severity of the cold in the mountain passes, together with the excessive fatigues and the want of suitable provisions, occasioned the death of many of the Indians who had been taken along as the burden-bearers of the party. As they advanced, dangers of another and more fearful kind were encountered. While marching through the country of Quixos, several shocks of an earthquake were experienced. The ground in several places opened, and in one instance five hundred houses were swallowed up. When they reached the plains, it was at the rainy season, and for two months the rain poured in continuous floods, rendering their advance almost impossible and reducing them to the greatest extremities.

They at length reached the province of Zumaco, where the cinnamon trees were cultivated by the natives, and also grew in great abundance in the forests. But it does not appear that Gonzalez availed himself of this discovery to any profit. Probably the reduced condition of his party rendered it necessary for him to press forward, and, if possible, to gain the eastern shore of the continent. Having reached the banks of one of the tributaries of the Amazon, probably the Napo river, he followed the course of the river on foot for more than one hundred and fifty miles. At one place they describe a cataract, where the whole body of the stream plunges down over a precipice six hundred feet in hight. At another they found the crags jutting out so far over the river that they effected a passage over the deep and rapid current by felling trees across. The flat country which they had now reached was every-where intersected by marshes and flooded by swollen streams, and also covered with forests, and thickly matted with vines and underbrush. To convey their baggage over such a country was impossible. Their only food was wild fruits, now and then seasoned with the flesh of some wild beast which they had the good fortune to kill.

Gonzalez was compelled to halt and construct a vessel for the transportation of his heavy baggage and the sick of his men. Every one, without regard to rank, labored in the construction. The worn-out garments of the Spaniards were used to caulk the seams, and gum obtained from the neighboring trees supplied the place of tar. The rude vessel was soon launched, and the provisions and sick placed on board. Orellana, the officer next in command to Pizarro, was put in charge of the vessel. In this way they advanced over one hundred leagues, when their supplies had so completely failed that Gonzalez sent the bark down the river in advance, with orders to

procure a supply of provisions, and then return to relieve his famished men. In case no provisions were obtained, Orellana was to wait at the junction of the Napo with the Amazon till Gonzalez with his party came up.

Orellana reached the junction of these two riv. ers without obtaining any supply. He had passed only flooded plains, impenetrable swamps, and darkly-shaded, forbidding forests. Impelled by the necessities of his company, or, what is more probable, moved by the example so often set before him by his superiors, he now discarded the authority of Gonzalez, and set out as discoverer and adventurer on his own account. He resolved to pursue the course of the Amazon to the ocean, and without waiting for the party behind to come up, and with entire indifference to their fate, immediately proceeded on his voyage. This was on the last day of the year 1540. It was not till August of the succeeding year that they reached the mouth of the Amazon, having floated upon its bosom more than two thousand miles. In their voyage they had been reduced to great extremities, having been compelled for some time to live upon a soup made of the leather of their saddles first, and afterward their shoes, boiled with herbs gathered upon the banks. Many of the men died from diseases contracted by exposure and destitution, and others were slain in conflicts with the warlike Indians they encountered; so that only a small portion of the company finally escaped.

The region through which they had passed was composed of almost boundless plains, tenanted only by wild beasts, and savage tribes scarcely less wild or ferocious. When Orellana reached Spain, he published the most glowing account of his discoveries, most of them so fabulous that they would have received no credit in any other than that age of marvels about the exhaustless riches of the New World. He represented that the country so abounded in gold that the roofs of the temples were covered with it. He also described female warriors, of great stature and heroic bravery, resembling the ancient Amazons, and from them gave the name to the river, which it still wears, notwithstanding the fiction in which it originated has long since beeu exploded. Of these regions Orellana obtained a grant, and, in 1549, returned with a great train of followers to colonize it; but he soon fell a victim of the diseases of the country, and many of his followers shared the same fate. The rest of them were scattered abroad, and the settlement was entirely abandoned.

When Gonzalez and his party reached the

W

MY LADY BOUNTIFUL.

BY MRS. H. C. GARDNER.

ELDONSVILLE is a pleasant New England village. It is not of the bustling, growing order, however, but one where the oldest inhabitants may look upon the unaltered scenes that blessed their youth. There are no noisy manufactories, deafening and aggravating the lovers of silence, or stealing the roses from the cheeks of the young people; no indication of the existence of steam-engines reaches them, save in those rare cases when the wind gets out of its favorite east corner, and bears to their ears the scream of the locomotive as it rushes by at six miles distance.

The village is laid out in three streets, each diverging from a central park or common, where stands the Church, with its gray spire made a little rickety by both time and weather. There are two chimneys protruding from the roof at the opposite end from the spire, between which rises a square tower surmounted by four crosses, which are in turn overtopped by four superannuated weathercocks, all pointing different ways. There are doors on each end of the building, and streets all around it, so that it is difficult to decide which is the front; but, that being a matter of little consequence to those who do not attend its services, we will, instead of waiting to inspect it, proceed to the residence of Dr. Peter C.inoline, who lives in the red brick house across the green.

The Doctor has resided there as infant, man, and boy for nearly sixty years. He never lived any where else, having studied medicine of his father, who was a doctor before him. The old doctor died soon after his son commenced his practice, and his mother having previously deceased, he was left with only a maiden sister to take care of him, who was in her turn to be taken care of by him.

Till his sister's death, which took place when he was forty-five years old, it does not appear that the Doctor ever thought of taking to himself a wife. Even then it is likely that the idea would not have entered his head, had it not been suggested by the advances of a stranger, a pale-looking widow, who came from a distant city, to hide her poverty and her sorrow for her lost husband in the quiet village of Weldonsville.

No one knows how the courtship was managed. It is probable that the lady, being more experienced, took the burden of the business upon her shoulders; but all that is certainly known is that, on a fine spring Sabbath morning, she doffed her mourning habiliments and woe-begone looks, and became Mrs. Kitty Crinoline.

For many years the Doctor had been loved and honored in the village. The wealth that he had inherited from his father had been freely shared by the poor and suffering, and there were many poor families who seemed to be heirs to all the ills of human flesh, who had received the best medical attendance that he could afford them, without any prospect or desire of remuneration. Even Mrs. Kitty, his present wife, had been a sharer of his bounty.

If it were not for airing a dead secret, it might be advisable-as an introduction to a description of Mrs. Kitty-to detail the futile attempts of a skillful daguerreotypist to impress upon his pol ished plate a front view of her features, which, being of the case-knife order of beauty, defied every effort to duplicate them. A side view was at last taken, in which her black eyes, set in rather askew, after the oriental fashion, were sufficiently represented by one of the twain-that one, fortunately, being as much of the kind as any beholder could desire. Long, black curls depended from an invisible bandage around her head, which, being elastic, expanded or contracted itself to suit the natural hair beneath, which bristled up or lay flat according to the emotions of the wearer.

There were two orphan children left to the Doctor's guardianship by a deceased brother, soon after his marriage, who had found a home with their kind uncle rather in opposition to the wishes of his wife, who did not fancy children.

Had they been dependent upon their uncle's bounty, Mrs. Kitty would not have yielded her point; but many a snug little sum might, with economy, be saved from the income of the property that they inherited, so the poor orphans were permitted to come to Weldonsville, and reside with their uncle.

Mrs. Kitty had her hobby. What lady has not? Mrs. Kitty's hobby was benevolence. She longed to be known as the Lady Bountiful of Weldonsville. As if purposely to defeat her ambition, Mrs. Kitty was naturally penurious, and what plain-spoken people call selfish. But she was also ingenious; and although necessity should not be slandered as the mother of all sorts of ingenuity, yet a necessity seemed laid upon Mrs. Kitty to invent expedients to save money even in her benevolent operations.

It did not take the Doctor long to understand her character, though he never betrayed to her the remotest knowledge of her plans; but he became a silent, observing man when at home, and a more thoughtful and persevering friend of the poor abroad. Mrs. Kitty enjoyed the most un

"Come into my house, Louise," said one, "and we will get dry stockings and shoes for you. Poor child are you hurt?"

who happened to be present on any of his visits, remarked a strange, chinking sound, that evidently proceeded from the strengthening powders that he placed in her own hands, telling her to

"She need not know it. You shall wear Lucy's things while we wash and dry yours. The mud will brush off easily from your dress as soon as it is dry. So don't fret, my dear, but come into the house."

Louisa readily followed, quite cheered by the prospect of concealing her mishap from her aunt. "Leave your basket in the hall, my dear," said Mrs. Thayer, "see, it has mud on the bottom that will soil the carpet."

The wise conclusion drawn from this was, that Maggie's silence was bought, and all those interested decided that, for the Doctor's sake, they would be bought, too. It can not be denied that, when Mrs. Kitty, at the sewing society, or on any other occasion, gave more than usual prominence to her favorite hobby in conversation, sly, expressive glances were interchanged by her auditors, and various shoulders were shrugged as involuntarily as the little boy's mouth moved "what whistled

"Ah, will she? Well, then, I'll just brush off the mud in the kitchen while Mary changes your dress, and bring it straight back to you. You are a good girl to remember your aunt's wishes."

Quite encouraged by the judicious praise, Louise made no further objection, and the long-coveted "Chaos" was borne off triumphantly. It did n't take long to analyze its contents. There were brown-bread crusts and white-bread crusts, bits of dried gingerbread, pieces of potato, dry, baked beans, interspersed like plums in a Christmas pudding, strips of cold tripe that smelled strongly of the pickle, and the gaunt and nearly naked bones of a spare-rib.

All these the lady easily identified and called by name; but at the bottom of the basket she found a couple of ring-streaked, speckled, and grizzled bits, that puzzled her at first; but she soon, with culinary acuteness, found them to be pieces of fat pork, which had been colored by boiling with beets and other vegetables, and now figured as the ghost of a boiled dish. Would that an artist could be found who could sketch the pleased and cheerful faces that, with every variety of satisfied expression, surrounded Mrs. Thayer's tea-table on the afternoon of that eventful day! If there is really, as poets pretend, music in laughter, Weldonsville was certainly a musical place for a number of days.

Had not Doctor Crinoline been so universally honored and loved, he might have taken a few lessons in harmony; for there were many impromptu amateurs among his lady patients, who prided themselves upon their ability to perform "Mrs. Kitty's Dovolence," with variations.

A key was soon furnished to the mystery of poor Maggie's silence on the subject. Dr. Crino

SIAM AND THE SIAMESE.* THE English Government, which is now the

T leading fillibuster Government of the earth,

has recently been establishing commercial relations with the little-known kingdom of Siam. This is, of course, only the prelude to a formal annexation, which is not likely, however, to happen for some years to come. Meantime, whatever may be said of the filibustering spirit, it is decidedly that which has added most extensively, within the last fifty years, to our knowledge of the strange corners and by-paths of the earth; and so, in the present case, the first-fruits of the British negotiations is a book on Siam, from which we may learn vastly more about the Siamese way of living than we have heretofore known.

One of the first things we gather concerning this country is, that the natives themselves know very little "for sure" about it themselves. The King could not define his own territories, and his affairs seem, from his own account, to be in a very perplexed condition. He owns allegiance to China, and claims authority over Cambodia and Cochin China. The latter state, however, disclaims his authority, and so he forces Cambodia to pay tribute to both himself and China. The mountains are little known. The river Weinam, which is the Nile of the country, seems the source of much of its prosperity. It is the chief transport way of the country. Along its shores the population are most thriving, and, however far up they live,

*Siam. By Sir John Bowring, late British Minister to the Court of his Siamese Majesty. London, 1857.

Fancy a rude country, with illimitable latent wealth, a simple, superstitious people, a large river, a huge capital city, containing all the wealth and nearly all the trade and manufactures of the kingdom, and centering in itself every pursuit of importance, and you have a comprehensive view of Siam.

an army of twenty thousand men when he pleases, and in former times seems to have chiefly employed himself in making his principal uncomfortably jealous. The present enlightened second King, however, busies himself chiefly with scientific. pursuits.

The Siamese seem to have, more than any other Asiatics, escaped, so far, either the temporal grasp or the spiritual influence of European nations. As a people they are in a tolerably forward state of civilization. But they are wedded to old habits; jealous of foreign influence-a trait they probably got from the Chinese, to whom they are nominally subject; superstitiously and strictly devoted to their religious forms, in which the rising

The authority of the King-the first King him with the long and utterly unpronounceable name is absolute. He is master of the persons and purses of his subjects, and can cut off the heads and pocket the money of his people with an impunity which must be pleasing to one tyrannically disposed. Moreover, the King seems entitled to a tremendous degree of respect. No one dares to stand in his presence. His name is never pronounced, except with certain qualifications. When he appears upon the street, his subjects bow themselves to the ground.

The present Kings are brothers. They might be tyrants. They are, in fact, men of talents, of learning, for Siamese, and of good disposition. The first King understands Latin-which he was taught by a French missionary-and English, which he learned from an American missionary. He has studied astronomy, and can calculate an eclipse-more than any of the crowned ones of Europe can do, in all likelihood. He owns a printing-press and a font of Siamese and English type; is a member of the Royal Geographical Society of England; has introduced chimneys-till lately unknown-to Siam; has caused his goldsmith to make gold writing-pens; his band to play "God Save the Queen;" has become a paying subscriber to the London Illustrated News; and, finally, has caused search to be made within his dominions for coal-beds. His brother, the second King, is a polished English scholar, and a proficient in Euclid and Newton. This is pretty well for two heathen kings, of whom we should hardly expect an appreciation of foreign learning.

To be second King seems rather a pleasant thing. This individual has at his disposal one

travagant polygamists. Thus commercial restrictions have driven out foreign trade; while the Christian missionaries who have, at various times, endeavored to establish themselves in the country, have had all the hostile influences to contend with and not even a reliable consular protection to fall back upon.

Siam was looked upon as an important country in very early times. In 1685 the French established relations with the court of Bangkok, by means of that most romantic of adventurers, Mr. Constaver Phaulcon, who, born at Venice, was nurtured in the English Protestant faith; was shipwrecked on the Siamese coast; gained favor at the court; was converted to the Romanist faith, by a worldly Jesuit; married a Japanese lady, "descended from the most distinguished of the Japanese Christian martyrs ;" procured a mission of Jesuits to be established in Siam; and finally died at its head. This mission has been continued almost without intermission ever since.

The French and English have, at various times, tried to trade with the Siamese, with indifferent success. The Americans have tried to convert them to Christianity; but likewise, as before said, with indifferent success. Yet it is to the efforts of the American missionaries that the advanced state of the two Kings of Siam is chiefly owing.

In religion the Siamese are devoted Buddhists. This is all that can be said for them. The present Kings are, it is said, fast weeding out most of the ancient superstitions, and reducing the popular faith to a more reasonable standard. There are nearly four thousand Roman Catholics in the country; but they are nearly all descendants of Portuguese settlers. Of Protestants, converts to the missionary teachings, there seem to be very few.