CHAPTER I.

_Introduction――Early life――Commences a sea-faring life――Columbus goes to Lisbon――His views about undiscovered land in the west――He pursues measures to go on a voyage of discovery――He applies to the court of Spain._

Who has not heard the name of Christopher Columbus――the bold navigator, or sailor, who first discovered America? Yet few children in the United States, perhaps, have read the story of his life. It is full of interest. Columbus was a remarkable man――remarkable for his courage――for his enterprise――for carrying through whatever he attempted. Few ever made greater exertion――few ever passed through severer trials and dangers――few, by one single act of their lives, were ever more useful to the world.

By the children of the United States, the name of Columbus should be had in honor. But for his enterprise, America would probably have remained unknown for many years longer. Before the voyage of Columbus, no one had crossed the Atlantic Ocean. At the present day, such a voyage is little more thought of than a journey to Quebec or Niagara. But at that time no one had ventured upon the undertaking. No such continent as America was known to exist, and the uncertainty of finding land, cast so much gloom upon a western voyage that few were willing even to think of it.

But with Columbus the case was different. He was a brave man. He was fitted for the boldest adventures. Although the existence of land to the west was uncertain, Columbus had so much faith that he determined to make the experiment. He therefore, boldly launching forth, stretched westward upon the swelling waters of the Atlantic. What was the result?――the discovery of a new continent――of a western world――of a land in which are now situated, among other countries, the United States. In some one of these states, little reader, you was born――here you live――here you enjoy a thousand blessings with other children――all to be traced back, under a kind providence, to the single voyage of Columbus about which I am going to tell you.

But before I tell you of that voyage, I will tell you some particulars of the early life of Columbus; and when you have read what I shall write, you will, I think, wonder that he should have ever undertaken it.

Columbus was born about the year 1435. His birth-place was Genoa, a city of Italy. His father was a poor but respectable man. He followed the business of wool-combing. Columbus was the eldest of four children. He had two brothers and one sister.

When young, he was considered a bright boy. He enjoyed few opportunities for study, but he diligently improved those he had. He excelled in a knowledge of geography, of which he was fond. In after life his attainments in this study were of signal use to him.

Having devoted as much time to study as his father’s means would allow, he returned home, and for a time worked at wool-combing. But of this he was never fond. His genius was better fitted for more active employment, and as soon as permitted he sought occupation abroad.

The bent of his inclination was to follow the sea. He was yet young, being at this time but fourteen years of age, to embark upon so dangerous a course of life. But he had courage and resolution, and now eagerly embraced the opportunity of entering the service of a sea captain by the name of Colombo, a distant relative of his father.

Colombo himself was a bold, hardy, rough seaman. In the service of such a man, the native courage and enterprise of Columbus were not likely to droop. The voyages of his master were confined to the Mediterranean sea. Sailing in this sea, at all times dangerous by reason of the storms which sweep across it, was at that time doubly dangerous, since, in addition to storms, it was thronged with pirates.

With Colombo our young sailor made several voyages, but of the particulars of these, little is known. Some time after, Columbus enlisted into the service of a nephew of his old captain――a corsair, or pirate, and a most bloody man.

Soon after his enlistment, his new master received the news that four vessels, with rich cargoes, were about sailing from a certain port. Their great value was quite a temptation to run some hazard in the attempt to take them. With this object in view, the vessels of the corsair proceeded to sea. In a short time the merchant vessels were discovered, and a descent was made upon them.

The vessel on board of which Columbus was, coming up with one, began the attack. This was boldly met. On both sides the contest was spirited and bloody, and lasted from morning till night. During the engagement, these two vessels, coming in contact, were fastened together by means of chains and what are called grappling irons. The parties now fought not only with guns, but with sabres, and with every kind of weapon found on board. The butchery on both sides was appalling. At length one of the vessels took fire, and both were soon wrapped in flames.

To those who survived there was now but one way of escape――to plunge themselves into the sea, and to reach the shore if possible by swimming. What became of the rest, I know not, but of Columbus we are told that as he rose from the water into which he had leaped, he discovered an oar, upon which stretching himself, he succeeded in reaching land, after swimming a distance of six miles.

The next that we hear of Columbus is at Lisbon, in Portugal, where he arrived about the year 1470. The fight of which I have given an account took place at no great distance from Lisbon, and hence it is supposed that on getting ashore Columbus was induced to visit Lisbon, on account of the spirit of enterprise which more than in most other places abounded there.

Not long after reaching Lisbon, he became attached to a lady of rank, whom he married. She was the daughter of a distinguished sea captain, now dead. Columbus and his wife, for a time, lived with her mother. This lady had in her possession many charts and journals, belonging to her late husband. These she presented to Columbus, and from them he gained many new and important ideas in relation to discoveries which had been made, and of land which it was thought might exist at a distance in the oceans.

Columbus now continued to follow the seas, making several voyages to the coast of Guinea, in Africa. But at length he removed to the island of Porto Santo, in the vicinity of the island of Madeira. Porto Santo had then recently been discovered. This island lies about 700 miles south-west from Lisbon.

For some years before Columbus removed to Porto Santo, much had been said about lands to the west. No such lands were known to exist; but many thought it probable that they did.

Columbus heard what was said, read what was written, and his thoughts were fixed upon the subject. After his removal, he still dwelt upon it. At this time, the most western lands known were a group of islands called the Azores. These islands lie in the Atlantic Ocean, about half way between the eastern and western continents. They were discovered about the year 1450.

It was a question, and one of great interest, what lay beyond the Azores, to the west. Was it water only, or was there land? And by taking a westerly course could not a passage be found to India?

Columbus, as I said, dwelt long upon the subject, and at length became convinced that there must be land. In this opinion he was strengthened by certain discoveries which had been made by vessels which had sailed some distance westward into the Atlantic Ocean. These discoveries consisted in one case of a piece of carved wood, and in another of trunks of pine trees, unlike any which grew upon the Azores――but more than all, of two dead men’s bodies, cast upon Flores, one of the Azore islands, after a westerly wind, which differed in their appearance from any race of people then known. These, and several other circumstances, about which I have not time to be more particular, satisfied Columbus that there were lands to the west of the Azores. Thus, having formed his opinion, his next object was to contrive some plan to ascertain the truth of his conjectures.

As he was now near to the king of Portugal, he first made application to him. He had strong reasons to hope for success, chiefly on account of the spirit of enterprise which prevailed at that time in Portugal, on the subject of discoveries. King John listened to the views of Columbus with interest. He was himself nearly ready to patronize the project, but some of his chief advisers thought the plan a wild one.

King John, however, was not satisfied. His council, therefore, advised him to get Columbus to reveal his views and his plans, and to keep him in doubt, while a vessel was dispatched for the purpose of discovering the land which Columbus was so sure existed to the west.

All this was designed to rob Columbus of the honor which he would have, should he actually make such a discovery. This was mean, ungenerous and wicked. Columbus, however, knew not the design. He frankly gave his views――disclosed the route which he designed to take. Like an honest man, bent on effecting a good purpose, and trusting to the honesty of others, he told all he knew――all he designed.

The crafty Portuguese had now obtained possession of his secret,――all they wanted. Columbus was therefore put off for a time.

In the mean while a vessel was hastily and secretly fitted out and dispatched, with the hope of making the discovery, and of robbing Columbus of the glory of the enterprise.

The vessel in question sailed, as I said, but shortly after returned, her crew being too timid to encounter the dangers of an untried ocean.

Columbus at length heard of the infamous manner in which he had been treated. He felt insulted――was grieved, but his spirit remained unbroken. He determined to quit a kingdom in which he had been so much abused. No ties bound him to it. His wife was now dead. With his only son, whom she had left to him, and whom he named Diego, he departed for Genoa.

Genoa, however, was not in a favorable situation to patronize the undertaking.

From Genoa he proceeded to Spain; but in what manner, or by what route, is now unknown.

The most that we know is, that one day a stranger, humbly clad, and on foot, leading a little boy, called at the convent of La Rabida, not far from a seaport in Andalusia, and requested food for the lad. It was Columbus and Diego.

They were noticed by the chief man of the convent, who entered into conversation with Columbus, who told him the story of his adventures. This greatly interested the friar or chief of the convent, who persuaded him to tarry some time with him, and who entered with deeper and deeper interest into the plans of Columbus, the more they were disclosed to him.

In the spring of 1486, Columbus, having made arrangements to have Diego educated at the convent of La Rabida, took leave of the worthy father, and proceeded to the court of Spain to solicit assistance in carrying his plans into execution.

Ferdinand and Isabella were at this time the sovereigns of Spain. We shall not detain our readers with an account of the many troubles and vexations which Columbus experienced before his request was granted. Several years passed in a fruitless urgency of his petition. Spain was at war, and her sovereigns pretended that they could not attend to him. Not a few distinguished Spaniards were jealous of him, and envious of his expected honor. They, therefore, endeavored to dissuade the king and queen from lending their patronage to him.

But at length the time arrived when, the war being over, the king and queen appointed persons to arrange a plan with Columbus. These persons, however, pretended that he was too extravagant in his demands, and the negotiation was broken off. Grieved and mortified, Columbus hastily left the court, and proceeding towards Cordova, intended thence to sail to France.

A friend to Columbus, finding he had departed, hastily repaired to the queen, and entreated her that he might be recalled, and that an enterprise which promised so much honor to Spain might be accomplished.

The king would not listen to the proposal. His funds had been exhausted by the war, and he felt himself unable to meet the expense. Isabella hesitated. But at length her generous spirit was victorious over all objections. She offered to fit out the expedition at her own expense, and directed that Columbus should be recalled.

While this was passing, he, disappointed, and no doubt dejected, was pursuing his journey towards Cordova. A messenger was dispatched to convey to him the happy turn in his fortune. The messenger overtook him――handed him the recall――and shortly after Columbus was again at Santa Fe, where the king and queen then resided.

He was received with kindness both by Ferdinand and Isabella, especially the latter. An arrangement was soon formed between Columbus and the queen. By this, the former was appointed governor-general of all lands which he might discover. He was to be entitled to one tenth of the gold and silver, pearls and precious stones, which he might find. The queen promised to fit out two vessels, and allowed him to furnish one.

These arrangements being made much to the satisfaction of Columbus, he set about preparing for the voyage.

It was determined that he should sail from a small sea-port by the name of Palos. This lies exactly east from Jamestown, in Virginia. Little did Columbus imagine that in a little more than one hundred years from that time, a settlement should be begun at a spot exactly west from where he then was, on a continent which he should discover, and which should be the beginning of a noble republic, such as we see at this day in the United States.

Little did he think of it. Yet he proceeded with as much zeal in preparing for his voyage, as if he had foreseen all the consequences of his enterprise.

He now made a visit to the convent of La Rabida, where he was welcomed by the kind father, who expressed his joy at the success of his friend. Here he took up his quarters, it being at no great distance from Palos, while the vessels were fitting at the latter place for the voyage.

I said the queen agreed to furnish two vessels, and Columbus was permitted to furnish one. He was unable himself to advance the necessary funds, but a friend kindly offered to do it for him.

The vessels provided for the voyage, were such as no seaman at the present day would think safe out of sight of land. Only one of them had any deck. This one, which was the largest, was called the Santa Maria. It was commanded by Columbus himself. The second was called the Pinta. Her captain was Martin Alonzo Pinzon. Nina was the name of the third, and was commanded by Vincente Yanez Pinzon. All the souls on board the three amounted to one hundred and twenty.

* * * * *

LUCIUS VALERIUS PUDENS.――Lucius Valerius was born at Hisconium, in the reign of Trajan. At thirteen years of age, he became a competitor for the prize of poetry. This prize was a beautiful gold medal and an ivory lyre, which was every five years adjudged to the author who produced the best poem. Valerius, though opposed by a number of poets double his age, was victorious. Among other honors paid to him, it was determined to erect a bronze statue, which should be placed in the most conspicuous part of the city. The day of the presentation of this statue to the public view, presented a trait in the character of Valerius, still more lovely than his talents.

At the moment when the chief magistrate was placing a crown of laurel on the head of the statue, Valerius perceived a young man who had contested the prize with him,――and who was, in the opinion of many, little inferior to him,――looking upon this scene with a sorrowful and dejected countenance. Valerius instantly discovered the cause of his chagrin, and determined to remove it, which he did in the following manner. He seized the laurel crown, and, pressing towards his disappointed rival, placed it on his head, saying, “You are more deserving of it than I am; I obtained it more on account of my youth than my merit, and rather as an encouragement than a reward.” This generous conduct called forth enthusiastic admiration from the spectators; and the astonished youth, who thus unexpectedly received the crown of victory from the hands of the victor, was overcome with gratitude and joy. To preserve the remembrance of an action, which evinced at once so much modesty and such kind feelings, the people conferred on Valerius the surname of _Pudens_, which signifies modest,――an honor greater even than that which he derived from his poetry.

Ancient Castles.

In ancient times, when war was common, kings and chiefs used to live in strong places, called castles. These consisted of high stone walls, built so as to enclose a square piece of ground in the centre, called the court. They were, in fact, quadrangular buildings, with a great many rooms in them. They were contrived so that the king or chief to whom they belonged, might shut himself in, with all his soldiers, and thus defend himself from armies without.

The castle had always a well for water; stables for horses, and room for their food; it had places for soldiers; dungeons for prisoners; and apartments for many hundreds of people. In time of war, all the people round about would flock to the castle, and there they would live, sometimes for months.

Castles were usually built upon lofty pieces of ground, the access to which was very difficult. These were generally surrounded by deep ditches, filled with water, across which an enemy could not easily pass. Over this was a bridge for the use of the people of the castle, which was taken away whenever any fear of an enemy was entertained.

Castles had towers, generally at the four corners, and sometimes each side of the gate. These were of a circular form, and had loopholes, like narrow windows, out of which the soldiers within, shot their arrows.

Sometimes a castle would be besieged for months, by armies encompassing it. The army without would try every means to get into the castle, or kill the people. They would shoot their arrows with cross-bows, and endeavor to knock down the walls with battering-rams.

In travelling over Europe, the ruins of many castles are still to be seen. Few are met with which are in good repair, as over all Europe the people are now governed by laws, which afford protection, without resorting to castles. These are, therefore, but little used at the present day; and even in cases where they are still occupied, it is only as dwellings, and not as strong-holds for safety against enemies.

[Illustration: _Manner of attacking a castle in the middle ages._]

Æronautics,

OR ART OF NAVIGATING THE AIR WITH BALLOONS.

Although this subject has little _practical_ importance, yet, in view of its interest, especially to the young reader, we shall devote a few pages to a notice of some of the most splendid ærial voyages which we find on record.

The fundamental principles of this art have long been known; but the application of them to practice is a modern discovery. About the year 1765, Mr. Henry Cavendish made his celebrated discovery of the existence of inflammable air, or, as it is called, hydrogen gas. Common air is eight hundred times lighter than water; hydrogen gas seven times lighter than common air. This is the material now used for the purpose of filling balloons. It is obtained in several ways; but the best methods are by applying acids to certain metals. Iron, zinc and sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) are most commonly used. The acid must be diluted with five or six parts of water. Iron may be expected to yield in the common way about seventeen hundred times its own bulk of gas, or four and a half ounces of iron, the like weight of sulphuric acid, and twenty-two and a half ounces of water, will produce one cubic foot of hydrogen gas; six ounces of zinc, an equal weight of acid, and thirty ounces of water, are necessary for producing the same quantity.

In the year 1782, Mr. Cavallo made the first experiments with hydrogen gas to raise bodies in the air. He first tried bladders; but not succeeding, he used China paper, in which also failing, he was under the necessity of being satisfied with soap-bubbles, which were the first kind of inflammable air-balloons that were ever made.

For balloons formed on a large scale, and of rarefied air, we must direct our attention to France, where the two brothers, Stephen and Joseph Montgolfier, paper manufacturers at Annonay, about thirty-six miles from Lyons, distinguished themselves by exhibiting the first of those ærostatic machines which have since excited so much attention and astonishment. The first idea of such a machine was suggested to them by the natural ascent of the smoke and clouds of the atmosphere, and the first experiment was made at Avignon, by Stephen, towards the middle of November, 1782. Having prepared a bag of fine silk in the shape of a parallelpiped and in the capacity of about forty cubic feet, he applied to its aperture burning paper, which rarefied the air, and caused it to ascend rapidly.

Other experiments, with still greater success, soon followed, and at length inflammable air, or hydrogen gas, was used, to the complete satisfaction of the experimenters. From this time, numerous balloons were sent up; but the first person who made an ascension was M. Pilatre de Rosier, from a garden in the Fauxbourg St. Antoine, Paris.

Though several experiments on the ascensive power of balloons had been made in England, during the course of the year after their discovery, the first ærial voyage, which was undertaken by Vincent Lunardi, an Italian, did not take place till September, 1784. His balloon was thirty-three feet in diameter, and shaped like a pear. It was made of oiled silk, with alternate stripes of blue and red, having the car suspended from a hoop below the balloon, by forty-five cords.

In January, 1785, an ærial voyage across the English channel, the most adventurous that had hitherto been projected, was made by Mr. Blanchard and Dr. Jeffries. They left Dover castle on the 7th of that month, at one o’clock. The balloon for some time rising majestically in the air, they passed over several ships, and enjoyed a grand prospect of the numerous objects below them. They soon, however, found themselves beginning to descend, and were under the necessity of throwing out half of their ballast, when they were about one third of the way from Dover. When half way across the channel, the balloon again descended; upon which they threw out all their ballast, and also some books, which they had carried along with them. At half an hour after two they were obliged to throw away every part of the apparatus that could possibly be spared: but still the balloon was descending, in spite of all their efforts. The anchors and cords were then thrown out; and, as the last expedient in their power, the æronauts stripped themselves of their own clothes. This, to their infinite satisfaction, changed the sinking tendency of the balloon; and reaching the French coast, they passed over the highlands between cape Blanc and Calais, and landed in the forest of Guiennes.

Encouraged by the successful issue of this enterprise, M. Pilatre de Rosier and M. Romaine ascended from Boulogne, in July, with the intention of crossing the English channel. To insure the power of ascent and descent at pleasure, they availed themselves of the combined effect of two balloons; one filled with inflammable air, about thirty-seven feet in diameter, and another with rarefied air, whose ascensive power was about sixty pounds. The latter was suspended below the other, at such a distance as precluded all apprehension of danger from the fire which was under it. They had not, however, been long in the air, before the spectators perceived the balloon swelling very quickly; and when they had attained the height of nearly three quarters of a mile, the whole apparatus was observed to be in flames. This disaster was attended with fatal consequences to the unfortunate adventurers. They were precipitated from their car and dashed to pieces upon the ground.

The fatal accidents to which the æronaut might sometimes be exposed, induced philosophers to devise expedients for diminishing the danger. So early as the year 1783, M. le Normand made the experiment of leaping from the height of a first story with a parachute, thirty inches in diameter, in his hand; and so much did it break the force of the fall, that he was hardly sensible of any shock upon reaching the ground. He thence calculated that a parachute, fourteen feet in diameter, attached to a man, might protect him against all possible injury, though falling from the regions of the clouds. During M. Blanchard’s ascent from Strasburg, 26th August, 1787, he dropped a dog, connected with a parachute, from the height of six thousand feet. A whirlwind, however, interrupted its descent, and bore it above the clouds. M. Blanchard afterwards met the parachute, when the dog, recognising his master, began to bark; and just as M. Blanchard was going to seize it, another whirlwind suddenly carried it beyond his reach. Having passed vertically over Zell, he terminated his voyage; the parachute, still waving in the air, came down twelve minutes afterwards. He also sent up several small balloons, containing parachutes to which dogs were attached, and constructed them in such a manner as to burst on arriving to any great height. When the balloons were burst, the parachutes were necessarily set at liberty, and conveyed the animals in perfect security to the ground. In a daring experiment, however, which he had the courage to make on himself, he was less successful; for on hazarding a descent by a parachute at Basle, he unfortunately broke his leg.

On the 7th April, 1806, M. Mosment, an experienced æronaut, undertook an ærial voyage from Lisle. He ascended at noon, waving a flag decorated with the imperial eagle of France, amidst the shouts of the assembled spectators. The commencement of his career was so rapid, as to bear him in a very short time beyond the vision of the crowd. During his ascent he dropped an animal attached to a parachute, which came safely to the ground. About one o’clock something was observed slowly descending through the atmosphere, which proved on its fall to be the flag which M. Mosment had carried along with him. Very soon afterwards, a murmur circulated through the crowd, and the body of the unfortunate æronaut was discovered in one of the fosses of the city, lifeless, and covered with blood. The balloon reached the ground on the same day, at the distance of twenty-five leagues from Lisle; the car containing nothing except an unloaded pistol, a little bread, and a piece of flesh. M. Garnerin ascribes this melancholy disaster to the extreme shallowness of the car, and the too great distance between the cords which attached it to the balloon; and is of opinion that M. Mosment, when leaning over the car to drop the animal, had lost his balance, and was precipitated to the earth.

Of all the voyages which the history of æronautics presents to our notice, the _nocturnal_ ærial excursions of M. Garnerin must be ranked among the most enterprising and adventurous. At eleven o’clock in the evening of the 4th August, 1807, he ascended from Tivoli, at Paris, under the Russian flag, as a token of the peace that subsisted between France and Russia. His balloon was illuminated by twenty lamps; and to obviate all danger of communication between these and the hydrogen gas, which it might be necessary to discharge in the course of the voyage, the nearest of the lamps was fourteen feet distant from the balloon, and conductors were provided to carry the gas away in an opposite direction. After his ascent, rockets, which had been let off at Tivoli, seemed to him scarcely to rise above the earth, and Paris, with all its lamps, appeared a plain studded with luminous spots. In forty minutes he found himself at an elevation of thirteen thousand two hundred feet, when, in consequence of the dilation of the balloon, he was under the necessity of discharging part of the inflammable air. About twelve o’clock, when three thousand six hundred feet from the earth, he heard the barking of dogs; about two, he saw several meteors flying around him, but none of them so near as to create apprehension. At half past three he beheld the sun emerging in brilliant majesty above an ocean of clouds, and the air being therefore expanded, the balloon soon rose fifteen thousand feet above the earth, where he felt the cold exceedingly intense. In seven hours and a half from his departure, M. Garnerin descended near Loges, forty-five leagues distant from Paris.

The same intrepid æronaut undertook a second nocturnal voyage, on the 21st of September, 1807, in the course of which he was exposed to the most imminent danger. M. Garnerin, prognosticating an approaching storm, from the state of the atmosphere, refused to be accompanied by M. de Chassenton, who earnestly requested it. He ascended therefore alone from Tivoli, at ten o’clock, and was carried up with unexampled rapidity to an immense height above the clouds.

The balloon was then dilated to an alarming degree, and M. Garnerin, having been prevented by the turbulence of the mob, before his ascent, from regulating those parts of his apparatus which were meant to conduct the gas away from the lamps on its escape, was totally incapable of managing his balloon. He had no alternative left, therefore, but with one hand to make an opening two feet in diameter, through which the inflammable air was discharged in great quantities; and, with the other, to extinguish as many of the lamps as he could possibly reach. The æronaut was now without a regulating valve, and the balloon, subject to every caprice of the whirlwind, was tossed about from current to current. When the storm impelled him downwards, he was forced to throw out his ballast, to restore the ascending tendency; and at last, every resource being exhausted, no expedient was left him to provide against future exigencies. In this forlorn condition, the balloon rose through thick clouds, and afterwards sunk; and the car, having struck against the ground, with a violent impulse rebounded from it to a considerable altitude. The fury of the storm dashed him against the mountains, and, after many rude agitations and severe shocks, he was reduced to a state of temporary insensibility. On recovering from his perilous situation he reached Mont Tonnerre, in a storm of thunder. A very short time after his anchor hooked in a tree; and, in seven hours and a half, after a voyage which had nearly proved fatal to him, he landed at the distance of three hundred miles from Paris.

The advantages hitherto derived from ærial navigation have by no means proved adequate to the expectations excited by the novelty and promising aspect of the science. This failure, in their utility, may in a great degree be ascribed to the art of steering balloons being yet undiscovered. And we may here add, that no probability exists that the art will ever be attained.

The French, indeed, once instituted an academy for the purpose of improving the state of æronautics, and a corps of fifty young men were selected, and for a time trained to the service. A balloon thirty-two feet in diameter was provided, and in favorable weather was often sent up to the distance of from one hundred and sixty to two hundred and forty yards, with some of the young æronauts in it. The institution, however, is now abandoned.

Balloons are uniformly constructed of silk lustring. From the price of this article, the expense of only a moderate sized balloon is great. A balloon of only twelve feet in diameter will require fifty square yards; a balloon thirty feet in diameter requires three hundred and fourteen yards of cloth, and when filled its ascensive power will be five hundred and eighty-one pounds.

A parachute, which is much like an umbrella, is sometimes employed to descend from a balloon in case of accident. The parachute by which M. Garnerin descended from Paris, in 1797, was twenty-five feet in diameter, and was made of cloth; and that by which he descended in London, in 1802, is said to have been a large umbrella, consisting of thirty-two gores of canvass, twenty-three feet in diameter, and without ribs and handle. At the top there was a round piece of wood, ten inches in diameter, having a hole in the centre, which was fastened to the canvass by thirty-two short pieces of tape. About four feet and a half from the top of the canvass, a wooden hoop, eight feet wide, was put on and tied by a string from each seam. Several ropes, about thirty feet long, proceeding from the edge of the parachute, terminated in a common joining. From this point there issued shorter ropes, to whose extremities was fastened a circular basket, in which M. Garnerin himself was stationed. The parachute and basket were immediately disunited from the balloon, by the cutting of a cord which communicated with the net-work, and in falling downwards, the parachute naturally expanded, by the resistance of the air.

Eccentric Characters.

We propose to give to our readers a few chapters upon eccentric characters. We cannot better begin than with the

[Illustration: CHEVALIER DESSESSAU.]

Among the singular personages who have occasionally attracted public notice in London, the individual just mentioned is not the least remarkable. He was a native of Prussia, and bore a military commission in the service of that country; but a quarrel with a brother officer resulted in a duel, in which he wounded his antagonist. Uncertain of the result, he sought refuge in England, and conceiving a partiality for the country, he resolved to pass the remainder of his days there.

The singularity of his dress and character soon drew the attention of the curious. He affected literature, and wrote poetry, which he used to recite to his friends. Of this, we have only been able to discover the following couplet, which evinces no small stock of that comfortable commodity, self-complacency.

“In all the world but heroes two I know, Prussia’s famed king, and Chevalier Dessessau.”

He was well acquainted with Burke, Johnson, Murphy, Goldsmith, and most of their contemporaries, eminent for genius and talent in the walks of literature and the drama. These persons seemed to find great amusement in the quaint humors and amiable eccentricity of this singular personage. The preceding sketch gives an idea of the dress in which he appeared abroad. His clothes were black, and their fashion had all the stiff formality of those of an ancient buck. In his hand, he carried a gold-headed cane, a roll of his poetry, and a sword.

Toward the latter part of his life, the count was reduced by misfortunes to a residence within the walls of the Fleet prison. Yet such was the confidence placed in his honor, that he was permitted to go where he pleased. He died in 1775, aged seventy, having bequeathed a “curious sword, a gold medal, and a curious picture, to a great personage”――probably the king of Prussia.

[Illustration: JOHN BIGG, THE DINTON HERMIT.]

This strange man lived in England, about one hundred and twenty years ago. He was a person of some wealth and learning, and was clerk to Simon Mayne, one of the judges who passed sentence of death on Charles I. After Charles II. was restored, he grew melancholy, perhaps on account of the turn public affairs had taken, and retiring to a cave in Dinton, he spent the remainder of his life there, as a hermit.

He was often visited, and lived upon charity. It is curious that he never asked for anything but leather. When a piece was given to him, he would nail it to his clothes. Thus he became, at length, thatched over with pieces of leather. He kept three bottles hung to his girdle――one for strong beer, one for small beer, and one for milk.

He was regarded as a great curiosity in his time. His shoes were preserved so late as 1712; they were enormous, consisting of near a thousand small bits of leather, each. After his death, the cave was dug over, in the expectation of finding money, or some relics of the hermit, but without success. He died in 1696.

A lost Elephant found.

A female elephant belonging to a gentleman at Calcutta, being ordered from the upper country to Chotygore, broke loose from the keeper, and was lost in the woods. The excuses which the keeper made were not admitted. It was supposed that he had sold the elephant; his wife and family, therefore, were sold for slaves, and he was himself condemned to work upon the roads. About twelve years after, this man was ordered into the country to assist in catching wild elephants. The keeper fancied he saw his long-lost elephant, in a group that was before him. He was determined to go up to it; nor could the strongest representations of the danger dissuade him from his purpose. When he approached the creature, she knew him, and giving him three salutes, by waving her trunk in the air, knelt down and received him on her back. She afterwards assisted in securing the other elephants, and likewise brought with her three young ones, which she had produced during her absence. The keeper recovered his character; and, as a recompense for his sufferings and intrepidity, had an annuity settled on him for life. This elephant was afterwards in the possession of Governor Hastings.

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ANNA MARIA SCHURMAN.――Anna Maria Schurman was born in the year 1607. Her extraordinary genius discovered itself at six years of age, when she cut all sorts of figures in paper with her scissors, without a pattern. At eight, she learned to draw flowers in a few days, in a very agreeable manner. At ten, she took but three hours to learn embroidery. She was afterwards taught music, vocal and instrumental, painting, sculpture and engraving, in all of which she succeeded admirably.

She excelled in miniature painting, and in cutting portraits upon glass with a diamond. Hebrew, Greek and Latin were so familiar to her that the most learned men were astonished at it. She spoke French, Italian and English, fluently. Her hand-writing in almost all languages was so beautiful, that the curious preserved specimens of it in their cabinets.

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AN INDIAN YOUTH.――A native gentleman of India, in relating his history to one of the missionaries, said:

“My father was an officiating priest of a heathen temple, and was considered in those days a superior English scholar; and by teaching the English language to wealthy natives, realized a very large fortune. At a very early period, when a mere boy, I was employed by my father to light the lamps in the pagoda, and attend to the various things connected with the idols. I hardly remember the time when my mind was not exercised on the folly of idolatry. These things, I thought, were made by the hand of man, can move only by man, and whether treated well or ill, are unconscious of either. Why all this cleaning, anointing, illuminating, &c.?

“One evening, these considerations so powerfully wrought on my youthful mind, that, instead of placing the idols according to custom, I threw them from their pedestals, and left them with their faces in the dust. My father, seeing what I had done, chastised me so severely, as to leave me almost dead.

“When I recovered, I reasoned with him, that, if they could not get up out of the dust, they were not able to do what I could; and that, instead of being worshipped as gods, they deserved to be down in the dust, where I had thrown them. My father was implacable, and said he would disinherit me, and, as the first step to it, sent me away from his house. He relented, however, on his death-bed, and left me all his wealth.”

Jumping Rabbit’s Story.