the Indian for this, than to condemn him; and of these I am not unwilling to avow myself to be one. I confess that I can see no crime in standing up, as he has done, as long as strength would permit, in defence of his country and his honour; and I doubt whether we should not, many of us, have been inclined, under similar circumstances, to have acted in the same manner; and when we were torn from our dearly-loved homes, and cast upon the wide world, to wander where we might, have become as cruel and as revengeful as the Indian of the western world. Δ. THE PRIMROSE. WHEN the veil of night departing Beneath the spinous hawthorn shade, Peeps from amid the clustered leaves- Unmindful of the threat'ning wind, But when the burning summer beams, This nursling of the rural bank, Fanned by the breath of heaven, To bloom in innocency there By nature given, And folding up her gentle charms, With earth that may not war, In pristine purity thus fades The Primrose Star! E. P. TALES OF A SPANISH VETERAN. HASSAN THE LION-SLAYER. EVENING: from the marble minarets of Fezzan's distant capital, the solemn call was heard, at which the Moslem, bending earthward his face towards Mecca, aspirates his prayer to the great Disposer of events. The voice of the Imaum floated faintly on the breeze, that now waved the topmost branches of the palms, and sighed amid the clustered tamarisks: the balmy breeze, that cooled the fervid air, and bore upon its wings sweet scents, which told that it had passed through myrtle bowers, and where the almond scatters around its blossom, white as the snows of Atlas. In the distance arose itself the mountain monarch, tinged by the last beams of the setting sun, like a grim giant, clothed in panoply of mail, and girt with his scarf of gold and crimson. It was a valley, broad, and fair to look upon: the rocks that fenced it in rose precipitous on either hand, hiding from view the horrors of the howling wilderness, the dark Zahara, where many a weary traveller has sunk to rise no more. Green pastures stretched, interspersed with corn-fields, far as the eye could reach. A gliding stream, that widened as it went, flashed as a bright vein of molten ore, and seemed like some rejoicing creature, gladdened by the light and loveliness around; by its side the goats were browsing, and camels chewed the cud. The lotus, like Venus from the wave, there rose in the pride of beauty; and many a shrub lent its fragrance to the passing gale. Scattered over the scene were thickets of plantain, and groves of stately trees, of every tint and shade. The prickly aloe flourished there; the cactus hung forth its crimson banners; and the prolific fig cast its broad shadow : the apricot, the date, the life-sustaining date, often for months the only food of those who tread the arid wilderness, and those how various! The roving Arab shares with his steed the desert food, and ere he rests at night beneath his canopy of palm, he blesses Allah for the precious gift; the pilgrim, bound to the shrine of Mecca, eats of the date, though sparingly, and praises Him from whom the boon proceeds; the camel-driver of the caravan, that bends its toilsome course from where the tombs of India's warlike kings look down into the crystal waters of the Ganges, even to the gilded domes of Ispahan, or to the sluggish Caspian tide, he and his master, and the dark-eyed maidens of Circassia's vales and Georgia's flowery plains, torn from their childhood's homes to golden slavery; these, and the European that explores the unknown wilds, the Hindoo juggler and his dancing girls, bound for the Bosphorus; to these, and men of every tongue, creed, and condition, every age and sex, the date is food most precious; and in this vale it lifts its head above the tamarind and the fragrant lemon, and above the cassia bush. The calabash hangs here from its parentstem, and the tall palm shoots up its fanlike head, as though a monarch of the woodlands exalted above his subjects of the leafy world: the rocks on either side, like garden walls, are clothed with blossom-laden tendrils and creeping green that hides their rugged fronts from sight. Such is the downward view : let us turn now towards the valley's head, where the closing rocks shut in a narrow gorge, a mountain pass, where but a handful might withstand an army. Here let us keep the trodden path, for among the mazes of the lofty jungle grass hide the serpent and the scorpion, the sole disturbers of surrounding beauty; so in life beneath joy's smiling semblance some cankering cause of sorrow ever lurks, and so is best, else should we be content here ever to remain, and turn no thoughts above. We enter now the vale. Behold, we pass a spacious tent, hemmed in by closely planted trees, whose branches intertwine and screen it from a too intrusive gaze: yon gilded staff, that raises high the silver crescent above the topmost boughs, proclaims that herein dwells the nomade chief, a man of rank,-for so the blue silken flag bespeaks him. A few steps farther, and we approach a tall palisade of twisted reeds, fencing in an area of large extent; from within we hear the champ of the impatient steed, the bark of dogs, the piercing cry of the chetah, the growl of the caged lion, and the scream of birds, mingling with human voices. Gazing through the meshes of the split bamboo, we see whence this proceeds far to the right is stretched a row of huts, varied in form and use; and parallel with these is an open shed, thatched with stubble of the golden maize; beneath the shade of this is ranged a line of Arab barbs, fine-limbed and sleek, ready for instant service: these champ their bits, and arch their slender necks, and long to race with whirlwinds in the desert. The rocks which hem in a part of the enclosure are scooped out into dens, grated with iron bars, from behind which glare eyes of fire; in one den rests the tawny monarch of the woods,-the rival tiger is his neighbour; a pure white Brahmin bull, and a pair of sleek spotted panthers, beside these; and in the lower caves are laughing hyænas, jackalls, and wolves, with overhead the unwieldy pelican, the slaughter-loving vulture, and a host of rainbow-tinted parrots, making all around echo their discordant screams; chattering jays, too, baboons, and apes in infinite variety. Two zebras stand apart within a shed, wild and untamed, but graceful in the symmetry of beauty; see there, the tall giraffe stretches out his crane-like neck to pluck a shoot from an overhanging tree, as the ostrich, kindred tenant of the desert, stalking sedately by, pauses to gaze upon the only friend he knew before the hand of man imprisoned him. Four muzzled chetahs stalk up and down, uttering their savage snarl as they pass where the gaunt, broad-chested dogs recline, which, starting up, return their fierce defiance with an angry growl. These, with two lamas and a porcupine, bristling its quills at every near approach, with fowls and birds of various kinds, make up the ark-like assembly; and yet these are not all: a loud neigh, at times, and now low whinnying behind yon fence of twisted cactus stems, tell where they keep the Arab mares and foals; the bleat of sheep, the bark of dogs heard in the distance, tell that, beyond where we can see, still life exists. Hear ye that noise so shrill and trumpet-like ?-it comes from yonder building, loftier than the rest, for there the elephants are kept; numerous attendants are hurrying to and fro preparing food and drink for evening; with eager eyes the animals survey these preparations. But we must on. Now we are passing between rows of weather-stained tents, rudely constructed, low and roofed with camel-skin: here dwell the inferior members of the tribe, for those of higher rank live apart within the wood-encircled space allotted to the prince. Groups of half naked children are sporting in all the wild exuberance of infant glee; while, ever and anon, a swarthy face looks forth, and a shrill voice, threatening to the very echoes punishment, startles the wild urchins, who scamper off like antelopes before the lion's The men are absent on their duties: some fold for the night the sheep or camels in the distant fields; some light the fires to scare away the wolves; some search the thicket, that no beast of prey may be in lurking there; while others set the watches to protect against any living enemy the slumber of the vale. roar. "The tents are passed, and we have reached a spot where the waters of a crystal spring gush forth from a rocky fissure: from hence the rivulet arises, and hence the waters flow, forgetful of their fountain head, in one unbroken jet, and fall into a spacious reservoir scooped from the projecting rock; escaping thence, they whirl, and leap, and rush with headlong speed down the declivity into the plain. Hither, when the golden sunset hues gild the peaks of the distant mountains, and when the Imaum's voice and call to prayer hath died away upon the breeze, hither hasten the maidens of the tribe to fill their vessels with the sparkling water it is the custom of the land; and, high or low, none may neglect the duty. So, while I speak, they come; each Hebe-like, a jug upon her head, while kind greetings and light sounds of laughter re-echo round their path ;—and now they sit beneath the acacia boughs which cluster round that spot: it is the hour of mirth and relaxation,—the only hour the maiden has to pour into ear of friendship those hopes and fears that ever flutter round her heart. But who is she that moves amid the throng, a goddess of ethereal mould? a creature she, not of the common clay; grace is in every movement, and her step as the antelope's is bounding and light, yet fraught with dignity and stateliness; her waist is slender as the cyprus stem, her rounded limbs of exquisite proportion; her face-blow, gentle breezes, waft the veil aside that shrouds her goddess face-'tis done, and lo! a beauteous vision, vision of loveliness on which no eye of man may gaze undazzled: mirth, when she smiles, irradiates all around, and music, when she speaks, thrills to the soul as some sweet melody of days gone by! Great Allah never made another such as she-the peerless one-the Emir's child. Famed for her beauty far and wide, but more for excellence that eastern maidens seldom know, doomed either to a hopeless drudgery, or existing as a splendid toy. But here was an exception; born in our own beloved Spain, her early years knew christian guidance and instruction; thus was her mind well stored, intellect vigorous, perception quick, dauntless her soul, (this ye will find,) and judgment true and sound beyond her years, for she had numbered scarcely sixteen summers. And she was gentle too, tender, confiding; affable and kind to those of lower grade, so all that knew her loved, nay idolized! The speaker paused; his head sunk upon his venerable breast, which was heaving with some powerful emotion: down his furrowed visage a few bright tears were slowly stealing, till they rested on his |