CHARLES WATERTON, ESQ. Ixxvii 



those of an ape, " Simla, quam similis, turpissima 

 bestia nobis ; " it is my earnest desire that the said 

 expression may be considered null and void. I have 

 no wish whatever that the nondescript should pass 

 for any other thing than that which the reader 

 himself should wish it to pass for. Not considering 

 myself pledged to tell its story, I leave it to the 

 reader to say what it is, or what it is not. 



Some of my encounters with wild beasts may 

 appear hair-breadth escapes, and very alarming 

 things, to readers at their own fireside ; but to me, 

 in the forest, they appeared not so. 



We are told that death itself is not heeded 

 when the battle rages. This I believe ; for when 

 honour, fame, or duty, urge a determined man 

 forwards, I apprehend that he knows not what it is 

 to fear. Thus, the soldier marches boldly on, even 

 to the cannon's mouth ; the fox-hunter, in conscious 

 pride, flies over the five-barred gate ; and half way 

 down Dover's cliff " hangs one that gathers sam- 

 phire." But, I ask, would a " pampered menial " 

 storm the deadly breach? would a gouty alderman 

 descend the rock of Ailsa, based by the roaring 

 ocean in quest of sea-fowls' eggs? No. Their 

 habits, and their ailments, would disable or prevent 

 them; and, probably, nothing could induce them to 

 face the apparent danger. Now, as for myself, I 

 was well fitted out for adventures. I went expressly 

 to look for wild beasts ; and, having found them, it 

 would have been impossible for me to have refrained 

 from coming in actual contact with them. 



I have only to repeat, that I particularly request 



