380 THE HARMONIES OF NATURE. 



are awakened from tlieir torpidity by the warm sun of spring. 

 But who tells them in their nightly caverns that the snow has 

 disappeared from the turf where they spent a summer of en- 

 joyment? How do they know that it is now time to exchange 

 darkness for light, and that the aromatic Alpine herbs their 

 delightsome food are once more clothing the mountain-ledge 

 with verdure ? Their awakening at the right time from their 

 lethargy is as wonderful as their faculty of falling into that 

 deep sleep which carries them so softly over the dreary winter, 

 and changes distress and want into repose and ease. Though 

 buried for months under the snow, winter is to them an un- 

 known season, and, like the animals of warmer climates, their 

 whole active life is spent in pleasure and abundance. Thus 

 Providence has consulted not only their safety but their happi- 

 ness ; and indeed, on examining the whole series of the quad- 

 rupeds, we shall find that the chequered scene of their existence 

 inclines to the sunny side. 



The sloth, clinging to his branch, will express his satisfaction 

 for hours together by a kind of purring ; and even the bats 

 the emblems of melancholy may frequently be seen chasing 

 each other in some secluded spot, and merrily piping during 

 their playful evolutions. 



The sprightliness of the dolphin is proverbial, and has fre- 

 quently been celebrated by both ancient and modern poets. 

 His lively troops often accompany, for days together, the track 

 of a ship, and agreeably interrupt the monotony of a long sea- 

 voyage. As if in mockery of the most rapid sailer, they shoot 

 past so as to vanish from the eye, and then return again with 

 the same lightninglike velocity. Their spirits are so brisk that 

 they frequently leap into the air, as if longing to enjoy them- 

 selves in a lighter fluid. 



The leviathan cetaceans likewise love to indulge in sportive 

 humours. A crowd of gregarious sperm-whales may be seen 

 gambolling about on the vast wastes of the Pacific as lightly 

 as the dolphin in the more confined waters of the Medi- 

 terranean. They will often swim in long lines, rhythmically 

 sinking and rising as they rapidly proceed in their undu- 

 lating course, or bask and sleep upon the surface, spouting 

 leisurely, and exhibiting every indication of being at home. 

 Sometimes a peculiarly high-spirited individual will jump out 



