place, and, as it were, the wash-bowl of the vicinity, whither all decent folks resorted to purify their visages, and gaze at them afterward-at least the pretty maidens did-in the mirror which it made. On Sabbath-days, whenever a babe was to be baptized, the sexton filled his basin here, and placed it on the communion-table of the humble meetinghouse which partly covered the site of yonder stately brick one. Thus one generation after another was consecrated to Heaven by its waters, and cast its waxing and waning shadows into its glassy bosom, and vanished from the earth as if mortal life were but a flitting image in a fountain. Finally, the fountain vanished also. Cellars were dug on all sides, and cart-loads of gravel flung upon its source, whence oozed a turbid stream, forming a mudpuddle at the corner of two streets.

In the hot months, when its refreshment was most needed, the dust flew in clouds over the forgotten birthplace of the waters, now their grave. But in the course of time a Town Pump was sunk into the source of the ancient spring; and, when the first decayed, another took its place, and then another, and still another, till here stand I, gentlemen and ladies, to serve you, with my iron goblet. Drink, and be refreshed!

The water is pure and cold as that which slaked the thirst of the red Sagamore beneath the aged boughs, though now the gem of the wilderness is treasured under these hot stones, where no shadow falls but from the brick buildings. And be it the moral of my story, that, as the wasted and longlost fountain is now known and prized again, so shall the virtues of cold water, too little valued since your fathers' days, be recognized by all.

Your pardon, good people! I must interrupt my stream of eloquence, and spout forth a stream of water, to replenish the trough for this teamster and his two yoke of oxen, who have come from Topsfield, or somewhere along that way. No part of my business is pleasanter than the watering of cattle. Look! how rapidly they lower the watermark on the sides of the trough, till their capacious stomachs are moistened with a gallon or two apiece, and they can afford time to breathe it in with sighs of calm enjoyment.

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.

This world is all a fleeting show,

For man's illusion given;

The smiles of joy, the tears of woe,
Deceitful shine, deceitful flow-

There is nothing true but Heaven!

And false the light on Glory's plume,
As fading hues of even;

And Love and Hope, and Beauty's bloom,
Are blossoms gathered for the tomb-
There's nothing bright but Heaven!

Poor wanderers of a stormy day!

From wave to wave we're driven,
And Fancy's flash, and Reason's ray,
Serve but to light the troubled way-
There's nothing calm but Heaven!
THOMAS MOORE.

The salmon is the characteristic fish of the North Pacific Ocean. In all fresh water which communicates with the sea, from California to Alaska, it is found in countless millions.

About the month of April the salmon begin to enter the great Columbia River and its tributaries in such numbers that the water fairly boils with them. Within a fortnight they are so dense that they crowd each other ashore, and hundreds die from exhaustion.

Carnivorous birds and quadrupeds feed on their bodies for four or five months together; but it is only a fraction of the throng wrecked on the beach for a distance of hundreds of miles, that is in this way consumed.

The finest specimen of salmon, and the first to arrive in April, is the "spring silver salmon." This species enters the rivers in vast multitudes, and keeps pouring in for three or four months without much apparent diminution in numbers.

The larger and older fish are at the head of each school, and lead their teeming hosts over endless obstacles, until they finally reach the ground where they are to deposit their spawn. When water-falls oppose their progress, few sights are more interesting than to see scores of them hurling them

selves into the air at the same time, in their efforts to surmount the obstacle; then falling back with a loud thud into their native element, only to renew their efforts, if the numerous shocks and collisions have not killed them.

Salmon always escape currents if possible, and the Indians of the north-west avail themselves of this peculiarity to lead them to their destruction. They build small walls of stone a few inches in height, and extending ten feet or more into the stream at several points along the shore.

This breaks the force of the current, and produces "dead water" for some distance below it. The fish during their upward course follow the line of obstruction, desiring to keep in the placid water; and there the Indians capture them in thousands, either by spearing them or by using nets.

So dense are the salmon in some places that the dusky fishermen merely put their paddles into the water, and with a sudden jerk hurl three or four at a time on the banks. The number of salmon destroyed in a year by the red men may be inferred from the fact, that all the tribes along the Columbia and its tributaries, for over a distance of four hundred miles, live almost exclusively on salmon, and have done so from time immemorial.

The fishing season lasts from early in April until the beginning of August. During that time the Columbia River presents a scene of ceaseless activity. Fisheries are stationed along its shores for a distance of nearly one hundred miles, and they are always the center of a fleet of boats, engaged either in discharging their cargo, or preparing for the fishing grounds.

The usual mode of fishing is to place the net

in the stern of the boat, one of the ropes attached to it being left with a man.on shore. The boat is then pulled out into the river, paying out the net all the way until the current is reached, when it is swung round in a semicircular fashion and the boat returns again to the shore. The net is then carefully pulled in and emptied of its contents.

When a boat discharges its finny cargo at a fishery, detachments of experts stand ready to attend to it. The fish are first counted and sorted, then handed over to the cutters, who chop off their heads with the greatest dexterity by means of large knives worked by a lever; another set cuts open the fish and clips off the tails; a third attends to the washing of the fish, and cutting them into pieces, while a fourth is engaged in cooking them and packing them into cans.

To prepare the salmon for market, a piece weighing one or two pounds is put into a can, and to this some spices are added. The can is then covered, but a small hole is left in the top to allow the air to escape. It is next put into a boiler filled with boiling salt water, then into a boiler of hot fresh water, and when the fish is so thoroughly cooked that it is deemed fit to stand any climate, the can is soldered air-tight, and is now ready for market.

The amount of salmon prepared for shipment along the Columbia River alone, reaches annually about fifteen million pounds, and is valued at more than $2,500,000.

Spell and pronounce : — deposit, expert, diminution, salmon, destruction, inferred, fisheries, obstruction, specimen, species, Columbia.

soldered, collision, weighing, exhaustion, quadruped, and