Part 4

The huts of the Indians are made of sticks, and covered with a kind of reed. Our doors and windows are kept open the whole day, and at night we have nets around our beds to keep the mosquitoes off. As we have great and continuous heat, with abundant moisture, we have a wonderful richness and variety of vegetation. Blooming flowers and trees can be seen all the year. We have cocoa-nut-trees, bananas, pine-apples, sugar-cane, oranges, lemons, mangoes, coffee, cotton, tobacco, and cinchona-trees. In the sand of the river gold is sometimes found.

Birds, insects, and reptiles are remarkable for their variety and brilliancy. We have one bird with seven distinct colors in its plumage; and indeed the birds, from the parrot to the tiny humming-bird, are so nicely dressed that I can not describe them.

All kinds of snakes, from the boa to the viper, are found here. There is one green snake which climbs the trees, and looks precisely like the branches and leaves.

The woods in the interior are full of monkeys, and if disturbed in their sleep, they howl the night long.

A beautiful butterfly with blue wings is the most wonderful creature I ever saw. As you turn it around it changes to other lovely tints.

It is not unhealthy here. The laborers and the women cooks on their way to market ride on donkeys, for the streets are too sandy to walk in with ease.

JUDITH W.

We think Miss Judith ought to be accepted as a member of our Natural History Society. Her letter shows that she has learned to observe what is around her, and only people who do this are ever really well informed.

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GEORGETOWN, KENTUCKY.

This is my first letter to YOUNG PEOPLE. Mamma gave the paper to me for a birthday present, and papa gave me a pony. One of my playmates and myself mount him, and we make him lope as fast as ever he can. Mamma took me not long ago to the Blue Lick Spring. When she told me I was going I was perfectly delighted. My cousin and I got a whole lot of very beautiful stones there. I am nine years old, and read in the Fourth Reader, and study arithmetic, spelling, and geography.

SAMMIE M. G.

Is it not almost too much for that willing little pony to carry two boys at once? It would be a better way to take turns, and let one ride at a time, especially as you love to go so very fast.

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CHESLEY PLACE, SLICKAWAY, KENTUCKY.

I thought I would write and tell that little girl who wanted to know some games how we play out here in Kentucky. We have great fun hiding the switch, and the one who finds it chases the rest till we touch base, which is a big tree. We go wading in the creek, and Paul has a ferry-boat, like those which ply between New York and Jersey City, only ever so much smaller. It holds nothing but our wee dolls for passengers, and the animals in Noah's ark. We play hide-and-seek with our dolls, and Nina and I take them out riding in their carriages. Nurse walks along with baby Lucy in her carriage, and Paul on his velocipede goes in front, and so we have a grand procession. We have our own little gardens, and raise vegetables, which we sell to mamma.

When I read Fairley C.'s letter it seemed as if she were talking about me, for I have two little sisters and one brother, and I too am nine years old. We love our home in the country, and if I were not so tired, I could tell you of more things we do.

CICELY DE G. MCC.

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WILLOW CREEK, CLAY COUNTY, IOWA.

I am thirteen years of age, and live in the north-western part of Iowa, on the big prairies. I live on a farm, and we have eleven head of horses and thirty-three head of cattle. We milk six cows this summer. I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE since March 22, 1881, and it is the best paper for young readers I ever saw. I liked all I read of "Toby Tyler" very much, but I did not take the paper at the time the story began, and so I had to imagine that part. The Post-office Box is splendid. It gives us a chance to hear from young people all over the world.

L. A. U.

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OSBORN, GREEN COUNTY, OHIO.

I am ten years old, and this is my first attempt at writing a letter to YOUNG PEOPLE. I am at home during vacation, and I scarcely know how to amuse myself. I read YOUNG PEOPLE with much pleasure, and when through with that I enjoy magnifying flowers. I have a small microscope. If you never looked through one, you have no idea how beautiful some of the flowers are. I love to hear from the little letter-writers in our Post-office Box.

LORA L. L.

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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

I live with my cousin, and I go to school. We have a dog named Fergus. He likes to play with a ball, and if any one tries to take it from him, he growls. I like "The Cruise of the 'Ghost'" very much. I think it was a shame to kill Toby Tyler's Mr. Stubbs. We have a little garden at the end of our yard, and have had ripe strawberries and peas. I like the Post-office Box better than any other part of the paper.

CHARLES FRANCIS N.

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Please, Mr. Editor, would you mind publishing another letter from me? I have received so many letters and leaves that I am afraid I have not replied to every correspondent, for _several forgot to send their address_. Sadie H. was one of these. I hope I sent every one stamps enough; but having so many requests, I had to divide them as equally as I could.

GERTIE ROLIN, Redmyre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

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ELK CITY, KANSAS.

I was thirteen on the 5th of June. I have every number of the second volume of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE. The river has been rising here. Yesterday some people had hard work to get out of their houses, the flood rose so rapidly. I often wish that I lived on the sea-shore, so that I might get shells. We have none here.

MARY W.

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NEW YORK CITY.

About two weeks ago the other boy wrote you a letter saying that we were about to start a club named N. Y. S. and M. E. As you have not yet printed it, I wish you would not print it, for I did not know anything about it. He told me to sign my name on a piece of paper. That's how I came to sign it.

H. G.

Your postal card was something of a puzzle, as we have not received a letter from "the other boy." But we want to tell you, and every young reader, never to sign your name to any piece of writing that you have not read, and which you do not fully understand. A boy's name stands for himself, and signing it to any document pledges him to do what the document requires. A great many foolish and thoughtless grown persons get into trouble by doing this very thing. We wish the little girls would make a special note of this, and in fact it would be a good plan for you all to write out a resolution in this way, "I will never sign my name to a paper that I have not read," and then pin it fast to the pincushion, or tack it up over the mantel. It is very important to form the habit of being particular about this.

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QUINCY, ILLINOIS.

I have taken YOUNG PEOPLE since the first number. I don't know how I could do without it. I thought Toby Tyler was perfectly splendid. I was real sorry for him. I am twelve years old, and attend school, and am learning French and music. I take lessons in both of these studies at home, but next year I shall study German at school. I wrote once before, and my letter went into your waste-basket. I _hope_ this will not be treated so. I have a little pet dog. He is as cute as he can be. I will write some time and tell you some of his funny tricks. I have tried many of the receipts for candy, and they were splendid.

GRACIE.

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POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK.

I want to tell you about a parrot I have. He is a little more than a year old, and can talk a great deal. I have a black cat and a white one. The white puss is afraid of Polly, but the black one puts his paw through the wires of the cage, and taps the parrot's head. In return Polly gives him a bite, which makes him squeal. The name of the black cat is Heliogabalus. We call him Heli for short.

ADÈLE I.

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LA CRESCENT, HOUSTON COUNTY, MINNESOTA.

My aunt Abbie sent HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE to my brother Aaron for a Christmas gift. I think "Toby Tyler" was real nice. I have written twice before, and sent a charade, but I suppose that there were so many other letters that mine could not find room. I have two sisters, Abbie and Fannie, and two brothers, Aaron and Warren. Warren is a baby. He had a twin brother, Willet, but he died when he was only five months old. I send an anagram, and will tell how to get the answer. First take a couplet or stanza of poetry, or some great man's name, and mix the letters up every way, and then let the reader arrange them so as to find out the verse or the name.

A. C. B.

Your little anagram is in the puzzle department.

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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

I like this paper so much that my little sister and I are always impatient for Friday to come, for on that day our friend YOUNG PEOPLE arrives. I don't think you ever saw the programme for a concert printed in raised letters, did you? Well, I attended a delightful concert where all who took part were pupils in our Institution for the Blind, except the organist and the lady who played the piano. The programmes were in raised letters, for the blind read by the sense of touch. The building is very complete, and quite large. The grounds are very spacious and beautiful. The pupils make the chairs and mattresses which are used in the institution. They print the books also, and the Superintendent makes the maps. Mr. H---- is very nice. He knows how to make boys happy. Kentucky is proud of this institution.

HENRY P.

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HOT CREEK, NEVADA.

I am a little girl, too small to read our paper when it comes, but grandma reads it to my brother Clayton and myself. She read "Toby Tyler" to us, and even papa was interested in it. We live in Belmont, Nevada, but are staying this summer at this place. It is a long narrow cañon several miles in length, almost all over green meadow, forming a strange contrast to the high rocky mountains. We have some boiling springs here, and you can see the hot water bubbling up to the surface from somewhere below--I often wonder where. We have plenty of Indians here, and I have a little pappoose to play with, who swings me in the hammock. I was born in San Francisco, but have lived most of my life in Nevada, and know nothing of the beautiful world beyond, except what mamma and grandma tell me, and what I see in pictures. You may know that we miss the papers terribly when they do not come, as sometimes happens. Mamma takes the MAGAZINE and BAZAR as well as YOUNG PEOPLE, which we all enjoy. I shall watch very anxiously to see whether you will print my little letter.

MINNIE H. W.

Some of our little correspondents are troubled because they do not see their letters in Our Post-office Box, and they express a fear lest they are lost or thrown into the waste-basket. Now, dear boys and girls, set your minds at rest. As we have already said, the editor does not own such a thing as a waste-basket for the Post-office Box. All the little letters are read, and those which can not be published are put away carefully, and your names and homes and little messages are remembered. If the Post-office Box should crowd out the stories and poems and beautiful pictures, and the doleful experiences of Jimmy Brown, you would not enjoy YOUNG PEOPLE nearly so much, would you?

We have told exchangers again and again that their requests can not be printed the next week after we receive them. They necessarily have to wait several weeks before they can be published. It is hardly a month since we said this the last time, yet some of you write as though you were quite vexed at our delay. Please be patient. And if you send your exchange a second or a third time before we can possibly print it, then be sure to say in your letter that you have sent it before.

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MARLBOROUGH, NEW YORK.

Some time ago, in your Post-office Box, I saw a letter from a little girl offering to exchange fifty stamps for an Indian arrow-head. I sent her a very nice one, and wrote at the same time; but I waited two weeks, and no stamps came. Then I wrote again, and asked her either to return the arrow-head or send the stamps. This was about two weeks ago, and I have heard nothing from her. What can I do in this case? It can not be because I have not sent my address, for I was very careful to put it on both letters. I did not think any child would be mean enough to keep anything without sending an equivalent; but I can see no other reason for it.

MARGARET NEILSON ARMSTRONG.

The little girl may be ill, or there may be illness in her family, or she may be absent from home. Nothing is more provoking than a delay of this kind, but we still think you will hear from her. After waiting a little longer, it will do no harm for you to write again.

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There is a picture of a baby sitting in an arm-chair, and under it is printed the word "Bashful," in YOUNG PEOPLE No. 86, page 532. Now when I got my paper I saw this picture. I was so surprised that I ran and showed it to mamma. Now I will tell you why. That picture is the born image of our little baby Edna, and when we all looked at it, mamma told me to write and tell you of it. She is two years old, her hair is curly, and that picture is a perfect likeness of her. She'll go through a dozen little tricks for a piece of "pu" (pie). Please print this for her sake, and perhaps she'll have a few kisses to spare when she goes to Franklin Square.

She often puts her hand on her eye when mamma brings her a bottle of medicine.

"CURLY HEAD."

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NORTHWOOD, IOWA.

I have a cousin who resides in Minneapolis, and she sailed on the 18th of June for Great Britain and the Continent. She takes the eighty days' tour, and will be on the Rhine one day. Next fall, when she returns, she will tell me about her trip; but if I had been a little older I could have gone with her, which would have been lovely. My monthly average at school last year was never below 94.

RUSH C. B.

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Please take notice that A. and A. B. Green, Jun., are not the same people; so when I send an exchange, and A. B. sends an exchange, they are not from the same person.

ASHBEL GREEN, JUN., Englewood, N. J.

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The following exchanges are offered by correspondents:

An old penny, for an Indian arrow-head or a Florida bean.

AMELIA BRINK, Marshall, Mich.

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A collection of ninety-five stamps (all foreign, some duplicates) in good condition, and a tiny piece of wood from the Mount of Olives, in exchange for a nice, clean sketch-book. Correspondents will please write and state size of book, etc.

EFFIE K. PRICE, Bellefontaine, Ohio.

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Minerals, for foreign stamps.

P. H. MAYER, 214 East Fifty-seventh St., New York City.

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French and English stamps, for flower seeds. Please send lists and exchange letters before the seeds are mailed.

ANNIE D. FERREE, 3514 Spring Garden St., Philadelphia, Penn.

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Petrified stones, and gypsum, for minerals, specimens of wood, and stamps from any country except England, Canada, or the United States.

HENRY HOLT, Lockport, N. Y.

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Two German stamps, for ten postmarks; also two French stamps, for ten postmarks.

B. L., Box 339, Newton, Mass.

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Minerals, fossils, ferns, and soil, for coins, stamps, postmarks, sand, ore, and ocean curiosities. Correspondents will please label specimens.

RUTH SARAH COLLIN, Mount Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa.

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Twelve foreign stamps, all different, for the United States issue of 1869, blue and brown, 15-cent; or twenty-five stamps, for the 24-cent, violet and green; and fifty stamps, for the same issue 90-cent, black and carmine. The stamps I offer are all different, some very rare--Japan, Egypt, Cape of Good Hope, Philippine Islands, etc.

HORACE F. HUTCHINSON, 55 Endicott St., Salem, Mass.

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Shadow pictures and foreign stamps, for curiosities suitable for a cabinet. Correspondents will please write before sending articles.

G. S. JENKS, 173 Lake St., Chicago, Ill.

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I wish to exchange a large and perfect Indian axe for a bound volume of HARPER'S WEEKLY, in good order, for 1872; a bound volume of _Leslie's Popular Monthly_, in perfect condition, for the first volume of _Uncivilized Races of the World_, sheep binding, and in fair order. Also the bound volumes of the _National Repository_ for 1879, for HARPER'S WEEKLY, bound, and in good order, for 1876. Please write me before sending books.

JASPER BLINES, Alexandria, Clark Co., Mo.

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My stock of star-fish is exhausted. Agates, sea-shells, and postmarks, for beetles and insects.

D. C. WYMAN, Eureka, Humboldt Co., Cal.

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Lead ore, for iron or gold ore, or white crystals. Crystals especially desired.

SUSIE HUNTINGTON, Sedalia, Pettis Co., Mo.

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The ears of the Jack or mule-eared rabbit, for second-hand boys' books, small biographies or natural histories. Abbot's _Life of Washington_ preferred.

C. R. LACY, Hutchins, Dallas Co., Texas.

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Chinese copper and Japanese silver coins, for any other foreign coins. I have three kinds of Japanese and five kinds of Chinese coins.

GEORGE C. CODDING, Petaluma, Sonoma Co., Cal.

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Fifty foreign stamps, for a triangular Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Cabool, Cashmere, Feejee, Philippine, Ceylon, Mauritius, Mozambique, Free Town, or 96-cent Hong-Kong, Central American, or Chinese or Japanese coins.

P. O. Box 138, Mamaroneck, Westchester Co., N. Y.

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The _Life of General Israel Putnam_ or _Sandford and Merton_, for an international postage stamp album that has been but little used.

HARRY WADLEIGH, Montoursville, Lycoming Co., Penn.

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A stone from Ohio, for one from any other State or Territory.

LYON CAUGHEY, Seville, Medina Co., Ohio.

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Postmarks, for newspapers. Fifteen postmarks, all fine, no duplicates, select list, for one newspaper. Common list, twenty postmarks, for one newspaper.

W. E. DUNSETT, Norwood, Hamilton Co., Ohio.

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Foreign stamps and postmarks, for the same; and bluestone, used for telegraph batteries, for a three-cornered Cape of Good Hope stamp or petrified wood.

FRED H. W. SOUTHEIMER, 121 West Forty-first St., New York City.

[_For other exchanges, see third page of cover._]

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N. K. C.--It is not a good plan to have too many irons in the fire at once, and so we think it best to postpone your plan until cooler weather.

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C. H. B.--Your enigma is a good one, but it came too late for use this year.

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RALEIGH.--"Art is long, and time is fleeting." There are a great many departments in art, and very many artists are known for conscientious and beautiful work; but if we were to name a single one in either hemisphere as the greatest, we would be unjust to a host of others.

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EMILIE.--It is not a _nom de plume_.

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BICYCLING.

C. A. PERLEY AND ALVAH S. HUBBARD.--Your questions are answered by the advertisements on the last page of the cover.

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GUY H. WOOD.--A Horsman bicycle, No. 15, diameter of front wheel thirty-six inches, and costing $25, will probably suit you.

FRANK RIGGS.--A _good_ bicycle for a boy of your size can not be bought for the sum you name. A bicycle to fit you should have a front wheel of forty-two inches in diameter. Read the advertisements on the cover of YOUNG PEOPLE, send to the addresses given for circulars and for addresses of Chicago agents, from whom you can gain all desired information.

WILLIE CHAPMAN.--Go to 791 Fifth Avenue, New York city, and there you will probably find the "excellent bicycle" for which you inquire.

FRANCES DUNHAM.--I do not know of a good tricycle for young girls. The only one made in this country that would suit a girl of nine years is advertised in YOUNG PEOPLE No. 87, and I fear that with this machine it would be impossible to ride any distance over country roads, as it is only intended for pavements or smooth walks. Very light and beautiful tricycles are made in England for girls of fifteen years of age and upward; but none are manufactured in this country.

Most of the inquiries received thus far have been for cheap bicycles, and where to obtain them. To these the answer is, there are no _cheap_ bicycles. All good bicycles are expensive, and a poor bicycle is dear at any price. Small bicycles, with wooden spokes and rims, are just as good to learn to ride on as the best that are made, and on a smooth level surface they can be made to work very nicely. As the rider grows older, and gains experience, he naturally desires a better machine, and then he finds that instead of from $10 to $20, the cost of a machine such as he wants is from $50 to $100. This he regards as an imposition, and at once begins a search for cheaper bicycles. But he will not find them at present, nor for some time to come. For this there are several reasons. One is that all existing bicycle patents in this country have been acquired by one firm, which therefore enjoys a monopoly. Another reason is that the bicycle is still something new, and the sale for it is comparatively small, so that the manufacturer must make large profits to balance small sales. Then, too, the machinery for making bicycles is very expensive, the material used in making them must be the best, and the workmanship upon them the most skilled. All these things combine to make the bicycle an expensive luxury, and such it will always remain, though in course of time prices will be much less than they are now.

"THE CAPTAIN."

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Correct answers to puzzles have been received from _A. E. Cressingham_, "School-Boy," _Bennie Stockwell_, Emilie Douglass, Willie D. Grier, Day Z., Robert N. Fuller, and Jemima Beeston.

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PUZZLES FROM YOUNG CONTRIBUTORS.

No. 1.

DIAMONDS.