A very remarkable experiment was made by Duhamel, on the thigh of a chicken. After the thigh-bone which had been broken was perfectly restored, and a callus completely formed, he stripped off the flesh down to the bone;—the parts were gradually reproduced, and the bone, and the circulation of the blood, again renewed. We know then that some animals may be multiplied by dividing them into pieces; and we no longer doubt that the young of certain insects may be produced in the same manner as a branch is from a tree; that, being cut in pieces, they will live again in the smallest piece; that they may be turned inside out like a glove, divided into pieces, then turned again, and yet live, eat, grow, and multiply. Here a question offers itself, which perhaps no naturalist can resolve in a satisfactory manner: How does it happen that the parts thus cut off, can be again reproduced? We must suppose that germs are distributed to every part of the body; whilst in other animals they are only contained in certain parts. These germs unfold themselves when they receive proper nourishment. Thus, when an animal is cut in pieces, the germ is supplied with the necessary juices, which would have been conveyed to other parts, if they had not been diverted into a different channel. The superfluous juices develop those parts which without them would have continued attached to each other. Every part of the polypus and worm, contains in itself, as the bud does the rudiments of a tree, all the viscera necessary to the animal. The parts essential to life are distributed throughout the body, and the circulation is carried on even in the smallest particles. As we do not understand all the means that the Author of nature makes use of to distribute life and feeling to such a number of animals, we have no reason to maintain, that the creatures of which we have been speaking, are the only ones that are exceptions to the general rule in their mode of propagating. The fecundity of nature, and the infinite wisdom of the Creator, always surpass our feeble conceptions. The same hand that has formed the polypus and the worm, has shewn us that it is able to simplify the structure of animals.
CURIOSITIES RESPECTING ANIMALS.—(Continued.)
The Beaver, and its Habitations—The Mole—The Frog—The Toad—The Rhinoceros—Crocodiles and Alligators—Fossil Crocodile—The Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus—The Marmot, or Mountain Rat, of Switzerland.
The Beaver, and its Habitations—The Mole—The Frog—The Toad—The Rhinoceros—Crocodiles and Alligators—Fossil Crocodile—The Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus—The Marmot, or Mountain Rat, of Switzerland.
It would not be consistent with the plan of this work to embrace the whole natural history of the animal and vegetable kingdom. This is a Book of Curiosities; and it is our intention to present the reader with a sketch of the most remarkable things in the universe: our present subject, therefore, being curiosities respecting animals, we shall commence with—
The Beaver.—This animal was known to the ancients for its possession of that sebaceous matter called castor, secreted by two large glands near its genitals and anus, and of which each animal has about two ounces; but they appear to have been unacquainted with its habits and economy, with that mental contrivance and practical dexterity, which in its natural state so strikingly distinguish it. Beavers are found in the most northern latitudes of Europe and Asia, but are most abundant in North America.
In the months of June and July, they assemble in large companies to the number of two hundred, on the banks of some water, and proceed to the formation of their establishment. If the water be subject to risings and fallings, they erect a dam, to preserve it at a constant level; where this level is naturally preserved, this labour is superseded. The length of this dam is occasionally eight feet. In the preparation of it, they begin with felling some very high, but not extremely thick tree, on the border of a river, which can be made to fall into the water; and, in a short time, this is effected by the united operation of many, with their fore-teeth, the branches being afterwards cleared by the same process. A multitude of smaller trees are found necessary to completethe fabric, and many of these are dragged from some distance by land, and formed into stakes; the fixing of which is a work of extreme difficulty and perseverance, some of the beavers with their teeth raising their large ends against the crossbeam, while others at the bottom dig with their fore-feet the holes in which the points are to be sunk. A series of these stakes, in several rows, is established from one bank of the river to the other, in connection with the cross-tree, and the intervals between them are filled up by vast quantities of earth, brought from a distance, and plashed with materials adapted to give it tenacity, and prevent its being carried off. The bark is formed at the bottom, of about the width of twelve feet, diminishing as it approaches the surface of the water, to two or three; being thus judiciously constructed to resist its weight and efforts by the inclined plane instead of perpendicular opposition.
These preparations, of such immense magnitude and toil, being completed, they proceed to the construction of their mansions, which are raised on piles near the margin of the stream or lake, and have one opening from the land, and another by which they have instant access to the water. These buildings are usually of an orbicular form, in general about the diameter of ten feet, and comprehending frequently several stories. The foundation walls are nearly two feet in thickness, resting upon planks or stakes, which constitute also their floors. In the houses of one story only, the walls, which in all cases are plastered with extreme neatness both externally and within, after rising about two feet perpendicularly, approach each other, so as at length to constitute, in closing, a species of dome. In the application of the mortar to their habitations, the tails as well as feet of the beavers are of essential service. Stone, wood, and a sandy kind of earth, are employed in their structures, which, by their compactness and strength, completely preclude injury from winds and rain. The alder, poplar, and willow, are the principal trees which they employ; and they always begin their operations on the trunk, at nearly two feet above the ground; nor do they ever desist from the process till its fall is completed. They sit instead of stand, at this labour, and while reducing the tree to the ground, derive a pleasure at once from the success of their toils, and from the gratification of their palate and appetite by the bark, which is a favourite species of food to them, as well as the young and tender parts of the wood itself.
For their support in winter, ample stores are laid up near each separate cabin; and occasionally to give variety and luxury to their repasts during a long season, in which their stores must have become dry and nearly tasteless, they willmake excursions into the neighbouring woods for fresh supplies. Depredations by the tenants of one cabin on the magazines of another are unknown, and the strictest notions of property and honesty are universal. Some of their habitations will contain six only, others twelve, and some even twenty or thirty inhabitants; and the whole village or township contains in general about twelve or fourteen habitations. Strangers are not permitted to intrude on the vicinity; but, amidst the different members of the society itself, there appears to prevail that attachment and that friendship which are the natural result of mutual co-operation, and of active and successful struggles against difficulty. The approach of danger is announced by the violent striking of their tails against the surface of the water, which extends the alarm to a great distance; and, while some throw themselves for security into the water, others retire within the precincts of their cabins, where they are safe from every enemy but man.
The neatness as well as the security of their dwellings is remarkable, the floors being strewed over with box and fir, and displaying the most admirable cleanness and order. Their general position is that of sitting, the upper part of the body, with the head, being considerably raised, while the lower touches, and is somewhat indeed immersed in, the water. This element is not only indispensable to them in the same way as to other quadrupeds, but they carefully preserve access to it even when the ice is of very considerable depth, for the purpose of regaling themselves by excursions to a great extent under the frozen surface. The most general method of taking them is by attacking their cabins during these rambles, and watching their approach to a hole dug in the ice at a small distance, to which they are obliged, after a certain time, to resort for respiration.
If a man, who had never been informed of the industry of beavers and their manner of building, were shewn the edifices that they construct, he would suppose them to be the work of most eminent architects. Every thing is wonderful in the labours of these amphibious animals; the regular plan, the size, the solidity, and the admirable art of these buildings, must fill every attentive observer with astonishment.
The works of beavers have a great resemblance to those of men; and upon their first appearance we may imagine them to be produced by rational and thinking beings; but when we examine them nearer, we shall find that in all their proceedings, these animals do not act upon the principles of reason, but by an instinct which is implanted in them by nature. If reason guided their labours, we should naturally conclude that the buildings which they now construct would be very different from those they formerly made, and that they wouldgradually advance towards perfection. But we find that they never vary in the least from the rules of their forefathers, never deviate from the circle prescribed to them by nature, and the beavers of to-day build exactly after the same plan as those which lived before the deluge. But they are not the less worthy of our admiration. In these sagacious creatures we have an example of the great diversity there is in the instinct of animals—how superior is the instinct of the beaver to that of the sheep!
The flesh of the anterior part of the bodies of beavers resembles that of land animals in substance and flavour; while that of the lower possesses the taste, and smell, and lightness of fish.
The sexual union among these animals is connected with considerable individual choice, sentiment, and constancy.—Every couple pass together the autumn and winter, with the most perfect comfort and affection. About the close of winter, the females, after a gestation of four months, produce, in general, each two or three young, and soon after this period they are quitted by the males, who ramble into the country to enjoy the return of spring; occasionally returning to their cabins, but no longer dwelling in them. When the females have reared their young, which happens in the course of a few weeks, to a state in which they can follow their dams, these also quit their winter residence, and resort to the woods, to enjoy the opening bloom and renovated supplies of nature. If their habitations on the water should be impaired by floods, or winds, or enemies, the beavers assemble with great rapidity to repair the damage. If no alarm of this nature occurs, the summer is principally spent by them in the woods, and on the advance of autumn they assemble in the scene of their former labours and friendships, and prepare with assiduity for the confinement and rigours of approaching winter.
When taken young, the beaver may be tamed without difficulty; but it exhibits few or no indications of superior intelligence. Some beavers are averse to that association which so strikingly characterizes these animals in general, and satisfy themselves with digging holes in the banks of rivers, instead of erecting elaborate habitations. The fur of these is comparatively of little value.
Another subject of animal curiosity is,The Mole.—This animal is about six inches in length, without the tail. Its body is large and cylindrical, and its snout strong and cartilaginous. Its skin is of extraordinary thickness, and covered with a fur, short, but yielding to that of no other animal in fineness. It hears with particular acuteness, and, notwithstanding the popular opinion to the contrary, possesses eyes,which it is stated to be able to withdraw or project at pleasure. It lives partly on the roots of vegetables, but principally on animal food, such as worms and insects, and is extremely voracious and fierce. Shaw relates, from Sir Thomas Brown, that a mole, a toad, and a serpent, have been repeatedly inclosed in a large glass vase, and that the mole has not only killed the others, but has devoured a very considerable part of them. It abounds in soft ground, in which it can dig with ease, and which furnishes it with a great supply of food. It forms its subterraneous apartments with great facility by its snout and feet, and with a very judicious reference to escape and comfort. It produces four or five young in the spring, in a nest a little beneath the surface, composed of moss and herbage. It is an animal injurious to the grounds of the farmer, by throwing up innumerable hills of mould, in the construction of its habitation, or the pursuit of its food, and many persons obtain their subsistence from the premiums, which are, on this account, given for their destruction. Moles can swim with considerable dexterity, and are thus furnished with the means of escape in sudden inundations, to which they are frequently exposed. In Ireland, the mole is unknown.
The Common Frog.—This is an animal so well known, that it needs no description: but some of its properties are very singular. Its spring, or power of taking large leaps, is remarkably great, and it is the best swimmer of all four-footed animals. Its parts are finely adapted for those ends, the fore members of the body being very lightly made, the hind legs and thighs very long, and furnished with very strong muscles. While in a tadpole state, it is entirely a water animal, for in this element the spawn is cast. As soon as frogs are released from their tadpole state, they immediately take to land; and if the weather has been hot, and there fall any refreshing showers, the ground for a considerable space is perfectly blackened by myriads of these animalcules, seeking for some secure lurking places. Some persons not taking time to examine into this phenomenon, imagined them to have been generated in the clouds, and showered on the earth: but had they, like Mr. Derham, traced them to the next pool, they would have found a better solution of the difficulty. As frogs adhere closely to the backs of their own species, so we know they will do the same by fish. That they will injure, if not entirely kill carp, is a fact indisputable, from the following relation.
Not many years ago, on fishing a pond belonging to Mr. Pitt, of Encomb, Dorsetshire, great numbers of the carp were found, each with a frog mounted on it, the hind legs clinging to the back, and the fore legs fixed to the corner ofeach eye of the fish, which were thin and greatly wasted, teased by carrying so disagreeable a load. The croaking of frogs is well known; and from that, in fenny countries, they are distinguished by ludicrous titles,—thus they are styledDutch nightingales, andBoston waites. Yet there is a time of the year when they become mute, neither croaking nor opening their mouths for a whole month; this happens in the hot season, and that is in many places known to the country people by the name of the paddock-moon. It is said, that during that period their mouths are so closed, that no force (without killing the animal) will be capable of opening them. These, as well as other reptiles, feed but a small space of the year. Their food is flies, insects, and snails. During winter, frogs and toads remain in a torpid state; the last of which will dig into the earth, and cover themselves with almost the same agility as the mole.
Not less remarkable isThe Common Toad.—This is the most deformed and hideous of all animals. The body is broad, the back flat, and covered with a pimply dusky hide; the belly large, swagging, and swelling out; the legs short, and its pace laboured and crawling; its retreat gloomy and filthy: in short, its general appearance is such as to strike one with disgust and horror. Yet it is said that its eyes are fine. Ælian and other ancient writers tell many ridiculous fables of the poison of the toad.
This animal was believed by some old writers to have a stone in its head fraught with great virtues, medical and magical: it was distinguished by the term of, the reptile, and called the toad-stone, bufonites, krottenstern, and other names, but all its fancied powers vanished on the discovery of its being nothing but the fossil tooth of the sea-wolf, or of some other flat-toothed fish, not unfrequent in our island, as well as several other countries. But these fables have been long exploded. And as to the notion of its being a poisonous animal, it is probable that its excessive deformity, joined to the faculty it has of emitting a juice from its pimples, and a dusky liquid from its hind parts, is the foundation of the report. That it has any noxious qualities, there seem to be no proofs in the smallest degree satisfactory, though we have heard many strange relations on that point. On the contrary, many have taken them in their naked hands, and held them long without receiving the least injury. It is also well known that quacks have eaten them, and have squeezed their juices into a glass, and drank them with impunity. They are also a common food to many animals; to buzzards, owls, Norfolk plovers, ducks, and snakes, which would not touch them, were they in any degree noxious.
The fullest information concerning the nature and qualities of this animal is contained in letters from Mr. Arscott and Mr. Pitfield to Dr. Milles, communicated to Mr. Pennant; concerning a toad that lived above thirty-six years with them, was completely tame, and became so great a favourite that most of the ladies in the neighbourhood got the better of their prejudices so far as to be anxious to see it fed. Its food was insects, such as millepedes, spiders, ants, flies, &c. but it was particularly fond of flesh worms, which were bred on purpose for it. It never appeared in winter, but regularly made its appearance in the spring, when the warm weather commenced, climbing up a few steps, and waiting to be taken up, carried into the house, and fed upon a table. Before it attacked the insects, it fixed its eyes on them, and remained motionless for a quarter of a minute, when it attacked them by an instantaneous motion of its tongue, darted on the insect with such rapidity that the eye could not follow it, whereby the insect stuck to the tip of its tongue, and was instantly conveyed to its mouth. This favourite toad at last lost its life, in consequence of being attacked by a tame raven, which picked out one of its eyes; and although the toad was rescued, and lived a year longer, it never recovered its health or spirit. It never showed any signs of rage, being never provoked.
Our next subject is an animal of great bulk,The Rhinoceros.—This quadruped is exceeded in size only by the elephant. Its usual length, not including the tail, is twelve feet, and the circumference of its body nearly the same. Its nose is armed with a horny substance, projecting, in the full-grown animal, nearly three feet, and is a weapon of defence, which almost secures it from every attack. Even the tiger, with all his ferocity, is but very rarely daring enough to assail the rhinoceros. Its upper lip is of considerable length and pliability, acting like a species of snout, grasping the shoots of trees and various substances, and conveying them to the mouth; and it is capable of extension and contraction at the animal’s convenience. The skin is, in some parts, so thick and hard as scarcely to be penetrable by the sharpest sabre, or even by a musket-ball. These animals are found in Bengal, Siam, China, and in several countries of Africa; but are far less numerous than the elephant, and of sequestered solitary habits. The female produces only one at a birth; and at the age of two years the horn is only an inch long, and at six only of the length of nine inches. The rhinoceros is not ferocious, unless provoked, when he exhibits paroxysms of rage and madness, and is highly dangerous to those who encounter him. He runs with great swiftness, and rushes through brakes and woods with an energy to which every thing yields. He isgenerally, however, quiet and inoffensive. Its food consists entirely of vegetables, the tender branches of trees, and succulent herbage, of which it will devour immense quantities. It delights in retired and cool situations, near lakes and streams, and appears to derive one of the highest satisfactions from the practice of rolling and wallowing in mud,—in this respect bearing a striking resemblance to the hog.
RHINOCEROS.—Page 162.
Many varieties of this formidable animal are found in Asia and Africa.The above figure represents the Asiatic variety, which has but one horn.
RHINOCEROS.—Page 162.
Of the African rhinoceros, Mr. Cumming, the famous hunter, describes several kinds.The above figure represents the two-horned kind, which is found nowhere but in Africa.Mr. Cumming killed many of this kind.
This animal was exhibited, by Augustus, to the Romans, and is supposed to be the unicorn of the scripture, as it possesses the properties ascribed to that animal, of magnitude, strength, and swiftness, in addition to that peculiarity of a single horn, which may be considered as establishing their identity. This animal can distinguish, by its sight, only what is directly before it, and always, when pursued, takes the course immediately before it, almost without the slightest deviation from a right line, removing every impediment. Its sense of smelling is very acute, and also of hearing, and, on both these accounts, the hunters approach him against the wind. In general, they watch his lying down to sleep, when, advancing with the greatest circumspection, they discharge their muskets into his belly. The flesh is eaten both in Africa and India.
We now proceed toThe Crocodile.—This animal is a native both of Africa and Asia, but is most frequently found in the former, inhabiting its vast rivers, and particularly the Niger and the Nile. It has occasionally been seen of the length of even thirty feet, and instances of its attaining that of twenty are by no means uncommon. It principally subsists on fish, but such is its voracity, that it seizes almost every thing that comes within its reach. The upper part of its body is covered with a species of armour, so thick and firm, as to be scarcely penetrable with a musket-ball; and the whole body has the appearance of an elaborate covering of carved work. It is an oviparous animal, and its eggs scarcely exceed in size those of a goose. These eggs are regarded as luxuries by the natives of some countries of Africa, who will also with great relish partake of the flesh of the crocodile itself. When young, the small size and weak state of the crocodile prevent its being injurious to any animal of considerable bulk or strength; and those which have been brought living to England have by no means indicated that ferocious and devouring character which they have been generally described to possess; a circumstance probably owing to the change of climate, and the reducing effect of confinement.
In its native climate its power and propensity to destruction are unquestionably great, and excite in the inhabitants of the territories near its haunts a high degree of terror. It lies inwait near the banks of rivers, and, with a sudden spring, seizes any animal that approaches within its reach, swallowing it with an instantaneous effort, and then rushing back into its watery recesses, till renewed appetite stimulates the repetition of its insidious exertions. These animals were occasionally exhibited by the Romans among their collections of the natural wonders of the provinces; and Scaurus and Augustus are both recorded to have entertained the people with a sight of these new and formidable objects.
It is reported by some travellers, that crocodiles are capable of being tamed, and are actually kept in a condition of harmless domestication at the grounds and artificial lakes of some African princes, chiefly as appendages of royal splendour and magnificence. A single negro will often attack a crocodile, and by spearing it between the scales of the belly, where it is easily penetrable, secure its destruction. In some regions these animals are hunted by dogs, which, however, are carefully disciplined to the exercise, and are armed with collars of iron spikes.
Aristotle appears to have been the first who asserted that the under jaw of the crocodile was immoveable, and from him it was transmitted and believed for a long succession of ages. But the motion of the jaw in this animal is similar to that of all other quadrupeds. The ancients also thought it destitute of a tongue; an idea equally false. The tongue, however, is more fixed in this than in other animals, to the sides of its mouth, and less capable, therefore, of being protruded.—The eggs of the crocodile are deposited in the mud or sand of the banks of rivers, and immediately on being hatched, the young move towards the water; in their passage to which, however, vast numbers are intercepted by ichneumons and birds, which watch their progress.
TheAlligator, orAmerican Crocodile, has a vast mouth, furnished with sharp teeth; from the back to the end of the tail, it is serrated; its skin is tough and brown, and covered on the sides with tubercles. This dreadful species, which grows to the length of 17 or 18 feet, is found in the warmer parts of North America, and is most numerous, fierce, and ravenous, towards the south. Yet, in Carolina, it never devours the human species, but on the contrary, shuns mankind; it, however, kills dogs as they swim the rivers, and hogs which feed in the swamps. It is often seen floating like a log of wood on the surface of the water, and is mistaken for such by dogs and other animals, which it seizes, draws under water, and devours. Like the wolf, when pressed by long hunger, it will swallow mud, and even stones, and pieces of wood. They often get into the wears in pursuit of fish, anddo much mischief by tearing them to pieces. They are torpid during winter, in Carolina, and retire into their dens, which they form by burrowing far under ground. They make the entrance under water, and work upwards. In spring they quit their retreats, and resort to the rivers, and chiefly seek their prey near the mouth, where the water is brackish. They roar and make a dreadful noise at first leaving their dens, and against bad weather. The female lays a vast number of eggs in the sand, near the banks of lakes and rivers, and leaves them to be hatched by the sun: multitudes are destroyed as soon as hatched, either by their own species, or by fish of prey. In South America, the carrion vulture is the instrument of Providence to destroy multitudes; and it thus prevents the country from being rendered uninhabitable.
The following account ofEastern Alligatorsis extracted from Forbes’s Oriental Memoirs.
The eastern districts of Travancore, intersected by lakes and rivers, abound with amphibious animals, especially alligators and seals. There seems to be no essential difference between the alligator of India, and the Egyptian crocodile; lacerta alligator, and lacertus crocodilus. Naturalists seem to confine the alligator to South America, the crocodile to Asia and Africa; but in India the lacerta crocodilus, generally called the alligator, is from five to twenty feet long, shaped like the genus to which he belongs; the back is covered with impenetrable scales; the legs short, with five spreading toes on the fore feet, and four in a straight line on the hinder, armed with claws: the alligator moves slowly, its whole formation being calculated for strength, the back bone firmly jointed, and the tail a most formidable weapon: in the river, he eagerly springs on the wretch unfortunately bathing within his reach, and either knocks him down with his tail, or opens his wide mouth for his destruction, armed with numerous sharp teeth of various lengths; by which, like the shark, he sometimes severs the human body at a single bite: the annals of the Nile and Ganges, although wonderful, are not fabulous. The upper jaw only of the alligator was thought to be moveable; but that is now completely disproved: the eyes are of a dull green, with a brilliant pupil, covered by a transparent pellicle, moveable as in birds: from the heads of those of large size, musk is frequently extracted.
It may not be improper in this place to introduce to the reader’s notice, one of the greatest curiosities of its kind, which late ages have produced; that is, aFossil Crocodile.
This is the skeleton of a large crocodile, almost entire, found at a great depth under ground, bedded in stone. Thiswas in the possession of Linkius, who wrote many pieces in natural history, and particularly an accurate description of this curious fossil. It was found in the side of a large mountain in the midland part of Germany, and in a stratum of black fossil stone, somewhat like our common slate, but of a coarser texture, the same with that in which the fossil fishes in many parts of the world are found. This skeleton had the back and ribs very plain, and was of a much deeper black than the rest of the stone; as is also the case with the fossil fishes, which are preserved in this manner. The part of the stone where the head lay was not found; this being broken off just at the shoulders, but that irregularly; so that in one place a part of the back of the head was visible in its natural form. The two shoulder-bones were very fair, and three of the feet were well preserved: the legs were of their natural shape and size; and the feet preserved even to the extremities of the five toes of each.
Our next subject is namedThe Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus, and is a very singular quadruped, remarkable for its structure. The head is similar to that of a duck, which would lead to the supposition that it belonged to an aquatic bird. Both jaws are as broad and low as those in a duck, and the calvaria has no traces of a suture, as is generally the case in full-grown birds. In the cavity of the skull there is a considerably bony falx, which is situated along the middle of the os frontis, and the ossa bregmatis. The mandible of this animal consists of a beak, the under part of which has its margin indented as in ducks, and of the proper instrument for chewing that is situated behind within the cheeks. Dr. Shaw says it has no teeth, though Mr. Home found, in a specimen examined by him, two small and flat molar teeth on each side of the jaws. The fore part of this mandible, or beak, is covered and bordered with a coriaceous skin, in which three parts are to be distinguished, within the proper integument of the beak. Into these three parts of that membrane numerous nerves are distributed, intended, probably, as the organs of feeling, a sense which, besides men, few mammalia enjoy; that is, few animals possess the faculty of distinguishing the form of external objects and their qualities, by organs destined for that purpose,—a property very different from the common feeling, by which every animal is able to perceive the temperature and presence of sensible objects, but without being informed, by the touch, of their peculiar qualities. Thus the skin in the wings of the bat, and its ear, are supposed the organs of common feeling, by means of which they are enabled to flutter, after being blinded, without flying against any thing. The whiskers of many animals appearlikewise to serve the same purpose of informing them of the presence of sensible bodies, and hence they have been compared to the antennæ of insects.
But to return to the ornithorhynchus: It is an animal which from the similarity of its abode, and the manner of searching for food, agrees much with the duck, on which account it has been provided with an organ for touching, viz. with the integument of the beak, richly endowed with nerves. This instance of analogy in the structure of a singular organ of sense in two species of animals, from classes quite different, is a most curious circumstance in comparative physiology, and hence the ornithorhynchus is looked upon as one of the most remarkable phenomena in zoology.
We shall close this chapter with an account ofThe Marmot, orMountain-Rat of Switzerland.—This rat is almost the size of a leveret, and resembles a common rat very much in appearance. These little creatures live together in societies, and have different dwellings for winter and summer; their fore paws are remarkably strong, which qualifies them for scooping out their burrows. The same form is always preserved in the construction of their dwellings, which consist of a long passage, just big enough to let the marmot enter, leading to two apartments; the largest of these serves the whole family for a chamber, where they lie close together, in a torpid state, rolled up like hedge-hogs, during the cold season, as dormice do in England. When they betake themselves to their winter quarters, after having lined their chamber with soft hay, they carefully stop up the entrance with a sort of cement, which they make of earth, mixed with stones and dry grass. Before they collect the grass, either for food, or for their winter habitations, they form themselves into a circle, sitting on their hind legs, looking with a cautious eye on every side. If the least thing stirs that alarms them, the first which perceives it makes a particular kind of cry, which its next neighbour repeats, and so on till it goes round, when they hastily make their escape. They are often seen upon the slopes of the Alps, where grass is in plenty; but they love a warm sheltered situation, and change their residence according to the season.
CURIOSITIES RESPECTING ANIMALS.—(Continued.)
The Elephant—Fossil Elephant—The Chameleon—The Common Tortoise—Orang-Outang—The Unicorn—The Common Seal—The Ursine Seal—American Natural History.
The Elephant—Fossil Elephant—The Chameleon—The Common Tortoise—Orang-Outang—The Unicorn—The Common Seal—The Ursine Seal—American Natural History.
The Elephant.—This is a very wonderful animal; and has, both in ancient and modern times, been duly estimated in the Eastern world. His virtues are thus enumerated by Buffon:—To form a just estimation of the elephant, he must be allowed to possess the sagacity of the beaver, the address of the ape, the sentiment of the dog, together with the peculiar advantages of strength, largeness, and long duration of life. Neither should we overlook his arms or tusks, which enable him to transfix and conquer the lion! We should also consider that the earth shakes under his feet; that with his trunk, as with a hand, he tears up trees; that by a push of his body he makes a breach in a wall; that, though tremendous in strength, he is rendered still more invincible by his enormous mass, and by the thickness of his skin; that he can carry on his back an armed tower, filled with many warriors; that he works machines, and carries burdens, which six horses are unable to move; that to this prodigious strength he adds courage, prudence, coolness, and punctual obedience; that he preserves moderation even in his most violent passions; that he is constant and impetuous in love; that when in anger, he mistakes not his friends; that he never attacks any but those who offend him; that he remembers favours as long as injuries; that having no appetite for flesh, he feeds on vegetables alone, and is born an enemy to no living creature; and, in fine, that he is universally beloved, because all animals respect, and none have any reason to fear him!
The following account is extracted from Forbes’s Oriental Memoirs, a highly interesting work.
“The largest Elephants are from ten to eleven feet in height, some are said to exceed it; the average is eight or nine feet. They are fifty or sixty years before they arrive at their full growth; the female goes with young eighteen months, and seldom produces more than one at a birth, which she suckles until it is five years old: its natural life is about one hundredand twenty years. The Indians are remarkably fond of these animals, especially when they have been long in their service. I have seen an elephant valued at twenty thousand rupees: the common price of a docile well-trained elephant is five or six thousand; and in the countries where they are indigenous, the Company contract for them at five hundred rupees each, when they must be seven feet high at the shoulders. The mode of catching and training the wild elephants is now well known; their price increases with their merit during the course of education. Some, for their extraordinary qualities, become in a manner invaluable; when these are purchased, no compensation induces a wealthy owner to part with them.
“The skin of the elephant is generally of a dark grey, sometimes almost black; the face frequently painted with a variety of colours; and the abundance and splendour of his trappings add much to his consequence. The Mogul princes allowed five men and a boy to each elephant: the chief of them, called the mahawut, rode upon his neck, to guide him; another sat upon his rump, and assisted in battle; the rest supplied him with food and water, and performed the necessary services. Elephants bred to war, and well disciplined, will stand firm against a volley of musketry, and never give way unless severely wounded. I have seen one of those animals, with upwards of thirty bullets in the fleshy parts of his body, perfectly recovered from his wounds. All are not equally docile; and when an enraged elephant retreats from battle, nothing can withstand his fury; the driver having no longer a command, friends and foes are involved in undistinguished ruin.”
The elephants in the army of Antiochus were provoked to fight by shewing them the blood of grapes and mulberries. The history of the Maccabees informs us, that “to every elephant they appointed a thousand men, armed with coats of mail, and five hundred horsemen of the best: these were ready at every occasion; wherever the beast was, and whithersoever he went, they went also; and upon the elephant were strong towers of wood, filled with armed men, besides the Indian that ruled them.”
“Elephants in peace and war know their duty, and are more obedient to the word of command than many rational beings. It is said they can travel, on an emergency, two hundred miles in forty-eight hours; but will hold out for a month at the rate of forty or fifty miles a day, with cheerfulness and alacrity. I performed many long journeys upon an elephant given by Ragobah to Colonel Keating. Nothing could exceed the sagacity, docility, and affection, of this noble quadruped: if I stopped to enjoy a prospect, he remained immoveable until my sketch was finished; if I wished for ripe mangoes growingout of the common reach, he selected the most fruitful branch, and breaking it off with his trunk, offered it to the driver for the company in the houdah, accepting of any part given to himself with a respectful salem, by raising his trunk three times above his head, in the manner of the Oriental obeisance, and as often did he express his thanks by a murmuring noise. When a bough obstructed the houdah, he twisted his trunk around it, and, though of considerable magnitude, broke it off with ease, and often gathered a leafy branch, either to keep off the flies, or as a fan to agitate the air around him, by waving it with his trunk; he generally paid a visit at the tent door during breakfast, to procure sugar-candy or fruit, and be cheered by the encomiums and caresses he deservedly met with; no spaniel could be more innocent, playful, or fonder of those who noticed him, than this docile animal, that on particular occasions appeared conscious of his exaltation above the brute creation.”
The following account of the docility of the elephant, from ancient writers, will interest the reader.
“They have been taught to adore the king, says Aristotle, to dance, to throw stones at a mark, to cast up stones at a mark, to catch them again in their fall, and to walk upon ropes: Galba was the first, says Suetonius, that exhibited this at Rome. And these things they learned with such care, that they have often been found practising in the night what had been taught them in the day. They write too, says Pliny, speaking of one which wrote in the Greek tongue,Ipse ego hæc scripsi et spolia lettica dicavi. I myself saw, says Ælian, one of them writing Roman letters on a tablet with his trunk; and the letters he made were not ragged, but straight and even; and his eyes were fixed upon the tablet, as one that was serious. And in the plays that Germanicus Cæsar shewed at Rome, there were twelve elephants, six males and six females; these were clothed as men and women. At the command of their keeper, they danced, and performed all the gestures of a mimic. At last they were brought where they were to feast; a table was covered with all kinds of dainties, and beds were covered with purple carpets, after the manner of the Roman eating, for them to lie upon. Upon these they lay down, and, at the signal given, they reached out their trunks to the table, and with great modesty fell to eating, and ate and drank as civil men would do.”
This seems to be the most proper place for introducing an account ofThe Mammoth.
The Mammoth is a fossil Elephant; a most remarkable one of which was found in the ice, at the mouth of the river Lena, in Siberia.
The following account is extracted from an abridgment of a paper by Dr. Tilesius, from the Journal of Science.
“In the year 1805, when the Russian expedition under Krusenstern returned for the third time to Kamschatka, Patagof, master of a Russian ship, bringing victualling stores from Okotsk, related that he had lately seen a mammoth elephant, dug up on the shores of the Frozen Ocean, clothed with a hairy skin; and shewed, in confirmation of the fact, some hair three or four inches long, of a reddish black colour, a little thicker than horse hair, which he had taken from the skin of the animal: this he gave to me, says Dr. Tilesius, and I sent it to professor Blumembach. No further knowledge has been obtained on this subject, and unfortunately Patagof was not employed by any of our Societies to return to Siberia. Thus was this curious fact consigned to oblivion; nor should we now possess any information respecting the carcase of the mammoth, if the rumour of its discovery had not reached Mr. Adams, a man of great ardour in pursuit of science, who undertook the labour of a journey to these frozen regions, and of preparing these gigantic remains, and transporting them to a great distance.
“The preservation of the flesh of the mammoth through a long series of ages, is not to be wondered at, when we recollect the constant cold and frost of the climate in which it was found. It is a common practice to preserve meat and berries throughout the winter, by freezing them, and to send fish, and all other provisions, annually at that period, from the most remote of the northern provinces, to St. Petersburg, and other parts of the empire.
“I was told, at Jakutsk, says Mr. Adams, by the merchant Papoff, chief of the body of merchants in that town, that there had been discovered on the shores of the Frozen Ocean, near the mouth of the river Lena, an animal of extraordinary magnitude. The flesh, the skin, and the hair, were in a state of preservation, and it was supposed that the fossil production known under the name of mammoth’s horns, must have belonged to an animal of this species. The news of this interesting discovery determined me to hasten the journey which I had in contemplation, for the purpose of visiting the shores of the Lena, as far as the Frozen Ocean; wishing to preserve these precious remains, which might otherwise be lost.
“The third day of our journey we pitched our tents, at some hundred paces distant from the mammoth, on a hill, called Kembisaga-Shæta. Schumachof, a Tungusian chief, related to me, nearly in these terms, the history of the discovery of the mammoth.
“The Tungusians, who are a wandering people, remain but a little time in the same place. Those who live in the forests,often take ten years or more, to travel over the vast regions between the mountains: during this time, they do not once return to their habitations. Each family lives isolated, and knows no other society. If, during the course of several years, two friends meet by chance, they then communicate to each other their adventures, their different successes in hunting, and the number of skins they have obtained. After having passed some days together, and consumed the few provisions they had, they separate cheerfully, carrying each other’s compliments to their acquaintance, and trusting to Providence for another meeting. The Tungusians inhabiting the coast differ from the former, in having more regular and fixed habitations, and in collecting together at certain seasons for fishing and hunting. During winter, they inhabit cottages, built side by side, so that they form villages. It is to one of these annual trips that we owe the discovery of the mammoth.
“Towards the end of the month of August, when the fishing season in the Lena is over, Schumachof generally goes with his brothers to the peninsula of Tamut, where they employ themselves in hunting, and where the fresh fish of the sea offer them a wholesome and agreeable food. In 1799, he had constructed for his wife some cabins on the banks of the lake Oncoul, and had embarked, to seek along the coasts for mammoth horns. One day, he perceived along the blocks of ice a shapeless mass, not at all resembling the large pieces of floating wood which are commonly found there. To observe it nearer, he landed, climbed up a rock, and examined this new object on all sides, but without being able to discover what it was.
“The following year, 1800, he found the carcase of a Walrus, (Trichecus Rosmarus.) He perceived, at the same time, that the mass he had before seen was more disengaged from the blocks of ice, and had two projecting parts, but was still unable to make out its nature. Towards the end of the following summer, 1801, the entire side of the animal, and one of his tusks, were quite free from the ice. On his return to the borders of the lake Oncoul, he communicated this extraordinary discovery to his wife and some of his friends; but the way in which they considered the matter filled him with grief. The old men related, on this occasion, their having heard their fathers say, that a similar monster had been formerly seen in the same peninsula, and that all the family of the discoverer had died soon afterwards. The mammoth was therefore considered as an augury of future calamity, and the Tungusian chief was so alarmed, that he fell seriously ill; but becoming convalescent, his first idea was the profit which he might obtain by selling the tusks of the animal, whichwere of extraordinary size and beauty. He ordered that the place where the mammoth was found should be carefully concealed, and that strangers should, under different pretexts, be diverted from it, at the same time charging trust-worthy people to watch that the treasure was not carried off.
“But the summer of 1802, which was less warm and more windy than common, caused the mammoth to remain buried in the ice, which had scarcely melted at all. At length, towards the end of the fifth year, 1803, the ardent wishes of Schumachof were happily accomplished; for the part of the ice between the earth and the mammoth having melted more rapidly than the rest, the plane of its support became inclined, and this enormous mass fell, by its own weight, on a bank of sand. Of this, two Tungusians, who accompanied me, were witnesses.
“In the month of March, 1804, Schumachof came to his mammoth, and having cut off his horns (or tusks) he exchanged them with the merchant Bultunof, for goods of the value of fifty rubles.
“Two years afterwards, or the seventh after the discovery of the mammoth, I fortunately traversed these distant and desert regions, and I congratulate myself in being able to prove a fact which appears so improbable. I found the mammoth still in the same place, but altogether mutilated. The prejudices being dissipated, because the Tungusian chief had recovered his health, there was no obstacle to prevent approach to the carcase of the mammoth; the proprietor was content with his profit from the tusks, and the Jakutski of the neighbourhood seized upon the flesh, with which they fed their dogs during the scarcity. Wild beasts, such as white bears, wolves, wolverenes, and foxes, also fed upon it, and the traces of their footsteps were seen around. The skeleton, almost entirely cleared of its flesh, remained whole, with the exception of one fore leg. The head was covered with a dry skin; one of the ears, well preserved, was furnished with a tuft of hairs. All these parts have necessarily been injured in transporting them a distance of 11,000 wersts (7,330 miles:) yet the eyes have been preserved, and the pupil of the left eye can still be distinguished. The point of the lower lip had been gnawed; and the upper one having been destroyed, the teeth could be perceived. The brain was still in the cranium, but appeared dried up.
“The parts least injured are one fore foot and one hind foot; they are covered with skin, and have still the sole attached. According to the assertion of the Tungusian chief, the animal was so fat and well fed, that its belly hung down below the joints of the knees.
“This mammoth was a male, with a long mane on the neck,but without tail or proboscis.[5]The skin, of which I possess three-fourths, is of a dark grey colour, covered with a reddish wool, and black hairs. The dampness of the spot where the animal had lain so long, had in some degree destroyed the hair. The entire carcase, of which I collected the bones on the spot, is four archines (9 ft. 4 in.) high, and seven archines (16 ft. 4 in.) long, from the point of the nose to the end of the tail, without including the tusks, which are a toise and a half[6]in length; the two together weighed 360 lbs. avoirdupois; the head alone, without the tusks, weighs 11 poods and a half, 414 lbs. avoirdupois.
“The principal object of my care was to separate the bones, to arrange them, and put them up safely, which was done with particular attention. I had the satisfaction to find the other scapula, which had remained not far off. I next detached the preserved parts. The skin was of such extraordinary weight, that ten persons found great difficulty in transporting it to the shore. After this, I dug the ground in different places, to ascertain whether any of its bones were buried, but principally to collect all the hairs,[7]which the white bears had trod into the ground, while devouring the flesh. Although this was difficult, for the want of proper instruments, I succeeded in collecting more than a pood (36 pounds) of hair in a few days the work was completed, and I found myself in possession of a treasure which amply recompensed me for the fatigues and dangers of the journey, and the considerable expenses of the enterprise.
“The place where I found the mammoth is about sixty paces distant from the shore, and nearly 100 paces from the escarpment of the ice from which it had fallen. This escarpment occupies exactly the middle between the two points of the peninsula, and is three wersts long (two miles), and in the place where the mammoth was found, this rock has a perpendicular elevation of 30 or 40 toises. Its substance is a clear pure ice; it inclines towards the sea; its top is covered with a layer of moss and friable earth, half an archine (14 inches) in thickness. During the heat of the month of July a part of this crust is melted, but the rest remains frozen. Curiosity induced me to ascend two other hills at some distance from the sea; they were of the same substance, and less covered with moss. In various places were seen enormous pieces of wood, of all thekinds produced in Siberia; and also mammoths’ horns, in great numbers, appeared between the hollows of the rocks; they all were of astonishing freshness.
“How all these things could become collected there, is a question as curious as it is difficult to resolve. The inhabitants of the coast call this kind of wood Adamschina, and distinguish it from the floating pieces of wood which are brought down by the large rivers to the ocean, and collect in masses on the shores of the Frozen Sea. The latter are called Noachina. I have seen, when the ice melts, large lumps of earth detached from the hills, mix with the water, and form thick muddy torrents, which roll slowly towards the sea. This earth forms wedges, which fill up the spaces between the blocks of ice.
“The escarpment of ice was 35 to 40 toises high; and, according to the report of the Tungusians, the animal was, when they first saw it, seven toises below the surface of the ice, &c.
“On arriving with the mammoth at Bonchaya, our first care was to separate the remaining flesh and ligaments from the bones, which were then packed up. When I arrived at Jakutsk, I had the good fortune to re-purchase the tusks, and from thence expedited the whole to St. Petersburg.
“The skeleton is now put up in the museum of the Academy, and the skin still remains attached to the head and feet. The mammoth is described by M. Cuvier as a different species from either of the two elephants living at the present day, the African or the Indian. It is distinguished from them by the teeth, and by the size of the tusks, which are from ten to fifteen feet long, much curved, and have a spiral turn outwards. The alveali of the tusks are also larger, and are protruded farther. The neck is shorter, the spinal processes larger, all the bones of the skeleton are stronger, and the scabrous surfaces for the insertion of the muscles more prominent, than in the other species. The skin being covered with thick hair, induces M. Cuvier to consider that it was the inhabitant of a cold region. The form of the head is also different from that of the living species, as well as the arrangement of the lines of the enamel of the teeth.”
The mammoth more nearly resembles the Indian than the African species of elephant.
A part of the skin, and some of the hair of this animal, was sent by Mr. Adams to the late Sir Joseph Banks, who presented them to the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.
From Forbes’s work we extract the following particulars respectingThe Chameleon.
The greatest curiosity in the East, says Forbes, is theChameleon, found in every thicket. I kept one for several weeks, of which, as it differed in many respects from those described in Arabia, and other places, I shall mention a few particulars. The chameleon of the Concan, including the tail, is about nine inches long; the body only half that length, varying in circumference, as it is more or less inflated; the head, like that of a fish, is immoveably fixed to the shoulders; but every inconvenience is removed by the structure of its eyes, which, like spheres rolling on an invisible axis, are placed in deep cavities, projecting from the head; through a small perforation in the exterior convexity, appears a bright pupil, surrounded with a yellow iris, which, by the singular formation and motion of the eye, enables the animal to see what passes before, behind, or on either side; and it can give one eye all these motions, while the other remains perfectly still; a hard rising protects these delicate organs, another extends from the forehead to the nostrils: the mouth is large, and furnished with teeth, with a tongue half the length of the body, and hollow like an elephant’s trunk; it darts nimbly at flies and other insects, which it seems to prefer to the aërial food generally supposed to be its sustenance. The legs are longer than usual in the licerta genus; on the fore feet are three toes nearest the body, and two without; the hinder exactly the reverse; with these claws it clings fast to the branches, to which it sometimes entwines itself by the tail, and remains suspended; the skin is granulated like shagreen, except a range of hard excrescences, or denticulations, on the ridge of the back, which are always of the same colour as the body; whereas a row of similar projections beneath continue perfectly white, notwithstanding any metamorphosis of the animal.
The general colour of the chameleon so long in my possession, was a pleasant green, spotted with pale blue; from this it changed to a bright yellow, dark olive, and a dull green; but never appeared to such advantage as when irritated, or a dog approached it; the body was then considerably inflated, and the skin clouded like tortoise-shell, its shades of yellow, orange, green, and black. A black object always caused an almost instantaneous transformation: the room appropriated for its accommodation was skirted by a board painted black; this the chameleon carefully avoided; but if he accidentally drew near it, or we placed a black hat in his way, he was reduced to a hideous skeleton, and, from the most lively tints, became black as jet: on removing the cause, the effect as suddenly ceased; the sable hue was succeeded by a brilliant colouring, and the body was again inflated.
Our next subject isThe Common Tortoise.—The weight of this animal is three pounds, and the length of its shellabout seven inches. It abounds in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean, and particularly in Greece, where the inhabitants not only eat its flesh and eggs, but frequently swallow its warm blood. In September or October it conceals itself, remaining torpid till February, when it re-appears. In June it lays its eggs, in holes exposed to the full beams of the sun, by which they are matured. The males frequently engage in severe conflicts, and strike their heads against each other with great violence, and very loud sounds. Tortoises attain most extraordinary longevity, and one was ascertained to have lived in the gardens of Lambeth to the age of nearly 120 years. Its shell is preserved in the archiepiscopal palace. So reluctant is the vital principle to quit these animals, that Shaw informs us, from Redi, that one of them lived for six months after all its brain was taken out, moving its limbs, and walking, as before. Another lived twenty-three days after its head was cut off, and the head itself opened and closed its jaws for a quarter of an hour after its separation from the body. It may not only be tamed, but has in several instances exhibited proofs, in that state, of considerable sagacity in distinguishing its benefactors, and of grateful attachment in return for their kindness, notwithstanding its general sluggishness and torpor. It will answer the purpose of a barometer, and uniformly indicates the fall of rain before night, when it takes its food with great rapidity, and walks with a sort of mincing and elate step. It appears to dislike rain with extreme aversion, and is discomfited and driven back by only a few and scarcely perceivable drops.
The following particulars respecting the Instinct of the Tortoise, are copied from Vaillant’s Travels in Africa.—“It is very remarkable, that when the waters are dried up by excessive heat, the tortoises, which always seek for moisture, bury themselves under the earth, in proportion as the surface of it becomes dry. To find them, it is then sufficient to dig to a considerable depth, in the spot where they have concealed themselves. They remain as if asleep, and never awake, or make their appearance, until the rainy season has filled the ponds and small lakes, on the borders of which they deposit their eggs, where they continue exposed to the air; they are as large as those of a pigeon; they leave to the heat and the sun the care of hatching them. These eggs have an excellent taste; the white, which never grows hard by the force of fire, preserves the transparency of a bluish jelly. I do not know whether this instinct be common to every species of water tortoises, and whether they all employ the same means; but this I can assert, that every time, during the great droughts, when I wished to procure any of them, by digging in those places where there had been water, I always found as manyas I had occasion for. This method of fishing, or whatever else it may be called, was not new to me; for at Surinam a stratagem of the same kind is employed to catch two species of fish, which bury themselves also; and which are called, one thevarappe, and the other thegorretor thekevikwi.”
The next curious animal which we shall consider, is,The Orang-Outang.—This animal is sometimes called the satyr, great ape, or man of the woods. It is a native of the warmer parts of Africa and India, as well as of some of the Indian islands, where it resides principally in woods, and is supposed to feed, like most others of this genus, on fruits. The orang-outang appears to admit of considerable variety in point of colour, size, and proportions; and there is reason to believe, that, in reality, there may be two or three kinds, which, though nearly approximated as to general similitude, are yet specifically distinct. The specimens imported into Europe have rarely exceeded the height of two or three feet, and were supposed to be young animals; but it is said the full-grown ones are, at least, six feet in height. The general colour seems to be dusky or brown, in some ferruginous or reddish brown; and in others coal-black, with the skin itself white. The face is bare; the ears, hands, and feet, nearly similar to the human, and the whole appearance such as to exhibit the most striking approximation to the human figure. The likeness, however, is only a general one, and the structure of the hands and feet, when examined with anatomical exactness, seems to prove, in the opinion of those most capable of judging with accuracy on the subject, that the animal was principally designed by nature for the quadrupedal manner of walking, and not for an upright posture, which is only occasionally assumed, and which, in those exhibited to the public, is, perhaps, rather owing to instruction, than truly natural.
The Count de Buffon, indeed, makes it one of the distinctive characters of the real or proper apes, (among which the orang-outang is the chief,) to walk erect on two legs only; and it must be granted, that these animals support an upright position much more easily and readily than most other quadrupeds, and may probably be very often seen in this attitude even in a state of nature.
The manners of the orang-outang, when in captivity, are gentle, and perfectly void of that disgusting ferocity so conspicuous in some of the larger baboons and monkeys. The orang-outang is mild and docile, and may be taught to perform, with dexterity, a variety of actions in domestic life. Thus, it has been taught to sit at table, and, in its manner of feeding and general behaviour, to imitate the company in which it was placed; to pour out tea, and drink it, withoutawkwardness or constraint; to prepare its bed with exactness, and compose itself to sleep in a proper manner. Such are the actions of one which was exhibited in London, in the year 1738; and the Count de Buffon relates nearly similar particulars of that which he saw at Paris.
Dr. Tyson, who, about the close of the last century, gave a very exact description of a young orang-outang, then exhibited in the metropolis, assures us, that in many of its actions it seemed to display a very high degree of sagacity, and was of a disposition uncommonly gentle; “the most gentle and loving creature that could be. Those that he knew on shipboard, he would come and embrace with the greatest tenderness, opening their bosoms, and clasping his hands about them; and, as I was informed, though there were monkeys on board, yet it was observed, he would never associate with them, and, as if nothing akin to them, would always avoid their company.”
But, however docile and gentle when taken young, and instructed in its behaviour, it is said to be possessed of great ferocity in its native state, and is considered as a dangerous animal, capable of readily overpowering the strongest man. Its swiftness is equal to its strength, and for this reason it is but rarely to be obtained in its full-grown state, the young alone being taken.
The next is,The Unicorn.—The following account is extracted from the St. James’s Chronicle of Dec. 19 to 21, 1820.
“We have no doubt that a little time will bring to light many objects of natural history, peculiar to the elevated regions of central Asia, and hitherto unknown in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, particularly in the two former. This is an opinion which we have long entertained; but we are led to the expression of it on the present occasion, by having been favoured with the perusal of a most interesting communication from Major Latter, commanding in the Rajah of Sikkim’s territories, in the hilly country east of Nepaul, addressed to Adjutant-General Nicol, and transmitted by him to the Marquis of Hastings. This important paper explicitly states, that the Unicorn, so long considered a fabulous animal, actually exists at this moment in the interior of Thibet, where it is well known to the inhabitants.
“This (we copy from the Major’s letter) is a very curious fact, and it may be necessary to mention how the circumstance became known to me. In a Thibetian manuscript, containing the names of different animals, procured the other day from the hills, the Unicorn is classed under the head of those whose hoofs are divided; it is called the One-horned Tso’-po.Upon inquiring what kind of animal it was, to our astonishment, the person who brought me the manuscript, described exactly the Unicorn of the ancients: saying, that it was a native of the interior of Thibet, about the size of a tattoo (a horse from 12 to 13 hands high,) fierce, and extremely wild; seldom, if ever, caught alive, but frequently shot; and that the flesh was used for food.
“The person (Major Latter adds) who gave me this information, has repeatedly seen these animals, and eaten the flesh of them. They go together in herds, like our wild buffaloes, and are very frequently to be met with on the borders of the great desert, about a month’s journey from Lassa, in that part of the country inhabited by the wandering Tartars. This communication is accompanied by a drawing, made by the messenger from recollection: it bears some resemblance to a horse, but has cloven hoofs, a long curved horn growing out of the forehead, and a boar-shaped tail, like that of the ‘fera monoceros,’ described by Pliny.[8]From their herding together, as the Unicorns of the scripture are said to do, as well as from the rest of the description, it is evident that this singular animal cannot be the rhinoceros, which is a solitary creature; besides that, in the Thibetian manuscript, the rhinoceros is described under the name of Servo, and classed with the elephant. Neither can it be the wild horse, well known in Thibet, for that also has a different name, and is classed in the MS. with the animals which have the hoofs undivided.—I have written (he subjoins) to the Sachia Lama, requesting him to procure me a perfect skin of the animal, with the head, horn, and hoofs; but it will be a long time before I can get it down, for they are not to be met with nearer than a month’s journey from Lassa.”
We now make a few remarks onSeals.—First, theCommon Seal.
These animals are found on the coasts of the polar regions, both to the north and south, often in extreme abundance, and are generally about five feet in length, closely covered with short hair. They swim with great vigour and rapidity, and subsist on various kinds of fish, which they are often observed to pursue within a short distance of the shore. They possess no inconsiderable sagacity, and may, without muchdifficulty, if taken young, be familiarized to their keepers, and instructed in various gesticulations. They are supposed to attain great longevity. The female is particularly attentive to her young, and scarcely ever produces more than two at a birth, which, after being suckled a fortnight on the shore, where they are always born, are conducted to the water, and taught by their dam the means of defence and subsistence; and when they are fatigued by their excursions, are relieved by being taken on her back. They distinguish her voice, and attend at her call. The flesh of seals is sometimes eaten, but they are almost always destroyed for their oil and skins. The latter are manufactured into very valuable leather, and the former is serviceable in a vast variety of manufactures. A young seal will supply about eight gallons of oil. The smell of these animals, in any great number upon the shore, is highly disagreeable. In the month of October, they are generally considered as most valuable; and as they abound in extended caverns on the coast, which are washed by the tide, the hunters proceed to these retreats about midnight, advancing with their boat as far into the recess as they are able, armed with spears and bludgeons, and furnished with torches, to enable them to explore the cavern. They begin their operations by making the most violent noises, which soon rouse the seals from their slumbers, and awaken them to a sense of extreme danger, which they express by the most hideous yellings of terror. In their eagerness to escape, they come down from all parts of the cavern, running in a promiscuous and turbulent mass along the avenue to the water. The men engaged in this perilous adventure oppose no impediment to this rushing crowd, but, as this begins to diminish, apply their weapons with great activity and success, destroying vast numbers, and principally the young ones. The blow of the hunter is always levelled at the nose of the seal, where a slight stroke is almost instantly fatal.