dence, in this, taking care that their instincts shall stimulate them to change their quarters, when these two objects can be answered at the same time, and by a single removal.

'In North America, that ferocious and lion-like animal, the bison, called there the buffalo, forms regular migrations, in immense herds, from north to south, and from the mountains to the plains; and, after a certain period, returns back again. Salt springs, usually called salt-licks or salines, found in a clay compact enough for potter's clay, are much frequented by these animals; whence they are called buffalo salt-licks. Dr. Richardson informs me, that the periodical movements of these animals are regulated almost solely by the pastures; when a fire has spread over the prairies, it is succeeded by a fine growth of tender grass, which they are sure to visit. How the bison discovers that this has taken place, seems not easily accounted for; perhaps stragglers from the great herds, when food grows scarce, may be instrumental to this.

'The musk-ox, a ruminating animal, between the ox and sheep, has the same habit, extending its migratory movements as far as Melville, and other islands of the Polar Sea, where it arrives about the middle of May; and going southward towards the end of September, where it has been seen as low as latitude 67° N., which, as Dr. Richardson observes, approaches the northern limit of the bison. Its food, like that of the rein-deer, or caribou, is grass in the summer, and lichens in the winter. Its hair is very long; and—as well as that of the bison, which has been manufactured, both in England and America, into cloth-might be woven into useful articles. This animal inhabits, strictly, the country of the Esquimaux, and may be regarded as the gift of a kind Providence to that people, who call it oomingmak, and not only eat its flesh, but also the contents of its stomach, as well as those of the rein-deer, which they call norrooks, which, consisting of lichens and other vegetable substances, as Dr. Richardson remarks, are more easily digested by the human

stomach when they are mixed with the salivary and gastric juices of a ruminating animal

'The wild rein-deer, in North America, in the summer,' as the excellent man and author lately mentioned, states, 'seek the coast of the Arctic Seas. It is singular, that the females, driven from the woods by the musquitoes, migrate thither before the males, generally in the month of May (some say in April and March); while the latter do not begin their march till towards the end of June. At this time the sun has dried up the lichens on the barren grounds; and the moist pastures in the valleys of the coasts and islands* of the above seas, afford them sufficient food. Soon after their arrival, the females drop their young. They commence their return to the south in September, and reach the vicinity of the woods towards the end of October. After the rutting season, which takes place in September, the males and females live separately; the former retire deeper into the woods, while the pregnant herds of the latter remain in the skirts of the barren grounds, which abound in the rein-deert and other lichens. In the woods, they feed on lichens which hang from the trees, and on the long grass of the swamps. The males do not usually go so far north as the females. Columns, consisting of eight or ten thousand of these caribous, so numerous are they in North America, may be seen annually passing from north to south in the spring, infested and attacked in their progress by numbers of wolves, foxes, and other predaceous quadrupeds, which attack and devour the stragglers.

"The prong-horned antelope, as well as the rein-deer, appears to go northward in the summer, and return to the south in winter.

'Dr. Richardson remarks to me in a letter-"The musk

* There seems to be a trifling inaccuracy here. In the month of June, the ice has ceased to bridge the northern seas; and the males cannot reach the islands if they do not arrive sooner than this period.-H. D. † Cenomyce rangifernia.—Achar.

+ Antelope furcata.

ox and rein-deer feed chiefly on lichens, and therefore frequent the barren lands and primitive rocks, which are clothed with these plants. They resort, in winter, when the snow is deep, to the skirts of the woods, and feed on the lichens which hang from the trees; but, on every favourable change of weather, they return to the barren grounds. In summer, they migrate to the moist pastures on the sea-coast, and eat grass; because the lichens on the barren lands are then parched by the drought, and too hard to be eaten. The young grass is, I suppose, better fitted for the fawns, which are dropt about the time the deer reach the coast." In all this, we see the hand of Providence, directing them to those places where the necessary sustenance may be had."

Mr. Kirby might have added to this latter observation, another, which seems to be not less striking, and which we have already noticed, in reference to some of the winged tribes; that the chief reason why the rein-deer is taught to seek the north for the birth-place of its young, is, that there the latter are comparatively unmolested by those ferocious beasts of prey, which inhabit the more southerly regions, and which would assuredly greatly diminish their numbers, if they did not entirely exterminate the race, were the fawns to reside in the neighbourhood of these hordes of enemies, before they had acquired sufficient swiftness and strength to elude pursuit. This provision of Providence is truly wonderful. At the time appointed for the dropping of their young, the food of the rein-deer, as well as of the musk-ox, is to be found in abundance, at a distance from the chief -haunts of their natural enemies; and thus these peaceful tribes are led, by a kind of double instinct, to the preservation of their species, both as regards its maintenance and reproduction.

In speaking of the migrations of the rein-deer, I must not omit to mention a striking peculiarity, which belongs to this as well as some other of the more intelligent species of ani

* Kirby's Bridgewater Treatise, vol. i. p. 94.

mas; their motions appear to be directed by leaders of their own species, whom they implicitly obey, and who head their march. As they are gregarious animals, such an instinct must be exceedingly useful to them, in the unfrequented wildernesses through which they travel. They will thus profit by the experience of their captain, who is always probably one of the oldest and most experienced of the herd; for, that many of the inferior animals do learn by experience, and thus show a sagacity above mere instinct, it is impossible to doubt. The same subjection to leaders, in their movements, is observable in the elephant. The Hottentots told Mr. Pringle, that, in the dense thorny forests, the great bull elephants always march in the van, bursting through the jungle, treading down the prickly brushwood, and breaking off with their trunks the larger branches that obstruct their passage, while the females and younger part follow them in single file.

That the younger or more feeble should voluntarily subject themselves to the guidance of the stronger, indicates a fine instinct; but it is not so surprising in the case of the elephant, where it would appear that all the largest males of the herd take the precedence, as it is in the instance of the rein-deer, who seem to select a single leader, and obey him, as if he were invested with lawful authority. By what principle, whether of instinct or of something approaching nearer to the faculty of reason, this sagacious race look up, with common consent, to one individual of the herd, it seems difficult to determine; but, however this may be, it does not less display the paternal care of the Creator. Something approaching to the same habit is found in other gregarious animals. The Mongalian antelopes have their leader, whom they follow in regular files. The old ram of the flock,the bull among the kine,—the dunghill cock, who has proved his superior prowess and courage,—each, in its own department, exercises a sway,-approaching, in the last mentioned, to a species of petty despotism,-which indicates an inferior degree of the same principle. Indeed, were we bet

ter acquainted with the habits of gregarious animals, the remarkable property of subjection to a superior, would probably be found to be far more extended, than may at first sight appear; for wherever living beings congregate and act in concert, some presiding intellect, if not absolutely necessary, is yet of great utility; and it is a new instance of the wisdom and benevolence of the Creator, that, where He has been pleased to bestow the social instinct, He should also have so generally bestowed a quality, by which the peace and welfare of the respective communities are essentially promoted; and that, among the various tribes of lower animals, from the mighty elephant to the tiny bee,—the most wonderful of them all,—the important principle of subordination should be so widely diffused.

EIGHTH WEEK-FRIDAY.

CHRISTMAS-DAY.

THIS day is usually consecrated to the remembrance or solemn celebration of our blessed Lord's nativity. Though not disposed to look with favor on the pompous ceremonials with which it is greeted by several branches of the Church, even were it clearly proved to be the true anniversary, we yet deem it a profitable and pleasing duty to turn our thoughts this morning to the great event which occurred at Bethlehem, and which was destined to usher in the dawn of our glorious day.

Who, then, was He that was born at Bethlehem, and whose birth was attended by every circumstance of poverty and meanness? The humble mother, the lowly stable, the manger, the poorness and obscurity of the place, the absence of all public rejoicing, declared it to be no earthly Prince that was born, the joy of his sceptered father, and the hope of nations; but only an infant who might, in future years, have nowhere to lay his head, and might live and die unknown.