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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature,
-Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 32, Vol. I, August 9, 1884, by Various
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
-using this eBook.
-
-Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art,
-       Fifth Series, No. 32, Vol. I, August 9, 1884
-
-Author: Various
-
-Release Date: August 8, 2021 [eBook #66007]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-Produced by: Susan Skinner, Eric Hutton and the Online Distributed
-             Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-             produced from images generously made available by The Internet
-             Archive)
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL OF POPULAR
-LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART, FIFTH SERIES, NO. 32, VOL. I, AUGUST 9,
-1884 ***
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration:
-
-CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL
-
-OF
-
-POPULAR
-
-LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART
-
-Fifth Series
-
-ESTABLISHED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, 1832
-
-CONDUCTED BY R. CHAMBERS (SECUNDUS)
-
-NO. 32.—VOL. I.      SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 1884.      PRICE 1½_d._]
-
-
-
-
-WATER.
-
-
-Water bears a very important part in relation to the human system and
-preservation of health. It combines with the tissues of the body, and
-forms a necessary part of its structure. In the case of a man weighing
-one hundred and fifty-four pounds, one hundred and eleven would consist
-of water. It enters very largely into the composition of our food.
-Although water is so important a factor in our existence, and although
-its vitiation often gives rise to that deadly pestilence, typhoid
-fever, yet, strange to say, there are comparatively few people who
-possess any trustworthy information respecting its primary sources and
-purest forms. The object of this paper will be to afford our readers
-some useful hints respecting the various kinds of water and their
-relative purity, also to mention certain wise precautions requisite in
-order to avoid impure water.
-
-The first great source of water is the ocean; the sun shining upon
-the surface, its heating rays combine with and send out a certain
-amount of vapour. The atmosphere, like a sponge, absorbs the vaporous
-water, forming clouds, which are driven by the wind east, west, north,
-and south. When the clouds arrive in a cooler atmosphere, the vapour
-condenses, and descends in the form of rain or snow, being ultimately
-absorbed into the earth, giving rise to different varieties of water;
-or it pours down the mountains, and forms rivulets, and ultimately
-rivers. Thus we have rain, spring, and river water. We may here mention
-that Dr Normandy discovered a process by which sea-water can be
-distilled and rendered fit to drink. In nature, water is never found
-perfectly pure, as that which descends in rain is to a certain degree
-contaminated by the impurities contained in the air, as spring-water is
-by contact with various substances in the earth. These impurities are
-not always perceptible. Thus, the clearest and brightest waters, those
-of springs and pellucid rivers, even when filtered, are never pure.
-They all contain a greater or less percentage of saline matter, often
-so much so, indeed, as to form what are termed mineral waters. Amongst
-the purest natural waters hitherto discovered is that of the Loka in
-North Sweden. It contains only one-twentieth of a grain (0.0566) of
-mineral matter per gallon. The water supplied to the city of Edinburgh
-contains from seven to fourteen grains in the gallon; whilst that
-of the Thames near London contains about twenty-one. Rain-water, if
-collected in the country, is the purest; but when obtained in or near
-large cities, becomes impure from passing through a vitiated atmosphere.
-
-It is, however, on spring and river water that we depend for our daily
-supply, and a due consideration of these waters is manifestly a matter
-of no small moment.
-
-Well-water, as also that of some springs, especially when obtained in
-or near towns, although cool and clear, and at times sparkling, is to
-be avoided. The solvent power of water being so great, it takes up many
-impurities from the soil through which it passes. In the neighbourhood
-of dwellings and farmyards, the water often is impure, and unfit to
-drink. Wells in the vicinity of graveyards are particularly to be
-avoided. Mr Noad found a hundred grains of solid matter to the gallon
-of water taken from a well in the vicinity of Highgate Church, London.
-Besides mineral substances, decaying vegetable impurities are usually
-found in wells. The water that supplies the surface-wells of London is
-derived from rain, which percolates through the gravel and accumulates
-upon the clay. Now, this gravel contains all the soakage of London
-filth; through it run drains and sewers, the surface also being riddled
-with innumerable cesspools.
-
-River-water being derived from the conflux of many springs with
-rain-water, unless close to large towns, is decidedly preferable to
-well-water; but it is liable to a certain amount of contamination, by
-holding in suspension a considerable quantity of animal, vegetable,
-and earthy matters. This, according to Dr Paris, is unquestionably
-the case in water supplied from the Thames by the Grand Junction
-Water Company. Be it known that Thames water is never used in London
-breweries, but Artesian-well water, brought up from a depth of several
-hundred feet.
-
-Besides vegetable and animal impurities in water, there are two other
-substances which are usually considered foreign to pure water—namely,
-saline and mineral. The saline are often present in such large
-proportions as to render water medicinal, as illustrated by those
-of Cheltenham, Leamington, and Harrogate, numerous other varieties
-existing on the continent. Brighton water, although sparkling, contains
-a great deal of bi-carbonate of lime, which, being soluble, filtering
-is ineffectual to remove. When boiled, however, the carbonic acid is
-driven off and the chalk precipitated. Such water when boiled is fit
-for drinking purposes.
-
-A simple but not infallible test for ascertaining animal or vegetable
-contaminations in water is to put fifteen or twenty drops of
-permanganate of potash solutions, or Condy’s fluid, into a tumblerful
-of water. If the water is free from such impurities, the permanganate
-will retain its beautiful red colour. Should the water contain
-organic matter, the red hue soon disappears, and in proportion to its
-contamination will be the discoloration.
-
-Bad water is far more dangerous than impure air; the air may be
-dispersed by ventilation and change of atmosphere; whilst water when
-vitiated is a constant source of mischief. Snow-water when collected
-in the open country equals rain-water in purity. It has been supposed
-by some to be unhealthy; but such belief is totally unsupported by
-any reliable evidence. The practical observations of Captain Cook
-on his voyage round the world demonstrate beyond all question its
-wholesomeness.
-
-Lake-water is collected rain, spring, and occasionally river waters.
-Its transparency, however, is not to be relied on as evidence of
-purity. It is often contaminated by both vegetable and animal matter,
-which, owing to its stagnant nature, have become decomposed. According
-to Dr Paris and other authorities, endemic diarrhœa often arises from
-drinking lake-water, a circumstance which tourists would do well to
-bear in mind.
-
-Should much lime be present in water, as in that supplied by the Kent
-Water Company, boiling alone will not soften it; but by the addition
-of a little soda during the boiling, the lime of the gypsum is
-precipitated. Marsh-water is certainly the most impure of all water,
-being loaded with decomposing vegetable matter. Many diseases have
-without doubt been occasioned by its use.
-
-The receptacles in which even the purest water is kept are of the
-utmost importance in a hygienic point of view. The noted colic of
-Amsterdam was believed by Tronchin—who wrote a history of that
-epidemic—to have been occasioned by leaves falling into leaden
-cisterns filled with rain-water and there putrefying. Van Sweiten also
-mentions an instance where a whole family were affected with colic from
-a similar cause. The acidity arising from decomposing leaves in water
-dissolves part of the leaden receptacle, and such water ofttimes thus
-induces lead-colic.
-
-The sources of contaminated drinking-water are very numerous, and may
-affect the water at its source, in its flow, in its reservoir, or
-during distribution. When stored in houses, it is especially exposed
-to risk, and this is the most important argument in favour of constant
-service. Cistern stowage lessens the risks incidental to intermissions;
-but at the same time the success of this plan entirely depends upon
-the receptacle being properly made and frequently cleansed. An eminent
-physician told the writer that he believed typhoid fever often
-originated from the stagnant water in dirty cisterns being used for
-drinking purposes.
-
-We have now arrived at the most important part of this paper—namely,
-the most effectual means for obtaining pure water.
-
-For the purification of water, various methods have from time to time
-been suggested, with more or less success. Perhaps the most efficient
-for attaining so desirable an end is by passing it through layers
-of charcoal, a substance eminently useful in preserving water from
-corruption, by abstracting therefrom both vegetable and animal matter.
-Nevertheless, where there is reason to suspect the presence of much
-injurious contamination, the process of boiling previous to filtration
-should never be omitted. The water subsequently must be agitated in
-contact with the atmosphere, with a view to the restoration of its
-natural proportion of air; otherwise, it is insipid and tasteless.
-In China, water is seldom drunk until it has been boiled. According
-to the advice of a distinguished court physician, those who travel
-on the continent should studiously avoid drinking water, especially
-that contained in the bedroom bottles of hotels. The same authority
-is also of opinion that typhoid fever is often thus caught whilst
-travelling. Natural mineral waters, such as Apollinaris, are, he
-considers, the best to drink whilst travelling. Lastly, those who are
-desirous of drinking the purest water should take distilled water,
-which possesses the following advantages: (1) Great purity; (2) High
-powers as a solvent of all animal and vegetable substances; and (3) The
-material assistance which its remarkable solvent properties exercise
-in favouring a healthy digestion. It also assists in eliminating
-calcareous matter from the system; hence its undeniable utility for
-vesical concretions. To those who are unable to obtain distilled
-water, we would most strongly urge the importance of boiling all
-drinking-water, and then filtering through charcoal, previous to use.
-The charcoal through which water is filtered ought frequently to be
-replaced by a fresh supply, as otherwise it becomes choked up in
-time by impurities, which at last escape into the water. Under such
-circumstances, even filtered water may become contaminated. Were this
-simple precaution more generally adopted, according to the latest
-teachings of science, many a life liable to be destroyed by typhoid
-fever would most assuredly be saved.
-
-
-
-
-BY MEAD AND STREAM.
-
-
-CHAPTER XLI.—PULLED UP.
-
-‘The strain is proving almost too much for me,’ Philip wrote. ‘I
-have no doubt that my scheme is practicable; and even if I fail,
-somebody else will carry it out by-and-by. But at present the men do
-not understand it, and are suspicious that my promises will not be
-fulfilled. So that the harder I strive to put matters right, the more
-wrong they seem to go. The losses are bringing me to a crisis, and the
-worry which is the consequence of daily disappointment is driving me
-out of my wits. Sleepless nights and restless nervous days began long
-ago, although I have not told you; and I have been obliged to swallow
-all sorts of rubbish in the form of narcotics. At first they gave
-me sleep, and that was a gain, notwithstanding the muddled headachy
-feeling they left me next day.
-
-‘O yes; I have seen the doctor. Joy is a capital fellow. He came in by
-accident, and when he saw me, gave me good advice—as usual, the advice
-which could not be followed. He told me that I ought to have absolute
-rest of mind and body, and to secure it, ought to throw up everything.
-A good joke that—as good as telling a soldier that he ought to run as
-soon as he sees the chance of catching a bullet in the wrong way!
-
-‘Do not be afraid, though: I will take a long rest, when I get things a
-little straight here.
-
-‘One of my present worries is that Kersey has deserted—as I feared he
-would. Says he is going to Australia or Manitoba, but will give no
-explanation. That girl Pansy is no doubt at the bottom of it, and I do
-not think even you can set it right. If my suspicions are correct, she
-is the fool of her own vanity. She has thrown over an honest fellow,
-because she is thinking of a man who has no more notion of having
-anything to do with her than of trying to jump over the moon. I am
-sorry for her—especially as she deprives me of the best man about the
-place.
-
-‘As for Wrentham, he irritates me. He sees my anxiety, and yet he comes
-and goes as gaily as if the whole thing were a farce, which should not
-disturb anybody’s equanimity, no matter how it ended. And then he has
-that horrible look of “I told you so” on his face, whenever I attempt
-to make him seriously examine the state of affairs.
-
-‘The fact is I begin to repent having ever asked for his assistance.
-He is much more interested in speculative stocks than in the business
-which ought to occupy his whole attention at this juncture.
-
-‘But, there—I am in a highly excited condition at present, and no doubt
-misjudge him. He does everything required willingly enough, although
-not in the spirit which seems to me necessary to the success of my
-plans.’
-
-The letter was not finished, and so far it did not give a full account
-of his sufferings mental and physical, or of the gravity with which
-Dr Joy had warned him that he must pull up at once, or prepare for
-insanity or death. The good little doctor had never before pronounced
-such a decided verdict, for, with professional discretion and natural
-kindliness, he avoided a decisive prognosis unless the result were
-inevitable. Philip had promised obedience as soon as he got over
-the present difficulty—promised to take whatever drugs the doctor
-prescribed, and begged him in the meanwhile not to frighten the people
-at Willowmere (of course the doctor understood he meant Madge) with any
-alarming reports.
-
-Philip was writing in his chambers late at night, when he was
-interrupted by the arrival of Wrentham. The visit had been expected,
-and therefore excited no surprise. Philip was struck by a change in
-his visitor’s manner, which, although slight, was enough to render the
-description he had just written of him a little unfair.
-
-Wrentham’s face was not that of one who was gaily taking part in a
-farce. Still his bearing suggested the careless ease of a man who
-is either endowed with boundless fortune or a sublime indifference
-to bankruptcy. It might be that, being conscious of Philip’s
-dissatisfaction, he assumed a more marked degree of nonchalance than he
-would have done if there had been confidence between them.
-
-Philip did try to keep this rule in mind—that when your suspicions are
-aroused about any person, you should make large allowances for the
-exaggerations of the meaning of his or her actions, as interpreted by
-your own excited nerves, and for the altered nervous condition of the
-person who is conscious of being suspected. But somehow, the rule did
-not seem to apply to Wrentham. In favour or out of favour, he was much
-the same. He was a cool-headed or light-hearted gambler in the business
-of life, and took his losses as coolly as he took his winnings—or
-feigned to do so; and this feigning, if well done, has as much effect
-upon the looker-on as if the feeling were genuine.
-
-‘Any news?’ Philip inquired, as he put his letter into the desk and
-wheeled round to the fire, by the side of which his visitor was already
-seated.
-
-‘None; except that our friend appears to consume an extraordinary
-quantity of B. and S. But Mr Shield could not be seen by any one this
-evening. The man first told me he was out; so I left your note and said
-I should return in an hour. Then I marched up and down near the door,
-on the watch for anybody like your uncle. I did not see him, but I saw
-a friend of mine arrive.’
-
-‘Who was that?’
-
-‘You know him—Beecham, who has been living so long at the _King’s
-Head_.’
-
-‘That was an odd coincidence.’
-
-‘Yes, it seemed so,’ rejoined Wrentham, with the tone of one who sees
-more than he reports. ‘Very odd that the day after your uncle leaves
-the _Langham_ and takes up his quarters in this quiet private hotel,
-Beecham should bundle up his traps, quit Kingshope, and come to settle
-in the same house.’
-
-‘Has he left our place, then?’
-
-‘So he says—for of course I spoke to him. He does not know where he
-is going to, or whether he will return to Kingshope or not. I said it
-wasn’t fair to his friends to vanish from amongst them without a hint,
-or giving them a chance to express their regret at losing him. He said
-it was a way he had of making up his mind suddenly and acting on its
-decision instantly. He hoped, however, to have the pleasure of seeing
-me again. With that he shook hands and bustled into the hotel before it
-came into my head to ask him if he knew Mr Shield.’
-
-‘How could he know him?’ muttered Philip a little impatiently, for this
-episode interrupted the account of Wrentham’s endeavours to obtain a
-reply from his uncle as to whether or not he would consent to see him
-on the following day.
-
-‘Don’t know how exactly; but there are lots of ways in which they might
-have met. Beecham has travelled a bit in all sorts of odd corners of
-the earth. Anyhow, I think they know each other.’
-
-‘Well, well, that is no business of ours.—Did you see Mr Shield at
-last?’
-
-‘No; but I got this message from him with his compliments. He regretted
-that he could not see me, but the letter should have immediate
-attention.’
-
-‘That is satisfactory,’ said Philip, relieved.
-
-Wrentham looked at him critically, as if he had been a horse on which a
-heavy bet depended.
-
-‘You are easily satisfied,’ he observed with a light laugh; but
-the sound was not pleasing to the ears of the listener. ‘Before
-being satisfied, I should like to have his answer to your note, for
-everything goes to the dogs if he declines to come down handsome.’
-
-‘He will not refuse: he is pledged to it. But it is horrible to have to
-apply to him so soon.’
-
-‘Ah, yes; it is nasty having to ask a favour. What do you mean to do if
-he should say “No” plump, or make some excuse?—which comes to the same
-thing, and is more unpleasant, because it kind of holds you under the
-obligation without granting you the favour.’
-
-‘I don’t know,’ answered Philip rising and walking up and down the room
-uneasily.
-
-‘Well, I have a notion,’ said Wrentham slowly, as he drew his hand over
-his chin; ‘but it seems scarcely worth mentioning, as it would take the
-form of advice, and you don’t care about my advice, or you wouldn’t be
-in this mess.... I beg your pardon: ’pon my honour, I didn’t mean to
-say anything that would hurt you.’
-
-‘What were you going to say?’ was Philip’s abrupt response.
-
-‘I was going to say that you ought to find out what Beecham has to do
-with him. Of course I have been pretty chummy with the old boy; but
-I never could get behind his eyes. _You_ can learn what he is up to
-without any trouble.’
-
-‘Me!—how?’
-
-‘By asking Miss Heathcote.’
-
-‘Miss Heathcote! What nonsense you are talking. She knows no more about
-the man than I do.’
-
-‘Oh!’—There was a most provoking tone of amused surprise in this
-exclamation.—‘You think so?’
-
-‘I am sure of it.’
-
-Wrentham, resting his elbows on the table and his chin on his thumbs,
-whilst the tips of his fingers touched in front, stared at him
-seriously.
-
-‘Then you don’t know what friends they are?—that they have been meeting
-daily—that they correspond?’
-
-Philip did not immediately catch the significance of voice and manner,
-he was so much occupied with other matters.
-
-‘I daresay, I daresay,’ was the abstracted answer; ‘he is always
-wandering about, and they like him at Willowmere.... Do you think we
-can manage to prepare the full statement of accounts by the morning?’
-
-The mention of accounts did not please Wrentham. He jerked his head
-back with the grand air of one who, being accustomed to deal with large
-totals, could not think of giving his mind to petty details.
-
-‘Oh, well, if you don’t mind, I have nothing more to say. As to the
-accounts, I don’t see what you want more than your books. They are made
-up, and the totals will be quite enough for Mr Shield. They are what,
-as you know, I always expected them to be—most confoundedly on the
-wrong side. I warned you’——
-
-‘Yes, yes; I know you warned me, and others warned me, and the thing
-has turned out as bad as you croakers could wish. That is due to my
-mismanagement—to a blunder I have made somewhere, not to any weakness
-in the principle of my scheme. Taking the position as it is, I want to
-find out where I have blundered.—I do not mean to give in, and will go
-on as hard as ever, if we can only tide over the present mess.’
-
-‘That’s right enough,’ ejaculated Wrentham with an outburst of
-good-natured admiration; ‘but in the meanwhile, the first thing to do
-is to get over the mess.’
-
-‘Ay, how to do that,’ muttered Philip still marching up and down.
-
-‘The shortest way is to make sure that Mr Shield’s mind is not
-prejudiced against you and your work at the same time.’
-
-‘Oh, stuff. Who wants to prejudice him against me?’
-
-‘I say, find out what Beecham is after. Maybe he is your friend: in
-that case, so much the better; and if he is not, then you will be
-able to deal with him more promptly, if you have discovered his trick
-in time. Ask Miss Heathcote about him. She ought to tell you all she
-knows.’
-
-Philip halted, head bowed, eyes fixed on the floor, and the words
-buzzing through his brain—‘She ought to tell me all she knows.’
-Certainly she ought, and would. Then, for the first time, there seemed
-to reach his ears as from a distance the voices he had heard behind
-him at the ‘dancing beeches,’ and he recalled Madge’s agitated face
-as she told him that she had been intrusted by this man with a secret
-which she must not at present share with him. He had disapproved of
-her conduct at the time; he disapproved of it still more strongly now,
-although he regarded it as nothing more than a mistake into which she
-had been betrayed by her sympathetic heart.
-
-‘Very well,’ he said sharply, ‘I shall ask Miss Heathcote what she
-knows about him. What then?’
-
-‘Why, then we shall know where we are,’ Wrentham answered gaily. ‘To be
-sure, if you receive a message from Mr Shield to-morrow morning that it
-is all right, there will be no necessity to trouble Miss Heathcote.’
-
-It was one of the anomalies of his association with Wrentham—or one
-of the effects of the weakness which the strain upon his nerves had
-produced—that Philip was influenced by him on those very points on
-which he would have least expected himself to be subject to influence
-by any one. It is true that whilst he had been all along aware of his
-manager’s want of sympathy with his work, he had discovered no reason
-to suspect his honesty—and this might account for the anomaly.
-
-So, it was Wrentham who had persuaded him that the time had come
-to apply to Mr Shield for assistance at a critical juncture in his
-speculation; and it was Wrentham who persuaded him that he ought to
-learn from Madge the nature of the secret confided to her by Beecham.
-
-‘He won’t think much more about the accounts to-night,’ Wrentham was
-saying mentally as he went down-stairs. And his step was not so jaunty
-as usual when he got into the street.
-
-
-
-
-MUSHROOMS FOR THE MILLION.
-
-
-Is there any one in England who does not esteem mushrooms as delicious
-esculents? Their flavour commends them to most palates, and their value
-as food is quite on a par with many other vegetables. Few of the other
-varieties of edible funguses are approved of by English people, partly
-through ignorance and prejudice. Yet in many countries in Europe, about
-thirty kinds, closely allied to the mushroom in flavour and excellence,
-form the chief diet for thousands of the peasants during the summer
-months, either fresh from the meadows or preserved in vinegar and oil.
-
-We may, then, be very thankful to any one who instructs us how to grow
-mushrooms so that they may be as plentiful as cabbages, and within the
-reach of any cottager who has a garden and can buy a load of manure. A
-very practical little treatise on Mushroom-growing has been published
-by Mr Wright (price one shilling) at the office of the _Journal of
-Horticulture_, 171 Fleet Street, London, from which we propose to give
-a slight sketch of his plan, recommending the purchase of the work to
-those who desire to follow out his directions. It would seem to be a
-most profitable investment in these days, when the farmers have so much
-reason for complaint, as the remuneration far exceeds that of any other
-vegetable. Fruit-crops as well as vegetables are seriously affected by
-winter-cold, high winds, and spring frosts; and from twenty to forty
-pounds an acre is an average value of the profits arising from either.
-In Cornwall and Devonshire, the early potatoes and valuable fruits
-may give from one to two hundred pounds an acre, but this is very
-exceptional. Yet mushroom-growing exceeds even this profit.
-
-We will turn now to Mr Wright’s actual calculation, founded on the
-well-ascertained fact, that a mushroom-bed two and a half feet wide
-and one yard long, and situated in the open air, yields produce of the
-value of fifteen shillings, and that the cost of production is five
-shillings per yard. There have been seasons when the price was very
-high and an extraordinary crop produced, the returns having amounted to
-forty-five shillings the yard. The average price to be got in London
-is one shilling per pound-weight. Take the width of the beds at two
-feet and a half, with five feet of space between each bed, which is
-necessary for moving freely between the beds. There are four thousand
-eight hundred and forty square yards in an acre, which would allow
-of nineteen hundred and thirty-six yards for beds; these, at fifteen
-shillings a yard, give a profit of fourteen hundred and fifty-two
-pounds; from which deduct rent, eighteen pounds, and cost of production
-at five shillings a yard—leaving the very profitable balance of nine
-hundred and fifty pounds. The purchase of the spawn, if not grown on
-the ground, would be an additional cost of one shilling a yard. From
-October to July, seven thousand pounds-weight were really despatched to
-market from a length of five hundred yards, and sold for three hundred
-and sixty-seven pounds, besides the ketchup that was made from the
-overgrown specimens.
-
-The next question is, how to grow this valuable article of commerce.
-First of all, the stable-manure (used as a basis) must be of the
-best kind, to which oak or beech leaves may be added, as they induce
-a steady heat; but the large soft leaves of the sycamore, &c., are
-unsuitable. A slight sprinkling of tan, with a very small quantity of
-salt and guano, may be advantageous; an ounce of each to a barrowful of
-the material will be sufficient. However, many successful growers use
-none of these things, but depend entirely on well-prepared manure and
-good spawn.
-
-The best time for beginners to prepare their beds is towards the end of
-July or in August. In three weeks the manure will be ready for forming
-into ridges; in another week, spawn may be inserted. Eight weeks after,
-the mushrooms will appear, and continue bearing for three months. Now
-for the preparation. Take the manure as it comes from the stalls, the
-greater part consisting of straw more or less discoloured. When on the
-ground, fork it over, casting aside the long clean straw only; the
-remainder, forming a mixture of half and half, should be mixed and
-piled into a heap, as if for a hotbed for a frame. Very little water,
-if any, will be needed. In four or six days the fermentation should
-be in full force and the mass hot. The work of turning and purifying
-now begins. Every lock of straw and flake of manure must be separated
-and thoroughly incorporated, the outsides being placed in the centre.
-From four to six turnings on alternate days are necessary. Thus the
-mass is sweetened and the straw broken with the least possible loss of
-ammonia. A little practice will guide to the knowledge of when the beds
-are in a right condition; the appearance and the smell form the best
-indications. There should be an inseparable mass of straw and manure,
-a slightly greasy tinge, and a warm brown colour. A lump drawn from
-the interior should not smell offensively, but possess a pungent and
-somewhat agreeable scent, with a slight odour of mushrooms. If these
-features are not present, another turning is required. Texture, heat,
-purity, and moisture, are the four important requisites—sufficiently
-moist to be pressed into a mass, and yet not a drop of water to be
-squeezed from it.
-
-The site for the bed is the next consideration. Shelter from cold
-winds is a great advantage; a garden-wall to the north and a hedge on
-the south is the best position; but by the use of wattled hurdles,
-admirable results have been obtained. The sheltered nook of any
-garden or homestead may be better used for this purpose than for any
-other kind of produce. If the soil be good in quality, it is well
-to remove it where the beds are to be made to the depth of several
-inches, and place it on a heap, to be laid afterwards on the top of
-the beds. The excavations can be filled with rubble, which insures
-a dry foundation, as water should never accumulate on the surface.
-As mentioned previously, the beds should be two feet and a half wide
-at the base, six inches at the top, and two feet and a half high. At
-this angle, the soil will adhere to the sides, and much of the rain
-will pass off freely. But where the rainfall is great, they must be
-protected with canvas coverings over the straw at the top. A couple of
-sticks a yard long will prove an easy guide to the form. Insert them
-two and a half feet apart, and draw the tops to within six inches of
-each other, and there is the outline of the bed. Soon, however, a line
-will only be needed; the eye can do all the rest. Larger beds may be
-made; but let the sides be as steep as possible, firm, and smooth, that
-the rain may not penetrate. In addition to its being heavily beaten
-with forks, it must be twice trodden down—once at the depth of eighteen
-inches, and again when three feet high. The appearance will be that of
-a thatched roof in miniature, and is quite a work of art for smoothness
-and outline. To prevent the bed drying in the centre, holes should be
-bored with an iron bar, about ten inches apart, along the ridge to the
-bottom of the bed, and a few sticks put in afterwards, to indicate the
-temperature.
-
-There are many varieties of mushroom seed, or spawn, as it is termed.
-Large quantities are imported from France, where it is made up in
-flakes, instead of bricks, as with us. Good virgin spawn made up in
-bricks is decidedly the best, but the price is as high as two guineas
-a bushel. Mr Veitch, King’s Road, Chelsea, or Mr Barter, Harrow Road,
-London, and many others, may be relied on for the small quantity which
-would be required for a beginner. The lumps are nine inches long and
-six wide; sixteen of them make a bushel. They are composed of soil and
-manure. When partially dried, the spawn is inserted, and under a genial
-heat it penetrates the entire mass. Kept cool and dry, the vitality
-lasts for years. A good mushroom brick when broken should resemble a
-mass of silvery cobwebs. In growing these esculents for the market, it
-is most advantageous to use the spawn liberally and in large lumps. A
-brick may be divided into eight parts, and inserted about nine inches
-apart, level with the surface of the ridges. Holes should not be made,
-but the manure held up with the left hand, the lump pushed in with the
-right; there are then no interstices for the accumulation of steam,
-which is fatal to the mycelium. The time for sowing is when the heat of
-the bed is decreasing, but has not fallen below eighty degrees an inch
-below the surface.
-
-If the bed be in the right condition, the spawn will begin to spread
-in three days, after which the top layer may be covered with soil. A
-little litter may cover the bed previously, if the heat requires it.
-The kind of soil is not an unimportant matter, and strong turfy loam
-yields the best produce, such as a gardener would use for growing
-chrysanthemums and roses. From this, mushrooms are frequently cut
-weighing half a pound. These are termed ‘broilers,’ and are much in
-demand in the foreign hotels in London. The top layer from a pasture in
-which buttercups rather than daisies are plentiful, forms an excellent
-soil. It may even be enriched with bone-meal, if light and sandy, but
-on no account with ordinary manure, as some unwelcome fungi might
-spring up. The thickness of this covering of soil must be from one to
-two inches. It may be slightly moistened before putting on, not after,
-lest dry fissures should form and the heat escape. The whole should
-be made firm and smooth, but not plastered like a cement floor. The
-temperature of September is a guide to the heat required to be kept up,
-as that is the month when mushrooms grow naturally in the open air. An
-average of fifty-eight degrees must be considered the highest, but they
-will be found among the grass meadows as low as forty-seven degrees. On
-a mild day in January, a bed was beginning to bear largely in the open
-air under a layer of straw nine inches thick. Cold does no real injury
-to mushroom beds; it only stops their growth, but does not destroy
-the spawn. They may even be frozen through, and yet, when the spring
-melts the frost, they will bear. Too high a temperature is much more
-destructive, and the cause of many failures.
-
-After all this preparation is made, the routine of management consists
-in maintaining the beds at an equable temperature, watering them at the
-right time, and gathering the crops. Sufficient straw has been shaken
-from the manure when first brought in to cover the beds; it is the best
-that can be used, and when dry, its peculiar nature seems to agree with
-the mushrooms better than clean sweet straw or hay. If the weather be
-mild, six inches of litter will suffice; whilst during a prolonged
-frost, two feet or more, with mats, canvas, or some such material, will
-be required. The proper temperature can be determined by the hand; if
-there is the slightest warmth felt when placed on the soil under the
-straw, that is right; or if the thermometer be laid there at night and
-has risen to fifty degrees in the morning.
-
-During fine weather in summer, autumn, and spring, the beds require
-frequent watering. The soil should never become dry, and the time
-chosen must be early in the afternoon on a sunny day. The covering on
-the beds will then be warm; and on this—not under it—water must be
-sprinkled in sufficient quantity to percolate through and gradually
-moisten the soil. Immediately after, the beds must be covered with
-mats, to prevent the evaporation, and the vapour that will be generated
-will result in a warm, humid atmosphere, so suitable for the growth of
-mushrooms. The mats may be removed in the morning. Beginners should
-endeavour to have beds beginning to bear in April or October; they are
-not profitable after June, as, owing to the nitrogen they contain,
-mushrooms speedily decay in hot weather, and become very indigestible.
-
-When the beds are partially exhausted by continuous bearing, a free
-application of liquid manure, heated to a hundred degrees, may be
-given, and one or two ounces of salt added to each gallon. It is a
-well-known fact that sowing salt over grass and pastureland often
-produces an enormous crop of mushrooms, whilst on other parts of
-the same land not one is to be found. In a small farm the author is
-acquainted with, mushrooms grow abundantly among the potato and turnip
-crops, whilst none are found in the neighbourhood; the only difference
-being that the farmer sowed two hundredweight of salt per acre every
-year. Of course, the spawn is there, but the salt develops its growth.
-
-After all this preparation, the pleasant time of gathering the crop
-will come; and here knowledge and care are alike requisite. The old
-plan was to cut off the mushroom above the soil; now, it is pulled
-by hand, and if the stump be left close to the surface, it is at
-once scooped out with a knife, leaving a round cavity as large as a
-walnut. This plan increases the productiveness of the beds; for if the
-threads of the mycelium are not broken, they expend their strength in
-masses of mould or fungus. On the other hand, when scooped out, small
-tubercles form, and develop into mushrooms, a fine ring appearing round
-each cavity. When gathering, a small portion only of the bed should
-be uncovered, especially in cold weather, and re-covered as quickly
-as possible. It is not unusual for nine or ten pounds to be gathered
-at once; and in the case of young beds, the crop may be cleared off
-twice a week. As a rule, a good bed will yield ten gatherings—seven
-large, the first and last two lighter. It is well to separate them
-into two baskets, if intended for the market—one for buttons and cups,
-the other for broilers, as it saves time at the weighing-table. The
-stems should always be retained, as the mushrooms keep sound for a
-much longer period. To the salesman, the packing is of consequence.
-One pound is put into each punnet—the baskets which every one knows,
-made of shavings. But few are aware what a large trade there is in
-these little articles, or where they are made. It is to Brentford or
-Hammersmith that we must go to see the juvenile population busy at
-work making these cheap and useful articles. They are sold in rolls of
-three dozens, of different sizes—‘deep pounds’ and ‘flat pounds,’ which
-may be bought for from four to six shillings the gross of Mr Nicholls,
-377 Goldhawk Road, Hammersmith. After the loose soil has been taken
-from the stems, the mushrooms are neatly packed and tied down with
-raffia, the best and cheapest tying material, and then placed in wooden
-packing-cases for transmission to towns. Everywhere, in large centres,
-the greengrocers are glad to receive them, as the demand is greater
-than the supply, the price varying from one shilling to two shillings
-the pound from October to June.
-
-Whenever the supply is too large, good unadulterated ketchup finds a
-ready market, and mushroom-growing is profitable if only for the juice
-alone. What is now sold as mushroom ketchup is rarely pure, bullocks’
-liver being one of the usual component parts. The spent beds are most
-valuable for manure for the land or for potting the higher class of
-plants, and are by no means exhausted. The manure often lies for months
-during decomposition before it is fit for the land. Why should not this
-be utilised? It is a most suitable investment for market-gardeners
-who are not far from a town, and for cottagers who hold a few acres,
-keeping one or two horses and cows. If they can make poultry pay, much
-more mushrooms. Clergymen and professional men are not unwilling to
-add something to their income, and might do much in their parishes to
-improve the condition of the working-classes by thus making use of what
-too often lies wasting in the farmyards.
-
-This is but a sketch of Mr Wright’s little book, which should be in the
-possession of all who intend to be mushroom-growers.
-
-
-
-
-A YARN OF THE _P. AND O._
-
-
-As there were but very few passengers on board the Peninsular and
-Oriental steamer _Sicilia_, outward bound for the Far East, we did not
-anticipate the usual amount of fun and festivity which are, strangely
-enough, more remarkable features of life on outward-bound than on
-homeward-bound steamers. But what we missed in frolic we certainly had
-made up to us in the shape of excitement. We numbered about a dozen in
-all; but of these, three only need individual description.
-
-The principal personage, in accordance with the ancient dictum that
-a woman is at the bottom of everything, was a pretty young widow, a
-Londoner, who was on her way to join her friends living in Shanghai.
-The worship of the fair sex is nowhere more ardent than aboard ship,
-partly, perhaps, because its members contrive to put on under such
-exceptional circumstances their most captivating airs and graces; and
-chiefly, it must be admitted, although the admission is ungallant,
-because, beyond eating and sleeping, there is little else to do than to
-offer homage to whatever goddess presents herself. Hence Mrs Fuller, as
-she was named, reigned sole and unapproached monarch of the ship. Had
-she been other than she was, she would have occupied this position; but
-being tall and fair and graceful, she assuredly merited every tribute
-of admiration laid at her feet. The darts she unconsciously shot around
-fixed themselves most firmly in the hearts of the remaining members of
-the prominent trio to be described. The first was a young Englishman
-named Goodhew, going out to the consular service in Yedo; the other
-was a young Irishman named MacWhirter, going to the same city in the
-Japanese government Telegraph Department. Goodhew was as typical an
-Englishman as was MacWhirter a typical Irishman, indeed, more so, for
-Mac was a victim to a most un-Milesian failing—he could not take a
-joke. Goodhew was a big, broad-shouldered, ruddy-faced, blue-eyed,
-fair-haired fellow, who ate like an alderman, was always laughing
-when he was not eating or sleeping, and was half the life and soul of
-our little community. Terence MacWhirter was the other half. He could
-sing a capital song and tell a capital story, his story-telling powers
-eclipsing his song-singing, inasmuch as with the gravest conceivable
-demeanour he would endeavour to foist upon us the most palpable fiction
-as the most solemn truth. ‘As true as oi’m standing here,’ was a
-concluding phrase of his, which soon became a catchword on board, and
-synonymous with what was most extravagant and improbable.
-
-The apple of discord which the fair Londoner was destined to throw
-amongst us fell between Goodhew and Mac, who, long before she joined
-us at Brindisi, had singled out each other as opponents upon the one
-particular question of belief or disbelief in ghosts. Strangely enough,
-Goodhew, who had won the Humane Society’s medal for saving life, was a
-firm believer in the theory that the departed from this life revisit
-their old haunts. Equally strange was it that Mac, although a fervid,
-imaginative Irishman, pooh-poohed ghosts and omens and visions and
-dreams and second-sight as being unworthy of the consideration of
-a practical nineteenth-century human being; and the more instances
-Goodhew quoted in support of his creed, the more violently would Mac
-exclaim: ‘Now, look ye here, Mister Goodhew; oi’ll stand the man an
-onlimited dinner up to a couple of sovereigns who can prove that he has
-ever seen a ghost; an’ if a man can show me a ghost, bedad, oi’ll show
-him what oi’ll do wid it!’
-
-The arguing matches and disputes between the two opponents formed our
-principal amusement during the tedious passage from Southampton to
-Brindisi. Then Mrs Fuller came on board, and their antagonism assumed a
-new shape. Goodhew helped her on board. Score No. 1 for the Englishman.
-But Mac lent her his cane-chair, and equalised matters. Goodhew sat
-next to her at table; but Mac sat opposite, which was as good, for in
-talking to her, he was obliged to raise his voice, and by so doing
-obtained a monopoly of the conversation. To her credit it must be
-said that she behaved exactly as a young lady placed in such peculiar
-circumstances should behave. She showed no partiality to one more
-than to the other. She laughed heartily at Mac’s jokes, and listened
-attentively to Goodhew’s quiet common-sense and commonplaces. If one of
-them gained a trifling advantage one day, it was made up to the other
-the next; and so, whilst conscientiously she believed she was pleasing
-both, in reality she was stirring up a fire between the two which was
-fated ultimately to burst into a tragedy.
-
-So matters went on. By the time Alexandria was reached, we, the
-audience, agreed that Goodhew held a slight advantage, inasmuch as the
-passage across the Mediterranean having been stormy, poor Mac spent the
-greater part of his time in his berth; whilst Goodhew, who was a good
-sailor, was brought into uninterrupted contact with Mrs Fuller, who was
-also _mal-de-mer_ proof.
-
-It may be imagined that when we were sick of quoits and ‘bull-board’
-and deck-cricket and walking-races, the little comedy played by the
-trio formed our chief amusement. Its ups and downs, its various phases,
-its situations, were subjects of attentive watchfulness on our part.
-We were like a party of special correspondents taking notes of an
-important campaign. We received from one another news of victory or
-defeat, of attacks foiled, of successful stratagems, of bold strokes,
-of new moves, with as much earnestness as if our own interests were at
-stake with the issue of the contest. If one of us hurried for’ard with
-a joyful face, it was not to tell of a confident prophecy on the part
-of the skipper that we should have an easy time in the monsoon, or that
-we should make Aden ahead of schedule-time; but to relate some splendid
-stroke on the part of Mac, or an admirable counter delivered by
-Goodhew. Occasionally, there were uninteresting lulls in the conflict,
-and during these periods we were driven to our wits’ end for amusement,
-and the time passed slowly and heavily; but when the battle was in full
-swing, the long hours of the tropical day sped but too quickly. Our
-doctor took an especial interest in the drama, and by virtue of his
-official position, was enabled to see far more of its ins and outs and
-by-play than we outsiders, and often when matters seemed to slacken
-a bit, would infuse fresh life and fire by some adroit, mischievous
-remark.
-
-Open hostility soon became the order of the day between Mac and
-Goodhew. Hitherto, they had been simply cold and distant to one
-another, interlarding their conversation profusely with ‘Sirs’ and ‘I
-beg your pardons;’ but by the time we reached Penang, they were hardly
-civil to each other. The climax was reached at Penang. According to the
-usual custom, a party was made up to visit the celebrated waterfall.
-Most of us went: Skipper, Doctor, Mrs Fuller, Goodhew, Mac, and half a
-dozen of us outsiders. We arrived at the waterfall after the well-known
-broiling ascent, rhapsodised over it, sketched the joss-house, partook
-of a sumptuous tiffin beneath its roof, and were about to return to
-the quay, when Mrs Fuller espied a dead buzzard floating in the waters
-of the pool. ‘Oh, how I should like a few feathers from that beautiful
-bird!’ she exclaimed.
-
-Mac and Goodhew rushed to execute the commission. We outsiders never
-dreamed of interference, as we foresaw an important scene in the drama.
-Mac was armed with his walking-stick, Goodhew had seized a long bamboo
-stem. Mac was upon one side of the pool, Goodhew on the other, and the
-buzzard floated in the middle between them.
-
-The faces and figures of the two men were perfect studies of
-sternness and resolution; they stretched and craned, they knelt, they
-floundered, they hopped up and jumped down; for the time-being the
-entire universe of each of them was concentrated in that palm-shaded
-pool. But the bird stuck resolutely in the middle, in spite of coaxing
-and flopping and all sorts of cunning endeavours to waft it to one
-side or the other. Suddenly a puff of wind carried it towards Mac.
-His face lighted up with joy, and he uttered a smothered ‘Hooroo!’
-In a moment his walking-stick was under it, he was slowly but
-surely pulling it towards him; when there was a vision of a sort of
-fishing-rod in mid-air, a momentary struggle and splash, and Goodhew
-triumphantly dragged it towards him. Mac made a desperate dash at the
-retreating spoil, missed his footing, and fell plump into the pool. Our
-long-restrained feelings were no more to be kept in, and the laughter
-which followed awakened the echoes of the solitary Penang waterfall.
-To emerge from the water, hatless, dripping, and vanquished, was
-humiliating enough for poor Mac; but when he looked at Mrs Fuller, and
-saw that she was endeavouring to stifle immoderate laughter with her
-pocket-handkerchief, his cup of misery was full, and without another
-word, he strode off ahead of us on the path leading to the Settlement,
-and was soon lost to view.
-
-We sailed that evening for Singapore. Mac was not visible. Next
-evening, however, as we were sitting on deck after dinner smoking our
-cigars and gazing at the peerless panorama of the tropical heavens, we
-saw him come on deck. We hushed our talk, for we felt that something
-was pending. Goodhew was sitting by Mrs Fuller’s chair—that is, poor
-Mac’s chair—at some distance from us. Mac seeing this, strode up and
-down the deck behind them. Presently, Mrs Fuller rose, wished us
-good-night, and disappeared below. We nudged one another, watched round
-the corners of our eyes, and listened.
-
-Mac strode up to Goodhew, who was approaching us. ‘Mister Goodhew,’ he
-said, ‘oi call that a dirty mane trick!’
-
-‘What do you mean, sir?’ angrily retorted Goodhew, stopping short.
-
-‘Oi mane what oi say, sir,’ said Mac. ‘It was a dirty mane trick. Mrs
-Fuller asked me to get the bird for her, and oi got it; and you come in
-with a pole like a mast, and you fish it out under me very oyes!’
-
-‘Under your very stick, you mean, Mac,’ said Goodhew, laughing.
-
-‘No matter what oi mane!’ exclaimed the infuriated Irishman. ‘Oi
-mane, that when one gintleman recaives a commission from a lady, and
-another gintleman executes it by a mane trick, the other gintleman’s no
-gintleman at all at all—but a cad, Mister Goodhew, a cad!’
-
-‘I say, Mac, draw it mild,’ said Goodhew, in his turn irritated; ‘we’re
-not all bogtrotters here!’
-
-‘Is it bogtrotter ye’re callin’ me!’ exclaimed Mac in a frenzy. ‘Bedad,
-oi’ll tache ye to call a MacWhirter a bogtrotter, ye spalpeen!’ And he
-sprang at Goodhew furiously.
-
-Goodhew seized him by the waist, and in another minute would have
-certainly dropped Mac overboard, had we not all jumped up and
-interposed. Mac danced and kicked and struggled and used every
-vilifying expression he could. Goodhew also was endeavouring to wrest
-himself from our grasp; but we held on, and the opponents seeing that
-they could not get at each other, gradually desisted from trying.
-
-‘Doctor!’ said Mac, after a breathing-space, ‘this is an affair for
-immadiate settlement.’
-
-‘Pooh! my dear fellow,’ said the officer, ‘who can fight duels on the
-deck of a P. and O. steamer? Better wait till we get to Hong-kong;
-there’s plenty of room there.’
-
-‘Hong-kong be it then,’ said Mac.—‘Mister Goodhew, oi’ll send ye me
-card in the morning.’
-
-‘All right, Mac,’ replied Goodhew, who was recovering his good temper.
-‘Send as many as you like. But don’t you think we’re a couple of fools,
-to be going on in this absurd way about a trifle?’
-
-‘A trifle ye call it?’ roared Mac. ‘An’ if there’s a fool hereabouts,
-it isn’t Terence MacWhirter; but ye needn’t travel very far to find
-him.’
-
-The doctor whispered in Goodhew’s ear. The latter nodded and smiled,
-and said: ‘All right, Mac. You challenge me to a duel. I accept it.
-Pistols?’
-
-‘Of coorse,’ replied Mac. ‘Ye didn’t think oi mane fishing-rods?
-Insulting a MacWhirter’s no trifle, oi tell ye.’
-
-So they separated.
-
-It may be imagined that the chief topic on board during the interval
-between Singapore and Hong-kong was the approaching duel. Mac had given
-out more than once that he was no novice; and he certainly had shown
-himself a dead-shot with a rook-rifle at bottles or pieces of wood; but
-whether, considering the extreme excitability of his nature, he would
-preserve his calmness on the field of battle sufficiently to make any
-use of his accomplishment, we were inclined to doubt. Goodhew had never
-fired a pistol in his life; but there was an easy, calm confidence
-about him that foretold no want of nerve on his part.
-
-‘Pat,’ said the doctor, on the evening before our arrival at Hong-kong,
-‘haven’t you a qualm of conscience about going to shoot this poor
-fellow?’
-
-‘Faith, doctor,’ replied Mac, ‘the odds are even. If he wins the toss,
-he shoots me.’
-
-‘You’re not afraid of the consequences of manslaughter?’ continued the
-doctor. ‘I don’t mean the judicial consequences, but the remorse, the
-fear of being haunted’——
-
-‘Doctor,’ said Mac, ‘oi took ye for the only sensible man on the ship,
-and ye go and talk blarney about haunting and all that. Oi tell ye,
-doctor, oi’m not a believer in spirits; and if oi kill Goodhew, and his
-ghost makes a pother about me afterwards, oi’ll have to settle him as
-well. Look ye, doctor, ye and the whole lot of ’em want to get me off
-this duel; but oi’ve been insulted; and if oi put up with it, oi’ll not
-be worthy of the name of MacWhirter at all at all.’
-
-The next evening we steamed into Hong-kong harbour. Mrs Fuller was
-on deck, admiring the effects of the great mountain shadows upon the
-moonlit water, and of the innumerable twinkling lights from the shore,
-which mount up and up until they seem to mingle with the stars.
-
-Mac was standing by her chair. ‘Mrs Fuller,’ he said, in a low
-impressive voice, ‘this is a beauteous scene. It remoinds me of Doblin
-Bay or the Cove of Cark. It is a sad scene.’
-
-‘A sad scene, Mr MacWhirter!’ said Mrs Fuller. ‘Why, I was just
-thinking it was a gay scene, with all those lights, and’——
-
-‘It is a sad scene for those who are looking at it for the last toime,
-Mrs Fuller,’ said Mac in an almost sepulchral tone.
-
-‘Gracious! Mr MacWhirter, what do you mean?’ asked Mrs Fuller. ‘What a
-dreadfully uncomfortable thing to say!’
-
-‘Oi mane, Mrs Fuller,’ replied Mac, ‘that this toime to-morrow noight
-there’ll be one less passenger on board the _Sicilia_.’
-
-‘Why, of course, Mr MacWhirter; for I suppose our little company will
-be broken up here, and it is never pleasant separating from kind
-friends.’
-
-‘Ye mistake me,’ said Mac. ‘The moon that will shoine to-morrow noight
-will look upon the corpse of either Mister Goodhew or of Terence
-MacWhirter; and it’ll be all for the sake of yerself, Mrs Fuller.’
-
-Mrs Fuller saw that Mac was serious, and the idea flashed across her
-mind that the two rivals for her hand were about to fight a duel on her
-account, so she resolved to take the earliest opportunity of speaking
-to the captain about it.
-
-She did speak to the captain, who spoke certain words to her in return.
-
-Very early the next morning, before even the sun had peered round
-the corner of the Victoria Peak, the captain’s gig put off from the
-_Sicilia_. In it were the captain himself, the doctor, Goodhew, Mac,
-and we outsiders. We were soon alongside the Bund, and in a few seconds
-were being whisked away in the direction of the Happy Valley as fast as
-chairmen could take us. We went swiftly by the cemetery gate and the
-Grand Stand to the extreme end of the Valley, where there was no chance
-of interruption.
-
-After each of the combatants had been armed with one of the captain’s
-pistols, the doctor measured fifteen paces. The coin was spun into the
-air. Mac won the toss, and took up his position, as did Goodhew.
-
-‘Captain,’ said Goodhew, ‘if—if I fall, you’ll find a memorandum as to
-the disposition of my property in a tin box in my cabin. Here’s the
-key.’
-
-‘At the word Three,’ said the captain, ‘Mr MacWhirter will fire.’
-
-Mac raised his pistol, half closed his left eye, and took aim.
-
-‘One! Two! Three!’
-
-He fired. Goodhew, with a cry, pressed his hands to his head, and then
-fell like a stone with one deep groan. The red stain on the right
-temple told Mac the fatal truth. The Irishman’s vaunts and threats had
-been justified.
-
-‘You’ve done it, Mac!’ whispered the captain in a voice of agony. ‘Come
-away as fast as you can. The doctor will attend to the poor fellow, if
-life still remains.’
-
-And so Mac and the captain hastened away, leaving Goodhew on the
-ground, with us gathered around him.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-As we were to shift over to the smaller steamer which was to convey us
-to Yokohama the next day, and were to bid farewell to Mrs Fuller and
-the captain and the old _Sicilia_, the banquet that evening was of an
-unusually lavish description: the champagne went merrily round with
-jest and gibe, as if there had never been such a being as poor Goodhew
-in existence. Even Mac aroused himself after a few glasses, although at
-first he was rather solemn, and remarked: ‘Ye’re a rum lot, all of
-ye. If oi’d been killed instead of Mister Goodhew, ye’d have enjoyed
-your dinner and drink all the same. Oi’m sorry for him; but it’ll be a
-lesson to Sassenachs not to insult Oirishmen.’
-
-Then Mrs Fuller’s health was drunk, and the captain’s, and every one
-else’s, and not until a small-hour of the morning did we think of
-breaking up.
-
-‘I say, Mac,’ said the doctor, ‘aren’t you afraid of seeing poor
-Goodhew to-night?’
-
-‘Whisht, doctor; ye’ve taken more than’s good for ye!’ was the
-contemptuous reply.
-
-As the ship’s bell tolled two o’clock, we prepared to turn into bed,
-when the saloon door opened quietly, and a tall figure, ghastly white,
-with a crimson patch on its face, glided a few inches in. Mac was
-seated next to the door, and saw it. His cigar fell from his fingers,
-beads of perspiration burst upon his forehead, and he trembled
-violently.
-
-‘What on earth is the matter, Mac?’ we asked.
-
-‘Why!—Don’t ye see? There, at the door!—Him! Mister Goodhew!’ stammered
-Mac.
-
-‘Nonsense, man; you’re dreaming. There’s nobody there at all!’ we said.
-
-‘Strikes me you’ve had a drop too much, Mac,’ said the doctor, quietly.
-
-The figure still stood there with its eyes fixed on Mac, who, after
-remaining for a few moments petrified with horror, rushed with a shriek
-into his cabin.
-
-Such a night as the poor fellow passed will never be known to any one
-but himself, although it was manifest that he was undergoing extreme
-agony by the groans and smothered cries which we heard for a long
-time after he had turned in. He was not visible at breakfast the next
-morning; nothing was seen of him during the process of transferring
-passengers, mails, and baggage from the _Sicilia_ to the Yokohama
-steamer; and we began to fear that the poor fellow had really been
-affected by what he had seen, and had taken some rash step. However,
-about an hour before our starting-time, it was reported that Mac had
-come on board. There was a festive assembly in the saloon, the captain,
-doctor, and officers of the _Sicilia_ being our guests, although an
-unusual spruceness in the general costume proclaimed that the affair
-was something more than a mere return of the compliment paid us by the
-captain of the _Sicilia_ on the previous evening.
-
-The doctor had risen to his feet, was clearing his throat preparatory
-to an important speech, when the saloon door was pushed open, and
-Mac looked in—not the careless, swaggering Mac of past days, but Mac
-haggard, weird, scarcely human, with unkempt locks and bloodshot eyes.
-Goodhew was seated next to the pretty Londoner. ‘Hillo, Mac, old
-fellow; come in, come in; you’re just in time,’ he said.
-
-‘By the powers!’ exclaimed Mac, ‘ye’re not dead, Mister Goodhew!’
-
-‘No, old fellow,’ replied Goodhew, with a laugh. ‘But if your pistol
-had carried a bullet, I should have been.’
-
-‘But the blood on your forehead—I saw it!’ cried Mac.—‘And Mrs
-Fuller—she’s wid ye, I see!’
-
-‘No, no, Mac; wrong this time,’ returned Goodhew, smiling. ‘There was
-no blood on my forehead; and it isn’t Mrs Fuller that’s beside me.’
-
-‘Whisht, man! I’m not draming now; I know what I’m talking about,’
-exclaimed Mac. ‘D’ye mane that there was no blood on your forehead
-after I’d hit ye, and d’ye mane that it isn’t Mrs Fuller alongside of
-ye at all?’
-
-‘Yes, old fellow,’ said Goodhew, rising, and stretching out his hand to
-the bewildered Irishman. ‘The mark on my forehead was only a little red
-paint carried in the palm of my hand, and ready to be slapped on the
-moment you discharged your deadly weapon; and the lady’——
-
-‘Yes, yes, the lady?’ interposed Mac with eagerness.
-
-‘The lady was made Mrs Goodhew about a couple of hours back,’ calmly
-replied the Englishman. ‘Give us your hand, and drink our healths.’
-
-Mac did both, and ever after remained a firm friend of Goodhew’s,
-although always a little touchy on the subject of ghosts.
-
-
-
-
-SEALS AND SEAL-HUNTING IN SHETLAND.
-
-
-IN TWO PARTS.—PART II.[1]
-
-A relative of mine, now dead, used to be a mighty seal-hunter. It
-was before the days of the modern ‘arms of precision,’ long before
-breech-loaders were in common use, and even before the Enfield or Minié
-rifles were invented. In those days, the old muzzle-loading rifle
-was found to be not a trustworthy weapon; he therefore used a very
-thick metalled fowling-piece, which was deadly up to sixty or eighty
-yards. He had a splendid boat, which he named the _Haff-fish_, about
-seventeen feet of keel, a capital sea-boat, equally good for sailing
-and rowing, safe, therefore, in bad weather and rough sea, and at the
-same time handy to manage when rapid movements might be required,
-such as landing in narrow creeks, or on slippery shelving rocks, or
-shallow beaches with a surf on. His crew was composed of four picked
-men from amongst his fishermen tenants, and his henchman, who was as
-much friend and adviser as servant, a man of great natural sagacity,
-intelligence, and fertility of resource, and of prodigious bodily
-strength; all of them first-class boatmen, expert pilots, familiar with
-every rock and reef and tideway on the coast and amongst the islands,
-and withal steady, bright, intelligent fellows. Master and men, all
-save one, gone now! With this crew, my uncle was wont to start on his
-seal-hunting expeditions. He would be absent for a week, sometimes
-more, if the weather should turn out unfavourable; for the distance
-from his residence to the haunts of the seals was considerable. The
-first day would be spent amongst the nearest islands; and in the
-evening he would land, and spend the night in the hospitable mansion
-of one of his brother lairds, where he was always a welcome guest, his
-boatmen at the same time making good their quarters at very small cost
-in the nearest fishermen’s cottages. Next day, and each day while the
-expedition lasted, he would explore new hunting-ground, spending the
-nights at some other friends’ houses; and so he would hunt all the
-islands in Blummel Sound and Yell Sound, the Holms of Gloup, the Neeps
-of Gravaland, the long line of precipitous coast on the west side of
-Roonees Hill, the Ramna Stacks, and even the distant Vee Skerries, and
-other places well known as the principal haunts of the seal. Sometimes,
-of course, the weather, always fickle in those latitudes, would put
-a stop to all sport. Not often, but sometimes, even with the most
-favourable weather, he would return ‘clean.’ At other times he would
-bring back a number of very substantial trophies of his prowess. In
-some seasons he would bag—_boat_ I should rather say—as many as forty
-or fifty. In ten years, during which he kept a careful record of the
-number he shot, he secured close upon three hundred of both species,
-and of various ages and sizes, besides killing a considerable number
-more, which sunk, and he was unable to recover. The most he shot in one
-day was eleven, ten of which he secured. Not a bad day’s sport.
-
-I have often heard him tell with pride the story of the most deadly
-shot he ever fired. The weapon was a favourite fowling-piece charged
-with two bullets, which occasionally wrought great havoc. A small
-herd of tang-fish was lying on a rock within easy range of some large
-boulders in the ebb, close to the water’s edge, to which, with infinite
-labour and circumspection, my relative had crept. Very cautiously, his
-piece on a good rest, he took a well-calculated aim at the seals, lying
-close together in a particularly favourable position, and fired. The
-first bullet killed no fewer than three, and the second ball struck,
-but did not kill two others, which floundered into the water and
-escaped; but the other three were secured.
-
-The most extraordinary _hour’s_ sport I have ever heard of was that
-of a young Shetlander, about three years ago. Reports of it had
-reached me; but they seemed so incredible, that I thought they must
-be exaggerated. I therefore wrote to the gentleman himself for the
-particulars; so I can vouch for the accuracy of what I am going to
-relate. I quote from his letter:
-
-‘My evening sport at Muckla Skerry was certainly a good one. I started
-from the Whalsay Skerries about five o’clock of an evening about the
-end of August or first of September 1881. When nearing the rock, I
-could see with a glass that it was almost covered with seals—I should
-say there would have been eighty or more—but all took to the water
-before a shot was fired, and while we were three to four hundred
-yards off, and were soon sporting about the boat, but keeping at a
-respectable distance. It had been perfectly calm for some days, and the
-sea was like a mirror. I fired eight shots from a short Enfield rifle
-with government ball cartridge. Two shots missed, and the other six
-secured a seal each. They were all shot in the water; and singular to
-say, every one floated on the surface till we took hold of it. One of
-them was a large fish, measuring six feet four inches long; the others
-would run from three and a half to five feet in length.... I feel
-certain I could have shot as many more, if we could have taken them in
-the boat; but the boat was only ten and a half feet keel, and I had
-four sturdy oatmeal-fed islanders with me, so that you can fancy how
-much freeboard we had when the six seals were in our little craft. The
-time we were at the rock did not exceed forty minutes, and I think that
-half the time was expended in getting the largest seal into the boat.
-This was no easy matter, and attended with very considerable risk; but
-he was quite a prize, and we did not like to let him go.’
-
-Several things in this interesting and spirited account are, so far
-as I am aware, unprecedented in the annals of seal-hunting in this
-country. I have never known or heard of any one in so short a time and
-out of a single herd getting so many fair shots. When one gets amongst
-a lot of seals, swimming and diving around the boat, one shot is
-commonly all that you can hope for, and whether you kill or not, it is
-almost invariably sufficient to send the rest at once far beyond range.
-Then out of eight shots, to strike and kill with six, considering
-the expertness of seals in ‘diving on the fire,’ is, I believe, also
-unprecedented; and to cap all, that not one of the six should have sunk
-when shot, is extraordinary and unaccountable; for, as I have already
-said, they sink when killed in the water quite as often as they float,
-if not oftener. Anyhow, Mr A—— had the rare good fortune to encounter a
-splendid opportunity, and he made a splendid use of it.
-
-A good dog is a useful auxiliary to a seal-hunter; but he requires a
-good deal of training to learn his work. Very soon he acquires the art
-of stalking; but most dogs at first are apparently afraid to lay hold
-of a dead seal floating in the water, and very commonly, when sent off
-to fetch him ashore, simply attempt to mount on him, and in consequence
-do harm rather than good by helping to sink him. But generally—not
-always, for some dogs we never could train to do the right thing—we
-succeeded in teaching them to retrieve. When we had brought a seal
-home, we used to throw it over the jetty or out of a boat with a stout
-cord attached, and encourage the dog to fetch him. Great praise was
-bestowed when he learned to lay hold of a flipper and tow the selkie
-shoreward; in this way, with a little patience and perseverance, the
-dog soon came to learn what was required; and many a seal was secured
-by his help, which without it might inevitably have been lost, for a
-seal shot in the water from the shore, which they often were, was very
-generally on the opposite side of an island or long promontory, where
-a landing had been effected; and it took many minutes before the boat
-could be got round; and by that time, but for the dog, the seal might
-have sunk.
-
-We tried many breeds of dogs—Newfoundland, Retriever, St Bernard, Rough
-water-dog, and Collie; but after all, the best seal retriever of the
-lot was a Collie. When he comprehended what was wanted and how to do
-it, he did it neatly and thoroughly. I well remember the first seal I
-shot. I had landed on the weather-side of a small island. A cautious
-reconnoitring discovered a good-sized seal ‘lying up’ on a detached
-rock. Then I commenced the stalking, closely followed by my dog. But
-ere I could approach within range, one of those seal-sentinels and
-provoking tormentors of the seal-hunter, a herring gull, set up his
-wild warning scream. The seal perfectly understood what it meant, at
-once took the alarm, plunged into the water, and disappeared. I sprang
-to my feet, rushed down along a little promontory, and then crouched
-behind a big boulder, in hopes that selkie would show his head above
-water and give me a chance at him. And he did. Raising his head and
-neck, he took a good look shoreward; but seeing nothing to account for
-the gull’s persistent screaming, he turned round, and raised his head
-preparatory to a dive. I had him well and steadily covered; now was
-my chance. I pulled the trigger; no splash followed, which would have
-meant a miss; but the _lioom_—that is, the smoothing of the water by
-the flow of the oil—told that my bullet had taken effect. ‘Fetch him,
-old dog! fetch him!’ I cried. In an instant he plunged into the sea
-and swam to the seal, which I could see was floating. Neatly he dipped
-his head under water, seized a hind flipper, turned it over his neck,
-and towed him towards the shore. Passing the rock on which I stood in
-his way to the beach, he turned his eyes upwards for the praise and
-encouragement I was not, it may well be believed, backward to lavish
-on him. Such a look it was! I shall never forget it, instinct with
-the brightest intelligence, joy, pride, triumph. Indeed, I don’t know
-whether he or his master was proudest and happiest that day. Alas, that
-our noble ‘humble friends’ should be so short-lived!
-
-I have not shot a great many seals. They are not now, nor were they
-in my younger and sporting days, so numerous as they were fifty or
-sixty years ago, when but a very few persons here and there owned a
-gun, which with scarcely an exception was only the old regulation
-flintlock musket. But since the invention of percussion locks, and of
-the splendid rifles and breech-loaders of the present day, and still
-more since steamers and sailing-vessels have been constantly plying
-amongst the islands, where formerly they never were seen, the seals
-have not had so peaceful a time of it; slaughter and persecution, and
-the inroads of modern civilisation in general, have greatly diminished
-their numbers; at least they are not now so frequently met with in
-their old haunts, from which it is probable most of them have retired,
-to more inaccessible and therefore safer quarters. These remarks
-apply only to the common seal. The Great seal was never very numerous
-anywhere, and there is not much chance of his wild retreats being
-disturbed except by an occasional hunter.
-
-I have shot only three Great seals; but the largest one certainly I
-ever saw, I might have shot, but did not—dared not, I should say.
-Thus it happened. It was at the Holms of Gloup—some outlying rocks
-and skerries off the north point of the island of Yell. There is a
-fine hellyer here. According to the usual practice, I had landed on
-an abutting point or promontory at the outer entrance to the hellyer,
-and sent the boat inwards. If a seal happens to be in the hellyer, he
-plunges into the sea, swims out under water, and very generally rises
-up at no great distance, to see what is the cause of the disturbance
-and noise—for seals, as I have said, are very inquisitive as well as
-shy—and in this way the sportsman in ambush often gets a capital shot.
-As the boat went slowly inwards, the men kept shouting and peering
-into the darkness, all eyes directed towards the inner beach, which
-was dimly visible. Presently from my perch of some twenty or thirty
-feet, I saw, in the clear water, what they did not see, a rushing white
-figure coming outwards under water. Then, not thirty yards distant, the
-head and neck of an enormous haff-fish[2] rose above the surface. For
-time enough to have shot him five times over, he gazed at the boat,
-the back of his head turned towards me, and offering such a mark as I
-never had before or since. I covered him with the sights; my finger
-trembled on the trigger; I knew my weapon would not fail me. I knew I
-could kill him easily, and secure him too, even if he should sink, for
-the water was clear and shallow. But, as ill-fortune would have it, he
-was directly in the line between me and the boat, and I did not dare to
-fire. The boatmen never saw him, and of course I could make no sign.
-So the great ocean patriarch, having satisfied his curiosity, quietly
-withdrew under water.
-
-I shall conclude with one other adventure of my seal-hunting
-experience. It was at the Neeps off Gravaland, on the west side of
-Yell. Here the coast-line is sinuous and precipitous, the cliffs in
-many parts being very high; and here there are many well-sheltered
-creeks, rather favourite haunts of the tang-fish. A cautious survey
-discovered twelve or twenty of them ‘lying up’ on a few detached rocks
-in one of these creeks, and of course, as usual, far beyond range
-from any point on the top of the cliff. To get a chance of a shot, it
-was necessary to scramble down to the beach and out amongst the great
-boulders left dry by the ebb-tide, a matter of no small difficulty,
-and also danger. I was accompanied by a young Englishman, who was very
-eager for a shot. Retiring a little from the brow of the cliff, we held
-a brief whispered consultation. ‘Nothing for it,’ I said, ‘but to get
-down. Will you try it?’
-
-‘No,’ he replied; ‘I dare not. I always get giddy, looking down from
-great heights, and I could not possibly attempt a precipice like that.
-Do you really mean to venture?’
-
-‘Certainly,’ I said; ‘nothing venture nothing win.’
-
-‘Well, well,’ rejoined he, ‘you’re to the manner born, and I wish you
-luck.’
-
-One can’t climb or descend a difficult precipice with boots, so I
-discarded mine, carefully charged my trusty old fowling-piece, and
-commenced the descent, well out of view of the seals. The task would
-have been no easy one at any time; but cumbered as I was with my
-fowling-piece, and obliged to double and twist in all directions, to
-avoid being seen, it was stalking under difficulties of no ordinary
-magnitude. After infinite toil and circumspection, I found myself
-about thirty feet from the bottom; but farther I was utterly unable
-to proceed without coming full in sight of the seals, who were as yet
-unaware of the proximity of danger. Continuing my downward course,
-they soon caught sight of me, and one after another quietly slipped
-off the rocks into the water. I made my way to the beach, and crept
-out as far as possible amongst the great ebb-stones, behind one of
-which I crouched, in hopes of getting a shot at a seal swimming, for
-they kept bobbing up and down in the creek. At last one fellow did
-give me a pretty good chance, and I brought his gambols to a speedy
-close. To strip and plunge into the sea was the work of a minute. But
-before I reached him he had sunk. This was very provoking. However,
-nothing daunted, I returned on shore, retraced my way up the cliff, and
-then across a long stretch of barren moor, to the nearest fishermen’s
-cottages at Whalfirth Voe. A boat was speedily manned by three obliging
-young fellows, and a pull of several miles brought us round to the
-creek. Having borrowed two stout piltock rods, I lashed them firmly
-together, and tied a ling hook to the point, and thus extemporised a
-capital gaff. We found the water not more than twelve or fourteen feet
-deep, and quite clear. I knew the exact spot where the seal had sunk;
-so we soon discovered him lying on the bottom, seeming not much larger
-than a good-sized cod, owing, I suppose, to refraction. I speedily
-gaffed him, and brought him to the surface. He proved to be a splendid
-animal, five feet nine inches in length, and very fat. The skin, a
-particularly fine one, I presented to my English friend; and the
-blubber was converted into oil, which kept our dining-room lamp burning
-brightly during many long nights of the succeeding winter.
-
-
-FOOTNOTES:
-
-[1] Continued from No. 23, p. 364.
-
-[2] In our former paper, the Great seal or Haff-fish was inadvertently
-named _Phoca barbata_ instead of _Halichœrus gryphus_, a mistake which
-we take this opportunity of rectifying.
-
-
-
-
-SOME SACRED TREES.
-
-
-There are few things more impressive to the thoughtful mind than the
-near contemplation of tall and large trees in full foliage. They are
-symbols of antiquity and endurance, yet also of the changes consequent
-on a constant renewal. Traditions gather naturally round an object
-which witnesses the growth and disappearance of generations. The
-memories of men long dead become connected with them; and the rude
-imagination pictures the souls of the departed as still lingering in
-the familiar groves, and haunting the favourite tree which sheltered
-them in the noonday heat and from the fury of the sudden tempest. Such
-fancies in untutored times naturally induced veneration for the object
-which inspired them, and such may have been the origin of tree-worship,
-which has been a prevalent form of idolatry.
-
-In the East, the greatest veneration is paid to the Indian _Ficus
-religiosa_, the sacred and consecrated fig-tree or peepul-tree,
-which is held pre-eminently sacred by the Buddhists, and is revered
-also by the Hindus, the birth of Vishnu having occurred beneath its
-branches. It is the Rarvasit, the tree of knowledge and wisdom, the
-holy Bo-tree of the lamas of Tibet. It is met with in most countries of
-South-eastern Asia; but the descriptions of it in botanical handbooks
-are confused and misleading. It is a handsome tree, growing frequently
-to a great height, an evergreen, which puts forth its flowers in April,
-and the bark yields freely upon incision an acrid milk containing a
-considerable proportion of india-rubber. According to Balfour, ‘the
-leaves are heart-shaped, long, pointed, and not unlike those of some
-poplars; and as the footstalks are long and slender, the leaves vibrate
-in the air like those of the aspen. It was under this tree that Gautama
-slept, and dreamed that his bed was the vast earth, and the Himalaya
-Mountains his pillow, while his left arm reached to the Eastern Ocean,
-his right to the Western Ocean, and his feet to the great South Sea.’
-(Balfour’s _Cyclopædia of India_.) This dream warned him that he was
-about to become a Buddha; and when its prophecy was fulfilled, he was
-again seated beneath the same tree.
-
-In the year 250 B.C. a branch of this sacred tree was sent to the
-ancient city of Amūrādhapōōra, in the interior of Ceylon, together with
-the collar-bone of Gautama, and his begging-dish with other relics.
-Here it was planted, and was known by the name of the Bo-tree. The
-highest reverence was paid to it for two thousand years, and it is to
-this day the chief object of worship to the pilgrims who every year
-flock to the ruins of this city. These ruins are of vast extent, and
-abound in intricate and magnificent carvings. ‘An inclosure of three
-hundred and forty-five feet in length, and two hundred and sixteen in
-breadth, surrounds the court of the Bo-tree, designated by Buddhists
-the great, famous, and triumphant fig-tree.’ It is declared to be the
-same tree sprung from the branch sent by Asoka from Buddh-gyâ, and the
-amazing vigour and longevity of these trees make the assertion within
-the limits of the possible. ‘The city is in ruins,’ says Fergusson;
-‘its great dagobas (sanctuaries containing relics) have fallen into
-decay; its monasteries have disappeared; but the great Bo-tree still
-flourishes, according to the legend: “Ever green, never growing, or
-decreasing, but living on for ever for the delight and worship of
-mankind.” There is probably no older idol in the world, certainly none
-more venerated.’[3]
-
-A recent Indian periodical, describing the white elephant purchased by
-Mr Barnum, states that, under the terms of the deed of sale, the great
-showman was required to swear ‘by the holy and sacred Bo-tree’ that the
-animal, itself reverenced in the highest degree, should receive every
-kindness and consideration.
-
-The next instance of a venerated tree is of a still more astonishing
-kind. Tsong Kaba, the founder of the Yellow Cap Lamas, who became
-Buddha in the early part of the fifteenth century, was endowed from his
-birth with miraculous white hair. At the age of three years his head
-was shaved, and the hair, which was fine, long, and flowing, was thrown
-outside his parents’ tent. ‘From this hair there forthwith sprung a
-tree, the wood of which dispensed an exquisite perfume around, and
-each leaf of which bore, engraved on its surface, a character in the
-sacred language of Tibet.’ Whatever may be thought of this legend, it
-is certain that the tree which it is concerned with actually existed
-in the days of the Abbé Huc, who visited it, and in whose Travels it is
-circumstantially described. It is situated at the foot of the mountain
-where Tsong Kaba was born, near the lamasery or Buddhist convent called
-Kounboum, which signifies the ‘Ten Thousand Images,’ and is a famous
-place of pilgrimage.
-
-‘This tree,’ says the abbé, ‘does exist; and we had heard of it too
-often in our journey not to feel somewhat eager to visit it. At the
-foot of the mountain on which the lamasery stands is a great square
-inclosure, formed by brick walls. Upon entering this, we were able to
-examine at leisure the marvellous tree. Our eyes were first directed
-with earnest curiosity to the leaves; and we were filled with an
-absolute consternation of astonishment at finding that there were upon
-each of the leaves well-formed Tibetan characters, all of a green
-colour—some darker, some lighter than the leaf itself. Our first
-impression was a suspicion of fraud on the part of the lamas; but
-after a minute examination of every detail, we could not discover the
-least deception. The characters all appeared to us portions of the
-leaf itself, equally with its veins and nerves. The position was not
-the same in all: in one leaf, they would be at the top; in another,
-in the middle; in a third, at the base, or side. The younger leaves
-represented the characters only in a partial state of formation. The
-bark of the tree and of its branches, which resemble that of the
-plane-tree, is also covered with these characters. When you remove a
-piece of the bark, the young bark under it exhibits the indistinct
-outlines of characters in a germinating state; and what is very
-singular, these new characters are not unfrequently different from
-those which they replace. We examined everything with the closest
-attention, in order to detect some trace of trickery; but we could
-discern nothing of the sort. The tree of the Ten Thousand Images seemed
-to be of great age. Its trunk, which three men could scarcely embrace
-with outstretched arms, is not more than eight feet high; the branches
-spread out in the shape of a plume of feathers, and are extremely
-bushy; few of them are dead. The leaves are always green; and the wood,
-which is of a reddish tint, has an exquisite odour, something like
-cinnamon. The lamas informed us that in summer towards the eighth moon,
-the tree produces large red flowers of a beautiful character. Many
-attempts have been made in various lamaseries of Tartary and Tibet to
-propagate it by seeds and cuttings, but all these attempts have been
-fruitless.
-
-‘The Emperor Khang-hi, when upon a pilgrimage to Kounboum, constructed
-at his own private expense a dome of silver over the tree of the Ten
-Thousand Images, and endowed the lamasery with a yearly revenue for
-the support of three hundred lamas.’ This tree is said to be still in
-existence.
-
-In Hunter’s _Annals of Rural Bengal_, there is the following
-interesting instance of tree-worship. ‘Adjoining the Santal village
-is a grove of their national tree’—the Sal (_Shorea robusta_)—‘which
-they believe to be the favourite resort of all the family gods (lares)
-of the little community. From its silent gloom the bygone generations
-watch their children playing their several parts in life. Several
-times a year the whole hamlet, dressed out in its showiest, repairs to
-the grove to do honour to the _Lares Rurales_ with music and sacrifice.
-Men and women join hands, and dancing in a large circle, chant songs in
-remembrance of the original founder of the community, who is venerated
-as the head of the village pantheon. Goats, red cocks, and chickens are
-sacrificed; and while some of the worshippers are told off to cook the
-flesh for the coming festival at great fires, the rest separate into
-families, and dance round the particular trees which they fancy their
-domestic lares chiefly haunt.’
-
-Three principal deities are at this day worshipped by the people of
-Dahomey: the serpent-god, which Burton describes as a brown python,
-streaked with white and yellow, of moderate dimensions, and quite
-harmless. This is the supreme god. ‘It has one thousand Danh-’si,
-or snake-wives.’ These are maidens and married women devoted to the
-service of the serpent. The second deity ‘is represented by lofty and
-beautiful trees, in the formation of which Dame Nature seems to have
-expressed her greatest art. They are prayed to and presented with
-offerings in times of sickness, and especially of fever. Those most
-revered are the Hun-’tin, or acanthaceous silk-cotton, whose wives
-equal those of the snake; and the Loko, the well-known Edum, ordeal,
-or poison tree of the West African coast. The latter numbers fewer
-Loko-’si or Loko spouses. On the other hand, it has its own fetich
-pottery, which may be bought in every market.’ The god Hu, the ocean,
-is the youngest of the three deities; he is inferior both in power and
-age to the other divinities, and his turbulence is held in check by
-them.
-
-The island of Ferro is the most westerly and the smallest of the
-Canaries. Fresh water is very scarce, and the moisture which falls
-from the leaves of the linden-tree is said to be collected to increase
-the supply. This seems to be the only foundation for a wonderful
-story told in Glass’s _History of the Canary Islands_, concerning a
-‘fountain-tree,’ which would certainly have received divine honours
-of the highest kind from all tree-worshippers. There grows, says the
-story, in the middle of the island a tree, ‘called in the language
-of the ancient inhabitants, Garse—that is, sacred or holy tree—which
-constantly distils from its leaves such a quantity of water as is
-sufficient to furnish drink to every creature in Ferro. It is situated
-about a league and a half from the sea. Nobody knows of what species
-it is, only that it is called Til. The circumference of the trunk
-is about twelve spans, and in height it is about forty spans. Its
-fruit resembles the acorn, the leaves those of the laurel; but they
-are larger, wider, and more curved; they come forth in a perpetual
-succession, so that the tree always remains green. On the north side of
-the trunk are two large tanks. Every morning a cloud of mist rises from
-the sea, and rests upon the thick leaves and wide-spreading branches,
-whence it distils in drops during the remainder of the day. This tree
-yields most water when the Levant or east winds have prevailed, for by
-these winds only the clouds are drawn from the sea. A person lives on
-the spot, who is appointed to take care of the tree and its water, and
-is allowed a house to live in and a certain salary.’
-
-The story is evidently told in good faith; and the power of condensing
-mist is possessed by various species of trees. The Garse, moreover, has
-been described by more than one traveller.
-
-In conclusion, while tree-worship is, of course, essentially pagan,
-innumerable superstitions concerning trees have prevailed in Christian
-countries, notably in England. They are now almost extinct; but the
-traveller in remote country-places might still meet with some of
-those strange instances recorded in Brand’s _Antiquities_ and in the
-_Fragments_ of Edward Moor.
-
-
-FOOTNOTES:
-
-[3] ‘Not long since,’ said a writer some years ago in _Notes and
-Queries_, ‘an old woman in the neighbourhood of Benares was observed
-walking round and round a certain peepul-tree. At every round she
-sprinkled a few drops of water from the water-vessel in her hand on the
-small offering of flowers she had laid beneath the tree. A bystander,
-who was questioned as to this ceremony, replied: “This is a sacred
-tree; the good spirits live up amidst its branches, and the old woman
-is worshipping them.”’
-
-
-
-
-IN A HIGHLAND GLEN.
-
-AN AUTUMN REVERIE.
-
-
-The dreamy hush of a warm autumn noon, broken only by the sweet
-murmurous sound of the falling water as it leaps from its shining
-pebbled shallows into the rock-encompassed linn. What could give more
-peace and quiet delight than this? Let us sit for one brief half-hour
-under the fresh green hazels and drink in the varied charms of sight
-and sound. We are ‘far from the madding crowd,’ and have left all
-care leagues behind. Let us rest on this mossy bank in the delight of
-dreamy ease, with the delicious fragrance of the wild thyme wafted to
-us on the wing of the gentle breeze. We are here seeking rest, and
-that sweet dreamy pleasure which a mind can get when it is in the
-delicious equipoise that repose and the beauties of nature can bring.
-The stream’s melodious wanderings in this sunny hour are of more
-importance to us than all the anxious worldly sounds of a city’s din;
-and the glowing petals of that wild red rose wooing its own shadow in
-the stream are better far to our eyes in our present mood than any of
-the exquisite studies of Salvator Rosa or Claude Lorraine. What wealth
-of light and shadow is given to us in the far-stretching umbrageous
-vista! Never had cathedral aisles more perfect and graceful roof, or
-more radiant lights from painted windows; and is not the music here of
-stream and hazel-haunting warblers sweeter and more heart-inspiring
-than the organ’s swell? The interlacing branches through which the
-filtered sunlight comes, rendered in flashes of green and gold, are
-better than the Gothic roof of cathedral aisle or dome; and the eerie
-cry of the curlew commends itself more to our soul—in the midst of
-heather and mountains as we are—than would the richest chorus of human
-song.
-
-This is not the time or place for preaching or moralising; but is it
-out of place for us to consider in this delectable hour the exquisite
-delight that we poor unworthy souls get by an intense reverence for the
-harmonies that nature has for us! This glen, these sheltering hazels,
-this melodious mountain rill, are all our own. For the time we are the
-possessors of these green grottos and flashing waves and bird-notes,
-which exceed in excellence anything that kings’ palaces can give.
-
-Every rustle of the breeze turns over for us a fresh leaf of Nature’s
-wondrous, inexhaustible book; and the flash of emerald from the
-kingfisher’s breast, or the glorious note from the blackbird’s mellow
-throat, gives us sudden and bright revelations of sweetness and
-joy, that we can call up with a lingering delight and tenderness of
-feeling when we are far away. Up the bed of the glistening stream
-there, at a perfect artistic distance, are the silent shadowy rocks,
-overlooking and guarding the deep and sullen linn, and working out
-Nature’s will with a quiet watchfulness, and with a changeless
-solemnity and patience. And see! right above the sombre linn there
-are rainbow-fringed cloudlets of spray, brought down by the laughing
-stream, that comes with soothing unobtrusive din over its rocky ledges.
-
-That sound of falling waters is like a lullaby, and contains in it more
-of the hush of rest than anything else in nature.
-
-What a history this mountain stream must have had in all the seasons
-and the centuries! and how many hearts has it not gladdened in its
-lights and shadows and silvery song! Its waters have chiselled these
-overhanging rocks into a stern beauty, and those boulders have been
-moulded by them into a soft symmetry and grace. Its changes are like
-the mutations that belong to human life, now the roar of the torrent,
-and now the deep calm of the clear crystalline pool. The sportive trout
-has long leaped from the quiet breast of its limpid shallows, and its
-woodlands have resounded to the song of the mavis and blackbird. The
-swallows that have passed their winter amid the slopes of Carmel, the
-groves of Sharon, or the gardens of Damascus, may be those that are
-now skimming over the sunlit pools there in the hush of this noontide
-hour. But their aërial and graceful flight is as pleasing here to us
-poor rest-seeking pilgrims as ever it was to the eye of vizier or khan;
-and the cottage eaves in this glen echo the twitter to human ears as
-deliciously as do the frescoed piazzas of Athens, Venice, or Rome.
-
-What a temple is here for the worship, with reverent spirit, with
-silent tongue, of the One who made and loveth all! Ferns and flowers,
-birds and wandering bees, sunshine and singing waters! What lessons of
-tenderness, natural piety, and reverence may we not get here! Yon shaft
-of sunlight, filtered through the hazels, striking the stream, and
-lighting its still bosom with emerald and gold, brings before us some
-of the finest lines of _Lycidas_, that peerless poem of the lights and
-shadows and music of Arcadia.
-
-All around us, the brightness that fills the spirit, the deep shadows
-beneath scaur and tree, the sound of bleating upon the hills, and the
-melody of waters dashing past boulders or rolling with an onward,
-free, and joyous music over pebbled beds, lead us alike to reverence
-and gratitude. Nature is a gentle, sweet, and loving teacher. We shall
-never touch the hem of her garment in vain. She giveth us grace and
-sympathy and love.
-
-But we must leave our bosky dell in the midst of this Highland glen.
-We can carry away, however, memories from it that shall be always our
-own. The indescribable yet fascinating music of the waters falling into
-the linn yonder is ours for ever now; so is the rock there, cushioned
-with the tender green moss, that moss that comes in silence, and lays
-its gentle covering mantle over the mounds of our beloved dead. There,
-too, a few yards from us, is a still pool which might remain for ever
-in one’s memory. How the shadows are reflected from the flowers! Here
-we have the fable of Narcissus told us again in this Highland dell. But
-that flower near us droops—it is almost touching its shadow: they have
-been wooing each other long. By-and-by they will clasp each other, and
-wooed and wooer will float away. But it is autumn, and flowers must
-wither and die. When our autumn departure cometh, may our passing away
-be as calm!
-
-
-
-
-THE RIME OF SIR LIONNE.
-
-    ‘Hush, a little, for harp and rhyme;
-    This befell in the olden time.’
-
-            W. ALLINGHAM.
-
-
-    In days of old, as rimesters tell,
-    (Culvert, and petrel, and mangonel),
-      A maiden dwelt in a castle stout,
-      Guarded and walled, within, without,
-      And ever defeat and direful rout
-    To all her castle’s besiegers fell.
-
-    No suitor the maid’s proud heart could win,
-    (Pike, and halberd, and culverin);
-      She recked not of love-kiss, ne vow, ne sigh,
-      But her song had the ring of a battle-cry:
-      ‘O strong is my fortress—a maid am I—
-    And never a foeman shall enter in.’
-
-    But it fell in an evening windy-wet,
-    (Hauberk, and helmet, and bascinet),
-      A knight drew rein ’neath the castle wall;
-      Proud was his port, his stature tall,
-      His face held the gazer’s eye in thrall,
-    And a lion of gold on his casque was set.
-
-    He winded a bugle silver-clear,
-    (Mace, and arblast, and bandoleer),
-      Singing: ‘Yield up thy castle, fair May, to me:
-      Sir Lionne me hight, of a far countrie.
-      Now boune thee, Lady, my love to be,
-    Or I take thee by prowess of bow and spear!’
-
-    In the pale, pale light of a crescent moon,
-    (Spear, and corselet, and musketoon),
-      She saw him there by the castle wall,
-      And shrilled to the warder a careless call:
-      ‘Ho!—let portcullis and drawbridge fall;
-    We would see this bold knight of a braggart tune.’
-
-    And oh! but the wind had changed, I trow,
-    (Falchion, and gauntlet, and good crossbow),
-      When, an eve from thence, in a fading light,
-      On the bastion-keep stood a maid and knight,
-      And, while to his heart he clasped her tight,
-    ‘Thou hast conquered, Sir Lionne!’ she murmured low.
-
-    ‘I had vowed that no knight beneath the sun,
-    (Demi-pique, helm, and habergeon),
-      Beneath the sunlight, or moonbeam shine,
-      Should be lord of this castle and heart of mine:
-      But take me, dear love, I am only thine;
-    My fortress is taken—my heart is won.’
-
-            BRINHILD.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Printed and Published by W. & R. CHAMBERS, 47 Paternoster Row, LONDON,
-and 339 High Street, EDINBURGH.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
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