which the sailors were mending, but which had been intentionally injured to afford a plausible pretext for delay. He alleged, further, that he was short of water and provisions; but they told him it was no suitable place to look for provisions where there was only salt water and trees. After the conference, the captain promised to leave in three days, hoping by that time the engineers, if unable to penetrate the interior, would have returned. Should such not have been the case, however, it was arranged that the vessel when getting under weigh should spring a leak, when, as if in great alarm, the captain would have sent for a number of Indians to assist in pumping. The altered circumstances of the party rendered the resort to this crooked and deceptive line of policy unnecessary. Although thus prematurely arrested in their labours, yet the engineers found that the great object of their visit had been partially attained, by discovering that the Cordilleras, which appeared from the sea a continuous range, had an intervening valley of only forty feet above sea-level, and that the summit between the two oceans must be either in the centre of the isthmus or nearer the Pacific coast. It had been also ascertained that Caledonia Bay would afford an excellent terminus for the contemplated design, while Port Escoces formed an admirable harbour for refuge.

The next step to be taken in pursuance of their object was to cross the isthmus by the Panama railway, and sailing to San Miguel on the Pacific coast renew their operations from the opposite direction. This, by rapidity of movement and an increase of the party, they hoped to be able to accomplish without molestation from the Indians, whose territories do not seem to extend beyond the sources of the rivers flowing into the Atlantic. They anchored in Navy Bay in the afternoon of June 22nd, and on the following morning left by the Panama train-for American enterprise has actually started a railroad here each individual paying 32s. for a distance of twenty-one miles. This line originated with the requirements of the California traffic, and, according to the American correspondent of the "Times," has conveyed nearly half a million of passengers since it was opened. It has, however, been the most fatal route the world has ever seen, for of the vast multitudes who have gone over it, very few have done so without suffering at the time or subsequently. Arrived at Panama, after experiencing intolerable inconveniences by the way, our travellers called upon the English consul located there, who speedily procured for their use a small schooner to convey them to San Miguel, a distance of ninety miles.

On the 30th of June, the exploring party entered the Savannah river at flood tide, the mouth of which they found to be about two miles wide. The tide bore them nine miles inland, and on ebbing left them high and dry on a gravel bank. Shortly before midnight they were afloat again, and soon afterwards reached the junction of the river Lara. At this point the country, which had hitherto been hilly and picturesque in the extreme, began to assume the character of a savanna, or flat plain. Beyond this locality the river's course was found to be very tortuous, consisting of a succession of level reaches, terminating in rapids and falls. They therefore determined to leave their boat

and to explore the interior, which we are happy to state they succeeded in doing to within about six miles of the spot where their progress had been interrupted by the Indians. It is impossible for us to follow them in all the hazards, privations, and difficulties of their journey; but it is matter for grateful acknowledgment to that kind Providence who watched over them in the wildernesses and swamps and tangled thickets which they traversed, that they were preserved from the perils which on more than one occasion threatened their lives, and have been suffered to return and report favourably upon the practicability of an undertaking second to none that have signalized the present age. We gather from Mr. Gisborne's description that the general character of the country is that of a flat plain, covered with valuable timber. The Savannah river has a depth of six fathoms at low water for a distance of seven miles from its mouth, while the effect of the tide extends eighteen miles from Darien Harbour, thus leaving an interval of thirty miles to Caledonia Bay on the opposite side. This, then, it must be observed, is the actual breadth of the isthmus between the tidal action of the two oceans, and which will have to be excavated. The highest summit, it has been ascertained, is only 150 feet, and as this elevation consists of a narrow range of hills, the engineering difficulties in cutting through will not be great. The bulk of the work to be executed will be in the plains themselves.

With the various facts before him, gathered in the course of his survey, Mr. Gisborne has sug gested two methods by which the object of his expedition may be accomplished. One is by the formation of a navigable canal, with locks and immense reservoirs. The other, and that which finds favour among all competent judges, is to cut a channel from sea to sea, with a width of 160 feet, and a depth of thirty feet at low water. The cost of such a magnificent sea-route he estimates at 12,000,000l. sterling, calculating wholly on imported labour, and making a liberal allowance for the diminution of work to be expected in a tropical climate and the extra wages necessary to induce persons to emigrate. Although the Pacific tide rises thirty-two feet, while that of the Atlantic is only of a few inches, yet mid-tide is about on a level in the two oceans, so that there will be alternately every six hours a current each way. This current will not exceed three miles an hour, and will act most beneficially not only as a scour to prevent deposit, but as an assistance in the transit of vessels. The passage will be effected in one tide, and thus the dangers arising from vessels meeting and passing each other will be avoided. The material to be cut through being chiefly rock, the current will not wear away the banks, so that the navigation is not likely to be impeded by slips, while the cost of maintenance will be reduced to a mere nominal sum.

Such are the chief features of this bold scheme for "marrying Mr. Atlantic to Miss Pacific," as a humorist has characterized it. A company has been formed for carrying it out, whose capital is fixed at 15,000,000l., a sum which it is believed will cover every expense." It must not, however, be supposed," remarks a contemporary, "that the Atlantic and Pacific Junction Company propose to

SHOPKEEPING UPON TWO PRINCIPLES.

A TALE.

"Ir's all nonsense, old boy. I take more money on a Sunday than on any day in the week; so don't think I shall be so foolish as to shut up my shop and trust to God's blessing, as you say. God helps them that helps themselves'-that's my

maxim."

"Well, Mr. Johnson, you quote one proverb, and I will quote another: All's well that ends well. Good morning."

"Shut up my shop on a Sunday," said George Johnson, with some bitterness, to himself. "Oh yes, I am sure to do that, to please a set of sanctified hypocrites, who wouldn't care if I was starving so long as I made my appearance with a long face at church every Sunday. But I am too old a bird to be caught by such chaff as that.'

A few months rolled on, and George was still toiling in his shop; but from some cause or other, notwithstanding his Sunday gains, he could only just meet his daily expenses, and sometimes he could scarcely do that. He lived in a poor, overpeopled district of London, where Sunday trading was general, and he candidly believed that he must do as others did, or be compelled to give up business, in a neighbourhood where his fellow-tradesmen had the seeming advantage of an additional day's profits. But this advantage proved of no great service to George; and judging from appearances, few of his neighbours were enriched by it. He felt, too, that there were some great drawbacks. The confinement to a close, small shop, in a narrow and dark street, for so many hours of the Sunday, was a grievous burden. Borne up at first by the hope that he should reap a silver, if not a golden harvest from his business, George had endured the confinement patiently; but when he found that he reaped nothing but thin and withered ears, barely sufficient for his necessities, he viewed this grievance in a very different light.

"Well, Mr. Johnson, are you still of the same opinion as when I last spoke to you about Sunday trading?" said the old gentleman who had addressed to him on a former occasion the inquiry with which our paper opens.

"Not exactly, Mr. Hooper; for I confess there are great disadvantages connected with the system. But what is the use of talking? here I am fixed in it, and I must swim with the stream, or be drowned."

But, to make no mention of other and higher reasons, are you sure that you should be drowned, as you term it? Are there not others-a few, I confess-in this neighbourhood who close their shops on a Sunday? Is health of no value ? and I am sure you look the worse for such close confinement; and do you not think that many would prefer to deal with one who showed that he had some respect for the sabbath, and who therefore might be expected to deal honestly with his customers, which is more than can be said for many of your Sunday-trading neighbours ?"

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Ay, well, sir; you and I see things differently. I know very well that I must either open my shop every day in the week or shut it altogether, for I find business bad enough as it is; and what should I do if I lost my best day's profits?"

"Well, you confess that your present plan is not a very prosperous one. I will say as I said before, 'All's well that ends well,' Good morning, Mr. Johnson; no offence, I hope."

"Plague the old fellow," muttered George, after his visitor had departed; "I wish he'd mind his own business: though, after all," he added, musingly, "I feel he's in the right, for I know this Sunday trading is wrong. But what can I do?"

He

Six months more had scarcely passed away before a handbill was posted on the closed-up window of George's shop, advertising a sale of his effects. He had been compelled to give up his business, for he could not live by it. Competition, and especially the opening of a large and gaily. decorated shop in George's immediate neighbourhood in the same way of trade as himself, seemed to be the chief causes of his want of success. applied for and obtained a situation in the recentlyopened shop. Here he was made to feel keenly the evils of the system which he had defended. When a master, he could relax somewhat when he felt disposed to do so through sheer weariness, for certainly he seldom if ever did this for any other cause. But here he could not rest; he must tug at the oar through the whole work-day week, and through a good part of the Sunday besides. His master was a grasping, selfish, and unfeeling man, and George groaned under his load. At length a holiday did arrive--a whole day was his own-and he hailed it as a prisoner would rejoice at a day's freedom from his chain. He arranged with one of his companions to have a trip to the sea-side. Starting early, they resolved to make the day as long as possible. They rambled upon the beach, breathing the sea-breeze with greater zest than ever any epicure quaffed his choicest wine. They clambered up to a point on the rocky cliffs that towered above the beach, from whence they obtained a good view of the magnificent prospect. But, tempted by the success of their first ascent, they resolved to try for a higher point. In doing so the foot of George's companion slipped, and he was precipitated on the sands beneath them. George almost rushed down-he often wondered how-and arrived only in time to see his compa

nion breathe his last.

This melancholy incident made a deep impression upon his mind. He became an altered man. Quitting his present master, he obtained, through the influence of Mr. Hooper, a situation where his Sundays were his own. Here he remained for

three years, acquiring a character for steadiness, integrity, and aptitude for business, which proved afterwards, as we shall see, of eminent service to him. He put by also a portion of his salary.

'Well, George," said his old friend Mr. Hooper, on accidentally meeting him one day after having heard from him the recital of what had occurred since they last met, "I think we agree now about Sunday trading; suppose we put our principles to the test."

"In what way do you propose to do this, Mr. Hooper ?"

"I have thought of your starting in business again in your old neighbourhood. I am not a wealthy man-far from it--but for several years I have been a prosperous one, and I can advance something for you. I know you have saved a part of your salary, and your master is willing to lend a helping hand, by supplying you with goods at a low rate to commence with. What do you say to this proposal ?"

Give me a few days to consider, Mr. Hooper; but allow me at once to return you my grateful thanks for your kindness."

"Give him a rouser, Mrs. Vanes," said a slatternly-looking woman to another still more so, who had come rather early on the first Sunday morning after George had opened his shop, for some articles which she required. Accordingly, Mrs. Vanes gave a few vigorous knocks with a penny-piece upon the shop-door.

Mr. Johnson opened a window overhead. "Aint you latish this morning, Mr. Johnson?" said the female who had advised the trial of knocking for admittance; "I want some things."

"I do not intend to open the shop on Sundays, Mrs. Mellish; I have given up Sunday trading," replied Mr. Johnson, closing the window as he spoke, to avoid altercation, which, from the known character of Mrs. Mellish, he felt sure would ensue if he prolonged the conversation.

"Well, here's a pretty go! and so a poor woman isn't to have a bit of butter on a Sunday morning, becase he's so mighty religious. Howsumiver, if he wont have my Sunday money, he shan't have my week-day; I'll take care o' that.'

Yis, aint he pious now?" chimed in Mrs. Vanes. "Oh deary me, but I know what it'll all come to. He keeps his shutters up to-day, and he'll very soon keep 'em up altogether."

They then departed to procure what they required elsewhere.

Mr. Johnson steadily persevered in the course which he had commenced, though frequently bantered at first by some of his old customers. But his firmness in sustaining pecuniary loss won the admiration of some, and the secret respect of nearly all of them. They argued that a man who would act thus would be almost sure to deal fairly with

them, both in the quantity and the quality of the articles with which he supplied them. Some fami lies in the neighbourhood bought from Mr. Johnson solely because he made a stand against the prevailing Sunday trading of the district.

In short, the experiment succeeded signally, for Mr. Johnson became one of the most flourishing tradesmen in the neighbourhood. He still lives at the same place where he achieved his victory, but he has been compelled to enlarge his premises more than once. A wife and a family of blooming children now add to his happiness; and he is an active member of several societies which have been formed for the amelioration, physical and moral, of the poor and ignorant.

"Well, Mr. Johnson," said his old friend one day, "it is now a good many years since I entered your shop, and in the course of our conversation proposed to you to give up Sunday trading. I met with a very unfavourable reception; and I little expected then to see what I behold now."

"No, Mr. Hooper, I was ignorant and conceited in those days; but bitter experience made me wiser. Putting higher considerations aside, I see that in many other points of view Sunday trading is to be condemned. The benefits of my present course are many and important: its physical advantages are repose, cleanliness, and health; its mercantile advantages to the labourer are diminished competition and increased wages; its intellectual advan tages are opportunities for reading and reflection, public oral instruction, and Sunday-school training for the young; whilst its moral advantages are too numerous and too obvious to be insisted upon."

"Well spoken, Mr. Johnson. You are yourself a good example of the truth of the doctrines you preach. The aid which you received cannot be said to have made the experiment an unfair one, for it was scanty and limited. Allow me to add one more advantage in this case, and that is, the good interest which I have always punctually received for the small sum that I advanced to you. May many follow your good example."

OUT OUR WAY.

I AM no scholar, and not much given to writing, except a letter now and then since the Penny Post came up, and a few figures once a week, may be, just to see how my little affairs stand: but there isn't much scholarship wanted, I take it, to tell the plain truth, whether it is to be written or said by word of mouth; so I shall say what I have to say in a plain way, in the hope that what I do say may be to the purpose, and do a little good where it is very much wanted. I am a hard-working man, and have been all my life. I don't complain of that; work never comes amiss to me, so long as it's fairly paid for; and I'm willing to work to the end of the chapter, as far as that goes. But what I do complain of is a grievance which ought to be remedied, because the continuance of it entails a mischief upon me and mine, which was none of my own seeking, and for which I am not to blame.

When I was but a bit of a boy, I lived with my father and mother in a snug cottage with a fair patch of garden-ground behind it, a goodish way out of London; and now that I'm nigh forty,

though I've never moved out of the cottage, I'm living as much in the heart of the town, to all intents and purposes, save and except those of convenience, as though me and my family had been pitched into the middle of Whitefriars. I've never moved to London, but London has moved to me, and taken me into her arms whether I would or no; and I must say she has not done the neighbourly thing at all, but quite the contrary. When I was a lad, and my father and mother were alive, out our way used to be thought as healthy a place as any in Middlesex, and people used to come there for change of air-and all the better for it too. The little patch of garden-ground found us all in vegetables, and a little stream of water that ran through it afforded us the means of cleanliness and health. Now the garden will grow nothing fit for a man to eat, and the stream that used to sparkle like crystal is changed into an open sewer, with a smell so bad, in summer time, it's almost enough to knock a fellow down.

This has all come of so much building on the cheap system-building that ought never to have been allowed, and would never have been done if the builders had had to live in the houses they put up. Out our way now there's little else but cottages a brick thick, and manufactories where stinking trades are carried on, and all sorts of bad smells taint the air we breathe. There's lots of tanners' and skinners' pits, and bone-works and glue-boilers, and all that sort of thing; but there's next to no drainage, and no water at all that's really fit to drink, though we are obliged to drink it for want of better. I caught four shrimps the other morning in the basin I drew from the butt that stands in a corner of our yard-shrimps as big pretty near as them you buy at Billingsgate, though not being boiled they were the colour of an old bank note, instead of being red. Furthermore, when I put my face into the basin I could see the water-lice by the thousand at the bottomand I did feel a little queerish, when I thought how many generations of them I must have drunk my time. I've got a water-butt myself, because the old man made a stir when they first poisoned the brook with the sewers, and they sunk a butt in the ground and let on a pipe to quiet him; but half my neighbours have no such convenience, but have to beg of me or somebody else for every drop of water they use.

in

flashes

But if they are short of water, they've got plenty of beer and gin-a great deal too much of it. There is hardly a house out our way fit for a decent man to live in, but what is a public-house of some sort or other. When I was a boy, I used to stroll in the garden of a summer's night and watch the sunsets, and the crowds of London steeples and towers shooting up into the barred red clouds miles away. Now the setting sun only upon the gilded sign-boards of the publican, gleaming on the tops of fifty houses, and blazing upon treble X's as long as your arm. This is a very ugly change, to my thinking, and tells a very ugly tale if you don't turn a deaf ear to it. You should just come out our way of a Sunday afternoon, and then you'd know what I mean. Why, out of the thousands of labouring men, working all the week at unwholesome trades, how many in a hundred would you think go to a place of wor

ship? Not seven, it's my opinion; and what's more, they haven't got the clothes to go in, and if they had, they haven't got the heart to go. You'l see 'em lounging about in shirt-sleeves all day long, only half dressed and not half sober. Treble X is hat, coat, and boots to whole tribes of them. I've always observed that the three golden balls and the three golden X's go very much together-they must be first cousins, I'm thinking. The publican and the pawnbroker, at any rate, are feathering their nests pretty tidy out our way; and very few besides, as far as I can see, are doing much towards getting rich. Mrs. Brown, who keeps a general shop, told me the other night that there wasn't a family in her street (and it's a goodish long one) but what is on her books for sums of money owing and standing over-the debtors paying ready cash for what they now purchase, being refused further credit till the standing accounts are paid-which, in nine cases out of ten, they never will be. Of course I know well enough, though Mrs. Brown didn't tell me as much, that those that pay their way pay all the more on account of the defaulters-it don't take much arithmetic to teach me that.

You should see the sight of children there is out our way. I don't know how it comes about; but it seems to me always that the more muck and dirt and disagreeableness of all sorts there is in a place, the more children there is sure to be. Hundreds of them are left at home all day by themselves, while fathers and mothers are out at work; and some of them get no food, but a penny or halfpenny, perhaps, to do what they like with, from breakfast to supper. It's uncomfortable to me to see the poor things slopping about, half clad, in the wet, and playing at their dreary games, or crouching on door-steps, nursing of sickly babies, bawling for their mothers' breast. It's my belief that half of 'em die, poor things, before they're four years old; but there's plenty left, for all that. I'm bound to say the deaths are by no means confined to the children. Every fall there's awful work among the grown-up people. The doctors say the fever is never out of the neighbourhood; and I can bear witness that it makes woeful ravage whenever hot weather sets in after long and heavy rains. The undertakers know that well enough: you wouldn't believe how sharp they are after business, without you was to see it. Why, when the sickly season comes on, as it's pretty sure to do towards the end of the summer, you can't walk twenty paces out our way without seeing an undertaker's bill, with a picture of a burying on the top of it, and the prices of coffins and shrouds, and the hire of cloaks, palls, and hatbands, and the churchyard omnibus that does the genteel for poor folks, and packs living and dead together behind one pair of horses, or one horse if you want it extra cheap, and anything else that you may require, all ticketed off at the lowest possible figure. I must confess that they certainly do it very cheap: why, you can have a flannel shroud and trimmings, and a pillow-case well stuffed for your head, and a stout elm coffin with gilt handles, or leastways lacquered, and a zinc inscription plate, and the top of a grave, and cloaks and hathands for half-adozen followers, and I don't recollect what besides, and all for a matter of fifty shillings, out our way.