Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-06-20

die; and so, with scorniul smile upon
his face and a gay Jest from Horace
or Martial on hts lips, he awaits the grim
priest who comes gliding forward In his
long white mantle, with arm appraised TO
strike, and a grin Of cruel Joy lighting up
his baggard, iieshless countenapcc, which
might pass for that OF Death himself. But be-
lore the stroke can descend the blast OF a Ro-
man trumpet breaks the silence, aud a
clamor OF many voices mingles with the
hiss OF darts through the frosty air. The
savage priest falls dead across his destined
victim, with javelin through his heart {;
and the captive Is unbound and borne away
in triumph. while the light.armed Batlvian
skirmIsbers who accompany the legion hunt
their flying foes down the wooded hillside,
shifting and Staying without mercy.
This was the sort OF thing that used TO
20 on here in the brave days Of old, before
the coming Of those eminent Saxon pirates
and those illusirious Norman robbers
whom we "tr1le.born Englishmcn "are so
proud 10 claim as our ancestors. But all
The seas Of blood shed here during Eng
lands stormy past have left no trace OF
evil upon one OF the most charming land
scapes between the Thames and the Chan
mel. Upon the green slopes which were
with dead young lambs now frolic
around their mothers in the cloudIess sun
light, and rosy children chase each other
hither and tbither with shouts OF laughter.
The ghoslly woods are now all alive with
the merry voices and busy hands OF pretty
flower CATERERS, whose sweet faces are
certainly vast improvement upon the grim
add paint-beSmcared visages OF the savages
by whom these woods were formerly
haunted. The inhabitpnts OF Ockley and
HOLLYWOOD sell ginger beer to the passing
traveller instead OF cutting his head of, and
the descendants Of the bold outlaws who
once lived here "under the greenwood
tree" practice a more legitimate form OF
robbery rs innkeepers and providers OF re-
treatments.
But however bright and fair the Surrey
hills may bc under the clear blue skies Of
summer, II is startling TO see how quickly
they regain their ancient gloom and ter
r0r al The first shadow OF a coming storm.
The sudden dimness that falls across your
book as YOU lie stretched on the warm,
dry turf Of the higher upiands. makes you
look up 10 see that the beautiful panorama
OF the great plain below, with all Its
stately trees and green, rich meadows, is
gone rs il il had never been. All
beneath you is one vast cloud Of cheer
less gray, such as that into which
Abraham looked down from the plateau OF
Mamre on that fatal morning when "the
smoke Of the whole land went up as
furnace" The surrounding hills, too, are
fast losing their splendid clcarness Of out
line and becoming blurred and indiStinct.
~ if seen through wet glass. Look how
The sheep are buddled together in the far
corner Of yonder field, and how the cattle.
fOrsaking their pasture, are cr0wdng for
shelter beneath the spreading bOughs OF
that mighty oak which stands like thun-
der blasted giant, riven and SCARED by the
fire OF Heaven. but stIII erect aud defiant As
ever. There H. no need TO tell them what
/, az hand; they know it already.
But thc worst that English weather can
do j. not Likely TO trouble us much after
the tremendous storms Of the tropical re-
eion>, compared with which the f,rccs,
icmpeSis OF Europe are Of no more account
lhan the crackle of a firework amid the
battlt-thunders Of Gettysburg. Mr.. Aims
WOrih'S patriotic lrishman was very indig-
nant at the idea OF any comparison between
English and Irish highwaymen
compared with the robbers OF ireland,
There Is none comes within half a mile,
There were never were yet any rascals
Like those of my own native Isle"
But the most bigotcd John BuI could
hardly venture to claim Tor the ba5yish
crying its 81 the temperate zone any
equality with the destroying might OF
nature IN her mtamed equatorial wrath.
\ tropical storm implies rains that can
raise river sixty feet in one night, hurri-
canes that tear up by the roots whole
forests at once. laudslips that ding an en-
tire VILLAGE tive hundred yards down the
mountain side, and rocks hall a ton in weight
crashing through the ROOF OF Il house
intOthe middle Of the drawng-rOOm. These
were our experiences i'm the Ilimalaya four
wears age, on our way back from Atgha.
nistan: and these III Stanley's description
he cOrreCD are likely TO be our experiences
again On the Lower Congo three months
hence. or pCrha!S even sooner, for stanley
got back TO England last night from his
travels in Italy, and his right'hand MN.
Major X. Francis Netch, is 10 pay Us a visit
here Cmly next week, being probably bound
on the same voyage as ourselves.
II is curious TO think what mighty and
marvellous exploit a voyage to South
Africa-Which Is now mere holiday iaunt
that can be done I'm few weeks-appearcd
i'm the eyes OF our ancestors, who grayely
declared that SIN three years, or perchance
even 50 quickly aS in two, hc that adycn-
iureth the voyage unto Lydia tAfrica) il,
10y Gods grace, ne shall escape all peril> OF
the way. may attain unto the llttermost
partS thereof" Their notions about the
country Itself would seem TO have been
quite rs extraordinary ~ their estimate
oi It's distance. The greatest English
traveller Of the fourteenth century-whose
tns., MT. fatp lsg n
ular beliefs OF his tme-giycs a doScrip-
ton Of il which I,erOdOtus himself might
have cnvIed "In another ylond [coun-
jryl here are people who have the face all
HAT, without nose and without mouth. In
another are people who have the lip above
;he mouth 80 great that when they sleep In
The sun they cover all the face with that lip.
And i'm another there are dwarfs which
nave no mouth, but instead OF their
mouth they have "a little round hole:
md when they shall cat or drink
hey take 1t through pipe, or a
pen. or such a thing, and suck it in And
N another there are people which have
.ars 30 long that they do hang down even
unto their knees. And in another there
ere people that have horses feet.
And in another there are people
which 90 upon their hands and
feet like beasts. and are all skinned and
Gathered, and leap from tree to tree a.
lightly rs squirrels or apes. And in another
re Vcople which have eight toes on each
DOT" Amid all these astounding fables
he first appearance OF our old friend, the
banana, Is an interesting phenomenon:
"In this region are found long apples in
their season which men call apples Of para.
lse; and they be very sweet aud OF good
ayOr. And IN howsoeyer many parts you
hall Gu: them. across or endwise. you will
always find IN the middle the figure OF the
holy cross. But they will rot within eight
days. for which reason they cannot be ear
ried into far countries. And they have
rreat leaves. foot and a half long, and
proporlionattly broad" However, we can
hardly afford to laugh at the ignorance OF
mast ages when we remember that barely
iity.iye years ago II was announced a. a
great discovery that "John and Richard
Lander, having sailed down the great river
Niger TO the sea. have satisfactorily ascer-
aimed that il is not the Congo
Coaching Days.
lChambeB's Journal
Previous 10 the introduction Of coaches.
journeys were performed on horseback or