place; and, when I opened my mouth, it was filled with them. My head was bound in handkerchiefs; yet they forced their way into my ears and nostrils. In the midst of this torment, I succeeded in lighting a large lamp over the sword-case; which was instantly extinguished by such a prodigious number of these insects, that their dead bodies actually remained heaped in a large cone over the burner for several days afterward and I know not any mode of description which may better convey an idea of their afflicting visitation, than by simply relating this fact: to the truth of which, those who travelled with me, and who are now living, bear indisputable testimony." : Those who have laboured under so painful. a visitation as that to which this lively ac count refers, may not, perhaps, be so ready to admit the general utility of these irritating insects, though their usefulness is more evident, and far more easily proved, than that of the locust, or, indeed, of most other animals. Bred in the midst of the stagnant pools, the bogs, and marshes, of regions unwholesome to man; and where the effluviæ arising from animal bodies, and from rank, decaying, vegetable substances, are so abundant as soon to form thick pestilential vapours, that would prove almost instantaneously destructive to man, and most other creatures, if not removed as quickly as they were formed;-bred in such regions, and gifted with functions and propensities directed to the proper ends, the mosquitoe supports its existence by consuming the noxious particles exhaled from the swamps, and the bodies of animals, as rapidly as they are generated, thereby preventing that horrible putrefaction of the air, and consequent pestilence, that would infallibly take place if the mosquitoes, and insects of a similar nature, were not employed to purify the atmosphere. It is proved by all travellers, that the vast deserts of Asia and Africa are most frightfully destitute of animated objects. SHAW observes: "Perhaps there are no places in the whole world that abound less with living creatures than these deserts; and, indeed, where has Nature made less provision for their sustenance * ?” The learned author might very well have left out the words perhaps and indeed; the latter part of this passage fully and sufficiently accounting for the first. Yet, barren and inhospitable as those melancholy wastes appear to the anx ious eye of the weary traveller; they, too, have their inhabitants, that would be unhappy, and probably cease to exist, in other situations. It is one of the most evident designs of Almighty power, that no part of the globe should be utterly destitute of inhabitants to interest, to enliven, and adorn; for even these horrible solitudes afford sustenance, and give protection, to animals, adapted to their nature; and there is no subject more interesting to the Naturalist, and likely to produce more beautiful illustrations of Divine Wisdom, than an inquiry into the peculiar characters of the creatures appointed to such modes of existence as can alone be Page 449 of his Travels into Barbary and the Levant. permitted in those extensive and dreary wastes. The ostrich, in particular, having been destined to fulfil the designs of its creation in the midst of deserts whose burning sands have scarcely felt the impression of any other foot, presents to our view one of the most extraordinary characters of animal life. Although the learned SHAW has related some very curious and striking facts in the natural history of this singular bird; his manner of treating the subject, and the terms he uses, evidently shew that he was not accustomed, or not able, to take any wide or general views; and that his notions. are at variance with sound philosophy. He relates the following particulars : "She (the ostrich) is likewise inconsiderate and foolish, in her private capacity; particularly in the choice of food, which is frequently highly detrimental and pernicious to it for she swallows every thing greedily and indiscriminately; whether it be pieces of rags, leather, wood, stone, or iron. When I was at Oran, I saw one of these birds swallow, without any seeming uneasiness or inconveniency, several leaden bullets, as they were thrown upon the floor, scorching hot from the mould-the inward coats of the œsophagus and stomach being probably better stocked with glands and juices, than in other animals with shorter necks. They are particularly fond of their ówn excrement, which they greedily eat up, as soon as it is voided. No less fond are they of the dung of hens and other poultry. It seems as if their optic, as well as their olfactory nerves were less adequate and conducive to their safety and preservation, than in other creatures. The Divine Providence in this, no less than in other respects, having deprived them of wisdom, neither hath it imparted to them understanding*." It is remarkable that such rash and erroneous conclusions could have been drawn from facts so extraordinary by any one making pretensions to the philosophical * SHAW's Travels, p. 453. M |