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The
OCEANICA TO AUCKLAND. 49
the waters in check, and render them Pacific' This ocean has no such
'
raised plateau across the bed-surface as has the Atlantic. Owing to its
uneven depths, and rough volcanic ridges, it would be diflScult to cable."
His elucidation of the atmospheric and electric stratifications
above us was singularly philosophical. It is impossible
to fully report him. He flourished near the close
of the Middle Ages, — that period which elapsed between
the decline of ancient learning, and the revival. The Dark
Ages are said to have ceased about the year 1400. They
terminated, however, at various times in the different countries
of Europe. The destruction of feudalism, the invention
of printing, and the discovery of America by Columbus,
mark the general period of resurrection from the darkness
of the mediaeval ages.
I find this spirit, Parisi, perfectly familiar with the histories
of Petrarch, Tasso, Dante, Ariosto, and other Italian
litterateurs. Dante's ideal of the old Latin poets was Virgil,
much of whose fame was owing to the Fourth Eclogue,
interpreted by churchal fathers as a prophecy of Jesus Christ.
Virgil quoted Livy and Lucan to prove that gods and angels
had wrought spiritual marvels through mortals during all the
"
ages of antiquity. sibyUine oracles should be extensively
read by scholars.
ONE OF THE SOUTH-SEA ISLANDS.
Oct. 20. — Safely in Auckland, New Zealand, distant
The city, built
from New York nearly nine thousand miles.
upon high land, looks fresh and vigorous. The gardens
come down close to the sea. Exclusive of suburbs, it numbers
about twelve thousand. Natives in the province of
Auckland, divided into five tribes, number twenty-five thousand,
June and July are the coldest months of the year
and January and February, corresponding to July and August
in England and America, are the warmest. Neither
serpents, nor noxious reptiles of any species, have been found
upon the New-Zealand islands. Toads and frogs are also