go 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[March 1, 1865. 



Combe, where none may dare to follow. The 

 lark, poor bird, may sing in the sky, for that 

 is not farmed out, but his mate has no nest in 

 the turf below, the grass not long enough 

 to shelter it, and the gold-banded beadle will 

 tell her to move on, or charge her a penny a- 

 day for rent, should she dare to venture on 

 the experiment. In that day the gravel walks 

 will be trim and neat, now straight as an ar- 

 row, now winding in graceful curves, thi'ongh 

 lawns, and groves, and dells, adoi'ned by 

 shrubs, and trees, and flowers, too well trained 

 to grow ci'ooked, or stunted, or with undue 

 luxuriance. Then may he rest on painted 

 seats, and gaze on ponds of geometric form on 

 which tame ducks may float, Avhile visions of 

 the past float too above the ducks, and the 

 water, and the new pai'k, and out of the reach 

 of the lord of the manor. What, in such a 

 paradise, ccull be the vision of the Saturday 

 stroller'? Perhaps, it might be the Old 

 Common, where, amongst furze bushes, and 

 mud puddles, and tall bracken, and swamp, 

 he could find, year in and year out, always 

 something new ; when the time passed so 

 swiftly away that he could chide the dusky 

 evening for coming so speedily, and when 

 enough had been found, or seen, to send him 

 home with something to think about all the 

 week ; when the only feeling that could find 

 a jolace in. his breast was that of increased 

 love for all created things ; and when the 

 only exclamation that could escape his lips 

 was, " How manifold are Thy works, in wis- 

 dom hast Thou made them all ! " 



We by no means despise " parks, palaces, 

 or public buildings," nor condemn the legis- 

 lative wisdom that called them into existence. 

 Against the parks of our metropolis, whether 

 patrician or plebeian, we have nought to urge j 

 but against the appropriation of all the waste 

 places within range of a Cockney stroll we 

 j dare to protest, because it tends to deprive 

 those of legitimate hunting grounds, v^^ho have 

 no other "preserves," and whose '-little 

 gs.rae" are birds, beetles, butterflies, and 

 llovv'ers, or 



"r.afs and mice, and such small deer;" 

 because the rugged beauty, v/ild gi'audeur. 



and infinite variety of nature, have pov/ers 

 superior to the most elaborate art, in charm- 

 ing the healthy mind ; and because the con- 

 summation of such appropriation will be—- 

 not only to deprive the operative classes of a 

 patrimony in which they can stand erect, and 

 feel themselves " at home " and at ease, but 

 to check them in the enjoyment of rational 

 amusement whilst in the pursuit of some 

 branch of natui'al history for which no other 

 and compensatory provision is made. There- 

 fore, should we ever suffer metamorphosis 

 into the body of a politician, one point in our 

 charter would probably be, ' not favourable, 

 but antaf!:onistic to " Short-Commons." 



GOSSIP ABOUT MAN-SUCKERS. 

 By J. K. Lord, F.Z.S. 



READER, have you ever tried a cruise 

 on the sea in an Indian canoe 1 I can 

 vividly recall even novf my early exploits in 

 this most upsetable craft, spearing Ociojyi 

 (" the Man-Suckers " of our fishermen) on 

 the coast of Vancouver Island. 



Canoes are generally suj^posed by the 

 uninitiated " to glide over silvery streams," 

 or " like an arrow shoot foaming rapids," and 

 ride like sea-birds " over the ever-heaving 

 ocean." I only v;ish those who entertain 

 these poetic fancies could be indulged vv'itii 

 one short excursion. First and foremost you 

 have to get ^?^. This is at all times, except to 

 the natives or the most experienced voyageur, 

 a service of extreme risk. If you are not 

 extremely careful to place one foot in the 

 exact centre of the canoe, then balancing 

 yourself like an acrobat to bring the other 

 foot alongside it, over goes the " fairy barque," 

 and you take a sudden header into " Daddy 

 Neptune's " diggings. This contingency 

 avoided, and a successful entree accomplished, 

 the next performance is, to sit down fiat iu 

 the bottom. This requires a careful and inge- 

 nious system of lowering — the slightest lurch 

 to either side, and you bathe to a certainty ; 

 once down, you sit with your legs straight 

 out, and as there are no thaw'ts to lean the 

 back against, the position is very nearly such 

 as would be enjoyed in the jiarish stocks. 

 Behind you, steering, sits a grim red-skin 

 fi-escoed with war-paiut ; before you a similar 

 unprepossessing specimen of humanity — the 

 paddler. Your range of vision being limited 



