Fa. Very well-but how would to the port you were bound tor? Ch. That I cannot tell. you find your way Fa. Nor, perhaps, can I make you exactly ccmprehend it; but I can show you enough to convince you that it is an affair that requires much knowledge and early study. In former times, when a vessel left the sight of land, it was steered by observation of the sun by day, and the moon and stars by night. The sun, you know, rises in the east, and sets in the west; and at noon, in these parts of the world, it is exactly south of us. These points, therefore, may be found out when the sun shines. The moon and stars vary; however, their places in the sky may be known by exact observation. Then, there is one star that always points to the north pole, and is therefore called the pole-star. This was of great use in navigation, and the word pole-star is often used by the poets to signify a sure guide. Do you recollect the description in Homer's Odyssey, when Ulysses sails away by himself from the island of Calypso,-how he steers by the stars? Ch. I think I remember the lines in Pope's translation. Fa. Repeat them, then. Ch. Placed at the helm, he sat and marked the skies, Nor closed in sleep his ever-watchful eyes. There viewed the Pleiads, and the northern team, And great Orion's more refulgent beam, To which, around the axle of the sky, The Bear revolving, points his golden eye: Fa. Very well-they are fine lines, indeed! You see, then, how long ago sailors thought it necessary to study astronomy. But as it frequently happens, especially in stormy weather, that the stars are not to be seen, this method was subject to great uncertainty, which rendered it dangerous to undertake distant voyages. At length, nearly five hundred years ago, a property was discovered in a mineral, called the magnet, or loadstone, which removed the difficulty. This was, its polarity, or quality of always pointing to the poles of the earth, that is, due north and south. This it can communicate to any piece of iron, so that a needle well rubbed in a particular manner by a loadstone, and then balanced upon its centre, so as to turn round freely, will always point to the north. With an instrument called a mariner's compass, made of one of these needles, and a card marked with all the points, North, South, East, West, and the divisions between these, a ship may be steered to any part of the globe. Ch. It is a very easy matter, then. Fa. Not quite so easy, neither. In a long voyage, cross or contrary winds blow a ship out of her direct course, so that, without nice calculations, both of the straight track she has gone, and all the deviations from it, the sailors would not know where they were, nor to what point to steer. It is also frequently necessary to take observations, as they call it; that is, to observe with an instrument where the sun's place in the sky is at noon, by which they can determine the latitude they are in. Other observations are necessary to determine their longitude. What these mean, I can show you upon the globe. It is enough now to say that, by means of both together, they can tell the exact spot they are on at any time; and then, by consulting ther map, and setting their compass, they can steer right to the place they want. But all this requires a very exact knowledge of astronomy, the use of the globes, mathematics, and arithmetic, which you may suppose is not to be acquired without much study. A great number of curious instruments have been invented to assist in these operations; so that there is scarcely any matter in which so much art and science have been employed as in navigation; and none but a very learned and civilized nation can excel in it. But how is Tom Hardy to do; for I am pretty sure he does not understand any of these things? Fa. He must learn them, if he mean to come to anything in his profession. He may, indeed, head a press-gang, or command a boat's crew, without them; but he will never be fit to take charge of a man-ofwar, or even a merchant ship. Ch. However, he need not learn Latin and Greek. Fa. I cannot say, indeed, that a sailor has occasion for those languages; but a knowledge of Latin makes it much easier to acquire all modern languages; and I hope you do not think them unnecessary to him. Ch. I did not know they were of much importance. Fa. No! Do you think that one who may probably visit most countries in Europe, and their foreign settlements, should be able to converse in no other lan guage than his own? If the knowledge of languages be not useful to him, I know not to whom it is so He can hardly do at all, without knowing some; and the more, the better. Ch. Poor Tom! then I doubt he has not chosen so well as he thinks. Fa. I doubt so, too. Here ended the conversation. They soon after reached home, and Charles did not forget to desire his father to show him on the globe what longitude and latitude meant. THINGS BY THEIR RIGHT NAMES. Charles. PAPA, you grow very lazy. Last winter you used to tell us stories, and now you never tell us any; and we are all got round the fire, quite ready to hear you. Pray, dear papa, let us have a very pretty one. Father. With all my heart-What shall it be? F. A bloody murder! Well, then-Orce upon a time, some men, dressed all alike- C. With black crapes over their faces. F. No; they had steel caps on:-baving crossed a dark heath, wound cautiously along the skirts of a deep forest C. They were ill-looking fellows, I dare say. F. I cannot say so; on the contrary, they were as tall, personable men as most one shall see ;-leaving on their right hand an old ruined tower on the hillC. At midnight, just as the clock struck twelve; was it not, papa ? F. No, really; it was on a fine balmy summer's morning; they moved forward, one behind another C. As still as death, creeping along under the hedges. F. On the contrary-they walked remarkably upright; and, so far from endeavouring to be hushed and still, they made a loud noise as they came along, with several sorts of instruments. C. But, papa, they would be found out immediately. F. They did not seem to wish to conceal themselves: on the contrary, they gloried in what they were about. They moved forward, I say, to a large plain, where stood a neat pretty village, which they set on fire C. Set a village on fire, wicked wretches! F. And while it was burning, they murderedtwenty thousand men! C. O fie! papa! You don't intend I should believe this; I thought all along you were making up a tale, as you often do; but you shall not catch me this time. What! they lay still, I suppose, and let these fellows cut their throats! F. No, truly, they resisted as long as they could. C. How should these men kill twenty thousand people, pray? F. Why not? the murderers were thirty thousand. C. O, now I have found you out! you mean a battle. F. Indeed, I do. I do not know any murders half so bloody. 113 NINTH EVENING. THE TRANSMIGRATIONS OF INDur. Ar the time when Fairies and Genii possessed the powers which they have now lost, there lived in the country of the Brachmans a man named Indur, who was distinguished, not only for that gentleness of disposition and humanity towards all living creatures, which are so much cultivated among those people, but for an insatiable curiosity respecting the nature and way of life of all animals. In pursuit of knowledge of this kind, he would frequently spend the night among lonely rocks, or in the midst of thick forests; and there, under shelter of a hanging cliff, or mounted upon a high tree, he would watch the motions and actions of all the animals that seek their prey in the night; and, remaining in the same spot till the break of day, he would observe this tribe of creatures retiring to their dens, and all others coming forth to enjoy the beams of the rising sun. On these occasions, if he saw any opportunity of exercising his benevolence towards animals in distress, he never failed to make use of it; and many times rescued the small bird from the pitiless hawk, and the lamb or kid from the gripe of the wolf and lynx. One day, as he was sitting on a tree in the forest, a little frolicksome monkey, in taking a great leap from one bough to another, chanced to miss its hold, and fell from a great height to the ground. As it lay there, unable to move, Indur espied a large venomous serpent advancing to make the poor defenceless creature his prey. He immediately descended from his post, and taking the little monkey in his arms, ran with it to the tree, and gently placed it upon a bough. In the mean time, the enraged serpent pursuing him, overtook him before he could mount the |