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hazel stretched their horizontal branches towards us, as if they invited us to sleep beneath their shadow; ash-trees offered us the joy of passing under their magic boughs; rich chestnuts reposed on the stream, and seemed as if they longed for the joy of melting into the still waters; and giant oaks came bending over the boat, and laving their knotted arms so as here and there to interrupt the stroke of our oars. The solitude became more and more intense. The water was a perfect mirror. Every shrub and every flower had its answering picture in the clear depth. At one point, a beautiful boy stood on the verdurous bank, watching our advance; and to us it might seem doubtful which of the two images was the substance, and which the shadow; which the living thing, and which the reflection. Here and there the leafy canopy of one bank touched and linked itself with that of the other, and formed a roof of green network, through which the beams of evening threw a tremulous and chequered light upon our watery way. Then we seemed to be in an endless labyrinth of wooded hills, catching at turns a warm glance from the setting sun; and the beautiful Tavy looked as if it had forgotten the noise and dash of its course on the upland moor, and was now symbolizing human life when its tribulations are left behind, and it is gently passing into the blessedness of inviolable peace. Nature had, indeed, hidden us in her bosom, and we were lulled amidst her most sacred charms. How far away we appeared to be from everything like impurity and strife! One felt that perfect peace still had some favourite resting places on earth. One's inmost soul partook of the stillness which brooded under the rich shadows which fell around us. All life was silent; but its breathing was felt, and that breathing was so sweet that my heart would fain have hushed its own beating in order more quietly to enjoy the sweetness. There we lay on our oars, and courted the visions which came softly floating towards us from the dreamy distances of time and space. Among the rest there was the spirit-chant of an old vesper-service from Buckland Abbey. It seemed to come along a dell which opened on the river; now swelling on one's inward

ear, and now melting off in traditionary whispers about Amicia, the widow of Baldwin, Earl of Devon; how, in 1278, she blest the Cistercian brotherhood with cloister, and field, and wood, and stream; and how, for many generations, the brotherhood in turn prayed for her soul's peace, and shed blessings on her memory, as often in the refectory as in the chapel. Then there were visions of changing "times and laws:" times in which Buckland-Monachorum witnessed the breaking up of old systems, and saw her cowled masters turned out by royal Commissioners to battle in a new style with the realities of life: times of transition, during which the Abbot and his Chapter gave place to a Grenville, and his family line; and these again to one who rose from a humble cottage, higher up on the Tavy, to circumnavigate the globe, and leave his terrible name burnt into the memory of old Spain,-Sir Francis Drake. Drake what legendary wonders gather around that name! To utter it was to make Tavy-side vocal with popular story. Many a wild and fantastic legend still witnesses to the racy character, bold enterprising spirit, and practical genius of the "great captain;" many, too, curiously indicate the very low scientific level from which the people of his times looked at his adventures and achievements. One favourite tale, for instance, is a somewhat beautiful specimen of local gossip, whether it has any ground work of fact or not: "While the old warrior' was abroad," it is said, "his lady not hearing from him for seven years, considered he must be dead, and that she was free to marry again. Her choice was made; the nuptial day fixed, and the parties had assembled in the church. Now it so happened that at the very hour, Sir Francis Drake was at the antipodes of Devonshire, and one of his spirits, who let him know from time to time how things went in England, whispered in his ear in what manner he was about to lose his wife. Sir Francis rose up in haste, charged one of his great guns, and sent off a cannon-ball so truly aimed, that it shot up right through the globe, forced its way into the church, and fell with a loud explosion between the lady and her intended bridegroom. It is the signal of

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Drake,' she exclaimed;

he is alive, and I am still a wife; there must be neither troth nor ring between thee and me!'" Then there is the ever-living memorial of his navigating feats, in the common saying that he "shot the gulf;" that is, supposing, as in his day it was still supposed, that the world was formed of "two parallel planes, the one at a certain distance from the other; " when his ship had "turned over the edge of the upper plane so as to pass on to the waters of the under," he had "shot the gulf." Nor can one forget our obligation to folk-lore for some fine tributes to his scientific power, in stories about his chopping blocks of wood with his own arm, and making them spring into fire ships as they floated towards the enemy's fleet; or about his making a spring of water run after him as he galloped from Dartmoor to Plymouth; or about the devil helping him to move a great stone while he was repairing some parts of Buckland Abbey. How many lessons on personal character and national condition and manners crowd upon us

in legends like these. Let nobody forget the significant fact that the popular mind could conceive of no more ready helper towards repairing an abbey than the devil himself. Some may wonder why, or how, the arch fiend should prove so willing to lend a hand on behalf of one of whom it was said by a lover of truth that he was

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very religious man towards God:" but those who fail to explain the devil's action, may succeed in sincere efforts to copy Drake's example, and they shall have it sketched by a good hand, though rather old: "chaste in his life, just in his dealings, true of his word, merciful to those who were under him, and hating nothing so much as idleness: in matters (especially) of moment, he was never wont to rely on other men's care, how trusty or skilful soever they might seem to be; but always contemning danger, and refusing no toil, he was wont himself to be one (whoever was second) at every turn, where courage, skill or industry was to be employed."

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WATER.

Nature and Art.

WATER exists around us to an extent and under conditions which escape the notice of cursory observers. When the dyer buys of the dry-salter one hundred pounds each of alum, carbonate of soda, and he obtains in exchange for his soap, money no less than forty-five pounds of water in the first lot, sixty-four pounds in the second, and a variable quantity, sometimes amounting to seventy-three and a half pounds, in the third. Even the transparent air we breathe contains, in ordinary weather, about five grains of water diffused through each cubic foot of its bulk, and thus rarefied water no more wets the air than the solidified water wets the lime or opal in which it is absorbed. Of a plaster of Paris statue weighing five pounds, more than one good pound is solidified water. Even the precious opal is but a mass of flint and water, combined in the proportion of nine grains of the earth

ingredient to one of the fluid. Of an acre of clay-land a foot deep, weighing about one thousand two hundred tons, at least four hundred tons are water; and even of the great mountain-chains with which the globe is ribbed, many millions of tons are water solidified into earth.

THE FLYING FOX OF CEYLON.

THERE are more singular inhabitants of Ceylon trees than monkeys. The flying foxes hang from them like fruit. The flight of these creatures is directed by means of a membrane attached to the inner side of each of the hind legs, and kept distended at the lower extremity by a projecting bone, just as a fore-and-aft sail is distended by a 66 gaff." "Over the entire surface of the thin membrane of which they are formed, sentient nerves of the utmost delicacy are distributed, by means

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of which the animal is enabled during the darkness to direct its motions with security avoiding objects against contact with which, at such times, its eyes and other senses would be insufficient to protect it." By day they suspend themselves from the highest branches of the silk-cotton trees, hanging by the claws of the hind legs, with the head turned upward, and pressing the chin against the breast. At sunset, taking wing, they hover, with a murmuring sound, occasioned by the beating of their broad, membraneous wings, around the fruit-trees, on which they feed till morning, when they resume their pensile

attitude as before. They hang in such prodigious numbers, that the branches often give way beneath their accumulated weight. They fly in clouds as thick as bees or midges. "When at rest or asleep, the disposition of the limbs of the flying fox is most curious. At such times, it suspends itself by one foot only, bringing the other close to its side, and thus it is enabled to wrap itself in the ample folds of its wings, which envelop it like a

GRACE IN PARDON.

mantle, leaving only its upturned head uncovered. Its fur is thus protected from damp and rain, and, to some extent, its body is sheltered from the sun. As it collects its food by means of its mouth, either when on the wing or when suspended within reach of it, the flying for is always more or less liable to have the spoil rested from it by its intrusive companions, before it can make good its way to some secure retreat in which to devour it unmolested. In such conflicts they bite viciously, tear each other with their hooks, and scream incessantly; till, taking to flight, the persecuted one reaches some place of safety, where he hangs by one foot, and grasping the fruit he has secured in the claws and opposable thumb of the other, he hastily reduces it to lumps, with which he stuffs his cheekpouches till they become distended like those of a monkey; then, suspended in safety, he commences to chew and suck the juicies, rejecting the refuse with his tongue."

Anecdotes.

In one of the gala-days at the court of Queen Elizabeth, of England, soon after the execution of Mary Stuart, the general gaiety was arrested by the sudden seizure of a courtly stranger by the guard. His singular appearance had created suspicion, and being watched, he was found to be armed, and bent on mischief. The Queen having ordered the guard to bring the prisoner before her, asked him,

"Who are you?"

"Marguerite Lebrun," was the reply. "Marguerite! Marguerite!" cried her Majesty, in wonder.

"Madam! I wear a beard!" tearing it from her face, "and also a man's apparel; but I am a woman."

"Loose your hands!" said Elizabeth, to the guard.

"Nay, madam, I mind not a rough hand. What is the pinching of an arm to me, who carry a broken heart?"

"Who hath broken your heart?" "Elizabeth of England."

"We do greatly marvel at words so bold and strange. Heard you ever, my lords, the like of the Queen of Eng land?"

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Madam, you have reft all that my heart did love. How could it help breaking? My mistress, my Queen, my chiefbeloved Mary of Scotland. My husband, too. My all. Yes, lady; beggared and broken-hearted. You bid me speak. You bade me tell my errand. I obey. For years my husband and myself had been honoured in her service. We were with her when-when-madam, the horror of that scene was a dagger to my husband. I tried, I prayed that the wound might stanch; but-but-lady, I am a widow. I lost a loving husband at Fotheringhay. I felt my heart-strings yield; but I vowed over both their coffins that I would live to revenge both. I came here to fulfil my vow. A few steps more, and I had succeeded. I have struggled hard against my purpose; but in vain."

It cost the Queen a stern effort to retain

FOREIGN TRAVEL.

her composure under such a speech, but she calmly asked,—

"What think you is my duty upon the hearing of such a case?"

"Do you put the question to me as a Queen or as a Judge?

"As a Queen."

"Then you should grant me a pardon." "But what assurance can you give me that you will not abuse my mercy, and attempt my life again? Should I pardon, it should be at least upon condition to be safe from your murderous revenge in future."

"Grace fettered by precautions, grace that hath conditions, is no grace."

"By my faith, my lords," said the Queen, "thirty years have I now reigned, and never before have I found a person to read me so noble a lesson. My good lords, shall I not bid her go?"

Some of her most trusted courtiers remonstrated against the act, but the Queen listened impatiently. Turning to the prisoner, she said,

"Are you not a Frenchwoman?"

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have safe and honourable conveyance to your own country. My loyal guards see that she is cared for."

The pardoned woman looked up with wonder, and gratitude, and admiration. For the first time in the interview she made an obeisance, and carried to her grave a reverence for the Queen who could freely forgive a great crime.

In like manner Christian hearts love God because He first loved them, and His free forgiveness of all their sins excites to wonder, and gratitude, and devotion.

IRREVERENCE CHECKED.

AN old Scotch clergyman, who was terribly annoyed at many of his congregation indulging in the habit of bolting out of church previous to and during the "benediction," had one day just got that length in the service, and was standing with outstretched hands and closed eyes, when the noise of escaping numbers again attracted his attention, and disturbed the quiet of the church. Quietly opening his eyes, he thus addressed the churchofficer:-" And now, John, open the doors, and let all those wicked people, who don't want the blessing, retire." This effectually stopped the practice for that day, at any rate.

Foreign Travel.

AN ARAB WEDDING.*

BY AN EYE-WITNESS.

A FEW days afterwards, I was invited to & wedding in the Sakhali family, Christian Arabs of the Orthodox Greek community.

At about eight o'clock, A.M., I was led into their church; a domed building, lighted from above, and gaudy with highlycoloured, distorted copies of ancient Byzantine pictures; for the Greeks, though not allowed to have images to assist them in their devotions, may have pictures, provided they are not too life-like.

In the centre of the crowd, at a lectern, stood a priest, and immediately before him the bride, closely shrouded in a white

Domestic Life in Palestine. By Mary E. Rogers.

izzar; a many-coloured muslin veil entirely concealed her features.

The bridegroom by her side, who was only seventeen, wore a suit of sky-blue cloth, edged with gold thread, and a handsome crimson and white shawl girdle. He had only once seen the face of the bride, and that was six months before, on the day of the betrothal.

The service was in Arabic, and rapidly uttered in clear but monotonous tones. The most important part of it seemed to be the Gospel narrative of the marriage at Cana, in Galilee. While the priest was reading it, bread and wine was handed to the young man; he gave some to the girl, who, in taking it, was very careful not to expose her face.

Immediately afterwards, she held out one of her henna-stained hands, and a

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jewelled ring was placed on her finger. Two crowns, made of gilt foil, were brought by the bridegroom's-man and bride'swoman, and placed on the heads of the now married pair, who joined hands, and with their two attendants walked round and round in the midst of the people, who made way for them, and sprinkled them with rose-water, and other scents, as they passed, singing, and shouting good wishes. By the time the circuit had been made seven times, the veils of the bride and bride's-woman were quite saturated; and the two men submitted, without the slightest resistance, to have bottles of scent emptied on their tarbouches. As the excitement increased, the sprinkling became general, and I came in for my share. Thus ended the ceremony.

Presently the men formed a procession, and, with the bridegroom in their midst, walked out of church. A pipe-bearer, carrying a handsome chibouque, was in attendance, and he handed it to the bridegroom whenever the leaders paused to dance the sword-dance, or to sing some wild, extravagant love-song. Rose-water was poured on his head from the roofs or windows of the houses under which he passed. Etiquette required that he should look quite calm and composed in the midst of the noise and excitement.

In the meantime, the bride, with her female attendants and companions, all veiled and shrouded in white, walked very slowly toward her home,-the home of her childhood; for she was not to go forth to meet the bridegroom till after sunset. accompanied her. We all carried our tapers, although it was the third hour; that is, about nine o'clock, A.M.

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We mounted a broad, covered stonestaircase, and passing through a corridor, entered a large, many-windowed room. The bride was led to a sort of throne, made of cushions and embroidered pillows, and I was placed by her side. Her white izzar and veil were taken off; she looked dreadfully faint and fatigued. She was not more than fourteen years old, with an oval face, rather large lips, and black, delicately arched eyebrows. Her eyes were shut; for custom makes it a point of honour for a bride to keep them closed from the time she leaves the church, till the moment she meets the bridegroom at night.

She wore a purple velvet jacket, very open in front, showing her crape shirt and her chest, which was actually adorned with little bits of leaf-gold! Her necklace, or collar of gold coins, was very beautiful; her skirt of white and yellow silk, almost concealed her full yellow silk drawers. Her hands and arms were checkered with deep orange-brown henna stains; but what struck me more than all, was the glossy, shining lustre of her skin.

While I had been intently watching and observing the bride, the company of women had quite transformed themselves; they had thrown off their white izzars and veils, and now appeared in all the colours of the rainbow, in all sorts of combinations. Dancing and singing commenced. The lookers on sat round on the matted floor. Sweetmeats, fruit, creams, and various dishes, were served at midday.

After sunset, the mother and female relations of the bridegroom came to fetch the bride; and then she commenced crying and wailing bitterly. This is expected of her; and, whether she feels regret or no, she must show signs of sorrow on leaving her home, and must also appear unwilling to go forth to meet the bridegroom.

On subsequent and persevering inquiry among Arab ladies, I found out how it was that the bride's face looked so lustrous. I learned that girls are prepared for marriage with a very great deal of ceremony. There are women who make the beautifying of brides their especial profession!

A widow woman, named Angelina, is the chief artiste in this department of art in Hâifa. She uses her scissors and tweezers freely and skilfully to remove superfluous hair, and trains the eyebrow to an arched line, perfecting it with black pigments. She prepares an adhesive plaster of very strong, sweet gum, and applies it by degrees all over the body, letting it remain on for a minute or more; then she tears it off quickly, and it brings away with it all the soft down or hair, leaving the skin quite bare, with an unnaturally bright and polished appearance, much admired by Orientals. The face requires very careful manipulation. When women have once submitted to this process, they look frightful, if from time to time they do not repeat it; for the hair never grows so soft and fine again.

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