PREFACE. In the preparation of this work, the object has been to furnish a volume which would in itself form a complete library of knowledge and entertainment. Whatever is worth knowing, whatever is of absorbing interest respecting the history, manners and customs of strange and curious people; respecting the singular animals of pre-historic times and the marvels of natural history, including the curiosities and unique creations of the animal kingdom, will here be found. A natural division has been made according to the three great divisions of the universe, EARTH, SEA, AND SKY, and the result is a combination of Three Books in one Volume. In the first part of the work the reader is conducted through the countries and climes of the whole world. He is even led back to periods before the advent of man. The ancient world with its vast forests, remarkable deluges, strange animals and gigantic upheavals rises before him. He sees immense quadrupeds and birds, more monstrous than any of the imaginary creatures of old mythology. Coming down to a later period the reader visits the famous countries of the globe, climbs the mountain ranges of Asia, stands on " Alps piled on Alps," witnesses burning volcanoes, extinct craters, terrible avalanches and landslides, moving glaciers, earthquakes that swallow cities with thousands of their inhabitants, the brilliant aurora painted on the northern sky, and the fatal ravages of cyclones, and tornadoes. The marvelous relics that are discovered under the microscope, together with living creatures are computed by tens of thousands to the square inch. The various Races of Men, their customs, forms of government and religious rites, human sacrifices and savage wars are fully described. What exploits of heroism, and bravery in the face of danger and death it has Cost to explore these realms and reveal their amazing secrets! As may seen, the book abounds in strange adventures, startling situations, interesting anecdotes, descriptions of curious animals and the most fascinating revelations in natural history. be In the second part of the volume the reader is made a voyager over the world of waters and an explorer of its wonderful depths. He sees here the vast variety of inhabitants in the briny deep, comprising innumerable species of living creatures, from the coral insect, building its singular islands, up to the huge sea-serpent, that astounding monster and object of terror. He is shown in this World's Aquarium the lowest forms of life, fantas tic shrubs, brilliant sponges, bell-shaped jelly-fishes, the hairy medusæ, the glutinous hag, the curious star-fish, the electric torpedo, the fishing frog, creatures that wear armor, the savage cuttle-fish, the pearly nautilus, the flying-fish, the voracious shark, the singing-fish and other marvelous creatures whose multitude is as the sands of the sea. The perils of the deep, celebrated voyages and miraculous escapes, the most terrible shipwrecks, the dangers of whaling cruises and the loss of hundreds of lives, the notable feats of the diving bell and the deep seadredgings which have revealed miracles of creation in the cavernous depths of the ocean, the venturesome exploits of pearl-fishing: these and myriad other things are here placed before the reader in glowing descriptions, with elegant illustrations, the beauty and charm of which are apparent on every page. The reader finds that the volume does not end here, and that he has more worlds to conquer. He has yet to survey the starry universe and stand in awe before the abysses of infinite space, and be dazzled by the armies of light that sweep over the celestial plains. He gazes at Arcturus, Orion and the Pleiades; at clusters of nebula which are found to comprise countless orbs; at gigantic Suns, so distant that they are called fixed stars, arrayed, as the astronomer's telescope assures us, in all the gorgeous colors of the rainbow; at Constellations which must have been old when man was young, and at fieets of myriad orbs sailing in the upper deep, led by the Lords and High Admirals of Creation. He beholds showers of falling meteors, and the amazing flight of comets, "those emblazoned flags of Deity." Old astrology is likewise scanned, and ar.cient Superstitions and Grotesque Beliefs are described, together with Eclipses, Coronas, Auroras and all Celestial Fhenomena. CONTENTS. MARVELS OF THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. Curious Old Legends and Superstitions-A Chinese Quarryman-A Scandinavian God with his Sledge-Hammer-Strange Things Seen by a Sybil-The Crust of the Earth a Museum of Singular Relics-Footprints and Skeletons of Gigantic Birds and Four-Footed Animals-Enormous Sizes and Uncouth Forms-Extinct Species of Animal Life-An Immense Fish-Lizard-Extraordinay Marine Reptile-A Wing-Fingered Monster-A Freak of Nature-A Fossil Reptile Sixty Feet Long-The Scaly Hylæosaurus-Discovery of the Mammoth-An Island of Bones-The Huge Dinotherium-A Bulky Creature that could neither Walk, Leap nor Climb-Natural History Printed on Leaves of Stone-Marks of Raindrops, Trees and Birds on Rocks-Fossil Remains of Myriads of Minute Beings-Layers of Various Kinds of Shells Forming Marble of Great Beauty- PRE-HISTORIC MONSTERS OF LAND AND SEA. Astonishing Convulsions and Physical Revolutions-Fabulous Traditions-Histories of Reptiles Written in Stone-Gigantic Inhabitants of the Ancient Globe- Skeletons of Extinct Animals found in Rocks-A Winged Monster-Combat Between Enormous Reptiles-The Huge Megalosaurus-A Vampire of the Pre- Historic Age-A Creature Curiously Constructed-The Wing-Fingered Bird- The Famous Iguanodon-A Vivid Picture of the Early Ages-Animal Life in the Oolic Period-A Dragon on Wings-The Remarkable Dinotherium-The Strange Hand-Animal-The Glyptoden-The Primeval Armadillo-A Creature that could Swallow an Ox-Megatherium-Animals in Mortal Combat--A Bird Without Wings-Flowers in Stone-Fossil Fishes-Beautiful Shells...............58 CHATPER III. Signs of the Approaching Disaster-A Part of our own Country Sunk by a Convulsion-The Great Earthquake of Calabria-Human Beings Tossed in the Air-Heavy Objects Whirling About-Farms Changing Places-Jamaica Visited--Destruction of the City of Lisbon-The Sea Rushing Madly on the Shore-Terrible Loss of Life-Horrors Multiplied—Immense Fissures in the Earth-Great Calamity at Messina-Statistics Showing Appalling Destruction of Life-Charleston in Terror-Java and Southern Europe Shaken...................... ....106 Terrible Images of Grandeur-Open Mouths of Fire-The Earth a Seething Furnace Inside—A Lighthouse in the Eolian Islands-Dull Thunders Shaking Moun- tains-A River of Fire Thirty Miles Long-Violent Eruption of Mauna Loa—A Scene of Appalling Sublimity-Jets of Fire and Smoke a Thousand Feet High- Connection Between Earthquakes and Volcanoes-Hoffman's Vivid Description of Fiery Stromboli—A Volcano Bursting out of the Sea-Graham's Island in Conflagration-A Party Caught by a Deluge of Ashes and Hot Stones-Cities Buried Under Floods of Lava from Vesuvius-Remarkable Asiatic Volcanoes- A Strange New Zealand Tradition—The Sea Boiling and Driven Back.........120 ADVENTURES AMONG STRANGE PEOPLE. Beautiful Islands Long Veiled in Mystery-The First Voyage Around the World— Zoological Gardens—The Natives of the Pacific Isles-Various Types of Sav- ages-The Remarkable Island of New Zealand-Life Among the Maories- Weapons of War-A Figthing Race of Men-An Exciting Episode-Wicked Treachery-Hideous War Dances-Queer Performances of an Old Chief— Children Imitating the Art of War-Savage Cannibalism-Tragic Death of a Blind Queen-A Chief in War Costume-Witches and Witchcraft-A Native Priest-Huge Wooden Idols-The Sandwich Islands-Beauty of the Women- Expert Swimmers-Extraordinary Feats of Surf Swimming-The Dagger that Killed Captain Cook-A Splendid Race of Savages-Kamehameha Catching Spears-The Marquesans-Elegant Tattooing-A Chief Decorated from Head WILD TRIBES AND THEIR CURIOUS CUSTOMS. A Remarkable Uncivilized Nation in South America-Description of the Araucan- ians-A Curious Method of Shaving-A Hairy Upper Lip Thought to be Highly Improper-Disputes Settled by Pulling Hair-Women who Paint their Faces- Savages who Insist on Etiquette-Horses Superbly Decorated-Singular Saddle and Stirrups-Marriage Customs-An Exciting Elopement-A Furious Com- bat-Expert Horse-back Riders-Using the Lasso-Dangerous Adventure with a Wild Bull-The Animal in the Toils-Disgusting Cannibalism-Preferring Human Flesh to Pork-Old "Turtle Pond"-Savage Atrocity-A Fijian Legend-The Fijian Islander's Canoe-An Ingenious Contrivance-Expert |