AN'IMAi.3. 461 



rigours of the climate, and being bred in an extreme of heat 

 they show a peculiar ferocity, that neither the force of man can 

 conquer, nor his arts allay. Howeser, it is happy for the wretched 

 inhabitants of those climates, that its most formidable animals 

 are all solitary ones ; that they have not learned the art of unit- 

 ing-, to oppress mankind ; but each depending on its own strength, 

 invades without any assistant. 



The food also is another cause of the variety which we find 

 among quadrupeds of the same kind. Thus the beasts which 

 feed in the valley are generally larger than those which glean a 

 scanty subsistence on the mountain. Such as live in the warm 

 climates, where the plants are much larger and more succulent 

 than with us, are equally remarkable for their bulk. The ox 

 fed in the plains of Indostan, is much larger than that which is 

 more hardily maintained on the side of the Alps. The deserts 

 of Africa, where the plants are extremely nourishing, produce 

 the largest and fiercest animals ; and, perhaps for a contrary rea- 

 son, America is found not to produce such large animals as are 

 seen in the ancient continent. Bur, whatever be the reason, the 

 fact is ceitain, that wliile America exceeds us in the size of its 

 reptiles of all kinds, it is far inferior in its quadruped produc- 

 tions. Thus, for instance, the largest animal of that country is 

 the tapir, « hich can by no means be compared to the elephant 

 of Africa. Its beasts of prey, also, are divested of that strength 

 and courage which is so dangerous in this part of the world. 

 The American lion, tiger, and leopard, if such diminutive crea- 

 tures deserve these names, are neither so fierce nor so valiant as 

 those of Africa and Asia. The tiger of Bengal has been seen to 

 measure twelve feet in length, without including the tail : whereas 

 the American tiger seldom exceeds tliree. This difference obtains 

 still more in the other animals of that country, so that some 

 have been of opinion' that all quadruj/eds in Southern America 

 are of a different species from those most resembling them in 

 tiie old world ; and that there are none which are common to 

 both, but such as have entered America by the north; and 

 v< hich, being able to bear the rigoins of the frozen pole, have 

 travelled from the ancient continent, by that passage, into the 

 new. Thus the bear, the wolf, the elk, the stag, the fox, and 



I r.iiflr.in. 



