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Down to his rest, and twilight prevailed. Anon from the belfry

Softly the Angelus sounded, and over the roofs of the

village

Columns of pale blue smoke, like clouds of incense.

ascending,

Rose from a hundred hearths, the homes of peace and contentment.

4. Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farm

ers

Dwelt in the love of God and of man.

free from

Alike were they

Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice of

republics.

Neither locks had they to their doors nor bars to their windows;

But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts of the owners;

There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in abundance.

5. Somewhat apart from the village, and nearer the Basin of Minas,

Benedict Bellefontaine, the wealthiest farmer of GrandPré,

Dwelt on his goodly acres; and with him, directing his household,

Gentle Evangeline lived, his child, and the pride of the village.

Stalworth and stately in form was the man of seventy winters;

Hearty and hale was he, an oak that is covered with snow-flakes;

White as the snow were his locks, and his cheeks as brown as the oak-leaves.

Fair was she to behold, that maiden of seventeen sum

mers.

Black were her eyes as the berry that grows on the thorn by the wayside,

Black, yet how softly they gleamed, beneath the brown shade of her tresses !

Sweet was her breath as the breath of kine that feed in the meadows.

6. Fairer was she when, on Sunday morn, while the bell from its turret

Sprinkled with holy sounds the air, as the priest with his hyssop

Sprinkles the congregation, and scatters blessings upon

them,

Down the long street she passed, with her chaplet of beads and her missal,

Wearing her Norman cap, and her kirtle of blue, and the ear-rings

Brought in the olden time from France, and since, as an heirloom,

Handed down from mother to child, through long generations.

But a celestial brightness-a more ethereal beautyShone on her face and encircled her form when, after confession,

Homeward serenely she walked with God's benediction upon her.

When she had passed, it seemed like the ceasing of ex quisite music.

7. Firmly builded with rafters of oak, the house of the farmer

Stood on the side of a hill commanding the sea; and a

shady

Sycamore grew by the door, with a woodbine wreathing around it.

Rudely carved was the porch, with seats beneath; and a foot-path

Led through an orchard wide, and disappeared in the meadow.

Under the sycamore-tree were hives overhung by a penthouse,

Such as the traveler sees in regions remote by the roadside,

Built o'er a box for the poor, or the blessed image of

Mary.

8. Farther down, on the slope of the hill, was the well with its moss-grown

Bucket, fastened with iron, and near it a trough for the horses.

Shielding the house from storms, on the north, were the barns and the farm-yard;

There stood the broad-wheeled wains and the antique plows and the harrows.

Bursting with hay were the barns, themselves a village. In each one

Far o'er the gable projected a roof of thatch; and a staircase,

Under the sheltering eaves, led up to the odorous corn

loft.

There, too, the dove-cot stood, with its meek and innocent inmates

Murmuring ever of love; while above in the variant

breezes

Numberless noisy weathercocks rattled and sang of mutation.

Thus, at peace with God and the world, the farmer of Grand-Pré

Lived on his sunny farm, and Evangeline governed his household.

HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.

The "Acadian land" (1) refers to Nova Scotia, which was origi nally known as Acadia. "The Basin of Minas" (1) is in the Bay of Fundy. "Grand-Pré" (1) means Great Meadows, hence the line "giving the village its name." Normandy (2) was formerly a province in the north of France, bordering on the English Channel.

LESSON XXXVII.

1. ap pre cị ātè; v. estimate justly.

1. căla băsh eş; n. fruit of the calabash tree; when dried and cleaned they are used for cups, bottles, etc.

3. joists; n. small pieces of timber.

4. e' las tiç'i ty; n. springi

ness.

8. gül'lies; n. hollows worn in the earth by a current of water.

3. răt tăn'; n. the stem of a plant 10. di ǎg'o nal; a. crossing at growing in India.

an angle.

Bamboo. Part I.

1. During my many journeys in Borneo, and especially during my various residences among the Dyaks, I first came to appreciate the admirable qualities of the bamboo. In those parts of South America which I had previously visited, these gigantic grasses were comparatively scarce, and where found but little used, their place being taken, as to one class of uses, by the great variety of palms, and as to another, by calabashes and gourds. Almost all tropical countries produce bamboos, and wherever they are found in abundance the natives apply them to a variety of uses.

2. Their strength, lightness, smoothness, straightness, roundness, and hollowness, the facility and regularity with which they can be split, their many different sizes, the varying length of their joints, the ease with which they can be cut and with which holes can be made through them, their hardness outside, their freedom from any pronounced taste or smell, their great abundance, and the rapidity of their growth and increase, are all qualities which render them useful for a hundred different purposes, to serve which, other materials would require much more labor and preparation. The bamboo is one of the most wonderful as well as beautiful productions of the tropics, and one of nature's most valuable gifts to uncivilized man.

3. The Dyak houses are all raised on posts, and are often two or three hundred feet long and forty or fifty feet wide. The floor is always formed of strips, split from large bamboos, each nearly flat, and about three inches wide, and these are firmly tied down with rattan to the joists beneath. When well made, this is a delightful floor to walk upon barefooted, the rounded surfaces of the bamboo being very smooth and agreeable to the feet, while at the same time affording a firm hold.

4. But what is more important, they form, with a mat over them, an excellent bed, the elasticity of the bamboo and its rounded surface being far superior to a more rigid and a flatter floor. Here we at once find a use for bamboo which cannot be supplied so well by another material without a vast amount of labor. Palms and other substitutes require much cutting and smoothing, and are not equally good when finished.

5. When, however, a flat, close floor is required, excellent boards are made by splitting open large bamboos on one side only, and flattening them out so as to form thin

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