SOUTH AMERICA. 
287 
tinned this process, till he made the ball considerably fourth 
larger than the one I had procured; and in order-- 
to put his roguery out of all chance of detection, he 
made the last and outer coat thicker than a dollar. 
This Indian would, no doubt, have thriven well in 
some of our great towns. 
Finding that the rainy season was coming on, Returns 
I left the wilds of Demerara and Essequibo with England, 
regret, towards the close of December, 1824; and 
reached once more the shores of England, after a 
long and unpleasant passage. 
Ere we part, kind reader, I could wish to draw a Conciud- 
• • • • — ingf rc- 
little of thy attention to the instructions which are marks, 
to be found at the end of this book. Twenty years 
have now rolled away, since I first began to examine 
the specimens of zoology in our museums. As the 
system of preparation is founded in error, nothing 
but deformity, distortion, and disproportion, will be 
the result of the best intentions, and utmost exertions 
of the workman. Canova’s education, taste, and 
genius enabled him to present to the world statues 
so correct and beautiful, that they are worthy of 
universal admiration. Had a common stone-cutter 
tried his hand upon the block, out of which these 
statues were sculptured, what a lamentable want of 
symmetry and fine countenance there would have 
been. Now, when we reflect that the preserved 
specimens in our museums, and private collections, 
are always done upon a wrong principle, and gene¬ 
rally by low and illiterate people, whose daily bread 
depends upon the shortness of time in which they 
