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Title: The Tower Menagerie
Author: Bennett, Edward Turner
Language: English
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THE TOWER MENAGERIE.
THE
TOWER MENAGERIE:
COMPRISING
THE NATURAL HISTORY
OF THE
ANIMALS CONTAINED IN THAT ESTABLISHMENT;
WITH
Anecdotes of their Characters and History.
ILLUSTRATED BY
PORTRAITS OF EACH, TAKEN FROM LIFE, BY WILLIAM HARVEY;
AND ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY BRANSTON AND WRIGHT.
[Illustration]
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR ROBERT JENNINGS, POULTRY;
AND SOLD BY W. F. WAKEMAN, DUBLIN.
M DCCC XXIX.
CHISWICK:
PRINTED BY CHARLES WHITTINGHAM
COLLEGE HOUSE.
[Illustration]
TO
HIS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY
KING GEORGE THE FOURTH,
THE
MUNIFICENT PATRON OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES,
This Volume,
IN WHICH IT IS ATTEMPTED TO COMBINE BOTH ART AND SCIENCE
IN THE
ILLUSTRATION OF HIS ROYAL MENAGERIE,
IS,
BY HIS MAJESTY’S MOST GRACIOUS PERMISSION,
HUMBLY INSCRIBED.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION ix
BENGAL LION 1
LIONESS AND CUBS 11
CAPE LION 17
BARBARY LIONESS 24
TIGER 25
LEOPARD 35
JAGUAR 41
PUMA 49
OCELOT 53
CARACAL 57
CHETAH, OR HUNTING LEOPARD 61
STRIPED HYÆNA 71
HYÆNA-DOG 77
SPOTTED HYÆNA 81
AFRICAN BLOODHOUND 83
WOLF 89
CLOUDED BLACK WOLF 93
JACKAL 97
CIVET, OR MUSK CAT 99
JAVANESE CIVET 103
GRAY ICHNEUMON 105
PARADOXURUS 107
BROWN COATI 109
RACOON 111
AMERICAN BLACK BEAR 115
GRIZZLY BEAR 121
THIBET BEAR 129
BORNEAN BEAR 133
EGRET MONKEY? 144
COMMON MACAQUE 145
BONNETED MONKEY, VAR. 146
BONNETED MONKEY 147
PIG-FACED BABOON 148
BABOON 149
WHITE-HEADED MONGOOS 151
KANGUROO 155
PORCUPINE 161
ASIATIC ELEPHANT 163
ZEBRA OF THE PLAINS 177
LLAMA 181
RUSA-DEER 185
INDIAN ANTELOPE 191
AFRICAN SHEEP 197
GOLDEN EAGLE 201
GREAT SEA-EAGLE 202
BEARDED GRIFFIN 203
GRIFFON VULTURE 205
SECRETARY 209
VIRGINIAN HORNED OWL 213
DEEP-BLUE MACAW 215
BLUE AND YELLOW MACAW 217
YELLOW-CRESTED COCKATOO 219
NEW HOLLAND EMEU 221
CRESTED CRANE 225
PELICAN 227
ALLIGATOR 231
INDIAN BOA 233
ANACONDA 237
RATTLESNAKE 239
INTRODUCTION.
The origin of Menageries dates from the most remote antiquity. Their
existence may be traced even in the obscure traditions of the fabulous
ages, when the contests of the barbarian leader with his fellow-men were
relieved by exploits in the chase scarcely less adventurous, and when
the monster-queller was held in equal estimation with the warrior-chief.
The spoils of the chase were treasured up in common with the trophies
of the fight; and the captive brute occupied his station by the side
of the vanquished hero. It was soon discovered that the den and the
dungeon were not the only places in which this link of connexion might
be advantageously preserved, and the strength and ferocity of the forest
beast were found to be available as useful auxiliaries even in the
battle-field. The only difficulty to be surmounted in the application
of this new species of brute force to the rude conflicts of the times
consisted in giving to it the wished-for direction; and for this purpose
it was necessary that the animals to be so employed should be confined
in what may be considered as a kind of Menagerie, there to be rendered
subservient to the control, and obedient to the commands, of their
masters.
In the theology too of these dark ages many animals occupied a
distinguished place, and were not only venerated in their own proper
persons, on account of their size, their power, their uncouth figure,
their resemblance to man, or their supposed qualities and influence,
but were also looked upon as sacred to one or other of the interminable
catalogue of divinities, to whose service they were devoted, and on
whose altars they were sacrificed. For these also Menageries must
have been constructed, in which not only their physical peculiarities
but even their moral qualities must have been to a certain extent
studied; although the passions and prejudices of the multitude would
naturally corrupt the sources of information thus opened to them, by the
intermixture of exaggerated perversions of ill observed facts and by the
addition of altogether imaginary fables.
If to these two kinds of Menageries we add that which has every where
and under all circumstances accompanied the first dawn of civilization,
and which constitutes the distinguishing characteristic of man emerging
from a state of barbarism and entering upon a new and social state of
existence, the possession of flocks and herds, of animals useful in his
domestic economy, serviceable in the chase, and capable of sharing in his
daily toils, a tolerable idea may be formed of the collections which were
brought together in the earliest ages, and were more or less the subjects
of study to a race of men who were careless of every thing that had no
immediate bearing upon their feelings, their passions, or their interests.
But as civilization advanced, and the progress of society favoured
the developement of mind, when those who were no longer compelled by
necessity to labour for their daily bread found leisure to look abroad
with expanded views upon the wonders of the creation, the animal
kingdom presented new attractions and awakened ideas which had before
lain dormant. What was at first a mere sentiment of curiosity became
speedily a love of science; known objects were examined with more minute
attention; and whatever was rare or novel was no longer regarded with a
stupid stare of astonishment and an exaggerated expression of wonder, but
became the object of careful investigation and philosophic meditation.
Such was the state of things in civilized Greece when the Macedonian
conqueror carried his victorious arms to the banks of the Indus, and
penetrated into countries, not altogether unknown to Europeans, but the
natural productions of which were almost entirely new to the philosophers
of the West. With the true spirit of a man of genius, whose sagacity
nothing could escape, and whose views of policy were as profound as
the success of his arms was splendid, Alexander omitted no opportunity
of proving his devotion to the cause of science; and the extensive
collections of rare and unknown animals which he transmitted to his old
tutor and friend, in other words the Menagerie which he formed, laid the
foundation of the greatest, the most extensive, and the most original
work on zoology that has ever been given to the world. The first of
moral philosophers did not disdain to become the historian of the brute
creation, and Aristotle’s History of Animals remains a splendid and
imperishable record of his qualifications for the task.
Very different were the feelings by which the Roman generals and people
were swayed even in their most civilized times and at the height of their
unequalled power. Through all the gloss which history has thrown over
the character of these masters of the universe there appears a spirit
of unreclaimed barbarity which was never entirely shaken off. From the
scenes of their distant conquests their prætors sent to the metropolis
of the world bears and lions and leopards and tigers; but a love of
science had no share in the motives for the gratification of which they
were transmitted, and the chief curiosity manifested on such occasions by
the people of Rome was to ascertain how speedily hundreds or thousands,
as the case might happen, of these ferocious beasts would destroy each
other when turned out half-famished into the public amphitheatre, or
how long a band of African slaves, of condemned criminals, or of hired
gladiators, would be able to maintain the unequal contest against them.
The consul or emperor who exhibited at one time the greatest number of
animals to be thus tortured before the eyes of equally brutal spectators
was held in the highest esteem among a people who regarded themselves
as civilized, and whose chief delight was in witnessing these wanton
effusions of blood. It was only under the later Cæsars that a few private
individuals brought together in their _vivaria_ a considerable number of
rare and curious animals; and the Natural History of Pliny derives most
of its zoological value from the opportunities which he had of consulting
these collections. But the monstrous fables and the innumerable errors,
which the most superficial examination would have taught him to correct,
with which every page of this vast compilation absolutely teems, speak
volumes with regard to the wretched state of natural science in the most
splendid days of Roman greatness.
From the unsuspecting credulity with which this textbook of the
naturalists of the middle ages continued to be received, it is evident
that the science remained stationary, if it did not actually retrograde,
during the lapse of fourteen or fifteen centuries. The want of
opportunities of investigation may be regarded as the principal cause
of this lamentable deficiency. Some of the rarer animals, it is true,
were occasionally to be seen in Europe; but Menageries constructed
upon a broad and comprehensive plan were as yet unknown. The first
establishment of modern days, in which such a plan can fairly be said to
have been realised, was the Menagerie founded at Versailles by Louis the
Fourteenth. It is to this institution that we owe the Natural History of
Buffon and his coadjutor Daubenton; the one as eloquent as Pliny, with
little of his credulity, but with a greater share of imagination; and the
other a worthy follower of Aristotle in his habits of minute research
and patient investigation, but making no pretensions to the powerful and
comprehensive mind and the admirable facility of generalising his ideas
which so preeminently distinguished that great philosopher.
Of the characters of most of the institutions which we have noticed
the Tower Menagerie has at various times partaken in a greater or
less degree. Originally intended merely for the safe-keeping of those
ferocious beasts, which were until within the last century considered as
appertaining exclusively to the royal prerogative, it has occasionally
been converted into a theatre for their contests, and has terminated
by adapting itself to the present condition of society as a source of
rational amusement and a school of zoological science.
The first notice of a Royal Menagerie in England places this
establishment at Woodstock, where King Henry the First had a collection
of lions, leopards, and other strange beasts. Three leopards were
presented to Henry the Third by the Emperor Frederic the Second, himself
a zoologist of no mean rank. From Woodstock they were transferred to the
Tower; and numerous orders issued in this and the succeeding reigns to
the sheriffs of London and of the counties of Bedford and Buckingham to
provide for the maintenance of the animals and their keepers are extant
among the Records. Thus in the year 1252 the sheriffs of London were
commanded to pay four pence a day for the maintenance of a white bear;
and in the following year to provide a muzzle and chain to hold the said
bear while fishing, or washing himself, in the river Thames. In 1255 they
were directed to build a house in the Tower for an elephant which had
been presented to the king by Louis king of France; and a second writ
occurs in which they were ordered to provide necessaries for him and his
keepers.
From various orders during the reigns of Edward the First, Second, and
Third, we learn that the allowance for each lion or leopard was six pence
a day, and the wages of their keeper three halfpence. At later periods
the office of keeper of the lions was held by some person of quality
about the king, with a fee of six pence a day for himself, and the
same for every lion or leopard under his charge. On these terms it was
granted by King Henry the Sixth, first to Robert Mansfield, Esq. marshal
of his hall, and afterwards to Thomas Rookes, his dapifer. It was not
unfrequently held by the lieutenant or constable of the Tower himself,
on the condition of his providing a sufficient deputy. There was also
another office in the royal household somewhat resembling this in name,
that of master, guider, and ruler of the king’s bears and apes; but the
latter animals appear to have been kept solely for the royal “game and
pleasure.”
During all this period, and even almost down to our own times,
the common phrase of “seeing the lions” in the Tower appears to
have been almost literally correct, for we seldom hear of any other
animals confined there than lions or leopards. Howel tells us in his
Londinopolis, published in 1657, that there were then six lions in the
Tower, and makes no allusion to any other animals as being at that time
contained in it. In 1708 some improvement had taken place; for there were
then, according to Strype, no fewer than eleven lions, two leopards or
tigers (the worthy historian, it seems, knew not which), three eagles,
two owls, two cats of the mountain, and a jackal. Maitland gives a much
longer catalogue as existing there in 1754; and this is still further
extended in a little pamphlet entitled “An Historical Description of the
Tower of London and its Curiosities,” published in 1774. After this time,
however, the collection had been so greatly diminished both in value and
extent, that in the year 1822, when Mr. Alfred Cops, the present keeper,
succeeded to the office, the whole stock of the Menagerie consisted of
the grizzly bear, an elephant, and one or two birds. How rapidly and how
extensively the collection has increased under his superintendence will
best be seen by a reference to the numerous and interesting animals whose
natural history forms the subject of the present work. By his spirited
and judicious exertions the empty dens have been filled, and new ones
have been constructed; and the whole of them being now kept constantly
tenanted, the Menagerie affords a really interesting and attractive
spectacle to the numerous visiters who are drawn thither either from
motives of curiosity or by a love of science.
Such is a brief outline of the history up to the present period of the
establishment known as the Tower Menagerie. Of the animals contained
in it during the summer of 1828, and of two others which had then
recently died, the succeeding pages offer delineations, descriptions,
and anecdotes. Among so numerous a collection of inhabitants, of such
dissimilar habits, and brought together into one spot from such distant
and various climes, some changes have almost necessarily taken place
even while our work has been passing through the press; yet so excellent
is the management of Mr. Cops, especially as regards cleanliness, that
essential security of animal health, that not a single death has occurred
from disease, and one only from an accidental cause: the secretary bird,
having incautiously introduced its long neck into the den of the hyæna,
was deprived of it and of its head at one bite. Other removals are owing
to the spirit of commerce. The Cape lion, the chetahs, the Thibet bear,
and the deep-blue macaw, have passed into foreign hands, and are now on
the continent of Europe. Two of the wolves and one of the Javanese civets
have been transferred to the Zoological Society; and the white antelope
has also exchanged its habitation in the Tower for the delightful Garden
created by that Society in the Regent’s Park.
With the exceptions which have just been enumerated the whole of the
animals which are here figured and described are actually living in the
Tower Menagerie. Their continuance there affords a test of the fidelity
of our work which could not be applied to any production on zoology that
has yet appeared in this country, nor, to an equal extent, in any other.
As a visit to the Menagerie will enable the reader at once to compare
our representations and descriptions with their living prototypes, the
imperative necessity of scrupulous accuracy has been deeply impressed
throughout the whole undertaking on the minds of those who have been
engaged in its completion. In this, it is trusted, they have fully
succeeded. To explain the share which each has taken in the work, and to
record a debt of gratitude to those kind friends who have assisted in it,
is the pleasing duty which it now remains to fulfil.
The whole of the drawings are from the pencil of MR. WILLIAM HARVEY, who,
in seizing faithful and characteristic portraits of animals in restless
and almost incessant motion, has succeeded in overcoming difficulties
which can only be appreciated by those who have attempted similar
delineations. In the portraits he has strictly confined himself to the
chastity of truth; but in the vignettes, which have always some reference
to the subject of the article which they conclude, he has occasionally
held himself at liberty to give full scope to his imagination.
The engravings have been executed throughout by MESSRS. BRANSTON and
WRIGHT. Determined on securing the accuracy of the representations,
they have in every instance compared the proofs with the animals, and
have made corrections where necessary until the resemblance has been
rendered perfect. In one case alone has a deviation from the original
been indulged in: the tail of the ocelot has been figured of the length
usual in the species, instead of the truncated state in which it exists
in the specimen; the markings of the animal are, however, as noticed in
its article, accurately represented.
The literary department has been superintended by E. T. BENNETT, Esq.
F.L.S., an active member of the Zoological Society, who has arranged
for the press the whole of the materials collected from various and
authentic sources. To JOHN BAYLEY, Esq. F.R. and A.S. M.R.I.A. &c. he
is indebted for several suggestions in addition to the information
contained in that gentleman’s valuable work, “The History and Antiquities
of the Tower of London.” To MR. ALFRED COPS, the present KEEPER OF THE
LIONS, whose meritorious exertions for the increase and improvement of
the Menagerie have been already adverted to, he has also to tender his
thanks and those of his coadjutors for the facilities constantly afforded
to them in the most ready and obliging manner, and for much valuable
information relative to the history and habits of the animals.
But especially are his best thanks due for numerous suggestions and
much valuable assistance to his friend N. A. VIGORS, Esq. A.M. F.R. and
L.S., the zealous and talented SECRETARY of the ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. To
that distinguished zoologist, whose extensive and intimate acquaintance
with the animal kingdom at large, and particularly with its feathered
tribes, is universally acknowledged, and to other leading Members of the
Society to which he devotes his talents and his time, a work like the
present appeared not ill adapted to advance the good cause in which they
are engaged, the diffusion of knowledge. Under their auspices it was
commenced, by their countenance it has been fostered, and it is with the
sanction of their approval that it is now submitted to the public eye.
LONDON, Nov. 1828.
[Illustration]
THE BENGAL LION.
_FELIS LEO._ LINN.--Var. BENGALENSIS.
First in majesty as in might, the monarch of the brute creation asserts
an undisputed claim to occupy the foremost place in our delineation of
the inhabitants of this Royal Menagerie. Who is there to whom his stately
mien, his unequalled strength, his tremendous powers of destruction,
combined with the ideas generally entertained of his dauntless courage,
his grateful affection, and his merciful forbearance, are not familiar
“as household words?” When we speak of a Lion, we call up to our
imaginations the splendid picture of might unmingled with ferocity,
of courage undebased by guile, of dignity tempered with grace and
ennobled by generosity; in a word, of all that combination of brilliant
qualities, the imputation of which, by writers of all ages, has placed
him by universal consent above other beasts, and invested him with regal
attributes.
Such, indeed, is the outline which we have been taught to frame to
ourselves of this noble animal; and beautifully has this imaginary
sketch, for such in a great measure it will be found on closer
examination, been filled up by the magic pencil of Buffon, who, in this,
as in too many other instances, suffered himself to be borne along by
the strong tide of popular opinion. Yielding to the current, instead of
boldly stemming it, he has added the weighty sanction of his authority
to those erroneous notions which were already consecrated by their
antiquity, and has produced a history of the Lion, which, however true
in its main facts, and however eloquent in its details, is, to say the
least, highly exaggerated and delusive in its colouring. The Lion of
Buffon is, in fact, the Lion of popular prejudice; it is not the Lion,
such as he appears to the calm observer, nor such as he is delineated in
the authentic accounts of those naturalists and travellers who have had
the best means of observing his habits, and recording the facts of which
they have been themselves eye witnesses.
The Lion, like all the other cats (the genus to which, in a natural
arrangement, he obviously belongs) is armed in each jaw with six strong
and exceedingly sharp cutting-teeth, with two formidable canine, and
with six others, three on each side, occupying the places of the molar
or grinding-teeth, but terminating in sharp protuberances to assist in
the laceration of the animal food, which is the proper nutriment of his
tribe. Besides these, he has, on each side of the upper jaw, a small
tooth, or rather tubercle, placed immediately behind the rest. His tongue
is covered with innumerable rough and elevated papillæ, the points of
which are directed backwards: these also assist in comminuting his food,
and not unfrequently leave their traces on the hand which has been
offered him to lick. His claws, five in number on the fore feet, and four
on the hind, are of great length, extremely hard, and much curved; they
are retractile within a sheath enclosed in the skin which covers the
extremity of his paws; and as they are only exposed when he has occasion
to make use of them, they thus preserve the sharpness of their edge and
the acuteness of their point unimpaired. In all these particulars the
Lion essentially agrees with the rest of the cats; and it is these which
constitute what naturalists have termed their generic character; in other
words, they are the points of agreement which are common to the whole
group or genus, and form the most prominent and striking characteristics,
by which they may be at once connected together and separated from all
other animals.
The Lion is distinguished from other cats by the uniformity of his
colour, which is pale tawny above, becoming somewhat lighter beneath,
and never, except in his young state, exhibiting the least appearance
of spots or stripes: by the long and flowing mane of the adult male,
which, originating nearly as far forward as the root of his nose, extends
backwards over his shoulders, and descends in graceful undulations on
each side of his neck and face; and by the tuft of long and blackish
hairs which terminates his powerful tail. These constitute what is termed
his specific character, or that which is peculiar to the species or
race; connecting the individuals together by marks common to them all,
and at the same time separating them from the other animals of the same
group or genus.
In his moral and intellectual faculties, as well as in his external
and physical characters, the Lion exhibits a close agreement with the
strikingly distinct and well marked group to which he belongs, and of
which he is unquestionably the first in rank and importance: and perhaps
the most effectual means of guarding against the general prejudice,
which has delighted in exalting him at the expense of his fellow beasts,
will be found in the recollection that, both physically and morally, he
is neither more nor less than a cat, of immense size and corresponding
power it is true, but not on that account the less endowed with all the
guileful and vindictive passions of that faithless tribe. His courage is
proverbial: this, however, is not derived from any peculiar nobility of
soul, but arises from the blind confidence inspired by a consciousness
of his own superior powers, with which he is well aware that none of
the inferior animals can successfully compete. Placed in the midst of
arid deserts, where the fleet but timid antelope, and the cunning but
powerless monkey fall his easy and unresisting prey; or roaming through
the dense forests and scarcely penetrable jungles, where the elephant and
the buffalo find in their unwieldy bulk and massive strength no adequate
protection against the impetuous agility and fierce determination of
his attacks, he sways an almost undisputed sceptre, and stalks boldly
forth in fearless majesty. But change the scene, and view him in the
neighbourhood of populous towns, or even near the habitations of
uncultivated savages, and it will then be seen that he recognises his
master, and crouches to the power of a superior being. Here he no longer
shows himself openly in the proud consciousness of his native dignity,
but skulks in the deepest recesses of the forest, cautiously watches his
opportunities, and lies in treacherous ambush for the approach of his
unwary prey. It is this innate feeling of his incapacity openly to resist
the power of man, that renders him so docile in captivity, and gives him
that air of mild tranquillity, which, together with the dignified majesty
of his deportment, has unquestionably contributed not a little towards
the general impression of his amiable qualities.
His forbearance and generosity, if the facts be carefully investigated,
will be found to resolve themselves into no more than this: that in
his wild state he destroys only to satiate his hunger or revenge, and
never, like the “gaunt wolves,” and “sullen tigers,” of whom the poet
has composed his train, in the wantonness of his power and the malignity
of his disposition; and that, when tamed, his hunger being satisfied and
his feelings being free from irritation, he suffers smaller animals to
remain in his den uninjured, is familiar with, and sometimes fond of, the
keeper by whom he is attended and fed, and will even, when under complete
control, submit to the caresses of strangers.
But even this limited degree of amiability, which, in an animal of less
formidable powers, would be considered as indicating no peculiar mildness
of temper, is modified by the calls of hunger, by the feelings of
revenge, which he frequently cherishes for a considerable length of time,
and by various other circumstances which render it dangerous to approach
him unguardedly, even in his tamest and most domesticated state, without
previously ascertaining his immediate state of mind. On such occasions no
keeper possessed of common prudence would be rash enough to venture upon
confronting him: he knows too well that it is no boy’s play to
… seek the Lion in his den,
And fright him there, and make him tremble there;
for in this state of irritation, from whatever cause it may have arisen,
he gives free scope to his natural ferocity, unrestrained by that control
to which at other times he submits with meek and unresisting patience.
Happily for mankind the range of this tremendous animal is limited to
the warmer climates of the earth; and even in these the extent of that
range is constantly becoming more and more confined by the spread of
human civilization, which, at the same time that it drives him to take
refuge at a distance from the haunts of men, contributes greatly to thin
his numbers and to diminish his power of annoyance. His true country
is Africa, in the vast and untrodden wilds of which, from the immense
deserts of the north to the trackless forests of the south, he reigns
supreme and uncontrolled. In the sandy deserts of Arabia, in some of
the wilder districts of Persia, and in the vast jungles of Hindostan,
he still maintains a precarious footing: but from the classic soil of
Greece, as well as from the whole of Asia Minor, both of which were once
exposed to his ravages, he has been utterly dislodged and extirpated.
There is some variation in the different races of Lions from these
distant localities; but this is by no means of sufficient importance
to establish a distinction between them. The Asiatic Lion, of which we
are now treating, seldom attains a size equal to that of the full-grown
Southern African; its colour is a more uniform and paler yellow
throughout; and its mane is, in general, fuller and more complete, being
furnished moreover with a peculiar appendage in the long hairs, which,
commencing beneath the neck, occupy the whole of the middle line of the
body below. All these distinctions are, however, modified by age, and
vary in different individuals. Their habits are in essential particulars
the same: we shall therefore defer what we have farther to say on this
head until we come to speak of the Cape Lion, and proceed to the history
of the Asiatic individual now exhibiting in this Menagerie, a striking
likeness of which is given in the engraving at the head of the present
article.
This fine animal, although called by the keepers “the Old Lion,” is,
in reality, little more than five years old; and that designation was
adopted only for the purpose of distinguishing him from the Cape Lion,
a comparatively modern resident of the Menagerie. His proper name, or
rather that by which he has been known ever since his arrival at the
Tower, is George. The following anecdotes relative to the mode of his
capture, and to his habits and demeanour in his captivity, are given on
the authority of Mr. Cops, who derived his information on the first point
from General Watson himself, and speaks to the rest from his personal
observation.
It was in the commencement of the year 1823, when the General was on
service in Bengal, that being out one morning on horseback, armed with a
double-barrelled rifle, he was suddenly surprised by a large male Lion,
which bounded out upon him from the thick jungle at the distance of only
a few yards. He instantly fired, and, the shot taking complete effect,
the animal fell dead almost at his feet. No sooner was this formidable
foe thus disposed of than a second, equally terrible, made her appearance
in the person of the Lioness, whom the General also shot at and wounded
so dangerously that she retreated into the thicket. As her following
so immediately in the footsteps of her mate afforded strong grounds
for suspecting that their den could not be far distant, he determined
upon pursuing the adventure to the end, and traced her to her retreat,
where he completed the work of her destruction, by again discharging
the contents of one of the barrels of his rifle, which he had reloaded
for the purpose. In the den were found a beautiful pair of cubs, male
and female, supposed to be then not more than three days old. These the
General brought away with him, and succeeded by the assistance of a
goat, who was prevailed upon to act in the capacity of foster-mother to
the royal pair, in rearing them until they attained sufficient age and
strength to enable them to bear the voyage to England. On their arrival
in this country, in September, 1823, he presented them to his Majesty,
who commanded them to be placed in the Tower. The male of this pair is
the subject of the present, the female that of the succeeding article.
The extreme youth of these Lions at the time of their capture, and the
constant control to which they had been accustomed from that early period
of their existence, rendered them peculiarly tame and docile, insomuch
that, for twelve months after their arrival, they were frequently
suffered to walk in the open yard among the visitors, who caressed them
and played with them with impunity. The Duke of Sussex, in particular,
was highly delighted with the unusual spectacle of a Lion and a Lioness
bounding about him at perfect liberty, and with all their natural grace
and agility. It must, however, be observed that they were not then fully
grown, and that it was afterwards thought necessary to place them under
greater restraint; but more with the view of guarding against possible
mischief, than in consequence of any positive symptoms of rebellion. Of
the change which has taken place in the character of the female, we shall
have occasion to speak hereafter: the male still continues perfectly
docile, and suffers himself to be treated with the greatest familiarity
by his keepers and those to whom he is accustomed.
Like all the other carnivorous animals in the Menagerie, he is fed but
once in the twenty-four hours; and his meal usually consists of a piece
of beef, of eight or nine pounds weight, exclusive of bone. This he
seizes with avidity, tears it to pieces instantly with his claws, and
ravenously devours it; contrary to the usual custom of his fellow lions
in a state of nature, who are said generally to remain for a considerable
time after they have struck the fatal blow, before proceeding to glut
their appetite with the flesh and blood of their victim. This awful pause
of suspense may, however, under such circumstances, be attributable to
an instinctive desire completely to finish their work, or at least to
preclude the possibility of resistance, prior to removing from the body
of their prostrate prey the weapon with which his destruction has been
inflicted.
It has been generally remarked, that lions in captivity have certain
constant and stated times for roaring: this observation is not, however,
strictly true with regard to those now in the Tower. It may nevertheless
be observed that in the summer time, especially when the atmospheric
temperature is considerable, they uniformly commence roaring about dawn,
one of them taking the lead, and the others joining in the concert in
succession; and Mr. Cops has frequently had occasion to remark that
whenever any one of them fails in accompanying the rest in their by no
means harmonious performance, the cessation from the customary roar is
an infallible symptom of actual or approaching illness. At no other time
is there that regularity in their roaring which has been so frequently
stated; although the chorus which has just been described is sometimes
repeated after feeding, and also when they have been left alone for any
length of time; hence it occurs particularly on Sundays, a day on which
they have no company except from the occasional visits of the keepers.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE LIONESS AND HER CUBS.
Strikingly distinguished at the first glance from her royal mate by
the absence of the flowing honours of the mane, which invest him with
an air of superior dignity and gravity, the Lioness is also remarkable
for her smaller size, her more slender and delicate make, and the
superior grace and agility of her movements. Her inferiority in muscular
strength to the Lion, and to him alone, is, however, fully compensated
by the greater liveliness of her disposition, the unrestrained ardour
of her passions, and the vigorous impetuosity of her motions, which all
contribute to render her an equally formidable opponent with her more
powerful, but less irritable, lord. They differ also in another obvious
characteristic, the habitual position and direction of their heads, that
of the Lion being almost uniformly elevated and thrown upwards with an
air of mingled frankness and hauteur, agreeing well with the popular
notions of his tranquil dignity of temper and deportment; while the
Lioness as constantly carries her head on a level with the line of her
back, thus giving to her otherwise expressive countenance a sullen and
downcast look, and evincing a nearer approach to the inferior races of
the feline tribe. This singular distinction appears to be in a great
measure dependent on the absence of the mane; for it is observed that the
young male cubs, until the period at which this badge of dignity begins
to make its appearance, that is to say until they are about twelve months
old, carry their heads in the same level position with the female.
It cannot be doubted that the lighter and slenderer shape of the Lioness,
and her consequently greater activity, tend in an especial manner to
the formation of that more lively and sensitive character by which all
her actions are so strongly marked: but there is another cause, no less
powerful than these, which operates with peculiar force, in the vivid
excitability of her maternal feelings, which she cherishes with an ardour
almost unparalleled in the history of any other animal. From the moment
that she becomes a mother, the native ferocity of her disposition is
renovated as it were with tenfold vigour; she watches over her young with
that undefined dread of danger to their weak and defenceless state, and
that suspicious eagerness of alarm, which keep her in a constant state of
feverish excitation: and woe be to the wretched intruder, whether man or
beast, who should unwarily at such a time approach the precincts of her
sanctuary. Even in a state of captivity, and however completely she may
have been previously subjected to the control of her keeper, she loses
all respect for his commands, and abandons herself occasionally to the
most violent paroxysms of rage.
Of this the individual Lioness now in the Tower affords a striking
example. We have already observed in our account of the Lion that, for
a considerable time after her arrival in England, she was so tame as to
be allowed frequently to roam at large about the open yard; and even
long after it had been judged expedient that this degree of liberty
should no longer be granted, her disposition was far from exciting any
particular fear in the minds of her keepers. As an instance of this, we
may mention that when, on one occasion about a year and a half ago, she
had been suffered through inadvertence to leave her den, and when she
was by no means in good temper, George Willoughway, the under keeper,
had the boldness, alone and armed only with a stick, to venture upon the
task of driving her back into her place of confinement; which he finally
accomplished, not however without strong symptoms of resistance on her
part, as she actually made three springs upon him, all of which he was
fortunate enough to avoid.
But from the period when she gave birth to her Cubs a total alteration
has taken place in her temper and demeanour. She no longer suffers the
least familiarity even on the part of her keepers, but gives full scope
to the violence of her passions. Intent solely on providing for the
security of her young, she imagines that the object of every person
who approaches her den is to rob her of her treasures, over which she
watches with almost sleepless anxiety, exhibiting the truly beautiful but
appalling picture of maternal tenderness combined with savage ferocity,
each in their utmost intensity of force and colouring.
The Cubs, which are three in number, two male and one female, were
whelped on the 20th of October, 1827, the day of the battle of Navarino;
and it is remarked by Mr. Cops, as a curious coincidence, that they are
the only Lions which have been whelped in the Tower since the year 1794,
rendered memorable by the great naval victory gained by Lord Howe over
the French fleet. They are universally considered to be the finest ever
bred in England, and are now in a most thriving condition. They have not,
however, yet reached the period when the shedding of the milk-teeth takes
place, a process which is perhaps more perilous to the brute creation
than that of dentition to the offspring of the human race, and appears
indeed to be attended with greater risks in proportion to the carnivorous
propensities of the respective species. To the Lion it has always proved,
at least in his state of captivity, a period of the greatest danger, very
few individuals of the numerous whelps which have been produced either
here or on the continent surviving its effects. Still there is good
reason to hope, from the peculiarly healthy appearance of the present
litter, that, by means of skilful management, the danger may be averted,
and that a pair at least of these noble animals, “born and bred in
England,” may in a few years rival their parents in size, in beauty, and
in majesty.
The mother and her whelps are admirably represented in the spirited
group of portraits which heads the present article. The latter have all
the playfulness of kittens, and are fondled by their dam in a similar
manner to that in which the domestic cat caresses her young. While they
were small enough she carried them from place to place in her mouth, and
showed the greatest solicitude to keep them from the view of strangers;
and even now that they are grown too large for this mode of treatment,
she continues to pay the strictest attention to the cleanliness of their
persons, and licks their fur, as they tumble about her, with all the
matronly dignity and gravity of an accomplished nurse.
The Cubs have hitherto exhibited very faint traces of the striped livery
which is generally characteristic of the Lion’s whelp; but it is highly
probable that when they lose their winter coat, this marking may become
more obvious, although, on account of their advancing age, it will never
show itself with that distinctness which has been observed in other
instances. It consists of a blackish band, extending along the centre
of the back, from the head almost to the extremity of the tail, and
branching off into numerous other bands of the same colour, which are
parallel to each other, and pass across the upper parts of the sides and
tail. The very young lion consequently bears no small resemblance to the
tiger; a circumstance which it is interesting to remark as one which
furnishes additional evidence of the close affinity of these formidable
animals. The colouring of its bands is, however, much less intense; and
in addition to these it possesses on the head and on the limbs numerous
irregular spots of a darker hue than the rest of the fur, which are never
found in the neighbouring species. On the limbs of the present Cubs these
spots and blotches are distinctly visible amidst the rough and half
shaggy coat which covers them, and which is not exchanged for the smooth
and sleek fur, with which they are subsequently invested, until they
approach their full growth. As they advance towards the adult age, which
takes place in the fifth or sixth year, the livery gradually disappears,
and is then usually entirely lost. The Lioness herself, however, still
retains some trifling vestiges of it. The Cubs are, as usual, destitute
of the longer hairs which form the tuft at the extremity of the tail of
the adult, which in them tapers to a black tip. Their voice is at present
perfectly similar to the mewing of a cat; and it is not until they reach
the age of eighteen months that it changes into that peculiar roar which
afterwards becomes so tremendous. At that age the mane has already
attained considerable developement. This appendage begins to make its
appearance in the males when they are ten or twelve months old, having at
first the shape of a slight frill or ruff, but gradually becoming more
and more extensive, and at length assuming that striking form which gives
to the full grown animal a graceful and dignified, and to the more aged a
reverend and majestic, air.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE CAPE LION.
_FELIS LEO._--Var. CAPENSIS.
Africa, as we have already observed, is truly the native country of
the Lion; and in no part of that vast continent, we may add, does he
attain greater size, or exhibit all his characteristic features in
fuller and more complete developement, than in the immediate vicinity
of the settlements which have been formed in the interior of its
southern extremity by the Dutch and English colonists of the Cape. In
speaking of the Bengal Lion, we have also pointed out the more striking
characteristics by which the Asiatic race is distinguished from that of
Southern Africa; consisting principally in the larger size, the more
regular and graceful form, the generally darker colour, and the less
extensive mane of the African. It remains, however, to be mentioned
that, even in this latter race, there are two varieties, which have
been long known to the settlers under the names of the Pale and the
Black Lion, distinguished, as their appellations imply, by the lighter
or darker colour of their coats, and more particularly of their manes.
This variation, there can be little doubt, is entirely produced by the
different character of the districts which they inhabit, and of the food
which they are enabled to procure. The black Lion, as he is termed, is
the larger and the more ferocious of the two, more frequently attacking
man himself, if less noble prey should fail him; and sometimes measuring
the enormous distance of eight feet from the tip of the nose to the
origin of the tail, which is generally about half the length of the body.
He is, however, of less frequent occurrence than the pale variety.
It is in the night-time more particularly that the Lion prowls abroad in
search of his prey, the conformation of his eyes not only, like those of
the cat, allowing him to see with a very moderate degree of light, but
even rendering the full glare of day distressing and intolerable to him.
It is for this reason that travellers, who are compelled to sleep in the
open air in countries infested by these animals, are careful to keep
up a blazing fire, which the tenderness of their eyes deters them from
approaching, unless when they are extremely hard pressed by the calls
of hunger. These, it would appear, sometimes become paramount to every
other consideration, and urge the Lion, as they do many more ignoble
beasts, into the exhibition of a degree of courage, which, in despite
of all that has been said on the subject, is by no means his natural
characteristic.
“At the time,” says Mr. Burchell, in his admirable Travels in Southern
Africa, “when men first adopted the Lion as the emblem of courage, it
would seem that they regarded great size and strength as indicating
it; but they were greatly mistaken in the character they had given of
this indolent skulking animal.” That an animal which seldom attacks
by open force, but, stealing along with cautious and noiseless tread,
silently approaches his victim, conceals himself in treacherous ambush,
and at length, when he imagines his prey to be fairly within his reach,
bounds forth upon him with an overwhelming leap, crushes him beneath the
tremendous weight of his irresistible paw, tears him piece-meal with
his talons, and, after having surfeited on his horrid meal, returns
into the depths of his solitary concealment to sleep away the hours
until his satiated appetite shall be again renewed, and his craving
maw stimulate him to fresh exertion,--that such an animal should ever
have been regarded as the type of courage and the emblem of magnanimity
would indeed be most astonishing, were it not that men have in all ages
been too prone to flatter superior power, and to offer at the shrine of
greatness that homage which is due only to the good.
True it is that on some occasions the Lion has been known, in the
capriciousness of his disposition, to suffer his prostrate prey to
escape but little injured from his clutch; but these instances are
of rare occurrence, and may safely be referred either to his natural
indolence, when excited neither by hunger nor by provocation, or to that
intellectual debasement which among brutes is the usual concomitant
of increased bulk and formidable strength. But to conclude from such
whims and freaks, unaccountable as they may sometimes appear, that he is
actuated by feelings of mercy, or by the natural impulse of a generous
mind, would be about as reasonable as it would be to assume from the
instances which are recorded of the justice and generosity of a Tamerlane
or a Tippoo, that those monsters of sanguinary cruelty were in reality
the mildest and most merciful of despots.
We have said that the Lion generally chooses the night for his
excursions; and this is in fact the only time at which he ventures to
approach the habitations of man, from which he will frequently carry
off horses or oxen, apparently with the greatest ease, and almost
without seeming to be incumbered by his burthen. Beyond the precincts of
European civilization, and out of the reach of the dreaded rifle, he will
sometimes penetrate into the very hut of the Bushman, and prey upon its
human inhabitants. It is even stated, and on very respectable authority,
that in some of the most distant kraals, or villages, those wretched
people purposely expose the old and the infirm among them in such
situations as they consider most open to attack, as the Lion’s share, in
the expectation that he will instinctively seize upon those who are first
thrown in his way. When, however, the Lion finds his appetite thus easily
satiated, it is said that he is sure to return night after night to the
kraal for a fresh victim; until the miserable remnant of its inhabitants
at length find it absolutely necessary to quit the ground, and to seek a
precarious safety in flight.
In the daytime, when pressed by hunger, the Lion takes his secret stand
among the reeds and long grass in the neighbourhood of springs and
rivers, and watches with unwearied patience for such animals as may, for
the purpose of quenching their thirst, pass sufficiently near him to
ensure the success of his attack. This is generally made in one enormous
bound of fifteen, twenty, or even, it is said, thirty feet, and with a
force capable of bearing to the ground and completely disabling the most
formidable opponent. At times, however, he will pursue his prey somewhat
more openly, and by quickly repeated springs; but this is an exertion
which he is unable to continue for any considerable length of time, and
which, consequently, any animal of moderate fleetness, that has fairly
got the start of him, is certain to outstrip. Of this the Lion appears to
be fully aware; for, if not successful in the commencement of the chase,
he generally relinquishes it at once, and retires gradually, and step by
step, to his place of ambush, to watch for a better opportunity and a
more certain prey.
It is rarely that the Lion of the Cape district ventures to attack a man,
unless provoked, or impelled by urgent hunger. The colonists, however,
who are very great sufferers (especially in their horses, for whose flesh
he seems to have a peculiar taste) by his frequent visits, are his most
determined and deadly foes, and omit no opportunity of wreaking their
vengeance upon him for the injuries which he has inflicted upon their
property. The frontier boors in particular, who are more exposed to
his ravages, and who, being well trained to hunting, are most of them
excellent marksmen, appear to take a peculiar pleasure in attacking
the Lion, even when they meet him almost singly. They, however, more
frequently make up parties for the chase, which is unquestionably
attended with no little danger, even when the huntsmen are numerous and
experienced; for although the Lion on such occasions almost always takes
to his heels, and endeavours to make his escape without confronting his
pursuers; yet, when he finds that flight is in vain, he turns upon them
with a fierceness and determination that nothing could withstand, were it
not for the well proved superiority possessed by them in the formidable
rifle, which, on such an emergency, they know how to direct with a steady
and almost unerring aim.
The Cape Lion is seldom taken alive; his utter destruction and
extermination forming the primary object of his pursuers. Occasionally,
however, when a Lioness has been shot, and the hunters have been
fortunate enough to trace out her den, the cubs are brought away, and
in some measure domesticated, at least for a season, and until they
acquire sufficient force to become dangerous. Up to this period some of
the colonists will even suffer them to remain almost at large in their
dwellings; but they have frequently occasion to rue the mercy they have
shown, and are at length compelled, by the unequivocal manifestations of
that ferocity which never fails to make its appearance when the animals
have attained a certain age, to destroy the creatures whom they have
nourished and caressed.
Two male individuals of this breed are now exhibiting at the Tower: the
one whose portrait illustrates the present article, and who, although
scarcely more than two years and a half old, already rivals his adult
Asiatic neighbour in size and majesty, while he exceeds him in grace and
agility; and a second, of about ten months old, apparently belonging to
the pale variety, and who is just beginning to exhibit the first faint
outline of the mane. The former of these is remarkably beautiful and
docile: he became an inmate of the Tower in May, 1827; and was, during
his voyage from the Cape, being then very young, so tame and domesticated
as to be allowed to run about the deck like a dog.
[Illustration]
THE BARBARY LIONESS.
_FELIS LEO._--Var. NUMIDA.
In the male of this variety, which has been more frequently brought to
Europe than any other, the mane attains as much developement and covers
the under parts of the body as extensively as in the Lion of Eastern
Asia, whom, however, at the adult age, he exceeds considerably in size.
The Lioness has little to distinguish her from the other breeds.
The specimen now in the Menagerie is a young female about three years
and a half old. She was a present to his Majesty from the Emperor of
Morocco. During some tempestuous weather, which occurred on her passage,
the male who accompanied her was killed, and she herself met with an
accident, from the falling of a spar, by which she was curtailed of her
fair proportions, and deprived of the greater part of her tail. The
disfigurement thus caused is, however, trifling, and she is still a very
fine animal.
[Illustration]
THE TIGER.
_FELIS TIGRIS._ LINN.
Closely allied to the Lion, whom he resembles in size, in power, in
external form, in internal structure, in zoological characters, in his
prowling habits, and in his sanguinary propensities, the Tiger is at
once distinguished from that king of beasts, and from every other of
their common genus, by the peculiar marking of his coat. On a ground
which exhibits in different individuals various shades of yellow, he is
elegantly striped by a series of transverse black bands or bars, which
occupy the sides of his head, neck, and body, and are continued upon his
tail in the form of rings, the last of the series uniformly occupying the
extremity of that organ, and giving to it a black tip of greater or less
extent. The under parts of his body and the inner sides of his legs are
almost entirely white; he has no mane; and his whole frame, though less
elevated than that of the Lion, is of a slenderer and more graceful make.
His head is also shorter and more rounded.
Almost in the same degree that the Lion has been exalted and magnified,
at the expense of his fellow brutes, has the Tiger been degraded and
depressed below his just and natural level. While the one has been held
up to admiration, as the type and standard of heroic perfection, the
other has, with equal capriciousness of judgment and disregard of the
close and intimate relationship subsisting between them, been looked
upon by mankind in general with those feelings of unmingled horror and
detestation which his character for untameable ferocity and insatiable
thirst of blood was so well calculated to inspire. It requires, however,
but little consideration to teach us that the broad distinction, which
has thus been drawn, cannot by possibility exist; and the recorded
observations of naturalists and travellers, both at home and abroad,
will be found amply sufficient to prove that the difference in their
characters and habits, on which so much stress has been laid, is in
reality as slight and unessential as that which exists in their corporeal
structure.
Unquestionably the Tiger has not the majesty of the Lion; for he is
destitute of the mane, in which that majesty chiefly resides. Neither
has he the same calm and dignified air of imperturbable gravity which
is at once so striking and so prepossessing in the aspect of the Lion.
But, on the other hand, it will readily be granted, that in the superior
lightness of his frame, which allows his natural agility its free and
unrestricted scope, and in the graceful ease and spirited activity of his
motions, to say nothing of the beauty, the regularity, and the vividness
of his colouring, he far excels his competitor, whose giant bulk and
comparative heaviness of person, added to the dull uniformity of his
colour, detract in no small degree from the impression produced by his
noble and majestic bearing.
In comparing the moral qualities of these two formidable animals, we
shall also find that the shades of difference, for at most they are but
shades, which distinguish them, are, like their external characteristics,
pretty equally balanced in favour of each. In all the leading features of
their character, the habits of both are essentially the same. The Tiger,
equally with the Lion, and in common indeed with the whole of the group
to which he belongs, reposes indolently in the security of his den, until
the calls of appetite stimulate him to look abroad for food. He then
chooses a convenient ambush, in which to lie concealed from observation,
generally amid the underwood of the forest, but sometimes even on the
branches of a tree, which he climbs with all the agility of a cat. In
this secret covert he awaits with patient watchfulness the approach of
his prey, upon which he darts forth with an irresistible bound, and bears
it off in triumph to his den. Unlike the Lion, however, if his first
attack proves unsuccessful, and he misses his aim, he does not usually
slink sullenly back into his retreat, but pursues his victim with a speed
and activity which is seldom baffled even by the fleetest animals.
It is only when this close and covert mode of attack has failed in
procuring him the necessary supply, that, urged by those inward cravings,
which are the ruling impulse of all his actions, he prowls abroad under
the veil of night, and ventures to approach the dwellings of man, of whom
he does not appear to feel that instinctive awe which the Lion has been
known so frequently to evince. But even on such occasions, and although
impelled by the strong stimulus of famine, he is in general far from
unmindful of his own security; but creeps slowly along his silent path
with all the stealthy caution so characteristic of the feline tribe.
Occasionally, however, when the pangs of hunger have become intolerable,
and can no longer be controlled even by the overpowering sway of
instinct, he will boldly advance upon man himself in the open face of
day, and brave every danger in the pursuit of that object which, to the
exclusion of every other sentiment, appears under such circumstances
wholly to engross his faculties.
It is evident then that in the general outline of his habits, and even
in most of the separate traits by which his character is marked, he
differs but little from the Lion. His courage, if brute force stimulated
by sensual appetite can deserve that honourable name, is at least
equal; and as for magnanimity and generosity, the idea of attributing
such noble qualities to either is in itself so absurd, and is so fully
refuted by every particular of their authentic history, that it would
be perfectly ridiculous to attempt a comparison where no materials for
comparison exist. It may, however, be observed that in one point the
disposition of the Tiger appears to be more cruel than that of the Lion;
inasmuch as it is related, that he is not at all times satisfied with
a single victim, but deals forth wholesale destruction, without mercy
and without distinction, upon whatever may chance to be within the reach
of his murderous talons. This, however, is by no means his constant or
usual practice; his instinct being in general sufficient to teach him
that his purpose is as effectually answered by one fatal bound as by the
most extensive devastation; for neither he, nor any of the more powerful
of his tribe, return to their prey after the first meal, but leave its
mangled relics for the ignoble beasts which follow in their train.
To what cause then, if the similarity between these two animals be so
great, and the points of distinction between them so trifling, can we
attribute the very different impressions which we have all received, and
in all probability continue to cherish, with regard to their respective
characters? Perhaps something like a plausible answer to this question
may be found in the fact, that our notions of the Lion have been formed
on the striking and exaggerated pictures of his noble qualities, for
which we are indebted to the poets of antiquity, who contemplated him
only in his captive and almost domesticated state; while our early ideas
of the Tiger were derived in a great measure from the equally exaggerated
statements of miserable and pusillanimous Hindoos, the spiritless and
unresisting victims of every species of oppression, who regarded him with
almost unspeakable horror as the merciless tyrant of their forests,--a
tyrant whose ferocious temper and sanguinary ravages were equalled
only by those of the human despots, to whom, as well as to their brute
oppressors, they paid the base tribute of servile minds, in the fearful
dread and crouching awe with which they prostrated themselves at the feet
of both.
Nothing in fact can exceed the terror which this formidable animal
inspires in those countries which are liable to his devastations. More
restricted, however, in this respect than the Lion, he is entirely
unknown in Africa, and is rarely, if ever, to be met with in Asia on this
side the Indus. In the south of China, and in the larger Asiatic Islands,
such as Sumatra and Java, he is unhappily but too common; but it is
said, we know not with what degree of truth, that in the last mentioned
locality he is less ferocious than in the Peninsula of Hindostan. This is
truly the cradle of his existence and the seat of his empire, in which
he disputes dominion even with the Lion himself, who is comparatively
rare in the Indian jungles, and with whom the Tiger has been sometimes
known to join in deadly and successful struggle for the mastery. Endowed
with a degree of force, which the Lion and the Elephant alone can
equal, he carries off a buffalo in his tremendous jaws, almost without
relaxing from his usual speed. With a single stroke of his claws he rips
open the body of the largest animals; and is said to suck their blood
with insatiable avidity. Of the correctness of this latter statement,
at least in its full extent, there is however strong reason to doubt.
The Tiger does not, according to the most credible accounts, exhibit
this propensity to drinking the blood of his victims in any greater
degree than the rest of his carnivorous and blood-thirsty companions.
In this, as in other instances, fear has drawn largely on credulity,
and the simple and sufficiently disgusting fact has been amplified and
exaggerated with all the refinements upon horror which the terrified
imagination could suggest.
In making these observations it is far from our intention to become the
apologists of this ferocious beast: our object is simply to place him in
the rank which he deserves to hold, on a level with those animals with
whom Nature has decreed that he should be associated no less in character
than in form. In his wild and unrestricted state, he is unquestionably
one of the most terrible of the living scourges, to whose fatal ravages
the lower animals, and even man himself, are exposed. But in captivity,
and especially if domesticated while young, his temper is equally pliant,
his disposition equally docile, and his manners and character equally
susceptible of amelioration, with those of any other animal of his class.
All the stories that have been so frequently reiterated, until they
have at length passed current without examination as accredited truths,
of his intractable disposition and insensibility to the kind treatment
of his keepers, towards whom it is alleged that he never exhibits the
slightest feelings of gratitude, have been proved by repeated experience
to be utterly false and groundless. He is tamed with as much facility,
and as completely, as the Lion; and soon becomes familiarised with those
who feed him, whom he learns to distinguish from others, and by whom he
is fond of being noticed and caressed. Like the cat, which he resembles
so closely in all his actions, he arches his broad and powerful back
beneath the hand that caresses him; he licks his fur and smooths himself
with his paws; and purrs in the same mild and expressive manner when he
is particularly pleased. He remains perfectly quiet and undisturbed,
unless when hungry or irritated, and passes the greater part of his time
in listless repose. His roar is nearly similar to that of the Lion, and,
like his, is by no means to be regarded as a symptom of anger, which he
announces by a short and shrill cry, approaching to a scream.
Two of these noble animals, the one male and the other female, are
among the most striking and attractive ornaments of the Menagerie.
The beautiful male, of which our figure offers a characteristic
likeness, is a very recent importation, having arrived in England in
the month of April of the present year, in the East India Company’s
ship Buckinghamshire, to the commander of which, Captain Glasspool, we
are indebted for the following particulars relative to his birthplace,
capture, early life, and education. He was taken prisoner in company
with two other cubs, supposed to be not more than three weeks old, on
that part of the coast of the peninsula of Malacca which is opposite to
the island of Penang, and is commonly known by the name of the Queda
Coast. In our present imperfect acquaintance with this part of the
farther peninsula of Hindoostan, it affords perhaps but little ground
for surprise that none of these terrible animals should have previously
reached this quarter of the globe from a locality so seldom visited by
European vessels. Their existence in its extensive jungles and marshy
plains has long, however, been notorious; and to judge from the specimen
now before us, which, although barely two years old, already exceeds in
size the full-grown Asiatic Lion which occupies the neighbouring den,
they must in that situation be at least as formidable as their fellows of
the hither peninsula. The dam of this individual had, it appears, made
a nocturnal incursion into one of the towns of the district, from which
she had carried off a large quantity of provisions. She was pursued and
killed, and her three cubs were taken possession of by the conquerors
in token of their victory and brought home in triumph. One of them,
a female, died shortly after; the second, a male, is still living in
the possession of a resident at Penang; and the third, the subject of
the present article, also fell into the hands of a gentleman of that
settlement, in whose paddock he was confined, in company with a pony
and a dog, for upwards of twelve months, without evincing the least
inclination to injure his companions or any one who approached him. By
this gentleman he was presented to Captain Glasspool, who brought him to
England: on the voyage he was remarkably tame, allowing the sailors to
play with him, and appearing to take much pleasure in their caresses.
On being placed in his present den he was rather sulky for a few days;
but seems now to have recovered his good temper, and to be perfectly
reconciled to his situation. The mildness of his temper may probably
be in a great measure due to his having from a very early age been
accustomed to boiled food; raw flesh never having been offered to him
until after his arrival in the Menagerie. This change of food he seems
particularly to enjoy, although he has by no means lost his appetite for
soup, which he devours with much eagerness. Notwithstanding his immature
age, Mr. Cops considers him the largest Tiger that he ever saw.
The other individual at present in the Tower is a Tigress of great beauty
from Bengal, scarcely a twelvemonth old, who also promises to become an
exceedingly fine animal. During her passage from Calcutta she was allowed
to range about the vessel unrestricted, became perfectly familiar with
the sailors, and showed not the slightest symptom of ferocity. On her
arrival, however, in the Thames, the irritation produced by the sight
of strangers completely and instantly changed her temper, rendering her
irascible and dangerous. Her deportment was so sulky and savage that Mr.
Cops could scarcely be prevailed on by her former keeper, who saw her
shortly afterwards, to allow him to enter her den: but no sooner did
she recognise her old friend, than she fawned upon him, licked him, and
caressed him, exhibiting the most extravagant signs of pleasure; and when
he left her she cried and whined for the remainder of the day. To her new
residence and her new keeper she is now perfectly reconciled.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE LEOPARD.
_FELIS LEOPARDUS._ LINN.
The race of this wily and sanguinary animal, which is unsurpassed in all
the terrible characteristics of its tribe, and yields to the tremendous
and ferocious beasts, to the illustration of whose habits and manners our
previous pages have been devoted, in none of their dreaded attributes,
excepting only in size and strength, is spread almost as extensively
over the surface of the Old World as that of the Lion himself. From the
shores of the Mediterranean to the immediate neighbourhood of the Cape
he is familiar to every part of the monster-bearing continent of Africa;
while in the east of Asia his fatal spring and murderous talons are
equally known and dreaded by the mild and timid Hindoos, the polite but
still barbarous Chinese, and the fierce and savage Islanders of the great
Sumatran chain. Throughout this immense tract of country he varies but in
a trifling degree, and that merely in his comparative magnitude, in the
size, shape, and disposition of his markings, and in the greater or less
intensity of his colouring: in the more essential particulars of form and
structure, as well as in character and disposition, he is every where the
same.
It has already been mentioned that the Leopard is smaller than the Tiger;
indeed he seldom exceeds from three to four feet from the tip of the nose
to the root of the tail, which latter is somewhat shorter than the body.
Perhaps the largest authentic measurement is that of an animal, spoken of
under the designation of Panther, but in all probability truly a Leopard,
which was killed by Colonel Denham’s party in the course of that zealous
and successful traveller’s late expedition, and which is stated at eight
feet two inches from the muzzle to the extremity of the tail. This savage
creature, although twice impaled by the lances of his pursuers which
he had snapped asunder in his rage, was still on the point of making a
spring upon the foremost of the party, when a musket ball through the
head completely deprived him of that vitality which his previous wounds,
dangerous and fatal as they undoubtedly were, had not even appeared to
diminish in any sensible degree.
The ground colour of the fur of the Leopard, which is eminently and
beautifully sleek, is a yellowish fawn above, which becomes paler on the
sides, and is entirely lost in the pure white of the under part of the
body. The top of the back, the head, neck, limbs, and under surface of
the body, are irregularly covered with larger or smaller, roundish or
oval, perfectly black spots; while the whole of the sides of the animal
and a portion of his tail are occupied by numerous distinct roses, formed
by the near approach of three or four elongated small black spots,
which surround a central area, about an inch or an inch and a quarter
in breadth, of a somewhat deeper colour than the ground on which it is
placed. There are some black lines on the lips, and bands of the same
colour on the inside of the legs; two or three imperfect black circles,
alternating with white, also occur towards the extremity of the tail,
which is entirely white beneath.
It would be superfluous to enter into any detail of his habits, which
correspond but too well with those of his fellow cats already described,
and are only modified by his want of equal power. This deficiency is,
however, in a great measure supplied by the extreme pliability of his
spine, which gives to his motions a degree of velocity, agility, and
precision combined, that is altogether unequalled by any other quadruped,
and to which the greater lateral compression of his body, the increased
length and more slender proportions of his limbs, and the suppleness of
all his joints must of necessity materially contribute. Equally savage,
equally dastardly, and equally cruel, he closely imitates the manners
of the Lion and the Tiger, on a somewhat reduced, but still formidable,
scale. Antilopes, monkeys, and the smaller quadrupeds constitute his
usual prey, upon which he darts forth from his secret stand, and which
he pertinaciously pursues even upon the trees where they may have taken
refuge, climbing after them with surprising agility. Man he generally
endeavours, if possible, to avoid; but, when hard pressed, he fears not
to make head against the hunter; and it frequently requires the exertion
of no common share of skill and intrepidity in the latter to save
himself from the deadly fangs of the infuriated object of his pursuit.
Occasionally, indeed, the cravings of hunger stimulate the treacherous
animal to attack the unwary woodcutter, or the lone traveller whose path
has led to his secret haunts; but in this case he rarely, if ever, shows
himself openly in the face of day, but watches with insidious glare for
the fatal opportunity of springing upon his wretched victim from behind,
and of annihilating his power of resistance before it could possibly be
exerted in his defence.
In captivity, however, especially if taken while yet young, his character
frequently undergoes a change as favourable as that which takes place
under the same circumstances in the generality of his tribe. The pair at
present in the Tower are male and female; they are both Asiatic, and are
confined in the same den, but they differ very materially in temper and
disposition. The female, which is the older of the two, and has been a
resident in the Menagerie for upwards of four years, is exceedingly tame,
suffering herself to be patted and caressed by the keeper, and licking
his hands. Strangers, however, especially ladies, should be cautious of
approaching her too familiarly, as she has always evinced a particular
predilection for the destruction of umbrellas, parasols, muffs, hats,
and such other articles of dress as may happen to come within her reach,
seizing them with the greatest quickness and tearing them into pieces
almost before the astonished visiter has become aware of the loss. To
so great an extent has she carried this peculiar taste that Mr. Cops
declares that he has no doubt that during her residence in the Tower she
has made prey of at least as many of these articles as there are days in
the year. The agility with which she bounds round her cell, which is of
considerable size, touching at one leap, and almost with the velocity of
thought, each of its four walls, and skimming along the ceiling with the
same rapidity of action, which is scarcely to be followed by the eye,
is truly wonderful, and speaks more forcibly of the muscular power and
flexibility of limb by which such extraordinary motions are executed than
language can express.
The male, on the contrary, although he has been more than twelve months
an inmate of the Tower, is still as sullen and as savage as on the day of
his arrival. Notwithstanding the kind treatment which has been lavished
upon him by the keepers, he yet refuses to become familiarised with them,
and receives all their overtures at a nearer acquaintance with such sulky
and even angry symptoms as plainly evince that it would be dangerous to
tamper with his unreclaimed and unmanageable disposition. He is, as is
usual in all these animals, larger than the female, and much richer and
more beautiful in the style of his marking and depth of his colouring.
The two animals, however, although differing so greatly in temper, agree
together tolerably well, excepting only at meal times, when their usual
harmony is in some measure broken in upon by the jealousy with which they
regard each other’s share of the repast.
Their food consists of about five pounds of beef per day for each: this
the keeper generally tosses up in front of their den, at the distance
of nearly two feet from the bars, and to the height of six or eight
feet from the floor. The animals, who are on the alert for their dinner,
immediately leap towards the bars, and, darting out their paws with
incredible swiftness, almost uniformly succeed in seizing it before it
falls to the ground. If, as it sometimes happens, the meat is thrown
up at too great a distance, so as not to be fairly within reach, they
remain perfectly stationary and make no attempt to spring upon it, but
watch it with anxious avidity, apparently calculating and comparing the
distance of the object and the extent of their own grasp. When they
have, in this way, secured their meal, instead of ravenously falling
to, like the other carnivorous animals in the collection, they stand
growling over it for some minutes, leering upon each other with the most
frightful contortions. This growling attitude of mistrust in feeding was
constantly maintained by the female, even before she had a companion in
her captivity, and when consequently there existed no immediate object
for the excitement of her selfish or envious feelings.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE JAGUAR.
_FELIS ONCA._ LINN.
It can scarcely fail to have been remarked by those who have perused
the preceding pages with moderate attention that the species of cats
described in them, including the largest and most formidable of the whole
genus, are exclusively natives of the Old World, and confined to the hot
and burning climates of Southern Asia and of Africa. A second and more
numerous class, of which, however, no example exists at present in the
Tower Menagerie, and which, consequently, it does not fall within our
province to illustrate, occupy the colder and northern regions of both
hemispheres. These belong principally to the same subdivision with the
Lynx (being, like him, distinguished by the pencils of long hairs which
surmount their ears), and to that which comprehends the domestic cat; and
are all of diminutive size and trifling power when compared with those
monstrous productions of the torrid zone, the Lion, the Tiger, and the
Leopard. The reader is not, however, to imagine that the smaller species
exist only in the vicinity of the pole and in the temperate regions of
the earth: he will find, on the contrary, that many of them are natives
of more southern climes, and commit their petty ravages under as fierce
a sun as that which fires their more dreaded competitors in the career
of rapine and of blood. Of one of these, the true Lynx of antiquity, we
shall have occasion to treat in a subsequent article.
But there is also a third class which springs into existence in the
warmer climates of America, some of whose representatives almost equal
the Tiger in magnitude, in vigour, and in ferocity, while others rival
the Leopard in the beauty and sleekness of their fur, and in the agility
and gracefulness of their motions. Foremost of these, and holding the
highest rank among the most formidable animals of the New World, stands
the Jaguar, or, as he is sometimes called, the American Tiger. Superior
to the Leopard in size as well as in strength, he approaches very nearly
in both respects to the Lionesses of the smaller breeds: he is, however,
less elevated on his legs, and heavier and more clumsy in all his
proportions. His head is larger and rounder than that of the Leopard;
and his tail is considerably shorter in proportion, being only of
sufficient length to allow of its touching the ground when the animal is
standing, while that of the Leopard, as we have before observed, is very
nearly as long as his whole body. This disproportion between the length
of their tails affords perhaps the most striking distinction between
the two animals, offering, as it does, a constant and never-failing
criterion; whereas the difference in the marking of their furs, although
sufficiently obvious on a close examination, depends almost entirely
on such minute particularities as would probably escape the notice of
a superficial observer, and were in fact for a long time so completely
neglected, even by zoologists, that it is only within a few years that
we have been again taught accurately to distinguish between them. These
particularities we shall now proceed to point out.
On the whole upper surface of the body of the Jaguar the fur, which is
short, close, and smooth, is of a bright yellowish fawn; passing on the
throat, belly, and inside of the legs, into a pure white. On this ground
the head, limbs, and under surface are covered with full black spots
of various sizes; and the rest of the body with roses, either entirely
bordered by a black ring or surrounded by several of the smaller black
spots arranged in a circular form. The full spots are generally continued
upon the greater part of the tail, the tip of which is black, and which
is also encircled near its extremity by three or four black rings. So far
there is little to distinguish the marking of the Jaguar from that of
the Leopard; we come now to the differences observable between them. The
spots which occupy the central line of the back in the former are full,
narrow, and elongated; and the roses of the sides and haunches, which are
considerably larger and proportionally less numerous than in the Leopard,
are all or nearly all marked with one or sometimes two black dots or
spots of smaller size towards their centre: an apparently trifling,
but constant and very remarkable distinction, which exists in no other
species. By this peculiarity alone the Jaguar may at once be recognised;
and this external characteristic, together with the extreme shortness
of his tail, his much greater size, his comparatively clumsy form, and
the heaviness of all his motions, not to speak of the peculiarity of
his voice, which has the sharp and harsh sound of an imperfect bark,
are unquestionably fully sufficient to sanction his separation from
a race of animals, from which, however much he may resemble them in
general characters, he differs in so many and such essential particulars.
That this separation has been made more complete by the hand of Nature
herself, who has interposed the wide ocean between him and those of his
fellows with whom alone there is any probability of his being confounded,
is an additional proof, if any confirmation were wanting, of the
soundness of the distinction which has been drawn between them.
It is in the swampy forests of South America that the Jaguar commits
his destructive ravages, which are spread over nearly the whole of
that continent from Paraguay almost to the Isthmus of Darien. It has
frequently been said that he is also to be found in Mexico; but this
appears to be a mistake, originating probably in Buffon’s having
confounded the Jaguar with the Ocelot, describing and figuring the latter
under the name of the former, and intermingling with his description many
of the peculiar traits of the real Jaguar derived from the relations
of travellers. On the other hand he has erroneously figured the latter
animal under the name of the Panther; a mistake in which he has been
followed by Pennant and others, and with which the writings of zoologists
are more or less infected even up to the present day. What the Panther of
the ancients actually was, or whether there exists any real difference
between it and the Leopard, is a much disputed question, into which we
have neither space nor inclination to enter: certain it is that it could
not possibly have been the present animal, which has never been found out
of the limits of America; and that Buffon himself had no idea, while he
was figuring the latter, that the specimen before him was not a native of
Africa or the East. The name of Jaguar is corruptedly derived from the
Brazilian appellation of the animal, to which the Portuguese have given
the name of Onça; another blunder, for the Ounce of the Old World is now
universally allowed to be identical with the Leopard, and with the latter
we have already shown that it is impossible that the American species can
be conjoined.
Like the Cats already described, to whom, however, he is much inferior
in the suppleness and elasticity of his motions, the Jaguar makes
his solitary haunt in the recesses of the forest, especially in the
neighbourhood of large rivers, which he swims with the greatest
dexterity. Of the extent of this faculty, as well as of his extraordinary
strength, some judgment may be formed from a circumstance related by
D’Azara, which fell partly under that traveller’s personal observation;
namely, that a Jaguar, after having attacked and destroyed a horse,
carried the body of his victim for about sixty paces to the bank of a
broad and deep river, over which he swam with his prey, and then dragged
it into the adjoining wood. According to M. Sonnini he is as expert at
climbing as at swimming. “I have seen,” he says, “in the forests of
Guiana, the prints left by the claws of the Jaguar on the smooth bark of
a tree from forty to fifty feet in height, measuring about a foot and a
half in circumference, and clothed with branches near its summit alone.
It was easy to follow with the eye the efforts which the animal had made
to reach the branches: although his talons had been thrust deeply into
the body of the tree, he had met with several slips, but he had always
recovered his ground, and, attracted no doubt by some favourite object of
prey, had at length succeeded in gaining the very top.”
Endowed with such tremendous powers it is no wonder that this formidable
animal is regarded with terror by the inhabitants of the countries which
he infests. He seldom, however, attacks the human race; although he does
not appear to shun it with any peculiar dread. His onset is always made
from behind, and in the same treacherous manner as that of all his tribe;
of a herd of animals or of a band of men passing within his reach, he
uniformly singles out the last as the object of his fatal bound. When he
has made choice of his victim he springs upon its neck, and, placing one
of his paws upon the back of its head while he seizes its muzzle with
the other, twists its head round with a sudden jerk, which dislocates
its spine and deprives it instantaneously of life and motion. His
favourite game appears to be the larger quadrupeds, such as oxen, horses,
sheep, and dogs, whom he attacks indiscriminately and almost always
successfully, when urged by the powerful cravings of his maw. At other
times he is indolent and cowardly, secretes himself in caverns, skulks in
the depths of the forest, and is scared by the most trifling causes.
The Spaniards and even the native Indians appear to take a pleasure in
hunting the Jaguar, whom they attack in various ways. One of the most
common is to chase him with a numerous pack of dogs, who, although they
dare not attack so formidable an opponent, frequently succeed in driving
him to seek refuge on a tree or in a thick copse. Should he trust himself
to the former, he is usually destroyed by the musket or the lance; but
if he has taken covert among the bushes, it is sometimes difficult to
aim at him with precision. In this latter case some of the Indians are
hardy enough to attack him single-handed; a perilous exploit, which,
according to D’Azara, they perform in the following manner. Armed only
with a lance, of five feet in length, they envelope their left arm
in a sheep-skin, by means of which they evade the first onset of the
furious animal, and gain sufficient time to plunge their weapon into his
body before he can turn upon them for a second attack. Another mode of
destroying him is by means of the lasso; but this method can of course
be employed only when the animal roams abroad upon the plains, or can be
driven by the dogs into an open space fit for the purpose. Riding at full
gallop with the lasso coiled up in their hands, these excellent horsemen
will throw the noose with such certainty and precision as infallibly to
secure their formidable enemy at the distance of a hundred paces, and to
place him completely at their mercy.
The Jaguar is generally said to be quite untameable, and to maintain
his savage ferocity even in a state of captivity, showing no symptoms
of attachment to those who have the care of him. This assertion is
amply contradicted by the fact that an individual confined in the Paris
Menagerie, was exceedingly mild in his temper, and particularly fond
of licking the hands of those with whom he was familiar; as was also
remarkably the case with the specimen lately in the Tower, whose portrait
ornaments the present article. This animal was obtained by Lord Exmouth
while on the American station, and accompanied the expedition to Algiers
at the memorable bombardment of that nest of pirates. On his return
to England, his Lordship gave it to the Marchioness of Londonderry,
who soon afterwards presented it to his Majesty, by whose order it was
placed in the Tower; where it continued until a short time since, when it
unfortunately died. Mr. Cops is, however, in expectation of being soon
enabled to replace it. It was exhibited under the name of the Panther, an
appellation which we have before stated that the Jaguar had erroneously
obtained, not only among the furriers, by whom it is universally so
called, but even among scientific zoologists.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE PUMA.
_FELIS CONCOLOR._ LINN.
Nearly approaching to the Jaguar in size and form, but obviously
distinguished from him at the first glance, by the total absence of
spots, the Puma, Couguar, or, as he was once called, the American Lion,
occupies the second place among the cats of the New World, over nearly
the whole of which he was formerly spread, from Canada and the United
States in the North, to the very extremity of Patagonia in the South.
From a large portion of this immense expanse of country he appears,
however, to have been of late years in a great measure, if not entirely,
rooted out; and it is seldom that he is now heard of in the vicinity
of that civilization, which involves, as a necessary consequence,
either the complete extinction, or, at least, the gradual diminution and
dispersion to more secure and sheltered habitations, of all the more
savage and obnoxious beasts. For his title of the American Lion he was,
in a great degree, indebted to an absurd notion on the part of the early
colonists, which was even shared by many naturalists, that he was, in
reality, neither more nor less than a degenerate variety of that far more
noble animal. This opinion has, however, long since given way before
the prevalence of sounder views; and he is now universally recognised
as forming a species clearly distinguishable from every other, by a
combination of characters which it is impossible to mistake.
Almost the only striking point of resemblance between him and the Lion
consists in the uniform sameness of his colour, which on the upper parts
of his body is of a bright silvery fawn, the tawny hairs being terminated
by whitish tips: beneath and on the inside of the limbs he is nearly
white, and more completely so on the throat, chin, and upper lip. The
head has an irregular mixture of black and gray; the outside of the ears,
especially at the base, the sides of the muzzle from which the whiskers
take their origin, and the extremity of the tail, are black. The latter
is not terminated, as in the Lion, by a brush of hair; neither has the
Puma any vestige of a mane. His length from the tip of the nose to the
root of the tail is commonly about four feet, and his tail measures above
half as much more, being just sufficiently long to suffer its extremity
to trail upon the ground. His head is remarkably small and rounded, with
a broad and somewhat obtuse muzzle; and his body is proportionably more
slender and less elevated than that of the Lion. His young, like those
of the latter animal, have a peculiar livery, consisting in spots of a
darker shade than the rest of their fur, scattered over every part of the
body, but only visible in a particular light, and disappearing entirely
at the adult age. There is no difference whatever in colour between the
sexes, the fur of the female being in every respect similar to that of
the male: in size the latter is superior to his mate; and his head, a
part which in the female is disproportionately small, corresponds better
with the general form of his body.
More circumspect, or rather more cowardly, than any of the larger species
of his cautious tribe, he is, notwithstanding his much greater magnitude,
scarcely more dangerous than the common wild cat, preying only upon
the smaller species of animals, seldom venturing to attack any living
creature of greater size or courage than a sheep, and flying from the
face of man with more than usual terror. But this cowardice is also, in a
state of nature, connected with a degree of ferocity, fully equal to that
which is developed in the most savage and blood-thirsty of his fellow
cats. Unlike the Jaguar, which generally contents itself with a single
victim, the Puma, if he should happen to find himself undisturbed in the
midst of a flock of sheep, deserted by their guardians and left entirely
at his mercy, is said never to spare, but to destroy every individual
that he can reach, for the purpose of sucking its blood. He differs also
from the Jaguar in his habit of frequenting the open plain rather than
the forest and the river, in and near which the latter usually takes his
secret and destructive stand. Hence he is more exposed to the pursuit of
the skilful thrower of the lasso, from whom, as his swiftness is by no
means great and his timidity excessive, he rarely escapes.
In captivity the Puma readily becomes tame, and may even be rendered
docile and obedient. His manners closely resemble those of the domestic
cat; like it he is extremely fond of being noticed, raises his back and
stretches his limbs beneath the hand that caresses him, and expresses
his pleasure by the same quiet and complacent purring. They soon become
attached to those with whom they are familiar; and numerous instances
might be mentioned in which they have been suffered to roam almost at
large about the house without any injurious results. One of these is no
doubt familiar to many of our readers, occurring as it did under the
roof of Mr. Kean, the tragedian, who possessed an animal of this species
so tame as to follow him about almost like a dog, and to be frequently
introduced into his drawing-room, when filled with company, at perfect
liberty.
The Puma figured above is a female, about three years old, exceedingly
sleek in her fur and lively in her colours, and equally mild and
good-tempered with any of her race.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE OCELOT.
_FELIS PARDALIS._ LINN.
“Of all the animals with tigrine skins,” says Buffon, “the male Ocelot
has unquestionably the most beautiful and at the same time the most
elegantly variegated robe; that of the Leopard himself does not approach
it in liveliness of colour or regularity of design.” That this estimate
is by no means exaggerated will readily be allowed by all who have
had an opportunity of seeing this truly beautiful creature, which may
unquestionably be regarded as the _beau ideal_ of a cat. Nearly equal
in size to the Lynx of Europe, but shorter in its proportions and more
graceful in its form, it holds, as it were, a middle station between
the Leopard and the domestic cat. Its body, when full grown, is nearly
three feet in length, and its tail rather more than one; while its medium
height may be reckoned at about eighteen inches. The ground colour of
its fur is gray mingled with a slight tinge of fawn; and on this it is
elegantly marked with numerous longitudinal bands, the dorsal one being
continuous and entirely black, and the lateral, to the number of six or
seven on each side, consisting for the most part of a series of elongated
spots with black margins, sometimes completely distinct, and sometimes
running together. The centre of each of these spots offers a deeper tinge
of fawn than the ground colour external to them; and this deeper tinge
is also conspicuous on the upper part of the head and neck, and on the
outside of the limbs, all of which parts are irregularly marked with
full black lines and spots of various sizes. From the top of the head,
between the ears, there pass backwards, towards the shoulders, two, or
more frequently four, uninterrupted diverging bands, which are full black
anteriorly, but generally bifurcate posteriorly and enclose a narrow
fawn-coloured space within a black margin; between these there is a
single longitudinal somewhat interrupted narrow black line, occupying the
centre of the neck above. The ears are short and rounded, and externally
margined with black, surrounding a large central whitish spot. The under
parts of the body are whitish, spotted with black, and the tail, which is
of the same ground colour with the body, is also covered with blackish
spots.
The description above given is chiefly derived from the comparison of
two living specimens, the one existing in the Menagerie of the Tower,
the other in that of the Zoological Society, at their gardens in the
Regent’s Park. There is one circumstance, however, of which it may be
necessary to offer some explanation. We have stated the length of the
tail at more than a foot; and in all the known Ocelots, as well as in
all the species (of which there are several) that approach it in form
and colouring, the proportionate length of the tail is at least equal to
that which we have given as its average measurement. That of the Tower
specimen, however, does not exceed six or seven inches; its extremity is
completely overgrown with hair, and there is no appearance of a cicatrix.
Still its equality throughout, and its abrupt stumpiness, if we may so
express ourselves, induce the belief that this abbreviation of the tail
is purely accidental; and we feel by no means inclined to regard the
specimen before us as belonging to a new species, to be distinguished by
the excessive shortness of that appendage, by the unusually pale colour
of its markings, and by some slight peculiarities in the mode of their
arrangement, which varies indeed in every individual that we have seen.
The animal in question, accurately represented in the portrait which is
prefixed to the present article, was presented by the late Sir Ralph
Woodford, governor of Trinidad, about six months since, under the name
of the Peruvian Tiger; from which denomination we may presume that it
was originally brought from that part of the continent of America. The
species, however, is very widely spread, being found as well in Mexico,
from the language of which country it derives its name, as in Paraguay.
Its habits are similar to those of the other cats, keeping itself close
in the depths of the forests during the day, and prowling abroad at
night in search of victims, which it finds in the smaller quadrupeds
and birds. In the chase of the latter it is particularly successful,
pursuing them even to their nests amid the trees, which it climbs with
the greatest agility. It is easily tamed, but seldom loses all trace
of its natural ferocity. D’Azara, however, speaks of one which was so
completely domiciliated as to be left at perfect liberty; it was strongly
attached to its master, and never attempted to make its escape. The
specimen in the Tower, which is a male, is perfectly good tempered,
exceedingly fond of play, and has, in fact, much of the character and
manners of the domestic cat. Its food consists principally of rabbits and
of birds, the latter of which it plucks with the greatest dexterity, and
always commences its meal with their heads, of which it appears to be
particularly fond. It does not eat with the same ravenous avidity which
characterizes nearly all the animals of his tribe.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE CARACAL.
_FELIS CARACAL._ LINN.
The Caracal, which is unquestionably identical with the Lynx of the
Ancients, but whose original name has been, in modern times, usurped
by an animal of northern origin, utterly unknown to the Greeks, and
distinguished by the Romans by a totally different appellation, is
a native of most of the warmer climates of the Old World, infesting
probably as large an extent of the surface of the earth as the Lion or
the Leopard themselves. Throughout the whole of Africa, from Egypt and
Barbary to the extremity of Caffraria, and in the southern half of Asia,
at least as far eastwards as the Ganges, he follows, as it were, in the
footsteps of those larger and more formidable beasts. So uniformly
indeed has he been met with in the train of the Lion, that many early
writers, determined to find a reason for every thing, laid it down as
a settled fact that the Caracal, equally with the Jackal, although in
a different manner, was the Lion’s purveyor; that he accompanied that
terrible animal in the pursuit of his prey; pointed it out to him by
means of his more delicate nostril and piercing sight; and, when his
royal master had finished his meal, received a portion of the flesh in
reward for his good and loyal service. But the greater part of this
fanciful tale is now known to have had its origin only in the imagination
of men who had caught a glimpse of the real truth, and made up for the
want of accurate observation by the invention of a theory almost as
fabulous as the stories of the ancients, which attributed to the same
animal such wonderful powers of sight as to pierce even through stone
walls. He follows, it is true, in the traces of the Lion; but, far from
associating with him in the pursuit of game, he ventures not, any more
than the other beasts of the forest, to trust himself within reach of his
paw. His object is solely to satiate his appetite upon the remains of the
mangled carcases which the Lion may leave; consequently the latter might
with much greater truth and propriety be regarded as the purveyor of the
Caracal, who depends perhaps more for his subsistence upon the food thus
provided for him, than upon that which he can procure by the exercise of
his own powers or sagacity. He frequently, however, indulges his native
ferocity in petty ravages on the smaller and more timid quadrupeds, such
as hares and rabbits: birds also form a favourite object of his attacks,
and in pursuit of them he mounts the tallest trees with surprising
swiftness and agility. It is even said that his qualifications for the
chase are capable of cultivation; and it has been repeated by travellers,
from the days of the celebrated Marco Polo downwards, that the princes
of the East occasionally make use of his services in taking small game
in nearly the same manner as they employ the subject of the succeeding
article for the larger: but from all that we know of his disposition in a
state of captivity, this statement appears, to say the least, extremely
questionable.
In size the Caracal is somewhat larger than the Fox. The whole of the
upper surface of his body is of a deep and uniform brown, the hairs
being for the most part slightly tipped with gray; the under and inner
parts are nearly white; and the chin and lower lip, and two spots, one
on the inner side of and above the eye, and the other beneath its outer
angle, completely so. The neck and throat are of a lighter and brighter
brown than the rest of the fur. The ears, which are long and upright,
taper gradually to a fine tip, which is surmounted by a pencil of long
black hairs; they are black externally and whitish within. It is to the
striking character afforded by these organs that the animal is indebted
for his modern name of Caracal, corrupted from his Turkish appellation,
which, equally with that by which he is known in Persia, signifies
“black ear.” His whiskers are short, and take their origin from a series
of black lines which occupy the sides of the muzzle; at some distance
behind them, in front of the neck on each side, is a short and thick tuft
of lighter coloured hairs. The tail, which is eight or nine inches in
length, is of the same uniform colour with the body from its base to its
tip.
The specimen in the Tower, from which our engraving was made and our
description taken, is a native of Bengal, a locality from which these
animals have been so rarely brought to Europe, that it has been a
question among naturalists whether the Caracal of India and that of
Africa really belonged to the same species. There is, however, no
difference of any importance observable between the present animal and
those which have been brought from the latter continent. It is extremely
sulky, keeping constantly retired in one of the backward corners of
its cage, and swearing, as we express it in the common cat, almost
incessantly when conscious of being noticed. The Lynxes indeed appear,
at least when in captivity, to exercise this peculiar faculty of voice
to a much greater extent than any other species of the group. They are
remarkably irascible and mistrustful, and are seldom completely tamed.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE CHETAH, OR HUNTING LEOPARD.
_FELIS JUBATA._ SCHREB.
Uniting to the system of dentition, the general habit and many of the
most striking peculiarities of the cats, some of the distinguishing
features and much of the intelligence, the teachableness, and the
fidelity of the dog, the Hunting Leopard forms a sort of connecting
link between two groups of animals, otherwise completely separated, and
exhibiting scarcely any other character in common than the carnivorous
propensities by which both are, in a greater or less degree, actuated
and inspired. Intermediate in size and shape between the leopard and the
hound, he is slenderer in his body, more elevated on his legs, and less
flattened on the fore part of his head than the former, while he is
deficient in the peculiarly graceful and lengthened form, both of head
and body, which characterize the latter. His tail is entirely that of a
cat; and his limbs, although more elongated than in any other species
of that group, seem better fitted for strong muscular exertion than
for active and long-continued speed. From these indications it may be
gathered that he approaches much more nearly to the feline than to the
canine group: we shall therefore follow the example of zoologists in
general, by referring him for the present and provisionally to the genus
Felis, and proceed to point out more particularly the characters by which
he is connected with, as well as those by which he is distinguished from,
the rest of that formidable and extensive tribe.
In the number and form of his teeth, in the asperity of his tongue, in
the conformation of his organs of sense, and in the number of his claws,
he accurately corresponds with the legitimate species of the genus Felis.
The principal character in which he differs from them consists in the
slight degree of retractility of these latter organs. Instead of being
withdrawn within sheaths appropriated for the purpose, as in the whole of
the cats properly so called, the claws of the Hunting Leopard are capable
of only a very limited retraction within the skin, and are consequently
exposed to the action of the ground on which they tread, their points and
edges being thus rendered liable to be blunted by the constant pressure
to which they are subjected, almost to the same extent as in the dogs.
The slightest consideration of the uses to which the claws are applied by
the whole of the feline tribe, in whom they are, in fact, in consequence
of their extreme power and sharpness, organs of offence if possible
more deadly and more destructive than the teeth, will teach us that the
modification which has just been described in so important a part of
their organization, must of necessity be accompanied by a corresponding
change in manners and habits; and that convenience alone, and the want of
analogous structure in any other animal, could justify us in continuing
to class the Chetah among the cats, from whom he differs in so essential
a particular.
In outward form, however, notwithstanding his more slender make, the
difference between them is by no means great. His head, although more
elevated and prominent in front, exhibits the same broad lateral
expansion, caused by the thick mass of muscle which acts so powerfully
upon the short and dilated jaws of the cats, and imparts to them that
tremendous force and effect for which they are so remarkable. His legs,
notwithstanding their increased length and slender proportions, retain
all the elastic springiness, by means of which the Leopard or the
Tiger are enabled to bound with so much vigour and velocity upon their
unsuspecting prey. His air and manners, too, are unquestionably those
of the cats; and his mode of colouring, which we shall next proceed to
describe, although exhibiting very peculiar and marked distinctions,
offers so close an analogy to that of the Jaguar and the Leopard, that,
were we to regard this character alone, it would be impossible to arrange
him in a different group from that which comprehends those beautifully
spotted, but ferocious, beasts. His fur, however, it must be remarked,
has little of the sleekness which characterizes those animals, but
exhibits, on the contrary, a peculiar crispness which is not to be found
in any other of the tribe.
His ground-colour is a bright yellowish fawn above, and nearly pure
white beneath, covered above and on the sides by innumerable closely
approximating spots, from half an inch to an inch in diameter, which are
intensely black, and do not, as in the Leopard and others of the spotted
cats, form roses with a lighter centre, but are full and complete. These
spots, which are wanting on the chest and under part of the body, are
larger on the back than on the head, sides, and limbs, where they are
more closely set: they are also spread along the tail, forming on the
greater part of its extent interrupted rings, which, however, become
continuous as they approach its extremity, the three or four last rings
surrounding it completely. The tip of the tail is white, as is also
the whole of its under surface, with the exception of the rings just
mentioned; it is equally covered with long hair throughout its entire
length, which is more than half that of the body. The outside of the
ears, which are short and rounded, is marked by a broad black spot at the
base, the tip, as also the inside, being whitish. The upper part of his
head is of a deeper tinge; and he has a strongly marked flexuous black
line, of about half an inch in breadth, extending from the inner angle of
the eye to the angle of the mouth. The extremity of the nose is black,
like that of the dog. The mane, from which he derives his scientific
name, is not very remarkable: it consists of a series of longer, crisper,
and more upright hairs, which extend along the back of the neck and the
anterior portion of the spine.
Such are the outward and physical characteristics of this beautiful
animal; in his moral and intellectual qualities he differs still more
widely from that compound of unteachableness, malice, and mistrust, which
is the necessary result of the low degree of intelligence possessed
by the remainder of the group of animals with which he is at present
associated. Of his habits in a state of nature we have no certain
information; but in his tamed and domesticated condition he has been
rendered, in some countries at least, auxiliary to man, by the successful
cultivation of his mental faculties, which have been trained into a
degree of subservience to the commands of his master, that can only
be surpassed by the superior sagacity of the hound. Chardin, Bernier,
Tavernier, and others of the older travellers had related that in several
parts of Asia it was customary to make use of a large spotted cat in the
pursuit of game, and that this animal was called Youze in Persia, and
Chetah in India; but the statements of these writers were so imperfect,
and the descriptions given by them so incomplete, that it was next to
impossible to recognise the particular species intended. We now, however,
know with certainty that the animal thus employed is the Felis jubata of
naturalists, which inhabits the greater part both of Asia and of Africa.
It is common in India and Sumatra, as well as in Persia; and is well
known both in Senegal and at the Cape of Good Hope; but the ingenuity
of the savage natives of the latter countries has not, so far as we
know, been exerted in rendering its services available in the chase in
the manner so successfully practised by the more refined and civilized
inhabitants of Persia and of Hindostan. In Senegal it is valued only on
account of its skin, which forms an important article in the commerce of
that colony; while at the Cape, where it is known to the Dutch settlers
by the misapplied name of Luipard (Leopard), it seems to be entirely
neglected even in a commercial point of view. In the neighbourhood of the
latter colony, it should be added, the animal appears from the testimony
of travellers to be of rare occurrence; and Professor Lichtenstein,
in particular, mentions an instance in which the skin of one was worn
by the chief of a horde of Caffres as a badge of peculiar dignity and
distinction.
But even in the East, where the qualities of the Chetah appear to be
best appreciated, and his faculties to be turned to most account, it
would seem that he is not employed in hunting by all classes of the
people indiscriminately; but, on the contrary, that he is reserved for
the especial amusement and gratification of the nobles and princes of
the land, rather than used for purposes of real and general advantage.
In this respect, and indeed in many others, as will be seen by the
following brief account of the mode in which the chase with the Hunting
Leopard is conducted, it bears a close resemblance to the ancient sport
of hawking, so prevalent throughout Europe in the days of feudal tyranny,
but scarcely practised at the present day except by the more splendid
slaves of Asiatic despotism. The animal or animals, for occasionally
several of them are employed at the same time, are carried to the field
in low chariots, on which they are kept chained and hooded, in order
to deprive them of the power and temptation to anticipate the word of
command by leaping forth before the appointed time. When they are thus
brought within view of a herd of antelopes, which generally consists
of five or six females and a male, they are unchained and their hoods
are removed, their keepers directing their attention to the prey, which,
as they do not hunt by smell, it is necessary that they should have
constantly in sight. When this is done, the wily animal does not at once
start forwards towards the object of his pursuit, but, seemingly aware
that he would have no chance of overtaking an antelope in the fleetness
of the race, in which the latter is beyond measure his superior, winds
cautiously along the ground, concealing himself as much as possible
from sight, and, when he has in this covert manner nearly reached the
unsuspecting herd, breaks forth upon them unawares, and after five or six
tremendous bounds, which he executes with almost incredible velocity,
darts at once upon his terrified victim, strangles him in an instant, and
takes his fill of blood. In the meanwhile the keeper quietly approaches
the scene of slaughter, caresses the successful animal, and throws to
him pieces of meat to amuse him and keep him quiet while he blinds him
with the hood and replaces him upon the chariot, to which he is again
attached by his chain. But if, as is not unfrequently the case, the herd
should have taken the alarm, and the Chetah should prove unsuccessful in
his attack, he never attempts to pursue them, but returns to his master
with a mortified and dejected air, to be again let slip at a fresh quarry
whenever a fit opportunity occurs.
The Chetah has been until of late years very imperfectly known in
Europe. Linnæus was entirely unacquainted with it, and Buffon described
it from the fur alone under the name of Guêpard, the appellation by
which its skin was distinguished in the commerce with Senegal, but
evidently without suspecting its identity with the Asiatic animal, the
trained habits of which, misled probably by the authority of Tavernier,
he erroneously attributed to his imaginary Ounce. Subsequent French
zoologists had rectified this error, and it was generally believed that
the tamed Leopard of Bernier, the Youze, the Guêpard, and Tavernier’s
Ounce, were one and the same animal; but it was not until a year or two
ago that the possession of a living specimen, brought from Senegal, in
the Menagerie of the Jardin du Roi, enabled M. F. Cuvier to ascertain
its characters with precision. The comparison of this African specimen
with the skins sent from India, and with the notes and drawings made in
that country by M. Duvaucel, to whom we are indebted for a vast deal of
interesting information relative to the zoology of the East of Asia, at
once put an end to all doubts of the identity of the two animals.
Several individuals have been brought alive to this country at various
times; but, notwithstanding the opportunities thus afforded, it does not
appear that English naturalists have paid any particular attention to the
study of their character and habits. In all probability the earliest that
arrived in Europe was one which was brought from India by Lord Pigot, and
which was figured by Pennant under the name of the Hunting Leopard. Three
others, found at the capture of Seringapatam among the rest of the state
paraphernalia of the fallen Sultan, came into the possession of General,
afterwards Lord, Harris, who, on his return to England, presented them
to his late Majesty, by whose command they were placed in the Tower.
They did not, however, long survive the effects of the passage and of
the change of climate, which latter has proved equally fatal to the
few specimens which have since been brought to this country for public
exhibition. They appear, indeed, to be exceedingly delicate in their
temperament, and to require considerable attention on the part of their
keeper. The pair now in the Tower, if two individuals of the same sex,
both of them being males, can be called a pair, were purchased by Mr.
Cops a few months since from the captain of a vessel trading to Senegal,
to whom they were brought by some of the natives when only a few weeks
old and no larger than an ordinary cat. They were the constant inmates of
his cabin, and soon became strongly attached to their master, never, as
they grew up, exhibiting the slightest symptom of that savage ferocity
to which all the larger cats are occasionally more or less prone, even
under the most favourable circumstances. Much of this peculiar meekness
of temper, which they still maintain, is doubtless owing to the very
early age at which they were made captive, as well as to the mild and
little stimulating nature of the food to which they have ever since been
accustomed. This consists chiefly of boiled meat and meal; and during the
winter season, in consequence of the delicacy of their habit, they are
supplied with hot mashes, gruel, &c. Their mode of feeding is very like
that of the dog.
In size and stature these beautiful animals considerably exceed any that
have been seen in this country of late years. They are truly, as may be
judged from their portraits, an elegant and graceful pair, having, when
led out into the yard in their couples, very much of the air and manners
of a brace of greyhounds. When noticed or fondled they purr like a cat;
and this is their usual mode of expressing pleasure. If, on the other
hand, they are uneasy, whether that uneasiness arises from cold, from
a craving after food, from a jealous apprehension of being neglected,
or from any other cause, their note consists of a short, uniform, and
repeated mew. They are extremely fond of play, and their manner of
playing very much resembles that of the cat; with this difference,
however, that it never, as in the latter animal, degenerates into
malicious cunning or wanton mischief. Their character, indeed, seems to
be entirely free from that sly and suspicious feeling of mistrust which
is so strikingly visible in the manners and actions of all the cats, and
which renders them so little susceptible of real or lasting attachment.
The Chetahs, on the contrary, speedily become fond of those who are kind
to them, and exhibit their fondness in an open, frank, and confiding
manner. There can, in fact, be little doubt that they might with the
greatest facility be reduced to a state of perfect domestication, and
rendered nearly as familiar and as faithful as the dog himself.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE STRIPED HYÆNA.
_HYÆNA VULGARIS._ DESM.
From the strongly marked group, to the illustration of various species
of which the foregoing pages have been dedicated, we pass by a natural
and easy transition to an animal, which, although closely resembling
them in its zoological characters, and in the cowardly ferocity of
its disposition, bears nevertheless a stronger affinity to the dogs,
with which it was associated by Linnæus. From each of these groups it
is, however, readily distinguished by several obvious and essential
characters, of sufficient importance to sanction its separation as a
genus, now universally adopted among naturalists.
Like both the cats and the dogs, the Hyænas are completely digitigrade;
that is to say, they walk only on the extremities of their toes: but
these toes are only four in number on each of their feet, and are
armed with short, thick, strong, and truncated claws, which are not
in the least retractile, and are evidently formed for digging in the
earth, a practice to which they are impelled by a horrid and hateful
propensity, which we shall have further occasion to notice in describing
their habits and mode of life. Their body, in shape much resembling
that of the wolf, to which they also approach very nearly in size, is
considerably more elevated in front than behind, owing partly to their
constant custom of keeping the posterior legs bent in a crouching and
half recumbent posture. Beneath the tail, which is short and dependent,
they are furnished with a pouch, in the interior of which is secreted
a peculiar matter of a very strong and disagreeable smell. Their head
is large and broad, flattened in front, and terminating in a short,
thick, and obtuse muzzle. Like most carnivorous animals, they are armed
in each jaw with six cutting teeth, and two canine, the latter of which
are of considerable size and strength. The outermost pair of incisors in
the upper jaw are much larger and stronger than the rest, and closely
resemble the canine in form. The number of the molar or cheek teeth
is five on each side in the upper jaw, and four in the lower; and all
of them are remarkable for their extreme thickness and strength in
comparison with those of the dogs and cats. Their tongue is similar to
that of the latter animals in the roughness which it derives from the
sharp and elevated papillæ with which it is covered.
Of the genus thus characterized there exist two well marked and
unquestionably distinct species, the Striped Hyæna, or Hyæna vulgaris
of modern zoologists, which there can be no doubt is also the Hyæna of
the ancients; and the Hyæna crocuta, or Spotted Hyæna, the Tiger Wolf
of the colonists of the Cape of Good Hope. To these may probably be
added a third species, which there is good ground for believing to be
distinct, and which has lately been described by Dr. Andrew Smith, the
superintendant of the South African Museum, under the name of Hyæna
villosa: this is also a native of the vicinity of the Cape, and is
denominated by the settlers the Strand Wolf, or Strand Jut. With the
two latter we have, however, on the present occasion, no concern; the
only animal of this genus in the Tower belonging to the striped race,
which inhabits the greater part of Asia and of Africa, penetrating in
the former as far as India, and extending over all the northern part of
the latter continent. It does not appear that the striped and spotted
races are ever found to occupy the same ground; but the territorial
limits which separate the one from the other have not yet been distinctly
ascertained.
The striped Hyæna has for its ground colour a uniform brownish gray,
which is somewhat darker above than beneath. On the sides of the body it
is marked by several irregular distant transverse blackish stripes or
bands, which are more distinct on the lower part. Towards the shoulders
and haunches these stripes become oblique, and they are continued in
regular transverse lines on the outside of the legs. The front of the
neck is completely black, as are also the muzzle and the outsides of
the ears; the latter being broad, moderately long, and nearly destitute
of hairs, especially on the inside. The hair of the body is long,
particularly on the back of the neck and on the spine, where it forms
a full and thick mane, which may be said to be continued even upon the
tail, the latter organ being furnished with strong tufted hairs of
considerable length. The mane and the tail are both marked with blackish
spots or stripes variously and irregularly placed. Much variety is indeed
to be met with as well in the ground colour of the whole body as in the
disposition of the markings, which are extremely different in different
individuals.
The habits of the Hyænas are entirely nocturnal: while in the daytime
their cowardice is so excessive that they fly from the face of man,
and suffer themselves, when taken, to be ill treated with impunity and
even without attempting to avenge themselves, they prowl abroad in the
stillness of the night with all the temerity of brutal daring. They
will frequently make prey of the lesser animals, and will occasionally
venture to attack dogs and even horses; but it is seldom that they muster
up sufficient courage to contend with living man, unless stimulated by
strong provocation, or impelled by the most violent cravings of hunger.
Congregated in numerous bands they beset the encampment of the traveller,
or infest the neighbourhood of villages or even of towns, which they
enter with the fall of night and do not quit until the dawn of day;
disturbing the inhabitants with their peculiar moaning or wailing, which
is in some measure intermediate between a grunt and a howl. Parading the
streets and penetrating into the houses in search of prey, they eagerly
devour the offal of animals, the refuse of the daily meal, or whatever
else that is in any way eatable may happen to fall in their way.
Nothing, however filthy, comes amiss to their voracious appetites, which
are indeed unbounded. They even break into the cemeteries of the dead,
and tearing open the graves by means of their powerful claws, disinter
the buried corpses, on which they glut that horrid propensity for feeding
on carrion, which is at once the most striking and the most disgusting
of their peculiarities. Their fondness for this polluted species of food
tends of course not a little to increase the natural antipathy with
which they are regarded by the natives of the countries in which they
abound, and renders them objects of peculiar detestation and abhorrence.
The great size and strength of their teeth and the immense power of
their jaws enable them to crush the largest bones with comparative
facility, and account for the avidity with which they prey upon an almost
fleshless skeleton. In the daytime they retire into caves, from which
they issue only when the shades of evening warn them that the hour for
their depredations has arrived. Their gait is awkward and usually slow
and constrained; when scared, however, from their prey, or when pursued
by the hunter, they fly with tolerable swiftness, but still with an
appearance of lameness in their motions, resulting from the constant
bending of their posterior legs.
Notwithstanding the brutal voracity of his habits and the savage
fierceness of his disposition, there is scarcely any animal that
submits with greater facility to the control of man. In captivity,
especially when taken young, a circumstance on which much depends in
the domestication of all wild animals, he is capable of being rendered
exceedingly tame, and even serviceable. In some parts of Southern Africa
the spotted species, which is by nature quite as ferocious in his
temper as the striped inhabitant of the North, has been domiciliated
in the houses of the peasantry, among whom he is preferred to the dog
himself for attachment to his master, for general sagacity, and even, it
is said, for his qualifications for the chase. That the Striped Hyæna
might be rendered equally useful is highly probable from the docility
and attachment which he manifests towards his keepers, especially when
allowed a certain degree of liberty, which he shows no disposition to
abuse. If more closely restricted his savage nature sometimes returns
upon him; and it is for this reason that those which are carried about
the country from fair to fair, pent up in close caravans, frequently
become surly and even dangerous. The individual whose portrait we give
is, on the contrary, remarkably tame; he is a native of the East Indies,
and is confined in the same den with one of the American Bears, as we
shall have occasion to notice more particularly when speaking of the
latter animal.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE HYÆNA-DOG.
_CANIS PICTUS._ DESM.
It is not without much hesitation that we have adopted for this animal
the generic name of Canis, and referred it, in conformity with the
example of most of the leading zoologists of the day, to the same group
with the Wolf, the Jackal, and the Fox; from all of which it differs in
such important particulars as fully entitle it, in our estimation, to the
rank of a distinct and separate genus. To this rank it has, indeed, been
already raised by Mr. Brookes, under the generic appellation of Lycaon;
but as we are not aware that it has been any where described under that
name, or that any detailed account has been given of the characters
on which that separation is founded, we cannot consider ourselves
authorized in a work of this nature to make any innovations upon science,
however much we may feel, as in the present instance, that they are
called for by the exigency of the case. That its position is at least
doubtful is proved by the fact that M. Temminck, one of the ablest of the
continental zoologists, first described it from the living animal under
the designation of a Hyæna, and, having subsequently changed his opinion,
is now disposed to regard it as a species of dog.
For the zoological characters of the latter genus the reader is referred
to the following article: at present we shall confine ourselves to the
description of the remarkable animal before us, pointing out, as we
proceed, the marks by which it differs from both the groups to which
it has hitherto been referred, and those by which it is assimilated to
either the one or the other. In the shape and elevation of its body
it is at first sight distinguished from them both, its legs being
considerably longer in relation to its size, and the trunk of its body,
as will be seen by the portrait prefixed, being very different in form
and proportions. It is entirely destitute of the mane of the Hyæna, and
its tail is very similar to that of certain dogs; but, on the other hand,
its head approximates very closely, or rather bears a most striking
resemblance, to the broad and flattened forehead, and the short and
truncated muzzle, which characterize the former genus. It is this latter
circumstance no doubt that has induced many naturalists, both popular and
scientific, to identify the Wild Dog, as he is called by the settlers at
the Cape, with a group of animals from which in every other particular
of outward structure, excepting one, it is remarkably and obviously
distinct. The only other point of agreement between them consists in
the number of its toes, which, like those of the Hyæna, are only four
to each foot. This peculiarity, combined with the form of the head,
unquestionably affords some ground for placing these animals in close
apposition; but is by no means so important, in the absence of other and
more essential characteristics, as to warrant their union into a single
group. Taken together, however, and in connexion with other features of
distinction, these characters may fairly be regarded as sufficiently
striking to sanction the separation of the animal now under consideration
from the dogs. With the latter it corresponds most completely in the
number and form of its teeth, and in the general structure of its
skeleton, which differs remarkably from that of the Hyæna.
In size and form it is smaller and more slender than either the Hyæna or
the Wolf. Its ground colour is of a reddish or yellowish brown, which is
variously mottled in large patches along the sides of the body and on the
legs, with black and white intermingled together. Its nose and muzzle are
completely black, and it has a strong black line passing from them up the
centre of the forehead to between the ears, which are very large, black
both within and without, and furnished with a broad and expanded tuft
of long whitish hairs arising from their anterior margin and filling up
a considerable part of their concavity. There is a lighter patch on the
muzzle beneath each of the eyes. The tail is of moderate length, covered
with long bushy hair, and divided in the middle by a ring of black, below
which or towards the extremity it is nearly white, as are also the fore
parts of the legs below the joint. These colours and markings are subject
to variation in different individuals; but in their general disposition
and appearance they constantly exhibit the greatest similarity.
The Hyæna-Dog, if this compound term may be allowed, is a native of
the South of Africa, and infests the frontier settlements at no great
distance from the Cape to a very extensive and troublesome degree. Mr.
Burchell, to whom we are indebted for the earliest specimen brought
to this country, as well as for first pointing out its distinctive
characters, informs us that it hunts in regular packs, preferring the
night, but frequently pursuing its prey even by day. It is not only
exceedingly fierce, but also remarkably swift and active, insomuch that
none but the fleeter animals can escape from its pursuit. Sheep, oxen,
and horses appear to be its favourite game: on the former it makes its
onset openly and without fear, but of the latter it seems to stand
in awe, and attacks them only by stealth, frequently surprising them
in their sleep, biting off the tails of the oxen, for which it has a
particular fancy, and inflicting such serious injuries upon the horses,
especially the young colts, as they rarely survive.
The individual brought home by Mr. Burchell was kept by that gentleman
chained up in his stable-yard for more than a year; at the expiration
of which its ferocity continued unabated; the man who fed it being so
fearful of it that he “dared never to venture his hand upon it.” It is
nevertheless highly probable that with a somewhat firmer and bolder
treatment it might have been in some degree tamed, if not domesticated;
for it is stated that it at length became familiar with a dog, which
was its constant companion. That which is at present in the Tower was
brought to England in company with the youngest of the Cape Lions. They
agreed together extremely well; but as the Lion increased in size his
play became too rough for his comparatively feeble companion, who was
borne to the earth in a moment by the superior weight and strength of
his antagonist. Mr. Cops therefore found it necessary to consign them to
separate dens. Other companions for the Hyæna-Dog have, however, very
recently been obtained, an interesting addition having been made to the
stock of the Menagerie by the acquisition of a couple of Spotted Hyænas;
a brief notice of which we subjoin, as well as their portraits by way
of tail-piece, they having arrived during the progress of the present
sheet through the press, and consequently too late for insertion in their
proper place.
In size the SPOTTED HYÆNA, the Hyæna Crocuta of naturalists, is somewhat
inferior to the striped. Its muzzle, although short, is not so abruptly
truncated; and its ears, which are short and broad, assume a nearly
quadrilateral figure. Its ground colour is yellowish brown; and the whole
body is covered with numerous spots of a deeper brown, tolerably uniform
in size, but sometimes not very distinctly marked, and occasionally
arranging themselves in longitudinal rows. Its hair is shorter than that
of the Striped Hyæna, and although longer on the neck and in the central
line of the back than elsewhere, does not form so distinct and well
furnished a mane as in the latter animal. The tail is blackish brown, and
covered with long bushy hair.
This species appears to be peculiar to Southern Africa. In its wild state
it is equally ferocious in its temper and disgusting in its habits with
the common species of the North; but it has been found, as we have before
mentioned, to be capable of domestication, and of rendering services
to man equal to those which he derives from the dog. The pair which
have just arrived in the Tower have been placed by Mr. Cops in one den
with the Striped Hyæna and with the Hyæna-Dog; and this juxta-position
affords an excellent opportunity for a comparison of their characters
and disposition. They agree together tolerably well; but the new-comers
are hardly as yet reconciled to their abode, and consequently appear
shy and reserved. The Hyæna-Dog is the most lively of the group; and
his playfulness appears occasionally to give no little annoyance to the
Striped Hyæna, who generally returns his solicitations with a surly
snarl, but does not seem disposed to resent them farther.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE AFRICAN BLOODHOUND.
_CANIS DOMESTICUS._ LINN. VAR.
The generic characters of this well known group, comprehending not
only the various races of the Dog, the Wolf, and the Jackal, but also
the numerous species of Foxes, which differ from the rest only in the
form of the pupils of their eyes (which are round in the former, and
transversely linear in the latter) may be shortly enumerated as follows.
They are all furnished in the upper jaw with six sharp incisors and two
canine teeth in front, and with six molars on each side; the same number
of each description is also to be found in the lower, with the addition
of a seventh grinder. Their tongue is perfectly smooth, the papillæ
which cover it being soft and velvety to the touch, instead of rough
and pointed as in the Hyænas and Cats. They have five toes to each of
the fore feet, of which only the four outermost touch the ground, the
fifth being always more or less elevated. On the hind feet the number of
the toes is no more than four, for although the rudiment of a fifth is
distinctly visible in the skeleton, it is rarely observable in the living
animal. On these toes they constantly support themselves in walking, the
soles of their feet, or rather that part of the legs which corresponds
to the soles of plantigrade animals, never being applied to the surface
of the ground on which they tread. Their claws are blunt, strong, but
little curved, and not at all retractile; and their use is evidently
limited to turning up the earth. Their muzzle is more or less elongated
to afford space for the ample series of lateral teeth; and the strength
of their jaws, as well as the extent of opening between them, is by
this means much diminished. In most of these particulars they exhibit
a striking contrast with the more perfect of the carnivorous races,
and afford grounds for expecting an equally manifest falling off from
their ferocious and sanguinary propensities. The dogs are in fact by no
means equally carnivorous with the cats; and their teeth, especially the
grinders, are fitted as well for the demolition of vegetable as of animal
substances.
In a wild state, however, they subsist themselves principally by preying
upon the inferior animals, feeding with nearly equal relish upon the warm
and palpitating fibres of a fresh and almost living victim, and upon the
mangled carcass which taints the air with its unsavoury exhalations.
Their habitation is in the depths of the forest, where the larger
species form themselves dens in the close and thick underwood, while
the smaller burrow in the earth for shelter. Their lengthened muzzle
and the great extent to which all the cavities connected with the nose
are dilated, are admirably fitted for giving to the organ of smell the
fullest developement of which it is capable. It is the perfection of this
organ, combined with the general lightness and muscularity of their frame
and the firm agility of their elongated limbs, which renders many of the
species such excellent hunters, by enabling them to scent their prey at
an immense and sometimes almost incredible distance, and to run it down
in the chase with indefatigable swiftness and unrelaxing pertinacity.
The very terms of the specific character by which Linnæus attempted
to distinguish the domesticated from the other dogs, “the tail curved
upwards (towards the left),” may be regarded as affording in themselves
a sufficient proof of the difficulty of the task, when so great a
naturalist, after taking a complete review of all the particulars of
their organization, was compelled to rest contented with a distinction
drawn from so trifling and apparently insignificant a remark. It would
in fact appear to be absolutely impossible to offer in any form of words
whatever a character sufficiently comprehensive to combine the almost
infinite varieties of this Protean race, and at the same time to separate
them from those other races from which they are generally believed to be
specifically distinct. To this observation of Linnæus almost the sole
addition that has been made by later zoologists consists in a remark of
M. Desmarest, that whenever a spot of white is found upon any part of
the tail of a domestic dog, the tip of that very variable organ is also
constantly white; so that we are still driven to recur to the tail alone
for the only uniform physical characteristics that have been pointed out
to distinguish an animal, which every one recognises at first sight, and
which indeed it is impossible to mistake.
But it is to the moral and intellectual faculties of the Dog that we
must look for those remarkable peculiarities which distinguish him in so
eminent a degree not only from his immediate neighbours, but also from
every other quadruped. Unfortunately we have not the means of comparing
him in a pure state of nature with the other animals of his tribe; for
although it has been repeatedly attempted to determine his primitive
stock, there can be no doubt that upon this point we are still as much as
ever in the dark. There exist, however, in various parts of the world,
considerable numbers of Dogs, the descendants unquestionably of races
formerly domesticated, which, to all appearance, differ but little in
their habits and manners from the Wolf and the Jackal, to one or other
of which they frequently approach in form, and from each of which it
has been confidently asserted that the domestic species was primarily
derived. But the doubts to which this striking similarity might otherwise
give rise are instantly removed by the readiness with which these wild
Dogs submit to the control of man, and become familiarized with that
state of servitude to which nature appears to have destined them from
the first. Other animals may indeed be tamed; they may become playful,
familiar, and even affectionate; but none of them have hitherto been
taught, even by long-continued training, to exhibit qualities of mind
in any degree comparable to the absolute subserviency, the undeviating
attachment, the submissive docility, and the acute intelligence, which
these invaluable animals almost spontaneously manifest, when placed in
circumstances favourable to their developement.
So much has been written by authors of every description, from the
earliest ages down to the present time, upon every point connected with
their history and habits, and the space which we could devote to their
illustration in the present volume is so small, that we choose rather
not to enter at all upon the subject than to treat of it in the very
abrupt and imperfect manner to which we should necessarily be restricted.
It only remains therefore to add a few observations relative to the
extremely beautiful leash of hounds which are figured at the head of the
present article, before passing to the consideration of the remaining
species of the group which are at present contained in the Menagerie.
These are two males and one female, belonging to the most elegant as
well as the most intelligent variety of the species, that to which
Linnæus, on account of the high degree to which the latter quality was
carried in them, gave _par excellence_ the epithet of _sagax_. They
were presented by Major, now Colonel Denham, on his return from the
most successful expedition that has perhaps ever been made into the
evil-omened regions of Central Africa, from whence they were brought by
that gallant traveller, who also gave Mr. Cops the following account of
their qualifications for the chase. He had repeatedly, he said, made use
of them in hunting the Gazelle, in their pursuit of which he had observed
that they displayed more cunning and sagacity than any dogs with which
he was acquainted, frequently quitting the line of scent for the purpose
of cutting off a double, and recovering it again with the greatest
facility. They would follow a scent after an hour and a half or even
two hours had elapsed; and the breed was therefore commonly employed in
Africa for the purpose of tracing a flying enemy to his retreat. They are
in fact, both for symmetry and action, perfect models; and there are few
sportsmen who will not regret that there appears no chance of crossing
our own pointers with this interesting breed. A mixed race, combining the
qualifications of both, would unquestionably be one of the most valuable
acquisitions to our sporting stock; but, unhappily, this union seems to
be altogether hopeless; for although they have now been more than three
years in England, and are in excellent health and condition, they appear,
like many other animals restrained of their liberty and kept constantly
together, to have no disposition to perpetuate their race. The males are
remarkably good tempered; the female on the contrary is surly and ill
natured.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE WOLF.
_CANIS LUPUS._ LINN.
This sullen and forbidding-looking animal, the most ravenous and
ferocious that infests the more temperate regions of the earth, of many
parts of which he is the terror and the scourge, is distinguished from
the humble, generous, and faithful friend of man, the domestic dog, by
no very remarkable or striking character; and yet there is something
in his physiognomy, gait, and habit, which is at once so peculiar and
so repulsive, that it would be almost impossible to confound a Wolf,
however tame, with the most savage and the most wolflike of dogs. For the
separation of the two species, Linnæus, as we have seen in the preceding
article, had recourse to the tail; and having determined that that of
the dog was uniformly curved upwards, he attributed to that of the Wolf
a completely opposite direction, that is to say, a curvature inwards;
assigning, at the same time, a straight or a deflected position to those
of all the other animals of the group. The deflected, or down-pointing,
direction is, however, equally common in the Wolf with the incurved;
and this petty distinction, which has little to do with structure, and
still less with habits, is hardly deserving of serious attention. More
obvious and more essential differences will be found in the cast of his
countenance, which derives a peculiar expression from the obliquity
of his eyes; in the breadth of his head, suddenly contracting into a
slender and pointed muzzle; in the size and power of his teeth, which
are comparatively greater than those of any dog of equal stature; in the
stiffness and want of pliability of his limbs; in his uniformly straight
and pointed ears; and in a black stripe which almost constantly, and in
nearly every variety of the species, occupies the front of the fore leg
of the adult. His fur, which differs considerably in texture and colour,
from the influence of climate and of seasons, is commonly of a grayish
yellow, the shades of which are variously intermingled; as he advances in
age it becomes lighter, and in high northern latitudes frequently turns
completely white, a change which also takes place in many other animals
inhabiting the polar regions.
Entirely dependent upon rapine for his subsistence, the nose of the Wolf
is fully equal to that of the sharpest-scented hound. The size and speed
of the elk and of the stag are insufficient to protect them from his
violence; he pursues them with equal swiftness and cunning, and, when he
has succeeded in running them down, finds little difficulty in rendering
them his prey. To effect this purpose with the greater certainty he
frequently unites himself with a numerous train of his fellows, who are
however bound together by no other tie than the common object of their
pursuit; and when this is once attained immediately separate and proceed
each to his own retreat, whence they again emerge to reunite in the
common cause whenever the necessary stimulus is supplied. In inhabited
countries he seldom ventures to show himself openly or in packs, but
sleeps away the greater part of the day in the shelter of the forest,
and only prowls abroad by night when impelled by the cravings of his
appetite. The sheep-cote and the farm-yard become then the scenes of his
ravages; and such is his ingenuity, and so great the rapidity of his
motions, that he will frequently carry off his prey almost before the
eyes of the shepherd, although the warning voice of the watchful dog had
given timely notice of the approach of the marauder. His ferocity is
sometimes carried to such a pitch that he becomes dangerous to man; and
when hard pressed by famine, to which in spite of all his skill in the
chase and his sagacity in the pursuit of meaner rapine he is by no means
a stranger, he will fall at unawares upon the solitary and unprotected
traveller, or, prowling about the habitation of the villager, carry off
from it his unsuspecting and defenceless children.
Happily for England this formidable beast has long been extirpated from
its woods; but the comparative extent of his domain has been thereby but
little reduced. It may be roughly stated as comprehending the whole
northern hemisphere, of which only very small portions are exempted from
his ravages. He is easily tamed when young, and may even (according to
M. F. Cuvier, who has published a history of a domesticated individual
bordering in many particulars very closely on the marvellous, but of the
truth of which the well known character of that scientific naturalist is
a sufficient guarantee) be rendered susceptible of the highest degree
of attachment to his master, whom he will remember after prolonged and
repeated absence, and caress with all the familiar fondness of a dog.
Such traits as this are, however, to say the least, very uncommon; and
he is, even in captivity, generally speaking, ill tempered and morose.
The old male, the father of the litter now in the Tower, was extremely
savage; the female, on the contrary, is very tame, and, which is more
remarkable, continued so even during the period of suckling her young,
which were five in number. Neither before, at, nor after this period did
her temper undergo any change: she suffered her keepers to handle her
cubs, of which she was excessively fond, and even to remove them from the
den, without evincing the smallest symptom either of anger or alarm.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE CLOUDED BLACK WOLF.
_CANIS NUBILUS._ SAY.
To distinguish between the numerous races of Wolves which are scattered
more or less abundantly over nearly the entire surface of the earth;
to determine that such and such variations are the result of original
formation, and that such and such others are merely the product of
accidental circumstances; in other words, to establish clear and
tangible grounds of specific distinction between animals so varied in
external appearance, but corresponding so perfectly in every essential
particular, while the shades of character by which they differ, although
in many cases strikingly marked, are for the most part so unimportant,
or so little permanent, as scarcely to be deserving of notice,--is
unquestionably one of the most difficult problems, to the solution of
which the zoologist has to apply himself.
In internal and anatomical structure, on which modern naturalists are
agreed that the greatest reliance ought to be placed in the distinction
of closely approximating species, there is in the various races of
Wolves no deviation from the common type of sufficient importance to
warrant their separation from each other; neither does their outward
form, excepting only in size and in the comparative measurement of
parts, differ in any remarkable degree. In colour it is true that the
most striking variations are observable, their hair exhibiting almost
every intermediate shade between the opposite extremes of black and
white. But it must be obvious that on this character, taken by itself,
it would be absurd to insist as a ground of specific distinction, when
we reflect on the influence which climate and other external accidents
must necessarily exercise on animals so extensively dispersed, and so
variously circumstanced.
There are, however, strong grounds for believing that the fine pair of
animals, whose portraits are prefixed to the present article, exhibit
real and substantial marks of distinction of sufficient value to sanction
their separation from the other species. Considerably larger and more
robust than the Common Wolf, and differing greatly in the expression
of their physiognomy, neither in figure nor in countenance are they
remarkable for that starved and gaunt appearance which is the common
and well known attribute of the latter. In fact, they have altogether
a more fierce and formidable, but at the same time a more noble and
less sinister, aspect. Their hair, which is of considerable length,
especially along the middle of the back and shoulders, where it forms a
sort of indistinct and scattered mane, is mottled with various shades
of black, gray, and white, giving to the whole animal that dark and
clouded colour which constitutes one of its most peculiar and striking
characteristics. The colouring, which, on the upper parts of the body,
is deep black, becomes somewhat lighter on the sides, and assumes a yet
lighter shade beneath: the chin and angles of the mouth are nearly white;
the gray tinge predominating over the darker shades in various other
parts, but by no means in so regular a manner as to merit a particular
description. The ears are remarkably short; and the tail is also somewhat
shorter in proportion than that of the common wolf, not reaching, in its
solid form, beneath the posterior bend (which in all these animals is
formed by the heel) of the hind legs.
The animals at present in the Tower, the only individuals of this
species that have been brought alive to Europe, were presented about
four years since by the Hudson’s Bay Company, by some of whose hunters
they had been trapped in the northern regions of America. A fine skin
of the same species was brought home by the late overland expedition to
those countries, under the command of Captain Franklin, and presented
to the Museum of the Zoological Society. There is also another instance
of its occurrence recorded in the capture of a solitary specimen, in
the Missouri territory, by the party engaged in Major Long’s expedition
from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains. This specimen was accurately
described, in the notes to the published narrative of that expedition, by
Mr. Say, who at once recognised it as a distinct species, and affixed to
it the scientific name which we have adopted without hesitation for these
animals, with the most striking peculiarities of which his description
coincides in every essential particular.
Their habits in a state of nature are, in all probability, perfectly
similar to those which characterize their immediate neighbours, from
which, in captivity, they differ in no remarkable degree. Like the common
kind, they are exceedingly voracious, tearing their meat and swallowing
it in large gobbets, and afterwards gnawing the bones (for which they
frequently quarrel) with truly wolvish avidity. Although they have been
so long confined, they retain their original ferocity undiminished: a
circumstance, it may be mentioned by the way, which has prevented us
from giving their measurement. Judging, however, from the eye, we may
confidently venture to assert that their size, especially that of the
male, is considerably superior to that of the specimen described by Mr.
Say, which measured about four feet and a quarter from the tip of the
nose to the origin of the tail.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE JACKAL.
_CANIS AUREUS._ LINN.
The Jackal, one of the greatest pests of the countries which he inhabits,
is spread over nearly the whole of Asia and the north of Africa,
occupying in the warmer regions of those continents the place of the
Wolf, of whom in many particulars he may be considered as offering a
miniature resemblance. In size he is about equal to the common fox, but
he differs from that equally troublesome animal in the form of the pupils
of his eyes, which correspond with those of the dog and of the wolf, in
the comparative shortness of his legs and muzzle, in his less tufted and
bushy tail, and in the peculiar marking of his coat. The colouring of
his back and sides consists of a mixture of gray and black, which is
abruptly and strikingly distinguished from the deep and uniform tawny of
his shoulders, haunches, and legs: his head is nearly of the same mixed
shade with the upper surface of his body, as is also the greater part of
his tail, which latter, however, becomes black towards its extremity;
his neck and throat are whitish, and the under surface of his body is
distinguished by a paler hue.
Unlike the wolf or the fox, he always associates himself with his species
in numerous troops, which burrow together in the earth, hunt in concert,
and act in conjunction for their mutual defence. These bands not only
prey upon the smaller quadrupeds and domestic poultry, but, emboldened
by their numbers, give chase to and attack the larger animals. They
frequently follow in the train of more noble beasts, and make their meal
off the remains of the carcases which have been half devoured by the Lion
or the Tiger. When taken they become almost immediately tame and docile;
offering no resistance and evincing no signs of ferocity. The specimen in
the Tower is remarkably quiet; it is a male, and has been a resident for
upwards of three years.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE CIVET, OR MUSK CAT.
_VIVERRA CIVETTA._ LINN.
The group of animals to which we have next to turn our attention is
perhaps the most puzzling, and certainly the least understood, among
the true Carnivora; hence there exists no little difficulty in defining
its limits and distinguishing the species which compose it. Under the
generic name of Viverra, Linnæus comprehended a series, or, to speak
more properly, a congeries, of quadrupeds, differing from each other
so remarkably in form, in structure, and in habits, as to render
it absolutely impossible to find characters by which they might be
circumscribed and isolated from their fellows. His definition of the
genus therefore, although purposely expressed in terms the most vague
and indistinct, neither excludes such animals as from their obvious
affinities he could not refrain from referring to other groups, nor
includes full one half of the species which he has arranged beneath
it. The Ichneumon of the Nile, the Suricate of the Cape, the Coati
of South America, the Stinking Weasels of the North, the Civet of
Barbary, the Genette of the East, the Ratel of South Africa, and others
equally distant in affinity, were sweepingly compelled into this
ample receptacle, which was converted into a genuine “refuge for the
houseless,” in which every carnivorous quadruped, known, unknown, or
imperfectly known, that appeared to be without a place elsewhere, was
charitably afforded a temporary asylum.
In this arrangement, which brought animals truly digitigrade, with
retractile claws, tongues covered with sharp papillæ, canine teeth of
great power, and molars formed for tearing flesh, consequently in a
high degree sanguinary and carnivorous in their habits, into close and
intimate contact with others, which are positively plantigrade, with
exserted claws, smooth tongues, and teeth of little power and evidently
incapable of lacerating animal food, and which are therefore in all cases
more or less, and in several instances wholly, vegetable eaters, it
was impossible for naturalists long to coincide. The genus thus formed
presented so heterogeneous a combination, that the difficulty was rather
where to stop in the dispersion of the dissimilar materials of which it
was composed, than where to commence the necessary operation; and in
consequence nearly a dozen genera, not hanging together in one continued
series, but scattered through various parts of the system, and most of
them essentially distinct, have been the result of the dismemberment of
this single group.
The true Civets, to which the genus Viverra is now restricted, yield in
the extent of their carnivorous propensities to the cats alone, whom they
approach very closely in many points of their zoological character, as
well as in their predatory, sanguinary, and nocturnal habits. In addition
to the six incisors and two canines, which are common to the whole of the
true Carnivora, they have on each side and in each jaw six molars, one
of which is peculiarly adapted for lacerating flesh, while the rest are
more or less of the ordinary form. Their tongues are furnished with the
same elevated and pointed papillæ which give so remarkable an asperity
to those of the cats; and their claws are half retractile. The toes are
five in number on each of the feet, and their extremities alone are
applied to the ground in walking; the animals are consequently completely
digitigrade. But the most distinctive character of the group consists in
an opening near the tail, leading into a double cavity of considerable
size, furnished with glands and follicles for the secretion of the
peculiar odoriferous substance so well known as the produce of the Civet,
and from which the animal derives his name.
The present species is from two to three feet in length, exclusive of the
tail, which is nearly half as much more; and stands from ten to twelve
inches high. His body, which is more elongated in its form than that of
any of the animals hitherto described, is covered with long hair, the
ground colour of which is of a brownish gray intermingled with numerous
transverse interrupted bands or irregular spots of black. A series of
longer hairs of the latter colour occupy the middle line of the back,
from between the shoulders to the extremity of the tail, and form a
kind of mane, which may be raised or depressed at pleasure. The legs and
greater part of the tail are perfectly black, and the upper lip and sides
of the neck nearly white. A large patch of black surrounds each eye, and
passes from it to the angle of the mouth; and two or three other bands
of the same colour pass obliquely from the base of the ears towards the
shoulder and neck, the latter of which is marked by a broad black patch.
In his natural habits the Civet closely resembles the fox and the less
powerful species of cats, subsisting by rapine, and attacking the birds
and smaller quadrupeds, which form his principal food, rather by night
and by surprise than by open force and in the face of day: reduced to a
state of captivity, he becomes moderately tame, but not sufficiently so
to allow himself to be handled with impunity. In many parts of Northern
Africa large numbers of them are kept for the purpose of obtaining their
perfume, which bears a high price and is much esteemed. The individual
sketched above is a male of large size, and remarkable for never having
deposited any of the perfume, although for more than twelve months an
inhabitant of the Menagerie.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE JAVANESE CIVET.
_VIVERRA RASSE._ HORSF.
The present species is remarkably distinct from the preceding both in
form and colour. Its ground is of a much lighter gray, on which it offers
a broad longitudinal dorsal line of black, and two or three narrower ones
of the same colour on each side, composed of confluent spots. These spots
are also thickly but somewhat irregularly scattered over the rest of the
body, and may be considered as forming a series of flexuous dotted lines.
The legs are black externally; and the head is grayish and without spots.
A deep longitudinal black line occupies the side of the neck above, and a
second more oblique is placed below. The body, which is from fifteen to
eighteen inches in length, is narrow and compressed, and more elevated
behind than before; the back is strongly arched. The line of the profile
is perfectly straight, the muzzle narrow and tapering, and the ears
short and rounded. The tail is of equal length with the body, and tapers
gradually to the tip; it is marked with eight or nine broad rings of
black, alternating with an equal number of grayish.
Like the other animals of its group, its habits are predatory; in
confinement it retains much of its original ferocity, and is extremely
spiteful and savage. The two individuals from which our figure was taken
have inhabited the Menagerie for nearly twelve months; they are both
males, and occupy different dens. They are fed, like the preceding, and
indeed like all the carnivorous quadrupeds which it remains to mention,
on a mixture of vegetable and animal food; and deposit large quantities
of civet, which strongly impregnates the air of the apartment in which
they are kept. This perfume is highly esteemed by the Javanese, who
apply it not only to their dresses, but also to their persons. Even the
apartments and furniture of the natives of rank are generally scented
with it to such a degree as to be offensive to Europeans.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE GRAY ICHNEUMON.
_ICHNEUMON GRISEUS._ GEOFF.
From the Civets, to which it closely approaches in the number and in some
degree also in the form of its teeth, in the asperity of its tongue, and
in the semi-retractility of its claws, the group of which the Egyptian
Ichneumon forms the type is distinguished by its narrower and more
pointed muzzle, by the shortness of its lower lip, and more especially by
the absence of the double cavity beneath the tail, which is replaced by
a single pouch of considerable size, but destitute of secreting glands.
Their hair is long, crisp, brittle, and always more or less variegated in
colour, in consequence of each separate hair being marked by alternate
rings of different shades.
The colour of the species now before us, which is a native of India,
is a pale gray, the hairs being for the most part of a dirty yellowish
white, relieved towards their extremities by narrow rings of brown. The
head and limbs are darker than the rest of the body.
The habits of the Ichneumons are very similar to those of the ferret.
In the localities where they abound, their sanguinary disposition and
predatory inclinations render them a real pest to the farm-yard, to
which they pay their nocturnal visits for the purpose of destroying
the poultry. They also make war upon rats, birds, and reptiles, and
devour the eggs of the latter with the greatest avidity. Endowed with a
remarkable degree of courage in proportion to their size, they do not
hesitate to attack any animal that is not obviously more than a match for
them. Even in captivity they retain much of their native spirit; and so
great is their activity and determination that the individual now in the
Tower actually on one occasion killed no fewer than a dozen full grown
rats, which were loosed to it in a room sixteen feet square, in less than
a minute and a half. They are very easily tamed, become attached to those
with whom they are familiar and to the house in which they live, and will
follow their master about almost like a dog.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE PARADOXURUS.
_PARADOXURUS TYPUS._ F. CUV.
Although the division of the true Carnivora into digitigrade and
plantigrade is in many respects objectionable, we feel compelled, in
conformity with established rules, to remove the animal before us from
its most obvious affinities, to arrange it among the latter; placing
it, however, at the commencement of that division and nearly in contact
with the viverrine groups, to which it is so intimately allied, as to
have been actually confounded by Buffon with the common Genette; a
mistake, which was first clearly pointed out by M. F. Cuvier, but which
has obtained so generally among naturalists, that the Paradoxurus is
still commonly exhibited under that erroneous name. From the Genettes
and Civets it differs little in its general form and habits; its teeth
are nearly similar; and its toes and nails closely correspond in number
and in their degree of retractility. But it is entirely destitute of the
secretory pouch; and, in addition to its plantigrade walk, it exhibits a
very peculiar structure in the tail. This organ is as long as the body,
and flattened above and below; when extended, the further half is turned
over so as to place its lower side uppermost, and the animal has it in
its power to roll it up into a spire, commencing from above downwards, to
the very base.
The colour of the species varies in different lights: in general it may
be described as grayish black, with a tinge of yellow. On this ground it
is marked with one broad dorsal, and on each side two or three narrower,
indistinct black lines. The under jaw, the legs, and the greater part of
the tail are entirely black; and there is a whitish spot above and under
each of its eyes.
India and the larger Asiatic Islands appear to be its native country; but
nothing certain is known of its habits in a state of nature: in captivity
it is sullen and irascible, and evinces no affection for its keeper,
appearing in fact totally insensible to the attentions which it receives.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE BROWN COATI.
_NASUA NARICA._ F. CUV.
The characters of the genus to which this curious little animal belongs
resemble so closely in the most important particulars those of the other
plantigrade Carnivora, that it will here be sufficient to explain those
points alone in which the Coatis differ from their immediate affinities.
From the Bears they are essentially distinguished by the general form
of their body, which in some measure approaches that of the viverrine
group; by their physiognomy, which is altogether peculiar, and by their
elongated tail, which is nearly equal in length to their body. From the
Racoons their generally lengthened form, and especially that of the
snout, which is in fact their most obvious and striking characteristic,
are fully sufficient to distinguish them. In the Coatis this organ is
produced in a most remarkable degree; and it is terminated by a muzzle so
extremely flexible that, when the attention of the animal is excited, it
is kept in constant action and moved about in all directions.
The Coatis are barely equal in size to the common fox: they inhabit the
woods of South America, and live upon fruits, insects, and reptiles,
climbing trees in pursuit of their prey with great agility. In captivity
they are easily tamed, and are fond of being caressed; but exhibit no
peculiar symptoms of attachment.
Three supposed species have been described; but naturalists in general
are at present inclined to admit of no more than two; and even with
regard to these we have yet no sufficient proof that they are really more
than strongly marked varieties. The one from which our figure was taken
belongs to the brown kind, which is distinguished from the other chiefly
by its darker colour both above and below, and by the blackness of the
sides of its snout. The tails of both species are usually encircled by
rings alternately black and fulvous; and each has the eye surrounded by
three white spots.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE RACOON.
_PROCYON LOTOR._ CUV.
Larger in size and more robust in stature than the Coatis, and
approximating still more closely in their physical characters to the
Bears, which may be considered as the typical group of the plantigrade
Carnivora, the Racoons naturally occupy an intermediate station between
the playful, timid, and harmless little creatures just noticed, and
the powerful, clumsy, and dangerous animals next to be described. Like
both Bears and Coatis they have in each jaw six sharp incisors, two
strong canines, and twelve cheek teeth, six on each side. But these
latter differ from those of the Bears, inasmuch as the whole six form a
regular series, the three anterior ones of which are small and pointed,
and the three posterior broad and surmounted by prominent and blunted
tubercles; while in the Bears the three anterior appear rather to form
a supplemental appendage, being placed irregularly and at unequal
distances, and not unfrequently falling out altogether as the animal
advances in age: the tubercles on the crowns of the posterior ones are
also much less strongly marked. The Coatis exhibit nearly the same mode
of dentition as the Racoons; but striking marks of distinction between
them are afforded by the comparative length of the tail, which in the
latter is scarcely half as long as the body; and by that of the snout,
which, instead of being prolonged into an extensible muzzle, capable
of being moved about in all directions, as in the Coatis, is scarcely
produced beyond the lower lip, and has very little motion. The strongly
marked difference in physiognomy arising from this circumstance is
increased by the width of the head posteriorly, which is so great as to
give to the general outline of the face of the Racoons the form of a
nearly equilateral triangle. Their ears are of moderate length, upright
and rounded at the tip; their legs strikingly contrast in their slender
and graceful form with the strong and muscular limbs of the Bears; and
their nails, five in number on each of the feet, are long, pointed, and
of considerable strength. The whole body is clothed with long, thick, and
soft hair; and its general shape, notwithstanding its intimate connexion
with the Bears, and its short and thickset proportions, is not without a
certain degree of elegance and lightness.
The Racoons are natives of America, and the species which has been most
frequently observed by naturalists, and which we are now to describe, is
most frequent in the northern division of that continent. Indeed it may
admit of doubt whether it ever advances further south than the Isthmus
of Darien, the animal described by M. D’Azara as identical with it being
evidently a distinct species. Its fur is usually of a deep grayish black,
resulting from the intermixture of those two colours in successive rings
on each individual hair. The shades of colour vary on different parts
of the body, and are as usual much lighter below and on the inside of
the legs. The face, which is nearly white, is surrounded by a black band
of unequal breadth, passing across the forehead, encircling the eyes,
and descending obliquely on each side towards the angle of the jaw. The
whiskers are of moderate length; and the hair of the face generally, as
well as of the legs, is short and smooth. The tail, which is thick at
the base, tapering gradually to the tip, and covered with long hairs,
has five or six brownish rings, alternating with an equal number of the
lighter colour which is prevalent on the lower parts of the body.
All that we know of their habits in a state of nature may be comprehended
in the single fact, that, in addition to the vegetable substances,
and more particularly fruits, which form the principal part of their
subsistence, they feed on the eggs of birds, and even on the birds
themselves, their agility and the structure of their claws affording
them the means of reaching the tops of the tallest trees with quickness
and facility. In captivity they are easily tamed, and even appear
susceptible of some degree of attachment; but they never entirely lose
their sentiment of independence, and are consequently incapable of
complete domestication. When placed under a certain degree of restraint
they appear contented and happy, are fond of play, and take pleasure
in the caresses of their friends, and even of strangers; but however
long this kind of domestication may have continued, and how much soever
they may seem reconciled to their confinement, the moment the restraint
is withdrawn and they feel themselves again at liberty, the love of
freedom prevails over every other consideration, and they become as wild
as if they had never been reclaimed. In eating, they commonly support
themselves on their hind legs, and carry their food to the mouth between
their fore paws, having first plunged it in water, if the liquid element,
of which they are remarkably fond, is within reach. This singular
peculiarity, the object of which is not very obvious, but from which
the animal derives his specific name, does not, however, appear to be
constant and uniform, being frequently entirely neglected. The same may
be said of their fondness for shell-fish and mollusca, for which they
are generally stated to have a great partiality; some of them, like
the handsome pair now living in the Menagerie, displaying the greatest
address and dexterity in opening the shell of an oyster, and extracting
its contents, while others absolutely refuse to touch it.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR.
_URSUS AMERICANUS._ PALLAS.
We have now arrived at the closing group of the true Carnivora; a group
which, although less sanguinary in its habits than almost any of those
which we have hitherto had occasion to notice, and endowed by nature with
a capacity of subsisting entirely on vegetable substances, comprehends
nevertheless, among the closely allied species of which it is composed,
not merely the largest, but even some of the most formidable, of the
carnivorous Mammalia.
Both in outward shape and internal characters, these clumsy, sluggish,
and uncouth animals offer a perfect contrast to the light, active,
and elegant forms of the tribe with which we commenced our series.
Instead of the compressed and lengthened body, with its soft, sleek,
and variegated covering, and the long and graceful tail by which it
is terminated, we have a broad, awkward, and thickset figure, covered
with a rough, shaggy, and unattractive fur, and ending in a scarcely
visible appendage, serving neither for ornament nor use. The difference
in gait and motion is as remarkable as that of shape; for while the one
glides gently along, as it were on tiptoe, or bounds onwards with the
velocity of thought, the other appears to be oppressed by the weight
of his ponderous and unwieldy bulk, and supporting himself on the full
expansion of his dilated paws, scarcely moves without the semblance of
an effort. The short and rounded jaws of the cats, with their close and
regular series of powerful cutting and lacerating teeth, and their rough
and rasplike tongue, are supplied by a broad and lengthened snout, teeth
of a character totally different in almost every essential point, and a
soft, smooth, and extensible tongue. The claws too, which in the cats are
strongly curved, exceedingly sharp at their edges, tapering gradually
to a fine point, and capable of being entirely retracted within their
sheaths, are here indeed of great power, and sometimes even considerably
arched, but rounded in their surfaces, more or less blunted at their
extremities, and constantly protruded to their full extent. In this
manner might the contrast be pursued through almost every organ; but our
limits warn us that we must at once proceed to the enumeration of the
essential characters which combine the Bears into a well marked group.
These characters are derived, first, from their completely plantigrade
walk, the whole sole being at all times closely applied to the surface
on which they tread; secondly, from their claws, of which they have five
on each foot; thirdly, from the extreme shortness of their tail; and
lastly, from the form and arrangement of their teeth. These consist of
the usual number of incisors and canines, the latter being in general
very robust, and of a series of molars, which, when complete, amount
to six on each side in each jaw; the posterior three having flat and
expanded surfaces surmounted by broad and blunted tubercles, and lying
closely in contact with each other. Between them and the canines exists a
considerable space, which is or should be occupied by three smaller and
obtusely pointed teeth; but this number is seldom found entire, one or
more of them being generally absent, and the series being thus rendered
incomplete.
The Black Bear of America is distinguished from his fellows, and more
especially from the brown bear of Europe, which he approaches most nearly
in size and form, by few very striking external differences, except the
colour of his fur. His forehead has a slight elevation; his muzzle is
elongated, and somewhat flattened above; and his hair, though long and
straight, has less shagginess than that of most of the other species of
the group. In colour it is of a uniform shining jet-black, except on the
muzzle, where it is short and fawn-coloured, becoming almost gray on the
lips and sides of the mouth. This, however, it should be observed, is the
character only of the full-grown animal: the young are first of a bright
ash colour, which gradually changes to a deep brown, and finally fixes
in the glossy black tint of mature age.
The habits and manners of the Black Bear resemble those of the brown
almost as closely as his physical characters. In a state of nature he
seeks the recesses of the forest, and passes his solitary life in wild
and uncultivated deserts, far from the society of man, and avoiding
even that of the animal creation. His usual food consists of the young
shoots of vegetables, of their roots, which he digs up with his strong
and arcuated claws, and of their fruits, which he obtains by means
of the facility with which the same organs enable him to climb the
loftiest trees. He possesses indeed the faculty of climbing in a most
extraordinary degree, and frequently exercises it in the pursuit of
honey, of which he is passionately fond. When all these resources fail
him, he will attack the smaller quadrupeds, and sometimes even animals
of considerable size; familiarity with danger diminishing his natural
timidity, and the use of flesh begetting a taste for its continued
enjoyment. He is also said, like the Polar Bear, to have a peculiar
fondness for fish, and is frequently met with on the borders of lakes and
on the coast of the sea, to which he has resorted for the gratification
of this appetite. Notwithstanding his apparent clumsiness, he swims with
the greatest dexterity, the excessive quantity of fat with which he is
loaded serving to buoy him up in the water; in this way he frequently
crosses the broadest rivers, or even very considerable arms of the sea.
The entire continent of North America, or perhaps it might be more
correct to say, that immense portion of its surface which still remains
uncultivated and desolate, furnishes an abode to this species of bear,
which is consequently as widely dispersed as any of his tribe. As his
fur is of some value in commerce, although not so much sought after at
the present day as it was formerly, his race has become an object of the
cupidity of man, by whom they are frequently hunted for the sake of their
skins. This chase is principally followed by the Indians, who are also
attracted by the flavour of his flesh, of which, and especially of the
fat, they partake with an avidity truly disgusting. Travellers, however,
who have been reduced to the necessity of having recourse to this sort
of food, speak of it as by no means despicable: the fat yields moreover
a quantity of oil, which is often extremely serviceable. The Indians
will sometimes attack these animals single-handed; and if they can
manage to keep beyond the reach of their powerful grasp, which is almost
irresistible, are sure of gaining the victory; as the bears, in the
rampant posture which they always assume in self-defence, unconsciously
expose their most vulnerable parts to the attack of the hunter. Snares
are sometimes laid for them; but these are most frequently unsuccessful;
that extreme caution, which is so strongly portrayed in their actions
and demeanour, rendering them mistrustful of every thing. Nevertheless
their gluttony will sometimes get the better of their prudence, and the
bait of honey offers too tempting an allurement to be always resisted.
At other times a whole tribe of Indians will assemble for the chase,
and after having performed a variety of superstitious observances, beat
the entire country for their game, drive a great number of them into
a spot selected for the purpose, and deal forth upon them wholesale
destruction. They will also trace them to their retreats in the season of
their lethargy, which occupies several of the winter months, and during
which the bears are incapable of offering any effectual resistance.
In captivity the Black Bear is distinguished from the brown only by
the less degree of docility and intelligence which he evinces: and the
habits of the latter are so universally known that it would be useless to
dwell upon them here. The specimen figured at the head of this article
was presented to the Menagerie, in 1824, by Sir George Alderson, and
is remarkably tame and playful. He has, until very lately, shared his
den with the Hyæna, with whom he maintained a very good correspondence,
except at meal-times, when they would frequently quarrel, in a very
ludicrous manner, for a piece of beef, or whatever else might happen to
furnish a bone of contention between them. The Hyæna, though by far the
smallest of the two, was generally master; and the Bear would moan most
piteously, and in a tone somewhat resembling the bleating of a sheep,
while his companion quietly consumed the remainder of his dinner.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE GRIZZLY BEAR.
_URSUS FEROX._ LEWIS AND CLARKE.
A native also of the northern division of America, and more particularly
of that extensive tract of country which constitutes the newly erected
State of Missouri, the Grizzly Bear differs in many striking points, both
of character and habits, from the subject of the preceding article, as
well as from every other animal of the very natural group of which he
forms part. By his elongated, narrowed, and flattened muzzle, added to
the slight elevation of his forehead, he is closely connected with the
Black Bear of America, and as remarkably distinguished from the common
Brown Bear of Europe, and from the White Bear of the polar regions, which
last, in size and general form, offers perhaps the nearest approximation
to the present species. But his enormous magnitude, which may be stated
as averaging twice the bulk of the Black Bear; the greatly increased
size and power of his canine teeth; and, above all, the excessive length
of his talons, on the fore feet especially, afford characteristic
differences so obvious and so essential, that it is difficult to conceive
how they could have been so long overlooked by naturalists as well as
travellers, who have all, until within little more than twenty years of
the present time, passed him over without even a casual hint that he
presented any claims to be considered as distinct from the common species
of his country.
His hair, generally speaking, is longer, finer, and more abundant than
that of the Black Bear, and varies in colour to an almost indefinite
extent, passing through all the intermediate shades between a light gray
and a black brown. The brown tinge is, however, the most common; and it
is always more or less grizzled either by the intermixture of grayish
hairs, or by the brown hairs being tipped with gray. The hair of the legs
and feet is darker and coarser, and diminishes in length as it descends;
on the muzzle it becomes remarkably pale, and is so much shortened as to
give to the animal an appearance of baldness. His eyes are very small
and hardly at all prominent; and the line of the profile is consequently
nearly straight. His tail is scarcely visible, being almost entirely
concealed by the long hairs which surround it. Of the great size of
his feet and talons, some judgment may be formed from the measurements
given by Captains Lewis and Clarke, the first travellers by whom the
Grizzly Bear was accurately described. These gentlemen inform us that
the breadth of the fore foot in one of the individuals observed by them
exceeded nine inches, while the length of his hind foot, exclusive of
the talons, was eleven inches and three quarters, and its breadth seven
inches. The claws of the fore feet of another specimen measured more
than six inches. The latter are considerably longer and less curved than
those of the hind feet, and do not narrow in a lateral direction as they
approach their extremity, but diminish only from beneath: the point
is consequently formed by the shelving of the inferior surface alone,
their breadth remaining the same throughout the whole of their enormous
length, and their power being proportionally increased; an admirable
provision for enabling the animal to exercise to the fullest extent his
propensity for digging up the ground, either in search of food or for
other purposes. It appears, however, on the other hand, to unfit him for
climbing trees, which he never attempts; and this remarkable circumstance
in his habits affords a striking distinction between him and all the
other Bears, which are essentially climbers.
Of all the quadrupeds which inhabit the northern regions of the American
continent, the Grizzly Bear is unquestionably the most formidable and
the most dreaded. Superior to the rest of his tribe, not excepting even
the polar species, in bulk, in power, in agility, and in the ferocity of
his disposition, it is not to be wondered at that he should be regarded
by the native Indians with an almost superstitious terror, and that
some portion of this feeling should have been communicated even to the
civilized travellers, who have occasionally met with him in the wild and
desolate regions which are subject to his devastations. In the Journals
of some of these travellers we find recorded such astonishing instances
of his strength, ferocity, and extraordinary tenacity of life as would
indeed amaze us, were we not aware how much the human mind is prone,
under certain circumstances, to fall into exaggeration, in many cases
most certainly unintentional. Making, however, all due allowances for the
existence of this very natural feeling, we are bound to acknowledge that
there are few animals who can compete with this terrible beast; and that
to be made the object of his pursuit is an occurrence well calculated to
alarm the stoutest heart, even when provided with the most certain and
deadly weapons of human invention, guided by the most experienced eye,
and directed by the steadiest hand.
This tremendous animal appears to be most commonly found in the
neighbourhood of the Rocky Mountains, especially on the well wooded
plains which skirt the eastern declivity of that lofty and extensive
range, among thick copses of brush and underwood, and on the banks of
the water-courses which descend in innumerable petty streams from their
sources in the hills. In these wild solitudes, rarely trodden by the
foot of civilized man, and visited only by the savage Indians of the
neighbouring tribes, who have not yet learned to bow the neck beneath
the yoke of the exterminating conqueror, he reigns the almost undisputed
tyrant of the forest. Few among the animals which share with him his
barbarous habitation are fleet enough to escape him in the chase; and
none, when fairly placed within his reach, are powerful enough to
withstand his overwhelming force. Even the sturdy and formidable Bison,
the wild bull of North America, is incapable of offering any effectual
resistance to the furious impetuosity of his attack; and an illustration
of the extent of his muscular power is afforded by the fact that after
having destroyed his victim, he will drag its ponderous carcase to some
convenient spot, where he will dig a pit for its reception, and deposit
it for a season, returning to his feast from time to time as the calls of
hunger may dictate, until his store is exhausted and he is again reduced
to the necessity of looking abroad for a fresh supply.
But although endowed with so strong a propensity for animal food, as
well as with the power to gratify the appetite thus grafted in his very
nature, he is not, like the more perfect of the carnivorous tribe, left
entirely dependent upon that which, in the climate in which he has
been placed, must of necessity be a precarious, and frequently even
an impossible, source of subsistence. Of a more fierce and sanguinary
temper than the other bears, he does not hesitate to attack whatever
living creature may fall in his way, and man himself seems to inspire him
with little dread: but in the absence of his favourite food, he makes a
less savoury, but equally congenial, meal of vegetable substances, of
fruits, or more commonly of roots, the latter of which he digs up with
the greatest facility with his enormous claws; and in some parts of the
country these more simple productions form almost his sole subsistence.
On the quality of his food depends much of the ferocity of his temper;
for it appears that the bears of the western side of the Rocky Mountains,
who live almost entirely upon vegetables, are of a much less fierce and
savage disposition than their fellows of the eastern side, where animal
food is more abundant and more easily procured.
Next to his great size and excessive ferocity, one of the most striking
peculiarities of this animal is his extreme tenacity of life. For the
instances of this we are indebted almost wholly to the narrative of the
Travels of Captains Lewis and Clarke, whose statements are no doubt
founded in truth, although it may be suspected that they require to be
received with some grains at least of allowance. According to these
gentlemen one bear which had received five shots in his lungs, and five
other wounds in various parts of his body, swam a considerable distance
to a sand bank in the river, and survived more than twenty minutes;
another that had been shot through the centre of the lungs, pursued at
full speed the man by whom the wound was inflicted for half a mile, then
returned more than twice that distance, dug himself a bed two feet deep
and five feet long, and was perfectly alive two hours after he received
the wound; and a third, although actually shot through the heart, ran
at his usual pace nearly a quarter of a mile before he fell. There is
no chance, they add, of killing him by a single shot, unless the ball
goes directly through the brain; a single hunter runs consequently no
little risk in venturing to attack an animal upon whom the most dangerous
wounds, if not instantaneously fatal, produce no obvious immediate
effects.
Notwithstanding the horror with which the natives regard this animal,
it is said that they sometimes succeed in rendering him tame; and a
whimsical story is told by the late Governor Clinton, on the authority
of an Indian trader, of an insult offered to a domesticated bear of this
species by an Indian of a different tribe from that to which the master
of the bear belonged, being regarded as a national affront, and producing
a war between the two tribes. The same veracious trader, it should be
added, did not scruple to affirm that the Grizzly Bear had actually been
seen fourteen feet long: the greatest measurement given on any credible
authority being somewhat less than nine feet. It may, however, well be
doubted whether the Grizzly Bear is capable of being domesticated; for it
would appear that all the known attempts that have hitherto been made to
render him docile and obedient have completely failed. In the narrative
of Major Long’s expedition, Mr. Say has given some particulars relative
to the manners of a half-grown individual which was kept chained in the
yard of one of the stations of the Missouri Fur Company; but which,
though far from having attained his full strength, was by no means
trusted even by those who were most familiar with him. They occasionally
ventured to play with him; but this was always done with caution and
reserve; and when, as was sometimes the case, he chanced to break loose
from his confinement, the whole establishment was thrown into a state of
confusion and alarm. The same gentleman also gives the history of two
individuals which were presented when very young to the Philadelphia
Museum, where they were kept for several years confined in a strong cage;
until at length their strength and ferocity, which no kind of treatment
appeared capable of subduing, had reached such a pitch that it was found
absolutely necessary to destroy them.
In no respect has the subject of the present notice, whose portrait
admirably illustrates the peculiarities of his species, degenerated from
the race of which he appears to be the sole representative in Europe.
He was presented to his late majesty, more than seventeen years ago,
by the Hudson’s Bay Company, and has long been the oldest inhabitant of
the Tower Menagerie. The name of Martin, which was originally bestowed
upon him, in imitation probably of that of the most celebrated bear
ever exhibited in Europe, has consequently been of late years generally
preceded by the epithet of antiquity, and Old Martin has become under
that title almost as well known as his famous namesake. His size is
far superior to that of any other bear that has ever been seen in this
quarter of the globe; and his ferocity, in spite of the length of time
during which he has been a prisoner, and of all the attempts that have
been made to conciliate him, still continues undiminished. He does not
offer the slightest encouragement to familiarity on the part of his
keepers, but treats them with as much distance as the most perfect
strangers; and although he will sometimes appear playful and good
tempered, yet they know him too well to trust themselves within his
clutch.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE THIBET BEAR.
_URSUS THIBETANUS._ F. CUV.
It is with no slight feelings of regret that we find ourselves unable
to furnish a complete and satisfactory account of the animal from whom
the portrait above given was taken. Very soon after the drawing was
completed, and before we had availed ourselves of the opportunity of
making the necessary examination, we were unfortunately precluded from so
doing by his sudden transfer to another country. His likeness alone, and
a faithful and spirited likeness we will venture to pronounce it, remains
with us. From this, and from the very imperfect notes which we possess,
we have little hesitation in referring it provisionally to the species
first established by M. Duvaucel, and since published by M. F. Cuvier
in his splendid Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères. The circumstance,
however, of our animal, the only individual of his species ever seen in
Europe, having been brought from the Island of Sumatra instead of the
continent of India, in which alone the Ursus Thibetanus had hitherto
been discovered, is so remarkable, that we should have felt bound, had
the means still remained open to us, to institute a close and severe
comparison between the living specimen and the figure and description
furnished by M. Duvaucel and M. Cuvier. As it is, we can only repeat
the characters of the Thibet Bear as given by them, and refer to our
figure for all the proof which we have it in our power to offer of its
identity with the present animal. We trust that M. Temminck, or some
other competent naturalist of the country to which the latter has been
conveyed, will amply supply a deficiency which certainly would not have
existed had we received timely notice of the intended transfer.
M. Duvaucel enumerates three species of bears inhabiting India and the
neighbouring islands. The first of these is the Ursus labiatus, which was
strangely mistaken on its first arrival in Europe, nearly forty years
ago, for a Sloth, and received from the naturalists of that day the name
of Bradypus pentadactylus, or ursinus, the Five-fingered, or Ursine,
Sloth; an appellation which has been productive of no little confusion
in nomenclature, and is still frequently employed in menageries and
exhibitions to distinguish the same animal, and sometimes even nearly
related species. With the true Sloths it has nothing in common; and the
only circumstance which can at all account for the blunder, consists
in the accidental deficiency of the incisor teeth in the animal first
examined; a deficiency, which, according to the strict principles of
the artificial system then adopted, was alone sufficient to convert a
Bear into a Sloth. The second is the Ursus Malayanus, the Malay Bear,
admirably illustrated, both with regard to character and habits, by
the late lamented Sir Stamford Raffles in the thirteenth volume of the
Linnean Transactions. Another species, intimately connected with this,
and unknown to M. Duvaucel, will form the subject of the following
article. In the present we must confine ourselves to his third form, the
Thibet Bear, which, according to his observations, made on the living
animal, is distinguished by the following characteristics.
In size it is intermediate between the two other species which he
describes. Its most remarkable distinction is derived from the thickness
of its neck and the flatness of its head, its forehead forming almost
a straight line with its muzzle. The latter is moderately thick and
somewhat lengthened; and the ears are very large. The body is compact,
and the limbs heavy; a conformation from which we might be led to infer
great muscular strength, together with a capacity for climbing trees and
performing other feats of a similar description, were it not for the
comparative weakness of the claws, which are scarcely more than half as
long as those of the other Indian bears. Like the latter, its colour
is invariably of a uniform glossy jet-black, except on the lower lip,
which is white; as is also a patch occupying the front of the neck, and
in shape like a Y, the two upper limbs of which pass in front of the
shoulders, while the lower one occupies the middle line of the chest.
The upper part of the muzzle is black, with a slight reddish tint on
the sides; and the edges of the lips flesh-coloured. The hair, which is
smooth on the muzzle, becomes shaggy on the back part of the head, from
the base of the ears downwards, and adds considerably to the apparent
volume of that part, but not quite to the same extent as in the Ursus
labiatus, in old individuals of which it almost touches the ground. It
was found by Dr. Wallich in the mountains of Nepaul, and by M. Duvaucel
in those of Sylhet; and from this limited range the latter gentleman
infers, perhaps a little too hastily, that its habitat is less extensive
than that of its fellows. He also regards it as being more ferocious in
its habits.
In this latter point alone, so far at least as we can at present judge,
does the animal from which our figure was taken offer any remarkable
discrepancy from the foregoing account. He could never be prevailed
on to touch flesh either raw or cooked; and bread and fruits were the
substances on which he was constantly fed. In his disposition he was
moderately tame, and particularly fond of play, after his own rough and
ludicrous fashion.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE BORNEAN BEAR.
_URSUS (HELARCTOS) EURYSPILUS._ HORSF.
Of this very remarkable animal, the only individual of the species ever
seen in Europe, and in fact the only one that has yet fallen under the
notice of zoologists, so complete an account has been published by Dr.
Horsfield, in the second volume of the Zoological Journal, that it would
be presumptuous in us to attempt to add any thing to the masterly details
which are there furnished both of its organization and habits. We shall
therefore in the present instance, and with the less reluctance as the
animal is no longer living for further reference, content ourselves with
abstracting from that paper, as nearly as possible in the words of its
author, the more interesting and prominent features of the history which
is there given of the Bornean Bear; which, in conjunction with another
closely related species, the Ursus Malayanus, Dr. Horsfield has separated
from the other bears under the sub-generic title of Helarctos.
One of the most striking points on which this distinction is founded
consists in the form of the head, which, instead of being flattened,
as in the more northern species of the group, is nearly hemispherical
above, the forehead rising in a strong arch immediately behind the nose,
which is obtuse and very gradually attenuated. The gape of the mouth is
considerable; and the tongue, which is long, narrow, and very extensile,
is capable of being protruded for nearly a foot, and then curved inwards
in a spiral manner, a habit in which the animal appears frequently to
indulge. In the teeth the difference between this subdivision of the
genus and the rest of the animals which compose it is unessential, the
incisors and canines having no distinguishing characters, and the molars
being apparently subject to the same variations as in the genuine bears.
The Bornean Bear is perhaps somewhat shorter in his proportions than the
rest of the group, and the great proportional breadth of his head extends
also to the neck and body. The claws are very long, strongly arched, and
very gradually attenuated to the point, which is transversely truncated
and chiefly fitted for digging the earth; but probably also enabling it
to climb with great agility. The fur is short and glistening, somewhat
rigid, but closely applied to the skin, and smooth to the touch. On
the body, head, and extremities, the Bornean Bear has the same pure,
saturated, jet-black tint which is observed in the Malayan. The muzzle,
including the region of the eyes, has a yellowish brown colour; and the
anterior part of the neck is marked by a large broad patch of a more
vivid and nearly orange tint, which is of an irregular quadrangular form,
and deeply notched above. The difference in the form and colour of this
patch constitutes the chief distinction between the present animal and
the Malayan species, in which latter it is crescent-shaped and white.
The specimen from which this description was taken measured along the
back, from the muzzle to the tail, three feet nine inches. It arrived in
this country about four years ago, and formed until lately one of the
most attractive and interesting spectacles among the animals confined in
the Menagerie. It was brought from Borneo when very young, and during
its passage was the constant associate of a monkey and of several other
young animals. It was thus domesticated in early life, and its manners
in confinement greatly resembled those of the Malayan Bear observed by
Sir Stamford Raffles, to which it was probably not inferior in sagacity
or intellect. It could rest entirely on its posterior feet, and could
even raise itself without difficulty to a nearly erect posture; but was
more generally seen in a sitting attitude at the door of its apartment,
eagerly surveying the visiters and attracting their attention by the
uncouthness of its form and the singularity of its motions. When a
morsel of bread or cake was held at a small distance beyond its reach,
it would expand the lateral aperture of its nostrils and thrust forwards
its upper lip as a proboscis in a most ludicrous manner, at the same
time making use of its paws to seize the object. After obtaining it and
filling its mouth, it would place the remainder with great calmness on
its posterior feet, and bring it in successive portions to its mouth.
When craving for food, and also while consuming it, it emitted a coarse,
but not unpleasant, whining sound, accompanied by a low grunting noise;
but if teased at this time, it would suddenly raise its voice to a
harsh and grating tone. It was excessively voracious, and appeared
disposed to eat almost without cessation; a propensity which finally
cost it its life, having overgorged itself at breakfast one morning in
the course of last summer during the hot weather, and dying within ten
minutes afterwards. This was a severe loss to Mr. Cops, who prized it
highly, and to whom, in return, it was greatly attached. On seeing its
keeper it would often place itself in a variety of attitudes, to court
his attention and caresses, extending its nose and anterior feet, or,
suddenly turning round, exposing its back and waiting for several minutes
in this posture with its head placed on the ground. It delighted in being
patted and rubbed, even by strangers; but violently resented abuse and
ill treatment. Its principal food was bread.
Our figure was taken from the stuffed skin which is preserved in the
Museum of the Zoological Society.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
MONKEYS.
_SIMIÆ._ LINN.
It may perhaps seem to require some apology that we have ventured so
far to depart from the ordinary system of arrangement as to remove the
Monkeys from the station which they have hitherto usually been permitted
to occupy at the head of the class, and to transfer them to their present
position. We will not attempt to conceal that in so doing we were chiefly
actuated by the desire of placing at the commencement of our series the
largest and most attractive of the animals of which it was composed;
and those which, in a Menagerie like that which we have undertaken to
illustrate, always constitute the most imposing feature. But while we
acknowledge the influence of this feeling to the fullest extent, we
cannot refrain from expressing at the same time our firm conviction that
the carnivorous quadrupeds possess in reality a better title to the place
which we have assigned them, than the Monkeys which we have displaced
to make room for them. The supposed transition from man, on which the
received arrangement is founded, has little to do with the question;
and it would surely require no great subtilty of argument to prove that
the Carnivora are more highly typical of the great class, of which they
form so important a part, than any other tribe whatever. But this is not
the proper place for entering into so abstract a question; to which we
have only referred _en passant_, for the sake of justifying ourselves
upon broader principles for a deviation from established custom, which
we should not have hesitated to adopt, in the present instance, on the
narrow ground of expedience alone. Before, however, we take leave of
it altogether, we cannot avoid asking, why, if the Monkeys are to take
precedence of the Carnivora among Mammalia, the analogous tribe of Birds,
the Pies and the Parrots, should not also rank above the ornithological
representatives of the beasts of prey, the towering Eagle and the
rapacious Vulture?
To return, however, to our Monkeys; to which, be it observed, we do
not pretend to assign this as a definite position. They form by far
the largest portion of the Quadrumana; all the other animals of that
order being comprehended, or rather confounded, in a distinct family,
under the name of Lemurs, from the rightful owners of which appellation
many of them differ most essentially. In addition to the hands on the
posterior as well as anterior members, with long and flexible fingers
and opposable thumbs, which constitute the primary characters of the
order, the Monkey tribe in general is distinguished by the following
peculiarities. Their incisor teeth are invariably four in each jaw, and
their molars, like those of man, are flat and surmounted by blunted
tubercles. The latter are five in number on each side of either jaw in
all the Monkeys of the Old Continent, and in one very distinct tribe
belonging to the New; but most of the American species are furnished
with a sixth. Their canines vary considerably in size, from a trifling
projection beyond the remaining teeth to a long and powerful tusk, almost
equalling those of the most formidable Carnivora; and from this structure
it necessarily follows that a vacant space is left between the incisors
and the canines of the upper jaw, and between the canines and the molars
of the lower, for the reception and lodgment of those organs when the
mouth is closed. The nails of all their fingers, as well as those of the
thumbs, are invariably flat and expanded.
In almost every other point they are subject to infinite variations of
form and structure. The shape of the head, which, in one or two species,
offers a close approximation to the human form, passes through numerous
intermediate gradations, until it reaches a point at which it can only be
compared with that of the hound. The body, which is in general slight and
well made, is in some few instances remarkably short and thickset, and
in others drawn out to a surprising degree of tenuity. Their limbs vary
greatly in their proportions; but in most of them the anterior are longer
than the posterior: in all they are admirably adapted to the purposes to
which they are applied, in climbing and leaping, by the slenderness of
their form, the flexibility of their joints, and the muscular activity
with which these qualities are so strikingly combined. But of all their
organs there is perhaps none which exhibits so remarkable a discrepancy
in every particular as the tail; which is entirely wanting in some, forms
a mere tubercle in others, in a third group is short and tapering, in a
fourth of moderate length and cylindrical, in a fifth extremely long but
uniformly covered with hair; in others, again, of equal length, divested
of hair beneath and near the tip, and capable of being twisted round the
branch of a tree or any other similar substance in such a manner as to
support the whole weight of the animal, even without the assistance of
his hands.
In none of them, it may be observed, are the hands formed for swimming,
or the nails constructed for digging the earth; and in none of them is
the naked callous portion, which corresponds to the sole or the palm,
capable of being applied, like the feet of man or of the bear, to the
flat surfaces on which they may occasionally tread. Even in those which
have the greatest propensity to assume an upright posture, the body
is, under such circumstances, wholly supported by the outer margins of
the posterior hands. The earth, in fact, is not their proper place of
abode; they are essentially inhabitants of trees, and every part of their
organization is admirably fitted for the mode of life to which they were
destined by the hand of nature herself. Throughout the vast forests of
Asia, Africa, and South America, and more especially in those portions
of the three continents which are comprehended within the tropics,
they congregate in numerous troops, bounding rapidly from branch to
branch, and from tree to tree, in search of the fruits and eggs which
constitute their principal means of subsistence. In the course of these
peregrinations, which are frequently executed with a velocity scarcely
to be followed by the eye, they seem to give a momentary, and but a
momentary, attention to every remarkable object that falls in their way,
but never appear to remember it again; for they will examine the same
object with the same rapidity as often as it recurs, and apparently
without in the least recognising it as that which they had seen before.
They pass on a sudden from a state of seeming tranquillity to the most
violent demonstrations of passion and sensuality; and in the course of a
few minutes run through all the various phases of gesture and action of
which they are capable, and for which their peculiar conformation affords
ample scope. The females treat their young with the greatest tenderness
until they become capable of shifting for themselves; when they turn them
loose upon the world, and conduct themselves towards them from that time
forwards in the same manner as towards the most perfect strangers.
The degrees of their so much vaunted intelligence, which is in general
very limited, and rarely capable of being made subservient to the
purposes of man, vary almost as much as the ever-changing outline of
their form. From the grave and reflective Oran-Otang, whose docility and
powers of imitation in his young state have been the theme of so much
ridiculous exaggeration and sophistical argumentation, to the stupid
and savage Baboon, whose gross brutality is scarcely relieved by a
single spark of intelligence, the gradations are regular and easy. A
remarkable circumstance connected with the developement of this faculty,
or perhaps we should rather say, with its gradual extinction, consists
in the fact that it is only in young animals which have not yet attained
their full growth, that it is capable of being brought into play; the
older individuals, even of the most tractable races, entirely losing the
gaiety, and with it the docility, of their youth, and becoming at length
as stupid and as savage as the most barbarous of the tribe.
The Monkeys of the Old and of the New World differ from each other in
several remarkable points, some of which are universally characteristic
of all the species of each, while others, although affording good and
tangible means of discrimination, are but partially applicable. Thus
the nostrils of all the species inhabiting the Old World are anterior
like those of man, and divided only by a narrow septum. In those of the
New World, on the contrary, they are invariably separated by a broad
division, and consequently occupy a position more or less lateral. In
the former again the molar teeth are uniformly five in number, crowned
with obtuse and flattened tubercles; while in the latter they are either
six in number, or in the few anomalous cases in which they are limited
to five, and which are peculiar to a group that ought to occupy an
intermediate station between the Monkeys and the Insect-eating Carnivora,
their crowns are surmounted by sharp and somewhat elevated points. The
tails of all the American Monkeys are of great length, but they differ
more or less from each other in the power of suspending themselves by
means of that organ, a faculty which is nevertheless common to the
greater number of them, and of which those of the Old World are entirely
destitute. On the other hand the American species never exhibit any
traces of the callosities or of the cheek-pouches, which are so common
among the Asiatic and African races.
Each of these grand divisions has been subdivided into several minor
groups or genera; but zoologists have hitherto been by no means unanimous
with respect to the principles on which this subdivision ought to be
effected. The arrangement which appears to be most generally adopted
at the present day is that of M. Cuvier and M. Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire,
which is essentially founded on the application of an imaginary rule,
first employed by Camper for ascertaining the degree of intelligence,
and consequently of ideal beauty, expressed by the human face in its
various gradations of elevation or debasement, and called by him the
facial angle. Unfortunately, however, the operations of nature in the
animal creation can never be subjected to geometrical laws; nor can her
innumerable phases be expressed with the precision of a mathematical
theorem. This assumed point of comparison varies almost indefinitely,
not merely in different species, but even in the same individual; and
the Oran-Otang himself, who is supposed to approach most nearly to the
human form, offers the most striking illustration of the truth of this
observation; inasmuch as in his young and intellectual state his facial
angle is equal to 65°, while in his aged and debased condition, in which
he has actually been repeatedly described as a different animal under the
name of Pongo, it sinks below 30°; degrading him even beneath the level
of the most savage and stupid of the Baboons.
In the foregoing observations we may perhaps be considered as giving
too much space to the generalities of the subject; an objection to
which we can only answer that nearly the whole of our knowledge of the
Monkey tribes consists in generalities. Of the great number of species,
upwards of one hundred, which are now known and characterized, very
few are distinguished from their immediate fellows by striking and
strongly-marked characters, either physical or moral. The groups too are
connected by such gradual and easy transitions, that although the typical
forms of each, isolated from the mass and placed in contrast with each
other, unquestionably exhibit many broadly distinguishing peculiarities,
yet the entire series offers a chain so nearly complete and unbroken
as scarcely to admit of being treated of in any other way than as one
homogeneous whole.
A no less striking than apposite instance of the close affinity between
the species, and of the difficulty of distinguishing them from each
other, especially in their young state, is furnished by the animals whose
figures stand at the head of the present article. They are all three very
evidently young individuals, and have not yet reached the period when it
would be safe to pronounce with positiveness upon the species, or, were
we to adopt the Cuvierian system in its full extent, upon the genera
even, to which they respectively belong.
The specimen from which the central figure was taken is in all
probability the earlier age of a species of Cercopithecus; but to which
of them it should be referred, or whether it belongs to any hitherto
characterized species, we may not venture to determine until its
characters shall have become more fully developed. The distinctive
marks of this genus, which comprehends the smallest Monkeys of the
Old Continent, consist in a depressed forehead, with a facial angle
of 50°; a flat nose, with the nostrils directed upwards and outwards;
cheek-pouches, generally of large size; callosities behind; and a tail
of considerable length. The individual before us, in addition to these
characters, is remarkable for the reddish brown colour of his upper
parts, which gradually disappears in a lighter hue, mingled with a bluish
tinge beneath; for the elevated and compressed toupet which advances
considerably forwards on his forehead; for the hairs which are thinly
scattered over his livid face; and for the spreading tufts of a somewhat
lighter colour which occupy the sides of his head and face posteriorly.
The animal which occupies the right hand in the cut appears to be the
young of the Macacus cynomolgus, Cuv., the Common Macaque; or rather
perhaps, if the colour of the face is to be regarded as affording a
sufficient specific distinction, of a new species lately described by
M. F. Cuvier under the name of Macacus carbonarius. The Macaques are
characterized by the greater elongation of their muzzles, which reduces
their facial angle to 40° or 45°; by the strong developement of their
superciliary ridges; by the oblique position of their nostrils in the
upper surface of their nose; and by the presence of cheek-pouches and
callosities. The young animal figured is blackish brown above, and, as is
very common among the Monkeys, lighter and of a bluish cast beneath; his
hands and face are nearly black; the hairs which cover his forehead form
a thick tuft advancing forwards; and his face is almost naked.
We have little hesitation in referring the left hand figure to the
Cercopithecus pileatus of M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, the Guenon couronnée
of Buffon, which M. Cuvier suspects, with great appearance of truth, to
be nothing more than a variety of the Macacus Sinicus, the Bonnet Chinois
of the same popular author. It differs from that in fact in little else
than in a shorter muzzle, and in a less regularly radiated and depressed
disposition of the hair of the upper part of the head; characters which
may be fairly regarded as resulting from its immature age. We may also
observe that the Macacus radiatus, Geoff., described in the succeeding
article, does not appear to be by any means clearly distinguished from
the Bonnet Chinois; and that it is highly probable that these three
Monkeys form in reality but a single species.
All these animals, which are at present confined in one cage along with
several young individuals of the common species of Baboon and with the
Bonneted Monkey, exhibit a mixture of playfulness and malice, which
renders them extremely amusing. Their gambols with each other are often
truly laughable.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE BONNETED MONKEY.
_MACACUS RADIATUS._ DESM.
THE PIG-FACED BABOON.
_CYNOCEPHALUS PORCARIUS._ DESM.
The Monkey which occupies the left hand in the present cut forms part
of the same group with the subjects noticed at the end of the preceding
article, from which it is distinguished by the peculiar manner in
which the hair of the upper part of its head diverges, and, as it
were, radiates horizontally, from a central point towards an imaginary
circumference, assuming a form not unlike the object to which it is
usually compared, the round bonnet of a Chinese. Its forehead is also
more flattened, its superciliary crests less developed, and its muzzle
considerably lengthened and laterally compressed. The length of its body
is from twelve to fifteen inches, and its tail when entire measures quite
as much. The forehead, which is strongly wrinkled, is nearly naked, and
the whole of the face is entirely destitute of hair. That of the upper
parts of the body is of a uniform yellowish gray, the under surface
deriving a bluish tinge from the skin, which is but thinly covered. Its
native country is the east of Asia.
The right hand figure represents the Chacma, or Pig-faced Monkey, one
of the true Baboons, whose generic characters will be found in the
succeeding article. The forehead of this species is remarkably depressed,
and the nose much prolonged. Its general colour is dusky, approaching to
black. Its body measures from two to three feet in length; but the tail
is short, and does not reach the ground when the animal stands upon all
fours. It is a native of Africa, and was formerly very troublesome in the
neighbourhood of the Cape.
Both these animals, although lively and tolerably good humoured when
young, become mischievous in their dispositions and disgusting in their
habits as they advance in age. The voice of the latter closely resembles
the bark of a dog.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE BABOON.
_CYNOCEPHALUS PAPIO._ DESM.
In the true Baboons the facial angle of the adult varies from 30° to 35°,
and the superciliary crests are for the most part considerably elevated,
as is also the ridge on the back of the head formed by the attachment
of the temporal muscles, which, as well as the canine teeth, are large
and powerful. The cheeks are furnished with pouches capable of much
distension; and the muzzle terminates in a flattened extremity like that
of the dog, on which the openings of the nostrils are situated. The tail
is generally as long as, and sometimes even longer than, the body; but
in several of the species it is extremely short. The callosities are
frequently of large size and disgustingly conspicuous. This genus is
generally considered as the lowest in organization, and consequently in
capacity and intelligence, of the tribe to which it belongs.
The colour of the common Baboon is reddish brown; his face and hands
are black, and his upper eyelids white. The hair of his cheeks forms a
considerable tuft on each side; and the under surface of his body is
but sparingly covered. In bulk he is equal to a middle sized dog; his
proportions are thickset and inelegant; but he is by no means dull or
inactive. When young, he is gay, playful, and docile; but as he grows
older he becomes untractable, malicious, and ferocious. He is sometimes
even dangerous, his muscular strength and agility, together with the
great power of his teeth and jaws, rendering him a formidable opponent.
On this account it is absolutely necessary to keep him strictly confined.
He is a native of Africa, and more especially of the tropical parts of
its western coast.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE WHITE-HEADED MONGOOS.
_LEMUR ALBIFRONS._ GEOFF.
Belonging to a different tribe of the same grand division with the
true Monkeys, from which they are more readily distinguished by their
general form and habit than by any very remarkable deviation in their
structure or organization, these agile and playful little creatures
form a group which naturally follows in immediate succession. The
technical peculiarities on which their separation from the Monkeys is
founded are usually deduced from their teeth and nails; but other and
more obvious characteristics are afforded by the form of their heads,
of their tails, and of their hinder extremities, and these assist in
confirming a distinction which might otherwise be regarded as arbitrary
and unnecessary. The teeth of the Lemurs are, like those of man and
of the Monkeys of the Old World, thirty-two in number, and consist of
four incisors, two canines, and ten molars in the upper jaw, and of six
incisors, two canines, and eight molars in the lower. Such at least is
the usual statement with respect to their dentition; but M. Geoffroy
maintains, on the other hand, that the number of incisors is equal in
both jaws, and coincides with that of the Monkeys; the two outermost of
the six, which are larger than the rest, being in his opinion the true
canines; while the canines, commonly so called, are in fact only the
first of the series of molars. This conjecture unquestionably derives
considerable strength from the fact that, when the animal closes its
mouth, the supposed canines of the lower jaw pass behind those of the
upper, a position directly contrary to that which they uniformly assume
in every other animal that is furnished with that kind of teeth. On
each of their four hands they have four fingers of moderate length, and
a thumb which is capable of being opposed to them almost equally well
with that of the other Quadrumana; they are consequently enabled to
grasp whatever they seize with the greatest precision. The peculiarity
of their nails consists in the shape of that of the index of the hinder
hands, which forms an elongated, curved, and pointed claw, approaching
in some degree to those of the carnivorous quadrupeds. All the rest
of their nails are broad and flat like those of the Monkeys. Their
posterior extremities are longer than their anterior; and their body and
limbs are light, graceful, and well proportioned. The tail, which is of
uniform thickness throughout, is longer than the body, and, in common
with it, is clothed with long, soft, and woolly hair. The head is long,
triangular, and gradually tapering into a slender and pointed muzzle,
which, in proportionate length, far exceeds that of any of the Monkeys;
the ears are short and rounded; and the whiskers but little developed.
The whole of the genus thus characterized are natives of Madagascar and
of two or three of the smaller islands in its immediate vicinity. They
appear to occupy in that remarkable and very imperfectly known country
the place of the Monkeys, none of which have yet been detected within
its precincts. They are said to live in numerous troops upon the trees,
and to feed upon fruits and insects; but their habits in a state of
nature have not yet been observed with sufficient accuracy to enable
us to form any clear idea of their mode of existence. In captivity
they are particularly tame and good tempered, fond of being noticed,
delighting in motion, and climbing and leaping with surprising agility.
They are, however, in some degree nocturnal; and when undisturbed pass a
considerable portion of the day in sleep. If alone, they roll themselves
up in the form of a ball, and wind their long tail in a very curious
manner round their body, apparently for the purpose of keeping themselves
warm; for they are naturally chilly, and delight in basking in the rays
of the sun, or in creeping as close as possible to the fire. When two of
them are confined together, they interlace their limbs and tails after a
singular fashion, and placing their heads in such a position as that each
may, if disturbed, see what is going on behind the other’s back, fall
comfortably asleep.
The species to which the beautiful pair in the Menagerie belong has all
the habits of its group. It is characterized by the clear fulvous brown
colour of the upper surface of the body and outer side of the limbs,
gradually becoming lighter on the under and inner surfaces, and deepening
in its shade towards the tail, the greater part of which is nearly black.
The muzzle and the hands are bluish black. The male has the whole of the
forehead, the sides of the cheeks, and the under part of the lower lip
covered with a white fur, which in the female is of a blackish gray and
much less developed; her general colour is also of a lighter tinge. This
remarkable difference would lead us to question the specific identity
of the two animals, were we not assured by M. F. Cuvier that he had
verified the fact by what is usually regarded as an unequivocal test.
Mr. M’Leay has, however, thrown considerable doubt upon the accuracy of
the inference thus attempted to be drawn, by exhibiting to the Linnean
Society a female, in whom the white fur of the head was as distinctly
developed as in her male companion. The whole of the species of this
group require, in fact, an accurate revision.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE KANGUROO.
_MACROPUS MAJOR._ SHAW.
The very peculiar structure from which the Marsupial animals derive their
name has been regarded by almost every naturalist who has written on the
subject as so essential a deviation from the common type, that, setting
aside all considerations of form or habits, and regardless even of
those technical characters on which so much reliance is usually placed,
they have for the most part agreed in uniting under the same family
designation every animal in which it occurred. This peculiarity consists
in a folding or doubling of the skin and its appendages beneath the lower
part of the belly in the females, in such a manner as to form an open
pouch or bag, in which the young are contained from a very early period,
in which the process of suckling takes place, and in which, even for some
time after they have acquired sufficient size and strength to leave it,
the little ones continue to take refuge.
But the presence of this one anomalous characteristic is accompanied
by so many striking discrepancies in other parts, that, limited as
this tribe is in number, most of the principal forms of Mammalia find
analogous representations among its groups. Thus the Opossums exhibit
characters in some measure intermediate between the Quadrumana and the
Carnivora, to which latter the Dasyuri, another Marsupial group, closely
resembling the Civets in form and habits, approach very nearly; while
the herbivorous races of the tribe might occupy a station between the
Rodent and Ruminant Orders, with each of which they exhibit various
degrees of relationship. This want of uniformity in the essential parts
of their organization necessarily gives rise to much difficulty in
determining their position in the system. The mode of classification now
most generally followed is perhaps, under all the circumstances, the best
that could at the present moment be adopted; although it must be owned
that the purely herbivorous species arrange themselves with a very ill
grace under a subdivision of the order Carnivora. Placed, however, as
they are at the end of that order, and immediately before the Rodentia,
the regular gradations from the type of the former to that of the latter,
which occur in their different groups, become most distinctly manifest.
With the exception of the Opossums, which are natives of America, the
tribe is peculiar to New Holland and its appendages, and to some of the
islands which form the great chain of connexion between that insular
continent and South-eastern Asia. The former is, however, their head
quarters, and the species which are found beyond its limits are few in
number compared with those which people its territory, and, what is more
remarkable, people it to the exclusion of nearly all the other Mammalia;
the dog alone, the universal concomitant of man, and one or two species
of rats, disputing with them their title to its exclusive possession; for
those paradoxical creatures, the Ornithorhynchus and Echidna, if really
mammiferous, approximate closely in structure to the Marsupial tribe.
The largest of these animals are the Kanguroos, whose generic characters
we shall now proceed to describe. Their teeth are only of two kinds,
the canines being altogether wanting. The incisors are six in the
upper jaw, and two only in the lower; the former short, and arranged
in a curved line, and the latter long, pointed, closely applied to
each other, and directed forwards. The molars are separated from the
incisors by a considerable vacant space, and are five in number on
each side of each jaw. The most remarkable peculiarity in the external
form of these animals consists in the extreme disproportion of their
limbs, the anterior legs being short and weak, while the posterior are
extremely long and muscular. The tail too is excessively thick at its
base, of considerable length, and gradually tapering; and this singular
conformation enables it to act in some measure as a supplemental leg,
when the animal assumes an erect or nearly erect posture, in which
position he is supported as it were on a tripod by the joint action of
these three powerful organs. By means of this combination they will,
when flying from danger, take a succession of leaps of from twenty to
thirty feet in length and six or eight in height; but even in their more
quiet and gradual mode of progression they also make use of their tail
in conjunction with their four extremities. The fore feet are furnished
with five toes, each terminating in a moderately strong and arcuated
claw. The hinder extremities, on the contrary, have only four toes, the
two interior of which are united together so as to form the appearance
of a single one furnished with two short and feeble claws; the third is
long, of great strength, and terminated by a large and powerful claw
having the form of a lengthened hoof; and the fourth, the most external
of the series, is similar in character to the third, but of much smaller
dimensions. The head and anterior part are small and delicate, and appear
quite disproportioned to the robust posterior half of the body; and this
disproportion is equally striking, whether the animal assumes an erect
position or crouches forwards upon all fours. In either case the whole
extent of the soles of the posterior feet, which are of great length, is
applied to the surface of the ground. Although differing from all the
Rodent animals in the number of the cutting teeth of the upper jaw, the
Kanguroo has the deep fissure in the upper lip, with which nearly all
that order are furnished, and of which the hare offers a familiar and
proverbial instance.
These singular animals were among the first fruits which accrued to
natural history from the discovery of New South Wales, a country which
has since proved so fertile in new and remarkable forms both of the
animal and vegetable creations. Their natural habits in a wild state
are still, however, very imperfectly known. They appear to live in small
herds, perhaps single families, which are said to submit to the guidance
of the older males, and to inhabit in preference the neighbourhood
of woods and thickets. They are, as might be inferred from the small
size of their mouths and the peculiar character of their teeth, purely
herbivorous, feeding chiefly upon grass and roots. Their flesh is eaten
by the colonists, by whom it is said to be nutritious and savoury,
an assertion which is confirmed by those who have partaken of it in
England. In order to procure this they are frequently hunted in their
native country; but the dogs who are employed in this service sometimes
meet with dangerous wounds, not only from the blows of their powerful
tail, which is their usual weapon of defence, but also from the claws
of their hind feet, with which they have been known to lacerate the
bodies of their assailants in a shocking manner. But, unless when thus
driven to make use of such powers of self-defence as they possess, they
are perfectly harmless and even timid; and, when domesticated, are not
in the least mischievous. In several collections in this country, and
particularly in the Royal Park at Windsor, from which the specimens in
the Menagerie were obtained, they have become almost naturalized, and
appear to be but little affected by the change of climate. When confined
in a small enclosure, they uniformly make their path round its circuit,
seldom crossing it or passing in any other direction except for the
purpose of procuring their food. Their whole appearance, and especially
their mode of progression, is singularly curious and even to a certain
extent ludicrous.
Modern naturalists have attempted to distinguish several species among
the Kanguroos; but as the characters on which these are founded consist
merely in difference of size and slight modifications of colour, a much
more complete acquaintance with them than we yet possess is requisite
before they can safely be adopted. Our specimens are of a brownish gray
above, somewhat lighter beneath, with the extremity of the muzzle, the
back of the ear, the feet, and the upper surface of the tail, nearly
black, and the front of the throat grayish white. Since they have
been confined in the Menagerie, the female has once produced young; a
circumstance by no means unfrequent even in this country among those
which are less restricted of their liberty and are suffered to roam
at large in a meadow or a park. They are fed, like the domesticated
Ruminants, upon green herbage and hay; and are extremely tame and good
tempered.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE AFRICAN PORCUPINE.
_HYSTRIX CRISTATA._ LINN.
Although the Rodent order, next to the Carnivorous, is the most numerous
in species, the Porcupine is the only animal belonging to it which is
at present contained in the Menagerie. The animals of this division,
consisting chiefly of “rats and mice and such small deer,” have indeed,
with some few exceptions, so little of interest for the mere casual
visiter of an exhibition, that it is rarely that they are sought after
unless by the scientific collector. They are at once distinguished
from the Carnivora by the total absence of canine teeth; and have
uniformly two incisors in each jaw, projecting forwards and generally
of considerable size, separated from a variable number of grinders by a
vacant space.
From the other animals of the order the Porcupines are so readily
distinguished by the long and pointed spines with which their body is
armed, that it is unnecessary to dwell on their generic characters. The
common Porcupine, when fully grown, as in the remarkably fine specimen
figured over leaf, measures more than two feet from the tip of the nose
to the origin of the tail. The spines, which are supported by a slender
pedicel, thickly clothe the upper and posterior parts of the body, the
largest being more than a foot in length; they are regularly surrounded
by alternate rings of black and white. The head and neck are crested with
long, bristly, black hairs, forming a kind of mane, and all the rest of
the body is covered with short black hair.
The Porcupine is a native of Africa and the south of Europe; he chooses
for his abode the most arid and solitary situations, and passes the
daytime secluded in the burrows which he digs for his habitation,
quitting them only at night to provide his subsistence, which consists
entirely of vegetable substances. He is a remarkably timid animal, and
never makes use of his formidable weapons except in self-defence; if
alarmed, his spines immediately become erected, and woe be to the enemy
who should dare to attack him open-mouthed when in that posture.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE ASIATIC ELEPHANT.
_ELEPHAS INDICUS._ CUV.
The opportune arrival of a beautiful little Elephant, an animal which has
for some time been a desideratum to the Menagerie, fortunately enables us
to add to our list of subjects that which in all probability presents the
most generally attractive spectacle among the whole class of Mammiferous
Quadrupeds. The strong and peculiar interest which the Elephant possesses
above all other beasts arises in fact not so much from his gigantic bulk
and immense muscular power, as from the high opinion usually entertained
of those intellectual qualities with which he has long been supposed
to be preeminently endowed, and which have rendered him a theme of
exaggerated encomium to the careless observer, while even in some
philosophic minds they have furnished the groundwork on which perverted
ingenuity has built up theory after theory as baseless and imaginary
as the foundation on which they have been made to rest, the reason and
reflection of a brute.
It is on this account that we feel it incumbent upon us, notwithstanding
all that has been written on the subject, to dwell with some little
detail on the natural history of this singular animal; but we shall
nevertheless endeavour to compress our observations within the smallest
possible compass. We shall commence as usual with his zoological
characters, and shall then take a glance at his habits, such as they
appear in a pure state of nature, unfettered by any laws but those
of necessity, and uncontrolled except by the inevitable influence of
the circumstances in which he is placed. And lastly we shall view him
when under the control of man, and reduced to that half-domesticated
condition to which even his stubborn nature is bowed by the application
of those means which man alone can employ, and by which he maintains his
ascendancy as undisputed lord of the creation over the mightiest even
more effectually than over the meanest of its works.
The Elephants belong to the Pachydermatous order, in which they
constitute a family readily distinguishable from the other enormous
beasts which form part of it, the Hippopotamus and the Rhinoceros, by
a combination of characters of the most remarkable description. To the
immense size and clumsy figure of the two last named animals, which
indeed they commonly surpass in both those particulars, they add the
following distinctive zoological characters. Their teeth consist of two
formidable tusks, which, occupying the place of the incisors of the upper
jaw, project forwards in a nearly horizontal direction, generally with
a slight curvature upwards; and of one or occasionally two cheek teeth
of considerable magnitude on each side of each jaw, formed of vertical
layers of bony matter surrounded by enamel, and connected together by
a third substance called cortical. These latter are not, as in almost
all the other Mammalia, renewed for one only time and at a certain age
by the growth of others to supply their places from the cavity of the
jaw beneath them; but, on the contrary, are pushed forwards by the
advance of those which are destined to replace them from behind, and are
renewed, according to the statement of Mr. Corse, no less than eight
times at different periods of the animal’s existence. On each successive
change the number of laminæ of which they are composed is increased, the
earliest not offering more than four, while the later ones frequently
exceed twenty; and it is in consequence of the new teeth generally making
their appearance for some time prior to the total failure of their
predecessors that their number occasionally appears to be double its
proper and more usual amount. The tusks on the contrary admit but of a
single displacement and renewal; the first or milk pair seldom exceeding
two inches in length, and falling out between the first and second year.
The permanent ones which succeed are much larger and more powerful in
the adult male than in the female, and not unfrequently project as much
as two feet. They are well known as furnishing one of the most beautiful
and ornamental productions which the animal kingdom affords, as well as
a valuable article of commerce, in the pure and polished ivory of which
they are formed. They have been known to weigh as much as one hundred and
fifty pounds, but their usual average is from fifty to seventy.
The ears of the Elephant are large, not elevated like those of other
quadrupeds so as to form a kind of trumpet for the reception of sound,
but flattened down upon the side of the head, and forming a broad
and uninterruptedly expanded surface. His eyes, remarkably small in
proportion to his bulk, are sheltered above by a cluster of long hairs,
which, with a few others scattered over the head and still more rarely on
the body, and a kind of brush at the extremity of the tail, constitute
the only covering, if covering it may be called, with which he is
provided. His skin in fact is throughout nearly destitute of hair; but
in return it is, as in the rest of the order, of excessive thickness and
extreme tenacity, insomuch as to be capable of repelling a common musket
ball, which scarcely makes the slightest impression upon its surface.
His feet are enveloped by a large hoof of a callous and almost horny
consistence, and are divided, in the skeleton at least, into five toes,
the extremities only of which, rendered obvious by the nails by which
they are surmounted, are externally visible. On the hind feet the number
of apparent toes varies from three to four.
But of all the peculiarities by which the Elephant is distinguished, the
most singular and at the same time the most useful is the projection
which is formed by the blending and extension of the nose and upper
lip into an elongated and tapering tube, considerably longer than
the head, and truncated at the extremity, where it is surrounded by a
slightly elevated margin, which is prolonged anteriorly and superiorly
into a finger-like appendage of various and invaluable use. This trunk
or proboscis, as it is called, is divided throughout its whole extent
into two equal cavities, which are continuous with the nostrils, but
appear to have no other connexion with the organ of smell than as being
the medium of the passage of odours to the olfactory apparatus, which is
confined within the bones of the head, and is indeed seated much higher
than usual in consequence of the large space occupied by the roots of
the tusks and by the cavities of the maxillary bones. The real uses of
the trunk are far higher and more important; and it is to this unique
and unexampled structure that the Elephant owes whatever superiority he
possesses over other beasts. In general capacity he is inferior to most,
and the intellectual qualities of a dog or a horse are unquestionably
of a far more elevated order; but with the assistance of this curious
organ, with some little sagacity, a tolerable memory, and a certain
degree of docility, the Elephant is enabled to execute such a variety of
actions, either of his own accord or at the command of his keeper, as
have gained him the credit not only of being the cleverest of brutes, but
of possessing qualities of a superior cast and even the divine gift of
reason itself.
The structure of the trunk is entirely muscular, and the fibres of which
it is composed are arranged in such a manner that it is capable of being
inflected in almost any direction; but to twist itself spirally inwards
appears to be its most natural action. In this manner it will grasp with
the utmost firmness, for its strength is fully equal to its flexibility,
whatever it may seize; and it is by this means that the Elephant conveys
his food to his mouth. Being purely herbivorous, but encumbered with
a head and appendages so weighty as to require all the support to be
derived from an excessively short and almost unyielding neck, it would
be utterly impossible for him to browse upon the herbage from which his
sustenance is chiefly derived, and he would consequently run no small
risk of absolute starvation, were it not for this admirable provision,
by means of which he collects and enfolds his food, and conveys it to
his mouth with as much ease and precision as a Monkey would execute the
same motions with his hands. In drinking too the trunk offers the same
facilities and performs the same useful and necessary office. Placing its
extremity in the fluid which he is about to drink, the Elephant pumps up,
or rather inhales, a sufficient quantity to fill its cavities, and then
transferring it to his mouth pours its contents quietly down his throat.
When his thirst is satisfied he will frequently continue the same process
of filling his trunk for the purpose of discharging the liquid contained
in it over his body, an indulgence in which he appears to take no little
pleasure; and will even sometimes amuse himself by directing the fluid to
other objects.
The Asiatic Elephant was until very lately considered as forming one
species with the African, the clear and obvious distinctions which exist
between them never having been noticed until pointed out by M. Cuvier,
notwithstanding that both have been familiarly known for more than two
thousand years to the nations of Europe, the former having formed an
important part of the armament with which Porus withstood the conquering
arms of Alexander, and having been subsequently introduced even into
Italy by Pyrrhus; and the latter, as we may fairly presume, furnishing
those individuals which were employed in the warlike array of the
Carthaginians. The Asiatic animal appears when fully grown to attain a
larger size than the African, the females commonly measuring from seven
to eight, and the males from eight to ten feet in height, and sometimes
weighing six or seven thousand pounds. His head is more oblong, and his
forehead presents in the centre a deep concavity between two lateral and
rounded elevations; that of the African being round and convex in all
its parts. The teeth of the former are composed of transverse vertical
laminæ of equal breadth, while those of the latter form rhomboidal or
lozenge-shaped divisions. The ears of the Asiatic are also smaller and
descend no lower than his neck, and he exhibits four distinct toes on his
hind feet: the African on the contrary is furnished with ears of much
greater size, descending to his legs, and no more than three toes are
visible on his posterior extremities. These differences are so striking
and important, and indeed, so far as regards the form of the head and
the structure of the teeth, so essential, that it is impossible not to
adopt the division which has been founded upon them, and to consider the
natives of the two continents as originally and specifically distinct.
The Asiatic Elephants themselves vary considerably in several minor
particulars, such as the comparative length and thickness of their trunks
and of their tusks, the latter of which are sometimes, even in the males,
of very small dimensions. But these variations are evidently the result
of locality and other fortuitous circumstances, the species appearing
gradually to degenerate as it recedes from the tropics, and to improve as
it advances towards the line. The Elephants of Ceylon are consequently
in the highest esteem for size, beauty, and hardihood, and those of Pegu
are but little inferior to them; while those of the northern districts of
India are held in comparatively trifling estimation.
These animals are by nature sociable, and congregate together in herds,
which frequently amount to more than a hundred. The imposing spectacle
furnished by such a collection of these immense masses of animated matter
may well be imagined. They generally seek the shade of the forest, in
which they find additional means of subsistence in the young shoots of
the trees, which supply the place of other and more congenial herbs.
They frequently issue from it, however, in quest of the latter, and
also to indulge in a propensity possessed by them in common with all
those animals which like them are furnished with thick and almost naked,
or with bristly, skins, that of bathing in the water or wallowing in
the mud. It is for this reason that they are usually met with in the
neighbourhood of large streams, which their great size and the quantity
of fat with which they are commonly loaded enable them to swim with
facility. Their trunk is also extremely serviceable in this operation, as
it enables them to bury as it were the whole of their body beneath the
water, retaining above the surface no more than the extremity of that
organ for the admission and expulsion of the air. After having been for
some time in the water, it is said that their skin loses the dusky hue
by which it is usually distinguished in consequence of the dirt and other
matters with which it is incrusted, and assumes a perfect flesh-colour
marked with numerous round and blackish spots. This natural colour is,
however, lost almost immediately on their reaching the land, when they
uniformly scatter themselves all over by means of their trunk with the
mud or dust which first falls in their way. So fond are they of this
process that they commonly recur to it whenever an opportunity offers.
The bathing appears to be absolutely necessary in order to keep their
skins to a certain extent supple and flexible; for which purpose their
keepers, in captivity, occasionally have recourse to the smearing them
with oil as a substitute.
Like other herbivorous quadrupeds they are, generally speaking, quiet
and harmless, intent solely upon providing for their wants, and never
attacking man or other animals unless provoked or when under the
influence of excitement. In this latter case they make use not only
of their proboscis, which they wield with great dexterity as a weapon
of offence, but also of their tusks, with which they inflict the most
tremendous wounds. Their speed in pursuit corresponds rather with the
cumbrousness than with the magnitude of their frame, the excessive weight
of which soon renders them weary, and compels them to slacken their pace;
which, when urged to the utmost, is barely equal to that of a horse
of moderate fleetness. They will sometimes penetrate in quest of food
into the rice fields and sugar plantations, in which they commit the
most extensive ravages, not so much by the quantity which they consume
as by that which they destroy. The solitary individuals, which are
occasionally met with separate from the general herd, indulge perhaps
more frequently in these excesses than the community, which generally
avoids as much as possible the habitations of man. It has commonly been
imagined that these stray Elephants were the younger and weaker males,
who had been driven from the herd by their more powerful fellows; but
the fact that they are usually adults of the largest size completely
negatives this supposition, and proves that it is of their own free will
that they wander thus alone. They attain their full growth between the
ages of eighteen and twenty-four, and well authenticated instances have
occurred in which they have reached the age of a hundred and thirty
years. Indeed there is reason to believe that their life may be sometimes
prolonged to two centuries.
The usual mode of catching the wild Elephants for the purpose of
domestication has been so often described that it would be superfluous
to repeat it here. It may be sufficient to observe that a herd of them
having been driven by the hunters into an enclosure surrounded by
palisades and ditches, and provided only with a narrow pass by way of
egress, they are there made prisoners one after the other, and attached
to the tame elephants, which are employed on such occasions partly as
decoys and partly as guards over their captive brethren. The necessity
of having recourse to this mode of supplying the wants, or rather of
ministering to the pride, of the sovereigns of the East, both native and
European, who alike regard these animals as the indispensable appendages
of their rank, arises from the circumstance of the breed being very
rarely propagated in captivity; the Hindoos being either too ignorant
or too careless to adopt the requisite measures for securing its
continuance, and relying upon the certainty of being enabled by their
hunting to keep up a sufficient supply. But there can be little doubt,
from what we observe in other animals, that had a domesticated breed of
Elephants existed from the times when their services were first made
available to man, they would have been far superior both in sagacity and
docility to the half-reclaimed individuals at present employed.
It may readily be supposed that the taming of these wild and unwieldy
creatures is a task of no little difficulty and delicacy: but the
experienced keepers by whom it is undertaken seldom fail to execute it
with success. It is effected partly by reducing the strength of the
animal by restricting him in the quantity of his food, by the employment
of caresses or of castigation according to the dispositions he may
manifest, by occasionally indulging him in sweetmeats or in other dainty
fare, and by subjecting him to the control of the tame elephants, and
especially of the females, which are more commonly employed for this
purpose. By the application of these means the space of a fortnight is
generally sufficient to reduce him to a certain degree of tameness, and
in less than six months he is trained to the various exercises which it
is intended that he should perform, and his education is regarded as
complete. They do not, however, always become familiar and habituated to
their new mode of life even within this period of time; for, according
to the statement of Mr. Corse, Elephants have been known to stand
twelve months at their pickets without lying down to sleep; and this is
regarded as a certain sign of want of confidence in their keepers and
of a longing desire to regain their liberty. It is probably to some
such circumstance as this that we are indebted for the erroneous idea so
generally prevalent that these animals always sleep standing; whereas the
truth is, that when perfectly at ease and reconciled to their fate, they
lie down on their sides and sleep like other beasts.
The purposes for which they are commonly employed are rather those of
pomp, of luxury, and of ostentation, than of utility. As a means of
warlike offence they have been, since the introduction of firearms,
absolutely disused; and it is only as beasts of burden that they are
turned to any useful account. In this respect the services of a single
Elephant are equal to those of five or six horses, as they will carry
from fifteen to twenty hundred weight, and travel from forty to fifty
miles a day. They generally consume a hundred weight and a half or two
hundred weight of solid food, and thirty or forty gallons of fluid,
in the course of the day. They are fond of wine, spirits, and other
intoxicating articles, by the attraction of which they are frequently
induced to exert their powers, and to perform various feats of dexterity,
when all other methods have failed to render them tractable. They become
strongly attached to their keepers; but, if irritated by ill usage, their
hatred is as violent as their affection, and is carefully stored up until
a favourable opportunity occurs, when they seldom fail to remember an
insult or an injury, even at very distant periods of time.
With regard to their sagacity much has been written, and many exaggerated
and many incredible stories have been told; but it would appear that
those who have attributed to the Elephant a degree of intelligence
superior to every other beast, have been misled by outward appearances,
and by the natural prepossession arising from his gigantic and imposing
figure. Without his trunk, upon the singular and admirable structure of
which most of that skill and dexterity which have been regarded as the
result of mental reflection is entirely dependent, he would be, in all
probability, as very a brute as the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, or the
hog. By means of that organ, however, he unquestionably acquires the
capacity of performing feats of which other animals are incapable; but
here his superiority ends. In intelligence, as in docility, he is far
inferior to the dog; and many other quadrupeds might fairly compete with
him in both. Thus to turn a key in a lock, to push back a bolt, to untie
a rope, to uncork a bottle, to search in the pockets of his keepers for
apples or oranges, these and many other tricks of a similar kind, for
which he is famous, are evidently nothing more than mechanical actions,
to the performance of which he is stimulated, like other beasts, at first
by the promise of reward or the fear of chastisement, and afterwards
by the mere force of habit. In like manner the dexterity with which he
learns to load and unload himself, or to place a man or child upon his
back by means of his trunk, without offering them the slightest injury;
and on the other hand the precision with which he is made to execute the
will of the Asiatic despot on the unhappy victims of his displeasure, by
seizing them and casting them beneath his feet, to be there dispatched,
according to the tenor of the orders which he receives, either with a
single crush, or with all the horrors of a lingering death; these also
are actions of no higher order than many other animals are equally
capable of in a moral point of view, although not so well fitted for them
by physical conformation.
In conclusion we have only to add that the fine little Elephant from
which our figure was taken appears from his dimensions and from the very
small size of his tusks to be little more than three years old. He is
extremely good tempered, and became reconciled to his situation almost
from the very moment of his arrival.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE ZEBRA OF THE PLAINS.
_EQUUS BURCHELLII._
The well known group of which the Horse, the Ass, and the Zebra
constitute the leading species, is distinguished from all other
quadrupeds by the form of their hoof, which is single and undivided,
rounded in front, of considerable thickness, and enveloping the extremity
of their only apparent toe. They have in each jaw six powerful cutting
teeth, accompanied on either side by the same number of grinders with
square crowns flattened at the top: the males have two canines in the
upper jaw, and frequently in the lower also; and this structure is
sometimes shared by the females of the domesticated races. Between
the canines and the molars there is a vacant space, which, our
readers scarcely need to be reminded, receives the bit, the small but
irresistible instrument by means of which man has for ages exercised
the most complete control over the services of these useful animals.
Although purely and essentially herbivorous, their anatomy, as well as
their habits, separates them most thoroughly from the Ruminants, and
approximates them in several respects to the Pachydermatous order, with
which, in spite of their many discrepancies, both physical and moral, M.
Cuvier has associated them. It is needless to point out the incongruity
of this union, and it would be equally so to say more of the general form
and external characteristics of a group, the principal species of which
are so constantly before our eyes.
It may, however, be observed, that it has been proposed to divide it
into two distinct genera, the one containing the Horse alone, and
characterized by the flowing tail uniformly covered with long hair, by
the absence of a line of darker coloured hairs along the back, and by
the presence of callous protuberances on the hind legs as well as on the
fore: the other comprehending the Asses and Zebras, and distinguished
by the tail having a brush of long hairs at its extremity only, by the
presence of the dorsal line, and the absence of the protuberances on the
posterior legs. Such a division, resting as it does on striking but not
very essential differences, may fairly be admitted for the purpose of
separating the genus into sections; but can hardly be regarded as founded
on characters of sufficient importance to disunite so well marked and
strongly connected, as well as so limited, a group. In the same paper
in which this new arrangement was proposed, the beautiful animal which
we have now to describe was first specifically distinguished by Mr. Gray
from the Common Zebra, with which it had previously been confounded,
and characterized by him under the name of the Asinus Burchellii. Still
there exists so much confusion between the two Zebras, many naturalists
falling into the same error with Mr. Burchell, who first remarked the
distinction between them, and regarding the present animal as the Zebra
of zoologists, and the common one in reality as the new species; while
others have absolutely counterchanged a part of the characters of each,
and thus made confusion worse confounded; that we cannot do better than
describe with some little detail the markings of the individual now
before us.
The ground colour of its whole body is white, interrupted by a regular
series of broad black stripes extending from the back across the sides,
with narrower and fainter ones intervening between each. Over the
haunches and shoulders these stripes form a kind of bifurcation, between
the divisions of which there are a few transverse lines of the same
colour; but these suddenly and abruptly cease, and are not continued
on the legs, which are perfectly white. Along the back there is a
narrow longitudinal line, bordered on each side with white. The mane
is throughout broadly and deeply tipped with black, and is marked by a
continuation of the transverse bands of the neck. The lines of the face
are narrow and beautifully regular; from the centre of the forehead they
radiate downwards over the eyes; along the front of the muzzle they are
longitudinal, the outer ones having a curve outwards; and on the sides
they form broader transverse bands. From the confluence of these bands
on the extremity of the muzzle, the nose, and the lower lip, those parts
become of a nearly uniform blackish brown. The tail is white: there is no
longitudinal ventral line: and a large black patch occupies the posterior
part of the ear near the tip. The hoofs are moderately large, deep in
front, shallow behind, and much expanded at their margin.
Of the habits of these animals in a state of nature we know but little.
They inhabit the flat parts near the Cape of Good Hope, the common Zebra
being confined to the mountains. All the attempts that have been made to
domesticate either the one or the other, and to render them serviceable,
have hitherto failed; but there seems no good reason why they should not,
with proper management, be brought as completely under subjection as the
other species of the genus. The subject of the present article, which has
now been about two years in the Menagerie, will suffer a boy to ride her
about the yard, and is frequently allowed to run loose through the Tower,
with a man by her side, whom she does not attempt to quit except to run
to the Canteen, where she is occasionally indulged with a draught of ale,
of which she is particularly fond.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE LLAMA.
_LLAMA PERUVIANA._ CUV.
In common with the Camels, the Llamas are distinguished from all other
Ruminating animals chiefly by the absence of horns, by the structure of
their feet, and by their mode of dentition, in all of which these two
closely allied groups very nearly correspond with each other. In their
general form there is also some similarity; but the latter are much
lighter in their proportions, and far more lively and spirited in their
motions. They exhibit no traces of the clumsy and unsightly humps which
disfigure the backs of the former, and their necks and limbs, of greater
comparative length, appear to be far less oppressed by the superincumbent
weight of the head and body, which are consequently maintained in a more
upright and graceful position. The principal difference in their internal
structure consists in the want of that extensive appendage to the first
stomach, which renders the Camel so peculiarly valuable in situations
where water is with difficulty procured, by enabling him to lay in at
once a sufficient stock of that indispensable necessary to supply his
wants for many days. But even without this appendage the Llamas are
observed to be by no means so much exposed to frequent thirst as the
generality of animals, and to drink but rarely and in moderate quantity.
The feet of the Camels and of the Llamas are very different in form
from those of all the other Ruminants. They are, it is true, deeply
divided, like those of the latter, into two apparent toes; but cannot be
said, like them, to part the hoof, for they have no real hoof, and the
extremities of their protruded toes are armed only with short, thick,
and crooked claws. These toes are in the Camels united posteriorly by
a horny process, which is wanting in the Llamas. The teeth of both are
nearly similar: they consist of six incisors in the lower jaw and two in
the upper; of two canines in each; and of six molars in the upper, and
five in the lower, on each side. None of the other Ruminants exhibit the
least appearance of cutting teeth in the upper jaw. The nostrils of both
consist externally of mere fissures in the skin, which may be opened
and closed at pleasure, and which are surrounded by a naked muzzle; and
their upper lip is divided into two distinct portions, which are very
extensible, and capable of much separate motion.
The species of the group, of which the Llama forms the type, have
been involved by the imperfect descriptions of naturalists in almost
inextricable confusion. No less than five have been admitted; but the
variations of colour and of size, and the degree of length and fineness
of the wool, differences rather commercial than natural, afford almost
the only positive distinctions that have yet been laid down between them;
and when we consider that some of them have been for ages in a state of
domestication, it will readily be allowed that such characters as these
are, to say the least, trivial and uncertain. Our animals, which are
nearly four feet in height at the shoulder, and somewhat more than five
feet to the top of the head, have the neck, the back, the sides, and
the tail, which is rather short, covered with a beautiful coat of long,
bright brown, woolly hair. The long and pointed ears, and the small and
attenuated head, on which the hair is short, close, and even, are of
a grayish mouse-colour; the outside of the legs is of the same colour
with the sides of the body; and their inside, as also the under part
of the body and the throat, pure white. The hair on the limbs is short
and smooth. In these respects they offer but little to distinguish them
from any of the animals which have been exhibited in this country under
the various names of Llamas, Pacos, and Guanacos. There is, however, at
present in the Garden of the Zoological Society, an animal, which besides
being of larger size, covered with longer and coarser wool, and entirely
white (which latter circumstance may be purely accidental), differs
remarkably in the form of the forehead, which in it is perfectly flat,
while in our animals it rises in a strong curve. This character, it is
probable, affords a permanent ground of distinction, although we venture
not at present to speak decidedly respecting it.
The Llamas congregate together in considerable herds on the sides of
the Andes, and generally in the colder and more elevated regions. When
the Spaniards first arrived in Peru they were the only beasts of burden
employed by the natives; and even at the present day, when horses have
become so excessively common, they are usually preferred for passing the
mountains, on which their sureness of footing, exceeding even that of
the mule, gives them a manifest superiority. Generally speaking they are
quiet, docile and timid; but they occasionally exhibit much spitefulness,
especially if teased or ill treated. Their mode of evincing this is very
peculiar, and consists in darting their saliva through their nostrils
with considerable force. Like all the other Ruminants they subsist
entirely on vegetables. Those in the Tower Menagerie have a particular
fondness for carrots; and if one of these is abstracted from them while
they are eating, their anger is immediately roused, and they spit, as
it is termed, with the greatest vehemence, covering with their saliva a
surface of three or four yards in extent. One of the animals in the cut
is represented in the act.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE MALAYAN RUSA-DEER.
_CERVUS EQUINUS._ CUV.
The Deer constitute a numerous and beautiful group of Ruminants, which
are readily distinguished by the graceful symmetry of their form, by
their long and slender, but firm and sinewy, legs, by their broad and
pointed ears, and by the comparative shortness of their tails; but more
especially by the generally large and branching horns which ornament the
heads of the males. Like all the ruminating animals, with the exception
of those mentioned in the preceding article, they are furnished with
eight cutting-teeth in the lower jaw, opposed to a callous and toothless
surface in the upper; and with expanded, flat, and deeply bifurcated
hoofs, constituting two distinct and apparent toes, above which they
have also the rudiments of two others. Some of the species have canine
teeth in the upper jaw, generally in the males alone; and they have all
six molars on each side. In the greater number of them the nostrils are
surrounded by a naked muzzle; and most of them are also provided with a
sinus or sac, of greater or less extent, immediately beneath the inner
angle of the eye, called the sub-orbital sinus, the _larmier_ of the
French zoologists.
The horns, which form the most distinguishing character of the genus, are
perfectly solid throughout their whole extent. Their form varies very
considerably in the different races; but they are constantly uniform in
the same species, unless accidentally or artificially perverted from
their natural growth. In some they are simple at the base and terminate
in a broad and palmate expansion, which is variously lobed and divided;
in others they are more or less branched, giving off antlers in different
directions; and in some few they are short and nearly simple. They
fall off and are renewed annually in all the species which inhabit the
northern and temperate regions of the earth, and in those in which they
attain any considerable size; but Sir T. Stamford Raffles was of opinion,
and his opinion has been in some measure confirmed by the observations of
Major C. Hamilton Smith, that several of the tropical species with small
and nearly simple horns are exempted from this general law. The horns are
smaller and less developed in the young than in the full grown and adult
animal, and diminish again in size, and frequently become irregular, as
he advances in age. In one species alone, the Rein-Deer of the North, the
female wears the same palmy honours with the male; but they do not in
her reach the same enormous extent.
The high degree of domestication to which this latter species has been
brought, and the invaluable services which it renders to the Laplander,
added to the tranquil content which most of the deer manifest in a
state of captivity, afford sufficient proofs that there is nothing
in the constitution of the group repugnant to their being tamed and
familiarized with man; but from none of the other races have any real or
essential advantages been as yet derived. The quiet confidence, mixed
with a certain air of cautious timidity, which they exhibit in their
half-restricted state, in the park or the chase, where they are kept
more for ornament than use, is perfectly indicative of their general
character. But the very mildness of their disposition has been turned to
their disadvantage, and one of the gentlest of animals, because endowed
by nature with a high degree of fleetness, with some sagacity, and with
a certain share of timidity, has been marked out by man as the chosen
victim of his cruelty, disguised under the captivating name of sport.
The Samboo Deer, as the present species is called by his keepers, belongs
to the Rusa group, which are distinguished from the rest of the genus by
their horns being provided with a single antler at the base, and with a
lateral snag which forms a kind of bifurcation towards the extremity.
They are usually of large stature and nearly uniform colours, and are,
for the most part, furnished with a rough and shaggy mane, a broad and
expanded muzzle, and sub-orbital openings of considerable size. The
handsome Stag now before us is dark cinereous brown above, nearly black
on the throat and breast, and light fawn, intermixed with dirty white,
on the inside of the limbs. His eyes are surrounded by a fawn-coloured
disc, and patches of the same colour occupy the fore knees, and a space
above each of the hoofs in front. His nose, which is black, is enveloped
in an extensive muzzle; his ears are nearly naked on the inside, and
marked by a patch of dirty white at the base externally; and his mane,
which spreads downwards over the neck and throat, is remarkably thick and
heavy. His tail is black above, and light fawn beneath; and a disc of the
latter colour occupies the posterior part of the buttocks, having on each
side a blackish line which separates it from the lighter tinge of the
inside of the thighs. His horns, when properly grown, consist of a broad
burr, from which the pointed basal antler rises almost perpendicularly
to the extent of nine or ten inches; of a stem, which is first directed
outwards, and then forms a bold curve inwards; and of a snag, or second
antler of smaller size, arising from the stem near its extremity on the
posterior and internal side, and forming with it a terminal fork, the
branch however being shorter than the stem, and not exceeding five or six
inches in length. The entire length of the horns is about two feet; they
are of a dark colour, very strong, and deeply furrowed throughout.
The foregoing description of the horns, it should be observed, is taken
from those of the year before last, which were of the genuine or normal
form. Those of the last year, which are represented in the cut prefixed,
were from some cause or other remarkably different, that of the right
side especially exhibiting a singular monstrosity in the production of
additional branches of irregular form. Whether this was the effect
of disease or of advancing age, or whether it arose solely from some
temporary and accidental cause, will probably be determined by the growth
of the present year, which is not yet sufficiently advanced to enable us
to ascertain its probable form.
With regard to the sub-orbital sinus, which in this and all the
neighbouring species is of very considerable size, its uses are evidently
connected with the function of respiration, and probably also with the
sense of smell. It is denoted externally by a longitudinal fissure,
placed beneath the inner angle of each of the eyes, and leading into a
sac or cavity, which in some cases communicates internally with the nose;
and its inner surface is lined by a membrane abundantly supplied with
follicles for the secretion of mucus, which is sometimes produced in very
large quantities. This latter circumstance has induced some naturalists
to regard these openings as mere cuticular appendages. That they really,
in some species at least, communicate with the nostrils, is proved by the
observations of Mr. White of Selbourne, who states that in consequence
of this communication the Fallow-Deer are enabled to take long-continued
draughts with their noses deeply immersed in the water, the air in the
mean time passing through the sub-orbital slits. So singular a statement
was naturally enough doubted and called in question; but it has never,
so far as we know, been impugned on ocular testimony; while it has
received the fullest confirmation from other observations made upon the
very species now under consideration, in which the air passing from the
sub-orbital sinus, while the animal drinks, may be felt by the hand, and
even affects the flame of a candle. Another proof of the connexion of
these cavities with the nose is derived from the fact that the animals
which are provided with them frequently apply their orifices, equally
with those of the nostrils, to the food which they are about to take,
opening and shutting them with great rapidity.
The subject of the present article, which, like all the rest of the minor
group of which he forms a part, is a native of India and of the Indian
Islands, was a present to his Majesty, who kept him for some time, in
company with another of the same species, at large in the great park
at Windsor. As both, however, happened to be males, they disagreed so
violently, and their quarrels at length rose to such a pitch, that in
order to preserve peace it was found absolutely necessary to separate
them; and our animal, as the most outrageous of the two, was dismissed
the royal service, and condemned to the captivity of the Tower. Since
this period he has become exceedingly tame, the cause of his former ill
temper being removed, and demeans himself as quietly as the most harmless
and gentlest of his tribe.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE INDIAN ANTELOPE.
_ANTILOPE CERVICAPRA._ PALL.
In the elegant symmetry of their form and the light and graceful agility
of their motions, the Antelopes are superior even to the Deer, whom,
however, they closely resemble, not merely in outward shape, but also
in internal structure. Like them, in addition to the coincidence of a
slightly made and beautifully proportioned figure, they are frequently
furnished with a naked muzzle, and with the same remarkable sinus beneath
the inner angle of the eye; and their ears are generally of considerable
size, erect, and pointed. But they are strikingly distinguished from them
and from all the other animals of the order by the peculiar character
of their horns, which are formed of an elastic sheath enclosing a
solid nucleus, and are for the most part common to the females as well
as to the males. They have no canine teeth, and exhibit no appearance
of a beard such as is seen in the Goats. The horns vary greatly in the
different races; they are sometimes straight and upright, at other times
slightly curved, and frequently spirally twisted with the most beautiful
regularity: they are usually surrounded by elevated rings or by a spiral
ridge, are constantly of the same form in the same species, and are not
subject to an annual falling off and renewal, as in the Deer, from which
they differ also in their mode of growth, the horns of the latter group
lengthening at their apices, while those of the former receive their
increase at the base.
In their natural habits the numerous species of which this group
is composed approach very closely to the Deer; there is, however,
considerable variety in their mode of life. They inhabit almost every
description of country; the sandy desert, the open plain, the thicket,
the forest, the mountain, and the precipice, being, each in its turn, the
favourite haunt of the different races; but, with the exception of a few
species, they do not advance much beyond the limits of the tropics. The
smaller ones usually prefer a solitary life, but the larger, for the most
part, congregate together in herds, which are generally few in number.
In their manners they exhibit much of that cautious vigilance and easily
startled timidity, combined with a certain degree of occasional boldness
and not a little curiosity, which are the natural consequences of their
wild and unrestricted habits, of their trivial means of defence against
the numerous enemies to whose attacks they are exposed, and of the
unequalled fleetness of their speed. In some this latter quality consists
of a continued and uniform gallop, which in others is interrupted at
every third or fourth stroke by a long and generally a lofty bound,
producing a beautiful effect by its constant and rapid recurrence.
The Indian Antelope, of which the specimen in the Tower constitutes
a remarkable and highly interesting variety, is not only one of the
most beautiful, but also the most celebrated species of the group. It
occupies the place of Capricorn in the Indian Zodiac, and is consecrated
to the service of Chandra or the Moon. In size and form it closely
resembles the Gazelle of the Arabs, the well known emblem of maiden
beauty, typified, according to the poets, in the elastic lightness of its
bound, the graceful symmetry of its figure, and the soft lustre of its
full and hazel eye. From this truly elegant creature our Antelope is,
however, essentially distinguished by several striking characters. Its
horns, which are peculiar to the male, are spirally twisted, and form,
when fully grown, three complete turns; they are closely approximated
to each other at the base, but diverge considerably as they proceed
upwards. They occasionally attain a length of nearly two feet, and are
surrounded throughout by elevated and close-set rings. The two horns
taken together have frequently been compared to the branches of a double
lyre. The extremity of the nose is bare, forming a small and moist
muzzle; the sub-orbital openings are larger and more distinct than in
almost any other species; and the ears are pointed and of moderate size.
The natural colours vary with the age of the animal, but correspond in
general pretty closely with those of the common deer. They may be shortly
described as fawn above and whitish beneath, becoming deeper with age,
and lighter in the females than in the males. The occasional stripes of
a lighter or darker colour, which are generally visible on various parts
of the body, can scarcely be considered as occurring with sufficient
regularity to allow of their being described as characteristic of the
species.
But for these shades of colour, or for any other, we should look in
vain in the animal of the Tower Menagerie, which, in consequence of a
particular conformation, not unfrequent in some species of animals, and
occasionally met with even in the human race, is perfectly and purely
white. In order to explain this phenomenon, which is one of the most
curious, but at the same time one of the most simple in physiology, it
is necessary to observe that there exists beneath the epidermis, or
outer covering of the skin, both in man and animals, a peculiar membrane
of very fine and delicate texture, which is scarcely visible in the
European but sufficiently obvious in the Negro, termed by anatomists the
rete mucosum. In this net-work is secreted, from the extremities of the
minute vessels which terminate upon its surface, a mucous substance which
varies in colour according to the complexion of the individual, of the
varieties in which it is the immediate cause; and from the substance thus
secreted the colouring matter of the hairs and of the iris is derived.
The pure whiteness then of the covering of the animal in question, and
of all those which exhibit a similar variation from their natural tinge,
is attributable solely to the absence of this secretion from whatever
cause. It is always accompanied, as in the present instance, by a redness
of the eyes, arising from the blood-vessels of the iris being exposed
to view in consequence of the want of the usual coating formed by this
secretion, by which they are naturally protected from the too great
influence of the light. In the human race the individuals who are thus
afflicted, characterized by the dull whiteness of their skins, the deep
redness of their eyes, and their colourless, or, as it is generally
termed, flaxen, hair, are called Albinos. They are generally timid in
disposition, languid in character, and weak both in mind and body. The
same original conformation, for it is always born with the individual and
never acquired in after life, although sometimes prolonged beyond its
limits in the shape of an hereditary legacy, is common to many animals.
Perhaps the most familiar instances among these are the white mice, the
white rabbits, and the white pigeons, which are known to every one. But
it has also been occasionally seen in many other species, as monkeys,
squirrels, moles, pigs, and even cows and horses, and, to come a little
closer to our present subject, in goats and deer. Not even that massive
and stupendous beast the Elephant is exempted from its influence. It can
hardly be necessary to recall to the reader the title on which the ruler
of millions of not uncivilized Asiatics, the Burmese monarch, prides
himself more than on any other, inasmuch as it is the emblem of power and
prosperity, that of Lord of the White Elephant; a title, which, while it
demonstrates the fact of the existence of this deviation in the Elephant
as well as in other animals, proves also the extreme rarity of its
occurrence. It has moreover been noticed in many species of birds.
The present species of Antelope is spread over the whole of the Peninsula
of Hindoostan and a part of Persia; but it is questionable whether it has
been found in Africa, as is commonly asserted. They are said to bound
with apparent ease over a distance of from twenty-five to thirty feet,
and mounting to the height of ten or twelve. It is consequently useless
to attempt to chase them in the common mode with hounds; and their
pursuit is restricted to the higher nobility, who employ for the purpose
either hawks, who pounce upon their quarry and detain it until the dogs
can come up, or Chetahs, who attack them by surprise in the manner before
described.
The elegant Albino now in the Tower was brought from Bombay by Captain
Dalrymple of the Vansittart, and remained for a considerable time at
Sand Pit Gate, where it was an especial favourite with his Majesty, as
well on account of the gentleness of its disposition, as for its rarity
and beauty. It bears its confinement in the Menagerie with perfect
resignation, and is remarkable for the mildness and tranquillity of its
deportment.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE AFRICAN SHEEP.
_OVIS ARIES._ LINN.--Var. _GUINEENSIS._
In characterizing the present genus, were we to look solely at the
animal such as we have it daily before our eyes, the distinction between
it and all the other Ruminants is too striking to be for a moment
mistaken. But the insensible gradations which connect this familiar
denizen of our downs and pastures with the untamed native of the desert
and the precipice, and the close affinity which subsists between the
latter and the goats, render it almost impossible to isolate them by
any satisfactory characters. On the present occasion we shall content
ourselves with observing that the sheep may generally be distinguished by
the direction of their horns, by the elevation of their profile, and by
their want of beard: characters neither essential nor infallible, but the
best that can be offered.
The variety figured over leaf is in one of the many intermediate stages
between unreclaimed barbarism and complete domestication. It is an
awkward looking creature, high on the legs, narrow in the loins, and
covered with a rough and shaggy coat. The back and sides are nearly
black; the shoulders reddish brown; and the posterior part of the body,
the haunches, the hind legs, and the tail, white; as are also the ears,
which are rather large, the nose, and a spot over each eye. The horns,
although the specimen is a male, are remarkably small, and enclose the
ears within their curve. If the ears are freed from their confinement,
the animal becomes very uneasy, and never rests until he has succeeded
in replacing them, which he cannot accomplish without considerable
difficulty. He was presented to the Menagerie by Lord Liverpool about six
years ago, and is extremely mild in his temper.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE GREAT SEA-EAGLE.
_HALIAETOS OSSIFRAGUS._ SAV.
THE GOLDEN EAGLE.
_AQUILA CHRYSAETOS._ SAV.
Having in the preceding article terminated the series of Mammiferous
Quadrupeds at present existing in the Tower Menagerie, we must next
direct our attention to the illustration of the Birds, a Class which,
although fully entitled to the second place in the arrangement of the
Animal Kingdom, is separated by a wide and almost unoccupied interval
from that which unquestionably claims the foremost rank.
To commence then with the Eagles, which form a prominent group of the
Rapacious Order, and are universally regarded as the most majestic, as
well as the most powerful, of birds. In common with the whole Order,
they are remarkable for the strong incurvation of their bill and talons,
the latter of which are four in number on each of the feet, and are
moved by means of a thick and strong muscular apparatus, which gives
to the grasp of the larger species that extreme tenacity by which they
are distinguished, enabling them to seize and carry off fish and birds,
and even quadrupeds of moderate size. This innate propensity to rapine,
derived from their peculiar conformation which renders them essentially
flesh-eaters, indicates at once the analogical relationship borne by the
Rapacious Birds to the Carnivorous Quadrupeds; and the high degree to
which it is carried by the Eagles, their vast powers of flight, their
towering majesty, their irresistible might, their uniform preference of
living victims and rejection of the offal, render them superior to all
other birds, in the same proportion as the Lion is allowed to take the
lead among mammiferous quadrupeds.
The Eagles, properly so called, are characterized by a head covered with
plumage and flattened above; eyes large, lateral, and deep-seated; a
bill of great strength, arched and hooked at its extremity alone, and
furnished at its base with a naked membrane, called the cere, in which
the openings of the nostrils are situated; the wings broad and powerful;
the tarsus, or that joint of each leg which is immediately above the
toes, strong, short, and covered with feathers down to the very base; the
toes thick and naked, three of them pointing forwards, and the fourth
constantly directed backwards; and the talons of great power and strongly
curved. The Golden Eagle, which occupies the right hand in the cut, is
frequently three feet and a half in length from the extremity of the
beak to that of the tail. His general colour is blackish brown both above
and below, assuming on the legs a grayish or sometimes a reddish tinge.
His beak is bluish black, covered at the base by a yellow cere; and
his toes, which are also yellow, terminate in strong black talons, the
posterior one of which frequently attains an enormous length. He is met
with throughout the Old Continent, and more especially within the limits
of the temperate zone, building his aiery, which he shares with a single
female, in the clefts of the loftiest rock, or among the topmost branches
of the alpine forest. From this retreat he towers aloft in search of his
prey, which he pursues by sight alone, subsisting principally on other
birds and on the smaller quadrupeds, which he carries off in his powerful
clutch. When his hunger is extreme he sometimes pounces upon the larger
animals; but in such circumstances he is compelled to content himself
with sucking their blood upon the spot, and with stripping off portions
of their flesh, on which to satiate his appetite at home. Instances have
been known of his attaining in captivity to an age of more than a hundred
years.
The principal distinguishing mark of the group which has been separated
under the name of the Sea-Eagles, consists in the plumage of the tarsus,
which in the latter extends only half way down, the lower part being
consequently left entirely bare. The species figured on the left, at the
head of this article, is commonly more than three feet in length, and
the expansion of his wings measures seven or eight feet. His bill is
usually of a bluish black colour towards the extremity, and yellow at
the base. His general hue is blackish brown, deeper above than beneath,
and relieved on the breast and under parts by numerous white spots. The
larger feathers of his wings are nearly black; but those of the tail are
not so deeply tinged. The naked portion of the legs, as also the toes,
are covered with bright yellow scales; and the talons are of a bright
black.
The Great Sea-Eagle is a native of the Northern Hemisphere, in the colder
regions of which he appears to be most at home. He builds his nest in
similar situations with the last, but prefers the neighbourhood of the
sea, or of lakes and rivers, over which he is frequently to be seen,
especially in the morning and towards nightfall, hovering in quest of
prey, and pouncing down upon the fish which rise to the surface, or even
diving after those which are visible beneath. These form his principal
sustenance; but he seldom suffers flesh or fowl to escape him if they
chance to fall in his way. His flight is less rapid and less lofty than
that of the Golden Eagle; and he neither perceives his prey at such a
distance, nor pursues it with such pertinacity.
The noble birds which illustrate the present article were presents from
the Marchioness of Londonderry.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE BEARDED GRIFFIN.
_GYPAETOS BARBATUS._ STORR.
The Bearded Griffin takes an intermediate station between the Eagles
and the Vultures, with the former of which it agrees more closely in
general appearance and external form, and with the latter in internal
structure and habits. The principal point in which it differs from them
both consists in the tuft of bristly hairs which take their origin partly
from the cere that covers the base of the beak, and partly from the under
mandible, and are directed outwards and downwards in such a manner as
to give rise to that appearance from which the bird has received his
epithet of Bearded. His beak is strongly arched at the extremity, and
is remarkable for its great vertical thickness, more especially at the
point where the curvature commences. His head, flat like that of the
Eagle, is covered with short feathers, which are of a dirty white; and
his eyes are nearly on the same plane with the surface of his head. The
general tint of his plumage is blackish brown above and grayish fawn
beneath, and his legs are feathered with the latter colour down to the
very toes, which are long and grayish. His claws are of moderate length
and curved; but the force of his clutch is far inferior to that of the
Eagles.
The Bearded Griffin is the largest European bird of prey, and builds its
aiery among the loftiest precipices of nearly all the alpine chains of
the Old Continent. Here it displays the tyranny, but not the courage, of
the Eagle, attacking such living animals only as are likely to fall an
easy prey, and gorging in troops with all the rapacity of Vultures upon
the most corrupted carrion.
The individual figured is a fine specimen, but is not yet in perfect
plumage.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE GRIFFON VULTURE.
_VULTUR FULVUS._ LINN.
If the Eagles are considered as bearing a close analogy to the more
noble and perfect among the Carnivorous Quadrupeds, such as the Lion and
the Tiger, which live in solitary grandeur and attack none but living
victims, the Vultures may, with equal propriety, be regarded as the
representatives of the Jackal, the Wolf, the Hyæna, and other inferior
animals of that Order, which hunt in packs and prey upon carrion. Endowed
like these animals with an extreme fineness of scent, they are attracted
by the smell of dead, and more especially of putrid, carcases, at an
immense and almost incredible distance; and usually assemble in vast
numbers to glut themselves upon the disgusting banquet on the field
of recent battle, or wherever the work of carnage has been carried
to any great extent. Under such circumstances, however horrible that
propensity may appear which leads them to prey upon the unburied corpses,
they unquestionably fulfil a wise provision of nature by removing from
the surface of the earth a mass of corruption and putridity which in
the warmer climates where they abound would otherwise taint the very
atmosphere, and might possibly give rise to diseases still more fatal
in their effects than the malignant passions of man himself, from which
the destruction sprung. But although such a scene affords the greatest
scope for the indulgence of their depraved appetites, and consequently
congregates them together in the largest numbers, it is happily of rare
occurrence, and their usual subsistence is derived from the bodies of
dead animals. To these they are attracted by the smell, and frequently in
flocks so numerous as actually to cover and conceal the object of their
attack, from which they tear away large gobbets, and swallow them entire
and with insatiable avidity, never ceasing while yet a morsel remains.
It is only when hard pressed by hunger that they venture to attack a
living creature; and their ravages of this kind are always confined to
the peaceful and timid denizens of the poultry-yard. They never carry off
their victims in their talons, but uniformly devour them upon the spot;
and even that portion of their prey which they transport to their young
is first swallowed, and afterwards disgorged in the nest.
These peculiarities of habit, by which the Vultures are strikingly
contrasted not merely with the Eagles, but even with the smallest of
the Falcon tribe, are the necessary result of their organisation. Their
beak, it is true, is like that of the Eagles strongly curved at the
point alone, and they also possess all the technical characters of the
Rapacious Order; but their talons are far inferior, both in size and in
the degree of their curvature, and they are consequently unable to grasp
their prey with sufficient force to transport it through the air. Their
diminished power of flight renders them incapable of soaring upwards
to search abroad with piercing eye for the objects of their rapacity;
and they are therefore left dependent upon the acute sensibility of
their nostrils, which amply supplies the deficiency. Of the external
characters which they exhibit the most remarkable is derived from the
want of plumage on the head and neck, which are covered in the greater
number of the species by nothing more than a sort of down or by short and
smooth hairs. The object of this provision appears to be to enable them
to bury as it were their heads in the carrion on which they feed, without
exposing their plumage to be soiled by the filth which it might otherwise
contract. Their eyes are placed on a level with their cheeks; their heads
are rounded above; they have most frequently a ruff of considerable
extent round the lower part of their necks; and their legs are usually
bare of feathers and covered with large scales. Their very attitudes
offer the most perfect contrast to those of the Eagles; the latter
constantly maintaining a bold upright posture, with their wings closely
pressed to their sides, and their tails elevated, while the Vultures on
the contrary are always seen bending forwards in a crouching position,
with their wings depressed and separated from their bodies, and their
tails trailing upon the ground.
The Griffon Vulture is equal in size to the larger species of Eagle;
his head and neck are covered with short white down, and the latter is
ornamented at its base with an extensive ruff of long feathers of a
clear and brilliant white. The plumage of the body is reddish gray; the
quill-feathers of the wings and tail are of a blackish brown; and the
beak and claws are nearly black. He is a native of the greater part of
Europe and of Asia, and inhabits during the summer the more elevated
regions of the two continents, building his nest in the rocks and among
inaccessible precipices. In the winter he is said to migrate to warmer
and more temperate climes. His habits are precisely those of the rest of
the group to which he belongs.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE SECRETARY BIRD.
_GYPOGERANUS SERPENTARIUS._ ILLIG.
The singular conformation of this bird, so different in many respects
from that of the Order to which both in its leading characters and in
its habits it obviously belongs, rendered it for a long time one of the
torments of ornithologists, who puzzled themselves in vain to assign it a
definitive place in the system, and could not agree even with regard to
the grand division of the class to which it ought to be referred. Thus M.
Temminck was at one time inclined to refer it to the Gallinaceous Order;
and M. Vieillot, after repeatedly changing his mind upon the subject,
at last arranged it among the Waders, with which it has absolutely
nothing in common except the length of its legs. It appears, however,
to be now almost universally admitted that its closest affinity is with
the Vultures, with which it agrees in the most essential particulars
of its organization, and from which it differs chiefly in certain
external characters alone, which unquestionably give to it an aspect
exceedingly distinct, but are not of themselves of sufficient importance
to authorize its removal to a distant part of the classification. It
constitutes in fact one of those mixed and aberrant forms by means of
which the arbitrary divisions of natural objects established by man
are so frequently assimilated to each other in the most beautiful, and
occasionally in the most unexpected, manner.
The principal generic characters of the Secretary consist in the form
of his beak, which is shorter than the head, thick, and curved nearly
from the very base, where it is covered with a cere; in the long and
unequal feathers which take their origin from the back of his head, and
are susceptible of elevation and depression; in the naked skin which
surrounds his eye, and which is shaded by a series of hairs in the form
of an eyebrow; in the great length and slenderness of his tarsi, which
form his most striking characteristic in an Order remarkable for a
structure exactly the reverse; and in the shortness of his toes, which
are terminated by blunted talons of little comparative size or curvature.
The only known species measures upwards of three feet in length. Its
plumage, when in a perfect state, is for the most part of a bluish gray,
with a shade of reddish brown on the wings, the large quill-feathers of
which are black. The throat and breast are nearly white, and the rest
of the under surface of the body offers a mixture of black, red, and
white, the plumage of the legs being of a bright black, intermingled
with scarcely perceptible brownish rays. The plumes of the crest which
ornaments the back of the head, and from the supposed resemblance of
which to the pens frequently stuck behind the ears of clerks and other
writers the name of Secretary was given to the bird, are destitute of
barbs at the base, but spread out as they advance, and are coloured
with a mixture of black and gray. Each of the wings is armed with three
rounded bony projections, with which, as well as with his feet, the bird
attacks and destroys his prey.
In his habits he partly resembles both the Eagle and the Vulture, but
differs from them most completely in the nature of his prey and in his
mode of attacking it. Like the former he always prefers live flesh
to carrion; but the food to which he is most particularly attached
consists of snakes and other reptiles, for the destruction of which he
is admirably fitted by his organization. The length of his legs not only
enables him to pursue these creatures over the sandy deserts which he
inhabits with a speed proportioned to their own, but also places his more
vulnerable parts in some measure above the risk of their venomous bite;
and the imperfect character of his talons, when compared with those of
other rapacious birds, is in complete accordance with the fact that his
feet are destined rather to inflict powerful blows, than to seize and
carry off his prey. When he falls upon a serpent, he first attacks it
with the bony prominences of his wings, with one of which he belabours
it, while he guards his body by the expansion of the other. He then
seizes it by the tail and mounts with it to a considerable height in the
air, from which he drops it to the earth, and repeats this process until
the reptile is either killed or wearied out; when he breaks open its
skull by means of his beak, and tears it in pieces with the assistance of
his claws, or, if not too large, swallows it entire.
Like the Eagles these birds live in pairs, and not in flocks; they build
their aiery, if so it may be termed, on the loftiest trees, or, where
these are wanting, in the most bushy and tufted thickets. They run with
extreme swiftness, trusting, when pursued, rather to their legs than to
their wings; and as they are generally met with in the open country, it
is with difficulty that they can be approached sufficiently near for
the sportsman to obtain a shot at them. They are natives of the south
of Africa, and appear to be tolerably numerous in the neighbourhood of
the Cape; where, it is said, they have been tamed to such a degree as
to render them useful inmates of the poultry-yard, in which they not
only destroy the snakes and rats which are too apt to intrude upon those
precincts, but even contribute to the maintenance of peace among its more
authentic inhabitants by interposing in their quarrels and separating the
furious combatants who disturb it by their brawls.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE VIRGINIAN HORNED-OWL.
_STRIX VIRGINIANA._ LINN.
All the preceding birds belong to that division of the Rapacious Order
which pursue their prey in the open face of day, and are consequently
termed Diurnal; but those which we have now to notice are on the contrary
Nocturnal in their habits, and only venture abroad in the shades of the
evening, or under cover of the darkness of the night. They are readily
distinguished from the former by their short and compressed bill, curved
from its very base; by the anterior position of their eyes, which are of
great size and surrounded by a circular disc of stiff hairs and feathers,
covering the base of the bill anteriorly and extending posteriorly over
the ears, which, as well as the disc, vary considerably in size in the
different races; by the great extent of dilatation of which their pupils
are capable, a provision admirably calculated for enabling them to see by
night; by the breadth and apparent bulk of their heads and bodies, both
of which are thickly clothed with long and soft feathers; by the plumage
of their legs, which in all the European species is continued down to
the very toes, and sometimes even along them; by the direction of their
toes, which are all naturally turned forwards, the external one being,
however, capable of taking an opposite direction; and by the high degree
of retractility and sharpness of their claws.
All these birds were comprehended by Linnæus under the generic name
of Strix, but later naturalists have subdivided them into several
genera, dependent on the size of the ears and of the ocular discs, on
the presence or absence of two remarkable tufts of feathers on the
head having somewhat the appearance of horns, and on the covering of
the legs and feet. The Virginian Horned Owl is spread over nearly the
whole continent of America from north to south. Its plumage is brown
above, marked with numerous transverse black stripes, and the feathers
of the under surface are of a dirty white, transversely striped with
blackish-brown.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE DEEP BLUE MACAW.
_ANODORHYNCHUS MAXIMILIANI._ SPIX.
The second Order of Birds, which comprehends both the Picæ and Passeres
of Linnæus, is essentially distinguished from the rest of the class by
the structure of the feet, which are formed for perching. Those of the
Scansorial tribe in particular, to which all the species to be here
noticed belong, have two of the toes directed forwards, and the remaining
two directed backwards, in such a manner as to enable them to grasp
the branch of a tree or other similar objects with peculiar firmness,
and consequently to climb with more than usual agility. This section
comprehends some of the most gorgeously coloured and splendid among
birds, as well as those which evince the highest degree of intelligence,
in the imitation especially of the human voice, for which they have been
celebrated from the earliest times.
The beautiful bird, the portrait of which is prefixed to the present
article, is one of the rarest of its tribe, and has until very lately
been confounded by ornithologists with the Hyacinthine Macaw, a fine but
much less splendid species. It is figured by M. Spix in his Brazilian
Birds under the name which we have adopted; but is there given without
either characters or description. Its claim to generic distinction
would seem to depend on the excessive length and powerful curvature of
its claws and upper mandible, and on the slight developement of the
toothlike process of the latter. Its colour is throughout of a deep and
brilliant blue; the beak, legs, and claws, are black; and the cere and a
naked circle round each of the eyes are of a bright yellow. Our specimen
measures two feet four inches from the top of the head to the extremity
of the tail, and the expansion of his wings is four feet. The length of
the upper mandible is five inches, and that of the lower, two.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE BLUE AND YELLOW MACAW.
_MACROCERCUS ARARAUNA._ VIEILL.
The genus Macrocercus is characterized by the robustness of its beak,
which is extremely broad and powerful; by the nakedness of its face,
which is sometimes entirely bare, and sometimes partially covered with
lines of short and scattered feathers; and by the size and form of its
tail, which is longer than the body, regularly graduated, and terminating
in an acute apex. The whole of the species are American, and are
remarkable for the brilliancy of their colours, which are perhaps more
varied and more gaudy than those of any of the other modern divisions
of the Linnean genus Psittacus. They are consequently more sought after
as objects of luxury and elegance, and bear a higher comparative value
than the rest of the Parrots. In common with the entire tribe, they
inhabit the tropical regions of the earth, and live chiefly upon fruits
and seeds. Among the latter they uniformly give the preference to such as
are provided with a hard and shelly covering. These they crack with great
dexterity, carefully rejecting the outer coat, and swallowing only the
internal nut.
The Blue and Yellow Macaw is one of the finest of the group. The whole of
its upper surface is covered with plumage of the most beautiful azure;
the feathers of the under parts on the contrary are of a brilliant
yellow. The naked part of the cheeks, which are white slightly tinged
with flesh colour, is ornamented with three lines of minute blackish
feathers; and the throat is surrounded by a broad collar of greenish
black. The forehead is yellowish green.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE YELLOW-CRESTED COCKATOO.
_PLYCTOLOPHUS SULPHUREUS._ VIEILL.
The Cockatoos have a strong, broad, and well curved beak; their eyes
are surrounded by a naked space; their tail is short, square, and equal
at the end; and their head is furnished with a remarkable crest of
long and slender feathers, which may be raised or depressed at will,
and are frequently of a different colour from the rest of the plumage.
This latter character forms the most distinguishing mark of the group,
which is partly indigenous to India and the Indian Islands, and partly
to Australia. They are fond of damp and marshy situations, and usually
inhabit the neighbourhood of rivers or of smaller streams, in which they
indulge themselves with frequent bathing, a practice in which, even in
captivity, they seem, in common with many others of the tribe, to take
a particular pleasure. Like the rest of the Parrots they live entirely
on vegetable substances, and chiefly upon seeds; some of them, however,
are said to feed upon roots. Their usual nourishment, in a domesticated
state, is the same with that of the other Parrots, consisting generally
of nothing more than hemp-seed, from which they detach the outer covering
with much adroitness. They have also a great relish for sweetmeats and
pastry.
The present species is pure white throughout, with the exception of its
crest, the longer feathers of which are bright yellow; and of the under
surface of the wings and tail, which are straw-coloured, as are also
occasionally the cheeks. The beak is nearly black. It is a native of the
Moluccas, and is not unfrequently brought to Europe. It is remarkably
intelligent, and becomes attached to those who show it kindness.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE EMEU.
_DROMICEIUS NOVÆ HOLLANDIÆ._ VIEILL.
The New Holland Emeu, as well as the Ostrich and the Cassowary, to both
of which it is nearly related, is now generally regarded as belonging to
the Rasorial Order, the Gallinaæ of Linnæus, the feet of which are formed
for running and for scratching up the earth in search of the seeds which
constitute their usual subsistence. Some of the birds, however, which are
referred to it, and particularly those now under consideration, feed upon
fruits and roots. The whole of the Order are distinguished by a certain
degree of convexity on the upper surface of the bill, the base of which
is enveloped by a membrane, in which are situated the nostrils covered
by a cartilaginous scale; by the muscular plumpness of their bodies,
and especially of their legs; by the shortness of their wings, and the
diminution of strength in their pectoral muscles; and by the thickness
and strength of their anterior toes, generally three in number, united
at the base alone by a connecting membrane, and roughened beneath. These
characters conjoined sufficiently indicate that their proper place of
abode is the surface of the earth, on which they are enabled to run
with a greater or less degree of speed; and that the air, in which they
are incapable of elevating themselves to any considerable height, or
of propelling their flight with more than moderate swiftness, and into
which some of them cannot even raise themselves at all, is an uncongenial
element to which they can seldom resort. They furnish the principal and
most useful breeds of our domestic poultry, and stock our farm-yards with
their most valuable inhabitants.
The distinctive generic characters of the New Holland Emeu, which forms
part of the Ostrich family, and is, with the sole exception of the
Ostrich, the largest bird known to exist, consist in the flattening of
its bill from above downwards, instead of from side to side; in the
absence of the bony process which crests the head of the Cassowary, of
the wattles which depend from his neck, and of the long spurlike shafts
which arm his wings; and in the equal, or nearly equal, length of all
his claws. The Emeus, however, agree with the Cassowaries in the number
of their toes, three on each foot, all of them directed forwards and
extremely thick and short, the posterior toe, which is common to most of
the Order, being in them entirely wanting; in the excessive shortness
of their wings, which do not even, as is the case with the Ostriches,
assist them in running, much less in flight, of which, in common with
the latter, they are absolutely incapable; and in the structure of their
feathers, which are for the most part double, each tube being divided
near its origin into two shafts, the barbs of which are soft, downy, and
distinct from each other, and assume at a distance rather the appearance
of a silky covering of hair than that of the common plumage of birds.
The New Holland bird has the head and upper part of the neck thinly
covered with slender black feathers; the space around the ears alone
being left bare, and exhibiting, as well as the neck and throat, which
are but partially concealed by the scattered plumage with which they
are provided, the blue tinge of the skin. The general colour of the
plumage is grayish brown above, with a more plentiful intermixture of
the gray and a consequent lighter tinge beneath. The young are striped
longitudinally with brown and gray. Their bill is black, and their legs
are remarkably thick and of a dull brown. The great length of the latter
and of the neck, and the erect attitude and quiet demeanour of these
birds, which sometimes attain as much as seven feet in height, give them
altogether a noble and imposing appearance. They were formerly common
in the neighbourhood of Botany Bay, subsisting, like the rest of their
tribe, upon vegetable substances, chiefly fruits. They are extremely
wild, and run with great swiftness when pursued, outstripping it is said
the fleetness of the greyhound. Like the Kanguroos, they are sometimes
hunted by the colonists as articles of food; and their flesh is stated to
have much of the flavour of beef. The quantity of provision supplied by
one of these birds is by no means inconsiderable.
The animals of the part of New Holland from which these birds are derived
appear in general to suffer little from their transportation to the
climate of England. The Emeus, like the Kanguroos, have become to a
certain extent naturalized in the Royal Park at Windsor, where they breed
without difficulty and with no extraordinary precautions. Here they have
assigned to them a sufficient space of ground to take ample exercise;
and this circumstance contributes not a little to the thriving condition
in which they are met with. They are perfectly harmless unless when
irritated or pursued, in which case they sometimes strike very severe
blows with their beaks, which are extremely hard. The pair in the Tower
were obtained from this establishment, where they were bred.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE CROWNED CRANE.
_ANTHROPOIDES PAVONINUS._ VIEILL.
The fourth Order of Birds, the Waders, are strikingly characterized by
the great length of their legs, the lower part of which is entirely bare
of feathers; a peculiarity which is of essential service by enabling them
to stand for a long time in the water without injury to their plumage,
watching for the fish and reptiles, of which the larger species, and the
worms and insects, of which the smaller among them, make their usual prey.
The beautiful birds represented above, which formed part of the Linnean
genus Ardea, since subdivided into numerous distinct groups, offer the
following generic characters. Their bill is conical, pointed, scarcely
longer than the head, and grooved along its upper surface; their head
is ornamented with a crest of long and slender filamentous feathers,
capable of being raised and depressed at pleasure; their wings are large
and powerful; their legs are covered with large scales; the outer and
middle toes are united at the base; and their claws are short and without
denticulations.
The Crowned Crane is remarkable for its light and elegant proportions,
and for its graceful and varied attitudes. Its forehead is covered by a
thick tuft of short velvety feathers of a soft and brilliant black; its
naked cheeks and temples are of a delicate rose colour; and the yellow
filaments of its crest terminate in blackish pencils. The long and
slender feathers which descend upon its neck, and the broader ones which
clothe the upper and under surface of its body are black with a slight
tinge of lead-colour; the primary wing-feathers are also black, the
secondary reddish-brown, and the wing-coverts white. The bill and legs
are black. It is a native of Western Africa; is extremely tame, and may
be readily domesticated. It frequently attains the height of four feet.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE PELICAN.
_PELECANUS ONOCROTALUS._ LINN.
The Pelican affords an excellent illustration of the fifth and last Order
of Birds, the Swimmers; the essential character of which consists in the
membranous union of the toes, which renders them what is usually termed
web-footed, and enables them to propel themselves upon the surface of the
water with greater or less rapidity in proportion to the greater or less
comparative extent of the membrane in which their toes are enveloped.
They are all consequently inhabitants of marshy situations, of the banks
of rivers and lakes, or of the seacoast; and most of them seek their
subsistence in their most congenial element, the water, notwithstanding
that by far the greater number of them are also endowed with very
considerable powers of flight.
Linnæus united under the common title of Pelicans, the Cormorants, the
Boobies, and several other birds, which differ from the typical species
of the genus by many important characters, the chief point of agreement
between them consisting in the form and extent of the membrane which
unites the toes. The Linnean group has subsequently been raised to the
rank of a family, and its component parts form several distinct genera,
that which comprehends the true Pelicans, the genus Onocrotalus of
Brisson, being characterized as follows. Their bill is of very great
length, straight, broad, flattened above, and terminated by a slight
hook; the lower mandible consists of two lateral branches, united at the
point, and having interposed between them a membranous pouch capable of
very great dilatation; their four toes are all enveloped to the very apex
in the common membrane; their legs are short, strong, and maintain the
body in a state of equilibrium, their lower part being entirely destitute
of feathers.
With the exception of the quill-feathers of the wings, which are black,
the plumage of the Pelican in the Tower is throughout of an extremely
light and delicate flesh-colour, varied only by occasional darker tinges.
The head and upper part of the neck are clothed with a short down, except
on the temples, which are naked and flesh-coloured; the upper mandible is
of a dull yellow in the middle, with a reddish tinge towards the edges,
and a blood-red spot on its curved extremity; and the pouch is of a
bright straw-colour.
The Pelican is one of the largest water-birds, considerably exceeding
the size of the swan, and frequently measuring from five to six feet
between the extremity of the bill and that of the tail, and from ten to
twelve between the tips of the expanded wings. Its bill is nearly a foot
and a half in length, and from an inch and a half to two inches broad;
and its pouch is capable of containing, when stretched to its utmost
extent, two or three gallons of water. The quantity of fish which it
sometimes accumulates in the same serviceable repository is spoken of as
enormous. Notwithstanding their great bulk and apparent clumsiness, the
large extent of their wings, and the extreme lightness of their bones,
which are so thin as to be almost transparent, enable these birds to rise
to a lofty pitch in the air, to hover at a moderate elevation, or to skim
rapidly along the surface of the water with as much facility as they
dive into its depths in pursuit of their prey. They sometimes assemble
in large numbers, and in this case are said by Buffon to act in concert,
and to show no little skill in manœuvring with the view of securing a
plentiful quarry, forming themselves into a circular line, and gradually
narrowing the extent of the space enclosed, until they have driven the
fishes into so small a compass as to render them a certain prey; when
at a given signal they all at once plunge into the water and seize upon
their terrified victims, filling their pouches with the spoil, and flying
to the land, there to devour it at their leisure. This fishery is carried
on both at sea and in fresh water.
They are found in nearly every part of the globe, but are of rare
occurrence in the north of Europe. The beautiful pair figured at the head
of this article are said to be from Hungary. The female is now sitting
upon three eggs, and has built herself a very perfect nest for the
purpose. Should these be brought to maturity, as there is every reason
to expect, they will probably be the first that were ever hatched in
England. She never quits her charge; but is fed by the male, who crams
his pouch with double his usual allowance, and then proceeds to shovel
her fair share into his partner’s throat. It is in this manner also
that the young are fed, the old bird pressing his full pouch against
his chest, and contriving thus to disgorge a portion of its contents;
an action which has no doubt given rise to the fabulous notion of the
Pelican’s feeding its young with its own blood. In fact, the appearance
of the bird when in this attitude, with the bloody spot on the end of
its bill closely pressed against the delicate plumage of its breast,
may readily account for the prevalence of such an idea in the minds of
superficial observers. The first traces of this fable are to be found
in the writings of some of the early fathers of the church, and it was
eagerly adopted by the heralds of later days, whose unbounded credulity
was ever on the watch for the marvellous, in natural history more
especially.
Our birds are commonly allowed three dozen of small live plaice each per
day.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE ALLIGATOR.
_CROCODILUS LUCIUS._ CUV.
The enormous Reptile from which this genus derives its name belongs to
the same subdivision of that class as the agile Lizard and the many-hued
Chamæleon, with which it was comprehended by Linnæus under the single
generic title of Lacerta. This group has subsequently been elevated to
the rank of an order, consisting of numerous genera, among which the
Crocodiles are distinguished by the following characters. Their toes are
five in number on the anterior feet, and four on the posterior; their
sharp and conical teeth are arranged in a single series in each jaw;
their tongue is flat, fleshy, and closely attached almost to its very
edge; and their bodies are clothed with large, thick, square scales, the
upper of which are surmounted by a strong keel, those of the tail forming
superiorly a dentated crest, double at its origin.
The Alligators constitute a natural subdivision of the genus, in which
the snout is broad, blunt, and less produced than in the true Crocodiles;
the fourth tooth on each side of the lower jaw enters a hole in the
upper when the mouth is closed; and the toes are only half-webbed. They
appear to be exclusively natives of America. The present species is
distinguished by its broad and flat snout, with nearly parallel sides,
united in front by a curved line; by the peculiar arrangement of its
nuchal scales; and by the elevated internal margins of its orbits. Its
colour is dark brown above, and somewhat lighter beneath. It is one of
the most dreadful scourges of the countries which it inhabits, preying
upon all kinds of animals that come within its reach, and sometimes even
upon man himself. Our specimen was apparently very young, not measuring
more than three feet in length; but during two years that it was kept in
the Menagerie it was not observed to have at all increased in size. It
was fed once a week upon raw beef.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE INDIAN BOA.
_PYTHON TIGRIS._ DAUD.
The Serpents form a division of the Reptile Class too well known by their
elongated scaly bodies, and their total deprivation of external members,
to require any minute description of their organization. They are also
held by the generality of mankind in so much abhorrence, and regarded
for the most part with such strong feelings of unmitigated disgust, that
we feel but little inclined to dwell upon their history, how much soever
they may on many accounts be considered as deserving of a more extended
notice.
They are frequently divided into two great sections; the one, which is by
far the most numerous, comprehending all those in which the poison-fangs
are wanting, and which are consequently dangerous only in proportion to
the extent of their muscular force; and the other consisting of those
in which the fangs are present, and the bite of which is accompanied
with the pouring out of a venomous secretion. At the head of the first
of these divisions rank the Boas, which in the Linnean arrangement
comprehended all those snakes, whether venomous or not, whose under
surface was covered with narrow transverse plates, and whose tail was
destitute of rattle. Later zoologists have, however, confined that
appellation to those among the Linnean Boas, which are without poisonous
fangs and have claws near the vent, and have regarded as a distinct genus
the snakes which in addition to these latter characters have the scales
of the under surface of the tail so arranged as to form two distinct
rows. To the latter, which inhabit the Old Continent exclusively (while
the former are all of them natives of America), they have assigned the
name of Python.
The present species, which is commonly exhibited under the popular but
erroneous title of the Boa Constrictor, appears to be the Pedda Poda of
Dr. Russell’s Indian Serpents. It is said by that writer to attain a
length of eight or ten feet; but living specimens have been brought to
this country of twice that size, and some of those now in the Tower are
fifteen or sixteen feet long. The number of transverse plates on the
under surface of the body is stated to be two hundred and fifty-two,
and that of the pairs of scales beneath the tail sixty-two. The back is
elegantly marked with a series of large irregular brown blotches bordered
with black; and numerous smaller spots are scattered along the sides.
The ground colour is yellowish brown, lighter beneath.
The extent of muscular power which these serpents possess in common
with the Boas is truly wonderful. To the smaller among them the lesser
quadrupeds and even birds fall an easy prey; but the larger, when excited
by the stimulus of hunger, are capable of crushing within their spiral
folds the largest and most powerful of beasts. The sturdy buffalo and the
agile stag become alike the victims of their fatal embrace; and the bulk
of these animals presents but little obstacle to their being swallowed
entire by the tremendous reptile, which crushes them as it were into a
mass, lubricates them with the fetid mucus secreted in its stomach, and
then slowly distending its jaws and œsophagus to an extent proportioned
to the magnitude of the object to be devoured, and frequently exceeding
by many times its own previous size, swallows it by one gradual and
long-continued effort.
Of the mode in which this operation is effected, a detailed description
is contained in Macleod’s Voyage of His Majesty’s Ship Alceste; and an
excellent account has been subsequently given by Mr. Broderip in the
second volume of the Zoological Journal from actual observation of the
specimens now in the Tower. The vivid description of the latter almost
brings before the reader’s eye the lightning dash of the serpent; the
single scream of its instantly enfolded victim, whose heaving flanks
proclaimed that it still breathed; and its last desperate effort,
succeeded by the application of another and a deadly coil. With equal
force and fidelity it sketches the continuation of the scene, when the
serpent, after slowly disengaging his folds, placed his head opposite
to that of his victim, coiled himself once more around it to compress it
into the narrowest possible compass, and then gradually propelled it into
his separated jaws and dilated throat; and finally presents a disgusting
picture of the snake when his meal was at an end, with his loose and
apparently dislocated jaws dropping with the superfluous mucus which had
been poured forth.
The individual figured at the head of the present article is a female;
a fact which was proved by the remarkable circumstance of her producing
in May last, after having been more than two years in the Menagerie, a
cluster of eggs, fourteen or fifteen in number, none of which, however,
were hatched, although the mother evinced the greatest anxiety for
their preservation, coiling herself around them in the form of a cone,
of which her head formed the summit, and guarding them from external
injury with truly maternal solicitude. They were visible only when she
was occasionally roused; in which case she raised her head, which formed
as it were the cover of the receptacle in which they were enclosed, but
replaced it again as quickly as possible, allowing to the spectator only
a momentary glance at her cherished treasures.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE ANACONDA.
_PYTHON TIGRIS_, Var.
The Anaconda is a name which, like that of the Boa Constrictor, has been
popularly applied to all the larger and more powerful snakes. It appears
to be of Ceylonese origin, and may therefore belong of right, as well as
of usage, to the present Indian species. The serpent which passes under
this title at the Tower, and which is figured above, seems to differ in
no essential respects from the Boa of the preceding article, the only
appreciable distinctions between them consisting in the lighter colour,
the greater comparative size of the head, and the acuteness of the tail
of that which at present engages our attention.
Happily the appetite of these gigantic snakes bears no proportion to
their means of gratifying it, as a full meal is uniformly succeeded by
a state of torpor, which frequently lasts for a month or six weeks, or,
during the cold season, even for a longer period. Those in the Tower,
which are kept in a state of artificial warmth, usually feed about every
five or six weeks, and a fowl or a rabbit generally suffices for a meal.
These are held by the keeper within view of the serpent to ascertain
whether he is inclined to take his prey or not. About three years ago
Mr. Cops, while thus engaged in offering a fowl to one of the Boas,
had nearly met with a serious accident; the snake, which was almost
blind from the approaching change of its skin, missing the fowl, and
seizing upon the keeper’s thumb instead, around which and its own head
it instantaneously threw two coils, and then, as if surprised at the
unexpected resistance, cast an additional fold round his neck, and fixed
itself by its tail to one of the posts of its cage in such a manner as
nearly to throttle him. His own exertions, however, aided by those of the
under keepers, at length disengaged him from his perilous situation; but
so determined was the attack of the snake that it could not be compelled
to relinquish its hold until two of its teeth had been broken off and
left in the thumb.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE RATTLESNAKE.
_CROTALUS HORRIDUS._ LINN.
If the Boas furnish the most terrible examples of the tremendous powers
of destruction possessed by a few of that division of the Serpent tribe,
whose bite is unattended with the effusion of venom, the Rattlesnakes
afford a no less remarkable instance of the dreadful malignity of the
poison with which others of the tribe are so abundantly supplied. This
poison is secreted by a gland of considerable size situated beneath the
eye, the excretory duct of which terminates on each side at the base
of a long and tubular fang in the upper jaw, which is concealed while
the animal is at rest in a fold of the gum, but is capable of being
instantaneously erected when he is irritated, and affords at the same
time the means of inflicting the wound and of insinuating into it the
deadly fluid with which it is charged. In the Rattlesnakes these two
fangs are the only visible teeth implanted in the upper jaw; but behind
each of them are several rudiments of others by which they are from time
to time replaced. Their other distinguishing characters consist in the
whole of the transverse plates which cover the under surface of the body
and of the tail being simple, and in the singular apparatus by which
the latter is terminated, and which is formed of a series, more or less
numerous according to the age of the individual, of flattened rings
loosely attached one within the other in such a manner as to produce
a peculiar rattling sound when the tail is moved with any degree of
quickness. The number of rings commonly varies from five to twelve; but
in very old specimens it is said to have been found to exceed forty.
All the known species are natives of America, in the vast forests of
which they may be said literally to swarm; but happily, like most of the
other venomous snakes, they never exert their terrible qualities upon man
except in self-defence, and the warning rattle is always heard to give
notice of their approach. Their bite is almost uniformly fatal even to
the largest animals, and the latter frequently evince such an instinctive
dread of them, that, according to M. Bosc, it is almost impossible to
compel a horse or a dog to advance towards them. Their food consists
principally of the smaller quadrupeds, such as squirrels and rabbits, of
other reptiles, and of birds, although they rarely climb trees in pursuit
of their prey. It was long believed, and the notion is still popularly
current, that they possessed the power of fascinating their victims,
which were thought to be so completely under the influence of their
glance as to precipitate themselves of their own accord into the open
throat of their enemy; but the truth appears to be that they actually
inspire so great a degree of terror that the animals selected for their
attacks are commonly rendered incapable of offering such resistance as
might otherwise be in their power, or even of attempting to escape from
their pursuit.
Like most reptiles they retire during the winter into holes, in which
they remain in a torpid state until the return of spring; and during this
period they may be taken or destroyed without danger. Their flesh is
eaten by the negroes, who also apply their fat, as well as their rattles,
to various medicinal or superstitious uses.
The number at present in the Tower exceeds a hundred, varying from four
to six feet in length, and differing very considerably from each other
both in colour and markings.
[Illustration]
CHISWICK:
PRINTED BY CHARLES WHITTINGHAM,
COLLEGE HOUSE.
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