LITERARY NOTICES. 



827 



Wanderings in South America, the North- 

 west OF THE United States, and the An- 

 tilles, IN the Years 1812, 1816, 1820, 

 AND 1824, WITH Original Instructions 

 FOR the Perfect Preservation of Birds, 

 ETC., for Cabinets of Natural History. 

 By Charles Waterton, Esq. New edi- 

 tion. Edited, with Biographical Intro- 

 duction and Explanatory Index, by the 

 Rev. J. G. Wood, with One Hundred 

 lihistrations. London and New York: 

 Macmillan&Co. 1879. Pp.520. Price, 

 $6.60. 



This elegant volume opens with an in- 

 teresting biographical sketch of the distin- 

 guished traveler, whose " Wanderings " has 

 long been the delight of all lovers of natu- 

 ral history. From this sketch we learn 

 that Charles Waterton was born in 1782, 

 in Yorkshire, England. He was descended 

 from a long line of distinguished ancestors, 

 and in early boyhood began to develop 

 that love of nature, power of observation, 

 and originality of character for which he 

 was afterward so celebrated. When ten 

 years old he was sent away to school, and, 

 although the first journey described in his 

 book did not commence till twenty years 

 later, his " wanderings " may be said to 

 have begun at this time. In spite of the 

 stern discipline to which he was subjected, 

 his activity, enterprise, and love of adven- 

 ture, led him into all sorts of scrapes, from 

 which, however, he generally contrived to 

 escape without serious harm. Such was 

 his attempt to ride a cow, over whose horns 

 he was quickly pitched ; at another time 

 he undertook a sail on the horse-pond in a 

 wash-tub, with the usual fate of such daring 

 navigators. Running away from school to 

 go birds'-nesting, and throwing his pursu- 

 ers off the track by hiding under the litter 

 in a pig-sty, was another characteristic per- 

 formance. 



At fourteen he was transferred to a high- 

 er school, where, ranking among the foremost 

 as a scholar, he also found peculiar opportu- 

 nities for indulging his love of fun and free- 

 dom. His teachers early perceiving the bent 

 of his disposition, were sagacious enough to 

 give it fair play, by permitting him to use 

 a portion of liis time in carrying on a war of 

 extermination against the rats that infested 

 the place in enormous numbers. His suc- 

 cess with these led to an extension of hos- 

 tilities to the foxes, polecats, and rooks, that 



were also numerous in the neighborhood ; he 

 likewise held the post of organ-blower and 

 foot-ball maker to the " entire satisfaction 

 of the public." At eighteen he left school, 

 remained a year at home, and then took a 

 trip to Spain, where he learned the Spanisli 

 language. While visiting relatives in the 

 city of Malaga, he suddenly found himself 

 a prisoner, owing to an outbreak of the 

 plague, which led to measures of rigid 

 quarantine. He took the disease, but for- 

 tunately, owing to his simple mode of life 

 and strong constitution, recovered from the 

 attack. Fourteen thousand people perished 

 in the city during that epidemic. Though 

 the port was closed, and all avenues of 

 egress carefully guarded, he succeeded in 

 escaping from the city in time to avoid a 

 second epidemic in the following year, which 

 carried off thirty thousand more of the city's 

 population. Returning to England, he spent 

 some time there in recovering his shattered 

 health, and then started for Deraerara, in 

 South America, to take charge of an estate 

 belonging to his family. There he remained 

 for eight years, when, owing to the death 

 of relatives, the property passed into other 

 hands. He now began bis famous travels, 

 setting out on his first journey from the 

 town of Stabroek " to travel through the 

 wilds of Demerara and Essequibo, a part of 

 ci-devant Dutch Guiana, in South America." 

 " The chief objects in view," he says, " were 

 to collect a quantity of the strongest wou- 

 rali poison ; and to reach the inland frontier 

 fort of Portuguese Guiana." With this start, 

 which was made in April, 1812, the record 

 of Waterton's observations and experiences 

 known as the " Wanderings" begins. 



The special objects of this journey were 

 both attained, and a large amount of inter- 

 esting information on other matters also 

 gathered, but fatigue and exposure had told 

 on the health of the " wanderer," and he 

 found it necessary to return to England, 

 where he remained for the next three years. 

 In the spring of 1816, his health now being 

 fully restored, he again started for South 

 America, landing first at Pernambuco, and 

 sailing thence after a brief stay for Cayenne 

 in French Guiana. The forests of Demera- 

 ra were, however, his objective point, and 

 without delay he plunged into their wilds a 

 second time, staying several months, and 



