him to watch over the interests of the United States in California, as there was reason to believe that province would be transferred to Great Britain.  He at once returned to California; General Castro was already marching against our settlements; the settlers rose in arms, flocked to Fremont’s camp, and, with him as leader, in less than a month, all Northern California was freed from Mexican authority; and on July 4 Fremont was elected Governor of California by the American settlers.  Later came the conflict between Commodore Stockton and General Kearney; and Fremont resigned his commission as Lieutenant-Colonel, to which he had been promoted.  In October, 1848, he started across the continent on a fourth expedition, outfitted at his own expense, to find a practicable route to California.  In attempting to cross the great Sierra, covered with snow, his guide lost his way, and the party encountered horrible suffering from cold and hunger, a portion of them being driven to cannibalism; he lost all his animals (he had 120 mules when he started), and one-third of his men (he had thirty-three) perished, and he had to retrace his steps to Santa Fe.  He again set out, with thirty men, and, after a long search, discovered a secure route, which led to the Sacramento, where he arrived in the spring of 1840.  He led a fifth expedition across the continent in 1853, at his own expense, and found passes through the mountains in the line of latitude 38 deg., 39 min., and reached California after enduring great hardships; for fifty days his party lived on horse-flesh, and for forty-eight hours at a time without food of any kind.  These are the barest outlines of five expeditions of which many volumes have been written, but will hint at Fremont’s work in the West which entitled him to the name of the “Pathfinder.”

CHINESE PROVERBS.—­The Chinese are indeed remarkably fond of proverbs.  They not only employ them in conversation—­and even to a greater degree than the Spaniards, who are noted among Europeans for the number and excellence of their proverbial sayings—­but they have a practice of adorning their reception rooms with these sententious bits of wisdom, inscribed on decorated scrolls or embroidered on rich crapes and brocades.  They carve them on door-posts and pillars, and emblazon them on the walls and ceilings in gilt letters.  The following are a few specimens of this sort of literature:  As a sneer at the use of unnecessary force to crush a contemptible enemy, they say:  “He rides a fierce dog to catch a lame rabbit.”  Similar to this is another, “To use a battle-ax to cut off a hen’s head.”  They say of wicked associates:  “To cherish a bad man is like nourishing a tiger; if not well-fed he will devour you.”  Here are several others mingling wit with wisdom:  “To instigate a villain to do wrong is like teaching a monkey to climb trees;” “To catch fish and throw away the net,” which recalls our saying, “Using the cat’s paw to pull the chestnuts out of the fire;”