PREFATORY NOTE

TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION.

It has been a privilege to make available to English readers a book which shows a great naturalist at his best—a book that presents the reader with a series of vivid pictures of wild life and scenery, painted from actual observation, and with all the truth and accuracy that belong to the artist and man of science combined. It consists of a number of papers or articles that were originally read as public lectures and were afterwards collected into a volume that has met with much success in Germany. The subjects treated range over a wide and varied field. Some of them are unfamiliar to the ordinary reader, and besides their inherent interest have the added charm of novelty; others, if more familiar, are here invested with a freshness and charm that such a trained observer and practised writer as the author could alone impart.

To the translation of the German original have been added an introductory essay, showing Brehm’s position among naturalist-travellers, an extended table of contents, an appendix containing a number of editorial notes, and an index. The number of pictorial illustrations has also been increased.

For a notice of the Author and his labours see the concluding part of the Introductory Essay.

M. R. T.
J. A. T.

University Hall,

Edinburgh, December, 1895.

CONTENTS.

	Page
Preface to German Edition,	[v]
Prefatory Note to the English Translation,	[vii]
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY BY THE EDITOR,	[xv]
THE BIRD-BERGS OF LAPLAND.
The legend of Scandinavia’s origin—The harvest of the sea—The doves of Scandinavia—Eider-holms and bird-bergs—The nesting of the eider-duck—Razor-bills and robber-gulls—Millions of birds—([Notes, pp. 565-566]),	[33]
THE TUNDRA AND ITS ANIMAL LIFE.
High tundra and low tundra—The jewels of the tundra—The flora of the tundra—The Arctic fox—The lemming—The reindeer—The birds of the tundra—Mosquitoes—([Notes, pp. 566-568]),	[63]
THE ASIATIC STEPPES AND THEIR FAUNA.
The steppe in summer and in winter—The coming of spring—The rendezvous in the reeds—The marsh-harrier—The home of larks—Jerboa and souslik—The archar sheep—The kulan and the ancestry of the horse—([Notes, pp. 568-571]),	[86]
THE FORESTS AND SPORT OF SIBERIA.
An ice-wilderness or not—The forest zone—Axe and fire—The pines—Hunting and trapping—The elk, the wolf, and the lynx—Sable and other furred beasts—Bear-hunting and bear-stories—([Notes, pp. 571-573]),	[120]
THE STEPPES OF INNER AFRICA.
The progress of the seasons—A tropical thunderstorm—Night in the steppes—Spiders, scorpions, and snakes—Mudfish and other sleepers—Cleopatra’s asp—Geckos—The children of the air—The bateleur eagle—The ostrich—The night-jar—The mammals of the steppe—Stampede before a steppe-fire—([Notes, pp. 573-576]),	[168]
THE PRIMEVAL FORESTS OF CENTRAL AFRICA.
Spring in the forest—The beautiful Hassanie—The baobab—Climbers and twiners—The forest birds and their voices—Sociable birds—Conjugal tenderness—Salt’s antelope—River monsters—A rain-lake—Hosanna in the highest—([Notes, pp. 576-578]),	[201]
MIGRATIONS OF MAMMALS.
Black rats and brown—Cousin man’s kindness to the monkeys—Migration of mountain animals—The restlessness of the reindeer—Wandering herds of buffaloes—The life of the kulan—Travellers by sea—Flights of bats—The march of the lemmings—([Notes, pp. 578-581]),	[234]
LOVE AND COURTSHIP AMONG BIRDS.
Are birds automata?—The battles of love—Different modes of courtship—Polygamy—Life-long devotion—([Notes, p. 581]),	[259]
APES AND MONKEYS.
Sheikh Kemal’s story—The monkey question—A general picture of monkey life—Marmosets and other New World monkeys—Dog-like and man-like Old World monkeys—Monkeys as pets—The true position of monkeys—([Notes, pp. 581-583]),	[282]
DESERT JOURNEYS.
An appreciation of the desert—The start of the caravan—The character of the camel—A day’s journey—Oases—Simoom and sand storms—Fata morgana—The peace of night—([Note, p. 583]),	[318]
NUBIA AND THE NILE RAPIDS.
Egypt and Nubia contrasted—Wady Halfa and Philæ—The three great cataracts—Journey up and down stream—The Nile boatmen—History of Nubia—([Notes, pp. 583-584]),	[356]
A JOURNEY IN SIBERIA.
Russian hospitality—A tedious journey—An excursion into Chinese territory—Sport among the mountains—Journeying northwards—On the track of splenic fever—([Notes, p. 584]),	[390]
THE HEATHEN OSTIAKS.
Racial affinities—Christians and heathen—The dress of the Ostiaks—The tshum of the wandering Ostiaks—The life of the herdsmen—A fishing village—The Ostiak at the fair—An Ostiak wedding—An interview with a Shaman—Funeral rites—([Notes, pp. 584-585]),	[416]
NOMAD HERDSMEN AND HERDS OF THE STEPPES.
The name Kirghiz—Conditions of life on the steppe—Winter dwellings—Breaking up the camp—In praise of the yurt—The herds of the Kirghiz—The Kirghiz horse—Summer wanderings—“A sheep’s journey”—Returning flocks—Evening in the aul—([Note, p. 585]),	[451]
FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE AMONG THE KIRGHIZ.
The Kirghiz as horsemen—Racing and wrestling—Hunting with eagles and greyhounds—A sheep-drive—The “red tongue”—Kirghiz bards—Education and character—Kirghiz etiquette—The price of a bride—The children—Funeral ceremonies,	[482]
COLONISTS AND EXILES IN SIBERIA.
Mistaken impressions—Impartial observation—The emancipation of the serfs—The Altai—Compulsory service—Condition of the peasants—The superabundant harvest—Romance in Siberia—Domestic life open to the convicts—The way of sighs—General picture of Siberian life—Runaways—([Notes, pp. 585-586]),	[510]
AN ORNITHOLOGIST ON THE DANUBE.
Twenty eyries—The voyage down the river—The woods on the banks—A heronry—Sea-eagles—A paradise of birds—The marsh of Hullo—The black vultures of Fruškagora—Homeward once more—([Note, p.586]),	[540]
Index,	[587]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Fig.		Page
	Portrait of Alfred Edmund Brehm,	[Frontispiece].
1.	Scene on the Sogne Fjord, Norway,	[35]
2.	Colony of Eider-ducks,	[44]
3.	The Bird-bergs of Lapland,	[51]
4.	Razor-bills,	[61]
5.	The High Tundra in Northern Siberia,	[65]
6.	Peregrine Falcons and Lemmings,	[70]
7.	The White or Arctic Fox (Canis lagopus),	[73]
8.	The Reindeer (Tarandus rangifer),	[76]
9.	Skuas, Phalathrope, and Golden Plovers,	[80]
10.	View in the Asiatic Steppes,	[89]
11.	A Salt Marsh in the Steppes,	[90]
12.	A Herd of Horses during a Snowstorm on the Asiatic Steppes,	[94]
13.	Lake Scene and Waterfowl in an Asiatic Steppe,	[99]
14.	The Souslik (Spermophilus citillus),	[108]
15.	The Jerboa (Alactaga jaculus),	[108]
16.	Archar Sheep or Argali (Ovis Argali),	[111]
17.	Pallas’s Sand-grouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus),	[113]
18.	The Kulan (Equus hemionus),	[118]
19.	Reindeer Flocking to Drink,	[133]
20.	Elk and Black-cock in a Siberian Forest,	[137]
21.	The Maral Stag,	[145]
22.	The Elk Hunter—A Successful Shot,	[148]
23.	A Siberian Method of Wolf-shooting,	[153]
24.	Sable and Hazel-grouse in a Siberian Forest,	[159]
25.	The Bed of an Intermittent River, Central Africa,	[175]
26.	Hills of African Termites, or White Ants,	[179]
27.	Secretary-bird and Aspis,	[184]
28.	On an Ostrich Farm in South Africa,	[190]
29.	Hyæna-dogs pursuing Antelope,	[196]
30.	Zebras, Quaggas, and Ostriches flying before a Steppe Fire,	[199]
31.	The Baobab Tree, Central Africa,	[211]
32.	Long-tailed Monkeys,	[222]
33.	Salt’s Antelope (Antilope Saltiana),	[224]
34.	Crocodile and Crocodile-birds (Pluxianus ægyptius),	[228]
35.	A Wild Duck defending her Brood from a Brown Rat,	[236]
36.	A Herd of American Bison or Buffalo,	[243]
37.	Wild Horses crossing a River during a Storm,	[246]
38.	Flying Foxes,	[251]
39.	Springbok Antelopes,	[258]
40.	The Strutting of the Tragopan in Pairing-time,	[269]
41.	Cock Chaffinches Fighting,	[274]
42.	Entellus Monkeys (Semnopithecus Entellus),	[285]
43.	Common Marmoset or Ouistiti (Hapale Jacchus),	[292]
44.	Red Howling Monkeys (Mycetis seniculus),	[295]
45.	Old Baboon Rescuing Young One,	[301]
46.	Macaque or Bonnet-monkey (Macacus sinicus) and Snake,	[307]
47.	The Hoolock (Hylobates leuciscus), one of the Gibbons,	[310]
48.	Chimpanzee (Troglodytes niger),	[313]
49.	Caravan in the African Desert,	[323]
50.	An Encampment in the Sahara,	[328]
51.	Gazelles lying near a Mimosa,	[332]
52.	An Oasis in the Desert of Sahara,	[343]
53.	Band of Mounted Bedouins,	[353]
54.	An Egyptian Sakieh or Water-wheel,	[365]
55.	A Nubian Village on the Nile,	[374]
56.	Nubian Children at Play,	[377]
57.	A Passage through the Nile Rapids,	[385]
58.	A Post Station in Siberia,	[395]
59.	Imperial Eagle, Marmot, and Souslik,	[407]
60.	An Ostiak Settlement on the Banks of the Obi,	[409]
61.	Huts and Winter Costume of the Christian Ostiaks,	[419]
62.	“Heathen” Ostiaks, Reindeer, and Tshums,	[424]
63.	Ostiaks with Reindeer and Sledge,	[427]
64.	Interior of an Ostiak Dwelling (Tshum),	[435]
65.	The Burial of an Ostiak,	[449]
66.	The Home of a Wealthy Kirghiz,	[455]
67.	Life among the Kirghiz—the Return from the Chase,	[461]
68.	Kirghiz with Camels,	[467]
69.	Kirghiz and their Herds on the March in the Mountains,	[471]
70.	Kirghiz Aul, or Group of Tents,	[478]
71.	Hunting the Wolf with the Golden Eagle,	[487]
72.	Kirghiz in pursuit of Wild Sheep,	[489]
73.	Frolic at a Kirghiz Wedding,	[505]
74.	Miners in the Altai returning from Work,	[517]
75.	Exiles on the Way to Siberia,	[527]
76.	Interior of a Siberian Peasant’s Dwelling,	[532]
77.	Types of Siberian Convicts—“Condemned to the Mines”,	[535]
78.	Flight of an Exile in Siberia,	[538]
79.	Herons and their Nests,	[544]
80.	Rooks and their Nests,	[546]
81.	Sea-eagles and Nest in a Danube Forest,	[550]
82.	Nest of the Penduline Titmouse (Parus Pendulinus),	[562]