One well versed in
rural life strongly recommends that all violence and rough language
should be avoided.
rural life strongly recommends that all violence and rough language
should be avoided.
Childrens - The Creation
Its height, to the
top of the hunches, is about six feet and a half. It has a long tail, and
small hoofs; flat feet, divided above, and not beneath; on the legs
are six callosities; and besides the four stomachs, which all ruminating
animals have, it has a fifth storehouse, which is its reservoir for water.
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? 310
THE CREATION.
In every way the camel is beneficial to man; and if you look over
the whole family of the animal kingdom, not one could supply its
place: it is found in the very spot where it is needed. By means
of this docile creature, the trade of Turkey, Persia, and Arabia, is
principally carried on. But every part of it is useful: its milk, flesli,
hair, &c. , are all turned to advantage.
The Dromedary is seldom as large as the camel, or as strong; but
numbers amply make up the deficiency.
The Llama. This is the camel of the New World; but, like all the
other animals, it is much less than that of the Old. It is found, how-
ever, only in the mountains extending from New Spain to the Straits
of Magellan. In Peru it abounds. This invaluable animal is not
above four feet high; its colour, varied. Its precision of tread, in
ascending and descending dangerous precipices, with lOOlbs. weight on
its back, is marvellous. Its life appears limited to about twelve
years.
The Musk. This animal inhabits the kingdom of Thibet, Tonquin,
and Boutan. They delight in mountains. They are a timid animal,
and flee from man. In length they are about three feet. The
medicinal drug, which gives the name to this animal, is found in a
little bag in the belly of the male, about the size of a hen's egg.
The Brazilian, Indian, and Guinea Musks are all of this family:
the latter is not more than ten inches long.
The Camelopard. This beautiful and stately animal has partially
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the form of the camel, and the skin of the leopard; and thus its
name. It is rarely brought to Europe. In appearance it is like a
very tall animal sitting. Its height varies; but it has been seen
eighteen feet and more. It is found in the sequestered parts of
Africa. It feeds entirely on herbs.
The Moose Deer, or Elk. This animal cannot exist in temperate
climates, but delights in the cold of Norway, Russia, Siberia, and
Tartary : it is also found in America. One of its peculiarities is an
excrescence under the throat. The antlers also are of a great size.
The Rein Deer. When, but now, we were in the deserts of Arabia,
we found the camel just adapted for its place ; but how entirely it
would fail, if carried to the hyperborean regions, to fill the place of
the rein deer, and vice versa. The rein deer cannot be too highly
prized: take it from the Laplander, and his case would indeed be
dreadful. It supplies to him the place of the horse, cow, and sheep;
for it draws his sledge, affords him milk, gives him clothing, and even
the very tendons answer, when whole, for bow strings, and when split,
for threads. A Lapland man's riches consist, not in how many
thousand pounds he has in the stocks, but in how many head of deer
he has in his fold.
The Stag, or Red Deer. This animal, as well as the fallow deer,
was once well known in this country; and though much alike, the
varieties never associate with each other. The stag is common to
almost all the northern parts of Europe.
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? 312
THE CREATION.
Like the rest of this family, the deer sheds its horns annually; and
thus we get that invaluable volatile spirit, called hartshorn, which
is procured from the shavings of the horn. The flesh of the stag
is esteemed above that of the fallow deer. They are very bold in
case of danger: there was an instance once, of a tiger cruelly let
into the same enclosure with a stag, but the latter made so stout a
resistance, that the tiger fled.
The Fallow Deer. This animal is now domesticated with us, and is
kept in the parks of the great. Their young are called fawns; and
the spots on their skins give them a beautiful appearance. The flesh
of the deer is called venison.
The Roebuck. This most beautiful little animal, the smallest of
this family known in England, once roamed through our woods, but is
now extinct in these kingdoms, except in the highlands of Scotland.
It is about three feet long, and two feet high. They have this
peculiarity: that they never herd together, except in domestic re-
lations. The roebuck is always faithful to its mate; and the family
live with them until they are old enough to go out into life, and
provide for themselves.
The Antelope or Gazelle. This singular animal is a kind of link
between the roebuck and the goat: like the goat, they never shed
their horns, and they have the form and motion of the roebuck.
The eyes are said to be very brilliant, and yet mild.
The Common Antelope. This animal is a native of Barbary, and is
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much like our fallow deer: its peculiarity is, that its horns are spirally
twisted, and encircled almost to the top with prominent rings. The
females are destitute of horns.
The White-footed Antelope. This beautiful species inhabits the
interior of Hindostan. Its horns are short, and project a little for-
ward. Its flesh is much esteemed in that country.
The Royal Antelope. This species is also called the Chevrotrin, and
is the smallest of all cloven-footed animals:--its height is about nine
inches, and length fourteen;--the shape is delicate beyond description,
like a beautiful stag in miniature. It is a native of Senegal, and the
hottest parts of Africa.
The Goat. This family is well known, and is a valuable animal
to us, especially on board ship, where it supplies, at least to a few,
milk for a long voyage. The goat is found in most parts of the world.
In several parts of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, goats are an invalu-
able boon to the poor. All parts of this animal are of use. The kids
are very playful. This was one of the animals used, by God's appoint-
ment, in sacrifice. Though goats are now met with in America, there
were none found there on its discovery.
The Ibex. This bold animal is found on the Alps and Pyrenees :
he has large knotted horns, sometimes three feet in length. If the
incautious hunter follow him to narrow places, he will turn round,
and endeavour to throw him off the precipice; and if he fails, he will
throw himself down an amazing height, and, falling on his horns,
P
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THE CREATION.
will escape unhurt. How wonderful this provision--how full of
mercy!
The Goat of Angora. This animal seems confined to the limited
space of a few hundred miles, about Angora and Congar, in Asiatic
Turkey. It is famous for its beautiful hair. The goatherds are
extremely careful of them, washing and combing their hair fre-
quently. This production is unrivalled, and of it is made our most
beautiful fabrics, &c.
The Moufflon. Some naturalists have supposed that this is the
original stock from whence all our present race of sheep have sprung;
but there is one great difficulty to this, as the covering of the moufflon
is hair, and that of sheep, wool. The horns of this animal are of
amazing length. It is a native of Greece, Sardinia, Corsica, and
some parts of Tartary.
The Sheep. Linnaeus enumerates three distinct species of this
invaluable animal:--the Ram, or common sheep, the Guinea Sheep, and
the Cretan Sheep; but as their general properties are the same, in
describing one, you describe all.
The Common Sheep. This animal, in its present state, is entirely
domesticated with us, and is of the utmost benefit, not only to us, but
to all the northern nations of Europe; for though cotton is admirably
adapted for the warmer regions of the south, yet, warm as it is com-
pared with linen, it is a poor substitute for the generous heat preserved
by wool. A few years since, an estimate was made of all the flocks
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of sheep in several of the European kingdoms, and the number reached
140,000,000 head; and they were subdivided as follows:--Great
Britain and Ireland, 44,000,000; France, 33,000,000; Prussia,
12,000,000; Austria, 11,000,000; Hungary, 8,000,000; Spain,
12,000,000; Provinces of Germany, 20,000,000.
The sheep is associated with the earliest history of the world; and
the first immediate sacrifice we read of was a lamb,--" Abel offered of
the firstlings of his flock. " Abel, of course, did this by direct revelation
from God-- he did it in faith : and as Jesus the Lord was the Lamb
slain before the foundation of the world, Abel, doubtless, saw his day
afar off, as Abraham did, and rejoiced, and was glad. But I will
enlarge on this in my next letter.
The sheep is an animal capable of the greatest affection. There is
a fact of great interest, mentioned by Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, in
support of this: he says, " the harder the times, the greater the kind-
ness of the eice to her young:" and he adds,--" Once I herded for two
years in a wild and bare farm, called ' Willinslee,' on the border of
Mid-Lothian; and of all the sheep I ever saw, these were the kindest
and most affectionate to their young. We had one very bad winter,
so that our sheep grew lean in the spring, and disease came in among
them, and carried off many;--often have I seen these victims, when
fallen down to rise no more, and even when unable to lift their heads
from the ground, holding up the leg to invite their starving lambs to
the miserable pittance that the udder could still supply. "
p2
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? 316 THE CREATION.
Now suppose, my dear children, you take a pen, and enumerate the
various qualities of the sheep; and begin with the wool;--I men-
tioned in the introduction of this letter, that so valuable an article was
wool considered to this nation, that, by some ancient* custom, the Lord
Chancellor's seat was made of wool;--after you have enumerated
the articles made of wool, think of the thousands and tens of thousands
of hands employed in its manufacture, from the costly cashmere of
the palace to the coarse worsted of the cottage, or from the delicate
German wool, softer than silk, to the rough horse cloth, harsh and
impervious to wet. I shall never forget the pleasure I had in Ireland,
when, after a good deal of perseverance, I saw some of my home-made
cloth spun and wove under my own eye. But pleasing as the flocks
are, we must pass on, and consider the next animal of such great
domestic comfort and blessing to us,
The Ox or Cow. The distinguishing character of this genus is,
eight cutting teeth in the lower jaw, and none in the upper. Perhaps
of all the quadruped family, or, indeed, of all things living, the cow
is the most useful to man: though even this expression must be
* I have been endeavouring to ascertain the date of this for you, but have not
quite succeeded; though I think, in the absence of direct proof, the presumption
is, that it was in the reign of Edward III. ; for then these two things took place:
first, wool was especially encouraged, and statutes passed for its protection; and
second, in that reign the House of Lords was separated from the Commons, and
had meetings of its own peculiar order; and thus were constituted the two houses
of Parliament. But what may have been the date is not of so much importance;
the fact itself is of great interest.
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? LETTER XI.
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guarded; for the cow would make a poor substitute for the rein-deer
or camel; indeed, it would not exist in either of the two countries
where they abound; but to us in Europe the cow is an immense
blessing--of untold value. This animal is found in most of the
quarters of the globe; and in countries where the pastures abound,
it increases to an enormous size.
As the sheep seems to have been domesticated from the very earliest
times, so do cattle. Jabal, one of the descendants of Cain, was a
keeper of cattle: so, after the flood, we find them continually alluded
to. With the sheep and goat, they were the alone creatures offered
in sacrifice, excepting the turtle dove and pigeon.
The cow exhibits the most tender affection to her young; and
mourns its loss most bitterly; but after a little seems to forget it, and
yields her milk abundantly for man's benefit . I subjoin a little calcu-
lation that I know will interest you, showing the enormous quantity
of food they take, and which, by that wonderful mutation of nature,
goes largely to give us such stores of milk. --"A cow consumes, on
an average, one hundred pounds of green food in twenty-four hours.
This, for the hundred and eighty-five days she is grazing, is eighteen
thousand five hundred pounds. In winter, she consumes forty-five
pounds of root per day: or, for the remaining hundred and eighty
days of the year, eight thousand one hundred pounds: and in return
for this, if well fed, she yields two thousand quarts of milk. "--Allen's
Hints for Schools of Industry.
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? 318
THE CREATION.
Have you not frequently seen the ox ploughing? how patiently he
goes about it . Sometimes you see cruel men strike them over the
horns; but this is as unwise as it is barbarous.
One well versed in
rural life strongly recommends that all violence and rough language
should be avoided. --" If the ox be ever so stubborn," he says, " there
should be no blows, no loud speaking, no scolding; but stop--pat
him, pat his companion, speak gently, and he will soon move on. "
How true this is; and not only with animals, but with man. My
dear children, you may one day have others under you : learn thus,
then, the way to get, and the way to keep authority is, "to do to
others as ye would they should do to you;" let there be nothing over-
bearing, nothing angry, no threatening; and you will get an
obedience of love, and not of fear.
The Bison. This singular animal is evidently of the Ox family.
Its chief peculiarity is the lump between its shoulders : it also has a
long shaggy mane, and a beard, and a very fierce and fiery eye. It is
found in most of the warm latitudes. This animal, though so furious,
is capable of being tamed and domesticated, and then it is said to be
even milder than the cow itself. The Hottentots train it to war.
The American Bison. This animal varies little from the former:
the skin is covered with a dark wool, which is much esteemed. Its
marked peculiarity is, the long hair, springing between the horns,
hanging over the eyes, which gives it a very formidable appearance.
The Buffalo. This animal and the ox are very much alike, yet they
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have a rooted aversion to each other, and are evidently different
species. It is found in Europe, and said to have been introduced into
Italy in the year 600. They also abound in America. Mr. Catlin,
in his animating and affecting picture of the North American Indians,
gives a striking description of this family, which I subjoin in a
note. *
SIXTH ORDER-BELLUjE.
THREE GENERA. --FEW SPECIES.
The distinguishing characteristics of this order are, that the fore
teeth are obtusely truncated, the feet hoofed, and the food vegetable;
comprising the Horse, the Ass, the Zebra, the Wild Boar, the
domestic Hog, and the Hippopotamus, t
The Horse. Of all the quadruped family, the horse may be reckoned
to reach the highest point of symmetry and proportion; and, when
kindly treated, may be brought to the greatest state of docility. The
value of this animal was very early known. We find them in the
armies of Pharaoh, when he pursued the children of Israel, and in
many other parts of Scripture they are continually alluded to; but of
all the parts of the world where they are in perfection, Arabia is pre-
eminent, so that the word Arabian and beautiful horse are almost
synonymous. How grievous to see this noble animal treated some-
? See Appendix,
t This animal we considered as part of the fifth day's creation.
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? 320
THE CREATION.
times so barbarously. I do not know what would be done in Arabia
to some of our countrymen, if the natives saw them ill-treat their horses
as they do. There, the horse is made almost one of the family. You
remember that anecdote in your book of British Quadrupeds:--" In
the time of Louis XIV. , King of France, the French Consul in one
part of Arabia offered to purchase a very beautiful mare of a poor
Arab. He was almost naked, and his wife and children starving; and
after a great deal of trouble, he consented to the purchase for a sum
that would have made him independent for life. He brought the
mare to the dwelling of the Consul, dismounted, and stood leaning
upon her. The gold, her purchase, was put before him; he first
looked at it, then at the favourite;--he sighed and wept:--' To whom,'
said he, * am I going to yield thee up ? To Europeans, who will tie
thee close; who will beat thee; who will render thee miserable; return
with me, my beauty, my jewel, and rejoice the hearts of my children. '
Saying this, he sprang on her back, and was out of sight in a
moment. "
I have before remarked, that the horse, if treated kindly, will do
anything: abundant facts confirm this statement. I will only mention
one:--Sharon Turner, in his book on Creation, in one of his valuable
notes, says, " An experienced cavalry officer once told me, that he did
not fear the most vicious horse, and would soon cure it. I asked him
his means. His answer was, always by mild and gentle treatment,
and forbearing patience. If you whip them, he said, you make
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? LETTER XI.
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them bad-tempered, and continually vicious; but steady kindness,
occasional humouring as far as was safe, with a hard run now and then,
to let their spirit exhaust itself, constituted always the most suc-
cessful system. " (Vol. i. p. 386. )
But not only is the horse cruelly treated in life, but after it has
rendered man his best services, the history of its closing days would
record scenes of the most astonishing barbarity. * Mercifully, some
benevolent minds have taken up the subject, " and have lifted up
their voice for the dumb. " How true is that word, " The righteous
man is merciful to his beast. "
The Ass. This useful animal, though much like the horse, is very
different in its habits. It is known in most parts of the world; and, if
possible, is worse treated than the horse. But still it is a great friend
to man; and the milk from the dam is considered much lighter and
more digestible than that of the cow. In the countries where the
Wild Ass is in its perfect freedom, you would hardly know it as the
same animal with its present degraded-looking descendant. There it
is the fleetest of the fleet; and I think Xenophon remarks, in his
account of Cyrus's Expedition, that such was its swiftness and
? The horse, even by its very skin and hair, renders man great service, as well
as the ox and sheep. With regard to the former, yon have only to go into a tan-
yard, and from the delicate kid, to the stern and tough bull's hide, you will see all
brought into requisition; and as to the hair, especially that of the horse, its uses
are various ; for being, when curled up, of so elastic a nature, it answers for sofas,
chairs, mattrasses; and even now, by a new patent process, protects our feet from
cold and damp. Truly, nothing is made in vain.
p3
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? 322
THE CREATION.
strength, that they could only catch it by having relays of horses.
In those countries its flesh is esteemed as a rarity. Though accused
of stupidity, observation leads to a very different conclusion, i. e. , that
it ponders much and acts wisely. Indeed, facts are abundant in proof
of this. In Eastern countries, to ride on white asses was a mark of
high distinction.
The Zebra. This beautiful animal is rather smaller than the
horse, but, if possible, more beautiful, and is as swift as the stag.
It inhabits the Cape of Good Hope, and most of the southern parts
of Africa. The stripes of the zebra are exceedingly beautiful,--
in the male, they are brown and white, and in the female, black and
white. This animal is most difficult, either to catch or retain ; though
it is said that four of them were once yoked to the king of Portugal's
carriage.
The Hog. Animals of this genus seem to unite in themselves
some of the characteristics of the other quadrupeds: they resemble the
horse, in the number of their teeth; the cow, in their cloven hoofs,
and the position of their intestines; and the claw-footed tribes, in their
appetite for flesh, and their numerous young.
The Wild Boar. This animal may be considered the parent stock
of our domestic swine: he is, however, smaller, but very undaunted.
He is found in most parts of the world; and because he is courageous,
man likes to hunt him.
The Domestic Hog. This animal is known in almost all parts of the
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? LETTER XI.
323
world; and is among the most prolific of all the quadruped family.
In Ireland, it is an invaluable boon to the peasantry; though they
very rarely taste those they "rear; but sell them for their rent money.
In the South Sea Islands this animal abounds.
The Cassibara, or Water Hog. This animal is found in South
America. It looks like a hog; but its snout is divided. It delights
in the water, and has a kind of web foot, to enable it to swim.
It feeds on fish, flesh, and vegetables indiscriminately: nothing
comes amiss to it. It is easily tamed, and then manifests at-
tachment.
The Peccary. This animal is also an inhabitant of South America.
It is much like a pig, but of a lighter and more elegant form.
The Babyroussa, or Indian Hog. Though this singular animal has
been ranked with the hog genus, it has but few similarities with it.
Its general figure more resembles the stag, and its hair is more like
wool than bristles. It also has four enormous tusks growing out of
the jaws--the two uppermost of which rise like horns, and bending
backwards, point to the animal's eyes; these tusks give it an imposing
appearance, and are very valuable, being the best ivory. The chief
peculiarity in this animal is its way of sleeping when wearied:
instead of lying down, like most other quadrupeds, it finds a strong
branch of some tree, high enough from the ground to free it from
danger, and from this it will suspend itself by one of its tusks, and
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? 324
THE CREATION.
so sleep on in safety. If this be the case, how singular, and yet
how merciful the provision! *
The Babyronssa is chiefly found in Borneo, and the neighbouring
parts of Asia. It is a quiet animal, except when attacked, and then
it uses its tusks with great force.
This is the last species of this genus; and we now descend lower
in the scale of creation, and come to the creeping things that creep
upon the earth; and finally, the Insects, some of which emphatically,
as the Ephemera, are the creatures of a summer's night, having their
birth, maturity, and death, between the setting and rising of the sun.
Linnaeus has classed the former of these under the order Am-
phibia, or animals that have life in both elements: for though this
is not strictly the case with all, yet it is with the greater part.
This order of animals is distinguished from those in the class
Mammalia by several particulars :--
1. They have cold blood, though red.
2. They are oviparous.
3. Their lungs chiefly consist of a pair of bladders, parted into
small subdivisions, among which are beautifully distributed their
few pulmonary blood-vessels.
Some of the Amphibia are furnished with formidable teeth ; some
? Some naturalists, however, from the curvature of the tusks, have denied this,
as impossible.
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? LETTER XI.
325
are without. Some are fierce and predaceous; others quite inoffen-
sive. The bodies of all are cold to the touch: and this, with the
squalid appearance of many, has produced in man a repugnance to
the whole family, from the crocodile to the little lizard, and yet
many, very many, of this order are perfectly harmless. And the
serpent tribe, though it has some species venomous, yet they form
not more than one-sixth of the whole family; and when we consider
how small a portion of the globe they occupy, and for what a length
of time, in cold countries, they are torpid, we have only to be
thankful we know so little of them.
The Amphibia are sub-divided by Linnaeus into Reptiles and
Serpents. The reptiles have legs, and flat naked ears, without
auricles: the serpents are destitute of feet, but move by the assist-
ance of scales, and their general powers of contortion. Neither
have fins or external ears.
REPTILIA.
Comprising Tortoises, Lizards, and Frogs.
The Tortoise Tribe. This is a very singular family, with
coverings of amazing strength. One of the larger species has been
known to bear five men on his back, at the same time, without feeling
it. Their body is protected by a singular bony covering, with a
horny, scaly, or cartilaginous integument. The covering consists of
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? 326
THE CREATION.
two large plates, one above and the other below, joined at the edges.
From these shells, the animal is not able to disengage itself; and
they defend them sufficiently from almost every enemy but man.
Those species that live on the land feed on succulent vegetables ;
and those that inhabit the ocean on sea-weed. There are about
thirty-eight species of this tribe--four that live on the sea, eighteen
on the fresh water, and the remainder on the land.
The Common Tortoise. This little animal, which rarely reaches
more than nine inches in length, is found by the Mediterranean Sea,
and North Africa. Its legs are very short, feet broad, and covered
with scales, as is the tail also. In autumn it disappears for the
winter, and is torpid until the spring. The longevity of this animal
is surprising ; some having lived upwards of one hundred years.
top of the hunches, is about six feet and a half. It has a long tail, and
small hoofs; flat feet, divided above, and not beneath; on the legs
are six callosities; and besides the four stomachs, which all ruminating
animals have, it has a fifth storehouse, which is its reservoir for water.
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THE CREATION.
In every way the camel is beneficial to man; and if you look over
the whole family of the animal kingdom, not one could supply its
place: it is found in the very spot where it is needed. By means
of this docile creature, the trade of Turkey, Persia, and Arabia, is
principally carried on. But every part of it is useful: its milk, flesli,
hair, &c. , are all turned to advantage.
The Dromedary is seldom as large as the camel, or as strong; but
numbers amply make up the deficiency.
The Llama. This is the camel of the New World; but, like all the
other animals, it is much less than that of the Old. It is found, how-
ever, only in the mountains extending from New Spain to the Straits
of Magellan. In Peru it abounds. This invaluable animal is not
above four feet high; its colour, varied. Its precision of tread, in
ascending and descending dangerous precipices, with lOOlbs. weight on
its back, is marvellous. Its life appears limited to about twelve
years.
The Musk. This animal inhabits the kingdom of Thibet, Tonquin,
and Boutan. They delight in mountains. They are a timid animal,
and flee from man. In length they are about three feet. The
medicinal drug, which gives the name to this animal, is found in a
little bag in the belly of the male, about the size of a hen's egg.
The Brazilian, Indian, and Guinea Musks are all of this family:
the latter is not more than ten inches long.
The Camelopard. This beautiful and stately animal has partially
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the form of the camel, and the skin of the leopard; and thus its
name. It is rarely brought to Europe. In appearance it is like a
very tall animal sitting. Its height varies; but it has been seen
eighteen feet and more. It is found in the sequestered parts of
Africa. It feeds entirely on herbs.
The Moose Deer, or Elk. This animal cannot exist in temperate
climates, but delights in the cold of Norway, Russia, Siberia, and
Tartary : it is also found in America. One of its peculiarities is an
excrescence under the throat. The antlers also are of a great size.
The Rein Deer. When, but now, we were in the deserts of Arabia,
we found the camel just adapted for its place ; but how entirely it
would fail, if carried to the hyperborean regions, to fill the place of
the rein deer, and vice versa. The rein deer cannot be too highly
prized: take it from the Laplander, and his case would indeed be
dreadful. It supplies to him the place of the horse, cow, and sheep;
for it draws his sledge, affords him milk, gives him clothing, and even
the very tendons answer, when whole, for bow strings, and when split,
for threads. A Lapland man's riches consist, not in how many
thousand pounds he has in the stocks, but in how many head of deer
he has in his fold.
The Stag, or Red Deer. This animal, as well as the fallow deer,
was once well known in this country; and though much alike, the
varieties never associate with each other. The stag is common to
almost all the northern parts of Europe.
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THE CREATION.
Like the rest of this family, the deer sheds its horns annually; and
thus we get that invaluable volatile spirit, called hartshorn, which
is procured from the shavings of the horn. The flesh of the stag
is esteemed above that of the fallow deer. They are very bold in
case of danger: there was an instance once, of a tiger cruelly let
into the same enclosure with a stag, but the latter made so stout a
resistance, that the tiger fled.
The Fallow Deer. This animal is now domesticated with us, and is
kept in the parks of the great. Their young are called fawns; and
the spots on their skins give them a beautiful appearance. The flesh
of the deer is called venison.
The Roebuck. This most beautiful little animal, the smallest of
this family known in England, once roamed through our woods, but is
now extinct in these kingdoms, except in the highlands of Scotland.
It is about three feet long, and two feet high. They have this
peculiarity: that they never herd together, except in domestic re-
lations. The roebuck is always faithful to its mate; and the family
live with them until they are old enough to go out into life, and
provide for themselves.
The Antelope or Gazelle. This singular animal is a kind of link
between the roebuck and the goat: like the goat, they never shed
their horns, and they have the form and motion of the roebuck.
The eyes are said to be very brilliant, and yet mild.
The Common Antelope. This animal is a native of Barbary, and is
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? LETTER XI.
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much like our fallow deer: its peculiarity is, that its horns are spirally
twisted, and encircled almost to the top with prominent rings. The
females are destitute of horns.
The White-footed Antelope. This beautiful species inhabits the
interior of Hindostan. Its horns are short, and project a little for-
ward. Its flesh is much esteemed in that country.
The Royal Antelope. This species is also called the Chevrotrin, and
is the smallest of all cloven-footed animals:--its height is about nine
inches, and length fourteen;--the shape is delicate beyond description,
like a beautiful stag in miniature. It is a native of Senegal, and the
hottest parts of Africa.
The Goat. This family is well known, and is a valuable animal
to us, especially on board ship, where it supplies, at least to a few,
milk for a long voyage. The goat is found in most parts of the world.
In several parts of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, goats are an invalu-
able boon to the poor. All parts of this animal are of use. The kids
are very playful. This was one of the animals used, by God's appoint-
ment, in sacrifice. Though goats are now met with in America, there
were none found there on its discovery.
The Ibex. This bold animal is found on the Alps and Pyrenees :
he has large knotted horns, sometimes three feet in length. If the
incautious hunter follow him to narrow places, he will turn round,
and endeavour to throw him off the precipice; and if he fails, he will
throw himself down an amazing height, and, falling on his horns,
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THE CREATION.
will escape unhurt. How wonderful this provision--how full of
mercy!
The Goat of Angora. This animal seems confined to the limited
space of a few hundred miles, about Angora and Congar, in Asiatic
Turkey. It is famous for its beautiful hair. The goatherds are
extremely careful of them, washing and combing their hair fre-
quently. This production is unrivalled, and of it is made our most
beautiful fabrics, &c.
The Moufflon. Some naturalists have supposed that this is the
original stock from whence all our present race of sheep have sprung;
but there is one great difficulty to this, as the covering of the moufflon
is hair, and that of sheep, wool. The horns of this animal are of
amazing length. It is a native of Greece, Sardinia, Corsica, and
some parts of Tartary.
The Sheep. Linnaeus enumerates three distinct species of this
invaluable animal:--the Ram, or common sheep, the Guinea Sheep, and
the Cretan Sheep; but as their general properties are the same, in
describing one, you describe all.
The Common Sheep. This animal, in its present state, is entirely
domesticated with us, and is of the utmost benefit, not only to us, but
to all the northern nations of Europe; for though cotton is admirably
adapted for the warmer regions of the south, yet, warm as it is com-
pared with linen, it is a poor substitute for the generous heat preserved
by wool. A few years since, an estimate was made of all the flocks
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of sheep in several of the European kingdoms, and the number reached
140,000,000 head; and they were subdivided as follows:--Great
Britain and Ireland, 44,000,000; France, 33,000,000; Prussia,
12,000,000; Austria, 11,000,000; Hungary, 8,000,000; Spain,
12,000,000; Provinces of Germany, 20,000,000.
The sheep is associated with the earliest history of the world; and
the first immediate sacrifice we read of was a lamb,--" Abel offered of
the firstlings of his flock. " Abel, of course, did this by direct revelation
from God-- he did it in faith : and as Jesus the Lord was the Lamb
slain before the foundation of the world, Abel, doubtless, saw his day
afar off, as Abraham did, and rejoiced, and was glad. But I will
enlarge on this in my next letter.
The sheep is an animal capable of the greatest affection. There is
a fact of great interest, mentioned by Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, in
support of this: he says, " the harder the times, the greater the kind-
ness of the eice to her young:" and he adds,--" Once I herded for two
years in a wild and bare farm, called ' Willinslee,' on the border of
Mid-Lothian; and of all the sheep I ever saw, these were the kindest
and most affectionate to their young. We had one very bad winter,
so that our sheep grew lean in the spring, and disease came in among
them, and carried off many;--often have I seen these victims, when
fallen down to rise no more, and even when unable to lift their heads
from the ground, holding up the leg to invite their starving lambs to
the miserable pittance that the udder could still supply. "
p2
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? 316 THE CREATION.
Now suppose, my dear children, you take a pen, and enumerate the
various qualities of the sheep; and begin with the wool;--I men-
tioned in the introduction of this letter, that so valuable an article was
wool considered to this nation, that, by some ancient* custom, the Lord
Chancellor's seat was made of wool;--after you have enumerated
the articles made of wool, think of the thousands and tens of thousands
of hands employed in its manufacture, from the costly cashmere of
the palace to the coarse worsted of the cottage, or from the delicate
German wool, softer than silk, to the rough horse cloth, harsh and
impervious to wet. I shall never forget the pleasure I had in Ireland,
when, after a good deal of perseverance, I saw some of my home-made
cloth spun and wove under my own eye. But pleasing as the flocks
are, we must pass on, and consider the next animal of such great
domestic comfort and blessing to us,
The Ox or Cow. The distinguishing character of this genus is,
eight cutting teeth in the lower jaw, and none in the upper. Perhaps
of all the quadruped family, or, indeed, of all things living, the cow
is the most useful to man: though even this expression must be
* I have been endeavouring to ascertain the date of this for you, but have not
quite succeeded; though I think, in the absence of direct proof, the presumption
is, that it was in the reign of Edward III. ; for then these two things took place:
first, wool was especially encouraged, and statutes passed for its protection; and
second, in that reign the House of Lords was separated from the Commons, and
had meetings of its own peculiar order; and thus were constituted the two houses
of Parliament. But what may have been the date is not of so much importance;
the fact itself is of great interest.
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? LETTER XI.
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guarded; for the cow would make a poor substitute for the rein-deer
or camel; indeed, it would not exist in either of the two countries
where they abound; but to us in Europe the cow is an immense
blessing--of untold value. This animal is found in most of the
quarters of the globe; and in countries where the pastures abound,
it increases to an enormous size.
As the sheep seems to have been domesticated from the very earliest
times, so do cattle. Jabal, one of the descendants of Cain, was a
keeper of cattle: so, after the flood, we find them continually alluded
to. With the sheep and goat, they were the alone creatures offered
in sacrifice, excepting the turtle dove and pigeon.
The cow exhibits the most tender affection to her young; and
mourns its loss most bitterly; but after a little seems to forget it, and
yields her milk abundantly for man's benefit . I subjoin a little calcu-
lation that I know will interest you, showing the enormous quantity
of food they take, and which, by that wonderful mutation of nature,
goes largely to give us such stores of milk. --"A cow consumes, on
an average, one hundred pounds of green food in twenty-four hours.
This, for the hundred and eighty-five days she is grazing, is eighteen
thousand five hundred pounds. In winter, she consumes forty-five
pounds of root per day: or, for the remaining hundred and eighty
days of the year, eight thousand one hundred pounds: and in return
for this, if well fed, she yields two thousand quarts of milk. "--Allen's
Hints for Schools of Industry.
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? 318
THE CREATION.
Have you not frequently seen the ox ploughing? how patiently he
goes about it . Sometimes you see cruel men strike them over the
horns; but this is as unwise as it is barbarous.
One well versed in
rural life strongly recommends that all violence and rough language
should be avoided. --" If the ox be ever so stubborn," he says, " there
should be no blows, no loud speaking, no scolding; but stop--pat
him, pat his companion, speak gently, and he will soon move on. "
How true this is; and not only with animals, but with man. My
dear children, you may one day have others under you : learn thus,
then, the way to get, and the way to keep authority is, "to do to
others as ye would they should do to you;" let there be nothing over-
bearing, nothing angry, no threatening; and you will get an
obedience of love, and not of fear.
The Bison. This singular animal is evidently of the Ox family.
Its chief peculiarity is the lump between its shoulders : it also has a
long shaggy mane, and a beard, and a very fierce and fiery eye. It is
found in most of the warm latitudes. This animal, though so furious,
is capable of being tamed and domesticated, and then it is said to be
even milder than the cow itself. The Hottentots train it to war.
The American Bison. This animal varies little from the former:
the skin is covered with a dark wool, which is much esteemed. Its
marked peculiarity is, the long hair, springing between the horns,
hanging over the eyes, which gives it a very formidable appearance.
The Buffalo. This animal and the ox are very much alike, yet they
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? LETTER XI.
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have a rooted aversion to each other, and are evidently different
species. It is found in Europe, and said to have been introduced into
Italy in the year 600. They also abound in America. Mr. Catlin,
in his animating and affecting picture of the North American Indians,
gives a striking description of this family, which I subjoin in a
note. *
SIXTH ORDER-BELLUjE.
THREE GENERA. --FEW SPECIES.
The distinguishing characteristics of this order are, that the fore
teeth are obtusely truncated, the feet hoofed, and the food vegetable;
comprising the Horse, the Ass, the Zebra, the Wild Boar, the
domestic Hog, and the Hippopotamus, t
The Horse. Of all the quadruped family, the horse may be reckoned
to reach the highest point of symmetry and proportion; and, when
kindly treated, may be brought to the greatest state of docility. The
value of this animal was very early known. We find them in the
armies of Pharaoh, when he pursued the children of Israel, and in
many other parts of Scripture they are continually alluded to; but of
all the parts of the world where they are in perfection, Arabia is pre-
eminent, so that the word Arabian and beautiful horse are almost
synonymous. How grievous to see this noble animal treated some-
? See Appendix,
t This animal we considered as part of the fifth day's creation.
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? 320
THE CREATION.
times so barbarously. I do not know what would be done in Arabia
to some of our countrymen, if the natives saw them ill-treat their horses
as they do. There, the horse is made almost one of the family. You
remember that anecdote in your book of British Quadrupeds:--" In
the time of Louis XIV. , King of France, the French Consul in one
part of Arabia offered to purchase a very beautiful mare of a poor
Arab. He was almost naked, and his wife and children starving; and
after a great deal of trouble, he consented to the purchase for a sum
that would have made him independent for life. He brought the
mare to the dwelling of the Consul, dismounted, and stood leaning
upon her. The gold, her purchase, was put before him; he first
looked at it, then at the favourite;--he sighed and wept:--' To whom,'
said he, * am I going to yield thee up ? To Europeans, who will tie
thee close; who will beat thee; who will render thee miserable; return
with me, my beauty, my jewel, and rejoice the hearts of my children. '
Saying this, he sprang on her back, and was out of sight in a
moment. "
I have before remarked, that the horse, if treated kindly, will do
anything: abundant facts confirm this statement. I will only mention
one:--Sharon Turner, in his book on Creation, in one of his valuable
notes, says, " An experienced cavalry officer once told me, that he did
not fear the most vicious horse, and would soon cure it. I asked him
his means. His answer was, always by mild and gentle treatment,
and forbearing patience. If you whip them, he said, you make
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? LETTER XI.
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them bad-tempered, and continually vicious; but steady kindness,
occasional humouring as far as was safe, with a hard run now and then,
to let their spirit exhaust itself, constituted always the most suc-
cessful system. " (Vol. i. p. 386. )
But not only is the horse cruelly treated in life, but after it has
rendered man his best services, the history of its closing days would
record scenes of the most astonishing barbarity. * Mercifully, some
benevolent minds have taken up the subject, " and have lifted up
their voice for the dumb. " How true is that word, " The righteous
man is merciful to his beast. "
The Ass. This useful animal, though much like the horse, is very
different in its habits. It is known in most parts of the world; and, if
possible, is worse treated than the horse. But still it is a great friend
to man; and the milk from the dam is considered much lighter and
more digestible than that of the cow. In the countries where the
Wild Ass is in its perfect freedom, you would hardly know it as the
same animal with its present degraded-looking descendant. There it
is the fleetest of the fleet; and I think Xenophon remarks, in his
account of Cyrus's Expedition, that such was its swiftness and
? The horse, even by its very skin and hair, renders man great service, as well
as the ox and sheep. With regard to the former, yon have only to go into a tan-
yard, and from the delicate kid, to the stern and tough bull's hide, you will see all
brought into requisition; and as to the hair, especially that of the horse, its uses
are various ; for being, when curled up, of so elastic a nature, it answers for sofas,
chairs, mattrasses; and even now, by a new patent process, protects our feet from
cold and damp. Truly, nothing is made in vain.
p3
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? 322
THE CREATION.
strength, that they could only catch it by having relays of horses.
In those countries its flesh is esteemed as a rarity. Though accused
of stupidity, observation leads to a very different conclusion, i. e. , that
it ponders much and acts wisely. Indeed, facts are abundant in proof
of this. In Eastern countries, to ride on white asses was a mark of
high distinction.
The Zebra. This beautiful animal is rather smaller than the
horse, but, if possible, more beautiful, and is as swift as the stag.
It inhabits the Cape of Good Hope, and most of the southern parts
of Africa. The stripes of the zebra are exceedingly beautiful,--
in the male, they are brown and white, and in the female, black and
white. This animal is most difficult, either to catch or retain ; though
it is said that four of them were once yoked to the king of Portugal's
carriage.
The Hog. Animals of this genus seem to unite in themselves
some of the characteristics of the other quadrupeds: they resemble the
horse, in the number of their teeth; the cow, in their cloven hoofs,
and the position of their intestines; and the claw-footed tribes, in their
appetite for flesh, and their numerous young.
The Wild Boar. This animal may be considered the parent stock
of our domestic swine: he is, however, smaller, but very undaunted.
He is found in most parts of the world; and because he is courageous,
man likes to hunt him.
The Domestic Hog. This animal is known in almost all parts of the
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? LETTER XI.
323
world; and is among the most prolific of all the quadruped family.
In Ireland, it is an invaluable boon to the peasantry; though they
very rarely taste those they "rear; but sell them for their rent money.
In the South Sea Islands this animal abounds.
The Cassibara, or Water Hog. This animal is found in South
America. It looks like a hog; but its snout is divided. It delights
in the water, and has a kind of web foot, to enable it to swim.
It feeds on fish, flesh, and vegetables indiscriminately: nothing
comes amiss to it. It is easily tamed, and then manifests at-
tachment.
The Peccary. This animal is also an inhabitant of South America.
It is much like a pig, but of a lighter and more elegant form.
The Babyroussa, or Indian Hog. Though this singular animal has
been ranked with the hog genus, it has but few similarities with it.
Its general figure more resembles the stag, and its hair is more like
wool than bristles. It also has four enormous tusks growing out of
the jaws--the two uppermost of which rise like horns, and bending
backwards, point to the animal's eyes; these tusks give it an imposing
appearance, and are very valuable, being the best ivory. The chief
peculiarity in this animal is its way of sleeping when wearied:
instead of lying down, like most other quadrupeds, it finds a strong
branch of some tree, high enough from the ground to free it from
danger, and from this it will suspend itself by one of its tusks, and
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? 324
THE CREATION.
so sleep on in safety. If this be the case, how singular, and yet
how merciful the provision! *
The Babyronssa is chiefly found in Borneo, and the neighbouring
parts of Asia. It is a quiet animal, except when attacked, and then
it uses its tusks with great force.
This is the last species of this genus; and we now descend lower
in the scale of creation, and come to the creeping things that creep
upon the earth; and finally, the Insects, some of which emphatically,
as the Ephemera, are the creatures of a summer's night, having their
birth, maturity, and death, between the setting and rising of the sun.
Linnaeus has classed the former of these under the order Am-
phibia, or animals that have life in both elements: for though this
is not strictly the case with all, yet it is with the greater part.
This order of animals is distinguished from those in the class
Mammalia by several particulars :--
1. They have cold blood, though red.
2. They are oviparous.
3. Their lungs chiefly consist of a pair of bladders, parted into
small subdivisions, among which are beautifully distributed their
few pulmonary blood-vessels.
Some of the Amphibia are furnished with formidable teeth ; some
? Some naturalists, however, from the curvature of the tusks, have denied this,
as impossible.
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? LETTER XI.
325
are without. Some are fierce and predaceous; others quite inoffen-
sive. The bodies of all are cold to the touch: and this, with the
squalid appearance of many, has produced in man a repugnance to
the whole family, from the crocodile to the little lizard, and yet
many, very many, of this order are perfectly harmless. And the
serpent tribe, though it has some species venomous, yet they form
not more than one-sixth of the whole family; and when we consider
how small a portion of the globe they occupy, and for what a length
of time, in cold countries, they are torpid, we have only to be
thankful we know so little of them.
The Amphibia are sub-divided by Linnaeus into Reptiles and
Serpents. The reptiles have legs, and flat naked ears, without
auricles: the serpents are destitute of feet, but move by the assist-
ance of scales, and their general powers of contortion. Neither
have fins or external ears.
REPTILIA.
Comprising Tortoises, Lizards, and Frogs.
The Tortoise Tribe. This is a very singular family, with
coverings of amazing strength. One of the larger species has been
known to bear five men on his back, at the same time, without feeling
it. Their body is protected by a singular bony covering, with a
horny, scaly, or cartilaginous integument. The covering consists of
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? 326
THE CREATION.
two large plates, one above and the other below, joined at the edges.
From these shells, the animal is not able to disengage itself; and
they defend them sufficiently from almost every enemy but man.
Those species that live on the land feed on succulent vegetables ;
and those that inhabit the ocean on sea-weed. There are about
thirty-eight species of this tribe--four that live on the sea, eighteen
on the fresh water, and the remainder on the land.
The Common Tortoise. This little animal, which rarely reaches
more than nine inches in length, is found by the Mediterranean Sea,
and North Africa. Its legs are very short, feet broad, and covered
with scales, as is the tail also. In autumn it disappears for the
winter, and is torpid until the spring. The longevity of this animal
is surprising ; some having lived upwards of one hundred years.
