it." And away he darted like a streak of colored light. The Falcon,
too, lazily spread out his large wings, and soared majestically up
into the air, leaving the Pelican and Cormorants to discuss their
family affairs and their dinner in peace.
MUMMIES.
[Illustration]
A mummy is not a very pretty thing to look at; but, considered
properly, it is certainly interesting. That stiff form, wrapped up
tightly in ever so many dirty cloths, with a black shrivelled face
which looks as if it had been cut out of a piece of wood and then
smoked, was once, no doubt, a very pleasant person to know. If it was
a woman, it played with the children; sewed a little, perhaps;
complained of the heat, and went to parties. If it was a man, it
probably whistled a little, and sang; settled up its accounts, was
fond of horses, and took an interest in the vegetable garden.
Most of the mummies that have been brought from Egypt to this country
were originally kings, princes, princesses, noblemen, and priests, for
few but those high-born folks could afford to be so well preserved as
to last all this time; but it is very certain that none of them ever
imagined that, thousands of years after their death, they would be
carried away to countries never heard of in their day, and be gazed at
by people who wore chignons and high-top hats, and who were not born
until they had been dead three thousand years.
When we consider the care and skill with which the dead Egyptians used
to be embalmed and encased in their sarcophagi, it is not surprising
that their poor bodies have been so well preserved. At the head of
this article you see a mummy as it appears when it has been embalmed
and wrapped in its bandages. Here is the stand on which it is then
placed.
[Illustration]
Very often, when the body had been a king or some great personage, its
face was covered with a mask of thin gold, and its bandages were
ornamented with pictures and inscriptions.
[Illustration]
When this work of decoration was completed, it was placed in a coffin
which was made large enough to hold the stand.
This coffin was very handsomely ornamented, and then, in order to
make everything very secure indeed, it was enclosed in another or
exterior coffin, which was also decorated in the highest style known
to Egyptian artists.
[Illustration]
One would now suppose that this great king or priest was safe enough,
looking at the matter in an ordinary light. But the Egyptians did not
look at these matters in ordinary lights. Quite otherwise. They
intended the useless bodies of their grandees to be packed away so
that they should not be disturbed as long as the world lasted, little
dreaming of the Americans and Europeans who would come along, in a few
thousand years, and buy them for their museums.
So they put the mummy, with its stand and its two coffins, into a
great stone box called a sarcophagus, and this was fastened and
plastered up so as to seem like one solid rock.
Then, if the inmate had ever done anything wonderful (or sometimes, no
doubt, if he had not been famous for anything in particular), the
history of his great achievements, real or fancied, was sculptured on
the stone. These hieroglyphics have been deciphered in several
instances, and we have learned from them a great deal of Egyptian
history.
[Illustration]
Dead poor people, as well as kings and princes, were made into mummies
in Egypt, but they were not preserved by such costly means as those I
have mentioned. After they had been embalmed, they were wrapped up as
well as the means of their relatives would allow, and were placed in
tombs and vaults, sometimes with but one coffin, and sometimes without
any.
In many cases the mummy was not buried at all, but kept in the house
of the family, so that the friends and relatives could always have it
with them. This may have been very consoling to the ancient Egyptians,
but to us it seems a truly mournful custom.
And it is by no means distressing to think, that though the people who
may be in this country three thousand years hence may possibly find
some of our monuments, they will discover none of our bodies.
TAME SNAKES.
[Illustration]
We have often heard of the tamed snakes belonging to the
serpent-charmers of India and Africa, but it is seldom that the
harmless serpents of civilized countries have been domesticated. But
the common snake, sometimes called the garter-snake, which harmlessly
shows its dark green and yellow colors among the grass and bushes, has
been tamed and has shown quite a fair amount of respect and affection
for its human friends.
A French writer relates that he knew a lady who had a snake which was
so tame that it came when it was called, followed its mistress about,
climbed up into her lap, and gave many signs of knowing and liking
her. It would even swim after her when she threw it into the water
from a boat. But this last feat proved fatal to it, for once swimming
thus and endeavoring to keep up with the boat, the tide became too
strong for it, and it was carried away and drowned.
I am very much afraid that that lady did not deserve even as much
affection as the snake gave her.
The boys and girls in France sometimes amuse themselves by getting up
a snake-team.
[Illustration]
They tie strings to the tails of two common harmless snakes, and then
they drive them about, using a whip (I hope gently) to make these
strange steeds keep together and go along lively.
It is said that snakes which have been played with in this way soon
begin to like their new life, and will allow the children to do what
they please with them, showing all the time the most amiable
disposition.
There is nothing very strange in a tamed snake. Toads, tortoises,
spiders, and many other unpromising animals have been known to show a
capacity for human companionship, and to become quite tame and
friendly. In fact, there are very few animals in the world that cannot
be tamed by man, if man is but kind enough and patient enough.
GYMNASTICS.
Every one who has a body that is worth anything at all, ought to do
his best to keep it in good order, and there is no better way of
attaining this desirable object than by a proper course of gymnastics.
And to know just what is proper for certain ages and certain
individuals, demands a great deal of thought and judgment. Improper
gymnastics are much worse than none. We can generally, however, find
those who are able to advise us in regard to the exercise one ought to
take.
This necessity of training the body as well as the mind has been
recognized from the earliest ages, and the ancient Greeks and Romans
paid as much attention to their gymnasiums as they did to their
academies; and from their youth, their boys and girls were taught
those exercises which develop the muscles and ensure good health. Some
of their methods, however, were not exactly the most praiseworthy. For
instance, they would encourage their youngsters to fight.
[Illustration]
This engraving, copied from an ancient picture, shows how spiritedly
the children practised this exercise.
It would have been better if the individual with the stick had laid it
over the backs of the young combatants, instead of using it to direct
their struggles.
There are three kinds of gymnastics. By the first we take exercise,
simply for the sake of the good we gain from it; by the second we
combine pleasure with our muscular exertion; and the third kind of
gymnastics is practised for the sake of making money.
The exercises of the first division are carried on in regular
gymnasiums or at home, and consist of exercises with dumb-bells, bars,
suspended rings, poles, and many other appliances with which most boys
and girls are familiar. Regular practice in a good gymnasium, under
the direction of a competent teacher, is considered, by those who best
understand the education of young people, an exceedingly necessary
part of their education, and gymnastic instruction, both for boys and
girls, is becoming more popular every year.
We need give but little time to this well understood division of
gymnastics, but will pass at once to the second class, where diversion
and exercise are combined. This is by far the best method of gaining
health and strength, and should be preferred by all instructors
whenever it is possible to adopt it.
It is of no use to say anything in favor of this plan to the boys and
girls themselves, for they never fail to choose that form of exercise
which has a good deal of play in it. And it is well they like it, for
they will get more benefit from an hour of good, vigorous play, than
from many lessons in the monotonous exercises in use in the
gymnasiums.
I shall not now speak of the lively games of boys and girls, by which
their cheeks grow rosy and their legs and arms grow strong, for we all
know enough about them, but I will describe some of the athletic
sports of grown-up folks. There are a great many of these, some of
which are of great antiquity. Wrestling, boxing, vaulting,
foot-racing, and similar exercises have been popular for thousands of
years, and are carried on now with the same spirit as of old.
Out-door sports differ very much in different countries. In the United
States the great game is, at present, base-ball; in England cricket
is preferred, and Scotland has athletic amusements peculiar to itself
In the latter country a very popular game among the strong folks is
called "throwing the hammer."
[Illustration]
These hammers are not exactly what their name implies, being heavy
balls of brass or iron, fitted to a long handle. The hammer is whirled
around the head several times and then thrown as far as possible. The
man who throws it to the greatest distance wins the game.
Another game, very much of this order, consists in tossing a heavy
stone, instead of a hammer. The Scotch call this game "putting the
stone," sometimes using stones that might be called young rocks, and
they "put" or throw them in a different way from the people of other
countries where the game is popular. In some of the mountainous
regions of the continent of Europe the game is played in the manner
shown in the accompanying engraving.
[Illustration]
But it is impossible, in a short article like this, even to allude to
all the different kinds of athletic games, and I will now notice some
of the gymnastics by which people make a living.
Rope-walkers, circus-riders, and acrobats of every kind are now so
common, that a description of their ordinary performances is
unnecessary. They are found on every portion of the globe, some of the
most proficient being now seen in China and Japan.
If any of you have seen the Japanese troupe of acrobats with which
"Little Allright" was connected, you will understand to what a high
state of perfection physical exercises may be brought by people who
give up their whole lives to the study and practice of their various
feats.
[Illustration]
In Europe and this country very remarkable gymnastic performers have
appeared before the public.
About the middle of the last century, there lived in Derby, England, a
man by the name of Thomas Topham, who performed in public some
wonderful feats of strength. At one time he lifted, by a band passed
over his shoulders, three great casks of water which collectively
weighed 1,836 pounds.
He had a platform built for this performance, which was constructed in
such a way that he could use the whole power of his body and limbs. In
this feat, however, he has been surpassed by Dr. Winship, of Boston,
who has lifted, in public, heavier weights than Topham ever attempted.
The latter, however, was enormously strong, and performed a great many
feats which made him quite famous throughout England.
A favorite exhibition of public acrobats is that of pyramids, pillars,
and other tall edifices, built of men, instead of bricks and stones.
The Venetians used to be very expert and artistic in their arrangement
of these exhibitions, and the men composing the human edifice stood as
immovably and gracefully as if they had been carved out of solid
stone, instead of being formed of flesh and blood.
[Illustration]
This performance has been made quite common in late years, and I have
seen the celebrated "Arabs" and other acrobats pile themselves up in a
most astonishing manner.
[Illustration]
One of the most popular, and at the same time dangerous, of all public
gymnastic exhibitions, is that of rope-walking, and most marvellous
feats on the tight-rope have been performed in many parts of the
world. Even in Greece and Rome, men practised this form of gymnastics.
In later days no one has become more famous than Blondin, who crossed
the Niagara River on a tight-rope, performing all sorts of eccentric
feats while balanced on his slender support. He carried a man over on
his shoulders; he wheeled a wheelbarrow across; he walked the rope
blindfolded, and did many other things which would be very difficult
to most people, even if they were standing on solid ground instead of
being poised on a slender rope stretched high above the waters of a
rapid river. In this country, however, the taste for out-door and
dangerous rope-walking is not so general as it is in some countries of
Europe, where it is quite common to see acrobats walking on ropes
stretched from the top of one high building, or steeple, to another.
In Venice, for instance, rope-dancers have often skipped and played on
ropes reaching from the summits of two of the loftiest towers of that
beautiful city.
The Turks were once noted for their great proficiency in rope walking,
but they have been equalled by Japanese, European, and American
performers. Many women have been famous in this line, and a Madame
Sacqui, a Frenchwoman, was such an expert artist that one of her
countrymen likened her to a "Homeric goddess" (although I do not know
how Juno or Minerva would have looked on a tight-rope), and asserted
that her boldness and agility were the glory of the First Empire! This
infatuated Frenchman must have considered glory to have been very
scarce in his country in Madame Sacqui's day. There was a French baby,
however, who surpassed this lady, for the little one walked on the
tight-rope before she could walk on the ground, and afterwards became
famous enough to perform, in 1814, before an assembly of kings--the
allied sovereigns of Europe.
The public performers of different kinds of gymnastic feats often make
a great deal of money; but they sometimes break their necks, and
frequently injure their health by over-exertion.
So that exercises for health and amusement are the only kinds of
gymnastics that I recommend.
BUYING "THE MIRROR."
Miss Harper came into the room where George and Mary Conly and Ella
Lee were playing with jack-straws. They had played everything else
they could think of, and, feeling tired, had quietly settled
themselves down to jack-straws. They could have amused themselves from
morning until night out of doors without being weary; but Mr. Conly's
house was in the city, and had such a tiny bit of a yard that only
fairies could have got up a frolic in it. When they were in the
country there were so many things they could do, and when they were
tired running about, there was the see-saw on the big log under the
old elm.
[Illustration]
But they were not in the country now, and children have not the spirit
to keep up their sports in the house as they do out of doors. So,
when Miss Harper appeared with a book in her hand, George and Mary
sprang up from the table in delight, and exclaimed:
"Oh, cousin Fanny! are you going to read to us?"
"Yes," said Miss Harper, "I thought you would like to hear some more
of those pretty stories I read to you yesterday."
"That we will!" cried George, skipping about the room, while Mary,
with eyes sparkling with pleasure, hastily raked the jack-straws into
a pile.
"We can both get into this big chair, Ella," she said, "and then we
can hear cumfible."
Now Ella would much rather have played jack-straws, for she thought
listening to reading was very dull business indeed; but she was a
polite little girl, which is pretty much the same thing as saying she
was not selfish, and seeing that George and Mary were so pleased, and
expected her to be so also, she made no objection, and climbed up into
the big chair, and found it "cumfible," as Mary had said.
"It will be awfully stupid," she thought, "and this chair is so nice I
am afraid I'll go to sleep, and mamma says that is very rude when any
one is reading or talking to you."
You see Ella had not learned to be fond of books. Her parents had not
been in the habit of reading to her, and, although in school she could
read books that had quite long words in them, still she could not read
with sufficient ease to make it a pleasure to her.
But she did not go to sleep, but, on the contrary, got wider and wider
awake. The stories were all short, so that when the end came she
remembered the beginning perfectly, and they were such lovely stories
about little fairies, and how they helped children to be good, that
Ella was very sorry when the servant came to take her home.
"I thank you very much, Miss Harper, for reading to us," she said,
"Will you please tell me the name of the book?"
"It is 'The Mirror,'" said Miss Harper, "and I will read to you often
if you will come to see us."
Ella thought about the book all the way home, but she was so tired she
was glad to go to bed after supper, and the next morning she had no
time before school to say anything to her mother about the wonderful
"Mirror."
But after dinner there was a pleasant surprise for her. Her father
called her into his study, and, taking her up, kissed her tenderly,
and said: "I saw your teacher yesterday, and she gave me such a good
account of my little girl that I am very much pleased with her. And
now, if there is anything you would particularly like to have, I will
get it for you, if it does not cost too much. Think a moment, now!
Don't be in a hurry!"
"Oh, papa," exclaimed Ella, "I don't need to think a bit! I know what
I want! I do so want to have a 'Mirror!'"
"A _what_?" said Mr. Lee, suddenly putting Ella down on the floor.
"A 'Mirror,' papa. When will you get it for me? Oh! I am so glad!" And
she clapped her little hands softly together.
"You are a very little girl to be so vain," said Mr. Lee gravely, "but
as I said you should have what you wanted, I will keep my promise. Go
and dress yourself, and we will get it this very afternoon."
Ella was so full of her own happy thoughts that she did not notice
what he said about her being vain, or that he looked displeased, and
she skipped merrily away to be dressed. In a short time she had hold
of her father's hand, and was walking down Broadway, looking in at the
shop windows, and talking as fast as her little tongue could go.
Mr. Lee, who knew nothing about the book with such a queer title, and
supposed his daughter wanted a mirror in which to look at herself,
began to hope that, as Ella stopped so often to admire the pretty
things in the windows, she would see something she would prefer for a
present. For, though it is a very proper thing to look in the glass to
see that one's face is clean, and hair smooth, he did not like it that
his daughter should want a looking-glass above everything in the
world.
"O, papa, isn't that a lovely baby?" And Ella paused in admiration
before a wax doll.
"Yes," said Mr. Lee, eagerly. "Would not you rather have that pretty
baby than a mirror?"
Ella considered for a moment. She had a dolly she loved, though she
was not as pretty as this one.
"No, papa, I'd rather have a 'Mirror.' It will be so nice to have one
of my own. I hope you know where to go to get it?" she added
anxiously.
"Certainly," said Mr. Lee, rather sharply, "I know just where to go."
And so they went on by windows filled with floating ribbons, and
shining silks; and others where there were glittering jewels, and some
of the rings small enough for Ella's fingers; and others where there
were white fur capes spread out, with muffs that had such gay linings,
and tassels; and windows hung to the very top with toys, and some of
them such cunning ones--mice that could be made to run and squeak, and
jumping frogs--but none of these things would Ella have. At last they
came to one all filled with flowers, and with this Ella was in
raptures.
"What a very good man must live here," she said, "to put all these
things out for us to see! I can smell them through the glass!"
"They are put here to sell," said Mr. Lee, "and I know you will like
that beautiful pink rose-bush a great deal better than a mirror--or
that great white lily."
"No, no, papa," said Ella, moving impatiently away. "When will we come
to the place?"
"Here it is," said Mr. Lee, as they stopped at a store where then were
two huge windows filled with mirrors of all sizes. "Now which one will
you have? Not a very large one for such a very little lady. But there
is a nice little one that will just suit you, and it has a very pretty
frame."
"Where? where, papa? I don't see it!" And Ella looked about the window
in a very bewildered manner.
"There. In that corner, leaning against the window-frame."
"Why, papa, that's a looking-glass!"
"And is not that what you want?"
"No, sir; I want a '_Mirror_'--a book."
"Oh! that's it!" said Mr. Lee, with a brighter face. "I expect you
want a book called 'The Mirror.'"
"Yes, sir," said Ella, laughing, as they walked on. "How funny that
you should think I wanted a looking-glass! There it is now!" she cried
excitedly, pointing into the window of a book-store.
It was a large sheet of paper Ella saw, called a Poster, but it had
"The Mirror" on it in very big letters. So Mr. Lee and Ella went in,
and the shopman brought her the book, but it was red, and she did not
want it, and then he took down a green one, and then a brown, but Ella
would only have a blue one. After some trouble a blue one was found,
and Ella walked off hugging it close up to her. The book Miss Harper
read had a blue cover, and I believe that Ella was afraid that any
other color would not contain the same stories.
BIG GAME.
When a man or a boy goes hunting--in a book--he might just as well go
after good big game as after these little things that you see about
home. So let us leave chipmunks, rabbits, and tit-birds to those poor
fellows who have to shoot with real guns, and are obliged to be home
in time for supper, and let us go out into the wide world, to hunt the
very largest and most savage beasts we can find. It is perfectly
safe,--in a book.
As we can go wherever we please, suppose we try our skill in hunting
the Wild Boar. He will be a good beast to begin with, because he is
tolerably convenient, being found in Southern Europe, Palestine, and
neighboring countries, and also because he is such a destructive
rascal, when he comes into the neighborhood of civilization, that
every one will be much obliged to us for killing him. If he chances to
get into a vineyard, in company with a set of his reckless fellows,
there is small chance for a vintage that year. He tears down the
vines, devours the grapes, green and ripe, and breaks and ruins
trellises and everything within his reach.
If we are so fortunate as to get sight of him, we will find that he is
no easy game to bag. Very different is he from his tame brethren with
which we are acquainted--old grunters, who wallow about the
mud-puddles and sleep serenely for hours, with their fat sides baking
in the sun. The wild boar is as fast as a horse, and as savage as the
crossest bull. He can run so that you can scarcely catch up to him
with your nag at the top of his speed, and when you do reach him he
will be very apt, if you are not watchful, to rip up your horse with
his tusks and cut some terrible gashes in your own legs, besides.
[Illustration: WILD BOAR.]
We must shoot this fellow as soon as we can get a good chance, for
those sharp tusks will be ready for us, if we come too close, and if
he increases the distance between us, he may get among the rocks and
hills, where he will surely escape, for our horses cannot go over
those rough ascents at the rate the boar would gallop.
When at last he is shot, the boar is capital eating. His flesh is far
superior to common pork, possessing the peculiar delicate flavor which
belongs to most wild meat. If we could shoot a wild boar every few
days, we would be sure to fare very well during our hunting
expedition.