SWALLOWING THE ALLIGATOR. It was side of every living thing within reach. interesting to see him devour a mouse. Catching the animal in his gaping mouth, he would push the mouse about with his fore feet until the head pointed directly down his throat, when, with a general convulsion, like that of a man getting into. an overcoat, the mouse would disappear, all but the tail, which would hang out for a space of time before it was swallowed. Fearing that froggy might be lonesome, my brother procured him a mate somewhat smaller than himself. Next morning, however, frog No. 2 was not to be found, while the "Old General," frog No. 1, appeared to have transformed himself into a large party-colored ball. He had swallowed his wife. He once ate an alligator. Do not start-it was a small one, a baby alligator, such as people coming from Florida bring with them. Still, it was an alligator, and quite a mouthful for any frog. A young sparrow that strayed into the room where he was kept fell a prey to his voracity; and I once saw him actually leap upon a tame owl and seize the bird by its leg to swallow it. His abnormal appetite was the cause of his death. He swallowed a perch from my brother's aquarium, and the sharp spines of the dorsal fins killed him. His obituary was published in the Scientific Amer ican. within set her wild with excitement, and evoked a desperate attack on the little annoyance with her teeth. She gave it up at last as a bootless job. A bottle of hartshorn was next made the subject of investigation. We had purposely loosened the cork, and promised ourselves a nice sell'; and we got it-not Nosey. She was not in the least disconcerted by the drug. In fact, she had a strong nose for such things. A man gave her his tobacco box. Resting it upon the floor between her two paws, that possessed uncommon flexibility, she turned it over and over, and round and round, exercising alternately her nose, paws and teeth upon it with great energy, without Many of the animals at Central Park are pets avail. It seemed that the smell of the contents of the keepers. Several years ago a baby camel infatuated her, as she showed no disposition to that had lost its mother and was brought up on stop. The man opened the box for her. She the bottle was carried about, fed, nursed and atwas in raptures. In went the nose, and also tended to as if it were a human child. It thrived both front paws, among the fine-cut. Very soon and grew astonishingly, but did not seem to take that wonderfully mobile organ had separated every into account or be conscious of its increased size. fibre, so that the mass seemed trebly increased. As I sat in the animal inclosure one day, sketchThe same man let her have his dirty pipe, when ing, it spied me out, and immediately rushed her velvety nose was instantly squeezed into the up and tried to climb into my lap. It was rank nicotian bowl. In drinking, Nosey, instead almost full grown. I was reminded of the fable of thrusting her long snout into the water and of the donkey, who, envying the affection and sucking it up, as might naturally be expected, caresses bestowed by his master upon a favorite curved up her proboscis and lapped her drink lapdog, tried to imitate and emulate the playful like a dog. In climbing, strange to say, she al- tricks and gambols of the little animal. The ways went up backward, catching her hind claws grieved amazement of the huge creature when I into any projection or roughness she could find, drove him away was irresistibly ludicrous and indeand pulling herself up to take a new hold. She scribably absurd. I was actually obliged to station would in this seemingly awkward manner ascend a park policeman with a club to keep guard over a tree quite rapidly." him, and he stood as near to me as he was allowed until I finished my work, complaining, and I might almost say weeping, at my cruelty in not accepting his endearments. My brother had a large tame frog that he kept in a fish globe. The one idea that occupied whatever brain the creature possessed was to get out "ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF PEOPLE." CHICAGO, 1893. BY ANNE RHODES. STREAMING in and out through the beautiful and stately portals of the White City a great and motley throng, each day until daylight dies, passes unceasing. This city which has arisen beneath the wand of the most artistic spirit America has ever known, a city so harmoniously proportioned and peerless in poetic beauty that gazing thereon the heart is stirred with a wordless joy-this city is without nationality; its atmosphere is flavored with the spice of many countries, and its inhabitants have gathered from the uttermost parts of the earth together, a multitude most truly cosmopolitan. But surging to and fro, here and there is dropped vagrant ex pression of personality, expression eloquent of climate, condition and custom, and faces stand clearly out against the shifting background bearing each the impress of passion, of temperament and of humor. Not unnaturally observant eyes first light upon the stranger dark races, quickly noting that subtle variations in color are less significant than are differences of form, and that not only the turn of mind and manner, but almost the history of a na tion, lies upon each countenance. Most interesting, and contrasting sharply, not alone in form and color, but strikingly in the outward evidences of inward mental construction, are the Singhalese, inhabitants of the Island of Ceylon, and the Samoan and other South Sea Island tribes. Both properly speaking of the Aryan race, until lately they have stood almost at the extremes of development. For, while the Singhalese long since reached a considerable degree of civilization, among the South Sea Islands human sacrifices have been common, and not only enemies and strangers, but wives, children and friends, were ruthlessly slain, cooked and eaten. Not until 1854 was the custom modified, and only in 1878 did the natives agree finally to abandon the perennial feasts of human flesh which, more than anything else, had tended to brutalize their natures and bar their progress to civilization and prosperity. This result came about through the influence of missionaries, who, about the middle of the present century, gained a footing on the Fiji Islands, and gradually spread their gentle principles throughout a nation which proved in. the main to be tractable and childlike. They are now a simple Christian people; 800 churches are scattered over their islands, with an attendance of 100,000 natives; good schools are distributed about, their language has been reduced to written form, and reading and writing are common accomplishments. The inhabitants of the South Sea Islands are of mingled Malay and Papuan extraction, and vary in form and color, and in degree of recent barbarity, according to the predominance of one or the other of these sources of their race; the Malay strain being the finer, smaller, lighter but less honest, and the Papuan dark, heavy and naturally wild, but when tamed tractable and honestly inclined. SINGHALESE, FROM COLOMBO. Studying the countenances of the young inhabitants of the South Sea Island villages at the World's Fair, situated part way along on the Midway Plaisance, it is easy to read the indications of their slow, simple natures. The people there appear all to be young, under forty, for instance, and represent very well the present condition of the nation. Their faces are broad, flat and inexpressive; in repose verging toward sullenness, and when animated bright with the gayety of children. Their foreheads are low and placid; their noses, depressed at the bridge and generally retreating, suggest weak individuality and a lack of force, which supplies a logical clew as to why they were so easily won from an aboriginal condition and quickly brought under the influence of Christianity. Between their eyes, ordinarily, is a wide space, cloquent of a lack of enterprise; and imperfectly formed and vaguely marked eyebrows express a corresponding mental vagueness and a total lack of concentrative power. Their mouths have the animal quality always seen in imperfectly civilized nations, but it is passive animalism and without viciousness, for the chins are small and weak, and the lower lips retreat, leaving the full upper lips to overhang in a fashion impossible to fiery, ardent temperaments given to self-gratification and lawlessness. Not a trace in a manner similar to that by which gold is remains of the brutal fierceness which indulged in orgies of human flesh. Their expression when speaking is innocent and almost ingenuous, and a good-natured, jolly, careless laugh is a frequent interruption. But hanging on the walls of the Anthropological Building, among a collection of ornamented implements and antiques from these islands, are portraits of former chiefs and old men, and here in their eyes lies the glint of savagery, and upon their faces, beneath a certain surface stolidity, is the stamp of hideous and brutal cruelty. Happily, under the influence of civilization these traits have apparently disap, peared forever. Living in the midst of a tropical vegetation, the life of these people is easy, their islands are prosperous and peace prevails in their lands. Although deriving their extraction from common sources, there are tribal differences between the inhabitants of the several groups of islands. In color the Samoans are lightest and the Fijians very dark. The Samoans have fine, velvety skins, a clear cigar brown in tint, and not a blemish is to be seen on their firm, healthy limbs and bodies. They are of medium height, are plump rather than sinewy, and do not give the impression of possessing any great endurance. The Fijians are much the same in form, although a trifle larger in build, but have in their skin coloring a curious blackness, which is a direct Papuan inheritance, and stamps them as the coarsest race, although the most active, and even perhaps the most intelligent. In no case is the hair woolly, as with the Africans, but coarse, strong and bushy. It is worn short both by men and women, and has sometimes a brownish tinge, which, failing to harmonize with their rich skin coloring, appears rusty and out of place. They are florid in taste. On their heads and about their necks are garlands of gaudily dyed native immortelles and dried seed pods, and necklaces of hard red sea beans are their greatest delight. For their only garment the men wear a very short full skirt. They are tattooed, but never on face, hands or neck, the most usual device being a broad band around the waist, and the feet and legs, stockingwise, to the point where they disappear beneath the fringed edges of the skirt. The women are not tattooed, and wear skirts to the knee, low-cut waists, and garlands of pods and flowers in their hair. These garments are made of cloth manufactured by a slow, laborious process from the bark of the paper-mulberry tree. The bark is soaked in water many hours, the outer shell stripped off, and the soft, pulpy remainder beaten into thin, tough sheets beaten into gold leaf. Any desired size is attained by spreading the edges with a mucilage made from arrow root and beating them together. After the cloth is dry its dull tan-colored surface is decorated with fine tracery and varied designs in a brown dye of sepia tint made from the bark of different trees. Only too often the native dress, which has a certain beauty of its own, is spoiled by the addition of cheap European finery or the intermixture of gaudy and shabby material. Their implements, too, are indicative of the gayety of their taste, which is yet not without a crude idea of art. They are of hard black wood, and are often inlaid in really beautiful patterns in pointed bits of mother-of-pearl, polished bone and carved shell. Every household possesses a large bowl gayly ornamented. In this is mixed the native drink, kava, made from the dried roots of a wild pepper plant, and passing strangers are invited to enter and partake of the cheer. After long use a bluish-white enamel covers the inside of the bowl-a deposit from the liquor somewhat like ivory in appearance. From the greatest degree of barbarism-for surely cannibalism marks the outer limit-these peoples have been reclaimed to a state of honest simplicity, peace and, for their climate, industry, in a time so brief that scarce a single generation has passed since civilization first turned its eyes in their direction. And a rough but significant glimpse of their history is given in the reading of two signs which hang near together on the stockade surrounding the village on the Midway although there would seem to be a touch of humor in their juxtaposition. From one we learn that: "The natives are all Christians, and are intelligent and honest. They are, perhaps, the most hospitable people in the world." The second reads: cast. pearance and manner, and strongly European in Their color is a clear brown, neither light nor dark, but that middle tint peculiar to the inhabitants of India, of which country their rich and fertile island is so nearly a part. Examining their personal characteristics critically, they appear to be constructed lightly, brightly and neatly. Their heads are slender and long, denoting the possession of rapid, brilliant minds, keen senses and quick wit, while their foreheads have the slope peculiar to ready intuition and suggest subtlety of intellect. Their country has been seized and swayed by successive invaders, and the weak will which yielded to any foe lies on their small pointed chins and oval faces. Their eyebrows are fine in line, but distinct and neatly finished, indicating patience, reflective habit and refined mental taste. Noses are clear-cut, aristocratic in form, suggesting an individual personality, although not any special force, and a total lack of originality. The gaze of their eyes is penetrating, shrewd and investigative. Bearing out the refined indications of their personality, their hands are slender and sinewy, the fingers of that spatulated shape, with prominent joints, ascribed by the disciples of chirognomy to keen, inquiring and penetrating natures with delicate, studious tastes. They lack something of stability, and are neither robust nor virile, but there is shed about them, as an aroma, an atmosphere of sparkle, cleverness, tact and cheerful gayety; and it is scarcely surprising to hear from their lips an almost perfect English, and to receive at their hands the courteous attentions of a cultivated race. Their speech is animated and accompanied by eloquent gesture; their smiles are brilliant, lighting with vivid appreciation ever-varying and expressive countenances, and revealing strong, shapely teeth of dazzling whiteness. Their hair, soft, silky and jet black, is worn long by men and women, is drawn smoothly back and fastened in a smooth, flat knot midway on the back of the head. A semicircular comb of tortoise shell surrounds the crown of the head. Natives of a warm country, the Singhalese are clad in linen, cotton, or, if of high caste, silk, in white or soft tints. Their garments consist, for the men, who are foppish and effeminate in appearance, in a piece of cloth wrapped around the body below the waist, skirtwise reaching to the feet. It is worn plain and tightly drawn in the back, and hangs in full folds in front. With this is a coat shorter or longer according to individual taste, and a shirt and vest more or less European in style. The women wear a more ordinary costume, a skirt and low waist, with sometimes the addition of a bertha or fichu. Ceylon has been held by the Portuguese, Dutch and English successively. It has been the battle ground of these nations against each other, and has also been torn by internal revolution. But the refined and somewhat effeminate people have remained unchanged for centuries. Their language, almost purely Sanskrit in origin, is uncontaminated; and they live a life of industry, cultivating, with the aid of artificial irrigation, tea and "paddy," which, when the outer husk is removed, is rice, and is the staple of their diet, since animal food, necessitating the taking of animal life, is to the followers of Buddha strictly prohibited. Scattered midway between these two nations is a great concourse of tribes, rivaling the stars in infinity of number, and though varying but slightly the one from the other, yet covering the gamut of semi-civilization through all the phases of simplicity and knavery. And wandering along the Midway, stopping at this village and at that, the suggestion comes that certain traits are closely allied to certain localities, and vary only in degree with tribal differences of mental cast, and that, as a rule, the keener and sharper the brain the more base the cunning and deeper the ingrain strain of dishonesty. For, although a high grade of honesty marks the extremes of the dark races as expressed by the Singhalese and inhabitants of the South Sea, dishonesty and craft, with all their attendant traits, exist as the leading characteristics of the intermediate Eastern nations. In Cairo Street are a group of tribes. The Nubian is weak of will, possesses a short chin and unemphatic features. His craft is the deceit of a tricky child, easily penetrated, but never cured. His, as a rule, is a position of servitude and slavery, as he is easily dominated by the greater forces by which he is surrounded. The Soudanese is coarse and animal, but his eyes are bright and sparkling, are rapid of motion and keen as those of a bird. In his theatre on the Midway there is nothing of the sensuous or voluptuous common to Orientalism, but instead a vigorous yet monotonous dance, accompanied by loud poundings of bare feet, made familiar some years ago by the various Zulu bands exhibited in this country, with coarse, wordless shouts and thumping of musicless instruments. The Soudanese also is a child, but a vulgar, noisy, romping child, quick-witted, treacherous, and a genuine mauvais sujet. The Arab in his flowing robe is honest to his fellow tribesman, which signifies nothing, and is a custom rather than a trait; for he is full of malice for the outside world, and his glove of velvet conceals a cruel hand, as betits the descend |