BY DAVID OVER.
THE BLEST ONES AT HOME.
TCNB —"OU Hoiks ai Home."
Away on tho banks of life's bright river,
Far, far away—
There will niv heart be turning evt+,
There's where the blest ones stay.
All through this vale of sin ami sorrow
Sadly 1 roam.
Still longing for the dawn of the morrow,
And for the blest ones at home.
All without is dark and dreary,
Everywhere f roam,
Oh. brothers, how the heart grows weary.
Sighing lor tlic blest ones at home.
Thro' all earth's sunny scenes I wandered
In youth's gny morn;
iUw many precious hours I've squandered
How many mercies scorned;
When seeking sin's delusive pleasures,
Wretched was I,
Cut now my heart has found a treasure
There with the blest ones on high
All without is dark, &c.
One hour there is, forever bringing
.Memories of love; [singing
t'was when my sighs were changed to
Of the blest ones above;
When shall I see my Saviour reigning
On iiis white throne t
When will be hushed my heart's complaining
There with the blest ones at home.
All without is dark, &c.
Bayard Taylor in Lapland.
The Return to Muoniovarn.
MrosioVAUA, Lapland, \
Jan. 22, 1857. t
While at Kautokeino 1 completed my
Lapp ouifit by purchasing a scarlet cap,
stuffed with eider down, a pair of bcrlliegcr
or reindeer leggings, and the komngt/', or
•broad, boat shaped shoes, tilled with dry,
soft hay, and tightly bound around the an
kles, which are worn by everybody in Lap
land. Attired in these garments, I made
a very passable Lapp, barring a few super
fluous inches of stature, and at once rea
lized the prudence of conforming in one's
cOfttnme to tho native habits. After the
first, feeling of awkwardness is over, noth
ing can be better adapted to the lhdar
Winter than the Lapp dress. I walked
about at first with the sensation of having
each f.ot in the middle ola large feather
I>cd, but my blood preserved its natural
warmth, even after sitting for hours in an
open pulk. The baUiujer, fastened arouoJ
tho thighs by dinning sitings of reindeer
sinew, are so covered by the pocsk that one
becomes, for ail practical purposes, a biped
reindeer, and may wallow in the snow as
much as he likes, without the possibility of
a particle getting through his hide.
Tiie temperature was, nevertheless, sin
gularly mibl when we set out on our re
turn. There had been a violent storiu of
wind and snow the previous night, after
which the mercury rose to IG dog. ahovc
zero. We waited until noon before our
reindeers could be rolleetcd, at:d then set
• tf, with tin; kind farewell wishes of tho
four Norwegian inhabitants of the place.—
1 confess to a feeling of relief when we
turned our faces southward, and commenced
our return to daylight. Wo had at last
-.••en the Polar night, the day without a
-unri.-e, we had driveu our deer under the
arches of the aurora borciilis, we had learn
ed enough ol the Lapps to convince us
that further acquaintance would be of lit
tle profit, and it now secured time to at
tempt an escape frmu the limbo of Heath
into which we bad ventured. Our faces
bail already begun to look pale and faded
from three weeks of alternate darkness and
twilight, but the novelty of our life pre
served us front any feeling of
ml prevented any perceptible effect npon
nr bodily health, such as would assuredly
have followed a protracted experience < f
lie Arctic winter. Every day now would
iirinsr tis further over the steep northern
-tumlder of the Earth, and nearer to'that
•treat heart of life in the south, where her
Mood pulsates with eternal warmth. AI
ready there was a perceptible increase of
the sun's altitude, and at. noonday a thin
upper slice of his disc was visible for about
half an hour.
By Ilerr Berger's advice, we engaged as
guide to Lippajarvl, a Lapp, who bad for
merly acted as postman, and professed to
he able fir find fiis way in the dark. The
wind had blown so violently that it was
probable we should hive to break our own
road fur tho whole distance. Leaving
K iutjkeir.o. we travelled up the valley of
a frozen stream, toward desolate ranges of
bills, or rather shelves of the table land,
running north-east and south-west. They
were spotted with patches of stunted birch,
but elsewhere bare and dismal. Our deer
were recruited, and we made verv good
progress while the twilight lasted. At
oiu Lapp tents, where we stopped to ntake
ih'j'ifrics a', opt the ice, I was much amused
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by the appearance of a group of children,
who stiikingly resembled bear cubs stand
ing on their hind legs. They were coated
with reindeer hide from head to foot, with
only a little full moon cf tawny red face
visible.
We stopped at Siepe an hour to bait the
deer. .The single wooden hut was crowded
with Lapps, one of whom, apparently the
owner, spoke a little Norwegian. lie knew
who we were, nud asked me many ques
tions about America. lie was most anx
ious to know what was our religion, and
what course the Government took with re
gard to different sect?, lie seemed a lit
tle surprised, aud not less pleased, to hear
that all varieties of belief were tolerated,
and that no one sect possessed any peculiar
privileges over another. -(It is only vory
recently that dissenters from the Orthodox
Church have been allowed to erect houses
of worship in Norway.) While we were
speaking on these matters, an old woman,
kneeling near us, was muttering prayers to
herself, wringing her bauds, sobbing and
giving other evidences of violent religious
excitement. This appeared to be a com
mon occurrence, as none of the Lapps took
the slightest uotiee of it. I have no doubt
that much of that hallucination which led
to ilie murders at Kautokeino still exists
among the people, kept alive by secret in
dulgence. Those missionaries have much
to answer for who have planted the seeds of
spiritual disease among this ignorant and
impressible race.
The night was cold and splendidly clear.
We were obliged to leave the river on ac
count of rotten ice, and took to the open
plains, where our doers sank to their hol
lies in the looso snow. The leading ani
mals became fractious, and wc were obliged
to stop every few minutes, until their par
oxysms subsided. I could uot perceive tbat
the Lapps themselves exercised much more
control over theui than we, who were new to
the business. The domesticated reindeer
still retains his wild instincts, and never
fails toptotest against the necessity of labor.
The most docile will fly from tho track,
plunge, face about ami refuse to draw,
when you least expect it. They aro posses
sed by an incorrigible stupidity. Their sa
gacity applies only to their animal wants,
and they seem almost totally deficient in
memory. They never become attached to
men, and tKo only sign of rccogltion they
• s how, is sometimes to allow certain persons
to catch them more easily than others. In ■
point of speed they are not equal to the
horse, and an hour's run generally exhausts
theui. When one considers their size, how
ever, their strength and power of endurance
seem marvelous. Ilerr Berger informed rnc
that he had driven a reindeer ftom Alten
to Kautokeino. 112 miles, in twenty-six
hours, aud from tho latter place to Muonio
vara in thirty. I was also struck by the
remarkable adaptation of the animal to its
use<. Its hoof resembles that of the caiu
cl, being formed for snow as the latter fo*"
sand. It is broad, cloven and flexible, the
separate divisions spreading out so as to
present a resisting surface when the foot is
set down, and falling together when it is
lifted. Thus in snows where a horse would
founder in the space of a hundred yards,
the deer easily works his way, mile after
mile, drawing the sliding, canoe-like pulk,
burdened with his Blaster's weight after
him.
The Lapps generally treat their animals
with the greatest patience and forbearance,
but otherwise do not exhibit any particular
att-ichmeht for them. They are indebted
to them for food, c-lnthing, habitation and
conveyance, and their very existence may
therefore almost be said to depeud on that
of their herds. It is surprising, however,
what a number of deer are requisite for the
support of a family. Von Koch says that a
Lapp who has a hundred deer is poor, and
will ho finally driven fo descend to tho coast
and take to fishings The cows aro never
made to labor, but are kept in tho woods fo r
milking and breeding. Their milk is said to
be rieli and nourishing, but 1 have not yet
hwl an opportunity of testing it. The cheese
made from it is strong and uot particularly
palatable. It yields an oil which is the
sovereign specific for frozen flesh. The male
deer- used for draft arc always castrated,
which operation the old Lapp women perform
by slowly chewing the glands between their
teeth until they are reduced to a pulp, with
out wounding the hide.
lhiring this journey 1 have had ample
opportunity of familiarizing myself with rein
deer travel. It is picturesque enough at
the outset, but when the novelty of the thing
is worn off nothing is left but a coutinual
drain upon one's patience. Nothing can
exceed the coolness with which your deer
jumps eff the track, slackens his tow rope,
turns around and looks you in the face, as
much as to say: "What are you going to
do about it ?" The simplicity and stupidity
of his counteqauce seem to you to be admi
rably feigned, and unless you aro an old
hand you are inevitably provoked. This is
particularly pleasant on tbc marshy table
lands of Lapland, where, if be takes a notion
to bolt with you, your pulk bounces over
the hard tussocks, sheers sideways down the
sudden pitches, or swamps itself in beds of
loose snow. Harness a frisky sturgeon to
a "dig-out," in a rough sea, and you will
have some idea of this method of travel
ing. While 1 acknowledge, the Providen
tial disposition of things which have given
the reindeer to the Lapp, I cannot avoid
thanking Heaven that I am not a Lapp,
and that I shall never travel again with
reindeer.
The aberrations of our deer obliged U9 to
take a very simuous course. Sometimes wo
headed north, and sometimes south, and the
way seemed so leng that I mistrusted the
quality of our guide; but at last a tight
shone ahead. It was the hut of Eitajarvi.
A lot of pulks lay in front of it, and j the
old Finn stood already with a fir torch,
waiting to light us in. Ou arriving Anton
was greeted by his sister Caroliue, who had
come to visit soma relatives at Altengaard.
She was in company with some Finns, lmd
wandered about for twenty-four hours, ex
posed. Think of an American girl sitting
with the thermometer at zero, aud the snow
beating upon her, and neither rest nor food
for a day ! There arc few who would sur
vive twelve hours yet Caroline was as fresh
lively and cheerful as ever, and immediately
set about cooking our supper. We fouud a
fire in the cold guest's room, the place swept
and cleaned, and a good bed of decr-skiuiu
one corner. The temperature had sunk to
12 dcg. below zero, and the wind blew
through wide cracks in tho floor, but be
tween the fire and the reciprocal warmth of
our bodies wc secured a comfortable sleep—
a tbiugof the first conscqueuce iu this cli
mate.
Our deer started well in the morning, and
the Lapp guide knew bis way perfectly.
The wind had blown to strongly that the
track was cleared rather than filled, and we
slipped tip the long slopes at a rapid rate.
1 recognized tho narrow valley where we
first struck the northern streams, and the
snowy plain beyond, where our first Lapp
guide lost his way. By this tiniest was be
ginning to grow lighter, showing us the
dreary pastes of table-land which we had
before crossed in the fog. North of us was
a plain of unbroken snow, exteuding to a
level line on the horizon, where it met the
dark violet sky. Were the color changed,
it would have perfectly represented tine san
dy plateaus of the Nubian Desert, in so ma
ny particulars docs the extreme North imi
tate the extreme South. But the sun,
which never deserts rive desert, had not yet
returned to these solitudes. Far, far away ?
on the sdge of the sky, a dull red glimmer
showed where he moved. Not the table
land of Pamir, in Thibet, the cradle of the
Ox us and the Indus, but this lower Lap
land terrace, lias the designation of the
"Roof of the World." We were on the
summit, creeping along her mountain rafters,
and looking southward, off her sh' Iviug
caves, to catch a glimpse of the light play
ing on her majestic front. Here, for
we seemed to look down on the horizon, and
I thought of Europe and the Tropi.s as ly
ing below. Our journey northward had
been an ascent, but now the world's steep
sloped downward before us into sunshine
and warmer air. lit ascending the Andes
or the Himalayas, yon pass through all cli
mates and belts of vegetation between the
Equator and tho Bole, and so a journey duo
north, beyond the circle of the sun, simply
reverses the phenomenon, and impresses one
like the ascent of a mountain on the grand
est possible scale.
In two hours front the time we left Eita
jarvi we reached the Lapp encampment-
The herds of deer had been driven in from
the woods, and were clustered among tho
birch bushes around the tents. We had
some difficulty in getting our own deer past
them, until the Lapps catuo to our assistance.
We made no halt, but pushed ou, through
deeper snows than before, over tbe desolate
plain. As far as Palajarvi we ran with our
guuwales below the snow-level, while the
foremost pulks were frequently swamped
under the white waves that broke over them.
We passed through a picturesque gorge be
tween two hills about 500 feet high,and be
yond it came upon wide lakes covered deep
with snow, under woich there was a tolera
ble track, which the loading deer was able
to find with bis feet. Bevond these lakes
there was a ridge, which we had no sooner
crossed than a dismally grand prospect
opened before us. We overlooked a valley
basin, marked with bolts of stunted birob f
and stretching away for several milest o the
foot of a bleak snowy mountain, which T at
once recognized as Lippivara. After round*
itig its western point aud turning southward
BEDFORD. PA., FRIDAY. JUNE 5.1857.
again, we were r jribed with tho sight of
some fir-trees, from which the snow had
been shaken, brightening even with their
gloomy green the white monotony of the
Lapland wilderness. It was like a sudden
gleaiu of suushiue.
Wc reached Lippajarvi at twelve, having
made 28 miles of hard travel in five hours.
Here we stopped two hours to cool a meal
and change our deer, aud then pushed on to
reach Palujoki the same night. We drove
through the birch woods, no longer glorious
as before, for the snow had been .slmken off,
and there was no sunset light to transfigure
them. Still on, plowing through tfrep seas
in the gathering darkness, over marshy
plains, all with a slant southward, draining
into the Muonio, uutil we reached the birch
en ridge of Suontajarvi, with its beautiful
fits rising here and there, silent aud immo
vable Even the trees have no voices in
the North, let tho wind blow as it will.
There is nothing to bo heard but the sharp
whistle of the dry snow—the samo dreary
music which accompanies the African si
moom. The night was very dark, aud we
began to grow exceedingly tired of sitting
flat in our pulks. I looked sharp for the
Falajock Ely, the high fir-fringed banks of
which I remembered, for they denoted our
approach to the Muonio; but it was long,
long before wo descended from the marshes
upon the winding road of snow-covered ice.
In vain 1 shifted my aching legs ar.d work
ed my benumbed hands, looking out ahead
for the embouchure of the rivar. Braisted
and I encouraged each other, whenever we
were near cuougb to heat, by tbts reminder
that we had only one more day with rein"
deer. After a long time spent in this way,
the high banks flattened, level snows and
woods succeeded, and wo sailed into the
port of Palajoki.
The old Finnish lady curtsied very deep
ly as she recognized us, and hastened to
cook our coffee aud reindeer, and to make
us a good bed with sheets. On our former
visit the old lady and her sous had watclied
us undress and get into- "ds fnr*-
casion tl iec buxom daughters, of ages ran
ging from sixteen to twenty-two, appeared
about the time for retiring, ami stationed
themselves in a row near the door, where
they watched us with silent curiosity. As
we lmd shown no hesitation.in the first
wc determined to be equally courageous now,
and commenced removing our garments with
great deliberation, allowing them every op
portunity of inspecting their fashion and
tho manner of wearing them. The work
thus proceeded in mutual silence until we
were nearly ready for repose, when Brais
ted, by p tilling off a stocking and display
a muscular calf,suddenly alarmed the young
est* who darted to the door aud rushed out.
The second caught the panic, and followed,
and the third and oldest was therefore obli
ged to do likewise, though with evident re
luctance. I was greatly amused at such an
Utisopihisijcatcd display of curiosity. The
perfect composure of the girls, an 1 the
steadiness with which they watched us, j
showed that they were quite unconscious of
having committed any impropriety,
This morning was clear and cold. Our
deer had strayed so far into tho woods that;
we did not get under way before the fore
noon twilight had commenced. We expec
ted to find a broken road down the .Muonio,
but a heavy snow had fallen yesterday and
tho track was completely filled. Long
Isaac found so much difficulty in taking the
lead, hid deer constantly bolting from the
path, that Anton finally relieved him, and
by standing upright in the pulk and thump
ing the Jeer's flanks, succeeded in keeping
up the animal's spirits and forcing away-
It was slow work, however, and tho sun, rol
ling his whole disc above the horizon, an
nounced midday before we reached Kyrkes
suatido. As we drove up to the littlo in t ,
wc were boisterously welcomed by Hal, Ilerr
Forsttom'.s brown wolf-dog, who had stray
ed thus far from home. Our deer were be
ginning to give out, and we were very anx
ious to reach Muontovara in tiiuic for din
ner, so wo only waited long enough to give
the animals a feed of moss and procure some
hot milk for ourselves.
The snow-storm, which had moved over a
narrow belt of country, had not extended
below this place, and the road was conse
quently well broken. We urged our deer
into a fast trot, and slid down the icy floor
of the Muonio, past hills whose snows flash
ed scarlet aud rose-orange in the long splen
dor of sunset. Hunger and the fatigue
which our journey was producing at last,
made us extremely sensitive to the cold,
though it was not more than 20 deg. below
zero. My blood becamo so chilled, that I
was apprehensive the extremities would
freeze, and the most vigorous motion of tho
muscles barely sufficed to keep at bay tbc
numbness which attacked them. At dusk
we drove through Upper Muonioniska, and
our impatience kept the reindeers so well tn
[ motion that before 5 o'clock (although long
after dark,) we were climbing tlie well
known slope to Heri Forstroui's house at
Muoniovara. Here we find the merchant,
not yet departed to the Lapp fair at Ktrcs
snando, and .Mr. Wolley, who welcomed us
with the cordiality of an old friend. Our
wing room at the carpenter's was already
warmed and set in order, and after our rein*
deer drive of 250 miles through the wildest
parts of Lapland, we feel a home-like sense
of happiness and comfort in smoking our
pipes before the familiar iron stove.
Tho trip to Kautokeino embraces about
all 1 shall sec of Lapp life this Winter. The
romance of tho tribe, as 1 have already said,
has totally departed with their conversion,
while their habits of life, scarcely improved
in the least, are sufficiently repulsive to
prevent any closer experienoo than I have
had, unless tiie gain were greater. Mr. Wol
ley, who has been three years in Lapland>
says that the superstitious and picturesque
traditious of the people have almost wholly
disappeared, an ! the coarse mysticism and
rant whiuh they have engrafted upon their
imperfect Christianity does not differ mate
rially from the same excrescences in more
civilized races. They have not even (the
better for them, it is true) any charactoristic
and picturesque vices—but have liecorae,
certainly to their own great advantage, a
pious, fanatical, moral, ignorant and com
monplace people. I have described them
exactly as J found them, and as they have
been described to me by those who kite w
them well. The readers of "Afraja" may
be a little disappointed with the picture, as
I confess I have been (in an artistic sense,
only) with the reality, but the Lapps have
lost many vices with their poetic diablerie,
and nobody has a right to complain.
It is a pity that many traits which are
really characteristic and interesting in a
people cannot bo mentioned on account of
that morbid prudery so prevalent in our
country, which insults the unconscious in
nocence of Nature. Oh, that oue could iur
: ItaTc the fiortesT flttmm'CrTlie old trav
elers—the conscientiousness which insisted
on telling r.ot only the truth, but the whole
truth! This is scarcely possible, now; but
at the same time I have not been willing
to emasculate nty accounts of the tribes of
men to the extent perhaps required by our
ultra convent tonal ism, and must insist, now
and then, ott being allowed a little Flemish
fidelity to nature. In the description of
races, as iu tfio biography of individuals!
the most important half of life is generally
omitted. B- T.
From the Sun Francisco Bull din.
CHINESE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA
1100 YEARS AGO.
The Spaniards discovered America 849
years ago. The Welsh claim an earlier dis
covery in favor of their I'riuco Madoc. Th e
Northmen, of the lltb century, claim the
honor ol the first discovery at even an earli
er date. But the Chinese claim it prior to
them ail—ata time, according to their his
tory, about 1400 hundred years ago.
In Chinese history wc find descriptions of
a vast country 20,000 le to the eastward,
across the great ocean, which, from the de
scription given, must be California and Mex
ico The account statest the several Bud
hist priests at Uingehsu, about A- H. 469,
having arrived there, reported tbat Fusang
(America) lay to the cast alout 20,000 le,
or 9000 utiles from Japan: and that iu A. D.
450, five mendicant priests had went there
and distributed Budbist tracts and images
among tho inhabitants, which by that means
changed t heir customs, as Budhism was not
formerly known to them.
The description of Fusang, as given by the
Chinese historian, differs but little from that
given by the Spaniards, when the conquered
Mexico. He calls the country Fusang, from
the name .of a particular tree that grew there
and which he describes thus: "The leaves
of the Fusang, when first produced, resem
ble those of tho bamboo. The inhabitants
cat the fruit, like pears, and weave its bulk
into clotb for clothing and articles of embroi
dery. They have book s , whieli arc written
on the back of the fusang." Of this tree
(the maguey) I'rcseott says that its "bruised
leaves afforded a paste, from which paper
was made: its juice was manufactured into
an intoxicating beverage, pulque , of which
the natives to this day are excessively fond;
its leaves supplied au impenetrable thatch
for the more humble dwellings, thread, of
which coarse stuffs were made, and strong
cords were drawu from its tough and twisted
fibres, pins aud needles were made of tbe
thorns at the extremity o( its leaves, and
the root, when properly eooked, was con
verted into a palatable and nutritious food.
The niague, in short, was meat, drink, cloth
ing tod writing material for tbe Aztec.—
Surely, never diduaturo enclose, in so com
part a form, so many of tbe elements of hu
man comfort and civilisation "
Again: The Chinese historian states "that
they had no iron, but they possessed copper.
They did not esteem gold and silver." The
use of iron was unknown to them, bpt they
found a substitute in au alloy of copper an,]
tin with which they could cut meta! and
stones. Silver, the great staple of the coun
try at the time of the conquest, may have, a
thousand years Citrlier] been unnoticed or
uncoveted by them.
By carefully examining the Chinese histo
ry, and comparing it with that of Prescott's
"Conquest of Mexico," we find but few
points of difference. In their treatment of
criminals, habits of the judges, religion, and
in many other respects, they agree with
each other so well, that no doubts need be
entertained, in tbc least, regarding the au
thenticity of the Chinese accounts. The re
ligion of the Aztecs was in most respects
like Budhism. Their arts, institutions and
customs were almost the same as tliQsp of the
Chinese. By a careful examination and
contrasting of both histories inquiring
winds will not doubt in the least that the
Chinese discovered this continent a thousand
years earlier than any other nation.
Most people in California bare noticed
the similitude existing between the Indians
and the Chinese, both in feature and tho oc
cent of their nionosylable dialects, and from
my own experience 1 find them nearly tho
same. The Chinese aioe-nt can be traced
throughout the Indian language; though
most of the Digger ludians with whom 1
have conversed speak a great deal of the
ancient Aztec language. Not wishing to
pursue this subject much further at present
1 will transcribes few words for the purpose
of showing the analogy, as follows:
Indian. Chinese. English
Nang-a, Nang, Man.
Yi-soo, Sua, Hand.
Ceok-a, Kook, Foot.
Abk-a-soo, Son, Beard.
Yuet-a, Yucr, Moon.
Yeeta, Yat, Sun.
b'tyta, lioto, Jiueit.
me mi, K(4njg, MIiRW-
Ho-ya-pa, Ha-ab, Good.
A-pa, A-pa, Father.
A-ma, A-ma, Mother.
K<>-le, A-ko, Brother,
Ko-chae, To-ebae, 1 banks.
Ncgam, Yam, Drunk.
Koo-lae, Ku-kay, liers.
Koo-chuc, Chue-Koo, J log.
Choo-koo, Kow ehi, Dog.
Ti yam in the Indian language means
niht. Ti-vatu in Chinese means the god ot
the moon or night- lloe-nia iu Indian is
the situ, lieu-ma in Chinese means the god
of the sun, or day. Wellae is a word com
monly used among the Indians to designate
a friend, it also means ntuu. Walla in the
liiudostuuee means a man. Numbers id
other words could lie given, but 1 shall
uiakc these suffice for the present.
No doubt need be entertained concerning
the assertion of the Chinese in coming to
this continent at au early period; nor can
we interpret coincidences so universal, so
iniuute, so remarkable, without coming to
the conclusion that they both sprung from
one common source. The Chinese Fusang
is no other than the American California
and Mexico; nnd the Oriental discoverers
consequently claim the honor of the discov
ery a thousand years earlier than any other
nation.
The period when the continent was first
discovered may still remain a mystery, hid
deu in the deep recesses of the past. It
ever it is found, it be almost likely in some
of the Oriental records, for in them we find
the .most ancient history, whose dates, teach
ing in the night of time, inform of races
uow extinct, whose crumbling monuments
attested a civilization different from that ot
the modem world. These anciout races pro
gressed iu some arts, which to us arc almost
unkuowu; aud they must consequently have
attained a degree of refinement which many
of us at preseut know but little of. Yet
withal, they seem to us o have been in ig
noraoee, because wceau but taintly see them
through the datk clouds from which we
have issued.
JAMES II EN LET, Chinese Interpreter,
Chinese Camp, Tuolumne County.
A SNAKE TALK
Says the lawer: "Animals sometimes
vi ry nearly approach reason in tbeij cun
ning."
' I got interested in the study of serpents,
down in Arkansas, where I spent the most
of last year. I don't knosrwhy, but I was
constantly watching them in new sitnatiofi#,
and surrounding t.bem with nov 1 expedients.
Of all kinds 1 experimented o>t with rat
tlesnakes and copperheads.
"One afternoon I seated myse'f on a little
knoll in tie woods to smoke and read—for
I always had a book or newspaper with mo
-T-auJ bad been enjoying myself for some
YOL. 3(1, NO. 23.
time, when I espied a copprbead making for
a bole within ten feet ,f where I sat" Of
course [ threw down my book and segar,and
proeeeded to try a hew experiment. Aa
I soon as I stirred the rascai made a rush for
| the hole; but I cauglit his tail as he got
nearly in and jerked Lira some twenty feet
backward. He threw himself into a coil in
no time, and waited for me to pitch in. But
I concluded not to let fliin try his hole agaiu-
After a while he started for it stopping when
I stirred, to coil himself up , but as I kept
pretty quiet ho recovered confidence and
again went in.
Again 1 jerked him out. Wo sooner did he
strike the ground than he made a grand rush
for the hole in a straight line for mv legs !
But that d'idu't work, for 1 got out of the
way, and gave hiui another flirt!
"This time he lay still awhile, appearing
to reflect on the course to be taken. After
a time be tried it over again, though rather
slowiy. After getting his head a little way
in, he stopped and wiggled his tail, as if on
purpose for me to grab it. I did so, and
quicker than a flash lie drew his head out
and came within about a quarter of an inch
of striking me in tite face. However, 1 jerk
ed him quite a distance, and jesolved to look
out next time. Well he tried the same
game again, but it wouldn't work I waa too
quick for him.
"This time lie lay in a coil half an hour,
without stirring. At last, however, he tried
it once more. He advance to within five
feet of the hole very slowly, coiled again,
and then, the rascal! got the start of nic by
one of the cutest things you ever heard
of.
"How was that we all exclaimed in
one breath.
"Why," said the narrator, sinking his
voice to the arme of solemnity, and looking
us honest atid us sober as man could look,
"why he just turo*'d his head toward my
hand, and went dowu that hole tail first !''
From the I+ondori 'liru
vixrrii OT ■— i uaoi J/nuuuiiin
OF UEOKGE 111.
The last of the children of George 111.
has departed this life. Her Royal High
ness Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, expired
Thursday, April 00, at the age of 81. She
was boru on the 25th of April 1776, and,
consequently had long passed the ordinary
limit of human life
There were thirteen children born from
the marriage of George 111. with Queen
Charlotte—George Prince of Wales, after
wards George IV.. Frederick, Duke of
York; William, Duko of Clarence, after
wards William IV.; Edward, Duke of Kent;
Earnest, Dnke of Cumberland, afterwards
King of Hanover; Augustus, I)ukc of Sus
sex, and Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge—
Of the six daughters three died unmarried,
and three were married, the names in the
order of birth, stands thus: The Princess
Uoyal, Charlotte Augusts, who died unmar
ried; the Princess Elisabeth, who was mar
ried to the Prince of Hesse Hamburg;
the Princess Mary, the lady just dead, who
wr married to her cousin, the Duke of
Gloucester; and, finally the Princess Sophia
and Amelia, both of whom died unmarried.
With so copious a race there was little
danger of a disputed succession br of a va
cant throne. It is singular, however, bow
few are the representatives of this numerous
family in the present generation. Queen
Vict or i tbc King of Hanover, and the three
ehildren of the late Duke of Oambiidge are
we believe, now the only survivors, and the
Princess daughter of George IV.
is the ouly one who has passed away. There
is however, happily, but little chance that
the royal family of England will be speedi
ly exhausted. But a few days before tbe
venerable Duchess of Gloucester was sum
moned from this world a niub child was
bcrn to the Qoccu of England, so that Mb
orderly succession to the British throne
would appear to be among the events on
which one may calculate with reasonable
certainty.
POST OWTCF. ANECDOTE. —Tbe New
bitryport lleraid telis the following Post
office anecdote:
A rap at the delivery.
Postmaster —"Well, uiy lad, febat will
you hsvel"
Boy—"Here's a letter, she want's it to
go along as fast as it can, cause there s a
feller wants to have her here, and aue'a
courted by another feller what aiut here,
and she wants to know whether he's going
to have her or not."
Having delivered his message with great
emphasis, the boy departed, leaving the
Postmaster io convulsed with laughter that
he could make no reply.
GOOD PAJ.— The salary of Louis Napoleon
is five million dollars a year, and bus reve
nues from tbe palaces one milliou and
a quarter a year.