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Antonio, moving so on account of their | the transportation of military stores berecent sea voyage, and the comfort of the young animals born on the voyage. In his report to the Secretary of War, the major writes: "The weather was exceedingly hot and the roads dusty, unusually so, I am told, yet the animals traveled without suffering, and are in good condition. After acclimation, I think they will be capable of rendering good service."

Camp Verde, in Green Valley, some sixty miles from San Antonio, was selected for the permanent station of the animals. It is a military post, and here they proceeded in the month of August, 1856, and have since been engaged with success in

tween these two points. The experiment has been successful, and the usefulness of the camel for that interior region is no longer a question among those who have seen them there at work. Major Wayne regards the acclimation "certain," but the experiment fairly to be determined will require five or six years. He entertains but little doubt, that in ten years the race can be spread through Texas, and thence to any part of our continent. Several of the animals have died, the most from some accident; and from the hair of one Mrs. Shirkey, at Victoria, Texas, knit a pair of socks for the President, Mr. Polk.

Resolving fully to make the experiment of acclimating the camel in the United States, our government again dispatched Captain Porter, with Mr. Heap, in the ship"Supply," for a second load, and ten thousand dollars to defray the expenses. In November, 1856, the expedition arrived at Smyrna, and from three hundred camels Mr. Heap selected the best, most being young females of the Arabian breed. Six were a present from the sultan, and the vessel returned with forty-four in all; eleven more than were shipped last year. Three died on the passage, and the remaining forty-one were landed in good order at Indianolo, Texas, on the 10th of Feb- | ruary, 1857, and thence joined the others in Camp Verde.

Mr. Beale, the superintendent of the wagon road from Fort Defiance, has recently made an interesting report to the War Department. The camels have carried seven hundred pounds, principally provender for the mules, and were much less jaded than those animals. Mr. Beale believes it easier to manage a train of twenty camels than five mules. They eat little, preferring the bushes to grass, and live, to use his words, on food with which "other animals would starve." Every other beast of burden, unshod, reached El Paso lame, except the camels, not one of which ever exhibited fatigue.

CHRISTMAS, PAST AND PRESENT. GAIN merry Christmas draws nigh,

of THE NATIONAL, and in wishing them all the compliments of the forthcoming festive season, call their attention to a few ancient and modern customs, which in our former articles we were necessarily obliged to omit.

"Christmas comes but once a year, Therefore let's be merry!" was the jovial motto of our ancestors, and well did they carry out in practice the spirit of its exhortation. The holy Christmas morn was melodiously ushered in by bands of carolers, whose sacred strains awakened a feeling of love and adoration for the day upon which Christ was born. Immediately after matin service, the grand festivities commenced; but ere we treat of them, let us examine a few of the religious observances of ancient Christmas,

which old writers devote but little attention to, but which, nevertheless, were solemnized by our "Christian sires" with great pomp and devotion. It appears from the following extract from the "Popish Kingdom," that, as at the present time in some parts of Europe and South America, they partook of a dramatic character:

"Three masses every priest doth sing upon that solemn day, With offerings unto every one, that so the more may play.

This done, a wooden child in clouts is on the

altar set,

About the which both boys and girls do dance and trimly jet,

And carols sing in praise of Christ; and for to help them here,

The organs answer every verse with sweet and solemn cheer."

Fosbroke states, that after the Te Deum a stable was prepared behind the altar, and the image of the Virgin placed upon it. A boy, from above, before the choir, in the likeness of an angel, announced the nativity to certain canons or vicars, who entered, as shepherds, through the great door of the choir, clothed in tunics and “amesses.” The Gloria in Excelsis was then chanted by many boys in the vaults of the church, who played the part of angels. Immediately on hearing this, the shepherds advanced to the stable, singing "Peace," "Good will," etc. As soon as they entered it, two priests, in dalmatics, who were stationed at the stable, said, “Whom seek ye ?" The shepherds answered, "Our Saviour, Christ." The two priests then, "opening the curtain, exhibited the boy, saying, The little one is here,' as the prophet Isaiah said, Behold the Virgin,' etc. Upon these exhibitions they bowed and worshiped the boy, and saluted his mother. The office ended by their returning to the choir and singing Alleluia.

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The churches then, as now, were decked -we speak of the churches in Europewith laurels, holly, yew, and other evergreens. The mistletoe was, however, never admitted into the sacred edifices, it being regarded as a heathen and profane plant, appertaining to the rites of Druidism. How changed are the customs since

then. Superstition has paled before the light of the gospel, and enlightenment, to a great extent, has taken the place of idolatry and ignorance.

The Church of England, as of old, sanctions the decorating of her sacred edifices

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with evergreens, and sees no harm in permitting the mistletoe to keep company with its green friends, the holly and the ivy; and now, as of old, the church bells may be heard right merrily ringing in the anniversary of the day which gave to the world a Saviour, and the "psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs," tell, as heretofore, of the happiness which reigns around, while the ivy green and charming holly, blended with the mistletoe, neatly arranged over old pictures, and canopied above the cheerful fire-place, speak of the joy which reign within. Above all evergreens we love the brave holly, even though not the most delicate creature to handle, for, like many other beautiful things, he bears a stinging thorn. Nevertheless, old holly, dearly do we love thee, and fondly have we, time and again, sang :

"The holly! the holly! O, twine it with bayCome give the holly a song;

For it helps to drive stern winter away,

With his garment so somber and long; It peeps through the trees with its berries of red, And its leaves of burnish'd green, When the flowers and fruits have long been dead,

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"The gale may whistle, the frost may come
To fetter the gurgling rill;
The woods may be bare, and warblers dumb,
But holly is beautiful still.
In the revel and light of princely halls

The bright holly branch is found;
And its shadow falls on the lowliest walls,
While the brimming horn goes round.
Then sing to the holly, etc.

"The ivy lives long, but its home must be
Where graves and ruins are spread;
There's beauty about the cypress tree,
But it flourishes near the dead;
The laurel the warrior's brow may wreathe,
But it tells of tears and blood;

I sing the holly, and who can breathe
Aught of that that is not good?
Then sing to the holly," etc.

We last year alluded to some of the superstitions which formerly existed, and in some instances still exist in England. Since then we have learned that in Derbyshire the watchers on that mysterious night

HEIGH HO, THE HOLLY!

been practiced ever since the family lived there. When the money is gone, the servants have full liberty to drink, dance, sing, and go to bed when they please."

Stukely says, that at York, England, only a century ago, "on the eve of Christmas day they carried mistletoe to the high altar of the cathedral, and proclaimed a public and universal liberty, pardon, freedom, to all sorts of inferior, and even wicked people, at the gates of the city, toward the four quarters of heaven."

In a previous article we gave a full account of the rise and fall of mumming, and the antics of those gentlemen who figured so conspicuously as "Lords of Misrule." The actions of these individuals cannot be looked back upon

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"A strange and motley cavalcade,
St. George in arms, a prancing wagon,
Attacks a flaming scaly dragon;
Fair Sabra is preserved from death,
And the grim monster yields his breath."

preceding Christmas day, may hear the | with pleasure, nor, indeed, can their folringing of subterranean bells, and in the lowers, the "Merry Makers," who are thus mining districts the workmen declare that described: high mass is solemnly celebrated in that cavern which contains the richest lode of ore; that it is brilliantly lighted up; and that the divine office is chanted by unseen choristers. A contributor to the "Gentleman's Magazine" for February, 1795, thus describes an amusement practiced on Christmas Eve, at the mansion of a worthy baronet, at Ashton, near Birmingham, England, down to the end of the last century. He writes:

"As soon as supper is over, a table is set in

the hall. On it is placed a brown loaf, with
twenty silver threepences stuck on the top of
it, a tankard of ale, with pipes and tobacco;
and the two oldest servants have chairs behind
it, to sit as judges, if they please. The steward
brings the servants, both men and women, by
one at a time, covered with a winnow-sheet, and
lays their right hand on the loaf, exposing no
other part of the body. The oldest of the two
judges guesses at the person, by naming a
name, then the younger judge, and lastly the
oldest again. If they hit upon the right name,
the steward leads the person back again; but,
if they do not, he takes off the winnow-sheet, and
the person receives a threepence, makes a low
obeisance to the judges, but speaks not a word.
When the second servant was brought, the
younger judge guessed first and third; and thus
they did alternately, till all the money was
given away.
Whatever servant had not slept
in the house the preceding night forfeited his
right to the money. No account is given of
the origin of this strange custom, but it has

After which they proceeded to dance, sing, and feast.

Some of the customs above described yet remain. In Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Cornwall, and Devon, the old spirit of Christmas seems to be kept up more earnestly than in most other places. In Cornwall they still exhibit the old dance of St. George and the Dragon. A recent writer informs us, that happening to be staying with a friend at Calden-low, in the Staffordshire hills, at Christmas, in came a band of bedizened actors, and performed the whole ancient drama, personating St. George, the King of Egypt, the fair Sabra, the king's daughter, the doctor, and other characters, with great energy and in rude verse. In reference to the modern secular observance of Christmas day, the same writer observes:

"In large houses are large parties, music and feasting, dancing and cards. Beautiful faces and noble forms, the most fair and accomplished of England's sons and daughters, beautify the ample firesides of aristocratic halls. Senators and judges, lawyers and clergymen, poets and philosophers, there meet in cheerful and even

sportive ease, amid the elegances of polished life. In more old-fashioned, but substantial country abodes, old-fashioned hilarity prevails. In the farm-house hearty spirits are met. Here are dancing and feasting too; and often blindman's buff, turn-trencher, and some of the simple games of the last age, remain. In all families, except the families of the poor, who seem too much forgotten at this as at other

times in this refined age, there are visits paid and received; parties going out or coming in; and everywhere abound, as indispensable to the season, mince-pies, and wishes for a merry Christmas and a happy new year.'"

state of all grades of business, the season itself, from its cold and dreary nature, increases the wants and necessities of the poor, not unfrequently to distressing extremity From the palace to the prison, from the hall to the humble home, there are countless opportunities for the practice of Fuller's third hospitality, charity. Hence, one of the best indications of the approach of Christmas is the distribution of a few of the necessaries of life, by those who enjoy the "luxury of doing good.' Not as by our ancestors, in the lavish expenditure of money for selfish gratification in excess, and revelry, and gluttonymay you most fittingly welcome this festival season, and evince gratitude to Him from whom cometh every good gift; but by acts of benevolence and brotherly kind

bringing blessings upon yourselves and your children, may you expect what from the fullness of our heart we wish you, a right merry, joyous, happy Christmas, to be followed by a heaven-blessed New Year.

There is no more interesting, and, by the way, no more hackneyed feature connected with the celebration of Christmas in the olden time, than the custom of bringing in the boar's head with minstrelsy, which, as we remarked last year, is still retained, in all its pristine dignity, in Queen's College, Oxford. Tradition rep-ness, by remembering the poor, and thus resents this usage as a commemoration of an act of valor performed by a student of this old institution, who, while walking in the neighboring forest of Shotover, and reading Aristotle, was suddenly attacked by a wild boar. The furious beast came open-mouthed upon the youth, who, however, very courageously, and with a happy presence of mind, is said to have “ med in the volume, and cried, Græcum est,” fairly choking the savage with the sage. This may or may not be true. Indeed, it is very doubtful, but we give it, en passant, to show how hard it is, even in such a learned institution, to root out the old superstitious customs which ages have so religiously sanctioned.

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Christmas, above all other seasons of the year, the civilized world over, brings with it more happiness, more cheerfulness, more hospitality, more genial good nature, than any other. And if ever they were needed, it is at the present time, when there is so much suffering in our midst, the result of the disastrous financial panic which is now sweeping over the country. And O, charitable, open-hearted reader, pardon us if we give you a hint from Old Fuller, which we would fain have you remember, and which we hope you will not regard as out of place :

"Hospitality is three-fold: for one's family; this is of necessitie: for strangers; this is of courtesie: for the poor; this is charity."

At no period of the year is the exercise of this kindly virtue so directly prompted by association and right feeling, as the present. Not to speak of the melancholy

THE VALLEY OF THE NAUGATUCK.

ON

the west bank of the Housatonic, a little above the village of Birmingham, is Fort Hill, a high bluff, which rises abruptly from the stream; once a strong fortress of the Pequots, and probably of tribes before them.

About two miles above is the great camping ground, where the Indians of the up river country met the coast tribes to hold their clam feasts; acres of ground are still whitened with the shells. Near here the old Indian spring is at the present day a favorite resort of the pale-faces for pic-nics and "pow-wows;" it is claimed that its waters, with a slight addition, possess the power of causing the pale-faces to approximate very closely that of the red man.

I have found very little of tradition in regard to the old Indian Well. There is no doubt that it was once looked upon by the aborigines with as much awe and veneration as the famed temple of Delphi by the ancient Greeks. For a superstitious people like the Indians, no place could be found where their imaginations would more dispose them to look for the Hop-Mog, or Indian devil, than the old well. It is a quiet spot in the gorge of the mountains, where the sun never casts its rays, away

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