"Evening and morning, and at noon, will I pray and cry aloud, and he shall hear my voice."—Psalm lv. 17.
Page [208].
THE WHITE-FOOTED DEER.
"During the stay of Long's Expedition at Engineer Cantonment, three specimens of a variety of the common deer were brought in, having all the feet white near the hoofs, and extending to those on the hind-feet from a little above the spurious hoofs. This white extremity was divided, upon the sides of the foot, by the general color of the leg, which extends down near to the hoofs, leaving a white triangle in front, of which the point was elevated rather higher than the spurious hoofs."—Godman's Natural History, vol. ii., p. 314.
Page [236].
THE LOST BIRD.
Readers who are acquainted with the Spanish language, may not be displeased at seeing the original of this little poem:
EL PÁJARO PERDIDO.
Huyó con vuelo incierto,
Y de mis ojos ha desparecido.
Mirad, si, á vuestro huerto,
Mi pájaro querido,
Niñas hermosas, por acaso ha huido.
Sus ojos relucientes
Son como los del águila orgullosa;
Plumas resplandecientes,
En la cabeza airosa,
Lleva; y su voz es tierna y armoniosa.
Mirad, si cuidadoso
Junto á las flores se escondió en la grama.
Ese laurel frondoso
Mirad, rama por rama,
Que él los laureles y los flores ama.
Si le halláis, por ventura,
No os enamore su amoroso acento;
No os prende su hermosura;
Volvédmele al momento;
O dejadle, si no, libre en el viento.
Por que su pico de oro
Solo en mi mano toma la semilla;
Y no enjugaré el lloro
Que veis en mi mejilla,
Hasta encontrar mi prófugo avecilla.
Mi vista se oscurece,
Si sus ojos no ve, que son mi día
Mi ánima desfallece
Con la melancolía
De no escucharle ya su melodía.
The literature of Spain at the present day has this peculiarity, that female writers have, in considerable number, entered into competition with the other sex. One of the most remarkable of these, as a writer of both prose and poetry, is Carolina Coronado de Perry, the author of the little poem here given. The poetical literature of Spain has felt the influence of the female mind in the infusion of a certain delicacy and tenderness, and the more frequent choice of subjects which interest the domestic affections. Concerning the verses of the lady already mentioned, Don Juan Eugenio Hartzenbusch, one of the most accomplished Spanish critics of the present day, and himself a successful dramatic writer, says: