Se ee ee ee

SE ae ae OR TR ote ae SE Se gee eee Deen

 

 

 

THE POITOU DONKEY.

HIS is a French breed, as its name
denotes, and is of very large size,
with strong, thick legs, and some-
what heavy head. The body is
clothed with long woolly hair.
Some have been known to stand
nearly five feet high at the
shoulder. They are mostly used
for draught purposes. The one
from which our drawing was
taken is the property of C. Suther-

land, and was exhibited for some time at the Crystal

Palace, Sydenham. It was purchased in France for

two hundred and fifty pounds.

 

 

 

NICOLA PESCE, THE DIVER.
spe word for a fish in the Italian language is

‘Pesce,’ and it was given to a man once because
he was a wonderful swimmer and diver—a fish on two
legs, in fact. His real name was Nicola, or Cola, and
he lived about five hundred years ago. The most
wonderful stories are told of his powers as a swimmer,
many of which no doubt are untrue; but we may
suppose he was the Captain. Webbe of his day,
1 most famous among men in his own particular
ine.

Some of his. feats we can believe, since Messrs.
Webbe and Cavill swam across the Straits of Dover ;
but other feats of his we must class amoug the mar-
vellous. We can now readily imagine Nicola Pesce
swimming from Sicily to the Lipari Islands, carrying
a leathern bag with letters in it;—for Vuleano, the
nearest of those islands, is not above twelve or fourteen
miles from Cape Calava, and when once at Vulcano,
the swimmer could easily paddle to Lipari, and
thence to others in the group. But when we are told
that Pesce passed hours under water, we cannot
believe the story. Let us admit that he could remain
a longer time under water than any one else in his
day: we will grant ‘the Fish’ so much, and no
more.

The pearl-divers of Ceylon begin to learn their art
whilst they are children, and they cannot continue
ungler water longer than two minutes. Even this
often causes the blood to flow from the ears and nos-
- trils. The longest submersion on record was that of
“a diver in 1797, who remained under the surface full
six minutes !

There is a rocky promontory called Faro Point,
where Sicily and Italy almost touch each other.
Through this narrow channel the sea rushes violently,
forming a whirlpool always dreaded by sailors. One
day, Frederic, king of Sicily, asked Pesce if he dare
dive into this awful gulf. Pesce drew back and shook
his head. The king then took a cup of gold, and
hurled it into the seething waters. ‘his glittering
prize was too tempting for the diver, he darted in
after the cup, and was lost to sight for some time.
The king must, we think, have grown uneasy, and
wished he had not been so wicked as to lure a brave
man on to almost certa‘n destruction; but at lengtha
great cheer arose on the shore as the hardy Pesce

appeared again, triumphantly holding the cup in
one hand, whilst he swam to the rocks with the
other.

Frederic was so pleased with the swimmer’s bold-
ness and skill, that he added to the cup a purse full
of gold. After this escape Pesce ought to have been
content with his laurels ; but, unfortunately for him,
he was tempted to try once more the horrors of the
whirlpool. In the presence of a large concourse of |
people, he dived again from the Point of Faro into the
racing brine, but long indeed had the idle spectators
to strain their eyes in looking for the white arms of
the swimmer. He had dived his last dive, and had
flung away his valuable powers in attempting to do a
useless thing, too great for him.

Sometimes those who have great powers grow
exceedingly vain, and fancy themselves able to do
everything.

King Canute’s courtiers tried to make him as
silly as themselves, by assuring him that he could
rule the waves. To rebuke them, he did as they
wished. Having placed a chair on the beach, he
ordered the billows to retire, but they came on in
their usual manner, and soon would have washed the
king and his chair away. Pointing to the mighty
waves, king Canute then read his followers a lesson of
man’s littleness ; and to make his words sink deeper
in their souls, he caused his crown to be laid up in the

treasury, and would never wear it any more.
G. 58.0.

 

 

THE RAILWAY TRAIN.

WY HE train it goes dashing and crashing along,
G§ And the fields and the houses fly ;
Towns, churches, and villages, bridges and trees,
We pass wita a rush and a cry.
The horses run past with their ails in the air,
And the cows are in terrible fright ;
But we laugh at their terror, for little we care
So that home we reach safe to-night.
Then, hurrah for the railway and holiday time,
And sweet home with its peaceful sky ;
And may all who now travel sleep happy to-night,
And bid care and dull lessons good-bye.

The railway it rushes, and hisses, and roars,
And the engine runs screaming by ;’

Mamma puts her hands to her ears, and cries, ‘ Hush !’
But ‘Hurrah!’ say ‘Tommy and I.

For we're off to the sea, and its jolly wide sands,
And the bathing, and boating, and fun;

And we hope to have supper on shrimps to-night,
And arrive ere the set of sun.

Then, hurrah for the railway and holiday time,
And sweet home with its peaceful sky ;

And may all who now travel sleep safely to-night,
And as jolly as Tommy and I.

M. H. F. Donne.