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] |