46 ornithologist's text-book. 



name of Wouralia. Wouralia shall be sheltered 

 from the wintry storm ; and when summer comes, 

 she shall feed in the finest pasture. No burden 

 shall be placed upon her, and she shall end her 

 days in peace." 



In a letter with which the amiable, talented, and 

 enterprising Mr. Waterton has lately favored us, 

 (dated July 28, 1835), the following passage oc- 

 curs : — " The ass Wouralia is alive at the age of 

 twenty-four ; and is more wicked and mischievous 

 in breaking through fences than any goat you can 

 imagine." 



Now we cannot exactly comprehend how the 

 restoring the ass's suspended animation could pos- 

 sibly destroy the power of the poison, and prevent 

 its further action, as it had already circulated 

 throughout the system. When the ass was inocu- 

 lated, it was not of course want of breath, but the 

 virulence of the poison which threatened its de- 

 struction ; and, one would suppose, that when this 

 had once pervaded the frame, nothing on earth 

 could save the unhappy creature. The mere heal- 

 ing of the external wound could clearly be of no 

 avail. We wish it, however, to be distinctly un- 

 derstood that we have not the smallest doubt as to 

 the truth of a single sentence in the Wanderings, 

 but we should be much obliged to the author if he 

 would clear up this point for us, through the 

 medium of the Magazine of Natural History, 

 which teems with Mr. Waterton's fresh and de- 

 lightful papers on the habits of the feathered race. 



Interesting as are the notices of birds in the 

 Wanderings, their utility is greatly lessened by 

 his always using the Indian names without expla- 

 nation. 



In conclusion we recommend this work, in 

 common with the other writings of this author, 

 to the perusal of all classes of readers. At the 



