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bearing a long matchlock on his shoulder, emerge from the shadow of a clump of bamboos just opposite my tent, and, as he was crossing towards the servants' quarters, I recognized old Rustum Singh, who had been sent off in charge of the shikarees on the previous evening.

start at once, without saying anything to the others, and attack the tiger in his lair before he could become alarmed and move out of the neighbourhood. The old man looked doubtful; but it is a point of honour with these hunters not to hold back when a European leads, and he merely replied: "Where the Sahib goes Rustum will follow." So I turned into the tent to get my trusty double-barrelled "Purdy," and putting my spirit-flask in my pocket, I joined Rustum without giving my enthusiasm time to cool.

Rustum was a splendid specimen of an old Punjaubee hunter. Nearly six feet in height, broad shouldered, thin flanked, and as straight as a dart, with not an ounce of superfluous flesh on his body. He moved about among our crowd of coolies like a stately deer-hound in the midst of a pack of village curs. His breast was almost covered with medals given him by the East India Company as rewards for the destruction of ferocious animals, and the old man wore them with as much pride as a famous general carries the trophies of his hard-won | alarmed. Rustum had tracked him into a battles.

Anxious to get the earliest intelligence, I called to Rustum as he passed my tent, and enquired if he had brought any news of the tiger. Placing the palms of his hands together, and bowing almost to the ground, he replied, "Oh hokee, waukee cumfooselah shallabelah," that is "My Lord, a ferocious tiger which has long been the terror of the surrounding villages, has been tracked to the neighbouring jungle where he awaits the death-dealing bullets of your Highness." You see, my dear, Hindostanee is a very expressive language, and you can say a great deal in a very few words.

At this moment a brilliant idea flashed across my mind. What if I should take Rustum at once and kill the tiger, singlehanded? The old shikaree and I were great friends, and I knew I could depend upon him to stand by me to the death; and, although I was quite conscious that it was no child's play to encounter a tiger alone and on foot, I thought of the triumph of returning successful in the morning, and became excited beyond the bounds of discretion. I therefore proposed to Rustum that we should

From further questioning, I learned that the tiger lay in an old lair in a dense patch of jungle about five miles from the camp. He had carried off a native child on the preceding evening, and would not probably change his quarters for a day or two, unless

thick clump of bushes in which he had no doubt his den was situated; but had retired quietly to avoid disturbing the beast. I should tell you that these "man-eaters" seldom remain more than a few days in the same place, but travel great distances, chiefly by night, so that the first intimation the unfortunate villagers have of the presence of these animals, is the disappearance of one or more of their friends or relatives.

Following the shikaree, who led the way with smooth, rapid strides, we made our way through the long grass which fringed the jungle to the eastward, and reached nearly to our knees. Every now and again as we passed through the rank herbage, an ominous rustle, accompanied by an angry hiss, denoted the passage of some prowling snake which we had disturbed, and certainly did not tend to re-animate my fast cooling courage. I now sincerely regretted the unpleasant position into which my foolish impetuosity had led me but my pride would not allow me to draw back, and I followed my guide with sullen determination. proceeding in this way for fully an hour, Rustum turned suddenly to the left, and

moved, with cautious steps, along a blind path which led directly into the thickest part of the jungle. I now felt that we were getting to close quarters. So taking a sup from my flask, I placed fresh caps on the nipples of my rifle, and braced myself up for the encounter.

Suddenly pausing at a turn in the path, where an opening in the bushes denoted the frequent passage of some heavy animal, the shikaree whispered that we had reached the lair of the tiger. Sinking on my hands and knees and grasping my rifle firmly, I crawled into the low opening, closely followed by Rustum. My nerves have often been severely tried and I believe are as good as those of most sportsmen ; but, I confess, as I made my way cautiously along the low dark passage, I could feel my heart beating with very unusual rapidity and force and I expected every moment to feel the rush of the infuriated animal upon me. The sudden transition from the bright moonlight without-to the darkness within-prevented me from seeing more than a few feet before me, and I crawled slowly on with a sort of blind desperation.

We had groped on, as nearly as I can judge, some twenty yards, when I felt Rustum's hand upon my shoulder and heard hin whisper in my ear: "Look! look! Sa

hib, to the left." Gazing intently in the direction he had indicated, I could just see, about ten yards in advance, what appeared to be two dull balls of fire-which I at once concluded to be the eyes of the tiger. A restless movement of the animal and a low growl warned me that no time was to be lost. Rising gently to my knees-I slowly raised my rifle till the white patch I had taken the precaution to affix to the end of the weapon, bore exactly between the two fiery balls, and pulled the trigger! A loud roar! a crash! and then I was thrown violently on my back by the rush of some large animal which went crashing away through the jungle till the sound of its im petuous career was lost in the distance.

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"Well but, uncle," I said, "didn't you kill the tiger after all ?"

"Why, the fact is, my dear," replied uncle, "it wasn't a tiger at all; and all I killed was a remarkably fine porker whose mamma, the sow, had chosen that snug retreat to bring up her young family. As to the claws-if you must know—I bought them in the bazaar in Calcutta, and had them made into a bracelet for my very in quisitive little niece."

"Oh!" I said, and John, bursting into a loud laugh, cried "What a sell !"

TO A PHOTOGRAPH.

BY E. W. THOMSON.

OH, Dick, after all that we've gone through

And suffered together, it does seem hard

That all remaining to me of you,

Is this little bit of pictured card,

And a few dear letters yellow with years,

And some books that were pencil-marked by you

I cannot read them through falling tears,

For you were tender, and I am true.

ALMONTE,

I cannot forget the fearful day,

You charged by my side through raging shell!
Our knees together-our sabres' play,

Or your maddened face when you saw I fell
With my sword-arm broken; there I lay,
In a little pool from my wounded side,
Till you bore me in your arms away—
But, that you nursed me, I had died.

And ever and always after then,

We clung together in march or fight,
And seldom quarrelled like other men,

Your heart was pure as your sword was bright.
We prayed with Stonewall, and fought again;
We followed Stuart, and both are not;
Ourselves and swords were with Early, when
The men in the White House heard his shot.

Always ragged and often starved,

With jingling spurs on our naked feet,
We helped our hero while he carved

His cumbered way on the last retreat!
When all was over, and Lee had bowed,
Then parted forever the shattered band.
We left that land of weeping loud-
Peace offered the olive, sword in hand.

And together we came to our people dear.
The welcome we had right dearly cost :
Some of the loved ones were not here-

And they all had prayed for us as lost.
She whom you loved had passed away-
Grieving for you, to the spirit land;
My mother looked on the brighter day,
And, Dick-your going was near at hand!

And now you have gone-but I must stay,
With nothing of you but this pictured card-
Some books, your letters, your coat of grey:
The heart it covered is still. Oh! hard,

I wait for the hour with little fear,

When my name shall be placed on the muster roll, To the beautiful gates of pearl draw near,

And meet my spirit-oh! brother soul !

FROM THE GREAT LAKES TO THE SEA.

BY J. G. BOURINOT.

N

O fact illustrates more clearly the enterprise and energy of the leading men of the Dominion than the large number of railways and other public undertakings, that are either in progress or in contemplation, at the present time, in every province of Canada. A considerable portion of the Intercolonial Railway will be completed in the course of the present summer, and the tourist will be able, in the autumn, to travel by rail from St. John to Halifax. The "North Shore," the "River du Loup and Fredericton,” and the "St. Francis and Megantic" Railways are works which must give a great stimulus to the commerce and industry of the province of Quebec. In Ontario there are numerous lines engaging public attention and about to receive valuable assistance from the well-filled treasury of that province. The Canadian Pacific Railway will probably be undertaken by a company of Canadian capitalists, in the course of the present year, which must always be memorable as dating the commencement of a new era in the history of commercial enterprise and railway construction throughout the Dominion.

But, among the public works necessary to the expansion of the commerce of Canada, none occupy a higher or more important place than the canals which have been constructed for the improvement of inland navig. ation. These canals have already cost the people over twenty millions of dollars; but every one admits that never was public money more wisely expended, and is prepared to vote as much more to develop works so essential to the commercial prosperity of the Confederation. It is only necessary to consider the topographical features

of the Dominion to see the importance of these works in an intercolonial and national point of view. The eastern provinces are flanked by the Atlantic, while British Columbia rests on the Pacific, and between those two oceans lies a vast territory of which the St. Lawrence and Mackenzie rivers are the principal arteries. The Mackenzie runs through an unknown wilderness and empties itself into the lonely waters of the Arctic regions. Perhaps, in the far future, it may have an important part to play in the development of the commerce of that now unknown North-west, but, at present, it is of no value to the people of Canada. The St. Lawrence river, on the other hand, is exercising and must always exercise an important influence upon the political, as well as commercial destinies of the communities of the Confederation. It is already the natural avenue of communication for many millions of people, and one of the principal auxiliaries of the commercial enterprise of America. It runs through a territory where the climate is bracing and healthy, and nature produces in great abundance. It bears to the ocean, after running a course of over 2,000 miles, the tribute of the Great Lakes, which have been calculated to contain almost half the fresh water of the world, and not far from twelve thousand cubic miles of fluid. Along the course of its navigation there are communities not surpassed by any in energy, and all those qualities which make peoples great and prosperous. Its natural beauties have long been the theme of the admiration of European travellers, from the days that Cartier and Champlain first sailed on its waters, and gave France the right to claim the owner

ship of more than half the continent. It is where nature has been most capricious, where falls and rapids awe the spectator by their tumultuous rush, that we now see the evidences of modern enterprise; where the Indian in old times carried his canoe, we now find splendid structures of masonry, illustrating the progress of engineering skill, and the demands of commercial enterprise in a country whose total population in the begining of the century was hardly above a hundred thousand souls.

It

italists of Canada. Constantly in difficul-
ties, they were always before Parliament so-
liciting provincial assistance; and at last
wearied out by their importunities, and con-
scious of the importance of the project, the
government decided that it was desirable
for the public interests to purchase all the
property and make the canal a public work.
The whole expenditure by the government
on the canal, at the time they assumed con-
trol, was nearly two millions of dollars.
is interesting to notice that nearly all our
canals were constructed in the first instance
in accordance with plans and reports made
by eminent engineers of the British service.
The Rideau canal was commenced and car-
ried out under the direction of Colonel By.
who arrived in this country in 1826, and
whose name was for many years given to the
present political capital of the Dominion.
The St. Lawrence canals were enlarged in
pursuance of the recommendations of Col-
onel Philpotts who was instructed by the
Earl of Dunham, to make up a report on
the whole question of the canal system of
Canada.

It is not necessary that a person should fall under the category of "the oldest inhabitant," to whom reference is so frequently made in newspaper paragraphs, in order to remember the different steps in the progress of canal development in this country. The oldest canal-the Lachine, only dates back as far as 1821, and between then and 1840, were the Rideau, Ottawa and St. Lawrence canals, constructed and put into operation. It was not, indeed, until some time after the union between Quebec and Ontario that measures were taken to enlarge the St. Lawrence and Welland canals to their present capacity. The idea that first originated works like the Rideau and Lachine was the necessity of giving additional facilities for the transport of troops and supplies in the case of the outbreak of hostilities between England and the United States. In the case of the Welland, however, commercial views predominated for sagacious men, of whom the late Mr. Mer--and consequently it has long been among ritt was the leader, foresaw the rapid develop- the aspirations of the inhabitants of Ontario ment of the magnificent country, of which to have internal communication of their own the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes are the in that part of the Dominion. The Canal natural outlet. The Welland canal is an Commissioners in their report recommend admirable illustration of the difficulties the construction of a canal on the Canada which the promoters of great projects have side, where every condition seems favourto contend against in the inception of such able, and there is no doubt that, before enterprises. The company which under- many years pass by, the work will be in took its construction commenced on a very operation. At present, however, the first humble scale, and were a long while engaged, canal to which we have to refer is a work with very little success, in endeavouring to which has been of great benefit to Ontario enlist the support and sympathy of the cap-in fact, the only work which has returned

It would not be very interesting to follow, step by step, the different stages in the improvement of the canals, and it will be sufficient for our present purpose to give a few details exhibiting their dimensions. The canal which connects Lake Superior with Lake Huron is a work of large size, but it is owned by the people of the United States:

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