he took from his bosom a small parcel-all he had of those early days. It was the small parcel his wife gave him ere she died. In that parcel were the words of Life; but he, poor man, had not searched for them; and yet, amid all his wanderings, he had ever felt a desire to keep that book. As the night wore on, though cold, weary, and hungry, he sat thinking of the past, and big, unbidden tears coursed down his cheeks. Oh, if he could but call back those saddening

years, what a happy man he would be, prepared for life or death! But he could not do that; all he could do now was to pray God to forgive all the wrong he had done. And while thus musing and praying, the night being bitterly cold, he fell asleep; and when the sun arose he was a corpse -frozen to death. Thus died Dan Crooks on the door-step of his first home! "Whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him " (Ecclesiastes x. 8). GEORGE HENRY ELVIDGE.

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UR first Christmas in South Australia was, in many respects, a singular one. Instead of the keen frost and crisp snow, or the dense fog and deep mud we had been accustomed to see in the dear old country, we had dry, hard roads, a delicious air, and a wondrously lovely sky. Instead of seeing in the streets people wrapped up in great-coats, furs, muffs, and woollen gloves, we saw ladies, and gentlemen too, dressed in white, or extremely light clothing. Instead of monster tea-parties in schoolrooms, there were pleasant picnics. No need of the great roasting fire, or the large yule log to keep our toes and fingers warm. The Australians evidently believe in a good holiday. Early on Christmas morning thousands of people left their homes for the bay; some to the Fort, some to the semaphore, some to Glenelg. Many went up among the splendid hills which almost encircle Adelaide. The facilities for travelling by train or tram or coach are very good. The weather on the 25th was simply perfect; the sun was bright but not oppressive, the breeze was delicious. At 9 A.M. we had a large gathering of Sunday-school teachers, scholars, and friends, in the noble Town Hall. Suitable hymns and carols were sung. The Revs. W. H. Fletcher, J. Lyall, D. O. Donell, and myself, took part in the proceedings. This mecting over, we went to our own church, where we held a Christmas service. The congregation was good, and the singing of old favourites, such "Christians awake," and "Hark the herald angels sing," awoke vivid and tender memories of the dear friends and hallowed spots in England.

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After this service we went down to Glenelg, to spend the rest of the day with our good friends, Mr. and Mrs. Hellewell. The scene at the bay was one of keen interest and pleasure. The fine smooth sand, the clear rippling water, the animating breeze, the sight of boats and bathing vans, the groups of merry boys and girls, joyous young men and maidens, and hard-working mothers

and fathers, wearing, to-day at least, a restful happy look on their faces. The large numbers of bathers and paddlers, builders and cricketers, and all this at Christmas, was a sight to stir one's heart with emotions of joy and gratitude.

The Australians believe in keeping up Christmas fare. Of course they go in for the timehonoured goose, beef, and plum pudding, with the addition of rich green peas. They have also an abundance of fruit, such as apricots, plums, figs, almonds, &c., &c. My readers will see that there is much here to make Christmas an enjoyable time. Some things we missed, among others these:-The bands of music and the groups of singers, and those who wish they could sing going about the streets and lanes on Christmas eve and morn. But we had the merry joyous bells of our noble Town Hall, and we had the countless hosts of brilliant stars and a magnificent sun, telling us of Him who is the bright and Morning Star and the Sun of Righteousness.

The weather was not so hot as it often is at Christmas. Still, now and then we get a roasting day, followed by a boiling night. After this, how welcome the cold bath and the pure air blowing from the hills or the sea. There are many "set-offs" to the heat and the occasional storms of " Australian Snow"-that is to say, of driving clouds of hot blinding sand. We had but little of this snow last Christmas.

We do not see here the extreme forms of poverty we have often seen at home. The people generally are "better off." They get higher wages and spend their money freely. On Christmas Eve the shops and stores in Hindley Street and Rundle Street presented a gay and attractive appearance. And these streets were thronged by crowds of many well-dressed people. The windows and counters bore ample testimony to the wealth and fertility of this young colony. The scene in the East Market was specially ively, and the huge loads of fruit, vegetable, ferns, and flowers- the eddying crowd, the jollity and laughter among young and old, buyer

and seller, were such as to make one person say he had not been so happy since he had the measles!

The 28th of December is a great and memoable day in South Australia. It is now fortyeight years since Captain Hindmarsh proclaimed South Australia a province of the British Empire. He met a few colonists under the shade of a now fast decaying gum-tree, and there formally added this colony to the mother country. It is right that this day should through all time be kept as a National Festival, and never, I should think, did people throw themselves more heartily into a holiday than the crowds I saw on the 28th of December.

New Year's Day is also a general holiday. A contractor told me that on that day he could not get his men to work for love or money. The trams, which were heavily laden with excursionists who had gone on the hills, to Beachwood, Mount Barker and Mount Lofty, did not reach home until late.

I am glad to say that underneath all the merriment and recreation there seems to be a spirit of self-restraint and self-respect.

The

religious and sacred memories and associations of the time exert a powerful influence upon many in this land. The matchless stories of Bethlehem and Bethany, of Nazareth and Calvary, have rooted themselves in the warm throbbing hearts of vast numbers who live beneath the Southern Cross. We entered on the New Year with new hopes, vows, and good wishes for everybody. As we listened to the sweet bells before and after our watch-night service, we thought of Tennyson's fine lines (though some of the words did not apply here at all)—

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Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light,
The year is dying in the night,
Ring out wild bells and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring happy bells across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true,
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be."
E. GRATTON.

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sea.

N old sailor once said that there was nothing on the land that could not be found in the There are sea-cucumbers and sea-carrots, and many other sea-vegetables that look very much like those on the land whose names they bear. Several of the fish even, have names like those of land-animals. There are the hog-fish, the toad-fish, the sea-lions, the sea-cows, the seahorses (hippopotami, whose skin-a piece of which is now in the writer's possession-is nearly two inches in thickness); and many think there also are sea-serpents.

One very beautiful fish is the angel-fish. But perhaps the most singular of the fishes is the flying-fish, which has broad fins like wings. In shape and colour it is somewhat like the mackerel, its back being blue and its under-parts white. It takes only short flights, usually from the top of one wave to the top of another. Flying-fish are plentiful in the Indian Ocean, where, on his return from Australia, the editor of this Magazine saw thousands of them. Sometimes they fly out of the water in front of a ship in little groups, looking like flocks of swallows, with their white sides gleaming like silver in the sun,

But they cannot fly far-perhaps a hundred yards or so; and then touching the water to wet their fins, they can fly farther on. They seem to enjoy their short flight in the air. But then they do not always fly for pleasure: the dolphin, a very fierce and fast-swimming fish, hunts them.

In the Caribbean Sea, opposite the island of Barbadoes, flying-fish are found in great numbers. They abound also in the Pacific Ocean, and may be seen almost any time flying hither and thither, and disporting themselves in the air for the brief moments of their flight. Boats for catching them, manned by black fishermen, are always to be seen about Barbadoes. The boatmen drop their nets into the sea, and, throwing bread around for the fish to eat, the latter are easily taken. In Barbadoes they are called " beef," and are the most palatable kind of food on the island, the smaller ones selling for half a penny, and the larger for a penny or more apiece. They are also caught at night by the aid of a submarine lamp, which is dropped overboard, and so attracts them into the net. Next to the pearl-divers, the fishermen of the flying-fish are said to be the best submarine divers in the world.