PREFACE. 
XI 
had put the final touches to the proofs. He is known to many 
readers by his vigorous illustrations of the works of Sir Samuel 
Baker, Livingstone, and many other travellers, — but these, his 
last series of plates, were, at my special request, executed with 
a care, delicacy, and artistic finish, which his other designs 
seldom exhibit. It must, however, be remembered, that the 
figures of animals here given are not intended to show specific 
or generic characters for the information of the scientific zoolo- 
gist, but merely to give as accurate an idea as possible, of some 
of the more remarkable and more restricted types of beast and 
bird, amid the characteristic scenery of their native country ; — 
and in carrying out this object there are probably few artists 
who would have succeeded better than Mr. Zweckev lias 
done. 
The general arrangement of the separate parts of which the 
work is composed, has been, to some extent, determined by 
the illustrations and maps, which all more immediately belong 
to Part III. It was at first intended to place this part last, but 
as this arrangement would have brought all the illustrations 
into the second volume, its place was changed, — perhaps in 
other respects for the better, as it naturally follows Part II. 
Yet for persons not well acquainted with zoology, it will per- 
haps be advisable to read the more important articles of Part 
IV. (and especially the observations at the end of each order) 
after Part II., thus making Part III. the conclusion of the 
work. 
Part IY. is, in fact, a book of reference, in which the distri- 
bution of all the families and most of the genera of the higher 
animals, is given in systematic order. Part III. is treated 
somewhat more popularly; and, although it is necessarily 
crowded with scientific names (without which the inferences 
