LETTf.K XXXIX. 



zoologists have expatiated, and which exhibits a re- 

 markable display of instinctive -sagacity, worthy the 

 r.tlenticn'of every mind ihat delights in contemplat- 

 ing the wonders of creation: especially when we 

 consider the regularity with which their works arc 

 carried on, and the order and discipline which per- 

 vade their societies. 



v\n overseer is always chosen among them, whose 

 onlvrs are punctually "l.-ycd; and a smart slr<k 

 wiih his tail upon the water is his word of command, 

 whenever the united force of numbers is necessary to 

 be applied. The same signal is also used on, the ap- 

 proach of an enemy, to warn the society of its dan- 

 j.-t'r. On such occasions each beaver, -as he thinks it 

 rxpediciU, either conceals himself hi hid habitation, 

 or plunges into the water, and immediately disap- 

 pears. 



You will be ready to ask, by what secret cpunsels 

 are these animals moved to unanimity of design, , by 

 v>'h.-t pcv/cr impelled to vuilformity oi' action? They 

 ure guided, my dear Sir, by that Being who has regu- 

 lated the propensities, the instincts, and operations of 

 all animal existence; the God of nature is their un- 

 erring director. 



THE WALRUS OR SEA-HORSE 



is an animal perfectly amphibious, and far more at- 

 tached to the watery element than the beaver. In 

 its habits, .indeed, it seems to approach nearer to the 

 nature of fishes than to that of quadrupeds, although 

 naturalists have generally included it in the latter de- 

 nomination. 



The sea-horse- grows to a large size, and has some- 

 times been found eighteen feet in length, and twelve 

 in circumference at the thickest part. Its upper jaw 

 is armed with two large tusks, sometimes above two 

 feet in length, and weighing from twelve to twenty 

 pounds. These, teeth together with its fat, are what 

 stamps a value on tnis animal, as they are equal to 

 th'-'-t: of the elephant in beauty and dun.bilily, and 

 the /at of a well grown sea horse is said to yield half 

 a ton of oil, eqau] in goodness to that of the whale.. 



