CHARLES WATERT0N, ESQ. Cxli 



I shall enter into such a course, I foresee that 

 this novel method will sink down into oblivion 

 with him who has produced it. 



But it is time to say farewell, and to bid 

 adieu to Natural History, as far as the press 

 is concerned. I trust that the account of my 

 adventures will not disedify the reader, nor 

 cause a frown upon his face, which it has been 

 my ardent endeavour to brighten up with mer- 

 riment. In casting my mind's eye over the 

 two and sixty years of my existence, the time 

 appears like the falling of a leaf in autumn, 

 a mere " sunbeam on a winter's day, a passing 

 cloud in a tempestuous sky, " — sure monitors to 

 put us in mind, " that we are here now and 

 gone in a moment ! " I cannot divest myself 

 of fear, when I consider how little I have done 

 hitherto, and how much I might have done in 

 preparation for that eventful day, when 



" Mors stupebit et Natura, 

 Cum resurget Creatura, 

 Judicanti responsura ; " 



that truly awful day, in which a cup of cold 

 water, given to the thirsty, in the name of our 



