Page images
PDF
EPUB

ducks and waterfowl of every description, and although it is so far in the interior, the water is salt. The view of the lake of Chalco, and the different villages around, serves to make the ride quite interesting. At 6 P. M. arrived at the village of Venta Cordova, having travelled during the day 27 miles.

They

We no

March 25th. Our road led to day over high and extensive hills, and through forests of fine trees. From the tops of these hills, the two famous mountains of Iocamilco and Popocatepetl, with their peaks of eternal snow, may be seen. The heights of these mountains are estimated by Humboldt as being 18,000 feet above the level of the sea. seemed but a few thousand feet above us. ticed the villages of Iocamilco, Tesmeluco, and several others of little note. In the afternoon we arrived at the village of San Marta, containing about 4000 inhabitants. It is supported by agriculture and trade. Distance travelled this day, fortytwo miles. Height, 13,000 feet. The next day, our path led over a very bad road, but through a tolerably good tract of country. We stopped to dine at the city of Puebla, said to contain 100,000 inhabitants. I visited the celebrated cathedral. It is built of stone, and surpasses any piece of work of the kind, that I have ever witnessed. The public buildings that I visited were very elegant, and the private houses constructed in excellent style. The streets were laid out in squares and well paved. Taking it all in all, I consider it a most beautiful city. I noticed a large castle built on a rising ground, for the protection of the city. A small river runs through the town.

We resumed our journey over a difficult road, being obliged frequently to alight and steady the coach, with ropes made fast at the top. We passed through several small villages, the land of which seemed under good cultivation. We stopped for the night at a village called Amozorque. Distance travelled this day, forty-two miles.

March 27th. At daylight we continued our journey over a tedious road, but through a well cultivated tract of land. We passed through the towns of Acajete and Napalucan, and arrived at a house or tavern called Ofo del Agua, or in English "eye of water," there being several large springs at the foot of a high hill, which produce a river. stream under ground is said to be the cause of these springs. Distance travelled this day, thirty-nine miles.

A

We commenced our journey the next day over a good carriage road, leading through a country but little cultivated. The road was principally on the descent. We passed through a tract of lava, ten or twelve miles in extent. The appearance, while passing, is novel, as the country in all directions presents to the view nothing except these large blocks of cinders. In some parts the pines have taken root, and helped to render the road more gloomy. We stopped to dine at the town of Tepillehualco, after which we arrived at the town of Perote, containing 4 or 5000 inhabitants. It is supported by agriculture and trade. Perote is situated at the foot of a very high hill, at the top of which is a large square rock, resembling a chest, which is called the coffer of Perote." It may be seen ninety miles at sea. Here I also noticed a arge castle, mounting 120 guns and built in the valley a short distance from the town. It is at present used for the confinement of state prisoners and for a military school. It appears to be a work of considerable strength, but might be easily avoid

ed by a force marching into the interior. Distanco travelled this day, forty miles.

March 29th. We proceeded early on our journey, and stopped to dine at the village of Lasgivas. Not two miles from this village, are the mines of Somelahucan, producing gold and copper. These, in time, will make this a place of some importance.. The country passed through this day was somewhat dreary. The road, for twenty-five or thirty miles, consisted of a well paved causeway. We passed another large tract of lava and forests of pine trees. Early in the evening, we arrived at the gates of Xalapa, where we were obliged to unload all our baggage and undergo a strict examination, which consumed one or two hours.

Not having any thing in the smuggling line, much to the dissatisfaction of the insignificant customhouse officer, we were permitted to proceed. Distance travelled this day, thirty-six miles. The descent was 2500 feet.

Xalapa, is a handsome town, situated on a sloping hill and at considerable height from the sea, containing several hundred buildings and nearly 20,000 inhabitants. As none of the Mexicans, know any thing respecting the population, it is complete guess work to the stranger: therefore the estimate is given with the best of my judgment. Xalapa is supported by trade. This town is said to give name to the purgative root called jalap or xalap. At daylight we continued our journey over a paved causeway, and through a good tract of country. We found considerable inconvenience from the boughs of the trees, which scraped the top of the carriage. We stopped to breakfast at a village called the Plaa del Rio. At this place, there is a stream of water and two fine bridges. We proceeded over a very bad road, and at 6 o'clock arrived at Pont del Rey or Kings bridge." Here are two well built bridges, and on the heights above, are two strong batteries, to command the pass. tance travelled this day, thirty-six miles.

66

Dis

We proceeded on our journey the next day over a road leading through the remains of a causeway, which had been destroyed, in the time of the revolution. Each side was overgrown with trees, which were constantly knocking the top of the coach. The country was but little cultivated. Towards evening we arrived at the town of Santa Fé. Distance travelled this day, forty-two miles.

The tavern at which we stopped had only two rooms, and we were obliged to take up our quarters

in company with some muleteers. On waking in the morning, I found that I had lost my trunk, containing my papers and clothing. On searching, I found it in an adjoining room, completely emptied of its contents: there was nothing however missing, as they lay in a confused state around the room. Not liking the looks of some of the guests, I had taken the precaution to remove my money and place it under my pillow.

April 1st. We continued our journey, being glad to bid good riddance to the miserable village of Santa Fe. Our path lay over a sandy road, on each side overgrown with wood. At noon, we arrived at the city of Vera-Cruz. Distance travelled this day ten miles. Distance from Mexico 297, and from San Blas 1032 miles.

Vera Cruz, on the Gulf of Mexico, is situated on a low sandy beach, containing a number of well built streets and buildings and about 18,000 inhabitants. It is surrounded on all sides by a strong wall, and defended at every point by massive bat

teries, mounted with heavy artillery. The streets are well laid out at right angles, and paved. Although the city has a neat and cleanly appearance, and the atmosphere seems to be healthy, still at some seasons the black vomit and yellow fever prevail to a great extent. About two miles in front of the city, is the famous castle of St. Juan de Ulloa, built on reefs. Between these and the town is the usual place of anchorage.

On the 5th of April, I took passage in the Brig Eliza for New York, where I arrived on the 27th of the same month, it being fifty-seven days since I quitted San Blas.

THE BANANA.

The banana and the bread-fruit are examples of extraordinary vegetable fruitfulness, with very little assistance from the care of man. The banana is not known in an uncultivated state; and those who principally depend upon the plant for subsistence propagate it by suckers. But here the labor of cultivation almost ends; and M. Humboldt has calculated that thirty-three pounds of wheat and ninetynine pounds of potatoes require the same space as that in which four thousand pounds of bananas will grow. But the industry of the European surrounds him with a much greater amount of blessings than the almost spontaneous bounty of Nature to the Indian who lives upon his patch of bananas. The same reasoning applies to the bread-fruit; for when the produce of two or three of those trees will suffice for a man's yearly supply, he is not likely to call forth the faculties of his mind, which wait upon a constant course of assiduous labor. Those bodies of mankind are in the happiest state who are placed by climate between the extremes of natural fruitfulness and sterility. Where nature offers spontaneous food to large tribes, as in a few situations in tropical countries, their condition is nearly as wretched, taken under all its circumstances, as that of those poor inhabitants of polar regions, o whom almost every thing appears to be denied by the" All-giver," but who really obtain comforts by their persevering labor, which the idle native of the finest soil almost always wants.

BABOONS.

Lieutenant John Shipp, in the account of his amusing military adventures, describes several rencounters he had with baboons near the Cape of Good Hope. "On these hills (says he,) whole regiments of baboons assemble, for which this station is par.ticularly famous. They stand six feet high, and in features and manners approach nearer to the human species than any other quadruped I have ever seen. These rascals, who are most abominable thieves,

used to annoy us exceedingly. Our barracks were under the hills, and when we went to parade, we were invariably obliged to leave armed men for the protection of our property; and, even in spite of this, they have frequently stolen our blankets and greatcoats, or any thing else they could lay their claws on. A poor woman, a soldier's wife, had washed her blanket, and hung it out to dry, when some of these miscreants, who were ever on the watch, stole it, and ran off with it into the hills, which are high and woody. This drew upon them the indignation of the regiment, and we formed a strong party, armed with sticks and stones, to attack them, with the view of recovering the property, and inflicting such chastisement as might be a warning to-them for the future. I was on the advance, with about twenty men, and I made a detour to cut them off from caverns, to which they always flew for shelter. They observed my movement, and immediately detached about fifty to guard the entrance, while the others kept their post; and we could distinctly see them collecting large stones, and other missiles. One old grey-headed one, in particular, who often paid us a visit at the barracks, and was known by the name of Father Murphy, was seen distributing his orders, and planning the attack, with the judg ment of one of our best generals. Finding that my design was defeated, I joined the corps de main, and rushed on to the attack, when a scream from Father Murphy was a signal for a general encounter, and the host of baboons under his command rolled down enormous stones upon us, so that we were obliged to give up the contest, or some of us must inevitably have been killed. They actually followed us to our very doors, shouting, in indication of victory; and, during the whole night, we heard dreadful yells and screaming; so much so, that we expected a night attack. In the morning, however, we found that all this rioting had been created by disputes about the division of the blanket; for we saw eight or ten of them with pieces of it on their backs, as old women wear their cloaks. Amongst the number strutted Father Murphy. These rascals annoyed us day and night, and we dared not venture out, unless a party of five or six went together.

One morning, Father Murphy had the consummate impudence to walk straight into the grenadier barracks; and he was in the very act of purloining a serjeant's regimental coat, when a corporal's guard (which had just been relieved) took the liberty of stopping the gentleman at the door, and secured him. He was a most powerful brute, and, I am persuaded, too much for any single man. Notwithstanding his frequent misdemeanors, we did not like to kill the poor creature; so, having first taken the precaution of muzzling him, we determined on shaving his head and face, and then turning him loose. To this ceremony, strange to say, he submitted very quietly; and, when shaved, he was really an exceedingly good-looking fellow, and I have seen many a "blood" in Bond street not half so prepossessing in his appearance. We then started him up the hill, though he seemed rather reluctant to leave us. Some of his companions. came down to meet him; but, from the alteration which shaving his head and face had made on him, they did not know him again, and, accordingly, pelted him with stones, and beat him with sticks, in so unmerciful a manner, that poor Father Murphy actually sought protection from his enemies, and he in time became quite domesticated and tame. There are many now alive, in his Majesty's 22d regiment, who can vouch for the truth of this anecdote."

[graphic]
[graphic][merged small]

The above is an accurate representation, taken from the drawings of the celebrated naturalist, Seba, of the Guana, one of the largest lizards of the tropics. The appearance of this animal is somewhat alarming; and, when irritated, it puts on a menacing aspect, swelling out the great pouch of its throat, erecting the scales on its back, lashing its tail, glaring with its fiery eyes, and making a sort of hissing noise like a serpent. But the animal is very gentle, though it can bite and scratch; and it may be easily domesticated. The guana is common in several countries of South America, and it was formerly found in considerable numbers in the West-India Islands; but the race has there been nearly destroyed, its flesh being considered a delicious article of food.

This remarkable lizard is easily distinguished from every other species, by the pouch which hangs from the under side of its neck, by the indented crest which reaches from the head to the extremity of the tail, and by the peculiar beauty of its general colors, and the metallic brilliancy of its scales. Its extreme length, from the muzzle to the end of the tail, is sometimes five or six feet. There is a dried specimen in the Museum of Natural History at Paris, which is four feet long; and there is a smaller specimen in the British Museum. The ground color of the guana is in general green, mixed with vellow or various shades of blue; but the colors

of the species differ considerably in different individuals, and are probably dependent upon circumstances of age, sex, and climate.

The guana feeds on the flowers and leaves of trees, and on earth-worms and insects. Its jaws are furnished with teeth, but it swallows its food with scarcely any mastication. It runs with astonishing nimbleness along the highest branches of trees; and seldom descends to the earth, sleeping and feeding on the same tree. The female, however, at a particular period of the year, goes to the sea shore to deposit her eggs in the sand. After feeding the guana is very dull, and is then easily

taken.

In some places it is hunted by dogs trained to the chase, and in others taken in a noose or trap. It is extremely difficult to kill, except in one way -that of thrusting a sharp instrument up its nostrils. The flesh, as we have mentioned, is esteemed a delicacy. Catesby, in his Natural History of Carolina, says that the guana is made an article of traffic in the Bahama Islands, being carried from place to place, and kept alive, till required for the tables of the rich. Brown, who wrote the Natural History of Jamaica, says that he kept a full-grown guana in his house for two months. It lay quiet on a bed during the day, and ran about at night, when it appeared to feed on small insects floating in the air.

WATERTON'S ACCOUNT OF THE SLOTH. The character and habits of that singular animal, the Sloth, according to Charles Waterton, the enthusiastic traveller in the wilds of South America, have been strangely misrepresented by naturalists. "This singular animal (says he) is destined by nature to be produced, to live, and to die, in the trees. He is a scarce and solitary animal, and, being good food, he is never allowed to escape. He inhabits remote and gloomy forests, where snakes take up their abode, and where cruelly-stinging ants and scorpions, and swamps, and innumerable thorny shrubs and bushes, obstruct the steps of civilized men. This, then, is the proper place to go in quest of the Sloth. We will first take a near view of him. By obtaining a knowledge of his anatomy, we will be enabled to account for his movements. His fore-legs, or, more correctly speaking, his arms, are apparently much too long, while his hind-legs are very short, and look as if they could be bent almost to the shape of a corkscrew. Both the fore and hind legs, by their form, and by the manner in which they are joined to the body, are quite incapacitated from acting in a perpendicular direction, or in supporting it on the earth, as the bodies of other quadrupeds are supported, by their legs. Hence, when you place him on the floor, his belly touches the ground. Now, granted that he supported himself on his legs like other animals, nevertheless he would be in pain, for he has no soles to his feet, and his claws are very sharp and long, and curved; so that, were his body supported by his feet, it would be by their extremities, just as your body would be, were you to throw yourself on all-fours, and try to support it on the ends of your toes and fingers. Were the floor of a polished surface, the sloth would actually be quite stationary; but as the ground is generally rough, with little protuberances upon it, such as stones, or roots of grass, this just suits the Sloth, and he moves his fore-legs in all directions, in order to find something to lay hold of; and when he has succeeded, he pulls himself forwards, and is thus enabled to travel onwards, but, at the same time, in so tardy and awkward a manner, as to acquire him the name of the Sloth. Indeed, his looks and his gestures evidently betray his uncomfortable situation; and as a sigh every now and then escapes him, we may be entitled to conclude that he is actually in pain.

"Some years ago I kept a Sloth in my room for several months. I often took him out of the house, and placed him upon the ground, in order to have an opportunity of observing his motions. If the ground were rough, he would pull himself forwards by means of his fore-legs, at a pretty good pace; and he invariably shaped his course towards the nearest tree. His favorite abode was the back of a chair; and after getting all his legs in a line upon the topmost part of it, he would hang there for hours together, and often, with a low and inward cry, would seem to invite me to take notice of him. The Sloth, in its wild state, spends its whole life in the trees, and never leaves them but through force, or by accident. An all-ruling Providence has ordered man to tread on the surface of the earth, the

eagle to soar in the expanse of the skies, and the monkey and squirrel to inhabit the trees; still these change their relative situations without feeling much inconvenience; but the Sloth is doomed to spend his whole life in the trees; and, what is more extraordinary, not upon the branches, like the squirrel and the monkey, but under them. He is as much at a loss to proceed on his journey upon a smooth and level floor, as a man would be who had to walk a mile upon a line of feather-beds. He moves suspended from the branch, he rests suspended from it, and he sleeps suspended from it. To enable him to do this, he must have a very different formation from that of any other known quadruped Hence, his seemingly bungled conformation is at once accounted for; and in lieu of the Sloth leading a painful life, and entailing a melancholy and miserable existence on its progeny, it is but fair to surmise that it enjoys life just as much as any other animal, and that its extraordinary formation and singular habits are but farther proofs to engage us to admire the wonderful works of Omnipotence.

CHICK IN THE EGG.

A.

The hen has scarcely sat on the egg twelve hours, when we begin already to discover in it some lineaments of the head and body of the chicken that is to be born The heart appears to beat at the end of the day; at the end of forty-eight hours, two vesicles of blood can be distinguished, the pulsation of which is very visible. At the fiftieth hour, an auricle of the heart appears, and resembles a lace, or noose folded down upon itself. At the end of seventy hours we distinguish wings, and on the head two bubbles for the brain; one for the bill, and two others for the forepart and hind part of the headthe liver appears towards the fifth day. At the end of one hundred and thirty-one hours, the first voluntary motion is observed. At the end of one hundred and thirty-eight hours the lungs and stomach become visible at the end of 142, the intestines, the loins, and the upper jaw. The seventh day, the brain, which was slimy, begins to have some consistence.-At the 190th hour of incubation, the bill opens, and the flesh appears in the breast. the 194th, the sternum is seen, that is to say, the breastbone. At the 210th, the ribs come out of the back, the bill is very visible, as well as the gallbladder. The bill becomes green at the end of 236 hours; and if the chick is taken out of its covering, it evidently moves itself.-The feathers begin to shoot out towards the 240th hour, and the skull becomes gristly. At the 264th the eyes appear. At the 288th, the ribs are perfect. At the 331st, the spleen draws near to the stomach, and the lungs to the chest. At the end of 355 hours, the bill frequently opens and shuts; and at the end of 451 hours, or the 18th day, the first cry of the chick is already heard-it afterwards gets more strength, and grows continually, till at last it sets itself at liberty, by opening the prison in which it was shut up. Adorable wisdom of God! it is by so many different degrees that these creatures are brought into life. All these progressions are made by rule! and there is not one of them without sufficient reason. No part of its body could appear sooner or later, without the whole embryo suffering, and each of its limbs appear at the most proper moment This ordination, so wise, and so invariable in the production of the animal, is manifestly the work of a Supreme Being.

[graphic][merged small]

All associations between animals of opposite natures are exceedingly interesting; and those who train animals for public exhibition know how attractive are such displays of the power of discipline over the strength of instinct. These extraordinary arrangements are sometimes the effect of accident, and sometimes of the greater force of one instinct over the lesser force of another. A rat-catcher having caught a brood of young rats alive gave them to his cat, who had just had her kittens taken from her to be drowned. A few days aferwards, he was surprised to find the rats in the place of the drowned kittens, being suckled by their natural enemy. The cat had a hatred to rats, but she spared these young rats to afford her the relief which she required as a mother. The rat-catcher exhibited the cat and her nurslings to considerable advantage. A somewhat similar exhibition exists at present.

There is a little Menagerie in London where such odd associations may be witnessed upon a more extensive scale, and more systematically conducted, than in any other collection of animals with which we are acquainted. Upon the Surrey side of Waterloo Bridge, or sometimes, though not so often, on the same side of Southwark Bridge, may be daily seen a cage about five feet square, containing the quadrupeds and birds which are represented in the annexed cut. The keeper of this collection, John Austin, states that he has employed seventeen years in this business of training creatures of opposite natures to live together in content and affection. And those years have not been unprofitably employed! It is not too much to believe, that many a person who has given his halfpenny to look upon this show, may have had his mind awakened to the extraordinary effects of nabit and of gentle discipline, when he has thus seen the cat, the rat, the mouse, the hawk, the rabbit, the guinea-pig, the owl, the pigeon, the starling, and the sparrow, each enjoying, as far as can be enjoyed in confinement, its respective modes of life, in the company of the others,-the weak without fear, and the strong without the desire to injure It is impossible to imagine any prettier exhibition of kindness than is here shown. The

abbit and the pigeon playfully contending for a lock of hay to make up their nests; the sparrow sometimes perched on the head of the cat, and sometimes on that of the owl,-each its natural euemy; and the mice playing about with perfect

indifference to the presence either of cat, or hawk, or owl. The modes by which this man has effected this, are, first, by keeping all the creatures well fed; and, secondly, by accustoming one species to the society of the other at a very early period of their lives. The ferocious instincts of those who prey on the weaker are never called into action; their nature is subdued to a systematic gentleness; the circumstances by which they are surrounded are favorable to the cultivation of their kindlier'dispositions; all their desires and pleasures are bounded by their little cage; and though the old cat sometimes takes a stately walk on the parapet of the bridge, he duly returns to his companions, with whom he has so long been happy, without at all thinking that he was born to devour any of them. This is an example, and a powerful one, of what may be accomplished by a proper education, which rightly estimates the force of habit, and confirms, by judicious management, that habit which is most desirable to be made a rule of conduct. The principle is the same, whether it be applied to children or to brutes.

THE HAPPY LIFE.

BY SIR HENRY WOTTON.

How happy is he bred and taught,
That serveth not another's will,
Whose armor is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill.
Whose passions not his masters are,
Whose soul is still prepared for death;
Untied unto the world by care

Of public fame, or private breath.
Who envies none that change doth raise,
Nor vice hath ever understood;
How deepest wounds are given by praise;
Nor rules of state, but rules of good.
Who hath his life from rumors freed;
Whose conscience is his sure retreat,
Whose state can neither flatterers feed,
Nor ruin make oppressors great.
Who God doth late and early pray,

More of his grace than gifts to sena;
And entertains the harmless day

With a religious book or friend.
This man is freed from servile bands,
Of hope to rise or fear to fall;
Lord of himself, though not of lands,
And having nothing, yet hath all.

« PreviousContinue »