publications. In order, therefore, to extend the instruction which they contain, to each youthful circle, and also to give additional interest to the system of Sabbath School education, libraries of these appropriate books are beginning to be formed in connexion with many of our Sabbath Schools. Should not every school in the land be favored with this bond of union, and these sources of profitable entertainment for many an hour of childhood, which may otherwise run to waste? R. [For the Monitor.] SINGING IN SABBATH SCHOOLS. It is a pleasant part of the exercises of some Sabbath Schools, for all the children to join in singing a few verses in a familiar tune. For myself, I can freely say, no music falls on my ear with such sweetness as this. An angel in his flight of mercy from land to land, might linger to listen while these notes of praise ascend to Heaven. It is not a small matter that the lips of children should early be preoccupied with the songs of Zion. Many an hour of solitude would thus be cheered, and many a serious thought thus be excited in the mind. Seldom does the Sabbath morning return its pleasant light, without the words of the little hymn, which twenty years ago were treasured in my memory, are escaping from my lips. R. CUSTOMS OF THE NORTHERN ESQUIMAUX AND DOG-RIBBED INDIANS. An Extract. "The winter habitations of the Esquimaux, who visit Churchill, are built of snow, and judging from one constructed by Augustus to-day, they are comfortable dwellings. Having selected a spot on the river, where the snow was about two feet deep, and sufficiently compact, he commenced by tracing out a circle twelve feet in diameter. The snow in the interior of the circle was next divided with a broad knife, having a long handle, into slabs three feet long, six inches thick, and two feet deep, being the thickness of the layer of snow. These slabs were tenacious enough to admit of being moved about without breaking, or even losing the sharpness of their angles, and they had a slight degree of curvature, corresponding with that of the circle from which they were cut. They were piled upon each other exactly like courses of hewn stone around the circle which was traced out, and care was taken to smooth the beds of the different courses with the knife, and to cut them so as to give the wall a slight inclination inwards, by which contrivance the building acquired the properties of a dome. The dome was closed somewhat suddenly and flatly by cutting the upper slabs in a wedge-form, instead of the more rectangular shape of those below. The roof was about eight feet high, and the last aper ture was shut by a small conical piece. The whole was built from within, and each slab was cut so that it retained its position without requiring support until another was placed beside it, the lightness of the slabs greatly facilitating the operation. When the building was COVered in, a little loose snow was thrown over it, to close up every chink, and a low door was cut through the walls with the knife. A bed-place was next formed, and neatly faced up with slabs of snow, which was then covered with a thin layer of pine branches to prevent them from melting by the heat of the body. At each end of the bed a pillar of snow was erected to place a lamp upon; and lastly, a porch was built before the door, and a piece of clear ice was placed in an aperture cut in the wall for a window. "The purity of the material of which the house was framed, the elegance of its construction, and the translucency of its walls, which transmitted a very pleasant light, gave it an appearance far superior to a marble building, and one might survey it with feelings somewhat akin to those produced by the contemplation, of a Grecian temple, reared by Phidias both are triumphs of art, inimitable of their kinds. "The hunters go in pairs, the foremost man carrying in one hand the horns and part of the skin of the head of a deer, and in the other a small bundle of twigs, against which he, from time to time, rubs the horns, imitating the gestures peculiar to the animal.-His comrade follows treading exactly in his footsteps, and holding the guns of both in a horizontal position, so that the muzzles project under the arms of him who carries the head. Both hunters have a fillet of white skin round their foreheads, and the foremost has a strip of the same kind round his wrists. They approach the herd by degrees, raising their legs very slowly, but setting them down somewhat suddenly, after the manner of a deer, and always taking care to lift their right or left feet simultaneously. If any of the herd leave off feeding to gaze upon this extraordinary phenomenon, it instantly stops, and the head begins to ply its part by licking its shoulders, and performing other necessary movements. In this way the hunters attain the very centre of the herd without exciting suspicion, and have leisure to single out the fattest. The hindmost man then pushes forward his comrade's gun, the head is dropped, and they both fire nearly at the same instant. The herd scampers off, the hunters trot after them; in a short time the poor animals halt to ascertain the cause of their terror, their foes stop at the same instant, and having loaded as they ran, greet the gazers with a second fatal discharge. The consternation of the deer increases, they run to and fro in the utmost confusion, and sometimes a great part of the herd is destroyed within the space of a few hundred yards." UTILITY OF BIBLE SOCIETIES. In a town in Rutland county, during the time of an awakening, four families were found (in a part of the town which was new), at some distance from each other. Some in these four families were deeply impressed. They had between them all, but one New Testament. A lad was kept running from one house to another in this circle of families, to carry their precious book. One family would keep it a short time, and then send it to the next, that all might share equally the benefit of reading the word of life. A minister found them in this situation, and aided them to a better supply. THE MORAL GEM, Written in a Young Lady's Common Place Book. "Tis said, the Chymist's wondrous art, TO SHINE, the youthful heart aspires, As gems to 'xalt your Saviour's praise. TO CORRESPONDENTS. THE Indian Tale had been commenced so long before, that it was thought best to print the whole of it when the middle piece was received. In consequence of the late destruction of the Power Press by fire, the July number has been necessarily delayed, as it was before in type, but melted down. We are sorry to add, that several valuable communications which were to have appeared this month, are in ashes, some of which had been on our files for some time. Two able communications from Discipulas, were received too late for this number. We hope that he and other New York correspondents will oftener enrich our pages with their contributions. |