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ike the billows of the sea when agitated by the violence of the storm, and obscuring the earth from our view. At intervals the fathomless abyss was occasionally illumined by the beams of the sun, and resembled for a moment the burning crater of a volcano; then new volumes rushed forward and closed up the chasm: all was strife and tumult. Here we beheld them piled on each other, white as the drifted snow, there in fearful heaps of a dark watery black; at one instant rearing towers upon towers, in the next creating a gulf at the siht of which the brain became giddy, dashing eternally onward, onward, in wild confusion. I never before witnessed anything comparable to this scene, even from the summit of the highest mountains; besides, from them the continuing chain is generally a great obstruction to the view, which, after all, is only partial; but here there was nothing to prevent the eye from ranging over the boundless expanse.

The feeling of absolute solitude is rarely experienced upon the earth; but in these regions, separated from all human associations, the soul might almost fancy it had passed the confines of the grave. Nature was entirely noiseless-even the wind was silent; therefore, receiving no opposition, we gently floated along, and the lonely stillness was only interrupted by the progress of the car and its colossal ball, which, self-propelled, seemed like the roc-bird fluttering in the blue ether.

Enraptured with the novel scene, I stood up, in order to enjoy more completely the superb prospect, when Mr. Richard, with great sang froid, told me I must be seated, for that, owing to the great haste with which it had been constructed, the car was merely glued, and therefore might easily come asunder, unless we were careful.

It may readily be supposed that after receiving this intimation I remained perfectly quiet. We now commenced descending, and were several times obliged to throw out some of the ballast in order to rise again. In the meantime we dipped insensibly into the sea of coluds which enveloped us like a thick veil, and through which the sun appeared like the moon in Ossian. This illumination pro duced a singular effect, and continued for some time till the clouds separated, and we remained swimming about beneath the once more clear azure heavens.

Shortly after, we beheld, to our great astonishment, a species of "Fata Morgana" seated upon an immense mountain of clouds, the colossal picture of the balloon and ourselves, surrounded by myriads of variegated rainbow tints. A full half-hour the spectral reflected picture hovered constantly by our side. Each slender thread of the net work appeared distended to the size of a ship's cable, and we ourselves like two tremendous giants enthroned on the clouds.

Towards evening it again became a little hazy; our ballast was exhausted, and we fell with alarming rapidity, which my companion ascertained with his barometer, although it was not apparent to the

senses,

We were now surrounded for some time by thick fog; and as we rapidly sunk through it, we beheld in a few minutes the earth beneath glowing in the most brilliant sunshine; and the towers of Potsdam, which we distinctly beheld, saluted us with a joyful carillon.

Our situation however was not so full of festivity as our reception. We had already thrown out our mantles, a roasted pheasant, and a couple of bottles of Champagne, which we had taken with us for the purpose of supping in the clouds, laughing heartily at the consternation which this proceeding would cause in any of the inhabitants of the earth who happened to be sleeping upon the turf, in case the pheasant should fall into his mouth and the wine at his feet: but we could not forbear hoping that it would not descend upon his head, as, instead of an agreeable excitement to his brain, it would act the part of a destroying thunderbolt.

We were ourselves, like other articles tumbling, but to our great consternation, we saw nothing beneath us but water (the various arms and lakes of the river Havel), only here and there intermixed with wood, to which we directed our course as much as possible. We approached the latter with great velocity, which appeared to me from the height like an insignificent thicket. In a few seconds we were actually hanging on one of the branches of the shrubs, for such I really believed them to be; in consequence of which I commenced making the necessary arrangements to descend, when Richard called out, "In God's name, stir not; we are entangled on the top of an immense pine!"

I could hardly believe my eyes, and it required the lapse of several seconds to convince me that what he asserted was really true, having entirely lost, in a few hours, the capacity of measuring distance. We were most certainly perched on the highest branches of an enormous tree, and the means to descend set our inventive powers at defiance; we called, or rather shouted for help,-first in solo, then in duetto, till we began to fear that we should be obliged to support our character of birds by roosting in the tree, for night was fast approaching. At length we saw an officer riding along the high road, which caused us to renew our cries with doubled vigour; he paused, but thinking it might be robbers, who were endeavouring to inveigle him into the wood, gallopped off with the rapidity of lightning; but as we continued vociferating, he give a heaven directed glance, discovered us, raised himselves in the saddle, reined in his horse, and with outstretched neck and distended eyes, endeavoured to ascertain, if possible, the nature of the singular mest he beheld in the gigantic pine. At length, having satisfied ourselves that we were really not of the winged creation, he procured men, ladders, and a carriage from the neighbouruing town.

But as all this consumed no inconsiderable space of time, we remained perched in mid air; and it was quite dark when we arrived at Potsdam with our balloon, which, by the way, was very little, in

jured. We took up our abode at the Hermit Hotel, at that time badly conducted, where we, alas! had ample reason to regret the loss of our supper.

Eight days afterwards, a peasant brought me my mantle, which I still preserve; and fifteen years later as I entered a Prussian posthouse with the intention of sharply reprimanding the post-master for detaining me, as I wanted a relay of horses, he came forward, good-humouredly looked at me, smiled, and then suddenly exclaimed, "Good Heavens! certainly you must be the gentleman I delivered out of the balloon," adding, "at present you must wait still longer." I instantly remembered his countenance and voice, and after conversing with him for some time, I found he was an old comrade, who had fought with me in various battles, which had been the means of delivering our country from foreign dominion; tales upon tales rapidly succeeded each other, until at length the impatient and repeated blasts of the post-boy's horn compelled me to press the veteran's hand, and take, what will probably prove, a last adieu.

UNCOMMON THINGS.

THE CHAMELEON.

NO DOUBT most of our readers are familiar with an interesting narrative poem entitled The Chameleon.' We remember during our school-boy-days it was a favorite piece for recitation; and we never read it, or heard it recited, without feeling a peculiar pleasure.

The extraordinary animal, which assumed a variety of colours on a variety of occasions, which to one traveller appeared blue, to another green, to a third black, and to the whole of them white, is not a mere creature of the poet's imagination, but a veritable animal. We consider its nature, organization, and habits sufficiently interesting to merit a detailed account in the pages of the FAVORITE.

The chameleon belongs to the lizard tribe, whose peculiar characteristics have occupied much of the attention of distinguished naturalists. It is a native of various countries, particularly the warm climates of the old world, including the South of Spain, Africa, East Indies, Smyrna, and some parts of Turkey. Its head is larger than the common lizard, and its back is shaped something like that of a pig. The trunk, which has a compressed appearance, is mounted high on the legs, forming an exception to the majority of reptiles, whose bellies touch the ground. It has four feet which

SKELETON OF ITS FOOT.

SKELETON OF ITS TAIL.

are divided into claws, resembling those of a parrot. Its tail is long, and is of great service to the animal in climbing. By its tail it will hang to the branches of trees. Its tongue, when extended in the act of taking food, is five or six inches long, of a whitish grissly substance. By this extensile and retractile organ it catches the insects on which it lives. Ry a curious mechanism, the chameleon can protrude this cylindrical member, which is terminated by a tubular tip, covered with a glutinous secretion. When it is about to seize an insect, the animal rolls around its large and extraordinary eye balls so as to bring them to bear on the intended object; as soon as it arrives within range of the tongue, that organ is projected with unerring precision and returns to the mouth with the prey adhering to the viscous tip. Some writers speak of the wonderful celerity with which this feat is performed; and they may well do so, considering the otherwise slow motions of the animal. The chameleon, having no power of motion of the neck, cannot turn its head without turning, at the same time, the whole of its body. Though it cannot boast of an ear, like most animals, or, at all events, a visible external one, it possesses an extraordinary pair of eyes. These organs are large and projecting, and almost entirely covered with a shagreen like skin, with the exception of a small aperture opposite the pupil about the size of a pea. The motions of the animal's eyes are completely independent of each other. adds to the strange and grotesque appearance of the creature, to see it roll one of its eye-globes backwards, while the other is directed forwards, as if making two distinct surveys at the same

It

THE CHAMELEON TAKING ITS PREY.

time. One eye looks at the prey, towards which the tongue darts, while the other is in search for something more to eat. Its sight must be acute from the unerring certainty with which it marks and strikes its prey. The acuteness of the animal's sight makes up, in some degree, for the slowness and sluggishness of its motions. So we see in the chameleon, as in all organized beings, a beautiful display of Providential wisdom and goodness. Nature is always just to all her children. What she takes in one way she gives in another. She beneficently distributes her blessings; and though she apparently imposes some disadvantages on some of the subjects of her wide dominions, she vindicates and justifies the wisdom and benevolence of her government by conferring corresponding compensations.

We have now come to a peculiarity exhibited by the chameleon, possessed by no other animal. In the poem already referred to,

occurs the following lines,

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A stranger animal,' cried one,
'Sure never lived beneath the sun;
A lizard's body, lean and long;
A fish's head, a serpent's tongue,
Its tooth, with triple claw disjoin'd;
And what a length of tail behind;
How slow its pace, and then it hue,
Who ever saw so fine a blue?'

Hold! there,' the other quick replies,
'Tis green, I saw it with mine eyes;
As late with open mouth it lay,
And warmed it in the sunny ray;
Stretched at its ease the beast I viewed,
And saw it eat the air for food.'

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