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though on being taken out they bounded away like roes, were instantly paralized by the sudden change of atmosphere, and fell down, deprived of all power in their limbs. We had great numbers of these to carry home and feed with the hand; but others that were buried very deep, died outright in a few minutes. We did not, however, lose above sixty in all; but I am certain Sparkie saved us at least two hundred.Hogg's Shepherd's Calendar.

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The Elephant is well known as the larg est and strongest of quadrupeds. The height of a full grown one is from nine to fifteen feet; and the body has been found to weigh four thousand and five hundred pounds.

It is not easy to convey in words a distinct idea of the form of any animal. Words may assist the imagination to recall a form with which it is familiar: but scarce any clearness of verbal description will give the mind a distinct impression of an image en

tirely new to it. In attempting to describe the elephant, this difficulty is felt.

The body is very bulky; the neck short and stiff. His back is considerably arched. His legs are thick and clumsy and shapeless. His feet are undivided, but have their margins terminated by five round hoofs. His tail is similar to that of a hog, and fringed at the extremity with a few long hairs of the bigness of a pack thread. The body is bare, covered with a rough strong hide. His eyes are small, but lively; and distinguished from those of all other animals by their pathetic sentimental expression. The ears are long, broad, and pendulous. The trunk is a remarkable organ, peculiar to the Elephant. It is a cartilaginous substance, composed of numerous rings, terminating in a small moveable kind of hook; and having the nostrils in its extremity. This proboscis the animal can contract, dilate, and bend in any direction. The sense of feeling is centered in this organ; and is as delicate and distinct as in the human species. By means of this trunk he conveys his food and his drink into his mouth, which is situated below where this singular organ commences. The superior part of this portuberance projects forward about five inches, and answers as a kind of finger, and enables him to lay hold of the minutest things with great facility, to pick up grains of corn, &c. His tusks, also, distinguish the Elephant in a singular manner. Neither jaw is furnished with fore teeth. Each has four large flat grinders. But in the upper are two enormous tusks, of a solid, white, and fine grained substance; which, as they proceed from the gums in which they are rooted, first point forwards, and then bend slightly up

wards. These are often seven feet long, and have been found to weigh a hundred and fifty pounds.

The Elephant is nourished on vegetable food; fruits, leaves, branches, corn and other grains, which he devours in large quantities. He grows slowly, and is supposed to live to a great age; it is said from one to two hundred years. With his trunk he utters occasionally a sound like that of a trumpet. When enraged or alarmed, his voice, which seems to proceed from his throat and mouth, is very terrible. His sense of hearing is quick. He delights in the sound of instruments; and seems particularly fond of music. He has an exquisite smelling; and is passionately fond of perfumes of all sorts, and of fragrant flowers.

Plains, forests, and gently rising hills are the favourite abodes of the Elephant. He is a native of Africa and Asia. He cannot bear the heat of the torrid regions under the line; but is still more impatient of cold.

Mankind have, in all ages, been at great pains in taming Elephants. They are caught in the forests by artifice, dexterity, strength, and terror. They are subdued by threats; and domesticated by kind treatment and caresses; and at last rendered tractable and submissive. Indeed, when tame, the Elephant is perhaps the most docile, gentle, and obedient of all animals. He forms an attachment to his keeper; comprehends signs; learns to distinguish the various tones of the human voice, as expressive of anger, approbation, or command; is even capable of being taught to understand the import of articulate language; adopts in many instances the manners and the sentiments of mankind; discovers a sense of

probity and honour, and expects to be honestly dealt with; resents every affront with force and dignity; is generous, grateful, patient, magnanimous, and humane. Elephants are fond of gorgeous trappings and formerly were much used in war.

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Lord! I behold with deep amaze,
The wonders thou hast wrought;
Wonders transcending human praise,
Transcending human thought.

Worlds that on high in order move,
Their MAKER's power proclaim;
But graved in deeper lines of love,
Is our REDEEMER's name.

Wisdom and might and goodness shine
In all I see around;

But in the grace that makes thee mine,
Are depths I cannot sound.

A. Foster, Printer, Kirkby Lonsdale.

IOTA

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No. LXXI. NOVEMBER, 1829. VOL. VI.

cy.

JONAH AND HIS GOURD.

You remember, I hope, the history of Jonah. It teaches us two very useful lessons: first, the lesson of man's folly and weakness; and secondly, the lesson of God's patience and longsuffering merHow strange it was that Jonah should feel any thing but delight in the welfare of his fellow men! Ought he not to have rejoiced in God's gracious design of sparing Nineveh? And ought he not to have done all he could to further that design? Well, at the close of his short, but humbling history we read, that Jonah went out of the city to

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