wanderings in south america

Front matter

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THE NORTH-WEST OF THE UNITED STATES, AND THE ANTILLES, IN THE YEARS 1812, 1816, 1820, & 1824.

With Original Instructions for the perfect preservation of Birds, Ete. for Cabinets of Natural History.

Preface

MANY years ago, while barely in my “teens,” I had the good fortune to fall in with Waterton’s Wanderings, then newly placed in the school library. The book fascinated me. Week after week I took it out of the library, and really think that I could have repeated it verbatim from beginning to end. It was a glimpse into an unknown world, where I longed to follow the Wanderer, little thinking that = should ever have the privilege of visiting him in his wonderful Yorkshire home. I looked upon Waterton much as the pagans of old regarded their demi-gods, and not even Sinbad the Sailor was so interesting a personage to me as Waterton the Wanderer. But there was one drawback to the full enjoyment and comprehension of the book. It mentioned all kinds of. animals, birds, and trees, and I did not know what. they were, nor was there any one who could tell me. I did not. know what a Salempenta was, except that it vi PREFACE.

was good to eat. It might be a monkey, a fish, or a fruit. Neither could I identify the Couanacouchi, Labarri, Camoudi, Duraquara, Houtou, or Karabimiti, except that the three first were snakes and the three last were birds.

It was certainly pleasant to learn that the traveller in Guiana would be awakened by the crowing of the Hannaquoi, but there was no one who could tell me what kind of a bird the Hannaquoi might be. Then, as to trees, I did not know the Siloabali, or the Wallaba, or even the Purple-heart, nor how the last mentioned tree could be made into a Woodskin. I wanted a guide to the Wanderings, and such a guide I have attempted to ‘supply in the “Explanatory Index.” I believe that there is not a single living creature or tree mentioned by Waterton concerning which more or less information eannot be found in this Index. ~The Wanlerings I have left untouched as Waterton wrote them, not adding or altering or cancelling a syllable. They constitute, so to speak, the central briliant of a ring, round which are arranged jewels of inferior value, so as to set off the beauty of the principal gem.

The plan of arrangement is as follows: First comes a short biography of Waterton as the Wanderer, and then a memoir of Waterton at home. Next come the Wanderings, exactly as he wrote them. Then there is an Explanatory Index, and lastly a few remarks ‘on the

PREFACE. Vil system of Taxidermy which he created, and in which he gave me personal instruction.

I have much pleasure in recording my obligations to Edmund Waterton, Esq., who kindly permitted access to the old family records, which he is now arranging for publication. Also to A. R. Wallace, Esq., and Dr. P. L. Sclater, Secretary of the Zoological Society, for the assistance which they rendered in identifying several of the birds; and to J. Britten, Esq., of the British Museum, for the great pains which he took in ascertaining the names of some of the Guianan trees, without which names the work would have been imperfect.

Preface To The First Edition

I OFFER this book of Wanderings with a hesitating hand. It has little merit, and must make its way through the world as well as it can. It will receive many a jostle as it goes along, and perhaps is destined to add one more to the number of slain, in the field of modern criticism. But if it fall, it may still, in death, be useful to me; for, should some accidental rover take it up, and, in turning over its pages, imbibe the idea of going out to explore Guiana, in order to give the world an enlarged description of that noble country, I shall say, “fortem ad fortia misi,’ and demand the armour; that is, I shall lay claim to a certain portion of the honours he will receive, upon the plea, that I was the first mover of his discoveries ; for, as Ulysses sent Achilles to Troy, so I sent him to Guiana. I intended to have written much more at length; but days, and months, and years, have passed away, and nothing has been done. Thinking it very probable that I shall never have patience enough to sit down and write a full account of all I saw and examined x PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

in those remote wilds, I give up the intention of doing so, and send forth this account of my Wanderings, just as it was written at the time.

If critics are displeased with it in its present form, I beg to observe, that it is not totally devoid of interest, and that it contains something useful. Several of the unfortunate gentlemen who went out to explore the Congo, were thankful for the instructions they found in it; and Sir Joseph Banks, on sending back the journal, said in his letter, “I return your journal, with abundant thanks for the very instructive lesson you have favoured us with this morning, which far excelled, in real utility, everything I have hitherto seen.” And in another letter he says, “I hear with particular pleasure your intention of resuming your interesting travels, to which natural history has already been so much indebted.” And again “Tam sorry you did not deposit some part of your last harvest of birds in the British Museum, that your name might become familiar to naturalists, and your unrivalled skill in preserving birds be made known to the public.” And again, “You certainly have talents to set forth a book, which will improve and extend materially the bounds of natural science.”

Sir Joseph never read the third adventure. . Whilst I was engaged in it, death robbed England of one of her most valuable subjects, and deprived the Be erelely of its brightest ornament.

Contents

BIOGRAPHY.

Chapter I. Page

Autobiography of Waterton—Descent from Sir Thomas More—Twenty-seventh Lord of Walton, and sixteenth in descent from John Waterton—Religious faith of the family—Persecutions of Roman Catholics and confiscation of the estates—Double taxes and fines— Birth and early life—Escapades at Tudhoe—The cow and the washing-tub—Removal to Stonyhurst—Birds’-nesting, a chase and a pigstye—Good advice from one of the fathers—Parting with Stonyhurst —First voyage to Cadiz—The apes at Gibraltar—Habits of the animals—Stay in Malaga—Acquirement of Spanish— Projected visit to Malta—Advent of the plague—Seized with the disease and recovery—Closing of the ports—A hazardous and carefully-planned escape—Preparations on board ship—The opportunity seized— . Escape successful—Death of an uncle—Discovery of an old friend —Failing health—Voyage to Demerara—Death of his father and succession to the family estates . : : é : . ‘ 1—14

Chapter. II

Journey to Orinoco with despatches—Adventure with a venomous snake —An involuntary bath—A huge Cayman—The Labarri snake— Dinner paity in Angostura—A too liberal table—The Governor’s uniform—Dining in shirt-sleeves—A more sensible uniform—Publication of the Wanderings—Reception by the critics—Sydney Smith—Swainson’s criticism upon the cayman—Truth in the garb of fiction—Waterton’s style of writing—Quotations—His favourite authors—Sense of humour—How he answered the critics—Charge of eccentricity—How he was eccentric—Travels on the continent— Shipwreck—Gallant conduct of Prince Canino—Lost by gold—Fall into Dover harbour and narrow escape—The lancet and calomel— Judgment of the vampire—A bad wound—Bare feet and bad pavement—Mode of cure—Accidents at home—Gunshot wound—Severe fall and dangerous injuries—Crowther the bone-setter—A painful operation—Ultimate recovery—A characteristic warning. . 15—d4 xil CONTENTS.

Chapter III

PAGE Magnificence and money—Waterton’s mode of life and personal expenses—Sleeping on planks—His visits to the chapel —The “ morning gun”—The razor and the lancet—Reduction of the family estates— His work at Walton Hall—Natural advantages of the place—The wall and its cost—Bargees and their guns—Instinct of the herons— Herons and fish-ponds—Drainage of the ponds—The moat extended into a lake—Old Gateway and Ivy-Tower—Siege by Oliver Cromwell—Tradition of a musket-ball—Drawbridge and gateway in the olden times—Tradition of a canon-ball—Both ball and canon discovered—Sunken plate and weapons—Echo at Walton Hall—West view of lake—How to strengthen a bank—Pike-catching—Cats and

pike—Spot where Waterton fell : : é 2 . . 85—48

Chapter IV

Love of trees—Preservation of damaged trees—How trees perish— Wind and rain—Self-restorative powers of the bark—Hidden foes —The fungus and its work—Use of the woodpecker and titmouse— How to utilize tree-stumps—The cole titmouse—Owl-house and seat—Dry-rot—When to paint timber—Oaken gates of the old tower—Command over trees—How to make the holly grow quickly — —The holly as a hedge-tree—Pheasant fortresses — Artificial pheasants —The poachers outwitted—Waterton’s power of tree climbing — An aerial study — Ascending and descending trees— Church and State trees—The yew—A protection against cold winds —Yew hedge at back of gateway—The Starling Tower—Familiarity of the birds—The Picnic or Grotto—Waterton’s pspitality—* The Squire ”—A decayed mill and abandoned stone—The stone ufte4 off the ground by a hazel nut . : é ‘ ; : - 49—71

Chapter V

The Squire’s “ dodges ”—The “ cat-holes”—The dove-cot—Pigeon-shooting matches and mode of supplying the birds—Waterton’s pigeon-house, external and internal—Pigeon-stealers baffled—Arrangement of pigeon-holes—Iadders not needed—How to feed pigeons economically—Rats and mice in the garden—The poison-bowl and: its safety—Sunken mousetrap—Gates and chains—The carriage-pond ~—Waterton’s antipathy to scientific nomenclature—Advantage of such nomenclature as an assistant to science—Popular and local names—Oolonists and their nomenclature—Zoology gone mad— Complimentary nomenclature—The fatal accident in the park— Waterton’s last moments and death—The last voyage and funeral — Epitaph written by himself—The new cross, and place of burial, 72—86

CONTENTS. xii

FIRST JOURNEY:

CHAPTER I. P D Object of the Wanderings—Demerara R.—Saba—Toucan—Forest Trees Se

—Parasites—Bush-rope—Red monkey—Wild animals—Sloths— ‘Venomous snakes— Lizards — Bell-bird — Houtou— Insects — Dog poisoned with Wourali—Falls—Essequibo R.—Rapid decay—Falls of the Essequibo—Macoushia—A white recluse—The Watermamma —A savage financier—The Jabiru—Ants’ nests—Fort St. Joachim —tLake Parima . é . : : : é : . 87—125

Chapter II

The Macoushi Indians—Poison vendors—apparent failure of poison— Collecting materials for wourali-poison—Preparing the poison— Superstitions—The blow-pipe gun—The Ourah—The Samourah— Silk-grass—Acuero fruit—Coucourite palm—wWild cotton—Arrows — Quivers—Jaw of Pirai — Packing the arrows — Cotton basket —

Gun sight made of Acouri teeth—Poisoned fowl—Suspending the guns—The bow—Ingenious arrows—Small quivers—A wild hog shot —Utilization of indigenous products . : ; ; - 126—139

Chapter III

Operation of the Wourali—Its effects on the Ai, or Three-toed Sloth— Death resembling sleep—A poisoned Ox—Poison proportionate to size of animal—Alleged antidotes—An Indian killed by his own arrow—Ligatures and the knife—Descent of the Essequibo—Skill of the boatman—The Buccaneers—Tertian ague—Experiments with Wourali—Value of a ligature—Artificial respiration—Long life and quiet death of Wourali—When ood one Arthur ruled this land— Return of health . . é : : « ° . 140—147

SECOND JOURNEY.

Chapter I

From Liverpool to Pernambuco—Stormy petrels—Tropical zoology— Flying-fish — Bonito, Albicore, and “Dolphin” — Frigate bird— Arrival at Pernambuco—The expelled Jesuit—Pombal, the Captain- General—Southey’s history of Brazil—Botanical garden—Sangredo Buey—Rattlesnake—Narrow escape—Rainy—Sail for hn Shark-catching, . ... 0. ot. il. rune ‘ 154—168 |

X1V CONTENTS.

Chapter II

PAGE Arrival at Cayenne—Flamingos—Curlews, &c.—Vegetable productions of Cayenne—La Gabrielle—Cock of the Rock—Grand Gobe-mouche —Surinam—The Coryntin—NewAmsterdam—Stabroek, now George Town—Produce of Demerara—Slavery—aA traveller’s necessaries— Walking barefoot—The best costume—Humming-birds— Cotinga— Campanero, or Bell-bird —Toucans, or Toucanets — Beak of the Toucan—Hvanescence of the colours—The only mode of preserving them . ; : : . : : c . : : . 169—-184

Chapter III

The Houtou—Curious habit of trimming the tail and feathers—its habits—The Guianan Jay—The Boclora—Slight attachment of the feathers—The Cuia—Rice-birds—Cassiques, their habit of mockery —Pendulous nests—Gregarious nesting of different species—W oodpeckers of America and England—Kingfishers—Jacamars and their fly-catching habits—Troupiales and their songs—Tangaras—Manikins—Tiger-birds—Yawaraciri—Ant Thrushes—Parrot of the Sun —Aras, or Macaws—Bitterns—Egret, Herons, etc.—Goatsuckers— Whip-poor-Will—Superstitions—Tinamous—Powis and Maroudi— Horned Screamer—Trumpeter—King Vulture—Anhinga—Dangers of travel—Quartan ague . : 3 ; , : . 185—207

THIRD JOURNEY.

Chapter I

From the Clyde to Demerara—Yellow fever—A deserted Plantation— Black John—Medicines for tropical climates—Bats—The lancet— Severe accident and recovery—A. primitive spear—History of the Sloth—An inhabitant of the trees—Structure of the limbs—A domesticated Sloth—A life of suspense—Structure of the air—Mark ion the back—Capture of a Sloth—Release and escape—Ants—Ant-bears—The great Ant-bear—Its powers of defence—Attitude when. standing—H ow it.catches its prey—Glutinous saliva—The Vampire and its habits—Bleeding gratis—Coushie Ants—Armadillo ‘and its habits—Tortoise—Eggs of Tortoise and Turtle. . . : + 208—231.

CONTENTS, XV

Chapter II. Page

The Vanilla—Meaning of the word—Small Cayman—Daddy Quashi— ‘Wasps—Venomous reptiles and wild beasts—Poison of the Labarri snake—Experiment with a Labarri—The Béte-rouge—The Chegoe —Its nest—Ticks, and how to get rid of them—The five tribes— Their habitations and mode of life—Piwarri—The Pee-ay-man—A nation without a history—Runaway negroes—Mr. Edmonstone and his services—Wounded warriors—Valour rewarded—Education— Character of the native—Skill in hunting—A bead almanac—The sun as a compass—Thinness of population . - : ‘ . 232—247

Chapter III

Discovery of a large Coulacanara snake—A Bush-master—Stag swallowed by a Boa—Negroes and the snake—Arrangements for the attack—The snake struck—Carrying off the enemy—A snake in a bag—An unquiet night—Dissection of the snake—Daddy Quashi and his dread of snakes—Capture of a Coulacanara—Vultures and their food—Habits of Vultures—The Aura vulture—Black vultures —Severe blisters—An inquisitive Jaguar—Fish shooting—Goatsuckers and Campanero . 5 5 - é ‘ : . 248—262

Chapter IV

Fishing for a Cayman—A shark-hook useless—Sting-rays—Turtle and Guana nests—Numbers of eggs—Another failure—Meeting a Jaguar —Guard against fever—More failures—A native hook and way of

_ baiting—The Cayman’s dinner-bell—Caught at last—How to secure the reptile—Mounting a Cayman—An improvised bridle—Skin and teeth of the Cayman—Embarkment for England—Collision with the Custom House . . . : 3 Pr ha . 263—284

FOURTH JOURNEY.

‘CHAPTER I.

Three years in England—Sail for New York—N omenclature—Alteration of scenery—A sprained ankle—Magnificent cure—Feats of climbing — Quebec — Irish emigrants — Ticonderoga — Saratoga— Philadelphia—White-headed Eagle—Form and Fashion— Climate —Forebodings of the civil war—Sail for Antigua. . . 285—3800

XVi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER II.

PAGE Arrival at Antigua—Dominica—Frogs and Humming-birds—Martinico —Diamond rock—Barbadoes—Quashi and Venus—The Alien Bill— Sail for Demerara—More about the Sloth—Scarlet Grosbeak— Crab-eating Owl— Sun-heron—Feet of the Tinamou— Vampires again—The Karabimiti Humming-bird—The Monkey tribe—The Red Howler—Roast monkey—The Nondescript—Altered physiognomy—Gold and silver mines—Changes of Government—Politics —India-rubber—An ingenious deception . 2 é C - 310--334

ON PRESERVING BIRDS FOR CABINETS OF NATURAL HISTORY.

é Faults .m_ bird-stuffing—Tools required—Knowledge of anatomy—- Attitudes of birds—Flow of the plumage—How to skin a bird— Inserting cotton—Killing wounded birds—Stuffing a hawk—The first incision—The skin to be pushed, not pulled—Arrangement of wings—Modelling the body—Spreading the tail—Constant attention required—Strength and elasticity—Value of corrosive sublimate—

Experience and patience. c c “ ; : E . 3385—350 EXPLANATORY INDEX .. ne. Sie ages ; . : - 351—494 TAXIDERMY . . . it kh ee ‘ : : - - 495—510

BIOGRAPHY.

Chapter I

Autobiography of Waterton.—Descent from Sir Thomas More.—Twenty-seventh Lord of Walton, and sixteenth in descent from John Waterton. —Religious faith of the family.—Persecutions of Roman Catholics and confiscation of the estates.—Double taxes and fines.—Birth and early life.—Escapades at Tudhoe.—The cow and the washing-tub.— Removal to Stonyhurst.—Birds’-nesting, a chase and a pigstye.—Good advice from one of the fathers.— Parting with Stonyhurst.—First voyage to Cadiz.—The apes at Gibraltar. — Habits of the animals. —Stay in Malaga.—Acquirement of Spanish.—Projected visit to Malta.—Advent of the plague.—Seized with the disease and recovery.—Closing of the ports.—A hazardous and carefully-planned escape.—Preparations on board ship.—The opportunity seized.—Escape successful.—Death of an uncle.—Discovery of an old friend.—Failing health.—Voyage to Demerara.—Death of his father and succession to the family estates.

In the introductory prefaces to Waterton’s Wanderings, the author has afforded but little account of himself, but in the volumes of his Zssays, and some of his Letters, he has fortunately given a sufficiency of information to furnish a tolerably unbroken biography from his birth to his death. His was a very long life, and as he considered that life as a sacred trust, he never wasted an hour of it.

WATERTON was the representative of one of the most ancient English families, and was justly proud of his ee es B ye | ~ descent from Sir Thomas More. A clock which had belonged to that great ancestor is still in existence, and occupied a place of honour on the upper landing of the central staircase of Walton Hall. It is but a little clock, and has only a single hand, but it keeps time as well as ever, and the sound of its bell is so clear, that it can be heard at a considerable distance from the house. He mentions in his own quaint way, that if his ancestors had been as careful of their family records as Arabs are of the pedigrees of their horses, he might have been able to trace his descent up to Adam and Eve.

The following account of the Waterton family is taken from the Illustrated London News of June 17, 1865, and has been revised by a member of the house.

“The good and amiable old Lord of Walton, Charles Waterton, better known for miles around his ancestral domain as “the squire,’ was the representative of one of our most ancient untitled aristocratic families, and, what is more deserving of record in these days, in the male line.

“Fis ancestor, Reiner, the son of Norman of Normandy, who became Lord of Waterton in 1159, was of Saxon origin. The Watertons of Waterton became extinct in the male line in the fifteenth century, when their vast possessions passed away, through Cecilia, wife of Lord Welles and heiress of her brother, Sir Robert Waterton, to her four daughters and co-heiresses, who married, respectively, Robert, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, Sir Thomas Dymoke, Thomas Laurence, Esq., and Sir Thomas Delaware.

“Sir John Waterton was high sheriff of Lincoln in 1401, and master of the horse to Henry V. at Agincourt. Sir Robert, his brother, whose wife was a lady of the garter, was governor of Pontefract Castle while Richard II. was confined there: he had been master of the horse to Henry IV. Sir Hugh, another brother, held high offices of state. Charles Waterton, in whom the representation of his ancient house was vested, was descended from Richard, second son of William Waterton, Lord of Waterton, who died in 1255. In 1435 John Waterton married the heiress of Sir William Ashenhull, and became Lord of Walton and Cawthorne, jure uxoris,

“Walton formed part of the Honour of Pontefract, of which Ashenhold, a Saxon thane, was the Lord, and which was held by his son Ailric, in the reign of 8. Edward the Confessor. At the Conquest it was given by William the Norman to one of his followers, Ilbert de Lacy, who granted it back again to Ailric, father of Suein. Adam, the son of Suein, Lord of Brierley, Cawthorne, and Walton, was the founder of the priory of Monk Bretton, and left two daughters and co-heiresses, Amabil and Matilda. The former had Walton and Cawthorne, and became the wife of William de Nevile. They had one daughter and heiress, who married Thomas, the son of Philip de Burgh. Walton and Cawthorne remained in the possession of the De Burghs for seven generations, and then passed with the co-heiress of Sir John de Burgh to Sir Wiliam Ashenhull, whose heiress conveyed it to John Waterton in 1435,

“Thus Mr. Waterton was twenty-seventh Lord of Walton, and sixteenth from John Waterton, who acquired that lordship. There was a grant of free warren at Walton in the reign of Edward I., and a license to crenellate in

1333. Without reference to the numerous distinguished alliances of his ancestors, it may be interesting to state that Mr. Waterton, through distinct sources, traced his descent several times over from S. Matilda, Queen of Germany ; S. Margaret of Scotland, S. Humbert of Savoy,

S. Louis of France, 8. Ferdinand of Castile, and Wladimir B 2 the Great, called 8. Wladimir of Russia, and Anne, called S. Anne of Russia. Through his grandmother he was ninth in descent from Sir Thomas More.”

The Watertons fared but badly in the stormy times of the Reformation, and, preferring conscience to property, they retained their ancient faith, but lost heavily in this world’s goods. The many coercive acts against the Roman Catholics naturally had their effect, not only on those who actually lived in the time of the Reformation, but upon their successors. A Roman Catholic could not sit in parliament, he could not hold a commission in the army, he could not be a justice of the peace, he had to pay double land-tax, and to think himself fortunate if he had any land left on which taxes could be demanded. He was not allowed to keep a horse worth more than five pounds, and, more irritating than all, he had either to attend the parish church or to pay twenty pounds for every month of absence. In fact, a Roman Catholic was looked upon and treated as a wholly inferior being, and held much the same relative position to his persecutors as Jews held towards the Normans and Saxons in the times of the Crusades.

Within the memory of many now living, the worst of the oppressive acts have been repealed, and Roman Catholics are now as free to follow their own form of worship as before the days of Henry VIII. They have seats in parliament and on the bench, they hold commissions both in the army and navy, and all the petty but galling interferences with the details of their private life have been abolished.

Still, Waterton was, during some of his best years, a personal sufferer from these acts, and they rankled too deeply in his mind to be forgotten, Hence, the repeated and mostly irrelevant allusions in his writings to Martin Luther, Henry VIII, Queen Bess, Archbishop Cranmer,

Oliver Cromwell, Charles Stuart, “Dutch William ” (mostly associated with the “Hanoverian” rat and the national debt), and other personages celebrated in history.

Deeply as he felt the indignities to which he and his family and co-religionists had been subjected, and frequently as he referred to them, both in writing and conversation, he never used a worse weapon than irony, and even that was tempered by an underlying current of humour. He had felt the wounds, but he couid jest at the scars.

On principle he refused to qualify as Deputy-Lieutenant and magistrate, because he had been debarred from doing so previously to the Emancipation Act. His son, however, serves both offices.

Born in 1782, he spent his childish years in the old mansion and grounds of the family, and at a very early age displayed those powers of observation, love of nature and enterprise, which enabled him to earn a place among the first order of practical naturalists both at home and abroad.

At ten years of age he was placed under the Rev. A. Strong’s care, in a school just founded at Tudhoe, a village near Durham. From Waterton’s reminiscences, his instructor seems to have inclined to the severe order of discipline, and to have been rather liberal of the birch, of which instrument Waterton had his full share. His account of storming the larder for the support of hungry inmates; of the anxious glances which he cast in the morning to judge by the master’s wig of the state of his temper; and of being captured in the very act of getting through a barred window, is exceedingly humorous.

He also relates two anecdotes, both telling against himself, and both prospective, as it were, of the celebrated fact of riding on the back of a cayman and of his shipwreck. He was “dared” by his comrades to get on the back of a cow, which he did, but less fortunate than in his cayman adventure, was ignominiously thrown over her horns. He also took it into his head to get into a washing-tub, and take a cruise in the horse-pond; but lost his balance at the sudden appearance of the master, and was overturned into the muddy water.

The whole of the account of his Tudhoe school experiences is given in a collected volume of his Essays and Letters (F. Warne & Co.), edited by Mr. N Moore, who had the sad privilege of being with him when he met with his fatal accident, and by his sofa when he died, about thirty-eight hours afterwards.

Tudhoe then being only a preliminary school, though it has since developed into Ushaw College, Waterton was removed at fourteen years of age to Stonyhurst, where he was one of the first pupils. This establishment, then a comparatively small one, was conducted by the English Jesuits who had been driven from their home at Liége. Of them Waterton always spoke with reverence and affection, and his lfe at Stonyhurst was a singularly happy.one.

At first, his ingrained propensity for enterprise led him into trouble, and one adventure is too good not to be narrated in his own words. His account of it is another example of the way in which he enjoyed telling an anecdote against himself.

“ At Stonyhurst there are boundaries marked out to the students, which they are not allowed to pass; and there are prefects always pacing to and fro within the lines to prevent any unlucky boy from straying on the other side of them.

“ Notwithstanding the vigilance of the lynx-eyed guardians, I would now and then manage to escape, and would al aS ial bolt into a very extensive labyrinth of yew and holly trees close at hand. It was the chosen place for animated nature. Birds, in particular, used to frequent the spacious enclosure, both to obtain food and enjoy security. Many a time have I hunted the foumart and the squirrel, - I once took a cut through it to a neighbouring wood, where I knew of a carrion-crow’s nest. The prefect missed me; and judging that I had gone into the labyrinth, he gave chase without loss of time. After eluding him in cover for nearly half an hour, being hard pressed, I took away down a hedgerow.

“Here (as I learned afterwards) he got a distant sight of me; but it was not sufficiently distinct for him to know to a certainty that I was the fugitive. I luckily succeeded in reaching the outbuildings which abutted on the college, and lay at a considerable distance from the place where I had first started. I had just time to enter the postern gate of a pigsty, when, most opportunely, I found old Joe Bowren, the brewer, bringing straw into the sty. He was more attached to me than to any other boy, for I had known him when I was at school in the North, and had made him a present of a very fine terrier.

“<«T’ve just saved myself, Joe,’ said I; ‘cover me up with litter.’

“He had hardly complied with my request, when in bounced the prefect by the same gate through which I had entered,

“«Have you seen Charles Waterton?’ said he, quite out of breath.

“My trusty guardian answered, in a tone of voice which would have deceived anybody, ‘Sir, I have not spoken a word to Charles Waterton these three days, to the best of my knowledge.’

“Upon this, the prefect, having lost all scent of me, g BIOGRAPHY.

gave up the pursuit, and went his way. When he had disappeared, I stole out of cover, as strongly perfumed as was old Falstaff when they had turned him out of the buck basket.

“Once I had gone into the labyrinth to look into a magpie’s nest, which was in a high hollow tree; and hearing the sound of voices near, I managed to get a resting-place in the tree just over the nest, and there I squatted, waiting the event. Immediately the President, two other Jesuits, and the present Mr. Salvin of Croxdale Hall, passed close under the tree without perceiving me. °

“The good fathers were aware of my predominant propensity. Though it was innocent in itself, nevertheless it was productive of harm ‘in its consequences, by causing me to break the college rules, and thus to give a bad example to the community at large. Wherefore, with a magnanimity, and excellent exercise of judgment, which are only the province of those who have acquired a consummate knowledge of human nature, and who know how to turn to advantage the extraordinary dispositions of those intrusted to their care, they sagaciously managed matters in such a way as to enable me to ride my hobby to a certain extent, and still, at the same time, to prevent me from giving a bad example.

“ As ‘the establishment was very large, and as it contained an abundance of prey, the Hanoverian rat, which fattens so well on English food, and which always contrives to thrust its nose into every man’s house when there is anything to be got, swarmed throughout the vast extent of this antiquated mansion, The ability which I showed in curtailing the career of this voracious intruder did not fail to bring me into considerable notice. The cook, the baker, the gardener, and my friend old Bowren, could all bear testimony to my progress in this line. By a mutual understanding I was made rat-catcher to the establishment, and also fox- taker, foumart-killer, and.crossbow-charger at the time when the young rooks were fledged. Morera I fulfilled the duties of organ-blower and football-maker with entire satisfaction to the puble.

“‘T was now at the height of my ambition. I followed up my calling with great success. The vermin disappeared by the dozen; the books were moderately well thumbed ; and, according to my notion of things, all went on perfectly right.”

One of those wise teachers did him an inestimable service. He called the lad into his room, told him that his roving disposition would carry him into distant countries, and asked him to promise that from that time he would not touch either wine or spirits. Waterton gave the promise, and kept it to the hour of his death, more than sixty years afterwards. Once, when returning from one of his foreign expeditions, he took a glass of beer at dinner, but, finding the taste, from long disuse, unpleasantly bitter, he put down the glass and never touched beer again.

At the age of eighteen he left Stonyhurst with much regret, and after a year spent at Walton Hall amid the pleasures of the field, he started on the first of his journeys abroad. It was during the Peace of Amiens, and Spain was chosen as the country which he should visit. After staying a short time at Cadiz, he sailed for Malaga, and had the good fortune to visit Gibraltar just in time to see the celebrated apes.