other quadrupeds, to secure prey which it would be impossible for it to overtake. 8. In the day time, the cougar is seldom seen, but its pecu liar cry frequently thrills the experienced traveler with horror, while encamping in the forest at night; or he is startled to hear the cautious approaches of the animal, stealing step by step toward him, over the crackling brush and leaves, in expectation of springing on an unguarded or sleeping victim, whom nothing but a rapid flight can save. 9. The following account is from the pen of a gentleman of Lexington, Kentucky." "About the close of the late war," says the writer, "a merchant by the name of Herse, and a fellowtraveler, traveling near Fort Wayne, in Indiana, concluded to pass the night in the woods without a fire; and turning their horses loose, they lay down in their blankets on the leaves. 10. "In the night, they were roused by hearing the horses snort, as they are apt to do on the approach of Indians," and shortly after, they were heard to make several bounds through the woods, as if some one had unsuccessfully attempted to catch them. 11. "After some time had elapsed, they both distinctly heard what they supposed to be a man, crawling toward them on his hands and feet, as they could hear first one hand cautiously extended, and pressed very gently on the leaves to avoid making a noise, then the other, and finally the other limbs in like manner, and with equal care. 12. "When they believed that this felonious visitor was within about ten feet of them, they touched each other, sprung up simultaneously, and rushed to some distance through the woods, where they crouched and remained without further disturbance. A short time after, they heard the NOTES.-a Lex'ington; the oldest town in Kentucky, situated 25 miles east of Frankfort. b Kentuck'y; one of the Western States, situated between Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, on the north, and Tennessee on the south. Fort Wayne; a town situ ated in the north-eastern part of Indiana, on the Maumee river. d In-di-ä'na; one of the Western States, north of Kentucky. See Indians, p. 131, note b. horses snorting and bounding furiously through the woods, but they did not venture to arise until broad daylight, being still ignorant of the character of their enemy. 13. "When it was sufficiently light to see, by climbing a sap ling, they discovered the horses at a considerable distance on the prairie. On approaching them, it was at once evident that their disturber had been nothing less than a cougar. It had sprung upon the horses, and so lacerated their flanks with its claws and teeth, that with the greatest difficulty were they able to drive the poor creatures before them. 14. "I now offered a reward of ten dollars to any of the Indians who would bring in this animal, and a few evenings after, on returning from a day's hunting, I found an Indian waiting with the body of the cougar, which he had killed about two hours before. This Indian found its track, which he followed about twelve miles, where he was on the point of abandoning the chase. 15. "At this moment, he heard the bushes rustle, and turning, he saw the beast which had sprung against the body of a tree, to observe its pursuer. He instantly fired, and shot him through the heart, as I found on dissecting the animal. 16. "The Indian dragged the body about a quarter of a mile on the snow, but finding it too heavy, he procured a sled, on which he brought it in. It was six feet and nine inches in length, from the nose to the end of the tail, and the circumference of the body, just below the fore legs, was two feet and seven inches." NOTE.-a Prai'ries are of three kinds; the heathy, which have springs, and are covered with shrubs; the dry, which, in general, are destitute of vegetation except grass, and the alluvial, which have a fertile soil and a rank vegetation. QUESTIONS. 1. What is the cougar sometimes called? 1. Where only is the true lion to be found? 2. How does the cougar compare with the lion in size? 3. What is its color? 5. Where is the cougar found? 5. What is meant by the name Union? 6. What is said of the ferocity of the cougar? 7. How does it seize the prey it cannot overtake? 8. When does the cougar usually seek for its prey ? 9. Relate the story of the cougar and travelers? 9. What is said of Lexington 9. What is said of Kentucky? 9. What is said of Fort Wayne? 9. What is said of Indiana? 15. How did the Indian kill the cougar? 16. What is said of his size? LESSON LI. Spell and Define. 1. Gla'ciers, immense masses of ice. 2. Crystal-iz-ed, formed into crystals. 8. Cham'ois, a kind of wild goat. 9. Fun'gus, an order of plants, compre hending mushrooms, &c. 9. Germ'in-ates, sprouts, grows. 13. Av-a-lanche', a mountain-slide of ice or snow. 14. Mount-ain-eers', inhabitants of a mountain. 16. Lam'mer-geir, a kind of vulture. ERRORS.1. Glaz'yers for gla'ciers; 1. drap'er-y for dra'per-y; 2. deb'ris for de-bris'; 3. al-peen' for al'pine; 4. for-rards for foreheads; 6. pe-des'tals for ped': es-tals; 8. drifs for drifts; 15. blat'ing for bleat'ing; 16. pes'ant for pheas'ant. 1. GLACIERS are the everlasting drapery of the Alps,* clothing them in summer and winter with their robes of ice. They are formed, by the successive thawing and freezing of the loose snow, in the spring and summer. 2. Melting in the day time, and freezing at night, the whole mass at length becomes crystalized; and as the lower extremities melt in summer, they gradually move down the mountain, carrying with them debris of rocks and stone, making a perfect geological cabinet of the hill it throws up. 3. Glaciers begin at an elevation of about eight thousand feet, or a little less; above this are eternal snow fields. These glaciers constitute one of the most striking features of Alpine scenery. 4. Whether they are looked upon with the eye of a geologist, and the slow and mighty process of renovation and destruction is contemplated, working on from the birth to the death of time; or whether they are regarded with the eye of a landscape painter, as they now clasp the breast of a bold peak in their shining embrace, and now stretch their icy arms NOTE. .—a Alps; the chain of mountains lying between Italy and Switzerland, 700 miles long, and 3 miles high. far away into the mountains, and now plunge their glittering foreheads into the green valley, they are the same objects of intense interest and ever fresh wonder. 5. As they push down the declivities, the obstructions they meet with, and the broken surface over which they pass, throw them into every variety of shape. Towers are suddenly squeezed up forty or fifty feet high, and precipices thrown out, which topple over with the roar of thunder. 6. Rocks and bowlders, that have been carried away, from . their resting-places, on the bosom of the glacier, protect the ice under them by their shadow, while the surrounding mass gradually melts away, leaving them standing on stately pedestals, huge black obelisks, slowly traveling toward the valley. 7. Whenever these descending masses enter a gorge in the mountains, they spread out into it, partially filling it up, and are called ice-seas. These large collections of ice are traversed by immense crevices, reaching hundreds of feet down, and revealing that beautiful ultramarine color, which the Rhone" has, as it leaves lake Geneva.b 8. Through these fissures, streams flow in every direction, and collecting at the lower extremity of the glacier, under the roof of a huge cavern of their own making, flow off, a turbid torrent, into the valley. Into these crevices the snow frequently drifts, choking up the portion near the surface, thus making concealed pit-falls for the traveler, and sometimes even for the wary, bold chamois hunter. 9. Above the glaciers near the summit, one frequently meets with red snow. I have seen it myself, and noticed it when I was not looking for it. The color is said to be produced by a species of fungus, which makes the snow its soil, NOTES.a Rhone (rone); a large river rising in Switzerland, and flowing into the gulf of Lyons, in the south of France. bLake Gene'va; a beautiful lake in the western part of Switzerland, forty-seven miles long. In the polar regions snow has been seen of a red, orange, and salmon color; and the snow-storms of those places sometimes present a luminous appearance, covering objects, as it were, with a sheet of fire. and germinates and grows in imperceptible branches, over the surface. 10. The invisible threads, reaching out in every direction, give to the snow a deep crimson blush, which, as the plant dies, changes into a dirty black. 11. The number of glaciers in the Alps has been estimated at about four hundred; but one might as well attempt to estimate the number and weight of all the avalanches that fall; for these glaciers are of all sizes, from a few rods to miles, and in every variety of shape and position. 12. Scientific men differ much as to the relative thickness of glaciers, though they average, probably, not more than seventy or eighty feet thick. Some of them are of a pure white, and shine in the noonday sun with dazzling splendor; but the greater part of them is covered with the debris of the moun ́tains, giving them a dirty hue, wholly unlike the appearance, one imagines they present, who has never seen them. 13. The impression they make on the mind of the beholder, however, can never be effaced. The marks of power, of the terrific struggles, they carry about them, fill the mind with emotions of grandeur, almost equal to the solitary avalanche and its lonely voice of thunder. 14. They have a voice of their own, too, called by the mountaineers, brullen,a or growlings, caused by the rending of the solid mass, when the south-east wind breathes upon it. The lower portion of the Alps is full of sound and motion. 15. Even after you leave the tinkling of bells, the music of the horn, and the bleating of goats, there is the roar of the torrent, the shock of the avalanche, and the grinding, crushing sound of the mighty glacier. But when you ascend above the base, all is still and silent as the sepulcher. 16. Eternal Sabbath' reigns around the peaks, and solitude, deeper than the heart of the forest, embraces the subaued and NOTES. a Brullen (brool'len); a German word, signifying as defined in the text or piece. b See Sabbath, page 134, note a. |