that the French and English people mingled together as one nation, rivals only in acts of courtesy and kindness to each other, must have produced a lively feeling of gratification indeed.

I will tell you a few facts, however, about the city itself. Well, then, the oldest part of Paris is on an island in the middle of the river Seine, called the isle of France. The island and the two sides of the river are connected by twenty-two bridges, many of which are new and handsome. Paris has several public libraries, a university, many fine public gardens and fountains. It is about half the size of London, and contains about a million and a-half of inhabitants. In Paris there are very few poor houses or mean streets to be seen, because the people, instead of living as we do, each family in one house, reside in large, high houses, every floor being occupied by a single family. In this way the poor are able to live in a fine large house as cheaply as our poor do in their little cottages in Bethnal Green or Somers Town. Paris is famous for its jewellery, pictures, statues, toys, and cookery; in fact, all the luxuries of life. But I do not think that the people of Paris or France enjoy themselves at home so well as we do in England-and you know "there's no place like home!”

TOBACCO.

OULD Sir Walter Raleigh look out of his grave, he would be very much astonished to find what a number of people in England had followed the example he set them so long ago, and now smoke pipes. I am not going to say anything against the use of Tobacco though, because I smoke myself; nor am I about to advocate its use, because some people think it hurtful, in spite of all that has been said to the contrary by physicians and others; but I will tell you where the plant is grown and how it is prepared.

The Tobacco plant is cultivated in many parts of the world. It is a broad-leaved, bushy tree which grows about as high as a man, and requires but little care in its propagation. In both North and South America, the West and East Indies,

Turkey, and also in many countries of Europe, Tobacco forms a regular farmer's crop, just as wheat or beans does with us. As soon as the plant has attained its full growth, it is stripped of all its larger leaves, the smaller ones being left to improve in size and age. The leaves are then placed in a heap on the floor of a house such as that shown in the picture, and allowed to ferment. After a certain time they are turned over and over, till they have lost somewhat of their original greenness. They are then wetted and pressed together in a heap and remain for some time longer, till they are what is called ripe. Then they are taken and spread out in single rows upon the floor to dry, and in a few weeks are ready for use, either for exportation as leaf Tobacco or for the manufacture of Cigars. In Havana, the capital of the Island of Cuba in the West Indies, the best Cigars are said to be made. The process of making a Cigar is very simple; the leaf is stripped from the stalk and then rolled round in the hand till it has acquired the proper shape; and when it has remained a few days to dry, the Cigar is ready for smoking.

BURIED CITIES OF THE EAST.

A

FEW years ago the attention of two gentlemen-M. Botta, a native of France, and Mr. Layard, an Englishman-was directed to the mounds of earth lying on the supposed sites of the ancient cities. of Nineveh and Babylon. For a long time these two gentlemen pursued their inquiries without the assistance of their several governments, and day after day brought to light new evidences of the civilization of past ages from the dust and rubbish which for hundreds of years had covered the palaces of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon, and of Darius and Xerxes at Susa in the old Assyrian empire.

Very remarkable and curious were the discoveries thus made