again silent. Presently the crackling of flames was Of had taken possession of a steep narrow ridge and seemed desirous of magnifying their numbers in the eyes of the whites, as they ran rapidly from tree to tree, and maintained a steady yell in their most appalling tones. The pursuers, however, were too experienced to be deceived by so common an artifice, and being satisfied that the number of the enemy must be inferiour to their own, they dismounted, tied their horses, and flanking out in such a manner as to inclose the enemy, ascended the ridge as rapidly as was consistent with a due regard to the shelter of their persons. The firing quickly commenced, and now for the first time they discovered that only two Indians were opposed to them. They had voluntarily sacrificed themselves for the safety of the main body, and had succeeded in delaying pursuit until their friends could reach the mountains. One of them was instantly shot dead, and the other was badly wounded, as was evident from the blood upon his blanket, as well as that which filled his tracks in the snow for a considerable distance. The pursuit was recommenced, and urged keenly until night, when the trail entered a running stream and was lost. On the following morning the snow had melted, and every trace of the enemy was obliterated. This affair must be regarded as highly honourable to the skill, address, and activity of the Indians, and the self-devotion of the rear-guard, is a lively instance of that magnanimity of which they are at times capable, and which is more remarkable in them, from the extreme caution, and tender regard for their own lives, which usually distinguishes their warriours”. NATURAL HISTORY. THE ARABIAN CAMEL. "The neighbourhood was quickly alarmed, and by daylight, about thirty men were assembled under the command of Colonel Edwards. A light snow Or the group of animals figured in the cut achad fallen during the latter part of the night, and companying this article, the Syrian ox and the the Indian trail could be pursued at a gallop. It led camel, are the most useful and important. The directly into the mountainous country bordering upon Syrian ox takes the place in the eastern countries Licking, and afforded evidences of great hurry and of our common ox. The camel family is extenprecipitation on the part of the fugitives. Unfortu- sive and embraces the camel, dromedary, lama, nately, a hound had been permitted to accompany guanaco and alpaca. Of these the Arabian camel the whites, and as the trail became fresh and the may be considered as the camel par excellence; as scent warm, she followed it with eagerness, baying it is the one which is best known and employed on loudly, and giving the alarm to the Indians. The consequences of this imprudence were soon displayed. The enemy finding the pursuit keen, and perceiving that the strength of the prisoner began to fail, instantly sunk their tomahawks in her head and left her, still warm and bleeding upon the snow. As the whites came up, she retained strength enough to wave her hand in token of recognition, and appeared desirous of giving them some information, with regard to the enemy, but her strength was too far gone. Her brother sprung from his horse and knelt by her side, endeavouring to stop the effusion of blood, but in vain. She gave him her hand, muttered some inarticulate words, and expired within two minutes after the arrival of the party. The pursuit was renewed with additional ardour, and in twenty minutes the enemy was within view. They the most difficult, and therefore the most important journeys. To the Arab in the desert, especially those parts of it in which neither sheep nor goats can be kept, the camel is an exccedingly valuable animal; and in this respect approaches nearer to the ox, where kept for draught and burden, as well as for food, than perhaps any other animal. The flesh of the camel is eaten; and the milk is applied to all the common domestick purposes. Their hair is manufactured into clothing, and also covering for tents. The hide, which is very thick and strong, is used for making sandals, saddles, pitchers, shields and various other articles. The owner, with his family, and all their little appointments, are carried from place to place on the backs of the camels. When the camel kneels down for repose during the night, his side forms a pillow; and when the sand drives before the storm in the desert, the rider takes shelter in the lee of the kneeling camel. Upon occasion, the camels are sometimes ranged round the encampment, forming both a shelter, and at least a temporary means of defence in cases of attack during the night; and those countries which are separated from each other by wide extents of desert, could have no communication with each other but by means of the camel. The camel and the desert thus appear to be made for each other; and though the appellation of "the Ship of the Desert" no doubt partakes of little of the high hyperbole of eastern speech, yet that animal is the only ship by means of which the desert can be navigated either with certainty or with safety. An Arabian camel can carry a load of between seven and eight hundred pounds, and travel with it at the rate of about two miles and a half in the hour. When less heavily laden it can travel faster, though not above three miles in the hour; and in the deserts it is not customary to load the animals very heavily, or drive them more than about eight hours in the day. Though the eye of the camel is heavy, his senses, especially that of smelling, are very acute: and though there is some trouble as well as some skill necessary in breaking a young camel, yet when properly broken they are docile; with proper treatment they last much longer than the horse, being serviceable to the age of forty or forty-five years; but in India, where they are heavily laden, and not so well treated as in the countries to the westward, they do not last above half that time. Camels have been partially introduced into some of the warmer parts of the south of Europe; but they are not properly at home any where except on surfaces of dry sand or mud; on hard ground their feet get beaten, on rocks they get cut, and on both kinds of surfaces the plaing of the feet shakes them violently, and they run some risk of dislocating the joints of their legs; their manner of walking, and also the convex form of the soles of their feet, render a surface which yields partially to the tread necessary to their walking with comfort; and when one sees a camel led about for show in paved streets, the animal seems to walk in great pain, and looks sickly from the constant jolting of its weighty body, and the tendency which its feet have to slide, especially if the pavement is wet, or glazed by the traffick of carriages in dry weather. Camels are sometimes used in war, and small pieces of ordnance are occasionally mounted on their backs; but the principal use of them is for more pacifick purposes. When a horde of those nomadick tribes, which depend much on their camels, remain stationary in any locality, they let their camels pasture together in considerable flocks; but the males and females are kept in separate pastures, by which means they all remain tractable, except during the rutting season, and then the males often fight desperately with each other by biting, striking, and kicking, in the course of which they endeavour to throw each other down, and the one which goes to the ground is sure to be trampled under foot by. the other. They are even exhibited in combat among the coarse spectacles of the place. This is not, however, very common. As is the case among horses, and indeed among all animals which have been long in a state of domestication, there appears to be considerable "differ of that country toward the mountains of Armenia; and that of the two species of camel, the one is a native of the country immediately to the south of those mountains which range from, the Himalaya to the shores of the Archipelago, and that the other is a native of the northern slopes of the same moun tains. ences of blood" among camels. Those which are used in common caravan travelling, with heavy loads, and at a slow rate, bear nearly the same relation to the smaller, lighter, and fleeter breeds, which are used in reconnoitering or on swift journeys, that our heavy dray and cart-horses bear to roadsters, hunters, and racers. It is to this small and fleet breed that the name dromedary, or mahairy, properly That this mountain-ridge is the natural boundary applies. By means of these, no doubt with relays of the localities of the two species or varieties may at the different stages, a journey at the rate of more readily be admitted, because the hair of the Bacthan four miles an hour may be kept up night and trian camel follows the general law of that of all day for several days. It has sometimes been al- animals of Central Asia northward of the line of leged that this difference of speed in different in- the Himalaya. Toward the winter it grows very dividuals should be considered as arising from a long, as if to serve as a thatch against at least ocdifference of species, and there have not been want-casional snow-storms; and when summer sets in, ing attempts to show that these different species this winter coat of long hair is shed, so that during originated in different parts of the country, but there the summer, which is very hot and dry in those is little reason to suppose that either the one or the places, as compared with the winter, the animal is other of those suppositions have the slightest foun- nearly naked. In the Arabian camel, on the other dation in truth; though there is no doubt that hand, there is no such seasonal change in the hair. camels, like all other animals, are affected by differ- No doubt it is longer in winter than in summer, and ences of climate, pasture, and treatment. And, as the coat is annually changed as well as that of the the swifter ones are said to be more in the hands of other; but the change is gradual in comparison, and the wandering Bedouins than of those who have the difference in the winter and summer appearance comparatively fixed abodes, it is highly probable of the animal is not nearly so great. In this rethat the farther into the desert, the camel is the spect, however, there is a considerable difference fleeter, and the smaller in size. This accords with between the camels of the northern and the southern what is observed of animals in our own country; parts of their range, or more strictly speaking, beand as is the case with these, it seems to be in har-tween those that inhabit countries which are subject dihood and power of endurance more than in abso-to periodical rain and drought, and those which inlutely greater speed, for a short time that the maha-habit where the climate is habitually dry, and with ries are superiour to the larger camels which are the exception of difference of heat (which is not employed to carry loads at slower rates and at shorter distances. very great,) the weather may be said to be nearly the same all the year round. This is very much the case on the borders of the western or rather the central deserts of Africa, and it is partially also the case in some of the northern parts of Arabia. These are the places where the smallest and fleetest camels are bred, and also where their hair is shortest and most uniform in length throughout the The Arabian camel is, in the largest breeds, about seven feet in height; but the smaller and swifter ones are lower. The legs are long and slender, and what are considered "clean made." It is very much drawn in at the flanks, but the abdomen is rather too large, and the length of the intestinal canal and size of the stomachs, rendered ne-year. cessary by the coarse nature of the animal's food, require that it should be so. There is but one hump, which is nearly in the middle of the back, broad and rather flat in the upper part; and it does not waste so much in the rutting season as the hump of the Bactrian camel. Independently of the different breeds which are reared for different purposes in the domestick economy of those people who use camels, there are considerable differences arising from the characters of the countries in which they are bred. In this respect they follow the law of all domesticated animals which find their food in the fields; that is, the richer the pasture is the breed runs the larger, and the breed gradually diminishes as the pasture becomes bare and dry. So that if large camels are wanted in Arabia or in the African deserts, the breed has to be obtained, or kept up by periodical crossing, from Turkey; and on the other hand, if light and fleet camels are wanted in the richer places, they have to be obtained by means of the breeds of the deserts. Independently however of this, there appears to be some difference of size connected with difference of latitude, as they are smaller in proportion as they are bred in places nearer the equator. From this it has sometimes been argued that the Arabian camel is not a native of Arabia, but of Syria, and even the northern part There is thus a wonderful accommodation to climate in the camel, as well as in all the other ruminantia, which are so very serviceable to man in a domestick state; and from this we may infer that, in so far as its general health is concerned, the camel might in course of time be domesticated, and thrive in a domestick state, in any latitude, from Lapland to the equator. There is something very remarkable in this universal adaptation of those animals which are the most serviceable to the human race, so remarkable that it is impossible not to see that God has created those animals for a double purpose. First, for their general use in wild nature, in which they agree with all other natural productions; and secondly, in their peculiar use to man in all stages and degrees of civilization. And we may remark that the very same law holds good in the vegetable kingdom. All those plants which are more eminently necessary for human food can, with proper management, be grown in perfection over a vast range of surface. Wheat, which is probably (though the fact is one which cannot be ascertained with certainty) a native of Northern Africa, can be profitably reared in the north of Scotland; and the potato, which is originally from Central America, forms a large proportion of the vegetable food even of Northern Europe, and is much better there than in any part of that continent of which it is a native. Animals and vegetables which are not serviceable to man, or of which the possession partakes more of the character of a luxury than that of a necessary life, do not so readily accommodate themselves to different climates; and in order to have them in places which are not native to them, a good deal of art must be practised, and a good deal of expense incurred. But though the valuable animals accommodate themselves to different climates, there is still one part of their organization which keeps them to that peculiar kind of surface on which food most nearly resembling that of their native places is to be found; and, as the camel is a native of very peculiar kinds of surface, the camel is a very remarkable instance of this. These animals use their feet only as organs of motion, and except in kicking or striking in their own defence, they use them for no other purpose; and, therefore, the structures of their feet keep them more to their proper localities than those of any other animals, as for instance, the buffalo to the swamp, the ox to the meadow, the sheep to the hillside, the goat to the rocks, and the camel to the desert. Therefore, though it is possible to rear any one of those animals over a very wide extent of latitude, there is still some one better fitted for every particular place than any of the others are; and thus, though nature has been exceedingly bountiful to man in the valuable qualities in those animals, the advantage is not given to him as an ignorant and indolent savage, but as a means of rational study and wholesome labour. Hence, every department of nature, as well as every difficuly and distress by which man is overtaken on his progress through life, impresses upon him the necessity of being intelligent and industrious-proclaims to him, in language not to be mistaken, that if he would avoid being wretched and miserable he must learn to know and to do, and continue steady in the practice of both, during the whole period of his life. FIGS. THE annexed cut is an excellent representation of the leaves of the fig, an extensive genus of lofty trees only one species of which bears edible fruit. This is the one generally cultivated in hot-houses at the northern, and in the gardens of the southern parts of the United States. In the south of Europe figs are one of their most esteemed and valuable fruits, not only from their forming an article of diet in the season, but from their being an important article for exportation to other countries. The fig-tree is remarkable for yielding, in its native country, two crops of ripe fruit in the course of twelve months. The young fruit which make their appearance in the autumn of one year, ripen in the beginning of summer in the next; and the fruit which show themselves in the spring, ripen in the following autumn. In this country the spring-produced fruit rarely or never ripen in the open air; but the autumn-fruit, if they escape the frosts of winter, ripen perfectly, as well on standards as on walls. The Fig.-F. carica.) No tree is more easily increased than the common fig; suckers which the tree produces in plenty, make good trees; it also strikes root readily from either layers or cuttings. Planted against walls, they are usually trained with branches diverging from the root like a fan; but they may be trained in any form. Standards in the open ground are trained in the round bush form. The best soil for figs is a strongish hazel loam on a dry bottom, but they thrive in any good gardensoil. So Much depends on pruning; the young shoots produced in the spring do not ripen fruit, but if these shoots be stopped by breaking off the point as soon as they are from four to six inches long, they will produce other shoots which will bear plentifully, and ripen fruit in the autumn of the next year. that keeping the tree free from old branches and stopping the spring shoots every year, about midsummer, will keep a constant supply of bearing wood to be depended on. Large fig-trees on walls managed in this manner, are well worth defending from frost by woollen netting, or some other temporary curtain, to be let down or put up when necessary. All the fruit produced on the spring-shoots, and which never ripen, should be pulled off the tree in September, causing very frequently other young. fruit to come forth on one or both sides of the place where the first grew. This second birth are sure to ripen in the following summer. THE THORN. In rambling around the country observing the curiosities of nature, nothing is more attractive than the thorn, a cut of which will be found on the next page. On the sharp thorny branches of this tree, it is frequently remarked, that one and sometimes colouring. The tender, the pathetick and devout, were the characters in which he peculiarly excelled, and are those which not only distinguish him from every other painter, but almost give him precedence of all. In expressing the different parts of the body, he had a remarkable peculiarity, for he usually designed the eyes of his figures large, the nostrils somewhat close, the mouth small, the toes rather too much joined, and without any great variety. His heads are accounted little inferiour to Raffaell's, either in correctness of design or engaging propriety of expression; and it has been justly observed, that the merit of Guido consisted in that moving and persuasive beauty, which does not so much proceed from a regularity of features, as from the lovely air which he gave to the mouth, and the modesty which he placed in the eye. Yet there is somewhat theatrical in his attitudes, whence it seems that he confined all his power to the expression of the countenance. His draperies are always disposed with large folds, in a grand style, and with singular judgement they are contrived to fill up the void spaces, free from stiffness or affectation, yet noble and elegant. Though he understood not the chiarooscuro, he sometimes practised it, by the force of genius. His pencil was light, and his touch free, but delicate; and though he laboured his pictures highly, he generally gave some bold strokes to his work, in order to conceal the toil and time he had bestowed upon it. His colouring is generally very clear and pure; but latterly, his pictures had a grayish cast, which changed into a livid colour, and his shadows partook of the green. Many of his latter performances are not to be placed in competition with those which he painted before he fell into distressed circumstances, by an inordinate passion for gaming; when, as his necessities compelled him to work for immediate subsistence, he contracted the habit of painting in a slight and negligent y to ob ging at a bob manner, without any attention to his honour or fame. goiz se alege In the church of St. Philip Neri, at Fano, is a grand four zla.ot suol mo 9 yet as altar-piece by Guido, representing Christ delivering ARTS AND ARTISTS.oubor the keys to St. Peter. The head of our Saviour is ag bis exceedingly fine, that of St. John admirable, and THE cut opposite, represents the flight of Lot and the other apostles are in a grand style, full of elehis daughters, and is engraved from a celebrated pic-gance, with a strong expression, and the whole well ture by Guido Reni. osa liwemu preserved. In the archiepiscopal gallery at Milan This memorable artist was born at Bologna in is a St. John, wonderfully tender in the colouring, 1574, and when very young became the scholar of and the graces diffused throughout the design excite Denis Calvart, but he afterwards entered the school the admiration of every beholder. At Bologna, in of the Caracci, being considered as the principal the Palazzo Tanaro, is a most beautiful picture of disciple of that celebrated seminary, with the ex- the Virgin, the Infant Jesus, and St. John; in which ception of Domenichino. His masters, we are con- the heads are exquisitely graceful, and the draperies fidently told, were so jealous of his extraordinary in a grand style. But in the Palazzo Zampieri is talents and uncommon progress, that Lodovico at-preserved one of the most capital paintings of Guido. tempted to keep down his aspiring genius, by set- The subject is, the Penitence of St. Peter, with ting Guercino against him as a rival; while Anni- one of the apostles seeming to comfort him. The bale, in the same ungenerous spirit, censured Albano figures are as large as life, and the whole of an as for bringing Guido among them. Notwithstanding tonishing beauty; the painter having shown, in that this, the young artist pursued his course with unre- single performance, the art of painting carried to its mitting ardour; nor did he adopt the style of the highest perfection. The heads are nobly designed; . Caracci, but examined for himself the several excel- the colouring is clear and precious; and the expreslencies of other great painters, with the view of sion inimitably just and natural. There was also in profiting by them all, and thus forming a manner of the collection of the marquis of Hastings, but afterhis own. He at one time appeared to imitate Pas- wards of Mr. West, a fine head by Guido, represerotti, and at another Caravaggio; but he took care senting Christ crowned with thorns, painted in a Tradition relates that this bird has a practice of catching and sticking up nine grass-hoppers a day, which it does s not devour, but places them in order to decoy the smaller birds which feed on insects, and thus render r them his prey. But what is still more remarkable, each of these grass-hoppers is ch of stuck up regularly and in same position as when on the ground. to a. void their defects atever he found good style nearly approaching to perfection, blending in in either, |