The dazzling Crystal Fountain, The pictures stained in glass, The oil from Greenland's* ice-fields, Containing many a feast Of the fat and the blubber Of the huge wave-stemming beast. Hurra for Joseph Paxton, Who built the crystal dome, All glory and renown; Let Hansom's patents carry him Round the admiring town. Raise, raise for him a statue, Where stands the world's great show; And let John Bull, sight-seeing Bull, The great glass-genie know. Thrice lucky art thou, Cockney, On this glad First of May; Greenland not being a very prominent spot among the exhibiting nations, the poet must refer to the oil used to lubricate the specimens of machinery. So far, then, from presenting a sordid image to our minds, he elevates our country's reputation by this artful allusion to our superiority in the useful arts, and, at the same time, brings his description to a noble climax.-Observation by Diabolical Observer. Then, where o'er two fair kingdoms Where o'er the towers of Notre Dâme Floats wide the tricolor; Where Spain's dark damsels smile upon The hard-prest matador; By Rome's eternal hills; Where from the Hadrian waters Where through the sand of evening land In cataracts of foam ; Let firm good-will be lasting still, And Peace aye find a home. THE OCEAN FLOWER. (Continued from page 119). "Oh! snatched away in beauty's bloom, On thee shall press no ponderous tomb; But on thy turf shall roses rear Their leaves, the earliest of the year; And the wild cypress wave in tender gloom."-BYRON. FAIR is thy bay, O Naples ! daughter of the tideless sea; clear are the skies which gaze upon thy nymph-like form bathing in the deep-blue waves. And thou, Parthenope, dost still preside o'er the destinies of thy foster-child; and though thy syren voice is hushed for aye, thou dost still entrance us with thy magic glance, and bind us to thyself. Far off thou rearest thy fairlyformed head amid Vesuvius' peaks, in whose dark wreaths of smoke we view thy raven locks, parted by the gentle breeze; Naples and Castel-à-mare, Baia and Sorrento are thy snowy arms extended o'er thy favoured shores, Ischia and Capri are thy hands, their ocean-caves thy rose-tipped fingers. Yes! fair thou wilt ever be; but when we stand upon the threshold of Paradise all earthly beauty fades lustreless from the view. Hide thy face then for envy, fair Naples, in the presence of thy twin sister, Porto Santo-the glowing Paradise of the South. She floats, like Delos of old, upon the bosom of the great Atlantic, and the mighty waves, lured by the perfumes from the land, pause in their resistless course, and hushed into silence, flow swiftly o'er the beach. The yellow sand stretches in one bold sweep for nine miles along the shore; the mountain peaks tower behind the Praya, their pointed cones standing out in bold relief against the cloudless sky; two islands, whose frowning cliffs are broken into the boldest outline, and glowing with every variety of shade and colour, stand sentinels at each extremity of the bay; while waving corn-fields and rich vines, bending with the golden grape, grow luxuriantly even to the water's edge. The sun, sinking behind the Ilha de Cal, casts one warm, arewell glance upon this isle of Paradise. The adventurous sportsman hurries homeward along the dizzy rocks; the oxen, freed from the rude wagon, or from treading out the corn, 66 wind slowly o'er the lea," while far out to sea appears many a snowy sail wafting the weary fisher and his well-filled nets to the expectant market. Along the beach are scattered groups of persons, some chattering and gesticulating with their national impetuosity, others lounging idly on the sand, but all more or less eagerly watching the animated race between the returning fishing boats. One group stood apart from the rest. The lordly bearing of those who composed it, and the respectful reverence of those around, bespoke their superior rank. It consisted of the Gover nor, Dom Sebastiao; the Administrador, and the other Portuguese fidalgos, who held office or property in the island. Is it true," asked one, that Dom Gonçalves Zargo is to touch here on his great voyage of discovery ?" "My letters mention his intention to do so, unless adverse winds prevent him," answered Dom Sebastiao. "What a glorious sight it will be to see his gallant fleet in this bay!" rejoined the first speaker. "May he have a prosperous voyage," added a third, stand in need of his visit." Indeed we do," observed the Administrador. 66 for we It is a twelve month since we had news from Lisbon, and our supply of foreign luxuries is getting low." After a pause, Sebastiao resumed. When he comes, I shall get him to sail round the island and to explore the west." "He must be a bold man, then," muttered the Administrador. The Governor had touched on a tender subject, one on which he could never find sympathy from his less adventurous associates. Casting a look of scorn on the timid Administrador, he walked a few paces apart, and was soon lost in thought, musing on the hidden treasures of the West, penetrating in imagination the mystery which concealed them, and ever and anon casting an anxious glance seaward in hopes of descrying the long-wished-for fleet of Dom Gonçalves. Meanwhile his companions, emboldened by his absence, drew together in closer conclave, and, in lower tones, gave utterance to their fear and awe, and recited, for the hundredth time, the wild stories, and still wilder conjectures, connected with the mysterious West. It looks clearer and clearer to-night," said the Administrador, pointing to a black mass, resembling a dark bank of cloud, which fringed the horizon, and on which all eyes were fixed. "What can it be ?" said one. 'A great monster, of course! probably a Leviathan," answered another. "Or the great Sea Serpent, more likely." "I think it must be a rock of adamant.' "I am sure it is the end of the World," interposed the Administrador, a pompous little man, who never failed to claim great respect, on the ground of his office and superior education. "Nay," exclaimed another, "have you not heard that Antonio of the Arêas has been there, and he says it is the mouth of hell!" "Antonio!" exclaimed the Administrador, "he is an impudent fellow, and would not care how many lies he told to get a cup of wine." 66 'But, indeed it is true, for he told me all about it before he went to the back of the island," interposed the other; and while all the party, not excepting even the Administrador, whose curiosity got the better of his dignity, bent eagerly forward to hear the wondrous tale of horror, the speaker proceeded. "Antonio had gone a-fishing to the westward, and, being carried too far by the current, he was overtaken by a tremendous squall. Although it was quite fine here, it thundered and lightened there, and the whole sea boiled and foamed as if they were upon breakers. Suddenly, in the midst of a cloud, he saw the great thing quite close to him, and in it there was an opening, out of which came lightning and fire and smoke, and figures like demons were going in and out." "Heaven protect us!" exclaimed the bystanders, breathless, and crossing themselves. "Antonio and his comrades gave themselves up for lost, and besought the intercession of our Lady of the Strand, and their prayer was heard, and the cloud closed,—and the lightning ceased, and it was calm." There is something peculiarly sublime in the sunset of the South. No long pale rays, shooting faintly from behind a bank of clouds across the darkening earth, apprize us of the lingering departure of the gentle day; but silent and resistless night, creeping stealthily from the gloomy mansions where she has erst been lurking, seems to seize the mighty Lord of Light in the |