These papers contain some particulars, from eyewitnesses, of incidents in the actions of May. During the storming of the forts, Capt. Ommaney, 2d Madras N. C., and Lieut. K. K. Stewart Mackenzie, H. M.'s 90th regt., being good runners, served on General Gough's staff (none of whom were mounted) as aidesde-camp, and their powers were severally taxed during one of the hottest days of the season. Lieut. M. served as a volunteer with the Royal Irish at the storming of the entrenched camp; and at one time was just receiving orders from the general, to be conveyed to another part of the field, when a sergeant of the 26th came up; and Gen. Gough, observing that Lieut. Mackenzie had had running enough, despatched the sergeant with the orders; that sergeant has never been heard of since, and must have been cut off. After the armistice, in the afternoon of the 30th, several thousand villagers collected on the broken ground and in the paddy fields, about two miles to the northward of the British quarters. Detachments from the 26th, 49th, marines, and 37th Madras N. I. marched down in four columns, to disperse them. This service was speedily performed; but soon the floodgates of heaven were opened, and water descended in sheets; detachments from the 26th and 37th having been sent on in advance, while the remainder of the force had been ordered back, after the dispersion of the villagers, and were on the route to their different quarters in the forts taken on the 25th, the general and staff, consisting of about 20 officers, remained unprotected about a mile in the rear of the advance. Meanwhile, the troops engaged got wet, and their muskets were rendered useless; the commanding officers, consequently, returned, and the Chinese, observing the British troops had ceased firing, faced about, and began to close round and hem them in, attacking with spears, &c.; the rear man of the 26th was speared, and immediately he fell, the Chinese threw themselves upon, and hacked him to pieces with their swords; but his body and his arms and accoutrements were all recovered. The Chinese fought hand to hand, and Major Pratt had the sleeve of his coat torn by a thrust of a triforked spear. These two detachments had to face about several times, to beat the Chinese off; and when they joined the staff-which had taken such shelter from the pouring cataracts of rain as a thin-branched tree afforded, and might have been easily cut off or killed by the Chinese-Gen. Gough distinguished the native officers of the 37th in the most courteous style, taking their hands, and thanking them for their steady behaviour. It was soon, however, discovered that, by some unaccountable misunderstanding, a company of the 37th had been left behind; the marines, with percussion-locks to their muskets, were forthwith ordered to their rescue. They met the company of about fifty men-retreating in square, keeping the Chinese at bay; immediately the balls of the marines were heard and felt, the Chinese dispersed; one of the 37th had been speared and killed, and his body, arms and accoutrements could not be recovered; and when the Sipahi fell, a Chinese seized his loaded musket, deliberately aimed, fired at, and wounded Mr. Berkeley, in command of the company. The return to quarters was through the same floods of rain which had swollen every rill to a torrent, through which the troops waded waisthigh in water. The following is stated to be the cause of the wound of Capt. Hall, commanding the Nemesis, in the action with the Chinese junks and fire-rafts. A rocket had been fired, and yet it hung fast in the tube. Capt. Hall, knowing that not a moment was to be lost, with instant quickness and the coolest daring, thrust his hand up the tube, while the rocket was sending out its fire downward, and pushed the rocket out: nothing but this daring deed could have prevented its explosion on board, and killing all around it. The report of the Imperial Commissioners, Yih-shan, Lung-wang and Yang-fang, on the attack of Canton (dated 30th May,) describes the measures they had adopted for the defence of the city and the difficulty of securing it, as it is overlooked and commanded by heights, and the maritime access being easy. They state that they prepared rafts to burn our ships; but before they could act, the "rebels" commenced battle, having se cretly taken soundings of the river. The Chinese troops, however, beat them back, till, on the 25th May, the whole of the barbarian vessels attacked the city. Aided by traitorous natives, the English steam-vessels proceeded up to Ne-ching, opening their fire, whilst the traitorous natives, disguised as sailors, entered the Chinese fire-ships, and jumping into the water, penetrated by land to the rear of the Chinese army. Thus assaulted on each side Ne-ching could not be defended. The report then represents the suffering of the population of Canton. The people," they say," are easily swayed in their opinions; they do not think the provincial city is an important territory, and that the whole province depends upon it; and vile wretches avail themselves of the opportunity, and rise in crowds." Nevertheless, when the barbarians advanced against the city from the north, by the way of Ne-ching, the Chinese opened a fire upon them from the walls, and killed "more than ten," and more than one hundred traitorous natives; upon which the barbarians retreated, and the Chinese army retired within the city. On the 27th, the inhabitants confusedly presented petitions, beseeching that the city and their lives might be preserved, and the soldiers stationed at the angle of a parapet reported that the barbarians seemed to wish to parley. The Commissioners say they thereupon ordered Colonel Heuen Chuy-shing "to ascend the walls and look about him." He perceived that there were several "barbarian eyes," who "pointed with their heads to heaven and earth, but the Colonel could not make out what they had to say." Interpreters were called for; according to whose statement, the bar. barians "wanted to explain their grievances;" whereupon "General Twan-Yung-fuh exclaimed, How can you suppose that a generalissimo of the celestial empire can grant you an interview ? he has only received orders, and has come here with the sole intention of fighting you, and knows of nothing else.' The said barbarian eye immediately doffed his cap, dismissed his retinue of officers, threw down his arms on the ground, and made his obeisance towards the city."* General Twan subsequently made inquiries into the grievances, and the barbarian eye said that "the English could not barter their goods; that there existed no intercourse or facilities for trade; that they had lost their capital, and had debts owing to them unpaid. Since the cannonade was opened on both sides of the new city, they had not been able to communicate what they had to say; and therefore he had come hither to request the generalissimo to beseech the great emperor to show favour in paying the debts, and graciously permit the (English) trade; they would then immediately retreat outside the Bogue, restore the forts, and not dare to create disturbance.' Accordingly, the Commissioners maturely weighed these matters, and found that, the fortifications of the Bogue being lost, there existed no protection for those who are within or those without. "The best, therefore, that could be done, was to agree to this proposal, to preserve the city from danger, and give new life to the fainting inhabitants. We calculate the whole annual sum arising from the taxes and duties of Canton province to be no less than 3,000,000 of taels. If only the business of the barbarians was clearly settled, the people might in a few years afterwards recover their accustomed spirit; but if we waited for any length of time, unexpected troubles might perhaps arise, which would involve us not only in heavy expenses but also in dilemmas. When once the barbarian vessels have gone out and the traitorous natives been dispersed, we could all along from the city to the Bogue increase the number of fortifications at every important point, and cast and plant additional guns; at the mouth block up the entrances with stones: thus we should be able to prevent the enemy and maintain ourselves effectually, and cramp their efforts. Should they again dare to act outrageously, we would immediately stop their trade, and manage them well." The Canton Press, August 21, publishes the following speculations upon the settlement of the pending dispute, which, as the opinion of a person with local opportunities of becoming well-informed, perhaps, merit attention: "The English have to enforce demands which include and make necessary a change of system which is the very basis of the Chinese government, and on which its pre *Two women's bangles were thrown down from the walls ed only after a long search. to the English officers; one was lost in the grass, and recover sent existence mainly depends. All the demands can be | upon the negotiator, and one of the utmost importance is, that the trade should go on in the meanwhile. If Fuh. chew and Ning-po, however, are put under the same necessity as Canton to carry on the commercial intercourse, there will be no want of either teas or raw silk." A letter from Macao, dated 23rd August, observes:"There appears a very general impression in Canton, that the Chinese were induced to believe the payment of six millions of dollars to have been a final settlement of our demands, and that trade would gradually be allowed to fall back into the former system, and it seems very problematical whether the cabinet at Peking will be easily brought to accede to new and increased demands. Whether trade can be continued at Canton while hostilities are going on in other parts of the empire, we cannot pretend to foresee; but it seems probable that, although the recollection of the recent lesson given to the local authorities may keep them from overt acts of hostility for a while, they may be forced, by orders from the court, into measures which will result in closing the port here at no distant day. They had, indeed, a few days ago, commenced to block up a part of the river near Canton, and although the stockades have been removed, on the requisition of our authorities, the absence of the fleet may now, very likely, induce them to complete works, with the view of preventing men-of-war again getting near the city." CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. The attention of the colony is strongly directed towards the establishment of a Representative Legislative Assembly, the opinion expressed by Lord John Russel upon colonial assemblies having, it is said, "acted like an electric fire in the minds of the colonists." At a meeting of the Cape Town Municipality, in Common Council, on the 23rd July, it was unanimously resolved, "That the expediency and necessity of a Representative Assembly has become so apparent, that no man who has paid attention to the working of the municipality, short as has been its operation, but must allow that the colony is fully fitted and ready for the boon of self-government, and which alone can develop the resources of the colony, as well for its own benefit and interest as that of the Home Government." for improving public works and roads throughout the same; that, from its geographical position and natural advantages, no colony offers a better field for the employment of British capital and labour than the Cape of Good Hope, and that, by assimilating our political institutions to those of Great Britain, we hold out a greater inducement to emigrants from the mother country." "A second enterprise likely to lead to a satisfactory conclusion, would be a direct march upon Peking. The enterprise is grand, subject to many risks and dangers, but not much more perilous than an attack upon Canton. But there are three or four considerations that very On the 24th August, a public meeting was held at Cape strongly speak in favour of the adventure. The upper- Town, when it was unanimously resolved, "That, in the most is, no doubt, the persuasion that it finally must come opinion of this meeting, the form of government in which to this, or no peace can possibly be concluded, unless ra- the representatives of the people have some share and tified at the gates of Peking. We may flatter ourselves responsibility is the most just, expedient, and beneficial that matters will take a different turn, that less bold mea- to the people, and that there exists no reason why this sures might equally serve, and imagine a hundred other colony, comprising a population of 180,000, should be exthings, which, however, change nothing in the real state cluded from the pale of this principle; that the present of affairs. Make the trial for four or five years, and the system of our Colonial Government is ill-adapted to the conviction will nearly amount to a moral certainty, that, wants of the colony, and the form of a free representaunless Peking is attacked, there can be no treaty. Of tion by colonists from every part of the colony is best calthe minor expedients for hastening the settlement, we culated fully to develop its commercial and agricultural may mention as the principal, the occupation of the Yang-resources, and to meet the wants so generally required tsze-keang by our navy, a thing perhaps more difficult than it would at first appear. But there are large cities on its banks; there is the centre of all the inland communication; the river is, in fact, the heart-artery of China, and hence, is of paramount importance. In a commercial point of view, the reasons are still more urgent; and so fong as we can keep this river open for our ships, China can never be shut against foreign intercourse. It is the In the discussions at this meeting, Mr. Ebden, a memkey to the Celestial Empire, the grand inlet; and if no ber of the Legislative Council, stated, in respect of the operations are carried on in its waters, the river ought at measures adopted by the unofficial members, when, by least to be surveyed as far as it is navigable. The cities a blunder (as subsequently appeared,) their rights as whose occupation would most annoy the great Emperor members of the Council were impaired, that, at the time, would be Shang-hae and Loo-choo, in Keang-soo, Ning."an attempt was made, he will not say by whom, to po and Hang-choo, in Che-keang, and Fuh-chew and twist and torture into meaning a palpable error in the Amoy, in Fo-këen. A demonstration upon Leaou-tung, wording and construction of one of the sections of the the patrimonial estate of the reigning family, would seri- royal instructions, whereby the liberty of debate was inously alarm the court, and simultaneously made at a point fringed, and the power of the Council neutralized, with nearest Moukden, when Peking is threatened, it would the view of rendering the Council subservient to the will divide the forces and attention, and accelerate a good un- of the Governor." derstanding. Of the islands most conveniently situated as a point d'appui, Chusan, notwithstanding all that has been said against it, holds still the first rank; as a permanent agricultural possession, Formosa is peerless; for a commercial_colony, the above, or some spot between Amoy and Fuh-chew, holds out greater advantages than Hong-kong, but the commencement will be far more difficult. But there are other considerations that must weigh The Zuid Afrikaan observes: "There seems no longer to exist a doubt as to the question of competency of the colonists for self-government. The question of slavery, which some years ago was raised as an objection, no longer exists; party feeling, which at one time convulsed our society, has happily died away; we hear no longer the discussion raised as to nationality or language; and we find those who formerly disagreed with the great mass of the people, as to the expediency of granting a representative assembly to this colony, now joining the standard to obtain that which is universally maintained to be the inherent right of every British subject." Petitions to her Majesty and to Parliament have been forwarded to England. An accidental supply of labour had been thrown into the Cape Market by the wreck of the Prince Rupert (with emigrants for New Zealand,) in Table Bay, which, as it was attended with suspicious circunstances, had furnished a matter of investigation for the magistrates. The investigations of the missionaries, and the statements made by impartial persons, seem clearly to show that the attack made by a part of the emigrant boors at Natal upon the Caffre chief N'Capaai, in December, 1840, on the ground of his having stolen their cattle and horses, was unjustifiable, inasmuch as N'Capaai was entirely innocent of the charge, and it is even said that the farmers knew that the cattle had been taken by Bushmen. The farmers on that occasion killed many of the Caffres, and carried off a large number of their cattle. A writer on the frontier says: "I am aware that the policy of sending a British force to the Zimvooboo, for the protection of the native tribes from further attack of a similar character as that made upon N'Capaai, has been severely animadverted upon. Matters of policy are always matters of opinion. Now, as I am supposed to possess rather better means for obtaining information and forming a correct opinion as to the general effect of this measure on the safety of this colony and the welfare of the natives than almost any private individual residing on the border can have, I will, with your permission, state that, in my humble opinion, the sending of the expedition to the Zimvooboo was a measure of the very best character, and it would be difficult to say whether its policy or humanity is most to be praised. It tends to the security of our immediate border by its influence on the Caffres, and it has already favourably influenced public sentiment among the emigrant farmers at Natal; it has placed the shield of British protection over a large and powerful tribe (Faku's,) who are the allies of the colony; and it was, perhaps, partly intended as a necessary step towards the accomplishment of an event greatly to be desired, being alike beneficial to the emigrant farmers, the inhabitants of our own colony, and to the native tribes at large-I mean, the peaceable establishment of the British rule at Port Natal." From the Literary Gazette. Chronicon Mirabile; or, Extracts from Parish-Registers ; principally in the North of England. 8vo. London. THIS is a very curious book, and may be considered as a specimen of the literature of country curates and parish clerks in the olden time. It is edited by Sir Cuthbert Sharpe of Sunderland; a gentleman to whose zeal and good taste we already owe several very interesting contributions to history and to popular antiquarianism. As we turn over the pages of this book there are many points which arrest our attention-many which afford subjects for reflection. The registers of the middle of the seventeenth century contain indications of the ravages of civil war in the numerous "sojers" who were bundled into the grave without inquiring after their names or families. Many of the writers of these humble journals appear as political partisans; some can with difficulty restrain their hatred of that bloody usurper," Oliver Cromwell, while others fill their registers with prayers for the success of the Parliament. A series of singular entries of the latter description are found in the parish-register of St. Mary's, Beverley, beginning with the year 1642: "July, 1642.-King came to town ye 7th day. Hull Mills burn ye 11th day. Sep. 1642.-Great danger of ye kingdom and parlia All o'r lives now at yɩ stake, Lord, deliver us for Christ his sake. Scotts at Newcastle, 1643. Newcastle & Newark beseiged, March 17, 1643. June, 1644.-York besieged by the Scotts. July, 1644.-York yielded up. b. g. p. h. (blessing, glory, praise, honour.) June, 1645.-Sir John Meldrum dyed. 14 June, 1645.-Nazebies Victory, b. p. g. h. t. be given. (blessing, praise, glory, honour, thanks.) Aug. 1646.-Kingdom now quite doubtful of ye treatie broken of, the King & Prynce threaten sore: ye Lord prevent ym. Nov. 1646.-Dublin in distress, Lord, deliver it for Christ his sake. July, 1647.-Great debate betwixt ye Parliament & the Armv. Lord, cease it. Dec. 1647.-Rob'd 8s. 4d.-Lord, restore it." We will extract at random a few miscellaneous entries. In the register of Hart, on the 26th Jan. 1630, it is remarked, "Wind and snow, the sorest day that ever did blow." In that of Hesleden we learn that, Jan. 1, 1663, was buried "Isbell Ellinir, an olde lame impident woman.' The observations of the clerk or curate who made the entry are frequently of the most amusing description. In the register of St. Oswald's Durham, we have an interesting picture of the feeling of the country when threatened by the Spanish Armada in 1588: Upon Munday beinge the xii' day of August, Ao° p'dicto, the right honorable Earle of Hu'tington, lord presydent under of most gracyous sufferayne lady, Quene Elyzbethe, caused a generall muster to be upon Speny. more, of all p'sons within th' age of xvi & lx yeares weare assembled on Spenymore ye same day to ye full onely, w'thin the byshopryke & no forther: when when the shuld be called; whom God pres've longe to nu'ber of xl thowsa'de men redy to s've hyr Magesty rayne ov' us, a mother in Israell. Ame'." The writer of the register of Houghton-le-Spring, in 1653, appears to have been moved with unusual zeal for the preservation of his register; in which he has entered the following public notice: "Let noe man whatsoever presume to scribble blott out, or tear out any part of the leaves of this register booke, &c., as they will be answerable for such their great presumpcion and folly unto the gent, and fower and twenty of the said parish." This notice appears to have been provoked by the fol lowing entry made in the register by a fair parishioner who was not privileged :". "Jane Easthope is my name, In the register of Bishopswearmouth,"Robert, daughter of William Thompson, bap. 15 feb. 1730,-the midwife mistaking the sex: ebrietas dementat !" At Newcastle, under the date Nov. 1645, it is entered: "No register kept, because it was lost." A writer in the register of Ripley in Yorkshire appears to have been desirous of bequeathing his character to posterity, although his account of himself is somewhat enigmatical:"I ham as I ham, and so will I be, But howe I am, none knowethe truly: I meane nothinke but honeste, though folkes jugged me sly, From the Asiatic Journal. THE STEPPES OF SOUTHERN RUSSIA. No. II. THE animal is not more varied than the vegetable kingdom; and both, to the naturalist, seem poor, though to the less scientific observer the steppe appears to be teeming with life. Uniformity, in fact, is more or less the distinguishing characteristic of the country, and the same want of variety that marks its outward features prevails throughout every class of its animate and inanimate productions; but though few the species, the masses in which each presents itself are surprising. Eagles, vultures, hawks, and other birds, that are elsewhere rarely seen except singly, make their appearance on the steppe in large flights. The reed-grounds fairly teem with ducks, geese, and pelicans; the grass is alive with swarms of little earth-hares; larks, pigeons, thrushes, rooks, and plovers, are met with every where; and even butterflies, and other insects, appear in formidable masses. Among the latter, the locust, of which we shall have more to say by-and-by, plays a very important part. Few of these animals can be said to be peculiar to the steppe, but though found in other lands, they are not found there under similar circumstances, and the peculiar character of the country exercises a powerful influence in modifying the habits and instinct of animals. ries in immense numbers; so much so, that the farmers will sometimes set fire to a whole rick of corn, for the mere purpose of destroying the mice. They multiply more particularly in moist seasons, and in this respect offer a contrast to the habits of the sooslik. The wolf of the steppe is a smaller animal than the forest wolf, and distinguishes himself from the wolves of other countries by his subterranean propensities. Natural caverns become elesewhere the the refuge of the wolf, but on the steppe he burrows like a rabbit, and it is there by no means an uncommon thing to find a nest of young wolves several fathoms deep in the ground. In the neighbourhood of Odessa, and the other large towns, these fourfooted sheep-stealers are but seldom met with; but in no part of the world do they abound more than in the woodland districts by which the steppe is skirted, and from these haunts they sally forth in countless numbers, to prowl around the flocks and herds of the open country. Every farm-house in the steppe is surrounded by fences twelve or fourteen feet high to protect them against the inroads of the wolves, yet these banditti of the plain are incessant in their attacks, and cases are by no means uncommon of their carrying off even infants from the cradle. The dogs of the steppe are the most vulgar and worthless of all the curs in the world. They are long-haired, long-legged, long-headed, and longtailed, and have evidently more wolfish than doggish The traveller has no sooner crossed the Dnieper, blood in their veins. Their prevailing colour is a at Krementshug, than he sees a little animal glid dirty greyish brown, and, though little cared for by ing about every where through the grass, and even the Southern Russian, their number is incredible, along the high road. This little animal is called by the and fully equal to what it can be in any part of Russians sooslik; and by the German colonists, earth- the Ottoman Empire. Yet the Southern Russian hare, by the learned, cytillus vulgaris. It is a grace- never tolerates a dog in his house, nor ever admits ful little creature, and quite peculiar to the steppe, him to that familiarity which the race enjoys with never found in woody regions, and rarely even in the us, and to which the cat and the cock are constantly vicinity of a bush. It is particularly fond of the courted by the tenants of the steppe. Still, whether bulbous plants that abound in the steppe, and multi- as a protection against the wolf, or whether in conplies astonishingly. In manner and appearance it is sequence of that carelessness which allows the breed something between a marmot and a squirrel, smaller to multiply unchecked, every habitation on the than the former, and differing from the latter in the steppe is certain to be surrounded by a herd of dogs, colour of the fur and the shortness of its tail. that receive neither food nor caresses from the hands The soosliks burrow under the ground, and hoard up of their owners, but must cater for themselves as a stock of food for the winter. Their holes have al- well as they can. In spring, the season of abunways two entrances, and it is easy to drive them from dance, when all the cattle and horses of the steppe their cover by pouring water in at one end, for to run wild, the dog likewise wanders forth from the water they have so great an aversion, that they are habitation of his master, and the puppies born at that always observed to decrease in numbers in wet sea-period of the year are not a bit tamer than the wolves sons, and to multiply astonishingly in dry ones. themselves, until the viugas of winter drive them The lively and frolicksome character of the sooslik back to the farm-yards and villages. In summer, a constant source of amusement to a stranger. the dogs hunt the mice, rats and soosliks, suck the The little creatures are seen in every direction; some- eggs of birds, and learn even to catch a bird upon times gamboling together in the grass, at others sit- the wing, if it venture too near the ground; but in ting timidly at the doors of their houses, to watch winter they are certain to congregate about the towns the approach of an enemy. If a man or other strange and villages, where swarms of shy, hungry, unowned object draw near, they rise upon their hind legs, like dogs, are seen lurking about, in search of any kind miniature kangaroos, and stretch their little heads up of garbage that may be thrown away. Dozens of so high, about the power of drawing themselves out like a telescope. body of a dead animal, and gnawing eagerly away for their dresses, and entire cloaks and dressingTheir little furs are used by the women as edgings at its frozen sinews. In the country, the dogs are a subject of complaint gowns are often made of them, and sold at the Leip- with every one, and with none more than with those zig fair, where they are known by the name of sussel- who devote some care to the cultivation of their garchen. Of all the quadrupeds of the steppe, the dens. The dog of the steppe is passionately fond of sooslik is by far the most abundant; it affords the fruit, and will not only devour the grapes in the vinechief article of food to the wild dogs, and is a con- yards, but will even climb into the trees in search of stant object of chace to wolves, foxes, eagles, hawks, pears and plums. The better the dog is fed, the more eager he will be after fruit, which is supposed to cool his blood, after too free an indulgence in animal food. and other animals of prey. The next in importance among the quadrupeds of the steppe is the mouse, which frequents the grana APRIL, 1842.-MUSEUM. 64 SPIRIT OF MAG. 2 G Like the wolves, the dogs of the steppe burrow in | trives to imitate with astonishing accuracy the cry the ground, where they dig, not merely small holes, but roomy habitations, with narrow doors and spacious apartments, in which they find shelter against the heat of summer and the cold of winter. The half-savage state in which the dogs live, leads them often to pair with the wolves, and a kind of cross-breed ensues. The people in the Ukraine, however, deny that the dog is ever permitted to acquire the rights of citizenship among the wolves; indeed, so jealous are the latter of the purity of their blood, that a she-wolf always destroys her brood if, on being taken to the water, they are found to lap up their liquor, instead of snapping at it in the approved wolfish fashion. In this way the wolves preserve their aristocratic blood from any mixture with that of the plebeian hounds, who are much less scrupulous. A straggling she-wolf will sometimes make up a match with a solitary cur, but after keeping house with him for a few months, she almost always grows ashamed of the connexion, runs away from her husband, and leaves him to provide for his young family the best way he can. The deserted father, on the return of winter, usually brings his hopeful progeny to his accustomed haunts, where the spurious race may always be known by their wolfish fur, their pointed ears, and the peculiar sharpness of their bite. They are much less apt to bite, indeed, then the genuine dog, but when they do bite, there's "no mistake" about the matter, and, in their partiality for mutton, they seldom fail to shew themselves worthy of their maternal ancestors; for this reason, when allowed to live, they are usually chained up. They are useful in hunting wolves, whom they attack with greater animosity than any other dogs will do; and when old, they are usually destroyed, their skins being nearly of the same value as those of genuine wolves. of the female. The most remarkable kind of bus tard hunting, however, takes place in winter. The birds at that season creep under the thistles and other high weeds in search of some shelter against the severity of the cold. While in this position, if a hoar frost comes on, their wings become so incrusted with ice, that they lose the power of flying, and they then become an easy prey to foxes, wolves, and above all, to man. The Cossacks, on horseback, run them down with ease, and kill them with the blow of a whip. If the hunter has chosen his time well, and is nimble in the chase, he may expect good sport. Indeed, there are men among the peasantry of the steppe who have become comparatively rich by a few successful bustard hunts. One man, we are told, killed 150 bustards in one morning with his whip, and sold them at Odessa for 450 rubles. In the north, ten or fifteen rubles are often given for one of these birds. Eagles, vultures, and other birds of prey, are sufficiently abundant, and have probably always been so; but of late years, since a portion of the steppe has been brought under the plough, a number of granivorous birds have made their appearance that were formerly altogether unknown there, and others that were formerly rare have multiplied in a striking manner. Of singing birds, the lark is the only one known on the steppe; but in the gardens about Odessa, the nightingale is occasionally heard. Of reptiles there is no lack, frogs, toads, and snakes abounding in every part of the country, not withstanding the dryness of the soil. Toads, parti cularly, display their ugly forms in every direction, and after a shower of rain they sometimes show themselves in such numbers, that it is difficult to walk a dozen paces without becoming the involuntary instrument of destruction to several of them. Sometimes a remarkable phenomenon occurs in the summer months, and though Mr. Kohl never wit nessed the fact himself, yet he had heard its appear. ance so often described, not merely by ignorant peasants, but by many of the most intelligent among the German colonists, that he felt it impossible to refuse credence to their accounts. This phenomenon is known among them as the “toad-shower,” but we will allow our author to describe it in his own words. Among birds, none abounds more on the steppe than the bustard, or drakhva, as the Russians call it, which may be seen grazing in every direction. It migrates from Northern Russia on the approach of winter; but about Odessa, and about the mouths of the Dniester and Dnieper, it generally remains all the year round. Bustards are usually seen in parties of from twelve to twenty, but their gregarious habits increase in proportion as the winter advances, when from eighty to a hundred will often be found together. This, however, arises not so much from the "They all agreed that, frequently in June or July, sociable propensities of the bird, as from the more and sometimes even in August, after a short but limited extent of pasture to which it is then obliged heavy shower of rain, the ground would suddenly to confine itself. If, terrified by the approach of a be covered with myriads of small toads, and no one real or supposed enemy, one of these large flocks could say whence they came, or whither after a little rises, the birds do not remain together, but fly away while they went. The rain, they said, must fall in in different directions to their several nests. In June thick heavy drops, and was generally accompanied or July, they may be observed feeding with their by sunshine. Long-continued rain, they added, neyoung, and on those occasions the male bird is usu- ver bred toads, and for that reason, I suppose, the ally seen anxiously watching over the security of phenomenon never manifested itself during the moist his wife and little ones, whom he never fails to ap- summer of 1838, which I spent in the steppe. Of prize of any danger that may seem to be drawing the numbers of these toads, they recount strange stonear. The vigilance of the cock is so great, that it ries. Millions and millions are seen covering the is extremely difficult to get a shot at them. The ground, like an army of locusts. It is quite dis Russians maintain that the bustard knows exactly gusting to walk among them, for in stepping on the how far a gun will carry, and never gives the alarm ground, a man may crush forty or fifty of them at a moment sooner or later than is really necessary. once. One man told me his stomach had fairly Nevertheless, the Cossacks, who are the chief sports-turned on beholding a Russian run bare-footed through men on the steppe, contrive to outmatch the bustard the unsightly mass, with the crushed bodies and the in cunning. Sometimes they creep like snakes mangled limbs of the dying reptiles adhering to his through the long grass, and come unobserved upon feet. The wheels of a cart, I was told, would be their prey; sometimes they lure the male birds by saturated with the juices of the dead toads, and inmeans of a little instrument made out of the wind-crusted with their loathsome bodies. In size they pipe of an ox, on which the treacherous hunter con- are stated to be all extremely diminutive, about as |