Many a long, long year ago, Nantucket skippers had a plan Of finding out, though "lying low," How near New York their schooners ran. They greased the lead before it fell, And then, by sounding through the night, Knowing the soil that stuck, so well, They always guessed their reckoning right. A skipper gray, whose eyes were dim, Could tell, by _tasting_, just the spot, And so below he'd "dowse the glim"-- After, of course, his "something hot." Snug in his berth, at eight o'clock, This ancient skipper might be found; No matter how his craft would rock, He slept--for skippers' naps are sound! The watch on deck would now and then Run down and wake him, with the lead; He'd up, and taste, and tell the men How many miles they went ahead. One night, 'twas Jotham Marden's watch, A curious wag--the peddler's son---- And so he mused (the wanton wretch), "To-night I'll have a grain of fun. "We're all a set of stupid fools To think the skipper knows by _tasting_ What ground he's on--Nantucket schools Don't teach such stuff, with all their basting!" And so he took the well-greased lead And rubbed it o'er a box of earth That stood on deck--a parsnip-bed---- And then he sought the skipper's berth. "Where are we now, sir? Please to taste." The skipper yawned, put out his tongue, Then ope'd his eyes in wondrous haste, And then upon the floor he sprung! The skipper stormed and tore his hair, Thrust on his boots, and roared to Marden, _"Nantucket's sunk, and here we are_ _Right over old Marm Hackett's garden!"_ JAMES T. FIELDS. * * * * * THE WEDDING JOURNEY _He_: Dearest, if I had known this tunnel was so long, I'd have given you a jolly hug. _She_: Didn't you? Why, somebody did! OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE Do I think that the particular form of lying often seen in newspapers under the title, "From Our Foreign Correspondent," does any harm? Why, no, I don't know that it does. I suppose it doesn't really deceive people any more than the "Arabian Nights" or "Gulliver's Travels" do. Sometimes the writers compile _too_ carelessly, though, and mix up facts out of geographies and stories out of the penny papers, so as to mislead those who are desirous of information. I cut a piece out of one of the papers the other day which contains a number of improbabilities and, I suspect, misstatements. I will send up and get it for you, if you would like to hear it. Ah, this is it; it is headed "OUR SUMATRA CORRESPONDENCE