INSECTS OF BOTANY BAY.

Of insects here, is a very peculiar kind of ant, as green as a leaf. They live upon trees, where they build their nests. These nests are of a very curious structure: they are formed by bending down several of the leaves, each of which is as broad as a man's hand; they glue the points of them together, so as to form a purse, with a juice which they make. Their method of first bending down the leaves our naturalists had not an opportunity to observe; but they saw thousands uniting all their strength to hold them in this position, while other busy multitudes were employed within, in applying juice that was to prevent their returning back. To satisfy themselves that the leaves were bent and held down by the efforts of these diminutive artificers, our people disturbed them in their work, and as soon as they were driven from their stations, the leaves sprang up with a force much greater than they could have thought the ants able to conquer by any combination of their strength. But though our people gratified their curiosity at the expense of these insects, the injury did not go unrevenged, for thousands immediately threw themselves upon them, and gave intolerable pain by their stings, especially those which took possession of the neck and hair, from whence they were not easily driven.

There are upon the leaves of the mangrove, great numbers of small caterpillars: their foreheads are thick set with hairs, and they range along the leaves, side by side, like a file of soldiers, to the number of twenty or thirty together. The hair of their bodies, on touching them, have the quality of a nettle, and give a more acute though less durable pain.

Extracted from Bankes's Geography, by S. H. M.

"Soothed by the murmurs of the sea-beat shore,
His dun-grey plumage floating to the gale,
The Curlew blends his melancholy wail,

With those hoarse sounds the rushing waters pour."

THERE are two species of the Curlew to be found in Europe-the Common Curlew and the Little Curlew, but there are various other species in Asia, Africa, and America, differing very much in size, the longest measuring about twenty-five inches, and sometimes weighing thirty-six ounces. These birds

fly in considerable flocks, and are well known upon the sea-coasts in moist parts, where, and in the marshes, they frequent in winter. They feed on worms, frogs, and all kinds of marine insects. In April, or the beginning of May, they retire into mountainous and unfrequented parts on the sea-shore, where they breed; and do not return again till the approach of winter. There have been some advocates in favour of the flesh of this bird, but in general

THE LITTLE VOYAGERS.

it is strong and fishy. It has a long black bill, much curved and arched, about eight fingers long, and beginning to bend a little downwards about three fingers from the head. The middle parts of the feathers on the head, neck, and back, are black; the borders or outsides ash-coloured, with an intermixture of red; and those between the wings and back are of a most beautiful glossy blue, and shine like silk. The vent and belly are white. The feet are divided, but joined by a little membrane at the root. The tongue is very short, considering the length of the bill, and bears some resemblance to an arrow. The female is somewhat larger than the male, which is commonly called the jack-curlew; and the spots with which her body is covered almost over, are more inclining to red.

THE LITTLE VOYAGERS.

HAVING noticed the little narrative mentioned at pages 278 and 279 of six infant children pushed off to sea in a boat, I have sent you the following versification of that affecting incident.

Leicester.

THE sun in the heavens was high,

And shone with a glittering ray,

And mirrored its orb on the restless sea,
Which basking beneath it lay;

When a troop of laughing boys went forth
On the sandy shore to play.

They gather'd the beautiful shells

That were scattered the sea-beach o'er,'
And watched the quivering rays of the sun,
Aud listened the wild wind's roar;

Or chased each other in frolicsome sport
Along the wave-washed shore.

T. G.

At length they came to a place

Where a boat was moored in the sand,
And to float it on the swelling sea,

They hauled it from the strand;
Then jumping in with a thoughtless leap,
One push'd it away from the land.

Then away the bark was carried

By the fastly ebbing tide,

And far from the shore where once they played,
On the bounding billows they ride;
Yet, dreading the doom of a watery tomb,
For help aloud they cried.

But the tide still hurried them on,

And their cries were all in vain;
Though fill'd with alarm at the prospect of death,
They shouted again and again;

For their voices were lost in the howling wind,
Or drowned in the dashing main.

On, on, the young voyagers float,
Swift o'er the surge they move,
Till the last faint sight of land is gone-
Of the land they dearly love;
And nothing but water is seen below,
And nothing but sky above.

Oh then their souls were appalled,

And their blood ran cold with fear,

For they thought they should never see home again,
Or their father or mother dear;

And their sorrowing sisters would shed in vain
For them the trickling tear.

And when the bright sun had gone down,

And darkness o'er-canopied all;

When night spread over the gloomy waves
His sable-shadowing pall,

Again, o'er the ocean's solitude,
For help aloud they call.

But soon the dark clouds roll off,
And over the dancing foam

The silvery beams of the placid moon

THE LITTLE VOYAGERS.

In silent splendour come;

And the children, entranced with the fairy-like scene,
Fall asleep and dream of home.

But their homes were then full of woe,
For their desolate parents there

Were tossing about on the sleepless couch
In agony and despair,

As they fancied they heard the drowning shrieks
Of their children rend the air.

They had missed them ere the day closed,
And had traced them down by the sea,

Till they came to the place where the boat had lain,
When no farther track could they see;

Then they knew they had launched in the little bark, And feared what their fate would be.

So they sent out vessels in haste

To search for the boat and its crew;

But they searched in vain, for they found them not, And yet as homeward they flew,

Shrill screams of despair oft pierced the night air,
And shadows crossed their view.

Morn came, and while on the beach
Sweeping with anxious eyes

The ocean's plain, in the offing they see
A vessel slowly rise;

And as it neared they discover a boat
Behind it towed as a prize.

And coming at length within hail,

Impatient and breathless they grow,
For they think the boat empty, and ask aloud
Their children's fate to know;

When the seaman answers "all safe" in a tone
Which made their spirits glow.

They had slept till the blushing morn

Just crimsoned the eastern sky,

When the fisherman's voice their dreams dispell'd, As his vessel was sailing by,

Into which they were taken, while gratitude

Beamed in each sparkling eye.