Spice from 3fcro Books 
Birtb-plncu of Columbus. 
Tradition makes G’ogoietto, a small town 
through which we passed a few miles before 
reaching Genoa, the birth place of Colombas, and 
there is an inscription which marks the house of 
his reputed birth. Tt may be true and it may be 
false, for in this land e f tradition and snperstition, 
it is as easy to fabricate a tradition as an inscrip¬ 
tion, and credulity is ready to believe that it is as 
old as A dam. The house of his father was in the 
suburbs of Genoa, as is Bhown by the deed. He, 
himself, says he was horn in Genoa, an expression 
which may well mean the territory and not the 
city of Genoa. There is, therefore, some color 
for the tradition, and it is not worth while to dig 
deeper to find doubts. Ho was a Ligurian, and 
nothing could be more likely to sharpen his curi¬ 
osity, and suggest a life of adventure, than to look 
out from these rocky highlands, upon the Medi¬ 
terranean, washing the fields at its base, and cov¬ 
ered with the little, bnt daring and enterprising 
corsairs of the Levant, the Grecian Archipelago, 
and the African coast. 
How time sets things right! Brought home in 
chains, robbed in his lifetime of his honors and 
his profits, and the name of another given to his 
discoveries, time has written his name “ with iron 
and lead In the rock forever.’’ His jealous and 
triumphant enemies, as well as his royal patrons 
and enterprising followers In the path of discov¬ 
ery, arc remembered: but when we call them up 
from the land of shadows, there is always (n the 
midst of them and before them, the great Geno¬ 
ese with a glory about him, In the light of which 
they shine with a pale ray. So it will be forever. 
He went on, when every other would have given 
up in despair. He gave a New World to the king¬ 
doms of Castile and Aragon. But Castilo aud 
Aragon, and all the progeny of their descendant 
commonwealths, are dwindling and fading away, 
and a race, nearer akin to the old Ligurian—“the 
woi ld-sceking Genoese ”—is, from year to year, 
devoting the New World to the great common¬ 
wealth of freedom and mutuality,— “A Run 
through Europe,'' by Erastos C. Benedict. 
From Msmllles to Nice. 
The drive from Marseilles to Nice is one of 
great beauty. A violent rain of an hour, at start¬ 
ing, had swept along the Coast, laid the dust, and 
washed the face of nature. Immense orohards of 
olive trees, and fig-trees, and almond-trees, cover 
the plains and the bills — the cereal plants and 
the vines arc spread side by side in long strips, 
like the beds and alleys of a garden of boundless 
extent — and long lines of mulberry-trees stretch 
along the wayside and the headlands that divido 
the farms. The choicest flowerB of our conser¬ 
vatories, the rarest and rankest cactuses grow 
wild, and here and there, as you approach a vil¬ 
lage that strangers have decked with a profusion 
of plants, whose breath iB sweet as their hues are 
beautiful, the whole air Is loaded with perfume 
for miles. The shower had refreshed them all, 
and the fields seemed to smile with a newly-dis¬ 
covered joy, and gardens to wave a happy wel¬ 
come to us, as our wheels bore us toward them.— 
Ibid. 
Garibaldi in Italy. 
From Milan we made a day's run up the Lake 
of Como, highly enjoying the beauty of the 
scenery by land and water. It was too early in 
the Bpring for the hills to have put on their ver¬ 
dure, and yet the grandeur and the beauty were 
extreme. On thoB« waters and in the town the 
peacefnl fame of Volta appeared to be entirely 
drowned by the thundering renown of Garibaldi. 
The honest boatmen, in their terribly difficult dia¬ 
lect, delighted to dwell upon the events of the 
last summer; and how the fame of Garibaldi 
passed from mountain to mountain, and lake to 
lake; and how the Austrians were perplexed, and 
the people excited; aud how little boys left their 
homes in crowds to join the hero’s standard—their 
fathers and their mothers telling them that they 
would be of no use, but afterward finding that 
they had fought like soldiers'. Some ladies were 
quite as enthusiastic as the boatmen, pointing 
oat, step by step, the way that Garibaldi's forces 
c ame down the hilts, the posts to which he scat¬ 
tered them, the points at which they opened upon 
the Aostrian pickets, and then the triumphant 
conclusion, when the strong enemy made an ig¬ 
nominious retreat, carrying bis splendid artillery 
away to Cameilatu. How delighted they did seem 
to he told that even in London they might see 
coffee-houses by the name of Garibaldi, and Gar¬ 
ibaldi paletots; and for the boatmen, especially, 
it was a notable fact that in London they might 
sec advertised “Garibaldi pipes.” 
This enthusiasm for the hero we found, how¬ 
ever, by no means universal in the country. One 
was very often told that Garibaldi waB no Btates 
man, that he was not a sound and safe politician, 
and several items of information of that Bort; 
and even in reference to his soldierly qualities it 
would sometimes be said, “It is true he is a won¬ 
derful soldier, but then we have ao many of 
them.” Yet, with all this, it was plain that every 
Italian talked of his name with a certain pride 
and confidence, and those who said most by way 
of drawback would often wind it up with the ad¬ 
mission, “ After all, when the work of hunting 
the Austrians is to be done, there is nobody like 
Garibaldi.—“ Italy in Transition," by Wm. Arthur, 
A. M. 
Death of Garibaldi's Wife. 
It was on the 4th of August, 1849, shortly af¬ 
ter Rome had fallen under the arms of the French, 
that about twenty people were gathered round a 
farm-house in the village of Mandrlole, near Ra¬ 
venna. They were laborers waiting for their 
week’s pay from the steward of the Marquis 
Guiccioli. A phaeton came up, in which a wo¬ 
man was lying beside the man who drove. He 
did not look an ordinary man; but the woman 
was deadly ill. A doctor happened to be there: 
he felt her pulse, and declared that she was in the 
last stage of fever. The owner of the house had 
her carried into a room and laid upon a bed. A 
LETTER TO FARMER BOYS. 
Dear Brothers: —I can imagine the smile 
that passes over your handsome, manly faces, as 
you glance at the heading of this article, and 
wonder who has been writing to you, and you 
arrive at the conclusion that you will read it, for 
it may contain some advice of importance. It is 
simply a chat with you this pleasant morning. 
(I abhor writing on rainy days, one is so apt to 
imbibe the spirit of the weather.) 
You are having rare times, these hazy autumnal 
days, cutting up the golden corn, and shaking off 
the ripe, yellow, juicy apples, everyone worth 
their wtdght in gold. You wonder If Madam 
Health will ever ceaso to stnilo on you, as early 
in the morning you fill the bright tin pails with 
rich millc, mu) drive the cows away to the pasture 
field, bringing back with you. “Bill” and “Ros- 
inante ”—the brisk gallop back to the barn, in 
the cool, bracing morning air, sending the bright 
red blood dancing through your veins, and 
crimsoning your cheeks with a glow no less 
bright than that which shone on the red-cheeked 
peaches Which you gathered for “ mother,” and 
whose dear hands have prepared them for break¬ 
fast, adding the indispensable maple sugar aud 
cream. 
You seldom complain of being dyspeptical, 
nor are you to the necessity of always carrying 
with you a “ case ” of medicine to assist the 
digestive organs; for the light, snowy, nutri¬ 
tious bread, is easily digested. And then the 
rich, sweet butter, freBb from the dairy room; 
and the nicely cooked steak; and the delicious 
pie, made from the nicest pumpkin that grew in 
the great corn field. 
Ah, happy brothers, you are invested with true 
manhood—with true dignity. The king on his 
thrqne is not a prouder monarch than yon; 
the millionaire no greater aristocrat; and, with 
all his wealth of gold, he kneels to you for bread. 
You arc the standard of excellence. You are 
standing on the highest platform of honor. 
Emperors and presidents are beneath yon. They 
are fed and clothed with the products of your 
farms. They are dependent on yon for their 
every luxury. You may well feel proud that you 
arc the dispensers as well as the receivers. 
The young man who aspires no higher than to 
measure tape, and usks, in the most winning man¬ 
ner, “anything to-day, sir?” envies you, and well 
he may. Mis palo, attenuated face, is far in the 
shado by the aido of your honest, browned one. 
His exquisitely fitted vest and coat possess not 
half the beauty of your ample blue frock. The 
lawyer envies you as he sits in his pent up ten-by¬ 
twelve office, poring over law books, or, per¬ 
chance, trying to write a “speech.” You aro a 
greater lawyer than/i<*, foryou study Nature’s laws, 
and all will admit that the older and more expe¬ 
rienced, the most reliable. And wo know of no 
lawyer older than Dame Nature. Your office is 
tho broad, green fields, flooded with the pure air 
and golden light of Heaven. No dingy paper 
cover its walls, but it is papered with the golden- 
fringed clond—the azure sky—the distant woods 
looming up, with their massive branches of green 
and brown. And on the west side, at even, the 
day god paints for you pictures of crimson, gold, 
and gray—one that no artist can Imitate, no 
pencil portray. 
The lawyer may gather together alt his “dis¬ 
charged talents,” and he cannot even manufac¬ 
ture for himself a sign! The little strip of pine, 
on which is lettered “ Counsellor at Law,” is 
taken from the tall pine that rnlod king in your 
forest. God paints your sign on the waving sea 
of grain, and the heavy Bilken tassels of the 
stately corn—on the snow-capped buckwheat, 
The epp irel of the Kaffirs consists wholly of the 
skins of beasts, so prepared as to render them 
perfectly soft aud pliable. Sometimes they are 
long enough to reach to the feet, hang loosely 
from tho shoulders iu tho manner of a cloak, and 
are, In general, the only covering adopted by the 
tneu. To protect themselves from the parching 
effect of the sun’s rays, they anoint themselves 
from head to Toot with some unctuous BUbstanoe. 
The same materials aro used by the women, but 
their dress is of a different shape. 
The chief wealth of the Kaffir consists In bis 
herds of cattle. Nothing uffeetB him more than 
an injury done to his horned creatures, whose 
increase and prosperity appear to occupy the 
Chief place in ids thoughts, arul to be the rnling 
motive of his actions. The more laborious ocon- 
p itions of tillage, of felling wood, and of building 
dwellings, arc p.-iformed by the women, whose 
life, after marriage, is indeed one of bondage. 
Kaffraru, or Kafirland, comprises all that 
portion of country in Africa situated between lat 
32’ and 34* S., and Ion. 27* 20' and 29* 30’ E. It 
is bounded east and south by the Indian ocean, 
south-west and west by the Keiakama river, and 
north by a chain of mountains. The Kaffirs are 
described as hospitable, Intelligent, acute, and 
brave, bnt dishonest and superstitious. From a 
work recently issued by Dick A Fitzgerald, 
entitled “Narrative and Adventures of Travelers 
in Africa ,” we learn that their national character 
is bold, warlike, and independent From these 
qualities, as well as from the cast of their coun¬ 
tenance, some have conjectured that they are of 
Arabian origin. The men are extremely tall and 
well-proportioned, many being six feet and more 
in height; the women are said to be good-tem¬ 
pered, animated, anil cheerful, with teeih beauti¬ 
fully white and regular, and without the thick lips 
or flat noses of most of the natives of Africa; but 
they form a Btrong contrast to the men in the low. 
ness of their statnre, their figures being short and 
sturdy. Their name of Kaffir, or unbeliever, was 
originally given to the inhabitants of the south 
eastern coast of Africa by the Moors, and, being 
adopted by the Portuguese, it hecamo the common 
appellation of all the tribes occupying that region. 
The manner of life of these people is, in general, 
extremely simple. Their diet mostly consists of 
milk, which is kept in leathern bottles nntil it is 
sufficiently thick and acidulous. They eat, also 
boiled Oorn, which is uaualty served up in small, 
baskets, from which each one helps himself with 
his hands. They sometimes make of their corn a 
kind of pottage; at other times they form it into 
thick cakes, which arc baked on the hearth. They 
lay up provisions for winter use either in pits or 
subterranean granaries. An occasional feast of 
animal food, with the articles now mentioned, &ie 
sufficient for the support of this hardy race. 
minute but combined labor of millions, they have 
built up their reefs to the very surface of the wa 
ter. The ridge of reef having reached sach a 
height that it remains almost dry at low water, 
the poly pcs cease from building higher. On these 
foundations islands are formed, vegetation is pro¬ 
duced, and man establishes a home. Of their 
gradual development, an interesting account is 
given by an eminent traveler. After describing 
the work of the polypes, he says: 
“Sea shells, fragments of coral, sea hedge hog 
shells, and their broken off prickles, are united by 
the burning sun, through the medium of the ce¬ 
menting calcareous sand which has risen from 
tbd pulverization of the above-mentioned shells, 
into one whole or solid Btonc, which, strengthen¬ 
ed by the continual throwing up of new materials, 
gradually increases in thickness till It becomes at 
last so high that it is covered outy at some sea¬ 
sons of the year by high tides. The heat of the 
son so penetrates the mass of stone when it is 
dry, that it splits in many places, and breaks off 
in flakes. These fl ikes, so separated, are raised 
one upon another by the waves at the time of 
Tho always aolivo surf throws 
A Run Through Europe By Erastus C. Benedict. 
[lZmo.—pp. 652 j Now York: D, Appleton ic Co. 
Tun author, in bis prefatory remarks, takes up the 
query— 1 * Why publish another book of travels over 
ground made dusty by tho footsteps of many generations 
of traveler#!'’—aud says, had be known onn jnst like hi» 
“ Run,” ho would uot have thus rushed Into prink Well, 
we are glad he did not anywhere discover a family like¬ 
ness unto his volume, for It has been the means of put¬ 
ting Into onr bauds an exceedingly Interesting and vain 
able work, one that wo can - and so may all who wish to 
possess it—pernso with pleasure and profit. The manner 
in which Mr. BknkOTOt treats Ids subjects, is calculated 
to carry the reader on with an nntlagglng desire for new 
scones and Incidents. While he sought no new or un¬ 
trodden paths—hunted uo of* m lions, or penetrated no 
newjnnglos, tho flve-ttnd-twmly kingdoms and sover¬ 
eignties passed through, have a'l yielded a rich treasure 
to his spirit of inquiry. In our “ Spice” will bo found a 
few extracts, and wo may give onr readers a still greater 
taste of its quality hereafter. For sale by Stkki.k, 
Avery k Co. 
little water was brought to her; she tasted it, and 
died in her husband's arms. 
Then that strong man lifted np his voice and 
wept. It was the voice of Garibaldi. It was his 
Agnes who lay there; he gave vent to what even 
a papal official calls “ ontbursta of inconsolable 
grief’’—charged the family to give that bo^ly an 
honorable burial. Whatever may have beeii the 
words, the tone would say, “ My Agnes was the 
heroine wife of a hero.” Then he fled fro n the 
eyes of the astonished peasants, fled they knew 
not whither. Into the jaws of the Austrians? 
Into the clutohes of the Pope? No; but under 
the wing of Providence, reserved to reappear at 
Varese, and Como, and Sicily.— IbicL 1 
Virgil’s Aknbid: with Explanatory Notea. By Henry 
S. Frieze, Professor of Latin iu the State University 
of Michigan, [lfimo.—pp. 698.] New York: D. Apple- 
ton k Co. 
This now and complete edition of ViROn. will be par¬ 
ticularly acceptable to scholars, aud especially to those 
whose only knowledge of tho great Roman Bard has 
been derived from such defective editions os Com-KR's, 
Davidson's, and others, of schoolboy memory. It is got 
up as are few school books, even la these days. The 
paper is superfine, the type large, clear, sad agreeable to 
tho eye, the binding suitable and substantia), and there 
aie numerous illustrations of ** ancient usages, arts, cos¬ 
tumes, utensils, and implements of war,” which will 
prove very useful to tho student. The text adopted la 
“ the revised text of Jahn, as one of the most faultless 
and reliable, and as the one at preseut, perhaps, most 
generally approved." The explanatory notes aro copious, 
condensed, aud valuable, as the editor has not hesitated 
to avail himself of the ablest commentaries on the Acnald. 
The American student will be greatly assisted by the 
Ireqaent references to Andrew's and Stoddard's Latin 
Grammar, and to Dr. Aatuon's edition of Zumit'h Latiu 
Grammar. We commend this fine edition to the public, 
feeling assured that it will be generally adopted iu our 
schools and academies when Its merits become fully 
known. Sold by Steklh, Avery A Co. 
Teachings of Patriots and Statesmen: or the Found¬ 
ers of the Republic on Slavery By EZRA B. ChasR, 
Efiq. [pp. 495.] Philadelphia: J. W, Bradley, 
Just at the present time, when the various political 
parties in our country are marshalling thuir forces for 
tho November contest, a work liho unto this may prove 
of vuluo to the young man who is undecided as to what 
course be will pursue in tho use of the elective franchise, 
and it may shod new light Upon the old stager, whose 
doubts have placed him “upon the fence.” There are 
sixteen chapters Iu the volume, the first of which opens 
with “Occurrences iuchleut to the Act of Confedera¬ 
tion,” together with Thomas Jefferson's notes relative 
to the debate thereon—the last furnishes the Platforms 
of our political parties on the subject of Slavery, from 
1848 to 1860, while the intervening portions render our 
political history complete. Soldby Liberty Hau,& Bro. 
high water. 
blocks of coral (iVequently of a fathom in length, 
imd three or four feet thick,) and shells of marine 
anicoals between and opon the foundation stones; 
after this, calcareous sand lies undisturbed, and 
offers to the seeds and trees or plants, cast upon 
it by the waves, a soil upon which they rapidly 
grow to over-shadow Us dazzling white surface. 
Entire trunkBof trees, which are carried by rivers 
from other countries and islands, flud here at 
length a resting place after their long wanderings. 
With these Come some small animals, such as 
lizards and Insects, for the first inhabitants. Even 
before the treeB form a wood, the real sea-birds 
nestle here; strayed laud birds take refuge in the 
bushes, and at a much later period, when tho work 
has been long Binee completed, man also appears, 
builds his hut on the fruitful soil formed by the 
corruption of the leaves of trees, and calls him¬ 
self the lord and proprietor of this new creation.” 
There is much that is beautiful aa well as inter¬ 
esting in the appearance of a coral reef. On the 
coral coasts, where the water is bright and trans¬ 
parent, the effect presented by the submerged 
reefs maybe easily obseived. Every variety of 
form, glowing with vivid tints, rival the floral 
splendor of a cultivated garden. 
A Greek Grammar, for SchoolR and Collettes. By James 
Hadley, Proiessor iu Yale College. [12mo.—pp. 36(5 ] 
D, Appleton k Co. 
Wb have her© a new Greek Grammar, published iu uni¬ 
form Btyle with the preceding work. It is founded on 
the celebrated German work of Prof. Curtius, which, 
first published in 1862, has already passed through four 
editions. The author has, wisely, as we think, not 
attempted in this work a complete exhibition of the 
various Greek dialects, but has paid special attention to 
“the new views of Greek etymology and etnictnm, de- 
valoped and established by the study which the Greek, 
In common with the other Indo-European languages, 
has of late received, and is now receiving " The author 
has made frequent use of works by eminent German 
Philologists, araoog whom are Maotig, Kruger, Butt. 
MANn and XlCHNER. Both the Greek and the English 
type in this work is very dear and beautiful. This gram¬ 
mar, though not ae much called for by the exigency of 
the times as the Virgil, is still a very valuable addition 
to the series of educational books and works of reference 
published by Messrs. APTlktox k Co. Sold by Steele, 
Avert k Co. 
THE CURIOSITIES OF CORAL. 
Coral, like sponge, is one of those common 
things about which the majority of people know 
very little. The following particulars will there¬ 
fore no doubt be interesting to a large class of 
readers: 
Coral is the work of that inflnitessimally Bmall 
and laboriously industrious family, the polypes. 
Just as men are best known by their doings, so 
are these polypt-B best known by their works. 
These are spread over all parts of the world. 
They are built up from the bed of the ocean, and 
from habitable islands, as well as dangerous reefs. 
A portion even of our own country is based on a 
foundation of coral, and many of the tropical 
Islands rest entirely on masses of coral rock. The 
order and regularity with which these vast accu¬ 
mulations of solid matter are constructed, by- 
means so apparently inadequate to the end, are 
no less astonishing than the amazing number of 
such masses which are known to exist. 
Coral formations occur chiefly in the Pacific, 
the Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea. In the Indian 
Ocean, and round New Holland, they are pro¬ 
duced by various species of polypes, known as 
cellcpora, medrepora, millepora, and tuldpora. 
The navigation of the seas iu which they abound 
is rendered continually more difficult by the In¬ 
cessant labor of these animals. To trace the pro¬ 
gress of these formations, is an Interesting brauch 
of geological research. The immense height of 
the reefs may be estimated by the fact that with¬ 
in a short distance of them there are no sound¬ 
ings to a depth of several hundred fathoms. 
These zoophyte builders have laid the foundation 
of their structure deep aud Btrong, and by the 
The Rivbk-Falls into the Ocean. —Some 
idea of the enormous quantity of water that is 
perpetually flowing into the oceans of the globe, 
is derived from the extent of its chief river 
basins. The Rhone, for example, drains the 
waters from an area of 7,000 square miles of 
country; the Rhine, which has a length of fi00 
miles by its windings, drains the water from a 
Country of twice that area; and the Danube from 
05,000 square miles of surface; but the waters 
from un area of 300,000 square miloB fall into the 
St. Lawrence, and those from 1,000,000 of square 
miles lino the Mississippi, which, by its winding, 
has a length of 3,500 miles. It is estimated that 
1,800,000,000 of tuns of water fall dally Into the 
Mediterranean, which, besides the great rivers 
that fall into it, receives more than twenty 
secondary rivers and innumerable smaller streams. 
More than a fourth of the river water of all Europe 
falls into the Black Sea.— Hentley' x Miscellany. 
Course of Ancient OkoUrai-hy. Arranged with Special 
Reference to Convenience of Recitation. By. H. I. 
Schmidt, D. D,, author of “ History of Education: 
Plan of Culture and Instruction," “ A Treatise on the 
Eucharist,” etc. [12mo.—pp, 328] New York: D, 
Appletou k Co. 
This new work of Dr. Schmidt has been prepared 
“ Bolely with the design of I'urnishiog a text-book ar¬ 
ranged with special reference to convenience of recita¬ 
tion.” It contains all the important facts and data, the 
real quintessence of Dr. Anthon’s elaborate work on 
Ancient Geography, omitting the minor geographical 
and historical details. The author has consulted the 
very best authorises In the preparation of hi* work, so 
that it is aa reliable as oar knowledge of the Ancient 
World will permit. The matter of the work is divided 
into short paragraphs, and the numerous questions, to 
be found in the lower margin corresponding to these, 
will be of great assistance to both teacher and pupil. 
For sale by Stbblh, Avert k Co. 
There are many shining qualities in the mind 
of man, but none so useful as discretion. It is 
this, indeed, which gives a value to all the rest, 
and sets them to work in their proper places, and 
turns them to the advantage of their possessor. 
Without It, learning is pedantry; wit, imperti¬ 
nence; virtue itself looks like weakness; and the 
best parts only qualify a man to be more sprightly 
in errors and active in his own prejudices. 
Don’t live in hope with yonr arms folded; for¬ 
tune smiles on those who roll up their sleeves and 
put their shoulders to the wheel. 
