Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

.

[blocks in formation]

ness to their victim. Each faculty of mind was given to us by an Omniscient Being for important purposes, and a vivid conception, is not among the least to serve us in moral and mental good. But let it be perverted, let it be made subordinate to selfish passions, or allow it to be busy with worldly desires, and there is nothing in the mind that so soon will work its own ruin, and make it insensible to that happiness which it is our duty to seek. Oh! how oft does fancy weave the web of life of the most delicate texture, and dyed in the most brilliant hues, but how surely does stern, indifferent reality, with its strong finger draw away each lovely thread, and leave but a thin, grey, material, in which to clothe the ever coming future. And 'tis the chill disappointment we feel in this worthlessness of our own work, that makes unhappiness-that will bring indifference to the good gifts of our Maker, and at last despair and scepticism. If works of fiction will nourish a wordly, selfish fancy, let us cast the diseased "bread upon the waters," and it shall return to us after many days, in a healed form; for the very act will fill us with independence, and consciousness of our ability to be strong in moral worth.

I have tried to show how novels work ill in one light; it might be shown in many, but if they exert an evil tendency over any one of the powers of mind that God has entrusted to our keeping, should they not be banished from every literary depository in our Union? Let the experiment be tried, and I doubt not that American females will stand higher on the pinnacle of learning and intellectual excellence, than those of England and France. Ladies, do you try the experiment; listen not to Fashion's fallacious reasoning; she is a harsh, rude tyrant. Show the world, (if the world's opinions are to be considered,) that woman has independence, has energy, and can engrave her name on the tablets of intellectual worth.

FIELD FLOWER.

For the Ladies' Garland.

For a friend who requested the authoress to write a few verses on her place of abode.

DRUMORE.

And shall my muse attempt to sing The varied charms of old Drumore; To paint the glories of the spring,

Or speak of Susquehanna's shore? Although the spring her earliest buds May sweetly scatter o'er the wild;Although the swelling summer floods,

May glad the humble rustic child:Still though I love to tread the plain, And walk upon the mountain shore,

My thoughts will rove beyond the main, They will not rest in old Drumore.

163

I love that dreamy darkness wild,
That's wrapt around those classic times,
When chieftain bold, and maiden mild,
Have formed the Poet's magic lines.

For here no Tasso ever roved,
Or strung his wildly sounding lyre;
And here no burning Sapho loved
To light the soul with kindred fire.

And if I sit and gaze at eve,

Upon the placid, azure sky, My thoughts those quiet beauties leave, To dwell on years gone by.

Although upon that sounding shore,
Dwells deep and awful solitude;
Though oft the rolling thunder's roar
May echo through old caverns rude:-

Still in those caverns deep and rude,
No hermit's feet have ever trod;
No pilgrim here has ever strewed
Fresh flowers upon the sod.

And here no hardy mountaineer,
As legends wild have often sung
Lurks to surprise his foeman near,
As on the trembling heights he hung.
No castles here have ever reared

Their frowning battlements on high; No trembling vassals here have feared To meet a master's vengeful eye.

Forbid me not these stirring themes,
Where fancy's airy flights may rove;
Forbid me not to cherish dreams,
Or linger o'er the scenes I love.

For who would break those mystic scenes,
Of fancy's bright imaginings;
Or leave those soul inspiring themes,
To dwell with cold realities.

I may not, cannot, must not tell,
These magic spells beyond control;
For with a soft and moving swell,

The beautiful floats o'er my soul.

And thoughts, and inclinations move

My soul like oracles divine; Oh! who would not those musings love, And worship at the spirit's shrine.

And as I often lonely stray,

His varied beauties to explore, I've framed a humble cottage lay, As tribute due to old Drumore. Lancaster county, 1838.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic]

In front, in the centre, the Rhinoceros; to the right, the Hippopotamus, and Orang-Outang; Centre back ground, the Giraffe; to the left, Antelopes and Zebra.

GROUP OF AFRICAN ANIMALS.

No subject is more interesting and delightful than | brute creation. Many instances are on rethat of natural history. The study, considered apart cord of its retentive memory, its grateful and from the various branches of science which it embraces, || affectionate disposition, and its general inis one of the most delightful occupations that can em- telligence as a discriminating, if not reflectploy our attention; and perhaps none of the amuse- ing creature. From the earliest ages its ments of human life are more satisfactory and digni- stupendous size, and unexampled sagacity, fied, than the investigation and survey of the work- have formed a theme of wonder and admiraings and ways of Providence, in this created world of tion to mankind. Elephants in the wild wonders, filled with his never absent power. It ele- state are gregarious and herbivorous. They vates the mind, and is inexhaustible in supply. are naturally averse to the extremes of heat and cold; and, although inhabitants of some of the most sultry regions of the earth, they shelter themselves from the overpowering heat of the mid-day sun in the comparative coolness of those umbrageous forests which, both in Africa and Asia, are their chosen places of abode.

At the present day every facility is afforded for the rational amusement and instruction of all classes. Our Museums afford a rich treat: and we know of no place where an evening can be more profitably and pleasantly passed; but no less entitled to the generous patronage of the public, is the Menagerie, or Zoological Institute in this city, where many wonderful animals may be seen,-among them a splendid Egyptian Giraffe, or Cameleopard. These animals have heen collected at an immense expense. The establish ment is conducted with the most perfect order; and we cheerfully recommend to our readers in city and country, old and young, not to let the present opportunity pass without a visit to the Institute. It will

Second in size, though widely distant in sense, is the rhinoceros, an animal of a sour and stubborn disposition, and in every way less trustworthy than the elephant. Of this genus there are several species, two of which (if R. Burchellii is entitled to specific distinction,) inhabit Africa. The others are native to India, and the great islands of Java The most gigantic of all living terrestial and Sumatra. The African species (R. Afrianimals, the elephant, combines superhuman canus) is armed with a couple of horns; its strength with almost human wisdom, in a coat is not distinguished by voluminous folds, manner otherwise unequalled among the land it wants the incisive teeth. The sense

afford both gratification and profit.

[ocr errors]

No. 7.

Group of African Animals.

of sight is said to be rather defective in the rhinoceros those of smell and hearing are acute.

Another animal, characteristic of, though not entirely peculiar to Africa, is the hyrax or Cape marmot. This species is supposed by some biblical annotators to be the cony of the Scriptures. It inhabits the rocky territories of many parts of Africa, and occurs, with little variation in its external aspect, in Syria. With the exception of the horns, it bears a strong resemblance to a rhinoceros in miniature.

165

phants, and not so subject to turn yellow, are much esteemed by dentists. Their hides are formed into bucklers by several of the African tribes.

The aspect of the zebra is too familiarly known to require description. It is one of the most fancifully adorned of all known quadrupeds; but the beauty of its external appearance is its chief merit, as its disposition is wayward and capricious in the extreme. With the exception of one or two instances, in which persevering individuals have succeeded in subduing the stubbornness of its nature, it has not been rendered subservient to the purposes of the human race. It is a mountain animal, called dauw by the Hottentots, and is scarcely ever seen on plains.

The Ethiopian hog (Phascocharus Africanus) is a fierce and savage animal, allied to the wild boar in its habits, but distinguished by a pair of large lobes or wattles placed beneath the eyes. The tusks of the upper jaw bend upward in a semi-circular manner to- The zebra of the plains, although only reward the forehead. When attacked, it is apt cently characterized as a distinct kind, is in to become furious, and rushing on its adver- fact a better known and more abundant spesary with great force and swiftness, inflicts cies than the other. It is chiefly distinthe most desperate, and sometimes fatal guished by the want of rings upon the legs. wounds. It inhabits a wide extent of coun-I stopped," says Mr. Burchell, "to examine try along the western side of Africa, from Senegal to the Cape; and it also occurs specifically the same in Ethiopia. A new species of this genus has been recently discovered in the north of Africa, by M. Ruppell. It is named Phascocharus barbatus. The ascertainment of the latter animal is a proof, among many others which might be adduced, of the impropriety of denominating a species from the continent which it inhabits. Few species are so isolated in the animal kingdom as to exist alone over a great tract of country, without claiming kindred with any other; and we may fairly infer, a priori, that when one of a genus is discovered, a second or a third will ere long make its appearance. When this happens, such specific nanies as Africanus, Americanus, &c. cease to be of a discriminating or exclusive nature, and consequently lose their value.

these zebras with my pocket telescope; they were the most beautifully marked animals I had ever seen; their clean sleek limbs glittered in the sun, and the brightness and regularity of their striped coat presented a picture of extraordinary beauty, in which probably they are not surpassed by any quadruped with which we are at present acquainted. It is indeed equalled in this particular by the dauw, whose stripes are more defined. and regular, but which do not offer to the eye so lively a coloring."

The

The quagga is more nearly allied to the zebra of the plains than to that of the mountains. It lives in troops in the neighborhood of the Cape, and, in common with the zebra, is frequently found in company with ostriches. The wary disposition of these birds, and their great quickness of sight, are supposed to be serviceable to the congregated group in warnNext to the elephant and rhinoceros, per- ing them of the approach of their enemies. haps the most bulky land animal with which Very few animals of the deer kind, pronaturalists are acquainted, is the hippopota-perly so called, are found in Africa. mus, or river horse. It is peculiar to Africa, and inhabits the fresh waters of that continent. It formerly existed in Lower Egypt, but has long since disappeared from that district. Mr. Bruce makes mention of hippopotami as existing in the lake Tzana, exceed ing twenty feet in length. It would be hard to limit the growth of this naturally gigantic species; but the largest ever killed by Colonel Gordon, an experienced hippopotamist, did not exceed eleven feet eight inches. Mr. Desmoulins regards the species of Senegal as differing from those of the more southern parts of Africa. These animals are chiefly valuable on account of their ivory tusks, which, being harder than those of the ele

[ocr errors]

red deer, however, (Cervus elaphrus,) one of the noblest of the tribe, and the most stately of all the wild animals still indigenous to Britain, occurs in some of its northern quarters. But these it is not improbable were imported, at some unknown period, from Europe.

The Giraffe, or cameleopard, the tallest, and in every other respect, one of the most singular of quadrupeds deserves notice; but we shall merely state that it is a timid and gentle animal, feeding principally on the leaves of trees, (especially those of the genus Mimosa,) and inhabiting the plains of Central and Southern Africa. Its gait, or mode of progression, is described as extraordinary

[blocks in formation]

by Mr. Lichtenstein. "We had scarcely

VOL. II.

CABINET OF NATURE.

traveled an hour when the Hottentots called our attention to some object on a hill not far CUMBERLAND WATER FALL off on the left hand, which seemed to move. The Fall is situated on the top of the CumThe head of something appeared almost im- berland Mountains, East Tennessee. I have mediately after, feeding on the other side of frequently heard it spoken of by travelers the hill, and it was concluded that it must be who had visited it; and their descriptions exthat of a very large animal. This was con- cited in me a very great desire to see it, as I firmed, when after going scarcely a hundred conceived it to be a beautiful miniature resteps farther, two tall, swan-necked giraffes presentation of the falls of Niagara. I have stood almost directly before us. Our trans- recently had an opportunity of gratifying this ports were indescribable, particularly as the desire; and I assure you that my most excreatures themselves did not perceive us, and alted preconceptions were more than realized therefore gave us full time to examine them, when I had the pleasure of viewing this most and to prepare for an earnest and serious interesting scene, which is distinguished alike chase. The one was smaller and of a paler for its beauty, and its wild and awful grancolor than the other, which Vischer imme- deur. This fall is within two hundred yards diately pronounced to be a colt, the child of of the stage road crossing the Cumberland the larger. Our horses were saddled, and mountain. The pathway which conducts to our guns loaded in an instant, when the chase it passes over a gently inclined plane, on the commenced. Since all the wild animals of lower margin of which meanders a small Africa run against the wind, so that we were stream, which is here remarkable only for its pretty well assured which way the course beautifully transparent water which flows on of these objects of our ardent wishes would smoothly and gently, to the very verge of the be directed, Vischer, as the most experienced precipice over which it falls. Immediately hunter, separated himself from us, and by a beyond the little rivulet there rises an abruptcircuit took the animals in front, that he ly steep mountain, which is clothed with a might stop their way, while I was to attack luxuriant growth of ivy and laurel, the beauty them in the rear. I had almost got within of which was greatly heightened when I saw shot of them when they perceived me, and it, by being covered with richly variegated began to fly in the direction we expected. bloom. And the noble yew trees, as if too But their flight was so beyond all idea extra-proud to associate with the humble shrubbery ordinary, that, between laughter, astonish-||beneath, send far their lofty shafts, which alment, and delight, I almost forgot my designs most vie with the clouds in height. upon the harmless creature's lives. From the extravagant disproportion between the height of the fore to that of the hinder parts, and of the height to the length of the animal, great obstacles are presented to its moving with any degree of swiftness." Cameleopards were known to the Romans, and were exhibited in the Circean Games by Cæsar the dictator. The Emperor Gordian afterward exhibited ten at a single show; and tolerably accurate figures of this animal, both in a browsing and grazing attitude, have been handed by the Prænestine pavement.

[blocks in formation]

How striking a contrast is there between this part of the scenery, and what is soon exhibited to the eyes of the beholder! Here every object is calculated to inspire feelings of calmness and serenity; and the distant roar of the cascade falls like melodious music on the ear, to compose and soothe the mind. But how soon is the beholder awakened from this sweet and contemplative reverie, when he finds himself on the brink of the awful precipice over which tumbles the beautiful little stream just described! He is filled with wonder and amazement when he surveys on the one hand the stupendous cliff above, whose towering apex seems to scale the clouds, and on the other, the profound abyss beneath, into which the water falls and vanishes from the sight. After viewing this truly grand scene for some time, with a pleasure which can be more easily conceived than described, I turned away from the spot, and, as I supposed, bade a final adieu to it; being more forcibly struck than ever before, with the wondrous power and might of the great Artificer of the universe. But to my great surprise, I learned from the gentleman living very near, and who met me whilst retracing my steps to my carriage that I had as yet seen but a small part of this awfully grand

No. 7.

The Interview.

167

served to excite in my mind feelings of a very solemn and melancholy character. The first was the murder of a man by two gamblers, who had followed him from McMinnville, Middle Tennessee, under the impression that he was possessed of a large amount of money. He showed me the spot where they committed the horrid deed, it being near the basin, where they had decoyed their unsuspecting victim, under the pretence of showing him this interesting spectacle. Suffice it to say that he was most barbarously murdered, and then despoiled of all he had, and his mangled corpse was left exposed to the beasts of prey. He was, however, soon discovered and received a decent interment. The other incident was the accidental destruction of a negro man, who having fled from his master, a trader, and being pursued at night, leaped headlong, unconsciously, over the dreadful precipice to the right of the fall, fully one hundred and fifty feet, and mangled his head and body against the crags beneath. His passage from time to eternity was indeed a short one. His tomb is amidst the rocks not far from where he fell, and contiguous to that of his companion in misfortune.

scenery. He informed me that there was a way by which we could descend to the base of the precipice, on the brink of which I had just stood, where I could have a much better view of the fall of water. Wishing to gratify my excited curiosity to the utmost extent, I consented to accept him as my guide. He conducted me down a very rugged, and precipitous declivity of considerable extent midst crags of almost mountain height. At length we reached the foot of the precipice, and stood in full view of the whole wonderful|| and amazing prospect. At first, I felt almost overwhelmed by the contemplation, and spent some minutes in viewing the water merely where it falls into a lovely circular basin of stone. But language is utterly inadequate to express my emotions, when I ventured to raise my eyes to survey the lofty and spacious concave which was suspended over my head, and the precipitation of the water from its brink. You can form some faint conception of the|| magnificence and grandeur of this scenery, when I tell you that the great dome above, which looks like the firmament in miniature, is not less than one hundred and fifty feet in diameter, and one hundred and seventy-five feet in height, from the bottom of the basin, into which the water is received. The excavation extends so far back, from the point at which the water is projected, that there is a space of full forty feet between the base of the precipice and the basin, so that persons can walk with ease under the arch, without being made wet by the spray, which is consid-It erable, and which exhibits the appearance of a shower of rain. The water passes from the edge of the arch above in a mass, but descending through the air for two hundred feet, it becomes divided like large drops of rainwhich present a strikingly singular appearance. In the afternoon, the beauty and interest of the scene are greatly heightened by the numerons brilliant rainbows which are formed by the refracting influence of the descending stream and the ascending spray.

[ocr errors]

When the stream of water is much increased by rain, it is projected full twenty yards from the base of the precipice, and occasions a violent whirlpool in the basin, which has the effect of wearing the rocks and pieces|| of timber in it smooth and round.

Below the arched excavation, the preci- || pice, which consists of solid rock, is just like a perpendicular wall of one hundred and fifty feet in height. Within ten feet of the base of this wall, are to be seen several large niches, which contains a great many bones, some of which are human, and supposed to have been deposited there by some of the Indian tribes.

Whilst contemplating this august scenery, my guide related to me two incidents, which

For the Ladies' Garland.

THE INTERVIEW.

t is the hour, when from the boughs The nightingale's sweet note is heardis the hour when lovers' vows Seem sweet in every whispered word; And gentle winds and waters near, Make music to the lonely ear.

Each flower the dews have lightly wet,
And in the sky the stars are met,
And on the wave is deeper blue,
And on the leaf a browner hue,
(And in heavens that clear-obscure)
So softly dark and darkly pure,
Which follows the decline of day-
As twilight meets beneath the moon away.

But it is not to list to the water fall
That Parasina leaves her hall,
And it is not to gaze on the heavenly light,
That the lady walks in the shadow of night,
And if she sits in Este's bower,
'Tis not for the sake of its full-blown flower,
She listens, but not for the nightingale-
Though her ear expects as soft a tale.

There glides a step through the foliage thick,
Her cheek grows pale and her heart beats quick,
There whispers a voice thro' the rustling leaves
And her blush returns, and her bosom heaves,
A moment more, and they shall meet,
'Tis past-and he is at her feet.

« ElőzőTovább »