KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



199 



that planned and fabricated its structure — 

 causing so many organs, each in its own 

 way, to assist in promoting a common pur- 

 pose. The fan palm, in which this animal 

 was taken by Daldorff, grew near the pool 

 inhabited by these fishes. He makes no 

 mention, however, of their object in these 

 terrestrial excursions; but Dr. Virey ob- 

 serves, that it is for the sake of small crus- 

 taceans on which they feed. 



CONTEMPLATION OF NATUKE. 



In reflecting upon the different degrees 

 of enjoyment presented to us in the Con- 

 templation of Nature, we find that the first 

 place must be assigned to a sensation which 

 is wholly independent of an intimate ac- 

 quaintance with the physical phenomena 

 presented to our view ; or of the peculiar 

 character of the region surrounding us. 



In the uniform plain, bounded only by a 

 distant horizon, where the lowly heather, 

 the cistus, or waving grasses, deck the soil ; 

 on the ocean shore, where the waves, softly 

 rippling o'er the beach, leave a track green 

 with the weeds of the sea — everywhere the 

 mind is penetrated by the same sense of the 

 vast expanse of nature, revealing to the soul, 

 by a mysterious inspiration, the existence of 

 laws that regulate the forces of the Uni- 

 verse. 



Mere communion with nature, mere con- 

 tact with the free air, exercise a soothing, 

 yet strengthening, influence on the wearied 

 spirits ; calm the storm of passion, and 

 soften the heart when shaken by sorrow to 

 its inmost depths. Everywhere, in every 

 region of the globe, in every stage of intel- 

 lectual culture, the same sources of enjoy- 

 ment are alike vouchsafed to man. The 

 earnest and solemn thoughts awakened by a 

 communion with Nature, intuitively arise 

 from a presentiment of the order and har- 

 mony pervading the whole Universe ; and 

 from the contrast we draw between the nar- 

 row limits of our own existence, and the 

 image of Infinity revealed on every side — 

 whether we look upwards to the starry vault 

 of heaven, scan the far-stretching plain be- 

 fore us, or seek to trace the dim horizon 

 across the vast expanse of ocean. 



" If," says Humboldt, " I might be al- 

 lowed to abandon myself to the recollection 

 of my own travels, I would instance, among 

 the most striking scenes of nature, the calm 

 sublimity of a tropical night, when the 

 stars, not sparkling as in our northern skies, 

 shed their soft and planetary light over the 

 gently-heaving ocean ; or I would recal the 

 deep valleys of the Cordilleras, where the 

 tall and slender palms pierce the leafy veil 

 around them, and waving on high their 

 feathery and arrow-like branches, form, as it 



were, ' a forest above a forest ; '* or I would 

 describe the peak of Teneriffe, when a hori- 

 zontal layer of clouds, dazzling in whiteness, 

 has separated the cone of cinders from the 

 plain below, and suddenly the ascending 

 current pierces the cloudy veil, so that the 

 eye of the traveller may range from the 

 brink of the crater, along the vine-clad 

 slopes of Orotava, to the orange gardens and 

 banana groves that skirt the shore. In 

 scenes like these, it is not the peaceful charm 

 uniformly spread over the face of nature 

 that moves the heart, but rather the pecu- 

 liar physiognomy and conformation of the 

 land, the features of the landscape, the ever- 

 varying outline of the clouds, and their 

 blending with the horizon of the sea — whe- 

 ther it lies spread before us like a smooth 

 and shining mirror, or is dimly seen through 

 the morning mist. All that the senses can 

 but imperfectly comprehend, all that is most 

 awful in such romantic scenes of nature, 

 may become a source of enjoyment to man, 

 by opening a wide field to the creative 

 powers of his imagination. 



"Impressions change with the varying 

 movements of the mind, and we are led by 

 a happy illusion to believe that we re- 

 ceive from the external world that with 

 which we have ourselves invested it." 



[The above beautiful remarks have been 

 kindly transcribed for us from Humboldt's 

 Cosmos, by our worthy correspondent, 

 Philos, Reading.'] 



* This expression ib taken from a beautiful 

 description of tropical Forest Scenery, in Paul 

 and Virginia. 



PEIDE AND HUMILITY. 



The good and truly amiable Feltham, in 

 his " Resolves," has the following choice re- 

 marks : — " I never yet found pride in a noble 

 nature, nor humility in an unworthy mind. Of 

 all trees, I observe God hath chosen the vine, a 

 low plant, that creeps upon the helpful wall ; of 

 all beasts, the soft and patient lamb; of all fowls, 

 the mild and galless dove. When God appeared 

 to Moses, it was not in the lofty cedar, not the 

 sturdy oak, nor the spreading plane; but in a 

 bush — a humble, slender, abject bush. As if He 

 would, by these elections, check the conceited 

 arrogance of man. Nothing procureth love, like 

 humility ; nothing hate, like pride." — Was Felt- 

 ham living now, what would he say about 

 tribe, — that giant that keeps so many good 

 hearts from coming together? He would blush 

 for society more than ever he did; and with 

 good reason. Civilised in degree, we have yet 

 far too much of the savage lurking about us. 

 When will this disappear? Echo answers — 

 "W-h e-n?" 



Knowledge. — Knowledge is indeed a trea- 

 sure, — but judgment is the treasury. There is 

 such a thing as " knowing too much." 



