272 THE AMERICAN BEAVER 



the degree of their strength, some of them are un- 

 doubtedly wanting among the lowest grades of the 

 vertebrate animals. As a portion of them excel man- 

 kind in the acuteness of the senses, by means of which 

 the feebleness of their mental powers is supplemented, 

 so in some of the appetites and passions they may 

 possess a delicacy of sensibility of which the human 

 species are incapable. In their affections for their 

 youiig, and for their mates (among such as pair), the 

 highest evidence of their sensibility is found. They 

 also display courage, fidelity, and gratitude, and to 

 these, perhaps, in some rare instances, benevolence 

 may be added. For the possession of these qualities, 

 which are undistinguishable from the corresponding 

 qualities manifested by the human mind, and for the 

 beautiful illustrations of maternal affection which 

 they display, they are entitled to our regard. 



Captain Stansbury gives the following account of a 

 blind pelican upon one of the islands of the Great 

 Salt Lake of Utah : " In a ramble around the shores 

 of the island, I came across a venerable looking old 

 pelican, very large and fat, which allowed me to ap- 

 proach him without attempting to escape. Surprised 

 at his apparent tameness, we examined him more 

 closely, and found that it was owing to his being en- 

 tirely blind, for he proved to be very pugnacious, 

 snapping freely, but vaguely, on each side, in search of 

 his enemies, whom he could hear but could not see. 

 As he was totally helpless, he must have subsisted on 

 the charity of his neighbors, and his sleek and com- 

 fortable condition showed, that like beggars in more 

 civilized communities, he had 'fared sumptuously every 

 day.' The food of these birds consists entirely of 



