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KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



this to be the case, and the above tends to confirm 

 the fact. — A Country Gentleman. 



[We quite agree with you ; and cannot imagine 

 the possibility of any hounds being at fault in the 

 matter of scent, unless intervening water has 

 destroyed it.] 



Epitaphs — You have already written your own 

 epitaph ; and a very lovely one it is (see Vol. II., 

 page 154), my dear Mr. Editor. I have seen no- 

 thing that pleases me half so well. The following, 

 however, by Eliza Cook, is very sweet ; and I should 

 like, s'il vous plait, to see it registered in our 

 own Journal. It carries a noble " moral" with 

 it. — Dew-drop. 



"When the cold tablet bears my fading name, 

 Let no long record boast its worth or fame. 

 No ! the plain monument that Truth would raise, 

 Would give far more of censure than of praise. 



Let no unholy murmur note my life, 

 As " one dark scene of sorrow, pain, or strife ;" 

 Though there's another world of purer bliss, 

 The heart that's grateful thanks a God in this. 



Strangers may pause, to mark who dwells below — 

 Perchance a friend may read, perchance a foe ; 

 What can they read ? — that Jov, Affection, 



^ Trust, 

 Hate, Scorn, and Malice, — all end in " dust 

 to dust !" 



[Thanks, noble-hearted Dew-drop. Thy heart 

 is pure as thy name. Thy thoughts are holy, — 

 thy aim God-like. If, instead of the fulsome adu- 

 lation, exaggerated praises, and vulgar sentiments, 

 that so universally disfigure the tomb-stones in our 

 public cemeteries, the glory were given to God 

 instead of to ourselves, all would be well. But we 

 find, everywhere, the " ruling passion strong in 

 death." To walk through Kensall Green Ceme- 

 tery, and notice the " Esquires" ostentatiously and 

 deeply graven on the stones ; and the recorded 

 "virtues" of many men, whose pride and follies 

 whilst living knew no bounds — is disgusting in- 

 deed ! Many an hour have we spent in this, and 

 other similar places ; marvelling the while at 

 the vile taste of sorrowing relatives, who could 

 paint such wilful falsehoods on a stone, and read 

 them afterwards with a serious countenance. The 

 human heart has been said, by a Wise man, to be 

 "deceitful above all things." Here, if no where 

 else, have we most convincing proofs of the truth 

 of the saying. The prince and the rich man hate all 

 below them. This is said to be " natural." Is 

 it ! See the wealthy and the poor, side by side, in 

 the cold ground, — and if we have the power to 

 "think," let us exercise it. We must — aye must 

 say " amen !" to Eliza Cook's wise remark ; and 

 bow in humble resignation to our universal doom 

 — " dust to dust !"] 



Mice, Cats, and Birds. — I am no " Bachelor of 

 Arts," my dear sir, and yet am I a regular old 

 bachelor. [Fie ! for confessing such a sad fact !] 

 I had a cat, — she is dead. Peace to her ashes ! 

 Since Kitty's death, the mice have it all their 

 own way. My cheese disappears ; my flowers are 

 nibbled off; my sugar is poisoned; my bread is 

 pawed about, and all the eatables are "mousy." 



I am positively half-starved ; and living as I do at 

 least a mile from an} 7 shop, I am often put to it to 

 get a meal. I set traps for them. They won't 

 go in ! cunning Isaacs ! They saw one of their 

 tribe thus sacrificed some time ago, — and ever 

 since, they have been " up to trap." I can't 

 sleep for them. And then my birds — my poor 

 dear canaries, linnets, and goldfinches ! The mice 

 revel in their cages, and foul all their food. I sus- 

 pend their cages from the ceiling. What of that ? 

 The enemy scales the bookcase ; ;and, with a sin- 

 gle bound, is "at his desired haven " Yes, Mr. 

 Editor, and they come out, while I am quietly 

 seated before the fire ; and they play upon the 

 hearth. And yet you say — I must not keep a cat ! 

 How then shall I get rid of the mice, and emanci- 

 pate my poor little birds from their tyranny ? — 

 Dolorosus. 



[Heark'e, Dolorosus. Compromise the matter. 

 A cat is out of the question ; but the mice must 

 die. Cut two slices of thin bread ; and butter 

 them well. Rub each slice of bread, on the but- 

 tered side, with a little common carbonate of 

 barytes (procurable at any druggist's shop) ; and 

 then place the bread and butter, sandwich fashion, 

 together. Leave this in sections, about the room 

 and stair-case. It will do its own work, and you 

 will be deprived of your victims in a single day. 

 There is no cruelty in this. Their death is in- 

 stantaneous. This visitation serves you right, 

 for being " an old bachelor." Change your con- 

 dition, Sir ; and then you will not only be free 

 from mice, but a happy, jolly fellow to boot.] 



Depth of the Ocean. — At a recent meeting of 

 the Royal Society, the Earl of Enniskillen, vice 

 president, in the chair, a very interesting com- 

 munication from Capt. Denham, R.N., of her 

 Majesty's ship Herald, was read. Capt. Denham 

 is engaged on a scientific voyage in the above 

 ship ; and among other subjects, he was particu- 

 larly enjoined to endeavor on favorable occasions 

 to ascertain the depth of the ocean. The present 

 communication gives an account of a deep sea 

 sounding in 7706 fathoms in 36 deg. 49 min. 

 south latitude, and 37 deg. 6 min. west longitude. 

 The sounding was obtained on a calm day, Octo- 

 ber 30, 1852, in the passage from Rio de Janeiro 

 to the Cape of Good Hope. The sounding line 

 was l-10th of an inch in diameter, laid in one 

 length, and weighing, when dry, lib. for every 

 hundred fathoms. Capt. Denham received from 

 Commodore M'Keevor, of the United States navy, 

 commanding the Congress frigate, 15,000 fathoms 

 of this line, 10,000 fathoms on one reel and 5000 

 on another, and he considers it to have been ad- 

 mirably adapted for the purpose for which it was 

 made and to which it was applied. The plummet 

 weighed 91b., and was 11 inches long and 1-7 inch 

 in diameter. When 7706 fathoms had rim off the 

 reel, the sea-bottom was reached. Captain Denham 

 states that Lieut. Hutcheson and himself, in sepa- 

 rate boats, with their own hands, drew the plum- 

 met up 50 fathoms several times ; and after it had 

 renewed its descent, it stopped on each occasion 

 abruptly at the original mark to a fathom, and 

 would not take another turn off the reel. The 

 whole time taken by the plummet in descending 

 to this amazing depth of 7706 fathoms, or 7-7 

 geographical miles of 60 to a degree, was 9 hours 



