Goldsmith & the Penguin - Part 2 | Teil 2

(…) This whole tribe have all above the knee hid within the belly; and nothing appears but two short legs, or feet, as some would call them, that seem stuck under the rump, and upon which the animal is very awkwardly supported. They seem, when sitting or attempting to walk, like a dog that has been taught to sit up or to move a minuet. Their short legs drive the body in progression from side to side; and were they not assisted by their wings, they could scarcely move faster than a tortoise.

This awkward position of the legs, which so unqualifies them for living upon land, adapts them admirably for a residence in water. In that, the legs placed behind the moving body, pushes it forward with greater velocity; and these birds, like Indian canoes, are the swiftest in the water, by having their paddles in the rear.


In: A HISTORY OF THE EARTH AND ANIMATED NATURE  by OLIVER GOLDSMITH, ILLUSTRATED WITH COPPER PLATES, WITH CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS by W. TURTON MD, VOLUME IV, 1816.  

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Oliver Goldsmith (* 10. November 1728 in Smith-Hill House bei Elphin, Roscommon, Irland; † 4. April 1774 in London) war ein irischer Schriftsteller und Arzt, der für seinen Roman "Der Pfarrer von Wakefield" (1766), sein pastorales Gedicht "The Deserted Village" (1770) und seine Stücke "The Good-natur'd Man" (1768) und "She Stoops to Conquer" (1773) bekannt ist. Unter dem Einfluss von Buffon verfasste er eine umfangreiche Naturgeschichte: "A History of the Earth and Animated Nature", die postum 1774 erschien und bis Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts mehrere Auflagen erfuhr. 

Das achtbändige Werk erfuhr in England eine ähnliche Popularität wie Brehms Tierleben als "der Brehm" in Deutschland.de.wikipedia.com