14 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



triumphantly down the bank. His horse, as 

 I subsequently learned, had behaved ad- 

 mirably well; never swerving in the least 

 until he had fired. His ball, we afterwards 

 discovered, had entered the left eye, and 

 must have given excruciating pain, but was 

 not fatal. Hofer then wheeled round his 

 horse, and followed me down the declivity ; 

 aware that the elephant, from the great 

 weight of its head, is unable to go down a 

 steep hill with any rapidity. There was this 

 difference, however, between us, that whilst 

 Uncle Toby had the bit clinched in his teeth 

 and was perfectly unmanageable from ex- 

 cessive fear, Hofer's horse was completely in 

 hand, and he could do with him what he 

 pleased. The elephant labored after us, 

 blood streaming from his eye ; and his whole 

 appearance indicated excessive fury and 

 intense pain. 



When I had now nearly reached the base 

 of the hill — our enemy having been left very 

 far behind — my horse, in his wild gallop, 

 threw his fore-legs into a little swamp, 

 where they sank deeply. I was thrown far 

 away over his head, whilst he rolled help- 

 lessly on his side. I was not hurt ; but the 

 loss of a moment might have been the loss of 

 my life, so jumping up, I grasped my rifle 

 more firmly than ever, and stood upon the 

 defensive. A moment of intense interest to 

 both of us succeeded. Life or death hung 

 upon the issue ; for the elephant, having 

 witnessed the accident, left the pursuit of 

 Hofer, and directed his steps towards me. 

 There might have been time to climb into a 

 tree, but I did not make the attempt. My 

 whole mind was on fire with the earnest 

 desire to bring down the monster. Hofer, 

 seeing what had happened, drew up his 

 horse on the hill's side — the elephant, still 

 advancing, soon came in a line with him, his 

 left, and now blind side, being turned towards 

 him. Seeing that he was not observed, 

 Hofer dismounted, and proceeded to take 

 aim immediately behind the shoulder-blade, 

 as the animal labored heavily along. Pre- 

 cisely at the moment when I discharged both 

 barrels full into the broad forehead, Hofer's 

 ball penetrated his side. 



A momentary check to the animal's pro- 

 gress seemed the only result of this double 

 fire at the instant. He advanced twenty 

 paces or so farther, and then fell headlong 

 to the earth ; turning over gradually on his 

 right side, and beating the ground ineffec- 

 tually with his trunk. 



THOUGHTS ON VEGETABLE LIFE. 



GRATITUDE —A DIVINE INCENSE. 



Among the very loveliest of the Virtues is 

 Gratitude. How it purifies the heart, — and 

 hallows the affections ! To feel grateful for favors 

 received (we speak experimentally), is to enjoy a 

 sweet foretaste of Heaven upon earth. 



Though called His " lowest works," yet these declaie 

 God's goodness beyond thought, — His power Divine. 

 . Milton. 



The phenomena which excite our 

 wonder, and engage our attention in con- 

 nection with inert matter, are truly sur- 

 prising : and they impress the mind with 

 admiration of the stupendous scale on which 

 many of them are displayed, and the vast 

 periods of time over which the full process 

 of their development extends. 



But far more wonderful is the principle of 

 life, even when exhibited in its very lowest 

 forms of organised existence. The poet has 

 been accused of a sentimental exaggeration, 

 when, in his indignant protest against cruelty 

 to the lower creation, he exclaims — 



The very beetle that we tread upon. 

 In mortal suffering feels a pang as great 

 As when a giant dies. 



There are, however, both truth and wisdom 

 in these lines. That wondrous mechanism 

 of limbs, muscles, and feelers, wings and 

 eyes, feathery down, or glancing plates of 

 mail, which reveal ever new wonders and 

 beauties under the microscope, and put to 

 shame all the mechanical ingenuity of our 

 steam-engines and machinery — that wondrous 

 mechanism is Grod's handy work, and the life 

 which we thoughtlessly extinguish is His gift, 

 and its enjoyment one of the ends for which 

 He created it. 



The butterfly, which flits from flower to 

 flower, the house-fly finding verge enough in 

 the sunbeam that enters through some un- 

 guarded chink, or even the unsightly grub, 

 or ear-wig, that seem to the careless eye as 

 blots on the garden, and intruders among 

 pleasant fruits and flowers ; all are capable 

 of an enjoyment as amply suited to the ca- 

 pacities of their nature, as we are of pleasure, 

 and also of pain. How harsh an act is it, 

 needlessly, and without provocation, to tread 

 out that mysterious and wonderful gift of 

 life, which not all the wisdom or ingenuity of 

 man could restore ! This mysterious prin- 

 ciple of life is the greatest and most incom- 

 prehensible wonder that excites our curious 

 interest, and proves the limits of our human 

 knowledge. The body animated with life, 

 while wrapt in the restorative repose of sleep, 

 and the same body in the destroying grasp 

 of death, seem at the first glance so nearly 

 similar, that they are not always to be dis- 

 criminated. Yet how mighty is the differ- 

 ence between 



Death and his brother Sleep ! 



The contrast puts all the boasted wisdom of 

 man to shame. 



The points of resemblance, as well as of 

 contrast, between animal and vegetable life, 

 present subjects of interesting study. The 



