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We have no particulars to relate respecting the Woverine, of North America (Galo wolverine), the Grisons and Faira (G. vittalus and G. barbatus). The first is conjectured, by the editors of CUVIER'S Animal Kingdom, to be no other than an American variety of the common Glutton. The second, and third, common to all the warmer regions of the new world, are generally rapacious, and diffuse a musky odour. Their feet are slightly flattened, and it seems that they have been generally mistaken for otters. But modern naturalists have corrected this opinion, and the vast rivers of America may lay claim to several members of the otter tribe, as peculiarly her own. Travellers may see them basking in the sun, on the banks of the Orinoco, where they appear somewhat larger than the common otter, brown, or fawn-coloured, with a white or yellow neck. They may further trace them along the shores of the great river of the Amazons, shaded with primeval forests, and beside the

sea-like Plata, to whose dread expanse, Continuous depth, and wondrous length of course, Our floods are rills.

To them they may recall the rude scenes and inclement climates in which the European otter is found. He who has trod the thresholds of the western world, can alone appreciate the vividness of such emotions. "From the first time we landed," says one of the editors of CUVIER'S Animal Kingdom, "on the shores of the Southern Atlantic, we were never wearied with admiring the varied forms of animated nature, which as we advanced towards the south, presented new

F

animals to our view. We felt an indescribable emotion, when, on passing from one hemisphere to another, we no longer recognised the domestic animals with which we had been familiar from early life; when the camel gave place to the llama, the deer of our forests to the carabou, and the sheep to the vicunna. Nothing, perhaps, awakens in the traveller a livelier remembrance of the immense distance by which he is separated from his country, than such transitions. The sight fills with admiration, even those, who, unacquainted with scientific subjects, feel the same emotions of delight in the contemplation of strange animals, as in the view of a beautiful landscape, or a majestic ruin. A traveller requires not the aid of botany to recognise the torrid zone, from the mere aspect of its vegetation; and without knowing anything of zoology, he feels that he is not in Europe, when he encounters stately herds of prong-horned antelopes, that range the borders of the Missouri; the agouti, that represent in the Antilles, and throughout the warmer portions of America, the hares and rabbits of the old world; the pumas that start from out the majestic forests which clothe the high calcareous Alps of New Andalusia, or range those coasts, where a bright and clear sky, with a few light clouds at sunset, reposes on the peninsula, destitute of trees, and on the plains of Cumana, while the clouds pour forth their fertile showers among the inland mountains."

The Common Fox (Vulpes vulgaris) of the transatlantic world is not less conspicuous for cunning and rapacity than his brethren of the ancient continents. Strong, and active, with a head to con

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trive mischief, and ample means to circumvent his prey, he may be seen prowling through the woods, and across the plains of those vast regions. But his favourite haunts are in the forests of the Andes, amid those lofty mountains, which seem to rest on others, and rise to a surprising height, shrouded with snow that never melts. He is seen too, around the base of the terrific Cotopaxi, and even in those wild deserts that bound the confines of the vegetable world, beneath the empire of perpetual winter. There grows a kind of rush, resembling the Genista Hispanca, among which he delights to harbour. Trees also, of commanding height, afford him a secure retreat; the quinual, well adapted to resist the severest cold; the quineia, of which the smallest branch, when kindled, yields a light equal to that of a torch; the achupalla; and a vegetable called puchugchu, resembling a loaf, and of so firm a texture, that the stamp of a heavy foot, or the tread of a mule, makes no impression on them, till fully ripe. These are the vegetable aborigines of the soil, where either from the intense cold, or the perpetual snow, or from the sterility of the earth, nothing else is known to vegetate; except, indeed, the calaquala, a climbing plant, which spreads itself in thin stems along the sand, or runs up the rock by means of tendrils. Here, then, is the favourite rebsort of innumerable foxes, crafty creatures, which seem to exult in the fastnesses by which they are surrounded. But how they contrive to subsist, throughout the long and severe winters, is altogether inexplicable. The rocks are then covered with snow, the deep primeval forests afford no means of living, the

lonely wilderness is deserted both by small animals and birds, and the thinly peopled country affords few opportunities of committing depredations. And yet even such of the prowling brotherhood as reside on the verge of cultivated lands, do not make their wonted. visits to the hen-roosts, during winter. Their foot-prints are never seen on the snow around the farms, although these are nightly infested in the

summer season.

The Carnivora of America are fewer than those of the ancient continent. At the head of these stand the Conguar or Puma, (Felis concolor,) the lion of America, so called, from a certain similarity of colour with his royal brother; but though they are aboriginal throughout the greater part of the American continent, Baron Cuvier has not been able to ascertain any varieties of race. D'Azara tells us that he is less ferocious and more easily destroyed than his relative the jaguar, that he lies concealed among underwood, and never flies for refuge to a cavern, however closely pursued; and, further, that he climbs the loftiest trees, though rather affecting the plain than the forest. Anxious to confirm the opinion of America's first historians, that the animals of the new world were decidedly inferior to those of the old, D'Azara also states, that the Puma never attacks a man, rarely a dog, but timidly avoids them; that his depredations are generally confined to quadrupeds of a middle size, such as calves and sheep; and that against these, his ferocity is more insatiable than his hunger. He destroys many at a time, but carries away perhaps, only one, concealing

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the remainder for a second repast, in which respect he differs from the jaguar, who is not so provident. But the extreme ferocity of the Puma, even against the human race, has been sufficiently proved. Two hunters went forth, in quest of game, on the Katskill mountains, near the road from New York to Albany, each armed with a gun, and accompanied by his dog. It was agreed between them, that they should go, in contrary directions, round the base of a hill; and that, if either discharged his piece, the other should join his companion, and aid him in pursuit of the game. Shortly after separating, one of the comrades heard the other fire, and hastened in consequence to the place from which the sound proceeded; but great was his alarm, when, on reaching the spot, and searching diligently in various directions, he found the dog lying dead, and dreadfully torn, as if he had been engaged in a mortal fray. Apprised by this that the enemy was large and ferocious, he became anxious for the fate of his companion, and assiduously continued to search for him, when his attention was suddenly directed by a deep growl, to the branches of a large tree, where he saw a Puma, crouching on his mangled body, apparently hesitating whether to descend and make a fresh attack on the hunter, or to relinquish his prey, and take flight. Conscious how much depended on celerity, the hunter discharged his piece, and mortally wounded the ferocious creature, who fell, with the body of his victim, from the tree. The dog, then flew at the prostrate beast, but a single blow from his paw laid him dead in a moment. The hunter, finding that his unhappy friend was