of a gun, or crack of a rifle, or whether he deems it a defiant threat, whatever the reason may be the instant the report is heard, and the marksman misses, the gorilla turns and rushes upon him, and no mortal can withstand the force of this impetuous onslaught. A single blow from his enormous foot, armed as it is with most formidable claws, will tear out the bowels, break in the breast, or fracture the skull. Negroes have been seen to turn upon the gorilla in sheer despair with the intention of aiming at him their already discharged musket or to strike with it, but they have not had a second to raise it, the arm of the brute descending with all its stupendous weight and shattering limb and gun. "I know of no animal," says the author, "whose attack is so fatal to man, for the reason that he dares to confront him face to face, with his arms for weapons of offence, exactly like a boxer, with the exception that he has longer arms, and the vigour far surpassing any athlete who has ever claimed the suffrages of the ring." Fortunately the gorilla dies as easily as a man, for a well-directed blow in the chest will lay him prostrate-" he falls forward on his face, his arms widely extended, and heaving with his last breath a frightful dying cry, half roar, half wail, which though a signal of safety for the hunter, nevertheless resounds painfully in his ear, like the supreme utterance of human agony." The gibbons do not exceed three feet, and when captured easily become domesticated. The chimpanzee approaches nearest to man, more especially the black chimpanzee of the forests of the Gaboon and the coast of Angola and Guinea. Of all the simonidæ, he alone has calves to his legs. He has no tail, and other peculiarities in certain degrees identify a resemblance to human beings. It is said, as he grows older his intelligence gradually disappears, and that he becomes fiercer, and his disposition less tractable. The highest stature attained by the chimpanzee is put at four feet and a-half. The unwillingness of some animals to lacerate or otherwise injure the prostrate body of man when motionless is manifested with the white bear. The Ostiaks and Yakouts, people in the northern-most districts of Siberia from the Oural Mountains to Kamtschatka, confront them without any other weapon than a hatchet or long cutlass, either of which must be used with extreme skill and vigour, so that the first blow delivered should slay, for otherwise great danger is incurred, and the hunter's only resource is then to throw himself on the ground, lying motionless until the bear, while sniffing and smelling and turning him over offers itself to his sudden attack. The Arctic bear, which seldom is found on the land, betakes itself to floating ice-fields; seals and the dead bodies of whales, and occasionally live ones are his chief food, considerable cunning and adroitness being exhibited in catching the seals; man in urgency becoming his prey. They possess prodigious power, and have been met with nine and ten feet in length, though this is far beyond their average. The male, mother, and their young, we learn, are united by the ties of an affection which manifest intrepid devotion, the female watching over her cubs with the most anxious solicitude, and defending them to the last extremity. One morning the look-out man of a vessel belonging to a small squadron commanded by Captain Phillipe, signalled the approach of three bears, which, attracted by the scent of some seal's flesh roasted on the prior evening, were approaching. The three consisted of a she-bear and her two cubs. The seamen firing at the latter, killed them both, the mother being wounded only. We are told that she then carried to them a piece of flesh she had taken, and divided it into two portions, which she placed before them. Seeing that they did not eat, she touched them alternately with her fore-paws, and endeavoured to raise them, uttering at the same time the most lamentable groans. Then she withdrew, halted a few paces, and summoned her little ones by a low sad cry. As they remained insensible to her maternal appeal, she returned to them, moved them anew, smelt them on every side, dragged them some distance, again returned, still moaning piteously and bewailing, and then licked their wounds and again called them; her tenderness, sorrow, and distress drawing tears from the sailors. When convinced that her cubs had really ceased to live, as though comprehending what had actually occurred, she stood up half erect by a great effort, and, turning towards the ship, roared out her agony and revenge, in unmistakable imprecations, against the murderers; and when they delivered the contents of their muskets, she fell between her two little ones, and died licking their wounds. It is so rare an event for a fight between man and bird to arise that, before closing our notice of this enjoyable volume, we shall mention the instance of such a contest recorded in it. Of all the denizens of the air the condor soars the highest. He has been seen towering on a level with the snow-crowned summit of Illinani, twenty-three thousand feet above the level of the sea, breathing an atmosphere which, from its excessive rarefaction, man's respiration could not endure. Possessing the habits and voracity of others of the vulture tribe, he unites with these enormous strength, boldness, and audacity. Swooping down upon various animals far and far beneath his peering gaze, his talons, blunted by their constant attrition upon the rocks, cannot sufficiently pierce or retain their hold upon a victim that it may be bodily carried off, and, therefore, fixing it firmly against the ground where the capture has been effected, he tears it to pieces with his beak, and, when gorged with the meal becomes incapable of flight, though, upon any endeavour being made to secure him, offering a vigorous determination not to yield up his liberty. It so happened that a stalwart Chilian miner, seeing one in this condition, resolved to make a capture, and bracing nerve and muscle for the tussle, in ordinary parlance, closed with the condor, which, undaunted, was ready to receive him. The combat was obstinate and prolonged, until the miner, bleeding and exhausted, was compelled to beat a retreat. Joining his mates, he told them of his adventure, and away they went in search of the gallant bird, which was beheld on the same spot, standing erect and flapping his wings striving in vain to fly away from the assembled forces bent upon his destruction. Alas! numbers prevailed; and, utterly unable to get beyond their reach, the fine fellow was eventually killed by a hatchet, after a gallant struggle with his foes. The book contains a hundred and fifty or sixty illustrations. SALES OF BLOOD STOCK. In France: M. LUNEL'S STUD. £ Partlet (1849), by Irish Birdcatcher out of Gipsy, by Tramp; covered by The Flying 28 Bonelle (1861), by The Nabob out of Bataglia, by Melbourne; covered by The Flying 46 Mitraille (1854), by Alarm out of Nollay (sister to Voltigeur), by Voltaire; covered by 44 Fornarina (1860), by Monarque out of Fraudulent, by Venison; covered by The Flying 62 88 208 Lady Joan (1854), by John o' Gaunt-Venus, by Sir Hercules; covered by The Fly- Confidence (1866), by West Australian out of Cosachia, by Hetman Platoff; covered Nuage, b c, 3 years, by Marignan out of Nomade, by Caravan (M Nanquette) Nation, ch 1, 2 years, by West Australian out of Nomade (M A. Quicke)... Cœur de Lion, gr e, by The Flying Dutchman out of Clotilde (M Mapart) FOALS OF 1868. La Baronne, b f, by The Flying Dutchman out of Bonelle (M Delatre) By Messrs. Tattersall, at Knightsbridge, on Monday, Feb. 22nd: BROOD MARES FROM THE BAYTHORPE STUD. Trousseau (foaled 1819) by Gameboy, out of Bridal, by Bay Middleton (Lord Rosslyn) Smut (foaled 1854), by Womersley, dam by Hampton (dam of Chimney Sweep); covered by Drumour (Lord Feversham) Satanella (foaled 1857), by Loup Garou, dam by Jerry, out of Jenny Jumps, covered by Macaroni (Mr. Watkins) Venom (foaled 1855) by Harkaway, out of Fawn, by Venison; covered by Cavendish (Mr. H. Ray) TWO-YEAR-OLDS (UNBROKE). Bf by Crater, out of Botany, by Melbourne (Mr. T. Brown) Bf by Saunterer, out of Actress by Annandale (Mr. Christopher) Ch c by Scottish Chief, out of Practice, by Enclid (Mr. J Merry) 88 11 34 300 90 GS. 20 56 44 63 36 25 25 50 50 20 50 Bf by Scottish Chief, out of Sweetbriar, by Sweetmeat (Mr. T. Brown) Ch f by Rinaldo, out of Tiff, by Slane (Mr. Chaston) Marsh Heron, b h, 7 yrs, by Marsyas, out of Mrs. Fowler, by Heron (Mr. Nightingall) Sale of the late Mr. Heathcote's Stud, by Messrs. Tattersall, at Epsom, on April 17 : Skirmish, aged, by Skirmisher, out of Lady Langton (Mr J. Nightingall) Chivalry, 4 yrs, by Tournament, out of Spot (Mr Stevens) Slowman, 3 yrs, by Amsterdam, out of Touch Me Not (Mr J. Nightingall) Aeronaut, 2 yrs, by Adventurer, out of Anxiety (Mr J. Reeves) Onyx, 3 yrs, by Ruby, out of Pride (Mr Stevens) The Laird, 4 yrs, by Lord of the Isles, out of Rustic's dam (Lord Stamford) Beeswing, 6 yrs, by Newminster, out of The Sphynx; served by Ely (Rev. F. Heathcote) Canzonette by Fazzoletto, out of Calista, with a foal by Savernake (Mr Bromsgrove) Some hunters and half-bred stock were also sold. GS. 210 36 210 250 50 75 200 55 520 20 450 105 60 41 MEETING OF THE JOCKEY CLUB. The annual general meeting of the Jockey Club was held at Newmarket, on Wednesday in the Craven Meeting. Present: The Duke of Beaufort, the Duke of Newcastle, and Hon. Admiral Rous (stewards), Count Batthyany, Mr. Batson, Lord Calthorpe, Mr. Chaplin, Mr. W. S. Crawfurd, Lord Durham, Col. Forester, Sir Joseph Hawley, Sir F. Johnstone, Capt. D. Lane, Sir C. Legard, Col. Lowther, Lord George Manners, Mr. Payne, Mr. Savile, Prince Soltykoff, Lord Stamford, Lord Westmorland, and Lord Wilton. Sir Reginald Graham, Bart., Lord Colville, and Col. J. D. Astley were elected members of the Jockey Club. The accounts for the year ending December 31, 1868, were presented and passed. Lord George Manners was appointed steward, in the place of the Duke of Beaufort, who retired by rotation. His Grace the Duke of Beaufort was appointed a member of the Bentinck Fund Committee, in the place of Mr. Payne, who retired by rotation; and Col. Lowther was also appointed a member of the committee, in place of the Earl of Glasgow, deceased. It was proposed by the stewards, and unanimously resolved, that the notice to Mr. Willes not to come on Newmarket Heath be now withdrawn. The stewards, taking into consideration the satisfactory state of the finances, recommended a reduction of the half-yearly charges to members of the new rooms and coffee room, for subscriptions to the race fund and stands, from £3 13s. 6d. to £2. Members of the Jockey Club will not be charged for entrance to the stands, being their own property; and members of the new rooms and coffee room will have the option of purchasing a life ticket for £10, which will free them from the subscription to the race fund and stands, in the event of attending the races without going into the club house. Unanimously agreed to. It was unanimously resolved that rule of racing No. 40 be repealed, and the following substituted: "In all handicaps, when the highest weight accepting is under 8st. 121b., it shall be raised to that weight, and the others in proportion." Admiral Rous stated that for a selling race in Ireland it had been made a condition that any of the beaten horses might be claimed for the price for which he was entered to be sold, without the addition of the amount of the stake; and his opinion had been asked whether horses running for this race would be disqualified for entry in handicaps under rule 59, which is also in force in Ireland. He was of opinion that they would not be disqualified, and moved a resolution to that effect, which was carried by a large majority. The stewards having asked the opinion of the meeting on the following question, viz., "Whether a horse, which is entitled to an allowance of weight for not having won a certain sum of money, is disqualified as a winner in the event of his neglecting to avail himself of that allowance without making a declaration of carrying over-weight?" it was unanimously resolved that he is disqualified. Admiral Rous's motion to appoint a committee of members of the Jockey Club was withdrawn. Some further business of a local nature was transacted, and the meeting adjourned. The stewards of the Jockey Club have remitted the sentence of exclusion from riding passed on Joseph Kendall in 1863. Wild Oats was struck out of the Derby on Monday, April 26th, at two o'clock. Printed by Rogerson and Tuxford, 265, Strand, London. 20 1 20 20 20 ... 1 5 9 20 25 1 : |