canes, and grasses. A distant forest or woodland rivals the splendid
plumage of some tropical bird. We heard of "singing flowers," including
a water-lily which bursts open with a musical note, and of many plants
which are sensitive to heat as well as touch, and if Gazen be correct,
to electricity and magnetism. We saw one in a house which was said to
require a change of scene from time to time else it would languish and
die.

The borders of the lakes and ponds teemed with corals, delicate
seaweeds, and lovely shells. Innumerable fishes of gay and brilliant
hues darted and burned in the water like broken rainbows.

Reptiles are not very common, at least, in the cultivated zone; but we
saw a few snakes, tortoises, and lizards, all brightly and harmoniously
marked. One of the snakes was phosphorescent, and one of the lizards
could sit up like a dog, or fly in the air like a swallow. The variety
and beauty of the birds, as well as the charm of their song, exceed all
description. Most of them have iridescent feathers, several are
wingless, and one at least has teeth. The insects are a match for the
birds in point of beauty, if not also in size and musical qualities.
Many of them are luminescent, and omit steady or flashing lights of
every tint all through the night.

There are few large quadrupeds in the country, and so far as we could
learn none of these are predaceous. We saw an animal resembling a deer
on one hand, and a tapir on the other, as well as a kind of toed horse
or hipparion, and a number of domestic pets all strange to us.

The people, according to their tradition, came originally from a
temperate land far across the ocean to the south-east, which is now a