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Show Aug. 1833. BAHIA BLANCA. 100 l h two gnus, an d several ante opeds zebras and the quacc a, . l It may be suppose even l~rger than these latter amma s.erous the individuals . s are num ' that although the speCie h k' dness of Dr. Smith, I am of each km. d are fe w. Byte m · very di. fferent. H e enabled to show t h at the c.a se IS day's march W.i th t h e . 1 t 24o m one informs me, that m a . .'thout wandering to any great bullock-waggons, he saw, WI hundred and one hun- . . d between one . distance on mth~r SI e, hich belonged to three species. dred and fifty rhmoceroses, w 1 herds of giraffes, amountThat the same day he saw sevedra d . and that, although no ing together to near ly a th utnh er e ar'e found in· thi.s d'I stn.c t • elephant was observed, ye Yh e hour's march from littl more t an on At the distance of a e th previous night, his party . f ampment on e d theu place o enc . ht hippopotamoses, an saw actually killed at o~e spot e~g there were likewise croco- 1 this same nver many more. n 't a case qm' te extraordinary, to see diles. Of course .I was ded tol7ether, but it evidently so many great ammals c~ow. rea~ numbers. Dr. Smith h h ust exist m g b · proves t at t ey m d through that day, as " emg describes the co~ntry pass:nd bushes about four feet high, thinly covered With grass, . t es " The waggons . thinl with mimosa- re . . and still more Y ll' . a nearly direct lme. were not prevented trav~ mlg m r one the least acquainted Besides these la~ge ammt shee~a y e has read of the herds with the natural history o t p ' d only to flocks of hich can be compare of antelopbes' , d w The numb ers m. deed of the lion,* panther, migratory Ir ~ the multitude of birds of prey, plainly ~e1 1 and hyrena, an aller uadrupeds. As Dr. Smith of the abundance of the sm q h day in Southern Africa the carnage eac remark· edd tdo bmee t, ern'f i c I· I co nfess it is truly surprising, how must m ee b f animals can find support in a country pro-sue~ a nu~tt~: ~ood. The larger quadrupeds no do~bt roam odvuecrm wg idsoe extents m. search of 1.t .' and their food chiefly conD s 'th men tw. ne d to me • that one evening seven lions were cou'*' ntedr. nt monl e tl.m e wa lking on the plain, round the encampment. Aug. 1833. FOSSIL QUADRUPEDs. 101 sists of underwood, which probably contains much nutriment in a small bulk. Dr. Smith also informs me that the vegetation has a rapid growth ; no sooner is a part consumed, than its place is supplied by a fresh stock. I apprehend, however, that our ideas respecting the quantity neces~ ary for the support of large quadrupeds are exaggerated. It should have been remembered that the camel, an animal of no mean bulk, has always been considered as the emblem of the desert. The belief that where large quadrupeds exist, the vegetation must necessarily be luxuriant, is the more remarkable, because the converse is far from true. Mr. Burchell observed to me that wben entering Brazil, nothing struck him more forcibly than the splendour of the South American vegetation, contrasted with that of South Mrica, together with the absence of all large quadrupeds. In his Travels,* he has suggested that the comparison of the respective weights (if there were sufficient data) of an equal number of the largest herbivorous quadrupeds of each country would be extremely curious. If we take on the one side the elephant, t hippopotamus, giraffe, bos caffer, elan, certainly three species of rhinoceros, and probably five; and on the * Travels in the interior of South Africa, vol. ii., p. 207. t The elephant which was killed at Exeter Change, was estimated (being partly weighed) at five tons and a half. The elephant actress, as I was informed, weighed one ton less ; so that we may take five as the average of a full-grown elephant. I was told at the Surrey Gardens, that a hippopotamus which was sent to England cut up into pieces, was estimated at three tons and a half; we will ca11 it three. From these premises we may give three tons and a half to each of the five rhinoceroses ; per~ haps a ton to the giraffe, and half to the bos caffer as well as the elan, (a large ox weighs from 1200 to 1500 pounds). This wi11 give an average (from the above conjectures) of 2. 7 of a ton for the ten largest herbivorous animals of Southern Africa. In South America, allowing 1200 pounds for the two tapirs together, 550 for the guanaco and vicuna, 500 for three deer, 300 for capybara, peccari, and a monkey, we shall have an average of 250 pounds, which I believe is overstating the result. The ratio will. therefore · be, as 6048 to 250, for the ten largest animals from the two. countl'ies. |
