NIOBK FALLS. 269 



Thou Spirit of tlie Falls ; 

 Green mosses creep to greet thee ; 

 Huge boulders are thy walls. 



Is it a gay child's spirit, 



Laughing in merry glee, 

 Rippling, tripping, dancing — 



Eager to be set free? 



Or is it spotless maiden, 



Her bridal veil of white 

 In foamy cascades rippling. 



All decked in diamonds bright ? 



Or else a weeping matron, 



That will not be consoled, 

 Looks through a mist of tear-drops 



Out on the mountains bold. 



Perchance the restless spirit 



Of early Indian brave — 

 O dashing, rushing torrent ! 



Is hid within thy wave. 



Or do thy crystal waters 



Confine an ancient sage, 

 Whose locks of snowy whiteness 



Gleam forth from age to age ? 



Niobe, weird enchantress ! 



None can resist thy spell ; 

 And dark, o'erhanging mountains 



Will guard thy mysteries well. 



A naturalist has recently well said :— Mimicry among butterflies, 

 moths and other insects would be comic were it not a matter of life 

 or death. Not a few moths have at the hinder ends of their wings 

 a black mark and two or more tails resembling the horns of their 

 own heads. A veteran in warfare not seldom has these portions 

 missing — proof of the value in having saved his life. Thus the 

 lizard's brittle tail, which, first attracting the enemy, comes off at 

 his touch, lets his would-be prey escape. When at bay crabs dis- 

 tract the enemy by throwing off their claws and lobsters do the 

 trick yet more neatly by seizing the enemy with a claw and then 

 throwing off limb and enemy. Thus the bushy tail of the squirrel 

 is accouuted for — there is a chance of escaping the enemy minus 

 only a mouthful of fur. 



