"When pensive twilight in her dusky car, Slowly ascends to meet the evening star; Above, below, aërial murmurs swell, From hanging wood, brown heath, and bushy dell." In many parts of the world the state of things is very different from this; the roar of the lion may be heard not less terrific than thunder, while the howlings of the jackall, the hyæna, and other ferocious beasts, add horror to the night. In some countries innumerable frogs keep up a constant croaking from sun-set to sun-rise; and frequently swarms of mosquitos (at Surinam not unaptly called " devil's trumpeters") not only stun the ear of night with their shrill pipings, but bite and torment the traveller wherever they can find a spot uncovered. Birds of the goat-sucker tribe, too, often perform a very important part in the nightly concert. I shall not often trouble you with long quotations; but the following account of the goat-suckers of Demerara, taken from Mr. Waterton's very amusing "Wanderings" in that country, is so interesting, that, notwithstanding its length, I am induced to give it you : "There are nine species here; the largest 66 appears nearly the size of the English wood it owl. Its cry is so remarkable, that, having 66 once heard it, you will never forget it. When "night reigns over these immeasureable wilds, "whilst lying in your hammock, you will hear "this goat-sucker lamenting like one in deep "distress. A stranger would never conceive "it to be the cry of a bird; he would say "was the departing voice of a midnight-mur"dered victim, or the last wailing of Niobe for "her poor children, before she was turned into "stone. Suppose yourself in hopeless sorrow, “begin with a high-toned note, and pronounce "ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, each note lower and "lower, till the last is scarcely heard, pausing ❝a moment or two betwixt every note, and you "will have some idea of the moaning of the "largest goat-sucker in Demerara. "Four other species of the goat-sucker "articulate some words so distinctly, that they 66 have received their names from the sentences "they utter, and absolutely bewilder the 166 stranger on his arrival in these parts. The "most common one sits down close by your door, and flies, and alights three or four yards "before you, as you walk along the road, cry"ing, who-are-you, who, who, who-are-you. "Another bids you work away, work, work, "work away. A third cries mournfully, willy come-go, willy, willy, willy-come-go. And "high up in the country, a fourth tells you to "whip-poor-will, whip, whip, whip-poor-will. "You will never persuade the negro to de"stroy these birds, or get the Indian to let fly "his arrow at them. They are birds of omen "and reverential dread. Jumbo, the demon of "Africa, has them under his command; and they equally obey the Yabahou, or Deme"rara Indian devil. They are the receptacles "for departed souls, who come back again to "earth, unable to rest for crimes done in their "days of nature; or they are expressly sent "by Jumbo or Yabahou to haunt cruel and "hard-hearted masters, and retaliate injuries ❝received from them. If the largest goat"sucker chance to cry near the white man's "door, sorrow and grief will soon be inside; " and they expect to see the master waste away "with a consuming sickness. If he be heard "close to the negro's or Indian's hut, from that "night misfortune sits brooding over it, and "they await the event in terrible suspense." Thus you see that in all countries ignorance and superstition are linked together. The poor negro, or the Indian may be forgiven; but how many are there among ourselves who are equally ignorant of nature, and equally ready to run into absurdities, derogatory to God, considering the works of his hands as of evil omen, and attaching to them powers which belong to him alone! 133 LETTER X. LET us now take a walk to the sea-shore, and on our way to it consider, first, a few of the common objects which may present themselves. There is one plant which we cannot fail to recognise, namely, the dandelion, which is found every where; and I may remark that when a plant is very common, it probably has extensive and important uses in the economy of nature. Dandelion has long been employed on the Continent as a remedy in obstructed liver, in pulmonary affections, and in cutaneous and various other diseases. In England it is pretty extensively used in incipient scirrhus of the liver, chronic derangement of the stomach, and seve ral other complaints. In France its young leaves are eaten as a salad, and at Gottingen the poorer classes are said to roast the roots and use them as coffee. But I believe that the great object which the dandelion serves in the economy of nature, is to afford a copious supply of nutriment to innumerable insects, It is almost the only early flower spread every where |