Th TRAVELLED ANT.

THERE was a garden encased with high brick walls, and laid out somewhat in the old fashion. Under the walls were wide beds, planted with flowers, garden-stuff, and fruit-troes." Next to them, was a broad gravel walk running round the garden, and the middle was laid out in grass-plots, and beds of flowers and shrubs, with a fishpond in the centre.

Near the root of one of the wall-fruit-trees, a numerous colony of ants was established, which had extended its subterraneous works over great part of the bed in its neighbourhood. One day, two of the inhabitants, meeting in a gallery under-ground, fell into the following conversation:

"Ha! my friend," said the first, "is it you? I am glad to see you. Where have you been this long time? All your acquaintance have been in pain about you, lest you should have met with some accident."

"Why," replied the other, "I am, indeed, a sort of stranger; for you must know I am but just returned from a long journey."

"A journey! whither, pray, and on what account ?" "A tour of mere curiosity. I had long felt dissatisfied with knowing so little about this world of ours, so at length I took a resolution to explore it. And I may now boast that I have gone round its utmost extremities, and that no considerable part of it has escaped my researches."

"Wonderful! What a traveller you have been, and what sights you must have seen!"

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Why, yes, I have seen more than most ants, to be sure; but it has been at the expense of so much toil and danger, that I know not whether it were worth the pains"

“Will you oblige me with some account of your adventures ?"

Willingly. I set out, then, early one sunshiny morning; and, after crossing our territory and the line of plantation by which it is bordered, I came upon a wide, open plain, where, as far as the eye could reach, not a single green thing was to be descried, but the hard soil was everywhere covered with huge stones, which made travelling equally painful to the eye and the feet. As I was toiling onwards, I heard a rumbling noise behind me, which became louder and louder. I looked back, and with the utmost horror beheld a prodigious rolling mountain approaching me so fast, that it was impossible to get out of the way. I threw myself flat on the ground, behind a stone, and lay expecting nothing but instant death. The mountain soon passed over me, and I continued, I know not how long, in a state of insensibility. When I recovered, I began to stretch my limbs one by one, and to my surprise found myself not in the least injured; but the stone beside me was almost buried in the earth by the crash!"

"What an escape!"

"A wonderful one, indeed. I journeyed on over the desert, and at length came to the end of it, and entered upon a wide, green tract, consisting chiefly of tall, narrow-pointed leaves, which grew so thick and entangled, that it was with the greatest difficulty I could make my way between them; and I should continually have lost my road, had I not taken care to keep the sun in view before me. When I had got near the middle of this region, I was startled with the sight of a huge four-legged monster, with a yellow speckled skin, which took a flying leap directly over me. Somewhat further, before I was aware, I ran upon one of those long, round, crawling creatures, without head, tail, or legs, which we sometimes meet with under-ground, near our settlement

As soon as he felt me upon him, he drew back into his hole so swiftly, that he was near drawing me in along with him. However, I jumped off, and proceeded on my way.

"With much labour, I got at last to the end of this perplexed tract, and came to an open space, like that in which we live, in the midst of which grew trees so tall that I could not see to their tops. Being hungry, I climbed up the first I came to, in expectation of finding some fruit; but, after a weary search, I returned empty. I tried several others with no better success. There were, indeed, leaves and flowers in plenty, but nothing of which I could make a meal; so that I might have been famished, had I not found some sour, harsh berries upon the ground, on which I made a poor repast. While I was doing this, a greater danger than any of the former befel me. One of those two-legged feathered creatures, which we often see to our cost, jumped down from a bough, and picked up in his enormous beak the very berry on which I was standing. Luckily, he did not swallow it immediately, but flew up again with it to the tree; and in the mean time I disengaged myself, and fell from a vast height to the ground, but received no hurt.

"I crossed this plantation, and came to another entangled green like the first. After I had laboured through it, I came suddenly to the side of a vast glittering plain, the nature of which I could not possibly guess at. I walked along a fallen leaf which lay on the side, and, coming to the farther edge of it, I was greatly surprised to see another ant coming from below to meet me. I advanced to give him a fraternal embrace, but, instead of what I expected, I met a cold, yielding matter, in which I should have sunk, had Í not speedily turned about, and caught hold of the leaf, by which I drew myself up again. And now I found this great plain to consist of that fluid which sometimes falls from the sky, and causes us so much trouble, by filling our holes.

"As I stood considering how to proceea on my journey, a gentle breeze arose, which, before I was aware, carried the leaf I was upon away from the solid land into this yielding fluid, which, however, bore it up, and me along with it. At first, I was greatly alarmed, and ran round and round my leaf, in order to find some way of getting back; but, perceiving this to be impracticable, I resigned myself to my fate, and even began to take some pleasure in the easy motion by which I was borne forwards. But what new and wonderful forms of living creatures did I see inhabiting this liquid land! Bodies of prodigious bulk, covered with shining scales of various colours, shot by me with vast rapidity, and sported a thousand ways. They had large heads and staring eyes, tremendous wide mouths, but no legs; and they seemed to be carried on by the action of what appeared like small wings planted on various parts of their body, and especially at the end of the tail, which continually waved about. Other smaller creatures, of a great variety of extraordinary forms, were moving through the clear fluid, or resting upon its surface; and I saw with terror numbers of them continually seized and swallowed by the larger ones before mentioned.

"When I had got near the middle, the smooth surface of this plain was all roughened, and moved up and down, so as to toss about my leaf, and nearly overset it. I trembled to think what would become of me, should I be thrown amidst all these terrible monsters. At last, however, I got safe to the other side, and with joy set my feet on dry land again. I ascended a gentle green slope, which led to a tall plantation like that which I had before passed through. Another green plain, and another stony desert succeeded; which brought me at length to the opposite boundary of our world, enclosed by the same immense mound rising to the heavens, which limits us on this side.

"Here I fell in with another nation of our species differing little in their way of life from ourselves

They invited me to their settlement, and entertained me hospitably, and I accompanied them in several excursions in the neighbourhood. There was a charming fruit-tree at no great distance, to which we made frequent visits. One day, as I was regaling deliciously on the hete or green-gage plum, I felt myself all on a sudden carried along with great swiftness, till I got into a dark place, where a horrid crash threw me upon a soft moist piece of flesh, whence I was soon driven forth in a torrent of wind and moisture, and found myself on the ground all covered with slime. I disengaged myself with difficulty, and, looking up, descried one of those enormous two-legged animals, which often shake the ground over our heads, and put us into terror.

My new friends now began to hint to me that it was time to depart, for you know we are not fond of naturalizing strangers. And lucky, indeed, it was for me that I received the hint when I did; for I had but just left the place, and was travelling over a neightouring eminence, when I heard behind me a tremendous noise; and looking back, I saw the whole of their settlement blown into the air, with a prodigious explosion of fire and smoke. Numbers of half-burnt bodies, together with the ruins of their habitations, were thrown to a vast distance around; and such a suffocating vapour arose, that I lay for some time deprived of sense and motion. From some of the wretched fugitives I learned that the disaster was attributed to subterranean fire bursting its way to the surface; the cause of which, however, was supposed to be connected with the machinations of that inalignant two-legged monster, from whose jaws I had so narrowly escaped, who had been observed, just before the explosion, tc pour through the holes leading to the great apartment of the settlement, a number of black shining grains.

"On my return from this remote country, I kept along the boundary-wall, which I knew by observation must at length bring me back to my own home.