ster.

Blackfriar's bridge, felt his curiosity excited by observing the craft which line the river on both sides, crowded with spectators, gazing with anxious eyes at some object on the surface of the water. Upon advancing a little nearer to the object of curiosity, he beheld a human being seated in a washing-tub, floating with the tide under the pilotage of six geese, yoked to the aquatic vehicle, and proceeding with all the grave composure of a civic voyage to WestminWhenever the geese were inclined to deviate, he observed they were gently guided by the aid of a stick into the right course again. On inquiring into the cause of this exhibition, he found that the personage thus launched upon so perilous an enterprise, was Usher, the professional grimacier of the Coburg theatre, whose aquatic feats of this description had acquired him much celebrity, and who, on this occasion, had laid a wager of ten guineas to perform a voyage from Blackfriars to Westminster, in the frail bark which we have just described.

THE CHASE OF LIFE.

By Mr. Upton.

The Age is a Chase, from the time we draw breath,
The present, the future, and past;

And tho' all must yield to the grand archer, Death,
The sport is kept up to the last.

The Statesman's a Huntsman, ambition's his game;
The Soldier for glory contends;

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The Sailor for England emblazon's his fame,
And ranks with her dearest of friends.

The Patriot's a Lion, his country the field.
He chooses to run down her foes;

The Courtier's a Spaniel, will supple and yield,
And a Coxcomb's a Jay in fine clothes.

The Bailiff's a Kite, ever bent on his prey;
The Bully's a Magpie, all talk ;

The Miser a Muckworm, appears night and day,
And a Lawyer's a blood-sucking Hawk.

The Prude is a Fox, rather crafty and sly,
Pretending aversion to sin;

The Coquet's an Eel, that demands a sharp eye,
And frequently not worth a pin.

The Wife, loving wife, is the pride of the Chase,
And life's gloomy evening cheers;

And where is the Hunter can't easily trace,
The sweet temper'd girls are all Deers.

THE HORSE AND VIPER.

The great viper called Fer de Lance, is one of the most dreadful scourges in the West Indies, but it is found only in Martinique, St. Lucia, and another small Island. This viper is so savage, that the moment it sees any person, it immediately erects itself, and springs upon him. In raising itself, it rests upon four equal circles formed by the lower part of the body; when it springs, these circles are suddenly dissolved. After the spring, if it should miss its object, it may be attacked with advantage; but this requires considerable courage, for, as soon as it can erect itself again, the assailant runs the greatest risk of being bitten. Often, too, it is

so bold as to follow its enemy by leaps and bounds, instead of fleeing from hin; and it does not cease the pursuit till its revenge is glutted. In its erect position it is so much the more formidable, because it is as high as a man, and can even bite a person on horseback.

M. Morreau de Jonnes was once riding through a wood, when his horse reared; and when the rider looked round to discover the cause of the animal's terror, he perceived a Fer de Lance viper standing quite erect in a bush of bamboo, and heard it hiss several times. He would have fired at it with his pistol, but the affrighted horse drew back so ungovernably, that he was obliged to look about for somebody to hold him. He now espied, at some distance, a negro upon the ground, wallowing in his blood, and cutting with a blunt knife the flesh from the wound occasioned by the bite of the same viper. When M. Jonnes acquainted him with his intention of killing the serpent, he earnestly opposed it, as he wished to take it alive, and make use of it for his cure, according to the superstitious notions of the negroes. He presently arose, cut some lianes, made a snare with them, and then concealing himself behind the bush, near the viper, he attracted its attention by a low whistling noise, and suddenly throwing a noose over the animal, drew it tight, and secured his enemy. M. Morreau saw this negro a twelvemonth afterwards, but he had not

perfectly recovered the use of the limbs bitten by the viper. The negroes persecute these vipers with the greatest acrimony. When they have killed one, they cut off its head, and bury it deep in the earth, that no mischief may be done by the fangs, which are dangerous after the death of the animal. Men and beasts shun this formidable reptile; the birds manifest the same antipathy for that as they do for owls in Europe, and a small one of the Loxia kind, even gives warning by its cry, that a viper is at hand.

SKETCH OF A DISTINGUISHED SPORTSWOMAN.

Lady Fearnought was the only child of a gentleman of large fortune, in Sussex, who was perfect Nimrod in the chase; he was doatingly fond of her. Having no son to initiate into his favourite pursuits, or participate with him in the pleasures of hunting and shooting, and seeing his daughter a fine robust girl, he determined to bring her up in the place of one; and, as she had strong animal spirits, great muscular strength, and rude health, she preferred partaking of the field sports of her father, to the lessons of the French governess and dancing-master, or being confined to work at the tambourframe of her mother; in spite of whose gentle remonstrances, Mr. Beagle, aided by the inclinations of his romping daughter, vowed he would have his plan of education adopted.

In consequence at fifteen, she would take the most desperate leaps, and clear a five-barred gate with the keenest fox-hunter in the county. She was always in at the death was reckoned the best shot within a hundred miles; for having once levelled her death-dealing tube, the fate of the feathered tribe was inevitable, as the spoils she exultingly displayed sufficiently testified, when she turned out her net to her admiring father.

At seventeen, Emma Beagle, early habituated to exercise, had never felt the baleful curse of illhealth, that extermination of every comfort. Her height was five feet eight; her person finely formed; she had a commanding and majestic appearance. From the freedom of her education which had banished mauvaise honte, she had aequired a firm tone of voice, an impressive manner of delivering her sentiments, which, if it did not always carry conviction to her auditors, helped to awe them into silence. Her complexion was that of a bright brunette; on her cheeks glowed the rich tints of health, laid on by Aurora, as she hailed the rosy-fingered goddess's approach on the upland lawn. Her eyes were of the darkest hazel, full of fire and intelligence; her nose Grecian; her hair a glossy chestnut, which flowed in luxuriant profusion upon her fine formed shoulders, in all its native graces, as she never would consent to its being