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    position ; tie caanot accelerate the work much by tis presence , but he knows that if he is absent , the business -will be TertaHded . rhiring the © ttoer months of tlie year , hoeing and weeding , thinking of dinner , and wondering whether the bug-will visit Mm , or whether he will ever be clear from , its present attack , form the chief employ ^ « Bcnt 'and most interesting speculation of the coffee-planter in the jttagie . CATCHING ELEPHANTS . TFhe manner of catching them is simple enough , and , -with the stealthy , cat-like peculiarities of the Moormen of Ceylon , is attended with little danger . When a herd lias been discovered , in which there are young ones , they watch them till mid-day , ¦ when they are either drowsy or asleep , and then creeping up behind -with ropes , fasten th ^ ix "hind legs together ; they then set up loud yells and fire guns , to frighten away ; &e old ones . The course of education afterwards pursued is very simple , but speedy a » d effective : they ate left tied , -with no water or food , for three or four days , when tfeese requisites are administered as sparingly as possible ; In a week they become so tractable as to kneel down and rise up at the word of command .

    ELEPHANT SHOOTING . My idea of the sport , from that day ' s experience , was , that in ordinary cases it was ¦ one of two extremes—either too tame to afford the necessary amount of excitement , or too dangerous to leave much room for agreeable sensations . The shooting is very difficult , and requites the sportsman to he almost as quick a snap shot as if firing at finipe . Of course , when the elephant stands till you take a deliberate pot-shot at his head at short pistol range , anybody who does not shut his eyes when firing , may make certain of killing ; but in thick jungle , when he is moving rapidly about , and only exposing the vulnerable parts of bis body for a second or two at a time , the hunter ¦ must Tbe as quick S 3 lightning . Elephant and snipe-shooting illustrate the old adage , feat extremes frequently meet . In the former case you slay an enormous animal 1 ! Wth an incredibly small piece of lead ; in the latter , you destroy a minute bird witb 3 fc expenditure of powder and lead equally disproportioned ; and in both cases it is ^ nap-shooting , and the one depends almost as much on practice as the other .

    THE POWER OF AH ELBPHA . NT S TRUNK . One has been apt to consider Nasmyth ' s steam-hammer , which oan with one blow « xert a force , of two tons , and with another break a nut -without injuring the kernel , asa triumph , of human ingenuity , and so it is : but -how insignificant when placed hi comparison with the'trunk of an elephant ; for not only oan the latter strike a blow of a ton or so , and break an egg or a nut , bufit can pick up a pin from the floor , or $ > ull down a tree ; project water with the force of a -20-nian power forcing-pump , or Mncork and drink & bottle of soda-water without spilling a drop !

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    A . NEW NOVELIST . J / Lfrcga , « Notiaegfan and Lapland Tale ; or , Life and Love in Norway . Translated fcom the Getmati of Theodore M / tigge , by Edward 3 oy Morris . Sampson Low and Sons . We are informed by the translator of this work that the author is one of Che most distinguished -writers of fiction in Germany , and that Afraja , on its original ^ publication in that country , in the spring of the present year , was received with considerable approbation by the public and the press . To a new candidate from abroad for literary honours in England we gladly offer our best welcome ia the shape of a special and separate article . Our acttthor ' s ^ book is well worth Treading on many « , ccotints , and might have been

    suffered to recommend itself by its own merits to the English public . But the translator , Mr . Morris ( apparently an American ) , has not thought it desirable to let Mr . Theodore Miigge work his way by himself . In a ° short introductory preface of only two pages , Mr . Morris contrives , in two ways , io show want of tact and taste . In the first place , he tries to recommend Afraja by quoting a perfectly conventional German " puff , " in its honour , by a writer entirely unknown to the English public . In the second place , lie tries to strengthen the weak and false position in which he has already placed the German author , by asserting that his work is a model of moral purify as to tone and sentiment , and that it is likely to act as a proper corrective , in England , to the unhealthy and depraved influences of our own contemporary fictitious literature . This assertion— « n the bad taste of Which , it is needless to comment—is as false , in . reference to our modern English oovels , as the eulogium which precedes it is false in reference to Mr . to

    ^ Eheodore Mugge . Our main objection his book is , that , in one portion ¦ ofithfc'Story at least , the morality is not only doubtful , bttt decidedly bad . Thy great oxcelleflnoe of Afraja lies in its freshness of subject . Scenes in $ he "wildest parts of [ Norway , and . manners and customs among the Northmen a hundred years ago , are new material indeed for the historical novelist to Work with . Our author ' s descriptions of scenery are vivid and interesting in & very remarkable degree . He evidently has a hearty admiration for the . grander and sublimof beauties of nature , and possesses the rare gift of being areally able to communicate what he feeta to his readers . So , again , there is unmistakable vigour in his pictures of life among the savage tribes in the remotest fastnesses of the North ; and whenever he introduces us to the more civilised , but far less interesting , fishermen and traders farther south , we «* e always impressed , in the most agreeable wav bv his thoroujrh knowlednvft

    ¦ of Ins subject , and liis graphic power of turning it to the best literary advantage . The defects of the novel are of the usual German kind—want of directness otf purpose and constructive power in the story , and indistinctness < f £ otrtlino in t ! he drawing of most of the characters . The most skilfully" doveloped of the personages in this wild northern drama are a hard-hearted , Avaricious old Horway trader ; hie daughter Ilda--a discreet , cool-blooded , sententious damseil—and Gula , the Lapland nuaidon , whom the trader ' s daughter has christianised and domiciled in her fathor ' a house . Gula is , in our opinion , by far the most successful character in the book . She

    interested us from the first : and it is m connexion with her that wo take leave tto object to our author ' s morality . Gula falls in love with a young Danish nobleman , who is forced to seek his fortune among the Norwegians and who is represented as possessing all the high and honourable ° priniciplea which ore becoming to him ns the hero of the book . Ho makes every ap--peaTancc of returning the poor girlte tiflTeofcton—kisses her warmly—puts his tatnvTound her waist—talks " soft nonsense " to her—and , only -when hia * ' 4 nfcentioTk 8 " become a matter of inquiry , finds out that ho can never bo WKotfe than a brother to her , because her rolations are savages and

    unbesuspicion that his hero ought to suffer in anybody ' s estimation for his treacherous love-making to Gula . The Danish baron is actually rewarded at the end" of the book , as if he was one of the most virtuous characters left alive on the author ' s bands ! This may be G-erman morality and American morality ; but we absolutely deny that it will pass muster under any honest critical inspection in England . We will now endeavour to substantiate the good opinion that we have expressed of the descriptions of scenery and pictures of life in Afraja , hy giving a specimen or two of the author ' s matter and manner . Here is a bright , bold bit of landscape-painting in words : — And , as he spoke , the illuminating orb triumphantly broke through the thick veil of cloud , and , as with a magic spell , lit up a countless array of islands , rocks and

    gulfs . The "Westfiord opened before the astonished vision of the Dane , and exhibited and and sea in all their glory and splendour . Upon one side lay the coast of Norway , -with its snowy summits . Salten loomed up behind , with its needle like peaks , stretching ¦ with , their inaccessible ice-covered declivities into the heavens , and its i ravines and abysses half concealed in gloom . Upon the other side , six miles to the seaward of the IVestnord , extended a chain of dark islands far into the bosom of the ocean—a granite wall against which the ocean , in its most savage fury , for thousands of years had dashed its billows . Innumerable perpendicular pinnacles rose from this insular labyrinth—black , weather-beaten , and torn to their base by the tempests . Their bold summits were veiled hy long lines of clouds , and from , the gleaming beds of snow , the wondering blue eyes of Jb'kiiln turned to the swelling floods of the fiord , which , with their thousand white teeth , bit the bow of the yacht , shook it like a reed , and drew it into the abyss .

    " Look there , now , how beautiful it is ! " cried Bjornalne , with a shout . " There are the Loffoden Islands . For twenty miles the "view extends over land and sea , and all is grand and glorious . See the grey head of VaagSen , how it beams in gold . Look how the old woman of Salten nods to him in her ruddy black rnantle . Once they were two giants , children , of night , a loving pair , who hare here been transformed into rock , and must eternally remain such . Observe how the breakers leap against the rocks , in silvery columns ; and see the vast circle of cliffs , whose extent no one ha 9 flieasured , tipori which no human foot has ever trod , and where only the eagle , the cormorant , the falcon , and the gull have mounted . See the red-crested skarfe there on the crags , and the sea-gGese , how they plunge into the green waves , ¦ followed by screaming : flocks of gulls and falcons . " At a page or two further on , we find this striking description of Norway cod-fishing : —

    During the interchange of these confidential expressions , the vessel had crossed the ^ fidrd , and rapidly approached Ostvaagen and the fishing-grounds . The small black points floating on the sea gradually enlarged , until finally they came clearly into view as heavy six-oared boats in which an incessant activity prevailed . The figures of the fishermen , as they raised their nets and rods , the tremble of the sun's rays upon their leather caps and sea-soaked jackets , the yawls moving about in all directions , and the thousand-voiced tumult , rising above the roar of the waves , united to form an animated picture which yet higher excited tbe feelings of IMarstrand . He felt a longing to mingle in this motley throng ; in his enthusiasm he forgot that , in spite of the sunshine , ice-cold gusts , plunging down from , the Salten-and the Tinden , sweep the sea ; and that here , in the Polar zone , within a few minutes , the wildest winter-storm bursts , and with its terrors envelopes land and ocean . At present he

    thought only of the mirthful fishing uproar , which mocked these horrors . lie saw only the fluttering flags on the vessels , and the houses and huts on the rocks and strand , and it seemed to him as if a festival of spring was being-celebrated , as he heard the trumpeting and fiddling on the peaks of tho grey head of the Taagiien . He shouted for joy , as he saw a genuine Isfordlander draw his net , with a . ringed cod in every mesh , lie waved his hat , as all did , as the vessel urged her way among the fishing smacks , and , surrounded by a hundred boats , Avhoso crews shouted a hearty "welcome , steered around the rocks , and to the liarbour of the bay , where a number of large and small craft lay at anchor . Some time elapsed before a suitable position could be found in the line of vessels ; but at last the cable rolled through the hawserholes , and the " fair Ilda of Oerenaea" was secured by the long cables , and wearily shook off the drops which liung upon her bows and bulwarks .

    Bjorname had hia hands full , and it was some , time before he could trouble lihnself about his passenger , - \ vlio , from the quarter-deck , was attentively regarding the taking of fish , which , in all its details , was passing before his eyes . At the entrance of the bay , around an island of bare rock , called Skraaven , it was pursued with still greater activity . Five or six hundred boats , with three or four thousand fishermen , wcro there engaged in fisliing . Tho nets ivcro incessantly cast and drawn "with song and shout ; for -all were overladen with fish , and great care was observed in extricating ; them fron \ the meshes , to prevent the laceration of the threads . At many other spots there were immense cables , to "which more than a thousand angling rods wero la . stonoil ; for the angle was more in use then than at present . The fishermen next hurried with their full boats into tho bay , "where , upon tho rocks , scaffolds of poles , and tables for the disembowelling of tho fish , and huts for shelter anil rest wero erected . Tho ( i . ih were brought hlthor from tho boats , seized by blooil-vcd hands , and thrown upon tho tables . Shnrp knives opened tho body , with a grip of tho linger tho entrails wore

    extracted , fthd , with a second cut , the hend flew oiY into one tub , nnd the oily liver into another . Tho other parts were cast upon a nauseous heap of blood and viscera , and what a moment before wast a living creature , hung , severed , and shaking in tlic wind , upon tho diyitig-stand . Tho mon pursued their murderous occupation with incrertililo dexterity and quickness . Tho lust of slaughter glowed in their oyes . They held tho bloody knife between their tooth , "whilst their hands wore plunged in tho belly of tho dying creature , and , in their enthusiasm , they bit tho unctuously fat livers , when they appeared unusually white and dainty . With naked arms , and broml , open bosoms spattered with blood , they looked like cannibals colebrnting a horrid for st ol triumph . They greedily sought for tho largest and stoutest victims , oxoroitfed upon thorn thoir executioner ' s oflico with double zoat , and made merry with th « Kiirfering . H

    and violont Htxugglos of the unfortunate wretches . BfarHtranrt soon felt u disgust fur this monotonous slaughter . Ho turned uwny , Buying to himself , " It ia cruel , cowardly torture—I will see no more of it . For this , twenty thousand mon aro attractcd to these naked rocks 5 for this , they shout and yell like purnoim poancHHod , iK-npito Ilio storms of tho polar soa . What a riulo , ooutho pcoplo—what an absence of humane sensational No , " continued ho , " moat of thorn would remain at homo , wito limy not driven by necossity to them ) latituilos . And does not want also drivo 1110 into thiH land of ioo and mountain ? " Haiti lio , musingly . " Hut ( lull I cannot cnU-li—nv ~ cursed bo thin filthy , bloorty busmoHs 1 A pcHtflontlal smell is wafUxl hither from ( bo fiflhing-l > ank »; nnd thrao heaps of entrails , thooc tubs of trnin-oil and livurn , ( horto bloody heiula , thoao wild , Hurunming ( locks of birds , necking thoir Hlmro of tlic , prey , those dirty , oil-reeking mon thoro j tho one is uh . disguuLinir nnd horriblu iim Lbu

    Bjttrnarno clappod him on tho hIiouMot and cxclaimod In h \ n loud tone * , " ^ ou must not mudkntci ho much , friend John ; yo \ i must bo brisk and gay , for huro ovnry one ta in good humour , Tho whole year through , young and old , rcjoico for tho llshing

    TUevoTB , 'J . his sort ot behaviour—depraved as our national notion mtxy bo 111 Mr . Morris ' s opinion—i 3 , in tho estimation of Englishmen , the behaviour a scoundrel . But the Gorman author dooa not aeonu 4 k > have tho romoteat

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    1074 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 11, 1854, page 1074, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2064/page/18/