ous shoals of Herrings and Pilchards which visit our coasts-for that incalculable number of Cod, and other white fish, which are drawn from the oceant; and for those inexhaustible stores of cartilaginous flat fish, which furnish the labourer with his cheap repastt. Happy ordination of infinite goodness and unerring wisdom, that while the monstrous and unwholesome tribes are thinly scattered or hid from our sight in the great abyss, the wholesome and nutricious kinds abound in such numbers, and are brought, as it were, to our very doors.

Even the great Greenland Whale, which abounds in such numbers in the northern ocean, is said to furnish the inhabitants of those countries, which border on his haunts, with a delicious luxury in the article of food. The Porpoise was a royal dish even so late as the reign of Henry VIII., and the negroes are said to be fond of the flesh of the voracious Shark.

When the great colony of Herrings set out on their migrating journey from the Polar seas, it is composed of such numbers, that if all the horses in the world were loaded with them, they could not carry the thousand part; and when the main body approaches the coast it is generally divided into distinct columns of five or six miles in length, and three or four in breadth!

Vast shoals of Pilchards (a small species of Herring) appear about the middle of July, off the coast of Cornwall; and Mr PENNANT was assured by Dr. BoRLASE, that on the 5th October 1767, there was at one time enclosed and caught in St. Anne's Bay, no less than 7000 hogsheads of Pilchards, each hogshead containing 3500 fishes!

+ In 1806, 577 ships, carrying about 64,667 tons, and navigated by 4336 men, were employed by the British Government to export the produce of the fisheries on the bank of Newfoundland, where the principal cod-fisheries are. The vessels used in the fishery, are from roo to sgo tons burden, and catch from 30 to 400,oo fish each t 10,000 persons being employed about this fishery, in catching, salting, and drying the fish, which are sent to all parts of Europe and the West-Indies. These fisheries are said to bring into the proprietors a revenue of several millions yearly; and they will probably remain an inexhausted and inexhaustible source of treasure, when the richest mines are wrought out

The Scate and the Thornback are excellent eating; and the cheapness of the former has become proverbial.

The finding of a dead Whale is considered by the Greenlanders among the fortunate events of their lives; and the stranding of a Whale on Fox-Islands, is such a happy event, that the inhabitants immediately collect round the huge animal, and with sundry tokens of joy and exultation, devour the best parts of it before they separate.

The Whale is well known on account of its commercial importance in furnishing such a supply of oil and whales bone*:-From the Cacholet we derive that valuable com modity spermaceti, and ambergris the sweetest of perfumes, is also frequently found in this animal:-The skin of the Shark is converted into shagreen :-From a species of the Sturgeon we are supplied with isinglass:-From the Beluga fish we derive that delicious composition called caviare, and also the Beluga-stone:-The hide of the Huss is so tough and strong, that it is employed for ropes in carts and other wheel carriages.

As some of the volatile race seem to be formed to please us with the beauty of their plumage, and delight us with the melody of their song, so a few of the finny tribe are so exquisitely formed and beautifully embellished, that they appear more calculated for our pleasure and pastime, than for any intrinsic value in another point of view. I do not here merely allude to the little gold and silver natives of China and Japan, which are trained and domesticated to sport in our ponds, and amuse us with gambles in our gar dens, but to the Dorado and Gilt-head which glide in the ocean, and the beautiful Dragonet which shines resplendent in the deept. These, also, on some interesting occasions, may contribute their mites towards the comfort of manGazing on these from the side of the vessel that conveys him far from his native home, the solitary exile may be made for a while to forget his private woes; and the sporting of these may serve to beguile the tedious moments that mark the slow progress of the lonesome passenger, returning from captivity to the circle of his friends, or to the agitated

-bosom of her he loves.

Thus if we have had reason to admire the wisdom, the power, and the goodness of the great Creator, as they are manifested

*Every Whale is computed to yield, on average, from 60 to 100 barrels of oil, which, with the whalebone, a substance taken from the upper jaw of the animal, must render these creatures very valuable in a commercial point of view.

"Here the Dorado and the Gilt-head glide

With spots enamel'd, burnish'd too with gold."

In the seas where they abound, these fishes are always in motion, playing round the ships.

anifested in some of the inanimated pages of the Book NATURE, and to contemplate as we have gone along, ith sentiments of adoration and gratitude, the benefits we erive from the internal structure and outward form of e earth-from the numerous appendages and vegetable oductions by which the dry land is covered-and from e wonderful phenomina and beneficial properties of the ean, we have no less cause to be filled with admiration at e bright display of the attributes of the Almighty as they ine conspicuous in ANIMATED NATURE, and to ceive, with love and thankfulness, the blessings they apart, as proceeding from the same benevolent source; for, the words of JOB, "Ask now the BEASTS, and they shall ach thee, and the FOWLS of the air and they shall tell hee: or speak to the EARTH and it shall teach thee; and he FISHES of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth

nt in all these things that the hand of the LORD has vrought this?"

Evening Instructions;

OR A

C. P.

ATHER'S ADVICE TO HIS SON ON THE CHOICE OF A TRADE,

THE ART OF PAINTING

IS divided into different branches, such as portrait, historical, landscape, sea-piece, economical painting, &c.; but as the finer branches depend more on the peculiar genius and exertion of talent, than on the efforts of art, I shall confine myself for the present to the latter, which may be also denominated common house-painting.

The implements made use of in this art are, a stone and mullar for grinding colours; a knife for taking them up; a palette, and jars, for having them ready for use; pencils and brushes for laying them on; a stick, with a soft substance at the end, to prevent it scratching any piece of finer work upon

which

which it may be necessary to rest the hand; and a copper, tin vessel divided in the middle, for cleaning the pencils.

Half an hour before they are used, it may be proper to st the brushes used in size or water colour, in order to swell wood in the handle, which will prevent the hair from falling When colours are to be ground, so as to be reduced powder in a dry state, the operation is facilitated by moiste ing them from time to time with a little water, and by colle ing them under the palette with a knife. They are afterwar laid in small heaps on a sheet of white paper, and allowed dry in a situation not exposed to dust.

Colours ground in oil, are sometimes diluted with pure d but more frequently with oil mixed with essence, and comma ly with the pure essence of turpentine, which makes the colou easy to work. When colours are ground with the essence turpentine, and diluted in varnish, which gives greater hi liancy, as they require to be immediately applied, it is neces sary to prepare a small quantity at a time.

In order to prevent a new palette from imbibing the colour it should be rubbed over, and fully impregnated with the o of Walnuts before using; and all vessels employed to hol colours should be varnished, to prevent their drying to quickly.

In the process of laying on colours, the following rule should be attended to :

1st. To prepare only the quantity necessary for the work to prevent waste, and those which are newly mixed, are more vivid and beautiful.

2nd. Before painting a new subject, prime it; that is, give it a layer of size, or of white colouring oil, to fill up the pores, and render the surface smooth; indeed, every subject to be painted or gilded, ought to have first a white ground; this preserves the colours fresh and vivid, and repairs the damage which they occasionally receive from the air.

3d. Hold the brush straight before you, and allow only the surface to be applied to the subject; if you hold it in any other direction, you will run the hazard of painting unequally,

4th. It is necessary to lay on the colours boldly, and with great strokes taking care at the same time to spread them equally over the surface, and not filling up the moulding and carved work. If this accident should happen, you must have a little brush to clean out the colours.

5th. Stir the colours frequently in the vessel, that an uni formity of tint may be preserved, and that no sediment may

remain

ain at the bottom; and take care never to overcharge the sh with colour.

th. Never apply a second layer till the first, or preceding , be perfectly dry; which is easily known, when, in bearthe hand gently over it, it does not adhere. To render drying more speedy and uniform, make always the layers thin as possible.

'he terms of apprenticeship in Edinburgh are, for a stout about 14 or 15 years of age, and bound six years, 2s. 6d. week the first year; and 1s. per week advanced at the mencement of each successive year till the end. Jourmen's wages, from 15s. to 24s. per week, but the most eral wage is 20s.

The AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE

BROUGHT HOME TO OURSELVES.

eing an Extract from Mr PITT's celebrated Speech in 1792.

66

HERE was a time, Sir, which it may be fit sometimes revive in the remembrance of our countrymen, when en human sacrifices are said to have been offered in this and. But I would peculiarly observe on this day, for it a case precisely in point, that the very practice of the we-trade once prevailed among us. Slaves, as we may ad in Henry's History of Great Britain, were formerly established article of our exports. "Great numbers," says, were exported like cattle, from the British coast, d were to be seen exposed for sale in the Roman arket." It does not distinctly appear by what means they re procured; but there was unquestionably no small remblance, in this particular point, between the case of our cestors and that of the present wretched natives of frica. And these circumstances, Sir, with a solitary inance or two of human sacrifices, furnish the alleged roofs, that Africa labours under a natural incapacity for vilization; that it is enthusiasm and fanaticism to think at she can ever enjoy the knowledge and the morals of urope; that Providence never intended her to rise above state of barbarism; that Providence has irrevocably oomed her to be only a nursery for slaves for us free and

civilized