LESSON CXCVI. LA-CON IC-AL-LY, (from Lacones, a name LIT ER-AL-LY, (Latin litera, a letter,) mother. NOC-TUR'NAL, nightly, coming in the night. O'VAL, (Latin ovum, an egg,) having the PRED A-TO-RY, plundering, pillaging. SPEC'U LATE, to meditate, to take a view PRONUNCIATION.-A-rose' lf, ven'tured 17 and 18, an-oth'er 27a, hundred 11, si-mul-ta ́ne-ous 276, re-mained' 1, glis ́tened 21, de pos ́its 1, spec ́u-late 16. ACRES OF TURTLE-EGGS. 1. It is probably known to our readers that the Amazon is the longest and largest river in the world. During the rainy season its full channels pour out so vast a body of water to the ocean that it has been termed an inland sea. 2. In the dry season the receding water leaves bare vast banks of sand, which line the shores, or jut out into the middle of the river. 3. No steamboats navigate the mighty Amazon; but travelers descend it in canoes and flat boats, as in former times they used to descend the western rivers of North America. 4. One pleasant evening, a few years ago, a party containing a young lad and an Indian guide landed from a canoe on a great bank of sand that extended for miles along the river. Here they made preparations for passing the night. 5. A heap of dry drift-wood was collected, and a large fire kindled, to keep off the wild beasts that infest those savage shores. The travelers were to keep watch in turn. 6. The lad, whose turn came first, seating himself upon a pile of sand that he had gathered up, did his best to keep awake. But in about an hour he fell into a nap, from which he was awakened by sliding down the sand-hill, and tumbling over on his side. 7. He arose, and rubbed his eyes. He then looked around to see if any creature had ventured near. He had scarcely turned his head when he perceived a pair of eyes glancing at him from the other side of the fire. 8. Close to them he saw another pair, then another, and another, until, having looked on every side, he saw himself surrounded by a complete circle of glittering eyes! It is true they were small eyes, and some of the heads which he could see by the blaze were small. They had an ugly look, like the heads of serpents. Was it possible that a hundred serpents could have surrounded the camp? 9. Brought suddenly to his feet, the lad stood for some moments uncertain how to act. He fully believed them to be snakes that had just crept out of the river; and he felt that a movement on his part would bring on a united and simultaneous attack. 10. Partly from this fear, and partly from the coolness and prudence which were traits of his character, he remained for some moments silent and motionless. Having risen to his feet, his eyes were above the level of the blaze; and, as the sleep was well scared out of them, he could see things more distinctly. 11. He now saw that the snake-like heads were attached to large oval bodies, and that, besides the half-hundred or so that surrounded the fire, there were whole droves upon the sandy beach beyond. 12. As far as he could see on all sides, the white surface was literally covered with black moving masses; and where the rays of the moon fell upon the beach there was a broad belt that glistened and sparkled, like pieces of glass in constant motion. 13. A singular sight it was, and most fearful. For his life he could not make out what it meant, or by what sort of wild creatures he was surrounded. 14. His view was indistinct; but he could see that their bodies were not larger than those of small sheep; and, from the way ir which they glistened under the moon, he was sure they were wateranimals and had come out of the river. 15. He did not stay to speculate any longer. He resolved to wake the guide, who started to his feet in some alarm. The noise and movements had their effect on the nocturnal visitors; for, before the lad could explain himself, those creatures immediately round the fire, and for some distance beyond, rushed to the shore, and were heard plunging by hundreds into the water. 16. The Indian's ear caught the sounds, and his eyes, after ranging along the sandy shore, took in at a glance the whole thing. "Turtles," he said laconically. "Oh," said the young man; "turtles, is it?" "Yes, master," replied the guide. "This is, I suppose, one of their great hatching-places. They are going to lay their eggs in the sand. They do so every year." 17. There was no danger from turtles; but the fright had chased away sleep; and the travelers lay awake for some time, conversing about these singular creatures. 18. These large turtles assemble every year from all parts of the river. Each one of these armies chooses for itself a place to breed— some sandy island or great sand-bank. This they approach very cautiously, reconnoitering it with only their heads above water. They then crawl ashore at night in vast multitudes, and each turtle, with the strong crooked claws of her hind feet, digs a hole in the sand. 19. Each hole is three feet in diameter and two feet deep. In this she deposits her eggs-from seventy to one hundred and twenty in number-white, hard-shelled, and in size between the egg of a pigeon and that of a pullet. 20. She then covers the whole with sand, leveling the top to make it look like the rest of the surface, so that the precious treasure may not be found by vultures, jaguars, or any other predatory creatures. When this is done, the labor of the turtle is at an end. The great army betakes itself to the water, and scatters in every direction. 21. The sun, acting upon the hot sand, does the rest; and in less than six weeks the young turtles, about one inch in diameter, crawl out of the sand and at once betake themselves to the water. 22. They are afterward seen in shallow pools or lakes far from the place where they were hatched. How they find these pools, or whether the mothers distinguish their own young and conduct them thither, as do crocodiles and alligators, no one knows. 23. An old female turtle is frequently seen swimming with as many as a hundred little ones after her. Now are these her own, or are they a collection picked up out of the general progeny? That is an undetermined question. It would seem impossible that each turtle-mother should know her own young; yet amidst this apparent confusion there may be some maternal instinct that guides her to distinguish her own offspring from all the rest. Who can say? MAYNE REID. LESSON CXCVII. MARGE, margin, edge, shore. | OB-LIV'I-ON, state of being forgotten. PRONUNCIATION.-Sol'emn 36, cheer'less le, shadow 6, hol'low 6. THE INDIAN TRIBES. 1. THEY are fading they are fading in solemn gloom away, Like vapors on the mountain at dawning of the day. 2. They are falling-they are falling like leaves in autumn time, When in the wood the cheerless breeze sighs forth its hollow chime. 3. I look upon the mountain top-lo! all their fires are out! I tread the hollow valleys-all silent is their shout. 4. Along the green marge of the lakes and from the sandy shore A solemn voice doth seem to say, the old tribes are no more. 5. Their very names are half forgot, their ancient graves unknown, And dim oblivion's shadow around them wide is thrown. I. Mc. LELLAN. LESSON CXCVIII. A-LOOF, at a distance, declining to take BRIT ON, a native of Great Britain. LENT, a fast of forty days before Easter; MAR'TIAL, soldierly, warlike. NYMPH, a goddess of the mountains, PRONUNCIATION.-While 32c, Car'o li-na 7, lib'er ty 9, saw 10, po ta'to 6, great deal 29, lying 12, gov'ern-ment 33, sup-pose' 3e, heav'en 4d, ser'vi-tude 16, chil'dren 11, count'less le, beau'te-ous 18. GENERAL MARION'S DINNER. 1. WHILE the British held possession of Georgetown, in SouthCarolina, an English officer was sent to General Marion's camp, to make arrangements for the exchange of prisoners. Having been blindfolded, the officer was brought into Marion's presence. 2. The fame of General Marion made the officer expect to see a tall, portly man, with a martial aspect and splendid uniform. When the bandage was taken from his eyes he was astonished to see a swarthy, smoke-dried man, in a very plain dress. 3. Instead of ranks of soldiers in showy uniforms, he saw Marion surrounded by a handful of sun-burnt ragged militia-men, some roasting potatoes, and some asleep, with their black-looking guns and battered powder-horns lying on the logs beside them. 4. The officer, having arranged the business for which he had come, took up his hat to retire. "Oh, no!" said Marion, "I hope, sir, you will give us the pleasure of your company at dinner now about our time of dining." it is 5. At mention of the word dinner the officer looked around; but saw no sign of pot or pan, or any other promise of dinner. 6. "Well, Tom," said Marion to one of his men, our dinner." 66 come, give us 7. The dinner to which he alluded was merely a heap of sweetpotatoes, that were very snugly roasting under the embers, and which Tom, with his pine-stick poker, soon liberated from their ashy confinement, pinching them, every now and then, with his thumb and finger, especially the big ones, to see whether they were sufficiently cooked. 8. Having cleansed them of the ashes, partly by blowing them with his breath, and partly by brushing them with the sleeve of his old cotton shirt, he piled some of the best on a large piece of bark, and placed them between the British officer and Marion, on the trunk of the fallen pine on which they sat. 9 "I fear, sir," said the general, "our dinner will not prove so palatable to you as I could wish; but it is the best we have." 10. The officer took up one of the potatoes, and began to cat; but it was very plain that he ate more from good manners than good appetite. Presently he broke out into a hearty laugh. 11. Marion looked surprised. "I beg pardon, General," said he, "but one cannot, you know, always command his own conceits. I was thinking how droll some of my brother-officers would look, if our government were to give them such a bill of fare as this." 12. "I suppose," replied Marion, "it is not equal to your style of dining."-"No, indeed,' said the officer, "and this, I imagine, is one of your accidental lent dinners a sort of banian day. In general, no doubt you live a great deal better." 13. "Rather worse," answered the General; "for often we do not get even potatoes."-"Is it possible!" exclaimed the officer. "But, probably, what you lose in one thing you make up in another; though stinted in provisions, you draw noble pay?" 66 "Not a cent, sir," said Marion, "not a cent." 14. "Heavens and earth! Then you must be badly off. I do not see, General, how you can stand it."-"Why, sir," replied Marion, with a smile, "these things depend on feeling." |