there came back with strange accounts of what they had seen. 3. How he came to build his first lighthouse is not known; but the structure, which he erected at his own expense, was as odd as the times and the character of the builder. It had open galleries running around the tower, and was adorned in all its stories with enormous beams, projecting far over the rocks, and intended to serve for cranes and pullies. In one of the upper stories it had a balcony, from which the benevolent builder loved to fish with a rod. He used, in the pride of his success, to step out on this balcony and boldly defy the storm, crying aloud: 66 'Blow, oh winds! Rise, oh ocean! Break forth, oh ye elements, and try my work!" 4. And the winds did blow, and the ocean did rise, and the elements did break forth. On the 26th of November, 1703, Wistanley had gone to his tower, in order to look to some repairs; during the night, a fearful storm arose, one of the most fearful storms ever known in the Channel; and on the morrow the sea had swallowed up the tower and its builder. At the same moment when the structure was blown down by the storm, the model of the famous lighthouse, which stood in the library of Wistanley's house over two hundred miles away, was thrown down and broken to pieces. 5. The second effort was made by Rudgard, a silk merchant of London, who had a natural talent for engineering, and who, with the aid of only two carpenters and three workmen, set out on his labor of love. Instead of giving his building a number of corners and openings, by which wind and waves might attack it, as his predecessor had done, he built a simple, solid cone, well fastened to the foundation, and presenting no hole to the elements. It might have stood to our day if it had not been built in alternate courses of wood and stone; for it had successfully resisted the storms of forty-six years, when it fell before a more dangerous element than even air and water. 6. On the 1st of November, 1755, when one of the watchmen went up to the highest story to snuff the candles, he found the lantern on fire. He knew not how it had broken out, tried to extinguish it, and, finding his efforts unavailing, called upon his two comrades to help him. They did not hear him at once, and, faithful to his trust, he remained at his post. In the meantime, the roof had begun to melt, and a shower of molten lead fell upon his head, his shoulders, and even in his mouth; he was carried out, but died on the twelfth day after the occurrence, and the physician actually found a piece of lead in his stomach. companions had been able to escape to a neighboring ledge of rocks, from which they were rescued on the next day. His 7. A new lighthouse at Eddystone was built by the great engineer Smeaton. The first stone of this grand structure was laid on the 15th of June, 1757, and the last was added on the 24th of August, 1759. Arising boldly from the bare rocks, to which it was rooted like a tree, it stood free and fearless among a mass of white foam that continually dashed against its base. It looked like a solid shaft formed out of a single stone, so accurately and carefully were all the blocks joined and cemented; and when the waves rose and the sea washed over it all, dashing its foamy crest high above the lantern, it struck the beholder with wonder. Very different from the boastful words of Wistanley were the inscriptions I carved on Smeaton's work. 'Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it,' was written on the lowest course of stones, and the key-stone above the lantern bore the simple words, in Latin, Laus Deo!* 66 8. Some years ago the structure was taken down, and a new lighthouse, fifty feet higher than Smeaton's, was erected on a neighboring rock. * Praise be to God! Selected. CXII. THE OSTRICH. ab-sorb', to drink in; aufsaugen. giz'-zard, the stomach of a fowl; Magen der Vögel. in-gen'-ious, skillful; sinnreich. sub-sist', to support; sich erhalten. pe-des'-tri-an, one who journeys on foot; Fußgänger. bar'-ri-er, any obstruction; Hindernis; Einhalt. 1. This magnificent creature, the largest of all existing birds, inhabits the hot sandy deserts of Africa, for which mode of life it is wonderfully fitted. In height it measures from six to eight feet, the males being larger than their mates, and of a blacker tint. The food of the ostrich consists mostly of the wild melons which are so beneficently scattered over the sandy wastes, absorbing and retaining every drop of moisture condensed in the comparatively cool temperature of night, or fallen in the brief but severe rainstorms which serve to give new vigor to the scanty desert vegetation and to replenish the rare water springs. 2. Besides these melons, which the ostrich, in common with the lion and other inhabitants of the desert, eats as much for drink as for food, the bird feeds on grasses and hard grain, which it is able to crush in its powerful gizzard, the action of which internal mill is aided by stones and other hard substances, which the ostrich picks up and swallows just as ordinary grain-eating birds swallow sand and small pebbles. In captivity the ostrich will swallow almost anything that comes in its way, such as brickbats, knives, old shoes, wood, feathers, and tenpenny nails, in addition to the legitimate stones. 3. The ostrich is a gregarious bird, associating in flocks, and being frequently found mixed up with the vast herds of quaggas, zebras, giraffes, and antelopes, which inhabit the same desert plains. The nest of the ostrich is a mere shallow hole scooped in the sand, in which are placed a large number of eggs, all set upright, and with a number of supplementary eggs laid round the margin. 4. The eggs are hatched mostly by the heat of the sun; but contrary to the popular belief, the parent birds are very watchful over their nest, and aid in hatching the eggs by sitting upon them during the night. Both parents give their assistance in this task. The eggs which are laid around the margin of the nest are not sat upon, and consequently are not hatched, so that when the eggs within the nest are quite hard, and the young bird is nearly developed, those around are quite fit for food. Their object is supposed to be, to give nourishment to the young birds before they are strong enough to follow their parents and forage for themselves. 5. Each egg weighs, on the average, about three pounds, being equal to two dozen ordinary fowl's eggs. Yet one of them is not thought too much for a single man to eat at a meal, and in one instance two men finished five in the course of an afternoon. The approved method of dressing ostrich eggs is, to set the egg upright on the fire, break a round hole at the top, squeeze a forked stick into the aperture, leaving the stem protruding, and then to twist the stick rapidly between the hands so as to beat up the contents of the egg while it is being cooked. Not 6. These eggs are put to various useful purposes. only are they eaten, but the shell is carefully preserved and chipped into spoons and ladles, or the entire shell employed as a water vessel, the aperture at the top being stuffed with grass. The mode of filling these shells from sandy pools is ingenious and simple. The business of procuring water is entrusted to the women, each of whom is furnished with a hollow reed, a bunch of grass, and her egg-shells. 7. She makes a hole in the bed of the water-pool as deep as her arms will reach, ties the bunch of grass at the end of the reed, pushes it to the bottom of the hole, and rams the wet sand tightly round it. After waiting a little for the water to accumulate, she applies her mouth to the upper end of the reed, drawing the water through the tuft of grass at the bottom and so filtering it. Having filled her mouth with water, she puts another reed into the egg-shell, and pours the water from her mouth into the shell. In this manner a whole village is supplied with water, the shells being carefully buried to prevent evaporation. 8. The Bushmen make terrible use of these water shells. When they have determined on a raid, they send successive parties on the line, loaded with ostrich egg-shells full of water, which they bury in spots known to themselves alone. The tiny but resolute little warriors start off on their expedition, get among the dwellings of their foes, carry off as many cattle as they can manage, shoot the rest with poisoned arrows, and then retiring over the burning desert are able to subsist upon their concealed water stores, while their enemies are totally unable to follow them. 9. After removing the eggs from the nest, the approved method of carrying them is to take off the "crackers” or leather trousers, tie up the ankles firmly, fill the garment with eggs, and set it astride the shoulders if the captor be a pedestrian, or in front of the saddle should he be on horseback. The shells are so strong that they are able to bear this rather curious mode of conveyance without damage, provided no extreme jolting take place. A frisky horse will, however, sometimes smash the whole cargo, with disastrous consequences to himself and the vessel in which they were carried. 10. Among the Fellatahs, an ostrich egg on the top of a pole fixed to the roof of the hut is the emblem of royalty. The Copts call it the emblem of watchfulness, and carry out the idea by making the empty shell defend their church |