158 NATURAL AND CIVIL 



subsistence, and a climate not unsuited to theif 

 support. It has always been found far beyond 

 the English settlements. From our earliest ac- 

 quaintance with Lake Champlain, it was to be 

 found in the open lands, along those shores, at 

 the distance of an hundred miles from the Eng^ 

 lish or French settlements ; and long before 

 those settlements had begun to attend to the 

 cultivation of this animal : And from the first 

 settlement of New England, hunting for their 

 nests has been a fa\'ourite and profitable am.use- 

 ment. But as the chief food of the bee is from 

 the blossoms and flowers of plants, it does not 

 multiply so fast in the uncultivated parts of the 

 country, as where the improvements of agricul- 

 ture and gardening, are constantl}^ producing a 

 gi-eater variety^ an^ number of vegetables. 



To the tribes of reptiles and insects, we have 

 affixed the idea of something, unpleasant, diminu- 

 tive, or odious. The designs, the wisdom, and 

 the power of the Creator, are not to be estima- 

 ted by such feelings, fears, and prejudices. 

 The reptile, the insect, the fish, the bird, and 

 the quadruped, one as much as the other, de- 

 note wisdom, power, and design, in the author 

 of nature : And they are alike evidences, and 

 instances, of the power of animated nature, in 

 the different parts of the earth. We may there- 

 fore as justly and clearly deduce the energy and 

 force of animated nature in any country, from 

 the number and magnitude of the insects, as 

 from the species and dimensions of any other 

 animals. The European philosophers have 

 dwelt with wonder and astonishment, on the 

 numbers and size of these animals in America. 



