The Western World Part 11

It may frequently be found on old plum-trees, where it climbs in search of the insects which there congregate. We shall frequently hear its voice, especially before rain, for it is a noisy creature. It has a liquid note, sounding like "el" frequently repeated, and then ending with a sharp, short monosyllable.

It leaves its arborial habitation during the breeding season, and makes its way to the nearest pools, where it joins in the concerts of its relatives.

It hibernates during winter, burrowing beneath the damp ground.

THE SPOTTED EFT.

Related to the salamanders, we shall find a curious creature in Pennsylvania, and other parts of the States, known as the spotted eft, or ambystome. It has a thick, convex head, with a rounded muzzle; and is of a deep violet-black colour above, and purplish-black below, the sides being ornamented with a row of large yellow spots. Unlike other newts, it deposits its eggs in small packets under damp stones. There is another similar creature with mole-like habits, which burrows under the ground, found in various parts of the States.

THE MENOPOMA.

Another of the same order--a formidable and savage creature--is the menopoma, inhabiting the Ohio, Alleghany, and other rivers of the south, frequently, from its propensities, called the young alligator. It is also known as the "ground puppy," the "mud devil," and other well-deserved, if not complimentary names.

It is about two feet in length; but the teeth, for its size, are small.

In appearance, it is ugly in the extreme; and as, from its voracious habits, it devours a number of fish, and bites fiercely when captured, it is especially hated by the fishermen, who believe it to be venomous, and treat it as seamen do the detested shark.

The above names have been given to it in consequence of its voracity, and its being found generally in muddy bottoms.

THE CONGO SNAKE.

In digging into the mud, sometimes a number of snake-like creatures, between two and three feet long, are turned up--which have hidden themselves away, often three feet below the surface--in the Southern States. On examination, however, they will be found to have legs, though small and feeble, with only two toes on each foot. They are of a blackish-grey above, and a lighter hue beneath.

Another species of congo snake is found with three toes,--hence the name of three-toed congo snake is given to it.

THE NECTURUS.

Related to the curious eyeless proteus, found in the celebrated cavern of Adelsberg, is an animal very much larger, called the necturus, inhabiting the waters of the Mississippi, and several southern lakes.

It is a creature nearly three feet in length, with a thick body, and, being designed to live in daylight, possesses eyes. It is between a fish and a reptile, as it is furnished with large, well-tufted gills; and, at the same time, has four legs, and four toes on each foot, though it is dest.i.tute of claws.

It is of an olive-brown colour dotted with black, and a black streak reaching from one end of the body to the termination of the somewhat thick, short tail.

THE SIREN, OR MUD EEL.

Another curious batrachian, the mud eel, is found in Carolina, in marshy situations. Its total length is about three feet. The head is small, as is the eye, while on each side of it are three beautifully plumed gill-tufts. It has no hind-legs; while the front pair are very small, and do not aid it in moving along the ground. This it does in the wriggling fas.h.i.+on of an eel; indeed, when discovered in the soft mud in which it delights to live, the creature, at the first glance, would be taken for an eel. It has many of the habits of that animal, living on worms and insects; indeed, it is difficult to say whether it should be cla.s.sed with eels or batrachians. It is, however, a true amphibian, respiring either in the water by means of branchiae, or in the air by means of lungs. It approaches, in the structure of its head, to the salamanders, though much less so in its general form and proportions.

The curious "axolotl," which we shall meet with in Mexico, belongs to a closely allied genus.

GRa.s.sHOPPERS, OR LOCUSTS.

When travelling across the prairies, we may, at times, when gazing upwards at the sky, see what appears to be a vast cloud approaching from the horizon. It is produced by infinite swarms of locusts, or gra.s.shoppers, as they are called in North America. [From Professor Hind's "Red River Exploring Expedition."] About noon they appear to lessen perceptibly the rays of the sun. The whole horizon wears an unearthly ashy hue, from the light reflected by their transparent wings.

The air is filled as with flakes of snow. The clouds of insects, forming a dense body, cast a glimmering, silvery light from alt.i.tudes varying from 500 to 1000 feet. The sky, as near the sun as its light will allow us to gaze, appears continually changing colour, from blue to silvery white, ashy grey, and lead colour, according to the numbers in the pa.s.sing clouds of insects. Opposite to the sun, the prevailing hue is a silvery white, perceptibly flas.h.i.+ng. Now, towards the south, east, and west, it appears to radiate a soft, grey-tinted light, with a quivering motion. Should the day be calm, the hum produced by the vibration of so many millions of wings is quite indescribable, and more resembles the noise popularly termed "a ringing in one's ears," than any other sound. The aspect of the heavens during the period that the greatest flight is pa.s.sing by is singularly striking. It produces a feeling of uneasiness, amazement, and awe, as if some terrible unforeseen calamity were about to happen.

When the gra.s.shoppers are resting from their long journeys, or in the morning when feeding on the gra.s.s and leaves, they rise in clouds as we march through the prairie; and when the wind blows, they become very troublesome, flying with force against our faces, and into the nostrils and eyes of the horses, filling every crevice in the carts.

Fortunately, comparatively few take flight on a windy day, otherwise it would be impossible to make headway against such an infinite host in rapid motion before the wind, although composed individually of such insignificant members. The portions of the prairie visited by the gra.s.shoppers wear a curious appearance. The gra.s.s may be seen cut uniformly to one inch from the ground. The whole surface is covered with the small, round, green exuviae of these destructive invaders.

They frequently fly at an enormous height above the earth. An engineer engaged in the Nebraska survey, mentions that, when standing on the summit of a peak of the Rocky Mountains, 8500 feet above the level of the plains in Nebraska--being 14,500 feet above that of the sea--he saw them above his head as far as their size rendered them visible.

Gra.s.shoppers are excellent prognosticators of a coming storm. They may be seen at times descending perpendicularly from a great height, like hail--a sign of approaching rain. At this time the air, as far as the eye can penetrate, appears filled with them. Early in the morning they commence their flight, and continue it till late in the afternoon, when they settle round the traveller in countless mult.i.tudes, clinging to the leaves of the gra.s.s, as if resting after their journey.

They are fearful depredators. Not only do they destroy the husbandman's crops, but so voracious are they, that they will attack every article left even for a few minutes on the ground--saddle-girths, leather bags, and clothing of all descriptions, are devoured without distinction. Mr Hind says that ten minutes sufficed for them to destroy three pairs of woollen trousers which had been carelessly thrown on the gra.s.s. The only way to protect property from these depredators is to pile it on a waggon or cart out of reach.

Two distinct broods of gra.s.shoppers appear--one with wings not yet formed, which has been hatched on the spot; the other, full-grown invaders from the southern lat.i.tudes. They sometimes make their appearance at Red River. However, Mr Ross, for long a resident in that region, states that from 1819, when the colonists' scanty crops were destroyed by gra.s.shoppers, to 1856, they had not returned in sufficient numbers to commit any material damage. Their ravages, indeed, are not to be compared to those committed by the red locust in Egypt; and yet Egypt has ever been one of the chief granaries of the world.

PART TWO, CHAPTER ONE.

MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA.

MEXICO.

If we glance over Mexico, we shall see that the country is, like the continent of which it forms a part, of a triangular shape,--the eastern portion bounded by the Gulf of Mexico, low and flat sandy deserts or noxious marshes being spread over it, and with a narrow belt of level land at the base of the mountains on the Pacific sh.o.r.e. A series of terraces broken by ravines form the sides of a vast table-land,--six thousand feet above the plain,--which stretches from north to south throughout the interior, separated here and there by rocky ridges into smaller plateaux; while vast mountains in several parts rise from their midst--that of Popocatepetl, the highest in Mexico, reaching to a height of 17,884 feet, with Orizaba, almost of equal elevation, and several mountains not much inferior to them, their snowy summits seen from afar, through the clear atmosphere of that lofty region. Several are active volcanoes; the most curious being that of Jorullo, surrounded by miniature mountains emitting smoke and fire, and presenting the wildest scene of utter desolation. They form pinnacles of the great range of the Andes and the Rocky Mountains. From the midst of the great table-land of Anahuac, flows towards the north the river of Santiago, its course exceeding four hundred miles, pa.s.sing in its way through the large lake of Chapala. Some of these table-lands are even eight thousand feet above the sea. The most lofty is so cold, that during the greater part of the day the thermometer varies between 42 degrees and 46 degrees. The great table-land to the east of the Sierra Madre has an elevation which varies from three thousand to six thousand feet. To the west of that sierra, is the region of Sonora; while eastward, across the Rocky Mountains, is the great valley of New Mexico, watered by the Rio Grande del Norte, which has a course of nearly fourteen hundred miles.

We have thus, in Mexico, a region of elevated plateaux with numerous lofty mountains, steep and broken hill-sides, with deep valleys, watered by numerous streams, and a wide extent of low, level country under the rays of a tropical sun. These several regions possess a great difference in climate, and a corresponding variation in their productions, and, in most instances, in the animals which inhabit them.

The domestic animals introduced by the Spaniards, have multiplied greatly, so that vast herds of cattle and horses run wild on the table-lands and lower tracts. Sheep also abound, especially on the northern table-lands. The buffalo makes his way to the great plains bordering the Red River and Arkansas; while deer, in large herds, abound on the higher plains. They are followed, as elsewhere, by packs of wolves and foxes or wild dogs; while the puma makes himself at home here, as he does in Southern America. The bear takes possession of many a mountain cavern; the beaver and otter inhabit the banks of the streams and lakes; the racc.o.o.n is found in the woods; and the antelope bounds across the plains.

We know more about the feathered tribes than the mammalia of Mexico.

There are upwards of one hundred and fourteen species of land birds, one half of which are unknown in other parts of the world. Still, out of this entire number of species, only one new genus--which connects the family of the tyrant-shrikes with that of the caterpillar-catchers--has been discovered. There are two species of this genus, in both of which the males differ greatly from the females. In this intermediate region we find numerous genera which exist both in Northern and, Southern America intermixed. Several South American birds have found their way into Mexico,--as the mot-mots and trogons, the harpy and carracara eagles, the hang-nest, the true and red tanagers, parrots, parrakeets, macaws, creepers, crest-finches, and the fork-tailed and even-tailed humming-birds. Of the genera peculiar to North America,--but which are unknown in the South,--found in Mexico, are the fan-tailed wagtails, t.i.tmice, and worm-eating warblers--blue robins, ground-finch and sand-finch, crescent-starlings and ground-woodp.e.c.k.e.r. The sand-finch is, however, found in the Brazils. Vast numbers of aquatic birds frequent the lakes and marshes of the table-lands of the interior, as well as the rivers and sh.o.r.es of the coast, nearly the whole of which are well known in the United States, the greater number also inhabiting the Arctic regions.

Among the reptiles, there is one curious creature, peculiar to the country, allied to the siren of Carolina. It is the axolotl, which partakes of the form of a fish, and abounds in many of the lakes in Mexico. It is much esteemed as an article of food by the inhabitants of the neighbourhood.

We cannot speak of Mexico without having our minds drawn to the time of the Aztec monarchy,--when sumptuous palaces, enormous temples, fortresses, and other public edifices covered the face of the country.

In the midst of the territory, on the western sh.o.r.e of the large lake of Tezcuco, stood the city of Tenocht.i.tlan, the superb capital of the unfortunate Montezuma, on the site of which has arisen the modern Mexico. Though its glory has long pa.s.sed away, the enormous ruins which still remain attest its past grandeur. Vast pyramids, on a scale and of a ma.s.siveness which vie with those of Egypt, still rear their lofty heads in great numbers throughout the country; while the ruins of other buildings prove that the architecture of Mexico in many points resembled that on the banks of the Nile. Some of these pyramids might rather be called towers. They consist of a series of truncated pyramids placed one above another, each successive one being smaller than the one on which it immediately rests--thus standing in reality upon a platform or terrace. The great pyramidal tower of Cholula is of this character, resembling somewhat the temple of Belus, according to the description given of it by Herodotus. It reaches a height of 177 feet, and the length of each side of its base is 1440 feet. In its neighbourhood are two other pyramids--teocalles, as they are called--of smaller dimensions. These temples, or teocalles, were very numerous, and in each of the princ.i.p.al cities there were several hundreds of them. The top, on which was a broad area, was reached by a flight of steps. On this area were one or two towers forty or fifty feet high, in which stood the images of the presiding deities. In front of the towers was the stone of sacrifice, and two lofty altars, on which fires were kept burning, inextinguishable as those in the temple of Vesta. In the great temple of Mexico there were said to be six hundred of these altars, the fires from which illuminated the streets through the darkest night.

Deeply interesting as is the subject of the architecture and the remarkable state of civilisation of the Aztecs, we must not dwell longer upon it, except to mention the cyclopean roads and bridges, constructed of huge blocks of stone, and carried on a continuous level, across valleys, which still remain. There are also, in various parts of the country, excavations, rock-hewn halls, and caverns, generally dome-shaped, the centre apartment lighted through an aperture in the vault. They somewhat resemble the cyclopean fabric near Argos, called the Treasury of Atreus. Not only the buildings, but the hieroglyphics, of the Aztecs, so closely resemble those of the Egyptians, that there appears every reason to suppose they were derived from the same source.

Among the natural curiosities of Mexico, one of the most remarkable is that of the rock-bridge in the valley Icononzo, which might, from its form--until closely examined--be mistaken for a work of art.

The great ma.s.s of the population of Mexico consists of the descendants of those tribes which inhabited the country at the time of the Spanish invasion. The language most extensively spoken, as well by the civilised as the savage tribes, is still that of the Aztecs. The people of pure European blood are supposed not to amount to thirty thousand.

About a quarter of the population consists of Creoles, descendants of Europeans and Indians known as Mestizos, while there is a small number of Mulattoes, and another race, the Zambos--descendants of Africans and Indians.

Mexico has long been in a chronic state of revolution. From a province of Spain it became an independent empire; afterwards a republic; and once more, under the unfortunate Maximilian, it was placed under imperial rule, finally to fall into a far greater state of anarchy than before.

Before we quit Mexico, a remarkable result of hydraulic action must be mentioned, found on the sea-coast of that region. It is known as the buffadero. At the termination of a long rugged point, the water of the ocean, forced by a current or the waves, is projected through a fissure or natural tube in the rock, forming a beautiful _jet d'eau_ many feet in height.

BIRDS OF MEXICO:--THE SCARLET TANAGER.

Among the winter inhabitants of Mexico, one of the handsomest is the scarlet tanager--a small bird, being only six or seven inches in length.

It migrates north in the spring, generally making its appearance in the United States about the end of April, where it remains till the breeding season is over.

The colour of the male bird is a brilliant scarlet, with the exception of the tail and wings, which are deep black. The tail is forked, and has a white tip. This gay plumage is, however, only donned during the summer, for when it returns to Mexico in the autumn, its body is covered with a number of greyish-yellow feathers, giving it a mottled appearance. Its note is powerful, but not particularly musical.

Wilson describes it as a remarkably affectionate bird. Having captured a young one, it was placed in a cage high up on a tree. The father bird discovered it, and was seen to bring it food, roosting at night on a neighbouring bough. After continuing to do so for three or four days, he showed by his actions and voice that he was trying to make the young one come out and follow him. So distressed did he appear, that at last the kind-hearted naturalist set the prisoner at liberty, when it flew off with its parent, who, with notes of exultation, accompanied its flight to the woods.

THE ANIS, OR SAVANNAH BLACKBIRD.

The farmers of Mexico and the Southern States of America whose fields are frequented by the anis, are much indebted to that handsome and somewhat conspicuous bird. It is of a black hue glossed with green, equalling a pigeon in size--its long tail adding to its apparent length.

Its chief food consists of gra.s.shoppers, locusts, and small lizards, but it rids cows of the ticks and other parasitic insects which fasten on their backs, where they cannot be rubbed off. So conscious are the cattle of the service thus rendered them, that they will lie down to allow the blackbird to perform the operation at its ease. It is even a.s.serted that, should the cow neglect to place herself in a suitable att.i.tude, the blackbird will hop about in front of her nose, and allow her no peace till she does as required.

Large flocks of these birds appear together, uttering deafening cries.