UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 8423
 
 I 
 
 THE MAUVAIS PAS
 
 IVES 
 
 - LABOUR 
 
 
 
 T NELSON AND SONS. 
 
 LONDON, EDINBURGH AKO SEVT YOJIX
 
 LIVES OF LABOUR; 
 
 Jncibcute in the Career of (Eminent Naturalists anfo 
 Celebrated TTrabellera. 
 
 C. L. \RHKIHTWELL, 
 
 " ABOVK KUB1KS," ETC. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTEK KOW 
 EDINBUKGH; AND XK\V VUKK. 
 
 1872.
 
 LINN/EUS NAMING THE FLOWERS, ... ... ... ... 
 
 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND WANDERINGS OP LE VAILLANT, ... 20 
 
 5 SCENES IN THE LIFE OF AUDUBON, ... ... ... ... 41 
 
 cn 
 
 * VOYAGES OF FRANCOIS PERON, THE ZOOLOGIST, ... ... ... 02 
 
 BAYARD TAYLOR IN THE "NORTHERN LAND," ... ... ... 78 
 
 ft ADANSON'S EXPERIENCE AMONG THE NEGROES, . . sr> 
 m 
 
 J35 LABOURS OF PIERRE LYONNET, THE ENTOMOLOGIST, ... ... 98 
 
 INCIDENTS IN THE LIVES OF LATREILLE AND D'lSJOUVIL, ... ... 103 
 
 INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF SONNINI, ... ... ... ... Ill 
 
 A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF JOHN SWAMMERDAM, ... ... ... 12(5 
 
 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT, ... ... ... ... ... 139 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF JOSEPH DOMBEY, THE BOTANIST, ... ... 157 
 
 AN INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF DUFRESNOY, ... ... ... 173 
 
 ADVENTURES OF A MISSIONARY NATURALIST IN THE NICOBAR 
 
 ISLANDS, ... ... ... ... ... ... 177 
 
 PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF JOHN SIBTHORP, ... ... ... 192 
 
 PAGES FROM THE ABBE DOMENECH'S DIARY, ... ... ... 201 
 
 CAPTAIN MA YNE REID AND THE QUICKSAND, ... ... ... 215 
 
 PERILOUS ADVENTURE OF BISHOP STANLEY IN AN ALPINE PASS, ... 225 
 
 VISIT OF M. HUC TO THE LAMASERY OF KOUNBOUM, ... ... 241 
 
 356709
 
 ^Taming the Jjlotoer. 
 
 " The Swedish sage admires, in yonder bowers, 
 His winged insects and his rosy flowers; 
 Calls from their savage haunts the woodland train 
 With sounding horn, and counts them on the plain : 
 So once, at Heaven's command, the wanderers came 
 To Eden's shade, and heard their various name." CAMPBELL. 
 
 T is pleasant to trace the steps of a genius 
 like Linnaeus going over completely new 
 ground in the wide field of natural his- 
 tory ; classing and naming birds, insects, 
 and flowers, oftentimes according to a system which 
 his own ingenuity and penetration had devised to 
 supply the deficiencies of former naturalists. An 
 active examination of the minuter parts of the 
 object under his consideration frequently enabled 
 him to arrive at a juster conclusion as to the order 
 or genus to which it belonged than others who had 
 preceded him ; and sometimes, after having with 
 indefatigable industry ascertained these points, he 
 indulged himself in combining with his new dis- 
 covery associations of friendship or of historical or 
 classical allusion. After this fashion he honoured
 
 10 NAMING THE FLOWERS. 
 
 several of his patrons and pupils.* Thus the Celsia 
 was so called after Celsui, one of his earliest benefac- 
 tors ; and the Kalmia, now so well known in our 
 gardens, commemorated his friendship for Professor 
 Kalm, his pupil and fellow-labourer. In his " Cri- 
 tica Botanica" he observes, concerning this habit of 
 the appropriation of celebrated names to the genera 
 of plants, that " a proper connection should be 
 observed between the habits and appearance of 
 the plant and the name from which it has its 
 derivations;" and as an emblem of himself he 
 chose the Linncea borealis, which he described as 
 " a little northern plant, flowering early, depressed, 
 abject, and long overlooked." It was gathered by 
 him at Lycksele, May 29, 1732. It is common in 
 
 * It may not be generally known that tlie botanical name for 
 the genus of plants which includes the Peruvian bark is Cinchona, 
 so called by Linnaeus in grateful remembrance of the lady to 
 whom we are indebted for the discovery of this precious febrifuge. 
 The Countess del Cinchon, the wife of a Spanish viceroy, being 
 attacked by fever during her residence in Peru, determined to try 
 the skill of the native herbalists, who cured her by the use of this 
 medicine, which, on her return to Spain in 1632, she hastened to 
 introduce to the notice of the Spanish physicians. Among others, 
 she mentioned it to Cardinal Lugo, who carried it to Rome in 
 1649. Its efficacy was soon universally known throughout Eu- 
 rope ; and the Jesuits, hastening to appropriate to themselves the 
 credit of the discovery, procured the transmission of large quan- 
 tities of the drug, which soon obtained the name of " The Jesuits' 
 Powder." Sebastian Badus, physician to the Cardinal Lugo, has 
 related all these facts in an excellent treatise, which he published 
 at Geneva in 1661.
 
 THE LINN^IA BOREALIS. 11 
 
 West Bothnia, and in almost all the great northern 
 forests ; but it may be easily overlooked, because 
 it grows only where the woods are thickest, and its 
 delicate twin-blossoms are almost hid among the 
 moss, and interwoven with ivy. Their smell resem- 
 bles that of the meadow-sweet, and is so strong 
 during the night as to discover the plant at a con- 
 siderable distance. 
 
 When he received his patent of nobility, Lin- 
 nseus adopted this floweret as a part of his crest 
 the helmet which surmounts the arms of his family 
 being adorned with a sprig of Linnsea. One of 
 those pupils who visited distant countries to add 
 to the collections of his great master, sent from 
 China a service of porcelain, manufactured pur- 
 posely for him, having a representation of this 
 plant as its only decoration ; and the Cardinal de 
 Noailles erected a cenotaph in his garden to the 
 memory of the naturalist, and planted the Linnsea 
 by its side as its most appropriate ornament. What 
 lover of flowers but will regard with interest this 
 little flower of the north, for the sake of him whose 
 name it bears ? * 
 
 For classical allusion and romantic feeling, a 
 more striking example cannot be given than the 
 
 * The two-flowered Linnsea was first discovered in this country 
 in a wood at Mearns, on the borders of Aberdeenshire, in 1795. 
 It has since been found in similar stations in the Highlands 01 
 other borders.
 
 12 A VEGETABLE PROTOTYPE. 
 
 naming of the Andromeda polifolia. In traversing 
 the uncultivated wilds of Lycksele-Lapland, whi- 
 ther, while yet a young man, Linnaeus was sent by 
 the Royal Society of the University of Upsal on a 
 tour of scientific research, he found this plant in 
 great abundance, decorating the marshy grounds 
 with its delicate blossoms. It is a beautiful little 
 flower, somewhat resembling one of the heaths 
 (Erica Dabcecia) ; the buds are of a blood-red 
 colour before they expand, but when full-blown 
 the corolla is of a flesh colour. In contemplating 
 the delicate blossoms of the chamce daphne, as it 
 was then called, the imaginative mind of the natu- 
 ralist was struck by a fancied resemblance in the 
 appearance and circumstances of this plant to the 
 story of Andromeda, as related by the ancient 
 poets. " A maiden of exquisite beauty, chained to 
 a rock amid the sea, and exposed to monsters and 
 venomous serpents. This lovely little flower," he 
 said, " is her vegetable prototype. Scarcely any 
 painter could so happily imitate the beauty of a 
 fine female complexion, still less could any arti- 
 ficial colour upon the face bear any comparison 
 with this sweet bloom. I find it always fixed 
 upon some turfy hillock amid the swamps, and its 
 roots bathed by their waters. In these marshy and 
 solitary places, toads and venomous reptiles abound ; 
 and just as in the case of Andromeda, Perseus
 
 PERSEUS AND ANDROMEDA. 13 
 
 comes to deliver her from her dangers, by chasing 
 away her foes, so does the summer, like another 
 Perseus, arrive, and, drying up the waters that 
 inundate the plant, chase away all her aquatic 
 enemies ; and then she carries her head (the cap- 
 sule), which before had drooped pensively, erect, 
 and displays her beauties to the sun." Pleased 
 with tl>3 idea, he chose for this flower which 
 formed a new genus in the botanical system he 
 was then arranging the name of Andromeda. 
 
 Linnaeus visited England in the year 1736. No- 
 thing has been preserved of his observations 
 respecting the natural history of this country ; but 
 there is a tradition which has spread far and wide, 
 that when he for the first time beheld the bright 
 golden blossoms of the gorse or furze on the broad- 
 spreading commons near London, especially Put- 
 ney Heath, so great was his delight that he fell on 
 his knees in a rapture at the sight. He was always 
 an admirer of this plant, and vainly tried to pre- 
 serve it through a Swedish winter in his green- 
 house. Perhaps some of my readers may share 
 with me his preference for a flower whose sweet, 
 honey-like odour fills the air, imparting delight, 
 while its brilliant bloom entertains the eye, which 
 might otherwise perchance weary of the monotony 
 of those bleak and level places which are its chosen 
 habitat.
 
 H A PLEASING ANECDOTE. 
 
 It has been said that the poetical allusions and 
 the elegancies of style observable in the writings 
 of Linnaeus, have done as much to recommend the 
 study of botany, and to establish his own celebrity, 
 as his more serious labours. Be this as it may, it 
 is indisputable that to the influence exerted by this 
 great genius is owing much of the proficiency of 
 the Swedish nation in the study of natural history. 
 " In Sweden," says Sir J. E. Smith, when recom- 
 mending natural science to the rising generation, 
 " natural history is the study of the schools, by 
 which men rise to preferment ;" and that most 
 entertaining of travellers, Dr Clarke, has borne 
 testimony to the zeal with which he found this 
 branch of science pursued by men of various classes 
 in that country. He has related a pleasing anec- 
 dote in point, which will not, perhaps, be inappro- 
 priate here. Arrived at Tornea, at the northern 
 extremity of the Gulf of Bothnia, Dr Clarke sent 
 to the apothecary of the place for a few jars of the 
 conserved dwarf Arctic raspberry. He had observed 
 " this rare plant" in the woods, near the shore 
 where he landed, and found it bearing the first 
 ripe fruit he had seen upon it. The flavour of its 
 berries he thought finer even than that of the haut- 
 boy strawberry, and equal in size to those of our 
 common raspberry-trees ; but the " plant so diminu- 
 tive that an entire tree, with all its branches,
 
 AN EXTRAORDINARY YOUTH. 15 
 
 leaves, and fruit, was placed in a phial holding 
 about six ounces of alcohol." The fruit is annually 
 collected and preserved, being used as a sauce with 
 meat and in soups ; and wishing to send some to his 
 friends in England, Dr Clarke purchased a few jars 
 on reaching the town of Tornea. They were 
 brought by a boy without shoes or stockings, who, 
 having executed his errand, was observed to cast a 
 longing eye towards some books of specimens of 
 plants which lay on the table ready for arrange- 
 ment. To the surprise of the travellers, he named 
 every one of them as fast as they were shown him, 
 giving to each its appropriate Linnsean appellation. 
 They found, on inquiry, that this extraordinary 
 youth was the son of a poor widow, who had placed 
 him an apprentice under this apothecary. His 
 master had himself a turn for natural history ; 
 nevertheless, he did not choose that his young 
 pupil should leave the pestle and mortar to run 
 after botanical specimens. " It interrupted," he 
 said (and probably with sufficient reason), "the 
 business of the shop." The consequence was, that 
 the lad had secretly carried on his studies, snatch- 
 ing every hour he could spare to ramble, barefooted, 
 in search of a new plant or insect, which he care- 
 fully concealed from his master, who at length, by 
 accident, discovered his boxes of insects, which he 
 unscrupulously appropriated to his own use, ex-
 
 16 "LITTLE PYPPON." 
 
 hibiting them in his shop window as of his own 
 collecting ! These facts interested Dr Clarke and 
 his companions so much in behalf of the poor little 
 Pyppon (for that was his name), that they showed 
 him much kindness, procuring him some hours of 
 relaxation from his toils, and giving him some 
 English needles for bis insects, and a few similar 
 trifles, which 'appeared to him an invaluable trea- 
 sure. Not unfrequently during their short stay 
 they had recourse to him for what they required ; 
 and on one occasion, having told him that a rather 
 rare plant was said to grow in that neighbourhood, 
 but that they had failed to discover it, scarcely were 
 the words uttered when he ran off, fast as his legs 
 could carry him, and soon returned, bringing in his 
 hand two or three specimens of the plant. 
 
 Before they left the place, the kind-hearted 
 travellers resolved to give him a pleasure at part- 
 ing, and prevailed on the apothecary to allow him 
 to accompany them to the fair at Kiemi. The poor 
 child had never, during six years, been farther 
 from his master's door than an occasional summer 
 scamper after his favourite studies ; and his delight 
 was unbounded, especially when he was shown the 
 well-selected herbarium of the clergyman at Kiemi. 
 But the hour of separation from his kind stranger 
 friends came all too soon, and "little Pyppon," 
 shedding abundance of tears, bade them farewell,
 
 AN INCLINATION FOR SCIENCE. 17 
 
 making this touching request at parting " If you 
 should remember me when you arrive in your own 
 country, send me Drosera longifolia ; I am told it 
 is a common plant in England." This Drosera is 
 the sundew, that well-known ornament of our 
 mossy bogs, which grows on the borders of ponds 
 and rivulets in moorland districts. Its beauty 
 consists in the form and appearance of the leaves, 
 which proceed immediately from the root, and 
 spread over the surface of the ground, each plant 
 forming a little circular plot of green, cup-shaped 
 leaves, thickly fringed with hairs of a deep rose 
 colour. These hairs support small drops or globules 
 of a transparent dew, which continues even in the 
 hottest part of the day, and in the fullest exposure 
 to the sun. 
 
 To return to Linnaeus. It is evident that he 
 was never so entirely happy as when searching 
 into the secret and hidden properties and workings 
 of nature. Hence, we are told, he reckoned it 
 among the choicest favours vouchsafed him by 
 Providence that he had been " inspired with an 
 inclination for science so passionate" as to become 
 the source of highest delight to him. This diligent 
 and minute observation was continually adding to 
 his knowledge and imparting some fresh light in 
 the study he loved. It is interesting to see him 
 carefully noting the observations he had personally
 
 18 INVISIBLE FLOWERS. 
 
 made, and gradually perfecting his theories and 
 systems. " He led a very active and bustling life," 
 says one who visited him at Upsala. " I never 
 saw him at leisure ; even his walks had for their 
 object discoveries in natural history." On one 
 occasion he had received the seed of a rare plant 
 which he was anxious to rear. He suceeded in his 
 object ; the plant bore two flowers. Delighted with 
 them, he desired the gardener to take especial care 
 of them ; and two days after, returning home late 
 in the evening, he eagerly went to the garden to 
 see how they were thriving ; but they were not to 
 be found. The next night the same thing oc- 
 curred. In the morning the flowers reappeared, 
 fresh and beautiful as ever. The gardener sup- 
 posed them to be new ones, as he had not been 
 able to find them the two previous evenings. The 
 attention of Linnaeus was immediately caught, and 
 he visited for the third time at nightfall his fugi- 
 tive flowers. They were once more invisible ; but 
 he found them at last, deeply wrapped up in and 
 entirely covered by the leaves. This discovery 
 stimulated his curiosity, and he visited his gardens 
 and hothouses in the night-time, lantern in hand, 
 desirous of observing minutely the condition of 
 the plants under the influence of darkness. He 
 found the greater part of the flowers contracted 
 and concealed, and the vegetable kingdom almost
 
 A VEGETABLE TIMEPIECE. 19 
 
 entirely in a dormant state. From these facts he 
 formed his theory of the sleep of plants, and 
 proved that it occurred at regular periods, like 
 that of animals. This discovery gave him the idea 
 of forming a sort of vegetable timepiece, in which 
 the hours of the day were marked by the opening 
 and closing of certain flowers ; and in the same 
 manner he formed a rural calendar for the regula- 
 tion of the labours of husbandry. The tables in this 
 " Calendariurn Florae," as it was designated, were 
 formed from observations made on the common 
 plants of Sweden, in the garden at Upsala, in 1755. 
 Mrs Hemans' pretty lines on this subject may pro- 
 bably recur to the mind of the reader : 
 
 " 'Twas a lovely thought to mark the hours, 
 As they floated in light away, 
 By the opening and the folding flowers 
 That laugh in the summer's day. 
 Yet is not life, in its real flight, 
 Mark'd thus even thus on earth, 
 By the closing of one hope's delight 
 And another's gentle birth ? 
 Oh ! let us live so that flower by flower, 
 Shutting in turn, may leave 
 A lingerer still for the sunset hour 
 A charm for the shaded eve."
 
 -Sketch of the gife stub cugUnbcrings of ge ISaiUant. 
 
 OW tenaciously does memory retain her 
 hold on the pleasures of our early days ! 
 The scenes, the events, and the people 
 in whom we then took delight, are ever 
 after remembered with peculiar satisfaction. And 
 this is especially, perhaps, the case with reference 
 to the books which afforded us entertainment then; 
 there are never any pages so fresh and so life-like 
 to our feelings as those. My readers may probably 
 recall to mind many such favourites of their youth ; 
 it is the case with myself. Among others, I still 
 retain an agreeable reminiscence of Le Vaillant's 
 Travels, a book which, it has been well remarked, 
 excels in the graphic power and life of its descrip- 
 tions which give them, indeed, all the charm of 
 romance. His accounts of birds are such as could 
 only be supplied by one with whom it was a pas- 
 sion to follow them into their most secluded 
 haunts, and watch all their actions ; while his per- 
 sonal narrative is a sincere and faithful record of
 
 LE VAILLANT'S BIRTH-PLACE. 21 
 
 his impressions of the things he saw. The author 
 delineates himself in his pages so unreservedly 
 and so unconsciously, in his eagerness, buoyancy, 
 enterprise, vanity, and warmth of affection, as 
 well as unbounded enthusiasm, that he makes you 
 his confidant and enlists your sympathies. 
 
 Like Audubon, Le Vaillant has prefaced his 
 work by an autobiographical sketch of his early 
 days; and it is so entertaining and natural that the 
 reader will be pleased to have a considerable part 
 of it given in his own words. 
 
 He was born in 1753, at Paramaribo, in Dutch 
 Guiana, where his father, a rich merchant and 
 native of Metz, was French consul. 
 
 He thus describes the place of his birth : " That 
 part of Guiana under the government of the Dutch 
 West India Company is perhaps the least known 
 to naturalists, though it is, without dispute, of all 
 South America, the spot that offers the greatest 
 variety of curious productions. On the left shore, 
 three leagues from the sea, stands Paramaribo, the 
 capital of this vast colony, which is my native 
 country, the cradle of my infancy. Born of well- 
 educated parents, who delighted in collecting the 
 interesting and precious objects that enrich this 
 country, I enjoyed from my boyhood the contem- 
 plation of a valuable cabinet, of which I shall 
 hereafter have occasion to speak.
 
 22 EARLY PLEASUKES. 
 
 /' From my earliest days my parents, who could 
 not live without me, and were often undertaking 
 tedious journeys to the farthest part of the colony, 
 took me with them. Thus my first steps were in 
 the desert, and I was almost born a savage. When 
 reason began to dawn, my inclinations soon mani- 
 fested themselves, and my parents aided to their 
 utmost these first indications of curiosity. Under 
 such good preceptors, I daily enjoyed fresh pleasures 
 aiforded by those natural objects to which all my 
 studies pointed. 
 
 " Soon a desire of imitation, the favourite passion 
 of infancy, gave impetuosity, I might say impa- 
 tience, to my amusements. Flattered by self-love, 
 I imagined I likewise ought to have a cabinet of 
 natural history ; and without loss of time declared 
 war against caterpillars, butterflies, scarabaei, and, 
 in a word, all sorts of insects. 
 
 " Thus everyday I saw raj collection of specimens 
 accumulate, which I valued beyond measure, as 
 they were all of my own procuring. So far it was 
 all enjoyment, and I had not yet felt the obstacles 
 that present themselves between enterprise and suc- 
 cess. In one of our excursions we had killed a mon- 
 key. It was a female, and carried a young one on 
 her back, which was not wounded. We took them 
 both up, and on our return to the plantation the 
 young one had not yet left the back of its mother,
 
 LE VAIUANT AMONG THE BIRDS
 
 AX UNWORTHY PUPIL. 23 
 
 holding so fast that I was obliged to get the assist- 
 ance of a negro to separate them ; which we had 
 no sooner effected than, with the swiftness of a 
 bird, he darted to a block, on which was a wig of 
 my father's, and, clinging round it, appeared satis- 
 fied. I therefore let him remain there, feeding 
 him with goat's milk. He continued in this situa- 
 tion for three weeks, when he abandoned his nurse, 
 and became, by his tricks and merry conceits, the 
 friend of the family. 
 
 " I had, without suspicion, placed the wolf in the 
 sheepfold ; for one morning as I entered my apart- 
 ment, the door of which I had imprudently left 
 open, I saw my unworthy pupil breakfasting on my 
 beloved collection. In my first transports of fury 
 I could have strangled him ; but rage soon gave 
 place to pity, when I saw how dreadfully he was 
 punished for his gluttony, having, in cracking the 
 scarabsei, swallowed the pins on which they were 
 stuck. His torments made me forget his fault, and 
 I only thought of helping the wretched sufferer; 
 but my tears, and all the art of the slaves, could 
 not save him from death.. This accident threw me 
 back a good deal, but did not quite discourage me. 
 I now turned my thoughts in a different direction, 
 and wished to collect birds ; but as the slaves did 
 not procure them to my liking, I armed myself 
 with a shooting-tube and an Indian bow, which,
 
 24 A CHANGE OF COUNTRY. 
 
 after a little practice, I used with great skill, lying 
 in wait for whole days. My former taste now be- 
 came a passion which disturbed even my hours of 
 rest, and which daily grew stronger." 
 
 In 1765 the family of Le Vaillant left Surinam 
 to return to Europe. " In the joy of my heart," 
 says our author, " I partook of all the pleasures 
 and projects of my parents during the voyage ; a 
 curiosity natural to my age, added to my trans- 
 port. But this excitement did not render me in- 
 sensible of regret ; I could not so soon become 
 ungrateful ; my eyes were often cast back to the 
 country where I received my being, to the shores 
 which gradually lessened to my sight; and as I 
 approached the frozen climates of the north, a pro- 
 found melancholy overwhelmed me, preyed upon 
 my spirit, and dissipated the promised enjoyments 
 of the future. 
 
 "Arrived in Europe, all I beheld was new to 
 me; and I showed so much impatience, fatiguing 
 every one with questions, all around appearing to 
 me so extraordinary, that I myself occasioned sur- 
 prise ; but my importunity did not always turn 
 the laugh against me, for I paid amply, in keen 
 remarks on America, the information I received 
 about Europe. 
 
 " After some stay in Holland, we proceeded to 
 Metz, where my favourite tastes had ample scope
 
 AMONG THE BIRDS. 25 
 
 for gratification in the cabinet of M. de Becreur, 
 who possessed one of the finest collections of Euro- 
 pean birds I have seen. I had hitherto known no 
 better method of preserving the skins of birds than 
 by flattening them in large books ; I now found 
 that by stuffing them I could make them retain 
 their natural forms. 
 
 " During a stay of two years in Germany, and 
 seven in Lorraine and Alsace, 1 made prodigious 
 havoc among the birds. I was also willing to be 
 acquainted with their manners and the distinction 
 of their various species, and have often passed 
 whole weeks in watching to procure myself a pair. 
 From long living among them, in fields, woods, 
 and their most concealed retreats, I learned readily 
 to distinguish the species as well as the sexes, and 
 constantly gathered more and more information in 
 this part of natural history, which, however, was 
 far from contenting me. I longed to act on a more 
 extended field, and only waited till occasion should 
 serve." 
 
 What plan of education the parents of Le Vail- 
 lant had adopted, or whether they designed him 
 for any profession, is not known. The only hint 
 preserved on this subject is an incidental observa- 
 tion in his Travels, that his father insisted upon his 
 acquiring a number of languages. Dutch he spoke 
 fluently probably learnt in childhood ; German
 
 2G A LOVE OF SCIENCE. 
 
 and French it is said well, though his writings are 
 alleged by critics to want the idiomatic precision 
 of a native. In 1777 he went to Paris, where the 
 rich collections of birds, and the writings and con- 
 versation of naturalists, at first attracted and then 
 disappointed him. He was delighted with the 
 varied wealth of collections from all quarters of 
 the world which were opened to his inspection. 
 But, accustomed to pry into the habits and eco- 
 nomy of the living bird, the mere cataloguing and 
 classifying of skins and skeletons soon became 
 repulsive to him ; and the inaccuracies of mere 
 closet speculators nourished a perhaps overweening 
 estimate of his own more living knowledge. This 
 feeling, his sportsman's habits, the pleasant recol- 
 lections of his boyhood in the forests of Guiana, all 
 contributed to make him dwell with pleasure on 
 the project of ransacking some yet unexplored 
 regions of the earth, in order to search for their 
 feathered inhabitants. With this object he quitted 
 Paris, unknown to his friends, in July 1780. Like 
 Audubon, he exclaims " Neither the ties of love 
 nor friendship (and he was now a married man) 
 were able to shake my purpose. I communicated my 
 projects to none, but, inexorable and blind to every 
 obstacle, yielded to the passion that impelled me." 
 He accordingly repaired to Amsterdam, where 
 he formed an intimate acquaintance with the cele-
 
 PERSEVERANCE UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 27 
 
 brated Temininck, and, after five months spent in 
 preparations, embarked in December for the Cape 
 of Good Hope. Unhappily for Le Vaillant, war 
 had just broken out between England and Holland. 
 The vessels at the Cape were ordered to Saldanha 
 Bay, to conceal them from English cruisers, and 
 he accompanied them. An English squadron dis- 
 covered their lurking-place, and the captain of the 
 ship on board which the travelling equipage of the 
 naturalist was embarked blew it up, to prevent its 
 falling into the enemy's hands. By this misfortune 
 Le Vaillant saw himself reduced to the brink of 
 despair. Far from his adopted country, without 
 friends, without shelter, almost without hope ; his 
 only resources were his gun, six ducats he had in 
 his pocket, and the clothes he wore. In this ex- 
 tremity he was received by a friendly colonist, and 
 treated most hospitably. Boers, a Dutch official, 
 advanced everything necessary to fit him out for 
 the expedition he proposed to make, and the Go- 
 vernment officers did all they could to promote his 
 enterprise. 
 
 During the three years he spent in the colony 
 he made two excursions. The first was to the 
 westward, at no great distance from the coast, to 
 the Great Fish Eiver. He ascended one of the 
 branches of this stream to the frontier of the 
 Gouaquois and Caffres, into whose country he
 
 A NIGHT SCENE. 
 
 penetrated, returning by a more northerly route to 
 Cape Town. His first book of Travels contains an 
 account of this expedition. It is full of lively 
 descriptions, pictures of his chases of the elephant 
 and rhinoceros, of his faithful Hottentots, and of 
 the various incidents of his life in the wilds. 
 
 As I have said, the simplicity and innocent 
 boyish enthusiasm of Le Vaillant impart an air of 
 romance to his pages. What, for example, can be 
 more amusing than the following picture of a night 
 scene in the wilds ? 
 
 " Returning one morning to the camp, I per- 
 ceived a stranger on horseback advancing. It was 
 a Hottentot with letters for me sent on from the 
 Cape ; they were the first I had received since my 
 departure. These letters were from my dearest 
 friend my wife ! I cannot describe my impa- 
 tience on taking the packet from the messenger. 
 Eagerly my eyes glanced over the lines. All were 
 well and happy. I was beloved and regretted ; 
 affection followed me though in a desert, filling 
 my heart with tender remembrances. . . . 
 
 " That night I was rather too generous in the 
 distribution of my tobacco, having given my people 
 enough to occasion intoxication ; this, however, I 
 was now contriving means to prevent. After 
 having drank my tea, I ordered a box to be brought 
 and placed before me, which, opening with an air
 
 A " MELODIOUS " INSTRUMENT. 29 
 
 of mystery, I drew out that noble and melodious 
 instrument a Jew's harp! and beginning to play 
 a lively tune, the pipes of the Hottentots were 
 instantly laid aside, and every one employed in 
 gazing at me, with mouth half open, arms ex- 
 tended, and fingers stretched asunder. They might 
 have furnished an excellent idea to a painter who 
 wished to represent a group of figures struck by 
 the powers of enchantment. Their astonishment 
 was more than equalled by the pleasure they felt, 
 as they listened intently that they might not lose 
 a single sound. 
 
 " When I ceased playing, I gave the harp to the 
 nearest Hottentot, but had some difficulty in teach- 
 ing him how to use it, which, having accomplished, 
 I sent him to his place, and not wishing to make 
 any difference among them, gave one to each. 
 Some played tolerably, some ill, some horribly ; in 
 truth, it was a discord that might have scared a 
 set of furies ; even my oxen, frightened at such an 
 unusual noise, bellowed hideously ; and in every 
 part of our camp there was a mixture of sounds 
 that exceeded description. At length, by a motion 
 of my hand, I made them understand I had some- 
 thing to say. In an instant every one was silent. 
 I then proposed that we should terminate our feast 
 by drinking a bumper of brandy each to the health 
 of our absent friends.
 
 30 KEES AND THE BUAXDY. 
 
 "This was a night of revels. Kees, my favourite 
 monkey, was seated by my side a place he never 
 failed to avail himself of in the evening. Indeed, 
 I had spoiled him, never eating or drinking any- 
 thing but he came in for his share; and if I 
 seemed inclined to forget him, he ever took care 
 to remind me, either by munching or giving me a 
 touch with his paw. He was equally fond of milk 
 and brandy ; the latter I always gave him on a 
 plate, as I had remarked that, in drinking out of a 
 glass, his greediness and precipitation made him 
 draw as much up his nostrils as he took in at his 
 mouth, which occasioned him to cough and sneeze 
 for hours. 
 
 " Kees, as I have already said, was seated by my 
 side, the plate before him ready for his share, while 
 his eyes impatiently followed the brandy bottle, 
 which the Hottentots served. With what eager- 
 ness did he wait his turn ! Alas, the unfortunate 
 rogue that licked his lips in advance did not know 
 that he was going to taste that bewitching liquor 
 for the last time ; not that I lost my friend Kees, 
 though in future I saved his portion of the brandy. 
 I had packed up my despatches, and was putting on 
 the last cover at the moment the bottle had finished 
 its round, and reached my monkey. I determined 
 for once to cheat him ; but without any other in- 
 tention than to amuse myself with his surprise.
 
 A LASTING LESSON. 31 
 
 The liquor had been just poured into the plate, and 
 he was preparing to seize it, when I added, unseen, 
 a piece of lighted paper ; the brandy blazed imme- 
 diately. Kees screamed and chattered, running 
 away as fast as possible ; it was in vain I called and 
 endeavoured to coax him, for, being too angry to be 
 easily pacified, he left us and went to his bed. The 
 night was far advanced, and, after receiving the 
 thanks of my people, all retired to rest. I must 
 add, that fear had so completely taken possession 
 of poor Kees that I could never succeed in making 
 him forget what had happened, nor could I again 
 prevail upon him to taste his formerly favourite 
 liquor. Sometimes my men would tease him by 
 showing him the brandy bottle, which was always 
 enough to make him chatter and grind his teeth." 
 Of this animal Le Yaillant tells many an amus- 
 ing story. He was very familiar and much attached 
 to his master, who made him his taster ; fruits, 
 seeds, or roots, which Kees rejected, being infallibly 
 unwholesome. His extreme vigilance rendered him 
 an invaluable safeguard both day and night ; the 
 approach of danger roused him in an instant, and, 
 before the dogs suspected the enemy was at hand, 
 this faithful guardian, by his cries and frightened 
 gestures, gave due warning. Le Vaillant says, " I 
 often took him shooting with me. What gambols ! 
 what expressions of delight as he leaned upon and
 
 32 DIGGING FOK ROOTS. 
 
 caressed me ! During our journey he would amuse 
 himself with climbing the trees to search for gum, 
 which he was very fond of; sometimes he dis- 
 covered honey in the crevices of the rock, or in 
 hollow trees. At other times he would dig for 
 roots, and seemed particularly fond of a kind which, 
 unluckily for him, I also found extremely good and 
 refreshing, and persisted in partaking with him. 
 Kees was artful, and if he happened to find any of 
 this root when I was at a distance from him, in 
 order to prevent my coming in for my share, would 
 eat it up with the greatest eagerness, fixing at the 
 same time his eyes ardently on me, and seeming to 
 calculate, by the distance I was at, the time I should 
 be getting to him. I observed his haste was ever 
 in proportion to the danger he supposed he ran of 
 losing part of his prize, and in general he was too 
 quick for me. 
 
 " He had a very ingenious method of coming at 
 these roots, which used to amuse me extremely. 
 He took the tuft of leaves between his teeth, then, 
 bearing upon his forepaws, forced back his head, 
 and generally drew out the root to which they ad- 
 hered. When this means failed, he again took hold 
 of it closer to the earth, and giving a sudden spring, 
 never failed to draw it up with him. In our walks, 
 when he found himself fatigued, he would mount 
 upon the back of one or other of my dogs, who
 
 THE DOG AND HIS RIDER. 33 
 
 usually had the complaisance to carry him, even 
 for hours together. But there was one among them 
 bigger and stronger than the rest, and who ought 
 rather to have offered his service on these occasions, 
 yet had a droll method of getting rid of his burden. 
 The moment he felt Kees upon his shoulders he 
 became immoveable, and suffered me to proceed 
 with the rest of the dogs without stirring from the 
 spot. Kees, rather obstinate on his part, would 
 usually maintain his seat till I had almost got out 
 of sight, when, fearful of being left behind, he was 
 constrained to alight, and then both monkey and 
 dog used to set off full speed to rejoin us ; but I 
 observed the dog always let Kees keep ahead, tak- 
 ing care that he should not surprise him a second 
 time. He had acquired over the rest of my pack 
 an ascendency which was doubtless owing to the su- 
 periority of his instinct ; for with animals, as among 
 men, it is frequently observable, that address sub- 
 dues strength." 
 
 Not less pleasing is Le Vaillant's account of his 
 favourite ox Ingland. " He was the oldest and 
 strongest beast I possessed ; accordingly, he had 
 successfully encountered the fatigue of my first 
 journey, though during the whole route he had 
 constantly occupied the thill to my heaviest and 
 principal waggon. Distinguished by an instinct 
 superior to the other animals of his species, my
 
 34 INGLAND THE OX. 
 
 people, when they unharnessed him, gave them- 
 selves no concern to prevent him from escaping ; 
 he wandered at will in the pasture, and was com- 
 mitted, if I may so express myself, to the guidance 
 of his own understanding ; there was no fear that 
 he would wander from the place. When it was 
 time to travel another stage it was unnecessary to 
 fetch him from the pasture and bring him to the 
 waggon, as was requisite for the rest ; three smacks 
 of the whip was our signal for march, and as soon 
 as he heard them he came to his post. He was 
 always the first to present himself to the traces, as 
 if he had been afraid to lose his priority in a place 
 which he had constantly been employed to occupy. 
 " If I went out for exercise, or to hunt, at my 
 return Ingland, as far as he could see me, quitted 
 his pasture, and ran towards me with a particular 
 sort of bellowing, expressive of his joy. He rubbed 
 his head against my body in different directions, 
 and caressed me after his manner. Frequently he 
 licked my hands, and I was constrained to stop long 
 enough to receive his civilities, which sometimes 
 lasted for a quarter of an hour. At length, when 
 I had replied by my endearments and by a kiss, he 
 led the way to my tent, and walked quietly before me. 
 " The evening before he died, Ingland lay down 
 near the shaft of his waggon, and it was in this 
 place he expired. I saw his last agonies, but was 
 
 ;352)
 
 THE GENTLE NARINA. 35 
 
 unable to render him the slightest assistance. Ah ! 
 how frequently, when friendship has misled me, 
 when seducing appearances have allured my confi- 
 dence, have I thought of poor Ingland, and invo- 
 luntarily cast my eye upon the hand he had so 
 often licked !" 
 
 Le Vaillant, however, exceeded all his other 
 portraitures in his picture of the fair Narina. In- 
 deed, it has been said there is scarcely a more 
 delicate creature in poetry than his young Gonaquoi 
 girl. He was visited by a party of this horde, 
 among whom were several women. " In the midst 
 of them I remarked," he says, " a young girl about 
 sixteen, who showed less eagerness to partake of 
 the ornaments I bestowed on her companions, than 
 to consider my person. She examined me with 
 such marked attention, that I drew near to satisfy 
 her curiosity. Her figure was charming, her teeth 
 beautifully white, her height and shape elegant and 
 easy, and might have served as a model for the pencil 
 of Albano. In short, she was the youngest sister of 
 the graces, under the figure of a female Hottentot. 
 
 " The force of beauty is universal ; 'tis a sovereign 
 whose power is unlimited. I felt by the prodigality 
 of my presents that I paid some deference to its 
 power. The young savage and myself were soon 
 acquainted. I gave her a girdle, bracelets, and a 
 necklace of small white beads which appeared to
 
 36 A CHARMING SAVAGE. 
 
 delight her. I then took a red handkerchief from 
 my neck, with which she bound her head ; in this 
 dress she was charming ! I took pleasure in deco- 
 rating her ; which finished, she asked me for orna- 
 ments for her sister, who had remained at home. 
 Nothing could equal the pleasure I took in seeing 
 her, except it was in hearing her speak ; for I was so 
 charmed with her answers, that I fatigued her with 
 interrogations. She was fully employed with her 
 new decorations, examining her arms, feet, necklace, 
 and girdle, twenty times feeling her head, and ad- 
 justing her handkerchief, with which she appeared 
 much pleased. I set my glass before her ; she 
 viewed herself very attentively, and even with 
 complacency, showing by her gestures how much 
 she was satisfied, not particularly with her person, 
 but her ornaments. 
 
 " My charming savage desired me to give her 
 my looking-glass. I consented. She made good 
 use of the empire her gentleness had acquired, to 
 ask for all that gave her pleasure, notwithstanding 
 I was obliged to deny her several things that were 
 particularly useful to me, and might have been 
 dangerous to her. My knee-buckles had tempted 
 her ; the most sparkling gems were not so brilliant 
 as her expressive eyes. I should have been de- 
 lighted to have given them. How much did I 
 wish at that moment for the most miserable
 
 NO HAPPINESS WITHOUT AN ALLOY. 37 
 
 fastenings to supply this useless luxury ! Un- 
 happily, they were the only pair I possessed. I 
 made her comprehend that the buckles were abso- 
 lutely necessary to me, from which moment she 
 never named them. I found her name difficult to 
 pronounce, disagreeable to the ear, and inapplicable 
 to my ideas ; I therefore renamed her Narina, which 
 in the Hottentot language signifies a flower, de- 
 siring her to retain this name for my sake. She 
 promised to keep it as long as she lived, in remem- 
 brance of me, and in testimony of her love a sen- 
 timent that was no longer a stranger to her heart. 
 This was truly painted in her gentle, unadorned 
 language, which powerfully showed how strong the 
 first impressions of nature are, and that even in 
 the deserts of Africa there is no happiness without 
 an alloy. ... As evening approached, our 
 fires were kindled, and I regaled my people with 
 tea and coffee. Narina liked tea, but the colour of 
 coffee disgusted her. I covered her eyes, there- 
 fore, with my hand, and got her to drink half a 
 dish. She thought it good, but still preferred tea, 
 drinking a great quantity, which much amazed me, 
 for, notwithstanding her assertion that she liked it, 
 she seemed to drink the tea in haste, in order to 
 reach the sugar at the bottom. After this frugal 
 meal, they returned to dancing till midnight, when 
 fatigue obliged them to retire to rest." 
 
 356709
 
 38 A SECOND EXPLORATION. 
 
 .This introductory visit was followed by subse- 
 quent ones : and the sprightly, vivacious manners 
 of " the gentle Narina" and her companions are 
 prettily depicted by our traveller, who seems to 
 have everywhere succeeded in conciliating the 
 goodwill of the natives. This is not surprising, for 
 he took the right means to attain this object, by 
 his uniform kindness and good treatment of them, 
 while he carefully avoided everything that might 
 awaken their suspicion, or excite their displeasure. 
 Keturning to the Cape, Le Vaillant spent some 
 time in reposing from his fatigues, in arranging 
 his collections, and in making preparation for a 
 second exploration, which he commenced in April 
 1783. This time he advanced northward, and pro- 
 ceeded by the Orange Eiver how far is uncertain. 
 With a small number of devoted Hottentots, who 
 had been the companions of his former adventures, 
 he proceeded into unknown and unexplored re- 
 gions, and at length reached the Houswanas, or 
 Boshmen, whose name spread terror among their 
 neighbours. This second route was far more dan- 
 gerous than the earlier one, and he suffered much 
 from a violent attack of fever, which was cured by 
 the treatment of a Namaquois doctor. 
 
 On his return to the Cape he contemplated a 
 voyage to Madagascar, but relinquished the idea, 
 and embarked for Europe, reaching Paris in Janu-
 
 LE VAILLAN'T AXD HIS WORKS. 39 
 
 ary 1785. His first care was to arrange his cabinet, 
 and prepare his journals for publication. He added 
 a numerous list of animals, insects, and, above all, 
 birds, to the then recognised species, and was the 
 first to make the giraffe known in Europe. Be- 
 fore this time there had been only imperfect 
 descriptions of it ; Le Vaillant brought from 
 Africa the one which was placed in the royal col- 
 lection of Paris. In addition to his Travels, he 
 published the " Natural History of the Birds of 
 Africa ;" which was followed by four other volumes 
 on Parrots, Birds of Paradise, Cotingas, and Calaos. 
 He had seen almost all the species he described in 
 their native haunts, and his portraits are from the 
 life. Like so many men of distinction and of 
 science, Le Vaillant suffered under the terrible 
 scourge of the French Kevolution. He was incar- 
 cerated, and narrowly escaped the guillotine ; in 
 fact, he was only saved by the opportune death of 
 Robespierre. After his liberation, he retired to a 
 small property which he possessed at La Neve, 
 near Lauzun ; and there, except at brief intervals 
 when he was obliged to visit Paris to superintend 
 the publication of his works, he spent the remain- 
 ing thirty years of his life. It was not to be ex- 
 pected that works brought out upon so expensive 
 a scale should reimburse their author, still less that 
 they should become a source of profit. Le Vail-
 
 40 HABITUAL CONTENTMENT. 
 
 lant's zeal, however, was so uncalculating, that, 
 while his patrimony was annually diminishing, he 
 was still projecting publications which should, if 
 possible, exceed those he had actually produced. 
 At the conclusion of one of his volumes, he ex- 
 presses a wish that his sons would complete the 
 remaining portion. During the latter years of his 
 life his circumstances, it is said, were rather 
 straitened, which did not, however, affect his 
 fine flow of spirits, his passion for birds, or his 
 habitual contentment. On one occasion when Dr 
 Leach visited him at Paris, he found him lodged 
 in the upper etage of a house, when he jocosely ob- 
 served, " The longer I live, the higher I rise in the 
 world." This memorable man died on the 22d 
 November
 
 in the |Cife of JUfcubon. 
 
 VERY individual posseted of a sound 
 heart listens with deligVt to the love- 
 notes of the woodland wartibrs. He never 
 casts a glance upon theirVovely forms 
 without proposing to himself questions respect- 
 ing them; nor does he look on the trees which 
 they frequent, or the flowers over which they 
 glide, without admiring their grandeur, or de- 
 lighting in their sweet odours or their brilliant 
 tints." These words are strikingly characteristic 
 of him who wrote them, as we shall see when we 
 have read the account given by himself of his own 
 early life. " I received," says Mr Audubon, " life 
 and light in the New World. When I had yet 
 hardly learned to walk, and to articulate those first 
 words always so endearing to parents, the produc- 
 tions of nature that lay spread all around were con- 
 stantly pointed out to me. They soon became my 
 playmates ; and before my ideas were sufficiently
 
 42 THE POWER OF EARLY IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 formed to enable me to estimate the difference be- 
 tween the azure tints of the sky and the emerald 
 hue of the bright foliage, I felt that an intimacy 
 with them, not consisting of friendship merely, 
 but bordering on frenzy, must accompany my 
 steps through life ; and now, more than ever, I am 
 persuaded of the power of those early impressions. 
 They laid such hold upon me that, when removed 
 from the woods, the prairies, and the brooks, or shut 
 up from the view of the wide Atlantic, I experienced 
 none of those pleasures most congenial to my mind. 
 None but aerial companions suited my fancy. No 
 roof seemed so secure to me as that formed of 
 the dense foliage under which the feathered tribes 
 were seen to resort, or the caves and fissures of the 
 massy rocks to which the dark-winged cormorant 
 and the curlew retired to rest, or to protect them- 
 selves from the fury of the tempest. ... A vivid 
 pleasure shone on those days of my early youth, 
 attended with a calmness of feeling, that seldom 
 failed to rivet my attention for hours, while I gazed 
 in ecstasy upon the pearly and shining eggs, as they 
 lay embedded in the softest down, or among dried 
 leaves and twigs, or were exposed upon the burning 
 sand or weather-beaten rocks of our Atlantic shores. 
 I was taught to look upon them as flowers yet in 
 the bud. I watched their opening to see how 
 nature had provided each different species with
 
 RUDE REPRESENTATIONS OF NATURE. 43 
 
 eyes, either open at birth or closed for some time 
 after, to trace the slow progress of the young birds 
 toward perfection, or admire the celerity with 
 which some of them, while yet unfledged, removed 
 themselves from danger to security." 
 
 As he grew up these predilections became yet 
 stronger, and he early commenced a collection of 
 drawings, which at first were but the rude attempts 
 of an unpractised hand. He thus amusingly char- 
 acterises them : " My pencil gave birth to a family 
 of cripples. So maimed were most of them, that 
 they resembled the mangled corpses on a field of 
 battle compared with the integrity of living men. 
 These difficulties and disappointments irritated me, 
 but never for a moment destroyed the desire of ob- 
 taining perfect representations of nature. The 
 worse my drawings were, the more beautiful did I 
 see the originals. To have been torn from the study 
 would have been as death to me. My time was 
 entirely occupied with it. I produced hundreds of 
 these rude sketches annually, and for a long time, 
 at my request, they made bonfires on the anniver- 
 saries of my birthday." 
 
 Anxious to cultivate a talent which had so strik- 
 ingly evinced itself, the friends of young Audubon 
 procured him the best instruction, and he was early 
 sent to France, where, under the guidance of the 
 celebrated David, he became a skilful draughtsman.
 
 44 AGREEABLE STUDIES. 
 
 " Eyes and noses belonging to giants, and heads of 
 horses represented in ancient sculpture," which 
 had been his models under this master, were imme- 
 diately laid aside by the youthful naturalist when, 
 in his seventeenth year, he returned to America, 
 and with fresh ardour he resumed his researches in 
 the woods of his native land, and commenced a 
 collection of drawings which year by year accu- 
 mulated, and were at length published under the 
 title of " The Birds of America." 
 
 He has given a romantic picture of his subse- 
 quent career. It commences thus : " In Pennsyl- 
 vania, a beautiful state, almost central on the line 
 of our Atlantic shores, my father, in his desire of 
 proving my friend through life, gave ine what 
 Americans call a beautiful ' plantation,' refreshed 
 during the summer-heats by the waters of the 
 Schuylkil river, and traversed by a creek named 
 Perkisming. Its fine woodlands, its extensive 
 fields, its hills, crowned with evergreens, offered 
 many subjects to my pencil. It was there that I 
 commenced my simple and agreeable studies, with 
 as little concern about the future as if the world 
 had been made for me. My rambles invariably 
 commenced at break of day ; and to return wet 
 with dew, and bearing a feathered prize, was, and 
 ever will be, the highest enjoyment for which I 
 have been fitted."
 
 A RULING PASSION. 45 
 
 In process of time our enthusiast married, and 
 became a family man. He relates that for a long 
 period (of nearly twenty years) his life was a 
 succession of vicissitudes. He tried various branches 
 of commerce, but they all proved unprofitable 
 doubtless, as he himself acknowledges, because his 
 mind was filled constantly with a passion for ram- 
 bling in search of those objects from which his 
 taste derived the highest gratification ; and the 
 result was that he proceeded, in opposition to the 
 advice and remonstrances of his friends, to break 
 through all bonds, and give himself up wholly to 
 his favourite pursuit. Any one, he says, who had 
 then watched his course, would have pronounced 
 him callous to every sense of duty ; and regardless 
 of the interests of his wife and children, he un- 
 dertook long and tedious journeys, ransacked the 
 woods, the lakes, the prairies, and the shores of the 
 Atlantic, and spent years away from his family; and 
 all this, as he distinctly states, simply to enjoy the 
 sight of nature, for at that time he had formed no 
 intention of communicating his observations to the 
 world. 
 
 An acquaintance accidentally formed with Prince 
 Lucien Bonaparte, the distinguished naturalist, 
 was the means of directing Mr Audubon's thoughts 
 to the publication of his great work, and deter- 
 mined him, for that purpose, to carry his collection
 
 46 A DISHEARTENING OCCURRENCE. 
 
 to Europe ; but, before his preparations were com- 
 pleted, an unparalleled misfortune threatened to 
 destroy all his prospects and blight his hopes. The 
 occurrence is thus related by him : " An accident 
 which happened to 200 of my original drawings 
 nearly put a stop to my researches in ornithology. 
 I shall relate it merely to show how far enthusiasm 
 for by no other name can I call the persevering 
 zeal with which I laboured may enable the ob- 
 server of nature to surmount the most dishearten- 
 ing obstacles. I left the village of Henderson, 
 in Kentucky, situated on the bank of the Ohio, 
 where I resided for several years, to proceed to 
 Philadelphia on business. I looked to all my 
 drawings before my departure, placed them care- 
 fully in a wooden box, and gave them in charge to 
 a relative, with injunctions to see that no injury 
 should happen to them. My absence was of several 
 months; and when I returned, after having enjoyed 
 the pleasures of home for a few days, I inquired 
 after my box, and what I was pleased to call my 
 treasure. The box was produced and opened ; but 
 readers, feel for me a pair of Norway rats had 
 taken possession of the whole, and had reared a 
 young family amongst the gnawed pieces of paper, 
 which, but a few months before, represented nearly 
 a thousand inhabitants of the air ! The burning 
 heat which instantly rushed through my brain was
 
 THE FRUITS OF ENERGY AND INDUSTRY. 47 
 
 too great to be endured, without affecting the whole 
 of my nervous system. I slept not for several 
 nights, and days passed like the days of oblivion, 
 until the animal powers, being recalled into action 
 through the strength of my constitution, I took 
 up my gun, my note-books, and my pencils, and 
 went gaily forth to the woods as if nothing had 
 happened. I felt pleased that I might now make 
 much better drawings than before; and ere a period 
 not exceeding three years had elapsed, I had my 
 portfolio filled again !" 
 
 It will be readily believed that such surprising 
 energy, industry and zeal, were crowned with suc- 
 cess. All the world knows how admirably he has 
 depicted the objects he loved so well. This " Or- 
 nithological Biography" is a series of exquisite 
 portraits of the feathered tribes, and its interest is 
 enhanced by numerous lively and graphic sketches 
 of American scenery and manners, which are inter- 
 spersed through the volumes. Some of these give 
 an occasional glimpse of the writer's adventures 
 during his wanderings, and they partake not a 
 little of the romantic. For example, he gives us 
 this picture of 
 
 THE PRAIRIE. 
 
 " On my return from the Upper Mississippi, I 
 found myself obliged to cross one of the wide
 
 48 CROSSING A PRAIRIE. 
 
 prairies which in that portion of the United States 
 vary the appearance of the country. The weather 
 was fine; all around me was fresh and blooming. My 
 knapsack, my gun, and my dog, were all I had for 
 baggage or for company. But, although well moc- 
 cassined, I moved slowly along, attracted by the 
 brilliancy of the flowers and the gambols of the 
 fawns around their dams, to all appearance as 
 thoughtless of danger as I felt myself. 
 
 " My march was of long duration. I saw the sun 
 sinking beneath the horizon long before I could 
 perceive any appearance of woodland, and nothing 
 in the shape of man had I met that day. The 
 track which I followed was only an old Indian 
 trace, and as darkness overshadowed the prairie, I 
 felt some desire to reach at least a copse in which 
 I might lie down to rest. Shortly after, a firelight 
 attracted my eye. I moved towards it, full of con- 
 fidence that it proceeded from the camp of some 
 wandering Indians. I was mistaken. I discovered 
 by its glare that it was from the hearth of a small 
 log cabin, and that a tall figure passed and re- 
 passed between it and me, as if busily engaged in 
 household arrangements. I reached the spot, and, 
 presenting myself at the door, asked the tall figure, 
 which proved to be a woman, if I might take shel- 
 ter under her roof for the night. Her voice was 
 gruff, and her attire negligently thrown about her.
 
 SHELTER FOR THE NIGHT. 49 
 
 She answered in the affirmative, I walked in, took 
 a wooden stool, and quietly seated myself beside 
 the fire. The next object I observed was a finely 
 formed young Indian, resting his head between his 
 hands, with his elbows on his knees. A long bow 
 rested against the log wall near him, while a 
 quantity of arrows and two or three racoon-skins 
 lay at his feet. He moved not ; he apparently 
 breathed not. Accustomed to the habits of the 
 Indians, and knowing that they pay little attention 
 to the approach of civilised strangers, I addressed 
 him in French, a language not unfrequently par- 
 tially known to the people in that neighbourhood. 
 He raised his head, pointed to one of his eyes, and 
 gave me a significant glance with the other. His 
 face was covered with blood. The fact was, that 
 an hour before, as he was in the act of discharging 
 an arrow at a racoon in the top of a tree, the arrow 
 had split upon the cord, and sprung back with 
 such violence into his right eye as to destroy it 
 for ever. 
 
 " Feeling hungry, I inquired what sort of fare I 
 might expect. Such a thing as a bed was not to 
 be seen, but many large untanned bear and buffalo 
 hides lay piled in a corner. I drew a fine time- 
 piece from my breast, and told the woman that it 
 was late, and that I was fatigued. She had espied 
 the watch, the richness of which seemed to operate
 
 50 A FRIENDLY INDIAN. 
 
 upon her feelings with electric quickness. She 
 told me that there was plenty of venison and 
 jerked buffalo meat, and that, on removing the 
 ashes, I should find a cake. I helped nay dog to a 
 good supper of venison, and was not long in satis- 
 fying the demands of my own appetite. 
 
 " The Indian rose from his seat, as if in extreme 
 suffering. He passed and repassed me several 
 times, and once pinched me on the side so violently 
 that the pain nearly brought forth an exclamation 
 of anger. I looked at him ; his eye met mine, but 
 his look was so forbidding that it struck a chill 
 into the more nervous part of my system. He 
 again seated himself, drew his butcher-knife from 
 its greasy scabbard, examined its edge as I would 
 do that of a razor suspected dull, replaced it, and 
 again taking his tomahawk from Jris back, filled 
 the pipe of it with tobacco, and sent me expressive 
 glances whenever our hostess chanced to have her 
 back towards us. 
 
 " Never until that moment had my senses been 
 awakened to the danger which I now suspected to 
 be about me. I returned glance for glance to my 
 companion, and rested well assured that, whatever 
 enemies I might have, he was not of the number. 
 Under the pretence of wishing to see how the wea- 
 ther was, I took up my gun and walked out of the 
 cabin. I slipped a ball into each barrel, scraped
 
 A DANGEROUS TRIO. 51 
 
 the edges of my flints, renewed the primings, and 
 returning to the hut, gave a favourable account of 
 my observations. I took a few bear-skins, made a 
 pallet of them, and calling my faithful dog to rny 
 side, lay down, with my gun close to my body, and 
 in a few minutes was to all appearance fast 
 asleep. 
 
 "A short time had elapsed when some voices were 
 heard, and from the corner of my eyes I saw two 
 athletic youths making their entrance, bearing a 
 dead stag on a pole. They disposed of their bur- 
 den, and asking for whisky, helped themselves 
 freely to it. Observing me and the wounded In- 
 dian, they asked who I was, and why that rascal 
 (meaning the Indian, who, they knew, understood 
 not a word of English) was in the house. The 
 mother for so she proved to be bade them speak 
 less loudly, made mention of my watch, and took 
 them to a corner, where a conversation took place. 
 The last words reached me " That will soon settle 
 him ! Boys, kill you ; and then for the watch." 
 
 " I turned, cocked my gun-locks silently, and 
 tapped gently my faithful dog, who moved his tail 
 and fixed his eyes alternately on me and on the 
 trio in the corner. I lay ready to start up and 
 shoot the first who might' attempt my life. The 
 moment was fast approaching, and that night might 
 have been my last in this world, had not Providence 
 
 C352) 4
 
 52 A TIMELY ARRIVAL. 
 
 made preparations for my rescue. All was ready. 
 The murderous hag was advancing slowly, pro- 
 bably contemplating the best way of despatching 
 me, while her sons should be engaged with the 
 Indian. I was several times on the eve of rising 
 and shooting her on the spot ; but she was not to 
 be punished thus. The door was suddenly opened, 
 and there entered two stout travellers, each with a 
 long rifle on his shoulder. I flew to my feet, and mak- 
 ing them most heartily welcome, told them how well 
 it was for me that they should have arrived at that 
 moment. The tale was told in a minute. The 
 drunken sons were secured, and the woman, in 
 spite of her defence and vociferations, shared the 
 same fate. The Indian fairly danced with joy, and 
 gave us to understand that, as he could not sleep 
 for pain, he would watch over us. You may sup- 
 pose we slept much less than we talked. The two 
 strangers gave me an account of their once having 
 been themselves in a somewhat similar situation. 
 Day came, fair and rosy, and with it the punish- 
 ment of our captives. 
 
 " They were now quite sobered. Their feet were 
 unbound, but their arms were still securely tied. 
 We marched them into the woods oft' the road, and 
 having used them as Regulators* were wont to use 
 
 * Regulators. A sort of rural police, organised for the piirpose of 
 preserving order on the frontiers, and invested with powers to in-
 
 ANOTHER ADVKXTLKE. 53 
 
 such delinquents, we set fire to the cabin, gave the 
 skins and implements to the young Indian warrior, 
 and proceeded, well pleased, toward the settle- 
 ment." 
 
 Mr Audubon concludes his narrative by saying 
 that, during upwards of twenty- five years' wander- 
 ings through all parts of the country, this was the 
 only time his life was endangered from his fellow- 
 creatures. He could only account for this occur- 
 rence by supposing that the inhabitants of the 
 cabin were not Americans. 
 
 On another occasion our naturalist encountered 
 an adventure of by no means an agreeable kind, 
 though he seems to have made light of it, and even 
 to have turned it to good account. Travelling one 
 day, on the shores of Upper Canada, with a friend, 
 he was robbed of his purse, and left at a distance of 
 1500 -miles from home with just seven and a-half 
 dollars between them. After travelling two days, 
 and meeting with various adventures, the two com- 
 panions reached Meadville, by which time their 
 cash was reduced to one hundred and fifty cents. 
 No time was to be lost. They accordingly put their 
 baggage and themselves under the roof of a tavern- 
 keeper at the sign of the " Traveller's Rest," and 
 soon after took a walk to survey the little village 
 
 flict adequate punishment on evil-doers. This is generally a 
 boverc castigatioii of the guilty, and the destruction of his cabin.
 
 54 LOOKING FOR " HEADS." 
 
 that was to be laid under contribution for their 
 further support. " Its appearance," says Audubon, 
 " was rather dull ; but, thanks to God, I have never 
 despaired, while rambling thus, for the sole purpose 
 of admiring His grand and beautiful works. I had 
 opened the case that contained my drawings, and 
 putting my portfolio under my arm, and a few good 
 credentials in my pocket, walked up Main Street, 
 looking to the right and left, examining the different 
 heads which occurred, until I fixed my eyes on a 
 gentleman in a store, who looked as if he might 
 want a sketch. I begged him to allow me to sit 
 down. This granted, I remained purposely silent, 
 until he very soon asked me what was ' in that 
 portfolio.' These three words sounded well, and 
 without waiting another instant, I opened it to his 
 view. This was a Hollander, who complimented 
 me much on the execution of the drawings of birds 
 and flowers in my portfolio. Showing him a sketch 
 of a friend, I asked him if he would like one in the 
 same style of himself. He not only answered in 
 the affirmative, but assured me that he would exert 
 himself in procuring as many more customers as 
 he could. I thanked him, and having fixed upon 
 the next morning for drawing the sketch, I re- 
 turned to the ' Traveller's Rest,' with the hope that 
 to-morrow might prove propitious. Supper was 
 ready, and as in America we have generally but
 
 AX "ARTIST'S ROOM." 55 
 
 one sort of table d'hote, we sat down, when, every 
 individual looking upon me as a missionary priest, 
 on account of my hair, which in those days flowed 
 loosely on my shoulders, I was asked to say grace, 
 which I did with a fervent spirit. 
 
 " Daylight returned. I visited the groves and 
 woods around with my companion, returned, break- 
 fasted, and went to the store, where, notwithstand- 
 ing my ardent desire to begin my task, it was ten 
 o'clock before the sitter was ready. But, reader, 
 allow me to describe the artist's room. See me 
 ascending a crazy flight of steps, from the back 
 part of a storeroom into a large garret, extending 
 over the store and counting room, and mark me 
 looking round to see how the light could be stopped 
 from obtruding on me through no less than four 
 windows facing each other at right angles. Then 
 follow me, scrutinising the corners, and finding in 
 one a cat nursing her young, among a heap of rags 
 intended for the paper-mill. Two hogsheads filled 
 with oats, a parcel of Dutch toys carelessly thrown 
 on the floor, a large drum and a bassoon in another 
 part, fur caps hanging along the wall, and the 
 portable bed of the merchant's clerk swinging like 
 a hammock near the centre, together with some 
 rolls of sole leather, made up the picture. I saw 
 all this at a glance, and closing the extra windows 
 with blankets, I soon procured a painter's light.
 
 5G WHAT INDUSTRY MAY DO. 
 
 "A young gentleman sat to try my skill. I 
 finished his phiz, which was approved of. The 
 merchant then took the chair, and I had the good 
 fortune to please him also. The room became 
 crowded with the gentry of the village. Some 
 laughed, while others expressed their wonder ; but 
 my work went on notwithstanding the observations 
 that were made. My sitter invited me to spend 
 the evening with him, which I did, and joined him 
 in some music on the flute and violin. I returned 
 to my companion with great pleasure ; and you 
 may judge how much that pleasure was increased 
 when I found that he also had made two sketches. 
 
 " The following day was spent much in the same 
 manner. I felt highly gratified that from under 
 my grey coat my talents had made their way, and 
 I was pleased to discover that industry and mode- 
 rate abilities prove at least as valuable as first-rate 
 talents without the former of these qualities. We 
 left Meadville on foot, having forwarded our bag- 
 gage by waggon. Our hearts were light, our 
 pockets replenished, and we walked in two days 
 to Pittsburgh, as happy as circumstances permitted 
 us to be." 
 
 Audubon mentions with evident delight the re- 
 ception he met with in England. Everywhere he 
 experienced cordiality and ready patronage ; and 
 before long, artists, men of science, and professors,
 
 " OLD CHRISTOPHER." 57 
 
 were among the list of his subscribers. He visited 
 Scotland, and felt delighted with the natural beau- 
 ties of that northern land, where he found not a 
 few of his warmest admirers and steadfast friends. 
 
 The pages of Professor Wilson contain a pleasing 
 testimony to the favourable impression the great 
 naturalist produced among some of the choice spirits 
 of the Scottish capital.* 
 
 " We were sitting one night lately," he says, " all 
 alone by ourselves, almost unconsciously eyeing 
 the embers, fire without flame, in the many- 
 vision ed grate, but at times aw r are of the symbols 
 and emblems there beautifully built up of the 
 on-goings of human life, when a knocking, not 
 loud but resolute, came to the front-door. At first 
 we supposed it might be some late home-going 
 knight-errant, from a feast of shells, in a mood 
 between ' malice and true love,' seeking to disquiet 
 the slumbers of old Christopher, in expectation of 
 seeing his nightcap popped out of the window, 
 simulating a scold upon the audacious sleep-breaker. 
 So we benevolently laid back our head on our easy 
 chair, and pursued our speculations on the state of 
 affairs in general. . . But the knocking would not 
 leave off; and, listening to its character, we felt 
 assured it came from the fist of a friend. So 
 we gathered up our slippered feet from the rug, 
 
 * JToctes Ambrosiance.
 
 58 AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR. 
 
 lamp in hand, stalked along the lobbies, unchained 
 and unlocked the oak which our faithful night- 
 porter Somnus had sported and, lo ! a figure 
 muffled up in a cloak, and furred like a Kuss, 
 advanced familiarly into the hall, extended botl] 
 hands, bade God bless us, and pronounced, with 
 somewhat of a foreign accent, the name in which 
 we and the world rejoiced ' Christopher North !' 
 We were not slow in returning the hug fraternal, 
 for who was it but the ' American woodsman ?' 
 even Audubon himself, fresh from the Floridas, 
 and breathing of the pure air of far-off Labrador 1 
 
 " Three years and upwards had fled since we had 
 taken farewell of the illustrious ornithologist, on 
 the same spot, at the same hour ; and there was 
 something ghost-like in such return of a dear friend 
 from a distant region almost as from the land of 
 spirits. ... In less time than we have taken 
 to write it we two were sitting cheek by jowl, and 
 hand in hand, by that essential fire while we 
 si lowed by our looks that we both felt, now they 
 were over, that three years are but as one day !" 
 
 The rites of hospitality being -fitly observed, the 
 friends scanned each other's appearance, and " Au- 
 dubon found an opportunity of telling us that ho 
 had never seen us in a higher state of preservation ; 
 and, in a low voice, whispered something about the 
 ' Eagle renewing his youth.' We acknowledged
 
 QUITE A NOCTES. 59 
 
 the kindness by a remark on bold bright birds of 
 passage that find the seasons obedient to their will, 
 and wing their way through worlds, still rejoicing 
 in the perfect year. But too true friends were we 
 not to be sincere in all we seriously said ; ana 
 while Audubon confessed that he saw rather more 
 plainly than when we parted the crowfeet in the 
 corner of our eyes, we did not deny that we saw in 
 him an image of the Falco Leucocephalus ; for that, 
 looking on his ' carum caput,' it answered his own 
 description of that handsome and powerful bird 
 viz., ' The general colour of the plumage above is 
 dull hair-brown, the lower parts being deeply 
 brown, broadly margined with grayish white.' But 
 here he corrected us, for ' Surely, my dear friend,' 
 quoth he, ' you must admit that 1 am a living 
 specimen of the adult bird, and you remember my 
 description of him in my first volume.' And thus, 
 blending our gravities and our gaieties, we sat 
 facing each other. ... It was quite a Noctes. 
 Audubon told us, by snatches, all his travels, his- 
 tory, and many an anecdote interspersed, of the 
 dwellers among the woods birds, beasts, and man." 
 Another lively picture is drawn of him by some 
 travellers, who, during a journey by canal route 
 from Philadelphia, chanced through good fortune 
 to have Audubon for their companion. . . . 
 " He is actually in this very cabin," said one of
 
 60 " FEATHERED TO THE HEEL." 
 
 the number ; " there," he added, pointing to a huge 
 pile of blankets and fur, which, stretched upon one 
 of the benches, looked like the substantial bale of 
 some trader. "What! that Mr Audubon !" ex- 
 claimed the travellers, whose names were at that 
 moment called out by the captain as entitled to the 
 first choice of berths. This privilege they now 
 gladly renounced in favour of Audubon. There- 
 upon the green ball stirred a little, half turned 
 upon -its narrow resting-place, after awhile sat 
 erect, and showed that there was a man inside of it. 
 A patriarchal beard fell white and wavy down his 
 breast ; a pair of hawk-like eyes gleamed sharply 
 out from the frizzy shroud of cap and collar. With 
 a thrill of irrepressible interest the travellers ap- 
 proached. The moment they caught sight of that 
 fine expressive face, they knew it could be none but 
 he. Audubon it was, in this wilderness garb, hale 
 and alert, with sixty winters on his shoulders, and, 
 like one of his old eagles, " feathered to the heel." 
 Before long, he delighted them with relating 
 his exploits, discoveries, and experiences. Some- 
 what silent in general, his conversation was impul- 
 sive and fragmentary, and a " mellow Gallic idiom" 
 marked his speech. 
 
 When on shore, he speedily outstripped his 
 younger companions in walking, while the clearness 
 and strength of his vision were truly amazing.
 
 " AX INDIAN'S EYES." 61 
 
 One fine morning, when passing through a particu- 
 larly lovely region, his keen eye, with an eager, 
 intent expression peculiarly its own, was gazing 
 over the scenery, when, suddenly, he pointed with 
 his finger to the fence of a field, about 200 yards 
 off, exclaiming, " See, yonder is a fox-squirrel run- 
 ning along the top rail ; it is not often I have seen 
 one in Pennsylvania." As not another individual 
 in the group could perceive the creature at all, his 
 companions somewhat incredulously asked him if 
 he were sure that it was a fox-squirrel. 
 
 Audubon smiled, as, turning his eagle glance 
 upon them, he answered, " Ah ! I have an Indian's 
 eyes." 
 
 The great ornithologist had the happiness to see 
 the accomplishment of his long pursued and deeply 
 cherished project. He completed the publication 
 of the fifth and last volume of his great work 
 during the year 1839. He was then in his sixty- 
 fourth year. Often had he (to use his own expres- 
 sion) longed to see the day on which his labours 
 should be brought to an end ; and this cherished 
 desire being fulfilled, he lov. d up "with gratitude 
 to the Supreme Being, and felt that he was 
 happy." 
 
 He lived to the age of seventy-s*ix ; his death 
 taking place on the 27th January 1851.
 
 oi Jtnmco:0 $eron, the Eoologist. 
 
 OME years ago, a missionary party dined 
 one day at our house. Among the guests 
 were two natives of the South Seas, who 
 had accompanied their teacher on a voy- 
 age to England, and who were then itinerating with 
 him through the provinces. The weather was 
 very cold, for it was early spring, and the poor 
 natives of those warm regions suffered from the 
 chills of our ungenial climate. During the dinner 
 I watched with curiosity the faces of these re- 
 formed savages, whose huge mouths and dazzling 
 teeth reminded me of the terrible fact that they 
 had been originally cannibals ; and it was with some 
 alarm I saw them introduced by their guardian 
 to the drawing-room, and left alone with my 
 mother and myself till the gentlemen should have 
 finished their after-dinner business. The first act 
 of the chief, who was evidently a gentleman by 
 nature, was to wave his hand towards the fire,
 
 REFORMED SAVAGES. 63 
 
 from which we had retreated to make him room. 
 He would by no means displace us, and we resumed 
 our seats. His companion, who was younger, was 
 plainly of an inferior grade. He appeared lively 
 and in health, while there was an aspect of suffer- 
 ing and reserve about the chief which interested 
 us more in him. How to amuse them ? We 
 pointed to the snow, which was falling fast, and 
 inquired, " Have you seen snow before you came 
 to England?" 
 
 " Oh ! yes," said the young one, " at the Cape, 
 snow came sunshine puff! all gone !" 
 
 We then produced a hamper containing a kitten, 
 and opening the lid, placed it on the hearth-rug, 
 when the animal emerged. 
 
 " Puss 1" cried the lively savage. 
 
 " You have them in your country ?" 
 
 " yes, madame." 
 
 But the chief was uninterested, and we wanted 
 to see him stirred. At length I remembered 
 Peron's " Voyage aux Terres Australes," and has- 
 tening to fetch it from my father's bookshelves, 
 laid it on the table, and opened it at the picture 
 of the young chieftain of New Holland, Nourou- 
 gal-dirri, "s'avangant pour combattre." The mo- 
 ment he cast his eyes on this picture, the junior 
 savage uttered a loud cry in his own tongue, which 
 had the effect of bringing his companion in a
 
 64 A STRANGER IX A STRANGE LAND. 
 
 moment to his side, and the two began, in their 
 soft, liquid, rolling language, conversing with the 
 utmost vivacity, pointing with their fingers te 
 each of the plates, and showing, by the expression 
 of their countenances, that they felt, indeed, alive ! 
 
 " Ah ! you would like to return to the South 
 Sea Islands ; is it not so ?" 
 
 "Yes! yes!" 
 
 There was no mistake about it ; they were pining 
 for their distant land, and for the sunny skies of 
 the south. Alas ! the chief was not destined again 
 to behold them, for he died not many weeks after- 
 wards, " a stranger in a strange land," and without 
 even the solace of his fellow-countryman's presence 
 in his last moments. It was not apprehended that 
 his end was at hand, and they were at a distance 
 from each other. The missionary's wife alone was 
 present to soothe the dying pillow, and to point 
 the eye of the Christian South Sea Islander to the 
 heavenly home, where he is now, it is humbly 
 hoped, numbered with "the great multitude of 
 all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, 
 who have washed their robes, and made them white 
 in the blood of the Lamb." 
 
 At the time when this incident occurred, I was 
 not acquainted with the narrative of Peron's expe- 
 dition, and though I had often admired the exqui- 
 sitely beautiful coloured figures of zoophytes in
 
 AN INTELLIGENT PUPIL. 65 
 
 some of the plates of his work, knew not at what 
 cost the originals had been procured. In the 
 slight sketch now about to be given of this most 
 enthusiastic zoologist, the reader will see an ex- 
 ample of almost unequalled devotedness and zeal. 
 
 Frangois Peroii was born 22d August 1775, at 
 Perilly, a small town in the Bourbonnais. The 
 death of his father left him unprovided for, and 
 his relatives were desirous that he should be taught 
 some lucrative business. Already the boy had 
 shown intense love of books and study, and, dis- 
 consolate at the idea of being shut out from the 
 acquirement of information, he prevailed on his 
 mother to send him to the college of Cerilly, where 
 the principal, charmed with the intelligence of his 
 pupil, paid particular attention to his education, 
 and when his preliminary studies were finished 
 advised him to become an ecclesiastic, with which 
 intention he was placed under the care of the cure 
 of the town, who was to instruct him in philosophy 
 and theology. 
 
 Just at this time the Eevolution broke out, and 
 young Peron, seduced by the exalted pictures of 
 patriotism he had read in ancient history, deter- 
 mined to take his share in the mighty conflict, and 
 to embrace the cause of Liberty. He accordingly 
 left his home at the close of 1792, and enrolled 
 himself in the battalion of L/Allier. He was but
 
 66 AX ASSIDUOUS STUDENT. 
 
 seventeen when he took this ill-advised step. 
 Shortly after he was sent to the army of the Ehine, 
 and proceeded to Laudau, where he beheld war in 
 all its terrors. The siege of this place being raised, 
 he rejoined the army, which encountered the Prus- 
 sians at Weissenburg, and was also present at the 
 defeat of Kaiserslautern. In this affair Peron was 
 wounded and taken prisoner, being carried first to 
 Wesel and then to Magdeburg. This season of 
 forced retirement was turned by the young enthu- 
 siast to good account. He had never ceased to 
 pursue his studies at every moment of leisure, and 
 now read with avidity such books as he could pro- 
 cure, principally narratives of voyages and travels, 
 and history. 
 
 At the close of 1794 he was liberated from prison, 
 and discharged from the army on account of the 
 loss of an eye, occasioned by the wounds he had 
 received in battle. 
 
 The three following years saw him an assiduous 
 student at the Medical School of Paris,, where he 
 especially devoted himself to zoology and com- 
 parative anatomy, in which his rapid progress 
 astonished his associates. There was every pros- 
 pect of his attaining eminence in this department 
 of science, when all his anticipations were suddenly 
 blighted, in consequence of an ardent attachment, 
 in which he was doomed to disappointment. The
 
 AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION. G7 
 
 result was a settled resolve to quit the scene of his 
 mortification and distress, and to fly from his 
 native land. 
 
 Casting about for the means by which he mi^ht 
 be enabled to effect his purpose, he learned that 
 the Government was on the point of despatching 
 an expedition to explore the southern hemisphere. 
 With considerable difficulty, through the friendly 
 assistance of MM. Jussieu and Lacepede, he ob- 
 tained an engagement in the service. The number 
 of savants was already completed, but at his earnest 
 representation of the importance of adding a medi- 
 cal naturalist to the staff this post was assigned 
 to him, and on the 19th October 1800 he sailed 
 with the expedition, which consisted of two frigates, 
 the Naturalist and the Geographe; Peron, with most 
 of the savants, being on board the latter vessel. 
 His biographer in the "Naturalist's Library" thus 
 pleasingly relates the incidents of the voyage : 
 "Though several campaigns had familiarised M. 
 Peron with privation, yet, on board ship, he found 
 himself more put about than he anticipated. 
 Having arrived after all the others were accom- 
 modated, he found only a pitiful corner left for 
 him ; however, in the midst of agitation and bustle, 
 he retained all his composure and self-possession, 
 and did not lose a moment. The very day he went 
 on board he commenced his meteorological obser-
 
 68 A SINGULAR SIGHT. 
 
 vations, which he constantly repeated every six 
 hours, and which were never interrupted during 
 the whole course of the voyage. Shortly after 
 sailing, he made some important experiments re- 
 garding the temperature of the water of the ocean, 
 which demonstrated it was colder in proportion as 
 the depth increased. On reaching the equator, 
 the whole crew were greatly astonished by an 
 appearance which presented itself. One night, 
 when the heavens were very dark and cloudy, a 
 bright band, as of phosphorus, covered the water 
 at the horizon ; presently the ocean seemed in a 
 flame, and sparks of fire appeared to rise from the 
 surface." 
 
 At first the voyagers supposed this to be the 
 aurora borealis, which they had not seen ; but, on 
 advancing, they discovered the luminosity was 
 produced by a countless multitude of small ani- 
 mals, which appeared like sparks of fire. " The 
 whole surface of the ocean," says Peron, describing 
 this phenomenon, " sparkles and shines everywhere 
 like a silver stuff, electrified in the dark. Here 
 the waves roll out in immense sheets of sulphur 
 and bitumen in flames; there, again, the sea re- 
 sembles a vast ocean of milk, the limits of which 
 are lost in the horizon. Brilliant stars by myriads 
 spring from the depths, of which our fireworks arc 
 but a feeble imitation. Masses of fire roll over the
 
 COMPANION' SAVANTS. 69 
 
 waves like so many red-hot balls, one of which we 
 observed apparently not less than twenty feet in 
 diameter. In some places columns of fire, eliciting 
 sparks, are thrown up from the bosom of the deep ; 
 in others, clouds of light and phosphorus are seen 
 traversing the waves in the midst of darkness ; 
 added to which are cones of light revolving round 
 their own axes, splendid garlands, incandescent 
 parallelograms, and serpentining illuminations. 
 Occasionally the ocean appears decorated with an 
 immense scarf of moveable and wavy light, the 
 ends of which exceed the limits of sight." What 
 were all the marvels of the enchanted grotto 
 compared with these exquisite natural illumina- 
 tions exhibited on the mighty waves of the sea ! 
 The impression which this wonderful phenomenon 
 made on our naturalist, and the peculiarities pre- 
 sented by the organisation of these zoophytes, 
 which, on examination, he found to assume suc- 
 cessively all the colours of the rainbow, determined 
 him to investigate this class of animals ; and during 
 the whole voyage he and H. Lesueur, one of his com 
 panion savants with whom he formed a close friend- 
 ship, were ever watching at the ship's side, that 
 they might collect all they could procure. Peron 
 was no great artist himself, but his friend drew, 
 under his direction, those varied and beautiful 
 animals. " The two laboured in concert ; the ono
 
 70 CHARMING WJETUAITS. 
 
 painted, tho other described. In their work they 
 had but one soul, and neither wished to exalt him- 
 self at the expense of the other." At the end of 
 five months they reached the Isle of France, where 
 they completed the.ir stores for the Antarctic seas ; 
 and some of the naturalists, being dissatisfied with 
 the treatment they received and the general arrange- 
 ments, declined to proceed ; but Peron considered 
 himself bound by his engagements. Arrived on 
 the western shores of New Holland, the expedition 
 skirted along the coast, surveying many harbours, 
 and anchored for refreshment at the island of 
 Timor. It is chiefly to Peron's stay in this place, 
 so little known to naturalists, that we are indebted 
 to his labours on the mollusca and zoophytes. The 
 sea is shallow, and the excessive heat seems to 
 multiply prodigiously these singular animals, and 
 to adorn them with the most brilliant hues. 
 Nothing can exceed the rapturous descriptions 
 given of them by our enthusiast. He waxes elo- 
 quent as he paints their beauties, and the reader 
 is disposed to share his admiration while he studies 
 his charming portraits. " What shall I say," he 
 exclaims, " of these various species of zoophytes 
 which, by the singularity of their form, their extra- 
 ordinary organisation, the beauty of their hues, and 
 the variety of their habitudes, so richly merit the 
 attention of the enlightened part of the commu-
 
 MINIATURE FLOTILLAS. 71 
 
 nity. Shall I speak, for example, of the vetelles, 
 which present the appearance of a small wherry 
 with its bottom upwards, on the back of which 
 rises a sort of crest, extremely thin, light, and 
 transparent, which is a large sail, serving the 
 animal to direct its movements, and to vary and 
 increase its velocity. Always keeping close to the 
 wand, this elegant azure boat advances in order, 
 tacks with rapidity, and changes its course accord- 
 ing to its pleasure or need, and rarely fails of at- 
 taining the prey it pursues. The elegance of the 
 form of this creature, the transparency of its sail, 
 the beautiful mantle of blue with which it is clad, 
 all concur to render it one of the most pleasing of 
 the species ; indeed, nothing can afford a more 
 charming picture than these animals, when, in 
 calm weather, they manoeuvre by thousands on 
 the surface of the sea, resembling so many gay 
 miniature flotillas. 
 
 " In the Beroes, nature seems to have exhausted 
 herself to produce the utmost grace and brilliancy 
 in the perfection of the figure, the richness of the 
 hues, and the variety of the movements. Their 
 substance, more pellucid than the clearest crystal, 
 is generally of a beautiful rose, opal ; or azure 
 colour. Their form is more or less spheroidic ; 
 eight or ten longitudinal ribs are disposed around 
 it, each formed of a prodigious number of small
 
 72 INDESCRIBABLE ANIMALS. 
 
 transversal leaves, extremely thin, and of astonish- 
 ing mobility. These constitute the essential organs 
 of motion of the animal. By the aid of these myriads 
 of little paddles it directs its course and executes 
 its manoeuvres. What is still more admirable in 
 this species, light being decomposed by its various 
 and rapid movements, its longitudinal ribs become 
 so many living prisms, and envelop the animal 
 like eight or ten rainbows, so brilliant and so undu- 
 lating that it is vain to attempt to describe its 
 beauty. What shall I say, too, of another kind, 
 which, resembling a beautiful wreath of crystal of 
 an azure hue, swims on the surface of the waves, 
 and lifts above them in succession its diaphanous 
 leaflets, in figure resembling those of ivy, while it 
 stretches around its exquisite rosy feelers ? This, 
 more than the majority of animals of this class, 
 possesses the phosphorescent quality in an unusually 
 lively and splendid degree, and which, in the midst 
 of the darkness, gives it the similitude of a garland 
 of fire and light. Shall I attempt to describe those 
 Tanthines, of a purple colour, which make their 
 way over the surface of the waves suspended by a 
 white bunch of airy bladders ? or those numerous 
 legions of Salpse, of a rosy, azure, or an opal colour, 
 which form floats of thirty or forty leagues in 
 extent, and shine with splendour in the dark ? or 
 those Medusae, equally phosphorescent, which pre-
 
 ATTRACTIVE PURSUITS. 73 
 
 sent so many singular forms so many delicate 
 shades of colour? Besides these are the Pyro- 
 somes, shaped like an enormous finger of a glove, 
 which cover the sea with their innumerable hosts ; 
 and those charming Glauci, of an ultramarine blue, 
 with a silver band on the back, which resemble so 
 many pelagic lizards, with those Hyales, which, 
 protected only by a shell extremely thin, fragile, 
 light, diaphanous, and horny, yet delight in the 
 stormy waves of the Southern Ocean. One is 
 tempted to take these beautiful mollusca, on seeing 
 them display their purple fins, for so many turtle 
 in miniature, and, in fact, it is by that name they 
 are designated by sailors." 
 
 In pursuit of these attractive objects, Peron 
 spent nearly the whole day on the shore, plunging 
 into the water in the midst of the surf, always at 
 the danger of his health, and sometimes of his 
 life, and with the shadows of evening returning 
 laden with numerous specimens, of which his 
 friend sketched the most remarkable. 
 
 Nor did he confine himself to these researches. 
 He spent much time in visiting the interior of the 
 island and examining the aborigines. Though 
 ignorant of their language, he had so much tact 
 in catching the meaning of the natives, and in 
 expressing himself by lively gestures, that to a 
 great extent he was able to communicate with
 
 74 A DISASTROUS EXPEDITION*. 
 
 them ; and he was equally successful with the 
 savages of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land. 
 
 On leaving Timor, the expedition sailed for the 
 Bass Straits and the south coast of New Holland. 
 Here they suffered extremely ; and when they 
 reached Port Jackson, their condition, from priva- 
 tion and disease, was such that only four of the 
 crew could perform duty ; so that, had they been 
 detained a few days longer at sea, they must all 
 have perished. 
 
 After a sufficient period of rest at Port Jackson, 
 a second voyage, no less hazardous than the first, 
 was undertaken. The Geographe proceeded to 
 examine the islands of Bass Straits, and to explore 
 the coast of New Holland. During this expedition, 
 Peron especially displayed remarkable courage and 
 activity. Of the five zoologists who had been 
 appointed by Government, two having remained 
 at the Isle of France and two having died in the 
 course of the second voyage, on him alone devolved 
 the performance of the duty ; and he proved himself 
 equal to all, regardless of the privations to which 
 he was exposed. Shortly after their departure 
 from Timor, the captain having refused the spirits 
 which were necessary for the preservation of the 
 mollusca that were collected, he appropriated the 
 whole of his personal allowance to this purpose, 
 and, what was still more remarkable, he communi-
 
 INSPIRED BY ZEAL. 75 
 
 cated his enthusiasm to many of his comrades, 
 who followed his example and made the same 
 sacrifice. A touching entry in his diary shows 
 that his zeal was equalled by others of the devoted 
 band. He had been passing a day upon an island, 
 and returned loaded with a rich harvest of zoolo- 
 gical specimens. " At sight of this numerous and 
 magnificent collection," he writes, " my unfortunate 
 colleague Mauge was unable to restrain his tears. 
 Notwithstanding his exhausted and consumptive 
 state, he resolved next day to go on shore himself 
 to seek new specimens ; but alas ! he listened but 
 to his zeal and courage his dying frame was 
 unequal to the effort. Scarcely had he reached 
 the strand before he fainted, and was immediately 
 carried back on board in such a state of debility 
 that his life was for a while despaired of. This 
 was the last instance of his zeal ; he went no more 
 on shore but to the grave." 
 
 It was especially in the midst of such dangers 
 that Peron exhibited the energy of his character 
 and his devoted zeal in the pursuit of his object. 
 During storms he used to work as a common sailor, 
 and all the time would be observing with perfect 
 composure. No event ever diverted his attention 
 from his beloved pursuit. Having landed upon 
 King's Island with several of his companions, a 
 sudden gale drove the ship to sea, and they saw
 
 76 PERON'S RETURN TO FRANCE. 
 
 nothing of it for fifteen days. Peron did not for an 
 instant lose his self-possession, but patiently prose- 
 cuted his researches, and, during his stay on this 
 island, he, without shelter, and in despite of the 
 violence of the tempests, collected more than 180 
 species of mollusca and zoophytes, and studied, 
 besides, the history of those gigantic seals the 
 Proboscidse, which assemble in thousands upon 
 these coasts. 
 
 At length, after an absence of three years and 
 a half, he returned to France in April 1804, and im- 
 mediately proceeded to Paris. He was there engaged 
 for several months in arranging his specimens and 
 preparing the catalogue, after which they were all 
 deposited in the Museum. The whole collection 
 was found on examination to contain more than 
 100,000 different animals, among which were many 
 new genera ; and the Commission reported that the 
 number of new species was more than 2500, and 
 that Peron and Lesueur alone had made us ac- 
 quainted with more animals than the whole of the 
 travelling naturalists of modern times. In due 
 time the first volume of his " Voyage aux Aus- 
 trales" appeared, and an opportunity was then 
 afforded of judging of his merits. 
 
 Peron did not live to complete the second 
 volume. His health was broken by prolonged 
 suffering and privation, and he sank speedily under
 
 A MARTYR TO SCIENCE. 
 
 77 
 
 an attack of pulmonary disease, expiring on the 
 14th December 1810, being only in his thirty-fifth 
 year " another proof that science has its martyrs, 
 and that its surest victims are often its most 
 ardent and successful votaries."
 
 
 'OTajjUjr in the " Northern 
 
 HEN a young man, Linnaeus travelled 
 over the greater part of Lapland, skirting 
 the boundaries of Norway. During this 
 journey he mentions, as one of the most 
 surprising and admirable sights he had ever beheld, 
 the phenomenon called The Midnight Sun. " I 
 proceeded," he says, " with all haste, in order, if it 
 were possible, to reach the Alps of Lulean Lap- 
 land in time to see the sun above the horizon at 
 midnight, which is beheld there to the best advan- 
 tage. I reached those mountains shortly after 
 Midsummer-day, and on my first ascending those 
 wild Alps I felt as if I were in a new world. Here 
 were no forests to be seen, but mountains upon 
 mountains, larger and larger as I advanced, all 
 covered with snow. No roads, no tracts, nor any 
 sign of inhabitants, were visible. The declining 
 sun never disappeared sufficiently to allow any 
 cooling shade; and by climbing to the more elevated
 
 A MARVELLOUS SPECTACLE. 79 
 
 parts of these lofty mountains, I could see it at 
 midnight above the horizon. This spectacle I 
 considered as not one of the least of nature's mira- 
 cles, for what inhabitant of other countries would 
 not wish to behold it ? Lord, how wonderful 
 are Thy works ! " 
 
 Bayard Taylor has thus strikingly described 
 the same marvellous and beautiful spectacle : " We 
 were in the narrow strait between the Island of 
 Mageroe, the northern extremity of which forms 
 the North Cape and the mainland. Here, where 
 the scurvy carries off half the inhabitants where 
 pastors coming from Southern Norway die within 
 a year where no trees grow, no vegetables come 
 to maturity, and gales from every quarter of the 
 icy sea beat the last faint life out of nature, men 
 will still persist in living, in apparent defiance of 
 all natural laws. Yet they have at least an excuse 
 for it in the marvellous provision which Providence 
 has made for their food and fuel. The sea and 
 fjords are alive with fish, which are not only a 
 means of existence but of profit to them, while 
 the wonderful Gulf-stream, which crosses 5000 
 miles of the Atlantic to die upon this Ultima Thule 
 in a last struggle with the Polar Sea, casts up the 
 spoils of tropical forests to feed their fires. Think 
 of Arctic fishers burning upon their hearths the 
 palms of Hayti, the mahogany of Honduras, and
 
 80 THE ROCK OF SVCERHOLT. 
 
 the precious woods of the Amazon and the 
 Orinoco ! . . 
 
 " On issuing from the strait we turned south- 
 ward into the great Porsanger Fjord, which 
 stretches nearly a hundred miles into the heart of 
 Lapland, dividing Western from Eastern Finmark. 
 Its shores are high monotonous hills, half covered 
 with snow, and harren of vegetation, except 
 patches of grass and moss. If once wooded, like 
 the hills of the Alten Fjord, the trees have long 
 since disappeared, and now nothing can be more 
 bleak and desolate. Running along the eastern 
 shore, we exchanged the dreadful monotony through 
 which we had been sailing for more rugged and 
 picturesque scenery. Before us rose a wall of 
 dark cliff, from five to six hundred feet in height, 
 gaping here and there with sharp clefts or 
 gashes, as if it had cracked in cooling, after the 
 primeval fires. As we approached the end 
 of the promontory which divides the Porsanger 
 from the Laxe Fjord, the rocks became more ab- 
 rupt and violently shattered. Huge masses, fallen 
 from the summit, lined the base of the precipice, 
 which was hollowed into cavernous arches, the 
 home of myriads of seagulls. The rock of Svoer- 
 holt, off the point, resembled a massive fortress in 
 ruins. Its walls of smooth masonry rested on three 
 enormous vaults, the piers of which were but-
 
 A " CLOUD " OF BIRDS. 81 
 
 tressed with slanting piles of rocky fragments. 
 The ramparts, crenelated iri some places, had 
 mouldered away in others ; and one fancied he 
 saw, in the rents and scars of the giant pile, the 
 marks of the shot and shell which had wrought its 
 ruin. Thousands of white gulls, gone to their 
 mighty roost, rested on every ledge and cornice of 
 the rock ; but preparations were already made to 
 disturb their slumbers. The steamer's cannon was 
 directed towards the largest vault, and discharged. 
 The fortress shook with the crashing reverbera- 
 tion ; then rose a wild, piercing, myriad-tongued 
 cry, which still rings in my ears. With the cry 
 carne a rushing sound, as of a tempest among the 
 woods ; a white cloud burst out of the hollow arch- 
 way, like the smoke of an answering shot, and, in 
 the space of a second, the air was filled with birds 
 thicker than autumn leaves, and rang with one 
 universal clanging shriek. The whirring, rustling, 
 and screaming, as the birds circled overhead, or 
 dropped like thick scurries of snowflakes on the 
 water, was truly awful. There could not have 
 been less than 50,000 in the air at one time, while 
 as many more clung to the face of the rock, or 
 screamed from the depth of the vaults. It was 
 now eleven o'clock, and Svcerholt glowed in fiery 
 bronze lustre as we rounded it the eddies of re- 
 turning birds gleaming golden in the nocturnal
 
 82 THE " MIDNIGHT SUN." 
 
 sun, like drift of beech leaves in the October air. 
 Far to the north, the sun lay in a bed of saffron 
 light over the clear horizon' of the Arctic Ocean. 
 A few bars of dazzling orange cloud floated above 
 him, and still higher in the sky, where the saffron 
 melted through delicate rose colour into blue, hung 
 light wreaths of vapour, touched with pearly 
 opaline flushes of pink and golden grey. The sea 
 was a web of pale slate colour, shot through and 
 through with threads of orange and saffron, from 
 the dance of a myriad shifting and twinkling 
 ripples. The air was filled and permeated with 
 the soft mysterious glow, and even the very azure 
 of the southern sky seemed to shine through a net 
 of golden gauze. The headlands of this deeply 
 indented coast the capes of the Laxe and Por- 
 sanger Fjords, and of Mageroe lay around us, in 
 different degrees of distances, but all with forebeads 
 touched with supernatural glory. Far to the north- 
 east was Nordkyn, the most northern point of the 
 mainland of Europe, gleaming rosily and faint in 
 the full beams of the sun ; and just as our watches 
 denoted midnight, the North Cape appeared to the 
 westward a long line of purple bluff, presenting 
 a vertical front of 900 feet in height to the Polar 
 Sea. Midway between these two magnificent 
 headlands stood the midnight sun, shining on us 
 with subdued fires, and with the gorgeous colour-
 
 NEITHER SUNSET NOU SUNRISE. 83 
 
 ing of an hour for which we have no name, since 
 it is neither sunset nor sunrise, but the blended 
 loveliness of both, and shining at the same mo- 
 ment in the heat and splendour of noonday on the 
 Pacific Isles. 
 
 This was the midnight sun as I had dreamed it 
 as I had hoped to see it. Within fifteen minutes 
 after midnight there was a perceptible increase of 
 altitude, and in less than half an hour the whole 
 sky had changed the yellow brightening into 
 orange, and the saffron melting into the pale ver- 
 milion of dawn. Yet it was neither the colours 
 nor the same character of light as we had had half 
 an hour before midnight. The difference was so 
 slight as scarcely to be described ; but it was the 
 difference between evening and morning. The 
 faintest transfusion of one prevailing tint into 
 another had changed the whole expression of 
 heaven and earth, and so imperceptibly and mira- 
 culously that a new day was already present to 
 our consciousness. Our view of the wild cliffs 
 around, less than two hours before, belonged to 
 yesterday, though we had stood on deck, in full 
 sunshine, during all the intervening time. Let 
 those explain the phenomenon who can ; but I 
 found my physical senses utterly at war with those 
 mental perceptions wherewith they should harmo- 
 nise. The eye saw but one unending day; the 
 6
 
 84 " NOT THE LEAST OF NATURE'S MIRACLES ! " 
 
 mind notched the twenty-four hours on its calen- 
 dar as before. Well might Linnaeus exclaim, with 
 pious rapture, as he gazed upon this " not the 
 least of Nature's miracles" " Lord, how won- 
 derful are Thy works!" Surely it is no wonder 
 that this " land of mysteries," with all its severity 
 and gloom, its pictures of darkness and death, 
 should exert, as we are told it does, a strange 
 secret power of attraction, evoked by " the very 
 mystic scene itself, which the midnight sun illu- 
 mines, and around which the mountain ridges keep 
 watch, while in winter the northern lights flame 
 over the snow-clad earth." It may well remind 
 the poor peasant that " God's Spirit rests upon the 
 northern land" no less than on the southern, and 
 symbolise to Christian faith and hope that blessed 
 " land of pure delight" where " the sun shall no 
 more go down," for the Lord shall be unto them 
 " an everlasting light."
 
 Jtianeon'a (Experience among the 
 
 HIS naturalist was born at Aix, in Pro- 
 vence, on the 7th April 1727. His father, 
 of Scotch extraction, was attached to the 
 service of M. de Vintimille, then Arch- 
 bishop of Aix, but on the removal of that ecclesi- 
 astic to Paris followed him thither, and at three 
 years of age the little Michel became an inhabitant 
 of the French capital. His education was very 
 carefully attended to, and his natural ability well 
 rewarded the labours of his instructors. He was 
 very small of stature, and passed for much younger 
 than he actually was ; and when he was seen 
 carrying away the prizes of the University, people 
 laughed at the boy, hidden behind a huge volume 
 of Pliny and Aristotle. (Such was the description 
 of books then constantly given as rewards.) It 
 chanced on one of these occasions that Needham, 
 a naturalist famous for his microscopic discoveries, 
 delighted at the talent of this juvenile prodigy,
 
 86 A JUVENILE PRODIGY. 
 
 presented him with a microscope, and said, " As 
 you have been hitherto such -au adept in studying 
 the works of men, it is time you should now study 
 those of nature." Probably these early instruc- 
 tions and successes influenced his subsequent 
 career. He says, at the commencement of his 
 Travels : " Having in my very early days felt a 
 particular liking to the study of philosophy and 
 natural history, I found my inclinations averse 
 from the profession for which my parents designed 
 me, which was that of the Church ; and therefore 
 I resigned a benefice, with which I had been 
 already provided, that I might be entirely at 
 liberty to pursue the study of natural philosophy. 
 The branch I first took up with was that of botany, 
 which I considered as? one of the most engaging 
 studies, not only from its considerable use in life, 
 but from its agreeable variety. The opportunity I 
 had of attending the lectures of MM. de Jussieu 
 at the King's garden led me thither very often ; 
 and the strong passion I felt for that science, to- 
 gether with my constant application, soon made me 
 known to those masters, especially M. Bernard de 
 Jussieu, who took notice of me, and by degrees 
 led me on to the study of every branch of natural 
 history. After having gone through a course of 
 instruction for upwards of six years, under the 
 direction of the most celebrated academicians, I
 
 A SELF-DENYING ENTERPRISE. 87 
 
 made known my intention of going abroad for fur- 
 ther improvement. I selected the equinoctial 
 parts of Africa, which had not been visited by any 
 naturalist, and consequently offered a vast field 
 from which to reap a plentiful harvest of observa- 
 tions. Well aware it was no small undertaking I 
 had in view, I was not deterred by any difficulties, 
 but declared my intention to my father, who in- 
 troduced me in the year 1748 to M. David, director 
 of the East India Company, to whom he was well 
 known. He procured me a place in the factory of 
 Senegal, and promised to promote my speedy de- 
 parture." 
 
 Adanson has not mentioned the fact that it was 
 at his own expense solely, and by the sacrifice of 
 the greater part of his patrimony, that he was en- 
 abled to embark on his arduous and self-denying 
 enterprise. He was just twenty-one years of age 
 when he left his native shores, and during a period 
 of six years expatriated himself to encounter a 
 world of hardships and perils, solely for the desire 
 lie felt to prosecute the studies of his choice. 
 " Tantus Amor." On his return to France he 
 published the history of his voyage, which gives a 
 full and detailed account of his adventures and 
 researches during five years' sojourn in those torrid 
 and insalubrious regions. He was chiefly em- 
 ployed in indefatigable enquiries and researches,
 
 88 IXVIXCIBLE COURAGE. 
 
 collecting together immense treasures of natural 
 objects arranging, preserving, describing, and 
 classifying them. Consulting rather his zeal in 
 the cause than his safety or strength, he subjected 
 himself to the severest trials, now walking over 
 the burning sands of the African deserts, exposed 
 to the scorching heat, or traversing rivers and tor- 
 rents upon the back of a negro, who was occasion- 
 ally up to his chin in water, or in defending 
 himself against tigers, wild boars, crocodiles, ser- 
 pents, and other savage animals, besides the many 
 noxious insects with which those deserts abound. 
 " I had," he says, " an amazing good state of health, 
 and this bore me up in the midst of so many perils 
 and toils, under which a great many would have 
 sunk. Neither the dangers I was exposed to from 
 wild beasts, nor the toils of coursing in the woods, 
 which are rendered inaccessible by thorns, nor the 
 sultry heats of the east wind that, obliged me every 
 instant to have recourse to the river waters in 
 order to quench my violent thirst none of all 
 these inconveniences deterred me nothing was 
 capable of cooling my courage." 
 
 Some idea of the trials attendant upon his ex- 
 ploratory rambles may be formed when we learn 
 that his shoes grew tough like horn, scorched by 
 the burning sands ; then cracked, and at length fell 
 away to powder. The very reflection of the heat
 
 CROSSING A " MARIGOT." 89 
 
 of the sun peeled the skin off his face, and occa- 
 sioned a smarting which lasted for days together. 
 To these inconveniences were added those of the 
 quicksands, which were excessively fatiguing, as 
 the traveller sank up to the ankles, and with diffi- 
 culty waded along. "Then, for the first time," 
 exclaimed Adanson, " I perceived the use of that 
 thick skin with which nature has provided the 
 soles of the negroes' feet, whereby they are secured 
 against hard substances, and have no need of shoes. 
 Yet I accustomed myself by degrees to this sort 
 of fatigue, for there is nothing but what one 
 may compass with a good will, and this was not 
 wanting." 
 
 Here is his picture of crossing one of the marigots 
 or rivulets of the country, which are sometimes 
 very dangerous : " When I had advanced a few 
 steps towards the bed of the stream I entered, 
 though I had my clothes on, into the water up to 
 my waist ; but I did not care to go farther, as I 
 might have met with some hole, which would have 
 embarrassed me greatly. I therefore sent my 
 negro to sound the bottom ; and in the meantime 
 I got upon a tree, in order to avoid the serpents 
 and the water, which began to fatigue me. After 
 sounding for some time, he was of opinion he could 
 carry me over a particular spot, where the water 
 came up only to his nostrils when he stood on tip-
 
 90 SAFELY THROUGH. 
 
 toe. " The fellow was tall, being six feet some 
 inches. I mounted upon his shoulders with my 
 gun in my hand, a few birds, and a bundle of 
 plants. He was soon in the water up to his neck; 
 and I was not without some apprehension when I 
 saw myself descend gradually up to my waist ; 
 however, I resigned myself to his skilful guidance, 
 and I let him do as he pleased. He waded through 
 the middle of the marigot with amazing resolution, 
 without being the least daunted, though he was 
 obliged to swallow three large gulps of water, 
 which for some time took away his breath. As 
 soon as I escaped this danger, I espied a plant of a 
 very extraordinary beauty floating on the water, 
 with soft silver leaves. That moment I forgot 
 every other object, and though my Benbara was 
 still up to his chin in water, I ventured to gather 
 the charming plant. Thus I escaped luckily out 
 of the marigot of Qua Soul, which at that time was 
 very nearly 120 fathoms broad that is, about twice 
 the breadth of the Seine at Port-Royal and I 
 overtook the vessel before noon." 
 
 A pleasing night picture follows : " The negroes 
 of this neighbourhood are obliged to lie on very 
 high beds in order to escape from the mosquitoes, 
 of which there are great swarms, especially in this 
 month. These beds are from five to six feet 
 square, and consist of a double texture of sticks
 
 A XIGHT PICTURE. 91 
 
 laid close together and supported by posts, which 
 are raised eight or nine feet from the ground. 
 They mount this kind of platform by step-ladders. 
 At sunset the dreaded insects issue forth in swarms, 
 and then the negroes betake themselves to these 
 platforms, where they sup, and smoke and chat 
 for a great part of the night, after which they 
 sleep till day in the open air. I had never used 
 the precaution of taking a tent with me, and I lay 
 with them, and in their manner that is, almost 
 naked, the great heat not permitting me to wear 
 any sort of garment. The mosquitoes were not 
 indeed so troublesome as under cover, but still 
 they sucked a great deal of blood, and every morn- 
 ing I had my face disfigured with pimples. This, 
 however, did not hinder me from passing my nights 
 very agreeably. Besides the amusement I received 
 from the fables, dialogues, and witty stories, with 
 which the negroes entertained each other accord- 
 ing to their custom, I was ravished with behold- 
 ing a sky ever blue and serene, and bespangled 
 with stars that shone forth with the brightest lustre. 
 Raised on this platform, as on a small observatory, 
 open on all sides, I could easily accompany those 
 luminaries with my eye in their revolution from 
 east to west. Oftentimes, I did not lose sight of the 
 upper edge of the disk of the sun and of the larger 
 stars till theyplunged under the horizon of the ocean.
 
 92 VAG-VAGUES. 
 
 " The negroes also pointed out to me a consider- 
 able number of the stars that form the chief con- 
 stellations, besides most of the planets, wherewith 
 they were well acquainted. Nay, they went so 
 far as to distinguish the oscillations of the stars, 
 which began at that time to be visible to the eye. 
 It is amazing that such a rude and illiterate people 
 should reason so pertinently in regard to those 
 heavenly bodies, for there is no manner of doubt 
 that with proper instruments and a good will they 
 would become excellent astronomers, by reason 
 that they live in a climate that enjoys a clear sky 
 almost the year round." 
 
 More annoying even than the stings of the mos- 
 quitoes were a species of white ant, called vag- 
 vague, abounding in the Island of Goree, where our 
 naturalist lodged some months in a straw hut. " I 
 should have thought myself pretty well off," says 
 he, " had these insects attacked only the reeds of 
 my habitation, but they pierced through a trunk, 
 which stood on trestles a foot above the ground, 
 and gnawed most of my books. Even my bed was 
 not spared ; and though I took care every evening 
 to break down the galleries they constructed, yet 
 they were frequently erected again during the night 
 up to my bolster, and the vag-vagues got into the 
 bed, where, after cutting the linen and mattress, 
 they came to my flesh, and bit me most cruelly.
 
 NO EVIL WITHOUT ITS ADVANTAGE. 93 
 
 Their size is hardly larger than that of our large 
 European ants, yet they are of such a consti- 
 tution that neither fresh nor salt water, nor vine- 
 gar, nor any other strong liquors, with which I 
 often covered the floor of my chamber, were able 
 to destroy them, so that every method I took to 
 extirpate the breed proved ineffectual." No evil is 
 without a counterbalancing advantage. Thus, our 
 enthusiast found a consolation for all his "swellings 
 and acute pains" occasioned by the hostilities of the 
 vag-vagues, since, thanks to the wakefulness they 
 induced, he had opportunities for making a repeti- 
 tion of experiments which he frankly acknowledges 
 " might otherwise have been performed but very 
 seldom." 
 
 " My room," he says, " was full of pails of sea- 
 water, in which I constantly kept live fish, which 
 in the night-time emitted a light not unlike that of 
 phosphorus. The mugs full of shells, and even 
 the fish that lay dead on the table, gave the same 
 light. All these illuminations put together, and 
 reflected upon different parts of the room, made it 
 appear as if it were on fire ; and I must own that 
 I was of that opinion the first time I saw the 
 strange phenomenon. The vag-vagues, by awaken- 
 ing me suddenly out of my sleep, renewed my 
 fright much oftener than I could have wished in 
 the beginning ; but my apprehension gradually
 
 94 INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS. . 
 
 ceased by seeing the thing often repeated, till T at 
 length received a pleasure from the extraordinary 
 sight. What was most engaging, each fish showed 
 itself plainly to the eye by the light emitted from 
 its body ; and the same effect was produced by the 
 shells and other sea bodies which I had with me ; 
 even the pails themselves looked like a burning 
 surface. This was not all ; every day the sight 
 was new, because I had new fishes and new shells 
 to observe ; now it was a pilchard, now a molebat ; 
 at one time a purple fish, at another a periwinkle, 
 a polypus, a crab, or a star-fish, that showed its 
 luminous rays in the dark ; in short, I perfectly 
 distinguished the shape of all these different fishes 
 by rays of light which darted from every part of 
 their bodies ; and as I could place them in a thou- 
 sand different positions, I had in my power to give 
 an infinite variety to this beautiful illumination. 
 
 "When the vag-vagues actually compelled me to 
 quit this glittering mansion, and to look for relief 
 abroad, the angry ocean presented me with the 
 same phenomenon on a large scale. The foaming 
 billov\ seemed to metamorphose themselves into 
 mountains of fire, and exhibited to my view a most 
 amazing spectacle, more capable of exciting admi- 
 ration than fear, even in the minds of persons 
 exposed to their fury." 
 
 Many more equally vivacious passages might be
 
 AX IMPRACTICABLE IDEA. 95 
 
 given, full of natural feeling, and pleasing from 
 the bonhommie and simple earnestness of the 
 writer. H. Adauson's subsequent career was very 
 characteristic of the man. He published, besides 
 his voyages, the " Natural History of Senegal," 
 and a valuable work on " The Families of Plants," 
 and would in all probability have done much 
 more by his publications in aid of natural science 
 had he not adopted an impracticable idea that of 
 producing a general Encyclopaedia, a gigantic com- 
 pendium of Universal Science. His arrangements 
 and propositions were regarded as chimerical by 
 his associate savants, and proved futile. He con- 
 tinued, however, incessantly engaged in amassing 
 materials for its execution, and he drained himself 
 of all his resources in its prosecution. Firmly 
 convinced that he should eventually accomplish 
 this chef d'ceuvre, he needed no other occupation or 
 source of enjoyment. Had he listened to the voice 
 of ambition or worldly interest, he might have 
 speedily heaped to himself riches and honours. 
 The English Government having, in 1760, taken 
 possession of Senegal, sought eagerly to obtain his 
 advice and instructions relative to the best methods 
 of cultivating the natural productions of that 
 region ; and so highly were his scientific merits 
 appreciated, that the Emperor of Austria, the Em- 
 press Catherine of Russia, and the King of Spain,
 
 96 A RUTHLESS MOB. 
 
 successively endeavoured to induce him to settle 
 within their realms. To all these flattering over- 
 tures he remained indifferent. His love for " La 
 Belle France" was carried, according to his French 
 biographer, "jusqu' a 1'exaltation," and he would 
 serve no other country but his own. 
 
 The Kevolution at length arrived, and Adanson 
 saw himself stripped of all he possessed. The loss 
 which he took most to heart was that of his garden, 
 in which, for many years, he had delighted to 
 carry on his experiments in the cultivation of 
 plants and vegetables. He had especially devoted 
 his care to the production of a great number of 
 varieties in the mulberry, and he mourned as he 
 beheld these treasures cut down by the hands of 
 the mob. In spite of the destitution to which he 
 was reduced, he retained his composure and con- 
 tinued his labours ; on a reduced scale indeed, for 
 he had only a small, inconvenient, and unwhole- 
 some abode, and a little plot of ground for a 
 garden, which was of such narrow dimensions that 
 the amiable enthusiast was obliged to satisfy him- 
 self with the representatives, so to speak, of each 
 of his families. 
 
 He would probably have remained long for- 
 gotten, had not the Institute, at the time of its 
 formation, invited him to join its ranks. He re- 
 plied that it was not in his power to comply with
 
 ADANSON'S DEATH. 97 
 
 the invitation, as he had not shoes. The Minister 
 of the Interior granted him a pension. 
 
 Adanson died in 1806, cherishing to the last 
 the hope of seeing his great work completed. 
 Surely from such an original must Walter Scott's 
 gardener Abbot have been drawn. My readers 
 will recall the scene in the cottage of the old man 
 on the night of Queen Mary's escape from Loch- 
 leven, and will remember his pettish reply to her 
 proffers of remuneration : " May it please your 
 Grace, if your Grace's servants have occupied my 
 house so that I could not call it my own ; if they 
 have trodden down my flowers in the zeal of their 
 midnight comings and goings, and destroyed the 
 hope of the fruit-season by bringing their war- 
 horses into my garden, I do but crave of your 
 Grace in requital, that you will choose your resi- 
 dence as far from me as possible. I am an old 
 man, who would willingly creep to my grave as 
 easily as I can, in peace, good will, and quiet 
 labour."
 
 of $3ime ICyonnet, tlie (Entomologist. 
 
 NLY think of an entomologist celebrated 
 for having devoted several years to the 
 investigation of a single insect ! Surely 
 he deserves to be ranked among the en- 
 thusiasts of science. Pierre Lyonnet, alike dis- 
 tinguished as a naturalist, an anatomist, and an 
 engraver, was born on the 21st July 1707, at 
 Maestricht. His family came originally from 
 Lorraine, having been driven from their native 
 country by religious persecution. His father, who 
 was pastor of the French Church at Keusden, 
 destined his son for the same sacred calling, and 
 educated him with that view. Having an extra- 
 ordinary aptitude for acquiring languages, he made 
 himself master, at an early age, of Latin, Greek, 
 Hebrew, French, Italian, Spanish, and English, 
 with all which he was almost equally conversant. 
 At the same time he studied the exact sciences 
 and attained considerable proficiency in drawing 
 and sculpture.
 
 LYOXXET'S FIRST PUBLICATION. 99 
 
 When he came of age to judge for himself, he 
 preferred the profession of the law to that of 
 divinity ; and having graduated at Utrecht, and 
 practised as a barrister for some time at the Hague, 
 he obtained the appointment of perpetual secretary 
 and sworn translator to the States-General of the 
 United Provinces. The abundant leisure which 
 the duties of this office left upon his hands he 
 devoted to the study of natural history, and espe- 
 cially to that of insects. He formed a collection 
 of those which are found in the neighbourhood of 
 the Hague, of which he made descriptions and 
 coloured drawings. With the feelings of a true 
 Christian, Lyonnet delighted in these studies to 
 behold the wonders of creative skill and benevo- 
 lence, and his first publication was a translation 
 of Lessor's " Theology of Insects," a work in which 
 the author's aim is to point out the proofs of the 
 Divine goodness and wisdom as seen in that class 
 of animals. He added numerous and valuable 
 notices to the original, and some drawings by him- 
 self. Shortly before this time, his friend Abraham 
 Trembley, the Genevese, had come to the Hague, 
 where he had made his famous discovery of the 
 fresh-water polypus, and its method of propagation 
 by budding, or self-division. He imparted these 
 observations to Lyonnet, w r ho drew for him the 
 figures necessary to illustrate them, and the cele-
 
 100 THE ANATOMY OF A CATERPILLAR. 
 
 brated artist Vaudeleer undertook to engrave 
 them ; but being preoccupied with numerous other 
 engagements, he delayed from time to time the 
 fulfilment of his promise. Impatient to see so 
 important a work completed, Lyonnet determined 
 to try his skill, and having obtained from the artist 
 an hour's lesson in engraving, he then produced, as 
 his first attempt, the eight last plates in that famous 
 treatise, which are as admirable for the delicacy as 
 for the correctness of their execution. Encouraged 
 by his success, he now resolved to apply the talent 
 he had thus discovered himself to possess for the 
 illustration of his own scientific researches. He 
 hesitated for some time before he finally decided 
 to undertake the investigation of a subject which 
 he believed would exhaust any other patience than 
 his own. This was the anatomy of one single 
 caterpillar, that which infects the willow-tree, 
 and which is so common in Holland (Phalcena 
 cossus of Linnaeus). 
 
 In his hands this became a unique work ; and no 
 sooner did his book, describing and figuring it, 
 make its appearance to the world, than it was im- 
 mediately ranked among the most surprising chefs- 
 d'ceuvres of human industry. It was a quarto volume 
 of more than 600 pages, adorned with 18 plates. 
 The author here exhibited all the parts of this 
 minute animal with the utmost detail and exact-
 
 A WONDERFUL BOOK. 101 
 
 ness. The number of the muscles alone, all de- 
 scribed and figured, is 4041 ; that of branchial 
 nerves and the trachial branches is infinitely 
 greater. The intestines are also shown with their 
 minutest details, and all given in engravings so 
 delicate, so admirably adapted to show the tissue 
 of the substances they represent, that the eye 
 seizes the whole with as much facility as though it 
 beheld the object itself through the medium of the 
 microscope. This book was pronounced by Bonnet, 
 a celebrated philosophic naturalist, to be one of 
 the most admirable demonstrations of the existence 
 of a First Cause ; nor will it lose its value so long 
 as entomology shall be cultivated as a science, or 
 the comparative anatomist trace with delight the 
 footsteps of Divine wisdom in the gradually vary- 
 ing structures of animals. 
 
 So marvellous was the delicacy of some of his 
 experiments, that they at first appeared incredible, 
 and he was obliged, to satisfy the doubts of the 
 public, to exhibit them to skilful observers and 
 judges. It formed part of his design to illustrate 
 in a similar manner the anatomy of the chrysalis 
 and perfect moth ; but his labours were interrupted 
 by an accident which impaired his eyesight when 
 about sixty years of age. 
 
 In relation to the experiments he made while 
 engaged in preparing his " Traite Anatomique de
 
 102 LYOXXET'S KIXD-HEARTEDXESS. 
 
 la chenille clu Saule," Lyonnet exhibited such 
 tender sensibility as does him honour. In truth, 
 while we admire his dexterity and marvel at his 
 patience, we love him for his kindheartedness. 
 He takes pains to assure his readers that it was 
 necessary to sacrifice but a very small number of 
 these insects to effect his observations ; and he adds, 
 that to prevent their suffering he put them into 
 spirits of wine before opening them. One cannot 
 but call to remembrance the exclamation of the 
 poet, 
 
 " I would not number in my list of friends, 
 Though graced with polished manners and fine sense, 
 Yet wanting sensibility, the man 
 That needlessly sets foot upon a worm." 
 
 Little more is known of Lyonnet except that he 
 died in January 1789, at the advanced age of 
 eighty-two. Apparently he had never been married.
 
 Incidents in the Ci 
 
 |EatmlU ani) Ip'Ssj 
 
 VERY lover of entomology doffs his cap at 
 the name of Latreille, to whom, with one 
 voice, the most competent judges have 
 done homage as "facile princeps ento- 
 mologorum." This " new and brilliant genius," 
 whose indefatigable labours and singular talents 
 threw more light over the science he loved than 
 those of all his predecessors, was born at Brives, in 
 the department of Correze, on the 29th November 
 1762. His parents were of an honourable family, 
 but he was early deprived by death of their care, 
 and apparently they left but very slender means of 
 subsistence for the education of their orphan child. 
 Indeed, he himself says that he seemed born to 
 misfortune and obscurity. How often in the his- 
 tory of men of genius do we meet with similar 
 examples. But Providence happily raised up for 
 him devoted friends and protectors ; and the attrac-
 
 104 EARLY PATROXS. 
 
 tiveness of his manners when a child obtained for 
 him the regard and good offices of some generous 
 citizens of his native place. M. Laroche, a skilful 
 medical practitioner, and his family, took an affec- 
 tionate care of the young orphan ; and after their 
 example, a merchant of Brives, named Malepeyre, 
 showed the warmest interest in him, lent him 
 books on natural history, and never ceased to 
 encourage and foster the rising taste which his 
 young friend already showed for the science he 
 was one day to illustrate. Perhaps, but for this 
 generous and Christian benevolence, France might 
 not have had the honour of possessing the first of 
 her entomologists. 
 
 Another of his early patrons was the Baron 
 d'Espignac, governor at the Invalides, at whose 
 request Latreille went to Paris when he was about 
 sixteen years of age. Soon afterwards he had the 
 misfortune to lose this friend, who had shown a 
 fatherly affection for him, by death ; but the loss 
 was to some extent supplied by a sister of the 
 deceased, the Baroness de Puymarets, and by others 
 of the same family. Through their influence 
 Latreille was placed in the college of Cardinal Le- 
 inoine, where he continued for a considerable time 
 prosecuting various branches of education. While 
 here he had the happiness to acquire the friendship 
 of the celebrated mineralogist Haiiy. In his twenty-
 
 A PERILOUS SITUATION. 105 
 
 fourth year he retired to the country, and during 
 his stay there devoted himself entirely, and with 
 the utmost eagerness, to the study of insects. 
 
 The friends of Latreille were desirous that he 
 should enter the Church ; his constitution was far 
 from robust, and it was hoped that the advantages 
 of a calm and peaceable profession would thus be 
 secured for him. As it proved, he was by this 
 very means rendered obnoxious to persecution and 
 suffering. As a member of the ecclesiastical body, 
 he was the object of suspicion to the revolutionary 
 party, and shared the fate of thousands of his 
 brethren. Among the multitudes condemned to 
 deportation, as it was called, he was included ; he 
 was immediately thrown into prison, and after- 
 wards conveyed to one of the general depots of the 
 city of Bordeaux, there to await the execution of 
 his sentence. 
 
 An incident, trivial in itself, was the means of 
 saving him from the terrible fate of his fellow vic- 
 tims. The surgeon who visited tlfb jail in which 
 Latreille was confined one day observed him care- 
 fully examining a small beetle which had found its 
 way into his place of confinement. Upon inquiry, 
 he was informed by the prisoner that the insect 
 was a very rare one ; and he then expressed a wish 
 to have it for the purpose of presenting it to two 
 young naturalists of his acquaintance living at
 
 IOC A MARVELLOUS DELIVER ANTE. 
 
 Bordeaux. The wish was readily complied with. 
 and the insect was conveyed to MM. Bory de St. 
 Vincent and Dargelas. Latreille's eminence as an 
 entomologist was already known to these gentle- 
 men, and, being thus made acquainted with his 
 perilous situation, they immediately exerted them- 
 selves to obtain, if possible, his liberation, in which 
 they ultimately succeeded. One trembles to think 
 that a month later he must in all probability have 
 shared the fate of his fellow-prisoners, who were 
 shipped as convicts for Cayenne, and the vessel 
 which conveyed them foundered in the Bay of 
 Biscay, when every soul on board perished. The 
 deliverance was truly marvellous, if we refer to its 
 cause the accidental discovery of an insect. It 
 has been said by one of our great divines,* that " a 
 fly with God's message could choke a king ;" and 
 a little insignificant beetle thus saved Latreille. 
 How obscure the means God often employs, and 
 how apparently inadequate the instruments He 
 uses, to effect His wondrous purposes I It is as 
 though He said, in language not to be mistaken, 
 " I kill, and I make alive." 
 
 After Latreille's release he relinquished his views 
 of entering the Church, and devoted himself en- 
 tirely to his favourite study. In 1797 he was again 
 proscribed as an emigre ; but the favour of his fel- 
 
 * Jeremy Taylor.
 
 LATREILLE AND THE BEETLE
 
 OOXGEXIAL EMPLOYMENT. 107 
 
 low-citizens, and the influence of his friends, were 
 sufficient to protect him. At a later period he 
 went to reside permanently at Paris, where he was 
 employed in the congenial task of arranging the 
 insects in the Museum of Natural History. His 
 zeal and talent soon rendered him the successful 
 competitor and superior of those whom he called 
 his masters. His slender emoluments sufficed to 
 supply his modest wants ; and he procured what 
 was necessary to extend the limits of the science 
 to which his labours were devoted by writing 
 for the booksellers various works on the different 
 branches of natural history, and also on general 
 science. All his writings displayed intelligence 
 and varied information ; but those treating of 
 entomology always evinced his rapid progress in 
 this science, until at last his great work, the 
 Genera Crustaceorum and Insectorum placed him 
 in the first rank of the entomologists of Europe. 
 In this he first mentioned his little insect de- 
 liverer. Under the genus Necrobia he gives, as 
 an illustration, the species called Necrobia rufi- 
 collis; and at the end of its descriptive mark 
 adds, " an insect very dear to me, for, in those 
 disastrous times when France groaned tremulously 
 under the weight of endless calamities, by the kind 
 intervention of Bory de St Vincent and D'Argelas, 
 but principally the latter, this little animal was the
 
 108 D'ISJOUVIL IN PRISON*. 
 
 miraculous cause of my liberty and safety." La- 
 treille died on the 6th February 1832, and was 
 buried in Pere la Chaise, where a handsome monu- 
 ment is erected to his memory. It is in the form 
 of a truncated obelisk, surmounted by a bronze bust 
 of Latreille ; and on one side is engraved a highly 
 magnified figure of the Necrobia ruficollis. 
 
 An escape scarcely less wonderful than that of 
 Latreille, and effected by similar means, is told of 
 M. Quatremer d'Isjouvil, a Frenchman by birth, 
 who was adjutant-general in Holland, and took an 
 active part on the side of the Dutch patriots when 
 they revolted against the Stadtholder. On the 
 arrival of the Prussian army under the Duke of 
 Brunswick, he was immediately taken, tried, and, 
 having been condemned to twenty-five years' im- 
 prisonment, was incarcerated in a dungeon at 
 Utrecht, where he remained eight years. 
 
 Spiders, which are the constant, and frequently 
 the sole occupants of such places, were almost the 
 only living creatures which d'Isjouvil saw in his 
 prison. Partly to beguile the tedious monotony of 
 his life, and partly from a taste which he had im- 
 bibed for natural history, he began to seek employ- 
 ment, and eventually found amusement in watching 
 the habits and operations of his tiny fellow-prison- 
 ers. He soon remarked that certain actions of the 
 spiders were intimately connected with approaching
 
 SPIDERS AND THEIR HABITS. 109 
 
 changes in the weather. Further observations con- 
 firmed him iu believing these creatures to be in the 
 highest degree sensitive of atmospheric influence, 
 and that their retirement and reappearance, their 
 weaving, and general habits, were so intimately con- 
 nected with variations in the weather, that he con- 
 sidered they were of all things best fitted to give 
 accurate intimation when severe seasons, or the 
 reverse, might be expected. In short, he pursued 
 these inquiries with so much industry and intelli- 
 gence, that, by remarking the habits of his spiders, 
 he was at length enabled to prognosticate the ap- 
 proach of stormy weather from ten to fourteen days 
 before it set in, which is proved by the following 
 facts, which ultimately led to his release. 
 
 When the troops of the French Kepublic over- 
 ran Holland in the winter of 1794, and kept rush- 
 ing forward over the ice, a sudden and unexpected 
 thaw, in the early part of the month of December, 
 threatened the destruction of the whole army unless 
 it were instantly withdrawn. The French generals 
 were thinking seriously of accepting a sum offered 
 by the Dutch and withdrawing their troops, when 
 dTsjouvil, who hoped that the success of the Ee- 
 publican army might lead to his release, used every 
 exertion, and at length succeeded in getting a letter 
 conveyed to the French general in January 1795, 
 in which he pledged himself, from the peculiar
 
 110 THE REWARD OF INGENUITY. 
 
 actions of bis spiders, of whose movements lie was 
 now enabled to judge with perfect accuracy, that 
 within fourteen days there would commence a most 
 severe frost, which would afford the army sufficient 
 time to complete and make sure of the conquest they 
 had commenced, before it should be followed by a 
 thaw. The commander of the forces believed his 
 prognostication, and persevered. The cold weather 
 which d'Isjouvil had foretold made its appearance 
 in twelve days, and with such intensity, that the 
 ice over the rivers and canals became capable of 
 bearing the heaviest artillery. On the 28th January 
 1795 the French army entered Utrecht in triumph, 
 and Quatremer d'Isjouvil, who had watched his 
 spiders to such good purpose, was, as the reward of 
 his intelligence and ingenuity, released from cap- 
 tivity.
 
 3Enctbeni0 in the |Cife of <Sxmnini 
 
 may 
 
 T is impossible to conceive of a life more 
 widely different than that of the travel- 
 ling naturalist compared with the one led 
 by his brother of the Cabinet. The latter 
 his whole existence in busy and important 
 research without crossing his own threshold, while 
 the former is exploring savage countries and encoun- 
 tering various adventures, perils, and chances, for 
 the sake of rifling the north, south, east, and west, 
 of their treasures. For him there is no delight 
 equal to that of overcoming obstacles, if he can but 
 obtain what he seeks, and return laden with spoils 
 which, in his estimation, surpass the choicest gems 
 of India. It is evident that the two have distinct 
 avocations, and that the laborious investigation 
 and patient research requisite for minute exami- 
 nation and careful arrangement can but little 
 accord with the genius of the intrepid wanderer. 
 Among the number of those who have displayed
 
 112 A LOVE OF STUDY. 
 
 indefatigable zeal and courage in the cause of zoolo- 
 gical research is Sonnini (de Manoncourt), born at 
 Luneville in the year 1751. He was descended of 
 an ancient family, his father being hereditary lord 
 of the fief of Manoncourt in Vermois, and coun- 
 cillor of Stanislaus, King of Poland. He was 
 educated at the University of Pont a Monsoon, a 
 celebrated Jesuit establishment, and made such 
 rapid progress in his studies that at the early age 
 of fifteen years and a half he took the degree of 
 doctor in philosophy. From his youth he mani- 
 fested great love for the study of natural history, 
 and attracted, in consequence, the attention of 
 BufFon and Nollet, who fostered these early bud- 
 dings of his genius. He had been designed by his 
 father to occupy an official situation, and went to 
 Strasburg to study law ; but the bent of his mind led 
 him soon to relinquish this pursuit. He longed to 
 travel ; and as the best means to attain this desire, 
 he resolved to embrace the profession of arms. He 
 soon obtained a commission in the Marine Engi- 
 neer service, and was sent to Cayenne in 1772. He 
 had found his congenial sphere. " Nature" (to use 
 his own words) " had in a manner marked out his 
 destination. With an ardent imagination, a love of 
 the sciences, a passion for discoveries, the sang-froid 
 of courage, and a constitution proof against any- 
 thing, he appeared to be intended for the most
 
 PERILOUS BUSINESS. 113 
 
 arduous enterprises and for the execution of no 
 common projects-" He traversed, with eager steps, 
 the vast province of Guiana ; dangers, privations, 
 and obstacles, seeming but to increase his energy. 
 He showed great enterprise and courage in ex- 
 ploring the country and dislodging from their 
 strongholds the savages by whom the colony was 
 molested ; and succeeded, at great personal risk, 
 in making a passage by water from Cayenne to 
 the mountain La Gabrielle, the accomplishment of 
 which had been much desired by the colonists, but 
 abandoned by reason of the natural difficulties of 
 the route. This perilous business was eagerly under- 
 taken by Sonnini, who embarked in a frail canoe 
 with a company of Indians, and for ten days per- 
 sisted in navigating those savannahs through im- 
 mense low marshy plains, the haunts of the cayman 
 and myriads of noxious creatures. Difficult beyond 
 conception was the enterprise, and he suffered the 
 horrors of drought and famine in addition to the 
 poisonous exhalations of those infectious regions, 
 the attacks of the mosquitoes, and the murmurs of 
 his savage companions, who despaired of success 
 and were clamorous to return. Thus, when only 
 in his twenty-third year, the youthful Sounini had 
 honourably enrolled his name in the annals of that 
 colony. On his return to France he was for this 
 service promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In
 
 114 A CONGENIAL RETREAT. 
 
 1775, after a visit to the western coast of Africa, 
 he returned to Cayenne ; and during the two years 
 he remained there, occupied himself almost wholly 
 with researches into the natural history of that 
 region. The journal he kept was not published, 
 but is frequently referred to in the works of Buffon. 
 At length Sonnini's health became impaired. He 
 suffered from an obstinate fever, which preyed 
 upon his spirits and strength, and compelled him 
 to repair to his native country. He found a con- 
 genial retreat at Montbard, where his great friend 
 Buffon gladly welcomed him, and for a short time 
 Sonnini was content to remain tranquil. He tells 
 us, "I spent nearly six months there ; and that 
 time, which fled too rapidly, is certainly the period 
 of my life that has left behind it the most grateful 
 recollection. It is to my stay in that abode of the 
 sciences and of taste that I am indebted for the 
 little I am worth. It was winter, and the severity 
 of the season kept away troublesome visitors. Day 
 succeeded day in delightful succession, while I was 
 aiding the great man in his labours and enjoying 
 his society a society highly agreeable, and which 
 was never disturbed by the smallest inequality of 
 temper, and which I have never met with anywhere 
 else. Buffon was not one of those men of letters 
 whom Erasmus whimsically compared to the tapes- 
 try of Flanders, with great figures, which, to pro-
 
 JOINS A GOVERNMENT EXPEDITION. 1 |.) 
 
 duce their effect, must be seen at a distance. His 
 conversation was equally agreeable and interesting, 
 and he blended with it an unaffected gaiety and 
 a good-humoured manner which put every one at 
 his ease. To these social qualities he joined a 
 finely formed person. Like Plato, he was of the 
 tallest stature and most robust make. His broad 
 shoulders announced his strength ; his forehead* 
 was high and majestic ; and he distinguished him- 
 self by the grace of his demeanour and the dignity 
 of his gestures." 
 
 At the end of these happy six months, Sonnini 
 learned that the Government was sending an 
 expedition to Africa under Baron de Tott, and 
 applied for permission to accompany it, which was 
 accorded. 
 
 His French biographer has observed, with jus- 
 tice, that Sonnini has " painted himself in his 
 writings." The reader shall have a glimpse of him 
 during his voyage to Alexandria, in which he re- 
 lates a pleasing incident with the poetry of feel- 
 ing: "The day after our departure from Malta 
 two small birds, one a little grey fauvette, the 
 other a little bergeronnette, came and settled upon 
 the rigging ; but being unable to support the 
 fatigue of so long a flight, they suffered themselves 
 to be taken by hand. As their diminutive bodies 
 would have afforded but a scanty dish, I had no
 
 116 A STRANGE RESTING-PLACE. 
 
 great difficulty in obtaining possession of them. 1 
 carried them to the great cabin, and there, after 
 having lavished upon them caresses to which they 
 were rendered insensible by their state of uneasi- 
 ness, I restored them to liberty. Whether they 
 foresaw the storm which we encountered the fol- 
 lowing day, or whether, as no land was in sight, 
 they were afraid to trust themselves to the open 
 sea, I know not ; but, after a few moments of un- 
 certain flight, they returned by the same window 
 whence I had let them fly. From that time they 
 never quitted the great cabin ; and if, when 
 frightened by any noise, they went out of one of 
 the stern windows, or by a port, they were sure to 
 come back by another. Although of different 
 species, they lived in the greatest harmony. They 
 played upon those terrible machines which deal 
 death and destruction at a distance, and it was 
 upon a cannon even that was placed their little 
 provision of fresh water and crumbs of bread. It 
 served them also as a resting-place. Their confi- 
 dence was unbounded ; they fluttered over a table 
 at which twenty persons, somewhat noisy, were 
 daily seated, and with their chirping arid quick 
 motion enlivened our monotonous abode. On our 
 approach to the coast of the island of Candia, our 
 pretty and interesting navigators hastened to fly 
 away, and took leave of us by uttering a few shrill
 
 A GIGANTIC PROJECT. 117 
 
 notes, the sweet accents of their joy, and, perhaps, 
 of their gratitude. Charming birds ! you were 
 quitting a dull and dreary place, to which you gave 
 an air of life, and were going to animate lovely 
 groves, already embellished by all the favours of 
 nature. May you long continue there, a testimony 
 of your fortunate navigation, and a proof that, iu 
 the midst of the horrors of tempests and of raging 
 seas, and among men who seem to be rendered un- 
 susceptible of the tender affections of the heart, by 
 the necessity of braving continued danger, you 
 met with feeling and compassionate beings." 
 
 Sonnini was desirous of extending his researches 
 throughout the length and breadth of Africa, from 
 the Gulf of Sidra to the Cape of Good Hope. His 
 ardent spirit prompted him to propose the gigantic 
 project he had formed ; but it was not sanctioned 
 by those in authority, and he was limited to a nar- 
 rower field. His attention was to be peculiarly 
 devoted to the natural productions of the country, 
 and to extend to the manners and habits of the 
 people. The narrative of his travels in Egypt 
 gives a minute and animated picture of his personal 
 adventures, and is full of valuable zoological obser- 
 vations. 
 
 One of the former was of a very reprehensible 
 character, and had nearly cost him dear. Having 
 been detained some time at Cairo, he amused him-
 
 DANGEROUS PASTIME. 
 
 self in the company of a young fellow-countryman 
 by learning to make what might be called finger- 
 work courtship. He soon mastered the art of 
 signals, which in that country is an expressive 
 language ; and having, between the narrow open- 
 ings of a wooden lattice, some sixty yards distant 
 from his room, caught sight of a female figure, 
 commenced making trial of his skill. His signals 
 were returned, and he continued his foolish pas- 
 time. But one evening, as his telegraph was in 
 full action, Sonnini was alarmed by the sudden 
 whizzing of a musket ball close to his head 1 a sig- 
 nificant warning that such proceedings would nut 
 be unpunished in Cairo. 
 
 Happily, the expedition was soon in readiness to 
 proceed, and preparations were made for departure. 
 Sonnini exchanged his European dress for the cos- 
 tume of a Turk. " My hair," he exclaims, " was 
 sacrificed [it is the only time our adventurous 
 traveller uses the word] an enormous turban, of 
 the kind worn by the Druses, enveloped with 
 several turns my shorn head, and protected it from 
 the burning heat of the sun ; long and ample gar- 
 ments, which were partly kept together by a silk 
 sash, covered my body without pressing it, leaving 
 it at perfect liberty. There is no confinement in 
 the oriental habit, and after an European has worn 
 it some time, he finds the inconvenience of our
 
 PLUNDERED BY ARABS. 119 
 
 tight and scanty clothes, and has some difficulty in 
 reconciling himself to them again." Poor Sonnini 
 had sufficient reason to lament the loss of his hair 
 on one occasion. During his passage across a sandy 
 desert, he fell into the hands of a band of Bedouin 
 Arabs. They numbered nearly a hundred, while 
 his own little party consisted of six men only, it 
 was hopeless to resist, and the unhappy travellers 
 threw down their weapons. " Immediately," says 
 Sonnini, " they came upon us, and stripped us in 
 an instant. They left me only my under waist- 
 coat and my breeches ; my companions were 
 stripped to the shirt. My turban having also been 
 taken, my head, bare and shaved, was exposed to 
 the burning heat of the sun, and pained me exces- 
 sively ; and although I covered it as well as I could 
 with both of my hands, this precaution afforded me 
 no relief. The booty was spread upon the sand, 
 and the whole party, not without noisy quarrels, 
 began to divide the spoil. 
 
 " The scene would have furnished a striking- 
 subject for a picture. On one side might have 
 been represented the gang of robbers covered with 
 dust, their countenances parched as the sands, 
 quarrelling about the booty ; in the midst of them 
 my old servant, endeavouring, with great coolness, 
 to seize upon some articles of which we had been 
 plundered, and occasionally making snatches at
 
 1 20 A CURIOUS DENOUEMENT. 
 
 them ; in the foreground, the soldier, motionless 
 and confounded ; the two Egyptians, stupidly 
 gazing at each other ; myself in the background, 
 biting my nails, with looks of anger and indigna- 
 tion ; and lastly, the draughtsman, .weeping aloud, 
 and answering me with sobs, when I asked him if 
 he had met with any ill usage, ' No, sir ; but what 
 can we now get to eat ?'" The denouement of this 
 affair was exceedingly curious. In compliance 
 with the spirited remonstrances of his conductor, 
 Hossein, Sonnini was released and his property 
 restored to him the Bedouin chief demanding a 
 certificate to the effect that the stranger who had 
 fallen into his hands had been honourably treated, 
 and was satisfied with his conduct ! By way of 
 conclusion, they ate* together a meal of bread and 
 lentils ; and after the repast, the Arab robbers ap- 
 proached the man they had so recently stripped 
 and plundered, " with a degree of interest and cor- 
 diality, blaming the temerity which had induced 
 him to attempt a journey through the wilderness, 
 which was acknowledged to be the resort only of 
 thieves and banditti." 
 
 As everybody knows, the Turks are great cat- 
 fanciers ; and in Egypt a cat is even allowed in a 
 mosque. These animals are in all the houses of 
 the inhabitants, and are indulged and caressed by 
 Ilie effeminate and indolent of the upper classes.
 
 SOXXIXI AND HIS CAT. 121 
 
 In fact, unless they were deified, as in the times of 
 the ancients, it would be impossible for them, our 
 zoologist thought, to be made more of. Sonnini 
 himself had a passion for cats. He always kept a 
 number of them, and in his works has spoken of 
 them in the highest terms of commendation. The 
 manners of the Egyptian cats confirmed him in his 
 idea that these animals are greatly influenced by 
 the treatment they receive. He compared the 
 barbarous usage of the miserable creatures in his 
 own country, and asked, who could wonder if they 
 had a savage look and wild manners, while these 
 Egyptian pets were so gentle and familiar. If the 
 reader share with me M. Sonnini's partiality for 
 mousers, he will read with great pleasure what 
 follows: " I was for a long time the possessor of 
 a very fine Angora cat. Her long and thick hair 
 covered her completely ; her bushy tail formed a 
 brush, resembling a beautiful plume of feathers, 
 which she could at pleasure turn upon her back. 
 No spot, no shade tarnished the dazzling whiteness 
 of her coat. Her nose and the turn of her lips 
 w-ere of a pale rose colour. In her round head 
 sparkled two large eyes the one of a light yellow, 
 and the other blue. The graceful movements and 
 attitudes of this charming cat were even surpassed 
 by her amiable disposition. Her aspect was mild, 
 and her gentleness truly interesting. Though
 
 122 SOXXIXI AND TITS CAT. 
 
 ever so much handler!, she never exerted her claws 
 from their sheath. Sensible of caresses, she licked 
 the hand that stroked her, or even that by which 
 she was teased. When travelling, she would lie 
 quietly upon my knees, without the necessity of 
 being held ; she made no noise, nor was she at all 
 troublesome while near me, or any other person 
 she was in the habit of seeing. When I was alone 
 she sat at my side, would sometimes interrupt me 
 with little affectionate caresses in the midst of my 
 labours or meditations, and she would also follow 
 me in my walks. In my absence she would seek 
 me, and at first cry after me with uneasiness ; and 
 if I did not soon make my appearance, she would 
 leave my apartment, and attach herself to the per- 
 son in the house whom, after me, she most loved. 
 She knew my voice, and seemed to receive me 
 every time with increased satisfaction. Her step 
 was straight, her gait free, and her look as mild as 
 her disposition ; in a word, under the brilliant and 
 furry skin of a cat, she possessed the good temper 
 of the most amiable dog. 
 
 " This animal was for many years my delight. 
 How expressively was her attachment painted in 
 her face 1 How often have her fond caresses di- 
 verted my mind from care, and consoled me in my 
 misfortunes 1 How often has an animal of a species 
 accused of treachery formed, at my house, a strik-
 
 A DIGRESSION*. 123 
 
 ing contrast to a crowd of real traitors, who, under 
 the mask of friendship, beset the door of an honest 
 man, only the better to deceive him ; to those 
 serpents I have fostered in my bosom, only to feel 
 their sting ! The} 7 are yet alive ; but, alas ! my 
 beautiful and pleasant companion is no more. After 
 several days of suffering, during which I never left 
 her, her eyes, constantly fixed on me, closed, never 
 again to open my tears flowed they now flow. 
 Feeling minds will pardon this digression, caused 
 by grief and gratitude." 
 
 The curiosity of the reader is probably excited 
 to know who were the enemies so vehemently de- 
 nounced by our impetuous naturalist ? After re- 
 maining some time in Egypt, and travelling subse- 
 quently in Greece and Asia Minor, he returned to 
 France in the autumn of 1786, after an absence of 
 rather more than three j'ears, and hastened to pay 
 a visit to his father and the home of his boyhood. 
 He met with a very different reception from what 
 he had anticipated. An absence of several years 
 had been taken advantage of by the prodigality and 
 cupidity of his relatives, who endeavoured to de- 
 prive him of his patrimony. After a vexatious 
 series of litigation, Sonnini recovered a portion of 
 the estate at Manoncourt, where he built a manor- 
 house, and employed himself in the improvement 
 of agriculture ; introducing several valuable exotic
 
 124 A CHECKERED CAREER. 
 
 vegetables into his country.* At an early period 
 of the Revolution he was appointed one of the ad- 
 ministrators of the Department de la Meurthe ; 
 but being deprived of this office by St Just, and 
 reduced to poverty on account of his noble birth, 
 lie employed himself in arranging and publishing 
 the materials collected in his travels. He also un- 
 dertook to superintend a new edition of Buffon's 
 " Histoire Naturelle," to which he contributed 
 thirteen volumes, and one volume of Cetacea ; and, 
 conjointly with Latreille, four volumes of Reptiles. 
 From these valuable literary labours he was taken 
 by Fourcroy, then Director-General of Public In- 
 struction, who placed him at the head of the College 
 of Vienne, in the Department of the Isere. It had 
 formerly enjoyed a high reputation, and Sonniui 
 endeavoured, by enforcing order and discipline, to 
 restore it to its former estate. But he was frustrated 
 in all his efforts, and so thwarted and annoyed, that 
 at the end of two years he relinquished the post 
 which his real talents and the confidence of Govern- 
 ment had procured him. He then returned to his 
 literary labours, which he was compelled to prose- 
 cute for a livelihood. 
 
 * During the disastrous results of the tempest of July 13, 1788. 
 by which a large part of the agricultural districts of France was 
 laid waste, Sonnini published a valuable pamphlet, entitled, " The 
 Vow of an Agriculturist." He also produced, from time to time, 
 similar useful and practical essays.
 
 ITS CLOSE. 
 
 125 
 
 In 1810 lie went to Moldavia, and, while travel- 
 ling in that country, caught a fever, under which 
 he languished some months, and expired at Paris 
 early in the year 1812.
 
 Jl Sketch of the |ife of John 
 
 T would be difficult to find a more devoted 
 enthusiast in the pursuit of natural history 
 than Swammerdam. To the celebrated 
 Boerhaave we are indebted for an interest- 
 ing life of this distinguished anatomist and physio- 
 logist, who was among the first scientific men who 
 applied the microscope to the examination of the 
 minuter parts of the animal structure, and whose 
 consummate skill and indefatigable perseverance 
 effected many important discoveries. 
 
 He was the son of John James Swammerdam 
 and Barentje Corver, and was born at Amsterdam 
 on the 12th February 1637. His father obtained 
 his name from the place of his birth, a village on 
 the Khine, and it continued to be applied to his 
 descendants ever after. He followed the trade of 
 an. apothecary, and was very fond of natural history, 
 and we are told was well skilled in several branches
 
 A BOYISH PROPENSITY. 127 
 
 of it, during fifty years sparing neither pains nor 
 expense in procuring materials for a collection 
 which in course of time became very valuable 
 " his house being full of animals, insects especially, 
 vegetables and fossils, though without the least 
 confusion, everything being disposed in its proper 
 place and order. Both citizens and strangers (con- 
 tinues Boerhaave) viewed this collection with great 
 admiration ; and the greatest princes that passed 
 through Amsterdam visited it, as one of the things 
 best worth their attention in that famous city." 
 
 The young Swammerdam was intended for the 
 Church, but, having no disposition for that calling, 
 induced his father to consent that he should be 
 brought up to the medical profession, and he re- 
 mained at home during his preparatory studies, 
 where he was frequently employed in cleaning, 
 arranging, and cataloguing the curiosities and 
 treasures we have spoken of. In this manner he 
 gradually acquired a deep-rooted love for the study 
 of natural history ; and very soon he began to make 
 a collection of his own, procuring specimens of 
 various kinds, " catching some, buying or bartering 
 for others, and disposing them in certain classes, 
 and comparing them with the accounts given by 
 the best writers." This boyish propensity " grew 
 with his growth," and though, in obedience to the 
 calls of duty, he attended to his anatomical and
 
 128 AN ASTOt'XDIXG FACT. 
 
 medical studies, he gave every hour he could ap- 
 propriate to his favourite pursuit. " Day and night 
 he employed himself in discovering, catching, and 
 examining the flying insects proper to those two 
 different times, not only in Holland, but in the 
 provinces of Guildres and of Utrecht. He ransacked, 
 with this view, the air, the land, and the water; fields, 
 meadows, pastures, corn fields, downs, wastes, sand- 
 hills; rivers, ponds, wells, lakes, seas, and their shores 
 and hanks ; trees, plants, ruins, caves, uninhabited 
 places, and even bog-houses, in search of eggs, 
 worms, nymphs, and butterflies ; in order to make 
 himself acquainted with the nests of insects, their 
 food, manner of living, disorders, changes or mu- 
 tations, and their several ways or methods of pro- 
 pagation ; and indeed, while yet a very young 
 man, he had made more discoveries in regard to all 
 these particulars, and obtained more certainty, than 
 the known authors of all the preceding ages put 
 together. This, however incredible it may appear 
 to some, is notwithstanding matter of fact. Persons 
 properly qualified to judge of his success have 
 honoured it with the same testimony." It must be 
 remembered that this remarkable statement is made 
 by Boerhaave, than whom it would be difficult to 
 find a more competent judge. 
 
 At the age of fourteen young Swammerdam went 
 to Leyden, to enjoy the advantages of its celebrated
 
 ATTACKED BY AGUE. 129 
 
 university. Here he highly distinguished himself 
 by his skill in anatomy, and the anxiety he dis- 
 played in the acquisition of every kind of know- 
 ledge relating to the physical sciences. He after- 
 wards visited Paris, with a view to prosecute his 
 studies there, and formed some valuable friendships 
 with men of kindred taste for science. Returning 
 to Ley den, he took the degree of M.D. in 1667, 
 and published his " Thesis on Respiration." At 
 this time he began to practise his invention for 
 injecting the arterial vessels with wax, variously 
 coloured ; a method from which anatomy has de- 
 rived very important advantages. While thus most 
 diligently occupied, he was attacked with a quartan 
 ague, which reduced him very low, and compelled 
 him to discontinue for a time all his engagements. 
 On his recovery he entirely relinquished the study 
 of the human anatomy, and devoted himself wholly 
 to the dissection of insects, in which he was singu- 
 larly dexterous. An opportunity now presented 
 itself, affording him the option of an advantageous 
 settlement. It is thus related by his biographer : 
 " In the year 1668 the Grand Duke of Tuscany, 
 being then in Holland with M. Thevenot in order 
 to see the curiosities of the country, came to view 
 those of Swammerdam, and surveyed them with 
 the greatest delight. On this occasion our natu- 
 ralist made some anatomical dissections of insects
 
 130 ANATOMICAL DISSECTIONS. 
 
 in the presence of that prince, who was struck with 
 admiration at his great skill in managing them, 
 especially at his proving that the future butterfly 
 lay, with all its parts neatly folded up, in a cater- 
 pillar, by actually removing the integuments that 
 covered the former, and extricating and distinctly 
 exhibiting all its parts, however minute, with in- 
 credible ingenuity, and by means of instruments 
 of an inconceivable fineness. On this occasion the 
 duke offered the younger Swammerdam 12,000 
 florins for his share of the collection, on condition 
 of his removing them himself into Tuscany, and 
 going to live at the court of Florence ; but Swam- 
 merdam (adds Boerhaave), who hated a court life 
 above all things, rejected his Highness's proposal. 
 Besides, he could not put up with the least re- 
 straint in religious matters, either in point of 
 speech or practice." 
 
 Swammerdam must indeed have acted from purely 
 disinterested motives, for he was not in a situation 
 to prosecute his beloved studies without assistance. 
 " Seeing him entirely bent on the work of collect- 
 ing insects from every part of the world, which he 
 spent his whole time in arranging, our author's 
 father," says Boerhaave, " began to take offence. 
 He had hitherto kept his son at home and supplied 
 all his expenses ; for though he was now thirty 
 years old, and consequently had spent the best
 
 EXHAUSTED HEALTH. 131 
 
 years of life, he had not engaged in any busi- 
 ness that could serve to render him easy and inde- 
 pendent." M. Swammerdam, senior, now seriously 
 remonstrated with him, and insisted on his apply- 
 ing with diligence to the duties of his profession as 
 a physician. It was, however, but too evident that 
 his health had become exhausted by his inces- 
 sant devotion to studies requiring the most intense 
 application, and it was judged expedient that he 
 should retire into the country for a time in order 
 to recruit his powers. Scarcely, however, was he 
 settled in his place of retirement than he resumed 
 his former pursuits, " the torrent of his genius 
 that way being so much favoured by the solitari- 
 ness of the place, and the favourable opportunity of 
 examining insects in their very haunts and scenes 
 of propagation." 
 
 In the years 1671 and 1672, Swammerdam's 
 studies related principally to fishes and insects ; 
 and in the autumn of 1673, he completed his 
 examination of the structure of bees, and published 
 his treatise on those insects. 
 
 This work proved, we are told, " so fatiguing that 
 he never after recovered even the appearance of his 
 former health and vigour." We shall not be sur- 
 prised at this melancholy result, when we learn 
 that he was " continually employed in making obser- 
 vations, and almost as constantly engaged by night 
 
 (352) 9
 
 132 HERCULEAN LABOURS. 
 
 in preparing drawings and suitable explanations. 
 When it was summer time, his daily labour began 
 at six in the morning, when the sun afforded him 
 light enough to survey such minute objects ; and 
 from that hour till twelve, he continued without 
 interruption, all the while exposed in the open air 
 to the scorching heat of the sun, bareheaded, for 
 fear of interrupting the light, and his head thus 
 exposed to the full power of that luminary. " This 
 fatigue he submitted to for a whole month together, 
 without any interruption, merely to examine, de- 
 scribe, and represent the intestines of bees, besides 
 many months more bestowed upon the other parts, 
 during which time he spent whole days in making 
 observations, as long as there was sufficient light ; 
 and whole nights in registering his observations, till 
 at last he brought his work to the wished-for per- 
 fection. The better to accomplish his vast un- 
 limited views, he often wished for a year of per- 
 petual light and heat to perfect his experiments, 
 with a polar night, to reap all the advantages 
 of them by proper drawings and descriptions. In 
 his essay on the Hemorobion, or Day-fly, he in- 
 genuously confesses that his ' Treatise on Bees ' was 
 formed amid a thousand doubts and self-reproaches; 
 for, on the one hand, his genius urged him to 
 examine the miracles of the great Creator in His 
 natural productions, whilst, on the other, the love
 
 THEIR RESULT. 133 
 
 of that same all-perfect Being, deeply-rooted in his 
 heart, struggled hard to persuade him that God 
 alone, and not His creatures, was worthy of his 
 researches, love, and attention." 
 
 Who can wonder, after reading this truly sur- 
 prising account of Swammerdam's labours, that his 
 health was irreparably injured, and that his mental 
 powers were enfeebled ? His temperament was 
 constitutionally of a melancholy cast, and he had 
 unhappily adopted the mystical views taught by 
 A. Bourignori. He conceived that it was his 
 duty to allow his mind no other occupation 
 than that of abstract devotion, and determined 
 that he would consecrate his thoughts entirely to 
 the love and adoration of the great Creator, to 
 whose honour alone, he publicly declared, he had 
 commenced and prosecuted his many and great 
 labours in the cultivation of natural history, from 
 which he now entirely desisted, in order to 
 devote all the little uncertain portion of life 
 that remained to the solemn exercises of 
 votiori. 
 
 In order to procure himself a competent income, 
 he next resolved to sell his museum, which was 
 now become of great value, but could find no pur- 
 chaser. In this dilemma he applied to his former 
 friend M. Thevenot, hoping that, by his interven- 
 tion, the Grand Duke of Tuscany might be induced
 
 134: A SAD CONDITION. 
 
 to become the possessor of such a treasure. But 
 that prince declined to accept his overtures unless 
 he would accompany the collection and settle at 
 the Court of Florence, where he promised to give 
 him a cordial reception, and make his life " easy 
 and agreeable." These terms were of course de- 
 clined, and Swammerdam remained entirely depen- 
 dent on his father's liberality, who shortly after, on 
 occasion of his daughter's marriage, relinquished 
 housekeeping, and went to reside with her. 
 
 His biographer feelingly deplores the sad con- 
 dition of the hapless naturalist, now left " to shift 
 for himself;" and it seems certain that he must 
 have been reduced to actual want had not his 
 father's death, which almost immediately super- 
 vened, afforded him the prospect of a competent 
 provision. 
 
 This event, however, was fraught with trouble, 
 for it occasioned a family contest, in which, for the 
 sake of peace and quietness, he relinquished his 
 due share of the property. His health and spirits 
 now rapidly sank, and he fell into a deep melan- 
 choly, doubtless occasioned by his painful maladies. 
 A severe attack of his former complaints the 
 quartan ague completely prostrated his remaining 
 strength and confined him to his chamber, where 
 he refused all the advice of his medical friends, 
 and at length took refuge from their importunities
 
 ANOTHER MARTYR TO SCIENCE. 135 
 
 in an unbroken silence. Agonised with " constant 
 and uninterrupted pains," this excellent man who 
 must undoubtedly be ranked among the numerous 
 martyrs to science expired at the early age of 
 forty-four. Shortly before his decease, he earnestly 
 recommended that his treatise on Bees should be 
 published in Dutch as well as Latin, as displaying 
 the wisdom and power of God in so particular a 
 manner ; and how much his pious soul was set 
 upon glorifying the mighty Creator, whose works 
 had afforded him such delight, is perceptible 
 throughout all the pages of this \vork. His MSS. 
 and plates he bequeathed to M. Thevenot ; and 
 after passing through several hands, they were 
 purchased in 1727 by Boerhaave, who lost no time 
 in giving them to the world. They form the well- 
 known work entitled " Swammerdam's Book of Na- 
 ture," to which the illustrious editor has prefixed 
 the Memoir from which this sketch is made. He 
 has given, at the close of it, a curious and interest- 
 ing account of the instruments employed by Swam- 
 merdam to perfect his beautiful discoveries, which, 
 I am persuaded, will interest the reader. " For 
 dissecting very minute subjects, he had a brass 
 table made on purpose, to which w r ere fastened 
 two brass arms, moveable at pleasure to any part 
 of it ; and the upper portions of these arms were 
 likewise so contrived as to be susceptible of a
 
 136 SWAJIMERDAM'S CHIEF SECRET. 
 
 very slow vertical motion, by which means the 
 operator could readily alter their height, as he 
 saw most convenient to his purpose. The office 
 of one of these arms was to hold the little 
 corpuscule, and that of the other to apply the 
 microscope. His microscopes were of various 
 sizes and curvatures his microscopical glasses 
 being of various diameters and focusses, and, 
 from the least to the greatest, the best that 
 could be procured in regard to the exactness of 
 the workmanship and the transparency of the 
 substance. 
 
 His way was to begin his surveys with the 
 smallest magnifiers, and from thence to proceed by 
 degrees to the greatest ; and by nature and use he 
 was so incomparably dexterous in the management 
 of them, that he made every observation subser- 
 vient to the next, and all tend to confirm each 
 other and complete the description. But the con- 
 structing of very fine scissors, and giving them an 
 extreme sharpness, seems to have been his chief 
 secret. These he made use of to cut very minute 
 objects, because they dissected them equably, 
 whereas knives and lancets, let them be ever so 
 fine and sharp, are apt to injure delicate substances. 
 His knives, lancets, and styles, were so very fine, 
 that he could not see to sharp them without the 
 aid of the microscope ; but with them he could
 
 DELICATE OPERATIONS. 137 
 
 dissect the intestines of bees with the same accu- 
 racy and distinctness that others do those of larger 
 animals. He was particularly dexterous in the 
 management of small tubes of glass, no thicker 
 than a bristle, drawn to a very fine point at one 
 end, but thicker at the other. These he made use 
 of when he wanted to exhibit and inflate the 
 smallest vessels discovered by the microscope, to 
 trace, distinguish, and separate their courses and 
 communications, or to inject them with very subtle 
 coloured liquids." 
 
 We may have some idea how delicate and intri- 
 cate must have been the operations of this skilful 
 anatomist, when we learn that "he very often 
 spent whole days in cleansing and preparing the 
 body of a single caterpillar, in order to discover the 
 true construction of that insect's heart !" At 
 length he attained to an unequalled skill in this 
 department of science, and as the result of his 
 labours, completed a work which Boerhaave, with 
 natural pride, rejoices over, as the production of 
 one of his countrymen, who (he complains) " are 
 in general so liberally reproached with a dulness 
 that requires the inventions of others to sharpen 
 it ! I am, however, convinced," he adds, " that 
 this instance will suffice to convince mankind that 
 we have among us uncommon geniuses, who have 
 made the most important discoveries, and, spider-
 
 138 
 
 BOERHAAVE'S MODESTY. 
 
 like, have furnished themselves alone both the 
 workmanship and the materials." 
 
 The modesty of this truly great man did not 
 allow him to perceive how much his own fame was 
 destined to exceed that of the man he eulogized.
 
 JUexaufcer toon IJnmbollbt. 
 
 HE "Personal Narrative" of this renowned 
 natural philosopher and traveller is re- 
 plete with incidents of a romantic char- 
 acter ; and amid the vast stores of curious 
 and original information which he has detailed in 
 his travels to the equinoctial regions of the New 
 Continent, we find interspersed picture-scenes of 
 great beauty and descriptive charm. 
 
 The reader may perhaps like to recall the circum- 
 stances under which this accomplished traveller 
 commenced his career. M. de Humboldt was a 
 Prussian gentleman of good estate, who devoted 
 his time and his fortune to the pursuits of a liberal 
 curiosity. Prompted by such motives, he began 
 at the age of twenty-one to travel over Europe, 
 and in the space of six years traversed its various 
 countries. Returning to Paris in 1793, he was in- 
 vited by the directors of the National Museum to 
 accompany Captain Baudin in a voyage round the
 
 140 A VISIT TO THE SPANISH COLONIES. 
 
 world. M. Bonpland of Eochelle, an excellent 
 naturalist, was named his associate in the expedi- 
 tion ; but unfortunately the whole scheme was 
 abandoned in consequence of the renewal of hos- 
 tilities with Austria. 
 
 Disappointed in this plan, Humboldt resumed 
 the project which he had before entertained of 
 visiting, as a philosopher, the countries of the 
 East. In that view he was anxious to join the 
 celebrated expedition which had sailed to Egypt, 
 thinking he might thence proceed to India; but 
 the situation of France was becoming daily more 
 critical, and the fortunes of war again proved a 
 barrier to his proceeding. At length Humboldt 
 went to Spain, where a brighter prospect opened. 
 After residing some months at Madrid, he was, in 
 the most liberal and flattering terms, permitted by 
 the Spanish Court to visit her colonies in the New 
 World. He immediately invited from Paris his 
 friend Bonpland, whose profound skill in botany 
 and zoology was equalled only by his indefatigable 
 zeal ; and without a moment's delay, these eager 
 travellers, in June 1799, embarked at Corunna in a 
 Spanish ship, and after a prosperous voyage arrived 
 in the month of July at the port of Cumana, in 
 South America. The rest of the year was spent in 
 visiting the coast of Peru, the Indian missions of 
 Chaymas, and the provinces of New Andalusia,
 
 A PATHLESS EXPAXSE. 141 
 
 New Barcelona, Venezuela, and Spanish Guiana. 
 Leaving the Caraccas, in January 1800 Humboldt 
 and his companion visited the charming valleys of 
 Araqua and the great lake of Valencia, which in 
 its general appearance resembles that of Geneva, 
 but has its banks clothed with all the luxuriant 
 vegetation of a tropical climate. In Cura, one of 
 its islets, they found cultivated a species of potato, 
 yielding wholesome and pleasant fruit. From 
 thence the travellers, directing their course south- 
 wards, crossed on horseback the vast plains of 
 Caloboza, Apure, and Oroonoko. They next tra- 
 versed the famous Llanos, an immense succession 
 of deserts, stretching nearly 200 miles on a dead 
 level, absolutely destitute of springs or rivulets, 
 and only covered with a tall rank herbage. Over 
 this desolate and pathless expanse they journeyed 
 for whole days, without meeting a single shrub or 
 a solitary cabin to refresh the eye, while they suf- 
 fered extremely from the intense heat. At St 
 Fernando, on the river Apure, they began a most 
 fatiguing navigation of more than 3000 miles, which 
 they performed in canoes. Sailing down the Apure, 
 they entered the Oroonoko at the 7th degree of 
 north latitude, and, remounting that noble stream, 
 passed overland to the sources of the famous Rio 
 Negro. About thirty Indians were employed to 
 carry the canoes through lofty forests to the creek
 
 142 COMPLICATED EVILS. 
 
 of Pemichin. Following the current, they shot 
 into the Rio Negro, on which they descended to 
 Fort St Charles. From this point again they re- 
 mounted by the Cassiquiari to the river Oronooko, 
 and reached the mission of Esmeralda, whence 
 they descended on the swelling stream to its mouth. 
 This navigation down the Oronooko was the most 
 painful and oppressive. They suffered from want 
 of provisions during the day, and were drenched 
 with torrents of rain during the night. Forced to 
 seek shelter or a miserable subsistence among the 
 woods, they were incessantly tormented by mos- 
 quitoes and countless varieties of noxious and loath- 
 some insects. Nor could they venture to seek 
 relief by bathing their parched bodies in the flood, 
 since voracious fish and crocodiles watched them 
 on every side. After escaping such complicated 
 evils, and the dangerous effects of the exhalations 
 caused by the burning sun, Humboldt and Bon- 
 pland returned to Cumana by the plains of Cari and 
 the mission of the Caribs, a race of men quite dis- 
 tinct from any other, and perhaps, next to the 
 Patagonians, the largest and stoutest in the whole 
 world. 
 
 Such is the outline given of the first expedition 
 of these two young men. The bare statement 
 makes us feel what heroic courage and dauntless 
 zeal must have inspired them. " Tantus amor."
 
 A NOCTURNAL SCENE. 143 
 
 For the sake of adventure and for the acquisition 
 of knowledge, no sacrifice is too great. 
 
 Let us now draw from the pages of M. Humboldt 
 a few of his animated pictures of nature and of his 
 personal adventures amid these untrodden wilds. 
 Here is a nocturnal scene on the banks of the river 
 A pure : 
 
 ' The night was calm and serene, and there 
 was a beautiful moonlight. The crocodiles were 
 stretched along the shore. They placed themselves 
 in such a manner as to be able to see the fire. We 
 thought we observed that its splendour attracted 
 them, as it attracts fishes, crayfish, and other in- 
 habitants of the water. The Indians showed us 
 the traces of three tigers in the sand, two of which 
 were very young. A female had no doubt con- 
 ducted her little ones to drink at the river. Find- 
 ing no tree on the strand, we stuck our oars in the 
 ground, and to these we fastened our hammocks. 
 Everything passed tranquilly till eleven at night, 
 and then a noise so terrific arose in the neighbour- 
 ing forest, that it was almost impossible to close 
 our eyes. Amid the cries of so many wild beasts 
 howling at once, the Indians discriminated such 
 only as were heard separately. These were the 
 little soft cries of the sapajous, the moans of the 
 alonates, the bowlings of the tiger, the couguaz or 
 American lion without mane, the pecari, and the
 
 144 " THE FEAST OF THE FULL MOON." 
 
 sloth, and the voices of the curassoa, the parraka, 
 and some other gallinaceous birds. When the 
 jaguars approached the skirt of the forest, our dog, 
 which till then had never ceased barking, began to 
 howl and seek for shelter beneath our hammocks. 
 Sometimes, after a long silence, the cry of the tiger 
 came from the top of the trees ; and in this case 
 it was followed by the sharp and long whistling of 
 the monkeys, which appeared to flee from the 
 danger that threatened them. 
 
 " I notice every circumstance of these nocturnal 
 scenes, because, being recently embarked on the 
 Rio Apure, we were not yet accustomed to them. 
 We heard the same noises repeated during the 
 course of whole months, whenever the forest ap- 
 proached the bed of the rivers. 
 
 " When the natives are interrogated on the causes 
 of this tremendous noise made by the beasts of the 
 forest at certain hours of the night, they reply 
 gaily, " They are keeping the feast of the full 
 moon." I believe this agitation is most frequently 
 the effect of some contest that has arisen in the 
 depths of the forest. The jaguars, for instance, 
 pursue the peccaris and the tapirs, which, having 
 no defence but in their numbers, flee in close 
 troops, and break down the bushes they find in 
 their way. Affrighted at this struggle, the timid 
 and mistrustful monkeys answer from the tops of
 
 STRAXGE SOUNDS. 145 
 
 the trees the cries of the large animals. They 
 awaken the birds that live in society, and by de- 
 grees the whole assembly is in movement. We 
 shall soon find that it is not always in a fine moon- 
 light, but more particularly at the time of a storm 
 and violent showers, that this tumult takes place 
 among the wild beasts. ' May Heaven grant them 
 a quiet night and repose, and us also!' said the 
 monk who accompanied us to the Rio Negro, when, 
 sinking with fatigue, he assisted in arranging our 
 accommodations for the night. It was indeed a 
 strange situation, to find no silence in the solitude 
 of woods. In the inns of Spain we dread the sharp 
 sounds of guitars from the next apartment ; in 
 those of the Oroonoko, which are an open beach, 
 or the shelter of a solitary tree, we are afraid of 
 being disturbed in our sleep by voices issuing from 
 the forest." 
 
 Immediately succeeding this night-scene we 
 have a striking account of the perils encountered 
 by our travellers during the day-time : " We 
 stopped at noon in a desert spot, where I left my 
 companions while they drew the boat to land, and 
 were occupied in preparing our dinner. I went 
 along the beach to observe nearer a group of croco- 
 diles sleeping in the sun, and placed in such a 
 manner as to have their tails, furnished with broad 
 plates, resting on one another. Some little herons,
 
 146 A PERILOUS EXCURSION. 
 
 white as snow, walked along their backs, and even 
 upon their heads, as if they were passing over 
 trunks of trees. The crocodiles were of a greenish- 
 gray, half covered with dried mud ; from their 
 colour and immobility, they might have been taken 
 for statues of bronze. This excursion had nearly 
 proved fatal to me. I had kept my eyes constantly 
 turned toward the river ; but, on picking up some 
 spangles of mica, agglomerated together in the 
 sand, I discovered the recent footsteps of a tiger, 
 easily distinguishable from their form and size. 
 The animal had gone towards the forest, and turn- 
 ing my eyes on that side, I found myself within 
 eighty steps of a jaguar, lying under the thick 
 foliage of a ceiba. No tiger had ever appeared to 
 me so large. I was extremely frightened, yet 
 sufficiently master of myself to enable me to follow 
 the advice which the Indians had so often given 
 us, how to act in such cases. I continued to walk 
 on without running ; avoided moving my arms, and 
 thought I observed the attention of the brute was 
 fixed on a herd of capybaras which were crossing 
 the river. I then began to return, making a largo 
 circuit towards the edge of the water. As the dis- 
 tance increased I thought I might accelerate my 
 pace. How often was I tempted to look back, in 
 order to assure myself that I was not pursued ! 
 Happily I yielded very tardily to this desire. The
 
 HUMBOLDT'S MEXAGEIME. 147 
 
 jaguar had remained motionless. I arrived at the 
 boat out of breath and related my adventure to the 
 Indians, who loaded their firelocks and accom- 
 panied us to the place where the animal had lain. 
 He was there no longer, and it would have been 
 imprudent to follow him into the forest." 
 
 Very curious is the account given by M. Hum- 
 boldt of the ambulatory menagerie which he car- 
 ried about with him during this part of his expe- 
 dition. " In one of the huts of the Pacimonales 
 (Indians) we made the acquisition of two large fine 
 birds, a toucan and an emu, a species of macaw, 
 seventeen inches long, having the whole body of a 
 purple colour. We had already in our canoe seven 
 parrots, two mannakins, a motmot, two guans, two 
 rnanaviris, and eight monkeys. Father Zea (a 
 Roman Catholic missionary, who accompanied the 
 travellers) whispered some complaints at the daily 
 augmentation of this collection ! The toucan re- 
 sembles the raven in its manners and intelligence. 
 It is a courageous animal, but easily tamed. Its 
 long and stout beak serves to defend it at a dis- 
 tance. It makes itself master of the house, steals 
 whatever it can come at, and loves to bathe often 
 and fish on the banks of the river. The toucan we 
 had bought was very young ; yet it took delight, 
 during the whole voyage, in teasing the nocturnal 
 monkeys, which are sad and passionate. This 
 
 '2' 10
 
 148 A FIERY DEFENCE. 
 
 bird makes extraordinary gestures when preparing 
 to drink. The monks say that it makes the sign of 
 the cross upon the water; and this popular belief has 
 obtained for the toucan from the Creoles the name of 
 diostede (God grant it thee). Most of our animals 
 were confined in small willow cages, others ran at 
 full liberty all over the boat. At the approach of 
 rain the macaws sent forth frightful cries ; the 
 toucan wanted to gain the shore to fish ; and the 
 little monkeys, the titis, went irr search of Father 
 Zea, to take shelter in the large sleeves of his Fran- 
 ciscan habit. These scenes were often repeated, 
 and made us forget the torment of the moschettoes. 
 At night, when we rested, we placed a leather case 
 containing our provisions in the centre; then our 
 instruments and the cages of the animals ; our 
 hammocks were suspended around these, and be- 
 yond were those of the Indians. The exterior 
 circle was formed by the fires which were lighted 
 to keep off the jaguars of the forest." 
 
 Even this fiery defence encircling the encamp- 
 ment of the voyagers was not sufficient to preserve 
 the enclosure inviolate. " Our satisfaction," says 
 Humboldt, " was disturbed at our last resting-place 
 on the Cassiquiare. We slept on the edge of a forest. 
 In the middle of the night we were warned by the 
 Indians that they heard very near us the cries of 
 the jaguar, and that they came from the top of
 
 WHAT THE JAGUARS DID. 149 
 
 some neighbouring trees. Such is the thickness of 
 the forests in these regions that scarcely any ani- 
 mals are to be found there but such as climb trees, 
 including various species of the feline genus. Our 
 fires burning bright, and having by long habit be- 
 come tranquil respecting dangers, we paid little 
 attention to the cries of the jaguars. They were at- 
 tracted by the smell and voice of our dog. This 
 animal, which was of the mastiff breed, began at first 
 to bark, and, when the tiger drew nearer, to howl, 
 hiding himself beneath our hammocks. During 
 our halts on the banks of the Eio Apure we had 
 been accustomed to these alternations of courage 
 and fear in this young animal, which was gentle, 
 and extremely caressing. How great was our 
 chagrin when in the morning we learned from the 
 Indians that the dog had disappeared ! There 
 could be no doubt it had been carried off by the 
 jaguars : we were often assured by the inhabitants 
 of the banks of these rivers that the oldest jaguars, 
 those that have probably hunted at night for several 
 years, are sufficiently cunning to carry off animal s 
 from the midst of a halting-place, grasping the 
 neck so as to prevent their cries. All our researches 
 were vain ; the dog which "had accompanied us all 
 the way from Caraccas, and which had frequently 
 in swimming escaped the pursuit of the crocodiles, 
 had been devoured in the forest. I mention this
 
 150 OX THE RIVER CASSIQflAKE. 
 
 incident merely to show the artifices of those large 
 cats with spreckled coats." 
 
 Solitude the most profound, foliage the most 
 luxuriant, and mosquitoes the most envenomed, 
 were the three most striking characteristics of the 
 river Cassiquiare. " Not five boats pass annually 
 by its waters," says our traveller ; " and since we 
 left Maypures that is, for a whole month we had 
 not met one living soul on the rivers as we ascended, 
 except in the immediate neighbourhood of the 
 missions. To the south of Lake Duractumuni we 
 slept in a forest of palm-trees. It rained violently, 
 but the pothoses, arums, and lianas furnished so thick 
 a natural trellis, that we were sheltered as under a 
 vault of foliage. The Indians, whose hammocks 
 were placed on the edge of the river, interwove the 
 heliconias and other plants so as to form a kind of 
 roof over them. Our fires lighted up, to the height 
 of fifty or sixty feet; the palm-trees, the lianas, 
 loaded with flowers ; and the columns of white 
 smoke, ascending in a straight line towards the 
 sky the whole exhibited a magnificent spectacle; 
 but, to enjoy it with tranquillity, we should have 
 breathed an air free from insects. The mosquitoes, 
 which tormented us during the day, accumulated 
 towards evening beneath the roof of palm-leaves. 
 Our hands and faces had never before been more 
 swelled ; Father Zca, who until then boasted of
 
 A PLAGUE OF FLIES. -> 
 
 having in his missions the largest and most valiant 
 mosquitoes, at length gradually acknowledged that 
 the sting of the insects of the Cassiquiare was the 
 most painful he had ever felt. In these regions 
 there is no more repose for the traveller. If he 
 have any poetical remembrance of Dante, he will 
 think he has entered the citta dolente ; he will 
 seem to read on the rocks around these memorable 
 lines of the third Canto : 
 
 Noi sem venuti al luogo, ov' i' t'ho detto 
 Che tu vedrai le genti dolorose.' 
 
 " In the missions of the Oroonoko, the plague of 
 the flies affords an inexhaustible subject of conver- 
 sation. When two persons meet in the morning, 
 the first questions they address to each other are, 
 'How did you find the zancudoes during the night? 
 How are we to-day for the mosquitoes ?' I doubt 
 whether there is upon earth a country where man is 
 exposed to more cruel torments in the rainy season. 
 
 '" How comfortable must people be in the moon!' 
 said a Galiva Indian to Father Gumilla ; ' she looks 
 so beautiful arid so clear, that she must be free 
 from moschettoes.' 
 
 " These words, which denote the infancy of a 
 people, are very remarkable. The earth is, to the 
 American savage, the abode of the blessed, the 
 country of abundance. The Esquimaux, whose 
 riches are a plank, or a trunk of a tree carried by
 
 I.") 2 VICISSITUDES OF TRAVELLING. 
 
 the currents to bis bare coast, sees in tlie moon plains 
 covered with forests. The Indian of the forests of 
 Oroonoko there beholds open savannahs, where the 
 inhabitants are never stung by mosquitoes." 
 
 Another source of suffering to the travellers, 
 especially while traversing the vast steppes or 
 Llanos of these rivers, was the intense thirst occa- 
 sioned by the heat and drought. One of the most 
 striking scenes, on arriving at an encampment, was 
 the dispersion of the animals, mules, and horses, in 
 search of water. The poor brutes were set at 
 liberty to go whither instinct directed in the 
 savannah ; and no sooner were they released than 
 they rushed, their tail raised, their head thrown 
 back, running against the wind, stopping, from 
 time to time, as if they were exploring space, and 
 at length announcing, by prolonged neighings, the 
 neighbourhood of water. On one of these occa- 
 sions, M. Humboldt says, " we followed our mules 
 in search of a pool. After having passed two 
 nights on horseback, and sought in vain by day for 
 some shelter from the ardour of the sun beneath 
 the tufts of the murichi palm-trees, we had ar- 
 rived before night at a little farm called El Cayman 
 (the alligator). It was a solitary house in the 
 steppes, surrounded by a few small huts, covered 
 with reeds and skins. We were covered with dust 
 and tanned by the sandy wind, which burns the
 
 DISAPPOINTMENT AFTER DISAPPOINTMENT. 153 
 
 skin still more than the rays of sun. We longed im- 
 patiently to take a bath, but we found only a great 
 reservoir of feculent water, surrounded with palm- 
 trees. The water was turbid, though, to our great as- 
 tonishment, a little cooler than the air. We hastened 
 to plunge into the pool, but scarcely had we begun 
 to enjoy the coolness of the bath, when we heard on 
 the opposite bank a noise which made us flee preci- 
 pitately. It was an alligator plunging into the mud. 
 " We were only at the distance of a quarter of a 
 league from the farm, yet we continued walking 
 more than an hour without reaching it. We per- 
 ceived, too late, that we had taken a false direction. 
 We attempted to return to the spot where we had 
 bathed, and we again walked three-quarters of an 
 hour without finding the pool. Sometimes we 
 thought we saw fire at the horizon ; but it was the 
 stars that were rising, and of which the image was 
 enlarged by the vapours. After wandering a long 
 time in the savannah, we seated ourselves beneath 
 the trunk of a palm-tree, in a spot perfectly dry, 
 surrounded by short grass for fear of the water- 
 serpents. In proportion to the uncertainty of our 
 situation, we were rejoiced by hearing from afar 
 the sound of a horse advancing towards us. The 
 rider was an Indian, armed with a lance, who had 
 just made the round to collect the cattle of the neigh- 
 bourhood. The sight of two white men, who said
 
 EARLY TRAVELLIXG. 
 
 they had lost their way, perplexed him, and we found 
 it difficult to inspire him with confidence. At length 
 he consented to guide us to the farm of the Cayman, 
 but without slackening the gentle trot of his horse." 
 
 In order to escape the burning heat of the day, 
 Humboldt determined to start next morning at 
 two A.M., in the hope of reaching Calabozo, a small 
 town situate in the midst of the Llanos. " The 
 aspect of the country was the same. There was no 
 moonlight ; but the great masses of nebulae that 
 decorated the southern sky, enlightened, as they 
 set, a part of the terrestrial horizon. The solemn 
 spectacle of the starry vault, which displayed itself 
 in its immense extent ; the cool breeze that blew 
 over the plain during the night ; the waving mo- 
 tion of the grass wherever it had attained any 
 height everything recalled to mind the surface of 
 the ocean. The illusion, above all, augments when 
 the disk of the sun shows itself at the horizon, re- 
 peating its image by the effects of refraction, and 
 soon, losing its flattened form, ascends rapidly and 
 straight towards the zenith. 
 
 In proportion as the sun rose higher, and the 
 earth and the strata of superincumbent air took 
 different temperatures, the phenomenon of mirage 
 displayed itself, with its numerous modifications. 
 This phenomenon, the most anciently observed, 
 lias received in Sanscrit the expressive name of
 
 THE CATARACT OF MAYPl'RES. 155 
 
 desire (thirst) of the antelope, in allusion to those 
 tracts destitute of vegetation, which appear like 
 large lakes, with an undulating surface. We ad- 
 mire the frequent allusions in the Indian, Persian, 
 and Arabic poets to the magical effects of terres- 
 trial refraction. It was scarcely known to the 
 Greeks and Romans. Proud of the riches of their 
 soil, and the mild temperature of the air, they 
 would have felt no envy of this poetry of the de- 
 sert. It was born in Asia. The Oriental poets 
 found its source in the nature of the country they 
 inhabited ; they were inspired by the aspect of 
 those vast solitudes, interposed like arms of the 
 sea or gulfs between lands adorned by Nature with 
 her most luxuriant fertility." 
 
 One only additional quotation must suffice us. 
 It depicts the emotions of M. Hurnboldt at sight 
 of the Cataract of Maypures : 
 
 " We were never weary of the view of this 
 astonishing spectacle, concealed in one of the most 
 remote corners of the earth. Arrived at the sum- 
 mit of a granitic ridge that rises from the Savannah, 
 the eye suddenly takes in a sheet of foam extend- 
 ing a whole mile. Enormous masses of stone, blac.v 
 as iron, issue from its bosom. Some are grouped 
 in pairs like basaltic hills, others resemble towers, 
 strong castles, and ruined buildings. Their gloomy 
 tint contrasts with the silvery splendour of the
 
 156 A LASTING IMPRESSIDX. 
 
 foain. Every ruck and islet is covered with vigor- 
 ous trees, collected in clusters. Far as the eye can 
 reach, a thick vapour is suspended over the river, 
 and through this whitish fog the tops of the lofty 
 palm-trees shoot up. The leafy plume of this 
 palm-tree, the trunk of which is more than 80 feet 
 high, rises almost straight toward heaven. At 
 every hour of the day the sheet of foam displays 
 different aspects. Sometimes the hilly islands and 
 the palm-trees project their broad shadows ; some- 
 times the rays of the setting sun are refracted 
 in the humid cloud that shrouds the cataract. 
 Coloured arcs are formed, and vanish and appear 
 again alternately ; light sport of the air, their 
 images wave above the plain. 
 
 " I do not hesitate to repeat, that neither time 
 rior any other sight of beauty has effaced from my 
 mind the powerful impression of the aspect of the 
 cataracts. When I read a description of those 
 places in India that are embellished by running 
 .waters and a vigorous vegetation, my imagination 
 recalls a sea of foam and palm-trees, the tops of 
 which rise above a stratum of vapour. The majestic 
 scenes of nature, like the sublime works of poetry 
 and the arts, leave remembrances that are inces- 
 santly reviving, and through the whole of life 
 mingle with all our feelings of what is grand and 
 beautiful."
 
 u JUcount of Joseph ilombejj, the Botanist. 
 
 "Must I call madness or reason that desire which allures ns to seek and 
 examine plants? If I look back on the fate of naturalist*, I am persuaded that 
 the irresistible attractions of nature alone can induce us to face such dangers 
 and troubles. No science had ever so many martyrs as natural history." 
 
 Lanuan. 
 
 HE priiice of botanists did not speak un- 
 advisedly when be uttered these memo- 
 rable words. Long indeed is the roll-call 
 of those who have fallen a sacrifice in 
 this cause ; and among them all, no name better 
 deserves honourable remembrance than that of the 
 French botanist and traveller, Joseph Dombey. 
 The career of this individual, though full of roman- 
 tic and touching interest, is comparatively little 
 known, and I feel persuaded that a slight sketch 
 of it will be acceptable to the reader. 
 
 He was born at Macon in 1742, and his parents 
 were in humble circumstances, but did their best 
 to give him a good education. Their cares, how- 
 ever, seemed at first to be but ungratefully repaid,
 
 1")8 A TASTE FOR BOTAXY. 
 
 for the lad was idle and given to dissipation, and 
 being harshly treated left his home. He had a 
 relative at Montpellier in whom he found a friend; 
 and resolving to embrace the study of medicine, he 
 entered himself at the university of that town. 
 There he imbibed, under the celebrated Professor 
 Gouan, a taste for natural history, more especially 
 for botany ; and to this taste he sacrificed his pro- 
 fession, and resigned himself, regardless of conse- 
 quences, to the full enjoyment of his new bent. 
 The fine country around him filled him with de- 
 light. The south of France, with its varied and 
 extensive coasts, its fertile plains, and its wild and 
 lofty mountains, was his first theatre of observa- 
 tion. During the summer he roved at large ; and 
 when the season of the year obliged him to retire 
 to his college, he returned to no studies but such 
 as fostered and improved his proficiency in his 
 darling pursuit. Whatever time was not devoted 
 to that was given to pleasure and to the indulgence 
 of youthful gaiety and folly. Happily for his 
 moral character and his worldly interest, and pro- 
 bably also for his scientific success, he was induced 
 to remove to Paris in 1772, to improve his botanical 
 knowledge under the instructions of Jussieu and 
 Lemounier. Three years later he travelled to 
 Berne, and visited the great Haller, who welcomed 
 with satisfaction a rising naturalist, uniting great
 
 AT MADRID. 
 
 energy and zeal to an extent 01 scientific know- 
 ledge which presaged future excellence. 
 
 While botanising among the Alps during his 
 return, Dombey received the welcome intelligence 
 that M. Turgot had, on the recommendation of 
 Jussieu, chosen him to go to Peru in search of 
 plants which might with advantage be naturalised 
 in Europe. He immediately returned (on foot) to 
 Paris, and was presented to the minister, from 
 whom he received his appointment, with a salary 
 of 3000 livres. The purpose of the French autho- 
 rities could not, however, be carried into effect 
 without the permission of the Spanish Govern- 
 ment, and this was not procured till the close of 
 the year 1776. The intermediate period was de- 
 voted by our naturalist to a diligent and steady 
 application, in order the more perfectly to qualify 
 himself for his arduous and most congenial under- 
 taking. 
 
 On arriving at Madrid in November 1776, his 
 ardour met with several embarrassing checks in the 
 tedious delays and misplaced jealousy of the Spanish 
 Court, by whom he was encumbered with useless 
 instructions, and four companions were associated 
 with him, each of whom received a handsome 
 salary. His patience and courage were proof 
 against every annoyance : a new world was before 
 him, and he cared for notlrng save to be permitted
 
 100 A BOTANICAL EXPEDITION'. 
 
 to pursue his course. At length, after nearly a 
 year had elapsed, he embarked at Cadiz, arid hap- 
 pily accomplished the voyage in six months, arriv- 
 ing at Lima in the spring of 1778, where he 
 obtained a favourable reception from the viceroy 
 and from M. de Bordenave, an old acquaintance of 
 his illustrious friend Jussieu. 
 
 His first botanical expedition, towards Quito, was 
 not without danger from hordes of runaway ne- 
 groes ; but he thought himself amply repaid by 
 securing an abundant harvest of plants, as well as of 
 antiquities, from the sepulchres of the ancient Peru- 
 vians. These, together with a collection of seeds, 
 a fine herbarium, and a considerable quantity of 
 platina, he immediately sent to Europe. The seeds 
 had been partly picked up in the dry season from 
 the arid sands around Lima, where they lay, blown 
 about by the wind, or stored up by ants, awaiting 
 the autumnal fogs necessary to their germination, 
 for it never rains at Lima. He accompanied his 
 collections with two manuscript treatises of his 
 own ; one on a disease which he attributed to the 
 immoderate use of certain fruits of that country ; 
 and the other on a new but useless species of 
 Laurus, which ignorant observers had reported to 
 the Spanish Government as being the true cinna- 
 mon, a mistake which he found himself obliged to 
 rectify He was subsequently employed by the
 
 A DIFFICULT LABOUIt. 161 
 
 viceroy to analyze some mineral waters of the 
 neighbourhood ; afterwards he settled for a time 
 in the mountainous province of Tar ma, beyond the 
 Cordilleras, and in May 1780 visited Huanuco, 
 the extremity of the Spanish settlements in that 
 direction. In the vast and almost impervious 
 forests beyond, he ascertained the fact which 
 had been reported of the Cinchona, or Peruvian 
 bark, being abundant there, though previously sup- 
 posed to grow at Loxa only. He determined also 
 that there were several species of this valuable 
 drug, all more or less useful in medicine. 
 
 To investigate the botanical riches of these 
 forests, swarming with insects, and filled with 
 stagnant pestiferous vapours, proved a labour of 
 no less danger than difficulty. There was besides 
 another and a still more formidable obstacle than 
 the natural obstructions presented by these wild 
 regions. During one of his botanical expeditions his 
 little company was attacked by a party of maroon 
 negroes, against whom they defended themselves 
 with so much courage that they succeeded in 
 making their escape, and even took three prisoners. 
 These savages determined to take their revenge, 
 and having assembled to the number of two hun- 
 dred, were advancing, under cover of the night, 
 with the intention of plundering their camp, but 
 happily, being made acquainted with their danger,
 
 1G2 LIBERAL TO A FAULT. 
 
 they effected a precipitate and perilous retreat to 
 Huanuco. From thence Dombey returned alone 
 to Lima, where various difficulties awaited him. 
 He had lost all his outfit, and his pecuniary income 
 was quite inadequate to his wants. The celebrated 
 Necker, then in power, increased his salary, but 
 still his funds were by no means so large as those 
 of his Spanish associates. It is said that, notwith- 
 standing this, he contrived to lend them, when 
 they found themselves embarrassed, a considerable 
 sum. The truth is, like many men of his stamp, 
 Dombey was liberal to a fault when he had money 
 in hand, and was frequently in difficulties owing to 
 his imprudence and want of consideration. His 
 kindly heart prompted him ever to do generous 
 actions; and he frequently assisted the unfortu- 
 nate, and bestowed on others what he could ill 
 spare. He loved to spend ; but, on the other 
 hand, he knew how to bear privations. Sometimes 
 he lived merrily, and had a numerous escort ; at 
 another time he would be content with a solitary 
 attendant, and with poor fare. 
 
 That which most perturbed him, and upset his 
 equanimity, was the opposition he encountered 
 from the rich and ignorant, who despised his know- 
 ledge and thwarted him in his scientific objects. 
 However, his medical information proved of great 
 use to him during his residence in Lima ; it aug-
 
 THE ORCHARDS OF LIMA. 163 
 
 mented his income, and gained nirn the respect and 
 confidence of those who could riot appreciate his 
 skill as a naturalist. They were ready enough to 
 be cured by the French savant, when they found 
 him a more skilful leech than their own country- 
 men ; and thus self-interest secured what merit and 
 justice had failed to obtain for him. For the rest, 
 he thoroughly enjoyed the amusements of the gay 
 society with which for a time he mingled, and 
 his lively manners and agreeable person made him 
 a favourite in those assemblies over which the fair 
 Limenas presided. 
 
 The number and variety of the vegetable pro- 
 ductions of the country afforded a rich treat to our 
 naturalist. In a climate so favourable to all kinds 
 of vegetation, tropical and equinoctial fruits and 
 flowers abound. The predominant colour of the 
 flowers of indigenous plants upon the coast being 
 yellow, while those of the mountains are white, 
 the natives have a common proverb, " Ora en la 
 costa, plata en la sierra" (Gold on the coast, silver 
 in the mountains). One of the attractions of Lima 
 is its orchards ; they are described as being always 
 beautiful. Unlike those of Europe, the native 
 fruit-trees are evergreens, and present the garb of 
 spring during the whole year. The rich green of 
 the banana and plantain, their enormous leaves 
 rustling with every breeze and discovering their 
 
 (352) 1 1
 
 164 A NATURALIST'S ELYSIUM. 
 
 pendant branches of fruit ; the orange-tree, enam- 
 elled with green and white and gold ; the pome- 
 granate, with its crimson bell ; the shady chirimoya, 
 breathing aroma in the evening breeze ; the trail- 
 ing grandilla, stretching from tree to tree, and 
 seeking support for its slender and laden branches ; 
 the luxuriant vine, creeping over trellises and hiding 
 beneath its cooling leaves the luscious grape ; all 
 these, and many others, abound in every garden of 
 the broad and fertile plain watered by the Eimac. 
 What an Elysium for the naturalist ! 
 
 Having despatched his second collection to 
 Europe, Dombey returned to Huanuco in the 
 month of December 1780. There, to the other 
 difficulties of his situation, were added the horrors 
 of a desolating civil war. The Indians rose in in- 
 surrection under the leadership of Tupac Amaru, 
 who claimed to be a descendant of the last of the 
 Incas. The popularity of his cause soon attracted 
 to his standard a multitude of undisciplined Indians, 
 whose desperate valour, of which even the women 
 partook, seemed for a time to counterbalance the 
 discipline, the arms, and the skill of their op- 
 ponents. The town of Huanuco was in the utmost 
 consternation ; a man of courage and energy like 
 Dombey could not remain inert at such a moment ; 
 he made his appearance at the general council of 
 the inhabitants, and warmly urged the Spaniards
 
 A GENEROUS OFFER. 165 
 
 to repel the insurgents ; at the same time he offered 
 himself to aid the cause, by presenting a sum of 
 1000 piastres, twenty loads of corn, and two regi- 
 ments, raised and equipped at his expense. Though 
 his pecuniary assistance was very properly declined, 
 his zeal was publicly applauded by all orders of 
 people, and testified by authentic documents ex- 
 pressive of their gratitude. When the insurrection 
 was quelled, Dombey generously presented to the 
 hospital of St Jean de Dieu the sum he had offered 
 towards the defence of the state. 
 
 Shortly after these events he returned to Lima, 
 where he had the mortification of hearing that his 
 first collection had been captured by the English, 
 and redeemed at Lisbon by the Spanish Govern- 
 ment. In consequence of this mishap, a very 
 valuable part of it, the ancient Peruvian vases, and 
 a complete dress of one of the Incas, which he 
 had destined for his own sovereign, had been pre- 
 sented to the Spanish monarch ; duplicates of the 
 dried plants and seeds only having been forwarded 
 to Paris. 
 
 In the meantime, though enfeebled by his long 
 and laborious journeys, Dombey determined to 
 accomplish a visit to Chili ; and leaving his more 
 recent acquisitions in safety at Lima, he com- 
 menced his undertaking. This had been from the 
 first a principal object of his mission, on account of
 
 106 VISITING CHILI. 
 
 the nearer reseml lanee of the jlimate of Chili to 
 that of France, which rendered its vegetable pro- 
 ductions more likely to be of use there. He arrived 
 at La Conception in the beginning of 1782, where 
 his adventurous destiny had prepared for him far 
 other cares and pursuits than those of botany. The 
 town was afflicted with a pestilential fever, and he 
 was cautioned to avoid certain infected houses 
 where it raged. Instead of following this advice, 
 he devoted himself to the exercise of his medical 
 skill, and assisted the sufferers among the poorer 
 class with the most valuable charity of his advice, 
 as well as with food and with medicine, and even 
 with nurses, whom he supplied at his own charge. 
 This example did much to restore public confidence, 
 and his generous and self-denying conduct operated 
 so powerfully upon the grateful people, that they 
 strove to induce him to remain among them, pro- 
 mising him a handsome stipend as their physician. 
 It is intimated that other and more tempting attrac- 
 tions were not wanting to induce him to comply 
 with these wishes, and that one of the principal 
 dignitaries of the Church of La Conception endea- 
 voured to promote his union with a young lady of 
 great beauty and riches, on whom his merit had 
 made impressions as honourable to herself as to 
 him. From motives of mistaken patriotism he 
 tore himself away, to pursue the primary object of
 
 LABOUR AND SORROW. 1G7 
 
 his life an object which, as subsequent events 
 proved, would have been best fulfilled by his per- 
 manent residence in Chili, from whence he might 
 at leisure have communicated the subsequent fruits 
 of his inquiries. But the restless and enterprising 
 spirit of Doinbey urged him onwards, and labour 
 and sorrow were his appointed lot. During this 
 journey he discovered the majestic tree of the tribe 
 of Pines, 150 feet high, named by Lamarck Dom- 
 beya, in honour of his meritorious and unfortunate 
 countryman; and having added greatly to his collec- 
 tion of drawings, shells, and minerals, as well as 
 plants, while in Chili, and discovered a new and 
 most valuable mine of quicksilver and another of 
 gold, he revisited Lima to take his passage for 
 Europe. 
 
 While he still remained at Lima, the labours 
 of arranging and packing his collections of natural 
 history, added to the fatigues he had already under- 
 gone, and the troubles he experienced from some 
 of the Spaniards in power, preyed upon his health 
 and spirits ; and under the idea that he might pos- 
 sibly never reach Europe, he wrote to his friend 
 Thouin to take the necessary precautions for the 
 safety of his treasures on their arrival in a Spanish 
 port. He survived, however, to undergo far greater 
 distresses than he had yet known. After narrowly 
 escaping shipwreck at Cape Horn, and being obliged
 
 168 QUESTIONABLE USAGE. 
 
 to wait at the Brazils till his ship could be refitted, 
 he reached Cadiz on the 22d February 1785 ; " but 
 instead (says his biographer) of the reception he 
 expected and deserved from the nation he had 
 chiefly benefited, every Spaniard, from the sub- 
 alterns of the customhouse to the ministers of 
 state, seemed leagued to mortify him and to render 
 his labours useless. His collections were exposed 
 to the rude and useless scrutiny of the barbarians 
 at the customhouse, so as to be rendered useless, 
 in a great measure, even to those who meant to 
 plunder them. The whole were thrown afterwards 
 into damp warehouses, where they lay for the plants 
 t( rot, and the inestimable collections of seeds to 
 lose their powers of vegetation, till certain forms 
 of the grave and sapient most Catholic Church 
 were gone through. He could never obtain that 
 the seeds should be committed to the earth so as 
 to be of use, and hence the gardens of Europe were 
 never enriched with more than some half score of 
 his botanical discoveries, among which were the 
 magnificent Datura arborea, the beautiful Salvia 
 formosa, and the fragrant Verbena triphylla ; this 
 last will be a ' monumentum cere perennius ' with 
 those who shall ever know his history."* 
 
 Disappointed and foiled, Dombey was compelled 
 to remain at Cadiz without friends, whose sympathy 
 
 See art. "Dombey" in "Rees* Cycloptedia," by Sir J.E. Smith.
 
 CHAGRINED AND OPPRESSED. 169 
 
 might have cheered him, his only hope being that 
 he might hereafter publish his discoveries, so as to 
 secure some benefit to the world and some honour 
 to himself. But this last consolation was denied 
 him. He was not suffered to depart till all his 
 MSS. had been copied, and he had given a written 
 promise never to publish anything till the return 
 of his travelling companions. In the meanwhile 
 those very companions were detained by authority 
 in Peru ; and in after times many of the original 
 botanical descriptions of Dombey appeared ver- 
 batim, without acknowledgment, in the pompous 
 Flora of Peru and Chili, which thence derived a 
 great part of its value. Thus chagrined and op- 
 pressed, the unhappy Dombey was permitted to 
 return with such part of his collections as they 
 suffered him to retain to Paris. 
 
 There, in 1786, he appeared, " no longer (says 
 the same writer) the handsome lively votary of 
 pleasure, nor even the ardent enthusiastic cultivator 
 of science. The leaden hand of tyranny had im- 
 pressed its own stamp on his countenance, and he 
 had the sallow, silent, melancholy aspect of a 
 depressed and disappointed Spaniard. He chiefly 
 associated with his faithful friends Le Mounier and 
 Thouin, and in their society botanical converse still 
 retained its charms. To the contents of his own 
 collection, which, however injured and diminished,
 
 170 A PEACEFUL RETREAT. 
 
 was still a very interesting one, he paid little atten- 
 tion. Bound by his promise, his high sense of 
 honour would not let him make the proper use of 
 it ; but at length he was induced to part with it 
 to M. de Buffon, who nobly exerted himself so 
 as to procure from Government a pension of 6000 
 livres for Doinbey, and 60,000 livres to pay his 
 debts." 
 
 Disheartened and exhausted with fatigue and 
 blighted hopes, Dombey now determined to seek 
 retirement in a peaceful retreat at the foot of Mont 
 Jura, where he had a friend devoted to the love 
 and cultivation of plants. He broke off all scien- 
 tific correspondence except with M. Pavon, one of 
 his fellow-labourers in Peru, who had all along 
 been innocent of the malicious attacks against him. 
 He refused a place in the French Academic des 
 Sciences, as well as a large pecuniary offer from 
 the Empress of Eussia for the duplicates of his 
 collection, saying, " he was not in want of money, 
 and had most pleasure in distributing his specimens 
 among his friends." His only remaining happiness 
 was in deeds of benevolence ; and he was sometimes 
 heard to say, " I am satisfied, for I have had it in 
 my power to-day to benefit a fellow-creature." 
 
 On his way to Switzerland he took up his resi- 
 dence for some time at Lyons, and had the misfor- 
 tune to be present during the siege of that town.
 
 IN PRISON. 171 
 
 All his energy of mind revived at the sight of dis- 
 tress and danger, and those who were ready to 
 perish experienced the consolation of such assist- 
 ance as he had it in his power to bestow. He sup- 
 plied their necessities and healed their wounds. 
 But his soul sickened at the sight of public mise- 
 ries on every side which he was unable to alleviate, 
 and at the end of some months he returned to 
 Paris, and procured a commission to visit North 
 America, in order to purchase corn from the United 
 States, and to fulfil some other commissions relative 
 to science and commerce. 
 
 A tempest obliged him to take shelter at Guada- 
 lope, which ill-fated island was then in as distracted 
 a state as the mother country. Dombey, having 
 been sent out by the French Republic, was an 
 object of suspicion to the Eoyalist governor, and 
 being summoned to appear before him, judged it 
 prudent to retire on board a vessel bound for Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 Before however he could embark, he was seized 
 and thrown into prison. A proceeding so violent 
 and unjustifiable excited general indignation, and 
 the authorities thought proper to release him, but 
 not before a public commotion had been excited 
 on his behalf; and while trying to appease the 
 tumultuous mob which threatened vengeance on 
 his enemies, he was accidentally thrown into a
 
 172 THE END OF AN EVENTFUL LIFE. 
 
 river, the consequences of which disaster were 
 nearly fatal to his life. 
 
 When sufficiently recovered, he waited on the 
 governor ; and though his innocence was acknow- 
 ledged, he was commanded to quit the colony 
 without delay. 
 
 His unhappy fate still pursued him ; for the 
 vessel in which he sailed was scarcely out of the 
 harbour when it was attacked by two privateers 
 and captured, and Dombey, disguised as a Spanish 
 sailor, was thrown into prison in the island of 
 Monserrat, where ill-treatment, grief, and disease, 
 put a period to his eventful life in the spring of 
 1796.
 
 Jin fncitant in the |Cife of Hpufresnog. 
 
 NDEE DUFRESNOY was born at Valen- 
 ciennes in 1733. He embraced the me- 
 dical profession, and was appointed phy- 
 sician of the military hospital in his native 
 city, and, being a considerable proficient in botany, 
 was also a professor of that science. In 1793 he 
 received the appointment of physician-in-chief to 
 the Army of the North. His predecessor in that 
 post having remained at Brussels after the defec- 
 tion of General Dumouriez, had been proscribed 
 and put on the list of the emigres. Dufresnoy 
 learned that he was sick, and was anxious to return 
 to his native land ; and, prompted by his generous 
 heart, he ventured to write in favour of the unfor- 
 tunate man to the Minister of War. This humane 
 and courageous act was taken in very ill part by the 
 authorities ; and Dufresnoy, accused of complicity 
 with an emigre, was, in consequence, deposed from
 
 174 AN ALARMING ACCUSATION. 
 
 his situation. A universal expression of dissatisfac- 
 tion throughout the ranks of the army gave unmis- 
 takable proof that the blow had fallen upon a worthy 
 and deserving man. Even the most ardent repub- 
 licans, those who had denounced the so-called aris- 
 tocrats, made application in favour of Dufresnoy. 
 The result was a partial retraction of the severity 
 of the sentence against him. The minister wrote 
 to the Committee of Public Safety that Dufresnoy 
 might probably have been innocent of any bad 
 intention in the application he had made on behalf 
 of his predecessor, but that, as he had given proof 
 of a weakness incompatible with the duties of a 
 firm republican, he could not efficiently occupy the 
 post of physician-in-chief to the Army of the North, 
 since that official must necessarily be brought irto 
 contact with a vast number of soldiers over whom 
 he must exercise considerable influence, and con- 
 sequently he would be required to serve the state 
 as much by his devotedness as a citizen as by hit 
 medical skill. Dufresnoy was consequently sent to 
 St Omer, to superintend the military hospital there. 
 But he was now a suspected man, and in a short 
 time a new and much more alarming accusation was 
 brought against him, which was very near conduct- 
 ing him to the scaffold. 
 
 Dufresnoy had been the first to introduce into 
 France the cultivation of the Elms radicans ; he
 
 A DISCOVERY ! 175 
 
 had long cultivated it at Valenciennes, and had 
 given some of the plants to a medical botanist at 
 Cambray. Having received intelligence from this 
 friend that these offshoots from his treasured 
 shrub were flourishing, in a letter addressed to him, 
 he made use of this expression : " Comment vont 
 nos chers Rhus ? Qu'il me tard de les voir !" This 
 letter, written by an homme suspect, was intercepted 
 and read before the Revolutionary Committee. 
 Here was a discovery for these patriotic citizens ! 
 The Empress of Russia was about to join the allied 
 forces, and Dufresnoy, with his aristocratic ten- 
 dencies, was in intelligence with that sovereign ; 
 for they are doubtless the Bussians whom he is so 
 impatient to see ; the thing is clearly proved ! 
 
 Immediately an order of arrest was made out, 
 and the traitorous physician brought up before the 
 Revolutionary tribunal of Arras, at that time pre- 
 sided over by the atrocious Lebon, the monster 
 who sentenced to the scaffold a quiet and inoffen- 
 sive citizen, solely because he had in his possession 
 a parroquet which cried "Vive le Roy!" It was 
 seriously proposed (by the way) to guillotine the 
 bird as well as his owner, but Lebon's wife saved 
 the creature by undertaking that he should be 
 taught to say " Vive la Montague." 
 
 In the hands of this bloodthirsty wretch, Dufres- 
 noy would have had no chance of escape. His
 
 176 RESTORED TO FREEDOM. 
 
 trial was already about to commence, and he would 
 infallibly have suffered death, because the mem- 
 bers of the Revolutionary Committee were ignorant 
 of the meaning of a botanical word, when, provi- 
 dentially, the 9th Thermidor arrived precisely at 
 this critical time ; Lebon himself was arrested, and 
 the naturalist had an opportunity of explaining to 
 his judges that his " chers Rhus" were not soldiers 
 armed against liberty, but plants, the juice of which, 
 as he conceived, would prove highly beneficial as a 
 medical remedy. The worthy man was conse- 
 quently restored to freedom and sent back to the 
 hospital at Valenciennes, where he continued to 
 discharge his duties and cultivate his Rhus as long 
 as he lived. Dufresnoy, for the rest, was an en- 
 thusiast in his notions as to his favourite plants 
 and herbs, and it appears some of his supposed dis- 
 coveries turned out to be fallacies. In point of 
 fact, he was no sooner dead than his brother, who 
 practised medicine at Valenciennes, plucked up 
 from his garden the unfortunate Rhus which had so 
 nearly proved fatal to their cultivator.* 
 
 * It may interest some readers to be told that Rhus in botany is 
 the name given to a shrubby, arborescent genus, known in our 
 gardens as the sumach. There are numerous species, some of 
 which are poisonous. The Rhus toxicodendron and radicans were 
 at one time recommended in paralytic affections ; " but the 
 cases in which these virulent plants were employed are few and 
 indecisive."
 
 of a JHissionarji $ 
 
 IN THE NICOBAR ISLANDS. 
 
 N the year 1756 a commercial establish- 
 ment was begun by the Danes on the 
 Nicobar Islands ; and shortly after a band 
 of devoted missionaries belonging to the 
 Church of the United Brethren settled there, for 
 the purpose of endeavouring to convert the natives 
 to the Christian faith. Among these heroic men 
 was one named John Gottfried Haensel, who during 
 seven years remained at his post until he was the 
 sole survivor, and was compelled to abandon that 
 melancholy field of labour which had proved fatal 
 to all his associates, who had found an untimely 
 grave in Nancauwery, the island on which they 
 had resided. 
 
 In a series of curious arid valuable letters Haensel 
 has described this group, with their inhabitants 
 and natural productions; and in his account of the
 
 178 A TOUCHING TALE. 
 
 latter there are some details of peculiar interest, 
 occasioned by the sympathy awakened on behalf of 
 the simple-minded, self-sacrificing man, who tells 
 the touching tale of his labours and sufferings. 
 
 After clearing and planting the land in order to 
 procure themselves the necessaries of life, the 
 Brethren endeavoured to lessen the expenses of 
 the mission by making collections of shells, ser- 
 pents, insects, and other natural curiosities, for 
 which there was a ready sale in various parts of 
 Europe. At one time Haensel especially devoted 
 his attention to this occupation; and though pos- 
 sessing no previous acquaintance with natural 
 history, he by constant practice and experience 
 acquiied considerable skill as a collector. During 
 his frequent excursions along the sea-coast, it 
 sometimes happened that the solitary wanderer 
 was benighted, and could not reach his dwelling ; 
 but in such a case he was never at a loss for a bed. 
 " The greater part of the beach," he tells us, "con- 
 sisted of a remarkably fine white sand, which above 
 high-water mark was perfectly clean and dry. Into 
 this I dug with ease a hole large enough to contain 
 my body, forming a mound as a pillow for my 
 head. I then lay down, and, by collecting the sand 
 over me, buried myself in it up to my neck. My 
 faithful dog always lay across my body, ready to 
 give the alarm in case of disturbance from any
 
 VHTUHXAL VISITORS. 179 
 
 quarter. However, I was under no apprehension 
 from wild animals ; crocodiles and caymans never 
 haunt the open coast, but keep in creeks and 
 lagoons, and there are no ravenous beasts on the 
 island. The only annoyance I suffered was from 
 the nocturnal perambulations of an immense variety 
 of crabs of all sizes, the grating noise of whose 
 armour would sometimes keep me awake. But 
 they were well watched by my dog; and if any 
 one ventured to approach, he was sure to be sud- 
 denly seized and thrown to a more respectful 
 distance ; or, if a crab of more tremendous appear- 
 ance deterred the dog from exposing his nose to its 
 claws, he would bark and frighten it away, by 
 which, however, I was often more seriously alarmed 
 than the occasion required. Many a comfortable 
 night's rest have I had in these sepulchral dormi- 
 tories when the nights were clear and dry." 
 
 But although there was little to fear from the 
 attacks of savage animals on Nancauwery, Haeusel 
 "assures us that it would have been hazardous in 
 the extreme to expose oneself thus on the Con- 
 tinent, as well as in some of the other East Indian 
 islands, on account of the numbers of these crea- 
 tures of various descriptions with which they 
 abound. He was himself in imminent peril on one 
 of his voyages either to or from Queda. A Danish 
 ship hailed their vessel, and approaching them iu-
 
 180 A PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE. 
 
 cautiously, ran foul of the stern and broke the flag- 
 staff. They therefore put into a creek, and some 
 of the men landed near a wood to fell a tree to 
 make a new staff. Hoping to be able to procure 
 some fresh meat for supper, Mr Haensel accom- 
 panied them, armed with his double-barrelled gun. 
 While they were at their work he walked outside 
 the thicket, eagerly searching for game, and soon 
 discovered among the high grass an object which, 
 by its motions, he mistook for the back of a hare. 
 He took aim, and was just about to fire, when the 
 animal rose up and proved to be a tiger, of which 
 the top of the head only had been visible. In- 
 voluntarily he dropt his arm and stood motionless 
 with horror, expecting that the creature would im- 
 mediately make a spring at him. He had given 
 himself up for lost, but, providentially, the beast 
 appeared as much alarmed as he was, and after 
 looking at him for a few moments, turned slowly 
 about and began to creep away, like a frightened 
 cat, with his belly close to the ground ; then, gradu- 
 ally quickening his pace, fled with precipitation 
 into the wood. 
 
 Some time elapsed before the missionary re- 
 covered self-possession sufficient to retrace his steps 
 to the beach, for he felt his very heart tremble 
 within him (as he forcibly expresses himself). His 
 perils, however, were not yet ended. As he ap-
 
 f'AYMAX FLESH. 181 
 
 proaclicd the water there was a piece of jungle, or 
 low thicket, before him, and he was turning to the 
 left in order to pass round by the side opposite the 
 boat, thinking he might yet find game, when see- 
 ing the men labouring hard to drag the tree they 
 had felled towards the water, he altered his course 
 and went to their assistance. No sooner had he 
 entered the boat than he discovered, on that side 
 of the jungle to which he was first going, a large 
 cayman, close to the beach, watching their motions. 
 Had he gone the way he purposed, he must cer- 
 tainly have encountered this monster, and most 
 thankful did he feel for this second preservation 
 of his life. He adds" Part of the flesh of the 
 cayman is good and wholesome, when well cooked. 
 It tastes somewhat like pork, for which I took it 
 and ate it with much relish when I first came to 
 the island, till, discovering what it w r as, I felt a 
 loathing which I could never overcome ; but it is 
 eaten by both natives and Europeans." 
 
 Serpents abound in the Nicobar Islands, though 
 not in such numbers as on the coast of Coromandel. 
 Of some of the more rare and curious, Haensel has 
 given a striking account. " I wish I could gratify 
 you," he says, " with a list of the different kinds of 
 serpents, crabs, spiders, and other creatures which 
 I caught everywhere, either to stuff, put into spirits, 
 or otherwise prepare for my customers. At our
 
 182 PREPARIXC. SPECIMEN'S. 
 
 garden near Tranquebar, I had a shop or work- 
 room purposely constructed for these operations, 
 and kept sometimes two or three Malabar boys at 
 work to help me. Of serpents and snakes I had a 
 list of upwards of eighty different species, from the 
 size of a common worm to 16 and 20 feet long; of 
 crabs, upwards of ninety; and of spiders, more than 
 forty. Whether I went into the woods, on the 
 beach, by land, or by sea, I was accustomed to look 
 about and examine every object I saw, and acquired 
 great facility in catching some of the most danger- 
 ous animals without harm to myself. Far from 
 being afraid of serpents, I went out purposely to 
 discover their haunts, in the jungle or among the 
 rocks, defending my legs with a pair of strong 
 boots ; and if I could prevent their slipping off into 
 their holes, and irritate them so as to make them 
 attempt to strike me, my work was done. A ser- 
 pent thus situated, will coil himself up, and in- 
 stantaneously darting forward his head, strike and 
 bite whatever comes in his way. I then presented 
 my hat, which the animal violently seized with his 
 fangs ; when, instantly snatching it away, I seldom 
 failed to extract them by the sudden jerk ; for, being 
 curved, they cannot be readily withdrawn, and, sit- 
 ting but loosely in the gums, are easily disengaged. 
 Being thus rendered in a great degree harmless, 
 I pinned their heads down, and tied them up.
 
 THE " SPLIT SXAKE." 183 
 
 " There is among them a short serpent, found in 
 the neighbourhood of Tranquebar, and called by 
 us the Split Snake. It is black, with a white streak 
 down its back, dividing the body longitudinally. 
 Its bite is extremely venomous ; and being slender, 
 it can insinuate itself into a very small hole or 
 cranny, and will cuter rooms and closets in search 
 of food. There was a door in a dark part of my 
 workroom, with a large clumsy lock to it. One 
 evening as I was attempting to open it, having to 
 pass that way, I felt a sudden prick in my finger, 
 and at the same time a violent electrical shock, as 
 if I were riven asunder. Not thinking of a serpent, 
 I at first imagined that my Malabar boys had, in 
 their play, wound some wire about the handle, by 
 which I had been hurt, and asked them sharply 
 what mischief they had done to the door. They 
 denied having meddled with it, and I made a second 
 attempt, when I was attacked still more violently, 
 and perceived the blood trickling down my finger. 
 I then returned into my room, sucking the wound 
 till I could draw no more blood, I applied some 
 spirits of turpentine to it, put on a bandage, and 
 being much hurried that evening with business 
 made no further investigation into it. However, in 
 the night it swelled, and was very painful. In the 
 morning I went again into the workroom, when I 
 thought I perceived an unpleasant musky smell.
 
 184 WHAT WAS IX THE LOCK. 
 
 On approaching the same door the stench was in- 
 tolerable, arid again I asked the boys the cause of 
 the nuisance ; but they persisted in declaring their 
 ignorance concerning the matter. A candle was 
 brought, and I now beheld the origin of all the 
 mischief. About six inches length of the head and 
 body of a young split snake hung out of the key- 
 hole, quite dead; and on taking off the lock, I found 
 the creature twisted into it. It had evidently in- 
 tended to enter the room through the keyhole when 
 I thus accidentally stopped its progress and got 
 bitten ; and considering the deadly poison this ser- 
 pent injects into the wound it inflicts, I felt very 
 thankful to God, my Preserver, that, by sucking 
 the infected blood out of my finger in time, and 
 applying a proper remedy, though ignorant of the 
 cause of the wound, my life was not endangered. 
 
 "Another kind of serpent struck me as a singular 
 species ; it is of a green colour, has a broad head 
 and mouth like a frog, very red eyes, arid its bite is 
 so venomous that I have seen a woman die within 
 half an hour after being wounded. Of other re- 
 markable kinds I will only mention the Whip- 
 snake, which is green, from 4 to 6 feet long, slender, 
 and springs horizontally from tree to tree, whence 
 it is also called Flying Snake. The species known 
 by the name of the Double-headed Snake has not 
 two heads, but is equally thick behind and before,
 
 ALOXE IN THE DESERT. IS") 
 
 uud, like some caterpillars, furnislied with a kind 
 of protuberance at its tail, which, to a superficial 
 observer, may pass for another head. They are of 
 a reddish colour, and resemble a long sausage. The 
 Wall Snake climbs a wall with great agility, and is 
 small and spotted. The bite of all these serpents 
 is attended with great danger." 
 
 By this incident of the split snake, I am reminded 
 of a similar peril and escape, mentioned in the 
 history of another of the Moravians. Lewis Daclme 
 was residing in Berbice, in a solitary hut, on the 
 borders of the Corentyn, a river shaded by immense 
 forests and bordered by extensive swamps, the lurk- 
 ing-places of wild beasts, serpents, and other noxious 
 creatures. For about two years this devoted mis- 
 sionary remained in this savage desert alone, un- 
 befriended and without companions. Yet he was 
 content and happy, fearless of evil, believing him- 
 self to be at the post of duty, and not only enjoying 
 the internal consciousness of the Divine favour, 
 but he experienced some remarkable deliverances 
 from imminent peril. One of them is thus related. 
 Being one evening attacked with a paroxysm of 
 fever, he felt himself compelled to retire to his hut 
 and lie down in his hammock. Just, however, as 
 he entered the door, he beheld a serpent in the act 
 of dropping down upon him from the roof. In the 
 scuffle which ensued the reptile bit him in two or
 
 186 A REMARKABLE DELIVERANCE. 
 
 three places, and, pursuing him closely, twined itself 
 several times around his head and neck, as tightly 
 as possible. Expecting now to be strangled to 
 death, he gave himself up for lost, and afraid lest 
 his brethren should suspect that the Indians had 
 murdered him, he, with surprising presence of mind, 
 wrote with a piece of chalk upon his table " A 
 serpent has killed me." Suddenly, however, the 
 promise of the Saviour darted into his mind : " They 
 shall take up serpents and shall not be hurt." 
 Animated by the recollection of these words, lie 
 seized the creature, and exerting his utmost force, 
 tore it loose from his body and flung it out of the 
 hut. He then lay down in his hammock and slept 
 tranquilly ; nor did he experience any serious injury 
 from the wounds inflicted by the serpent, which 
 was probably one of that class whose bite is not 
 venomous, but which destroy life by strangulation. 
 To return to our missionary naturalist. Decidedly 
 the most valuable natural production, in a com- 
 mercial point of view, of the Nicobar Islands, are 
 the nests of the esculent swallow (Hirundo edulis), 
 called by the natives Hinlene. As is well known, 
 these singular constructions are not only eatable, 
 but considered one of the greatest delicacies of the 
 table by the luxurious Asiatics. They are com- 
 posed of some gelatinous substance, about the 
 materials of which authors generally differ. Some
 
 THE " AGAL-AGAL." 137 
 
 have imagined it to consist of sea-worms, of the 
 mollusca order. Forester conceives it to be the 
 sea-qualm, a sort of cuttle-fish found in those seas, 
 or a glutinous sea-plant called agal-agal. Again, 
 it has been supposed they rob other birds of their 
 eggs, and apply the whites of them to their build- 
 ing purposes. 
 
 Haensel's account is curious and unique. He 
 says they build in fissures and cavities of rocks, 
 especially in such as open to the south. In the 
 latter the finest and whitest nests are found. They 
 are small, and shaped like swallows' nests. If 
 perfect, seventy-two of them go to a catty, or 1^ 
 pounds. The best sale for them is in China. As 
 to the substance of which they are made, Haensel 
 says " After the most diligent investigation, I 
 was never able fully to discover this point ; nor do 
 any of the opinions of naturalists with which I 
 have become acquainted appear satisfactory to me, 
 neither have the authors alluded to ever seen the 
 birds. They have remarkably short legs, and are 
 unable to rise if they once fall or settle on the 
 ground. I caught many in this state, and after 
 examining them threw them up into the air, when 
 t hey immediately flew away ; they cannot, there- 
 fore, as some suppose, obtain their materials on 
 the coast and from rocks in the sea. My opinion 
 is, that the nests are made of the gum of a peculiar
 
 188 A FULL DISCOVERY. 
 
 tree, called by some the Nicobar cedar, and grow- 
 ing in great abundance in all the southern islands. 
 Its wood is hard, black, and very heavy. From 
 December to May it is covered with blossom, and 
 bears a fruit somewhat resembling a cedar or pine- 
 apple, but more like a berry, full of eyes or pus- 
 tules, discharging a gum or resinous fluid. About 
 these trees, when in bloom or bearing fruit, I have 
 seen innumerable flocks of these little birds, flying 
 and fluttering like bees round a tree or shrub in 
 full flower, and am of opinion that they there 
 gather the materials for their nests. I relate the 
 fact, having often watched them with great atten- 
 tion, but will not venture to affirm that I have 
 made a full discovery. I observed before, that 
 these birds dwell in cavities of rocks, like bees in 
 a hive, flying in and out, and building their nests 
 together, like martins or swallows. The hen con- 
 structs a neat, large, well-shaped nest, calculated 
 for laying and hatching her eggs, and the cock 
 contrives to fix another, smaller and rather more 
 clumsy, close to his mate ; for they are not built 
 for the purpose of laying eggs, but for resting- 
 places, whence they may take wing. If they are 
 robbed of them, they immediately begin to build 
 others, and being remarkably active, are able to 
 finish enough in a day to support the weight of 
 their bodies, though they require about three weeks
 
 THE CAUSE OF COXFUSIOX. 189" 
 
 to complete a nest. During the N.E. trade-wind 
 they are all alive and fly about briskly ; but as soon 
 as the wind eomes round to the S.W., they sit or 
 lie in their nests in a state of stupor, and show 
 animation only by a kind of tremulous motion over 
 their whole body. If their nests were taken away 
 at that season, the poor birds must inevitably 
 perish." 
 
 These birds' nests were the occasion, incidentally, 
 of no small trouble and danger to the missionaries. 
 They brought a great number, both of Malays and 
 Chinese, to the coasts in search of them. These 
 marauders always caused much confusion and quar- 
 relling among the otherwise peaceable islanders, by 
 their knavery and frequent assassinations ; and on 
 one occasion, having conceived a grudge against 
 Mr Haensel, who, having been appointed temporary 
 president for the King of Denmark, considered it 
 his duty to protest against a robbery they wanted 
 to commit. They threatened to have their revenge 
 by killing him, and the natives, who knew them 
 well, said they would be as good as their word. 
 These poor people, though unimpressed by the re- 
 ligious teaching of the Brethren, were gratefully 
 attached to them for all their kindness, and offered 
 to stay at night and defend them ; but not apparently 
 sharing in the alarm, Haensel dismissed them to 
 their own homes, and the mission family prepared
 
 190 AX ADVENTURE WITH MALAYS. 
 
 to retire to rest. To their terror, they shortly after 
 heard a violent knocking at the door, and on look- 
 ing out perceived a number of Malays surrounding 
 the entrance. These miserable wretches speedily 
 forced an entrance, and after a short parley, some 
 of them drew their daggers, and showed how they 
 were tipped with poison. " They looked," says our 
 friend, " more like a host of devils than a company 
 of human beings, and all on a sudden seemed about 
 to make a rush upon me. I commended myself in 
 silence to my Almighty Helper, and awaited the 
 issue calmly. To my surprise they drew back, 
 leaving me unharmed, and one by one left me 
 standing alone in perfect astonishment. As soon 
 as they were gone, I fell on my knees, and with 
 tears gave thanks to God my Saviour, who had 
 rescued me out of the hands of these savages." 
 
 In all probability, the perfect self-possession and 
 calm demeanour of this remarkable man were the 
 cause, providentially overruled, of cowing the spirits 
 of the Malays, who ascribed their conduct, when 
 questioned about it, to sorcery, saying that the 
 missionary had bewitched them, so that they could 
 do nothing to him. 
 
 The termination of the Nicobar mission was a 
 truly melancholy one. The loss of so many valu- 
 able lives, and the entire failure of the object of the 
 mission, at length compelled the abandonment of
 
 AN AFFECTING FAREWELL. 191 
 
 the project. " Words cannot express," exclaims 
 Haensel, as he tells the tale, " the painful sensa- 
 tions that filled my mind when I was taking my 
 last farewell of the inhabitants, who flocked to me 
 from all the adjacent islands. Their grief was very 
 affecting, as they wept and howled, begging that 
 the Brethren might soon return to them ; for we 
 had always enjoyed their esteem and love, and had 
 always found them ready to serve us. When I 
 remembered the numberless prayers, sighs, and 
 tears offered up for the conversion of the poor hea- 
 then here, and beheld our burial-ground, where 
 eleven of my companions had their resting-place, 
 I burst into tears arid exclaimed, " Surely all this 
 cannot have been done in vain 1"
 
 i)assagc0 in the 3Cifc of John -Sibthoip. 
 
 HIS eminent botanist and traveller was the 
 son of Dr Humphrey Sibthorp. Professor 
 of Botany at Oxford, and was born in that 
 city in 1758. Being brought up to the 
 medical profession, he prosecuted his studies at 
 Edinburgh, where the taste he had early imbibed 
 for natural history, especially botany, was culti- 
 vated and increased. At the close of his academical 
 course he visited France and Switzerland, and 
 spent a considerable time at Montpellier, where he 
 communicated to the Academy des Sciences of 
 that town an account of his numerous botanical 
 discoveries in the neighbourhood, and was enrolled 
 a member of that society. 
 
 Having conceived the desire of visiting Greece 
 for the purpose of botanical investigation, he passed 
 part of the year 1784 at Gottingen, and afterwards 
 made the tour of Germany. Proceeding to Vienna, 
 he cultivated the friendship of the principal pro- 
 fessors of his favourite science there, studied with
 
 A PLEASANT EXPEDITION. 193 
 
 peculiar care the cc-lebrated manuscript of Dio- 
 scorides, so long preserved in the imperial library, 
 and secured the services of a most excellent 
 draughtsman, Mr F. Bauer, to be the companion of 
 his projected expedition. 
 
 In 1786 they sailed from Naples to Crete, and 
 here, in the month of June, our botanical adven- 
 turers rejoicingly beheld Flora in her gayest attire : 
 " The snowy covering of the Sphaciote mountains 
 was withdrawing, and a tribe of lovely little blos- 
 soms were just peeping through the vale." The 
 ensuing winter was spent by Dr S. at Constan- 
 tinople, and his residence there, and in the neigh- 
 bouring Isle of Karki, proved favourable to his 
 investigation of the fishes and birds of those re- 
 gions, by which he was enabled to throw much 
 light on the writings of ancient naturalists. In 
 the early spring he proceeded to Cyprus, where a 
 sojourn of five weeks enabled him to draw up a 
 Fauna and Flora of that island. The illustration 
 of the writings of Dioscorides in particular was a 
 principal object with him ; the names and reputed 
 virtues of several plants recorded by that ancient 
 writer, and still traditionally retained by the Athe- 
 nian shepherds, served occasionally to elucidate or 
 confirm their identity. The first sketch of the 
 Flora Grceca comprised about 850 plants. " This," 
 said the author, " may be considered as contain-
 
 IX GREECE. 
 
 ing only the plants observed by me in the 
 environs of Athens, on the snowy heights of 
 the Grecian alp Parnassus, the steep precipices of 
 Delphis, the empurpled mountain of Hymettus, 
 the Pentele, the lower hills about the Piraeus, the 
 olive-grounds about Athens, and the fertile plains 
 of Bceotia. My intention was to have travelled by 
 land through Greece ; but the disturbed state of 
 this country, on the eve of a Eussian war, the 
 rebellion of the Bashaws, and the plague at Larissa, 
 rendered my project impracticable." Arrived at 
 Athens, in the month of June our botanist prose- 
 cuted his journeys in various directions and with 
 different success. The ascent of Mount Delphis, 
 in Negropont, in a storm of wind and rain, was one 
 of his most laborious if not perilous adventures ; 
 but his floral harvest was abundant. With regard 
 to scenery, Mount Athos, which he visited a week 
 after, seems to have made most impression on 
 his mind. This spot also greatly enriched his col- 
 lection of rare plants. From thence he proceeded 
 to Thessalonia, Corinth, and Patras, at which last 
 place he embarked on board an English vessel, and, 
 after a tedious and stormy voyage arrived at Bristol 
 in the first week of December 1787. 
 
 On his return to his native land, Dr Sibthorp 
 was everywhere welcomed and admired for his 
 ardour, his talents, and his acquirements. His
 
 A SECOND TOUR TO GREECE. 195 
 
 merits procured him the rank of Regius Professor 
 at Oxford ; he became a Fellow of the Royal So- 
 ciety in 1789, and was among the first members 
 of the Linnaean Society, founded in 1788. Yet, 
 though placed, a few years after his return, in very 
 affluent circumstances, and though his necessary 
 attention to his landed property and to agricul- 
 tural pursuits, of which he was passionately fond, 
 might have been expected in some measure to turn 
 him aside from his botanical labours, he steadily 
 persisted in the pursuit of his chosen object, to 
 which he finally sacrificed life itself. " No name," 
 says his biographer, Sir James Edward Smith, " has 
 a fairer claim to botanical immortality among the 
 martyrs of the science than that of Sibthorp." 
 
 In the month of March 1794 he again set ouf 
 from London, on his second tour to Greece. He 
 travelled to Constantinople in the train of Mr 
 Liston, ambassador to the Porte, and was accom- 
 panied by Francis Borone, a Milanese servant, as a 
 botanical assistant. They reached the Turkish 
 capital in the month of May, where they were 
 joined by Mr Hawkins, a friend of Dr Sibthorp's. 
 Writing to Sir J. E. Smith from Pera, under date 
 August 9, the Doctor says : " I arrived very ill 
 with fever and colic ; but, as soon as my health 
 permitted, I visited the shores of the Bosphorus, 
 the woods of Belgrade, and the sands of Domusderi, 
 
 (362) 13
 
 196 THE " LABIA BARBATA." 
 
 on the Black Sea. I have noticed nearly 800 plants 
 about Byzantium. ... I often go upon the 
 Bosphorus, while the dolphins play around me. 
 Gulls here are so tame that they sit upon the roofs 
 of houses like pigeons. The Procellaria puffinus 
 is constantly flying up and down the canal ; they 
 call them here by the emphatic name of ' souls of 
 the damned.' While 1 was reading in the palace 
 garden the other day, a vulture, Peroiopterus, 
 perched in the tree hanging over my head, and I 
 could not resist, not having the fear of the Egyp- 
 tians before my eyes, shooting it. The summer 
 has been very hot and dry ; there are few insects 
 at present, except scorpions, mosquitoes, bugs, and 
 others, happy accompaniments of this happy cli- 
 mate. The chase of the entomologist was almost 
 over about a month since. I had fine sport. I write 
 in good health and spirits, for yesterday my friend 
 arrived, and to-day my baggage, having run 'per 
 varies casus, et tot discrimina rerum.' Hawkins is 
 in high preservation ; his appearance differs only 
 from having the labia barbata huge moustaches, 
 which he is nursing for a Syrian and Egyptian tour. 
 We are going together into Thessaly, Attica, and 
 the Peleponnesus, and shall winter at Zante." 
 
 In pursuance of this plan, they visited various 
 parts of Asia Minor, and on the 15th October 
 arrived at Athens, from whence Dr Sibthorp wrote
 
 A MELANCHOLY FATE. 197 
 
 again to his friend, communicating the melancholy 
 intelligence of the death of his unfortunate at- 
 tendant, Borone. " He had quite recovered," says 
 the letter, " from an attack of illness, and on the 
 evening of his melancholy fate was unusually gay, 
 singing to a tune that Arakiel, Mr Hawkins' ser- 
 vant, played upon the guitar. Shortly after mid- 
 night we were awakened by the cries of Francesco, 
 who had fallen into the street out of the window 
 of the chamber where he slept. On the servants 
 going down to him, he languishingly groaned to 
 Arakiel, who was the first that reached him, ' Ah, 
 povero Francesco e morto!' and presently after 
 expired. We have every reason to think he was 
 
 walking in his sleep The next day, at 
 
 evening, he was buried at the Church of the Ma- 
 donna, under the shade of a mulberry-tree. The 
 obsequies were performed in a very decent manner 
 by four Greek priests, who chanted over him the 
 
 burial service The archbishop, who a 
 
 few days before had expressed the strongest obliga- 
 tions to the English nation, pitifully sent a papas 
 to demand 50 piastres (about L.12) for his permis- 
 sion to bury him. Yielding to the remonstrances 
 of the consul, he withdrew his preposterous claim, 
 but has since intimated that he would be glad of a 
 present. We mean to send him a Greek Testa- 
 ment, that a metropolitan, who has four suffragans,
 
 198 IX THE MOREA. 
 
 may read a lesson of piety. I most sincerely regret 
 the distressing end of this poor youth. He had 
 escaped from the thieves of Italy and from the in- 
 hospitable climate of Sierra Leone. He had been 
 with me blocked up eight days by pirates at Mont 
 Athos. Poor fellow ! he was then very anxious to 
 hide my money, that we might have something, 
 he saiJ, to return home with." 
 
 This painful event so much affected the spirits 
 of Dr Sibthorp, that he was for some days after 
 incapable of any exertion, even his journal being 
 suspended. The two friends afterwards wintered 
 at Zante, where our botanist was fortunate enough 
 to procure, from an apothecary resident there, an 
 ample and rich herbarium of the plants of the 
 island, with their modern Greek names. The sea- 
 son was sufficiently favourable, in the middle of 
 February 1795, to allow the travellers to proceed 
 to the Morea, of which they made the complete 
 circuit in rather more than two months. Here 
 "the violet and primrose welcomed them in the 
 plains of Arcadia; and the Narcissus tazzetta, which 
 Dr Sibthorp was disposed to think the true poetic 
 Narcissus, decorated in profusion the banks of the 
 Alpheus. The barbarian horde, under whose escort 
 they were obliged to travel, showed sufficient taste 
 to gather nosegays of these sweet flowers. The 
 oaks of the Arcadian mountains presented them
 
 AT HERMIOXE. 199 
 
 with the true mistletoe, Loranthus europceus, which 
 still serves to make birdlime, whilst our misseltoe, 
 Viscus album, in Greece grows only OIL-- the silver 
 fir. Screaming among these ancient oaks was the 
 jay, still called by its ancient name ; and the water- 
 ouzel, flying along the rocky sides of the Alpine 
 rivulets of Arcadia, was regarded as probably the 
 white blackbird, which Aristotle says is peculiar to 
 the neighbourhood of Cyllene." But, amidst these 
 varied floral and ornithological riches, our travellers 
 looked in vain for the beauty of Arcadian shep- 
 herdesses, and listened equally in vain for the pipe 
 of the sylvan swain. Owing to the oppression 
 of the Government, many of these poor people 
 were driven to lead a precarious and predatory life 
 among the mountains. 
 
 At Hermione, now called Castri, in the Argolic 
 peninsula, famous for the purple dye anciently 
 prepared there, they found a vast pile of the shells 
 from which that dye was obtained, and still de- 
 nominated porphyri, the species being the Murex 
 trunculus of Linnaeus. From this place they re- 
 turned by land to Argos, whence they proceeded 
 to complete their tour, and, after various adven- 
 tures, arrived again at Zante on the 29th April. 
 There Dr Sibthorp parted from his faithful com- 
 panion, whom he was destined never to see again. 
 Mr Hawkins returned to Greece while his friend
 
 200 DEATH OF SIBTHORP. 
 
 proceeded to Otranto, which he reached after a 
 long and uncomfortable passage of twenty-four 
 days, during which he suffered so much exposure 
 and illness as to originate that disorder under 
 which, in a few short months, he sank to the grave. 
 Being obliged by the weather to put in at the little 
 island of Fanno, the N.E. wind, as he touchingly 
 said, " nursed his cough and fever." He was con- 
 fined to his bed in a miserable hovel; and after 
 frequent attempts to sail, he was driven back six 
 times by the unfavourable wind. 
 
 In the autumn of 1795 he reached England, and 
 died at Bath on the 8th February 1796, in the 
 thirty-eighth year of his age. This ardent botanist 
 and estimable man deserves to rank among the 
 most illustrious patrons of his favourite science, 
 not only for his labours during life, but for the 
 posthumous benefits he conferred upon it. By his 
 will he gave an estate in Oxfordshire to the Uni- 
 versity of Oxford, for the purpose of publishing his 
 Flora Grceca in ten folio volumes, with 100 coloured 
 plates in each, and an edition of the same work in 
 octavo, without plates. 
 
 The task of editing the work was confided to the 
 illustrious president of the Lirmaean Society, who 
 completed six of the volumes, and the last was 
 published, after his death, by Mr R. Brown.
 
 SEEKING NESTS OF THE ESCULENT SWALLOW
 
 from the Jlbb ipomenech'0 IJiary. 
 
 HE lively pages of the Abbe Domenech's 
 Adventures in Texas and Mexico contain 
 some anecdotes in which the vivacious 
 young priest reminds one of the sallies 
 of that renowned traveller and naturalist, Mr 
 Waterton : for example, his picture of A Croco- 
 dile Hunt, which it is impossible to read without 
 catching some of the spirit of adventure which it 
 breathes. 
 
 Being reduced to very short fare, at one period 
 of the mission, he says : " That we might enjoy 
 the luxury of a little fresh meat from time to time, 
 we fattened cats, which I subsequently metamor- 
 phosed into most delicious fricassees. The chase, 
 too, was made to contribute to the maintenance of 
 our table. Whenever there were any pieces of 
 small money in our round snuff-box, which was- 
 our iron-safe, and which in that capacity received
 
 202 SHOOTING WILD TURKEY. 
 
 all presents of our parishioners, I laid out a portion 
 of it in the purchase of powder and shot to be em- 
 ployed in shooting wood-quests and squirrels. One 
 Thursday, when our treasure amounted to ten sous, 
 and the children had a holiday, I provided myself 
 with ammunition, and started in company with 
 Charles, a young French gentleman and a keen 
 sportsman, to shoot wild turkeys on the picturesque 
 banks of the Medina. After beating the copses 
 and brushwood to the utter destruction of our 
 clothes and hands, we failed to start a single bird. 
 Seeing this, my companion directed his attention 
 to coveys of partridges which whizzed past us at 
 every step, while I continued my way along the 
 river's edge picking my steps with great caution, 
 lest I should tread on rattlesnakes or congos, 
 hideous black serpents, extremely dangerous, which 
 abound in the neighbourhood of watercourses. I 
 arrived at length at a bend of the river where the 
 water calmly reposed under the shadow of enor- 
 mous fig trees. Athwart the foliage, the sun's rays 
 gilded the parti-coloured water lilies which formed 
 the framework of this sparkling mirror. The chase 
 was soon forgotten, and whilst I stood admiring 
 this lovely spot, the leaves of the water lilies were 
 agitated, and I observed them disappear, and form, 
 as it were, a pathway under the water. It at once 
 occurred to me that some large fish was taking his
 
 SHOOTING A CROCODILE
 
 A CROCODILE HUNT. 203 
 
 promenade through this delicious aquatic garden, 
 when suddenly I recognised the bony, dark brown 
 back of a crocodile. Immediately I resolved on 
 killing this creature, with a view to increase our 
 stock of provisions. Being provided with small 
 shot only, I charged the gun heavily with it, in the 
 earnest hope that the animal would turn the side 
 of his head towards me. I raised the gun to my 
 shoulder and stood ready to fire. But, whether it 
 were ill luck, or that the crocodile suspected danger, 
 so it was that he only exposed the front of his 
 head. At length, however, he made the desired 
 move: I fired, and he disappeared under water. 
 Have I missed him ? No. Something comes up 
 to the surface. I leaped for joy on perceiving that 
 it was the crocodile's belly. In truth I was very 
 proud. This animal is so hideous that I had no 
 pity for him. I called aloud for my companion, 
 who, fearing some accident had occurred, ran to 
 me with all haste, and fully shared my delight at 
 the sight of this enormous piece of game, which 
 floated like a mass of wood on the surface of the 
 water. Still our task was only half done ; it re- 
 mained to secure the prize. The river, on issuing 
 from the basin, became very narrow and rapid : our 
 enormous prey floated down with the current, very 
 slowly, to be sure, but, should it once reach this 
 narrow spot, it was entirely lost to us. The basin
 
 204 DRAWING HIM ASHORE. 
 
 was very deep and we durst not venture in, as 
 neither of us could swim. Quite undecided as to 
 how we should manage, and filled with disagreeable 
 misgivings, we followed the motion of the crocodile 
 with anxious minds. Fortunately a piece of tree 
 which floated down before it arrived crosswise, 
 stopped, and arrested the progress of the animal. 
 Time was thus afforded to consider what was best 
 to be done. 
 
 " We proceeded to cut a long thick liane, which 
 was to be our harpoon, and having advanced into 
 the water up to the waist, I cast it over the croco- 
 dile's back (which was now again uppermost), and 
 by this means we drew him to the bank. All at 
 once his tail commenced lashing our legs ! Off we 
 set at the top of our speed, uttering cries of horror 
 the while. We fancied that those jaws of eighteen 
 inches, and armed with sixty-seven long sharp 
 teeth, were at our heels. At length we stopped. 
 ' Sure as a gun,' said I, 'he is dangerously 
 wounded ; and these movements of his tail are 
 either the last convulsions of life, or merely the 
 agitation of the water, which we set in motion. 
 This tail, too, was a matter of serious reflection to 
 me. Report said it was excellent for culinary pur- 
 poses ; it would serve therefore to save, in a very 
 satisfactory way, our stock of dried and smoked 
 meat. Having recharged my rifle we returned,
 
 DEAD AT LAST. 205 
 
 but the crocodile had not moved. I fired point- 
 blank into his eye and under the shoulder, not 
 indeed without trembling a little. He was dead 
 at last ; there could be no doubt of it now. In 
 length he measured ten feet, and in circumference 
 round the middle four feet. We abandoned him 
 for the moment, half sunk in water and mud, with 
 his belly turned up to the sun, and off we started 
 for Castroville to procure assistance and announce 
 our exploit. Although crocodiles are not rare in 
 the Medina, they are very seldom killed ; the news 
 created quite a sensation in town, and a waggon 
 set out without delay, accompanied by as gay and 
 uproarious a procession as one can well imagine. 
 The distance was six miles ; and, though killed in 
 the morning, it did not reach our garden until the 
 evening. . . . The cooking of it was a real 
 fete. It is only the fleshy portions of the tail that 
 are eaten. We distributed it liberally. The flesh 
 did not strike me as well flavoured ; it was but 
 too evident that the animal had lain in the mud 
 during the hottest part of the day. There also 
 emanated from it a powerful odour of musk, which 
 destroyed our appetites, and remained in our clothes 
 for more than a week afterwards." 
 
 Here is the Abbe's portrait of An Enthusiastic 
 Naturalist. . . . " He was an old German 
 priest, who officiated in Braunfels and the neigh-
 
 20G AX ENTHUSIASTIC NATURALIST. 
 
 bouring colonies at that time. Although almost 
 blind, he took it into his head to travel on foot 
 from Braunfels to Fredericksburg for the purpose 
 of collecting scientific curiosities along the way. 
 He started one fine morning, his only baggage 
 being a double pair of spectacles stuck on his nose, 
 a tin box slung from his shoulders, and some pro- 
 visions. The first day of his journey his box was 
 filled with rare plants, and his pockets crammed 
 with mineralogical specimens, while his hat was 
 covered with insects, fastened to it with pins. As 
 he had killed a great many serpents of large size, 
 he knotted them together, and coiled them round 
 his body. The next day, again, he killed a rattle- 
 snake, seven or eight feet in length, which he also 
 wound round his body, and which served him as a 
 belt. On he went in this most grotesque attire, 
 never for a moment thinking of the picturesque 
 and startling effect he must produce on the minds 
 of those who should meet him. Never relaxing in 
 his search for some new object to add to his varie- 
 gated accoutrements, and keeping his eyes con- 
 tinually on the ground, he was near marching into 
 the midst of a body of Comanches, who were deer- 
 hunting at the time. This walking collection of 
 plants, insects, and reptiles, which advanced majes- 
 tically towards them, so terrified them that they 
 fled panic-stricken as from a supernatural appa-
 
 MOST GROTESQUE ATTIRE. 207 
 
 rition. The third day our friend had consumed all 
 his provisions, and finding only a little fruit in the 
 woods, was beginning to feel the cravings of hun- 
 ger, when he descried columns of smoke proceed- 
 ing from a clearing. He at once turned his steps 
 in that direction. Some redskins had pitched 
 their camp on the spot, but, at the sight of this 
 strange pedestrian, they began to yell, and prepared 
 at once for flight. The worthy man employed the 
 most significant signs for arresting their flight and 
 tranquillising their fears, and succeeded in the end 
 in making them understand he was dying of 
 hunger. The Indians, not daring to offend the 
 unknown divinity, tremblingly placed before him 
 coffee, maize, and some mule's flesh, which he ate 
 with great avidity, and like a starved mortal. 
 His meal gave him strength enough to reach 
 Fredericksburg, which he did on the third day 
 v.-ithout accident." 
 
 The Abbe himself seems, among his various ac- 
 complishments, to have dabbled in natural history ; 
 and he tells us that a collection of minerals and 
 curious animals constituted his principal riches. 
 In this repertory might be seen a centipede 11 
 inches long, and a caterpillar 13 inches in length 
 and 2 in circumference. As for serpents, he had 
 them of all sizes and of every variety ! " Selection 
 was easy, as they were everywhere underfoot, and
 
 208 A GREAT ACQUISITION*. 
 
 people walked upon them and crushed them with- 
 out paying any attention to the fact. The business 
 of destroying them was left to the pigs, the cats, 
 and even the fowls. They fell resolutely on the 
 head of the reptile and devoured it, without feeling 
 any evil result." 
 
 At Quihi, a tiger-hunter killed a rattlesnake, 
 which he had mistaken for a dead tree. It mea- 
 sured 17 feet in length, 18 inches in circumference, 
 and was furnished with twenty-five rings or rattles. 
 One day the Abbe's companion went to the barn 
 for some maize and took up a serpent in his hand, 
 mistaking it for a blade of corn ; another day a 
 cobra de capello glided into the school-room, and 
 was on the point of biting one of the children, 
 when it was killed by the priest with a blow of a 
 stick. A horse they possessed was one evening 
 missing, and they set out to search for him. Night 
 was coming on apace, and, after a long hunt, the 
 animal was still non est inventus. " All at once," 
 the Abbe says, " I perceived at my feet, and gliding 
 from under the grass where he had lain concealed, 
 a rattlesnake of about two yards in length. I was 
 about to take to my heels, when I bethought me 
 that this serpent captured alive would be a great 
 acquisition to my collection of reptiles, or, other- 
 wise, his skin would make a grand pair of slippers 
 for my mother. Quick as thought I rushed upon
 
 BRINGING IT HOME. 209 
 
 him and knocked him senseless with a large clod 
 of earth ; I then tied a cord tightly round his neck, 
 and the horse being meantime found, we retraced 
 our steps to the town, my companion with the 
 horse and I with the rattlesnake, which began by 
 degrees to recover his strength in a most alarming 
 manner, making the air resound with the noise of 
 his rattles, and dragging my arms about by his 
 strong and rapid writhings. I durst not let go my 
 hold for fear of being bitten ; the efforts, therefore, 
 which I made to retain him, together with, the 
 alarm, threw me into a state of great agitation. 
 However, I arrived safely at last, and tied the ser- 
 pent to a bench, keeping down his head with my 
 foot during the operation. Next day we were 
 three at dinner ; our bill of fare included no more 
 than three eggs. What was to be done ? I pro- 
 posed that we should cook the serpent : my col- 
 league approved the idea, remarking, ' that if the 
 flesh be good we shall in future have wherewith 
 to satisfy our appetites, nay, even to exceed the 
 bounds of moderation, should we be so inclined !' 
 
 " Accordingly, I summoned to my aid all the 
 culinary skill I possessed to dress the serpent, 
 and in a very short time it appeared on the table 
 stripped of its skin, minus the head and tail, cut 
 into small pieces, gritted and well spiced with 
 cayenne pepper. The new dish seemed palatable
 
 210 THE CLERK AND THE SERPENT. 
 
 enough, tasting somewhat of frogs and tortoise, 
 but our natural repugnance to it was unconquer- 
 able ; the idea of eating a serpent shocked our 
 stomachs too much !" 
 
 On one occasion, during the service of the mass, 
 the old sacristan, who had been a schoolmaster in 
 his time, acted as clerk ; he was a little old man, 
 wearing enormous spectacles, which prevented him 
 from seeing. All at once, as he was moving the 
 book from one side of the altar to the other, he 
 felt something creep up between his legs, and look- 
 ing down saw a snake. It was a royal serpent, 
 a harmless reptile of great beauty, which had its 
 nest under the altar. As soon as the poor sacris- 
 tan perceived it, he commenced screaming at the 
 top of his voice, and dancing about from side to 
 side, all the while pommelling the unlucky serpent 
 with the missal ; at length he succeeded in making 
 it relax its hold, when it darted for safety into its 
 nest beneath the altar. 
 
 In the course of his travels M. the Abbe occa- 
 sionally gleaned curious facts relative to the natural 
 phenomena he observed. For example : On one 
 of his excursions he came upon a crevasse one of 
 those openings which the Mississippi and its tribu- 
 taries effect in their embankments, and through 
 which their waters rush and devastate the plain. 
 Thousands of negroes were at work up to the waist
 
 HOW ARE THE OKEVASSES MADE? 211 
 
 in mud, striving to stop up the crevasse with fas- 
 cines, branches of trees, and a kind of hemp, made 
 of a parasite plant, called barbe d'Espagnol, which 
 hangs pendant from the trees in long tendrils. 
 This plant destroys the trees to which it clings, by 
 absorbing all their sap. When dried, the natives 
 use it for stuffing mattresses. A little further on, 
 crossing the Mississippi again, our traveller came 
 upon another very broad crevasse. " These crevasses 
 (he says) form, in many instances, deep and 
 dangerous marshes. Will it be believed that the 
 one of which I am speaking was attributed to 
 crabs? No doubt crabs are in myriads in this 
 spot ; still, comparing the cause with the effect, 
 the mystery seems inexplicable. The explanation 
 given me by a young Creole, who was with me at 
 the time, was this : the crabs make tubular holes 
 in the earth, which, when prolonged, pierce the 
 embankment. Through the hole thus formed a 
 small quantity of water issues, which the pressure 
 of the river increases at every instant. Should 
 two of the holes be in juxtaposition, the water by 
 degrees wears away the earth between them, and 
 in a short time throws them both into one ; 
 and the volume of water being thus increased, en- 
 larges its narrow channel, rushes into other crab- 
 holes, until at length the bank is completely de- 
 stroyed, and out rushes a river which inundates the 
 
 -.SM. 14
 
 A HONEY AXT. 
 
 plain. During the day negroes are employed in 
 destroying the nests of crabs, and hence these 
 occurrences begin ordinarily during the night. 
 But the crevasse in question was so broad and 
 deep, that they were obliged to wait for the waters 
 to diminish before they could repair it. We could 
 not cross it on horseback, so we had recourse to a 
 boat." 
 
 At another time, when at Matamoros, an Ameri- 
 can named Langstroth showed him, in a glass 
 vessel, some small vesicles, about the size and shape 
 of a raisin-grape, which he said were the produc- 
 tions of a honey ant ; he was told that, in the state 
 of Tomaulipos, in a valley little known, there were 
 found ants of enormous size, which make honey 
 sweeter even than that of the wild bee ; they con- 
 tinue half buried in the earth, while others of the 
 same family feed them during the time they make 
 the honey. This honey is formed in a vesicle ad- 
 hering to the ant ; and when the vesicle is full, the 
 insect dies. The honey the Abbe saw in the 
 vesicles shown him was of the colour and trans- 
 parence of a beautiful topaz of Brazil. The ant is 
 said to resemble the ordinary ant. He inquired 
 in vain for further details, but the existence of the 
 insect was so little known that he could never suc- 
 ceed in learning more about it. 
 
 Before taking leave of this animated and enter-
 
 -NIGHT IN A TROPICAL CLIME. 213 
 
 taining writer, I will add two pleasant pictures he 
 has drawn of the beauties of the night and the 
 morning dawn in this tropical clime : " I could 
 not sleep. Over my head I saw glittering those 
 myriads of stars that I so often gazed upon with 
 admiration during my peregrinations. Among the 
 constellations I looked out for the shepherd, which 
 in my boyhood in France I loved so to gaze upon, 
 when nature, shrouded in the mysterious veil of 
 twilight, had only this solitary star twinkling over- 
 head to light its track. The palm branches beneath 
 which I lay gently vibrated in the air ; the tem- 
 perate breeze, breathing gently as it came, em- 
 balmed by the sweet odours of the woodland flowers, 
 carolled in the distance, while it imparted to the 
 sycamore leaves a voice of song strange and full 
 of harmony, resembling the melancholy sighs of 
 many JEolian harps. I breathed these evening 
 perfumes with the utmost delight, and listened 
 attentively to the languishing murmurs of leaf and 
 breeze, cut short at intervals by the plaintive cry 
 of the widow-bird, as she hopped from tree to tree. 
 At length I fell asleep, wrapt in golden dreams." 
 
 Here is the day-dawn : " Its first faint colouring 
 put to flight my slumbers. A penetrating odour 
 filled the wood ; the vanilla, the pachuli, the jessa- 
 mine, the ebony-tree, and thousands of wild vines 
 saturated the morning breeze with delicious per-
 
 214 A PICTURE OF DAWN. 
 
 fumes. The blustering voice of the cardinal, the 
 languishing coo of the turtle, the sad, sweet, moan 
 of the blue bird, the song of the bird of paradise 
 and the mocker, formed a charming medley of 
 clear and plaintive notes. A light dew had strewn 
 on the leaves of the trees and plants a thousand 
 liquid pearls, which refracted the pure bright ray 
 into its prismatic colours. These perfumes, this 
 gentle air, these sweet songs, and these brilliant 
 hues, did indeed make me happy. This fresh 
 awakening of nature conveyed to my soul a feeling 
 of undefined bliss, a vague happiness, which ex- 
 ceeded all the joys of earth, while it raised my 
 thoughts towards heaven."
 
 itt Jftaime llcib anb the (Quicksanb. 
 
 ANY romantic stories have been told by 
 travellers of tbe sagacity, attachment, and 
 instinct displayed by their favourite 
 steeds ; but none, perhaps, has surpassed 
 one related by Captain Mayne Keid. 
 
 That adventurous traveller was journeying in 
 Mexico, on his way to Santa Fe : he had pushed 
 forward with a small party ahead of the caravan 
 by which they were accompanied, desirous to reach 
 the capital a few days in advance of the waggons. 
 The route they took lay, for a hundred miles or so. 
 through a barren desert, without game and almost 
 without water. The buffalo had all disappeared, 
 and deer were equally scarce. They were obliged 
 to content themselves with the dried meat which 
 they had brought with them, now and then looking 
 wistfully after a stray antelope which bounded 
 away from them, keeping far out of range. On 
 the third day after leaving the caravan, the Captain
 
 216 AN ANTELOPE CHASE. 
 
 thought he saw a pronged head disappearing be- 
 hind a swell in the prairie. His companions were 
 sceptical, and none of them would go with him in 
 chase. He therefore, wheeling out of trail, started 
 alone, leaving his dog in charge of a comrade, lest 
 he should alarm the antelopes. The horse was 
 fresh and willing, and his master knew that, 
 whether successful or no, he would easily be able 
 to overtake the party by camping-time. 
 
 He struck directly toward the spot where he had 
 seen the object of his pursuit. He supposed it to 
 he about half a mile or so from the trail ; it proved 
 more distant a common illusion in the crystal at- 
 mosphere of those upland regions. A curiously 
 formed ridge traversed the plain from east to west, 
 a thicket of cactus covering part of its summit. To- 
 wards this thicket his course was bent, and, arrived 
 at the slope, he dismounted, and leading his horse 
 silently up among the cactus plants, tied him to 
 one of their branches. He then cautiously 'crept 
 toward the spot where he fancied he had seen the 
 game. Nor was he mistaken ; not one antelope, 
 but a brace of those beautiful animals was quietly 
 grazing beyond ; but, alas ! too far off for the carry 
 of a rifle. They were fully 300 yards distant, 
 upon a smooth, grassy slope. There was not even 
 a sage bush near to form a cover. What was to 
 be done ?
 
 WITHIN RANGE. 217 
 
 After turning over in his mind several alter- 
 natives, the Captain was still undecided, when, all 
 at once, his eye rested upon a clay-coloured line 
 running across the prairie where the animals were 
 feeding. It was a break in the plain, a buffalo 
 road, or the channel of a water-course ; in either 
 case the very cover that was wanted, for the ante- 
 lopes were not a hundred yards from it, and were 
 approaching towards it as they fed. 
 
 Creeping back out of the thicket, the eager 
 huntsman now ran along the side of the slope to- 
 ward a point where he had noticed the ridge was 
 depressed to the prairie level. Here, to his sur- 
 prise, he found himself on the banks of a broad 
 streamlet, whose water, clear and shallow, ran 
 slowly over a bed of sand and gypsum. The banks 
 were low, not more than three feet above the sur- 
 face of the water, except where the ridge advanced 
 over the stream. Here there was a high bluff, and 
 hurrying round its base he entered the channel, 
 and commenced wading upward. As he anticipated, 
 he soon came to a bend, where the stream, after run- 
 ning parallel to the ridge, swept round and passed 
 through it. At this place he stopped, and peeped 
 cautiously over the bank. The antelopes had ap- 
 proached within less than rifle reach of the stream, 
 but they were still far above the position he had 
 gained, and again bending down he waded on.
 
 218 A PAINFUL SCENE. 
 
 It was no easy task ; the bed of the creek was 
 soft and yielding, and he was compelled to tread 
 slowly and silently lest he should alarm the game, 
 but he was cheered in his exertions by the prospect 
 of fresh venison for supper. After a weary drag of 
 several hundred yards, he came opposite to a small 
 clump of wormwood-bushes growing out of the 
 bank. " I may be high enough," he thought ; 
 " these will serve for cover." 
 
 Raising his body gradually, he looked through 
 the leaves. He was in the right spot ; and bring- 
 ing his rifle to a level he fired at the buck. The 
 animal sprang from the ground and fell back life- 
 less. The Captain was about to rush forward and 
 secure the prize, when he observed the doe, instead 
 of running off, as he had expected, go up to her 
 fallen partner and press her tapering nose to his 
 body. She was near enough for him plainly to see 
 that her look was one of bewilderment and inquiry. 
 All at once she seemed to comprehend the fatal 
 truth, and, throwing back her head, commenced 
 uttering the most piteous cries, at the same time 
 running in circles around the body. 
 
 The sight was too much for the compassionate 
 feelings of Captain Reid. " Had I dreamed," he 
 says, " of witnessing this painful spectacle I should 
 not have left the trail. But the mischief was now 
 done. ' I have worse than killed her,' I thought
 
 A TERRIBLE SITUATION*. 219 
 
 'it will be better to despatch her at once;' and, 
 with a faltering hand, I again levelled the piece 
 and fired. My nerves were steady enough to do 
 the work. When the smoke floated aside I could 
 see the little creature bleeding upon the grass, her 
 head resting upon the body of her murdered mate." 
 
 Shouldering his rifle, he was about to move for- 
 ward, when, to his amazement, he found himself 
 caught by the feet ; held firmly, as if his legs had 
 been in a vice. He made an effort to extricate 
 himself ; another, more violent and equally unsuc- 
 cessful, and, with a third, lost his balance and fell 
 back upon the water. Half suffocated, he regained 
 his upright position, but only to find that he was 
 held as fast as ever. Again he struggled to free 
 his limbs. He could neither move them backward 
 nor forward, to the right nor the left, and he be- 
 came sensible that he was gradually going down. 
 The fearful truth flashed upon him he was sink- 
 ing in a quicksand ! A feeling of horror came over 
 the hapless prisoner, as, with a feeling of despe- 
 ration, he renewed his efforts, leaning to one side, 
 then to the other, almost wrenching his knees from 
 their sockets. His feet, despite all, remained as 
 fast as ever. He could not move an inch ! 
 
 He has thus thrillingly narrated the issue. 
 " The soft, clingy sand already overtopped my 
 horse-skin boots, wedging them around my ancles
 
 220 STILL SINKING. 
 
 so that I was unable to draw them off, and I could 
 feel that I was still sinking slowly but surely, as 
 though some subterraneous monster was leisurely 
 dragging me down. This very thought caused me 
 a thrill of horror, and I called aloud for help. To 
 whom ? There was no one within miles of me no 
 living thing. Yes ! the neigh of my horse an- 
 swered me from the hill, mocking me in my 
 despair. 
 
 " I bent forward as well as my constrained position 
 would admit, and, with frenzied fingers, commencd 
 tearing up the sand. I could barely reach the sur- 
 face, and the little hollow I was able to make filled 
 up almost as soon as it had been formed. A thought 
 occurred to me. My rifle might support me, placed 
 horizontally. I looked for it. It was not to be 
 seen ; it had sunk beneath the sand. Could I throw 
 my body flat, and prevent myself from sinking 
 deeper ? No ; the water was two feet in depth, and 
 I should drown at once I This last hope left me as 
 soon as formed. I could think of no plan to save 
 myself ; I could make no further effort. A strange 
 stupor seized upon me. My very thoughts became 
 paralyzed. For a moment I was mad. 
 
 " After an interval my senses returned. I made an 
 effort to rouse my mind from its paralysis, in order 
 that I might meet death, which I now believed 
 to be inevitable, as a man should. I raised myself.
 
 THE LAST SIGHT OF EARTH. 221 
 
 My eyes had sunk to the prairie level, and rested 
 upon the still bleeding victims of my cruelty. My 
 heart smote me at the sight. Raising my eyes to 
 heaven, I gazed upward with earnestness known 
 only to the hearts of men in positions of peril like 
 mine. As I continued to look up, an object attracted 
 my attention. Against the sky I distinguished the 
 outline of a large bird. I knew it to be the obscene 
 bird of the plains, the buzzard- vulture. Whence had 
 it come ? Who knows ? Far beyond the reach of 
 human eye, it had seen or scented the slaughtered 
 antelopes, and on broad, silent wing was now de- 
 scending to the feast of death. Presently another, 
 and another, and many others, mottled the blue 
 field of the heavens, curving and wheeling silently 
 earthward. Then the foremost swooped down upon 
 the bank, and, after gazing round for a moment, 
 napped off toward its prey. In a few seconds the 
 prairie was black with filthy birds, who clambered 
 over the dead antelopes, and beat their wings 
 against each other, while they tore out the eyes of 
 the quarry with their foetid beaks. . . 
 
 " I was soon relieved from the sight. My eyes 
 had sunk below the level of the bank. I had 
 looked my last on the fair green earth ! I could 
 now see only the clayey wall that contained the 
 river and the water, that ran, unheeding, past me. 
 Once more I fixed my gaze upon the sky, and, with
 
 FRUITLESS STRUGGLES. 
 
 prayerful heart, endeavoured to resign myself to 
 my fate. But, in spite of my endeavours to be 
 calm, the memories of earthly pleasures, and friends 
 and home, came over me, causing me at intervals 
 to break into wild paroxysms, and make fresh 
 though fruitless struggles. Again I was attracted 
 by the neighing of my horse. At the sound, a 
 thought entered my mind, filling me with fresh 
 hope. ' Perhaps my horse' I lost not a moment. 
 I raised my voice to its highest pitch, and called 
 the animal by name. I knew that he would come 
 at my call. I had tied him but slightly ; the cactus 
 limb would snap off. Again I called, repeating 
 words that were well known to him. I listened 
 with a bounding heart. For a moment there was 
 silence, then I heard the quick sounds of his hoof, 
 as though the animal was rearing and struggling 
 to free himself; then I could distinguish the stroke 
 of his heels in a measured and regular gallop. 
 Nearer came the sounds, nearer and clearer, till the 
 gallant brute bounded out on the bank above me. 
 There he halted, and, flinging back his tossed 
 mane, uttered a shrill neigh. He was bewildered, 
 and looked upon every side, snorting loudly. I 
 knew that, having once seen me, he would not stop 
 until he had pressed his nose against my cheek ; 
 for this was his usual custom. Holding out my 
 hands, I again uttered the magic words. Now,
 
 A STRANGE DELIVERANCE. 223 
 
 looking downward, he perceived me, and, stretching 
 himself, sprang out into the channel. The next 
 moment I held him by the bridle. There was no 
 time to be lost ; I was still going down, and my 
 arm-pits were fast nearing the surface of the quick- 
 sand. I caught the lariat, and, passing it under 
 the saddle-girths, fastened it in a knot, tight and 
 firm. I then looped the trailing end, making it 
 secure around my body. I had left enough of the 
 rope between the bit-ring and the girths to enable 
 me to check and guide the animal, in case the drag 
 upon my body should be too painful. 
 
 "All this while the dumb brute seemed to compre- 
 hend what I was about. He knew, too, the nature 
 of the ground on which he stood ; for, during the 
 operation, he kept lifting his feet alternately, to 
 prevent himself from sinking. My arrangements 
 were at length completed, and, with a feeling of 
 terrible anxiety, I gave my horse the signal to 
 move forward. Instead of going off with a start, 
 the intelligent creature stepped away slowly, as 
 though he understood my situation. The lariat 
 tightened ; I felt my body moving, and the next 
 moment experienced a wild delight, a feeling I 
 cannot describe, as I found myself dragged out of 
 the sand. I sprang to my feet with a shout of joy. 
 I rushed up to my steed, and throwing my arms 
 around his neck, embraced him with delight, lie
 
 224 A HEKO. 
 
 answered my caress with a low whimper, which 
 told me that I was understood. I looked for my 
 rifle. Fortunately it had not sunk deep, and I soon 
 found it. My hoots were left behind, but I stayed 
 not to look for them, being smitten with a dread 
 of the place in which I had left them. I was not 
 long in retreating from the banks ; and mounting, 
 I galloped back to the trail. It was sunset before 
 I reached the camp, where I was met by the 
 inquiries of my companions, to whom I related my 
 adventure ; and for that night I was the hero of 
 our camp-fire."
 
 of 
 
 IN AN ALPINE PASS. 
 
 " Meek dwellers 'mid yon terror-stricken cliffs, 
 With brows so pure, and incense-breathing lips, 
 Whence came ye ? Did some white-winged messenger, 
 On mercy's missions, trust your timid germs 
 To the cold cradle of eternal snows; 
 Or, breathing on the callous icicles, 
 Bid them with teardrops nurse ye? 
 
 Man, who, panting, toils 
 
 O'er slippery steeps, or, trembling, treads the verge 
 Of yawning gulfs, o'er which the headlong plunge 
 Into eternity, looks shuddering up, 
 And marks ye, in your placid loveliness ; 
 Fearless, yet frail, and clasping his chill hands, 
 Blesses your pencilled beauty." 
 
 T might have been supposed these elegant 
 stanzas of Mrs Sigourney's, on " Alpine 
 Flowers" had been written to comme- 
 morate the striking adventure of " The 
 Mauvais Pas," as recorded by Bishop Stanley, who 
 published it nearly thirty years ago in Blackwood's 
 Magazine. Probably not many of my readers have 
 read his romantic narrative, which affords some 
 admirable illustrations of the courageous spirit and
 
 A DREARY SCENE. 
 
 descriptive powers of the writer, and contains a 
 beautiful incident, evincing his ardent love of 
 flowers. What student of natural history among 
 us that does not feel he owes a debt of gratitude 
 to the author of that charming book, " A Familiar 
 History of Birds" one of the most attractive and 
 entertaining works on ornithology we possess ? I 
 am persuaded that all who have delighted them- 
 selves over its pages will read with interest this 
 narrative of his personal adventures. 
 
 It was in the year 1818 that the Bishop (then 
 Mr Stanley) arrived in the village of Martigny, a 
 few days after that memorable catastrophe when, 
 by the bursting of its icy mounds, the extensive 
 lake of Mauvoisin was in an instant let loose, 
 pouring forth six hundred millions of cubic feet 
 of water over the peaceful and fruitful valley of 
 the Drance, with the irresistible velocity of sixteen 
 miles an hour, and carrying before its overwhelm- 
 ing torrent every vestige of civilised life which 
 stood within its impetuous reach. The whole vil- 
 lage and its environs exhibited a dreary scene of 
 death and desolation ; and the traveller found it 
 impossible to contemplate the effects consequent 
 upon so awful a visitation without a corresponding 
 excitement of strong curiosity to follow the devas- 
 tation to its source, and learn from personal inspec- 
 tion the mode in which Nature had carried on and
 
 A FATIGUING EXCURSION. I'l i 
 
 completed her dreadful operations. Accordingly, 
 having ascertained that, although the regular 
 roads, bridgeways, and pathways were carried 
 away, a circuitous course over the mountains was 
 practicable to the very foot of the glaciers of Mont 
 Pleureur, which impended over the mouth of the 
 Lac de Getroz, he determined to make the attempt. 
 During the first day's journey nothing of particular 
 importance occurred. The early dawn of the 
 second morning found our traveller, accompanied 
 by two guides mounted on horseback, and prepared 
 for an excursion, which, under the most favourable 
 circumstances, must be long and fatiguing. For 
 the first three or four hours the road lay sometimes 
 along plains, sometimes along heights, presenting a 
 succession of striking objects among the wildest im- 
 aginable exhibitions of mountain scenery. At length 
 the party descended into a valley of considerable 
 extent, affording a flat platform of what fiad once 
 been meadow land, but was then a wide plain, 
 on whose surface, in every direction, were scattered 
 in wild confusion, rocks and stones, and uprooted 
 trees of all dimensions, deposited by the torrent, 
 which had returned to its original channel, through 
 which it was roaring over a bed of broken granite, 
 forming a sort of loose and coarse shingle. This 
 valley, though unconfined towards the west, was 
 apparently closed in towards the east, immediately 
 ] 15
 
 228 A DANGEROUS ROUTE. 
 
 in their route, by a stupendous barrier of precipi- 
 tous rock, as if a mountain, impending over the 
 river on the right, had shot forth one of its mighty 
 arms, for the purpose of arresting the waters in 
 their progress. On drawing nearer, however, a 
 fissure, extending from the summit to the base, 
 through the very heart of the rock, was perceptible, 
 through which the river rushed in a more confined 
 channel. It was evident that, unless they could 
 pass' onwards through this fissure, there was no 
 alternative but to return. As they approached, 
 the guides evinced considerable anxiety, casting 
 anxious looks at certain blocks of stone embedded 
 in small pools detached from the main current of 
 the stream. 
 
 " The waters are higher than they were yester- 
 day," said one. 
 
 " And are rising at this moment," replied his 
 comrade,*\vho was carefully watching the smooth 
 side of one of the detached blocks, half-filling the 
 calm and unruffled surface of one these diminutive 
 lakes. And again, with scrutinising eyes, they 
 looked towards the fissure. 
 
 " Shall we be able to stem the torrent in yonder 
 spot ?" asked the traveller. 
 
 " We hope so," they hastily answered ; " but not 
 a moment must be lost." And suiting the action 
 to the word, their horses were spurred on at full
 
 A MAGNIFICENT SCENE. 
 
 trot, the eyes of the guides being intently fixed on 
 something evidently in or near the river. One of 
 the men now asked Mr Stanley if he saw a dark 
 speck at the foot of the left-hand precipice ; and 
 being answered in the affirmative, 
 
 " Monsieur," said he, " the waters are rising 
 rapidly by the increased melting of the snows; and 
 if that dark stone is covered when we reach the 
 fissure, our passage through the torrent will be 
 hazardous, if not impracticable." 
 
 From that instant the fragment was eagerly 
 watched ; but instead of becoming more marked 
 and visible as it was more nearly approached, it 
 diminished in size, and, notwithstanding every 
 effort to urge on the horses, it soon dwindled to a 
 speck, and was almost immediately after entirely 
 lost under the ripple of white foam which broke 
 over its highest point. 
 
 " It is all over," exclaimed the guides ; and they 
 reined in their panting horses. Alighting from 
 his animal, Mr Stanley proceeded, in despair, to 
 attempt securing, in a sketch, a reminiscence of 
 the magnificent scene before him. 
 
 While thus engaged, he observed the two men 
 in earnest conversation, walking to arid fro, now 
 looking back on the road they had travelled, and 
 then casting their eyes towards the right ; the 
 only words he could distinctly hear for they were
 
 230 ANOTHER WAY. 
 
 more than once repeated being, " Mais il faut 
 avoir bonne tete ; a-t-il bonne tete ?" 
 
 At length one of them addressed him : " Mon- 
 sieur, il y a un autre chemin, mais c'est dangereux ; 
 c'est un mauvaispas !" On being questioned as to 
 the nature of this mauvais pas, the guide gave no 
 distinct information. It was neither steep nor 
 fatiguing ; but it required une bonne tete, car, si 
 on glisse, on est perdu!" 
 
 This winding up was neither encouraging nor 
 satisfactory ; but having so repeatedly heard the 
 danger of these mountain passes exaggerated, the 
 courageous traveller expressed his readiness to try 
 this path, if they had made up their minds to guide 
 him. To this they consented, and preparations 
 were instantly made ; " for," added they, " the day 
 is waning, and you will find there is much to be 
 done." 
 
 From this point of the adventure Mr Stanley's 
 account shall be given in his own words. " During 
 the ride I endeavoured to pick up farther particulars 
 respecting the winding up of our enterprise ; but 
 all I could learn was, that in consequence of the 
 suspension of all communication in the valleys 
 below, by the destruction of the roads and bridges, 
 a chamois-hunter had, since the catastrophe, passed 
 over this path, but that it had never before been 
 used as a regular communication, and certainly
 
 THE " MAUVAIS PAS." 231 
 
 never would again, as none, but from sheer neces- 
 sity, would ever think of taking advantage of it. 
 In the course of rather more than an hour's sharp 
 ascent we attained a more level surface in the 
 bosom of a thick forest of pine and underwood, 
 fronted, as far as I could guess, from occasional 
 glimpses through gaps and intervals, by a gray dull 
 curtain of bare rock. 
 
 " ' We are approaching the mauvais pas,' said 
 one of the guides. 
 
 '" Is it as rough as this ?' said I, floundering, as 
 I was, through hollows of loose stones and bushes. 
 
 " ' Oh no ; it is as smooth as a floor,' was the reply. 
 
 " ' In a few minutes we shall be on the pas,' said 
 the other, as we began to descend on the eastern 
 declivity of the ridge we had been mounting for 
 the last hour. And then, for the first time, I saw 
 below me the valleys of the Drance spread forth 
 like a map, and that it required but half a dozen 
 steps at most to have cleared every impediment to 
 my descending amongst them, in an infinitely 
 shorter time than I had expended in mounting to 
 the elevated spot from whence I looked down upon 
 them. And then, too, for the first time certain 
 misgivings as to the propriety of going further, 
 and a shrewd guess as to the real nature of the 
 Mauvais Pas, flashed across me, in one of those 
 sudden heart-searching thrills so perfectly defined
 
 232 APPALLING REALITIES. 
 
 in, the single word crelling a provincial term, 
 expressing that creeping, paralyzing, twittering, 
 palpitation sort of sensation which a nervous per- 
 son might be supposed to feel, if, in exploring a 
 damp and dark dungeon, he placed his hand unad- 
 visedly upon some cold and clammy substance 
 which his imagination might paint as something 
 too horrible to look at. But whatever were the 
 force and power of these feelings, it was not now 
 the time to let them get the mastership, . . . and, 
 after all, though there were very unequivocal symp- 
 toms of something terrible in the immediate vici- 
 nage of the undefined gray screen of rock before 
 me, I had as yet no certainty of its appalling 
 realities. For a furlong or two no great change 
 was perceptible ; there was a plentiful supply of 
 twigs and shrubs to hold by, and the path was not 
 by any means alarming. In short, I began to 
 shake off all uneasiness and smile at my imaginary 
 fears, when, on turning an angle, I came to an 
 abrupt termination of everything bordering on 
 twig, bough, pathway, or greensward, and the 
 Mauvais Pas, in all its fearfulness, glared upon 
 me. For a foreground (if that could be called a 
 foreground, separated as it was by a gulf of some 
 fathoms wide) an unsightly facing of unbroken 
 precipitous rock bearded me on the spot from 
 whence I was to take my departure, jutting out
 
 A FEARFUL PASSAGE. 233 
 
 sufficiently to conceal whatever might be the state 
 of affairs on the other side, round which it was 
 necessary to pass by a narrow ledge like a mantel- 
 piece, on which the first guide had now placed his 
 foot. The distance, however, was inconsiderable 
 at most a few yards after which I fondly conjec- 
 tured we might rejoin a pathway similar to that 
 we were now quitting, and that, in fact, this short 
 but fearful trajet constituted the substance and the 
 sum total of what so richly deserved the title of 
 the Mauvais Pas. ' Be firm ; hold fast, and keep 
 your eye on the rock/ said the guide, as I, with my 
 heart in my mouth, stepped, out. ' Is my foot 
 firmly fixed ?' ' It is' was the answer ; and with 
 my eyes fixed upon the rock, as if it would have 
 opened under my gaze, and my hands hooked like 
 claws on the slight protuberances within reach, I 
 stole silently and slowly towards the projection, 
 almost without drawing a breath. Having turned 
 this point, I still found myself proceeding, but to 
 what degree, and whether for better or worse, I 
 could not exactly ascertain, as I most pertinaciously 
 continued to look upon the rock, mechanically mov- 
 ing foot after foot with a sort of dogged persever- 
 ance, leaving to the leading guide the pleasing 
 task, which I most anxiously expected every mo- 
 ment, of assuring me that the deed was done, and 
 congratulating me on having passed the Mauva<*
 
 A FRIGHTFUL SCENE. 
 
 Pas. But lie was silent as the grave not a word 
 escaped his lips ; and on, and on, and on did we 
 tread, slowly, cautiously, and hesitatingly, for about 
 ten minutes, when I became impatient to learn the 
 extent of our progress, and inquired whether we 
 had nearly reached the other end. ' Pas encore.' 
 'Are we half way?' 'A peu pres,' were the 
 replies. Gathering up my whole stock of presence 
 of mind, I requested that we might pause a while ; 
 and then, as I deliberately turned my head, the 
 whole of this extraordinary and frightful scenery 
 revealed itself at a glance. Conceive an amphi- 
 theatre of rock, forming throughout a bare, barren, 
 perpendicular precipice, of I knew not how many 
 hundred feet in height, the two extremities dimin- 
 ishing in altitude as they approached the Drance, 
 which formed the cord of this arc ; that on our left 
 constituting the barrier which had impeded our pro- 
 gress, and which we had just ascended. From the 
 point where we had stepped upon the ledge, quitting 
 the forest and underwood, this circular face of pre- 
 cipice commenced, continuing without intermission 
 till it united itself with its corresponding headland 
 on the right the only communication between 
 the two being along a ledge in the face of the pre- 
 cipice, varying in width from about a foot to a few 
 inches ; the surface of the said ledge, moreover, 
 assuming the form of an inclined plane, owing to
 
 PERILOUS FOOTING. 235 
 
 an accumulation of small particles of rock which 
 had, from time immemorial, shaled from the heights 
 above, and lodged on this slightly projecting shelf. 
 The distance, from the time taken to pass it, I 
 guessed to be not far short of a quarter of a mile. 
 At my foot, literally speaking (for it required but 
 a semiquaver of the body, or the loosening of my 
 hold, to throw the centre of gravitation over the 
 abyss), were spread the valleys of the Drance, 
 through which I could perceive the river meander- 
 ing like a silver thread ; but, from the height at 
 which I looked down, its rapidity was invisible, 
 and its hoarse brawling unheard. The silence was 
 absolute and solemn ; for, fortunately, not a zephyr 
 fanned the air to interfere with my precarious equi- 
 librium. 
 
 " There was no inducement for the lesser birds of 
 the field to warble where we were ; and the lammer 
 geyers and the eagles, if any had their eyries 
 amidst these crags, were revelling in the banquet 
 of desolation below. As I looked upon this awfully 
 magnificent scene, a rapid train of thoughts suc- 
 ceeded each other I felt as if I were contemplating 
 a world I had left, and which I was never again to 
 revisit ; for it was impossible not be keenly im- 
 pressed with the idea that something fatal might 
 occur within the space of the next few minutes, 
 effectually preventing my return thither as a living
 
 236 STRANGE THOUGHTS. 
 
 being. Then, again, I saw before me the forms 
 and figures of many I had left some a few hours, 
 some a few weeks before. Was I to see them again 
 or not? The question again and again repeated 
 itself, and the oftener, perhaps, from a feeling of 
 presumption I experienced, in even whispering to 
 myself that I decidedly should. ' Si on glisse, on 
 est perdu !' How horribly forcible and true did 
 these words now appear, on what a slender thread 
 was life held ! A trifling deviation in the position 
 of a foot, and it was over. I had but to make one 
 single step in advance, and I was in another state 
 of existence. Such were a few of the mental feel- 
 ings which suggested themselves, but others of a 
 physical nature occurred. I had eaten nothing 
 since leaving the old convent in which I had spent 
 the preceding night, and the keen air on the moun- 
 tains had so sharpened my appetite, that by the 
 time I had reached the summit we had just quitted 
 I felt not only a good deal exhausted but extremely 
 hungry. But hunger, thirst, and fatigue, followed 
 me not on the ledge. A feast would have had no 
 charm, and miles upon a level road would have 
 been as nothing. Every sense seemed absorbed in 
 getting to the end ; and yet, in the midst of this 
 unenviable position, a trifling incident occurred, 
 which actually for the time gave rise to something 
 of a pleasurable sensation. About midway I espied,
 
 A PLEASURABLE SEXSATIOX. 237 
 
 in a chink of the ledge, the beautiful and dazzling 
 blossom of the little Gentiana nivalis, and, stopping 
 the guides while I gathered it, I expressed great 
 satisfaction in meeting with this lovely little flower 
 on such a lonely spot. And I could scarcely help 
 smiling at the simplicity of these honest people, 
 who from that moment, whenever the difficulties 
 increased, endeavoured to divert my attention by 
 pointing out or looking for another specimen. We 
 had proceeded good part of the way, when, to my 
 dismay, the ledge, narrow as it was, became per- 
 ceptibly narrower, and at the distance of a yard or 
 two in advance I observed a point where it seemed 
 to run to nothing, interrupted by a protuberant 
 rock. I said nothing, waiting the result in silence. 
 The guide before me, when he reached the point, 
 threw one foot round the projection, till it was 
 firmly placed, and, holding on the rock, then 
 brought up the other. What was I to do ? Like 
 Arthur Philipson's guide Antonio, I could only 
 say, ' I was no goat-hunter, and had no wings to 
 transport me from cliff to cliff like a raven ;' ' I 
 cannot perform that feat/ said I to the guide ; ' I 
 shall miss the invisible footing on the other side, 
 and then !' They were prepared for the case. 
 One of them happened to have a short staff ; this 
 was handed forward, and formed a slight rail, while 
 the other, stooping down, seized my foot, and,
 
 238 SAGE ADVICE. 
 
 placing it in his hand, answered, ' Tread without 
 apprehension ; it will support you as firmly as the 
 rock itself; be steady go on.' I did so, and re- 
 gained the ledge once more in safety. The possible 
 repetition of such an exploit was not by any means 
 to my taste, and I ventured to question the fore- 
 most guide as to the chance of its recurrence, and 
 the difficulties yet in store. Without pretending 
 to disguise them, he proceeded to dilate upon that 
 portion of our peregrination still in reserve, when 
 the other interrupted him impatiently, and in 
 French, instead of patois (forgetting in his anxiety 
 to enjoin silence, that I understood every word he 
 uttered), exclaimed, ' Not a word more, I entreat 
 you ; speak not to him of danger ; this is not the 
 place to excite alarm ; it is our business to cheer 
 and animate ;' and, in the true spirit of his advice, 
 he immediately pointed to a bunch of little gentians, 
 exclaiming, 'Eh, done, qu'elles sont jolies! regardez 
 ces charmants fleurs !' Long before I had half 
 accomplished the distance, and had formed a cor- 
 rect opinion as to what remained in hand, the pro- 
 priety of turning back had more than once suggested 
 itself; but, on looking round, the narrowness of 
 the shelf already passed presented so revolting an 
 appearance, that what with the risk to be incurred 
 in the very act of turning about and forming any- 
 thing like & pirouette in my present position, added
 
 SLOWLY AND SURELY. 239 
 
 to an almost insurmountable unwillingness to re- 
 cede, for the reasons above mentioned, and the 
 chance that, as it could not well be worse, the re- 
 mainder might possibly be better, I decided on 
 going on, estimating every additional inch as a 
 valuable accession of space, with a secret proviso, 
 however, in my own mind, that nothing on earth 
 should induce me to return the same way, notwith- 
 standing the declaration of the. guides, that they 
 knew of no other line, unless a bridge, which was 
 impassable yesterday, had been made passable to- 
 day, and we knew the people were at work, for a 
 man had gone before us with an axe over his 
 shoulder. 
 
 "Thus persevering with the speed of a tortoise or 
 a sloth, these solemn slow movements of hand and 
 foot forcibly reminding me of that cautious animal, 
 we at last drew near to a more acute point in the 
 curve of this gaunt amphitheatre, where it bent 
 forward towards the river, and consequently we 
 were more immediately fronted by the precipice 
 forming the continuation of that on which we stood. 
 By keeping my head obliquely turned inwards, I 
 had hitherto in great measure avoided more visual 
 communication than I wished with the bird's-eye 
 prospect below ; but there was no possibility of ex- 
 cluding the smooth bare frontage of rock right 
 overhead. There it reared itself from the clods
 
 240 ONCE MORE OX SOLID GROUND. 
 
 beneath to the clouds above, without outward or 
 visible sign of fret or fissure, as far as I could 
 judge, on which even a chamois could rest its hoof ; 
 for the width of whatever ledge it might have was 
 diminished, by the perspective view we had of it, 
 to Euclid's true definition of a mathematical line 
 viz., length without breadth. At this distance of 
 time I have no very clear recollection of the mode 
 of our exit, and cannot speak positively as to 
 whether we skirted any part of this perilous wall 
 of the Titans, or crept up through the corner of 
 the curve by some fissure leading to the summit. 
 I have, however, a very clear and agreeable recol- 
 lection of the moment when I came in contact 
 with a tough bough, which I welcomed and grasped 
 as I would have welcomed and grasped the hand 
 of the dearest friend I had upon earth, and by the 
 help of which I in a very few more seconds 
 scrambled up, and set my foot once more, without 
 fear of slips or sliding, on a rough heathery surface, 
 forming the bed of a ravine, which soon led us to 
 an upland plateau, on which I stood as in tho 
 garden of Paradise."
 
 
 isit of Jtt. |)uc to the <amas*rj) of ^ounboum. 
 
 Feast of Flowers ! The very words breathe 
 of romance, and remind us of the lovely 
 vale of Cashmere, 
 
 " With its roses, the brightest that Earth ever gave ;" 
 
 whose floral festivity is so charmingly painted in 
 " The Light of the Haram." The reader will ac- 
 cordingly be prepared to expect a romantic chapter. 
 The Lamasery of Kounbourn was visited by the 
 renowned traveller M. Hue, who thus describes 
 it : " At eleven leagues from Tang-Krou-Gul there 
 is, in the land of the Si-Fan, or eastern Thibetians, 
 a Lamasery, the fame of which extends not merely 
 through Tartary, but even to the remotest part of 
 Thibet. Thither pilgrims flock from all quarters, 
 venerating; for there was born the famous reformer 
 of Buddhism. The Lamasery bears the name of 
 Koimboum, and contains nearly four thousand 
 lamas. Its site is one of enchanting beauty. Initi-
 
 242 THE LAMASERY OF KOUNBOUM. 
 
 gine, in a mountain's side, a deep broad ravine, 
 adorned with fine trees, and harmonious with the 
 cawing of rooks and yellow-beaked crows, and the 
 amusing chattering of magpies. On the two sides 
 of the ravine, and on the slopes of the mountain, 
 rise, in an amphitheatrical form, the white dwell- 
 ings of the lamas, of various sizes, but all alike 
 surrounded with a wall and surmounted by a ter- 
 race. Amidst these modest habitations you see 
 rising, here and there, numerous Buddhist temples 
 with gilt roofs, sparkling with a thousand brilliant 
 colours, and surrounded with elegant colonnades. 
 The houses of the superiors are distinguished by 
 streamers floating from small hexagonal turrets; 
 almost at every step you see niches, in form re- 
 sembling a sugar-loaf, within which are burning 
 incense, odoriferous wood, and cypress leaves. The 
 most striking feature of all, however, is to see an 
 exclusive population of lamas, walking about the 
 numerous streets, clothed in their uniform of red 
 dresses and yellow mitres." 
 
 This renowned establishment enjoys so high a 
 repute, that the worshippers of Buddha resort 
 thither in pilgrimage from all parts of Tartary and 
 Thibet. Upon the great festivals the congregation 
 of strangers is immense ; and of these there are 
 four in the year the most famous of all being the 
 " Feast of Flowers," which takes place on the loth
 
 THE " FEAST OF FLOWERS." 243 
 
 day of the first month. M. Hue and his com- 
 panions were installed at Kounboum ten days 
 previous, and watched the numerous caravans of 
 pilgrims arriving hy every road that led to the 
 Lamasery. The festival was in every one's mouth; 
 the flowers, it was said, were that year of surpass- 
 ing beauty; the Council of the Fine Arts, who had 
 examined them, had declared them to be far supe- 
 rior to those of preceding years. 
 
 Eager to behold these marvellous flowers, the 
 strangers hastened, as may be readily supposed, to 
 seek information respecting a festival so entirely 
 unknown. The following details were furnished 
 them on this curious ceremony : 
 
 " The flowers of the 15th of the first moon consist 
 of representations, secular and religious, in which 
 all the Asiatic nations are introduced, with their 
 peculiar physiognomies and their distinguishing- 
 costumes. Persons, places, apparel, decorations 
 all are formed of fresh butter ! Three months are 
 occupied in the preparations for this singular spec- 
 tacle. Twenty lamas, selected from among the 
 most celebrated artists of the Lamasery, are daily 
 engaged in these butter-works, keeping their hands 
 all the while in water, lest the heat of the fingers 
 should disfigure their productions. As these la- 
 bours take place chiefly in the depth of the winter, 
 
 the operators have much suffering to endure from 
 352; 16
 
 244 MUSEUM OF WORKS IX BUTTER ! 
 
 the cold. The first process is thoroughly to knead 
 the butter, so as to render it firm. When the 
 material is thus prepared, the various portions of 
 the butter- work are confided to various artists, 
 who, however, all alike work under the direction 
 of a principal, who has furnished the plan of the 
 flowers for the year, and has the general superin- 
 tendence of their production. The figures, <fec., 
 being prepared and put together, are then con- 
 fided to another set of artists, who colour them, 
 under the direction of the same leader." What a 
 curious and comical idea a museum of works in 
 butter ! 
 
 M. Hue proceeds thus to describe what he saw 
 when the period for the grand spectacle arrived: 
 
 " On the eve of the festival, the arrival of 
 strangers became perfectly amazing. In every 
 direction you heard the cries of the camels and the 
 bellowing of the long-haired oxen on which the 
 pilgrims had journeyed thither. On the slopes of 
 the mountain overlooking the Lamasery arose 
 numerous tents, wherein were encamped such of 
 the visitors as had not found accommodation in 
 the dwellings of the lamas. Throughout the 14th, 
 the number of persons who performed the pil- 
 grimage around the Lamasery was immense. It 
 was for us a strange and painful sight to view that 
 great crowd of human beings prostrating them-
 
 A SURPRISING SIGHT. 2-15 
 
 selves at every step, and reciting, in under tones, 
 their form of prayer. 
 
 " On the 15th the pilgrims again made the circuit 
 of the Lamasery, but by no means in such numbers 
 as on the previous days. Curiosity impelled the 
 great majority towards the points where prepara- 
 tions were making for the Feast of Flowers. When 
 night fell, we went to see the marvellous butter- 
 works, of which we had heard so much. The 
 flowers were arranged in the open air, before the 
 various temples of the Lamasery, and displayed by 
 illuminations of the most dazzling brilliancy. In- 
 numerable vases of brass and copper, in the form 
 of chalices, were placed upon slight framework, 
 itself representing various designs ; and all these 
 vases were filled with thick butter supporting a 
 solid wick. The illuminations were arranged with 
 a taste that would have reflected no discredit on a 
 Parisian decorator. 
 
 " The appearance of the flowers themselves quite 
 amazed us. We could never have conceived that 
 in these deserts, amongst a half savage people, 
 artists of such eminent merit could have been 
 found. From the paintings and sculptures we had 
 seen in various Lamaseries, we had not in the 
 slightest degree been led to anticipate the exquisite 
 finish which we had occasion to admire in the 
 butter-works. The flowers were bas-reliefs, of
 
 240 A THEATRE IN BUTTER ! 
 
 colossal proportions, representing various subjects 
 taken from the history of Buddhism. All the per- 
 sonages were invested with a truth of expression 
 that quite surprised us. The features were full of 
 life and animation, the attitudes natural, and the 
 drapery easy and graceful. You could distinguish at 
 a glance the nature and quality of the materials re- 
 presented. The furs were especially good. The 
 various skins of the sheep, the tiger, the fox, the 
 wolf, &c., were so admirably rendered, that you 
 felt inclined to go and feel them with the hand, 
 and ascertain whether, after all, they were not real. 
 These large bas-reliefs were surrounded with frames, 
 representing animals and flowers, all in butter, and 
 all admirable, like the works they enclosed, for 
 their delicacy of outline and the beauty of their 
 colouring. On the road which led from one temple 
 to another, were placed at intervals small bas- 
 reliefs representing, in miniature, battles, hunting 
 incidents, nomadic episodes, and views of the most 
 celebrated Lamaseries of Thibet and Tartary. 
 Finally, in front of the principal temple, there was 
 a theatre, which, with its personages and its de- 
 corations, were all of butter ! The dramatis personce 
 were a foot high, and represented a community of 
 lamas on their way to solemnize prayer. At first 
 the stage is empty ; then a conch is sounded, and 
 you see issuing from two doors, two files of minor
 
 WHAT BECOMES OF THE FLOWERS. 247 
 
 lamas, followed by the superiors in their state 
 dresses. After remaining for a moment motionless 
 on the stage, the procession disappears at the sides, 
 and the representation is over. This spectacle ex- 
 cited general enthusiasm. At length, being weary 
 of the pressure caused by the waves of the immense 
 mass that rolled to and fro, like a sea beaten by the 
 tempest, we retired, the night being far advanced. 
 Next morning, when the sun rose, not a trace re- 
 mained of the Feast of Flowers. All had dis- 
 appeared ; the bas-reliefs had been demolished, and 
 the immense collection of butter had been thrown 
 down a ravine to feed the crows with. These grand 
 works, on which so much pains, so much time, we 
 may also say so much genius, had been expended, 
 had served merely as a spectacle for a single even- 
 ing. Every year they make new flowers, and every 
 year upon a new plan. With the flowers disap- 
 peared also the pilgrims. Already, at daybreak, 
 you saw them slowly ascending the tortuous paths 
 of the mountain, returning to their homes in the 
 desert sorrowfully and silently, for the heart of man 
 can endure so little of joy in this world, that the 
 day succeeding a festival is generally full of bitter- 
 ness and melancholy." 
 
 A few days after the " Feast of Flowers," M. 
 Hue determined to repair to the little Lamasery 
 of Tchogortmi, which served as a sort of country
 
 248 BOTANIZING ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 house and botanical garden for the Faculty of 
 Medicine. It was situated within half an hour's 
 walk of Kounboum. Thither every year the grand 
 lamas and students of the medical section proceed 
 towards the close of summer, remaining generally 
 for about a fortnight, collecting medicinal plants on 
 the surrounding hills. 
 
 For some days the strangers enjoyed the most 
 profound solitude. They were alone with a lama 
 left in charge of the Lamasery. But the desert 
 became, after a time, alive ; and towards the com- 
 mencement of September the lamas of the Faculty 
 of Medicine repaired to Tchogorton for the purpose 
 of botanizing. The disposable houses received all 
 they could contain, and the rest dwelt in tents, 
 sheltered by the great trees of the Lamasery. 
 Every morning, after having recited their prayers 
 in common, drunk their buttered tea, and eaten 
 their barley meal, all the students in medicine 
 tucked up their garments and went forth on the 
 mountains, under the guidance of one of their rJro- 
 fessors. Each was provided with a long iron- 
 pointed stick and a small pickaxe ; a leathern bag, 
 filled with meal, was suspended from the girdle, 
 and some carried at their backs great tea-kettles, 
 for the Faculty spent the entire day on the moun- 
 tain. Before sunset the troop would return, laden 
 with perfect faggots of branches and piles of plants
 
 A MEDICAL HARVEST. 249 
 
 and grasses. As they came, descending from the 
 mountains, supported by their long staves and 
 bearing these burdens, they appeared more like 
 poaching woodcutters than like future doctors in 
 medicine. M. Hue, after describing these botani- 
 cal gatherings, says : " We were often obliged to 
 escort in person those of the number who had 
 special charge of the aromatic plants ; for our 
 camels, which, attracted by the odour, always put 
 themselves in pursuit of these personages ; would 
 otherwise inevitably, and without the smallest 
 scruple, have devoured those precious simples des- 
 tined for the relief of suffering humanity." The 
 remainder of the day was occupied in cleaning and 
 spreading out on mats these various products of 
 the vegetable kingdom. This medical harvest con- 
 tinued eight whole days ; five more were devoted 
 to the selection and classification of the various 
 articles, and on the fourteenth day a small portion 
 was given to each student, the greater proportion 
 remaining the property of the Faculty of Medicine. 
 On the fifteenth day a festival was kept, when a 
 grand banquet of tea, with milk, barleymeal, little 
 cakes fried in butter, and boiled mutton, regaled 
 the neophytes of the Lamasery. Thus terminated 
 this very original and amusing fete champetre, or 
 botanico -medical expedition, and the illustrious 
 Faculty gaily returned to Kounboum.
 
 250 VERY SINGULAR ANIMALS. 
 
 How far a knowledge of natural history in the 
 zoological department is cultivated among the 
 lamas, we may infer from an amusing description 
 given to M. Hue by Sandara, a lama who had 
 passed ten years in one of the grand Lamaseries, 
 of certain " curious animals" he encountered on 
 one of his pilgrimages. " In the country through 
 which we passed," said Sandara, " we saw some 
 very singular animals ; they were not so big as an 
 ordinary cat, and were covered with a sort of hair 
 as hard as iron needles. Whenever one of these 
 creatures perceived us it immediately rolled itself 
 up, so that you could no longer distinguish head, 
 tail, or feet, and it became, as it were, a great ball, 
 all bristling with long, hard thorns. At first these 
 beasts frightened us ; we could not comprehend at 
 all what they were, for the books of prayer say not 
 a word about them. However, by degrees, we got 
 courage enough to examine them closely. As 
 these balls were too prickly to be touched with the 
 hand, we placed a stick horizontally across one of 
 them, and then pressed down both ends until we 
 made the ball open itself a little, and then there 
 came out a little face like a man's, that looked at 
 us fixedly. We cried out in great terror, and ran 
 away as hard as we could. At last, however, we 
 grew accustomed to the little animals, and they 
 even served us for an amusement ; for it was good
 
 MORE " WONDERFUL" CREATURES. 251 
 
 fun to turn them over and over down the hills with 
 the iron ends of our staves. 
 
 " We also met with worms of a very surprising 
 kind. One day, when it was very hot, we were 
 journeying along a little stream that meandered 
 through a valley in which the grass grew very 
 high. Towards noon, after drinking tea, we lay 
 down and slept on the edge of a stream. You 
 know that, according to the rule of Tsong Kabi, 
 the yellow-mitred lamas do not wear trousers. 
 When we woke up, we found a number of worms 
 sticking to our legs ; they were of a gray colour, 
 and as big as one's finger. We tried to get them 
 off, but could not ; and as we did not experience 
 any pain from them, we waited to see what would 
 be the end of the affair. By and by the beasts 
 swelled ; and when they had become quite round 
 and large, they dropped off themselves. Oh ! Thibet 
 is a strange country. You see animals there that 
 are found nowhere else." The reader will by this 
 time have discovered that these " wonderful ani- 
 mals" were no other than hedgehogs and leeches ! 
 
 Before bidding farewell to the Lamasery of 
 Kounboum, we must not forget to mention its 
 name is composed of two Thibetian words, signify- 
 ing Ten Thousand Images, and having allusion to 
 the tree which, according to the legend, sprang 
 from the hair of Tsong-Kaba, the celebrated re-
 
 2:rl " TREE OF THE TEN THOUSAND IMAGES. 
 
 former of Buddhism, and which is said to bear a 
 Thibetian character on each of its leaves. This 
 marvellous tree was visited by our traveller, who 
 had too often heard of it during his journey not to 
 be eager to see it. At the foot of the mountain on 
 which the Lamasery stands, and not far from the 
 principal temple, in a great square enclosure formed 
 by brick walls, is the Tree of the Ten Thousand 
 Images. Careful examination assured M. Hue 
 that there was something remarkable about this 
 prodigy. Upon each of the leaves were well- 
 formed Thibetian characters, all of a green colour, 
 some darker, some lighter than the leaf itself. The 
 bark of the tree, and its branches, which resemble 
 those of the plane-tree, were also covered with 
 similar characters. A piece of the old bark being 
 removed, the young bark showed the indistinct out- 
 line of characters in a germinating state ; and what 
 appeared singular, the new characters were fre- 
 quently different from those they replaced. 
 
 " The Tree of the Ten Thousand Images," says 
 M. Hue, " seemed to us of great age. Its trunk, 
 which three men could scarcely embrace with out- 
 stretched arms, is not more than eight feet high ; 
 the branches, instead of shooting up, spread out in 
 the shape of a plume of feathers, and are extremely 
 bushy few of them are dead. The leaves are ever- 
 green, and the wood, which is of a reddish tint, has
 
 ITS SINGULARITY. 
 
 2. r )3 
 
 an exquisite odour, something like that of cinna- 
 mon. The lamas informed us that in summer, 
 towards the eighth moon, the tree produces large 
 rod flowers of an extremely beautiful character. 
 They assured us that there nowhere else existed 
 another such tree ; that many attempts have been 
 made in various Lamaseries of Tartary and Thibet 
 to propagate it by seeds and cuttings, but that all 
 these attempts have been fruitless."
 
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 BELJ/S WEEKLY MESSENGER. " Without exception, this is one of the most 
 
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 Mr. Kingston appears to have taken his information from authentic sources; and, 
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 CHRISTIAN TIMES. " The author gives us a very vivid picture of a very stormy 
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 *** The Committee of the UNITED KINGDOM BAND OF HOPE UNION having 
 offered prizes of One Hundred Pounds and Fifty Pounds respectively, for the 
 best two tales illustrative of Temperance in its relation to the young, this tale 
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 T NELSON AND SONS, LONDON, EDINBURGH. AND NEW YORK
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 JUN 1 2 1947 
 MA R 2 7 1963 
 
 ; 
 
 REC'D 
 
 MR/9 
 AU62 71988
 
 v ii i i i ii ii ii 
 
 A 001 182746 
 
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