FROM L'ADONE OF MARINO.

_(For the Mirror.)_


Like some lone Pilgrim in the dusky night,
Seeking, through unknown paths, his doubtful way,
While thick nocturnal vapours veil his sight
From yawning chasms, that 'neath his footsteps lay;
Sudden before him gleams the forked light!
Dispels the gloom, yet fills him with dismay.
His trembling steps he then retraces back,
And seeks again the well-known beaten track.

E.S.J.

* * * * *


CATS.

(_For the Mirror_.)


The first couple of these animals which were carried to Cuyaba sold
for a pound of gold. There was a plague of rats in the settlement, and
they were purchased as a speculation, which proved an excellent one.
Their first kittens produced thirty _oilavas_ each; the new generation
were worth twenty; and the price gradually fell as the inhabitants