A NIGHT AT SEA. 
195 
communicate a want. However, by signs and 
presents and a pretty liberal barter, he got on 
very well, some of them accompanying him ev¬ 
ery day in the forest to shoot, and receiving a 
small present Avhen he was successful. 
In the grand matter of the Paradise Birds, 
however, little was done. Only one additional 
species was found, the Seleucides aiba, of which 
he had already obtained a specimen in Salwat- 
ty ; but he learned th.at the other kinds, of which 
he showed them drawings, were found two or 
three days’ journey fiirthcr in the interior. 
When I sent my men from Dorey to Amber- 
baki, they heard exactly the same story—that 
the rarer sorts were only found several days’ 
journey in the interior, among rugged mount¬ 
ains, and that the skins were prepared by sav¬ 
age tribes who had never even been seen by any 
of the coast people. 
It seems as if Nature had taken precautions 
that these her choicest treasures should not be 
made too common, and thus be undervalued. 
This northern coast of New Guinea is exposed 
to the full swell of the Pacific Ocean, and is 
rugged and harborless. The country is all 
rocky and mountainous, covered every where 
with dense forests, offering in its swamps and 
precipices and serrated ridges an almost impass¬ 
able barrier to the unknown interior; and the 
people are dangerous savages, in the very low¬ 
est stage of bai'barism. In such a country, and 
among such a people, are found these Avonder- 
ful productions of Nature, the Birds of Para¬ 
dise, whose exquisite beauty of form and color 
and strange developments of plumage are cal¬ 
culated to excite the Avonder and admiration 
of the most civilized and the most intellectual 
of mankind, and to furnish inexhaustible ma¬ 
terials for study to the naturalist, and for spec¬ 
ulation to the philosopher. 
Thus ended my search after these beautiful 
birds. Five voyages to different parts of the 
district they inhabit, each occupying in its prep¬ 
aration and execution the larger part of a year, 
produced me only five species out of the four¬ 
teen known to exist in the Ncav Guinea district. 
The kinds obtained are those that inhabit the 
coasts of Ncav Guinea and its islands, the re¬ 
mainder seeming to be strictly confined to the 
central mountain ranges of the northern penin¬ 
sula ; and our researches at Dorey and Amber- 
baki, near one end of this peninsula, and at Sal- 
Avatty and Sorong, near the other, enable me to 
decide Avith some certainty on the native country 
of these rare and lovely birds, good specimens 
of Avhich have never yet been seen in Europe. 
A NIGHT AT SEA. 
“ T UNDERSTAND that it is a common fail- 
X ing of mothers to be jealous of their daugh- 
ters-in-laAv,” lisped Mr. Sydney Grayson, but¬ 
tering his remark on one side Avith a smile and 
on the other Avith a boAv. 
Conscious that he had risen to his full intel¬ 
lectual height to say this, remembering that he 
liAl never before been so original and profound, 
a wblime tremor of self-respect ran in chills 
doA\\i his back, and the boAV Avhich he made 
Avas partly to himself. 
The moment and the environment called for 
grandeur of mental action. For the first time 
in his life he Avas voyaging beyond sight of 
land Avitliout being too sea-sick to properly aj)- 
preciate '■the fact. Under his polished boots 
AViis a bark Avith the Oriental title of Osmanli, 
hailing frofn Ncav York, or, as Mr. Grayson de¬ 
lighted to ctill it, “ the Metropolis of the West¬ 
ern World,’land bound for Smyrna, a city Avhich, 
as he frequently stated, lay in “ the Land of the 
East, the clii\ie of the Sun.” Above him were 
bellying sails', glorious, unearthly, ghostly in 
the transforming effulgence of moonlight; and 
around him Ava^ a sparkling expanse Avhich he 
Avas graciously pleased to flatter as “ the il¬ 
limitable ocean. ”\. 
“ I have often ^oted that peculiarity in mo¬ 
thers,” continued 5^r. Grayson. “I venture to 
belieA^e that I can'-understand Mrs. Gordon’s 
feelings perfectly. She has an only son, and 
she Avants to monopolize him. She is jealous 
of her son’s Avife. A^id I must admit,” he 
smiled and puckered, ‘^that she has a danger¬ 
ous rival. If I Avere yodr respected mother-in- 
law I should die of despair. Really noAA’, Mrs. 
Gordon, I think I should.V’ 
The person Avith Avhom tie thus discoursed— 
like the majority of persona Avith AA'hom this old 
beau had spent his life in jiiscoursing—Avas a 
young lady. Harriet GoiVlon, the Avife of 
George Gedney Gordon, ahvays sufficiently pret¬ 
ty, AA'as just noAV strikingly beat^itiful. Her com¬ 
plexion dazzled ; it did not se^m earthly, and, 
indeed, altogether earthly it ^as not; some¬ 
thing of its purity and glory descended from 
the heavens ; she Avas transfiguned by glamour 
of moonlight. 
‘ ‘ Yes, she has got him, ” continued Hattie Gor¬ 
don, failing to notice thecompliment of Grayson, 
and glancing backAvard at a couple avIio sat lean¬ 
ing against the tatfrail. “ She has carried him 
off"; she has got him all to herself; ^e has cut 
me out. I presume she is perfectly happy.” 
“It Avould be a pity to disturb her jnnocent 
pleasure,” suggested the A'eteran beau, Avho en¬ 
joyed Avalking a moonlit deck Avith a pretty 
woman. 
“ I don’t understand it,” persisted llattie. 
“Why should a mother be jealous of her'£:on’s 
Avife ? Can’t slie remember that I belong to 
him—that I am part of Iiim ? It is my phAce 
by his side, I suppose. But if she finds us to¬ 
gether she fairly gloAvers.” ' 
Here slie stopped her tirade and burst intoV 
gay little laugh. 
“Veryamusing,”boAvedSydGrayson. “You' 
ppt a very absurd and amusing light xipon the 
—the circumstances.” 
“I Avas thinking of this,” she explained. 
“ Imagine a marriage : somebody steps foiAvard 
and says, ‘ I forbid the bans; the gentleman 
has a mother living!’ ” 
