HISTORY. SECTION XIII. THE ISRAELITES. On the death of Sarah, Abraham took another wife by the name of Keturah, by whom he had the following sons: Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. Abraham, however, made Isaac his heir. "But unto the sons of the concubines which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son (while he yet lived) eastward, unto the east country." Abraham died at the age of 175. His son Isaac succeeded him in the patriarchal line, and also in his estate. He had twin sons by his wife Rebecca, named Esau and Jacob. At length a famine occurring, he went to Gerar, where he followed the example of his father in calling his wife his sister, through fear of being killed for her sake, inasmuch as she was very beautiful. When Isaac was old, he proposed to his son Esau to go out and hunt for him some venison, and receive his blessing. Rebecca, who was partial to Jacob, determined to obtain the blessing for him, instead of Esau, and therefore resorted to stratagem, which proved successful. (See Gen. xxvii.) Esau was so incensed at this that he threatened his brother's life, whereupon his parents sent Jacob to Padan-aram, among his kindred. On his way, he was favoured by a vision, in which he was assured of the high destiny that awaited him in his posterity. Arrived at the house of his uncle Laban, he became enamoured of his daughter Rachel on account of her beauty, and proposed to serve his uncle seven years, that he might have her for his wife, to which proposition his uncle agreed. But when the time arrived that he should have had Rachel, his uncle palmed off Leah, another daughter upon him. Jacob had therefore to serve seven years more to obtain Rachel. In due time, Jacob became the father of a large family, and by adroit management, came into possession of no small amount of property. But wishing to return to his own country, and apprehending that his fatherin-law might object to it, he took his family an effects and departed privately by night. Laban pursued him; but being warned by God in a dream not to maltreat Jacob, his deportment on overtaking him was very different from what it would otherwise have been. He merely expostulated with him on the manner of his departure; and after an interview with his family, and the formation of a covenant with Jacob himself, he returned to his own place, leaving him to proceed on his journey. As Jacob went on his way, he received intelligence that Esau his brother was approaching him with an armed force; whereat he was greatly alarmed, and divided his flocks and herds into two bands, so that if Esau were to come into contact with the one, the other might escape. He likewise sent forward his family, but tarried himself behind. "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him, until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh: and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And VOL. II.-No. 13 he said into him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." After this most singular occurrence, Jacob passed on. At length he was met by Esau and four hundred men! But far different was that meeting from the one he had anticipated. Lo! "Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him; and they wept!" After a most touching interview, Esau returned on his way to Seir, and Jacob journeyed to Succoth, where he built him a house, and made booths for his cattle. He at length came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, in the land of Canaan, where he bought a parcel of a field of Hamor, the father of Shechem. It was about this period that occurred the massacre of the Shalemites by the sons of Jacob, which we have already noticed. After several additional journeyings, Jacob reached Hebron, the home of his father Isaac; soon after which Isaac died, aged 180, and was buried by his sons Esau and Jacob. Here Jacob took up his permanent abode. Jacob had a great partiality to one of his sons by the name of Joseph, on which account his brethren envied him. Watching their opportunity, they sold him to a company of Ishmaelites that were on their way to Egypt, and made their father believe that he had been destroyed by wild beasts. Joseph was carried to Egypt, and sold to an officer of Pharaoh by the name of Potiphar. By a strange concurrence of circumstances, the relation of which may be found in the xxxix. xl. and xli. chapters of Genesis, Joseph was introduced to the notice of Pharaoh as an interpreter of dreams, for the purpose of interpreting certain dreams of Pharaoh himself. Those dreams Joseph explained as the omens of a great famine; the consequence of which was, that he was exalted to the highest post of honour under the king, and measures were adopted to lay up stores of provision against the time of need. The dearth at length came on. It was of great extent, embracing various countries, among which was the land of Canaan. Jacob being apprised that corn was to be obtained in Egypt, sent thither his sons to purchase it. They were recognised by Joseph, but they did not recognise him. He did not choose at first to make himself known to them, but by way of experiment spake roughly to them, and retained one of them as a pledge that they were not spies, demanding at the same time that they should bring their young brother Benjamin with them the next time they came, as a proof that their account of themselves was authentic. They returned with their loads of corn to their father, and were not long after compelled by the famine to go again to Egypt for more, and accordingly took Benjamin with them. It was on the occasion of this visit, that Joseph, to their utter astonishment, confusion, and ter ror, revealed himself to them as their brother! Their fears, however, were soon dispelled, by his kind treatment, who loaded them with favours, and sent them back to their father, requesting him to come down to observation. Egypt. On receiving intelligence that Joseph was anticipated all the recent explorers in every essential still alive, and governor of that land, the old patriarch fainted with joy. He finally journeyed thither, where he once more beheld his Joseph, whom he had long supposed dead. He continued in Egypt till his death, which happened seventeen years after, in his hundred and forty-eighth year. His sons carried his corpse to the land of Canaan, and buried it with those of Abraham and Isaac; after which, they again returned to Egypt, and became permanent inhabitants, dwelling, however, by themselves in the land of Goshen, where they dwelt before the death of their father. At the age 110 years died Joseph, enjoining upon his brethren to carry his bones with them when they should return to the land of Canaan. Hearne states, that he has seen many herds of musk oxen in the high northern latitudes, during a single day's journey, and some of these herds contained from eighty to a hundred individuals, of which number a very small portion were bulls, and it was quite uncommon to see more than two or three full grown males, even with the largest herds. The Indians had a notion that the males destroyed each other in combatting for the females, and this idea is supported by the warlike disposition manifested by these animals during their sexual seasons. The bulls are then so jealous of every thing that approaches their favorites, that they will not only attack men or quadrupeds, but will run bellowing after ravens or other large birds that venture too near the cows. After these things there arose a new king in Egypt, who knew not Joseph. Fearing that the Israelites were becoming too numerous for the safety of his kingdom, he commenced against them a system of intolerable persecution. Their cries of distress went up to heaven, and God, in answer to those cries, sent his servant Moses with a message to their oppressor, bidding him to let them go free. But he refused, and added yet more to their burden. As a punishment for this obstinacy, God sent upon Egypt, by the hand of Moses, and Aaron his brother, divers judgments; which finally compelled its monarch to assent to their departure. Having brought down the history of the Israelites to this point, we will pause here in relation to them, and bring forward that of the remaining nations to the same epoch. NATURAL HISTORY. THE MUSK OX. To civilized man, the extreme northern regions may appear cheerless and uninviting, because they are subjected to the almost unrelenting influence of wintry skies. Yet we have already seen that they are the favorite resorts of multitudes of animals, varying in size, characters, and habits. A species remains to be described which, of these forbidding regions, prefers the most barren and desolate parts, and is found in the greatest abundance in the rugged and scarcely accessible districts lying nearest the North Pole. This species, so far from being condemned to a life of extreme privation and suffering, appears to derive as much enjoyment from existence, as those which feed in luxuriant pastures, or bask in the genial rays of a summer sun. In destining the musk ox to inhabit the domains of frost and storm, nature has paid especial attention to its security against the effects of both; first, by covering its body with a coat of long, dense hair, and then, by the shortness of its limbs, avoiding the exposure that would result from a greater elevation of the trunk. The projection of the orbits of the eyes, which is very remarkable in this species, is thought by Parry to be intended to carry the eye clear of the large quantity of hair required to preserve the warmth of the head. Musk oxen are found in the greatest numbers within the arctic circle; considerable herds are occasionally seen near the coast of Hudson's Bay, throughout the distance from Knapp's Bay to Wager Water. They have in a few instances been seen as low down as lat. 60° N. Capt. Parry's people killed some individuals on Melville Island, which were remarkably well fed and fat. They were not commonly found at a great distance from the woods, and when they feed on open grounds, they prefer the most rocky and precipitous situations. Yet, notwithstanding their bulk and apparent unwieldiness, they climb among the rocks with all the ease and agility of the goat, to which they are quite equal in sureness of foot. Their favorite food is grass, but when this is not to be had, they readily feed upon moss, the twigs of willow, or tender shoots of pine. The appearance of the musk ox is singular and im posing, owing to the shortness of the limbs, its broad flattened crooked horns, and the long dense hair which envelops the whole of its trunk, and hangs down nearly to the ground. When full grown, the musk ox is ten hands and a half high, according to Parry, and as large as the generality, or at least the middling size of English black cattle; but their legs, though large, are not so long; nor is their tail longer than that of a bear, and like the tail of that animal it always bends downwards and inwards, so that it is entirely hid by the long hair of the rump and hind quarters. The hunch on their shoulders is not large, being little more in proportion than that of a deer. Their hair is in some parts very long, particularly on the belly, sides, and hind quarters; but the longest hair about them, particularly the bulls, is under the throat, extending from the chin to the lower part of the chest, between the forelegs; it there hangs down like a horse's mane inverted, and is full as long. Although some few items relative to this animal are to be gathered from the works of the recent explorers of the northern regions, it is to Hearne that we are almost exclusively indebted for the natural history of the musk ox, as we have already been for that of most of the animals inhabiting the same parts of the continent. This excellent and accurate observer travelled, in the years 1769, 70, 71, and '72, and it is only to be regretted that he did not write down all he knew in relation to the northern animals. He appears to have frequently thought that what was so familiarly known to him, would not be of much use to others, and has thus withheld knowledge that few individuals can have a similar opportunity of gaining. Notwithstanding this, he has The winter coat of the musk ox is formed of two sorts of hair, which is generally of brownish_red, and in some places of a blackish brown colour; the external being long, coarse, and straight, and the internal fine, soft, and woolly. The outer hair is so long that it hides the greater part of the limbs, causing them to look disproportionately short. As the summer comes on, the short woolly hair is gradually shed, but the summers are so hot in these high latitudes, that the woolly coat commences growing almost immediately after the old coat is shed, so that the entire winter coat is completed by the return of the cold weather. From the shortness of the limbs and the weight of the body, it might be inferred that the musk ox could not run with any speed; but it is stated by Parry, that although they run in a hobbling sort of canter, that makes them appear as if every now and then about to fall, yet the slowest of these musk oxen can far outstrip a man. When disturbed and hunted, they frequently tore up the ground with their horns, and turned round to look at their pursuers, and never attempted to make an attack. The month of August is the season in which the musk bulls are most disposed to combat, as they then very good. "In most parts of Hudson's Bay, it is known by the name of Kew-hagon, but amongst the northern Indians it is called Achees." The weight of the musk ox, according to Parry, is about 700 lbs. ; that of the head and hide is 130 lbs. fight furiously with each other for the females, and are jealous of the approach of every thing as already stated. The cows calve about the end of May or the beginning of June; the calves are frequently whitish, but more commonly marked by a white patch or saddle upon the back. The horns of the musk ox are employed for various purposes by the Indians and Esquimaux, especially for making cups and spoons. From the long hair growing on the neck and chest, the Esquimaux make their mus cheto wigs, to defend their faces from troublesome insects. The hide of the musk ox makes good soles for shoes, and is much used by the natives for this purpose. The musk oxen killed on Melville island during Parry's visit were very fat, and their flesh, especially the heart, although very highly scented with musk, was considered very good food. When cut up, it had all the appearance of beef for the market. Hearne says, that the flesh of the musk ox does not at all resemble that of the bison, (Bos Americanus,) but is more like that of the moose, and the fat is of a clear white, tinged During the months of August and September, the with light azure. The young cows and calves furnish musk oxen extend their migrations to the North Geor a very palatable beef, but that of the old bulls is so in- gian and other islands bordering the northern shores of tolerably musky as to be excessively disagreeable. A the continent. By the first of October they have all left knife used in cutting up such meat becomes so strong- the islands and moved towards the south. By Frankly scented with this substance as to require much wash-lin's expedition, they were not seen lower than 66° N.; ing and scouring before it is removed. Musk ox flesh, though, as we have before stated from Hearne, they when dried, is considered by hunters and Indians to be are occasionally seen as low as 60°, CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF COLD SPRING. We herewith present our readers with a sketch by | area within being insufficient to contain the visiters and our friend Weir, of the catholic chapel of "Our Lady congregation, many of the latter might be seen kneelof Cold Spring," one of most classical and beautiful ing without on the hard rock, and offering up their little churches we have ever seen. The building is of silent devotions. Religion never looked more solemn brick, coloured with a composition which gives it the or more divine, than when its rites were thus adminischaracter and appearance of a light, yellowish-brown tered on the rock of ages. Choristers responded to the stone; and the portico, which is of the Tuscan order, strains of the amiable and venerable bishop, whose of the most correct proportions. Its situation, opposite gray hairs added dignity to his devotion, and a fine band West Point, on a high rock overhanging the Hudson, of music attended, whose notes might be heard in the and surrounded by majestic mountains, is extremely recesses of the mountains. It was a scene we shall well chosen; and the traveller, sailing up and down not soon and wish never to forget, for it was full of the river, cannot but be struck with its romantic beauty. lofty inspiration, accompanied by associations of reliIt was our fortune to be present at the consecration of gion, of charity, and of philanthropy. this little temple, a few weeks since, by the Right Rev. Bishop Dubois, assisted by the Rev. Messrs. Power, Varela, and O'Reilly. The scene was most impressive. It was a calm Sabbath morning, full of quiet and repose, accompanied by a slight haziness of the atmosphere, that communicated a soft and gentle hue to the surrounding hills, and disposed the mind to corresponding impressions. It was in the midst of the most majestic of His works that a temple was to be consecrated to the God of nature and of nations. The * We could not help cherishing the hope, that the erection of this chaste and elegant little building, migh form the commencement of an era of good-will among all religious denominations. It seemed to us like the temple of peace; as the shrine where all who worship the same God, and depend for salvation on the same Saviour, might come and lay down that load of unchristian antipathies which has separated mankind into inveterate factions, and deluged the earth with blood. Its history should be told, that the example may be followed. Bunday the twenty-first of September. The village of Cold Spring and its neighbourhood, the grotto. Baron Humboldt states that the aspect of from various causes, had become the residence of a the place was majestic, even to an eye accustomed to large number of poor Irish catholics, and though there the picturesque scenery of the Alps; he had visited the are churches of various denominations at that place, Peak Cavern, in Derbyshire, and was acquainted with there was not one to which they could resort without the different caves of Franconia, the Harz and Carpahearing their faith questioned, and the objects of their thian mountains, and the uniformity generally observveneration called by the most opprobrious names, able in all these, led him to expect a scene of a similar agreeably to the orthodox practice of too many of the character in that which he was about to visit; but the preachers of that religion which is all charity, all phi- reality far exceeded his expectations; for, if the struclanthropy, all love to our fellow creatures. ture of the cave, and the variety and beauty of the stalactites resembled those he had elsewhere witnessed, the majesty of equinoctial vegetation gave an individual character and indescribable superiority to the entrance of the Cavern of the Guacharo. These people were too poor to provide themselves with a place of worship, and to none are the rites of their religion more important to their social habits and morals than the labouring classes of the catholic church. In this state of things, a gentleman having large interests in the neighbourhood, Mr. Gouverneur Kemble, came forward to their assistance. He gave them the ground on which the church stands, and a considerable portion of the means for its erection, besides furnishing the plan, and giving a paternal superintendence to its progress and completion. The indefatigable exertions of the Rev. Mr. O'Reilly, pastor of the congregation, supplied the remaining funds. Mr. Kemble is a protestant, and so are we; but this shall not prevent our bearing testimony to the liberal and philanthropic spirit, which, overlooking the metaphysical refinements of religion, resorts to its spirit and essence, and recognises all the worshippers of one Creator, and one Saviour of the world, as fellow-creatures and fellow-christians, who, however they may differ in modes and forms, look up to the same eternal source in this life, and the life everlasting. Convenience and necessity are often found in conflict with the natural taste of mankind for the picturesque and beautiful; and in nothing more remarkably so, than in the location of religious edifices. If it were possible, we would always have our houses of worship isolated from the busy haunts of traffic and of pleasure. In cities this can never be effected; but in the country we delight to see the sanctuaries of religion standing apart from amid the common scenes and objects of worldly care and interest and occupation. They should be held sacred from all sights and sounds of earthly import; the solemn stillness of their presence can only harmonize with the murmur of the breezes, the mysterious rustling of the foliage, and the thousand soothing tones of nature's music. The walk to the house of God should be through smiling fields, shaded by the verdant luxuriance of forest trees-the atmosphere that floats around should be the pure, fresh air of heaven, breathing serenity and peace; the objects that it offers to the eye should be only such as invite to serious meditation, with no intruding incident or object of the world's contaminating impress, to break the chain of humble aspiration, that would lead to heavenly things. The throne of religion is man's heart; but nature, in her calm untrammelled beauty, is religion's meetest empire.-N. Y. Mirror. CAVERN OF THE GUACHARO. Baron Humboldt, in his Personal Narrative, gives an account of a remarkably interesting cavern, in the province of New Andalusia, about three short leagues from the convent of Caripe, and called the Cavern of the GUACHARO. A narrow path led the travellers across a fine verdant plain, when they turned westward, and were guided by a small river which issues from the mouth of the cave. During three quarters of an hour, they continued to ascend, sometimes walking in the water, and sometimes between the torrent and a wall of rocks, by a path rendered slippery and fatiguing by masses of earth and trunks of fallen trees, which they had to surmount. On a sudden turn of the road, which winds like the stream, they found themselves before the immense opening of The entrance is a vaulted arch, eighty feet broad and seventy-two feet high; the steep rock that surmounts this opening is covered with gigantic trees, mixed with creeping and climbing plants and shrubs, brilliant with blossoms of the richest colours, and the most varied forms.* These form natural festoons which hang before the mouth of the cave, and are gently agitated by the passing currents of air. What a contrast between such a scene and the gloomy entrances to the caverns of northern climes, crowned with oaks and sombre larches! But this luxuriant vegetation was not alone confined to the exterior; the traveller, on following the banks of this subterranean stream into the grotto, beheld them with astonishment, adorned for thirty or forty yards with the Praga palm-tree, plantain-leaved helíconias, eighteen feet high, and arums that resembled trees in their size! It was not found necessary to light their torches till they had reached the distance of 430 feet, owing to the continuous direction of the cavern, which allows the light of day to penetrate thus far; and when this began to fail, the hoarse cries of the nocturnal birds, whence the place derives its name and celebrity, began to be audible from a distance. The Guacharo is about the size of a common fowl, and resembles in form the vulture tribe, with a beak surrounded by stiff hairs; its plumage is of a dark blueish gray, mixed with small streaks of black; white large heart-shaped spots, bordered with black, mark the head, wings, and tail; it is strictly a nocturnal bird, and is almost the only one which does not prey on animals, its food being fruits. The shrill, discordant noise made by thousands of these birds, brought from the inmost recesses of the cave, and reverberated from the arched roofs, form a clamor of which it is impossible to form an idea. Their Indian guides, by fixing torches to the ends of long poles, showed travellers the nests of the bird, which were constructed in funnel-shaped holes, with which the roof of the grotto was pierced in all directions, and generally at about sixty feet above their heads. There is an annual destruction of these birds by the Indians, who obtain from their young an oil much used in that country. They bring down their nests by means of long poles, and many thousands of the old birds are killed while endeavoring to defend their helpless progeny; they keep hovering over the heads of their enemies, uttering the most discordant cries. The young that fall with the nests are immediately opened, and a thick layer of fat that is found in their intestines is melted down in pots of clay, and is known by the name of guacharo butter, (Manteca or Aceite,) it is half liquid. transparent, without smell, and may be kept a year without becoming rancid, and, according to the Baron imparts no disagreeable taste or smell to the food dresswho ate it at the convent, where no other oil is used, it ed with it. The habits of the bird, excluded from daylight, using little exercise, and feeding on vegetable * For the sake of our botanical readers, we may state, that among these the Baron enumerates a Dendrobium (family Orchidea) with golden flowers, spotted with black, and three inches long! A Bignonia, with a violet blossom; a purple Dolichos, and fleshy tube, four inches long. a magnificent Solandra, the deep orange flower of which has a food, account for the production of this quantity of fat in a manner analogous to that in which geese and oxen are known to become large by similar modes of treatment; the quantity of this oil obtained, bears but a small proportion to the carnage thus made annually by the hunters; they do not obtain more than a 150 or 160 bottles, of about sixty cubic inches each, of pure manteca; the rest, which is less transparent, is kept in earthen vessels. Still pursuing the course of the river, the cavern preserving the same width and height to the distance of 1458 feet from the mouth; the travellers on turning round, were struck with the singularly beautiful appearance which a hill covered with the richest vegetation, immediately fronting the entrance of the grotto, pre sented; this, brilliantly illuminated by the sun's rays. and seen through the vista of the dark cave, formed a striking contrast to the surrounding obscurity; while There are two causes why this destruction of the the large stalactites depending from the roof were rebirds at the oil-harvest, as it is termed, have not extir-lieved against the luminous back ground of verdure. pated the race; one is, that the Indians are prevented After surmounting, with some difficulty, an abrupt rise by superstition from penetrating very far into the interior in the ground where the stream forms a small cascade, of the cavern, and the other, that neighbouring caverns they found that the cave diminished in height to forty too small to be penetrated by man, afford a place of feet, but retained its original direction; here a blackish security to them to breed and multiply in; at least it mould was found, either brought by the rivulet, or appears that no perceptible diminution of their numbers washed down from the roof by the rain water, which has been observed. penetrates the crevices of the rock; and in this, to the delight of the travellers, they found seeds growing, which had been brought thus far into the cave by the birds, but so altered by the deprivation of light, that they could not even recognise the species of plant thus produced under such unfavourable circumstances. It was found impossible to persuade the Indian guides to advance further; the cries of the birds rendered still more horrible by the contraction of the cave, had such an effect on their minds, that they absolutely refused to proceed; and to the regret of Humboldt and his friend they were compelled to retrace their steps. The travellers in continuing to explore the cave, followed the banks of the stream which issues from it, and is from twenty to thirty feet wide; they pursued this course as far as the hills formed of the calcareous depositions admitted. When the torrent wound among high masses of stalactites, they were often obliged to descend into the bed of the stream, which is only about two feet in depth; on its banks they observed great quantities of palm-tree wood, the remains of trunks the Indians made use of to climb to the nests which they could not otherwise get down. This edifice is built of marble from the quarries at eight lights and two embattled transoms. The heads Sing Sing, and exhibits a specimen of the English of the lights are cinque-foiled in a plain arch, and the collegiate style of architecture. It is situated between divisions above are quatre-foiled. Over the head of Washington Place and Waverly Place, and fronts the window is a drip-stone with plain returns. From Washington Square towards the west. The building is the central building, or chapel, wings project right and one hundred feet wide, and one hundred and eighty left, and are four stories in height, flanked by towers of feet long. In front, this oblong is divided into five five, supported by angular buttresses of two stages, runparts-a central building, with wings flanked by tow-ning above an embattled parapet, and are at the top ers, one rising on each of the four corners of the edifice. themselves embattled. The windows in the wings This central building, or chapel, is superior to the rest have square heads, with two lights, a plain transom, in breadth, height, and character; and is somewhat and the upper division tre-foiled. The heads of the similar to that of King's College, Cambridge, England windows are labelled, and have plain returns. The -a masterpiece of pointed architecture, and the model lower range of windows is set on a tablet, which serves for succeeding ages. It is fifty-five feet broad and as a base, and the two ranges next above are set on eighty-five deep, including the octangular turrets, one strings, which return around the turrets and stop against of which rises at each of the four corners. The two the buttresses. Buttresses are attached to the wall of ends are gabled, and are, as well as the sides, crowned the wings, both in front and flank, and rise two stories, with an embattled parapet. The chapel will receive its finishing on the front face with triangular crocketted principal light from a window in the western end. This heads, crowned with a finial. The battlemented parts window is twenty-four feet wide and fifty high. It has throughout the building have horizontal capping, with |