Monsters of dark and wallowing bulk, The tusked mouth, and the spiny fin, The glittering swift, and the flabby slow, 10. Away! away! to upper day, To glance o'er the breezy brine, And see the Nautilus gladly sail, The Flying-fish leap and shine. 11. But what is that? "Tis land !-'tis land! 'Tis land!' the sailors cry. Nay! 'tis a long and narrow cloud, 12. 'Tis land! 'tis land!' they cry once more And now comes breathing on An odour of the living earth, Such as the sea hath none. 13. But now I mark the rising shores ! 14. See, how the tall Palms lift their locks From mountain clefts-what vales, Basking beneath the noontide sun, 15. Yet all about the breezy shore, Unheedful of the glow, Look how the children of the South Are passing to and fro. 16. What noble forms! what fairy place! Cast anchor in this cove; Push out the boat, for in this land A little we must rove! 17. We'll wander on through wood and field, We'll sit beneath the Vine; We'll drink the limpid Cocoa-milk, And pluck the native Pine. 18. The Bread-fruit and Cassada-root, All gladsome-plain and shore- But shall be here no more. 19. We've seen the splendid Southern clime, Its seas, and isles, and men; So now! back to a dearer land To England back again! Two cats having stolen some cheese, could not agree about dividing their prize. In order therefore to settle the dispute, they consented to refer the matter to a monkey. The proposed arbitrator very readily accepted the office, and producing a balance, put a part into each scale. Let me see,' said he; 'aye, this lump outweighs the other;' and immediately bit off a considerable piece, in order to reduce it, he observed, to an equilibrium. give us our 'If you are The opposite scale was now the heavier; which afforded our conscientious judge a reason for a second mouthful. Hold, hold,' said the two cats, who began to be alarmed for the event, respective shares and we are satisfied.' satisfied,' returned the monkey, 'justice is not: a case of this intricate nature is by no means so soon determined.' Upon which he continued to nibble first one piece, and then the other, till the poor cats, seeing their cheese gradually diminishing, entreated him to give himself no farther trouble, but deliver to them what remained. 'Not so fast, I beseech you, friends,' replied the monkey; 'we owe justice to ourselves as well as to you: what remains is due to me in right of my office.' Upon which he crammed the whole into his mouth, and with great gravity dismissed the court. A serpent had for some time been waiting for prey near the brink of a pool, when a buffalo was the first that offered. Having darted upon the affrighted animal, it instantly began to wrap it round with its voluminous twistings; and at every twist the bones of the buffalo were heard to crack. It was in vain that the poor animal struggled and bellowed; its enormous enemy entwined it too closely to get free; till at length, all its bones being mashed to pieces, and the whole body reduced to one uniform mass, the serpent untwined its folds to swallow its prey at leisure. To prepare for this, and in order to make the body slip down the throat more glibly, it was seen to lick the whole body over, and thus cover it with its mucus. It then began to swallow it at that end that offered least resistance, while its length of body was dilated to receive its prey, and thus took in at once a morsel three times its own thickness. I do not know what the cold northern regions would do without their reindeer. We should be poorly off without our horses, cows, and sheep, and the reindeer is horse, cow, and sheep, and a good many other things too -all in one. It is not so graceful as most other animals of the deer tribe; but it is all the more fitted for the place it has to fill, and the work it has to do. Its hoofs are so formed that they can tread upon the snow without sinking deeply into it, and its stronger make enables it to draw its master's sledge with ease and swiftness over the hard frozen surface. A sledge is a long narrow carriage with no wheels; the reins are attached to the animal's antlers, which are very large and branched, and bent back over |