decease, make, publish, and declare this my last will and testament.” After one or two unimportant clauses, he continues: 'I give and bequeath unto my loving and well-beloved friend, Sophia Bruce, of the Pall-Mall, London, spinster, all and singular my lands, tenements, outhouses, gardens, yards, orchards, situate, lying, and being in Largo aforesaid, or in any other place or places whatsoever, during her natural life, and no longer; and at and after her decease, I hereby give, devise, and bequeath the same unto my loving nephew, Alexander Selkirk, son of David Selkirk of Largo aforesaid, tanner, &c., and to his heirs or assignees. Item, my will and mind is, and I hereby declare it so to be, that my honoured father, John Selkirk, should have and enjoy the easternmost house on the Craggy Wall in Largo aforesaid, for and during his natural life, and have and receive the rents, issues, and profits thereof to his own proper use; and that after his decease it should fall into the hands of the said Sophia Bruce, and so into the hands of my said loving nephew, Alexander Selkirk, in case he outlive my said loving friend, Sophia Bruce; and as for and concerning all and singular the rest, residue, and remainder of my salary, wages, goods, wares, profits, merchandises, sum and sums of money, gold, silver, wearing apparel, as well linen and woollen, and all other my effects whatsoever, as well debt outstanding either by bond, bill, book, account, or otherwise, as any other thing whatsoever which shall be due, owing, payable, and belonging or in anywise of right appertaining unto me at the time of my decease, and not herein otherwise disposed of, I hereby give, devise, and bequeath the same unto my said loving friend, Sophia Bruce, and to her heirs and assignees for ever; and I do hereby nominate, make, elect, and appoint my said trusty and loving friend, Sophia Bruce, full and sole executrix of this my last will and testament.'

The only other known particulars respecting Selkirk's life came to light in the year 1724, when a gaily dressed lady, named Frances Candis, presented herself at Largo as the widow of Alexander Selkirk, and claimed the property which had been left him by his father, including the house of Craggy Wall, mentioned in the foregoing will. She produced documents which proved her marriage with Selkirk; a will, also dated the 12th of December 1720, entitling her to the property; and lastly, an attestation of the death of her husband, Lieutenant Alexander Selkirk, on board his Majesty's ship Weymouth in the year 1723. From the second of these documents, it is inferred that Sophia Bruce had died some time between 1717, when the first will was executed in her favour, and 1720, when the second will was drawn up in favour of Frances Candis. Having had her claims adjusted, Selkirk's widow took her departure from Largo after a few days. So far as can be ascertained, Selkirk left no children either by her or by Sophia Bruce.

RELICS OF SELKIRK-PRESENT CONDITION OF HIS ISLAND. The house in which Selkirk lived during his last residence at Largo has recently been pulled down and rebuilt; it is still possessed and occupied by descendants of his brother John. His chest and his cocoa-nut shell cup are now in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries, Edinburgh. His flip-can exists in the possession of another relation; and his gun is the property of S. R. Lumsdaine, Esq., of Lathallan, near Largo. The flip-can,' says Mr Howell, 'holds about a Scottish pint [two quarts], and is made of brown stoneware, glazed. On it is the following inscription and posy-sailors being in all ages notoriously addicted to inscribing rhymes on such articles : "Alexander Selkirk, this is my one.

When you take me on board of ship,
Pray fill me full with punch or flip."

The handle of the jug is gone; its mouth is broken in two places; and a crack in the stoneware is patched with pitch, probably put on by Selkirk's own hands.' The representatives of the family retain the original spelling, Selcraig, which is a corruption of selch-craig, that is, seal-rock, so called from seals basking on it.

The island of Juan Fernandez, which may also be considered as a relic of Alexander Selkirk, has passed through the hands of a succession of owners since he quitted it. For upwards of thirty years after his departure it remained in the condition in which he had left it-an uninhabited island, where ships, sailing along the western coast of South America, occasionally put in for water and fresh victuals. Once or twice, indeed, the chances of shipwreck gave it one or two inhabitants, who did not remain long. In 1750, the Spaniards again formed a settlement on it, and built a fort. Both were destroyed by an earthquake in the following year; but another town was built at a greater distance from the shore. It continued to be inhabited for about twenty years, but was then abandoned, as the former Spanish settlement in the island had been. Early in the present century, the Chilian government began to use Juan Fernandez as a penal settlement, transporting their state criminals to it; but in consequence of the expense, it was soon given up; and when Lord Cochrane visited the island in 1823, there were but four men stationed on it, apparently in charge of some cattle. The following description is given of the island by a lady who accompanied Lord Cochrane and a party on shore: 'The island is the most picturesque I ever saw, being composed of high perpendicular rocks, wooded nearly to the top, with beautiful valleys, exceedingly fertile, and watered by copious streams, which occasionally form small marshes. The little valley where the town is, or rather was, is exceedingly beautiful. It is full of fruit-trees and flowers, and sweet herbs, now grown wild; near the shore, it is

covered with radish and sea-side oats. A small fort was situated on the sea-shore, of which there is nothing now visible but the ditches and part of one wall. Another, of considerable size for the place, is on a high and commanding spot. It contained barracks for soldiers, which, as well as the greater part of the fort, are ruined; but the flag-staff, front wall, and a turret are standing; and at the foot of the flag-staff lies a very handsome brass gun, cast in Spain, 1614 A.D. A few houses and cottages are still in a tolerable condition, though most of the doors, windows, and roofs have been taken away, or used as fuel by whalers and other ships touching here. In the valleys we found numbers of European shrubs and herbs-"where once the garden smiled." And in the half-ruined hedges, which denote the boundaries of former fields, we found apple, pear, and quince trees, with cherries almost ripe. The ascent is steep and rapid from the beach, even in the valleys, and the long grass was dry and slippery, so that it rendered the walk rather fatiguing; and we were glad to sit down under a large quince-tree on a carpet of balm, bordered with roses, now neglected, and feast our eyes with the lovely view before us. Lord Anson has not exaggerated the beauty of the place, or the delights of the climate. We were rather early for its fruits, but even at this time we have gathered delicious figs, cherries, and pears, that a few days more of sun would have perfected. The landing-place is also the wateringplace. There a little jetty is thrown out, formed of the beach pebbles, making a little harbour for boats, which lie there close to the fresh water, which comes conducted by a pipe, so that, with a hose, the casks may be filled without landing with the most delicious water. Along the beach some old guns are sunk, to serve as moorings for vessels, which are all the safer the nearer in-shore they lie, as violent gusts of wind often blow from the mountain for a few minutes. The height of the island is about three thousand feet.'

With all its beauties and resources, the island seemed destined never to retain those who settled on it-whether from its isolated position at so great a distance from the continent, or from some other cause, is uncertain. Not long after Lord Cochrane's visit, however, it received an accession of inhabitants, some of them English, who settled in it under the protection of the Chilian government. It was afterwards held in lease by an American company; and according to the latest accounts it was ceded in 1868 to a society of Germans, under the guidance of an engineer of the name of Robert Wehrhan, who intended to colonise it. On taking possession they found it overrun by countless herds of goats, some thirty half-wild horses, and sixty donkeys. In 1868, Commodore Powell and the officers of H.M.S. Topaze erected a tablet on the island commemorative of Selkirk's solitary sojourn. It is firmly set into hard rock at a point near Selkirk's outlook, 'a beautiful spot about 1700 feet above the sea, having an extensive sea-view.'

THE WOODEN SPOON.

ALTERED FROM THE SWEDISH.*

HERE is silence in the forests. Nothing is more beautiful than on a fine sunny summer-day to wander in the vast firforests of Sweden, especially those which are here and there broken up by patches of light-green grass, covered over by pieces of moss-grown rocks and solitary in these few open places, that, unless a trap is seen, set in the winter to catch foxes, one might believe no human being had ever been there.

tall birch-trees. It is so

Every Swede feels a necessity for being alone at times with himself; he indulges a fervent love for that quiet hidden nature, within whose shade he played when a child. Always, even in the most stirring scenes of life, he hears a voice from his silent forests,

The beginning of this story is translated from a Swedish work by Uncle Adam.' Throughout the remainder, the original idea only has been preserved.

inviting him to peace and tranquillity, calling him back to all that is most beautiful, good, and holy in his experience.

There lies near to the mountain-chain that separates Sweden from Norway, a narrow dale, bounded by high hills; a light-green birchforest spreads its shade round a small lake, which is so full of islands that the water seems to be divided into several sparkling mirrors reflecting them underneath. This lake is hidden among the mountains and almost endless fir-forests of Norrland: few have heard of it, but those who once visit it will often think, amid the tumult of the world, of that wild, yet peaceful scene. Behind the birch-wood, the land rises in high terraces; fir and pine trees tower up there, and look like the forest's head-so dark-green and tall, so grave and solemn. But still higher on the mountain come the birches again, for these trees form in the north both the front and rear-guard of the great fir-forests. High over all appears a peak of snow; and a hundred mountain-streams trickle through the dark trees, and carry their white foam over rocks and stones, to cast themselves into the lake, or join the river that flows from it.

It is well this place is so little known, or so much forgotten; were it otherwise, some speculator might erect a cottage on the banks of the lake, in Swiss style, in order to hire it out to an Englishman, who wished to get rid of his spleen by means of fishing. If I could guide you thither, however, you would immediately perceive one solitary red wooden house, which stands on the edge of the forest, and quite near to the lake. The ground at the back has been cleared, and is now divided into corn and pasture fields, the former of which sometimes yield more than the seed which was sown in them. One must not expect too much from good Mother Nature, up here in the north, for she is poor, good mother, very poor, and therefore, perhaps, all the dearer for what she gives. Almost the only communication which the inhabitants of this red wooden house had with the rest of the world was yearly, in the beginning of March, when 'the housefather,' its owner, had to travel between fifty and sixty miles off, in order to sell to 'rich Erik,' the farmer, a quantity of fish-a sort of char, which in these mountain lakes are of superior quality-and some hundreds of ptarmigan, which had been taken in nets, and were to be transmitted to Stockholm. This journey was a great event in the Norrland 'new-settler's' house: the two children, especially, were long beforehand engaged in preparing father's travelling necessaries, and in feeding up the two reindeer which should draw the sledge, with all its precious load, to its destination. On the present occasion, father's journey had caused even more excitement, for he had gone so far as to the market-town-more than one hundred miles from his home.

'I think,' said little Anna, one evening when they were looking for his return-I think father will bring something grand for mother; yes; I think mother will get something.'