a river, and I now, with fome degree of surprise, beheld the altered appearance of myself and my conductor. The hair which flowed in ringlets from his head when he first appeared, was now shortened, and the spotless robe which then invested him, was now transformed into a dress cut in the most approved Ibolan taste; my garb alfo had undergone the fame metamorphofis. The genius perceived my wonder and continued: " You are surprised at the change which has taken place in our appearance, but, believe me it is a very neceffary one, as without it we should have fuch a myriad of followers as would render it impoffible for us to make the flightest observation upon the furrounding objects." -My conductor now took my arm, and we passed along several streets thronged with people, and light as day, from the collected blaze of a thousand lamps which displayed to the view a profusion of fplendor and rarity. We stopped at length at a door, round which were many people collected. "This," said the genius, " is one of the theatres of this metropolis, to which, every night, the Ibolans repair with the greatest eagerness. This evening a very favourite comedy is to be performed, and," here he was interrupted by the doors opening; we entered along with the multitude, and foon found ourselves within a spacious and highly-ornamented fabric, which was in a very short time crowded with beauty and splendor: after a long pause the curtain drew up, and the comedy began. I had expected to be delighted with nice difcrimination of character, with faithful representation of nature, and with fentiments, which, while they gave pleasure, would prove favourable to the interests of morality and virtue; but how was I disappointed! pert flippant dialogue, unmeaning puns upon a name, blunders which never could have been made, and characters that never could have existed, supplied, or rather ufurped, the place of those which I had fondly, but vainly, expected to find. I was puzzled to account for the unbounded approbation which it received, and could only

C2

folve

folve the difficulty by supposing that the audience were laughing at the author, who had collected into one piece fuch a mass of abfurdity: it at last concluded, and was followed by an entertainment, if poffible, still more abfurd. It feemed a strong caricature of the distorted comedy we had just seen, with only one difference, that in this the figures made themselves ridiculous only by their motions and grimaces. Men, women, demons, gods, pigmys, and spirits, composed the motly group of characters; the most ridiculous situations and the most unnatural changes occurred almost every instant. It seemed as if the genius of nonsense had exhausted all his abilities to compose it. I could not avoid being disgusted with fuch an outrage upon reason; not so the rest of the auditors; they viewed it with the greatest delight, and when it was concluded, heard its farther representation announced with the most vociferous applaufe.

Arm in arm, my guide and I now quitted the theatre. "Well, my friend," exclaimed he," are you not abforbed in admiration of the theatrical amusements of the I bolans?" "Most sincerely do I pity them," replied I;

they are certainly very unfortunate in having neither rational dramas, nor authors capable of writing them."" You mistake the matter entirely," rejoined the genius; "they are in poffeffion of fome of the most inimitable pieces ever written; they have tragedies that might diffolve the foul of cruelty itself into infant softness; and comedies, whose nice delineation of character and genuine humour might delight the sage, and excite the most fullen misanthrope to laughter; but they are not the tafte of the multitude, and for that reason are seldom brought forward; for those who can with rapture listen to the effufions of abfurdity and infipidity, would yawn with listless langour, and very probably flumber, at the representation of scenes fraught with nature, wit, pathos, and fublimity. But let us dismiss the subject."

" I will now take you to an amusement called gaming, to which many of the Ibolans of elevated rank and for.

to me it

tune are strongly attached." We walked almost a mile through feveral elegant and commodious streets, till we arrived at a large mansion, into which my conductor gained a ready admittance. We were ushered into a room where a number of perfons were fitting round a table, bufily employed in violently shaking a box, which contained two dotted cubical pieces of ivory; confiderable sums of money lay before them: hope, joy, anguish, despair, and a thousand paffions, appeared in their faces; and the most shocking oaths, or the most frantic exclama tions of pleasure, burst from their lips, according as the two little squares proved favourable or inimical to the their wishes. We viewed them for several hours, but tired at last with gazing upon an employment so unamufing, I requested my conductor to depart; he acquiefced readily in my wish. "Call you this amusement?" exclaimed I, as we descended into the street; seems the most hateful of pursuits." -" Can it be any other than amusement?" replied my guide, "when it is so unremittingly, and in fo many modes followed by numbers of the rich and great. It must certainly be the highest of all amusements, or those who are devoted to it would not facrifice their eftates, their honour, and their health; for it they would not fuffer their unfortunate and honest creditors to fink into ruin, that they might discharge a debt contracted at the table: nor is this purfuit confined to the male part of the creation; it is the idol of the softer sex, though in a different garb. Many of those angelic beings who attracted your admiration at the theatre, are adepts in this practice which meets your disapprobation: their beauty, their fortune, and their virtue, are nightly exposed to destruction, by their love for gaming, and yet you doubt whether it can be an amusement."

(To be continued.)

C3

EXTRACTS

three years. The supernumerary rams are not cut, but fold; it being thought more advantageous to fell them young, than to keep them three years without profit, and at some hazard. This may answer in a country where fat mutton is of little value; but the shepherds of the Alps would be of a very different opinion. All the Duke's flocks are of the species called Pecore Gentili, whose wool is very fine and white, and was much esteemed by the ancients. This is the great source of his profits, for they are shorn twice in the year; once entirely in spring, but only half in fummer; and the wool is fold raw. Some profit also arifes from the cheeses, which are excellent; but probably would neither be so good, or keep so long, if goat's milk were not employed in preparing them. Salt is never given to the Duke's sheep, and great care is taken not to drive them upon the pastures in the morning, until the dew be off the grafs.

EXTRAORDINARY RELATION.

Taken from Travels into South America, from 1772, to 1777; by Captain G. Stedman.

I cannot here forbear relating a fingular circumftance respecting myself, viz. that on waking about four o'clock this morning in my hammock, I was extremely alarmed at finding myself weltering in congealed blood, and without feeling any pain whatever. Having started up, and run for the furgeon, with a fire-brand in one hand, and all over besmeared with gore; to which, if added, my pale, short hair, and tattered apparel, he might well ask the question :

"Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd,

"Bring with thee airs of heaven, or blasts from hell?" The mystery however was, that I had been bitten by the vampire or spectre of Guiana, which is also called the flying-dog of New Spain, and by the Spaniards, penovolador; penovolador; this is no other than a bat of a monstrous fize, and fucks the blood of men and cattle when they are fast asleep, even sometimes till they die; and as the manner in which they proceed is truly wonder. ful, I shall endeavour to give a distinct account of it.

Knowing by instinct that the person they intend to attack is in a found slumber, they generally alight near the feet, where, while the creature continues fanning with his enormous wings, which keeps one cool, he bites a piece out of the tip of the great toe, so very small indeed that the head of a pin could scarcely be received into the wound, which is consequently not painful; yet through this orifice he continues to fuck the blood, until he is obliged to disgorge. He then begins again, and thus continues fucking and disgorging till he is scarcely able to fly, and the fufferer has often been known to leep from time into eternity! Cattle they generally bite in the ear, but always in such place where the blood flows spontaneously, perhaps in an artery-but this is entering rather on the province of the medical faculty. Having applied tobacco-ashes as the best remedy, and washed the gore from myself and from my hammock, I observed several small heaps of congealed blood all round the place where I had lain, upon the ground: upon examining which, the furgeon judged that I had loft at least twelve or fourteen ounces during the night.

As I have fince had an opportunity of killing one of these bats, I cut off his head. Having measured this creature, I found it to be between the tips of the wings thirty-two inches and a half; it is faid that some are above three feet, though nothing like in fize to the bats of Madagascar. The colour was a dark brown, nearly black, but lighter under the belly. Its aspect was truly hideous upon the whole, but particularly the head, which has an erect shining membrane above the nose, terminating in a shrivelled point: the ears are long, rounded, and transparent: the cutting teeth are four