Crossing Rivers on Skins (Vol. iii., p. 3.).—To the Latin authors cited by Janus Dousa illustrating this practice, allow me to add the following from the Greek. Xenophon, in his Anabasis, lib. iii. cap. v., so clearly exhibits the modus operandi, that I shall give a translation of the passage:
"And while they were at a loss what to do, a certain Rhodian came up and said, 'I am ready to ferry you over, O men! by 4000 heavy armed men at a time, if you furnish me with what I want, and will give me a talent as a reward.' And being asked of what he stood in need:—'I shall want,' said he, '2000 leathern bags; and I see here many sheep, and goats, and oxen, and asses; which, being flayed, and (their skins) inflated, would readily furnish a means of transport. And I shall require also the girths, which you use for the beasts of burden. And on these,' said he, 'having bound the leathern bags, and fastened them one to another, and affixing stones, and letting them down like anchors, and binding them on either side, I will lay on wood, and put earth over them. And that you will not then sink, you shall presently very clearly perceive; for each leathern bag will support two men from sinking, and the wood and earth will keep them from slipping."
Skins, or tent coverings, stuffed with hay, appear also to have been very generally used for this purpose (Vid. Id., lib. i. cap. v.). Arrian relates (lib. v. Exped. cap. 12.) that Alexander used this contrivance for crossing the Hydaspes:
"Αὐτὸς δὲ (Ἀλέξανδρος)—ἄγων ἐπὶ τὴν νῆσον καὶ τὴν ἄκραν, ἔνθεν διαβαίνειν ἦν ἐγνωσμένον. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐπληροῦντο τῆς νυκτὸς αἱ διφθέραι τῆς κάρφης ἐκ πολλοῦ ἤδη παρενηνεγμέναι, καὶ κατεῤῥάπτοντο ἐς ἀκρίβειαν."
E. S. Taylor.
Martham, Norfolk.
Curious Facts in Natural History (Vol. iii., p. 166.).—There is a parallel to the curious fact contributed by your Brazilian correspondent in the "vegetable caterpillar" of New Zealand. This natural rarity is described in Angas's Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand, vol. i. p. 291.:—
"Amongst the damp moss at the root of the rata trees, in the shady forests not far from Auckland, and also in various parts of the northern island, are found those extraordinary productions called vegetable caterpillars, the hotete of the natives. In appearance, the caterpillar differs but little from that of the common privet sphinx-moth, after it has descended to the ground, previously to its undergoing the change into the chrysalis state. But the most remarkable characteristic of the vegetable caterpillar is, that every one has a very curious plant, belonging to the fungi tribe, growing from the anus; this fungus varies from three to six inches in length, and bears at its extremity a blossom-like appendage, somewhat resembling a miniature bulrush, and evidently derives its nourishment from the body of the insect. This caterpillar when recently found, is of the substance of cork; and it is discovered by the natives seeing the tips of the fungi, which grow upwards. They account for this phenomenon, by asserting that the caterpillar, when feeding upon the rata tree overhead, swallows the seeds of the fungus, which take root in the body of the insect, and germinate as soon as it retreats to the damp mould beneath, to undergo its transformation into the pupa state. Specimens of these vegetable caterpillars have been transmitted to naturalists in England, by whom they have been named Sphæria Robertii."—Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand, by G. F. Angas: London, 1847, vol. i. p. 291.
I recently had several specimens of the insect, with its remarkable appendage, which had been brought from the colony by a relative.
R. W. C.