233 



NEGRO SONG AT CORNWALL. 



Hey-ho-day ! me no care a dammee ! (i. e. a damn,) 



Me acquire a house, (i. e. I have a solid foundation to 



build on,) 

 Since massa come see we — oh ! 



Hey-ho-day ! neger now quite eerie, (i. e. hearty,) 

 For once me see massa — hey-ho-day ! 

 When massa go, me no care a dammee, 

 For how them usy we — hey-ho-day ! 



^ 5^ t£ 



An Alligator, crossing the morass at Bellisle, an 

 estate but a few miles distant from Cornwall, fell 

 into a water-trench, from which he struggled in 

 vain to extricate himself, and was taken alive ; so 

 that, according to the vulgar expression, he may 

 literally be said to " have put his foot in it." Fon- 

 tenelle says, that when Copernicus published his 

 system, he foresaw the contradictions which he 

 should have to undergo — "Et il se tira d' affaire 

 tres-habilement. Le jour qu'on lui presentoit le 

 premier exemplaire, scavez-vous ce qu'il fit? II 

 mourut which was precisely the resource resorted 

 to by the alligator. He died on the second morn- 

 ing of his captivity, and his proprietor, Mr. Storer, 

 was obliging enough to order the skin to be stuffed, 

 and to make me a present of him. Neptune was 

 despatched to bring him (or rather her, for nine- 

 teen eggs were found within her) over to Corn- 

 wall 5 and at dinner to-day we were alarmed with a 



