THE GULL, THE PETREL, AND THE TERN. 321 



When you read the relations of voyagers who have 

 visited the tropical seas, and those which extend to 

 still more southern latitudes, you will no doubt ob- 

 serve that scene of continued warfare among birds 

 and fishes, alternately pursuing and pursued, which, 

 as well as among animals on the land, every where 

 presents itself; and in order to reconcile this system 

 of incessant hostility which appears to agitate, and at 

 the same time to animate the world of life, I shall re- 

 fer you to the observations made on this subject in a 

 preceding letter. When the circumstances are fully 

 investigated, I am persuaded that you will perceive 

 the whole system of animal warfare, and their contri- 

 bution to each other's support, to be perfectly consist- 

 ent with the wisdom and goodness of the Author of 

 Nature, whose counsels are far beyond the reach of 

 superficial enquiry. 



That the length of my letter may not seem tedi- 

 ous, I will for the present conclude, with subscribing 

 myself, 



Dear Sir, 



Ycur's, &c. 



LETTER LI. 



41 There o'er his head the cliffs tremendous frown, 

 The cordage cracks, the stones come rattling down, 

 While far and wide old Ocean rolls beneath !" 



DEAR SIR, 



As I concluded my last with a description of the al- 

 batross of the southern parts of the world, which is 

 the first of the gull kind, I cannot proceed in a more 

 regular and uniform manner than in giving you at 

 least a transient glance at that numerous race which is 

 divided into about twenty species. 



THE GULL, THE PETREL, AND THE TERN, 



are so well known, at least to all who live within any 



reasonable distance of the coast, that I shall spare you 



a particular description, which among so great a va-> 



p 5 



