The Chinese are rapidly taking up Western ideas, and translations of
English and French novels are now in increasing demand. Our romantic and
sentimental treatment of love-affairs, however, is a thing so foreign to
Oriental ethics that the hero of the ordinary European novel appears to
the Chinese mind as a person of perverted moral sense and doubtful sanity.
Translations of Dickens, therefore, impress the Chinese reader less than
they amaze him, and detective stories and tales of adventure command a
more sympathetic audience.--“WOMAN’S LIFE.”
“THE VIRGIN’S TREE.”
[Illustration]
The annexed photograph shows a famous tree growing in the little Egyptian
village of Matariyah, which is partly built on the ruins of Heliopolis and
situated about four and a half miles to the north of Cairo. It is usually
called “The Virgin’s Tree,” from the tradition that the Virgin Mary sat
and rested under its shadow during her flight to Egypt. It is also said
that by remaining hidden in the hollow tree by means of a
marvellously-twisted cobweb she succeeded in escaping her
persecutors.--“THE STRAND MAGAZINE.”
Odds and Ends.
The “Shark Papers”--A Mysterious Archway--British Columbian “Poverty
Socials,” etc., etc.
[Illustration: THE FAMOUS “SHARK PAPERS” OF JAMAICA, WHICH HAVE A MOST
CURIOUS AND ROMANTIC HISTORY.
_From a Photograph._]
Few exhibits in the Institute of Jamaica, British West Indies, possess a
more curious history than the famous “Shark Papers,” a photograph of which
is reproduced herewith. The story is, briefly, as follows: On August 28th,
1799, a naval officer named Hugh Wylie, in command of H.M. cutter
_Sparrow_, while cruising off the coast of Hayti, gave chase to, and
eventually captured, the American brig _Nancy_. The prize was sent in to
Port Royal, and a fortnight later a suit for salvage was brought on behalf
of Wylie against “a certain brig or vessel called the _Nancy_, her guns,
tackle, furniture, ammunition, and apparel, and the goods, wares,
merchandise, specie, and effects on board her, taken and seized as the
property of some person or persons, being enemies of our Sovereign Lord
and King, and good and lawful prize on the high seas, and within the
jurisdiction of this Court.” A claim for the dismissal of the case with
costs, backed with affidavits, was put in by the owners of the brig, in
which, as it subsequently turned out, they perjured themselves freely.
While the case was proceeding Lieutenant Michael Fitton, in command of the
_Ferret_, and Wylie in command of the _Sparrow_ (both tenders of H.M.S.
_Abergavenny_, the flagship at Port Royal), put out to sea with the object
of earning for the stationary flagship a share of the prizes which were
constantly being taken by the cruisers. On rejoining after an accidental
separation, Fitton invited Wylie by signal to come to breakfast. While
waiting for him to come aboard the _Ferret_ crew captured a huge shark,
which, on being opened, was found to contain a sealed packet of papers.
During the breakfast Wylie mentioned that he had detained an American brig
called the _Nancy_. Fitton thereupon said he had her papers. “Papers?”
answered Wylie. “Why, I sealed up her papers and sent them in with her.”
“Just so,” replied Fitton; “those were her false papers. Here are her real
ones; my men found them in the stomach of a shark!” These papers, together
with others of an incriminating nature found on the _Nancy_ some time
after her capture, carefully concealed in the captain’s cabin, led to the
condemnation of the brig and her cargo on the 25th November, 1799. The
head of the shark which swallowed the papers is still preserved in the
United Service Museum at Whitehall, London, S.W.
[Illustration: A MYSTERIOUS ARCHWAY IN THE TONGAN ARCHIPELAGO--IT IS OF
VAST ANTIQUITY, AND IS BELIEVED TO POINT TO THE FACT THAT THE PACIFIC
ISLANDS WERE ONCE ONE VAST CONTINENT.
_From a Photograph._]
The archway here shown, made of enormous slabs of coral rock neatly
chiselled and mortised, is one of the many interesting problems of the
Pacific. If, as is generally believed, the South Sea Islands are of
comparatively recent volcanic and coralline formation, who built this
archway, which is situated on one of the smallest islands of the Tongan
group? The oldest native inhabitants of the islands know nothing of its
origin, and from its appearance the monument is of great antiquity. From
this and other indications it has been claimed that the “Milky Way” of the
Pacific was in prehistoric times one vast continent, inhabited by peoples
of whom the present-day world has lost all record.
[Illustration: THE LAST RELICS OF AN ILL-STARRED ENTERPRISE, A “HORSE
RAILWAY” ACROSS AN AMERICAN DESERT.
_From a Photograph._]
“Travelling recently on donkey-back across a trackless portion of the
Conchilla Desert in South-Eastern California,” writes a correspondent, “we
sighted ahead of us above the sage-brush a nondescript object which on
nearer approach resolved itself into the two dilapidated tramcars shown in
the next photograph. They formed the equipment of a ‘horse railway’ across
the sands ten or twelve years ago to connect a solitary station on the
Southern Pacific Railway with an agricultural colony several miles
distant. The farming enterprise, however, failed utterly, and the ‘horse
railway’ with it. The incongruous sight of these two abandoned cars in the
midst of drifting sands is all that remains to-day to tell the tale of
shattered hope.”
The amusing handbill shown below refers to a curious function which is
very popular in British Columbia--the “poverty social.” This is an
entertainment of the kind formerly known in more conventional circles as a
“conversazione.” Whereas the latter is chiefly distinguished for its
formality and general uncomfortableness, these “poverty socials” are
delightfully free and easy; indeed, the people attending them are actually
fined if their clothes are considered at all stylish or savouring of
ostentation, the idea, of course, being that everyone--rich and poor
alike--shall feel entirely at their ease. Needless to say, the bad
spelling and the mistakes made in the printing of the bill are all
carefully designed to heighten the homely effect of the gathering.
[Illustration: THIS AMUSING HANDBILL REFERS TO A BRITISH COLUMBIAN
“POVERTY SOCIAL,” A FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT WHICH IS EXTREMELY POPULAR.
_you air Axed to A Poverty Soshall_