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10. When the animal is discovered on the ice, the hunter approaches it with the greatest stealth and caution. This is absolutely necessary; for, if the enemy is perceived, or makes the slightest noise, the wary seal flounders rapidly into its hole and is lost. In making his approaches, therefore, the hunter uses all his art. In order to conceal himself, he not only takes advantage of every inequality, such as snow-drifts and ice-. hillocks, but he also practices an ingenious deception by dressing himself in the skin of a seal of like species, giving his body the figure of the animal, and imitating its motions by floundering clumsily over the ice, and oscillating his head from side to side, just as seals are seen to do. This deception often proves successful, when the hunter under any other shape would in vain endeavor to get within striking distance of his prey.

11. When seals are scarce, and the supply greatly needed, the Esquimau often lies patiently for hours together on the edge of a seal-hole, waiting for the animal to come up. In order to give it time to get well out upon the ice, the hunter conceals himself behind a heap of snow, which he has collected and piled up for the purpose. A float-stick, ingeniously placed in the water of the breathing-hole, serves as a signal to tell when the seal is mounting through its trap-like passage, the motion of the stick betraying its ascent. The hunter then gets himself into the right attitude to strike, and summons all his energies for the encounter.

12. Even during the long nights of winter this mode of capturing the seal is practiced. The hunter, having discovered a breathing-hole,—which its dark color enables him to find,proceeds in the following manner: He scrapes away the snow from around it, and lifting up some water pours it on the ice, so as to make a circle of a darker hue around the orifice. He then makes a sort of cake of pure white snow, and with this covers the hole as with a lid. In the center of this lid he

punches a small opening with the shaft end of his spear, and then sits down and patiently waits the issue.

13. The seal ascends unsuspiciously as before. The dark water, bubbling up through the small central orifice, betrays its approach, which can be perceived even in the darkest night. The hunter does not wait until it has climbed out upon the ice. Perhaps if he did so, the suspicious creature might detect the device, and dive down again. But it is not allowed time for reflection. Before it can turn its unwieldy body, the heavy spear of the hunter, struck through the yielding snow, descends upon its skull, and kills it in an instant.

WORD ANALYSIS AND DEFINITIONS.

An te'ri or (ante, before), in front.

Ce ler'i ty (celer, quick; ity, state of being), quickness, rapidity.
Hill'ock (ock, little), a little hill; a mound.

Or'i fice (or i-fis), an opening; an aperture.

Os' cil late, to move to and fro; to vibrate.

Re flection (re, back; flect, bend; ion, act of), act of bending back (the mind); thought.

LESSON XIV.

ANECDOTE OF AN ELEPHANT.

1. A great English general, in one of his East-Indian campaigns, was abruptly made to halt on the march by a subaltern's running to tell him that a strong detachment of the enemy had been joined by certain predatory hordes, and had taken up such a formidable position on a neighboring hight as to defy all the efforts of infantry to detach them.

2. He immediately ordered up the artillery. The first gun sent for was one of unusual magnitude and caliber. The elephant attached to it, being too hard pressed by his driver,

floundered headlong into a deep morass, and carried the great gun with him. It had been as much as the poor brute could do to drag it along the plain; but to extricate it from the bog into which it had been plunged was quite beyond his powers.

3. In this dilemma, the choicest of the breed were selected. Each strained every nerve to drag out the cannon, but without success. At last, one of the staff said to the general, “We shall never succeed unless will lend us his ele

phant," naming a particular native, the owner of an elephant of extraordinary power, which was generally employed as a sumpter.

4. The proprietor and his beast were instantly sent for. The man, reluctant as he was to put undue stress on his favorite, nevertheless, appreciating the emergency, stripped off the howdah from the elephant's back, and having harnessed him to the gun, signed to him to pull it out of the bog into which it had sunk at least two feet deep.

5. The willing creature tugged and tugged, but failed to move it. His master, who had reared and nourished him, and who lived with him on terms of familiarity, appealed to him by every name of endearment he could think of, to put forth his utmost strength. The animal at first showed signs of distress, and then remained passive and motionless, his instinct telling him that the required task was beyond his strength.

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6. At last, however, on his master's caressing him, and appealing to him as if he were a rational being, saying, Come, dear, if you love me, pull!" the fond brute, casting a reproachful glance at the master whom he so much loved, bellowed forth a prodigious cry, as of remonstrance, made one more tremendous effort, and succeeded in dragging the gun on to dry land; but, at the next instant, he dropped dead at his master's feet, a martyr to love and fidelity.

7. The poor man, conceiving himself to have caused the

death of his best friend, under a sudden and uncontrollable impulse of grief and remorse, stabbed himself to the heart, and poured forth his last breath on the body of the faithful animal. Extravagant as it may appear to those who have never visited the East, to be told that a dumb animal could understand the significance of man's language, those familiar with the ways of elephants will be ready to yield implicit credence to the fact.

Memoir of Charles Mayne Young.

WORD ANALYSIS AND DEFINITIONS.

Di lem'ma, a difficult or doubtful choice.

Extraor' di na ry (extra, beyond), beyond what is ordinary; un

common.

How'dah, a seat attached to an elephant's back.

Pred' a to ry (preda, prey or booty), pillaging; plundering.

Re luc'tant (re, against; luct, struggle; ant, ing), struggling against; unwilling.

Sub al'tern (sub, under; altern, one or the other of two), inferior; subordinate.

Sump'ter, an animal that carries packs or burdens.

LESSON XV.

THE FOLLY OF DISCONTENT.

1. There was a man by the name of Ba'ruch, who possessed the treasures of India and Arabia, to whose riches there was no end; whose magnificent surroundings ministered to every temporal delight, whose amiable wife and lovely children left nothing to be desired; yet, in the midst of all, he was most miserable. His complaints grieved all about him. He was ready to destroy his own life to be rid of his troubles. Then he heard that there was in Memphis, in the land of Miz'ra-im,*

*Land of Mizraim, — Egypt.

a great prophet; and, taking two camels and a trusty servant, with much treasure, he started to see the prophet.

2. In the desert through which they had to pass, they lost their way; and both men and beasts were ready to perish with thirst. Then Baruch began to appreciate the water that flowed in his fountain at Damascus,* and would have given a camel's load of jewels for a single draught. In their search for water the servant was struck blind; yet he faltered not in his devotion to his master.

3. Baruch now felt himself to be the cause of the misery in his own house, and the misery of his servant, and bewailed greatly. Then he cried to God, saying, "Destroy me, for I am not worthy of the mercy Thou hast shown me; and the burden of my sins oppresses my soul grievously." Then there was a noise like the rushing of a brook from the rocks. The camel stretched out its neck, and Baruch hastened to the place and found a clear and abundant fountain, at which they all, both men and beasts, slaked their raging thirst. Then Baruch praised the Lord for His wonderful mercy and goodness.

4. When all were refreshed by the fountain, the servant proposed to make ready to pursue the journey. But Baruch said he had found in the desert the wisdom he sought from the prophet of Mizraim, and was now ready to return home. Baruch's wife and children wondered at his quick return, and wept for joy. Then Baruch told them how in the desert he had learned humility, and had been enabled to see the grace of the All-merciful; and that he now returned to them a new man, with peace in his heart more precious than silver or gold. Henceforth he walked meekly and cheerfully, helping the poor, and doing good in all the country.

Krummacher.

* Damascus, a large city in the western part of Asiatic Turkey, supposed to be the most ancient city in the world. It was a place of considerable importance in the days of Abraham.

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