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Show DISPERSION OF [Ch. VI. ually arrested either migrations over a large space, they are us 1 ft d · 1 1' te or some o y an by the sea, or a zone of uncongema c Ima ' . d b unbroken chain of mountains, or a tract already occupie y a hostile and more powerful species. . ~ . l th . . ldom mter.tere wit 1 etr Rivers and narrow fnths can se . 11 d ~ f th m swim we , an .tew are Progress, for the greater part 0 e d . d b danger an pressmg want. without this power when urge Y . . b b f . the tiger is seen sw1mmmg a out Thus, amongst easts o P1ey, . 1 d d eeks in the delta of the Ganges, and among the Is an s an cr . . 'th ease the largest streams m South the Jaguar traverses WI . .. Th b also and the bison, stem the current of America~. e ear, ' . h M . . . . 'I~lle popular error, that the common swme t e ISSlSSlppl. , b 'mming when thrown mto the water, has cannot escape Y swi . . . been contra dI.C t ed by several curious and well-authen. ticated m· s t ances d urI 'ng the recent floods in Scotland. One ptg, only six months old, after having been carried .down from Garmouth to the bar at the mouth of the Spey, a distance of a quarter of a m1'1 e, swa m .~t' our miles eastward to Port Gordon and landed ~' Three others of the same age and litter, swam at the ~a1e. ' . same time five miles to the west, and landed at Blackh1ll t. In an adult and wild state, these animals would doubtless have been more strong and active, and might, when hard presse d , h.<..> vc performed a much long. er. voya.g e. Hence islan.d s remote from the continent may obtam mhabttants by casualties which, like the late storms in Morayshire, may only occur once jn many centuries,' or thousands of years, un~er all. the same circumstances. It is obvious that powerful ttdes, wmds, and currents, may sometimes carry along quadrupeds capable, in like manner, of preserving themselves for hours in the sea ~o very considerable distances, and in this way, perhaps, the tapir (Tapir Indicus) may have become common to Sumatra and the Malayan peninsula. . . . To the elephant in particular, the power of crossm.g nvers 15 essential in a wild state, for the quantity of food whtch a herd * Buffon, vol. v. p. 204. t Sir T. D. Lauder, Bart. on the ·noods in Moraysllire, Augustl 18291 V· aQZ1 second edition. Ch. VI.] MAMMIFEROUS QUADRUPEDS, 9S of these animals consumes renders it necessary that they should be constantly moving from place to place. The elephant crosses the stream in two ways. If the bed of the river be hard, and the water not of too great a depth, he fords it. Dut when he crosses great rivers, such as the Ganges and the Niger, the elephant swims deep, so deep that the end of his trunk only is out of the water*; for it is a matter of indifference to him whether his body be completely immersed, provided he can bring the tip of his trunk to the surface, so as to breathe the external air. Animals of the deer kind frequently take to the water, especially in the rutting season, when the stags are seen swimming for several leagues at a time, from island to island, in search of the does, especially in the Canadian lakes ; and in some countries where there are islands near the sea-shore, they fearlessly enter the sea and swim to them. In hunting excursions, in North America, the elk of that country is frequently pursued for great distances through the water. The large herbivorous animals, which are gregarious, can never remain long in a confined region, as they consume so much vegetable food. The immense herds of bisons which often, in the great valley of the Mississippi, blacken the surface near the banks of that river and its tributaries, are continually shifting their quarters, followed by wolves which prowl about in their rear. " It is no exaggeration," says Mr. James, " to assert, that in one place, on the banks of the Platte, at least ten thousand bisons burst on our sight in an instant. In the morning we again sought the living picture, but upon all the plain, which last evening was so teeming with noble animals, not one remained t ." Besides the disposition common to the individuals of every species slowly to extend their range in search of food, in proportion as their numbers augment, a migratory instinct often develops itself in an extraordinary manner, when, after an • Lib. Entert. Know., Quadrupeds, vol. ii. p. 63. t Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, vol. ii. p. 153. |
