the head of a flock of sheep? What is a wether? How does he lead the flock? What is a collie? Of what use are collies? What is a wild sheep called? Where is it found? Where are those places? Where and what are the South Downs and the North Downs? Which sheep give the best mutton? Where are many sheep kept for their wool? What colonies are there in Australia? South Africa? Where is there a curious sheep found? What is curious about it? What countries are in Western Asia? What sheep gives the finest wool? Why is it called so? Why are our sheeps' tails short? How are sheeps' tails by nature?

GRAMMAR.-Write out twenty nouns from the lesson.

THE LOCOMOTIVE.
HERE is a steed of wondrous speed
and marvellous to view;

He runs on wheels instead of legs,
His joints all turn on iron pegs,
His road is iron, too.

He draws along his ponderous train,
And never feels it toil;

They fire him up to make him go,
With lumps of coal thrown in below,
And water made to boil.

"Choo-choo!" he says; "choo-choo! choo-choo! Get off the line, you fellows, you,

Or else I'll cut you right in two."
He's managed by an engineer

Who knows just how to treat him;
He makes him stop, he makes him go
Backward and forward, to and fro,
And never has to beat him.

He careth not for tunnels dark,
Nor curves upon the line,

But runneth best with might and main
Across a wide extended plain,

Or down a long incline.

"Choo-choo!" he says; "choo-choo! choo-choo! Get off the line, you fellows, you,

Or else I'll cut you right in two."

And when he nears a crossing road,

He goeth not so fast,

And gives a shriek that all who hear
May know the iron horse is near,
And wait till he has passed.
And thus this trundler travels on

His course through night and day;
Beware of him when he's in view;
The monster can't look after you;
All he can say is, "Choo-choo-choo!"
When thundering on his way.

THE BIRD.

"BIRDIE, birdie, will you pet?

Summer is long a-coming yet;

You'll have silken quilts and a violet bed,

And a pillow of satin for your head."

"There's a prettier bed in the ivy wall,

Where I live with my brothers and sisters and all, And every day some garden tree

Brings a message from summer to me."

"O birdie, birdie! will you pet?
Diamond stones and amber and jet,
We'll string in a necklace fair and fine,
To deck this pretty bird of mine."

"Thanks for your diamonds and amber and jet,
But there's a necklace far better yet;

A ring of feathers of changing hue,
Lighter, and smoother, and warmer too."

"O birdie, birdie! won't you pet?
We'll bring you a dish of silver fret,
A golden cup and an ivory seat,
And carpets soft beneath your feet."

"There's no running water in cups of gold,
Free food a silver dish can't hold;
A rocking twig beats an ivory chair,
And the softest paths lie through the air.
So adieu, fair lady, adieu!"

WILLIAM ALLINGHAM.

149

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

Co-lum'-bus, pr.n., a native of
Genoa, in Italy, was sent out by
Ferdinand and Isabella with
three ships, and discovered San
Salvador, one of the Bahama
islands, October 12, 1492.
In'-di-ans, n. pl., properly the peo-
ple of Hindostan, or of the East

WHEN

Indies. The natives of America were afterwards called American Indians, to distinguish them from the Indians proper of the East Indies.

In'-di-a, pr.n., the old name of Hindostan, or the East Indies, in Southern Asia.

JHEN Columbus discovered America he thought it was an unknown part of India,* and so he

called the natives Indians, and by this name they are known to the present day.

They are singular people, copper-coloured in complexion, with dark eyes and raven black hair. They are fearless hunters and brave warriors, and they have cultivated their keen eyesight to observe almost every change of nature, so that they are able to track an animal or plant almost as certainly as a bloodhound.

Their warriors are called braves, and pride themselves upon bearing pain without flinching. Hence when prisoners are captured they are tortured horribly to make them cry out, and many of them will die without uttering a groan.

The following anecdote will give you some idea of the keenness with which an Indian observes and gains information from marks, from which a white man, or pale-face as he would be called, would probably learn nothing.

An Indian coming home to his hut from the forest, found a ham had been stolen during his absence. He immediately started in pursuit of the thief.

Presently he met a white man whom he knew, and told him that a short, lame white man, with a small, short-tailed dog that was blind on the left side, had stolen a ham from him about two hours. before.

The white man asked him when he last saw the