rescued him when there seemed not a moment between him and

eternity.

The longevity and gentleness of the elephant are beautifully set forth, by that great poet of nature, Thomson :

"With gentle might endued,

Though powerful, yet not destructive; here he sees
Revolving ages sweep the changeful earth,

And empires rise and fall;—regardless he
Of what the never-resting race of man

Project: thrice happy! could he 'scape their guile,
Who mine, from cruel avarice, his steps,

Or with his towering grandeur swell their state—
The pride of kings-or else his strength pervert,
And bid him rage amid the mortal fray,

Astonished at the madness of mankind."

The Rhinoceros.-This animal also seems among the cattle of the book of Genesis. It feeds entirely on vegetables. It neither attacks others, nor suffers himself to be attacked; but then, unlike the elephant, he is perfectly untractable. The form of the rhinoceros is very bulky; its usual length is about twelve feet, and height seven. One species of this family has two horns, one behind the other, on the snout; but those generally known have only one. This protects the whole face, and is a most formidable weapon; the tiger dreads it more even than the tusks of the elephant. Sometimes this horn is four feet in length, and six inches in diameter at the base. The skin of the rhinoceros is so impenetrable, that the fiercest and strongest animals cannot hurt it; but to relieve the animal from the insurmountable barrier that this would be to active movement, the skin is looser, and thinner in some parts, and is folded up into plaits, round the neck, shoulders, and rump, and thus the motion is easy and pliable. The feet, which, with all the limbs, are most massive, are furnished with three toes.

The Ant-Eater.-The several species of this singular animal all agree in one great peculiarity,—a long, cylindrical tongue, which supplies its want of teeth. The snout of the ant-eater is

THE ANT-EATER-THE ARMADILLO.

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one-fourth the length of the whole body. There exists a stuffed specimen of one of this family seven feet long, two feet high, the

tongue of which is thirty inches long. The ant is the common food of this animal, which it procures by laying its curious tongue over a whole host of this industrious family, and thus feeds to satiety. They are found in Guiana and the Brazils.

The Sloth. The name of this animal is descriptive of the inactivity of its character. The size of the sloth is about that of the badger. It is a harmless, inoffensive animal; and feeds entirely on vegetables. It inhabits the eastern coasts of South America; and is also found in Ceylon and in India. It lives entirely in trees, about which it travels with great ease, hanging by its claws with its back downwards.

The armadillo is a very peaceable animal. It is between one and three feet in length; it resembles the tortoise in shape, and is

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muscular power of the paw is tremendous; with one stroke it will knock the strongest man to the ground.

The lioness is smaller than the lion, and has no mane. Her young, when first born, are about the size of a small dog. They are suckled about twelve months. She is not ferocious except when her young are attacked, but then her fury is unbounded; -she will even die in their defence.

"Roaring, she frights the herd, and shakes the plain,
Mocks the sling-stone, and snaps the spear in twain;
Still guards her young; the hunter's motions thwarts,
And wrenches from her side the reeking darts."

The strength of the lion is such, that one stroke of his paw will break the back of a horse; and he seldom bites till he has struck his prey dead. At the Cape he has been known to take off a heifer as a cat does a mouse. Some writers, who have seen a good deal of this animal, do not speak very highly of his courage, excepting when impelled by hunger; for instance, if he springs upon an enemy, and misses his leap, he will give up his prey. In this, my dear children, we see mercy from Him who gave even this formidable animal this trait, so beneficial to man and beast.

The lion in general springs on his prey; but sometimes follows it. Dr. Sparrman gives a most interesting account of the deliverance of a native of the Cape Country. "A Hottentot perceiving that he was followed by a lion, and concluding that the animal only awaited the approach of night to make him his prey, began to consider of the best mode of providing for his safety, and at length adopted the following:-Seeing a piece of ground with a precipitate descent on one side, he sat down by the edge of it, and observed to his great joy that the lion also halted at a distance from him. As soon as it was dark, the man sliding gently forward, let himself below the steep, and held up his cloak and hat a few feet, gently moving them backward and forward. The lion, after a while, came creeping for

ward, and mistaking the cloak and hat for the man, he sprang headlong and precipitated himself over the descent."

When this king of the forest has become acquainted with man's power, his courage has been so lost that a shout of the human voice has been known to drive him away; and the fear of man and the dread of him has been upon him. (Gen. ix. 2.) The lion, with almost all this family, is carnivorous, that is, feeds on flesh, and in common with this class of animals, has a ferocious nature. This, we have reason to believe, was not his primeval or first character; nor will it be in those days of peace foretold in prophecy, when "The wolf shall dwell with the famb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the fatling, and a little child shall lead them." (Isa. xi. 5.) Cowper thus beautifully describes those days of peace:—

"The Lion, the Leopard, and the Bear,

Graze with the fearless flock; all bask at noon
Together; or all gambol in the shade

Of the same grove, and drink one common stream.
Antipathies are none. No foe to man

Lurks in the Serpent now; the mother sees

And smiles to see her infant's playful hand
Stretched forth to dally with the crested worm,
To stroke his azure neck, or to receive

The lambent homage of his arrowy tongue."

The Tiger.-The tiger is a native of Asia, and is met with as far north as Chinese Tartary; but India and the Indian Islands are his principal home. He is somewhat less than the lion, and decidedly more ferocious; but of all quadrupeds, he has the most beautiful skin. On the face, belly, and throat, it is white; on the back, orange, marked with long, glossy transverse stripes of black.

The disposition of the tiger is most ferocious. It even fears not the lion; but will engage with it in single combat, and at times both die in the struggle.

The strength of this animal will be best illustrated by the following anecdote: "A peasant in the East Indies," says Mr.