A WALRUS HUNT. and mothers and lookers on filled the whole of the quadrangle. Dean Stanley mounted the rostrum when Lord Shaftesbury vacated it, and called for three cheers for his lordship's excellent speech, which were heartily given, though they might have been more regular had not the dean, to whom everybody was looking for the signal, genially forgotten to act as fugleman. Canon Conway, to whose influence the Westminster Window Gardens Society owes much of its success, followed with a few words of kindly exhortation, and the proceedings terminated. The question on the lips of every one present, and the reflection which will inevitably occur to them to-day, is, Why are not similar associations formed in all the poor districts of London, and window gardening more generally fostered among those who need it most?" A WALRUS HUNT. IN narrating some experiences with the Esquimaux Indians, a writer describes a walrus hunt: "While at Kingeagan, an Esquimaux village of about 900 inhabitants on the straits, I accompanied the natives on one of their hunts in Behring's Sea, which was both dangerous and exciting. Before venturing into the straits north winds were chosen, and incantations performed to insure safety. The boats, which were made of walrus hide stretched over light wooden frames of drift-wood, about fifteen feet long, are kept near the water's edge in readiness to start without loss of time. With the wind fair we started. About fifty boats, each containing nine Esquimaux, shoved off from the land ice at the same time, and a general race was indulged in as we paddled out to The scene was exciting. Every Indian pulled with all his strength, shouting and hooting as they dodged among the ice floes with bare heads and hair streaming in the wind. sea. This was kept up until we were about forty miles out from shore, when they became separated in their search for walrus. Here a stop was made to listen for the bark of the animals, which was heard about a mile ahead of us. One of the Indians exclaimed, ah-mal vak-tok' (great many), and we paddled hastily forward until we were in sight of the walruses, which were lying on the floes in large numbers as far as the eye could reach, barking and playing with their young. A WALRUS HUNT. Here another stop was made and everything gotten ready for the attack. Spears, guns, and harpoons were placed where they could be seized instantly, and a large walrus-hide rope was stretched the whole length of the boat just inside the gunwale, to each end of which were attached large seal-skin buoys. Kapaituks were put on over their deerskin coats, and every dark object carefully hidden from the view of the animals. After these preparations we paddled rapidly and noiselessly forward, shooting the bow of the boat up on to the floe which had been selected with the largest number of walruses upon it. As they plunged off into the water each Indian hurled his spear into one of them, and fastened the line attached to its head to the rope connecting the buoys in the boat, which were immediately thrown overboard, and the captured walrus allowed to plunge and snort around in the water. As they came to the surface they were killed by thrusting a long lance through the body, or shot in the head when they do not come close enough to be lanced. When all were killed they were towed to a large floe, hauled out, skinned and dressed. This is the work of but a moment, as these Esquimaux are well skilled in the use of the knife, and thoroughly understand the anatomy of these animals. One of them extracted the bullet from the brain of a large walrus which I had shot, and gave it to me as a remembrance of the hunt. After the operation of dressing, every part of the animal except the gall, for which they have no use, was thrown into the boat, and we started in search of more, paddling and sailing around among the floes for nearly two days without success. A heavy fog settled down upon us and we were lost for several hours, when it cleared away with a strong south wind, which rendered our position extremely critical, as 'The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around;! It crack'd, and growl'd, and roar'd, and howl'd, Like noises in a swound.' Our escape seemed almost miraculous, an opening happening to occur, through which we dodged until we reached open water, when we set sail and reached shore in safety, after being three without but very little to eat. Several boats have gone out in this manner and never returned." POETRY. Poetry. SUNSHINE IN THE HEART. WHEN life seems dark and friends are far, Thou who illuminatest all, With stars that glow at evening's call, But wert thou dimmed whose shining rays Barred from thy beatific ray, Beneath the earth what legions toil There's sunshine in their heart! How many grope with sightless eyes, Some that thy glory never knew, And some who blind in manhood grew On beds of languishing and pain What thousands suffer slavery's doom- O, child of penury and toil! Why crave the thorny seat of power, With sunshine in thy heart? ANECDOTES AND SELECTIONS. Anecdotes and Selections. EATING CLOUDS.-Doctor Livingstone, relating his adventures on Lake Nyassa, thus tells of one curiosity which he fell in with:-" During a portion of the year, the northern dwellers on the lake have a harvest which furnishes a singular sort of food. As we approached our limit in that direction, clouds, as of smoke rising from miles of burning grass, were observed bending in a south-easterly direction, and we thought that the unseen land on the opposite side was closing in, and that we were near the end of the lake. But next morning we sailed through one of the clouds on our own side, and discovered that it was neither smoke nor haze, but countless millions of minute midges called 'kungo' (a cloud or fog). They filled the air to an immense height, and swarmed upon the water, too light to sink in it. Eyes and mouth had to be kept closed while passing through this living cloud; they stuck upon the face like fine drifting snow. Thousands lay in the boat when she emerged from the cloud of midges. The people gather these minute insects by night, and boil them into thick cakes, to be used as a relish-millions of midges in a cake. A kungo-cake an inch thick, and as large as the blue bonnet of a Scotch ploughman, was offered to us; it was very dark in colour, and tasted not unlike caviare or salted locusts. CLEAVING TO CHRIST.-I have seen a heavy piece of iron hanging on another, not wielded, not linked, not glued to the spot, and yet it cleaved with such tenacity as to bear, not only its own weight but mine too, if I chose to seize it and hang upon it. A wire charged with an electric current is in contact with its mass, and hence its adhesion. Break that wire through, or remove it by a hair's breadth, and the piece of iron drops down to the ground, like any other unsupported weight. A stream of life from the Lord, brought into contact with a human spirit keeps that spirit cleaving to the Lord so firmly that no power on earth or hell can wrench the two asunder. From Christ the mysterious life-stream flows, through the being of the disciple it spreads, and to the Lord it returns again. In that circle the feeblest Christian is held safely, but if the circle be broken, the dependent spirit instantly drops down.-Arnot. "DIP IT UP, THEN!"-A ship was sailing in the southern waters of the Atlantic, when her crew saw another vessel making signals of distress. They bore down toward the distressed ship and hailed them. "What is the matter?" "We are dying for want of water," was the response. 'Dip it up, then," was answered. "You are in the mouth of the Amazon river!" There those sailors were thirsting, and suffering, and fearing, and longing for water, and supposing that there was THE FIRESIDE. nothing but the ocean's brine around them, when in fact they had sailed unconsciously into the broad mouth of the mightiest river on the globe and did not know it. And though to them it seemed that they must perish with thirst, yet there was a hundred miles of fresh water all around them, and they had nothing to do but to "dip it up." Jesus Christ says: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." "And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come, and whosoever will, let him come, and take of the water of life freely." Thirsting soul, the flood is all around you; "dip it up, then," and drink, and thirst no more.-British Workman. TIME DOES IT.-Time has a wonderful power in taking the conceit out of persons. When a young man first emerges from the schools and enters upon the career of life, it is painfully amusing to witness his self-sufficiency-he would have all the world to understand that he has "learned out"-that he is master of all knowledge, and can unravel all mysteries. But as he grows older, he grows wiser; he learns that he knows a great deal less than he supposed he did, and by the time he reaches to threescore years, he is prepared to adopt as his own the sentiment of John Wesley:-" When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half as sure of most things as I was before. At present I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to man." The Fireside. HOW TO GET SLEEP. THIS is to many persons a matter of high importance. Nervous persons, who are troubled with wakefulness and excitability, usually have a strong tendency of blood to the brain, with cold extremities. The pressure of the blood on the brain keeps it in a stimulated or wakeful state, and the pulsations in the head are often painful. Let them rise and chafe the body and extremities with brush or towel, or rub smartly with the hands to promote circulation, and withdraw the excessive amount of blood from the brain, and they will fall asleep in a few minutes. A cold bath, or a sponge bath, and rubbing, or a good run or a rapid walk in the open air, or going up and down stairs a few times just before retiring, will aid in equalizing circulation and promoting sleep. These rules are simple and easy of application in the castle or cabin, and may minister to the comfort of thousands who would freely expend money for an anodyne to promote "nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep." |