14. With staff in hand and tottering knee,
Upon the slippery brink he stood,
And watched with doting ecstasy

Each wreath of foam that rode the flood.

15. "One bubble more!" I heard him call,
And saw his eager fingers play;
He snatched, and down the roaring fall,
With the lost bubble, passed away.

LESSON XIII.

CRYSTAL-LIZED, formed into a crystal, | or solid of regular form.

EB'O-NY, a species of hard, heavy, dura-
ble wood, generally black, and taking
a fine polish.

E MULSION, a milk-like mixture.
E-NOR'MOUS, (from the Latin e, out of,
and norma, measure), exceeding the
common measure, huge.

FERN, a kind of flowerless plants.
FILA-MENT, a thread, a fiber.

LIM'PID, clear, transparent.

HER-BA'CEOUS, having the nature of an
herb; soft, not woody.

PAR'A-SOL (from the Greek para, against,
and the Latin sol, the sun), a small
umbrella used to keep off the sun's
rays.
RE-PAST', a meal.

TERM'IN-AL, growing at the end of a
branch or stem; terminating,
TROP'ICS, the region between the tropic
of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn;
the torrid zone.

PRONUNCIATION.-Were 33, ap-proached' lf, veg-e-ta'tion 1, bot'an-ist lf, column 326, rep-re-sent'ed 1, ap-pear'ance 22, e-nor'mous 1, sin'gu-lar 16, fil'a-ments 1b, pretty 33.

A REMARKABLE TREE.

1. We were sailing under the burning sky of the tropics, when we came in sight of one of those little islands which had been formed by the coral-insect.

2. As we approached the island seemed covered with vegetation. But after we had landed we found nothing but a few species of grass and some ferns. The groves contained but a single kind

of tree.

3. "What ugly, crooked trees are those?" said I to the surgeon, who was our botanist; "they seem to be half-fallen, and to support themselves only by leaning on each other. I have hardly ever seen so ungraceful a tree.” "They are cocoa-trees," replied he.

66

4. "What!" exclaimed I, "do you mean to say that that is the cocoa-nut tree?-the cocoa-tree, which I have seen represented as rising so magnificently, and gracefully waving its verdant head in the air at the hight of eighty or a hundred feet?"

5. "It is nothing else," replied he, "except that the hight is only about the half of eighty or a hundred feet, the trunk is never erect, and the verdant head is rather of the color of hay."

6. Just then we saw a column of smoke rising above a grove of

Here we

cocoa-palms, and toward that we directed our steps. found some of the natives cooking around a fire of dry grass. After they had recovered from the alarm caused by our appearance, they invited us to share their repast. This invitation we gladly accepted, as we were quite hungry.

7. To refresh us, they offered us a cool, mild, sweet, limpid liquor, somewhat like milk, but to us much more agreeable. "What is that?" asked I of the doctor. "It is," replied he, "the milk of the cocoa-nut."-"Ah, indeed!"

8. A moment afterward one of the women brought a black pitcher, polished, shining, and carved, though somewhat rudely. It was made of a wood very hard and very solid, resembling ebony. "It is the shell of the cocoa-nut," said the doctor, "and these islanders have no other dishes."

9 This pitcher was then filled with a liquor, which I believe would intoxicate a man as completely as champagne. "To make this palm-wine," said the doctor, "they cut the young cocoa-nut, and suffer the juice which comes out to ferment twenty-four hours, when it forms this liquor."

10. Next they laid on the grass, which served as a table-cloth, a large basket, woven with so much art that it would have held water. This basket contained an enormous stewed cabbage, with an excellent sauce made of butter and milk. This dish I found very palatable, observing that the leaves of this cabbage were longer and thinner than the leaves of cabbages usually are, and its flavor more delicate. 11. "The dish which contains the stew," said the doctor, "is made of the leaves of the cocoa-tree; the cabbage is the terminal bud of the same tree, cut while it is yet in the herbaceous state; the sauce is composed of the milky juice of the cocoa-nut before its maturity." "This is a singular tree," exclaimed I.

12. The last dish which was served up consisted of some lobsters stewed in sea-water, and dressed with oil and vinegar. "How do you like this?" asked the doctor. "It is very good," replied I; "the oil better than most olive-oil." "It is the oil of the cocoa,' said he; "and what do you think of this vinegar?" "It is very strong and pleasant."

But

13. "It is the milk of the cocoa-nut, soured in the sun. here," he continued, "is our host offering you a bit of sugar-candy, to sweeten your meal. This sugar is the sap of the cocoa-tree, boiled and crystallized, or rather dried."-"What! has this tree furnished all our dinner?".

14. "More than that. These pretty mats on which we are seated are made of the fibers of its trunk. The coquettish hat of our hostess, which you may have mistaken for straw, is woven of the young leaves of this tree. The mantle of the husband and the dress

of the wife were woven of the husk that envelopes the nut when ripe. 15. "The mattresses on which the native lies, and the soft substance which fills them, the sails of his canoe, the line with which he fishes, and a thousand other articles of furniture, are made of the same material.

16. "The palisades which enclose his little garden, the frame of his cabin, are made of the cocoa-wood. The roof, impenetrable to the sun, wind, and rain, consists of its leaves skillfully interwoven. Of the filaments at the base of the leaves the natives manufacture cables and cords more pliable and durable than those made of hemp.

17. "Finally, the parasol which our hosts placed over your head, to shelter you from the burning sun, is entirely composed of different parts of this tree."-"Well, I feel obliged to respect this tree, notwithstanding its ungainly appearance. Anything that makes itself so useful can afford to dispense with beauty."

LESSON XIV.

CON-FUTE', to convict of error, to dis-
prove.
COM PASS, (cum'pass) an instrument for
directing the course of ships at sea.
DUTCH, pertaining to Holland; the lan-
guage of Holland. It is often improp-
erly used for German.

GERMAN, belonging to Germany; the
language of Germany.

POINTS, the thirty-two divisions on the

card of a compass, namely. North, South, East, and West, called the cardinal points, and the subdivisions; a character in books, as the comma. PAGE, a boy attending on a great person; one side of a leaf of a book. STOP, a hole in a flute, by which the

sounds are regulated; a point or mark in books, as the comma and the period.

PRONUNCIATION.-With 15, learned 33, en-light'en 1 and 4d, con-fute 1g, En'glish 33,

oft'en 21.

VARIETY.

1. A RIDDle.

1. I'm a strange contradiction.- I'm new, and I'm old.
I am often in tatters, and oft decked with gold.
Though I never could read, yet learned I'm found.
Though blind, I enlighten; though loose, I am bound.
2. I am always in black, and I'm always in white;
I am grave, and I'm gay; I am heavy and light.
In form, too, I differ,-I'm thick, and I'm thin.
I've no flesh and no bone, yet I'm covered with skin.

3. I've more points than the compass, more stops than the flute.
I sing without voice, without speaking confute.

I'm English, I'm German, I'm French, and I'm Dutch.

Some love me too fondly, some slight me too much.
I often die soon, though I sometimes live ages;
And no monarch alive has so many pages.

H. MORE.

2. SIGNS OF RAIN.

1. THE hollow wind begins to blow;
The clouds look black; the grass is low;
The soot falls down; the spaniels sleep;
And spiders from their cobwebs peep.

2. Hark! how the chairs and tables crack!
Old Betty's joints are on the rack;
Loud quack the ducks; the peacocks cry;
The distant hills are seeming nigh.

3. How restless are the snorting swine!
The busy flies disturb the kine;
Low o'er the grass the swallow wings;
The cricket, too, how sharp he sings!

4. Puss on the hearth, with velvet
paws,
Sits wiping o'er her whiskered jaws.

'Twill surely rain; I see with sorrow
Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow.

3. AFFINITY.

1. SOME water and oil one day had a broil,
As down in a glass they were dropping,
And would not unite, but continued to fight,
Without any prospect of stopping.

2. Some pearl-ash o'erheard, and, as quick as a word, Jumped into the midst of the clashing,

When all three agreed, and united with speed,
And soap was created for washing.

4. THE DREAM OF LIFE.

1. I DREAMED I saw a rosy child,

With flaxen ringlets, in a garden playing;
Now stooping here, and then afar off straying,
As flower or butterfly his feet beguiled.

2. 'Twas changed. One summer's day I stepped aside
To let him pass.
His face had manhood's seeming,
And his full eye of blue was fondly beaming
On a fair maiden, whom he called his bride.

3. Once more: 'twas evening, and the cheerful fire
I saw a group of youthful forms surrounding,
The room with harmless pleasantry resounding;
And in the midst I marked the smiling sire.

4. The heavens were clouded,—and I heard the tone
Of a slow-moving bell; the white-haired man had gone.

LESSON XV.

BREAKFAST, (from break and fast, be-
cause it breaks the fast of the night),
the first meal in the day.
CLACK, a sharp abrupt sound continually
repeated; continual talking.
HOUSE WIFE, the mistress of a family.
CLOWN, (Latin colonus, a husbandman),
a countryman, a man of coarse man-
ners; a rustic.

PHOEBUS, a name of Apollo, who in heathen mythology was the god of the sun; the sun.

RE-TORT', to throw back; to return an argument or incivility.

STENT, an allotted portion; a task. WIGHT, a person. This word is now used only in irony or burlesque lan guage.

PRONUNCIATION.-Re-tort'ed 9, con-tent' 2d, break fast 29, slip'per-y 3b, ev'er-y 3b, mis-for'tune 9.

DARBY AND JOAN.

1. WHEN Darby saw the setting sun
He swung his scythe, and home he run;
Sat down, drank off his pint, and said,
"My work is done; I'll go to bed."

66

My work is done!" retorted Joan

My work is done!- your constant tone;
But hapless woman ne'er can say,

'My work is done,' till judgment day!"

2. Here Darby hemmed and scratched his head,
To answer what his Joan had said;
But all in vain, her clack went on-
"Yes, woman's work is never done! !"
At early dawn, ere Phoebus rose,