rally three or four, and they will frequently sleep undisturbed during the operations of felling, until the tree comes to the ground with a crash, which splits it to ribbons. The racoons, though so unceremoniously roused from a torpid state, are instantly all alive, and rush up the nearest saplins, where they become a mark for the rifle; an expert marksman never hits either the racoon or black squirrel anywhere but in the eye. This is not merely to show his skill as a shot, but is invariably practised for the sake of not injuring the skin. Some superior riflemen will brag that they can hit the bark in a particular way, so close to the squirrel, as to stun him, when he falls off the tree, and before he has recovered from the effect of the blow they pick him up. Nowhere in the United States is the manufacture of the rifle attended to with greater care than in Buffaloe. The barrel being very thick, and the bore (fifty to sixty to the pound) being proportionably small, the weight of metal prevents the slightest recoil, and the ball flies to its point blank range; about one hundred yards is the outside, but they can only be depended upon for sixty. Germans are chiefly employed in the manufacture of the rifle. I paid but 61. for an excellent one. It would hit a dollar to a certainty at sixty yards. The squirrels of many kinds abounded about Niagara woods. The flying squirrel, the large gray squirrel, the masked squirrel,† and the black without end. The gray are the most beautiful of all the species. Some writers affirm that the black make regular migrations on the approach of severe weather, that they cross rivers on branches, waiting for a fair wind to embark, spreading their tails in the manner of a sail, and that thus they are wafted to the other side. Certain it is that they swim well, and will beat a dog in the water. Besides the pursuit of these animals, the track of a wild turkey would occasionally put the hunter on the qui vive, but they only usually led him into a swamp, which baffled all further pursuit. Thousands of long-tailed ducks‡ pass at sundown from Lake Ontario, which never freezes, up the line of the Niagara River. We used to turn out in numbers to wait for them. On a cold, clear night they might be heard making a tremendous noise, until division after division passed over our heads, and volley after volley brought them down in crowds. Many came out for the express purpose of firing a random shot, and rushing in to pick up the spoil. However, like all other ducks, they soon became very wary, and could only be killed on the pass, when a strong wind against them kept them low; nothing, however, confounds the water-fowl tribe like a thick fog; it is then that they become an easy prey to the fowler. The long-tailed duck is but indifferent eating, their flesh is fishy and strong. They were a little improved by bleeding, for which, indeed, all wild fowl are the better. Widgeons in large flocks, passed beyond Lake Erie every evening, as that lake was frozen over, but I never knew to what river; at daybreak they returned to Ontario, where they remained during the day. The falls of Niagara are the great resort of the bald eagle, § and the osprey, or fish-hawk. The former is the national emblem, and the noblest of the tribe found in North America. They afford excellent sport to the rifleman, and the scalp of a bald eagle takes rank far above the head and antlers of the finest stag. They breed in the old trees overhang*Sciuous carolinensis. + Sciuous tiatus. + Heralda glacialis. § Aquila Ceucocephalus. Acquila Haliata. ing the Falls, and are often to be seen sailing majestically above them. I subjoin Wilson's graphical and eloquent account of this prince of quarrys. "This distinguished bird, as he is the most beautiful of his tribe in this part of the world, and the adopted emblem of our country, is entitled to particular notice. The celebrated cataract of Niagara is a noted place of resort for the bald eagle, as well on account of the fish procured there as for the numerous carcases of squirrels, deer, bears, and various other animals, that in their attempt to cross the river above the falls have been dragged into the current and precipitated down that tremendous gulf, where, among the rocks that bound the rapids below, they furnish a rich repast for the vulture, the ravens and the bald eagle, the subject of the present account. Formed by nature for braving the severest cold, feeding equally on the produce of the sea and of the land, possessing powers of flight capable of outstripping even the tempests themselves, unawed by any thing but man, and from the etherial heights to which it soars, looking abroad at one glance on an immeasurable extent of forests, fields, lakes, and ocean, deep below him, he appears indifferent to the little localities of change of seasons, as in a few minutes he can pass from summer to winter, from the higher to the lower regions of the atmosphere, the abode of eternal cold, and from thence descend at will to the torrid or the arctic regions of the earth. He is, therefore, found at all seasons in the countries he inhabits, but prefers such places as have been mentioned above, from the great partiality he has for fish. In procuring these, he displays in a very singular manner the genius and energy of his character, which is fierce, daring, contemplative, and tyrannical. Attributes not exerted but on particular occasions, but when put forth overpowering all opposition. Elevated on the high dead limb of some gigantic tree, that commands a wide view of the neighbouring shore and ocean, he seems calmly to contemplate the motions of the various feathered tribes that pursue their busy avocations below; the snow-white gulls slowly winnowing the air, the busy tringæ coursing along the sands, trains of ducks streaming over the surface, silent and watchful cranes, intent and wading, clamorous crows, and all the winged multitudes that subsist by the bounty of this vast liquid magazine of nature. High over all these hovers one whose action instantly arrests his whole attention, by his wide curvature of wings and sudden suspension in air he knows him to be the fish-hawk, settling over some devoted victim of the deep, his eye kindles at the sight, and balancing himself with half-open wings on the branch, he watches the result. Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, descends the distant object of his attention, the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears in the deep, making the surges foam around! At this moment the eager looks of the eagle are all ardour, and levelling his neck for flight, he sees the fish-hawk once more emerge, struggling with his prey, and mounting in the air with screams of exultation. This is the signal for our hero, who, launching in the air, instantly gives chase, and soon gains on the fish-hawk, each exerts his utmost above the other, displaying in these rencontres the most elegant and sublime ærial evolutions. The unincumbered eagle rapidly advances, and is just on the point of reaching his opponent, when, with a sudden scream, probably of despair and honest execration, the latter drops his fish; the eagle poising himself for a moment, as if to take a more certain aim, descends like a whirlwind, snatches it in his grasp ere it reaches the water, and bears his ill-gotten booty silently away to the woods." The appetite of the bald eagle, though habituated to long fastings, is of the most voracious, and often the most indelicate kind. Fish, when he can obtain them, are preferred to all other fare. Young lambs and pigs are dainty morsels, and made free with on all favourable occasions. Ducks, geese, gull, and other sea-fowls, are also seized with avidity. The most putrid carrion, when nothing better can be had, is acceptable, and the collected groups of gormandising vultures, on the approach of this dignified personage, instantly disperse, and make way for their master, waiting his departure in sullen silence, and at a respectful distance, on the adjacent tree. High o'er the wat'ry uproar silent seen, Now 'midst the pillar'd spray sublimely lost, But to return from this sublime and poetic description to the affairs of every-day life. Skating, sleighing, and hunting, serve to beguile the monotony of a Canadian winter, which was fast drawing to its close when I received an order to join the depôt of my regiment in England, and I was going a round of farewells, when, at eleven o'clock at night, the bugles of the different cantonments sounded the "Turn out," and company after company were hastening down to Forsyth's Hotel-a great overgrown wooden pile of six stories high-which overlooked the Falls-it was on fire, and, being wholly composed of wood, burnt like tinder. The doors were torn off their hinges, the furniture thrown out of windows, and all the efforts five hundred soldiers could make were tried to save the house-but in vain. The effect was magnificent; there was not a breath of wind, and the night was pitchy dark; the glorious Falls roared like thunder, the liquid flames lit them up, and they were seen as plainly as in the broad daylight. This was my farewell look of the mighty cataract. Early the following morning, I was en route for the Old World, and amongst all the phases of Niagara's grandeur, this is not the one my memory least loves to dwell upon. A THOUGHT. BY EDMUND KENEALY, L.L.B. LIFE-like a lute, whose strings, some tense, some loose, Discourse delicious music-is most sweet When in pursuits diversified employ'd— Pleasure this hour, and wisdom in the next. AGREEABLE WIND-UP TO AN EXCURSION IN SEARCH OF THE PICTURESQUE IN CONNAUGHT. Poins.-Pray God you have not murdered some of them. QUIETLY I bolted the door, and heaped every portable article the chamber contained against it, and, when my preparations were completed, I requested Miss Harding and her father to retire. The old gentleman would have remained, but I assured him that by doing so personal risk would be uselessly incurred his daughter also would require support, and there only his services could be valuable. Circumstances abated ceremony; I placed Mary Harding in the closet, led her father in, and left them in present security. I had scarcely returned to the outer room, until shuffling feet and whispering voices were audible without, and presently the latch was lifted stealthily, and the door was slightly shaken. Directly before the entrance of the chamber, I had placed the lights; and in the darker portion of the chamber I took my stand, with the table on which my spare arms lay beside me. Again the latch was raised, and a low voice announced to his companions that "the door was bolted." Another voice desired the speaker to knock; the order was obeyed, and a brief parley followed, before a bloody fray commenced. "Who's there?" I inquired. "A friend," was the reply. "That friend must wait where he is till morning." "Quick-undo the fastenings --I must get in ;" and in the voice that made the demand I recognised the well-remembered tones of Durneein. "The young lady has retired. I am on duty here: and, friend or enemy as you may be, no footstep with life this night shall cross the threshold." "D-n it!" exclaimed another, "why do you stand babbling there? Dash in the door!" A crush against it succeeded-the bolt sprang-the door yieldedand an opening was made sufficiently large to admit a man's arm, which was unceremoniously thrust in, and, from the peculiar colour of the coatsleeve, told me that Durneein was the foremost scoundrel of the party. Already devoted to the infernal gods, the victim seemed to present himself for the sacrifice. I marked the spot upon the door, behind which the breast of the bandit was leaning; a steady aim was followed by a loud explosion-through the thin deal, which separated us, the wire-cartridge passed like a bullet, and lodged in the villain's heart-the arm suddenly disappeared; the carcase to which it belonged was already clay; for Durneein did not carry life to the floor. Fierce and varied exclamations announced the leader's fall, and two or three shots were returned at random through the door. I was out of the line of fire; the bullets flattened harmlessly against the wall; and I was reloading the empty barrel, when suddenly the outer door of Morteeine's hostelrie was beaten open with a sledge, a number of strangers sprang into the kitchen, and a loud voice called on the dead ruffian's gang, to instantly throw down their arms and surrender. The order was not obeyed, and a short, but sharp, mêlée ensued, in which fire-arms were discharged, and blows interchanged between the combatants. I imprudently ran forward to the room-door, to take part in the affray, when a stray slug passed through the wood-work, and lodged in my shoulder. Next moment, the struggle was over-the scoundrels were overpowered and made prisoners-and the same voice which had called on the ruffians to yield, requested me to give him admittance. As quickly as my disabled arm could effect it, I removed the lumber piled against the door, and an officer of police entered, who congratulated me on my deli verance. It would be impossible to conjecture what the result might have been, had not the providential arrival of an armed body saved us from further conflict with ruffians, rendered doubly desperate by drunkenness and the death of their captain. The police had not the least intimation that a banditti were collected at Morteeine's house, their errand being only to arrest the worthy proprietor, against whom an approver had given such extensive information, that it eventuated in the red landlord being transported for life. Hence, the opportune arrival of the officers of justice was most providential, and a desperate calamity averted by prompt deliverance. Excepting the splintered door, flakes torn from the plastered walls by the shots fired through the damaged wood-work, the smell of powder, and the parade of fire-arms, there was nothing in the apartment to prove offensive; and Mr. Harding and his daughter were at once emancipated from the dark hiding-place that had sheltered them in their hour of need. There is a passive courage of which milder spirits are capable, which fiercer souls marvel at, but cannot understand. For my own part, I disclaim the heroic altogether-and am ready to declare, before any justice of the peace, that I would rather part with all the property of which Falstaff was robbed behind the arras, than date a letter from the stationhouse, or even put in a pleasant evening at Donnybrook fair. Homicide is no test of bravery; and of twenty gentlemen, of high and low degree, put "past praying for," nineteen casualties result from common sense rather than from uncommon courage. I had been placed in a position when to act and to live were synonyms. I had the means and the position for offence. Had I been unhappily nervously constituted, and remained non-resistant, disgrace were certain, and death a probable consequence. Homicide was forced upon me. There are start not, gentle readercircumstances in life, when any hesitation in shedding blood stamps an individual with worse than imbecility. When an Irish patriot misses fire |