INTRODUCTION. 



desert, naked and alone, considering his days as numbered, and 

 nothing appearing to remain for him but to lie down and die, 

 a small moss-flower of extraordinary beauty caught his eye. 

 " Though the whole plant," says he, " was not larger than one 

 of my fingers, I could not contemplate the delicate conforma- 

 tion of its roots, leaves, and capsules, without admiration ! 

 Can that Being who planted, watered, and brought to perfec- 

 tion, in this obscure part of the world, a thing which appears 

 of so small importance, look with unconcern upon the situation 

 and sufferings of creatures formed after His own image 1 Surely 

 not. Reflections like these would not allow me to despair ; I 

 started up, and disregarding both hunger and fatigue, travelled 

 forwards, assured that relief was at hand; and I was not 

 disappointed."* And with the disposition to wonder and adore 

 in like manner, can no branch of Natural History be studied 

 without increasing that faith, love, and hope, which we also, 

 every one of us, need in our own journey through the wilder- 

 ness of life. 



There are some points in which the structure and powers of 

 the winged tribe demand more attention and admiration than 

 those of any other class, inasmuch as the object to be obtained 

 is a more extraordinary one, and the difficulties to be overcome, 

 such as the utmost ingenuity of man has been found utterly 

 unable to meet. Let us suppose a person to have grown from 

 infancy to manhood, without ever having heard of a bird. 

 He sees that the light snow-flake is unable to remain suspended 

 in the air ; that the still lighter thistle-down, when no longer 

 supported by the breeze, has a tendency to fall to the ground ; 

 and yet he is told that there are tenants of the air, countless 

 as those of earth and water; that some of considerable size 

 and weight can journey on their way above the clouds, with 

 a facility and speed far exceeding that of the swiftest footed 

 animal. He may, indeed, from observing that cork and light 

 bodies when plunged in water, rise to the surface, conceive 

 the possible existence of a lighter substance than air, capable, 

 by the same laws of nature, of rising above the earth. If a 

 * PARK'S Travels in Africa. 



