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THE OLD WIFE.
8y the bed the old man, waiting, sat in vigil
sad and tender,
Where his aged wife lay dying, and the
twilight shadows brown,
Slowly from the wall and window chased, the
sunset’s golden splendor,
Going down.
* Is it night! ” she whispered, waking (for her
spirit seemed to hover
Lost between the next world’s ise and
the bedtime cares of this),
And the old man, weak and tearful, trembling
as he bent above her,
Answered: “Yes.”
u Are the children in:” she asked him. Could
he tell her! All the treasures
Of their household lay in silence many years
beneath the
Sut her heart was with them living back
among her toils and pleasures,
Long ago.
And again she called at dew-fall in the sunny
summer weather,
“Where is little Charley, father? Frank and
Robert—have they come?”
” They are safe,” the old mau faltered; “ all
.the children are together,
Safe at home.”
Then he murmured gentle soothings, but his
grief grew strong and stronger,
Till it choked an<J stilled him as he held her
wrinkled hand,
For her soul, far out of hearing, could his
fondest words no longer
Understand.
Still the pale lips stammered questions, lulls
bies and broken verse
loving heeds
While the midnight round the mourner, left
to sorrow’s bitter mercies,
Wrapped its weeds.
There was stillness on the pillow—and the
old man listened lonely—
Till they led him from the chamber, with the
burden on his breast,
For the wife of sixty years, his manhood’s
early love and only,
Lay at rest.
“Fareyou well!” he sobbed, “my Sarah;
you will meet the babes before me;
Tis a little while, for neither can the parting
long abide,
For you will come and call me soon, I know
—and Heaven will restore me
To your side.”
ft was even so. The springtime, in steps of
winter treading,
Scarcely shed its orchard blossoms ere the old
man closed his eyes,
And they buried him by Sarah, and they had
their “ diamond wedding ”
In the skies. •
—Church Union.
ALONG THE ORINOCO.
At nine o’clock in the morning of the
15th day of September, in the year 1860,
the steam launch Naturalist began her
ascent of the Orinoco Hirer. It was an
exploring fol, the expedition fitted out by Iled
mist, and English he had naturalist and taxider¬
the full consent of the
Venezuelan authorities to navigate if
possible to the head waters of the stream.
Our party was composed of Mr. Eedfol,
an English doctor sportsman named Grant, a
Scotch and sportsman named
McDonald, two youngmen named Ward
and Baker, who were assistants to the
naturalist, an engineer, a fireman, ..
cook, a steward, two deck hand* and
myself. I was taken to act as interpreter,
having and passed several years on the coast
in the interior, I was also to assist
the professor in scouring and caring for
specimens, with fresh and in helping to supply the
meat.
The launch had been built in England
especially for this trip. She was flat
bottomed, screw power, and of light
draught. and her Her engines were very power¬
ful, grates arranged for either
coal or wood. AVhile room and comfort
had been sacrificed to secure strength
and power, our accommodations were
still ample and convenient. We had a
large supply and of small arms and ammu
nition, two six-pounders were
mounted on carriages so as to be used at
the gangways. All the upper cabin
windows were provided with bullet¬
proof shutters, and the woodwork was
strong and heavy. There was no doubt
that we should meet with hostile natives,
and it was only common prudence to be
prepared The English for them. brig
Duke took the
launch from England to Trinidad, where
the xtas set up and fitted out. and it
was from that Island we took our de¬
parture that September morning, carry¬
ing as much coat as we could possibly
stow away. On the second day, after
getting into the Orinoco, we were beyond
all settlements, and although the stream
is much used by native boatmen it was
only at long • intervals that any craft
came in sight. There is no river in the
world, not even the Ganges, which is
more infested by crocodiles. We saw
them almost from the moment we
entered the stream, and every mile
passed over the number seemed to in¬
crease. They were so bold and numerous
as to be a serious menace to the native
craft, and we had been asked by Gov¬
ernment officials to kill as many as second possi¬
ble. During the afternoon of the
day three of us killed with our rifles at
there was a sandy beach the reptiles could
be found by the dozen, and some of the
sand bars in the river were hidden from
sight by the scaly bodies. The-engines
were slowed down and the launch kept
as near the shore as safety would permit,
and we wore often within pistol crocodiles shot of
our targets. Few of the
seemed alarmed at our appearan: e, and
some came swimming off from islands
and sand bars to inspect us. I have seen
the crocodiles of India and Africa, where
they are supposed to attain their largest
size, but they cannot compare with those
of the Orinoco. About 5 o’clock on the
afternoon of the second day, as the we
swerved into the mouth of a creek on
right hand bank to escape some drift
wood coming down, every one uttered
an exclamation of astonishment at sight
of a monster saurian lying among the
weeds. He was, as all
with his head away from us at first, but
on being made aware of our presence he
whirled about, opened his jaws wide
enough to take in an oil barrel, and took
his time about entering the water. Our
astonishment at his size was so great
that none of us fired a shot.
the After proceeding five miles the further left bank, up
stream we crossed to
entered the mouth of another creek, in
tending to make our first excursion on
shore from this spot. Several crocodiles
followed in the wake of the steamer,
and some of the men declared that the
big fellow was among them. We ran
into the creek about four times our
length, and made fast to a tree onshore,
and in a short time night shut down
over the forest.
Here was a great highway which had
been more or less navigated for a score
of years, and along the banks of which
were many settlements, and yet the pres
ence of man had not made the slightest
inroad into the wildness and the savage
ness of nature. Scarcely had the dark
ness all come sides. down when we were besieged
on For the mosquito pest we
were prepared. Had we not been They no
man could have lived an hour.
came down unon us in such swarms that
a man outside of shelter would have
een eaten alive. Every door and window
was defended by wire cloth, but the in
sects settled on the glass outside and
upon every object on deck until it was
hidden from sight. The crocodiles came
down the creek and in from the river
in such numbers that the swell kicked
up kept the launch in motion. A dozen
times over we felt their teeth taking
hold of the iron screw and slipping off,
and it seemed as if men in an open boat
would have stood no show whatever
the monsters.
Night from also the brought out a thousand
sounds primeval forest aro id
us. Frogs, birds, and beetles raised a
frightful when medley, and conversation there were had mo
ments all our to
be suspended. We were now high
enough up to be among the jaguars and
black panthers, and the screams of these
savage beasts reached our ears before we
turned in to sleep. Indeed, as we sat
smoking in the cabin after supper, we
heard and felt an animal of the cat tribe
spring aboard and walk back and forth
over our heads. As wo were entirely
shut in there was no danger to be feared,
The engineer yet had plenty of steam,
and when he was communicated with he
blew such a blast on the whistle as
startled our visitor out of his wits and
brought us graveyard stillness for the
next half hour.
Next morning, while the Professor
and his assistants landed to scour the
woods about and secure specimens, I gave
the crocodiles all my attention. I had
an English muzzle-loading rifle of large
calibre, and I shot five of the reptiles in
the creek behind the boat. A bullet be
hind the fore leg or in the eye reached
their life at once. While the report of the
rifle alarmed the birds and animals of the
forest the crocodiles paid little attention
to it. Just above was a long, sandy
beach, and by eight o’clock in the morn¬
ing this beach was .a sight under to
see. We hal a full mile of it
our eyes, and the number of crocodiles
which had crawled up on the sands could
not have been short of 500. They were
of all sizes, from the little chap no long¬
er than your arm to the old settler,
alongside of which a twenty walked foot pole
could have been laid. I up to
the thick of tSiem and began blazing
away. Those reptiles within a space of
forty feet hurried into the water at the
report, but it -was only to land again
above and below, and it was fully three
hours before the became so shy
that I temporarily abandoned the sport.
The morning’s result was 110 crocodiles,
all of which were veterans of the largest
size. During the two days we remained
in this spot I killed 207 of the reptiles,
and forty more were slain by other mem
hers of the party.
Four or five days later, while twenty
five miles further up the sight. riyer, we We saw a
curious and astounding were
tied up to the left bank, and had just
finished dinner, when a fire was discov
ered in the forest on the opposite miles shore, back
The flames were two or three
from the water, but hardly had we various ob
served the great smoke before
wild animals began making the crossing,
We could see up and down the Orinoco
for a distance of two miles either way,
and in ten minutes after we saw the
fire the water for all this distance seemed
lashed to foam. Wild cattle, dqer,
tapirs and jaguars came swimming to our
side for life. The crocodiles for a
long distance up and down the stream
them were in sight from the launch. The
stream here was over half a mile wide,
with a current of about three miles an
hour. What with their fear of the flames
behind them and the fierce crocodiles
around them, the fleeing inhabitants of
the forest were in great terror. It did
not for a time occur to us that we were
in any danger, but suddenly we observed
a huge serpent heading straight lor the
launch, and some shouted for all to seek
cover. The snake came right aboard,
and was follo wed in a minute or two by
a jaguar. Either of the visitors could
have easily passed to the shore as we lay
against the bank in deep water, but both
seemed determined to remain with us. It
wasn’t two
growls of the jaguar proved that seconds a con
Diet was imminent, and thirty
later serpent and beast were having it
hot and heavy along the hurricane deck,
While the row was going on a second
jaguar boarded us over the bows, which
were open back to the pilot house, and
looking from a window it seemed as it
we were beset from the river side. It
was a full half hour before the panic sub
sided, and by that time every crocodile
must have had a square meal and over.
We had shut ourselves up when the
serpent came aboard. A fight certainly
took place between the snake and the
first jaguar, and when the second came
aboard, the fight took on a new phase,
Whether the two beasts were attacking it
the reptile together, or whether was a
triangular contest, we could not tell, but
after the panic along the river had sub
sided, we carefully opened the cabin
doors and looked out. One of the jaguars
lay dead on the deck, while the other
and the were An
examination of the dead beast showed
that he had been caught in the folds of
ie snake, and that the latter was a boa
constrictor. The backbone and nearly
all the ribs were broken.
Three or four days later we had a near
and plain view of a tied still more singular
combat. We had up to the bank
for the night, and were eating supper,
when a wild bull came down to the
water by a path only 200 feet above us.
He was either very thirsty or very reck
less, for he gave us no attention. AVith
in ten feet of where he lowered his head
to driuk was a large tree, and the bull
had scarcely tasted the water when an
enormous serpent flung itself downward
and outward from a large limb and
seized the bull. There was* a great fuss
instantly. The snake had a tail hold on
the limb, but the bull was stout and
strong and could not be surprise, pulled he off his
feet. AVhile taken by was
not in the least rattled, and from the
way he used hoof and horns, we saw
that the serpent had undertaken a big
job. Mud and leaves and grass were
flying in showers, almost hiding the bull
from our view, when a monster croco
dile came out of a bed of reeds a few
rods above, and running along down the
bank, seized the bull by a fore leg. The
defiant roars of the victim were now
changed to bellows of terror and dismay.
While the snake attempted pulled to the haul other. one
way the crocodile
After three or four minutes the saurian
get an advantage, and suddenly the ser¬
pent let go his hold of the tree, and then
such a rumpus was kicked up that we
could see nothing of the combat. When
the air "cleared a little the serpent was
escaping into a thick fringe of foliage.
We tired our rifles at the bull and croco¬
dile and scared them off. The bull was
weak and evidently had been badly
hurt.
Let one travel on foot through the
most populous district in the United
States and one would not see a single
house dog or cat where we saw three
jaguars along the Orinoco. There was
not one hour during daylight those for a pe¬
riod of three months that creatures
were not around us, and most of the
time one or more were in sight. AVhen
ever we ran along close to the banks we
saw them crouched down on flood wood
or moving through the forest, and when¬
ever we came to a sandy beach over
which the turtle crawled a jaguar could
surely be counted on for every half
mile. In the three months we killed up¬
ward of 200 of these animals, and in al¬
most evere instance saved the skin. In
only one case was any of us in danger
from this cunning and ferocious beast.
The steamer had been tied to the bank
and we had been making excursions
from that spot for three or four days,
when one afternoon, when only one of
the young men was left behind at the fire
on the a jaguar crept up and
sprang upon him. It was a
spring, as he afterward discovered. From
the spot where the beast crouched to the
place where he alighted on his victim
was just twenty-six feet. The young
man was kneeling down and bend¬
ing over & specimen which he was
examining and the jaguar fell on his
back and seized him by the right shoul¬
der. The man weighed almost 150
pounds and was a muscular fellow, but
the jaguar trotted off with him as if he
had been a shoulder of mutton, not lift¬
ing the body entirely from the ground,
but dragsing it along. Fortunately for
the victim," the forest was very dense
just there, and the beast had to take one
of the several paths leading through it. he
He had not gone above oOO feet when
met one of the on his way back
to the boat. The jaguar sprang for a
limb ten feet above his head, still hold¬
ing to the man, and such was his won¬
derful muscular power that one of his
forepaws actually touched the limb.
AVhen he dropped back it was to receive
a bullet in the head. In dying he in¬
flicted several severe wounds on the
young man with his claws.— New York
Sun.
Chinese Snpeistitions. „ ....
A girl who is partaking of the last
mea | ; s t0 ea t in her father’s house
p rev j ous to her marriage, sits at the
table with her parents and brothers; but
s } le m ust eat no more than half the bowl
0 f rice set before her, else her departure in
w pi be followed by continual scarcity
the domicile she is leaving. If a bride
breaks the heel of hershoein going from it is
i ler father’s to her husband’s house,
ominous of unhappiness in her new rela¬
tions. A of bacon and a parcel of
SU g ar are hung on the back of a
sec i an chair as a sop to the demons who
m jgflt molest her on her journey. The
“qq iree Baneful Ones” are fond of salt
anc l spices, and the “White Tiger” likes
swee ts. A bride may be brought home
w hile a coffin is in her husband's house,
but not within 100 days after a coffin is
carried out. Domestic troubles are sure
to come upon one who is married within
jqq <] a y S .,f tel . a funeral. A bride, while
putting on her wedding garments, stands
a round, shallow basket. This con
<j uceg to her leading a placid, After well
roU nded life in her future home.
jjer departure from her father’s door her
mo tfl e r puts the basket over the mouth
of t j ie ovcn to stop the mouths of all who
WHU id make adverse comment on her
daughter, and then sits down before the
| c jtc : Tieir range, that her peace and leisure
may be duplicated in licr daughter’s life,
^ bride must not for four m >nths after
] jer lnarr j a ^ 0l enter any house in which
t ]iero has recently bcen'a death or a birth,
f()1 . jj- s j le does there will suve'.v be a
arrel between her and the groom. If
” mother to bride, the
oun<T goes see a
v jgjtor is looked upon as the cause of any
ca ] am jty that may follow .—Popular
ticUace Monthly.
Rabbits are becoming so numerous in
Nebraska that their destruction is called
for by a State law. It is no unusual
sight to see a drove of several hundred.