[2] Narrative of Missionary Enterprise, p. 282.
[3] Captain Beechey (chap. iv., vol. i.) states that the inhabitants of
Pitcairn Island are firmly convinced that after the arrival of every
ship they suffer cutaneous and other disorders. Captain Beechey
attributes this to the change of diet during the time of the visit. Dr.
Macculloch (Western Isles, vol. ii. p. 32) says: "It is asserted, that
on the arrival of a stranger (at St. Kilda) all the inhabitants, in the
common phraseology, catch a cold." Dr. Macculloch considers the whole
case, although often previously affirmed, as ludicrous. He adds,
however, that "the question was put by us to the inhabitants who
unanimously agreed in the story." In Vancouver's Voyage, there is a
somewhat similar statement with respect to Otaheite. Dr. Dieffenbach,
in a note to his translation of the Journal, states that the same fact
is universally believed by the inhabitants of the Chatham Islands, and
in parts of New Zealand. It is impossible that such a belief should
have become universal in the northern hemisphere, at the Antipodes, and
in the Pacific, without some good foundation. Humboldt (Polit. Essay
on King of New Spain, vol. iv.) says, that the great epidemics of
Panama and Callao are "marked" by the arrival of ships from Chile,
because the people from that temperate region, first experience the
fatal effects of the torrid zones. I may add, that I have heard it
stated in Shropshire, that sheep, which have been imported from
vessels, although themselves in a healthy condition, if placed in the
same fold with others, frequently produce sickness in the flock.
[4] Travels in Australia, vol. i. p. 154. I must express my obligation
to Sir T. Mitchell, for several interesting personal communications on
the subject of these great valleys of New South Wales.
[5] I was interested by finding here the hollow conical pitfall of the
lion-ant, or some other insect; first a fly fell down the treacherous
slope and immediately disappeared; then came a large but unwary ant;
its struggles to escape being very violent, those curious little jets
of sand, described by Kirby and Spence (Entomol., vol. i. p. 425) as
being flirted by the insect's tail, were promptly directed against the
expected victim. But the ant enjoyed a better fate than the fly, and
escaped the fatal jaws which lay concealed at the base of the conical
hollow. This Australian pitfall was only about half the size of that
424