make so good a use of your eyes. This is the way not only to gain information, but to have a perpetual source of amusement constantly at hand. We will walk a little, as the rain is passed away; and should we be spared till tomorrow, we will have another page or two of your journal."

CHAP. VII.

WE SHOULD CAREFULLY USE OUR EYES.

"CHESTERFIELD, you know, papa, is the nearest town to Mr. Wallace's house. He one day took us to see the iron foundries of Mr. Smith, with whom he is acquainted. We were all very much pleased with them. It is very pleasant, you know, papa, to learn how any thing is made. Mr. Smith was particularly kind to me. He said, papa, many times, that he should have been very glad if you had been of our party.. He hopes you will go and visit him. I do not think, however, papa, that the process of mak

ing iron pleased us so much as the wild beasts, which were at the fair. I had seen most of them before, as you always take me to see wild beasts, when any come near us."

"Yes, Edwin, I wish you to have an extensive acquaintance with the works of God."

"It was a very large collection, papa, and was well worth seeing. There was a small serpent, about ten feet long, of the boa species: I never saw one before. It was very finely marked. Though I admired it, I felt a kind of terror in looking at it."

"I do not wonder at this: I always do so. Yet this was a very small one, indeed, compared with the account we have of one in the Roman history. Valerius Maximus, quoting from Livy, informs us, that a snake of a prodigious size stopped the army of Atilius Regulus in Africa. After killing several of the soldiers, it was destroyed by a shower of stones. The skin of this prodigious animal was sent to Rome, and hung up for public inspection in a temple. We are assured that its length was one hundred and twenty feet. It is not, however, unlikely, that the account is somewhat exaggerated. Mr. Mac Leod, the surgeon of the frigate which conveyed the late embassy to China, tells us, that at Batavia they took on board a boa constrictor which had been sent from Borneo. 'He

was shut up,' he says, 'in a wooden cage, the bars of which were sufficiently close to prevent his escape. It had a sliding door, for the purpose of admitting the articles on which he was to subsist. The dimensions of the crib were about four feet high, and about five feet square; a space sufficiently large to allow him to coil himself round with ease. The live stock for his use during the passage, consisting of six goats of the ordinary size, were sent with him on board, five being considered as a fair allowance for as many months. At an early period of the voyage, we had an exhibition of his talent in the way of eating, which was publicly performed on the quarter-deck, upon which he was brought. The sliding door being opened, one of the goats was thrust in, and the door of the cage shut. The poor goat, as if instantly aware of all the horrors of its perilous situation, immediately began to utter the most piercing and distressing cries; butting instinctively at the same time, with its head towards the serpent.' You may read, Edwin, the other part of the account at your leisure. For my own part, I feel much when I peruse narratives of this kind; and I am sure I could not, with any comfort, have been a spectator of such a scene."

"There was a very fine elephant in the col

lection, papa. Though I have seen several, I am always pleased with them. This was eight feet high. I think it was larger than any I had seen before. He was perfectly tame. I fed him, and gently stroked his trunk, and many times told him he was a fine fellow. He seemed to enjoy the scene as much as we did. Do you think this was not the case, papa?"

"Most likely it was, Edwin. Most animals, as well as our own species, are sensible when they are treated kindly, and evidently contract a kind of affection for those who are friendly to them. The elephant, especially, is pro

verbially sagacious. Pope says:

How instinct varies in the grov'ling swine,
Compar'd, half-reasoning elephant, with thine!
"Twixt that, and reason, what a nice barrier,
For ever separate, yet for ever near!'

The elephant may be trained to do almost any thing. They have often presented a firm front against an enemy in battle. I have heard of one which had more than thirty bullets in the fleshy parts of his body, and he got the better of his wounds. They have often, however, routed and scattered the forces of their employers. Nothing can withstand the fury of an enraged elephant retreating, seriously wounded,