bodying of the yearnings of the poet's own heart for its long and final place of rest." The subject is a wide one, and we forbear to advance further into it.

The tale of Proserpine in the "Pomegranate Seeds," and the legend of "the Golden Fleece," complete the volume. The stories themselves would furnish to children both entertainment and instruction; but while it is every way profitable to point out any good lesson derivable from these mythic narratives, the advisableness of filling their heads with entirely fanciful notions of some of the subjects spoken of may well be questioned. Thus they are told that the Centaur Chiron

"was not really very different from other people, but that being a kindhearted and merry old fellow, he was in the habit of making believe that he was a horse, and scrambling about the school-room on all fours, and letting the little boys ride upon his back."

This may be very amusing, but it might have been better to leave the matter unnoticed, like in any other mythical wonder which must be taken as we find it, and on which our ingenuity would be exercised in vain.

That these legends give something more than merely unmeaning details, seems plain: and it is certain that children are especially attracted by such stories. No one then, we may conclude, would wish to circumscribe the amount of instruction which they may derive from their perusal : and the guidance of common sense will be sufficient safeguard against extravagance in the interpretation of them.

A FEW NOTES FROM CAIRO.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

LETTER No. IV.

CAIRO.

From our Nile Boat, Boulac, Nov. 23rd.

MY DEAR

BOULAC is a long straggling place extending itself along the banks of the river for more than a mile. It has a dockyard or place for building boats for the Pasha, and there is a stone wharf with stairs and convenient landing for the steam-boats and passengers by the Indian transit; the rest of the shore is left in its purely natural state, a steep bank of dry mud, under which lie huddled together crowds of the common traffic boats of the river, laden chiefly with corn and cotton. Here are one or two large buildings, palaces or harems of great men; a considerable number of storehouses, enclosures of high mud-brick walls, and an assemblage of wretched hovels. The first thing that strikes one on leaving Boulac are the granaries of corn. Enormous piles of corn stand up without any protection from weather but the open canopy of heaven, and the birds come down, pigeons and smaller birds, and pitch upon them and feed themselves undisturbed. The sight of these carried me back to Joinville's similar account of the piles of corn made by St. Louis on his expedition to Egypt, but he describes the piles as having become green on the outer surface from the action of the weather; here the corn looks as fresh and bright as gold, and it surprises me, for there are thick damp mists at this season every morning, sometimes not clearing till near mid-day. The road to Cairo lies along a broad raised causeway, planted with trees, chiefly acacias, on either side. To the right and left below lie large square plots or meadows, some still full of water, some in a state of mud, and some already green with the springing corn. The road shews signs of business and traffic in here and there a string of camels or carts, and always a number of persons, like oneself, mounted on donkeys. It would be

intolerably dusty but for the diligent labours, not of the water-carts, but of the water-men; they carry large goatskins filled with water slung across the back; the mouth of the skin is brought round under the right arm, and from this the bearer squirts the water over the road with considerable skill and effect. The wall of the city is useless as a fortification, and seems preserved chiefly for the purpose of taking tolls and customs at the gates. Passing the gateway one enters first on the Ezbekieh, which is an enormous square, large enough for a respectable park, and now planted out into walks and gardens. Round this chiefly lie the houses of the Europeans and the various hotels, the chief of which is Shepherd's, who has the contract for the transit to Suez. Here was the end of our first exploring expedition; it was hot and dusty, and we stayed to dine with M- ; returning by night we had to get a pass from the consul; a man ran before us with a large kind of paper lantern, like the Chinese lanterns you have seen, and our dragoman had brought up two of our crew armed with their long "naboots" for our protection; but such guard seems perfectly unnecessary, one travels with as much security as in England, and the only just cause of dread is lest your donkey in the dark should put his foot in a hole, or stumble over a sleeping dog and come down with you. On our return we found our men in great indignation, we were moored just opposite the harem of some great man, and the insolent black slaves and eunuchs had beaten our donkey-boys and threatened our crew. A shocking scene also had occurred in the afternoon. These same black slaves had quarrelled with the crew of a corn-boat, and catching the rais or captain alone on the shore, they beat him with their sticks till he was left for dead; our men said he was dead, and our English servant told me he never saw a more brutal spectacle. We also found our boat swarming with mosquitoes from the trees of Rhode island, and accordingly next day we changed our moorings, dropping a little lower down. These black slaves and eunuchs are chiefly Abyssinians, tall, weedy, sullen-looking fellows, handsomely dressed, well fed, and insolent. Not long since Shepherd, the master of the hotel, and another Englishman, were nearly murdered by some of them; they had been dining on board a boat, where they had a full supply

of wine, and were returning late at night; whether from the darkness, or the wine, they mistook the door of an harem for the gate of the quarter, and knocked for entrance; thinking the porter was asleep they knocked again and clamoured, when the door opened and they found themselves in the hands of a party of black slaves armed with bludgeons, who knocked them down and beat them within an inch of their lives. Shepherd has received a slight contusion of the brain, and his head and face are still bandaged up and disfigured; the matter has been before the Pasha's court, and the slaves are condemned to be bastinadoed as long as Shepherd pleases to look on and order, to pay his doctor's bill, and the price of his watch, which they smashed. However, to quiet people, who keep themselves out of harm's way, the country is as secure for preservation of life and property as it is in England.

The town itself of Cairo is most oriental and interesting, unlike anything one has ever seen, and a perfect labyrinth of narrow winding streets and passages; many of the streets are so narrow that I can touch them on either side with my hands stretched out; and this is on the ground, and as the second and third stories protrude successively one beyond the other, they almost touch at the top; the effect is a delicious coolness from the total exclusion of the sun, and rest to the eye; they are also very picturesque. One of the great peculiarities to our eyes is the absence of glass windows; the windows are usually high up and covered with a close wooden lattice, until one seems sometimes to be riding between two high dead walls rather than between inhabited houses. The main thoroughfares of the town are wider and crowded to excess; I perfectly dread the passage through them. One finds oneself launched in a moment out of some cool quiet by-stream, into a turbulent sea of turbans and fezzes, where navigation is by no means easy. One's merciless donkey-boy urges on behind; bawling constantly "Shemalek," "Riklag," whatever that may mean; innumerable other donkey-boys are thrusting on different ways, uttering the same cries and stunning one with noise. In the mean time you are hurried along, with as little choice or self-will as a straw on the current of a stream, here jostled against a cart to the infinite peril of your shins in the wheel, there catching the goat-skin of a

water-carrier with your knee and upsetting him with his load; still on you hurry till the injured water-carrier is avenged by his fellow, for suddenly you come on a spot that has been watered most abundantly, unconsciously you hurry over the treacherous surface, the donkey makes a long slip and down you come donkey and all. Another peril which I dread little less is to find oneself suddenly fixed right under the jaws of a huge camel, you look up and there is the great monstrous head garnished with powerful teeth suspended right over you, and shuddering you think of the fate of Ulysses' hapless companions when Scylla reached out her frightful heads and bore them off writhing in the air. In sober earnest the camel is at times, especially towards the spring, dangerous, and will bite savagely. Passed all these dangers you come to quieter and cooler regions, where are the chief bazaars; each trade appears to have its separate place and division. In one part are all the carpet-sellers, in another all the silks, in another all the slippers, in another all the pipes, and so on; some parts of these bazaars, especially where they sell the silks, present a brilliant appearance, but much of it when looked into is mere tinsel and gewgaw. We purchased a few trifles, a carpet or rather rug for our boat, and a couple of Cairo pipes; the pipe-sticks here are not plain cherry and jessamine sticks such as we met at Alexandria, but are covered with a brilliant silk embroidery of blue and gold; for 1. or 1. 10s. you can get them very handsome. It took us hours to effect our few trifling dealings. First we examined the articles and consulted our dragoman on their value, of which matter we were usually supremely ignorant; then pipes and coffee would be offered and we would sit down and smoke our pipe while the dragoman and dealer conducted their bargain deliberately, and according to the approved method, to a satisfactory arrangement. Then follows the payment, and here is a fresh bargain on the value of the coins, and another long delay in obtaining small change; no one is willing to give small change, i.e. piastres, as they are at a premium, e. g. for a dollar worth 19 piastres, the money-changer will only give you 18 piastres.

Before going up the country you require a large supply of small money, and this you must get at the moneychangers, who are all Jews, and at the rate of from five