it be again, should another and perhaps last cloud of error envelope the world with darkness,1 which seems even now beginning to gather, and may we not hope that it will be followed by that happy time, foretold by the prophet, when-the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea? The old curse on Ham's offspring shall then cease, he shall no longer be a servant of servants to his brethren; then shall the curse also that has driven the children of Abraham after the flesh into every region of the globe, cease, and they shall look on him whom they pierced, and be restored to the favour of their God, and to their own land; and next, in its own day, the original curse, also pronounced upon Adam and his posterity shall be obliterated and done away for ever. Taking all the circumstances I have noticed into consideration, I trust I have made it clear, that the variations observable in the different races of men are not of such a nature as to render it impossible, or improbable, that they should all have been derived from a common stock; and that the degradations observable in some of them, and approximation to the highest of the brutes, was caused not by the will and fiat of the Creator, but by their own wilful departure from him, and voluntary self-debasement. Because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, he gave 1 See Appendix, note 17. 2 See Appendix, note 18. them over to a reprobate mind to do those things that are not convenient: further, that with respect to those characters, which distinguish one nation from another, they may be attributed to the action of physical causes directed by the Deity who, to use the language of a pious and excellent poet, Lives through all life, extends through all extent, THERE is another interesting subject connected with the geography of animals, which may find its place here; a subject than which none shows more evidently or strikingly the hand of a beneficent and ever watchful Providence, holding the reins; and upon certain occasions and at certain seasons, directing various animals to change their quarters, and seek often in distant countries a more genial climate, in which they may give birth to their young, or find a better supply of food for their own support. I shall, therefore, now devote a few pages to the migrations of animals. When The most general principle that causes emigration is common to man and animals. a country is over-peopled, and can no longer maintain its inhabitants, unless some means can be devised at home, by which the pressure may be lightened, and the suffering classes enabled to procure the necessaries of life, there must in evitably be some outbreak; when the rivers can no longer be contained within their natural channel they will overflow, and spread desolation around, till they have passed away and found a place in the great receptacle of waters. Thus, in ancient times, the great northern hive sent forth its numberless swarms, and overturned and divided amongst them a considerable portion of that mighty empire which extended its iron sway over the fairest portion of the globe.1 With regard to their migrations, animals may be divided into two classes. The first will consist of those that migrate casually, under a certain pressure; and the second of those that migrate periodically, or at certain seasons. 1. Of the first description, are those infinite armies of Locusts, which, when they have laid bare one country, as an overshadowing and dark cloud pregnant with the wrath of heaven, pass on to another; mighty conquerors of old, of whom they were the symbols, from Sesostris to Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar, also mark their progress by devastation and ruin; to use the graphic language of the prophet-" The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness." This plague has generally been considered as belonging to the old world, in which they 1 See Appendix, note 19. * See on the Locusts Introd. to Ent. 1 Lett. vii. seldom exceed latitude 42°. but in N. America. there is a species of Locust or Grass-hopper, as Dr. Richardson informs me, according to the report of the Indians, becoming prevalent about once in twenty years, which committed great devastations at lord Selkirk's colony of Red river, as high as latitude 52°. They made their first appearance in vast flights coming from the plains to the westward, and soon destroyed the crops of grain, and every thing green. They re-appeared for three or four successive summers, each year in smaller numbers, and now for several years they have not been seen. These were evidently insects of the same order and tribe with the locust, though perhaps of a different genus; but, probably the tradition of the Indians might relate to another North American devastator, which is also called there the Locust, but belongs to a genus beloved by the Greeks for its song, and hated by the less imaginative Romans for its stunning noise, which may be called the Tree Locust; a species of which is said to appear, about once in every seventeen years,1 in such prodigious numbers as to do incalculable damage to the fruit and forest trees, in which it deposits its eggs, and upon which it feeds internally in the grub state, but the oral organs of the perfect insect are only calculated for suction. Amongst quadrupeds, the analogues, in some 1 Cicada septendecim.-L. respects, of the locusts, are the Lemmings, a kind of mouse or rat. These little animals, which usually inhabit the mountains of Norway and Lapland, in certain seasons, emigrate in prodigious numbers to the south; the most common species1 is said not to lay up any winter store, but to form burrows under ground in summer, and under the snow in winter in search of food but that found in Kamtschatka, which is larger than a rat, is stated to be occupied during the summer in laying up provisions for the winter in holes under the turf divided into compartments, they consist of various kinds of roots, some even poisonous, but which agree with this animal, and of which it collects from twenty to thirty pounds. It is called in Kamtschatka Tegulchitch. In fine weather its instinct teaches it to spread its harvest of roots in the sun to dry and fit them for keeping. When these different species of Lemmings make their excursions, which take place only in certain years and seasons, and in different directions, the species last mentioned going towards the west, the others towards the south, like certain ants, they always march straight forward, neither turning to the right hand nor to the left, and if their course is interrupted by a river, they cross it by swimming. The common Lemmings, when they migrate, are regarded as a terrible scourge; they devastate 1 Lemmus vulgaris. 2 Lemmus æconomus. |