On the Lake Du Garda grows spontaneously the American aloe. In other parts of Italy is seen the Menelaus butterfly of Surinam; and in others the cerulean serpent of the Indies. The tortoise of the Antilles is occasionally found on the shores of the Hebrides; and the whale-tailed manati of the Aleutian Islands are not only known in Kamschatka, whither they are driven by storms, but in New Holland and Mindanao. The only spot, in which monkeys run wild in Europe, is the neighbourhood of Gibraltar, whither they were, doubtless, introduced from Barbary.

There are thousands of lizards among the ruins of Balbec; and though there are no venemous insects in the Madeiras, myriads of those reptiles are seen of a clear day, basking in the sun. These animals were, no doubt, in those islands previous to their separation from the African continent.

Insects and shell fish there are, which emigrate with the plants, on which they feed, and whence they have their being. Several species of the lepas cling to bamboo canes, and float to vast distances: when their shells are open, they look like full-blown flowers. The spotted toad fish', which keeps among sea weeds at the bottom of the water, has, no doubt, wandered in this manner from China to the Brazils, where it is almost equally abundant.

The caica, having a body of green, and wings and tail edged with blue, suddenly appeared in Cayenne in 1773; but no one knew whence it came. It was first seen by Sonini de Mononcour. Since that time, small flocks of

1 Lophius histrio.

them annually resort thither, in the months of September and October; but they immediately disappear, on the commencement of stormy weather.

XII.

The ash-coloured parrot, now so common in Jamaica, and parts of America, came originally from Guinea. The blue-headed parrakeet, which sleeps with its head downwards, was carried from Sumatra and Malacca to the Philippine islands; but it would be impossible to state, in what manner it went into Otaheite. The slave ships of Senegal, however, introduced the rose-ringed species into Guadaloupe, Martinico, and St. Domingo.

Lories, wherever they are found, were originally deported from New Guinea, or the Moluccas. That the double-ringed parakeet should be found in the isle of Bourbon, and not in Madagascar, is exceedingly curious. The circumstance proves, however, that it is a native of neither. The first parrot, ever seen in Europe, was brought from Ceylon by Alexander's admiral, Onesicritus. The Romans afterwards obtained them from an island of the Nile: and in the time of the earlier emperors, they were kept in cages of shells, ivory, and silver.

The Norman conquerors introduced the camel into the Canaries in the fifteenth century. The Spaniards introduced the horse upon the continent of America: and these increased in Chili, in the course of one hundred and eighty years, to so great an extent, that the Indians ate them for food. The Spaniards also planted the goat in America. That this animal should have

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been previously entirely unknown, throughout that vast continent, is the more remarkable, since in the Old World it is a native, not only of the temperate and frigid zones, but of the plains, rocks, and mountains of the torrid. Juan Fernandez introduced goats upon the island, which he discovered, in his voyage from Lima to Baldivi. On his return to Lima, he endeavoured to obtain a patent for settling upon that island; but was unable to procure one.

The Balearic crane came into Europe from the Cape de Verd islands; and peacocks from Samos; where they were dedicated to Juno, and imprinted on the coins. Pheasants came from Asia Minor; the Guinea hen from that part of Africa, bearing its name; the canary of the Tyrol from the Canary Islands; and the domestic cock, lately found wild in the island of Tinian, and the woods of Malabar, had for its ancestor the jungle cock of India. The horse and the ass came from Arabia, whence they passed into Egypt and Greece: thence into Italy and all parts of Europe. Buffaloes were introduced into Italy in 595; silk-worms, much later, from China and Japan. The bearded titmouse was first brought to England from Denmark by the Countess of Albemarle. That lady kept several in a cage; from which some accidentally escaped, and thus became patriarchs of an English colony. The naturalization of this bird is a subject of no small interest; since, while sleeping, the male covers: the female with one of his wings, entirely spread over her.

XIII.

Captain Cook left a buck and doe, with two rabbits, in Mooa; a bull and a cow, a Cape ram, and two ewes,

with a horse and mare, in Tongataboo; and various domestic animals in Otaheite and other islands. Captains Vancouver, Wilson, and other navigators, have followed the example:-in a few years, therefore, islands, which have a tropical vegetation, will abound in animals from the temperate zone.

It is curious, that when sheep were introduced to Van Dieman's Land, they acquired remarkable fertility. They bred twice a year, and, for the most part, had twins. In consequence of which, a few sheep had multiplied, seventeen years after their introduction, to the number of 127,883. In 1818, there were, also, in this island 264 horses; and 15,356 horned cattle. But to show how little mere climate has to do, in respect to the increase, we may observe, that ewes in Lapland1 have frequently twins twice a year; and goats constantly two kids, and often three at a birth.

XIV.

The Spaniards have done great service to the western world in this manner. They introduced dogs, swine, horses, and horned cattle into St. Domingo, which, after exterminating the original inhabitants, they permitted to run wild in the woods and savannahs. They performed the same service for Chili. In that country horses became so numerous, that in Molina's time they sold for only 4s. a head; and in 1798 there were exported from Buenos Ayres not less than 43,752 skins of horses, and 874,593 untanned hides. Horned cattle have not im

1 Acerbi. ii, 222. 4to,

proved in Chili, or the Brazils; but the horses are equal to the finest breeds of Europe. Mules are larger and more: handsome; and swine more prolific, but not so large.

The horse originally is native of Asia'. Led in a domestic state into these vast regions, they have resumed the wild habits and manners of their forefathers; but are subject to evils, to which those ancestors were entirely strangers. In the season of heat, they are tormented by musketoes and gadflies by day; and in the night by large bats, which leave holes in their skins for insects to deposit their eggs. During the season of inundations, when the savannahs become lakes, they are seen running about in all directions, as if they were frantic; surrounded by manatees, water serpents, and crocodiles. Upon the subsiding of the waters, however, the earth becomes enriched with an odoriferous herbage; and they enjoy, till the season of heat comes on, the sweets of existence in large herds.

In Chili, too, are the hare and otter, with many varieties of European fowls, as well as in Peru, Mexico, and the South Sea Islands. Chili is happy in having no wolves, or tigers; even the lion is harmless; and men sleep in the forests in perfect security: there being no poisonous reptile of any sort3; nor any wasps, gnats, or musketoes.

The rat was introduced to America by a ship from Antwerp; and the first cat was presented to Almagro 5 by Montenegro, who received for the present no less than 600 pieces. Some writers have asserted, that all animals