New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-08-19
STORIES OF TRAVEL.
STUDIES OF ANIMAL LIFE THROUGHOUT
ASIA AND AFRICA.

wild Life and Scenes in Many Lands f by the
iaied from the German BY Marssrst i Thor
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Ss s p sSS FO aT ehar s
Work Among the Fishermen OF Labrador; by
Wilfred 7. Grenfell. NJ r. C. s E. l.; r. c. u =;
Competency as. Master Mariner. Illustrated
from Original Photographs PIP. xvi 24o Flem-
ing II. Reyell Company.
Alfred Edmund Brehm the son of
clergyman in Sachsen- Weimar. The reader ex-
perienced in such matters might guess as much
from the way Brehm treats the subject of evolu-
tion leaving Darwin far behind as to the psy-
Geological aspects Of the subject and then shy
ing like a timid horse at the plain question as
to the relationship between monkey and man.
No man could be more positive than he upon the
point that animals in general possess conscious
ness differing only in degree from the conscious
ness Of man. Nobody has emphasized more
strongly than he the broad lines between the
anthropoid apes and the lower animals or the
comparatively narrow lines between the apes
and man The former are to be looked upon. he
saws as the nearest relatives of man in ZOO
logical sense Anything than this we
must deny" he adds: but what is there TO deny!
Only this that monkeys are men, Much that
is characteristic of man is to be found in the
apes also: but wide gulf still remains between
them and true humanity Physically and men
tally they have many of the characteristics OF
ma l. but by no means all Only clergymans
con could dodge in this way between the devil
of Darwinism and the deep sea of popular preju-
dice Brehm has a fondness for the legendary
side Of nature. He cannot give up good story,
even when II lacks the proof Of observation.
Mr. Thomson in the notes at the end of the
volume in hand expresses doubt on more than
one point for example to the assertion that
the elder duck after plucking the down from her
own breast. strips the drake also. II she is
Obliged TO make A second nest The book opens
with a legend current among the Lapps to the
effect that when the Creator had made the earth
Satan, who had not yet been cast out Of Heaven,
attempted to destroy the land by casting down
a huge stone. But the Creator sent an arch
angel to avert the evil. The stone plunged into
the sea- but 1t was vast that portion Of it
rose above the waters This is Scandinavia.
The Creator had a little soil left over from the
earth and this he scattered upon the rock so as
10 make II habitable for man. The rents and
cracks in the rock are the fiOrds and valleys.
The splinters that fell on every side are the
skerries which form a richly varied wreath
around the peninsula. To appreciate the full
depth and meaning of the story, the author says
that lone must personally have visited Scandi-
navia, especially Norway; have steered boat
among the skerries. and have sailed around the
country from the extreme south to the furthest
north"
Scandinavia is an Alpine country like Switzer-
land and the Tyro. yet it differs in hundred
ways from both Of these countries. 1t has lofty
mountains glaciers. torrents. clear still Alpine
lakes dark pine and fir forests low down In the
gorges bright green birch woods on the heights,
rnoors on the broad shoulders Of the mountains.
log huts on the slopes, and the huts of the COW
herds in the upland valleys. Yet all is very
different from the Alps, as is obvious to one who
has seen both The reason Of the difference lies
IN the wonderful way In which two such grand
and impressive features as lofty mountains and
the broad sea associated and harmoniZed.
In Scandinavia stern grandeur and soft beauty
go hand in hand. Black masses Of rock rise
straight up from the and riven and cleft,
lean outward seeming to threaten approaching
vessels with destruction. On their crests lie
masses Of ice stretching FOR miles. from the
melting Of which streams OF water like ribbons
of silver flow down the slopes. giving pleasure
TO the eye and murmuring to the ear the sub
lime melody Of the mountains. AS the waters
rush down through every cleft to the depths be-
low they form waterfalls that awaken echoes
from every mountainsde. Then the islands and
ekerries lying out in the sea- in groups stretch
ing from the extreme south TO the far north,
form q maze Of bays, sounds and straits. such
as can hardly be seen anywhere else in the
world. In the midnight hours. when the mid
winter sun hangs low. large and bloodred ABOVE
,be horizon. its yelled brance reflected from
the ice-covered mountain tops and the shifting
sea- there is in the picture an irresistible charm
After introducing his readers to the natural
features OF this arctic region. the author turns
m the life of the inhabitants They plough the
sea instead OF the land They reap a harvest
for which they do not SOW the seed. About the
time Of the autumnal equinox strong men begin
The preparations for their harvest. In the height
Of sunmer the region is still and deserted; but
in winter the bays, islands, creeks and SOUNDS
TEEN with busy men laboriously toiling night
and day. II is the fishing season. which reaches
its height of hustle and activity about the time
Of the winter solstce. The fish, cod and had
dock and the Ike, rise to the surface or the
water and crowd to the coasts In such numbers
that the sea is covered by them for miles. Lest
this should be thought one of those legends IN
which Brehm sometimes INDUCES, Mr.. Thomson
adds in a note that he consulted scandinavian
pisciculturist and obtained not full corrobora-
ton. but a statement that fish appeared In dense
local swarns such as are sometimes seen In the
lochs In the west OF Scotland" On this point
the testimony OF Mr. Grenfell from the other side
OF the North Atlantic is of interest. Though his
book is mainly devoted TO missionary and medi-
cal work in Labrador, ne records also the facts
of natural history that come under his obser-
walton Cod the only inhabitants OF the
sea popularity and legally known as fish on the
coast Of Labrador They visit the shallow wa
tiers in summer, not in winter in Scandinavia.