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MbtertHIMtaAftM
New Guinea, and it excited a great'
deal of curiosity among the natixa.
'There was very little timber to be
found in the locality, and the natives
had to go some miles from the place
to obtaiii posts for their own dwellings
which, according to the general style
of architecture, were built Upon piles
for the purpose of protection from
alligators at night. The missionary
house was situated between two vil
lages Anuapata and Elivara and
the building was to serve as a tempo
rary place of worship and a school
room. The impression, when the
missionaries took up' this station,
was that it would be free from fever
and ague ; but a 12 month's residence
proved unmistakably that these dis
eases were not absent. In a letter
to the London Times, Captain
Moresby described the New Guinea
coast, north of Torres Straits, as far
cast as Yule Island,, as an almost
unbroken level of swampy, mangrovc
, covered, aud probably malarious
' country, on the low dreary shores of
which the surf broke unchecked by
any barrier reef, and wholly unsuit
cd for the occupation of white men.
At Yule Island, some 30 miles west
of Redscar Bay, there was a change.
- The Owen Stanley range of mount-
ains approached the coast to within
20 or 25 miles distance, but the high
, and healthy laud on their slopes was
cut off from the seaboard by a
belt of low-lying mangrove-covered
swamp, through which some rivers
ran. These rivors, he said, were too
rapid for the sail or the oar, but they
would doubtless afford steam water
ways to the high lands in the interior.
At Redscar Head the shore was
sheltered by a great barrier reef,
which upreared itself from bottom
less depths, at a distance of from 4
to 10 miles from the shore, inside of
which was calm, navigable water,
which rippled to a coral beach,
backed by a round-topped swelling
hills, openly timbered, and with rich
tropical valleys Tetween.
(To bo Continued.)
-.
- THE JAPANESE AS CONSTRUCTORS.
The "Spectator," in its notice of
Dr. Dresser's book on the architect
ure and arts of Japan, quotes the
following interesting passage : ' ' A
notable instance of the Japanese un
derstanding of the -conditions under
which they exist occurs in the man
ner of giving security to pagodas.
Pagoda's arc often of great height,
yet many have existed for 700 years,
and have withstood successfully the
many vibrations of jthc ground, which
must have inevitably achieved their
overthrow had they been erections of
stone or brick. When I first ascended
a pagoda I was struck, with the
amount of timber employed in its
constructions and I could not help
feeling that the material here wasted
was' even absurdly excessive. But;
, what offended my feelings most was
' the'presence of an enormous log of
' wood iu the centre of the structuie,
which ascended from its apex. At the
top this mass of timber was nearly
2ft. in diameter, and lower down a
log equally large was bolted to each
of the four sides of this central mass.
I was so surprised with this waste of
timber, that I called the attention of
my good -friend Sakata to the matter ;
and especially denounced the use of
the centre block. To my astonish
ment, he told me that the structure
must be strong to support the vast
central mass. In my ignorance I re
plied that the centre part was not
supported by the sides, but upon
reaching the top I found this mon
strous central mass suspended, like
the clapper of a ball ; and when I had
descended I could, by lying on the
ground, see that there was an inch
of space intervening between it and
the earth which formed the lloor of
the pagoda. The pagoda is to a
Buddhist temple what a spire is to a
Christian church; and by its clever
constructions it is enabled to retain
its vertical position even during the
continuance of earthquake shocks,
for by the swinging of this vast
pendulum the centre of gravity is
kept within the base. I now under
stood the reason for that lavish use
of timber which I had so rashly pro
nounced to be useless ; and I sec
that there is a method in Japanese
construction which is worthy of high
appreciation. In the absence of any
' other instance, the employment cf
this scientific method of keeping the
pagoda upright shows how carefully
the Japanese have thought out the
requirements to be 'met." Our con
temporary remarks "That account,
which is absolutely new, would of
itself justify the publication of Dr.
Dresser's book. "We doubt if any
thing so utterly exceptional, so much
outside the usual grasp of a.people's
tuougnc, is to uc iounci eisewnero.
The Japanese, with all their clever
ness, are, when all is said, a finick
ing people, who devote their clever
ness to small things, who over-ornament
everything, who prefer the
grotesque to the beautiful, and who
have scarcely risen to the conception
of the simply grand. Yet their
architects must, at one time, have
risen to a conception which would,
if Europe were worried with earth
quakes, have given perpetual honour
to the name of the European mecha
nician who conceived it to a device
which actually enables man to resist
the effects of- a force utterly and
hopelessly beyond his control. The
New Zcalander who in A.D. 3000
builds a spire to his cathedral may
be indebted for the safety of his
building to the careful observations
of a Japanese." Australasian.
AN AZTEC CEREMONY.
At the termination of their cycle
of fiftytwo years, they believed the
sun would be extinguished, aud in
his stead their evil gods would
descend and destroy the earth.
Unlike the Latter Day Saints of
modern times, they looked for ah
indiscriminate destruction, mauger
all Apocalyptic exceptions of sancti
ty, election, ascension robes, or
other accessories of escape.
On the arrival of the portentous
day that concluded their great cycle,
the sacred lires of their temples were
extinguished, their property destroy
ed, their garments rent in twain,
and the whole land filled to its utter
most extremities with howls and
execrations of despair. A solemn
compunction and dread sprung up
in the minds of the men from their
women, believing that the latter were
to be transformed into ferocious
beasts, that would unite with the
coming demons and revenge them
selves on their faithless husbands
and lovers, for their injustice and
neglect. Such as were pregnant were
objects of peculiar horror, and these
they covered with disguises and
locked up to prevent their recogni
tion and alliance with their foes.
"When the night of the last day ar
rived, the priests clothed themselves
in the dress of their idols, and,
followed by the frantic populace,
went out in procession to a moun
tain six miles from Mexico. This
procession was termed the New Fire,
and having ascended to the summit
of the mountain, thc3r watched until
the Pleiades ascended to the zenith,
and then commenced a sacrificed cf
human victims. A man was laid
upon his back on the altar of sacri
fice, and his heart covered with a
wooden shield, which the priest
ignited by friction. As soon, as the
victim was killptj a machine to
kindle fire was put in motion over
the shield on his breast. When a
blaze was thus created it was com
municated to a pile of combustibles
previously prepared, whose illumina
tion was a signal to those in the city
and on the look-out that the gods
had reprieved the world aud its
inhabitants for another cycle.
Couriers stationed near each other
communicated this joyful intelligence
to the despairing populace of every
vuiage in me empire, ana me sun
that rose on the morrow in confirma
tion of their pardon was hailed and
celebrated by acclamations and-
feasts. Detroit Free Press.
THE TRAVELING CURE.
Three years ago, when traveling
in. America, one morning, at a little
station we were approaching the
Rocky Mountains I was astonished
to see a very old and venerable
French cure in his usual garb enter
the car, and as he was evidently in
some distress of mind, and as evi
dently had little command of English,
I asked him in his native language if
I could be of any service to him.
There was a dilliculty about a box
which X soon settled, and then we sat
down and entered into conversation.
He soon found out that I was verv
much astonished to see him there,
and told me'so.
' "l is very simple," he said. "I
am very old, and six mouths ago I
was like to die, and was doing my
best tq prepare myself for the long
journey. In my fancies I imagined
myself already in the presence oi le
bon JDieu, and I fancied this ques
tion addressed to me: 'M. le cuu',
how did you like the beautiful world
you have left?' I rose in my bed as
this thought came into my head, for
I I who figure to j-ourself had
dared to preach of a better woi Id for
fifty years, was, oh! so ignorant of
this. Aud I registered a vow that
if le bon Dieu allowed mc to rise
from that bed of sickness I would
spend the rest of my life in admiring
Ilis works ct me void! I am only
on my journey round the world. E
am going now to stop at the Yosemite
Valley a few days en route for San
Francisco and Japan, and the box,
monsieur, which your kindness lias
rescued for me, contains a little
scientific library, now my constant
companion in my delicious wanderings."
SOME CAUSES OF BOILER CORROSION.
Hcrr Kcil names two causes to the
internal and external corrosion of
boiler plates, which, he observes,
have hitherto been but little studied.
These are the chemical composition
of the metal composing the plates
and the influence of the variations of
temperature. A highly carburetted
plate, approaching nearly to steel,
will become oxidised less readily
than one containing very little car
bon. On the other' hand, phos
phorus, sulphur, manganese, silicon,
and magnesium favour oxidation,
and consequently corrosion ; and, as
these substances are not uniformly
distributed over the metal, some
parts of a plate are attacked in
preference to others. With regard
to the second, cause, certain portions
of the boiler are, more than others,
subject to rapid changes of tempera
ture. Thus the fluctuations of the
water level often cause a portion of
the plates to be left unprotected by
the water on one side, while on the
other it is always ' exposed to the
action of the lire. Consequently
corrosions are often noticed near the
water line which arc nofrmefc with
either above or below it. The same
thing is observed along a scam of
rivets, where there are two, and
sometimes three thicknesses of plate,
which form an obstacles to the uni
form absorption of heat. Home
JWeios.
Amongthe antique articles in pos
session of Mr. Sewall, of Maine, arc
a set of pewter plates bearing the
seal of King Richard and supposed
to be more than 400 years old ; also,
one large silver spoon which repre
sent all the money received for
building a saw and grist-mill the
payment having been made, in silver
and then cast into the spoon.
Utah has marble enough to supply
every person in America with a
tombstone, and cheerfully observes
that all she wants is a, market for it.
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