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SKETCHES OF NATURAL HISTORY.

Solinus, another historian, who is supposed to have lived at Rome during the third century, states that in his time the communication between Britain and Ireland was kept up on both sides by means of these vessels; and from Lucan we learn not only that Cæsar took advantage of them, but they were equally used on the Nile and the Po, as by the Britons. We have noticed the modern coracle much in use on the banks of the Dee, for the purpose of salmon-fishing.

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But they have lost the original cause of their name; the wicker-work being no longer covered with coria, or hides, but with oiled cloth, or with canvass strongly pitched, stretched upon a frame of wicker-work. It is from five to six feet long, and four feet broad, and, as formerly, it is guided by a paddle. It is incapable of carrying more than one person conveniently, and can be managed only by those who are accustomed to this sort of conveyance.

SKETCHES OF NATURAL HISTORY.

THE CAT-THE GOLDFINCH.

I ONCE had a favourite female black cat, which was very fond of game. When she had a family of young grimalkins about her, she always kept them well stocked with provisions. At one time when she had kittens in an old shed, I happened to discover a nest of four young rabbits in a south border of early pease that was not well protected from game.

killed three of the young rabbits, which, to all appearance, were not more than two or three days old. I took them with the live one to the cat for breakfast; and I was quite astonished to observe that she at once adopted and fondly protected this live rabbit, and encouraged it to suck, which it immediately did. She nursed it with her two kittens, and the rabbit suckled during the whole time that the kittens were allowed to suck; and it grew a good-sized rabbit, but it continued to be very wild, running out of sight behind the baskets, tools, &c., at the approach of any one. When the old cat left off suckling her family, the poor rabbit died, to my sorrow, because I considered that this was owing to inattention, in not giving it its natural food; for it had no relish for mice, rats, birds, and game, which the old cat brought for her family. However, I learned something by this disaster; for having heard it said by many people that birds will only feed their young for a short time when confined in a cage, when they find that they cannot succeed in procuring their release, the parents or old birds will procure for them unnatural or poisonous food, and destroy them, I at once concluded that this was an erroneous idea, and that it was only the duty of the parents to procure food for their offspring for a certain time, and to teach them how to feed, and where to find their food, and then, when the young are strong and able, leave them to search and shift for themselves. I procured a nest of five young goldfinches, put them into a cage, took them some distance to a safe situation, and hung them up in the cage; the old birds, who no doubt were watching and following me, at

once came joyously to the cage, and fed them, and so continued to do for about twenty days. They then left off feeding them, but kept near the spot, chirping and singing to them. I finished their parental duty, and did not forget to perform it properly; for I took care to place plenty of seeds inside the cage the same day in which I placed the birds therein; but I had no farther trouble than the pleasure of observing the old parents leaving their young to feed themselves, which they did effectually. In a short time the five birds grew very strongly. four of which turned out to be cocks: the hen I allowed to fly away, and by accident one of the cocks flew away. One I gave away, and two I have now, which, though four years old this spring, are at this moment singing beautifully. They are so tame and familiar, that they begin to chirrup, and seem always pleased to see me come into the house. I have two cats and two other birds that follow me in company all over the garden in an evening and they all feed out of the same dish without falling out, or the cats taking undue advantage of the birds. On throwing them a bit of food, all eagerly run to see which shall have it, coming in contact with each other occasionally.-James Barnes, Bicton Gardens, in "Gardeners' Chronicle."

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ARAB HORSES.

THESE are noble animals, and are no less remarkable for their chivalrous dispositions than for their strength and endurance: gallant, yet docile; fiery, yet gentle; full of mettle, yet patient as a camel. They are very ferocious to each other, but suffer little children to pull about and play with them. Their beauty is not remarkable, at least to an English eye. They seldom exceed fourteen and a half or at most fifteen hands in height; they have not good barrels, their chest is narrow, the pastern too much bent, and their quarters are seldom well-turned. I only speak of these as defects in what would be considered symmetry in Europe: experience has proved to me that they argue no defect in

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SKETCHES OF NATURAL HISTORY.

Asia. The head is beautiful; the expansive forehead, the brilliant prominent eye, and the delicately-shaped ear, would testify to nobleness in any animal: the high withers, and the shoulder well thrown back, the fine clean limbs, with their bunches of starting muscle, and the silken skin, beneath which all the veins are visible, show proofs of blood that never can deceive. The choicest horses come from the remoter parts of the desert, and cannot be said to have a price, as nothing but the direst necessity will induce their owners to part with them. There are three great classes recognised, the Kochlani, the Kadischi, and the Atteschi. The first

are said to derive their blood from Solomon's stables, the second are of a mixed race, and the third have no claim to gentle breeding. The Kochlani are, as may be supposed, extremely scarce; but a great deal of their blood is distributed among the nameless breeds; and I never saw an exception to docility, high spirit, and endurance, even among the hacks of Beyrout and Jerusalem. A friend of mine rode his horse from Cairo to Suez, eighty-five miles, in twelve hours, and resting for twelve more, returned within the following twelve: during these journeys the horse had no refreshment, except a gulp of water once to cool the bit. I have been on the same horse for twenty-four hours on one occasion, and for upwards of thirty on another, without any rest or refreshment, except once, for half an hour, when a few handfuls of barley were the only food. In both these instances the horses never tasted water throughout their journeys. - Warburton's "Crescent and the Cross."

LION-HUNTING IN KORDOFAN. THEY trace out the lair where one of these animals generally takes its noon-day repose; but the nature of the ground must be such that the tree under which it sleeps is isolated, or at least somewhat distant from the other trees. If the ground be advantageous, the Negro betakes himself to the scene of action four hours before mid-day, and climbs the tree opposite to that under which the animal takes his nap. During this time he knows the lion to be out in search of prey, and is sure that he will return to indulge in his siesta when the heat increases, between ten and eleven o'clock. The lion does not trouble himself about the business of the man on the tree, even if he should happen to see him; and his adversary remains perfectly quiet till between twelve and one. The huntsman is furnished with a sack full of small stones, and a few sharp spears. When the sand on the ground is burning hot, so that animals even cannot walk about, the hunter begins to pelt the lion with stones, always aiming at his head; and the Negroes are very expert marksmen. The proud King of the beasts utterly disregards the first three or four stones, and

does not consider it even worth while to rise; but the blows upon his head thickening, and being, perhaps, hit in the eye, the audacity appears too great to be borne with patience, and he sets up a frightful roar as a signal of revenge. With one leap he is at the foot of the tree on which the disturber of his rest is perched, but receives a lance in his body: his roar now becomes more terrific, not that the wound is so irritating to him at this moment as the burning sand painful to his feet, and he retires once more to his lair. Another stone hits him, he becomes furious, makes a second charge at the tree, and is welcomed by one, two, or more spears. He now takes to flight, yelling and howling with pain; but the loss of blood soon exhausts his strength; and the huntsman, who keeps him in sight from the tree, has in a short time the pleasure of seeing the royal beast stretch its carcase on the plains. The number of lions in this province is not very considerable; but they frequently enter villages for prey, and carry away a head of cattle before their visit is even suspected. In the day-time they are neither heard nor seen; for they generally lie crouching in a dense covert, or sleeping beneath a shady tree. But early in the morning, as soon as the sun begins to cast its rays on the sandy billows of the desert, the royal animal rises from his lair to sally forth in quest of prey. His voice may then be heard in the distance: it commences with a low murmuring, which gradually increases, until it at last becomes a fearful and terrific roar, like the rolling of thunder, and is audible at the distance of two miles. The whole animal kingdom trembles, and evinces the greatest fear when the King of the beasts is heard the sheep tremble as if attacked with ague, place their heads together, and endeavour to hide themselves; the horses break out into a sweat with fear; and the dogs hurry away as fast as they can to find a place of refuge. In fine, all the beasts are seized with the most unequivocal terror when the lion makes his approach known. Should a caravan happen to be near the spot, it is impossible to keep the camels together: they leap about in all directions, and are scattered abroad under the influence of fear. I myself once had the opportunity of witnessing a scene of this kind. On arriving in my travels at the walls of Semmeria, we suddenly heard a murmuring noise afar, resembling the rolling of balls in an empty barrel; but we were soon acquainted with its true cause when it gradually increased to that terrible thunder-like roar. With the first perception of this noise the camels belonging to our caravan suddenly took fright, and instantly separated in all directions. The men and the cases were thrown off; and if one of the riders happened to keep his seat at the first alarm, he was subsequently necessitated to leap down, to avoid being felled by the branches of the trees; for we were, unfortunately, near a forest

POETRY.-LETTER-CARRIER.

of mimosas, and every one was in danger of being torn by their large spines. This confusion, however, did not last long, for the lion took quite an opposite direction to the route of our caravan; but a whole day was lost in collecting the goods that had been thrown off, or torn down by the trees, and one of the camels strayed to a great distance.-Pallme's Travels: a Bohemian by birth, and connected with one of the mercantile houses established by the Austrian manufacturers in Cairo. Ignatius Pallme visited in 1887 the most distant portion of the countries under the government of the Viceroy of Egypt, for the purpose of exploring new channels of traffic with central Africa. Few European travellers have penetrated to the southern regions

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which Mr. Pallme visited: still fewer have returned.

THE TOAD.

THAT poor, despised, and harmless reptile is admirable in its proportions, and has an eye of such transcendent beauty, that when I find one I place it on my hand to view it more minutely. Its skin, too, so completely adapted to the subterraneous places into which it goes for shelter, is well worthy the attention of the philosopher. As this little animal is innocuous, I feel sorrow when I see it trampled under foot by inconsiderate people, who have learned from their grandmothers that it is full of venom.-From Essays on Natural History, by Charles Waterton, Esq.

POETRY.

THE LIFE OF MAN.
LIKE to the falling of a star,
Or as the flights of eagles are,
Or like the fresh spring's gaudy hue,
Or silver drops of morning dew,
Or like a wind that chafes the flood,
Or bubble which on water stood,
E'en such is man, whose borrow'd light
Is straight call'd in and paid to-night.

The wind blows out, the bubble dies,
The spring entomb'd in autumn lies;
The stream dries up, the star is shot,
The flight is past, and man forgot.

Dr. King, Bishop of Chichester.

HAPPINESS.

"WHOSO looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."

STOOP down until you throughly see
Into Christ's law, that rules the free:
Take care you see and catch the whole,
Then cling to it with heart and soul;
No hearer only that forgets,
But one who straight to working sets:
Be such, and be (such work pursuing)
Blest in the deed and in the doing.

S. R.

LETTER-CARRIER.

LETTER FROM MRS. FLETCHER

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THE YOUNG MEN'S CLUB AT MADELEY.* My friends, I have a weight upon my mind, because, some years ago, when the church was shut up, and you had a sermon

* Some time before the death of Mrs. Fletcher, the church at Madeley being closed, the Bishop of the diocess allowed the service to be performed in the Wesleyan place of worship. During that interval the Clergyman delivered a discourse to the members of a club, consisting chiefly of young men. Mrs. Fletcher had found the spiritual destitution of those persons laid upon her mind; and had prepared to give them an exhortation, after the sermon: but as they made a considerable noise at rising, after the blessing was pronounced, and then hurrying away, she was prevented. This was often regretted by her; and she said twice or three times, "I wish I had begun speaking before they had got off their knees." One day, when drawing near her last moments, and being very ill, and scarcely able to hold a pen, she wrote the following piece.

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preached to you in my room, it was my intention to have spoken a few words to you; but hasting away as you did, the moment the service was ended, the opportunity was lost. The desire, however, to address you has continued on my mind ever since: and I now wish to say in writing, the sum of what I intended to have spoken.

I feel a great love for your precious souls; and would entreat you to remember that eternity is at hand. You must be for ever happy, or for ever miserable:-Take thought in time! Remember Jesus Christ hath said, in the third chapter of St. John's Gospel,

Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Would you know what this new birth is? I will explain it. We are all sinful: we were born in sin; with an evil nature, a heart disposed to, and inclining us to love the world, and every

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thing contrary to the law of God. We have no knowledge of God; nor have we, naturally, any desire to walk in his ways. Supposing a man could enter heaven in this state, it would be impossible for him to be happy. Holiness would be as painful to him as light would be to one whose eyes are sore. God's method to prepare a person for his kingdom and glory, is to enlighten his mind. He shines into the soul, gives the sinner to see his sad state by nature; and by which light he also perceives he is going on as swiftly towards hell as the moments pass away. It is then the poor sinner begins to cry for mercy; and O, how ready is the Lord to relieve that soul! Christ came into the world to seek and to save them that are lost. Yes, he came to save you; and when he shall reveal his love in your heart, you will feel a change resembling that of a child when born into the world: it had eyes before, but did not see; it had ears, but did not hear; it finds itself in a new world. So it will be with you when you feel the love of God shed abroad in your heart, and his Spirit witnessing with your spirit that Jesus Christ died in your stead; and that through his sacrifice for you, your sins are forgiven. St. Paul says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.' This new creation begins with the new birth, and goes on to be perfected as faith increases in the soul.

But when a man receives a sense of pardon, there is a mighty change takes place. His will, which before was opposed to the divine will, now chooses the ways of the Lord. The affections, which were placed on sinful objects, are now set upon things above. Sin is abhorred; and the pardoned penitent, beholding the wonderful love of Jesus, ex

claims, "I love him because he first loved me."

Before this new creation was known by him, he accounted himself as good as his neighbours, and better than some; but now he sees that sin was mixed in all his best performances, and his cry is, "I have nothing to plead, but Jesus hath borne all my sins upon the tree; and I rely alone on him whose word tells me that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing to them their trespasses: therefore myself, with all my sins, I cast on my atoning God." Love, filling the heart, is the beginning of heaven. Would you enjoy this heaven upon earth? Come then, my dear neighbours, it is offered unto you.

I see myself very near the grave. Old age and weakness prevent me meeting you; but with my dying voice I would entreat you to hearken to the invitations of the Lord. When the hour of separation between soul and body shall arrive, how solemn and important it will be! But, alas! perhaps your senses will be gone: then all power to call upon the Lord will be gone for ever. O suffer me to say once again, Take thought in time! Draw nigh to God in prayer, and beseech him to lead you into the way of life. Choose the Lord's people for your companions; and attend the means of grace. Be joined to the saints of God below, if you would be joined to them above. We shall all be gathered to our own people at death. Who are your people? Do you belong to the company of the world? Or can you say, with David, "My delight is with the excellent of the earth?" O may the glory of the Lord go forth as brightness, and his salvation as a lamp that burneth, is the sincere and dying prayer of

SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS.

BANNER.

WHEREVER large bodies of men are congregated together for a common purpose, some signs of distinction are necessary, if not for the maintenance of discipline, yet for the accomplishment of their object. Ensigns, banners, or standards, must, in consequence, have been employed by the Hebrews soon after their liberation from Egyptian bondage. Accordingly, such means of distinction were in common use in the wanderings over the desert. In Numbers i. 52; ii. 2, &c., we find that each of the twelve tribes had its own banner or standard, round which all who belonged to the same tribe were to rally, and by the guidance of which they were to march. (Compare Isai. xi. 10; xlix. 22.) War, especially, necessitates the use of ensigns; and for this unworthy purpose standards were employed among the Israel

MARY FLETCHER.

ites, (Jer. iv. 6, 21,) as also in token of victory. (Jer. 1. 2; Cant. vi. 4.)

What the Hebrew standards were, or what they bore upon them, cannot be determined with certainty; though, if we set much value on the statements of the Rabbins in regard to the question, we could easily furnish many details. There are two Hebrew words which are translated variously banner, sign, ensign, sail, (Isai. xxxiii. 23,) standard. Both these terms are derived from words whose root

meaning is, "to shine," "to glitter." Whence it would appear that some metal, probably brass, was employed at first for standards, as undoubtedly it was among other ancient nations. In process of time, however, some species of coloured cloth seems to have come into use, so forming banners, (in the present sense of the word,) "flags," and "colours;" an inference which we deduce

SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS.

from one of these two words being employed in Isaiah xxxiii. 23, (compare Ezek. xxvii. 7,) to denote the sail of a ship.

We may also arrive at a probable conjecture respecting the distinctive character of the Hebrew standards. If the ensigns of the twelve tribes were all of brass, how were they known from each other? The employment of different colours seems the most obvious expedient. But the diversities thus gained would not be sufficiently marked and decided for the purpose. Forms would be far better,

as admitting of the greatest contrariety. But what forms? This seems to have been decided by the highest authority known among a nomad people,-their Chief or Emir; for Jacob, in his dying blessing, assigned the characteristics of the several tribes, thus determining, as their coat of arms, so the figure of their standards :-" Judah is a lion's whelp;" "Issachar is a strong ass, crouching down between two burdens;" "Dan shall be a serpent;" "Naphtali is a hind let loose;" "Joseph is a fruitful bough." (Gen. xlix.) Nor are these tokens taken at random: they are in each case emblematical of some historical or personal peculiarity. And it is scarcely credible that, when so obvious and

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so suitable a resource as this was at hand, Moses should have adopted the ensigns of his people as chance might offer, or caprice dictate. Certainly these distinctive tokens were not soon lost from memory. To them the Saviour himself owes two of his appellations, the Lion and the Lamb.

The benediction, whence we derive the escutcheons of the Hebrews, was pronounced in Egypt; and here Moses would find himself only confirmed in adopting the symbolical ensigns suggested by the dying Patriarch. In Egypt each battalion and each company had its particular standard, which represented a sacred subject,-a King's name, a sacred boat, a sacred animal, or some emblematical device; the objects chosen being such as were regarded by the troops with a superstitious feeling of respect, in order to afford aid in rousing and sustaining their courage. Nor are instances wanting, in Roman history, of the wonderful effect produced in rallying a discomfited host by a timely display of the sacred standards of the army. Plutarch even goes so far as to refer the origin of animal worship among the Egyptians to the emblem chosen by Osiris as his ensign.-The People's Dictionary.

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