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Officers Augusta VV. T. A Society.
Dr. DANIEL HOOK, President.
Rev. WM. J. HARD, J
“ C. S. DOD. > Vice Presidents
HAWKINS HUFF, Esq. \
WM! HAINES, Jr. Secr ETARY.
L. D. LALLER.STEDT, Treasurer.
mimtLhAmmu.
Friendship of a Panther.
OK A SOLDIER IN THE DESERT.
During the enterprising expedition in
to Upper Egypt, General Desaix, a pro
vincial soldier, fell into the power of a
tribe of Arabs, called Maugrabins, and
was by them carried into the desert, be
yond the cataract of the Nile. In order
to place a safe distance between them
selves and the French army, the Mau
grabins made a forced march and did
not stop till night closed in. They en
camped around a fountain surrounded by
palm trees. Not supposing their prison
er would attempt to escape, they con
tented themselves with merely binding
his hands; and after having fed their
horses, and made their supper upon dates,
they all of them slept soundly. As soon
as the French prisoner was convinced of
this fact, he began to gnaw the cords that
bound him, and regained the liberty of
his hands. He seized a carbine, and
took the precaution to provide himself
with some dry dates, and a little bag of
grain, and, armed with a scimetar, start
ed off in the direction of the French ar
my.
In his eagerness to arrive at a place of
safety, lie urged the already wearied
horse until the generous animal fell down
dead, and left his rider alone in the midst
of the desert. For a long time the
Frenchman walked on with the perse
verance of a runaway slave, but he was
at last obliged to stop. The day was
finished; notwithstanding the freshness
of oriental nights, lie did not feel strength
enough to pursue his journey. Having
reached a little cluster of palms, which
had gladdened his heart at a distance, l»o
laid his head upon a stone and slept
without taking any precaution for his
defence.
He was awakened by' the pitiless rays
of the sun, which fell upon him with in
tolerable fervor; for in his weariness lie
had reposed on the side opposite to the
morning shadows of the majestic palms.
The prospect around filled him with des
pair. In every direction nothing met
iiis eye but a wide ocean of sand, spar
kling and dancing like a dagger in the
sunshine. The pure brilliancy of the
sky left the imagination nothing to de
sire. Not a cloud obscured its splendor,
not a zephyr moved the surface of the
desert. The earth and the heavens
seemed to be on tire: they met at the
horizon in a line of light, as fine and
glittering as the edge of a sword. There
was a mild and awful majesty in the uni
versal stillness! God, in all his infin
ity’, seemed present to the soul!
The desolate wanderer thought of the
fountains and roses of his own native
province, and wept aloud. He clasped
the palm as if it had been a living friend.
He shouted to relieve the forgetfulness
oi utter solitude. The wide wilderness
sent back a shap sound, from the dis
tance ; but no echo was awakened. —
The echo was in his heart!
With melancholy steps he walked a
round the eminence on which the palm
trees grew. To his great joy he discov
ered on the opposite side, a sort of natu
ral grotto formed by a pile of granite.
Hope was awakened in his breast. The
palms would furnish him with dates for
food, and human beings might come that
way before they were exhausted. Per
haps another party of Maugrabins, whose
wandering life began to have some
charms for his imagination—or be might
hear the approach of cannon, as Bouna
parte was then passing over Egypt.—
The Frenchman experienced a sudden
transition from the deepest despair to
the wildest joy. He occupied himself
during the day with cutting down some
of the palm trees to defend the mouth of
the grotto against wild beasts, which
would probably come in the night time
to drink at the rivulet flowing at the foot
of the palms. Notwithstanding the ea
gerues produced by fear of being devour
ed in his sleep, he could not finish his
fortifications during the day. Toward
evening the mighty tree he had been cut
ting fell to the ground with a crash that
resounded through the desert, as if soli
tude had uttered a deep groan.
The soldier trembled as if there had
AUGUSTA WASHINGTONIAN.
A WEEKLY PAPER: I)EY r OTED TO TEMPERANCE, AGRICULTURE, & MISCELLANEOUS READINGS.
Vol. III.]
! been a supernatural voice in the air.—
But like an heir who soon ceases to
mourn over a rich parent, lie immediate
ly began to strip off’ the broad and beau
tiful leaves to form bis couch for the
nisrht. Fatigued by his exertions and
the extreme warmtli of the climate, he
' soon fell into a profound slumber. In the
middle of the night his sleep was sudden
i lv disturned by an extraordinary noise.
He raised himself and listened; and a
mid the deep silence he distinctly heard
i the loud breathing of some powerful ani
, mal. The sound fell upon his ear like
ice. The hair started jipon his head,
and he strained his eyes to the utmost to
perceive the object of his terror. He
caught the glimpse of two faint yellow
lights at a distance from him ; lie thouiilit
r* l 7 o
! it might be an optical delusion, produced
by his own earnest gaze, but as the rays
of the moon entered the chinks of the
cave he distinctly saw an enormous ani
mal lying about two feet from him.—
: There was not sufficient light to dis
tinguish what species of animal it was;
it might be a lion, a tiger or a crocodile;
| but the strong odor that filled the cave
I left no doubt of the presence of some
' large and terrible creature.
When the moon rose so as to shine
directly upon the opening in the grotto,
its beam lighted up the beautiful spotted
hide of a huge panther! This lion of
Egypt slept with her head upon her paws,
I with the comfortable dignity of a great
housedog. Her eyes, which had opened
| from time to time were now closed. Her
lace was turned towards the Frencli
i man. A thousand confused thoughts
| passed through the soldier’s bosom. His
first ideit was to shoot the enemy through
the head; but lie saw there was not
room enough for that; the ball would
inevitably have passed her. He dared
: I not make the slightest movement, lest lie
‘should awake her; nothing broke the
j deep silence hut the breath of the pan
ther, and the beating of her heart.—
I Twice he put his hand upon his scimetar,
but the difficulty of penetrating her hard
rough skin, made him relinquish his pro
ject. To attempt her destruction and
! fail in the attempt would be certain
I death. At all events he resolved to wait
for daylight. Day came at last, and
I showed the jaws of the sleeping panther
! covered with blood.
“She has eaten lately,” said the
Frenchman to himself. “She will not
awake in hunger.”
She was in truth a beautiful monster.
The fur on her throat and legs was of a
dazzling whiteness; a circle of little
dark spots like velvet, formed pretty
bracelets around her paws; her large
muscular tail was beautifully white, ter
rninated by black rings; and the soft
smooth fur on her body was of a glow
ing yellow, like unwrought gold, richly
shaded with dark brown spots in the form
of roses.
This powerful hut tranquil hostess re
posed in as graceful an attitude as a puss
sleeping on a footstool. Her head
stretched on nervous outstretched paws,
from which her long white smellers spread
out like silver threads. Had she been in
a cage, the Frenchman would certainly
i have admired the perfect symmetry of
| her dark form, and the rich contrast of
colors, that gave such an imperial brill
! iancy to her robe, but alone and in her
! power, it was a different thing. At the
| mouth of the cannon he had felt his
courage rise with increasing danger; hut
|it was sinking now’. The cold sweat
; poured from his forehead, as he watched
I the sleeping panther. Considering him
■ self a dead man, he waited his fate with
jas much courage as he couid. When
jthe sun rose, the panther suddenly open
| ed her eyes, stretched out her paws and
gaped, showing a frightful row of teeth,
| and a great tongue as hard and as rough
ias a file. She then shook herself, and
began to wash her bloody paws, passing
them from time to time over her ears,
like a kitten. “Very well done,” thought
' the soldier, who felt his gaiety and cour
age returning, “ She does her toilet very
handsomely.” He seized a little dagger
which he had taken from one of the
Arabs; “Come let us wish each other
good morning,” thought he. At this
moment, the pather turned her head to
ward him suddenly, and fixed a sur
prised and earnest gaze upon him.
The fixedness of her bright metalic
eyes, and their almost insupportable bril
liancy, made the soldier trembie, especial
ly when the mighty beast moved to
ward him. With great boldness and
1 nresence of mind, he looked her directly
AUGUSTA, GA. JUNE 14. 1545.
jin file eye, having often heard that great
power may be obtained over animals in
! that manner. When she came up to
nim, he gently scratched her head, and
j smoothed her fur. Iler eyes gradually
softened, she began to wag her tail, and
;at last she purred like a petted cat;
hut so deep and strong were her notes of
joy, that they resounded through (he
\ cave like the rolling of a church organ.
The Frenchman redoubled his caress
les, and when he thought her ferocity was
| sufficiently tamed he attempted to leave
I the grotto. The panther made no op
position to his going on' ; but she soon
'came hounding after him, lifting up her
back and rubbing again t his legs, like
an affectionate kitten. “ She requires a
j great deal of attention,” said the French
man, smiling. He tried to feel her cars
jand throat; and perceiving she was
| pleased with it, he began to tickle the
j back of her head with the point of his
I dagger, hoping to find a favorable oppor
tunity to stab her, but the hardness of
the bones made him tremble, lest he
should not succeed.
The beautiful Sultana of (he desert
seemed to tempt the courage of her pris
oner, by raising her head, stretching out
her neck, and rubbing against him.—
The soldier suddenly thought that to kill
her with one blow he must strike her in
the throat. He raised his blade for that
i purpose ; but at that moment she crouch
ed down gently at his feet, looking up
j in his face with a strange mixture of af
ifectionate and native fierceness. The
| poor Frenchman leaned against the tree,
Seating some dates, and casting bis eye
round the desert, to see if no one was
coming to free him from his terrible com
panion, *vhose strange friendship was so
j little to be trusted. He offered to feed
her with some dates; hut she looked upon
■them with supreme contempt. However
as sensible to his kind intentions, she
‘ licked his shoes and purred.
“Will she be so when she gets lmn-
Igry?” thought the Frenchman. The
i idea made him tremble. He looked at
the sizo of the panther. She was three
feet high, and four feet long, without in
cluding her tail, which was nearly three
feet more in length, and as round as a
groat cudgel.
Iler head was as big as a lion’s and
her face was distinguished by a peculiar
expression of cunning. The cold cruel
ty of the tiger reigned there; but there
was likewise something strangely like
the countenance of an artful woman, in
the gaiety and fondness of the present
moment. She seemed like Nero drunk.
She had her fill of blood, and she wished
to frolic.
During (he whole day, if lie attempt
ed to walk away, the panther watched
him, as a dog does his master; and nev
er suffered him to be far out of sight.—
He discovered the remains of his horse
which hud been dragged near the mouth
of the cavern, and he easily understood
why she had respected his slumbers.
Taking courage from the past, he be
gan to hope he could get along very com
fortable witli his new companion. He
laid himself by her in order to conciliate
j her good opinion. lie patted her neck,
and she began to wag her tail and purr.
He took hold of her paws, felt her ears,
and rolled oi’er the grass. She suffered
him to do all this; and when he played
with her paw's, she carefully drew in her
claws, lest she should hurt him. The
Frenchman again put his hand upon his
weapon, with a view of plunging it in
her throat, but he was stilt held by the
fear that he should not succeed, and that
the animal would tear him to pieces in
her agony. Besides, he really began to
j have an unwillingness to kill her. In
| the lonely desert she seemed to him like
j a friend. His admiration of her beauty,
j gentleness, graceful activity, became
j mixed with less and less of terror. He
actually named her Mignonne in remem
j brance of a lady whom he had loved in
i his youth, and who was abominably jeal
ous of him. By the end of the day, he
1 had become so familiar with his danger-
I ous situation, that he was almost in love
with its exciting perils. He had even
taught the panther her name. She look
ed up in his face, when he called “Mig
nonne.”
When the sun went down, she uttered
: a deep, melancholy cry. “ She is well
\ educated,” exclaimed the gay soldier.—
| “She has learned to say her evening pray
| ers.”
He was rejoiced to see the panther
stretch herself out in a drowsy attitute.
“That is right, my prtitv little blonde,”
said he, “you had better go to sleep
first.”
He trusted to his own activity to es
cape during her slumber. He waited
patiently ; and when she seemed sound
asleei, lie walked vigorously toward the
Nile. But he had not gone a quarter of
a league over the sand when he heard
the panther bounding after him, uttering
at intervals, a loud sharp crv.
“Os a truth,” said he, “ her friendship
is very flattering; it must be her first
love.” Before she came up, the French
man fell into one of those dangerous
traps of loose sand, from which it is im
possible to extricate one’s self. The pan
ther seized him by the collar, and, with
incredible strength, brought him to the
j other side of the ditch at a single bound.
“ Mv dear Mignonne !” said the sol
:dier, caressing her with enthusiasm,
! “ our friendship is for life and death.”
lie retraced his steps. Now, lie had
j a creature that loved him, to whom he
j could talk, it seemed as il the desert
were peopled. Having made a signal
i flag if his shirt, he concluded to wait pa
j tiently for human succor. It was his in
-1 teiition to have watched during the night,
but sleep overpowered him. When he
j awoke, Mignonne was gone. He as
jcentled the eminence to look for her, and
soon perceived her at a distance, clearing
the desert with those long bounds pecu
liar to her species. She arrived with
bloody jaws. When receiving his ca
resses, she purred aloud, and fixed her
eyes upon him with even more fondness
tha l usual. The soldier patted her neck
and talked to her as he would to a domes
tic animal, “Ah ! ah! Miss, you have
been eating some of the Maugrabins.—
Ain’t you ashamed ? Never mind, they
are worse animals than you are. But
pleise don’t take a fancy to grind up a
Frenchman. If you do, you won’t have
jmeto love you any more.”
This singular animal was so fond of
caiesscs and play, that if her companion
sat many minutes without noticing her,
she would put her paw into his lap to at
tract his attention. Several days passed
1 thus.
The panther was always successful in
: her excursions for food, and always re
turned full of affection and joy; she be
calm used to all the inflections of the
soldier’s voice, and understood the ex
pressions of his face. Sometimes he a*
: inased his weary hours by counting the
spits on her golden fur, and observing
how beautifully they were shaded; she
showed no displeasure even when he held
her by the tail to count the splendid
white and black rings, that glittered in
the sunshine like precious stones. It
was a pleasure to look upon the graceful
outlines of her form, the glossy smooth
ness of her neck, and the majestic car
riage of her head. She delighted him
j most when she was in a frolic. Her ex
treme gracefulness and agility as she gli
ded swiftly along, jumped, bounded, and
rolled over and over, was truly surpri
sing. When she was darting up the
rocky eminence at her swiftest speed, she
would stop suddenly and beautifully as
the Frenchman called “ Mignonne.”
One day a very large bird sailed tliro’
the air over their heads. In the desert,
anything that has life is interesting.—
The Frenchman quitted his panther to
watch the flight of the bird, as he slow
ly and heavily fanned the air. In a few
minutes the sultana of the desert began
to growl. “She is certainly jealous,”
thought the soldier, as he looked at her
fierce and glittering eyes. They gazed
intelligently at each other, and the proud
coquette leaped as she felt his hand upon
her head; her eyes flashed like light
ning, ns she shut them hard.
“The creature must liai’e a soul!”
exclaimed the Frenchman.
Thi3 account was given me by the
soldier himself, while I was admiring the
docility of the powerful animal in the
ineaagarie at Paris. “ I don’t know,”
continued the narrator, “ what I had
done to displease Mignonne so much,
or whether the creature was merely in
sport; but she turned and snapped her
teeth at me, and seized hold of my leg.
She did it without violence; but think
ing she was about to devour me, I plun
gec my dagger into her neck. The
peer creature rolled over uttering a cry
that froze my heart. She made no at
tempt to revenge my blow, but looked
mildly upon me in her dying agony. I
would have given all the world to have
recalled her to life. It was as if I had
murdered a friend. Some French sol
diers, who discovered my signal, found
WASHINGTONIAN
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ncxed, desirous of forming a Society for
our mutual benefit, and toguard against
a pernicious practice, which is injurious
to our health, standing and families, do
pledge ourselves as Gentlemen, not to
drink any Spirituous or Malt I.iquors,
Wine or Cider.
[No. 48
'me some hours afterward, weeping by
j the side of her dead body.”
“All, well,” said he after a mournful
■ silence, “I have been in the wars of Ger*
many, Spain, Prussia, and France; but
l never have seen any thing that produ
ced such sensations as the desert; dh,
| how beautiful it was!”
“ What feelings did it excite?” I ask
ed.
“Feelings that are not to be spoken,”
! replied the soldier solemnly. “I do not
j always regret my cluster of palm trees
I and my panther; but sometimes their re
membrance makes me sad; in the des
jert there is every thing and there is no*
j thing.”
“ What do you mean by that ?”
“ I cannot tell,” said he impatiently ;
alter a pause he added, “ God is there
without man.”
Spirit and Energy ot Yankeedoin.
The Pittsburgh fire has produced a*
bundanl fresh evidences of the indomit
able spirit and energy which are so char
acteristic of the Anglo-American char
acter. The business stamina of the
“Iron City,” appears to be more fully
developed than ever. Only a day after
the fire, numbers ofthe burnt outordered
a supply of manufactures, started post
haste for the east, bought fresh stocks of
goods, fixed up a new place of business
and went “ ahead” as if nothing had
happened. The banks arc ncting with
the greatest degree of liberality consist
ent with prudence—the Insurance Com
panies will pay about 8700,000 —-the
Canal is daily pouring in large additions
to the market—nearly one hundred new
houses have been already built—blocks
of warehouses more substantial and com
modious than those that were destroyed
are going up—several magnificent hotels
will replace those that were burnt—and
in a very short time not a trace of the
recent terrible calamity will be left.—
Thus the spirit, energy, and strong will
of Yankeedom ever “go ahead.”— N.
Y. Herald.
Making and Saving Manures.
Several interesting and useful volumes
have been written on the management
and application of farm-yard manure.
I can say little more on this subject at
this time, than give the opinion, that we
manage the whole affair in a most waste
ful and unscientific manner generally.
Instead of saving carefully every solid and
liquid substance about our premises, and
by combining them with bog muck, the
sediment of bogs and ditches, parings
from the road side, loam from w ood lands,
and decaying vegetables, making them
leaven the whole lump, with the addition
of ashes, soot, plaster, lime, salt, &c., we
suffer thousands of loads to lie exposed
to sun and rains, which dissipate the
most valuable portions, and impoverish
our means of prosperity.
Every family who uses a barrel of soft
soap in a year, may saturate two cords or
four ox cart loads of loam with suds and
filth of the wash room, which would be a
good top-dressing to an acre of grass
land, or half an acre of wheat, I could
speak of other wastes which happen about
almost every house, which if they were
saved, and properly composted, would
manure in the State of Maine 100,000
acres of wheat. In China, almost no
cattle are kept and no dependence placed
on barn-yard manure. Their sole resort
is, to the composts formed from the refuse
matter about human dwellings, and the
most of that land which sustains 300,-.
000,000 human beings is a garden.— Dr.
Bates' Address.
, .
Excretory Duct of the feet of Sheep.—
Chancellor Livingston, Ist President of
of the New York State Agricultural Soci
ety, says the legs of sheep are furnished
with a duct, which terminates in the fis*
| sure of the hoof; from which, when the
animal is in health, is secreted a white
fluid, but when sickly, these ducts are
stopped by the hardening of the fluid.
He says he has in some instances found
that the sheep were relieved, by merely
pressing out the hardened matter with
the finger from the orifice of the duct in
each foot; it may in some cases be proper
to place their feet in warm water, or to
use a probe or hand brush for cleansing
this passage.
The King of Sweden has issued an
order of the day to his army, announc
ing that his youngest son, Nicholas Au
gustus, has entered the service as a pri
vate soldier in the Norwegian Chasseura.