One of the hunters immediately ran up with a wisp of lighted hay as a defence against the bees. The latter, however, made no attack and sought no revenge; they seemed stupefied by the catastrophe and unsuspicious of its cause, and remained crawling and buzzing about the ruins without offering us any molestations. Every one of the party now fell to, with spoon and hunting-knife, to scoop out the flakes of honey-comb with which the hollow trunk was stored. Some of them were of old date and a deep brown colour; others were beautifully white, and the honey in their cells was almost limpid. Such of the combs as were entire were placed in camp-kettles, to be conveyed to the encampment; those which had been shivered in the fall were devoured upon the spot.

It is difficult to describe the bewilderment and confusion of the bees of the bankrupt hive who 'had been absent at the time of the catastrophe, and who arrived from time to time with full cargoes from abroad, astonished at finding the place a vacuum. At length, as if comprehending their disaster, they settled down in clusters on a dry branch of a neighbouring tree, whence they seemed to contemplate the prostrate ruin, and to buzz forth doleful lamentations over the downfall of their republic.

We now abandoned the place, leaving much honey in the hollow of the tree. "It will all be cleared off by varmint," said one of the rangers.

"What vermin?" I asked. Oh, bears, racoons and 'possums. The bears is the knowingest varmint for finding out a bee-hive in the world. They'll gnaw for days together at the trunk, till they make a hole big enough to get in their paws, and then they'll have out honey, bees, and all."

WASHINGTON IRVING.

Prairies.-The name given in America to the great rolling plains, which are such a striking feature in the scenery of that country.

Alluvial bottoms of the river.-An alluvial bottom is one composed of material deposited by the river. A river in falling from high ground carries much mud and earth along with it. When the river reaches a plain, this

mud and earth sink to the bottom of the river.

The land of promise, &c.—Compare Deuteronomy xxxi. 20. QUESTIONS:-1. What is a prairie? 2. What are the alluvial bottoms of rivers? 3. What was the land of promise? 4. How has the land of promise been described? 5. By whom and where? 6. What is an open glade? 7. What bait was employed to find out the wild bees? 8. Where is the wild bees' nest generally found? 9. Why was a wisp of lighted hay employed? 10. What are camp-kettles? 11. What is nectar? 12. What is a vacuum?

EXERCISES.

1. Give the etymology and meaning of these words-intersect, extend, quest, veteran, proceed, velocity, spectator, defence, conveyed, comprehending.

2. Description comes from two Latin words: de, down; and scribo, I write. Give the meaning of the following words, formed from the root scribo :-inscribe, inscription, subscribe, subscription, circumscribe, conscript, proscribe, scribe, scribble.

3. Explain these phrases-(a) The flowers with which they are enamelled; (b) Home-spun garb; (c) Straddled along at his heels; (d) They plied their axes vigorously; (e) They seemed stupefied by the catastrophe; (f) The bankrupt hive.

LESSON XXII.

Pearl Divers.

ap-pro'-pri-ate, apply to one's dis-in-cli-na'-tion, unwilling

own use.

de-fraud'-ed, cheated.

de-pre-da'-tion, theft, stealing.
de-tect'-ion, discovery.
ex-tract'-ed, taken out.

CLOSE to some islands

ness.

in-duce', persuade.
in-sert'-ion, placing in.
pu'-trid, rotten.

strat'-a-gem, trick, device.

off the coast of New

Guinea we fell in with a number of boats engaged in the pearl fishery, the people employed being chiefly inhabitants of the Pacific islands. Lowering the boat, we rowed towards them. We observed a number of figures standing up, every now and then, in the boats, then suddenly diving overboard. Each man remained about a minute and a-half below the surface, and was then assisted on board by his companions.

"Those are pearl divers," observed the Naturalist; "let us pull up close, and see how they manage." Each boat contained about a dozen men, half of whom, being almost naked, were apparently the divers. At first a large stone of sugar-loaf shape was let overboard, with a thick rope attached. One of the divers then stepped on the stone, placing the toe of one foot in a loop secured to it. To the other foot was fastened a net, in the form of a bag with an open mouth. He was now lowered gradually down. Before his head sank beneath the surface, he drew a deep breath, and pressed his

nose tightly with one hand, while he held on to the rope with the other. This was to prevent the

into his nostrils.

About half the

divers were over

board at one

time. They re

mained under

the surface long

enough to drown any ordinary person, but when

the net came up, each net contained over a

hundred oysters, showing that the divers must have been асtively engaged all the time when at the bottom in filling

them.

We observed

that some divers

suffered more

than others; all of them discharged water from their mouths, ears, and nostrils, but blood flowed

down the faces of others, notwithstanding which they showed no disinclination to descend again. We understood that many of these men can make from forty to fifty of such plunges a-day, and that some of the strongest can remain under water nearly four minutes.

They have many dangers to encounter from the monsters of the deep, as their bodies are totally unprotected. The chief danger they run is from the ground shark, which lies in wait at the bottom to seize on them. The saw-fish is another of their foes, and is even more feared than the shark. The first they often attack with the sharp knives, which they carry in their belts for the purpose, when they have time to see the monster approaching, but many of them lose their lives.

We tried to induce two or three of the head men to sell us some oysters, but they would not part with them. They were, we found afterwards, the property of the merchants who have rented the fishery for the season. The merchants, notwithstanding, are often defrauded, as the divers employ all sorts of stratagems to appropriate the pearls.

On being thrown into the boat, the oyster frequently opens its shell, when, by the insertion of a piece of wood, it is prevented from again closing, and the diver can thus manage to pick out the pearl. Sometimes, to escape detection, it is said that the divers swallow the precious jewel.