of which its first form was a rude imitation; but the Chinese names are very numerous: fung-tsang, the wind-guitär; chi-yan, paper-hawk; kwin-chi, neither more nor less than the English kite, bird, and toy; and all sorts of fanciful and poëtical titles. 6. To describe all kinds of kites to be seen in China would be to undertake too much; so we will only venture to speak of a sort věry common among the Chinese, and particularly effective in appearance-namely, the bird kite. The hawk, or common kite, is the bird usually represented; and to make this they cut a piece of paper the exact shape and size of the natural bird when on the wing; this they paint the natural color and stretch on ribs of bamboo arranged very much in the shape of the old English cross-bow when strung, leaving the parts which represent the ends of the wing and tail-feathers unbound by twine, so as to shiver in the wind.

7. Thus constructed, the kite rises with great ease, and flies with wonderful grace of motion, imitating the real bird to a nicèty by now and then taking a long swoop, then soaring again, and then poising itself with a flutter before repeating the proc

ess.

At times, a number of these kites are flown at once by attaching them at different intervals to the string of some larger kite, and the effect is thereby much increased; for the reäl kites are in the habit of sailing in a flock together as they circle over their prey.

8. What man among ourselves but has had his eyes attracted upward, and more or less of his interest engaged, by seeing a fire-balloon sailing in mid-air, or a sky-rocket bûrsting in the sky; or, indeed, anything out of the common happening overhead'? And is the Chinese or Japanese to be läughed at, if he relishes the still stränger sight of a couple of fantastically 1dressed friends walking arm-in-arm in the clouds with an umbrella over their heads; a hideous 2 ogre3 face, roaring as it sails ǎlong; a pretty but immense butterfly flapping its wings like its living model; birds flying about so life-like that one can

1 Fan tǎs'tic al ly, fancifully; whimsically; wildly.

2 Hid'e ous, frightful or offensive to the eye or the ear; dreadful to behold

3 Ogre (o'ger), a monster, or frightful giant of fairy tales, who lived on human beings.

4

Pretty (prit'ti), pleasing by delicacy, grace, or neatness.

hardly believe them to be made of paper; a huge dragon or centiped, which, with its scaly joints stretching out some sixty to a hundred feet in length, its thousand legs, and slow, undulating motion, looks marvelously like a giant specimen of that horrible creature creeping down upon one out of the clouds--and many other curious things that an American would scârcely dream of?

9. Yet sights such as these may be seen in Japanese and Chinese cities at any time during the kite-flying season; and, while they can not fail to attract the attention of the observant? stranger, in common with many other novelties he sees about him, lead him to conclude that the old men and adults3 of those countries have, at any rate, some excuse for the frivolity 4 they are accused of.

10. The ability to make such extraordinary 5 kites is mainly owing to the toughness, tenuity, and flexibility of the Chinese and Japanese paper, and the abundant material for ribs and frames afforded by the bamboo,-a plant which has not its equal for the lightness, strength, flexibility, and elasticity of its fibrous wood.

11. With these simple materials, and with the wonderful neatness and ingenuity 10 the Chinese and Japanese are famous for, it is astonishing how rapidly and easily they construct the odd and complicated 11 figures which they fly as kites.

1 Cěn'ti ped, a kind of manyjointed, worm-shaped, land animal, wingless, having many feet, and powerful biting fangs.

2 Observ'ant, taking notice; cârefully attentive; obedient.

'Flex'i bil'i ty, the quality of being flexible, or capable of being bent or twisted without breaking; pliancy.

8 E las tic'i ty, ability of a thing to return to its former shape when

A dult', a person or thing grown compressed or expanded. to full size or strength.

4 Fri vŏl'i ty, fondness for vain or foolish pursuits; triflingness.

5 Extraordinary (eks trôr'di nari), out of the common course; more than common.

6 Te nu'i ty, râreness, or thinness; slenderness.

'Fi'brous, containing, or consist ing of, fibres, or the thread-like por tions of plants or muscles.

10 In'ge nu'i ty, the quality or power of ready invention; skill.

11 Com'pli cât ed, folded or twisted together; containing many parts; not simple.

TH

SECTION II.

I.

4. THE SPRING.

HE wind blows in the sweet rose-tree :
The cow lows on the fragrant 1 lea;2
The streamlet 3 flōws all bright and free :
'Tis not for me-'tis not for thee;

3

'Tis not for any one, I trōw :4 The gentle wind blowèth,

The happy cow lowèth,

The měrry stream flōweth

For all below.

O the Spring, the bountiful Spring!
She shinèth and smilèth on every thing.

2. Whence come the sheep?

From the rich man's moor.

Where comèth sleep?

To the bed that's poor.

Peasants must weep,

And kings endure:

That is a fate that none can cure.

Yet Spring doth all sho can, I trōw :
She brings the bright hours,

She weaves the sweet flowers:

She děckèth her bowers for all below.
O the Spring, the bountiful Spring!
She shineth and smileth on every thing.

1 Fra'grant, sweet of smell.

2 Lea, sward-land or a meadow. 3 Strēam'let, a small stream; a rivulet; a rill.

4 Trōw, suppose or think; believe. 'Boun'ti ful, generous; free in giving.

Moor, a large waste covered with heath, and having a poor, light soil, but sometimes marshy.

BRYAN WALLER PROCTER.

'None (nun), not one.
8 Doth (dŭfh).

'Bryan Waller Procter (Barry Cornwall), father of Adelaide Anne Procter, was born at London about 1790. Although his prose is excellent, he is chiefly noted as a song writer, some of his songs being singularly well adapted to music. He died in 1874.

full of joy.

I can not tell you hälf the sights of beauty you may see,
The bursts of golden sunshine, and many a shady tree.

2.

There, lightly swung, in bowery glades,1 the honeysuckles twine; There blooms the pink sabbatiä, and the scarlet columbine; There grows the purple violet in some dusk woodland spot; There grows the little Mayflower, and the wood forget-me-not.

3.

And many a měrry bird is there, unscâred by lawlèss men;
The blue-winged jay, the woodpecker, and golden-crested wren;

1 Glades, open or cleared places in a forest or wood.

Come down, and ye shall see them all, the timid and the bold, For their sweet life of pleasantnèss, it is not to be told.

4.

I've seen the freakish 1 squirrels2 drop down from their leafy tree, The little squirrels with the old-great joy it was to me!

And far within that summer wood, among the leaves so green, There flows a little gurgling brook, the brightest e'er was seen.

3

5.

There come the little gentle birds, without a fear of ill,

Down to the murmuring water's edge, and freely drink their fill, And dash about, and splash about-the měrry little thingsAnd look askance with bright black eyes, and flirt their dripping wings.

6.

The nodding plants, they bowed their heads, as if, in heartsome cheer,

They spake unto those little things, ""Tis měrry living here!"
Oh,
how my heart ran ō'er with joy! I saw that all was good,
And how we might glean up delight all round us, if we would!

TH

III.

6. SEPTEMBER DAYS.

`HE beginning of autumn, while it is the most peaceful season of the whole year, is also the most animated. There are those who dispute whether spring or autumn is the more beautiful. Spring has the advantage of contrast with the inertia 5 and cold of winter.

6

2. It is a striking type of the resurrection. The grave gives up its dead. The naked forests put on a new and glorious

1 Freak' ish, playful; changing their play often.

2

Squirrel (skwur'rel), sometimes pronounced skwir'rel.

3 Gurgling (ger'gling), running with a pûrling or mûrmûring noise.

* Askance (ǎ skåns'), aside; sideways.

5 Inertia (in ĕr ́shi å), sluggishness; inactivity.

6 Type, an emblem; an example or pattern.