the inhabitants might catch a sufficient come familiar, from the many expeditions quantity of fish for their support." The question seems now to have been set at rest by the exertions of an enterprising Danish officer, Captain Graah. He contrived, in 1829, to make his way from the western to the eastern coast of Greenland. There were no ruins to be found, which might indicate that a civilized people once dwelt there; and, in his opinion, the low tract of country along the coast was far too limited for the existence of such a colony, containing so many villages. It seems unreasonable, too, to suppose that the access to the eastern coast should have been so widely different, a few hundred years ago, from what it is now. We must therefore come to the conclusion, that the ancient Icelandic colony was planted on the western side, along the shores of Davis's strait, where ancient ruins, especially of churches, occur, apparently putting the conclusion beyond a doubt. The cause of the extinction of the colony must be left to conjecture, though various causes might very readily occur to any one who considers the situation of the colonists at a time when intercourse was far from being regularly established. The modern colonization of the western coast of Greenland is owing to the exertions of the Norwegian clergyman, who thought that the site of the ancient colony was on the eastern coast. Hans Egede, who had long meditated the attempt, at last being aided by subscriptions, and receiving the sanction of the authorities, planted a missionary settlement in the year 1721 on the western coast, near 64° north latitude. This he named Gotthaab-Good Hope. He struggled with many difficulties for about ten years, when he was joined by the Moravians in 1733. After the missionaries had established themselves, the Danes began to frequent the coast, and gradually a number of settlements were formed, which rank now as colonies of Denmark. The Danes procure, as articles of commerce, seal-skins, fur, eider-down, train oil, whalebone, and fish. that have been made in recent years to the northern parts of America. They are found in Labrador, and spread over the American coasts of the Arctic ocean, in Greenland, and on the islands between America and the pole, as far as they are inhabitable. The inhabitants are, generally speaking, of a ripe olive color (some also black), of a mean stature, with black hair, flat noses, and thick lips. They are nimble and strong, rather desperate than courageous, thievish, treacherous, and revengeful; for they would steal before the mariners' faces, and kill them after they had been well entertained by them, but are very affectionate to one another and their country. In the winter they come from the seashore to the valleys, where they have their little villages, consisting of caves, round like an oven, made close to one another at the foot of a mountain; their doors are to the south, and they draw off the water that falls from the hills by trenches. Before the doors they have a kind of porch, neatly made of the ribs of whales, and covered with sealskins. One part of the floor is higher than the rest; this they strew with moss to sleep upon. In the summer or fishing time, they live in tents covered with skins. Our engraving represents the interior of an Esquimaux "cave" at Frederickshaab, one of the Danish settlements on the western coast of Greenland. It represents, therefore, the interior economy of one of those Esquimaux families who have come under the civilizing influences and instruction of the missionaries. UTILITY OF BIRDS. OME people contend. that these creatures are incarnations of mischief, while others assert that they are the winged instruments of prosperity. S. declares that he would not have a gooseberry if he left that nei The natives of Greenland are the Esquimaux, a widely-spread national family, with whose characteristics we have be- a tit alive. T. as stoutly asserts that nei a ripe cherry in such a place? If he does, he is greatly mistaken. He would find the blackbird a much more dexterous gatherer than himself, and one who would relieve him from all trouble with his cherry crop. In such a case the birds must be trapped, or the crop abandoned. There would be no alternative. ther gooseberries nor anything else will | Does any one suppose it possible to gather be left if the tits are destroyed. We have thought it advisable to give this discussion full scope, because it may be truly regarded as one of the more important of the questions incidentally connected with gardening, and moreover, one concerning which there is the most marvellous ignorance. Thousands imagine that birds live on nothing but corn and fruit, and are therefore supported at the personal expense of those who grow corn and fruit, without making any sort of return. What," say they, is the use of such things? We can't eat them; and there is no good in feeding a swarm of useless plunderers." And therefore, because of this wise conclusion, the order is given to shoot, trap, and poison, without mercy. Let us hope, however, that the arguments in favor of birds will remove this error, and that the question between man and birds will have reduced itself to whether the balance of good is in favor of the latter or against them. 66 But such instances are special, and form the exception, not the rule. Every day's experience tells us that birds are among the most efficient instruments of Providence for destroying the vermin that would otherwise overrun us. And people may rely upon it, that they can not more effectually encourage the ravages of those insidious foes, than by waging war upon the creatures which naturally feed upon them. WIESBADEN. It would be idle to assert that birds IESBADEN, consume nothing which, but for them, we Wisbaden, is one of might consume ourselves. They feed in the most frequented part at our expense. They destroy the watering places in insects that infest our gardens, when they the inland part of can find any; and when the insects are Germany. The cengone, they search for other food. The tral part of the buildfirst is their labor, the second their wages. ing is the ball-room. And is not the workman worthy of his The left wing is enhire? The man who grudges a bird a tirely occupied by gambling-tables, of little seed or fruit, might as well begrudge which that appropriated to roulette is the his weekly pay to the laborer. There is favorite; and so great are the profits deno doubt that a garden would be less ex- rived, that the lessees pay 30,000 florins pensive if all the work in it were done annually to the Duke of Nassau, for the for nothing. If a master would pocket privilege of keeping the bank. The right his servant's wages, he would have more wing is a sort of café, or dining-room, in to spend upon himself. But this sort of which all kinds of refreshments are to be arrangement is not exactly consistent with obtained; and it is never used for any the design of Providence; and we are other purpose. Although the exterior of sure that it would not meet with the ap- the building is exceedingly plain and simprobation of either S. or T. We repeat ple, the interiors of the wings are neat it, then, let us look at birds as skilful and convenient, and the ball-room is handworkmen, and the fruit or seed which they some, and even splendid. The floor is eat as the coin in which they are paid inlaid with various woods; a row of martheir wages. Not that birds are an un- ble columns, of the Corinthian order, runs mixed good. Is man himself? Is any-up each side of the room, and supports a thing? There are situations, doubtless, light and spacious gallery; a considerable where birds are an absolute nuisance. number of marble busts and statues are Imagine, for instance, a garden surrounded ranged beneath this double colonnade; by a wood which swarms with blackbirds. the roof is vaulted, and though rather sombre in color, is tastefully decorated, and the whole apartment is of large dimensions. These three rooms, and the park which is attached to them, serve as the usual place of assembly for the numerous visiters during the season; and when it is recollected that many thousands annually congregate from all parts of Europe to this little town, it will be evident that some such point of reunion is required. The famous boiling springs of mineral water, and the baths which they supply, are in the town itself, at some little distance from the public rooms; but as not more than one person in fifty comes to Wiesbaden for any other purposes than those of amusement or intrigue, that circumstance is of but little consequence. It is, besides, the fashion for those invalids who bathe or drink the waters, to visit the spring very early in the morning, seldom later than half-past seven or eight, for the Germans keep much earlier hours than they do in England, and all strangers are obliged in some measure to conform to their habits; so that the means to be taken for the restoration of their health do not interfere with the amusements of the day. Wiesbaden is full of large and handsome hotels, to nearly every one of which is attached a table d'hôte, or ordinary, where strangers dine for at Wiesbaden it is not the custom to take dinner in pri vate. Wiesbaden is situated in a hollow, surrounded on all sides by distant hills, and in that respect bears a great resemblance to Cheltenham, England. Though not very far distant from the Rhine, the rising ground between the town and the river is sufficient in height and extent to protect it from the damps which rise from that mighty stream in the evenings of súmmer and autumn; and its low position, together with the constant though inconsiderable quantity of heat which is given out by the boiling springs, tend in some degree to soften the severity of a German winter. Wiesbaden, from its late increase in population and in buildings, and from the sum of money annually spent there by its crowds of idle visiters, has now become the most important town in the principality of Nassau. The residence of the reigning duke (Herzog) is at Biberich, a small village on the eastern bank of the Rhine; and the sovereign is also the proprietor of a great part of his own dominions. This little realm is about forty-eight miles in length and twenty-eight in breadth; and though it is, for the most part, woody and mountainous, yet it is not without fine arable and meadow land. The duke derives great revenues from the numerous favorite watering-places which are scattered about his principality: the sale of the famous Selters waters alone produces great profit. Beside his palace at Biberich, he has a handsome and convenient hunting-palace called the Platz, which is situated on the summit of a wooded hill about three miles out of Wiesbaden. From the top of the house there is a very fine and extensive view, commanding a long reach of the Rhine; and the towns of Mayence, Biberich, Darmstadt, Wiesbaden, and Frankfort, are included within its horizon. COMMERCE. IN the extended sense of the term, commerce includes within its range the whole trade and intercourse of nations with each other, and explains how the mutual wants of mankind occasion the exchange of the productions of one country for those of another, its influence on the character of nations, and to what extent it has aided in the refinement of a people by the introduction of the arts of civilized life. The history of commerce in all its ramifications is important to every man who desires to become an intelligent and accomplished merchant. In view of its great importance, the regulations of commerce constitute prominent articles in all treaties between nations, whether professedly commercial or otherwise, and they are also among the principal subjects of legislation in all civilized states and kingdoms. Commerce is one of the great sources of public revenue, and one of the chief causes of the wealth of nations and of individuals. The mer |