ingly. Vora'cious; greedy, rapacious. Ut'terly; altogether, completely. Inca'pable; unable, insufficient. Attain'ing; reaching, getting at. Mo'tions; movements. Perceives'; observes. Climb'ing; ascending. Remains'; abides, continues. Immediately; directly. Riv'etted; fixed.

ANIMALS that have short legs, and are not fitted by nature for pursuing their prey, make up for that defect by their cunning and sagacity. The Carcajou or Glutton, of North America, which is an animal of the weasel kind, but of a large size, and extremely voracious, and whose prey is the elk and rein-deer, would be utterly incapable of attaining its object by speed of foot, for its motions are extremely slow. It therefore singles out a tree on which it perceives marks of the teeth or antlers of the deer, and climbing up hides itself among the thick branches. There it remains with the greatest patience, often for many days, till the elk or rein-deer chances to pass immediately under, when, dropping down upon his back, it fixes its claws between his shoulders, and remains there unalterably rivetted. It is in vain that the large affrighted animal increases its speed, or threatens with its branching horns; when the glutton has taken possession of its post, nothing can drive it off: its enormous prey drives rapidly along among the thickest woods, rubs itself against the largest trees, and tears down the branches with its expanded horns; but still its insatiate foe sticks behind, eating its neck, and digging its passage to the large blood-vessels that lie in that part. When the deer at length falls down with faintness and from loss of blood, the voracious foe begins his feast: he eats on without intermission till his belly is distended to an enormous size he becomes incapable of any other

animal function, and lies totally torpid for three or four days by the side of the carcass, waking at intervals from his lethargy, and renewing his meal with the same voracity, till at length he has eaten up the enormous animal, bones and all. During the continuance of this loathsome banquet, which lasts for several days, the intolerable stench which he sends forth is a sufficient protection against all invaders. When the prey is completely consumed, the glutton betakes himself again to his post, to wait with patience for a fresh supply to his appetite.-Derham's Phys. Theol.

The Death of Friends.

Friend after friend departs ;-
Who hath not lost a friend?
There is no union here of hearts
That finds not here an end!
Were this frail world our final rest,
Living, or dying, none were blest.

Beyond the flight of time,—

Beyond the reign of death;-
There surely is some blessed clime
Where life is not a breath;
Nor life's affections transient fire
Whose sparks fly upward and expire.

There is a world above,

Where parting is unknown;
A long eternity of love,

Formed for the good alone;
And faith beholds the dying here
Translated to that glorious sphere.

Thus star by star declines,
Till all have passed away;

As morning high and higher shines,
To pure and perfect day:

Nor sink those stars in empty night,

But hide themselves in Heaven's own light.

Peace in Believing.

8. The Crocodile.

Saff'ron; brownish yellow. Incli'ning; approaching. Impenetrable; not to be pierced. Escape'; get away. Direct'; straight forward. Seiz'ing; catching, laying hold of. Resist'ance; opposition. Wi'ly; sly, full of stratagem. Desi'rous; eager, anxious. Lam'entable; grievous, mournful. Purpose; intention, design. Suddenly; quickly, hastily. Spring'ing; leaping. Immediately; at once. Destroys'; devours.

THE crocodile is a creature that lives both by land and water. It is of a saffron colour, that is, between a yellow and a red, but more inclining to yellow. The belly is somewhat whiter than the other parts. Its body is rough, being covered all over with a certain bark, or rind, so thick, and strong, that it will not yield to a cart-wheel, even when the cart is loaded; and in all the upper parts, and the tail, it is impenetrable by any dart or spear; but the belly is softer, and there it is more easily wounded.

When it opens its mouth, it does not move its under jaw, like other animals; on the contrary, it moves the upper. Its tail is nearly as long as its whole body; and it is also rough, and armed with a hard skin upon the upper part and the sides; but beneath it is smooth and tender. It has fins upon the tail, by means of which it swims, as it also does by the help of its feet, which are like a bear's, except that they are covered with scales instead of hair.

B

As its legs are short, it is very slow in its motions, so that it is no very difficult matter to escape from it, especially if the person it pursues turns and winds out of the direct path; for the crocodile's body is so hard and stiff, that it cannot easily turn and wind after him.

It is common in the West Indies, and still more upon the banks of the river Nile, in Egypt, where it is said to lie hidden among the reeds and rushes, till it finds an opportunity of seizing men or other animals, which it drags into the water, always taking this method of drowning them first, that it may afterwards swallow them without resistance. -Its general food, however, is fish.

It is a wily, cunning creature, and it is said, that when it sees a single man whom it is desirous of drawing into its clutches, it will weep and make a most lamentable moan, as if it were in the utmost distress, till it has drawn him near enough for its purpose, when, suddenly springing upon him, it beats him down with its tail, and immediately destroys him.-Turner's Abridgment.

A Dirge-Hymn.

Mourn not for those who die!
Died they in early youth? Oh! blest,
Thrice blest are those who die in youth!
While yet the tender, guileless breast
Is thy pure home, bright Seraph, Truth!
Ere vice has lured their steps astray
From Virtue's onward, heavenly way.
Mourn not for them.

Mourn not for those who die!

Died they even in that sunny

hour

When manhood's morn shone bright and free,
When hope exulting dreamt of power,
And visioned glories yet to be?

O! they have never learned to know,
A hopeless bosom's sickening woe!

Mourn not for them!

Mourn not for those who die!
Had age the furrowed brow impressed,
And thickly veiled the sunken eye?
Had life's tide, ebbing in the breast,
Left gradual its cold channels dry?
Death, like a pitying friend, has come
To call the weary pilgrims home!

Mourn not for them!

Mourn not for those who die!
If suffering nature, sad and weak,

Must shed the tear, and heave the sigh,
Wouldst thou the wells of comfort seek?
Mourner, thy lost ones live on high!
The Father hath but called his own ;-
Bend thee, and say,

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Thy will be done.”
Mourn not for them!

Hetherington.

9. Description of the Sand Floods in Arabia.

Alight'ed; came down. Ter'rified: affrighted. Expanse'; extent. Des'crt; wilderness. Prodigious; vast, amazing. Pillars; columns. Celer'ity; swiftness, rapidity. Majes'tic; stately. Actually; indeed. Retreat'; retire, go back. Sep'arated; divided. Dispersed'; scattered. Impres'sion; feeling. Ingre'dient; component part. Disposi'tion; arrangement. Dark'ened; obscured.

Ar one o'clock we alighted among some acacia trees at Waadi el Halboub, having gone twen ty