of my engagement to you. I well remember your telling me I should forget you, and my answering, that it was "impossible!" Birds were never more plentiful, and till a frost sets them off to a milder atmosphere, I cannot be off for England. I am spell-bound to the fields and waters. Do not, however, be disheartened; I hope yet to do something handsome for your hobby," but I have one of my own, and I must ride him while I can. It strikes me, however, that I can communicate something in my way, that will interest some readers of the EveryDay Book, if you think proper to lay it before them. Every labouring man in France has a right to sport, and keeps a gun. The consequence of this is, that from the middle of October, or the beginning of this month, vast quantities of wild-fowl are annually shot in and about the fens of Picardy, whither they resort principally in the night, to feed along the different ditches and small ponds, many of which are artificially contrived with one, two, and sometimes three little huts, according to the dimensions of the pond. These huts are so ingeniously manufactured. and so well adapted to the purpose that I send you two drawings to convey ar idea of their construction. All wild-fowl are timorous, and easily deceived. The sportsman's huts, to the number of eight or ten, are placed in such a situation, that not until too late do the birds discover the deception, and the destruction which, under cover, the fowlers deal among them. To allure them from their heights, two or three tame ducks, properly secured to stones near the huts, keep up an incessant quacking during the greater part of the night. The huts are sufficiently large to admit two men and a dog; one man keeps watch while his companion sleeps half the night, when, for the remainder, it becomes his turn to watch and relieve the other. They have blankets, a mattress, and suitable conveniences, for passing night after night obscured in their artificial caverns, and exposed to unwholesome damps and fogs. The huts are formed in the following manner:-A piece of ground is raised sufficiently high to protect the fowler from the wet ground, upon which is placed the frame of the temporary edifice. This is mostly made of ozier, firmly interwoven, as in this sketch. This frame is covered with dry reeds, and well plastered with mud or clay, to the thickness of about four inches, upon which is placed, very neatly, layers of turf, so that the whole, at a little distance, looks like a mound of verdant earth. Three holes, about four inches in diameter, for the men inside to see and fire through, are neatly cut; one is in the front, and one on each side. Very frequently there is a fourth at the top. This is for the purpose of firing from at the wild-fowl as they pass over. The fowlers, lying upon their backs, discharge guess shots at the birds, who are only heard by the noise of their wings in their flight. Fowlers, with quick ears, attain considerable expertness in this guess-firing. The numbers that are shot in this way are incredible. They are usually therefore sold at a cheap rate. At forty sous a couple, (1s. 8d. English) they are dear, but the price varies according to their condition. In the larger drawing, I have given the appearance of the country and of the atmosphere at this season, and a duckshooter with his gun near his hut, on the look out for coming flocks; but I fear wood engraving, excellent as it is for most purposes, will fall very short of the capability of engraving on copper to convey a correct idea of the romantic effect of the commingling cloud, mist, and sunshine, I have endeavoured to represent in this delightful part of France. Such as it is, it is at your service to do with as you please. For myself, though for the sake of va riety, I have now and then crept into a fowler's hut, and shot in ambuscade, I prefer open warfare, and I assure you I Lave had capital sport. That you may De acquainted with some of these wildfowl, I will just mention the birds I have shot here within the last three weeks, beginning with the godwit; their names in French are from my recollection of Buffon The Godwit. Common Godwit, la grand barge. Sandpipers. ing up insects from the bottom, and look. ing as if they had no legs. They are excessively wary, and above all, the most difficult to get near. Confound all ❝ black letter" say I, if it keeps a man from such delightful scenes as I have enjoyed every hour since I came here; as to pictureloving-come and see these pictures which never tire by looking at. I like a good picture though myself, and shall pick up some prints at Paris to put with my others. You may be certain therefore of my collecting something for you, after the birds have left, especially wood cuts. I shall accomplish what I can in the scrap and story-book way, which is not quite in my line, yet I think I know what you In my next you shall have something about lark-shooting, which, in Eng mean. Ruffs and Reeves, le combattant. blanc Common Sandpiper, la guignette. Brown Sandpiper, (Bewick.) Dunlin, la brunette. Ox-eye, l'alouette de mer. Little Stint, la petite alonette de mer, (Brisson) &c. &c. Curlews. Curlew, la courles. Whimbiel, le petite courles. Heron. Common, le heron hupe. Bittern, le butor. Little Bittern, le blongois. Ducks. north of France affords. I am, &c. J.J.II. FLORAL DIRECTORY. White Cedar. Cupressus thyoides. Dedicated to St. Olympias. December 18. Sts. Rufus and Zozimus, a. d. 116. St Gatian, 1st. Bp. of Tours, 3d. Cent St. Winebald, A. d. 760. THE ASS AND THE CAMEL. Fault was found because a newspaper commenced a police-office report of one of the humane endeavours of the warm The common Wild Duck, le canard sau- hearted member for Galway, in behalf of Pochard, penelope, le millovin. Pintail, le canard à longue queue. Tufted Duck, le petit morillon. (Brisson.) If you were here you should have a "gentleman's recreation," of the most delightful kind. Your propensity to look for old masters," would turn into look ing out for prime birds. The spotted red-shanks, or barkers, as they are sometimes called, would be fine fellows for you, who are fond of achieving difficulties. They come in small flocks, skimming about the different ponds into which they run to the height of the body, pick the proverbially most patient of all quadrupeds, by saying, " Mr. Martin came to this office with another ass." Ridicule, however, never injures a just man with the just-minded; Mr. Martin has been properly supported in every judicious effort by public opinion. The notice of the all-enduring ass, in former pages, occasions a letter from a gentleman, (with his name) whose researches have been directed to the geographical and natural history of foreign countries. In this communication he rerelative to Africa, which it may be ime fers to a work of considerable interest portant for inquirers regarding the inte rior of that region to be acquainted with, To the Editor of the Every-Day Book. Sir, November 29, 1825 The facetious TIM TIM in your Every-Day Book, of the 19th of SeptemDer, (p. 1309.) cites the amusing and accurate Leo Africanus, as asserting "that asses may be taught to dance to music." This is an error. Leo, in his description of Africa, (Elzevir edition, 1632. p. 749.) says. "I saw in Cairo a camel dance to the sound of a drum, and as the master told me, this is the mode of teaching: a young camel is selected and placed for half an hour in a place prepared for him of about the size of a stove, the pavement of which is heated by fire. Some one then, outside the door, beats the drum, and the camel, not on account of the music, but of the fire by which his feet are hurt, lifts first one leg then another, after the manner of a dancer, and after having been thus trained for ten or twelve months, he is led into public, when, on hearing the drum, and remembering the burning of his feet, he immediately begins to jump, and thinking himself to be on the same floor, he raises himself on his hind legs, and pears to dance; and so, use becoming second nature, he continues to do." The only ass described by Leo, is the ass of the woods, found only in the desert or its borders. It yields to the Barb, or Arabian, (Leo says they are the same,) in swiftness, and is caught with the greatest difficulty. When feeding, or drinking, he is always moving. A word more about the camel. He is of a most kind and mild nature, and partakes in a manner of the sense of man. If, at any time, between Ethiopia and Barbary (in the great desert) the day's journey is longer than ordinary, he is not to be driven on by stripes (or beating,) but the driver sings certain short songs, by which the camel being allured, he goes family and great acquirements, had been at Tombuto twice at least. Once he accompanied his father on his embassy from the king of Fez to that city, and afterwards as a merchant. This must have been at the very beginning of the sixteenth century, for he finished this work at Rome, the 5th of March, 1526. He describes Tombuto, as well as Bornou, and Cano, and many other of the Negro kingdoms with great minuteness, and with respect to the Niger, (which, like the Nile, rises, falls, and fertilizes the country,) he says, that its course is from the kingdom of Tombuto towards the west as far as Ginea or Jinnea, and even Melli, which joins the ocean at the same place where the Niger empties itself into the sea. He also says, that at Cabra, which is situate on the Niger, about twelve miles from Tombuto, the merchants sailing to Ginea or Melli, go on board their vessels. Moore, who resided as a writer and factor under the African company, at the mouth of the Gambia, about five years, and in 1738, published his travels, de. scribing the several nations for the space of six hundred miles up that river, concludes that river and the Niger to be the same. In this work will be found an English translation from the Italian, of parts of Leo's work. Jackson is a coxcomb, who copies without acknowledgment. He fancies the Niger runs backwards, and joins the Nile, after which they most fraternally run into the Mediterranean. I am, &c. T.O. FLORAL DIRECTORY. on with such swiftness, that no one is New Holland Cyprus. Cupressus Aus able to keep up with him. When I open this highly valued book, I never know when to close it; and, indeed, the less at this time, when we are all on tip-toe with respect to Africa. Now it does appear strange to me, that not one word has been said, either by the travellers, or those who have traced them, about this little work. One reason may be, that it has never been wholly translated into English. It is called by Hartman, (who has been deemed the ablest editor of these oriental authors,) a golden book, which had he wanted, he should as frequently have wanted light. The author, who was a man of a noble tralis. Dedicated to St. Winebald. December 19. St. Nemesion, &c., A. D. 250. St. Samthana, Abbess, A. D. 738. CELESTIAL SCENERY. By the contemplation of the " shining heavens" at this season, the mind is induced to the solemn thinking, beautifully imagined by the greatest and most wayward poet of our age. A Starlight Winter Night. The stars are forth, the moon above the tops I learn'd the language of another world While Caesar's chambers, and the Augustan halls, And thou didst shine, thou rolling moon, upon All this, and cast a wide and tender light, Of rugged desolation, and fill'd up, As 'twere, anew, the gaps of centuries; And making that which was not, till the place unto the height of this great argument," tried the same remedy with the same success, and when he became king, built a city upon the spot-the famous city of Bath. Nash. Beau Nash, the founder of the theatre at Bath, made laws to regulate when and where the company should assemble, and when they should separate; arranged the tactics of the dance; enacted the dress in which ladies should appear; and, if they ventured to disobey, whatever was their rank, turned them back. His strong sense and sarcastic humour, being supported by a prevailing sense of propriety, kept offenders of this sort in awe. It has been said that such a man in old times, would have been selected for the king's fool; he seems to have considered himself in that relation to the Bath visiters, and made use of the privilege the character allowed him. He lived on the follies of mankind, and cultivated them. He gambled, and his profits and his office required and enabled him to live expensively, sport a gay equipage, and keep a large retinue. Yet he became old and helpless, and lived to need that charity which he had never withheld from the needy, but which none extended to him. He died poor, neglected, and miserable; and the inhabitants of Bath rewarded his services and genius, in the usual manner; they erected a statue to the honour of the man whom they had suffered almost to starve. His loss, to the assemblies was exemplified in a very remarkable manner. Two ladies of quality quarrelled in the ball-room. The company took part, some on one side, some on the other: Nash was gone, and his successor in office did not inherit his authority: the partizans as well as the combatants became outrageous, a real battle-royal took place, and caps, lappets, curls, cushions, diamond pins, and pearls, strewed the floor of those rooms, wherein during Nash's time order was supreme. FLORAL DIRECTORY. Stone Pine. Pinus Pinea. Dedicated to St. Philogonius. December 21. St. Thomas, the Apostle. St. Edburge. St. Thomas. This apostle is in the church of England calendar and almanacs. He is affirmed to have travelled and promulgated christianity among the Parthians, Medes, Persians, and Carmenians, and to have been the apostle of the Indies; where he effected numerous conversions, and by his preaching raised the indignation of the Bramins, who instigated the people against him till they threw stones and darts at him, and ended his life by running him through the body with a lance. It is said that the body of the apostle was carried to the city of Edessa. On the discovery of Malabar, by the Portuguese, they found there the Nestorian christians of St. Thomas, whom they treated as heretics, and held a council, which passed decrees for their purgation. Yet many of the Malabarians still maintain the Nestorian doctrines and ceremonies, and refuse to acknowledge the authority of the pope. Ribadeneira pretends that on the eve of Christmas, in the church of St. Thomas at Malabar, a stone cross commences to shed blood as soon as the Jesuits begin to "and not before." He says, say mass, "The holy cross also begins, by little and little, to change its natural colour, which is white, turning into yellow, and afterwards into black, and from black into azure colour, until the sacrifice of the mass being ended, it returns to its natural colour: and that which augments both admiration and devotion is, that, as the holy cross changes its colours, it distils certain little drops of blood, and by little and little they grow thicker, until they fall in so great abundance that the clothes with which they wipe it are dyed with the same blood: and if any year this miracle fail, it is held as a certain sign of great calamity that is to come upon them, as experience has shown them." haps it is further miraculous, that in a country where there is liberty of thought and speech, and a free press, no stone cross will do the like ST. THOMAS'S DAY. Per Going a gooding on St. Thomas's day formerly prevailed in England. Women begged money, and in return presented the |
