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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11308 ***
+
+[Illustration: Front Cover]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+THE BOOK
+
+OF
+
+ENTERPRISE & ADVENTURE;
+
+BEING AN
+
+EXCITEMENT TO READING.
+
+FOR
+
+YOUNG PEOPLE.
+
+
+A NEW AND CONDENSED EDITION.
+
+WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ABSALON.
+
+
+
+LONDON
+
+
+
+1851.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+The object of this Volume is that of inducing young people to read, to
+cultivate in them a habit of reading and reflection, and to excite the
+imagination, the feelings, and the better emotions of their nature in a
+pleasurable and judicious manner.
+
+The pieces selected are such as will be likely to exert a beneficial
+influence upon the reader, to inspire him with heroic enthusiasm, and to
+lead him to despise danger.
+
+In our perpetually migrating population, no one can tell who will not be
+called upon to brave the vicissitudes of "flood and field;" and to show
+how perils may be surmounted, and privations endured with energy and
+patience, is to teach no unimportant lesson.
+
+Nothing whatever has been introduced into this Volume, but such subjects
+as will teach a dependence upon Divine Providence, in aid of
+self-reliance and self-sacrifice, while details of war and bloodshed
+have been studiously avoided.
+
+THE EDITOR.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ARABIAN HOSPITALITY, ETC.
+  HOSPITALITY OF THE ARAB
+  HORRORS OF AFRICAN WARFARE
+  CROCODILE SHOOTING
+
+REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF COURAGE IN A LADY
+
+INDIAN FIELD SPORTS--
+  METHOD OF CATCHING BIRDS
+  THE HYENA
+  THE BEAR
+  SAGACITY OF THE ELEPHANT
+  ANECDOTES OF THE TIGER
+
+DEATH OF SIR JOHN MOORE
+
+PERSIAN TYRANNY
+
+SKETCHES IN VIRGINIA--
+  ROCK BRIDGE
+  WIER'S CAVE
+
+THE CHRISTIAN SLAVE
+
+VIOLENT EARTHQUAKE IN CALABRIA
+
+ESCAPE FROM A SHIP ON FIRE
+
+ANECDOTES, ETC.--
+  THE ALBATROSS
+  VISIT TO A PENGUIN ROOKERY
+  THE SEA ELEPHANT
+  VISIT FROM THE NATIVES AT TERRA DEL FUEGO
+  CHILIAN MODE OF CAPTURING WILD HORSES
+  FIGHT BETWEEN A WHALE AND A KILLER
+  WAR DANCES OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS
+  HISTORY OF PADDY CONNEL
+
+EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE FROM DROWNING
+
+ADVENTURE IN THE DESERT, AND MURDER OF A
+  SHEIKH
+
+
+
+
+BOOK OF ENTERPRISE & ADVENTURE.
+
+
+
+
+~Arabian Hospitality--African Warfare, &c.~
+
+
+The following three extracts are from a work of considerable merit,
+intitled "The Crescent and the Cross." It contains, not only much
+valuable matter relative to Egypt and Abyssinia, but many interesting
+anecdotes, of which we give a specimen.
+
+
+
+
+HOSPITALITY OF THE ARAB.
+
+
+In 1804, Osman Bardissy was the most influential of the Mameluke Beys,
+and virtually governed Egypt. Mehemet Ali, then rising into power,
+succeeded in embroiling this powerful old chief with Elfy Bey, another
+of the Mamelukes. The latter escaped to England, where he was
+favourably received, and promised assistance by our government against
+Osman, who was in the French interests. At this time a Sheikh of Bedouin
+stood high in Osman's confidence, and brought him intelligence that Elfy
+had landed at Alexandria. "Go, then," said the old Bey, "surprise his
+boat, and slay him on his way up the river; his spoil shall be your
+reward." The Sheikh lay in wait upon the banks of the Delta, and slew
+all the companions of the rival Bey: Elfy himself escaped in the
+darkness, and made his way to an Arab encampment before sunrise. Going
+straight to the Sheikh's tent, which is known by a spear standing in
+front of it, he entered, and hastily devoured some bread that he found
+there. The Sheikh was absent; but his wife exclaimed, on seeing the
+fugitive, "I know you, Elfy Bey, and my husband's life, perhaps at his
+moment, depends upon his taking yours. Rest now and refresh yourself,
+then take the best horse you can find, and fly. The moment you are out
+of our horizon, the tribe will be in pursuit of you." The Bey escaped
+to the Thebaid, and the disappointed Sheikh presented himself to his
+employer. Osman passionately demanded of him if it was true that his
+wife had saved the life of his deadliest enemy, when in her power. "Most
+true, praised be Allah!" replied the Sheikh, drawing himself proudly up,
+and presenting a jewel-hilted dagger to the old Bey; "this weapon," he
+continued, "was your gift to me in the hour of your favour; had I met
+Elfy Bey, it should have freed you from your enemy. Had my wife betrayed
+the hospitality of the tent, it should have drank her blood; and now,
+you may use it against myself," he added, as he flung it at the
+Mameluke's feet. This reverence for hospitality is one of the wild
+virtues that has survived from the days of the patriarchs, and it is
+singularly contrasted, yet interwoven with other and apparently opposite
+tendencies. The Arab will rob you, if he is able; he will even murder
+you, if it suits his purpose; but, once under the shelter of his tribe's
+black tents, or having eaten of his salt by the wayside, you have as
+much safety in his company as his heart's blood can purchase for you.
+The Bedouins are extortionate to strangers, dishonest to each other, and
+reckless of human life. On the other hand, they are faithful to their
+trust, brave after their fashion, temperate, and patient of hardship and
+privation beyond belief. Their sense of right and wrong is not founded
+on the Decalogue, as may be well imagined, yet, from such principles as
+they profess they rarely swerve. Though they will freely risk their
+lives to steal, they will not contravene the wild rule of the desert. If
+a wayfarer's camel sinks and dies beneath its burden, the owner draws a
+circle round the animal in the sand, and follows the caravan. No Arab
+will presume to touch that lading, however tempting. Dr. Robinson
+mentions that he saw a tent hanging from a tree near Mount Sinai, which
+his Arabs said had then been there a twelvemonth, and never would be
+touched until its owner returned in search of it.
+
+
+
+
+HORRORS OF AFRICAN WARFARE.
+
+
+There appears to be a wild caprice amongst the institutions; if such
+they may be called, of all these tropical nations. In a neighbouring
+state to that of Abyssinia, the king, when appointed to the regal
+dignity, retires into an island, and is never again visible to the eyes
+of men but once--when his ministers come to strangle him; for it may not
+be that the proud monarch of Behr should die a natural death. No men,
+with this fatal exception, are ever allowed even to set foot upon the
+island, which is guarded by a band of Amazons. In another border
+country, called Habeesh, the monarch is dignified with the title of
+Tiger. He was formerly Malek of Shendy, when it was invaded by Ismael
+Pasha, and was even then designated by this fierce cognomen. Ismael,
+Mehemet Ali's second son, advanced through Nubia claiming tribute and
+submission from all the tribes Nemmir (which signifies Tiger), the king
+of Shendy, received him hospitably, as Mahmoud, our dragoman, informed
+us, and, when he was seated in his tent, waited on him to learn his
+pleasure. "My pleasure is," replied the invader, "that you forthwith
+furnish me with slaves, cattle, and money, to the value of 100,000
+dollars."--"Pooh!" said Nemmir, "you jest; all my country could not
+produce what you require in one hundred moons."--"Ha! Wallah!" was the
+young Pasha's reply, and he struck the Tiger across the face with his
+pipe. If he had done so to his namesake of the jungle, the insult could
+not have roused fiercer feelings of revenge, but the human animal did
+not shew his wrath at once. "It is well," he replied; "let the Pasha
+rest; _to-morrow he shall have nothing more to ask_." The Egyptian, and
+the few Mameluke officers of his staff, were tranquilly smoking towards
+evening, entertained by some dancing-girls, whom the Tiger had sent to
+amuse them; when they observed that a huge pile of dried stalks of
+Indian corn was rising rapidly round the tent. "What means this?"
+inquired Ismael angrily; "am not I Pasha?"--"It is but forage for your
+highness's horses," replied the Nubian; "for, were your troops once
+arrived, the people would fear to approach the camp." Suddenly the space
+is filled with smoke, the tent-curtains shrivel up in flames, and the
+Pasha and his comrades find themselves encircled in what they well know
+is their funeral pyre. Vainly the invader implores mercy, and assures
+the Tiger of his warm regard for him and all his family; vainly he
+endeavours to break through the fiery fence that girds him round; a
+thousand spears bore him back into the flames, and the Tiger's
+triumphant yell and bitter mockery mingle with his dying screams. The
+Egyptians perished to a man. Nemmir escaped up the country, crowned with
+savage glory, and married the daughter of a king, who soon left him his
+successor, and the Tiger still defies the old Pasha's power. The latter,
+however, took a terrible revenge upon his people: he burnt all the
+inhabitants of the village nearest to the scene of his son's slaughter,
+and cut off the right hands of five hundred men besides. So much for
+African warfare.
+
+
+
+
+CROCODILE SHOOTING.
+
+
+The first time a man fires at a crocodile is an epoch in his life. We
+had only now arrived in the waters where they abound; for it is a
+curious fact that none are ever seen below Mineych, though Herodotus
+speaks of them as fighting with the dolphins, at the mouths of the Nile.
+A prize had been offered for the first man who detected a crocodile, and
+the crew had now been two days on the alert in search of them. Buoyed up
+with the expectation of such game, we had latterly reserved our fire for
+them exclusively; and the wild-duck and turtle, nay, even the vulture
+and the eagle, had swept past, or soared above, in security. At length
+the cry of "Timseach, timseach!" was heard from half-a-dozen claimants
+of the proffered prize, and half-a-dozen black fingers were eagerly
+pointed to a spit of sand, on which were strewn apparently some logs of
+trees. It was a covey of crocodiles! Hastily and silently the boat was
+run in shore. R. was ill, so I had the enterprise to myself, and
+clambered up the steep bank with a quicker pulse than when I first
+levelled a rifle at a Highland deer. My intended victims might have
+prided themselves on their superior nonchalance; and, indeed, as I
+approached them, there seemed to be a sneer on their ghastly mouths and
+winking eyes. Slowly they rose, one after the other, and waddled to the
+water, all but one, the most gallant or most gorged of the party. He lay
+still until I was within a hundred yards of him; then slowly rising on
+his fin-like legs, he lumbered towards the river, looking askance at me,
+with an expression of countenance that seemed to say, "He can do me no
+harm; however, I may as well have a swim." I took aim at the throat of
+this supercilious brute, and, as soon as my hand steadied, the very
+pulsation of my finger pulled the trigger. Bang! went the gun! whizz!
+flew the bullet; and my excited ear could catch the _thud_ with which it
+plunged into the scaly leather of his neck. His waddle became a plunge,
+the waves closed over him, and the sun shone on the calm water, as I
+reached the brink of the shore, that was still indented by the waving
+of his gigantic tail. But there is blood upon the water, and he rises
+for a moment to the surface. "A hundred piasters for the timseach," I
+exclaimed, and half-a-dozen Arabs plunged into the stream. There! he
+rises again, and the blacks dash at him as if he hadn't a tooth in his
+head. Now he is gone, the waters close over him, and I never saw him
+since. From that time we saw hundreds of crocodiles of all sizes, and
+fired shots,--enough of them for a Spanish revolution; but we never
+could get possession of any, even if we hit them, which to this day
+remains doubtful.
+
+
+
+
+~Remarkable Instance of Courage in a Lady.~
+
+
+In the Life of Thomas Day, Esq., an anecdote is related of Miss B----,
+afterwards Mrs. Day, shewing with what remarkable effect presence of
+mind and courage can tame the ferocity of the brute creation.
+
+Miss B. was, on one occasion, walking in company with another young lady
+through a field, when a bull came running up to them with all the marks
+of malevolence. Her friend began to run towards the stile, but was
+prevented by Miss B., who told her, that as she could not reach the
+stile soon enough to save herself, and as it is the nature of these
+animals to attack persons in flight, her life would be in great danger
+if she attempted to run, and would be inevitably lost if she chanced to
+fall; but that, if she would steal gently to the stile, she herself
+would take off the bull's attention from her, by standing between them.
+Accordingly, turning her face towards the animal with the firmest aspect
+she could assume, she fixed her eyes steadily upon his. It is said by
+travellers, that a lion itself may be controlled by the steady looks of
+a human being; but that, no sooner a man turns his back, than the beast
+springs upon him as his prey. Miss B., to whom this property of animals
+seems to have been known, had the presence of mind to apply it to the
+safety of her friend and of herself. By her steady aspect she checked
+the bull's career; but he shewed the strongest marks of indignation at
+being so controlled, by roaring and tearing the ground with his feet and
+horns. While he was thus engaged in venting his rage on the turf, she
+cautiously retreated a few steps, without removing her eyes from him.
+When he observed that she had retreated, he advanced till she stopped,
+and then he also stopped, and again renewed his frantic play. Thus by
+repeated degrees she at length arrived at the stile, where she
+accomplished her safety; and thus, by a presence of mind rarely seen in
+a person of her youth and sex, she not only saved herself, but also, at
+the hazard of her own life, protected her friend. Some days afterwards,
+this bull gored its master.
+
+
+
+
+~Indian Field Sports.~
+
+
+We give a few anecdotes illustrative of the above, from a work intitled
+"Sketches of Field Sports, as followed by the Natives of India," from
+the reading of which we have derived much pleasure. The authority is Dr.
+Johnson, East India Company's Service.
+
+He begins by informing his readers, that the "Shecarries" (or professed
+hunters) are generally Hindoos of a low caste, who gain their livelihood
+entirely by catching birds, hares, and all sorts of animals; some of
+them confine themselves to catching birds and hares, whilst others
+practise the art of catching birds and various animals; another
+description of them live by destroying tigers.
+
+
+
+
+METHOD OF CATCHING BIRDS.
+
+
+Those who catch birds equip themselves with a framework of split
+bamboos, resembling the frame of a paper kite, the shape of the top of a
+coffin, and the height of a man, to which green bushes are fastened,
+leaving two loop-holes to see through, and one lower down for their rod
+to be inserted through. This framework, which is very light, they fasten
+before them when they are in the act of catching birds, by which means
+they have both hands at liberty, and are completely concealed from the
+view of the birds. The rod which they use is about twenty-four feet
+long, resembling a fishing-rod, the parts of which are inserted within
+one another, and the whole contained in a walking-stick.
+
+They also carry with them horse-hair nooses of different sizes and
+strength, which they fasten to the rod: likewise bird-lime, and a
+variety of calls for the different kinds of birds, with which they
+imitate them to the greatest nicety. They take with them likewise two
+lines to which horse-hair nooses are attached for catching larger birds,
+and a bag or net to carry their game.
+
+Thus equipped, they sally forth, and as they proceed through the
+different covers, they use calls for such birds as generally resort
+there, which from constant practice is well known to them, and if any
+birds answer their call they prepare accordingly for catching them;
+supposing it to be a bevy of quail, they continue calling them, until
+they get quite close; they then arm the top of their rod with a feather
+smeared with bird-lime, and pass it through the loop-hole in their
+frame of ambush, and to which they continue adding other parts, until
+they have five or six out, which they use with great dexterity, and
+touch one of the quail with the feather, which adheres to them; they
+then withdraw the rod, arm it again, and touch three or four more in the
+same manner before they attempt to secure any of them.
+
+In this way they catch all sorts of small birds not much larger than
+quail, on the ground and in trees. If a brown or black partridge answers
+their call, instead of bird-lime, they fasten a horse-hair noose to the
+top of their rod, and when they are close to the birds, they keep
+dipping the top of their rod with considerable skill until they fasten
+the noose on one of their necks; they then draw him in, and go on
+catching others in the same way. It is surprising to see with what cool
+perseverance they proceed. In a similar manner they catch all kinds of
+birds, nearly the size of partridges.
+
+
+
+
+THE HYENA.
+
+
+A servant of Mr. William Hunter's, by name Thomas Jones, who lived at
+_Chittrah_, had a full grown hyena which ran loose about his house like
+a dog, and I have seen him play with it with as much familiarity. They
+feed on small animals and carrion, and I believe often come in for the
+prey left by tigers and leopards after their appetites have been
+satiated. They are great enemies of dogs, and kill numbers of them.
+
+The natives of India affirm that tigers, panthers, and leopards, have a
+great aversion to hyenas, on account of their destroying their young,
+which I believe they have an opportunity of doing, as the parents leave
+them during the greatest part of the day. The inhabitants, therefore,
+feel no apprehension in taking away the young whenever they find them,
+knowing the dam is seldom near.... Hyenas are slow in their pace, and
+altogether inactive; I have often seen a few terriers keep them at bay,
+and bite them severely by the hind quarter; their jaws, however, are
+exceedingly strong, and a single bite, without holding on more than a
+few seconds, is sufficient to kill a large dog. They stink horribly,
+make no earths of their own, lie under rocks, or resort to the earths of
+wolves, as foxes do to those of badgers; and it is not uncommon to find
+wolves and hyenas in the same bed of earths.
+
+I was informed by several gentlemen, of whose veracity I could not
+doubt, that Captain Richards, of the Bengal Native Infantry, had a
+servant of the tribe of _Shecarries_, who was in the habit of going into
+the earths of wolves, fastening strings on them, and on the legs of
+hyenas, and then drawing them out; he constantly supplied his master and
+the gentlemen at the station with them, who let them loose on a plain,
+and rode after them with spears, for practice and amusement. This man
+possessed such an acute and exquisite sense of smelling, that he could
+always tell by it if there were any animals in the earths, and could
+distinguish whether they were hyenas or wolves.
+
+
+
+
+THE BEAR.
+
+
+Bears will often continue on the road in front of the palanquin for a
+mile or two, tumbling and playing all sorts of antics, as if they were
+taught to do so. I believe it is their natural disposition; for they
+certainly are the most amusing creatures imaginable in their wild state.
+It is no wonder that with monkeys they are led about to amuse mankind.
+It is astonishing, as well as ludicrous, to see them climb rocks, and
+tumble or rather roll down precipices. If they are attacked by any
+person on horseback, they stand erect on their hind legs, shewing a fine
+set of white teeth, and making a cackling kind of noise. If the horse
+comes near them, they try to catch him by the legs, and if they miss
+him, they tumble over and over several times. They are easily speared by
+a person mounted on a horse that is bold enough to go near them.
+
+
+
+
+SAGACITY OF THE ELEPHANT.
+
+
+An elephant belonging to Mr. Boddam, of the Bengal Civil Service, at
+_Gyah_, used every day to pass over a small bridge leading from his
+master's house into the town of _Gyah_. He one day refused to go over
+it, and it was with great difficulty, by goring him most cruelly with
+the _Hunkuss_ [iron instrument], that the _Mahout_ [driver] could get
+him to venture on the bridge, the strength of which he first tried with
+his trunk, shewing clearly that he suspected that it was not
+sufficiently strong. At last he went on, and before he could get over,
+the bridge gave way, and they were precipitated into the ditch, which
+killed the driver, and considerably injured the elephant. It is
+reasonable to suppose that the elephant must have perceived its feeble
+state when he last passed over it. It is a well known fact, that
+elephants will seldom or ever go over strange bridges, without first
+trying with their trunks if they be sufficiently strong to bear their
+weight,--nor will they ever go into a boat without doing the same.
+
+I had a remarkably quiet and docile elephant, which one day came home
+loaded with branches of trees for provender, followed by a number of
+villagers, calling for mercy (their usual cry when ill used);
+complaining that the _Mahout_ had stolen a kid from them, and that it
+was then on the elephant, under the branches of the trees. The _Mahout_
+took an opportunity of decamping into the village and hiding himself. I
+ordered the elephant to be unloaded, and was surprised to see that he
+would not allow any person to come near to him, when at all other times
+he was perfectly tractable and obedient. Combining all the
+circumstances, I was convinced that the _Mahout_ was guilty, and to get
+rid of the noise, I recompensed the people for the loss of their kid. As
+soon as they were gone away, the elephant allowed himself to be
+unloaded, and the kid was found under the branches, as described by the
+people. I learnt from my _Sarcar_, that similar complaints had been made
+to him before, and that the rascal of a _Mahout_ made it a practice to
+ride the elephant into the midst of a herd of goats, and had taught him
+to pick up any of the young ones he directed; he had also accustomed
+him to steal their pumpions and other vegetables, that grew against the
+inside of their fences like French beans, which could only be reached by
+an elephant. He was the best _Mahout_ I ever knew, and so great a rogue
+that I was obliged to discharge him.
+
+The very day that he left my service, the elephant's eyes were closed,
+which he did not open again in less than a fortnight, when it was
+discovered that he was blind. Two small eschars, one in each eye, were
+visible, which indicated pretty strongly that he had been made blind by
+some sharp instrument, most probably by a heated needle. The suspicion
+was very strong against the former keeper, of whom I never heard
+anything after. The elephant I frequently rode on, shooting, for many
+years after this, through heavy covers, intersected with ravines,
+rivers, and over hollow and uneven ground, and he scarcely ever made a
+false step with me, and never once tumbled. He used to touch the ground
+with his trunk on every spot where his feet were to be placed, and in
+so light and quick a manner as scarcely to be perceived. The _Mahout_
+would often make him remove large stones, lumps of earth, or timber, out
+of his way, frequently climb up and down banks that no horse could get
+over. He would also occasionally break off branches of trees that were
+in the way of the _Howdah_, to enable me to pass.
+
+Although perfectly blind, he was considered one of the best sporting
+elephants of his small size in the country, and he travelled at a
+tolerably good rate, and was remarkably easy in his paces.
+
+
+
+
+ANECDOTES OF THE TIGER.
+
+
+An occurrence nearly similar happened to me soon after, which put an end
+to my shooting on foot. From that time to the period of my leaving
+_Chittrah_, which was many years after, I always went out to shoot on an
+elephant. The circumstance I allude to was as follows:--Fifty or sixty
+people were beating a thick cover. I was on the outside of it, with a
+man holding my horse, and another servant with a hog's spear; when those
+who were driving the cover called _Suer! Suer!_ which is the
+_Hindoostanee_ name for hog. Seeing something move the bushes about
+twenty yards from me, and supposing it to be a hog, I fired at the spot,
+with ten or a dozen small balls. Instantly on the explosion of my gun, a
+tiger roared out, and came galloping straight towards us. I dipped under
+the horse's belly, and got on the opposite side from him. He came within
+a few yards of us, and then turned off growling into the cover.
+
+When the people came out, they brought with them a dead hog, partly
+devoured. These two cases, I think, shew clearly that tigers are
+naturally cowardly. They generally take their prey by surprise, and
+whenever they attack openly, it is reasonable to conclude that they must
+be extremely hungry; which I believe is often the case, as their killing
+animals of the forest must be very precarious. It is the general opinion
+of the inhabitants, that when a tiger has tasted human blood he prefers
+it to all other food. A year or two sometimes elapses without any one
+being killed by a tiger for several miles round, although they are often
+seen in that space, and are known to destroy cattle; but as soon as one
+man is killed, others shortly after share the same fate. This, I
+imagine, is the reason why the natives entertain an idea that they
+prefer men to all other food. I account for it otherwise. Tigers are
+naturally afraid of men, and, in the first instance, seldom attack them,
+unless compelled by extreme hunger. When once they have ventured an
+attack, they find them much easier prey than most animals of the forest,
+and always to be met with near villages, and on public roads, without
+the trouble of hunting about for them through the covers.
+
+A tigress with two cubs lurked about the _Kutkumsandy_ pass, and during
+two months killed a man almost every day, and on some days two. Ten or
+twelve of the people belonging to government (carriers of the post-bags)
+were of the number. In fact, the communication between the Presidency
+and the upper provinces was almost entirely cut off. The government,
+therefore, was induced to offer a large reward to any person who killed
+the tigress.
+
+She was fired at, and, adds Mr. J., never ... "heard of after;" from
+which it may be presumed she was wounded. It is fortunate for the
+inhabitants of that country, that tigers seldom survive any wound; their
+blood being always in a state predisposing to putrefaction, consequence
+of the extreme heat, and their living entirely on animal food....
+
+Two _Biparies_[1] were driving a string of loaded bullocks to _Chittrah_
+from _Palamow_. When they were come within a few miles of the former
+place, a tiger seized on the man in the rear, which was seen by a
+_Guallah_ [herdsman], as he was watching his buffaloes grazing. He
+boldly ran to the man's assistance, and cut the tiger severely with his
+sword; upon which he dropped the _Biparie_ and seized the herdsman: the
+buffaloes observing it, attacked the tiger, and rescued the poor man;
+they tossed him about from one to the other, and, to the best of my
+recollection, killed him; but of that I am not quite positive. Both of
+the wounded men were brought to me. The _Biparie_ recovered, and the
+herdsman died.
+
+[Footnote 1: _Bipar_ signifies merchandise, and _Biparies_ are people
+who buy grain, and other articles, which they transport from one part of
+the country to another on bullocks.]
+
+An elderly man and his wife (of the lowest caste of _Hindoos_, called
+_dooms_, who live chiefly by making mats and baskets) were each carrying
+home a bundle of wood, and as they were resting their burdens on the
+ground, the old man hearing a strange noise, looked about, and saw a
+tiger running off with his wife in his mouth. He ran after them, and
+struck the tiger on the back with a small axe: the tiger dropt the wife,
+who was soon after brought to me. One of her breasts was almost entirely
+taken away, and the other much lacerated: she had also several deep
+wounds in the back of her neck, by which I imagine the tiger struck at
+her with his two fore paws; one on the neck, and the other on the
+breast. This, if I may judge from the number I have seen wounded, is
+their usual way of attacking men. The old woman was six months under my
+care, and at last recovered.
+
+As an old Mahometan priest was travelling at mid-day on horseback,
+within a few miles of _Chittrah_, with his son, an athletic young man,
+walking by his side, they heard a tiger roaring near them. The son urged
+his father to hasten on; the old man continued at a slow pace, observing
+that there was no danger, the tiger would not molest them. He then began
+counting his beads, and offering his prayers to the Almighty; in the act
+of which he was knocked off his horse, and carried away by the tiger;
+the son ran after them, and cut the tiger with his sword; he dropped the
+father, seized the son, and carried him off. The father was brought to
+_Chittrah_, and died the same day; the son was never heard of
+afterwards. In this instance, I think, the tiger must have been
+ravenously hungry, or he would not have roared when near his prey; it is
+what they seldom or ever do, except in the very act of seizing....
+
+Some idea may be formed how numerous the tigers must have been at one
+period in Bengal, from the circumstance, that one gentleman is reported
+to have killed upwards of three hundred and sixty.
+
+
+
+
+~Death of Sir John Moore.~
+
+
+From Mr. Southey's History of the Peninsular War, a work of sterling
+merit.
+
+Marshal Soult's intention was to force the right of the British, and
+thus to interpose between Corunna and the army, and cut it off from the
+place of embarkation. Failing in this attempt, he was now endeavouring
+to outflank it. Half of the 4th regiment was therefore ordered to fall
+back, forming an obtuse angle with the other half. This manoeuvre was
+excellently performed, and they commenced a heavy flanking fire: Sir
+John Moore called out to them, that this was exactly what he wanted to
+be done, and rode on to the 50th, commanded by Majors Napier and
+Stanhope. They got over an inclosure in their front, charged the enemy
+most gallantly, and drove them out of the village of Elvina; but Major
+Napier, advancing too far in the pursuit, received several wounds, and
+was made prisoner, and Major Stanhope was killed.
+
+The General now proceeded to the 42nd. "Highlanders," said he, "remember
+Egypt!" They rushed on, and drove the French before them, till they were
+stopped by a wall. Sir John accompanied them in this charge. He now sent
+Captain Hardinge to order up a battalion of Guards to the left flank of
+the 42nd. The officer commanding the light infantry conceived at this
+that they were to be relieved by the Guards, because their ammunition
+was nearly expended, and he began to fall back. The General, discovering
+the mistake, said to them, "My brave 42nd, join your comrades:
+ammunition is coming, and you have your bayonets!" Upon this, they
+instantly moved forward. Captain Hardinge returned, and pointed out to
+the General where the Guards were advancing. The enemy kept up a hot
+fire, and their artillery played incessantly on the spot where they were
+standing. A cannon-shot struck Sir John, and carried away his left
+shoulder, and part of the collar-bone, leaving the arm hanging by the
+flesh. He fell from his horse on his back; his countenance did not
+change, neither did he betray the least sensation of pain. Captain
+Hardinge, who dismounted, and took him by the hand, observed him
+anxiously watching the 42nd, which was warmly engaged, and told him they
+were advancing; and upon that intelligence his countenance brightened.
+Colonel Graham, who now came up to assist him, seeing the composure of
+his features, began to hope that he was not wounded, till he perceived
+the dreadful laceration. From the size of the wound, it was in vain to
+make any attempt at stopping the blood; and Sir John consented to be
+removed in a blanket to the rear. In raising him up, his sword, hanging
+on the wounded side, touched his arm, and became entangled between his
+legs. Captain Hardinge began to unbuckle it; but the General said, in
+his usual tone and manner, and in a distinct voice, "It is as well as it
+is; I had rather it should go out of the field with me." Six soldiers
+of the 42nd and the Guards bore him. Hardinge, observing his composure,
+began to hope that the wound might not be mortal, and said to him, he
+trusted he might be spared to the army, and recover. Moore turned his
+head, and looking stedfastly at the wound for a few seconds, replied,
+"No, Hardinge, I feel that to be impossible."
+
+As the soldiers were carrying him slowly along, he made them frequently
+turn round, that he might see the field of battle, and listen to the
+firing; and he was well pleased when the sound grew fainter. A
+spring-wagon came up, bearing Colonel Wynch, who was wounded: the
+Colonel asked who was in the blanket, and being told it was Sir John
+Moore, wished him to be placed in the wagon. Sir John asked one of the
+Highlanders whether he thought the wagon or the blanket was best? and
+the man said the blanket would not shake him so much, as he and the
+other soldiers would keep the step, and carry him easy. So they
+proceeded with him to his quarters at Corunna, weeping as they went....
+
+The General lived to hear that the battle was won. "Are the French
+beaten?" was the question which he repeated to every one who came into
+his apartment; and he expressed how great a satisfaction it was to him
+to know that they were defeated. "I hope," he said, "the people of
+England will be satisfied! I hope my country will do me justice," Then,
+addressing Colonel Anderson, who had been his friend and companion in
+arms for one-and-twenty years, he said to him, "Anderson, you know that
+I have always wished to die this way--You will see my friends as soon as
+you can:--tell them everything--Say to my mother"--But here his voice
+failed, he became excessively agitated, and did not again venture to
+name her. Sometimes he asked to be placed in an easier posture. "I feel
+myself so strong," he said, "I fear I shall be long dying. It is great
+uneasiness--it is great pain." But, after a while, he pressed Anderson's
+hand close to his body, and, in a few minutes, died without a struggle.
+He fell, as it had ever been his wish to do, in battle and in victory.
+No man was more beloved in private life, nor was there any general in
+the British army so universally respected. All men had thought him
+worthy of the chief command. Had he been less circumspect,--had he
+looked more ardently forward, and less anxiously around him, and on all
+sides, and behind,--had he been more confident in himself and in his
+army, and impressed with less respect for the French Generals, he would
+have been more equal to the difficulties of his situation. Despondency
+was the radical weakness of his mind. Personally he was as brave a man
+as ever met death in the field; but he wanted faith in British courage:
+and it is faith by which miracles are wrought in war as well as in
+religion. But let it ever be remembered with gratitude, that, when some
+of his general officers advised him to conclude the retreat by a
+capitulation, Sir John Moore preserved the honour of England.
+
+He had often said that, if he were killed in battle, he wished to be
+buried where he fell. The body was removed at midnight to the citadel of
+Corunna. A grave was dug for him on the rampart there, by a party of the
+9th regiment, the aides-du-camp attending by turns. No coffin could be
+procured; and the officers of his staff wrapped the body, dressed as it
+was, in a military cloak and blankets. The interment was hastened; for,
+about eight in the morning, some firing was heard, and they feared that,
+if a serious attack were made, they should be ordered away, and not
+suffered to pay him their last duty. The officers of his staff bore him
+to the grave; the funeral service was read by the chaplain; and the
+corpse was covered with earth.
+
+Thus, with a solemn splendour and a sad glory, closed the career of a
+gallant but unfortunate commander.
+
+We subjoin the beautiful Ode on the Death of Sir John, written by the
+Rev. Mr. Wolfe:--
+
+  THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE.
+
+  Not a drum was heard, not a funeral-note,
+    As his corse to the ramparts we hurried;
+  Not a soldier discharged his farewell-shot
+    O'er the grave where our hero we buried.
+
+  We buried him darkly at dead of night,
+    The sods with our bayonets turning,
+  By the straggling moonbeam's misty light,
+    And the lantern dimly burning.
+
+  No useless coffin inclosed his breast,
+    Not in sheet or in shroud we wound him,
+  But he lay like a warrior taking his rest,
+    With his martial cloak around him.
+
+  Few and short were the prayers we said,
+    And we spoke not a word of sorrow;
+  But we stedfastly gazed on the face that was dead,
+    And we bitterly thought of the morrow.
+
+  We thought, as we hallowed his narrow bed,
+    And smoothed down his lonely pillow,
+  That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head,
+    And we far away on the billow!
+
+  Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone,
+    And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him,--
+  But little he'll reck, if they let him sleep on
+    In the grave where a Briton has laid him.
+
+  But half of our heavy task was done,
+    When the clock struck the hour for retiring;
+  And we heard the distant and random gun
+    That the foe was sullenly firing.
+
+  Slowly and sadly we laid him down,
+    From the field of his fame fresh and gory;
+  We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone--
+    But we left him alone with his glory.
+
+
+
+
+~Persian Tyranny.~
+
+
+Sir R.K. Porter, in his travels in Persia, met with the sufferer from
+despotic tyranny and cruelty whose story is here related. He informs us,
+that the benignity of this person's countenance, united with the
+crippled state of his venerable frame, from the effects of his
+precipitation from the terrible height of execution, excited his
+curiosity to inquire into the particulars of so amazing a preservation.
+
+Entering into conversation on the amiable characters of the reigning
+royal family of Persia, and comparing the present happiness of his
+country under their rule, with its misery during the sanguinary
+usurpation of the tyrant Nackee Khan, the good old man, who had himself
+been so signal an example of that misery, was easily led to describe the
+extraordinary circumstances of his own case. Being connected with the
+last horrible acts, and consequent fall of the usurper, a double
+interest accompanied his recital, the substance of which was nearly as
+follows:--
+
+Having by intrigues and assassinations made himself master of the regal
+power at Shiraz, this monster of human kind found that the governor of
+Ispahan, instead of adhering to him, had proclaimed the accession of the
+lawful heir. No sooner was the intelligence brought to Nackee Khan than
+he put himself at the head of his troops, and set forward to revenge his
+contemned authority. When he arrived as far as Yezdikast, he encamped
+his army for a short halt, near the tomb on the north side. Being as
+insatiable of money as blood, he sent to the inhabitants of Yezdikast,
+and demanded an immense sum in gold, which he insisted should instantly
+be paid to his messengers. Unable to comply, the fact was respectfully
+pleaded in excuse; namely, "that all the money the city had possessed
+was already taken away by his own officers, and those of the opposite
+party; and that, at present, there was scarce a tomaun in the place."
+Enraged at this answer, he repaired, full of wrath, to the town, and,
+ordering eighteen of the principal inhabitants to be brought before him,
+again demanded the money, but with threats and imprecations which made
+the hearers tremble. Still, however, they could only return the same
+answer--"their utter inability to pay;" and the tyrant, without a
+moment's preparation, commanded the men to be seized, and hurled from
+the top of the precipice in his sight. Most of them were instantly
+killed on the spot; others, cruelly maimed, died in terrible agonies
+where they fell; and the describer of the dreadful scene was the only
+one who survived. He could form no idea of how long he lay after
+precipitation, utterly senseless; "but," added he, "by the will of God I
+breathed again; and, on opening my eyes, found myself among the dead and
+mangled bodies of my former neighbours and friends. Some yet groaned."
+He then related, that, in the midst of his horror at the sight, he heard
+sounds of yet more terrible acts, from the top of the cliff; and,
+momentarily strengthened by fear of he knew not what, for he believed
+that death had already grasped his own poor shattered frame, he managed
+to crawl away, unperceived, into one of the numerous caverned holes
+which perforate the foot of the steep. He lay there in an expiring
+state the whole night, but in the morning was providentially discovered
+by some of the town's people, who came to seek the bodies of their
+murdered relatives, to mourn over and take them away for burial. The
+poor man, feeble as he was, called to these weeping groups; who, to
+their astonishment and joy, drew out one survivor from the dreadful heap
+of slain. No time was lost in conveying him home, and administering
+every kind of assistance; but many months elapsed before he was able to
+move from his house, so deep had been the injuries inflicted in his
+fall.
+
+In the course of his awful narrative, he told us, that the noise which
+had so appalled him, as he lay among the blood-stained rocks, was indeed
+the acting of a new cruelty of the usurper. After having witnessed the
+execution of his sentence on the eighteen citizens, whose asseverations
+he had determined not to believe, Nackee Khan immediately sent for a
+devout man, called Saied Hassan, who was considered the sage of the
+place, and, for his charities, greatly beloved by the people. "This
+man," said the Khan, "being a descendant of the Prophet, must know the
+truth, and will tell it me. He shall find me those who can and will pay
+the money." But the answer given by the honest Saied being precisely the
+same with that of the innocent victims who had already perished, the
+tyrant's fury knew no bounds, and, rising from his seat, he ordered the
+holy man to be rent asunder in his presence, and then thrown over the
+rock, to increase the monument of his vengeance below.
+
+It was the tumult of this most dreadful execution, which occasioned the
+noise that drove the affrighted narrator to the shelter of any hole from
+the eye of merciless man. But the cruel scene did not end here. Even in
+the yet sensible ear of the Saied, expiring in agonies, his execrable
+murderer ordered that his wife and daughters should be given up to the
+soldiers; and that, in punishment of such universal rebellion in the
+town, the whole place should be razed to the ground. But this last act
+of blood on a son of the Prophet cost the perpetrator his life. For the
+soldiers themselves, and the nobles who had been partisans of the
+usurper, were so struck with horror at the sacrilegious murder, and
+appalled with the threatened guilt of violating women of the sacred
+family, that they believed a curse must follow the abettors of such a
+man. The next step, in their minds, was to appease Heaven by the
+immolation of the offender; and, in the course of that very night, a
+band of his servants cut the cords of his tent, which, instantly falling
+in upon him, afforded them a secure opportunity of burying their
+poniards in his body. The first strokes were followed by thousands. So
+detested was the wretch, that in a few minutes his remains were hewn and
+torn to pieces. It does not become men to lift the veil which lies over
+the whole doom of a ruthless murderer; but there is something in the
+last mortal yell of a tyrant, whether it be a Robespierre or a Nackee
+Khan, which sounds as if mingled with a dreadful echo from the eternal
+shore.
+
+
+
+
+~Sketches in Virginia.~
+
+
+The Rock Bridge is described by Mr. Jefferson, late President of the
+United States, as one of the most sublime of the productions of Nature.
+It is on the ascent of a hill which seems to have been cloven through
+its length by some great convulsion of Nature.
+
+Although the sides of the bridge are provided in some parts with a
+parapet of fixed rocks, yet few persons have resolution to walk to them,
+and look over into the abyss. The passenger involuntarily falls on his
+hands, creeps to the parapet, and peeps over it. Looking down from this
+height for the space of a minute, occasions a violent headache; and the
+view from beneath is delightful in the extreme, as much as that from
+above is exquisitely painful.
+
+The following beautiful sketch is from the pen of the Rev. John Todd, of
+Philadelphia, author of the Student's Manual, Simple Sketches, and other
+admired works.
+
+
+
+
+ROCK BRIDGE.
+
+
+On a lovely morning towards the close of spring, I found myself in a
+very beautiful part of the great valley of Virginia. Spurred on by
+impatience, I beheld the sun rising in splendour, and changing the blue
+tints on the tops of the lofty Alleghany mountains into streaks of
+purest gold; and nature seemed to smile in the freshness of beauty. A
+ride of about fifteen miles, and a pleasant woodland ramble of about
+two, brought myself and my companion to the great NATURAL BRIDGE.
+
+Although I had been anxiously looking forward to this time, and my mind
+had been considerably excited by expectation, yet I was not altogether
+prepared for this visit. This great work of nature is considered by many
+as the second great curiosity in our country, Niagara Falls being the
+first. I do not expect to convey a very correct idea of this bridge; for
+no description can do this.
+
+The Natural Bridge is entirely the work of God. It is of solid
+limestone, and connects two huge mountains together, by a most beautiful
+arch over which there is a great wagon road. Its length from one
+mountain to the other is nearly eighty feet, its width about
+thirty-five, its thickness forty-five, and its perpendicular height
+above the water is not far from two hundred and twenty feet. A few
+bushes grow on its top, by which the traveller may hold himself as he
+looks over. On each side of the stream, and near the bridge, are rocks
+projecting ten or fifteen feet over the water, and from two hundred to
+three hundred feet from its surface, all of limestone. The visitor
+cannot give so good a description of the bridge as he can of his
+feelings at the time. He softly creeps out on a shaggy projecting rock,
+and, looking down a chasm from forty to sixty feet wide, he sees, nearly
+three hundred feet below, a wild stream foaming and dashing against the
+rocks beneath, as if terrified at the rocks above. This stream is called
+Cedar Creek. He sees under the arch, trees whose height is seventy feet;
+and yet, as he looks down upon them, they appear like small bushes of
+perhaps two or three feet in height. I saw several birds fly under the
+arch, and they looked like insects. I threw down a stone, and counted
+thirty-four before it reached the water. All hear of heights and of
+depths, but they here _see_ what is high, and they tremble, and _feel_
+it to be deep. The awful rocks present their everlasting butments, the
+water murmurs and foams far below, and the two mountains rear their
+proud heads on each side, separated by a channel of sublimity. Those who
+view the sun, the moon, and the stars, and allow that none but God could
+make them, will here be impressed that none but an _Almighty_ God could
+build a bridge like this.
+
+The view of the bridge from below is as pleasing as the top view is
+awful. The arch from beneath would seem to be about two feet in
+thickness. Some idea of the distance from the top to the bottom may be
+formed, from the fact, that as I stood on the bridge and my companion
+beneath, neither of us could speak sufficiently loud to be heard by the
+other. A man, from either view, does not appear more than four or five
+inches in height.
+
+As we stood under this beautiful arch, we saw the place where visitors
+have often taken the pains to engrave their names upon the rock. Here
+Washington climbed up twenty-five feet, and carved his own name, where
+it still remains. Some, wishing to immortalise their names, have
+engraven them deep and large, while others have tried to climb up and
+insert them high in this book of fame.
+
+A few years since, a young man, being ambitious to place his name above
+all others, was very near losing his life in the attempt. After much
+fatigue he climbed up as high as possible, but found that the person who
+had before occupied his place was taller than himself, and consequently
+had placed his name above his reach. But he was not thus to be
+discouraged. He opened a large jack-knife, and, in the soft limestone,
+began to cut places for his hands and feet. With much patience and
+industry he worked his way upwards, and succeeded in carving his name
+higher than the most ambitious had done before him. He could now
+triumph, but his triumph was short; for he was placed in such a
+situation that it was impossible to descend, unless he fell upon the
+ragged rocks beneath him. There was no house near, from whence his
+companions could get assistance. He could not long remain in that
+condition, and, what was worse, his friends were too much frightened to
+do anything for his relief. They looked upon him as already dead,
+expecting every moment to see him precipitated upon the rocks below and
+dashed to pieces. Not so with himself. He determined to ascend.
+Accordingly he plies the rock with his knife, cutting places for his
+hands and feet, and gradually ascended with incredible labour. He exerts
+every muscle. His life was at stake, and all the terrors of death rose
+before him. He dared not look downwards, lest his head should become
+dizzy; and perhaps on this circumstance his life depended. His
+companions stood at the top of the rock, exhorting and encouraging him.
+His strength was almost exhausted; but a bare possibility of saving his
+life still remained; and hope, the last friend of the distressed, had
+not yet forsaken him. His course upwards was rather oblique than
+perpendicular. His most critical moment had now arrived. He had ascended
+considerably more than two hundred feet, and had still further to rise,
+when he felt himself fast growing weak. He thought of his friends, and
+all his earthly joys, and he could not leave them. He thought of the
+grave, and dared not meet it. He now made his last effort and succeeded.
+He had cut his way not far from two hundred and fifty feet from the
+water, in a course almost perpendicular; and in a little less than two
+hours, his anxious companions reached him a pole from the top, and drew
+him up. They received him with shouts of joy, but he himself was
+completely exhausted. He immediately fainted on reaching the top, and it
+was some time before he could be recovered!
+
+It was interesting to see the path up these awful rocks, and to follow
+in imagination this bold youth as he thus saved his life. His name
+stands far above all the rest, a monument of hardihood, of rashness, and
+of folly.
+
+We lingered around this seat of grandeur about four hours; but, from my
+own feelings, I should not have supposed it over half an hour. There is
+a little cottage near, lately built; here we were desired to write our
+names, as visitors of the bridge, in a large book kept for this purpose.
+Two large volumes were nearly filled in this manner already. Having
+immortalised our names by enrolling them in this book, we slowly and
+silently returned to our horses, wondering at this great work of nature;
+and we could not but be filled with astonishment at the amazing power of
+Him who can clothe Himself in wonder and terror, or throw around His
+works a mantle of sublimity.
+
+
+
+
+WIER'S CAVE.
+
+
+About three days' ride from the Natural Bridge brought Mr. Todd and his
+companions to a place called Port Republic, about twenty miles from the
+town of Staunton. Here they prepared themselves to visit this other
+natural curiosity.
+
+The shower was now over, which had wet us to the skin--the sun was
+pouring down his most scorching rays--the heavy thunder had gone by; we
+threw around our delighted eyes, and beheld near us the lofty Alleghany
+rearing his shaggy head. The south branch of the Shenandoah river, with
+its banks covered with beautiful trees, was murmuring at our feet--a
+lovely plain stretched below us, as far as the eye could reach; and we,
+with our guide, were now standing about half way up a hill nearly two
+hundred feet high, and so steep that a biscuit may be thrown from its
+top into the river at its foot--we were standing at the mouth of WIER'S
+CAVE. This cavern derives its name from _Barnet Wier_, who discovered it
+in the year 1804. It is situated near Madison's Cave, so celebrated;
+though the latter cannot be compared with the former.
+
+There were three of us, besides our guide, with lighted torches, and our
+loins girded, now ready to descend into the cave. We took our torches in
+our left hands and entered. The mouth was so small that we could descend
+only by creeping, one after another. A descent of almost twenty yards
+brought us into the first room. The cave was exceedingly cold, dark, and
+silent, like the chambers of death. In this manner we proceeded, now
+descending thirty or forty feet--now ascending as high--now creeping on
+our hands and knees, and now walking in large rooms--the habitations of
+solitude. The mountain seems to be composed almost wholly of limestone,
+and by this means the cave is lined throughout with the most beautiful
+incrustations and stalactites of carbonated lime, which are formed by
+the continual dripping of the water through the roof. These stalactites
+are of various and elegant shapes and colours, often bearing a striking
+resemblance to animated nature. At one place we saw over our heads what
+appeared to be a _waterfall_ of the most beautiful kind. Nor could the
+imagination be easily persuaded that it was not a reality. You could see
+the water boiling and dashing down,--see its white spray and foam--but
+it was all solid limestone.
+
+Thus we passed onward in this world of solitude--now stopping to admire
+the beauties of a single stalactite--now wondering at the magnificence
+of a large room--now creeping through narrow passages, hardly wide
+enough to admit the body of a man,--and now walking in superb
+galleries, until we came to the largest room, called WASHINGTON HALL.
+This is certainly the most elegant room I ever saw. It is about two
+hundred and seventy feet in length, about thirty-five in width, and
+between thirty and forty feet high. The roof and sides are very
+beautifully adorned by the tinsels which Nature has bestowed in the
+greatest profusion, and which sparkle like the diamond, while surveyed
+by the light of torches. The floor is flat, and smooth, and solid. I was
+foremost of our little party in entering the room, and was not a little
+startled as I approached the centre, to see a figure, as it were, rising
+up before me out of the solid rock. It was not far from seven feet high,
+and corresponded in every respect to the common idea of a ghost. It was
+very white, and resembled a tall man clothed in a shroud. I went up to
+it sideways, though I could not really expect to meet a ghost in a place
+like this. On examination I found it was a very beautiful piece of the
+carbonate of lime, very transparent, and very much in the shape of a
+man. This is called WASHINGTON'S STATUE--as if Nature would do for this
+hero what his delivered country has not done--rear a statue to his
+memory.
+
+Here an accident happened which might have been serious. One of our
+party had purposely extinguished his light, lest we should not have
+enough to last. My companion accidentally put out his light, and in
+sport came and blew out mine. We were now about sixteen hundred feet
+from daylight, with but one feeble light, which the falling water might
+in a moment have extinguished. Add to this, that the person who held
+this light was at some distance viewing some falling water.
+
+    "Conticuere omnes, intentique ora tenebant."
+
+We, however, once more lighted our torches; but, had we not been able to
+do so, we might, at our leisure, have contemplated the gloominess of the
+cavern, for no one would have come to us till the next day. In one room
+we found an excellent spring of water, which boiled up as if to slake
+our thirst, then sunk into the mountain, and was seen no more. In
+another room was a noble pillar, called the TOWER OF BABEL. It is
+composed entirely of stalactites of lime, or, as the appearance would
+seem to suggest, of petrified water. It is about thirty feet in
+diameter, and a little more than ninety feet in circumference, and not
+far from thirty feet high. There are probably millions of stalactites in
+this one pillar.
+
+Thus we wandered on in this world within a world, till we had visited
+twelve very beautiful rooms, and as many creeping places, and had now
+arrived at the end,--a distance from our entrance of between twenty-four
+and twenty-five hundred feet; or, what is about its equal, half a mile
+from the mouth. We here found ourselves exceedingly fatigued; but our
+torches forbade us to tarry, and we once more turned our lingering steps
+towards the common world. When we arrived again at Washington Hall, one
+of our company three times discharged a pistol, whose report was truly
+deafening; and as the sound reverberated and echoed through one room
+after another till it died away in distance, it seemed like the moanings
+of spirits. We continued our wandering steps till we arrived once more
+at daylight, having been nearly three hours in the cavern. We were much
+fatigued, covered with dirt, and in a cold sweat; yet we regretted to
+leave it. From the farther end of the cave I gathered some handsome
+stalactites, which I put into my portmanteau, and preserved as mementos
+of that day's visit.
+
+To compare the Natural Bridge and Cave together as objects of curiosity,
+is exceedingly difficult. Many consider the _Bridge_ as the greatest
+curiosity; but I think the _Cavern_ is. In looking at the Bridge we are
+filled with awe; at the Cavern with delight. At the Bridge we have
+several views that are awful; at the Cave hundreds that are pleasing. At
+the Bridge you stand and gaze in astonishment; at the Cave awfulness is
+lost in beauty, and grandeur is dressed in a thousand captivating forms.
+At the Bridge you feel yourself to be _looking_ into another world; at
+the Cave you find yourself already _arrived_ there. The one presents to
+us a God who is very "wonderful in working;" the other exhibits the same
+power, but with it is blended loveliness in a thousand forms. In each is
+vastness. Greatness constitutes the whole of one; but the other is
+elegant, as well as great. Of each we must retain lively impressions;
+and to witness such displays of the Creator's power, must ever be
+considered as happy events in our lives. While viewing scenes like
+these, we must ever exalt the energy of creating power, and sink under
+the thoughts of our own insignificance. The works of nature are
+admirably well calculated to impress us deeply with a sense of the
+mighty power of God, who can separate two mountains by a channel of
+awfulness, or fill the bowels of a huge mountain with beauties, that
+man, with all the aid of art, can only admire, but never imitate.
+
+
+
+
+~The Christian Slave.~
+
+
+We venture to extract another of Mr. Todd's Simple Sketches, so
+charmingly are they described.
+
+The sun had set, and I began to be anxious to find a place of rest for
+the night, after a day's ride under a sultry sun. I was travelling in
+South Carolina, and was now not far from a branch of the Cooper river.
+The country here is a dead level, and its surface is covered with thinly
+scattered pines. I came to an old church--it stood solitary; not a house
+in sight: it was built of wood, and much decayed. The breezes of evening
+were gently sighing through the tops of the long-leaved pines which
+stood near; while still nearer stood several large live-oaks, which
+spread out their aged arms, as if to shelter what was sacred. On their
+limbs hung, in graceful folds, the long grey moss, as if a mantle of
+mourning, waving over a few decayed tombs at the east side of the
+church. These oaks give the place a very sombre and awful appearance;
+they seemed to stand as silent mourners over the dust of generations
+that had sunk into the grave, and waiting in solemn expectation that
+others would soon come and lie beneath their shade in the long sleep of
+death. The time of day, and the sacredness of the spot, were so
+congenial to my own feelings, that I involuntarily stopped my horse.
+
+My curiosity was now excited by seeing a very aged negro standing and
+gazing steadily on a small decaying tomb. He seemed to be intent, and
+did not observe me; his woolly locks were whitened by age; his
+countenance was manly, though it bore the marks of sorrow; he was
+leaning on his smooth-worn staff, the companion of many years. I was
+somewhat surprised on seeing this aged African silently meditating among
+the vestiges of the dead, and accordingly roused him from his reverie.
+He started at first, but his confidence was soon gained. There is a
+spring in the bosom of every Christian, which throws a joy into his
+heart whenever he meets a fellow-christian during his pilgrimage here
+below. I found the old negro to be an eminent Christian, and we were
+soon acquainted. I inquired what motive induced him, at that hour of the
+day, to visit these tombs. Instead of answering my question directly he
+gave me the following account of himself, in broken language:--
+
+About sixty years ago, this negro was living under his paternal roof in
+Africa. He was the son of a chief of a small tribe, the pride of his
+parents, and the delight of his countrymen; none could more dexterously
+throw the dart; none more skilfully guide the fragile canoe over the
+bosom of the deep. He was not far from twenty years of age, when, on a
+fair summer's morn, he went in his little canoe to spend the day in
+fishing. About noon he paddled his bark to the shore, and, under the
+shade of a beautiful palmetto-tree, he reclined till the heat of
+noon-day should be passed. He was young, healthy, and active; he knew
+none whom he dreaded; he was a stranger to fear, and he dreamed only of
+security, as he slept under the shade of his own native tree. Thus,
+while our sky is encircled with the bow of happiness, we forget that it
+may soon be overspread with darkness. When this African awoke, he found
+his hands bound behind him, his feet fettered, and himself surrounded by
+several white men, who were conveying him on board of their ship;--it
+was a slave-ship. The vessel had her cargo completed, and was ready to
+sail. As they were unfurling the sails, the son of Africa, with many
+others of his countrymen, for the last time cast his eyes upon his
+native shores. Futurity was dark,--was uncertain,--was despair. His
+bosom thrilled with anguish, as he threw his last farewell look over the
+plains of his native country. There was his native spot where his had
+lived, there the home of his infancy and childhood, there the place
+where he had inhaled his earliest breath--and to tear him from these,
+seemed like breaking the very strings of his heart.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+After a melancholy passage, during which the African was forced to wear
+double the irons to receive double the number of lashes, that any of
+his companions received, on account of his refractory spirit, he was at
+length landed and sold to a planter in the place where he now resides.
+There is nothing new, nothing novel or interesting, that ever takes
+place in the life of a slave--describe one day, and you write the
+history of a slave. The sun, indeed, continues to roll over him; but it
+sheds upon him no new joys, no new prospects, no new hopes. So it was
+with the subject of this narrative. His master was naturally a man of a
+very humane disposition; but his overseers were often little else than
+compounds of vice and cruelty. In this situation the negro lost all his
+natural independence and bravery. He often attempted to run away, but
+was as often taken and punished. Having no cultivated mind to which he
+could look for consolation--knowing of no change that was ever to take
+place in his situation,--he settled down in gloominess. Often would he
+send a silent sigh for the home of his youth; but his path shewed but
+few marks of happiness, and few rays of hope for futurity were drawn by
+fancy's hand. Sunk in despondency and vice, he was little above the
+brutes around him.
+
+In this situation he was accidentally met by the good minister of the
+parish, who addressed him as a rational and immortal being, and pressed
+upon him the first principles of religion. This was a new subject; for
+he had never before looked beyond the narrow bounds before him, nor had
+he ever dreamed of a world beyond this. After a long conversation on
+this subject, the minister made him promise that he would now "_attend
+to his soul_."
+
+The clergyman could not, for many months after this, obtain an interview
+with his new pupil, who most carefully shunned him. But though afraid to
+meet his minister, he still felt an arrow of conviction in his heart.
+Wherever he went, whether asleep or awake, to use his own words, his
+promise, "me take care of soul, stick close to him," He now began in
+earnest to seek "the one thing needful". By the kindness of his master
+he learned to read his Testament, and to inquire more about Jesus. He
+was now very desirous to see his minister; and before a convenient
+opportunity occurred, he was in such distress of mind as actually to
+attempt two several times to kill himself. His minister visited him,
+conversed and prayed with him.
+
+"_Oh_," he would say, "God never think such poor negro, he no love so
+much sinner, he no before ever see such bad heart!" The mercy of Christ,
+and his compassion towards sinners, were explained to him, and his soul
+was filled with "joy and peace in believing," He now rejoiced and
+thanked God that he was brought from his native shores, as he had a
+fairer country, and purer enjoyments presented to his view, after the
+scenes of this transitory world shall be over. He now became more
+industrious and more faithful. By uncommon industry he raised money
+sufficient to purchase his own freedom. He next bought the liberty of
+his wife, and had nearly completed paying for that of his only
+daughter, when she was liberated by the hand of death. His wife soon
+followed her, and left this world a perfect void to the husband and
+father. His every tie that bound him to earth was now broken. Having no
+earthly enjoyment, he now placed his affections on heaven above. It is
+easy for the Christian to make rapid progress in holiness when not
+fettered by worldly cares.
+
+It was now dark, and I must leave my new acquaintance. I left him with
+his face wet with tears, still standing beside the tomb--the tomb of his
+old minister! This good man had been his faithful and constant guide,
+and though his ashes had been slumbering for years, the negro had not
+yet forgotten how to weep at their urn. I could not but admire the
+wonderful dealings of God, in order to bring men to himself. Happy
+minister! who hast been the instrument of covering a multitude of sins!
+Happy negro! his is not this world. Though no sculptured marble may tell
+the traveller where he may shortly lie--though he never trod the thorny
+road of ambition or power--though the trumpet of fame never blew the
+echo of his name through a gaping world--still those eyes, which will
+soon be closed in death, may hereafter awake, to behold, undaunted, a
+world in flames, and these heavens fleeing away.
+
+
+
+
+~Violent Earthquake in Calabria.~
+
+
+In nature there is nothing which can inspire us with so much awe as
+those violent outbreakings which occasionally convulse the earth,
+creating fearful devastation, overthrowing cities, and destroying much
+life and property. The following is a description of one which occurred
+in Calabria and Sicily in the year 1783; and which, from its violence,
+overthrew many cities, creating an universal consternation in the minds
+of the inhabitants of the two kingdoms.
+
+On Wednesday, the fifth of February, about one in the afternoon, the
+earth was convulsed in that part of Calabria which is bounded by the
+rivers of Gallico and Metramo, by the mountains Jeio, Sagra, and
+Caulone, and the coast between these rivers and the Tuscan Sea. This
+district is called the _Piana_, because the country extends itself from
+the roots of the Appenines, in a plain, for twenty Italian miles in
+length by eighteen in breadth. The earthquake lasted about a hundred
+seconds. It was felt as far as Otranto, Palermo, Lipari, and the other
+Æolian isles; a little also in Apuglia, and the _Terra di Cavoro_; in
+Naples and the Abruzzi not at all. There stood in this plain a hundred
+and nine cities and villages, the habitations of a hundred and sixty-six
+thousand human beings; and in less than two minutes all these edifices
+were destroyed, with nearly thirty-two thousand individuals of every
+age, sex, and station,--the rich equally with the poor; for there
+existed no power of escaping from so sudden a destruction. The soil of
+the _Piana_ was granite at the base of the Apennines, but in the plain
+the _debris_ of every sort of earth, brought down from the mountains by
+the rains, constituted a mass of unequal solidity, resistance, weight,
+and form. On this account, whatever might have been the cause of the
+earthquake, whether volcanic or electrical, the movement assumed every
+possible direction--vertical, horizontal, oscillatory, vorticose, and
+pulsatory; producing every variety of destruction. In one place, a city
+or house was thrown down, in another it was immersed. Here, trees were
+buried to their topmost branches, beside others stripped and overturned.
+Some mountains opened in the middle, and dispersed their mass to the
+right and left, their summits disappearing, or being lost in the
+newly-formed valleys; others slipped from their foundations along with
+all their edifices, which sometimes were overthrown, but more rarely
+remained uninjured, and the inhabitants not even disturbed in their
+sleep. The earth opened in many places, forming frightful abysses;
+while, at a small distance, it rose into hills. The waters, too, changed
+their course; rivers uniting to form lakes, or spreading into marshes;
+disappearing, to rise again in new streams, through other banks, or
+running at large, to lay bare and desolate the most fertile fields.
+Nothing retained its ancient form, cities, roads, and boundaries
+vanished,--so that the inhabitants were bewildered as if in an unknown
+land. The works of art and of nature, the elaborations of centuries,
+together with many a stream and rock, coeval perhaps with the world
+itself, were in a single instant destroyed and overthrown....
+Whirlwinds, tempests, the flames of volcanoes, and of burning edifices,
+rain, wind, and thunder, accompanied the movements of the earth: all the
+forces of nature were in activity, and it seemed as if all its laws were
+suspended, and the last hour of created things at hand. In the meantime,
+the sea between Scylla, Charybdis, and the coasts of Reggio and Messina,
+was raised many fathoms above its usual level; overflowing its banks,
+and then, in its return to its channel, carrying away men and beasts. By
+these means, two thousand persons lost their lives on Scylla alone, who
+were either congregated on the sands, or had escaped in boats, from the
+dangers of the dry land. Etna and Stromboli were in more than usual
+activity: but this hardly excited attention, amidst greater and graver
+disasters. A worse fire than that of the volcanoes resulted from the
+incidents of the earthquake; for the beams of the falling houses being
+ignited by the burning heaths, the flames, fanned by the winds, were so
+vast and fierce, that they seemed to issue from the bosom of the earth.
+The heavens, alternately cloudy or serene, had given no previous sign of
+the approaching calamity; but a new source of suffering followed it, in
+a thick fog, which obscured the light of the day, and added to the
+darkness of night. Irritating to the eyes, injurious to the respiration,
+fetid, and immoveable, it hung over the two Calabrias for more than
+twenty days,--an occasion of melancholy, disease, and annoyance, both to
+man and to animals....
+
+At the first shock, no token, in heaven or on earth, had excited
+attention; but at the sudden movement, and at the aspect of destruction,
+an overwhelming terror seized on the general mind, insomuch, that the
+instinct of self-preservation was suspended, and men remained
+thunderstricken and immoveable. On the return of reason, the first
+sentiment was a sort of joy at the partial escape; but they soon gave
+place to grief for the loss of family, and the overthrow of the domestic
+habitation. Amidst so many aspects of death, and the apprehension even
+of approaching judgment, the suspicion that friends were yet alive under
+the ruins was the most excruciating affliction, since the impossibility
+of assisting them rendered their death--(miserable and terrible
+consolation)--a matter of preference and of hope. Fathers and husbands
+were seen wandering amidst the ruins that covered the objects of their
+affections, and, wanting the power to move the superincumbent masses,
+were calling in vain for the assistance of the bystanders; or haply they
+lay groaning, night and day, in their despair, upon the ruinous
+fragments. But the most horrid fate--(a fate too dreadful to conceive or
+to relate)--was theirs, who, buried alive beneath the fallen edifices,
+awaited, with an anxious and doubtful hope, the chances of
+relief--accusing, at first, the slowness, and then the avarice, of
+their dearest relations and friends; and when they sank under hunger and
+grief--with their senses and memory beginning to fail them--their last
+sentiment was that of indignation against their kindred, and hatred of
+humanity. Many were disinterred alive by their friends, and some by the
+earthquake itself; which, overthrowing the very ruins it had made,
+restored them to light. It was ultimately found, that about a fourth of
+those whose bodies were recovered, might have been saved, had timely
+assistance been at hand. The men were chiefly found in attitudes
+indicating an effort at escape, the women with their hands covering
+their face, or desperately plunged in their hair. Mothers were
+discovered dead who had striven to protect their infants with their own
+bodies, or lay with their arms stretched towards these objects of
+affection, when separated from them by intervening masses of ruin.
+
+
+
+
+~Escape from a Ship on Fire.~
+
+
+From the "Missionary Annual" for 1833.
+
+Many of the party, having retired to their hammocks soon after the
+commencement of the storm, were only partially clothed, when they made
+their escape; but the seamen on the watch, in consequence of the heavy
+rain, having cased themselves in double or treble dresses, supplied
+their supernumerary articles of clothing to those who had none. We
+happily succeeded in bringing away two compasses from the binnacle, and
+a few candles from the cuddy-table, one of them lighted; one bottle of
+wine, and another of porter, were handed to us, with the tablecloth and
+a knife, which proved very useful; but the fire raged so fiercely in the
+body of the vessel, that neither bread nor water could be obtained. The
+rain still poured in torrents; the lightning, followed by loud bursting
+of thunder, continued to stream from one side of the heavens to the
+other,--one moment dazzling us by its glare, and the next moment
+leaving us in darkness, relieved only by the red flames of the
+conflagration from which we were endeavouring to escape. Our first
+object was to proceed to a distance from the vessel, lest she should
+explode and overwhelm us; but, to our inexpressible distress, we
+discovered that the yawl had no rudder, and that for the two boats we
+had only three oars. All exertions to obtain more from the ship proved
+unsuccessful. The gig had a rudder; from this they threw out a rope to
+take us in tow; and, by means of a few paddles, made by tearing up the
+lining of the boat, we assisted in moving ourselves slowly through the
+water, providentially the sea was comparatively smooth, or our
+overloaded boats would have swamped, and we should only have escaped the
+flames to have perished in the deep. The wind was light, but variable,
+and, acting on the sails, which, being drenched with the rain, did not
+soon take fire, drove the burning mass, in terrific grandeur, over the
+surface of the ocean, the darkness of which was only illuminated by the
+quick glancing of the lightning or the glare of the conflagration. Our
+situation was for some time extremely perilous. The vessel neared us
+more than once, and apparently threatened to involve us in one common
+destruction. The cargo, consisting of dry provisions, spirits, cotton
+goods, and other articles equally combustible, burned with great
+violence, while the fury of the destroying element, the amazing height
+of the flames, the continued storm, amidst the thick darkness of the
+night, rendered the scene appalling and terrible. About ten o'clock, the
+masts, after swaying from side to side, fell with a dreadful crash into
+the sea, and the hull of the vessel continued to burn amidst the
+shattered fragments of the wreck, till the sides were consumed to the
+water's edge. The spectacle was truly magnificent, could it even have
+been contemplated by us without a recollection of our own circumstances.
+The torments endured by the dogs, sheep, and other animals on board, at
+any other time would have excited our deepest commiseration; but at
+present, the object before us, our stately ship, that had for the last
+four months been our social home, the scene of our enjoyments, our
+labours, and our rest, now a prey to the destroying element; the
+suddenness with which we had been hurried from circumstances of comfort
+and comparative security, to those of destitution and peril, and with
+which the most exhilarating hopes had been exchanged for disappointment
+as unexpected as it was afflictive; the sudden death of the two seamen,
+our own narrow escape, and lonely situation on the face of the deep, and
+the great probability even yet, although we had succeeded in removing to
+a greater distance from the vessel, that we ourselves should never again
+see the light of day, or set foot on solid ground, absorbed every
+feeling. For some time the silence was scarcely broken, and the thoughts
+of many, I doubt not, were engaged on subjects most suitable to immortal
+beings on the brink of eternity. The number of persons in the two boats
+was forty-eight; and all, with the exception of the two ladies, who bore
+this severe visitation with uncommon fortitude, worked by turns at the
+oars and paddles. After some time, to our great relief, the rain ceased;
+the labour of baling water from the boats was then considerably
+diminished. We were frequently hailed during the night by our companions
+in the small boat, and returned the call, while the brave and
+generous-hearted seamen occasionally enlivened the solitude of the deep
+by a simultaneous "Hurra!" to cheer each others' labours, and to animate
+their spirits. The Tanjore rose in the water as its contents were
+gradually consumed. We saw it burning the whole night, and at day-break
+could distinguish a column of smoke, which, however, soon ceased, and
+every sign of our favourite vessel disappeared. When the sun rose, our
+anxiety and uncertainty as to our situation were greatly relieved by
+discovering land ahead; the sight of it filled us with grateful joy,
+and nerved us with fresh vigour for the exertion required in managing
+the boats. With the advance of the day we discerned more clearly the
+nature of the country. It was wild and covered with jungle, without any
+appearance of population: could we have got ashore, therefore, many of
+us might have perished before assistance could have been procured; but
+the breakers, dashing upon the rocks, convinced us that landing was
+impracticable. In the course of the morning we discovered a native
+vessel, or dhoney, lying at anchor, at some distance: the wind at that
+time beginning to favour us, every means was devised to render it
+available. In the yawl we extended the tablecloth as a sail, and in the
+other boat a blanket served the same purpose. This additional help was
+the more seasonable, as the rays of the sun had become almost
+intolerable to our partially covered bodies. Some of the seamen
+attempted to quench their thirst by salt water: but the passengers
+encouraged each other to abstain. About noon we reached the dhoney. The
+natives on board were astonished and alarmed at our appearance, and
+expressed some unwillingness to receive us; but our circumstances would
+admit of no denial; and we scarcely waited till our Singalese
+fellow-passenger could interpret to them our situation and our wants,
+before we ascended the sides of their vessel, assuring them that every
+expense and loss sustained on our account should be amply repaid.
+
+
+
+
+~Anecdotes of the Albatross, &c.~
+
+
+The author of the following extracts is Mr. Augustus Earle, whose life
+has been one of wandering and peril, traversing every quarter of the
+globe. The account of his residence for nine months among the New
+Zealanders is very interesting; but a description of their cannibal
+habits will not suit the taste of many of our young readers. We shall
+therefore accompany him to the Island of Tristan d'Acunha, upon which,
+by accident, he was left, where he amused himself hunting goats, sea
+elephants, albatrosses, and penguins; while, like another Crusoe, he
+occasionally watched for the ship that should release him from his
+island prison. His work is intitled "Nine Months' Residence in New
+Zealand," &c.
+
+
+
+
+THE ALBATROSS.
+
+
+Being a fine morning, I determined to ascend the mountain. As several
+parties had before gone up, they had formed a kind of path: at least we
+endeavoured to trace the same way; but it requires a great deal of nerve
+to attempt it. The sides of the mountain are nearly perpendicular; but,
+after ascending about two hundred feet, it is there entirely covered
+with wood, which renders the footing much more safe; but in order to
+get to the wood, the road is so dangerous, that it made me almost
+tremble to think of it,--slippery grey rocks, and many of them
+unfortunately loose, so that when we took hold, they separated from the
+mass, and fell with a horrid rumbling noise. Here and there were a few
+patches of grass, the only thing we could depend upon to assist us in
+climbing, which must be done with extreme caution, for the least slip or
+false step would dash one to atoms on the rocks below. By keeping our
+eyes constantly looking upwards, and continuing to haul ourselves up, by
+catching firm hold on this grass, after an hour's painful toil we gained
+the summit, where we found ourselves on an extended plain, of several
+miles expanse, which terminates in the peak, composed of dark grey lava,
+bare and frightful to behold. We proceeded towards it, the plain
+gradually rising, but the walking was most fatiguing, over strong rank
+grass and fern several feet high, with holes concealed under the roots
+in such a way, that no possible caution could prevent our occasionally
+falling down into one or other of them, and entirely disappearing, which
+caused a boisterous laugh amongst the rest; but it frequently happened,
+while one was making merry at the expense of another, down sunk the
+laugher himself. A death-like stillness prevailed in these high regions,
+and, to my ear, our voices had a strange, unnatural echo, and I fancied
+our forms appeared gigantic, whilst the air was piercing cold. The
+prospect was altogether very sublime, and filled the mind with awe! On
+the one side, the boundless horizon, heaped up with clouds of silvery
+brightness, contrasted with some of darker hue, enveloping us in their
+vapour, and, passing rapidly away, gave us only casual glances of the
+landscape; and, on the other hand, the sterile and cindery peak, with
+its venerable head, partly capped with clouds, partly revealing great
+patches of red cinders, or lava, intermingled with the black rock,
+produced a most extraordinary and dismal effect. It seemed as though it
+were still actually burning, to heighten the sublimity of the scene. The
+huge albatross appeared here to dread no interloper or enemy; for their
+young were on the ground completely uncovered, and the old ones were
+stalking around them. This bird is the largest of the aquatic tribe; and
+its plumage is of a most delicate white, excepting the back and the tops
+of its wings, which are grey: they lay but one egg, on the ground, where
+they form a kind of nest, by scraping the earth round it. After the
+young one is hatched, it has to remain a year before it can fly; it is
+entirely white, and covered with a woolly down, which is very beautiful.
+As we approached them, they clapped their beaks, with a very quick
+motion, which made a great noise. This, and throwing up the contents of
+the stomach, are the only means of offence and defence they seem to
+possess. The old ones, which are valuable on account of their feathers,
+my companions made dreadful havoc amongst, knocking on the head all they
+could come up with. These birds are very helpless on the land, the
+great length of their wings precluding them from rising up into the air,
+unless they can get to a steep declivity. On the level ground they were
+completely at our mercy, but very little was shewn them; and in a very
+short space of time the plain was strewn with their bodies, one blow on
+the head generally killing them instantly. Five months after, many of
+the young birds were still sitting on their nests, and had never moved
+away from them; they remain there for a year before they can fly, and
+during that long period are fed by the mother. They had greatly
+increased in size and beauty since my first visit to them. The semblance
+of the young bird, as it sits on the nest, is stately and beautiful. The
+white down, which is its first covering, giving place gradually to its
+natural grey plumage, leaves half the creature covered with down; the
+other half is a fine compact coat of feathers, composed of white and
+grey; while the head is of a dazzling, silvery white. Their size is
+prodigious, one of them proving a tolerable load. Upon skinning them,
+on our return, we found they were covered with a fine white fat, which I
+was told was excellent for frying, and other culinary purposes; and the
+flesh was quite as delicate, and could scarcely be distinguished in
+flavour from lamb. Besides our albatross, the dogs caught some small
+birds, about the size of our partridge, but their gait was something
+like that of the penguin. The male is of a glossy black, with a bright
+red hard crest on the top of the head. The hen is brown. They stand
+erect, and have long yellow legs, with which they run very fast; their
+wings are small and useless for flying, but they are armed with sharp
+spurs for defence, and also, I imagine, for assisting them in climbing,
+as they are found generally among the rocks. The name they give this
+bird here is simply "cock," its only note being a noise very much
+resembling the repetition of that word. Its flesh is plump, fat, and
+excellent eating.
+
+
+
+
+VISIT TO A PENGUIN ROOKERY.
+
+
+The spot of ground occupied by our settlers is bounded on each side by
+high _bluffs_, which extend far into the sea, leaving a space in front,
+where all their hogs run nearly wild, as they are prevented going beyond
+those limits by those natural barriers; and the creatures who, at stated
+periods, come up from the sea, remain in undisturbed possession of the
+beaches beyond our immediate vicinity. The weather being favourable, we
+launched our boat early in the morning, for the purpose of procuring a
+supply of eggs for the consumption of the family. We heard the
+chattering of the penguins from the rookery long before we landed, which
+was noisy in the extreme, and groups of them were scattered all over the
+beach; but the high thick grass on the declivity of the hill seemed
+their grand establishment, and they were hidden by it from our view. As
+we could not find any place where we could possibly land our boat in
+safety, I and two more swam on shore with bags tied round our necks to
+hold the eggs in, and the boat with one of the men lay off, out of the
+surf. I should think the ground occupied by these _birds_ (if I may be
+allowed so to call them) was at least a mile in circumference, covered
+in every part with grasses and reeds, which grew considerably higher
+than my head; and on every gentle ascent, beginning from the beach, on
+all the large grey rocks, which occasionally appeared above this grass,
+sat perched groups of these strange and uncouth-looking creatures; but
+the noise which rose up from beneath baffles all description! As our
+business lay with the noisy part of this community, we quietly crept
+under the grass, and commenced our plundering search, though there
+needed none, so profuse was the quantity. The scene altogether well
+merits a better description than I can give--thousands, and hundreds of
+thousands, of these little two-legged erect monsters hopping around us,
+with voices very much resembling in tone that of the human; all opened
+their throats together: so thickly clustered in groups that it was
+almost impossible to place the foot without dispatching one of them. The
+shape of the animal, their curious motions, and their most extraordinary
+voices, made me fancy myself in a kingdom of pigmies. The regularity of
+their manners, their all sitting in exact rows, resembling more the
+order of a camp than a rookery of noisy birds, delighted me. These
+creatures did not move away on our approach, but only increased their
+noise, so we were obliged to displace them forcibly from their nests;
+and this ejectment was not produced without a considerable struggle on
+their parts; and, being armed with a formidable beak, it soon became a
+scene of desperate warfare. We had to take particular care to protect
+our hands and legs from their attacks: and for this purpose each one had
+provided himself with a short stout club. The noise they continued to
+make during our ramble through their territories the sailors said was,
+"Cover 'em up, cover 'em up." And, however incredible it may appear, it
+is nevertheless true, that I heard those words so distinctly repeated,
+and by such various tones of voices, that several times I started, and
+expected to see one of the men at my elbow. Even these little creatures,
+as well as the monstrous sea elephant, appear to keep up a continued
+warfare with each other. As the penguins sit in rows, forming regular
+lanes leading down to the beach, whenever one of them feels an
+inclination to refresh herself by a plunge into the sea, she has to run
+the gauntlet through the whole _street_, every one pecking at her as she
+passes without mercy; and though all are occupied in the same
+employment, not the smallest degree of friendship seems to exist; and
+whenever we turned one off her nest, she was sure to be thrown amongst
+foes; and, besides the loss of her eggs, was invariably doomed to
+receive a severe beating and pecking from her companions. Each one lays
+three eggs, and after a time, when the young are strong enough to
+undertake the journey, they go to sea, and are not again seen till the
+ensuing spring. Their city is deserted of its numerous inhabitants, and
+quietness reigns till nature prompts their return the following year,
+when the same noisy scene is repeated, as the same flock of birds
+returns to the spot where they were hatched. After raising a tremendous
+tumult in this numerous colony, and sustaining continued combat, we came
+off victorious, making capture of about a thousand eggs, resembling in
+size, colour, and transparency of shell, those of a duck; and the taking
+possession of this immense quantity did not occupy more than one hour,
+which may serve to prove the incalculable number of birds collected
+together. We did not allow them sufficient time, after landing, to lay
+all their eggs; for, had the season been further advanced, and we had
+found three eggs in each nest, the whole of them might probably have
+proved addled, the young partly formed, and the eggs of no use to us;
+but the whole of those we took turned out good, and had a particularly
+fine and delicate flavour. It was a work of considerable difficulty to
+get our booty safe into the boat--so frail a cargo--with so tremendous a
+surf running against us. However, we finally succeeded, though not
+without smashing a considerable number of the eggs.
+
+
+
+
+THE SEA ELEPHANT.
+
+
+I saw, for the first time, what the settlers call a _pod_ of sea
+elephants. At this particular season these animals lay strewed about the
+beach, and, unless you disturb them, the sight of a man will not
+frighten them away. I was determined to get a good portrait of some of
+them, and accordingly took my sketch-book and pencil, and seated myself
+very near to one of them, and began my operations, feeling sure I had
+now got a most patient sitter, for they will lie for weeks together
+without stirring; but I had to keep throwing small pebbles at him, in
+order to make him open his eyes, and prevent his going to sleep. The
+flies appear to torment these unwieldy monsters most cruelly, their
+eyes and nostrils being stuffed full of them. I got a good sketch of the
+group. They appeared to stare at me occasionally with some little
+astonishment, stretching up their immense heads and looking around; but
+finding all still (I suppose they considered me a mere rock), they
+composed themselves to sleep again. They are the most shapeless
+creatures about the body. I could not help comparing them to an
+over-grown maggot, and their motion is similar to that insect. The face
+bears some rude resemblance to the human countenance; the eye is large,
+black, and expressive; excepting two very small flippers or paws at the
+shoulder, the whole body tapers down to a fish's tail; they are of a
+delicate mouse colour, the fur is very fine, but too oily for any other
+purpose than to make mocassins for the islanders. The bull is of an
+enormous size, and would weigh as heavily as his namesake of the land;
+and in that one thing consists their only resemblance, for no two
+animals can possibly be more unlike each other. It is a very curious
+phenomenon, how they can possibly exist on shore; for, from the first
+of their landing, they never go out to sea, and they lie on a stormy
+beach for months together without tasting any food, except consuming
+their own fat, for they gradually waste away; and as this fat or blubber
+is the great object of value, for which they are attacked and
+slaughtered, the settlers contrive to commence operations against them
+upon their first arrival, for it is well ascertained that they take no
+sustenance whatever on shore. I examined the contents of the stomach of
+one they had just killed, but could not make out the nature of what it
+contained. The matter was of a remarkably bright green colour. They have
+many enemies, even in the water; one called the killer, a species of
+grampus, which makes terrible havoc amongst them, and will attack and
+take away the carcass of one from alongside a boat. But man is their
+greatest enemy, and causes the most destruction to their race: he
+pursues them to all quarters of the globe.
+
+
+
+
+VISIT FROM THE NATIVES AT TERRA DEL FUEGO.
+
+
+During our stay, we had, at various times, visits from the natives. They
+were all at first very shy, but after they found our friendly
+disposition towards them, they became more sociable and confiding.
+
+On the 11th of March three bark canoes arrived, containing four men,
+four women, and a girl about sixteen years old, four little boys and
+four infants, one of the latter about a week old, and quite naked. They
+had rude weapons, viz. slings to throw stones, three rude spears,
+pointed at the end with bone, and notched on one side with barbed teeth.
+With this they catch their fish, which are in great quantities among the
+kelp. Two of the natives were induced to come on board, after they had
+been alongside for upwards of an hour, and received many presents, for
+which they gave their spears, a dog, and some of their rude native
+trinkets. They did not shew or express surprise at anything on board,
+except when seeing one of the carpenters engaged in boring a hole with a
+screw-auger through a plank, which would have been a long task for them.
+They were very talkative, smiling when spoken to, and often bursting
+into loud laughter, but instantly settling into their natural serious
+and sober cast.
+
+They were found to be great mimics, both in gesture and sound, and would
+repeat any word of our language, with great correctness of
+pronunciation. Their imitations of sounds were truly astonishing.
+
+Their mimicry became at length annoying, and precluded our getting at
+any of their words or ideas. It not only extended to words or sounds,
+but actions also, and was at times truly ridiculous. The usual manner of
+interrogating for names was quite unsuccessful. On pointing to the nose,
+for instance, they did the same. Anything they saw done they would
+mimic, and with an extraordinary degree of accuracy. On these canoes
+approaching the ship, the principal one of the family, or chief,
+standing up in his canoe, made a harangue. Although they have been
+heard to shout quite loud, yet they cannot endure a noise; and when the
+drum beat, or a gun was fired, they invariably stopped their ears. They
+always speak to each other in a whisper.
+
+The women were never suffered to come on board. They appeared modest in
+the presence of strangers. They never move from a sitting posture, or
+rather a squat, with their knees close together, reaching to their chin,
+their feet in contact, and touching the lower part of the body. They are
+extremely ugly. Their hands and feet were small and well shaped; and,
+from appearance, they are not accustomed to do any hard work. They
+appear very fond and seem careful of their young children, though on
+several occasions they offered them for sale for a trifle. They have
+their faces smutted all over, and it was thought, from the hideous
+appearance of the females, produced in part by their being painted and
+smutted, that they had been disfigured by the men previous to coming
+alongside. It was remarked, that when one of them saw herself in a
+looking-glass, she burst into tears, as Jack thought, from pure
+mortification.
+
+Before they left the ship, the greater part of them were dressed in old
+clothes, that had been given to them by the officers and men, who all
+shewed themselves extremely anxious "to make them comfortable," This
+gave rise to much merriment, as Jack was not disposed to allow any
+difficulties to interfere in the fitting. If the jackets proved too
+tight across the shoulders, which they invariably were, a slit down the
+back effectually remedied the defect. If a pair of trousers was found
+too small around the waist, the knife was again resorted to; and in some
+cases a fit was made by severing the legs. The most difficult fit, and
+the one which produced the most merriment, was that of a woman, to whom
+an old coat was given. This, she concluded belonged to her nether limbs,
+and no signs, hints, or shouts, could correct her mistake. Her feet were
+thrust through the sleeves, and, after hard squeezing, she succeeded in
+drawing them on. With the skirts brought up in front, she took her seat
+in the canoe with great satisfaction, amid a roar of laughter from all
+who saw her.
+
+
+
+
+CHILIAN MODE OF CAPTURING WILD HORSES.
+
+
+A party of four or five horsemen, with about twenty dogs, were seen
+formed in an extended crescent, driving the wild horses towards the
+river with shouts. All were armed with the lasso, which was swinging
+over their heads, to be in readiness to entrap the first that attempted
+to break through the gradually contracting segment; the dogs serving
+with the riders to head the horses in. They continued to advance, when
+suddenly a horse with furious speed broke the line, passing near one of
+the horsemen, and for a moment it was thought he had escaped; the next
+he was jerked round with a force that seemed sufficient to have broken
+his neck, the horseman having, the moment the lasso was thrown, turned
+round and braced himself for the shock. The captured horse now began to
+rear and plunge furiously to effect his escape. After becoming somewhat
+worn out, he was suffered to run, and again suddenly checked. This was
+repeated several times, when another plan was adopted. The dogs were set
+on him, and off he went at full run, in the direction of another
+horseman, who threw his lasso to entangle his legs and precipitate him
+to the ground. The dogs again roused him, when he again started, and was
+in like manner brought to a stand. After several trials he became
+completely exhausted and subdued, when he stood perfectly still, and
+allowed his captors to lay hands upon him. The shouts of the men, the
+barking of the dogs, and the scampering of the horses, made the whole
+scene extremely exciting.
+
+
+
+
+FIGHT BETWEEN A WHALE AND A KILLER.
+
+
+This day, on board the Peacock, they witnessed a sea-fight between a
+whale and one of its many enemies. The sea was quite smooth, and offered
+the best possible view of the whole combat. First, at a distance from
+the ship, a whale was seen floundering in a most extraordinary way,
+lashing the smooth sea into a perfect foam, and endeavouring apparently
+to extricate himself from some annoyance. As he approached the ship, the
+struggle continuing and becoming more violent, it was perceived that a
+fish, apparently about twenty feet long, held him by the jaw, his
+contortions, spouting, and throes, all betokening the agony of the huge
+monster. The whale now threw himself at full length from the water with
+open mouth, his pursuer still hanging to the jaw, the blood issuing from
+the wound and dyeing the sea to a distance around; but all his
+flounderings were of no avail; his pertinacious enemy still maintained
+his hold, and was evidently getting the advantage of him. Much alarm
+seemed to be felt by the many other whales around. These "killers," as
+they are called, are of a brownish colour on the back, and white on the
+belly, with a long dorsal fin. Such was the turbulence with which they
+passed, that a good view could not be had of them to make out more
+nearly the description. These fish attack a whale in the same way as
+dogs bait a bull, and worry him to death. They are armed with strong
+sharp teeth, and generally seize the whale by the lower jaw. It is said
+that the only part of them they eat is the tongue. The whalers give some
+marvellous accounts of these killers, and of their immense strength;
+among them, that they have been known to drag a whale away from several
+boats which were towing it to the ship.
+
+
+
+
+WAR DANCES OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS.
+
+
+Wishing to see their war-dances, I requested the chief Pomare to gratify
+us with an exhibition, which he consented to do. The ground chosen was
+the hillside of Mr. Clendon, our consul's place, where between three and
+four hundred natives, with their wives and children, assembled. Pomare
+divided the men into three parties or squads, and stationed these at
+some distance from each other. Shortly after this was done, I received a
+message from him, to say that they were all hungry, and wanted me to
+treat them to something to eat. This was refused until they had finished
+their dance, and much delay took place in consequence. Pomare and his
+warriors were at first immoveable; but they, in a short time, determined
+they would unite on the hill-top, which was accordingly ordered,
+although I was told they were too hungry to dance well. Here they
+arranged themselves in a solid column, and began stamping, shouting,
+jumping, and shaking their guns, clubs, and paddles in the air, with
+violent gesticulations, to a sort of savage time. A more grotesque group
+cannot well be imagined; dressed, half-dressed, or entirely naked. After
+much preliminary action, they all set off, with a frantic shout, at full
+speed in a war-charge, which not only put to flight all the animals that
+were feeding in the neighbourhood, but startled the spectators. After
+running about two hundred and fifty yards, they fired their guns and
+halted, with another shout. They then returned in the same manner, and
+stopped before us, a truly savage multitude, wrought up to apparent
+frenzy, and exhibiting all the modes practised of maiming and killing
+their enemies, until they became exhausted, and lay down on the ground
+like tired dogs, panting for breath. One of the chiefs then took an old
+broken dragoon-sword, and began running to and fro before us,
+flourishing it, and, at the same time, delivering a speech at the top of
+his voice. The speech, as interpreted to me, ran thus: "You are welcome,
+you are our friends, and we are glad to see you," frequently repeated.
+After three or four had shewn off in this way, they determined they must
+have something to eat, saying that I had promised them rice and sugar,
+and they ought to have it. Mr. Clendon, however, persuaded them to give
+one of their feast-dances. The performers consisted of about fifteen
+old, and as many young persons, whom they arranged in close order. The
+young girls laid aside a part of their dress to exhibit their forms to
+more advantage, and they commenced a kind of recitative, accompanied by
+all manner of gesticulations, with a sort of guttural husk for a chorus.
+It was not necessary to understand their language to comprehend their
+meaning; and it is unnecessary to add, that their tastes did not appear
+very refined, but were similar to what we have constantly observed among
+the heathen nations of Polynesia. Their impatience now became
+ungovernable; and hearing that the rice and sugar were being served out,
+they retreated precipitately down the hill, where they all set to most
+heartily, with their wives and children, to devour the food. This, to
+me, was the most entertaining part of the exhibition. They did not
+appear selfish towards each other; the children were taken care of, and
+all seemed to enjoy themselves. I received many thanks in passing among
+them, and their countenances betokened contentment. Although they were
+clothed for the occasion in their best, they exhibited but a squalid and
+dirty appearance, both in their dress and persons.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We now end our extracts from this very entertaining Work,--upon the
+resources of which we have so largely drawn,--by the history of Paddy
+Connel, as described by himself, and who had been a resident among the
+Feejeean savages for nearly forty years.
+
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF PADDY CONNEL.
+
+
+One day, while at the Observatory, I was greatly surprised at seeing one
+whom I took to be a Feejeeman, enter my tent, a circumstance so
+inconsistent with the respect to our prescribed limit, of which I have
+spoken. His colour, however, struck me as lighter than that of any
+native I had yet seen. He was a short wrinkled old man, but appeared to
+possess great vigour and activity. He had a beard that reached to his
+middle, and but little hair, of a reddish-grey colour, on his head. He
+gave me no time for inquiry, but at once addressed me in broad Irish,
+with a rich Milesian brogue. In a few minutes he made me acquainted with
+his story, which, by his own account, was as follows:--
+
+His name was Paddy Connel, but the natives called him Berry; he was born
+in the county of Clare, in Ireland; had run away from school when he was
+a little fellow, and after wandering about as a vagabond, was pressed
+into the army in the first Irish rebellion. At the time the French
+landed in Ireland, the regiment to which he was attached marched at once
+against the enemy, and soon arrived on the field of battle, where they
+were brought to the charge. The first thing he knew or heard, the drums
+struck up a White Boy's tune, and his whole regiment went over and
+joined the French, with the exception of the officers, who had to flee.
+They were then marched against the British, and were soon defeated by
+Lord Cornwallis; it was a hard fight, and Paddy found himself among the
+slain. When he thought the battle was over, and night came on, he
+crawled off and reached home. He was then taken up and tried for his
+life, but was acquitted; he was, however, remanded to prison, and busied
+himself in effecting the escape of some of his comrades. On this being
+discovered, he was confined in the black hole, and soon after sent to
+Cork, to be put on board a convict-ship bound to New South Wales. When
+he arrived there, his name was not found on the books of the prisoners;
+consequently he had been transported by mistake, and was, therefore, set
+at liberty. He then worked about for several years, and collected a
+small sum of money, but unfortunately fell into bad company, got drunk,
+and lost it all. Just about this time Captain Sartori, of the ship
+General Wellesley, arrived at Sydney. Having lost a great part of his
+crew by sickness and desertion, he desired to procure hands for his
+ship, which was still at Sandalwood Bay, and obtained thirty-five men,
+one of whom was Paddy Connel. At the time they were ready to depart, a
+French privateer, Le Gloriant, Captain Dubardieu, put into Sydney, when
+Captain Sartori engaged a passage for himself and his men to the
+Feejees. On their way they touched at Norfolk Island, where the ship
+struck, and damaged her keel so much that they were obliged to put into
+the Bay of Islands for repairs. Paddy asserts that a difficulty had
+occurred here between Captain Sartori and his men about their
+provisions, which was amicably settled. The Gloriant finally sailed from
+New Zealand for Tongataboo, where they arrived just after the capture of
+a vessel, which he supposed to have been the Port au Prince, as they had
+obtained many articles from the natives, which had evidently belonged to
+some large vessel. Here they remained some months, and then sailed for
+Sandalwood Bay, where the men, on account of their former quarrel with
+Captain Sartori, refused to go on board the General Wellesley: some of
+them shipped on board the Gloriant, and others, with Paddy, determined
+to remain on shore with the natives. He added, that Captain Sartori was
+kind to him, and at parting had given him a pistol, cutlass, and an old
+good-for-nothing musket; these, with his sea-chest and a few clothes,
+were all that he possessed. He had now lived forty years among these
+savages. After hearing his whole story, I told him I did not believe a
+word of it; to which he answered, that the main part of it was true, but
+he might have made some mistakes, as he had been so much in the habit of
+lying to the Feejeeans, that he hardly now knew when he told the truth,
+adding, that he had no desire to tell anything but the truth.
+
+Paddy turned out to be a very amusing fellow, and possessed an accurate
+knowledge of the Feejee character. Some of the whites told me that he
+was more than half Feejee; indeed he seemed to delight in shewing how
+nearly he was allied to them in feeling and propensities; and, like
+them, seemed to fix his attention upon trifles. He gave me a droll
+account of his daily employments, which it would be inappropriate to
+give here, and finished by telling me the only wish he had then, was to
+get for his little boy, on whom he doated, a small hatchet; and the only
+articles he had to offer for it were a few old hens. On my asking him if
+he did not cultivate the ground, he said at once no; he found it much
+easier to get his living by telling the Feejeeans stories, which he
+could always make good enough for them;--these, and the care of his two
+little boys, and his hens, and his pigs, when he had any, gave him ample
+employment and plenty of food. He had lived much at Rewa, and, until
+lately, had been a resident at Levuka, but had, in consequence of his
+intrigues, been expelled by the white residents, to the island of
+Ambatiki. It appeared that they had unanimously come to the conclusion,
+that if he did not remove, they would be obliged to put him to death for
+their own safety. I could not induce Whippy or Tom to give me the
+circumstances that occasioned this determination; and Paddy would not
+communicate more than that his residence on Ambatiki was a forced one,
+and that it was as though he was living out of the world, rearing pigs,
+fowls, and children. Of the last description of live stock he had
+forty-eight, and hoped that he might live to see fifty born to him. He
+had had one hundred wives.
+
+
+
+
+~Extraordinary Escape from Drowning.~
+
+
+The following Narrative of an extraordinary escape from drowning, after
+being wrecked among the Rapids of the St. Lawrence, first appeared in
+the _Liverpool Mercury_, the Editors of which state that they have
+published it by permission of the writer, who is a well-known merchant
+of great respectability in that city. We have extracted it from the
+pages of the _Edinburgh Magazine_, the Editor of which remarks,--"We
+have been induced to transfer it into our Miscellany, not merely from
+the uncommon interest of the detail, but because we happen to be able to
+vouch for its authenticity."
+
+On the 22nd day of April, 1810, our party set sail in a large schooner
+from Fort-George, or Niagara Town, and in two days crossed Lake Ontario
+to Kingston, at the head of the river St. Lawrence, distant from Niagara
+about 200 miles. Here we hired an American barge (a large flat-bottomed
+boat) to carry us to Montreal, a further distance of 200 miles; then set
+out from Kingston on the 28th of April, and arrived the same evening at
+Ogdensburgh, a distance of 75 miles. The following evening we arrived
+at Cornwall, and the succeeding night at Pointe du Lac, on Lake St.
+Francis. Here our bargemen obtained our permission to return up the
+river; and we embarked in another barge, deeply laden with potashes,
+passengers, and luggage. Above Montreal, for nearly 100 miles, the river
+St. Lawrence is interrupted in its course by rapids, which are
+occasioned by the river being confined in comparatively narrow, shallow,
+rocky channels;--through these it rushes with great force and noise, and
+is agitated like the ocean in a storm. Many people prefer these rapids,
+for grandeur of appearance, to the Falls of Niagara. They are from half
+a mile to nine miles long each, and require regular pilots. On the 30th
+of April we arrived at the village of the Cedars, immediately below
+which are three sets of very dangerous rapids (the Cedars, the
+Split-rock, and the Cascades), distant from each other about one mile.
+On the morning of the 1st of May we set out from the Cedars, the barge
+very deep and very leaky. The captain, a daring rash man, refused to
+take a pilot. After we passed the Cedar rapid, not without danger, the
+captain called for some rum, swearing, at the same time, that ---- could
+not steer the barge better than he did! Soon after this we entered the
+Split-rock rapids by a wrong channel, and found ourselves advancing
+rapidly towards a dreadful watery precipice, down which we went. The
+barge slightly grazed her bottom against the rock, and the fall was so
+great as to nearly take away the breath. We here took in a great deal of
+water, which was mostly baled out again before we were hurried on to
+what the Canadians call the "grand bouillon," or great boiling. In
+approaching this place the captain let go the helm, saying, "Here we
+fill!" The barge was almost immediately overwhelmed in the midst of
+immense foaming breakers, which rushed over the bows, carrying away
+planks, oars, &c. About half a minute elapsed between the filling and
+going down of the barge, during which I had sufficient presence of mind
+to rip off my three coats, and was loosening my suspenders, when the
+barge sunk, and I found myself floating in the midst of people, baggage,
+&c. Each man caught hold of something; one of the crew caught hold of
+me, and kept me down under water, but, contrary to my expectation, let
+me go again. On rising to the surface, I got hold of a trunk, on which
+two other men were then holding. Just at this spot, where the Split-rock
+rapids terminate, the bank of the river is well inhabited; and we could
+see women on shore running about much agitated. A canoe put off, and
+picked up three of our number, who had gained the bottom of the barge,
+which had upset and got rid of its cargo; these they landed on an
+island. The canoe put off again, and was approaching near to where I
+was, with two others, holding on by the trunk, when, terrified with the
+vicinity of the Cascades, to which we were approaching, it put back,
+notwithstanding my exhortations, in French and English, to induce the
+two men on board to advance. The bad hold which one man had of the
+trunk, to which we were adhering, subjected him to constant immersion;
+and, in order to escape his seizing hold of me, I let go the trunk, and,
+in conjunction with another man, got hold of the boom, (which, with the
+gaff, sails, &c., had been detached from the mast, to make room for the
+cargo,) and floated off. I had just time to grasp this boom, when we
+were hurried into the Cascades; in these I was instantly buried, and
+nearly suffocated. On rising to the surface, I found one of my hands
+still on the boom, and my companion also adhering to the gaff. Shortly
+after descending the Cascades, I perceived the barge, bottom upwards,
+floating near me. I succeeded in getting to it, and held by a crack in
+one end of it; the violence of the water, and the falling out of the
+casks of ashes, had quite wrecked it. For a long time I contented myself
+with this hold, not daring to endeavour to get upon the bottom, which I
+at length effected; and from this, my new situation, I called out to my
+companion, who still preserved his hold of the gaff. He shook his head;
+and, when the waves suffered me to look up again, he was gone. He made
+no attempt to come near me, being unable or unwilling to let go his
+hold, and trust himself to the waves, which were then rolling over his
+head.
+
+The Cascades are a kind of fall, or rapid descent, in the river, over a
+rocky channel below: going down is called, by the French, "Sauter," to
+leap or shove the cascades. For two miles below, the channel continues
+in uproar, just like a storm at sea; and I was frequently nearly washed
+off the barge by the waves which rolled over. I now entertained no hope
+whatever of escaping; and although I continued to exert myself to hold
+on, such was the state to which I was reduced by cold, that I wished
+only for speedy death, and frequently thought of giving up the contest
+as useless. I felt as if compressed into the size of a monkey; my hands
+appeared diminished in size one-half; and I certainly should (after I
+became cold and much exhausted) have fallen asleep, but for the waves
+that were passing over me, and obliged me to attend to my situation. I
+had never descended the St. Lawrence before, but I knew there were more
+rapids a-head, perhaps another set of the Cascades, but at all events
+the La Chine rapids, whose situation I did not exactly know. I was in
+hourly expectation of these putting an end to me, and often fancied some
+points of ice extending from the shore to be the head of foaming rapids.
+At one of the moments in which the succession of waves permitted me to
+look up, I saw at a distance a canoe with four men coming towards me,
+and waited in confidence to hear the sound of their paddles; but in this
+I was disappointed; the men, as I afterwards learnt, were Indians
+(genuine descendants of the Tartars) who, happening to fall in with one
+of the passenger's trunks, picked it up, and returned to shore for the
+purpose of pillaging it, leaving, as they since acknowledged, the man on
+the boat to his fate. Indeed, I am certain I should have had more to
+fear from their avarice, than to hope from their humanity; and it is
+more than probable, that my life would have been taken to secure them in
+the possession of my watch and several half-eagles, which I had about
+me.
+
+The accident happened at eight o'clock in the morning. In the course of
+some hours, as the day advanced, the sun grew warmer, the wind blew from
+the south, and the water became calmer. I got upon my knees, and found
+myself in the small lake St. Louis, about from three to five miles wide;
+with some difficulty I got upon my feet, but was soon convinced, by
+cramps and spasms in all my sinews, that I was quite incapable of
+swimming any distance, and I was then two miles from shore. I was now
+going, with wind and current, to destruction; and cold, hungry, and
+fatigued, was obliged again to sit down in the water to rest, when an
+extraordinary circumstance greatly relieved me. On examining the wreck,
+to see if it was possible to detach any part of it to steer by, I
+perceived something loose, entangled in a fork of the wreck, and so
+carried along. This I found to be a small trunk, bottom upwards, which,
+with some difficulty, I dragged up upon the barge. After near an hour's
+work, in which I broke my pen-knife, trying to cut out the lock, I made
+a hole in the top, and, to my great satisfaction, drew out a bottle of
+rum, a cold tongue, some cheese, and a bag full of bread, cakes, &c.,
+all wet. Of these I made a very seasonable, though very moderate use,
+and the trunk answered the purpose of a chair to sit upon, elevated
+above the surface of the water.
+
+After in vain endeavouring to steer the wreck, or direct its course to
+the shore, and having made every signal (with my waistcoat, &c.) in my
+power, to the several headlands which I had passed, I fancied I was
+driving into a bay, which, however, soon proved to be the termination of
+the lake, and the opening of the river, the current of which was
+carrying me rapidly along. I passed several small uninhabited islands;
+but the banks of the river appearing to be covered with houses, I again
+renewed my signals with my waistcoat and a shirt, which I took out of
+the trunk, hoping, as the river narrowed, they might be perceived; the
+distance was too great. The velocity with which I was going convinced me
+of my near approach to the dreadful rapids of La Chine. Night was
+drawing on; my destruction appeared certain, but did not disturb me
+very much: the idea of death had lost its novelty, and become quite
+familiar. Finding signals in vain, I now set up a cry or howl, such as I
+thought best calculated to carry to a distance, and, being favoured by
+the wind, it did, although at above a mile distance, reach the ears of
+some people on shore. At last I perceived a boat rowing towards me,
+which, being very small and white-bottomed, I had some time taken for a
+fowl with a white breast; and I was taken off the barge by Captain
+Johnstone, after being ten hours on the water. I found myself at the
+village of La Chine, 21 miles below where the accident happened, and
+having been driven by the winding of the current a much greater
+distance. I received no other injury than bruised knees and breast, with
+a slight cold. The accident took some hold of my imagination, and, for
+seven or eight succeeding nights, in my dreams, I was engaged in the
+dangers of the Cascades, and surrounded by drowning men.
+
+My escape was owing to a concurrence of fortunate circumstances, which
+appear almost providential. I happened to catch hold of various articles
+of support, and to exchange each article for another just at the right
+time. Nothing but the boom could have carried me down the Cascades
+without injury; and nothing but the barge could have saved me below
+them. I was also fortunate in having the whole day. Had the accident
+happened one hour later, I should have arrived opposite the village of
+La Chine after dark, and, of course, would have been destroyed in the
+rapids below, to which I was rapidly advancing. The trunk which
+furnished me with provisions and a resting-place above the water, I have
+every reason to think, was necessary to save my life; without it I must
+have passed the whole time in the water, and been exhausted with cold
+and hunger. When the people on shore saw our boat take the wrong
+channel, they predicted our destruction: the floating luggage, by
+supporting us for a time, enabled them to make an exertion to save us;
+but as it was not supposed possible to survive the passage of the
+Cascades, no further exertions were thought of, nor indeed could they
+well have been made.
+
+It was at this very place that General Ambert's brigade of 300 men,
+coming to attack Canada, was lost; the French at Montreal received the
+first intelligence of the invasion, by the dead bodies floating past the
+town. The pilot who conducted the first batteaux, committing the same
+error that we did, ran for the wrong channel, and the other batteaux
+following close, all were involved in the same destruction. The whole
+party with which I was escaped; four left the barge at the Cedar
+village, above the rapids, and went to Montreal by land; two more were
+saved by the canoe; the barge's crew, all accustomed to labour, were
+lost. Of the eight men who passed down the Cascades, none but myself
+escaped, or were seen again; nor indeed was it possible for any one,
+without my extraordinary luck, and the aid of the barge, to which they
+must have been very close, to have escaped; the other men must have
+been drowned immediately on entering the Cascades. The trunks, &c., to
+which they adhered, and the heavy great-coats which they had on, very
+probably helped to overwhelm them; but they must have gone at all
+events; swimming in such a current of broken stormy waves was
+impossible. Still I think my knowing how to swim kept me more collected,
+and rendered me more willing to part with one article of support to gain
+a better. Those who could not swim would naturally cling to whatever
+hold they first got, and, of course, many had very bad ones. The Captain
+passed me above the Cascades, on a sack of woollen clothes, which were
+doubtless soon saturated and sunk.
+
+The trunk which I picked up belonged to a young man from Upper Canada,
+who was one of those drowned; it contained clothes, and about £70 in
+gold, which was restored to his friends. My own trunk contained, besides
+clothes, about £200 in gold and bank notes. On my arrival at La Chine, I
+offered a reward of 100 dollars, which induced a Canadian to go in
+search of it. He found it, some days after, on the shore of an island on
+which it had been driven, and brought it to La Chine, where I happened
+to be at the time. I paid him his reward, and understood that above
+one-third of it was to be immediately applied to the purchase of a
+certain number of masses which he had vowed, in the event of success,
+previous to his setting out on the search.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+~Adventure in the Desert, and Murder of a Sheikh.~
+
+
+I was awakened for a few minutes, as early as three o'clock on the
+following morning, by the sound of many voices in loud and earnest
+conversation, amongst which I recognised that of Sheikh Suleiman; but as
+noisy conversations at such early hours are by no means uncommon with
+these restless spirits of the wilderness, I gave no heed to it, and
+composed myself for sleep again, intending to rise by about half after
+four, in order to get a dip in the Red Sea, before resuming the march;
+and this intention I fulfilled; but just while throwing on the few
+clothes I had taken with me, I heard suddenly a loud strife of many
+tongues bursting forth, not in our encampment, but in a small copse or
+grove of palm trees, about two hundred yards distant. At once the
+thought rushed upon my mind, that the Mezzeni had overtaken us, and were
+meditating an attack, now that we were so near the place of their main
+encampment. This was directly confirmed by the sound of a gun-shot in
+the palm-grove, which was soon followed up by a second. I ran up towards
+the encampment as rapidly as possible; and just as I reached it, another
+shot rang awfully upon my ear. I found our party in a state of the
+greatest consternation, and gathered closely together, gazing wildly
+towards the grove. The first thing I learnt, was the harrowing fact,
+that poor Suleiman had just been murdered by the Mezzeni! It was an
+astounding announcement. To what would this desperate blow lead--here,
+in the Desert? The prospect of further bloodshed was terrible. It would
+have been insupportable, but for the influence of that inward calmness
+which is the privilege of the children of God. We were braced up for the
+worst, and stood gazing upon the scene, in full expectation that out of
+a deep and deadly spirit of revenge, we should be immediately
+overpowered by the enemy, and held entirely at their mercy--as any shew
+of defence against so many as had now come down upon us, would have been
+utterly futile, and might have led to the destruction of us all. How
+wild and desolate this awful theatre of death appeared, while, with the
+sound of gun-shots still vibrating in our ears, we thought of Suleiman
+writhing in his death-throes, and anxiously watched the movements of the
+murderers. We were motionless--almost breathless. Each man among us
+gazed silently upon his fellow. Our suspense was not of great duration,
+but long enough to get the heart secretly lifted up in communion with a
+God of mercy. And there was sweet peacefulness in that brief
+exercise.... My worst fears were groundless. The hearts of all men are
+in God's hands. Our helplessness must have been a powerful matter of
+temptation to the blood-stained men, over whom the departed soul of
+Suleiman was hovering. But God restrained them....
+
+Having slaughtered their victim, the Mezzeni (of whom above forty were
+counted), quietly marched back towards Nuweibia, without exchanging even
+a word with us; leaving behind them the corpse of poor Suleiman--a sad
+memorial of their malignant vengeance; while several others of their
+tribe, who had been lying in ambush beyond the scene of terror, came
+forth from their hiding-places, and joined their retreating comrades.
+
+My heart almost sickens at the recollection of this dreadful
+transaction, while referring to the notes made on the spot, and
+compiling from them the particulars of this sad page.
+
+As soon as the enemy had fairly departed, I took Hassenein with me, and
+advanced carefully towards the copse of palm trees, where I found the
+mangled body of poor Suleiman quite dead, but with the agony of the
+death-pang still visible on his sunburnt and swarthy features. It was a
+terrible sight, thus to behold the leader and confidential companion of
+our wild route, lying as the clods of the valley, and saturated with his
+own life-blood. And how, in a Christian's heart, was the sense of the
+sad reality heightened, by knowing that the poor sufferer was a follower
+of the false prophet--a Mahommedan--ignorant of Him who was "delivered
+for our offences, and raised again for our justification." I have seen
+death in many forms; but I never beheld it with so dread an aspect as it
+here assumed.
+
+I was more than half inclined to withhold the minute particulars of the
+dark tragedy, when arriving at this part of my narrative; but they now
+fasten themselves upon my mind, and I feel constrained to leave them on
+record.
+
+Suleiman had received three balls through his body, and four
+sabre-gashes on his head, which was also nearly severed from the trunk;
+and his right arm, which had been evidently raised in an attempt at
+warding off a blow, was all but divided near the wrist. We returned to
+the encampment, where our Arabs were sitting together, still terrified.
+At length a few of them who volunteered their aid, went and washed the
+body--wrapped it in an unfolded turban, and prepared it for immediate
+interment. They hastily formed a resting-place, about a mile upwards,
+towards the hills which skirted the plain in which we were encamped, by
+raising four walls of large loose stones. Having made all ready, they
+brought up the remains of their leader, laid across the back of his
+camel, and, with deep emotion, deposited them in their final abode,
+arching it over with large masses of stone, and quitting it with what
+appeared to me like deep expressions of vengeance against the tribe, on
+which lay the guilt of his murder.
+
+I turned away from the tomb with a heavy heart.... Was my way to the
+Holy City of my God to be tracked with blood?
+
+On making a careful inquiry into the particulars immediately connected
+with this sad catastrophe, I collected the following:--It appeared, that
+while we were resting on the previous day at Wadey el Ayún, the Mezzeni
+came down in order to make a final effort at supporting, without
+bloodshed, their claim to conduct travellers through their territory to
+Akabah. Sheikh Furriqh was of the number, as I have already stated. When
+he was about to retire, after an unsuccessful attempt, an Arab of his
+tribe came and secretly informed him that his (Furriqh's) nephew had
+been shot on the previous day by one of Suleiman's tribe, in reference
+to the very question then pending. On receiving this information,
+Furriqh at once broke off all negotiation, and quitted the encampment.
+It is believed that Suleiman never knew the fact which had been
+communicated to Furriqh; but news was brought to him that the Mezzeni
+intended to pursue us with an increased force; and this quite accounts
+for all the anxiety and timidity which he evinced during the afternoon
+and evening preceding his death. It appears that the Mezzeni, bent on
+accomplishing their purpose, gathered together their force, and,
+following us at dromedary speed, arrived at the encampment as early as
+two o'clock in the morning--that a deputation from them came to
+Suleiman, while some of the rest remained in the palm-grove, and others
+went in advance, and formed ambuscades--that Sheikh Furriqh was one of
+the deputation--that Suleiman shewed them the usual hospitality of
+breaking bread with them--that the conference ended without any
+adjustment of the matter in dispute--that after the deputation had
+retired to the copse, two Arabs of a neutral tribe, who had come with us
+from Mount Sinai, went to the Mezzeni in order to mediate, but were
+unsuccessful--that while they remained Suleiman was sent for, and that
+having broken bread with the Mezzeni, he had a right to expect that his
+life would be held sacred--that Suleiman had scarcely reached the
+adverse party, when Sheikh Furriqh said--"We do not care about the
+money, but there is blood between us;"--that instantly one of the
+Mezzeni shot him through the body, and that Furriqh cut him down with
+his sabre, while two other shots which were fired took effect upon him.
+My recollection of Furriqh, from the first moment that he appeared in
+our caravan, is such as to convince me that he would readily commit such
+an act as this--so subtle--so cruel--so cowardly--without one feeling of
+remorse or misgiving.
+
+
+
+
+POPULAR JUVENILE BOOKS,
+
+
+Of established reputation, which may be safely placed into the hands of
+Children, blending Amusement with Instruction.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+DARTON'S HOLIDAY LIBRARY.
+
+
+A SERIES OF SHILLING VOLUMES FOR THE YOUNG, BY APPROVED AUTHORS.
+
+No. 1. MARY LEESON, by MARY HOWITT. Illustrated by JOHN ABSOLON.
+
+No. 2. TAKE CARE OF No. 1, or Good to Me includes Good to Thee, by S.E.
+GOODRICH, Esq., (the Original Peter Parley). Illustrated by GILBERT.
+
+No. 3. HOW TO SPEND A WEEK HAPPILY, by Mrs. BURBURY. With Illustrations.
+
+No. 4. POEMS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN, by "ADELAIDE," one of the amiable
+Authoresses of "Original Poems." With Illustrations.
+
+No. 5. THE YOUNG LORD, by CAMILLA TOULMIN; and VICTORINE DUROCHER, by
+Mrs. SHERWOOD. With Illustrations.
+
+No. 6. PAULINE, a Tale from the German. With Illustrations.
+
+No. 7. HOUSEHOLD STORIES. With Illustrations.
+
+Nos. 8 & 9. IN-DOOR AND OUT-DOOR SPORTS.
+
+No. 10. STORIES OF ENTERPRISE AND ADVENTURE; or AN EXCITEMENT TO
+READING. Illustrated with Wood Engravings from Designs by ABSOLON.
+
+No. 11. THE BOOK OF RIDDLES, ETC.
+
+
+Critical Remarks.
+
+"The Volumes of DARTON'S HOLIDAY LIBRARY which have reached us, comprise
+a most interesting Series of Books for Young People, written by some of
+our most Popular Authors, and all having a tendency towards the
+formation of correct principles and habits in the minds of the Young.
+They blend amusement with instruction in the most delightful manner. We
+cordially recommend them as by far the best books of their class."
+
+[Illustration: Back Cover]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Book of Enterprise and Adventure, by Anonymous
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11308 ***