CONCLUSION 



be wholly inadequate. The vertebrate life present in 

 them is so multiform that, even were the information 

 regarding it much fuller than that in the preceding 

 pages, and recorded by really skilful hands, it would 

 surely fail to give any just conception of the wealth 

 of beauty and interest that attends the wonderful 

 panorama that is ceaselessly unrolling itself before 

 careless eyes. Rough notes may serve to stir up 

 vivid memories of the charm and colour of golden 

 hours of quiet observation, but the bloom of these is 

 sadly rubbed off in the course of any attempts to 

 transfer the impression to the minds of others ; " il 

 ne faut pas toucher aux idoles : la dorure en reste aux 

 mains," and it is with acute consciousness of this that 

 I offer the present pages to the indulgence of the 

 public. 



