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HUDSON'S BAY FISHERIES. talsuMe rranertv Walrn < ...da -h.,ui,i rreiert An Ottawa despatch says : Th* Geo graphical Society O f O. , e bec has sent ai important communication to the Han. T.M Daly urging that an expedition be sent l<< Hudaon bay daring ihe coming summer fo the geographical and geological exploralio i of the bay and adjacent territories. It is un- derstood that this aation to due to repre aenlalions received from ihe Royal ideo- graphical Society of Great Britain, tb'presi dent of which. Mr. Clemenu Merkham. a brolberof Admiral MarkTiam. has visit*-' ths bay aud lakes 4 great interest in i * ploration. The Quebec society po">' cut that Hudson Bay, measanac **'""' *-'"' milea in length and about OaVali la* ia width, I, i* still NOT ACI'OJSATCLY KNOWN o far M its eoonomio resouroes ere concern- d. The territory around the bay i* a t- .-ra incognita. From the imperfect aod Incomplete information received it is known that the bay is possessed of fisheries fully equal to those of the gulf of St. Lawrence. These fisheries have practically been mon- opolized by foreigners, without let or hind- rance, for nearly half a century. According to tl.e report of the Commissioner of Fisb- eriee for the ' United Sutes, for the year I v '.. American whalers, hailing princi- pally from the states) of ataesaoJiiisefs and Connecticut, hare made not fees than 50 round trips to Hudson bay and have taken thaaaa cargo** ol tub and fish product* valued at |1, 370,000 at least, or an average f $27,4-40 per trip per vessul, during a period of 1 1 years preoediag 1874. Th* total value of the fish oils exported from the Hudson hay territory by ihe Hudson Bay Company and American fishermen in IH43 ia estimated at $150,000 per annum,, r $1 I.WO.OOO daring the previous decade. It is well known that American whaling ve eels are irading in furs ith the Indians and Kaquimaux, without paying duty, while the Newfoundland) iovernmenl is said lo be enforcing and collecting duties on merchan- dise or provisions at Fort < !ni<no,in (Tngava bay, Hudson straite, or on articles sold to the aborigines of the interior of Labrador, although this region lie* WITHIX .V.N M'lAH TKHRITOI'.V. According to report* of geological sur- veyors, the region adjacent to the bay and straits abounds in economic minerals, such as iron, manganese, copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, gypsum, pyrites, soapitone, lignite, anthracite, liateetnne,petroleum,miea,asbe*- toe, building atone, etc. Fur-bearing animals are in great variety and their akiaa of consid- erable value. To aaeerlain the existence in tha bay of certain species of sttpls fish, lo learn lha geographical fealures, the fauna and flora, and tha mineral resources of the country, aud to give an impetua to com meroial enterprise and to th* prolongation of line* of railway towatd* Hudson bay, the petitioners strongly represeut that au ex- pedition be organized by the Government this summer. A "OMU.ICI I I T Bt tea Hsu* Leek sjalrh If tea WaaU a>e It la Ike (aaspt Bkr. Low la the west, half hidden in the even- ing twilight, there may be seen just now a star lhat 300 years ago earned for itevlf the name of " Mira, the Wonderful." Anil its behavior at present seems to juslify ils name. U Is in the Constellation of the Whale, and is known loaslronoinersasOmioronCeii. It is only visible now for a brief period after sundown, when it may be seen hanging just above the verge of the horizon, under Jup- iter and the Pleiadea. Its red color dis- tinguishes it, although higher up there ia another rsddish star in the same coustella- tion. Last winter the spol wnioh this star occupies was absolutely vacant to the naked ye. Rut a taleacope showed that ~ *t a A1NT tl-AK was glimmering there, ^Ince then that tar has >>laz*d up a thousandfold in bright- ness. Now it ehicee with a ruddy hue, nggeaUv* of a vast and fierce o infUg ration. In a few weeks, probably, it will havs fa.Vd, bul in Ihe meantime the progress of the seasons will have buried it In the sun's rays, and when it emerges in the east next sum- mer no eye ill be able to sea it again with- out telescopic aid. For i few days yet "the Marvel of the Whale," may be discerned be- tween 7 and 7. 30 o'clock in the evening. An opera (lass may be needed to show it clearly in the bright twilight. What renders this wonderful variable tar particularly Interesting at present Is ths fact that it ia now brighter than it usually is at it* maximum, and tlut the period of maximum hu b en delayed for several weeks. According to the calcu- lation* of the astronomers, it should have been at ils brighteat on Keb 1 1. Hut it ha* continued to grow more brilliant sinns that time, until it has become aevaral limes as bright as it waa then. Yet theaa fact* would poaeesa but a small d|(iea of iutereat outaide '.he oheervaloriea if we diil not know something of the dimen- sions of tha sl-ir Mira and of the aignifioanoa of the changes which we behold in it. Mira ia a sun, aud when it blazes up. as it is now doing, it must suddenly pour forth a quan- tity of heat that if oonoentrated upon the aarth at oloee quarters would melt it and turn it into a hot cloud. When Mira is fainteet it ia of leas than the ninth magni- tude ; vrheu brightest It hac ben known lo equal a star of the first ma <n, u.lo. Tha happened in 1779, when :. was as IHII.UAN-* AM ALDKCAKAN. At ttch a time it emits J,0"0 times as munh Ii In .M it does when at a niuiimum ; -.',111 HI 1 1 mi 1 s s hi i|i-hh"af. .;.., i, ..!.:.!> N'oW.wiien It Is near tne tnird magnitude it Is.llMHimes as I. r,ght as it was two nr three months ago. The oomplete cycle of change that this wnnnerf ul suu runs through averages about eleven months. Rut for more than two- thirds of that period it remains la in and Invisible to tha naked eye. It* brightening begina suddenly, and It usually gains light faster than it subsequently fade*. A* it brightens, the blood *slor characteristic o' its Tight when at a itaftimnm changes to an orange red. It* spewruni then reveals the tremendous natur* of the change that Mira is undergoing ; it becomes tolled with vivid lines lhat Indicate lhat the vaporous envelope of tha star iias naught fir.i so to peak, and i* burning with inconceivable intensity, hydrogen In particular flanring high above the other elements. According to Mr. Lockyer'* hypothesis THMB rHBMOMBMA ars produced by the repeatad collisions of warms of meteors ravolvmg around oos tnother in elliptical orbits. Hal more s thai Mira is an expiring sun, surround-' vitli a partially cooled envelope ef m "" apors wlioseahsorption almost *x^ i ' '' i it* light, axcep: at interval* ' <1 ' su l " r " ome an ou t br.sk of U* '*' ' 1 " ' orc within, or a heat erup"" 1 ' " h ' oh buMt * *a shell and fire* t h'' urr tta<llo >: tu dazzling incanH J f ' " . If w* knew/ 11 " 1 how f r W T **ira is ve could ''"'* lt oompires in size with ursu.-' We do know, however, that it is pro" fl 'y a larger sun than oars. We may .irly assume that its parallax is n >'. more nan one-third of a aecond, winch would' nake its distance from the earth over 55O,. lOO limes greater than the distance of the tun. U it really ia a* far off aa that, then, * uen it flame* with th* brightness ot a first magnitude at r II uiual be pouring out eight MIIHS as much light as the SOB wives forih, Bul wher it is at ils minimum ils light can be only one two-hundred-ami-fiftieth ol ihe sun's light. Aad la either lase tha intens- ity of its heat probably accords with that of its light. Surely we cannot sunposa that there are inhabited worlda revolving around suck a sun as that. Rut worlds ma* be there that were once inhabited. Did any prophet forewarn them of a time whan their day- making sun would become a destroying furnace, and their elements would dissolve with fervent haat ? [Garret t V. Srrviss. HOW FAR Q?e is TifE SUN ? Jlaaaen. When the British Association m.-t at M. Mi-real a few years ajo. there w a swarm ot acaosjpjeoying tourists, an i the resources of the hotels were heavily taxed, especial!/ at the dialog hoir. Aasaew*> smoessed oaf dvt in la-^es* hotel which llastrated the boorish mtnners and selfish- ness ef a cockney traveller. The great dining-room was crowded at oou as its doors are opened. K tch ttbie accommodated eight persona, aad was aader the charge of one waiter. A burly Knglmn nvi. as he took his seat, seized the waiters sleeve and p,acd a largs fee in his hand " l want ray dinner with out a momeai's delay." he said, as he gav<i his order. Tne waiter bastled oat witho.it Uking the orders of the seven other gaests tl the table. When he returned wi'.h soap and fish, the Kuglishmtn <ent bim back for Worcestershire sauce, and afterwarj for wine. When these we'e broii^h'., the wait- er was sot for the nexl oouree, *?-l w%- then rixjuirid to ehange it as ths meat, wei lhed.st.no. ot yar.ia.tiok c f e Ion hai l>"'-n ini^'l'^ tance as auoura ly aa ilireui aiui lutl reot h*<* b-eu OoneideHni; thi> fact ilia' the ku->wle.li(> thns s^diilonslv pnrsued can serve n< utilitarian purpnee, tha 4nerou* expendi lure in the pursuit dox* err lit i-> 'he i.it-i kt>'vual MpnaMonaof tbahuinaa race. Vroir the tint* of i'p' Oook's cxpalttiuti ' the oeiety Islandu . i obeerve the transit ot Venus in 1769 until the ,. is-nt day. mil Itoni of dollars have beeospentin this effort to ilrop a sounding lias to the suu. Copernicus believe*! that the aun waa aot m re than 6.000.00U milea away There were philosophers bo'ore the Chris-.ian er . who knew as much aa that. Kor several year* past we iiave been assured that l<i> distance could not be fur from 9-',S (0,0 xi miles. But almost A CENTUBT AUO, ea>l I I Laplace wanmrd a p\ra lax for trie sun w'.n-h s;*ve almost exactly that distance. Smoe his time variour astronomer* have attacked 'the problem, aud uieu results have varied from Vl.OnO.dOO nr- HO.-2.i>,OOC wiles, Lha dUJereaoe between theae extreme estimatss brini; nearly a* great ae the entire distance was bel'eved to ne l>y the f..un Icr o' astronomr Yetthes* facts carry no uhalleuge to tneanundneia of modern astronomical on thod>, or the sub- stantial oorreotaeas or" the results eumel by them. The distaaoa of the sn is not yet known with absolute aocuracy, for the samp reason that the height of Mount At. K.I . or of Mount Evnreat has not yet been ax ae'iy a*oertameJ. But th limits of error are known, and in the tu-.ar we shall not 'see eetimain of the sun's distaiuie varying by mil. ions of miles. Ita neriaa of wires sho'iM beaut, each anr-'iii< hi length -ith one o' tne r>-cnt tneaurei ef the anlar par- ai:ax, and all should tken t> streuthml from the earth toward the sun, erei v one of tnem would end in th- sun, though none might atop precisely at its oentir. As to the recent ligh upon the problem, it is furnished by thi result of nheervaitona by official* of the United Statra Coast Sur- vey at the Sandwioh islamla, to determine the constant of aberration of the star*. By this is meant the amount of displacement lhat the stars undergo in consot|aence of the fact lhat wo ar looking at them from .Be realty UaU.erod< pouooa weie awar- or instance, mat there la a drug prooui ble ia alinojt .every field -Inch imulate he etfect of one common variety of hear lisoaae, the aunpeuaiou of vi'.aliiy lhroui{' tnaemia. And suicide, which, whetk t ia a crime or not, M certainly a gret vil, would b* muiitipiie.1 tenfold it ever. yewkoeiv how it is possible to iermint sjseaaafc 'ea1f|il| in I painlessly throug ver touch, aSnUhB very 're-t. There are no me .tisvence of keeping such facts, when on .'enerallf known, from the knowledge o' he bad, and it is th*y, ami no. tue good, who w.ll want to use them. Tne world indeed may one day, and at 10 vary distant perio I. fiave awful evidence of ihe truth of the theory lhat knowledgr is only a weapon, neither bad nor goo-i. It is m >st probable, it is nearly certain, ihat means o' destroying life on a vast icale, either by the multiplication of exist- ng forces the M tun .- m carried lo ihe enth power or by the'use of asphyziatin hells, or as half a dozen novelist* have tiready suggested, by explosives 'lire ted rum aerial mwhines, will <>e discovered ind eagerly atiliied by the able men who in every country are striving to "improve" material of war. No poeaible precaution would keep such prooease* secret for long, and they may all t ,v> the hands ot the Chinese, ihe overdone. j a globe whinh is notsnndi-" s'ili, but is This byplay went on for half an hour, tha moving in orbit aro"nd tue iun at the waiter mceiving freab i str'i ti..n aa aooa rat* of IHJ mile* in a eecond. l.-ght travels as he had fillo.l an .:rder. and not being 16.3.'K) miles in a second. The ratio of ihe allowed a moment lor lu kmg af'r tie, velocity at other guesta 41 the tablr, "v.ii vnotn wersl TIII FLTIXH r.AkTii la,i,.s. Seven people look.d .. wti.t. thi. ,, , ,, fc ..., ',. diipiaOflmMlt unmannerly Kugliahman MM rt I his Ml.ah- . h ^ ^ n ^ , can larn precisely how far th* earth travels A vaaarabl* scientist finally undertook to , n a aacond, we aha 1 know just how long remonstrate with him. I its orbit is. W knaw that th* earth take* "You have no n.ht," he said, t mono , ,, Jtv> , r , Biore v(ctly. 31A>1>X> - plize wholly the time of the waiter when onds t . go once round that orbiu [f.then, even people a* hungry as yonraelf are not . can find out with rgorouk accuracy aerved. I nnw tar | T . goes | n a second, wp caa at onoe I pid for service in advance." th* neloulat* not only ire length of ihe orbit, cockney rep'toj. - I can't help it i' the but tha distance of tha aua, which depends hotel steal not provide a waiter for every directly upon the *i/e of the orbit Of gueat. Kverybodv ha* to lodt out for him- .courae.allowance must be made for the elf in thia world. j tm r hat tue orbit, instrwl of bmng a circle. The scientist was about to iiu'.y whoa ' If as, al 1 1 pa, aud that consequently th* afc ell i pan, aod ' i ite of travelling varies a conseqaeu't varies a llu- rpalhematios take care of that ittle. scientist waa about to rep'.y whoa one of the ladies interrupted him. "Asa Canadian." she said. "Ihavebsen deoply interested in this object lesson in Knglish manners. I bag that, yon will allow us to ha< e the full benefit ot 10 initrqctiv* an exhibition." Th* lady'* sarcasm was deserved, hot it was unjust lo the boor's country H* did not represent the English people, but h'm- elf only. The French have the r.nula' ion o' be-no ''*'<** *" -Sandwich Islands is the oditast people in the world, but there ? ll h "y mUrthan previous msaaurement. are times when they forgot their goodi man- ners. Ampere, th* famous physicist, m a letter to hia wife records a alight p. it upon nita in a fashionable hoe.se Hat han't* happened to be stained by a druc witk whi -S he had been experimenting, and he had been unable Now, we have seen ' hat ihe diapiecetneol or abrrralion of the sta-s furnishes a mean* o' determining the ratio of the eartk's velocity in its orbit to the kuown velo-ily of light. If that aberration is accurately measured, it must. give, by a simple calcu- lation, ihe velocity jf the earth and tha distance of the suu. Tha aberration aa Aribs or of the Anarchists, with, as result, either the subjugation of the world or ite partial depopulation. It would be an awtnl illustration of that irony of fate which onietimes seems to preside over the lesuniee of men if science kilie i civiliza- tion ; but that u by no means one of the .'np Msi'ile occurrences. GOLD MINING IN MADAGASCAR. Da*cras>alea< Owners Tlelallai the Treat* lee aa la alavsi H.I n -. Mr. Ohar.es H. Aileu. secretary of the Kritish and Foreign Anti-Slaveiy Society, has, by permission, published certain oor- reapoodeuce uetwi-en a liarman merchant at Zanzibar and the acting admiaiKralor of the Imperil Brilish East Afrioa Company, wnich lends to show that immunities claim- ed by ttermans under TBBATT WITH XaXZIBAB are being uteJ to serve the ends of a private individual. The letter thai opens the cor- respondence, a* published, is dated De- cember 8, 13H3, and refers to a telegram sent three inontna previously to the Acting Ad- ministrator asking permission lo export .Ii nit 50U men tor the Congo Free State, and stating that the writer had got thoae men on the (terman coast. He ad. la that be want* about 1,11)0 men for in* gold minaa ef Madagascar, and lhat if hs were allowed lo have tnem he would pay an export duty f 1 apiece, and also iak<> them from tribe* troubleaoma to th* company. A* an a' emative.he propo*ei.heving (heaaye) the right a* a German subject, to buy a eves and tree them, to be .1 lowed to free I 000 slave* on the company's territory, if they agree to work for iwo- thirds of their wages fur a contract of three years The Ao ing Ad- .s> .TUMI Vast ^tisjniitles / l*rlajee f Wale* ave-rf Wrar, e stM Peer. There is ao better (hootio han is to be round in Norlol vmch lies Saadringhaun, .alaceof the Prince of WalesV oay be found His Royal Prince of .Virs, who to his other accon ulishmenta adds that of being a capital*' hot. The prince used te reot the ajaaoling m CaMle Risiea; eatate, bat lately Ma son- m-law, the Duke of Fife, has relieved the 'irir apparent uf that expense by rentiog the place every year. The duke's royal rather m law loat nothing by thia change, for he never miss as heia present at any one of tha shooting weeks in November, December and January, (lama is tolerably plentiful on the Sandricgham eatate, bat ' he game larder at tha castle is of enormous Himsnsione, and the hooting on Castle Rising is a valuable aid in msking np tha vast supply of game necessary. Just as soon as the shooting ia over in January pre- paralions are begun for next season's sport. The whole preceding year on the eatate is a preparation for these sheota, Tha eggs of the pheasants are gathered from their Best* in the dense undergrowth of tha covers in the spring and pat to hatch under ordinary barnyard fowl. They are then dispnsted in clusters of coops in the several covers near the keeper*' cottages. Great rare is exercised in feeding the young birds, which are reared chiefly on grain. Tne pheasants roam over the whole county , and a month or so before ahootiaf com- mences the beautiful oreatnree m iy he seen in thousands all around Castle Rising and Ssndringham. In a<! in ion to pheasants there hi a plenti- ful supply of partri'lirea, tha shooting of which bacina in September, although a day for tnat apart is a> ways set aside at the big shoots Partridges -ire enurely wild, no attempt being made to rear them, aad.if all one hears in Norfolk be true, many a par- tridge egg goes to enrich the breakfast table of tha Sao dr in-, ham laborer. Scat- tered over the estate are big rabbit warrens, aad juat on the border of Castle Rising is an extensive moor devotad to rabbit- breed- ing. la this neighborhood stray dogs and oats are regarded with great disfavor by tha pnnce's gamekeepers, who never overlook an opportjnity of discouraging the presence of theee animals. It is said that some of the laborers who bar* pat oats are foroeJ to keep them on chain* in order to preserve them float dancer at tha hands of taalons keepers. Farmers and others who are licensed to carry gone can ahool rabbits in their own fields, but knocking over a pheas- ant by such persona is only permitted at the day a shooting which the farmers hate after the great shoots are pssssd. The Duke of Fife's shooting parly usually numbers lea. always including tha Priaoa of Wales. Kach uf the party is accompani- ed by a man to load an 1 carry his guns aad had made it. of arc. It amounts lovM.4 t.'l seconds This gives for the average VII.IVITY or TII (ABTII to remove the blemishes. A great lady caught sight of his hands, id enpressad her disgust. F.xplanationa were of no avail. She retirvl troin th* table, declaring that in* could not nat in Ilia presence. Ampere wa* mortified beyond en 1 urance. Current critioiim of foreign m\ nnrrs i* largely based on isolated instances of vul- garity. It does not provs lhat all foreign- ers are ill-bred, but only that some of them are supremely selfish. E kht.v-Six Years a Sailor. The grand old man of the British navy iax completed his ninety fourth year, an 1 a very wonderful oareer has Admiral Sir in its orbit IS JIS-J miles in a second, an. I for the distance of the sun, .' 7' ,(!) miles. Ths distance derived from the observation of the transit ol Venus lu IH74 was about O'Ji.nO) miles leas than this, win)* that cnlouU'e.l from the transit of l-.v> traa about lUO.ilOO miles grrater. But Laplace's value of the solar parallax, adopted by him in I7!H', gives a distaace di.iTing by only s i.mn or iti.no mites from that shown by tha calculation based on the new constant of aberration ; so Ltpl vp was prohaMy nearer to the troth than, many of the later astronomers have bean. It isovi'ient that the final solution of the great problem has not, even yet, been ob taineil. There in an uncertainty of perhaps a> much as I1>, 000 mile* still remaining. Since tne distance of the sun forms a bus- line for calculating >he distaace of stars. an error of lO'.lKX) mi las in that base-line Lewis Tobias Jones. <).<'. H.. a son ot S.igo, w ." uKI m * kf m . ""> .' *"'y He was born in I7U9, and entered the l million miles in ths calculated distance of the i.earwu fixed star in the ky. of age, that is lo say, on New Year's day, , . 18'W. Nor was this one of the formal en- ! ^I'A*/"'!"?, 1 ! 1 ' ^ trie* so common at the period. rVfore he service when he wasjust turned eight years U ' ' or lhe '">>'"" ' he future then waa ten years old he was present during m "" 1 b ? cool f l " know tha th.t di.iast.rou. undertaking which we ceil ".' lmo * t b "" >ud ' ha W9 ' i.. j \Velcbarb sxpedilion ; he was still a ">'> *>'". <i our'aialy iped Ishipman when hs took part in the bom bardment of Algiers m IHI6, and he saw no more fighting till he a commander of the line of luttle ship 1'rinoess Charlotte a' the bombardment of 8u .lean d'Acre in IfUl. He, however, saw some severe work in putting down tha slar* trade lieoiiles aasisling at tha capture of Lrvos, then a slave d-i>..t, which was turned into a refuge for slavei nn- detnensions nf the if they can. For our part, wa must be content to know that they are of math*- beyoud the power of imagination to conceive. la ii<- Vlrluat II *v <la elrlr Vast Haras la Ihe I i rr If the spirit uf Anarchism spreads, and the recipes tor making sate bombs become little more widely known, says the Lon der the British flag, lo the same ship the don Spectator, we tney yet be able to set old paddle wheel Sampson lie commanded the discovery of high explosives against the the steam squadron at our naval attack on , discovery of chloroform, ami to doubt Odessa in 1854; tken helped to reduce { w he her ecieDtiflo reaaaroh does, on the Soukhoum Kaleh on the Circassian coast i whole, more evil or more good. In truth then brought his ship safely through the it does neither, knowledge being neither great Kuyne storm ol November. IHM. by more or laaa than a force which produces < -utting sway her maala and letting the seas good or evil, according to the character- sweep over her as she steamed hard to wind, which is not malarial of the man who and as a reward for this he was promoted to possesses it. Tha modern notion that the chargeof the line of hat lieship London, in knowledge has in itself something divine is which ha assisiedat theoaptnre of Klnburn. as false as the ancient notion that it ha* in He was second in command in China, ami in itself something diabolio. I ou can rob by operations that lad to the capture of IVkm the aid nf chloroform as well as relieve pain in I860, but his only post as an admiral, for Then are whole branohea of knowledge, tho he had no great friends lo back him up, diffusion n( which would almost certainly and was even fifty-one years in the ntvy produce pure evil. before he got hia rta, waa at Queeaatown. Household murder, for instance, would He holds the poet of visitor and governor of he far more common if all mep and Women Greenwich hospital. knew what a faw phyaioiins know abokt could not agree to TUB MBBi'HAirr's PBipoaaui as to the export of in -n from the company's territories U Ma iagaacar or elaswoere, and informed him that ne would sen I a copy of h s letter to the company's directors. It is probable lhat the latter approved of his course, as they hands I the oirrespondanoa to \!r. A leu, doubtless, to let the R -itish public know the stand thiy had taken in the aia'ter. In his letter to the directors the Administrator expreased a fear lent tha man, if given to ihe mercnant, sSould ba ill-treated or de'nudrd. M'. Allen aays tha'. the mining diairicla of Madagascar are moil unhealthy, *s hia alteotion hadalrealy called to lhat fact. Phe Ad nmistrator also lie i- ve I Ih it if the re.|U-st were grant- ed, men like Mberik ben Kn.-hed would probably begin or rain -r boldly continue TtAUN.I \\TIVKS MI their districts an 1 shipping them to Madagascar. M.'. Allen hop>s the publi- cation of the correspondence will awaken the ilerman <i ivernmt'it t > the reality of the situation and the use to wuch existing treaties are being put by unscrupulous individuals. It u not long sinca Oapt. Lugard char god both Ii jnnans and H.-itiah with open d-ftan.-e of the aentimen* of cit-iliztiion touching slavery. Mr. Allen'* letter lefuiee hi* st*tamnt as to the Brilish com pan \ DEPOPULATIoTs ur < AANCE. Msilsilns itkaw Ikal nenlks Far r\r-n| inks la Ik* B>as>llr. Statiatics are very dull, and dulnesa ia a thing to be shunue 1 by all wall-regulate 1 persona ; bul an arfole has just appearatl in .ne Journal Official which is quite long, bristles with tigurea, but u not quite; Hi* royal highness ha* for years been a heavy weight, and on this account n accom- panied by another boy, who carries a small rosmd seat oa which tha prince frequently rait*. Dreaeed in snooting costume, h* look* vary stout and just like what ha con- siders himself when in Norfolk a stout country squire. To oor eyes the sport looks nuirdi-rons, although a certain amount ot excitement is aroused by th* akill with which the birda are brought down. A* many o* J. 40 birda have been (hot in a single day .luring tha big shoots, aad although as has been taid. a great deal of the game i* needed for the Sandringham larder, almost a* much u given away much of it to poor people on ihe estate. On big abaoting daya th* Prinaeas ol Walxa drivee over to tha daily lunch, bring- ing with her ihe ladies who may be slaying at Sandrtng-hin Tne keepers tell aa inter- eating anciloie of the prinosas. Tha wait- er* serve at lunch in full dress, and, of coune, with uacovared heads. But at one lunch, some years ago, the dry chanced to be exceedingly wintry, aad the prince** ob- served their pincned ao>l co'd appearance, whereupon she desired them to put on their hat*. They hesitate t to commit inch a breach of decoram even at the deaire which amount* to a command oft Heir royal mistress. She. obeerving this, laid down her knife and fork, saying lhat she should rot goon with her lunch until they had dona M she wished. Cn servants, of course, at once obeyed, aad since thai lime none ol them has been allowed to wait with head uncovered. The Xonarch of Poisonous Snakes. A monarch among poisonous snakes is tha enoimous hamadryaa, which growa to be aa much u fourteen feet m length, tod ia so _ BB_SB. isa.a ma em an iwv au (^MUill, -stu'l 1* W unmter-sting to Fraiioe and the French. | fierce that it w.ll aometimee attack and even Unrlntf thA VIIAr -ill* 1 I nm .l>tk in V*> n / d During the year IS>C> tne deaths in France exceeded the births by over -JO.OOi). Hither- to the population has been about atation- ary, but this national deficit ia serious. Tne French, from the highest to the lowest, do not care for large families, alleging, justly enough, that children are expansive articles. Did not a cook the other day lay her woe* over the death of her firet-born open to her sympathizing mistress " That hahy cos. me first an < last not leas than t? 0," quoth the bereaved mother, " and aftsr all that expense it only lived three weeks I" The birth-rate la about as usual in France, at the ratio of twenty-two birtha for .'very thousand inhabitants : bat the increase in mortality ia frightful, and is attributed by the medical authontiee en- tirely to la grippe, which they state has mad* more victims than the great cholera epidemics aver killed in one year. It is also solemnly set forth that the children who were born at the time of the war of 1870 were adding to the mortality by expiring now, but as these great medical lights state that the children bom during the siege generally died in their in'ancy, owing lo their privations, it ia difficult to aee why tha mortality among the " war babies," as they are called, should have ceased for twenty whole year* to spring up again suddenly. However, there ie the unpleasant fact that the population of France, it soraeth og is not do e, will speedily reaemble, in thie large and pleasant land, the relative pro- portions preserved by a single huckleberry grave'r laiV ? in v. PV large bowl il milk chase any one who ventu-es rear ita nest. Native snake-charmers, who will handle the fiercest cobras fearlessly, are usually loath to touch a hama.trya*, though I have ocoasionslly seei a large specimen of thi* venomous reptile in their bogs. It lay* its r^i^s iu a heap of decaying leaves, whiuh it collects fur tlie purpose, aad sits upon tha top to keep off intruders. A road through the jungle will aometimea be closed against all comers by a pair of thoee snake*, and woe betid* the unfortunate traveller who stumbles unawares upon the nest. The hamtdryas foe! largely upon other snakes but it is fortunately somewhat rare. C-ir- iously enough, it is not always aggressive. Indeed, it xometimes happens that it is quite unwilling to strike. Superficially it i* not unlike a harmli <.H rock snake ; and not verv long ago.in Burmah.a man brought one in from the jungle and kept it loose ia hi* nous* for some days, under the impreae- 1011 that it was one of theae creature*. Dor- ing th whole nf ita captivity II never at- tempted to bite any one, and it* captor, who had bean familiarly pulling it about by the tail, wa* only apprised of his mistake by a forest officer wa* happened to turn of and who kew a good daal about snakeak It i* easy to imagine the halts with whiai the amateur snake-charmer proceeded U dispose of bis captive {Mediae's Me-*. Hoe. The Russian Minister of the Interior ha* issued an ordsr that foraisji Jews, having ia thsir posun^ion proper passports, most . )4b* interfered with by the police or ; ether authorities.