Oldalképek
PDF
ePub
[merged small][ocr errors]

We have now set before our readers the principal facts connected with what are called in popular phraseology the "five senses;" and we have given, as far as the discoveries of physiological science extend in the present day, a description of the organs with which an all-wise and beneficent Creator has furnished his creatures, from the protozoa, the first link in the great chain of the animal kingdom, up to man, who stands but "a little lower than the angels," to enable them to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch-five great powers wonderfully contrived to administer to our pleasure and gratification, as well as to enable us to discharge the several functions that form the work

which He has allotted to each on earth.

To enable the unscientific reader, and those even who can do little more than read, to follow us step by step, and appreciate and understand all that has been advanced, the description of each organ, its difference of formation in man and the lower animals, and the various purposes for which it serves, has been given in language which we have carefully sought to render as plain and clear, and as free from technical terms as possible. When, however, it has been found absolutely necessary to use technical names, which are applied by scientific men for the sake of brevity of expression, and a ready means of distinguishing one animal or organ from another, by reference to some peculiarity that it possesses, the explanation of these terms has been supplied directly or indirectly in the papers in which they The illustrations, too, that accompany the description of each organ of sense, will be found as useful by our readers in enabling them to understand all that has been said of their formation, etc., as the map of a country, or the chart of a son is to him who would become acquainted with the physical configuration of the former, or the heights and abysses that lie hid from view beneath the waters of the latter. It may be as well to remind our readers that, in order to arrive at a thorough comprehension of everything that is advanced in our lessons on Animal Physiology, they should be studied and mastered consecutively from the first to the last. Under the diagrams that accompany the lessons are given the technical names of the different parts of each organ under consideration.

occur.

In future lessons we shall enter on other branches of this great subject as interesting and important in every respect as that which has been treated in the present series.

LESSONS IN LATIN.-XIII.

DEGREES OF COMPARISON.

WHEN two objects are compared together, the ideas involved in the words more and most come into prominence. Thus we say, "the father is more learned than the son;""Cicero was the most learned of the Romans." The question which we have to answer is, how are such forms of thought expressed in the Latin? Observe that at the bottom of more learned and most learned is the quality learned; for no one can be more learned or most learned without being learned. This ground quality is something positive, a real definite quality. Hence in grammar it is called the positive degree. It is the first step. A higher step is indicated by our word more; and the highest by most. You thus see that besides the positive there are two other degrees, of which the one is the higher, and the other the highest of the three. The higher is called the comparative degree, and the highest is called the superlative degree. Accordingly, there are three degrees of comparison, the positive, the comparative, the superlative. It has been denied that the positive is a degree of comparison. The term may not be rigidly correct, but it is in use, and no better substitute has been offered. Our business is not so much to criticise as to explain; and consequently only then must we enter into criticism when it smooths the way to explanation.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Look at the terminations of the adjective. In the first case it is us; that is the positive, or ordinary form of the adjective. In the second case, it is ior; that is the comparative. In the third case, it is issimus; that is the superlative. You thus see that what in the English is expressed by more is in Latin expressed by ior; and what in the English is expressed by most is in Latin expressed by issimus. Remember, then, ior is the form of comparison, issimus is the superlative form. You might thus obtain for yourself the rule, and say that to the stem of the positive add ior, and you have the comparative; and to the stem of the positive add issimus, and you have the superlative. Such in reality is the rule. These two endings, ior m. and f., ius n.; and issimus, a, um, are to be added to the stem of adjectives and participles, in order to convert the positive degree into the comparative and the superlative. I subjoin some instances:

[blocks in formation]

Facil-is, easy; facil-ior, easier; facil-limus, easiest, etc. There are some compound adjectives which form their com paratives and superlatives by endings different from these. Such adjectives are those which in the positive end in dicus, ficus, and võlus; for instance, maledicus, magnificus, benevolus. I have called these compound adjectives, because they are com posed each of two words. Maledicus is formed from male. bad'y (in an evil manner), and dico, I speak; and consequently denotes an evil-speaker; magnificus is formed from magnus, great, and facio, I do, and consequenay denotes a great doer; benevolus is formed from bene, well, and volo, I wish, and consequently denotes a well-wisher. To form the comparative of these, add to the stem entior; and to form the superlative, add entissimus; thus:-

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

Many Latin adjectives do not take any of these forms of comparison. Such are adjectives which have e before the termination us; as idone-us, fit. These are formed by prefixing magis, more; and maxime, most; as, magis idoneus, more fit; maxime idoneus, most fit: so, pius, pious; magis pius, more pious; maxime pius, most pious. In the same way, form nearly all adjectives and participles ending in icus, imus, inus, ivus, orus, undus, andus, and bundus.

In the English meanings added to facilis above, I have given the forms easy, easier, easiest. Here you see changes made at the end of the positive, similar to those you have just been instructed to make in the Latin. First, the positive easy is changed into casi, and then to this, as the stem, we add er for the comparative, like the Latin ior, and est for the superlative, like the Latin issimus. This similarity of forms indicates in the two languages a sameness of origin. As too, in English, we use more and most, so do the Latins use magis and maxime, to denote the comparative and superlative. Magis and maxime must be used for this purpose, in the case of adjectives which do not admit the termination forms.

Besides expressing the formal degree of comparison, the Latin superlative signifies a very high degree of the quality involved in the positive, as doctissimus, very learned; pater tuus est doctissimus, thy father is very learned. So in English, Milton uses wisest :

[blocks in formation]

Accommodatus, -a, -um, suited (E. R. accommodate, commodious). Adulatio, onis, f., flattery (E. R. adulation).

relationship

Affinitas, atis, f., (E. R. afinity). Amabilis, e, worthy to be loved

(E. R. amiable). Amor, -ōris, m., love (B. R. amorous). Beatus, -a, -um, happy.

Beneficentia, -æ, f., well-doing, kind

action (E. R. beneficence). Beneficus, well-doing, beneficent. Brevis, -e, short (E. R. brevity). Celeber, -bris, bre, sought after, visited (E. R. celebrity). Contemno, 3, I despise, contemn.

Corvus, -i, m.,

a raven.

Crus, cruris, n., knee to the ankle). Garrulus, -a, -um, talkative (E. R. garrulity).

the leg (from the

altiōra altiōra

Hirundo, hirundinis, f., a swallow.
Homerus, -i, m., Homer.
Humilis, -e, humilis, low.
Labor, -òris, m., labour.
[nian.
Lacedæmonius, i, m., a Lacedemo-
Liberalitas, -ätis, f., liberality.
Luna, e, f., the moon (E. R. lunar).
Lux, lucis, f., light.
Mos, moris, m., custom; in the
plural, character (E. R. morals).
Munificus, -a, -um, free in giving,
liberal (E. R. munificent).
Murus, -i, m., a wall (E. R. mural).
Natura, -æ, f., nature.
Niger, nigra, nigrum, black (E. R.
negro).

Nihil (not declined), nothing.
Non nunquam, adv., sometimes.

poor man

[ocr errors]

Ratio, -ōnis, f., reason (E. E. ratio). Res secundæ, favourable things, that is, good fortune.

Sapientia, -, f., wisdom (E. R.

sapient).

Secundus, -a, -um, favourable (E. R. to second).

Simia, -, f., an ape. [similitude). Similitudo, Inis, likeness (E. R.

[ocr errors]

Simplex, simplicis, simple. Simulatio, -ōnis, f., simulation, pretence, hypocrisy.

Sol, solis, m., the sun (E. R. solar).

Sonitus, -ûs, m., a sound.
Syracuse, -arum, f., Syracuse,
Valeo, 2, I am strong, I am worth
(E. R. valid).

Velox, velōcis, swift (E. R. velocity).

EXERCISE 45.-LATIN-ENGLISH.

1. Nihil est naturæ hominis accommodatius quam beneficentia. 2. Nihil est amabilius quam virtus. 3. Lux est velocior quam sonitus. 4. Nihil est melius quam sapientia. 5. Multi homines magis garruli sunt quam hirundines. 6. Pauperes sæpe sunt munificentiores quam divites. 7. In adversis rebus sæpe sunt homines prudentiores quam in secundis. 8. Divitissimorum vita sæpe est miserrima. 9. Simulatio amoris pejor est quam odium. 10. Nihil est melius quam ratio. Omnium beatissimus est sapiens. 14. Homerus omuium Græcorum 11. Sol major est quam terra. 12. Luna minor est quam terra. 13. poetarum est veterrimus. 15. Adulatio est pessimum malum. 16. Urbs Syracusa maxima et pulcherrima est omnium Græcorum urbium. 17. Pessimi homines sunt maledici. 18. Omnium hominum maledicentissimi sunt fratres tui. 19. In amicitia plus valet similitude morum quam affinitas. 20. Soror tua amabilior est quam mea.

weak.

EXERCISE 46.-ENGLISH-LATIN.

great. 3. The sun is greater than the moon. 1. Nothing is worse than the pretence of love. 2. The sun is very 4. The life of men is very short. 5. The richest are often the unhappiest. 6. The poorest are sometimes the happiest. 7. The labour is very easy. 8. My labour is easier than yours. 9. The customs (character) of men are very unlike. 10. The king is very free in giving. 11. The worst men are not often happy. 12. Good men are happy. 13. Very good men are happiest. 14. God is the happiest of all. 15. The best men are 16. The health of my friend is very sometimes despised by the worst. garden is more beautiful. 19. The labour is very difficult. 17. Thy father's garden is very beautiful. 18. Thy son's 20. The walls of the city are very low. 21. Most (plurimi) men love their native country. 22. Nothing is better than virtue. 23. The port is very much visited. 24. God is the greatest, best, and wisest of all. 25. The customs (or character) of the Lacedemonians simple. 26. The horse is very swift. 27. Ravens are very black. 28. Thy father is very benevolent and very liberal. 29. Thy brother builds a very beautiful house. 30. A very beautiful house is built by thy brother. 31. Virgins must (debeo) be very modest. 32. Thy sister is more modest than thy brother. 33. The ape is like men. 34. Is the ape very much like men? 35. Of all animals the ape is most like men. 36. Nothing is sweeter than friendship. 37. The Lacede. quicker than sound. monians were very brave. 38. Light is very quick. 39. Light is

were very

The Key to Exercises in Lessons in Latin, XII., will be given in No. 28.

LESSONS IN GEOGRAPHY.-XIII. EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN AFRICA, 1830-1868. To give a detailed account of the additions that have been made year by year to our stock of information respecting Africa by travellers and explorers in all parts of the continent since the discovery of the principal embouchure of the Niger by the brothers Richard and John Lander, would require more space than that which we have at our command, as it is necessary now to bring our sketch of the progress of geographical discovery to a close, and proceed with those portions of the subject which treat of the earth's position in space as one of the members of our solar system; the great physical features of its surface; and its political division into states, empires, kingdoms and republics, and their various subdivisions. All we can do is to touch briefly on the principal expeditions that have been set on foot to effect explorations in Africa since 1830, and to mention the discoveries that have been made, first in Soudan or Nigritia, by Drs. Barth, Overweg, and Vogel; secondly, in the interior of Southern Africa, by Dr. Livingstone and his companions; and thirdly, in the eastern part of the belt of land that extends ten degrees north and south of the equator, by Burton, Speke, Grant, Baker, and Petherick.

In 1841, the British Government having resolved to effect a further exploration of the great river of Western Africa, Niger, and the densely populated countries through whic sent out an expedition consisting of three steamer Albert, Soudan, and Wilberforce. The vessels reached the cipal mouth of the Niger in August, and the ascent of the was commenced forthwith. The malaria, ver, arising

Odium, -i, n., katred (E. R. odious).flows,
Pauper, pauperis, a
(E. R. pauper).
Quam, conj., than.

the marsh lands and tangled jungle by the river-side, combined | Linyanti in June, 1853, accompanied by Sekeletu, the chief of with the intense heat of the climate, proved fatal to the success of the expedition. Fever broke out among the crews of the vessels, and they were compelled to return and abandon the enterprise after going northwards up the stream as far as Egga, a large and populous town on the right bank of the Niger, about 325 miles from the sea, measuring in a direct line from the mouth of the river Nun, the principal channel by which the waters of the Niger enter the Gulf of Guinea.

Since that period the most notable journeys of exploration that have been undertaken on the western side of Africa have been the travels of M. Paul B. du Chaiilu in 1856-59 in the equatorial tract watered by the Gaboon River, in which is the country of the cannibal Fans and the powerful gorilla; and in 1863-4 in Ashango Land and the country of the Ashiras, where he met with a race of dwarf negroes measuring from four feet to four feet and a-half in height, and having skin of a lightbrown colour.

In 1845-46 the great desert Sahara, which forms the barren centre of Northern Africa, bordered on the north and south by a broad fringe of fertile country, teeming with luxuriant vegetation, was explored by James Richardson, who visited the Touaricks and other wandering tribes of the people of Sahara, and has given a full account of the cities of Ghat, Ghadames, and Mourzuk, and the fruitful, well-watered oases in which they stand. In 1849 he again set out to explore Central Africa, as the leader of an expedition fitted out by the Foreign Office. To this expedition Drs. Barth and Overweg were attached. Having reached Tripoli towards the close of the year, they spent some time in making the necessary preparations for the journey, starting on their passage across the Sahara on March 23, 1850. In the fall of the year they reached Damergu, and at this point they separated, each traveller to pursue his explorations alone, and to meet his companions once more at Kukawa, the capital of Bornou, in the following year. Richardson died on his way thither, at Unguratura, and Barth and Overweg were left to continue their explorations alone. This they did with considerable success, but often at great personal risk, exploring Lake Tchad and the rivers Shary and Yeou that enter it on the south and west, and traversing Bornou, Baghirmi, Kanem, and other districts that lie grouped around the lake. On September 27, 1852, Dr. Overweg died, and Dr. Barth proceeded by way of Sockatoo to Timbuctoo, which he reached on September 7, 1853. Here he remained until May in the following year, making inquiries into the resources, commerce, and statistics of the surrounding country, when he quitted the city, in which he had spent eight months, and travelling along the left bank of the Niger as far as Say, he made his way once more by Sockatoo to Kukawa, and thence across the descrt to Tripoli, arriving in England in 1855, after an absence of six years. A young German, Dr. Edward Vogel, who was sent out in 1853 to join Dr. Barth, was not so fortunate.. He did not fall in with Dr. Barth, and while pursuing his explorations in Waday, a district lying to the cast of Lake Tehad, he is supposed to have been assassinated by order of the Sultan of that country.

Few travels in Africa, in the present century, have been attended with such important results, by way of extension of our geographical knowledge of that continent, as the journeys of Dr. Livingstone in South Africa, from 1819 to the present time, although it may be many years before our trade and commerce may derive any perceptible benefit by the establishment of commercial relations with the natives of those countries through which he has passed. Some years previous to commencing his explorations Dr. Livingstone had been residing at Kolobeng, on one of the head-streams of the river Limpopo, as a missionary among the Bechuanas; and his visit to Lake Ngami, in 1849, seems to have created in him that zest for travel which has led him to traverse so large a portion of South Africa on foot, undeterred by the perils that beset the explorer on all sides, or the long years that he must frequently pass without meeting a single human being who speaks the same language, or is even of the same colour as himself. Two years afterwards he pushed his way northwards as far as Linyanti, the chief city of the district inhabited by the Makololo, situated on the Chobe, one of the southern affluents of the river Zambesi. On his return from this journey he determined to send his wife and children to England, and having accompanied them as far as Cape Town he once more turned his steps towards the interior. Starting from

[ocr errors]

the Makololo, and a number of his people, Dr. Livingstone proceeded to explore the upper course of the Zambesi, which is called the Leeambye above the Victoria Falls, a cataract not far from its junction with the Chobe. In his first journey from Linyanti he went northwards as far as the junction of the Leeba and the Leeambye, passing on his way Nariele, the chief town of the Barotse. In his second expedition from Linyanti, in November, 1853, he ascended the Leeba, reaching its source, a small lake called Dilolo, in February, 1854. This lake is also one of the sources of the river Congo, or Zaire, whose principal headstream is the Kasai. From this point Livingstone struck out in a north-west direction for St. Paul de Loanda, on the west coast of Africa, which he reached at the end of May.

Leaving St. Paul de Loanda at the commencement of autumn, and following the course of the Coanza for a considerable dis tance, Livingstone and his party of Makololo arrived once more in the neighbourhood of Lake Dilolo in June, 1855, and reached Linyanti in the following September. From this point he resolved to make his way down the course of the Zambesi to the coast, and he started on his new journey on November 3, 1855, and arrived at Quilimane, on the north mouth of the river, in May, 1856, after travelling for nearly four years through the heart of Southern Africa from coast to coast.

Dr. Livingstone then repaired to England, but after a brief rest he returned to Africa once more, to take command of an expedition that had been set on foot for the purpose of exploring more thoroughly the country watered by the Zambesi and its tributaries. In this expedition he was accompanied by his brother, Charles Livingstone, Dr. Kirk, Mr. Thornton, Mr. T. Baines, and other Europeans. The chief result of their explorations was the discovery of the lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, from the latter of which issues the river Shire, one of the northern tributaries of the Zambesi. After traversing the country watered by the Shire, and proceeding up the stream of the Zambesi as far as Victoria Falls, an attempt was made to explore the Rovuma, a river a little to the north of Cape Delgado, which failed. A second attempt to ascend the river in September, 1861, was more successful, some rocky rapids being reached, about 160 miles from the mouth of the river, which prevented further progress. After spending some time in retracing his steps over districts that he had already traversed, Dr. Livingstone returned to England in 1864.

While Livingstone had been busily engaged in South Africa, other travellers, as we will show presently, had discovered the large fresh-water lakes Albert Nyanza and Victoria Nyanza on the equator, and Lake Tanganyika, the northern extremity of which is about 100 miles to the south of the first named of these lakes. As it is doubtful whether Lake Tanganyika may not be the most southern of the great reservoirs which discharge their surplus waters into the Mediterranean through the channel of the Nile, Dr. Livingstone set out on another expedi tion in order to discover whether this were really the case or not, and to explore the country between Lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika, leaving the coast on his way inland in March, 1866. In the following year some deserters from his party spread a report that he had been murdered on the west side of Lake Nyassa, near its northern extremity. The researches of an expedition sent out from England for the purpose of making inquiries into his fate, have disproved the assertions of the men who abandoned him; and it is possible that the traveller has been engaged in exploring the coasts of Lake Tanganyika and following the course of the Nile northwards from its southernmost headstream through the chain of huge lakes that form such conspicuous features of the country in Eastern Equatorial Africa. In 1854, about the time when Livingstone was at St. Paul de Loanda, the first of a series of journeys was taken, that resulted in the discovery of the great lakes about which we have just been speaking. This was an expedition to Harar, a town in the country of the Somauli, about 200 miles south-west, as the crow flies, from Berbera, on the south coast of the Gulf of Aden. The party was composed of Lieutenant (now Major) Burton, of the Indian army, Captain Speke, the discoverer of the Lake Victoria Nyanza, and Lieutenants Stroyan and Herne. A few days after their return to Berbera, in 1855, they were attacked by a party of Somauli, and in the conflict Stroyan was killed and Captain Speke severely wounded.

This, however, did not prevent Burton and Speke from prose

In 1860-63 Captain Speke, accompanied by a brother officer, Captain Grant, travelled along the northern coast of the lake Victoria Nyanza and countries in its vicinity, and found a large stream, now known as the river Somerset, issuing from the lake at a point situated nearly in the middle of the north coast, and falling at a short distance from its point of exit from the lake over a broad ledge of rocks, forming a cataract which has been named Ripon Falls. Had the travellers been able to trace the Somerset northwards through the whole length of its course, they would have found that it was only a head-stream of the Nile, and not the Nile itself; and they would have discovered the Albert Nyanza, the lake from which the Nile really issues, about forty miles northward of the point where the Somerset enters the lake. Satisfied, however, that the sources of the Nile were discovered, they quitted the course of the river and proceeded northwards to Gondokoro, where they met Sir Samuel and Lady Baker on their way to the south.

cuting their explorations; and in June, 1857, they set out on an ex- of the observer must be fully prepared at all times to note down pedition inland from the coast of Zanzibar, having received in the peculiarities which influence the growth of trees and vegestructions from the Royal Geographical Society to proceed west-tation of all kinds and under all circumstances. When trees ward along the 6th parallel of south latitude, in search of some of are stripped of their leaves we have the advantage of studying the great lakes in the interior that were said to be in or near that the course of their growth. Trees in winter are not to some latitude. Eight months later, in February, 1858, they stood on such interesting objects as they are when clothed with their the shore of Lake Tanganyika, about 600 miles from the coast; summer foliage, but to the student they offer, perhaps, even a and from the report of a native, who said there was a large stronger claim to his attention, as they present many features river running northwards out of the northern extremity of the which an uninterested eye would pass over as less worthy of lake, they believed they had reached the source of the Nile. regard. It is at this season that we have before us the skeleton This fact, however, they were not in a condition to prove, and or framework upon which depends the strength and proportion finding themselves exhausted by illness, fatigue, and privations, of the whole; to understand a tree thoroughly we must be fully and harassed by the natives, they were compelled to leave the acquainted with its anatomy, that is, the character and dispoquestion in doubt, and retrace their steps to the coast. On sition of its branches. Trees individually differ as much in this their way back to Zanzibar, Speke left Burton at Kazeh, and respect as they do in their foliage, and therefore we are equally travelled northwards. His solitary journey resulted in the dis- capable of distinguishing any particular tree in winter as we are covery of the Victoria Nyanza, and to Speke belongs the honour in summer. Compare the branches of the oak with those of the of being the first Englishman whose eyes had rested on the poplar, the willow, or the cedar. The disposition of the oak, in broad expanse of the lake which is perhaps the largest, though a general way, is to send out its branches at right angles with not the only lake that helps to swell the waters of the Nile. the parent stem from which they spring (Fig. 98); the poplar collects its branches closer together, and lifts them upwards parallel with the main trunk; the willow droops; and the cedar spreads out its branches horizontally. In short, each tree has its own marked characteristics in its ramifications, and is worthy of as much attention and study in winter as when covered with its fresh summer leaves. To draw a tree successfully we must divide our attention between two important considerations. First, the trunk and its branches; second, the foliage. We repeat, that the first lesson to be received from nature is at the time when the branches are totally bare of leaves, as then we can study to very great advantage the dispositions of the trunk and boughs of every kind of tree separately, which, as we have remarked, may be called the skeleton framework of the tree, and it is evident, therefore, that the disposition of the foliage very materially depends upon the disposition of the branches. We must now again recommend our pupils to follow out the first instructions we gave respecting the drawing of a line, by first marking in with a point the place where the tree rises from the ground; then observe the inclination of the trunk, and place another point at that part of the main trunk from which the first, and in most cases the largest branches start off; then observe the proportion that the remainder of the tree, as a whole, bears to the part already marked in, and with a few additional points determine the general size of the tree and the space it has to occupy upon the paper; then return to the points which are arranged for the commencement of the branches from the trunk, and mark in their courses and extent; join these points by lines, and lastly go through the same process with regard to the minor branches. All this is a preparation for the completion of the drawing, and for where it will be necessary to follow out the method still further for the more receding branches; in short, we must allow nothing to pass unnoticed in the arrangement that has the stamp of individuality upon it; after this the drawing will prove to be comparatively easy. When the places for the trunk, the most prominent boughs, and other branches are settled, the attention will only have to be directed to the form that each successive part presents. We will remind our pupils that there is a good moral maxim which we must follow in arranging the characteristic parts of a tree, as well as in anything else, as it contains a principle applicable to drawing that should not be disregarded: let each line individually be so placed that it may afford every advantage to its neighbour, and not take up the smallest space which does not belong to it, or cause an adjoining line to be pushed out of its proper place, or appear to claim for itself greater consideration than it justly deserves. The next important step towards drawing a tree is the foliage: in this we must be guided principally by the light and shade; when we look at a tree, the eye does not rest upon leaves singly, but upon foliage collectively. The pupil may have remarked-if not, the observation we are about to make will induce him to consider it— that when we look at any object, but at trees especially, the eye first rests upon the parts in light. They are the first to attract the eye, and therefore, with regard to trees, it is the branches in light upon which the eye rests, and it requires an effort to look into the shadows; it consequently follows that in drawing a tree we must be especially careful to distinguish the lights of course this is done by adding the shadows, but the sh

It was Sir Samuel Baker that ascertained in 1864 that the main stream of the Nile issued from the north of Lake Albert Nyanza, of which he is the discoverer. Worn out by illness and fatigue, he reached the edge of a precipitous line of cliffs towering above the lake, one bright and beautiful morning, and beheld its waters spreading before him in every direction, with a background of blue mountains in the western distance. impossible," he writes, " to describe the triumph of that moment. Here was the reward for all our labour; for the years of tenacity with which we had toiled through Africa. England had won the sources of the Nile!"

"It was

With a brief mention of Mr. Petherick (who has resided for some years as consul at Gondokoro, and has explored a considerable part of the country west of the Nile between Gondokoro and the Albert Nyanza) and Dr. Charles Beke (who has travelled through Abyssinnia, and who must be considered, for the present at all events, the chief authority on that country), as an intimation to the reader of sources from which he may derive mach useful and accurate information on the Nile countries, we close our historical sketch of the progress of geographical discovery from the earliest years to the present date.

LESSONS IN DRAWING.-XIII.

Or next subject in these lessons will be the theory and practice of drawing foliage; by this we do not mean merely the Lafage of trees, but we include all herbs and plants that enrich the ground, and add so materially to the effect of a picture by their variety of form, their colour, and wild luxuriant growth; all combining to make the meanest subject interesting. It is not in the forest alone that we must look for beauty; a common without a single tree has its charms; its uncultivated and undulating surface varied with patches of purple heath, yellow furze, and ferns, its many irregular gravel-pits, over the sides of which grow untrained and uncared-for the bramble, the wild rose, the honeysuckle, the foxglove, with the broad-leaved dock-plant, will compose a picture in which all lovers of nature must delight. Each season of the year makes its own demands upon our attention, each brings with it the changes of condition to which the vegetable world is subject, so that the mind

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][graphic]
« ElőzőTovább »