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    October 9 > 1852.] THE LEADER. Qy S

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    THE LANDSCATE 1»ATNTKR IN CALABRIA. Jour...

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    Maogillivkay's Uiutlsh Ijittds. A Histor...

    beneficial effect on many of the present , and will more powerfully influence the next generation of our home-ornithologists . I had been led to think that I had occ asionally been somewhat rude , or at least blunt , in my criticisms ; but I do not nerceive wherein I have much erred in that respect , and I feel no inclination to anoloffize . I have been honest and sincere in my endeavours to promote the truth , With death , apparently not distant before my eyes , I am pleased to think that I have not countenanced error , through fear or favour . Neither have I in any case modified my sentiments so as to ende ' avour thereby to conceal or palliate my faults .

    Though I might have accomplished more , I am thankful for having been permitted to add very considerably to the knowledge previously obtained of a very pleasant subject . If I have not very frequently indulged in reflections on the power , wisdom , and goodness of God , as suggested by even my imperfect understanding of His wonderful works , it is not because I have not ever been sensible of the relation between the Creator and His creatures , nor because my chief enjoyment when wandering among the hills and valleys , exploring the rugged shores of the ocean , or searching the cultivated fields , has not been in a sense of His presence . ' To Him who alone doeth great wonders , ' be all glory and praise . Reader , farewell . "

    As we said , hie was a field naturalist , and tlie fresh mountain breezes salute us from bis pages . Much , of their charm lies in his enthusiasm , and in the invigorating pictures of Nature his enthusiasm paints . As an example : — " It is pleasant to hear the bold challenge of the Gor-cock at early dawn on the wild moor remote from human habitation , where , however , few ornithologists have ever listened to it . I remember with delight the cheering influence of its cry on a cold morning in September , when , wet to the knees , and with a sprained ancle , I had passed the night in a peat bog , in the midst of the Grampians , between the sources of the Tummel and the Dee . Many years ago , when I was of opinion , as I still am , that there is little pleasure in passing through life dry shod and ever comfortable , I was returning to Aberdeen from a botanical excursion through the Hebrides and the south of Scotland . At Blair Atholl I was directed to a road that

    leads over the hill , and which I was informed was much shorter than the highway . By it I proceeded until I reached Blair Lodge , where I obtained some refreshment , of which I stood greatly in need . The good woman very benevolently exerted herself to persuade me to remain all night , the hills being , as she said , bleak and dreary , entirely destitute of everything that could afford pleasure to a traveller , and even without human habitation , the nearest house being fifteen miles north . It was now six o ' clock , and I was certain of being benighted ; but I had promised to be at the source of the Dee by noon of next day , and all the dragons of darkness could not have prevented me from at least striving to fulfil my engagement . They had never beard of the spring in question , nor even of the river ; no Cairngorm could be seen ; and a woman just arrived from the Spey informed me that I should be under the necessity of going through Badenoch before I could get to it . I

    placed more confidence in my travelling map . All however shook their heads when I disclosed my plan , which was to ^ proceed eastward , cross a stream , get to the summit of a ridge of mountains , and so forth , until I should reach the first burn of the Dee , where I expected to meet my friend Craigie . It was sunset when I got to the top of the first hill , whence I struck directly east , judging by the place where the sun disappeared behind the rugged and desolate mountains . After traversing a mile of boggy heath , I found myself put out of my course by a long , deep , rocky valley or ravine , which 1 was obliged to double ; and before I had accomplished this night fell . I travelled on however about two miles farther , and coming upon another but smaller valley , in which I was apprehensive of breaking my neck if I should venture through it , I sat down by a rock , weary , and covered with perspiration . Rest is pleasant , even in such a place as this ; and when I had

    experienced a little of its sweets , I resolved to take up my abode there for the night . So , thrusting my stick into the peat between me and the ravine below , I extended myself on the ground , and presently fell into a reverie , reviewed my life , gave vent to the sorrow of my soul in a thousand reflections on the folly of my conduct , and ended with resolving to amend ! Around me wore the black masses of the granite hills rising to heaven like the giant barriers of an enchanted land ; above , the cloudless sky , spangled with stars ; beneath , a cold bed of wet turf ; within , a human spirit tortured with wild imaginings and the pangs of a sprained foot . ' In such a place , at such a time / and in such a mood , what are the vanities of the world , the pomp of power , the prido of ^ renown , and even the plcnsures of bird-nesting ! Having in a short time become keenly sensible that a groat portion « f vital heat bad oozed out of mo , I looked out for a warmer situation ; but , alas ,

    with little success ; for although I pulled some . stunted liettth and white moss , with which I covered my feet , and laid mo down by another crag that afforded more shelter , I could not sleep . After a while , having experienced a fit of shivering-, I got up to gather more heath , with which I formed a sort of bed , and lay down "gain . But oven heath was not to bo obtained in sufficient quantity , so that for a covering I was obliged to bury myself in moss and turf , with tho soil adhering . At long , long length , tho sky began to brighten in what 1 supposed to be the northwwt , and J was anxiously looking for the approach of morn , when gradually the piilo unwelcome moon rose over a distant hill . It was piercing cold , and I perceived that a strolling naturalist , however fervid bis temperament , could lianlly , if Hcantily clad , feel comfortable even among moss , in a bog of the ( Jninipirtns . What a blessing a jug of hot water would have been to such a stomach hh mine , aching with emptiness , and nothing , not even tripe-de-roche , to bo got to thrust into it , . However , morning actually cinne at lust , and I started up to renew my journey . H wii . s now that I got a view of my lodging , which was an amphitheatre

    H ) nii (!( l of bare craggy hills , covered with fragments of stone und white ino . su , : in < I wparuted by patches of peat bog . ISlot a houws was to bo seen , nor a sheep , nor < -vi ! M a tree , nor so much as a bliulo of green gninn . Not a vestige of life can be found hen ! , thought 1 ; but I wan reproved by a cry that startled mo . Tho Hcnrlet crest and bright , eye of a moor-cock were suddenly protruded from a tuft of hoather , u "d I hoard with delight the well-known ko / c , A ok , of the ' blessed bird , ' < ih tho "' tf hlanders call him . It was a good omen ; the night and < 1 illness had find , and ' li mped along as cheerily as 1 could . My half , frozen blood soon regained its 1 'ropor temperature ; ere long I . reached the huso of the rocky ridge , and after punning Homo hills , traversing : i long valley , ami ascending a mountain of considerable height , 1 took out my map , and looking eastward below ine , saw , to my great ^ infliction , a rivulet running for several miles directly in the course inurkod . I w » n annum ! that this stream , whether the nourco or not , ran into tho Dei * , us it I'i'oceoded eastward ; and therefore ) I directed my steps toward it . Hut hero too a " « me occurred which gave me great plouaiuo . Somo low croaking Houndo came from fcwiong the stone * around mo , and presently after ft ¦ plendid flock of grey

    ptarmigans , about fifty in number , rose into the air , and whirred past me , on their way to the opposite eminence . On the brow of the hill I found two large fountains , the sources of the stream below , of each of which I drank a mouthful , and proceeded . My friend , however , was not to be seen ; but it was too early ; and so to pass the time I explored another of the sources of the rivulet , that rose farther up in the glen . But at length , the scene became too dreary to be endured : — -desolate mountains , on whose rugged sides lay patches of snow that the summers' suns had-failed to melt ; wild glens , scantily covered with coarse grass , heath , and lichens ; dark brown streams , gushing among crags and blocks unenlivened even by a clump of stunted willows;—and I followed the rivulet , judging that it would lead to the river , and the river to the sea . For seven long miles I trudged along , faint enodfR , as you may suppose , having obtained no refre shment for eighteen hours , excepting two mouthfuls of cold water ; so that even the multitudes of grouse that sprung up around me , ceased to give much pleasure , although I had never before started so many , even with a dog , in a space of equal extent . "

    " Tell me , " said Nazi , " for you are wise , how is it Love brings all this sorrow into the world ? " Indeed , philosophers who probe the delicate secrets of the heart will find something curiously perplexing in the quarrelsomeness Love seems to engender not only in human beings but in animals . Bead this on the black grouse : — " Like the polygamous , or rather promiscuously-breeding quadrupeds , such as the stag , the males separate from the females and young , and during autumn and winter keep by themselves in small flocks , living together in harmony . Towards the middle of spring they separate , quarrel whenever they meet , and engage in desperate combats , in which several individuals frequently join . So intent are they on this occupation t hat a person may easily get near enough to shoot them . ^ At this season the supraocular space assumes a deeper red , and the bird manifests much activity and vivacity , but the g loss of its plumage , as alleged by some writers , following the popular notion that in the breeding season all birds are more

    gorgeously apparelled , is not brighter than in winter . Although destitute of spurs , it fights in the same manner as the domestic cock , lowering its head , erecting and spreading its tail , and leaping against its adversary , endeavouring to drive him off and if po ssible tear him to pieces . These combats , however , are less bloody than those of our game-cocks , although they are engaged in with so much earnestness that an unscrupulous fowler might easily carry destruction among the gallants . A cock who has beaten off his opponents from his favourite station , betakes himself to it morning and evening , struts in a pompous manner , with spread tail , and stiffened wings rustling against the ground , calls aloud with a harsh grating voice , and invites the neighbouring females , or rather challenges those of his own sex within hearing to come forward and dispute his claims to the favour of his elect bride . Whenlhis season of excitement is over , the males , forgetting their animosities , meet together , and endeavour to recruit their diminished energies by following their ordinary occupations in peace . "

    We must return to these volumes for other pleasant extracts , and now break off with— THE SCHOOLBOY ' S PET . " The boys in the Outer Hebrides often attempt to rear young doves , but their cares are seldom continued long enough . They introduce the food , dry barley grain , by the side of the mouth , which occasions inflammation and swelling of the basal ' margins of the mandibles . When a boy , I had a young rock dove , which I fed for some time in this manner , until the bill became tumid and sore , when , in consequence of advice from a friend , I took a mouthful of barley and water , and introduced the pigeon ' s bill , when the bird soon satisfied itself , flapping its wings gently and uttering a low cry all the while . It grew up vigorously , shed the yellow down-tips of its feathers , and began to fly about . Towards the middle of

    autumn it renewed its plumage , and assumed the bright and beautiful tints of tho adult male . Whenever I escaped from the detested pages of Virgil and Horace , the pigeon was sure to fly to me , and sometimes alighted on my bend or shoulder , directing its bill towards my mouth , and flapping its wings . Nor did it ever fly off with the . wild pigeons , which almost every dny fed near tho house , although it had no companions of its own species . At length some fatal whim induced it to make an excursion to a village about a mile distant , when it alighted on the roof of a hut , and the boys pelted it dead with stones . Long and true was my sorrow for my lost companion , the remembrance of which will probably continue as longas lite . 1 have since mourned tho loss of a f . ir dearer dove . They were gentle and lovely beings ; but while the one Iiuk been blended with the elements , the other remains ' bid with Christ in ( . iod / and for it I ' mourn not as those who have no

    hope . ' " What a touching retrospection , linking the happy days of childhood with tho grave and saddened days of" manhood !

    October 9 > 1852.] The Leader. Qy S

    October 9 > 1852 . ] THE LEADER . Qy S

    The Landscate 1»Atntkr In Calabria. Jour...

    THE LANDSCATE 1 » ATNTKR IN CALABRIA . Journals of a Landscape Painter in Hout / icrn Calabria , K [ C . My Kdward Lear . Uenlley . A MORK thoroughly fascinating volume of travels it Avould be diilieult , to name . Mr . . Edward Lear is a painter with the pen as well an with tho pencil ; and , unlike the generality of those who endeavour to reproduce in words tho images of beauty they have moved among in their travels , he has no affectations either of rhetoric or enthusiasm . M r . Lear eschews " imaginings , " but is vivid in his landscapes . The consequence is , that ; wo accompany bin wanderings with a fresh and healthy sense of I he loveliness of : ' . Nature , and participate in the emotions those scenes excited in him .

    A stylo like his would mako the beaten ( rack agreeable , but he has tho further incalculable advantage of a subject as yet unworn by tourists . Calabria , the bind of romance , lists been seldom visited , rarely described . The immo suggests Sal valor Rosa mid Mrs . JvadcliU ' e , with all thvir collateral associations of mountain fastnesses , caves , torrents , baridita , midnight murders , and " one-lianded" monks . Mr . Lear saw no bandits , not even a pointed hat ; oi . rrvai / r / tc , his eyes were feasted with a prodigality of loveliness ; and it will be dillicult for his readers— at least of the peripatetic class—to resist following in bin footsteps . lie and bis friend travelled on foot—by far the most agreeable method —accompanied by an excellent guide , upon whose horse Hut small baggage wan carried . There are few inns on this unfrequented route , and tho travellers therefore lived in tho howc-B of the various nobhnuen to whom they had . letteri of introduction . This of itwolf waa a moist fortunate

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 9, 1852, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09101852/page/17/