Our

One day as we were travelling with considerable difficulty, in the midst of the arid and sandy desert, the heat was so great that the perspiration ran down our foreheads, and we felt stifled by the excessive weight of the atmosphere. camels, too, stretching out their long throats and half opened mouths, tried in vain to inhale a breath of fresh air. When we perceived towards twelve o'clock, dark clouds gathering in the horizon, which warned us it would be prudent to erect our tent, lest we should be exposed to the storm without any means of shelter. But we were at a loss to find any spot where it could be pitched, though we sought for one eagerly on all sides. We climbed the adjoining heights and 1 ooked from thence, all around us to try if we could not discover some habitation of the Tartars, which might afford us warmth in this fearful emergency. But we gazed to no purpose, only a dreary solitude, lay stretched out before us, broken at intervals by foxes which were retreating to their holes, and flocks of goats which were running

MISSIONARY.

We

to hide themselves amongst the fastnesses of the mountains. Meantime the clouds continued to rise, and a tempestuous gale began to blow violently, breaking out in such irregular gusts, as baffled every attempt to guard against them, and kept us in suspense as to which would obtain the mastery. Whilst we were thus alternately buoyed up by hope and sunk again by fear, loud claps of thunder, and incessant lightnings, which made the heavens appear on fire, convinced us that all earthly hope was over, and that we must trust to Providence alone for our safety. bent our steps towards a gorge, which opened near to the spot where we had halted, that we might avoid the icy north wind which now was blowing furiously. The whole hurricane, however, swept down upon us, before we could reach the place. First the rain fell and came in torrents, then hail, which was succeeded by half melted snow. In a moment we were soaked to the skin, and felt that the cold had penetrated all our limbs. We attempted to walk, in the hope that it might assist in restoring our circulation, but we found it impossible to proceed any distance, as our feet sank in the wet sand as if it had been mortar. We therefore sought for shelter, in crouching close under the sides of the camels, and with folded arms attempted to retain a degree of warmth; and we resigned ourselves with submission to the will of Providence, to be disposed of according to His pleasure. For the storm was still falling upon us, in all its fury. It would have required more than human skill, to stretch the cloths of the tent, soaked by the rain, which the north wind had almost turned to ice; to at

tempt, therefore, to raise it was impossible; besides the difficulty of finding a spot, on which to pitch it, as the water on all sides flowed in streams. During this terrible conjuncture, we cast piteous glances at one another, without uttering a word; we felt that the natural warmth of our bodies grew by degrees less and less, and that our blood was freezing in our veins. So we offered up our lives as a sacrifice to God, fully persuaded that the cold during the night would kill us.

Notwithstanding the hopelessness of our condition, one of our party collected all his strength and energy, and clambered to the top of an eminence, which commanded the neighbouring pass. By so doing he discovered a pathway which by innumerable windings led to the bottom of this immense ravine. He followed in the track, and had advanced but a few steps in the descent, when he perceived two large openings resembling doors, in the sides of the mountain. Gaining fresh courage and strength at this sight, he rushed vigorously up the mountain, to announce the good news to his companions. "Our lives are saved!" he exclaimed, "There are grottoes in the gorge, let us seek for shelter in them without loss of time." These words were as genial as a thaw to the little caravan, we left our animals on the height, and went eagerly to examine the ravine. A path led to the aperture of these caverns. thrust our heads into them, and perceived that the hollow in the interior of the mountain was not a natural excavation, but a series of large, spacious and noble chambers, wrought out by the hand of man.

We

Our first exclamation was one of thankfulness to the Giver of all good. We hastened to single out the cleanest and largest of the caverns that lay before us. And in

an instant we had passed from the depth of misery, to the height of happiness. It was like a sudden and unexpected transition from death to life.

When we saw these subterraneous habitations constructed with SO much care and solidity, we concluded that in order to prepare some ground for cultivation, the Chinese had taken up their abode in these parts, and disheartened by the barrenness of the soil, had afterwards given up the attempt as fruitless. In this conjecture, we were confirmed by traces of cultivation that we found in several places. For it is the custom of the Chinese, when they establish themselves in any spot in Tartary, to construct caverns in the mountains, where they find the rock sufficiently hard and solid. These habitations are more economical than houses, and are less exposed to the vicissitudes of the seasons. They are, in general, very well arranged. Windows are made on each side of the entrance, so as to admit sufficient daylight to penetrate into every part inside. the interior, the walls, the vault, the ovens, the Kang, * is inlaid with a cement so well prepared and so bright as to have the appearance of stucco. They have also another advantage, that of being hot during the winter and very cool in the summer. The absence of any draught of air renders them, however, at times, hurtful to the occupants. Such dwelling-places as these were by no means a surprise to us, as they are frequent in Si Wan, where we had been on a former mission. However, we had seen none so well constructed as these of the country of the Ortous.

All

*The Kang, it resembles a large stove, the upper part of it is made of moveable boards placed closely together. It is used to sleep upon.

The water is calm and still below, For the winds and waves are absent there,

And the sands are bright as the stars that glow

In the motionless fields of the upper air;

And life, in rare and beautiful forms,

Is sporting amidst those bowers of stone,

And is safe when the wrathful spirit of storms,

Has made the top of the waves his

own.

WE left the young people and their governess busily engaged in examining the contents of the basket, which held their gathered curiosities; and Miss Sidney, now directed their attention to a piece of wood, full of round holes, which Alfred was hastily about to throw away.

"Stop, my dear," said Miss Sidney, "and let me explain how this piece of wood, which is, very likely, a part of some foundered vessel, or of the pier at the other end of the bay, came to be pierced in such a curious way. It is the work of a shell-fish, called the Teredo or shipworm. Great is the mischief done by this tiny animal in boring for itself a dwelling-place. It is a long worm-shaped creature, living in a shelly tube or case, which it forms for itself in making its way into the wood, which it pierces with its jaws. In Holland, as you know, a great part of the country is below the level of high water, and to prevent the sea from coming in upon it, immense dikes or banks have been made all along the coast. These are framed on the side towards the sea by large masses of sand, while to the landward they are strengthened by the plantation of strong grass, which is wattled

between immense piles of wood, driven into the ground. These piles were once accidentally discovered to be so completely pierced in all directions, by the Teredo, that but for a timely notice of the mischief, whole tracts of country would have been laid under water. Ships in tropical climates have been destroyed from the same cause, and before the use of copper bottoms, many a noble vessel may have foundered at sea, from the insidious attacks of this little creature. Fortunately the animal cannot live in fresh water, or our fine bridges would have had but a brief existence.

"The square case which Rose calls a 'dead beetle with four horns,' is the outer bag or skin of the egg of the Skate. Such purses, as they are called, once held a substance very like the yolk and white of an egg, and two of the four horns were hooked, and long enough to fasten the egg, for protection, to the weed at the bottom of the sea. The little fish soon makes its way out at one end, and the purses are then washed on shore."

"How curious," said Rose, examining the tough black purse, “I should like to know the names and histories of all fishes. I little thought when we had Skate for dinner the other day, that it came out of such a queer kind of case."

"I dare say I shall be able to give you some more amusing information about fishes," replied Miss Sidney, "but as it is reckoned that there are about 8,000, I do not profess to know all their names and histories, as you call it."

"Let us," said Alfred, "first finish looking at our basket of curiosities,

for here is a pretty pink ball with nobs on it, and between them a pattern pricked as if with a needle, and I think it must be something worth keeping."

"It is," said Miss Sidney, "the Echinus, or sea-urchin, or seaHedge-hog."

"It takes its name," cried Alfred, "from the Greek; Echinos is the Greek for Hedge-hog."

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"Yes," said Rose, "I dare say it is, but you should not interrupt Miss Sidney, though you are so clever."

"I beg Miss Sidney's pardon," said Alfred, "you know I do not often trouble you in the holidays with my school learning, but I could not help thinking of Echinos."

"You know," said Miss Sidney, "that the Hedge-hog is covered with spines, so was once this pretty ball, and the animal in it, possessed also a number of feet, or suckers, which it projected through these minute holes, either to crawl on the ground, or to seize the small shrimps and other such little animals on which it fed. The moment the Echinus touches one of these, no way of escape remains, for the hold is never relinquished; other suckers come out until it is firmly held, and passed to the mouth, which is placed where all these nobs and divisions meet, as on the top of a peeled orange, and is furnished with fine hard sharp teeth, and these can crush with ease the shell of the prey. The Star-fish is also a very voracious animal, for though it has no teeth, it manages to swallow small shelled animals whole, and then rejects the empty shell, and, as is believed, devours larger ones out of their shell. So destructive is this animal considered to Oysters, that in some old Admiralty regulations, a penalty is denounced against every one who on seeing the Five finger,' does not either

crush it beneath his feet, or throw it out of the reach of the tide. From some observations made by M. Deslongchamps, a French naturalist, it appears that it pours into the Oyster-shell some poisoning fluid, and that the oyster gaping, the animal is instantly sucked out by the fleshy tubes which project from the mouth of the Star-fish."

"It would have some trouble," said Rose, "to get at the Limpet, which sticks so closely to the rock that you need a knife to get it off without breaking the shell."

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"Unless you happen to surprise it while waiting for food," replied Miss Sidney, when it slightly raises the shell. A pretty bird, called the Oyster-catcher or Sea-pie, is well aware of this, and twitches them off with great case by means of his wedged-shaped bill." With this it can also open the Cockle very cleverly, by holding the shell steady with its foot, and wrenching it open as with a crow-bar."

"And now," said Miss Sidney, "let us walk a little way on the rocks, or rather I should say, scramble, for the path will be both slippery and uneven."

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O, what a beautiful pool!" exclaimed Rose, "it is like a little garden under water. See the green

and red plants and tiny trees, and little sparkling pebbles, (puts her hand in but hastily withdraws it). What is that, darting about! and I felt something so cold."

"It is the Goby or Rock-fish, my dear. This pretty pool is his dwelling-place, here he lies secure from the attacks of large fish, I have no doubt that your hand greatly alarmed him. The cold substance that you touched is the Sea-anemone, which was once thought to be a plant, and was so called from being like the flower of that name. When it opens its feelers the animal is waiting for

food, and when it has fed on shrimps, small crabs, and other little shell-fish, it closes itself again into a round red ball. The feelers

enable it, like the Sea Hedge-hog, to seize the prey, and if it he a shell-fish, the empty shell is after a while thrown out. This appears almost incredible to people unacquainted with the wonders of the animal kingdom, but they might satisfy themselves of the truth of such modes of feeding, by a visit to the British Museum. There, I have seen a dried specimen of a Star-fish, which had fallen a victim to its voracity in attempting to swallow a large shell of the Venus kind, which still remains in its mouth."

GOOD FAITH.

A Legend of South America.

It has been remarked by naturalists, that the animals in the New World are inferior, both in size and strength of limb, to those of the Old. The Chilians dignify the puma with the name of lion, though it is infinitely his inferior both in size, courage, and strength, being only about as big as a large mastiff, and of about the same colour.

Once, in times long gone by, three men were traversing the mountains, but night overtaking them before they could reach any habitation, they lighted a large fire, and sat down beside it. It was a gloomy, dark night, and the howling of wild beasts was plainly heard in the neighbouring forest. "I don't care for the lions, for I have a sword!" said one of the men. "Nor I," said the second, "for I have a lance !" "Nor I," said the third, more confidently than the other two, "for I have my good faith!"

am active, and can avoid it; so, as I am hungry, here goes!" and he crept forward. But when the third spoke, he stopped short. "The sword and lance I know and don't fear;

but this good faith-what is it? It may kill or wound me: I will wait and see it!" So he trotted off, determined to find out what this unknown weapon was. Presently he met an old woman. "Good," said he, "here is my chance; first I will find out from her and then I'll eat her. She will be tough, perhaps, but my teeth are good, and my appetite very keen!" So he accosted her saying, "Good mother, last night, for something to do, I sat listening to three men one said he had a lance to defend himself with, another a sword, but the third said he had his good faith. Tell me, Mamita, what is this good faith?" She, with great presence of mind, answered,

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My poor dear, you ran a great risk indeed. It is a new weapon just introduced, of so fatal a sort, that, only to wish ill to one who has it, occasions a lingering death. Here, take this, my child," offering a loaf, "and thank your stars you did not attack him nor intend evil to me!" The lion, never thinking that a poor old woman could take him in, civilly thanked her, ate his loaf, and scampered back to his family. From that day to this, the lion has never preyed on human beings; he fears the "GOOD FAITH."