THE HIGHLAND CRAG-FOWLER.

THE north of Scotland is a mountainous craggy region, reaching, in many parts, to the sea-side, where the high cliffs or crags overhang the shore. The numerous islands that abound on the western and northern coasts are of the same character. On the sides of these cliffs and crags various sea-fowl make their nests and breed in immense numbers. To secure their eggs or their young is a hazardous employment, and yet many engage in it. In the picture you have a sketch of a Highland Fowler, called a cragsman, descending by a rope fastened round his body and held by his companions above. He carries a long staff to aid him in exploring the recesses of the rock where the birds build their nests, and he has a basket slung over his shoulders, in which to deposit eggs and birds.

When the fowler is descending the old birds will raise an alarm and fly off screaming, as you see them in the engraving. But should the fowler meet with an eagles nest, and the old birds sitting there, he must be more cautious, for they will fight hard for their eggs or young ones. Here is a tale of an exploit of this kind—

"A fowler had been aware for several years that a pair of eagles built on an almost inaccessible point of a cliff several hundred feet high. Long he had searched for their nest; but in vain. At length he stumbled upon it one day by accident, but imprudently, as it turned out, carried off the only egg it contained. When he imagined the young ones would be hatched, he returned by a path he had carefully

marked; but no nest was there. The parent birds had been aware of the spoiler's visit, and removed their residence to a still more concealed and inaccessible spot. Again the enthusiastic cragsman renewed his search; and after a patient cowering among the rocks in the face of the precipice, he saw the eagles engaged in feeding their young, but in a place which appeared altogether beyond his reach. Difficulties seemed only to nerve him to fresh efforts; and, after many attempts, he at last reached the wished-for spot. He saw three eggs in the nest; but, made wise by experience, he resolved to wait till they were hatched, and contented himself with carefully marking the situation, and the safest approach to it. It was not always that, daring as was our cragsman, the state of the rocks, of the weather, or of his own feelings, permitted him to make the dizzy attempt. At length he accomplished it. On reaching the place, he perceived the white tail of the parent bird, as, brooding on the nest, it projected over the shelf of rock on which she had built. With dauntless bravery, perceiving that she was not aware of his approach, he flung himself on the back of the powerful and ferocious bird. She seemed to be at once cowed and overcome by the might and majesty of man, before whose glance, we have been often told, the fiercest beasts of the desert quail. In what a situation was our adventurer now! standing on a flat ledge of rock, a few feet square, a precipice overhanging a hundred feet above him, while underneath, at six times that distance, roared the abyss of ocean, and screaming overhead soared the male eagle, as if hesitating whether or not to attack the spoiler.

We can hardly imagine a more dreadful, nay, sublime position: but the cool courage and self-possession of the cragsman carried him safely through the adventure. First he twisted the strong wings of the bird together; loosening one garter, with it he bound her bill, and with the other her legs. Thus fettered and gagged, she lay quietly at his mercy, and he paused a moment to draw breath, and ask himself if it were possible that he had accomplished a feat so extraordinary. Much he wished to preserve his captive uninjured, to make his triumph appear the more questionless and complete; but thus loaded, he could not have attempted the dangerous path by which he had to return; so, after a few anxious cogitations, he threw his prize over the precipice. Bound and helpless, she dashed from rock to rock as she fell, till she rested on a point which he knew was easily accessible to him, and then he took his eager and joyful, though, to any other than himself, hazardous path, to where she lay, struggling yet with the remains of life, so that it became a matter of humanity to finish her death at Her bereaved mate followed the successful spoiler on his homeward way that evening, soaring low, and screaming fearfully; but he has never been seen since. To his indulgent landlord the adventurer carried his extraordinary prize, and told his tale with modest enthusiasm, receiving a handsome present when he had finished, as well as unqualified praise for his brave and daring deed."

once.

What perils some men will encounter for the sake of a little money; or, what is less profit, an exploit to boast about among their fellows!

THE LONG-ARMED APE.

THE ape belongs to the monkey tribe. Most of our young friends have seen a common little monkey, and know what queer creatures they are, and what strange tricks they will play. I shall tell you more about them some day. But now I would say something about the ape, which is a much larger animal than the common monkey.

The name of the ape signifies that it is a mimic of the actions of others, especially of human beings. There is one thing, however, which it cannot do-and it is well that it cannot-no monkey, or ape, or baboon, can light a fire or keep it burning when it is lighted.

The ape can use its feet in the same way as it uses its hands, and so may be said to be four-handed. This faculty, with their very long arms, makes them so nimble in climbing trees as you see in the picture. Indeed, they seem to be much more at home in trees than they appear to be upon the ground. The facility with which they climb, or descend from the highest trees, or pass from the top or branches of one to the

other, show their peculiar adaptation to such performances. The wisdom of God is seen in this adaptation, partly as it enables them with the greater readiness to obtain their food, which they find in birds and their eggs, fruits, and other things; and partly from the greater security that is thus afforded them from the beasts of the forests below them.

Apes are not so mischievous or savage as baboons; and they want both the tail and the cheek pouches that distinguish the monkeys. They are found chiefly in the East Indies, upon the coast of Coromandel, and in the islands of the Indian Archipelago. The face of the long-armed ape is flat, and of a tawny colour, surrounded with a circle of grey bushy air, which adds to the singularity of its aspect. The eyes are large and deep sunk. Its body is nearly covered with black rough hair. Like the ouran-outang it is found sometimes in an erect position, though it is a mistake to suppose that these or any of the race can walk erect. When full grown, the long-armed ape attains to the height of four feet; it is of a generally mild disposition, very tractable and apish. The principal food of this class appears to be fruits, leaves, and the bark of trees. But the most extraordinary feature in this animal is that from which it derives its appellation, namely, the length of its arms, which actually reach to the ground when it is standing erect.

There is a small but interesting variety of this class inhabiting the woods of Sumatra, and other neighbouring islands, called the ungka ape of Sumatra. This is about two feet in height, whilst the arms are proportionally longer than in any other varieties. The ungka is able to walk on a flat