bodies offered a fair mark to the ball, which presently struck down some and wounded others. Indur received a shot on one of his tusks, which broke it and put him to such pain and affright, that turning about he ran with all speed over the plain, and falling in with a body of friendly infantry, he burst through, trampling down whole ranks, and filling them with terror and confusion. His leader having now lost all command over him, and finding him hurtful only to his own party, applied the sharp instrument he carried to the nape of his neck, and driving it in with all his force, pierced his spinal marrow, so that he fell lifeless to the ground.

LESSON 28.

THE TRANSMIGRATIONS OF

INDUR.

PART II.

molestation, annoyance
nectaries, the parts

antagonist, opponent, enemy | impertinent, rude, impudent cope, struggle frugality, prudent economy grampus, a large species of dolphin found in the Arctic

of

flowers which secrete the nectar or honey

progeny, race, family warren, a place for rabbits

In the next stage of his existence, Indur, to his great surprise, found even the vast bulk of the elephant prodigiously exceeded; for he was now a

whale of the largest species, rolling in the midst of the Arctic seas. As he darted along, the lash of his tail made whirlpools in the mighty deep. When he opened his immense jaws he drew in a flood of brine, which, on rising to the surface, he spouted out again in a rushing fountain, that rose high in the air with the noise of a mighty cataract. All the other inhabitants of the ocean seemed as nothing to him. He swallowed, almost without knowing it, whole shoals of the smaller kinds; and the larger swiftly turned aside at his approach. Now,' he cried to himself, 'whatever other evils may await me, I am certainly secure from the molestations of other animals; for what is the creature that can dare to cope with me, or measure his strength with mine?' Having said this, he saw swimming near him a fish not a quarter of his length, armed with a dreadful row of teeth. This was a grampus, which directly flying upon Indur, fastened on him, and made his great teeth meet in his flesh. Indur roared with pain, and lashed the sea till it was all in a foam, but could neither reach nor shake off his cruel foe. He rolled over and over, rose and sunk, and exerted all his boasted strength, but to no purpose. At length the grampus quitted his hold, and left him not a little mortified by the adventure.

This was, however, forgotten, and Indur continued to enjoy his new situation as he roamed through the boundless fields of ocean, now diving to its very bottom, now shooting swiftly to its surface, and sporting with his companions in unwieldy gambols. Having chosen a mate, he took his course with her southwards, and in due time brought up two young ones, of whom he was extremely fond. The summer season being arrived, he more frequently than usual

rose to the surface, and basking in the sunbeams, floated unmoved with a large part of his huge body above the waves. As he was thus one day enjoying a profound sleep, he was awakened by a sharp instrument penetrating deep into his back. Instantly he sprang away with the swiftness of lightning, and feeling the weapon still sticking, he dived into the recesses of the deep, and stayed there till want of air obliged him to ascend to the surface. Here another harpoon was plunged into him, the smart of which again made him fly from his unseen foes; but after a shorter course he was again compelled to rise, much weakened by the loss of blood, which, gushing in a torrent, tinged the waters as he passed. A third wound was inflicted, which soon brought him almost lifeless to the surface; and the line fastened to the first harpoon being now pulled in, this enormous creature was brought, an unresisting prey, to the side of a ship, where he was soon quite despatched, and then cut to pieces.

The soul of this huge carcase had next a much narrower lodging, for Indur was changed into a bee, which, with a great multitude of its young companions, was on flight in search of a new settlement, their parents having driven them out of the hive, which was unable to contain them all. After a rambling excursion, the queen, by whom all their motions were directed, settled on the branch of a lofty tree. They all immediately clustered round her, and soon formed a large black bunch, depending from the bough. A man presently planted a ladder, ascended with a bee-hive, and swept them in. After they were quietly settled in their new habitation, they were placed on a stand in a garden along with some other colonies, and left to begin their labours. Every, fine morning as soon as the

sun was up, the greater part of them sallied forth and roamed over the garden and the neighbouring fields in search of fresh and fragrant flowers. They first collected a quantity of gluey matter, with which they lined all the inside of their house. Then they brought wax, and began to make their cells, building them with the utmost regularity, though it was their first attempt, and they had no teacher. As fast as they were built, some were filled with liquid honey gathered from the nectaries of flowers; and as they filled the cells, they sealed them up with a thin covering of wax. In other cells the queen bee deposited her eggs, which were to supply a new progeny for the ensuing year.

Nothing could be a more pleasing sight than to behold on a sunshiny day the insects continually going forth to their labour, while others were as constantly arriving at the mouth of the hole, either with yellow balls of wax under their thighs, or full of the honey which they had drawn in with their trunks, for the purpose of spouting it out into the cells of the honeycomb. Indur felt much delight in this useful and active way of life, and was always one of the first abroad at the dawn, and latest home in the evening. On rainy and foggy days they stayed at home, and employed themselves in finishing their cells and all the necessary work within doors; and Indur, though endued with human reason, could not but admire the readiness with which he and the rest formed the most regular plans of work, all corresponding in design and execution, guided by instinct alone.

The end of autumn now approaching, the bees had filled their combs with honey; and nothing more being to be got abroad, they stayed within doors, passing most of their time in sleep. They

ate a little of their store, but with great frugality ; and all their meals were made in public, none daring to make free with the common stock by himself. The owner of the hives now came and took them one by one into his hands, that he might judge by the weight whether or no they were full of honey. That in which Indur lived proved to be one of the heaviest, and it was therefore resolved to take the contents. For this purpose, one cold night, when the bees were all fast asleep, the hive was placed over a hole in the ground, in which were put brimstone matches set on fire. The fumes rose into the hive, and soon suffocated great part of the bees, and stupefied the rest, so that they all fell from the combs. Indur was amongst the dead.

LESSON 29.

THE TRANSMIGRATIONS OF
INDUR.

PART II. (continued).

He soon revived in the form of a young rabbit in a spacious warren. This was like a populous town, being everywhere hollowed by burrows running deep under ground, and each inhabited by one or more families. In the evening the warren was covered with a vast number of rabbits, old and young, some feeding, others frisking about, and pursuing one another in wanton sport. At the least alarm they all hurried into the holes nearest them, and were in an instant safe from enemies, who either could not follow them at all, or if they