the line, only one bullet was fired at him ere he cleared the thick grass. He was unhurt, and we pursued him at full speed. Twice he threw us out by stopping short in small strips of jungle, and then heading back after we had passed; and he had given us a very fast burst of about two miles, when Colonel Arnold, who led the field, at last reached him by a capital shot, his elephant being in full career. As soon as he felt himself wounded the tiger crept into a close thicket of trees and bushes, and crouched. The two leading sportsmen overran the spot where he lay, and as I came up I saw him through an aperture rising to attempt a charge. My mahout had just before, in the heat of the chase, dropped his ankoos,* which I had refused to allow him to recover; and the elephant, being notoriously savage, and further irritated by the goading he had undergone, became, consequently, unmanageable :- he appeared to see the tiger as soon as myself, and I had only time to fire one shot, when he suddenly rushed with the greatest fury into the thicket, and falling upon his knees, nailed the tiger with his tusks to the ground. Such was the violence of the shock, that my servant, who sat behind in the kawas, was thrown out, and one of my guns went overboard. The struggles of my elephant to crush his still resisting foe, who had fixed one paw on his eye, were so energetic, that I was obliged to hold on with all my strength, to keep myself in the howdah. The second barrel, too, of the gun, which I still retained in my hand, went off in the scuffle, the ball passing close to the mahout's ear, whose situation, poor fellow, was anything but enviable. As soon as my elephant was prevailed upon to leave the killing part of the business to the sportsmen, they gave the roughly-used tiger the coup-de-grace.

TRAVELS IN MALTA AND SICILY.

In our extracts we shall avoid those subjects which, like Mount Ætna, have been described till the description wearies, and select some topics which are less hacknied, and will be more amusing to our readers. The following account of the fortifications on (and in) the rock of Gibraltar, is very interesting:

'The first object of peculiar interest which meets us is an old Moorish tower. It seems to stand as a war-worn sentinel, to the dark and fearful passages in the mountain-bosom, which stretch beyond. By whom the tower was erected is not ascertained. It probably is a monument of the first successful descent of the Moors, in 711.

*

*

Taking up the line of march, we entered a subterranean path leading under the wall of the garrison, and soon came to the first passage within the solid crust of the rock. It is a vaulted horizontal shaft, of one hundred and fifty feet in length. We emerge from it to enter another called Wyllis' Gallery. The length of this

An iron goad to drive the elephant.

Travels in Malta and Sicily, with Sketches of Gibraltar, in 1927. By Andrew Bigelow.

is something more than a hundred yards, and its breath from three to five. It is dimly lighted through the embrasures for cannon; and what with this dubious sort of day, and the nature of the objects displayed around,-heavy ordnance reposing on iron frames, piles of balls, bombs, and other terrible missiles, and doors communicating ever and anon with inner chambers filled with warlike stores,the feelings excited by the survey are anything but cheerful.

'Mounting still higher, we come to a longer and more extraordinary excavation called the Windsor Gallery. It extends very nearly a tenth of a mile; and, like the former, has been entirely blasted by powder. Enough of the rock on the outer side remains to serve as a parapet, or shield, impervious to ball, even could cannon be brought to bear against it. But its elevation places it above the reach of the longest shot; so that those who serve its guns in times of siege, are perfectly secure from the reach of assailants. They have only to pour down upon the defenceless heads of invaders showers of grape and shells.

'Besides these passages, there are several other galleries lined with artillery, and wrought with extraordinary toil within the outer shell of the massive rock. Staircases occasionally occur, hewn with great regularity; also flues and perpendicular shafts for ventilation and other purposes. Of the magazines, there seems no end.

There are two or three spacious and lofty apartments, which altogether in boldness of design, and beauty of finish, perhaps, surpass the other wonders of these interior constructions. The most remarkable of these is called Saint George's Hall. It is a stupendous excavation from the heart of a turreted crag, which juts naturally from the surface of the mountain. Externally, it has much the appearance of an artificial tower. Within, an apartment forty yards in circuit, and proportionably lofty, has been hewn with incredible labor. The rock forming the walls and flooring has been perfectly smoothed. But half a dozen yawning port-holes, and a circular funnel leading through the roof for the escape of smoke, sufficiently indicate that other purposes than those of mere beauty were consulted in this curious structure. Six cannon of tremendous calibre (sixtyfour pounders,) are stationed here, ready to discharge their thunders on any daring besieger by land or flood. They are so nicely poised as to be capable, with a httle exertion, of being pointed in any direction.

'Some idea of the extent of the excavations may be formed from the fact, that they are sufficient to receive at once the entire garrison of Gibraltar; and the troops composing it are never less than five thousand. Not only in the galleries would the latter be completely covered from an enemy's fire, but also in passing along the few open paths edging the surface of the rock, and which communicate between one subterranean post and another. For these paths are all guarded by high parapets of solid masonry, so that even the movements of the soldiery along them, or the carriage of their munitions, could not be perceived by assailants at

the foot of the rock.'

Aqueduct at La Valetta.

We came in sight of the noble aqueduct which supplies La Valetta. The route lay along it for several miles, and I had an opportunity of surveying and admiring that most useful construction. I have omitted to observe that though the houses of the city and suburbs are all provided with private cisterns,-every drop of rain-water being carefully preserved by means of pipes, conducting from the terraced roofs to the proper reservoirs,-yet the supply of water was found by no means adequate to the wants of a large and increasing population. Much inconvenience, and at times, actual suffering was the consequence. To provide against such scarcity, Vignacourt, a grand master of great public spirit and munificence, commenced, in an early period of his administration, the aqueduct just alluded to, and finished it, entirely at his private cost, in 1616 By this conveyance an unfailing supply of salubrious water is brought from a central spot of the island called Diar Chandal, over a line of many thousand noble arches extending not less than thirteen miles, and terminating in a grand reservoir in Palace-square. Conduits are thence made to take the fountain water into all the public and private tanks of the city. The work being partially decayed, the

grand master Roahn undertook its repair about the year 1730; and the whole now displays perfect solidity. Such a costly structure shows the riches which must have flowed into the private coffers of the Grand Masters of the order of

St. John.'

Archimedes

'The memory of Archimedes appears to be universally venerated at Syracuse. From the familiar but respectful mention made of him, he seems to have belonged to an age as recent as that of Franklin; and one is almost tempted in meeting with an aged Syracusan to ask if he did not remember seeing the philosopher in his youth. At any rate, the impression left by his name here is more vivid, apparently, than that associated by us with Franklin. The walls of the conversazioni room are covered with pictures of his mechanical exploits. One is very spirited, and represents his lifting, with his famous levers and grapples, the galleys of Marcellus from the water, and then sinking, or dashing them against the rocks.

The road winding up a gentle slope at length intersected another, called the Street of Sepulchres, from its leading in a narrow defile between hills faced on either side with ancient tombs. Near the entrance of this passage, and about one hundred yards from the spot traditionally remembered as the place of the Agragian Gate, stands the tomb of Archimedes. The locality agrees very well with the description given of it by Cicero. The ancients were in the habit of burying their dead without the walls of their cities; and the sepulchres of Syracuse came up to its very gates on this quarter. "There is," says the Roman orator, "close by the Agragian port, a vast number of tombs. Examining them with care, I perceived a monument a little elevated above a thicket, whereon was inscribed the figure of a cylinder and sphere. Immediately I said to the Syracusan nobles who attended me, That this must be the tomb of which I was in search."

'We alighted to take a nearer view of it. In front, is a narrow strip of cultivated, unfenced ground; and just at the entrance a few brambles and rank weeds were growing. The tomb is excavated from a native bed of rock, the face of which, naturally projecting, is shaped about the opening into a rude Doric front with pilasters and a pediment. No traces of the inscription are visible, nor is this to be wondered at, for even in the time of Cicero, the characters were partially worn away. The entrance of the tomb is sufficiently high to allow a person of full stature to walk in without stooping. The interior is of moderate dimensions. It is truly "the dark and narrow house." In a recess on the right, large enough to receive a modern lead coffin, the remains of the philosopher are supposed to have been laid; but the sarcophagus, if any there were, has long since disappeared. On the opposite side are full-length receptacles for bodies; and fronting the entrance there are smaller depositories, cut like the others from the solid rock, and adapted for urns, or the coffins of children. The tomb appears to have been the family sepulchre of Archimedes; but the ashes of the human forms, which once filled its niches, have for ages been dispersed to the four winds.

The hill, at the foot of which this tomb has been opened, is a vast ledge of rock slightly covered with shrubs and grass. Following the path at its base, I perceived a great many other tombs yawning from its sides, the "magna frequentia sepulchroruin,' spoken of by Cicero."

The Fountain of Arethusa.

This spring, celebrated from remote antiquity, has other pretensions to consideration than the attractions which it owes to the muse. It is a wonderful fountain in itself, gushing up with great copiousness near the sea, and forming a respectable rivulet from its very source. it rises in a grotto naturally arched, with a firm roof of stone, so strong that the outer street of the city, a sort of boulevard, is carried directly over it. The spot is not farther from the sea, in a straight line, than twelve or fourteen yards. The current pours over a rocky ledge into a circular pool, whence it issues, tumbling and foaming as it goes, till reaching the sea-wall, when it leaps headlong into the briny deep. The waters at their source are exceedingly clear and fresh, but they are not permitted to retain

their purity even to the end of their short and rapid course. Anciently, it was vene rated with divine honors, and a company of nymphs was specially set apart to guard it. Now, it is daily profaned by another set of personages, the common laundresses of Syracuse, who make no scruple to wash their lots' of clothes in in its waters.

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'It is a curious fact that another copious spring rises from the bottom of the harbor, at some distance from the shore, with so much force that the water retains its freshness almost to the very surface. The position is marked by little eddies and bubbles always distinguishable in calm weather; and even when the harbor is ruffled with winds, the water which is drawn up from a little beneath the surface, and just over the site of the spring, is found sufficiently pure for drinking.

As the second fountain lies in the direction towards Greece, it has been seriously thought by many to justify the poetical conceit of the ancients, that the river Alpheus, after flowing through Elis in vain pursuit of the coy Arethusa, then disappearing under the sea and continuing his course for five hundred miles, rises in this place to join the fugitive nymph. For it is deemed equally heterodox to dispute the tradition, either that the submarine fountain is the Grecian Alpheus, or that the Syracusan Arethusa is the same with that of Elis. In support of these opinions it is alledged, that leaves and flowers, natives of Greece, have risen on the surface of the Sicilian spring; and that a golden cup, won at the Olympic games, and thrown into the Elian Arethusa, was afterwards brought up by this at Syracuse. Strabo devoted a page to a grave discussion of the philosophy and Jikelihood of the tale.

The Earthquake of 1763 at Messina.

The earthquake of 1783 was fraught with horrors which, even at this distant day, it is shuddering to contemplate. Memorials of its disasters are still visible in different parts of Messina. A portion of the beautiful Marina,-all of which was either shattered or destroyed,-retains the effects, only partially disguised, of that tremendous visitation. There was scarce a structure in the city which was exempt from some injury. The edifices which have since arisen are built more firmly, and generally not so lofty as before; and their beams are made to protrude through the walls to prevent any sudden dislodgment by the violent oscillation of the ground in future shocks. How far the precaution will avail, there has been no opportunity of determining hitherto by conclusive evidence.

The earthquake,-I should rather say, the series of earthquakes-of 1783, gave no sign nor prelude of its approach. Stories are told of the domestic animals having had a premonition of the event; and it is aflirmed that the howling of dogs in the streets of Messina was so violent that they were ordered to be killed. But it is difficult to comprehend by what sense they cou d have received an intimation of such an evil impending; and admitting the fact, it is certain that the citizens suspected nothing in the portent. The onset of the earthquake was as sudden as the explosion of a mine, nay, instantaneous as the lightning's flash. commenced on the 5th of February, and exclusive of the shocks of that day, there were others particularly appalling on the 7th of the same month, and again on the 28th of March, besides innumerable minor shocks.

it

Dreadful as was the catastrophe to Messina, the city was only the first to encounter the brunt of a calamity which was destined to involve a whole province in ruin. The seat of the earthquake was transferred to the opposite shore, and its greatest energies appear to have been concentrated near the centre of Calabria. But the effects were felt far and wide. It rocked the whole breadth of the peninsula, and extended its ravages north and south over a space of ninety miles. Forty thousand inhabitants perished; and the number is almost incredible of the towns, villages, and separate edifices which were shattered, if not totally demolished. Of some not a vestige remained, for the ground opened and swallowed them up. History records no earthquake, which,-taking into view the vehemence and destructiveness of the shocks, the length of their duration, and the vast field of their operations,—may be deemed a full parallel with this. Others there have been,-mighty, desolating, terrific ;-but the earthquake of 1783, in the entire combination of its horrors, stands unexampled.'

THE REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD ADMIRAL.

Given in a series of Letters to his Son, a Midshipman on board His Majesty's Ship Reform.

MY DEAR Tом;

You ask me to give you a history of the olden time in our service, and I do it with the more pleasure, as my observations may be useful to you in the course of your professional career. Your grandfather, you know, was an admiral; therefore you are the third generation of your family in the navy. Your uncles and myself were brought into the service partly from inclination and partly by the force of circumstances. A naval education requires little capital, consequently no great risk is incurred. If we die in seasoning, we are provided for; if we live, we may make cork jackets for our parents. This was my father's consolation, and, I believe, neither he nor I ever repented of the choice we had made. How time flies! it's half a century since I first cracked a biscuit on board a man-of-war. I was but a little bit of a chap, to be sure-not eight years old-when I buckled on a ship's bayonet round my waist, and had nearly lost my life by this early act of ambition. I incautiously approached the gangway, and was in the very act of tumbling headlong into the briny tide, when the boatswain's mate caught me by the arm, and, under Divine providence, was the means of saving me to see many strange things in this world. But before I enter on 'old stories,' not of rope and canvass, but of memory, I must tip you a bit of preface. I can remember being carried in my nurse's arms. I remember an officer in the army asking her whose pretty little boy that was, that she was loaded with, (query, did he not mean whose pretty little girl she was?) for I was full two years old; and I remember he gave me a piece of silver the size of a halfpenny, which I, at that time, called a 'white halfpenny.' The maid put this in her pocket for safe keeping, and I remember when I asked for it again, she gave me a copper.' I roared for my white halfpenny,' but never saw it more. The next thing I remember was going to a day school, where the master took it into his thick head that he could teach ine how to handle my spoon to eat my bread and milk; but his practical lessons were so extravagant, that even at this moment I look back with rage when I see the old glutton bolting my breakfast; his lessons and my appetite were so much at variance, that I ever after preferred my solitary meal.

How it happened I know not, but such is the fact, that the nurses and I never could agree. I was twice under the instruction of two old geese, the last was a Frenchman, who had forgotten his own vernacular, and had failed to acquire mine, so here I came to a dead stand still for some months. This ended in a mutual distaste for each other. I hated him because he smelt of snuff, and always wore the same breeches; he hated me because I could not learn. He stuck me down in the middle of the school-room on my knees, with a huge Bible in my two hands, there to remain until I had got a certain number of verses by rote; but this tyranny was put an end to; my father very soon discovered not only my incapacity but that of my teacher, and that I could read out of no book but Thomas Dilworth's Universal Spelling Book,' and very little of that. He very wisely thought that as I should, in all human probability, make a fool of myself, I had better do it on board, so off I went with him to take a cruize in the North Seas. I remember it was that