網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

to be annoyed by such treatment. The young, on the | The inference deduced is consequently in favour of the contrary, were, when first born, extremely fierce, hissing continuance of the accustomed mode of feeding the and scratching with all their might; they have, how- purely carnivorous animals with one meal daily. ever, since become better tempered, though they are still The same results were produced by the same experispiteful. The manners of both the mother and the ments upon two of a species less completely carnivorous young are similar to those of the domestic cat and her the Paradoxure gennet. It may be inferred from the kittens, the former carrying the latter about from place circumstance, that quadrupeds of prey thrive best with to place in her mouth. For a day or two previously to long intervals between their meals, and that the difficulty her littering she pulled the straw in her inner den into which such animals experience in obtaining food is pieces and thus formed a nest. counterbalanced by their requiring it not so frequently as animals who feed on vegetables.

Some curious experiments have been made as to the mode of feeding quadrupeds of prey, which is best adapted to bringing them into good condition, and which may therefore be considered the most suited to their natural habits. On January 11 two leopards were weighed. No. 1. weighed 91 lbs.: it was fed in the usual manner with 4 lbs. of beef daily in one meal given in the evening. No. 2. weighed 100 lbs.: it was supplied with 2 lbs. of beef at eight o'clock in the morning, and with a like quantity at the same hour in the evening daily. On Feb. 16 (after an interval of five weeks) they were again weighed. No. 1. had gained in weight 1 lb. : No. 2. had diminished in weight lb. No alteration was observed in the latter animal as regarded his daily exercise; but he became more ferocious than he had previously been, and was particularly violent.

[merged small][graphic]
[graphic][merged small]

On December 23 two hyenas were weighed. No. 1. weighed 86 lbs.: it was fed as usua. with 3 lbs. of beef daily at one meal in the evening. No. 2. weighed 93 lbs. it was supplied with the same quantity of beef daily, divided into two equal portions, one of which was given in the morning and the other in the evening. On Feb. 16 (after an interval of eight weeks) they were again weighed; and No. 1. was found to have increased in weight 1lb., while No. 2. had diminished in weight 1lb. The latter animal was observed to take less exercise than he had previously been accustomed to, and slept more than usual: his temper was not affected, and he did not exhibit unusual signs of hunger.

During the continuance of the experiment all the animals were fasted one day in each week in common with the other carnivorous species kept in the menagerie.

From these experiments it appears that carnivorous mammalia fed with two meals daily, do not continue in equally good condition with those which have the same quantity of flesh daily in one meal only. It further appears that in one instance (that of the leopard) the temper changed for the worse, and thus animals of the genus felis might become more dangerous in a menagerie from the ferocity they would acquire under such treatment; and that in another instance the habits were altered as regarded exercise, a diminution of which, in confined animals, must be injurious to health.

[blocks in formation]

GLEANINGS IN NATURAL HISTORY. We have occasionally selected a paragraph from a very pretty volume, by Mr. Jesse, published under the above title. The author lives in the neighbourhood of Kew; and, like Mr. White of Selborne, who made a small village in Hampshire one of the most interesting spots to the lover of nature, by his ample descriptions of the natural objects which he saw around him, Mr. Jesse has rendered his walks a vehicle for much instruction and amusement to himself and to others. He principally confines his attention to zoology-the most generally attractive of the departments of natural history; and he looks upon the animal world with sc much practical wisdom, being disposed to be happy himself and to see every creature around him happy, that there are few persons who will not read his slight sketches with improvement to their hearts and understandings.

We copy a passage descriptive of the manner of taking deer for hunting in the king's parks:

"In addition to the herd of fallow-deer, amounting to about one thousand six hundred, which are kept in Richmond Park, there is generally a stock of from forty to fifty red deer. Some stags from the latter are selected every year, and sent to Swinley, in order to be hunted by the king's stag-hounds. When a stag, which has been hunted for three or four seasons, is returned to the park, to end his days there, he is generally more fierce and dangerous than any of the others at a particular season of the year. At that time it is sometimes not safe to approach him; and the keepers informed me, that they have been obliged to fire at them with buck shot, when they have been attacked by them. They account for this ferocity, by the circumstance of the deer having been much handled, and consequently rendered more familiar with, and less afraid of, those whom they would naturally shun.

"Does are longer lived than bucks. One doe in Richmond Park lived to be twenty years old; and there are other instances of their having attained the same age.

"A curious circumstance lately occurred, respecting the red deer in the park in question. In the year 1825, not a single calf was dropped by any of the hinds, though they had bred freely the preceding, and did the same in the subsequent, year. I find an event recorded in the Journal of a Naturalist, as having happened in the same year in regard to cows. It is there stated that, for many miles round the residence of the author, scarcely any female calves were born. This diminution of the usual breed of deer, and the increase of sex in another animal, is not a little remarkable.

[Red Deer.]

"There is a fine breed of buck-hounds in Richmond Park, and their sagacity is very extraordinary. In taking the deer, according to annual custom, either for the royal hunt or for the fattening paddocks, a stag or a buck, which has been previously fixed upon, is ridden out of the herd by two or three of the keepers in succession, each of whom is closely followed by a hound, the young dogs only being kept in slips. As soon as the deer has been separated from his companions, the dogs have the requisite signal given to them, and they immediately follow in pursuit. The scene is then highly interesting. A strong deer will afford a very long chase, but when he comes to bay, the dogs generally seize him by the throat or ears; the keepers come up, take him by the horns, and after having strapped his hind and fore legs together, put him into a cart which follows for the purpose, and he is then disposed of as he may be wanted. I have seen an active young keeper throw himself from his horse upon a deer at bay, which he had come up to at full gallop, and hold his horns till assistance arrived. Some danger, however, attends this sport; as, when a deer has been hard pressed, I have seen him, in more than one instance, suddenly turn upon the horsemen and injure the horses, and in one case wound the leg of the horseman. The dogs are so well trained, and are so soon made aware

which buck is intended to be caught, that they seldom make a mistake, even if the deer regains the herd after having been driven from it, but press him through it, till they have again separated him from it. It is well known that when a hard-pressed deer tries to rejoin his companions, they endeavour to avoid and get away from him as much as possible, or try to drive him away with their horns. So severe is the chase in Richmond Park in taking deer, especially when the ground is wet, that three or four good horses may be tired by a single horseman in one day's deer-taking, if each deer is ridden out of the herd, and followed till he is taken. When dogs are in slips, the man who holds them merely rides as near as he can to the person who is endeavouring to single out the deer, and awaits his signal for slipping the dog. These dogs, who are a large, rough sort of greyhound and very powerful and sagacious, are soon taught not to injure the deer when they come to them. The cry of hold them, made use of by the keepers in urging them forward, seems to be perfectly understood by the dogs."

THE UNITED STATES.

[Remarks on the Statistics and Political Institutions of the United States. By William Gore Ouseley, Esq., Attacké to his Majesty's Legation at Washington. 8vo. London, Rodwell, 1832.] THE book before us is rather a rambling one; and we cannot say that it appears to us to contain much that is new, or that it has been prepared with all the care, even in regard to its merely literary qualities, which ought to have been bestowed on it. But the work is written in a moderate, fair, and manly spirit, and is calculated to begct a very favourable opinion of the general liberality and philanthropy of the author's views. Although it contains some sensible remarks upon Mrs. Trollope's volumes, which we lately noticed, and also upon a variety of other minor points, the greater portion of it is devoted to an examination of the financial results of the American system of government, and a comparison of the burthens which it imposes upon the people with those which are borne by the inhabitants of England and of France. The settlement of this question appears to be the principal aim of the writer; and he has brought together the tables and estimates of various authorities by whom it has been investigated.

In looking at these statements, however, it must be borne in mind, that the two countries are differently situated in many other respects, as well as in regard to their political institutions; and the difference between the amount of taxes paid in the one and that paid in the other, may arise, wholly or in part, from circumstances with which the form of the government has really nothing whatever to do.

It is our duty to mention this circumstance to point out that any belief that the two countries can be brought to the same point of taxation is somewhat irrational. On the other hand we can have no hesitation in expressing an opinion that the nearer they are assimilated, the greater will be the amount of public happiness in the more highly-taxed country. A wise government will always strive to reduce taxes to the lowest point that is compatible with security against foreign violence, the maintenance of the laws, and the preservation of national credit.

A great part of Mr. Gore Ouseley's book is made up of extracts from the American Almanac, and other recent publications. The following passage, relating to the gold mines which have been lately opened in some of the Southern States of the Union, contains some curious and interesting information, which is also copied from other works, but which is not generally known:

"These mines have not been worked to any considerable extent for more than about five or six years, or probably much less. And yet many of them are worked upon an ex tensive scale, and mills for grinding the ore, propelled by water or by steam, are erected in vast numbers. The company of Messrs. Bissels, which is one of the most considerable, employs about 600 hands. The whole number of men now employed at the mines in these southern states is at least

[graphic]

20,000. The weekly value of these mines is estimated at | English dress. It is to be regretted that a volume 100,000 dollars, or more than one million sterling annually. But a small part of the gold is sent to the United States' Mint. By far the larger part is sent to Europe particularly to Paris.

"Of the working miners the greater number are foreigners-Germans, Swiss, Swedes, Spaniards, English, Welsh. Scotch, &c. There are no less than thirteen different languages spoken at the mines in this State*! And men are flocking to the mines from all parts, and find ready employment. Hundreds of landowners and renters work the mines on their grounds on a small scale, not being able to encounter the expense of much machinery. The state of morals among the miners or labourers is represented to be deplorably bad. This may be attributed to the absence of any general organization as yet for the police and regulation of the mines, combined with the usual effects of gold upon the uneducated and needy classes of men (often not the most favourable specimens of their various nations) who generally seek employment in the gold districts. The village of Charlotte, in Mecklenburg County, is in the immediate vicinity of several of the largest mines. It is increasing rapidly.

which contains much to inform and amuse should be introduced to the English reader with the aid of such useless quackery; for the work is really valuable in itself, and requires no such arts to recommend it. During his three years' residence, the Author of these Letters, which were written on the spot, when the scenery and the romantic adventures he was engaged in were fresh and full in his mind, traversed the Calabrias several times in their whole extent, and in pursuit of partisans and brigands climbed mountains and penetrated into wild glens which for ages had probably never been visited except by the native robber or huntsman. He saw and described all the great towns, and the sites of the ancient cities of Magna Græcia; and his account of the productions and curiosities, manners and customs of these provinces, is full and most amusing. We subjoin two or three passages, describing the physical character of the country and the manners of its people :

"The climate of Calabria varies according to the charac "One interesting fact deserves mention:-When speaking to all sorts of produce. In the plains, sheltered against the ter and elevation of the soil, and is consequently favourable of the gold mines, there are indubitable evidences that these north wind, there are found sugar-canes, aloes, and datemines were known and worked by the aboriginal inhabi-trees; while the pine and birch cover the tops of the mountants, or some other people, at a remote period. Many tains. The great variety and richness of the productions of pieces of machinery which were used for this purpose have Calabria furnish an abundance of all the necessaries of life. been found. Among them are several crucibles of earthen-It has grain of every description; wines which might be renware, and far better than those now in use. Messrs. Bissels had tried three of them, and found that they lasted twice or three times as long as even the Hessian crucibles, which are the best now made. It is to be regretted that some antiquary has not had an opportunity of at least examining these curious relics; and it is hoped that they will he preserved in future, notwithstanding the temptation offered by their superior qualities.

"These gold mines prove that the whole region in which they abound was once under the powerful action of fire, And it is a fact, not generally known, that the miners who have come from the mines in South America and in Europe pronounce this region to be more abundant in gold than any other that has been found on the globe. There is no telling the extent of these mines; but sufficient is known to prove they are of vast extent."-pp. 151-153.

THE CALABRIAS.

[Calabria; during a Military Residence of Three Years, &c.
In a Series of Letters, by a General Officer of the French Army,
from the original MS. London, Effingham Wilson, 1832.]
THE Calabrias, which are divided into two provinces,
citra and ultra, occupy the extremity of the South of
Italy, forming a peninsula one hundred and seventy
miles in length, and varying in breadth from seventy to
thirty-five miles. The beautiful Mediterranean sea
flows round this peninsula, and a chain of the Apennines
intersects it. The summit of these mountains is a vast
platform called La Syla, which is admirable for pasture,
and well provided with farm-houses and villages. The
plains washed by the sea would be everywhere most fer-
tile, but they have been neglected, and permitted to
become swamped and pestilentially unhealthy in many
places.

merce.

dered as good as those of Spain and Languedoc, if the inhabitants had more intelligence and industry; and olive oil in such profusion, that it is kept in vast cisterns dug in the earth, or in the rock. Great quantities of silkworms (and silkwith the growth of cotton, form a considerable article of comworms of the very best quality) are bred here, which, together The liquorice root grows without cultivation; and in the forests is found a sort of manna, which is in great request. Immense droves of horned cattle pass alternately from the rich grazing grounds of the Syla to the aromatic Their flocks are as vast as their herds. Their breed of pasture of the plains, where they remain during the winter. horses is hardy, active, extremely swift, full of fire, and very numerous. And beside these the Calabrians have the excellent mule, so necessary for a mountainous country, and vast droves of the formidable buffalo, which they tame and employ in labour like an ox. In all parts of Calabria there is a great quantity of game of every description. The seacoasts abound with fish: the sword-fish alone supplies food to a part of the inhabitants during several months of the year, and the tunny forms a lucrative branch of commerce. * * * All this ought to produce comfort and opulence, but hardly anything is met with but abject misery! Nature has done every thing for the country, but for many ages the vices of the government have marred its prospe rity. The condition of the peasantry is most wretched: there is a total want of emulation. The climate and the soil do all the work. Productions of every kind are the spontaneous gifts of nature without any aid from art and industry. With the exception of a few cities, and some towns that are regularly built, all the other inhabited places present the most miserable and disgusting appearance: the whole interior of their houses is a mass of revolting filth: the pigs live familiarly with the inmates. people have no true principle of religion or morals. Like all ignorant masses, they are superstitious to excess. The A little work has just been published, which contains most atrocious brigand carries in his bosom relics and some instructive and amusing information with regard images of saints, which he invokes at the very moment he is to this part of Italy. This work is the translation of a committing the greatest enormities. *** The Calabrians French volume, entitled 'Lettres sur les Calabres, parare capable of being made excellent soldiers from their roun Officier Français,' which was published at Paris some twelve or thirteen years since. What the Author may have become we know not, but when he wrote his Letters he was nothing more than a subaltern; -a clever man, as his little book proves, yet still only a lieutenant of the line. But the translator, or publisher, appears to consider that the high-sounding additions of, " A General Officer of the French Army" and "from the original MS." are necessary to the success of the book in its *North Carolina. The gold mines commence in Virginia, and extend south-west through North Carolina, part of South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, and end in Tennessee. The chief mines at present are those of North Carolina and Georgia.

**** These

bust constitutions, their sobriety, activity, and quickness. If these people, isolated as they are from the rest of Europe, and entrenched behind impassable mountains, were actuated by a pure spirit of patriotism, political and religious, they would become invincible; and the country they inhabit might be rendered a sure and safe asylum against tyranny."

POEMS. BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. London,
Andrews, 1832.

OUR reasons for noticing and recommending this
volume to our readers are manifold. It is beautiful in
itself; it is written by an American; it is one of the

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

best specimens we have seen of the poetical genius of our transatlantic brethren; it is edited by Washington Irving, the most accomplished prose writer of America; and is by him dedicated or rather addressed to Samuel Rogers, the author of the Pleasures of Memory,' and who, at an advanced period of life, preserves all the generous glow of youth for letters and for arts, and for every thing connected with the intellectual improvement of mankind.

: The exhibition of actual specimens of American taste and literature will tend to counteract the mischievous effects of those caricatures of American life and manners with which some authors have of late amused the spleen and prejudice of the British public. It is important to remove the illusion produced by writers of talent, who, professing to delineate national peculiarities truly, exaggerate and misrepresent them: regardless, and perhaps unconscious, that by using ridicule and sarcasm on such subjects they are renewing antipathies which never had a rational existence, and which years of friendly intercourse had almost annihilated; and are detaching from us the sympathies of those who by descent, community of free institutions (though differently modified), and identity of language, must naturally be well disposed towards us.

"During an intimacy of some years' standing," says Washington Irving to Samuel Rogers, "I have uniformly remarked a liberal interest on your part in the rising character and fortunes of my country, and a kind disposition to promote the success of American talent, whether engaged in literature or the arts. I am induced, therefore, as a tribute of gratitude, as well as a general testimonial of respect and friendship, to lay before you the present volume, in which, for the first time, are collected together the fugitive productions of one of our living poets, whose writings are deservedly popular throughout the United States.

This is all as it should be, in relation both to Mr. Rogers and his friend. And we confess we augur most favourably of the taste of a country, throughout which, poetry so refined in sentiment, and so pure in execution and ornament, as that contained in the volume before us, enjoys popularity.

We began by recommending Mr. Bryant's Poems. A perusal of the following specimen, as well as of one or two that we have lately printed separately, will justify our so doing, and there are many pieces in the volume of equal originality and beauty. A warm admiration of the works of nature, strong religious feeling towards the great Author of these works, a singular happiness of description, and a power of clothing his descriptions "with moral associations that make them speak to the heart," "an independent spirit, and the buoyant aspirations incident to a youthful, a free, and a rising country*," are among the charming characteristics of this American poet. We will only add, that the whole, while written in a style elegant enough to please the most fastidious, is simple and intelligible enough for the commonest reader.

[blocks in formation]

All day thy wings have fanned,

At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere, Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land, Though the dark night is near.

And soon that toil shall end,

Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend Soon o'er thy sheltered nest.

Thou 'rt gone the abyss of heaven

Hath swallowed up thy form; yet on my heart
Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,
And shall not soon depart.

He, who, from zone to zone,

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the long way that I must tread alone, Will lead my steps aright.

INDIA.

[Pen and Pencil Sketches. Being the Journal of a Tour in India. By Captain Mundy, late Aide-de-Camp to Lord Combermere. 2 vols. 8vo.]

We recommend these two octavo volumes to those of our readers who may be able to obtain the perusal of them. We think that not only great amusement may be derived from Captain Mundy's work, but that it supplies more information concerning the parts of our dominions in India that he visited, than may be collected from many ponderous volumes. In his lively chapters, indeed, amusement and fun (to use a homely word) go hand in hand with instruction. At the sketch of à human character, European or Indian, Hindoo or Mussulman, or at the sketch of a scene, the Captain is equally at home and happy; and in the first class of his essays he shows so generous and philanthropic a feeling, and in the second so fine a perception and appreciation of the beauties of nature, that he captivates both our affection and our taste. What we admire, too, as much as his talent-and this is perhaps generally the inseparable companion of intellect of a superior orderis his fine cheerfulness of spirit. In his daily life he is always disposed to make the best of things. He is as joyous in his tent, or the equally comfortless bungalow, as in tl e palace; palanqueens or the back of an elephant, Arabians or ragged coolies are all the same to him! Forward he goes on his journey, only telling you now and then that the thermometer is nearly at 100°, or that it is raining deluges; and he looks, for and finds amusement or interest of some kind or other wherever he moves! At one time we find him hunting the an telope with leopards, at another bringing down partridges with a "Manton ;"-here seeing a tiger fighting with a rhinoceros, there himself in deadly conflict with a jungle tiger;-now Mac-adamizing or making roads at Simla, on the Steppes of the Himalaya mountains, now smoking his hookah at Calcutta. At his professional duties he is as cheerful as at his sports, and one cannot help per ceiving he is in possession of that valuable but very attainable secret of making" a pleasure of business."

[ocr errors]

The following piece of practical philosophy, or how to make the best of a bad lodging, is a lesson for al' classes :

"The elevation of Simla above the sea is seven thousand eight hundred feet; and, during the month of May, I find the thermometer was never higher than 73°, or lower than 55°, in my garret This apartment, occupied by me during our stay in the hills, was pervious both to heat and cold, being, in fact, of that elevated character, which in England is usually devoted to cheeses, or apples and onions, and forming the interval between the ceiling of the dining-room and the wooden pent-roof of the house, which descending in a slope quite to the floor, only admitted of my standing upright in the centre. Though this canopy of planks was lined with white-washed canvas, it by no means excluded the rains so peremptorily as I, not being an amphibious animal, could have wished; and, during some of the grand storms; the hailstones rattled with such stunning effect upon the drum-like roof, that the echo sung in my ears for A coolie is a rough Indian pony.

* * *

But it is in his accounts of Indian hunting with which the volumes abound, and which are truly excellent, that Captain Mundy gives full way to his buoyant spirit and hilarity: and as the animal pursued is not the timid hare or the paltry fox, but generally the cruel, destructive, and formidable tiger, and as there is both adventure and danger, we can frequently follow him in these hunts with great interest. The following account of the sagacity of an elephant in a lion-hunt must conclude our extracts :

a week after. This my exalted dormitory was rendered ac- made his entry on the opposite side, and he must have been cessible by a wooden ladder; but, spite of its sundry désa- | an adept in his vocation, as four or five servants were sleepgrémens, I thanked my stars-in whose near neighbourhood ing between the khanauts. The poor devil did not get much I was-for my luck in getting any shelter at all, without the booty for his trouble, having only secured a razor, a pot of trouble of building, in the present crowded state of Simla. pomatum (which will serve to lubricate his person for his I enjoyed a splendid view from my windows (I beg pardon, next exploit *), and the candlesticks, which on closer inspecwindow), and the luxury of privacy, except at night, when tion, will prove to him the truth of the axiom, that all is the rats sustained an eternal carnival, keeping me in much not gold that glitters,' nor even silver. The next the same state as Whittington during his first week in Lon- morning, on relating my adventure, I was told that I was don. I soon grew tired of bumping my head against the roof fortunate in having escaped cold steel; and many comfortin pursuit of these four-footed Pindarrees*, and at length able instances were recited, of the robbed being stabbed in became callous to their nocturnal orgies-and kept a catt." attempting to secure the robber †." Even an hair-breadth escape from a midnight robber in no way interrupts the Captain's joyous mood:"I retired to my tent this evening pretty well knocked up; and during the night had an adventure, which might have terminated with more loss to myself, had I slept sounder. My bed, a low charpoy, or four feet,' was in one corner of the tent, close to a door, and I woke several times from a feverish doze, fancying I heard something moving in my tent; but could not discover anything, though a cherang, or little Indian lamp, was burning on the table. I therefore again wooed the balmy power, and slept. At length, just as the iron tongue of midnight had told twelve' (for I had "A lion had charged my friend's elephant, and he, having looked at my watch five minutes before, and replaced it wounded the lion, was in the act of leaning forward in order under my pillow), I was awakened by a rustling sound under to fire another shot, when the front of the howdah (elemy head; and, half opening my eyes, without changing my phant's castle) suddenly gave way, and he was precipitated position, I saw a hideous black face within a foot of mine, over the head of the elephant into the very jaws of the furious and the owner of this index of a cut-throat, or, at least, cut- beast. The lion, though severely hurt, immediately seized purse disposition, kneeling on the carpet, with one hand him, and would doubtless shortly have put a fatal terminaunder my pillow, and the other grasping-not a dagger!tion to the conflict, had not the elephant, urged by the but the door-post. Still without moving my body, and with mahout (the driver, who sits on the elephant's neck), stephalf-closed eyes, I gently stole my right hand to a boar-ped forward, though greatly alarmed, and grasping in her spear, which at night was always placed between my bed trunk the top of a young tree, bent it down hard across the and the wall; and as soon as I had clutched it, made a rapid loins of the lion, and thus forced the tortured animal to quit and violent movement, in order to wrench it from its place, his hold! My friend's life was thus preserved, but his arm and try the virtue of its point upon the intruder's body-but was broken in two places, and he was severely clawed on I wrenched in vain. Fortunately for the robber, my bearer, the breast and shoulders. The lion was afterwards slain in placing the weapon in its usual recess, had forced the by the other sportsmen who came up." point into the top of the tent and the butt into the ground so firmly, that I failed to extract it at the first effort; and my visiter, alarmed by the movement, started upon his feet and rushed through the door. I had time to see that he was perfectly naked, with the exception of a black blanket twisted round his loins, and that he had already stowed away in his cloth my candlesticks and my dressing-case, which latter contained letters, keys, money, and other valuables. I had also leisure, in that brief space, to judge, from the size of the arm extended to my bed, that the bearer was more formed for activity than strength; and, by his grizzled beard, that he was rather old than young. I, therefore, sprung from my bed, and darting through the purdar of the inner door, seized him by the cummerbund just as he was passing the outer entrance. The cloth, however, being loose, gave way, and ere I could confirm my grasp, he snatched it from my hand, tearing away my thumb-nail down to the quick. In his anxiety to escape, he stumbled through the outer purdar, and the much-esteemed dressingcase fell out of his loosened zone. I was so close at his heels, that he could not recover it; and jumping over the tent-ropes-which, doubtless, the rogue calculated would trip me up—he ran towards the road. I was in such a fury, that, forgetting my bare feet, I gave chase, vociferating lustily, 'Choor! choor!' (thief! thief!) but was soon brought up by some sharp stones, just in time to see my rascal, by the faint light of the room through the thick foliage overhead, jump upon a horse standing unheld near the road, and dash down the path at full speed, his black blanket flying in the wind. What would I have given for my doublebarrelled Joe at that moment! As he and his steed went clattering along the rocky forest road, I thought of the black huntsman of the Hartz, or the erl-king! Returning to my tent, I solaced myself by abusing my servants, who were just rubbing their eyes and stirring themselves, and by threatening the terrified sepoy sentry with a court-martial. My trunks at night were always placed outside the tent, under the sentry's eye; the robber, therefore, must have

[blocks in formation]

difficult.

Indian thieves oil their naked bodies to render their seizure + Vol. i. p. 165.

smith Suspension Bridge, stating, with reference to an article in the
We have received a letter from the Secretary of the Hammer-
last Supplement, that Mr. W. Tierney Clark was the engineer under
whose design and direction the Hammersmith Bridge was erected;—
and that Captain Brown was only the contractor for furnishing the
iron-work of the bridge. We avail ourselves of the earliest opportu
nity of correcting the error of our former statement.
For other notices to Correspondents, see the Wrapper of the
Monthly Part.

The Penny Magazine will, in most cases, be delivered weekly
in the Towns of the United Kingdom, by Booksellers and News-
venders, to whom Subscribers should address their Orders. It cannot
convenience of those, who, residing in country places, cannot obtain
be sent by Post as a Newspaper is, being unstamped. For the
the Publication at regular weekly intervals, the Numbers published
during each Month will be stitched together to form a Monthly Part.
That this Part may be sold at a convenient and uniform price, a
MONTHLY SUPPLEMENT, consisting chiefly of Notices of such New
Books as we think right to give a place to in 'the Library,' will appear
with the regular Number on the last Saturday in the Month. The price
of the Part, whether consisting of five or of six Numbers, will be Six-
PENCE; each Part will be neatly and strongly done up, in a wrapper.
Thus, the annual Expense of Twelve Parts will be Six Shillings, viz.:
52 Regular Numbers
12 Supplements

12 Wrappers

[ocr errors]

4 4

1 0

08

60

LONDON:-CHARLES KNIGHT, PALL-MALL EAST,

Booksellers:

Shopkeepers and Hawkers may be supplied Wholesale by the following London, GROOM BRIDGE, Panyer Alley, Lincoln BROOKE and SONS.

Paternoster Row.

Bath, SIMMS.
Birmingham, Drake.
Carlisle, THURNAM; and SCOTT.
Bristol, WESTLEY and Co.
Derby, WILKINS and SoN.
Falmouth, PHILP.
Hull, STEPHENSON.

The tents in India have double flies; the outer khanaut, or wall, Leeds, BAINES and Cǝ. forming a verandah, of some four feet wide, round the interior

pavilion.

Liverpool, WILLMER and SMITH,
Manchester, ROBINSON; and WEBB

and SIMMS.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, CHARNLEY.
Norwich, JARROLD and SSON,
Nottingham, WRIGHT.

Sheffield, RIDGE.

Dublin, WAKIMAN,

Edinburgh, OLIVER and BOYD.
Glasgow, ATKINSON and Co.

Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES, Stamford-Strest

« 上一頁繼續 »