to the heavenly bodies, they firmly believe in the influence which they exert on the destinies of this world, and the lives of individuals, although they are for the most part in entire ignorance of those facts and theories respecting them which modern science has unfolded."

With regard to their lives, they are blameless. Their dispositions are mild and hospitable. They are remarkable for commercial enterprise, honesty, and general integrity. They drink wine-eat all kinds of meatyet live temperately. They are remarkable for chastity and conjugal fidelity. Divorce is forbidden by their laws. Polygamy is allowed only in one case. When the wife has had no child during nine years after marriage, the husband may take a second wife. They do not bury their dead; they expose the bodies of the deceased on the towers of their temples, to be devoured by the fowls of the air. Watches station themselves near the body thus exposed, to note what part the birds first alight upon ;-and from the ascertained fact they gather some augury of the future state of the person whose body is exposed.

In this authentic account of this wonderful people, there are many things to awaken the interest of the philanthropist and the philosopher.- amily Magazine,

MUSIC.

BY MISS ALLISON.

'Tis not in the harp's soft melting tone
That music and harmony dwell alone;
'Tis not in the voice so tender and clear,

That comes like an angel's voice on the ear;
They both are sweet, but o'er dale and hill
For me there's as beautiful music still.

I hear it in every murmuring breath
That waves the bells of the purple heath;
In the watch-dog's bark, in the shepherd's song,
In the rustic's laugh, as it echoes along;
In the whizzing sound of the wild-bird's wing
There's music! there's music in every thing!

There's music in the evening breeze,
When it sweeps the blossoms from the trees,

And wafts them into the moon-lit heaven,
Like fairy barks from their anchors driven,
And they through the clear and cloudless night
Float in a waveless sea of light!

There's music too when the winds are high,
And the clouds are sailing through the sky;
When the ocean foams and lashes the shore,
And the lightnings flash, and the thunders roar;
Then, then, in the tempest's jubilee,

There's music and beauty and grandeur for me!

There's music, sweet music, where insects play,
When they burst into life and the light of day,
And shake suchounds from their shining wings
As the wind 'nakes in murmuring over harp-strings;
In the songs of the birds, in the rippling streams,
O, these are such sounds as we hear in our dreams

There's music most blest in the house of prayer,

O the sweetest and loveliest music is there!

While innocent voices together blend

And their mingled tones above ascend;

There is the holiest music given

From the heart's warm altar up to beaven!

EARTHQUAKES.

In 1693, after several previous shocks of an earthquake, one occurred on the 11th of January, which, in three or four minutes, entirely destroyed the city of CATANIA, and 19,000 inhabitants of the Island of Sicily: the undulations of this were felt, it is said, in Germany, France, and even in England. Fifty-four towns of some magnitude were more or less sufferers by this Earthquake, and the total loss of human life amounted, it is supposed, to nearly 100,000.

The earthquake at Jamaica in the previous year, 1692, was still more dreadful: the earth rose and fell like waves of the sea, and hundreds of chasms were seen opening and closing alternately; many persons were swallowed up in these, others crushed to death, with their bodies half out and half in them, and some, even after being buried alive, were cast out again with torrents of water. Three-fourths of the buildings of Port Royal sank down with all their inhabitants under the water, and long after, the roofs and chimneys of

many were perceivable at the distance of thirty and forty feet below the surface. A space of ground about a thousand acres in extent sunk down during the first shock, the sea rolled over it, and a frigate then in one of the docks was washed by the wave over the tops of many buildings. On the north of the island, the plantations, which covered upward of a thousand acres, were swallowed up, and a lake appeared in their place; this afterward dried up, leaving nothing but sand and gravel, without a trace of a house or tree having ever occupied the spot. The chain of mountains which traverses the island presented the most fearful signs of the violence of the convulsions; they were almost entirely stripped of their verdure and their woods, which were brought down the rivers in such quantities, that several hundred thousand tons of timber were seen strewed on the face of the deep.

Since the establishments of the Spaniards in Peru, the first earthquake in its capital happened in 1582; but the damage it did was much less considerable than that of some of those which succeeded. Six years after, Lima was again visited by an earthquake, the results of which were so dreadful, that it is still solemnly commemorated every year. In 1609, a third convulsion threw down many houses: and on the 27th of November, 1630, so much damage was done by an Earthquake, that, in acknowledgement of the city not having been entirely demolished, a festival is also on that day annually celebrated. On the 3d of November, 1654, the most stately edifices in Lima, and a great number of houses were destroyed by a similar event; but the inhabitants having had timely presages, withdrew themselves from their houses, insomuch that few perished. In 1678, another dreadful concussion took place.

Among the most tremendous Earthquakes with which the Peruvian capital has been visited, may be reckoned that which happened on the 28th of October, 1687. The first shock was at four in the morning, when several of the finest public buildings and houses were destroyed, with the loss of many lives. This was, however, merely

a prelude to what followed; for two hours after, a second shock was felt, with such impetuous concussions, that all was laid in ruins, and every description of property lost. During this second shock, the sea retired considerably, and then returned in mountainous waves, entirely overwhelming Callao, the seaport of Lima, distant five miles, as well as the adjacent country, together with the inhabitants. From that time, six other earthquakes were felt at Lima, prior to that of 1746, which likewise happened on the 28th of October, at half past ten at night. The early concussions were so violent, that in the space of somewhat more than three minutes, the greater part, if not all the buildings in the city were destroyed, burying under their ruins such of the inhabitants as had not made sufficient haste into the streets and squares, the only places of safety. At length the horrible effects of the first shock ceased: but the tranquillity was of short duration, the concussions swiftly succeeding each other. The fort of Callao was dilapidated; but what this building suffered from the Earthquake was inconsiderable when compared with the dreadful catastrophe which followed. The sea, as is usual on such occasions, receding to a considerable distance, returned in mountainous waves, foaming with the violence of the agitation, and suddenly buried Callao and the neighboring country in its flood. This however was not entirely effected by the first swell of the waves; for the sea retiring still further, returned with greater impetuosity, and covered not only the buildings but also the loftly walls of the fortress: so that what had even escaped the first inundation, was totally overwhel med by these succeeding mountainous waves. Of twenty-three ships and vessels of light burden then in the harbor, nineteen were sunk; and the four others, among which was a frigate named the San Firman, were carried by the force of the waves to a considerable distance up the country. This terrible inundation extended, as well as the Earthquake, to other parts of the coast, and several towns underwent the fate of Lima. The number of persons who perished in that capital