board the steam-ship "Great Western," during her late boisterous passage from Liverpool to New-York. At the very height of that terrible hurricane, which threatened to send that noble vessel, with two hundred and eleven souls on board, to the bottom of the Atlantic, it was discovered that there was a pious Scotch servant-girl on board, who was extremely sick, and who, in consequence of her lonely and dependent condition, had been greatly neglected in the agitation and dismay created by the storm. She was the servant of a Scottish family, who were emigrating to this country; and, amid the perils of that awful hour, when all the "distinctions of this little life" were merged in the prospect that "both great and small" would, in a few moments more, stand on a level before the judgment-seat of a holy God, she and her mistress sought refuge in Dr. Beecher's room. Every attention which, in such circumstances, it was possible to bestow, was paid to the sick girl. On inquiring into the state of her mind, and her feelings in view of the awful plunge into eternity which they were all

anticipating, it was discovered that all was peace within. Her heart was stayed on Christ. She was confident that he would "keep that which she had committed to him against that day." She said, "I know not how it is, but I never felt so peaceful in all my life." There was much wealth on board that ship; but her riches consisted in the love of her Saviour. Jesus Christ was the "strength of her heart, and her portion for ever." No storm could wreck that wealth. The hurricane, which sent terror and dismay to the hearts of many others, did but confirm her hope in the Saviour, and increase her peace of mind.

As Dr. Beecher related this affecting story, I could not but involuntarily and mentally exclaim, "Blessed religion, which can keep the soul' in perfect peace' in such an awful hour! May that religion be mine, whether I am called to meet death in an oceanstorm, or upon my own 'downy bed,' surrounded with the prayers and sympathies of affectionate and beloved friends."-NewYork Evangelist.

very thick, of a dusky white colour, becoming darker as it approaches the tail: the sides are beautifully variegated with pale spots. It is an object of worship among the Indians, who nevertheless use the skin for clothes, on account of its smoothness and beauty, and eat the flesh. It frequents caves and dark forests, where it conceals itself, and whence it suddenly darts upon its prey. It frequently chooses a tree for its watching-place, in which case it supports itself by twisting its tail round the trunk, or a branch, and darts down upon sheep, goats, tigers, or any animal that comes within its reach, twists itself several times round their body, and by the vast force of its circular muscles, bruises and breaks all their bones. After the bones are broken, it besmears the skin of the animal all over with a glutinous kind of saliva. This preparation is intended to facilitate the operation of swallowing the animal whole. If it chance to be a stag, or any other horned animal, it begins to swallow the feet first, and gradually sucks in the body, and last of all the head. After a meal like this it goes into a state of sleep or torpor, which opportunity the hunters always take of destroying it.

The following is a well-authenticated account of the voracious appetite of a serpent of this species which was brought to this country from Batavia:

"The serpent was of large dimensions, though not of the very largest. A living goat was placed in his cage. He viewed his prey for a few seconds, felt it with his tongue, and then, withdrawing his head, darted at the throat. But the goat, displaying a courage worthy a better fate, received the monster on his horns. The serpent retreated, to return to the combat with more deadly certainty. He seized the goat by the leg, pulled it violently down, and twirled himself with astonishing rapidity round the body, throwing his principal might upon the neck. The goat was so overpowered that he could not even struggle for escape. For some minutes after his victim was dead, the serpent did not change his posture. At length he gradually slackened his grasp, and having entirely disengaged himself, he prepared to swallow the lifeless body. Feeling it about with his mouth, he began to draw the head into his throat; but the horns, which were four inches in length, rendered the gorging of the head a difficult task. In about two hours the whole body had disappeared. During the continuance of this extraordinary exertion the appearance of the serpent was hideous; he seemed to be suffering strangulation; his cheeks looked as if they were bursting; and the horns appeared ready to protrude through the monster's scales. After he had accomplished his task, the boa measured double his ordinary diameter. He did not move from his posture for several days, and no irritation could rouse him from his torpor.

A. S. P.

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ANIMAL TRANSFORMATIONS. EVERY animal, during the progress of its life, plays the parts of many different animals; and that under such diversified forms, that at successive periods of its existence it cannot in strictness be regarded as the same creature. Moreover, the offices and duties assigned to it during the phases of its progressive developement are so various, frequently so opposite, that its external and internal organs become totally changed, in conformity with varying functions assigned to them, so that every living being is, in fact, a succession of perfectly distinct animals growing one out of the other. We doubt not that such an assertion as this may be rather startling to many of our readers; nevertheless, we doubt not that a little reflection will fully establish the truth of the doctrine. The frog goes through the usual gradations of growth as to size, and we have young frogs, middle-aged frogs, and old frogs, all exhibiting precisely the same form, and possessed of similar instincts; yet this very frog was formerly a fish, a tadpole, living in the water, breathing by means of gills, and sculling itself through the water by means of a long tail, without limbs, or any indication of its future destiny; moreover, the tadpole was previously an egg, having very little appearance of ever being promoted beyond that condition. We all allow that a caterpillar is an animal; yet who would dream, did not every day's experience attest the fact, that the caterpillar would soon live under the form of a chrysalis, and the chrysalis, in turn, burst forth a gaily-painted butterfly? Or who, ignorant of the fact as taught by experience, could venture to assert that the chrysalis and the butterfly were one and the same creature?- Natural History of Animals, by T. R. Jones.

NESTS OF BIRDS.

IT may be amusing to mention some of the most interesting specimens of bird architecture; and we will begin with the nest of the long-tailed titmouse. This bird is not much larger than the wren; its head, neck, and breast, are white; the rest of its body is chiefly black; its tail, from which it derives its distinctive appellation, is very long, and wedge-shaped. Pennant, after remarking that the young are in the habit of following their parents for the whole winter, says that, "from the slimness of their bodies and great length of tail, they appear, while flying, like so many darts cutting the air." Its nest is closed over, both above and below: only one little circular opening at the side is left, serving for door and window. It is made completely round; and as the cold might enter by the orifice, the bird makes use of door-curtains, similar to those which some of our rooms possess; the entrance to its habitation being furnished with a hanging of flexible and transparent feathers. Thus it i

protected from rain, and from the gaze of casual passers by. Through this it goes out and comes back just as it pleases, without causing the least disarrangement. This is not all the titmouse is so small a bird that it has much to fear from foes of many kinds; and, therefore, to conceal the place of his abode it has recourse to a subterfuge. It fixes its nest to the trunk of a tree, and then covers it up with such parasitical plants as grow on the bark, so as not in the least to disturb the natural appearance. Sometimes the nest is placed in the centre of a thick bush; and so firmly is it seated, that if we desire to procure it, no ordinary method of dislodgment will do it,-it must be cut out. The nest is made by the female, who is occupied two or three weeks in building it. There is another member of the tit tribe which takes still greater precautions. It is one that builds in watery places, and it stands in danger of being attacked by reptiles. Accordingly, it suspends its nest from a flexible branch over the water. The entrance

to the nest is formed by a sort of pipe, through which it would be impossible for a snake to penetrate. Another kind of titmouse adds to its nest a little cell, in which the male and female rest after tending their young. The birds are very small, delicate, and weak; yet the nest they build is very large: indeed, wonderfully so, when the diminutive size of the architect is considered. The labour is begun in the middle of winter, and is not completed until spring. The hatching is a long process, twenty-two being the customary number of eggs; and the female takes all the trouble of sitting on them to herself.-Sharpe's London Magazine.

BEE-HUNTING.

AFTER I have done sowing, by way of recreation, I prepare for a week's jaunt in the woods, not to hunt either the deer or the bears, as my neighbours do, but to catch the more harmless bees. I cannot boast that this chase is so noble, or so famous among men; but I find it less fatiguing, and full as profitable; and the last consideration is the only one that moves me. I take with me my dog as a companion, for he is useless as to this game; my gun; (for no man, you know, ought to enter the woods without one;) my blanket, some provisions, some wax, vermilion, honey, and a small pocketcompass. With these implements I proceed to such woods as are at a considerable distance from any settlements. I carefully examine whether they abound with large trees: if so, I make a small fire on some flat stones, in a convenient place; on the fire I put some wax. Close by this fire, on another stone, I drop honey in distinct drops, which I surround with small quantities of vermilion, laid on the stone; and then I retire carefully to watch whether any bees appear. If there are any in that

Thus

neighbourhood, I rest assured that the smell of the burnt wax will unavoidably attract them they will soon find out the honey, for they are fond of preying upon that which is not their own; and in their approach they will necessarily tinge themselves with some particles of vermilion, which will adhere long to their bodies. I next fix my compass, to find out their course, which they keep invariably straight, when they are returning home loaded. By the assistance of my watch, I observe how long those are returning which are marked with vermilion. possessed of the course, and, in some measure, of the distance, which I can easily guess at, I follow the first, and seldom fail of coming to the tree where those republics are lodged. I then mark it; and thus, with patience, I have found out sometimes eleven swarms in a season; and it is inconceivable what a quantity of honey these trees will sometimes afford. It entirely depends on the size of the hollow, as the bees never rest nor swarm till it is all replenished; for, like men, it is only the want of room that induces them to quit the maternal hive. Next, I proceed to some of the nearest settlements, where I procure proper assistance to cut down the trees, get all my prey secured, and then return home with my prize.-Letters of an American Farmer.

THE GOLDEN EAGLE.

THE golden eagle is the noblest species of his family; and he was at one time abundant in all the mountainous districts of England, and may still be frequently seen in some parts of the Scottish Highlands, and of the western mountains of Ireland. He has a dull brown plumage, a horn-coloured beak, a bright golden red crown, and firm and massive wings of about eight feet in expanse. The female's nest or eyry is usually built on some inaccessible crag or pinnacle of a lofty mountain, and consists of twigs, heath, rushes, and other similar materials; and her brood are usually two, or at most three, and are commonly fed on the warm blood of lambs, kids, ducks, or smaller and less domestic animals, which she has just seized on the plains, and carried swimmingly aloft to her eyry. She excels the male in size and courage, and at least equals him in power of flight and vision; and she is far superior to most birds in both the tenderness and the sagacity of her natural affection. The inspired writings compare the shortness of life to the fell sweep of her flight; the moral energy of lively Christians to her vigour and longevity; and the care of God for his people to her wise and untiring solicitude for her young. "When an eagle sees her young ones so well grown as to venture upon flying, she hovers over their nest, flutters with her wings, and excites them to imitate her, and to take their flight; and,

ENCOUNTER WITH A LEOPARD.

THE following description of an encounter with a leopard is given by a gentleman who was formerly in the civil service at Ceylon :

"I was at Jaffna, at the northern extremity of Ceylon, in the beginning of the year 1819; when, one morning, my servant called me an hour or so before my usual time, with, 'Master! master! people sent for master's dogs; leopard in the town!' Now, my dogs chanced to be some very degenerate specimens of a fine species, called the poligar dog, which I should designate as a sort of wirey-haired greyhound, without scent. I kept them to hunt jackalls; but leopards are very different things. My gun chanced not to be put together; and while my servant was doing it, the Collector, and two medical men, who had recently arrived, in consequence of the cholera morbus having just then reached Ceylon from the continent, came to my door, the former armed with a fowling-piece, and the two latter with remarkably blunt hog-spears. They insisted upon setting off without waiting for my gun, a proceeding not much to my taste. The leopard had taken refuge in a hut, the roof of which, as those of Ceylon huts in general, spread to the ground like an umbrella: the only aperture into it was a small door about four feet high. The Collector wanted to get

the leopard out at once. I begged to wait for my gun; but no,-the fowling-piece, (loaded with ball, of course,) and the two hog-spears, were quite enough. I got a hedge-stake, and awaited my fate, from very shame. At this moment, to my great delight, there arrived from the fort an English officer, two artillery-men, and a Malay Captain; and a pretty figure we should have cut without them, as the event will show. I was now quite ready to attack, and my gun came a minute afterwards. The whole scene which follows took place within an enclosure, about twenty feet square, formed, on three sides, by a strong fence of palmyra-trees, and on the fourth by the hut. At the door of this the two artillery-men planted themselves; and the Malay Captain got at the top, to frighten the leopard out, by unroofing it; an easy operation, as the huts there are covered with cocoa-nut leaves. One of the artillery-men wanted to go in to the leopard; but we would not suffer it. At last the beast sprang this man received him on his bayonet, which he thrust apparently down his throat, firing his piece at the moment. The bayonet broke off short, leaving less than three inches in the musket: the rest remained in the animal, but was invisible to us. The shot probably went through his cheek; for it certainly did not seriously

L

same

injure him, as he instantly rose upon his legs with a loud roar, and placed his paws upon the soldier's breast. At this moment, the animal appeared to me to about reach the centre of the man's face; but I had scarcely time to observe this, when the leopard stooping his head, seized the soldier's arm in his mouth, turned him half-round, staggering, threw him over on his back, and fell upon him. Our dread now was, that if we fired upon the tiger, we might kill the man. For a moment there was a pause, when his comrade attacked the beast exactly in the same manner as the gallant fellow himself had done: he struck his bayonet into his head. The leopard rose at him he fired, and this time the ball took effect, and in the head. The animal staggered backwards, and we all poured in our fire. He still kicked and writhed, when

the gentlemen with the hog-spears advanced, and fixed him, while some natives finished him, by beating him on the head with hedgestakes. The brave artillery-man was, after all, but slightly hurt: he claimed the skin, which was cheerfully given him. There was, however, a cry among the natives, that the head should be cut off. It was; and, in so doing, the knife came directly across the bayonet. The animal measured scarcely less than four feet from the root of the tail to the muzzle. There was no tradition of a leopard having been in Jaffna before: indeed, this one must have either come a distance of almost twenty miles, or have swum across an arm of the sea, nearly two in breadth; for Jaffna stands in a peninsula, in which there is no jungle of any magnitude."

FROM A QUAKERESS IN AMERICA TO A WESLEYAN IN ENGLAND.

Fort Lee, State of New Jersey, 12th month, 20th, 1838.

Ir was not until to-day, my dear friend, that I received the articles thou wast so kind as to send me for the benefit of the cause of emancipation in this country. Such communications do indeed make me feel not only that the slaves of my guilty country have friends in the noble land of our fathers, but that I too have sisters there, whose hearts flow out in Christian love over the broad waves of the Atlantic, to greet me in the name of our common Lord and Redeemer. Thanks unto Him, then, who has so constituted human hearts, and so arranged the wondrous plan of salvation, that they who serve him in spirit and in truth, are one in Him," though separated far by external

barriers.

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I rejoice to find thou art "far advanced in years." I love to hear of such as still bearing fruit, and labouring, according to their gifts, in the kingdom of our Lord. Thy remark is true indeed, that the more thou interestest thyself in the welfare of others, the happier thou art, and the greater manifestations of the goodness of our heavenly Father dost thou receive. Yes, he has wisely and mercifully ordained that those who live no "longer to themselves," but who seek his glory, which is the good of his creatures, shall be continually drawing water out of the wells of salvation, with joy sitting down at the table of his grace, and under the banner of his love, in the sweet experience of that declaration of the Psalmist, "Thy favour is life, and thy loving-kindness is better than life." And of this also,

Ah!

Since the date of thy letter, English Abolitionists have had great cause to rejoice in the unexpected termination of the apprenticeship system in the West Indies. and American Abolitionists too; for we have watched with interest every step Great Britain has taken in the cause of liberty, feeling that this cause is but one the world over. True, she has held the chain of electricity, and received the first charge; but the nations of the earth who stand hand in hand with her, and with each other, must receive through her the electric fluid of liberty, and be alike cured of the old chronic disease of slavery. The despots of our land and of all other lands may gnash with their teeth just in proportion as right triumphs over wrong, and man is regarded as man, and honoured according to the apostolic injunction, because he is a man, and wears upon his brow, whether of ebon or of alabaster hue, the image and superscription of his God. But they will gnash in vain when worms of the carth join issue with their Maker, defeat, and blushing, and confusion of face are their portion. For the honour of England's Queen and Eng land's statesmen, I should have rejoiced had her Parliament finished the glorious work she began; yet, so far as the reflex influence of emancipation in America is concerned, I fully believe that the effect is far more powerful through the voluntary action of the planters themselves, than if entire freedom had been the gift of a foreign benefactor. "The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice," saith my soul, as I scan the pages of his providence in the history of West India. My soul swells with life and faith, believing that the heart of my own