THE BUSH BABY. 



Poeta nascitur non fit. Similarly, he who 

 would in the true poetic spirit enter Nature's 

 fairyland, must ever possess the seeing eye and 

 the receptive mind. The true naturalist opens 

 out a world of wonders in exploring the animal 

 kingdom, and especially if he extend his re- 

 searches to other lands than his own will con- 

 tinually discover new realms of ever-increasing 

 delight. 



The wonderland of Africa is especially rich in 

 the romance of natural history. The habits of 

 the remote and formidable gorilla are fully as 

 interesting as any legend of the doings of a forest- 

 dwelling ogre ; perhaps on account of the alleged 

 ferocity of Gorilla savagei such comparison is not 

 unapt. The Horses of the Sun, if unable to soar 

 like Pegasus, are nevertheless still as handsome 

 as in the days of Severus, and very much alive, 

 though known in these prosaic days as zebras. 

 The oryx antelopes swift, strong, and of striking 

 appearance are more worthy of attention than 

 the fabulous unicorn, of which they have been 

 supposed to be the originals : the Red Sea dugong 

 is a very interesting, if not very beautiful, sub- 

 stitute for the mermaid : while we may fancifully 



