n
you reach the land of spirits, you will see the ghost of my father: tell
him it was Cashegra sent you there." The uplifted tomahawk then descends
upon his victim.--_Ibid._

* * * * *

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

A SCENE ON THE "COSTA FIRME."

I was awakened by the low growling, and short bark of the dog. The night
was far spent; the tiny sparks of the fire-flies that were glancing in the
doorway, began to grow pale; the chirping of the crickets and lizards, and
the _snore_ of the tree-toad waxed fainter, and the wild cry of the
tiger-cat was no longer heard. The _terral_, or land-wind, which is
usually strongest towards morning, moaned loudly on the hillside, and came
rushing past with a melancholy _sough_, through the brushwood that
surrounded the hut, shaking off the heavy dew from the palm and cocoa nut
trees, like large drops of rain.

The hollow tap of the woodpecker; the clear flute note of the _Pavo del
monte_; the discordant shriek of the macaw; the shrill _chirr_ of the wild
Guinea fowl; and the chattering of the paroquets began to be heard from
the wood. The ill-omened _gallinaso_ was sailing and circling round the
hut, and the tall flamingo was stalking on the shallows of the lagoon, the
haunt of the disgusting alligator, that lay beneath, divided from the sea
by a narrow mud bank, where a group of pelicans, perched on the wreck of
one of our boats, were pluming themselves before taking wing. In the east,
the deep blue of the firmament, from which the lesser stars were fast
fading, all but the "Eye of Morn," was warming into magnificent purple,
and the amber rays of the yet unrisen sun were shooting up, streamer-like,
with intervals between, through the parting clouds, as they broke away
with a passing shower, that fell like a veil of silver gauze between us
and the first primrose-coloured streaks of a tropical dawn.

"That's a musket shot," said the lieutenant. The Indian crept on his belly
to the door, dropped his chin on the ground, and placed his open palms
behind his ears. The distant wail of a bugle was heard, then three or four
dropping shots again, in rapid succession. Mr. Splinter stooped to go
forth, but the Indian caught him by the leg, uttering the single word
"_Espanoles_."

On the instant a young Indian woman, with a shrieking infant in her arms,
rushed to the door. There was a blue gunshot wound in her neck, from which
two or three large blac