UNKNOWN TONGUES. 261 



ter. A German enthusiast tells us, it is true, that they 

 speak in light, scarcely perceptible breathings; but no 

 one else ever heard them. Still, some of them actually 

 do utter noises of various and seldom agreeable nature. 

 Tenches have a croaking sound, which is heard when 

 they are caught, and as long as they are living. The 

 armado, of South America, has a harsh, grating noise, 

 which it utters even beneath the water, and others pipe 

 and whistle or growl and grunt, as the grunter and sea- 

 scorpion. The drum-fish, of our waters, has his name, 

 from the skill with which he drums on his own inflated 

 body. It is heard best when he passes under a vessel, 

 and poetical mariners have compared it to the bass notes 

 of an organ, the ringing of a deep-toned bell, or the 

 melancholy sounds of an ^Eolian harp. The dolphins, the 

 great favorites of antiquity, were said to love music even 

 more than human beings, and to cry in pain and an- 

 guish. Aristotle tells us that one of this race, caught 

 and wounded near Icaria, cried so loud and bitterly, that 

 thousands came swimming into the quiet harbor. The 

 fishermen gave- the wounded one its liberty, and then 

 they all left, expressing their joy in graceful gambols and 

 endless gyrations. 



Frogs are veritable artists and masters in one of the 

 unknown tongues. They have a true voice not the re- 

 sult of mere mechanical action, but proceeding from the 

 lungs, and expressive of deep feeling. So, at least, think 

 the Mahometans, to whom they are sacred, because they 

 proclaim to the world the praises of Allah and even 

 more so, because of their marvellous piety. For, when 



