132 FACTS IN HUMAN LIFE. [NOV. terrible gusts of wind, so frequent in this country, blowing directly down the river. I expected the boat would certainly go down. The men from the shore, seeing the danger, cried out to them, "Turn the bow of the boat up stream.' They did so, and rowed with all their might. Wave after wave dashed against it, and the strong current, in spite of all their efforts, carried it rapidly down the stream. Presently the storm had spent its rage, the boat was turned towards the shore, and all were safely landed. I thought of the Missionary enterprise; the number of standard bearers that had already fallen, the number returning home with illhealth, the lukewarmness of the churches, the scarcity of funds, and the few that are offering themselves to go out as Missionaries; and the present seemed a time of fearful suspense and severe trial. Will the boat swamp, or will she ride out the storm? seemed for a moment poised in the mind, when a voice from the opposite shore seemed to echo, "Turn the bow of the boat up stream, and row hard.” We may be carried far, far down the rapid current, but we shall be safe so long as we obey this heavenly injunction. The storm will at length be spent; and the day of trial over, all will be triumphant in the end. "God will help us, and that right early." But woe be to him who during the stormy ordeal shall attempt to save himself by rowing ashore. FACTS IN HUMAN LIFE. LET our readers peruse and ponder over the following brief extract from the "Quarterly Review" The number of languages spoken in the world amounts to 8064-587 in Europe, 896 in Asia, 276 in Africa, and 1264 in America. The inhabitants of the globe profess more than 1000 different religions. The number of men is about equal to the number of women. The average of human life is about 28 years. One-quarter die previous to the age of seven years; one-half before reaching seventeen; and those which pass this age enjoy a facility which is refused to one-half the human species. To every 1000 persons only one reaches 100 years of life; to every 100 only six reach the age of 65; and not more than one in 500 lives to 80 years of age. There are on the earth 1,000,000,000 inhabitants; and of these 333,333,333 die every year; 91,334 every day; 3780 every hour; and 60 every minute, or one every second. These losses are about balanced by an equal number of births. The number of men capable of bearing arms is calculated at one-fourth of the population. How much is to be done! How short the time in which to do it! How short the time for those who can give help! How short the time for those who need help! How strong the tide of human life that rushes into and flows out from this world! With each second one born, and with each second one dead! Who can think of these things and not feel what need there is to remember and act upon the wise man's admonition, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might?" THE PRAIRIES AND BUFFALOS. THE northern division of the great American continent is occupied, as to its central part, by an immense tract of flat country, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to Hudson's Bay and the Arctic Sea. In it are the two great rivers, the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence, flowing in HUNTING THE BUFFALO IN WINTER. 134 THE PRAIRIES AND BUFFALOS. [DEC. different directions, yet separated as to their sources by a very slight elevation, and descending gently from unimportant heights to the sea. This extent of country is divided by geographers into the wooded, the barren, and the prairie country. The last is the most extensive division. The prairies are immense meadows, classed as wet, or dry, or heathy, according to their character. The heathy prairies present, in the summer season, an astonishing variety of flowers, and are studded with hazel and furze-bushes, &c. The wet prairies are sometimes dead levels of exceeding fertility, sometimes degenerating into unwholesome swamps. The dry prairies have a wavy, undulating surface, which has given them the name of the rolling prairies. Here the traveller may wander for days, as over a sea of land, reaching far away until it meets the horizon; still the same boundless view, as though it had no end, and conveying to him the idea of a vast prison, from which there could be no escape. This is the home of the buffalo. Here they range, sometimes in herds so numerous that the prairie is actually darkened with them. Here in these great plains strange sights present themselves. The ground becomes more broken and abrupt, and, rising into hills, betokens a river's course. Lo! clouds of dust rise from the ravines, and column after column of buffalos is seen galloping down to the water. By the time the leading herds reach it, the prairie is darkened with their dense masses. They stretch along in an unbroken line, a countless multitude. On one occasion of this kind they occupied a plain two miles in breadth, extending several miles in the rear, and forward as far as the eye could reach. It was computed that there could not be fewer than 11,000. Where the buffalos are, other living things are not far distant. Wolves hang about the herds in great numbers, watching for their prey. Sometimes a few of them may be seen in pursuit of a buffalo calf. The scared fugitive strains every nerve to reach the main body of the herd from whence he had imprudently wandered; but his pursuers increase in numbers until they amount to twenty or thirty, and run him down before he succeeds in doing so. A few of the buffalos are sufficiently near to attempt a rescue, but the wolves scare them off, and the calf is soon devoured. But another feature diversifies the scene. The Indians are near. Mounted on the wild horses of the prairie, which they have subdued to their service, they come, a mass of horsemen, to hunt the buffalo. Nor are the men alone. The women of the tribe are there also, astride on horses, which they urge furiously onward: they follow the men to assist in cutting up and carrying off the meat. An extensive surround is made, within which the animals are retained by expert horsemen. As soon as they give the wind to the herd, the chase commences. The buffalo start for the hills, but are driven back, broken and running in every direction. The scene becomes one of unutterable confusion, and clouds of dust arising, obscure it so far as to afford only an occasional glance at what is passing. But the reports of guns are frequent, and two or three buffalos are seen dashing along, with an Indian in pursuit, pressing them with his long spear or other weapon. From that fatal circle in which the buffalo are enclosed but few emerge, and soon the Indians may be seen dropping home one after another, laden with meat. 1854.] NEW-ZEALAND CHRISTIANITY. 135 "When This is not the only way in which the buffalo is secured. the alternate thawing and freezing, during the winter months, have formed a thick crust upon the deep snows of the far north-west, the buffalo falls an easy victim to the Indian." Gliding rapidly over the surface upon his snow-shoes, he soon comes up with his prey, whose ponderous weight breaks through the crust at almost every step, and renders escape impossible. Approaching him, therefore, with absolute impunity, the hunter despatches him with the gun, or—as represented in our Frontispiece-with the arrow and lance. These hunting-grounds have often been the battle-field between tribes, each striving to expel the others, and monopolize the whole themselves. It is remarkable that all buffalo countries are the war-grounds of several tribes. The aspect of a war-party is very imposing. A single horseman first appears, followed by a second and a third in quick succession: then party after party pours into the plain, and a mass of horsemen appears with guns, naked swords, lances, and bows and arrows, all the Indian warriors naked and painted for the war, with the long red streamers of their war-bonnets reaching nearly to the ground. The buffalo is hunted down on the plains of the Saskatchewan, not many days' journey from the new station, the Nepowewin, commenced recently by the Rev. Henry Budd; and on these plains tribal feuds continue to occur. The buffalo is of great importance to the inhabitants of Rupert's Land. The buffalo robe is in constant use as a preservative from the extreme cold in sled-travelling, &c. Large quantities of the meat are dried for future use, and much is made into pemmican. The preparation of this we will explain. The round or buttock of beef is cut into thin steaks; these are dried by exposure to the heat of the sun on a stage, beneath which a small fire is lighted to drive away the flies. The dried meat is then pounded between two stones on a buffalo-hide. An equal weight of suet is added by the traders, and the whole is sewn up in bags of undressed hide with the hairy side outwards, each bag weighing ninety pounds. In perusing the journals of our Rupert'sLand Missionaries our readers will occasionally meet with the expression, "bag of pemmican." They will now know what it means. NEW-ZEALAND CHRISTIANITY. A NATIONAL profession of pure Christianity is like the auriferous soil or sand it contains gold, but is not all gold. Some of the auriferous soils yield a less, and some a larger measure of gold; but all yield some. So where the gospel in its purity is known and professed by a nation, there will be, as the sure result which the Lord has promised to attach to the presence and action of His truth, a proportion of real, vital godliness, according to the measure of blessing which God has given. Faithfully taught as the gospel has been by the Missionaries of the Society to the native race in New Zealand, and received and embraced as it has been by them, we are encouraged to expect, that, in this national profession, there will be found some veins of that which is most excellent and va 136 NEW-ZEALAND CHRISTIANITY. [DEC. luable,and "much more precious than" that "of gold that perisheth." And so we find it to be. As the washing of the soil is necessary to discover the gold, so it is in times of discipline and trial that the real workings of the human heart, its stay, its hopes, and aspirations, come out most clearly. From the reports and journals of our Missionaries we might select numerous and precious instances of believing Maories in the season of heavy tribulation, as well as at other seasons, upheld by faith in Jesus Christ, and exhibiting in their general bearing and deportment the power of real Christianity. Will our readers deem it uninteresting if we introduce to their notice some of those expressions of faith which have been so often heard from the lips of spiritual-minded natives? One who had been a regular attendant for years on all the means of grace, and who had walked humbly with her God, thus gave utterance, on the approach of death, to the deep feelings of her soul-"My sins are hateful; but I shall lay my sinful nature down with my body. I shall not take that with me: that burden will be laid down, and I shall fly lightly to Christ." We select another instance, an aged man dying of consumption, whose sunken eye and distressing cough told that death was not far distant. "I held out my hand," writes our Missionary, the Rev. J. Hamlin, "to shake with him. He grasped it firmly in both of his, and held it fast for about ten minutes, addressing me at the same time, and giving it an extra squeeze whenever he mentioned the love of Christ to his soul. It was very edifying to sit by his side and hear him converse. At first, his voice being low, I could scarcely distinguish what he said, but, gaining strength as he proceeded, he was at length enabled to converse freely. Looking on his arms, he observed, Though my outward man perish, my inward man is gaining strength day by day. This disease and pain which I feel is very short compared with that punishment which I deserve. The riches of the love of Christ is great, is great, is great!' This is a form of speech in frequent use among the natives when they wish to speak of any thing in the superlative degree-when words seem to fail to express what is felt. 'He has atoned for my sins: He has done all for me: He will not leave His work unfinished: He will complete it, and take me unto Himself."" We refer to another Christian native, a man stricken with deep affliction. He had lost eight children-if, indeed, the term be not inappropriate, for he would say of them, not lost, but gone before. The two last had been pupils in one of our schools: one a little girl about nine years of age, and the other a little boy of six. The girl died calling upon her Saviour, "O Jesus, take me! O Jesus, take me!" Yet Nathanael's house, although a house of affliction, was not a house of sorrow where there is no hope. The parents bowed with submission to the divine will, and, thankful for the deliverance of their beloved offspring from the miseries and |