places, or tottering under the weight and magnitude of their turbans and their stomachs, while their thin legs, that appeared underneath, but ill accorded with the bulk of the other parts.  I see George laughing at the picture I have drawn of these curious little men, but you would not dare to laugh in the presence of the mighty Sultan of Bornou; he would immediately exclaim, ‘Off with his head!’ if you so far outraged the rules of Bornouan etiquette.  I will now give you a description of a wedding in this African country, and we will then bid the people a long farewell.  The bridegroom’s friends, to the number of 200 or 300, sally forth, dressed in their best clothes, to meet the bride.  Behold her! mounted on a bullock whose back is covered with blue and white cloths.  She is followed by four female slaves, laden with straw baskets, wooden bowls, and earthen pots; after them appear two other bullocks carrying the remainder of the fair bride’s dowry.  She is attended by her mother, and five or six young ladies, who act as bridesmaids.  According to their mode of salutation, we must gallop up to them repeatedly.  See! the ladies cover their faces, and scream their thanks; and as it is extremely indelicate to gaze upon the bride, we must cast our eyes on the ground, wheel our horses round, and gallop back again.  You will ask, ’Is that all; and where is the bridegroom?’ Ah! poor fellow! he has been parading the streets all the day, with a crowd after him, dressed in all the finery he could buy or borrow, while the people blew horns, beat drums, and cried, ‘May you live forever!’ ‘God prosper you!’ ’Gray hairs to you!’ There is no further ceremony.  The bride is handed over to her husband in the evening by her mother, and henceforth they are man and wife.”

GEORGE.  “Oh! what very odd things are done in strange lands!  I am so sorry our examinations are over, and I wish we could begin them all again.  What religion are the people of Bornou?”

MR. STANLEY.  “They are Mohammedans; and very superstitious, trusting greatly to their medicine men.”

GRANDY.  “I have really enjoyed these meetings as much as the young folks, for I think there is no study more delightful, nor more useful, than that which makes us acquainted with the world and its inhabitants.  As our business has been mostly on the waters, I consider that we ought not to close the subject without calling to mind the period when ’the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth,’ and ‘all that was in the dry land died.’  Beware, my dear children, that you forget not the awful catastrophe from which the family of faithful Noah alone escaped; nor that the cause of it was the iniquity of men!”

GEORGE.  “I never see a rainbow, but I think of the Deluge, because you taught me the texts concerning God’s covenant, dear Grandy, and the promise that the earth should no more be destroyed by a flood:  but I have often wondered what could be the size of the ark to contain so many living creatures.”