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,"`