CREATION OF ANIMALS. 3 



mals, the verdant earth in all its primitive and 

 untarnished beauty, though inlaid with flowers 

 exhibiting, in endless variety, every mixture 

 and shade of colour that can glad the sight ; 

 though fanned hy gales breathing Sabean odours, 

 to gratify the scent ; though tempting the appe- 

 tite by delicious fruits of every flavour, still 

 would be a scene without the breath of life. No 

 motions would be seen but of the passing clouds, 

 of the fluctuating waters, and the waving boughs ; 

 no voice heard but of the elements. 



Was a single pair placed in this paradise, 

 though at first it would seem that there was 

 gratification for every sense, and joy would pos- 

 sess the heart, and admiration fill the soul with 

 pleasure ; yet after the novelty of the spectacle 

 had ceased, and the effect of its first impression 

 was obliterated, a void would soon be felt, some- 

 thing more would seem wanting to animate the 

 otherwise lovely scene ; a longing would arise in 

 the mind for some beings, varying in form and 

 magnitude, furnished with organs that would 

 enable them to traverse and enliven the lower 

 regions of the atmosphere, others that might 

 course over the earth's surface, and others that 

 could win their easy way through its waters, so 

 that all, by their numbers, and the variety of 

 their motions, might exhibit a striking and inter- 

 esting contrast to the fixed and unconscious 

 vitality of the vegetable kingdom. 



