The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-07-03 00:00:00

.EMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STAN

young sprouts have a delicious flavour), the cocoa-tree
(of which the fruit is both meat and drink), the gum-
tree, the bread fruit, the sugar-palm, the plantain, and
banana; the tamarind, the papaver, the mangosteen,
&c. Among the textile plants may be noticed the
New Zealand flax and the abaea (artiea utilis), a kind
of flax in the Philippine Islands and China, of which
the Chinese make the most superb stuffs. Of the trees
for cabinet-making, for building, and for the masts of
vessels, a thousand might be taken from the pines, the
cedars, the ebony, the sandal and the satin wood. Then
there are trees which yield us gums, resins, tinctures,
and medicines ; the spice-tea, and tea-plant ; and a
number of others, not so useful, perhaps, but which
would delight us with their beauty and fragrance. To
speak of the animal kingdom :
,how many more kinds
might we domesticate than we have ? M. Jeoffry St.
Hilaire cites several in his memoir upon the utility of
a menagerie of acclimatisation,—those great antelopes,
which would furnish an abundance of healthy food ;
the Peruvian sheep, of which the wool is so fine and
soft ; the tapir, larger than the pig, and as easy to
feed, the flesh of which is very agreeable and whole-
some, and which might be made useful as a beast of
burden ; the lama, alpaca, &c. Again, among birds,
if we direct our attention to the subject, we shall dis-
cover many other kinds worth introducing or domesti-
cating, for their flesh, their eggs, or their beauty.
With respect to fish also, our rivers or our streams and
small lakes could be peopled with a vast multitude and
variety of the finny tribes. Fish increase very abun-
dantly, and science will teach us to transform those of
the sea into fresh-water fish. Carp did not appear in
England till the sixteenth century, and the plaice of
the North Sea have multiplied infinitely in the ponds
of the New World.—The Builder.

A ROMANTIC REALITY.

(BY MRS, CLEMONS.)

IN THREE CHAPTERS-CHAPTER 111.

EMILY had now been about two years in India. The
eldest Miss Davenport was married ; and the second, though
only sixteen years old, was engaged to a gentleman, and the
marriage was shortly to take place ; so that she had only to
superintend the education of the youngest. Mrs. Davenport
had become so much attached to Emily, that she dreaded the
probability of her leaving her. She had also insisted upon
her being much in company of late, in the hope that she
would ultimately settle in India by an advantageous marriage.
She considered that a girlish attachment, where there was no
hope to feed upon, as she supposed to be the case with Emily,
would naturally give place, in time, to one of the many offers
of marriage she had had while residing with her.
One morning, while they were all at breakfast, Colonel
Windham, the Commandant of the Artillery, came in, and
after a little conversation, mentioned that he had received a
curious letter from the Commander-in-chief, ordering him to
parade his men, as it was ascertained, beyond a doubt, that
Lord Molestock was a private in the corps.
"Indeed," said Emily, "that is very strange ; old Lord
Molestock must be dead then, and his eldest son—for he had
three—must have come to India as a private soldier. What
could have induced him to leave his country in this manner,—
for they have all handsome fortunes, quite independent of
the old lord."—" It is an odd circumstance," continued the
colonel, " I have an immense sealed packet from government,
directed to him, besides my private orders regarding the
affair; it will be rather an interesting sight. Suppose you
all come, ladies ; I have ordered parade at half-past five this
evening.
"Indeed, I should like to see it very much." replied Mrs.
Davenport. " What say you, Miss Grey?—it is seldom that
I can get you to accompany me to see sights ; but as you
know something of the family," glancing slily at the ring on
Emily's finger, " you will feel interested in the discovery of
this noble gentleman in the ranks."
" It will afford me much pleasure," said Emily.
" Well, then, agreed," cried Mrs. Davenport : "we shall be
very punctual to the hour, colonel."
Emily felt all the day exceedingly anxious, she knew not
why ; for she had never seen any of Mr. Harling's family, and
consequently could not know the person of Lord Molestock.
However, she could settle to none of her usual avocations, and
was ready to enter the barouche long before the appointed
time. At a little after five o'clock the four ladies drove from
the door, accompanied by Mr. Davenport on horseback.
When they arrived on the parade ground, the two batallions
of artillery were there in full dress ; the men knew not the
particular reason why they had assembled, and merely con-
sidered it as one of the customary full-dress parades which
generally took place once or twice a-month. It had been
thought necessary by the Colonel to keep the circumstances
that occasioned it secret, lest speculations of whom it might
be should go through the ranks, or the nobleman himself be
put upon his guard in case he still wished to conceal himself.
The men were drawn up to form three sides of a square as
closely as possible; the officers in the centre; and the two or
three carriages that were there arranged on the other side. The