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I like him not; men's faces are the maps of the human heart; those who study them and trace their lines can read their inmost recesses. I left the city years ago, because the mapped world told of hidden crimes. The gibbet was erected in public places, and the whipping-post was the chief ornament of our pleasure grounds. A moral pestilence was abroad, and the air was heavy with curses. I came here, I purchased this piece of ground; 'twas here thy mother died-you, my dear children, have been my only companions for many years. Here, amid the wild romantic beauties of nature, all has been sunshine, all happiness. Hark! do you hear the lone whip-poor-will, as he wings his flight down the valley?-are such sounds heard in a city? No! And see the last rays of the sun, how beautifully they gild that long lane lined with forest trees; it looks like the pathway of heaven; but the air grows chilly; come in, my children; the creatures of night are abroad, and the woods are musical. We should be happy, my children.'

"And are we not happy, grandfather?'

"Silence, men-I hear the signal-no more of this nonsense -to business; and while you are preparing, I will visit my rose of the Little Savage.'

"On the stone bed already described, but now completely covered with bear-skins, and curiously-wrought coverlets, at the foot of it stood a small table, upon which were the requisites for the toilet; in fact, the chamber presented, if not a cheerful, at least a very comfortable appearance. On this bed lay Ida, but O, how changed! The glow of virtuous health had dis appeared from the checks; conscious guilt mantled on her still lovely face; and the bitter smile told that repentance came too late. 'Yes,' she murmured, 'It is all over now, and I have broken the old man's heart. I, too, will die; yes, I have the means, but I will not use them now. Hark! he comes--the man I loved, the man I hate, ay, with a deep and bitter hatred→→ he approaches.'

"So, my fair one, you droop in my cage, eh! Well, I will clip your wings, and then you may go forth-the garden of your grandfather may again revive the roses which once bloomed upon your cheeks-nay, girl, you are free now-but mark me well, you are now aware who I am, and of what I am capable of "Ida and the stranger met; the oath had not been adminis- doing-these hands are not free from blood-breathe but a word, tered!"

"My heart does not beat in unison with nature. I feel a depression of spirits; there is danger somewhere-perhaps to your poor old grandfather.

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We are now conducted to a large and singular cave, at the base of the Little Savage Mountain, on the top of which this old man and his grandaughters lived, of which cave the author gives a minute and interesting description. This, however, we must omit, and introduce the reader at once into its principal apartment, on a certain dark and thundering night

"At the head of a table sat a man whose age could not be more than thirty years: his manners were those of a gentleman, and his style of dress after the most approved fashion. His features were well formed, hair black and curling round his ears, eyes sparkling but restless, denoting doubt and dark suspicion, if not conscious guilt. The eyes are sometimes the windows of the heart-they are, at least, the medium through which crime is frequently seen to look out on the broad earth. He held in his hand a glass, and was standing up, as were some fifteen othershis companions. Now, boys,' he exclaimed, let us drink to the memory of Porter, the mail robber. The toast was responded to by all, save one; the silence of this man was marked by the chief, but not noticed at the time. When they were all seated, and the glasses replenished, the chief spoke:- How comes it, Garson, that you refused to drink the sentiment I gave?-it was to the memory of one who, while living, was the boldest of us all, and died without peeching. Was he not the best amongst us?' If he was, captain,' replied Garson, then are we bad enough-Porter has his deserts?

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Ha! would you say so of me?-for know-listen, menand thou, white-headed villain, as you are, that I was with him -it was I who escaped-'

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utter but a syllable, and you die. and everything that stands in the moved; do you hear, girl?'

There is danger in my path, way of my safety must be re

"I swear never to betray your secret, or the secrets of this cave.'

"Good!-there lies your path, and, if you are not too proud, there is gold for you.'

"Keep your gold, sir; we know each other now; but mark me, man of crime, Ida Somers can remember, if she dare not revenge.'

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"Ah! do you threaten? But she is gone. The villain and the base seducer stood alone in that little chamber."

Poor Ida experienced a bitter fate. She found the loghut empty of inmates-her grandfather and Mary nowhere to be found; and, laying down her wearied frame on the bed, was suddenly surprised by her seducer, and murdered. The old man, on his return, found her lifeless corpse, and a paper written by her hand discovering the hiding place of her betrayer and his band of ruffians. The brave old patriarch formed a resolution of vengeance, the working out of which will be best told in the words of our

author:

"The wolf, as he prowled along the base of the Little Savage Mountains, avoided the six oaks, which the reader will remember stood near the robber's cave. Apart from the dreaded cave and its mysterious inmates, the wolf had another cause of alarmfor nightly, near and around the spot, a dark figure was seen, whose silent tread, and stealthy motion, alarmed even the fiercest of the forest animals. That dark figure stood beneath the shade of the six oaks-the wind whistled drearily and lonely thereno other sound was heard. He glanced ont from his shadowed position, into the clear light of the moon. 'It cannot be,' he exclaimed, for six nights have I watched here; and-hark! what sounds are those?'

"At that moment the secret door of the cave opened, the glare of light from the lamp already alluded to fell directly among the trees, making a silvery pathway far into the forest-and there, in the double light of moon and lamp, to the surprise of several men who emerged from the cave, stood the form of a man! The moment he was aware of being seen, he turned and fled. Silence, men-close the door, secure well the entrance -I will pursue the spy'-keeping his eye on the retreating figure, whose exertions were feeble, for he was old. Finding that he was pursued, he made directly to the table-rock alluded to in our first page-its sides were rugged-but, as the old man reached it, he made a bound, and having secured a resting-place, he soon reached the top. It was an entire flat surface of some sixty feet square, with a few stinted trees clinging to its sides, forming, as it were, a border to a picture frame-the subject wa not yet imagined by the artist. As the old man stood up, the moonlight displayed his full and yet vigorous form; he dashed aside an old cloak, clutched a peculiar-shaped knife, and awaited his approaching enemy-one of the figures of the painting was already sketched. 'Oh!' he exclaimed, that it may prove her

sedacer!' As he spoke, a portion of the branches of a tree|| heart-rending scenes of wretchedness than are described by were rudely thrust aside, and a man sprang upon the rock; and there, face to face, stood the pursued and the pursuer. Another figure of the painting was sketched.

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"Ah!' art thou the spy?' exclaimed the robber.

Spy!-yes, I am; and for six nights have I watched for thee. Now, villain, this platform-your grave or mine!' *Old man, I will not strike as I meditated-your white hairs protect you.'

"No such excuse have you, base villain!-I dare strike.' So saying, the old man struck Ponteet full in the face with his open hand. That,' he cried, for my wrongs-and this for Ida's'

Mr. Rees, as quite common in Philadelphia. From so sensitive a writer, we are prepared, of course, to make allowance for some exaggeration; but so many harrowing pictures must necessarily have an extensive foundation of fact. But hear what our author himself says on this

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"There are situations in life, scenes of misery and distress, brought on by dissipation, and a moral depravity, with which many of my readers are totally unacquainted. Hence these sketches may seem as romances, instead of what they really are, sad realities. We, on one occasion, asserted, through the public press, in this "Quick as thought, and before his astonished victim could prepare for defence, his desperate enemy had him by the throat. city, that at the lowest calculation, three thousand persons arose Pray, man of blood, pray; I would not murder soul and body.every morning without having any fixed place of lying down at Dragged to the rock by the almost superhuman strength of the night. A charge so bold, astounding, as it did, those who never think of the poor, created some excitement. But, fortunately for old man, Pontect crouched, trembling as it were, at his feet. us, there were those who had made the subject a study, and when The old man's hat had fallen off-his white hairs were streamthe late Mathew Carey endorsed the assertion, there were no ing in the air-his left hand clutched the throat of Ponteet, and longer doubts of the fact. Societies were then formed, having in his right he held the knife alluded to. The design of the for their object the amelioration of the condition of the poor; picture was made. The robber thus taken by surprise, and his but, alas! they did not reach those who most needed aid! most daring part cowed, he gazed upon the dilated form of the avenger in fear and awe. Pray, man of blood, pray-you shall have time-soul and body should not perish at one blow. Hark! I hear your comrades-be quick.' Voices were now heard as if approaching the scene of strife.

"Speak not, or I strike. Pray, I say--one word on heaven,

and I will

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"The wretched man having now somewhat recovered, and hearing the voices of his companions, made a desperate effort, and succeeded in gaining his feet. Ah! you would murder me, hoary-headed villain, but I will foil you.' So saying, he drew from his breast a knife, and aimed a deadly blow at the old mau-shouting at the same time, to the full extent of his voice, Help, help-murderThe interest of the subject of the picture increases. The blow was warded off, and the knife of the avenger was instantly buried deep in the shoulder of his victim. The wound, although bad, was not a fatal one. In vain did Ponteet cry for help-it approached slowly up the mountain top-in vain he struggled to gain the least advantage: but his every motion was watched and guarded against. Now,' thundered the old man, your doom is sealed. Pray, I say-pray; call on heaven to forgive!--Hark! your friends approach!-Pray-ah-they come!' At that mo

meut the heads of two or three men were seen above the tablerock. 'It is too late-soul and body-soul and body-my oath', my oath one more struggle-one groan-and Ponteet-was dead! The old man threw down the bloody knife-gave one look on the ghastly form, as it lay there in the broad moonlight-he drew a long breath-heaved a sigh, one of sorrow and despair-raised his hands supplicating toward heaven-and then disappeared down the opposite side of the rock, and his dark form was soon lost in the darker shades of the forest.

"When the followers of Ponteet reached the rock, they found him dead, and as they listened, the heard the retreating footsteps of the avenger! From some cause or another, the body of the murdered man was left where the deed was committed. Shortly after this event, the band dispersed, and the tomb of Ponteet (whose real name was Meason) became the home of the vulture. Years passed away; the mouldering flesh and clothes of the dead man fell from his bones, and were eaten by the 'obscene birds' of night, or washed away by the storms and tempests of many days, But the skeleton still remains, and to this day attracts the notice of the curious traveller.

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"More years have passed away. The scene has been forgotten -the events long since ceased to occupy public attention.

"In the Arch Street burying ground, where repose the bones of Benjamin Franklin, and Deborah his wife,' a neat gravestone is still to be seen, which tells the stranger beneath it lies the remains of ROBERT SOMERS, aged 79, who departed this life, January 1st, 1839; erected to his memory by MARY.'"

One conclusion is deeply impressed upon the reader by Mr. Rees' delineations, and that is, the fearful amount of poverty and crime existing in the bosom of American society, notwithstanding all the advantages derived from boundless territory and democratic institutions. The worst-conditioned cities of the old world could scarcely produce more

"The poor family reduced to the lowest grade of misery and wretchedness, by the vile and frequent use of spiritous liquors, found no favour with those benevolent institutions; and the writer of this heard one of their most religious members say, 'that they had no claim on the sympathy of the righteous,' and actually added, the sins of the fathers should be visited on their children!' And this was charity!

"We, at that time, pointed out the receptacles of the poor outcasts from society and benevolent sympathy; we gave to our sketches local habitations and a name,' such as they were, which, upon examination, proved to be true. In all large cities, hordes of men, women, and children, are found, who are incapacitated for labour, in consequence of the love, or the madness for rum. They are to be found along our wharves, congregating around and about low grogeries; hundreds are sent forth to beg and steal; and thus our streets are crowded with half-clad, half-grown girls and boys, whose very appearance bespeaks a perfect knowledge of life in all its worst features. Rag-pickers, stealers of old iron, lead, &c., are also a numerous class; and at night, with their small and illgotten stores, they are seen, in the lower part of our city, exchanging them for rum, or a night's lodging. Those who are not so fortunate select out some old out-house or barn, near the city; others creep into sheds and decayed rooms of deserted houses; others seek the banks of the Schuylkill, and crawl like hogs under trees and bushes!

"This is not all-alone-away from the noise of the city; in woods and barns, these wretched creatures howl and shout, in their maddened dreams, and awake, trembling with delirium tremens, with just sufficient reason left to guide them to the city, when more rum brightens intellect, to madden it again ere night

-and this is life!

"As stated in the second part, there are houses where these wretches are received at three cents. a-head, for a night's lodgingthey huddle together in a large room, covered over with straw-men, women, and children, indiscriminately together, and all raving and shouting in the incipient stage of insanity!"

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So much for the results of drunkenness. Some of the wretchedness, however, depicted by our author must, we fear, be traced to some more political source than dissipation and moral depravity." Take the following sketch, for example, of a poor widow and her family, on a Saturday night :

power.

"The streets were deserted; a poor woman was seen wending her solitary way towards a cluster of small houses in the southern part of the city. She was wrapped up in an old cloak, around which the winter wind swept keenly, and with searching The snow fell in large flakes, and her feet was scarcely protected from the crusts of ice which encumbered her way. She, however, passed swiftly on-f --for her children were awaiting her coming with hungry and eager looks, and what had the widowed The proceeds of two shirts at twelve and amother for them? half cents each! It was a Saturday night, the night of all others to the young and innocent the most pleasing; it is the eve of the holy Sabbath, and their Itttle hearts yearned to bask in the sunshine of its moral and blessed light, Four miserable beings were

deem but worthless or odious weeds-things to be rooted out-and that are necessarily extirpated in good cultivation, because no longer required. The study of the works of creation is a great aid to an intelligently devotional

clustered around a wretched fire, their toes were peeping from Field botany is a most profitable study, displaying the their worn-out stockings, and their ragged garments hung loose-beneficence and the wisdom of the Creator, in what we often ly around them. These children had seen better days. It was when their father was with, and provided for them; he was dead now, and the only surviving parent struggled on through poverty in all its phases, to keep a roof, such as it was, above their little heads. Piece by piece of her furniture was disposed of to provide for them until there was scarcely anything left but a bed, a table, and a few chairs. Let us stand apart and listen to the prattle of the children. 'Sister,' says a little boy of about nine years of age, if you will sew up these trousers, I can go to Sunday school to-morrow; see, it is only a rent, and my shoes will do, I am sure.' The sister, a girl of some twelve years old, looked at the pale-faced boy, and tears came into her eyes as she spoke. *I will mend them, Billy, dear; but your shirt is not fit; see how the collar looks, and you know it is the only one you have.' "I can turn the collar down, for I should like to go to Sunday school to-morrow-hark, how the wind whistles-where is mother? I am cold!'

She will be here directly. Go you, James, and bring up some more chips, for mother will be cold; and, Jacob, you had better clean your shoes, and brush your coat, for you must go to Sunday school while your shoes are good-they will not last long, and then you will have to stay at home too.'

"Perhaps not, sister; I may get something to do next week. I have the promise of a boy to help him to sell newspapers, and I may get enough to buy another pair. Am I not old and strong enough to do that? Why, I have learned already to ery papers. Hark! there comes mother; yes, I knew her step.'

"The door opened, and the wretched parent gazed on her four shivering children, as they joyfully started up and clung around her. She kissed them all, and, putting on a smiling face to hide her grief, she began to prepare their humble meal. A mother's love! who can portray a mother's love for her children? No It is an indescribable feeling, known only to the angels in heaven. It is an unwritten story; and, like the music of nature, it has no gamut. The twenty-five cents was all the money she

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frame of mind. A green-gardener once, who was strictly "sound" in the theological opinions derived from revelation, argued that Satan had the power to create certain things, and he made all the weeds and the sparrows. If he had studied more carefully the plants that he trampled underfoot, and the habits of the birds against which he waged perpetual war, he would have seen good reason to change his opinions. These works are written with the intention of making the respective studies pleasing to the young, and morally and religiously useful. Miss Catlow thus explains the spirit infused into the works:

'What can add so much to the pleasure of a ride or a walk into the country, as a knowledge of the plants seen in the woods and hedges? or what more instructive to a child when it has

gathered a pretty bunch of flowers, than to point out to it the extraordinary beauty of the minute parts, the contrivances for the ripening or preservation of the seed, or the uses of its roots or juices? Many useful moral lessons may be given to the young in a country walk, if this pursuit is understood and appreciated. Some persons are disposed to think it a useless study, and to laugh at those who pursue it zealously, and ridicule them for showing great delight at the discovery of a new plant they have not before met with; but if they will compare this enthusiasm with their own in any favourite study, they will find the feeling similar. Unfortunately it is the custom to look on weeds with contempt, and to forget that they are equally the work of God with the planets or suns, and that every insignificant herb is a fresh proof of the wisdom and goodness of God in the creation. As this little book is only intended for those who really wish to know something of this part of the works of nature, I need say no more by way of inducement, but turn to the object of the work."

The authoress takes, seriatim, the botany of the months, beginning with January, in which there seems to be little doing, while there is really much preparing. February, we know, is abundantly rich in good things-the violet on the brae, the primrose on the bank, the gowan in the grass, the daisy in the garden, and the graceful snowdrop amongst the melting wreaths of winter. March is peculiarly plentiful in work for the field botanist; but here is what Miss Catlow has to say under March:—

The volume abounds with similar sketches of the sufferings endured by the victims of ill-requited labour; and Mr. Rees is very indignant against certain benevolent societies which give out work to the unemployed, at reduced wages, in order to raise relief to the poor who are unable to labour; forgetful, apparently, of the grand evil, the non-employment—the misery-which existed prior to the operations of such societes, and which rendered them necessary. In the United States, as in less favoured countries, labour does not always command its necessary reward; and from this it is to be inferred that something more is requisite than land and universal suffrage to cure society of the ills of poverty and destitution. Communities, in the old and the new worlds alike, must learn to be more frugal of their means to submit to individual sacrifice for the benefit of the unfortunate-to be more attentive to their interests as a whole; and much also is to be expected from the spirit of which this volume is an emanation-the bene-regulated mind may find pleasure out of doors, during even the volent spirit of religion, when it assumes the qualities so profoundly described by the Divine Master, when he enjoined his disciples to be "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."

Popular Field Botany. By Agnes Catlow. 1 Vol.

London: Reeve, Benham, and Reeve. This volume is one of a series issued by the above publishers, and, so far as we have seen, forming the first of the series, with the object of teaching some of the sciences that should be popular with the young, in a way likely to allure them into the study; but the three volumes published are worthy of attention from the old, for the text is ably and elegantly written, and the illustrative plates are beautifully executed.

"How delightful is the first breath of spring, felt, or rather anticipated, in this month; the bitter winds, frosts, and snows, begin to yield to the force of the sun, and the hope that we may soon again wander in the fields and lanes is revived, and our accustomed rambles impatiently looked forward to as a source of real delight. Though every contented and well

dreary weather of the winter months, still, those fond of botanizing must welcome the period when they may return from a walk, laden either with their old favourites (which revive memories of the past), or with new species, whose peculiarities they may be anxious to examine. There is not a purer or more improving pleasure than that of the examination of plants, for every investigation will open new beauties to the observer, and many an insignificant weed (as we may deem it) if brought home and examined with a magnifier, astonishes us by its extraordinary formation. I advise young botanists to examine minutely all the plants they gather, even if they know not their names, because this close inspection familiarizes them with their different parts, which knowledge they will find very useful as they advance in study. The endless variety astonishes the thinking mind, and we are continually struck with the purpose and foresight displayed by what appear trifling peculiarities. Something new is constantly found, and our admiration and gratitude are continually called forth."

What a singular pest are those ugly Latin names to

young botanists; many of whom, especially the most enthusiastic—young ladies, namely—are not quite so good Latin scholars as they should be.

the seed to a considerable distance, so that where this plant is once fixed it soon spreads. A variety found in Ireland is well known in our gardens; it does not flower so plentifully as the other, but its prickles are so soft and succulent, that cattle are

And yet what propriety is there in bothering the English world with "Ulex Europæeus" to signify thereby our own deep-green whins, with their bright yellow flowers, and their long "pea pod"-like seed-valves, that rattle away so lightsomely in August, scattering the seed for next year's crop.

Scientific men may wish to establish, or rather to main-extremely fond of it.” tain, a common language; but Latin names for our dearest flowers or our homeliest weeds are gross outrages on our own old Saxon language. Where is the propriety of calling the "Forget-me-not" "Myosotis palustris?"—and, by the way, if pure Latin were used, we should quarrel less with the custom. Miss Catlow gives the English name along with the doggerel and scientific version, and so no complaint can well rest against her book. We do not remember to have read before the following reason for the name of the "Forget-me-not:"

"A lady and gentleman, walking on the banks of the Rhine, perceived some of its bright blue flowers; the lady, wishing to possess it, her companion politely attempted to gather it for her, but, in so doing, slipped into the river and was drowned, exclaiming as he sank, 'Forget me not!' I cannot vouch for the truth of this romantic incident; but by some means this flower has been considered the emblem of friendship in almost every country."

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We do not yet know that the uses of all our common plants have been discovered; but the purposes of some of them have been lost. The mode of manufacturing beer from heather is lost, and yet it was practised at one time in this country, and that not "a long time ago." Many of usihave admired and gathered the cotton-grass-may it not yet be substituted for some of that raw material brought from far countries at a great cost? The experiment deserves a trial:

"One species of the interesting plant called cotton-grass may be found early in the season. The flower expands now, but the seed, which is the conspicuous part, and attracts the eye at a distance, is scarcely seen till next month. The silky covering of its seeds might serve as the softest imaginable lining to a bird's nest, but whether it is thus used I do not know. Nothing can be more beautiful than this appendage to the seeds of this genus. At a distance on the boggy heaths, where the plant grows, it looks like little locks of wool floating with the wind, but on examination, its substance is found to be considerably more fine and soft. It is extremely white and glossy, and, being as soft as down, is in some places used for stuffing pillows. It is probably brittle, and therefore cannot be manufactured into any article of clothing; but as cattle are fond of its leaves, I could almost wish that the farmer cultivated this pretty plant, that we might see whole fields of these waving feathers."

"Who would have thought," many a peasant would say, "that a scientific gentleman would have fallen on his knees to thank God for a whin-bush?" but read the following short extract:

After all, the peasantry of Scotland would not wonder at the gratitude of Linnæus for the furze of England and the whins of Scotland, since they are often grateful for the supper from the stone trough which they afford to the cow the cow that would go dry without them—when grass is short or ill to obtain.

Whins and broom were the green cropping of our ancestors; and broom is far from a mere ornament. It makes, indeed, a somewhat "heady" mixture for cows, because, indeed, it is "narcotic," and can produce "strong beer;" but the broom is a profitable crop, if well managed, and for its beauty, we have the authority of more than one old song-but first among them all,

"The broom-the bonny, bonny broomThe broom of the Cowden knowes." illustrations in the volume are drawn and coloured with much taste.

The

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WE are reminded of this volume, which has been in our possession for a long time, by the one a notice of which is subjoined. It occurs to us that though we have read the work with much pleasure, yet we have omitted it from this register; and as it deserves to be known and read, we make the satisfaction still within our power, by quoting one or two passages which we had put in type long since, and they will certify the good qualities of a work that has been warmly and deservedly recommended by many of our contemporaries. The birds of Jamaica are necessarily very different from our own; but we doubt whether they be prettier, or more useful, for have we not many active insect catchers as clever as the green-headed tody, although we may be thankful that we have not quite so many insects for them to catch :—

"It is instructive to note by how various means the wisswallow and the tody live on the same prey, insects on the dom of God has ordained a given end to be attained. The wing; and the short, hollow, and feeble wings of the latter are as effectual to him as the long and powerful pinions are to the swallow. He has no powers to employ in pursuing insects, but he waits till they come within his circumscribed range, and no less certainly secures his meal.

"I have never seen the tody eating vegetable food; but I have occasionally found in its stomach, among minute coleopterous and hymenopterous insects, a few small seeds. One, which I kept in a cage, would snatch worms from me with impudent audacity; and then beat them violently against the perch or sides of the cage to divide before he

"Ulex Europaus, common furze, whin, or gorse, begins flowering very early in the year, and often before the commencement, for occasional bushes will appear in the autumn in full flower. Its bright yellow flowers are a great ornament to the heathy and often desolate looking places in which it grows. It prefers a sandy and gravelly soil, and is rare in the Highlands. A very bushy shrub, from two to five feet high, beset with thorns, leaves small, and thorn-tipped flowers, solitary or in pairs, bright-yel- || low. Two egg-shaped spreading bracteas at the base of the calyx. When Linnæus came to England he was so delighted with this beautiful plant, that it is said he fell on his knees and thanked God for producing so handsome a shrub. He tried to intro-insects that flitted about, particularly little destructive tineduce it into Sweden on his return, but failed, as the climate was too severe, though here it grows on our bleakest commons. It is occasionally seen in the greenhouses of that country, and in Russia.

"It is a very useful plant, its young shoots being eaten by animals, and its podded seeds by numerous birds. To the poor, it is invaluable for winter firing.

"Its pod, when thoroughly ripe, suddenly bursts with some noise, and each valve rolls itself into a spiral form, and scatters

swallowed them.

"One, captured with a net in April, on being turned into a room, began immediately to catch flies and other minute

adae that infested my dried birds. At this employment, he continued incessantly and most successfully all that evening and all the next day, from earliest dawn to dusk. He would sit on the edge of the tables, on the lines, on shelves, or on the floor, glancing about, now and then flitting up into the air, when the snap of his beak announced a capture, and he returned to some station to eat it. He would peep into the lowest and darkest corners, even undert tables, for the little globose, long-legged spiders, which he would drag from their webs and swallow. He sought these also about the ceiling and walls,

and found very many. I have said that he continued at this || its predecessor is also followed in this volume, and our employment ali day without intermission, and, though I took no account, I judged that, on an average, he made a capture ornithology is written off in monthly departments. Mr. per minute. We may thus form some idea of the immense Gosse writes well; but we are not certain that he is quite number of insects destroyed by these and similar birds; at home in the Highlands of Scotland. Under March, he bearing in mind this was in a room, where the human eye scarcely recognised a dozen insects altogether, and that says:-in the free air, insects would, doubtless, be much more numerous. Water in a basin was in the room, but I did not see him drink, though occasionally he perched on the brim; and when I inserted his beak into the wa

ter, he would not drink. Though so actively engaged in his own occupation, he cared nothing for the presence of man; he sometimes alighted voluntarily on our heads, shoulders, or fingers, and when sitting would permit me at any time to put my hand over him and take him up; though, when in the hand he would struggle to get out. He seemed likely to thrive, but incautiously settling in front of a dove-cage, a surly baldpate poked his head through the wires, and with his beak aimed a cruel blow at the pretty green head of the unoffending and unsuspecting tody. He appeared not to mind it at first, but did not again fly; and about an hour afterwards, on my taking him into my hand, and throwing him up, he could only flutter to the ground, and on laying him on the table, he stretched out his little feet, shivered, and died."

"MARCH.But we will leave for the present the hazel coppice and its little musical tenants, and the labours of the peasant and the furrowed field, and the flowery meadows, and the budding hedge-row, and seek some barren mountain top in the Scottish Highlands. The dark, broad sides of "the everlasting hill" rear themselves up everywhere around us, their feet bathed in the tranquil waters of their winding lochs, and their many-shaped peaks piercing the sky, or shrouded in a veil of half-transparent mist. The air is sharp and bracing, and produces, with the scenery, and exhilaration of spirits, which makes us feel almost as if we could bound up the mountain side as swiftly as the roe, or mount into the free air like a bird. The purple and broom heather beneath our feet has a springy elasticity, as we tread upon it, that aids the illusion, and upwards we mount with a cheerful contempt of difficulty. But the distance of the summit from the base has greatly deceived us; we walk upward and upward, and yet the peak seems scarcely any nearer; the steepness, too, increases as we rise, and anon we get above the boundary of the soft heather, and our feet feel the roughness and hardness of the frowning rock, varied, indeed, with many-tinted lichens, and hidden here and there by patches of moss and alpine plants. The

The end of this extract is very pretty and affecting, yet we doubt whether the insect world regarded the tody as being quite so unoffending and unsuspecting a bird as the author considered him. The romance of humming-summit still seems to be in the sky above, but on looking round, bird life is sadly destroyed by a close examination of their habits. They live, it appears, rather more on animal than vegetable food, and we find very few "vegetinarians" in the animal world, except those that being at once so large and numerous, would eat the world up very soon if they took flesh diets ::

"The sustenance of the humming-birds is, I feel assured, derived almost exclusively from insects. That they seek the nectar of flowers I readily admit, and that they will eagerly take dissolved sugar, or diluted honey, in captivity, I also know; but that this would maintain life, or at least vigour, I have great reasons for doubting, which I shall mention in the history of the following species:-I have dissected numbers of each of this species, and have invariably found the little stomach distended with a soft black substance, exactly like what we see in the stomachs of the Warblers, which, being put into clear water, and examined with a lens, proves to be entirely composed of minute

insects."

They engage in civil wars also with great vivacity :"The pugnacity of the humming birds has been often spoken of; two of the same species can rarely suck flowers from the same bush without a rencontre. Mange, however, will even drive away another species, which I never observed

the others to do. I once witnessed a combat between two

we perceive that we have gained a great elevation; many peaks are now below our level, and the eye can penetrate into multitudes of little secluded nooks and chasms, and dells among them, and can discern many a tam, or lofty mountain-lake, spread out, like

many sheets of silver, in the recesses of the dark rocky points.

The loch seems so immediately beneath our feet, that a pebble let fall would drop into its glassy waters, and others there are more distant, which we catch sight of as we ascend, all studded over with little islets, some green and fair, others mere barren

rocks. The snow lies in masses in the hollows around us, becoming more and more visible as we ascend."

Our highest Scotch mountains, where yet the eagles have their eyries, may be climbed in March; but it is not a safe journey to take to the edge of the precipices of the Breriach, Ben-Mac-Dhui, Loch-na-Gar, or Ben Nevis. The professional guide will scarcely approve of young students of natural history making the trip in the short and stormy days of March, for the wind then revels in hurricanes round these sharp, bare summits, only they are not bare then, for the snow fills every gulley, and throws a thick carpet over the vast masses of granite.

Mr. Gosse deals with all our birds in the following

of the present species, which was prosecuted with much per-pleasing and instructive style:tinacity, and protracted to an unusual length."

And they have their serfs in the shape of Benana Quits -the Sclaves of these little fierce Magyars ::

"A little Benana Quit, that was peeping among the blossoms in his own quiet way, seemed now and then to look with surprise on the combatants; but when the one had driven his rival to a longer distance than usual, the victor set upon the unoffending Quit, who soon yielded the point, and retired, humbly enough, to a neighbouring tree. The war-for it was a thorough campaign, a regular succession of battles lasted fully an hour, and then I was called from the post of observation."

plovers appear in larger flocks than before, for the numbers are increased by the families of young that are now fully fledged, and able to accompany their parents. The beautiful golden plover, having associated in large assemblages, begins to leave the wild moors, and to descend upon the corn fields newly sown, and the fallow land, where the larvæ of various insects, earthworms, and slugs, which constitute their favourite food, are to be found in abundance. Here they soon become exceedingly fat, and in this condition they are much esteemed for the table; their flesh assuming a delicacy of flavour in nowise inferior to that of the woodcock. When disturbed or alarmed, the flocks mount into air a few yards high, and wheel round and round in large circles contribu-above the head of the intruder, uttering a loud and shrill whistle, and after performing such rapid evolutions, frequently settle again near the spot whence they arose. They often, however, squat

"About the latter end of this month the different species of

The volume contains nearly 500 pages of equally interesting descriptive writing, and is a valuable tion to the natural history of the colonies.

Popular British Ornithology. By P. II. Gosse. London: close to the ground, as if hoping to escape observation, by lying

Reeve, Benham, and Reeve.

This is a volume of a similar character to the last, but devoted to British birds, and by one of the best authors in that interesting department of natural history. The illustrations are very abundant, and executed in a similar style to those of the preceding volume. The scheme adopted in

perfectly still; and often the flock disperses by running over the ground in different directions, in which they display great swiftness of foot."

The Cape and Its Colonists. By George Nicholson
Jun., Esq. 1 vol. London: Henry Colburn.
Tuis book is of the grumbling species-one which we

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