known. In the first place, I should tell you that
the Bay of Tunis is an awful place for squalls.

The party started one morning (it was the
3rd of November), at about eight o'clock, for a
shooting and pleasure excursion about twenty
miles down the coast. Lieut. S. was the
senior officer there, and he to a certain extent
took charge of, or was responsible for, the boat
in which they went. It was remarked that they
were very gloomy on leaving the ship, and also
that when they left, the band was playing some
selection which was a little sad; upon which
Lieut. S. remarked, "I wish they wouldn't
play a Dead March for us!" And again, going
ashore, one of the men sang "The Sailor's
Grave," and other songs of that kind.

They got ashore all right, had lunch ashore,
and started for the ship at about half-past
three o'clock. When they had made about
eight hundred or one thousand yards
(according to the coxswain of the boat, who
was saved), a violent squall struck her, and
capsized her. They all managed to cling to
the boat, except the captain of marines, who
couldn't swim. He was seen some way off, when
a little midshipman—the youngest in the ship,
and who could swim very well indeed—struck
out and brought him to the boat. It is worthy of
mention that the only members of the party who
could swim were, the coxswain, an old quarter-
master, KEMBLE the little midshipman I have
mentioned, and a master's assistant. The coxswain,
seeing that the boat was drifting out to
sea, said they had better do something, and
suggested several things, but they would not adopt
any of them, except endeavour to right the
boat. This they could not do. He then
proposed lashing the oars together, and those who
could swim towing those who could not. This
being also rejected, he then made up his mind
to swim ashore, and started in his clothes.
Lieut. S. called him back; upon which he came
back, and received orders to stick to the boat.
He then said, "Well, sir, it's no use my stopping
here. I am very sorry to have to disobey
your orders, and I trust I shall be forgiven." He
then turned round to the little midshipman, and
said, "Mr. Kemble, will you come with me? I
will assist you if you find you can't manage it."
Kemble said (though as I have told you, he could
swim splendidly), "I have orders to remain here,
and it is my duty to set an example," and he
repeated the orders. The coxswain then asked
all those who could swim, if they would come,
and they all answered the same way. Was not
that a gallant thing, to stay behind when they
were otherwise sure of saving their own lives,
and all for the sake of being true to the others
and to the orders they had received? Particularly,
remembering that the example was set
by the smallest midshipman in the ship?

The coxswain then wished them good-by and
succeeded in getting ashore, but of course he
must have had a frightful night, as it came on
to blow very hard, and he had not a single thing
on; in fact, when he was picked up next morning
he was in a sort of delirious state. He said
afterwards that he heard them, or fancied he
heard them,* all night, shouting for help;
but he could not assist them, as the place he
landed at was uninhabited. A long search was
made for the bodies, without effect; but a
steamer coming in afterwards, without having
heard of the accident, reported having seen a
body floating, at a distance of, I should imagine,
about forty miles from where the accident took
place.
* Fancied, no doubt. The delusion is commonly
experienced under like circumstances.

The funeral service was read on the quarter-
deck of their ship, and the usual volleys were
fired for those who were so dearly loved by their
shipmates. I feel more for poor little Kemble
than for any other of the party, as he had so
many sisters, and seemed so loved and so much
adored by all his friends. It will be a terrible
blow for them, but I hope the noble way in
which he behaved will help to console them.

EARTH.
IN TWO CHAPTERS. CHAPTER I.

THE word "Earth" has two significations;
one general, the other restricted. It is both the
whole, and a portion of the whole. It is either
the globe on which we dwell, or it is the solid
part of it raised above the seas which is the
resting-place of man and terrestrial animals.
We may therefore say that The Earth's surface
is permanently covered, partly with ice and
snow, partly with water, and partly with Earth;
which latter, in general terms, is called land, in
contradistinction to the other two. We have
therefore in our vocabulary both The Earth,
Terra, Cybele, our planet; and also Earth, one
of the ancient elements, which Aristotle
characterised as dry and cold.

Although Lactantius held that the Earth was
flat like a pancake, and Augustin that antipodes
were an impossibility, the Earth is one of a
series of globes, infinite in number but similar
in shape. The largest and the smallest bodies
with which we are acquainted, are globular;
the sun, the planets, their satellites, and microscopic
plants and animals, such as volvoxes and
monads which may be only infusorial swarm-
germs. Small portions of liquid, unattached or
slightly so, assume of themselves a globular form,
as we see in rain and dewdrops and in globules
of mercury and melted lead. Advantage is taken
of this principle in the manufacture of shot.

The largest known globular bodies are stars
or suns, which make up, altogether, what is
called The Universe. The visible universe is so
immense as to overwhelm the imagination.
Great distances in space are measured by the
speed, not of a cannon-ball (which is far too slow),
but by that of light. Some have thought that
light from different sources might not travel
with the same rapidity; Arago, however, has
demonstrated that the light of a glow-worm is
just as swift as that of the sun. Now, light—
which would go more than seven times round