﻿188 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  Most 
  men 
  in 
  a 
  natural 
  condition 
  can 
  swim, 
  but 
  records 
  

   principally 
  appertain 
  to 
  their 
  feats 
  in 
  the 
  sea. 
  There 
  are 
  some 
  

   narratives 
  of 
  their 
  fluviatile 
  journeys, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   best 
  to 
  instance 
  is 
  that 
  given 
  by 
  Paul 
  Fountain 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  Indians 
  

   take 
  long 
  journeys 
  through 
  the 
  forest, 
  swimming 
  the 
  broadest 
  

   rivers 
  with 
  great 
  facility, 
  setting 
  at 
  naught 
  the 
  danger 
  from 
  

   lurking 
  Caymans, 
  and 
  simply 
  using 
  a 
  small 
  log 
  of 
  wood 
  as 
  sup- 
  

   port 
  or 
  float. 
  Some 
  few 
  tribes 
  do 
  use 
  what 
  is 
  called 
  in 
  Guiana 
  a 
  

   ' 
  wood-skin,' 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  shallow 
  bark 
  canoe 
  ; 
  but 
  this 
  habit 
  seems 
  

   to 
  be 
  so 
  exceptional 
  and 
  local 
  that 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  I 
  had 
  not 
  heard 
  

   of 
  it, 
  and 
  supposed 
  all 
  the 
  Indian 
  tribes 
  to 
  be 
  ignorant 
  of 
  the 
  use 
  

   of 
  canoes."* 
  

  

  We 
  may 
  now 
  leave 
  mammals, 
  and 
  turn 
  our 
  attention 
  to 
  land- 
  

   birds, 
  apparently 
  most 
  unlikely 
  subjects 
  to 
  develop 
  natatory 
  

   habits. 
  The 
  instances 
  to 
  be 
  given 
  are 
  very 
  few, 
  but 
  are 
  sufficient 
  

   to 
  indicate 
  that 
  the 
  practice 
  cannot 
  be 
  considered 
  as 
  unique. 
  

   Mr. 
  Cronwright 
  Schreiner 
  has 
  known 
  Ostriches 
  to 
  swim 
  some 
  

   distance 
  down 
  the 
  Great 
  Fish 
  Eiver 
  when 
  it 
  was 
  running 
  fairly 
  

   strong, 
  and 
  heard 
  on 
  good 
  authority 
  of 
  a 
  cock 
  that 
  was 
  carried 
  

   a 
  long 
  way 
  down 
  the 
  same 
  river 
  when 
  it 
  was 
  running 
  nearly 
  

   level 
  with 
  its 
  precipitous 
  banks 
  in 
  the 
  stormy 
  season 
  ; 
  he 
  was 
  

   some 
  hours 
  in 
  the 
  water 
  before 
  he 
  could 
  get 
  out, 
  but 
  he 
  emerged 
  

   unhurt. 
  t 
  Pheasants 
  will 
  occasionally 
  take 
  to 
  water. 
  A 
  young 
  

   bird 
  has 
  been 
  seen 
  to 
  swim 
  across 
  a 
  pond 
  about 
  eighteen 
  or 
  nine- 
  

   teen 
  feet 
  wide 
  in 
  following 
  its 
  mother 
  which 
  had 
  flown 
  over 
  the 
  

   same. 
  A 
  cock 
  Pheasant 
  has 
  been 
  observed 
  to 
  swim 
  across 
  the 
  

   Eiver 
  Usk 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  thirty 
  yards 
  broad, 
  and 
  running 
  at 
  the 
  

   rate 
  of 
  four 
  knots 
  an 
  hour. 
  " 
  When 
  wounded 
  and 
  dropped 
  into 
  

   the 
  water, 
  Pheasants 
  swim 
  with 
  facility, 
  and 
  some 
  instances 
  are 
  

   on 
  record 
  of 
  their 
  diving 
  beneath 
  the 
  surface 
  and 
  rising 
  at 
  some 
  

   distance."! 
  

  

  Islands, 
  lias 
  known 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  native 
  Pigs 
  to 
  leap 
  overboard, 
  swirn 
  five 
  

   hundred 
  yards 
  to 
  shore, 
  and 
  return 
  to 
  the 
  house 
  of 
  his 
  original 
  owner 
  (' 
  In 
  

   the 
  South 
  Seas,' 
  p. 
  91). 
  

  

  :;: 
  ' 
  The 
  Great 
  Mountains 
  and 
  Forests 
  of 
  South 
  America,' 
  p. 
  41. 
  

  

  f 
  ' 
  Zoologist,' 
  ser. 
  4, 
  vol. 
  i. 
  p. 
  104. 
  — 
  " 
  Even 
  as 
  a 
  chick 
  the 
  Ostrich 
  is 
  a 
  

   powerful 
  swimmer." 
  

  

  | 
  Of. 
  Tegetmeier, 
  ' 
  Pheasants, 
  their 
  Nat. 
  Hist, 
  and 
  Pract. 
  Management,' 
  

   pp. 
  11, 
  12. 
  

  

  