came in every instance, shorter, and its flight at every return was directed to a particular part of the tree. This naturally led the young gentlemen to search for the cause of so remarkable a phenomenon. They found in that part of the tree a large Black-snake, extended upon a limb, at the height at which the bird flew. Curiosity induced them to continue their observation, until the bird became nearly exhausted, and appeared to be on the point of becoming a prey to its enemy. One of the company then threw a club into the tree, and thus diverted the attention of both the snake and the bird. The charm, if I may be permitted to use this language, was immediately dissolved, and the intended victim escaped without any difficulty." VEGETABLES. THE LAUREL MAGNOLIA. (Winterbotham's America.) THE Laurel Magnolia is the most beautiful among the trees of the forest, and is usually one hundred feet high, though some are much higher. The trunk is perfectly erect, rising in the form of a beautiful column, and supporting a head like an obtuse cone. The flowers are on the extremities of the branches; are large, white, and expanded like a rose, and are the largest and most complete of any yet known; when fully expanded, they are from six to nine inches diameter, and have a most delicious fragrance. The cypress is the largest of the American trees. "I have seen trunks of these trees," says Bartram, "that would measure, eight," ten, and twelve feet in diameter, for forty and fitty feet straight shaft." The trunks make excellent shingles, boards, and other timber; and when hollowed, make durable and convenient canoes. "When the planters fell In the State of Kentucky poplars grow to an immense height, and frequently measure eight feet in diameter.-Blowe's America. these mighty trees, they raise a stage around them, as high as to reach above the buttresses; on this stage eight or ten negroes ascend with their axes, and fall to work round its trunk. THE AMERICAN ALOE. THE great, or American Aloe, the leaves of which are thick, fleshy, and spinous at the edge, and the stem branched, and of great height. The flowers have the tube of the corolla narrowed in the middle, the stamens longer than the corolla, and the style longer than the stamens. This magnificent native of North America is by no means an uncommon plant in our gardens in England; but with us, it is seldom seen in flower. There is, indeed a notion, but an erroneous one, that the American aloe does not bloom until it is a hundred years old. The fact is, that the flowering depends almost wholly on its growth. In hot oountries it will flower in a few years; but as its growth depends upon the clinate, so does its flowering; and thence arises the curiosity which is excited when one is in flower in or near London; and hence also arises the tale of their flowering but once in a hundred years. SOUTH AMERICAN ANIMALS & VEGETABLES. (From Adams's Flowers of Modern Voyages, &a) THE natural history of the province of Buenos Ayres is very interesting. The horses here are spirited, beautiful, and swift, and are never used except for the saddle; all carriages being drawn by oxen. Their walk is so quick, and their steps so long, that in walking they equal the trot of an European horse.-Besides the horses and horned cattle that have multiplied so amazingly in the plains of South America, great numbers of wild dogs are met with. They attack and kill some of the wild cattle; they live under ground in holes, which may be easily discovered by the quantity of bones heaped round them. Their great numbers and their ravages, occa sioned one of the governors of Buenos Ayres to send out an armed force to destroy them. THE LAMA AND THE PACO, both natives of the mountainous parts of Peru, also inhabit the higher districts of Tucuman. The Lamas constitute the principal riches of the Indians; their flesh is excellent food, and their wool highly useful; they will also carry very heavy burdens in the most rugged and dangerous roads, though they seldom travel more than fifteen miles a day. When they stop to rest, they bend their knees very carefully, and they rest with their legs folded under their bellies. The neck is like that of the camel, to which animal it bears a great resemblance; and satisfied with a small portion of vegetables and grass, they neither want corn or hay; but the guenacos, or wild lamas, are stronger, brisker, and swifter than the domestic ones. When the wild ones see any of the human species they regard him at first with astonishment, without shewing any fear or surprise; but shortly after, as if by common consent, they blow through their nostrils, neigh like horses, take flight all at once, and ascend the tops of the mountains. Here, it is vain either for the hunters, or dogs to follow them. Whilst grazing, too, they place a sentinel on an eminence, who, upon the approach of hunters, gives an alarm to the rest. The PACO, or VICUNNA, the one its domesticated, the other its wild denomiration, is as much inferior to the lama as the ass to the horse. Their wool, however, being fiue and long, is a valuable article of merchandise; the natural colour of it is that of a rose leaf, and is so permanent, that it undergoes no alteration under the hands of the manufacturer. The Pacos are of the same disposition, manners, and nearly of the same temperament as the lamas; and though smaller, and having shorter legs, resemble them in figure. They inhabit and pasture on the highest parts of the mountains. The domestic Pacos, are employed to carry burdens like the Lamas; but are of such a stubborn nature, that if once they fall down with a load, they will suffer themselves to be cut to pieces rather than rise. The Paco is never found in the valleys, and will die if brought into warm countries. All these animals produce bezoar stones in a greater or lesser degree. THE PUMA, OR AMERICAN LION, is much smaller than those of Africa, or Asia, and the male has no mane. They avoid the sight of man, and commit no havoc, but among cattle; they are generally of a grey colour; but in Chaco, their fur is red and very long. They are cowardly, fly from the barking of a dog, and climb up trees. When caught by the Indians, they are kept in cages. Of the American Tigers, there are two kinds, THE JAGUAR, and the congar; the former in size, resembles the ounce, and the ground of its colour is a bright yellow. It is a formidable and cruel animal, yet when its appetite is gorged, a single dog will put him to flight. All the animals fly from the jaguar, the ant-eater only; he, on being attacked, turns on his back, and often preserves himself by the strength of his claws. THE CONGAR is longer, but less thick than the jaguar; he has a small head, long tail and short hair; his colour, a lively red, intermixed with some black tints, particularly on the back. Though not so strong, he is equally fierce, and perhaps crueller than the jaguar; though, like him, cowardly when glutted. Of the yaguaru, or water tiger, and the anta, or danta, there are no accounts given that can be depended on for veracity. The peccari, or Mexican hog, is found in some parts of Paraguay; this is in a great measure a useless animal. THE TAPIR is of the size of a small cow, but has neither horns or tail; the head is thick and long, with a kind of trunk like a rhinoceros. He feeds upon plants and roots, and is mild and timid, flying from every attack or danger; and though his legs are short, and his body heavy, he runs swiftly, and swims still better than he runs; his flesh coarse and insipid, is only eaten by the Indians TATOOS, OR ARMADILLOS, are very numerous all over South America. Instead of hair, they are covered with a testaceous crust, which ex tends over the back, head, and tail, the throat, breast, and belly, having a white grainy skin, like that of a plucked fowl, though some have hair on those parts. The crust is not in one piece, but divided into several bands; however, these animals can all contract themselves into a round form, with more or less facility. Except in gardens, they are innocent and harmless. They walk quickly, but can neither leap, run, or climb up trees, so that they have no refuge from their pursuers, but to hide themselves in their holes. If hunted near a precipice, the armadillo will escape both dogs and men ; for contracting, he rolls down like a ball. Their flesh is reckoned as good as that of a sucking pig. THE TITIS, OR MONKEYS, of the most elegant form and beautiful colour, come from the banks of the Cassequiare. Those from the shores of the Guvaiare, are large and difficult to tame. No monkey possesses so much of the physiognomy of a child as the Titi. When seized with apprehension, its eyes are instantly filled with tears, and its sagacity is so striking, that one of them which M. de Humboldt brought in his boat to Angostura, perfectly distinguished the different plates annexed to the Tableau Elementaire d'Histoire, &c. by M. Cuvier. The engravings of this work are not coloured, yet the Titi, that is extremely fond of spiders, put forward its little hand in the hope of catching a wasp or a grasshopper, every time they showed it one of the plates. But when it was shewn engravings of skeletons, or heads of mammiferous animals, it evinced the most perfect indifference. If several of these little animals are shut up in the same cage, and it happens to rain, or any coolness in the air takes place, they twist their tails round their necks, and intertwine their arms and legs to warm each other. In the forests, the Indian hunters have met with groups of them in this situation, sending forth the most lamen table cries, because those without wanted to enter the group to partake of warmth and shelter. They are in general delicate and timid, and become melancholy and dejected in proportion as they are made to quit their native regions and enter the plains. a A |