ral streams, of which the banks are wooded; and towards the skirts of the plains many detached masses of finelyformed timber, and pieces of still water, are disposed in so pleasing and picturesque a manner, as to convey the idea rather of a cultivated English park than of an American wilderness. There is, however, so great a deficiency of wood in the central parts of these plains, that "the hunters," says Dr Richardson, "are under the necessity of taking fuel with them on their journeys, or in dry weather of making their fires of the dung of the bison. To the northward of the Saskatchawan, the country is more broken, and intersected by woody hills; and on the banks of the Peace River the plains are of comparatively small extent, and are detached from each other by woody tracts: they terminate altogether in the angle between the River of the Mountains and Great Slave Lake. The abundance of pasture renders these plains the favourite resort of various ruminating animals.”*

The preceding summary brings us to the base of that vast and continuous chain already so often mentioned under the name of the Rocky Mountains. It is inhabited by many singular animals, some of which do not occur among the lower grounds on either side of the range. We have already stated our opinion regarding the character and physical influence of this extended group, and as we shall ere long describe the most remarkable of its zoological productions, we shall in the mean time request the reader to descend with us towards the western or Pacific shores. There we find several interesting tracts of country, with the natural history of which we are, however, more imperfectly acquainted than we should desire.

The countries between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific are in general of a more hilly nature than those already described to the eastward; but the upper branches of the Columbia are skirted by extensive plains, which present the same general character as those of the Missouri and Saskatchawan. New Caledonia extends from north to south about 500 miles, and from east to west about 350 or 400. Its central post at Stewart's Lake is placed in north latitude 544, and west longitude 125 degrees. According to Mr Harmon, it contains so many

Fauna Boreali-Americana, vol. i., Introduction, p. 29.

*

lakes that about one-sixth of its entire surface is under water. The weather here is much milder than on the eastern side of the mountains,-an amelioration which is no doubt owing to the comparatively narrow extent of land which intervenes between the mountains and the sea. However, for a few days during the depth of winter it must be "pretty considerably" cold, as the thermometer is said to descend for a time to about thirty-two degrees below zero of Fahrenheit. Snow generally falls about the 15th of November, and disappears by the 15th of May;t from which the winter may be fairly inferred to be of shorter duration by about one-third than it is in some places situated under the same latitude on the other side.

The only remaining district of North America to which we need here allude, as falling within the scope of the present volume, is that forlorn region in the north-west corner of the continent, which forms the terminating portion of the vast Russian dominions. Its shores have been coasted by Cook, Kotzebue, and Beechey; but cŵ its interior nature and productions we are more sparingly informed. Dr Richardson, indeed, reports, from information given by the few Indians of Mackenzie's River who have ever crossed the range of the Rocky Mountains in that northern quarter, that on their western side there is a tract of barren ground frequented by rein-deer and musk-oxen; and it may also be inferred, from the quantity of furs procured by the Russian Company, that woody regions, similar to such as exist to the eastward of the mountains, also occur in this north-west corner of America.

Edinburgh Review, No. 106, p. 355.

Journal of Voyages and Travels in the Interior of North America, between the forty-seventh and fifty-eighth degrees of latitude, by Daniel William Harmon, a partner in the North-West Company. Andover, 1820.

CHAPTER VI.

The Quadrupeds of the Northern Regions of America. Inaccuracies of some Historical Writers-No Monkeys in North America-Bats-Shrewmice-Genus Scalops, or Shrewmole -Other Moles of America-The Star-nose-Various BearsDifferent Digitated Quadrupeds-The Canada Otter-The Seaotter-The Dogs and Wolves of America The Foxes—The Beaver-The Musk-rat-Meadow Mice and Lemmings-The Rocky Mountain Neotoma-The American Fieldmouse-The Marmots-The Squirrel Tribe-The Canada Porcupine-The American Hare-The Polar Hare-The Prairie Hare-The Little Chief Hare-Genus Cervus-The Elk, or Moose-deerThe Rein-deer-The Woodland Caribou-The Rocky Mountain Sheep-The Rocky Mountain Goat-The Bison, or American Buffalo-The Musk-ox.

was not

HAVING in the preceding chapter exhibited a general sketch of some of the prevailing features in the physical geography of the northern countries of America, we shall now proceed to a more detailed and systematic account of their natural history. But, in the first place, we may notice a slight inaccuracy which prevails in regard to the comparative size of the ferine inhabitants of the Old and New World. "Nature," says Dr Robertson,* " only less prolific in the New World, but she appears likewise to have been less vigorous in her productions. The animals originally belonging to this quarter of the globe appear to be of an inferior race, neither so robust nor so fierce as those of the other continent. America gives birth to no creature of such bulk as to be compared with the elephant or rhinoceros, or that equals the lion and tiger in strength and ferocity. The tapir of Brazil, the largest quadruped of the ravenous tribe in the New World, is not larger than a calf of six months old. The puma and jaguar, the fiercest beasts of prey, which Eu

In his History of America.

ropeans have inaccurately denominated lions and tigers, possess neither the undaunted courage of the former, nor the ravenous cruelty of the latter. They are inactive and timid, hardly formidable to man, and often turn their backs upon the least appearance of resistance. The same qualities in the climate of America which stinted the growth and enfeebled the spirit of its native animals, have proved pernicious to such as have migrated into it voluntarily from the other continent, or have been transported thither by the Europeans.‡ The bears, the wolves, the deer of America, are not equal in size to those of the Old World."|| Now this idea, that the quadrupeds of the New World are smaller than those of the Old, is correct, only in relation to the southern regions of each. The elephant and rhinoceros of India are of much more vast dimensions than the tapir and lama of South America; but "the bears, wolves, and deer" of North America are much larger than those of Europe, and the reptiles of that same quarter of the globe are infinitely larger than any which occur in corresponding latitudes of the ancient continent. Even in regard to the feline tribes which the great Scotch historian considered as so inferior in the New World, perhaps there is less disparity than is usually supposed. Buffon's observations on the "cowardly tigers" of the new continent are known to be applicable to the small species called the ocelot; and it is ascertained that the real jaguar of the Orinoco sometimes leaps into the water and seizes the Indians in their canoes,- -a practice not entirely consistent with the idea of its fearing the face of man. Let us peruse the following passages from the writings of Humboldt:- "The night was gloomy; the Devil's Wall and its denticulated rocks appeared from time to time at a distance, illumined by the burning of the savannahs, or wrapped in ruddy smoke. At the spot where the bushes were the thickest, our horses

Buffon, Hist. Nat. tom. ix. p. 87. Margravii Hist. Nat. Brazil, p. 229.

Pisonis Hist.

+Ibid. ix. 13, 203. Acosta, Hist. lib. iv. c. 34. p. 6. Herrera, dec. 4, lib. iv. c. 1, lib. x. c. 13. Churchill, v. p. 691. Ovalle, Relat. of Chili. p. 10. Sommario de Oviedo, c. 14-22. Voyage du Des Marchais, iii. 299.

|| Buffon, Hist. Nat. ix. 103. Voy. de France Equinox, p. 339.

Churchill, iii.

Kalm's Travels, i. 102. Biet.

were frightened by the yell of an animal that seemed to follow us closely. It was a large jaguar that had roamed for three years among these mountains. He had constantly escaped the pursuit of the boldest hunters, and had carried off horses and mules from the midst of enclosures; but, having no want of food, had not yet attacked men. The negro who conducted us uttered wild cries. He thought he should frighten the jaguar; but these means were of course without effect. The jaguar, like the wolf of Europe, follows travellers even when he will not attack them: the wolf in the open fields and in unsheltered places, the jaguar skirting the road, and appearing only at intervals between the bushes." The same illustrious observer also remarks,—“ Near the Joval nature assumes an awful and savage aspect. We there

saw the largest jaguar we had ever met with. The natives themselves were astonished at its prodigious length, which surpassed that of all the tigers of India I had seen in the collections of Europe."+

The first fact to which we shall here allude is one of a negative character, viz. the entire absence of the monkey tribe, commonly called the Quadrumanous order, from the countries of our present disquisition. The climate is too rigorous and variable for that "pigmy people."

Of the next order, the Cheiroptera or bats, there are several North American species, of which we shall here name only the Vespertilio subulatus of Say, a small bodied species, common near the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, on the upper branches of the Peace River and Saskatchawan.

The slender and delicately-formed tribe of shrewmice are well known in America. Forster's shrew (Sorex Forsteri, Rich.) is widely spread over the whole of the furcountries as far as the sixty-seventh degree of north latitude; and wherever the snow is sufficiently firm to retain the impression, its little footmarks are seen throughout the dreary winter. Dr Richardson often traced its paths to the top of a stalk of grass, by which it appeared to descend from the surface of the deep snow; but he always sought in vain for its habitation beneath. This is the smallest quadruped with which the Indians are acquaint† Ibid. p.. 427.

Personal Narrative, vol. iv. p. 176.