THE QUEEN'S HIGHWAY

[By STOART CtLMPERLANP.]

I Special Coukkki-ondisnuk to Aucklanm Stah.J

Article Vl.— Tho Half-War House and Sound tho North Shore of Lake Snperior,

Thk Atlantis express leaves Winnipeg Station—the half way houeo on the Queen's Highway-afc 17.50 (5 50) for Montreal. Crossing tho Ked RCvor, 1,423 miles west of Montreal, we 'proceed on our oaatwnrd journey through lands which are rich and fruitful, villages which aro substantial and f^norally prosporoua.

Manitoba is without doubt tho " Garden of tho Great Lono Land." The coil ia richer than that of any part of Canada, not even excepting tho dolta of tho Fraßor or the Niagace. Valley, although the climate of the Fraser River district is in- Gnitoly superior to that of any part ■of Manitoba. Tho moan toinporatnio of New Westminster, which place I do ycribod in » previous lottar, ia in aummor 00.6, and 48.1 for tho whole vosr, whilst that of Winnipeg is 00 S and 32 0, but tho Manitoba climato is frightfully irregular. In summor it is often fully lOOdeg., nnd in winter tno mercury will drop to ■iOtiej^ below zero. In British Columbia- especially in Vancouver Island, tho change in summer tomporatui-e botweon the daytime and th« night-time is but very slight. One can, in fact, go to bed with one's window opon without fear of cold or eoro throat, but in Manitoban you may havo a touch of tho in fernal region's warmth all day, and by nigh1: n blizzard will ariee bringing a coldness with it strongly savouring of tho " Frozen Sea." It io just thia uncertainty of the climate that lnakes farming somewhat hazardous But let it be clearly unriorstood ihat the bad weather i* equally uncertain ; for, for

seasons together, tho autumor climate i* everything that could bo desired, whilst tho seasons following may be ruinous with tho nipping frosts that they suddenly bring to cool tho earth of tho scorching hoat that has fired tho prairies and burnt up the corn crops. The Early Settlement in Manitoba.

Five and seventy years ago tho Hudson's Bay Company discovered the general fruit fulness of the neighbourhood round about Winnipeg (then Fort Garry), which, fed by tho rich deposits of the Ked Giver, thoy found to be capable of growing anything, and that in surpassing abundance.

The Earl of Selkirk was also aware of this Fnct, and ho purchased from the Hudson's Bay Company, as far back as 1811, a vast tract of land upon which he bad formed the Utopian idea of settling a populous colony, of which he should be the feudal lord. A compulsory oxodus of the inhabitants of the mountainous districts of Sutherland taking placo about that time, an opportnnity of easily obtaining the desired colonists for the occupation of his new purchase was thnß proeontod. Tho lira', instalment of colonists reached Hudson's Bay in the autumn of ISII, advanced inland in the fol lowing spring, and, at tho confluence of Asfiniboine and Red Kivors, about forty miles from tho foot of Lake Winnipeg, they finally pitched their tonts. One can imagine the first impressions of these hardy Highlanders at thus boing phot down in a heap, as it were, in the centra of tho Amori can Continent, fifteen or sixteen hundred miles in direct distance from th<3 nearest city residence of civilised man in America, and separated from the country whence thoy came by an almost impartible barrier. It is little wonder, therefore, that instead of pursuing agriculture as a means of liveli hood, thoy quickly lapsed into a nomadic Bort of life and becamo hunters of buffaloes and trappers of fur. Thero ia no doubt but what tboy would havo made successful agriculturists had they hnd a free hand ; but they hud the tuiafortuno to arrive at a timo when tho Indians were anything but friendly, and when tho rival French Cann diau fur companies were contending with the Hudson Buy Company for the posses sion of the country. Their presence wan therefore not. only objected to by the rod man, but the white man paw in it some thing detrimental to hia interests, co to gether they dctroyed thoir crops and pulli-d down their houses, thus driving thorn to such a livelihood by the chase. With the coalition of all tho fur companies in IS2I, the size of the colony was conaider nbly increased by the acquisition of tho French hunters and traders who elected to remain there instead of returning to Canada proper. The peaceful pursuit of agricul ture, beyond growing a few cereals for im mediate necessities, became, under such conditions, absolutely impossible, as tho Scots intermarried with aborigines they become all the more nomadic, and for the most part, gave themselves up entirely to the chaee :i" v means of money-making. Someof theoldersettlers. it is true, adopted the culti vation of the soil, but their children and their children's children refused entirely " To reap or to sow, to plow or to mow, or to boa farmer's boy," but became hunters and trappers, scouts and voyar/curs. There was thus presented the anomaly of a settled, civilised community subsisting by the pur suit common to nomadic life. The French got mixed up with the Scotch, and tho Indiana with both, and it became eventually almost impossible for ono to tell where tho Indian began and the white man ended. Lord Southesk gives an admirable de scription of one of these Scotch half-breede, James McKay by name: "Immensely broad-chested and muscular, though not tall, he weighed eighteen stone ; yet in spite of his stoutness he was exceedingly hardy and active, and a wonderful horseman. His face—somewhat Assyrian in t37pe—is very haudsome; short, delicate, aquiline nose ; piercing dark-grey eyes ; long, dark brown hair, beard and moustache ; small, white, regular teeth ; skin tanned to a regular bronze by exposure to the weather. He was dressed in a blue cloth capote (hooded frock coat), with brass buttons, red-and-black flannel shirt, which served Wso for a waist. coat; buff leather mocassins on his feet, black belt round his woist, trousers of brown and white striped, home-made, woollen stuff." The Hall-Breeds and Kiel's Rebellion.

Lord Southoek's etching by McKay will do duty in all essential as the cor rect portraiture of a very large number of the half-breeds whom Lord Wolseley found at Forfc Garry, on arriving tosrs at the head of tho Rod River Ex pedition in 1870. Tbe=e half-breeds are good-natured and peaceful enough if let alone, but they are highly emotional and easily led into error. Whilet being neither red nor white, they possess all the craft of the one and a fair degree of the intelligence of tho other. Familiar with the customs of both from infancy, they adopt many of the habits of civilised life ; but, though existing under an improved exterior, the romantic lifo, tho custom?, mode of thought, and ianguage of the Indians retain their hold on their affection?, and will con tinue to do so for another generation or ao. These half-broede havo very little rospect for governments, whom they look upon ai dospoilers ; and one can well understand how a fiery-tongned agitator like Kiul ex cited them in 1869 and IS7O, when the country over which thoy had hunted for so many years as free as the very air itself, passed out of the grasp of the Hudson's Bay Company into that of tho Dominion Government. And what he managed to effect seventeen years ago, ho had no difficulty in repeating last year, when the opening of the " Queen's Highway " pro mised to bring in a stream of colonisation which would drive them etill further north west. But Biel has expiated his folly on the scaffold, and his body lies neglected and seemingly forgotten, even in tbia short space of time, in St. Boniface's churchyard at Winnipeg. His treaty lieutenant, who managed to escape across tho borders, after General Middleton's victory, was, when I was in the North-west, serving as an " attraction " for a travelling " wild west" show in Yankee-land. Poundmaker, the brave and ill-fated Cree chief, is no more ; " Big Bear," the other Indian leader, is hoping weeds in convict garb in the State prison at CStony Mountain, whilst every vestige of rebellion has been entirely crushed out. It is much to be hoped that neither half-breed nor Indian will have further caueo for grievance, but that they will in future recognise tho inevitable, Bnd endeavour tr, livo in peace and goodwill with the incoming whitfs, whops mission it is to wrest the whole region from its bar barous loneliness rooking the wild prairie lands bloom nnd blossom like tho ro.=e. The railway usurps the dog trains route?, and the train conductors ciowd out tho wiry voyar/eurs, and in the regime of pro gress which promises to hold swny from the St. Lawrence to the Fraper, and from the Red Kiver to the Arctic Ocean, the half breed, with hie good-natured indolence and improvident habits, will have to go just as his Indian ancestors have gone before him, unless ha recognises the change in the con dition of affaire, and Bisimilfttea himself thereto.

Tho railway in pursuing itR eastward cour/«o goes ovor a good portion of tho lanil route taken by Lord Wolseley in JS7O, and in a discarded boat or r.wo nnd other r=ign* ono still comes across tracos of tho ex pedition in which ho won his spurs.

Rapid Settlement of Manitoba.

It isastonishingthechange the railway has wrought. Through its agency lands havo boon reclaimed from their dreary wilder ness, and waving corn ripens thereoD, whilst settlements—whore not oven a wig wam stood before—largo and small, are about everywhere, showing how quickly the whito man has availed himself of the advantages of the iron highway. It is not only members of the Anglo-Saxon race wbo j aro (locking to the North-west, for immi-1 granta from almost every country in Europe ! ore finding homes out there. Polish Jews, j fleeing from tho Muscovite oppression, sturdy crofters, who have torn themselves from their small ancestral holdings, stolid Germans, evading the harsh military laws of their dear Vaterland, yellow-haired Scandinavian and swarthy Hungarian, sallow faced Italian and blue-eyed Colt, aro to be frequently mot with in the inward-bound emigrant cars. Count Ester har.y'e Hungarian settlement is already in a prosperous condition, and he told me one day at lunch at the Manitoba Club in Winnipeg that ho purposed, under the extensive emigration ,-cborau he has in mind, to bring out as many as 20,000 of his people before he has finished. The Count is a scion of tho great house whoso namo he boars, and when but a lad ho was exiled for although he has roceived permission to return to his native land he declines to do so, preferring to develop a plan of colonisa tion such as the Earl of Selkirk attempted throe qnartors of a century ago. The Count, however, starts under more favourable con ditions than did tho Earl, and his scheme has every promise of success. Refugees from Russian Anti-Jewish Laws

Nearly all the Jews who came over from Russian Poland a few years back are doing well, although they wore penniless and de pendent upon charity when they arrivod. Several of tho shops in Winnipeg's principal street aro kept by theeo victims of Russian persecution and outrage. They aro exem plary citizens, thrifty and industrious, al though thoy cannot apparently rosist tho temptation to turn an honest penny by a little money-lending whenever an oppor tunity offers itaolf iljnev-londing is natural to tho Hebrew in alt countries, and no matter whero his lot may bo cast, whether in pleasant linea or tho revorse, he will be Ruro to make enough monoy to bo able to lend somo, and to materially increase it by tho lending process. Sot a Hebtew down penniless in tho midst of an opon prairie, runs a western proverb, and ho will speedily find something with which to bargain, even if he has to trade his own scalp. The ingenuity and tenacity of the race are wonderful, and their pro gress in and about Winnipeg affords strik ing examples of both. Manitoba is but a patch of ground aB compared with British Columbia ; it is in shape a parallelogram, and is about 250 miles long, co that in a fow hours after leaving Winnipeg ono paeses out of the province altogether. Tho Lake of the Wooda m the boundary line between Mani toba ami Untario, and after passing Rat Portago the prairie land ceases, »nd a dreary desolate waste strikes the eyo. Cold grey rocks, stunted miserable tree", and s»ampy patches of unhealtby-looking soil aro about ono everywhere, having nothing picturesque or striking in any of it.

Thnre is nothing in the leant inviting, nothing in fact worth writing about, on this section of the line, and the soonor it is got over the better. TherocksalongthUrouta be long properly to'the Huronian and Lauren tian range*, but'tbese ridgos appear to have long since disowned then:, leaving them to tako csire of themselves, with the result that, worn by the olemontd into mero fragments of their former eelvo?, they present such a generally dilapidated and broken-down ap pearance that they take away the charac ter of the wholo district where they appear. Nothing will grow on tho soil-provided any noil could be found in which to plant anything — where they appoar, and man, red, white, or yellow", decline-* to have anything to do with them or tho region they have made their home. Thoy aro too rugged and uneven oven for advertising purposes. The summit of the height separating the two great ba«ins',ora into tho St. Lawrence and into Hudson's Buy is about 60 miles west of Lako Superior ; but how high this summit wasldid not, I must confess, trouble to inquire. It is quite c relief when ono strikes the valley of the Kaminietiquia, and sees once more eigns of cultivation.

(To be Continual.)

MARAT'S BATHTUB

The Modest Rig in Which Ho Kocolvcd

Charlotte Corday.

Tuk Tilueoo Grovin, on tho Boulovard dcs Italiens, is a cross between tho Eden Mu«ee of Kew York and the renowned " wax fig gors"of Mmo. Tuesaud, of London, with out tho ominent respectability of the one or the historic interest of tho other. It is chiefly afflicted with the disoaeo which memorably recalls tho salon of ISSS — an efflorescence of coryphees; and when it placards at its door tho appetising an nouncement that the visitor will find within something from Zola, which even tho liberal jury of ISSS would not admit to the Palais de l'lnduetrie, all Paris wants to go in.

It is proper to protest that on Buch scan dalous invitation turned my steps across its threshold this morning ; for having seen the collection of laet year at the spring exhibition, I felt that not only the Musee Grevin, but that other museums in which Naples preserves the wickedness of tho buried cities could hardly surprise me. I really wished to see the last ad dition the bathtub—the identical bathtub in which Marat waa murdered hy the Judith of that tragic summer's day, ninety three years ago ; and this chiefly because, to me as tn every one else, ifc has always been a mystery how even a Frenchman — even a Frenchman of the dayj of Thermidor, Venter and the rest—even the demon of the triumvirs, should havo been so loet to decency as to cause a young female visitor, who wished to see him, to be summoned to his bathroom.

Having done two or three rooms whose most conspicuous objects were a number of waxon damsola in Paradisic costume, pointing their dexter toas toward high noon, I descended into tho crypt, all de void of the blood-curdling horrors of the Twenty-third street establishment, but containing in one well-lighted chamber the " Assassination of Marat." On the wall near by is the evidence of the authenticity of the bathtub, together with some manu script of Marat's written just before his death.

The scone is very effaclively rendered, the position and appoarance' of Marat being copied from David's wonderful picture. But tho tub was what interested mo ; first, because it ia the veritable tub. arid secondly becau^o it explains the mystery. This is how it looks : It is Miaped exactly like a shoo : it is much too ahort for one to lie in at full length, and with a seat inaide, as was often found in the bathtubs of those days. Marat might very well have been, as the local chronicler tells us that he was, correcting his proofs when Charlotte Cor day entered. The contemporary records add that he was en chemise, and that his friends, anticipating fome of owe loyal poli ticians, whooped up the boys by a liberal display of Marat's "bloody shirt on the day of the funeral.

The directors of tho Musee Grevin gave, it ia ' eaid, 5,000 francs for the tub. Happily thoy can make their money out of it without fear of a summons to the Con ciorgie. But it was not always co, for shortly after Marat's death a too enter prising Mmo. Jarloy of the year II in the month" Thermidor had her head chopped off for the crime of exhibiting a wax effigy of Charlotto Corday.

England and Egypt.

Sew York, February 16. — A cable special from London of February 15th say^ : In Downing-atreet to-night the situation in Egypt is the absorbing topic. The jingo element in tho Cabinet reluees absolutely to sanction any scheme for the neutrality of the Suez Canal that will prevent English ironclads reaching tho East in time of

war. Turkey, Kus?U and France propose a convention, placing tho canal under an international commission to preserve its neutrality. England perceives in this a plan for handing over the canal to hostile Powers, enabling them to block it agaia6t a British fleet in an hour's notice. The jingo wiog of tho I'abinet p-otor< h'shtina for'rotention of the delta to allowing control Of tho cwal to pisa ,tnt ot British li-.nds They proposed to ofi'ir France territorial compensation elsewhere, refusing to j;o a step further in the way of compromise in the matter, now considered one of life and death importance.

THE UNEMPLOYED in SYDNEY.

Sir Ilonry Parlies on Government Responsibility.

A deputation of unemployed in Sydnoy waited upon the Premier lust wook, and stated that thoy had not accoptod the relief work offered by the Government becauee they could not earn more thin 10s a week at it. Sir Henry Parkos asked : How many men do you rcproPGnfc ? Smith : Between 300 and IiOO. Sir Henry: You do not make allowance for the casual people who stand about and listen to the speakers ? Smith : Yes, we do. Sir Henry : By the way, wb^o wero the spoakers ? Smith : Thoro was only ono. Sir Honry : And who wo§ he ? Smith : M'Cormick. Sir Tlonry : And what diiJ you decide ? Smith : As it was stntad by the pross that M'Cormick would not bo acknowledged any longer, wo thought i", hotter that ho should stand out and not accompany tho doputa tion. Sir Honry j But ho did all tho apoaking. Why was that ? Smith : We are not fit for it. Sir Honry, addressing Andorson : You say you are a carponter. Would it not bo possible for you to earn a living by making, say clothes horses or towel rollers or children's wheol-barrows, and solliDg them

Andorson : I havo tried to make a littlo mGney by selling step ladders which I made, but after walking all day I only sold one. If ynu havo to buy tho timber and sond such things to any auction salo you(_'otnothingout of it, and a carpenter cannot afford thatimo to hawk them about. There aro some mem bers of tho trado who havo their children hawking small whoolbarrowa and other things which thoy make Sir Henry said, in reply: In tho first place I want you to cloarly understand thnt it is no part of the duty of tho Government to find employment for any man. Suppiße you wero in the United States of America, which is beyond doubt tho freest country in tho world, the Government would not find you employment. In America ofton .1,000, 2,000 and 20,000 people arrivo in ono day from Gormany and othbr parts of Europe. The American Govern mont have oetablished a bureau of labour, by which thoy collect information where employment is to be,had in the counrty, and they will do all they can to advise those now arrival? whoro to go. If any of them have monoy they take care of it for them. That is very noceaeary, for in a placo like New York there aro large numbers of sharpers always on the look out for unsuspecting persona. Tho Govern ment put themselves in tho position of a friend — gives them advice, and

takes caro of their property, but bo yond that does nothing for them. If them were 1,000 or 1,500 men in New York out of employment the Government would not supply them with food or work, and if you go to the Mother Country thero are probably -it thia moment . r>o,ooo peoplo who can hardly find tho mean? of living in tho city of London alono. However painful tho condition may be, tho Government did not attempt to relievo them by supplying them with food or work—they recognise! that it is was P'irt of their duty to find employment. What wo are doing hero is outsido the duty of Government altogether, and is simply done on tho ground of common humanity. Under such a state of things as this you cannot oxpect to be choosers ; you cannot fay what we ure to give you or how we are to employ you ; you must take what we offer you or not. It has boen found that by giving day work at any fixed rate the Government aro greatly imposed upon. By such a system of relief tho idle and lazy receive tho game wnpes as tho honest and indus trious, besides which iho attractions of such

a «y«tem have n great tendoncy to draw iv the ineu you doscribo as loafer:*. In tho pro rant caso tho Government will continue to find temporary employment, but wo will also do all we can to bring things to a etnto which will enable you to got. employ ment privately. Things in this colony have taken Riich a turn that unfortunately ono of tho causos of this want, of employment arises from tlio fuct that moneyed inon have eucponiJod the invost inent i>f money Things have baon so dis turbed iv ono way or another that capitalists have boon frightened to invest. In many instances capital has been with drawn from investment which would hays given large employment. This stuto of things has arisen entirely from a want of confidence, and as coon as a ptato of things U brought about by which more confidence is given to tho owners of

capital, I havo no doubt that many means will bo opnnoil up by which indus trious pooplo will find work. In tho mean timo the Government, aro quite ready to employ those who aro willing to work. Wo will find temporary employment such as wo havo to enable parsons to earn a living ; but. we cm only do that on piecowork.

The Last of the Marshalsea.

It may s-oem to some peoplo a weakly sentimental confession, but it was not with out a touch of regret that I re»d a recent paragraph in an evening paper, to the effect that the last remains of what was onio the Marshalaea Priaon wore condemned and would shortly be destroyed. Many places, a-spocintod with higher mecuorios, have un dergone tho Fame destiny of late, with only feeble protest or silent regret from the fow to whom these memories appeal. Thero was shaking of heads over tho demolition

oi the Tabard, and there aro plenty of people whoso antiquarian sympathies hailed the news of the further re epito gtanted to the Staple Inn with pleasure. But not even the memories of Madeline Bray or Mr Micaber could stir the public mind to rosent the disappearance of the King's Bench, nor did the recollection of Mr Pickwick and his faithful squire save any trscoable remnant of tho Float. It needed the genius of the great master of English fiction to invest such places with one touch of interest not purely painful, and he himself would have been well con tent to see their end. It is merely on the circumstance that they were so intimately, associated with our meroorios of his books and of his personality that tho slightest regret for their disappearance can find foothold for a second. The changes have been mostly very much for the better. The great workmen's barracks, known as the Peabodv Buildings, ia not aesthetically beautiful, but even on that point it ii decidedly profer ablo to Tom All Alone's, whoee site it occupies, and may generally bo hailed as an improvement. It would bo worth while to know that the Marshalsea had never ex isted at all, even though its non-existence would have left a gap in the bookshelves where " Uttlo Dorrit" now stands. And the redemption ot the ground it h;i3 cum bered so long to healthy uses is surely cause for congratulation. It is well that it ehould go. and disappear from tho eyes of men as utterly a?, but- for Charles Dickons, the slow asjony and cankering shame of which its every stone is eloquent would already have died out of their memories. It was righteously doomed, and very shortly its place will know it no more Places sacred to the ghoets of real people, spirits which undeniably once boro the burden of the flesh, are going every day the way of all brick and mortar to demolition and final oblivion, and how ehould so very thin a spectre as Little Dorrit have power to 6tay the hand of the destroyof of the Marshal pea? The world wi!l bo none the worse for its disappearance, and yet I make bolito believe that thatnamolefs sentiment which, though not regret is still akin to it, wi?l be shared by many thousands of people who would unhesitatingly vote for the abolition of all ita remains.

The onfranchieemont of its frowey pre cincts brought with it no saving grace. And, for the matter of that, itfl tenants are still prisoners, under the key of that sternest of gaolers, Poverty, and have liberty only to exchange Marsbalsoa place for any other place, as little gracoful and no more snrdid, whereof there is no lack in London. There is a griai appropriateness in the circum stance that'the only ocen spaco anywhere near it ia the superannuated churchyard of St. George-fcbe-Martyr, from which it ia separated by ita own wall, with a row of illegible gravestones leaning in high shouldored solemnity against the church side. Its patched and broken windows leer at this congenial neighbour over the remnants of tha chevaux cle frisz; and its decrepit walla, smircnsd with the rain and emoke of generations, are as conimonplacn a piece of uglinoes as any in the dismal city It Is only when, pursuing his way tro-itward alony; the Boronch High utraot, ha ;>cr«-iv,3-= tlio legend " Anjrel court." above the lilthy entry which Little D.ni'it'r. feet had known so well that the sterile hideousnesa of that row of houses becomes eloquent to the casual passenger. It ii with the words of Dicken3

in bin mind that ho leaves the roar of tho strout behind him. Whoever (joes into Marshaluta-placo, turning out of Angol -:nurt, loading to Bormondeoy, will find his foot on tho vory stono« of tho oxtinct Marphahoa Gaol j will see its narrow yard to tho right and to tha left, vory littlo altered if at all, except that, tho walla were lowered when the place ceased to boa prison ; will look upon tho rooms in which tha debtors lived, will stand among tho crowd ing ghosts of many miserable years. The nail-studded oaken door of the lodge, and the heavy iron gate which loads to what was ones tho privato residence of the mar shal ; the old pump, with its half defaced inscription ; the narrow courtyard, in which the Father of the Marahalaea kept tattered stato ; the iron frames nbovo tho doorways, ompty now, which once hold tho dimly flickering oil lamps, aro hero as pictured in the book we know so well Utterly com monplaco, but for those clinging riiemorirs, which nothing but tho destruction of the plaeo itself will have the power to uproot, it iurk-i behind its own high wall, and under the shadows of rows of tenements aa mean and dilapidated as itself, approachable only by tortuous and filthy tunnels, oud offending every ponse with a sodden squallor personal to itsolf, and woll worthy of its surround ings ; an oyesoro to which sunshine itself can add no touch of grace, whoso sordid choerlcssnoas rain and fog could scarcely aggravate. Yet it has its usoa, and dumbly offer* a text from which whoso will may preach a sormon. As a memento of that shameful and long-lived legalised folly, wo havo fortunately outlived — imprisonment for debt—und all tho miaory it boro ,-.nd fostered, it marks progress, and tho places associated with Dickens in London still re maining uro thinning so rapidly in number that ovontho molaneholy appeal of tha Mar shalsoii for prolonged existence touches ono a little. Strango and pathetic privilege of goniuK! togivotothounsubatantialpliantotns of it-i fancy a vigour and durability of lifo outlawing iron and stono. Boforo long tho last remnants of the Marshalßoa will be as undiscoveiable aa the namos of tho victims who languished in its mitorablo walla ; but that slight figure, in which Charles Dickons epitomised its shame and pathos, wilt live in tho hoarts of unborn generations, whon the odilico which will replace it shall lnvo crumbled to tho dust.

Stanley's Costly Outfit.

Ovor £.'O,OOO Required for the Relief Ex

licditlon.

Tim expedition which Mr Stanloy is about to loud into Africa is by far tho largest and most exponsivo that over sot out on a pcncofnl mission in tho Dark Coii tinont. Trnvolling in aavago cuuntriea is always very costly. It has been estimated that the average expenses incurred by exploring parties in Africa is over £S a mile. It cost the -Eng lish and Algerian missionary societies over £1,000 apices for ovory missionary thoy landed on the shores of Victoria Nyanza. Stanley's trip acro.=s the continent is said t ■ h-ivo cost about C 12.000. Dr. Holub, who is now working his way from South Afriei to tho Groat Luke.o, took with him an outfit that cost £5,000. TSo money expanded by most Itnrxntnnt expeditions hus varied from i' 2 Ootn£S,OoO. Anoxploror'sforcoof portors and othor nativo asdntanU varies from about forty to 250 sould. Mr Stanley's pre.-ont oxpodition will include about 1,000 porsons, und his travelling outlit and trado goods have cost something ovor £•20,000 It must bo romombored that lie i« not only trying to adequately supply tho noeds of Ihh largo party, but that he is also carrying much clothing, ammunition nnd other supplies to the ?ovoral hundred persons who ary nuraborod in t'tu little rotinuo of Kmin I'asha.

An exhibition was given in England the othor diiy of tho porlormunco of v Maxim pin. It was .-i put of tho mitltury outfit of tho Stanley expedition, and tho explorer and many prominent moil winched tho porformarieo of tho wonpem with much satisfaction m it pourod forth v storm of nbmit 000 bulloUj v. minute. Hero i« mi ox peditlnn N that irf bouud on » niUjuiun uf Immunity, ond wi-hos ill to uo man. It unfortunately happens, liowuvor, that u>> uo timo miico Burton and Speko ponotratod to tho Great Lakes in ISSS huvo timos been no troublous in Centril Africa m; thoy aro now. In Uganda ond tho region around i', whero Stanley said olovon yours agu thut, us travel led as socuroly as i" Europe, the powor ful despot li'wanfca haa within tho past two years killed many thousands of people. It is said that in one cam paign last year ho killed 10.0' CO sol diers of hi* northern neighbour, the King of Unyoro. ilo is tho avowed enemy of the whites, "no of whom ho has murdered, two ho has ontilavcd. and the others whn wore in his power bo haa expelled from his coun try.

If Stanloy is not ablo by ppaoenble means to opon tho road tD Wadoltti, if ho cannot buy tho favour of the rulor cf Uganda, ho must dofond tho lives of his party, and by force, if needs by, fal.il the mission he is sent to perform. It h right that ho bp supplied with tho best appliances of military art. It is buliovod char tho man who has not been excollod by any African oxplorer in the tact and forboarancu he ha? displayed' in his dealings with the nativos may be trusted to use theso appli ances only if necessity compels their use. Among the Europeaus who will accompany Mr Stanley is one who is epocially qualified to handlo tho Maxim gun.

The " Writing on the Wall."

Hissing the Queen.

Tiik Socialist? Eeem determined to keep themselves at evidence, and they have hit

upon a now form of "demonstration." A few days ago the vicar of St. Mary's, liittcr ■?ea, told tho guardians of tint parish that no exceptional distress existed amongst tho

labouring population in tlie district; and in order to prove that this nttx ememfc waa wrong, about 300 of tho "unemployed" attended tha church,-; -'lieadod by a leather - lunged individual. The scene 3 which occurred in the sacred edifice were as unusual as they werodisgracotul. Wlion the prayers for tho Queen and the royal family were read " loud ami dotorirjincd hissing aroso, and this wss repeated when over during tho service thoro was any roforenco ti> the Sov-oreign or Princes." Tho Roy. Mr Buckivoll took afl his text— "Pure religion and undefiled before God and tho Father is this : To visit tho fatherless and widows in thoir affliction, and to knep himself unspotted from tho world." When the preacher remarked that psoplo should mako those around thorn happy, the "unemployed" cilled out " Hear, hear ;" but when he added that many of thoso who were well off owed thoir success to their industry—to "getting up early and going to bed lato" —cries of dissent and hisses rang through the church. Tho preacher proceeded to point out (which is very true) that in some cusoa " impostor/) traded upon the credulity of tho benevolent." Loud hisses wnro hoard, and one man called out " It's a lie." "It is perfectly true," meekly replied too rev. gentlemen. But the inter ruptions continued. When lie said some thing that showed sympathy with tho men, they criod out "hear, hear," or "that's the style ;" but when ho pointed out tho tokens of improvement in the condition of the work ing classes, there were loud and aiiL'ry shouts of "no." In vain tho preacher appealed to hfs hearers to conduct themsalves with de cency ; and ho had to conclude his sermon abruptly. A meeting was afterwards held in Battorsea Park, when Ihe assertions in tho sprmon wcro pronounced as "lies." This new kind of demonstration is becoming common. On tho same day churches at Bonnondi-oy and ontbe Pockham lload were visited by a number of mon, many of whom wore red roaottoe, and they cried "hear, hear," or expressed disapprobation, accord ing as the preachers said anything which pleased or displeased thorn.

". About 500 men marched in procession to Marylobone Church, but wero rofuted ad mission, and they walked off to PaddiDgtou Green, whore the crowd was harangued by the leaders. One orator expressed ap-' proval of emigration, but be said, " It must bo the wholesale emigration of the idle, thieving, landlord and capitalist class," a sentiment which was loudly applauded. It is the fashion of the unthinking to pooh pooh such demonstrations -is being the work of*idle and disorderly agitators; but to my mind they should not be so light- Iv esteemed. They afford unmistakable proofs that we are within measurable dis tance of a great social upheaval. Tho growth of republican or socialistic ideas (call them which you will) i? rapid and enor mous, and it is not confined to the ?üb stratum of Eocioty. Go whoro you will,yon find proofs of it and oven in thn bes1; clubs men may bo Jieanl giving expressions to ideas which are nothing ehort ot revolution ary. Ten years ago men like Hyndraan, Champion, Williams, and Burns would have been laughed at. To-day they are a power — and a growing power—in the land.

THE WONDERLAND OF NEW ZEALAND.

THE NEW WJSRTC ■JU2RIMUE.

Somo Vciiuilful Scenery

(11V CUR SI'ICCIAL COKUKSrONPENT.)

Seven months have now passed away since tho groat volcanic eruption at Tarawers. Seven dull, weary months it haa beou to tho reaidonta at Kotrirua. The most important attraction for tourists being the terraces, when they disappeared naturally the travelling public have boon ondoavouring ever since to find fresh fields and pastures now. Little by lit'le the residents, have been trying to persuade tbemaelveo that matters would improve, that pooplo would bo attracted by tho inherent beauties in and around tho place itse'.f. Again and again some of the residents havo docided to look out for new abiding places, but their bump of hepo being largely dove loped they havo frequently postponed the ovil hour, and their patience will, I think, aoon bo rowardod. I bolievo that tho dark cloud which h:i3 been hovering ovor the district is boginning at laat to show its silver lining, and that the bright sunshine of bettor times ia about to become visible,

Mi- Blytho, Government surveyor, who is at prosont survoying a trial lino through tl:o Walotapu Valley, rocontly brought in terrace during tho ciur.»o of his work, which, although in an embryo otato, yet promisori praat things. Naturally the nowa interested and oxcitod ma, and I was ou tontorhook-) to poo tho new wnndor. But tho question arnso, how waa Ito got thoro? 1 did not !.-nu'- tho truck, and I had no one to guido wo, Fortunately atthismomont Mr Krownlio, assistant to Mi- Blythe, turned up, and he very kindly voluntsorcd to show mo tho spot. Mr Blytho aleo generously offoicd me tho uso nf his tent. Tho opportunity was too good to bo lost Accordingly, on a recent Friday morning, Mr Biownlia and myself startod for the now wonder. As wo passod through Ohinomutu various groups of natives woro to bo aeon around with apidoa and shovels. An inquiring look from us olieitod the fact that they woro about to proceed to the now railway works. I havo Finco been informod that they aro doing excellent work. But thia earthwork, in its regularity and solid workmanship, ia a troat to look .-it. Cantering quickly through Kotorua, wo turnod into tlio I'ari heru Koad, and woro roon well on our way. As wo walked our horses up Mclntosh'a cutting, around tho right hand shoulder of Moerangi mountain, the nativo name for that hill struck me an being moat appro priate. Mooranpi, translated, moans " The sleeping Heaven!" I think it roust havo boon callod so in contrast to Whakarowarown, on tho right hand, which is everlastingly belching forth smoko and steam with tho roar of tho hissing and boiting poysors. Ac wo noarod Pariheru and got woll on tho top of tho hill a glorioua view of the Ashliolds was proronted to us. I oouli not reeUt BtoDuini' for a moment to ga/.o at tho dreary waste amlrnnctnor, "Ahem! Ahem! What a pity, What a pity !" A mib past I'arihoru wo turnod oft the Paeroa track, toward* tho loft, nnd "etruck across tho ran cos for Maungnkakramcii. Up and down tho hilla our horse jog along. I cannot toll whore wo are; tho route is totally strange to mo. I feol half inclined to atop my 'friend and ask him if ha is quito cortain that ho is on tho straight and narrow p*th. But tho easy indifference with which ho picks up tbo track reassures mo, and I begin to gain confidence in my friond and n grorxt .ieal of confiilonco in my sol' : indood, I begin to put on airs and to go ahead, poivundinc myself that I am nn old ti-avellor nnd could irvon psreoive the track of a snail in the Brass. But 1 soon lose my ronceit. Wo presently nrrivo at the top of an incline which in very steep indood. awfully "0, in fact, but my friond rides Rentfv down ns if ho wax on Urn flat. and 1-1 look at it. "It is all right," shout* Brnwnio. "Coma along." Uy-tho bye, ona of our pickhorrei", with n load on, foil down hnro tho other day head ever hooln. His words reassure mo. I foci that it wfiulrl do more to tho in'erontn "I my crnditors lo walk down ami load my haw Thin I He, naiefully, remounting at tho bottom, and aftor a viiln af a fow minutes duration wo reach thrfia tenl.9 pitchorl at tho ba-o of Kakaianio* Mountain—threo tents and Mr Godfrey. I mention tho tents first becausethoy lire tho more conspicuous, Mr Godfrey socond becauno it ir* only now I discern him sittinc in front of Ilia tent, faziii" at the surrounding landscape Mr Oodfroy i* an artiat sketching for the Survoy Department, lie is now, I should imr»gino, studying some scenic offoct. On our arrival we were hoartily wel comed : Mr Godfroy had been clone for threo days. Nr, not quito alone, as ho had a solitary cat to boar him company That cat if a fnyetory. Where it camo from no one knows. It, was not tliero whon tho camp was pitched, but ono evening it ap peared, nnd, uninvited, made itself mio of fhn domestic circle Still, a cat. although veiv Ronially inclined, is not exactly vory gird company, so 1 do not wonder that Mr Gndfroy was glad to mo us After water ing r.nd tetheritjg out our horses we pit rlown to rest ouraolvos whilst kai ia being

prepared. KAUNGAONGAONGA. MOUNTAIN AND ADJACENT LAKE. Tho cump is very picturesquely situated. Ir. i» pitohorl at tho bf.se of tho mountain, and close to tho only cold frosh water stream in (Vio valley. Towards tho right the vallav can be- soon Bttetching right down to the I'norna swamp and Gnlatoa plains. In front risen abruptly Mnnnganncaanjra mountain, thn faco of the cliff in tho dull li-ht presenting a woirrl yof; beautiful a=poct. This cliff is thickly impregnated with sulphur, which, acting on tho materials with which tho cliff is composed, has indeed transformed it. 11l (teems to powsa all the colours of tho rainbow, blended together in a vory fantastic fashion. Not. far from tho ba«e of tho cliff lies Rntowhero Lake. Prior to tho eruption this lake iw, I am informed, of a red colour, but since thon, liko all othor things in the district, it, has changed, and now is preen. 1* is a beautiful lako, something in abapa like tho figure eight, It lie* in lonely surroundings. On its surfaco float innumerable duck, grobe and Hal. The birds are almost tame, and innocently succumb to the sportsman. I do not think a prettier camping ground could bo f°'tV, d H IB loft of this isanotber beautiful shoot of blue -water called Lako Ngawhutia, On the rising ground- nronnd thin lako I fat down and lost myself in reverie. I greedily drank in all tho minor beauties with which ' it is Burrounded—its fine setting, its pic turesque background. How pad it is to think that, a beautiful place liko this is al most as much unknown as tho rogions around tho North Pole : that land which is Crown land is not made moro accessible to thn ordinary tourist. . " Kai is ready, como along ! shouts my friend. My reverie waa , broken in upon, but the nowa was welcome ; I was vary hungry. Around a rustic table, under the open canopy of heaven, wo sat. Ten and bread, tinned beef, rice and jam, all disap peared rapidly; we woro very hungry. After this the usual pipe was indulged In, and I returned to the Lake, whero I stayed until the shadows began to deepen and thn quickly falling dow warned me that I should bo under cover. A little drop of tho " craythur" with warm water and sugar made a vory nice niehtcap. Strango to say. few mosquitoes troubled us during tho night, and I awoko roetod and ro freshod.

THE WAIOTAPU VALLEY.

When I went outside and looked across at Maungaongnonga it presontcd a mosi; curious appenraneo. The morning sun wns glinting .ipon all its various cnlours, and atoam ]ntn were issuing from innumerable places all over the surface of tho cliff. Around, abovo and beneath the cliff—tho wholo r.inp" soemod one mass of steam jots. Wending mv way down to the stream, I indulged in n btth, after which a hearty breakfast, nnd I was ready for my walk to the terraces. Our pro gress was necessarily slow. Thore waß so much to se». Boiling; springs, hot mud holes and fnroaroles craved our attention in evory direction. Hidden aa these marvela of nature are sometimes in the high fern, scrub and titroe, it b<shovea you to"exercis>e a little caution while traversing the country. I shuddered as I thought of the possibility nnd the droadful result of falling into one of these awful places. What a horrible death it would prove to be ! The pretty little lakelets are anothor feature of tho va'llev. They aro of various hues, shapes nnd sizes—rod, blue, green, yellow and brown, in endless profusion, and of all degrees of temperature.

Tbrouph ilio valley fl-->n-» Hio VVaiotapu Creel-. It if a curious piccu of -.rater. present* many'different features, pnmetimep nf a dark brown, »nrl again of a dull yellow. A* another place, it is quite hot—nay, even boiling. Aa it nears the southern end of the valley, it becomes quite tumultuous,

pushing our boulders, and forming email boiling caacados. Gently it thon glide- along, till it falls into tho turbulent and swift Waikato. Over this rivor wo made our way, leaping from rmk to rock, nnd re gained the othor sido. THE NE\V WftlTE TERRACE.

After a rather vvoarisome but short walk through acrub and fern we arrive at Ku Kotorekueramiiu, the native naiiio for this terrace— the Te Tarata of the future. To him who has eeon tho beautiful structure of tho past this tcrraco would pule into the utmost insignificance, but wo know what we know. lam informed by old identities that terrace formation is of rapid growth, ao that in a few yoars we ahojld have a new white terrace to equal, if not surpass, the old. As I aaid in my telegram, it is not so high a* tho old terrace The coral-lipped basins and tbo glittering fretwork are wanting, but they are of the future. As a judge ef sizo, tho unaccustomed eye cannot be very correct, but I think I am right in saying that this new structure is some 60 feoc in width at the top. At the bottom it has a curved owcop of about a hundred yards. In general eliapo it somewhat resembles tho old torraco. Ovor all trickles clown a stream of warm wat'-r, which aids in covering tho surface rapidly with a coatioe of millr whito silica. At ono side of tho lake let on tho top there is a psol of a bright yellow colour, tinged rcund tho edges slightly with green, on account, I presume, of tho contact of the yollow water with tho bluo of tho top basin; At tho base of tho terrace thore ia a similar pool sot in similar surroundings. Both pools looked exqui "it.oly protty as tho sun ehono brightly down upon them. Such is the terrace. Such is our hopo and anchor for tho future.

I regret that my doscriptivo powera aro limited, co that I cannot paint in more harmonious colours the beauties of this valloy. But, indeed, everything Uso beauti ful that only tho loss of being monotonous in our rhapsodies roatrains mo from re itorating my praises of it. All the scenery is beautiful enough to make ono rave about it, but it la better for you to come and see for yourselves. For mo, it all romains just like an enchant iug dream. Mr Blytho is at proeont camped in tho valley, nnd hopes to bo able to got a photograph which will enable you to see for yourselves the lay of tho country. I very much regret that tho Government havo stopped tho road works abutting on this district. At any coat, 1 say, open up communication with the valloy.

Heir to a Fortune.

A Talo Which Embracos a Deathbed Marriage.

And yot another chapter of great interest it added to tha romance of tho deathbed marriage, death, and two funerals of tha lato Senor do Potestad, tho third Secretary of tho Spanish Legation at Washington. His widow h child by her first husband, Mr Bratton, who never aaw that child, haa juat fallen hoir through hie fithor, who was an Englishman and who is now known to have died about four months ago, to a title and fortune in England. Sonor de Potestad boeamo madly in love with a handsome widow from New Orloani, who has bson in Washington for a year with her mothor and child, and desired to marry her, even when ho knew his days wero numbored. The woman having beiu divnrosd from her husband, who had de serted her and her child several years be foro, no Catholic prio.Jt would perform the marriage ceremony, so Miss Wright, who had previously been a Catholic, as Mr de PotoHtad was aim, secured tho eorvicoa ot a Methodist minister, who, after examining her divorce papers and closely questioning Mr do I'otoalnii, who was proppod up in bed n« to his wishes about tho marriage, united thocnupio This wa» an October 9th, and Mr do i'roteslai died on the 19th of that, iincith, without knowing, as his wife did not, kuiiw then, that her firat husband had Leon dead three months. Tlio fact an to tho death of her firat hus bmul, Bratton, was hot known to Mmo. do Potoatad or any nf her friends until quite n.'i.viiUv fur elm hud novcrhetird from Brat ton from the <■■"■> ho deserted bur in Gal vrwtnn. Toy., befwe their child wan ljorn, and did not even know where ho was. BeoauTO Do rotestad had marriw), in iH*obeilionco I" tho lawa of his country and chiiriih, a divorced woman, thoro wore untiTn'ourly a, month aftor his death, when, instructions having cumo from Kurope.his body, which had been in a vault three weeks, waa interred in the Congrec.-wnal ccmeterv, which, however, is not a Catho lic burying ground, in the preaonco of the rao?r, prominent member* of tho Diplomatic Cuts. The Key. Father Chappelle of St.' Matthew's Roman Catholic Church officiated.

Had tho fact of tho death of Miss Wright's lint husband been known before pho marrie'l a second timo M. de Potcstad could havo hoen unitod to hor by a Catholic prinif. and then there would have been no difficulty about hU burial at the proper timo soon a'.ter his death, and as to the pirente and friends in Spain recognising Mis lady ho wedded as hih lawful widow. But now, it is paid, so ritiid are the views of Spanish Catholics on such question?, tho fact of his having beon married by a Protestant clergyman will, in spito of her first husband having died before that timo, prevent the recogni tion of tho mamago by his relatives, There was no civil marriage. Meanwhile, how over, she u=cp hi 6 name, cro?t and coat-of arin«, and whether or no sho can be received in Spain as tho widow of Senor Don Luis de Potestady Pinhoirn, sl-.o is to bo rec?.unißod by law in England as tho mother of tho heir to a titlo'and fortune iv the Bratton family.

Executions at Peking.

Ninotccn Persons Suffer Death—An

Admiral Pardoned.

December 11 at Peking was execution day, and there -were 31 prisoners, among ■whom wero sovoral men of rank, who woro under fentonco of doath by decapitation or strangling. On tho day previous the con victs woro treatod to a bountiful repast of ivine and victuals, according to an ancient custom with prisoners just before thoir execution. Early tho noxt morning tho condemned were taken out »f thoir cells and placud between two bodies of soldier?, and having bc-ii eocuroly bound and manacled, vvero placed in carts, and at once convoyed to tho exocution ground, the outsido of Houan Wu gate, whore a mat shod had been eroctod for tho accommoda tion oi tho Judges and other officials con cernod in supurintandiog tho execution.

At a little afror noon tho Imperial order was received con-igni-ig three of the culprits to death by decapitation and sixteen of thoin by strangulation, and to tho remaining twelve, four of whom were men holding offi cial positions, His Majesty granted a ro prievo, and they wcro accordingly taken back to thoir colls. It was about, i o'clock in tho afternoon when the executions were ended It is said that a man, related to the Imperial family, by tho name of Tsaisan, who was under"sentence of death by strau gulation and was to be executed on tho sarao day with trio othor prisoners, escaped by cl'mbing over tho wall on the night pre vious to tho exocution ; and although strict search was lnndo, ho has not yet been re-arrested.

Among tho pardoned was Chang Ch'eng, Admiral of the Chineso fleet tit .Foocbow at tho time of the slaughter by tho French last year. This unfortunate man had been immurod in a dungeon ever since ho waa taken to Peking, and his. lifo had been given up aa lost by all hi* friends and relatives. 11l is, however, if rumouv in eorroct, to the ellurrs of Viceroy Li Hung-ohiang, who in. torcedod in hia behalf with tho Sevonth Prince whon hia Highness visited Tientsin, 1 hat ho owos his life. On that occasion tho Viceroy represented that, us China has at preseut urgent need of men who were quali fied in naval and military warfare, it would be a wiso policy on tha part, of the Govern ment to mve Hiich men »s Chang Ch'eng and tho others who wore awaiting sentence of death at the capital.

On December loth threa more criminals wore executed, two by decapitation and one by strangulation.

The Portuguese Aroused.

Advices from Zanzibar state that the Sultan has refused to comply with tho demand of tho Portuguese Governor of Mozambique to surrender torritory claimed by Portugal, but recognised in tho Anglo - German agreement with tho Sultan as belonging to Zanzi bar, and nan referred the matter to friendly Powers. Portugal has, on this ac count, raptured i>2r relation* with the Sal tan, nni has hauled down tho Portuj^ie^e fla;j from tho Consulate at Z»n;:ibar. In addi!!"ii to this a number of Portuguese men-of-war have proceeded to Tungi^ the bombardment of which ia threatened.

THE SAHARA DESERT.

Stories ol Captivity and Death on tlic Afrloan Coast.

Ouu voyage will soon bo ovor now, for we aro just passing tho outermost skirt of that mighty Sahara desert which t ontei'Bd from tho other side eight years ago, in company with a group of adventurous French officers. This will probably be our last glimpse of Africa for the present, and another day ought to bring ns in sight of Grand Canary, v here wo etiSll go dsh'oie for a holiday upon one of tho most bearitiful islands in the Atlantic, in which we may enjoy all the richness and splendour of tho tropics without tb'eir destroying heat and deadly malaria. . This coast which we are now ssfrtmg is the same where the Spaniards proposed to annex sixty milea of seaboard a few years ago. In this wiae undertaking they have certainly little opposition to fear, for no man in his senses would be likely to dis pute with them the possession of these bar ren rocks and lifeless sands, which oxtend their dreary length along the eastern horizon as far as the eye can reach. What; the interior of this dismal region is like may be gathered from the simple, straight forward narrative of a man of whom America ma/ bo justly prou"d—that stout hearted New England captain who was one of tho few men who survived the fearful ordeal of olavery among savages as greedy and ferocious aa the vultures who share with thorn tho solitudes of this ao cursod desert: Wrecked a littlo to the north of the perilous ciipo ho wraa in stantly pounced upon by the fierce Arabß that hau..t it, plundered, stripped, and dragged away into the depths of the wil derness with the remnant of his ill-fated crew, This is how he describes hia jour ney. "The flints upon which we trod wore sharp as knives, laying open our bare feet at every stop, so that the blood dripped from our hoels as wo struggled on. Mean while tho Arabs kept croading us forward by dealing us heavy blows with the shafts of their spear.-*, or prickling us with their points. The burning sand that entered our wounds caused us intolerable agony, and tho Bun was now boating down upon us so fiercely that our exposed skins peeled off in long strips aa if scalded with boiling water. At length, driven to desperation. I began to look about for a large stone. I intended to dash out my brains with it, and so to end my sufferings. But not finding one I determined to bear up, and not to lose hope while life remained to mo "

Thia same coast haa witnessed another tragedy of European renown, the mere mention of which, after the lapse of nearly half a century, suffices to thrill with horror all who have ever heard of it. At the end of ono of the rooms in the great picture gallery of tho Louvre, in a dim and fitful light that makes its ghastly details doubly terrific, hangs an enormous picture representing a wave-toeaed raft strewn with the haggard, wasted forms of a ship wrecked crew. Some are fastening blood stained bandages around their shrunken limbs. Others are lying prostrate, with their livid features and rayloaa eyeballs turned blindly upward to the merciless splendour of the bright, cloudless, cruel sky. Others atill are straining despair ingly over a sailless ocean their sunken eyes, whoso fixed stare of dumb and stony horror haunted me for many a day after I first saw it. There ia no need for any one to ask what that picture moans. One glance Eunices to telf the moat careless observer that it can represent nothing else than the historical raft upon which the doomed sur vivors of the Medusa lingered out the last days of that long agony whose sickening details are too well known to need repeti tion.

The Russians as Spies.

Thk efficiency of ths Kusaian epy system, says the Buffalo " Commorcial," is shown by an inoidcnt connoctod with ox-Governor Curtin's stay in St. Petersburg as American ambassador. After the downfall of Napoloon 111., ho went to London on a brief visit. While there be recelvod an in vitation to call on the fallen potentate who w«r tbun living at ChiKelhurst. He re sponded to tho invitation and was re ceived with a groat deal of warmth, The ex-Emp6ror talked for a long time about his own career, hi* poverty, his former life in London, and bis visit to Now York. Finally, after a conversa tion of nearly two hours, he came to the real point of his desire to ee3 Mr Curtin. He said to him : " You are on intimate terms with Princa Gortachakoff.- Have you any objection to telling me what are his real viewa upon the subject of the re eßtablishment of the empire?" "I know what his sentiments upon tho eubjoct are," said Mr Curtin, "but they are of such a nature that I do not foel at liberty to communicate them to you." "I under stand you," said the ex Emperor, "and am much obliged to you for your civility in calling." Gortschakoff'a opinion, which Mr' Curtin withheld, had been very vigorously ex pressed. He said that this " Fronch scoun drel " should never have any help from him in getting back to his throne, as he re garded him as a man dangorous to the peaceful condition of affairs in Europe. When Mr < urtin returned to St. Petersburg, Gortshakoff invited him to dinner. During dinner he Baid to him: "You have been away ?" " Yes, in London." " You caw many people there?" Yes." "A number of distinguished people!" "Yes; I caw some prominent American friends of mine." "I am told you also saw the man who at one time seemed to hold in his handa the destinies of Europe." "Yes; 1 saw him," said Mr Curtin. "Have you any objpetions to telling tna tho nature of the conversation ■you had with bim ?" "It was not impor tant," was the reply ; " it was mainly upon personal topics." Here Gortschakoff said, with a very knowing look, " I know all the details of that conversation. lam very much obliged to you for your discretion in not communicating to Louis Napoloon my views upon the re-eetablishmont of the French empire." As there was no third person present at tho interview between Mr Curtin and the ex-Emperor, this interview gave him a very high opinion of the corbji'.etenees of the Ku?sian spy service.

Contagiousness of Consumption.

Dr B. W. Cusmire, of Boston, not long pinca read a paper before the Suffolk Medi cal Society, giving a summary of tho evi dence on which Professor Koch bases hia view that tubercular consumption is caused by living organisms, and is therefore infec tious. It is published in the "Medical and Surgical Journal," and we use it freely in this article.

As early as 1843 Klenke proved that rab bits could be rendered tuberculou.9 by .inocu lating them with expectoration from con sumptive patients. It had been previously p-uved that anthrax (malignant pustule) was due eololy to a living organism. The question was whether or not consumption was due to a similar organism, of a differ ent species. In tuberculous patients such organisms were found ii. the expectorations, in tho lung tissues, in scrofulous glands, and in tuberculous joints ; and they were exactly alike in all. each organism (rod shaped) containing from four to six sporeß, or seeds.

Professor Koch conducted his investi gations for years in every variety of form, to eliminate all possibility ot error. The peculiar organisms were found in every caEe. Over five hundred small animals were inoculated from tuberculous patients, and a postmortem of the »iimal> showed the presence of the organisms in every case.

On the other hand, all sorts of other dis eases were carolully studied without show ing a single organism of the kind. Again, when a consumptive patient recovered, all the organisms disappeared from tho expec toration.

Further, the organisms word found nt the very first stage of tho disease* thus indicat ing that they were its cause, not its product. To render the thing absolutely certain, tho organisms were so eu'tivated out of the body aa to separate them from every other contapious elemont. When theso were used to inoculate with, they invariably renderod tho animal tuberculous.

Theso organisms require for their de velopment a rather high temperature and a peculiar soil. They aro quite tender, so that they readily perish, thus lessening their liability to communicato the disease. They Rain access to the system mainly by the breath. The dust-like particles of dried expectoration furnish an abundance of spores. Professor Koch communicated tho disease to miny rabbits and guinea'pips by simple, inhalation. It ia clear that all expectora tions of consumptive persons should be thoroughly disinfected, and their rooms kept well ventilated. Weakly persons should specially avoid exposure;-as their systems afford the best coil for the spores,— " Youth's Companion."

Labour Demonstration in Adelaide.

SxtradfAsary Proceedings.

A huuk number of worSinff men, prin cipally connected with ironworkers' nrma in Adelaide, met in the Central MarkeS wiih

the purpose of marching in procession through the town to express their disap proval of tbe Government having sent a tender to England for a large quan tity of briel K 9 work. The leaders of the movement bad provided a banner, with the words " BtirJal of Losal Industries, and a coffin p 3 ?ntecf Mack. In o very iew minutes a crclrtd gathered nntaberine 400 or 500, and they Eaaicbed is proceseion four deep. In the nbiarkot esvarai eceecboa were made denouncing the Government policy, and the coffin was deposited in a grave. A person named Day, with mock rited, performed the burial service, and said, "'Working men, beware ; whom you roturn in the Coming elections for Braithwaito, on account of H3a working claseea." Sub?equeutly the dcptJtatKm waited on ihe Commissioner of FubJ'e Works, who said that the .local ten der was 40 per cent, above the English tender. The local tenderers deny that.and say that. dutieß considered, which the 'English importers should pay, t»ey are within the 15 per cent, or co margin. £he Government ntate the amount of the Eng lish contract to b'a s^oat £8,000. Instruc tions hod previously freaw oabled accepting the English tender.

JAPAN.

A Volcano ill fiction. -Incendiary Fires.

Tarumae mountain, in Kimoiuri, . Hok kaido, suddenly broke out in oraptipn on December 10th laat, and a ahowor o£ aohoa fell in tho neighbouring diatriots. The latter phenomenon ceased in a few hours, tut tho roaring continued till the 13th, when the eruption became most violent. It ceased altoKotfrer on the 16th. The result was that a pieda of land about 2,000 feet square, midway betweon the foot and sum mit, slid down and filled up tho adjacent sea, making a email hill. FortOoately no accident occurred to persons or cattle. The Kanjagadako mountain at Mura natsu, near Ueda, in Shioano, has been making a roaring noise eioce November 24th. and the inhabitants in tlio neighbour ing districts much fear an eruption,

A Singular Duel.

A very singular trial, nrieirig ovtt of a duel, took place with closed doors at St. Peters burg last week. A captain of the Czar's body guard named Panintine met two years ago, at a watering-place in the Caucasus, the family of Oeneral Lazareff, whoso name may be remembered as one of the Russian commanders in Asia Minor during the war with Turkey. Captain Pantinlne tell deeply in love with one of the General's daughters, and was affianced_ to her before the season was over. But iC the end he jilted her, and married someone eUo. This was regarded as such an insult by the Lazareff family that one of the young lady's brothers challenged Captain Panin tine and killed him. The matter being re ferred to the Czar, he ordered it Jo be tried in accordance with the Russian law,1 which provides that, if the person who haß pro voked his adversary to fight kills the latter, he shall bo imprisoned for six years and eight months; but that if the chal lenger ia killed by the challenged, tho latter shall be imprisoned for only two years and six months. The iutereeting part in this case was to know which of the two parties should bo. considered to have provoked the duel; and as it was eventually decided in 11. LazirefFa favour, he escaped with the lessor penalty.

Guarding a Journalistic Secret.

A LoKDOS corrospondsnt describes the cir cumstances under' which the announce ment of the resignation of Lord Randolph Churchill was communicated to the "Times." Ho states that Lord Randolph Churchill " drove into the Printing Housa Square shortly after 11 at night, and asked to see the editor. He was lodged with him for nearly. an bonr, at the end of which time, lo! a strange thing happened. As soon aa Lord Randolph had been §oen off the premises an order was issued to lock every door in the build ing back and front, and take the keys to the editor's room. Despatches, as they arrived through the night, were taken in at a window in the court yard. Not a foul, from the members of the editorial staff down to the printer's devil, was permitted to leave the premiseß on any pretest what ever. For some hours mystery and conster nation brooded over the establishment. The secret was, till 'J.o'clock in the morn ing, locked in the breasts of the editor and two leader writers. The paragraph' an nouncing the resignation, and the articles commenting thereon, were written and held back to the last moment. And it was not until the paper had gone to press that the doors were unlocked."

A Caution to Promoters of Mining Companies

The London correspondent of the " Sydney Evening News " writes :—"Aa one New South Wales gold mine has been floated in London lately, and as I hear others aro likely to follow, it may be as well to warn enterprising promoters that they should be quite sure they have not at some time or other condemned the very mines they desire to float. Litera scripta manet; but Mr Finch Hatton seems to have forgotten his Delectus. This gentleman, some time since, published a book yclept " Advance Australia," in which he detailed his various colonial experiences in Queens land and elsewhere. Amongst other things he recounted his adventures and misfortunes in connection with a certain gold mine, and he published a Dr. and Cr. account for the benefit of his readers, showing that he had actually lost between £7,000 and £8,000 by his venture. Dur ing the late mining mania, which was nipped in the bud by Sir "Sawmill" Griffith, it occurred to Mr Finch-Hntton that this would be a good opportunity of eetting rid of so undesirable a property. Accordingly a prospectus was prepared, in which tho prospects and possibilities of the mine were elaborately set out with such skill that the poor British investor was charmed into subscribing largely for shares. The modest sum asked for the claim ucon which Mr Finch-Hatton had loot over £7,000 was £115,000, of which £90.000 was in cash and £25,000 in Eharoa. Mr Fmch- Hatton appears to have been blissfully for getful that such a book aa "Advance Australia" had aver been written. Not bo the ever watchful Mr Labouchere, who in this week's " Truth" most unkindly publishes extracts from this work side by side with Borne of tho statements in the prospectus of the Mount Britten Gold-min ing Company, and aska a fow very pertin ent questions thereanent. Mr Finch- Hatton, aniODgat hia oth6r accomplish ments, possesses a fair amount of ingenuity. He will require a great deal of that com modity to get him out of the awkward posi tion in which " Labby " has placed him.

The worst part of tbe business is that puch exposes as this do an immensity of harm to bona fide colonial gold mining companies, of which there are several in tbe market just now.

Tobacco Blindness.

Thk anti-tobacco people ought to have their attention called to the fact that " to bacco blindnees " is becoming quite a com mon affliction. At preßent there are several persons being treated for it at one London hospital. It first takes the form of " colour blindnPßS," the sufferers who have emok9d themeolvos ioto this condition being quite unable to distinguish the colour of a piece of 'ed cloth held up be fore them. That ia the popular medical teat, though there ia also a more scien tific one. Eventually the victim of to bacco blindness sometimes loses his eye sight altogether. Although smoking is to a large extent the sause of the malady, and so gives it its name, heavy drinking is also partly responsible Unless the smoking and drinking go together, the " tobacco blindness "ie not serious. A proof of this is, that if a doctor ias a case of it in hand, he always insists on .abstinence, when, ns a rule, tbo euffbrer (jraduallc regains hU sight. —" S v,. Jama I Gaz3tte." ■ . - -

More, than one rougb customer has never 1 known how good he wao until-ha'hod killed 1 somebody and heard the lawyer who dqy fended him sum up his virtues. ' '"

SELECTED POETRY.

CANTATA.

Comptfard (dr the OpCtyinWcff 'Auckland Free PifflS'. Library artfl Art Gailcrv. r '; si

(By W.- H. W. iiiD J. L. K.\ ;

\ 1.-Sar-0.-'-' I Let the world rej'ofpe, ■ . ■-. -■ And this happy UttbOf? '- '» «»■ I Break out in sons'. And the glorious theme- _ , ! Of fair Auckland by tHo sea" Rebound in sweetest lore And songe'ef minatrslgy! ■' -i \ I Let the thunder o! the organ, And its lightest tone, . Bnrptfor.th.wnaaWCj.joeartrejoioer" - Kejoica—rejoice—cacH seating hesrt I i We deck the altar. ' We rear the throne 'For Science, Peace, and Art. ,- ' 2—Chorus, ! Father <tf All! ;-r 'Thou boldest In Thine hand Xhe mighty sea— - , ... The ovar-smlling land! ' Master Supreme Of high Masonio art, .: :Keoetve this tribute of each beati oft heartf iO)ThougreatArohlteotofearthiind«kle^ : To Thee dm-sohgu of praise arise— To Thee-to Thee—oat songs arise I • .; ■'■ ". S.—TKKt. '■. ■ i Shine,- Rlprioua Sun, , On thls'uuspicious day ,' The Kght of science pour Upon onr weary way I Illume the breaking clouds I ! With truth and love' divine ; The future ot our realm, '■ !I/ord, evermore be tnine t : " i. Bkcitative: Fair Auckland, Mfelyesa of the blue Paolfic, Bright Auckland, Qtfeon of all the Southern Sea, Joy In thy sons—thy sons «f worth and wisdom— 81988 thou their generous hearts and noble »onl» I Kor priceless treasures. For priceless treasures freely given tat nee I 5.—5010. Lo! Architecture proudly comos And looks upon this stately pile— A poem traced in brick and limor - A monument till latest time :To him* who bade it rlaa; 5 :•/,; A lane, an altar, and a shrtue1 • ' • ■ WBrse Art and Knowledge »ire«Uy unlle Beneath the smiling skies!' * • -■ ft—solo; ■-"■ r Next the Muse of Graoe and Boauiy, Gazing on our works of Art, i Bids us guard them hb a duty. Bids u» love with grateful heart, ' HinU whose taste and noble bounty i Dowered us withthoio woitool Arti •7.—Duet. 1 he Moses smile on treasured tomek Of Wisdom, Wit and Learning, While God-like Science gladly comer. Her bright lamp ever bandog. - -. "Bless, bfess," they cry, "his} generous . mind ' . ■''. ■ -* Who gave those prioeless treasures, That Auckland's sons, improved, reflned, Might gain enduring pleasures 1 '6— CHOKU& See, the brlcht ImmorlalK , I Come from Glory's portals ' To praise our noble Tbx«»f ;1 While theyhover o'er ifs, | Let cs swell the chorus— Happy mortals we I Bloas our threo great benefaotor*,' : Give their fame to latest days I. / Theirs (Jie honour, ours the profit— : And to God the endless praise. ToGbd. to God bo endless praise. Amen. » ThelateMrCoßtiey.'who bequeathed funds tOt erTh^fate UMr ngMcKelvie. who wem** nidecoui and vataable paintings to Auckland. fair George Grey, who presented to.the citizens 0» AUoklanS hia unique and prioeless collection ol rare books and manusonpt», etc _ [The above cantata was written .a year wo, bnt thrown a- misUKlerstandto^ w«.over lnnkpfl until thoro vr&B no time to nave xne Surioal portion 'at the work ready for the core mony of the Sißth inst]

"OVER THE HILLS."

" Over the hills 1" she heard him sar - Jks sh»- stood by the gay shop-window tlwre. She was a woman, worn and grey. And he was fa manhood's Prlm?*™{ri lßZ>~ And wealthy In most the world ho«» lair.

She was but pausing a moment, when Into her ears his answer thrills, ? " Over the hills," to his comrade; then i< Suddenly roll away years twice ten. And she stands once more on her own dear hills.

Ko moire on alien lands Bhe trod; The breezes of Wales caressed her brow. Ah! but Bhe loves the very sod Where restß the dust (the souls with God) Of those she lef t—th«y have left earth now.

Why did she leave them 1 Life was hard. And bW was dear in the Old Countrai. And a distant land offered highreward. _, ItKives her food; but the old churchyard- She yearns to kneel there-beyond the ie«- Ah' I She remembers it all anew, She sometimes thinks in the very land Where reßt ispromlsd to all, a view . Will he granted her there of hey mountains Thongh never in life will sh« on them stand. She breathes a sigh as she goes herway. And her eyes a moment -with tears run o «r, But silently still her pale lips say, " I will lift mine eyes to the hUls to praT For the Help that strengthens the hjirt j g that's sore. , ■ g^j

GOLDEN CLOUDS.

As wo watohed the Bunsebglory, , Crimson, and grey, ana gold, W« thought or the beautiful Btorv Written in dayß of old— , • ■ ■ How the angel Btood on tho storm-olond, ~ ~-.,, All olad in robes of white. . And tinged with Hearen'B brightness ; : ■ The canopies ol night. 1 i : We BPOke of the beautiful logonfl. Of Heaven'n gates BJar, ; ■: And we felt that our own dear loved ones . . Were not from earth afar; We knew that our Fathers meroy ■■■ ■; Still tloßed earth's clouds with gold, Th»t our hearts miaht feel the MRUty .! His love doth still unfold. So wb watched the fadine snnßet, , ■ - ; And our spirita breathed a prayer . ' ~ t » That ever amid life's shadows •. •■ >.-: ■ :• •. :- . ■■■■ This comfort we mifrht share— To know that beyond the sunset, ■>■ ..:■.! i Where rrleameith the Morning Star, ... ■■••rC. I We shall read life's beautiful fltory ■ .'vi And enter tbe gates ajar. ■ jKKinr'Wßßif. . ', ';.,

HUMOROUS.

Will somebody please remove tha bent pio from the Bulgarian throne ?

Santa Claua can get down a chimney very much more readily when it is lined with banknotes. < j ""■«■■ Charity, they cay, covers a multitude of gins ; but there is not nearly enough to go round • ■ Preferred, stock — Jeraeys, Holsters, Guernseya, Angus, Shorthorns, Ayrshire x>r Devon, according to prejudice. ■ .', {' Hooier Allen, priest of psaimistry, says you can't He with the hand shut. It instinc tively ODens. It is also worth noting that you can't refute a lie'with the hand open. It instinctively shuts. City man-" What the blazes I3,the mat ter with that hen ?" !" Farmer—" Nothing, shehasju9t.laidan.egß." "Great Scott! r\ One .would, suppose that ajje laid the ; foundation for a brick block." .. Good reason^—"Why do you1 build Each a flat roof to your.house ?'' osked an Austin business man of a [friends ,;; whispered the other, "I want to put a mortgage-on ife'as'eoonas-it ia finished. What tho trouble was.—"See here, Silae, I don't think much of die yere Leghorn, bonnet of a hon. • She «ets n bad og[/ eample. She had oughter had'Chicka free weeks :ago." ■' '.Dat - failure's, easily 'splaioed, Dinah. Shea not in her nest all de time."l -. ■ , > Analogy—Young Deadbroke to his land- :.,'. lady's pretty'daughter—!! I wonder i why; . your mother always gives me so many eggs for breakfast 1" She—"l don't know;, but mother puts etjgs in coffee to make it settle,'and- " "Say no more. 1 will pay up to morrow." .' . , In town for the season.---"How greatly , the baroness has aged since last winter." " Yes, poor thing, find heaven knows she takestroubleenough to keep young.!' "How old Bhould you say she was!" "1 should say she was exactly the age she tries not to teem to be."

A politician walking along the street accidentally dropped a He. A gentleman called after him to tell the politician of his loss. "Oh!it is no oonsequonco." said tho Utter.'"l have plenty more." This- sSbry teaches that even a politician can sometimes speak the truth. .: • ,\\. ' " : " ;"?:\*:' •'" ■ The Bmall girl went to church on Christ mas with mamma. Vapa remained, at home trying on his new Christmas hat. When they got home he said to his pet ; " Well, darling, what was the text?" "I'mnot quite sure, pupa, but it sounded like 1 Many are cold, but few are frozen.'" A young sprig of English nobility wen* out to Dakota to learn farming. He had great difficulty in mastering the terms hi x the management of cattle. One day he was * driving his oxen, when a neighbour who was passing heard him say : " Haw, ther«, haw ! Beg pardon, I meant gee."-^ •'Harpar'a Bazar." Putting his foot; ia it.—Miss Tartletfce . . "Didn't ecs you afc the Bink'a dance, Mr Bonmeboy." Apollo Bonnieboy 5.," No f. couldn't, possibly get there. However,] didn't miss much, apparently. They tell me there wasn't a girl worth looking at.'' [Awkward pause. Apollo Bonnieboy n) fleets, and wishes he'd done co earlier.]

THE AUCKLAND EVENING STAR, SATUKDAY, MARCH 12, 1887

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