ANIMALS IN FALKLAND ISLANDS. 67 



those that touch it, and causes a painful degree of in- 

 flammation. 



Fear is, no doubt, a great defence to those creatures 

 that owe their safety to flight, though it seems that 

 they often acquire a sense of danger from experience ; 

 for M. Bougainville relates, that in the Falkland Is- 

 lands, the fowls settled on the heads and shoulders of 

 his people, and the quadrupeds ran about their feet. 

 Such a scene would remind one of the Garden of Eden. 



I have now given you the chief points of informa- 

 tion which I drew from my sporting acquaintance, who 

 has wandered far beyond his own sphere ; hoping to 

 receive from you further hints on this amusing topic. 



The Misses Ormond, who, you may remember, 

 were sometimes admitted into our parties when you 

 were at Mr. Campbell's, are come to pass the summer 

 within a mile of Woodlands, in consequence of a large 

 estate, with a title, coming unexpectedly to their 

 father, through the accidental death of a very distant 

 relation ; who, at the early age of twenty-four, was 

 killed by a fall from his horse in a fox-chase. It is 

 a pleasant walk to Belvoir Lodge, and I have called 

 upon them frequently, hoping they would be agreea- 

 ble companions in the retirement of the country ; but 

 their former inclination to pride and airs of conse- 

 quence is so much increased by this sudden eleva- 

 tion, that I am sometimes inclined to relinquish them. 



