2 INTRODUCTION. 



he, "was not larger than one of my fingers, I could not 

 contemplate the delicate conformation of its roots, leaves, 

 and capsules, without admiration ! Can that Being who 

 planted, watered, and brought to perfection, in this obscure 

 part of the world, a thing which appears of so small import- 

 ance, look with unconcern upon the situation and sufferings 

 of creatures formed after his own image ? Surely not. Ke- 

 flections like these would not allow me to despair ; I started 

 up, and disregarding both hunger and fatigue, travelled for- 

 wards, assured that relief was at hand; and I was not dis- 

 appointed."* And with the disposition to wonder and adore, 

 in like manner, can no branch of Natural History be studied, 

 without increasing that faith, love, and hope, which we also, 

 every one of us, need in our own journey through the wil- 

 derness of life. 



There are some points in which the structure and powers 

 of the winged tribe demand more attention and admiration 

 than those of any other class, inasmuch as the object to be 

 obtained is a more extraordinary one, and the difficulties to 

 be overcome, such as the utmost ingenuity of man has been 

 found utterly unable to meet. Let us suppose a person to 

 have grown from infancy to manhood, without ever having 

 heard of a bird. He sees that the light snow-flake is unable 

 to remain suspended in the air; that the still lighter thistle- 

 down, when no longer supported by the breeze, has a ten- 

 dency to fall to the ground; and yet he is told, that there 

 are tenants of the air, countless as those of earth and water; 

 that some of considerable size and weight can journey on 

 their way above the clouds, with a facility and speed far ex- 

 ceeding that of the swiftest footed animal. He may, indeed, 

 from observing that cork and light bodies, when plunged in 

 water, rise to the surface, conceive the possible existence of 

 a lighter substance than air, capable, by the same laws of 

 nature, of rising above the earth. If a philosopher, he may 

 even discover the inflammable and lighter gas by which a 

 balloon ascends, with the weight of a man attached; but 



* PARK'S Travels in Africa. 



