The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-04-15

spiders. These spiders are exceedinplI Useful
and rid the country of many hnpleasant
flies. How many times ! have seen them
overpower prey which seemed much stronger
than themselves The web.spiders seemed
TO have but few enemies, but the house and
walLspiders which make no web, have most in
veteraie enemies in the shape OF Two or three
kinds of wasps. During the day / have seen
these wasps travelling along the walls with
rapidity that astoniehed me, and finally, when
coming to Il spider, immedatelyEpounce upon
the unfortunate insect, and overpower It by the
nuick ness of the movements of their legs, and
succeed in cutting one after the 0ther the legs
of the spider close TO the BODY, and then suck
it, or fly away with it to deyour 1t somewhere
81 consider some species Of ants, snakes,
lizards, and spiders as most useful, Tor they
destroy great quantity OF insects and other
vermin. The great moisture OF the country
have visited, with its immense Jungle, Is we'll
adapted Tor the insect world, and would prove
very rich 6eld TO a naturalist and collector
who would make il his special st9oy ana ousls
ness. l was surprised how closely. several OF
them mimicked or initiated other objects; some
looked exactly like the leaves on which they
most generally remain; others are exactly OF
the color of the bark OF trees on which they
crawl; while others looked exactly like dead
leaves, and one or two like pieces of dead
branches of trees. Dragon flies of beautiful
color were met near the pools.
"Bats are very abundant, and had succeeded
In making a fine collection of them. They
| sometimes came by hundreds and spent the
whole OF the night flying round tree which
! bore fruits they like, and the noise made by
| their wings sounded strangely amid the still
! ness which surrounded them.
Squirrels are rather numerous, and there
are good number of species. Birds of prey
and snakes are their great enemies. In 'Eqau-
| torial Africa | described how saw q snake
charming squirrel, and made the little cTea-
| ture come to him.
they are not all found in every district.
They live in troops, but when old they
live generally by themselves or in pars.
| OF all the Mammalian animals inhabitng
| the forests the monkey tribe is the mDst
numerous bat the poor monkey is surrounded
| by enemies, the greatest being man, who sets
traps everywhere to catch him; then he is ctn-
tinually hunted by the negroes with gunsor
arrows; the guanonien, an eagle, is also his n
| Veterate enemy. E. q .H
''The guanonien is most formidable eagle,
and, in spite of all my cndeavors, during ny
former and this last journey, have been Jn-
able to kill one but several times have ben
startled in the forest by the sudden cry of an
guish OF monkey who, had been seized by this
leopard of the air., as the natives often call it.
and then saw the bird with its prey disappear
out of sight. "..
"One day, hunting chrouph the thick junsle
! came TO a spot covered with more than pne
hundred skulls of monkeys of different SHE'S
Some of these skulls must have been those of
formidable animals, and these now and tlen
succeeded, 1t appears, in giving such bitei to
this eagle that they disabled him. For awhile
| thought myself in the Valley of Golgoha
Then / saw at the top OF gigantic tree, at
the foot of which were the skulls, the nestOf
the bird but the young had flown away. II
was told by the natives that the guanonia
comes and lays in the same nest year aftG
year. When an adult specimen viii be pr
cured, it may be found to rival in size the COZ
by the side Of wild men roamed the apes
the chimpanzee forming several varieties
These are called by the negroes the Nscniegc
Nschiego Nkengo, Nschego Mbouve, and Koo
loo Kan ba, all closely allied, and think hardll
distinguishable from each other by their bonl
structure. Then came the largest of ALL thl
gorilla, which might be truly called the king o.
the forest. They all roamed IN this greaI
jungle, which seems so well adapted to be theii
homes, for they live on the nuts, berries, an(
fruits of the forest found IN more or less nun
Der throughout the year; but they eat such
quantity of food that they are obliged to roau
from place to place, aud are found periodically
in the same district.
'The elephant has become scarce and recedeI
farther and farther every year into the fast
| nesses of the interior. ..
"Dliles after miles were travelled over with
out hearing the sound of bird, the chatter d
monkey, or the tootstep of a gazele, thI
hummlng OF insects, the falling of leaf The
gentle murmur of some hidden stream onll
came upon our ears to break the dullness O
this aWing silence, and disturb the grandes
solitude man can ever behod-a solitude WhlcI
; often chilled me, but which was well adapted
Z for the study of nature"
|, In his "Mission to thes King of Dahomy,
.
years ago, there appeared a very painful
chapter on "Tne Negro's place in Nature
introduced by letter to DR.. Hunt, the founde
and President of the Archaeological Society
The gallant captain put forward the theorie
OF inalIenabe physical, mental, and moral in
feriority of the HaInite to the Semitic Fam
, lies, and even argued for heteragenelty L
descent. He protested, with some pains AM
emphasis, that the exceptional cases quoted b
prove equality were Irrelevant as being cass
Of men into whose negro blood the semif
element had been transtused. Of the Dahl
mans, Captain Burton had the lowest possibk
opinion. The following is his eloquent an
heartless summary:-'They are a mongrd
race, and bad Cretan liars Cretans at learn
ing, Cowardly, and therefore cruel; gamblers
and, consequently, cheaters; brutal noisy
boisterous unvenerative and dsObedent; dit
sas-bitten things, who deem il "a duty to th
gods to be drunk; a hatulent, selfconceite
nerd OF Darbarlans, who endeaVor TO humiliat
those with whom they have to deal; in tact,
save-race-vermin, with soul aplrerD
We have no selfgratulation at appropriatinp
the compliment implied in such vili6cation
OF the character of the negro. We are glad to
observe that the estimate of NJ. Du Challlu is
more discriminating, more humane, aud more
Just mniisi exhibiting their faults, he does
not ven their virtues, nor betgaY any inclkna-
| uon to deny their claims OF brotherhood M Du
| Chaillu concludes his very interesting yoInmeN
! py the following appeal in their favor:-
| As 10 his future capabilities, / think extreme
views have prevailed among us. Some hold
| tne opinion that the cgTo will never rise
| hlgher than he Is; Others think that he isl
capable OF reaching the highest state of ciyili-
zatlon. For my own Tart do not agree with
either of these opinions.
! II believe thatthe negro may become more
useiul member of mankind than he is at pre-
sem, ,that ne may be raised to a higher standard:
| put that, If left to himself he will soon fail
| back into barbarsm, for we have no examnIe