with an exuberance of life equaled only by the shortness of its duration. And, in token of a just appreciation of the Creator's goodness, this animated medley-man, and beasts, and birds, and fishes-rises up, divides, falls to, and ends in eating or in being eaten! LESSON XX. THE ESKIMOS AND THEIR FROZEN LAND. PART SECOND. Strat'a gem, a plan or scheme | Im'pro viṣed', brought about for deceiving an enemy. on a sudden, offhand, or without previous preparation. Blub'ber, the fat of whales and Věr ́i ta-ble, real; true. other large sea animals. Bru'in, a bear; so called from contemptible. U nique', unmatched; without a Con geals', grows hard and stiff from cold; becomes ice. Trans lu'çent, sufficiently clear to permit the passage of light. Con tig'u oùs ly, in a manner so as to touch, or be close together. Phid'i as, a Greek sculptor. T 10 overcome the Polar bear, the Eskimos have two stratagems. One is by imitating the seal, upon which the bear principally feeds, and thereby enticing it within gunshot. Another is by bending a piece of stiff whalebone, incasing it in a ball of blubber, and freezing the ball, which then holds firmly the bent whalebone. 2. Armed with these frozen blubber balls, the Eskimos approach their victim, and, with a discharge of arrows, commence the engagement. The bear, smarting with pain, turns upon his tormentors, who, taking to their heels, drop now and then a blubber ball. 3. Bruin, as fond of food as of revenge, pauses for a moment, hastily swallows one, then another, and another. Soon a strange sensation is felt within. The thawing blubber, melted by the heat of the animal's stomach, releases the pent-up whalebone, which, springing violently into place, plays havoc with the intestines, and brings the bear to a painful and ignominious end. 4. But more wonderful still, among the many strange things connected with the life of this people, is the unique system of architecture improvised by them during their seal-hunting expeditions on the ice, when they occupy a veritable crystal palace fit for an arctic fairy. On the frozen river or sea, a spot is chosen free from irregularities, and a circle of ten or fifteen feet in diameter is drawn on the snow. 5. The snow within the circle is then cut into slabs of from three to four inches in thickness, the length being the depth of the snow, and these slabs are formed into a wall inclosing the circle, and carried up in courses similar to those of brick or stone, terminating in a dome-shaped roof. 6. A wedge-like slab keys the arch; and this principle in architecture may have first been known to the Assyrians, Egyptians, Chinese or Eskimos. Loose snow is then thrown into the crevices, which quickly congeals; an aperture is cut in the side for a door, and if the thin wall is not sufficiently translucent, a piece of ice is fitted in for a window. 7. Seats, tables, and even sleeping-places, are made with frozen snow, and covered with reindeer or scal skin. Outhouses connect with the main room, and frequently a number of dwellings are built contiguously, with a passage from one to another. 8. These houses are comfortable and durable, resisting alike the wind and the thaw until late in the season. Care must be taken that the walls are not so thick as to make them too warm, and so cause a dripping from the interior. A square block of snow serves as a stand for the stone lamp, which is their only fire. 9. "The purity of the material," said Sir John Franklin, who saw them build an edifice of this kind at Coppermine River, "of which the house was framed, the elegance of its construction, and the translucency of its walls, which transmitted a very pleasant light, gave it an appearance far superior to a marble building, and one might survey it with feelings somewhat akin to those produced by the contemplation of a Grecian temple reared by Phidias; both are triumphs of art, inimitable in their kind." HUBERT H. BANCROFT. LESSON XXI. THE FIGHT OF PASO DEL MAR. Shăl'lop, a sort of large boat | Head'land, a point of land pro with two masts. Hov'er ing, hanging fluttering in the air, or upon the wing; hanging upon or about. Mist'ed, covered with mist. Seŭd, to drive along swiftly, as clouds or sea-spray are driven by the wind. jecting from the shore into the sea. De vour'ing, destroying; con suming. Bran'dished, waved, as a weap on. Pes'ca dor, fisherman. G USTY and raw was the morning, Rode down to the Paso del Mar. 2. The pescador, out in his shallop, 3. Stout Pablo of San Diego Rode down from the hills behind; 4. Now Bernal, the herdsman of Corral, Good reason he had to be gone! And the chill, driving scud of the breakers 5. With his blanket wrapped gloomily round him, He mounted the dizzying road, And the chasms and steeps of the headland When near him a mule-bell came tinkling, 6. "Back!" shouted Bernal full fiercely, Came up from the breakers' hoarse war ; And "Back, or you perish!" cried Bernal, "I turn not on Paso del Mar !" 7. The gray mule stood firm as the headland. He clutched at the jingling rein, When Pablo rose up in his saddle, And smote till he dropped it again. 8. They fought, till the black wall below them Stout Pablo then struck, leaning further, And jerked him, despite of his struggles, |