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Lord Raglan. The English general. | Arab sepoys of Algiers.
R. A. Royal Artillery.

Aides-de-camp. Officers who con-
vey the general's orders. The
French literally means a helper
in camp.
Precision. Good aim.

Outflank. To stretch round the
flank (side) so as to be able to
attack from two directions at the
same time.

Sanguinary. Causing the shedding of much blood.

Algiers

belongs to the French, who have organised some of the natives into regiments as we have done in India.

Impetuosity. Wild rush.

The Careening Bay. A small creek to the east of Sebastopol (and therefore to the north-west of Inkermann), where ships were careened (that is, inclined on one side for repairs).

COMPOSITION.-Write in simple English the meaning of the

second paragraph.

LESSON 17.

THE ROAD TO THE TRENCHES.

AN INCIDENT IN THE CRIMEAN WAR.

1. "LEAVE me, comrades-here I drop;

No, Sir, take them on;

All are wanted-none should stop;
Duty must be done.

Those whose guard you take will find me,

As they pass below."

So the soldier spake, and staggering

Fell amid the snow,

And ever, on the dreary heights,

Down came the snow.

2. " Men, it must be as he asks;
Duty must be done;

Far too few for half our tasks,

We can spare not one.
Wrap him in this I need it less

Fear not, they shall know :

Mark the place-yon stunted larch-
Forward." On they go,

And silent, on their silent march,

Down sank the snow.

3.

O'er his features, as he lies,

Calms the wrench of pain;

Close, faint eyes; pass, cruel skies,
Freezing mountain plain.

With far soft sounds the stillness teems,
Church-bells, voices low,

Passing into English dreams,

There amid the snow;

And darkening, thickening, o'er the heights,
Down fell the snow.

4. Looking, looking, for the mark, Back the others came,

5.

Struggling through the snowdrifts dark,
Calling out his name.

"Here or there the drifts are deep

Have we missed him?-No

Look! a little growing heap,

Snow above the snow,

Where heavy, in his heavy sleep,

Down fell the snow."

Strong hands raised him; voices strong
Spake within his ears;

Ah! his dreams had softer tongue!—

Neither now he hears.

One more gone for England's sake,

Where so many go,

Lying down without complaint,

Dying in the snow,

6 Starving, striving, in the snow.

Simply done his soldier's part,
Through long months of woe,
Long endured with soldier heart,
Battle, famine, snow;

Noble, nameless, English heart,
Snow cold, in snow.

The trenches. The chief object of]
the Crimean War (1854-5) was
the capture of Sebastopol. The
allies (English, French, Italians,
and Turks) having failed to take
the place by storm, laid regular
siege to it. As in all modern
sieges sunken roads or trenches
were dug, so that the besiegers
might cross the open ground
without being too much exposed
to the fire of the besieged.
Sir. The dying soldier is speaking

HENRY LUSHINGTON.

to his officer, who was proposing to leave one of the other soldiers to mind him.

Whose guard you take. The men were going to relieve the guard. The relieved soldiers would pass near him on their way back to

camp.

The snow.

The winter which the allies spent in the Crimea was terribly bitter, and hundreds of Englishmen perished of cold.

COMPOSITION.-Tell in your own words the story of "The Road to the Trenches

LESSON 18.

THE MOTIONS OF BIRDS.

The Rev. Gilbert White (1720-1793) is generally known as "White of Selborne," the Hampshire village in which he was born, in which he spent the best part of his life, and in which he died. His "Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne" is probably the most popular book of the kind ever written.

A GOOD Ornithologist should be able to distinguish birds by their air as well as by their colours and shape; on the ground as well as on the wing; and in the bush as well as in the hand. For, though it must not be said that every species of bird has a manner peculiar to itself, yet there is somewhat in most genera at least that at first sight discriminates them, and enables a judicious observer to pronounce upon them with some certainty.

Thus kites and buzzards sail round in circles with wings expanded and motionless; and it is from their gliding manner that the former are still called in the north of England gleads, from the Saxon verb glidan, to glide. The kestrel, or windhover, has a peculiar mode of hanging in the air in one place, his wings all the while being briskly agitated. Hen-harriers fly low over the heaths or fields of corn, and beat the ground regularıy like a pointer or setting-dog. Owls move in a buoyant manner, as if lighter than the air; they seem to want ballast.

There is a peculiarity belonging to ravens that must draw the attention even of the most incurious— they spend all their leisure time in striking and cuffing each other on the wing in a kind of playful skirmish ; and, when they move from one place to another, frequently turn on their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be falling to the ground. When this odd gesture betides them, they are scratching themselves with one foot, and thus lose the centre of gravity. Rooks sometimes dive and tumble in a frolicsome manner; crows and daws swagger in their walk; woodpeckers fly with a wavy motion, opening and closing their wings at every stroke, and so are always rising or falling in curves. All of this genus use their tails, which incline downward, as a support while they run up trees. Parrots, like all other hooked-clawed birds, walk awkwardly, and make use of their bill as a third foot, climbing and descending with ridiculous caution.

All the gallinæ parade and walk gracefully, and run nimbly, but fly with difficulty, with an impetuous whirring, and in a straight line. Magpies and jays flutter with powerless wings, and make no despatch;

herons seem encumbered with too much sail for their light bodies, but these vast hollow wings are necessary in carrying burdens, such as large fishes, and the like; pigeons, and particularly the sort called smiters, have a way of clashing their wings, the one against the other, over their backs with a loud snap; another variety, called tumblers, turn themselves over in the air.

The king-fisher darts along like an arrow; fernowls, or goat-suckers, glance in the dusk over the tops of trees like a meteor; starlings, as it were, swim along, while missel-thrushes use a wild and desultory flight; swallows sweep over the surface of the ground and water, and distinguish themselves by rapid turns and quick evolutions; swifts dash round in circles; and the bank-martin moves with frequent vacillations like a butterfly.

Most small birds hop; but wagtails and larks walk, moving their legs alternately. Skylarks rise and fall perpendicularly as they sing; woodlarks hang poised in the air; and titlarks rise and fall in large curves, singing in their descent. The white-throat uses odd jerks and gesticulations over the tops of hedges and bushes. All the duck kind waddle; divers and awks walk as if fettered, and stand erect, on their tails. Geese and cranes, and most wild fowls, move in figured flights, often changing their position. Dabchicks, moorhens, and coots fly erect with their legs hanging down, and hardly make any despatch; the reason is plain, their wings are placed too forward out of the true centre of gravity; as the legs of awks and divers are situated too backwards.

From "The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne," by the Rev. GILBERT WHITE.

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