188 TERRORS OF SUBAQUEOUS LIFE 



round the bleaching bones; but enough remained to 

 explain what had happened. The beast had been rub- 

 bing his antlers upon the tree, as the manner of stags 

 is ; the ground had given way under his feet, and, slipping 

 over the steep face, he hung, unhurt but helpless. None 

 may tell how many suns rose and set while the vigorous 

 life ebbed slowly away; one cares not to imagine how 

 the poor creature suffered from hunger, thirst, and tor- 

 ment of flies. It is pleasanter to hope that the agony 

 of such a fate is deadened in proportion to the limited 

 intelligence of the creature. 



The Indian Field, a newspaper published in Calcutta, 

 lately recorded a similarly harrowing accident to a 

 panther which fell to a sportsman's rifle. It was found 

 to be in a miserable state of emaciation, and, like all 

 diseased or moribund wild animals, terribly afflicted with 

 vermin. The reason for this was soon discovered. A 

 porcupine's quill had pierced the tongue from below, 

 penetrating to the throat so as to prevent entirely the 

 passage of food. The torture of such a wound must 

 have been ceaseless and intense, besides the suffering 

 arising from hunger and thirst. It is this sort of thing 

 that makes the Scripture appear a hard saying which 

 declares of the sparrows that ' not one of them is for- 

 gotten before God.' 



XLIII 



After all, a large proportion of terrestrial animals are 

 Terrors f ve e tarians in diet. The greatest mammals 

 subaqueous are exclusively so, such as elephants, rhino- 

 Life ceros, giraffes, and all the ungulates, browsing 



peaceably together on the green things of the earth. 



