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DEVOURED BY WOLVES, HORRIBLE FATE OP A PARTY TKAVELLEKS IN SIBERIA, OF tfc'f Wre ansrkrri at Nit*' > "" Bfi rl rrrpiwrrrrf ky ike Bsveasaa, srllsic N.-irr.. Tsr see44 l..i nrir wllk Ihrlr ABSS- iker TII M.rlei. There is n.4hiiv in fiction aurpaso- s the grim reality of the tragic drama wboas outlines were given ia a despatch from Irkutsk. 8il*ria, to a Moscow pa- par a few days ago. A caravan cross- ing the Siberian desert was destroyed by wolves, whom hunger and the awful cold had driven from the forests out upon tbe plain along tbe great caravan road which traverses Siberia from east to west. Tbe details of tbe tragedy can only to surmised, for there is no one left alive to tell the tale. It is known that there were a score or so of travellers *nd traders in the party, divided among aU or seven sledges. There were in the baggage of each sledge several axes, and a few ol tbe party carried rifles, but a* it is extremely rare for wolves to attack so Urge a body of men. no thought of such a danger ver entered their minds. Travelling in Siberia during the long polar winter is at best fraught with risk, for the stations' where horses may he prtrured are many versta apart, and there is tbe ever present danger of wan<tering from tbe road in tbe fierce storms that come down without warn- ing from tbe north. A thick crust of now covers tbe ground, giving it tbe appearance of a limit less while sea. The pale sun ahows itself but a few boura during tbe abort winter day .but at night tbe vast expanse ol white- ness is lit by a moon of cold and bril- liant splendor, and at times the snow grows yellow or blood red with the flames of the aurora borealvt. Tbe cold is always intense, and tbe earth seems like a vast block of ice. THK CARAVAN which was to le so tragically wiped out of existence appear* to have travelled wr.l ward many days and nights from Irkutsk Icfore it met its (ate. It U supposed that tbe party was attacked at mght. when all but the drivers were asleep, and t hat they were benumlied by tbe piercing cold as they sped over the snow. Tbe sky was overcast. yet there must have been light enough to have perceived, far away along t IK- track whirh the nledges made, a dark mash drawing rapidly near, moving with the silent swiftness of a shadow scrum the snow. \s it drew nearer tbe driver of the reariiiiMt sledge might have beard above the tinkling of his sleigh ll Is tbe hovrse panting of the many wolves which were in pui-mt The next mofuent. and a stf.re of black, shadowy forms were springing at t IH- horses throats and overwhelming the sledges like an ava- U n. lie One after the other, each sledge was ai ;. irked, and it was hardly a moment after tbe first horse went down lie fore tbe Idood of th*> laist was being lapiied by myriads of snarling wolves. The men fought for t heir liven with guns awl axes, hut tbe onslaught was so fi.-r. and sud<len that they were un- prepared, and they, tin. were soon I K>rn down hy tbe irmustible rush of the countless savsge beasts. Could the travellers have unite I, there might have been some hope. Inn. attacked as they were, without warning, tbe liattle was lost from tbe 'ginning And stion the vast cold silence was uniimken save by the angry growL of tbe wolves as they iluspute.a with each other for morsels of human flesh \Vben the misty sun roue next morning it loiked down upon the glistening U.ne* of HUM i and hormw half buried in the trample! I llKlainexl snow. l'h re* days later another party of travellers panning over the same route caute upon the mute evidence of I UK AWFUL TRAGEDY. Bcatiered about were broken aledges, tbe skeletons of men and horses picked clean of every vestige of flnsb, and tbe liones of more loan fifty wolves which had faUeii It-neat h I he axes of tbe ill-fated travellers before thev t heiuse.lves had Icen crushed beneath tbe tawny, nouv/tue weight ol lie&HtJi and torn to pieces . l..-n the clothing of the travellers was literally torn to shreds, and tbe identity of but one* of them has been only imperfectly established. From some scraps of paper whirh were gathered up it appears that one of the party was a French engineer named ixxlier or Vo- dier. He seema to have lieen a resident of Paris and to have lten travelling on some mission of imix>rtaii<v. for most tbe fraginmiU of documents whirh ap- iwrenlly had In-longed to him were written in cipher. The Silwrian wolf, so travellers say, surpasses in sixe. its European relative. In the far north its coat is white, but it gradually changes to gray or brown in more southern latitudes. These animals usually wander aliout in parks, and their haoita are similar t<> UMW of tbe Kuropean species. Hun fer makes t hem aggressive and induces hem to attack other animals, but man .in their last resort. In Silie.ria. wbr.re cattle are never locked up in aheds, but left out ilav and night in open pens, wolves can always secure a /IH| meal of an ox, a sbe| or a horse, and have no need to en counter the danger of attacking hu ii, an tiding. In the small provinces, where there is no such easy means of satisfying their hunger, they are much more ferocioiut and dangerous to trav- eller*. In Northern Siberia, on tbe road to Yakutsk, t bare have been oases reported where WHOLE r \ Mil II..- have lieen devoured. "The Yakuts, one of tbe primitive Asiatic races, who dwell on tbe hanks of the 1/ena." a HuMtian writer stales, "surround their dwellings by various traps in which the wolves are often caught Tbe object of theme traps is not so mui-h <o n'ltain fur. for which! hey can always *>ru< an almndsnt supply, as (he hope of frightening away these ani- iii. iK from I lie vinnily of their horses It happens aatnetLmea. however, that the wolves manage to escape the snares laid for them, penetrate into the inter- ior of the aula, and snatch children nut >f l lie pourts, and even devour full ..'town people,. Such occurrences have jive.ii n-e to miraculous legends relat- ^ t h<- Yakuts, much resembling the Kiisxian po|>ular legends of the wonder- ful man wolf." Wolfe hunting is a favorite sport In many |>urtit of Silwria. but often the wol-, themselves turn hunters, and it becomes a pastime that is full of danger. Wolves are partial to young iig.s and babies. Tbe sportinen there- lore HKW up in a sack a small porker, lea t ing only bia snout free, and places him in a sledge, to tbe hack of which is fastened by a rope alxmt fifty feet long a small bundle of straw covered with black sbeep.skin. This, when the sledge is in m. .t ion. dangles aiwmt like a young pig. The story ia told of one party, which started out well provided with guns. etc. On reaching a likely spot, they produced the pig and began to twist its tail, whereupon M squealed lu.-tilv and soon irew a horde of fainiahed wolves in the wake of the sledge. When these had appr.u-hej| within range, the party of-riie*) fire on them and shot several, which, whether killed or wounded, were quickly torn to pieces by their compan- ions and devoured. Hut tbe taste of blood which these ravenous beasts had had only served to make them more BOLD AND SAVAGE than before, and. in spite of tbe rapid fire kept up by the party, they advanced the sledge, apparently deter- making an attack and getting I heir fill of human flh. To preserve the party, therefore, tbe pig was thrown to tbe wolvm. But this diverted their at (en! ion only a moment. While they were going forward, tbe horse*, driven to desperation by the near approach of the wolves, struggled , and plunged so furiously that they broke free from their harness and galloped off Hy this time tbe pig bail been de- voured, and I lie wolves advanced with a rush towards tbe njortsmen but a v ol- ley from their rifle* caused them to re- treat. Finding that matters bad be- come most serious, tbe men quickly turned the sle<lge bottom side up and tok .shelter beneath it, in which posi- tion they remained for many hours. Tbe wolves made repeated attempts to get at them by tearing the sledge with I heir tslh. At length a strong relief party came up, having l*en warned of the danger hy the runaway horses re- tu ruing home, and drove off the w A solitary individual attacked by these savage leasts has little hope of escap- ing with his life. A story is told of a ItuM-ian officer who was ikating across a 8il*rian lake when lie wan at'ackod by a drove M wolvea. His only wi'n was a short sword which he wore at bis Irlt. and with this he defended himwlf so well that he killed and wounded sev- eral wolves and succeeded in driving off the remainder. After a time he was again -' ni-.ii by the same pack, but to bis horror found t bat be was nnsUe lo defend himself as t*fore. for bavin,! ravin-ted to wine tbe I4ood from his sword after the former encounter, it had IWOHW firmly frozen in the aral>- l-ard He skated "for his life, but the fencious beast.* finally overtook him and liore him down. ft was not until several days later that a searching party found his bones. HEAD OF THE MOSLEM WORLD. Nllllvsi Wk reacalie ike 4ih,.n F .r Tsrkri'* i,n , The aeriou.sne.ss of a religious war in case Turkey does not concede to the powers appears to have lieen overlook- although it would l more disastrous to Great Britain than to any other nation The Sultan of Turkey is the recognized bead of all tbe Moslem world, except the Persians and tbe people of Morocco, who are dissenters and follower* of Ali. tbe son-in-law of Mohammed. There is a wide diffe.renoe of opinion as tu tbe numliers in the Moslem Church. Esti- mates vary all tbe way from 175.000.0UO to 400.900.000. There are 25,500,000 in China who are now in reliellion against tbe Kmperor, and are overrunning tbe Western provinces. In India there is a Mohammedan population exceeding 40.000000, more than in Turkey, where tbe total is 82.000.000. There are 80.- 000.000 in the Malay Peninsula, 16.000.- 000 in Central Asia. 18.000.000 in North- em Africa, 11.000.000 in Central Africi S.000,000 in Egypt. 11,000.000 in Arabia and 8,000.1100 or 4,(HMWO in Afghanistan. In Southern Russia. In tbe Balkan Pen- insula, and in Hiilgaria, the Ivlievers In this faith are very numerous, and t ben- are. Urge colonies in Smt heaslern Aus- tria. At least 611,000,000 Mphamme- daiw are found in HrilLth colonies alone, and probably tbe true total would reach 'HIIXKIIKMI The Sultan is recognized by all these peiyle as a sac. red person, the successor of Mohammed, juist as the Pope is ns . nized at the successor of St. Peter They do not deny Christ, but consider him a Mohammedan prophet, and give Ih- pedigree in the Koran. The Mnalem will swear by Moans, by Christ or by Mohammed with equal readiness, but Mohammed is tbe, last and greatest of the.ir prophet* and the founder of their religion. In one of the, mosquns at Constanti- nople tbe green mantle of the prophet is preserved. If that is taken out and a holy war proclaimed, the Islam popu- lation of the, entire world, except Persia and Morocco, would promptly respond, am) the Suit-in is the only man who can issue sunh a proclamation. If be is 1 nvwMl loo hard he will I* apt to do it , and the. F.nglish, with the British ool- i.mer, would lie the first to suffer. The French would le pla<d in the attitude of self-defense in Algiers and Tunis, there would lie out breaks throughout all Southern Kutwia and Eastern Aus- tria, and nearly every country in Eu- rope would lie ejigageo more or leas, ex- cept Germany, which alone is free from Turkish complications. Germany has cultivated commercial relation.". and nearly all the foreigners in the Turkish army are German officers. ALL ABOUT THE PRINCE, SOME OF THE CHARACTIST1CS Of THE HEIR APPARENT. kn of siriarr. HMI larcr la .lrlfc-lll Mssr fiilrs >on mo Jour lean l **'-Irs.l mil, tiny Trunk* In !? a <><iii lirr, kini- * ttreal larkli- A Distinction lii.ln't you tell me that Miss Design was an Oh .no; I told you the painted. The Prince of Wales ia 5 feet 4 inches high. He weighs 215 pounds and wears 17 1-2 collar. His whisksera are of a nondescript brown color, but always carefully brushed and combed. In bifl waistcoat pocket on tbe left side be car- ries a small comb, and with this be straightens out tbe kinks of hU beard as occasion requires. His circumference at tbe equator is about forty-five inches. Be baa a chest measurement of thirty-seven inches. If be were not a Prince be might be called "l-u-lgy." He stoops a little, but per- haps that ia because of t be great weight of titles which he carries on his shoul- ders and which Burke'a Peerage gives officially as follows: Tbe Moat High, Most Puissant and Most Illustrious Prince All*rt Edward. Prinoe of Wales, Duke of Saxony, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and (kit ha, Duke of Cornwall and Rotbsay. Earl of Chester. I'arrick and Dublin. Baron of Renfrew and Lord of the Isles, Great Steward of Scotland. K.C.. K.T.. K.P., G.C.B . G.C.S. I . G. C. M. G.. G.C.I E. Knight of the Klephant of Denmark. Knight of the Golden Fleece and Knight of tbe White Kle.phant of Siam. Bailli Grand Crow of tbe Order of Si .lohn of Jerusalem. Hon. Knight of tbe Order of St. John. Germany. P. C.; a field marshal of tbe army, Coloucl-in- Cbief of the three regiments of Life and Royal Home Guards, Hon. Colonel Sixth liengal Cavalry. Colonel of tbe Tenth Hussars. Hon. Colonel Second Brigade, Eastern Division. Royal Artillery; Hon. Colonel Third Battalion, tbe Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. Captain- Ceneral and Colonel Honorable Artil- lery Company of London. Military Aide- 'le-Camp to tbe Queen. Hon. Admiral of tbe Fleet. l|,i Capt. Royal Nava! Re- served. Him Col. of tbe Oxford and of tbe Cambridge University Corps, of tbe Middle*.x Civil Service Corps Ri He Vol- unteers, of tbe Royal AberdeenAbire Highlanders and of tbe Sutherland Highland Hifle Volunteers. A Field Marshal of tbe German Army. Hoti Col. of tbe Pomeranian Hussar Regiment. No. 5; late Colonel-in-Chief Hifle Hrigad*. Elder Hrottx-r Trinity Hon.*. t.rand Master of the Inited Grand Ixidge of Freemasons of Eng- land. IfcirrLsJe.r at Law. and a Bencher of the Middle Temple. President of the Society of Arts. D. C. L.. Oxford; 1. 1. .11.. ridge ; LL. D.. Trinity College. Lhi'-lir. Mint [wople regard t he Prince as a oung "Idood " He Is nothing of the mil. He is a grandfather, fifty-four years of age, and of very MATURE APPEARANCE and ways. He cannot t* as merry as be once was, but si ill has his jovial dispo*iiioi and love of pleasure. It is not true liiat he is the leader of fashion. The heir apparent to the lint ish t hnmr is not allowed to I* aggres- sive enough to lie a leader. One of the proofs ttiat lie d<**n't lead fashion is that he wears a silk ha! with a sack coat II proves also that be doesn't follow it The real swells who do set the male :;-.siuon.s oiu-e resolved to make an in- novation during Ascot week. "Sports" were all dressing in light clothe* and white hftt.s Suddenly all the men in t be awiin appeared in black hats, black frock coats and dark trousers. The swells ha<l forgotten to notify the e. and he was caught in the pad- dork in a snuff-inilored frock suit Of COIIIMC tike men who bail on light-tint- ed thingn were entirely out of it He owns a parrot, which lie lougbt from a ragamuffin in Trafalgar Square. It cries: "Now. then. bovs ! Hip 1 Up' Hurrah! for the Queen!" drink* l**r and hiten people it doesn't like. A popular mistake made bv Ameri- cans is that lie IcsAs English ~x-iety. Tbe American who get* into Marllior- ough Hoose in no! within tbe precincts of the Four Hundred by a long shot. Tbe Prince liken people who make him laugh, and be is a good dnal of asocial leveller, hut while he has a way of throwing off his dignity be always has a string to it. Me comen in contact with every brand of man. When he wan presented toJohn I. Sullivan, the. champ.on pugilist, be was very kind Sullivan stuck out a bam-like fist, and grabbing I be royal hand said, in tones t bat made the I'riu.i- feel at borne right away: "How do yon do. Prince? I've often heard of you." The Prince was delighted, taking t be situation of being to a certain ax- tent patronized very good-naturedly. He dreams as an Admiral, General Field Marshal, Highland Chief or whatever be happens to i- a! the mom- ent with the utmost nonclialance. No man can do THE LIGHTNING CHAM. I quicker than be. If he goes to Ger- many he may he a Uhlan Colonel at 10 a. m., an Admiral on the Kaiser 1 * yacht at 11.80 and a Doctor of Lawn at 12.15. , As he never knows in what rig hi will nave to get up when he gH on t he continent his uniforms are all taken along in about fifty trunks 'I (rare are at least twenty separate swords and sabres, and r hundredweight of brass helmet.*. With the boots, spurs and fixing* that go with all then* clothes his valets have their bands full. The Prince has no politics, bin it i- uii'l"i-HiiKKl that he possesses Liberal tendencies. In Kngland if the w ei.rn is a Tory tbe Heir- Apparent is a Whig and vice- versa. Hy this arrange- ment all hands are brought into the n>\al camp, the Piince taking those not captured by the Qmo-n. This is the t ra- dii ional policy of tbe royal family. He |KMHmwes the power of absolutely nuit nil I ing the muscles of his face, lie never fot^ets any one 111 all picture.* of t be l'i 111,1- I bey piece him out so as to make Mm look a foot or go taller. They also edit bis girth, add a little hair to his bead and do away with the crow's feet under his eye. \Vh-M, \V. I' Fiuh, R. A., painted the picture of hi* wedding the Prince objected to hin height. Kuth didn't know Dial it watt I lie custom to rlun- tiatc the Heir-Ai>parcrit. and the lat- ter tritMl bin lient to tell Futh. but the (Hiinter would not see it. Thia i* !. I nil, 'lem-ribes his own denseness. The I'rince offered only <ine piece of criti- < i~.in. He objected that I had psinted him too Khort In (xniit uf fact. I had len successful in giving him the right proporlioii. He a^ldunMl the fax:t that the bridetunaidM l#hind him werr made taller than be. I could not make him uinler.siiifiil that this was owiiy to the persj>ectiye. He ild not iee it.' The Prince has a theoretic knowledge of munic. aiid plays the flute and piano when he wishes to be alone. He also sin/s at the morning services at Sand- nj,,'liaju. That U I be only time be does it . It does not last long and his bearers do the Iwat they can till it is over. There isn't anything the matter with bis appetite. HIS HRF.AKFAST consists of soli. i toasted muffins, slice of pink and white boiue-cured ham. a neruiLs section of MelKui Mowhray port pie. grilled chops flanked with kidney^ that were broiled oa a gold fork and plenty of good, thick cream and i.uittT In his i udy are hundreds of pictures of himself in various uniforms and eos- t inner, A court blarneyfier of the Theo- dore Martin t^pe dexcribes the pictures in the following burst yf eli>quence: "It may l ahooting a tiger in Benpal or Ivuiging away at a hare in Norfolk. poshing a fair lady in a Russian ice chair on the Neva, with l*re knees lead- ing a BHtafe re*l at Alrgel<lie, spear- ing a bippopotaniUH from the hack of an elephant, or aiming between the eyes of a leofiard. who already looks killed with the honor; peering from liehiinl a big tiouliler to take aim at a red deer or sLan.ling triumphant amid a *hower of falling rihnsnanH Yet one can trace the Prim* on hi* gory warpath against the animal kingdom all round his bouse. and he ia. a fine shot, to be sure." When be went to India he met the Maharajah of Msyaore, the invalided Rao of Kutcb and the Gaikwar of Baruda, men, as every one knows, of diametri- cally opposite disput.it ions. Yet to great w-an hia tact that they all became hie confirmed friends. When he called on the Gaikwar be mounted an elephant by means of a silver ladder. Cheetahs < npeoies of leopard ohaaed deer for hU amusement. At Madras, when he |:arai|vl through the streets, a golden inn iirel i-i watt held over his bead to dfktirfnate bun to the populace, so that thev might know whom to cheer. The Prince is very dignified. He never purmita my litcrties. Sometimes be taken them, but that is another mat- ter. AT HAMBURG where bo goan every season to renew hi- liver and rest, he is surrounded by a misaailsajMNM lot. among them the inill'onaire tufi-hunteis "f Kurope. Ilai'1-ar.Al is one uf his special! ie t)n< he and hi toiiowers camped at the reai- dence of the Duke of Hi. hmond iluniig the GoHlwood races. The Duke, who went to ld every night at 10 o'cl<-k. and who in opposed to gaml.lin^. wish- ed no card-jdayiii/ diirni^ t IK- luntinu- uaif of the IMIHV |rty Om- nigbt the Duke, who bad cnioe do\voKtair> fnr HHIIM-I hniK he had left on t he dresser, surprised the entire parly busy t hao- carnl He made a apeec.b on the spot. <icri. >UM< in,r the Print*, the next day the party lirokr up He is a great yachtsman. HU yacht Britannia has lieaten pretty nearly every! bin/ in KuglUh waters. He is ali the head of the Free Manons in Knglainl, and he goes in for horse rar- ing. In iioliii.vi almost his sole hobby is that a man should have the riph' to niarry hi-, deceased wife sister, whii-h in Kngland be has not. Whenever the I'ill i-ome.s up for discuwion in the House of l.<,i.ts the I'rince get* quite warm alvtit it. Km they never past it, as the Bi*hops vole it down. The Prince and his family have an in. -..me of aliout $1,U.UUO a year and plenty of perquisites. When he stays out late at night he can tell the Prin<r that he has liren to any one of the following rluln. of which he n a meinlr:vl'nitxt Service, Army and Navy, Junior I'nitcd Service, .iimi'.r Naval and Military. Junior Army and Navy. Guard*. While's, Tra- vellers, MarlNirouKh. Turf. 1'niu-'!. I niversity. Yorkulure and Murlin/- hain Is there anything else you want to know aUmt the Prince of Wales! TORNADO AND FLOOD. fpl. IM* ol Lllr rr.ipcrly In QMrrn.l.nil ImMra.r I .irrr uf lh PERSONAL POINTERS. lMlertlic H*mt abssl Mb* Great FU> rib* W*rM. It Usaid that Alfred Rothschild keeps seven chefs. Mr. RockafaUsr's income i* estimated to be 1/7.000 daily. Kin/ Huin l Tt of Italy has i privaU fortune of fat.Opn.OOO. Kui|4Toi William consumes an extra- ordinary numlv.r of cigarettes daily. At his last recital in London this rear PadsmrskJ received |5.495 as his sbar* of the rcoeiptx. Heinrich Howe, the tailor of Mann- heim. Germany, who became famoaa as t he inventor of a so-called bullet-proof coat, is dead. Prof. David Masson. who ha* o bly filled the chair of Kngli.-h literature in the I'nivenuty of Edinlmrgh for thirty yean, is aliout to retire and enjoy a quiet life of study. Munkacsy. the great artist. DOW living in Paris, is never ashamed to talk of his lowly beginnings. He started in life as a painter of sign-posts and tradesmen'! walls. Cecil Rhodes ha* ordered large num- bers of English song-bird* linnets, thrushes, blackbirds, larks, and night- inxaJ*-U> be sent to Cape Town, where they will be acclimated and set free. Senator Proctor will .shortly send to the White House at Washington a tro- phy of the chase in the shape of a large m<se bead, with a fine spread of born, from a I ig Imll recently killed by him in Canada. The King of Portugal is a very timid traveller. Not only ia be nervous re- garding anarchists, I ut be displays anx- iety whenever the train in which be is travelling hiu up a pace of more than 40 miles an hour. Sir Arthur Sullivan baa selected Lord Byron's tragedy "Sardanapaliu" as the subject of the ballet be ia to write tb muir for, and which ia to he produced next year at the Albambra Music hall. in London. Henry 8. Wellcnoe. the American merchant in Ixmdon. has presented to the Senate, of the I'nited Htates the por- trait of Pocahontaa. It was painted in Kngland after her conversion to Chris- tianity and her marriage U> John Rolfs. Mumuuen. the famous historian, has resigmul tbe office of permanent secre- tary of tbe Berlin Academy of Sciences, which be ban held twenty-one yean. Tbe profetaor celebrated tbe seventy- eighth anniversary of bis birth a few wwk-s ago. Mommsen U now hard at work on a volume uf his Roman history. Tbe journalistic feature of tbe hour in Pans is M. Henri Itorbelort'a series of articles in Le Jour, entitled "Les Aventurea de ma Vie." He is throw- in/ mud at several people, alive and dead, and iiis revelation* are tbe cause of much gossip. It ia said that his publishers have promised him tlOO.UUO for the liuok into which his disclosures are to be compressed. Creapo. the Venezuelan President, was born on a ran-h m t be Orinoco Valley, of S|nixh and Indian parents. His wife in alM of iiuxf.l I .loud and of bum- Mi- parriii.i^'.. Cnvtpo has been in the .sen 11 v of tin' \en.-/uclan nation sino hU Iwybood. when be entered tbe army By the time be was thirty he had dis- tinguished himself sufficiently u> be put in command of a diviaion. Tbe Crou n Princes* Stephanie ol Austria is almost as great a universal genius as th German Kmperor. Not satisfied with being a fair artist, a poet. *n author, an accomplished horse- woman, skater, tennis player, and whip, she has lately taken up (tinging and I. icyi-i. sang a service, incognito, in a Vienna chuivii with great om'CMS on last Christinas, and she has just ap- portioned off three we*k of her tiJW in \\hicli .siie iiitendH to learn and mas- ter riding the whfl. Sir .Inhn Christoj)her Willougbhy, llart.. now a prisoner in the Transvaal, is the author of Hirer Imulu on Africa. The Urt. published in l&V. is entitled "Fast Africa and lt.s III/ Game; the Narrative of a >|>orting I'rip from Zan- xiliar to lite llonters of the, Masai." In 1H!M ! puidishml "A Narrative of Fur- ther Ex. a. a' ion ' at Zlmbabys, MaeVma- lan i." .nid in I|M- (ollowing year be wrote an account of the close of the campaign in Matalleland and tbe downfall of A despatch from Brisbane, Queens- land, says: Great loss of life and very large destru<-ti<*t of property have been caused in tbe northern part of this j 'colony by a tornado and floods. It is j impossible as yet to tell bow many per- I sons lint l heir lives, but it U known that great numbers were drowned. The damage to property is estimated at $2.- :-HIINNI. Several coasting vessels are 1 iiii.su ing and it is believed that they have ; 'either foundered or lieen driven ashore and that all alioard uf them were I. -t I Townsville. a seaport on Cleveland Hay, suffered more thnn any other place in ;the districts affe.cled There Is scarce- I ly a liuilding in HM- town tliat escaped 1 damage. Advices f mm the Tonga Is- I I lands show that a hurricane, lately passed over them. Two ships at Tong- jataUio Island were wrecked and the thoii-sands of cocoanut trees on the! plantations were torn up by (he roots, causing heavy Inns to t heir owners. The Voice of a Child Prof. I in i in mi UNI tells the. story of a , little, girl who ouoe said to her father: ' | "Papa, I want you to say BOIIUM bun.' to t iod for me, something 1 want to! | tell Him very much. 1 nave such a 1 lii tie voice that I don't think He could 1 hear it away up in heaven ; l >ut you haves great big man's voice, and He < will be sure to near you." Tbe father ' took his little, girl in his arms and told \ her that, even though (Iod were at that moment 'surrounded )>y all His lw.lv angels, sounding nn their gulden harp's : and singing to Him one of the gran I. si ' and sweetest songs of praise ever heard in heaven, he was sure that He would nay tu them: "Hush I stop the singing i,. i .1 little while. There's a little girl away down on I be earth who wants to whisper something in my ear." VENEZUELAN BELL BIRD Tkr laulr *llr tclrrd Warbler Ikal Live* Mown Near the Meksikarli Us*. The pre.-nt Venexuelan boundary dis- pute lia-H lieen so widely discussed and written up that considerable attention is l*mg given by most of tbe civilized world to a country hitherto almost unnoticed. One happy result of the wrangle has I wen the knowledge of the bird, animal. fUh and plant life in this little republic, which has tbuei become Mi.lile.nly worthy of acquisition. Tbe birds particularly are extremely beauti- ful m plumage, graceful in form, and have niiHi of them voices of ra/ihiug >.M--I !ICHM. Many are singero of won- derful compass and possess notes as voluble an>l < /er-varyiug as tbe mock- ingbird One bird that U perh|K> entitled to tbe I'Uc-c of Hi.' in>,i strikiiy vocal artist U the lell!>ird Strange in other ways liesidesi his voice, be is. too His iqi<.Ue.s<s white coat, bis tall black horn or i'iet that riaiis just back of the bill, and his fund linking to the ground fi<v|.| when frightened into flight in. IK.., him distinguished. The horn is only em-led when be is excited or call- ing at twilight- Piercing and loud, but sweet and full as tbe deep notes of a harp, his vibrant calls ring out over the. silent woods. \Ve.ll may the astonished hunter look aiiit bun for sign* of a clearing and a iiiLion <'lia|ie.l It is just at sunset that these campaneros (belli pink.) ring out their gentle tones. The different birds neem to possess voices of varying ile.pl b, and the distance, long and short , serve to modulate and harmomze them all. Kor three or four miles you can nar the faint, rnqionaive rings, like 'in- erhoe of tbe louder ones hai'd i L I'he great nioras and ceibas ntreti-h lieavenwaril. and meeting overhead form grand arches of grain that roof in the moss-t uft'l aisls of nature's cathedral The traveller notett these, instim-tively doffing bia cap as the choir of v singing jupul-s and gmatieaks and Spanish warblers break out into a vast, il<vp .swelling vesper hymn, and over ami tbi-ni^b it all. like, the chimM of some olden monaxtery, fall the 8il\t>r .(in.' .li.,'K ! ding I diiiit-dong I of log emu- pa neros.