c ^-'^^'m^^^ 
 
 
 >.^* 
 
 ^;<. 
 
 > lo;^: 
 
 
 )f California 
 
 Regional 
 
 Facility 
 
 ,v^, ' 
 
 ■'m- 
 
 m' 
 
 -4^' 
 
 !^JtJ*V" 
 
 ?5^- 
 
 *^ » , y.. 

 
 
 ^y /y^tr^^'^^ /i^a-^ /^
 
 .lT'lWi'n\\mmi^mm»m'm-,„0f»it
 
 J 
 
 ''MFm 
 
 hii'^^A 
 
 ih\v 
 
 o 
 
 JOl-i-JS J.Kt> 
 
 M 
 
 -THJajyQri- '-s^
 
 THE 
 
 WONDERS 
 
 or 
 
 ANIMATED NATURE ; 
 
 / 
 
 CONSlSTIXfJ OF 
 
 DESCRIPTIOXS AT LARCE 
 ENGRAVED REPRESENTATIONS 
 
 OF THE PniNClPAL 
 
 ANIMALS AND BIRDS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 KOYAL MENx\GERIES 
 
 OP 
 
 LONDON AND PARIS. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM LA CEP ED E, 
 
 «^»IT« CONSIDERABLE ADDITI07VS BY THE KXGUSH EPrxOE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 I'HIXTED FOR RICHARD PHILLIPS, 
 
 Ami to be bad of all Lookseilers. 
 
 PrL-ff Eiiiht Shininiif, 
 
 1810. 
 
 n. Fiial^'Piinter, Old Bailey, Loadeii.
 
 LIST OF THE J^LATES AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 face; 
 The Lion -«----..-_-- 5 
 
 The Lioness and Whelps 20 
 
 The Male Ostrich ------_- 33 
 
 The Female Ditto ib. 
 
 The Camel 55 
 
 " The Dromedary .. ^5 
 
 The hidian Elephant --- — . . q\ 
 
 The Female Elephant -----._ ib- 
 
 Thc Cassowary -- — --= Hg 
 
 The Black Bear ----- — - 125 
 
 The White Bear -_. 13^ 
 
 Thii Rhinoceros -- — «-- 244 
 
 The Quagga --- — ---- .-_. 267 
 
 The Civet ------«---,--.._.. 2'j'5 
 
 The TcJmeumon --"■««.-*-.«-,. .«^» jgg 
 
 20531 1 TO
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In the time of Pliny, there were several valuable 
 collections of animals in Rome, then the capital 
 of the world. These were the property of several 
 rich and noble Romans ; and from them were 
 written the descriptions in the well-known Natural 
 History of that celebrated ancient. 
 
 Daring the reign of Louis the Fourteenth, 
 there was established at Versailles a menagerie, 
 to which the work of Perrault is indebted for its 
 origin. That institution was continued during 
 the reign of Louis the Fifteenth ; when, from the 
 same source, in a great measure, Buffon's Na- 
 tural History was given to the world. 
 
 Buflbn,LinnsBus, and Daubenton, gave to the 
 mind, a new impulse for the study of nature, and 
 for the application of that study to purposes of 
 public utiiity. In many countries of Europe, es- 
 tablishments were formed, which may be consi- 
 dered as tlie ground-work or models of the fourth 
 kind of menagerie. 
 
 After the firy of the Revolution had in some 
 mtaaure subside<l, the cultivators of natural iiis- 
 tory were gratified by the erection of a National 
 Museum a;jd Menai';erie in Paris, on a scale so 
 grand anl txteus^ve y.s to demand universal ap- 
 plause. The cdfc and management of this insti- 
 tution were given to men of high and deserved
 
 (J INTRODUCTIOK. 
 
 celebrity. The animals that were left of the Me- 
 nagerie at Versailles, were sent hither. The 
 plan of small cages, formerly adopted for the con- 
 iinement of animals, was now changed for that 
 of inclosures and dens, of such magnitude as to 
 allow them room for exercise, and for the full de- 
 relopement of their faculties and strength. 
 
 ** This immense menagerie (says M. LaC^pede) 
 may be compared to a varied and lively country, 
 where the different species of animals are indulg- 
 ed with as much liberty as, in such a situation, 
 it is possible to allow them, without danger to 
 the numerous, and sometimes imprudent, spec- 
 tators who visit them ; — where the shelter, situa^ 
 tion, and care that is paid to them, are in the 
 foest possible degree adapted to their organization ; 
 and where,living in the midst of the trees and plants 
 of their respective countries, or at least among 
 such as are most nearly allied to those of their na- 
 tive soil, they amuse themselves in their peculiar 
 frolics and gambols. Here they neither experi- 
 ence the pain of exile, nor the loss of their inde- 
 pendence ; and they present to the eye of the 
 observer a faithful representation of the living 
 productions of nature of all the most remarkable 
 countries of the globe. 
 
 There are three principal objects in this esta- 
 blishment. 
 
 The first is to satisfy public curiosity ; to give 
 a lasting and easy instruction under the induce- 
 ment of satisfaction and delight to observe the 
 natural habits of the animals, and to view the 
 species themselves which hitherto have chiefly 
 been represented to us by the portraits of Pliny, 
 Linnaeus, and Butfon; to substitute, for attitudes, 
 of constraint, the movements of independence, 
 and, for the privations of slavery, the enjoyments 
 of freedom; and, by this essential change no long-^ 
 er to injure the morals and the feelings of mankind.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 by exposing to their views animals experiencing 
 torture,which no system, adopted either for use or 
 curiosity, can justify. 
 
 The second object is to give to naturalists the 
 only possible means of perfecting, in any exten- 
 sive degree, their knowledge of zoology ; and 
 the third, to be of service to society, by rearing 
 and domesticating such foreign animals as may 
 be of use in public economy. 
 
 It is greatly to be lamented that similar in« 
 stitutions are not formed in every civilized country 
 of the world, since the most essential services 
 \vould be derived from them, not only for the 
 improvement of the science of natural history 
 but likewise of public and general utility. In 
 England, the Menagerie in the Tower of London 
 contains the only national collection of animals 
 that we possess ; and these are principally con- 
 fined to the larger species, such, chiefly, as lions, 
 tigers, leopards, &c. 
 
 The dens in the front yard or court are only 
 five in number. They form the segment of a 
 circle, elevated about four feet from the ground, 
 and are secured in front, each by a strong iron 
 grate. To each of them there is a small flight 
 of steps that leads into the bed-place of the ani- 
 mal, which is below, and on the ground. This 
 lower apartment is divided into two by a strong 
 boarded partition, which the keepers can draw 
 out or thrust in at their pleasure. By means of 
 this, they are enabled to confine the animal to his 
 bed-place, whiles they enter and ascend the steps, 
 to clean out or repair the upper apartment ; or 
 to confine him above, while they fresh litter his 
 bed. The second court contains nine regularly 
 built dens, and five others that are smaller and 
 difierently constructed. . 
 
 In the five dens of the first court-yard of the
 
 5 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Tower, are now confined one Lion, three Liori<- 
 ■. esses, and a spotted Hyaena. In the dens of the 
 second or inner court, are, 1. A male Leopard, 
 that was given to the Prince of Wales by Mr. 
 Devaynes, the banker, who imported it from 
 Bombay ; 2. A female Panther, called Traveller, 
 sent over by the Dey of Algiers ; 3. A young 
 Lion, called Nero, about three years old, a pre- 
 sent from the Emperor of Morocco; 4. A beau- 
 tiful female Leopard from the coast of Malabar ; 
 a very fierce Lioness, called Fanny, which was 
 whelped in the Tower in the month of May, 
 1792 ; 6. A black female Leopard from Malabar 
 which was given to the King by Governor Hut- 
 chinson, and landed in England in theyear 1799 ; 
 6. A Tiger from Bengal, called Harry ; and 7. 
 Three hunting Tigers, taken at the siege of Se- 
 ringapatam, and sent over to this country by the 
 Marquis Wallesley. 
 
 The Menagerie at Exeter 'Change contains 
 some valuable animals : but they are the private 
 property of an individual,who keeps them for the 
 purpose of making money by the exhibition o£ 
 them.
 
 OF THE LION. 
 
 WE are not to be surprised that an animal so 
 majestic, and, in every respect, so terrible as the 
 Lion, should, in all ages, have attracted the at- 
 tention of travellers, and of those who delight in 
 the exercises of the chase ; and at the same time 
 have given rise to innumerable exaggerated and 
 fabulous relations. It has supplied images to 
 poets and orators ; and the fables, from their fre- 
 quent repetition, have been admitted into the 
 writingsof naturalists, and been afterwards con- 
 sidered as founded in fact, by those who have had 
 no opportunity of observing the animals them- 
 selves, and who have not had discrimination suffi- 
 cient to judge correctly of the assertions of others. 
 
 We ought not, however, from these examples, 
 to reject all the circumstances relating to this 
 animal which the ancients have recorded, and 
 which have not been verified by the moderns. — 
 They had many more opportunities for observa- 
 tion than the moderns have; and were thus en- 
 abled to observe many faots which may have 
 escaped notice in latter times. Many countries 
 were formely infested by Lions, where none are 
 now to be seen. It is well known that they have
 
 10 THE LION. 
 
 long been extirpated from Europe ; and yet, in 
 the time of Aristotle, tliey were found in all the 
 mountains of tlie north of Greece, from the river 
 Nestus, near Abdera, in Tlirace, almost to the 
 Achelous in Acarnania. According to Herodotus, 
 the camels that carried the baggage of the army 
 of Xerxes, were attacked by Lions in PaBonia, 
 one of the countries of Macedon. Pausanias, 
 who records the same fact, adds, that these 
 Lions often went southward as far as Mount 
 Olympus, which' separated Macedonia from 
 Thessaly. At present, the Lion is by no means 
 common even in Asia, if we except some coun- 
 tries between India and Persia, and some districts 
 of Arabia. ^ 
 
 In short, in those countries which Lions chief- 
 ly inhabit, their numbers were infinitely greater 
 in former times than they are at present. It i& 
 scarcely to be conceived how, otherwise, the Ro- 
 mans were able to procure the prodigious number 
 of these animals, which, from time to time, they 
 exhibited in their public shows. Pliny has sup- 
 plied us with details on this subject, which al- 
 most surpass all belief. *' Quintus Scaevola (he 
 *' says) was the first who exhibited many of them 
 *' at once in the Circus, during the time he was 
 •* aedile. Sylla^ in his praetorship, had a hundred 
 *• Lions, all males, to fight at the same time.— 
 " Pompey afterwards six hundred (of which three
 
 THE LION-, 11 
 
 " hundred and fifty were males), and Caesar four 
 *' hundred." Seneca, it is true, informs us that 
 those of Sylla had been sent to him by Bocchus, 
 king of Mauritania; but, at this day, the princes 
 of that country consider one or two of these 
 animals asa grand present. The same abundance 
 continued, during some time, under the empe- 
 rors: but, in the second age, it appears to have 
 begun to diminish, since Eutropius then consi- 
 dered the appearance of a hundred Lions, in the 
 triumph of Marcus Aurelius, as an exhibition of 
 great magnificence. It was at length considered 
 necessary to prohibit the combat of Lions in the 
 mass, and to confine it to that of single animals, 
 lest there should be a want of animals for the 
 Circus. This law, however, was repealed by 
 Honorius; th€ destruction continued, and the 
 pursuing of Lions for the supply of the games^ 
 drove them to seek for security in the depths of 
 the forests, where to the present day they still 
 confine themselves. 
 
 This great supply of Lions afforded good op- 
 portunities for taming and domesticating some of 
 the species ; and consequently their education 
 was carried to such perfection, as to be truly 
 astonishing. Hanno, a Carthaginian, was the 
 first who tamed a Lion ; and he was condemned 
 to death for what his fellow-citizens considered 
 so great a crime; they asserted, that the repul -
 
 12 THE LION. 
 
 lie had to fear the worst conse([uences from a man 
 who had been able to subdue so much ferocity. — 
 A little more experience, however, convinced 
 them of the fallacy of that ridiculous judgment. 
 The triumvir Antony, accompanied by the ac- 
 tress Cytheris, was publicly drawn by Lions in a 
 chariot. 
 
 It is not surprising that the ancients, who saw 
 so much of these animals, should, in many re- 
 spects, have been better acquainted with them 
 than we are; and that many facts, which now 
 astonish us, did not escape their observation. — 
 Such, among others, is the facility with which a 
 Lion, in captivity, will attach himself to his 
 companions, even though of a different species, 
 ^lian, quoting Eudemus, speaks of the affection 
 entertained by a Lion for a dog. He informs us 
 that a Lion, a dog, and a bear, lived together in 
 the most intimate friendship. The attachment 
 between the two first was most tender. The 
 tlog, in one of his frolics, having by accident 
 bitten the bear, the natural ferocity of that ani- 
 mal returned, and lie tore the offender to pieces, 
 but the irritated Lion revenged the death of his 
 companion, by immediately destroying the bear. 
 
 The ancients were not ignorant of moat of the 
 circumstances relative to the production of the 
 Lion. Plutarch expressly says that the Lioness 
 is the only carnivorous animal whose offspring
 
 THE LION. 13 
 
 come into the world with their eyes open ; and 
 iElian informs us that Democritus had asserted 
 the same thing long before Plutarch. There are 
 known to be varieties of the Lion species, which 
 in modern times have not been observed by any 
 naturalist or traveller ; and others which have 
 been only lately re-observed. Among the latter 
 is the Lion without a mane, mentioned bySolinus 
 and Oppian, which they have attributed to a 
 mule breed between the Lioness and the Leopard. 
 M. Olivier, in his travels in Persia, has assured 
 us that such a race, exists at this time in the 
 neighbourhood of Bagdad. The ancient writers 
 speak of black Lions. Those of India, according 
 to iElian, were of that colour, as likewise those 
 of Syria, according to Pliny ; and those of yEthio- 
 pia, according to Oppian. It is well known, 
 that, in all countries inhabited by these animais, 
 there are some more brown than others; and 
 many of the latter may have a blackish cast. The 
 one represented in the engraving which accom- 
 panies the present account, was much browner, 
 and had the hair of the under parts of his body, 
 considerably more black, than is usual in Lions 
 that are now brought to Europe. 
 
 It is very probable that formerly Lions may 
 have been observed with frizzled hair, although 
 none of the modern travellers speak of having 
 seen them. The ancients appear to have remark-
 
 14 THE LION^ 
 
 ed this race more commonly than any of the 
 others, since they have so often represented it in 
 their statues and bas-reliefs. They assert that 
 it was the most cowardly of any, and most easily 
 to be subdued. If it were not for this circum- 
 stance we might suppose, with one of the most 
 celebrated of the French antiquaries, that the 
 frizzled Lions were those of Thrace; but such an 
 opinion could not be correct, since Pliny assures 
 us that the Thracian Lions were much more 
 strong and powerful animals than those either of 
 Egypt or of Syria. 
 
 The reports of the ancients respecting the ge- 
 nerosity of the Lion, his regard for weakness, and 
 particularly the strength of his memory, are ii> 
 many respects very extraordinary ; and, though 
 not perhaps entitled to imlimited credence, yet 
 there is reason to suppose that the greater part »f 
 them at least are founded in fact. Pliny relates 
 that the Lion has such respect for the female sex 
 and for infants, that he will on no occasion attack 
 them ; and this is repeated by the Italian travel- 
 ler Misson. A tame Lion, which escaped from 
 bondage and was retaken, is said to have recog- 
 nized his keeper at the moment he was about to 
 spring upon and devour him. This might have 
 irappened in one of the combats at the Circus : a 
 criminal might contrive to fight with an a limal 
 that his master kept [and which he might hare
 
 previously caressed and attended), in the hope 
 of obtaining pardon from so singular and interest- 
 ing a circumstance. The story of Androcles is 
 well known. 
 
 There still remain many particulars i-especting 
 the history of the Lion, which are very doubt- 
 ful; such as the taste of his flesh, which Buffon 
 and others assert to be very unpleasant, and which 
 Dr. Shaw, in his travels in Barbary, has on the 
 contrary declared to be much like that of the 
 cow. The latter writer, however, appears to be 
 correct, as Cuvier was informed by a whimsical 
 man who had tasted the flesh of a great number 
 of wild animals. 
 
 It is not yet agreed to what age the Lion wilt 
 live. Buffon reasoning from the period of ges- 
 tation, has believed the natural duration of his 
 life to be somewhat more than twenty-five years ; 
 but, in the Tower of London, Lions have been 
 kept, which were known to be between sixty and 
 seventy years old. 
 
 The Lion, whose figure accompanies the pre- 
 sent account, is one of ^he most beautiful animals 
 of his kind that have ever been seen in captivity* 
 He was caught, about ten years ago, between 
 Constantine and Bonne, in the dominion of the 
 Dey of Algiers after a chase of three days. — 
 The Bey of Constantine presented him to the 
 French republic; and he is at thisthne deposited
 
 16 THE LTOIS'. 
 
 in the Menagerie of the Museum at Paris. His 
 mane did not begin to appear for nearly three 
 years and a half after he was landed in France ; 
 and it increased in length and thickness every 
 year for a considerable length of time. The color 
 of the animal grows continually darker. When 
 caught, he was scarcely twelve months old ; and 
 his teeth were then cutting. 
 
 This Lion devours every day ten pounds of 
 flesh, and laps about half a pail full of water. 
 
 The keepers of the animals, in the Tower of 
 London, and in Exeter 'Change, assert that no 
 person can safely approach the Lions while they 
 are eating. Instances, however, have occurred, 
 in which dogs, kept in the same den, have even 
 been allowed by the magnanimous beasts to par- 
 take of their food. The Lion Hector, in the Me- 
 nagerie at Exeter 'Change, was so tame as to 
 permit the keeper to enter his den, and play 
 with him: but the man was never so rash as to 
 attempt any familiarities during the time of his 
 feeding. This animal was so much attached to 
 his keeper, that, during the man's absence, occa- 
 sioned by illness, he refused a considerable part 
 of his food, and exhibited symptoms of the great- 
 est uneasiness. As soon as the man recovered, 
 he went up to the den, the animal seemed over- 
 joyed at the rc-appearance of his friend, and from 
 that time took his food as usual.
 
 THE LION. 17 
 
 A Lion, about three months old, was caught 
 in 1787 in one of the forests of Senegal, in 
 Africa; and Pelletau, at that time the director 
 of the African company in that colony, under- 
 took to superintend the animal's education. The 
 mildness of his physiognomy and the unusual 
 gentleness of his disposition rendered this Lion 
 a great favourite with all persons who saw him. 
 Sensible of the good treatment that he received, 
 he seemed, on all occasions, highly delighted 
 with the caresses and attention of his friends, 
 and was, in most respects, as tractable as any 
 domestic animal could h,e. Such was his love of 
 society, that he was always delighted to be in a 
 Toom where many persons were assembled : and 
 what was very extraordinary, he lived, in perfect 
 harmony, and was at all times on the best 
 terms, with the other animals of every spe- 
 cies, that were kept in his master's house. He 
 slept in the same place with sheep, dogs, cats, 
 monkeys, geese, ducks, &c. When he was about 
 eight months old, a bitch produced two whelps 
 on his bed. This new family excited a most 
 lively interest in the Lion : and if he had been 
 the parent of the little animals, he could not 
 have displayed for them an attachment more 
 tender than that which was remarked in him. — 
 One of the whelps died ; his affection was re- 
 doubled towards the one that was U ft ; and this
 
 18 THE LIOW. 
 
 affection appeared to regulate all his movement?, 
 —At the age of fourteen months, this Lion was 
 (in 1788) embarked, with his little companion, for 
 France. It was feared that the change of situation 
 and habits would have such influence as to render 
 him in some degree ferocious. This, however, 
 was not the case : he was always the same, and 
 could at all times be allowed to range at liberty 
 in the vessel. He was landed at Havre, and (at- 
 tended by his faithful dog) was, with only a cord 
 attached to his collar, conducted thence to Ver- 
 sallies. On the death of the dog, which took 
 place some little time after their arrival at Ver- 
 sailles, he seemed to be very disconsolate and 
 miserable; and it was thought necessary to sup- 
 ply the loss of his companion by putting into 
 his den another animal of the same species. 
 The second dog, terrified at the sight of so tre- 
 mendous a beast, immediately endeavoured, to 
 conceal himself; and the Lion, surprised by the 
 noise, struck the animal with one of his fore 
 paws, and killed it on the spot. He did not, 
 however, attempt to devour it. A third dog was 
 put into his den, and lived with him for some 
 years afterwards. 
 
 No instances have occurred, in England, of 
 Lions having allowed any other animals to be 
 inmates with them, except dogs. The Lion, 
 called Hector, now in the Tower, had a rabbit.
 
 THE LION. IP 
 
 and, at another time, a cat, put into the den with 
 him, by way of experiment : but he destroyed 
 both of them. 
 
 Felix Cassel, the principal keeper of the ani- 
 mals in the Museum at Paris, asserts that the 
 Lion is so far from being terrified at the crowing 
 of a cock, that he has seen one of these animals 
 seize and devour two or three cocks almost in as 
 many minutes. Nor is he alarmed at the cry of 
 a hog, since these animals are the chief prey of 
 the Lions in Barbary. Cassel has seen a Lion 
 carry off a hog, as a wolf would a sheep, and 
 another kill an ox, and drag it along upon the 
 ground for nearly three miles. This person has 
 remarked, that, in Barbary, the Lionesses gene- 
 rally produce their offspring in the neighbour- 
 hood of marshes or rivers ; which, he believes, 
 is for the purpose of more easily supplying them 
 with food, from the numerous animals which 
 come to such places to quench their thirst. The 
 male assists in procuring sustenance for the young 
 ones ; whence he infers that these animals are 
 monogamous — that is to say, that each forms an 
 attachment to a single individual of the other 
 sex.
 
 50 
 
 THE LIONESS. 
 
 SINCE the establishment of Menageries for 
 promoting the science of natural history, none 
 has been known to contain so many individuals 
 of tlie Lion species, as the Menagerie of the Mu- 
 seum of Natural History in Paris. There were 
 here, at the same time, a full grown Lion, and 
 four Lionesses ; three young males, and two 
 young females; and, a little while before the 
 writing of this account, there was another Lion, 
 of which M. Toscan, librarian to the Museum, 
 has published a very interesting and well-written 
 history. It is, therefore, not surprising that 
 many excellent and valuable observations should 
 have been made respecting the animals. From 
 an attentive examination of those eleven indi- 
 viduals, it was easy to add numerous facts, be- 
 fore unknown, to those which naturalists had al- 
 ready collected. 
 
 The Lion has in his countenance an expression 
 of magnanimity, boldness, gravity, and courage, 
 which seem the result of his superiority in strength 
 and power. The Lioness possesses considt rable 
 grace and lightness. Her head is not ornament- 
 ed with the long and tufted mane which surrounds 
 the face of the Lion. Endowed with the d is-
 
 *1 
 
 characters, \vlucli maybe considered as the dis-
 
 o 
 
 A r,i()Nxi:ss .v ui'.ii wiiklps 
 
 Q
 
 THE LIONESS. 21 
 
 tiiictive attributes of her sex, she exhibits more 
 amiable and pleasing traits of character, and more 
 activity of motion. Smaller than the Lion, she 
 has perhaps less strength ; but she compensates 
 by her agility for what she wants in size. Like 
 the Lion, she does not touch the ground with 
 the extremities of her toes. Her legs, elastic, 
 and formed for activity, may be considered as 
 four springs ever ready to unbend themselves, and 
 propel the body to very considerable distances 
 along the ground. She leaps and frisks about 
 like the Lion ; but her vivacity is greater than 
 his, her sensibility more ardent, her desires more 
 strong, her repose shorter, her flight more rapid, 
 and her leaps more impetuous. 
 
 Like the Lion and other feline animals, she 
 has, in each of her jaws, six very sharp incisive 
 or cutting teeth, with two strong tusks or canine 
 teeth, and many sharp-pointed grinders. Her 
 tongue, as well as that of the male, is rough with 
 spines or hard papillae, pointing backward, which 
 will easily lacerate the skin. Her claws are long, 
 hard, and hooked; these are not extended, ex- 
 cept when she has occasion to use them in seizing 
 or striking ; but are guarded from ^njury by their 
 position, and consequently are kept perfectly 
 sharp for a great length of time. 
 
 These animals have several very rcmarkabk 
 characters, which maybe considered as the dis-
 
 S2 THE LIONESS,' 
 
 tinctive indications of the species. Their body 
 is of an uniform colour, (without any spots) of 
 which the red or yellow shade is sufficient to dis- 
 tinguish the Lion species from all other carni- 
 vorous animals whatever, and even from the 
 Cougars, the pretended Lions of America. A 
 tuft of hair, at the extremity of their long and 
 smooth tail, which is frequently agitated, and 
 beaten with violence from side to side, is another 
 peculiar characteristic of the Lions. They have 
 some hair under the ears and lower jaw, longer 
 than in other parts of their body. Their neck is 
 very thick : their muzzle, and particularly the 
 chin, is rounded ; and such are the dimensions of 
 the three principal parts of the face, the forehead, 
 the nose, and the lower part, that these three di- 
 visions, nearly equal to each other, and some- 
 what formed like the three analogous divisions of 
 the human face, present, on the whole, an air of 
 greatness, majesty, and command, unknown in 
 any other animal. 
 
 Equally courageous with the Lion, the Lioness, 
 when pressed by hunger, will attack every species 
 of animal that comes in her way. She is, like 
 him, generally compelled to have recourse to 
 stratagem, to conceal herself from observation by 
 couching on her belly in the midst of herbage or 
 underwood, and there to wait till the prey comes 
 within her reach. She then suddenly rushes on
 
 THE LIONESS. S3 
 
 the victim, seizes it at the first bound, and soon 
 destroys it. In the forests of Africa, and on the 
 borders of deserts, in the countries of torrid cli- 
 mates, inhabited by these animals, they general- 
 ly feed on the gazelles and apes, which have no 
 means of escaping their attack but by a precipi- 
 tate flight. It has been remarked that the 
 monkeys and other four-handed animals of the 
 African forests which delight in running about 
 among the branches of the loftiest trees, find there 
 a secure asylum from the talons of the Lions ; 
 and that the latter, notwithstandingtheir strength, 
 their agility, and the sharpness of their claws, 
 are not able to climb into the trees after them, 
 like some others of the feline species, and parti- 
 cularly the tiger ; the size, weight, and general 
 conformation of whose body is very similar in 
 most respects to that of the Lion. M. De La 
 Cepede, however, has some doubt of the truth 
 of this assertion, and is inclined to believe, from 
 the form and attributes of the Lion, as well as 
 from the different movements which he has ob- 
 terved this animal exert in the inclosures of the 
 Museum, that he is able to climb tlie trunks of 
 trees, at least as easily as the tiger, and the other 
 large-bodied animals of the genus. 
 
 The Lioness never preys upon dead bodies, 
 (particularly those in which putrefaction has com^ 
 menced) unless she be constrained to do so by ir-
 
 24 THE LIONESS. 
 
 resistible necessity. She prefers the flesh of those 
 animals which she kills, to that of all others. She 
 does not, however, destroy so many as either the 
 tiger or the panther. It is chiefly during the 
 time when she is rearing her offspring that she is 
 most terrible. How astonishing is the instinct 
 which induces nearly all females to redouble their 
 exertions on such occasions in procuring food for 
 the supply of their young families ! How active is 
 t|ien their sensibility ! How great their passions ! 
 How powerful their wants I Their existence is, 
 as it were, extended into their offspring; and thus 
 a careless observer might suppose, that, being ex- 
 posed to more enemies, instead of having addition- 
 al courage, they would have more fears, and be 
 inspired with more efforts to escape the dangers 
 v.'ith which they are surrounded. 
 
 When the Lioness has young ones to nourish 
 and defend, she will combat with fury even the 
 most powerful animals that interrupt or attack 
 her. Tlie tiger, the elephant, the rhinoceros, or 
 Ihe hippopotamus, would, on these occasions, in 
 vain attempt to oppose her. She will even fight 
 with them when the affections of a mother do not 
 ndd ardor to her courage. When pursued by 
 mankind, she is only to be conquered by means 
 of the powerful weapons which they bring against 
 her. 
 
 The nature of this noble and formidable animal
 
 THE LIONESS. 23 
 
 has undergone a very cousiderable change from 
 the encroachments of mankind. By til^eir becom- 
 ing m.ore scattered over the surface of the globe, 
 and every day approaching nearer to the retreats 
 of the Lion, his empire has been very greatly di- 
 minished; and he has even been exiled from many 
 oi' his former habitations. He has been chased 
 from Thessaly and Macedonia, from Thrace and 
 other European countries, where, in the time of 
 Aristotle, he was wont to range uncontroled. He 
 has been banished tcrward the tropica.1 regions, 
 and constrained to seek refuge on tlie borders of 
 the burning deserts. Compelled, for the most 
 part, to inhabit places where the frequent want 
 of water, of vegetables, and fruit, has greatly re- 
 duced the numbers of VaQ ape tribe, of the an- 
 telopes, and other frugivorous and herbivorous 
 quadrupeds, on which he chiefly preys ; the num- 
 ber of individuals of this majestic species has like- 
 wise been much diminihhed. 
 
 We must not, ho 7/ ever, be led to believe, -yvith 
 many naturalists, that the increase of mankind is 
 th.e only cause of the diminution of the Lions. — 
 They are fouud now in much smaller numjjers 
 than they v/ere twenty centuries ago, in Southern 
 Asia, m tlie neighbourhood of Mount Atlas, in 
 the forests adjacent to the Great Desert of Zaara, 
 and in the dilierent dis'rlcts toward the noith of 
 Africa. Yet it is well known that those Asiatic 
 
 G
 
 26 THE LIONESS, 
 
 and African countries have been inhabited by 
 mankind for at least two or three thousand years; 
 formerly, by nations which have been celebrated 
 for their riches, their industiy, and prowess, and 
 at present only by a weak, poor, ignorant, and 
 semibarbarous race. It is most probable that the 
 climate, in those regions, has been the principal 
 cause of this fatal change to the Lions. The 
 forests having decayed from age, and not been re- 
 newed by nature ; the high lands having been re- 
 duced by the winds, the mountains lowered, and 
 consequently the rains less abundant ; the springs 
 having been dried up, and the general sterility 
 augmented ; all these circumstances have com- 
 bined in diminishing the empire and reducing the 
 numbers of the Lions. The invention of fire- 
 arms has likewise increased a hundred-fold the 
 power of man, who i& certainly the most for- 
 midable and dangerous of all their enemies. 
 
 These animals, as we have already remarked 
 in the preceding account of the Lion, are fre- 
 quently taken alive, and, by proper care an(i 
 attention, are rendered so tame, and are inspired 
 •with an attachment so lively and durable, as en^ 
 tirely to convert their natural ferocity of dispo- 
 sition into a very surprising degree of docility. 
 At Constantinople, a short time ago, one of the 
 ministers of state had a Lioness which was often 
 with him, and which was allowed to play about
 
 THE LIONESS. 27 
 
 iu his presence, and to range at liberty in his 
 palace, like the most domestic and peaceful 
 animals. 
 
 The Lioness likewise is known to exhibit an 
 attachment toward dogs, as great and as durable 
 as that of the Lion. At the time when the pre- 
 sent account was written, there was a Lioness 
 in the Menagerie of the Museum, which not 
 only allowed a young dog to live with her, 
 but appeared to have great afl'ection for him. 
 As if sensible of his caresses, she was always 
 delighted when he was near her, and melancholy 
 when, at an}'^ time, he was for a while taken 
 away. 
 
 A Lioness, that was figured in " La Menagerie 
 du Museum," and a copy of which figure is in- 
 serted as a frontispiece to Mr, Bingiey's Animal 
 Biography, produced young ones in her captivity, 
 when about seven years of age. She was caught 
 with the male parent of these young ones, when 
 about eighteen months old, in a trap laid in one 
 of the woods near Constantine, in the North of 
 Africa. The male is about the same age, and 
 was probably of the same litter. Their affection 
 for each other commenced, therefore, with their 
 existence ; and it has by no means been diminish- 
 ed during their progress in age. In the year fol- 
 lowing that in which they were caught,' Felix 
 Cassel, the principal keeper of the Museum, who 
 c2
 
 28 THE LIONESS. 
 
 Avas sent into Barbaiy, by order of the French 
 government, to purchase uncommon animals, 
 bought these ; and, in the course of a month 
 afterward, they arrived in Paris. 
 
 As Gesner had long since w^ritten that young 
 Lions had been produced in the Menagerie at 
 Florence, and Willughby had said the same thing 
 of a Lion and Lioness kept at Naples ; and as 
 young Lions had been whelped in England, great 
 hope was entertained that the above mentioned 
 pair of animals might have offspring in their 
 captivity; and that hope was not disappointed. 
 
 The first time the Lioness was with young, 
 she miscarried at the end of about two months, 
 bringing forth tw o fetuses. The second time she 
 produced, at the end of about a hundred and eight 
 days, three young ones. One of these, aboutfive 
 hours after it came into the world, had the fol- 
 lowing measurements. 
 
 Eighteen inches and a half from the fore-part 
 of the forehead to the origin of the tail. 
 
 Four inches and a qiiarter from the muzzle 
 to the occiput. 
 
 Three inches and a quarter from one ear to the 
 other. 
 
 F'our inches and three quarters from the elbow 
 to the end of the toes of the fore feet. 
 
 Three inches and three quarters from the knee 
 to the heel.
 
 THE LIONES?. t9 
 
 Three inches and a half from the heel to the ex- 
 tremity of the toes of the hind feet. 
 
 Six inches and a quarter from the origin of the 
 taih to its extremity. 
 
 These little animals were, at first, entirely des- 
 titute of hairj and we are informed that the long 
 hair or mane on the neck and round the face of 
 one of the males which survived the rest, did not 
 begin to appear till he had attained the age of 
 nearly three years and a half; and. that, from that 
 tiifte, this has been continually increasing in 
 quantity. He had no tuft at the end of his tail 
 till about the same period. The hair of all the 
 youpg animals of this litter was at first v/ooll}-, 
 and not of the same color as that of their parents, 
 but a mixed grey and red, marked by a great num- 
 ber of narrow brown stripes. These were very 
 distinct at the middle; of the back, and toward 
 the origin of the tail ; and they were disposed 
 transversely on each side of a longitudinal stripe, 
 of the same color, that extended from the back 
 ef the head to the end of the tail. 
 
 Young Lions have therefore a singular and 
 very peculiar kindof /<re;-^, if it may be so called, 
 and it is possible that this disposition of their 
 shades, (which shows their connexion with the 
 f-dsc'idited felijtt species) remarked, by travellers, 
 in young individuals, and thence attributed to the 
 full-grown animals, may have alibrded grouiid 
 
 C ij>
 
 30 THE LIONfiS^. 
 
 for the notion entertained by the ancients, and 
 Mientioned both by ^Elian and Oppian, that there 
 was in the Eastern deserts a race of striped Lions. 
 The young Lions present, at first, only three 
 of the essential characters of their f^pecies ; name- 
 ly, a thick neck, the muzzle, and chin rounded, 
 and the three parts of their face (the forehead, 
 nose, and lower part) equal. But, as they in- 
 crease in size and age, their stripes disappear* 
 and their colors resemble those of their parents: 
 the proportions of the different parts of their body 
 and limbs become also by degrees' similar to those 
 of the adult animals. 
 
 At the age of a month, the young males, pro- 
 duced in the Menagerie of the Museum, had still 
 the longitudinal and transverse stripes on the 
 back. Their dimensions were then five times a& 
 iarge as those of the figures in the engraving.* 
 
 In the month of June, 1801, the above men- 
 tioned Lioness produced two other young ones, 
 both females, and after the same, or very nearly 
 the same, period of gestation. This period may 
 therefore be now considered as exactly ascertain- 
 ed. jElian had fixed it at two months. Phi- 
 lostratus, among the ancients, and Wicot, among 
 the modems, believed that it was much longer, 
 and that the Lioness went with yoiftig almost six: 
 
 * See the frontispiece to Mr, Einglcy's Animal Ciograpby*
 
 THE LIONESS. 3-1 
 
 months; and Buffon was inclined to the latter 
 opinion. We can, however, now say, with cer- 
 tainty, that the time of gestation, in these ani- 
 luals, is a hundred and eight days, or somewhat 
 more than three months and a half. The cat 
 goes with young generally about fifty-iive or fifty- 
 ?ix days ; and consequently her period of gesta- 
 tion is equal only to about half that of the 
 Lioness. 
 
 Aristotle believed that the Lioness produced 
 five or six young ones at the first litlRr, four or 
 five at the second, three or four at the third, two 
 or three at the fourth, and one or two at the fifth, 
 which he considered to be the last. According 
 to Willughby, the Lioness in the Menagerie at 
 Naples produced five young ones at her only lit- 
 ter. It appears that Aristotle had been misinformr 
 ed, that BulTon had founded his observations on 
 conjecture, and Willughby may not have been 
 correct, since the Lioness of the Museum pro- 
 duced, as we have before remarked, two at her 
 first litter, three at the second, and two at the 
 third. 
 
 It is not improbable that the writers of natural 
 history may have been in error, when they have 
 asserted that the Lioness only produces oHspring 
 once in the year. If this observation be true, it 
 can ordy apply to such animals as range abroad in 
 ^ state of nature, since the Lioness of the Museum 
 
 c 4
 
 32 THE LIONESS. 
 
 littered twice within nine months, namely, in 
 October, 1800, and aftenvarcis in the month oi 
 June following. 
 
 A little time after the production of the two 
 females, the three animals of the fornier litter he- 
 came very mischievous. One of these, when 
 about three months old, was driven, against his 
 inclination, into the garden of the Museum, when 
 he made a spring at the keeper, i'eiix Cassel, and 
 seized his arm with so much violence as to tear 
 the sleeve mhis coat. We are not able, any fur- 
 ther, to describe the developement of character 
 in the above-mentioned three animals, since two 
 of them have fallen victims to the first effects of 
 dentition, an operation very dangerous to most 
 animals that are produced in captivity. The 
 Lion that bit the keeper was one of those that 
 died. 
 
 Both the parents continue still to be very much 
 attached to their keeper, whom they obey with 
 great docility. It was only daring the time tliat 
 the female was in heat, that the male became so 
 furious, as not to permit even Cassel to approach 
 him. 
 
 The roaring of the Lion is composed of pro- 
 longed sounds, very deep, and interrupted by 
 sharper tones, and a sort of trembling or jarring 
 
 noise. It vari» s both in duration and loudness 
 
 » 
 
 n high or low tones, according to the age of Lhor
 
 THE LIONESS. 33 
 
 animal, and according as it is moved by its va- 
 rious affections, passions, or wants. 
 
 The male animal in the Museum begins to 
 roar at break of day. All the females follow the 
 example ; and they continue their noise for about 
 ten minutes. They recommence it after they 
 have been fed, and continue it for about the 
 same length of time. It is said that their roar- 
 ing at these two periods is expressive of their 
 pleasure, in lirst seeing the light of day, and in 
 having their appetites satisfied. They seldom 
 roar at any other times, except to announce some 
 change of weather, or when their keeper has 
 been long absent from them. The Lions in the 
 Tower of London generally begin to roar about 
 the commencement of twilight. 
 
 In a state of nature the Lion most usually quits 
 his den during the night, since the peculiar 
 structure of the eyes of these animals (as in all 
 others of the feline tribe) prevents them from 
 seeing objects in the glare of sunshine, and since 
 they are then the better enabled to surprise their 
 prey by stealing unawares upon it. During the 
 day-time, therefore, they sleep in their caverrs; 
 but, iu captivity, they are not compelled to 
 search for their own food, or to lay any strata- 
 gems to surprise their prey : they are likewise 
 shaded during the day-time from a light that 
 would otherwise be too vivid for them ; and con- 
 c 5
 
 34 T^E LIONESS. 
 
 sequently, in this state, the animals always sleep 
 in the night. 
 
 The following are the particular dimensions of 
 the above-mentioned Lioness. 
 
 Twelve inches and three quarters from the ex- 
 tremity of the muzzle to the nape. 
 
 Fifty-six inches and a quarter from the nape to 
 ^he origin of the tail. 
 
 Forty inches and 'a half from the top of the 
 head to the ground. 
 
 Thirty-five inches from the top of the shoulders 
 to the ground. 
 
 Seven inches and a half from the base of one 
 ear to that of the other. 
 
 Ten inches and a half from the upper extre- 
 mity of the shoulder to the elbow. 
 
 Nineteen inches from the elbow to the ground. 
 
 Nineteen inches from the top of the rump to 
 the knee. 
 
 Fourteen inches and three quarters from the 
 knee to the heel. 
 
 Thirteen inches and a half from the heel to the 
 end of the toes. 
 
 Thirty-one inches and three quarters from the 
 origin of the tail to its extremity. 
 
 In an inclosure next to that which contains 
 this Lioness, there is another Lioness, which was 
 caught in the interior of Africa, at a greater dis- 
 tance from the districts ioUubited by mankind.
 
 THE LIONESS. 35 
 
 than any of the other animals of the same species 
 in the Menagerie. According to the report of 
 Felix Cassel, she was brought from the border of 
 the great desert of Zaara. Her ferocity is so 
 great, that it seems ahiiost impossible to render 
 her in the least deQ;ree tame. This circumstance 
 seems to confirm the observation of Buffon and 
 some other naturalists, that, the further these 
 animals reside from the habitations of man, and 
 the nearer they are found to the burning and 
 sandy plains of Asia or Africa, the greater is their 
 native strength, courage, and ferocity. 
 
 In tlie preceding account, it has been remark- 
 ed that the mane on the neck and round the face 
 of a young Lion, that was littered in the Mena- 
 gerie of the Museum at Paris, did not begin to 
 appear till the animal was nearly three years and 
 a half old. A Lion, that was produced in the 
 Menagerie of the Dey of Algiers, on the memor- 
 able 1st of August, 1798, (the day on which the 
 late celebrated and much lamented Nelson ob- 
 tained his signal victory over the French fleet at 
 the mouth of the Nile) and thence called ^'ic^ory, 
 had acquired a long and shaggy mane before he 
 was seventeen months old. This noble and beau- 
 tiful animal was brought to England, and, m the 
 month of December, 1799, was placed in the Me* 
 nagerie at Exeter 'Change, London. 
 
 To these observations on the nature and cha- 
 c6
 
 So THE LIONESS. 
 
 racter of the Lion species, we will add some 
 others relative to the peculiarities of its structure 
 and organization. Without having a body or 
 limbs of very extraordinary bulk, -when compar- 
 ed with some other quadrupeds, such as the ele- 
 phant, the camel, or even the horse ; it is never- 
 theless endowed wath strength superior to that of 
 any animal of its size. Its bones are so hard, that 
 the ancients entertained a mistaken notion that 
 they were solid; and they attributed to them 
 some of the properties of flint. We may judge 
 of the enormous strength of the Lion, by the size 
 and thickness of his head and neck, the size of his 
 jaws, and of the teeth with which they are fur- 
 nished, the thickness of his tail and legs, and by 
 the dreadful claws with which the toes are armed. 
 'l"he number and disposition of the teeth are si- 
 milar to those of all the feline tribe ; and most of 
 the internal organs are also similar. The stomach 
 is greatly elongated ; and its internal membranes 
 have longitudinal folds, not much unlike thost- 
 observable in the stomachs of the ruminating 
 quadrupeds. The gall-bladder has also several 
 folds or angles, similar to, but more numerous 
 than, those of the cat. M. Daubenton has taken 
 an ounce and three drams of gall from the gall- 
 bladder of a Lion. There are, on each side of the 
 rectum, two vesicles, furnished on the outside 
 witli a muscle, and hned within with a whitislt
 
 THE LIONESS. 37 
 
 membrane. This contains a milky, inodorous 
 substance. Similar vesicles to these have been re- 
 marked in the cat and dog. The ^skeleton of the 
 Lion does not difler very essentially from that of 
 the cat.
 
 38 
 
 THE OSTRICH. 
 
 THE ostrich, which is the largest of all birds, 
 frequently attains the height of seven or eight 
 feet, and upwards. Its long and slender neck is 
 clad only with a kind of down. The head is 
 small in proportion to the bocjy ; but the eyes 
 are large and vivid. The beak is short, blunt, 
 and flattei^.ed horizontally. The feathers have 
 no strength or hardness: their stems are flexible ; 
 and the barbs or vanes do not catch upon each 
 other, like those of most other btrds. It is this 
 which gives them their tendency to wave, and 
 has caused theiii to be used as ornaments in head- 
 dress. The wings of the ostrich are extremely 
 short, w lien compared with the size of the body ; 
 and they are furnished only with these waving 
 and flexible feathers. The thighs and legs are 
 of astonishing strength. The feet have only 
 two toes each, of which the outer one is much 
 shorter than the otlier, and has no nail or 
 claw. 
 
 The male is generally of a brown black color — 
 the phimage intermixed with white feathers. 
 The female is entirely of a uniform greyish 
 brown..
 
 Womit-r.t or' llnimnti,/ yntii/ , 
 
 tAhl-. O.s'l'KI CI I.
 
 STJif'TIIIU rjlMEi,i\s I, 
 
 M.I i,K (js'riii CI I.
 
 f"
 
 yh,U ^C/.rJ
 
 THE OSTRICH. ^39 
 
 From the length of its legs and its naked 
 thighs, the ostrich might be supposed to have a 
 very near alliance with the readers [grallee of Lin- 
 naeus, and cchasders of the French naturalists) ; 
 but the form of its beak, its great weight, and 
 !T;s entire residence on the most arid plains, give 
 it a nearer approach to the gallinaceous birds. 
 
 In the interior of its body, the ostricii pre- 
 sents many curious particulars. Its tongue is 
 very short, somewhat in the form of a horse- 
 shoe, and has a prominence btrhind, which some 
 writers liave taken for an epiglottis. 
 
 The membranaceous partitions which sepa- 
 rate the lungs from the abdomen, are furnished 
 with muscles which render them somewhat ana- 
 logous to the diaphragm of quadrupeds. 
 
 Between the crop and the gizzard, there is a 
 very great dilatation, which many persons have 
 considered to be a separate stomach ; and thus 
 have attributed three stomachs to the ostrich. 
 
 The skeleton of the ostrich differs in some 
 respects from that of other birds. The sternum 
 has no keel-shaped prominence in front, but has 
 only the appearaa<je of a fiat kind of shield. 
 The toes, although very unequal in length, have 
 each three phalanges ; a number which is observ- 
 ed in no other animal, except the cassowary. 
 The bones of the wings, although very short, 
 have, nevertheless, the same number, and are 
 ev£u of the same forms, as those pf other birds.
 
 40 THE OSTRICH". 
 
 The sight of the ostrich is very strong; and 
 its hearing is peculiarly good: but the senses 
 of taste and smell are both weak. The ostrich 
 swallows, indiscriminately with its food, stones, 
 and even pieces of iron or copper. This habit 
 has induced some v;riters to assert that the ani- 
 mal could digest iron. Cuvier, however, ob- 
 serves, that the pieces of metal found in the 
 ostrich's stomach, have, in some instances, ap- 
 peared not to have been worn, as if by trituration 
 with other hard bbdies, but to have been eaten 
 or corroded by some juice, as is evident from the 
 inequality of the hollows or clefts produced by 
 that juice. This was proved from the contents 
 of the stomach of the individual represented in 
 the engraving which accompanies the present 
 account. The fragments of nails. Sec. Avhich it 
 had swallowed, exhibited ail the indications of 
 true corrosion. 
 
 The ostrich frequently suffers much from its 
 want of discrimination in the choice of food. 
 Thegreat quantity of copper that it swallows, has 
 sometimes been known to poison it; and nails, and 
 other hard and pointed substances, have not un- 
 frequently been known to pierce the membranes 
 of its stomach. Cuvier remarked, that, in the 
 thickness of the mesentery of the abovemention- 
 ed ostrich, there were two iron nails, which could 
 not possibly have made their way thither, except 
 by penetrating through the coat of the stomach :
 
 THE o?TaiC!r. 41 
 
 they were completely incrusted by a greenish 
 anfl very hard concralion. 
 
 This subject will be further illustrated by the 
 following account of an ostrich which was pur 
 chased by Messrs. Delacosta and Curling at New 
 York, from on board the ship Silenus, in the 
 month of May, 1804. It had been brought thither 
 from the Cape of GoodHope, and died on the first 
 of June following. 
 
 On the nineteenth of May, this animal swal- 
 lowed a small cotton handkerchief; and it picked 
 up, and swallowed, every day, a considerable 
 quantity of gravel, besides many pieces of china, 
 queen's ware, glass, broken nails, and all kinds of 
 metallic substances which it could find, of such 
 size as to be admitted into its stomach. Its 
 usual food was bread, potatoes, corn, and grass, 
 which it continued to eat in great quantity during 
 the first eight days after it had swallow^ed the 
 handkerchief: but, in the beginning of the se- 
 cond week, it lost its appetite ; and it was con- 
 sidered necessary to cram it, in order to keep it 
 alive. This, however, proved ineffectual ; and 
 it did not survive more than three or four days. 
 
 On the day following that of its death, the 
 body was opened in the presence of several me- 
 dical gentlemen of Xew York; and, on exami- 
 r^ation, the stomach was fo^and to be so full, as to 
 be considerably distended. It contained a quau-
 
 4 
 42 THE OSTRICH. 
 
 tity of. partly digested grass, mixed with corn 
 and potatoes undigested ; and a great quantity 
 of gravel, pieces of earthen ware and glass, some 
 brass buttons, old nails, a piece of a small key, 
 and several other things. 
 
 The handkerchief was found uninjured on the 
 top of the contents of the stomach ; and it was 
 thought that this had caused an indigestion, 
 which had at least accelerated the death of the 
 animal. It could not, however, in all probability, 
 have lived much. longer, on account of a general 
 inflammation which was discovered on the out- 
 side of the stomach, on the breast and ruinp, 
 occasioned by some severe bruises which it had 
 received either on board the vessel, or when it 
 was shipped. 
 
 The pieces of iron that were found in its sto- 
 mach, some of which appeared to have been 
 swallowed a great length of time, are said by the 
 examiners to have undergone very little altera- 
 tion, further than what might be accounted for 
 by their friction against each other, caused by 
 the powerful action of the gizzard. The im- 
 pression made on the minds of those gentlemen 
 (different from that which induced the preceding 
 remark of Cuvier) was, that they underwent no 
 other change than would have taken place either 
 in the human stomach, or in that of any other 
 animal.
 
 THE OSTRlCk. 4^ 
 
 The ostrich described by Cuvier, in the Me- 
 nagerie of the Museum at Paris, was ex'cessively 
 voracious; and, althougli grain and vegetables 
 constituted the basis of its nourishment, it would 
 indiscriminately devour all kinds of substances, 
 both vegetable and animal. It seemed most fond 
 of barley; and would eat, every day, about four 
 pounds of this, with a pound of bread, and ten 
 or twelve lettuces. In the summer time, it drank 
 four pints of water in the day ; and in Vinter, 
 when it was necessary to keep it confined, it 
 would drink more than six. This circumstance 
 completely refutes the assertion of the Arabs, 
 mentioned by Buffon, that the ostrich never 
 drinks. It very frequently would throw the 
 water over its body, and afterwards roll upon the 
 ground. 
 
 Ostriches often become excessive fat. The 
 last mentioned animal, when it was dissected, 
 had fat to the thickness of two or three fingers in 
 several parts of its body. 
 
 They have great muscular strength, particu- 
 larly in the legs : in running, they often throw 
 behind them very heavy stones to a considerable 
 d istance. 
 
 The rapidity of the course of the ostrich sur- 
 passes that of all known animals ; and is such, 
 that those persons who mount on its back, with- 
 out having, by degrees, habituated themselves to
 
 44 THE OSTRICH. 
 
 the exercise, are at first nearly suffocated. The 
 wings, by beating against the air, serve to accele- 
 rate its speed : but they are not of sufficient size 
 to enable the aaimal to elevate its body in the 
 least degree from the ground. 
 
 With respect to instinctive faculties and saga- 
 city, the ostrich is generally said to be much be- 
 low most other animals. The people of the 
 countries which it inhabits consider it even as an 
 emblem of stupidity: they assert that it will 
 hide its head behind a tree or other object, wlien 
 pursued by the hunter, and there remain immov- 
 able, as if its whole body were concealed. This, 
 however, is by no means the fact. 
 
 Its cry is weak, and somewhat resembles the 
 cooing of a pidgeon. The voice of the male 
 differs from that of the female, chiefly in being 
 more strong. AVhen the animal is teased, it 
 threatens by a kii'id of hissing noise, not much 
 vmlike that of a goose. It likewise indicates its 
 anger by raising and shaking its wings and tail. 
 
 The male, that is now in the Museum of Paris, 
 frequently beats one of its feet against the floor 
 of its inclosure, with as much force and noise as 
 could be made by a hammer. This principally 
 happens at the casual approach of a dog — to 
 which animal tlie ostrich appears to entertain a 
 peculiar antipathy. 
 
 We are assured by Thevenot, that, in their
 
 THE OSTRICH. 45 
 
 wild state, ostriches associate iu pairs, anil that 
 the same male and female are always constant to 
 each other. Professor Thunberg, however, as- 
 serts, from information which he received in 
 Africa, that these animals are polygamous ; one 
 male being united with three or four females in 
 constructing a nest, and producing young ones. 
 These females deposit, each, from ten to twelve 
 eggs, which they hatch altogether; the male 
 taking his turn of sitting upon them. The nest 
 is merely a hollow place, which the animals 
 scratch in the sand. 
 
 The female ostrich in the Museum at Parts 
 deposited, in the year 1S02, and in the space of 
 two months, six eggs. The one of these which 
 appeared most perfect, and which was as large 
 as most of the eggs of ostriches that are brought 
 to Europe, was examined in the scales immedi- 
 ately after it was laid; and was found to weigh 
 nearly three pounds. In the exaggerated rela- 
 tions of some naturalists, it is asserted that th.e 
 eggs of the ostrich sometimes v/eigh as much 
 as fifteen pounds. A large shell, now presers-ed 
 in the cabinet of the Academy of Sweden, weighs 
 eleven ounces. It is ten inches and a half in 
 length, and will contain upwards of four 
 pints of water. Sparmann, in his Travels at 
 -the Cape of Good Hope, says that he never
 
 46 THE OSTRICH. 
 
 found the eggs of ostriches to exceed the size of 
 this shell. 
 
 Two of the eggs that were laid at Paris, were 
 cooked ; and their flavour was found to be much 
 superior to that of the eggs of domestic fowls. 
 At the Cape of Good Hope, the eggs of ostriches 
 constitute an important article of commerce, 
 though, (while that colony was in the hands of 
 theDutcli) very little to the profit of the collec- 
 tors of them. They were compelled to deliver 
 them to the company at a low price ; and the lat- 
 ter derived the chief part of the emolument 
 arising from them, by selling them to the masters 
 of such vessels as put in there for the purchase of 
 provisions. They are useful in ships from the cir- 
 cumstance of their thick shells preventing them 
 from becoming putrid so soon as the eggs of 
 poultry. The Arabs frequently carry great 
 quantities of them to Cairo and other towns of 
 Egypt, w^here they meet with a ready sale, not 
 only as articles of food, but likewise for the' pur- 
 pose of ornamenting the mosques and churches 
 with the shells. When a Coptic priest says 
 mass, it is always done opposite to a lamp which 
 is placed between two shells of ostriches eggs. 
 The Mahometans of the interior of Africa place 
 the eggs of ostriches on the top of, the spires of 
 their mosques. The shells are frequently employ-
 
 THE OSTRICH. 4*? 
 
 ed as ornaments for the persons of the Hotten- 
 tots. They make Collars and girdles of them, 
 by grinding small pieces into the form of rings. 
 The Dutch colonies at the Cape pulverise the 
 shells, and mix them with vinegar for several 
 kinds of diseases in their cattle. In order to 
 take the eggs from the nest, without preventing 
 the birds from depositing others in the same 
 place, it is necessary to use a long stick, and push 
 them out with this; for it is said that the mere 
 touching of the place with the hand would make 
 the birds forsake their nest. 
 
 An attempt was made to hatch some of the 
 eggs which were laid by the female in the Mu- 
 seum at Paris, but without success. 
 
 In its wild state, the ostrich, according to the 
 assertion of Aristotle, lays as many as twenty- 
 five eggs ; according to Willughby and Linnaeus, 
 fifty ; and, according to ^lian, as many as eighty^ 
 This error, says Thunberg, has arisen from an ig- 
 norance in those writers that the animals were 
 polygamous, and that three or four females de- 
 posited their eggs in the same nest. 
 
 The shells are sufficiently thick to admit of 
 their being cut into, and used as, drinking- vessels. 
 
 Without the torrid zone, it is said that the 
 ostriches frequently leave their eggs to be hatch- 
 ed by the heat of the sun ; but that within the 
 tropics they incubate in the manner of other
 
 :tH6 THE OSTRICH. 
 
 birds, and that they will guard and defend their 
 offspring with great courage. The period of in- 
 cubation is stated to be six weeks. 
 
 M. Le Vaillant has mentioned an extraordi- 
 nary circumstance relating to the ostrich, which 
 is confirmed by the relation of M. Bougainville, 
 and proves this bird not to be in every respect so 
 stupid and improvident an animal as many writer^ 
 would have us to suppose. Ke says that the 
 ostriches always deposit, on the exterior of their 
 nests, a certain numlJer of eggs, proportioned to 
 the numberof young ones to be produced. These 
 eggs are not sat upon, but are designed for the 
 first nourishment of the young ones which are 
 hatched from the other eggs ; and an ostriches 
 nest is seldom or never to be observed without 
 such reserve of eggs at a little distance from it. 
 
 it is asserted by Bullon, that, when Jannequin 
 . was in S*enegal,tvvo eggs, taken from an ostrich'e 
 nest, having beef) pnsented to him, he wrapped 
 them up in tov/, and put them into his chest ; 
 where, after some time, he discovered, that, from 
 one of the eggs, a young bird had been pro- 
 duced. 
 
 This singular fact is mentioned by the writer 
 with so much appearance of simplicity, that it 
 is impossible to entertain any doubt respecting 
 it. The following is a translation of the original 
 passage inserted in his Voyage de Libi/e au 
 
 'tI
 
 ^ 11IE OSTRICH. 40 
 
 Rnyaumc de Sincga, it long dn Nig^, &c, page 
 iOl. 
 
 ** The ostrick lays very large eggs, and, instead 
 of seeking to conceal them, does not herself sit 
 on, but abandons them to the heat of the sun, 
 leaviag thcni to be hatched by the powerful rays 
 of that eye of the universe. As one proof of 
 tbis, I shall relate a circumstance, which will 
 not, perhaps, be easily credited, but which ought 
 not to give otlence. 
 
 " A negro having made me a present of tv>'o 
 of these eggs, which I was desirous of carrying 
 to France, I deposited them in my chest, care- 
 fully wrapped up in tow, lest they should be 
 broken. They were left here for a long time 
 without being seen ; and one day, on opening 
 Hbe chest, I was greatly astonished to find that 
 one efthe shells was broken. Without attempting 
 u* ascertain by what means the accident had 
 happened, I took it up, with the intention of 
 • hrowmg it out, v»*hen, to my infinite surprise, I 
 observed a young ostrich to move under the thick 
 skin of the egg. As there was no opening in 
 this, I made one with my knife, in order to give 
 t!ic animal air ; and I carefully replaced it in the 
 chest. It lived for eight days, during which 
 time I fed it with pieces of vegetables, wdiich it 
 readily took into its beak and swallowusd. The 
 ■i-a ne circumstaiiC'", no doubt, took place in the
 
 ,THE OSTKICH. 
 
 Other egg ; for, on my return to France, I found 
 that the shell of that also was broken," 
 
 Vie are informed by Thunberg and other tra- 
 vellers, that the eggs of the Ostrich sometimes 
 contain a kind of small stones. These, which 
 are not often more than two in number, are hard, 
 white, or yellowish, and about the size of a femall 
 bean. At the Cape of Good Hope, they are some- 
 times set, and used for buttons. Thunberg had 
 not th-e good fortune to find more than one of these 
 tones, though he examined, for the purpose, a 
 great number of eggs. 
 
 Professor Cuvier examined the fetus of an 
 Ostrich, when just ready to quit the egg. It was 
 covered all over with feathers, even in those parts 
 which in the old birds are naked. The colour of 
 its plumage was reddish grey, spotted with black. 
 It had three black longitudinal lines on the ht-ad. 
 and at the back of the neck. 
 
 The Ostrich is an inhabitant of nearly all parts 
 of Africa, from Barbary almost to the Cape of 
 Good Hope; and it delights principally in arid 
 and sandj^ deserts. It is likewise very common 
 in Aral)ia, and is sometimes, though rarely, found 
 in other parts of Asia. 
 
 These birds traverse the deserts in great troops. 
 Tlie Arabs pursue them on horseback, and some- 
 times with dogs; and they occasionally catcii 
 htm Ijy means of nets and other snares. Those
 
 THE OSTnTCK. 51 
 
 fiiat arc taken alive nre easily tamed: they will 
 allow^ men to mount on their backs ; but they 
 are by no mean? so easy to be guided as a horse. 
 
 There is, at this time, in the ?>Ienagerie at 
 Exeter 'Change, London, an Ostrich, from the 
 island of Goree, which is supposed to be the 
 largest tliat has ever been "brought into England. 
 Some years ago, faere -were, at the *ame place, a 
 very tine pair of these animals, which had been 
 caught in Barbarj^ The cara\'an containing- these 
 ostriches was travelling between the towns of 
 Oainsborough and Brigg, in Lincolnshire, when 
 a tremendous stonn of tiiuiider and lifhtnin"- 
 came on. The aHVightcd hoises galloped off at 
 full speed, (owing in a great measure to the negli- 
 gence of the driver, wiio was riding on the shafts) 
 find, overturnhig the caravan, killed both the 
 birds. 
 
 Mr. Pidcock ordered the body of one of them 
 to be opened ; and there were found, in its "-jz" 
 rard, among other things, between forty and 
 fifty half-pence, several nail.?, some glass, and g 
 consi<lerable quantity of suiail pebbles, which 
 had been thrown into its cage, when travelling 
 171 different parts of the country. They were all 
 covered with a greenish kind of matter. 
 
 In the rotunda of the Leverian Museum, near 
 Elackij-iarsh--idge, fhere were two excellent ?pe- 
 D 2
 
 THE OSTRICH. 
 
 cimens of the stuffed skins of ostriches, the one a 
 male, and the other a female. 
 
 The flesh of the old birds is hard, and not well 
 flavored ; but that of the young ones, when they 
 are fat and in good condition, is said to be very 
 delicate. Hennequin informs us that the negroes 
 of Senegal are fond of the flesh of the old ostriches, 
 never pursuing the animals on account of their 
 feathers, but only as articles of food. Hennequin, 
 speaking of his own party, says, that they wil- 
 lingly gave up the hares, in order to live on the 
 flesh of these birds. There was formerly, in 
 Abyssinia, a race of people who were called by 
 the ancients Siruthiophngi, from the circumstance 
 of their chiefly living on the flesh of these birds. 
 
 The sldn of the oetrich, ornamented with the 
 feathers, serves some of the tribes of the Arabs t» 
 make shields and breast-plates. It is well known 
 that the great feathers of the wings and tail are 
 employed in Europe as ornaments for dress, fur- 
 niture, &c. and they have been used for that pur- 
 pose from the remotest period of antiquity, ^'he 
 Roman soldiers wore these feathers in their 
 helmets. 
 
 The Arabians esteem the coagulated blood of 
 the ostrich, mixed up with fat, as an excellent 
 species of food. 
 
 The ostrich, inhabiting sorae of the countries 
 
 i
 
 that were most anciently peopled, ig consequently 
 one of those animals which have been known and 
 celebrated from the highest antiquity. It is fre- 
 quently mentioned in the Old Testament ; and in 
 the book of Job, particularly, it is spoken of with 
 great precision. Herodotus was the first of the 
 Greek writers who noticed it; biit those who fol- 
 lowed, were so exact in their accounts, as to have 
 left very little for the discovery of the moderns. 
 
 The Romans had ostriches frequently exhibit- 
 ed in their games, among other singular and re- 
 markable animals from Africa. They were oftei* 
 served up at the tables of the emperors : ,it is said 
 that Heliogabalus sometimes had dishes at his 
 table wholly consisting of the brains of these 
 birds. 
 
 There are many engravings of the ostrich; but 
 few of them can be considered as at all good. 
 
 Those of Aldrovandus, Gesner, and Jouston, 
 are by no means correct in their proportions; and 
 they are likewise incorrect in having the toes 
 equal in length, and a nail on the small toe. 
 
 The figures of Buffon do not give a correct idea 
 of the true disposition of the feathers: the colored 
 plate, No. 457, is particularly bad in this respect. 
 That of Brisson, made from the same individual, 
 has likewise the same defects. 
 
 Those of Willughby and Brown have the head 
 
 d3
 
 54 THE^ OSTRICH. 
 
 ^00 large, probably from the circumstance of 
 their having been taken from young animals : in 
 that of the latter, the colour of the neck and legs 
 is bad. 
 
 In the engravings given by Latham, the feathers 
 are not well expressed, and there is a nail to each 
 of the small toes* 

 
 ^ ' 
 
 ,'. Sth 
 
 4k:-
 
 ( . / Ai:KlJ'S BiliACTiANi \)'. ..„,
 
 £>a> 
 
 THEBACTRIAN, 
 
 OR 
 
 TWO-HUNCHED CAMEL. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the animals of the camel tril>e 
 are placed in the same order with the ruminants, 
 they dilFer from these in several essential parti- 
 culars. Their toes are not entirely covered with 
 horn : they have only a small nail at the anterior 
 extremity, and a kind of callous sole which, al- 
 though it admits of a hollow betwixt the toes-, 
 is of such a nature as neither to allow them to 
 separate from, nor approach nearer to each other. 
 The Camels have not,therefore,an entirely cloven; 
 hoof, but have their toes only divided above 
 and in this respect they have some alliance with 
 the horse. They likewise somewhat resemble 
 this animal in the structure of their teetli. 
 There are eight teeth in front of the lower jaw ; 
 but the external ones on each side being pointed 
 are denominated canine teeth, consequently the 
 remaining set only are incisors. In the upper 
 jaw they have two incisors in the intermaxillary 
 bones, which is not the case with any other ru:. 
 minating animals, and one or two canine teeth 
 pa each side, which, by age, become of lar^e- 
 
 size. 
 
 ii4
 
 •56 THE EACT-RIAN, OH 
 
 They have one stomach more than other sb- 
 minants. This is in fact a kmd of appendix to 
 the paunch, and contains a quantity of water, 
 \rhich the animals cause to flow from thence 
 into their mouth when urged by thirst. It is 
 this pecuharity of structure which renders the 
 Camels so valuable for traversing sandy and 
 burning deserts. In other respects their itttes- 
 tines are sirnilar to those of ruminating animals 
 in general. 
 
 The external conformation of Camels has 
 something unpleasant and forbidding. Their 
 heavy pace, the length and curvature of their 
 neck, their cloven lip, the protuberance of their 
 eyes, the apparent weakness of their hinder 
 parts, and the large latfy lumps which disfigure 
 their back, re;i(ler their appearance in somCinea- 
 &ure even hideous^ 
 
 There are two principal species, of each a^ 
 which there are likewise several varieties. 
 
 The first, was known to the ancients by the 
 name of Bactrian Camel ; and the other by that 
 of Arabian Camel. The latter is likewise called 
 Droniedaiy, from the Greek word d'pifxaf, which 
 signifies a courier. As to the name of Camel 
 uccfiYMi, it is the same as that by which the ani* 
 mal is aiow known in the oriental countries. 
 
 The Turkish or Bactrian Cornel is distinguish* 
 able at first sights by the two lumps on the upj>er
 
 TWO-HUNCHED CAMET,. 57 
 
 part of its body. One of these, which is situated 
 on the shoulders, us-uallj^ falls son^what on ©nc 
 side when the animal is fat, and the other, which 
 is situated at a little distance behind, is generally 
 upright. This species is usually larger tlian the 
 dromedary ; its legs are shorter in proportion to 
 the size of its body, its pace is more slow, its 
 muzzle larger and more swollen or inflated, und 
 its hair more brown. 
 
 The Bactrian Camel is, at the present day, 
 found in the same places where it was observed 
 by the ancients, namely in U&bec Tartary, w^hich 
 was the ancient Bactria. It is likewise found in 
 Thibet, and near the frontiers of China, Pro- 
 fessor Pallas assures us that there are in the 
 neighbourhood of China, wild Camels, which are 
 larger and much more courageous than those bred 
 up in confinement. 
 
 The animab of the present species are exclit- 
 sively employed as beasts of burthen throughout 
 the whole of these regions. They are capable 
 of supporting even a more rigorous climate since 
 the Mongol Tartars have conveyed them even to * 
 the environs of the lake Baikal, in Siberia, where 
 they subsist, during winter, on tlie bark and 
 tender branches of the birch and other trees; a 
 kind of food on which, however, they become 
 lean and much emaciated. On the contrary, in' 
 the southern parts of Persia, in Arabia and Egypt, 
 d5
 
 6S THE BACTillAIf, OR 
 
 the Camels employed in labour are those which 
 have only a single hunch : whilst those with two 
 hunches, are reared merely as objects of curiosity. 
 The Bactrian Camels are in every respect bet- 
 ter adapted to live in temperate climates than the 
 Dromedary ; and particularly it has been remark- 
 ed that they are much better able to pass through 
 humi<gl andmarshy countries than these. 
 
 It is said that the Bactrian Camel, when irri- 
 tated, will sometimes seize a man in its teeth, 
 and, forcibly throwing him upon the ground, 
 will trample him to death with its feet. If, 
 however, the clothes that the man wore be put 
 in its way, the animal is contented by venting 
 its fury on these, and the offender may then* 
 without any risk of irijury, approach it as usual. 
 It is-in the -rutting season that the Camel is most 
 furious, and at that time the slightest, irritatioi\ 
 will provoke it almost to madness. 
 
 These animals have been- introduced inta 
 Jamaica and Barbadoes ; but as the . inhabitants- 
 were ignorant of the proper modes of. breeding, 
 and training them, the importation has hithertOt 
 been of no service. In Tuscany they have been^ 
 more fortunate. Tiie grand duke, Leopold, 
 afterwards envperoj, sent for some, and. in the 
 course of a vQry few years, they multiplied 
 almost to two hi«w)ifed; If the duke Salviali, 
 , who possessed -a istuU of camel?, had not sold
 
 TV,'0-nUNCHED CAMEL. 60 
 
 them so dear as he did (at forty louis each), they 
 would at this time have been multiphed by the 
 people to great numbers^ for the Bactrian Camel's 
 utility was well known. 
 
 Camels kneel down both to be leaded and un- 
 loaded. Tiieir baggage is fastened to a kind of 
 saddle ; and one man is able to conduct live or 
 six camels. 
 
 Most other beasts of burthen, such as horses, 
 mules, &c. will travel and live with Camels. 
 The Camel and the ass may sometimes be seen 
 employed in the same work. The antipathy, 
 therefore, which has been supposed to exist be- 
 twixt Camels and other quadrupeds is un- 
 founded. 
 
 In the Menagerie of the Kluseum of Natural 
 History at Paris, there are two Bactrian Camels, 
 which are nov/ supposed to be about forty-four 
 years old. They are both males, and are about 
 six feet and a half in height, at the shoulder.. 
 They aye sometimes employed in drawing a 
 chariot, but as they have been long out of the 
 habit, they are never employed in labour. They 
 consume every day about thirty pounds weight 
 of hay or lucern, but are not allowed any oats. 
 The Camel costs no more for. its support than a 
 horse, although it isa.much stronger and more 
 powerful animal. When these animals ruminate, 
 they macerate their food alternately on each side , 
 d6
 
 60 'the 1JA.CTRIAK, OR 
 
 of their mouth, never doing it twice successively 
 on the same side. During the summer they 
 each drink four pails of wiater every day. 
 
 Betwixt the months of November and March, 
 they become thin and much emaciated. They 
 now eat a considerable quantity of their litter,and 
 not more than about sixty pounds weight of hay 
 during the whole tliree months. Water mixed 
 with a small quantity of flour and salt is given 
 to them. Their odour is almost insupportable. 
 In the first days of this season they have a great 
 perspiration which lasts about fifteen days. 
 AVhen this perspiration has passed off, a running 
 commences behind their ears, not by any parti- 
 cular orifice, but in a general exudation across 
 their nape. The fluid is black, viscous, and very 
 fetid; and it fouls the hair of the adjacent parts 
 in such a manner that it is necessary tO' cut it oft*. 
 In the summer time, when the heat is very 
 powerful, a reddish kind of fluid oozes from the 
 same place. They are now very ill tempered, 
 and even in great measure untractable.. They 
 attempt to bite, and beat violently with theic 
 foot : they do not kick, and it is only with one of 
 their feet that they beat. 
 
 Immediately after this season is passed they 
 begin to moult or shed their hair. The hair of 
 their neck adheres together in great flakes, as if 
 it had been, felted. In less than two months
 
 TWO-IIUKCHED CAMEL. 61 
 
 the body becomes entirely naked. The skin is 
 then covered with a kind of farinaceous efflores- 
 cence, which is taken off with a comb, and it 
 then appeai-s black and smooth like that of a 
 mulatto. 
 
 This complete nakedness lasts about two 
 months, at the end of which time the hair-begins 
 to return, and in the course of the ensuing month 
 it attains its former length. 
 
 Camels delight in lying down and rolling 
 themselves in the dust. During the season 
 just mentioned they are almost constantly 
 employed in rubbing themselves against dif- 
 ferent objects, and particularly their head. 
 They carry their noses near the ground^ like 
 hounds when on scent after any animal they are 
 pursuing. 
 
 They sleep with their eyes open. 
 . We have here entered very little into detail 
 respecting the habits of life, instinct, educa- 
 tion and uses of the Bactrian Camel, since they 
 very nearly resemble those of the dromedary. 
 These are consequently reserved in order to 
 avoid repetition till we come to speak of that 
 animal. 
 
 The following is a short sketch of the princi- 
 pal and most singular parts of the anatomy of the 
 Camel, extracted from the writings of Dau-» 
 loenton»
 
 6-i TIIE BA.CTRIAX, OR. 
 
 It has already been remarked that the Camele 
 belong to that order of animals called ruminants, 
 or such as remasticate their food. They conse* 
 quently have four stomachs, namely the paunch, 
 the rdiadate, the plico?is, and digestive stomachs 
 The first of these stomachs is the largest of the 
 whole. To this stomach is attached a kind of 
 bag, which Daubenton regards as a fifth stomach, 
 and calls the reservoir. It is cellular, and the 
 cavities which are betwixt its membranes are 
 capable of containing a considerable quantity of 
 water, which the animal can eject into the paunch 
 by a compression of the muscles of this reservoir, 
 or of those of the abdomen, for the purpose of 
 aiding in the mastication of its food during long 
 journeys over the deserts. This second stomach, 
 has no net work on its interior parietes, and con- 
 sequently only serves as a passage for the food 
 which the animal has eaten. The third or reti-. 
 culate stomach has prominences like that of other 
 ruminants; but these do not present the same 
 asperities as are to be observed in that. The 
 fourth or plicous stomach is of considerable 
 length, and in its form has greater resemblance to . 
 an intestine than a stomach. Its membranes 
 form transverse wrinkles, and its interior surface 
 has a great number of folds, which have no pa- 
 pillae, and which are all nearly of the sanie . 
 breadth.
 
 TWO-HUNCHED CAMEL, 63 
 
 The fifth or digestive stomach is not further 
 remarkable on its exterior than by its consi- 
 derable curvature and inflation. It has 
 withm about sixteen folds very different from 
 those of the piicous or fourth stomach. From 
 its parietes there issues a liquid similar to 
 that which is found in the digestive stomach of 
 the ox. 
 
 The cavity of the paunch is divided by nu- 
 merous partitions, which form, in its interior, 
 cells of different magnitude and dimensions. 
 The reservoir has cells somewhat similar, but 
 disposed in such a manner, that they retain the 
 Avater, but have no communication with the ali- 
 ments which pass without interruption from the 
 paunch to the reticulate stomach. The Arabians 
 are well acquainted with the nature and use of 
 this reservoir; and when they are reduced to 
 distress from want of water, they frequently stab 
 one of the camels in thecaravan, foi" the purpose 
 of extracting the water from this very singular' 
 kind of cistern. 
 
 We shall not follow Daubenton through the 
 whole of his observations, but shall content our- 
 selves by remarking, that camels have no gall- 
 bladder: that the tongue is rough Avith papillae 
 of different sizes, some of which are directed for- 
 ward, and others backward, and that near its root 
 there are large cup-shaped glands. The palate
 
 64 
 
 THE TWO-HUNCHED CAMEL. 
 
 is crossed by twelve irregular furrows, the bone& 
 .of which forma range of large tubercles. 
 
 The teats are four in number, two on each 
 side of the groin. 
 
 The internal organization of the Bactrian 
 Camel and the dromedary is in most respects the 
 same.
 
 i^LlnOll, IjIIIUO'Juo, M4.V* V... -|r III I J I
 
 63 
 THE DROMEDARY, 
 
 OR 
 
 ■ SIXGLE-HU^X'HED CAMEL. '^"^ 
 
 Tins animal -was known to the ancients, by 
 the n^mcoi the ylrabian Camel; at least it was 
 fio called by Aristotle and Pliny, in contradis- 
 tinction to that with two hunches, which they 
 denominated the Bactrian CamtL The Ara- 
 bians have employed it from time immemorial, 
 and have conveyed it into all the different coun- 
 tries where they have established themselves ; 
 namely into Syria, Babylon, and into all the 
 t'ountries which extend along the boundaries of 
 Africa, from Abyssinia to the kingdom of 
 i\Iorocco. 
 
 There is of this species a race or variety which 
 is smaller and much more rapid in the course 
 than the other, and which has, in Arabia, the 
 name of Maihari or Uucruahil. 
 
 Diodorus and Strabo have called it «a/unXof l^^ofxar^- 
 or Courier Comely from which the moderns have 
 taken the name of Dromedary. This they have 
 extended, contrary to its etymology, and 
 contrary to the practice both of the Greeks 
 and Arabians, to the otlier variety. And 
 in this extended sense it has been adapted by 
 Bullbn, Linnstius, and all pther naturalists. la
 
 66 THE DROMEDARY, OR 
 
 order that we may not lead to any misconception 
 in this article respecting it, we must remark th.at 
 we shall likewise apply the word in its general 
 sense, and connect it to hoth the races. 
 
 The Dromedary, and particularly the Drome- 
 dary of Diodorus, is of a smaller size than the 
 common Camel. It should, however, be re* 
 marked, that Dii Halde speaks of a small race of 
 Camels w^ith two hunches, which are found in 
 some parts of China; but these have not hitherto 
 been described by naturalists. 
 
 Dromedaries are from five to seven feet in. 
 height at the shoulder. Their hunch or lump is- 
 situated on the middle of their back ; it is round- 
 ed and permanent, during tlieir whole life. Their 
 muzzle is less inflated than that of the Camel : 
 their hair is soft, woolly, and very unequal : it 
 is longer on the nape, under the throat, and on 
 the hunch than on any other parts of their body. 
 Whilst they continue young, its colour is a dirty 
 white; but that of the adult animals is a reddish 
 ^rey, of a tint more or less dark. Like the Camels 
 they have naked callosities on the upper parts and 
 knees of all the legs, and ohe much larger than 
 any of the others, on the breast, it is on these 
 callosities that the Dromedaries lie down, and 
 M. de Buffon has asserted that they are gradually 
 produced by the contusions which the animals 
 receive against the ground. 
 
 J
 
 SINGLE-HUNCHED CAMEL. 67 
 
 This writer likcv.ise asserts, that even the 
 hunches on their backs are the consequence of 
 slavery, induced by continual friction in carrying 
 heavy burthens; and that they have acquired a 
 fifth stomach, which forms a reservoir for water, 
 from the circumstance uf a forcible dilatation of 
 the membrane of this viscus. These, he says, 
 have all been gradually induced through a lapse 
 of many ages, till at length they have become na- 
 tural to the species. 
 
 It is certain that slavery and education have 
 very great influence on the general structure and 
 habits of animals. In the present case, however, 
 it is impossible for us to agree in the opinions of 
 this illustrious naturalist. Vv'e cannot by any 
 means suppose that these conformations should 
 be found in the Camel tribe alone, and that no- 
 thing of the same kind should be observed in 
 other beasts of burden, w^hich, as well as they, 
 are constrained to a hard and continued servitude. 
 If the continued habit of loading Camels with 
 heavy burthens, has been the cause of those fleshy 
 and glandulous bodies which we remark on their 
 backs, and which have been considered from im- 
 memorial generations, as the distinguishing cha- 
 racteristics of the species ; why are there not si- 
 milar bodies on other animals, which have been 
 reduced into the service of men from a period 
 likewise beyond all remembrance or tradition!^—
 
 63 THE DROMEDARY, OK 
 
 Why should the Camels of Persia or Tartaty,and 
 those of Arabia, although employed in the same 
 "mamier, and receiving a similar education, have 
 any difference in the number of their lumps ? — 
 Why should the former have two, and the latter 
 only one of these bodies? 
 
 The Indians employ a species of the ox tribe 
 for the purpose of carrying their burthens; and 
 in these animals there is no greater inequality on 
 the upper part of the body than there is in our 
 common domestic oxen. The bison, on the con- 
 trary, which is seldom or never trained to labour,, 
 is found even in a wild state, with a lump of 
 considerable elevation in its back. 
 
 The callosities on the diiferent parts of their 
 "bodies may perhaps be considered as not natural 
 to the species, though it is well ascertained that 
 all the animals, in domesticity, have rudiments 
 of them when brought into the world. 
 
 With respect to the fifth stomach, as it is usual- 
 ly called, in which the animals ppcserve water 
 for several days, entirely separate from their food; 
 we may observe, that its cells are so numerous, 
 and its partitions, valves, and whole apparatuSj^ 
 so complicated, and at the same time so perfect, 
 that it is impossible for any one, who has atten* 
 tively examined it, to conceive for a moment,, 
 tha,t it could have been formed by a simple mem- 
 branaceous expansion.
 
 SIJsGLE-HUliCnED CAMEL. 69 
 
 In the general internal structnrejthere is no im- 
 portant diflerence between the Dromedary and 
 the Camel. 
 
 It has not yet been ascertained what country 
 gives birth to the Dromedaiy in a state of nature. 
 Some writers assert, that the wild animals have 
 bocn seen on the southern frontiers of Siberia, and 
 towards the borders of China; but it is by no 
 means certain that these are not the descendants 
 of individuals wdiich have escaped from slavery. 
 
 There are no domestic Dromedaries to be ob- 
 served in countries so far northward as the Ca- 
 mels. The Persians hold them in much less esti- 
 rnatiou, and scarcely any are bred toward the 
 jiorth of the Persian dominions. All the Camels 
 of Tartary have two hunches. Neither of the 
 sp'cies are employed in India, nor iu Africa, 
 much to the south of Senegal. 
 
 Of all domestic animals, this is by far the most 
 miportant and necessary in the countries inha- 
 bited by the Arabs. If the Dromedary did not 
 possess an astonishing degree of tempe ranee ; ii i 1. 
 had not the power of supporting thirst for a great 
 length of time, and of traversing with rapidity 
 immense distances, over deserts covered with a 
 deep and burning sand, there could be no com- 
 munication w' atever between Egypt and Abys-i 
 sinia, between Barbary and the countries situated 
 "beyond the j^reat desei% between Syria and Per-
 
 ^0. THE DEOMEDARY, OR 
 
 sia; and Arabia Felix would be perfectly insuiat- 
 ed from the rest of the world. 
 
 The Moors, in their extensive deserts, rear a 
 great number of these animals; and the\^ are the 
 only kind that is known throughout the whole 
 Avestern part of Africa. 
 
 The larger kinds of Dromedaries are able to 
 carry a weight of from seven hundred to a thou" 
 sand or twelve hundred pounds; and thus loaded 
 they will travel upwards of ten leagues in a day. 
 The lighter animals, which are bred for tiie 
 course, and which do not carry burthens, will 
 even travel thirty leagues, in this time, if the 
 country is level and dry. 
 
 They are prepared for the course by bemg 
 trained to run with horses from the earliest pos- 
 sible period of their lives. The Moorish horses 
 are very quick in their paces, and, in a race with 
 Dromedaries, they ahva3's gain grouiid consider- 
 ably at the beginning. After some hours, how- 
 ever, the horse becomes exhausted with fatigue: 
 he is obliged by degrees to slacken his pace, and 
 fmally to stop. The Dromedary pursues his 
 route, and is capable of continuing his exertion 
 for nearly twenty-four hours ; and he can resume 
 this three or four successive days. On these oc- 
 casions he is fed with balls formed of a paste of 
 millet mixed with gum. Each animal commonly 
 receives three of these balls in the morning, -dml
 
 5INGLE-HUKCHED CAMEL. 71 
 
 -three in the evening, the weight of which in the 
 whole is only about two pounds. This scanty- 
 supply of food, a kind which is seldom employ- 
 ed except on such extraordinary exertions, issuf- 
 ficient for the support of the animal during the 
 whole twenty-four hours, and sustains all his fa- 
 culties in full vigour. 
 
 The Dromedaries employed in conveying bur- 
 thens are each led only by a simple haJter; but 
 those that are used for the course, and are neces- 
 sarily mounted, are guided from the back, and 
 have a ring or buckle passed through the skin 
 above the nostrils, where it alv/ays remains: and 
 1.0 this are affixed the reins by which the motions 
 of the animal are regulated. The Arabs freqiiept- 
 ly put on the backs of the Dromedaries a kind of 
 X)sier frames, covered with linen, and by means 
 of these they are able to convey their ^wives and 
 children, in their migrations from one habitable 
 part of the deserts to another. 
 
 Dromedaries as well as Camels arc altogether 
 useless in rocky and mountainous countries, but 
 particularly in such as are wet or marshy. The 
 humidity makes their legs swell, and is frequent- 
 ly the cause of their suddenly falling. 
 
 Both the species, however, will travel for 
 
 eight or ten days successively, over arid deserts, 
 
 supported only by the few dry and splenous plants 
 
 - which arc there produced. When thejouruey is
 
 7'2 THE DROilEDAUY, OR » 
 
 continued for a longer time than this, it is neces- 
 sary, in order to keep the animals in good con- 
 dition, to feed them also with barley, beans, or 
 a small quantity of dates; or a i'e^v ounces, every 
 day, of a paste made with the flour of millet 
 mixed up with gum, already mentioned. 
 
 If this be neglected, the animal of necessity 
 iilackens his pace fr«m fatigue, he becomes lean 
 and emaciated, and his hunch diminishes by de- 
 grees, till at length it almost entirely disappears. 
 The two-hunched Camel is not able to support 
 abstinence by any means so long as the present 
 species. 
 
 The Dromedary, according to the accounts of 
 most travellers, can pass seven or eight days 
 without drinking ; but Leo Africanus sa\^s fifteen. 
 After an abstinence so long, it is able to smdl 
 water at an astonishing distance; and if there 
 happens to be any within reach, it will run to- 
 wards it with great rapidity long before any one 
 can see it. This faculty the animal possesses even 
 in repose, if water has been kept from it for any] 
 considerable length of time. 
 
 As soon as tlie Dromedary is about a month 
 old, its owner commences its education. It is 
 separated from its mother, whom it is now only 
 suffered to approach at certain hours in the d^y. 
 
 A \ ortion only of the milk which nature has 
 xlestinedfor its sup\ort is allowed, and thi s frnin
 
 SINGLE-HUNCHED CAMEL. 73 
 
 its earliest infancy it is accustomed to some of 
 those hardships which of necessity attend the re- 
 mainder of its progress through life. 
 
 Shortly afterwards it is made to kneel down at 
 command: its legs are forcibly bent under its 
 body, and it is placed in exactly the same situa-< 
 tion that it is compelled to adopt when, in after 
 life, it receives and discharges its burthen. The 
 owner covers its body with a carpet or a piece of 
 a tent, by which only its head and neck are left 
 at liberty ; and in order to confine it in such man- 
 ner that it cannot by any force of iis own, move 
 from the place, a great number of heavy articles 
 are put on the borders of the covering. The ani- 
 mal, with very few intervals of relaxation, pas- 
 ses nearly four months in this cruel state of con- 
 finement : but the effect of so rigid a discipline is, 
 that the recumbent posture afterwards becomes 
 habitual to the animal. 
 
 When they have undergone this punishment, 
 the young animals are all put together into a 
 park or large inclosure, where they are fed by 
 children twice a day, on Dromedary's milk di- 
 luted with water. The animals soon begin to 
 know the children employed to feed them, and 
 they assemble round thsm whenever they appear 
 The children carry in one hand, t"^e vessel that 
 contains the food, and in the other, a slight 
 
 E
 
 T4 THE DROMEDARY, Oa 
 
 switch, which they strike against the thighs of 
 the young animals. 
 
 On receiving this notice, they immediately lie 
 down ; and, after a little whiie, the practice be- 
 comes so habitual to them, that they put them- 
 selves into their usual posture at only a signal 
 from the switch. In short, the obedience with 
 which the Drqmedary adopts this attitude on the 
 slightest notice from its master, and which obe- 
 dience it retains during the whole of its life, is a 
 circumstance truly admirable. 
 
 The Dromedary, like the Camel, has three 
 paces, viz. the walk, trot, and gallop. The first 
 is what horse-dealers would denominate a rolling 
 •walk. The animal advances by lifting, almost 
 £,t the same instant, both his legs on one side, and 
 afterwards both those of the other. This pace is 
 exceedingly fatiguing to persons who are not ac- 
 customed to it; and nothing but long practice 
 can render it endurable. 
 
 At this pace a Dromedary can easily travel 
 from twelve to fifteen leagues in a day, by pro- 
 ceeding only six hours in the morning, and four 
 in the afternoon ; and appropriating the remain- 
 ing fourteen hours to rest. The equality of pace, 
 and its diminution or increase amongst the whole 
 of tlic Dromedaries on a journey, are entirely re- 
 gulated by the conductors ; and obedience to the
 
 SIKGLE-HUNCHED CAMEL. "O 
 
 voice of their leader is a capital point in the edu- 
 cation of these animals, whose whole life is passed 
 in extensive travels. 
 
 They are fond of music, and it is chiefly by 
 means of this that they are managed. They in- 
 crease or slacken their pace, according to the 
 song of the Camel-driver, who is always station- 
 ed at the head of the caravan. They follow each 
 other, with a pensive and melancholy air, with- 
 out ever quitting their regular direction; and 
 they pay great attention to the cadence of the 
 driver's song,who,when he wishes to slacken their 
 pace, diminishes the measure of his tune. Some- 
 times, when occasion requires it, the animals arc 
 roused by a few notes rather louder than ordina- 
 ry, or by a slight whistling, and instantly these 
 trivial notifications are understood and obeyed. 
 
 To any person unaccustomed to it, as I have 
 before stated, the motion of a Dromedary is in- 
 supportable. Golberry says, " One ought, in- 
 deed, to be either an Arab or a Moor, to be able 
 to ride this animal for any distance, while going 
 at a trot. For my part, I could not support the 
 torment of it for a quarter of an luiir; all my 
 bones felt as if they were dislocated, and my cu- 
 riosity was even followed by an attack of a fever. 
 It is impossible to form an idea of any jolting 
 more harsh or intolerable. I had the utmoit dif- 
 e2 '
 
 76 THE DROMEDARY, Olt 
 
 ficult}'' to keep my seat upon the animal, when 
 going at a quick trot." 
 
 He informs us that the Moors and Arabs, when 
 their Dromedaries go at this pace, are generally 
 mounted, four at a time, on one animal. They 
 face each other in pairs, and will in this manner 
 perform journies of from sixty to seventy leagues 
 in a day, and continue to proceed at the same 
 rate, for four or five days successively. 
 
 These animals, when properly educated and 
 trained, will perform a rude kind of dance to the 
 sound of musical instruments. 
 
 Dromedaries are very gentle at all times, ex- 
 cept during one particular season of the year, 
 when they generally become furious. It is said 
 that, at this period, they recollect all the ill 
 treatment they have previously received, and that 
 they seldom fail to revenge themselves on the 
 persons who inflicted it, if they now come with- 
 in "their reach. They kick, bite, and sometimes 
 even trample m^n under their feet. They now 
 almost entirely refuse their food for about forty 
 days ; and there appears on the posterior and up. 
 per part of the head, behind the ears, two eleva- 
 tions of the skin, forming a kind of core, from 
 the pores of which a thick fluid continues to 
 ooze during the whole season. Two large blad- 
 ders are thrown at the same time from the
 
 ?!KGLE-110NCHED CAMEL. 77 
 
 rnouth, attended by a very disagreeable rattling 
 In them. 
 
 The period of gestation in the DromedarieB is 
 twelve months ; and they produce only a single 
 young one each, at a birth. Shaw relates that 
 this, when brought into the world, is blind, which 
 is a singular circumstance in a ruminating animal. 
 It is, at first, about two feet in height; but it 
 increases so quickly in size, at this period, that 
 in the course of about eight days it generally at- 
 tains the height of another fooft, If it is unre- 
 strained, it will continue to suck for about twelve 
 months, and it arrives at its full size at the age 
 of six or seven years. The natural duration of 
 its life is from forty to fifty years. 
 
 We are assured by Olearius that the two^ 
 hunched Camel and the Dromedary will produce 
 together, and that animals of this mule breed are 
 barren. He says that these mules are more es- 
 teemed than either of the original races. In the 
 year 17o2, a Dromedary in Paris produced a 
 young one from a male Camel, but it was so 
 small and puny, that it only lived three days. 
 
 The flesh of the young Dromedary is as good 
 as veal. The Arabians make it their principal 
 food ; and they frequently preserve it for a con- 
 siderable length of time, in vessels which they 
 cover over with fat. These people are likewise 
 very fond of the milk, which is thick and nourish- 
 E 3
 
 78 THS I^HOHEDAJRY, OR 
 
 ing, and from which they prepare both buttcji 
 'diid cheese. 
 
 The hair of the Dromedary is employed in the 
 manufacture of various kinds of stuffs, and for 
 .several other purposes. The animals are shorn 
 in the summer : even the dung is of essential use 
 in the arid countries which they inhabit : it con- 
 stitutes the chief combustible substance that the 
 people possess; and, when properly prepared, it 
 yields a considerable quantity of sal ammoniac. - 
 The Dromedaries, from time immemorial, have 
 formed a principal part of the riches of theArabian 
 shepherds; and from the number of the animals' 
 they possess, is estimated the extent of their 
 riches. 
 
 The Egyptian peasants, or fellahs, have like- 
 wise Dromedaries of w^hich they take great care* 
 They do not employ them in tillage, but only for 
 the purpose of transporting merchandize, and in 
 turning the machines by which they water their 
 fields. 
 
 In the menagerie of the museum at Paris, there 
 are two Dromedaries, \vhich "^vere given lo the 
 French Republic, when about three years old, by 
 the Dey of Algiers. They were then about four 
 feet and a half high, including the hunch : their 
 hair was nearly white, except ou the upper part 
 of the hunch, where it was reddish. They are 
 now about seven years old, and the female is six
 
 SINGLE-HUNCHED CA.MEL. ^9 
 
 feet and a half, and the male seven feet in height* 
 The hair of both the animals is a reddish grey. In 
 Egypt the grey Dromedaries are considered to be 
 the strongest. There are likewise black and white 
 ones, but they are very uncommon. 
 
 Their season of moulting commences about the 
 month of April ; but these animals do not, like 
 tljie Camel, lose all their hair, and it is changed in 
 a considerably shorter period than that of the 
 horse or any other animal of our climate. The 
 duration is two months, and the hair of the hunch 
 i^ that which is last changed. The rutting sea- 
 son precedes that of moulting: it commences in 
 February, and likewise lasts for two months. 
 
 The male has the running behind the ears, which 
 the male Dromedaries have in their proper cli- 
 mates, and the teats of the females are consi- 
 derably augmented, but neither of them lose their 
 appetite, nor exhibit the other indications that 
 have been remarked in the animals which inhabit 
 the hot countries. Perhaps, however, this may 
 have arisen in a great measure from their not 
 having attained their full age. 
 
 The male eats about thirty pounds weight of 
 hay everyday, and the female about tsventy. — 
 They drink often. 
 
 The female is very gentle, but the male some- 
 what mischievous ; and he attempts to crush thoce 
 who oIFend him against the wall or against the 
 e4
 
 so THE DROMEDARY, OR 
 
 partition of iiis inclosure. He is sometimes em- 
 ployed in a machine for pumping water, and he 
 performs his work very well. On the days that 
 he is thus employed, he has either a few oats or 
 some bran given in addition to his hay. 
 
 Both the Dromedary and the Camel were well 
 known to the ancients ; of the latter, Aristotle 
 has given a memoir of very considerable length, 
 in which, as is usual in his writings, he has avoid- 
 ed most of the errors which have been admitted 
 by his successors.
 
 81
 
 81 
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 THE Elephants are so diftereut from every 
 other tribe oi" quadrupeds, that it is diftlcult to 
 assign to them a proper place in the zoological 
 system, unless we rank them in an order by 
 themselves. 
 
 From the circumstance of theil' having, in the 
 skeleton, five complete, and very distinct toes, 
 they might be supposed to be digitated animals : 
 but these (during life) are each enveloped in a 
 thick and hard substance, which scarcely allows 
 any motion, and which constitute,in appearance^ 
 a sort of hoof. On the border of this apparent 
 hoof there are several nails, each situated at the 
 extremity of one of the toes. The molar teeth, 
 .'•oni posed of vertical and transverse plates, the 
 absence of the canine teeth, the enormous tusks 
 implanted in the incisive or intermaxillary bones, 
 and other particulars of their osteology, seem to 
 give the Elephants some alliance with, the 
 rongeurs of the French naturalists, or the ani- 
 mals of the order glires of Linnasus. These 
 tusks, however, though incisive in their position, 
 have neither the form nor the uses of the long 
 incisive teeth of the glires, shice, instead of bei^g 
 E 3
 
 82 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 curved downward to meet the incisors of the 
 lower jaw, they are either straight, or somewhat 
 curved upwards ; and each terminate in a point. 
 In short they are true weapons of defence, simi- 
 lar in most respects, to those of the hogs. These 
 weapons, (which project from the upper jaw) 
 and the absence of the incisors and the canine 
 teeth, in the under jaw, give the Elephant an 
 alliance with the walruses and manati ; but in 
 the other parts of their organization,these animals 
 have nothing whatever in common. The Ele- 
 phant is peculiarly distinguished from all other 
 quadrupeds by its proboscis, a v^'Onderful instru- 
 ment, which gives to the animal an address, and 
 a nicety of touch superior to that even of the 
 asses, and which is particularly advantageous 
 fi'om the circumstance of its being situated so 
 near the organ of smell ; since the animal can 
 examine objects at the same time by both these 
 senses, and seize or reject them according to the 
 judgment formed from this double examination. 
 As the head of the Elephant is very heavy, and 
 its long and solid tusks, projecting forward, con- 
 tribute to remove the centre of gravity from its 
 point of support, it could never have been able 
 to elevate this head, if the neck had been at all 
 proportioned to the length of the legs. On the 
 other hand, with a short neck, and long legs, the 
 animal would not have been able to procure
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 83 
 
 either the food or liquid necessary to its support, 
 had it not been furnished with a proboscis ; which 
 consequently is a member indispensable Lo its 
 existence. This proboscis is formed by a mem- 
 branaceous prolongation of the tubes of the 
 nostrils, furnished with muscles, and clarf, 
 externally, with a strong and flexible skin. 
 The muscles \vhich move it are of two sorts: 
 longitudinal ones, divided into a number of 
 arcs, tlie convex parts of which are outward, 
 and the two extremities of which adhere to the 
 internal membrane ; and transverse ones, which 
 extend from the internal to the external mem- 
 branes, like the rays of a circle. These last 
 -contract the external envelope, without closing 
 the internal canal, which the other muscles 
 would not be able to do : in this action they 
 elongate the proboscis by forcing the longitudi- 
 nal muscles to extend themselves. The latter, 
 in contracting, shorten the proboscis, either 
 entirely, when they all act together, or in part, 
 and this on one or more sides, and in one or more 
 portions of its length, which produces all ima- 
 ginable curvatures. The proboscis is therefore a 
 mechanism at the saine time the most simple and 
 the most powerful that can be imagined. At its 
 extremity, there is an appendix in form of a 
 fmger, which the animal uses chiclly to take 
 hold of very small objects. This proboscis is 
 E 6
 
 64 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 SO Strong, that with it the Elephant can tear up 
 even small trees, can shake buildings, fling con- 
 siderable weights, and with great ease, suffo- 
 cate a man by folding it round his body. 
 
 Besides the above singularities of organization, 
 the Elephants have several others that are well 
 deserving of notice. Their legs are high and 
 peculiarly strong. The whole sole of the foot 
 is applied to the ground, and is so short in pro- 
 portion to the animal, that the leg appears to be 
 cut off below, almost like the base of a column. 
 The ears are broad and pendant, very different 
 from those of animals which, from domestication' 
 have pendant ears, such as the dogs ; in the lat- 
 ter, the upper part of the valve falls down and 
 covers even the opening of the meatus auditorius ; 
 but in the Elephants, the ear is widened and 
 pendant by the posterior and inferior part. 
 When the animals are in a wild state, their ears 
 are continually in motion, and are of essential 
 service in defending the eyes from the attacks of 
 noxious insects. 
 
 The cranium of the Elephant is larger than 
 what is necessary to hold the brain : the internal 
 of the two parietes is occupied by a great num- 
 ber of cells which communicate with the inte- 
 rior of the. nose, and, no doubt, serve to extend 
 the organ of smell. The proboscis itself has no 
 perception of odours : the use to which the ani-
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 85 
 
 mal applies it, in drawing up liquids, will not, of 
 course, allow the internal membrane to be suffi- 
 ciently delicate for this purpose. It is therefore, 
 in this respect, only the conductor of the odori- 
 ferous particles. There is a line on the middle 
 of the occiput, where the two parietes of the 
 skull meet, and form ar hollow, into which is in- 
 serted the cervical ligament; this is the only 
 place where the skull can be perforated without 
 much difficulty, and wiiere the animal may be 
 killed by a single stroke with a lance. 
 
 The molar or grinding teeth of the Elephant 
 are very peculiar in their structure. Each tooth 
 is composed of a certain number of very thin 
 pai'tial teeth, situated in rows, and occupying 
 transversely the v/hoie width of the tooth. These 
 teeth are all complete, each being composed of a 
 bony substance, and of enamel, and having its 
 proper roots, and the orifices that are necessary 
 to admit of its appropriate nerves and vessels. 
 •In the early state of their growth they are sepa- 
 rated ; but when they are about to pierce the 
 gum, they become united together by a peculiar 
 kind of cement. Each of the gums has, at its 
 summit, several obtuse points : but when they 
 arrive at their full developement, these points are 
 gradually blunted by the friction occasioned in 
 masticating their food. In tljis wearing away 
 they at first present the appearance of circles of
 
 »&• THE INDIAN ELETHANT. 
 
 bony matter, surrounded with enamel ; in wear- 
 ing deeper these circles become obliterated, and in- 
 stead of them there appear a great number of trans- 
 verse stripes, which on examination will be found 
 to mark the summit of the partial teeth. Whilst 
 the composite tooth is diminished above, it is 
 lengthened from below, and there are to be ob- 
 served in the old teeth, long and distinct roots, 
 whilst the new ones have none at all. The man- 
 ner in which the teeth are replaced is curious. 
 The first molar teeth are only four in number, one 
 on each side of each jaw. After some time four 
 others are developed, not beneath, but behind 
 these. The V lephant has then eight teeth in the 
 whole, but the second teeth, by little and little, 
 push the others forward, till at length they thrust 
 tiiem entirely out of the jaw : there are then, as 
 at first, only four left. At this time two new 
 pairs appear, v/hich, like the others, thrust out 
 t'.iose which preced( d them. This succession of 
 teeth is repeated no less than seven or eight times 
 during the life of tlie animal. Each new tooth 
 is larger than the old one, is composed of a greater 
 number of partial teeth, and requires a greater 
 length of timefor itsdevelopement. 
 
 The tusks or weapons of the Elephant have 
 also a structure which is peculiar to themselves. 
 Thry are composed of conical layers, closely con- 
 nected one with another, of which the interior
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. ST 
 
 layers are the last produced. At their base there 
 is a conical cavity, the point or extremity of 
 IPv^hich is elongated into a very straight tube that 
 traverses the middle of the whole length of the 
 tooth, and is filled with a blackish substance. 
 "When one of the tusks is cut transversely, the 
 section presents to the sight a great number of 
 concentric circles, formed by cutting through the 
 several layers which compose it ; and in the cen- 
 tre is seen a black point (called by workmen in 
 ivory, the heart of the tooth), the section of the 
 longitudinal tube. There are likewise to be ofe^ 
 served, numerous lines extending from the centre 
 to the circumference, curved into segments of 
 circles ; and crossed by others, similar, that are 
 curved in a contrary direction : these form, by 
 their intersecting each other, a series of very re^ 
 gularly arranged curvilinear lozenges. It is by 
 these lozenges that the ivory of the Elephant 
 may, on the slightest inspection, be distinguished 
 from that of any other animal : nothing of the 
 kind is to be seen in that of the hippopotamus, 
 the walrus, the hog, or the narwal. The exter- 
 nal layer has straight rays, directed towards the 
 centre. This is the true enanrtel ; but as it is very 
 little harder than the ivory itseif, and as it is soon 
 worn away at the point of the tooth, many writers 
 have asserted that the tusks of the Elephant are 
 entirely deprived of this substance. The first
 
 68 THE 1ND1A>T SLEPIIANT. 
 
 tusks are cast when they have only attained the 
 length of some inches ; but are replaced by others 
 which ffeiieraiiy arrive at much greater length. 
 The ivory is of ditierent colours. In some of 
 the tiisksathas an olive cast, but it is most com- 
 monly either white or whitish. The workmen 
 denominate the former green ivory; but this co- 
 lour is only found in such of the weapons as have 
 been taken immediately out of the jaws of the 
 animals, or in such as have not been kept long 
 enough for the olive tinl to bF destroyed, in dry- 
 ing, and to be replaced by the v/hite colour.* 
 
 The skin of the Flephriut is rough and uneven, 
 or V\'rinkled in all dire< tions, and granulated al- 
 most like shagreen. There is very little hair: in 
 the full grown animals, this is observed only on 
 some particular p? its of their body; but in the 
 young ones, iris Jiinly scattered over the whole 
 surface. The skin when Avashed is generally 
 black, more or less deep, but the real colour is 
 almost alwavK concealed by a coat af dirt and 
 scurf which covers it. 
 
 The peritoneum of the Elephant is very thick, 
 but of a loose texture and spongy substance, like 
 almost all its other membranes. The epiploon 
 occupies the posterior part of the ventricle, in 
 
 * Sec this subject pjursiied further, by paubenton, in Lis " Ds- 
 acriplion dc I'Elephaut.
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT, 89 
 
 such manner as to be situated ])et\vixt the intes- 
 tines and the back. The intestines, and particu- 
 larly the colon, are extremely large. The sto- 
 mach however, is small; and the oesophagus 
 enters it about the middle. The liver has only 
 two lobes. The hepatic duct is very large, but 
 there is no gall-bladder. 
 
 The general resemblance betwixt all the Ele* 
 phants, and the difficulty of comparing those of 
 different climates, have, of late years, been the 
 cause of confounding different species under the 
 &,imena.me, the Great Elep/iant. It is, however, 
 now well ascertained that there are, at least, two 
 species which are perfectly distinct; that found 
 along the west, and the southern coast of Africa, 
 and that w^hich is so common in the East Indies. 
 These animals not only differ in the general form 
 of their body, but also very considerably in their 
 habits and instincts. Even the ancient writers 
 were not ignorant of this circumstance. Appian 
 says that Domitius, in arranging Elephants for 
 battle, always placed the African Elephants after 
 the others, considering them of less use than these 
 from their being smaller and much less courage- 
 ous. Pliny also affirms generally, that the ani- 
 mals from Africa are not only of less size, but 
 .that they are afraid to combat with those of In- 
 dia. DioQorussays the same thing of the Afri- 
 can Elephants, compared with those possessed
 
 90 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT, 
 
 by the Egyptians, which no doubt are brought 
 from Abyssinia, and other parts of the eastern 
 side of Egypt, and where there is every reason 
 to believe, the Indian species only is found ; 
 since Ludolphus says expressly, that in Abyssinia 
 the females are destitute of tusks. The Indian 
 Elephant has its head elongated, the forehead flat, 
 or even, somewhat concave ; whilst the African 
 Elephant has a round head, and a convex fore- 
 head. The -ears of the former are of a moderate 
 size, whilst those of the latter are so enormous, 
 that they cover the whole shoulder. But what 
 forms a more decisive character is, that the molar 
 teeth of the African Elephant when the upper 
 surface is worn away by mastication, exhibit a lo- 
 zenge formed surface to each of the partial 
 teeth, whilst the surfaces of these teeth, in the 
 other species, are each somewhat in the form of 
 a waved or festooned ribbon. The tusks of the 
 African Elephants continue to increase in size 
 •during the greater part of their life, and arrive 
 at a much larger size than those of the Indian 
 animals : they are nearly equal in both the sexes ; 
 whilst the tusks of the females of India seldom 
 exceed some inches in length. The African 
 ivory is likewise harder, and less liable to become 
 yellow, than that from the East Indies ; and al- 
 most all the ivory brought into Europe is from 
 Africa, It likewise appears that these Elephants
 
 Tin: INDIAN LLEPJIAKT. 91 
 
 jiiffcr in the number of their nails: but this is a 
 oliaracter which cannot be depended on, since 
 the numl^^r of these is not always- constant in 
 tlie game species. 
 
 As the Elephaats which have been brought 
 into Europe, and deposited in the French and 
 .English menageries, have been those of the East 
 Indies, we shall confine the subsequent observa- 
 tions to this species only. 
 
 To this hath been chiefly attributed that asto- 
 nishing degree of sagacity which has been the 
 subject of such exaggerated relations, as to be 
 considered by some writers, the result of real 
 intelligence and of moral sentiment. This supe- 
 riority of the Elephant over other animals, is 
 partly founded in the actual advantages that it 
 has beyond them. The perfection of its organ 
 of touch ; the facility it possesses of confirm- 
 ing the organ of sight ; the delicacy of its organs 
 of hearing and smelling ; the length of its life, 
 and the experience and habits it derives from 
 this ; its strength and power, which prevents it 
 from being attacked by any other animals, pro- 
 cure for it an uninterrupted repose, and constant 
 security. Yet its external organs, (in every re- 
 spect so advantageous to the animal) are not 
 animated by a nervous system either more power- 
 ful, or more delicate than that of other qua- 
 drupeds. Its brain is small in proportion to the
 
 g'2 THE INDIAN ELEPHANl'. 
 
 bulk of its body : but the cells before mentioned 
 render the skull of large size, and make it appear 
 almost as prominent as that of man. The result 
 of this conformation of the skull is a grave and 
 serious physiognomy, which probably has con- 
 tributed, in no slight degree, to produce for the 
 Elephant that reputation for reason and intellect 
 which have rendered it so celebrated. 
 
 The Malays give to the Elephant the same 
 name that they give to man, and which implies 
 a rational being. The ancients were not con- 
 tented merely to acknowledge its gentleness, the 
 facility with which it was domesticated, its at- 
 tachment to its master, its sense of benefits con- 
 ferred, its resentment of injury, qualities which 
 it possesses in a veiy high degree, but still, in 
 common with the dog and several other qua- 
 drupeds, they elevated it to a much higher rank, 
 considered it as an intellectual being, as in some 
 measure capable of religions worship, as pos- 
 sessing virtues very rare aniong mankind, an un- 
 alterable conjugal fidelity, and an uniform resist- 
 ance against being the minister of injustice. 
 The Indians believe that they can make the 
 Elephants comprehend whatever they say to 
 them ; and that they are influenced by passions 
 similar to those which actuate mankind, such as a 
 love of finery, and even of simple commendation 
 or praise. Travellers, delighted to speak of an
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 93 
 
 animal so wonderful as the Elephant undoubted- 
 ly is, have adopted much too readily the sur- 
 prising narrations respecting it of these ignorant 
 people, and naturalists have, in their turn, been 
 too eager and credulous in copying the accounts 
 of the travellers. It is certain that the Elephant, 
 as remarked by sagacious and observing men,falls 
 far short of the station in v»^hich it has usually 
 been placed by the accounts of tnose who consi- 
 dered it possessed of intellectual faculties. 
 
 This animal, notwithstanding its enormous 
 bulk, does not by any means want quickness in 
 its movements. It trots with considerable agility, 
 and can easily overtake a man at his greatest 
 speed; but as it cannot turn very readily, he is 
 able at any time to escape from it by running to 
 one side. The hunters are able to kill it by at- 
 tacking it from behind, or on the flanks. It 
 moves its ears as it runs, and sometimes employs 
 them to direct its motions, extending the ear on 
 that side to which it would turn, and presenting 
 thereby a greater resistance to the air. It has 
 great difficulty in descending very steep places, 
 and in this act it is obliged to bend considerably 
 its hind legs, since otherwise it would be over- 
 balanced by the enormous weight of its head 
 and tusks. 
 
 The Romans had Elephants which they train- 
 ed to dance, and which they instructed to run
 
 Q4: TlfE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 %\ ith rapidity amongst men recumbent upon tlie . 
 ground, without injuring them. It is said that 
 they even taught them to dance upon a rope, a 
 thing scarcely credible,although asserted by seve- 
 ral writers, who, in other respects, are worthy 
 credit. 
 
 The body of the Elephant being lighter 
 than water, the animal is able, with great ease, 
 to cross rivers by swimming, particularly where 
 the current is not violent. It has thus no need, 
 as the ancients asserted, to walk along the bot- 
 tom, and elevate its trunk above the surface, in 
 order to respire. 
 
 This animal pefers moist and shady situations^ 
 in the neighbourhood of rivers, to all other 
 places. It suffers nearly as much from excessive 
 heat, as it does from cold. A continual humi- 
 dity is necessary, to soften his hard and wrinkled 
 skin, which otherwise is subject to crack and 
 excoriate. The Elephant, therefore, not only 
 throws the water over its body by means of its 
 trunk, but likewise experiences great delight in 
 plunging into the waters, and playing about 
 amongst them; when no water is at hand, it 
 endeavours to supply the place of this by cover- 
 ing its body with dust or herbs. 
 
 Its usual food consists of plants, roots, and 
 the young branches of trees. It is particularly 
 lond of the seeds of the bamboo and plantain, of
 
 THE INDIAN ELLPKANT- 95 
 
 the banana fruit, and sugar canes, which it de- 
 vour V;'ich gTeat avidity. The inhabitants of 
 Sumatra have learned how to profit by the vo- 
 racity of the Elephants for sugar canes. They 
 insert a very active poison into the hollows of 
 the canes riearest to the quarter from whence the 
 Elephants usually come; and after the animals 
 have eaten them, they generally fall down on the 
 spot and die. 
 
 The natural instinctsoftheElephantsinducethem 
 to live in sociery : ihey consequently are o?5served 
 in immense numbers in the interior of the forests : 
 these they seldom leave, except for the purpose 
 €)f devastating the neighbouring plantations. Their 
 troops or herds consist of from forty to a hundred 
 individuals of both sexes and all ages. They 
 are conducted by one of the oldest females, and 
 one of the largest males. When they leave the 
 forests, if there is any appearance of danger, 
 they observe a determined order of progress. 
 The young ones and the females are placed in 
 the middle, surrounded by tlie old males ; and 
 each of the females protects her own oflspring 
 by embracing it with her trunk. 
 
 Some Elephants live in solitude, and entirely 
 apart from society: these are called by the IndiaviS 
 grondahs. They are always males, which, it is 
 believed, have been chased.from the herds, by the 
 jealousy of other individuals of their sex. They
 
 90 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 are, in general, excessively ferocious : they often 
 leave the forests, attack mankind without the 
 least provocation, lay waste the fields, throv\r 
 down the huts of the peasants, and destroy the 
 cattle. The farmers are frequently compelled to 
 set guards against them, who are posted, for the 
 purpose, in a kind of sentry-boxes, of great 
 strength, formed of bamboo. When the men 
 perceive one of these Elephants approaching, they 
 give the alarm to each other, and drive away the 
 animal by making a great noise, and by firing at 
 it with muskets. When these Elephants pene- 
 trate into the villages, they commit the most 
 dreadful desolation. The animals that live in 
 troops are not dangerous, unless they are irritated* 
 a man may pass very near them without in the 
 least degree attracting their notice. 
 
 Mankind have continued for a long time igno- 
 rant of the mode of production of Elephants. The 
 domestic animals have not till lately been known 
 to produce young ones : and the wild Elephants, 
 during the season that the males attach themselves 
 to their mates, always continue in the depth of 
 the forests, far out of the observation of mankind. 
 This has usually been attributed, by those who 
 have elevated the animals nearly into the same 
 rank with men, to a principle of modesty, or a 
 desire that their offspring shall not be seized and 
 driven into slavery. Thus has imagination sup-
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 97 
 
 plied the place of those facts which could not be 
 supplied by actual observation and knowledge.— 
 A late English writer, IMr. Corse, has very satis- 
 factorily ascertahied that the mode of production 
 in these animals is the same, or very nearly the 
 same, as in the horse ; and that this does not take 
 place at any particular season, but during all the 
 seasons of the year. Their period of gestation is 
 from twenty to twenty-two months. The young 
 one when first produced, is about three feet iu 
 height. It sucks with its mouth, and certainly 
 not by means of its trunk, as hath been generally 
 believed. In the troops, the young are said to 
 suck, indiscriminately, all the females that have 
 milk in their teats. It has likewise been remark- 
 ed, that if a young Elephant be carried off from 
 its mother, and kept apart from her for only two 
 daj'S, it will not again be able to recognize her, 
 although it seeks for her, and calls eagerly for the 
 teat by its cries. The young Elephant sucks for 
 two years, and in the tirst year, it attains the 
 height of about four feet, in the second four and 
 a half, and in the third five. It continues to in- 
 crease in size till it is twenty or twenty- two years 
 old. The Indian Elephants are in general small- 
 er than what has usually been asserted by travel- 
 lers : the females are only from seven to eight feet 
 high, and the males from eight to ten: the largest 
 that Mr. Corse saw measured in height, from th<» 
 p
 
 9S THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 top of the head to the ground, twelve feet two 
 inches. Of a hundred and fifty Elephants em- 
 ployed in the first war against Tippoo Saib, there 
 was only one which was so much as ten feet high. 
 The ancients speak of these animals measuring 
 from fourteen to sixteen feet; and in the Museum 
 at St. Petersburg, there is a skeleton that mea- 
 sures fourteen feet in height: this animal, when 
 alive, was given to Peter the Great, by the King 
 of Persia. The Grand Turk, in the year 1745, 
 gave to the King of Naples an Elephant thirteen 
 feet and a half high. 
 
 Elephants first produce young ones at the age 
 of seven or eight years, or somewhat earlier. The 
 greatest age that these animals attain has yet not 
 been ascertained with any degree of exactness: 
 they have, however, been kept in a state of do- 
 mestication for about a hundred and twenty or a 
 hundred and thirty years : and, from the slowness 
 of their growth, it is by no means improbable 
 that, in a wild state, they may outlive a couple of 
 centuries. 
 
 The milk tusks are shed in about twelve or 
 thirteen months : those which succeed them do 
 not fall, but in the Indian Elephants continue 
 to increase in size during life. There can be little 
 doubt that the opinion advanced by ^lian, and 
 copied by several modern writers, that these Ele- 
 phants changed their tusks from time to time as 
 
 i
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 99 
 
 the stags do their horns, is incorrect, and found- 
 ed on observations made on the African species. 
 
 The largest tusks that are seen in Bengal do not 
 often exceed the weight of seventy or eighty- 
 pounds: but there was one in the Leverian Mu- 
 seum, probably however from the African 
 species, that weighed a hundred and thirteen 
 pounds. 
 
 The first grinders begin to appear about eight 
 or ten days after the young animal is produced : 
 they are not perfectly formed till the end of six 
 weeks or two months, and not completely out of 
 the jaw till the expiration of nearly three months. 
 The second grinders appear in about two years ; 
 the third soon afterwards begin their develope- 
 ment : they push out the second grinders in the 
 course of six months; and, in their turn, are 
 driven out by the fourth, when the animal is 
 about nine years old. There are other similar 
 successions of teeth, but their particular periods 
 are unknown. It is, however, believed, that each 
 succeeding tooth requires one year more for its 
 ; developement than that which immediately pre- 
 j ceded it. The first grinders are composed of four 
 1 laminae or partial teeth, the second of eight or 
 nine, the third of thirteen or fourteen, the fourth 
 of fifteen, and in the same proportion as far as 
 the seventh or eighth, which has twenty-tvN'o or 
 r2
 
 100 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 twenty-three : this is the greatest number that has 
 been observed. 
 
 In the Indian Elephants there is considerable 
 variety with respect, not only to size, but also to 
 colour, and the length of tusks. Their natural 
 colour is a blackish brown, which usually be- 
 comes a dirty grey, from their skin being covered 
 with scurf and dirt. Sometimes, in the woods, 
 an Elephant is seen whose colour is reddish, 
 owing (says a late traveller) to a sort of red clayey 
 earth in which it has rolled itself. White Ele* 
 phants derive their colour from the same kind of 
 disease Avhich makes the /Albinos. They are greatly 
 revered by the Indians, who all believe in the 
 transmigration of souls : according to their belief 
 these Elephants are animated by the souls of their 
 ancient kings. 
 
 We have already remarked that the females of 
 the Indian Elephants have very short tusks; and 
 there are some males which have tusks not long- 
 er than these, for which no reason can be alledg- 
 ed. Such Elephants are denominated Mookna; 
 and those with long tusks Dauntelak, from the 
 Indian word daunt, which signifies the same as 
 our word tooth. This difference in the length of 
 the tusks does not make any in the price of the 
 animal. If the character of the Elephant is well 
 ascertained to be good, the Europeans rather pre.
 
 TUE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 101 
 
 fer those which have short tusks, since they are 
 thus deprived of the means of being so dangerous 
 as they might otherwise be. The Indians, how> 
 ever, always prefer the long tusked animals, care- 
 less of the risk of injury. 
 
 There is a great variety amongst the Daunte- 
 lahs, arising from the direction and curvature of 
 their tusks. The animals most esteemed are 
 those which have them nearly horizontal. The 
 Indian princes have a peculiar and superstitious 
 respect for such of the Dauntdahs as have only 
 one tusk. 
 
 A very important difference, with respect both 
 to price and utility, arises from the animals be- 
 ing what are Komareah and Mtrghte : the former 
 are Elephants which have, a thick and long body, 
 and short legs : tliey are stronger than the others, 
 and able to withstand fatigue for a longer time, 
 and consequently are the highest in esteem : the 
 others are taller, shorter in the body, and have 
 higher legs. Betwixt the two there are many in- 
 termediate degrees. All these varieties are found 
 indifferently in the same herd. 
 
 The Elephants, as before observed, very rarely 
 produce young ones in confinement. Those ani- 
 mals, therefore, that are chifefly domesticated in 
 the East, are either such as have been caught from 
 the wild herds, or such as have been produced 
 from females that were with young previously to 
 f3
 
 102 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 their being caught In India they are taken in 
 two ways, in troops or singly : a whole troop i? 
 sometimes caught by surrounding them with a 
 great number of armed men, arranged in two 
 circles, who frighten the animals by shouting, 
 beating a kind of drum called tomtoms,and firing 
 at them with muskets loaded only with powder : 
 thus preventing them from going in any other 
 direction than that in which they wish them to 
 proceed. By these means they are driven into 
 an inclosure, surrounded by deep ditches, and 
 palisadoesof such strength, that all the force they 
 can exert will make no impression on them. The 
 entrance to this inclosure is planted with trees and 
 shrubs, so as to resemble the pathway into a fo- 
 rest. The Elephant that conducts the herd he-^ 
 sitates, however, a long time before he can be in- 
 duced to enter it ; but the moment he goes in, 
 all the rest implicitly follow him. The gate is 
 then closed, fires are lighted, and the same lioises 
 are made as before, till the animals have passed 
 through into the interior inclosure. Nourishment 
 is now offered to them, from a scaffold placed 
 near the entrance of a long passage into which 
 they are drawn, one by one, and which is so 
 narrow, that they ate not able to turn round. As 
 soon as one of them has entered this passage, the 
 place is closed by a gate, and the animal is now 
 confined to the spot by bars that are passed across*
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 103 
 
 both' before and behind it. Its feet are secured 
 by ropes, interlaced by a man who approaches 
 from behind. Other men on the scaflold pass 
 strong cords round its head and body, the ends of 
 wliich are made fast to two domesticated females, 
 properly instructed for the purpose ; and it is af- 
 terwards rendered perfectly tame and familiar. 
 
 It is not necessary to make the above prepara- 
 tion for the taking of single Elephants ; since, as 
 they are always males which have been driven, 
 away from their herds, they are attracted into the 
 snare, without much difficulty, by tame and well 
 trained females. Men pass betwixt the legs of 
 these females, in order to approach and tie with 
 ropes the legs of the wild animal. If any accident 
 happens to rouse the animal, they mount, as 
 quickly as possible, the backs of the females, by 
 means of rope ladders, fastened to them for that 
 purpose, and escape. But they are generally able 
 to tie the Elephant, and afterwards fasten him to 
 the trunk of some stout tree to which the females 
 attract him. 
 
 in whatever manner the Elephants may be 
 taken, their education is precisely the same.— 
 Each is given to the care of a keeper, and other 
 servants, who habituate him to bondage, by a 
 judicious mixture of caresses, indulgences, and 
 threats, by scratching him with long bamboos, 
 throwing water over him, and giving or refusing^ 
 F 4
 
 104 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 his proper food. Sometimes they are compelled 
 to have recourse to chastisement, by beating him 
 with staffs pointed with iron. The keeper ap- 
 proaches hira by degrees ; and at length the Ele- 
 phant allows him to mount on his neck, from 
 which place the man is able, in a short time, to 
 direct all his movements. Six months generally 
 elapse before the animal attains this degree of do- 
 cility: but for some time after this they cannot 
 be perfectly depended on ; and when an Elephant 
 is determined to escape, all the efforts of his keep- 
 er to detain him are in vain. The male Elephants, 
 and particularly those that are taken alone, are 
 always less tractable, and require more severity 
 than the females. 
 
 It is asserted of the Elephant that, when it has 
 once escaped from slavery, it cannot be a second 
 time ensnared. But late writers have recited se- 
 veral instances which prove that this is not the 
 fact. 
 
 This animal is one of the most useful that has 
 been reduced into the service of mankind. Its 
 strength is so great that it is able to carry a weight 
 of nearly two thousand pounds. It will draw a 
 hurthen which six horses are scarcely able to 
 move ; and it will travel, without fatigue, fifteen 
 or twenty leagues in a day, and, on an emergen- 
 cy, it may be urged to more than thirty. To 
 these advantages are to be added all those which
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. lOo 
 
 are the result of its sagacity ; as its retracing by 
 itself a road along which it has travelled; the sur- 
 prising resources that it adopts in its embarrass- 
 ments ; and those derived from its general quick- 
 ness and address, and from the peculiarly excel- 
 lent formation of its proboscis. Every one knows 
 that formerly it was employed in war, that it 
 charged the soldiers, and, in Eastern countries, 
 had generally an important place assigned to it 
 in battle: but the adoption of fire arms in late 
 centuries, and its natural and unconquerable 
 dread of fire, prevent it from being at present of 
 much further use than in transporting provisions, 
 baggage, and artillery. 
 
 In a state of domestication, the Elephant re- 
 quires for its support about a hundred pounds 
 weight of rice per day, and a considerable portion 
 of fresh vegetables or fruit. One that was kept 
 in the Menagerie of Versailles, about the end of 
 the seventeenth century, had a daily allowance 
 of eighty-four pounds of bread, twelve pints of 
 wine, two pails of pottage, two of boiled rice, 
 and one sheaf of corn. It was fond of spirituous 
 liquors of all kinds, and these were always given 
 to it by the keeper as a kind of bribe to induce it 
 to exert tlie greatest efforts of its sagacity. 
 
 A male Elephant that was brought to England 
 in the year 1793, and purchased by Mr. Pidcock 
 of Exeter 'Change, London, was usuarlly fed with 
 p 5
 
 106 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 hay, straw, and vegetables of different kinds. Hfr 
 drank about nine pails of water in the day, besides 
 a very considerable quantity of ale that was given 
 him by different visitors. 
 
 The two Elephants in the Menagerie of the 
 Museum of Natural History in Paris, consume at 
 present about a hundred weight of hay, eighteen 
 pounds of bread, several bunches of carrots, and 
 a great quantity of potatoes, every day, without 
 leckoning the food that they receive from the nu- 
 merous persons who come to see them. They 
 have no particular hours of eating, but will re- 
 ceive food at all times, except during those of 
 their repose. In summer they drink nearly thirty 
 pails full of water each. 
 
 In the year 1801, these two animals were each 
 about eighteen years old, and measured, in 
 height, about eight feet four inches; and they 
 had increased a foot and a quarter since their ar- 
 rival in Paris. When they were first brought into 
 Europe, in the year 1786, they were only three 
 years and a half old, and three feet six inches in 
 height. At that time they only ate tvventy-five 
 pounds of hay per day, each- 
 
 They were produced in Ceylon, and of the 
 largest race of Elephants. The Dutch East India 
 Company presented them to the Stadtholder; and 
 on the conquest of Holland by the French, they 
 ■were conveyed from that country, with other cu- 
 
 I
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. lOT 
 
 riosities, to Paris. They were carried as far as 
 Nimeguen by water, and from thence were driven 
 on foot to Loo. It was very difficult to prevail 
 with them to pass the wooden bridge at Arnheim, 
 being afraid that some snare was laid for them; 
 and, at last, this was done, by keeping them, for 
 a considerable time, without food, and then in- 
 ducing them to advance by presenting their ac- 
 customed nutriment on the opposite side of the 
 bridge. In crossing it, they previously examined 
 the solidity of each plank, before they ventured 
 their weight upon it 
 
 They were veay tame all the time they were 
 kept at Loo, and were even suffered to range 
 about at large. They entered sometimes the 
 apartments, and during dinner, would receive 
 food from any person who offered it. But, after; 
 the conquest of Holland, from being treated with 
 considerable cruelty by many of the persons who 
 came to see them, they lost a great portion of 
 their natural gentleness. Their confinement, and 
 the pain they suffered in the cages employed for 
 conveying them to Paris, had the effect of further 
 changing their nature. In the Museum of the 
 latter place they are confined in an inclosure suf- 
 ficiently large to allow them some exercise : this 
 contains a bason or pond fojr them to bathe in, 
 and their stable. Their rapid increase of size- 
 
 F 6
 
 108 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 proves that they enjoy, in this situation, an ex- 
 cellent state of health. 
 
 These animals have the tenderest attachment 
 for each other: whenever either of them testifies 
 any degree of alarm, the other immediately 
 hastens to its assistance. This is always the case 
 when they are struck by the appearance of any 
 object which is new to them : they then run from 
 one side to the other, utter their peculiar kind of 
 noise, and caress each other witlr their trunks. 
 On these occasions the male exhibits signs of ar- 
 dour, to which he is usually a stranger. These 
 emotions were nevermore striking than when, on 
 their first arrival in Paris, they were put together 
 after their long separation. They irrmiediately 
 rushed towards each other, and sent forth cries 
 of joy so animated and loud as to shake the whole 
 place into which they were put. 
 
 These animals make three kinds of noises : one 
 with the trunk, which is shrill, and seems only 
 to be exerted during their playful moments: one 
 mote weak, with the mouth, by which they de- 
 Kiand their food; and a third, very violent, from 
 the throat, which they exert only on occasions 
 when they are agitated by fear or passion. This 
 last is truly terrible. 
 
 They are for the most part very gentle, and do 
 iiot attempt to injure any oiie. They acknow-
 
 I 
 
 THE INDIAN' ELEPHANT. 10^ 
 
 ledge their keepers and exhi1)it considerable af- 
 fection for them : but, at a certain season of thfe 
 year, when he is at heat, and a liquid begins to 
 run from the glands situated behind the ears of 
 the male, he becomes mischievous, the keepers 
 are obliged to be careful not to il!-treat him, and 
 he even strikes at the other elephant w^ith his 
 trunk. This running first began when he was 
 about fifteen years old. It is not known whether 
 the female has a secretion of liquid behind the 
 ears or not : she has, however, orifices similar to 
 those of the male. It lasts for forty days, then 
 stops for forty days, and begins again. The hu- 
 mour produced is viscous and fetid. It is during 
 the last days of the running that the animal is 
 most mischievous and ill-natured : he then refuses 
 in a great measure to eat, taking proportionally 
 to other times, a very small quantity of nourish- 
 ment. His refusal of food is known to be a sign 
 of the running being about to cease. 
 
 The male Elephant, beforementioned, as pos- 
 sessed by Mr. Pidcock, the proprietor of the Me- 
 nagerie at Exeter 'Change, was taught by his 
 keepers to perform a great variety of tricks for 
 the entertainment of the visitors. If a pot of ale 
 was brought to him, he would put the extremity 
 of his trunk into it, and, sucking up the liquor, 
 would afterwai'ds blow it into his mouth : this 
 done, he would make a motion with his head.
 
 110 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 which the keeper always took care to tell the 
 donor, was the animal's mode of expressing gra- 
 titude for the gift ; and which probably the 
 major part of the spectators believed to be really 
 the case. He would take up a watch or even the 
 smallest piece of money from the floor, and on 
 command, would put it again into the owner's 
 hand or pocket. He would take from any person 
 apiece of money, and give it to a boy (who at- 
 tended for the purpose) for bread, fruit, or vege- 
 tables, which he immediately ate. If his keeper 
 ordered him, he would unbolt the door of his den, 
 or untie, with the fmger at the extremity of his 
 proboscis, a piece of strong cord that was fasten- 
 ed to the door. When the keeper has been en- 
 gaged in sweeping the den, the imitative animal 
 has not unfrequently taken in his trunk another 
 broom, and has appeared highly delighted in at- 
 tempting to sweep the place after him. 
 
 In the month of August, 1798, whilst a consi- 
 derable part of Mr. Pid cock's collection of animals 
 was at Lancaster, for the purpose of exhibition-, 
 several sailors, (who had lately arrived in a small 
 fleet from the West Indies,) being intoxicated, 
 came to the carriages in the night, and began to 
 demolish them. The keeper, who was roused 
 by the noise, went out, and reprimanded the 
 sailors for their outrageous conduct. This had 
 no efl'ect in influencing them to desist ; but in re* 
 
 i
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHA.NT. Ill 
 
 turn they began to illtreat the man. His cries 
 reached the ears of the Elephant : as soon as the 
 animal recognized his voice, he burst open the 
 door of his den, and immediately came out to 
 the keeper's assistance. The moment, however 
 that the sailors perceived him, they all ran off, 
 and little mischief was done. This animal died 
 in the year 1803. 
 
 There is at this time a female Elephant at Exe- 
 ter 'Change, which was brought to England in 
 the Rockingham East-Indiaman, and landed on 
 the 6th of January, 1796. At the time of her ar- 
 rival she was not much bigger than a large hog, 
 but she has now attained her greatest size. She 
 was considerably more thick and fleshy both in 
 the body and limbs than the male, and her head 
 in proportion, was somewhat larger. She is a 
 remarkably fine animal, and has small, but very 
 expressive eyes. Her skin is brown, rough, and 
 thinly scattered with hairs or bristles. Her tusks 
 are short; and her teats are veiy visible on the 
 breast, a little beyond the fore-legs. This Ele- 
 phant, by some secret signal given from the keep- 
 er, will, at his order, beat as many times with 
 her trunk against the rails of her den as there are 
 persons in the room : and, in the same manner* 
 will beat the hour, after the man has held up a 
 watch to one of her eyos. She will take off hi«
 
 112 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 hat, and again put it on as often as she h com- 
 manded : she will lie down, and rise up again : 
 will unbolt and bolt the door of her den, when- 
 ever the keeper orders her to do so. In unbolt- 
 ing and bolting the door, it is to be remarked, 
 that she does not merely use the finger of her 
 trunk, but bends the extremity of this flexible 
 instrument round the handle. If the keeper puts 
 a shilling near the boards which divide the room 
 from the staircase, out of the reach of the animal's 
 trunks and orders her to pick it up, she imme- 
 diately extends her trunk towards it, and blows 
 hard against the boards. The blast moves the 
 ghilling within her reach, when she seizes it, and 
 will either deliver it to him, or to any person that 
 he directs. 
 
 As all the animals that are deposited in the me- 
 nagerie at Exeter 'Change, are kept up one or 
 more flights of stairs, it excites no inconsiderable 
 degree of wonder, in most of the visitors, to con- 
 ceive how such an unwieldy creature as an Ele- 
 phant could have been conveyed into the place 
 where it is exhibited. The mode is this : when 
 ah Elephant arrives, it is compelled to walk up a 
 kind of platform that is laid over the staircase. 
 In order to make it enter the den. one keeper 
 pricks it behind, with a sharp-pointed spear, 
 whilst another goes before, and entices it with 
 
 i
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 113 
 
 fruit. This, of course, is always a troublesome 
 operation, and requires a great degree of care and 
 addresss in the persons employed. 
 
 The Elephant thai was given by the Grand 
 Turk, in 1745, to the king of Naples exhibited 
 more than usual intelligence and familiarity. It 
 frequently assisted the masons who were employ- 
 ed about the house where it was kept, by fur- 
 nishing them with Avater, which it drew for the 
 purpose, from an adjacent well, in a large cop- 
 per vessel. This it carried to them whenever 
 they called for it. The animal found one day 
 that something was the matter vrith the vessel, 
 since the water ran out of it. Having received 
 some instruction, he carried it to the brazier, had 
 it mended, and afterwards went on with his bu- 
 siness as usual. This Elephant was allowed to 
 wander at large in the streets of Naples. He did 
 no person any injury ; and he seemed delighted 
 to play with children, whom he would sometimes 
 place on his back with his trunk, and afterwards, 
 by the same means, place them in safety on the 
 ground. 
 
 Homer, in several parts of his writings, speaks 
 of ivory, but he did not know of such au animal 
 as the Elephant. Herodotus is the first who said 
 that this substance was part of the teeth of aa 
 l^^lephant. The first of the Grecians who sa\T 
 the animal were Alexander and the Macedonians.
 
 114 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 
 
 when fighting with Porus. The observations that 
 were made about this time must have been ex- 
 ceedingly good, since Aristotle has given a very 
 complete history of the animal, and much more 
 correct than what even many of the moderns have 
 written. After the death of Alexander, Anti- 
 gonus, one of his generals, procured and kept 
 several Elephants. Pyrrhus was the first who 
 carried an Elephant into Italy, in the year of 
 Rome 472, and as it was landed at Tarentum, 
 the Romans gave to these animals, which till 
 then were unknown to them, the name of Lu- 
 canian oxen. Carius Dentatus, who borrowed 
 four Elephants of Pyrrhus, carried them to Rome 
 to increase the magnificence of his triumphal 
 entry. After this period these animals were by 
 no means uncommon in the Roman empire. Me- 
 tellus, having conquered the Carthaginians in 
 Sicily, in the year 502, took their Elephants to 
 Rome, in number, according to Seneca, a hun- 
 dred and twenty, and a hundred and forty-two 
 according to Pliny. Claudius Pulcher had com- 
 bats of Elephants, in the Circus, in 665 ; and 
 Lucullus, Pompeius, Csesar, Claudius, and Ne- 
 ro, had also -<;ombats, both of Elephants with 
 each other, and of Elephants against bulls and 
 men. Pompeius had them yoked to his chariot 
 at his triumph in Africa. Germanicus exhibited 
 dancing Elephants. It was in the reign of Nero 
 
 d
 
 THE INDIAN ELEPHANT. 115 
 
 that one of these unwieldy animals is said to have 
 danced on a rope, at the same time that he car- 
 ried a man on his back ! ! ^Elian relates many ex- 
 traordinary stories of the feats which Elephants 
 in and before his time had been taught to perform. 
 He says expressly that Elephants had been pro- 
 duced in Rome. This assertion, and the obser- 
 vations lately made by Mr. Corse, induce us to 
 hope that it will not be found impossible to mul- 
 tiply these highly useful and interesting animals 
 in a state of domestication. 
 
 There have been so few Elephants brought into 
 Europe of late years, that it is believed no natu- 
 ralist has yet had an opportunity of comparing 
 together the two species, either alive or 
 in any other state. The authors who have pre- 
 sented the public with the most satisfactory'' ac- 
 counts of the Elephant, after Aristotle, are Per- 
 rault and Mr. Corse.
 
 110 
 
 THE CASSOWARY. 
 
 [Illustrated by an EngraTing.] 
 
 THIS species of bird is, in general, nearly five 
 feet in height Its body is extremely heavy, and 
 its wings are so short, that it has no power what- 
 ever to raise itself from the ground in flight. The 
 quills of which the wings are composed, are five 
 in number; they are strong, distant from each 
 other, and without barbs. They are, in short, 
 80 many spines ; and are given to the animal aa 
 weapons of defence against its enemies. 
 
 The beak is about five inches long, somewhat 
 curved, and of ver}'^ hard substance. A bony 
 protuberance, covered with horn, and of a 
 blackish brown colour, forms on the top of the 
 head a sort of helmet; commences about the 
 middle of the beak, and its base extends to the 
 back part of the head. 
 
 The skin of the head and neck is entirely naked, 
 and is of a fine blue colour above, and red below. 
 On each side of the front of the neck, hangs a 
 long light blue caruncle or wattle. The body is 
 covered with black feathers, which, at a little 
 distance have the appearance of hair. Those on
 
 S'TSUTHIO C/i.^UIi
 
 stet'tuw r.L^\ nvius. 
 
 "\y\Y, C.\SSK,nV.\RT
 
 THE CASSOWARY. 117 
 
 the hinder part of the back are of such length, as 
 entirely to conceal the tail. 
 
 The thighs are each about eighteen inches 
 long, and are covered with feathers almost to the 
 knees. The legs are remarkably stout ; the toes 
 of each foot are only three in number, and the 
 nail of each internal toe is about twice the length 
 of any of the others. 
 
 I'liisbird, like the ostrich, is not very delicate 
 either in its taste or smell. It will swallow al- 
 most every thing large enough to pass down its 
 throat, that is presented to it. Some writers 
 have asserted, that the Cassowary will occasion- 
 ally swallow even burning coals. It is particu- 
 larly fond of fruit, and of the eggs of poultiy ; 
 but it is not able to eat any kind of grain, as the 
 tongue is so formed as to have no power of guid- 
 ing this down the throat. 
 
 The Cassowary now kept in the Menagerie of 
 the Museum at Paris, devours every day three 
 pounds weight and a half of bread, six or seven 
 apples, and a bunch of carrots. In summer, it 
 drinks about four pints of water in the day ; and 
 in winter somewhat more. It sv/allows all its 
 food without bruising it, and sometimes voids 
 the apples and carrots entire. 
 
 Those animals of this species which have been 
 batched and reared in India, although they pre- 
 feji' bread made of sago to every other kind of food^
 
 lis THE CASSOWARY. 
 
 are likewise very fond of boiled rice. In poultry 
 yards, where Cassowaries are kept, young ducks 
 and chickens are not always safe from their at- 
 tack. The \\ikl birds live chiefly on fruits which 
 fall from the trees. 
 
 The noise usually made by the Cassowary in 
 confinement sounds as if it proceeded from the 
 throat- and not unlike hou hou, weakly pronounc- 
 ed. The bird occasionally inflates its throat, and 
 makes a murmuring or rumbling kind of noise si- 
 milar to that of a carriage, or somewhat like dis- 
 tant thunder. In order to produce this it lowers 
 its head, and places its helmet against the parti- 
 tion of its cage, and in so doing, it makes it« 
 whole body to tremble in such a manner as evea 
 to shake the whole surrounding place. 
 
 The Cassowary when pursued runs almost as 
 swiftly as the ostrich. According to Clusius, it, 
 at each step, throws its foot backward with a 
 considerable jerk. In confinement, it walks 
 gently, and not usually at a quick pace ; but it 
 will sometimes run and even leap, though this is 
 done very heavily and with much noise. Valen- 
 tyn informs us that when the Cassowary runs 
 very swiftly, it appears as if it was partly dancing 
 and partly flying. It is a very vigorous and 
 powerful animal. Its beak being in proportion 
 much stronger than that of the ostrich, it has the 
 means of defending itself with great advantage,
 
 tHE Cassowary. 119 
 
 and of easily pulling down and breaking in pieces 
 almost any hard substance. It strikes, in a very 
 dangerous manner with its feet, either behind or 
 before, at any object which ofiends it. 
 
 It is believed that the Cassowary was unknown 
 in Europe till about the year 1597, when the 
 Dutchmen, on their return from their lirst voy- 
 age to India, brought one from Java. This bird 
 was given to them by the reigning prince of that 
 island. It was during a considerable while exhi- 
 bited at Amsterdam, for money: it was then sold 
 to the Count de Solms, who gave it to the Elector 
 of Cologne ; and by him it was presented to the 
 Ernperor of Germany. In the course of the en- 
 guinj; six years, the Dutch merchants shipped 
 two others from the same place, but both of these 
 died during the voyage. In the year 1671, a 
 Cassowary was sent by the governor of Madagas- 
 car, to the king of France, which was kept alive 
 for four years, in the royal Menagerie at Ver- 
 sailles. Since this period, Cassowaries have been 
 frequently brought into Europe, and as they bear 
 the climate of Europe much better than most 
 animals imported from the torrid regions, there 
 are few countries in this part of the world entire- 
 ly without them. 
 
 The Cassow.^ry now deposited in the Menagerie 
 of the museum at Paris, is sometimes ill temper- 
 ed and mischievous. It is much irritated when
 
 120 THE CASSOWARY. 
 
 any persons approach it of a dirty or shabby ap- 
 pearance, or dressed in red clothes, and it fre- 
 quently attempts to strike at them by kicking 
 forward with one of its feet. It has been known 
 to leap out of its inclosure and to tear the legs of 
 a man with its claws. It once struck at its keeper 
 in such a manner as to break his watchcase. 
 
 There is at this time a Cassowary in the Me- 
 nagerie at Exeter 'Change, which cannot by any 
 means be considered as an ill-tempered animal. 
 This bird is every day driven many times out of 
 its cage by the keeper, in order to be exhibited 
 to the visitors. It runs without any apparent 
 concern, for some time about the room, and al- 
 lows even strangers to handle it without attempt- 
 ing to resent the freedom ; and after a while, it 
 .marches quietly into its cage again. 
 
 Cassowaries are frequently kept in the court 
 yards of houses in their native countries: but 
 having a considerable space to range in, though 
 deprived of liberty, they are said to retain a great 
 inclination to mischief. In Sir George Staunton's 
 acx:ount of the embassy of Lord Macartney to 
 China, we are informed that a magistrate of Ba- 
 tavia had in the poultry-yard of his house, agreat 
 number of Cassowaries, and although these had 
 been long in his possession, ar d were in some 
 measure domesticated, yet their native ferocious- 
 ness sometimes returned upon them, and they 
 
 J
 
 THE CASSOWAKY. I'il 
 
 would, without any provocation, savagely attack 
 with their beaks and feet, such persons as in- 
 cautiously approached too near them. 
 
 The Indians consider the Cassowary as a stupid 
 animal. They have particularly remarked that 
 it will even forget blows and other ill treatment 
 which it has just received, and does not exhibit- 
 any inclination to resent them. It is soon tamed 
 when caught young, but such of the animals as 
 have attauied a large size are not t-o be domesti- 
 cated so easil\'. 
 
 The flesh of the Cassowary, according to the 
 account of the voyager Labillardi(l:re, is black, 
 hard, and dry. 
 
 The eggs are generally greenish or greyish, 
 beautifully spotted with grass green, and mark- 
 ed towards their lower part with white. Some 
 of them, hovv'ever, are of an uniform pale colour. 
 Valentyn says, he has seen the egg of a Cassowary 
 which was entirely liver coloured, and without 
 any spots. They are smaller, and of a more 
 elongated form than those of the ostrich. 
 
 In a wild state, these birds lay three or four 
 eggs at a time. These they deposit in the sand, 
 and, after having covered them over, leave them 
 to be hatched by the heat of the sun and the at- 
 mosphere. In some countries, however, and un- 
 der some circumstances, they sit upon them like 
 other birds. Valentyn informs us, that his peo- 
 c
 
 12^ ' THE CASSOWARY. 
 
 pie in the year 1660, found a Cassowary sitting 
 upon three eggs, but they were not able to ascer- 
 tain the period of incubation. 
 
 The proprietor of the Menagerie at Exeter 
 *Change, had in his possession, some years ago, 
 a Cassowary which laid four eggs, one at Oxford, 
 one at Warwick, one at Hammersmith, and one 
 at Abingdon, when it was in a caravan, for the 
 purpose of exhibition. These eggs were some- 
 what larger than those of the swan, and of a blue 
 ground colour, with dark specks. The circum- 
 stance of this bird's having laid an egg (when at 
 Oxford) being made public, a great concourse of 
 people were drawn together to see so remarkable 
 a production, and amongst the rest, several mem- 
 bers of the University. Some of the latter were 
 not without their doubts respecting the fact; but, 
 with the permission of the proprietor, a hole was 
 drilled at each end of the egg, and a person in 
 company blew the contents of it out of the shell. 
 By this they were of course perfectly satisfied 
 that no deception had been practised, by exhi- 
 biting an old shell filled with water, or any other 
 fluid. The egg laid at Abingdon was presented 
 to the queen. 
 
 This Cassowary died, during the time the ca- 
 ravan was at Durham, in the year 1779, an^ its 
 stuffed skin was afterwards deposited in the great 
 room {of the Menagerie at Exeter 'Change. Its
 
 YHE CA-SSOWARY, 123 
 
 entire heigUt from the giound to the top of the 
 head, was nearly seven feet, and its length from 
 the back part of the neck to the rump, three feet. 
 Its whole weight was about two hundred pounds. 
 
 In its general appearance, the young Cassowary 
 is very different from the full grown bird. Ittf 
 head is entirely covered with a naked and blue- 
 ish skin. The helmet is at first very small, and 
 increases in size by slow degrees. Till the animal 
 attains the height of about three feet, its plumage 
 is of a red colour mixed with grey. 
 
 Cassowaries are found only in the eastern parts 
 of the South of Asia, that is, in the peninsula of 
 India, beyond the Ganges, and in the islands of 
 the Indian Archipelago ; but they are not very 
 numerous in any of these places. The deep forests 
 of the island of Ceram, along the southern coast 
 from Elipapoeth almost to Kelemori, contain 
 great numbers of these birds. They are likewise 
 found in Bouton, and in the islands of Aroe ; but 
 the latter are somewhat dift'erent from the others, 
 particularly in their eggs, which are less beauti- 
 ful, and of which the spots are of longer shape, 
 and more confused in the marking. Although 
 this bird is domesticated in Amboyna, it is not a 
 native inhabitant of that island : according to the 
 relation of M. Labillardiere, it was conveyed 
 thither from islands situated to the eastward. 
 
 The naturalists who accompanied the expedi- 
 
 G 2
 
 124 THE CASSOAVARY. 
 
 tion of Entrecasteaux, observed some Cassowa- 
 ries on the south east coasts of New Holland ; 
 but these, most probably, were of another species, 
 namely, that described in the v^ork on Botany- 
 Bay, which was published under the name of 
 Governor Philip, and there called the New Hol- 
 land Cassowary. 
 
 The word Cassowary is derived from Cassimaris, 
 the name by which the bird is knov/n amongst 
 the Malays. The name of Emu, or Ema, was 
 given to it by the Portuguese.
 
 c 
 
 ■*■ '■
 
 123 
 
 THE 
 
 BLACK Oil COMMON BEAR. 
 
 ALMOST every person has^ at one time or 
 other, seen this animal. It is the same that is 
 so often led about to fairs, for the purpose of ex- 
 hibition. Sometimes we observe the rugged 
 beast compelled to walk in an upriglit posture, 
 with a monkey on its shoulder, and surrounded 
 by a number of dancing dogs, ridiculously dress- 
 ed like so many little boys and girls, all moving 
 to some tune played on a pipe and tabor. It is 
 well indeed, that these powerful animals lose 
 much of tlielr native ferocity, by being reared 
 among mankind ; and even exhibit in many cases, 
 a great degree of attachment towards their keep- 
 ers ; for their patience is oftentimes put to the 
 severest trials, by men who are not unfrequently 
 more brutal than themselves. We hope, how- 
 ever, that what has been stated of the mode of 
 subduing the temper of the Bear is not true; and 
 that he is not almost starved to death, and se- 
 verely beaten every day till he yields obedience 
 to his savage masters, nor that he is tauglit to 
 dance by being set upon heated iron-plates. 
 G 3
 
 126 THE BLACK OR COMMfON BEAltr 
 
 In a native state Bears are found in almost all 
 the northern districts of Europe, Asia, and Ame- 
 rica. In some parts of Norway, they are very 
 numerous, and more particularly in the provinces 
 of Bergwen and Dronthein, than elsewhere. There 
 are here two distinct varieties, one of which is of 
 considerably smaller size than the other, and of 
 much lighter colour. They are sometimes grey 
 and have whitish spots, butit is doubtful whether 
 this may not be owing to their being young ani- 
 mals, that have not attained their proper colour. 
 Bears are alsa numerous in Florida, where the 
 inhabitants make constant war against them for 
 their skins as cloathing, and as articles of barter 
 with European nations; and their flesh as food. 
 Their ardour in the chace has been infinitely 
 greater since the Europeans have inspired them 
 with notions and desires to which they were for- 
 merly strangers. The Bears of Florida are said 
 to be veiy strong and powerful animals. When 
 they are arrived at maturity they become extreme- 
 ly fat, and sometimes weigh as much as five or 
 six hundred pounds. They are stated to feed on 
 fruits and roots of various kinds; and the inha- 
 bitants believe that they also devour calves, sheep 
 and other animals : no instances have, however, 
 been recorded of their attacking mankind, except 
 in cases where tliey have been previously wound- 
 ed or otherwise rendered furious.
 
 THE BLACK OR COMMON BEAR. 12f 
 
 Of the two varieties before mentioned, which, 
 indeed, are found in other countries besides Nor- 
 way, the black Bear is most partial to mountain- 
 ous or alpine regions. This is usually considered 
 as much the least ferocious, and to subsist chiefly 
 on vegetable productions; whilst the other, the 
 brown Bear, will prey not only upon animal?, 
 but upon animal substances sometimes in a state 
 nearly approaching to putridity. Sonnius relates 
 that Bears have been known, after battles, to ap- 
 proach the scene of carnage, apd dispute with 
 wild dogs and hyenas the possession of the unin- 
 terred bodies. 
 
 The high mountain of Ossinova, in Siberia., 
 says Professor Pallas, is covered with large pop- 
 lar trees, and with raspberry bushes. And the 
 tracts of bears, in every part of the neighbour- 
 hood, are very numerous. The animals are ex- 
 cessively fond of the raspberries ; and women and 
 children who ascend the mountain for the pur- 
 pose of gathering this fruit, are, he informs us, 
 not unfrequently carried off by them, but are ne- 
 ver in the least injured. He afterwards statCg 
 that, in this country, the Bears are not dangerou s 
 during the summer ; and that they do not attack 
 persons who even approach them, unless they are 
 themselves assaulted. In the above passage, we 
 cannot but remark a contradiction which we are 
 surprised to observe in the writings of so respect- 
 G 4
 
 128 THE BLACK OR COMMON BKAR. 
 
 able a traveller, and so excellent a naturalist as 
 Professor Palla?. He says, that these animals do 
 not, of their own accord, commence an attack 
 upon mankind, and yet that they carry off, and 
 that without any apparent reason, both women 
 and children. 
 
 As these animals, by their long, thick, and 
 rugged coat, seem calculated to subsist exclu- 
 sively in cold regions, we should scarcely expect 
 to hear that they were natives of any part of the 
 burning climate of Lybia. Yet, among the lofty 
 mountains of that country, whose summits are 
 covered, through the whole J'ear, with snow, 
 they are not unfrequently to be seen ; and they 
 are here very carnivorous. Poiret says, that they 
 sometimes descend into the plains.* The Arabs 
 believe, that when Bears are closely pursued, 
 they throw backward stones and dirt, for the 
 purpose of covering their retreat. This, how- 
 ever, is occasioned entirely by the peculiar form 
 of their feet, the wdiole sole of which, from the 
 toes quite to the heel, is applied to the ground ; 
 and their consequently awkward motions, when 
 urged to a degree of expedition to which they 
 are perhaps not much accustomed. 
 
 It is very doubtful whether there are any Bears 
 in Egypt. From the general nature of the 
 country, we should certainly be inclined to sup- 
 
 * Voyage en Barbaric, p. 273.
 
 THE BLACK OK, COMMON' BEAR. 129 
 
 pose that such animals could not subsist there- 
 Formed to live in the mountainous forests of fro- 
 zen regions, they are ill calculated for sandy and 
 arid plains, under a torrid sun. We are indeed 
 assured by Pliny, that they are not natives of any 
 partof this country :* yet Herodotus states ex- 
 pressly, that they are sometimes, though rarely, 
 met with there. I am inclined to suppose that 
 the latter writer has mistaken the Hydra for the 
 Bear; and the more so, because more than one 
 traveller within the last hundred aud fifty years, 
 has done the same. 
 
 In northern countries, these animals retire, 
 about the beginning of October, into their dens 
 or caves, where they prepare for themselves a bed 
 of grass, leaves, and moss. Here they continue 
 lill the ensuing spring, in a state nearly of torpi- 
 dity. They subsist through the whole winter, 
 entirely without food ; and do not, as many per- 
 sons believe, support themselves by fucking their 
 paws. 
 
 Tliey make their bed beneath th' inclement drift ; 
 And, Tfith stern patience, scorninoj weak complaint, 
 Harden their heart against assailing want. 
 
 In some of the thinly inhabited districts of 
 Greenland, Bears are not only numerous, but oc- 
 casionally very destructive. Whenever any of 
 them are seen to approach the cultivated parts, 
 
 * HiSt, Nat. lib. -viii. cap. 76. 
 G 5
 
 130 THE BIiACK OR COMMON BEAR. 
 
 the natives unite in pursuing them, in order to 
 prevent the race from increasing in their neigh- 
 bourhood, which they know would be very inju- 
 rious to their flocks. As these animals are ge- 
 nerally very ferocious when wounded, the hunters 
 seldom venture to go <3ut against them in parties 
 smaller than four or five in number. They arm 
 themselves with long spears, and are attended by 
 dogs. The easiest and the safest way of destroy- 
 ing the animals is, however, said to be by intoxi- 
 cating them with brandy, mixed with honey, 
 (which is one of their most favourite kinds of 
 food) and placed in the cavity of some hollow 
 tree in the neighbourhood of their usual haunts. 
 
 TheFinlandersare generally considered amongst 
 the most expert of all nations in the chace of the 
 Bear. Very few of them employ fire-arms in this 
 pursuit, as they do not chuse to risk their life to 
 the imcertain shot of a musket. Their favourite 
 weapon is an iron lance fixed at the end of a pole, 
 and having a short cross-bar about a foot from the 
 point. When the Finlander has discovered the 
 den of a Bear, he goes to the entrance, and makes 
 a noise for the purpose of irritating the animal, 
 and provoking him to quit his retreat. After a 
 while, the Bear gets up and rushes with fury out 
 of the cavern. The moment he sees his adversa- 
 ry, he rises on his hind feet, for the purpose of 
 throwing himself upon, and tearing him to pieces.
 
 THE BLACK OR COMMON BEAR. 131 
 
 The Finlander, unappallcd, instantly puts him- 
 self into an attitude of defence, and with the 
 spear drawn as far back as possible, in order to 
 conceal its length from the observation of the 
 animal, approaches the beast till he is so near that 
 the Bear is about to close upon him : at that in- 
 stant, the hunter pierces him to the heart. As 
 soon as the animal is dead, his brethren in the 
 chace come to him for the purpose of assisting 
 him in carrying off the booty to his hut. The 
 triumph terminates in a sort of festival, where 
 the aid of the Finnish poet is called in to sing the 
 valorous exploits of the hunter. 
 
 The Beai- dance of theKamtschadales, has been 
 described in a very amusing manner, by Mr. Les- 
 sep, in his travels in Kamtschatka ; and as this 
 has been quoted in the Animal Biography of Mr. 
 Bmgley, I shall insert a somewhat corresponding 
 account of the Bear dance in Finland, from Acer- 
 bi's Travels, vol. i. p. 391. " A peasant rests 
 his hands upon the ground, and at the same time 
 supports himself upon his legs, so as to keep his 
 body in an horizontal position, like the Bear, or 
 any other animal, when it walks on all fours. Re- 
 maining constantly in the same attitude, he be- 
 gins to dance, and by his leaps and jumps, studies 
 to keep time with the music, which is extremely 
 uncouth. The execution of this dance is attend- 
 ed with great labour and fatigue, insomuch that 
 g6
 
 132 THE BLAClv OR COMMOX BKaR. 
 
 it is very difficult for a man to go on with it above 
 three or four minutes without falling into the 
 most violent perspiration. It is, however, a sort 
 of exercise which is good for strengthening the 
 muscles of the arms, and therefore highly useful 
 to the natives of this country, whose laborious 
 exertions in attending the cataracts in summer, 
 require the greatest vigour, and muscular power." 
 I neglected to mention, in an earlier part of this 
 account, that the inhabitants of some countries 
 entertain an absurd notion, that the Bear, when 
 wounded, makes a kind of salve of some healing 
 herb, and applies it to the wound. 
 
 When the Icelanders encounter a Bear, and 
 are unprepared for attack, it is said that they ge- 
 nerally throw upon the ground something that 
 may arrest its progress, and amuse it, till they 
 run to their homes for their weapons. A glove 
 is generally preferred for this purpose; as it is 
 stated, that the animal will not leave it till he has 
 thoroughly examined it, and even turned every 
 finger inside out. Whenever they kill a Bear, 
 the bailiff of the district, by order of the govern- 
 ment, gives a suitable reward, in order to en- 
 courage the destruction of the animals. Ander- 
 son informs us that the skins of the Iceland Bears 
 are much more beautiful than those of any other 
 country. 
 
 The fat of these animals has obtained a certain
 
 THE BLACK OR COMMON BEAR. 133 
 
 degree of repute from its being said to be useful 
 in increasing and thickening the hair. The gall 
 is a much boasted nostrum for the epilepsy, asth- 
 ma, jaundice, ulcers, and tooth-ach. 
 
 In the supplementary writings of the Comte de 
 Bullbn, and the notes of M. Sonnini, there is an 
 interesting account of some Bears brought up in 
 a semi-domestic state at Berne, in Switzerland. 
 These animals were kept in large square places, 
 dug out of the earth, and lined at the sides and 
 the bottom with stones. Dens of masonry were 
 formed in them, under the ground of the sides, 
 having their pavement on a level with that of the 
 open space. Their dens were each divided by a 
 wall, and an iron grate, the latter of which was 
 let down from above. In the middle of each square 
 was left in the pavement, a hole sufficiently large 
 to admit of a tree of considerable size being placed 
 upright in it. There was likewise, in each square, 
 a large trough filled with fresh water. 
 
 It was in the j^ear 1710, that two Bears, very 
 young, were first brought here from Savoy. One 
 of these, the male, broke his back, and was kil- 
 led in August 1771, by falling from the top of 
 the tree. The female, in the month of October 
 following, when the first part of the following ac- 
 count was written, continued still alive. 
 
 When these animals had been here about six 
 years, the female began to produce young ones^
 
 134 THE BLACK OR COMMON BEAK. 
 
 At the first litter, she had only one ; and after- 
 wards she produced from one to three, but ne- 
 ver more than this number. When the young 
 ones come into the world, although they are by 
 no means ugly animals, they are very unlike their 
 parents both in shape and colour. Their body is 
 nearly round, and their snout is somewhat sharp- 
 pointed : they are of a yellow colour with a white 
 neck. No person who was a stranger to the ani- 
 mals, could even conjecture that they were the 
 offspring of the Bear. They continue blind for four 
 weeks. At first they are about eight inches long 
 from the muzzle to the base of the tail: by 
 the end of three months, they measure fourteen 
 or fifteen inches ; and their hair is then about an 
 inch long. Before they are full grown, they cast 
 all their white and yellow hair, and assume a 
 perfectly brown coat. 
 
 The squares in which these animals were first 
 kept, having been in the middle of the town, it 
 was found necessary to fill them up, and to place 
 the Bears in others that were made between the 
 ramparts. The above-mentioned two animals 
 were consequently separated, whilst they were 
 conveyed into their new apartment. When they 
 again met, they appeared to be quite in raptures : 
 they raised themselves upright, and embraced 
 each other with the greatest delight, to the great 
 amugement of all the persons who were spectators. 
 
 /
 
 THE BLACK OR COMMON BEAR. 135 
 
 After the death of the male, by his fall from the 
 tree, the female was so much affected, that, for 
 several days, she refused to take any food. 
 
 These animals were very fond of climbing into 
 their tree, which was a green larch, placed thefe 
 every year in the month of May. They would 
 frequently amuse themselves by breaking pieces 
 olf the branches, particularly after the tree 
 was newly planted. Their food was generally 
 rye-bread, cut into large pieces, and soaked in 
 warm water. They were also fond of all kinds of 
 fruit; and whenever the country people, which 
 was sometimes the case, brought unripe fruit to 
 the market, the ofiicers of the police had orders 
 to seize such, and throw it to the Bears. The 
 animals, however, seemed on the whole to prefer 
 greens and other esculent vegetables to most kinds 
 of food. 
 
 Whenever the female had young ones, the male 
 was removed from her, lest he should destroy 
 them. These were allowed to continue with 
 their mother for ten weeks; after which they were 
 separated, and fed for some time on milk and 
 biscuits. The last litter that she produced wa^ 
 when she was thirty -one years old. 
 
 Twoof the Bears brought up in one of these 
 open squares at Berne, were carried into France, 
 and placed in one of the narrow lodges, in the 
 ^lenagerie of the Garden of Plants, at Paris,
 
 13G THE HLACK OR COMMON BEAU. 
 
 where they had scarcely space enough to turn 
 themselves round. The animals, thus cooped up, 
 were fed on bread, fruit, and vegetables: but 
 they appeared to suffer much from the confined 
 space, which till then they had been entirely un- 
 used to. When they were first brought to this 
 Menagerie, it was found very difficult to make 
 them leave the cage in which they had been car- 
 ried: they obstinately persisted in remaining there. 
 To no purpose were various forcible means at- 
 itempted ; and in vain were numerous living ani- 
 mals placed before them, in the hope of enticing 
 them out. They continued immoveable ; and it 
 was not till after many hours of useless trial, that 
 a living duck, placed at a little distance, tempted 
 them to come forth. 
 
 The natural disposition of these Bears was 
 gross; but they were by no means either mischie- 
 vous or savage animals. They knew the voice of 
 their keeper; and at all times shewed sufficient 
 docility and obedience to his command*. 
 
 J
 
 137 
 
 THE 
 
 WHITE OR POLAR BEAR. 
 
 THIS is tlie unhappy looking animal called 
 Sea Bear, which we observe in many of the tra- 
 velling exhibitions of wild beasts, silting in a 
 fcomewhat upright position like a dog, with long 
 shagged and dirty white hair. The space to 
 which it is confined is in general insufficient to 
 allow to the miserable beast the natural extension 
 of its body. The keepers state that they feed it 
 with flesh, and that they throw over its body 
 once or more in the course of every twenty-four 
 hours, a quantity of water, in which salt has been 
 ilissolved. 
 
 Without this it is said the animal could not 
 subsist. Can we be for a moment surprised when 
 we are told that, under such circumstances, the 
 White Bear is a morose and savage beast? It is 
 really a. lamentable sight to observe thus cooped 
 up, in a cage, of size only just large enough to 
 admit its bod}-, a creature wliich, in a slate of 
 liberty, is adapted for ranging over a great ex- 
 panse of the ocean ; and which, even in its native 
 regions, seems but ill calculated to live at a dis-
 
 138 THE WlilTE OR POLAR BEAR. 
 
 tance from the sea. Although it is not strictly 
 amphibious, as some writers have endeavoured 
 to persuade us, yet such is the agility of its mo- 
 tion in the water, and such its power of continu- 
 ing in that element, without fatigue, that it seems 
 naturally connected with j1; and whenever it is 
 removed from thence it always gradually pines 
 away till it dies. As these animals inhabit exclu- 
 sively the seas and sea-coasts of the extreme nor- 
 thern regions, they are supposed to pass the great- 
 est part of their time on the ice. Along with this 
 they are sometimes unconsciously floated to vast 
 distances from the land. They have in this man- 
 ner been occasionally conveyed into latitudes 
 many leagues south of their native country ; and 
 not unfrequently into places where, deprived of 
 a sufficient supply of food, they have at length 
 perished with hunger. 
 
 These Bears live in a state of continual warfare 
 with all the species of seals, and with the arctic 
 walrus, or sea cow, which they kill and devour 
 upon the ice. The latter animals are, however, 
 from their enormous tusks, sometimes too power- 
 ful for the Bears, and both have sometimes been 
 known to die of their wounds. 
 
 With respect to the seals, they are generally 
 killed while sleeping on the ice ; or are seized by 
 the head, by the watchful Bears, when they 
 thrust it up through their breathing holes in the 
 
 i
 
 X 
 
 ilmii — - y^ 
 
 l^-/'^-
 
 VV'1-l'IT.E BEAK C't'
 
 THE VTHITE OR POLAR BEAR. 139 
 
 ice. Such, in short, is the voracity of these 
 animals, that they arc enemies to ahuost every 
 thing living. The Greenlanders say, that they 
 are occasionally known to seize upon rein-deer, 
 hares, and even ptarmigans. This is not all: they 
 devour the dead and putrid bodies of all kinds of 
 animals, consuming every part except the skin, 
 and sometimes even that. They also feed on the 
 berries of empetrum nigrum, called in England 
 crow-berries, and on the whortle-berries, which, 
 in several parts of Greenland, are very abundant. 
 Unless they are hard pressed by hunger they sel- 
 dom attack mankind. The Greenlanders, when 
 they happen to be pursued by a White Bear, and 
 find there is no other probable mode of escape, 
 fall upon the ground and feign themselves dead, 
 in which case they declare that the animal will 
 not injure them. But if the Bear is about to at- 
 tack them for the purpose of satisfying his hunger, 
 they cannot surely cheat him by such a stratagem. 
 It is also an opinion of these people, that the 
 smell of burnt feathers will drive the animal 
 away. 
 
 It is stated by one of the German voyagers to 
 Iceland, that his party happened to cross the track 
 of a large White Bear, which immediately pui- 
 sued them. In a state of no inconsiderable alarm 
 they endeavoured to frighten the animal by shout- 
 ing and other noises; but in spite of all their ef-
 
 140 THE WHITE OR POLAR BEAR. 
 
 forts he ran directly at them. Wlien he had ar- 
 rived within a short distance, he was shot througii 
 the body with a musket. In a moment he rose 
 upright on his hind feet, and was preparing to 
 defend himself with fury, when a second shot, 
 fortunately for the travellers, laid him dead upon 
 the ground. 
 
 The sight of these animals is generally consi- 
 dered not very good; but their senses both of 
 hearing and smelling are singularly acute. Their 
 voice has a distant resemblance to the hoarse 
 barking of a large dog. 
 
 To the inhabitants of warm and temperate cli- 
 mates it appears strange that the females of this 
 species should bring forth their offspring in the 
 midst of winter, and not unfrequently upon the 
 ice. If at this period they happen to be upon 
 land, they are said to form a bed for their young- 
 ones in the snow. These holes or dens in the 
 snow have been considered by Erxleben and some 
 other naturalists as the places in which the Bears 
 pass the winter in a torpid state. But this is ex- 
 pressly denied by Otho Fabrlcius, who resided 
 many years in Greenland, and who appears to 
 have been intimately acquainted with the habits 
 of most of the animals of that frozen country. 
 
 The Polar Bears seem of too hardy a tempera- 
 jnent, and to have, throughout the whole winter, 
 too plentiful a supj^<iy of provision to render, as
 
 THE WHITE OR POLAR BEAR. 141 
 
 in the arctic land animals, a temporary retire- 
 ment at this season at all necessary. The num- 
 ber of young ones produced at a litter is usually 
 one, two, and rarely three ; and whenever these 
 are attacked, the mother will defend them to the 
 last, and even forfeit her life in endeavouring to 
 afford them protection. 
 
 With the inhabitants of Greenland, the flesh 
 and the skins of these animals are in great request. 
 The former is white, and considered by this peo- 
 ple as by no means unpalatable food. The skins 
 are said to afford great comfort to persons who 
 traverse those dreary regions in winter. They ' 
 are made into boots, shoes, gloves, and various 
 other parts of dress. The mode of preparing them 
 is to put them into saw-dust, and there rub them 
 hard in the inside, till all the fatty particles are 
 chafed off, and afterwards to hang them up in 
 the air to dry. The smell of such garments to an 
 inhabitant of southern climates, would not pro- 
 bably be very grateful ; but this, to a people who 
 are proverbially nasty in all their modes of life, 
 is a circumstance of very trifling import. Of the 
 tendons the Greenlanders make a kind of thread; 
 and the fat is used by them for all the same pur- 
 poses as whale and seal oil. They burn it in 
 lamps ; and they say that it is not so rancid witli 
 /food as eitiier of the latter ! !
 
 142 THE WHITE OR PO-LAR BEAR. 
 
 These animals are generally killed with spears. 
 The Greenlanders sometimes pursue them in the 
 water, and sometimes attack them with dogs upon 
 the ice. 
 
 M. de Buffon is hardly inclined to consider the 
 Polar Bear as of a species distinct from the Black 
 Bear. It is true that a white variety of the latter 
 is occasionally found in Russia, Poland, Siberia, 
 and even in Tartary. This circumstance, how- 
 ever, proves nothing with respect to the Polar 
 Bear. He doubts whether Martens, in his ac* 
 count of Spitzbergen, examined this animal with 
 accuracy, (although he has given an excellent 
 and correct description of it) ; his only apparent 
 reason was, because it opposed his opinion ; and 
 yet he gives us no reasons whatever that are satis- 
 factory in support of this opinion. The animals 
 are evidently and perfectly distinct. No one can 
 examine the prints that are inserted in the pre- 
 sent work, and which are really accurate repre- 
 sentations of the animals, without being convinc- 
 ed that they belong to different species. The dif- 
 ference in size has not been attended to in these; 
 but the Black Bear does not often exceed the 
 length of five feet and a half, or six feet: whilst 
 the Polar Bear has been known to attain the length 
 of twelve and even of thirteen feet. The shape 
 of the head and neck is quite different. In the
 
 THE WHITE OK POLAR BEAR. 143 
 
 latter animals these are greatly more elongated 
 than in the former; and the ears are, in propor- 
 tion, much shorter. 
 
 Polar Bears are found in Greenland, Spitzber- 
 gen, Kamtschatka, Iceland, on the shores of 
 Hudson's Bay, and on floating ice, sometimes as 
 far south as Newfoundland,
 
 144 
 
 THE 
 
 SINGLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 
 
 THE Rhinoceros, which is an animal next in 
 size to the Elephant, deserves, almost equally 
 with that, the attention of naturalists, from the 
 singularities of its constitution and manners. But 
 as it is not possible to reduce it to a state of do- 
 mestication, and as it is found only in desert 
 places, and is liot be approached Avithout danger, 
 It has in all ages been much less known than the 
 elephant. In fact, it has not been, till late years, 
 that mankind have been able to form any correct 
 notions even of the most conspicuous parts of its 
 organization. 
 
 The characters of the genus are well defined. 
 The horn which these animals carry on their nose, 
 ■sufficiently distinguishes them from all others. — 
 It is not hollow like that of oxen and sheep, nor 
 bony like those of the deer. But it is solid like 
 the last, and composed, as in the first, of fibres 
 fomewhat analogous, in their nature, to hair. — 
 The Rhinoceroses have each of their feet, both 
 before and behind, divided into three toes, a for- 
 mation which is not found in any other quadruped.
 
 TftE SINGLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 145 
 
 As their legs are not so long as those of the 
 elephant, and their head is not furnished with 
 long turks or weapons, they are not supplied with 
 a proboscis. The middle part of their upper lip, 
 however, is elongated, and is capable of so much 
 motion, and of being exerted w^ith so much force* 
 that the animals can employ it in breakingdown 
 shrubs or branches of trees for their nourishment. 
 
 The molar or grinding teeth are twenty-eight 
 in number, and are very peculiar in their form. 
 The crown of each of the lower 6nes represents a 
 dolible crescent : the upper ones are squared, 
 and present a prominent line along their edge^ 
 and two others perpendicular to this. The hol- 
 low betwixt these lines varies considerably, both 
 in its shape and extent, according as the tooth is 
 more or less worn away. The front teeth are not 
 of the same "number in all the species, and there 
 is one that is entirely deprived of them. 
 
 The difficulty that there is of comparing the 
 different species together, has gTeatly retarded a 
 knowledge of their true discriminative characters* 
 
 These animals have been considered as very 
 rare and uncommon in all ages. Aristotle doet 
 not even mention them. The first Rhinoceroi 
 spoken of in history was that which appeared at 
 the celebrated ffite of Ptolema^us Philadelphua^ 
 and which was made to walk after all the foreign 
 animals, as the most curious and uucomaaoa of 
 
 H
 
 146 THE SIKCLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 
 
 them all. (Athenasus, lib. v.) This was brought 
 from Ethiopia. 
 
 The first that was seen in Europe, appeared 
 in the games of Pompey. Pliny informs us that 
 the latter animal had only one horn. (Pliny lib. 
 Tiii. c. 20.) Augustus exhibited another, in his 
 triumph overCleopatra. Dion Cassius, who relates 
 this fact, does not determine the species. 
 
 Strabo describes, very exactly, a single-horned 
 Rhinoceros, which he saw alive at Alexandria- 
 he even speaks of the folds of its skin. Pausanias 
 has correctly described the two-horned Rhino- 
 ceros, under the name of Ethiopian bull. There 
 were two of the latter species at Rome, in the 
 reign of Domitian, the representations of which 
 were engraven on some medals of this emperor ; 
 and which were the subject of some of the epi- 
 grams of Martial. 
 
 The modern naturalists, till within the last few 
 years, were much perplexed by the accounts of 
 these animals, from the circumstance of their be- 
 ing represented as having two horns. Antoninus, 
 Gordius, Heliogabalus, and Heraclius, all speak 
 of having seen Rhinoceroses. The ancients, con- 
 sequently, had a knowledge, respecting the ani- 
 mals, of which the moderns were long ignorant. 
 The first that was seen in Europe, during the last 
 centuries, was that sent from the East Indies, in 
 the year 1513, to Emanuel, king of Portugal: he
 
 THE SINGLE-HORNED RHIlfOCfiROS. 147 
 
 presented it to the Pope, but during the voyage 
 it became so furious, that it sunk the vessel in 
 which it was carried. 
 
 There was sent from Lisbon, to Albert Durer, 
 the celebrated painter and engraver of Nurem- 
 berg, a figure of this animal, which, for many 
 years, was copied into all the works of natural 
 history. Its general shape is good ; but the 
 wrinkles, and tubercles or warts of the skin are 
 made so large and prominent, that the animal ap- 
 pears to be covered with scales. 
 
 The second Rhinoceros was brought in 1685^ 
 to England ; the third was carried, for exhibition, 
 to most parts of Europe, in 1739 ; and a fourth, 
 (which was a female), in 1741. That of 173,9, 
 was described and figured in the Philosophical'* 
 Transactions, by Dr. Parsons, who likewise men- 
 tions that of 1741, 
 
 There is reason to suppose, that the latter was 
 the animal which, in 1749, was exhibited at 
 Paris, and figured by Oudri, and which Albinus 
 has likewise figured in the fourth and eighth en- 
 gravings of his history of the muscles. 
 
 The fifth and sixth Rhinoceroses, that were 
 brought into Europe, were the two mentioned in 
 Mr. Bingley's Animal Biography, as having been 
 purchased by Mr. Pidcock, the proprietor of the 
 menagerie at Exeter 'Change, London. The 
 oimer was brought from the East Indies, in the 
 H 2
 
 148 THE SINGLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 
 
 Melville Castle, East Indiaman,in the year 1790; 
 and the latter, which was afterwards purchased 
 for the Emperor of Germany, was landed in Eng- 
 land, in 1799: it however died before it could be 
 sent away. These were both males. 
 
 The seventh Rhinoceros is that described and 
 figured in " La Menagerie du Museum," of La 
 Cepede and Cuvier, from which the principal 
 part of the present account is translated. All 
 these were of the single-horned or Indian -species. 
 
 Two individuals described by travellers, name- 
 ly, that which Chardin saw at Ispahan, and which 
 was brought thither from Ethiopia, and tliat of 
 which Piso has inserted a figure in the natural 
 history of the Indies of Bontius, had also each 
 only one horn. 
 
 The two-horned Rhinoceros has never hitherto 
 been brought alive into Europe; and as it has 
 only been reobserved by some of the latest tra- 
 vellers, naturalists began even to doubt its ex- 
 istence, and consequently were much embarrass- 
 ed in attempting to comprehend what the an- 
 cients had asserted respecting it. Dr. Parsons, 
 bowever, satisfied that there must be two distinct 
 species, asserted his belief that the single-horned 
 Ikind was exclusively an inhabitant of Asia, and 
 the two-horned, of Africa. 
 
 A Ithoug]^ Flaccourt says that he saw the latter, 
 «lt some distance from him, in the bay of Saldag-
 
 THE SINGLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 14fi 
 
 na, yet Colonel Gordon was the first who correctly 
 described it, and his description was inserted by 
 Allamand, in the supplements to the Natural 
 History of M. de Buffon. 
 
 Sparmann, in the Memoirs of the Academy 
 of Sweden, and in his Travels at the Cape of 
 Good Hope, has given a correct account of the 
 two-horned Rhinoceros. From these it was as- 
 certahied, that besides differing in the number of - 
 its horns, the Rhinoceros of the Cape differed 
 from the Indian species, in its skin having none 
 of those extraordinary folds wlii^K J.;»4^»c,v.is,u 
 tho ia.i.tK.1 . uut camper declared that there was 
 also a difference betwixt the two species, in the 
 number of their teeth, the Cape Rhinoceros 
 having only molar teeth, whilst the Indian species 
 has, besides these, four large, and two small 
 incisors. 
 
 The history of the Rhinoceros tribe is not yet 
 freed from difficulties. Gordon expressly asserts 
 that the two-horned Rhinoceros which he exar. 
 mined, had four incisors in each jaw; and both 
 Sparmann aii-l Camper, that these are wanting, 
 and they have been found wanting in several 
 skins of this animal which have been brought into 
 Europe. Bruce has inserted, in his Travels into 
 Abyssinia, a figure of the two-horned Rninoce- 
 roSjiu which the skin is represented as having folds 
 h3
 
 iS6 fiae SINGLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 
 
 somewhat similar to those of the single«horned 
 species. 
 
 But it is to be observed, that this figure is only 
 a copy from that of Buifon, with the addition of 
 another horn. But, in order to save the credit 
 of this traveller, it is supposed that he was in- 
 duced to this evident plagiarism, merely from 
 the circumstance of that figure being, in other 
 respects, an exact representation of the animal 
 that he had seen.* We must, therefore, either 
 suppose that there are four distinct species, or 
 
 j^iixv a»w i^oir of teeth, and the folds, are 
 
 merely accidental varieties, ivii. joinx BcIi, the 
 surgeon, has described, in the Philosophical 
 Transactions, for 1793, a Rhinoceros from Su- 
 matra, which appears to have been specifically 
 distinct from all the others : it had two horns, a 
 skin without any hair, and four large incisive 
 teeth, of which those of the underjaw were long 
 and pointed, but no small ones. 
 
 The single-horned species, (which shall now 
 alone occupy our attention), has six incisive 
 teeth. It sometimes attains the length of twelve, 
 
 * There is some error in this assertion, since, on comparing 
 Bruce's figure with that of BufFon's single -horned Rhinoceros, 
 they appear to be essentially different. In Sonnini's editina o£ 
 Buffon, the figure of Bruce is copied in torn. 28. pi. jk. fij. '3, 
 under the appellation of " Auue Rhinoceros^
 
 TTHE SINGLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 151 
 
 and the iieight of seven feet, and weighs five 
 thousand pounds and upwards. The individual 
 here figured was nine feet long, four and a half 
 high at the shoulder, and eleven and a half in 
 girth. The head was two feet long, and eighteen 
 inches thick at the occiput : the ears were each 
 ten inches long ; the eyes were an inch in diame- 
 ter, and the nostrils three inches : the feet weite 
 eight inches across : the opening of the mouth 
 w^as eight inches deep : the tail was ten inches in 
 length. There were remarked on the head, ten 
 large, hard, and prominent tubercles; namely, 
 one in front of each ear ; one above each of the 
 eyes; one on each side of the head, ten inches 
 behind the eyes ; another on each side of the 
 head, near the corner of the mouth; and two 
 single ones, the first on the forehead, betwixt 
 those which were in front of the ears, and the 
 other at a little distance below this. The latter, 
 which is longitudinal, compressed at the sides, 
 and of considerable elevation, may be mistaken 
 for the rudiment of a second horn, and in some 
 individuals, may have induced the supposition 
 that the animals varied in the number of their 
 horns. 
 
 This Rhinoceros had so worn away its horn, 
 
 that it scarcely projected more than an inch in 
 
 height, and eight inches in breadth, above its 
 
 base: if this had not been the case, it would, 
 
 h4
 
 155 tnit «lNGLE-lIOIlHEfi HHIlfOdERDff. 
 
 probably, have been of considerable length.— 
 Many individuals have been seen, in w^hich this 
 weapon was some feet in length ; and there is a 
 horn in the museum of the menagerie at Paris, 
 which, though it is broken, measures as much 
 as three feet eight inches and a half. This is 
 very thin ; and those which continue short, are 
 generally much thicker. It does not appear that 
 these differences in size depend at all on difference 
 of sex. 
 
 In the single-horned species, the born is im- 
 moveably fixed into the-bones of the nose, these 
 bones having a very unequal surface, of which 
 the tubercles penetrate into the hollow of tlie 
 skin to which the ,horu is attached ; but in the 
 Cape Rhinoceros, the bones of the nose are 
 smooth, and there is nothing to prevent the horns 
 from moving with the skin, if the muscle, deno- 
 minated by anatomists the occipito-frontalis, has 
 only sufficient strength to contract the latter.— 
 Sparmann has asserted that these horns were ca- 
 pable of being moved, and Bruce is certainly in- 
 correct in his somewhat ill-natured criticism on 
 Sparmann's remark. 
 
 The folds of the skin give to the single-horned 
 Khinoceros a strange and monstrous appearance. 
 These somewhat vary in difierent individuals; 
 but those on the neck are always most prominenL 
 The animal above described, had a fold wliich
 
 THE SIXGLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 153 
 
 extended from the front of the ear to the posterior 
 angle of the jaws ; a very small one under the 
 throat; a large one which descended under the 
 neck, where it united with a corresponding fold, 
 in a kind of transverse dew-lap ; and another, 
 one part of which ascended obliquely upon the 
 shoulder. There was a small fold, which form- 
 ed a triangle with this and the principal fold from 
 which it arose. 
 
 The body presented two much-extended foldi 
 ■which formed a kind of girdle, the first behind 
 the shoulders, and the other in front of the thighs. 
 There was a transverse fold on each buttock, 
 which rose from near the origin of the tail ; and 
 another oblique one, which sprang from the hind 
 knee, and extended upward towards the side of 
 the tail. There was, lastly, another which en- 
 circled each fore-knee. The skin betwixt these 
 folds was reddish, and by no means so hard as 
 that of the other parts of the body. It is said that 
 there are in these hollows a kind of louse which 
 is peculiar to the Rhinoceros ; and that, when 
 the animal wallows in the mud, there are fre- 
 quently great numbers of millepedes and other 
 insects collected in them. 
 
 The skin of the Rhinoceros is harder and much 
 
 more dry than that of the elephant. There are, 
 
 all over the skin, small protuberances of the 
 
 breadth and thickness of a piece of money^ which 
 
 u 6
 
 154 THE SINGLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 
 
 in most of the figures of the animal, have been 
 represented as a great deal larger than they really 
 are. The skin is entirely naked of hair, except 
 at the extremity of the tail, the edge of the ears, 
 and about the base of the horn. With respect, 
 indeed, to the latter, they are rather to be consi- 
 dered as fibres detached from the horn, than as 
 true hairs. There are only two teats, and those 
 are situated in the groin. The general colour of 
 the animal is a dark greyish brown : the hoofs 
 are much stronger than those of the elephant; 
 they cover both the under and upper parts of the 
 toes, and are attached to the phalanges by thin 
 and parallel plates, larger than those which are 
 observed in the horse. The large incisive teeth 
 wear away, and become flat at their extremity • 
 the two smaller ones of the under javv^ are of a 
 conical shape, and are concealed under the gum 
 during the whole life of the animal. It is only 
 in the skeleton that they are to be discovered.— 
 Some writers have asserted that the tongue of the 
 Rhinoceros is covered with hard scales, which 
 will tear off the skin of an animal by licking. — 
 Buffon has even related this circumstance of the 
 individual animal here described, which is by no 
 means true. Its tongue is soft. This had indeed 
 on its anterior part, some slender oblique ridges; 
 and on the palate there were twelve ti'ansvers<? 
 prominences.
 
 THE SllfGLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 155 
 
 It has been ascertained, that the females of 
 this species produce no more than one young 
 one at a birth, which at its first appearance in 
 the world, is about the size of a tolerably large 
 Newfoundland dog. It has at this time only the 
 first rudimeilk or bud of the. horn. At the age of 
 two years, this horn is not more than an inch in 
 height, although the animal has attained the size 
 of a heifer. When the animal is six years old, the 
 iiorn is nine or ten inches long. 
 
 A female Rhinoceros ten years old, described 
 by Daubenton, was ten feet in length, five feet 
 high, and had a horn which measured about 
 twelve inches. There is reason to suppose that 
 this is about the time at which the Rhinoceros 
 arrives at maturity. The animal here described, 
 which died when it was somewhat more than 
 twenty-five years old, with all the indications of 
 advanced age, did not quite reach that size. We 
 may therefore sup^pose that the natural duration 
 of the life of the Rhinoceros does not approach 
 that of the elephfmt,nor even equal that of a man ^ 
 but it appears that the horn increases in size 
 through the whole life of the animal. 
 
 The Rhinoceros has none of that docility and 
 gentleness of <lispositton which so conspicuously 
 marks the character of the elephant. It is always 
 irritable and untractable. It is generally to be ob- 
 served in a sluggish and indolent state, not unlike 
 u 6
 
 156 THE SINGL'E-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 
 
 that of the hog; but when its anger is roused, it 
 sometimes becomes very terrible, since its size, 
 strength, and the thickness of its skin, render al- 
 most all kinds of weapons of little avail against it. 
 The individual here described and figured, killed 
 two young persons, who were impredent enough 
 to enter its inclosure. 
 
 In a wild state, the Rhinoceros lives in solitude, 
 in thick and secluded forests. If it perceives, at 
 any time, the most distant approach of a man, it 
 Tuns upon him with fury, throws him down, and 
 tramples upon him, or else rips up his body with 
 its horn. Its legs are very short, yet it is able to 
 run so rapidly that a horse is not able to gallop 
 away out of its reach. 
 
 A fact recorded by Bontius sufficiently proves 
 that it is not wanting, in a certain degree, of in- 
 stinctive sag?icity towards t1ie preservation of its 
 offspring. A female, attacked on a plain by the 
 hunters, for a while occupied their whole atten- 
 tion, whilst her young one escaped into an ad- 
 jacent wood. During this tim.e she sustained their 
 attack without any attempt to defend herself; but 
 when her young one had concealed itself, she 
 turned upon her assailants with so much fury, 
 that she soon compelled them all to seek for re- 
 fuge behind the trees. 
 
 The ancients attributed to this animala pecu- 
 liar antipathy against the elephant, but it is pro-
 
 THE SINGLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 157 
 
 bable this only originated in their being made to 
 fight with each other in the public games, since 
 in a state of nature they have no motives what- 
 ever for attacking each other, and no facts ha^e 
 been stated in proof of this natural antipathy. 
 
 Chardin asserts, that he had seen two elephants 
 and a Rhinoceros live together in the most peace- 
 able manner. The Indians attribute to the Rhi- 
 noceros, and doubtless without foundation, a 
 peculiar alFection for the tiger. As both these 
 animals delight in marshy places, and the borders 
 of rivers, they may have been frequently seen near 
 each other ; and it is probable, that from this 
 circumstance alone, the fabulous opinion may 
 have been raised. The Rhinoceros, like the hog, 
 delights in refreshing itself by plunging into the 
 water, and wallowing in mud. There are many 
 other points of alliance betwixt the two animals. 
 Its sight is weaker, from the eyes being smaller 
 and more concealed in the head, but its power of 
 smelling is so peculiarly acute, that it is impos- 
 sible to surprize it but by approaching the places 
 of its concealment against the wind. Its sense of 
 hearing is likewise very acute. Its usaal voice 
 iomewhat resembles the grunting of a hog, and 
 is not very strong, but when the animal is enraged 
 it utters a sharp kind of cry, which is audible to 
 a great distance. 
 
 The Rhinoceros does not consume so much
 
 15S THE SlNGLE-HOR^Elf ftflTlliJOCEROS. 
 
 food as the elephant. In a state of nature, it feeds 
 on the'young branches of nearly all kinds of trees, 
 and on the larger species of herbs. It sometimes 
 approaches and lays waste the plantations in the 
 neighbourhood of its residence, and particularly 
 those of the sugar canes. The Rhinoceros that 
 was brought into Europe in the year 1749, ate 
 sixty pounds weight of hay, and twenty pounds 
 of bread every day. 
 
 That described by Dr. Parsons, consumed se- 
 ven pounds of rice mixed with sugar, and a great 
 quantity of hay and green vegetables. The Rhi- 
 Xioceros in the Menagerie of the museum at Paris, 
 ate about a hundred and fifty pounds weight of 
 hay ; and the animal that was brought to Exeter 
 'Change, London, in the year 1790, was allowed 
 every day about twenty-eight pounds of clover, 
 the same weight of ship-biscuit, and a consider- 
 able quantity of vegetables; and likewise about 
 five pails full of water, which was given to him 
 at two or three different times. The sleep of the 
 Rhinoceros is very profound. 
 
 The first of the two Rhinoceroses that was 
 brought to Exeter 'Change, came from Laknaow 
 in Bengal, and on his arrival in England, is sup- 
 posed to have been about five years old. He had 
 none of that ferociousness which most of theses- 
 animals possess, but would suffer himself to ht 
 led or driven by the keeper, about the exhibi-
 
 THE SINGLE-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 159 
 
 tion room, and would allow even persons that 
 were perfect strangers to him, to approach and 
 touch him. He died at Corsham, near Ports- 
 mouth, in the month of October, 1792, inconse- 
 quence of his having, about nine months before, 
 slipped the joint of one of his forelegs, by sud- 
 denly rising up from his bed. 
 
 The other of these animals was likewise brought 
 from the East-Indies. The proprietor had possess- 
 ed him only a few months, when an agent of 
 the Emperor of Germany, purchased him for the 
 royal menagerie at Vienna. It is probable that 
 this Rhinoceros had, by no means, attained his 
 full growth, since he ^as scarcely so high as an 
 heifer of two years old, and his horn was only 
 beginning to sprout. He was- tame and docile, 
 but did not manifest any peculiar attachment for 
 his keeper. His usual food was hay, oats, and 
 potatoes, with a considerable portion of fresh 
 vegetables. The skin was extremely hard and 
 much tuberculated on the upper parts of his 
 body, but on the under parts so soft as easily to 
 be cut through with a knife. He died in the be- 
 ginning of the year 1800, before he could be sent 
 oft" to Germany. Till within a few days of his 
 death, he appeared to be in every respect in good 
 -health; and the hrst symptom of his approach- 
 ing dissolution was a dilTicultyof breathing, with
 
 160 THE 8INGL£-H0RNED RHINOCEROS. 
 
 which he was suddenly attacked. The Emperor 
 paid for him a thousand pounds sterling. 
 
 The skin of the Rhinoceros is of no great use ; 
 though, from its extreme hardness, it is some- 
 times cut into stocks for whips. The horn is va- 
 luable in eastern countries, for the purpose of 
 making cups and vases, since the Indians and the 
 Arabs all believe that no poisonous liquid can be 
 put into these without its being immediately dis<- 
 covered. This prejudice is of very ancient date, 
 since Arrian in his Peryplusof the Red Sea, says, 
 that the horns of the Rhinoceros were, at that 
 time, a considerable article of commerce. 
 
 The limits of country assigned by nature to 
 the Single-homed Rhinoceros are not perfectly 
 known. Some writers assert, that it is only to be 
 found in India, but from the relations of travel- 
 lers, there is reason to believe, that it is occa- 
 sionally seen in some of the districts of Abyssinia. 
 The individual that was seen by Chardin, at Is- 
 pahan, had been brought thither from Ethiopia, 
 and Bruce informs us, that he saw some of these 
 animals near the Cape Gardefan. But all the Rhi- 
 noceroses in the interior of th« country, he says, 
 have two horns, like those that are found near 
 the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 The Rhinoceros of the menagerie at Versailles, 
 v«'hich has been the principal subject of the pre- 
 
 J
 
 THE SINGLB-IIORNED HHINOCEttOfJ. I(5l 
 
 sent article, was drowned in the bason of his in- 
 closure, in the month of July, 1793. In spite of 
 the heat of that season of the year, the body was 
 conveyed to Paris, and the two celebrated anato- 
 mists, Metrad and Vic-d*Azir, were occupied 
 for several days in dissecting it. From their ma- 
 nuscript remarks, the following notes have been 
 taken. The drawings, 36 in number, were made 
 under their inspection, by Mar^chal andRedoutfe, 
 and are now deposited in the library of the mu^ 
 seum at Paris. 
 
 As soon as the abdomen was opened, there was 
 presented to the view three coils of intestines, 
 each somewhat more than a foot in diameter.— 
 The two first were united through their whole 
 length by a thick cellular membranei which at 
 first sight made them appear only like a single 
 gut ; but on carefully dividing this membrane, it 
 was immediately seen that they were only two 
 folds of the same intestine. The third of these 
 portions was the coecion. In front of these was 
 observed a small part of the stomach covered by 
 the epiploon : this was folded above the co/ow, 
 but it was so large as entirely to cover it if it 
 had been extended. Behind the coecum, and in 
 front of the pubis, was seen a small part of the 
 i/evm. The stomach was elongated, rounded at 
 both extremities, and ahnost equal in diameter
 
 162 THE SINGLE-HORNED RHINOClJROg. 
 
 through its whole length, except in the part op- 
 posite to the cardiay where it was somewhat 
 thicker than elsewhere, and at the distance of 
 about two-thirds betwixt the pi/torus and the 
 cardia, where there was a remarkable contrac- 
 tion. It was about four feet from right to left* 
 and about fourteen inches in diameter. The cardia 
 was fifteen inches from the left extremity, and 
 the pylorus seven from the right. These two ori- 
 fices were both on the side of the small curvature. 
 The spleen was attached to nearly the whole of 
 the great curvature of the stomach. It was of an 
 elliptical shape, and about four feet in length, 
 and one foot broad. The liver had only two lobes, 
 and a small lobule ; the right lobe was larger than 
 the left, which was divided by a scissure of con- 
 siderable depth; there was another small sciseure 
 on the base, and towards the interior edge of the 
 right lobe. The liver, when extended, measured 
 from right to left, four feet eight inches : there 
 was no gall bladder, but an enormous hepatic 
 duct 
 
 This account contains no indication of the pre- 
 cise length of the intestinal canal. Besides the 
 two arcs of the colon^ already mentioned, this in- 
 testine had other portions less voluminous, and 
 in which the inflations and tendinous bands were 
 more distinguishable. The cacum was more than 
 
 ik:
 
 »1IB SINGLE-HORNBD RHINOCEROS. 163 
 
 two feet long, and fifteen inches in diameter; its 
 surface was somewhat smooth in front, and its 
 inflations were chiefly behind. 
 
 The internal surface of the intestines presented 
 to the observation some things which were ex- 
 tremely curious. In the first third part of the 
 duodenum, situated betwixt the pylorus and the 
 insertion of the hepatic and pancreatic ducts, the 
 internal membrane had numerous small longitu- 
 dinal folds, arranged somewhat in the segment 
 of a circle. Towards the last third of the duo- 
 denum, these folds gradually took a triangular 
 form, and a somewhat transverse direction ; and 
 at last were ^Viqnored into a sort of pyramidal pa- 
 pillce. At the distance of six inches irom the in- 
 sertion of these ducts, the papillae, or folds, be- • 
 came much more numerous, and took a com- 
 pressed form, rounded, and irregularly lobed or 
 cleft. 
 
 Beyond the insertion of the hepatic and pan- 
 creatic ducts, the papillae were elongated into 
 cylindrical filaments, which for size and shape 
 might be compared to small earth worms. These 
 filaments were so closed together towards the 
 middle of the length of the canal, as entirely to 
 cover the internal surface of the intestine; some 
 of them were six lines in width ; and several were 
 forked or cleft at their extremity. They were con- 
 tinued almost to the insertion of the ileum into
 
 164 THE SlKGLE^HOR^BD RMlfi^OCBaOS/ 
 
 the caawi, but there they suddenly ended. The 
 valve of the ccecum was circular, iind furnished 
 on its coucave surface witk many small conni- 
 vent valves. The interior of the ccecum presented 
 only the wrinkles and inequalities that are usual 
 in most other quadruj)eds : but in the interior of 
 the colon there were found a great number of 
 prominent folds m a transverse directipn. Near 
 the rectum, these folds became extended in width, 
 and they occupied the whole circumference of the 
 canal. The largest of these folds exactly divided 
 the cavity of the colon from that of the rectum : 
 there were scarcely any of these folds in the latter 
 intestine. 
 
 The two lungs were not divided into lobes; 
 and they were each about two feet in length, and 
 sixteen inches in breadth. The heart was fifteen 
 inches long, and about a foot in diameter. The 
 epighttk had nearly the shape of an equilateral 
 triangle. In front of each of the ventricles of the 
 glottis, there was a small opening in form of the 
 arc of a vertical circle, of which the concavity 
 was backwards: each of these openings commu- 
 nicated with a small excavation at the base of the 
 epiglottis. The tongue, which was nearly two 
 feet long, may be considered as composed of three 
 p^its: the anterior part, terminated by a semi- 
 circular curve, was furnished with the small fila- 
 ments already mentioned : the middle part was
 
 THE SINGLE-HOaNED RHINOGEROS. 165 
 
 perfectly smooth ; and the posterior part had a 
 great number of papillas arranged in quincunx 
 order. Somewhat further back, towards the base 
 of the epiglottis, the papillae becjune like small 
 nipples, and on the sides of the epiglottis and the 
 larynx, each of the tubercles was pierced w^ith a 
 small hole. 
 
 Mr. Thomas, in the account of his dissection 
 of the 3'oung Rhinoceros, bought in London, in 
 1800, for the Emperor of Germany, already men- 
 tioned, says that the small intestines were veiy. 
 short. He likewise asserts, that the skin of the 
 body moved loosely on the flesh, from the cir- , 
 cumstance of its being attached by a very loose 
 cellulosity; that it had no panitkui us, which he. 
 considered the animal to have no need of, since 
 the thickness of its skin rendered it insensible to 
 the punctures of insects, and likewise, since its 
 hardness would have prevented it from yielding 
 to so weak a muscle. 
 
 This animal, which was very young, had only 
 four molar teeth on each side. 
 
 Mr. Thomas, as well as Sparmanu, speaks of 
 
 he great resemblance which there is betwixt the 
 
 intestines of the Rhinoceros and the horse; he 
 
 however remarks, that the caecum was much more 
 
 voluminous. 
 
 He describes the internal villosities of the small
 
 l6G TirE SI-NGLfi-HORNED RHINOCEROS* 
 
 intestines; but only towards the upper part where 
 they are pyramidal. 
 
 He speaks of a remarkable structure in the eye 
 of the Rhinoceros, which consists in four appa- 
 rently muscular loops which are attached to the 
 internal surface of the sclerotica, and which Mr. 
 Thomas supposes to have been of use in chang- 
 ing the form of the eye, and shortening the visual 
 axis, when the animal was about to look at dis- 
 tant objects. When M. Cuvier read this remark 
 of Mr. Thomas, he examined the eyes of a Rhi- 
 noceros which had been preserved in spirit of wine, 
 to ascertain how far it might be correct ; and it 
 appeared to him that these supposed loops were 
 ito other than ciliary nerves, surrounded by a 
 somewhat greater cellulosity than usual. As, 
 however, the former gentleman had examined 
 the eye in its recent state, M. Cuvier, with great 
 candour says, that he may have been able to form 
 a better judgment respecting them than himself.
 
 EQVUS QUAGGA
 
 m 
 
 THE QUAGGA, OR ZEBRA. 
 
 UNTIL the last twenty or thirty years the 
 Quagga has been confounded with the Zebra, 
 both by travellers and naturalists. Even our in- 
 telligent countryman Edwards, in one of his vo- 
 lumes, has not only described but figured the 
 Quagga, under the name of Female Zebra. Ge- 
 neral Gordon, to whose zeal the science of natural 
 history is much indebted, appears to have beeu 
 the first who ascertained these two quadrupeds 
 to be of perfectly distinct species. 
 
 The Quagga difiers from the Zebra in many 
 essential particulars. In the first place, it is 
 smaller in size : its head is not so narrow, and is 
 more elegant; and its ears are shorter. Thus it 
 appi'oaches nearer to the beauty of the horse than 
 the Zebra does. It no further resembles the ass 
 than in its tail, which, as in that animal, is des- 
 titute of long hair towards its base ; but the hair 
 at the extremity of the tail is considerably longer, 
 in proportion, than that either of the ass or the 
 Zebra. The legs of the Quagga are slender, and 
 its hoofs small and well formed. The transverse 
 stripes, which so beautifully ornament the skm 
 ©f the Zebra, are, in a great measure, wanting
 
 16S THE QUA.GGA. 
 
 on that of the Quagga. In this refspect it holds 
 a middle station betwixt the Zebra and the ass ; 
 since, in the latter, there is only a single band, 
 which extends across the shoulders, and, with 
 the longitudinal stripe on the back, forms a cross. 
 The Quagga is most strongly marked on the head, 
 neck, and shoulders ; there are some faint stripes 
 on the flanks ; and the remainder of the body is ' 
 plain. 
 
 The ground colour of the head and neck, is 
 deep bf own, inclining to black. The back, flanks, 
 rump, and upper part of the thighs, are of a 
 bright brown, which becomes paler, and changes 
 to a ferruginous grey towards the middle of the 
 thighs. All the interior and under parts of the 
 body, the legs, and the tail, are white. Th» i 
 ■stripes on the head and neck are reddish grey or 
 v/hite. On the front of the head and the temples 
 these stripes are longitudinal and narrow ; but on 
 the cheeks they extend in a somewhat transverse 
 direction, and are rather wider. Betwixt the 
 eyes and the mouth they form a kind of triangles, 
 being curved and much wider towards the mid- 
 dle than at the extremities. The parts which 
 immediately surround the mouth are brown, and 
 without stripes: the edge of the upper lip is 
 greyish : there are ten stripes on the neck. The 
 mane is short and straight, like that of a horse 
 which has been cropped : it has a white mark
 
 THE QUACGA. 10Q 
 
 opposite to each white stripe on the neck, and 
 the intervening spaces are of a greyish brown.— 
 On each shoulder there are four stripes; but be- 
 yond these the stripes become much less conspi- 
 cuous, being only of a colour somewhat lighter 
 than that of the body. Along the ridge of the 
 back extends a blackish band, which has, on 
 each side of it, a narrow one of ferruginous gr^y. 
 These three bands are continued from the m^e 
 to that part of the tail from which the long hair 
 grows. 
 
 Such is the description of the full-grown male 
 Quagga, which is figured in the opposite engrav- 
 ing. But there is reason to suppose, notwith- 
 standing what has been stated by General Gordim, 
 that sex 'and age have occasionally some influ- 
 ence on the colour and distribution of the stripes 
 of these elegant animals. 
 
 ^The individual above described, was brought 
 from Africa by the captain of a vessel who came' 
 from the East-Indies; and it was presented by 
 him to the menagerie at A'^ersailles. It continued 
 there sixteen years; when, with a Zebra and 
 Buffalo, it was conveyed to Paris. In the Me- 
 nagerie du Museum, at Paris, it lived four years 
 longer, and then died, apparently of old age; at 
 least its skdeton presented all the indications of 
 age.
 
 170 THE QUAGGA. 
 
 Its principal dimensions, after its death, were^ 
 as follow : 
 
 Height to the withers, three feet nine inches. 
 
 Length from the breast to the buttocks, three 
 feet six inches. 
 
 Length of the neck, from the withers to the 
 back part of the head, one foot six inches. 
 
 Length of the head, one foot three inches. 
 
 Length of the ears, six inches. 
 
 Length of the tail, two feet three inches. 
 
 AVhen first brought to Versailles, it is said nDt 
 to have been more than half this size : it must, 
 therefore have been, at that time, very 3'Oung. — 
 The only change whicli took place in its stripes 
 was, in their becoming darker Avith age. Dr. 
 Sparrman says, that the foetus of a Quagga,. 
 which was given to the academy of Stockholm, 
 had its colours much more vivid than is usual in 
 the full-grown animals. The length of this foe^s 
 was thirty-one inches. 
 
 Although our Quagga was enured to captivity 
 from a very early age, it retained, till its death, 
 much of its natural wildness. It would sometimes 
 allow persons to approach and caress it; but,^ 
 whenever it was in the least constrained in its- 
 motions, it became exceedingly furious. It would 
 bite very savagely ; and would sometimes throw 
 itself on its knees, and in that posture seize in 
 
 I
 
 THE QUAGG.V. 171 
 
 its teeth any thing that offended it. Its cry, very 
 different from the braying of a horse or an ass, re- 
 sembled the words ouau, nuau, harshly repeated, 
 in a sharp tone, for fifteen or twenty times succes- 
 sively. It always exerted this cry when it passed 
 in sight of horses or mules- Its voice has been 
 compared to the barking of dogs; but it has much 
 greater resemblance to their howling. It is by 
 no means improbable that the name of Quagga, 
 or rather Khoua-Khoua, given to this quadruped 
 by tlie Hottentots, has been derived from its cry. 
 
 This Quagga ate but little: a small bundle of 
 hay, and a few oats, or a little bran, were suffi- 
 cient for each day. On dissection, after its death, 
 no parts of its body appeared to be essentially dif- 
 ferent from those of the horse. 
 
 The following is an abstract of the account 
 given by Professor Allam and, of the Quagga.— - 
 " Until very lately," says this learned naturalist, 
 " I have been acquainted only with the name of 
 this animal, and even that very imperfectly. In 
 the journal of an expedition into the interior of 
 Africa, undertaken by order of the governor of 
 the Cape of Good Hope, it is stated that the tm- 
 vellers observed, amongst other animals, wild 
 horses, asses, and Quaclias. The character of 
 the Zebra and Quagga is very different. The lat- 
 ter is much more docile and tractable than the 
 former. It has been found impossible to subdue 
 I 2
 
 172 -THE QUAGGA. 
 
 the wildness of the Zebra in such manner as to 
 render it of use in domestic employments ; whilst 
 the peasants in the colony of the Cape are fre- 
 quently known to yoke the Quaggas in their carts; 
 and they draw these without any difficulty." Dr. 
 Sparrman says, that he has seen in the streets 
 at the Cape of Good Hope, a Quagga yoked to a 
 cart along with five horses. He saw another, in 
 a domestic state, at Zwellendam. The latter was 
 so fat, sleek, and healthy, that he informs us he 
 has seldom seen a horse in better condition. 
 
 Quaggas are stout in the body, and for their 
 size, very strong. It is true that they are occa- 
 sionally ill-tempered; and that. they bite and 
 plunge violently. If a dog happens to approach 
 the place where they are standing, they imme- 
 diately drive him away, by striking him with 
 their feet ; and sometimes they will attempt to 
 seize him in their teeth. Even the spotted hyaenas, 
 ■which are very numerous at the Cape, do not 
 dare to attack the wild Quaggas. 
 
 In this state they are sometimes seen in troops 
 of a hundred and upwards ; but a Zebra has ne- 
 ver been remarked amongst them, although both 
 species inhabit the same parts of the country. 
 
 Professor Aliamand is of opinion that these 
 animals do no notdifler from the Zebra more than 
 mules do from the horse or ass. And he asks 
 whether the Quaggas may not properly be consi-
 
 THE QUAGGA. 173 
 
 <clereil as mules of the Zebra, and a white species 
 of horse, which Leo Africanus and Marmol de- 
 scribe to inhabit several of the interior parts of 
 Africa, He informs us that the female Zebra 
 and the ass have been known to produce oil- 
 spring ; and states that the common mules are not 
 ;ilways sterile ; and, as he conceives the affinity 
 of the horse and Zebra to be much closer than 
 that of the jiorse and ass, so he believes that their 
 offspring may be much, more prolific than those 
 of the latter animals. 
 
 General Gordon sent to M.Allamand a drawing 
 and description of the Quagga. The former is 
 engraved in tlie supplementary volumes to the 
 Natural History of M. de Buffon. He informed 
 M. Allamand that, when he was in Africa, he 
 one day saw two troops of Quaggas, the one con- 
 sisting of ten full-grown animals, and the other, 
 of an equal number of young ones, accompanied 
 by their mothers. He galloppedhis horse betwixt 
 the two troops ; and one of the young ones, 
 having lost sight of the rest, immediately follow- 
 ed his horse, as if he had been its mother. But 
 being at this time in the country of the Bosjemans, 
 and far from any human habitation, he was under 
 the necessity of abandoning the little animal on 
 the following day, from the want of milk for its 
 support. He says that there is scarcely any other 
 difference betwixt a young and a full-grown 
 i3
 
 174 ' THE QUAGGA. 
 
 Qiiagga, except that of size. The difference be* 
 twixt the males and the females he likewise states 
 to be very small. 
 
 Since the Cape of Good Hope has been colo- 
 nized from Europe, these animals have retired 
 from its neighbourhood, aiM they are now only 
 to be found in the interior of the country. The 
 Hottentots eat their flesh, which they consider as 
 excellent food; but the Europeans at the Cape 
 say that it is very insipid and bad. 
 
 I
 
 175 
 
 THE CIVET. 
 
 THERE are found in several of the warmer 
 parts of the continent some animals which, at the 
 •same time that they exhibit a near alliance to the 
 weesel ^nd Tnarti*? ' ibe, by <-he r lor"" ted form' 
 of their bo ^i'.''s, "'■■^ 'Able soa.'ev/hat the cats; 
 since their tongue is clad with r.plnes, and their 
 claws are in {iart retracted whilst they walk, so 
 as to preserve their sharp points from injuiy 
 against the ground. Most of these quadrupeds 
 ^re remarkable for the powerful odour which they 
 emit: this odour proceeds from a greasy kind of 
 matter secreted by certain glands, which are si- 
 tuated in the posterior and under part of the 
 body. 
 
 Linnaeus originally arranged these animals in 
 the same tribe with the badger, but afterwards, 
 in a genus to which he gave the name oiVherra. 
 
 Civets feed on flesh, eggs, blood, and almost 
 all kinds of saccharine substances. They 
 have five toes on each foot. Their muzzle is 
 somewhat pointed : they have six incisive or cut- 
 ting teeth, and twelve grinders, ineachjaw.-— 
 Of the latter, the four furthermost, both above 
 and below, are flat on the surface, whilst the 
 I 4
 
 176 THE CIVET. 
 
 others are somewhat sharp. This arrangement 
 seems peculiarly adapted to their mode of feed- 
 ing indifferently on animal and vegetable sub- 
 stances. Their viscera are remarkable from the 
 circumstance of the large and small intestines 
 being nearly equal in size, and having their divi- 
 sion marked only by a small coecum. In this re- 
 spect these animals differ very essentially from 
 the martins. 
 
 The name of CiW was unknown to the ancients. 
 It is derived from an Arabic word signifying aper- 
 fume ; and it was no doubt originally employed 
 in Europe to designate only the drug, which is 
 produced by the Civet. 
 
 This drug has for many years been an object 
 ©f considerable commerce. Its qualities in me- 
 •iicine have been highly spoken of; and, in form- 
 er times, it was considered so delightful a per- 
 fume as frequently to be carried about the clothes 
 of persons when full dressed. In the latter em- 
 ployment, it was succeeded by musk, and after- 
 wards by amber, both of which are likewise now 
 out of use as perfumes. Civet is occasionally used 
 in the present day, in the composition of medi- 
 cines ; but its consumption has been surprisingly 
 diminished of late years. It is imported from 
 India and Africa into the continental parts of 
 Europe, chiefly by way of Alexandria and Ve- 
 nice ; and sometimes the animals which produce
 
 THE CIVET. 177 
 
 it, are also imported as objects of curiosity.— 
 Cardon and Scaliger have had them in Italy; 
 Agricola and Kentmann, in Germany; and our 
 naturalist, Caius, in England. Belon informs us 
 that he saw one at Alexandria : and afterwards, 
 when the taste for natural history became more 
 general, they were to be found in several of the 
 menageries of Europe. The academicians of 
 Paris dissected five ; and Blasius, Swammerdam, 
 Moraud, and Peyronie, each one. Still, how- 
 ever, it was not discovered that two species were 
 confounded under the same name. M. de Buffon 
 was the first who distinguished them. He re- 
 marked that in one of these the tail was longer 
 than in the other, and was neatly marked with 
 black and white annules ; whilst the other had a 
 tail shorter and less various in colour : that the 
 latter had likewise a kind of mane, capable of 
 being erected and depressed, which the former 
 had not, and that its muzzle was less sharp. To 
 the species with a mane, he reserved the name of 
 Civette : and to the other, with a long and ait- 
 nulated tail, he gave the denomination of Zibeth. 
 Buffon was, at the same time, desirous to esta- 
 blish betwixt the two species a distinction of cli- 
 mate; but in attempting this, he found some dif- 
 ficulty. It is true that the Civet is found in 
 Africa ; but it has not been proved that it does 
 not exist elsewhere, nor even that it is the only 
 1 5
 
 178 THE CIVET. 
 
 one of the two species which exists there. Some 
 doubts have been suggested whether the Zibeth 
 is really an Asiatic quadruped. The animal of 
 Caius, described by Gesner, was certainly the 
 Zibeth, and it was brought from Africa ; and that 
 of Peyronie, which Button himself regarded as a 
 Zibeth, came from Senegal. Even the figure 
 given by Belon has greater resemblance to the 
 Zibeth than to the Civet. 
 
 It is somewhat singular that an animal so re- 
 markable as this should have been unknown to 
 the ancients, who certainly imported animals 
 from countries much more distant than those in 
 which the Civets are produced. Yet this fact is 
 well established, although Gyllius hath asserted 
 that the Civet was their pardalis, and Belon, that 
 it was confounded by them with the hyana. 
 
 The Civet, it is true, by a singular coincidence, 
 bears all the characters of form and colour which 
 are mentioned in the description of the hyaena by 
 the ancient naturalists. It has a long mane on 
 its back, a pouch beneath its tail, and dark trans- 
 verse stripes on its body ; but its size is much 
 smaller, and its odour so remarkable, that it is 
 quite impossible they should have omitted to 
 particularize it. Belon, who had been in the 
 country which the hyaenas inhabit, had a very 
 indistinct and confused notion respecting them : 
 lie has given a tolerably good figure of the hyaena.
 
 THE CIVET. 17Q 
 
 but under the denomination of Lupus Marinus, 
 or Sea- Wolf ; thus confounding it with the Seal, 
 and transforming a quadruped which frequents 
 the deserts of Syria and Africa, into a marine 
 animal that is found on the sea shores of Norway 
 and Greenland- 
 
 With respect to the CiVet being the pardalis 
 of the ancients, Gyllius appears to have founded 
 his opinion on the circumstance of their assertion 
 that the pardalis attracted other animals by its 
 agreeable odour. But, besides that these terms 
 are equivocal, and do not indicate whether this 
 odour was likewise agreeable to mankind, there 
 arepositive and most satisfactory proofs that their 
 pardalis was our panther. 
 
 The Civet measures two feet three or four 
 ^nches in lengtii, exclusive of the tail; and from 
 ten to twelve inches in height at the shoulder.— 
 Its muzzle is somewhat less pointed than that of 
 the fox, yet sharper than that of the martin. Its 
 ears are rounded and short. Long whiskers or- 
 nament its lips. The thumbs or inner toes, par- 
 ticularly those of the hind feet, are much shorter 
 than the others. The hair with which its body 
 is clad, is long, and somewhat coarse. That, 
 particularly, which extends along the middle of 
 the back, from the neck to the tail, forms a kind 
 of mane which the animal has the power of erect- 
 ing and depressing at pleasure; and which it ai:- 
 I 6
 
 180 THE CIVET. 
 
 ways erects when irritated. The hairs of the tail 
 are tufted, and those on the upper part are ca- 
 pable of being raised in the same manner as the 
 mane. Tlie general colour of the animal is a 
 dark greyish-brown, varied with spots and inter- 
 rupted stripes of blackish-brown. A band of the 
 latter colour extends from the back of the head 
 almost to the extremity of the tail. The sides of 
 the body are marked with irregular spots, which 
 are largest upon the rump and thighs. All the 
 legs, as well as the posterior half of the tail, are 
 of an uniform black brown. The base of the tail 
 has three or four annules of the same colour. — 
 The head is whitish ; but a brown band, after en- 
 circling the eye, descends along the cheek, and 
 beneath the chin. The upper part of the throat 
 is brown ; and stripes or lines of this colour as- 
 cend obliquely the sides of the neck. 
 
 The part which is most remarkable in the ana- 
 tomy of the Civet, is the pouch that contains 
 the perfume. The external opening of this is 
 alongitudinal cleft about an inch in length. This 
 cleft, which is equal in size in both sexes, leads 
 to two cavities, each capable of containing sub- 
 stance of the size of an almond. The internal di- 
 vision of these cavities is slightly clad with hair, 
 and has several small orifices, each of which con- 
 ducts to an oval follicule some lines in depth, and 
 •I which the concave surface is itself pierced with
 
 THE CIVET. 181 
 
 numerous pores. It is from these pores that the 
 odoriferous substauce issues: this liJls the folh- 
 cule, and when the sides are pressed, it may be 
 seen to issue from the pores somewhat in the form 
 of vermicelli. All these follicules are enveloped 
 by a membraneous coat, wliich is supplied with 
 blood-vessels; and this coat is covered with a 
 muscle which proceeds from the pubis, and has 
 the power of compressing all the follicules; and 
 with them the whole pouch to which they are 
 attached. It is by such compression that the 
 animal is enabled to rid itself of a superfluity of 
 its perfume. Besides the odoriferous substance, 
 it has been remarked that from two other small 
 orifices a blackish kind of liquid is emitted, the 
 smell of which is very offensive. 
 
 No accounts have hitherto been given of the 
 manners of the Civets, of their modes of genera- 
 tion, the number of young ones they produce, 
 their period of gestation, the term of their life, 
 or the resources with which they have been sup- 
 plied for the purpose of procuring food, or of de- 
 fending themselves from the attack of enemies. — 
 All that is known respecting them is, that if they 
 are not tamed when young, they continue ex- 
 tremely wild, and are occasionally very ferocious. 
 Any object to which they are not accustomed 
 excites their choler; and this they indicate by cry- 
 ing oul, and bristlingthe hairs of their mane. It
 
 182 THE CIVET. 
 
 was in this attitude that our figure was drawn ; 
 and indeed it is the attitude in which the animal 
 is most commonly seen. When in s^ood humour 
 it is as gentle and familiar as a cat. Belon, and 
 Scaliger assert, that Civets have been known to 
 follow their masters like dogs. There is reason 
 to suppose that nearly all the perfume of the 
 Civet which is at present sold in Europe, is the 
 production of animals in captivity. 
 
 It is said that, in a wild state, the Civets inhabit 
 only arid and sandy countries ; and that they are 
 never to be found in such as are humid and shady. 
 Those which have been brought into Europe are 
 not, by the change, prevented from producing 
 their perfume, but they have never been known 
 to breed. 
 
 The native country of the Civets appears to be 
 the middle part of Africa, but they are not equal- 
 ly scattered over this. They are very abundant 
 in Guinea; and they are sometimes, though rare- 
 ly, found in the south-west parts of Egypt. With 
 respect to Asia, it is imppssible to distinguish, 
 from the accounts of travellers, the regions which 
 produce the Zibeth, frcn those which produce 
 the Civet. We can only say, in general, that 
 one or the other of these species certainly inha- 
 bits all the hotter countries of this part of the 
 world, from Arabia almost to New Guinea; un- 
 less we are to suppose that many of the travellers
 
 THE CIVET. 1S3 
 
 have mistaken, for the Civet or Zibeth, a species 
 which is much smaller and marked with more 
 distinct spots, described by Sonnerat under the 
 name of Malacca Civet, the Fiverra MalaccerisiSy 
 of Linnaeus, and Genet te da Cap, ofBufFon. 
 
 It was for a long time believed, on the credit 
 of , the editors of Hernandes, that the Civet was 
 also an inhabitiint of America. In fact, Recchi 
 has given a very correct figure of the Zibeth, un- 
 der the name of J)dmal Zibethicum Americanurn : 
 and the Capuchin Bolivar has related, from 
 Faber, that this species was found in parts of 
 South America, as well as in Africa; and that in 
 Brasil its perfume was a principal article of com- 
 merce. But Buffon, and after him Zimmerman, 
 observes, that Fernandes has positively asserted 
 that the Civets of America were imported thither 
 from the Phillipine Islands. It is true that M. de 
 Azzara has attempted to defend Bolivar, by as- 
 serting that he mistook the Grison, [Vixerra Fit- 
 tata) of Brasil, for the Civetr, since that animal 
 also produces a musky species of perfume when 
 irritated. But the Capuchin must have 
 had a bad memory indeed, to advance a statement 
 so incorrect as that the Brasilians collected and 
 sold the perfume from animals of their own 
 country. 
 
 This substance is either taken from the ar.imals 
 when alive in a domestic state, or it is collected
 
 184 THE CIVET. 
 
 from the rocks and shrubs oti which the wild 
 Civets deposit it. It is easily ascertained when 
 they have a superabundance, by the uneasiness 
 which the animals shew, and a state of agitation 
 that at other times is not observable. In order to 
 collect it from them, they are seized by the feet, 
 and a small spatula is introduced into the pouch 
 which contains it. Their sweat emits also a 
 musky kind of scent; and it has been said, but 
 without any appearance of probability, that this 
 is frequently mixed with the true civet, for the 
 purpose of augmenting the quantity. The males 
 yield more civet than the females; though the 
 odour of the latter is said to be twice as strong as 
 that of the former. This odour is insupportably 
 powerful when the civet is fresh ; and it is not un- 
 til after a great while that it becomes so weaken- 
 ed as to be agreeable. Civets are fond of sugar, 
 eggs, and small birds, but particularly of fish ; 
 and the better they are fed, the more profitable, 
 a great deal, will be the perfume. The proprie- 
 tors of these animals, in Lisbon, formerly made 
 much money by them ; and in Amsterdam se- 
 veral were kept. 
 
 During the time that the French army was in 
 Egypt, the king of Darfouhr presented four Ci- 
 vets to the principal generals. They were sent 
 as rarities, since the inhabitants import thera 
 from distant countries. In Darfouhr a singular 
 
 I
 
 THE CIVET. ISj 
 
 means is adopted to augment their perfume. A 
 small piece of butter, or other fatty substance, is 
 introduced into the pouch ; and the animals are 
 then agitated by shaking and beating till they 
 become very furious. This accelerates the secre- 
 tion of the civet, and the butter is so impregnat- 
 ed with it, as to become of itself a strong per- 
 fume. The females of Darfouhr use this butter 
 for the purpose of greasing their hair. 
 
 The individual which is represented in the op- 
 posite engraving, was purchased at Nantes, of 
 the captain of a slave ship, who stated it to be at 
 that time two years old. It had been in the Me- 
 nagerie du Museum, at Paris, five years ; where 
 it was fed on flesh, of which it ate about two 
 pounds in the day; and it drank two glasses of 
 water. 
 
 It constantly emitted a musky odour, but more 
 particularly when it was irritated. It passed near- 
 ly the whole of the day, and of the night, in sleep, 
 rolled up almost like a ball, with its head betwixt 
 its legs. 
 
 The best figure of the Civet, besides the one 
 which is here published, is that of Perrault ; the 
 jiext is that of Buffon. Tho2e of Johnston and 
 Blasius are tolerable : the rest are bad,
 
 ISG 
 
 THE 
 
 EGYPTIAN ICHNEUMON. 
 
 WE are under the necpss'ty of contradicting 
 the opinion of M, deBuffon,and ot'ier iiRt:: flirts,, 
 that the Indian and the Egyptian xchncuinon are 
 animals of the same species, diliering feomewhat 
 only in size and in colocir. Satisfied with the 
 account given by Prosper Alpinus, who, about 
 the year 1580, resid; >1 three or four years in 
 Egypt, as physician to the Venetian consul, they 
 have co:j lectured that the Ichneumons which were 
 at that time domesticated there, had by degrees 
 undergone considerable variation, both in form 
 and appearance. But several naturalists who, of 
 late years, have resided or travelled in countries 
 where the animals are found, assert that the In- 
 dian Ichneumons are much too ferocious to admit 
 of domestication ; and that they do not, in any 
 respect, appear to have been changed. In fact, 
 there are several species nearly allied to each 
 other; but three in particular which differ in size, 
 in colour, and in country of habitation. 
 
 The first of these is the Indian Ichneumon, the 
 IMan^ouste of M. de Buftbn. It seldom exceeds
 
 THE EGYPTIAN ICHNEUMON. 187 
 
 the Icno-th of ten or twelve inches. Its tail also 
 is, in proportion, shorter thaji that of the other 
 species, and terminates in a point. The body is 
 ornamented with transverse stripes alternately 
 red and blackish, in number from twenty-six to 
 thirty. The under part of the lower jaw is yel- 
 low ; and the lower parts of the legs are black. — 
 This animal is known in India by the names of 
 Mungo, and Mangutia, whence Buffon has de- 
 rived his name of Mangoustc. The figure of it 
 in the work of this naturalist was compared with 
 a living individual, in the possession of the coun- 
 sellor of state Regnault de St. Jean d'Angeli, and 
 was found to be an exact representation. 
 
 The second species is a native of the Cape of 
 Good Hope ; and there are three correct figures 
 of it, namely, by Vosraaer, Edwards, and Buf- 
 fon. This Ichneumon is one-fifth larger than the 
 last. Its tail, as in that, terminates in a point. 
 Its fur is more bright, and of an uniform colour, 
 both on the body and legs. 
 
 The third species, or that which we have 
 figured, and which is the subject of the present 
 article, is sufficiently common in most parts of 
 Lower Egypt ; and we do not know that it in- 
 habits any other country. It is much larger than 
 either of the others, measuring about twenty 
 inches in length, exclusive of the tail, which is 
 at least as much. Its colour is a pale reddish-
 
 188 THE EGYPTIAN ICHNEUMON. 
 
 grey, each liair being aniiulated or mottled with 
 brown and dusky, in such manner as to render 
 the appearance of the fur speckled as in some of 
 the larger baboons. The muzzle and the feet are 
 black ; but it is a tuft of long black hairs termi- 
 nating the tail, and expanding towards each side 
 like a fan, which principally characterises the 
 species. 
 
 These three kinds of Ichneumon resemble each 
 other so exactly in their several proportions, that 
 we caanot be surprized they should have been 
 confounded. Their head is short, somewhat 
 flattened on the forehead, and, from thence to 
 the muzzle, exactly conical. The upper lip pro- 
 jects a little beyond the lov\^er. On the head and 
 feet the hair is smooth; but it is long and rough 
 on all the other parts of the body. The shortness 
 of the legs give to the Ichneumon the character- 
 istic appearance of the ferret and polecat. It is 
 at first sight difficult to ascertain whether these 
 animals belong to the tribes which tread on the 
 whole sole of the foot, as the bears, hedgehogs, 
 and some others ; or to those which tread only on 
 the toes in walking, as the dogs and cats. From 
 the length of the tarsus it has been imagined that 
 the Ichneumons trod only on their toes; whilst, 
 on the other hand, the nakedness of the whole 
 under part of the foot would induce us to sup- 
 pose that the entire sole was applied to the ground. 
 
 /
 
 THE EGYPTIAN ICHNEUMON. 1S9 
 
 Two of the species which were examined by M. 
 Geoffroy, whilst aUve, walked certainly on their 
 toes only, and never rested upon their heel ex- 
 cept during repose, or when they raised them- 
 selves upright on their hind feet, for the purpose 
 of looking around them. 
 
 There are two circumstances which distinguish 
 the present animals from all others. Their tongue 
 is as rough and papillous as those of the cats; and. 
 they are furnished with glands under the tail, from 
 wliich is secreted an odoriferous liquid. This li- 
 quid is contained in a kind of pouch, that has an 
 aperture externally, which the animals can open 
 and close at pleasure. The civets, as it is well 
 known, have a similar provision, but the situa- 
 tion of the orifice is very different. In the former 
 it is immediately under the base of the tail, and in 
 the latter much lower. 
 
 Although the Ichneumon is very common in 
 Egypt, yet it seldom allows itself to be observed. 
 It is difficult to be approached, being exceeding- 
 ly timid and fearful. It does not often run over 
 the open grounds, but almost ahvays glides along 
 the channels which serve for wat-^r/iag the land; 
 nor does it ever expose itself, except in situa- 
 tions where there is nothiag by which it can be 
 sheltered. Such, no doubt, is the cause of those 
 undulating motions, and of that uncertain and 
 olrlique gait which this animal always has in a
 
 190 THE EGYPTIAN ICHN-EUMOK. 
 
 state of domestication. Although confident of 
 the protection of its master, it never enters a 
 place where it has not before been, without indi- 
 cating the greatest apprehension and alarm ; its 
 first care is to study in detail, and as it were to 
 feel along all the surfaces by smelling at them*' — 
 And yet it is said not to have any great acuteness 
 of scent; for its anxiety to succeed is very evi- 
 dent from the continual motion of its nostriPs, and 
 from a noise which it makes, not much unlike 
 the panting of a dog when out of breath. When- 
 ever, in a wild state, it leaves the furrow or 
 channel in which it is concealed, for the purpose 
 of going to drink in the Nile, it always first looks 
 carefully around, in order to see if the way is 
 clear. It crawls along upon its belly, and, if any 
 thing akrms it, is ready in a moment to steal back 
 again. After much apparent hesitation, it makes 
 a bound either to the river in order to drink, or 
 on its prey, if such happen to be within reach. 
 
 An animal which appears to have so much na- 
 tural timidity, may be supposed very susceptible 
 of education. It is, says M. Geoifroy, to be tamed 
 without difficulty, and is then extremely docile, 
 gentle, and caressing. It easily distinguishes the. 
 voice of its master, and will follow him like a; 
 dog. In the course of a T^eiy short time the Ich-, 
 Tieumon will free a house of all the rats and mice 
 with which it was infested. It gives them no rest.
 
 THE EGYPTIAN ICHNEUMON. 191 
 
 but pursues them witliout intermission until they 
 are ex1 irpated.* 'I he quantity that it kills is 
 much greaicr than what it d( vours, for unless 
 strongly urged by hunger, it only eats the brain, 
 and sucks the blood. When it is about to feed, 
 it retires with its prey into some place of conceal- 
 ment; and if any one approaches or attempts to 
 take it away, it will growl at, and even bite 
 him. 
 
 In Egypt the Ichneumon feeds usually on rats, 
 serpents,birds,and eggs. The inundation of the Nile 
 compels it to abandon the fields and take refuge 
 ii) the neighbourhood of villages, where frequent- 
 ly it commits great d^epredations among pigeons 
 and poultry. Yet the Egyptians are not much 
 annoyed by these injuries. Their chief care, at 
 this period, is the destruction of foxits, jackals, 
 and larger animals of prey, which, at the rising 
 of the water, also desert the plains. The Ich- 
 neumons now thrown into the midst of cunning 
 and powerful enemies, are destroyed in great 
 nunsbeis. This tends considerably to prevent 
 their multiplication ; but in Upper Egypt they 
 have an enemy more formidable than any of these, 
 in a large species of lizard, which subsists on the 
 same kind of prey as the Ichneumons, adopts si- 
 milar artifices in procuring it, and is constantly 
 ^ found inhabiting the same furrows and channels 
 
 * See the subsequent account given bySonnini.
 
 192 THE EGYPTIAN ICHNEUMON. 
 
 as these quadrupeds. The Lizard is not quite so 
 large as the Ichneumon, but, as it is much more 
 courageous and active, it overcomes and destroy^ 
 it without any difficulty. How different from 
 this is the account related by Pliny, of the en- 
 gagements between the serpent, which he calls 
 Asp or Aspis,- and the Ichneumon. We will in- 
 sert his description in the quaint and amusing 
 phraseology of his translator Philemon Holland. 
 " The manner of the Ichneumon is to wallow se- 
 veral times successively in the mud, and then to 
 dry himself against the sun. And when he is 
 thus armed, as it were, with many coats, he goeth 
 forth to combat with the asp. In the fight he 
 sets up his tail, and whips about, turning his 
 tail to the enemy, and therein latcheth and re- 
 ceiveth all the strokes of the asp, and taketh no 
 harm thereby. And he so long maintains a de- 
 fensive battle, until he spy a time that he can 
 catch the asp by the throat and throttle it." 
 
 The Ichneumons are considered an highly use- 
 ful race of animals in destioying the eggs of the 
 crocodiles, and in thus checking the multiplica- 
 tion of these enormous and frightful reptiles. — 
 But the notions of the ancients that they attacked 
 full-grown crocodiles, leaped down their throats 
 and devoured their intestines,* are too absurd to 
 
 * " When the crocodile is fast asleep, with his mouth open, the 
 Ichneumon spieth his advantage,, and seeing hira lit- thus broad 
 
 /
 
 THIi EGYPTIAN ICKNEUM02C. 193 
 
 obtain any credence in this enlightened age. M. 
 Denon goes further: he .says that the two animabs 
 have no occasion to quarrel ; that they do not even 
 inhabit the same parts; for that no crocodiles are 
 found in Lower Egypt, nor any Ichneumons in 
 the upper country. 
 
 In numerous other respects were the ancIcnts^ 
 ignorant -of the true liistory of these animals. — 
 Pliny says that the Ichneumon lives only about 
 six years; and yet it is now satisfactorily ascer- 
 tained that its full growth is not attained tirll the 
 expiration ofnearly two years. Straboanc ^Lristotle 
 both assert that it is not found in Egyp*. The 
 latter states its timidity, and at the same time its 
 prudence to be such, that w^hen it combats the 
 larger species of serpents it calls to its assistance 
 several others of its own kind. Elian gives near- 
 ly the same account as Pliny, respecting the bat- 
 tles of the serpents and Ichneumons. Plutarch 
 says that they will spring upon the large serpents, 
 and that on these occasions they are always care- 
 ful to protect their muzzle with their tail. 
 
 To the above account we will add some obser- 
 vations which have been made by M, Sonnini 
 upon the' article Mangouste, in the Xatural His- 
 tory of Buffon. 
 
 gaping, wliippetli into liis raouth, and sliooteth himself down his 
 throat as quick as an arrow ; and then gnaweth his bowels, cateth 
 an hole through his belij, and so killeth liira! !'' — Holldnd's 
 Tranilaiion nf Pliny, 
 
 K
 
 19^ THE EGYPTIAN ICHNEUMON. 
 
 Much, he says, has been written, and many 
 fabulous accounts have been related of the Ich- 
 neumon. It '^was one of those animals which, 
 among- the ancient Egyptians, were held in su- 
 perstitious reverence. Whilst living, it was en- 
 tertained with great care, and, when dead, had 
 peculiar honors paid to it. Funds were, in many 
 instances, appropriated for its support. It was 
 usually fed on bread steeped in milk, or on the ' 
 fish of the Nile cut into small pieces. If any one 
 killed an Ichneumon he was considered guilty of 
 a heinous crime. The object of worship amongst 
 a celebrated people, the supposed protector of a 
 country the most singular in the world, against 
 a scourge truly lamentable, we cannot be surpris- 
 ed that its history has been involved in obscurity, 
 and that the most marvellous accounts should 
 have been given respecting it. Even travellers 
 have, till late years, been contented merely with 
 seeing the animals. Disinclined to be at any 
 trouble in examining whether the ancient tradi- m 
 tionary notions were founded in truth or in error, 
 they have successively copied the absurd relations 
 which Pliny and others before them had given. 
 
 Sonnini saw, and carefully enquired into the 
 history of the Ichneumon, in Egypt, its native 
 country. He says, he has endeavoured to give a 
 true account of the character and utility of the 
 animal, and to reduce, to their real value, the
 
 THE EGYPTIAN ICHNEUMON^* 19^ 
 
 services which have been the subject of so much 
 boasting and exaggeration. 
 
 With a disposition that renders these animals 
 easy to be tamed, they are not, he informs us, by 
 ^ny means frequently domesticated in Egypt. — 
 The present inhabitantsdo not evenknow whether 
 they were reared in a domestic state by their 
 ancestors. It is therefore more than probable that 
 the Ichneumons, which Belon* and Prosper Al- 
 pinuSjt assure us they saw in this state were only 
 .individuals bred up as curious rather than as use- 
 ful animals. It is well known that if the Ichneu- 
 mon pursues and destroys the rats and mice, he 
 likewise devours poultry and pigeons ; and the 
 former qualification would be but a bad compen- 
 sation for the latter, when we recollect that cats, 
 which are sufficiently numerous in most parts of 
 Egypt, are at the same time both more useful and 
 less inconvenient. 
 
 Resembling, in their habits of life, the ferrets 
 and polecats, these animals feed on different kinds 
 of rats, mice, and reptiles. They ramble round 
 the inhabited places, stealing silently along upon 
 their bellies, for the purpose also of surprising 
 poultry, and devouring eggs. In the. poultry- 
 yards they sometimes do great damage, not so 
 much by the quantity'- which they eat, as by de- 
 
 * Livre ii. chap. 22. 
 + Description of Egypt, lib. 4. 
 k2 
 
 ^
 
 196 THE EGYPTIAN ICHNEUMON". 
 
 stroying infinitely more than their necessities re- 
 quire.* This voracious propensity cannot even? 
 be counteracted by education, good treatment, 
 and abundance of food. 
 
 Fouche D'Obsonville had an Ichneumon which 
 he bred up ahnost from the moment that it first 
 opened its eyes. It had been fed with milk, and 
 afterwards with meat mixed with rice. This 
 animal became more familiar than a cat : it would 
 on all occasions obey the voice of its master, and 
 even follow him whenever he walked abroad. — - 
 He one day carried to it a small water snake alive. 
 Its first movements were strongly expressive of 
 astonishment and rage ; bristling all its hairs, it 
 glided softly behind the reptile, and, in an in- 
 stant, with wonderful celerity, sprang upon its 
 head, which it seized and crushed with its teeth. 
 This roused in the little animal the innate propen- 
 sities of its species. Till that time it had lived 
 in a court-yard, where a numerous flock of poultry 
 was kept, without paying any attention to them 
 ■whatever. But it one day afterwards strangled 
 almost the whole of them. It ate very little, but 
 had sucked the blood of several.! 
 
 The natural appetite that the Ichneumons have 
 
 * Dr. Sparrhian gives a similar account of the Iclinfiumon 
 wliich inhsbitj the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 ■}• Essais PhiIosoplti(iues sur les moeurs «le divers aniraaux 
 
 Ctrangers, p,8S. 
 
 ■ f 
 
 <B 
 
 /
 
 THE EGYPTIAN ICHNEUMON. 197 
 
 for eggs, induces them frequently to scratch up 
 the sand for those of the crocodile ; and it is 
 chiefly by this means that they oppose the mul- 
 tiplication of that reptile. As for the fable of 
 their destroying the -full-grown crocodiles, it is 
 much too ridiculous to deserve any credit ; and 
 if these animals have sometimes been seen to 
 spring upon the small crocodiles, it must be at- 
 tributed to their natural inclination to pursue as 
 food all kinds of reptiles, and by no means to 
 any peculiar law of nature which impels them to 
 retard their propagation. 
 
 But what chiefly tends to prove that mankind 
 have been wrong in attributing such propensities 
 to the Ichneumons is this : that, in the greatest 
 part of the north of Egypt, betwixt the Mediter- 
 ranean sea and the village of Siout, beyond Cairo, 
 they are found in great abundance, Avhilst they 
 are rare in Upper Egypt; where only the cro- 
 codiles are particularly numerous. The latter, 
 on the other hand, are not often seen in theLowex' 
 country, which, better cultivaLted, more inha- 
 bited, more moist and shaded, affords an abun- 
 dant supply of other kinds of food for the Ichneu- 
 mons. 
 
 As for the assertion that the Ichueumou has a 
 
 remedy against the bite of serpents in the root of 
 
 the plant denominated by Linnaeus Ophioriza 
 
 Mimgos ; it must be classed amongst the other 
 
 "" ic3 ^
 
 IPS THE EGYPTIAN iCirNEUMON". 
 
 absurdities that have been related of this quadru- 
 ped. The ibis, storks, and other serpent-eating 
 animals are, as well as the Ichneumon, exposed 
 to injury from the venomous fangs of these rep- 
 tiles ; and yet it has not been stated that they 
 adopt, or even are acquainted with any means of 
 counteracting the effect of the poison. So far 
 from this, it has been remarked by M. D'Obson- 
 ville,that the Ichneumon inhabits,and always with 
 the same desires and instincts, many countries 
 where this specific is altogether unknown.* 
 
 These animals are not at present known ia 
 Egypt, either by the name of Ichneumon, or by the 
 French name of Mangomte. The denomination 
 of PharoaKs Hat, which Hazelquist has mention- 
 ed, appears to have been given to them only by 
 Europeans who have been established at Cairo. — 
 The Dutch call them Maus-hund. In Northern 
 Africa they have the name of Tezer-dea, and in 
 Egypt of Nems. 
 
 The Ichneumon has been figured by a great 
 number of travellers and naturalists, but the on- 
 ly correct representations which we have seen, 
 are those of Schreber, copied into Dr. Siiav/'s Ge- 
 neral Zoology, and that of BufTon, which bear? 
 the name of Le Grande Mangouste. 
 
 * Essais Philosophiqnes, p. 83, 
 THE END, 
 
 W. Flint, Piiiiter, Old Bailey, Lwiulon.
 
 NEW AND SUPERIOR SCHOOL BOOKS. 
 
 The following Eooks having been recently written for the express 
 convenience of Teachers, and for the general vise of Schools, it is 
 scarcely necessary to state, ttiat they are practically adapted to 
 the routine of the various classes of the largest Stmnaries; that 
 they exhibit the latest discoveries and improvements of the Sciences 
 of which they respectively treat j and that they are of a size and 
 price corresponding with the economical views of parents. On in- 
 si)ecting the List, the intelligent Tutor will remark, that some of 
 the important Subjects of these works are here brought into such a 
 shape and compass as to render them, fnr the first time, branches 
 of ordinary Education; while at the same time the subjects on 
 which there have previovisly existed other Elementary Books, 
 are treated in the new works lure presented to the public, in 
 so novel and lucid a manner, as to give them an almost equal 
 claim to the merit of originality. 
 
 The whole may be had, with the full allowance to Schools, of 
 every Bookseller in the United Kingdom. 
 
 ART OF RF.ADING, 
 
 The LONDON PRIMER, by M. Felham, price 6d. 
 
 Dr. MAYOR'S SPELLING-BOOK, the ninety-first edition, 
 price Is. 6d. 
 
 READING EXERCISES, for the Junior Classes in Schools, by 
 the Rev. J). Blair, price 2s. 66. bound. 
 
 The CLASS-BOOK, or 365 Lessons for Schools, by the Rev. D. 
 Blair, price 5s. bound. 
 
 ENGLISH LANCt'ACE. 
 
 A PRACTICAL GRAMMAR of the ENGLISH LANGUAGE, 
 with EXERCISES, &,c. complete in this single Book, by the Jiev, 
 J). Blair, price 2s. 6d. 
 
 The ELEMENTS of ENGLISH COMPOSITION, or the Art 
 «f Writing the Englisii Language, with perspicuity and elegance, 
 by Dr. Irving, price 7s. 6d. 
 
 LETTERS on LITERATL'RE, COMPOSITION, and TASTE, 
 addressed to his SON, by Pr. Giegoni, price l^s. 
 
 A SCHOOL DICTIONARY, being an Abridgment and Adap- 
 tation of Entick's English Dictionary, for Schools, '2s. 6d. 
 
 ARrrilMETiC, &iC. 
 
 PRACTICAL ARITHME'riC, or the Arithmetic of Real Life 
 ««d Actual Business, by the Jiev. J, Juijce, price ^. td.
 
 Neiv and Supoior Scknel Boolcs. 
 
 A KEY to Ditto, containing the Questions worked at lar^r, 
 for the Use of Tutors, price 2s. 6d. 
 
 The ELEMENTS of LAND-SUllVEYING, by A. Croder, price 
 7s, 6d. bound. 
 
 The GRAMMAR of GEOMETRY, by Dr. Smith, 3s. 6d. 
 
 BOOK-KEnPING, &C. 
 
 The GRAMMAR of COMMERCE, TRADE, and MANUFAC- 
 TURES, bv T. Mortimer, Esq. price 3s. 6d. 
 
 The ELEMENTS of EOOK-KEEPING, by Single and Dou- 
 ble Entiy, by J. Morrison, of Glasgow, price 7s. 
 
 A GENERAL DICTIONARY of COMMERCE, TRADE, and 
 MANUFACTURES, by Thomas Mortimer, Esq. 25s. 
 GEOcRArav. 
 
 The GRAMMAR of GEOGRAPHY, with maps, &c. by thQ 
 Rev. J. Goldsmith, Y^r^ce 2s. 6d. 
 
 POPULAR GEOGRAPHY, being a Sequel to, and illustration 
 of the Grammar of Geography, by the same Author, with sixty 
 plates, price 14s. bound. 
 
 GOLDSMITH'S GEOGRAPHICAL COPY-BOOKS, or Out- 
 line Maps, part I. and II. at 3s. each. 
 
 The SCHOOL ATLAS, Companion to the above, 5s. 
 
 A BLANK GLOBE, to be filled up by the Students, in pencil, 
 and one Globe will serve for 100 Pupils, price 11. 7s. or 11. 10s. in 
 a packing case. 
 
 Dr. SMITH'S NEW GEOGRAPHY, illustrated with engrav- 
 iugsof all remarkable objects, in Nature and Art, price 61. 6s. 
 
 N. B. A Pair of Adams's new Nine-inch Globes given with the 
 above work for an extra II. 16s. being the same Globes that sell 
 separately for three guineas. 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 The GRAMMAR of UNIVERSAL HISTORY, by the liev. J. 
 Robinson, price 3s. 
 
 The ELEMENTS of ANCIENT HISTORY, by the liev. J. Ro- 
 binson, price 6s. 
 
 The ELEMENTS of MODERN HISTORY, by the Rev. J. 
 Robinson, price 6s. 
 
 MAYOR'S HISTORY of ENGLAND, 2 vols, with numerous 
 plates, price lOs. 
 
 BURNEY'S BRITISH NEPTUNE, or Naval History of Great 
 Britain, 7s. 6d. 
 
 A GRAMMAR of CHRONOLOGY, including the Art of Short 
 Memory, i>v the Rev. J. Joijce, price 3s. 
 
 The LADY'S HISTORY of ENGLAND, written in a Series of 
 Letters, to a Y'oung Lady at School, by Charlotte Smith, 3 vols. 
 15s. 
 
 UNIVERSAL HISTORY, Ancient and Modern, in 25 \o- 
 iumes, by Dr. Mavor, price_51. in boards. 
 
 NATIIRAI- PHIEnSOPllY, &.C. 
 
 The GRAMMAR of NATURAL and EXPERIMENTAL PHI- 
 LOSOPHY, by the Rev. D. Blair, price 3s. 
 
 The CIRCLE of the ARTS and SCIENCES, by Dr. Mavor, 
 price is.
 
 New «nrf S.tpei'ior School Booh. 
 
 Th* WONDERS of the TELESCOPE, large plates, 6s. 
 
 The noNDERS of ih-' MICROSCO} E. ditto, .Is. 6d. 
 
 POPrL\R LECTIiRES on NATLRAL PHILOSOPHY, 
 ASTRO vOMY, nn<l CHEMISTRY, by IhJiniury, \3s. 
 
 LAPLACE'S SYSTEM of the WORLD, by J. Fond, F. R. S. 
 I5s. boards. 
 
 NAlURAL HISTORY, &C. 
 
 1'he GRAMMAR cf BOTANY, with numerous plates, by R. J. 
 \^ointo". M. D. price 5s. 
 
 'nie EI.EMENT^^ of NATURAL HISTORY, by W. Mavor, 
 i. //,D. &c. iMi 66 pates, r'i<''^ 6s. 
 
 The WOXDER'^of ANIMATED NATURE, large plates, 7s. 
 
 ANIMAL BKX.'RAPHY, or Anectlntes of Animals, Birds, and 
 Fishes, by tiie Rev. VV. Bin&ley, price II. lOs. 
 
 CHEMISTRY. 
 
 POPULAR ELEMENTS of CHEMISTRY, by the Rev. J. 
 Qoldsmilh, price 3s. 6'i. 
 
 ONE THOrSAND EXPERIMENTS in CHEMISTRY, for 
 Students, by Lr. Standi ff'e, 15s. 
 
 NICHOLSON'S DICTIONARY of CHEMISTRY, 21s. 
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 The BRITISH NEPOS, or Lives of Illustrious Britons, by Dr. 
 Mavor, pr ce 5s. 
 
 An ABRIDGMENT of PLUTARCH'S LIVES, by Dr. Slavor, 
 price 5s. 
 
 BURNEY'S LIVES of NAVAL HEROES, Ts. 6d. 
 
 SCRIPTURE BIOGRAPHY, or Lives of Eminent Scripture 
 Characters, by Dr. Walkms, price 6^. 
 
 WATKINS's BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY, price 18s. 
 
 POETRY. 
 
 AIKIN'S POETRY for CHILDREN, 2s. 
 
 GOLDSMITH'S GRAMMAR of GEOGRAPHY, rendered into 
 easy Verse, by J?. A. Johnson, 4s. 
 
 The HISTORY of ENGLAND, in Verse, price 5s. 
 
 The HISTORY of ROME, in Verse, price 2s. 6d. 
 
 The HISTORY of GREECE, in Verse, price 2s. 6d. 
 
 CLASSICAL ENGLISH POETRY, selected by Dr. Mavor and 
 Mr. Prat/, price 6s. 
 
 CABINET of POETRY, 6 vols, by Mr. Pratt, 31. 
 
 FRENCH LANGUAGE. 
 
 BOSSUT'S FRENCH PRIMER, price 9d. FRENCH- 
 CONVERSATIONS, price Is. and FIRST GRAMMAR, Is. 6d. 
 
 DICTIONNAIRE UNIVERSEL DES SYNONYMES DE LA 
 LANGUE FRANCOISE, by M. Levisac, price 6s. 
 
 LEVISAC'S FRENCH and ENGLISH DICTIONARY, or 
 NUGENT enlarged, corrected, and improved, 12s. 
 
 MISCELLANIES. 
 
 The FIRST C.\TECHISM, containing common things neces- 
 sary to be known, by the Rev. D. Blair, price 9d. 
 
 The GRAMMAR of ENGLISH LAW, by the Rev. J. Gold- 
 imithf price 4s.
 
 Niw and Superior School Booh. 
 
 A GRAMMAR of the ART of DRAWING of PERSPECTIVK, 
 by W. Eimes, 5s. 
 
 A SYSTEM of SHORT-HAND WRITING, by W. Mavor, 
 L.L.D. &c. price 7s. 6d. 
 
 A PORTABLE CYCLOPiEDlA, in nonpareil, price 12s. 
 
 A GENERAL COLLECTION of VOTAGliS and TRAVELS, 
 from COLUMBUS to Lord VALENTIA, in 28 vols, by Dr, 
 Mavor, piioc 81- 8r- in boards. 
 
 ARCHEOLOG[A GR.^CA, by the Rtv. J. Robinson, 13?; 
 bound. 
 
 LETTERS front a NOBLEMAN to his SON at ETON and 
 OXFORD, on the various subjects which form the Character of an 
 accomplished Gentleman, price 14s. 
 
 A GRAMMAR of PHYSIOLOGY and MEDICAL SCIENCE, 
 price 3s. 6d. 
 
 A GRAMMAR of SACRED HISTORY. 
 
 A GRAMMAR of the SCIENCE of MUSIC, by T. Busby, 
 Mus. D. price 4s. 
 
 A DICTIONARY of MUSIC, by Dr. Busby, price 6s. 
 
 A GRAMMAR of MORAL PHILOSOPHY, to which are ad- 
 ded the Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion, chiefly- 
 abridged from the Works of Archdeacon Paley, by the Eev. J. 
 JV. Baker, 3s. 6d. 
 
 A GRAMMAR of CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, chiefly abridged 
 from the Work of the Bishop of Lincoln, by the Rtv. J. W. Baker ^ 
 price 3s. 6d. 
 
 A GRAMMAR of the SCIENCE and PRINCIPLES of AGRI- 
 CULTURE, by/2. W. Dickson, M.D. price 4s. 
 
 A GRAMMAR of the ART of WAR, by F. A. Yorke, Lieute- 
 nant of Engineers, price 4s. 
 
 The MILITARY MENTOR, or Letters from a General Officer 
 to his Son, on entering ihe Army, 2 vols. 12s. boards. 
 
 A FATHER'S GIFT to his CHILDREN, by Dr. Mavor, 2 
 vols. 9s. 
 
 A CYCLOPiEDIA, or Compendious Dictionary of Arts and 
 Sciences, by Dr. Grenvni, price 61. 6s. in boards. 
 
 GREGORY'S ELEMENTS of a POLITE EDUCATION, 5s. 
 
 A LIBRARY OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 
 
 In Twenty-eight handsome and closely printed volumes, royal 
 18mo. containing each about 400 pages, illustrated and em- 
 bellished with upwards of One Hundred large Engravings, price 
 Eight Guineas in boards, or Ten Guineas elegantly bound j and 
 the Voyages in thirteen volumes, or the Travels in fifteen, may 
 be had separately after the same rate. 
 
 COMPLETE COLLECTION OF VOYAGES 
 
 and TRAVELS from the First Voyage of COLUMBUS ia 
 
 A 
 
 /
 
 Heteleit's Bible. 
 
 the Year 1492, to the COMMENCEMENT of the PRESENT 
 CENTURY, the principal of them printed verbatim from the best 
 Editions of the Original Works. 
 
 The whole selected and prepared for the press 
 
 By W. MAVOll, LL.D. 
 
 Vicar of Hurley and Rpctor of Stonesfield; Chaplain to the Earl 
 
 ofMoira; Honorary Member of the Board of Agriculture; 
 
 Author of the Universal Historjf, British Nepos, 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 This new and enlarged Work consists partly of a Reprint of a 
 similar Collection made by the same Author, which his f )r a con- 
 siderable time been out of print; and partly of new matter, com- 
 prising the Voyages unabridged, of ANSON, BYRON, WALLIS, 
 CARTERET, and COOK ; the Travels unabridged, of ADDISON, 
 MONTAGU, and SMOLLETT; and of Abridgments of many va- 
 luable Works published subsequently to the appearance of the 
 former Edition, and bringing tlie collection down to the present 
 lime. 
 
 A NEW FAMILY BIBLE. 
 
 In Twenty Monthly Parts, or One Hundred Weekly Numbers. 
 
 On the sixth of January was published, the _/7rsi part, the whole to be 
 completed in twenty Monihly PartF.each Part containing at least 
 Five Plates, to form two very' large volumes in quarto ; on Royal 
 Paper, at 9s. each Part ; on Demy, or smaller Paper, at Vs. 
 each Part; or on Common Demy Paper, without the Plates 
 at 5s. each Part. 
 
 And to give to THIS BIBLE a more extensive circulation and 
 greater utility, it is proposed to divide each Monthly Part into 
 Five Weekly Numbers, or the whole into One Hundred Weekly 
 Numbers ; and to sell the Royal Paper, with at least one Plate 
 in each Number, at Two Shillings per Weekly Number; the 
 Demy, also with one Plate, at One Shilling and Sixpence; and 
 the Demy, without Plates, at One Shilling each Numbrr- the 
 First Number was published on Saturday, January 6th, and the 
 remaining Numbers on every Saturday till the Work is com- 
 pleted. 
 
 THE BIBLE, with EXPLANATORY NOTES, 
 and ONE HUNDRED SUPERIOR COPPER-PLATES, 
 engraved by the first Artist-, from the most adnured Productions 
 
 of the Great Masters of the various Schools of Painting, tit. 
 
 Michael Angelo, Raphael, Corregio, Da Vinci, the Caraccis, Titian 
 Rubens, Rembrandt, Guido, Carlo Marralti, Poussin, Guerchino, 
 Cortona, Alhano, Carlo Dolci, Salvator Rosa, Del Sarto, Vandyck, 
 Murillio, Sir J. Reynolds, Opie, West, Northcote, &c. &c. 
 
 The Notes by the Rev. JOHxV HEWLETT, B.D. 
 
 Morning Preacher at the Foundling Hospital, Lecturer of the Pa- 
 rishes of St. Vedast- Foster, and St. Michael Le-'^r.ern.
 
 Gre^onf's Cyihpiedli.. 
 
 In addition to the present Text, -which will not in any case be 
 altered, this work will contain; — 1. All the various readings that 
 materially altfr, or affect the sense. — 2. A reference to parallel 
 and corresponding passages. — S. A short introduction to every 
 book. — And 4. A series of critical and explanatory notes, partly 
 original, but chiefly compiled fi-om the best commentators of 
 every age. 
 
 THE LAST NEW CYCLOPEDIA. 
 
 pi-ice One Shilling, the first number of a series of One Hundred 
 and 'I'wenty Numbers at One ohilling each, .."''ich will be pub- 
 lished weekly till the Work is completed j or the Jirst part of 
 a series of twelve Monthly Parts, at Ten Shillings each j or 
 complete at once in Two very large and closely printed Volumes 
 in Quarto, illustrated with One Hundred and Fifty superior 
 
 ■ lingravings, p^ice 61. 6s. in boards, or 61. I6s. 6d. handsomely 
 bound. 
 
 ANEW CYCLOPAEDIA; or, COMPENDIOUS 
 DICTIONARY of AT'TS and SCIENCES: including every 
 Modern Discovery, and the present Stale cf every Branch of 
 Human Knowledge. 
 
 By G. GREGORY, D.D. 
 
 The following are the imniediate advantages which are promis- 
 ed to the purchasers of this work. 
 
 I. It exhibits a compendium of all human knowledgermore 
 luminous because cleared of all extraneous matter, in which that 
 has been prefened which is practical, to that which is speculative j 
 and it is occupied chieHy by the most useful brandies. 
 
 II. It is of a C(jnvenient and comparatively por'able size, cal- 
 culated to lie on the table of every slndions person, as a book of 
 constant reference. The retrenchment of many supeifluous and 
 useless articles, having caused a cons.derable reduction in size, 
 without impairing the intrinsic value and general u.ility of the 
 work. 
 
 III. It is printed so as to correspond with the quarto editions 
 of Johnson's Dictionary; and the pobsessors of bith works thus 
 have, in a modciatK cumnass, and ; t a n • d r te expeuce, all the 
 compendious literary aid which can be • isued in the form of a 
 Diciionar}'. 
 
 IV. The work is neatly printed in a new a,id elegant type, on 
 superfine yellow wove paper. The copper piates have been en- 
 graved chiefly from original drawings, by tbefiist artists, and are 
 equal to any plates ev'r givt-i. t'. the pu lie in a work of this nature. 
 And this' Diciionary having be n completed since every other, it 
 demands a preference, as contain. ng all the latest iiupiovemenls 
 and discoveries in every branch of knowledge.
 
 QniiTLj=oA'«X®^'*y °' California 
 4o! hViI^m A^ REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITV 
 405 Hrlgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 
 Return this material to the library 
 from which it was borrowed.
 
 A 000 047 901 4
 
 .'<iW F"' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■<:-0'p-' 
 
 .-if--, t 
 
 
 V 
 
 ^.^»:. 
 
 N^^' 
 
 University of Califo 
 
 Southern Regions 
 
 Library Facility