when it is frozen, and requires about one-twelfth more space when a solid than when à liquid. When enough heat is applied to water, it is changed into a gas, called steam. In this form, it occupies nearly seventeen hundred times as much space as when a liquid; and such a force is exerted in the change that iron boilers are sometimes burst, and ruin left in its track. 14. But when steam is under control, it becomes one of our most useful servants. It hauls long trains of cars with wonderful speed, propels steamers on ocean, lake, or river, and turns the wheels of thousands of factories. Steam is a great worker, and the engine which controls its power is one of the greatest wonders of modern times. Globe Reader. XXXIV. AN ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE THE WILD HORSE. har'-ass-ing, tiring; ermüdend. ridge, the upper part of mountains; Bergrücken. gul'-ly, a hollow in the earth worn by water; Wasserfurche. mo-not-o-nous, without variety; eintönig. di-ver'-si-fy, to make different; Abwechslung geben. ru'-mi-nate, to chew again; wiederkäuen. es-tate', property; Besißtum. ma-neu'-ver, management; dexterous movement; Manöver. cir-cum-fer-ence, a circular line; Kreisumfang. lar'-i-at, the lasso; Riemen; Lasso. res ́-i-due, rest; Rest. reg-u-la-tion, order; law; Ordnung; Vorschrift. jack'-o'-lan-tern, a light seen in low, moist grounds; Irrlicht. cov'-ért, a hiding place; Versteck. ran'-ger, one of a body of mounted troops, who roam over the country; berittener Jäger. fu'-gi-tive, one who flees; Flüchtling. pan'-ic, sudden fright; panischer Schrecken. do-min'-ion, government; Herrschaft. 1. We left the buffalo camp about eight o'clock, and had a toilsome and harassing march of two hours, over ridges of hills, covered with a ragged forest of scrub oaks, and broken by deep gullies. 2. About ten o'clock in the morning we came to where this line of rugged hills swept down into a valley, through which flowed the north fork of Red river. A beautiful meadow, about half a mile wide, enameled with yellow, autumnal flowers, stretched for two or three miles along the foot of the hills, bordered on the opposite side by the river, whose banks were fringed with cotton-wood trees, the bright foliage of which refreshed and delighted the eye, after being wearied by the contemplation of monotonous wastes of brown forest. 3. The meadow was finely diversified by groves and clumps of trees, so happily disposed that they seemed as if set out by the hand of art. As we cast our eyes over this fresh and delightful valley, we beheld a troop of wild horses, quietly grazing on a green lawn, about a mile distant, to our right, while to our left, at nearly the same distance, were several buffaloes; some feeding, others reposing, and ruminating among the high, rich herbage, under the shade of a clump of cotton-wood trees. whole had the appearance of a broad, beautiful tract of pasture-land, on the highly-ornamented estate of some gentleman farmer, with his cattle grazing about the lawns and meadows. The 4. A council of war was now held, and it was determined to profit by the present favorable opportunity, and try our hand at the grand hunting maneuver, which is called "ringing the wild horse." This requires a large party of horsemen, well mounted. They extend themselves in each direction, at a certain distance apart, and gradually form a ring of two or three miles in circumference, so as to surround the game. This must be done with extreme care, for the wild horse is the most readily alarmed inhabitant of the prairie, and can scent a hunter a great distance, if to windward. 5. The ring being formed, two or three ride toward the horses, which start off in an opposite direction. Whenever they approach the bounds of the ring, however, a huntsman presents himself, and turns them from their course. In this way, they are checked, and driven back at every point, and kept galloping round and round this magic circle, until, being completely tired down, it is easy for hunters to ride up beside them, and throw the lariat over their heads. The prime horses of the most speed, courage, and bottom, however, are apt to break through and escape, so that, in general, it is the second-rate horses that are taken. 6. Preparations were now made for a hunt of this kind. The pack-horses were now taken into the woods, and firmly tied to trees, lest in a rush of wild horses they should break away. Twenty-five men were then sent under the command of a lieutenant, to steal along the edge of the valley, within the strip of wood that skirted the hills. They were to station themselves about fifty yards apart, within the edge of the woods, and not advance or show themselves until the horses dashed in that direction. Twenty-five men were sent across the valley, to steal in like manner along the river bank that bordered the opposite side, and to station themselves among the trees. 7. A third party of about the same number was to form a line, stretching across the lower part of the valley, so as to connect the two wings. Beatte and our other half-breed, Antoine, together with the ever officious Tonish, were to make a circuit through the woods, so as to get to the upper part of the valley, in the rear of the horses, and drive them forward into the kind of sack that we had formed; while the two wings should join behind them, and make a complete circle. 8. The flanking parties were quietly extending themselves out of sight, on each side of the valley, and the residue were stretching themselves like the links of a chain across it, when the wild horses gave signs that they scented an enemy, snuffing the air, snorting, and looking about. At length, they pranced off slowly toward the river, and disappeared behind a green bank. 9. Here, had the regulations of the chase been observed, they would have been quietly checked and turned back by the advance of a hunter from the trees; unluckily, however, we had our wildfire, Jack-o'lantern, little Frenchman to deal with. Instead of keeping quietly up the right side of the valley, to get above the horses, the moment he saw them move toward the river, he broke out of the covert of woods, and dashed furiously across the plain in pursuit of them. This put an end to all system. The half-breeds, and half a score of rangers, joined in the chase. 10. Away they all went over the green bank; in a moment or two, the wild horses reappeared, and came thundering down the valley, with Frenchman, half-breeds, and rangers, galloping and bellowing behind them. It was in vain that the line drawn across the valley attempted to check and turn back the fugitives; they were too hotly pressed by their pursuers; in their panic they dashed through the line, and clattered down the plain. 11. The whole troop joined in the headlong chase, some of the rangers without hats or caps, their hair flying about their ears, and others with handkerchiefs tied round their heads. The buffaloes, which had been calmly ruminating among the herbage of the prairie, yielded to the dominion of man. In the course of two or three days, the mare and colt went out with the lead horses, and became quite docile. W. Irving. XXXV.-THE AMAZON. trib'-u-ta-ry stream; Nebenfluß. sa-van'-na, an extensive open plain or meadow; Savanne; Grasfläche. ve'-he-ment, violent; heftig. pre-em'-i-nence, superiority; Vorrang. surf, the rising of billow upon billow; Brandung. par'-tial-ly, in part; teilweise. en'-ter-prise, an undertaking; Unternehmen. 1. This giant among the rivers of the earth takes its rise among the glaciers of the Cordilleras. The first European who sailed down its mighty waters was Orellana, a Portuguese, who in the year 1541 discovered it, and reported that he had met with a nation of female warriors on its banks, and hence, though this was a fable, arose the name of Amazona. 2. After emerging from the Andes, swelled by tributary streams, this noble river winds through the vast savannas of South America, till it has run a course of nearly four thousand miles. Before reaching the Atlantic the vast flood is fifty miles wide, and in mid-channel the opposite coasts are not visible. It seems more like a fresh-water sea than a river. 3. At its mouth a vehement struggle takes place between the river flowing down and the tide running up. Twice every day they dispute the pre-eminence, and in the meeting of the enormous masses of water a ridge of surf and foam is raised to a height of one hundred and eighty feet. 4. At a distance of five hundred miles out at sea the waters of the Amazon are still perceptible. For the last four hundred and fifty miles of its course it is never less than four miles wide, while the depth is so great that large vessels may go up the channel for two thousand miles and |