HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1906-7-19, Page 6C URII1 INT Topics
Heat and cold are Sir Oliver Lodge's
symbols for good and evil. For ex -
'trema cold, from one viewpoint, Is a
deadly damaging Thing, fatal to high
Organisms, and a thing to be excluded
at all cost. Cold, the cold of a polar
night, the oats of liquid sir, will inflict
loss of limbs by . frost bite, will hut's,
and pain and still, No ono can afford
to despise cold if 10 be sufficiently in-
tense, Yet what Is cold? Is It anything
Was it a Thing that had to be created
and brought into being? No, it simply
is the absence of hent. The absence of
all heat whatever would be absolute
zero; and down to such a temperature
as that, -460 deg. Fahrenheit, no experi-
menter has yet descended, even in the
laboratory. In such cold as that all ac-
tivity would cease, and the material
universe would stagnate into oblivion,
Why, then, if cold only is absence of
beat, why is it ao deadly and destruc-
tive? Why is it so intense and evil to
human beings? The answer plainly is,
because they have attained so high a
stanada'd of devlapment, because of
their high 'organization, because of the
high temperature at which they norm-
ally exist. Cold will not necessarily
kill the lowly seed, though it will keep
it In suspended animation; but any high-
er orgeedsin it will destroy. How do
we reckon cold? How do we distinguish
what is cold from what is hot? It all
depends on our standard of reckoning.
Our standard of temperature is the hu-
man body, anything below that is cool,
anything above that Is waren; anything
much above or below is painfully hot or
cold. Cold, then from the absolute view-
point of nothing,. exists only because
heat exists. Heat is the positive thing,
cold is a negative thing; but from the
viewpoint of human life, cold is a posi-
tive damaging, deadly thing. If we ask
why was cold brought into existence we
ask nonsense. What we really must
mean, is why was heat brought into ex-
istence? You cannot have heat and de-
grees of heat, without having degrees
also of cold. One implies the other.
Sir William Crookes promises some
revelations. It is well known that when
the light of an incandescent body Ince
the sun is passed through the spectro-
scope the elements present in the glow-
ing body are shown by lines on the pic-
ture, or spectrum, produced, SIr Wil-
liam has recently been examining the
phosphorescent glow of some rare earths
the result of which is to convince him
that he has found evidence of new ele-
ments. This judgment is founded upon
the manner In which certain lines are
distributed in tho phosphorescent spec-
trum. He opines that be is in posses-
sion of good evidence pointing to the ex-
istence of two, if not three, new bodies
wailing to be isolated by chemical nee.
thuds.
The real yellow peril is European race
suicide. The birth rate of the German
empire continues on its downward
course, being only 33.0 per thousand in
1903, from 35.7 per thousand in 1901. In
Great Britain, the birth rate has fallen
from 30.7 in 1803 to 27.8 in 1904. French
statistics show that at present the birth
rate is only 22 per thousand. It is in-
teresting speculation to try to foretell
what another century may bring forth
In the world's politics if the birth rate
of western nations continues to decline
and that of the orient keeps up as high
es it has in the past.
BRITISH ARMY IMPROVING,
The great weakness of the British
Army has been admittedly, for very
many years, in the matter of officers,
whose numbers have rarely been entire-
ly satisfactory. Since 1803, however,
there has been a great improvement in
this respect, In that year there were
only 7,756 officers and 907 warrant offi-
cers to 213,531 note -commissioned offi-
cers and men. In 1901 there were 13,-
410 otlicers and 1,125 warrant officers
to 406,538 non-commissioned officers and
men, so that the proportion of officers
to men in that exciting year of the Boer
War was about the same as in 1896,
Last year, however, we had 10,788 MIL
oars and 1,310 warrant officers, to 260,-
038 non-commissioned officers and men,
so that the Army was tar better officer-
ed in 1005 than it had been for ten
years. It is worth noting, by the way,
that our garrison in South Africa has
been reduced, in the last two years,
from 31,000 10 20,000 troops, The only
Colonial contribution to the cost of
maintaining this melee» Is an annual
payment o1 $20,000 made by Natal.
ORIGIN OF TIIE STOVE,
The most important uses of fire were
taught by fire itself, As the primitive
lean stood near the flames of the burn-
ing tree and felt their pleasant glow
h:) learned that, fire may add to bodily
contrail, and when the flnoore swept
through the forest and overtook a deer
and baked it, he learned that fire might
be used to improve the quality of the
food,' The hint wass eat lost, ale took
a burning torch to Ilia cave or shut and
kindied hien a lire on his floor of earth.
Ills dwelling filled with smoke, but, he
Oould onetime the discomfort for the sake
of the fire's warmth, and foe the sake
at the toothsomeness of the cooked
meats. Aller t time a hole was rondo 1
in the roofof he hut, and through ibis
bole the smoke passed out. Here was
the first stove. The primitive elms,, was
She entire house; the floor wns the fire-
place and the hole in the roof was the.
chimney. The word `stove" originally
meant a heated room. SO,thot if we.
811011151 nay that tit first people lived in
their staves we would say that which to
1lterall Crud.
y
00000041
YOUNG
FOLKS
ooceo0a
A GUESSING GASIII FOR BEDTIME
A little boy once had a horn,
I think he lived among the corn,
And wore a pretty dress of blue;
1'ye ncuriy told lie name to you.
Little Boy Blue.
A boy and girl walked up a hill,
But
utnit]e tumblem 1,
down they came.
And where's
the water? Where's the
pail?
Of each poor child you know the name.
lack and Gill.
Somebody has a garden,
\\'e ask her how it groove,
Such funny things site sltye are there,
A -growing all in rows.
Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
It's something about a. supper,
And d somethinge
about a kali.,
And something about a boy that cried,
Ands something hog about a wife.
Little Tommy Tucker.
She . had a clog and he could smoke,
And dance and laugh and cry, ,
This woman and her dog, you knots,
To find her name please try.
Mother Hubbard
She sat upon a little stool
To eat her food one day;
A spider came and frightened her,
And quick she ran away.
Little Miss Mnffet,
Who sat down in a corner,
One Christmas long ago,
And thought himself a good, good boy,
While eating pie, you know!
Little Tack Horner.
LITTLE MISS BUD.
"Little Miss Bud," as site was called
by those who knew her, could net
week; she had never walked. Her
lower limbs were so deformed that no
doctor on earth could set them right.
She did not use crutches. Once a pair
had been procured and she sat upon
them, but she was so frightened and
screamed, that her father lifted her off,
and would not try the experiment again.
That was before her mother died, and
she was left alone with her father He
loved her tenderly and was as gentle in
hos care of cher as any woman could be
"fill never bring another into the place
of the wife who lies under the sod," he
said, to himself. "It would be worse
than the crutches. Not but that I knight
get some one who would be good to
my poor title bud. Still one never knows
what a woman is until he's married to
her"
And so it eves that Bertha Byrd, as
her real name was. reigned alone in the
small flat her father rented near the
car shops in which he worked, and
from which he could get home to din-
ner. He also engaged a brisk, motherly
Irishwoman to come in for an hour or
two each day and keep the place in or-
der.
Bertha's mother was French, brought
up in a sweet village in Normandy. She
had gone to that gayest of gay cities,
Paris, as a girl, to earn her bread with
an aunt Who was a flowermaker. There
she met and married a young machin-
ist, who had been sent over from Ameri-
ca with others to learn something for
manufacturers. Many a tale she told
their only child, a helpless cripple, of
the simple ways of the peasantry in her
early village hone, and, later still, of
"Paris, the beautiful." The little girl
could almost fancy she saw it all, the
parks, the boulevards, the flower gar-
dens—though a great ocean rolled be-
tween.
Bal this was not ail. A.$ the veers
went 1-'y she taught her darling the net
which the French have brought to such
perfection, that of making artificial flow-
ers. Oh, how it colored and transform-
ed the girl's whole life, making it truly
l," "bloom and blossom Rs the rose„" She
forgot her condition, her physical infirm-
ity, and the artistic taste she inherited
and love of the beautiful grew and grow.
No more listlessness, no more self-pity,
she had an object in life, had found an
occupation, Oh, thank God—thank God
for world In mercy God sent forth to
till the ground and develop the resources
overcoming obstacles. Anything but
idleness.
Rosebuds became her specially—rose-
buds. cream, white, pink, yellow; with
hearts of gold. That was ihow she cane
13 be called "Little Miss Bud." Her
parents had fried to carry on her edu-
cation in other ways, loo, and Mier -
wards a kind lady who heerd of the
child, visited her twice a week, as she
could not attend sohool, teaching her to
write and sew, She could rend already
and loved reading. and speak two lan-
guages, her mother's native tongue and
her own. But flower -making was her
chief delight.
Often sloe would lay the delicate pet-
als against her check and lips before
placing them in boxes for retnoval to
the great dry goods store, For Use
Bud's flowers, once seen by the head of
o millinery department, were in great
demand. Of course they were siinwn
as "imported," but so were n great
many things manufactured in America.
"Just reran Paris," cu.sloniers wive as.
stated, wiltmet. the tittle artist's know-
ledge. She might hnvo added, "In a
roundnlont ways"'—I ler meetings were
considerable and comforts lncreaseil.
Son she, was obliged to lake in a lit-
tle orphan girl, Alice Mny. as nsstsiant,
!twee a good day for Alice, indeed, for
both, as note Bertha luau a cnnstnnt
companion, Nor was this all, The kind
lady visitor spoke to her nI the dear
Saviour. the ever-present Friend. To-
gether they rend of Itis Warks of healing
when on earth, hew Ile made the blind
to sen, end the tome to walk, Then the
lady quoted e. text: Then shrill the limn
leap as nn hart --the redeemed shalt
walk there."
Bertha hrnnlhed fest. her eyrie grew
ergo and inmirions, and her swnoi fare
n nmver'ltke face, people said It WAS*
nnnsihed,
Where? When?" she questioned eng-
erly.
"\\'hen he shall Dime Whose right it
Is to reign,"
"Rol, when?" insistently,
"Bernie, deer," her friend rennet, "that
paten rainy refer In n goad lime tint's
coming on the earth, when :we cannot
tell. But one thing is certain in 111
heaven we seek the inhabitant shall no
say, I ant sick, 'Phare Will ho 110 weal;
ness—no infirmity. There will be per
feet healing, perfect service.
There eves no immediate answer, 111
from the lame girls heart went up tha
moment a veneeless cry to the Goo
Slhepherd, Did He ever fall to hen
such? Never. It was we11 with 111
child,
SO well that 011e connoted it to the
eosnbuds, for she could not keep tee
glad secret altogether to herself and
was shy of talking ahnnt It to others at
first. Only a tear of joy blurred
creamy leaf ns site murmured, "Oh,
urn se humpy! it Is welt"
Yee, even widen she hailed day by de
until the slim while fingers almost seem
el transparent. The lady brought i
carriage, thin white! c i s lined,, anis
driven rood a lovely lake in a perfect
rapture of delight. A eha'ituble society
sent a wheel eclair, on which Mrs, Mut-
catty, the 11'ishwnman, most faithfully
attended. But, all, balmy breezes and
beautiful scenery could not restore the
failing vital force.
Prepped cit by pillows an a couch the
delicate fabrics she had asked for were
given to her hand.
"This is for Mrs. Mulcahy," she said,
id
holding out a bouquet, the varied love-
liness of which was so perfectly natur-
al one could almost fancy it exhaled Ira-
grance. "\\'hen first she came bereshe
said she knew when her eyes were set
on me 1 was of royal blood"— and she
laughed until she coughed. "Tell 'Iter I
are the child of a King'—and I shall sit
at my father's table, but there will be
no lame feet to hide away under ft,"
"And this is for dear Alice"—a few
white buds in trailing shields of moss,
"A card, please, and pencil." Then site
printed very slowly. The pure in heart
shall see God," and attached it to the
long stems.
And so loving and thoughtful for
others to the lust, she drew near the
border. As the sun was declining she
passed away, whispering faintly,
The redeemed — shat]—walk there."
Death has no terrors for these who
trust in Christ. Why should children
fear it? It is only like the birds when
at the approach of winter, they seek a
brighter clime. It is the Shepherd call-
ing his lambkins home.
"Sloe is better off," said the fatter, as
so many others have said. And the
thought brought consolation,
------------
of shore. Most of the relives believed in
ti the than -migration of souls and fro-
.' fluently east their dead, and also their
• living babies into the sea to be devoured
by the sharks„ believing that 'their souls
would ever after animate those fishes
and inlin° then' to respect the bodies
dof the living members of the family.
r I Each shark god hid a special keeper, or
kuhu, responsible fur its cure end work.
1nans111p,
"The la'p'el rind most celebrated "1
the shark mete of the islands was
at Ephalmoana, a male, whoee month was
I Raul to lie as 'urge as an ordinary
grass lioness and Melee Milk was SO
y. great that it cntd not navigate the
- Menthes between the islands and was
I forced to remain in the open Seo.
Second In size and pewee was Kama -
heath, elder brother of the terrible
volcnni, goddess l'ele.
"l n lite Soloman 'elands Antics are
supposed to be the abode of ghosts.
Men will before their death annouurc
that they will appear as sharks, and
afterward any shark remarkable for
size or Colo' which is observed to haunt
a certain shore or rock is taken to be
sante one's ghost, and the name of the
deceased is given to it,
"On many of the South Sea rebinds
Lha eating of shade meat was tabooed
In women, and It meant death if they
disobeyed the taboo. Tho Hien, however,
had no compunctions about eating a
shark, provided it was some other man's
god.
"In Norway the shark fishery is rf
considerable importance. Small sloops
are employed. As soon as a shark is
caught 1t is hauled up just clear of the
water,
STORIES OF BIG SHARKS
HATED, WORSHIPPED, USEFUL
SCAVENGERS OF THE SEA.
Thirty -Footers Caught on the Pacific
Coast—Fourteen-Footers Can
Swallow a Man.
"One of the tihost interesting denizens
of the water," says a natural history
collector, is the shark. It is found in
all seas and occupies a prominent place
in the mythology, folk lore, religion and
domestic economy of all countries bor-
dering on the water.
"The shark is undoubtedly a dog with
a bad name, but it really does not de-
serve half the bad things said of it.
While an unmitigated nuisance and ex-
pense In many ways, especially to fisher-
men, yet it subserves a. most necessary
purpose, namely, that of scavenger of
the seas.
"Like the gent and the ostrich on land,
the shark will swallow almost any-
thing that comes its way, be it a man,
a horse, feathered fowls, bottles, lin
cans, rope or pieces of wood. The
species known as man-eaters have been
known to attack human beings, but
they rarely do so unless driven to it by
extreme lunger, or if the person be
floating on the surface or slowly swim-
ming along. A vigorous movement on
the pari of a swimmer is very apt to
scare away any shark.
"The shark family comprises many
members, (here being sixty -Iwo distinct
species in North American waters alone.
Many of these bear peculiar common
names, as : Frilled, cow, dog, bullhead,
cat, nurse, requiem, hammer -headed,
thrasher, backing, man-eater, mackerel,
bramble and angel, While many are
comparatively small, others attain a.
greet size.
"A mamealer was captured in Mon-
terey Bay, Cal., a few years ago which
measured thirty-two feet in length.
Another caught near Soqucl, Cal., was
ABOUT THIRTY FEET LONG
and had a young sea lion weighing
about 100 pounds in its stomach.
"In 1004 an Italian fisherman caught
a stark Twenty feet long and weighing
3,500 pounds in a net in San Francisco
Bay. In its stomach were six large por-
poises wideli the animal had swallowed
whole.
I helped to open up one In the lion-
nlulu fish market a few years ago, and
found in its stomach the body of a man,
complete from the waist down with tihe
exception of one leg, also some ducks,
tin cans, etc. The body was identified
late' es that of a man who had disap-
peared about ten days before while
Walling off 'Koko Head, The shark was
twenty feet long,
"In order to give an idea of how
easy it would be for a man-eater to
swallow a full-grown man. I prepared
the skeleton of a fourteen -fool 1/lan-
celet' and after the jaws were dried
separately and propped open I was able
to crawl through them without the
slightest difficulty.
"The twist renarkeble shark ever
relight Was secured by Fred Miller of
'I'neonhn. fn 1001. It Was eight feet long,
and ihad two heads and two tails on the
one body,
"11. is in tee South Sens That Thr. Shavk
atinins els grralrsl prr•rmfnrncr, Isere
it wale fortl,e'ly worn+hipped as a govt
and even now it., does not lake much In
drive many of the native converts 1 nek
to shark worship. if They have ever
realty given it up, as the Cln'istinn reit.
gio'n sits rase on ninny of then.
"fn the llnweitan Islands shark wor-
ship wns el one time ndunst universal,
This w'or..hlp WaS nal confined to an un-
seen, idealized form, but. woe often
centred in
SOME T.TViNG SPECIMEN
" Moth file uonhPd a Certain rata a alba f
el q g b
WITH A FEW QUICIK SLASIIES
its liver is out out and thrown into a
tub. Then its eyes are put out and it
Is cut adrift to go and complete the very
slow, in its case, process of dying
whore and how it pleases.
"in extenuation of their cruelty in
putting out its eyes, the fishermen say
that if they did not do 10 so voracious
is the animal that it would be apt to
come back and take the bait a second
time.
"Like the turtle the shark is hard to
convince that it has been mutilated
enough to cause the death of any self-
respecling animal. In illustration of
this tenacity of life may bo mentioned
the instance of a large grey shark cap-
tured in Australian waters -a. few years
a g0,
"After being hauled up to the side of
the boa the monster was ripped open
from head to tail. The vital organs and
entrails were removed and thrown over-
board, and then both jaws were hacked
out for the sake of securing the teeth,
and its eyes put out,
"Nothing but the shell of the fish re-
mained, and this was lowered over-
board. Very much to the astonishment
of bis captors the shark slowly swam
around close to the boat for a few min-
utes and then laboriously began to
swim off, soon disappearing in the dis-
tance.
"The native of the Hawaiian Islands
is probably the most tearless hunter 01
the shark. Occasionally the more ex-
pert seek the fish in coves and COATS
BELOW THE SURFACE
after the shark hes gorged itself and
sleeps with its head fo•ced,into the sides'
of Its resting place.
"The di\er gently slips a noose around
the tail and the shark is then hauled up
and despatched. As the slightest fats()
movement of the diver would startle the
fish, and cause it to attack him, an idea
can be gained of the care and delicacy
necessary to be exercised in this man-
ner of hunting.
"At other tunes the natives take the
shark with a spear. Diving to a favor-
able spot in four or five fathoms of
water, the diver pieces himself in a half
crouching posture against a large coral
rode and wails for the shark to appear,
"When one comes swimming along
the diver darts the spear into a vital]
spot, if possible. Should he fall to kill
the fish with the spear he watches his
opportunity and completes the opera-
tion with his knife, fearlessly engaging
at close quarters.
"The shark is put to many economic
uses, The flesh is eaten in most coun-
tries, When fresh the meat is rather
indigestible and unwholesome; when
dried it has a peculiar but by no means
disagreeable flavor, somewhat resem-
bling old cheese.
"The fins are converted into jelly and
canned soup, or dried and shipped in
the rough to China, fine machinery and
medicinal oil is made from the liver,
handsome leather from the skin, walk-
ing slicks from the backbone and many
articles from the jawbone and leech.
Nearly all of the sword grips worn by
officers of the Getman army etre made
from shark leather. They are beautiful
in pattern, being marked with blade
diamond-shaped figures."
USUAL NUMBER OF EARTHQUAKES,
Professor Milne Says They Aro Not
More Frequent.
A fallacy which has not yet been over-
taken is to the effect that our world, in
consequence of some general but bane-
ful influence, hes of late been trembling
and quaking more frequently than has
been nor wont. Evidence to this effect
is not forthcoming, if we turn to facts
we find that from 1800 to 1005, inclusive,
the yearly number of world disturbing
earthquakes has been 01, 50, 43, 64, 58,
20 and 55. In the year :1005 we had,
therefore, one large eerihqualce less
than the yearly average, which is 50,
Since tfhe end of 1005 the largo earth-
quakes have been seven or eight.
In July of lest year, the California
earthquake was entirely eclipsed as a
world shatter by ieio disturbances which
nrigine.led in Central Asia, Wande'hng
tribes do not write in the papers, so
these, so fa' es the public 51e 0011.
evened, had no existence, On Sept, 8
Calabria was well shaken, bili whether
this played any pert infreeing Vest)•
vhts is a mailer ler hisimer:id inquiry,
The Columbian eniel uunke shook one,
if not three, volcanoes into activity, in
March, 1,087 people lost their fives in
Formose.; but Formosans are not Euro-
peans, therefore, hilt 11111e notice teas
lateen of the event. Earthquakes and
eruptions beim not been more niuneraus
then usunb' et feet 1 but their ,f L 5 :have been
f
h
brought to our doors.
IN fllE LAND OF BIG GAME
ALONG TUE SIIOIUTS OF LAftlii NAI-
VASIIA, LAST A4'lUCA.
Great Flock of Flamintloes and Herons
Gazelles Minpl[n0 WW1 -
Sheep,
'The ((wired traveller who goes by
lite Uganda Beltway from Moultusih to
the Yagoda Nyanza has many wonders
in store for thus For several hums at
first, as the line winds quickly upward
from the coast., he may Rei glurious
views of the Indian Ocean (rho lust for
a long time to come) and its beautiful
buys end harbors. The belt of inhale -
hated and cultivated country i5 narrow
and soon passed; palm trees and man-
goes and bananas disappear and give
place to queer looking euphorbias and
yellow flowering acacias; it 1s a dreary
anti waterless land, where little but
tho'ns will flourish,
through
h
For many hours he travels 1
1 ,yg
a country that reminds Kinn of a well
stocked farm, or rather of the zoologi-
cal gardens, writes A. F. 13. \Vooleston
in the Westminster Gazette, Huge
herds of hartbeests, zebras and gazelles,
parties of wildebeests and ostrches, bus-
tards and crimes are scattered far and
wide over the plain, and if 'he be lucky
he may see a Herd of giraffes or a fam-
ily of lions. If he seems to be a
stranger in the land half a dozen dif-
ferent fellow passengers will tell him
the story of the unhappy lion hunter
who slept at his post in the railway car-
riage and was coveted out of the win-
dows and eaten by the very lion lie went
cut to kill. More notable still is the
sight of Kilmanjaro, a huge truncated
pyramid or snow rising out of the morn-
ing mists sixty miles to the southward.
Kenia, too,' may be seen, or more likely
great cloud banks, where the
MOUNTAIN LIES HIDDEN.
After many years of toilsome climb-
ing through scrub and swamp and
jungle, always upward, the enghne
whistles—it sounds like a sigh o1 re-
lief—and of 0 sudden we are plunging
down from the Kikuyu Escarpment into
the Great Rift Valley. It loops, indeed,
like a Promised Land, and it is likely
within a few years, if not to flow with
milk and honey, et all events to be 1111 -
ed with cattle and sheep, The climate
at this altitude of 6,000 feet and more
above the sea is healthy for Europeans.
Of all the beauties of the Rift Valley
tbere is none that can be compared
with the lovely and mysterious Lake
Naivasha, IL is hard to believe that this
is Africa and but a few miles from the
equator. Naivasha has been likened to
many different places; one writer was
reminded of a gloomy Irish lough—per-
haps his visit was in a wet season, or
possibly it was the snipe in Tho swamps;
another was reminded of the Bay of
Neples and the view from Posilipo. To
my mind there is something of New Zea-
land 1n the air and In the scene as well.
To the wandering naturalist, whether
his bent be toward birds, beasts, nutter -
Pies or plants, Naivasha is one of those
happy hunting grounds that he has
dreamed of but. has never expected to
see. The margin o1 the lake Is fringed
with sedges, tall reeds and papyrus.
Beyond the papyrus is a marvel of
water lilies, red and white and blue,
but mostly blue, Where the shallows
extend far out into the lake there must
be near a mile of water lilies. In the
morning,- when the breeze ruffles the
water and breaks up the reflections of
the hills, tae green of the tenement
up turned leaves, the blue of the flowers,
the orange of the submerged stems and
Lite almost amethyst of the water to-
gether make
A VERY OPAL OF COLOR.
One of the prettiest bird sights I have
ever bad the good luck to see was here;
in a little buy of water lilies, standing
on the leaves and preening their plu-
mage, was a party of long legged, black
winged stilts winter rnigranis from the
north; behind them was a wall of graoe-
hd bending papyrus and overhead was
a snowy Casipan fern, Among the lilies
and on Inc open water beyond are a
myriad coots and grebes, ducks and
cormorants, and further still huge peli-
cans.
Overhead are circling and. constantly
crying a pair of fish eagles, sometimes
so high up that we can barely make
out two shouting specks ()hove us,
sometimes so near that we can clearly
see the brilliant black and white and
red brown of their plumage. On a
shellow, sunken mud bank is a long
lone of while, which shows a tinge of
black and crimson, as the great flock of
flamingoes rises and flaps slowly away
Iteppily shore are no crocodiles 'here,
but hippos abound, and ono may often
ce,lch a glimpse of 11080 end eyes as
they lie in ,the shallow's basking in the
sun, or nt night, when they feed, lime
them crashing through the reeds.
It is only here and there that ono can
follow the welter's edge; -mostly the
reeds are too thick and the ground too
swampy for any but a waterbuck to
pass. Along Ile outside, where the
reeds meet the grecs, are big flocks "1
L'pypiinn geese, which spend most of
Inc day in sleep, but mike noise enough
in the evening end early morning, hero
ton, aro black ibises, Way as curlews,
and sacred ibises in smell parties of
licew'o foandod, explothree, aiWsys Ing810busilylch of senrciopraunindg
'5'3 n.
P1 after and more ennOding ere the
great while heron and the smaller Miff -
backed heron, Which hn'rll,y lake the
trouble to move ns ono nprnaches; they
pee le feed mmnng the herds of native
cattle, Wien perching on Ile backs of
Ihr beasts,. es 1 have neon them do In
Egypt. Crnwnrrl crnn0s, generally 'n
pairs, sh'ide wneollectl,y about wilhln
o dozen verde of Its, evidently conscious
of the Mev that protects them,
Of big game, though (here is plenty
in the district, one does not son very
much on the eastern side of the lake,
Here on 1110 wide Monsey fln's end on
the lower slopes of the hills burnouse
decks of sheep end tennis nod pnslurr,
Al the time of nor v sit there were are..
ca every evening to th0 bona near Dur
camp 0ins0 upon ,
20;000 BLEATING AN1\MALS,
ir, the necompnnlment of m11010 shrill
vv'htsiiing irnm the boys who Iona them,
Ugly savages RN? these Mesad boys,
clothed In little loss than a long spoor,
and round their necks a string of bend
or empty cartridge case's.
It is a pretty bight to see a Herd 0
the graceful little '1'honson's gnzellh
(!neatly called 'I'omntit's) mingling will
e nookof sheep and gents, and +follow
ing with the others when lite boys wide
oe even needing 0 prod with the
spear point to make them move faster
Whether they do It for amusement u
for the sake of companionship or Int' n
better protection against Ilu'ir enemies
bloc ph,otwling lion and leopard, who
a l ny,
(]rands gazelle, a. sonewhnt lergr'r
500110115] with beautifully curved Morns, Is
found here, too; but he is not. so lain
es the former, and goes bounding away
—bouncing is alines, the weed_ -es
Utongit his body were hufll of springs.
:\ few b inhering ha'l1 ells, tddruu4
red brutes with nil the ugly feeluree of
a cow and of the donkey combined, are
seen here and there; they trot off unlit
they aro just out of rouge, then turn
around and treat its In an mato stare,
Ono morning we carne suddenly over
a low hilt and ova]iced Into the midst of
a herd of zebras, Off they went, fifty
or more of then, as fast as they could
gallop, straight toward s newly strung
wire
Tanen. Ether t11cy did not see it,
m' they were too much Irlghtened to
turn all cla nes ane of Nino stvet'ved,
hill dashed tiu'ough alto fonre., as
though the \vires were cobwebs, and as
far as we could see not one was dam-
aged In the lens,, Zebras may bo seen
h'am Ole railway Uterally In 1h01as0uls
on the AIM Plains, near Nairobi, and
again on the rolling grass lands between
Naivasha and Nakuru.
AT THE GOVERNMENT FARM,
s where lie lives like a mo:lireval baron,
and Buenos Ayres end l.nrope, Prob.
1 ably n0W1101'e els, in the world, certain.
ly not outside of the greed cities, le
1 there a0 great a gulf between the stand•
arch of living of the, highest and the low-
- est. Nowhere have 1 soon such lavishly
1 run establishments as lime of these
lend kings of Argentina, both 1lattve
r and British, Val /10W11011? among Cau,
enemas have 1 even :.orb primitive qua
, tee's end strop hard living es among in
peons and gallehms of lite scone country.
The eight or ten weeks that 1 have
spent in various purls of the pampas
were almost equally divided between
e� these diunetrienlly opposite w'ay's of
living, giving ono all Ile ndvanlago or
sharp contrast In showing the one u
against the other. 11 be an amusing ansi
rather novel experienee to sit with the
lawns culler mahogany end sip French
, 11 Inn from a glass of It[mlze crystal ane
day and the next to hunch up on a horse
skull stool and R11ele state through e
bomhilla that hes been in a rinzen other
Mouths before 11 conies In you, nr per-
i haps to have imported IRngllsh lamb
!chops and French pens for 11 0'01011
; breakfast, and for 5 o'olorle dinner a
hunk of smoky, greasy carne asndo,
cooked on a sleet spike in the midst of en
nPen fire.andnnten by holding inthe
hands and rending with the teeth. But
whatever, end by whomever dispensed,
It is tendered with a free and unforced
kindliness that reduces it.
, ALL TO Tf111 SAME LEVEL.
1'-
e
n few miles from Naivasha, expert-
ntents have been made In crossing ze-
Lras, but hitherto no very satisfactory
hybrid has been produced, The pure
bred anima] Is diimcult to lame and of
vary
b'onglittle hybriusedns, capabeastable oforeslsbrden;lfng Inout
many diseases of the county, would
solve the horse problem of East Africa
old would go far toward' Insuring the
prosperity of the culony.
Near the southeastern corner of the
lake is an island, the largest in the
lake, where we camped for a time, The
voyage of a mile or more from the main-
land is made in the relics of a boat,
which, from its appearance, must have
Leen brought here by ale first explorers
thirty years ago. It was never less than
tall full of water, which kept two boys
busy baling with buckets, and the one
MA a half broken paddles threatened
every moment to be reduced to none at
all. Half way across arc two small is-
lets; one a favorite breeding phaco of
herons and ibises, which nest here in
hundreds, the other apparently 0. play-
glound for the hippos, to judge from
the trampled reeds and the erashings
and gruntings which issue, from it by
night. The tangle by the lake shore is
the haunt by clay of many water buck,
which swim over from the nmainiand
and find here a sanctuary from their
enemies, the (ions and hyenas.
As the shadows grow longer and the
sun goes down behind LOA Mau a troop
of baboons in the rocks begin tell
chatter before they go to bed, and there
is o stir among the geese beside the
lake. !Jackals, walcinp from their long
siesta, trot over the plain and creep cau-
tiously toward the camps of the natives,
Something brown appears at the edge
of the reeds; it is a water buck. At
first his heed and horns alone ale vis -
Rio, then after a wary look about him,
he steps out from his shelter and, stop -1
i ping here and there to crop a tuft, of
grass, strolls off to a favorite salllick a
mile away.
Like the red deer of Exmoor, the wa-
ter buck play havoc in any unfenced
1 srden o' cultivate(' ground They
o 10 pall a plant up by the roots, and
actor a single bite (not always that) pass
on in another. The twilight goes quick -
1e, and in half an hour it is black night.
There is a croaking chorus of frogs by
the lake and the "knnlc" of herons over-
head flying to their fishing. As we
move toward the camp our steps are
perhaps a little quickened when we hear
the 'unearthly howl of hyenas and the
discontented grunt of a lion.
PLAINS OF ARGENTINE
IMMENSE LEVEL TRACTS OF FARM-
ING AND GRA'LING LANDS.
Where Fortunes are Made—Distinction
Between the Land Owners and
Tenants.
The pampas of Argentina correspond
very olosoly to the Mississippi valley of
Stales and the great plains of the
Canadian Northwest, but on a show-
down they would prove far truer to the
name of plains then anything north 01
the Isthmus of Panama. Nowhere else
in the world is there so large a1 area 1
that approaches so near an absolute
level as do the pampas. 0
The exigencies of railroad building
best illustrate this fact. Loolc at a rail-
road map of Argentine. and see how the c
lines radiate front Buenos Ayres like the
spokes of a wheel. Whether northwest
10 Rosario and Cordoba: west to the
Andes, southwest to the Pampa Central,
or south to Mar del Plata and Belga
Blanca, their course 1s invariably al-
most perfeetly direct. The Buenos
Ayres and Pacific Beltway has the long-
est "slrnighl" In the world, where be,
tweet Vedla and Mackenna, in the heart
of the pampas, the rails run for 175
miles without an inch of curve, and but
for nn "S" at the former place would
continue so for 200 miles, This is hndi-
calivn of the rent fling in level lane.
Tr, the average inhabitant of the pampas
a genua ,swill on the bosom of the Wein
le a thong of Inte'est and a hill a thing
to revere. 1 don't knots exactly what
hie, idea of heaven is, but Lfeel perfectly
snto in assuming that it contains moan -
tains,
Talking with an Englishman in Banta
Blanca a while ago he divided leis coun-
trymen who awned eslanolas In the
pampas into two classes: Those who
were gentlemen when they cause la the
country, and those who were not gen-
tlemen when they came to the country,
but had since heeotne such through the
accession of wealth following their fore-
sight and good management. The
definition of gentleman herein implied
may bo somewhat open to question,
otherwise the statement gives a very,,
good idea of the slluntian. The later
do not return to England every sunuver
on a vigil, have fewer fads rand fancies,
and in many other ways• erlispiay more
"horse sense" than the born gentleman.
Most of these aro making money faster
than they can count it.
The others are making money, too,
but because they cannot help it rather
than for any ocher reason. They farm
as gentlemen farm in England, and
their kennels and stables and fancy cat -
Ile and their imposing but antiquated
sgrieullural machinery are responsible
for a subslanliai deice every year which
however, their thousands of hectares of
land rented out to Italian tenantry regu-
larly mato good, and with some Io
spare. Over and above this the stead-
ily increasing value of their lanris inci-
dent to the growth of the country is
doubling and Trebling their wealth
01001'30 few years.
There is nothing like an Argentina
grain train anywhere else in the world,
awl the sight of one on the move Is
alone worth
A TRIP TO THE PAMPAS.
They are especially designed for this
country and could be used in no other.
One of them would be far too wide to
pass through an EngltSii lane, far too
long to turn an ordinary cross-roads
corner in the Slates and far loo heavy
le be used in any country where horses
were not at bedrock prices. A good
sized wagon will be from 40 to 50 feet
long anis from 12 to 15 feet wide. Its
bind wheels will be from 12 t.0 14 feet,
high and the drivers seat 20 feet or more
from the ground.
The horses used appenr innumerable,
and actually at limes run above Ivo and
three score. They arc driven either by
the "jerk line" system or by reins run
out to the leading pair. The capacity
of one of (nese vehicles Is enormous,
and the general rule of "a wagonload
makes a carload" will not often be found
amiss. The principal idea of so large a
wagon is to hew something that will
not be engulfed by the mud or dust o1
the bottomless roads of the pampas, but
it also has Its economic advantages in a
country where men are scarce and hors-
e= 01e11llfnl,
The gauche of the pampas is the
eounlenparl of mfr cowboy of the plains,
and the howeiey rider of tihe Austral -
inn "»sole blade," and he is in many
00 VS 7111ile as active a entracte* a5 ei-
ther 0f his brothers. His worst foul,
seems to be his extreme carelessness in
regard In the lives of those around him,
but ns be Is. equally careless of his own
I cannot see where this can logically be
held against hind.
AS A HANDLER OF STOCIS
he Is possibly the peer of a Queensland
drover, but Js certainly not to be men-
tioned in sho same breath with a Texas,
Arizona or Montana cowboy, nor with
tnu best of Mexican vaqueros.
1 bad arrived at this conclusion in
my own mind from the first time I had
eon what were said to be expert gau-
hos working out at a roundup, hence
was the more pleased when, not long
go, a bunch of half a dozen Texas cow-
loys cane to this country on nn eslhihi-
ton tour and demonstrated to the sat-
sinclion of everybody that, both in
nelhod and execution, in the handling
1 cattle and horses, the North Ameri-
en is fur superior to the South Ameri-
en.
THE PAMPAS OF TODAY,
aro 110E the pampas of thirty yea's ego,
says a correspondent of the Los Angeles
Times. Then the prevailing pursuits
were pastoral; now those horticultural
lake the lead end aro rapidly h1o'eas-
lne in impudence, Formerly master
auci man lived Wilco, both in mud hills
old on a diet of carne, need°, gellable ds
nntl ninth, Now, ll this is [»h Ihr 1
peons, tvhila the coastalta' tlivitiothe (tone: n
between his pnlallal 0010110110 h0nse, N
A cowboy would rope and to a steer.
in from thirty to forty seconds so deftly
that it could be released by a single
pull, where the gaucho would spend
five minutes smothering the animal in
a coil of rope, from which a surgical op-
eration was usually required to release
it. Buenos Ayres found the dose a hard
one to swallow, but Ilie best of them
flnnhy got It clown and adhnitlecl that
their men wire outclassed at their own
game. The English papers stood tip
manfully for the worthy Texan visitors
—recta pride, 710 doubt,—batt the Argon -
!intone were obdurate to the lust con-
tinuing doggedly In insist that the na-
tives lied all the 1 s
test of tits, competitions.
Tiff DIFFERENCE,
libbs : "Bilkins tells me he Js only an
amateur politician, but if anybody can
tell ale the difference between en ama-
teur end the professional, I'll trent,"
Nibbs : "All right, treat. me, 'Pito dif-
ference Is that the amateur puts money
talo polillee and the professional lakes
money oil."
Hast (ata mustard reception): "My
nodnecs,
1, lust tetra lit that printf
nuns, She has pretty cool lmnpudelca,
bond in pity her .8100 to rrnne 11ee1 lee
!gbh enol now she's singing '1 ]KnoW
of Why I Sing"'"