made her leap; and I could see, although she saw it not, that a thin white face was fixed close upon the window-pane from the balcony without! But the second time, the sound had produced an entirely different effect upon the nerves of the princess, and she exclaimed aloud in rage, as she turned fiercely round: “ What!—am I to be thus hunted down and persecuted ? Have I spies upon my very thoughts ? Is the surveillance, to which I am subjected, extended to my solitary hours ? Ha! by Heaven! I will know the coward !" She caught the sight of two human hands grasping the iron-work of the balcony. It was evident a man had been seeking to gain admittance into her chamber, and, having failed, was descending without. Not for an instant did the princess feel the puerile terror which might have seemed most natural in such a case as this. It was indignation alone which moved her, and she sprang towards the window, holding by the wall to assist her crippled steps. Now, this is too bad !” she almost shrieked forth, as she flung back the casement with violence. 66 Am I thus to have watchers set over me in my privacy, so that even my solitary complaining may be reported to those who will know well how to remember and to punish ? Who is there?" she called, in a loud and angry voice, as she seized a corner of the cloak which had not yet disappeared beyond the railings. The answer made her reel back into the chamber with a cry of terror. I heard it too, and thought that annihilation was at hand. “ TRENCK, from Spandau!" whispered a low voice. And then, in a faltering tone, were added these words,—“Mine own, my loved Amelia ! was I not justified in hoping? A dungeon is not the grave ! ten years of life is not eternity!" It was an awful moment. Pale and motionless did the princess stand, gasping for breath, and her eyes fixed with frightful stare upon the window. She essayed to speak, but her lips refused to obey the impulse, and her efforts only served to distort her countenance, and to bring forth a gibbering, unearthly sound, and in that single instant, so intense was her emotion, that the veins and muscles of her throat were swollen until the diamond rivière which encircled it, seemed tightened almost to bursting, and she clutched at it convulsively to tear it away. She must have possessed a strength of soul worthy of a hero of antiquity, to enable her to surmount the peril of that hour. She raised her arms, and beckoned towards the casement, and it was in a hoarse voice and with a convulsive effort, that she called at length, “ Fly not, Trenck, my--thou hast indeed spoken truth-there is a God above, and He has united us once more !" Scarcely had she given utterance to the words, when the dark figure, which had almost retreated in uncertainty, dashed through the casement just in time to sustain her fainting form, as she fell forward with a loud convulsive sob, into the arms outstretched to receive her. Some time elapsed ere either of the lovers could give utterance to a single word, so great was the emotion of that hour. During this time I gazed on Trenck, with a natural curiosity to behold one who had inspired a passion so absorbing, so devoted, in the bosom of this angel upon earth ; and when I had looked upon those pale, melancholy features, and heard the rich tones of that all-persuasive voice, I must say that much of the infatuation which had hitherto appeared so strange was explained to me. The Baron de Trenck was at that time in the very flower of his youth and manly beauty. He must have been about thirty years of age, but, from the long confinement and the quiet of his life for the last ten years, he appeared much younger. His high forehead was calm and placid as that of a child, and the rich clusters of golden hair which fell down upon his shoulders, added to the youthful effect of his appearance. As he drew nearer to the lamp, I could perceive, however, the traces of his misery in the sallow complexion and in the sunken cheek. The eye, which he bent with such fond and passionate expression upon Amelia, was dimmed and deadened by that uncertain gaze so peculiar to those who have been long deprived of light, and his tall, commanding figure, was bent slightly at the shoulders, by the long necessity of stooping beneath the lowly roof of his grave-like cell. On his entrance he was attired in the large cloak of dark cloth, worn by the boatmen on the river, which had completely enveloped him from head to foot, but as he stepped forward in haste and agitation, it had fallen to the ground, and he stood revealed in all the sordid wretchedness of one escaped from the oubliette “ten fathoms deep below the earth.” He wore the loose frock of coarse gray linen, with trousers of the same, I remembered to have seen upon the young Prince Royal and his friend Lieutenant Kalt, when they were led as criminals and captives through the palace-yard. His waist was bound by a leather belt, studded with heavy brass nails, all green and mouldy with age, and telling a fearful tale of chains and iron rings, and heavy bolts and galling manacles which made the heart ache to remember. There must have been some peculiar majesty in the bearing of this man, for even as he stood thus clothed in the squalid prison-garb, all patched and tattered as it hung about him, with the very odour of the dungeon, the damp and mildew of the cell ten fathoms deep below the earth, wherein he had so long been buried, clinging to his raiment, yet, in spite of all , did he still wear that princely air which nature had bestowed, and 'which neither the tyranny nor vengeance of his brother-man had as yet been able to crush. The body had been held captive, it is true, but the soul remained free and unyielding, owning no master save the God who gave it being It was many minutes, they seemed to me almost hours, ere the slightest word was breathed by either of the lovers. Trenck remained silent, gazing with rapturous fondness on the form he held to his heart. The princess gave evidence of life in the deep, convulsive sobs alone which she uttered. Her face was hidden on the shoulder of her lover, and it seemed as if the world and all without had been forgotten at that moment. How long they would have remained thus I know not, for they both seemed absorbed with the wonder of this unexpected happiness, when the sound of the carriages arriving for the ball aroused the princess. She started, and looked wildly at the hour, then tore herself from the arms of Trenck, and exclaimed in a hoarse whisper, “ Fly-for the love of Heaven tarry not here—the very marrow in my bones is chilled with terror! He is coming, Trenck-he will be here in another instant !" “ Then I will stay, Amelia," replied the baron; "have I fought so valiantly through peril and through danger, now to be daunted by the prospect of a meeting face to face with the base and petty tyrant who has thought to crush me with his paltry vengeance ? No, no ; rather let me meet him now.” Oct. --VOL. LXXXI. NO, CCCXXII. M say not 66 46 You are cruel-you are mad, Trenck !” exclaimed the princess, while she almost shrieked in her terror, “after all, I see, you know him not, and you have suffered all this misery in vain!". “ No, Amelia, I have come hither to die. Whither can I fly now? Without resource-without friends-without a home I soon shall be tracked, and taken-but not alive and now that I have fulfilled the only hope which has sustained me through the agony of the dreary years which I have passed, death will be welcome, and I fear it not.” “Oh! say not so," sobbed Amelia, in a heart-rending tone, that you are without friends, without resource-you shall have liberty, wealth, and honour-but grant me time, dear love-only grant me time. You must fly now at once. You know not, dearest, that spies are set over me at every hour of the day and night—that my very thoughts are guessed by those who watch me with such unceasing vigilance. Oh, Heaven! hark to that sound !—'tis midnight-for the love of Heaven, fly, while yet 'tis time.” She spoke in a loud voice, and with convulsive effort; and when she saw that Trenck moved pot, but remained gazing on her with the same mournful smile, she seized his hands, and attempted to drag him to the window. “Now then, come, 'tis time-leave all to me-nay, move faster- -do you not hear those footsteps along the gallery ? Trenck, you are killing me by this delay !" But Trenck moved not; and she wrung her hands in the agony of despair. You say that he is coming. I shall wait. What have I to fear ?" he said, calmly. No, no, no," exclaimed the princess, hurriedly, and with the agitation of one talking in a dream, “what ! ten years of patient suffering, of bold energy, for this ? No; I must to the rescue. You shall not die, Trenck -you shall live to beard him yet. Say not that you are without resource. Have you not your own brave heart and my undivided love ?" While she was speaking she had torn with frenzied haste the jewel from her arms and from her neck, the magnificent brilliants from her head-dress, and the sapphires from her ears. “Fool that I was not to think of this before. Rightly am I named die Närrinn. How can he fly without the means to bribe, to pay his spies, to purchase treachery? Is it not this, that he is forced to do? There, take these,” she cried, as she turned abruptly round upon Trenck, who had stood gazing at her in bewilderment, “these will furnish the means of flight. Nay, resist not, they are mine by every human rightmy mother's gift, my father's legacy. Nay, if you take them not, I, too, will stand here to await his coming and die before your eyes.” She thrust the jewels in the bosom of his shirt, she forced them wildly into the leathern belt and dropt them into his pockets. Heedless of her rank and station, forgetting all, save his danger and her love, she struggled against his resistance with frantic gesture and with passionate impatience. The star of brilliants at the bosom of her dress, the agrafes of rubies down the stomacher, were torn with such rude violence from among the showers of rich lace which they were destined to hold that it was rent in all directions and hung in tatters about her person. “Now go, now go for the love of Heaven, dearest! Every blessing-my 66 66 God!—they must be coming-Heinrich you say is in the boat beneath, let me call him. What is next to be done ? I am so lost, and so bewildered that I know not what I do." The princess moved towards the window, and Trenck followed her mechanically: Just as they had reached the open casement footsteps, rapid and noisy, were heard approaching. Amelia,” uttered a short shrill scream. “ 'Tis he, 'tis he. Oh, Trenck, I knew it would be so. We are too late-lost-lost after all our struggles." With these words she stretched her arms towards the baron, and sank upon his bosom. The latter with the instinct of self-preservation passed out into the balcony still bearing the fainting form of the princess. His presence of mind did not desert him, for he set aside the heavy curtains of Utrecht velvet which shaded the window, and I heard him close the casement behind them so that the chamber they had left remained silent and deserted, for none would have sought them there. Meanwhile, the steps approached nearer and nearer still. I was in an agony of fright, for I dreaded of all things the quick perception of the king, and when the handle of the lock was turned, my heart sank within me in anticipation of the anger of his majesty when he should find the princess gone. THE ROSE. (FROM THE GREEK.) Sighing to meet Thy balmy kisses sweet, With full unfolded breast, Where beauty loves to rest, FISHING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. BY GEORGE HAMILTON, ESQ. NOTWITHSTANDING the multitude of fish that swarm in the principal rivers of Australia, fishing has not as yet become a popular amusement with the settlers, probably because they cannot be considered as a class of persons who seek much for what Europeans call amusement, moneymaking being the aim of their existence, and their principal recreation the simple and innocent one of “tobacco smoking." Any pursuit that does not include one of these objects has but little interest for the Australian. For my own part, as an Australian, I must claim an exception from this rule. I never could smoke with any sort of enjoyment, nor could I by any possibility make money. My object through life has been to search in an indolent sort of way for its amusements, and being too blind to look at the dark side of any thing, I have managed somehow or other to scramble through a fair portion of trouble without being much the worse for it. Whenever I could command the use of a horse, a gun, or a fishing-rod, the sports of the field, or rather I should here say the sports of the forest and wilderness, were open to me, and I have followed them eagerly. 1.-THE MURRAY RIVER. The Murray River takes its rise in the Australian Alps or snowy mountains, a range of heights running in a northerly and southerly direction on the eastern side of the island of Australia, terminating to the southward somewhere about Ram Head, and extending to the northward nearly as far as Moreton Bay. Rising in these mountains, the River Murray flows to the westward and northward, receiving the waters of the Goulburn, the Murrumbidgee, the Darling, and several smaller streams, until at about 140 deg. Iong. it suddenly turns to the southward, and after flowing in this direction about 160 miles, empties itself into Lake Victoria. This river drains the whole of the country between the snowy mountains and Spencer's Gulf, and forms a principal feature of the land. It is broad and deep, measuring 200 yards or more across and about forty feet in depth ; varying, of course, in different places. Its scenery is singular. To the northward, its banks are clothed with large gum-trees and underwood of the tea-tree, and a variety of handsome shrubs, but as it nears Lake Victoria, and rounds the great bend where it directs its course nearly due south, fossil cliffs and reedy flats bound its waters. It abounds in fish of several sorts, from the fine firm cod to the dry toorroo, or black perch, all of which afford good sport to the Australian angler. Australian fishing, as a science, is as yet in its infancy; the fish, too, are innocent as babes, easily tempted with any kind of bait, and ignorant of the artificial fly ; led to their destruction by raw pork or beef, or the tail of a small crayfish that inhabits these waters ; not believing in the existence of a hook even when it protrudes ostentatiously from the bait, but placing implicit faith in tempting food and man's integrity. The cod varies in weight from one pound to eighty. A fish of the latter |