There are some passages in the Bible which allude to the floating of wood. 1 Kings v. 9: "My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea; and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me." 2 Chron. ii. 16: "And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need; and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa, and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem." These passages relate to a compact between Solomon and Hiram, king of Tyre, by which the latter was to cause cedars for the building of the Temple to be cut down on the western side of Mount Lebanon, above Tripoli, and to be floated to Jaffa or Joppa, probably along by the sea shore. The Romans transported by water, both timber for building and fire-wood. When, during their wars against the Germans, they became acquainted with the qualities of the common larch, they caused large quantities of it to be carried on the river Po, to Ravenna from the Alps, particularly the Rhætian, and to be conveyed also to Rome, for their most important buildings. Vitruvius says, that this timber was so heavy that the waters could not support it, and that it was necessary to carry it in ships or on rafts. Could it have been brought to Rome conveniently, says he, it might have been used with great advantage in building. It has also been supposed that the Romans procured fire-wood from Africa, and that it was brought partly in ships and partly on rafts. But it is in Germany that the transportation of timber by means of floats has been most extensively carried on, partly on account of its noble forests, and partly through the possession of the river Rhine. There is evidence of floating of timber-rafts in Germany as far back as the year 1410. A letter from the Landgrave of Thuringia says, that on account of the scarcity of wood that existed in their territory, the landgraves had so far lessened the toll usually paid on the river Sale as far as Weissenfels, that a Rhenish florin only was demanded for floats brought on that river to Jena, and two Rhenish stivers for those carried to Weissenfels; but the proprietors of the floats were bound to be answerable for any injury occasioned to the bridges. In 1438, Hans Munzer, an opulent citizen of Freyberg, with the assistance of the then burgo-masters, put a float of wood upon the river Mulda, which runs past the city, in order that it might be conveyed thither for the use of the inhabitants: this seems to imply that such a practice was not then uncommon. When the town of Aschersleben was adorned with a new church, in 1495, the timber used for its construction was transported on the Elbe, from Dresden to Acken, and from thence on the Achse to the place of its destination. In the year 1564, there was a floatmaster in Saxony, who was obliged to give security to the amount of four hundred florins; so that the business of floating must, at that time, have been of considerable importance. When the citizens of Paris had used all the timber growing near the city, the enormous expense of land carriage, led to the suggestion of an improved mode of transport. John Rouvel, a citizen and merchant, in the year 1549, proposed to transport timber, bound together, along rivers which were not navigable for large vessels. With this view he made choice of the forests in the woody district of Morvant, which belonged to the government of Nivernois; and as several small streams and rivulets had their sources there, he endeavoured to convey into them as much water as possible. This great undertaking, at first laughed at, was completed by his successor, René Arnoul, in 1566. The wood was thrown into the water in single trunks, and suffered to be driven in that manner by the current to Crevant, a small town on the river Yonne; where each timber-merchant drew out his own, which he had previously marked, and, after it was dry, formed it into floats that were transported from the Yonne to the Seine, and thence to the capital. By this method large quantities of timber were conveyed to the populous towns. A similar mode of transporting timber from the central parts of Germany to the great towns or to the sea ports, is practised at the present day. Mr. Planché, in his Descent of the Danube, says: Below this bridge, (at Plattling on the Danube,) the raftmasters of Munich, who leave that city every Monday for Vienna, unite their rafts before they enter the Danube. They descend the Isar upon single rafts only; but upon reaching this point they lash them together, in pairs, and in A voyage is made pleasantly enough upon these floating fleets of three, four, or six pairs, they set out for Vienna. islands, as they have all the agrémens, without the confinement, of a boat. A very respectable promenade can be made from one end to the other, and two or three huts erected upon them afford shelter in bad weather, and repose at night. The But the anonymous author of An Autumn near the Rhine gives a more detailed account of the timber-rafts of Germany, of which we will avail ourselves. A little below Andernach, on the banks of the Rhine, the little village of Namedy appears on the left bank, under a wooded mountain. The Rhine here forms a little bay, where the pilots are accustomed to unite together the small rafts of timber, floated down the tributary rivers into the Rhine, and to construct enormous floats, which are navigated to Dordrecht and sold. These machines have the appearance of a floating village, composed of twelve or fifteen little wooden huts, on a large platform of oak and deal timber. They are frequently eight or nine hundred feet long, and sixty or seventy in breadth. rowers and workmen sometimes amount to seven or eight hundred, superintended by pilots and a proprietor, whose habitation is superior in size and elegance to the rest. The raft is composed of several layers of trees, placed one on the other, and tied together. A large raft draws not less than six or seven feet water. Several smaller ones are attached to it, by way of protection, besides a string of boats, loaded with anchors and cables, and used for the purpose of sounding the river, and going on shore. The domestic economy of an East Indiaman is hardly more complete. Poultry, pigs, and other animals, are to be found on board, and several butchers are attached to the suite. A well-supplied boiler is at work night and day in the kitchen. The dinner-hour is announced by a basket stuck on a pole, at which signal the pilot gives the word of command, and the workmen run from all quarters to receive their allowances. The consumption of provisions in the voyage to Holland is almost incredible, sometimes amounting to forty or fifty thousand pounds of bread, eighteen or twenty thousand pounds of fresh meat, a considerable quantity of salt meat, and butter, vegetables, &c., in proportion. The expenses are so great, that a capital of three or four hundred thousand florins is considered necessary to undertake a raft. Their navigation is a matter of considerable skill, owing to the abrupt windings, the rocks and shallows of the river; and some years ago the secret was thought to be monopolized by a boatman of Rudesheim and his son. Dr. Granville, in his Journey to St. Petersburgh, has also given a description of this remarkable floating timber village, which he has also illustrated by an engraving. The subject of our frontispiece is the first beginning of such a raft. The bridge is called Pont d'Alto, and is situated near Agordo, in the Venetian Lombardy district of Belluno. Under this curious wooden bridge flows a small stream, which empties itself into a larger. The surface of this stream is seen to be covered with scattered pieces of timber, which have been brought down from forests near the banks, and precipitated into the stream. When these timbers, whose number receives constant accessions in the journey, reach a particular spot, they are all bound together, to form one continuous raft, and in that form floated to the place of their destination. A DISCOURSE ON GEOLOGY. I. NATURE OF GEOLOGY. "CURIOSITY," it has been well observed, "is one of the most distinctive faculties of the human mind; one of those which establish a marked separation between man, and the rest of the animal creation:" For of all The inhabitants of earth, to man alone But though curiosity, or the love of investigation, is one of man's best faculties when directed to an end really worthy of him, it is capable of being misdirected and misapplied. It becomes, therefore, of paramount importance that this principle, so active in all intelligent minds, should be guided into channels, where it may not only find free scope for its exercise, but the most exalted ends for its ultimate object. Such are "the sacred paths of nature and of science." The grandest discoveries, and the inventions of the greatest use to mankind,—the sublime truths of astronomy, electro-magnetism, the steam-engine, the telescope, the microscope, are all the result of long-continued research, ennobled by their object; and the same principle is still stimulating us to extend the range of our knowledge, and to fathom the hidden mysteries of nature. In modern times, science appeared to have made such great progress, that we scarcely could have expected any new track would have been opened equally rich in discoveries with those disclosed by the telescope or the microscope. Yet the investigation of the ground we daily tread under foot, has, during the last half century, in the hands of Smith, Cuvier, and a host of other scientific men, become a science peculiary fertile in novelties, not only deeply interesting to the geologist, but strikingly attractive to all who look with wonder and curiosity on the visible works of the Creator. Geology, indeed, may be regarded as a science necessarily dependant on the advanced state of the natural sciences; for its conclusions have only been established by these means, and it can scarcely be said to have existed as a science until chemistry, zoology, botany, and mechanics, were applied to the explanation of the phenomena it presents. A general acquaintance with science is, therefore, of the greatest possible advantage to the geological student. Yet, nevertheless, to those unpossessed of these acquirements, geology may form a highly engaging pursuit; for it is a science of observation, and is directed to objects immediately within our reach,— to the rocks and cliffs on the shore; to the beds exposed to our view in the excavations of a road; to the very pebbles scattered in our path *,-all of which will derive an infinitely higher interest, if regarded with reference to the phenomena of geology, and to those changes which have been instrumental in imparting to them their actual form, or present arrangement. Sir John Herschel tells us, that geology, in the magnitude and sublimity of the objects of which it treats, undoubtedly ranks in the scale of the sciences next to astronomy. To those who are in some measure acquainted with the immensity of the field into which astronomy guides her votaries, but to whom geology is as yet "a sealed book," this assertion may appear to assign too exalted a station to the latter science. The distances treated of in astronomy are so immense, and the time required for the completion of some of the celestial cycles so vast, that they elude the grasp of our comprehension : "What, then, is there in geology," may such inquire, "to compete with the myriads of years to which astronomy directs our attention?". To this the geologist will reply, that by careful researches into the rocks and beds of the earth, we learn that periods approaching to, if not equalling the myriads of years of the astronomer, have apparently been required for the accomplishment of all the changes on the surface of the globe. And if geology may yield to astronomy in the vastness of the space over which it ranges, and in the former science our views are confined to the observation of only a limited portion of one small planet, the indications it displays of the Mighty Hand that rules the universe, are scarcely less striking, and perhaps fully as impressive, from their capability of being brought more immediately under our own inspection. The difference between the sciences of astronomy and geology may be compared to that of the dis. coveries effected by the telescope and the microscope: the one reveals to us objects of vast magnitude concealed from us by their immense distance; the other discloses objects hidden from us by their almost incomprehensible minuteness. Geology shows us that "the configuration of the earth's surface has been re-modelled again and again; mountain chains have been raised or sunk; valleys have been formed, again filled up, and then re-excavated; sea and land have changed places. Yet throughout all these revolutions, animal and vegetable life has been sustained: these changes in the condition of the earth having been accompanied by corresponding changes in organic bodies, adapting them to those altered conditions ;-the succession of living beings having been continued by the introduction into the earth from time to time of new plants and animals, evidently admirably adapted for successive states of the globe t." It being, then, an ascertained fact, that we repeatedly see the commencement of new races, we are obliged again and again to have recourse to a supreme Intelligence and a creative power. "If we examine the marine remains of the strata, we find that whole genera of shells, which in the present seas are most abundant in species, were not in existence till after the chalk was deposited. Other genera again originated about the middle of the series, and soon became extinct, being represented by no species in the Tertiary strata, that is, the strata above the chalk. These new creations supplied the place of other races which perished; for some genera are peculiar to the lower groups of rocks, not a single *The author has, not unfrequently, met with well preserved fossils among the pebbles of a garden gravel walk + LYELL, Address to Geological Society. species of them occurring higher in the series than the coal-measures. There are a few, and but a few, genera, which, commencing in the lowest fossiliferous strata, have endured through all the changes to which the earth has been subject, and have species existing in the present seas. The changes which occurred in the organization of fishes appear to have been greater and more rapid, and exhibit a wider difference between those found above and below the chalk, than is observable in the case of molluscs. "The same proofs of organic changes are afforded by the study of fossil botany. The formations containing vegetable remains may be arranged, according to Professor Henslow, in four groups, representing epochs, during any one of which no very marked difference is observable in the general character of the vegetation; but between any two of these groups the change is striking and decided, most of the genera being different, and none of the species alike. "We can scarcely be said, at present, to have sufficient data for determining what were the animals inhabiting the land while the earlier strata were being deposited at the bottom of the sea. It is evident that some of our oldest rocks have been derived from the waste of pre-existing land; and, as that land appears to have been clothed with its appropriate vegetation, we have no right to suppose that it was destitute of its appropriate animals. A great ocean like the Pacific, interspersed, like it, with small islands, appears to have prevailed, during the formation of the older strata, over that part of the Northern Hemisphere in which are situated those countries whose geology has been most explored. Small oceanic islands do not, at the present day, contain many mammalia, while they are wholly destitute of the larger kinds; and the discovery of such remains, in an oceanic sediment, after its conversion into dry land, must be an event of very rare occurrence; for however abundant mammalia might be on some distant continent, by the rivers of which their carcases would be drifted down, yet before they could be floated out far to sea, they would be almost certain to be devoured by the carnivorous monsters of the deep; and even supposing them to escape this fate, the chances are very much against the discovery of the spot where these rare remains are concealed, after the bed of the ocean shall be laid dry. "But whether mammalia existed during the earliest epochs of the world of which we possess geological monuments, and were contemporary with those marine animals imbedded in the lower strata, though, for the reasons above stated, their remains have not yet been discovered; or whether they were not created till a later period, though still before the deposition of the chalk, it is certain that during the tertiary era, when their remains were abundantly entombed in the strata, we can trace the introduction of new races even of those animals. The remains of the land quadrupeds imbedded in the olden Tertiary strata, are chiefly those of extinct genera. In the deposits of a more recent period we meet, in these northern latitudes, with the remains of extinct species of genera now existing, but existing only in warm climates, such as the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, &c. And at length we come to peat bogs and alluvial deposits, in which human remains occur, mixed with those of animals now living in the countries where the remains are found, together with a few which have become locally extinct, within the historic period. "But if the earth's crust furnishes us with evidence, that great and repeated changes have taken place in the organic and inorganic world, it furnishes us with proofs no less clear, that great epochs of time elapsed while these changes were in progress,-epochs so great, that we are tempted to connect them with the secular periods of astronomy to which we have before alluded. There is, however, this difference between the phenomena of astronomy and geology; that in the former, we have a series of events recurring, in a fixed order, after the lapse of fixed intervals of time, whereas in geology, (if we except the interchange between land and sea, and the recurrence of volcanic action after long intervals of repose,) we have no evidence of the repetition of a single phenomenon ; much less have we evidence of geological cycles, in which the same events are repeated, again and again, in a stated order, and at stated intervals. Thus, whole orders of fishes, characteristic of the older strata, become extinct, and are succeeded by new races, which in their turn give place to others; and this class of vertebrated animals affords an unbroken record, from the earliest to the most recent geological epoch; the changes which occur in it being more rapid than those which take place among invertebrated animals; but as we ascend in the series of strata, we meet with no instance of the revival of any of the extinct genera or species. "If we apply ourselves to the task of classifying organized bodies now existing, arranging them in groups, as they differ from or resemble each other in their structure, we find that those forms of each group which are most dissimilar, are connected by a series of gradations, separated from each other by the most minute distinctions, and that the groups, whether we regard the larger or the subordinate divisions, are again connected by forms possessing some of the characteristics of two groups." A very close analogy is thus found to exist between extinct and recent species, so as to leave no doubt on the mind, that the same harmony of parts and beauty of contrivance which we admire in the living creature has also characterized the organic world at remote periods. For all are equally A link of Nature's chain Formed by the Hand that formed me, Which formeth nought in vain. "The geologist, therefore, can bring new and original arguments to bear upon those parts of natural theology which impress us with exalted conceptions of the intelligence, power, wisdom, and unity, of design, manifested in the creation. "That the most perfect unity of plan can be traced in the fossil world, through all the modifications it has undergone, is admitted by all geologists, and also that we can distinctly carry back our researches to times antecedent to the existence of the human species. It can be proved that man had a beginning, and that all the species now contemporary with man, and many others which preceded these races, had also a beginning. And thus, as we increase our knowledge of the inexhaustible variety displayed in living nature, and admire the wisdom and power which it displays, geology will incalculably increase our admiration of the works of creation, by suggesting the reflection that the present order of things is only the last of a great series, of which we cannot estimate the number or the limit in the past ages of the world*." *LYELL's Anniversary Address, 1837 THE moral of that poetical fiction, that the uppermost link of all the series of subordinate causes is fastened to Jupiter's chair, signifies that Almighty God governs and directs sub. ordinate causes and effects.--HALE. NINEVE H. THE SUPPOSED SITE OF NINEVEH. THE Lord will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilder ness. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, and all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work. This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.-ZEPHANIAH, ch. ii. v. 13, 14, 15. THUS did the prophet foretell the future desolation of NINEVEH, when that mighty city was standing in all the pride of power and greatness, and when its people, delighting themselves in the luxuries and pleasures around them, paid little attention to the tidings of approaching ruin. The first mention of this city is in the tenth chapter of Genesis, where it is said-"Out of that land (Shinar) went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh;" but, from its name, it has been supposed that it was greatly enlarged, and improved by Nimrod or Ninus. Nineveh stood on the banks of the Tigris or Hiddekel river, and was in extent, though not in the amount of its population, almost equal to Babylon. From the description given by the prophet Jonah we find it to have been an exceeding great city of three days' journey, (which must be understood probably of its circuit,) and also that it contained "more than sixscore thousand persons that could not discern between their right hand and their left," and allowing these young children to have been a fifth part of the inhabitants, (Jonah, ch. iv. v. 11,) the whole population must have amounted to 600,000, or about half the present population of London. We are told by the old historian, Diodorus Siculus, that this city was fifteen miles long, nine broad, and forty-eight in circumference. It was surrounded by large walls 100 feet high, upon the top of which three chariots could pass together abreast, and was defended by 1500 towers, each 200 feet high. The city was first taken by the Medes and Babylonians in the reign of Sardanapalus, 747 years B.C., after having been for 1450 years mistress of the East, and holding in subjection even Babylon itself. Nineveh, however, was still of great importance, and afterwards resumed its rank as a capital city and the seat of government, until Nabopolassar, a general in the Assyrian army, seized on Babylon and made himself king. Nineveh now began rapidly to decline, and to yield to the power of her great rival: in the year 633 B.C., the Medes laid siege to the city under the conduct of Cyaxares, their king, but were diverted from their purpose by an invasion of Media at that time by the Scythian host: Cyaxares withdrew his army from Nineveh in order to repel these invaders, and it alliance with the king of Babylon he returned to the was not till the year 612 B.C., that having formed an siege, accompanied by that monarch, and utterly destroyed the city. On this occasion there was a remarkable fulfilment of the prophecy delivered by Nahum, where speaking of Nineveh he says, "The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved,"-(chap. ii. v. 6:) for the Medes and Babylonians were enabled to gain entrance to the city, by means of a flood of the Tigris, which carried away a part of the wall, two miles in extent, and facilitated their assault. The carelessness and drunkenness of the inhabitants, likewise, gave the enemy every advantage, and became the fulfilment of another part of Nahum's prophecy: "For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry,"-(Nahum, ch. i. v. 10.) Two hundred years before this event, the prophet Jonah had been sent to announce the fall of their city; but the repentance and humiliation of both monarch and people averted for a time the threatened calamity. When, however, the danger was removed, the repentance was also forgotten, and the people relapsed into their old sins, notwithstanding the faithful warnings of the prophets, Nahum and Jeremiah; and thus brought on themselves the final destruction of their city, which never appears to have revived or recovered from the assaults of the Medes and Babylonians, but to have sank in rapid decay. It is never after mentioned in Scripture, as a city then in existence; nor does any profane author speak of it except as in a ruined state. The site of Nineveh is now uncertain; but on the eastern bank of the Tigris, and at about three quarters of a mile from that stream, the village of Nunia, and a sepulchre which is shown as that of the prophet Jonah, seem to point out the position of that celebrated city. The ruins in the vicinity of this village were examined by Mr. Kinneir in 1810, and he found them to consist of a rampart and a fosse, forming an oblong square, not exceeding four miles in compass. He saw neither stone nor rubbish of any kind; and he speaks of the wall as bearing traces of having belonged to some city of much less dimensions than Nineveh, and as probably having formed part of Ninus, a city afterwards erected on the same spot. The opinions of this traveller are entitled to the more respect, when we remember, that of Babylon, whose walls were at least as high and as thick as those of ancient Nineveh, not the slightest trace is in existence, and it seems therefore unreasonable to suppose, that the ruins of the elder city should be still visible. Mr. Rich, however, who visited the spot in 1820, is inclined to the opinion that these ruins formed part of the ancient city: he supposes the space enclosed by the walls, to have contained the citadel and royal palace; he describes the situation of several artificial mounds both within and without the walls, whose antiquity is well ascertained by the remains which are found by digging deeply into them; such as cylinders, fragments of sculptured stone, bricks, and pieces of gypsum with inscriptions. Among other curiosities, an immense block of stone has been dug from one of these mounds, on which are sculptured the figures of men and animals. THE Japanese are extremely singular in some of their religious opinions. They never supplicate the gods in distress; holding that, as the gods enjoy uninterrupted bliss, such supplications would be offensive to them. Their holydays, accordingly, are dedicated to feasts, weddings, and all public and private rejoicings. It is delightful to the gods, say they, to see men happy. They are far from being singular in thinking that a benevolent Deity is pleased to see men happy; but nothing can be more inconsistent with the common feelings of men, than to hold, that in distress, it is wrong to supplicate the Author of our being for relief, and that He will be displeased with such supplication. In deep affliction, there is certainly no balm equal to that of pouring out the heart to a benevolent Deity, and expressing entire resignation to His will.-LORD KAMES. HAPPINESS, though necessarily involving present pleasure, is the direct or indirect, and often the very distant, result of feelings of every kind, pleasurable, painful, and indifferent. It is like the beautiful profusion of flowers which adorn our summer fields: in our admiration of the foliage, and the blossoms, and the pure air and sunshine, in which they seem to live, we almost forget the darkness of the soil in which their roots are spread. Yet how much should we err, if we were to consider them as deriving their chief nutriment from the beams that shine around them, in the warmth and light of which we have wandered with joy. That delightful radiance alone would have been of little efficacy, without the showers, from which, in those very wanderings, we have often sought shelter; or, at least, without the dews, which were unheeded by us, as they fell silently and almost insensibly on our evening walk.-BROWN THE VARIED POWERS OF MAN. ONE considerable distinction between men and animals is that the latter, for the most part, are limited to the regions suited to each separate species, while men place their habitations and thrive in every portion of the globe. This is very strikingly true of the more important and larger aniAsia and Africa, and though he may have formerly been mals. The lion is found only in the warm countries of seen further north, yet it appears that he could not thrive in such a climate. The species of apes which are most like man are few in number, and inhabit only small districts of hot regions; and when carefully removed to France or England, cannot be preserved against those diseases which arise from great sensibility to cold. The various tribes are confined within very narrow limits; the orang-otang is found only in the island of Borneo, and the chimpanzee on the west of Africa. The same is true of the camel, which thrives only in hot sandy countries; and of the elephant, the Asiatic species of which may be certainly distinguished from the African. The American animals differ from those Man, on the contrary, lives in the arctic, and multiplies in of the old world, and those of New Holland from all others. the torrid zone. His hardy frame remains uninjured amid the cold of a Siberian or of a North American winter, where the mercury freezes in the thermometer. It is even stated, that on the shores of Hudson's Bay, brandy froze in the rooms of some Englishmen, in which they kept fires. Yet the Esquimaux and Canadians go about hunting in this temperature, and three Russians lived six years on Spitzbergen, eleven degrees nearer to the pole than the arctic circle. On the other hand, the most populous parts of Asia are the hottest, and the islands immediately under the equator are fully peopled. America is inhabited through all degrees of latitude from Terra del Fuego to the Northern Ocean. The sultry interior of Africa swarms with a negro population. In Senegal, in Sierra Leone, in the deserts of South America, in South Carolina, the thermometer at its highest point ranges from 100° to 115°. And not only does man thus exist everywhere, but he exists in hundreds of millions. The same capability for occupying all situations is observable in his being placed on plains, in mountains, in the lowest situations, and on positions so high that the pressure of the atmosphere is reduced to two-thirds what it is on the medium surface of the earth. It is evident that, to a creature distributed so extensively over the face of the earth, every kind of food must be acceptable, as it would be impossible for him to find the same descriptions of produce in situations so dissimilar. In those extreme latitudes where the cold locks up the ground to all vegetation during the far greater portion of the year, the inhabitants find it both necessary and wholesome to live on a diet of flesh. The habits of some of these people show that even what would disgust ourselves is not in itself injurious. The natives of Greenland, when they catch a seal, bury it till wanted, and then devour the half-putrid, halffrozen flesh as a dainty. The Samoiedes take their meat raw, and drink the fresh blood of the rein-deer. On the contrary, the greater part of the people of the torrid zone find it more conducive to health to draw their subsistence from the vegetable productions so abundantly scattered around them. Rice, millet, maize, the roots of the potato, the yam, the cavassa, nuts of several kinds, spices and cooling fruits, are the precious gifts of nature to them. The diet of animals is always suited to the conformation of the stomach; and it would be impossible for a carnivorous animal to subsist on vegetable food, or for a graminivorous one to live on fleshas indeed it would appear ridiculous to offer hay to a lion, or meat to a cow. LIKE Some vast flood, unbounded, fierce, and strong, But freedom, that exalts the savage state, is gone. |