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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1889-8-16, Page 22 THE BRUSSELS POST, UNDER AN AFRIC SUn, B GEORGE MANVILLE FENN, CHAPTER I. " Well, 'pon my word, Fraser 1' " What's the matter now?" "I'm staggered ; I am, really" " What about, oy?' " To think 1 could be ouch en absolute noodle as to let you morally bind me hand anis foot and bear me off into a desolate Le- land in the Atlantic, to Sorry your confound. ed epeoimene ; be dragged out of bed at un- holy hours to walk hundreds of miles In the broiling eon ; to Bleep in beds full of the ao- tivo and nameleee loathe abhorred by the British housewife ; and generally beoomo your white nigger, mad, earthoreo, and"— "Have you nearly done ?" said Horace Fraser, with a grim smile upon his dry, vault conntenar.ce. "No ; that was only the preface." "Then let's have the rest when we get home in the shape of a neatly printed book, a dopy of which yoy oan present to me with a paper -knife of white ivory ; and I promise you I will never cut a leaf or read a line." "Thanks, Diogenes," "Dsogeneo indeed 1" pried Fraser with a snort, as hie oriel) hair seemed to [stand ou end. " Now, look, Tom Digby ; you are about the most iliconditioned, ungrateful, dissatisfied English oub that ever breathed." "Go it 1" [said the good-looking young fellow addressed, as he flung himself down among the ferns and begun to untie his Ames, after wiping his steaming brow and baking off his straw hat, to let the hob Ory breeze blow through tie crisp wavy brown hair. " I mean to ' go it,' as you so coarsely term it, sir," continued Fraser, crossing his arms on a roughly made alpenstock. " I came to you in your black and grimy ebam- isere, where you were suffering from a soot - engendered mold. I said : " I am off to the Canaries for a three month's trip. Leave this miserable London March weather, and I 'll take yon where you oan see the sun thine. "' "See itshine ? Yes ; but you didn't say a word about feeling it," cried the younger man. "Do you know the akin is peeling off my nose, and that the back of my neck is burnt ?° "Don't be a donkey, Tom 1 I ask, did you ever see anything so lovely before in your life " "Humph 1 'Tie rather pretty," grumbled the younger man. "Pretty 1" echoed Fraser contemptuously, as he took off bis hat, as if out of raped to Nature, and gazed around him ab sae, sky, mountain, and hill, whole hues were dos -Ming in their rich colours, He then threw down his alpenstock, drew a large geological hammer from his belt, and seated himself upon the grass, while hie companion brought out a cold chicken, some dark bread and a number of hard-boiled eggs, finishing off with a bottle and silver cup. "Look at that wonderful film of aloud floating toward the volcano, Tem! Look at the sun gleaming upon it I Just like a silver veil which the queen of mountains is about to throw over her head." "Poetry, by jingo!" cried Digby, •Breyvo, old stones and bones, I say I Look at the golden yellow of the hard yolk lying within the ivory walle of this hard.boiled egg ; and at the—There ; I'll be hanged if I didn't `forget to bring some salt 1" Tom Digby made a sound with his tongue ae he tasted some of the wine he had poured Into the cup ; then he made a grimace. "1 say, Horace, old chap, Ib was very well for the old people to make a fuse about their sack and oanary ; but for my part a tankard of honeeb English beer is worth an ocean of this miser• able juice," "Don't drink it, then." said Fraeer, eat• ing mechanically, as he gazed about him at the glorious pines around, and then down ab the tropical foliage of banana, palm, orange, end lime, two thousand feet below, where it ,glorified the lovely valleys and gorges which ran from the black volcanic sandy shore right up into bhe mountains. Then a silence fell upon the scene, which continnod Wide "al fresco" repast was at an end, and Tom Digby deliberately lit up and began to smoke. " W hat an enthusiastic yonng gusher you are, Horace I" cried Digby banteringly. " Poi a man of forty-one, you do rather go it." " And for bweuty-five, you assume the airs of a boy," said Fraser grimly. "Well, I feel like one, old chap, out here. Why, it's glorious to breathe this delicious mountain air, to gaze upon the clouds above, and below at that wonder'ul blue sea, and at the yellow pines which look like gold. Yea," he added, es he sprang up and gazed about him, " it is a perfect Eden 1 Whab a jolly shame that ib should belong bo the Spaniards instead of ue," e' I doresay they appreciate it." •" Must have done, or else they wouldn't lave taken it from the—the—the—what did yon call the aborginee 1" "Guanobea." " What a ohap you are, Horace I You seem to know a bib of everything." " 1 only try to.:ge about with my °yea open, and take interest in something better than coloring a meereohaum pipe." "Severe 1" "Well, you do annoy me, Tom, you do Mcleod. A man with such capabilities, and Von will not use them. Why, you haven'b even tried to learn Spanish yet." "What's the good 7 You know plenty for both. I'm well enough off not to bother my Braine about Spanish." "Ah, Tom, Tom 1 if you only had some -aim in life," Rather have some of theme delicious oranges:" "Elating again ?" "No, for drinking. Thirsty land, Horace, and I never knew what an orange really was before. And why should 1 worry myself about language's ? I've a lively recolleotfon of your namesake at school, and Virgil and Homer and all the other dead -language bnd'ero.—I say, though, that's fine." They had come suddenly upon one of the ;;gashes in the island known to the Spanieh as "barranooe"—a thorough oraok or orevloe in •the rocky Boil, with perpendicular aides clothed with mosses, fern's, and the various growths whfoh found a home in the disin- tegrating lava of which the pleoe wars oom• posed. Here the vedette patches of green Were of the most brilliant hints, and kept ever verdant by the moisture trickling down from above. " Mind what you are doing I" amid Fraser, after stooping to Ship off a fragment of per. feebly black lave from a baro spot. " Yee ; it would be an awkward tumble," said Dlgby, ae he leaned forward andeered over the ledge, "Five hundred feet, I daresay." "More likely a thousand," said Fraser, s"The dletsanoes aro aroater than you think." "Ali, well, don't make much difference to a man who falls whether he tumbler &ve hundred or a bhonsaud foie—Going along here?" " Yee ; bhe track leads to a steep deaeant. Then we man pet up the other side, and round over the mountain, and so back to bhe part where, after dinner, we can go and call ou Mr, Redgrave. I did tend on the letter straight from London." "All right, old chap. I'm ready. How many mile° round 7" " Nob more than ten, You will nob mind the climb down 7" " Well, if lies like this—yea, Hillo, what'd he doing 7" Digby pointed aorooe the barranco to where, a couple of hundred yards away, upon the opposite rook-faoa, a man eeemod to be slowly descending the giddy wall. "After birds or rabbits, perhaps," said Fraser, Take oars of yourself, old chap I" shout- ed Digby ; and then, as his voice was loeb in the vaetneee of bhe place, be followed hie companion seaward for a few hundred yards till the break led them to a zigzag descent out in the wall of rook, down whfoh they went cautiously and not without healbablon bill they reached bhe little stream at the bottom, crossed it, and asoended the other side, a similar dangerous path taking them to the top. "By George, this Is a pleoe 1" cried Digby ae they paused for a few moments. "Listen I" whispered Fraser, stopping'. short ; and there beneath them woe a pant- ing and rustling, followed directly after by the appearance of a clank face with a band across the brow, a man with a basket anp- porbed on his back by the band, to leave hie hands free, climbing up from a hidden path among the ferns, and pausing before them to set down his ;out. '' What have you there?" tusked Fraser in Spanish. " Dust of bhe old people, senor Inglese," said the man, smiling. ' That ie one of the caves below bherewhere they need to bury them ; and he pointed to an opening just visible amongst the growth where the side of the barranco sloped. "Buried? There?" eoid Fraser. "Yes, senor; there are plenty of such plaoee as this in the aides of the mountain," "carious," said Fraser, eagerly peering into he basket of brown duet, stirring ib with the end of his alpenstock, and uncover.. Ing something gleaming and white. " Why, it's a tooth 1" said Dlgby, droop- ing to pick it out of bhe basket, but dropping it suddenly "Ugh I" he ejaculated; "why they're bine of bone." "Yee ; very interesting," said Fraser. " Duet of the Guanohe mummies. I knew there were remains to be found." " Disgusting I" ejaculated Digby, recoil- ing. " Why do you get this duet?" asked Frazier of the man. "For my garden, senor, The pabatoee and onions like it, and it is superb." " What does he say ?" " They nee it for manure for their gar- dens." Digby seized his friend's arm. "Came away," he said. " No more vegetables while I stay in Isola. Hang it all, Fraser, I hope they don't put it among the orange -trees." "Possibly ! Why not? This is the debris of mummies, the remains of the old dwel- lers here, made of the duet of the earth, returned to the duet of the earth ; and the salts here are taken up by plant -life by Nature's chemistry," " I say don't preach science," cried Digby. "Come along." "Yee we must go on now," said Fraser thoughtfully ; " but we shall have to come and explore these eaves. I should like to bake bank a few perfect skulls." Far the next two hours they wandered on through amens of surpassing loveliness, following the faint Brack which led them over the mountains till they could see the sea on the other side of bhe little island, as they began to descend. Fraser was always busy chipping fragmente of pumice and lava; picking rare planes, and making a goodly collection for study at the little yenta or hotel where they had taken up their quart - ere, when a rabib suddenly darted ou b'aoroes the verdant path they pursued. "Rather disappointing place as to game," said Digby. "Few birds, too. I say, I ex- pected to see the pleas with canaries as yellow as gold singing on every bough. —Pet l" He caught hie companion's arm, and they both stopped short to listen bo a sweet pure voice singing the words of tome Spanish ditty, the notes ringing out melodious and clear, though the Binger was hidden among the trees through which the path led. "There's one of your Canary birds," said Fraser in a whisper ; and direotly after there was a rustle among the bushes, which were throat aside; and Dlgby stood en• thralled by the picture before him, as a beautiful girl of about nineteen bounded down from a rooky ledge above the path, her strew hat hanging by its string from her. creamy throat, and her sun -browned face turning crimson at the night of the strangers, who made way for her to pass, laden with flowers, which she had evidently been gathering in the openings among the trees. Horace, old fellow, did you eel?" wills - pared Digby, his eyes sparkling with exalts. menb. "Yee," was th3 quieb reply, " Why, you old amebic I" cried Digby. " An angel. Violet eyes—brown hair—a complexion of which Belgravia might boast, I did not think the Spaniards had it in them." Yee," said Frasier slowly. "Some of the old race possessed that fair hair. Mary's Philip was fair." "But did you notice her mouth?—Fraser, don't talk of such a vision of beauty as if sho were a natural -history op admen." " Well, don't go on like that about the first prebty woman you see. Only yesterday, you wore grumbling about their plainnose, and saying that though the women here had love- ly eyoe, they had men's mousbaohem—they ought to above.—This way—to the right, I think," be added, for boo road had suddenly forked. " And-- Well, she ie beautiful," Dried Digby. "I wonder who she Is." "A Spanish Rattler's descendant, whom, in all human probablliby, you will never the again," said Fraser quietly ; and they both went on for half an hour he a oi'ence which Was broken by Fraser. " Going wrong, evidently," be said ; " this can't be the way round to the town." Well, I thought we were going up hill again," " Ought to have taken the other turning," This was so evident, that they turned bath, retracing their Stops, till, close upon the epob whore they had diverged, they Mame suddenly upon a tall, handsome, well•drett. od mon, who Started and looked at them eatiooely, "Will the toner diroob us to the town 7' eald Fraser, in Spanish, The haughty eearo'ting look gave place to a winning smile, and the stranger volubly in. dictated the right road, and then said laugh• ingly in Eoglieh ; " Bat do you understand me!" " Yee, perfectly," replied Frasier ; " and I wish my Spanish were es good as your EDS. Mall," Then pueotilioud worde were exchanged, and the stranger passed or. " Do you believe in first lmpresoione, Ho- race 7" said Digby, glancing baoh, and then uttering an impatient exclamation. "No—What's the matter 7" "That fallow was looking after us." " Well, you were looking after him, or you would not have aeon—What do you mean by your &rot impreseiona 7" "I don't like the looks of that fellow," " Insular prejudice." " Donee oar° what it is ; I don't like him, I'm euro I never should.—Why, Horace, look there 1" Nob twenty yards in front wee the girl they had so lately met ; and as Digby drew attention to her presence, be stopped and hastily picked up a twig of flowers mush ae he bad seen her carrying, and which her despondent attitude suggested that the had dropped. For she was walking elowly en with her fame buried in her handkerobief, evidently sobbing bitterly; and as they followed, she lob others of the flowers she had gathered fall, "Stop!" whispered Fraser heatily, as he caught his companion by the arm, " Going to see if I can "— Dlgby did neo finish his sentence, for the girl hes evidently heard the harsh whisper, She turned, gazing back at him In an affrighted way ; and as they caught eight of the tearful convulsed face, she darted down a side-track, and was gone. " What do you think of that 7" cried DIgby excitedly. " A Spanish woodland romance," said Fraser dryly.—" What do you think about it, Tom?" "That I should like to go after that haughty looking Spanish customer and ask him what it all means.—Shall I?" " No. Be sensible for once,—Ah, you oan tee the town from here,—Come along." CHAPTER 11. The accommodation at the yenta was of the bumbleab aeeoription ; but the place was cleanly, the hoot est was attentive, and she was evi- dently proud of being honoured by those she termed the illustrious [strangers, who had come from the main island to her unfree (panted house. The homely dinner was discneeed, the cooking declared to be nob so very bad, the Malvasia an outrage on the name of wine, and the magnificent view from the open window a banquet in itself. " Yes," said Fraser ; " I'd have braved a worse voyage to see whet I have Been to- day." Dlgby, who was toying with an orange which he had begun to peel, and then left un. taated, looked up sharply, and his face flush- ed a little ae he exclaimed : " Yee; wasn't she lovely 7" "I was balking about the scenery, said Fraser coldly. Digby turned impatienbly away, and began to fill hie pipe as he gazed out over the flat roofs of the houses among which the leafy crowns of etatoly palma arose. " Don't turn like that, Tom," said Fraser, after a few moments' silence ; and he rose to lay hie hand upon hie young campanion'o ehoulder. ' Turn like what 2" " Huffy, my dear boy. I wouldn't, Tom ; let's be sensible. Yon must nob be so in- flammable. We have come to admire the beenties of Nature and to collect in this, one of the leash visited of the Canaries. You mot not try to work up a romance by baking a fancy to the firet pretty Spenieh maiden you see." Digby flushed more deeply, and he gazed ep in hie companion's face, Bober, quiet Ho- race Fraser could nob help marking what a frank handsome young Englishman ho look- ed there, with the golden rays of the westering eun bathing hie countenance in its glow. Digby'° eyes for a moment looked resent. ful ; but a smile oame upon his lips direotly. a All right, Berme," he said. "I am an wful donkey, I know ; bub that girl's sweet face impreoaed me ; and then seeing her evidently in trouble direotly after that Spanish chap had left her, seemed to raise my bile." "How do you know that gentleman had just left her?" ' Eh 2 Oh, of course! I couldn't know, could 1?—There ; it's all over, and 111 return to my duty like a mato—Let's have a look of bo -day's collecting ; and to -morrow I'll swallow my repugnance, and we'll do ammo of your ghoulish ethnology in the mummy caves, eh?" " And tonight, let's go up in the °col and oall on Mr. Redgrave. 1. want him bo give ns] a few hints about what we ought to see and how to get a guide." " Right, Let's go ab once, before sun- set." The walk was delightful, the wellborn aide of the Leland being glorioue in the glow of radiance in which rt wag bathed, while the sea and the islande around seemed glori• fled by colours that were almost beyond belief. " Better than sitting in that stuffy little room, Tom," "Bless you, my son, for bringing me here," cried Digby merrily,—"Cheerful kind of growth to tumble among," he added, pointing to the prickly -pears which abounded on one side of the narrow rocky path they were amending, the other side being furnished with an abun. dance of ragged leaved bananas, "There's a house in that nook yonder," said Fraser ; " that must be it," " And this ohap coming is our man, for a shilling," said Digby, as a tall, sturdy, middle-aged personage oamo towards them smoking a huge cigar. "An Engliebman, by the way he keeps hie hands in ' hie pockets." t' Hush 1" whiepered Fraser, as the man approaahod ; and then addressing him in Spanish, he asked to be directed to Senor Redgrave'° house. " Suppose you oak me in Englieb, sir," said the other bluffly, ' You ate Fraeer, I presume ; and this le Mr. Digby 7—•Glad to to see you, gentle. men. I had your letter, and was oom. ing down to the yenta to hunt you up. Don't often the a countryman here; so, be. ford we say any more," he added, after warmly shaking hands, "I'11 give orders for your traps to be fetched up here, and you can make this your home while you stay," Bnb Fraser would not hear of it, "We are in capital quarters," ho eafd, Wand will not impose on you,—But if you will have ole, we'll come up pretty frequently for a chat." "You shall do ars you like, gentlemen,—In here, ploase," "By George 1"hetiedDigbj involuntarily, as y p gl;gate Lnbo a lovely Onkel/mien, sswltab it paradise I" " Woll, prebty tidy. You see, everything rushee into growth here with little trouble. I am a bit proud of my home, and make Ib ao English an I can. Ib wee my poor dead wifo'e favorite place, the garden." He railed his hat slightly as he uttered too lath ',verde, and a eileuoe fell upon the group, "Forgive me," said the hoeb the next moment, as he looked in the eyoe of hie two Adieus, "Yon are Englishmen, and can sympathise with one who hoe lost a door companion out here in a'strange lend, But there, that's fourteen yoara ago, gentleman," ho said cheerily; "end I'm not gait° alone. —Hem, Nelly 1" he Dried ; " where are you ? Visitors from home, my dear." The sun wan very low now, and it burned bhe porch, oovored with Boueainyilleas and a lovely scarlet geranium, into a frame of gold into which suddenly stepped, as it were out of the inner darkneoe, the picture wanting to complete the soene. "My daughter Helen, gentlemen," said their hoeb ; and beth the visitors stood opeeohleee, Digby even epollbound. For there before him, winning in her bounty, stood the lady of the semi-tropio wood, whose sweet notes he had heard, and whom he had seen in smiles and tears ; while, as he gazed at her, the bright look of weloome in her eyes changed to one of pain, and it woe ae If a dark shadow had been cast across her. It was no seeming. The edge of the sun was kiveing the western wave, and the tall dark ahadow of a man was oast threes her as a click of the gate was heard, while Mr. Rod - grave turned Sharply and Raid In rather a oonatrainod tone of voice : " Ab, Senor Ramon, you here 7" Digby and Fraoen turned sharply, as if to seek the cause of Helen Redgrave'e troubles face. The Spanish gentleman they had en- countered in the woodland was coming to- ward them hat in hand. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Vegetable Courtship. A potato went out on a mash And nought an onion bed ; " That's pie for me," observed bhe squash, And all the beets turned red ; " Go away 1" the onion weeping cried, "Your love I aannoo be, The pumpkin be your lawful bride, Yon °antelope with me." Bab onward still the tuber Dame And lay down at her feet ; You cauliflower by any name And 113 will smell es wheat ; And I, too, am an early rose, And you I've Dome bo see, So don't turnip your lovely nose, Bat spinach ab with me. I do not carrot all to wed, So, go, sir, if you please I The modest onion meekly said, And lettuce pray have peas ; So think that you have never seen Myself or smelled my sigh ; Too long a maiden I have been For favors In your rye. Ah ! spare a cress, the tuber prayed ; My oherry-shed bride you'll be; You are the only weeping maid That's currant now with mo 1 And aa the wily tuber spoke, He naught her by surprise, And giving her an artichoke, Devoured her with his oyes. A Lazy Mane Mill. When the first settlers name to North America they found the Indian using a peeble or mortar to crush the maize which formed their chief vegetable food. In South America the natives had progressed farther and had contrived the Monjelo, which may be truly styled a lazy men's mill, for while ib eaves man's labor, only a very lacy man would be willing to await the remelt of its operation. In form ib is like a huge, wood- en hammer, balanced half -way up rhe handle on a pivot. At the end of the handle oppo- site the hammer is a hollow scoop; into bhie a natural stream of water is directed, and when the [scoop is filled the extra weight formes it downward, when the water rune off. Thus released from the weight the hammer end returns suddenly to its former position, giving one strong blow in the receptacle made to hold the rice or corn, Thus it gees on day and night as long as the stream runs; a monotonous thud, a creaking groan, the sound of a eplaah of water; a thud, a groan,a splash, over and over, until at last the grain having been coarsely broken le taken oub and the mortar is re -filled. J. Bull Getting There. A San Francisco despatch to the New York "Tribune" says :—Next week the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce will eun- eider an appeal of Captain Merry for a mon. foreno° of the business men of the whole Coast to devise moons to guard against a British invasion of American commerce. The plans of the British Government to concen- trate maritime commerce ab the terminus of the Canadian Paoifio railway have exoitod apprehension here, an well ae the edema for putting on a fast mail line from Vanoonver bo Yokohama and Hong Kong, and the pro. posed oable from Victoria to Honolulu and Australia. Leading mordants and shipping men here see the importance of continuing American mail lines to Australia and China, of an ocean cable to Australia, and of coast defence and a new navy, The plan ie to have the California delegation in Congress meet the prinoipal merchants and learn all the facts in the ease in order to make a strong presentation of the needs of the Coast ab the next session. Another year of Gov. arnmenb neglect, and the British will have ouch a strong grip on the Coast commerce bhab it can't be shaken. Perpetual Motion. A slab sided, mud -covered granger enter- ed a Broadway clock store about dusk the other ovoaing and, with a peouliar look, asked : " Mister, Is bhie where a men kin gib a Moak 7" " Yes, air," geld the °lark. " Wall," said the granger, " what be that tinker worth 7" pointing to an ornate and intricate piece of time -recording mechanism on the shelf. "Thab, eir," staid the clerk, " le a wonder. ful timopieoo, Ib is worth $200, and will run three yoara without winding." " Great Scott I" gaepod oho granger, "three years without winding' Say, mieber, how long would the blamed thing run if she was wound up 2" The disonemion oontrquenb upon the in- orease of leprouy in the Saab leads to curium conflicts of opinion regarding its oauao. Ono authority declares it to be beyond question the result of a hob and damp oil/nate imp that it comes from bathing g when in a state of perspiration ; u third wh P P from sitting in a draught ; a fouth nye that it is hereditary ; a fifth that it is mon• bagious, and so is ()aught like small -pox or scarlet fever ; and another accepts the senti- ment of the anoint lows, and asserts a be. lief in its being is l,unbthmont for tin, HEALTH, Tea Drinking. Uador the heading, " Terrors of Toa, the " Sb. JemeeGazobte" oontainelthe follow• ing reflootione, which are well worthy of the (maiden Won of tea drinkoro :— " Nervous people, experience shows us, are, ea a mile, extremely selfish, La femime rie.vetsre is the most inconsiderate ;madmen of cox, Her nerves have become a species of fetish, which moat bo propitiated by hoe sacrifice of everybody's ootnfort except her own, Sho considers every action, both of herself and the world at largo, primarily from the point of view of the effect it will have on her nerves. If she happened to bo omnipotent, she would no doubt ab once stop the movement of the earth, for fear of Ito giving her a ' turn.' Her [sentiment of pity for the miefortnnee of obhere it entirely blunted by her horror of the eight of pain and the 'nand of woe. Sho exacts the utmost forbearance and sacrifice from others, —not for herself but for her nervoe,—and example herself from gratitude on the game grounds. She tends, in fact, to become completely endless ; accepting all de- votion as her due, bitterly resent• ing any resistance to her claims, end enhebltuting for all higher eplritual life an egotiotioal form of peoeimism which le as delaoive es it is difficult to combat. Thab she is not actively cruel is an acaldenb; passively cruel she is conbinuslly, without remorse or thought ; and it le probable bhab when pravooatinn and opportunity cffered themselves simultaneously, she would nob stay her band from direct cruelty. The nervous woman is a produot of the nine. teenth century, and, inferentially, of tea. She take° it to soothe her nerves, and it rather excites them; or else she takes it be• cause she has aoquired the habit, and the resole is the lame. " Raesian women are even more afflicted with 'nerves' than their Englieb misters. They are more inclined to fitful and violent excitements, more skilled in intrigue, more pessimistic, more selfish as a rule. Now it le worth noticing that they have known the use of tea much longer, that they drink a purer and sbrouger beverage, end that they indulge in it oftener than English women, The children take after their mothers, and in the men the oharaoberlstica become more pronounced and more brutal. " Malignant SOatltt Fever. Recent observations ahem to chow that in flammation of the oar, and other grave mom plications which often melee in scarlet fever, are due to secondary infeobion, that is, to self infection, by the patient. This fact emphasizes the importance of thorough cleanllneos, ventilation, and dieinfeotion in bhie disease. The sick -room should bo kept well ventilated. Soiled Welshes, vessels, eta., should be removed promptly. The patient's mouth should be frequently cleansed,— every hour or two, or oftener, if necessary. Doubtless much might be gained also by frognent change of room. A plan enggoebed which le worth it trial, is this : Devote two rooms to the sick persona in addition to the room required by the nurse. Change the patient from ono bo the other every other day, leaving in the room such articles as have been used in it. Diainfoot the room and contents by burning three pounds of sulphur for each one thousand cubic feet of air space. The room should be oloeed up for twelve hours during the fumigation, then well aired, with doors and windows open, until the patient Io returned to it. The other room should then be subjected to the same prooeee. The ohange of room and van• Illation alone ought to be of great a°role°, without the fumigation. Food and ljharaoter. "As a man eatebh, so is he, ' is an old German proverb. Mr. Alcott used to say, "A man who eats ox beoomell exiled, and a man who eats hog, plggified." Perhaps this was something of an sxbremo view ; nevertheless, relation of diet to morale woo recognized by the writers of the Bible, bhoneanda of years ago. Dr. Talmage, speaking on this eubjoot, remark' "God gave the ancients a list of the animate thab they might eat, and a list of the animate they might not eat, These people lived in a hob climate, and oortaih forme of animal food corrupted their blood and disposed them bo sorofuloua disorders, depraved their appetites, and demeaned their souls. A man's food, when ho has the mean and opportunity of seleoting it, suggeebe hie moral nature. The rued the wild Indian is as cruel as the lion, is because he has food that gives him the blood of the lion. A missionary among the Indians, note that by changing his style of food to oorreopond with theirs, his temperament was entirely changed. There aro certain forme of food that have a tendency to affect the moral nature. Many a Christian ie trying to do by prayer bhab which cannot be done except through corrected diet. For instance, he who mess ewine'e fiaeh for constant diet, will be diseased in body and polluted of soul, all hie liturgies and catechisms nobwithetand. ing, The Gadarene swine were possessed of the Devil, and ran down a steep place into the sea • and all the swine ever dime seem to have been similarly possessed. In Lomita cos, God °truck this meat off the table of hie people, and platted before them a bill of fare at once healthful, outritioes and genor• cue," The Crops. The moat important subject to the people of Canada oh this time to the agriculburai outlook. Politics and all other matters oink into ineignifioaoce before the question of whether the farmer is to have an adequate return for hie labor. Prosperity bo the farmer memo prosperity to the country. The whole may be oummatfzed thus: In Western Ontario wheat, oats, barley, peas, corn, eta., will be a magnificent yield, hay has been heavy, and roots are looking well, Fruit is a failure except in the West. ern Lake Erie amities, Pobotoes °how rot on low lands, but generally will be a big yield. In Eastern Ontario, with the excel). tion of fruit, there will bo the greatest yield in all olaseea known for years, and farmers are jubilant. In Quebec hay is a heavy Drop and grainabove the average, while smote are promising. The name may bo said of Now Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prinoe Edward Island and Cape Breton, The outlook taroughout the Maritime Provincem is favor. able, In Manitoba and the Territories recent none have improved the outlook wonderfully, and there is every proepeot of a good fair average. Upon the whole Providence has moiled upon the farmers of Canada, Unneoesearily Shocked, Table d' hobo on the lake of Como, "Don't you, then, ever wash here 7" "Oh, dear, no 1 I only sorateh and rub 1" Mies Tomkins, overhearing, loathe the table abruptly, much disgusted. She afterwards learns that the makers aro members of the Royal Btltleh Wabor-Colohr Sooiety, who were dieousefng bile teohaique of their profession, AUGUST 16, 1889, ()raisins. the Great Toe Fieide of Greenland, Now York Timms : At a meeting of the Royel Geographical Society et Burlington House, in London, on the night of ,rune 24, over wisich the Right Hon, Sir E, M, Grant 'Duff preei'iod, D. Fridtoff Nausea, the Greenland explorer, gave a description of his recent journey aoroes the inland foe of Greenland from ogee to west. Dr, Nausea wan received with warm doors and proceed. ed to deliver hie Ieoturo with the aemiotance of a groat many ekebchea in color of Green- land saoneo. A sludge referred to in the loo. tore was in front of the table, and a map of the oountry dealt with famed the audionoe, The report of the leoture printed in the London "Timee" soya that Dr. Nanton be- gan by remarking that ainoe the discovery Greenland, 900 years ago, its interior ham remained a mystery. Many attempts have boon made to penetrate it, but none have outmoded, The fireb expedition known of was one toward the middle of last century led by the first and lost Governor in Green- land, Major Petra, who, with an escort of more than twenty soldiers, with their wives end children, twelve horse's, guns, oto, wished to crone the continent on boreeback and to found a colony on the east coast, The next wee the Dane, Dalager, some years afterward, In the present century there had been many attempts] by adventurous travolore and men of science. In 1888 two Englishmen—the well-known Alpinian, Mr. Edward Whympor, and Dr. Robert Brown —tried it from the therms of Disco Bay bub were obliged to return after penetrating only a few miles, oosvineed that to cross the wide ice plateau was an impossibility. More fortunate were the subeoquent expeditions of bhe great Arctic explorer, Nordenekiold, in 1870: of the sane°, Captain Jensen, Kornerup, and Groth, in 1878 ; Nordenekiold again in 1883, and the American, Peary, with the Dane Mabgaark, in 1888, As these abtempte were made from the west oast, no one had trled to solve the problem by TILE LITTLE-KNOWN EAST COAST. Dr, Naneen had been long of opinion that the only way of oroeeing Greenland was to start from the out °oast and make for bhe west, where tho Danioh-Esquimau settlements would offer their bonpitoliby after the ex- haueting journey, there being no similar settlements to made for on the east comb. Most people thought his plan was that of a madman, but notwithstanding all warnings n generous Dano, Mr. Augustin Gamo], of- fered to contribute to the fitting oub of the expedition, and more than forty Norwegians naked bo s000mpany him. Dr. Naneen selected three—Otto Sverdrup (,hi master], Dletricheon (Lieutenant in the Norwegian army), and Kriatiansen (a pennant). He engaged in addition two Lapps—Samuel Balt° and Ole Reyna. Arriving at Iceland on their way in June, 1888, they embarked on board a Norwegian noting ship on the 17th of July ; the party loft thio ship in their two boats at a dietau°e of ten miles from the land near Cape Dan (05 deg, 30 min, north latitude). In their boats they tried to force a way through the foe to reach the land, but one of tho boats was crushed, and while it was being mended they were awtpb by a rapid current southward for twelve days along the coast. After many difficulties and dangers at lose they reached the land ab Anuritok (01 deg. 30 min, north latitude) on the 29th of July, They had now to force their way northward along the comet to reach a more northerly latitude. At last, on the 15th of Augnae, they disembarked, and with - sot delay commenced their inland journey. Dr. Nansen'e original deebinablon was the settlement of Kristianhaab, in Disco Bay. For twelve days the party pushed forward in this direction. At firth the enow was rather hard, but it became looser, and the pulling of the sledges was very hard work. A continuous 'snowstorm blew in their faces. Finding it would be impossible ab this rate to reach Krioaianahaob in time to catch the last ship of the season by Denmark, they altered their °ours° to a more westerly direc- tion, making for the settlement of Godhead. Tho drifting snow continued to hamper their progress, but the suface was oven like a floor, gently rising, antra ab the begnning of September they had reaohod the height of 9,000 feet above sea level. They were now on an extensive ice plateau resembling a frozen sea• For more than two weeks they traveled over tbie desolate region. The sold was quite unexpectedly severe, the thermometer falling below the scale In the nights, and on some nights reaching, as he oalculabod. 45 AND 50 DEOS. BBEOW Tiro FREEZING POINT Wentigrade). On the 19th of Septem- ber a favorable wind sprang up. The trave- lers lashed the elodgoe, together and hoisted the sails, no that ib was unnecessary to draw them. They held on to the sledges standing on their "ekls" (Norwegian euowehoeo), and time rattled down the western elope of the odnbinent at a splendid rate. At last, on the 246h, they reached the zone of land bare of ice on the went coast, and on the 20th demanded to a fjord called Amer atilt. Here they constructed a boat oub o the canvas floor of the tent, using willow boughs and bamboo staffs as ribs. In this small boat two of the party paddled fifty milod to the nearest Danish sobtlemont, Gad. thaab, arriving on the 3d of October, and immediately eonding two boats to bring on the four men left behind. The eoientific re. a ills of the expedition bad not yet been fully worked out ; the observations made related to gemstone of a geographical, geological and meteorological nature. There were, how. over, memo few important pointe which might be mentioned. The expedition, Dr. Naneen believed, had proved the whole of the inter, - or of Greenland to be covered by an immense shield -shaped cap of ice and snow, whfoh in some places mune have a thfekneeo of at leash 6,000 or 0,000 feet, The investigation of this immense ice and snow field would, no doubt, yield results of the greatest import. ono° to she study of glutei theories]. An. other point of interest was the very low tem- perature found in the Interior—a feob which did not seem to agree with the received me. teorologicol'awe. Dr. Nemeth thought that this low temperature might throw a good deal of light on the muoh.dlsoueeed question —bhe aauae of the great cold of the glacial period in Europe and North America, which at that time wore oovored with an lee sheet similar to that now seen in Greenland. He thought that the best way of solving the pro. blems of the groat lee age was to go and ex. amine the plaoee where similar conditions were now found, and no bettor plane for bhie mould be found than Greenland, But Green. land was a vast region. His expedition was the flub bo arose it, but bo hoped it would not bo the last. 'lie eon:Adored Greenland had the cbaraoteristiee of Scotland and Scandinavia. Just Going to Arbitrate, "Are you going to strike, ma?" asked the little boy as he bromblingly gazed upon the uplifted shingle. "Whalen just what I'm going to do." " Cant wo arbitrate, ma, before you strike 7" "I am just going to arbitrate," the said as the shingle d'osoended and tithed a cloud of duet iron the beat of a pair of pantaloons. "I am just going to arbitrate, my son end this shingle ix the botetd of arbitration,"`