Chit-chat. f 



tion of the noises of the birds all night, in his Wanderings in 

 Demerara, and their universal clamour at sunrise, is a glorious 

 burst of amazingly fine writing. But, to your quotation ; or, 

 mayhap, he may " pick a crow" with you. 



Dov. " The Lord keep me from Sir Harry Vane ! " said 

 Cromwell. Here it is, — I have at last found it, at p. 286., 

 in No. 1 0. of the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal* 



Von Os. Read it. 



Dov. (reads). " On the 21st of November, in lat. 6° 4', 

 and long. 20° 31', we experienced those heavy squalls and 

 rains which are uniformly met with in this climate. The 

 storms are occasionally sublime, and worthy of a minute 

 description. After the most perfect calm, heavy, dense, and 

 gloomy clouds are seen collecting at every point of the hori- 

 zon : they form themselves into vast arches, having their abut- 

 ments on the ocean. Suddenly, at one point, they blacken 

 to an inky hue : the sails are furled, the crew stand in mute 

 attention, each at his station, and every eye is directed towards 

 that vast and hideous mass of clouds, which, resting on the 

 surface of the deep, and reaching heaven with its top, ad- 

 vances upon the devoted vessel. Now, sweeping the ocean, 

 it pours a deluge on the ship ; the storm rages ; and, by the 

 terrific force of the blast, the masts seem ready to start from 

 the decks. When these squalls happen at night, and are 

 attended with much rain, a ball of meteoric fire is seen at the 

 mast-head, tending to increase the horrors of the storm. On 

 the 21st, whilst beset on all sides by the squalls, a swallow 

 suddenly appeared close to the ship. There was no known 

 land nearer than 300 miles. The swallow was seen first 

 during a calm, skimming round the vessel with great velocity, 

 and seemed to feed abundantly on the flies which hovered 

 round the ship's sides ; but, during the squall that succeeded, 

 its actions became those of self-preservation, and were admir- 

 ably adapted to that purpose. As the rain poured in torrents, 

 it beat down the swallow's head in spite of all its efforts, thus 

 interrupting its flight round the vessel. When the bird per- 

 ceived this take place, it rose perpendicularly through the 

 air and dense rain; fluttering, moreover, incessantly: thus 

 throwing the water off its wings. The amazing courage and 

 strength displayed by this bird, in contending against the 

 numerous storms with which we were assailed, during many 

 hours, convinced me of its power to perform the longest 

 migrations, with comparative safety. The swallow remained 

 with the vessel during two days, and sought shelter in the 

 shrouds only at the approach of evening." 



Von Os. Bold, intrepid little bird ! — and beautifully told. 



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