254 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



live in a wild condition in herds of many thousands ; but they are all 

 descended from horses and cattle originally introduced from Europe. 

 The largest animals of the New World, living there when it was discov- 

 ered, is the tapir, or water-hog, which in its appearance really resem- 

 bles the hog somewhat, and the llama, or camel-sheep, so called because 

 it seems to be a cross between the camel and the sheep. As regards 

 the size of these two genuine American animals, they can only be com- 

 pared to the donkey. 



We will now pass from the New World to Australia, the largest island 

 of our globe, entirely surrounded by water, but as large as Europe, 

 which forms such a small portion of the continent of the Old World. 

 On this island — if such a name may properly be applied to so large an 

 extent of land — we find horses and cattle, but they have been intro- 

 duced there by man. The largest animal peculiar to this country is the 

 kangaroo, a most remarkably shaped animal. Its fore feet are so short 

 as to be entirely useless for walking; but all the longer and stronger 

 are its hind feet, which it uses for leaping an almost incredible distance. 

 As regards its size the kangaroo is surpassed by the American tapir 

 and llama. 



One of the largest islands of our globe — next to Australia — is Mada- 

 gascar, near the eastern coast of Africa, but as regards large animals pe- 

 culiar to it, it is far surpassed even by Australia. Among the small islands 

 of Oceanica, which in large number are scattered throughout the vast 

 Pacific Ocean, there are some whose inhabitants know only birds and 

 the water animals found near the coast. Land animals were unknown 

 to them until the arrival of foreign navigators. The first animals thus 

 introduced were unfortunately such as could easily have been spared — 

 rats and mice — which often are very numerous in vessels, and which 

 during the unloading of the cargo were brought on shore with some of 

 the boxes or barrels. These examples will suffice to prove that the 

 wider the natural limits of a land, the larger are the animals peculiar 

 to it. 



In making a general comparison between land and water, we shall 

 find another corroboration of this rule. In the ocean, which in extent 

 far exceeds the land, life appears in much more colossal shape. The 

 largest of all animals are the monsters of the deep. Man feels over- 

 awed on seeing for the first time the enormous elephant; but what is 

 the elephant compared to the whale, measuring from sixty to a hundred 

 feet in length, and correspondingly thick 1 This animal, although out- 

 wardly entirely resembling a fish, can, nevertheless, not be classed among 

 the fish. It gives birth to live young ones, whilst fish lay eggs, from 

 which the young come forth after some time. Fish breathe under the 

 water through gills, whilst the whale has lungs, and therefore must, 

 from time to time, come to the surface to breathe; if it remained under 

 the water, it would either pine away or suffocate, like other animals 

 which are accustomed to live in the open air. The head of the whale is 



