the swallow, with nothing to direct it but that unexplained instinct which a beneficent Creator has implanted in it, traverses the deserts of the air, passes through regions where it had never been before, and may be seen skimming the pools of Greece, (its Mecca,) with its wonted hilarity. "There They twitter cheerful, till the vernal mouths There is sarcely a village in England, in which an assemblage of some four or five hundred swallows may not be seen early in September, either on the church or some other large building. These, in their flights, meet with other assemblages, and join them, and this may account for the vast collections of these birds on the aytes of the river Thames. When seen on a building, they open their wings to admit the warmth of the sun, and preen their feathers, appearing joyous and happy. It is a pretty sight, but it reminds us that winter is approaching. I am never tired of watching swallows: there is an elegance and pleasing hilarity in all they do. The Old English Rat. The following anecdote was recently communicated to me of the old English, or black rat; this animal is now become very scarce in this country. Unlike the Norway rat, which is fierce, and lives in little harmony even with its own species, our original animals appear to have been sociable in their habits, and to have shown kindness and friendship to each other. The fact referred to was communicated to me by the Rev. Mr. Ferryman, a clergyman in Sussex, an accurate observer of nature, and whose beautiful collection of specimens of British birds and animals, is second to none that I have ever seen; they are all stuffed by himself, and he has given them a great interest by displaying their peculiar habits; he is in his 85th year, but his mind is still as vigorous as ever. Besides being a good scholar and a naturalist, he has made many curious and important discoveries in mechanics; and it is to be regretted that his retired habits, and the secluded situation in which he lives, have prevented him from becoming better known. He informed me that some fifty years ago, when the old English rat was numerous, he resided at Quorn, in Leicestershire. Walking out in some meadows, one evening, he observed a great number of rats in the act of migrating from one place to another, which it is known they are in the habit of doing occasionally. He stood perfectly still, and the whole assemblage passed close to him. His astonish ment, however, was great, when he saw amongst the number an old, blind rat, which held a piece of stick at one end in its mouth, while another rat had hold of the other end of it, and thus conducted its blind companion. Mr. Ferryman has a large glass case of English rats, in which this interesting anecdote is commemorated with equal truth and fidelity. Mr. Ferryman also cominunicated to me the following anedote of a rat, which I am in justice to him bound to admit he did not implicitly believe himself, neither are my readers required to do so; I merely give the story as I heard it. He said that he had an old friend, a clergyman, of retired and studious habits. When sitting in his room one day, he saw an English rat come out of a hole at the bottom of the wainscot; he threw it a piece of bread, and, in process of time, he so familiarized the animal that it became perfectly tame, ran about him, was his constant companion, and appeared much attached to him. He was in the habit of reading in bed at night; and was on one occasion awoke by feeling a sharp bite on his cheek, when he discovered the curtains of his bed to be on fire. He made his escape, but his house was burnt down, and he saw no more of his rat. He was, however, convinced, and remained so for the rest of his life, that his old companion had saved him from being burnt to death by biting his cheek, and thus making him aware of his danger. The marks of teeth were visible upon it, and the reader may put what faith he pleases on the supposition of the good clergyman. He himself was always indignant if any one doubted it. Spirit of Discovery. HALLEY'S COMET. (Translated from the French of G. de Pontecoulant, by Colonel Charles Gold, C. B:) WE here present in one table the different appearances of the comet of 1759, from the most ancient observations which have reached us to the present day. Thus grouped, the periods* will be seen collectedly, and this table will serve as a recapitulation of its history. We beg it may be remembered, that the observations anterior to the fifteenth century, are too vague and uncertain not to leave great doubt as to the identity of the comet to which is founded only on the conformity of the they refer, with that of 1759. That identity periods. Presumed Appearances of the Comet of 1759, in past ages. Appear ances. Year. Remarkable Events. Birth of Mithridates. An interval of six revolutions. The Comet of horrible aspect, whose tail seemed to touch the earth. The interval between the two consecutive returns is called the "period" of the Comet. OUTLINE OF THE RECENT ARCTIC LAND EXPEDITION. (From the Athenæum.) On the 7th of June, 1834, Captain Back left Fort Reliance with his party, and was employed, during the remainder of that month, in transporting his boat and stores on rollers to his destined point of embarkation on the Thlewee-cho-dezeth, -a very arduous service, the distance being above 200 miles, and his people being in far from vigorous condition, in consequence of the spare diet to which they had been subjected during the previous winter. The task was, however, successfully accomplished, and, on the 7th of July, the party, consisting of Captain Back, Mr. King, his surgeon and only assistant, and eight men, all Europeans, bade adieu to their companions, and proceeded down the river in the direction ascertained the preceding season. The stream was at first deep, and interrupted by rapids as it cut its way transversely through a mountain range running east and west; but, beyond this, proceeded to the northward, with little interruption, till, in latitude 65° 40′ N., longitude 106° 35′ W., it took a sudden turn to the east, thereby destroying the hopes up to this time entertained, of its entering the sea near Bathurst's Inlet. It now became very broad, and broken, as it were, into a succession of small lakes, terminating in one so large that it showed a clear horizon on several points of the compass; and here the expedition was much embarrassed by ice, so that, for above twenty miles, it was only enabled to advance by severe exertion. On recovering the clear water, however, the stream speedily again contracted, still trending easterly, and even south-east, and much broken by rapids and cascades, until, at length, in latitude 65° 54′ N., longitude 98° 10′ W., (not far, therefore, from the head of Wager Bay,) it burst with great fury between four granite mountains, and flowed thence, tolerably directly, towards the north. It also here became again very wide-from half a mile to a mile-and was even more broken with rapids and whirlpools than before; the adjoining country being in like manner rugged and hilly. The first Esquimaux were met not far from the sea, fishing at the foot of a considerable fall; and though they seemed, in the beginning, disposed to be hostile, they became afterwards very obliging and serviceable. On the 29th July, the expedition reached the sea, in latitude 67° 7′ Ñ., longitude 94° 40′ W. The river first terminated in a narrow estuary, much embarrassed by shoals and sand-banks; and the view to the north was in some measure closed in by a lofty headland, belonging to the eastern mountains, (afterwards called Victoria headland.) The opposite shores, however, speedily increased their distance from each other; that to the westward falling back in a direction nearly N.W., while that to the eastward trended off to N.E. E. and as Captain Back was now to the eastward of Captain James Ross' Pillar, he considered it to be his duty to proceed to the westward, and so endeavour to approach it. But the drift ice was so closely packed on the shore in this direction, and was, at the same time, so frequently and dangerously set in motion by heavy N.W. gales, that he was unable to advance beyond latitude 68° 45′ N., longitude 96° 22′ W., when it bore about N.W. by N., distant eighty-three miles. From this point, a clear, icy horizon was seen in the N.N.W., in about which direction there seemed no doubt that there was a passage to the open sea, the tides coming up from this quarter, and the vertebræ of a whale being found driven on the coast opposite to it, with several pieces of drift wood, little sodden with water, and of a kind, (the white pine,) known to be peculiar to the banks of M'Kenzie River. Due north were two blue objects, which seemed to be large islands. În the N.E. were water and ice, with what is denominated a water sky beyond them. In the east the sea was clear, with one small island bearing E. by S., from fifteen to twenty miles distant; and to the right of this was also a wide, open space before coming to the eastern land. The packed ice seemed chiefly confined to the western shore; and beyond it, especially to the eastward, the passage appeared quite free. Had Captain Back not known, therefore, of Captain Ross' return, he would have pro. ceeded in that direction; and so, probably, have set at rest a question which he has now rather raised than decided, viz. whether Captain Ross was not merely on an island, and never on the main land of America at all. Under his circumstances, however, and with the extremely severe task before him of re-ascending so rapid and broken a river as the Thlewee-cho to his winter quarters, he would have been inexcusable had he quitted the coast in his solitary, and, by this time, also damaged boat. Accordingly, he set out on his return on the 15th of August, having previously obtained from his friendly Esquimaux, a delineation, after their manner, of the adjoining coast, which he has brought home with him, and which, so far as he went, was remarkably corroborated by the results of his own survey. He also ascended the most favourably placed of the neighbouring hills, so as to extend his sphere of vision; and thus took every step possible, in his circumstances, to render the result of his journey satisfactory. In ascending the river on his return, he was obliged to abandon his boat, and proceed on foot over the young ice; but his people, being well supplied with provisions, did not suffer materially under this additional fatigue. They arrived at Fort Reliance on the 27th of September, after an absence of three months and a half on their arduous service; and may all be expected in England, at the latest, by the Hudson's Bay Company's ship in November. Their gallant leader has been enabled to precede them by returning through Canada. On the face of his narrative, great dangers and difficulties appear to have been boldly and ably surmounted; while these have led him across a considerable extent, (almost 1,000 miles,) of entirely new ground, of which we had no previous knowledge, unless through Indian report, now indubitably proved, in the main, incorrect. But, beyond this, the results of his labours are also extensively negative. Our previous conceptions of the configuration of the north-eastern extremity of America, especially as founded on Sir John Ross' representations, are much modified by them; and, individually, we now believe that his Boothia was merely an island, none of his statements being irreconcilable with this hypothesis, excepting only the difference of level which he alleges that he found between the seas on either side of its peninsula. We cannot help hoping, however, that the real fact may yet speedily, as it may certainly now easily, be ascertained. Besides what Captain Back's details, when obtained, may do towards settling the question, nothing seems more certain, from the result of both these last expeditions, (Ross' and Back's,) than that the ground respectively examined by them may easily be gone over again, From Chesterfield or Wager Inlets, the distance to the Thlewee-cho is now shown to be short; while that from Repulse Bay to the sea, into which it falls, is probably still shorter. An expedition, wintering at any of these points, with the means of constructing boats, in preparation for the following season, could easily, cheaply, and certainly complete the bottom of Regent's Inlet; while one or two vessels either sent down the Inlet, or to the westward of Boothia, as might be thought best, could complete the observations about the magnetic pole, begun by Captain James Ross, and probably connect his farthest with Cape Turnagain also, in one or two seasons. No value need be attached to the bringing these vessels back; if they got hampered they might be abandoned, and the crews return in their boats, as Captain Ross did, to a fixed rendezvous in Lancaster Sound or Repulse Bay. The Gatherer. Extraordinary Balloon Ascent -The following is an account of Mr. Green's last ascent on Sept. 17, from the pen of the intrepid aëronaut.-"I ascended from Vauxhall Gardens, accompanied by Mr. Butler, of Woolwich, at a quarter before six on Thursday evening, and a gentle breeze from the south-west took us in a north-easterly direction, crossing the river at Blackfriars-bridge. The huzzas of the populace, as we passed over the town, being reflected by that part of the balloon immediately over our heads, were loud almost to an unpleasant degree. We descended in the parish of Walthamstow at about a quarter past six, and having announced to Mr. Butler my intention of remaining up all night, he was very anxious to re-enter the car, and accompany me. This I did not deem prudent, for, in case of being carried out to sea, it would be much more advantageous to have his weight in disposable ballast. Having accordingly taken in a fresh supply of sand, I reascended, passing over Bishop-Stortford, Royston, and Huntingdon. I then met with a current which took me more to the east, and at a quarter before six, on Friday morning, I descended in the parish of Wimbs. botham, near Downham in Suffolk. Though early, I was soon surrounded by a large concourse of persons, all appearing most anxious to render me assistance. I partook of an excellent breakfast at the residence of Mr. J. Pike; and as my balloon had gained considerable power, on account of the sun's rays having expanded the gas, and evaporated the dew, which had collected during the night over the whole machine, I once more reascended, in the hope of finding either an inland current, or one that would enable me to cross the Channel; but, perceiving that I was going rapidly in the direction of the German Ocean, I suffered the gas to escape, and came safely to anchor within one mile of the sea, and close to the town of Lynn, in Norfolk, at half-past 10 A. M. I received numerous congratulations, though many persons, I believe, doubted the statement of my having been in the air during the past night, The towns lighted by gas illuminated the atmosphere for a considerable distance over them, and were easily distinguished. I fired several Bengal lights during the night, and, I re from the shouts which reached me from the earth, doubt not that their appearance must have created much astonishment. mained in the air altogether about thirteen hours, and from the zig-zag direction of my course, must have travelled about 130 miles. From the very trifling loss of power, the balloon sustained during the whole of the time, I judge that I might have remained up for at least five days and nights." Tinney, the Bass Singer, many years attached to Covent-Garden Theatre, although possessing one of the finest voices ever heard of its class, had a great disinclination to sing solo; his chief pleasure being to sing in glees and chorusses. The organist of a chapel in Marylebone, at which he sang, wrote the following appropriate lines on the subject:How is it, Tinney, You're such a ninny, While you've a voice to go low? Sure such a fellow, With notes so mellow, Should oftener sing a solo. Sing less in chorus, while on earth, In heaven's chorus you'll have a birth, Celibacy. The following great names are enlisted in dislike of matrimony:-Newton, Locke, Boyle, Gibbon, Hume, Adam Smith, Harvey, Leibnitz, Bayle, Hobbes, Hampden, Sir F. Drake, Earl of Essex, Pitt, Michael Angelo, the three Caracci's, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Haydn, Handel, Wolsey, Pascal, Fenelon, De Henry, Pope, Akenside, Swift. Goldsmith, Gray, Collins, Thomson, and Jeremy Bentham.-Among the ancients, we find nearly all their great philosophers:Plato, Pythagoras, Epicurus, Bion, Anaxagoras, Heraclitus, Democritus, and Diogenes, The following distinguished men, though married, were unhappy in that state :- -Aristotle, Socrates, Pittacus, Periander, Euripides, and Aristophanes.-Among the moderns :Boccaccio, Dante, Milton, Steele, Addison, Dryden, Molière, Racine, Sterne, Garrick, and Lord Bacon.-Woman; as she is, and as she should be. Elegant Yankeeism. - The Cincinnati Republican, in acknowledging the defeat of its party in the election for Hamilton County, has the following consolation: "We are beaten! There is no necessity for making long faces about it! The Storer party have catawampously chawed us up !”—F. J. S. Epitaph in Staplehurst Churchyard, Kent: A man is born-alas! and what is man? Where to get Married.-On the wrapper of the New York Mirror, published the 4th of July last, is the following advertisement :— "Rev. William M. Stillwell, 112, Chrystiestreet, is authorized by law to unite persons in Marriage, according to Title 1, Chap. 8, Part 2, of the Revised Statutes." R. R. Gainsborough. I always listen with pleasure to the remarks made by country people on the habits of animals. A countryman was shown Gainsborough's celebrated picture of the Pigs. "To be sure," said he, "they be deadly like pigs, but there is one fault; nobody ever saw three pigs feeding together, but what one on 'um had a foot in the trough."-Jesse's Gleanings. Lampreys. In the Gloucester Corporation accounts, is an entry of 137. 10s. paid for lamprey pies sent by custom to the King, the Lord High Steward, &c. Massacre.-During the tumults at Paris, on Sept. 3, 1792, and the four following days, 160 prisoners, (among whom were three priests and the Princess Lamballe,) were massacred in the prison of La Grande Force. The prisoners resisted during thirty hours, but being overpowered by numbers, they were, at length, compelled to yield. During three days, a negro pursued the work of slaughter without relaxation. Erratum.-The columns of the portico of the Pantheon are Roman Doric, and not Ionic, as stated in page 179. Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset House, London; sold by G. G. BENNIS, 55, Rue Neuve St. Augustin, Paris; CHARLES JUGEL, Francfort; and by all Newsmen and Booksellers. |