again and again we rose, and the lightning
flashing through our tiny portholes, showed
distinctly every object in the prison. It was
curious to observe the effect of terror upon
some of the most hardened of my companions.
The most noisy were silent then. Some, who
at other times were accustomed to hold in
contempt a more civilised mind, asked me
-- with a tone of civility which I had never
experienced from them before -- my opinion
upon our situation. Men, who were perhaps
in action the most daring, finding no resource
in their own minds in that terrible and helpless
state, appealed to me -- as to an oracle --
as to " whether we should go to the bottom;"
to which, of course, I could only reply, that
in comparison with the number of safe
voyages, shipwrecks were extremely rare,
and that we were in the hands of a skilful
captain.

Our near approach to Norfolk Island was
regarded with different feelings by the men.
The greater part, who detested regular labour
above all things, would, I think, have
preferred to spend the rest of their " lagging"
aboard the ship. For my own part, I had
an unspeakable desire to leave it; hoping
that whatever fresh sufferings might await
me, I should at least be placed in less close
contiguity with the rest of the prisoners. -- At
length, after a voyage of four calendar months,
we came in sight of our place of captivity.
We first saw Nepean Island, which at a
distance had an extremely hard and repulsive
appearance; but, as the main island came to
view, the magnificent Norfolk Island pine
trees had an imposing and pleasing aspect.
Here and there we had glimpses of the
richly wooded slopes which adorn all the
islands of the Pacific.

There being no harbour, we lay off about a
mile from the coral reefs, the captain
exchanging signals with the shore; shortly after
which a boat came alongside, rowed by
prisoners. We were conveyed ashore under
a guard of soldiers in each boat. It was
remarkable that after a voyage of seventeen
thousand miles, several of my companions
were, in this passage of about a mile from the
ship to the shore, sea-sick. This was doubtless
owing to the new motion of the boat.
True to their instincts, they continued to rob
one another to the last. One prisoner had a
pair of Wellington boots stolen from him in
the boat; having on his way to the shore
taken them off for some purpose. They were
purloined by two other prisoners, who had
shared the plunder between them, each being
discovered with an odd boot (much too small
to be of any use to him) concealed in his
trowsers, which having been selected with
that disregard for the dimensions of the
wearer already mentioned, afforded him ample
space for the concealment of any booty of
the kind. Two of the guard also complained
that they had been robbed of " sticks " of
tobacco.

On the morning of our landing, a calm had
succeeded the storm. The cloudless sky had
a brilliant hue known only in that delightful
parallel of latitude, which borders on a tropical
climate. I felt cheered by the sight of land,
and by the healthful breezes which fanned
us as we left the ship. I was prepared to
meet great hardships; but I did not expect
the horrors which awaited me. In happy
ignorance, my feelings were rather of an
agreeable kind as I first set foot on that
paradise; which, changed by the wickedness
of man, has been since termed, " The Ocean
Hell."

THE THINKER AND THE DOER.

ONE sits at home, with pale impassive brow,
Bent on the eloquence of lifeless letters;
Noting man's thoughts from Mind's first dawn, till now,
When Truth seems, Heaven-inspired, to burst her
fetters.

Another plies the force of stalwart limbs,
And keen wit sharpen'd by the whirl of action;
For midnight lore no studious lamp he trims,
Curtain'd and muffled from the world's distraction.

Two destinies -- converging to one end,
The glorious issue of all human labour;
Where in harmonious union softly blend
The praise of God, the profit of our neighbour.

Each has his gift -- the stamp affix'd at birth,
That marks him for the servant of a Master;
The chosen steward of His realm of Earth;
The shepherd watching for a higher Pastor.

Each has his crown -- of earthly laurels here,
Gather'd and woven by the hand of mortals;
And when the Spirit-City's towers appear,
Dropp'd on his brows by angels at its portals.

Judge not which serves his mighty Master best,
Haply thou mightest be true worth's detractor;
For each obeys his nature's high behest, --
The close-pent thinker, and the busy actor.

TEN MINUTES "CROSS COUNTRY."

IN the days when railway locomotion was
looked upon as something highly interesting,
but humorously chimerical and impracticable,
a merry fellow prophesied that ere many
years, " England would become like a gridiron."
A harmless enthusiast, this merry fellow, but
slightly amenable to those commissions de
lunatico with which his brother enthusiasts had
been visited: Salomon de Caus for talking some
nonsense about steam; Cyrano de Bergerac for
his meanderings in aerostation; and that madcap,
Galileo, for raving about the movement
of the earth. Railroads and thirty miles an
hour! How we laughed in our Hessian boots,
and Cossack trowsers, and high-collared coats,
at the absurdity of the thing; how waggish
the committees of the House of Commons
waxed; and what smart things the Quarterly