And disappointment's wintry shower Hath left no verdant token,

To bloom with happy hopes of spring, Then may some angel spirit come, And bear me on a heavenward wing, To a sweet and peaceful home.

TO A ROBIN IN A SNOW STORM.
Why, pretty robin, why so late,
Prolong thy lingering stay,
Why with thy little whistling note,
Art thou not far away;
Away beneath some sunny sky
Where winter ne'er is known,

Where flowers that never seem to die
Down sloping hills are strown?
Thou shiverest in the bitter gale,
And hast a piteaus air;

And thy loud sorg doth seem a tale,
Of sorrow and of care.

Say is thy frame with hunger shaken,
Or hast thou lost thy way,

Or art thou sick, and here forsaken,
Despairing dost thou stay?
Alas, I see thy little wing,

Is broken, and thou canst not fly,

And here, poor, trembling, helpless thing
Thou waitest but to de.

Nay, little flutterer, de not fear,
I'll take thee to my breast,

I'll bear thee home, thy heart I'll cheer,
And thou shalt be at rest.

And oh, when sorrow through my heart,
With bitterness is sent,

May some kind friend releve the smart,
And give me back content.
And in that sad and gloomy hour,
When the spirit's wing is broken,

CAPTAIN MORRELL.

Captain Morrell sailed from New York in the schooner Antarctic in September, 1829. After stopping at the Cape Verd Islands, and visiting Kerguelen's Land in the Indian Ocean, and several other interesting spots, on his way, he arrived in January, 1830, at New Zealand. From this place, he soon after shaped his course for the Philippine Islands, and arrived at Manilla on the 10th of March. If our young readers will look at a map of the world, they can easily trace his course to this port.

Finding that a freight to Europe or America could not be immediately obtained, Captain Morrell determined to fit out the Antarctic for a voyage to the Fejee Islands, where he hoped to procure a cargo of tortoise-shell, pearls and similar articles of value It was in this voyage, that he discovered those islands, which, from the unfortunate attack made by the natives upon his crew, he named the "Massacre Islands." He arrived at these islands on the 24th of May.

As soon as the vessel was safely moored near the shore, the natives, who were dark skinned and without any clothing, begar to assemble in canoes around their strange visiter. They gave signs of the greatest wonder and curiosity. Captain Morrell displayed a white flag, as a token of friendship, and held up to their view strings of beads and other glittering articles. Some

of them at last ventured upon the deck of the Antarctic. Their surprise at every thing which they saw, was unbounded. They examined the masts, rigging, binacle, cables, and anchors, with increasing wonder. On entering the cabin, they were struck with surprise and admiration at the great number of shining muskets, pistols, and glittering cutlasses, which met their view. They covered their dazzled eyes with their hands, and exclaimed "Rett Stiller!" signifying fine!

Captain Morrell then showed them a looking-glass, which at first terrified them. For some minutes they seemed bewildered with astonishment, gazing alternately at each other and at the image in the glass. But as soon as they recognised their own ebony features, they embraced each other, made the most ridiculous grimaces, laughed immoderately, and shouted with joy. Captain Morrell took a little powder, and flashed it before them on the deck, which so frightened them that they fell flat on their faces. On recovering their composure, they intimated that he must possess the power of making thunder and lightning, which sometimes terrified them in the clouds.

Captain Morrell shortly afterwards went on shore, and presented the queen with a pair of scissors, a small knife, and a few beads. Her majesty was extravagantly delighted with these presents.

On the 27th of May, twenty-eight men from the Antarctic were landed on a point of land, for the purpose of erecting a shed and setting up a forge. As soon as the forge was ready for operation, the natives began to collect around it in great numbers. But when the bellows began to blow, and the coals to burn, and the sparks of fire to

fly from the heated iron, the men and women all fled in terror from the spot.

They soon, however, dismissed their fears and again collected round the forge. Among them was an old man, who laid hold of a piece of iron, and ran off with it, without even saying "by your leave." He was pursued, and the iron recovered. Nothing daunted, however, he stole another piece. Four of his companions, also, seized on some tools, with which they made off. These thefts became so frequent, that Captain Morrell determined to adopt some summary way of putting a stop to them. We will tell in our next number about the method he took to effect this, and about the cruel attack of the natives on his crew.

RED SNOW

Captain Parry was a celebrated English navigator, who made several attempts to effect a north-western passage round America to Asia. The usual route is to go either round Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. Captain Parry advanced so far west, that he could behold the open sea beyond; but immense barriers of ice prevented him from reaching it. In his narrative, he makes mention of a peculiar kind of red snow, which he saw at various times in those cold northern regiors. This singular color is supposed to be occasioned by the presence of a multitude of very small insects. The number of these insects in a drop of water was calculated, by the aid of a magnifying glass, at more than twelve thousand. When the water was held up to the sun, they sparkled brilliantly, and gave out light like the fire-fly. All were in rapid motion, being probably dazzled and disturbed by the strong action of the sun's rays.

THE FIRE WORSHIPPERS. The above is a representation of one of the religious rites of the Persees, or Fireworshippers. This singular tribe were anciently inhabitants of Persia, from which they were driven by an invasion of the Arabs. The fire-worshippers afterwards settled in Bombay, and in some of the southern parts of Hindoostan. They are described as a quiet, amiable and hospitable race of people. They profess themselves followers of the religion of Zoroaster, who was an ancient Persian philosopher. They pay a certain worship to the sun, the moon, the stars, and to fire, as visible images or symbols of the invisible Deity.

This veneration for the element of fire induces them to keep a sacred fire constant

ly burning, which they feed with odoriferous wood, both in their temples and in the private houses of such persons as possess sufficient wealth to afford this expense. In one of their temples at Bombay, a European traveller saw a fire which had burned unextinguished for two centuries; and so jealous are they of the sanctity of fire, that they never blow out a light, lest their breath soil the purity of the flame. They not only pay the honor of worship to the heavenly bodies, but firmly believe in the influence which the stars exert on the lives of individuals, and the destinies of the world. They are, at the same time, almost wholly ignorant of the discoveries which modern philosophers have made in the science of astronomy.

THE WINTER EVENING FIRESIDE.

The fire is burning bright,
The hickory snaps aloud,
And the ruddy, ruddy light,
Shines on the little crowd;-
The father and the mother,
With a child on either knee,
The sister and the brother
From care and trouble free.
Abroad the wind is howling,
And down the chimney roars,
in the woods the gale is growling,
And fast the snow storm pours
But they are safe and warm
By their own fireside,

And they heed not the storm,
Though it rushes like the tide.
The cat on Ellen's knee,
The dog in Henry's lap,
From quarrels they are free,
For both are in a nap.
What care they for the blast,
That wrings the wailing tree,
What care they for the mast
That totters on the sea.
Oh happy puss and pug,
Oh happy man and wife,
As ye sit upon the rug
Without care or strife.
The hail may rattle loud,

At the door and window pane,
Jack Frost may in his shroud,
At all the cracks complain':
Ye will not let him in,
For peace is in your hearts,
Ye will not heed his din,
Though he practice all his arts.
So Jack may go his way,
And bite the traveller's nose,
While the children seek their play
And the mother mends their hose;
While Thomas takes the tongs
And adds a walnut stick,
While Susan sings her songs,
Or Ellen trims the wick;

THE OLIVE TREE.

There is something very graceful and beautiful in the appearance of the olive-tree. The leaves bear some resemblance to those of the willow, only they are more soft and delicate. The flowers are as pretty as the leaves. At first they are of a pale yellow; but when they expand their four petals, the insides of them are white, and only the centre of the flower is yellow.

The wild olive grows in Syria, Greece and Africa. The cultivated one is easily reared in many parts of the south of Europe. Where olives abound, they give much beauty to the landscape. Tuscany, the south of

France, and the plains of Spain, are the places of Europe in which the olive was first cultivated. The sweet oil of our tables is pressed from the olive.

The growth of olives and the manufacture of the oil afford a considerable employment to many of the inhabitants of France and Italy. In ancient times, the olive was a tree held in the greatest veneration. The oil was employed in pouring out libations on the altars of the gods, while the branches formed the wreaths of the victors at the Olympic Games. The Greeks had a pretty and instructive fable in their mythology, on the origin of the olive. They said that Neptune, having a dispute with Minerva, as to the name of the city of Athens, it was decided by the gods that the deity who gave the best present to mankind should have a preference in the dispute. Neptune struck

The Olive Leaf and Fruit.

the shore, out of which sprung a horse: but Minerva produced an olive-tree. The goddess had the triumph; for it was adjudged

that Peace, of which the olive is the symbol, was infinitely better than War, of which the horse was considered as an emblem.

Even in the sacred history, the olive is invested with more honor than any other tree. The patriarch Noah had sent out a dove from the ark, but she returned without any token of hope. Then "He stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive-branch plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth."

THE TERRIFIED SAILORS Some young sailors on board a ship at sea were once ordered to go up the mast to furl the sails. When the first got up, he heard a strange voice saying "It blows hard." The lad wanted for no more. He was down in a trice and telling his adven A second immediately ascended, laughing at the folly of his companion, but returned even more quickly than the former declaring that he was quite sure that a voice not of this world had cried in his ear "It blows hard."

ture.

Another went, and another, but each came back with the same story. At length the mate, having sent up all the sailors, ran up the shrouds himself, and when he reached the haunted spot, heard the dreadful words distinctly uttered in his ears, "It blows hard." "Ay, ay, but blow it ever so hard, we must do our duty for all that," replied the mate, fearlessly; and looking round, he spied a fine parrot perched on one of the ropes, who had been the cause of all this alarm. The bird had probably escaped from some other vessel, and had lighted on the mast of this.