‘Johnny’ is a pugnacious little fellow, and rather prolonged fights may be observed between him and his brethren. At the mouth of the Zambesi, Dr. Livingstone saw one which, in fleeing from an apparent danger, jumped into a pool a foot square, which another evidently regarded as his by prior discovery. In a twinkling the owner, with eyes flashing fury, and with dorsal fin bristling up in a rage, dashed at the intruding foe. The fight waxed furious. No tempest in a teapot ever equalled the storm of that miniature sea. The warriors were now in the water and anon out of it, for the battle raged on sea and shore. They struck hard, they bit each other, until becoming exhausted, they seized each other by the jaws like two bull-dogs. They paused for breath, and were at it again as fiercely as before, until the combat ended by the precipitate retreat of the invader. The vast multitude of marine animals which peoples the mangrove swamps naturally attracts a great number of strand, lacustrine, and sea birds; for it would be strange, indeed, if guests were wanting where the table is so prodigally supplied. The red ibis, the snow-white egrette, the rosy spoonbill, the tall flamingo, and an abundance of herons and other water-fowl, love to frequent the mangrove thickets, enhancing by their magnificent plumage the beauty of the scene. For, however repulsive may be the swampy ground on which these strange trees delight, yet their bright green foliage, growing in radiated tufts at the ends of the branches, and frequently bespangled with large gaily-coloured flowers, affords a most pleasing spectacle. Many an interesting discovery would here, no doubt, reward the naturalist’s attention; but the mangroves know well how to keep their secrets, and to repel the curiosity of man. Should he attempt to invade their domains, clouds of bloodthirsty insects would instantly make him repent of his temerity; for the plague of the mosquitoes is nowhere more dreadful than in the thickets of the semi-aquatic Rhizophoræ. And supposing his scientific zeal intense enough to bid defiance to the torture of their stings, and to scorn the attacks of every other visible foe--insect or serpent, crocodile or beast of prey--that may be lurking among the mangroves, yet the reflection may well bid him pause, that poisonous vapours, pregnant with cholera or yellow fever, are constantly rising from that muddy soil. Even in the temperate regions of Europe the emanations from marshy grounds are pregnant with disease, but the malaria ascending from the sultry morasses of the torrid zone is absolutely deadly.