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w ith its sands, and foetid sulphurous springs
trickl ’d down its ravines, we did not des
pair : awe-struck, but not terrified; fearing
the worst, yet hoping for the best, we pre
pared to spend a dreary night upon the
dreariest waste we ha 1 ever seen.”
The gale, however, abated su.l lenly—
the heavy billows sunk hastily to rest—
and rose-colored clouds succeeded the black
heralds of the storm in the evening sky.—
It caused the patty some solicitude, lest
they should fail to find, in the moonless
darkness of the night, the appointed place
of rendezvous—especially as the sheikh
they had taken on board as a guide, was
bewildered by fear. They saw flashes of
light and heard reports of guns and voices
on the shore, which at first only discon
certed them, as they proceeded from oppo
site directions —being interchanged between
the land party and their scouts, who had
been separated. At length, however, they
reached Ain el Feshka, or the Fountain of
the Stride. Landing, from necessity, a
mile below it, they beached the boats, and
leaving them in the care of some Aiabs,
repaired to the general camp, beside a foetid
marsh and a brackish spring—-‘the dark,
fretted mountains behind—the sea, like a
huge cauldron, before, its surface shroud
ed in a lead-colored mistd’ Thus, in the
n.idst of gloom and discomfort, did our
wanderers pass their first night upon the
borders of the Sea of Death.
At this point, Lieut. Lynch dismissed his
Arabs and the camel-drivers. The Sherif
was, however, to continue with the party.
4n:l Akil un lertook to proceed to the east
ern shore of the Sea, to apprize the tribes
there of the approach of the party, and
make arrangements for a supply of provi
sions. ThiS plan was a most gratifying
one to the Commander, as it removed from
his mind many apprehensions of difficulty.
From this engagement, Akil soon after
wards sought release ; but our author de
clined to grant it, and although he had but
the word o? the Arab to depend upon, lie
felt no doubt of his honor. The event
justified his confidence—and it is a hcauti
ful illustration of the value which even
the untutored Bedawin places upon his
word. Akil had refused to append his
otol io U o for money anvnnctil
when the contract was made; but his word
was given and that could not be broken.
The next day the party spent in sound
ing the Sea in direct and diagonal lines to
the opposite or Arabian shore. The dis
tance across was found to be seven nauti
cal miles, which are nearly equal to eight
statute miles. The greatest depth on the
direct line of casts —which were made at
every half-mile—was 116 fathoms; while
the diagonal sounlings exhibited an ave
rage depth all across of 170 fathoms, or
over 1000 feet. The lead brought up blue
intid, with sand and salt crystals, some of
them exact cubes. At the deepest cast.
crystals only were brought up. The diag
onal line reached a deep black chasm in
the Arabian mountains, where a sweet, hot
spring was discovered flowing into the 3ea.
The soundings were attended with se
vere toil and exposure, and when the boats
returned, the officers and men were slid
with saline coatings.
Some ragged and forlorn-looking Amhs
of the Rashftvidah tribe, were engaged as
guides along the western coa-t of the Sea.
Our author says, that “ the habiliments of
Falstaff’s ragged recruits would have been
court costume, compared to tile attire of
these attenuated wretches.”
. At Ain Jidy, (the Engaddi of the Scrip
tures,) or Fountain of the Kid, the party
remained some days, awaiting the return
of Dr. Anderson and the Sherif, who had
been sent from Ain el Feshka to Jeru-a
lem for provisions. In coasting from their
first encampment to the Ain Turaber, they
discovered only barren wastes, dreary and
utterly desolate. The only signs of vege
tation were occasional ghurrah trees, tam
arisk hushes, and patches of cane and
grass. All else, “brown incinerated hills,
masses of conglomerate, banksot sand and
dust, impalpable as n >hes, and innumerable
boulders, bleached by long exposure to the
sun.” At that fountain they saw the pis
tachia, or terebinth of Scripture —a large
shrub only, which in the plains becomes a
tree.
Ain Jidy was fixed upon as the head
quarters or depot of the party, during their
stay upon the Sea. Here they were to
leave their tents, and everything they could
dispense with, so as to encumber their
boats as little as possible. On Easter Sun
day, Dr. Anderson and the Sherif arrived
with the long-looked-for provisions. 1 heir
approach upon the defiles of the mountain
precipice that frowned upon the camp, was
detected three hours before they had suc
ceeded in descending the wild crags, into
the chasm where the camp was established.
This camp Lieut. Lynch named “Camp
Washington.”
The next day the exploration of the Sea
wns resumed with vigor. Parties in both
boats went out to sound, and to observe
the opposite” coast. The greatest depth in
dicated by the lead was 1128 feet. The
nights were oppressively sultry, and the
air surcharged with sulphurous odors.—
The drift-wood on the shores was so im
pregnated with salt, that attempts to make
signal fires were signal failures!
The most interesting object which pre
sented itself to our adventurers in the South
ern portion of the Dead Sea. was the pillar
of salt at Usdum, a description of which
we quote:
“ Wc found the pillar to be of solid salt,
capped with carbonate of lime, cylindrical
in front and pyramidal behind The upper
or rounded part is about forty feet high,
resting on a kind of oval pedestal, from
forty to sixty feet above the level of the
sea. ft slightly decreases in size upwards,
crumbles at the top, and is one entire mass
of crystallization. A prop, or buttress,
connects it with the mountain behind, and
the whole is covered with debris of a light
•tone color. Its peculiar shape is doubt
less attributable to the action of the winter
rains. The Arabs had told us in vague
terms that there was to be found a pillar
somewhere upon the shores of the Sea—
I but their statements in all other respects
had proved so unsatisfactory, that we could
. place no reliance upon them.”
Our author cannot, in this connection,
forbear from quoting in a note, the testi
mony of Josephus, Iraencens and Clement,
as to the identity of this pillar with that
into which Lot's wife was turned, when,
in spite of divine warning, she “looked
back” towards Sodom. We are, perhaps,
authorized to infer from this, that he thinks
it possible, if not probable, that this may
| be indeed the visible manifestation of God's
displeasure at the disobedience of Lot’s
wife. Without committing ourself upon
this point, we may suggest that the enor
, mous dimensions of the pillar of Sodom
(Usdum) are no argument against this sup
position; for there is probably little doubt,
that whatever was its original nucleus, its
present size is the result of long-continued
accretions, by deposites from the saline at
mosphere of the region.
The following description of the scene
i presented at the Southern extremity of the
Sea, will afford the reader an idea of the
gloom and dreamless of the region :
“It was indeed a scene of unmitigated
desolation. On one side, rugged and worn,
was the salt mountain of Usdum, with its
conspicuous pillar, which reminded us at
least of the catastrophe of the plain; on
the other were the lofty and barren cliffs of
Moab, in one of the caves of which the fu
gitive Lot found shelter. To the south
1 H
j was an extensive flat, intersected by slug
! jrish drains, with the high hills of Edom
i semi-girdling the salt plain where the Is
raelites repeatedly overthrew their enemies;
and to the north was the calm and motion
| less sea, curtained with a purple mist,
while many fathoms deep in the slimy
mud beneath it, lay embedded the ruins of
the ill-fated cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The glare of light was blinding to the
eye,%nd the atmosphere difficult of respi
ration. No bird fanned with its wing the
attenuated air through which the sun pour
ed his scorching rays upon the mysterious
element uu whicti wc floated, anil which,
alone, of all the works of its Maker, con
tains no living thing within it.”
The heat of the day was intolerable—
and the scarcity of sweet water occasioned
the party extreme annoyance and suffer
ing. It was, indeed, a terrible fate, to have
verified in ’heir daily experience, the truth
of the couplet—
“Water, water, everywhere—
But not a drop to drink !”
Their excursions upon the Sea were often
rendered perilous by high winds, which
dashed the salt waves into their faces, and
half-swamped their boats. They expe
rienced, also, frequent siroccos—the hot
breath of which swept over them “ more
like the blast of a furnace than living air ”
From the scathing, blistering hurricane, no
place afforded complete shelter, and to
those exposed to the burning blast, it was
indeed a terrible experience. Metal but
tons and the frames of spectacles became
insufferably hot. The atmosphere glared
with the fiery breath of the tempest, and
death seemed, for the tune, as if it would
bring welcome relief to the poor victims.
Desolate and appalling as was the face
of nature around them, every day presented
new features—variations of the terrible
and the strange. Every change of the
wind produced new atmospheric effects,
and every turn of the coast revealed new
aspects of wonder.
The desert was not, however, without
its oasis, as will appear from the following
description of a bath which refreshed out
weary travellers in the wilderness of En
gaddi:
“ In the evening, we walked up the ra
vine to bathe. It was a toilsome walk
over the rough debris brought down by the
winter rains. A short distance up, we
were suiprised to see evidences of former
habitations in the rocks. Roughly-hewn
caverns and natural excavations we had
frequently observed, but none before evin
cing so much art. Some of the apertures
were arched and cased with sills of lime
stone resembling an inferior kind of mar
ble. We were at a loss how to obtain an
entrance, for they were cut in the perpen
dicular face of the rock, and the lowest
more than fifty feet from the bed of the
ravine. We stopped to plan some mode
of gaining an entrance to one of them;
hut the sound of the running stream, and
the cool shadow of the gorge, were too in
viting; and advancing through tamarisk,
oleander, and cane, we caine upon the very
Egeria of fountains. Far in among the
cane, embowered, embedded, hidden deep
in the shadow of the purple rocks and the
soft green gloom of luxuriant vegetation,
lapsing with a gentle murmur from basin
‘to basin, over the rocks, under the rocks,
| by the rocks, and clasping the rocks with
! its crystal arms, was this little fountain
wonder. The thorny nubk and the pliant
osher were on the bank above ; yet lower,
! the oleander and the tamarisk ; while upon
. its brink, the lofty cane, bent by the weight
j of its fringe-like tassels, formed bowers
! over the stream fit forthe haunts of Naiads.
Diana herself could not have desired a
I more secluded bath than each of us took
1 in a separate basin.”
The gravity of the water of the Dead
Sea was tested by various experiments. A
horse and a donkey swam without turning
over, and a muscular man floated breast
high on the waves.
Our travellers gathered some of the blos
soms, as also of the green and ripe fruit of
the osher, and brought them home in care
ful preservation. This fruit is beautiful to
; the eye, hut bitter to the taste. When
ripe, it is filled with fibre that is easily re
jdueed to dust—so that it answers the de
scription of the “apple of Sodom.”
Our limits will not allow ns to review,
! in detail, the examination of the Arabian
aosiaiasi 9 t/iiE&w iiti a
shore of the Sea. Near the Soulhern ex
tremity, the Sea is very narrow, in conse
quence of a large peninsula, stretching out
from the Eastern coast. This peninsula
has some resemblance to a foot—though
our author suggests the more fanciful out
line of a spread wing. Lieut. Lynch nam
ed its Northern and Southern extremities,
re-qiertivcly, Point Cosligan and Point Mo
lyneaux, in memory of the two adventnreis
of those names, to whose fate we have al
ready alluded. The neck of land is seven
miles long at its greatest, and three miles
at its least, extent. It stretches into the
Sea within about two miles of the Western
coast.
Eastward of the Peninsula lies Kerak,
an Arab town to which the party paid a
visit. Their route lay up the Wady Ke
rak. which is described as “the most (uffi
’ cult path, with ihe grandest scenery they
had ever beheld.” After long-continued
toiling up wild ravines and over almost in
; accessible calcareous cliffs, they reached,
at an elevation of 3000 feet above the Dead
! Sea, a walled town, into which they enter
i ed “ by an arch cut through the solid rock,
| thirty feet high and twelve wide.” This
passage was eighty feet long, and they
emerged from it into the town, composed
\ of rude stone huts, built without mortar.—
1 “ They are from seven to eight feet high ;
j the ground floors about six feet below, and
| the flat-terraced mud roofs mostly about two
feet above the streets; but in many places
i there were short cuts from street to street,
across the roofs of the houses.” Kerak is
a Christian town; full three-fourths of its
inhabitants are Christian, but whether
“ they are some of the lost tribes subse- ■
quently converted to Christianity, or the
descendants of Christians who, in the fast
nesses of the mountains, escaped the Mo
hammedan alternative of the Koran or the
sword—or a small Christian remnant of
the Crusades” —does not satisfactorily ap
pear. Be their origin what it may, they
gave our travellers a Christian welcome—
and, indeed, had sent to them upon the
shores of the Sea, a deputation, to invite
them to Kerak. Lieut. Lynch’s account
of this people is very interesting. Abd’
Allah, the Christian sheikh, is described as
“mild even to meekness,” and a fine por
trait of him adorns the work. A manifes
to, signed by Abd’ Allah and Yhkob, his
brother, and dated, Kerak, Jam&d Aw&h,
1264, was sent to our author, to be made
known to American Christians. It sets
forth that the Christians of Kerak are
building a church—that they are few and
weak—their land unproductive, and visit
ed by the locusts for seven years—and
their church delayed in its completion for
want of funds—as they are Christians sur
rounded by Muslims.
It is to be hoped that an appeal so mod
est and so earnest, will reach the hearts of
American Christians, and secure to the
Beni Khallas sufficient aid to finish their
church.
The Muslim Arabs of the Kerakeyah,
whose encampment Is Just wlitioui the
walls of Kerak, are a wild set of savages,
of whom the Christian Arabs purchase se
curity by annual tribute. Our travellers
had reason to apprehend hostilities from
these wild sons of the desert, and but fora
loft)’ bearing and decided tone, they would
probably have met with annoyance.
About half-way tip the Arabian coast,
the Wady Mojeb flows into the Sea,
through a remarkable chasm, about a hun
dred feet wide. Its walls are almost per
pendicular, and being composed of brown,
yellow and red sand-stone, intermingled,
and worn by torrents into forms resembling
grotesque sculptures, they present a most
extraordinary appearance. The river al
most covers the base of the chasm, which
runs in a direct line nearly 500 feet, when
it makes a curve to the S. E. A pistol
shot in the chasm produced long and cu
rious reverberations. The Wady Mojeb
is the river Arnon of the Old Testament, on
the border of which, lfelak, King of Moab,
came out to meet Balaam. It is described
as a beautiful stream, fringed with tama
risk, and other shrubbery, from the chasm
to the Sea.
The next important locality upon the
Arabian shore, is the Zerka Main, the out
let of the Hot Springs of Cailirohoe. These
hot springs supply a stream twelve feet
wide and nearly one foot deep, which
rushes southwardly into the Sea with great
velocity. The temperature of the water
was94°. It flows, like the Arnon, through
a deep chasm, wider than that of the Mo
jeb. Its waters are slightly sulphurous.—
The current of this hot river was so vio
lent that our author could scarcely stand
in water only two feet deep. He describes
the contrast of a bath in the “salt, salt
sea,” and then in the soft, tepid waters of
the Callerohoe.
From the Zerka. the expedition crossed
the Sea to thecampat Ain Tur&beh, which
had been left in the care of the excellent
Sherif. The heat of the day succeeding
the return to camp, is described as exces
sive—the mercury rising to 106“ at 8.30
A. M. That night they experienced a ter
rible sirocco, which biew down their tents
and broke their only remaining syphon ba
rometer.
The time devoted by Lieut. Lynch to
his interesting researches, was twenty-two
days—during which interval, all the party
were employed indefatigably in various la
bors connected with the expedition. In
that period, they “carefully sounded the
Sea, determined its geographical position,
took the exact topography of its shores,
ascertained the temperature, depth, width
and velocity of its tributaries, collected
specimens of every kind, and noted the
winds, currents, changes of the weather,
and all atmospheric phenomena.”
We have already occupied so much
space in our notice of this very agreeable
book, that we shall pass over that portion
of it which describes the jnurneyings of
the party from the Dead Sea to Malta,
where they rejoined the ship “Supply.”—
It is by no means an uninteresting part of
the narrative, however—embracing a visit
to Jerusalem and its hallowed vicinity—to
i Jaffa, Nazareth, and Damascus—scenes
among which our author's enthusiasm was
kindled to ardor.
The closing scenes of the expedition
; were deeply saddeaed by the death of Mr.
Dale. This melancholy event occurred at
Bhaindun, a mountain village twelve miles
, from Beirut. Asa token of affectionate
regard for the memory of his as-ociate and
friend, and of sympathy for his bereaved
family, our author generously devotes to
‘he latter the profits of his work—a fact
; which alone should command for it a wide
circulation.
In concluding this somewhat discursive
notice of Lieut. Lynch’s book, we mav re
peat our expressions of high gralificstion
! with the admirable conduct of the Expedi
tion, and with the manner in which its
important results have been made public
For despatch, energy and economy, ‘he
Dead Sea adventure may well be quotedas
a model. The gallant Coiunander exhib-
I its. in every stage of its progress, an en
thusiasm kindled not only at the altar of
ambition, but at the more sacred shrine of
religious devotion. The readervery readi-
I ly imbibes the spirit of the writer, and par
takes of the st which he felt in the
scenes of his adventure. To the biblical
student, the work cannot fail to be of great
service—conveying, as it does, so much in
formation on Scripture places and occur
rences, and adding, if possible, additional
j evidence of the truth of the Old Testament
: narratives.
The work is written in a graphic, but,
! perhaps, somewhat florid style. Its ver
| biage might have been avoided by a care
j fill revision, which would probably have
been made, but for the impatience of the
i author and his publishers to gratify the
public eagerness to see an authentic ac
count of the Expedition.
&& iwn§ii©ig§o
SABBATH SONNET.
BY WILLIAM C. RICHARDS.
How sweet the landscape smiles this vernal morn
Os holy rest! The early sunlight stealing
O’er the sweet spring flowers—their eyes un
sealing—
The leafing forest, and the springing corn,
Bathing with fresh beauty—emblems the dawn
Os Heaven’s great Orb, the £un ot Righteous
ness,
Which rose upon the world of man to bless
His sons, who, by its quickening power new
born.
Though inly dead in sin and guilt should live,
As withered (lowers in spring new life receive!
Oh ! may the beams of that bright Sun be shed
Where’er the gloom of Sin and Death is spread,
Till all our race beneath its rays shall bloom
Iu beauty perfected beyond the tomb,
SUNDAY READINGS, FOR SEPT. 23.
THE CHARACTER OF THE LAW.
“ But we know that the law is good, if a man
use it lawfully.”—l Tim. i. 8.
Here are two lopies worthy our close at
tention; one of which we shall consider in
this, and the other in the next exercise.
Here is
A truth affirmed. “The law is good.”
It is so
In its author. It is framed by Him who
is essentially good in his character, perfec
tions, and works. Nothing of a contrary
nature could emanate from Him who is the
! source of all perfection, and the fountain
of all goodness. There is an authority
I stamped upon it by the Almighty himself.
In its matter. The things it contains
are of no common interest or tlivial inpor
| tance. They are subjects involving our
well-being here, and our happiness here
after It is a just remark, that however
disputants may marshal one part of Divine
truth against another, the glorious doc
’ tines of Christianity, like stones in a
( compact edifice, are firmly united together
—men may disagree in sentiment, but they
cannot destroy the unity of the truth.
In its use. It excites and quickens us
‘in duty against our inward corruptions:
makes a discovery of the deceitfulness and
depravity of the human heart. “By the
law is the knowledge of sin.” It drives
us out of our own pretended righteousness,
to rest on Christ’s atoning sacrifice. “The
law was our schoolmaster to bring us to
Christ.” This is its end: to lead us to
look to Jesus and believe on him, that we
may be saved, as the Isrealites, stung
with the serpent, looked on the brazen ser-
I pent erected by Moses, and were healed.
How great are our privileges, having both
the law and the Gospel! The one to show
us our malady, the other to point us to
the remedy; the one to alarm, the other to
comfort; the one to probe the wound, the
other to apply the healing balm.
“ The law discovers guilt and sin,
And shows how vile our h arts have been ;
Only the Gospel c m express
Forgiving love and cleansing gneo'”
BBlflßlßAft. pfßjjaa
A.n American Sailor among the Sav
ages. The Washington corresponded, of
the Atlas , under date of the 24th, says:
“The case of an American sailor, on
board a California bound vessel, detained
among the savages in the Straits of Magel
| lan, has attracted considerable public atten
tion. lam happy to be able to stale that
U. S. sloop-of-wai ‘Vandalia,’ Captain
Gardner, has been ordered by the Hon. Sec
retary of the Navy, to stop in those waters
and recover the lost man. To accomplish
this benevolent object, and to secure our
peacable commerce against similar aggres
j sions, it is probable the Vandalia will chas
tise the Indians pretty severely.
Proof Positive. “ How,” said a judge in
Missouri to a witness on the stand, “how
do you know the plaintiff was intoxicated
on the evening referred to ?”
“ Because I saw him a few minutes after
| the muss trying to pull of! his trowsers
j with a bootjack !’’
Humorist. —The Duke of Montague was
j a great humorist. Among other otiginal
j inodes in which he contrived to minister to
ltis own amusement, he had a defective
looking glass suspended in his drawing
room, so that all the nohie guests who
chanced to dine at Montague House, were
induced, on passing the treacherous mirror,
J to adjust their wigs awry. In that dayatull
, dressed wig was as essential as a full
i dressed coat; and his grace's dinner table
commonly presented an assemblage ot no
ble lords with their perukes dragged down
into the right eye, each wondering at his
| neighbor’s disorderly appearance, and con
gratulating himself that in settling his own
| wig in the drawing-room, he had escaped
j from the absurdity disfiguring the rest of
the company.
Horn's Last. —On a recent rainy day
| this wag was heard to exclaim—
| “Well, my umbrella is a regular Cath
j olic.”
11 How so ?” inquired a friend,
j “ Because it always keep lent.”
A Linguist. “ I say, Bob, you have
been to Canton, hav’nt you V’
“ Yes.”
“ Well, can you speak China ?”
“Y-e-s, a little; that is, I speak broken
china.”
Sam Slice’s Last. Judge Halliburton,
the witty author of Sam Slick, was holding
a court the other day, and in the commence
ment ot the proceedings it became neces
saty to empanel a jury. One worthy burgh
er, upon being called requested of the court
to excuse him on account of the itch, at the
same time holding out his hands to the
Judge, and displaying the visible evidence
his cutaneous affliction. The Judge, after
closely inspecting the hands of thejuror,
directed the clerk as follows:
“ The court decrees that the juror’s ex
cuse is a valid one, and therefore directs
that he bes c-r-a-t-c-h-e-d off.”
A tremendous roar of laughter signified
the unanimous verdict or the audience that
his honor was guilty of a pun.
Settling the Question. A dispute
having arisen at a village inn as to the num
ber of the late Lord Byron’s children—one
party, maintained that a daughter was his
only offspring, while another was as posi
tive that he had a son also. The landlord
was appealed to, who, after a moment’s re
llection, replieJ—
Why, of course, he had a son ; was there
not bis child (Chihle) Harold 1
Thorough Draught. Anew patent
stove for the convenience of travellers has
just been invented. It is placed under the
feet, and a mustard plaster upon the head
draws the heat through the whole sys
tem.
New and Excellent. At the Wil
liaroston College they have adopted the
plan of taking daguerreotype liken sses of
each graduating class. The frames re
main the propety of the College, and are
to be preserved from year to year.
To be read twice. People of mean
capacities always despise and ridicule more
what is above the reach of their own in
tellect, than that which is below its stand
ard.
Derivation of Boudoir. The word
boudoir is from bonder , to pout; in the
same manne as parlior (parlor,) is from
parler, to speak or converse. Do some of
our finical young ladies, who are bent on
having boudoirs, know the purpose for
which they are intended J
Gold from Violets. Mr. R. Hunt, at
the Royal Institution, London, states thata
friend of his had succeeded in obtaining a
minute, though weighable, portion of gold
from a quantity of the petals of the blue
violet.
Lady Franklin has purchased one
fourth of the Hull whaling ship, Abram,
and paid the additional risk of insurance,
with a view to her exploring Jones’ Sound
and Smith’s Sounding, in search for John.
She has also offered a reward of £SOO in
case of success.
Pride of Ancestry. The “proud
duke ” of Somerset, as he was called, used
to say that he pitied Adam, because he
had no ancestors.
A Strong Team. The N. Y. Tribune
has six quill-propellers in its editorial team
—Greeley, llipley, Dana, Taylor, Cleve
land, and Snow. No wonder it goes
ahead.
A Female Merchant. The Princess
of Orange owns eleven steamers, with
which she trades to different ports in Eu
rope. going occasionally with her own
ventures as supercargo.
A hit. Father Mills astonished the
boys at Toringford, one Sabbath as he was
given an account of his journey to his con
gation. Said he, ‘I went up into Vermont,
and found many excellent farms, and was
surprised to see so much fine fruit. So I
said to the good people, how do you man
age to keep your fruit! Don’t the boys
steal it ? I lose nearly all mine that way.’
• What! ’ they exclaimed, 1 boys steal fauit ?
We never heard of such a thing. Pray,
where do you live?’ ‘And T was oblged
to tell them,’ said the old man, hanging
his heal, ‘ that I lived in Torringford, in
the state of Connecticut.’
“ Horse-power.” The power of a horse
is understood to be that which will elevate
a weight of thirty-three thousand pounds,
the hight of one foot in a minute of time, !
equal to about ninety pounds at the rate of j
four miles an hour.
American Skill appreciated. It is
stated tliat the Russian Government has j
tendered the post of Chief Engineer, on the
great Railroad between Moscow and St.
Petersburg to Maj. S. S. Brown of the New
York and Erie Railroad.
tkg- “Is that a f that I C B 4 me?
Come let me clutch it.”
iptDiEiriav*
For Richards’ Weekly Gazette.
BIRTH-DAY MUSINGS.
BY CHARLES LUFTON.
In boyhood, my fancy, how oft did it weave •
Fair garlands of knowledge to bind on my brow;
But oh ! did not fancy most sally deceive,
For where are the garlands, oh where are they
now 1
Thro’ the vista es years my eye caught the gleam
Ot a glory, which was to encircle my name ;
But oh, was it not the false flash of a dream—
For where is the trump that has sounded my
fame 1
Pweet visions sf fortune, how oft did they rise,
And before mo the smiles of the goddess unfold;
But oh, was that rmile not a frown in disguise,
For where are the coders contain. g my gold 1
Mv thoughts as they mused on the precepts divine
Which glow on the pages, by Heaven inspired,
Dwelt long on the virtues that were to be mine,
But where are the grac s my spirit desired 1
Gone, gone is my boyhood, and w ith it has flown
Each charming delusion that smiled in my way ;
The flowers, which in spring, were so lavish
ly blown,
In summer, lie wasted in mournful decay.
July 3d, 1849.
For Richards’ Weekly Gazette.
CANZONET.
Lowly, lowly sigh
The winter wind* their wail,
O’er the blooms whose ashes lie
Upon the frozen vale:
Sadly, sadly sighs
The heart o’er many a scene,
Where cherished hope now biigted lies
On the moments that have been.
Slowly falls the rain,
Yea. ceaselessly and slowly,
On leaves that may nor live again,
Now blighted lying lowly ;
Slowly fall our tears
Through Sorrow’s starless night,
On the withered joys of other years,
No longer fredi .and bright. 11.
For Richards’ Weekly Guzetie.
TO .
Could I reveal the secret joy
Thy pre-e ce ever with it brings.
The memories so strangely waked
Os long forgotten things—
The love, the hope, the fear, the grief,
Which with that voice come back to me—
Thou wouldst forgive th” impassioned gaze
So often turned on thee ;
Forgive in’ that a former bliss
Hath sometimes nerved me, Isabel,
To lo >k the passion from my eyes
I would but dare not tell.
It was indeed, that early love
But foretaste of this second one, —
The soil light of the morning star
Before the morning sun.
The same dark beauty in her eye—
The same proud calm upon her brow—
The samj deep-meaning, quiet smile
Thou bendest on me now.—
She m ght have been—she was no more
Than what a prescient hope could make,
A dear presentiment of thee
I loved her for thy sake ! Aolaus.
A VERY NICE BOILED INDIAN
PUDDING.
Three pints of sifteJ Indian meal.
Half a pound of beef-suet, minced as
fine as possible.
A quart of milk.
Half a pint of West India molasses.
Six eggs.
Three or four sticks of cinnamon, broken
small.
A grated nutmeg.
Having cleared ihe suet from the skin
and strings, chop ilas fine as possible, and
mix it with the Indian meal. Boil the
cinnamon in the milk till it is highly fla
voured. Then strain the milk (boiling
hot) into the pan of Indian meal and suet,
and add the molasses. Stir the mixture
very hard. Cover it and set it away in a
cool place. Beat the eggs till quite light,
and add them, gradually, to the mixture as
soon as it is quite cold. Then grate the
nutmeg. Dip a thick square cloth into
boiling water, shake it out, dredge it with
flour, and then spread it open in a deep
pan, and pour in the mixture. Leaving
one-third of the space vacant, allowing for
the pudding to swell, tie the cloth very se
curely, and guard against water getting in
to it, plug up the little crack at the tying
place by plasteirng on a bit of dough
made of flour and water. Put the pudding
into a large pot of boiling water, having
an old plate in at the bottom, and boil it
six hours or more, turning it often, and re
plenishing the pot, when necessary, with
boiling water from a kettle. If you dine
early, the pudding should be mixed before
breakfast. Serve it hot. .
Eat it with wine sauce, with butter and
molasses or with a sauce of butter, sugar,
lemon juice and nutmeg, beaten together
to a cream. What is left of the pudding,
may next day he tied in a cloth, and boil
ed over again for an hour.
TYRANNICAL EXACTIONS ON THE
CUBANS.
By the following, from La Verdad, the
Spanish paper in New York, it appears
that the Cubans really deserve as much
sympathy as the Hungarians. No govern
ment scarce ever made more tyrannical ex
actions. We copy some of them :
Little less than a fourth part more than
that which is wrung from the number of
600,000 free inhabitants, suffices to sus
tain all the expenses of the government of
these United Slates, in which are counted
more than twenty millions of inhabitants,
and which, with little more than half the
number of soldiers that we support in Cu
ba, have more than enough for the protec
tion and garrison of their boundaries and
forts.
Flour and many other articles of first
necessity for the sustenance of the indus
trial and poorer classes, are charged with
a duty varying from 50 to 260 per cent, of
the first price of the article, such as rice,
salt fish, Indian meal, live pigs to be
slaughtered, &c. Salt fish, on which wc
find a charge of 33 per cent, only in the
tariff, when imported in foreign vessels
pays 66 per cent, and the same thing hap
pens with other articles enumerated ,and
numerous others of the first necessity.
Our farmers have to pay 2$ per cent, on
sugar and 10 per cent., on their other har
vests, when gathered, the same as all en
gaged in raising live stock, for all their
cattle, exclusive of the charges arising
from exportation.
Every inhabitant is compelled to ask
for a license and pay for the same, even in
case he wants to go the distance of a sin
gle mile from the place of his residence.
He cannot remove his residence from
one house into another, without giving no
tice previously of his intention, to the an
thorities, under the penalty of a heavy
fine.
He is hot permitted to lodge in his house
for a single night, any person, either na
j tive or foreigner, be the same his friend or
a member of his family, without giving
the same information, also under the pen
alty of a like punishment.
He may not have in his house any com
pany or amusement of any sort, if he does
not solicit, obtain and pay for a license
(5,50) or lie must submit to be mulcted for
an infraction of the regulations.
lie pays 6 to 0j per cent, of the value
of any slave, or any property, in town or
country, that he may sell, besidesall other
charges of notaries, of registration, of
stamped paper, &c.
There isstamped paper, the useof which
si enforced Dy the Government, and sold
by it at the price of $8 every sheet, and it
is necessary on a solemn oath to prove
one’s poverty, in order to be admitted to
the use of cheaper paper, a sheet of which
costs six cents.
Some months ago an order was received
by the Captain General of the Island, pro
hibiting parents from sending their child
ren to the United States, for purposes of
education; and such parents are now
driven to the expedient of proving ill
health or feigning it for their children,in or
der to oltain passports for them.
In the whole Island of Cuba a most
brutal spirit of despotism is strikingly
prevalent, in all officials of the Government
Iron, the Captain General ('own to the most
abject of his hirelings, without even ex
cepting municipal and other local author
ities.
In Matanzas, Cardenas Guines, Madru
ga and other places, the most revolting
scenes of torture, gallows, butcheries and
infernal machinations w’ere enacted in the
year 1845, different Regidores, and other
members of ihe corporation of Matanzas
were severely chastised for having pres
sumed to present a respectful remonstrance
to the Royal I’retorial Audiencia at Ha
vana, complaining of the Government of
ficials, &c.
Another article contains the following.
The editor is recording events which have
transpired since 1827 :
“ More than a million of African sava
ges imported into the Island of Cuba, in
surrection of slaves, and tortures, gibbets,
and slaughter to punish and subdue them;
new fetters added to those which oppress
ed Cuba, arbitrary and cruel imprison
ments, atrocious, unrelenting persecutions
banishments, sentences of deat:’, execu
tions, all, all that there is most contrary
and repugnant to humanity.
GEORGIA SCENES.
, A correspondent of the Mobile Advertiser ,
| writing from Marietta, Georgia, gives the
j following agreeable gossip :
Among the practitioners at the Marietta
| bar, is an old fedow by the name of Galt,
lan eccentric genius, and as celebrated in
: his way as the “Governorof Hottentot’’ or
| “Old Brandywine” in Mobile. He had a
; cause yesterday, having been engaged to
J defend an unfortunate individual in suit for
slander, who had called the plaintif a rogue,
j who thereupon brought a suit. Galt de
fended his client in his usual peculiar style.
“ May the Court please and Gentlemen
of the Jury,” said he, planting his right
leg in a dramatic attitude, and performinga
system of gymnastics with his “ Palo-Alto,”
“ when I was a young man, cuttin round
; among the gals, I often chucked the pretty
! creturs under the chin, and called ’em
rogues: but, Gentlemen of the Jury, I didn’t
mean to charge ‘em witn stealin, or to call
’em thieves. I only meant that they
young men’s hearts—and do you think
that they sued me for slander? No, gen
tlemen of the jury, they didn’t!”
Os course the “gentlemen of the jury”
were convinced.
During Court week, the piazza of our
hotel has been a great point of attraction
for the “sovereigns.” The ladies’parlor,
which opens into the piazza, possesses a
mong other articles of furniture, a piano.
Some of our lady visitors, who assemble in
the parlor after dinner, occasionally rattle
offa song or two, to “trip the light fantas
| tic” finger over the keys, to the infinite de
| light of the crowd outside.
I Yesterday one of “the people” who had
j been imbibing a little something sweet, at a
I “confectionary” not far off, sailed in, and
I after hearing “Dan Tucker” and “Susan
| ah” with great relish, threw down a half
! dollar to the young lady at the piano:
“ Here's ha-half a dol-dollar for that nr
article,” hiccupped the “sovereign.” “I’ m
going to bring B-Betsy and the old woman
i down to-to-morrow —and I’ll put down five
dol-dollars, and get you to pl-pl-play it out,
and he staggered off.
To-day, sure enough, he came back a
gain. sober as a deacon, with a clean shirt,
and Betsy on one arm, and the old woman
on the other, to hear his five dollars
worth of music.
I'm sole manager of this concerns*
the cobbler sa ; 4 when engaged upon apa f
of boots.