was an act of desperation to draw the trigger, and I had hardly weel shut my een, when I got such a thump in the shoulder, as knocked me backwards head-over-heels on the grass. Before I came to my senses, I could have sworn I was in anither world; but, when I opened my een, there were the men, at ease, halding their sides, laughing like to spleet them; and my gun lying on the ground, twa three ell before me.

When I found mysell no killed outright, I began to rise up. As I was rubbing my breek-knees, I saw ane of the men gaen forward to lift up the fatal piece; and my care for the safety of ithers o'ercame the seuse of my own peril. "Let alane-let alane!" cried I to him, " and take care of yoursell, for it has to gang aff five times yet."

The laughing was now terrible; but being little of a soldier, I thocht in my innocence, that we should hear as mony reports, as I had crammed catridges down her muzzle. This was a sair joke against me for a length of time; but I tholded it patiently, considering cannily within mysell, that knowledge is only to be bought by experience. A fule ance showed me the story afterwards in a jeest book, as if it wasna true!

SELECTED FROM HOOKER'S TRAVELS.

AN ICELANDIC DINNER.

THE arrangement of a dinner table in Iceland, says Mr. Hooker, is attended with little trouble, and would afford no scope for the display of the elegant abilities of an experienced English housekeeper. On the cloth was nothing but a plate, a knife and fork, a wine-glass and a bottle of claret for each guest, except that in the middle stood a large and handsome glass castor, with a magnificent silver top. The natives are not in the habit of drinking malt liquor or water, nor is it customary to eat salt with their meals. The dishes are brought in singly: our first was a large turenne of soup, which is a favorite addition to the dinners of the richer people, and is made of sago, claret and rasins, boiled so as to become almost a mucilage. We were helped to two soup-plates full of this, which we ate without knowing if any thing more was to come. No sooner, however, was the soup removed, than two large salmon, boiled and cut in slices, were brought on, and with them melted butter, looking like oil, mixed with vinegar and pepper; this, likewise, was very good, and, when we had with some difficulty

cleared our plates, we hoped we had finished our dinners. Not so, for there was then introduced a turenne full of the eggs of the cree, or great tern, boiled hard, of which a dozen were put on each of our plates and for sauce, we had a large bason of cream, mixed with sugar, in which were four spoons, so that we all ate out of the same bowl placed in the middle of the table. We petitioned hard to be excused from eating the whole of the eggs upon our plates, but we petitioned in vain. "You are my guests," said our host," and this is the first time you have done me the honor of a visit, therefore you must do as I would have you; in future, when you come to see me, you may do as you like." He pleaded age as his own excuse for not following our example, to which we could make no reply. We devoured with difficulty our eggs and cream, but had no sooner dismissed our plates, than half a sheep, well roasted came on, with a mess of sorrel (rumex arcetosa) called by the Danes scurvy grass, boiled, mashed, and sweetened with sugar. It was to no purpose we assured our host that we had already eaten more than would do us good: he filled our plates with mutton and sauce, and made us get through it as well as we could; although any one of the dishes of which we had before partaken, was sufficient for the dinner of a moderate man. However, this was not all; for a large dish of waffels, as they are here called, that is to say, a sort of pancakes, made of wheat flour, flat, and roasted in a mould, which forms a number of squares on the top, succeeded the mutton. They were not more than half an inch thick, and about the size of an octavo book. The Stiftsamptman (or Governor) said he would be satisfied if each of us would eat two of them, and with these moderate terms we were forced to comply. For bread, Norway biscuit and loaves made of rye, were served up; for our drink, we had nothing but claret, of which we were all compelled to empty the bottle which stood by us, and this too, out of tumblers, rather than wine-glasses. It is not the custom in this country to sit after dinner over the wine; but we had instead of it to drink just as much coffee as the Stiftsamptman thought proper to give us. The coffee was certainly extremely good, and we trusted it would terminate the feast. But all was not yet over; for a large bowl of rum-punch was brought in, and handed round in large glasses pretty freely, and to every glass a toast was given. If at any time we flagged in drinking, " Baron Banks” was always the signal for emptying our glasses, in order that we might have them filled with bumpers to drink to his health;

that no Englishman ought to hesitate about complying with most gladly, though assuredly, if any exception might be made to such a rule, it would be in an instance like the present. We were threatened with still another bowl, after we should have drained this, and accordingly another actually came, which we were with difficulty allowed to refuse to empty entirely; nor could this be done but by ordering our people to get the boat ready for our departure, when having concluded this extraordinary feast by three cups of tea each, we took our leave, and reached Reikevig about ten o'clock, but did not for some time recover from the effects of this most involuntary intemperance.

SELECTED FROM CAPT. LYON'S NARRATIVE.

WINTER SKY IN THE NORTH SEAS.

'As we now had seen the darkest, although not by many degrees the coldest season of the year, it may not here be irrelevant to mention the beautiful appearance of the sky at this period. To describe the colors of these cloudless heavens would be impossible; but the delicacy and pureness of the various blended tints excelled any thing I ever saw, even in Italy. The sun shines with a diminished lustre, so that it is possible to contemplate it without a painful feeling to the eyes, yet the blush color, which in severe frost always accompanies it, is, in my opinion, far more pleasing than the glittering borders which are so profusely seen on the clouds in warmer climates. The nights are no less lovely, in consequence of the clearness of the sky. The moon and stars shine with wonderful lustre, and almost persuade one to be pleased with the surrounding desolation. The aurora borealis does not appear affected by the brilliancy even of the full moon, but its light continues still the same. The first appearance of this phenomenon is generally in showers of falling rays, like those thrown from a rocket, although not so bright. These being in constant and agitated motion, have the appearance of trickling down the sky. Large masses of light succeeded next in order, alternating from a faint glow resembling the milky way, to the most vivid flashes, which stream and shoot in every direction with the effect of sheet lightning, except that after the flash, the aurora still continues to be seen. The sudden glare and rapid bursts of these wondrous showers of fire, render it impossible to observe them, without fancying that they produce a rushing sound; but I am confident that there is no actual noise at

tending the changes, and that the idea is erroneous. I frequently stood for hours together on the ice, to ascertain this fact, at a distance from any noise but my own breathing, and thus I formed my opinion. Neither did I observe any variety of color in the flashes, which were to my eye always of the same shade as the milky way, and vivid sheet lightning. The stars which gleam through the aurora certainly emit a milder ray, as if a curtain of the finest gauze were interposed. It is remarkable that whenever the weather is calm, the aurora has a tendency to form an arch, at whatever position it may occupy in the heavens. On the 29th of this month we were particularly gratified by a beautiful exhibition of this kind at near midnight. A perfect arch was formed to the southward, stretching from east to west; its centre elevated about two degrees above the horizon. The night was serene and dark, which added considerably to its effect, and the appearance continued unchanged for about a quarter of an hour; but on a slight breeze springing up, small rays shot occasionally to the zenith, and the arch became agitated with a gentle and undulating motion, after which it spread irregularly, and separating into the usual streamers, soon diffused itself over the whole sky. In stormy weather the northern lights fly with the rapidity of lightning, and with a corresponding wildness to the gale which is blowing, giving an indescribable air of magic to the whole scene.

SELECTED FROM EASTERN LETTERS.

MANNA.

THE Wady El Sheikh, the greatest valley of Western Sinai, is in many parts thickly overgrown with the tamarisk or tarfa; it is the only valley in the peninsula where the tree now grows, in any great quantity, though small bushes of it are here and there met with in other parts. It is from the tarfa that the manna is obtained, and it is very strange that the fact should have remained unknown in Europe, till M. Seetzen mentioned it. This substance is called by the Bedouins mann, and accurately resembles the description of manna given in the scriptures. In the month of June it drops from the thorn of the tamarisk upon the fallen twigs, leaves and thorns, which always cover the ground beneath the tree, in the natural state; the manna is collected before sunrise, when it is coagulated; but it dissolves as soon as the sun shines upon it. The Arabs clean way the leaves, dirt, &c. which adhere to it, boil it, strain it hrough a coarse piece of cloth,and put it in leathern skins. In this

way they preserve it till the following year, and use it as they do honey, to pour over unleavened bread, or to dip their bread into. I could not learn that they ever made it into cakes or loaves. The manna is found only in years when copious rains have fallen; sometimes it is not produced at all, as will probably happen this year. I saw none of it among the Arabs, but I obtained a small piece of last year's produce in the convent; where, having been kept in the cool shade and moderate temperature of that place, it had become quite solid, and formed a small cake; it became soft when kept sometime in the hand; if placed in the sun for five minutes, it dissolved; but when restored to a cool place, it became solid again in a quarter of an hour. In the season at which the Arabs gather it, it never acquires that state of hardness which will allow of its being pounded as the Israelites are said to have done, in Numbers, xi. 8. Its color is a dirty yellow, and the piece which I saw was still mixed with bit of the tamarisk leaves; its taste is agreeable, somewhat aromatic, and as sweet as honey. If eaten in any considerable quantity, it is said to be slightly purgatory.

The quantity of manna collected at present, even in seasons when the most copious rains fall, is trifling; perhaps not amounting to more than five or six hundred pounds. It is entirely consumed among the Bedouins; who consider it the greatest dainty which their country affords. The harvest is usually in June, and lasts for about six weeks; sometimes it begins in May. There are only particular parts of the Wady Sheikh that produce the tamarisk; but it is said also to grow in Wady Naszeb, the fertile valley to the S. E. of the convent, on the road from thence to Sherm.

In Nubia and part of Arabia the tamarisk is one of the most common trees; on the Euphrates, on the Astabetas, in all the valleys of the Hedjaz and the Bedja, it grows in great plenty. The tamarisk abounds more in juices than any tree of the desert, for it retains its vigor when every vegetable production around it is withered, and never loses its verdure till it dies. It is remarked by Niebuhr, that in Messopotamia manna is produced by several trees of the oak species; a similar fact was confirmed to me by the son of a Turkish lady, who had passed the greater part of his youth at Erzerum, in Asia Minor; he told me that at Moush, a town three or four days distant from Erzerum, a substance is collected from the tree which produces the galls, exactly similar to the manna of the peninsula in taste and consistence, and that it is used by the inhabitants instead of honey.