at a London dinner-party to a friend of the
writer's.

In falling, he caught a rope towing
over-board. By this he hung, invisible, hearing
successive victims fall, and distinguishing
between the dead and living bodies, by the absence,
in the former case, of the last frantic struggle
for existence. At length, his chilled fingers
lost hold of the rope; but, at that instant, it
occurred to him that he had heard it affirmed that
if one who could not swim would only throw
himself boldly on his back, keeping his head
well down, he might float for an indefinite
period. He did so, and floated; but every now
and then his legs would sink lower and lower,
till at length one of them struck a hard
substance. Strange as it may appear, it is a
positive fact that he had unconsciously drifted
into one of the ship's boats, which, half
submerged, was towing astern. Once aware of
his position, he was able to support himself
without difficulty till morning broke, when he
was discovered, brought on deck, and, to his
utter astonishment, allowed to go to his cabin
unmolested; not, however, until he had seen
the unfortunate English mate, who had taken
refuge in the rigging, brought down,
ham-strung, and left to bleed to death.

The ship was now put about; and, under the
charge of a native pilot, who had been spared
for the purpose, shaped her course for China.
Mr. S. was confined to his cabin, and though,
naturally, a prey to considerable anxiety, was
relieved from any immediate fear of death,
inasmuch as one or other of his captors came every
day to inquire what he would like for dinner!

In due time land was sighted, a bold headland,
round which the pilot declared they must steer,
although there presently appeared also a broad
fine channel, dividing the headland from the main-land.
In spite of the man's repeated assurance
that this was full of rocks, the Chinese, doubting
his good faith, compelled him to lay what seemed
to them the shorter course and enter the channel.
Scarcely had they done so when the ship
stranded. A hasty council was held, at which
it was resolved that half the party should escape
to land, sending back the boats for the other
half, who should then follow their comrade
having first murdered Mr. and Mrs. S., and fired
the ship.

The former part of the programme was duly
executed, and the boats were returning, when
the three masts of a British sloop of war became
visible, not a mile distant. She had seen the
course of the devoted ship, and, knowing what
must ensue, gave chase to pick up the pieces.
Her boats were already out, and no sooner
came within hail than Mr. S. made known the
state of affairs. In a moment, the Chinese were
on their knees praying for their prisoners'
intercession. The sloop's boats, properly armed, went
ashore and captured every individual of those who
had landed. The whole were reconvened to
Singapore, and probably not the least remarkable
feature of the remarkable story is, that for some
reason best known to themselves, the jury could
not be induced to award against the actors in
that cruel deed of piracy and murder any other
verdict than " manslaughter!"

FAIR DENMARK.

MOST people have their Ultima Thule on the
map, beyond which all is shadowy twilight,
terræ incognita?, peopled by ichthyophagi,
anthropophagi, or "men whose heads do grow
beneath their shoulders." "Spain's an island,"
said one of the lights of the harem. To the
general reader, as well as to the general
traveller, Denmark, as a whole, is an unknown
region, beginning with its entrance-hall (by
land), the Duchy of Holstein.

The portal to the Danish kingdom for visitors
from Western Europe (still by land) is
Hamburg, a city unique after its kind—a Babel
without its tower, a Babylon without its fall.
Other towns and other provinces have bowed
their heads to monarchic sceptres; Hamburg
retains its ancient constitution and its privileges
as a free city. Its bourgomaster still bears the
title of magnificent, and its senators have a
right to be addressed as their wisdoms. Amidst
the confusion of tongues which stuns the ear,
the language of trade is universally understood;
"money" is the password from one end of the
town to the other. The Hamburgian babies
learn to lisp it soon after they come into the
world, the old men mutter it in their dreams
before lying down to take their final sleep. They
are prudent, and would give offence to no man.
Once upon a time, a journalist had the boldness
to state that French gunpowder was better than
Prussian. The censor of the press struck out
the sentence, seeing that Prussia cannot be
supposed to be, in any respect, inferior to
France. Another writer translated a speech
of the King of Sweden, in which he mentioned
Asiatic cholera. The word "Asiatic" had to be
suppressed, because Russia might take umbrage
at it. Despite all which, the men of Hamburg
are honourable, amiable, hospitable, and will
honour a letter of introduction as readily as a
bill of exchange.

Almost touching Hamburg, is Altona, the
capital of Holstein, the second city of the Danish
dominions, and the dullest in the universe. It
rivals London, nevertheless, in having a
handsome street called Pallmail. The scenery of
Holstein, without aspiring to the picturesque,
is pleasing in its character. The farms, with
their neat hedges or low stone fences, have
almost an English look. Gentle knolls occur
now and then, interspersed with little sheets of
water. The clumps of beech around these
small lakes are vocal with the nightingale. In
general, there is little wood; but wherever it
occurs, from its consisting of trees with glossy
foliage, it tells well in the landscape.

In fact, the land is a very good land. The
neatness of its little towns is very striking. Of
these, Braunsted and Neumunster are worthy
of especial mention. With their pavements as