Heroism and Magnanimity.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 1, Issue 20, 27 September 1849, Page 4

Heroism and Magnanimity.

During the year 1810, whilst the British frigate Alceste, under the command of Capt. Sir Murray Maxwell, (the father of Captain Maxwell, recently in command of the Dido, on the New Zealand station) was actively employed in the Mediterranean sen, capturing aod destroying every French ship which she could master either by her own guns or by the daring conduct of her boats, it happened, on a certain occasion, that Mr. Adair, a young midshipman, wns detached in command of one of thein to cruise along the enemy 's coast, From soma cause or another Mr. Adair's stock of water was exhausted, ami his crew became much distressed. The ship wus faraway. There was> 110 chance ot (setting a supply except by landing; and the whole line of coast, more especially the watering places, was filled with troops. What was to be done / Young Adair soon made up his mind on that head. Having loaded his carroiiade to the muzzle with grape-shot and musket balls, and got all his small arms ready, hcran the boat's head on the beach, in,the very face of a French piqio-t : lie then sprang out alone, and cooly walked up to the ollicer. " Sep, sir." said the boy, " yon see what my people a'e about! The match is lighted, and f have given them orders to firo both upon [ you and me, unless you permit us to water without molestation." The French oflicer, a chivalrous and magnanimous soldier, (it is a great pity tho writer doei not record his , name) was so delighted with the lad's spirit, that he not only permitted water to bo taken . oil' in abundance, but loaded the boat with fruit rtpd vegetables besides.

TUB HBR. It lias boon wisely said, " Commend not a man for his beauty ; neither abhor a man for his ouivvard appearance. The bee is little among audi as ilv» but bur fruit is the chief of sweet things." The bee, to look upon, i? indeed only a poor littlu brown (lv, with 110 beauty to make us admire Jut; yet i* 4 she one ot the most wonderful nf insects. She is a pattern ol dil—geiicc. for as often as the s m shines she goes out to work, and never loses any opportunity of gathering honey from the various (lowers around her; she is a pattern of prudent foresight also, for what she collects in summer she liys up carefully against the winter. Chinese Agriculture. The Chinese, remuikable for their skill in agriculture, and frequently restrained by a crowded population, have invented a sort of cultivation unknown to the rest of the world. To supply the want oflaud, they construe twitlt bamboos, or any other species o! wood, rafts on which tliej place soil, and thus form fields on rivers and pieces of water, on which they sow and raise rice. In the bo its in which they live on the great rivers, the upper deck is a garden on which they cultivflt-2 esculent roots and flowers;