacking 
 biceze, and we were going at a great rate through the water. Suddenly 
 the watch gave the alarm of "a sail ahead!" — it was scarceh- uttered 
 before we were upon her. 
 
 " 'She was a small sciiooner, at anchor with her broadside towards us. 
 The crew were all asleep, and had neglected to lioist a light. We struck 
 her just amidships. The force, the size, and weight of our vessel bore her 
 down below the waves; we passed over her, and we luu'ried on our 
 course. As the crashing wreck was sinking beneath us, I had a glimpse 
 of two or three half-naked wretches rushing from her cabin ; they just 
 started from their beds to be swallowed shrieking by the waves. I heard 
 their drowning cry mingling with the wind. The blast that bore it to our 
 ears swept us out of all further heaiing. I shall never forget that cry! It 
 was sometime before we could put the ship about, she was under such 
 headway. We returned, as nearly as we could guess, to the place where 
 the smack had anchored. We cruised about for several hours in the 
 dense fog. We fired signal-guns, and listened if we might hear the halloo 
 of any of the survivors ; but all was silent — we ne\-er saw or heard any- 
 thing t)f them more.' " 
 
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 778 
 
 EARTir, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 The expeditions, so many of which have in late years been luulcrtaken 
 in tlie pohir ret^ions, afford ample and thrillinti^ evidence of the dangers 
 attendincj ocean na\ii^ation. The world has read the storj' of Arctic lu- 
 roes with ..mazement. It is sufficient for us here to depict the scciil.' 
 ■when the celebrated ship " Jcannette '' was abandoned amon,L,r the ictj- 
 bcr_i^s of the frozen North. This startlin<^ ailventure will illustrate the 
 awful hardships and perils which havealwax's attended ])olar voya<^es. 
 
 The narrative proceeds, as follows: In the early part of June, i8cSi,tlio 
 ice around the ship was broken down in immense masses, the whole park 
 being alive, and had the ship been within oneof tiie fast-closini;" leads slic 
 \v<nild have been i^round to powder. I'lmbecUk'd in a small iskuul <»f iic, 
 she was as yet protected frc^n the direct crush ir;<r on her sides, but felt .i 
 continual liaTiimerin;^ and thumping of the ice under her bottom. 
 
 Tlu' Ship CriisluMl by lc<*. 
 
 On the 1 2th of Junj, at midni;^ht, in a few moments' time, she was set 
 free by the split of the llt.^e on a line with her keel, and suddcnl)' rij^htin;^^, 
 started all hands from their beds to the ueck. By 9 A. m. the ice had 
 Commenced comini^ in on her siile ; a hea\y floe was hauled aheail inio 
 a hole where it was suppo.sed the ice coming;" toijether would impinge <in 
 itself instead of on the ship. The jiressure was \er\' heav\-, and gave 
 forth a iiissing, crunching sound, and at 3.40 p. M. the ice was reported 
 coming through the starboard coal bunkers. At four o'clock she was 
 lying perfectly i]uiet, but her bows were thrown up so high in the air, 
 that the injur}' to lier forefoot made Januar\' 19th, iSSo, could be seen. 
 
 Melville went on tlie floe to take her [photograph, but on returnint^^ to 
 th -• ship heard the order to prepare to lea\-e the vessel by getting out llic 
 chronometers, rifles, ammunition, and other articles to the Hoe. Lieu- 
 tenant Chipp was quite sick in bed, but was notified; Captain DcLoiil:^ 
 "was cver\-where, seeing that all things went on smoothl}- and ([uictly, 
 without the least haste or consternation among the crew ; he came about 
 the deck in the same manner as though we w"ere in no danger whatc\er. 
 aiiil tried to have the officers and men feel as collected as he was." TIkic 
 was ample time for all persons to get out their j)ersonal effects, but to ;M;t 
 a barrel of lime-juice, so necessary to prevent scurvey on their maiili, 
 .Seaman Starr waded into the forward store-room at the risk oi his lift-. 
 
 When the order was given fir all hantls to leave the ship at abnut 
 eleven at night, her water-ways had been broken in, the iron work around 
 the smoke-pipe buckled up, the rivets sheared off, and the smoke-stack 
 left supported only by the guys. Three boats were lowered, the first and 
 the second cutter, and the first whale-boat ; and the ship's party of thirty- 
 
 
■'11 
 
 .-irs been uiulcrtakcn 
 dcnco (if the dan<TcrH 
 : st(ir>' of Arctic he- 
 
 to depict the scene 
 ned amoHLC the ice- 
 irc will illustrate the 
 icd i)olar voya^^es. 
 >art of June, i8Si,lhe 
 lasscs, the whole pack 
 
 fast-closini; leads slu: 
 1 a siiiall island of icr, 
 111 her sides, hut loll .i 
 :r her bottom. 
 
 :nts' time, she was set 
 md suddenly rii^^htiiv^S 
 ;y 9 A. M. the ice had 
 ^vas hauled ahead iiiio 
 :her would impini;e nn 
 very heav>', and '^a\e 
 A. the ice was reported 
 \.t four o'clock she v.;is 
 up so hii^h in the air, 
 1, iSSo, could be se n. 
 )h. but on returnin- lo 
 :sscl by gettin<4 (nit ihe 
 cs to the floe. Li^'i- 
 ified; Captain Vcljnvr 
 smoothly and ([uietly, 
 .■ crew ; he came about 
 n no danger whatexer, 
 ctcd as he was." There 
 •sonal effects, but to -et 
 urvey on their march, 
 it the ri.sk of his life. 
 a\-e the ship at about 
 n.the iron work around 
 T, and the smoke-stack 
 re lowered.the first and 
 c ship's party of thirty- 
 
 SMIPWRECKS AND OCEAN ADVENTURES. 
 
 ( I 
 
 thnx; made their camp on the f\oe in si.x tents, l)ut within an hour were 
 ronipelled to mo/e .still farther from the edge b\- the breaking up of the 
 lino in their camp. 
 
 At 4 A. M., June 13th, the cry of the watch was heard, " There she goes; 
 luiiiy up and look, the last sight you will have of the old Jeannette!" 
 While the ice had 
 
 held together, it had 
 held her broken tim- 
 bers. When it open- 
 (^.^l_she .sank in thir- 
 ty-eight Hithoms of 
 water, .stripping her 
 \ards upwards as she 
 passed through the- £^_:.-j^ 
 floe, M ,] A. M. her 
 '^nioke-pipe top was 
 nearly awash ; the 
 main topmast first 
 fell h\' the board to 
 starboard, then the 
 fore topmast, and la.st 
 of all the mainmast. 
 The ship before sink- 
 ing had heeled to 
 starboard, and the 
 entire starboard side 
 (if the s])ar deck was 
 subn.erged, tue rail 
 being under water, 
 antl the water-line 
 reached to the hatch - 
 coamings before the 
 ship had been aban- 
 doned. The next 'i''"'- " JKanxette" crushed and abandom:d. 
 morning, a visit to the [ilacc where she was last seen showed nothing 
 more than a .sional chest and a cabin-chair with some smaller articles 
 afloat. 
 
 Daylight found the party encamped on the ice, about four hundred 
 yards from where the ship went down. Tlie day was .spent in arranging 
 the effects and in gaining rest, which was very much needed. Many of 
 
 11! 
 
 lit 
 
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 A 1 1 
 
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 if 
 
 780 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 = ' 
 
 
 the crew were inciipiicit.'itcd for active work l)\' reason of severe crainns. 
 caused by tin-poisouiii;^ from tomato cans. The doctor recommended 
 clela\' until the sick party shoiiUl ha\e recowrml ; hut the time \\a-> iint 
 wasted, and the n-st of the crew becran the work (if dividing," the ch)ti,in,r 
 stowinti the sleds and boats. 
 
 rortiiiiatc Ks<'U|H^ of DoLoii^' and His .>!<'n. 
 
 Then," were three boats mounted upon shii)-mado sleds, each of whirh 
 consisted of two oak runners, .shod with whalebone. The L^rand inta, 
 weit^ht of boats, sleds and provisions was about 15,500 pounds. To drav. 
 tiiese, the part}' liad a wtirkinj^ force, when the retreat ct)mmenced, cif 
 twenty-two men ; and the tloL;s were employed, with t\\'o liLJht sKds, ;.,, 
 draij a lar54e amount of stoies, that the partv had in excess to those jKr- 
 mancntl)' stowed upon the larj^er sleds. \vdc\i man had a kua|)>,ick- 
 stowed awa)' in the boats ; each knapsack contained one chan;_;e of uiulr- 
 clothins^, one packaL;e of matciies, one plut:^ of tobacco, one span' pair nf 
 snow-t;o^L;les, and one spare pair of moccasins. 
 
 ()n the ijlh day of }i\nc, the order was L,n\en to break cam[). The 
 order was obe\-ed with enthusiasm, ami the dra_L;-rope of the tlrst ciilici 
 was immediatel}' manned. At the end of the first week the captain found 
 by obser\-ation that the drift of the ice had more than neutralized the way 
 covered by liis advance, and that in fact he had lost twenty-seven iiiiks 
 by the drift to the northwest in excess to his march to the south. Flii 
 progress of tiie party toward the land was \ery slow, but finally <;laciLMs 
 and water-courses Iiecame visible. On the 24th of July the party reached 
 a point not more than two miles distant from the land, but the men wlmv 
 so e.xhausttxl that they had to camp. Ne.Kt mornini; it was found that 
 they hat! drifted at least three miles to the southward, and alonij^ the cast 
 side of the island. On the 27tii day of Jul\- an island was reached com- 
 posed of trap-rock and a lava-like soil, and on the jSth a landinij \u< 
 made on the new disco\ery. Captain DeLonij mustered e\'cMA'botl\- on 
 the island, unfurled a silk flat^, took pos.session of the island in the name 
 of the President of the United States, and called it Bennett Island, 
 
 This was one of the be.st planned and executed expeditions of which wx 
 ha\e any record in Arctic exploration, anci the escape of the heroes at this 
 time was the condition of their subsequent reco\-ery. 
 
 Iliintiii^' Ai'('ti«- Animals. 
 
 While dwelling upon the [jerils of polar expeditions, wc must nt)tfailtii 
 
 notice the peril always connected with the capture of such sea-mniistcrs 
 
 as the whale and walrus. The walrus especially is sax-age in disposition 
 
 and has been known to attack its foes with a fury that was aiipallirii;. A 
 
SHIP\VRi:CKS AND OCKAN ADVENTrRI'S. 
 
 ■SI 
 
 cason of severe cramp-;, 
 
 10 doctor recoinnicndcil 
 
 ; but the time wa-. n..t 
 
 of dividing; the cUitliiiv;. 
 
 I I lis .>!«'n. 
 
 ule sleds, each <>f which 
 obone. The <^n-an(l inM, 
 
 I ;.500 \)ounds, 'lo (ha.. 
 c retreat conunenccd, df 
 
 with two hLiht sUds, ui 
 id in excess to those \)cy- 
 :\\ man had a knap-.u-k 
 ineilonechan<^e of uiuli- 
 tobacco, one spare pair nf 
 
 \cn to break camp. The 
 •;iL;-rope of the hrst culler 
 i-st week the captain found 
 c than neutrah/.ed the way 
 Id lost twenty-seven nuks 
 narch to the south. The 
 sU)\v, but finally i;lacici< 
 li of July the party reachal 
 ic land, but the men were 
 KM-niuL; it was found that 
 luard, and alont; the ca<t 
 island was reached coni- 
 the 2Sth a landint,^ \va< 
 r mustered everybody on 
 \)f the island in the name 
 1 it Bennett Island, 
 cd expeditions of which wi 
 
 :scape of the heroes at llu^ 
 i\ery. 
 
 lis. 
 
 ■ditions.vve must not fail In 
 
 ture of such sea-monstei> 
 y is sava<;c in disposition 
 'ry that was appalling. A 
 
 Tiavii^ator in that frij^id region, t^ivcs a graphic account of his adventures 
 with the great sea-cow, from which we make an interesting extract : 
 
 Wc dredged our way up north to Greenland. It was a stormy spring, 
 \\V often had to lie-to for a whoU; week together but we were a jolly 
 
 u 
 
 SAVAGE liATTI.K WITH WAI.KL'.SE.S. 
 
 crew, and well-officered, and we had (M1 board two civilians— Professo'- 
 kind of chaps I think they were— and they were the life and soul of the 
 whole ship. Whenever we could we took soundings, and hauled up mud 
 and shingle and .stuff from the bottom (^f the dark ocean, even when it 
 was a mile deep and more. But when that mud was washed away, and 
 
■i 
 
 vp^paniiVMM 
 
 7H2 
 
 EARTH, SKA. AND SKY. 
 
 tit 
 
 the livintj specimens spre.'ul out and arranged on bits of jet-black paper, 
 what wonders \vc did see, to be sure! Our Scotch doctor called llinii 
 " fi ilies " : he calleil everythini,r wonderful a " ferlie." 
 
 I^ut these particular ferlies took the shape of tiny wee shells of all tin- 
 colors in the rainbow, ami funn\' wee fishes, sonic not bij^i^er than a j)iii- 
 point. But, oh! the beauty, the more than loveliness of them ! Thi 
 roui^hest okl son of a tjun on board of us held up his hands in admiralidi) 
 when he saw them. We cruiseil all round Spitzberirc-n, and all down tin 
 cdt^e of the eastern pack ice. We shot bears and foxes innumerabK;; 
 walruses, narwhals, seals, and even whales fell to our t;uns. 
 Ijoadiii};' iiiul i^iriiiiL;' to Save Mu' Itout. 
 
 Some of those walruses _^ave us fun, thout;h. I remember oiut wc 
 fell amidst ice positi\'el)' crowded with tlu-m. They .seemed but little in- 
 clined to budLje, either. Ai^ain and attain we fouL;ht our way lluiiii'Ji 
 them ; but the number seemed to increase rather than diminish, tih at 
 last our fellow.s — we were two l)oats' crews — were thorouL,dil\' exhau^U'd, 
 and fain to take to the boats. Was the battle ended then ? I thouijlu it 
 was only just bei^innini;-, when I saw around us the water alive with ficrcj 
 tusked heads evidently bent on a\'(.'nL;"inL;' the slau<;hter of their comrades. 
 
 Our j^ood surL;eon was as fond of sport as anyone ever T met, but he 
 confes.sed that day he had ciuitc enough of it. At one time the peril wi 
 were in was very great indeed. Several times the brutes had all but fist- 
 t icd their terrible tusks on the gnnwhale of our boat. Had they smc- 
 ceeded, we should ha\e been capsized, and entirely at their mercy. 
 
 The surgeon, with his great bone-crushing gun, loaded a"d fired as f.ist 
 as fmgers could; but still they kept coming. "J^Vrlies'll never cease," 
 cried the worthy medico, blowing the brains clean out of one which had 
 almost swamped the boat from the .stern. Meanwhile it fared but badly 
 with the other boat. The men were fighting with clubs and axes, their 
 ammunition being entirely spent. One [)oor fellow was pierced throui^h 
 the arm by the tusk of a walrus and fairly dragged into the water, w here 
 he sank before he could be rescued. 
 
 The shi[) herself bore down to our assistance, at last, and such a rain of 
 bullets was poured upon the devoted heads of those walruses that they 
 were fain to dive below. The noise of this battle was something terrible; 
 the shrieks of the cow walru.ses, and the grunting, groaning and bellowing 
 of the bulls, defy all attempts at description. 
 
 Loss ol' tlie Ship ♦' Essex." 
 
 The days of whaling voyages are remarkable for the dangers throiif,^h 
 which the brave sailors passed, and the thrilling narratives they have given 
 
 1» t ■- . 
 
»l 
 
 on bits of jet-black paper, 
 :otcli doctor calliid them 
 •xWv." 
 
 tiny wvc shells of all the 
 lie not bij^ocr than a pin- 
 ovcliness of thciii ! '^ll^. 
 p his hands in admiration 
 cbcrLjcn, and all down tlu 
 and foxes innimierahK;; 
 )ur <;uns. 
 lio Uojit. 
 
 1. I remember once wc 
 Fhey seemed Inil little in- 
 bught oui' way llirouj^h 
 her than dimiiMsh, tili at 
 •e tlioroiiL,dily exhausted, 
 ided then ? I thoui^dn it 
 lie water alive with fierce 
 -ighter of their comrades, 
 lyone ever I met, I)ut he 
 At one time the peril we 
 le brutes had all but fist- 
 nir boat. Had they smc- 
 ely at tiieir mercy, 
 n, loaded a^d fired as fci.st 
 "Ferlies'U never cease," 
 ■an out of one which had 
 mwhile it fared but badly 
 nth clubs and axes, their 
 How was pierced through 
 [Ted into the water, wliere 
 
 at last, and such a rain of 
 those walruses that they 
 •i was somethino" terrible; 
 T, groanin<^ and bellowing 
 
 for the dangers through 
 narratives they have given 
 
 H 
 
 
 
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 I ; 
 
 
 5 1 
 
 1 
 
 ^ll 
 
 (78: 
 
 O) 
 
 III 
 
ifi ' ' '' 
 
 784 
 
 KARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 :^. 
 
 f:i ii 
 
 of tlioir haii-brcadth escapes. One of cnir American seamen, Captain ]'<>]- 
 lard, has furnislied us with a full account of the loss of the ^ood ship 1^.- 
 sc.\, which we ^ivc in his own graphic lanj^ua^c : 
 
 My first shipwreck was in the open sea, near the equator. The ves-^d, 
 a South Sea whaler, was called the Ivs.scx. One day, a.s we were on ilir 
 look-out for sperm whales, and had actually struck two, which the boats' 
 crews wore followin«^ to secure, I perceived a lar^e one — it mi<^ht he 
 eighty or ninety feet lon^ — rushin;^^ with ^reat swiftness throus^h tin; 
 water, right towards the ship. \Ve hope.i that she woukl turn aside, and 
 dive under, when she perceived such a bulk in her way. But no! the 
 animal came in full force against our stern-post. Had any t[uarter less 
 firm been struck, the ves.sel must have burst: as it was, every plank and 
 timber trembled tliroughout her whole bulk. 
 
 TIu' Vossel Itapitlly rilliii},' With Watrr. 
 
 The whale shook its head, and sheered off to so considerable a distance, 
 that for some time we hatl lo.st sight of her from the starboard ([uarter; 
 of which we were very glad, hoping that the worst was over. Nearly an 
 h(Hir afterward we saw the same fish — we had no doubt of tins, fnMii hi r 
 si/e, and the direction in which she came — making again tf>w.u'ds us. \\V' 
 were at once aware of our danger, but escape was imjjossible. .Shu 
 dashed her head this time against the ship's side, and so broke it in that 
 the vessel filled rapidly, and soon became water-logged. 
 
 At the second shock, expecting her to go tlown, we lowered our three 
 boats with the utmo.'-t expedition ; and all hands, twenty in the whole, 
 got into them ; seven, and seven, and six. In a little while, as she did 
 nf)t sink, we ventured on board again ; and, by scuttling the deck, were 
 enabled to get some biscuit, beef, water, rum, two .se.xtants, a quadrant, 
 and three compasses. These, together with some rigging, a few muskets, 
 powder, etc., we brought away; and dividing the stores among our 
 three small crews, rigged the boats as well as we could ; there being a 
 compass for each, and a sextant for two, and a quadrant for one, but 
 neither se.xtant nor quadrant for the third. 
 
 Then, instead of pushing away for some port, so amazed and bewildered 
 were we, that .ve continued sitting in our places, gazing upon the ship, 
 as though she had been an object of the tenderest affection. Our e\cs 
 could not leave her till, at the end of many hours, she gave a slight reel, 
 then down she sank. No words can tell our teel'ngs. We looked at 
 each other ; we looked at the place where she hau so lately been afloat; 
 we did not cease to look, till the terrible conviction of our abandoned and 
 perilous situation roused us to exertion, if deliverance were yet possible. 
 
SHIPWRECKS AND OCEAN ADVENTURES. 
 
 786 
 
 M 
 
 I seamen, Captain I'ol- 
 ^ of the j^ooil shi]) V.- 
 
 equator. The vessel, 
 lay, as we were ot\ ihr 
 c two, which the boalV 
 r^re one— it mi^'ht I..' 
 
 Swiftness throuL;h t'.ir 
 
 : would turn aside, and 
 
 her way. But no 1 the 
 
 1 1 ail any quarter less 
 
 it was, every plank and 
 
 I >Vatrr. 
 
 considerable a distance, 
 1 the starboard (luarter; 
 •St was ovcY. Nearly :m 
 , doubt of tl'.is, from h<r 
 i<ra<:ain tr>wards us. We 
 e was iniijossible. Slic 
 and so broke it in that 
 
 n, we lowered (nir three 
 s, twenty in the whole, 
 litde while, as she dnl 
 scuttlint,^ the deck, were 
 ,vo sextants, a quatlrant. 
 e rigi^int^, a few muskets, 
 the stores amon^^ ovir 
 we could ; there beint,^ ;i 
 ii quadrant for one, but 
 
 so amazed and bewildered 
 2s, gazing upon the ship, 
 
 jst affection. Our eyes 
 ■s, she gave a slight reel, 
 
 teellngs. We looked :it 
 haa so lately been afl<'at; 
 ion of our abandoned and 
 jrancc were yet possible. 
 
 We now consulted about the course which it might be best to take ; 
 westward, to India; eastward, to South America; or south westward, to 
 the Society Isles. We knew that we were at no great distance from 
 Tahiti; but were so ignorant of the .state and temper of the inhabitants, 
 that we feared we should be devoured by cannibals if we cast ourselves 
 on their mercy. It was determined, therefore, to make for South America, 
 which we computed to be more than two thousand miles distant. Ac- 
 cordingly we steered eastward, and though for several days harassed 
 with squalls, we contrived to keep together. 
 
 Siuhlon and Alariiiiii^ Danger. 
 
 It was not long before we found that one of the boats had started a 
 plank ; which was no wonder ; f(jr whale-boats are all clinker-built, antl very 
 slight ; being made of half-inch plank only, before planing. To remedy 
 this alarming defect, we all turned to, and having emptied the contents of 
 the damaged boat into the two others, we raised her sides as well as we 
 could, and succeeded in restoring the plank at the bottom. Through this 
 accident some of our biscuit had become injured by the .salt water. This 
 was equally divided among the several boats' crews. Food and water, 
 meanwhile, with our utmo.st economy, rapidly failed. Oi r strength was 
 exhausted, not by abstinence only, but by the labors which we were 
 obliged to employ to keep our little vessels afloat, amid the storms which 
 repeatedly assailed us. One night we were parted in rough weather ; but 
 though the next day we fell in with one of our companion-boats, we never 
 saw or heard any more of the other, which probably perished at sea, being; 
 without either sextant or quadrant. 
 
 When we were reduced to the last pinch, and out of every thing, having' 
 been more than three weeks abroad, we were cheered with the sight of a. 
 low, uninhabited island which we reached in hope, but were bitterly disap-r 
 pointed. There being no prospect but that of starvation here, we deter- 
 mined to put to sea again. Three of our comrades, however, cho.se to 
 remain ; and we pledged ourselves to send a vessel to bring them oflf^ if'we 
 ourselves should ever escape to a Christian port. With a very small morsel 
 of biscuit for each, and a little water we again ventured out on the.wide 
 ocean. In the course of a few days our provisions were consumed.. Two 
 men died. We had no other alternative than to live upon their remains. 
 These we roasted to dryness by means of fires kindled on the ballast-sand 
 at the bottom of the boats. 
 
 Casting Lots as to who should be Eaten. 
 
 When this supply was spent, what could we do? We looked at each 
 
 other with horrid thoughts in our minds, but we held our tongues. Lam 
 60 
 
 M 
 
 m 
 
 ^1' \M 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
786 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 sure that \vc loved each other as brothers all the tine; and yet our looks 
 told plainly what must be done. We cast lots, and the fatal one fell on niy 
 poor cabin-boy. I started forward instantly, and cried out, " My lad, my 
 lad, if you don't like your lot, I'll shoot the first man that touches you." 
 The poor emaciated boy hesitated a moment or two ; then quietly la\in<T 
 his head down upon the gunwale of the boat, he said " I like it as wdl as 
 any other." He was soon despatched, and nothing of him left. I think 
 then another man died of himself; and him too, we ate. 
 
 But I can tell you no more : my head is on fire at the recollecti(in. ] 
 hardly know what I say. I forgot to say that we parted coinpan\- wiih 
 the second boat before now. After some days of horror and despair, when 
 some were lying down at the bottom of the boat, not able to rise, and 
 scarcely one of us could move a limb, a vessel hove in sight. W'e were 
 taken on board and treated with extreme kindness. The second lost boat 
 was also picked up at sea, and the survivors saved. A ship aftcruurd 
 sailed in search of our companions on the desolate island, and brought 
 them away. 
 
 Captain Pollard closes his dreary narrative with saying, in atone of de- 
 spondency never be forgotten by him that heard it: After a time I found 
 my way to the United States, to which I belonged, and got another ship. 
 That, too, I have lost by a second wreck off the Sandwich Islands ; and 
 now I am utterly ruined. 
 
 Wild Tornadoes and W.aterspouts. 
 
 We must now speak of those phenomena which are sometimes classed 
 by American meteorologists with whirlwinds, and sometimes among 
 hurricanes, namely, tornadoes. Similar in form to waterspouts, theye.x- 
 ceed them greatly in extent, their path often being a mile in width, and 
 their length varying from two to several hundred miles, while they 
 move at the average rate of forty miles an hour. With ver\- few ex- 
 ceptions, all tornadoes move eastward, with a slight deviation toward the 
 north, and sometimes several are seen rushing in parallel courses of 
 from twelve to sixty miles apart. The tornado advances in leaps aud 
 springs, passing over the tops of trees, and descending to the ground at 
 intervals. 
 
 The current of air in tornadoes is generally directed towards the 
 centre, while in cyclones it has a spiral movement, and in our hemis- 
 phere moves in a direction contrary to that of the hands of a clock. Ini 
 the southern hemisphere, however, it moves with the clock. The cyclone j 
 does not blow with regular force, but in violent intermittent gusts nn: 
 squalls, with an accompaniment of torrents of rain, and mostly thunder! 
 
■'■*^- 
 
 tir.ic, and j'ct our looks 
 
 lid the fatal one fell on niy 
 
 cried out, " My lad, my 
 
 man that touches you." 
 
 two ; then quietly laNJiVT 
 
 said " I like it as well as 
 
 ing of him left. I think 
 
 we ate. 
 
 re at the recollection. 1 
 we parted compaii)- wiih 
 If horror and despair, when 
 )()at, not able to rise, and 
 hove in si<^ht. We wore 
 ■ss. The second lost boat 
 saved. A ship afterward 
 olate island, and brouj^ht 
 
 ith .sayin<^, in atone ofde- 
 
 d it : After a time I found 
 
 Ted, and got another ship, 
 
 :he Sandwich Islands ; and 
 
 rspouts. 
 
 Iiichare sometimes classed 
 Is, and sometimes among 
 m to waterspouts, they ex- 
 being a mile in width, and 
 lundred miles, while they 
 hour. With ven^ few ex- 
 slight deviation toward the 
 ing in parallel courses of 
 lado advances in leaps and 
 ;scending to the ground at 
 
 ally directed towards the 
 ement, and in our hemis 
 the hands of a clock. I:: 
 th the clock. The cyclone | 
 jnt intermittent gusts anc 
 f rain, and mostly thunde:! 
 
 iff 
 
 ; i 
 I 
 
 'in: 
 
 .:;li 
 
 it 
 
 f'^s?) 
 
 'Im 
 
■<■ > ■ 
 
 788 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 ■wti 
 
 'tr 
 
 f ■ 
 
 ■ iltf ■'^■KE 
 
 wi^a? 
 
 w 
 
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 1 
 
 5». 
 
 and lightning. The day is almost as dark as night. The owcr stotrn 
 centre draws in moisture-laden masses of air, while overhead the gloomy 
 storm clouds are dispersed outward with terrific rapidity. The sky is 
 black with heavy clouds for hundreds of miles round the storm centre. 
 
 Loss of a Thousand Vessels. 
 
 These clouds gather in the upper air, and growing darker as the day 
 advances, slowly sink almost to the earth itself. Then the rain boq;ins 
 in unbroken floods that continue incessantly day and night, as if the 
 dams of a great river were broken through, and its waves poured out in 
 masses on the earth below. The barometer falls lower in proportion to 
 its nearness to the storm centre and to the violence of the storm. The 
 fall of the barometer is the most unfailing sign of the approaching hurri- 
 cane. A little time generally elapses before the outbreak, but some- 
 times the storm bursts over the country so suddenly that the barometric 
 warnings are too late. In the terrible tj-phoon of the 6th of October, 
 1 83 1, the storm broke at the very moment the barometer fell, so that the 
 ships in the harbor of Mako could take no precautions, and thousands of 
 ships were lost. 
 
 In the China seas these sudden outbreaks of typhoons are by n^) 
 means of rare occurrence. There are, however, certain general signs by 
 which the approach of the destroyer may be heralded. Very fair weatlier, 
 attended by an unusual transparency of the air, great heat, and calm, 
 with high barometric markings during the south-west monsoon, are ver\- 
 suspicious to the sailor ; and if at the same time the sky is seen to 
 assume a strange red coloring, with rugged clouds moving swiftly against 
 the wind, a heavy sea, and a dark bank of cloud in the northeast or south- 
 east quarter, there is no longer room for doubt. In the Bay of Bcnj^al, 
 cyclones are generally formed when there is no strong atmospheric cur- 
 rent movin over its waters ; the air is usually calm, or only stirred by 
 light, variable winds, the atmospheric pressure being nearly equal along 
 all the coas and only a little rain falling on the eastern and northern 
 coast of the bay, and in Bengal. On the other hand, ships in the centre 
 of the bay, crossing the focus of the cyclone, meet with incessant rains 
 and a temperature lower ;han that of the surrounding coasts. Finally, 
 a gusty west wind blows from the equator, and when a barometric de- 
 pression is formed in the centre of the bay, rushes into it, and furnishes 
 the principal aliment of the storm. 
 
 Swift Destruction of a British Fleet. 
 
 One of the most disastrous of this kind of storms was the tornado re- 
 membered chiefly for the destruction of the British fleet under Rodney, 
 
Ight. 
 
 The owcr storn 
 le ov^erhcad the gloomy 
 : rapidity. The sky is 
 round the storm centre, 
 
 wing darker as the day 
 Then the rain begins 
 Jay and night, as if the 
 its waves poured out in 
 
 lower in proportion to 
 nee of the storm. The 
 f the approaching hurri- 
 he outbreak, but some- 
 enly that the barometric 
 
 of the 6th of October, 
 arometer fell, so that the 
 lutions, and thousands of 
 
 of typhoons are by no 
 certain general signs by 
 Ided. Very fair weather, 
 ir, great heat, and cahii, 
 i-wcst monsoon, are ver}- 
 time the sky is seen to 
 ds moving swiftly against 
 in the northeast or south- 
 , In the Bay of Bcnj^al, 
 » .strong atmo.spheric cur- 
 calm, or only stirred by 
 3eing nearly equal along 
 he eastern and northern 
 hand, ships in the centre 
 Tieet with incessant rains 
 :)unding coasts. Finally, 
 d when a barometric dc- 
 hes into it, and furnishes 
 
 \\i Fleet. 
 
 rms was the tornado re- 
 tish fleet under Rodney 
 
 n 
 
 (789) 
 
 M i 
 
 n 
 
 III 
 
 M i t 
 
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 ri 
 
•A 
 
 I 
 
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 ■■ 
 
 m 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ii,i 
 
 f 
 
 790 
 
 EARTH, SEA AND SKY. 
 
 About a week before the outbreak of the whirlwind itself, a hurricane in 
 Jamaica destroyed the ships ScarborongJi, Barbadocs, Victor and P/uvnix ,• 
 while the Princess Royal, Henry and Sir Austin. Hall, in the harbor u{ 
 Sa\'anna-la-Mar, were loosed from their anchors, and driven high and dry 
 upon the land, where th jy were afterwards used as dwelling houses. The 
 centre of the storm advanced across Rarbadoes toward Santa Lucia, and 
 its outer limits reached Trinidad and Antigua. In Santa Lucia the hur- 
 ricane struck the squadron of Admiral Hotham, after which it destroyed 
 a French convoy of two frigates and fifty transport ships at Martinique. 
 The storm centre then made its way to Porto Rico, where the Deal 
 Castle foundered, and advanced, via Mona, to Silver Keys, where the 
 Stirling Castle went down. The same fate befell the Thunderer, above 
 which W'alsingham's flag was flying. When the storm had travelled to 
 the twenty-sixth degree of north latitude, it turned sharp round to the 
 north-east, meeting the dismasted shi[)s Trident, Ruby, Bristol, Hector dLvd 
 Grafton, with Admiral Rowley in command. Tiie hurricane then made 
 its way to the Bermudas, whence the disabled Benviek was being des- 
 patched to England for repairs. 
 
 Houses and People Buried Tog-ether. 
 No less havoc was wrought among the islands of the West Indies. 
 Nine thousand men perished in Martinique : one thousand in St. Pierre 
 alone, where not a house was left standing. The sea rose twenty-h\'e feet 
 high, and 150 houses disappeared from tlie shore in a moment. In Port 
 Royal, the cathedral, seven ciiurches, and 1,400 houses were thrown 
 down, :ind 1,600 sicl-c people wjre buried under the ruins of the hos[)ital, 
 a few only escaping. Almc:)st all the houses built on the shore of Dom- 
 inique, the royal baking establishment, the magazine, and a part of the 
 barracks, were destroyed. In .St. Eustace the storm shattered seven ships 
 again.st the rocks of Nort Point, and oyt of nineteen others, which had 
 broken from their moorings and drifted out to sea, only one returned. In 
 Santa Lucia, where 6,000 persons had perished, the most massive build- 
 ings were levelled to the ground, cannons were dashed to a distance of a 
 hundred \-ards, men and animals were lifted into the air and hurled to the 
 ground. 
 
 The sea rose to such a terrific height, that it destroyed the fort, and 
 sent a ship crashing against the sailors' hospital. Even the coral reefs 
 covering the bottom of the sea were rent and tossed so that they were 
 Liter seen above the surface of the water. Out of the six hundred houses 
 at Kin'-'^town, in St. Vincent, (Mil-,- fourteen were left. 
 
BOOK III. 
 
 THE SKY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ■1 'ii 
 
 THE MARVELS OF THr HEAVENS. 
 
 The Sun Twelve Hundred Thousand Times as Large as Our E.irth— Sublime Scen- 
 ery of tiie Midnis;ht Sky— Starry Splendors over Head— Innumerable Worlds 
 in the Firmav The Roundlessness of Space— Imperial Suns Uurning on 
 
 High — Heavfc . wed on Heavens— A Wonderful Journey Through Space — Fly- 
 ing on a Beam of Light— Rich Clusters of Starry Systems— Millions of Worlds — 
 Immeasurable Distances— Swift Motion Everywhere— Astounding Revelations 
 of the Telescope— Lord Rosse's Ten Thousand Eyes— Far-Distant Suns Col- 
 ored Like the Rainbow— Thomas Moore's Poetical Tribute to the Bright 
 Heavens — Sublimity of Astronomical Science. 
 
 ROM the discoveries of astronomy it appears that our earth is 
 but as a point in the immensity of the universe — that tliere are 
 worlds a thousand times larger, enlit^htcned by tlie same sun 
 which " rules our day " — that the sun himself is an immense 
 luminous world, whose circumference would enclose more than twelve 
 hundred thousand globes as large as ours — that the earth and its inhabi- 
 tants are carried forward through the regions of space at the rate of a 
 thousand miles every minute — that motions exist in the great bodies of 
 the universe, the force and rapidity of which astonish and overpower the 
 imagination — and that beyond the sphere of the sun and planets, creation 
 is replenished with millions of luminous globes, scattered over immense 
 regions to which the human mind can assign no boundaries. 
 
 Where are the souls to whom the spectacle of starry night is not an 
 eloquent discourse? Where are those who have not been sometimes 
 arrested in the presence of tne bright worlds which hover over our heads, 
 and who have not sought for the key of the great enigma of creation ? 
 The solitary hours of night are in truth the mcst beautiful of all our 
 hours, those in which we have the faculty of placing ourselves in inti- 
 mate communication with great and holy Nature. The orb of day con- 
 ceals from us the splendors of the firmament; it is during the night that 
 
 (791) 
 
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•mitmmm 
 
 792 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
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 9 
 
 
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 i* 
 
 Wi 
 
 the panoramas of the sky are open to us. At the hour of midnight, the 
 heavenly vault is strewn with stars, like isles of light in the midst of an 
 ocean extending over our heads. 
 
 Orbs of Amazing' Brilliancy. 
 
 In the midst of darkness our eyes gaze freely on the sky, piercing the 
 deep azure of the apparent vault, above which the stars shine. They' 
 traverse the white constellated regions, visiting distant realms of space 
 where the most brilliant stars lose their brightness by distance; they go 
 beyond this unexplored expanse, and mount still higher, as far as those 
 faint nebuLt whose diffused brightness seems to mark the limits of the 
 visible. In this immense passage of sight thought is carried away by its 
 flight and wonders at these distant splendors. It is then that thousands 
 of questions spring up in our minds, and that a thousand points of inter- 
 rogation rise to our sight. The problem of creation is a great problem ! 
 The science of the stars is a sublime science; its mission is to embrace 
 all created things ! At the remembrance of these impressions, does it 
 not appear that the man who does not feel any sentiment of admiration 
 before the picture of the starry splendor, is not yet worthy of receiving 
 on his brow the crown of intelligence ? 
 
 Of all the sciences astronomy is the one which can enlighten us best on 
 our relative value, and make us understand the relation which connects 
 the earth with the rest of creation. Without it, as the history of past 
 centuries testifies, it is impossible for us to know where we are or who we 
 are, or to establish an instructive comparison b^-twecn the place which we 
 occupy in space and tiie whole of the imiverse; without it we should be 
 both ignorant of the actual extent of our country, its nature, and the order 
 to which it belongs. Enclosed in the dark meshes of ignorance, we can- 
 not form the slightest idea of the general arrangement of the world; a 
 thick fog covers the narrow horizon which contains us, and our ni'nd 
 remains incapable of soaring above the daily theatre of life, and of going 
 beyond the narrow sphere traced by the limits of the action of our senses. 
 On the other hand, when the torch of the Science of the Worlds enlight- 
 ens us, the scene changes, the vapors which darkened the horizon fade 
 away, our mistaken eyes contemplate in the serenity of a pure sky tho; 
 immense work of the Creator. The earth appears like a globe poised 
 under our steps; thousands of similar globes are rocked in ether; the 
 world enlarges in proportion as the power of our examination increases, 
 and from that time universal creation develops itself before us in reality, 
 establishing both our rank and our relation with the numerous similar 
 worlds which constitute the universe. 
 
THE MARVELS OF THE HEAVENS. 
 
 793 
 
 hour of midnight, the 
 Tht in the midst oi. an 
 
 the sky, piercini^ the 
 le stars shine. They' 
 stant realms of space, 
 i by distance ; they go 
 lifjher, as far as those 
 mark the limits of the 
 
 is carried away by its 
 is then that thousands 
 ousand points of inter- 
 on is a great problem ! 
 ; mission is to embrace 
 e impressions, docs it 
 ^ntiment of admiration 
 et worthy of receivin-,^ 
 
 n enlighten us best on 
 ilation -which connects 
 IS the history of past 
 here we are or who we 
 en the place which we 
 thout it we should be 
 ts nature, and the order 
 3 of ignorance, we can- 
 ement of the world ; a 
 ains us, and our nvnd 
 re of life, and of going 
 he action of our senses. 
 of the Worlds enlight- 
 ened the hot izon fade 
 lity of a pure sky the 
 rs like a globe poised 
 
 rocked in ether; the 
 examination increases, 
 elf before us in reality, 
 
 the numerous similar 
 
 If we imagine the terrestial globe suspended in space, we shall under- 
 stand that the side turned towards the sun is alone illuminated, whilst the 
 opposite hemisphere remains in shadow, and that this sliadovv presents 
 the aspect of a cone. Moreover, as the earth turns on itself, all its por- 
 tions are presented successively to the sun and pass successively into '-is 
 shadow, and it is this which constitutes the succession of da)- and ni_-ht 
 in every country of the world. This simple .statement suffices to sliow 
 that the phenomenon to which we give the name of night belongs realb,' 
 to the earth, and that the heavens and the rest of the universe are inde- 
 pendent of it. 
 
 This is the reason why, if at any hour of the night we let our minds 
 soar above the terrestial surface, it will follow that, far from remaining 
 always in the night, we shall again find the sun pouring forth his floods 
 of light through space. If we carry ourselves away as far as one of the 
 planets which like the earth, revolves in the region of sp.ace where we are, 
 we shall understand that the night of the earth does not extend to those 
 other worlds, and that the period which with us is consecrated to repose 
 does not exert its influence there. When all beings are buried in the 
 stillness of silent night here — above, the forces of nature continue the 
 exercise of their brillant functions — the sun shines, life radiates, move- 
 ment is not suspended, and the reign of light pursues its dominant action 
 in the heavens (as on the opposite hemisphere to ours), at the .same hour 
 when sleep overcomes all beings on the hemisphere we inhabit. 
 Space Has Neither Beginning Xor End. 
 
 It is important that we should know, first of all, how to habituate our- 
 selves to this idea of the isolation of the earth in space, and to believe 
 that all the phenomena which we observe upon this globe are peculiar to 
 it and foreign to the rest of the universe. Thousands and thousands of 
 similar globes revolve like it in space. One of the most fital delusions 
 which it is important we should get rid of at once, is that which presents 
 the earth as the lower half of the universe, and the heavens as its upper 
 half. There is nothing in the world more false than this. The heavens 
 and the earth are not two separate cn,'ations, as we have had repeated to 
 us thousands and thousands of times. They^ are only one. The eartl< 
 is in the heavens. The heavens are infinite space, indefinite expanse, a 
 void without limits ; no frontier circumscribes them, they have neither 
 beginning nor end, neither top nor bottom, right or left; there is an in- 
 finity of .spaces which succeed e-ich other in every direction. The earth 
 is a little material globe, placed in this space without support of any kind, 
 .ike a bullet which sustains itself alone in the air, like the little captive 
 
 !■; ! 
 
 
 
 
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i 
 
 
 
 ■i 
 
 
 & 
 
 
 
 
 in 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 1, 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 794 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 balloons which rise and float in the atmosphere when the thin cord which 
 
 retains them is cut. 
 
 Our World a Star. 
 
 The earth is a star in the heavens ; it forms part of them ; it, in corn- 
 pan)' with a great many other globes similar to it, peoples them ; it is 
 isolated in them; and all these other globes also float in space. This 
 conception of the universe is not only very important, but is also a truth 
 which it is absolutely necessary should be well fixed in the mind, othor- 
 wise three-quarters of the astronomical discoveries would remain incom- 
 prehensible. Here, then, is this first point well understood and thor- 
 oughly establislied in our thoughts. The heavens surround us on every 
 side. In this space the earth is a globe suspended; but the earth is not 
 alone in space. All thjse stars which sparkle in the heavens are isolated 
 globes, suns shining by their own light; they are very distant from us; 
 but there are stars nearer which resemble much more the one we inhabit, 
 in the sense that they are not suns, but dark earths receiving, like ours, 
 light from our sun. These worlds called planets are grouped in a family ; 
 ours is one member of this family. At the centre of this group shines our 
 sun, a source of light which illuminates it, and of heat which warms it. 
 Floating in the bosom of the space which surrounds it on every side, this 
 group is like a fljet of many boats rocked in the ocean of the heavens. 
 
 A multitude of suns, surrounded like ours with a family of which they 
 are the foci and the light-givers, float likewise in all parts of the expanse. 
 These suns are the stars with which the fields of heaven are scattered. In 
 spite of the appearance caused by perspective, immense spaces separate 
 all these systems from ours, .spaces so great that the highest figures of 
 our great numeration can scarcely number the smallest amongst them. 
 A distance that our figures can scarcely express also separates these stars 
 from each other, extending from depths unto depths. 
 
 Heavens Piled on Heavens. 
 
 Notwithstanding these prodigious intervals, these suns are in number 
 so considerable that their numeration as yet exceeds all our means ; mil- 
 lions joined to millions are inadequate to enumerate the multitude ! Let the 
 mind try if it is possible to represent to itself at one time this consider- 
 able number of .systems and the distances which separate them one from 
 the other! Confused and soon humbled at the a.spect of this infinite 
 richness, it will only learn to admire in silence this indescribable wonder. 
 Continually rising on the other side of the heavens, going beyond the 
 di.stant shores of this ocean without limits, it will endlessly discover fresh 
 new space, and new worlds will reveal themselves to our eager gaze, 
 
:n the thin cord which 
 
 of them ; it, in com- 
 t, peoples them ; it is 
 float in space. This 
 mt, but is also a truth 
 cd in the mind, other- 
 would remain incom- 
 undcrstood and thor- 
 surround us on every 
 ; but the earth is not 
 ,e heavens are isolated 
 very distant from us ; 
 )re the one we inhabit, 
 IS receiving, like ours, 
 e grouped in a famil\ ; 
 f this group shines our 
 ■ heat which warms it. 
 Is it on every side, this 
 cean of the heavens, 
 a family of which they 
 1 parts of the expanse, 
 iven are scattered. In 
 mense spaces separate 
 the highest figures of 
 mallest amongst them. 
 ;o separates these stars 
 ths. 
 
 SO suns are in number 
 ds all our means ; niil- 
 the multitude ! Let the 
 ne time this consider- 
 ;eparate them one from 
 aspect of this infinite 
 s indescribable wonder, 
 sns, going beyond the 
 mdlessly discover fresh 
 es to our eager gaze, 
 
 If 
 
 III! 
 If 
 
 :>i U 
 
 
 RELATIVE SIZL-..S OF THE SLX AND PLANETS. 
 
 (795) 
 

 i 
 
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 m 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 796 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 =1 
 
 
 u 
 
 heavens will succeed to heavens, spheres to spheres ; after deserts of ex- 
 panse will open other deserts, after immensities other immensities ; and 
 even when carried away without rest, durinj^ centuries, with the rapiditv 
 of thought, thj soul would continue its flight bjyond the most inaccessi- 
 ble limits that imagination could conceive, — there even the infinite of an 
 unexplored expanse would remain still open before it; the infinite df 
 space would oppose itself to the infinite of time; endlessly rivalling, with- 
 out our ever being able to take away from the other: and the spirit wil. 
 be arrested, overcome with fatigue, at th:; entrance of infinite creation, as 
 if it liad not advanced a single step in space. 
 
 Ye stars ! bright legions that, before all time, 
 
 Camped on yon plain of sappliirc, what shall tell 
 
 Your burning myriads but the eye of Him 
 
 Who bade througli heaven your golden chariots wheel ? 
 
 Yet who, earth-born, can see your hosts, nor feel 
 
 Immorlal impulses — eternity ? 
 
 What wonder if the o'crwrought soul should reel 
 
 With its own weight of thought, and the wild eye 
 
 See fate within your tracks of deepest glory lie ? 
 
 The immensity of the heavens has been sung on many lyres ; but how 
 can the song of man express such a reality? Poets have tried to render 
 it in verse, when one feels the insufficiency of speech to note the im- 
 mense thoughts which this wonderful contemplation develops in us. 
 
 The Illuininctl Firiaanieiits. 
 
 Is there not reason for stating that reality is superior to fiction, even from 
 the point of view of poetical sentiments, and that the contemplation of 
 actual nature encloses a richer and more fruitful source of inspirat!(Mi 
 than the illusions of the spectacle offered by our senses ? Instead of an 
 immense night stretching itself to the azure vaults, instead of a robe 
 worked with gold embroideries, or a veil covered with brilliant ornaments, 
 we are in the bosom of life and universal brightness. Night is but an 
 accident, a happy accident, which enables our looks to extend themselves 
 beyond the limits which the day marks for us ; we are like a traveller 
 reclining in the shadow of a hill, who contemplates the illuminated land- 
 scape which is unfolded as far as the distant horizon. Instead of the im- 
 mobility of dead silence, we arc present at the spectacle of life on worlds. 
 With the light of truth the arbitrary vaults disappear and heaven opens its 
 depths to us; the infinite of creation is revealed with the infinite of space,. 
 and our earth, losing the preponderance which our pretensions had ac- 
 corded to it, gives way under our feet and disappears in the shade, losing 
 itself in the midst of a multitude of similar little worlds. 
 
THE MARVELS OF THE HEAVENS. 
 
 797 
 
 There arc truths before which human thought feels itself humiliated 
 and perplexed, which it contemplates with fear, and without the power to 
 face them, although it understands their existence and necessity: such 
 are those of the infinity of space and eterni'.y of duration. Impossible 
 to define, for all definition could only darken the first idea which is in us, 
 these truths command and rule us. To try and explain them would be 
 a barren hope ; it suffices to keep them before our attention in order that 
 they may reveal to us, at every instant, the immensity of their value. A 
 tliousand definitions have been given ; we will however neither quote 
 nor recall one of them. But we wish to open space before us and em- 
 ploy ourselves there, in trying to penetrate its depth. The velocity of a 
 cannon-ball from the mouth of the cannon makes swift way, 437 yards per 
 second. Rut this would be too .slow for our journey through space, as 
 our velocity would scarcely be 900 miles an hour. In nature there are 
 movements incomparably more rapid, for instance, the velocity of light. 
 This velocity is 186,000 miles per second. We will place ourselves on a 
 ray of light and be carried away on its rapid course. 
 
 A Marvclotis Fllj^lit Through Space. 
 
 Taking the earth as our starting-point, we will go in a straight line to 
 any point of the heavens. We start, and at the end of the first second, 
 we have already traversed 186,000 miles; at the end of the second, 
 372,000. We continue : ten seconds, a minute, ten minutes have elapsed — 
 111,600,000 miles have been passed. Flying away during an hour, a 
 day, a week, without ever slackening our pace — during whole months, 
 and even a year, the time which we have traversed is already so long 
 that expressed in miles, the numbers exceed our faculty of comprehen- 
 sion, and indicate nothing to ou mind; they would be trillions, and mil- 
 lions of millions. But we will not interrupt our flight. Carried on 
 without stopping by this same rapidity of 186,000 mik-s each second, let 
 us penetrate the expanse in a straight line for whole years, fifty years, even 
 a century. — Where are we? For a long time we have gone beyond the 
 last starry regions which are seen from the earth, the last that the tele- 
 scope has visited; for a long time we travel in other regions, unknown 
 and unexplored. No mind is capable of following the road passed over; 
 thousandsof millions joined to thousands of millions express nothing: at 
 the sight of this prodigious expanse the imagination is arrested, humbled. 
 We'll! this is the wonderful point of the problem: we have not advanced 
 a single step in space. We are no nearer a limit than if we had remained 
 in the same place ; we should be able again to begin the same course, 
 starting from the point where we are, and add to our voyage a voyage of 
 
 '^ 
 
798 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 the same extent; wc should be able to join centuries on centuries in the 
 same itiiierary, witii the same velocity, — to continue the voya^je \vith';iit 
 end and without rest; we shoukl be able to ^uide ourselves in an\' ja:t 
 of space, left, rij^ht, forwards, backwards, abo\'e, below, in every dirccli(iii: 
 and when after centuries employed in this ^iddy course, we should si)i 
 ourselves, fascinated or in despair before the immensity eternall)- i)[)on. 
 eternally renewed, we should aijain understand that our llii^hts had not 
 measured for us the smallest part of space, ami that we were not more 
 adxanced than at our starting-point. In truth, it is the infinite which sur 
 rounds us, as we before expressed it, or the infinite number of worKls. 
 We should be able to float for eternity without ever finilln^^f an\thiii^f 
 before us but an eternall\' open infinite. 
 
 Ituriiiiig Suns in a noinulless Kxpanso. 
 
 Hence it follows, that all our ideas on s])ace have but a purely relative 
 value. When we say, for instance, to ascend to the sky, to descen.l 
 under the earth, these expressions are false in themselves, for being situ- 
 ated in the bosom of the infinite, we can neither ascend or descend: there 
 is no above nor below; these words have only an acceptation relative to 
 the terrestrial surface on which we li\'e. The universe must, therefore, be 
 represented as an expanse without limits, without shores, illimited, in- 
 finite, in the bosom of which float suns like that which lights us, ai\cl 
 earths like that which poises under our steps. Neither dome, nor \aults 
 nor limits, of any kmd; void in every direction, and m this infinite \ old 
 an immense cjuantit)' of worlds. 
 
 In the bosom of infinite space, the unfathomable extent of which we 
 have tried to comprehend, lloat rich clusters of stars, each separated by 
 immense intervals. Now the stars are not .scattered in all parts of space 
 at hazard; they arc grouped as the members of many fcimilies. If we 
 compared the ocean of the heavens with the oceans of the earth, we 
 should say that the isles which sprinkle this ocean do not rise separately 
 in all parts of the sea, but that they are united here and there in archi- 
 pelagoes more or less rich. A Power as ancient as the existence of 
 matter presided at the creation of these isles, each archipelago of which 
 contains a great number; not one amongst them has risen spontaneously 
 in an isolated region ; they are all collected in tribes, most of wliich 
 count their members by millions. 
 
 Luminous Clusters of Stars. 
 
 These rich groupings of stars have received the name of nebulae. This 
 name was given at the time of the invention of astronomical lenses, when 
 
THE MARVEUS OF THE HEAVENS. 
 
 ?M) 
 
 •ics on centuries in iho 
 ic the voyatjc \vitlv;ut 
 : ourselves in any pa'. 
 iovv, in every direcli<.n; 
 course, wc sliould si^ 
 iiensity eternally op.n. 
 lat our nii^lits had not 
 lat we were not more 
 s the infinite which sur 
 ute number of worlds. 
 ever fmdin^^ anything 
 
 IxpanHo. 
 
 ive but a purely relative 
 to the sky, to descon.l 
 L-mselvcs, for bcinL; Mtu- 
 scend or descend: then.' 
 w acceptation relative to 
 verse must, therefore, be 
 iut shores, illimited, i;i- 
 at which liL;hts us, and 
 s'cither dome, nor \aults 
 ukI in this infinite void 
 
 ^Ic extent of which we 
 stars, each separated by 
 !vd in all parts of space 
 
 many families. If we 
 iceans of the earth, we 
 ,n do not rise separately 
 
 re and there in archi- 
 lent as the existence of 
 11 archipelago of which 
 
 has risen spontaneously 
 tribes, most of which 
 
 Irs. 
 
 name of nebulae. This 
 Itronomical lenses, when 
 
 these starry tribes were distin<;uished only under a iliffuscd, cloudy 
 aspect, which did not enable the eye to distin;,aiish the composing; stars. 
 This appearance not reveal in<; in anyway the idea of solar chisters, it 
 was thought that they were only phosphorescent vapors, whirlwinds of 
 luminous substance, or possibly primitive fluids, whose pro^rfcssive con- 
 densation would in the future effect the formation of new stars. Tluv 
 were tliought to assist at the creation of distant worlds, and sometimes in 
 remarking their diflferent degrees of himinosity, people thought they 
 could infer their relative ages, as in a forest the age of trees of the .same 
 species maybe known on approach according to their size or the concen- 
 tric circles which are formed each year under the bark. Thus the first 
 nebula observed by the aid f.-f the telescope and pointed out as an object 
 (>f I)articular nature, the nebula of Andromeila, was considered f.)r ihree 
 centuries and a half as entireh' deprived of stars. Simon Marius of Fran- 
 conia, who from a musician became an astronomer — verx- compatible 
 tastes, moreover — describing this o\al and whitish appearance, wliich, 
 more brilliant at the centre, became fainter at the <;dges, said that it re- 
 sembled the light of a candle seen at a distance through a sheet of horn. 
 Starry Archipolaffoos in tlu' VpiM>r l>e«'p. 
 
 Only a few yi us ago a Cambridge astronomer counted within the 
 limits of this nebula 1500 little stars, notwithstanding which, the centre 
 still keeps the aspect of a diffused light, in spite of the best instruments. 
 I-ater, the astronomer Halley thought no more of the star-clusters. 
 
 In reality, he states, these spots are nothing more than light coming 
 from an immense space situated in the regions of ether, filled w ith a dif- 
 fused and luminous medium by itself Others, again, imagined that at 
 that spot the brightness of empyrean heaven was seen through an open- 
 ing in the firmament. Derham said this, the author of astrcvtheology. 
 But when optical instruments were perfected, this appearance of diffused 
 light was transformed into abrilliant dotting ; in proportion as the power 
 of the telescope became more searching, the number of apparent nebuh-c 
 diminished, and at present many of those which in Galileo's time were 
 regarded as cosmical clouds arc resolved into stars. To be just, it must 
 be added that in revealing the stellar composition of the first nebuhe, the 
 telescope showed others whose nature has only quite recently been found 
 out; these nebula; remain in an indistinct state, not only on account of 
 their prodigious distance, but because they are composed of vast cloud- 
 masses of glowing gas. 
 
 Thus, infinite space must be represented as an immense void in the 
 bosom of which are suspended archipelagoes of stars. These archipela- 
 
 i 
 
 • ) 
 
 
IT 
 I'' 
 
 800 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 goes arc themselves of infinite number; the stars which compose them 
 can be counted by millions, and from one to the other the distance is in- 
 calculable. They are distributed in space in every direction, followin ■• 
 every iniaijjinable course, and invested with every possible form. 
 
 At the sight of these globular masses one may ask with Arago, 
 "What is the number of stars contained in some of these clusters?" 
 The astronomer himself replied to his question. It would be impossible 
 t-> count in detail and accurately the total number of stars of which cer- 
 tain globular 'jbuht are composed; but one maybe able to arrive ai: 
 limits. In calculating the angular space of the stars situated near the 
 edges, that is to say, in the region where they do not project on each 
 other, and comparing them with the total diameter of the group, it is cer- 
 tain that a nebula, whose apparent superficial extent is scarcely equal to the 
 tenth of that of the lunar disk, does not contain less than 20,000 stars; 
 this is the minimum. The dynamic conditions proper to insure the in- 
 definite presi .vation of a similar nmltitude of stars, do not seem easy to 
 imagine, adcis the celebrated astronomer. Supposing the system at rest, 
 the stars iii time will fall on each other. Giving it a rotary movement 
 round a single axis, shocks will inevitably take place. After all, is it cer- 
 tain that the globular systems of stars must be preserved indefinitely in 
 the state in which we now see them ? The examination of changes 
 which have taken place in other systems led to the belief, on the contrary, 
 that there is nothing infinitely stable there, and that movement governs 
 these clus* 's of >^uns, as well as it governs each of the stars, and each 
 of the little worlds v/hich revolve round them. 
 
 8ttir Clusters of Curious Shapes. 
 
 The most regular nebu'e are not the most curious; notwithstanding, 
 the aspect of some of them leaves a certain wonder in the mind. There 
 are star-clusters which, instead of being condensed in an immense globe, 
 are distributed in a crown, presenting the appearance of a circular or 
 oval nebula, but hollow at its centre. One of these is the perforated neb- 
 ula of Lyra ; another is that of Andromeda. In the one, the magnifi- 
 cent telescope of Lord Rosse shows dazzling borders of stars close 
 together, and luminous fringes notching the outer edge ; in the other, two 
 suns, symmetrically placed on one side and the other of the ellipse, ap- 
 pear destined to the government of this system in its passage throuL;h 
 space. Perforated nebula; are one of the rarest curiosities. That of Lyra 
 is the most celebrated; it was discovered in- 1799, at Toulouse, by Ar- 
 quier, at the time when the comet pointed out by Bode approached the 
 region that it occupied. It is about the apparent size of the disk of Ju- 
 
 w 
 
TUP. MARVKLS OF TIIi: HK.WKNS. 
 
 801 
 
 which compose them 
 her the distance is in- 
 y direction, followin;,^ 
 ossible form, 
 lay ask with Arago, 
 e of these clusters?" 
 t would be impossible 
 of stars of which cer- 
 ly be able to arrive ac 
 stars situated near the 
 Jo not project on each 
 
 of the group, it is cer- 
 ; is scarcely equal to the 
 less than 20,000 stars ; 
 •roper to insure the in- 
 rs, do not seem easy to 
 sin^f the system at rest, 
 
 it a rotary movement 
 ace. After all, is it cer- 
 areserved indefinitely in 
 xamination of chan;^es 
 
 belief, on the contrary, 
 
 hat movement governs 
 of the stars, and each 
 
 ipes. 
 
 |rious ; notwithstanding, 
 ler in the mind. There 
 id in an immense globe, 
 iarance of a circular or 
 se is the perforated neb- 
 in the one, the magnifi- 
 borders of stars close 
 edge ; in the other, two 
 )ther of the ellipse, ap- 
 in its passage through 
 iriosities. That of Lyia 
 )9, at Toulouse, by Ar- 
 ■ Bode approached the 
 size of the disk of Ju- 
 
 piter, and forms an ellipse, its luo diameter - being in the ratio of four to 
 five. 'I'he interior of the ring is not dark, but sli-htly luminous. Tiie 
 hollow space is, however, of a very deep black intlic beautiful i)erforated 
 nebukv of the southern hemisphere. All are i)ro!)ably star-clusters in 
 form of rings. 
 
 T«'ii TlioiisiiiKl i:y<>s ill OiH'. 
 
 As incidental reference has been niade- to the telescope, it is ajipropriate 
 that just here we should glance at this wonderful instrument. The fu'st 
 telescope made, Gallileo's feeble instrument, onl\- magnified objects seven 
 times, and yet witii it he discovered the satellites of Jupiter. The first 
 t' lescope which was constructed of large dimensions was that of Sir 
 William ilerschel. He discovered the si.xth satellite of Saturn with it. 
 The tube of this instrument being extremely heavy, movement could onlv 
 he communicated by a ver}- complicated mechanism; a mass of ladders 
 and masts, forming a gigantic pyramid. Its length was nearly fort\- feet, 
 lis diametci- nearly five. luder maintained that in order to see the lar"-est 
 ,111 nials in the moon, it wouUl be recjuisilc to haw a telescope se\ei-al 
 l.iindretl feet in length. Hooke thought a glass 10,000 feet long (iieaiK- 
 tw.) miles) would be necessary, and projected the construction of one. 
 The telescope of Lord Rosse has shown that we can obtain this ad\an- 
 U[-\: much more easily. It is, sa)-s Sir l)a\id Brewster, one of our most 
 ;;.;n'\elous combinations of art and science. This magnificent instru- 
 !iu;nt is fixed in the midst of walls which r^.-semble segments of fortifica- 
 tiniis. The telescope tube is 55 feet in length, and weighs I4,;73 pounds 
 a\()irdupois. With it one can gauge th'.- iuuui'asuiable depths of th'' 
 luavens. It is thought that by means of this instrument we couKl easily 
 pcreeixe a monument the si/.e of the [))-ramids of I^g\'pt, if an\- existed 
 ' n the moon. The surface of this jilanet is there as arcuratel\- de])icted 
 ;is a teiTc-tial landscape 
 
 'I'he l^T.'scope- of Lord Rosse, would certain!}- not show us a lunar 
 elephant, but a troop of animals like a herd of .\merican buffaloes would 
 he quite \isibL-. Troops marching '"n order of Ijattle wouhl be cleaiU' 
 nerceptible. The obscr\ator\- at Paris and the capitol at Washington 
 Would !)..' ycvy easily seen. We must therefore conclude that if we see 
 ne.thin.; of this kind on our satellite, it is because its surface, r)rmerly all 
 flame and \-oleano, and now all ice, did not or does not contain anything 
 ;>f tlie kind. 
 
 Sir John Ilerschel explored the stars with instruments which multiplied 
 'I'OO times. Lord Rosse fathomed the de[)ths of the heavens with a 
 ti'lcscope ha\ing a six feet opening, and fift\'-five fext in length. Thus by 
 51 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 llii 
 
1^ '|[|i,ik '• 
 
 802 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 the potency of this immense optic tube, in which a man could walk witli 
 case, wc see several ncbul.x, which up to the present time had defied all 
 our instruments, resolved into dense swarms of stars. Our means of in- 
 vestityation have ^iven gigantic proportions to the field of science. When 
 the sidereal world was only explored with the naked eye, the catalogue 
 of stars compiled from antiquity only made mention of about a thousand 
 stars. In our days the vault of heaven, seen through a telescope twciit • 
 feet long, is found, according to Struve, to contain more than 20,000,000 
 stars. 
 
 But Sir William Ilerschel pried yet more deeply into the mysteries if 
 the heavens. By means of his telescope, forty feet long, the milky way. 
 this long white train which the Arabs called the Heavenly River, has 
 
 *-.-i^*2«:**K; .^ '^^y.' 
 
 ^^5T^tw<'sSa^eKSS«^8S»?gftBPSB^«^»^s^ 
 
 LORD ROSSE's great REELECTING TELESCOPE. 
 
 been resolved into a stellar cloud, in which the English astronomer esti- 
 mated there were iS,ooo,000 telescopic stars. And yet can we say tiut 
 with these overwhelming numbers — these numbers which confound the 
 invagination — v.c h.a\-e reached the extreme bounds of science, and tliat it 
 lias traced out the far^^licst limits of the sidereal universe? Probably \v\ 
 Other re\'elations, n it less marvelous, may yet astonish our descendant;! 
 Not onl}' d) these tlistant systems, sonic of them peopled with, nixriads 
 cf suns, ^i-ke the most varied firms, not only do they present a diversity 
 of aspect greatei than it is poi-.siljle to imagine; but some of them also 
 unfold to the astonished ej-e which contemplates them varied shades ami 
 real colors. One is of a beautiful indigo blue; another is rose-colored at 
 its centre with a white border. 
 

 man could walk with 
 cnt time had defied all 
 ii-s. Our means of in- 
 ncld of science. When 
 iked eye, the catalo'^nio 
 on <^f about a thousaivl 
 u<^h a telescope twenty 
 1 more than 20,ooo,o<d<^; 
 
 )ly into the mysteries ci 
 ct long, the milky way, 
 he Heavenly River, has 
 
 1 ! I 
 
 n 
 
 
 1 TELESCOPE. 
 
 Kni^lish astronomer csti- 
 
 And yet can we sa\- that 
 
 Ibers which confound the 
 
 luls of science, and that it 
 
 universe ? Probably n<l 
 
 ^stonish our descendant -l 
 [em peopled with. m> riaa> 
 lo they present a diversity 
 ; but some of them al>" 
 
 fs' them varied shades aiKi 
 
 another is rose-colored at 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 REMARKABLE PHENOMENA IX THE SKY. 
 
 5trange Appearances in the Heavens— Fiery Bodies Swcpinj; Through tlie Sky — 
 Startling Explosions— An Aerolite Suspended in a Cliurch— F.ill of a Gieat 
 Stone— A Brilliant Meteorite Seen in Connecticut -Balls of Fire Leaping and 
 Whizzing in the Air— A Red Globe Apparently as Large as the Moon— A Siiouxr 
 of Burning Stones— The Great Meteor at Hurworth. 
 
 ETEORITES arc those solid fiery bodies which from time to 
 time visit the earth, sweepin^ij^ tln-ougli the sk\' witlt immense 
 velocity in every direction, and rcmainin'j^f \i.Nible but a few 
 moments; they are cjenerally attended by a luminous train, and 
 during their progress explosions usually occur, followed b)- the fall of 
 stones, to which the name of ai'rolites is gi\en. 
 
 In November, 1462, at Ensisheim, in Germany, a hnid explosion was 
 heard in the air, and a stone seen to fall which buried itself ih:cp in the 
 earth. It weighed 260 pounds, and by the order of the l".mix-i or Maxi- 
 milian, was suspended in the church at Ensisheim, where it remained 
 until the French revolution. A portion of it is now in the Parisian 
 museum, and another in the Imperial Cabinet at Vienna. In June, 1635, 
 a fiery mass was seen passing over the Veronese territory with such 
 velocity, that the eye could scarcely follow its motions. Loud explosions 
 were heard, and a large stone fell near the Benedictine Convent, about six 
 miles from Verona. 
 
 At half past si.x o'clock, on the morning of the 14th of December, 1807; 
 a meteorite was seen rushing from north to south, over Weston, in the 
 State of Connecticut; its apparent diameter being equal to one-half, or 
 two-thirds, that of the full moon. As it passed behind tiie clouds, it ap- 
 peared like the sun through a mist, and shone with a mild and subdued 
 light; but when it shot across the intervals of clear sky, the glowing body 
 flashed and .sparkled like a firebrand carried against the wind. Behind it 
 streamed a pale, hmiinous train, tapermg in form, and ten or twelve times 
 as long as its diameter. The meteorite was visible for the space of half a 
 minute, and just as it vanished gave three, di.stinct bounds. ..^bout thirty 
 seconds after its disappearance, three heavy explosions were heard like 
 the reports of a cannon, succeeded by a loud whizzing noise. Directly 
 after the explosions, a person heard a sound resembling that occasioned 
 (803) 
 
 li!|^ 
 
V) 
 
 804 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 11 U^ 
 
 by the fall of a heavy body, and upon going from the house perceived a 
 fresh hole in the turf, at the distance of twenty-five feet from the d(j(ir 
 .U the bottom of the hole, two feet below the surface, an aerolite was tlis- 
 covered which weighed nearly thirty-five pounds. Another mass, wliid; 
 was dashed to pieces upon a rocU, was judged, from the fa'-;ncnt; 
 collected, to have weighed two hundred pound;. Oihcr ac'rolitu.; i'>. ; 
 in various parts of the town. Tlic stones, at llie tinu: cf their dL'-.cnt. 
 were hot and crumbling, but gradually hardened up n expcj.'iMx: to 
 the air, 
 
 /Vt Futtypore, in India, in November, 1S14, a mtleoritc was scon, 
 shortly alter sunset, shooting swiftly towards e north-west. It appuircl 
 as a blaze of light surrounding a red globe (;f the apparent size ot thr 
 moon. As it proceeded on its course, loud explosions were heard, rc- 
 .sembling the sound of distant artillery, and a stone fell, which, in it- de- 
 scent, emitted sj^arks like those proceeding from a blacksmith's ti.ij^c. 
 When first disco\'ered. the a("rolite was hot antl e.xha'ed a strong suljluir- 
 ous smell. In December, 1836, just before niidniglu, a meteorite ( ; ex- 
 traordinary si/e and brilliancy was seen o\"ei' tlie \-illage of l\lac;i.i, ui 
 Brazil, tra\'ersing a cloudless sky. It biu'st with a sharp, loud noi.^e, aiu; 
 a slun\er of stones fell within a circle of lliirtx- miles. The aeioiiies 
 varietl in weight from one pound to eighty, :\nA descended wit!: -licii 
 f )ice as to break throutrh the roofs of houses, an;! \)uvy tliemselve- 'Im'i 
 iri tlie sand. Tliese extraordinary bodies luive Ijeen noticed frfii'i ihr 
 eailiest ages, and in all parts of the world; and, since attention k.;, 1 llh 
 diawn to the subject, scarcely a year now j'asses \\ ithout one or Tiiurc 
 well attested cases of the fall of aerolites. 
 
 JinnuMisc SIzt' of 3Ietoorit<'s. 
 
 We must not confound tlie magnitude of tlie meteorite witli tliai ufilie 
 aerolite, for the latter is nothing more than a ria_L;ment thrown oil" fiiiii 
 the former and filling to the earth, wliile tlie iviaiii l)ody swei-])s onv;;;(i 
 initscour.se. Tlie diameter of the WestcMi meteorite w;is computed ti 
 be 300 feet, and that of a meteorite obser\'ed at Win^l^or, in Au'ju f 
 17S3, was calculated to be no less than 3210 feet, or more tlian t!i;'' 
 fiftlis of a mile. 
 
 Included in intural electrical plienomena at sea is a round \)a'.\ l! ■ 
 size of a full moon, but much brigliter ami red.L-r. passing slowiy l\ 
 one cloud to another, sometimes succeeded by a teirifie e.xp!osi"ii •' 
 thunder. It seems strange that ships are not oftener struck by liglitn:!i 
 but, although the bolts sometimes fall in ((uick succes-ion around :i ^l• 
 they are generally diverted by the superior attraction of the wai;" 
 
REMARKABLE PHENOMENA IN Till: sy^Y. 
 
 805 
 
 since attention r.;. 1 <-t-n 
 ,scs withiHit one or rrion 
 
 It sea is a round ImiI t''' 
 jdder, passin^^ slowly 1 > ; 
 by a teirific explosi-n i' 
 )fcener struck by lii;litiv:!-, 
 c succes-ion around a >!' ; 
 • attraction of the water. 
 
 These flaming electric bolts which add so much to the t' nor and Ijeauty 
 (if the ocean are different in cause from the brilliant meteors so often seen 
 (,n land. Meteors nr shooting stars may be occasionally seen on any 
 clear night, but it is about the middle of August and November that the 
 display is most brilliant. Sometimes meteoric showers of several hours' 
 duration are witnessed. Meteors are supposed to be small bodies revolv- 
 ing around the sun, like the planets, in orbits which cross that of the 
 c.utli. When the earth in its annual revolution arri\es sufficiently n.ar, 
 under the iniluencc of its attraction they approach it with great velocity, 
 and on entering the atmosphere of tlie earth they take fue. In n..)st 
 
 
 
 
 
 THE GREAT METEOR SEEN AT HURWORTH. 
 
 cases they are consumed before reaching the earth, and thus disappear in 
 the sky. Sometimes, however, when the mass is large, a loud explosion 
 takes place, and fragments from a few pounds to a ton in weight fall to 
 the ground. In one case a meteoric stone nearly ten tons In weight was 
 found in France. Such wanderers from far distant space or from other 
 worlds are made up of materials similar to those we find in the earth — 
 iron, nickel, quartz, talc, etc. These meteors, when large, are often inex- 
 pressibly brilliant. One seen at ITurworth, luigland, in 1S54, lit up the 
 heavens for half an hour with as bright a light as that of the sun, and 
 finally burst with a thunderous explosion heard for many miles. 
 

 : ■ IV 
 
 M 
 
 806 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 il'flMjw ■ 
 
 ■MlSlli 
 
 A multitude of theories have been devised to account for the orii^in of 
 these remarkable bodies. The idea is completely inadmissible that thcv 
 are concretions formed within the limits of the atmosphere. The int^rc- 
 dients that enter into their composition have never been discovered in it, 
 and the air has been analyzed at the sea level and on the tops of hi;^h 
 mountains. Even supposinij that to have been the case, the enormous 
 volume of atmospheric air so chari^ed required to furnish the particles (if 
 3 mass of .several tons, not to say many masses, is, alone, sufficient to 
 refute the notion. They cannot, either, be projectiles from terrestrial vol- 
 canoes, because coincident volcanic activity has not been observed, and 
 aerolites descend thousands of miles apart from the nearest volcano, ami 
 their substances are discordant with any known volcanic product. La- 
 place sugj^ested their projection from lunar volcanoes. 
 
 It has been calculated that a projectile leaving the lunar surface, where 
 there is no atmospheric resistance, with a velocity of seven thousand seven 
 hundred and .seventy-one feet in the first .second, would be carried bey(^nd 
 the point where the ft)rces of the earth and moon are ec[ual, would be 
 detached, therefore, from the satellite, and come so far within the sphere 
 of the earth's attraction as necessarily to fall to it. But the enormoiH 
 number of ignited bodies that have been visible, the shooting stars of all 
 ages, and the periodical meteoric showers that have astonished the mod- 
 erns, render this hypothesis untenable ; for the moon, ere this, woultl ha\ r 
 undergone such a waste as must have scnsibh' diminished her orb, and 
 almost blotted her from the heavens. Olbers was one of the first to prow 
 the possibility of a projectile reaching us from the moon ; but at the same 
 time he deemed the e\ent In'ghly improbable, regarding the satellite as a 
 \ery peaceable neighbor, not capable now of strong explosions from the 
 w ant of water and an atmosphere. 
 
 Where <lo ^leteors Come From ? 
 
 The theor\- of Chladni will account generally for all the phenomena. 
 be attended with the fewest difficulties, and, with some modifications to 
 meet circumstances not known in his day, it is now widely embraced. lU 
 conceived the svstem to include an immense number of small bodies 
 either the scattered fragments of a larger mass, or original accumulations 
 of matter, which, circulating round the sun, encounter the earth in its 
 orbit, and are drawn towards it by attraction, become ignited upon enter- 
 ing the atmosphere, in consequence of their velocity, and constitute the 
 shooting stars, aerolites, and meteoric appearances that arc ob.served. 
 
 Sir Humphry Davy, in a paper which contains his researches on flame, 
 strongly expresses an opinion that the meteorites arc solid bodies moving 
 
«viii.^)v«r9viv| 
 
 count for the orii^in of 
 inadmissible that thi\- 
 losphcre. Tlic iiv^rpL. 
 ■ been discovered in it, 
 d on the tops of lii^h 
 le case, the enormous 
 furnish tlie particles of 
 is, alone, sufficient to 
 cs from terrestrial vol- 
 5t been observed, and 
 e nearest volcano, and 
 olcanic product. La- 
 )es. 
 
 ic lunar surface, where 
 "seven thousand seven 
 tuld be carried beyc^id 
 1 are ecjual, would be 
 far within the sphere 
 :. But the enormous 
 e shootini; stars of all 
 i astonished the niod- 
 n, ere this, would lia\r 
 ninished her orb, and 
 ne of the first to prow 
 loon ; but at the sanu 
 dini; the satellite as a 
 g explo.'iions from tlu- 
 
 or all the phenomena, 
 sc^me modifications U> 
 wideK' embraced. I h. 
 liber of small bodies 
 irii^inal accumulatii-ns 
 niter the earth in its 
 ne ignited upon eiitcr- 
 ty, and constitute tlic 
 tliat are observed. 
 is researches on flame, 
 c solid bodies movinir 
 
 :i li 
 
 "■ i 
 
 A SHOWER OF BRILLIANT METEORS ON THE OCEAN. 
 
 (807) 
 
"i4 
 
 mm"' ■ ' 
 
 i t iff 
 
 'P'lif!!: 
 
 if ' 
 
 - i(': 
 
 1 
 
 j ' ■ 
 
 I 
 
 I tl 
 
 4 
 
 808 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 in space, and that the heat produced by the compression of the most rare- 
 fied air iVotn tlie velocity of their motion must be sufficient to ignite their 
 mass, so that they are fused on enterinij the atmosphere. It is estin^ated 
 that a body movint^ throus^h our atmos[)here with tlie velocity of one 
 ' ;;!_• ill a second would extricate heat e([ual to thirtv thousand dec^rees of 
 ■ahrenheit — a Ivjat more intense than that of the fiercest artificial furnace 
 that e\er L;I<)\\ed. The chief modification i;i\en to the Chladnian theorv 
 has arisen from the o!)scr\ed ivjriodical occurrence of meteoric showers— 
 a !)rilliant cuul astonishin;^ exhibition, — to some iKJtices of which we pro- 
 ceed. 
 
 Tile writers of the midtlle a.^es report the occurrence of the stars fallin;^^ 
 {yi"n h a\cn in resplentient showers amon^^ the ph\'sical a[)pearances of 
 liiiir time. The experience of modern da\'s establishes the substantial 
 truth < f such relations, however once rejected as the inventions of men dc- 
 lil^htin;^ in tlie marxelous. Conde, in his histor)' of the dominion of the 
 Arabs, states, referring;' to the month of October, in the \ear 902 of oiir 
 era, tliat im t!ie ni;;ht of the death of King Ibrahim ben Ahmed, an inll- 
 nit^-- number of fallin-.^ stars were seen to spread themselves like rain o\cr 
 tlu- hea\ens, fi-om rijdit to Lft ; and this )'ear was afterwards called the 
 " \-ear of .stars." 
 
 In some I-!astern annals of Cairo, it is relatetl that, " In this \'ear (1029 
 of our era,) in the month Redjeb, (.Vugust.) many stars passed, with a 
 ;4reat noise and brilliant lij^dit: " and in anotluM* place the same document 
 states, " In the }-ear 5',/j, on .Saturdax' nij^ht, in the last Moharrem, (1202 
 of our era, aiul on the 19th of October,) the stars appeared like wa\es 
 upon the sk\', towards the east and west ; the}' Hew about like grassho;)- 
 pers, and were dispersed from left to ri;^ht ; this lasted till daybreak; the 
 people were alarmed." The researches of the Orientalist, Von Hammer, 
 ha\-e brouLij-ht these singular accounts to light. Theophanes, one of the 
 B\vantine historians, records that in November of the year 472 the sky 
 appeared to be on fire over the city of Constantinople with the corusca- 
 tions of flying meteors. 
 
 **Divcr.s Groat Woii<lor.s." 
 
 The chronicles of the West agree with those of the East in rcportin<( 
 such phenomena. A remarkable display was observed on the 4th. of 
 \})ril, 1095, both in France and England. " The stars .seemed," says one, 
 ' falling like a shower of rain from heaven upon the earth ; " and in an- 
 other case, a bystander, having noted the spot where an aerolite fell," cast 
 water upon it, which was raised in stea'ii with a great noise of boiling." 
 The chronicle of Rheims f'escribes the appearance, as if all the stars in 
 
 'si 
 
 « Vi 
 
^nc^wwmpv 
 
 REMARKABLE PHENOMFA'A OF THE SKY. 
 
 8()[) 
 
 ^ssionof the most raic- 
 iLifficicnt to ignite tluir 
 ;phcrc. It is cstinnitcd 
 hh the velocity of or.c 
 tv thousand de;4rees i,[ 
 iercest artificial furnace 
 o the Chladnian theory 
 : of meteoric showers — 
 )tices of which we pro- 
 
 ence of the stars fallin,; 
 ph)-sical appearances of 
 il)lishes the substantia! 
 \c in\-entions of men dc- 
 of the dominion of the 
 , in the year 902 of our 
 im ben Ahmed, an infi- 
 hcmselveslike rain over 
 as afterwards called the 
 
 lat, " In this year (1029 
 my stars passed, with a 
 ace the same document 
 le last Moharrem, (1202 
 rs api^eared like waxes 
 
 \v al)out like ^n'asshop- 
 asted till daybreak; the 
 
 icntalist, Von Hammer, 
 Theophanes, one of the 
 
 )f the year 472 the sky 
 inople with the corusca- 
 
 of the l-'.ast in rcportinL,^ 
 observed on the 4tl; of 
 stars seemed," says one, 
 the earth ; " and in aii- 
 jre an aerolite fell, " cast 
 -reat noise of boilin,^." 
 nee, OS if all the stars in 
 
 heaven were r'riven, like dust, befi)re the wind. " ]\\ ihe repnrte oi the 
 common people, in this kyn-e's time, (William Ru^'us,"') .sa\ s Rastel, 
 "liivers j^n-eat wonders were .seen; and llierefore the kini; was tdd bv 
 (Ii\ers of his familiars, that God was n>>t content with his ]\-\\-iv, but he 
 was so wilful and proude of minde, .hat he re;^Mrded litde their sax-in-." 
 There can be no hesitation now iu L;ivin4 credence t^ Mich narrations a; 
 ihese, since similar facts luu'e pas.sed under the notice of the present "en- 
 cration. 
 
 The first i^rand phenomenon of a meteoric shower whieh attracted atten- 
 tion in modern times was witnessed by th • Moravian missionaries at their 
 settlements in Greenland. Vnv sex'eral houi-s the h;';iii->p!iere presented a 
 ina;4nificentandastonishin;4- spectacK- — that of fkry jiarticles thick a. hail, 
 crowdincj the concax'e of the sky, as thoui;h some ma;.;a/ine of combustion 
 in celestial .space were dischari;in;^^ its contents towards the earth. This 
 was ob.scrx'ed over a wide extent of territory. llumbohU, then tiaxelliiv 
 in .South America, accompanied b\' M. ]^)n[)lan(I, thus speaks of it: 
 "Towards the mornint; of the 1 ;,t]i of Xovember, i^oij, we witnessed a 
 most extraordinary scene of shootin;.;- meteors. Thousands of bodies uul 
 fallin.,^ stars succeeded each other tlurin;^- four hours. Their diiection was 
 \er\- regular from north to south. From the be_L;innin_L;" of tlu; phenoui- 
 cnon there was not a space in the firmament etpial in extent to three diam- 
 eters of the moon which was not filled e\er}' instant with botlies or fallin;4 
 stars. All the meteors left luminous traces or phospiiorescent bands 
 behind them, which lasted seven or ei!.;ht seconds." 
 
 A Spoetsn'Ic of Avil'iil GraiKlcur. 
 
 An a;.;ent of the United States, Mr. I'^dlicott, at that time at sea between 
 Cape Florida and the West Intlia Islands, was another spectator, and thus 
 describes the scene : " I was called up about three o'clock in the niorniiv^-, 
 to seethe shootinij stars, as the\-are called. The phenomenon was _L;rand 
 and awful. The whole heavens ai)peared as if illuminated with skyrockets, 
 which disappeared onl\' by the licjht of the sun after daybreak. The me- 
 teors, which at any one instant of time appeared as numerous as the stars, 
 flew in all possible directions, except from the earth, towards which they 
 all inclined more or les.s; and some of them descended perpendicu-lariy 
 o\er the vessel we were in, s;) that I was in constant expectation of their 
 fillint; on us." 
 
 The next exhibition upon a great scale of the falling stars occurred on 
 the 13th of November, 1S31, and was seen off the coast of Spain and in 
 the United States. This was followed b\' another in the ensuing year at 
 exactly the same time. Captain Hammond, then in the Red Sea, off 
 
 m 
 
 m\ 
 
1'^ 
 
 810 
 
 n ■ J- 
 ^ i: 
 
 
 m 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY, 
 
 Mocha, in tlu; ship Restitution, tnws the followint^ account of it : " I'li.m 
 one o'clock in the inoinint;, till after cla\'lit;ht, there was a \ery unusual 
 phenonienon in the heavens. It a[ipeared like meteors bursting in ev( r\ 
 direction. The sky at the tinie was clear, the .stars and moon brJLjlu, w iih 
 streaks of lii^iit and thin white cKnids interspersed in the sk\-. On landing 
 in the mornin;^ 1 iiupiired of the Arabs if they had noticed the abow 
 They saitl they had been t)bser\in.t; it most of the nit^ht. I asked tliein 
 if ever the like had appeared before. The oldest of them replied that it 
 had not." Tiie shower was witnessed from the Red Sea westward tollu 
 Atlantic, and from Switzerland to the Mauritius. 
 
 Pi'oplt; StriclicMi with T<>rr<>r. 
 We now come to by far the nn)st splendid display on record ; w liicli, 
 as it was the third in successive years, and on the same ila\' of the ni.iiuli 
 as the two precedini^, seemed to invest the meteoric showers with a 
 periotlical character; and hence oriijinated the title of the NoveinliLi 
 meteors. The chief scene of the exhibition was included within tin. 
 limits of the loiiL^itude of si.\ty-onc det^rees in the Atlantic Ocean, ;uiil 
 that of one hundred degrees in Central Me.xico, and from the X<>rlli 
 American lakes to the West Indies. Over this wide area an a[)pear.uior 
 jiresiiited itself far suriJassint,'' in grandeur the mt)st imposing arlitk\al 
 fireworks. An incessant i)lay of da/.zlingly brilliant luminosities was kept 
 up in the heavens for se\'eral hours. .Some of these were of considerable 
 magnitude and peculiar form. 
 
 One of large size remained for some time almost stationar\' in ihc 
 zenith, o\er the I'^alls of Niagara, emitl.ing streams of light. The wild 
 dash of the waters, as contrasted with the fier}' uproar above them, fdrnuii 
 a scene of unec[ualled sublimit}'. In man)- tlistricts the mass of the popu- 
 lation were terror-.stricken, and the more enlightened were awed at ecii- 
 templating so vivid a picture of the .\pocal\'j)tic image — that of the stars 
 of hea\en falling to the earth, e\en as a fig-tree casting her untimely figs, 
 when she is shaken of a might)' wintl. 
 
 A planter of South Carolina tluis describes the effect of the scene u[)oii 
 the ignorant l)lacks: " I was suddenlx- awakened b}' the most distressing; 
 cries that e\er fell on m\' ears. Shrieks of horror and cries for mercy I 
 could hear from most of the negroes of three plantations, amounting in 
 all to about si.K or eight hundred. W'hile earnestly listening for the cause, 
 I lu'ard a faint voice near the door calling my name. I arose, and takin^' 
 my swortl, stood at the door. At this moment, I heard the .same voice 
 still besjechingme to rise, and saying, 'O my God, the world is on fire!' 
 I then opjnod tlu door, and it is difficult to say which excited me more 
 
f'l 
 
 REMARKABLE rilENOMENA OF THE SKY 
 
 81 
 
 account of it : " I'l'mi 
 ■vc was a very unii-.u;il 
 teors burstint; in cvt i\ 
 ;atul moon brit^lu, Willi 
 in tlio sky. On landiii.' 
 lad noticed the abow 
 L- nii^bt. 1 asked tlicni 
 of them rephed tliat it 
 .cd Sea westward tutlu, 
 
 i>r. 
 
 )lay on record ; wliich, 
 same day of the uMiuh 
 cteoric showers with a 
 title of the Noveniher 
 •as included within iIk 
 he Atlantic Ocean, aiul 
 :o. and from the N-illi 
 wide area an appeaianor 
 most imposini,^ artificial 
 uit luminosities was kept 
 cse were t)f considerable 
 
 11 
 
 uost stationary in the 
 ms of h;,dit. The wiUl 
 •oar above them, fornie^i 
 ts the mass of the i^opu- 
 ned were awed at ccn- 
 ma-e— that of the stars 
 astinii her untimely li,j,>, 
 
 — the awfulncss of the scene or the distressed cries of the ncToes. Up- 
 uards of one hundred lay prostrate on tlie ground, some s|)eechlcss, and 
 st)nie with the bitterest cries, but with lluii hands raised, implorin<f God 
 to save the worUl and them. The .scene was irul\- awfiil; for never did 
 rain fall much thicker than the meteors fell towards the I'arlh ; east, west, 
 nortii and south it wiis the .same." 
 
 Almost Hit by a .>l«>tt>or. 
 
 A remarkable story is related by Cajjtain Swart, of the Dutch bark, J. 
 !'. A. The Captain thinks that his theor\-, derived from a recent ex- 
 perience, will account for the sudden disappearance of man)- vessels at 
 sea. He sa>-s that March 19, iS87, his ship, while in lalitiuK; 37. ,V) and 
 loni^itude 57 west, met a heavy storm. At about fi\e o'clock in the after- 
 noon a meteor was observed fiyinc; throu^di the air. 
 
 It looked like two balls, one very black and the other bii'>htl\- ilhimin- 
 aled. The latter fell, and as it seemed that it would strike the ves.sel she 
 was hove to untler storm .sails. The meteor dropped into the sea close 
 aloii^^ side, makini; in its llif^ht a tremendous roaring noise. Hefort' 
 reaching the water, the upi)er atmosphere was darkened, while below and 
 on board evef)'thinL;' appeared like a sea of fire. The force of the meteor 
 in striking; the water causetl hea\-)' breakers, which washed o\er the \es->ei, 
 inakin<^ her roll in a dangerous manner. At the .same time the atmosphere 
 became uncomftMtabl}' warm and the air was full of sulphur, bnmedialel}- 
 afterwards solid lunn)s of ice fell on the decks, antl the ilecks and rigging 
 became coated with an icy crust, caused by the immense e\aporation. 
 
 The barometer during the phenomenon oscillatetl so \iolentl\- that no 
 reading could be taken. After close examination of the \essel and rigging 
 no damage was found on deck, but on the side where the meteor fi'U into 
 tlie water the ship a[)pearcd all black and some of the copi)er sheathing 
 was blistered. 
 
 t I 
 
 if 
 
 ijii 
 
 11^ 
 
 effect of the .scene upon 
 
 by the most distressing; 
 1- and cries for mercy 1 
 mtations, amounting in 
 ly listening for the cause, 
 me. I arose, and takin,^' 
 
 1 heard the .same voice 
 od, the world is on fire !' 
 
 which excited me more 
 
sr* 
 
 ; 'h 
 
 
 CIIAriHR III. 
 A WORLD nUKNI'D OUT AND DI-.AD. 
 
 Tlie I-"artli ("iisliiuiifd wiili Air -The Weight «>i" ICvt-ry Ilutiian Ik-in^j Stvciilti .1 
 Tons— ( )iir N\irL'->t IManutary NciRhbor — Time Rf(iuir< d l)y a Railway Train to 
 Reach the Mdhii -Lunar Mountains- Moon Turn hy l"uiious Volcanoes- The 
 ['"ires Kxtinrt — The Surface Cold- Cr.itcrs and Caverns — Lunar Seas — A Dest-rt 
 World -Internal Silence— No Air nor Water- No Sky — \'ounj; Lady in the 
 Moon — Perpetual Chanvjes— WliileCrested Mountains — Tiu- Moon's Attractive 
 i-'iMtures -Tlie Moon a One-Sitled Creaturj— StraMi:;c ConjerturLS as to the Side 
 Turned Away— The First (Juarter-Inunense Cavilie.-. in the Moon's Surrux— 
 Measuring; Craters— Kxcitenient over First Discoveries —Droll Superstitions — A 
 Satellite Supposed to Rule almost Kverythinjj. 
 
 UR planet is entirely enveloped by a thick layer of air, wliirli 
 forms roiintl it the softest cushion iniat^inablc. Notwithstand- 
 in;_,^ its apparent liL;htnes.s, this atmosphere wei^Ljhs heaxily upon 
 all bodies on the earth, and exerts [greater prcssiu'e in propor- 
 tion as they offer a lar<^er surface. Pliysioloj^ists consider that each of us 
 has a weight cf about 35,300 pounds to support, but this i^rtat weioht is 
 not usually felt, because it is counterbalanced by a counter action e(|ual 
 in all directions, so that the one destroj-s the other. 
 
 The earth is not rich in respect to satellites, possessincr as it does only 
 one, which, however, is of dimensions ample enout;"h as compared to it. 
 this is the moon, the faithful companion of its course. Other planets, it 
 is true, like Jupiter and Saturn, are more richly endowed, and have from 
 f(3ur to e.j^ht satellites; but a;_jain there are others which do not possess 
 an}', as is the case with Venus and Mercury. 
 
 The sole and faithful satellite of the earth, formed by a fraj^ment detached 
 from it, now cold and wan, rolled round us when it bei;an, a retl and 
 blazin-^ sphere, xomitin^i:^ torrents of fire from its whole surface. Wiiilst 
 gravitation was regulatini^ its form and path, the moon, in the course of 
 thousands of years, exhausted its fires to show us at last its pale and 
 silvery face, the sad lunn'naiy of our nights, the splendid nocturnal mirror 
 \vhich reflects to us, pale and cold, the divergent rays of the sun. 
 
 Compared to the immeasurable distances of the nebulae; and stars, the 
 space which separates us from our satellite is (juite insignificant; she is 
 our next-door neighbor and the eye can so clearly discern her form and 
 (812) 
 
A WORLD m-RNl;!) OUT AND DFAD. 
 
 IT I •) 
 
 peculiarities, tluu she sccnis a'.niot to toi di us. Ihit iliis insitrnitKant 
 distance, abstractly consickTcil. is yet vast nioii-;!!. The distaircc tV(»m 
 tiic earth to the moon is about 237.000 milts. If it were possible to -et 
 there by tiuaiis of .steam, it would rrcpiiiv one vear and about diree hun- 
 <hvd and twenty two days for a lo,:. -motive startiu- froni our ^l..!),- and 
 l;-avellin;4 at a hi-h rate of speed to reach the nioon and l.ind its pa^seti- 
 n-ers ; )'ct this is but a step compared to the distances ,,t the >tars. 
 
 VOLCANIC CKATEKS ON 'i 
 
 The moon is m ever\' p.u" 
 
 •I KlAt-.L 
 
 't- I . 
 
 different 
 
 HE MOU.N .-1 
 
 oul;1iciil'.i »\illi cmiiicnC',' 
 shapes, but the\' onl\- very rarel\ ■jjrou]- theiiiselve- into ir,ountaMi chains 
 comparable to those of our ^lobe. The Mcs, Caucasus ii-,(' the .Apen- 
 nines rcnresent the principal onts. (.'eit.iin ^.solated summits haw re- 
 ceived the names of celebrated men, but those of past tin^s ha\e been 
 chosen in order not to excite any jeah us}- ; we travel from the Mountain 
 of Aristotle to that of Mipparchus, from that of Plolenu- to that of Cr>- 
 pernicus. The astronomers have verx- properly not forgotten their clain.s. 
 
 !'!^ ( 
 
 m 
 
 ut 
 
814 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 The highest lunar mountains attain an altitude which surpasses most 
 terrestrial elevations, a fact which may well astonish us. Generally 
 they do not rise beyond 22,750 feet. But in proportion to the size of 
 the planet, we may say that the mountains in the moon are much loftier 
 than those of the earth. The summits of Mount Dcerfel are 24,700 feet 
 above the valleys which environ it, whilst the crest of Mont Blanc only 
 rises 15,632 feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 Most of the mountains of our pale companion are of volcanic origin, 
 and its surface has been so shattered by subterranean fires that in manv 
 places the craters are heaped up close beside each otht. Probably no 
 stnr was ever so horribly torn by the fury of volcanoes. These even 
 attain proportions far beyond what is seen in our globe. Some of those 
 lunar craters are four or five leagues in diameter, and the gaping mouth 
 of the volcano of Aristillus. still more prodigious, is ten leagues from 
 one ridge to the other ! Our glasses enable us to see these extinct cra- 
 ters .'n such proportions, that none of their details escape us ; whilst, 
 were we on the moon, our telescopes, according to Humboldt, woulil 
 scared)' enable us to make out terrestrial volcanoes. 
 
 Iinnu'Mso Lunar Caverns. 
 
 Seen from the earth many lunar volcanoes appear vcy much depressed, 
 uid the edges of their craters resemble so many flattcnetl rings, projecting 
 \cr\- little abo\-e the plains. Some region- ue so riddled with them that 
 their mouths touch. Others surmount lofi\' summits, and their crenel- 
 ated ramparts surround enormous excavations, which pierce deep intu 
 the mountains below the level of the plains. 
 
 Formerh' the dark patches which cover part of the moon's siu-facc 
 were considered as representing lunai seas, but at present men are dis- 
 posed to look upon them as only immense plains. The first astronomers 
 gave them names full of poetiy. There was the Sea of Tranquility, the 
 Sea of Clouds, the Sea of Nectar, the Ocean of Tempests, and the Sea of 
 Serenity. 
 
 The rocky and shattered soil of our satellite is perfectly bare ; not a 
 blade of grass grows there, not a flower opens. Totally deprived of water 
 and air, life is an impossibility. A threefold death would overtake the 
 least animal that happened to alight there ; a squirrel would perish of 
 hunger, thirst, and asphyxia! In these cold and horrid realms of the 
 moon, everything is plunged in torpor and silence ; the echoes arc mute 
 and the breath of a zephyr never plays round the summits of the rugged 
 movmtains. 
 
 By means of our instruments, which have now been brought to so 
 
 ,Mm 
 
A WORLD BURNED OUT AND DEAD. 
 
 81.) 
 
 which surpasses most 
 itonish us. Generally 
 (portion to the size of 
 moon are much loftier 
 Doerfel are 24,700 feet 
 3t of Mont Blanc only 
 
 are of volcanic origin, 
 lean fires that in many 
 h othtk. Probably no 
 )lcanoes. These oven 
 globe. Some of those 
 and the gaping mouth 
 IS, is ten leagues from 
 ■) see these extinct era- 
 ails escape us ; whilst, 
 ^ to Humboldt, would 
 •es. 
 
 iv \c'-y much deprcssctl, 
 
 ttcned rings, projectin;^ 
 
 riddled with ihcin that 
 
 mits, and their crenel- 
 
 hich pierce deep into 
 
 of the moon's surface 
 it present men are di.s- 
 The fust astronomers 
 iea of Tranquilit}', the 
 mpests, and the Sea of 
 
 s perfectly bare ; not a 
 itally deprived of water 
 th would overtake the 
 Liirrel would perish of 
 1 horrid realms of the 
 ; the echoes are mute 
 ummits of the rugged 
 
 V been brought to so 
 
 great perfection, we can pry into the minutest details of our satellite, and 
 examine them with as much accuracy as if it were .some distant \iew en 
 earth ; hence we can to a certain extent make out its geological disposi- 
 tion. The precision of our glasses has been carried to such a pilch, that 
 we could with them easily perceive large buildings, if .my existed on the 
 lunar surface ; we could even make out troops of animals moving about. 
 It would, it is true, be impo.ssible to percei\e one of its inhabitants trav- 
 ersing the valleys of its silver crescent, but if the nmcl; spoken of Sele- 
 nites exi.sted, we should certainly perceive their movements when thev" 
 were collected into dense masses. According to 1 luiiihokli, however, 
 liiere is only a noiseless, silent desert there. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott gives us in one of his fine poetical outbursts this apos- 
 tri'i^he to the lunar world: 
 
 Hail ti) t!iy cold and cloudeci beam. 
 
 Pale jjif^riin of tlie truiihlcd sky ! 
 
 Hail, tliou^li the mi-^m that o'l-rtliec .slieaia 
 
 Lend lo thy lirow thi ir sullen dvc ! 
 
 How should thy puix- and peactTuI eye 
 
 Lhitrouljled view our srfiiL'.s bel((W ? 
 
 Or how a tearless beam supjjly ! 
 
 To light a world of war and woe ? 
 
 There is a great contrast, not <Mily api)arent but \-c.:\\. between the serdio 
 
 tranquility of the lunar disk ami the great mo\enient^ which are eea cIcssU- 
 
 carried on on the surface of oin- world. ( )n approaching the moon iiothin- 
 
 is seen of the physical causes which make the earth a \a-t laborator\' 
 
 wlierein a thousand elements conteuil or unite with each other. There 
 
 are none of those tumultuous tempests which sometitue's sweep ovvv our 
 
 undulated plains; none of those hurricanes which descend in waterspouts 
 
 to be swallowed up in the deijth of the .sea ; no w ind blows, no cloutl rises 
 
 to the heavens. There white trains of cloudy vapors are not seen, nor 
 
 those laden masses with heavy cohorts; the rain ne\-er falls; and neither 
 
 snow, nor hail, nor any of the meteorological phenomena are manifested there. 
 
 But, on the other hand, the magnificent tiii*^s w Inch color our sky at 
 
 sunrise and twilight, the radiati(m of the heated, atniosphere, are ne\-er 
 
 seen there ; if winds and tempests n^^ver blow, neither is there the balm\- 
 
 breeze which descends upon our coasts. Tn this kingdom of sovereign 
 
 immobilit}', the lightest zephvr never comes to caress the hill-tops ; the 
 
 sky remain.s eterna'h' asleep in a calm incomparably more complete than 
 
 that of our hottest davs when not a leaf moves in the air. This is becau.se 
 
 on the surface of this strange world there is nn atmosphere. From this 
 
 privation results a state of things difficult to realize. 
 
 !■; i. 
 
 i l 
 
 H: 
 iK 
 
•f t . « 
 
 ;f'H^ ■■ 
 
 1 1' . 
 
 i 
 
 
 "Pr' 
 
 t 
 
 ■*.. 
 
 |i 
 
 81G 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 In the first place, the absence of air inipHes also the absence of water and 
 every Hquid, for water and hquids can only exist under atmospheric 
 pressure : if this pressure is taken away they e\-aporcitc and their beds arc 
 dried up. Thus, for instance, if \'ou place a vessel filled with water under 
 the receiver of an air-pump, and then, b\- pumping out the air which is in 
 the receiver, you make a \acuum, you will soon see the water boil, even 
 when the place where the experiment is made is frozen 'rith the ni()>t 
 intense cold. The boiling disengages vapors, and, finally, the water i> 
 evaporated. Now let us suppose, that, at a certain period of its past exist- 
 ence the moon had, like the earth, seas and rivers, and that by the aid <.| 
 any apparatus, its seas and rivers were made to hod and to fall into vapor 
 a.;ain ; by continuing this operation long enough the moon would be 
 made completely (lr\' ; this is precisely what has hapfK'iied. 
 
 Since the distant period of its formation in a lluid state, it has lost all 
 
 its licpiids antl vapors, and now a linnet wi)uld die of thirst in the midst n|' 
 
 the seas of the moon. These seas do not contain a drop of water. Thes.;, 
 
 it will be said, are singular seas. And, indeetl, no one will hokl that tiicir 
 
 tide is logical. lUit, we have seen that tiiey were named at a time wli.ii 
 
 people did not know the lunar surlace sufficientl}' well to guess that ■: 
 
 existed without air and water, h^-om the absence of air follows anoiJiLM' 
 
 \ ery curious fact — the .ibsence of sky. An immensity without depth i> 
 
 tra\'ersed b)' the sight, and in the da\' as in the night are seen the star^ 
 
 planets, comets, and aU the liodies of our uniwrse. The sun passes anion-- 
 
 them \\illu)ut extinguisjiing them, as it does to us. Xot only does llu' 
 
 moon Hot possess this perjjetual di\ersit_\- which the mownients of the .lir 
 
 [)roduce on our world, but it has not the azure \ault which co\ers ih.' 
 
 earth with such a iiiagnifieent dome; space is a black and a [XMpeti'.al!'.- 
 
 black a!)\ss. 
 
 A\vlul Sik'iu'e and I><*s()la(ion. 
 
 Wliil-t on high there reigns darkness, below there is silence. Not the 
 
 least sound is ever heard ; the sigh of the wind iii the woods, the rustliiiL;' 
 
 of foliage', the song of the morning lark", ov the sweet warbling of the 
 
 nightingale never awakens the eternal!}' dumb echoes of this world, \i. 
 
 \dice, no speech has ever disturbed the intense solitutle with which it i- 
 
 o\erspreatl. Unchangeable silence reigns there in sovereignt)-. Tall ])er- 
 
 p lulicular mountains divide its surface. Here and there are seen woin- 
 
 oiit crateis rising towards the sky, white rocks heaped up like the ruin- 
 
 ot some long-i)asscd revolution, cre\asses crossing the surface as in lands 
 
 dried by the burning rays of long summer da\'s. That which renders the 
 
 spectacle' nu)re strange is that the aljsencc of \'apors cau.ses the absence 
 
A WORLD BURNED OUT AND DEAD. 
 
 81 
 
 81 1 » 
 
 he absence of water and 
 cist uiuler atmospheric 
 )rate and their beds a;-.: 
 i filled with water under 
 out the air which is in 
 iee the water boil, e\\ n 
 s frozen '»-ith the nu.st 
 id, finally, the water i> 
 I i)eriod of its past e.\i>t- 
 , and that by the aid <■{ 
 )il and to fall into va;v m- 
 di the moon would \k 
 lappeiied. 
 
 luid state, it has lost all 
 : of thirst in the midst n\ 
 I drop of water. 1 hes,;, 
 i one will hold that tiicir 
 J named at a time wlu-n 
 .ly well to guess that it 
 ;e of air follows an iiiirr 
 i.nsit)' withinit depth i< 
 dit are seen the star^ 
 The sun passes ani( >]v^ 
 \ot onl\' does [he 
 le movements of the .lir 
 ault which co\ers the 
 )lack and a perpetually 
 
 ivc is silence. Not the 
 the woods, the rustlin^^- 
 sweet warbliiiL;' of the 
 oes of this world. \" 
 )litude with w liiih it i- 
 sovereignty. Tall per- 
 id there arc seen woiii 
 leaped up like the ruin 
 r the surface as in land> 
 That which reiulei's the 
 )or.s causes the absence 
 
 of perspective a.s well as the absence of all tints, and ^ve sec only white or 
 black according as the object is in the sun's !i'/lit or in shadow, the ob- 
 
 jects .succeeding each other as far as the horizon without losing brightness 
 or contour. The moon is such a singular world that its mountains ma\- 
 be measured as well by depth as height. This paiado.x, rather ilifficult 
 
 11 
 
 I I 
 
 III 
 

 '^ I 
 
 818 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 J^SSi^ 
 
 to understand, arises from the fact that the mountains of tlie moon arc 
 not like those of the earth, but are hollow. When we arri\'e at the to;) 
 there is a rin^, the white, ru^-j^ed and sterile mountains, and lofty and de- 
 serted craters. These solitary and dried-up landscapes remind us of 
 what Fontonelle said rcL^ardin;^ the chan^^csat work on the surface of our 
 satellite, caused, not b)' the mo\-ements of life, like those which ret^ulatL 
 terrestrial nature, but by the simi)le fallinjj down of lands. " IwcrythiuL^ 
 is in perpetual motion," lie sa\-s. " Even includin^^ a certain young lady, 
 ^\h;) was seen in the moon with a telescope about forty years ago, eveiy- 
 thing has considerably aged. She had a pretty good face, but her cheek>^ 
 are now sunken, her nose is lengthened, her forehead and chin are n ■,,■ 
 prominent to such an extent, that all her charms have vanished, and [ 
 fear for her da\'s." 
 
 "What are you relating to me now?" interrupted the Marchioness. 
 
 " Thiy is no jest," returned the author. " Astronomers perceived in the 
 moon a particular figure which had the aspect of a woman's head, which 
 came forth from between the rocks, and then occurred some changes 'v\ 
 this region. Some pieces of mountain fell, and disclosed three points- 
 which could only serve to compose a forehead, a nose, and an nKl 
 woman's ehin." We do not know whether the face, of which the in j,i> 
 nious writer speaks, existed anywhere but in his imagination; hr.i 
 cl^'Miges, e\cn caused by simple fallings, are extremely rare, if even tluy 
 are still produced. For a hundred years, for instance, during which 
 period a day has not elapsed in which the moon lias been \isible, with- 
 out it being observed by the telescope, the slightest movement has ne\cr 
 
 been noticed. 
 
 A Loiiclj' and Deserted Planet. 
 
 At tlie commencement of the century, it is true, people fancied they 
 
 obser\-ed a:ti\e volcanoes, but they have since di.sco\ered that very [irob- 
 
 ably what were then taken for volcanoes were nothing more than the 
 
 white crests of certain mountains, their form or their structm-e being m(M-c 
 
 favorably adapted to reflect light. Thus the orl) of night remains dumb 
 
 and silent, revolving in the liea\-ens like a desertetl planet. Why thi-. 
 
 sad and solitary fate? Why deprived of movement and life? This i.-; 
 
 the question asked by the poet Shelley : 
 
 Art thou pale for weariness. 
 Of climhini,'- licavcn and gazing' on the eartli, 
 
 U'aiKK.Tiii'j; cxjiiipaiiionless 
 Among tlie stars that liave a ditTerent birth, 
 -And ever cliangin;j:, like a joyless ej-e 
 That finds no object worth its constancy ? 
 
•i f 
 
 ;itains of the moon art 
 wc arrive at the t >:) 
 Lains, and lofty aiul tk- 
 dscapes remind us of 
 •k on the surface of our 
 ce those \vhich rec,uilal., 
 >f lands. " h:verythin- 
 r a certain )-oung huly, 
 : forty )'ears ago, every- 
 ood face, but her checks 
 chead and chin are n .v 
 s have vanished, and I 
 
 ted the Marchioness. 
 )nonicrs perceived in the 
 ; a >vonian's head, which 
 icurrcd some changes i-i 
 I disclosed three point- 
 td, a nose, and an old 
 ace, of which the in;40- 
 i his imagination; hut 
 rcmely rare, if even they 
 instance, during which 
 1 has been visible, with- 
 :cst movement has nv\cr 
 
 iiiot. 
 
 •ue, i)cople fancied they 
 isco\ercd that very prol> 
 
 nothing more than the 
 icir structure being m(M-c 
 of night remains duiuh 
 crted planet. Why thi^ 
 ement and life? This i.-) 
 
 le earth, 
 
 t birth, 
 e 
 incy ? 
 
 A WORLD nURNED OUT AND DEAD. 
 
 819 
 
 Now that we have pointed out how the moon is an inhospitable world, 
 poor and destitute of nature's gifts, it is necessary to retrace our steps, 
 and show it to you as a magnificent world, worthy of admiration and 
 esteem. We do not wi.sh to contradict the foregoing words; but in 
 order not to leave a bad impression witli regard to our fihthful friend, we 
 wish to remind you that nature, even when it appears to disgrace some 
 ,.f its works from some points of view, favors them with very desirable 
 riches when regarded under other aspects. 
 
 To an astronomer, the moon would be a tnagnificent observatorv. In 
 the da}'time he could observe the stars at noon, and thus dise-o\cr, with- 
 out trouble, that they reside eternally in the heavens. With us, on the 
 contrary, among the ancients, were a great number who imaginctl that 
 they were lighted up in the evening and extinguishctl in the mornin'^ 
 If, then, people make astronomical observations on the moon, the sim is 
 not a tyrant who governs the heavens absolutely; it allows the .stars to be 
 enthroned peaceably with it in ..^jace; and studies commenced during the 
 night can bj carried on without difficulty during the day until the follow- 
 ing night. On our satellite the nights are fifteen times twent\--foiir hours 
 long, and the da\'s are of the .same lengtli; but there is an essential diff- 
 erence to remark between the nights of the lunar heniisijhere. which faces 
 us, and those of the hemisphere which we do not see. 
 
 ►•itraiij^c Old Fsiiifios Alxmt the ^lonn. 
 You must hrA'c .loticed that the moon alwax's presents the same sitleto 
 us. From the beginning of the world it has never shown but this side. 
 We read in Plutarch, who wrote nearly two thousand }ears ago, a 
 thousand conjectures rclati\e to the side of tlv.; mo(Mi always tuined 
 touartl us. Some saitl it was a large mirror, well ptlished and excellent, 
 which sent back from afar the image of the earth; the dark portions 
 ^'presented the oceans and seas, while the Ijright portion^ represented 
 the continents. Others believed that the spots were forests, where some 
 placed the hunts of Diana, and that the most lirilliant parts were the 
 plains. Others, again, s.iw in it a \'er\' light, celestial earth; they stated 
 that its inhabitants must pity the earth which is below them, and which is 
 only a mass of mud. Others, again, and their singular opini( >n was widely 
 s|)rcad, added that the beings who peopled it were fifteen times larger 
 than those of our eardi, an 1 by the side of the lunar trees our oaks would 
 only be small bushes. All this to explain the nature of th.* lunar face 
 eternally turned towards us. 
 
 Now, if wc never see but one side of the moon, it follows that there is 
 only one side of this body which sees us ; si that half of thj moon has a 
 
 1 
 
r*;r^ Mil J 
 
 t 
 
 820 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AXD SKY. 
 
 moon — namc-l)', our earth, and the other half is deprived of one. Iftlicro 
 are any inliabitants on the hemi.s[)here turned from us, the\- do not 5,nic<s 
 that the moon is only a body placed for illumination of our niijhts, aii 1 
 they must be greatly astonished when the narrati\'es of travellers relate to 
 them the existence of our earth in tiie heavens. If the travellers tlKn- 
 resemble those here, what tales must the}' spread with regard ton-? 
 But, also, how useful must the earth be to the lunar nights, anil h^v. 
 beautiful we are — from afar ! 
 
 Fancv to \-ourself fourteen niDons like that; which cives us li^Iit, u. 
 
 Till-: KAKTii AS si':i;n from Till-: moon. 
 more properly speaking, a moon with fourteen times tlie extent of surfr.ce. 
 and you will have an idea of the earth as seen from the moon. So.nc- 
 times it only presents a fringed crescent, a few days after the new earth; 
 sometimes it presents the first quarter; sometimes it shines out with its 
 full disk, spreading its silvered light in floods. The most fortunate tiling; 
 is, that it begins to shine precisely in the evening, that its brightest light, 
 its full disk, is precisely at midnight, and that it fades away in tiie mornin;.,^ 
 at the time when it is no longer re([uired. And it is known that from the 
 evening to the morning is fifteen times twenty-four hours with our neii;h- 
 bors the Selenites. How much more reasonable are these inhabitants 
 than we are in believing that the moon was created and placetl in \.\\: 
 
•f^mm^mm^^m^i^ 
 
 A WORLD BURNED OUT AND DEAD. 
 
 821 
 
 rived of one. If there 
 lis. they do not ^ucss 
 )!! of our nitjhts, .-iii! 
 ■; of travellers relate to 
 [f the travellers thrv ■ 
 d with reL;ard to n :•' 
 mar ni'jhts. and h>.v. 
 
 lich K'^'*-'^ ^'"^ 
 
 li'.h;, 
 
 le.' 
 
 MOON. 
 
 s the extent of siirfi.ce. 
 iin the moon. Sd.ik- 
 ~; after the new eartii ; 
 
 it shines out wiUi it> 
 le most fortunate tliiiv-,^ 
 
 that its brii^htest li-ht, 
 lesawayinthenioniin- 
 
 is known that from the 
 r hours with our nei'^h- 
 ■ are thjse inhabitants 
 :atcd and placetl in tlvj 
 
 world expressly for them, and that we are only their vcm"}- humble serwints ! 
 1 lie lunar caverns form a \ery i)eculiar and prominent featured! the 
 
 SINGULAR ASPECT OK I'lll'; MOONS SLKIAfK. 
 
 iiKHin's surface, and are to be seen in almost every rcj^Mon, but are most 
 numerous in the south-west part of the moon. Nearly a hundred of 
 
 jii^ii 
 
'•'M m^'' 
 
 
 mM 
 
 I 
 1 
 
 i, ! 
 
 ;i 
 
 ^ 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 
 ||H| 
 
 IN-- 
 
 !9V^H^^BKH 
 
 822 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 them, f^rcat and small, may be distlnjTuished in that quarter. Thoy are 
 ncarl\- of a circular :^hapc, and appear like a very shallow c'^<^ cup. ^h^. 
 smaller cavities api)ear within almost like a hollow cone, with the sides 
 tapcrint^ towards the centre ; but the larc^er ones have, for the most part, 
 flat bottoms, from the centre of which there frequently rises a small, steep 
 conical hill, which gives them a resemblance to the ridges and mountains 
 already described. 
 
 In some Instances theii- margins are level with the general surface of 
 the moon ; but in most cases they are encircled with a high ridge of 
 mountains marked with loft\' peaks. Some of the larger of these cavities 
 contain smaller caviti \s of the same kind and form, particularly in their 
 sides. T^'^ mouniainous ridges which surround these cavities reflect the 
 greatest Cj . Wy flight; and hence that region of the moon in which 
 they abounL .^ppea.s brighter than any other. From their lying in e\erv 
 possible direction, tin ^ appear, at and near the time of full moon, like a 
 number of brilliant streaks or radiations. These radiations appear to 
 converge towards a large brilliant spot surrounded by a faint shade, 
 near the lower part of the moon, which is known by the name ofTycho, 
 and which every one who views the full moon even with a coniiiK ii 
 telescope, may easily distinguish. 
 
 Caverns Milos in Depth. 
 
 In regard to their dimensions, they are of all sizes, from three miles to 
 fifty miles in diameter at the top ; and their depth below the general level 
 of the lunar surface varies from one third of a mile to three miles and a 
 half Twelve of these cavities, as measured by Schroeter, were found to 
 be above two miles in perpendicular depth. These cavities constitute a 
 peculiar feature in the sceneiy of the moon, and in her physical constitu- 
 tion, which bears scared)' any analogy to what we observe in the ph\ si- 
 cal arrangements of our globe. 
 
 It is a curious fact that the surface of the lunar hemisphere was known 
 before that of our own earth, and the heights of all its mountains were 
 measured before the same thing was done for our own. The volcano of 
 Aristillus in particular was one of the first and best known. Lecoiitu- 
 rier.the author of a very good map of the moon, gave a long description 
 of it, and this description may be applied to most of the lunar moun- 
 tains. It is composed of a crater about twenty-four miles across, from 
 the centre of which rise two cones, the highest of which attains nearly 
 984 yards; the whole is surrounded by a circular rampart. 
 
 When the bottom of the crater is examined with a powerful telescope, 
 and under favorable circumstances, numerous rough portions are noticed 
 
; ! 
 
 A WORLD BURNED OUT AND DEAD. 
 
 S'J;} 
 
 hat quarter. They are 
 shallow c^f;T cup. The 
 )\v cone, with the .sides 
 have, for the most part, 
 ntly rises a small, steep 
 e rid'^es and mountains 
 
 1 the general surface of 
 i with a high ridge of 
 
 2 larger of these cavities 
 rm, particularly in tlieir 
 these cavities reflect the 
 n of the moon in which 
 ^rom tlieir lying in e\ ery 
 time of full moon, like a 
 »se radiations appear to 
 nded by a faint shade, 
 n by the name of Tycho, 
 1 even with a common 
 
 7.es, from three miles tn 
 
 below the general level 
 
 mile to three miles anil a 
 
 Schroeter, were found to 
 
 -lese cavities constitute a 
 
 in her physical constitu- 
 
 we ob.serve in the pin si- 
 
 r hemisphere was known 
 f all its mountains were 
 ur own. The volcano of 
 best known. Lccoutu- 
 , gave a long description 
 most of the lunar moun- 
 y-four miles across, from 
 t of which attains nearly 
 lar rampart. 
 ,vith a powerful telescope, 
 ough portions are noticed 
 
 which seem to indicate hardened lava and blocks of rock heaped together. 
 Krotii this mountain, taken as a centre, start five or si.\ lines and rockv 
 ramifications directed towards the east and south. These ramifications 
 give rise to th>.' radiati( n of Aristillus. They are surmounte<l b\- an 
 enormous quantity of peaks or basaltic columns w hich rise from tluir 
 summits, and make them resemble from afar the multitude of h. II towers 
 that are seen on some Gothic cathedrals. Aristillus presents the gen- 
 eral aspect of most of the mountains of our satellite. 
 
 Thus the moon would appear very inhospitable to us. The sense of 
 speech, like the sense of hearing, would be lost, and, consequently, would 
 not exist. To the privation of these two senses, perhaps, must he added 
 ;m inferiority in the pleas\ires which sight gives to us, seeing that 
 wherever the eye would be directed, it would only meet with a scene of 
 comi)arative desolation. 
 
 Of all heav( n'y bodies, this is the one men understood the first and 
 best. Since the inxention of the fir.st telescop , r-TrccK' 250 >ears 
 ago — those primitive instruments whose power was r from attaining 
 ihe stellar regions, and could only be effectually ajiplud to this nearest 
 body — astr<jnomers, astrologers, alchemiNts. and all those who were 
 occupied with science, felt themselves urged by a desire to penetrate- 
 into the mysteries of this celestial land. Tlu 'rst observations of Gudi- 
 leo did not make less noise than the discovery of America; many saw 
 in them another discovery of a new world much more interesting than. 
 America, as it was beyond tiie eaith. It is one of the most <curious 
 episodes in historj', that of the prodigious excitenitnt which wj.s caused 
 by the unveiling of the moon. 
 
 Superstitions About tho ^loon. 
 
 Imagination at once took flight to the new celestial world. Vory 
 curious voyages to the moon then appeared, astonishing e.xcursions, 
 unpardonable fancies, and serious studies were soon tclip.sed b\' the- 
 visions of impatient minds. Notwith.standing all this, astronomicd dis- 
 covery rapidly advanced. Encouraged by the first revelations of the 
 telescope, astronomers undertook the complete study of the I'.inar sur- 
 face. The aspect of the moon to the naked eye, that rude fac, that was- 
 seen with little good will on its pale disk, was transformed in the field of 
 the telescope, and at first very bright portions and very dark portions 
 were alone distinguished. 
 
 Examining it more attentively, and increasing the magnifying power 
 of the instrument, it was discovered that the aspect of the dclads changed 
 according as the sun was on one side or the other of the moop : that on 
 
 n 
 
 it 
 
 i' 
 
 
 !!!'■ 
 
 i 
 
'«;r<^^:H 
 
 7 • 
 
 ( 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 Si21 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY 
 
 the days wlin the sun was at the left of the bright portion, dark lines 
 were seen lo the riijht, whilst in tlie opposite case, the iLirk shainw 
 appeared to the left. It was then cas\' to ))rovc that tlu' bright porti.,ii> 
 were mountains, that the dark portions whicli were clc^e to theni w ri' 
 valleys, or hnv countries; and lastly, that the lar^e plains wcic lands 
 which reflected the solar lif;ht less pc-rfectly. 
 
 It is doubtless this proximit)- whir h has caused the p reat reputation 
 of the liin.ir orb amoni^st us. \o celestial body, exci pt the sun, his 
 e\er liad a similar intluence. The whole world, it was supposetl, was 
 accessible to tin: lunar influences, men, animals, plants, minerals. Tlu 
 astroloj^'ical opinions with ret^ard to this boily were most sin<,Milar. W'c 
 must {[uote some; tin \- are really too curious to be passed ov( r in 
 silence. Let us choose one or two ^'ood astrologers, learned on the 
 moon, antl let us (juestion them. 
 
 Oltl l«l<':is or Wlisit the 31<>()ii I>5a. 
 Cornelius Agrippa, a famous geomaucer. thus exjircsses him>elf: The 
 iiioon IS c.illed I'iin be, Oiana, l.uciiuis, Proserpine, Hecate, who go\eins 
 the luonths, half-formed; who illuminates the nights, wandering, m 
 silence, with two limns; cpieen of d:vinitus, ([ueen cl heiiven. who rules 
 o\er ail the elements, to who'n respond the stars, to w lu m return il;e 
 seasons, and whom the elements obey ; at \s hose direction the thundis 
 .sound, the seeds germinate, the germs increase; the primordial mn-.lcr 
 of fruits, heart of IMnebus, shining and brilliant, carrying li!,ht from i»no 
 planet to another, dluminating by her light all the di\inities, slojip.n^^ 
 various intercourses with the stars, distributing the light rendered uncer- 
 tain on account of meetings with the sun; queen of beauty, mistress of 
 shores and u inds, giver of riches, nurse oi' men, governor of all states 
 good and unhapjiy ; protecting men l)y sea and land, moderating t'lc 
 reverses ot fortune; dispensing with desiiiiv , nourishing all which cnmcs 
 out of the earth, arresting the insults of ph.mtoiiis, holding the cloisters 
 of the earth closed, the heights of heaven luminous, the currents of the 
 sea salutary, and ruling at will the deplorable silence of the lower regions, 
 governing the world, treading Tartarus under foot ; of whom the majesty 
 causes the birds which fly in the sky, savage beasts in the mountains, 
 the serpents hidden under the earth, and the fish in the sea, to tremble, 
 According to Eleilla, the moon governs comed'ans, butchers, tallow 
 and wax chandlers, ropemakers, lemonade-vendors, publicans, p'ay- 
 wrights of all kinds, masters of great works, menageries of anini.ii ; 
 and. on the other hand, professional gamblers, spies, sharpers, civ at-;, 
 bankrupts, false money-coiners, and mad-houses; that is to say, the 
 
 ^i^htn 
 
wa 
 
 m 
 
 A WORLD RURNI'I) OUT AND DF.AD. 
 
 825 
 
 ht poslioP., dark lines 
 asc, the il>irk shivinw 
 »at tlu: bright portmn^ 
 re cl("-f to them w re 
 irgc plains weic laruls 
 
 d the prcat rtputatinii 
 y, except the sun, 1i;h 
 . it was supposed, v. as 
 plants, minerals. '11k: 
 re most sin<^nilar. W c 
 \o be passed ovt r in 
 ilogers, learned on ihc 
 
 DWl. 
 
 expresses himself: 'Ihe 
 K. Hecate, who governs 
 ,' nii^his. wanderini;, in 
 en c'l heaven, who rules 
 firs, to \vh» m return llic 
 direction the thunders 
 the primordiid nmther 
 carrying Uuht Irom nne 
 the divinities, stopp.n- 
 ic light rendered uncer- 
 1 oi beauty, mistress of 
 , genernor of all states 
 c^land. moderating the 
 n-hing all which cav.cs 
 r,s, holding the cloisters 
 nous, the currents of the 
 nee of the lower regions, 
 3t ; of whom the mau ^ty 
 ,casts in the inount.un.s 
 1 in the sea. to tremble, 
 n-d'ans. butchers, tallow 
 
 .ndors, publicans, ii'ay- 
 menageries of animal-, 
 s, spies, sharpers, civ , its, 
 ,cs ; that is to say. the 
 
 m loii rul js over all those whose business it is to work during the night 
 uiud sun-rising, or to sell provisions for the night ; and it al.so rules over 
 .i!l which people would be ashamed to conuuit in full il.iv, in sight of 
 those who have manners. Thus each reader, on reading, ina\ easily find 
 nut ofwh.it denomination he is. 
 
 Itaiiihdw at Nifjht. 
 
 The iris lunaris, or lunar rainbow, is a mueh rarer o!<j(> t than tiie 
 sol.u- <'ne. It frcciucntly consists of a uniformly white areli. but it lias 
 often been .s^en tinted, the colors differing only in intensity from those 
 caused by the direct solar illuminations. Aristotle states that he was 
 the first observer (■( this interesting spectacle, and that he only saw two 
 ill the course of fifty years; but it must have b.'en re )eated'iv witnev->eil, 
 without a record having been made of the fict. Thorest)y relate-^ an 
 account, recei\ed from a friend, of an obser\aii(m of the bow fixed b\ 
 the moi>n in the clouds. She hatl pa.ssed the full about twenty four 
 hours. The evening had been r.iiny, but the clouds liad dis-i)er.sed. and 
 the moon was shining very clearly. This lunar iris was more remarka- 
 lile th.m that observetl by Dr. Plot, of which there is an account in iiis 
 History of Oxford, that being only of a wliile color; but this had all 
 the hues (if the solar rainbow, beautiful and di^tinet. but fainter. 
 
 Ihicke remarks iii)on liaxinghad the good f >rtiine to u ilness se\ iial, 
 two of which wei\' perhaps as fine as were e\ t witnessed in any country. 
 The fust formed an arch over the \.ile of L'>i<. The moon hung ovlt the 
 IMorenge ; a dark cloud was suspended o\er Myarth; the ri\. r nuirmiire(.l 
 o\er beds of stones, and a bow. illunu'netl by tiie moon, stretched fronii'ne 
 ^ide of the \a!e to another. The second was seen from the castle owrlook- 
 ing the J>ay of Carmarthen, forming a regular semicircle o\-ei- the kt\er 
 Tow\-. It was in a moment of \icissitude ; and ilie fancy of tli oli.-river 
 uillin-dv re\erled to the \'arious soothing as-i >ciations under which ae.reiJ 
 .rathority unfolds the emblem and sign of a merciful cox'enaai. 
 
 !! 
 
 is 
 
 
 i 
 
 n 
 
 I 
 
 \ 
 

 
 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
 ciiapt!:r i\'. 
 magnikickxt auroral displays. 
 
 Most Striking of (Optical Splendors— Auroral Arc— Streams of Li)j;ht Shooting I'p. 
 ward--Trembliii<j (ileamsaiid Flashes — " The Merry Dancers" — Lijilitsof Rain- 
 bow Colors— What Tarry ami I'raiikiin Saw The I leavens in C'.aji. Attire — l.ifii 
 tenant Chappcll's Auroral L'inl)rella- Arcii of Siivtry Lij;ht- TheCaiiopy Clluw- 
 ins with Sjilendid Scenery— Polar Night — Six Months without a Sun — Aniniai> 
 Dyin^ of Gloom— Da//,!inj; Standards Unfurled— Ma;^netism— l'"iery Tempests in 
 the Sun — Maj;netic Stones on 1-^.irth— Outbreak of Auroral Ma!;nificenri'— Sir 
 John Hersdiel's Conrlusions — The Jerking Needle — Reference by Aristotle- 
 Northern Lights more Common than formerly in tlie Northern Zones. 
 
 t)gr i^MONG the reniafkablo pliciionicna of tlic sky nuist he placed 
 ^'/■sVl ^^^^ brioht aurora. ( )f all optical phenomena, the aurora hore- 
 "VM alls, or the northern daybreak, is one of the most striking;, 
 esjiecially in the rei^ions where its full j;loi)' is revealed. 
 
 Wliat fills with (la//ling beams the illumined air? 
 
 Wliat wakes ti)e tlames tiiat light the firmament ? 
 The lightnings flash; there is bright splendor there, 
 
 And earth and heaven with fiery sheets are blent ; 
 The winter's night now gleams with brighter, lovelier ray. 
 Than ever yet adorned the golden summer's day. 
 
 The appearances exhibited by the aurora are so various and wonderful. 
 A cloud, or haze, is commonly seen in the northern ret;ion of the hea\ens, 
 but often bearing towards the east or west, assumini:^ the form of an arc, 
 seldom attainini^ a greater altitude than forty degrees, but \ar)-iiig in 
 extent from fi\e to one .hundred tlegrees. The upper edge of the cloud 
 is luminous, sometimes brilliant and irregular. The lower part is fre- 
 quently dark and thick, with the clear sky appearing between it and the 
 horizon. Streams of light shoot up in colunmar forms from t!ie upper 
 jiart of the cloud, now extending but a few degrees, then as far as the 
 zenith, antl even beyond it. 
 
 Instances occur in which the whole hemisphere is covered with thesc 
 coruscations ; but the brilliancy is the greatest, and the light the strong- 
 est, in the north, near the main body of the meteor. The streamers have 
 in general a tremulous motion, and when close together present the 
 appearance of waves, or sheets of light, following each other in rapid 
 succession. l>ut ^o rule obtains with reference to these streaks, which 
 have acquired thi name of " the merry dancers," from their volatility, 
 (820) 
 
MAGNIFUTNT ArRORAI. DISPLAYS. 
 
 S-J7 
 
 e is c(n'crccl with these 
 \^^.\ the h'^ht the stroni;- 
 )!•. The streamers liavc 
 c together present tiic 
 n;:; each other in rapid 
 to tiiese streaks, which 
 ^" from their volatiUty, 
 
 becoming; more (piick in their m )tions in storniyweathcr. a; if ynipa- 
 tliizin^r with the wiUlness of the blast. Such is tiie extraordinary aspect 
 they present, that it is not surprisin;^ the rude Indians should <;aze upon 
 tlKtn as the spirits of their fathers roaniin;^ through the land of souls. 
 Tin y are variously white, pale red, or of a deep blood lolor. and some- 
 tJMHs the appearance of the whole rainbow as to hue is presmted. 
 
 Lights of Vai-iiMis Colors. 
 
 When several streamers cnier«;in;.,r from dilTernir points imltr at the 
 Z'juith, a small anil dense meteor is formed, w hirh Menis to bum with 
 <,n-eater violence than the sej)arate parts, and L,do\vs with a j^reen, b'ue. ■ r 
 puri)le light. The display is over s(.metimes in a f. w nuiuiles, or con- 
 tinues for hours, or through the whole night, and appears for several 
 nights in succession. Captain Peechey remarked a sudden illumination 
 to occur at one extremity of the auroral arch, the light pa.ssing along the 
 belt with a tremulous, hesitating movement towards the opposite end. ex- 
 hibiting the colors of the rainbow; and as an illustration of this appear- 
 ance, lie refers to that presented by the rays of some molluscous animals 
 in motion. 
 
 Captain Parry notices the same effect as a common one with the aurora, 
 and compares it, as far as its motion is concerned, to a 'person holding a 
 long ribbon by one end, and giving it an undulatory movement iluouirh 
 its whole length, though its general position remains the .same. Captain 
 Sabine likewise speaks of the arch being bent into convolutions, resem- 
 bling those of a snake in motion, l^oth Parry, Franklin, and IJeechey 
 agree in the observation that no streamers were ever noticed shooting 
 downwards from the arch. 
 
 The preceding statement refers to aurora in high northern latitudes, 
 where the full ma'gnificence of the phenomenon is displayed. It forms a 
 fine compensation for the long and dreary night to which these regions 
 are subject, the ga\' anu varying aspect of tlu; heavens contrasting refresh- 
 ingly with the repelling and monotonous appearance of the earth. W'e 
 ha\e already stated that the direction in which the aurora generally 
 makes its first appearance, or the quarter in which the arch formed by 
 thi' 'ueteor is usually seen, is to the northward. But this docs not hold 
 good of very high latitudes, for b\- the expeditions w hich ha\e w intered 
 in the ice, it was almost always seen to the southward ; while, by Captain 
 Beeche\-.in the " Blossom." in Kotzerne Sound, two hundred and fifty miles 
 to the southward of the ice, it was always obserxed in a northern direc- 
 tion. It would appear, therefore, from this fact, that the margin the 
 region of packed ice is most favorable to the production of tlu ?. 'cor. 
 
 ''i^ 
 
 li 
 
 l\ 
 
 !l 
 

 82S 
 
 EARTH. SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 
 m 
 
 •i: 
 
 i 
 
 A 
 
 The reports of the Greenland ships confirm this idea: for, accordiiv 
 to tlieir concurrent testimony, the meteor displa\' has a morr hriUiant 
 aspect to vessels passin;^ near the situation of the compact ice, than i,, 
 others entered far within it. Instances, however, are not wantini^^ nf th^. 
 aurora appearing; to the south of the zenith in comparative!)' low latitudes. 
 Lieutenant Chap]H'll, in his \-o\-age to Hudson's ])a\-, speaks of its form 
 ini; in the zenith, in a shape resembling;- that of an umbrtlla,pourinij down 
 streams of liLjht from all parts of its peripher\-, which fell \'erticall\' <i\(,r 
 the hemisphere in e\er\' direction. j\s we retire from the pole, tlic 
 ])hen()menon becomes a rarer occurrence, and is less pertectl)' and dis- 
 tinctly developed. In September, 1S.2S, it was obser\ed in h'lv^land .i> a 
 vast arch of silvery h'j^ht, extendiuL; o\er nearh* tlie whole of the hea\t'ii->, 
 transient j^leams of li^ht separating; from the main bod)' oftheluminositv. 
 
 Dalton has furnished the follo\vin<^ account of an aurora, as obserw'd 
 by him : Attention was first excited b)' a remarkably red appearance of 
 th.e clouds to the south, which afforded sufficient lij^ht to read by at eii^lit 
 o'clock in the eveniiiL;, thouj^h there was no moon nor lii^ht in the north. 
 I-'roUi half past nine tf> ten there was a large, luminous, horizontal arch to 
 the southuaid, and several flint coni:entric arches northward. It was 
 ])aiticularl\' noticed that all the arches seemed e.xactl)' bisected !))• the 
 j)lain of the nia_i;nflic meridian. At half past ten o'clock streami-rs a])- 
 l)earetl, \er)- low in the soutli-east, rimning to and fro from west to e.i^t. 
 Tlie\- increased in number, and l)e;_;"antoai)proMch the zenith, apparcntlvuitli 
 an accelerated velocit)-, when all on a sudden the whole hemisphere was <.< i\- 
 credwilh them, and e.\hil)itetl such an appeai-ance as surpasses all description. 
 A Spo<'t;wI<> SiibliiiK'ly I'rilliaiit. 
 
 The intensit)- of the liL;ht, ami [)rodiL,Mous numl;er and \-olatiIil\' of tin. 
 l)eam--, the t^iand intermixture of all the prismatic colors in their utmost 
 sj)lendor, varicL^atinL;' the !.;!o\\inL;- canop\- with the most UixuriaiU ar.d 
 (.ncliantiuL;' scener\-, afforded an awful, l)ut at the .same time the mo>l 
 pleasini; ami sublime spectacle in nature, luerx- one gazed with a-lnii- 
 isiiment, I)ut the uncommon irrandeur of the scene onlv lasted one minute. 
 The \ariet\' of colors disa.ppeared, and the beams lost their lateial motion, 
 and were converted into the llashing ratiiations. 
 
 The great distinction between the polar coimtriesand thetUher region-, 
 of the glol.ie, is their long day and long night. Describing an immense 
 sj);ral around the horizon, the sun graduall)' mounts \.o the highest point 
 of his course; tiien, in the same manner, it returns towards the horizon, 
 and bids farewell to earth, slowly d)Mng awa\- in a gIo(tm\- anil ghastly 
 twilight. And, for six months, the Arctic wildcrnes.scs know it not. 
 
^--yi^iwuijii 1! ■.■! ■ 
 
 II 
 
 ; i(.lca: f(ir, accordiiv^^ 
 has a nion; brilliant 
 compact ice, than lo 
 J not wantin;^ of ihc 
 irativcly h)\v latitiuK';. 
 /, speaks of its forii; 
 nbri-lla.pourinijj cIowd 
 ;h fell vertically o\cr 
 c from the pole, llic 
 ;ss perfectly aiul di^- 
 :rvcd in I'jv^land a-> a 
 
 whole of the hcavcn>, 
 )ody ofthelumiii<>-^il\. 
 n aurora, as obserwd 
 ilv retl appearance of 
 rrht to readby aUi;^lu 
 nor lii^ht in the north. 
 ;jus, horizontal arch to 
 ;.s northwartl. It \\a^ 
 ;actly l)isected b\- the 
 o'clock stream. -rs ap- 
 
 Vo from \ve>l to ea--t. 
 
 zenith, apixmntlywith 
 
 e hemisphere was c.i\- 
 rpassesall description. 
 
 it. 
 
 and volatilils" of tlu 
 colors in their utmost 
 c most luxuriant ar.d 
 same time the most 
 ie <^a/.ed with a^ton- 
 ,nly lasted one minute, 
 st their laleial motion, 
 
 and the other rcoions 
 ;cscribino' an immen-c 
 ts to the hiohe^t point 
 towarils the horizon, 
 a olooniy and ghastly 
 ;ssc.s know it not. 
 
 MAGNIFICENT ArRC.R.M, DI.SI'I.AV.S 
 
 .^•20 
 
 rst 
 
 When the navij^'ator, .says Captain Parr\-, \nKU himscA' buried for the f\ 
 time in the silent shadows of tlie polar niLjht. he cannot coiupier .m inv.l- 
 
 ttary emotion of dread ; he feels transported out of the sphere of ordina- 
 ry existence. These deadly and sombre diserts snu like those uncreated 
 
 ui 
 
 \()ids which Milton has placed ix>t\\ecn the 
 
 rrahns ofliK; and ilcatli 
 
 \<'i 
 
 \- animals are affected b\- the inel 
 
 '11 
 
 le 
 
 el a 
 
 nch 
 
 ol\- u liieli \ ii! 
 
 I'nder tlie influence of the almost jjcrpetual L,doominess 
 fouiidland do_i;:s went mad, and died. 
 
 Six >I(»iitlis' Ni^-lit. 
 
 tlu- f; 
 Dr. !■ 
 
 ice ( i\ n.iture 
 
 .N.ane's Xew- 
 
 but it the sun (nv six months of tl 
 
 countries of the splentlor ( 
 
 if it 
 
 \ear (lepriws ilu- cnvumpojar 
 
 s tu-es, an impo.Mu- plirnoimiion iic<iueinl\- 
 
 ure sou^lit to 
 
 ilhiininates the lon;4 ni-hts with ilazzlin;^^ radiance, as if nat 
 
 compensate lor the absmci; of the orb of dayb\' the most imi)i-e->si\L' of all 
 
 \h r optical wonders. The pol.tr m";j;litsare uearK- ;ilu.i\ -; li'dncd iipi)\- the 
 
 iji II' 
 
 'X'ous lustre ol the aurora; called I 
 
 )ort'ahs or austi,ths,;iccordiu"- to tlu 
 
 poles at which it is produced. .Sli.iUs and rajs of li-ht shoot upwards to 
 the zenith. These luminous sheaves pass lhrouL;h all the co|..rs ol 
 
 tn<. 
 
 rainbow 
 
 iro 
 
 m violet anci sapphire to t;reen and purple- red. Sometiim 
 
 the columns of liL;ht i^sue from the resjiK-ndent arch mix 
 
 eil Willi l)kul<l- 
 
 ni\- ; sometimes the\- rise sinmltaneousK- at dif 
 
 erent points of tlie h. iri/i in, 
 
 and unite to form a sea of llame per\aded b_\- r.ipid undulalion>. On olhei 
 occasions, fiery dazzlin;^- standards art' nnfurletl to Ik. at '.i-htU- in the air. 
 A kind of canopy of soft and traiupiil li-ht, w hieh iskiiounastl 
 unces the close of the i)her.onienon. Tlieri.'upon thelMinii 
 
 le corou.i, 
 
 anno 
 
 loU' 
 
 h.ift^ 
 
 .(ion 
 ize. 
 
 beL;ni to wane in s[)iendor,the rielily ciUored arcs dissoh e, die out, am 
 of all the hia;4nificent spectacle nothing- remains but a whitish chuul)- h; 
 
 The arch of the aurora is onl_\- part of a riiv_;- of li;_;lit, which is ele\ated 
 ctHisiderably above the suiface of our L;lobe, ;uid whose centre is situated 
 
 the vicinity of the pole. It is easy, then, to account for the dirfereiit 
 
 m 
 
 aspects it presents to observers placeil at iliffereiil an;4les to it. A ] 
 inedcLrrccs south of theriiv'; would necessariU- 
 
 )elson 
 
 so 
 
 see onl\' a \er\' sinal 
 
 arc 
 
 of it towarils the north, from the 'nteri)osition of the eaitii between him and 
 the obser\'er; if he stood nearer the north, the arc would appear laiL;er 
 ami higher; if immediately below it, he woultl see it apparentl\' traversiiiLj 
 the zenith ; or if within the rini.; and still further north, he would suppose 
 it to culminate in the south. It is supposeil that the centre of the riiiL,^ 
 corresponds with the mai^netic north point, in the islaiul of r>oothia I'elix. 
 FlajfS aiul StronmcM-.s of Li^lit riiittcriuff in the Sky. 
 The phenomenon f^cneraliy lasts several hours, and isfre(iuentl>' di\ers- 
 ified by peculiar features ; so that sometimes it .seems to present the heiu- 
 
 ■a 
 
 T 
 
 n 
 

 
 fm 
 
 1^ ' 
 
 830 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 isphcrlcal secernent of a i^it^antic wheel ; sometimes it waves and droop>^ 
 like a rich tapestry of colored lii^ht, in a thousand prismatic folds ; and, at 
 other times, it may be compared to a succession of resplendent banners, or 
 streamers, wavin;^ in the dark and intense sky. 
 
 The arch varies in elevation, but is seldom found more than ninety miK^ 
 above the terrestrial surface. Its diameter must be enormous, for it li,i~ 
 been known to extend from Ital\' to the polar reL;ions,and has been simul- 
 taneously \isible in .Sardinia, Connecticut, and New Orleans. 
 
 y\ccortlini( to some authorities, the iihentJinenon is accompanied |i\- 
 noises resemblini^ the discharge of fireworks, or tiie cracklinj; of silk wlu u 
 one piece is rolled over another; but this statement is not confirmed In- 
 the experience of our ablest Arctic voj-ai^ers. 
 
 Of the mai^neto-electric origin of the aurora no doubt can be enter- 
 tained. When it occurs, the nuv^netic needle is invariably affected, tlic 
 perturbation bein<j^ t^realcst at the climax of the auroral brilliancy. The 
 \oricx of the arch is almost always in or near the maL^netic meridian. 
 The lights woukl seem to result fioin ;i ilischarL,^e at or around the ma;^- 
 netic ])oles of electricit)' v.hieh has i^radually accumulated at these o]ip(i- 
 
 site points. 
 
 Startling- Chaiij-cs on the Sun's Siirracc. 
 
 The needle haslxen found lo oscillate through a Ioul:^ cycle of chani;\s, 
 one occupyin*^ in its completion a little more than ele\'en x'ears : that i-- 
 to sa\-, between the time v hen the oscillation is least and that when it i- 
 L;reatest there elapses a ])eriod of fi\'e .md a half )ears, and an ecpial ])(i- 
 iod before it returns ai^ain to its first \alue. Xow, a cycle of chauLix^ 
 takes place on the face of the sun a;4reein_ijj most i)erfectly witli this, uni 
 merely in length, but in maximum for maximum, auti minimum for mini- 
 mum. 
 
 To make this clear, the nature of the facts invoKcil must be stated, .iinl 
 this can be done in no better words than those of .Sir John llerselul: 
 '' One of the first achievements of the telescope was the discox'er)- ot 
 black spots on the surface t)f the sun. These spots are not i)ermani'nt, 
 but come and l;i); and their nunil)fr \aries i^reatU'. Sometimes his face 
 is t[uite spt)tless ; at others, the spots swarm upon it. And as to their ac- 
 tual size, some are com[)aratively small, others of stupendous extent. One 
 .spot which I measured, in 1S37, occu}>ied no less than 3,7X0,000,000 
 s([uare miles ; another, which was nearly round, would have allowed thr 
 earth to drop thiouL^h it, leavin;^ a thousand miles clear of contact nii 
 e\ery side; and many other instances t)f i.iuch larj^er spots than these arc 
 on record. What are we to think, then, of the awful scale of iiurricanc 
 
 !| 
 
s it waves and droops; 
 prismatic folds ; and, at 
 resplendent banner-^, n 
 
 more than ninety miks 
 3e enormous, for it \va- 
 ns.and has been sinuil- 
 w (Orleans, 
 
 ,.n is iiccompanied \>y 
 c crackhn^' of silk wlu ii 
 cnt is not confirmed by 
 
 no doubt can be entcr- 
 ; invariably affected, the 
 auroral brilliancy. The 
 the mai;netic meridian. 
 J at or around the ma;^- 
 umulated at these opp"- 
 
 alont; cycle of chanijcs 
 
 \an eleven years : that i-; 
 
 least and that when it i^ 
 
 years, and an ecpial ]ki- 
 
 )\v. a cycle of chau'^o 
 
 perfectly with this, n^t 
 
 aiul minimum for mini- 
 
 veil must be slaleil. ami 
 i)f Sir John Ilerschel: 
 
 )e was the discover)- ct 
 )ots arc not permanent, 
 
 ll_\-. Sometimes his lace 
 It. And as to their ac- 
 .stui)endous extent. ( )nc 
 less than 3,780,000,000 
 would have allowed tlu' 
 ■niles clear of contact ^n 
 
 u'L^er spots than these arc 
 
 : awful scale of hurricane 
 
 r- 
 
 V. 
 
 ir. 
 
 w 
 
 i \ 
 
 if 
 
 (831) 
 

 8.T2 
 
 EARTH. SEA, AXD SKY. 
 
 ami turmoil ;;ncl fien' tjinpcst which can in a few day.'- I J^a^|^• ch. /.if^c tlic 
 fui'n of sue!, a rcLjion, break it up into distinct parts — iii-ntn up ^r at 
 .iby.-ises in out part, such as I have just described, and fill up otiicrs S> 
 side them ! 
 
 " Now it lias lately been ascertained b\' a careful comparison of all tli 
 recorded obsorxations of the spots, that tlu periods of their scarcity an i 
 al)UiKlance succeed one another at rei/ular interxals of a trifle more than 
 
 AURORAL FLAMES IX TUF, NORTHERN sRV. 
 
 five years and a-half : so tiiat in eleven years and one-tenth, or nine times 
 in a century, the .sun passes throufjjh all its states of purity and spottiness. 
 Xow there are two classes of i)henomena or facts which occur here on 
 eartli which stiind in very simnilar accordance with the appearance antl 
 disappearance of the sun's spots. The first is that splendid and beautiful 
 appearance in the sky which we call aurora or northern litjhts ; and 
 whic'i. by comparison of the recorded displays, have been ascertained t> 
 be much more frequent in the years when the spots arc abundant, aiu: 
 extremely rare in thcie years when tiie sun is free from spots. 
 
> 
 
 MA'"iNiriCENT AURORAL DISPLAYS. 
 
 «•)•> 
 .>.» 
 
 /■s t'jt-al'" ch;T.-i<-;c the 
 iarts--opcn np <:?r :u 
 uvl fiU up others S:- 
 
 ;()mparis(ni of all ih ■ 
 of their scarcitv- an 1 
 ,,f a tritlc more than 
 
 
 " The other is a class of facts not so obvious to roniiiv. a observaian, 
 but of very great importance to us ; because it is connected wii'i tiie his- 
 toiy and theory of the mariner'^ compass, and with the ma'^netism of the 
 oarth. which we aU know to be the cause of the compass needle p tintinij 
 to the north. But besides this (the oscillations already described), the 
 needle is subject to irregular, sudden, and capricious variations — icrking 
 as it were, aside, and oscillating backwards and forwards without any 
 visible cause of disturbance. And, what is still more strange; these dis- 
 turbances and jerks sometimes go on for many hours and even ilays, and 
 often at the same instant of time, over very large regions of the globe; 
 arid in some remarkable instances, over the whole earth — the same jerks 
 and jumps occurring at the same moments of time (allowance made for 
 the difference of longitude). These occurrences are called magnetic 
 ^torms, and they invariably accompany great displa>'s f if the auror?. ; and 
 are \ery much more frequent when the sun is most spotteil, and rarely or 
 never witnessed in the years of few spots." 
 
 The history of auroral phenomena goes back to the time o( Aristotle, 
 who undoubtedly refers to the exhibition in his work on meteors, describ- 
 ing it as occurrin '• on calm nights, having a resembh"' .e to ilame mingled 
 with smoke, or to a distant view of burning stubble, purj^le. bright red, 
 and blood-color being the preilominant hues. Notices of it are likewise 
 fduiul in many of the classical writers; and the accounts which occur in 
 the chronicles of the middle ages, of surprising lights in the air, converted 
 by the imagination of the vulgar into swords gleaming and armies fight- 
 ing, are allusions to the play of tiie northern lights. There is strong 
 reason to believe, though the fact is [)erfectly inscrutable, that the aurora 
 has been much more common in the European region of the norther" 
 /.one, during the last century and a half, than in former periods. 
 5S 
 
 ft 
 
 U 
 
 ( 
 
 Irn skv. 
 
 lone-tenth, or nine times 
 of purity and spottiness. 
 
 Its which occur here on 
 
 ith the appearance and 
 
 t splendid and beautiful 
 
 L northern lights; and 
 
 Lvc been ascertained t^ 
 
 spots pre abundant, aiU 
 
 from spots. 
 
 i. I, 
 

 Ikl 
 
 *!il 
 
 I * * 
 
 m^^ 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 IMAGKS IN THE HEAVENS. 
 
 Optical Phenomenon at niilT.ilo— Topmasts Rising out of the Water— Deceitful F.if. 
 Bank — Hxtraortlinary '' I'ata Mor^'ana" in Si( ily— A Spectacle that ICxcitts ih, 
 Populace— Ascribinj; the Mirage to the Devil —Prophecy Concerning l".lt( - 
 tricity— Prismatic Colors of Ama/ing Heauty — Troops of Clouds in the Sky— 
 Heighth of Clouds — Poetical Fancies from Ossian— Mist on the Water -Ar 
 counting for V^ipors — What Colors tiie Sun— The Great Orb Shorn of His 
 Glories — Why tiie Sun is Red at Rising and Setting— Remarkable Halos— 
 Strange Mock Siuis— Parhelia— Historic Halos — What Gnssendi Saw— Parhelj.i 
 Oijserved by Hevelius — Heautiful Sky Picture in Tennessee— Perfection of 
 Creative Skill— Phen>>mena of I. ight —Wonderful Waves and Circles--Lij;lu a 
 Magnificent Painter— Innumerable Vibrations. 
 
 few years aj^o, at Riiffalo, an aimisinfr optical illusion \va> 
 obscrwcl, which was produced by fog. The following,' descrip- 
 lion is from one of the newspapers of that city: "A poculi.ir 
 ai>i>carance was presented in the atmosphere over the lake < n 
 Saturday nu)rnin*j, the like of which had never been noticed l)efore by 
 thoso accu.stomed to daily intercourse with all the beauties and terrors 
 (peculiar to our waters. At an early hour .some fjentlemen, lookino nut 
 upon the bay, discovered tli- top hamper and loftier saiKs of a \csscl 
 apparently risin'^ from the .surface of the water, the hidl and lower masts 
 bein<^ entire'/ invisible. Soon anf)ther craft, similarly situatetl, was p< liiucd 
 out. and ' still the wotuief grcu- ' ft could not be that both these vesstls 
 had founderea and settled down so as to rest u[)on the bottom, on an even 
 keel : yet there they were, as distinct as possible, sunk to their to[)mast.s. 
 the glassy surface of the water just reaching their lower mast heads. 
 
 " A ♦ug was firing up, and when ready slowly .steamed out into the 
 lake. For a time there wa.s nothing remarkable in her conduct ; but sud- 
 dtn'v she lou sunk, and there was her smoke stack, just emerging from 
 th(.' dec[), ajv:i ploughing through it without a ripple. It was a beautiful 
 sight, rend'-red more so by the perfect placidity of the elements, the brii;ht 
 morning sun. rmd the soft, balmy temperature. The illusion grew out of 
 a heavy (o^ bank, wliich lay upon the surface of the water, but did not 
 (bscure objects upon land; thus deceiving the eye as to the true level of 
 the lake." 
 
 Of all instances of optical illusion, the fa/a mor^.ma, familiar to the 
 (834) 
 
IMAGES IN THK HEAVENS. 
 
 835 
 
 • the Water— Deceitful Fo(.- 
 Spectacle that Excites Uic 
 
 rophecy Concerning I'.lec- 
 jps of Clouds in the Sky— 
 1— Mist on the Water -Ar 
 ; Great Orb Shorn of His 
 :ting— Keniarkable Halos— 
 liat Gnssendi Saw— Parhelia 
 1 Tennessee— Perfection of 
 Vaves and Circles-Liriht a 
 
 \ncr optical illusion was 
 
 The follo\vin<,' dcscri])- 
 
 f that city: "A ix-culi.ir 
 
 jsphcrc over the lake . n 
 
 • been noticed before by 
 the beauties and terrors 
 
 gentlemen, looking' out 
 loftier sails of a vessel, 
 the hull and lower masts 
 larly situated, was pointed 
 nc that both these vessels 
 |„n the bottom, on an even 
 jc, sunk to their to[)masts, 
 ir lower mast heads, 
 .vly steamed out into the 
 . in her conduct ; Imt sud- 
 stackjust emcrj;in<r from 
 ripple. It was a beautiful 
 |of the elements, the brii^lit 
 The illusion grew ovit of 
 of the water, but did not 
 eye as to the true level of 
 
 niorgina, familiar to the 
 
 inha))itants f)f Sicily, is the most curious and .strikinjT. It occurs off the 
 i'haro of Messina, in the .strait which separates Sicily from Calabria, and 
 li.is been variously described by dilTcrent observers, owin^, doubtless, to 
 tlic different conditions of the atmosphere at the respective times of 
 observation. The spectacle consi.sts in the images of men, cattle, hou.ses, 
 rocks, and trees, pictured upon the surface of the water, and in the air 
 immediately over the water, as if called into existence by an enchanter's 
 wand, the same object havin^r f,v,|uently two imai^es, one in the natural 
 and the other in an inverted position. A combination of circumstances 
 nuist concur to produce this novel panorama. The spectator, .standing' 
 with his back to the east on an elevateil ])lace, commands a view of tiie 
 .strait. No wind mu.st be abroad to ruffle the surOicc of the .sea; and the 
 waters must be pres.sed up by currents, which is occa-^ionally the case, to 
 a considerable liei-ht in the middle of the strait, so that they may present 
 a sli-ihtly conve.K surface. 
 
 Struiiffc ApiM'amncos on tlio AVator and Abovo It. 
 
 When these cfuiditions arefuIfilKd.and the sun has risen over the Cala- 
 bri.m heights, .so as to make an an^^le of forty-five decrees with the hori- 
 zon, the various objects on the shore at Rcl^i^io, 0])p()site to Messina, arc 
 transferred to the middle of the strait, forminj,^ an im!iio\ able lamlscape 
 of rocks, trees, and houses, and a movable one of men, horses, and cattle, 
 upon the surface of the water. If the atnios])]iere at the time is hi-hly 
 cliarj^ed with vapor, the ])henomena apparent on the water will also be 
 visible in the air, occupying; a .space which extends from the surface to 
 the heiLjht of about twenty-five feet. Two kinds of morj^fana may there- 
 fore be di.scrimiitated ; the first at the surface of the sea, or the marine 
 morgana; the secontl in the air, or the aerial. The term applieil to this 
 .strange exhibition is of uncertain derivation, but su[)posed by some to re- 
 fer to the vulvar presumption of the .spectacle beinj.; proiluced by a fairy 
 or magician. The populace are .said to hail the vision with f^reat exulta- 
 tion, callin;^ every one abroad to i)artake of the sight, with the cry of 
 "Morgana, morgana!" 
 
 l^rydone, writing from Messina, states : It has often been remarked, 
 both bv the ancients and moderns, that in the heat of .ummer, after the 
 sea and air have been much agitated by w.nd^, and a perfect calm suc- 
 ceeds, there appears about the time of dawri. in that part of the heavens 
 over the straits, a great variety of singular forms, some at rest, and some 
 moving about with great velocity. These forms, in proportion as the 
 light increases, seem to become more atrial, till at last some time before 
 sunrise they entirely disappear. The Sicilians represent this as the most 
 
 I I 
 
 K- 
 
i 
 
 8.*i(] 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 beautiful sit^^ht in nature. Lcanti, one of tiicir latest and best writers 
 came here on jxirpose to see it. He says the heavens appeared crowilv 
 with a variety of objects : lie mentions palaces, woods, j^ardens, etc., beside 
 the figures of men and other animals thata[)pear in motion anion<;st thcin 
 No (l.ubt ihe imagination must be greatly aiding in forming this aerial 
 
 SHIRS FAINTKI) ON THE -SKY ItY ArMOSFHEKlC KKFRACTION. 
 
 creation ; but as so many of their authors, both ancient and motlcni, 
 agree in the fact, and give an account of it from their own observatimi. 
 there certainly must be some foundation for the story. 
 
 The common jjcople, according to custom, give the whole merit to tlu 
 devil ; and indeed it is by much the shortest and easiest way of accoi.iu- 
 
IMAGES IN THK IIKAVKNS. 
 
 837 
 
 latest and best writ<r-;. 
 ^'cns appeared crowik 1 
 ds, ^'ardens, etc., beside ; 
 1 niotitmaniDiitist theip.. 
 iig in forming thisaihiai 
 
 ■•^>'*i 
 
 l-«r- 
 
 ?^%^^ 
 
 m 
 
 B 
 
 (llERlC HKKR ACTION. 
 
 Lth ancient and niotlcrn, 
 lin their own observaiu'ii. 
 
 story, 
 live tlie whole merit to iIk' 
 Id easiest way of accouiU- 
 
 in<,' for it. Those who pretend to be philosophers, and refuse him this 
 honor, arc greatly puz/.led what to make of it. They think it may be ow- 
 in.; to some uncommon refraction or reflection of the rays from the water 
 of the straits, which, as it is at that time carried abimt in a variety of 
 eddies and vortices, must conseciuently, say they, make a varii ty of ap- 
 pearances on any medium where it is reflected. This, I think, is non- 
 sense, or at least very near it. 1 susj)ect it is something' of the nature .-.f 
 our aurora borealis, and, like maii\- of the j^^re.it plKnoniena of nature, 
 depends upon electrical causes; which in future ai^e^. I have little doubt, 
 will be found to be as i)owerful an ai,'ent in re^nilalin^' the universe. 
 
 The electrical fluid in this country of \-olcanoes is ])robably proiluced 
 in a much ^^reater quantity than in any other. The air, str(.ni;ly impreg- 
 nated with this matter, and confined betwixt two ritlL^is of mountains — 
 at the same time exceedingly agitated from below by the violence <.f the 
 current and the impetuous whirlini', of tlu' waters — ma\- it not be suj)- 
 posed to produce a variety of api)earanees? Ami nia\' not the li\ely 
 Sicilian imaginations, animated by a belief in ilemons, and all the wild 
 offspring of superstition, give these appearances as great a variety of 
 forms? Remember, I do not say it is so, and hope yet to ha\e it in my 
 power to give you a better account of this matter. 
 
 Tlus Straiijfc I'lit'iuniMiioii KxpIaiiKMl. 
 
 Ingenious as Hryilone was, he here indulges a most unfortunate specu- 
 lation, which, had he enjoyed the good fortune of i)erMinall\- o1)-m r\ ing 
 the phenomenon, mo.st likely he would not have proposed. It is to he 
 accounted for upon optical i)rinciples, which liiot thus applies : Winn the 
 rising sun shines from that point whence its incident r.iy forms an angle 
 of forty-five degrees on the Sea of Reggio, and the bright surface of the 
 water in tlie bay is not disturbetl either by wind or current — when the 
 tide is at its height, and the waters are pressed up b\- the current to a 
 j^reat elevation in the middle of the channel ; the spectator being placed 
 on an eminence, with his back to the sun and his face to the .sea, the 
 mountains vf Messina rising like a wall behind it, and forming the back- 
 i^round of the picture — on a sudden thcie api>ear in the water, as in a 
 catoi)tric theatre, \arious multi[>lied objects — iunnl)erless series of pilasters, 
 arclies, castles, well-delineated, regular columns, U)fty towers, supjrb 
 palaces, with balconies and windows, extended alleys of trees, delightful 
 plains, with herds and Hocks, armies of men on foot, on horseback, and 
 many other things in their natural colors and proper actions, passing 
 rcTpitlly in succession along the surface of the sea, during the whole of the 
 short period of time while the above-nientioneil causes remain. 
 
 M 
 
 
 
I* 
 
 i 
 
 83S 
 
 EARTH, SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 The objects arc proved, by accurate observations of the coast of Ri^rriV, 
 to be derived from objects on shore. If, in addition to the circumstiiiiccs 
 already described, the atmosphere be highly impre^Miated with vapor aiv', 
 dense exhaUitions, not i)reviously disjx'rsed by thi- action of the wind .md 
 t/aves, or rarefied by the sun, it then liappens that m this xapor, as i-i a 
 curtain extended alonj^ tiie channel to the height of above thirty T ut, 
 and nearly down to the sea, the observer will behold the scene of tin,- 
 same objects not only reflected on the surface of the sea, but lil: wi>i' in 
 the air, thou^li not so distinctly or well defined. 
 
 Lastl)-, if the air be slightly ha/.y and opa(|ue, and at the .same time 
 dew\', and adapted to form the iris, then the above-mentioned objects will 
 appear only at the surface of the .sea, as in the first ca.se, but all vividly- 
 colored or friny;ed with red, ^reen, blue, or other prismatic colors. 
 
 The ancient classical fable of Niobe on Mount Sipylus belonj^s to the 
 .same catejj^ory of atmospheric deceptions ; and the tales common in moun- 
 tainous countries, of troo[)s of horse and armies marchinj^ and count r- 
 marchm^ in the air, have been only the k llection of horses pasturinj^ upun 
 an opposite heiy;ht, or of the forms of travellers pursuing their journey. 
 
 A View of ('l(Mi(l-Ti;iiuI. 
 
 The" formation of visible vapors, and their at^^j^re^ation in ma.sses, take 
 place generally in hi^h reL,n'ons of the atmosphere under the action of 
 currents, in con.se([Uence of a decrease of temperature and a due supply (if 
 acpieous elastic va[ior bein;^ present in tho.se parts where clouds arise. It 
 is easy to perceive that these two conilitions, nece.s.sary to the productiotiof 
 cloud-land, ma>' be fulfilled in one stratum of the atmosphere and not in 
 another; and hence the frctpient dix-er^ity in the appearance of the skwthc 
 clear blue fields and patches of ether alternating with visible vaporous 
 structures. 
 
 The clouds are supposed to consist of minute globules of water filled 
 with air ; but there is {^reat difficulty, even with the aid of this view of their 
 structure, in ex[)lainini^ their suspension aloft, for the globules must he 
 .specifically heavier than the air by which they are upborne. The thcoiy 
 of ascending currents of heated air has been proposed by Lussac to account 
 for their position; and the retention of solar heat in the clouds theniscKes, 
 buoying them up and causing them to float, by Fresnel. 
 
 The clouds float at different elevations, but the higher we a-scend the 
 drier the atmosphere is found, and the le.ss loaded with vapors. V\'c shall 
 not err much, says Leslie, if we estimate the position of extreme humidity 
 at the height of two miles at the pole, and four miles and a half under tlw 
 equator, or a mile and a half beyond the limit of congelation. Dalton 
 
ons of the coast of Ri'^'fio, 
 lition to the circum.sUiiiCLs 
 il)rc<.;natccl with vapor and 
 the action of the wind .ui(l 
 hat in this vapor, as i-i a 
 i^lit of above thirty i'vi, 
 1 behold the Scene of llic 
 of the sea, but lih M/isf in 
 I. 
 
 lie, and at the same tinic 
 ove-nientioned objects will 
 first case, ImiI all vividly 
 -T prismatic colors, 
 int Sipylus beloni^s to the 
 :iic tales common in nn nin- 
 es marching and count r- 
 n of horses pasturinj^ u\)<ir\ 
 pursuini^ their journe) . 
 (1. 
 
 'r^re^ation in masses, t.ikx 
 )hcrc under the action nf 
 rature and a due supply (if 
 rts where clouds arise. It 
 :e.s.sary to the production nf 
 :he atmosphere and not m 
 appearance of the sk\-,thc 
 in<4- with \-isiblc vaporuus 
 
 ite j^lobules of water filled 
 the aid of this view of thiir 
 for the globules must l)c 
 are upborne. The tlicor)- 
 )oscd by Lussac to account 
 t in the clouds themselves, 
 
 Fresnel. 
 
 the higher we ascend the 
 ed with vapors. We shall 
 
 ition of extreme humidity 
 miles and a half under the 
 t of congelation. Datton 
 
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 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 asserts that small, fleecy patches of cloud are frequently from three to five 
 miles in lieii^ht, and such have been observed sailinj^ above the nio^t 
 elevated peaks of the Andes, which rise twenty-five thousand feet above the 
 level of the sea; but other authorities claim for some visible clouds a still 
 fjreater elevation. The height varies at different seasons of the year, am! 
 there is little doubt that it is much more frequently below than above a 
 mile. 
 
 The effect is strikin;^ wh.en, from an eminence which commands a \ir\\ 
 of an extensive plain or valley, we .see the gossamer curtain of the nii^li: 
 restin*^ upon the surface, [gradually rent ami torn by the action of tiic 
 sun's rays, reflecting their ffc.lden hue as it disapix-ars. Many of tiic 
 mo.st felicitous imas^es of poetry are deri\ed from this source, as m 
 Ossian : " The soul of Nathos was sad, like the sun in a day of mist, 
 when his face looks watery and dim;" antl ai^ain, when two contendiiiu; 
 factions are silenced by Cathmor: "They sunk from the kini^ on eitJKr 
 side, like two columns of mornini,^ mist, when the sun rises between tliLiU 
 on the glitterint^ rocks." 
 
 Why Mists Sotth' Over Kivors. 
 
 The stratus is occasionally .seen under peculiar and strikin^j circum- 
 stances, extending over the surface of a sheet of water, without passing 
 the boundary of its banks. Thus a lake or ri\er will exhibit a white 
 cloud of \isible vajior resin<:j upon it, from which the adjacent land i- 
 perfectly free. Sir Humphry Davy thus explains this curious phenom- 
 enon: "All persons who have been accustomed to the obser\ation df 
 nature must ha\-e frecpiently witnessed Mic formation of mists over the 
 beds of rivers and lakes in calm ami clear weather after sunset; and 
 whoevw'' iias considered these phenomena in relation to the railiation ami 
 communication of heat and the nature of \apor, can hardly have failed t" 
 di.scover the true cause of them. As soon as the sun has disappeared 
 from any part of the globe, the surface begins to lose heat by radiation, 
 and in greater proportions as the sky is clear; but the land and water are 
 cooled b}' this oi)eration in a very different manner: the impression (<\ 
 cooling on the land is limited to the surface, anil very slowly transmitted 
 to the interior; whereas in .vater above forty degrees Fahrenheit, .as soon 
 as the upper .stratum is cooled, whether by radiation or evaporation, it 
 sinks in the mass of fluid, and its })lace is supplied by water from below; 
 and till the temperature of the whole mass is reduced to nearly forty 
 degrees Fahrenheit, the surface cannot be the coolest part. 
 
 " It follows, therefore, that wherever water exists in considerable mass, 
 and has a temperature nearly equal to that of the land, or only a few 
 
 ;: H 
 
 ^^^^•*;i^ 
 
IMAGES IN THE HEAVENS. 
 
 841 
 
 [ueiitly from three to five 
 sailiiv^^ above the most 
 c thousand feet abo\-e tlic 
 4ome visible clouds a still 
 : seasons of the year, am! 
 :ntly below than above .i 
 
 which commands a vicv 
 amer curtain of the nii^h; 
 urn by the action of llu 
 lisapiJears. :Many of llu 
 
 from this source, as m 
 he sun in a day of mist, 
 ain. when two contending 
 k from the kini,' on eithei 
 .he sun rises between thciu 
 
 {ivorn. 
 
 uliar and striking? circuni- 
 [ of water, without passing 
 ,-iver will exhibit a whit. 
 A-hich the adjacent land i~ 
 ains this curious phenoni 
 incd to the observation d 
 )rmation of mists over th- 
 weather after sunset; an>i 
 . ition to the radiation and 
 ,can hardly have failed t- 
 s the sun has disapp^arc.i 
 to lose heat by radiation, 
 but the land and water arr 
 nanner: the impression ct 
 iu\ very slowly transmitted 
 Ic^aees Fahrenheit, as somh 
 radiation or evaporation, it 
 riWcd by water from bel.nv; 
 is reduced to nearly forty 
 coolest part. 
 
 xists in considerable mas?, 
 of the land, or only a few 
 
 deforces below it, and above forty deforces Fahrenheit at sunset, its surface 
 during; the ni^dit, in calm and clear weather, will be warmer than that of 
 the contiguous land; and the air above the land will necessarily be 
 colder than tiiat above the water; and when ihey both contain their due 
 ])roportion of aqueous vapor, and the situation of the L,fround is such as 
 to permit the cold air from the land to mix with tiic warmer air above 
 the water, mist or fo^ will be the result." 
 
 AVhat Col«us tho Sun. 
 
 The atmosphere of our ^lobe is composed mainly of two [^ases, oxyc^en 
 antl hydrojjjen, whose combination forms a ])erfectly transparent medium, 
 111 this medium, howex'er, there floats at all times a vast quantit\- of acjue- 
 (nis vapor, rai.sed daily by the heat of the sun, in the form of steam, from 
 the surface of the .sea and of the dry lantl. The amount of water thus 
 lifted into the air by tlie j)rocess of evaporation is very threat, and far 
 exceeds that dischari^ed into the ocean, durin;^ the same Ieni;th of time, 
 b\- all the rivers of the earth. 
 
 Tlie a(|ueous vapor produced in this manni.-r is diffused through the 
 whole body of the atmosphere, and is in a .,tate of perpetual motion and 
 chan;4e, being rarefied into an invisible condition, or condensed into mists 
 and clouds, according to the var\ing degrees of heat or cold to which it 
 is exposed ; and in this way it affects, sometimes more and sometimes 
 less, the general transparency of the air, and modifies both the colors 
 and the forms of objects seen through it. And in the j)resent chapter 
 wc are to speak of the various aspects which it gives to the solar orb. 
 
 The sun, viewed through a vaporous atmosphere, appears in "false 
 colors." When the vapor is dry and rarefied, or in an invisible con- 
 dition, the air is clear, and the sun is seen in his natural brightness. But 
 if the vapor be slightly condensed, and takes the form of mist, he appears 
 through it as if shorn of his glories, a white orb, upon which the eye can 
 rest without pain or inconvenience ; as he descends he grows still more 
 dull; and finally, as he approaches the horizon, he gradual!}- assumes a 
 rosy tint, and at la.st a deep red coU)r. These changes are thus explained. 
 Every ray of the sunlight which comes to us has to pass through the 
 whole thickness of the atmosphere, and the greater the distance it has to 
 travel the greater the portion of it that is absorbed by the \a[)ors in the 
 air. And this distance, as is obvious, increases with the increased decli- 
 nation of the sun. 
 
 If we admit the atmosphere to extend vertically to the height of sixty- 
 two miles, a ray of light coming from the sun at the zenith has only these 
 sixty-two miles to pass through in order to reach us. But a ray from the 
 
 ik 
 
 !«(■ 
 
 'I' 
 
 
 ■ ! 
 
 s 
 

 !-i 
 
 
 fJ 
 
 842 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 sun on the horizon has to travel through 706 miles, or more than eleven 
 times the former distance, and that, too, throui^li the densest portion nf 
 the atmosphere. In traversinij this great distance, the various colors com- 
 bined in the iierfectly white ray, excej)t the red, are, for the most part. 
 absorbed by the slowly condensing vapors along the cooling .surface of 
 the earth. I fence the red color in v/hich the sui\ appears at its settin^f 
 
 and rising. 
 
 What Cliiiii^os tlu' Siiu'm Apparent Form. 
 
 The sun, viewed through a vaporous atmo.sphere, often appears, also, 
 in a " false form." Seen (mi the meridian, through a clear sky, he ap- 
 pears as a perfect circle, which is his true outline. But as seen near the 
 horiz(jn, in certain conditions of the atuios[)hL"re, instead of being circular, 
 he appears of an oval form, tlu upper antl lower sides being flattened, and 
 the latter more so than the former. On high mountains, and on platcau.x 
 near the seacoast, this flattening of the disk appears very considerable, 
 amounting sometimes to one-fifth the apparent diameter of the sun. This 
 peculiar deformation is cau.sed by the refraction or bending of tlie rajs of 
 light in passing through the vapors of the atmosphere. Sometimes tl .- 
 want of homogeneity in the successive layers of the atmosi)here, caused 
 by the unequal adnii.\ture of vapors, gives to the sun an apparent fjrm of 
 so irregular a character that he is scarcely recognizable. 
 
 Again, the sun. viewed through the atmosi)heric vapors, in a cert liii 
 .state, appears surrounded by appendag(;s which do not belong tt) him. 
 When the sky is hazy, and presents a dull, milky appearance, there is 
 fretiuently to be seen around the sun a colored circle, or halcj, and the sun 
 occupying the centre of the circle, as // /i. The inner edge of the cirele 
 is colored red, and is well defined. The sky within the halo is much 
 darker than it is for some distance without. Sometimes there ma)' bo 
 .seen around the sun a .second halo or colored circle, as II M. The inner 
 edge of this also is red, and tolerably well defined, while the outer edge is 
 of a pale blue color, and but faintly marked. At rare intervals, a thinl 
 halo, radius, as H' II', has been ob.served. surrounding the sun. Unlike 
 the other two haKis, this one shows .scarceh' a trace of color. 
 
 All these phenomena are produced by the refraction of the sunlight in 
 pa.s.sing through the minute crystals of frozen vapors floating in the at- 
 mosphere ; the.se crystals being of various kinds and having their facets 
 .set at different inclinations to one another, refract the various colors nf 
 the sunrays at different angles, and thus produce halos of different diamt*- 
 ters. 
 
 When a halo is formed around the sun, there is often to be seen a 
 
\\ 
 
 IMAGKS IN THE HEAVEN'S 
 
 843 
 
 iles. or more than clcvi.'n 
 rh the densest portion > if 
 ■c, the various colors coin- 
 d, are, for tlie most part. 
 n<r the cooHn^' surface of 
 sun appears at its setting' 
 
 irent Form. 
 
 sphere, often appears, aho. 
 )u^di a clear sky, he ap- 
 iic. Hut as seen near the 
 -, instead of bein^^ circuhu, 
 r' sides bein'^ flattened, aiul 
 mountains, and on plateaux 
 appears very considerable, 
 I diameter of the sun. This 
 ,n or bendini; of the rays ..f 
 mosphere. Sometimes tl : 
 ; of tlie atmosphere, caused 
 the sun an apparent form <.f 
 lo^nizable. 
 pheric vapors, in a certain 
 h do not belon^^ to him. 
 milky appearance, tliere is 
 circle, or halo, and the sun 
 ic inner ed-e of the circle 
 y within the halo is much 
 Sometimes there may be 
 circle, as H H. The inner 
 ned. while the outer ed-e is 
 At rare intervals, a thud 
 rroundini,' the sun. Unlike 
 
 trace of color. 
 ...fraction of the sunlit^l^t m 
 n vapors floatinj^ in the at- 
 nds and havin-^^ their facets 
 .Tract the various colors of 
 ucehalos of different diam*. 
 
 there is often to be seen a 
 
 
 white circle passinj:^ throu-^di the sun. and parallel to the horizon, as rep- 
 resented by A 1' P. This is called parhclic circle, and is produced like 
 the fore.Ljoin^ by the rellection of the sun's lii^ht rroni ice prisms or snow 
 crystals, whose surfaces have a vertical j)osition. At or near th(vse points 
 where halos cut the parhelic circle, there is a tiouble cause of li^ht ; and 
 here the illumination is sometimes .so <^reat as to present the api)earance 
 of r. mock-sun, and is called parhelion. The luunber of these mock- 
 iuns, or parhelia, visible at the same time, is variable ; sometimes one or 
 
 M 
 
 HALOS AND I'AKHELIA. 
 
 two only are to be seen, at other times four or five ; on some occasions _ 
 as man\- as seven have been observed at once. The mock-suns ^^enerally 
 seem about the size of the true sun, but not quite so brit,dit, thoui,di i»cca- 
 sionally tliey are .said to rival their parent luminary in splendor. These 
 beautiful phenomena appear most commonly in hi^h latitudes, but often 
 occur in the more temperate regions. 
 
 Parhelia have been observed frequently both in ancient ^r^d modern 
 times. Ari.stotle records two appt^arances of these meteors, and Pliny 
 
 ,1 
 
 Ul 
 
 hi 
 
 \ 
 
I 
 
 1 
 
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 «s 
 
 w. 
 
 '.~im'- 
 
 844 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 mentions their occurrence at Rome. A double parhelion, which was 
 noticed before the Christian era, is referred to by St. Auj^ustine. Many 
 otiiers have been observed from different points on the continent. On 
 the 2d of January, 15.^6. Christopher Rotham saw. at Cassel, before sun- 
 rise, an uprij^dit column of lij^dit of the breailth of the sun's disk. As he 
 rose to view, he was preceded and followed by a parhelion, which ap- 
 jieared in contact with his orb, and continued visible for thirty minutes, 
 and then were hitlden by a cloud. On the 28th of February, 1 55 I, mock- 
 suns were seen at Antwerp; and on the 17th of March of the same year, 
 a similar phenomenon, with two halos, was witnessed at the same place. 
 
 
 
 
 3?.(-|. 
 
 Sitfl. 
 
 PARHELIA OBSERVED BY GA.SSENDI. 
 
 Four days after the last named, two parhelia, with three halos, were seen 
 at Ma^debert;. 
 
 Scheiner witnessed a sini^ular one at Rome, on the 20th of March 
 1629. From the zenith as a centre there was seen a <jreat wXvic circle, 
 having the true sun '•/. its circumference; this was intersected by two 
 concentric circles around his disk. Where the outer of these smaller 
 rinLjs cut the zenithal circle, two parhelia appeared, and in the <:^reat c'rcle. 
 nearly opposite to these, but separated by a wider arc, two others were 
 visible. 
 
 Gassendi describes a very remarkable instance of this phenomenon, 
 
parhelion, which was 
 Bt. Augustine. Many 
 on the continent. ( )n 
 , at Cassel, before sun- 
 the sun's disk. As he 
 a parhehon, which ap- 
 ible for thirty minutes. 
 [February, 155 1, mock - 
 »larch of tlie same year, 
 ^sed at the same pkace. 
 
 IM.AGES IN THE HKAVENS. 
 
 840 
 
 which was seen in 1630. Around the sun were two concentric hahrs ; 
 the lar^L^er cut the horizon, and consequently wa-, incomplete ; these were 
 colored like the rainbow, e.xceptin^ij that the red was mternal. In the 
 direction of the zenith, there was a tan;^'ental arc external to these haltis ; 
 and with the zenith as a centre, a Ljreat white circle ran parallel with the 
 horizon, having the true sun in its circumference. At the five intersections 
 (f these circles and arcs parhelia appeared, and a >i.\th was .^-cen in the 
 intein.r halo between the true sun and the zenith. 
 
 ''</ 
 
 /M^"? 
 
 f^ 
 
 ENDI. 
 
 ;h three halos, were seen 
 
 on 
 
 the 20th of iNIarch 
 
 m a 't,freat white circle, 
 
 was intersected by two 
 
 outer of the.se smaller 
 
 LI, and in the '^reat circle. 
 
 [er arc, two others were 
 
 pe of this phenomenon, 
 
 j^*\»'^- 
 
 is 
 
 
 PAKHKLIA OliSERVED BY HEVELIUS. 
 
 One of the finest meteors o{ this kind on record was seen by Hevelius, 
 at Sedan, on the 20th of Februar>', 1661. "A little before 1 1 o'clock," he 
 says " the sun beine^ towards the south and the sky very clear, there 
 appeared seven suns together, in several circles, some white and others 
 colored, and these with very long tails waving and pointing from the true 
 sun, together with certain white arches crossing one another The true 
 sun was about 25° high, and surrounded almo.st entirely by a circle whose 
 diameter was 45°, and colored like a rainbow with purple, red and yellow, 
 its under limb being scarcely 23^^° above the horizon. On each side of 
 
 it 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 
m 
 
 J 'f' 
 
 SI 
 
 840 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 the sun. towards the west and cast, there appeared two mock-suns, colored, 
 especially towards the sun, with very lonj^ and splendid tails of a whitish 
 color, terminatin<^ in a point. A far greater circle encompassed the sun 
 and the forn>er lesser circle, and extended itself down to the horizon. It 
 was very stronj^ly colored in its upper part, but was somewhat duller and 
 fainter on each side. At the tops of these two circles were two inverted 
 arcs, whose common centre lay in the zenith, and these were very bright 
 and beautifully colored. 
 
 In the middle of the lower arc, where it coincided with the circle, there 
 appeared another mock-sun, but ito light and colors were dull and faintisli. 
 There appeared a circle much bigger than the former, of a uniform ami 
 whitish color, parallel to the horizon, which arose as it were from the col- 
 
 PARHELIA OBSERVED IN TENNESSEE. 
 
 lateral mock-sunc, and passed through three other parhelia, of a uniform 
 whitish color like silver. There passed also two other white arches of the 
 greatest circle of the sphere through the eastern and western n^-" 'Ii.and 
 also through the pole of the ecliptic. They went dow :un, 
 
 crossing the great white circle and obliquely, so as to jross 
 
 at each parhelion ; so that seven suns appeared very [ same 
 
 time. This phenomenon, with certain changes in tht. .,.s f its" 
 
 several parts, continued visible for an hour and twenty 
 
 Such parhelia have been observed at various times an j in North 
 
 America. Barker describes a curious halo with ar:oni| drying mock- 
 suns, which he saw at Fort Gloucester, near Lake Superior. A circle 
 with tangental arc surrounded the sun ; about midway between the hori- 
 
two mock-suns, colored. 
 ,lendid tails of a whitish 
 :le encompassed the sun 
 lown to the horizon. U 
 vas somewhat duller and 
 :ircles were two inverted 
 d these were very bright 
 
 dcd with the circle, there 
 
 ors were dull and liiintish. 
 
 former, of a uniform and 
 
 ie as it were from the col- 
 
 JNESSEE. 
 
 Ither parhelia, of a uniform 
 ]o other white arches of the 
 In and western p^r^'''-^.and 
 
 ^entdow- ' '^"' 
 
 lo as to -'•OSS 
 
 very . 'f^^ 
 
 ,s in th. ^ f 'ts 
 
 twenty 
 times an ^ >« ^°'^^ 
 
 /ith ac'.on.iapying mock- 
 Lake Superior. A circle 
 midway between the hori- 
 
 IM.VGES IN THE HEAVENS. 
 
 847 
 
 zon and zen' '--, a circle ran ])arallel to the honzon, havin^j the sun in its 
 circumference ; i this horizontal circle there appeared alto<^ether five 
 mock-suns, with this peculiarity, that, directly opposite the true sun in 
 this great circle, a St. Amlreus cross was seen, tin: upper limbs <.f which 
 extended higher above, than the lower one descended below, this circle; 
 in the intersection o«" this cross and the circle, one of the parhelia was 
 placed. A very curious system of circles, with .several mock-suns. api)eared 
 on the 19th of August, 1825, at Jackson, Tennessee. 
 
 An exceedingly curious optical appearance belonging to this class of 
 phenomena, was observed by Mr. Fallows, at the Cape of Good Hope, 
 when the sun's disk was j -st dipping in the ocean. On either side of tlie 
 
 BRir.HT HALO IN NORWAY. 
 
 true luminar)-, and within the breadth of a degree antl a half of his disk, 
 four mock-suns appeared on the left, and three on the right. They had 
 the same shape as the true sun, touched the water at the same instant, 
 and all of them disappeared together, shining as bright spots upon the 
 water's edge. This i^agnificcnt scene occurred on a delightful evening, 
 when not a cloud was to be seen. 
 
 Such are .. few of the marvelous appendages which the vapors of the' 
 atmosphere sometimes create around the great luminary cf the day. 
 
 Now, evanescent as is the nature of all these meteoric phenomena at 
 which we have glanced, and irregular as their occurrence may be, yet 
 they are in no sense to be regarded as the result of chance. On the 
 
 'I 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
m 
 
 1.1 
 
 «;: 
 
 
 H; 
 
 -1 >i 
 
 
 i' :^^^i^:i h 
 
 I i ! 
 
 '11 
 
 mm 
 
 m;:i' 
 
 «48 
 
 EARTH. SEA. AND SKY. 
 
 contrary, we sec in them the play of exact and beautiful laws. All are 
 produced accordinj^ to the principles of order established, in the 
 be^Mnning, by the One Supreme Lawgiver. In all, brightness and 
 shade prevail in their ordained degrees ; and heat and cold produce 
 their designed effects in sea and land and sky. The sunrays in then- 
 passage through visible mists, or viewless vapors, are reflected, refracted, 
 and absorbed, according to uniform rules. 
 
 The diameters, distances and intersections of the encircling halos arc 
 all measured off after the undcviating principles of geometry. I^ver\ 
 tint and shade in their coloring, and every facet and angle in the frozeu 
 particles that produce them, display the operations of the unerring laws 
 of optics. Invisible vapors, icy crystals, luminous arches, colored halos, 
 sjilendid parhelia — all proclaim the observance of law and order. And 
 though the whole magnificent diorama may fade and vanish within the 
 brief space of five minutes, yet, in its production, nothing has Ixiii 
 slighted, nothing imperfectly formed, nothing left to be determinetl by 
 
 chance. 
 
 Marvelous Waves of Light. 
 
 If a pebble be dropped into the bosom of a still and smooth sheet of 
 water, a circular depression is formed, at the point where it sank, w hich 
 spreads wider and wider, with uniform velocity. In the meanwhile an 
 ele\-ation has been formed at the point where the pebble, in entering the 
 water, had originally caused a depression ; then as this sinks back to its 
 original level it produces a wall-like circular ele\ation around it, which 
 follows up the preceding circular depression with equal velocity. Whilst 
 the water continues its up-and-down movement at the point struck, fresh 
 wave-rings appear to proceed from this central point, which, owing to 
 their constantly spreading more and more widely, give the illusory appear- 
 ance of the fluid streaming out on all sides from the middle point. 
 
 Now, let us suppose that, instead of one pebble, two are dropped into 
 the water at the same instant, but at a short distance one from the other. 
 We shall have then two systems of circular waves moving and spreading 
 out as before. As these two systems intersect each other, they divide the 
 surface of the water into a regular net-work of small elevations and depres- 
 sions, as represented in the annexed figure. Yet the one does not destroy 
 or efface the other ; at the points where two wave-crests meet, the surface 
 of the water, if the two waves are equal, rises to twice the height, and 
 where two depressions meet, it sinks to double the depth. Thus each 
 wave maintains and extends unbroken its circular and moving form, as if 
 it had the entire surface to itself. And if, instead of two, we had three, 
 
IMAGES IN Tun URAVENS. 
 
 819 
 
 beautiful laws. All are 
 Icr established, in the 
 In all, brightness and 
 heat and cold produce 
 The sunrays in their 
 i, are reflected, refracteil. 
 
 the encirclini^ halos aic 
 les of geometry. Iwer, 
 ;t and angle in the frozer. 
 ions of the unerring laws 
 n.s arches, colored halos. 
 
 of law and order. And 
 ide and vanish within the 
 action, nothing has brcn 
 
 left to be determined by 
 
 Ight. 
 
 I still and smooth sheet of 
 point where it sank, which 
 ty. In the meanwhile ;ui 
 he pebble, in entering tlie 
 1 as this sinks back to its 
 elevation around it, which 
 ith equal velocity. Whilst 
 M at the point struck, fresh 
 ral point, which, owing to 
 y, give the illusory appear- 
 m the middle point, 
 ■bble. two are dropped into 
 istance one from the other, 
 ves moving and spreading 
 each other, they divide the 
 
 ,mall elevations and depres- 
 let the one does not destroy 
 
 ,ve-crests meet, the surface 
 , to twice the height, and 
 ,le the depth. Thus each 
 ular and moving form, a. il 
 Itead of two, we had three, 
 
 :v 
 
 nr in fact, any number of pebbles dropped, the same result would be pro- 
 duced by each of them. In other words, it mav be said, that everv w a\e 
 system sujjerimposes itself upf)n. or adds itself to, a surface already moved 
 by waves, as it would do were it acting ali>ne on th.it surface at rest. 
 Every wave system forms itself unhindered by those already present, 
 and spreads after it has crossed these, upon the still ([uiescent surface of 
 the water as if it had suffered no interruption in its outward progres.s. 
 
 Once more: suppose that when we have flung a handful of pebbles 
 upon the water, each creating its little system of spreading waves, a 
 succession of large billows or swells be produced by the wind or a pass- 
 ing steamboat, we shall see that even these do not destroy the little 
 u.ives of the pebbles, but take them on their backs, and having passed, 
 leave them behind 
 with their original 
 forms and motions 
 unaltered. Of all 
 tiiis we may witness 
 , beautiful illustra- 
 tion when large 
 drops of rain begin 
 to fall upon the 
 agitated surface of a 
 lake or river. 
 
 Now, similar re- 
 sults, though invisi- 
 ble, are produced in 
 the atmosphere by a 
 blow on a drum or inteksection ok two wa\ e svstem.s. 
 
 a bell, or by any number of such blows given in succession. These 
 aerial vibrations, like the waves upon the water, do not destroy or 
 extinguish one another. If a whole orchestra, composed of numerous 
 and diverse instruments, play a piece of music together, cch pipe 
 and each string will create its own system of vibrations, which will 
 pass outward through the atmosphere without disorder, each being en- 
 dowed with an individuality as indestructible as if it alone had disturbed 
 the quietude of the still air. 
 
 If now we advance to the far more attenuated and elastic medium of 
 light, the ether, we shall find the same law still hold good. Here, as in 
 the water and in the air, one system of vibrations, whether set in motion 
 immediately by the sun, or by reflection of the sun's rays from some 
 
 54 
 

 ill '^f'i 
 
 i. 
 
 i 
 
 ! • r 
 
 
 
 «( 
 
 lillifllHHI 
 
 
 8oO 
 
 EARTFI, SKA. AND SKV 
 
 tciTcstial object, docs not interrupt or confuse another sj-stein. Kaoli. 
 tliouj^h it nui)' liave crossed a hundn-d or a tliousantl others, maintains it> 
 existence and its identity unchanged, and bears on its bosom a correct 
 and clear representation of the centre or object from uhicli it has prd- 
 ceetlrd. These radiant vehicles of li^dit are infallible in their pro;^r;.»- 
 and office ; from ten thousaml points, and in ten thousand directions. tli„\ 
 unceasini^ly carry and imprint the messa^rcs of the world and of the inii- 
 versc. If we enter the {garden, and bend over a bed of diverse flower-, 
 we shall find that each green leaf and each variegated petal sends fmt'n 
 its little .s>'stem of ethereal \ibrations. announcing infallibly its particular 
 form and color. If we stand confronted by a regiment of soldiers, the 
 countenance of each individual, in like manner, sends forth its system of 
 vibrations, and all meet in the e\-e, and imjjrint their pictures of thoc 
 countenances on the retina within a circle that does notcxceetl in circum- 
 ference that of a dime — not r»ne is omittctl ; not one is blurred. 
 A Stiipeiuloiis 3ljii*vt*l of Croati<ui. 
 
 Ifwe look out on the broad lamlscape, each of its great features and 
 countless objects docs the .same. And if we lift our eyes to the hea\rp.> 
 on a clear night, vibratory waves still issue from those uncounted stars a> 
 their centres, and like the circles created b)' the drops of a shower on the 
 surface of a lake, cross, coincide, 0[)pose, and pass through each other 
 without confusion or extinction. The waves of the zenith do not jn-tic 
 out of existence those from the horizon, nor those from the horizon si;.h 
 as descend from the zenith, but e-ch star, wherever situated, is cleail\ 
 seen across all the entanglement of wave-motions produced byallotlur 
 stars. The eye receives as perfect and distinct an impression of each, a- 
 if no other shone in the whole celestial concave. 
 
 What a mar\'el of creation^ then, have we in this ethereal element— it- 
 illimitable extent, its inconceivable tenuity, its undecaying elasticit}-, it- 
 countless and instantaneous vibrations — without which the earth, ami ihc 
 stars, and even the sun itself would have been wrapped in eternal dari;- 
 ness ! And what an organ have we in the e\-e, with its congeries of i ,• 
 lated parts, to adapt it to receive and interpret these ether vibrations with- 
 out effort or delay, and thus derive from it a thousand advantages an.. 
 pleasures every hour! And to what shall we ascribe all this? T 
 chance? Sooner let us say that the pictures of Raphael have been pro- 
 duced by the dashing of the waves; or that the unerring chronometer, 
 which guides the mariner over the trackless main, has resulted from the 
 fortuitous dancing of a cloud of dust. 
 
another systotn. Each, 
 sand others, maintains ii^ 
 rs on itsbosomaorr.-t 
 t from which it has pv - 
 ,ifaUiblc in their pro-n-^ 
 1 ihoUNand directions, th) 
 
 the workl and of the vnr,- 
 .,• a bed of diverse ilowc; -. 
 ■ic-atcd petal sends f.-.th 
 in^J inn^Uibly its particular 
 
 rc<;inKnt <>f soldiers, tlv. 
 •, sends forth its system ot 
 i'nt their pictures of th..«c 
 
 does not exceed in circum- 
 
 ot one is bUirred. 
 Creation. 
 
 ^ch of its sreat features aiul 
 
 lift our cyestotheheav.-- 
 
 3m those uncounted stars a- 
 
 the drops of a shower on tK 
 
 id pass throui^h each oti '. 
 ; of the zenith donotj-^uc 
 ■ those from the horizon such 
 
 Lvherever situated, is clearly 
 
 otions produced by all otlur 
 
 Let an impression of each. :i> 
 
 jin'this ethereal element-i^ 
 its undecayin- elasticity, it- 
 'out Nvhich the earth, and iIk 
 •n wrapped in eternal dan;- 
 eye, with its congeries of ly- 
 t these ether vibrations wiin- 
 a thousand advantages an. 
 |l we ascribe all this? T. 
 of Raphael have been I'l'^- 
 the unerring chrononKici, 
 main, has resulted from the 
 
 CIIAPTF.R VI. 
 STRAXGK WANDKRICR.S THROUGH SPACE. 
 
 .(iilL-n Appearances— Uniisii.-il Phenomena -Great History of the I If.ivcns— Hod- 
 ifs Governed Ny Sol. if Attraction -I-Iftngatcf! Orbits — Marvtluiis Cntnct of 
 1 6So— Period F.stimated at T'lree Tlions.ind Years— Thousands of MiU-s in a 
 Minute— Sir Isaac Newton's Predit tion— llalli y's Comet -A l-rij^htetud I.ni- 
 peror— Sliockiii}; Calaniilits Siip;)osed to be I'oreshadowed— Visitation Uurinj; 
 a iJIoody War— Hitleous Faces and nristhiig Hair— Byron's Graphic Descrip- 
 tion -Siibst.-ince of Comets— Tliin Vajior- .\ Comet Kiivelopini,' Inpiler Tlie 
 i'oet Conder's A])ostro|iiie. 
 
 i?^-aK. HOSE tailed bodies, which suddenl\- come to li^dit up the 
 
 ^1 
 
 ,^: 
 
 4^1 N^? heavens, were lon;^ rei^areled w iih terror, like so many warn 
 " tJ ^- ing si^ns of divine wrath. "Sin li;i\-c aluaws tliMiii^ht the 
 
 seKes much more imj:>ortant than they reall\- are in the iiiii\ er^ 
 
 m- 
 
 sal order; tliey ha\e liad tlie vanity to pretend that the wIimK: cnalion 
 was made for thein, whilst in reaiit}" the whole creation does not suspi'ct 
 their o\istence. The earth we inhabit is only one of the smallest worlds ; 
 and therefore it can scarcely be for it alone that all the wonders of the 
 hea\ens, of which the immense niajorit\- remains hidden from it, were 
 created. 
 
 In this disposition of man to see in himself the centre and the end of 
 c\erything, it was ca.sy indeed to consider the .steps of nature as imfolded 
 in his favor ; and if some unusual phenomenon presented itself, it was 
 considered to be without doubt a warning from hca\-en. If these illusions 
 had had no other result than the amelioration of the more timorous of 
 the community one would regret those ages of ignorance; but not only 
 were these fancied warnings of no use, seeing that once the danger 
 passed, man returned to his former state ; but they also kept up among 
 people imaginary terrors, and revived the fatal resolutions caused by the 
 fear of the end of the world. 
 
 The history ot a comet would be an instructive episode of the great 
 history of the heavens. In it could be brought together the description 
 of the progressive movement of humanthouglit, as well as the astronomi- 
 cal theory of these extraordinary bodies. Let us take, for example, one 
 of the most memorable and best-known comets, and give an outline of its 
 successive passages near the earth. Like the planetary worlds, comets 
 
 (851) 
 
 I 
 
 \ 
 

 852 
 
 a. ip 
 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 belong to the solar system, and are subject to the rule of the Star Kinyj. 
 It is the universal law of gravitation which guides their path ; solar attrac- 
 tion gc^vcrns them, as it governs the movement of the planets and tiic 
 small satellites. 
 
 The chief point of difference between them and the planets is, that their 
 orbits are very elongated ; and, instead of being nearly circular, they take 
 the elliptical form. In consequence of the nature of these orbits, tlu 
 same comet may approach very near the sun, and afterwards travel from 
 it to immense distances. Thus, the period of the comet of 1680 has been, 
 estimated at 3000 years. It approaches the sun, so as to be nearer to it 
 than our moon is to us, whilst it recedes to a distance 853 times greater 
 than the distance of the earth from the sun. On the 17th of December, 
 1680, it was at its perihelion — that is, at its greatest proximity to the sun; 
 it is now continuing ifs path bcj'ond the Neptunian orbit. Its Ncloeity 
 varies according to its distance from the solar body. At its perihelio'i it 
 travels thousands of leagues per minute ; at its aphelion it does not pass 
 over more than a few j-ards. Its proximitx' to the sun in its passage near 
 that body caused Newton to think that it received a heat 28,000 times 
 greater than that we experience at the suniiuer solstice ; and that this heat 
 being 2000 times greater than that of red-hot iron, an iron globe of the 
 same dimensions would be 50,000 years entirely losing its heat. 
 Singular Prediction of Xewton. 
 
 Newton added that in the end comets will approach so near the sun 
 that they will not be able to escape the preponderance of its attraction, 
 and that they will fall one after the other into this brilliant body, thus 
 keeping up the heat which it perpetually pours out "nto space. Such is 
 the deplorable end assigned to comets by the author of the " Principia," 
 an end which makes De la Bretonne say to Retif : " An immense comet, 
 already larger than Jupiter, was again increased in its path by beiiii; 
 blended with six other dying comets. Thus displaced from its ordinary 
 route by these slight shocks, it did not pursue its true elliptical orbit ; so 
 that the unfortunate thing was precipitated into the devouring centre of 
 the sun." " It is said," added he, " that the poor comet, thus burned 
 alive, sent forth dreadful cries ! " 
 
 It will be interesting then, in a double point of view, to follow a comet 
 in its different passages in sight of the earth. Let us take the most im- 
 portant in astronomical history — the one whose orbit has been calculated 
 by Edmund Halley, and which was named after him. It was in 168: 
 that this comet appeared in its greatest brilliancy, accompanied with a 
 tail which did not measure less than thirty-two millions of miles. By the 
 
1 
 
 STRANGE WANDERERS THROUGH SPACE. 
 
 853 
 
 ,c rule ofthe Star Kin-, 
 aheirpath; solar attra^ 
 t of the planets and the 
 
 d the planets is, that their 
 nearly circular, they tak. 
 iture of these orbits, the 
 ,,d aftenvards travel fr-ni 
 e comet of 1680 has been. 
 ,„ so as to be nearer to ii 
 listance 853 times greater- 
 )nthe 17th of December, 
 itest proximity to the sun; 
 
 ntunian orbit. Us velocity 
 bodv. At its perihelion it 
 , api^elion it does not pass 
 . the sun in its passage near 
 ccived a heat 28,000 tunes 
 r solstice ; and that this hr.t 
 
 ,t iron, an iron globe of the 
 :ly losing its heat. 
 ewtou. 
 
 approach so near the sun 
 .onderance of its attraction. 
 .to this brilliant body, thu^ 
 rs out hito space. Such i> 
 ' author of the " Princ.pui. 
 6tif • " An immense comet, 
 ■ased in its path by being 
 displaced from its ordinary 
 pits true elliptical orbit; so 
 Uo the devouring centre ot 
 e poor comet, thus burned 
 
 It of view, to follow a comet 
 1 Let us take the most m- 
 Lse orbit has been calculated 
 I after him. It was in 1682 
 llliancy, accompanied with a 
 lo millions of miles. 13y tne 
 
 observation of the path whic' t described in the heavens, and the time it 
 occupied in describing it, this astronomer calculatrd its orbit, and recog- 
 nized that the comet was the same as that which was admired in 1531 
 and i6o7,and which ought to have reappeared in 1759. Never did scien- 
 tific prediction e::cite a more lively interest. The comet returned at the 
 appointed time; and on the 1 2th of March, 1759, reached its perihelion. 
 Since the year 12 before the Cliristian era, it had presented itself twenty- 
 four times to the earth. It was principally from the astronomical amials 
 of China that it was possible to follow it up to this period. 
 All Einporor Torribly Frijfliti'iuMl. 
 
 Its first memorable appearance in the history of Fiance is that of 837, 
 in the reign of Louis le Debonnaire. An anonymous writer of ciironicles 
 of that time, named " the Astronomer," gives the following details of 
 this appearance, relative to the influence of the comet on the imperial 
 imagination : 
 
 During the holy days of the solemnization of l<!aster, a phenomenon ever 
 fatal and of gloomy foreboding, appeared in the heavens. As soon as the 
 Emperor, who paid attention to these phenomena, received the first an- 
 nouncement of it, he gave himself no rest until he had c.illed a certain 
 learned man and myself before him. As soon as I arrived, he anxiously 
 asked me what I thought of such a sign ; I asked time of him, in order to 
 consider the aspect of the stars, and to discover the truth by their means, 
 promising to acquaint him on the morrow ; but the Emperor, persuaded 
 that I wished to gain time, which was true, in ordiT not to be obliged to an- 
 nounce anything fatal to him, said to me : " Go on the terrace of the palace 
 and return at once to tell me what you have seen, for I did not see this 
 star last evening, and you did not point it out to me ; but I know that it is 
 a comet; tell me what you think it announces to me." Then scarcely allow- 
 ing me time to say a word, he added : " There is still another thing you 
 keep back : it is that a change of reign and the death of a prince are an- 
 nounced by this sign." And as I advanced the testimony of the projjhet, 
 who said: "Fear not the signs of the heavens as the nations fear them," 
 the prince with his grand nature and the wisdom which never forsook 
 him, said," We must only fear Him who has created both us and this star. 
 But as this phenomenon may refer to us, let us acknowledge it as a warn- 
 ing from Heaven," 
 
 The Comet Supposed to Briiiff Awful Calamities. 
 
 Louis le Debonnaire gave himself and court to fasting and prayer, and 
 built churches and monasteries. He died three years later, in 840, and 
 historians have profited by this slight coincidence to prove that the appear- 
 
854 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 ance of the comet was a harbini^or of death. The historian, Raoul Glaher. 
 added later : " These phenomena of the universe are never presented to 
 man without surely announciuLj some wonderful and terrible ex'ent." 
 
 nalle\-'s comet again apjKared in April 1066, at the moment wlun 
 William theconcjlieror in\-aded l"]ni:[land. It was pretended that it had tli • 
 greatest influence on the fate of the battle of Hastings, which delivered tiM.r 
 England to the Normans. 
 
 A contemporary poet, alluding probably to the English diadem wiih 
 whicli William was crowned, had proclaimed in one i)lace, " that the conut 
 had been more favorable to William than nature had been to Caesar; the 
 latter had no hair, but William had received some from the comet." A 
 monk of Malmesbury apcrstrophi/.ed the comet in these terms: " Here thmi 
 art again, thou cause of the tears of many i .others! It is long since I 
 ha\e seen thee, but I .see thee now, more terrible than ever ; thou thrcat- 
 enest my country with complete ruin !" 
 
 In 1455, the same comet made a more memorable appearance still. 
 The Turks anil Chri.stians were at war, the West and the Ea.st .seemed 
 armeil from head to foot — on the point of annihilating each other. Tiic 
 crusaile untiertakeii by Pope Cali.xtus III. against the invading Saracens, 
 was waged with retloublctl ardor on the sudden ai)[)earance of the star 
 with the flaming tail. Mahomet II. took Constantinople by storm aiiii 
 rai.sed the siege of Belgrade. But the I'ope ha\ing put aside both ilu 
 curse of the comet and the abominable designs of the Mussulmans, the 
 Chri.stians gained the battle, and vanquished their enemies in a hhxKly 
 fight. The . ///^.t/z/.v to the sound of bells dates from these ordinances ot 
 Cali.vtus III. referring to the comet. 
 
 Blood and Hideouts Faces. 
 
 Comets like those of 1577 appear, moreover, to justify by their strangi- 
 form the titles with which they are generally greeted. The most senoih 
 writers were not free from this terror. Thus, in a chapter on celeitiai 
 monsters, the celebrated surgeon, Ambrois Pare, described the comet of 
 1528 under the most vivid and frightful colors : "This comet was so 
 liorrible and dreadful that it engendered such great terror to the people, 
 th.it they died, some with fear, others with illness. It appeared to bcol 
 immense length, and of blood color; at its head was seen the figure of a 
 curved arm, holding a large sword in the hand as if it wished to strike. 
 At the point of the sword there were three stars, and on either side were 
 seen a gre:;'' number of hatchets, knives, and swords covered with blood, 
 amongst which were numerous hideous human faces, with bri.stling 
 beards and hair." The imagination has good eyes when it exerts itself. 
 
STRANGE WANDERERS THROUGH SPACE. 
 
 8or> 
 
 le historian, Raoul Glab-r. 
 'sc arc never prcscntccl t. > 
 il aiitl terrible event." 
 )66 at the moment win n 
 a. pretended that it had ilv 
 stings, Nvhich delivered nv.r 
 
 , the l-:n<;lish diadem ^vilh 
 Mme place, "that the conut 
 ure had been to Caesar ;Uk 
 
 some from the cc^iict." A 
 . in these terms: "Here th,m 
 
 ■others! It is loni.- snuv 1 
 :ible than ever ; thou thiv;it- 
 
 nicmorable ai)pearance ^u\\ 
 West and the Kast seunal 
 .inihilatin- each other. I Ik 
 .rainst the invadin- Saracens, 
 Klden appearance of the .la,- 
 ,:onstantinople by storm ami 
 >c having put aside b.nhtv, 
 
 a.rnsof the Mussulmans tlK 
 .d" their enemies in a blo.Hly 
 ates from these ordinances ot 
 
 Faces. 
 
 ,er to justify by their Strang. 
 
 .greeted. The most senous 
 ■^us. in a chapter on ceW.a 
 Par.', described the comet of 
 
 ioiors': "This comet xvas so 
 ch great terror to the poopk, 
 illness. It appeared to boot 
 head was seen the figure a 
 
 Und as if it wished to str.ke 
 istars.and on either side we.e 
 
 d swords covered with blood, 
 
 Ihuman faces, with br.stlnv^ 
 
 ,od eyes when it exerts itseli. 
 
 In the last century, people still believed in the terrible power of these 
 unhappy stars. In the present day, and especially since the famous 
 comet of i8i 1, country people have imagined rather that they predicted 
 excellent vintages. These ideas are as void of proof as the former. 
 Although these bodies have greatly lost their prestige, they have not 
 been entirely despoiled of it. Moreover, who could efface the impression 
 prcxluced by some of their aspects ? Often they have been considered 
 a-^ signs of curses hovering over men and empires. Such is the lamen- 
 tation of Byron in " Manfred," to whom the .seventh spirit addresses the 
 
 following words : 
 
 Tlie star which rules tliy destiny 
 Was ruled, ere earth began, 1)\ me : 
 It was a world as fresh and fair 
 As e'er revolved round snn in air : 
 Its course was (rvc and re.u;ular, 
 Space bosoiiiM not a lovelier star. 
 The hour arrived— and it became 
 A w.mderinjj mass of shajx-less flame, 
 A |)athless comet, and a curse, 
 The menace of tlie universe ; 
 .Still rollin;.; on with innate force, 
 Without a sphere, without a course, 
 A bri.i;ht deformity on higii, 
 The monster of the upper sky ! 
 
 Nevertheless, nothing proves that comets are gifted with any influence 
 whatever, we do not sa\- on the morals of men, but on the physics of the 
 world. Their lightness, the extreme diffusion of their substance, induces 
 us to believe rather that they possess no kind of action on the planets. 
 At their approach to the sun, their substance distends itself, assumes a 
 wonderful size, and develops itself over an expanse of many million 
 leagues. They are of such lightness and suppleness that a ray of heat 
 may, at its will, cause them to take any shape; you have an instance of 
 this lightness in the comet that was observed in 1862; the form and 
 position of the luminous appendages changed from day to daj- ; and 
 observers might have believed that even a portion of the substance of the 
 nucleus flowed into space 
 
 Coinet.s Duly Thin Vaixu". 
 
 I'wo thou.sand years ago, Seneca wrote: A da\- will co\uc when the 
 course of these botlies w^ill be known, and submitted to rules, like that of 
 the i)!anets. The prophecy of the philosojjher is realized. It is now 
 known that like the planets, comets gravitate i-oinul the sim, and depend 
 equally on its central attraction. Only, instead of moving in orbits, 
 cncular, or nearly so, they describe oval curves — \ery long ellipses. This 
 
I 
 
 ■■;J 
 
 856 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 is the great distinction established between them and planets. Instead of 
 
 being opaque, heavy, and important bodies hke our planets, thc\- are of 
 
 great lightness, and extreme tenuity. One day, a comet carried away 1)\ 
 
 its rapid march, traversed the system of Jupiter, the satellites and tlu 
 
 planets for some hours surrounded by the comet ; and when the body had 
 
 passed over them, they had not undergone the slightest deviation in their 
 
 path. When Maupertuis, wishing to explain the origin of Saturn's rin^^ 
 
 thought he had conceived an ingenious idea in attributing this appenda<;c 
 
 to the tail of a comet which was wound round the planet, he did not 
 
 dream of the extreme rarity of these impotent vapors. 
 
 The distinctive character of comets lies especially in the length of their 
 
 course, and in the immense duration of their journeys round the sun, 
 
 through the celestial regions. The following lines are by the poet 
 
 Conder : — 
 
 Mysterious visitant, whose beauteous light 
 Among the wondering stars so strangely gleams ! 
 Like a proud banner in the train of night, 
 The emblazon'd flag of Deity it streams- 
 Infinity is written on thy beams ; 
 And tiiought in vsin would through the pathless sky 
 Explore thy secret course. Thy circle seems 
 Too vast for Time to grasp. Oh. can that eye 
 Which numbers hosts like thee, this atom earth descry ? 
 
and planets. Instead of 
 our planets, thc>- arc ol 
 a comet carried away l)> 
 r, the satellites and the 
 ;'and when the body had 
 lightest deviation in their 
 e origin of Saturn's rin-, 
 attributing this appenda-^c 
 d the planet, he did not 
 
 apors. . 
 
 iallv in the length of their 
 
 journeys round the sun. 
 .r Unes are by the p-et 
 
 f 
 
 ght 
 
 ly gleams ! 
 ht, 
 
 s— 
 
 e pathless sky 
 ? seems 
 
 that eye 
 
 om earth descry ? 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 MONSTERS AND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 Former Belief in Astrology— Strange Fancies— Olaus Magnus and his Absurdities- 
 Droll Description of the Great Sea Serpent— The Monster Attacking a Ship- 
 Statement by a Bishop— Cooking a Meal on the Back of a Leviathan— Legendary 
 History of Trees and Plants— Trees Bearing Water- Birds— Story of a Marvehnis 
 Tree in Scotland— Belief of Scientific Men in Ridiculous Fables — Queer Light- 
 ning Rod— Cliariatans and Greenhorns — Roots of tlie Mandragora Carved into 
 Fantastic Shapes— Life Preserver of Gods and Animals — Alarming EcIips..'S. 
 
 E have seen in the preceding chapter that the human mind can 
 turn its imaginations into supposed facts, and accept alisurtlities 
 as logical conclusions. We might have enlarged upon the 
 superstitious notions regarding comets. There v.as a time 
 when celestial omens were consulted on all possible occasions, and a firm 
 belief in a.strology was common even among those who were best edu- 
 cated and most intelligent. 
 
 As evidence of this disposition to believe in the marvelous and even 
 the absurd, we give here an account of some of the strange fancies con- 
 cerning monstrous creatures which were thought to exist in the .sea. 
 Thus in a renowned work published in 1555, Olaus Magnus makes .some 
 amazing statements about the great sea-serpent, then believed to roam 
 the great deep. 
 
 The author does not rest satisfied with giving a description of this 
 creature ; he delineates it, and in his engravings we .see the reptile 
 issuing from the waves, and landing itself upon the ships in order to 
 devour the crews. Elsewhere the Bishop of Upsala represents cetacea 
 which crush ships in their formidable jaws ! 
 
 And yet though it seems incredible, our epoch, in respect to the history 
 of marine monsters, leaves the old legends of the middle ages far behind. 
 In fact it is impossible to dream of anything more fabulous than what 
 Denis de Montfort in comparatively recent times gave out as a feast for 
 the credulous. His mind mu.st really have been di.seased. 
 
 The lucubrations of this naturalist have found a place in the great 
 edition of B-'ffon's works. He there states, without the least hesitation, 
 that in the northern seas there are cutde-fish of such a size that a whale 
 is a pigmy in comj>'nson with them. According to him these moUusks 
 
 (8:>7) 
 
'I 
 
 1; 
 I 
 
 mM 
 
 J'f05 > 
 
 !'• 
 
 i. . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 8o8 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY. 
 
 arc even of such prodij^ious dimensions, that when they rest motionless 
 an<l half out of tlie water their bodies, which a<;es have covered wilh tufts 
 of marine plants, have sometimes been taken for islands floatin;^ on ilic 
 surface of the waves. It is even related in some old Scandinavian 
 chronicles that sailors, deceived by this treacherous si^n, luue been 
 kn;)wn to anchor their ships on the Hanks of these sea monsters, and land 
 on their backs. 
 
 In those times of credulity, when the life of the sailor was so full n{ 
 anxiety ;- d terror, such facts were iield to be quite authentic. Thus wo 
 see Olaus iMaL;"nus represent in one of his works a company of fishermen 
 warmini^ themselves and cookin<j^ their food at a glowinjr fire lii^ditcd on 
 the bud)- t)f one of these fantastic creatures; but the author has sketched 
 
 AN'CIKNT SE.\-SER1'KNT : FACSIMILE FROM OLAUS MAGNL'.S. 
 
 i Cetacean, not a polypus. Gesner, a zoolo_f;ist of the middle ages, seems 
 It) ijelieve such fables, for he reproduces the figure given by the lean.cd 
 Swede. 
 
 In the wide field of absurdities, Denis de Montfort display's credulit}- 
 almosi. surpassing belief. He asserts, with a strong sense of convictiuii 
 that amid these great seas there are gigantic cuttle-fish, which, by means 
 of their immense arms thickly covered with suckers, encircle ships and 
 wreck them by plunging them into the abyss. 
 
 The naturalist even attributes the inexplicable disappearance of some 
 of our shi[)s to these formidable tenants of the ocean. He is so convinced 
 of the truth i)f this fact, that he devotes one of the plates of Buffon's work 
 to the exhibition of it. We there see a monstrous cuttle-fish with tlani- 
 ing eyes, the horrible arms of which are twined round the masts of a ship 
 
MONSTF-RS AND SUPHRSTITIONS. 
 
 8.j9 
 
 icn they rest motionless 
 
 is have covered with tutts 
 
 r islands floatin-,' nn the 
 
 some old Samdinavian 
 
 herons sii,^, ha\e V)ccn 
 
 ■a monsters, and land 
 
 cse sea 
 
 of the sailor was so full -f 
 quite authentic. Thus uc 
 •ks a company of fishermen 
 It a glowing fire li-htcd ..a 
 )ut the author has sketched 
 
 Ir'.)M OLAL-S MAGNUS. 
 
 list of the middle a-es, socms 
 figure given by the learr.ed 
 
 Montfort displa>-s credulity 
 
 I. strong sense of convict.on, 
 
 cuttle-fish, which, by moan. 
 
 suckers, encircle ships and 
 
 cable disappearance of some 
 , ocean. He is so convinced 
 [f the plates of r,urron's\vork 
 
 Utrous cuttle-fish with nam- 
 ed round the masts of a ^hip 
 
 of war. which they are tightly straining;, svhile the animal looks as if it 
 would tlexou.' it. 
 
 Trees themselves and plants, notwithstanding their calm and peaceful 
 life p '<sed in the broad light of day, have still their legendar\- hi,stor>- and 
 their superstitious traditions. Some have become celebrated on acc(nnit 
 of the strange animatetl progeny which lias been attributed to their leafy 
 t"ps ; others for their nietlical or cabalistic power. Rou^-^eau c<Mn- 
 plained that plants had been defiled by traiisforniinL,^ th.em into tlis-usting 
 remedies. We should be more correct in accusiiv^- those w ho attribute 
 ridiculous virtues to them. 
 
 Se\eial water-birds were long considered to be the protlucc of certain 
 trees wliich grow in the marshes or borders of the sea. Our credulous 
 
 MONSTER .'\TTACKING A SHIP: FROM OLAUS MAONL'S. 
 
 forefathers were persuaded that there was one of these growing in Scot- 
 land or the Orkneys, the fruits of which, as large as eggs and ha\ ing the 
 same shape, opened at maturity and allowed each little duck to escai)e. 
 
 The vulgar would not have dared to doubt such a fact, for it was 
 quoted b\- the most renowned scholars. Sebastian ]\Iunster attests the 
 truth <.f it in his great work on " Cosmogra[)hy." 
 
 " We find," he says, " trees in Scotland which produce a fruit einel- 
 oped in leaves, and when it droi)s into tlie water at a suitable time, it 
 takes life and is turned into a live bird, which they call a tree-bird." In 
 order to produce a still fuller proof, the writer himself gives a drawing 
 ot it! We see the young ducks opening the fruits in order to escape, 
 whilst the newly-hatched ones swim in the water near at hand ! 
 
 But the case becomes still more serious when we see the must learned 
 
860 
 
 EARTH, SEA, AND SKY, 
 
 .^^i^ 
 
 W:^. 
 
 U 
 
 f¥ 
 
 ornithologist of his time, Aldrovandus, propagate such ridiculous fables 
 in his great work. He there maintains that sea-ducks are the product of 
 certain trees, and he even represents these with the fruits wliich they bear. 
 But by an unpardonable error for a naturalist, these pretended fruits from 
 which the birds are issuing are only barnacles, crustaceans which live at 
 the bottom of the sea, and with which he nevertheless overloads the 
 miraculous boughs! After this one may well ask, which is the most 
 censurable — the sax-ant who transcribes such absurdities, or the public 
 who believe in them ? 
 
 Some olants have also become celebrated in the annals of charlatanism. 
 There were plants that warded off evil, plants that caused injury, and 
 magical plants. Antiquity possessed a long list of these, and we have 
 not fallen behind it. 
 
 On one side we find a venerated plant, the St, John's-wort. which, 
 
 MARINE dragon: FROM MAGNUS. 
 
 gathered at the moment pointed out by the legend and hung over the 
 outer door, preserved the house from lightning. On the other was a 
 long list of cabalistic plants, among which the thorn-apple, ought to be 
 mentioned in the first rank. This was the frightful poison which sorcerers 
 made use of to intoxicate their senses. 
 
 But no magical herb ever enjoyed more c jlebrity than the mandrake, 
 an indispensable ingredient in all the philtres employed by the old sor- 
 cerers. Antiquitv l.dJ already conducted us to this dark road, by main- 
 taining that the roots of this plant were of human form. To speak the 
 truth, they ia no way resemble a man, but the credulity of the learned 
 and the astuteness of charlatanism have supplied what was requisite to 
 give a certain amount of credulity to the opinions of the ancients. It 
 was after they had rudely shaped themselves into human likeness that the 
 magicians employed them in their incantations, and it was also under 
 this form that the vulgar thought they were found at the foot of gibbets 
 
L^ttUBUa 
 
 MONSTERS AND SUF^KRSTITIONS. 
 
 861 
 
 such ridiculous fables 
 icks are the product of 
 
 fruits which they bear. 
 ,e pretended fruits from 
 ustaceans which live at 
 crtheless overloads the 
 isk, which is the most 
 surdities, or the public 
 
 ; annals of charlatanism, 
 that caused injury, and 
 t of these, and we have 
 
 St. John's-wort. which, 
 
 -fc) 
 
 (T. 
 
 INUS. 
 
 isend and hung over the 
 
 On the other was a 
 
 horn-apple, ought to be 
 
 ul poison which sorcerers 
 
 prity than the mandrake, 
 Lployed by the old sor- 
 
 this dark road, by mam- 
 nan form. To speak the 
 
 credulity of the learned 
 i:d what was requisite to 
 [ions of the ancients. It 
 V, human likeness that the 
 
 [s, and it was also under 
 md at the foot of gibbets 
 
 where, after having fed on the remains of those who had suffered punish- 
 ment, they had taken on tlieir shape. The tenants of a place so sinister 
 and so dreaded could not be removed without great danger. The learned 
 themselves did not attempt to destroy so many absurdities, for in their 
 works they sometimes represent mandrakes which resembled men and 
 women, for there were some of both sexes. They possessed die s.ime 
 power as the enchanted philtres of Circe, to which Pliny and Diosco- 
 ndes had given tl. ■ ; name. 
 
 A charming little plant, all covered with hairs, which abounds on the 
 slopes of Mount Ida, the dictamnus of Crete, was formerly considered 
 the most marvelous vul- 
 nerary that nature ever 
 presented to man. The 
 gods themselves had re- 
 vealed its omnipotence to 
 him, and animals instinct- 
 ively made use of it. It 
 was with this dictamnus 
 that Venus dressed the 
 wounds of /Eneas. Aris- 
 totle tells us that t!^'' gi iMts 
 scattered over the cele- 
 brated mountain, so soon 
 as the hunter has pierced 
 them with an arrow, seek 
 out the plant and eat it in 
 order to make the arrow the bird-tree : f.ac-simile from munster's 
 drop out, and so to heal " cosmography." 
 
 the wound. Half a century ago, who would have dared to deny such a 
 wonderful property, when at that time a noble work on Greece contained 
 a long chapter on the virtues of the divine vulnerary, and when, in ad- 
 dition to this, the reader might see an engraving representing a goat 
 pierced with arrows and browsing upon the salutary herb? In this 
 way, unfortunately, did the authority of the learned retard and fetter the 
 progress of truth. 
 
 However simple the cause of eclipses may be, now that it is known — 
 and known causes are always so simple, that one asks why they were 
 never known before — however easy this explanation appears, for a long 
 time the human race was astonished at the passing absence of the sun's 
 light during the day ; for a long time it felt full of fear and disquietude 
 

 ill 
 
 
 ;r 
 
 J.'*w 
 
 802 
 
 KARTM. SKA, AND SKY. 
 
 hffore this unexplained wonder. The Hi^dit of day was rapidl\- ilimin- 
 ishetl, anil suddenly disapjx ihout the sky bein;^' ilarkened by aii\ 
 
 cloud. iJaikness instead ol .if^.u, stars shinin^f in the sk)-, nature seeni- 
 in^f surprised and astonished ; the combination of these unusual events i> 
 more than sufficient to c.\i)lain the momentar\' terror with which indixi.j- 
 uals, and indeed, whole nations, allowed themselves to be carried awa\- in 
 these solenni moments. 
 
 Hy reason of the moon's rapid motion, a total eclipse never lasts lon<,aT 
 than five minutes; but this short period is sufficient to allow a thousand 
 sentiments to succeed each other in the terrified mind. The tlisappear- 
 ance of the li^^ht of the moon, sometimes causetl ^reat trouble to i^LjniM- 
 
 ant minds ; with how much mure 
 reason would the disappearance of 
 the orb of da>- cause disciuietutlc 
 and fear ! 
 
 History is full of the e.\ami)!c.s 
 of fear caused by eclipses, and dan- 
 gers caused throuj^di it^norance aiii! 
 superstition. Xicias had resoKed 
 to lea\-e .Sicily with his ami)'; but, 
 frightened by an eclipse of the 
 moon, and wishing to delay se\ era] 
 days, to assure himself if our satel- 
 Hte had lost nothing after this 
 event, he missed the opportunity 
 of retreat: his army was deslro\-c(.l. 
 he himself perished, and this mis- 
 fortune commenced the ruin of 
 Athens. 
 
 Often it has been seen that clever men have taken advantage of peo- 
 ple's terror during eclipses, either of the sun or the moon, to gain their 
 wishes. Christopher Columbus, reduced to sustaining his soldiers on the 
 voluntary gifts of a savage and poor nation, and nearly losing this re- 
 source and perishing with hunger, gave out that he was about to de- 
 prive the world of the moon's light. The eclipse began, terror seized the 
 Indians, and they returned, bringing to the feet of Columbus the accus- 
 tomed tribute. 
 
 Drusus appeased a sedition in his army by predicting an eclipse of the 
 moon ; and, according to Livy, Tulpitius Callus, in the war of Paulus 
 Emilius against Perseus, u-ed the same stratagem. Pericles, Agathocles, 
 
 TREE PRODUCING SEA-DUCKS. 
 
MONSTF.RS ASD SITERSTFTIONS. 
 
 mil 
 
 lay was rapicU)- dimin- 
 bcin- darkened by aiu 
 hi the sky. nature seeni- 
 " these unusual events i> 
 rror with which indivi.l- 
 cs to lie carried away in 
 
 L'chpse never lasts lon-^er 
 icnt to allow a thousand 
 I tuind. The disapi^'i'- 
 A .^reat trouble to i-nor- 
 s; ''with how much nimv 
 ould the disappearance ■ t 
 of day cause disquietude 
 
 ry is full of the exaniplw^ 
 ausedbyeclipscs,anddan- 
 
 sedthrou<,diit;norancean.> 
 
 tion. Nicias had resohcd 
 ■ Sicily with his army; bui. 
 led by an eclipse of the 
 nd wishinii to delay several 
 assure himself if our satel- 
 ^ lost nothing after this 
 , niissed the opportunity 
 at- his army was destroyed, 
 ;clf perished, and this mis- 
 commenced the rum of 
 
 taken advantage of peo- 
 31- the moon, to gain their 
 .staining his soldiers on the 
 md nearly losing this rc- 
 that he was about to dc- 
 hse began, terror seized the 
 It of Columbus the accus- 
 
 Iredicting an eclipse of tk 
 luus, in the war of Pau us 
 lem Pericles, Agathocles, 
 
 king of Syracu'-e, and Dionysius, king of Sicily, nearly fell victims to the 
 ignorance of their soKliers. Alexamler, near Arbclla. w.is oljli^i.,! to u>e 
 all his skill to calm the tenor that an eclipse hail ca:-t o\er histioops. 
 1 luis it is that sujjerior men, rather than sink untler the circumstances 
 which oppress them, exert their art to turn them to their profit. 
 
 How man\- fables were built on the idea that eclipses were the effect of 
 lJi\ine wratli, which avenged the iniquiiies of man l)y depriving him <f 
 light I Sometimes Diana sought I'".nd)-mion in the mountains of L'aiia; 
 sometimes the magicians of Thessaly caused the moon to fall on the 
 herbs destined for enchantment. 
 
 Now it is a dragon which devi)urs the sun, and whole iiati<ins seek to 
 frighten it awa)' by cries; or it is supposed that (iod hold> the sun en- 
 closed in a tube, and hides or shows u> the light b)' mean^ of a sluiUer. 
 The priv^ress of 
 
 
 science has proved 
 the absurdit)' of || 
 these opinions and imwSHM'.fci; .'■; 
 fears, since it is 
 known to lie possi- 
 ble to calculate by 
 astronomical ta- 
 bles, and to [iredict 
 a long time before- 
 hand, the instant carved mandkacora roots. 
 when the wrath of heaven will burst forth. Science is the sure death of 
 superstition. 
 
 Biot gi\'es us very curious details on the rites which piesidetl ami 
 which still preside over th'. observation of the eclipses in tiie Cele^tial 
 Empire. The Emperor is considered to be the son of hca\en ; and with 
 this title his government ought to present the picture of the immutal)le 
 order which governs the celestial mo\ements. When the two great lum- 
 inaries — the sun and the moon — instead of following their own routes 
 scparatel\-, cross each other's paths, tl'.e regularity of the order of the 
 heavens appears to be upset; and the disturbance which is there mani- 
 fested must have its likeness, as well as the cause, in the disorders of the 
 goxernment of the Emperor. An eclipse of the sun was then considered 
 as a warning gi\-en by Heaven to the Emperor to examine his faults and 
 correct them. When this phenomenon was announced beforehand by the 
 npointed astronomer, the emperors and grandees of this court prepared 
 themselves by fasting, and dressing in the plainest garments. 
 
V' 
 
 8(J1 
 
 T-ARTII, SKA, AND SKY 
 
 Vw ',11 
 
 On this appointed tlay the luand.irins attended at the pahiee with bows 
 and arrows. When the eclipse coniiii need, tlie I^mperor himself beat 
 on the drum of thunder to give the alarm; and at the same time the 
 mandarins let fly their arrows towards the sky to aid the eclipsed bocI\ . 
 Gaubil quotes these particulars from the ancient Hook of Rites, and the 
 principals are announced in the Tcheou-li, After this, the discontent 
 that would be caused by an eclipse not taking place at the time predicted 
 may be imagined ; and likewise if one suddenly appeared without beinLj 
 predicted. In the first case, the whole ceremonial was found to have 
 been uselessly prepared ; and the desperate efforts which, in consequence 
 of the want of preparation, were made in the second case, inevitably pro- 
 duced a disorderly scene compromising to the imperial majesty. Such 
 errors, although so easily made, placed the poor astronomers in dan<^cr 
 of losing their goods, their office, their honor, and sometimes their life. 
 Such a disgrace happened in the year 721 of our era: the Emperor 
 Hiouen-Tsong sent for a bonze Chinese, called Y-Hanjr, renowned for 
 his knowledge of astronomy. After having shown himself •ery learned, 
 he had the misfortune to predict two eclipses of the sun, which were 
 ordered to be observed throughout the whole Empire. But no one saw 
 anywhere on the appointed days any trace of an eclipse, although the 
 sky was almost everywhere serene. To clear himsilf he published a 
 work, in which he pretended that his calculation was exact, but that 
 heaven had changed its rules of movement — doubtless in consideration 
 of the high virtues of the Emperor. Thanks to his reputation, otherwise 
 deserved — perhaps, also, to his flattery — he was pardoned. 
 
 ■ The same ideas on the importance and signification of the moon and 
 sun which existed with the Chinese more than four thousand years ago, 
 remain at the present day, and are still powerful, causing the same 
 demands ; but they have become less perilous for astronomers, as these 
 phenomena are now predicted several years in advance, with a mathema- 
 tical certainty, in the great ephemerides of Europe and America, which 
 can easily be procured. 
 
 ; ^r- 
 
)KY. 
 
 clecl at the palace with bow^ 
 , the I'^mpcror himself boat 
 
 and at the same time the 
 :y to aid the eclipsed bod) . 
 lent I?c)ok of Rites, and the 
 
 After this, the discontent 
 y place at the time predicted 
 nly appeared without bcin;^' 
 imonial was found to have 
 fforts which, in consequence 
 second case, inevitably pro- 
 he imperial majesty. Such 
 poor astronomers in danger 
 r, and sometimes their life. 
 I of our era: the Emperor 
 ,l!ed Y-Han<r, renowned for 
 shown himself »^ery learned, 
 Dses of the sun, which were 
 e Empire. But no one saw 
 of an eclii)se. although the 
 ear himself he published a 
 :uiation was exact, but that 
 —doubtless in consideration 
 1 to his reputation, otherwise 
 was pardoned, 
 crnifieation of the moon and 
 an four thousand years ago, 
 powerful, causing the same 
 us for astronomers, as the?e 
 in advance, with a mathema- 
 Europe and America, which