is the summit, about a thousand feet above. We turn now to the left and advance with great caution, for the path is steep, a precipice being on every side, together with many dangerous crevasses. Toiling, panting, falling occasionally, every one's pulse above 100°, we gain at length the Rochers Rouges, a critical spot indeed, for here it was that three of Dr. Hamel's guides lost their lives. This recollection suggests caution, as we sink deep at every step through the Pass of the Petits Mulets, from which we can look over into Italy. On we are again, and see! two of our party are already on the summit, two more close to it, and within two hours from leaving the plateau the whole party is upon it. Huzza! for it, if you can. All now for a few moments fall prostrate, doubtless some with grateful praise to God on their lips; and then some arise and glance around upon a scene such as an angel may be supposed to behold when he comes to earth with heavenly ministry! This is the highest point of Europe, and all the neighbouring Alps stand in their rank and order like attendant guards around their sovereign. You see the maritime Alps, the whole chain of the Jura from end to end, the Lake of Geneva, the Buet, the Gemmi, the St. Gothard, the Furca, the Matterhorn, the beautiful Mont Rosa, the chain of the Apennines, Mont Cenis, the mountains of Tuscany, with all the valleys and plains between the mountains of the Bernese Oberland, the Finster Aar, the Jungfrau with her mighty host, and then to the left, far into France, even beyond Lyons. This is indeed overwhelming, and seems to repay all suffering. Who can see such a prospect and not feel the glorious majesty of its Maker? This is the place for a song of praise in which the morning stars shall join and shout for joy. "Thou kingly Spirit, throned among the hills, Great Hierarch! tell thou the silent sky, And tell the stars, and tell yon rising sun, But a few experiments may be made before w descend. The barometer has sunk to 17°, showing only half the quantity of air we had below in the same space. Let us see the effect of this by means of our air-pump. The air within this jar is diminished so as not to contain half the usual quantity, yet the pressure of air without cannot sustain that from within, and the skin covering is almost burst. The moisture of the air is here only onesixth part of that at the base of the mountain, and this excessive dryness of the atmosphere will account for the intolerable thirst and high fever, with the exhaustion, dizziness, headache, and indifference felt by all. We get only half our breath, and that six times as dry as usual. The thermometer is much below freezing-point, while down below it is at the full summer heat of 82°. Water will boil here with the low heat of 187°, and yet it takes twice as long to make the fire act. A strange sensation, too, is experienced, as if the feet did not touch the ground. All sounds are feeble, and no one can make himself heard at a distance of fifty paces. The sun's disc, too, is much less in while the deep blue of the sky is entirely gone, being exchanged for a light thin mixture of blue and black. appearance; The summit of the mountain on which we have been making these experiments is a small ridge, on which the traveller can ordinarily remain but for a short time. The longest period ever passed here was, I believe, by M. Saussure, who remained four and a half hours. In 1846, a large party was sent up, with the intent of remaining three days on the summit and letting off Parisian fireworks; but the monarch was in no mood for such antics, and although, after many attempts, they reached the top, they were speedily sent down again, half dead with cold, fatigue, and disappointment. Let us descend, too, while we can; for our captain sees a storm brewing in the clouds below. It is past ten, and all are in high fever. Some of the guides sitting down, each takes a traveller before or behind him, and away we shoot along the steep. attempts will ensue. All, however, welcome a hastily prepared meal, and are heartily enjoying it, when our captain, who with other guides has long appeared uneasy, directs every one to seek shelter in any crag accessible at the moment. He has watched the storm, and it is just upon us; he has only time to see all out of reach of avalanches, when it comes roaring on, and bursts just over the peaks around us. “Tourmente! tourmente!" cry the guides; "fall flat on your faces, and grasp any hold you can get on the rock!" The hurricane raises the snow like dense clouds of dust, and the air is perfectly darkened by the mass. 'Shelter your faces!" cry the guides; and the caution is very necessary, for these particles are like red-hot sand in their effect. The lightning has struck a crag, and the fragments are borne like feathers in the air. The thunder is repeated a hundred-fold, and after being taken up by the echoes is renewed from the heights above. Now all sounds and all sensations are swallowed up in one. The crash of the avalanche tears the very air, and another and another succeeds. They reach the glacier, and, plunging in, throw up the blocks of ice on every side. The whole glacier seems set in motion, and the noise of a thousand cannons is but sport compared with this. stock is placed outside each traveller, and by four A philosophical friend in front of him admits the whole of this, but has been noticing the torrents from the glaciers. He has traced them in his mind as forming the mighty rivers of Europe. He has observed how rivers, thus sustained, are full when others are dry, and that they support twice the population on their banks that others do. Moreover, he thinks that these may be called the mighty pumps of Europe, for they attract the clouds and storms to the highest points, and then pour the treasure they receive downwards so as to reach the furthest extremities. He observes also that their granite enables them to endure the wear and tear of the hurricanes, while below they form valleys of fertility from the fragments they deposit. A medical student, who has just dissected and handed round the last fowl, makes observations on the invigorating influence of the air, and fairly owns it a better tonic than any drug he knows. " These middle heights," he says, rising with his subject, seem formed to recruit the shattered nerves and restore the wasted powers of the town inhabitants below." 66 The fury of the storm, however, cannot last; in half an hour all is over, and the guides rise to look after their charge. Most of us are lightly buried, and some actually asleep under the snowy covering. None, however, are missing, nor are any hurt; and the guides, after consulting the signs above and below, conclude that more tempestuous weather is coming, but probably not till sunset. It is past noon, so they urge us to press on while we can, for the ledge-path or the glacier would be fatal with such a storm. We resume, therefore, our veils, are tied in threes, and, often sliding down the steeps, soon reach the rocky chasm. Here much is altered since we last passed it. Our bridge of ice is gone, and we have to go far round; but we gain the glacier in safety, and take a short rest while the three exploring guides examine its condition. They report that it is smoother than before; the great blocks have gone down the declivity or are broken, leaving our path in vast waves. The mass, too, they think, is cracking. "On on!" says Joseph," while we may." With much caution, therefore, we again essay the frozen stream. But what sounds are those below? On! on!" says Joseph, for he knows them too well. Ere we reach the middle, the splitting has begun, with a sharp snapping sound, and it runs from the middle diagonally up the sides. These splits soon be come chasms of blue, whose depth is beyond our search. As yet they are all passable, and greatly add to the interest of the way; but they widen tions are excited by the scenery of Mont Blanc, yet the While fully agreeing with our contributor that such emoevery moment, and we press eagerly forward, question occurs, Is it proper, in order to call up these therefore, often falling and gliding down the wavy feelings, to expose our own and the lives of others to slope, till checked by our rope; often, too, climbing undertaken for scientific purposes, was a peril incurred such imminent peril?' The ascent of this mountain, when up the steps cut by the guides with their hatchets. for legitimate ends; but where idle curiosity or love of adIn two hours we gain the edge, and are once more venture is the object, the case is very different. In the words of the " Edinburgh Review:""To climb the mountain on solid rock. Pleasant, indeed, are our feelings merely for the sake of the prospect, and to pass through all after having so long been every moment in danger the dangers of the expedition only that you may boast of it, of sinking into some concealed chasm! After all lenient judges; while those who look more narrowly at the the trials of head and nerve that we have passed, matter will be led, perhaps, to condemn the proceeding altonone fears the ledge-path now. Yet the guides gether." If life," observes another writer," be lost in such an enterprise, does the moral guilt differ much from that of insist on using the former precautions; the alpen-suicide or murder?" Another of the party, silent till now, avows that his mind has been more expanded in its thoughts and feelings amidst these colossal displays of creative power and glory than he ever remembers it to have been in his library. He appreciates other considerations, but still thinks that the greatest of all purposes answered by these wondrous Alps is the manifestation of their Maker. Here man seems nothing, and God all in all. He has been led, too, into thoughts of the eternity to which we are hastening; where the power, goodness, and wisdom of God are awfully presented to the mind. The friendship of that Being, how desirable it must be! His displeasure, how awful to contemplate! But Joseph breaks in by pointing out the rum deserve very little commendation at the hands of the most bling storm above, and says it will surely catch us if we linger; so the mules are mounted, and away we go. Ah! long before we reach the houses, here are the wives and friends of the guides come to assure themselves of our safety, and down they dart to tell the news. Hark! as we approach Chamouni, how the merry bells are ringing, and the bands playing, while the whole population has turned out to receive and welcome us back. Ere we can alight, there is one universal long cheer: "Huzza to the heads that have overtopped Mont Blanc !" ZOOLOGICAL CURIOSITIES OF AUSTRALIA. THE principal quadrupeds in Australia are the kangaroos, a numerous family, containing many species. These are vegetable-feeding animals, browsing upon herbage, and in some cases chewing the cud like the ruminants. They move by a succession of springs, compassing twenty feet or more at a single bound; they clear broad gullies and the lower brushwood with surprising agility, and proceed by this singular mode of locomotion at a rate which outstrips for a time the fleetest horse. Some are of great size, being nearly as tall as a man when in their common erect position; others are as small as the common hare, and strongly resemble it in their general appearance. The kangaroo is timid and inoffensive, but will defend itself with great vigour when closely pursued in the chase, having a formidable weapon in its claws. The natives hunt it for food, and the colonists for sport. But this is only at the very outskirts of the settled districts, and even there the animal has become strange. Two, three, or even six large strong greyhounds are put upon its track, and a smart chase is the result. If water is near at hand, the kangaroos make for it, and take possession of the deepest part in order to keep their pursuers at bay. In some cases they drown the dogs, seizing them with their fore-arms and keeping them under the water. Frequently they take up a position with their back against a tree, and show fight for a considerable time, occasionally with success, by ripping up or wounding the dogs in a severe manner with their hind claws. Reptiles and rapacious birds are other enemies. A traveller relates having had his attention drawn to a curious misshapen mass, which came advancing from some bushes with a novel and uncouth motion. He fired, and it fell. On going up to the object, he found it to be a small kangaroo, enveloped in the folds of a large snake. The kangaroo was now quite dead, and flattened from the pressure of the reptile, which, being surprised at the disturbance it met with, began to uncoil itself, and was dispatched. In the course of an excursion to a settler's farm in a sequestered part of the country, Dr. Lang observed two eagles in the act of killing a young kangaroo of one of the larger varieties, which they had been running down. The birds, scared by his approach, left their prey, and perched themselves leisurely on the branches of a neighbouring tree; while the animal, which had only been stunned or slightly wounded, instantly sprung up, and bounded off with prodigious leaps down the valley. This species of hunt is always conducted by two eagles in concert. One continues to fly at the kangaroo's face till it becomes confused, while the other is ready whenever it stands still to pounce upon its head and pierce the brain with its talons. Swiftly as the bounding gait of the animal carries it along, the natives sometimes effect its capture by the process of tracking. This method of hunting elicits every qualification prized by savages the skilful exercise of the senses, endurance of hunger and thirst, unwearied bodily exertion, and indomitable perseverance. To perform this feat, the track of the kangaroo is found, and followed till the animal is seen. It flees timidly before the hunter, who pursues its course, and the same process of flight and pursuit is repeated. At nightfall, the native lights his fire, and sleeps upon the track. With the early dawn the hunt is resumed, and towards the close of the second day, or in the course of the third, the kangaroo is wearied out, and falls a victim to his pursuer. None but a savage in the pride and strength of manhood can succeed in this chase, and he who has frequently practised it always enjoys great renown among his fellows. One of the aboriginal dances is called the 'kangaroo dance." A savage, wearing a long tail, drops down on his hands and knees, pretends to graze, starts to look about, and mimics the demeanour of the animal as closely as possible; others, in the character of dogs and hunters, perform their part in a circle round him, at a short distance. A few years ago, droves of these pacific creatures were of common occurrence ; but the gun and dog of the colonist have destroyed them. It may be long before they are wholly exterminated, but their doom is fixed. The most peculiar animal of Australia is the ornithorynchus paradoxus, a creature so anomalous, that when the first specimens of it arrived in Europe, naturalists suspected the organization to have been fabricated for the purposes of imposture. It has the bill and webbed feet of the duck united to the body of a mole, and bears the common name of the water-mole, being semi-aquatic. It frequents tranquil waters, seeking its food among aquatic plants, and excavating burrows in the steep and shaded bank. The motions of its mandibles when procuring food are similar to those of a duck under the same circumstances. A number of these animals are always found together, but it is difficult to watch their habits, as their sense of hearing is so acute that they disappear at the slightest noise, plunging into the water, in which they swim so low that only a very small portion of the body can be seen. Familiarity with the ornithorynchus has not diminished the astonishment excited by the first observation of it, as in almost equal proportions it partakes of the nature of quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles. There are no beasts of prey of importance except the dingo, or wild dog, the "warragat" of the natives. It is about the size of a small fox-hound, partaking in form of many of the characteristics of both dog and wolf, and not unlike the cross produced by the intermixture of those two races. It has a bushy tail, and a coat of moderate length, which is usually of a buff or bay colour. It is easily rendered tolerably tame, but is never to be trusted, for the lessons of years will be forgotten in a moment, on escaping from confinement, and ferocious habits be immediately resumed. The dingo never, breast and under parts are the most intense rose or very rarely, barks, but howls or yells at night colour. Seen for the first time, it is scarcely poswith a most dismal, unearthly kind of tone. This sible to believe them real, as they rise in a flock animal is remarkably tenacious of life, an obstinate from the ground, brightening the sunshine with fighter, contends in silence, utters no cry of pain, their glorious hues. The Australian robin is anand, like the grim wolf, dies as hardly as he has other exquisitely lovely member of the feathered lived. Remarkable instances are related of this tribe, having some correspondence to his English power of endurance. Mr. G. Bennett mentions namesake, with the same brisk air and manner. The the case of one, which had been beaten so severely breast is the most vivid geranium colour, softening that it was supposed all its bones were broken, and to a paler shade towards the wings, which are it was left for dead; but after the person had walked glossy black, with clear white markings across away some distance, upon accidentally looking back them. The back is also black, with a white spot he was astonished to see the dingo rise, shake him- on the crown of the head, and the tail-feathers self, and march into the bush, evading all pursuit. are barred with white. These colours are so disThe wild dogs are the scourge of the flocks of re-tinct and sharply defined, as to convey the idea of mote settlers, and are carefully exterminated. They different garments, arranged with extreme care, seldom kill their victim at once, but commence and fitting with the utmost precision. A small eating it, at whatever part they chance to have | bird, the blue wren, is remarkable for the change first laid hold of, three or four often gnawing to which its appearance undergoes. In the winter gether at the unfortunate animal. When inter- months, the garb worn is plain and unassuming, rupted in their visits, a goat, a calf, or sheep will and the sexes correspond in costume; but as spring frequently be found with a limb half eaten away; advances, the male exhibits a total transformation, and the utmost vigilance is requisite at far inland not only in the hue, but in the texture of the plusheep stations to protect the flocks from their mage. It is hardly surpassed for resplendent attacks. The latter are all carefully folded and beauty by any of the feathered race, except perhaps guarded at night; two yards or folds are usually the humming birds of America. Nor is the change erected near together, between which the watch confined to the plumage, but extends to the habits man has his box, with a bright fire, and frequently of the warbler, which pass from a somewhat staid he walks round with his dogs to keep off the auda- demeanour to great vivacity of song and manner. cious prowling enemy. Among the migratory birds, the bee-eater is fascinating from the elegance of its form, and the graceful mode of its flight. The same pleasing associations are connected with it in the colonies as with the swallow and cuckoo in England, its arrival being a certain harbinger of the return of spring. It appears in New South Wales, and all parts of the same latitude, in August, and departs northwards in March, the intervening period being employed in the duties of incubation and rearing. During the summer months, it is universally spread over the southern portion of Australia, and over the northern in winter. The ornithology of Australia, though not so anomalous in its character as that of the animal tribes, has peculiar and striking features. The largest of the birds is the emu, or cassowary, found in nearly all parts of the country beyond the colonized territory, but annually becoming scarcer as settlements advance inland. It closely resembles the ostrich in appearance, next to which it is the tallest bird known, standing from five to seven feet high. The general colour is a dull brown, mottled with dingy grey. It has only miniature wings, and a kind of downy clothing as a substitute for feathers. The eggs are about a foot in length, of a green colour, esteemed good and nutritious food. The flesh of the bird is also eatable, especially of young individuals. The emu is remarkably wild and shy, but is easily tamed if taken young. It runs with extraordinary speed, and is not readily overtaken by the fleetest greyhound; any noise may be made in hunting it without inconvenience, the sense of hearing being dull, but that of sight is proportionably keen; hence it frequents the open plains, being there most secure from whoever may invade the solitude of the desert. Its capture requires skill and caution as well as speed. To attempt to lay hold by the side is dangerous, as an emu would break a horse's leg with a kick; but if a dog fastens upon the neck, as those which are trained learn to do, the bird is immediately overthrown, and easily killed. Rapacious birds are numerous everywhere; eagles, vultures, falcons, hawks, and owls of various kinds. A species of vulture, when pressed by hunger, is said to be sufficiently daring to attack the natives themselves. Birds of exquisitely beautiful plumage also abound: parrots, parroquets, and cockatoos. The lories are the most brilliant of the parrot tribe. The back and upper portion of the body is a bright gleaming blue, while the The lyre-bird, so called from the graceful form of the tail in the male, which resembles that of a lyre, is peculiar to the south-eastern coast. But little is known of its habits, as it very rarely approaches the abode of civilized man, and is so excessively shy, that even a sight of it can with difficulty be obtained. "While among the bushes," says Mr. Gould, "I have been surrounded by these birds, pouring forth their loud and liquid calls for days together, without being able to get a sight of them; and it was only by the most determined perseverance and extreme caution, that I was enabled to effect this desirable object, which was rendered the more difficult by their often frequenting the most inaccessible and precipitous sides of gullies and ravines, covered with tangled masses of creepers and umbrageous trees. The cracking of a stick, the rolling down of a small stone, or any other noise, however slight, suffices to alarm them; and none but those who have traversed these rugged, hot, and suffocating bushes, can fully understand the excessive labour attendant on the pursuit. Independently of climbing over rocks and fallen trunks of trees, the sportsman has to creep and crawl beneath and among the branches with the utmost caution, taking care only to advance when the bird's attention is occupied in singing, or scratching up the leaves in search of food. To watch its actions, it is necessary to remain perfectly motionless, not venturing to move even in the slightest degree, or it vanishes from sight, as if by magic." The lyrebird is capable of performing extraordinary leaps, and will spring ten feet perpendicularly from the ground. Though called a pheasant by the settlers, it is in reality a member of the thrush family, about the size of a small domestic fowl. Its natural note is most frequently heard morning and evening, and resembles the cry of a bleu bleu; but the bird is a mocker, and will imitate every sound heard in the bush-the croak of the crow, the scream of the cockatoo, the chatter of the parrot, and even the howl of the dingo. The melody common to the English woods is not heard in the Australian forests, the notes of birds being far more generally monotonous and discordant, than musical. Some are familiarly styled after their tones. The bell-bird has won the appellation from the resemblance of its deep full voice to the sound of a bell. The coachman has that title from its chief note being a long clear whistle, finishing with a noise exactly resembling the smart crack of a whip. The knife-grinder is distinguished by giving utterance to a sound, which might be mistaken for that of grinding a knife on the grindstone. But the most extraordinary chant is that of the laughing jackass, which it is impossible to hear without risibility. "He commences," says a writer, "by a low cackling sound, gradually growing louder, like that of a hen in a fuss; then suddenly changing his note, he so closely imitates Punch's penny trumpet, that you would almost affirm it was, indeed, the jolly roo-too-too' of that public favourite you heard. Next comes the prolonged bray of an ass, done to the life, followed by an articulate exclamation, apparently addressed to the listener, sounding very like, 'Oh, what a Guy!' and the whole winds up with a suppressed chuckle, ending in an uproarious burst of laughter.' Where many of these merry birds congregate to gether, the effect is droll in the extreme, provoking the most gloomy-minded listener to laugh in concert. First one begins alone, and laughs lustily at the top of his voice; a second, third, and fourth, then take up the strain like glee-singers, till the whole party are fairly off, and the very trees seem to peal out along with them. The bird is one of the parrot tribe, useful as an adroit destroyer of snakes, guanas, and other reptiles. The habits of some of the Australian birds are very peculiar. Thus the talagalla, the brush turkey of the colonists, avoids the personal toils of incubation by depositing its eggs in an immense heap of vegetable matter, and trusts to the heat engendered by the process of decomposition for the development of the young. The heap employed for this purpose is not the work of one pair of birds, but a number labour at the construction for several weeks previous to the period of laying. It varies in size from two to four cart-loads, and is of a perfectly pyramidal form. The materials are accumulated, not by the bill but by the foot, which firmly grasps a quantity of grass, leaves, and rubbish, throwing the load back to a common centre. When the work is completed, the eggs are deposited, not side by side, but from nine to twelve inches apart, and planted at nearly an arm's depth, perfectly upright, with the large end upwards. They are covered up as they are laid, and allowed to remain till hatched. It is not unusual to obtain nearly a bushel of eggs at a time from a single heap, and, as they are delicious eating, they are eagerly sought after. The leipoa and megapodius are other mound-raising birds. The latter, an inhabitant of the north coast, constructs a mound of vast dimensions, and of different materials, apparently increasing the same every season. One of sand, shells, and a slight admixture of earth, was found to be twenty feet round at the base, and five feet high. In another example, the circumference was sixty feet, and the height fifteen feet. But captain Stokes measured one composed of earth, fragments of coral or stone, and pieces of stick, which had a circumference of a hundred and fifty feet. 66 More extraordinary still are the bower-like tenements, constructed by the satin bird and other species. They are formed of sticks and twigs firmly interwoven, and ornamented with various decorations, being apparently designed to be places of resort, or halls of assembly, where both sexes occasionally meet and indulge in giddy playful. ness. These bowers are usually placed under the shelter of the branches of some overhanging trees, in the most retired part of the forest. The inte rior, particularly near the entrance, is decorated with gaily-coloured articles, collected by the birds, such as gaudy feathers and shells, which are either strewed upon the floor or hung up among the twigs. The propensity of these birds," says Mr. Gould, " to pick up and fly off with any attractive object is so well known to the natives, that they always search the runs for any small missing article, as the bowl of a pipe, etc., they may have accidentally dropped in the bush. I myself found at the entrance of them small, neatly-worked stone tomahawk, of an inch and a half in length, together with some slips of blue cotton rags, which the birds had doubtless picked up at a deserted encampment of the natives. For what purpose these curious bowers are made is not yet, perhaps, fully understood. They are certainly not used as a nest, but as a place of resort for many individuals of both sexes, which, when there assembled, run through and around the bower in a sportive and playful manner, and that so frequently, that it is seldom entirely deserted." The reptile tribe is represented by harmless lizards, hideous-looking guanas, larger members of the same family, scorpions, centipedes, and snakes. The latter are numerous, and of many species, as well as of very varying size. A large kind, the diamond snake, exquisitely adorned with different colours like mosaic work, has been met with nearly twenty feet long, and is commonly eaten by the natives. Some are so venomous, that a bite produces speedy death, unless suction, cauterization, and other remedies are promptly applied. But fatal occurrences of the kind are rare, as all the formidable reptiles are as glad to retire from the approach of man as he can be to avoid them. The great danger arises from some of the smaller snakes being so exactly similar in colour to the dead sticks and leaves on the ground, that they may be accidentally trodden on while indolently reposing, and inflict a wound before the H |