I should hardly have known it-the sun can shine brightly now through the clear glass; and what a sweet smell of the hawthorn !"

"Well, and my one-eyed servant?" asked Bella. "You remember, I hope, that I can't pay her any wages-have you met with one that will come?"

'All's right," replied the little man, nodding. "I've got her with me."

"Got her with you?" repeated Bella, looking round. "I see nobody.'

"Look, here she is," said the cobbler, holding up something in his hand.

Would you believe it, the one eyed-servant was nothing but a Needle?

The sun does arise

And make happy the skies;

The merry bells ring

To welcome the spring; The skylark and thrush,

The birds of the bush,
Sing louder around

To the bells' cheerful sound ;-
Whilst our sports shall be seen
On the echoing green.
Old John, with white hair,
Doth laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,

And soon they all say,
"Such, such were the joys

When we all-girls and boys

In our youth time were seen
On the echoing green."
Till the little ones weary,
No more can be merry ;
The sun does descend,

And our sports have an end.
Round the laps of their mothers,

Many sisters and brothers,

Like birds on the nest,

Are ready for rest,

And sport no more seen,
On the darkening green.

William Blake.

In Ceylon a great number of elephants are used in helping to make roads, and do work of all kinds.

They are caught in the following manner: a place is chosen where they are known to come at a certain season, and where there are a great many trees and shrubs; the natives then enclose a large piece of this woody ground, with a high, strong fence, hiding it as much as possible with the leaves and branches. They take great care not to break these trees, for the elephants are very suspicious, and soon see when anything has been meddled with.

At one end of this enclosure they leave an entrance, so made, that it can be shut in a moment -of course, it takes many weeks to prepare all this; but when it is ready, the beaters go in great numbers far away into the country, and try to surround a large number of elephants. The disposition of

these animals being peaceful, and their only desire to browse in solitude and security, they always withdraw before the slightest intrusion; and advantage is taken of their shyness and love of quiet, to cause only just enough noise, to make them move slowly onwards. in the direction which the beaters wish them to take.

Several herds are by this means driven up together into such a space, that the watchers can completely surround them, and day after day, by slow degrees, they are moved gently onwards up to the corral, as the trap is there called.

When they begin to think there is something wrong and look restless and alarmed, the watchers are forced to take bolder measures to prevent their escape. Fires are kept burning, night and day, at about thre yards' distance from each other, and this is done all round the ring which now shuts them in. More and more beaters and watchmen come, until there are two or three thousand of them; and pathways are cleared in the jungle, so that these can all move freely about to each other, and get readily to any point, supposing the elephants should try to break away. A constant watch is kept up. Sir E. Tennent gives a very interesting account of the last part of the scene- "Two months had been spent in these preparations, on the day when we arrived and took our place on the stage which had been built for us, overlooking the entrance to the corral. Close beneath us, a group of tame elephants sent to assist in securing the wild ones, were lazily fanning themselves with leaves in the shade. These herds whose united numbers were said to be forty or fifty, were all surrounded by the beaters; and though at that moment

hid from us by the jungle, were very near the corral. No one was allowed to make the least sound, every person spoke to his neighbour in whispers, and such was the silence kept by the watchers at their posts, that from time to time we could hear the rustling of the branches, as some of the elephants stripped off their leaves. As yet, they did not at all know what was going to happen to them.

Suddenly, the signal was made, and the stillness of the forest was broken by the shouts of the guard, the rolling of the drums and tom-toms, and the firing of guns; and beginning at the most distant side of the ring, the elephants were driven forward towards the entrance into the corral.

The watchers along the line kept silence only till the herd had passed them, and then joining the cry behind them, they too drove them on with more noise than ever. The tumult increased as the terrified rout drew near, swelling now on one side, now on the other, as the herd in their panic dashed from point to point in their endeavours to force the line, but were instantly driven back by screams, guns, and drums.

E