the shape of a truncated inverted cone. The crater itself, to a certain height, is filled with a liquid red hot matter, resembling melted brass. This is the fluid lava, which appears to be agitated by two distinct motions, the one intestine, whirling, and tumultuous, and the other, that by which it is impelled upward.

16. This liquid matter is raised, sometimes with more, and sometimes with less rapidity, within the crater; and when it has reached within twenty or thirty feet of the upper edge, a sound is heard not unlike a short clap of thunder, while at the same moment a portion of the lava, separated into a thousand pieces, is thrown up with indescribable swiftness, accompanied by a copious eruption of smoke, ashes, and sand.

17. A few moments before the report, the superficies of the lava is inflated and covered with large bubbles, some of which are several feet in diameter; on the bursting of these, the detonation and fiery shower takes place. After the explosion, the lava within the crater sinks, but soon rises again as before, and new bubbles appear, which again burst and produce new explosions.

18. When the lava sinks, it gives little or no sound; but when it rises, and particularly when it begins to be inflated with bubbles, it is accompanied with a noise similar, in proportion to the difference of magnitude, to that of liquor boiling vehemently in a caldron.

Note. Sicily is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, separated from Naples by a narrow strait. Mount Etna, a celebrated volcano, is in this island. The Mediterranean Sea, between Europe, Asia, and Africa, extends from the straits of Gibraltar, in Europe, to the coasts of Syria, and Palestine, in Asia. It communicates with the Atlantic Ocean by the straits of Gibraltar; and with the Black Sea by the sea of Marmora, and the straits of Constantinople.

THE HOTTENTOTS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 1. THE persons of the Hottentots are not devoid of symmetry, but their face is, in general, extremely ugly. Their cheek bones are prominent, their chin narrow and

pointed, their nose extremely flat, the lips thinner than those of the negroes, and the teeth beautifully white. The eyes are of a deep chesnut colour, long and narrow. Their complexion is a yellowish brown, resembling that of a faded leaf.

2. Their hair grows in a singular manner, rising in small tufts, at certain distances from each other, and when kept short, appears like a hard shoe brush, with this difference, that it is curled and twisted into round lumps. When suffered to grow, it hangs in twisted tassels like fringe. They are generally tall, but their hands, feet, and joints, are small in proportion to the size of their bodies.

3. The dress of the Hottentots in summer is so trifling as hardly to deserve the name. It consists of a belt formed of the thong cut from the skin of some animal. From this is suspended some slight covering or small aprons. In the winter they wear cloaks made of skins, generally of sheep, which are worn as the weather requires, either with the wool inwards or outwards. These serve as blankets and bedding through the night, as well as for a garment through the day.

4. They are in the habit of besmearing their bodies with fat, which, together with dust and dirt, forms so thick a coating, as entirely to conceal the natural colour of the skin. The women wear a profusion of ornaments, consisting of glass beads, buttons, and shells, upon their necks, arms, and legs.

5. The Hottentots are remarkable for their extreme indolence, which nothing but terror can overcome. They are a mild, quiet, and timid people, honest and faithful; and though very phlegmatic, are kind and affectionate to each other, and not incapable of strong attachments. Their countenances generally wear the appearance of melancholy, rarely being relaxed into a smile.

6. Their understanding is very limited. Their reckoning of time scarcely extends beyond a day; and all their astronomy consists in having a name for the sun, another for the moon, and a third for the stars. They are ignorant of arts and manufactures, except the formation of coarse earthen ware, the making of winter garments of skins, the preparation of poison, and the making of bows and ar

rows.

7. Their language is one of the most singular forms of

speech that is known. Its principal peculiarity consists in a sound made by the tongue, resembling the clucking of a hen in uttering the words. The Hottentots are often reduced to subsist upon gums, roots, and a kind of bread made of the pith of palm tree; but their delight is to indulge in animal food.

8. They are remarkably patient of hunger, and at the same time exceedingly voracious when supplied with their favourite diet. Their manner of eating marks their voracity. Having killed an animal, they cut the meat into long narrow slices, or strings, two or three yards in length,

9. These they coil round and lay upon the hot ashes; and when the meat is warmed through, they grasp it in both hands, and applying one end to the mouth, soon reach the other. The ashes adhering to the meat serve as a substitute for salt. They are passionately fond of ardent spirits and tobacco.

10. The Hottentot families, who are in the service of the colonists, live in small straw huts round the farm house. In a more independent state they horde together in villages, where the houses are commonly ranged in a circle, with the doors opening towards the centre, and thus forming a kind of court, into which their cattle are collected at night, to preserve them from the beasts of prey.

11. The huts are generally circular in their form, resembling a bee-hive, covering a space of about 20 feet in diameter, but commonly so low in the roof, that even in the centre it is rarely possible for a man of middle size to stand upright.

12. The fire place is situated in the middle of the apartment, around which the family sit or sleep in a circle; and the door, which is seldom higher than three feet, is the only aperture for admitting the light, or letting out the smoke. The frame of these arched habitations is composed of slender rods, capable of being bent into the desired form, some parallel with each other, some crossing the rest, and others bound round the whole in a circular direction.

13. Over this lattice work are spread large mats, made of reeds or rushes. These materials are easily taken down, and removed, when there is occasion to change the place of residence. The Bosjesman Hottentots inhabit the mountainous parts to the north of the colony of the Cape

of Good Hope. They are among the ugliest of the human species, exhibiting in excess the deformities of the other Hottentots.

14. They are called Bosjesmans, or men of the thicket, from their lurking among the bushes, in order to shoot travellers with their poisoned arrows. In their habits and dispositions they differ greatly from the other Hottentots. Their activity is incredibly great. The antelope can scarcely excel them in leaping from rock to rock, and horsemen cannot overtake them on rough ground.

15. They are lively and cheerful, and always employed in some active occupation or amusement. Their mode of living is extremely comfortless. They wear little or no clothing. They raise neither corn nor cattle; so that, except a few spontaneous roots, they have nothing except what they procure by hunting, or plunder.

16. Their huts are formed of a small grass mat bent into a semi-circle, about three feet high, and four wide, with a hollow dug out in the middle, which serves as their bed, in which they lie coiled round in the manner of some quadrupeds.

Note. The country of the Hottentots extends from the Cape of Good Hope, in 34° south latitude, to the tropic of Capricorn, in 220 south latitude.

THE OSTRICH.

1. THE Ostrich is accounted the largest of birds. It sometimes weighs from 80 to 100 pounds, and is from seven to nine feet in height from the top of its head to the ground, and eight feet long from the beak to the tail,

2. When walking, it seems as tall as a man on horseback. It is incapable of flying, but runs with great celerity. It is found chiefly in Africa, seldom more than 35 degrees from the equator. It is valued for its beautiful plumage, and its feathers form a considerable article of trade.

3. It is tamed and bred on account of its feathers, and also for its flesh and eggs, which are used for food. One of the eggs is said to be equal to 30 of those of a hen. The ostrich is of amazing strength, and will carry a man