and is familiar with the above stated facts, will now understand why,
notwithstanding the specific distinctions there are between them, the
trouts and white fishes are so uniform all over the globe. It must be
acknowledged that it is owing to the uniformity of the physical
condition in which they occur, and to which they are so admirably
adapted by their anatomical structure, as well as by their instinct.
Running up and down the rapid rivers and mountain currents, leaping
even over considerable waterfalls, they are provided with most
powerful and active muscles; their tail is strong and fleshy, and its
broad basis indicates that its power is concentrated; it is like the
paddle of the Indian who propels his canoe over the same waters. Their
mouth is large, their jaw strong, their teeth powerful, to enable them
to secure with ease the scanty prey with which they meet in these
deserts of cold water; and, nevertheless, though we cannot but be
struck by the admirable reciprocal adaptation between the structure of
the northern animals and the physical condition in which they live,
let us not mistake these adaptations for a consequence of physical
causes; let us not say that trouts resemble each other so much because
they originated under uniform conditions; let us not say they have
uniform habits because there is no scope for diversity; let us not say
they spawn during winter, and rear their young under snow and ice,
because at that epoch they are safer from the attacks of birds of
prey; let us not say they are so intimately connected with the
physical world, because physical powers called them into existence;
but let us once look deeper, let us recognise that this uniformity is
imparted to a wonderfully complicated structure: they are trouts with
all their admirable structure, their peculiar back-bones, their
ornamented skull, their powerful jaws, their moveable eyes, with their
thick, fatty skin and elegant scales, their ramified fin rays, and
with all that harmonious complication of structure which characterizes
the type of trouts, but over which a uniform robe, as it were, is
spread in a manner not unlike an almost endless series of monotonous
variations upon one brilliant air, through the uniformity of which we
still detect the same melody, however disguised under the many
undulations and changes of which it is capable.
The instincts of trouts are not more controlled by climate than those
of other animals under different circumstances. They are only made to
perform at a particular season, best suited to their organization,
what others do at other times. If it were not so, I do not see why all
the different fishes, living all the year round in the same brook,
should not spawn at the same season, and finally be transformed into
one type; have we not, on the contrary, in this diversity under
identical circumstances, a demonstrative evidence that there is
another cause which has acted, and is still acting, in the production
and preservation of these adaptations; a cause which endowed living
beings with the power of resisting the equalizing influence of uniform
agents, though at the same time placing these agents and living beings
under definite relations to each other?
That trouts are not more influenced by physical conditions than other
animals is apparent from the fact that there are lakes of small extent
and of most uniform features, in which two or three species of trout
occur together, each with peculiar habits; one more migratory, running
up rivers during the spawning season, &c., while the other will never
enter running waters, and will spawn in quiet places near the shore;
one will hunt after its prey, while the other will wait for it in
ambuscade; one will feed upon fish, the other upon insects. Here we
have an example of species with different habits, where there would
scarcely seem to be room for diversity in the physical condition in
which they live; again, there are others living together in immense
sheets of water, where there would seem to be ample scope for
diversity, among which we observe no great differences, as is the case
between the Siscowet and the lake trout in the great northern lakes.
If these facts, statements, and inductions were not sufficient to
satisfy the reader of the correctness of my views, I would at once
refer to another material fact, furnished us by the family of
_Salmonidæ_, namely, the existence of two essential modifications of
the true type of trouts, occurring everywhere together under the same
circumstances, showing the same general characters, back-bones, skull,
brain, composition of the mouth, intestines, gills, &c., &c., but
differing in the size of the mouth, and in the almost absolute want of
teeth, these groups being that of the white fishes, _Coregoni_, and
that of the true trouts, _Salmones_.
Now, I ask, where is there, within the natural geographical limits of
distribution of _Salmonidæ_, a discriminating power between the
physical elements under which they live, which could have introduced
these differences?--a discriminating power which, allotting to all
certain characters, should have modified others to such an extent as
to produce apparently different types under the same modification of
the general plan of structure. Why should there be, at the same time,
under the same circumstances, under the same geographical
distribution, white fishes with the habits of trouts,--spawning like
them in the fall, growing their young like them during winter,--if
there were not an infinitely wise Supreme Power, if there were not a
personal God, who, having first designed, created the universe, and
modelled our solar system, called successively, at different epochs,
such animals into existence under the different circumstances
prevailing over various parts of the globe, as would suit best this
general plan, according to which man was at last to be placed at the
head of creation? Let us remember all this, and we have a voice
uttering louder and louder the cry which the external world equally
proclaims, that there is a Creator, an intelligent and wise Creator,
an omnipotent Creator of all that exists, has existed, and shall
exist.
To come back to the _Salmonidæ_, I might say, that when properly
studied, there is not a species in nature, there is not a system of
organs in any given species, there is not a peculiarity in the details
of each of these systems, which does not lead to the same general
results, and which is not on that account equally worth our
consideration.
A minute distinction between species is again, above all, the
foundation of our most extensive views of the whole, and of our most
sublime generalizations. The species of _Salmonidæ_ call particularly
our attention, from the minuteness of the characters upon which their
distinction rests. Their number in the north of this continent (North
America) is far greater than would be supposed from the mere
investigation of those of the great lakes; but I shall, for the
present, limit myself to these.--_Agassiz, Lake Superior_, p. 366.
_Results of Observations made by the_ Rev. F. FALLOWS, _at the
Cape of Good Hope, in the years 1829-30-31_. _Produced under
the superintendence of_ G. B. AIRY, Esq., Astronomer Royal.
This important work, containing the earliest fruits of the Cape
Observatory; and, while the first, at the same time some of the
most valuable contributions to Southern Astronomy,--has been
received too late to allow us to do more than barely mention the
titles in the present number.
We are tempted, however, to extract the following short notice of
a remarkable meteor; because it tends to establish the connection
so very much wanted between _shooting-stars_ on the one hand, and
_meteorites_, or _meteor-stones_, on the other hand. The
phenomenon in question had a something of the characteristics of
each, but was more of the nature of the latter body, in which
case the mere fact of its appearing at the epoch of the
shooting-stars, maybe considered in some degree significant of a
connection, more especially when confirmed by a second instance
in another year; while, moreover, the November period of
shooting-stars had not then been suspected; and these two
observations not only serve to confirm that period, but also to
give the retrogression of the nodes of the orbit, which has been
suspected. P. S.
_Mr Fallows to the Secretary of the Admiralty._
ROYAL OBSERVATORY, CAPE OF GOOD HOPE,
_November 9, 1829_.
"SIR,--The inclosed document was drawn up at my request, by
Captain Ronald. At the moment the first explosion took place (ten
in the evening), I was writing in a room adjacent to that of the
Transit, and imagined from the loudness of the report that it
might be a signal of distress from some vessel in Table Bay.
Shortly after, perhaps four or five minutes, for I cannot be
certain, having no suspicion of what had been observed in the
Transit-room, I heard a second report, but it was somewhat fainter
than the former. This phenomenon has been noticed at Simon's Town,
Stellenbosch, and beyond Koe-berg.[85]--I have, &c.,
"FEARON FALLOWS."
Footnote 85: _i.e._, 20 miles to the South, 25 to the East, and
15 to the North.
(INCLOSURE.)
_Captain Ronald to Mr Fallows._
OBSERVATORY, CAPE OF GOOD HOPE,
_20th October 1829_.
"SIR,--As it may not be uninteresting perhaps to make some record
of the circumstances attending the appearance of a meteor which
was observed last evening, I beg leave to convey to you the
following notice: remarking that having seen it only through the
open roof of the Observatory, which prevented me from following
the direction it took, my report must necessarily be so far
incomplete.
"At the time of the occurrence of the phenomenon in question,
about ten in the evening, I was in the Transit-room, engaged in
observing the passage of a star, when a blaze of intensely vivid
light was observed a little to the West of North, about the height
of the Equator, and which continued for perhaps a couple of
seconds.
"While registering the observation, a loud report was heard nearly
in the same direction, resembling that of a piece of heavy
ordnance at the distance of two or three miles. The interval
between the flash and the report reaching me, must have been
between the limits of 2m 40s and 2m 45s, from the circumstance of
my having observed the light just before the star (_g Ceti_) had
come to the second wire[86] of the instrument, which, on referring
to the transit-book, would have taken place at 23h 57m 47s·6
nearly, and therefore the occurrence of the phenomenon may be
safely referred to 23h 57m 45s; and as, on hearing the report, I
immediately consulted the Sidereal clock, which indicated 0h 0m
30s, I think that the error in assuming the elapsed time as above
cannot be supposed to amount to five seconds.
Footnote 86: The Transit of _g Ceti_ (_2 Ceti_) over the second
wire, on this day is blank; and the word "meteor" is written in
the margin. The first and third wires are 23h 57m 27s·9 and 23h
58m 7s·4.
"There was little peculiar in the state of the weather or
atmosphere; the day had been rather more than usually cool, the
highest temperature being 68° Fahrenheit, the wind from the south,
and moderate, with slight passing showers. The evening was nearly
clear, with a light air from the south-west, atmosphere rather
dry; the barometer standing at 30in·20, and the thermometer at
52°, and both were observed to rise suddenly after the explosion,
the barometer by 0in·01, and the thermometer by 0°·1, though they
regained their original position in a short time afterwards.--I
have, &c.,
"W. RONALD.
"By referring to my Meteorological Journal, it appears that a
meteor of somewhat similar appearance was noticed in Cape Town
early on the morning of the 6th November last year.--W. R."
_Discovery of the Great Lake "Ngami" of South Africa._
Geographical discovery in Africa has even excited more interest than
similar explorations in any other part of the world, and with
reason--for, while it is one of the oldest and earliest peopled of
lands; while the human race first attained there a high degree of
civilization, and a high degree of knowledge in the arts of peace and
war, of science and literature; with a grandeur in some things, and a
skill in others never since equalled; yet it is now the country of all
others on the face of the globe concerning which we know least. In
other continents there are undoubtedly parts not yet visited by
Europeans, or worthy of being more fully explored; but they are but
inconsiderable spots compared with the almost boundless spaces of
Central Africa, where no foot of a white man has ever yet trod, and of
the greater part of which no semi-fabulous native accounts even have
ever reached us. So that age after age the civilization of the
enlightened nations of the world is gradually losing the hold which it
once had, at least along the northern shores of this vast continent;
and the land of Ham is gradually reverting to a state of primeval
wilderness, fenced in from all the rest of the world by the
obstructive power of ignorance and position.
And yet to no other part of the world has so continued a stream of
geographical explorers been poured, and is even pouring still; but
invariably either the deadly climate of the more fertile parts, or the
passive but all-powerful impediments offered by the more desert
portions, as well as the active opposition of natives, more savage and
sanguinary than in any other part of the world, have invariably, by
death or otherwise, put an untimely stop to the progress of the
travellers.
Under these circumstances it must be highly encouraging to all
interested in the prosecutions of African geography, to hear that an
actual and tangible discovery, and one of the most important kind for
the country in which it was effected, and for the prosecution of still
further research, has just been made, in the fact of the Rev. David
Livingston, a missionary of the London Society, having at least
reached the great lake[87] of South Africa.
Footnote 87: This lake must not be confounded with the smaller
one, supposed by the Portuguese to exist on the coast of
Zanzibar.
The circumstance requires perhaps something more than mere notice, and
to have more names mentioned in connection with it, from its being
part of a general system of co-operation in which many have borne a
part, and a very important and necessary part, towards the result
which has been finally achieved; and at the very least, the name of
the Rev. Mr Moffat, the fellow missionary of Mr Livingston, deserves
mention whenever the great lake is spoken of.
Its existence had been suspected long since, and its discovery has
been a constant theme of conversation for many years past at the Cape.
But yet the information of its whereabout, and size, and nature, were
so very scanty, as to throw more doubt over the matter, the further
that it was examined into. Up to a very recent date, the only persons
who had ever been able within the colony to bear testimony to the fact
of the existence of the great lake, from personal knowledge, were two
young Bechuana brought down by D. A. Smith's expedition. They said,
that when they were children, and their tribe was flying from their
enemies, they had been at one period close to the great lake; but,
after the closest cross-questioning, they left the matter more
uncertain than ever, for from the length of time that their tribe was
flying about in the desert in various directions, it would have been
quite possible to have reached the sea either to the east or west, or
the colony to the south; and nothing certain could be made out as to
the mean resulting direction of the marching and countermarching.
Nevertheless, many were the ardent explorers who endeavoured to reach
this consummation, so greatly to be desired, amid the arid plains of
South Africa. The last which started, and by far the most important of
all that were ever organized in South Africa, was that of the Cape
Town "Association for Exploring Central Africa," and which started in
1834, and returned in 1836. The party consisted of about seven
Europeans, as many waggons, and about thirty natives. The whole was
under the direction of Dr Andrew Smith, staff-surgeon, who had
admirably qualified himself for the command, by the experience of very
many years spent chiefly in the interior, and amongst the natives.
Among the members of the expedition, were an astronomer, well supplied
with instruments, and two artists, and Mr Charles Bell for landscape,
topography, and the manners and customs of the natives; and another,
Mr Ford, for the natural history department. Dr Smith took upon
himself especially the zoology, the ethnology, and geology; and the
others all contributed according to their powers, while the whole of
their notes and journals of every kind were to be made over to the
association.
The expedition started in 1834, reached at length the Rev. Mr Moffat's
residence at Kuruman, then the outpost of the Missionary stations; by
him it was carried on further into the Zoolah country, to the abode of
the great chief Umsiligas. This seemed for various reasons the
furthest northing that the expedition could make, but a small party
went on in light marching order a little further, so as to be just
able to say that 23° south latitude had actually been reached, before
the retrograde movement was begun.
The chief result of this expedition has been the publication of Dr A.
Smith's beautiful and valuable zoological work, for the publication of
which the government granted a sum of money.
The personal journal, the astronomical, geographical, geological, and
meteorological observations, have still to come; likewise Dr Smith's
own observations touching the history, language, and other particulars
of the various tribes of aborigines whom he met with; as well as Mr
Charles Bell's inimitable drawings of the manners, customs, and
appearances of the natives, and his expressive landscape scenery.
This degree or measure of success seemed to put the great lake further
off than ever. Europeans despaired of their ever finding or beholding
it, and none but traders and huntsmen subsequently traversed that part
merely of the road towards it, which the expedition did pass over;
while the only scientific mission which has acted since in South
Africa, viz., that of Captain Sir J. E. Alexander, sent out by the
Royal Geographical Society of London,--hopeless, apparently, of doing
anything by following Dr Smith's route, travelled and explored along
the western coast.
It was remarked long since by the North American Indians and other
aborigines, that the "black-robe chiefs of the mission" had always
preceded the daring hunter and the crafty trader; and in no country
has the _preceding_ spirit of the missionaries been more evident than
in South Africa. While pushing their stations continually further and
further into the interior, they christianize and civilize the tribes
as they go, and so leave the way paved and open behind them; a most
important condition, when it is remembered what excessive distances a
traveller is there from his resources, and in what an impracticable
country.
Silently, but surely, has this operation been going on, until as it
were, almost by natural causes, a point has been reached, within which
the lake was but at a moderate distance. Starting from Mr Moffat's
advanced post of Kuruman, Mr Livingston had founded the station of
Kolobeng further north; and then it only required a small advance of
money to pay the expense of the long contemplated journey. That sum
was furnished by two lay gentlemen, Messrs Murray and Oswell,--and
this great cynosure of South African geography, fell, in the ripeness
of time, an easy prize.
But if we have this much to say for the effective lever which the
missionary system affords for geographical discovery, we cannot say so
much as we should like in favour of the manner in which it has been
worked in this instance, though it may be better than in the
generality of cases.
There has been of late, it must be confessed, rather a decline of the
true scientific spirit of geographical exploration; and men have too
frequently been contented with filling their books with accounts
merely of what they shot and what they eat; unable to give any more
intelligent account of the country than the natives themselves.
Hardly any better, the Rev. Mr Rebman, who is supposed to have
discovered in 5° S. lat., and 3 or 400 miles within the eastern coast
of Africa, a mountain reaching above the limits of perpetual snow, and
which may be the source of the Nile on the one hand, and of the rivers
which feed the great lake Ngami on the other; for though he has been
twice to the mountains, yet he has sent home such puerile statements,
that the fact of its being snow at all which was _thought_ to have
been seen, is now contested; and the height, latitude, longitude, &c.,
of the mountain are quite uncertain.
Mr Livingston has done much better than this, though there is almost
everything for the geographer, the botanist, &c., to do; but no fault
is to be imputed to him, he had a higher object in view: we mention
the case so prominently here, rather to incite scientific men to go
and do their part. We append Mr Livingston's letter to the end of this
notice, and will merely condense here the principal notabilia.
The latitude of the E. corner of the lake at its junction with the
effluence the Zonga, was measured with a sextant, to be 20° 20´ S. The
longitude was estimated at 24° E., consequently about midway between
the E. and W. coasts. The height above the level of the sea was
thermometrically determined at 2200 feet. The length and breadth were
stated by the natives at 70 and 15 miles; Mr Livingston saw in the
former direction an uninterrupted horizon of water.
The feeder of the lake coming down from the north was described only
by the natives; but its water being very clear, even during its annual
risings, and these being incomprehensible to the inhabitants of that
part of the country, this course may be expected to be long, and not
improbably rising from a snowy mountain.
The effluent of the lake, the Zonga, was travelled along by Mr L. for
300 miles; as the water was clear, the stream placid, the banks
thickly clothed with beds of reeds, and the height above the sea 2200
feet,--it may be presumed that this river does _not_ communicate with
the ocean, and that it is gradually dissipated like other rivers there
by evaporation and absorption.
The banyan, the palmyra, and the baobab, taking the place of the
cactus, aloe, euphorbia and acacia, indicate the arrival in a better
watered country and a totally different botanical region than any
previously reached from the Cape.
The inhabitants of the lake "Bayeiye," seem to be a new race; their
language was unknown; and they possess several remarkable habits and
customs totally at variance with the characteristics of all the South
African tribes, Hottentots, Bushmen, Caffres, Bechuana, Zoolahs, &c.,
south of the tropics; as for instance, their having _canoes_, killing
the hippopotami with harpoons attached to ropes, and catching fish in
nets.
The head of a fish which abounds in the lake, as well as a fearful fly
which stings the oxen to death, have been sent home, and are declared
to be new.
In conclusion, we have the pleasure of adding that although the
Geographical Society could not exactly award with propriety their
Royal gold medal to discoveries in their science; made in a secondary
point of view, and but indifferently described, when it should be
reserved for a Bruce or a Humboldt,--yet they have with great
satisfaction and alacrity awarded the value of the medal in money; and
it is devoutly to be hoped that Mr L. may be spared to continue the
exploration which he has thus auspiciously begun. P. S.
_Letter from the Rev. David Livingston, addressed to the
Rev. Arthur Tidman, Foreign Secretary, London Missionary Society._
_Banks of the River Zonga, 3rd September 1849._
DEAR SIR,--I left my station, Kolobeng (situated 25° South lat.,
26 East long.), on the 1st of June last, in order to carry into
effect the intention, of which I had previously informed you, viz.
to open a new field in the North, by penetrating the great
obstacle to our progress, called the Desert, which, stretching
away on our West, North-West, and North, has hitherto presented an
insurmountable barrier to Europeans.
A large party of Griquas, in about thirty waggons, made many and
persevering efforts at two different points last year; but, though
inured to the climate, and stimulated by the prospect of much gain
from the ivory they expected to procure, want of water compelled
them to retreat.