KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



127 



warmth without it, particularly if you read ; 

 and then — if you take in a newspaper — 

 what a delightful change from the wet, raw, 

 dabbling fold of paper, when you first touch 

 it, to the dry, crackling, crisp superficies 

 which, with a skilful spat of the finger-nails 

 at its upper end, stands at once in your hand, 

 and looks as if it said, " Come, read me." 



Nor is it the look of the newspaper only 

 which the fire must render complete ; it is 

 the interest of the ladies who may happen 

 to form part of your family — of your wife in 

 particular, if you have one — to avoid the 

 niggling and pinching aspect of cold ; it 

 takes away the harmony of her features, and 

 the graces of her behavior; while, on the 

 other hand, there is scarcely a more interest- 

 ing sight in the world than that of a neat, 

 delicate, good-humored female, presiding at 

 your breakfast table, with hands tapering 

 out of her long sleeves, eyes with a touch of 

 Sir Peter Lely in them, and a face set in a 

 little oval frame of muslin tied under the 

 chin, and retaining a certain tinge of the 

 pillow without its cloudiness. 



This is, indeed, the finishing grace of a 

 fireside, though it is impossible to have it at 

 all times, and perhaps not always politic, 

 especially for the studious. — Leigh Hunt. 



MUSQUITOES, ANTS, &c. IN THE BKAZILS. 



The musquitoes, ants, baraten, and sand- 

 fleas, are another source of annoyance ; 

 many a night have I been obliged to sit up, 

 tormented and tortured by the bite of these 

 insects. It is hardly possible to protect 

 provisions from the attacks of the baraten 

 and ants, The latter, in fact, often appear 

 in long trains of immeasurable length, pur- 

 suing their course over every obstacle which 

 stands in the way. During my stay in the 

 country at Herr Geiger's, I beheld a swarm 

 of this description traverse a portion of the 

 house. It was really most interesting to see 

 what a regular line they formed ; nothing- 

 could make them deviate from the direction 

 they had first determined on. Madame 

 Geiger told me that she was one night awoke 

 by a horrible itching ; she sprang immedi- 

 ately out of bed, and beheld a swarm of ants 

 of the above description pass over her bed. 

 There is no remedy for this ; the end of the 

 procession, which often lasts four or six 

 hours, must be waited for with patience. 

 Provisions are to some extent protected 

 from them, by placing the legs of the tables 

 and presses in plates filled with water. 

 Clothes and linen are laid in tightly- fitting 

 tin canisters, to protect them not only from 

 the ants, but also from the baraten and the 

 damp. The worst plague of all, however, 

 are the sand-fleas, which attach themselves 

 to one's toes, underneath the nails, or some • 



times to the soles of the feet. The moment 

 a person feels an itching in these parts, he 

 must immediately look at the place ; if he 

 sees a small black point surrounded by a 

 small white ring, the former is the flea, and 

 the latter the eggs which it has laid in the 

 flesh. The first thing done is to loosen the 

 skin all round as far as the white ring is 

 visible ; the whole deposit is then extracted, 

 and a little snuff strewed in the empty space. 

 The best plan is to call in the first Black you 

 may happen to see, as they all perforin this 

 operation very skilfully. — From " A Woman's 

 Journey Round the World" 



HUNTING THE HY2ENA. 



There is something " deliciously cool " in 

 the following remarks of "a traveller." We 

 confess we had rather sit at home and read 

 them, than play first fiddle in the hunt. The 

 scene is laid in India. Says the traveller, 

 V Syud Daoud described to me the mode of 

 tying a hyaena in his lair, as follows : — 

 ' When,' said he, ' you have tracked the 

 beast to his den, you take a rope with 

 two slip knots upon it in your right hand, 

 and, with your left holding a felt cloak before 

 you, you go boldly, but quietly in. The animal 

 does not know what is the nature of the 

 danger, and therefore retires to the back of 

 his den ; but you may always tell where his 

 head is by the glare of his eyes. You keep 

 moving on gradually towards him on your 

 knees, and when you are within distance, 

 throw the cloak over his head, close with him, 

 and take care that he does not free himself. 

 The beast is so frightened that he cowers 

 back, and, though he may bite the felt, he 

 cannot turn his neck round to hurt you ; so 

 you quietly feel for his tioofore legs, slip the 

 knots over them, and then, with one strong 

 pull draw them tight up to the back of his 

 neck, and tie them there. The beast is now 

 your own, and you do what you like 'with him. 

 We generally take those which we catch 

 home to the khail, and hunt them on the 

 plain, with bridles in their 'mouths, that our 

 dogs may be taught not to fear the brutes 

 when they meet them wild.' " 



What nice " stories" travellers do tell! 

 And it would appear as if they related them 

 until they credited them themselves. 



Truth: and Falsehood. — Falsehood is the 

 faint light which, glimmering amid the darkness 

 of the noisome fens, leads the unfortunate traveller 

 to destruction. Truth is the radiant sun in Leo, 

 when he has gained the zenith, and pours a flood 

 of light upon the wanderer's path. Falsehood 

 brings misfortune and misery in her train, like 

 the spreading pestilence of the wind of the desert; 

 but Truth, like the odoriferous gales of summer, 

 imparts health and vigor, while she administers 

 pleasure and delight. 



