these admirable
dogs are called into action. Though the perishing man lie ten or even
twenty feet beneath the snow, the delicacy of smell with which they can
trace him offers a chance of escape. They scratch away the snow with
their feet; they set up a continued hoarse and solemn bark, which brings
the monks and labourers of the convent to their assistance.

To provide for the chance that the dogs, without human help, may succeed
in discovering the unfortunate traveller, one of them has a flask of
spirits round his neck, to which the fainting man may apply for support;
and another has a cloak to cover him. Their wonderful exertions are
often successful; and even where they fail of restoring him who has
perished, the dogs discover the body, so that it may be secured for the
recognition of friends; and such is the effect of the cold, that the
dead features generally preserve their firmness for the space of two
years. One of these noble creatures was decorated with a medal, in
commemoration of his having saved the lives of twenty-two persons, who,
but for his sagacity, must have perished. Many travellers, who have
crossed the pass of St. Bernard, have seen this dog, and have heard,
around the blazing fire of the monks, the story of his extraordinary
career. He perished about the year 1816, in an attempt to convey a poor
traveller to his anxious family.

_The Menageries._

[Illustration: HEAD OF ST. BERNARD DOG.]

* * * * *

JOPPA.

Joppa is the principal sea-port town of Palestine and it is very often
mentioned in Scripture.

Hiram, King of Tyre, is said to have sent cedars of Lebanon by sea to
Joppa, for the building of Solomon's Temple; and from Joppa the
disobedient Jonah embarked, when ordered by God to go and preach to the
people of Nineveh.

It was at Joppa that the apostle Peter lived, for some time, with one
Simon, a tanner, whose house was by the sea-shore; and it was on the
flat roof of this dwelling that he saw the wonderful vision, which
taught him not to call any man common or unclean.

[Illustration: JOPPA.]

Tabitha or Dorcas, the pious woman who spent all her life in working for
the poor, and in giving alms to those who needed relief, lived in Joppa;
and here it pleased God that she should be taken ill and die, and her
body was laid out in the usual manner before burial, in an upper chamber
of the house where she lived. The apostle Peter, to whom this pio