Excerpt from Letters From the Canary Islands Nor is the animal world destitute of interest here. Not withstanding the detached situation, and the narrow limits of these islands, they formerly contained large bands of wild beasts, most of the Species of which, have either been extirpated or reclaimed but they were not of such vast numbers, nor of that savage character as those which per vade almost every tract of the adjacent continent. They were for the most part creatures innocent, gentle, and beautiful. Large packs of wild dogs of a ferocious char acter appear to have been found here; but it is not allowed that they constituted the true species in a state of nature, but that they descended from dogs once domesticated, which have relapsed into a state resembling that of primi tive wildness. Although the limited range, the arid aspect, and the fiery summits which these islands present, would cause one to suppose that they are unfavorable to the existence and propagation of the feathered tribes, yet many a cliff, many a tree, and many a verdant spot, afford appropriate recesses for this fairy race. To these islands we are indebted for some of our sweetest songsters. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.