times as much as a horse will carry. In its natural state it is a mild and peaceable animal, and will always run away from a man. It seems to have no disposition to quarrel even with the brute creation; and as lions, tigers, and rhinoceroses, usually let the elephant alone, he lets them alone.

Though the elephant looks like a stupid creature, it is in fact very intelligent, and appears to have some faculties and sentiments almost human. It delights in music, and easily learns to beat

time; it is fond of sweet odors, and often picks flowers, unites them into a nosegay, and seems delighted with the perfume; it has a delicacy of touch in its trunk, like that of the fingers, by which it can pick up a pin, tie and untie knots, lock and unlock doors, and even write with a pen; it learns to love its keeper, whom it caresses and obeys; it seems gratifiedwith kindness, and distressed by abuse; it has even been known to die of grief, when, in some fit of madness, it has killed its conductor.

THIS singular animal, which seems to be between the ox and antelope, was formerly regarded as a very rare and strange beast; but of late we have become better acquainted with it. Several of these creatures have been exhibited in the caravans, and beside, many English travellers have lately been in Africa, where they are found, and they have given us many descriptions of them.

They live in herds, like the bisons or buffaloes of the west, and sometimes hundreds or thousands of them are seen scattered over the plains. They are about as large as our common cattle at the age of two years; their color is dark

Gnoo.

brown; the head and breast are covered with long shaggy hair, and the horns bend forward at the base and backwards at the middle.

They are very timid, and generally fly from the approach of men. They seem to be put in a rage by the sight of scarlet. Mr. Pringle, a traveller in Africa, tells us some very amusing tales as to this. When he and his party met with troops of these creatures, they would hoist a red handkerchief on a pole. At this the gnoos would approach, tear up the ground, lash their sides with their tails, and show signs of violent rage, and then they would suddenly bound away to a distance.

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A Swedish Girl.

GUSTAVUS III., king of Sweden, passing one morning on horseback through a village in the neighborhood of his capital, observed a young peasant girl, of interesting appearance, drawing water at a fountain by the way-side. He went up to her, and asked her for a draught. Without delay, she lifted up her pitcher, and with artless simplicity put it to the lips of the monarch. Having satisfied his thirst, and courteously thanked his benefactress, he said :

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My girl, if you would accompany me to Stockholm, I would endeavor to fix you in a more agreeable situation." "Ah, sir," replied the girl, "I cannot accept your proposal. I am not anxious to rise above the state of life in which the providence of God has placed me; but even if I were, I could not for an instant hesitate."

"And why?" rejoined the king, somewhat surprised.

Because," answered the girl, "my mother is poor and sickly, and has no one but me to assist or comfort her under many afflictions; and no earthly bribe could induce me to leave her, or to neglect the duties which affection requires from me.”

"Where is your mother?" asked the monarch.

"In that little cabin," replied the girl, pointing to a wretched hovel beside her. The king, whose feelings were interested in his companion, went in, and beheld, stretched on a bedstead, whose only covering was a little straw, an aged female, weighed down with years, and sinking under infirmities. Moved at the sight, the monarch addressed her: "I am sorry, my poor woman, to find you in so destitute and afflicted a condition."

“Alas! sir,” said the venerable sufferer, "I should indeed be an object of

pity, had I not that kind and attentive girl, who labors to support me, and omits nothing she thinks can afford me relief. May a gracious God remember it to her for good," she added, wiping away a tear.

Never, perhaps, was Gustavus more sensible than at that moment of the pleasure of occupying an exalted station. The gratification arising from the consciousness of having it in his power to assist a fellow-creature, almost overpowered him; and putting a purse into the hand of the young villager, he could only "Continue to take care of your mother; I shall soon enable you to do so more effectually. Good-bye, my amiable girl; you may depend on the promise of your king."

say,

On his return to Stockholm, Gustavus settled a pension for life on the mother, with the reversion to her daughter at her death.

The Story of "Gander."

LET us understand each other at the outset, gentle reader. GANDER, as you will suppose, was not a goose; but you will be surprised to hear that he was a "horse." Why the creature got this name, I cannot tell, unless it was that he was white, and was always a leader among the horses. But, however the name originated, the following is a true story of him, as told to me by a gentleman of veracity.

In the year 1825, on a summer's day, my friend left the vicinity of the Dunderberg mountain, in Rockland county, in the state of New York, with this and another horse, for a town on the Connecticut river. The other horse was bay, small, old, lean, and of a submissive aspect; while Gander, as I said before,

was white, and, although somewhat advanced in years, was large, well-built, and quite proud in his bearing. These horses, together with a wagon, my friend had taken of a doubtful debtor, and at the above time left the vicinity of the Dunderberg, as I said, for his home, some hundred miles to the east.

For two reasons "Bay" was doomed to be the drudge on the journey. One was, that Gander and the wagon did not agree; the other was, that my friend chose to give him an easy journey, for the purpose of more readily converting him into cash on his reaching home. Gander, therefore, was tied behind.

"Matters being thus arranged," my friend proceeded, "we commenced our journey; but we were destined not long thus to be linked together; for although Gander appeared to recognise his new master, he liked not the compulsory method I had taken to assure myself of his company. A single toss of his head was sufficient to break his halter, and he seemed to understand this snapping process to perfection; but, then, instead of running away, and thus securing for a time his freedom, he would stand still, quietly waiting for me to dismount and again attach him to his post.

"His late master had been abundant in commendation of his sagacity and other notable qualities, but assured me he would not be led. Not being inclined, however, to yield my belief without a trial, I had tied him, as above noticed. We had not proceeded far, however, before Gander gave intimation that indeed 'he would not be led.' Snap went the halter, again. With much good nature, I again tied it, but with precisely the same result. At length, it was quite plain the animal was willing to acknowledge his allegiance to his new master, although he had not been consulted in the transfer; but his submission must be voluntary-he would not be led like a crimi

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nal, especially with a halter about his neck.

"The rope was soon useless; and now necessity became the mother of invention. I slipped the remnant of the halter from his head, jumped into my wagon, and drove on. This movement seemed quite satisfactory to the hitherto disobliged animal; and from his future conduct, it was evident he had obtained his wishes. Immediately he came to the side of the vehicle ;-afterwards he chose Bay,' for a time, as his companion; and thus, side by side, and cheek-by-jowl, with either drudge or master, he jogged on for an hour or two. Finally, however, he fell back to the rear of the wagon, and, singular as it may appear, he kept this spot to the end of his journey, with, perhaps, a single exception, which I shall by-and-by mention; excepting, also, that occasionally he turned upon the roadside, while ascending a hill, to crop a tuft of green grass. At such times, if for a moment he forgot his master till he had disappeared, in a few minutes more his shrill voice was heard, and he recovered his post behind, with all expedition.

"On the morning of the second day, we left Newburgh, and crossing the Hudson at Poughkeepsie, directed our course to Litchfield, in Connecticut. I had not travelled fast, however, and it was quite dusk, when I arrived at the foot of Mount Tom, within eight or ten miles of the end of my journey for the day. I had observed a few heavy clouds in the west, and now these were approaching and increasing with so great rapidity, that I had scarce a hope of escaping the impending storm. I was entirely unacquainted with the road over the mountain, but it was a long distance to any shelter which I had passed. I determined, therefore, to push forward.

"Had Bay' possessed my fears, I should have had some hope of escaping

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from the storm; but he was, of the two, the greater philosopher. The distant thunder had no terrors for him; besides, it was an up-hill journey, and this, instead of increasing his energy, seemed to be a good reason for abating his exertions. Consequently, before we had gained half the distance to the summit of the mountain, darkness was upon us; ominous drops of rain were beginning to fall, and the thunder was rolling overhead.

"In this dilemma, although sometimes aided by a flash of lightning, my situation became almost appalling. However, when it was impossible to see the road, I left my wagon, and, after feeling and ascertaining the way a few rods, I managed to guide my horse a short distance. This plan I had repeated several times, and was at the last returning to start again, when Gander, whom before I had scarcely thought of for an hour, advanced from his post, and planted himself immediately in front of Bay.' This extraordinary movement of the animal, (for he had only once before taken precedence on our journey,) was so very singular, that it at once occurred to me he had some good motive for it. His color was white; did his sagacity teach him that 'Bay' could see him, if not the road? Was his sight more keen than my own, and did he discover it? Did his instinct teach him that his color might render him conspicuous, even in darkness, so that we could follow him? Can this be called instinct, or was it reason? Let it be called by whatever name it may, I had before heard of the sagacity of the horse, but I was now to witness it.

I again seated myself in my wagon, by which time the rain fell in torrents. Gander was not discoverable from my seat when we started, but I drove on. Bay' now showed less reluctance, and, encouraged by his pioneer, moved forward more rapidly; we soon gained the mountain-top, and the frequent flashes

of lightning showed Gander still in his new position, a foot or two in advance of Bay, and in the very centre of the road.

Soon after our descent of the mountain commenced, it became so light, that I could just discern my leader; and thus we jogged on for some time, till at length a light was visible in the distance. I had scarcely discovered it, when a shrill neigh from Gander announced his pleasure at the prospect. He guided me safely to it, and to the door of an inn, as it proved, in Bradleyville. I need hardly add, that Gander received, not only the hearty caresses of his master, but an extra quantity of delicacies for his supper, good attendance, and a bundle or two of straw for his bed. He should have had a mattrass, had he preferred it.

The Dog of Montargis.

THERE is in France a castle by the name of Montargis. In the hall of this castle there is a sculpture which represents a dog fighting with a champion. The story connected with this sculpture is as follows:

Aubri de Mondidier, a gentleman of family and fortune, travelling alone through the Forest of Bondi, was murdered, and buried under a tree. His dog, an English blood-hound, would not quit his master's grave for several days; till, at length, compelled by hunger, he proceeded to the house of an intimate friend of the unfortunate Aubri's, at Paris, and by his melancholy howling, seemed desirous of expressing the loss they had both sustained. He repeated his cries, ran to the door, looked back to see if any one followed him, returned to his master's friend, pulled him by the sleeve, and with dumb eloquence entreated him to go with him.

The singularity of all these actions of