them out of the water they break by their own weight; and so, unfortunately, it is impossible to convey many of the most delicate kinds uninjured to land. This is the case, for instance, with certain frail Turbinariæ, whose foliaceous stock grows in the shape of an inverted spiral cone; and of the many-branched Heteropora, which resembles an enormous stag's antler with hundreds of twigs. It is not from above, however, that a coral reef displays its full beauty, even when we row close over it, and when the ebb-tide has left the water so shallow that its projections grind against the boat. On the contrary, it is essential to take a plunge into the sea. In the absence of a diving-bell I tried to dive to the bottom and keep my eyes open under water, and after a little practice I found this easy. Nothing could be more wonderful than the mysterious green sheen which pervades this submarine world. The enchanted eye is startled by the wonderful effects of light, which are so different from those of the upper world with its warm and rosy coloring; and they lend a double interest and strangeness to the forms and movements of the myriads of creatures that swarm among the corals. The diver is in all reality in a new world. There is in fact a whole multitude of singular fishes, crustacea, mollusca, radiata, worms, etc., whose food consists solely of the coral polyps among which they live; and these coral-eaters, which may be regarded as parasites in the true sense of the word, have acquired by adaptation to their peculiar mode of life the most extraordinary forms; more especially are they provided with weapons of offence and defence of the most remarkable character. But just as it is well known that "no man may walk unpunished under the palms," so the naturalist cannot swim with impunity among the coral banks. The Oceanides, under whose protection these coral fairy bowers of the sea flourish, threaten the intruding mortal with a thousand perils. The Millepora, as well as the Medusa which float among them, burn him wherever they touch like the most venomous nettles; the sting of the fish known as Synanceia is as painful and dangerous as that of the scorpion; numbers of crabs nip his tender flesh with their powerful claws; black sea-urchins thrust their foot-long spines, covered with fine prickles set the wrong way, into the sole of his foot, where they break off and remain, causing very serious wounds. But worst of all is the injury to the skin in trying to secure the coral itself. The numberless points and angles with which their limestone skeleton is armed, inflict a thousand little wounds at every attempt to detach and remove a portion. Never in my life have I been so gashed and mangled as after a few days of diving and coral-fishing at Galle, and I suffered from the consequences for several weeks after. But what are these transient sufferings to a naturalist, when set in the scale against the fairy-like scenes of delight with which a plunge among these marvellous coral groves enriches his memory for life! "SNAKE-TREES" AT PERADENIA. THE entrance to india-rubber trees. (From "A Visit to Ceylon.") the garden is through a fine avenue of old This is the same as the Indian species, of which the milky juice when inspissated becomes caoutchouc, and of which young plants are frequently grown in sitting-rooms in our cold Northern climate, for the sake of the bright polished green of its oval leathery leaves. But while with us these indiarubber-plants are greatly admired when their inch-thick stems reach the ceiling, and their rare branches bear fifty leaves, more or less, in the hot moisture of their native land they attain the size of a noble forest tree, worthy to compare with our oaks. An enormous crown of thousands of leaves growing on horizontal boughs, spreading forty to fifty feet on every side, covers a surface as wide as a good-sized mansion, and the base of the trunk throws out a circle of roots often from one hundred to two hundred feet in diameter, more than the whole height of the tree. These very remarkable roots generally consist of twenty or thirty main roots, thrown out from strongly marked ribs in the lower part of the trunk, and spreading like huge creeping snakes over the surface of the soil. The india-rubber tree is indeed called the "snake-tree" by the natives, and has been compared by poets to Laocoön entwined by serpents. Very often however the roots grow up from the ground like strong upright poles, and so form stout props, enabling the parent tree to defy all storms unmoved. The space between these props form perfect little rooms or sentry boxes, in which a man can stand upright and be hidden. These pillar-roots are developed here in many other gigantic trees of very different families. HAFIZ. HAFIZ (MOHAMMED SHEMS ED-DIN), a Persian philosopher and poet; born at Shiraz, about 1300; died in 1390. The name Hafiz means, in Arabic, he who knows by heart, i.e., the Koran and the traditions. He early devoted himself to Mohammedan jurisprudence, of which he was a noted teacher. When in 1387 Tamerlane conquered Shiraz he treated Hafiz with marked consideration. In his old age Hafiz embraced an austere life, and devoted himself to celebrating the Divine Unity and the praises of the prophet of Islam. His only work is "The Divan," a collection of poems made after his death, consisting of five hundred and seventy-one gazels or odes, and seven elegies. The entire "Divan" was translated into German by Von Hammer in 1812-15. Several of the gazels have been rendered into English, by Richardson, Nott, Hindley, and others. Sir William Jones also translated several of them directly from the original Persian. A PERSIAN SONG. SWEET maid, if thou wouldst chain my sight, That rosy cheek, that lily hand Would give thy poet more delight Boy, let yon liquid ruby flow, Oh! when those fair, perfidious maids, In vain with love our bosoms glow: Speak not of Fate: ah! change the theme, Talk of the flowers that round us bloom: Beauty has such resistless power, When to the banks of Nilus came But ah! sweet maid, my counsel hear - What cruel answer have I heard? Yet say, how fell that bitter word Go boldly forth, my simple lay, The nymph for whom these notes are sung! THREE GAZELS OR ODES. FROM the garden of union with thee, [even] the gardens of Rizvan [Paradise] gain lustre of joy; From the torment of separation from thee, [even] hell's flame hath torment. In the beauty of thy cheek and stature, shelter have taken Paradise, and the tuba [tree]. For them, it [the shelter] is good; and a good place of returning [from this world]. All night, [even] as my eye [seeth, so] the stream of Paradise In every season, Spring giveth description of thy beauty; This heart consumed, and my soul attained not to the heart's desire; If it had attained to its desire, it would not have poured forth blood [of grief]. Oh, many the salt-rights of thy lip and mouth, Which they have against rent livers and roast hearts. Think not that in thy circle [only] lovers are intoxicated [with love for thee]: Of the state of zāhids distraught [with love] no news hast thou. Open the veil. This modesty how long wilt thou practise? The rose beheld thy face, and fell into the fire [of love], In love for thy face, Hafiz is immersed in the sea of calamity. Hafiz! that life should pass in folly, permit not: Strive; and understand the value of dear life. [WHEN] the rose is in the bosom, wine in the hand, and the beloved to my desire, On such a day the world's Sultan is my slave. Say, Into this assembly bring ye no candle for to-night. In our order [of profligates] the wine-cup is lawful; but O Cypress, rose of body! without thy face [presence], unlawful. In our assembly [of lovers], mix not 'itr [perfume]; for our soul Every moment receiveth perfume from the fragrance of the tip of thy tress. |