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the other, to be eaten. He had already been under water so considerable a time that he found it impossible any longer to retain his breath, and was on the point of giving himself up for lost with as much philosophy16 as he possessed. But what is dearer than life? The invention of man is seldom at a loss to find expedients for its preservation in cases of great extremity. On a sudden he recollected that on one side of the rock he had observed a sandy spot, and to this he swam with all imaginable speed—his attentive friend still watching his movements, and keeping a measured pace with him. As soon as he reached the spot, he commenced stirring it with his pointed stick, in such a way that the fine particles rose and rendered the water perfectly turbid, so that he could not see the monster, nor the monster him. Availing himself of the cloud by which himself and the tinterero were enveloped, he swam very far out in a transvertical 17 direction, and reached the surface in safety, although completely exhausted. Fortunately, he rose close to one of the boats; and those who were within, seeing him in such a state, and knowing that an enemy must have been persecuting him, and that by some artifice he had saved his life, jumped overboard, as is their common practice in such cases, to frighten the creature away by splashing the water; and Don Pablo was taken into the boat more dead than alive."

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THE BULL-FIGHT.

[The following poem by Lord Byron is a vivid description of the frightfully cruel and barbarous combat between man and beast, which in Spain is still, unhappily, considered a becoming spectacle for even the noblest ladies in the land.]

THE lists' are oped, the spacious area cleared,
Thousands on thousands piled are seated round;
Long ere the first loud trumpet's note is heard,
No vacant space for 'lated wight is found:
Here dons, grandees, but chiefly dames abound,
Skilled in the ogle of a roguish eye,

Yet ever well inclined to heal the wound;

None through their cold disdain are doomed to die,

As moon-struck bards complain, by Love's sad archery.

Hushed is the din of tongues-on gallant steeds,
With milk-white crest, gold spur, and light poised lance,
Four cavaliers prepare for venturous deeds,

And lowly bending to the lists advance ;

Rich are their scarfs, their chargers featly prance :
If in the dangerous game they shine to-day,

The crowd's loud shout and ladies' lovely glance,

Best prize of better acts, they bear away,

And all that kings or chiefs e'er gain their toils repay.

In costly sheen' and gaudy cloak arrayed,
But all afoot, the light-limbed matadore3
Stands in the centre, eager to invade

The lord of lowing herds; but not before

The ground, with cautious tread, is traversed o'er,
Lest aught unseen should lurk to thwart his speed:

His arms a dart, he fights aloof, nor more

Can man achieve without the friendly steed-
Alas! too oft condemned for him to bear and bleed.

Thrice sounds the clarion; lo! the signal falls,
The den expands, and expectation mute

4

Gapes round the silent circle's peopled walls.
Bounds with one lashing spring the mighty brute,
And, wildly staring, spurns, with sounding foot,
The sand, nor blindly rushes on his foe:

Here, there, he points his threatening front, to suit
His first attack, wide waving to and fro

His angry tail; red rolls his eyes' dilated' glow.

Sudden he stops; his eye is fixed: away,
Away, thou heedless boy! prepare the spear:
Now is thy time to perish, or display

The skill that yet may check his mad career,
With well-timed croupe" the nimble coursers veer;
On foams the bull, but not unscathed he goes;
Streams from his flank the crimson torrent clear:
He flies, he wheels, distracted with his throes ;

[woes.

Dart follows dart; lance, lance; loud bellowings speak his

Again he comes; nor dart nor lance avail,
Nor the wild plunging of the tortured horse;
Though man and man's avenging arms assail,
Vain are his weapons, vainer is his force.
One gallant steed is stretched a mangled corse;
Another, hideous sight! unseamed appears,
His gory chest unveils life's panting source;

Though death-struck, still his feeble frame he rears;

Staggering, but stemming all, his lord unharmed he bears.

Foiled, bleeding, breathless, furious to the last,
Full in the centre stands the bull at bay,"

Mid wounds, and clinging darts, and lances brast,
And foes disabled in the brutal fray :

And now the matadores around him play,

Shake the red cloak, and poise the ready brand:

Once more through all he bursts his thundering way—
Vain rage! the mantle quits the conynge hand,

Wraps his fierce eye-'tis past—he sinks upon the sand!

Where his vast neck just mingles with the spine,
Sheathed in his form the deadly weapon lies,

He stops he starts-disdaining to decline :
Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries,
Without a groan, without a struggle dies.
The decorated car appears-on high

The corse is piled-sweet sight for vulgar eyes-
Four steeds that spurn the rein, as swift as shy,
Hurl the dark bulk along, scarce seen in dashing by.

[blocks in formation]

MEDUSÆ.

[A vocabulary of the hardest words is given at the foot of the lesson.] If we walk along the seashore after the reflux of the tide, we may often see, lying immovable upon the sand, gelatinous disc-like masses of a greenish colour and repulsive appearance, from which the eye and the steps instinctively turn aside. These beings, whose blubber-like appearance inspires only feelings of disgust when seen lying grey and dead on the shore, are, however, when seen floating on the bosom of the ocean, one of its most graceful ornaments. These are the Medusa. When seen suspended in the middle of the waves, like a piece of gauze or an azure bell, terminating in delicate silvery garlands, we cannot but admire their iridescent colours, or deny that these objects, so forbidding in some of their aspects, rank, in their natural localities, among the most elegant productions of nature.

Floating on the bosom of the waters, the Medusa resembles a bell, an umbrella, or, better still, a floating mushroom, the stalk of which has been here separated into lobes more or less divergent, sinuous, twisted, shrivelled, fringed, the edges of the cap being delicately cut, and provided with long threadlike appendages, which descend vertically into the water like the drooping branches of the weeping willow.

The gelatinous substance of which the body of the Medusa is formed is sometimes as clear and colourless as crystal. In certain species the central parts are of a lively red, blue, or violet colour, whilst the rest of the body is transparent. This transparent tissue is so fragile, that when abandoned by the wave on the beach, it melts and disappears without leaving a trace behind.

Nevertheless, these fragile creatures, these living soapbubbles, make long voyages on the surface of the sea. It is to their presence that the brilliant appearance of the sea during the night is sometimes due. These creatures are

[graphic][subsumed]
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