Page images
PDF
EPUB

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. 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.

Terra pins are large sea-turtles. They are found in great numbers in Chesapeake Bay. Their flesh is excellent for food. Pē 11'dēs means the son of Pe'le us; A chil'lês, 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.

40.-LEGEND OF THE CAÑON.

făth'ômş, measures of length,

containing six feet each. mys'tie, wonderful.

eas eădeş', small falls of water.

hōard, a stock of any thing laid

up.

em boş'omed, half hid.
ǎl'ley, a narrow pathway.

Where the sunset's golden gleamings
On the rocky highlands rest,
'Neath the moonlight's silver beamings
Of the distant, dreamy West,
Once there roamed an Indian lover,
With his fawn-eyed Indian fair,-
Lover blithe as mountain rover,

Maiden rich in flowing hair.

But the sleep that knows no waking
Chilled the gentle maiden's breast,
And the Brave, all hope forsaking,
Laid her in the hill to rest,-
Laid her where the eye may wander
Far o'er slopes and ledges steep,
And the mind on billows ponder-
Billows grand, but locked in sleep.

Then the Brave's bold eye was darkened,
And his hand forgot the bow;
Naught to human speech he hearkened;
Naught but sorrow would he know.
Frozen was his heart of gladness

As the summits capped with snow;
Dark his soul with sullen sadness
As their cavern depths below.

But the Great, Good Spirit sought him-
Sought him in his speechless grief,
And, in kindly promise, brought him
Matchless comfort and relief.

"Come," He said, "and see thy dearest-
See her in her spirit home;

Towards the Southland-'tis the nearest-
We shall journey, hither come!"

And they went-the Spirit leading-
Speeding with unmeasured force;
Neither hill nor valley heeding,

On, straight onward, was their course;
With the whirlwind's footstep striding,
By the smooth and rock-cut ledge,
Hills with earthquake's plow dividing-
Plowshare sharp as lightning's edge.

Such their way through hill and valley,
Cold and narrow, dark and steep,
Oped the rock-embosomed alley,

Cut a thousand fathoms deep.
Carving, piercing, cutting thorough,
Toward the drowsy southern shore,
The Spirit formed the mystic furrow,
And told its sides to meet no more.

But the Spirit, good, all-knowing,

Feared lest man's unresting race;

By the mystic pathway going,

Should mar the spirit-hunter's chase. "Twas then He gave the torrents headway;

A thousand, thousand streams were poured;

"Twas then adown its narrow bedway

That first the Colorado N roared.

And still the diamond drops are speeding
Down a million, rippling rills,
The headlong, rushing cascades feeding
From liquid hoard of snow-clad hills.
And still the voices of the river

Within the cañon's depths are heard,
In echoing sounds to speak forever
At the bidding of His word.

JEREMIAH MAHONEY.

Biography.-Jeremiah Mahoney was a frequent contributor to periodical literature. Only a few of his poems appeared in print under his name. The "Legend of the Cañon" fairly exhibits his poetical genius.

Notes and Questions.- Brave is a name given to an Indian warrior.

The Great Spirit is the Indian expression meaning God.

The rocky highlands referred to in the first stanza are the Rocky Mountains.

Is it true that the summits of the Rocky Mountains are "capped with snow"?

Where is the Colorado River? The word Colorado is Spanish and signifies red. This name was given to this river because of the reddish color of its waters.

What is the depth of its cañons? Is "a thousand fathoms" an exaggeration?

Elocution.-What should be the rate in reading this poem? Mark the rhetorical pauses in the first and last stanzas. Point out the emphatic words in the second stanza.

Language. In the last stanza, word is used instead of a number of words-as in a command. The expression is an example of the figure syn ec'do che. Another example of the same figure occurs in the use of the words thousand and million, definite numbers for what is indefinite.

Synecdoche is the use of a part for the whole; or a whole for a part; or a definite number for an indefinite number.

Remark.-The figures used thus far in this book are Figures of Rhetoric, and will be so called in the future. They are Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Apostrophe, Hyperbole, Metonymy, and Synecdoche.

Composition.-Select the important events narrated in the poem, and write them out in the form of an analysis.

41. STANLEY'S SEARCH FOR LIVINGSTONE.

ex pǎnse', wide space. lū'çid, clear.

văl'an çeş, curtains.

em bow'ered, nearly covered. bûrnished, smooth and bright. con grăt'u lāte, wish him joy.

N

so nō'rous, loud sounding.
ma jŏr'i ty, greater number.
hu măn’i ty, mankind.
jqûrʼnalş, accounts of daily
events.

for măl'i ties, customary forms.

arrival at the

On the second day after Stanley's capital of Unyanyembe, the Arab magnates of Tabora came to congratulate him. Tabora is the principal Arab settlement in Central Africa, with a population of about five thousand. The Arabs were fine, handsome men, mostly from Oman, and each had a large retinue of servants with him.

After having exchanged the usual stock of congratulations, Stanley accepted an invitation to return the visit at Tabora, and three days afterward, accompanied by eighteen bravely dressed soldiers, he was presented to a group of stately Arabs in long white dresses and jaunty caps of snowy white, and introduced to the hospitalities of Tabora.

On the 20th of September, the American flag was again hoisted, and the caravan, consisting of fiftyfour persons, started along the southern route toward Ujiji and Livingstone. It moved forward through forests of immense extent, that stretched in grand waves beyond the range of vision;-among ridges, forest-clad, rising gently one above another, until they receded through a leafy ocean into the purple blue distance, where was only a dim outline of a hill far away.

« EelmineJätka »