38

THE YOUTH’S CABINET.

 

nomenon taking place near Porto Ca-
bello. In all parts the disturbance was
more violent in the cordilleras of gneiss
and mica-slate, or immediately at their
base, than in the plains.— Selected.

ee | eee

The Bad Spectacles.

A certain artist—I forget his name—

Had got for making spectacles a fame,

' Or “helps to read,” as, when they first were sold,

Was writ, upon his glaring sign, in gold ;

And, for all uses to be had from glass,

His were allowed by readers to surpass.

‘There came a man into the shop one day—

“ Are you the spectacle-contriver, pray ?”

“Yes, sir,” said he, “I can in that affair

Contrive to please you, if you want a pair.”

“Can you /!—Pray do, then.”—So, at first he
chose

To place a youngish pair upon his nose,

‘And book produced, to see how they would fit;

‘Asked how he liked them.—* Like them! not
a bit.”

“Then, sir, I fancy, if you please to try,

These in my hand will better suit your eye.”

“No, but they don’t.”—“ Well, come, sir, if you
please,

Here is another sort—we'll e’en try these ;

Still somewhat more they magnify the letter ;

Now, sir ?’—“ Why, now, I’m not a whit the

better.” _

“W ell, here, take these, which magnify still more:

How do they fit ?”—* Like all the rest before.”

In short, they tried a whole assortment through ;

But all in vain, for none of them would do.

The operator, much surprised to find

So odd a case, thought sure the man is blind.

“ What sort of eyes can you have got?” said he.

“Why, very good ones, friend, as you may see.”

“Yes, I perceive the clearness of the ball—

Pray, let me ask you, can you read at all?”

“ No, you great blockhead ! if I could, what need

Of paying you for any ‘ helps to read?’ ”

And so he left the maker in a heat,

Resolved to post him for an arrant cheat.
Selected.

Floating Islands.

HERE are various examples of float-
ing islands. Those of the lake
Gerdau in Prussia are said to af-
ford sufficient pasturage for a

hundred head of cattle, which have ac-
tually been found grazing en them, and
noble elms grow upon one in the laké&
Kolk, in Osnabriick. These islands have
been formed by the very gradual in-
crease of vegetable matter, reeds from
the marshes and roots of trees, upon
which the waters have deposited fine
sand and gravel, held in suspension.

The great raft near the mouth of the
Mississippi is a production of an analo-
gous kind. This is composed of the
wood annually drifted down that river
and its tributaries, consisting of the mag-
nificent trees growing upon their banks,
which fall into the waters, owing to the
floods undermining their foundations and
loosening their roots. Arrested by some
obstruction in the river, a mass of timber
has thus accumulated, and become con-
solidated by the interlacing of weeds
and the deposite of alluvium, so as to
form what is called ‘the raft,” the di-
mensions of which in 1816 amounted to
a length of ten miles, a width of two
hundred and twenty yards, and a depth
of eight feet. This is an island afloat in
the bosom of the waters, having exter-
nally the appearance of solid land, for
green bushes and a variety of beautiful
flowers bloom upon its surface. The
age of the raft, at the time when the
preceding dimensions were given, is sup-
posed to have been not more than thirty-
eight years, from which some idea may
be formed of the quantity of drift-wood
borne down the Mississippi.