the people, said, 'Stop a little till I load again.' When in the act of ramming down the bullets I heard a shout. Starting and looking half round, I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon me. I was upon a little height; he caught my shoulder as he sprang, and we both came to the ground below together. Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain nor feeling of terror, though quite conscious of all that was happening. It was like what patients partially under the influence of chloroform describe, who see all the operation, but feel not the knife. This singular condition was not the result of any mental process. The shake annihilated fear, and allowed no sense of horror in looking round at the beast. This peculiar state is probably produced in all animals killed by the carnivora; and if so, is a merciful provision by our benevolent Creator for lessening the pain of death. Turning round to relieve myself of the weight, as he had one paw on the back of my head, I saw his eyes directed to Mebalwe, who was trying to shoot him at a distance of ten or fifteen yards. His gun, a flint one, missed fire in both barrels. The lion immediately left me, and attacking Mebalwe, bit his thigh. Another man, whose life I had saved before, after he had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear the lion while he was biting Mebalwe. He left Mebalwe, and caught this man by

the shoulder; but at that moment the bullets he had received took effect, and he fell down dead. The whole was the work of a few moments, and must have been his paroxysm of dying rage. In order to take out the charm from him, the Bakatla, on the following day, made a huge bonfire over the carcase, which was declared to be that of the largest lion they had ever seen. Besides crunching the bone into splinters, he left eleven teeth wounds on the upper part of my arm. A wound from this animal's tooth resembles a gun-shot wound. It is generally followed by a great deal of sloughing and discharge, and pains are felt in the part periodically ever afterwards. I had on a tartan jacket on the occasion, and I believe that it wiped off all the virus from the teeth that pierced the flesh, for my two companions in this affray have both suffered from the peculiar pains, while I have escaped with only the inconvenience of a false joint in my limb. The man whose shoulder was wounded showed me his wound actually burst forth afresh on the same month of the following year. This curious point deserves the attention of inquirers.

WORD LESSON.

Bakatla, an African tribe. Dr Livingstone says that the different Bechuana tribes are named after certain animals. The term Bakatla means "they of the monkey." Mabotsa, a beautiful valley in South Africa, selected by Dr Livingstone as the site of a station. The lion (Gr., leon, Lat. leo), is one of the cat family, to which also belong the tiger, panther, lynx, the common cat, &c. The lion is found both in Africa and Asia, but it is in Africa that he reigns supreme among the weaker animals, and exerts his power to the greatest extent. A lion of the largest size has been found to measure about 8 feet from the nose to the tail, and the tail itself about 4 feet. The general colour of the lion is a pale tawny. Virus, poison.

Permanent,
Diverge,
Dispersed,

Degraded, Ineffaceable,

MA N.-(Continued.)

DERIVATION.
Lat., per, through, maneo,
to stay.

Lat., di, apart, vergo, to
turn.
Lat., dispergo, dispersus, to
scatter abroad; from di,
apart, spargo, to scatter.
Lat., de, down, gradus, a
step or degree.
Lat., in, not, and effaceable;
from ef (ex), out, facies,
the surface. Literally, not
to be destroyed in surface.
Spontaneous, Lat., spontaneus, of one's
own will; from spondeo, I
offer or promise.

MEANING.

Lasting for a long time, or
for ever; fixed.

To turn off into a new
direction.
Scattered abroad.

Made lower in nature or in rank.

Which cannot be removed or rubbed out.

Performed by the impulse of the agent alone.

The classification of mankind into families of nations and tribes, according to their languages, is considered more certain and permanent than divisions founded on either the form of the skull or the colour of the skin. The following are the chief of these families :

1. The Indo-European group, distinguished for polysyllables and inflexions developed from the Sanscrit, which was the ancient sacred language of the Brahmins of India. It extends from the Bay of Bengal westwards to the Atlantic, and includes the Ilindoo, the Persian, the Greco-Latin (French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese), the Sclavonic (Russian, Polish, Bohemian, &c.), the Gothic (Scandinavian and Teutonic), and the Celtic.

2. The Semitic or Syro-Arabian, including the Hebrew, Arabic, Phenician, Syrian, and Ethiopic, with their derivations. These languages prevail in Arabia, and largely throughout the north of Africa.

3. The Tartar or Turanian, comprising the lan

guages of High Asia with the Magyar of the Hun-` garians, the Turkish, and other Mongolian tribes settled in Europe. The whole American family of

languages, with the Papuan and Polynesian, are allied to this group.

4. The Chinese and Indo-Chinese, monosyllabic and uninflected, prevailing in Eastern Asia, that is, China, Japan, Tibet, and Indo-China.

5. The African languages, belonging chiefly to the tribes south of the Sahara.

It is impossible to decide what is the real nature or cause of the difference between the various tribes and families of man, or relate when or how they began to diverge from each other. It is remarkable that though some races appear mixed, there are others that live among or near each other without becoming at all alike. The Jews, dispersed in all lands for 1800 years, are everywhere a distinct people. The Parsees, who removed from Persia to Hindostan 1200 years ago, have not changed their sallow complexion for the Hindoo black, but remain, both in body and mind, a superior race. The Caffres of South Africa are a tall, intelligent, and warlike people at no great distance from the degraded Bosjesmans. The Patagonians are the tallest men in the world, neighbouring the stunted inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego.

CIVILISATION.-Savage populations are those that subsist on the spontaneous productions of the earth.

The nomadic or pastoral tribes are somewhat superior to the savage. They live by keeping cattle, and dwell in tents, which are easily removed whenever it becomes

necessary to seek new pasture. Such are the majority of the Tartar and Arab tribes, which are generally governed among themselves by chiefs, and often make war upon each other. Both savage and nomadic populations exhibit small numbers in proportion to the extent of land they occupy.

The cultivation of the soil is the first step towards civilisation, as it attaches a man to a settled home, and enables him to rear a numerous progeny. Some of the useful arts, and the exchange of productions necessarily follow; but a people practising agriculture, arts, and commerce, may yet be in a barbarous state. They are not reckoned among the civilised till they have a written language, laws, and literature. Even then there is great room for progress.

SUMMARY.-The population of the globe may be divided into five great families, according to their languages. The first is the Indo-European, which includes the Sclavonic, Classic, Germanic, and Celtic languages, and extends from India to the Atlantic. Sanscrit is the mother tongue of these, and they are distinguished by being pollysyllabic and inflected. The Semitic includes the Arabic, Hebrew, and Syrian, spoken in Arabian and North African countries. The Tartar languages are spoken in High Asia, and to this family belongs also the Turkish. The Chinese tongues extend through China, Japan, and Tibet, and are monosyllabic and uninflected. The African languages are those of the middle and south of that continent. Great difference exists between the tribes of men in respect of their habits and general condition. Savage tribes subsist by the chase or on the spontaneous fruits of the earth. Nomadic and pastoral tribes dwell in tents, and are ever changing their abode in search of pasture for their flocks. When land begins to be cultivated, useful arts to be invented, and settled laws to prevail, men are said to be in a state of a higher or lower degree of civilisation.