lion-hunting was far more serious than I had it and leaving him my burnous, I blew out imagined." the brains of this foolish youngster while he The terror inspired by the lion is vividly was spending his wrath upon my clothes. depicted in the narrative of events succeeding My first ingot had passed right through his this encounter. Although the Arabs heard body, below the shoulder; the second enterthe firing they would not approach lest the ing at his left ear came out at the right.” lion should still be living; for more than Europeans imagine it a very simple thing to half an hour they remained within their tents, vanquish a lion; "you have only to be a good after which three of the bravest came out of shot and be perfectly cool." To be a good the enclosure, bringing the jug of water Gér-shot is not rare; but when you have to meet ard had demanded: the leader came cau- such an antagonist, to await him, perhaps tiously, looking round him every moment, not to see him until he is about to attack, his gun ready to fire; the second bearing the and then to know that your first ball, howwater came after, holding by the burnous ever well aimed, will only wound him, the of the leader and pausing when he paused; "coolness so lightly spoken of will be a very finally, the third held in one hand the burnous rare quality. However adroit your first aim, of the second, and brandished a yatagan with you have little time for your second; the formidable vigor. In this order they came up first shot hits him while he is motionless; the to the lion; on seeing him they halted, and second must be fired as he bounds upon you. would not approach till Saadi-bou-Nar struck Gérard soon learnt this, and he says with his corpse with his hand to re-assure them. naïveté, perfectly French, that he always And these are men who in battle would fight commenced the struggle with mingled doubt like lions! Five minutes afterwards, men, and confidence; doubt in the effect of his women, and children rushed out to see their shots, confidence in the "protection divine vanquished foe, whom they apostrophized in qu'accorde à sa créature l'Etre suprême "— eloquent insults. As the morning broke, as if the poor lion were not equally 89 hundreds of Arabs came from all sides; but créature! That, however, is a thought even in presence of their dead enemy their never entering the minds of the hunter or terror was not quite allayed; they kept with- | Arab. We were amused at the lamentations in ten paces of his corpse, the women stand- and imprecations of a disconsolate woman, ing behind, timid and curious. Gérard soon found that bullets were but an uncertain resource against an animal whose frontal bone sufficed to flatten one fired at no greater distance than five paces, and who, when mortally wounded, had still strength and ferocity enough to despatch half a dozen armed men. He, therefore, exchanged bullets for ingots of iron, and even with these he ran terrible risk, as we see from his first employment of them. At midnight, under the light of a full moon, he met a young lion, a mere puppy of two years old, who, on seeing him, lay down across the path, and did not move even when Gérard was within fifteen paces. Believing this to be the animal's tactics, he thought better not to advance nearer; kneeling on the ground, he fired, aiming just beneath the shoulder. How it happened, he knew not, so sudden was the onslaught; but before he could see anything he was knocked down, and his hand touched the leg of the animal standing over him. Luckily for me I wore my thick turban, which he tore with his teeth: slipping from whose lamb had been eaten by a lion; she spoke with bitterness of the "heartless wretch" who had eaten a lamb, which she herself would have eaten had not the lion anticipated her! Such being the terror and the hatred inspired by the lion, we can understand the frantic demonstrations of joy over his corpse. They triumph over their dead foe, insult him, call him "assassin," "thief," son of a Jew," "Christian," and "pagan," pluck his beard in scorn, and kick him contemptuously. It is a relief to their hatred, — the reaction of terror. In reading this we are naturally reminded of that scene in Homer, where the Greeks crowd round the dead body of Hector, marvelling at his great stature, and each inflicting a wound on the terrible corpse: άλλοι δε περιδραμον υἷες Αχαιων οἱ και θηήσαντο φυήν και εἶδος άγητον Εκτορος· οὐδ ̓ ἄρα οἱ τις ἀνουτητι γε παρέστη. -I. XXII. v. 396. And we think translators and commentators fall into a blunder when they translate and 66 66 Very picturesque is the scene of triumph. The fires are lighted in the forest; moving amidst the tents and trees are groups of men and women, looking by the firelight like phantoms, in their white burnouses, as they distribute the pieces of lion-flesh roasted on a brasier big enough for an elephant. The women chatter on their universal theme; the men talk of powder, bloodshed, and lions; Abdallah, the singer, yells improvised couplets, while a flute-player charms the savage ear. They have insulted the lion, and now they eat him. understand the phrase applied to Achilles drops of milk moistened his lips than he meditating the vengeance of dragging Hector fastened upon her with leonine ardor. The round the walls, as if Homer by it meant to goat had of course to be held down-she by stigmatize Achilles. The phrase azed un- no means fancied her illustrious foster-son! δετο εργα does not mean he meditated un-But although the lioness had seen her brother worthy deeds," "but he meditated unheard- take his meals in this way, she could not be of deeds: aszos, although meaning un- seduced to follow his example. She was worthy," derives that meaning from the never quiet or happy except when in concealprimitive "unlike," or unusual. Things ment. Hubert passed the night under Gérwhich are unusual are often unseemly, un- ard's burnous as tranquilly as if with his worthy, but are not necessarily so. Homer mother; and indeed throughout his career evidently did not think the vengeance un- Hubert showed a sociability which speaks well worthy, nor did the Greeks. They felt to- for him. His sister died the death of many wards the dead Hector as the Arabs feel to- children- teething was fatal to her! Nay, wards the dead lion. Gérard assures us that teething is a very critical affair with young lionesses, and often carries them off, there being no kindly surgeons to lance their little gums. Hubert was taken to the camp, where of course he became the idol of the regiment, always present at parade, and gambolling with the men during the idle hours. As he grew up his exploits became somewhat questionable. He had early strangled his nurse, the goat. He then showed a propensity for sheep, donkeys, and Bedouins, which made it necessary for him to be chained up, and, finally, having killed a horse and dangerously wounded two If the reader has ever had the pleasure of men (owing to some difference of sentiment) playing with a puppy lion he will compre- he was caged. Gérard of course continued hend the fascination of such a favorite in the to pet him. Every night he opened the cage. Arab tents. The delight created by such a Hubert sprang out joyously and began playing playfellow is not simply the delight which with him at hide and seek, embracing him any fat joyous puppy, gracefully ungraceful, with an ardor which was more affectionate and sublimely careless, will excite in all well- than agreeable. "One night, in high spirits, constituted minds; it is that, and with it the he embraced me so fervently that I should feeling of all the ferocity, power, and grandeur have been strangled had they not beat him which lie nascent in this innocent child. This away with their sabre-sheaths. That was the feeling will of course be intensified by the last time I cared to play hide-and-seek with terror felt for the grown lion; and as that him. But I must do him the justice to say, terror is very great among the Arabs, we can that in all our struggles he scrupulously imagine the interest Gérard excited by bring- avoided using teeth or talons; he was the ing into their tents a lioness of about a month same to all whom he liked, and to whom he old, no larger than an Angora cat, and a lion was really very affectionate and gentle." about a third larger. The young lady had Hubert was sent to Paris, and placed in the all the timidity of her sex, slunk away from Jardin des Plantes, where some time afterwards every one, and answered caresses with blows Gérard went to see him. He was lying half of her little paws; her brother, whom they asleep, gazing with indifference on all the christened Hubert, had more manly ùplomb. visitors, when suddenly he raised his head, He sat quiet, looking with some astonishment his eyes dilated, a nervous twitching of the at all that passed, but without any savage- muscles of his face and agitation of the tail ness. The women idolized him, and were showed that the sight of the well-known uninever tired of caressing him. A goat was form had roused him. He recognized the brought to be his nurse. At first he took uniform, but had not yet identified his old no notice of her, but no sooner had a few master. His eyes eagerly interrogated this vaguely remembered form. Gérard approach-| For our own parts, we can believe in any ed, and, unable to resist his emotion, thrust amount of fascination. We were once emhis hand into the cage. It was a touching braced by an affectionate young lioness, who moment which followed: without taking his put her paws lovingly round our neck, and eyes from Gérard, he applied his nose to the would have kissed our cheek, had not that outstretched hand, and began to breathe symptom of a boldness more than maidenly deeply; with every breath his eye became been at once by us virtuously repressed. The more affectionate, and when Gérard said to fascination of this tawny maiden, by whose him, "Well, Hubert, my old soldier!" he embrace we were haunted for a fortnight, made a terrible bound against the bars of his was equalled by the humiliation we felt on prison, which trembled beneath his weight. another occasion in the presence of the forest "My friends, alarmed, sprang back, and called king. All visitors to the Zoological know to me to do the same. Noble beast! thou and admire the noble lion who occupies the art terrible, even in thy love! He stood up, last den; and most visitors have seen his pressed against the bars, striving to break wrath when the keeper approaches the den through the obstacle which separated us. before the bone he is gnawing is thoroughly He was magnificent as he stood there roaring clean. The sight of his wrath and the sound with joy and rage. His rough tongue licked of his growls greatly interesting us, and the with joy the hand which I abandoned to him, keeper not being at hand to excite them, we while with his enormous paws he tried to one day got over the railing opposite his den, draw me gently to him. No sooner did any and began dancing and hishing before him, one approach the cage than he flew out in in a wild and, as we imagined, formidable frightful expressions of anger, which changed manner. Instead of flashing out in wrath into calmness and caresses on their retreating. and thunder, the lion turned his eye upon us, It is impossible for me to describe how painful and in utter contempt continued licking his our parting was that day. Twenty times I leg of beef, perfectly untroubled by our hishwas forced to return to re-assure him that he ing, probably asking himself the meaning of would see me again, and each time that I those incomprehensible gesticulations. We moved out of sight he made the place tremble felt small. He evidently did not think us with his bounds and cries." Poor Hubert! worth even a growl; and we were forced to this visit, and the long tête-à-têtes of subse get back over the railing, utterly discomfited quent visits, made captivity a little less pain- by the quiet dignity of his majesty. ful to him, but the effect seemed to be injuri- However, on this subject of fascination, ous on the whole. He drooped, and the let us hear the story which Gérard heard keepers attributed it to these visits, which from the Arabs. Some years ago, Seghir, perhaps made him languish for the camp and the hero of this adventure, was denied the his old days of liberty. He died, leaving hand of his mistress from no worse crime than Gérard firmly resolved to kill as many lions impecuniosity, which has cut many a true as he could, but to capture no more: death love-knot, and he thought it simpler to elope in the forest, by a rifle, being infinitely pre- with his beloved. He did so; but his path ferable to a pulmonary disease bred in a was dangerous, and he armed himself to the prison. teeth. In this path he suddenly espied a Has the lion a power of fascination? The lion walking straight towards them. The Arabs all declare he has, and that both men girl shrieked so fearfully that she was heard and beasts are forced to follow him when in the tents, and several men rushed out to once he exercises that power over them. The royal aspect and the piercing splendor of his tawny eye, together with all those associations of terror which his presence calls up, may suffice to paralyze and fascinate an unhappy victim, although Gérard says, for his part, he never felt the slightest inclination to follow and exclaim the rescue. When they arrived, they saw the lion slowly walking a few paces in front of Seghir, on whom his eyes were constantly fixed, and leading him thus towards the forest. The young girl in vain tried to make her lover cease to follow the lion, in vain tried to separate herself from him. He held her tight and drew her with him, saying, Come, O my beloved, our Seigneur com"Oui, de ta suite, ô roi, de ta suite, j'en riis." mands us; come."-"Why don't you use escaped ran back to their tents to relate what they had witnessed. None dared return; the lion carried off the girl into the forest. On the morrow the bodies of the four men were found. That of the girl was looked for, but they only found her hair, her feet, and her clothes. Her ravisher had eaten the rest. your arms?" she cried. —" Arms? I have none," replied the fascinated victim. "Seigneur, believe her not; she lies; if I am armed, I will follow you wherever you will." At this moment eight or ten Arabs came up and fired. As the lion did not fall, they took to their heels. With one bound the lion crushed Seghir to the earth, and taking his head We have said that Gérard declares never within his enormous jaws, crunched it; after to have felt the fascinating power of the lion which he lay down by the side of the young in his own person, but in one of his advengirl, placing his paws upon her knees. The tures he testifies to the fact as regards a bull, Arabs now, finding they were not pursued, whom the lion caused to walk slowly before took courage, reloaded, and returned. At him to the spot where it should please his the moment their guns were pointed, he majesty to devour him. The lion, on seeing sprang into the midst of them, seizing one Gérard approach, stopped; the bull, ten with his jaws and two with his claws, drag-paces in advance, stopped at the same time. ging them thus together, so that the three Who will explain this? We dare not attempt formed as it were but one mass of flesh; he it; the more so as our limits are already pressed them under him, and mangled them touched. as he had mangled Seghir. Those who had "THE LIPS IS PARCEL OF THE MOUTH (OR MIND).' "In the Diversions of Purley (vol. 1. p. 35 of Taylor's edition, London, 1829), we find this quotation, "The lips is parcel of the mind; with a reference in the foot-note to The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act I. Sc. 4. On referring to Shakspeare, we find in Act I. Sc. 1 of the Merry Wives of Windsor, Sir Hugh saying to Slender, Divers philosophers hold that the lips is parcel of the mouth." And in all the editions within our reach the passage is so printed. 66 Can any of your readers say on what authority Horne Tooke gave the quotation in the form he does? "Mouth" certainly seems a wrong reading, as not only "divers philosophers," but every ordinary man, must hold that the "lips is parcel of the mouth." To hold, on the other hand, that the " lips is parcel of the mind," involves a deep psychological doctrine, in which philosophers may well differ. J. P. T. 'Pet. What lips hath she! 'Li. Tush! Lips are no part of the head, only made for a double-leaf door for the mouth.'"' - Notes and Queries. [Slender was not an ordinary man; and we think that Sir Hugh might have enunciated this learning to him with a grave formality. - Living Age.] THE French papers mention a very curious discovery, that of a quantity of ancient pottery, at some depth under ground, near the sea-side, in the island of Martinique. The pottery consists of the remains of vases, some of them of extraordinarily vast dimensions, and of different household utensils; and it is of such great age that it crumbles to dust on being touched. There exists not, it is said, the slightest record of any native population having occupied the island previous to its discovery by the Carribees; In Theobald's Shakspeare (ed. 1733) the and the local savans accordingly conclude that reading is "mind," without any note. In Bos-a vast number of centuries ago the population well's Malone, and Collier's, we have "mouth." In the latter there is no comment upon the phrase; in Boswell there is a long note, from which we learn that the old reading is "mouth." "The modern editors read parcel of the mind:'" and a note of Steevens is quoted, in which he suggests that "this passage might have been designed as a ridicule on another, in John Lyly's Midas, 1592: which existed was destroyed in one of the grand volcanic convulsions to which there is reason to believe the island was more than once subjected. To whatever people the pottery belongs, it appears from the art with which it is made, and from the elegance of some of its forms, that they must have been possessed of no inconsiderable degree of civilization. Literary Gazette. From the Literary Gazette. in various periodical journals. The "Sartor Passages selected from the Writings of Resartus "first appeared in "Fraser's Mag- The agine." Other writings in periodicals have since been collected and published under the title of Miscellanies. His book on “Heroes THE admirers of Mr. Carlyle who may not and Hero-Worship" was presented to the possess his complete works will in this vol- public in the shape of lectures. Three other ume find a selection of the best and most courses he delivered in London, but they characteristic passages. They are arranged were not published. In 1837, the French under the following heads: Cromwell, French Revolution" appeared; in 1838, "Sartor Revolution, Religions, The Gospel of Labor, Resartus"; in 1839, "Chartism"; in 1843, Political, Historical, Social Reform, Litera-" Past and Present"; and in 1845, his ture, and Journalism; and the essay on Jean greatest work, "Oliver Cromwell's Letters Paul Richter, one of his earliest writings, and Speeches, with Elucidations." published in 1830, is given entire. A bio- Latter-Day Pamphlets, though not much graphical memoir is prefixed, with descriptive attended to four or five years ago, discuss in and critical notices of Mr. Carlyle's different forcible style some of the questions that have writings and literary labors. The Life of since assumed greater importance in the John Sterling," in 1851, is the latest of his public view. Red-tapeism, Downing-street, published works, and many are looking for- Stump Oratory, and other topics, the treatward with curious expectation to the Life of ment of which was regarded at the time as Frederick the Great of Prussia, on which he very wild and incoherent, have since been has been engaged for several years past. terribly brought home by the calamities of Carlyle is now in his sixty-first year. His the commencement of the present war. Carfirst appearance in the literary world was in lyle's warnings were delivered too soon, and the London Magazine," in 1823, where were unheeded. When such a man fails to was printed the first part of his "Life of fix public attention on political abuses and Schiller." In 1824 he translated Goethe's social evils, it is to be feared that national "Wilhelm Meister.' In 1825, the Life of wisdom can only be acquired through naSchiller," recast and enlarged, was published tional disasters. Mr. Ballantyne, the comin a separate form. The highest praise of piler of the present volume, is an ardent this work, and greatest encouragement to its admirer of Mr. Carlyle, whom he terms "the author, was the translation of the book into most original thinker of the present age." German, with a laudatory preface by Goethe He may be so, but we cannot admire his himself. From this time Mr. Carlyle em- being a freethinker on matters where the braced literature as his profession, and fre- wise and the good do not consider originality quent contributions from his pen appeared a merit. been its result? BEES IN NEW ZEALAND. That enthusiastic | stocked the woods. Bees in New Zealand work apiarian, Mr. William Cotton, of Christ Church, all the year, and make two kinds of honey: the Oxford, stated it to be his intention, some twelve spring or summer honey is liquid; the autumnal, years ago (see his Bee Book, London, 1842), to or winter honey, is solid and completely crystaltake bees with him from England to New Zealized. The honey is very fine, but varies in land, where they were not to be found. Can character according to the prevailing plants of any of your readers inform me, and all who the district: that of the south is in general better feel interested in the question, whether Mr. Cot- than that of the north, from the greater abunton effected his purpose; and, if so, what has dance of plants and flowers. New Zealand will WILL. HONEYCOMB. be a great honey country; it now sells at ninepence per pound, and soon will be less. AusThe Rev. Richard Taylor, F.G.S., of New Zea-tralia also produces some. We have a native land, at present in England, has kindly furnished the following reply to Will Honeycomb's query: "Bees were introduced into New Zealand before Mr. Cotton's arrival; but the chief supply is derived from his stock. They are now very abundant and widely spread; in fact, the swarms which have escaped have completely bee which is solitary, and makes but one cell, which is generally in a hollow stick; half the cell is filled with wax, the other half with honey." We learn from our advertising columns that Mr. Taylor's beautifully-illustrated work, New Zealand and its Inhabitants, has just issued from the press. Notes and Queries. |
