AND PORTO SANTO. 121 



CHAPTER V. 



Zoological, Meteorological, and Barometrical Observations. — Flood 



of Madeira. 



C/OULD I have afforded to have invited the fishermen and 

 peasantry to bring me specimens of all the fishes, birds, ^c, they 

 knew, or might meet Anth, promising a fair price, I might have 

 done much more for zoology in general. A traveller who has 

 only his own slender means to depend on for every expense of his 

 enterprise, can do but httle for zoology ; but, even as it was, I had 

 frequent occasion to lament the necessity of throwing away new 

 and interesting objects, especially fishes, because no museum had 

 furnished me \nth spirits and cases to preserve them in. It is 

 not fair to impose this expense on the zeal of the traveller who 

 contributes his services gratuitously. I have a few more zoolo- 

 gical notices to submit, however, and expect to add some new 

 fishes to the 2500 already known and described. 



I shall endeavour to follow the ichthyological system of CuA'ier, 

 the most natural,al though the most difficult to class by''. Dr. 

 Hamilton acknowledges its superiority, when he writes, if I mis- 

 take not, that had he been acquainted with it, when he undertook 



^ " La classe des poissons est de toutes, celle qui offre le plus de difficultes quand 

 on veut la subdiviser en ordres, d'apres des caracteres fixes et sensibles. Apres bein 

 des efforts, je me suis determine pour la distribution suivante, qui dans quelques cas 

 peche contre la precision, mais qui a I'avantage de ne point couper les families 

 naturelles." Cuvier, Ri'gne Animal^ Tome II. p. 110. 



R 



