black snakes. After work was done, we were racing home, at sundown, and our way lay over an arm of this marsh. I was ahead, and had no shoes or stockings on, or, to tell the truth, trousers either, having been in the warm pond water all day rafting. To cut off a corner I jumped hop, step, and jump, from tussock to tussock, over this piece of marsh, and about the middle I saw what I took to be a bundle of black roots coiled together, and partly raised. I took a longer leap than common, and pitched both naked feet into what proved to be a bunch of black snakes, that certainly covered eighteen inches to two feet square, and must have contained at least twenty. The horrid feeling of moving reptiles sent me flying, and it also sent many a snake into the water, swimming about twelve to fifteen inches out of it, and with great rapidity. My little English terrier went after them, but of course could not catch them. When on shore I had often seen him kill a four or five foot black snake in a moment; but now the heads alone were visible above the water, and she would never touch the head part, but always caught it by the tail, and shook it all to pieces. It was quite amusing to witness this combat, and I have seen it a hundred times.

The active little thing, always searching about for something to hunt, would bark in a peculiar manner. We all knew "Mus" had found a black snake. Directly the snake moved off to the water, "Mustard" would catch it by the tail, about twelve inches from the end, and by shaking it violently, would soon have it in pieces; but no urging could induce her to hold the snake in her mouth without shaking it all the time. She could not be made to understand it could not hurt her.

Rattlesnake.-Many years since the township of Adelaide was infested near the river by rattlesnakes. There were hundreds of them on my friend Mr. H.'s farm. One particular natural meadow could not be cut with safety. One year, however, hay had been 15 dollars a ton, and very scarce, and this identical meadow had as usual a large, heavy crop on it.

Mr. H. and his friend the doctor were amateur farmers; and as labour was scarce, and money to pay for it scarcer, they undertook to cut and carry the hay in this case themselves. It was duly cut, made, and for the most part carried, but a few cocks were left quite near the rocky portion, where a ledge of limestone rocks projected all along the bank at that place, about six feet high, and facing the south. Several of the hay-cocks had been left out a long time, and autumn's cold nights began to be felt. The wagon was about loaded with hay, and the doctor putting his fork into one of the oldest cocks of hay, suddenly raised it, or a portion of it, over his head and upwards towards the load, when, horror of horrors! a bunch of small rattlesnakes, coiled up to about as large as your doubled fist, fell directly into the open bosom of his shirt. The weather was hot during the day, and the doctor wore no

flannel. He stood like one paralysed; his eyes distended, and without any apparent vision. The snakes rapidly uncoiled, and crept round and round on the waistband of the trousers. The doctor at first had no power to move. His friend on the wagon thought him in a fit, and leaped off, calling out to him to say what was the matter. At last the doctor gasped out, "Snakes in my shirt-bosom!" "Rattlesnakes!" he roared. With great caution, Mr. H. gently lifted the shirt until it came above the band of the trousers, when twelve rattlesnakes, about eight to twelve inches long, fell out, and were at once killed. Mr. H. preserved the whole twelve in whisky; but the doctor, whom I have often made relate the story, could never look at them without shuddering. He left that part, totally unfit to practice his profession for many months.

[We had intended to add a further portion to this article, but give way to make room for Mr. Bullock's letter on the proposed testimonial to Dr. Cooke, which comes very late to hand. The two cuts this month have no connection with the subject of the article, but they illustrate Canadian scenery, and must be taken as a part of the illustrations of the whole subject, just as all the previous cuts have been.]

GLANCES AT THE BLACK COUNTRY.—II.

ITS INHABITANTS.

A VERY amusing blunder was some years since committed by a government official, who was sent down from London to inquire into the condition of the children employed at a certain trade in one of the towns of the Black Country. He betook himself to the chief hotel of the place, and while enjoying his chops and potatoes, he saw through the window hundreds of men and boys leaving the workshops for their mid-day meal. But presently his dinner had lost its attraction for him. His knife and fork reposed silently on his plate! And why? He had discovered a most important fact, one which would at once condemn the employment of children in the trade in question! Of all the scores of work-people passing that window, every one was bow-legged! After a short stay in the town, he returned and gave in his report to the Commissioners who had sent him, not forgetting to draw their particular attention to the crooked limbs of the workmen and lads. Of course, in due time-that is, after the necessary use of a sufficient quantity of red tape-a copy of the report was sent to the mayor of the town, when, alas! for the shrewdness of the inspector, it was discovered that the pane of glass through which he had made such startling observations had got a slight blister in it, which gave a distorted view of everything seen through it.

Now, if I attempted to give a pen-and-ink sketch of a Black Country man, I should be sure to make as ridiculous an affair of it

as the gentleman mentioned above; not, like him, from ignorance of the subject, but from the impossibility of giving a description which would apply generally. But some one asks, "What are Black Country people like ?" Like any other people, to be sure! They walk for the most part upright, although some have been known, after having imbibed a great quantity of intoxicating drink, to exhibit a most unaccountable preference for going on allfours. But I believe this peculiarity is by no means confined to the people of this part.

The inhabitants of the Black Country may be divided into two great classes, employers and the employed; for it will readily be believed that very few people who are not compelled to live there, would prefer this region of smoke and fog. On the contrary, most of those who have secured a competency, and many who are still striving for it, live some miles away in its green borderland, surrounded by fields, gardens, woods, and other rural charms.

The employers are as a rule pushing, persevering business men, "diligent in business," if not all "serving the Lord." Most of them, at any rate their not very distant ancestors, were at one time working men, but by economy, tact, and perseverance, they have achieved a noble position as lords of labour, and their names and the industries they have founded or developed, are known and honoured over the civilized world. They take a lively interest in local and national politics, and are perhaps chargeable with a sneaking fondness for honour and distinctions; and especially those which confer the right of adding certain mystic letters to their The majority are liberal in their views, though by no means democratic. At one time they were almost proverbial for their wealth, ignorance, and ostentation; but a great change has taken place, refinement and good taste have followed on the heels of education, and now the mansions of some of the iron lords are as elegant and as well appointed as those of our aristocracy. The smaller employers cannot lay claim to any great refinement. They are only one remove from the workman-some make themselves ridiculous by aping the manners of those in a better position, while others glory in their unpolished dialect, their substantial dinners, and their outspoken contempt for etiquette.

names.

If there are different degrees of education and position among masters, there is a greater diversity among the servants. In every trade there are, of course, to be found the sober and the drunken, the industrious and the lazy, the frugal and the improvident, the educated and the ignorant. I will, however, give a few of the prominent peculiarities of the men employed in various trades, hoping the former sentence will be enough to prevent my being

misunderstood.

First, let us take miners; and we must, without any wish to disparage men engaged in a dangerous and toilsome occupation for our comfort, take them as one of the lowest classes in the scale of

permanent occupations. Until lately children were sent to work at collieries before they had acquired even the rudiments of education; their short stature rendering them useful in parts of the mines where men could not work. As a consequence they grew up to manhood only just able to spell very slowly from their Bibles. Let my readers pause for a moment, and try to imagine what a void their lives would be if they were unable to read the glowing dreams of the poet, the burning eloquence of the orator, and the quaint descriptions of the humorist: if they were unable to write their own thoughts: and if all their ideas were the result of observation and experience. They will then be able to sympathize with the poor miner, who besides is condemned to labour underground for a scanty living, and who rarely sees any of Nature's beauty or grandeur. Under such circumstances it is not surprising that his tastes are oftentimes low and vulgar, his pleasures debasing, his morality questionable, and his home wretched. And yet even here are to be seen beamings of that better spirit, which sometimes shines out from amid the fog and darkness of ignorance and crime. Many a poor neglected collier has shown by his upright conduct, his meekness of will, and his trust in Providence, that his life was but the outworking of noble and self-sacrificing principles, firmly fixed in his heart, and which would have graced the most exalted position in society.

The next great class to consider are the iron-workers. As these get higher wages than miners they are generally better housed, clothed, and fed: the last being with too many of them the most important consideration. Their work being very hot and heavy, they drink a great deal, and unfortunately they usually reject weak and harmless beverages, and prefer ale and other highly stimulating liquors. As a consequence, they are frequently intoxicated, and the habit thus formed while at work grows on them, till they become confirmed drunkards. They are also great consumers of butcher's meat. Many of them are dreadfully improvident, and their ease of mind when heavily burdened by debt would be most edifying to contemplate, if we could forget the tradesmen who have to suffer by their want of frugality. But there are also many of them who save money enough to build a house for themselves, who take a pride in furnishing it, according to their means. Some are fond of books, and store their minds with varied information, which they retail to their fellow-workmen at the forge or the mill, giving their opinions on debatable topics with all the dogmatism of a professor.

There is another great class of iron-workers-engineers and machinists. These, as a rule, have a better education than other workmen, and as their occupation requires almost as much work with the brain as with the hand, they are quick-witted, good at conversation, and rather close reasoners; but generally having more faith in demonstration than in argument. Working, as they generally do, ten or twelve together in one shop, a sort of class or