Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1864-10-07
AN ISLAND PARADISE.

| From tho London correspondent Of 10
Round Table VIC extract the following !ntf -
esting account of remarkable mon uf he
most original character, whose bclu adventU"r
| On The back of au alligator, in one Uf the Souh
American rivers, was told, with scoo1. pany-
| ing pic.or;a! representation, in Psrley's sen |
book history, thirty years ago. 1t seems t.,
Captain Waterton" still lives-and in very
plsa~aut way, too.
Yesterday the Daily Telegraph star-,sd al
England with the anrouncemers Of the doth
Of Charles WateTtlp, and 40 usliy cc:t.r d
an obituary n ,tioe of him. To-day. Mr.. Wa
terton's son publishes a.uota Saying lL.t t.:
last accounts his father was erj ,yi2g ptrl.;a
health. Nevertheless, the snDcuncenen, Las
called 70 my mind q purpose which entered =
several weeks ago Of giving you some aocNu't
o. this man, ard his home, and node o! life
Charles " Wsterton-whose 'Wsnderings' ANUS
ed n generation almost passed away, and fJr-
nished Sidney Smith for the subject Of one oe
his funniest reyisws-rho bitted aud bri6led
with log and rope an alligator In the E'eequ1
bo, and rode on terra .frma-wili be beet
known by my readers, perhaps, if I call him
the Ergllsh Thorcau. Although there is
vast difference between the one living by Wal
den Pond, in house built by his own hand,
and atout the cube Of his own le1gth in ss",
&C ccs. Of o pound per annum, or tberrsho,h,
md the wealthy naturalist Of Walton Ds::,
ye: it is moro apparent than real. Ths smms
intimacy with nature, the came sHcret und'r-
standing with bird and boast, exists With tae
English gentleman as with the lamentae
American. To most r0turalls aid museums
hs is known es the man who invented the rcs
method Of preserving specimens, much less
cunbruus thaa tho ole, sna w'ss!::S :Ea|g S:c'y
licamens, Nd if the animal bad just died but
to thoae who have visit d Waiton Hail, bis
name has strange and mytt cal associations.
Ihst iuo mansion, whore be wss born and
ii7ej, VI ~ situated on sn island in beautiful
lakelet in Yorkshire. The island was made
by its master into paradise for al! animated
! GREAT uros, except the huutsraan and onrnivors
| Of the large and destructive kind. The edges
| of The Island were broken, aud arranged iu:o
! every kind of wood, or meadow, or brook, that
would invite and retain the wild creatures,
whom he had resolved TO make his frieuds.-
Many Of the animals he brought, others stop.
ped with hin, in their fight over head and. if
| They went eff, carried the titiogs Of bis hos.
ritsble listls island, until, at lust, the fauna "
! tho British islands may b, seen from hjs w'r-
DOVE. The wild Gu?ks and geese, the b:ite'n.
tho crane, the swan, end .hings VT !ch o!nid
40, number, without making cs'e-egue,
swaru about bis island, sisin his portiiee 4 anc
Windows But their familiarity with Lin g
ths most eurprising thing. Flo hae gained
tLe;r confidence by long protection: do' btis"- :;
bu: now they will leap Cd biz shoulder, mead,
hsnd, whether be comes 10 feed them O, u'':.
In his coming, the bittsrn with its boot, tho
teal with lis whistle, the jackdaws With tbsir
oaws, col the magpies with their chatter, join
into M orchestra. to utter jubilant Got
charltsn Katser Karl" lie seems to have re'
newcd tho primal relation Of Eden in biz
island, ani one has only to imagine it beco1os
cosmic t, hs7s respectable millennium. h'
l je . sinplc-hcartcd, child.like msr, o: e1'"''
Isn't tact, with his o py fami y, and nj n
who might easily bo celebrated as al rfh' r,
if he Gid rot havo somethirg mtre attractive
on hand"