84 AFRICAN AND AMERICAN SNAILS. 



persa") is by no means confined to ourselves. It has, indeed, 

 pretty much of a cosmopolitan turn of mind, and makes itself 

 quite as much at home, though not in such great abundance, in 

 the olive groves of the south of Europe, on the Asian and Afri- 

 can shores of the Mediterranean, in the dense forests of Guayana 

 and Brazil, and at the foot of Chimborazo, as in our own hedges 

 and gardens. Nowhere, however, but amongst ourselves does 

 it hold the rank of the "common" Snail that distinguished 

 position being held in different lands by different members of the 

 family. On the Continent of Europe, Helix pomatia takes the 

 lead, and as we shall find by-and-by, is a much-prized Mollusc. In 

 Africa, very generally the genus Acliatina takes the place of the 

 more typical genus Helix, and presents xis Avith some of the most 

 monstrous creatures belonging to the family. In Liberia there 

 is an immense fellow, A. variegata, which, if it were to make its 

 appearance on the banks of some English road-side ditch, would 

 probably create a panic in all the neighbourhood around. In 

 Guinea and Natal there is another monster, striped with black 

 and brown like a zebra ; while all along that part of the African 

 coast, these immense and richly-coloured Achatince abound, 

 crawling like most of our own Snails on the ground, or on the 

 low herbage in swamps, and in the vicinity of lakes and rivers. 

 Some of the smaller, but still very beautiful, species of this 

 genus occur in Central America and the West Indies ; but in 

 this part of the globe another genus takes the lead, and the 

 reigning monarchs of the Snail world belong to the Bulimus 

 dynasty, which, being a very important one, merits accordingly 

 our special attention. 



Our knowledge of these animals is in a great degree the result 

 of the very extended and careful observations of a gentleman to 

 whom we have already alluded in this Chapter Mr. Hugh 

 Cuming, who for several years past has been in the habit of 

 fitting out a tight little vessel at his own expense, and setting 

 off for a twelvemonth's or a two years' trip to South America, 

 Borneo, the Philippine Islands, or some other far-off part of the 

 world, there to amuse himself in picking up shells, collecting 

 ferns, and suchlike scientific trifles, and also in noting the ways 

 and doings of the thousand things that he comes across, and 

 then returning to this country to dispose of his accumulated 

 spoils, and prepare for a fresh adventure. Mr. Cuming's roaming 



