at times so hemmed in by the broken tops and tangled branches as almost to become desperate. On arriving at my house I gave an account of what I had seen, when, to my surprise, I was told that there had been very little wind in the neighborhood, although in the streets and gardens many branches and twigs had fallen in a manner which excited great surprise.

Many wondrous accounts of the devastating effects of this hurricane, were circulated in the country after its occurrence. Some log-houses, we were told, had been overturned, and their inmates destroyed. One person informed me that a wiresifter had been conveyed by the gust to a distance of many miles. Another had found a cow lodged in the fork of a large half-broken tree.

But as I am disposed to relate only what I have myself seen, I will not lead you into the région of romance, but shall content myself with saying that much damage was done by the awful visitation.

The valley is yet a desolate place, overgrown with briers and bushes thickly entangled among the tops and trunks of the fallen trees, and is the resort of ravenous animals, to which they betake themselves when pursued by man, or after they have committed their depredations on the farms of the surrounding district.

I have crossed the path of the storm, at a distance of a hundred miles from the spot where I witnessed its fury, and again, four hundred miles farther off, in the State of Ohio. Lastly I observed traces of its ravages on the summits of the mountains connected with the Great Pine Forest of Pennsylvania, three hundred miles beyond the place last

mentioned.

In all those different parts it appeared to me not to have exceeded a quarter of a mile in breadth.

JOHN J. AUDUBON.

Biography.-John James Audubon was born in 1780 in Louisiana- then a French colony-and died in 1851.

He became much interested in the study of birds, even at an early age. When fourteen years old, he was sent to Paris to acquire the art of drawing. After his return to America, he devoted his time to active research, and then published that wonderful work-"The Birds of America."

As a scientist, an artist, and a writer, Audubon stands in the front rank of the world's great men.

Language.-If we add to the simple sentence—“I can never forget the scene," another sentence modifying some part of it, as, "which presented itself," limiting scene, we have what is called a complex sentence.

Select two complex sentences from the lesson, and show the parts of each.

39.-IS A TURTLE A FISH?

[Debate in the Virginia House of Delegates.]

soph'ist rieş (sõf), false reasons

that seem to be true.

pro found', deep.

in eŎn tro věrt'i ble, not to be denied.

tôrtoise, a small land animal,

commonly called a turtle. re ferred', given in charge of.

în'ti māt ing, hinting; giving slight notice of.

let'şure ly (zhur), slowly. challenge, an invitation to a

contest.

dis eus' sion (kŭsh' un), consideration.

il lěģi blè, not easily read.

Mr. Speaker,N-A bill, having for its object the marking and determining of the close season N for catching and killing turtles and terrapins, has just been introduced by the gentleman from Rockbridge,

who asks that it be referred to the Committee on Game, of which I have the honor to be chairman. To this disposition of the bill the gentleman from Gloucester objects, on the ground that as turtles and terrapins are fish, and not game, it should go to the Committee on Fish and Oysters.

On Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, says the honorable gentleman, turtles and terrapins are frequently captured, many miles out from land, in nets or with hook and line, as all other members of the finny tribe are; and that, therefore, they are fish, and nothing but fish.

I have profound respect for the gentleman's opinion; as a lawyer he has acquired not only a state but a national reputation; but even I, opposing a pin's point against the shield of Pelides, take issue with him. Sir, I am no lawyer, I don't understand enough of law to keep out of its meshes, but I will answer his sophistries with a few, plain, incontrovertible facts, and, as the old saw says, "facts are stubborn things."

Is a turtle a fish? I imagine not. Down on the old Virginia lowlands of the Potomac River, where I come from, the colored people have dogs trained to hunt turtles when they come up on the dry land to deposit their eggs, and when they find them they bark as if they were treeing a squirrel. Now, I ask the House, did any member ever hear of a fish being hunted with dogs?

Who does not know that a turtle has four legs; that those legs have feet; and that those feet are armed with claws, like a cat's, a panther's, or a lion's ? Has the gentleman from Gloucester ever seen a fish with talons? I think not.

It is well known that a turtle can be kept in a cellar for weeks, and even months, without food or water. Can a fish live without water? Why, sir, it has grown into a proverb that it can not. And yet the gentleman says the turtle is a fish!

Do we not all know that you may cut off a turtle's head, and that it won't die till the sun goes down? Suppose now a modern Joshua should point his sword at the sun and command it to stand still in the heavens; why, Mr. Speaker, the turtle would live a thousand years with its head off. And yet the gentleman says the turtle is a fish.

N

Esop tells the fable of the race between the tortoise and the hare, and we are left to believe that it took place on dry land- the author nowhere intimating that it was a swimming match. Did the gentleman from Gloucester ever hear of a fish running a quarter stretch and coming out winner of the silver cup?

I read but a short time ago, Mr. Speaker, of a man who had a lion, which, he offered to wager, could whip any living thing. The challenge was accepted. A snapping turtle was then produced, which conquered the lordly king of beasts at the first bite. Can the gentleman from Gloucester bring any fish from York River that will do the same?

Again, a turtle has a tail; now, what nature intended him to do with that particular member, I can not divine. He does not use it like our Darwinian ancestors, the monkeys, who swing themselves from the trees by their tails; nor like a cow or mule, as a brush in fly-time; nor yet as our

household pet, the dog, who wags a welcome to us with his; nor, finally, does he use it to swim with. And, sir, if the gentleman from Gloucester ever saw a fish who didn't use his tail to swim with, then he has discovered a new and most wonderful variety.

Mr. Speaker, I will not take up more of the valuable time of the House by further discussion of this vexed question. I will have only one more shot at the gentleman, -to prove to him that the turtle is the oldest inhabitant of the earth. Last summer, sir, I was away up in the mountains of Giles County, some two hundred miles from the ocean. One day strolling leisurely up the mountain road, I found a land tortoise or turtle, and picking him up, I saw some quaint and curious characters engraved in the shell on his back. Through lapse of time the letters were nearly illegible, but after considerable effort, I made out the inscription, and read—

ADAM. PARADISE. YEAR ONE.

Mr. Speaker, I have done. If I have not convinced every member on this floor, except the gentleman from Gloucester, that a turtle is not a fish, then I appeal to the wisdom of this House to tell me what it is!

ALEXANDER HUNTER.

Notes. - Terra pins are large sea-turtles. They are found in great numbers in Chesapeake Bay. Their flesh is excellent for food.

Pel'i des means the son of Pe'le us; A chil'lēs, a famous Grecian warrior.

A saw is an old and true saying often repeated.
E'sop was a Greek and a writer of fables.

A quarter stretch means a quarter of a mile, and is an expression taken from the race-course.

Mr. Speaker is the customary form used in addressing the presiding officer of an assembly. Other forms used for the same purpose are- Mr. Chairman and Mr. President.