REVIEWS. 
377 
trable thickets, entwined with thorny shrubs and woody Hanes — now 
opening into a sheltered pool, bosoming upon its waters the gorgeous 
Victoria water-lily ; — and we feel as if we could almost hear the strange, 
wild, and mournful sounds produced by the inhabitants of this enchanted 
region. These are well described by the author : — 
“ Complete silence occurs only during very short intervals, for there is 
always some cause or other that prompts some animal to break the stillness. 
Sometimes the din grows so loud, that one might fancy a legion of evil 
spirits were celebrating their orgies in the darkness of the forest. The 
howling of the aluates, the whine of the little sapajous, the snarl of the dou- 
roucouli, the roaring of the jaguar, the grunt of the pecari, the cry of the 
sloth, and the shrill voices of birds, join in dreadful discord. Humboldt 
supposes the first cause of these tumults to be a conflict among animals, 
which, arising by chance, gradually swells to larger dimensions. The 
jaguar pursues a herd of pecaris or tapirs, which wildly break through 
the bushes ; terrified by the noise, the monkeys howl, awakening parrots 
and toucans from their slumber, and thus the din spi’eads through the 
wood. A long time passes before the forest returns to its stillness. To- 
wards the approach of day, the owls, the goatsuckers, the toads, the frogs, 
howl, groan, and croak for the last time ; and as soon as the first beams 
of morning purple the sky, the shrill notes of the cicada mix with their 
expiring cries.” (P. 84.) ^ 
We never tire of such scenes, and the mind feels an ardent desire to 
know more of these wonders. To few does the good fortune fall, of an 
opportunity of exploring for themselves such regions of marvels — to the 
many they are for ever the unapproachable fairy-land, which they were 
to our young imaginations. We therefore hail, with pleasure, the appear- 
ance of the goodly volume before us, which is devoted to the description 
of tropical nature, and affords a succinct, exhaustive, and accurate 
account of its leading animal, vegetable, and physical features. 
Dr. Hartwig is already favourably known as the author of a work 
entitled “ The Sea and its living Wonders,” to which the present is in all 
respects a companion volume, of the same form and size, and with the same 
class and copiousness of illustration. Although these are often objection- 
ably small, many of them are excellent, characteristic, and original, and 
greatly enhance the value of a work intended to convey useful information 
in a popular, but at the same time, scientific and accurate form. There 
are also eight principal illustrations, consisting of “ chromo-xylographs ” 
(which, being interpreted, signifies tinted wood-cuts ), representing as many 
well-selected tropical scenes of striking interest. The plan of the work is 
threefold, the first giving an account of the general aspects (chiefly 
physical) of tropical nature ; the second being descriptive of the wonders 
of tropical vegetation ; and the remainder, or more than one-half the 
volume, is devoted to the varied and teeming insect and other animal life. 
The aspects of tropical nature exhibit themselves under various forms, 
such as the thirsty Llanos, calcined grass-plains, presenting the monotonous 
aspect of interminable wastes, whose limits melt in the hazy distance with 
those of the horizon, and which in the dry, parched season sometimes 
catch fire, and are soon converted into a black and charred region of miles 
and miles in extent. But let the tropical rain fall upon this arid and 
