A Disappointed Horse. 5J 



A DISAPPOINTED HOPSE. 



The following anecdote was related to me by some settlers in 

 the mountains back of San Diego, bordering the Colorado desert, 

 which well illustrates the reasoning power of animals : 



A ranchman owned a black mare who had always lived in the 

 mountains, and has seen the snows of many winters on those hills 

 and in the valleys, and in some way had learned that snow was 

 essentially water in a solid state, requiring heat only to convert 

 the pure white mineral into a refreshing liquid. 



One day the ranchman started down into the desert on a pros- 

 pecting tour, as he had a slight attack of the gold fever, and he 

 took his horse along with him, traveling some ways without 

 water. When at last he came to a stopping place, the horse was 

 very thirsty, and, seeing a large bank ol very white sand near by, 

 at once started to slake his thirst by eating what he supposed was 

 snow from the drift. Only those who have had similar exper- 

 iences can imagine the feelings of the poor tired horse — hot and 

 thirsty in the arid desert, best expressed in the single word — dis- 

 couraged. C. P. Orciitt. 



THE PAEM AND ITS VAPIETIES. 



Linne, the great botanist, has not inaptly called the tall and 

 crested palm trees ''the princes of the vegetable world,'' and 

 wherever they bloom they enrich the landscape by their grace and 

 majesty. The most perfect of the order have a tall cylindrical 

 stem, which shoots upwards from the earth, without knot or 

 blemish, like an Ionic column ; springing to an immense height, 

 and yet so symmetrical that its slenderness conveys no idea of 

 feebleness. The summit bears a crown of emerald green plumes, 

 like a diadem of gigantic ostrich feathers ; these are frequently 

 twenty feet long, droop slighdy at the ends, and rustle musically 

 in the breeze. In the arid desert it forms an object of peculiar 

 beauty, as it soars, erect and graceful, near some welcome spring 

 of living water, a landmark to the wayworn traveler ; but to see it 

 in all its glory you must visit the palm-groves ot Tropical Amer- 

 ica, or Polynesia, and wander enchanted in their grateful shades. 

 Under the natural screen which the thick green feathery branches 

 supply, the orange and the lemon, the pomegranate, the olive, 

 the almond, and the vine, flourish in wild luxuriance, and pour 

 forth an abundance of luscious fruit And here, while the eye is 

 never weary of gazing on the glorious blossoms which brighten 

 and adorn the scene, the ear is also ravished with the sweet, clear 

 melody of numerous birds, attracted to the palm-grove by its 

 cool shadows, its fruits, and crystal springs. 



