the words, but supposed the cry was one of triumph. It was a shriek for help! But in vain. He sank in sight of nearly a hundred men, among whom were the best swimmers for twenty miles round, and rose no more. The shock of the cold water on his heated frame had paralized him. Boats were immediately rowed to the spot, but all efforts to reach the body in time to resucitate it, were unavailing. It was at last recovered by diving, but life had fled long before; and he was brought back a corpse to the very room in which he had twice called upon his Maker to doom him to the horrors of the second death. Thus, though not a suicide in the common acceptation of the term, he was in a sense his own destroyer.

When his employer returned, Langton lay literally "wrapped in his winding sheet;" and his heart-stricken brother was receiving the constant aid of the family, to restore him from a succession of fainting fits; and when I looked from the dead to what seemed the dying, I realized indeed, that "the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."

THE SPIDER.

It has been remarked of spiders, that although of such a form and such a blood-thirsty, cruel disposition, as to cause a natural antipathy in every observer, they exhibit such ingenuity in the construction of their nests, and such patience and perseverance in repairing them when injured, as to offer a strong claim not merely to our attention, but even to our interest.

The spiders differ much in size and appearance, and some of them still more in their habits; yet their forms and motions are so much alike, that we have no difficulty in dis

tinguishing them from other animals at first sight.

In our 10th number, (page 147,) we have given a specimen of the ingenuity of one, individual of the species, which, we doubt not, may have been equalled by others, in various ways, whose operations have not been observed, or not been recorded.

The spider's body is divided into two parts: one, with the head and breast, is covered with strong scales, and has six or eight bright eyes, without eyelids, but covered with a hard crust, like glass-two of the eyes are on the front part of the head, two behind, and the others on the sides, all immoveable. Two short things project from the head, like little saws, with claws at the ends, near which are holes through which poison is emitted. With these they seize their prey and kill it. When not in use, the claws shut down, like a knife-blade on its handle.

The hinder part of the body is covered with a skin that stretches easily, and is clothed with down. The legs are eight, and very active, resembling those of a crab, each with two large claws, and a smaller one on the sides with which the animal holds to its web. Being bent, it still holds when hanging feet upwards. Besides these eight legs, there are two in the forepart, which may be called arms, which are used only for holding flies and other prey. These are not shown in

our cut.

The web is spun from four or five little protuberances; and it is not begun, we are told, until its prey, (of whatever kind,) is nearly ready to be taken in the net. Many filaments proceed from each of the protuberances, which unite at the distance of onetenth of an inch. One thousand of them would not make a thread as large as the point of a pin-at least so says Reaumur. Each of the threads which we see these creatures form, is said to consist of at least four thousand strands!

The following description of the operations of one of these ingenuous creatures is copied from Goldsmith.

"I perceived, about four years ago, a large spider in one corner of my room making its web: and, though the maid frequently levelled her fatal broom against the labors of the little animal, I had the good fortune then to prevent its destruction; and, I may say, it more than paid me by the entertainment it afforded.

"In three days the web was with incredible diligence completed: nor could I avoid thinking that the insect exulted in its new abode. It frequently traversed it round, examined the strength of every part of it, retired into its hole, and came out very frequently. The first enemy, however, it had to encounter was another and a much larger spider, which, having no web of its own, and having probably exhausted all its stock in former labors of this kind, came to invade the property of its neighbor. Soon then a terrible encounter ensued, in which the invader seemed to have the victory, and the laborious spider was obliged to take refuge in its hole. Upon this I perceived the victor using every art to draw the enemy from its strong-hold. He seemed to go off, but quickly returned; but when he found all arts vain, he began ot demolish the new web without mercy. This brought on another battle; and contrary to my expectations, the laborious spider became conqueror, and fairly killed its antagonist.

"Now then in peaceable possession of what justly was its own, it waited three days repairing the breaches of its web, and taking, as I could perceive, no sustenance. At last a large bluebottle fell into the snare, and struggled hard to get loose. The spider gave it leave to entangle itself as much as possible, but it seemed to be too strong for its cobweb. It sallied out, and stopped the motion of the fly's wings by quickly weaving around them a web; and, thus hampered, it seized and dragged it into its hole.

"I once put a wasp into the net; but when the spider came our to seize it, as usual, upon perceiving what kind of an enemy it had to to deal with, it instantly broke all the bands that held it fast, and contributed all that lay in its power to disengage so formidable an antagonist. When the wasp was at liberty, I expected that the spider would set about repairing the breaches which were made in its net; but these it seems were irreparable, wherefore the web was now entirely forsaken, and a new one begun, which was completed in the usual time.

"I had now a mind to try how many cobwebs a single spider could furnish, wherefore I destroyed this, and the insect set about another. When I destroyed the other also, its whole stock seemed entirely exhausted, and it could spin no more. The arts it made use of to support itself, now deprived of its great means of subsistence, were indeed surprising; I have seen it roll up its legs like a ball, and lie motionless for hours together, but cautiously watching all the time; when a fly happened to approach sufficiently near, it would dart out all at once, and often seize its prey.

"Of this life, however, it soon began to grow weary, and resolved to invade the possession of some other spider, since it could not make a web of its own. It formed an attack upon a neighboring fortification with great vigor, and at first was as vigorously repulsed. Not daunted, however, with one

defeat, in this manner it continued to lay seige to another's web for three days, and at length having killed the defendant, actually took possession.

"The insect I am now describing lived three years; every year it changed its skin, and got a new set of legs. 1 have sometimes plucked off a limb, which grew again in two or three days. At first it dreaded my approach to its web, but at last it became so familiar as to take a fly out of my hand, and on my touching any part of the web, would immediately leave its hole, prepared either for defence or attack."

The Chrysalis of a Butterfly.

There are many things relative to insects which are wonderful, and well adapted to improve the heart as well as to interest the feelings and strengthen the mind. We have made several attempts, in our preceding numbers, to direct the attention of our adult and juvenile readers to this copious and useful subject. The branch of it now before us, is one of those most curious and inscrutable.The ancients appear to have been struck with peculiar force and solemnity, by the transmigration of the worm through the chrysalis to the form of the winged butterfly, and to have derived from it brighter hopes of immortal happiness than their gloomy mythology could afford them.

Some years since, in passing through chambers and passages in the Capitoline Museum in Rome, we were struck with the beautiful sculpture of one of the old Roman sarcophagi preserved and exhibited there. The exterior of that white marble coffin was covered with figures in relievo, representing an affectionate family mourning over the corpse of a young girl. It is a well known and oft admired remnant of ancient sculpture. At one end is a butterfly, just escaped from its covering, flying off towards heaven; and it seemed to me

that this simple device conveyed the only encouraging idea connected with a future state, which I saw among all the relics of heathen Rome. We, who have something in the word of God more direct and certain than the mere analogy of nature, may yet do well to allow those striking phenomina in the inferior tribes, to direct our attention more frequently to the important truths of which they seem the shadows, and to the more full and authenticated testimonials with which we are furnished.

Whatever be the form of a chrysalis, it is usually covered with a thin, but horny skin, and contains the parts of the winged insect to which it is soon to give birth. On close examination, at some stage of its existence, the eyes, wings, legs and form of the butterfly may be perceived, with more or less distinctness, through the covering; but the members are packed away in a constrained posi tion, though even some of the tinges of color may be discovered. Swammerdam proved more than this-viz, that the butterfly exists in the caterpillar itself; and there its form may be observed, especially about the time when the latter changes its skin, though so delicate are the outlines of the wings and other parts, that they cannot be separated without the greatest care. He wrote a long memoir on this subject, entitled "An animal within an animal."

A few facts relating to chrysalides, may be easily remembered, and should be familiar to us all:

1st. The place which they hold in the regular series of insect transformations, spoken of before.

2d. The general distinction between the chrysalides of the butterflies (or day-flyers) and the millers and sphinxes, (or evening and night-flyers,)-viz. that the former are angular and the latter smoothly rounded.The chrysalis above given is angular, and that of a butterfly.

3d. That each species has something peculiar in the form, color, position or fastening of its chrysalis, by which a scientific eye may detect it. Some hang by a slender thread, some are fastened in a leaning position to a twig, by a band strangely passed around the m both-a process, like all others of the class performed without hands, and apparently by an animal unprovided with the necessary means, although delicate as is the operation, and performed but once by each individual, it is always perfectly performed.

From the contemplation of such facts, who can turn without a new feeling of admiration of the Creator, or a new tribute of praise to his incomprehensible greatness and wisdom?

INSURRECTION IN NEW ZEALAND.-Accounts have been received from Auckland to the 27th March. The aborigines about the Bay of Islands have latterly been getting discontented, in consequence of the falling off in trade

and considerable decrease in the number of ships visiting that port-a falling off which they cannot account for, except that it be caused through the interference of Government. This notion having got possession of their minds, they have declared war against the British flag, and a chief of the name of Heki, a ringleader, prior to the 11th March, had twice succeeded in cutting down the flagstaff, which was a third time ordered to be erected again by the Government, and fifty soldiers, accompanied by her Majesty's ship Hazard, of eighteen.guns, sent to protect it; these forces were assisted by the inhabitants enrolled as special constables. The town was attacked by the natives at daylight on the morning of the 11th, who succeeded in driving the whole European population from the settlement, and compelling them to take refuge on board the ships in the harbor, making their escape with but little more than what they had on their backs. The town, being entirely in the hands of the natives, was plundered of every thing, and property amounting to £30,000, has fallen into the hands of the savages. The loss of life on the part of Europeans was not great-ten in number killed, and fifteen wounded. Amongst the latter is Capt. Robertson, of the ship Hazard, who is dangerously wounded, having four musket balls in his legs and arm. gallant officer, with about thirty men, most nobly, and with the most exemplary courage, resisted the combined attack of about 400 well armed savages, and had actually repulsed and beaten them back, when he got severely wounded, and fell: The fate of the day was decided against the Europeans, by a body of natives, with Heki at their head, having surprised and taken a musket-proof block house, which stood close by the flagstaff. The gov ernor, (Capt. Fitzroy,) anticipating native disturbances, wrote to Sydney for troops about two months ago, but, unfortunately, they did not arrive here until the 23d. At present there is not a sufficient force in the colony to retake the settlement at the Bay.

This

CHIMES OF THE TRINITY CHURCH.-There are to be nine bells, three of them are old ones, belonging to the Church. The remainder are to be cast in England, for a full peal, tuned and tunable for chiming. The True Sun says:

"Forks have been received from there, which are voiced, or pitched to these bellsand those to be sent are to be tuned to the forks, to accord with those here. Dr. Hodg es, an English organist and music doctor, is training sixteen boys in singing, for the Trinity churches, eight for Trinity and four each for St. Paul's and St. John's-to sing soprano and alto, men, of course, singing the bass and tenor. Female singers are to be entirely dispensed with. This is in imitation of the Cathedrals of the Church of England."

The New English Iron Steam Packet Ship GREAT BRITAIN.-(See Page 448.)