history. Our poor lad was not a little bewildered by the great show of St. Paul's Church, the London Column and Tower, with many other marvelous sights, but uppermost in his mind was his dream; and he wondered how London Bridge could be connected with the fortune of one so humble as he. By dint of persevering inquiry, he found the bridge, determined to cross the Thames in no other way. Once on the bridge, he looked on every side, but no fortune appeared. He only saw crowds of people going to and fro, never minding him. Faint with travel and mortification, having for hours walked up and down the bridge, he was turning his face homeward, satisfied that his dream was, like all dreams, a cheat, when a ragged boy, of his own size, accosted him with, "What for are you searching London Bridge all day? have you lost a bob ?" meaning, by "bob," a small coin. "Nay," said the dreamer, "I have come up here, because I dreamed if I went to London Bridge, I should find my fortune." "O, ha!" replied the ragged stranger, "if I were to follow all my dreams, I should have had a dozen fortunes long ago. It was only last night I dreamed, that if I would go to Chuckstone Cross, and dig under it, I should find a bag of gold; but blame me if I believe in dreams, besides I don't know if there is such a place as Chuckstone Cross in the world." The dreamer caught a sudden light from this confession, and, without more ado, bidding the stranger-boy good-by, strode back for Chuckstone Cross, which was near by his father's house, "for," said he to himself, "perhaps this is the fortune I was to find on London Bridge." Hope made his feet light, and he was soon at Chuckstone Cross. When night came, and all was still, he crept from his bed, in his father's house, and stealing out slyly to the cross, he fell to work, removing the stone, and digging up the hard earth. It was not long before he struck upon something chinky, and directly out came a fine bag of gold pieces, in all many thousand pounds. Thus the poor lad, obeying his persistent dream, found his fortune, and beyond all doubt, all our former speculations to the contrary notwithstanding, the cross was originally erected by the person or persons who buried the gold, as they naturally conjectured a cross the last thing likely to be disturbed, while it was a good and durable mark over their deposit. But, though the fortune was found by following a dream in this instance, we doubt whether it is safe or well to trust too much in dreams, since dreams are generally shadows of ideas of our waking hours-mere phantoms of our own conjuration-still, if any of our readers do dream persistently, and think their dreams worth tracing out, let them be careful how they reveal them to others, as the ragged Londoner did to the poor country lad who found what, with more curiosity and secretiveness, might have been another's fortune, under Chuckstone Cross. HUNTING THE BUFFALO. MR. MELLEN, in his description of the amusements and pastimes of the West, gives the following account of the various methods of hunting the Buffalo : It will scent a man more than a league, and flee in alarm, though it is not terrified at the sight of the human race. Hence it is necessary for the pedestrian hunter to get to leeward "Buffalo hunting was once, as deer hunting of the object of his pursuit. Having apis now, a favorite amusement of the back-proached the animal as nearly as he well may, woodsmen. The wild cattle have long since receded beyond the Mississippi, and now furnish sport only to the wandering Indians, their traders, and the no less hardy bands of trappers and hunters. Some account of the manner of taking this huge animal may not be out of place here. "The scent of the Buffalo, though otherwise it is a very stupid animal, is exceedingly acute. he stoops, then gets upon all fours, and finally drags himself along prone, pushing his firelock before him. If there be long grass, or if, in winter, the snow be deep, the circumstance much facilitates his operations. If the animal ceases to feed to look at him, he stops, and remains motionless, till it begins to graze again. By observing these precautions, the buffalo may be approached to within a few yards When the hunter is nigh enough, he directs his aim behind the beast's fore-shoulder, and inflicts a mortal wound. This, however, is but a slow and unsatisfactory mode of hunting, inasmuch as it consumes much time, and only one buffalo can be killed in many hours. The best and most experienced hunters follow the chase on horseback. "The mounted sportsman dashes into the thick of the herd, and singles out the best and fattest. The buffalo, when frightened, runs fast, but awkwardly. His gait is that of a swine, and this peculiar gait the trained horse acquires, and assumes when beside the game, obeying the least pressure of the rider's foot or knee. The hunter takes care to keep at least his horse's length from the buffalo, in order that, if the latter should turn upon him, which he will certainly do if wounded, he may have time and space to escape. All precautions being duly taken, the horseman throws the reins on his steed's neck, holds his gun stiffly with both hands, and fires. The horse swerves at the flash, and the rider directs him to new game, himself loading at full speed. An expert huntsman will kill as many as half a score of buffaloes at one race, and rarely misses the heart. "When an Indian wounds a buffalo, he leaves it to die, or separate from the herd, and his companions never interfere with what has thus become his property. Few of the skins of the animals so killed, are taken, and the greater part of the flesh remains a prey to the wolves and ravens. When the cattle are in plenty, they are slain merely for their tongues, humps, and other delicate morsels. Vast havoc is made of them every year. "The more remote Indians, not being provided with fire-arms, use bows and arrows in the chase, and with great effect. A single arrow is often known to go through and through a buffalo, and it is seldom a shaft stops short of the feather. But whether it strike deep or not, if it does but stick, the animal's fate is sealed. It works inward as he runs, and eventually reaches the vitals. "It is a cheering sight to see an Indian buffalo hunt. The tread of the herd shakes the solid earth; the hunters animate each other with loud shouts, and the guns flash incessantly. Here a rider is seen fleeing for life before some infuriated animal; there a buffalo stands at bay. Altogether, the scene produces an excitement which those only who have felt can conceive. The passion for this chase increases with time, and few professed buffalo hunters leave it before age disables them. "There are many apparent dangers in buffalo hunting. The prairies are full of holes, dug by badgers and other burrowing animals, in which the horse may stumble, and there is some risk from the horns of the chase. Nevertheless, it is seldom that any serious accident occurs. "Another mode of taking the buffalo was formerly in use among the Indians of the Mississippi. Two rows of stakes were planted in the prairie, gradually converging, till at their extremity they barely left a passage into an enclosure of a few yards in area. These rows were a league or more in length, and on the top of each stake was placed a piece of turf, which frightened the cattle, and prevented them from attempting to escape in a lateral direction. The herd, being pursued by horsemen to the entrance of this artificial defile, were driven onward till they reached the pound, when the entrance was closed, and the work of destruction began. Few ever escaped, for the buffalo has little sagacity, and, being thus shut up, will run round and round, without attempting to break through the barriers which inclose them. This mode of hunting is still practised by some of the more remote tribes." THE VATICAN. THE ancient palace of the Popes, and the most magnificent in the world, stands on the right bank of the Tiber, at Rome. The palace takes its name from the hill on which it stands, derived from one of those ancient impositions, known as oracular deities, called by the Romans "Jupiter Vaticanus." Who began the building is not known, but it was occupied by Charlemagne, more than a thousand years ago, and has been increased by successive Popes, until it has reached its present immense extent. The number of rooms in the Vatican exceed 4420, and its treasures in marbles, bronzes, frescoes, statues, paintings and gems, are unequaled in the world, and its library is the richest in Europe. The length of the mu seum of statues alone is computed to be a mile. THE GREAT CONFLAGRATION IN NEW YORK, DECEMBER 16, 1835. Drawn and Engraved expressly for the Republic.-Page 209. THE GREAT CONFLAGRATION OF NEW-YORK. DECEMBER 16TH, 1835. (With an Engraving.) street, was a chimney with several flues, and in Mr. Babad's apartment was a safety closet on one side, and a temporary wooden closet on the other. On the southerly side of the store there was another chimney near Merchantstreet, with which Mr. King's fire-place communicated. "The basement walls of these stores were twenty inches thick, the walls above and as high as the garret, twelve inches thick, and above the garret-floor, eight inches. The walls were used in common between the stores, and the ends of the beams were separated by the width of a single brick, say four inches. THE inquiry of a correspondent, as to the origin, and loss sustained by the great fire of 1835, in the city of New-York, has led us to have prepared an Engraving, exhibiting a correct view of the scene of conflagration, and to publish a few facts relating to that awful disaster, by which about seven hundred buildings, mostly filled with costly merchandise, were totally swept away, with their contents, by the devouring element, and property to the value of seventeen millions of dollars destroyed. The fire commenced in the evening of the 16th of December, in the store known as No. 131 Pearlstreet, extending through to No. 25 Merchantstreet, and from that point spread on every "The stores on Pearl and Merchant streets side until it had dissolved in a mass of cinder were originally separated, and having a small and ashes twenty-three entire squares of build-yard between, and the party-walls did not ings, covering a tract bounded by Wall, Broad, and Stone streets, Coenties Slip, and the East River. The night was bitter cold, which circumstance seriously retarded the efforts of the firemen, police, and citizens, and it was not until late on the following day that the raging flames were in any degree under human control. The following statement of the origin of the fire is extracted from a report of a committee of the Common Council, dated December 23d, 1835:-. "It is beyond all doubt that the fire originated in the store extending from Pearl-street to Merchant-street, heretofore known as No. 131 Pearl-street, and No. 25 Merchant-street. The lower floor and cellar were occupied by Messrs. Comstock & Andrews, dry good merchants; and the upper part, being divided by a wooden partition up to the garret, was occupied in the Pearl-street front by Henry Babad, importer of French silks; and that part fronting on Merchant-street, by Beri King, a dealer in cloths. "In the centre of this store, from the lower story upwards, was a circular scuttle, inclosed with wood, and furnishing a channel of light from the roof of the store, which was thrown into the several lofts by means of windows. On the northerly side of the store towards Wall penetrate the roof; but about five years since, the rear-walls of each were taken down, and the side-walls extended so as to unite, while the party-walls were carried above the roof, and capped with brown stone. "It appears further, that the walls and ceiling of the interior of the cellar, first and second stories, were lined with boards nailed 'directly on the brick-work, and that the flues of the chimneys were separated from the wood-work by the width of a brick, being four inches. "Mr. Comstock says, that he left his store about four o'clock in the afternoon of the sixteenth instant. His clerks state that they left about five, and two of them are positive as to having left the fires in a safe condition, and carefully extinguished the gas by which the store was lighted. "There were two of Nott's stoves in Comstock & Andrews' apartment, communicating by their pipes with the chimney flues. In order to give more room in the store, the breastwork of the chimney nearest Pearl street, and immediately under Mr. Babad's apartment, had been taken down, except a small portion near the ceiling, and into this portion the stove-pipe had been introduced. As the day was cold, a strong fire had been kept up |