Sir Henry seeing that his friend began to hope, concluded that the wound was not mortal, and expressed himself to that effect. But

66

Sir John turned his head, and cast his eyes steadily on the wounded part, and then replied, 'No, Hardinge, I feel that to be impossible.— You need not go with me; report to General Hope, that I am wounded and carried to the rear.' He was then raised from the ground by a Highland serjeant and three soldiers, and slowly conveyed towards Corunna."

"The soldiers had not carried Sir John Moore far, when two surgeons came running to his aid. They had been employed in dressing the shattered arm of Sir David Baird; who, hearing of the disaster which had occurred to the commander, generously ordered them to desist and hasten to give him help. But Moore, who was bleeding fast, said to them, 'You can be of no service to me: go to the wounded soldiers, to whom you may be useful;' and he ordered the bearers to move on. But as they proceeded, he repeatedly made them turn round to view the battle, and to listen to the firing; the sound of which, becoming gradually fainter, indicated that the French were retreating.

"Before he reached Corunna, it was almost dark, and Colonel Anderson met him; who, seeing his general borne from the field of battle for the 'third and last time, and steeped in blood, became speechless with anguish. Moore pressed his hand, and said in a low tone; Anderson, don't leave me.' As he was carried into the house, his faithful servant François came out, and stood aghast with horror: but his master, to console him, said smiling, my friend, this is nothing.'"-vol. ii. pp. 225, 226.

"He then continued, 'I have made my will, and have remembered my servants. Colborne has my will, and all my papers.' As he spoke these words, Major Colborne, his military secretary, entered the room. He addressed him with his wonted kindness; then, turning to Anderson, said, 'Remember you go to Willoughby Gordon, and tell him it is my request, and that I expect he will give a Lieutenant-Colonelcy to Major Colborne; he has been long with me-and I know him to be most worthy of it.'

"He then asked the Major, who had come last from the field, 'Have the French been beaten?' He assured him they had on every point. 'It's a great satisfaction,' he said, 'for me to know that we have beat the French. Is Paget in the room?' On being told he was not, he resumed, 'Remember me to him; he is a fine fellow.'

I fear

"Though visibly sinking, he then said, 'I feel myself so strong I shall be long dying.- -It's great uneasiness- -it's great pain !'"Everything François says is right.-I have great confidence in him.' He thanked the surgeons for their attendance. Then seeing Captains Percy and Stanhope, two of his aides-de-camp, enter, he spoke to them kindly, and repeated to them the question, If all his aides-de-camp were safe; and was pleased on being told they were.

"After a pause, Stanhope caught his eye, and he said to him, Stanhope! remember me to your sister.' He then became silent. Death, undreaded, approached; and the spirit departed; leaving the bleeding body an oblation offered up to his country."-vol. ii. pp. 228-230.

A considerable number of letters by Sir John are added, all con

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taining accumulated evidence of the goodness of his heart, and the soundness of his judgment.

With respect to the execution of this work, we can state with great truth, that it confers the highest credit on the writer by the lucid arrangement, the strict adherence to truth, and the good taste by which the work is characterized.

ABT. IX. Gleanings in Natural History. Second Series. To which are added some Extracts from the Unpublished MSS. of the late Mr. White, of Selborne. 1 Vol. By EDWARD JESSE, ESQ., Surveyor of His Majesty's Parks. London: Murray. 1834.1

MR. JESSE deserves a great deal of credit, at all events, for the zeal which he exhibits in the cultivation of Natural History. We are very glad to find that he has participated so far of the encouragement of the public, as to have received a stimulus to his labours; otherwise, we are fearful, that the present very interesting volume would have never reached the light. There is a great variety in the subjects forming the contents of this volume. Mr. Jesse does not confine his attention to one order, or one class of the kingdom of nature, but with equal justice, appreciates the phenomena of all.

We can very well fancy the extent of the opportunities which Mr. Jesse has at his command for the observation of nature. His professional duties lead him into direct contact with the various objects of natural history, which are so abundantly to be found in the quiet haunts of the royal parks in this country. That rare trees, rare birds, and rare animals of various sorts should be found in those localities, we should readily infer from the fact, that for ages they have been sheltered from the visitations of human beings, and that the system of destruction which, in most other places, induces the weakest portion of the creation to abandon those positions where they find themselves exposed to rude treatment, is never practised in the parks.

The author commences with a few brief remarks on some of the birds which most frequent Richmond park. He defends the cuckoo from the charge of unnatural conduct in the practise of laying her eggs in other bird's nests. But her reason for doing so, he says, is this, that she is one of the largest of the feathered tribes that live on insects, and that all her time must be devoted to a search for food. Mr. Jesse in speaking of magpies, appears to entertain a very curious theory, amounting to no less than this, that birds and other animals can measure time, and he mentions several examples of birds which seemed to be acquainted with the periodical return of Sunday as a day of quietness, and on which no guns were fired. He says, that the starling is one of his greatest favourites, because there is an oddity about the creature, and also, a great degree of sociability and amusing fun in his disposition, accompanied by great

restlessness, and yet apparent good humour and good fellowship. The carrion crow on the contrary, is an object of dislike to Mr. Jesse, who says, that this bird is a decided thief and pilferer. The rook however, is a friend to agriculturists, whilst the chief qualifications of the raven is to hide things. It has been believed by a great number of persons, that woodcocks do not breed in this country, but Mr. Jesse states numerous facts which prove the contrary. He says, that magpies as well as cuckoos have the strange power of retarding the time for laying their eggs, and that the former birds act on this power when, having begun to build their nests in December, should that month be mild, they are stopped in this work by the severity of the weather. Mr. Jesse relates the following account of an ourang outang, which was in the possession of a particular friend of his.

"On its return from India, the vessel which conveyed the poor little ourang to a climate always fatal to its race, stopped some time at the Isle of France to take in fresh provisions. The ourang accompanied the sailors in their daily visits to the shore, and their calls upon the keepers of taverns, and places of a like description. In one of these, kept by an old woman who sold coffee, &c., for breakfast, the ourang was accustomed to go, unattended, every morning; and by signs, easily interpreted, demand his usual breakfast, which was duly delivered. The charge was scored up to the captain's account, which he paid before his departure.

"There was but one person on board the ship of whom the poor ourang seemed at all afraid. This man was the butcher. The ourang had seen him kill sheep and oxen in the the exercise of his duty, and most probably anticipated from his hands a fate similar to that of his equally dumb, but not so intelligent companions. However in order to conciliate the friendship of this dreaded dispenser of death, he made every advance, although it must be owned in a very singular manner. He would, for instance, approach him with great caution, examine his hands minutely, finger by finger, and finding no weapon, proceed by every little artifice to attract his notice. With the rest of the sailors he was on terms of intimate friendship, and no doubt felt himself entitled to all the attendant privileges, not unfrequently to the annoyance of his companions from whose hammocks he took such portions of bedding as he deemed necessary for his own comfort, and which he would by no means give up without a hard contest.

His conduct at table, to which he was familiarly admitted, was decorous and polite. He soon comprehended the use of knives and forks, but preferred a spoon, which he handled with as much ease as any child of seven or eight years old.

"On his arrival in England, he soon began to sicken. During his illness he was removed to Bruton Street, where one of his favourities, I believe the cook, attended as his nurse. He would raise his head from his pillow, turn his eyes on his attendant, with an expression as if entreating him to do something for his relief. He would at the same time utter a plaintive cry, but he evinced nothing like impatience or ill temper, and was compassionated by all who saw him.

He lingered on a few days, and gradually grew worse and worse till he died, not without the regret of his nurse, and the sympathy of us all." pp. 41, 42.

Mr. Jesse has paid the greatest attention to the natural history of the eel, which, it will be remembered, he stated in his first series of "Gleanings," was viviparous, or that it brought forth its young alive. He found, however, that Mr. Yarrell, an able ornithologist entertained the opinion, that the eel was oviparous, and he agreed to take the best method he could of demonstrating the truth of his opinions. Mr. Jesse accordingly took care to send Mr. Yarrell an eel fresh caught every fortnight, during that portion of the year during which these fish mature their roe. Mr. Yarrell continued his examination, and sometimes he dissected the eel in the presence of his friend. In the meantime, Mr. Jesse's inquiries in another quarter, led him to believe, that eels were oviparous, for he found on close observation, that these animals migrated towards brackish water, to deposit their roe. This they do from November to the end of January if the weather be favourable, and so well is the course understood, that the Thames fishermen always sets their pots or baskets with their mouths directed against the stream; the migration is confined to the old eels, the young ones without roes being stationary, at certain places, a proof that the object of the migration is connected with the deposit of the roe. All the way down to the brackish water, the young eels are found, but when arrived there they resume their way back, and Mr. Jesse has traced them during their journey from Blackfriar's Bridge to Chertsey. The instinct which guides them in these excursions is very energetic, for even at the locks at Teddington and Hampton, the young eels have been seen to ascend the large posts of the floodgates, in order to make their way, when these gates have not been for some time opened. Many of the eels die on the post, and it is not until a bed of dead eels is formed on them, that the great body of the emigrants can pass over the gates. At Bristol, the phenomena of this instinct are strikingly manifested. The author tells us, that

"Near that city there is a large pond, immediately adjoining which is a stream. On the bank between these two waters a large tree grows, the branches of which hang into the pond. By means of these branches, the young eels ascend into the tree, and from thence let themselves drop into the streams below, thus migrating to far distant waters, where they increase in size, and become useful and beneficial to man. A friend of mine who was a casual witness of this circumstance, informed me that the tree appeared to be quite alive with these little animals. The rapid and unsteady motion of the boughs, did not appear to impede their progress." p. 47.

The young eels form a very compact column during their ascent, and it has been calculated that about 1,800 passes in a minute a

given point in a river. Mr. Jesse states, that he has put the young eels into spirit for the purpose of killing them, and then preserving them. But this he acknowledges was not a good plan, because by immersing the eel into water heated to 120 degrees, it will be immediately put out of all pain. It seems that formerly there was a custom amongst the Thames fishermen of keeping a sort of holiday on the day when the young eels first appeared. But we hasten to the more interesting subject of the mode of generation prevailing amongst the eels. Mr. Yarrell, on concluding his examination of the eels, sent Mr. Jesse a written account of his proceedings and of the conclusions to which he came, with respect to the mysterious problem, just mentioned.

Mr. Yarrell thinks that the notion of the eels being viviparous, must have arisen from the circumstance of some parasite worms being found in their intestines, which had been mistaken for their young. But Aristotle even distinguished these animals as parasites, and not the offspring of the eels. Mr. Yarrell, independently of the arguments derived from these negative considerations, tells us that he distinctly traced the eggs in the roes of several species of eel, and that the animal is without any doubt, oviparous.

Eels make two migrations every year: one to the sea and another from it. The one to the sea, seems to be performed by adult eels which never return, while the small eels return only. At least, this is the notion entertained by most persons who have carefully observed the migrations. Mr. Yarrell is of opinion, that the adult eels in their passage to the sea, is an exercise of choice and not a matter of necessity, and that the parent eels go back as well as the young ones. Mr. Yarrell's exposition of his opinion on this subject, is well worthy of consideration.

All authors agree that eels are extremely averse to cold. There are no eels in the arctic regions, none in the rivers of Siberia, the Wolga, the Danube, or any of its tributary streams. It is said that there are no eels in the Caspian or Black Seas; but they abound in the Mediterranean, and M. Risso has described eight species in his work on the Natural History of the environs of Nice. There is no doubt also that fishes in general, and eels more particularly, are able to appreciate even minute alterations of temperature in the water they inhabit. The brackish water they seek to remain in during the colder months of the year is of a higher temperature than that of the pure fresh water of the river, or that of the sea. It is a well known law in chemistry, that when two fluids of different densities come in contact, the temperature of the mixture is elevated for a time in proportion to the difference in density of the two fluids, from the mutual penetration and condensation. Such a mixture is constantly taking place in rivers that runs into the sca, and the temperature of the mixed water is accordingly elevated. I took the opportunity afforded by a visit to Ramsgate in a steam-boat, to ascertain the extent of this difference of temperature on the passage in September last. The tide was ebbing at London Bridge at 9 a.m. and the temperature of the air was 62, that of the water 59°. As soon as the influ