OCR Text |
Show 300 DISSERT. IV. .. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. tyger of its young, and the coolnefs of temper with which it carries them of again one by one, and that which Bomarc relates (k) of the combat in the year 1764, in Windfor fore!l:, in England, between the !l:ag and a tyger brought from India to the duke of Cumberland, in which the fl:ag came off conqueror, !hews us that the ferocity of thofe Afiatic wild bea11:s is not io gre:lt as count de Buffon and Mr. de Paw reprcfent it. The American wolves are not lefs !l:rong nor bold than thofe of the old continent, as all who have had any experience of them both know. Even ftags, whi has l~ liny t1ys, are very tranquil animals, arc fo daring in Mexico, that they frequently attack the hunters; this faCt is teftified by Hernandez, and is notorious in that kingdom; we have feen in our own dwelling the vicious nature of a !l:ag, which had become almoft domeftic, £hew itfelf moil: cruelly upon an American girl. But let the American quadrupeds be fmallcr in fize, more ungraceful in form, and more pufillanimous in their nature ; let us grant to thofc philofophers that from fuch a pofition the happinefs of the climate of the old continent is to be deduced; they will not frill perfuadc us, that it is a full proof and a certain argument of the malignity of the American climate, while they do not !hew us in the reptiles and birds of America (J) the fame degeneracy which they fuppofe in quadrupeds. Mr. de Paw fays of American crocodiles, whofe ferocity is notorious, that it appeats from the ob(ervations of Mr. du Pratz, and others, that they have not the fury and impetuofity of thofe of Africa. But Hernandez, who knew both the one and the other, found no difference between them (m). Aco!l:a fays, that thofe of America are extremely fierce, but flow; but this flownefs is not in a progrefiive line forwards, in which motion they are {k) Bomnrc Diaion. d'Hifioric Nat. V. Tigre. (t) The count de l~uffon might fay, ns he obfervea in vol. xviii', that we ought not to confider the bird_s wilh refpeet ro climate in this pnrticulnr, becaufc: it being eafy for them to pafs from one clmmtc to another, it would be nlmofi impolfible to determine which belonged properly to the one or to the other. But as the caufe of the paffnge of birds is the cold or the heat of the feafons, whi h they wilh to avoid, on this account the American birds h;~vc .no occn filln to leave thei1· continent, becaufe there they have countriee of every fort of ~hme to lhcltor thcmfelvcs from every hurtful fenfon, and where they cna alway• find tl•clr food. We nre altogether certain~ that tho Mexican birds do not travel to the old continc.nt. (m) Hcn1. Hilt. Na~. liD. ix. cap. 3• moil: ) H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. moll: fwift and a:Cl:ivc, but in turning only, or bending from one fide to another, as is the cafe with the crocodiles of Africa, on account of the inflexibility of their vertebrre. Hernandez affirms that the Acuetzpttlin or Mexican crocodile flies from thofe who attack it, bllt purihes thofe who fly from it, although the former cafe happens more fcldom than the latter. Pliny Jays the fame thing of African croco .. diles (12). In !hort, if we compare what Pliny f1ys of the latter with wfut Hernandez fays of the former, it will appear that there is not evia difference of fize between them ( o). ith regard to birds, Mr. de Paw makes mention only of ofl:riche , and that fo negligently as w~ have !hewn. He certainly dcfign~ l to be filent on this fubjeCl:, difcovering that on this fide his caufe yvas loft, for whether we confider number or variety of fpecies, intre.p:Vity, or beauty of plu~age, and excellence of fong, the old contmeut cannot be compared with America as to birds.· Of their furprifing' multitude we have already fpoken. The fields, the woods, the rivers, the lakes, and even inhabited places are filled with innumerable fpecies. Gemelli, who had made the tour of the world, and feen the beft countries of Afia, Africa, and Europe', declai: es that there is not a country in the world which can compare with New Spain in the ' beauty and variety of its birds (p). See what is faid by the hiil:orians of New France, Louifiana, BrafiJ, and other countries of the new world, on this fubje:::Ct. Of the !l:rength and courage of American birds many European. anthors worthy of credit make mention. Hernandez, who had fo much expericnGe of birds of prey, in the court of Philip II. king of Spain, at· the time when hawking was moft in vogue, and had obferv- · ed alfo thofe of Mexico, confeffes when he talks of the ~au6totli,. ()r Mexican falcon, that all the birds of this clafs are better and more. (11) 'l"crribilis hrec contra fugnccs bellua efi, fugax contra infequcntcs. l'lin •. Hifi •. Nnt •. lib. viii. cap. 2) . (11) Pliny fays that the African crocodile is often more thnn eighteen cubits, or twenty• feven Rom:ln feet in length. Hernandez affirms that the Mexican crocodile is ufunlly more, than r:vcn paces long. If he fp~lks of Cufiilian paces, they. make almo!l: tWt:nt.y-cight Roman fe;t,; 1f be _fpcaks of Roman paces, they will make thirty-five feet, fo that the difference ia tinfl1ng, or tf there is any it is in favour of the American crocodile. (p) Ella c t 1!1ta Ia 'fHt/(brzza 1 Ia varieta tltgli uccclli della N. Spng1111 tbl ttDII v'e p.aift all rnfndo1 tba. 11e ·a~~ Ia pllri.. Giro del Mondo. tom •. vi. lib, ii. cap. 9• \ CQLlra"'. . . 301 DISSERT. IV. ~ |