ish leap.
I have seen the thin nautilus trimming her sail,
And the Geyser-like waterspout made by the whale;
To this lord of the ocean there clung a whole bevy
Of parasite barnacles waiting his 'levee.'
I have seen the small soldier-crab coated in red,
With the shell of a whelk for a home overhead;
And the limpet, who, cased in a house of his own,
Shuts out all the air, and sticks fast to a stone;
And the fights of the quarrelsome swordfish and shark,
Which have lasted from morning until it was dark.

"Bright clusters of zoophite flowers I've seen,
Sea anemonies, purple, red, orange, and green,
That with petal-like fingers waylay the small fry
Who gaze on their hues, but gaze only to die;
Like the flower that buries a fly in its cup,
They draw in their feelers, and swallow them up.
One day, after lingering long in that place,
The cuttlefish spurted some ink in my face,
As it enter'd my eyes, for a time I was blind,
From a fish with three hearts this was very unkind.

"In the course of my travels I often have seen
Th' effects of the dreadful electric machine;
Of the gymnotus eel, with one stroke of his tail
He would make the stout African elephant quail,
Or the heart of the horny rhinoceros quake,
Oh! may he ne'er visit this land or this lake.
The small swimming spider, with silky lined cell,
I have seen her manoeuvre her own diving-bell.
They are endless the wonders of shallow and deep,
But I spare you the list, you are falling asleep."

The rest of the party amused themselves well,
Seeking insects and fruits in each dingle and dell:
Some stroll'd in the shade, others bask'd in the sun,
Whilst some with the cubs had a good game of fun.
The much injured hedgehog was hunting for plants,
The ant-bears, both greater and lesser, caught ants;
With their long slimy tongues hanging out from the mouth,
Though they thought they preferr'd the great grubs of the south.
Some traced out the store of the wild honey-bee,
Hoarded up in the trunk of an old hollow tree,
Then but sparingly tasted, although it was good,
Being told by their dams it was dangerous food.
The sloths, two and three toed, were hardly awake;
The fox caught his tail, and the Caiman a snake,
Which was wriggling along to a lark's low-built nest,
To tear the soft young from the mother's warm breast.
The sheep and the cow, in apparent dejection,
Were quiet