OUT-OF-THE-WAY PLACES "The young ones are dressed in all styles, but they are as delighted as if it were a holiday." "Uncle," said James, "shall I read this piece out of the Leisure Hour? Ellen read it to me this morning." "Do, James; it will save me a few words." 63 scene; at this season, at half-tide or low water, multitudes of carts and horses, boats, vraics, cover the beach, the rocks, and the water; and so anxious are the people to make the most of their limited time, that I have often seen horses swimming and carts floating, so unwill. ing are the vraics to be driven from their spoil by the inexorable tide. "But this weed, as I have said, is not exclusively used for manure, but also for fuel: for this purpose it is collected at other times, but not cut from the rocks. "The collection is a constant employment with those who live near the shore, and the produce of their labour is either used for fuel or sold to those who want it. "At almost all times women and children are to be seen gathering or "They are in a state of eager excitement, some driving lumbering carts, some wheeling barrows, and others laden with baskets and huge gunny-bags. Some are armed with pitchforks, some with scythes, others with huge pocket-knives, and all laughing, screaming, and shouting, slipping and sliding, until the descent over the slippery rocky bankside has been fairly accomplished; and then away they go, carts and barrows andabaskets, and even common chests, metamorphosed for the nonce into convey-spreading the seaweed out to dry. ances, upon four small wheels; away they go, helter-skelter over the slippery, slimy surfacer of the ground, from which the tide has barely yet receded, and so reach the first ledges of seaweed-covered rocks, and carry them by assault as gallantly as was ever a Redan, and not without some small danger of broken shins and heads into the abargain. The upraised scythes glitter for an instant in the early sunlight, and then fall sharp and keen upon the thickly-set 'dark green masses of weed. The vraic harvest has commenced in earnest. "Although a time of labour," continued uncle Harry, "it is also a season of merriment; vraicking cakes made of flour, milk, and sugar, are plentifully partaken of, besides many other good things." They use a rake or three-pronged pitchfork and a barrow, in which it is carried above high-water mark to be dried. "The produce of their labour is their chief dependence for winter firing, valued, however, more for the ashes it produces than the heat it gives.' "What do poor people do who have no horses or carts?" "They are allowed to gather it during the first eight days of the spring-tide after Easter, provided they carry it on their backs to the beach, and do not cut it from the rocks. "This clearing away of the weed brings to light oysters, limpets, shrimps, millions of periwinkles and other shellfish- wonderful shells, anemones, and weed of various hues." "Did you see any of the Jersey "It is truly a busy and curious | cabbages, uncle ?" OUR SCRAP BOOK. The wild mill-stream it dasheth In merriment away, And keeps the miller and his son Grow on the old mill-wall. Where not a leaf doth grow; And through the mountain gashes, The merry mill-stream dashes Down to the sea below; But in the quiet hollows The red trout groweth prime, For the miller and the miller's son To angle when they've time. Then fair befall the stream, That turns the mountain mill; And fair befall the narrow road 65 OUR SCRAP BOOK. ANECDOTE OF PRINCE ALFRED.— Prince Alfred paid a visit to Athens a year or two since. The famous Olympic games, which had been given up ever since Athens became Christianized, were about to be held again, and the committee of arrangements, in honour of the young prince's visit, put off the horse-race of the Hippodrome from Monday until Sunday, when he could be supposed to be present. Prince Alfred promptly declined the invitation, saying that "he could not be present at the race on the Holy Day of the Lord ;" and the committee were obliged to prepare it anew the next Tuesday. We rejoice in this manly stand on the side of our English sabbath. A CUTTING REPROOF. A late eminent judge of Virginia said that the most cutting reproof he ever received for profaneness was without words. He happened to be crossing a ferry with the late Dr. John H. Rice. On account of shallows, the boat could not be brought to land, and they were carried to the shore by the black ferrymen. One of these was so careless as to suffer Judge H.'s clothes to become wet, and the latter expressed his anger by an imprecation. Dr. Rice, without saying a word, turned on him his large, speaking eye, with a sorrowful expression. "I never so felt a reproof," said the judge, "in my life, and instantly begged his pardon. 'Ask pardon of God,' said Dr. Rice. I shall never forget it." At this time Judge H. was entirely ignorant who his reprover was. THE POOR BOY. - Do not be ashamed, my lad, if you have a patch on your elbow. It is no mark of disgrace. It speaks well for your industrious mother. For our part, we would rather see a dozen patches on your jacket, than hear one profane or vulgar word escape from your lips. No good boy will shun you because you cannot dress as well as your companions; and if a boy sometimes laughs at your appearance, say nothing, my good lad, but work on. We know many rich and good men who were once poor and friendless boys; and if you are poor and upright, you will be respected a great deal more than if you were the son of a rich man, and addicted to bad habits. HOME LESSONS.-Did you ever think how every part of your house can remind you of the great truths which Jesus Christ taught about Himself? The corner-stone says, "Christ is the corner-stone;" the door, "I am the door;" the burning candle, "Christ is the light of the world." You look out of the window, and the sight of the starry sky bids you turn your eyes to "the bright and morning Star." The rising sun speaks of the "Sun of righteousness, with healing in His wings." The loaf on your table whispers of the "bread of life," and the water which quenches your thirst, "I am the water of life." When you lie down, you think of Him who had not where to lay His head, and when you get up you rejoice that He is "the resurrection and the life." VALUE OF TIME.-Time is precious, but its value is unknown to us. We shall obtain this knowledge when we can no longer profit by it. Our friends require it of us as if it were nothing, and we give it them in the same manner. It is often a burden to us, and we know not what to do with it; but the day will come when a quarter of an hour will appear of more value to us than all the riches of the universe.Fenelon. THE YOUNG OBSERVER. hence plants fail to receive the light and heat which are indispensable to their due development, and then, as we say, "spring is backward." As to animals, their movements are largely dependent on the state of vegetation; and many curious correspondences have been noted between birds and trees, plants and insects. Thus the blackcap does not make its appearance in the north of England until the larch trees are in leaf; the garden warbler and willow warbler come when oak and elm are similarly advanced; while, as a French writer has remarked, even the stages through which the minute aphis (the "green fly," which attacks our garden flowers in such numbers) successively passes, are dependent on the development of the plant which affords it both home and food. Plants, in their turn, are controlled by the weather,—by the degree of light, heat, and moisture which they receive; and thus one part of creation is linked indissolubly to another. I must also confess my conviction that a wet winter is damaging to the prospects of the insect-hunter, by thinning his chosen game. Many insects, as you know, pass the winter in a torpid state. Severe cold may not affect them, but heavy rains, producing land-floods and laying many districts under water, must drown many of our six-footed sleeping beauties in their otherwise secure retreats. However, let us hope for the best, and make ourselves easy with the thought that there will be insects enough to occupy our attention, whether the "season" be a flat one, or as lively as that of 67 1865. Sunshiny days soon make us forget the rains and snows of winter, and spring is all the more welcome when it bursts upon us just as croakers have declared for the hundredth time that it will never come. Talking of croakers, you must be on the look-out this month for frogs and toads. "Ugh! it's bad enough to see them when you can't help it." Not at all, except to folks whose ignorance or prejudice rules their judgment. Frogs and toads are extremely useful in gardens and greenhouses, as they are much more skilful insect-hunters than cockneys, like myself, can ever hope to become. I have heard of pet toads which displayed an amount of intelligence that would have done no discredit to a terrier or spaniel. But I want you rather to notice a few points of froggish development. The eggs of the frog are laid this month, on grass and other plants in or near the water. They appear in jelly. like masses, and the young tadpole, on being hatched (which happens in four or five weeks' time), begins a very fishy sort of life, breathing by gills, which soon elongate and hang down on each side of the throat. Thus, at first, it shows no signs of its future destiny. At length a pair of hind legs begin to sprout, and afterwards the fore legs; the tail grows shorter and shorter, as if it melted away at the tip under the influence of some unseen power; and at length Master Tadpole becomes Mr. Frog, no longer confined to one element, but able to hop on land as well as swim in water. An acquaintance of mine once contrived to rear a large family of tadpoles in an inverted bell-glass, and very cu |