But all this is hopeless--at least for the present!"-- he added, raising his tablets again to the light, and reading aloud; "Oct.

6, 1805.

that's merely the date, which I dare say you know better than I--mem.
Quadruped; seen by star-light, and by the aid of a pocket-lamp, in the prairies of North America--see Journal for Latitude and Meridian.
Genus--unknown; therefore named after the discoverer, and from the happy coincidence of being seen in the evening--Vespertilio Horribilis, Americanus.

Dimensions (by estimation)--Greatest length, eleven feet; height, six feet; head, erect; nostrils, expansive; eyes, expressive and fierce; teeth, serrated and abundant; tail, horizontal, waving, and slightly feline; feet, large and hairy; talons, long, curvated, dangerous; ears, inconspicuous; horns, elongated, diverging, and formidable; colour, plumbeous-ashy, with fiery spots; voice, sonorous, martial, and appalling; habits, gregarious, carnivorous, fierce, and fearless.

There," exclaimed Obed, when he had ended this sententious but comprehensive description, "there is an animal, which will be likely to dispute with the lion his title to be called the king of the beasts!" "I know not the meaning of all you have said, Doctor Battius," returned the quick-witted girl, who understood the weakness of the philosopher, and often indulged him with a title he loved so well to hear; "but I shall think it dangerous to venture far from the camp, if such monsters are prowling over the prairies." "You may well call it prowling," returned the naturalist, nestling still closer to her side, and dropping his voice to such low and undignified tones of confidence, as conveyed a meaning still more pointed than he had intended.