From the Miscellaneous Tracts, we opy only the following short article, (p. 23) copied from the Calcutta Monthly Journal. "As a party of gentlemen were in pursuit of snipe, in the vicinity of Dum-dum, they most unexpectedly roused a royal tiger. The animal immediately seized on the first person near him, which happened to be a native servant, who was carrying a gun, and killed him on the spot. "The gentlemen, alarmed as they were, did not retire from the place where the accident happened, without attempting to rescue the poor fellow from the jaws of the monster. They discharged their pieces at him; but, as they were all loaded with small shot, they made no sensible impression on him: he continued to devour his prey, until the sporting par、 ty assembled a number of the country people, who, by shouting, and beating of tom-toms, at length drove him off. "Intelligence of this unfortunate affair was immediately dispatched to Calcutta, for the information of some keen sportsmen, who delight in the manly exercise and dangerous amusement of tiger-hunting; the party was soon formed, and the gentlemen who composed it proceeded to the ground without delay, armed for the purpose, and mounted on elephants. "Nor were they long in finding out the ferocious animal, who was weltering in gore when they came up with him. An immediate attack began; but instead of retreating, the tiger made a successful spring, and fastened upon one of the elephants. The driver was not, however, dismayed; for, by a very severe blow struck with his hook on a tender part of the enraged animal, he forced him, to quit his hold. "Several shots were then fired at him, and although most of them took place, yet none had touched a vital part. The animal, however, became furious beyond description, running at and charging every thing that came near him, until one of the party, well known for his prowess, as well as dexterity in the field, intrepidly advanced upon him, and, with a hog-spear, pinned the grisly monster to the ground." p. 23. The poetical articles are but few, chiefly translations from Hafez: but the first article is intitled "Literary Characteristics of the most distin guished Members of the Asiatic Society. By John Collegins, Esq. From this we shall extract a few lines, containing the characters of Sir W. Jones and Mr. Richardson. "BRITANNIA's genius, eager to explore The mystic mines of Asiatic lore, With smiles benign accomplish.'d JONES address'd, And bid him trace the records of the East. He came the heavenly Gopia round him Alew, His presence every son of learning drew: Then first, ye scholars! met at his command, The father of the literary band. Than emanations from the solar light; To mix with seraphs in the realms above! The world admires the wond'rous talents given To this distinguish'd favourite of heaven; among, And his romantic grot with cypress hung; Alive! we prais'd the path sublime he trod ;Dead!-Learning hails him as her demigod! "To Burrow gone, be everlasting fame, With Archimedes, Muse! arrange his We shall close with an article of literary intelligence, which concludes the volume. "TO THE EDITOR. "SIR, "I am happy to find a part allotted in your valuable undertaking for ob 'ference for the officers of govern- 'short space of seven years, among a tumultuous race of Mahommedans and Hindus, bigots in religion and 'rivals in power, who had, for half a century before, spurned the one and disregarded the other, with equal contumacy and wantonness.' The author says, that, on account of bad health, he was compelled to relinquish his professional studies in that country; and that, therefore, he intended to have the work printed in England; but that, on his arrival in Bombay, he had the satisfaction to find a fount of types, in the Malabar character, executed, in an unexceptionable manner by Bheramjee Jeejebhoy, a Parsee inhabitant of that place; the ingenious artist, who, without any other help or information than what he gleaned from Chambers's Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, succeeded in complet ing a fount of Guzzeratty types à few years ago. servations on Oriental languages andpacity under the committee of goLiterature. The laudable exertions of vernment, during the turbulent pemany gentlemen in the service of riod of 1797, may, I hope, justify the honourable East India company, this remark on those unerring symp at their different settlements, de- toms of subordination to the laws, serves the highest encomiums. From ' and its concomitant security to perthe press at Calcutta many and vari-sons and property, produced in the ous have been the works on the native languages of Hindustan; the labours of Mr. Gladwin and Mr. Gilchrist are well known. The same spirit of inquiry seems to pervade the literati of the presidency at Bombay, from whose press I have to announce a Grammar of the Malabar language, by Robert Drummond, of the Honourable East India Company's Bombay Medical Establishment'. This work, which is a thin folio volume, was printed in 1799. The Grammar is dedicated To the Honourable Jonathan Duncan, whose strenuous and unwearied exertions, in opposition to polilitical prejudices and the mutual rancour of contending religious sects, equally intolerant in matters of faith, and impatient of all legal ⚫ restraint, have eminently contributed to the establishment of an enlightened system of jurisprudence in the province of Malabar, whereby the happiness of the people has been promoted, a state of the most 'atrocious licentiousness supplanted, ⚫ and the permanent interests of an important appendage to the British 'empire secured.' Mr. Drummond, speaking of the progress made by several European gentlemen in the MaJabar tongue, says, I think I may without arrogance predict, that, as this study is now become the principal pursuit of nearly all the company's servants in Malabar, the business of that fine province will in a short time be conducted in the language of the natives, with great case to the gentlemen serving there, and diguity to their honourable employers. I am authorized to draw this inference from the progressive • state of peace, good order, and de "With respect to the execution of this work, I must observe, that it ap pears to be drawn up in a clear and perspicuous manner. The following are its contents:-Alphabet. Chap. I. Of the vowels and consonants. II. Shewing the radical consonants with the vowels joined, and forming the first natural or simple syllables. Ill. Of double and triple compound consonants, in five classes. IV. Another order of letters whereby the Malabas make another form of double conse nants. Numerical marks —Lecture first. Of the declension of substan tives.-Lect. second. Of the gende and formation of the nouns, and the adjective.-Lect. third. Of pre nouns.-Lect. fourth. Of verbs ar their conjugation.-Lect. fifth. ( the conjugation of verbs.-Lect.six In these circumstances the man 'must be careful not to alight, as * he would infall bly be torn to pieces: he must also refrain from striking Of causal or effective verbs.-Lect. the impatience of their riders, stop seventh. Of verbs passive.-Lect. 'short, turn round their long neck to eighth. Of the verb personal.-Lect. 'bite them, and utter cries of rage. ninth. Of imperfect and anomalous verbs.-Lect. tenth. Of verbs of elegance.-Lect. eleventh. Of the other parts of speech-Lect. twelfth. On the orthography-Lect. thir-his beast, as that would but increase teenth. Of the principal seasons of the year, and of life; the signs of the zodiac, the months, days of the week, and planets. "Such are the outlines of this Grammar, and the execution seems to be equal to the excellent plan laid down by the learned author. I am happy to find, that this, as well as many other books on oriental subjects, have been imported by Mr. Debrett. Wishing success to your undertaking, I remain, R." CLXX. BINGLEY'S ANIMAL BIO VOL GRAPHY. (Concluded from puge 670.) OLUME II. This volume commences with a description of the camel, from the accounts of the habits and manners of which animal we extract the following from Sonnini. "They possess a very great share of intelligence, and the Arabs assert that they are so extremely sensible of injustice and ill-treatment, that when this is carried too far, the inflictor will not find it easy to escape their vengeance; and that they will retain the remembrance of an injury till an opportunity offers for gratify ing their revenge. Eager, however, to express their resentment, they no longer retain any rancour, when once they are satisfied; and it is even sufficient for them to believe they have satisfied their vengeance. Accordingly, when an Arab has excited the rage of a camel, he lays down 'his garments in some place near which The animal is to pass, and disposes them in such a manner that they appear to cover a man sleeping under them. The animal recognizes the clothes, seizes them in his teeth, shakes them with violence, and tramples on them in a rage. When his anger is appeased, he leaves them, and then the owner of the garments may make his appearance without any fear, load, and guide him as he pleases. I have sometimes seen them,' says M. Sonnini, weary of his fury. Nothing can be done but to have patience, and appease the animal by patting him with the hand, (which frequently requires some time), when he will resume his way and his pace of himself"." p. 3, 4. "The mode in which the loaded camels were made to cross the Nile, attracted the particular attention of Mr. Norden, as extremely singular; a man, he says, swam before, with the bridle of the first camel in his mouth; the second camel was tied to the tail of the first, and a third to the tail of the second: another man, sitting on a truss of straw, brought up the rear, and, by his directions, was employed in keeping the second. and third camels in their course." p.9. In the accounts of the stag, the method of hunting it is given. "The natives of Louisiana hunt these animals both for food, and as an amusement. This is sometimes done in companies, and sometimes alone. The hunter, who goes out alone, furnishes himself with the dried head of a stag, having part of the skin of the neck attached to it. This, a gun, and a branch of a tree, or piece of a bush, are all that he has need of. When he comes near any of the wild deer, hiding himself behind the bush, which he carries in his hand, he approaches very gently till he is within shot. If the animal appears alarmed, the hunter immediately counterfeits the deers' call to each other, and holds the head just above the bush; then lowering it towards the ground, and lifting it by turns, he so deceives the stag with the appearance of a companion, that he seldom fails to come towards it, in which case the hunter fires into the hollow of his shoulder, and lays him dead on the spot. "When they go in large parties, they form a wide crescent round one of these animals, the points of which may be half a mile asunder. Sonie, of them approach towards the animal, which runs, affrighted, to the other side, where, finding them on that part advancing, he immediately rushes back again. Thus he is driven from side to side, the crescent closing into a circle, and gradually approaching, till at length he is so much exhausted as no longer to be able to stand against them, but quiet-mortal, would run to the deserts and the animal, as the properest part; for should the falcon fix upon the creature's hip, or some other part of the body, the huntsman would not only lose his game, but his falcon too; for the beast, roused by the wound, which could not prove the tops of the mountains, whither its enemy, keeping its hold, would be obliged to follow, and being separated from its master, must of ly submits to be taken alive. It "We have a most animated description of the hunting of this beautiful animal in our own island: a pursuit that reflects disgrace on a country, which boasts over the world its civilization and humanity. For the untutored Indian of America we may plead the want of knowing better, but we have not the same apology to make for an Englishman and a Christian." p. 37, 38. The Arabians, says the author, hunt the antelope with a falcon, and then gives the following extracts. "I had (says Hasselquist) an ex⚫cellent opportunity of seeing this 'sport near Nazareth, in Galilee. An Arab, mounting a coarser, held the falcon on his hand, as huntsmen commonly do. When we espied the animal on the top of a mountain, he let loose the falcon, which flew in a direct line, like an arrow, and attacked the autelope, fixing the talons of one of his feet into its cheek, and those of the other into its throat, extending his wings obliquely over the animal; spreading one towards one of his ears, and the other to the opposite hip. The creature, thus attacked, made a leap twice the height of a man, and freed himself from the falcon; but, being wounded, and losing both its strength and speed, it was again attacked by the bird, which fixed 'the talons of both his feet into its throat, and held it fast, till the huntsman coming up, took it alive, and cut his throat. The falcon was allowed to drink the blood, as a reward for his labour, and a young ⚫ falcon, which was learning, was likewise put to the throat. By this means the young birds are taught to fix their talons in the throat of "Bell informs us, that in many parts of Persia the young hawks are taught, by being fed on the stuffed skin of one of these antelopes. He says further, that they are trained also to fly at foxes and wolves." p. 59, 60. The following instance of affection in an Arab for a horse is inserted in the account of that animal. "The whole stock of a poor Arabian of the desert consisted of a beautiful mare: this the French consul at Saïd offered to purchase, with an intention to send her to Louis XIV. The Arab, pressed by want, hesitated a long time, but at length consented, on condition of receiving a very con siderable sum of money, which he named. The consul wrote to France for permission to close the bargain, and having obtained it, sent immediately to the Arab the information. The man, so poor as to possess only a miserable rag, a covering for his body, arrived with his magnificent courser. He dismounted, and looking first at the gold, and then stedfastly at his mare, heaved a deep sigh: To whom is it (he exclaimed) that I am going to yield thee up? To Europeans! who will tie thee close, who will beat thee, who will render thee miserable! Return with me my beauty, my jewel! and rejoice the hearts of my children!' As he pronounced the last words, he sprang upon her back, and was out of sight almost in a moment. "What an amiable and affecting sensibility in a man, who, in the midst of distress, could prefer all the disasters attendant on poverty rather than surrender the animal that he had long fostered in his tent, and had been the child of his bosom, to what he supposed inevitable misery! The temptation even of riches, and an effectual relief from poverty, had not sufficient allurements to induce him to so cruel an act." p. 102, 103. Among other observations with which the author introduces his accounts of birds are the following on their various notes. cies only, when so many others are to be heard around them. This arises from the attention paid by the nestling-bird to the instructions of its own parent only, generally disregarding the notes of all the rest; but persons who have an accurate ear, and have studied the notes of different birds, can very often distinguish birds that have a song mixed with those of some other species; but these are in general so trifling, as scarcely to be looked upon as any thing more than the mere varieties of provincial dia. lects." p. 166, 167. The following accounts of the habits of a buzzard, extracted from the work of the Comte de Buffon, is inserted by the author. "It appears from very accurate observations, founded on numerous experiments, that the peculiar notes, or song, of the different species of birds are altogether acquired, and are no more innate than language is in man. The attempt in a nestling bird to sing, may be exactly compared with the imperfect endeavour of a child to talk. The first essay seems not to possess the slightest rudiments of the future song; but, as the bird grows older and stronger, it is not difficult to perceive what it is aiming at.-Whilst the scholar is thus endeavouring to form his song, when he is once sure of a passage, he commonly raises his tone, which he drops again when he is not equal to what he is attempting. What the nestling is thus not thoroughly master of, he hurries over, lowering his tone, as if he did not wish to be heard, and could not yet satisfy himself.-A common sparrow, taken from the nest when very young, and placed near a linnet and goldfinch, (though in a wild state it would only have chirped) adopted aout into my garden, and returned "In 1763 (says this gentleman) a buzzard was brought to me that had been taken in a snare: it was at first extremely savage and even cruel. I undertook to tame it, and I succeeded, by leaving it to fast, and constraining it to come and eat out of my hand. By pursuing this plan I brought it to be very familiar: and, after having shut it up about 'six weeks, I began to allow it a little liberty, taking the precaution, how'ever, to tie both pinions of its wings. In this condition it walked when I called it to feed. After some time, when I judged that I could trust to its fidelity, I removed the ligatures, and fastened a small bell, an inch and a half in diameter, above its talon, and also attached ' on the breast a bit of copper having my name engraved on it. I then 'gave it entire liberty, which it soon abused; for it took wing, and flew song that was a mixture of these two. Three nestling linnets were educated one under a skylark, another under a woodlark, and the third under a titlark, and, instead of the song peculiar to their own species, they adhered entirely to that of their respective instructor. A linnet, taken from the nest when but two or three days old, and brought up in the house of Mr. Mathews, an apothecary, at Ken-as far as the forest of Belesme. I gave it up for lost; but four hours after I saw it rush into my hall, which was open, pursued by five other buzzards, who had constrained it to seek again its asylum. sington, from want of other sounds to imitate, almost articulated the words "pretty boy,' as well as some other short sentences. Its owner said, that it had neither the note nor the call of any bird whatever. It died in the After this adventure it ever preyear 1772. These, and other well served its fidelity to me, coming authenticated facts, seem to prove every night to sleep on my window; decisively that birds have no innate it grew so familiar as to seem to notes, but that, like mankind, the take singular pleasure in my comlanguage of those to whose care pany. It attended constantly at they are committed at birth will be dinner, sat on a corner of the table, the language they adopt in after life. and very often caressed me with its It may, however, seem somewhat un- 'head and bill, emitting a weak accountable from these observations, sharp cry, which, however, it somewhy, in a wild state, they adhere so 'times softened. It is true that I steadily to the song of their own spe-alone had this privilege. It one |