written in 1646 (four years before he died), he says ingenuously: "I will
tell you in confidence that the notion, such as it is, which I have
endeavoured to acquire in physical philosophy, had greatly assisted me to
establish certain foundations for moral philosophy; and that I am more
easily satisfied upon this point than I am on many others touching
medicine, to which I have, nevertheless, devoted much more time. So
that"--(adds the grand thinker, with a pathetic nobleness )--"so that,
instead of finding the means to preserve life, I have found another good,
more easy and more sure, which is--not to fear death."

[3] Chrysococyx lucidus,--namely, the bird popularly called the shining or
bronzed cuckoo. "Its note is an exceedingly melancholy whistle, heard at
night, when it is very annoying to any sick or nervous person who may be
inclined to sleep. I have known many instances where the bird has been
perched on a tree in the vicinity of the room of an invalid, uttering its
mournful notes, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that it could
be dislodged from its position."--Dr. Bennett: Gatherings of a Naturalist
in Australasia.




CHAPTER LXXVI.

I strayed through the forest till noon, in debate with myself, and strove
to shape my wild doubts into purpose, before I could nerve and compose
myself again to face Margrave alone.

I re-entered the but. To my surprise, Margrave was not in the room in
which I had left him, nor in that which adjoined it. I ascended the