MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE. 59 



What pleasure there is in diffusing knowledge which is appreciated 

 by an attentive audience ; and looking round with feelings of 

 satisfaction, I asked what they thought about it all ? The spokes- 

 man of the party thanked me for my lecture, and speaking for his 

 mates, he said that whilst they felt sorry that the dragon had killed 

 the ancient warrior, their spirits revived when they saw that 

 primeval man enjoyed his 'bacca apparently with the same relish as 

 we do now. 



Few of us regret that Great Britain is an island ; the surrounding 

 seas present a formidable obstacle to hostile nations, but at the 

 same time many strange and beautiful forms of life, which otherwise 

 might visit us, are kept away. In India, almost every day I saw 

 some new beast, or bird, or flower ; and it was well worth keeping 

 a sharp look-out at all seasons of the year, for even on Christmas 

 Day a cuckoo might be sitting silent in my garden, or swallows 

 be seen leisurely circling round undisturbed by domestic cares. 

 Perhaps, in a gloomy tamarind-tree a huge horned-owl would turn 

 his sleepy eyes below, or a colony of egrets, or night-herons, be 

 selecting a home in some of the other trees, whilst an eagle, with its 

 nest close by, would be contemplating my poultry yard. 



When the cool weather was approaching in October, the air was 

 full of sounds agreeable to anyone who is fond of watching birds ; 

 storks and cranes were hastening to their feeding grounds, and 

 pelicans, just arrived from a journey across the Himalayan 

 mountains, would be prospecting the surrounding country a 

 thousand feet above me, ready to pounce down on any pond or lake 

 likely to hold fish. Then there were flights of waders, whose name 

 is legion, and the ruddy shield-drake, so rare in England, coming 

 from its breeding-grounds in the highlands of Thibet by tens of 

 thousands. When I think of the birds of India, so many 

 recollections start up before me that I must curb my enthusiasm 

 by remarking, that in our village here a rara avis is seldom 

 seen, even by the best observer, and during a decade they may be 

 counted on the fingers. One day I saw a bird carrying a mouse 



