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position . His little active and zebra-striped companions , however , seemed at first rather scared by the splash of the bait ; but before it had sunk to the depth of a few feet , one or two advanced cautiously towards it , and then the whole seven or eight followed , and after carefully going round and round the bait as it slowly descended ,

and also reconnoitring and running up and down the rope attached , they darted off to the head of the shark , and then seemed to pass close over and under his nose , iu the very precincts of his terrific jaws . We watched the motions of all with great interest , hoping to see him the next moment dart at the alluring bait , but

the huge leviathan slowly turned his head and sailed away . It was , to all of us , exactly as'if he had been informed by his little companions that there was danger in the tempting food , and so Mr . Shark and his little friends sailed away together , and were not again seen . — Travels and Researches in Crete .

KEEP YOTJE WIPE . —A man married at Alexandria and took home the daily provisions for the first week ; after that , he neglected it for two days , and came home with a lemon in his hand . He asked for some dinner , and his wife placed the stool and the tray and the washing-bason and napkin , and on tho tray the lemon cut in half .

" Well , and the dinner ? "— "Dinner!—you want dinner!—where from P AVhat man are you to want women , when you don't keep them ! I am going now to the Kadee , to bo divorced from you ; " and she did . Tho man must provide all necessaries for his hareem , and if she has money or earns any , she spends it in dress . If she

makes him a skull-cap or a handkerchief , he must pay for her work . All is not roses for these Eastern tyrants , — not to speak of the unbridled license of tongue allowed to women and children . Zcynob hectors Omar , and I can't persuade him to check her . " How I say anything to it , that one child P "—Lady Euif Gordon .

AEAB NATIONALITY . —Arab nationality—thus far like that of the historical Jew or tho Highlander '—is and always has been from the very earliest time based on the divisions of families aud clans , tribes as they are often called ; nor is the name misapplied if taken in its original sense of hereditary alliance , without tho additional

idea of barbarism and unsettled life often annexed to it in its modern application . The tribes , or clans , were soon , by nature of the land itself , divided each and every one into two branches , correlative , indeed , but of unequal size and importance . The greater section remained as townsmen or peasants in the districts best susceptible of

culture and permanent occupation , where they still kept up much of their original clannish denominations and forms , though often blended , and even at times obliterated , by the fusion inseparable from civil and social organization . The other and lesser portion devoted themselves to a pastoral life , for which the desert , that is ,

about a third in extent of tho Arabian Peninsula , affords ample scope . They , too , retained their original clannish and famity demarcations , but unsoftencd by civilization and unblended by the links of close-drawn society ; so that in this point , and indeed in this alone , they have continued to be the faithful depositaries of primeval Arab tradition , and constitute a sort of standard rule for the

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whole nation . Hence , when genealogical doubts and questions of descent arise , as they often do , among the fixed inhabitants—or " dwellers in brick , " to give citizens and villagers their collective Arab denomination—recourse is often had to the neighbouring Bedouins for a decision unattainable in the complicated records of town

life ; whereas the living Gwillym of the desert can readily explain evei'y quartering and surcharging in every scutcheon of Arab nobility . But in all other respects , in . religion , arts , science , and civilization , these heralds o £ the wilds have naturally enough retrograded rather than advanced one step beyond their first condition .

How , indeed , could it be otherwise , with the desert for their only teacher , and camels and ostriches for fellowscholars ? Hence , while the fixed population have added to their first stock-in-hand of knowledge aud arts many of the new acquirements and ameliorations which the progressive law of the human mind , when under

favourable circumstances , never fails to bring among men , the Bedouins have , on the other hand , receded to the utmostlimit of barbarism possible among Arabs , and have at last become such as we now see them ; till they bear the same relation to the rest of their fellow-countrymen that a wild crab offshoot below does to the thriving and fruit-laden brauches above . —Palgrave's Journey through Central and Eastern Arabia ..

Poetry.

Poetry .

MASONIC SONG . { Reprintedfrom an old Masonic Work . ) TUNE— " Come all hands ahoy to the anchor . " King Solomon , that wise projector , In Masonry took great delight ;

And Hiram , that great architector , AA'hose actions shall ever shine bright . From the heart of a true honest Mason There ' s none can the secrets remove : Our maxims are justice , morality , Friendship , and brotherly love .

Then who would not be a Freemason , So happy and social are we , To lords , dukes , and princes we ' re brothers , And in every lodge we are free . We meet like true friends on the level ,

And lovingly part on the square—Alike we respect king and beggar , Provided they ' re just and sincere . AVe scorn an ungenerous action : None can with Freemasons compare . AA ' e love for to live within compass ,

By rules that are honest and fair . Then who , & c . AA e exclude all talkative fellows That will babble and prate past their wit—They ne ' er shall come into the secret , For they ' re neither worthy nor fit .