Natural History Capabilities of the Region. 1 1 



causes which have brought about the marked deterioration of 

 race since the advent of the whites ; nor are the results of 

 civilization and reclamation of the primeval forest, on the 

 lower forms of life, much less worthy of attention. The 

 migrations of the birds, their numerical prevalence as com- 

 pared with former years and other lands, together with the 

 local Reptology, Ichthyology, etc., also furnish new and 

 instructive data. The Botanical productions offer a wide and 

 very interesting field, and haVe not hitherto, as a whole, been 

 accurately tabulated. The Geology is extremely inviting, and 

 affords materials of great scientific and economic value. Such 

 are the main features of the country to which reference will be 

 made in the following pages. 



A strange 'enchantment creeps over the traveller — more 

 especially should he possess an inquisitive mind — when, 

 transplanted to a new country, he finds himself surrounded 

 by a diversity of natural objects ; some perfect strangers, 

 others similar, or so closely allied to what he had seen before, 

 that they at once recall associations of far-distant countries. 

 But first impressions being hastily formed, are very often 

 anything but correct ; nevertheless they create materials 

 for pleasant after-reflections. I cannot, for example, forget 

 my first impressions of tropical scenery as displayed in the 

 luxuriance and verdure of the Seychelle Islands, nor of the 

 plains of Hindoostan from the tops of the western Ghauts, the 

 colossal grandeur of the Himalayas — to wit, my first glimpses 

 of the Vale of Cashmere, a bird's-eye view of a Tartar steppe, 

 Egypt from the Pyramids, the Nubian Desert, Switzerland, 

 and the Alpine tops and valleys from the Righi, Vesuvius, 

 etc. ; all of which, in spite of years, remain still so indelibly im- 

 pressed on my memory as to appear but visions of yesterday. 

 But the enjoyment derived from a contemplation of Nature is 

 oftener better appreciated by reflection afterwards than at the 

 time. Perhaps the reason may be, to some extent, that we are 



