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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1892-3-4, Page 22 THE' BRUSSELS POST. A'A11CU 4, 1.892 A SCRATCH Ii PLAY, PART Il, Yewho 11tvc. mune,' e;eh other. Or injure L tri ui or brother, In this fan fading year: Yet who, by word ur deed, Have !node a kind heat bleed, ('o ne ge thor here, I,°t sinned strains/ :tad sinning Forget their strife's LeghnulfR, And Join in friend. -hip naw: Be I inks ne linger broken, An sweet A rftireno:., epoken Under the 1,011y bough, So the wretched mouths passed till tnid- wintee Wan recehed. And what a Winter Long before 1'hrf,lnuas, the snow lay thick on the gentled ; sol altaur' pat tents learn- ed full well the joys of aPreal old-fashion- ed winter," I had enongh and more than enough wort to do ; but I was thankful for it. Only in helping anti relieving the aut- ferings of others could 1 summed in forgot. ting my own pain. As the dull days drag- ged themselves along, ane of my favourite patients began to fade away ; and at length I had to face the painful task of telling her that, ere the new year came, she would have to enter on the world of the unknown. Sho was adeocnt. woman, the wife of a dissipated husband, Inc whom the had toiled till her moor worn.ont body could work no more. And now she lay apparently dying in her 'cold little room, thanking God each din} "that none of Inc children had been left to "struggle on without her, ilxcept my poor big child," she slid with that spark of pathetic humour one sees now and again among our rustics -chiefly among the wcmen. , But 1 seem to have brought him up very badly, doctor. I must just hope he may be able to bring him- self home at last." Is there any oue you would rare to see, Mrs. Clerk?" I malted her, late ono bitter, mold afternoon. " Why de you ask doctor? Is the end at hand ?" "1 eau hardly say that. Yet, if there is 'any one I could send for to come to you, it 'might be as well not to put 1t off," A light gleamed over t e tired, plain leatnree, " Oh doctor, if I could see the little Lady, I think it would make it easier for me, -But" -and the weary eyes wand- ered to the uncurtained window-" it be gettiui dark, and the snow lays think on the ground. She °onldn r. cone now." And aha sighed that patient sigh that speaks of a life of renunciation. " Have you no relation, no sister you would care to sea?" 1 asked. " No, sir, no. I'd have liked to , see the dear Lady this very night, I think if she had sung 100 to •sleep, I'd have woke better. -But is is no use. She couldn't come out, a night like this," I'll fetch her in my sledge," I said. The tired eyes opened with such a glad light, that, bad it been Queen Victoria 1 had promised to snatch off her throne and bring to this poor cottage,, I should have had a try to fulfil my word, ""Will you, sir -oh, will you?" " Yes," And away over the snow I dashed, nor paused to think telt I lrew up at the door sof the manor, 1 Is Lady Avis in ?" I asked the footman; 'and made my way unannounced to the •drawing -room, The lamp was burning, subdued by its flower-like shade : tho tem table was drawn up near the fire ; and she • in one of her sort, silken tea -gowns, was standing warming one perfectly shod little loot at the flame of the blazing logs which roared up the chimney and danced o, the steel grate. Close to her stet a young fellow whom I had never seen. I learned after- wards that he was a cousin, who, during 'the years I had been away, had been like a 'brother to her; but I did not know this ltheb, Did her face grow pale in the red light as she saw me enter ? It seemed so ; yet she • name quietly forward and offered me tea. No, thank you," I said as shortly as 1 • could ; " there is no time for tea, There As a woman dying who wauts to see you," All her faro grew soft in a moment, "A woman dying 1 Oh, where? What woman 1" "Mrs. Clerk, ac the old Farm cottages. Will you dome? The sledge is there. It will save time if you will come fn it with me 0 mow." -ea I will come. " f "Nonsense, Avis," cried the young man, 4'11 is sheer nonsense to think of going out ° in such an evening in an open sledge. The brougham can be brought round In twenty s minutes." a Are the horses roughed?" I asked. "No,"said Avis ; "and it would take a long time to get them ready. I will go ° with von•" her ; the horses' heads were let go; tis belle jangled out ; and the sledge sledge slid over the SUOw, 1t was a glorious night. Aho'° us stretched the He lth:i0 sky, gem- med with myriads' of flashing 0100 ; while all around ns was silence and the gleani 1 $now, All the well known landscape wus rendered strange and unfamiliar tinder its pu10 covering -as a dear dead late is ret dared OWeaal}e node/' the Hilo sheet 11 spread alter death. The bolls jangled ; the horses' hoofs Mini ed against each other now and again an tL Wedge 9114111. 011 ; but all else was silent: No a word chid we speak. I caught a gimps of her taco once its she turned it to watch groat white owl slowly gliding over ou heads. How while and still the beautifu fate was! Was there a tremble abort t) 1000th 1 On wo sped, When we had started, my heart had been ablaze with hot ange•. \V ho wee this youth who bad usurped uty place 1 \Vhy had we quarelled 1 Why had w° not trade it up again? it was all her fault -all. 1 had bee,e ready to make friends, yearnin f, a 1110 old com- pauionship, breaking my ltaut far her cruel sake ; and she had never oared in the least. Cared ! She had been filling up her time and thoughts with this young Herbert -Harold-whatever his name might be, and probably a dozen more. She was a mere flirt. In her heart she still despised me for being a doctor-" Only a sawbones, as the rsed to say. She was the daughter of the lord of the Manor : I --well, I was es good as she. 1 was a man with a man's heath, head, hands. She had no right to play with hie. Had she played with me ? At that moment I caught the pure pro. filo against the lamplight. She had learned suddenly forward, and Wes gaging ahead with a strange, far -away loop iu her eyes. She wcrthleas 1 She a flirt ! How pure and cold she looked ! pure like the snow ; yes and cold like the snow. Ah 00, not cold, With those deep dark eyes, those sensitive nostrils, tint exquisite month. And yet why not? It is ever the most beautifu women who are most cruel. Aud so went on the foolish, proud, un- reasoning thoughts within my bruin, while my heart grew warmer in its love for her at every stride the !arses took. How could I help loving her with her dear presences so near me, her garments touching me, her breath rising like incense to heaven through the clear me?" 01, what a long drive ! \Vhat a sad sore been 1 I felt as if I could bear it no longer -when the welcome cottage came in sight. Silently we drove up to the door. "If you will go in, 1 will dtit'e on, and leave some medicine for another patient, and come back for yon," I said, breaking the silence for (be first time. Without a word she left Inc. I drove on about a mile farther, and then returned slowly through the still night. Mrs. Clerk's dwelling had once been an old farm -house in the days when farmers were opulent and liked their homes to be roomy, It had" comedown " in the world however ; and was now divided off among several families of labourers. But outwardly it was still beautiful to the eye. From where I sat alone in the sledge, I looked through an archway of dark yews towards the old rambling building with its low eaves and mullioned windows. The steep tiled roof was coveted with the gleaming snow ; the tall irreggular chimney stacks rose black against the dark bite sky ; and from one uncurtainecl window, the ruddy light abo110 out upon the snow -clad lawn. How still it was! Was the whole world deal? The bells on the horses' steads sovnderl painfully laud as the animals moved roetlessly from One to tate. I felt vaguely that I ought to walk them up and down ; but the spirit of stillness seemed to have got the bettor of all my senses. I meld not move. Above was the still, silent sky : around tho still, eilent world; and in my heart a strange sensation of unfeelingness. The world was dead ; I was dead; everything was dead. Nothing mattered ally more. 1 felt nothing, nothing. \V1iy trouble whether she loved me or not? 11 would all be the same when I was dead. My heart was dead now. The spirit of stillness had wrapped the world in its cold embrace, and my soul was at rest within its anus. 1 did not mind the delay ; I diel not eel inpatient fon' her return ; only I wish - d the horses would stand still and the bolls not jangle so. Then, all at once, through the sileno5 tole a beautiful sound, falling like golden now from somewhere above me. A wo- man's voice !Singing softly, tenderly, glori- usly !I held my breath to listen. No words reached me -only the sweet clear notes ; and even they seemed to come from the voice of a singer in a dream. The voice ceased. A little wind uprose and swayed the trees, as if protesting against the cessa- tion of the wonderful music -then sudden- ly there =veto me over the snow the sound o ca f bells. Tho limo draws 110a•fhe birth 51 Christ; m Christmas belle from hill t111 Tho ('hrlatnms hells from hill I.0 hill Answer each other through the min. Peace and good-ss90, goodwill and peace, Peace and good -will to all mankind. 1'he door opened gently -closed ; and, to the music of the bells, it whits figure moved towards me through the will/amities. Under the arch of black yews Sho stopped. Did he da it of purpose ? Did 8110 know that Lhe light of the carriage lamp fell fu11 upon er 7 Did she dreamt how beautiful sale was vitli the spirit of her song still on her lips ; with the light of her tender action still in a' eyes? She stopped and listened. How weetly, ghostly, emitted (111190 faro!!' bells, those strange dream -bells. Not a soud, but their thin hearty dying end growing soh dying again 1 And (hare she stood end stetted " with the wonder growing in her ace „ " Peace and good -will -peace ;" and then he looked at me, and carne quickly forward next moment she was beside Inc an the edge. "Shills asleep," site whispered. " I think she will get well." "'Plan let us got home," I anewored and that 1',t 11 ante , ,faugle, jangle, jangle wont the sleigh • ; and once more wo moved through the lent world, Bet, wo went slowly now. Vhy 1 Wits it became of the surrounding illness, which ono leered to disturb? Or as it because m whole soul was filled and trilled wiLlt the 1knowlodga of her nearness, ith the knowledge that hero wore oho and I alone an We sleeping -this dead world he only living creatures in this groat sil- elin?? Slower and slower wont the horses ; and yet the road seemed to melt before us ; and ever nearer came ""Mono" and parting, But yon wo did not s eak. '.Pilo sweat precione moments slipped try ; and once, here my heart came alive and boat aol throbbed. and named, I lunged to throw 103 self down in the snot, before her and Jnunble ulyoolf tterly, if only, by ny defog so, we ought; o again as once we had been, But still I 121221225 could not do it, She lead been wrong too. She 511,.0/ )nee11110 half -way, 01 l alto meet feel it, AVshy would she not confess it? Could she net see how notch lu'avor, nobler, worthier of herself it wont(' le than this iu- dill'erent un1On'ern, this obstinate silence ? h dropped "la m tonin" n suddenly said quietly. mull," t1(° deur vui°e 1 started as f 1 I 1 had been shut, and came back from my world of thought Mame with uucmnpreheudlug eyes oil the sO'°et 11000 at uly'sido. How xw'eel it was, how calm, how i contented 1 Why wan it mot 11111 of shine and ,'"1(11.111,0 ? It 0u5h1 10 have hems; but I no, not a bit 011t! Tis blue oyeslook y o e gm up at me with the utmost lriendlhlcds ; 0 the rosy month had 0 510110 011 1t, , 1'Icasm," she e•iod-" please stop the i 11m'se5, I've dropped my ma5," I stopped the horses, ° " Will yon please get' out awl find it Inc u me?" went on thepurlaug voice, "f will hold the horses," "I may not bo cable to find it in the dark," ° said I. "It is white like the snow." " 1t'e whiter," she 0uswerel, still shnil- in. got out, and strode along 1110 way 11101 we had come. My heart was vexed within me; for I knew she had dropped that wretched muff on plumose that she might order me to go back and fetch it. At that moment my foot touched some- thing soft. The little white mnlf 1 I piok- ed it up; and something dropped out. I stooped and lifted it from the snow, A glove 1 Sneh a little glove 1 Not thinking tells/ I slid, I spread it out on my broad Palm and laughed a bitter laugh as words that I had road somewhere came to my mind, "That halt? withal looketh somewhat soft and small for so large a will in sooth," I walked back to the sledge. The lamps wore shining with two golden eyes over. the snow : the horses' bells were jangling ; but the little white lady was sitting very still. I came to her side of the carriage. What great fellow I seemed ! for, standing there on the road, my head was on a level with hers as she sat in the sledge. I hell out the mull: She did not take it. Her face was turned away. Was she crying? Was that why she kept her taco hidden? Was she ashamed at hast? This was well, ah ! this was well. I was glad 'she had come to see the error cf her ways. She had taken a long time about it, certain- ly ; but still I would be generous; I would pardon her at once. I still held the muff out. "Avis, this is your property." \Vhieh 1" and a farce not battled ill tears, not blushing with shame, but sparkling and dimpling with laughter, was turned to !nine, ' Which L" she repeated, looking at me with a world of mischief shining in Iter eyes. "This," I said severely -but my hand shoot[. c Oh 1 is that all 1" she said, taking the white fluffy thing in one Hand very slowly and looking in my eyes.all the time ; while gradually a warm little bare hand stole out from under tate wraps. "I thought you meant this" --and the warm little hand was about my neck. For one wild moment I tried to remem- ber my anger ; but the shining eyes were still smiling irto mine; and next moment the bulging mouth 308 warm 011 my lips. Alt 1 well, whir could have resisted it? In au instant my arils were about her, and I was straining her to my heart. How could two young people who loved each other have been 00 foolish ? [ME ESD.] " And I shall wait outside, ea I don' suppose the footman relishes holding the .horses in the snow." J1 I have no doubt he has sent for a 'groom," said Avis, her blue eyes turned coldly atwe.y " You had better drink some boa. -Herold, come with me fora moment;" and she swept from the room, the young man following. Drink tea in the room where that fellow had been 1 Never ! f flung out of the room, and hastened into the :night -air. A groom had relieved John Thomas at the horses' heads ; and I had the gratification of observing the contemptuous look with which ho surveyed my scratch team and make -shift sledge, A courteous footman in the hall asked 0 whether I would not step into the library, ' and threw the door invitingly open, dm- h playing the wainscoted room, on whose old oak carvings and brightly -bond volumes the firelight danced deliciously. Holly and h mistletoe glinted and twinkled from all s aooruer. It was Christmas eve. " No, no ; 1 will wait hare," I answered curtly. At thus moment, her light footstep sienna. li ed on the stair ; and her ladyship (herself f tripped into the lamplight. And what a ladyship 1 She had um even Yukon time to a change her dainty shoes ; but her silken dress was covered over with her great al White matte, On her soft fair curls rested a little white fur cap ; and about her neck Was bound a feathery boa like a glorlfled onow•llake. Her hands were !ridden away iu a snowy muff. Harold was with her, "Well, my suety -queen," he was saying, " you willfrightel Oho country yfolks if they meet you ,you look lil0e. tjseon Mlatildaesoap- ing from Ox -ford Castle, "Clever boy," hammed Avl , " to remom- h Si St w ber his history so well," 11 1f Meantime, history is repeating dtsolf in tv In 1110 most commonplace fashion m Mrs. (Clerk's cottage," 1 ronryrked grimly. "Perhaps you had bettor not mine, You look too gorgeous for that poor room." "Am 't 1 never thought, This was the Warmest, so 1 put it on," she began, her great eyes full of dietrsen. " It's all right, dear," cried Harolc1; " yeti know they love you when you look beautiful," 1r They must always love her, then,' I thought within my bitter hart, u In another moment I Wes boated beside b Birds Dootor Themselves. Some interesting observations relating to the surgical treatment of wounds by birds were recently brought by M. ratio berme the physical Society, of Genova. He quot. el the case of the snipe which be had often observed engaged In repairing damages. With its beak and feathers it, (10100s a very creditable dressing, applying plasters to bleeding wounds, andeven seeuriug a broken limb by means of a stout ligature, On one occasion he killed a snipe which had on the chest a large dressing composed of down taken from other parts of the body, and securely fixed to the wound by coagulated blood. Twice ho had brought home snipe With the interwoven feathers strapped on to the site of the fracture of one or other limb. The most interesting example was that of a snipe, both of whose legs he had undoubt- edly broken by to misdirected shot. He re- covered the animal ordy on the day follow- ing and he theft found that the poor bird had contrived to apply dressings and a sort of splint to both limbs. In carrying out this operation same feathers had become entangled around the beak and, not being able to use his claws to got rid of then, it was almost dead from hunger when discov- ered. In a case recorded by ill, Magnin, a snipe which w•an observed to fly away with a brolten leg was subsequently found er have forced the fragments into a parallel position, the upper fragments reaching to the knee and secured there by means of a strong band of feathers and moss 1 termiu- glol. The observers were particularly struck by the application of a ligature of a 1/11111 of 60c•leav05 grass 11010111 round the Huth, of a spiral form and fixed by moans of a sort of glue. Oorn 200 Years Old, A. J. Mercer, linin), near I3urdeo, Kan., has a patch of oo n which is the rarest ever grown.. The patch is snivel, but the corn is kind that la never been seen in America before. Last spring Merocr opened st mound on his farm and M it found a lot of corn along with certain prehistoric roliosslho1'- ing that the corn had been put in there ages ago, It 50115 ill a settled jar and was ab01)1 a pock in Tan thy. lie gave away atpout half of it to his neighbors and others who heard of it wanted a few grains for a cariosity, When planting time conte ho thought it would be as good idea to plant some of it, and prepared a latah of grmtnd near his 110000 and planted about two quarts of the seed. It nano up and thrived well under the cultivation givot it. The oars caro well. It has yaw been harvested, 'rho oars wore about six inches long and 1110 grains wore close together, standing np with sharp points. '1.'hc grains aro small, being about ono -forth the size of an ordinary grain of corn, Mercer thinks that tide must nn- donhocily be aha original corn o America from W11101 010 present has sprung through long and high readmit km. What isremar (. able about it ie that the mound from which it was taken has every evidence of being yory old, for trees wero growing on it that conkd not he loss than 2(11) years old, Tho relics found with the core aro 5imila' to threw found in the nomeis of Illinois and Ohio, and this n0tted tenet have been oo0s- isteut with those, which aro believed to have bee" over a thousand years old. Mercer has sent samples of his corn to friends 11n the east and to the gnvorrmont officials at Washington. Any man who Ower owned a balky horse will toil you that ha found the animal ex coodnngly hard to got along with. A WHITE MAN IN MIRTH 0, people from fat' away Senegal, natives of 110,' 50, and negro ela)e0 hailing from name tribes in the Soudan. e 7)r, imus mom mos! interel Welded in Oho 'I',a elk 5' l'uaregeof the Sahara, the formidlahlo 11eo1110 1)11:111115', Billed quite 0 number 01 Europeen 11500/10 and are the chief elate, o Me in the way of exploring 11 o groat 1111001 regia1 .1 the desert, They aro wail in Ito The Story of Dr, Leua's Visit: to tit Famous Town, Tata, al E`i'9a ts'1'1teil+atL% 0:0'0341 1'E:(115 T 0011'1 '1711: I' 1t151Ra>oni.('o'a'\, Africa and A0ia have each a city which famousfcr its iuhnspittti1y to the whi ra0e, 1,11,1011, ilio chief town 111 'Tibet, an Timbucloo, the !mai known eliy of the w -e0 ern Soudan, hac'° the reputation of 1,011 the most iillteeeseiI to totem in the work and to this fact is Inc half their fame. For tweuly-eevlen year's after Barth Spa Som time in Tan noon 110 l:niop000 °ate e l the city until 1)r. Oskar Lenz visited 11, place in 1880. Ho has published In Goma 0 the story of that remarkable journey, an en 100011111 of some things he saw' in he roc bidden cityy' is here condensed from his nal native, His picture of the city is also pre 0mntedh The history of the visits of whit men to Tbnbuotoo 15 interesting, 10111 ata be seemed up briefly before turning to Di Lenz's story. 111 111311 001(1 Imbert, a French sailor, fel into the hands of the Amos, through a ship wreak 011 the Atlantic coast, and was take to Tinlbuctoo as a slave, 'l'he master int whose hands he finally fell took him to lobo recce, where he died in bondage. Ho 1,f no record of his residence in Tdmbucloo, and therefore contributed nothing to the histol of African discovery, Niarly 200 years elapsed before a Euro perm was again in Timbuotoo. In 1823 tit English Government commissioned Majo A. G. Laing to make a journey in Afeio for the exploration of the Niger River. H alat•tsd from Tripoli, crossed the desert, an reached Timbuctoo in August, 1826. A month later ho was murdered a few mile north of the city. The facts of his (Matt were finally ascertained, but the record of his visit to the city Wan never recovered T1mbuc1oo was still unknown to the work exnept tht'ongh the reports of natives o Africa. Two years later, in 1828, Rene Caine, Fronchnlan, reached the oily, and he ie t1( first Jtoropean who ever threw any high upon the mysterious town, Impelled t oonrt danger by pare love of adventure, al most without 0100118, and with 110 seienlifi equipment, lie betook himself to Senegam bin, pont upon winning the 52,0(10 in cast which the Paris Ge0graphiera Society ha offered as a prise to the that European frau eller who should visit Timbuotoo and brie home a report. In Seueganbla ho loa'ne Arabic•anl the customs of the Arabs. Ii slow stages he made his way inlaid through various Mohammedan tribes, He was taken everywhere for a pool' pilgrim, and in that guise in the train of a caravan that was lourne ing to Timbnetoo, he remelted the forbidden city, where he spent some time. He finally joined another caravan and cross- ed the desert to Tangier, in Morocco. His return to Paris was hailed as a great event. He received the prize of the Geographical Society, uuder whose auspices his work in three volumes, "Journal of a Visit to Tim- buctoo and Jenne, b1( Central Africa," was published in 1850. Caille had taken very copious notes, and had managed, with great tact, to support his disguise, In one respect this matter is not so dif- ficult as it would seem. Long exposure to the Afrinantropical heat turns the .European face a very dark color. The visages of the white prisoners at Khartoum, who have just escaped from their bondage, had been turn- ed so nearly black by their long sojourn an the Soudan that, speaking Arabic, and in native garb, they passed unquestioned among all the people they met in their flight. Caille's story excited incredulity in Eng- land, and some authorities expressed doubt that he had visited Timbuotoo at all. France had faith in him, however, end an annual pension of 5250 was given to him. He died an 1830, fourteen years before Barth proved that Caine lead told the truth and had written a valuable boom Barth, one of the greatest scientific travellers of all time, entered Timbuotoo 10 1833 and spent over seven smalls in and round the town. He collected an aston- ishing 1"no1m1 of minute information about the country, town and poople. elitist his visit 110 European or Christian saw Tambee. too until July 1, 1880, when Dr. Lenz, in bile garb of a Mohammedan traveller, first saw the city. We eau imagine his joyful and yet anxious feelings as ha little party travel -stained from their long journey acmes the northern wastes, approached the forbid. den city. He remained there only three weeks, and a part of the time he was ill of fever ; /nit 11e eellected a great deal of in- formotion; incl devotes over fifty pages of his book to the city. 'l.'inlhlOtoo lies nine miles north of the Niger River, and about 800 feet above the sea. its gengrephiool position has not been calculate,' t0 0 ninety, for the suspicions of the natives have made astronomical °bser- vations difficult. Tito city eent0ins neither public squares nor gardens. The only ver- dure is four or Live sickly little treas. The town is not healthful. N;m°eons pools of stagnant /eaten' between the city and the Niger breed fevers, 7 (;, town has grown since J3arLln'e time, bot its growth is very slow. Lenz estimates the population at 20,0(10. The only public buildings art the mo8qu08, and nn hluropelun has civet entered then except Caille. Schools ao connected with tlto mosques, and hero also ave collate. tions of No leuripes, many of Lhau1 doubt- less of tnueh historical importance, though Barth translated and published the most valuable of them. Most, of the inhabitants eon read mod write and know a large part of the Konalt by heart, Somo of the amu are renowned for their learning. Leta slays that. if he could have spared the money he 11115111 have pero11a0e1 some very interest' ing manuscripts. It was a pity that ho had to husband has resources for his. further journey. The population is composed of various ele- ments. Motrnacan Arttbs aro the most sub- stantial and important °lemoa,, Most of them are very dark in color on account of the largo adlnlx10110 of negro blood in their veins, Light-colored women are very rarely seen, 'There is in '1'hnlhttutoo a groat mix. tore of people from all over the weste'n, Soudan wind tho negro countries south of ib, the western Sahara, and the Moditerranean Stales, 1'imbuotOo is a big merl0et, ameot- ing place of traders where the products of the snnth ore exchanged fnr those of the north. It was never the chief town of a large eouutry. Itis nob jollied in interest and political bonds with too regions around it. It is a market place, an impo -ta It one to bo sero, but 81111 it has no prospect ap- porontly of dovish) ing into a hrge city like some of to capitals of the Souda0eee States Woes European hnfhloloes finally tenon! U)5n it. Dr, Lente s little party excited thegroatost eurlosity, act his house 1005 usually wo5vt. od w•iti visitors. Among the timing wore rich trailers from Rhadanos in the Sahara, a blue cloth hiding all of their faces incept the eyes 1 Moorish merchants from Morocco, and !nigh splendidly developed Fullc, great fanatics and distrustful foreigners. 11(3 mob • • ', w ; their 1'7(18 aro 0)081'5(1 with a dark to bits elnlh, 01111 they are muolgly am e 1, 11 They w•eara la g' sword, a ahnrt eahl'0, sol t, Carry a 11n1111L'1' nt lan'co, which they never ,g lay down. 'Their videex grate horsily on 1, the ear, 001' speech le rough and unpleas- ant, and altogether they 11114!(1 1e, disagreeable Jt lmpresami. Their Cilie!, 101(0 .001110 to 000 ,,- Len0, undela I met loth t1(° Arabic and lfutbe a languages, theme 111r,e people living near 10- 11 wether 0nd maintaining now friendly, 0051' ,l hostile relation's. The Kahle, or \layer of the town, sent to the I Mei or, who was eupposed to he a lemon of ;mat e0nsequeuce traveling thrugb the e country, a good hlintn01' on Om day of his y arrival. Tim feast included roan; bed, roust chickens, vegetables, and fresh wheat bread of excellent quality. There was nothing to 1 dru,k exempt water. No 0010r 1)005reg5 is • permitted in 'l7mhnctno. During his three n weeks' residence in the city Dr, Lenz did n not finch it necessary to buy any provisions. He was looked upon as Lite city's guest, and t he and his plumy were amply supplied with i all they needed by the Radia. Curiously y enough, though many 5sh are taken from the Niger River, they form no part of the . food of the well to do. Fish are reserver! for e negro slaves and the poorer people, hood r , supplies were 113 abundant as 1 the hest a towns of Morocco, and the table and dones- e tic service were equal to that found in Fez. 1 As Dr. Lenz and his com111105 had plenty of coffee, tea, and tobacco of their own, they s lacked for nothing in `Tiohbnctoo to make 1 sten comfartablo, After the long journey norms the desert the abundance of animal life at Tilnbuctoo d nese a pleasing sight. There were largo herds of hump -boo ed cattle grazing G. to eon the town and the river. Thousandq of gouts and 100011005 sheep were swam ed e here sol there over the plain, and there t wore big troops of camels and assee, and o horses, too, besides largo numbers of tame , ostriches, robbed of their plumage and any• O thingbutatt•active ohjectsiu their despoiled • condition. Most of the ostrich fen tilers, 1 however, are obtained from Lhe wild birds, d i which are h°uted of horses. The plumage - of the wild birds is more beautiful and cost• g ly than (lan of the ostriches in captivity. rl 1 Cattle Ili well as oanols at'e used in the l0ra1 y transport service, but of course the cattle are not fitted for travel in the desert. Tho horses are a small race, but have endurance and speed. The chief authority of the town is vested in the Bahia, 1lulhamed Er -'Rami, whose family is recognised 05 the ruling fauhily. Ile is a descendant of the Andalusian Arab wlto, after his people were driven out of Spain, finally made his way across the desert to Timbuotoo, Through marriage with negro women the members of /bas family have become very dark in color, and the resent Kahiu ha' the aspect of a negro. There is cunning in his face, but he is good- natured withal, laughs heartily, and is greatly interested in all now things. Dr. Lenz says there is nothing fanatical about him, and that if 10 should ever take severe measures against a Christian in Tinlbuctoo it would be because he was compelled to ,10 so by powerful influences he could not con- trol He has little influence in external politics, es, for instance, in the never-end- ing feuds between the Tuaregs end tho Fnlbes, - Almost daily the Kahle in company with some of the learned mel of the town visited Dr. Lenz for discussion, chiefly upon religi- ons 10011(0,'8. Soso of these scholar were almost white, like many Moors in Morocco. Their fathers, like themselves, had married only pure-blecard Arab women. Most of tho women of Timbuotoo aro of negro de. scent. The time was when Morolco wielded enormous influence in Timbucloo,111)11 tarri- ed. on arri- edol a large trade with that town. 111 - Bal, a Fortner Sultan of Morocco, marked out with wooden posts a caravan route clear acmes the desert to TioJbuetoo, Morocco now, however has absolutely no influence in the town, and the Moroccan trade is com- paratively small. The Sultan of Morocco is known as it great Scharff, bet the people care nothing about him. Times have changed since hie soldiers knocked atthevery doorsof tineSourthern town and many trading cora- vansitunuailymade the journey between the 1'leliterranean State and Timbuecoo. For a century the Tuaregs of the desert and the Fnlbe of the Soudan have been usually on hostile terms, and Pimbuctoo; open on every side, has naturally suffered. In fact, the town bee often been the prize of war, and las these people compose a con. siderablo part of the population of the town, thef a differences have been the main foatures of the political strife. The Tuaregs do not live south of Timbucloo. The country surrounding the town is thickly peopled, particularly toward the east, with natives living in tents. Dr. Long holievec that if France gains the asrendeney for which she is at riving on the middle Niger and firmly ostablh,hos herself ab Timbnetoo she eon make that place the oeutee of enormous 11,110en00 for the spread of \Vostorn aivilizattinu and the extension of her trade. 1f France oxpa018 to enlist any part of the native populace in her work ale mesh keep her eye chiefly upon the Fnlbo, whose influence in the western and central Soedaul does not yet appear to have reaullod its higho81 point. Since Dr. Lens's visit the Frenoh, des- cending the Niger in a gunboat, have twice ;reached the environs of the town. Lying no tho boundary between the Soudan and the Sahara, J'imet hnoohes a most 1100,• able 0iR1aton, and when France achieves hoe ambition sand pee/senses the place she will ho on the highroad to complete ascendancy in that part of Africa. Life after Forty. Tho best half of life is in front of the 111015 of forty, if he be anything of a man. Lithe work he will do will be dons with Oho hand of a number, and not of a rate apprentice. The trained i ntolleutdoesnotsoo ` men na trees walking," but sans everything clearly, and in just measure. Tho trained ie tum r doos not rush at work like a blind bull , t a haystack, butadvances with the oaten and ordered peso of conscious power Dud dolibor- ate determination, To no man is the world. so nov, and the future so fresh, its to hien who has spent the early years of his man. hood in striving to understand the deeper problems of science ail life, and who has ,nude some hondWay toward conprehouding them, To hien the commonest things aro ram and wonderful, both in lhen551ve0, and e,5 parts of a beautiful anal in tolligent whole, Such a thing 0,0 staleness in life and its dates in nn.nnnt ntelr,st.and, Knowledge isalwayo'pmling0ut befnro hint in Wider oxp1/110ms and more commending heielitn. The plenum(' of growing knowledge an10 d M. imaging power mins every year 0f his life happier and more hopeful than the last. LATE BRITISH NEWS. Australian ogga are now shipped to Lon• doll, 0111110 to an extraarcilinaly new prnec+ns of pro08l'VIal'on, Tho id)1ndO1113)11510 have 5810011 1110 Cuunt7 00llllal1 L0 tis 011e 90)15 ra(0 for womon'a wont e,0 fa• u1°h'9, A whale measuring 13 feet 0 1nehe0, and 10 feat in eir°tlnlferunee, wan caught In the \\')w1(, Ltil•r neldi'e, on T11ur0day sveok, \bnul lewd of haddock, wltdthg, anti outer fish wore taken fronite mouth, On 'Tuesday a woman owned Falhad residing at Sandbank Street, Crewe, jump- ed from her bed-1•oom window oto too street while ml a tit of aellrium, and sus- tained tlookJng iols'sel in)uri08. Her re- covery is hopeless. The poor woman had only recently boot confined. An extraordluary rainfall, measuring til inches in the 24 hours, Ilan (1!011 at Towns- ville, the most impurtant town in Northern Queensland, file 1011110 (15teiot is under water, several buildings have boon carried away by the floods, mid all railway traffic is susponcled, About a week ago a box was received by parcels post at Bettering Post Office, Northamptonshire, addressor! to a lir. Webb, but as no o5vner could be fauna for it it 10110 forwarded to the Dead Letter Office in London. On Saturday, as the box emitted an unpleasant odour, it was opened by one of the clerks, who found in it the dead body of a male child. There wets a mark round its tte0k, as if it had been strangled, and the matter has been placed 0 inc hands of the city detectives. A Feenclimau and Freuohwoman were arrested in Jersey, oh Tuesday, charged with the brutal murder of an ol(i man is !mance. Aeonsed came to Jersey ten clays ago, and went to a middle-class hotel, whore a blood-stained waistcoat and trousers were found. A cable message from Vera Oruz stated that the steamer Golden Horth, previously reported to have been totally wrecked at Angola, had broken in two and sunk. The captain and three more of the crew wore drowned. The oargo cannot be saved. `the ltecorder of Liverpool recently sett- teuced to prison for three months at hard labor for hou5ehreaking n mall with this his- tory : 10 1885 he was sentenced to fourtoe11 years transportation. In 1862, having re- turned, he got tel years for stealing half a crown. In 1872 he got seven years for steal. ing n " hair plait." Then came sentences of five years in 1882 fon' sterling 11 watch ani! another five years in 1880 for stealing two shillings -in all forty -ono years. Is there to bo a new trade opened up with Australia'/ It to be hoped so. A sample case, of I3 dozen eggs, specially pre- served, has been sent from the upcountry district of Koroit to Melbourne for ship- ment through Agricultural Department for London. The eggs will be distributed anlag the (butlers, and if they arrive in good marketable 00lldati011 it is possible a trade will be opened up next season. The process of preservation is as yet n secret ; but it is said to have proved successful so far as tested. A mysterious affair oeourrld at Sutton near Runcorn, on Sunday. A farmer's man found a horse and trap straying on the ronin road. In the 0nuveyancewas a young man dead. Ho was leaning on the splash - board with a wound in his head. Ho had been :lead 8on0 time. Ho had nineponou in his pocket, but no watch. The deceas- ed was George Beets, son of a cab proprie- tor of Frodsham, sort he bad late on Saber - day night driven a gentleman to Halton. How he met his death is a mystery OnSmnlayafternoon an eat yard Limey sighb was witnessed by a number of people on Shllthan ger Common, nem Tewksbury. Two gentlemen were taking a couple of dogs it terrier and nowfomtdland) with them for a wally, when a [leek of geese attacked them, but the newfo0udland however, drove the geese into a pool. A largo and valuable prize gaoler, belonging to ,Mr'. \Vol. Sutton attacked the (01110', winch had followed it into Oho water, and a fieroo fight ensued, the gander eventually killing its opponent. The gander was then attacketlfrom behind by the Newfoundland, who, after a hard fight, killed it. The oglookors were powerless to help, ac the fighting took place iu the water. A former City Chamberlain of London wrote thus in his will : " I desire incl di- rect that my funeral may be of the simplest and least expensive kind without carriages if possible and that my body be interred in ground which did not undergo the ceremony of " consecration," believing that the Lord and Saviour has by His burial sufficiently consecrated the earth for the reception of my poor remains, and desiring to testify against a prevailing superstition (hat the charaotor of the ground nt which a human, is interred, or the nature of the funeral 001'emony or tho status of the ministers who may be employed, can affect the condition of the departed soul." The Behring Sea Question. \VAslihucrroe, Feb. Zai. --A Cabinet oft. 0or is authority for the statement than the agents oonsidoring the Behring Sea seal matters have made but little progees9, and from present indications their lahones will. not result in an agt'oomont as to the facts to bo submitted to arbitration. The agents held a meeting at which :Monetary Blaine anti Jtlllall awpr0efor a shortShc tinge. 'J'hanot nndilhor5000oofoteere hotwee5ntt Ole agents of the Vetted States and those of Orem, Britain is said to bo due to the antag- onism of the interest they represent They substantially agree upon the conclusloua of fact as Lo the existing cold i bion of things re- spooting the seal herds, but they do not ammo as to the cause of the great ricoroaso in lumber of fur -bearing 0111mae15. '.Thu British agents insist that the destruction is clue to the killing of the seal on the rookeries por- )nitt5d by the United States under the contacts with tho Tenantry Department, while the agents of the United States as- sort that the loss is duo to pelagic or deep. sea killing, which the poachers follow. The British agents aro reported to bo somewhat surprised at the exceptionally able manner in which the American agents have prefer - rod their case, Sir Badol-Powell, the re- presentative from England, himself an anthori(7 of high standing, has told 50V era 5 01)15 in Washington that he conal (1 et' Dr. C. Start Merriam ono of the ;ltatosagolt5, oto heat informed main! the world on the sellout of b1(, fur 50 al. (100601. Ari'r,rs,-Select nerd, smooth- skinned apples and cut 1110111 into guar• tors; to every pound of apples allow a quarter of a pint of water and half e poen' of sugar ; boil the water and sugar together until they become a thick syrup, then poor this over the apples, allowing them to stand for ewentyfour hours ; then add the sane quantity of sugar as was used for the syrup, an d t0 every pound of the fruit half at 0111100 of Imaged g,nge'; lob this summer 011111 the fruit is transparent, add a small tablespoonful of gin, and put into ,jars, 501''• 01,108g as tightly as peesfblo; the ginger 5110nld be carefully removed,