hall's ESQUIMAUX. 183 



ever taste being that which they obtain in a digested state from 

 the inside of the reindeer, and which is regarded by them as a great 

 delicacy. Nevertheless, we must remember that by tbe conditions of 

 the case, the life which does exist there is not uniformly spread over 

 the whole area, but is confined to certain limited oases. Thus, it 

 has occasionally happened, that our countrymen have been reduced 

 almost to tbe verge of starvation, or have suffered terribly from 

 scurvy, and from the want of fresh meat, while the Esquimaux, at 

 a distance of perhaps not more than thirty or forty miles, have been 

 luxuriating in the abundance of wholesome food. "We have been 

 too apt to judge of the real, from the apparent, profusion of life in 

 different countries. South America, for instance, has been described 

 as singularly deficient in this respect. Yet it is surely, a priori, 

 very improbable that this should be the case, in a country with a 

 vegetation so luxuriant. And we should remember that the Bra- 

 ^zilian forests, while they could feed an almost unlimited number of 

 animals, must tend to conceal them in a manner almost as com- 

 plete. It is mentioned in Mr. Bates's excellent work upon the 

 Amazons, that on one occasion, when he had shot a parrot, sud- 

 denly, and although up to that moment the forest had been silent, and 

 apparently deserted, he was surrounded by a large flock of parrots, 

 belonging to the same species, not one of which had at the previous 

 moment been in sight. 



It is customary, on the other hand, to quote Southern Africa, as 

 a striking instance of the marvellous development of animal life. If, 

 however, we judge by the ear, rather than the eye, and compare the 

 nocturnal chorus of a South American forest with the comparative 

 silence of the African desert, broken only by the occasional roar of 

 the lion, or the scream of its terrified victim, we should probably 

 come to a very different conclusion as to the relative fertility of 

 these two continents in animal life. Moreover, we must remember 

 that in Africa, not only can the eye often range at once over a 

 large extent of ground, but also that, owing to the scarcity and 

 partial distribution of water, the sportsman may often take up his 

 position at the side of some piece of water, confident that, during 

 the night, every animal for miles round must come under his ob- 

 servation. 



Something of the same kind happens in the far north. Deserts 

 of ice take the place of those of sand, and the herds of seals 

 and walrus are driven to the pools of open water, not indeed to 



