244 DOLPHINS. 



It must be so : for it is the original and immediate 

 workmanship of God, while the greatest ingenuity of 

 man is second-hand, only one step removed from the 

 Divinity it is true, but to our comprehension that single 

 step is infinite. Man can make a trap that will catch 

 animals, if they go into it, as certainly as the claws of a 

 lion, the talons of an eagle, or the teeth of a grampus ; 

 but he must stop at the mere mechanism, he cannot 

 give it that little invisible impulse by which it goes of 

 its own accord to seek them. But man has any thing 

 but cause to complain of that. He himself is the 

 animating power of all his engines ; and, armed with 

 these, he is in truth the lord of the creation ; and, when 

 he joins wisdom to his power, there is hardly any limit 

 that can be assigned to his dominion. 



Many tales, not only interesting, but absolutely affect- 

 ing, have been told of the maternal affection of the 

 grampus. It has even been the theme of poets ; for 

 Waller has a beautiful description of an instance : A 

 mother grampus and her cub had been following their 

 lawful calling that is, catching fish as fast as they could 

 in the estuary of a river ; and they had been so indus- 

 trious and intent upon their work, that they were 

 stranded by the ebbing of the tide. This being ob- 

 served by the country people, their instinct of catching 

 was immediately roused, and they came, in posse comi- 

 tatus, to capture the animals. These were speedily 

 pierced by a number of wounds, and the shallow water 

 was dyed with their blood. But they made a terrible 

 resistance ; and the old one bounded into the deep water 

 and was safe. But her young one was exposed alone 

 to the danger ; and she had no sooner turned her head 



