90 NATURAL HISTORY 



ward Spring, unusually late : I have seen 

 but one swallow yet. This conformity 

 with the weather convinces me more and 

 more that they sleep in the Winter. 



More particulars respecting the old family 

 Tortoise, 



Because we call this creature an abject 

 reptile, we are too apt to undervalue his 

 abilities, and depreciate his powers of in- 

 stinct. Yet he is, as Mr. Pope says of his 

 lord. 



Much too wise to walk into a well :' 



and has so much discernment as not to fall 

 down an haha : but to stop and withdraw 

 from the brink with the readiest precaution. 



Though he loves warm weather he avoids 

 the hot sun ; because his thick shell, when 

 once heated, would, as the poet says of solid 

 armour — '* scald with safety." He there- 

 fore spends the more sultry hours under the 

 umbrella of a large cabbage leaf, or amidst 

 the waving forests of an asparagus-bed. 



But as he avoids heat in the Summer, so. 



