it can throw apart, so as to concentrate, as well as give free entrance to every slight vibration of the atmosphere, or in other words, take in the faintest noise-the cry of a mouse, or its rustle among the straw.

In the claws of this bird we also trace the same fitness; its legs are covered with protecting downy feathers, and the toes (the outer one of which may be turned backwards at will) are armed with strong hooked talons, sharply pointed. With these weapons its grasp is very forcible and tenacious, so as, no doubt, often to deprive its victim immediately of life. Its usual mode, however, of putting an end to the struggles of its captive, is by crushing in the skull with its bill, a very merciful mode of proceeding in comparison with the conduct of the cat under similar circumstances.

The barn-owl is one of the most elegant of our British birds; it takes up its abode in hollow trees, steeples, and barns, where its hooting voice is often heard, instilling foolish fears into the heart of the schoolboy as he passes by moonlight near some village church-yard, or striking like a death-knell upon the peasant's ear, as at the curfew hour he "homeward plods his weary way." The ivy-clad ruins of the old abbey, the coeval yew-trees, moonlight, and the owl, form an association sanctioned by nature and poetry; and which, instead of producing superstitious fears, ought rather to lead the mind to solemn contemplations, and reflections upon Him whose word shall outlive the proudest monuments of man, the return of night and day, or the great globe itself."

66

In the ancient days of Greece and Rome this bird was emblematical of wisdom, and consecrated to Minerva; and truly nothing carries an air of such sombre gravity as the common owl.

Exercise in Spelling-XII.

Collect the principal words in each paragraph of the preceding lesson. Divide each word, mark its proper accentuation, and give its meaning according to the context.

F

Exercise in Dictation-XII.

If a ball of light wood be dipped in oil and then thrown into water, the water will recede, so as to form a channel round the ball. This is owing to the repelling force between the bodies, from which cause water cannot be mixed with oil, whatever attempts may be made to effect it.

CLIMBING TREES IN AUSTRALIA.

The method of climbing trees practised by the natives is very singular, and the facility, fearlessness, and dexterity with which they do so are well worthy of being noticed. There are two ways of ascending, the one with the tomahawk, and the other by the assistance of the vine, which is used as a rope or hoop. The former method is most generally practised, and appears to be attended with danger. The black, having eyed well the inclination of the tree, commences by cutting a notch just large enough to admit his great toe. The height of this notch from the ground is about two feet and a half, although it generally depends upon the individual; for it is a remarkable fact that two blacks will not ascend by each other's notches or steps, even though the tree has been climbed by several of them. He then cuts another notch from two to three feet higher for his left foot; and when this is done, he fixes his tomahawk as high as he can reach into the tree, and, holding by it, ascends the two first notches. His left great toe being in the second cut, he stands supporting his whole weight upon it, with his left arm round the tree, and then makes two more notches as before. In this manner I have seen them get up trees of immense bulk, and rising from forty to fifty feet without a branch, with as much confidence and celerity as a European mounts a ladder.

The other mode, with the vine, is also extraordinary, and can, of course, only be practised by the natives of the country where the vine is prevalent. This method, as described to me, is as follows:-The black having cut a rope of vine of proper length and strength, according to the magnitude of the tree, first encircles the trunk with it,

and fastens the two ends in a knot. He then places himself within the hoop of the vine, and raising it with both his hands, leans back with all his power, as if to prove the strength of the vine, as well as the certainty of the knot. These precautions being taken, he makes a spring, raising, at the same time, the hoop higher than himself. In this inclined posture the body is wholly supported by the vine, and as he springs again, he raises himself with his feet and hands, and making similar jumps, he ascends with surprising velocity.

I had an opportunity of witnessing the actions and manœuvres of a black in ascending a tree after an opossum by the former method, which was highly amusing. Having, by the assistance of his tomahawk, reached the hole where the animal was supposed to be, he made signs to those below, as he thrust the handle of the tomahawk into the hollow of the tree, that he was not deceived, and began cutting away with great earnestness; then, feeling again, he exclaimed, "Look out, massa; me pi him directly." So, indeed, it happened; for the opossum, after another cut or two, darted out, and at the instant received a blow from the tomahawk which sent him to the ground dead. Several opossums were killed in a similar manner by others of the natives.

THE SEVEN AGES OF LIFE.

From Shakespeare's Comedy of" As You Like It."

1

To be read with vivacity and humour, and in moderately quick time.

All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms,

And then the whining school-boy with his satchel,
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,

Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad

Made to his mistress's eye-brow. Then the soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel;
Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly, with good capon lined;
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut;
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again towards childish treble, pipes
And whistles in the sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Horatio, son of Edmund and Catherine Nelson, was born, September 29th, 1758, at Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk, of which parish his father was rector.

At an early age he was placed at the high school of Norwich; and in his twelfth year, Captain Suckling, his maternal uncle, having obtained a ship, young Nelson was, at his especial request, entered as a midshipman on board the Raisonnable of 64 guns. On his return he was sent to the West Indies, and was subsequently received by his uncle, on board the Triumph, till the expedition, under Captain Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave, to the North Pole, which he accompanied in the humble capacity of Coxswain. In 1777 he passed the usual examination, and received his commission as second lieutenant of the Lowestoffe; and in 1778, being appointed to the Bristol, rose by seniority to be first lieutenant. Having sailed in this vessel to the West Indies, he was intrusted with the

command of the batteries of Port Royal, then threatened by D'Estaing; and after a series of the most gallant enterprises, took the fort San Juan, in the Gulf of Mexico, in which service he was so exhausted by fatigue, and sufferings of a dysentery, as to be compelled to return to England in the Lion, commanded by Admiral Cornwallis.

In 1781, Captain Nelson sailed in the Albemarle to the North; and it was in October, 1782, that he was first introduced to his late Majesty, then serving as a midshipman on board the Barfleur. In 1787 he married Mrs. Nisbet, of Nevis, and remained in England till 1793, when he was appointed to the Agamemnon, under Lord Hood, and eminently distinguished himself at Toulon, Bastia, and Calvi, "services which," said Lord Hood, "I cannot sufficiently applaud." At the siege of Calvi he lost an eye; but his name was unnoticed in the Gazette, of which he justly complained, adding, with a feeling of confidence fully justified by subsequent events, One day or other I will have a long gazette to myself. In 1796 he was raised to the rank of Commodore, and sailed to Port Ferrajo; and in 1797, was engaged under Sir John Jervis, in the victory off Cape St. Vincent, for his distinguished bravery in which action, he was raised to the rank of rear-admiral, made a Knight of the Bath, and received the freedom of the city of London. On May 28th, 1797, Sir Horatio Nelson shifted his flag to the Theseus, and in the gallant attack on the town of Santa Cruz, received a shot in his right elbow, which rendered amputation requisite. Being forced to return home by illness consequent on this, he received a pension for his services.

A spirit such as Nelson's could not long remain inactive, particularly when his country required his aid. In 1798 he sailed with a small squadron, to watch the Toulon fleet, and after a long and active pursuit, baffled in his exertions by frequent storms, and uncertain intelligence of the enemy's course, at last engaged them in the Bay of Aboukir, and gained the splendid victory of the Nile, uniting, as it was said in the House of Commons, all those qualities by which other victories had been most distinguished. For this he was created Baron Nelson of the Nile, and of