Part 17

Whoever takes a philosophical view of the subject of Natural History, 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.