headed by an immense elephant, thundered down upon us. The great leader came directly toward me, and received in the forehead the contents of both barrels of my large rifle as fast as I could pull the triggers. The shock made it reel backward for an instant and fortunately turned it aside, and the rest of the herd followed their leader. My second rifle was rapidly handled, and I made a quick shot with both barrels at the temples of two fine elephants, dropping them both stone dead. At this moment the "Baby" was pushed into my hand by another of my men, just in time to take the shoulder of the last of the herd, which had already charged headlong after its companions, and was disappearing in the jungle. Bang! went the "Baby," and around I spun like a weathercock, with the blood pouring from my nose, as the recoil had driven the sharp top of the hammer deep into the bridge. My "Baby" not only screamed, but kicked viciously. However, I knew that the elephant must be dead, as the half-pound shell had been aimed directly behind the shoulder. We had done pretty well. I had been fortunate in bagging four from this herd, in addition to the single one in the morning-total, five. Florian killed one, and the aggageers one-total, seven elephants. One had escaped that I had wounded in the shoulder, and two that had been wounded by Florian. Having my measuring tape in a game bag, that was always carried by one of the men, I measured accurately one of the elephants that had fallen, with the legs stretched out, so that the height to the shoulder could be exactly taken. From foot to shoulder, in a direct line, nine feet, one inch; circumference of foot, four feet, eight inches. We now left the jungle and found our horses waiting for us in the bed of the river by the water side, and we rode toward our camp, well satisfied with the day's sport. SIR SAMUEL WHITE BAKER. Biography.-Sir Samuel White Baker, the African explorer, was born in 1821, at Thorngrove, England, and died in 1893. Baker studied civil engineering, and early in life, went to Ceylon. There, led by love of field sports into the recesses of the island, he gave evidence of that love of adventure which was to make him famous as an explorer. In 1862, Baker, accompanied by his wife, visited Khartoum, and then ascended the White Nile. After a perilous journey, they succeeded in reaching a vast lake, which he named the Albert 'Nyanʼza. For this exploit, Baker was knighted by the Queen of England. The principal literary works of Baker are: "Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon," "The Albert 'Nyanza, Great Basin of the Nile," and "The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia." Notes. The Indian species of elephant mentioned in the lesson, is found in Hin do stan', Cey lon', and other parts of the East Indies. Bagging is a word used by sportsmen, and referred originally to small game, which could be carried in a bag. In a broad sense, the word is applied to the capture of game of any size. Language. A sentence is a thought expressed in words, and consists of the combination of a subject and a predicate. The predicate of a sentence is an action word (verb) with or without modifying words; the subject is a single word or a collection of words, which taken with the predicate forms a complete thought. Sentence."The great leader came directly toward us." The subject of this sentence consists of the name word (noun) "leader," modified by the words "great" and "the"; and the action word "came," modified by "directly" and "toward us.” The modifiers of a name word are called adjectives; of an action word, adverbs. 16.-GRADATIM.N de pōşed', conquered; laid aside. săpphire (săf'ir), a precious stone of a blue color. vault'ed, arched. slāin, put to death. as pire, long after. Heaven is not reached at a single bound; I count this thing to be grandly true: That a noble deed is a step toward God- To a purer air and a broader view. We rise by things that are under our feet; We hope, we aspire, we resolve, we trust, When the morning calls us to life and light; But our hearts grow weary, and ere the night, Our lives are trailing the solemn dust. We hope, we resolve, we aspire, we pray, And we think that we mount the air on wings, While our feet still cling to the heavy clay. Wings for the angels, but feet for the men! We may borrow the wings to find the way— We may hope, and resolve, and aspire, and pray; But our feet must rise, or we fall again. Only in dreams is a ladder thrown From the weary earth to the sapphire walls; But the dreams depart, and the vision falls, And the sleeper wakes on his pillow of stone. Heaven is not reached at a single bound; But we build the ladder by which we rise From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, And we mount to the summit round by round. J. G. HOLLAND. Biography.-Josiah Gilbert Holland was born in Belchertown, Massachussets, in 1819, and died in New York City, in 1881. Holland was engaged in the practice of medicine for a number of years; but gave up his profession to engage in educational and literary work. In 1870, he became the editor of "Scribner's Monthly," and kept up his association with that periodical until the time of his death. Holland's reputation was chiefly due to his prose writings, although his poems "Katrina" and "Bitter-Sweet" are widely and favorably known. His principal prose works are: "The Bay Path," "Timothy Titcomb's Letters," "Miss Gilbert's Career," and "Life of Abraham Lincoln." Elocution. —“Grā dā’tim," means step by With what tone of voice, rate, and force should this poem be read? In the fourth, fifth, and sixth stanzas, there should be a slight increase of force given to each member of the series of words, in order to give them the proper emphasis. An increase of force of the kind suggested is called an elocutionary climax. Mark inflections used in the last stanza. Language. Is not reached in the first stanza means can not be reached. Count in the second stanza means consider. What figure of comparison is used frequently throughout the poem? Select one or two examples of the figure and explain their meaning in ordinary language. Point out the lines which rhyme, in the first two stanzas. 17.- BAMBOO. PART I. ap preci āte, estimate truly. căla băsh eş, the fruit of a tree of that name. gōurdş, fleshy fruit with one cell and many seeds. fa çil'i ty, ease. rat tăn', the stem of a plant growing in India. ē las tiç'i ty, springiness. çîr'euit (sir' kit), distance round. çe lĕr'i ty, speed; swiftness. dī ǎg'o nal, crossing at an angle. During my many journeys in Borneo, and especially during my various residences among the natives, I first came to appreciate the admirable qualities of the bamboo. In those parts of South America which I had previously visited, these gigantic grasses were comparatively scarce, and but little used where found; their place being taken, as to one class of uses, by the great variety of palms, and as to another, by the hard rind of calabashes and gourds. Almost all tropical countries produce bamboos; and, wherever they are found in abundance, the natives apply them to a variety of uses. Their strength, lightness, smoothness, straightness, roundness, and hollowness, the facility and regularity with which they can be split, their many different sizes, the varying length of their joints, the ease with which they can be cut, and with which holes can be made through them, their hardness outside, their freedom from any pronounced taste or smell, their great abundance, and the rapidity of their growth and increase, are all qualities which render them useful for a hundred different |
