
KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 

brance of that Champagne, that Hock, that 
Claret, and that Madeira, poured out, and 
shared with , but no, we won’t ; we really 
won't! It is too much for us. We shall be 
“at it again” so soon, that we will let our 
brain rest for the present, and drown the 
past in happy anticipation of the coming 
future. Pic-nics are now fairly “ on.” 
We have said nothing about the cheerful 
gossip on the road down. How some were 
laughed at for being up too early, and others 
too late. ‘* How nice mamma looks!” and 
“ How Emily Lamb colored up, when William 
Cavendish compared her to a drooping lily, 
and asked permission to raise her lovely 
head!” &c. &e. This small-talk is sacred 
to the day, and ought not to be repeated. 
Happy faces, light hearts, good temper, 
cheerfulness, and innocence,—these are the 
characteristics of the Pic-nic we describe. 
We are “immense” on such occasions; and 
we place our royal person at the immediate 
disposal of all who advocate our principles in 
these matters. We are “good” for fourteen 
hours at the least, and shall even then 
return home gleeful,—“ jolly.” 
It would be trenching on good manners, were 
we to attempt to proceed any further. We 
have hinted at everything that is needful. 
We have introduced the parties to each other. 
We have conducted them to their rendezvous. 
We have unpacked the treasures of the festive 
board. It is now for each one to endeavor 
tomake the day pass pleasantly. It requires 
no effort. Ifthe day be fine, happiness must 
be the issue. The day will close as it began— 
with a multitude of smiling faces speaking, 
as plainly as smiles can speak, the feelings of 
the heart. 
We told our brother Cits, last month, that 
we would try and draw them out by the power 
of our pen. Let us hope that this little sketch 
may have the desired effect. 
WHo, we ask, would be broiled on flag- 
stones, that can so readily and so reasonably 
be attracted into the Forest,—and in such 
company too! 

THE QUIET HOUR. 

Listsy, listen, sounds are stealing 
Tiptoe on the balmy air; 
Eve, her rainbow robe revealing, 
Blushes through the twilight fair— 
Whilst dreamy voices,touch’d with Pleasure’s pain, 
Hum a sweet incense through the yearning 
rain. 
Listen, listen, streams are singing 
Down amid the amber glade; 
Fairies perfumed bells are ringing, 
The night-bird trills from out the shade: 
Shall not our silent souls awake to move 
In unison, when all around is Love ? 
ele ht, 

31 
MORE OF NATURE’S WONDERS. 
THE AZTECK CHILDREN. 

HAVE OUR READERS YET SEEN THESE 
VERY curious wonders of the living world ? 
If not, they should do so, for they are really 
marvels in their way. 
There are two of these children, a girl 
anda boy. In the boy, the lower part of 
the face much projects. The lips are dis- 
proportionately thick, and the nose a good 
Jewish aquiline. His eyes are dark and 
humid, affectionate in expression, and having 
a lively animal intelligence in every glance. 
His complexion is a rich dark olive, and his 
hair black,— falling in long curls. His 
height is about three feet; his form slight 
and supple; his arms and hands are feeble 
and helpless-looking. 
The girl has nearly the same characteris- 
tics, but she is slighter and smaller. On 
the whole, their appearance and actions are 
interesting. They run about the room with 
liveliness, and examine every new object 
with a passing curiosity. They cannot speak 
any language of their own, and only repeat 
afew words; but they easily understand 
routine questions. They are ‘‘ said to be” 
some of the descendants of the Aztecks—the 
race driven from Mexico by Cortes. Among 
that race there was a peculiar hereditary 
priesthood, and in course of time the exclu- 
sive intermarriage of the sacerdotal families 
caused the degeneracy of the race. But 
the popular veneration exalted the race from 
priests to idols; and in the present country of 
the Aztecks, these little beings are set cross- 
legged on altars, and worshipped. A rather 
marvellous story is told of the capture of these 
children :-— 
In 1848, Mr. Huertis, of Baltimore, and Mr. 
Hammond, of Canada, attempted to explore 
Central America. They had read Stevens’s 
account, in his Central America, of a conversa- 
tion between himself and a priest residing at 
Santa Cruz del Quiche, relative to an unexplored 
city on the other side of the Great Sierra range, 
the glittermg domes and minarets of which the 
priest averred having seen from the summit of 
the Sierra. The people, manners, and customs of 
this city, were supposed to be precisely the same 
asin the days of Montezuma. Messrs. Huertis 
and Hammond arrived at Belize in the autumn 
of 1848, and, turning south-west, arrived at Coban 
on Christmas-day. They were there joined by 
Pedro Velasquez of San Salvador, a Spaniard. 
From Coban they proceeded in search of the 
mysterious city. From Velasquez alone is any 
account of their travels to be obtained. Huertis 
and Hammond have never returned to tell their 
tale. 
According to the statement of Velasquez, on 
the 19th of May they reached the summit of the 
Sierra, at an altitude of 9500 feet, in lat. 15° 
48' N., and beheld in the distance the domes 

