out what she is ?" "She looks like a boat, Sir." The officer made his report to the Captain, who desired to be informed when the boat was near the ship. Among the apparently joyous group on the poop, many a white cheek was now seen to belie the loud laughter of its owner. "We are nearing the boat fast, Sir !"-and the Captain made his appearance on deck to reconnoitre the approaching stranger. "Ho! the ship ahoy!" cried a loud voice ahead: "lay your maintopsail to the mast, and give us a rope for the boat." "Forecastle there! A rope for the boat. Let go the main-top-bowline! Afterguard! square away the mainyard!" bawled the officer of the deck, repeating the Captain's orders. we A bugle note was now heard, and Neptune made his appearance over the ship's bows. He was dressed in sheep-skins, with a flaxen beard descending to his waist, and a trident in his hand, with a fine fish sticking on the prongs. After he had descended into the waist, the screen have before mentioned was withdrawn, and the procession moved on. First came the ship's band, fantastically dressed for the occasion, and play ing "Rule Britannia," with might and main; next followed the triumphal car, decorated with various coloured flags, in which were seated Neptune, Amphitrite, and Triton; and immediately in the rear followed the suite, consisting of the barber, doctor, scribe, and about a dozen party-coloured demi-gods acting as water bailiffs. Previous to the outset of the procession, all those unfortunates who had never crossed the line, were driven below; the gratings were laid on fore and aft, and sentries stationed at the hatch-ways to prevent an escape. On came the pageant: Neptune looked as majestic as his trident and sheep-skins could make him; Amphitrite, with the assistance of a little red paint, and oakum locks, and arrayed in the cast-off robes of some of the lady passengers, was a passable representation of a she-monster;-the barber brandished his razors,-the scribe displayed his list, and looked vastly knowing, with his three-cornered hat, floured wig, pen behind his ear, and ink-horn dangling at his button-hole; the horses pranced as uncouthly, and looked as unlike sea-horses, as possible; and the coachman, proud of his livery and shoulder-knots, cracked his whip, and contrived, by dint of singing out "hard a-port" to his horses, to weather the after hatchway, and then bear up round the capstan, where, with a graceful 66 pull up" of the reins, very much like "a strong pull at the mainbrace," and an "avast there" to his obedient cattle, he stopped the car. The The Captain was waiting under the poop awning to receive Mr. Neptune, and an interesting conversation commenced, too long to be inserted here, but which ended in his Majesty's' giving the Captain to understand that his long morning ride over the waves had given himself and his lady a vile cold in the stomach; a hint which the Captain's steward perfectly understood, and administered to his wants accordingly. whole of his suite were immediately seized with the same complaint, and all required the application of the same remedy. Neptune then thrust out his trident to the Captain's steward with a graceful air, as if he meant to impale him, but it was merely for the purpose of presenting the fish on its prongs, as an addition to "his honour, the Captain's dinner." During this interview, the men were all standing near the gang-way armed with buckets of water, wet swabs, &c. and impatient for the commencement of the fun. At length the band struck up "Off she goes." "Carry on, you lubbers," " said the coachman; crack went the whip, off pranced the horses, and away whirled the car, which no sooner approached the gang-way than the procession was greeted with torrents of water, and his godship was half smothered with his own element. After the first effusions of greeting were over, Neptune left his car, and mounted up ca the booms, where he sat in regal state to superintend the operations of the day. Beside him was seated the fair Amphitrite; her dripping white robes glued to her elephant-like limbs, and her wet oakum locks clinging to her cheek, like sea-weed to a weather-beaten rock. The clerk handed to his Majesty a list of his children, who were recommended to kind and particular attention. "Saunders McQuake is the first on the list," said Neptune: "bring him up." Away scampered the tritons (or constables,) who were naked to the waist, the upper part of their bodies hideously painted, fantasticlooking caps on their heads, and short painted staxes in their hands. The main hatch grating was lifted, and up came poor Saunders, with a face as white as the handkerchief which covered his eyes, and shivering with anticipation, shouldered by two tritons. His tormentors seated him on the edge of the jolly-boat at the gangway, and the barber, turning towards Neptune, said "Please your honour, which shall I use ?" holding up at the same time three razors, two of which might well have been mistaken for saws of different magnitudes, and the third made of a smooth iron hoop, without any teeth. "Let us hear what he has to say for himself first," said Neptune : "Where do you come from, Saunders?" "From Scot-oh! oh!" cried the poor fellow, as the barber thrust a well-filled tar-brush into his mouth. "How long is it since you left it?-but Saunders had gained experience: he set his teeth, pressed his lips together, and sat a ludicrous picture of fear mixed with desperate resolution. "A close Scot, I see," said Neptune; "give him soap to soften his phizzog, and teach him to open his mouth." The barber lathered his patient's cheeks with tar, brandished his smoothest razor with most becoming grace, and completed the operation without scraping much skin off. The doctor, with his vial of tar-water, and his box of indescribable pills, stood by, ready to take advantage of every involuntary gasp of the poor Scotchman. At a given signal, the bandage was taken from his eyes, and he was thrown suddenly backwards, and left floundering in the water till some charitable hand dragged him out. Half drowned, and blind with salt water, he rushed onwards, he knew not where, like a hare before its pursuers, and stumbled over a rope stretched purposely across the deck as a trap for the unwary, and while he lay prostrate he received the contents of all the buckets in the ship on his head. Again he rose-again he ran-and again he fell; but at last, having run the gauntlet through the whole length of the waist, he gained the forecastle, seized a bucket, and hastened to console himself for his fright and suffering by inflicting upon another all that he had endured himself. All the uninitiated danced to the same tune as Saunders, with the barber's variations of-smooth, rougher, roughest; and it would be tedious, as well as unnecessary, to describe the course of treatment pursued by the doctor towards each individual patient. When the whole list of the condemned had been gone through, Neptune (now a watery god no longer) dived below to take his share of the extra grog allowed to the ship's company; the small sails (which had been previously furled) were set by the watch, and a light breeze springing up, as if in honour of Neptune's departure, the Heavitree, with all her canvass spread, began to move slowly and steadily through the water beneath its influence. SCENE IN A DALECARLIAN MINE. BY MRS. HEMANS. "Oh! fondly, fervently, those two had loved; "HASTE, with your torches, haste! make firelight round!" They speed, they press-what hath the miners found? Relic or treasure, giant sword of old? Gems buried deep, rich veins of burning gold? -Not so-the dead, the dead! An awe-struck band, A sleeper, dreaming not!-a youth, with hair Had touched those pale bright features-yet he wore From the throng With the loved face once more-the young, fair face, By torchlight and by death:-until, at last, From her deep heart the spirit of the past Gush'd in low broken tones" And there thou art! Of hope deferred, youth blighted? Yet thy brow Smiles--how unchanged!—while I, the worn, and weak, If thou couldst look on me !-a withered leaf, Unto the dead. My Ulric! through the night How have I watched for thee!-wept, wandered, prayed, TRAVELLING BY NIGHT.-THE YOUNG SOLDIER'S FURLOUGH. TRAVELLING by night affords a pleasure, which in some degree compensates for the interruption occasioned to observation by darkness and obscurity. The outside of a mail-coach is the best of all situations for the enjoyment of this pleasure; and while journeying rapidly in such a manner through the heart of the midland counties, he must be a strangely insensible creature who is incapable of feeling the changes, which, from the first fresh hour of morning, to the deepest repose of night, are continually occurring. The revelry of noontide, rich and joyous, as if the elements had agreed to club their sweetest influence to heighten it; the tempered warmth, the soberer gladness and beauty of the afternoon hours; and then the eventide, sparkling with something of the morning's brilliancy, and only contrasted with it by the sighing of the night breezes that are heard murmuring among the distant hills; there are few who have not enjoyed watching these progresses of the day, but rare it is that we find any one equally alive to the solemn pomp and language of the night as it passes on from one silent watch to another. Nothing, however, can be finer than the calm and silent manifestations of nature working under its deep shadows, and carrying on the great mystery of being independently of man's intervention or control. As the evening dies away into a cold clear twilight, the huge world seems gathering up itself and settling into repose; then the broad heavy shadows, that lay like a folded up curtain in the valleys, are spread out over hill and plain; the hush of the wide universe becomes deeper and deeper, and the midnight comes in the fulness of its hours, brooding over the earth, like a mighty spirit of embodied time. As this watch of the night wanes away, hour after hour produces some change in the face of nature, in the floating sounds of the air, the hues of the overhanging clouds, or the forms of the shadows; and we feel that nature is finishing her work of renovation and preparing again to unveil herself. There is a mystery of beauty in these changes of night, that awakens many a sweet and solemn thought; and when aided by any circumstances of individual feeling, produces sensations of the most exquisite Kind. In travelling, also, as we have said, the chances of the road are sure to present some object to heighten the feelings thus awakened, and to give the heart a vent for the deepened and hallowed stream of its humanity. I was once travelling by the mail, through a part of the country, which being only famous as an agricultural district, afforded little to amuse one unacquainted with any of the signs that foretell whether crops will be good or bad. There was, however, among the objects of rural life that it presented, a sufficient degree of simple picturesque beauty to console me for the absence of other and less familiar sights; and as we passed rapidly through little slumbering villages, or by the door of some lonely cottage on the road-side, a variety of pleasing images presented themselves, that my heart seized on as the types of human happiness in its least variable forms. Deep and unbroken was the repose of these quiet spots; not a foot was stirring near them, nor a waking sound to be heard; peace had smoothed the pillow of the peasant, and was now keeping her watch round his habitation. I had been for some time enjoying such reflections as these, as the changes of the night progressively took place. It was now a little past one in the morning, and I had arrived near the place at which it was necessary for me to leave the mail, and wait for a conveyance to pursue 190 Travelling by Night.-The Young Soldier's Furlough. my route on a different road. The country about here happened to be more thinly inhabited than any of the surrounding districts, and it was only here and there that a cottage was to be seen, and that far off among the fields. I looked forward as well as the dim light of the atmosphere would let me, on each side of the road, but I saw nothing that indicated the presence of a single waking thing. The little quiet hovels that I every now and then saw, were all hushed, and sharing in the same repose as those we had before passed; and I left the vehicle to pursue my path in perfect loneliness. I had walked for about half a mile, down one of those narrow country roads which lead from one village to another, when, at the distance of a field or two, I caught the glimpse of a light glimmering through the unshuttered window of a cottage. I was not displeased at first at finding I had not the whole world to myself, but as I contrasted the appearance of the little dwelling I was looking at, with the deep slumbering peace of the others I had seen, there was something almost unnatural in its look, and a hundred conjectures arose in my mind to account for the watchfulness of its inhabitants. The idea, however, which took strongest hold of me was, that sickness, or perhaps death, had invaded the humble family; and, as I had not been altogether unaccustomed to the cottage fire-side in such seasons as this, and had an hour or two on my hands, I jumped over a stile hard by, and walked up the narrow path-way to the dwelling. As I tapped at the door, I heard the sound of two or three voices speaking in a tone different to that we are used to hear in a sick-room; and when I entered, in answer to the salutation of "come in," I found myself in a snug little kitchen, as light as the day, with the blaze of a fine wood fire, and presenting every appearance of having been the scene of an evening's merry-making. The cause of my intrusion was soon told, and some inquiries as to my nearest way, and the time at which the coach passed the place I was walking to, as quickly answered by an invitation to stay at the cottage during the intervening hour or two. I was not backward in accepting the civil and kind offer thus given, and I drew a chair into the rustic circle with no misgivings as to the sincerity of my welcome. I now looked round at the little party of which I had so unexpectedly become a companion. It consisted of the master and mistress of the cottage, two hale ruddy-looking people, whose free and contented hearts had evidently made the toils of life easy; a man and his wife from a neighbouring village, near whom sat a pretty girl, their daughter, whose bright blue eyes, and innocent countenance, fitted her to be the heroine of any rural romance; next to her was a young man in a soldier's dress, the son of my good hosts, and his sister; who, with two or three children that lay sleeping in the chimney corner, made up the entire party. It was some little time before my new friends felt sufficiently at home with me to resume their discourse, and I therefore addressed myself to the young soldier, from whom I learned the occasion of the present meeting of friends and neighbours, and the reason of the late hour to which they prolonged their stay. It was the last day of his furlough, and as he was about to set off before the first peep of morning, his parents had determined on keeping up the merriment of their cottage till the very moment of his leaving them. As the kind-hearted friends of the young man began to forget my being a stranger, I had an opportunity of observing the different manner in which their feelings were occupied. The father was as glad at heart as a man could be, at seeing his neigh bours looking contented with their cheer, and spoke of his son's depar ture with such a happy hope of secing him come back to them safe and well, that he must have been |