scene, in which man also plays his part. The birds of the air, the fishes of the water, the beasts of the earth, are all obliged to pay their tribute to his various wants to appease his hunger, to clothe his body, or to gratify his greed of gain. But as soon as the first frosts of September announce the approach of winter, all animals, with but few exceptions, hasten to leave a region where the sources of life must soon fail. The geese, ducks, and swans return in dense flocks to the south; the strand-birds seek in some lower latitude a softer soil which allows their sharp beaks to seize a 'burrowing prey; the waterfowl forsake the bays and channels that will soon be blocked up with ice; the reindeer once more return to the forest; and in a short time nothing is left that can induce man to prolong his stay in the treeless plain. Soon a thick mantle of snow covers the hardened earth, the frozen lake, the ice-bound river; and conceals them all-for seven, eight, nine months at a time— under its monotonous pall, except where the furious north-east wind sweeps it away and lays bare the naked rock. This snow, which, after it has once fallen, 'persists until the long summer day has effectually thawed it, protects in an admirable manner the vegetation of the higher latitudes against the cold of the long winter season. Thanks to this protection, and to the influence of a sun which for three or four months together circles above the horizon,3 and in favourable localities calls forth the powers of vegetation in an 'incredibly short time, even Washington, Grinnell Land, and Spitzbergen are able to boast of flowers. The Arctic forest-regions are of still greater extent than the vast treeless plains which they encircle. When we consider that they form an almost continuous belt, stretching across three fourths of the world, in a breadth of from one thousand to fourteen hundred miles, even the woods of the Amazon, which cover a surface fifteen times greater than that of the British Isles, shrink into comparative insignificance. Unlike the tropical forests, which are characterized by an endless variety of trees, these northern woods are almost entirely composed of cone-bearers, and one single kind of fir or pine often covers an immense extent of ground. Another peculiarity of these forests is their apparent youth. This is sufficiently explained by the shortness of the summer, which, though able to bring forth new shoots, does not last long enough for the formation of wood. Hence the growth of trees becomes slower and slower the farther north they are found. A third 'distinctive feature of the Arctic forests is their harmless character. There the traveller finds no poisonous plants; even thorns and prickles are rare. No venomous snake glides through the thicket, no crocodile lurks in the swamp. Even their beasts of prey-the bear, the lynx, the wolf-are less dangerous and blood-thirsty than the dreaded monsters of the torrid zone. abun'dance, plen'ty. announce', in'timate. appease, assuage'. bur'rowing, min'ing. converts', transforms'. counteract', check. depositing, plaç'ing. enormous, vast. lieved. inhospitable, unfriendly, distinc'tive,characteris'tic. insignificance, unimport' effec'tually, thoroughly. el'evated, raised. ance. interrupted. brōk'en. 'Mercury into a solid body. The fact that mercury freezes at 39° below zero, makes spirit thermometers preferable for use in high latitudes. (See lesson on The Thermometer, p. 180.) 2 Ptarmigan (tar'megan), a bird of the grouse family, called, from the colour of its wings and breast, the white grouse. Its legs are feathered to the toes. It frequents lofty mountains, as those of Scandinavia and Scotland. It is not found in England. "Above the horizon. During summer in the northern hemisphere there is around the North Pole-then leaning towards the lat'itude, distance from the unexplored', not searched. sun-a region, varying in extent from day to day, within which, for many weeks together, the sun never sinks below the horizon. Then the polar regions enjoy perpetual day. During winter the same regions are subject to perpetual night. (See PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: The Earth as a Planet.) • Washington, Grinnell Land. - The former, the extreme north-west of Greenland, adjoining the open sea of Kane or Hayes; the latter west of the former, and separated from it by Kennedy Channel, a continuation of Baffin Bay. QUESTIONS.-What probably rolls around the North Pole? Who discovered that sea? What is its probable breadth? Name the three zones of the Arctic regions. Of what has the belt of ice been the scene? How far has man penetrated into it? What is the average winter temperature within the Arctic Circle? How low has the thermometer been known to fall in the extreme north? How is man able to bear these low temperatures? What is the treeless zone called? By what is the want of trees there caused? What forms the chief vegetation there? What causes its awful silence in winter? When do the birds return? What has attracted them? What birds of prey follow the sea-fowl? With what do the rivers at the same time swarm? What leads the reindeer to the sea-shore? What leads man also into that region in summer? When do the animals again migrate southward? Of what use is the snow in these high latitudes? Why is the sun's influence so great there in summer? What is the extent of the Arctic forest regions? Compare their extent with that of the woods of the Amazon. Wherein do they differ in character from tropical woods? How is their apparent youth accounted for? What is meant by their harmless character? THE BELLS. HEAR the sledges with the bells-silver bells! What a world of 'merriment their 'melody foretells! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, in the icy air of night! while the stars, that oversprinkle all the heavens, seem to twinkle with a 'crystalline delight; keeping time, time, time, in a sort of Runic rhyme,2 to the 'tintinnabulation that so musically wells from the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, from the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. Hear the mellow wedding bells-golden bells! What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! Through the balmy air of night how they ring out their delight! From the molten-golden notes, and all in tune, what a liquid ditty floats to the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats on the moon! Oh, from out the sounding cells what a gush of 'euphony 'voluminously wells! How it swells, how it dwells on the future! How it tells of the 'rapture that impels to the swinging and the ringing of the bells, bells, bells, of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells-to the rhyming and the chiming of the bells! Hear the loud alarum bells-brazen bells!4 What a tale of terror, now, their 'turbulency tells! In the startled ear of night how they scream out their affright! Too much horrified to speak, they can only shriek, shriek, out of tune; in a 'clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, in a mad 'expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire, leaping higher, higher, higher, with a resolute endeavour now-now to sit or never, by the side of the pale-faced moon. Oh, the bells, bells, bells! what a tale their terror tells of despair! How they clang, and clash, and roar! What a horror they outpour on the bosom of the 'palpitating air! Yet the ear it fully knows, by the twanging and the clanging, how the danger ebbs and flows: yet the ear distinctly tells, in the jangling and the 'wrangling, how the danger sinks and swells, by the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells, of the bells, of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells-in the clamour and the clangour of the bells! Hear the tolling of the bells-iron bells !5 What a world of solemn thought their 'monody compels! In the silence of the night how we shiver with affright at the melancholy menace of their tone; for every sound that floats from the rust within their throats is a groan. And the people-ah, the people—they that dwell up in the steeple all alone, and who, tolling, tolling, tolling, in that muffled 'monotone, feel a glory in so rolling on the human heart a stone-they are neither man nor woman— they are neither brute nor human-they are Ghouls!6 And their king it is who tolls; and he rolls, rolls, rolls, rolls a 'pæan from the bells! And his merry bosom swells with the pean of the bells! And he dances and he yells; keeping time, time, time, in a sort of Runic rhyme, to the pean of the bells-of the hells keeping time, time, time, in a sort of Runic rhyme, to the throbbing of the bells-of the bells, bells, bells-to the sobbing of the bells; keeping time, time, time, as he knells, knells, knells, in a happy Runic rhyme, to the rolling of the bells-of the bells, bells, bells-to the tolling of the bells, of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells to the moaning and the groaning of the bells. alä'rum, warn'ing. clam'orous, vocif'erous. clañ'gour, harsh'ness. [ling. crystalline, clear, sparkendeavour, attempt'. eu'phony, pleasant sound. expostula'tion, strance. remon' fran'tic, furious. mel'ody, sweet sound. 'Silver bells. It is the purpose of the poem not only to describe, but also to imitate the characters of the different bells referred to. The verse is thus made to echo the various sounds successively. The silver sledge bells heard in the frosty air have a sharp and clear tinkling sound, suggestive of merriment. EDGAR ALLAN POE. [ling. mon'otone, unvaʼried sound. pæ'an, song of tri'umph. palpitating, throbbing. rap ture, delight'. tintinnabula tion, tink'turbulency, tu'mult. volu'minously, co'piously. wrangling, jan'gling. make melody that is, a succession of sweet sounds; but the wedding bells make harmony, or the sweet agreement of different notes sounded together, -a concord of sweet sounds." Brazen bells.-These are the bells that startle the sleepers in the night with the alarm of fire. Their tale of terror is screamed out in a wildly clamorous clash and roar; and this is well imitated in the turbulency of the verse. 2 Ru'nic rhyme.-Runes, the name of the peculiar characters of the old Teutonic and Scandinavian alphabets, is also applied to Gothic verses or rhymes. Their peculiarity is, that the lines are very short, so that the rhymes-whether head-rhyme (alliteration) or tail-rhyme-follow one another in quick succession, like the peals-solemn and mournful. of bells. This is what is meant by Runic rhyme,―words which are themselves an example of alliteration. 5 Iron bells. This is the "passing bell," or knell, tolled at the hour of death, or immediately thereafter. Its character is that of a monody, or song of lamentation Golden bells.-The mellow wedding bells express present rapture, and foretell a world of happiness. The sledge bells • Ghouls (gools), demons in Eastern fable, who were supposed to prey upon human bodies. What is to mankind a melancholy, dirge-like roll, is to them, therefore, a joyful pean or song of triumph, which makes them dance and yell with delight. 110 THE POLAR WORLD. THE POLAR WORLD. PART II. THOUGH nature generally wears a more stern and forbidding aspect on advancing towards the Pole, yet the high latitudes have many beauties of their own. Nothing can exceed the 'magnificence of an Arctic sunset, clothing the snow-clad mountains and the skies with all the glories of colour; or be more serenely beautiful than the clear star-lit night, illumined by the brilliant moon, which for days continually circles around the horizon, never setting until she has run her long course of brightness. The uniform whiteness of the landscape and the general transparency of the atmosphere add to the lustre of her beams, which serve to guide the natives in their nomadic life, and to lead them to their hunting-grounds. A number of icebergs floating in the sea-a familiar scene in polar regions-is one of the most magnificent spectacles in nature. But the wonderful beauty of these 'crystal cliffs never appears to greater advantage than when clothed by the midnight sun1 with all the splendid colours of twilight. In the distance, they seem like masses of burnished metal or solid flame. Nearer at hand, they are like huge blocks of purest marble inlaid with pearl and opal gems. Thousands of sparkling little cascades leap into the sea from their sides, the water being discharged from lakes of melted snow and ice that repose in the quietude of their valleys. But of all the magnificent spectacles that relieve the monotonous gloom of the Arctic winter, there is none to equal the magical beauty of the Aurora.2 Night covers the snow-clad earth; the stars glimmer feebly through the haze which so frequently dims their brilliancy in the high latitudes, when suddenly a broad and clear bow of light spans the horizon in the direction where it is traversed by the magnetic meridian.3 This bow sometimes remains for several hours, heaving or waving to and fro, before it sends forth streams of light toward the zenith. Sometimes these flashes proceed from the bow of light alone; at others they simultaneously shoot forth from many opposite parts of the horizon, and form a vast sea of fire, whose brilliant waves are continually changing their position. Finally they all unite in a magnificent crown or cupola of light, with the appearance of which the 'phenomenon attains its highest degree of splendour. |