these “jumpers” as they are facetiously called, are not shrimps, but sea-fleas, and they possess the elasticity for which their namesakes are so remarkable.  They are as different as possible from young shrimps; and if “old shrimps” could “tell tales,” I doubt not but that on inquiring of them, they would tell their “companions at breakfast table” the same thing.  Your correspondent further adds, that “strange stories are told of the old shrimp,” and I think, on investigation, he will find that he has told a very “strange story” of young shrimps.  In a future communication I will give you a correct account or history of the shrimp, (if it be acceptable,) from the time when it is first spawned until it arrives at perfection.

H.W.

(To the Editor.)

Vyvyan has not in his Notes named any county but South Wales, generally, where he says, “Any person who can enclose a portion of land around his cottage or otherwise, in one night, becomes owner thereof in fee.”  These persons in Wales are called Encroachers, and are liable to have ejectments served upon them by the Lord of the Manor, (which is often the case) to recover possession.  The majority of the Encroachers pay a nominal yearly rent to the Lord of the Manor for allowing them to occupy the land.  If they possess these encroachments for sixty years without any interruption, or paying rent, then they become possessed of the same.  It is usual to present the Encroachments at a Court Leet held for the manor, and upon perambulating the manor, which is generally done every three or four years, these encroachments are thrown out again to the waste or common.

J.P.

*** We readily insert these corrections of Vyvyan’s “Notes,” especially as we believe our readers to take considerable interest in their accuracy.

* * * * *

THE SKETCH-BOOK.

MY FIRE.

(For the Mirror.)

On new year’s morning, soon after daybreak, I entered my study, which is a little room some eight feet square, and from a wayward fancy of my own, closely resembles the cell of an alchymist.  Its walls are hung with black drapery, on which appear the mystical signs of the planetary bodies, Hebrew, Persian, and various cabalistic characters, the dark enigmas of the work of transmutation, and the invocations or prayers for success employed by the alchymist.  Here and there pieces of their quaint and uncouth shaped apparatus, the aludel, the alembic, and the alkaner, the pelican, the crucible, and the water-bath, occupy their respective stations.  The clumsy, heavy, oaken table in the centre is covered with copies of scarce and valuable alchymical tracts, in company with the caput mortum and the hour-glass.  A few antiques, consisting of half-a-dozen cloth-yard arrows, the stout yew bow of the green clad yeoman, the ponderous mace and helmet of the valiant knight, and other relics of the days of chivalry, complete the decorations of this my sanctum.