ngs, and
even springs of fresh water, that spout up from the depths of the ocean;
and in the Gulf of Spezia, a great spout or fountain of fresh water is
seen to rise like a liquid hill. Similar springs furnish the inhabitants
of the town of Aradus with their ordinary beverage.

On the southern coast of Cuba, to the southwest of the port of Batabano,
in the bay of Xagua, at two or three miles from the land, springs of
fresh water gush up with such force in the midst of the salt, that small
boats cannot approach them with safety; the deeper you draw the water,
the fresher you find it. It has been observed, that in the neighbourhood
of steep coasts, the bottom of the sea also sinks down suddenly to a
considerable depth; whilst near a low coast, and one of gentle
declivity, it is only gradually that the sea deepens. There are some
places in the sea where no bottom has yet been found. But we must not
conclude that the sea is really bottomless; an idea, which, if not
absurd, is, at least, by no means conformable to the analogies of
natural science. The mountains of continents seem to correspond with
what are called the abysses of the sea; but now, the highest mountains
do not rise to 20,000 feet. It is true that they have wasted down and
lessened by the action of the elements; it may, therefore, be reasonably
concluded, that the sea is not beyond 30,000 feet in depth; but it is
impossible to find the bottom even at one-third of this depth, with our
little instruments. The greatest depth that has been tried to be
measured, is that found in the northern ocean by Lord Mulgrave; he
heaved a very heavy sounding lead, and gave out with it cable rope to
the length of 4,680 feet, without finding bottom.--_Blake's
Encyclopedia_.

* * * * *

NOTES OF A READER.

* * * * *

CHARACTER OF CROMWELL.

(_From the Buccaneer.--By Mrs. S.C. Hall_.)

There are two things that to a marvellous degree bring people under
subjection--moral and corporeal fear. The most dissolute are held in
restraint by the influence of moral worth, and there are few who would
engage in a quarrel if they were certain that defeat or death would be
the consequence. Cromwell obtained, and we may add, maintained his
ascendancy over the people of England, by his earnest and continually
directed efforts towards these two important ends. His court was a
rare example of irreproachable conduct, fro