1Z8 
unite, and appear to the view to take a 
third courfe¢. The delightful world we, 
are about to fketch; would be’ ob{cured 
by the imperfe& defcriptions of our pen, 
if it -had not. been uluftrated by the di- 
vineft poet of the age, to whofe fublime 
genius: the tafk was referved. 
Felices nimium populi, queis prediga tellus 
Fundit opes ad vota fuas, queis contigit Eftas 
/&mula veris, Hyems fine frigore, nubibus aer 
Ufque carens, nulloque folum tfoecundius im- 
bre, * 
Certain philofophers have undertaken 
to €reé&t to nature a temple worthy of her 
immenfity---a temple in which, her pro- 
ductions being depotited, the bodies of 
all animated beings fhould be colleéted in 
the centre; and that in this tomb of 
‘corpfes death fhould appear, to give Jife 
and vigour to art. Peru is her auguft 
temple, in which, without the neceffity 
of the feeble decorations of the chifel and 
the pencil, without the neceflity of view- 
ing her fenfible creatures humbled in the 

+ In the hypothefis of the motion of the 
earth and univerfal gravitation, the centri- 
fugal force, augmented beneath the equator, 
fhould, to produce the mountains of the 
Andes, have given them a direction eaft and 
wéft, as is the cafe with the mountains of 
tie Moonin Africa. Thus, did theyinreality 
run north and fouth, the hypothéfis would 
be overturned; but our new obfervations 
convince us 6f the contrary. The above-men- 
tioned dire€tions having been examined with 
the niceft attention, it appears that neither 
the particular feries proceed precifely from 
eat to weft; nor the junétion of them north 
and fouth. The latter declines to the fouth 
eaft, andthe particular ferres decline in the 
fame proportion, to the weftward from weft 
to fouth-weft, and to the eaftward from eaft 
to nosth-eaft. The reafon of this is, that 
South America does not completely interfect 
the equator. Thus, if a lime were to be 
drawn through its middle, fongitudinally, it 
would form with the equinoctial line an 
angle of fixty degrees only, inftead of ninety. 
To reftore the dire€tions of our cordilleras in 
fuch a way as that they fhould look precifely 
towards the cardinal points, it would be ne- 
ceflary that a comet, fuch as the one of 
which Waiston dreanied, fhould make its 
appearance, fhould fuddenly attach this con- 
'tinent to Cape Horn, and puth it thirty de- 
grees to the weftward. 
* Vanier, Praed. pag. r17. 
"Ehefe lines may be thus freely tranflated: 
- * Oyappy people to whom the earth pours, 
forth her ftores at will; on whom providence 
has beftowed fummers, the cooinefs of which 
emulate the fpring; winters without cold; 
a cloudlefs“frmament; and 
Wie without ‘howers. 
a foil highly fer-. 
Peru—The Virginian Opoffum. 
difmal array of of the fepulchre, fhe dif 
plays herfelf living, and in all her fplen- 
dor. The high world is the principal 
nave: its Mooring, fuperior in elevation 
to Olympus, Pindus, Intaus, TD 
renéan mountains, fupports a magnifi- 
cent facade looking towards the north, 
and crowned by the celeftia] equator. 
The edifice, which terminates beneath’ 
the tropic of Capricorn, is crowned at 
the meridian by another arch of equal 
elegance. Corazon; Iliguiza, Chimborazo, 
Collanes, Vilcaneta, Mimani, Condorema, 
and Tacora, are the columns by whichit 
is fupported.  Antifara, Cotopaxi, Tun- 
-guregua, Pichincha, Ambato, Quinifiakac, 
and Cheke-Putina, are fo many inextin- 
guifhable lamps, which, covered by a 
thick vapour, perpetuate unceafingly the 
worfhip of the Deity. | 
{ To be concluded in our next.} 

For the Monthly Magazine. 
Defcription of the Sarigue ( Virginian Opofflum; 
of Pennant) lately brought alive intoFrance, 
by Cit. Rouelle, being an extra. ofa let-: 
ter written by him to Cit. Tofcan, Keeper 
of the National Mufeum of Natural Hiftory. 
HE Sarique, or Opoffum of the 
JL Americans, is found in moft of the 
woody and warm parts of that Continent. 
Its hair is brown, and white‘at the tips : 
the tail is rather long, naked, and.refere= 
bling that o {the rat: its ears are open, - 
rounded, very thin, and bordered with a 
light brown edge. It is a filent animal, 
fleeping during the day and coming forth. 
from its retreat only towards the clofe of 
evening ; it feeks its prey in the night, re- 
turning at day-break to its hole, which is 
generally dug under the roots of fome great 
tree, and well lined with grafs or mofs. 
They dwell generally in pairs; but fome 
males leada folitary life. Fruits of various 
kinds ‘conftitute its principal food, and it 
will eagerly devour the eggs and young of 
birds. Its flefh is reckoned excellent eat- 
ing, and vaft numbers are annuaily de- 
ftroyed by the natives and wild gquadru- 
peds: being very ill provided for defence; 
and running, but flowly, as foon as rt is 
purfued it afcends a tree, and fixing itfelf 
by its-prehenfile tail on one of the topmoft: 
and flendereft branches, it remains fuf- 
pended with the head downwards till the 
parfuit has eceafed : the Indians, however, 
climb the tree, and breaking the bough te- 
which the Opeffum has fixed itfelf, the. 
animal falls te the ground and is feized by 
the dogs in waiting below. It brings forth. 
trom four to twelve young, without which. 
fertility, the {pecies would foon be. anni- 
huated by its numerous enemies, 
