ducks flew above my head, macaws chattered in the trees, and a pretty canary chirped in the bushes. Upon the surface of the water floated the magnificent Victoria water-lily, the broad leaves extending for six or ten feet, and the flowers just closing their alabaster cups in sleep. I now removed my cap; but I was so small an object, that I attracted no notice whatever.

"'Ahem!' I began. Whereupon some of the birds turned about and stared at me. 'My home is very far north of your country,' I said; 'but a good fairy has kindly given me permission to visit you all.'

"'Indeed,' exclaimed an old stork. 'How extraordinary! If you was a bird, now, it would not seem so strange.'

"'A bird brought me,—Mother Carey's chicken.'

"'Could you not find a better bearer than one of those fussy, bustling little bodies?' said a handsome egret scornfully.

"'Do not despise the petrel because she is not so strong and beautiful as yourself,' I replied.

"'Ha, ha!' laughed a macaw from his high perch. 'How fine it is to be a water-fowl, and have such long legs.'

"At this all the storks, herons, and egrets ruffled their plumes, and prepared for an angry dispute with the saucy macaw; but I hastened to interfere.

"'I should be sorry to make any trouble among you. If you would tell me any wonders to be seen here, or show me any of your homes, I should be greatly obliged.'

"A black nose was poked out of the water, and a turtle, in a shrill little voice, piped,—

"'Did you ever see us lay eggs? We shall be about it soon,' then sank out of sight again.

"'As to that, the world is full of wonders wherever you may turn,' said the stork, who had first spoken. 'You should visit our ants'—

"What more the stork would have said, I cannot tell; for just then a crashing noise was heard in the thicket, and all my companions took flight on the approach of the lord of the forest. Presently the jaguar appeared close beside me, and stooped to quench his thirst in the pool, so I had an opportunity of seeing what a fine creature he was, with his soft striped fur, velvet paws, and glowing, cruel eyes. I did not dare move even so much as to put on my cap, while my wings seemed paralyzed with fear. Startled by some sound, for he is a very shy, cautious animal, the jaguar retired again, and I only just escaped a severe crushing from his powerful foot as he passed.

"I must now describe to you my first night in a tropical land. As darkness increased I sought shelter on a spreading shrub, and the insects began a tremendous noise. 'They will grow sleepy by and by,' I thought drowsily.

"But not a wink of sleep did they take, or allow me, that whole long night. The howling monkeys began the concert, the tree-frogs and crickets trilled occasionally, and the owls hooted dismally. When I tried to stop my ears to these sounds, the fire-flies, resembling crystal drops of fire, flared their torches in my face with blinding brilliancy.

"'Don't, please,' I pleaded.

"The naughty fire-flies only laughed at my misery, and danced around me in bewildering circles of flame, until my eyes ached.

"'I wish you would be quiet,' I said crossly.

"'Quiet,' echoed the fire-flies. 'Not we. There is all to-morrow for naps.'

"It was not long, with such an experience, before I found I could not live in the tropics. I never had a sound night's rest while there.

"I strolled on through the cool, shady forest, which formed a delightful contrast to the hot, sunny landscape without. What most amused me was to see the little, striped-faced monkeys poke a cluster of inquisitive heads out of the holes of trees where they were sleeping, if any sound disturbed them. They paid dearly for their curiosity, as I shall presently tell you. I had paused to admire the butterflies that clustered in the sunlight here and there, as if desirous to display their gorgeous coloring to the best advantage. Some were of a velvet blackness, relieved by rose-colored and green shadings; others were of a blue, metallic lustre; and others floated on outspread wings, transparent as glass, spangled with lines of violet, silver, and gold. No wonder the lovely insects were vain of their gaudy dress! When I told them I was a stranger, they danced and pirouetted in their giddy flight, until they resembled the wandering petals of falling flowers. Suddenly a handsome dragon-fly, whose armor glittered with a golden refulgence, swooped down to capture one of the butterflies, then retired to a neighboring branch, and prepared to devour his prey.

"'Why don't you stay at home with your sober wife, instead of whisking about where I can catch you?' said the dragon-fly, shaking his pretty captive.

"Just then there approached a very singular-looking person indeed. He wore a broad hat, blue spectacles, and had a great many curious tin cases slung about his belt and over his shoulder. In his hand he carried a dip-net, which he threw cleverly over our heads, and entangled us in the bag. We could do nothing but stare helplessly at one another in dismay.

"'Oh, dear!' cried a young butterfly piteously, 'We shall now have pins driven through us, and be speared to a cardboard platter for ever. I have heard my mother say so.'

"We all shivered,—even the dragon-fly, who had been captured also. Of course the striped-faced monkeys came peeping out in the wrong time, and, after a good deal of poking into the tree, one of them was caught. Thus the naturalist gentleman returned home with his treasures, the little monkey alone of us all being destined to live.

"The first thing, upon taking us from the net, was to politely hold a bottle to our noses, which caused a few feeble kicks in the air, then a fainting fit. When I again opened my eyes, I was lying upon a board, surrounded by my companions, who were transfixed with pins upon paper, as the young butterfly had said. I certainly thought my end had come, and that hereafter my body was destined to adorn some cabinet. I pretended to be still unconscious, and so lay quite motionless under the large microscope through which the naturalist gentleman regarded me, now poking my ribs, now turning my head to one side, and all the while making remarks on my personal appearance.

"'I don't believe that you belong here at all,' he exclaimed. 'I must dissect what may prove a new species.'

"Here seemed my last chance of escape; so, watching an opportunity, when he was selecting a suitable knife to carve me up with, I drew my elf's cap from under my wing. The naturalist gentleman was too quick for me: he seized my night-cap with his tweezers, and began eagerly to examine it. I was sorry enough for the loss. Still one had better part with the fairy's gift than life itself: so I flew away. I dare say the naturalist gentleman may have carefully preserved the cobweb cap, to puzzle science with for a long time.

"Journeying on, I came to the bank of one of the largest rivers in the world. I paused to view the waves dash against the shore in foam, the vessels flit past on the strong breeze, and the distant villages on the other side. There were several low strips of sand reaching out from near where I rested, and I observed groups of natives making camp-fires, or erecting a kind of watch-tower overlooking the land. I inquired what they were doing, of a monkey who sat stroking his sandy whiskers with an indolent air.

"'Ah! don't you know?' he returned. 'They are waiting for the turtles to lay their eggs.'

"The next morning I beheld a curious sight. In the first gray dawn, myriads of turtles were creeping down the sandy slope,