888 ASIA. 



Golden Plicasant. Ring-ncchcd Pheasant. 



came from Asia, and the race is found wild in the woods of India. The Jungle Cock (G. 

 Son7ieratii) , a very beautiful species of this genus, is extensively spread through India, inhabit- 

 ing the thick jungles, where its shrill voice may be continually heard resounding through the 

 brakes and thickets. 



There are a multitude of otlier birds in Asia, many of which are remarkable for their rich 

 plumage or their pleasing songs. Some of the spicy groves are the haunts of large flocks of 

 parrots, cockatoos, and other gay birds, which impart peculiar splendor to these regions of 

 perpetual summer. 



The Anaconda is most common in Ceylon, and is one of the most terrible of all reptiles. It 



Anaconda. Pearl Oyster. 



is of sufficient size and strength to destroy an ox or a tiger. The Great Boa is sometimes 30 

 feet in length. 



The Pearl Oyster is found in great abundance on the west coast of Ceylon, where a valuable 

 pearl-fishery is carried on. The divers descend to the bottom by the weight of heavy stones, 

 and bring up the oysters in baskets. The fisheries are rented yearly. They employ above 

 6,000 men, and have sometimes yielded 850,000 dollars in a single year. 



Where the bed is rich, a diver often puts upwards of 150 oysters into his basket at one dip ; 

 when they are thinly scattered, sometimes no more than 5. After diving, a small quantity of 

 )lood usually issues from the nose and ears, which is considered as a favorable symptom, and 

 'ley perform the operation with greater comfort after the bleeding has commenced. They 

 seem to enjov the lab-or as a pleasant pastime, and never complain of fatigue, unless the banks 



