{"AIPUUID":[{"label":"AIP UUID","value":"a5dd9621-7669-4e4d-886e-c29e7e4b0b9d","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/terms#identifierAIP","classmap":"oc:DigitalPreservation","property":"oc:identifierAIP"},"iri":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/terms#identifierAIP","explain":"UBC Open Collections Metadata Components; Local Field; Refers to the Archival Information Package identifier generated by Archivematica. This serves as a link between CONTENTdm and Archivematica."}],"AggregatedSourceRepository":[{"label":"Aggregated Source Repository","value":"CONTENTdm","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/dataProvider","classmap":"ore:Aggregation","property":"edm:dataProvider"},"iri":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/dataProvider","explain":"A Europeana Data Model Property; The name or identifier of the organization who contributes data indirectly to an aggregation service (e.g. Europeana)"}],"CatalogueRecord":[{"label":"Catalogue Record","value":"http:\/\/resolve.library.ubc.ca\/cgi-bin\/catsearch?bid=20368","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isReferencedBy","classmap":"edm:ProvidedCHO","property":"dcterms:isReferencedBy"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isReferencedBy","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; A related resource that references, cites, or otherwise points to the described resource."}],"Collection":[{"label":"Collection","value":"British Columbia Historical Books Collection","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isPartOf","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:isPartOf"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isPartOf","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included."}],"Creator":[{"label":"Creator","value":"Bates, Henry Walter, 1825-1892","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/creator","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:creator"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/creator","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; An entity primarily responsible for making the resource.; Examples of a Contributor include a person, an organization, or a service."}],"DateAvailable":[{"label":"Date Available","value":"2016-05-05","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","classmap":"edm:WebResource","property":"dcterms:issued"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; Date of formal issuance (e.g., publication) of the resource."}],"DateIssued":[{"label":"Date Issued","value":"1869","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","classmap":"oc:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:issued"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/issued","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; Date of formal issuance (e.g., publication) of the resource."}],"Description":[{"label":"Description","value":"\"Comprised of articles which first appeared in monthly parts.\" -- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 38.","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/description","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:description"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/description","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; An account of the resource.; Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, a table of contents, a graphical representation, or a free-text account of the resource."}],"DigitalResourceOriginalRecord":[{"label":"Digital Resource Original Record","value":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/collections\/bcbooks\/items\/1.0222413\/source.json","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/aggregatedCHO","classmap":"ore:Aggregation","property":"edm:aggregatedCHO"},"iri":"http:\/\/www.europeana.eu\/schemas\/edm\/aggregatedCHO","explain":"A Europeana Data Model Property; The identifier of the source object, e.g. the Mona Lisa itself. This could be a full linked open date URI or an internal identifier"}],"Extent":[{"label":"Extent","value":"viii, 376 pages : illustrations, maps ; 33 cm","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/extent","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:extent"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/extent","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; The size or duration of the resource."}],"FileFormat":[{"label":"File Format","value":"application\/pdf","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/elements\/1.1\/format","classmap":"edm:WebResource","property":"dc:format"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/elements\/1.1\/format","explain":"A Dublin Core Elements Property; The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource.; Examples of dimensions include size and duration. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as the list of Internet Media Types [MIME]."}],"FullText":[{"label":"Full Text","value":"    THE LIBRARY\nTHE UNIVERSITY OF\nBRITISH COLUMBIA\nGIFT\nH.R. MacMillan\nESTATE    MENDICANT   DERVISHES   OF   CENTRAL   ASIA. VI\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS:\nA  RECORD  OF\nDiscovery,  Geography, and Adventure.\nEDITED   BY\nH.    W.    BATES,\nASSISTANT-SECRETARY    OF    THE    ROYAL     GEOGRAPHICAL    SOCIETY.\nWITH\nENGRAVINGS   FROM   ORIGINAL   DRAWINGS\nBY   CELEBRATED   ARTISTS.\nCASSELL PETTER & GALPIN\nLONDON,    PARIS    &    NEW   YORK.  CONTENTS.\nAcross Siam to Cambodia.   By J. Thomson, F.R.G.S. ....\nAt an Australian Corobeorey.   By J. A. Skertchly ....\nAustralian Search Party.   By Charles Henry Eden\nBoat Cruise in Greenland.   By Captain J. E. Davis, R.N.    ....\nCity and Valley of Quito, and the Quitonians, The      ....\nCoronation of the Zulu King Cetywayo       .....\nErnest Giles' Discoveries in Central Australia .\nFiji Islands.   By W. C. Mtchell        \u2022 . .\nForsyth's Mission to the Ameer of KAshgar      .....\nFortnight among the Dolomites      ...\nFrom End to End of Stromoe.   By Lieutenant Von V\t\nGovernment Expedition round the World, The.   By Captain J. E. Davis, R.N.\nIn the Colorado Country .....\u2022\u2022\u2022\u25a0 i58> 232\nIsland of Minicoy   . \u00b0. .....\u2022\u2022\u2022 \u2022 I9\u00b0\nKashmir . .......\u2022\u2022\u2022 235, 289\nKhanate of Khiva   . . . . . \u2022 \u2022 - \u2022 - .61\nLahore and Amritsir, the Capitals of Runjeet Singh    ...... i35> l61\nLast Journey and Death of Dr. Livingstone ....... 191\nLeaves from my Journal of the \"Fox's\" Telegraphic Voyage.   By Captain J. E. Davis, R.N.     207, 254, 264, 311\n\"Long Tom\" Gold-washing   .....\u2022\u2022\u2022'\u2022 j79\nMid-winter Journey from Reikiavik to Kreisuvig . . \u2022 \u2022 < \u2022 -33\nMountains and Valleys of Virginia.   By Professor D. T. Ansted, M.A., F.R.S. . . .   297, y&\nNotes of a Naturalist in Burmah . . \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 .165\nNotes on the Ancient Cities of Persia        ._ . \u2022 \u2022 \u25a0 \u2022 ? .257\nNotes of Travel in the Interior of Japan.   By \" Monta \" . - \u2022 22, 44, 73, CONTENTS.\nPuget Sound, and the Northern Pacific Railroad.   By Edmund T Coleman\nRambles in Rome.   By A. Cust, M.A.       . . .\nRide from Gondar to Galabat, Abyssinia.   By E. A. De Cosson, F.R.G.S.\n.    283, 300, 326, 353\n183, 199, 225, 279, 345\n321\nSENEGAMBIA; WITH AN ACCOUNT OF  RECENT  FRENCH   OPERATIONS  IN   WEST AFRICA.     By   LIEUTENANT  C.   R. LOW,\n(late) H.M. Indian Navy .... 5,57,81,112,129,168,193,242,267,309,339,360\nSouth African Recollections.   By an old Colonist\nSouth African \"Tiger\" Hunt.   By A South African Colonist\nThird-class Passenger's Journey across America.   By Edmund T. Coleman\nTragedy of Mitiaro, in the South Sea Islands . .\n\"Trekking\" and Hunting in South Africa        ....\nTrip to Livonia and Back     ......\nVictorian Aborigines.   By James Bonwick, F.R.G.S.\nVisit to Nuremberg ......\nVisit to the Borders of Ashantee.   By J. A. Skertchly  .\n\u2022 334\n118\n.     89\n149\n\u2022 1,38\n65, 100, 145\n.   151\n98\n.     14 LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS.\nAustralian Search Party-\nBay on Hinchinbrook Island, with Natives\nSatin Bower-Birds .\nEscape of the Black Fellow\nGroup of Kangaroos\nNative Australian .\nAustralian Grave .\nAustralians in Camp\nKangaroo .\nOrnithorhynchus paradoxus\nBoat Cruise in Greenland\u2014\nNear Frederickshaab\nGreenlanders .\n28\n29\n52\n56\n156\ni57\n276\n277\n277\n176\n177\nCity and Valley of Quito, and the Quitonians, The\u2014\nStreet View in Quito 293\nInterior of the Cathedral of Quito     .      .      .   296\nCoronation of the Zulu King Cetywayo\u2014\nThe Rival Isimbongi, or Court Flatterers\n189\nFiji Islands\u2014\nFiji Types 212\nA Fijian Dance 213\nFortnight among the Dolomites-\nEarth Pillars near Botzen\nView in the Tyrol ,\n121\n125\nGovernment Expedition round the World\u2014\nMap of the Voyage of the \"Challenger\"\nBrazilian Negress and Child\nMarket Woman of Bahia    ....\nIn the Colorado Country-\nUte Chief\t\nCanon Scenery in Colorado\nKashmir\u2014\nMountaineer of Kashmir\nHouses at Srinwggur    ....\nAncient Temple in Kashmir\nBridge at Srinuggur     ....\nIndian Princes, from Native Portraits\n160\n233\n236\n237\n241\n289\n292\nLahore and Amritsir, the Capitals of Runjeet Singh-\nTemple at Amritsir 137\nTomb of Runjeet Singh, Lahore       .      .      .      .161\nRunjeet Singh 164\nLeaves  from  my   Journal  of  the \"Fox's\"  Telegraphic Voyage\u2014\nAn Old Esquimaux ....\nGreenland Family ....\nAlongside the Greenland Kyaks\nEsquimaux \t\nWinter Quarters   ....\nA Greenland Lake ....\nGroup of Esquimaux Women and Children\nAn Iceland Farm\t\n208\n209\n256\n264\n265\n312\n3'3\n3i7\n\"Long Tom\" Gold-washing\u2014\n\" Long Tom \" at Work 181\nMendicant Dervishes of Central Asia      .     Frontispiece\nMid-winter Journey from Reikiavik to Kreisuvig\u2014\nBringing a Corpse to Reikiavik\nFuneral in Reikiavik\t\nInterior of Kreisuvig Church, Iceland .\n33\n36\n37\nMountains and Valleys of Virginia-\nMining in the East      .\nA Western Settlement\nNotes of a Naturalist in Burmah\u2014\nBurmese Nobles      ....\n368\n369\n165\nNotes on the Ancient Cities of Persia-\nPersian Dignitary  257\nTypes of Modern Persians  260\nPersian Interior  261\nNotes of Travel in the Interior of Japan-\nPilgrims to Fuji-no-yama\nCrossing a River .\nA Wayside Inn .\nJapanese Musicians.\nA Japanese Girl Playing on the Koto\nBoy-Tumblers and Street-Life in Yedo\nA Canal in the Mercantile Part of Yedo\nA Lady Travelling\nStraw-Shoe Shop .\nA Native Postman .\nTypes of the Shopkeeper Class .\nShopkeeper ....\nThe Tycoon's Guards .\nReligious Procession in Yedo\nShop in Yedo ....\nStreet Mountebanks in Yedo\nThe American Legation at Yedo\nStreet Scene ....\nCourt of Justice\nDomestic Scene in a Daimio's House\n24\n25\n45\n48\n73\nI\n77\n108\n108\n109\n140\n141\n144\n217\n220\n221\n248\n249\n252\n253 VUl\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\nPuget Sound, and the Northern Pacific Railroad-\nThe Lumber-Trade on the Pacific   .\nA Railway Terminus in the North-West\nGroup of Indians\t\nIndian Costumes\t\nSeattle     \t\nIndians of Oregon\t\nGroup of Cheyenne Indians\t\nSan-i-wah in War Costume\t\nA Family Group about to Settle .\nNew Settlement in the North-west\nBackwoodsmen and Indians ......\nA Street in Seattle\t\nA Settlement in Washington Territory\nView on Puget Sound\t\nRambles in Rome\u2014\nPorto Maggiore, Rome\t\nThe Church of St. John and St. Paul, Rome\nStaircase of the Senatorial Palace\nCalidarium of the Baths of Caracalla\nFront of the Portico of Octavia\nA Game of Bowls in Rome  .\nMarket in Rome\t\nThe Villa Pamphili-Doria, near Rome\nThe Pope at the Statue of-St. Peter\nTomb of St. Cecilia      ....\nInterior of St. Clement's Church   .\nThe Violinist of Raphael   .\nRoman Priests\t\nThe Peschiera Vecchia, Rome    .\nRide from Gondar to Galabat, Abyssinia\u2014\nAbyssinian Priest and Monk\n284\n285\n288\n300\n301\n3\u00b04\n3\u00b05\n308\n328\n329\n333\n353\n356\n357\n184\n185\n200\n201\n204\n205\n225\n228\n229\n280\n281\n345\n348\n349\nAbyssinian Ferry\nSenegambia ; with  an Account of Recent French\nOperations in West Africa\u2014\nD'jallonke. Sori Ibrahima.   Pure-blooded Foulah\nA Fan Palm     \t\nPortrait of the Almamy Oumar\nM. Mage\t\nDagana, on the Senegal River .\nSor, on the Mouth of the Senegal River\nFrench Settlement on the Senegal River\nCivilised Negroes of Goree\nGroup of Women of Senegal\nNegroes of Senegambia\t\nBlind man of Senegambia ....\nCreole Lady of Senegal and her Servant\nFalls on the Upper Senegal\nView on the Senegal \t\nA Marabout\t\nA Porter of Senegambia     ....\nMoors of Western Africa .\nGroup of Mohammedans of Western Africa\n321\n325\n5\n8\n9\n13\n57\n60\n81\n84\n85\n88\n112\n113\n117\n129\n132\n133\n168\n169\nSenegambia ; with an Account of Recent French\nOperations in West Africa-continued\u2014\nOn the Upper Senegal\nWomen of Elmina .\nNegro Porters.\nNegro Minstrel\nHouse at Segou\nNegro Child\u2014Senegal\nHouse at Segou\nNative Types\u2014Senegal\nAssault on the Fort of Dina\nFerry over the Upper Niger\nWomen of Senegal.\nFort Bakel,     ....\nCombat and Deliverance of Medina\nEntrance of the Palace at Segou\nNegro Pilgrims      ....\nWest African Types\nSouth African Recollections\u2014\nBush-Hunting\t\nKafir\t\nNative of the Mozambique Coast\n172\n172\n193\n196\n197\n244\n245\n268\n269\n273\n309\n34o\n34i\n344\n361\n36S\n336\n337\n337\nThird-class Passenger's Journey across America\u2014\nBaptism among the Mormons  89\nA Town on the Plains  93\nTragedy of Mitiaro, in the South Sea Islands\u2014\nNative of Tahiti  149\nA Sandwich Islander  149\n\"Trekking\" and Hunting in South Africa-\nDriving Game  1\n\u25a0 A Favourite in Danger  4\nThe Last Struggle  40\nFemale Elephant Protecting her Young      .      . 41\nTrip to Livonia and Back-\nLettish Farmhouse  65\nPeasant Woman of Livonia .      ...      .       .68\nRussian Railway Station  69\nLivonian Peasant Boy  .  72\nLivonian Peasant  100\nLady of Riga  ior\nLivonian Landscape  104\nArchimandrite of a Russian Convent     .      . 105\nRussian Sentinel at Riga  145\nRussian Devotees, Riga  148\nVisit to the Borders of Ashantee\u2014\nAshantee Belles  16\nVisit to Nuremberg\u2014\nThe Schonebrunnen at Nuremberg .\n97 ILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS\nA  RECORD  05\nDISCOVERY,    GEOGRAPHY,   AND   ADVENTURE.\nDRIVING game.\nTrekking\"  and Hunting in South  Africa.\nProbably there is no portion of the world which can hold\nout stronger inducements to the traveller and sportsman than\nSouthern Africa: the pleasures of travelling through and exploring the wide extent of land, almost, or often utterly, untrodden by the foot of the white man; the varying and often\nbeautiful scenery; the wild and sometimes formidable nature of\nthe game pursued by the hunter; and a climate, in the healthful\ndistricts, unexceptionally lovely, almost invariably tend to create\nmost pleasant recollections in the minds of those men who\nhave enjoyed either a hunting or a travelling trip in the wilder\nregions of South Africa, and nothing is more common than to\nhear the ex-settler, hunter, or traveller expressing a strong wish\nto again visit the sunny land he has left, and facing a heat,\nno doubt at times unpleasantly intense, to enjoy once more a\nIre untrammelled by many of the strict requirements of the\ncivilisation of our crowded English towns.\nA traveller or sportsman,  of course, sets forth upon an\n241\nexpedition with the full knowledge that he will have many\nhardships, privations, and difficulties to endure arid battle with ;\nvarious ailments may attack and destroy, or for a long time\nincapacitate for work the oxen which 'draw the wagon that\nforms his house, his store-house, his armoury, and magazine;\nthese same patient, much-enduring oxen (South African camels,\nas I have heard them not inaptly called) are sometimes given\nto wandering away on their own devices, perhaps starting off\nduring the still hours of the night, when all hands in camp are\novercome by sleep. The deadly South African horse-sickness may\ncarry off, frequently almost without premonitory symptoms, the\nhorses which the sportsman has so carefully selected, and which\nhe has relied upon co play so important a part in his hunting\nadventures, in a district where the purchase of fresh animals,\neven of the most inferior description, is an impossibility,\nshould the traveller be compelled to \" trek \" through the \" fly\ncountry.\"    During certain seasons of the year he runs much ILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nrisk of losing his whole span of oxen, as also his horses,\nby the virulent bite of an inoffensive-looking little insect not\nmuch exceeding the common house-fly in dimensions, the\ndreaded \" tsetse fly.\" All these contingencies may arise during\na long trek, to say nothing of troubles and inconveniences,\nsuch as being detained for days together upon the banks of\na swollen river, or several days of travelling over a country\ntrying to the cattle, and where the gun cannot be made to\nprovide meat for the dogs, much less to keep the larder\nproperly furnished, and the exposure to all kinds of weather,\nwith no other place of refuge than a wagon, a tent, or at best\na Kafir hut.\n' But, notwithstanding all its drawbacks and inconveniences,\nthere are few men who have been in South Africa, but who\nwill admit that the free open-air life of the hunter has many\ncharms, and that, perhaps, after all, few pleasures can exceed\nor even equal the travelling freely over a country unknown,\nexcept from books or by hearsay. To the larger number of\nEuropeans, the various hunting adventures\u2014including the\ncareful stalking, and frequent wild gallops after some of the\nnoble game to be found in the more remote parts of\nthe country, the uncertainty of success from day to day, and\nthe occasional risks\u2014add zest to a sport sufficiently wild and\nattractive.\nThen, again, how pleasant are those few hours after\nsunset, when three or four kindred spirits, after a wholesome\nand abundant, though roughly-cooked meal, stretch their\nwearied limbs around the blazing and crackling log-fire,\nthough the steaming coffee is probably handed about in a\nhuge iron kettle, and imbibed from tin pannikins, inconveniently retentive of heat, or the \"hollands,\" reserved\nfor special occasions, is produced in the awkward-looking\nflat-sided flask, or \"square-rigger,\" in which it left the distillery in the country whose name it bears. Pipes are\nlighted, songs are sung, \" the laugh and jest prevail,\" and\u2014\nthough the conversation generally turns much upon hunting\nmatters, and the troublesome nature and many shortcomings\nof \"niggers\" in general, and of those accompanying the\nparty in particular\u2014a great deal is often said about the old\ncountry, so many thousands of miles away, and of those sojourning in it.\nBut I can hardly give a better idea of what an African\nhunting trip really is, than by giving a short sketch gathered\nfrom notes made in, and recollections of a country, which,\nuntil recently, I had learned to look upon as the land of my\nadoption. .\nTowards the close of the summer or wet season, that being\nsome time in the month   of March, Y    and  I   started\nupon our long-projected hunting-trip. A well-built wagon,\nalready seasoned and tested by one rather long trek, was\nprocured, and a span of fourteen good oxen (of the somewhat diminutive, but sturdy and active Zulu breed, generally\nconsidered the best adapted for standing all kinds of climate)\nneither too young nor too old for hard fagging work, and\nthoroughly inoculated, were after some little inquiry found and\npurchased, when nothing remained to be done, but to load\nup the wagon with such stores, arms, and ammunition as\nwould be requisite for the trip, not forgetting a certain quantity\nof goods by way of presents, for the purpose of-propitiating\nsuch of the native chiefs as held sway over districts favourable for huntiner.\nThe commissariat stores, of course, were not allowed to\nbe in such excess as to take up much of the valuable space\nin a wagon, which\u2014as well as being a vehicle for the transport\nof all impedimenta for a long journey\u2014was destined to afford\na sleeping apartment for the two travellers, who hoped to\nsupply the wants of themselves and followers with an\nabundant supply of fresh meat throughout the greater part\nof the trip. The guns taken were stout double-barrelled\nsmooth-bores, old and tried favourites with their owners, and\na couple of short-barrelled breech-loading rifles, convenient\nto carry on horseback, and loaded in a moment, after a litde\npractice, even when upon a horse going at a tolerably\nsmart pace.\nThe presents for the Kafir chiefs and Kafir headmen\n(ndunas) of districts, consisted of a number of gaudy-coloured\nwoollen blankets, and a few large sheath-knives of a tawdry\ndescription.\nPowder, shot, lead, and tin for casting bullets, were of\ncourse packed in sufficient quantities, and the wagon, after\nthe usual delays\u2014caused chiefly by the getting together of the\nmost trifling matters, which seem to be almost invariable occurrences when people are starting upon a journey of any kind\u2014\nwas at length started upon its heavy lumbering way. With our\nescort of chattering Kafirs, we were off to the inland border\nof the Zulu country, it having been determined to trek\nthrough the salubrious up-country portion of the territory\nof the Amazulu, before traversing the fine hunting-grounds of\nthe far less healthy territory of the Amatonga tribe.\nA couple of good, fast, serviceable riding-horses, with an\nextra horse, which had been bought at a price that his\nappearance would have hardly warranted\u2014but whose value was\nmuch enhanced by the fact of his having been at one period\nof his life attacked by the virulent South African horse-sickness,\nwhich he contrived to survive, arid was consequently considered to enjoy an immunity from that fell disease for the\nremaining term of his life\u2014completed the stud.\nFour or five dogs, not by any means remarkable for their\nhandsome appearance, good dogs not being always to be procured in South Africa, accompanied the wagon.   Some days after\nthe wagon had set forth, Y and I saddled up and started\nfor the border, where the river Tugela, though so far distant\nfrom the sea, is still a fine broad stream. Riding easily, and\ntaking their meals, and sleeping at such hotels or houses as\ncame in their way, the evening of the third day of our journeying found them encamped with their wagon upon the river\nbank, and before the sun had climbed to any considerable\nheight, they were trekking through the rugged, upland domains\nof King Umpanda.*\nAt the first spot selected for an | outspanning,\" one of the\nKafirs, having been to the river to fill the kettle, returns with\nthe information that he has se&ninyoka inculu (a great snake),\nstretching out his arms and drawling out the word signifying great\n{in-cu-lu\\ to convey an idea of the reptile's enormous dimensions.\nBeing asked what kind of snake he had seen, he replies inhhiti\n(python). Upon this news, both Y and I and all the Kafirs\nimmediately take up guns, assegais, and knobkerries, and\nhasten to the spot, where we find a python coiled among\na quantity of rough rock and long grass, his head resting\nupon a large flat stone, his forked tongue darting in and out as\n* Umpanda, the chief or king of the Zulu tribe, has recently died, and\nhis son Cetywayo has, as was anticipated, been crowned king in his stead. 'TREKKING\" AND  HUNTING IN SOUTH AFRICA.\nit basks in the hot sunlight, unconscious of the approach\nof its enemies. A knobkerrie is immediately hurled, and,\nwhistling through the air, comes down upon the stone,\nmissing the reptile's head by about an inch, and striking the\nstone with a crash which would have shivered the missile to\nfragments, had it not been made of the toughest wood to be found\nin the African bush. The python upon this commenced a series\nof movements, evidently endeavouring to conceal himself among\nthe rank grass and rocks | but, though he contrived to keep his\nhead out of view, a portion of his lengthy body Was frequently\nto be seen undulating among the herbage, and through one of\nthese coils an assegai was soon thrust. The serpent immediately raised its head, with extended jaws, and the Kafir who\nhas transfixed him makes a tremendous leap from the spot. The\nwhite men were unwilling to fire, not wishing to damage, more\nthan could be avoided, the handsome skin of the reptile in the\nmanner in which a heavy charge of buckshot, fired at close\nquarters, must have done. An assegai was therefore hurled by\na Kafir, which, passing through the neck of the python, caused\nhim, after some hard struggling, to sink his head to earth,\nwhen, by repeated blows along the spine, he was reduced to a\nstate of quiescence, though, even when the fiery looks had died\nout from the eyes, and the animal was apparently lifeless, the\nstrong muscular contractions of the long body caused the\nserpent to coil about among the naked limbs of the Kafirs,\nwho were engaged in depriving him. of his skin, in a manner\nanything but pleasant to behold. The skin was afterwards\nwell rubbed on the fleshy side with a few handfuls of ashes\nfrom the camp fire, and stretched in the sun to dry, previous\nto being rolled up and stowed away in the wagon.\nIn the open country of the Zulus we found, with the\nexception of a few large bustards (pauw) and a few small\nantelopes {dayker, reitbok, and rheybok), but little trace of any\nkind of game, until, having arrived at a district stated by\nour Kafir servants to be well stocked with game, and having,\nby means of presents, somewhat heavily \" tipped\" the petty\nchief thereof, we obtained his consent to hunt among some\nheavily-timbered hills and valleys, where the marks of buffaloes\nwere abundant. The country here was of such a nature as\nto render any attempt at driving the game hopeless. We\ntherefore started at early dawn with a number of natives for\nthe purpose of \" spooring \" or tracking the buffaloes into the\nrecesses of the bush, where they would probably be found\nresting during the heat of the day, and where it was intended\nto endeavour to stalk them.\nAfter a ride of some miles from the chief's kraal, we\ndismounted, and, consigning our horses to the care of a Kafir,\nwith directions to bring them to the same spot by sunset, at\nonce commenced, in company with the natives, our toilsome\nway through the bush, scrambling through valleys and over\nhills, among rough rock, dense woodland, full of creeping plants\narmed with sharp, hook-shaped thorns, occasionally coming\nupon open spaces and tracks, made by the large game, until the\nfirst footprints of the buffalo were discovered. On the \" spoor \"\nbeing taken up, both white men and natives had to proceed\nwith the greatest caution. Avoiding, as much as possible, the\nsounds caused by our footfall or the breaking of twigs, in fact,\nalmost holding our breath lest the wary quarry, hearing their\napproach, should start off at a pace which would, in such a\nrugged spot, soon leave any human hunters hopelessly in their\nwake.    Suddenly, while working our way through a portion of\nthe bush almost darkened by the overshadowing trees, sounds\nof heavy bodies moving on all sides were heard, as a troop of\nbuffaloes, in the midst of which, quite unexpectedly, Y and\nmyself found ourselves (though the Kafirs had stated their opinion\nthat the game were in the immediate vicinity), rose from their\nresting-places and commenced a general stampede, crashing\nthrough the forest with much noise.    Y fired into the first\nanimal he caught a glimpse of, a buffalo calf, smashing its\nshoulder-blade, and bringing it to the ground immediately, also\nbringing the buffalo cow, infuriated by the bellowing of her\noffspring, down upon himself in a headlong charge, which he\nhad barely time to avoid by springing on one side among some\nof the heavy timber. The buffalo, finding that she had missed\nher intended victim, halted, and turning herself, stood tossing\nher head and wrinkling up her nostrils as she snorted and\nsnuffed the air, endeavouring to ascertain the whereabouts of\nthe destroyers of her progeny, until a ball striking her in the\nshoulder, without breaking a bone, brought her again, charging\nmadly, to the spot from whence the flash of the gun had appeared. The flesh-wound she had received, and the frequent\nbellowing of her young, appeared to have perfectly maddened\nher, and she showed so much activity, and crashed through\nsuch obstacles\u2014slight to her tremendous strength and strong\nhide\u2014as thick undergrowth and tangled thorny plants with so\nmuch ease as to render the position of both white men and\nKafirs perilous in the extreme. The slightest movement gave\nher notice of our whereabouts, and was the signal for a\ncharge; when at last a ball, entering behind the shoulder,\npierced her vitals, and caused her to bite the dust, the countenances of some of the Kafirs were observed to have assumed\na peculiarly livid hue, and it was some moments before they\nregained their usual brown or ebony tint*\nThe young buffalo, an animal about half-grown, was, of\ncourse, very easily disposed of, after which some of the natives\nwere left to skin the game, and carry the meat to the kraal,\nnear which the wagon had been \" outspanned.\"\nThe rest of the day was consumed in a fruitless endeavour\nto come up again with the herd of buffaloes, and both ourselves\nand the Kafirs returned to camp thoroughly knocked up, but\nafter a supper of beef, cut from the carcase of the young\nbuffalo, which proved excellent, we were soon wrapped in deep\nslumber. A stay of several days was made in the neighbourhood of this buffalo-haunted bush, and after tremendous\nfagging, and by means of most careful spooring and stalking,\ntwo more buffaloes (bulls) were bagged, but were killed with\nmuch less danger to the hunters than the infuriated maternal\nanimal had been, for, when wounded, their chief efforts were\ndirected to keeping with the rapidly-retreating herd to which\nthey belonged, though one of them, after being brought to a\nstandstill by several bullets, made a terrific charge upon an\nadventurous Kafir who approached him, assegai in hand,\nlaughing and crying out that the buffalo was banigula (very sick).\nHowever, though the old bull came at his foe at a great pace,\nwith tail erect, and nose to the ground, it was his last effort, for.\nalmost as soon as he had passed the Kafir, who nimbly leapt\naside, his legs gave way under him, and he fell with a force\nwhich seemed to make the ground reverberate. Unable to rise,\nhe remained groaning heavily, and bleeding from mouth and\nnostrils until he received the coup de gr&ce.    While trekking\n* Kafirs, of the same race even, vary considerably in colour, some individuals being much darker than others. ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nthrough the open country, the hunters contrived to bag several\nof the large bustards which were found feeding upon the grass\nlands. The plan adopted for stalking these birds, which are very\nshy and wary, was to dismount from the saddle, and the sportsman, sheltering himself behind his horse, caused him to describe\na number of circles, gradually decreasing in circumference,\naround the spot where the birds were seeking their food, until\nthey were brought within range.\nAfter some weeks of slow trekking, and many erratic wanderings in search of game, during which time many of the smaller\nantelopes fell to the hunters' guns, we found ourselves in the\nregion of the Amatonga tribe.\nof stalking him, hanging the bridle of the horse over the limb\nof a tree: \"Mainstay\" being apt, when left to his own devices, to start off for a gallop on his own account.   Y , who\nhad to make a considerable detour in order to approach the\ngame unseen, found upon emerging from a deep gully that the\nrhinoceros was trotting off briskly in the direction of the spot\nwhere his horse was tethered, and, by dint of hard running,\narrived barely in time to stop the furious onslaught of the\nrhinoceros\u2014who charged the horse without a moment's hesitation, immediately upon seeing him\u2014by a lucky shot, which took\neffect in the neck. \" Mainstay \" reared and plunged until the\nbridle slipped, when it started off at a racing pace, and was not\nW\/-\\m& 'ftA\n'Bm\na favourite in danger.\nThe climate of Amatonga-land certainly cannot be considered a healthy one, though the abundance of game holds\nout,, a strong inducement to the sportsman. The Amatongas\nare not a warlike tribe, and keep no cattle, fearful of exciting\nthe cupidity of their more powerful neighbours. The women\nof this race are not remarkable for the strict chastity which\ndistinguishes those of the Zulu people. The huts of the\nAmatongas are rather more comfortably built than those of the\nZulus, and the maize bread is more carefully prepared, but\nthese are really the only particulars in which the Amatongas\ncan claim the slightest superiority over the Zulus, who invariably speak of them as \" dogs.\"\nIn this wild land, Y very nearly lost his favourite horse\n| Mainstay.\"    Early one morning, Y , having discovered a\nrhinoceros feeding upon the plain, dismounted for the purpose\nrecovered until nightfall. The rhinoceros, which appeared to be\nquite stupefied by the bullet lodged in his neck, and which had\nperhaps struck upon the vertebrae,, was easily dispatched.\nIn many parts of the bush the horns and bones of large\ngame were noticed, the remains, no doubt of animals which had\ndied from wounds, either inflicted by hunters or perhaps received in conflicts with their own kind, and whose relics had\nbeen dragged hither and thither by the hungry hyaenas and\njackals.\nMuch of the scenery in the land of the Amatonga tribe is\nvery beautiful, and the vegetation often luxuriant, as it generally is in unhealthy tropical or sub-tropical countries. I\nhave heard the natives assert that the water of the Amatonga\nrivers is unwholesome; but the limpid, briskly-flowing streams\nwould appear to belie this statement, and I believe that climate SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT  FRENCH  OPERATIONS IN WEST AFRICA.\nand miasma are the enemies which sometimes hasten travellers\nin this land to their graves.\nContinuing our journey towards the Portuguese settlement at Delagoa Bay, we fell in with several trading and\nsome hunting parties. The traders were engaged in bartering\ntheir goods for skins. Delagoa Bay is a small town inhabited\nby Portuguese, Amatongas, and mixed breeds ; many of the\nPortuguese are almost as bla.ck as the Kafirs, it seeming to be\na peculiarity of the Portuguese bred in tropical climates to\nbecome darker through each successive generation.    While\nY-\n\u2022 and I were in this neighbourhood, a large h\ne huntmg party\nwas organised, and several head of large game were slain,\nincluding a couple of elands, which appeared almost too fat to\nrun, and were shot down without much difficulty or the slightest\nresistance. Two specimens of the light-coloured rhinoceros\n(generally spoken of as the white rhinoceros) also allowed\nthemselves to be driven down to the very spot where the\ngunners were posted, when one of them fell, but not before\nmany a bullet had penetrated his thick hide, the remaining\none escaping, though wounded heavily, into some dense bush.\nsori ibrahima\nPURE-BLOODED foulah.\nSenegambia;  With an Account of Recent French Operations in West Africa.\nBY  LIEUTENANT  C.   R.   LOW,   (LATE)  H.M.   INDIAN  NAVY.\nTRAVELLERS IN SENEGAMBIA AND THE NEIGHBOURING NATIVE STATES.\nThe interest awakened by the warlike operations in which\nwe are engaged against the Ashantees, is calculated to draw\npublic attention, not only to the Gold Coast, the immediate\nscene of action, but to the other portions of the West Coast\nof Africa, and more particuiarly to those in which the military\nexperiences of other European nations may afford some insight into the difficulties peculiarly incidental to hostilities\nundertaken against the martial and savage races inhabiting\nthis interesting, but little known portion of the globe.\nEspecially is this true of the \" little wars\" undertaken by\nthe French, during the past fifteen years, against the African\ntribes whose territories are adjacent to their settlements in\nSenegambia.\nBefore proceeding to give an account of these operations,\nwhich is compiled from purely French sources,* it is necessary,\n* Revue Maritime et Coloniales for the years 1861-70; Revue Algeriennc\net Coloniale, 1859 ; Notice sur la Colonie du Sinigal et sur les Pays qui\nsonten Relation avec elle, par M. L. Faidherbe, colonel du genie, gouverneur\ndu Senegal, 1859.\nin order to make the narrative quite intelligible, and the references to places somewhat more suggestive than a mere\njumble of proper names, that we should give a re'sume' of the\nhistory of the French colonial possessions in Senegambia, together with a general description of these settlements and of\nthe African tribes whose territories have formed the arena of\nconflict.\nSenegal (or Saint Louis) situated on an island of the\nsame name, being the principal town of the French settlements on the West Coast,* the chief civil officer and commandant takes the title of governor from that city, the\nsecond most important fortress being Goree^ which has also\nplayed a somewhat prominent part during the wars of the\nlast century, between ourselves and its present possessors.\n* Senegal was captured by a British force under Commodore Keppel,\nin 1758, but was retaken by its former possessors in 1779. Once more-\nit fell into our hands in 1809, when we held it for eight years, but, soon\nafter, the Restoration, the British Government restored it to France. The\nMedusa, of which the wreck has so sad a notoriety, carried to Senegal,\nin 1817, the'functionaries and troops, to whom was delivered the charge\nof the island and its dependencies. ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nThere are also several forts along the banks of the river\nSenegal, and the French claim the coast-line as far as the\nSalum or Saloum River; as also Casamance or Casamanza,\nat the mouth of the river of the same name to the south of\nBathurst, the British settlement on the Gambia, a fort at the\nmouth of the Rio Nunez, and other places of less importance.\nAs the name implies, Senegambia is the district embraced\nbetween the rivers Senegal and Gambia, though the French\napply the term to the entire country, from the former river to\nSierra Leone. British geographers, however, consider the\nboundaries of Senegambia to be limited to the province under\nthe rule of our neighbours, and the adjacent parts of the\ninterior, which, though more or less under French influence,\nonly acknowledge the rule of independent African kings.\nThe chief rivers of Senegambia, in the more extended\nsense of the term, are the Senegal, Gambia, Casamanza, Geba,\nRio Grande, Rio Nunez, and Pongo. The region thus defined\nhas a length of about 400 miles, with a breadth of 300,\nthough the eastern limits of Senegambia are uncertain, as the\nupper course of the Bating or Black River, which is considered\nthe main branch of the Senegal, is known only at a few points.\nOne of the first to explore Senegambia was M. Adanson,\nwhose researches extended between the year 1749-54. On his\nreturn to France, he gave to the world an interesting account\nof his travels; and his contribution to our stock of knowledge\nregarding the natural history of the country is especially\nvaluable, and has been acknowledged by botanists. The French\nAcademy also marked their sense of the value of his labours by\nexpressing their high approbation of the work which he gave to\nthe world on his return to France ; and a copy of their decree\n\u2014dated 4th December, 1756\u2014appears in the preface to the\nbook signed by \" Grand Jean de Fouchy, perpetual Secretary of\nthe Royal Academy of Sciences.\"\nM. Adanson describes the island of Senegal as \" a bank of\nsand, about 1,150 fathoms in length, and 150 or 200 at the\nmost in breadth, and almost level with the   surface   of the\nwater.    It divides the river into two branches, one of which,\nto the eastward, is about 300 fathoms broad, and the other,\nwestward, near 200, with a considerable depth.    This island\nnotwithstanding its sterility,   was   inhabited  by upwards  of\n3,000 negroes, invited thither by the generosity of the whites,\ninto whose  service most of them had entered.    Here they\nhave erected houses or huts which occupy above one-half of\nthe ground.\"   The houses   he  describes are  made of reeds\nfastened close together, and supported by stakes driven into\nthe ground.    These stakes are from five to six feet high, and\nhave a round covering of straw of the same height, and terminating in a point.    Thus, each hut has only a ground floor, and\nis from ten to fifteen feet in diameter.    \" They have,\" he says\nI but one square door, very low, and many of them with a thres-\nh6ld raised a foot above the ground I so that, in going in, they\nmust   incline their bodies, and lift a leg up very high  an\nattitude not only ridiculous but disagreeable.     One or two\nbeds are frequently  sufficient for a whole   family, including\ndomestics, who lie pell-mell  along with  their   masters  and\nchildren.   There is a hurdle laid across pieces of wood, and\nsupported by small forks, a foot above the ground; over this\n\u2022 they throw a mat, which serves them for a mattress and bedclothes;  as to   pillows,   they have   none.     Their furniture\nis not very cumbersome, for it consists of only a few earthen\npots, a few calabashes or gourd-bottles, with wooden bowls,\nand the like utensils. All the huts belonging to the same\nperson are enclosed within a wall or palisade of reeds, about\nsix feet high, to which they give the name of \"tapade.\"\nThough the negroes observe very little symmetry in the situation of their houses, yet the French of the island of Senegal\nhave taught them to follow a certain uniformity in the size of\nthe tapade, which they have regulated in such a manner as\nto form a small town, with several streets drawn in a. direct\nline. These streets are not paved, and luckily there is no\noccasion for it, since they would be very much at a loss to\nfind the smallest pebble upwards of thirty leagues all round.\nThe inhabitants find a greater convenience in their sandy soil;\nfor, as it is very deep and soft, it serves them to sit upon, and\nis also their couch and bed.\"\nThe negroes of Senegal M. Adanson describes as \"the\nlikeliest men in all Negro-land. They are generally about\nmiddle size, well-shaped, and well-limbed. They are strong,\nrobust, and of a proper temperament for bearing fatigue.\nTheir hair is black, curly, downy, and extremely fine.\nTheir eyes are large and well-cut. They have very little beard;\ntheir features agreeable enough, and their skin the deepest\nblack. Their usual dress consists of a small piece of linen,\nwhich passes between their thighs, and the two ends being\nlifted up and folded, form a sort of drawers, which are\ntied with a fillet in front They have likewise a ' paan,' that\nis, a piece of calico made in the form of a large napkin, which\nthey throw carelessly over their shoulders, letting one end of\nit dangle against their knees. The women are much about\nthe same size and make as the men. Their skin is surprisingly\ndelicate and soft, their' mouth arid lips are small, and their\nfeatures very regular. They have a great share of vivacity,\nand a vast deal of freedom and ease, which renders them\nextremely agreeable. For their clothing they make use of\ntwo paans, one of which goes round their waist, hangs down\nto the knee, and supplies the place of an under petticoat; the\nother covers both their shoulders, and sometimes the head.\"\nProceeding up the Senegal, M. Adanson visited an encampment of Moors. The tents, he says, \"are all round\nin the form \u25a0 of a cone, and made of goat's and camel's hair,\nimpenetrable to the rain. They were ranged near to one\nanother in a circular form, each supported by a pole in the\nmiddle, and fixed all round with a thong-of ox-skin fastened\nto stakes about a foot from the ground. The inside of them\nwas hung with several rows of mats.\" These Moors lead\na wandering pastoral life, never remaining long fixed to\none spot; their flocks, in which consist their chief wealth,\noblige them to change quarters according as the season and\nthe extent and nature of the pasturage require. All over\nthe country in the neighbourhood of the encampment were\nflocks of oxen, sheep, and camels, which ranged about in\nfull liberty. The oxen he describes as larger and longer\nlegged than French cattle, though their chief peculiarity was\na hump, which rose a foot high between the shoulders.\nWhile the men looked after the cattle, the women were confined to their tents, Where they were employed in churning\nbutter, spinning, and attending to their children and domestic\nconcerns. He describes them as \"of an olive complexion,\nwith very regular features, and large sparkling eyes; their hair\nis long and plaited; some have it hanging down, and others\ntied up. They seemed to be well-made, though small, and a\ngreat deal more reserved than the negro women.    The men\nmmsbhbs SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT  FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN  WEST AFRICA.\nare not much taller than the negroes, but they differ in their\ncolour, which is red or a reddish-brown; in their hair, which\nis of a middling length, curled and much thicker; and\nespecially in their muscles, which appear more under then-\nskin. They have also a more meagre face, with less flesh,\nand their skin is not so smooth. The dress of both men\nand women consists of a long shirt of black linen, and a\npaan, with which the women cover their head and shoulders;\nthe men sometimes roll it about their bodies like a waistband, and sometimes round their heads, in imitation of a\nturban. The paan is not always black and made of cotton ;\nthere are a great many who wear it of white wool, and oftentimes edged with red. Their ordinary food is milk, either of cows,\ncamels, goats, or sheep, with millet ;* and often milk and gum\nis their sole repast, and serves them for meat and drink.\"\nAmong the products of the vegetable kingdom observed on\nthe banks of the Senegal, this eminent.botanist speaks of \"gum-\ntrees, a prodigious quantity of tamarisks, the shrub sesbari, and\na large species of sensitive plant, which the negroes call\nguerackiao, that is, 'good morrow,' because, say they, when you\ntouch it, or draw near to speak to it, the plant immediately\ninclines its leaves to. wish you, as it were, a good morrow, and\nto show that it is sensitive of the politeness done. Among herbs\nI took notice of the J^ussicea, chickweed, of a great many\nsorts of grass, of the Coldenia, and a small sensitive plant,\ninfinitely more delicate than any species I know.\" Of the\nmangroves he says, \" The largest of these trees are generally\nno more than fifty feet high; they grow only in the water, and\non the banks of rivers where the tide goes up twice a day.\nThey preserve the verdure of their leaves throughout the year,\nwhich may be said also of most of the trees of this country; but\nwhat renders them more remarkable, is the long roots, which,\nissuing out of their lowest branches, hang down to the water,\nand penetrate into the earth. Then they resemble so many\narcades, from five to ten feet high, which serve to support the\nbody of the tree, and even to advance it daily into the bed of\nthe river. These arcades are so close and intertwisted, that\nthey form a kind of natural and transparent terrace, raised\nwith such solidity over the water, that we might walk upon\nthem, were it not that the branches are too much encumbered\nwith leaves.\"\nM. Adanson proceeded up the Senegal to Podor, a factory\nbelonging to the French East India Company, distant about\n180 miles from Saint Louis. The river he describes as navigable\nthroughout, having a depth at the lowest ebb of from twenty to\nthirty feet. \" The sea water,\" he says, \" which flows generally no\nhigher than about fifteen leagues from the mouth of the river,\nhad reached upwards of double that distance. The tide is,\nhowever, observable at Podor, where it is visible by the rising\nof the fresh water, which is subject to the same vicissitudes of\ntide, but at less equal periods.\" He says, \" the highest flood\nwhich I measured on the banks of the sea near the island\nof Senegal is but two and a half feet in the great equinoctial\ntides. It seems, therefore, that the river from Podor to\nthe sea, that is, in a course of sixty leagues, has not an\ninclination of above two feet and a half; so that there is\nreason to believe that this entire tract of land, excepting\nthe sand-hills scattered here and there, forms a plain.exceedingly low and flat, and of such a level that if the sea were\n* The stalks of this millet are about eight feet high, and when sucked\ngive out a sweet juice.\nto rise everywhere alike, from twenty to thirty feet, the whole\ncountry would be overflowed.\" In the neighbourhood of the\nfort of Podor there are groves of beautiful tamarisks, red gum-\ntrees, and several other species of thorny acacia, the wood of\nwhich is extremely hard, and of great beauty. He also speaks\nof a tree called Moss, of a fine yellow texture, and so soft as\nto be preferable for joiner's work to any other species. But what\nmost struck the botanist was a calabash-tree, or baobab, of a\nvast girth, which he saw in the island of Sor, near Senegal.\nHe says, \"there was nothing extraordinary in its height,\nwhich was only about sixty feet, but its trunk was of prodigious\nthickness.    I extended my arms as wide as I possibly could,\nthirteen times, before I embraced its circumference, and for\ngreater exactness I measured it afterwards with packthread,\nand found it to be sixty-five feet, consequently the' diameter\nwas nearly twenty-two feet.    I do not believe that the like was\never seen in any other part of the world, and I am persuaded\nthat if our ancient geographers had been acquainted with this\ntree they would have added some surprising circumstances to\nits description.    It is very extraordinary that this tree should\nbe entirely forgotten by those who have given us the history of\nSenegal, especially as there is hardly any other so common in\nthis country.    Out of the trunk I have been describing, of\ntwenty-two feet in diameter, and from eight to twelve feet high,\nthere issued forth several branches, some of which extended\nthemselves horizontally, so that the ends of them reached the\nground; these, being the largest, were from forty-five to fifty-\nfive feet in length.    Each of those branches would have made\none of the largest trees in Europe; in short, the whole of this\ncalabash-tree seemed to form a forest in itself.    This was not\nall: the negro, my guide, led me to a second, which was sixty-\nthree feet in circumference, that is, twenty-one in diameter,\nand one of its roots, which had been for the most part laid\nbare by a neighbouring river, was no feet in length, without\nreckoning the part that lay hid under the water, and which I\ncould not uncover.    The same negro showed me a third, not\nvery far from thence, and moreover added that without going\nout of the island, I might see a great many more, not at all\ninferior to those in magnitude.\"*    But the powers of astonishment of the naturalist  were   exhausted, and he adds, \"My\nsurprise was then at an end, and, satisfied with seeing three,\nI got ready for the chase.\"\nM. Adanson recrossed to Senegal in one of the native\nboats or canoes, which he describes as \"made all of one\npiece of wood, that is, of the trunk of a tree cut into a\nhollow vessel, and very light. They are from ten to thirty fee'\nlong, from one to two feet in breadth and depth, and both ends\nterminate in a point. Mine was one of the largest. As soon\nas I got into it, my two negroes placed themselves at both extremities, one at the prow and the other at the stern. For my\npart I put myself in the middle, where I had no other seat but\na piece of wood laid across, which was fastened at both ends\ninto the sides of the canoe. My negroes had each a paddle in\ntheir hands; these are small flat boards laid across one another\nand fixed to the end of a stick, which they make use of for rowing. The negro at the prow was standing, and beating the\nwater behind him with his paddle, the other was seated, and\nsteered with his. As soon as we reached the opposite shore,\nthey drew'the canoe ashore.\"\n* Later on, he speaks of seeing two baobab-trees near  Cape Verde,\nmeasuring respectively seventy-four and seventy-seven feet in circumference. ILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nFrom Senegal M. Adanson proceeded to the island of\nGoree, which he describes as consisting \"of a low, narrow\npiece of land, and a small but very steep mountain, the whole\nabout half a mile in length. Notwithstanding its confined\nextent, the situation renders it a very agreeable place; towards\nthe south you enjoy a prospect terminated only by the sea, and\nnorthward you discern, at a distance, Cape Verde and neighbouring promontories. Though it is in the torrid zone, yet\nthey breathe a cool, temperate air almost\nthe whole year round, which is owing to\nthe equality of days and nights, and its\nbeing continually refreshed by alternate\nbreezes from the land and sea.\"\nFrom Goree, M. Adanson sailed to\nPortudal, situated about nine leagues to\nthe southward, where he was struck by\nthe variety of birds of beautiful plumage\nwith which the country abounded. While\nat Portudal the traveller witnessed the\nfuneral of a woman who had died within\ntwo hours after being bitten by a snake.\n| The first shriek was made, according to\ncustom, by one of the female relatives of\nthe deceased, before her door, which was\nvery near to mine. At this signal all the\nwomen in the village came out, and,\nsetting up a most terrible howl, they\nflocked about the place whence the first\nnoise had issued. This shocking noise\nlasted some hours, that is, till break of\nday; then the relations of the deceased,\ncoming into the hut, took hold of the hand\nof the corpse, and asked her several questions, which were followed by offers of\nadvice, but finding that there was no response, they withdrew, saying, ' Alas ! she\nis dead.' Her friends did the same, after\nwhich they interred her body in the\nground, and on each side they put an\nearthen pot, one full of water and the\nother of food, so that she might have\nnourishment in the event of her requiring\nit.\n\"When the burial was over, the cries and\nlamentations ceased, and that same evening all was changed from a scene of sorrow\ninto one of mirth. For three nights- all\nthe young people of the village gathered\ntogether in a large area, in the middle of\nwhich they lighted a great fire. The spectators formed . on each side, and at both ends were ranged\nthe dancers, who performed to the sound of two tambourines,\nkeeping time also with a song, in which the spectators joined.\"\nM. Adanson witnessed a flight of locusts, a curious spectacle, which those who have once seen will not soon forget;\nand in his narrative he expresses astonishment at the natives\nmaking this singular-looking insect an article of diet. He says,\nI Some pound them and boil them with milk, others only broil\nthem on the coals, and think them excellent food.\" The\nlocusts made their appearance like \"a thick cloud, which\ndarkened the air and deprived us of the rays of the sun.\"\nTHE  FAN   PALM.\nThey flew about 150 feet above the ground, covering an \u25a0\nextent of several leagues, and these voracious insects devoured\neverything green upon which they alighted. He describes\nthem as of \" a brown colour, of the breadth and length of\none's finger, and armed with two strong jaw-bones, dented like\na saw. Their wings were much longer than those of any\nlocusts I had ever seen before.\"\nIn one of his journeys, he came across and examined those\nsingular, mound-like dwellings of the ants,\nwhich, he says, he mistook \" al a distance\nfor an assemblage of negro huts, or a\nconsiderable village.\" He describes them\nas \" round pyramids, from eight to ten\nfeet high, upon nearly the same base,\nwith a smooth surface of rich clay, exceedingly hard and well-built. The inside is a labyrinth of little galleries, interwoven one with the other, and answering\nto a small opening which gives ingress\nand egress to the insects that inhabit it.\"\nM. Adanson accompanied the directors\nof the Wo French settlements at Senegal\nand Goree on a mission having for its\nobject the re-establishment of the French\nfactory of Albreda, situated on the Gambia,\nabout fifty miles to the southward of Goree.\nThe expedition\u2014which consisted of three\nvessels\u2014entered the Gambia on the 20th\nFebruary, 1750. While at Albreda they\nlived chiefly on fish, among them being\n\"soles, monstrous large rock-fish, and a\ngreat many tree-oysters, which abound in\nthat river. Here they have everything\nrequisite for their sustenance; the banks\nof the river being lined with mangroves,\nthey fasten to the roots thereof; and\nthe sea-water never loseth its saltness in\nthis spot. What is very extraordinary,\neverywhere else oysters are loosened\nfrom rocks, here they are gathered upon\ntrees. At low water they are left bare\nand seen hanging at their roots. This is\nwhat made some voyagers, who had seen\nthe like in America, affirm that they\nperched upon trees.\nI The negroes have not as much difficulty as one would imagine in\/gathering\nthem; they need only to cut off the\nbranch to which the oysters are fastened.\nA single root bears sometimes upwards\nof 200, and if it has several branches, it forms a cluster which\none man would find difficult to carry. The shells of these\noysters differ from those of Europe, being longer, narrower, and\nthinner, but as to the delicacy and relish of the meat, connoisseurs know no difference.\" The huts of the people\ninhabiting the country along the Gambia, who are called\nMandingoes, are better built than those of the Senegal\nnatives. \" The walls are made of binding clay, which soon\nhardens. They are all thatched with straw, which hangs down\nto another little wall, breast-high, and this makes a small gallery\nround the hut, where they are sheltered from the rays of the PORTRAIT OF THE ALMAMY OUMAR.\n242 1\n10\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nsun. The hut where I lodged was large and commodious, but\nas dark as a subterraneous cavern, even at noonday, because it\nhad no other opening but a door pierced at each end. A\ngreat number of our European swallows resorted hither every\nevening, and passed the night upon the rafters, for they do not\nbuild nests in this country, but only come to spend the winter.\"\nAs his chief intention of going up the Gambia was to\nprosecute his studies in natural history, of which he was an\nenthusiastic and accomplished professor, M. Adanson constructed, under the foliage of a tamarind-tree in the middle of\nhis garden, an enclosure of straw, which became, he says, \" a\nreal cabinet of natural philosophy; and I question whether so\nrural a one was ever seen before. For my part, the memory\nthereof is still dear to me, because of the knowledge I thereby\nacquired of the infinite multitude of new and curious plants,\nthe growth of this country.\" Of the fertility and productions\nof the country, he says, \" The soil is rich and deep, and\namazingly fertile ; it produces spontaneously, and almost without cultivation, all the necessaries of life, as grain, legumes, and\nroots. On the high and somewhat drier ground, you see guavas,\ntwo sorts of papaws, with orange and citron-trees of exquisite\nbeauty; I measured some myself that were twenty-five feet\nhigh, and the trunk a foot and a half in diameter. The black\nand moist clays are taken up with forests of bananas, at the\nfeet of which both pepper and ginger grow. Everything\nmatures to perfection, and is excellent in its kind. They likewise make a great deal of date wine, which is very delicious.\nThe pepper of this place is not the same as that of the Indies.\nIt is a round berry, about the bigness of hemp-seed, which\nripens to a red colour, and has a sweetish taste. It contains a\nseed of the shape and size of a grain of cabbage, but very hard,\nand in taste like aromatic pepper, which has an agreeable\npoignancy. This fruit grows in small bunches on a shrub\nthree or four feet high, whose thin supple branches are furnished with oval leaves pointed at the end.\"\nOf forest-trees he says, \" The benten surpasses all the trees\nof Senegal in height, as the calabash-tree surpasses them in\nthickness. There are some, no and even 120 feet high, the\ntrunk being at most only from 8 to 10. feet in diameter, and\nextremely erect; between the. root and branches it measures in\nheight 50 or 60 feet, and oftentimes more. The \\ chamfer-\nings,'* or kind of small wings, which sometimes grow the whole\nlength of the trunk, do not in the least diminish the beauty of\nits white bark, nor the boldness with which it carries its round,\nspreading top. It is of this tree the negroes make their canoes^\nthe wood being very-soft, dense, and extremely light. They\nhave 'some canoes 40 to 50 feet long, from 4 to 5 in breadth,\nand somewhat less' in depth. The farobier is another large\ntree, as common as the benten, but put to a different use, owing\nto the hardness and weight of the wood. The negroes are very\nfond of its fruit, which has a husk like that of a French bean\nbut over a foot in.length, containing a black flat seed, like\nlarge lentils, enveloped in a yellow farinaceous substance. The\nfruit frequently serves the natives in place of every other\nsustenance, especially when travelling.\"\nM; Adanson speaks, with the enthusiasm of a botanist, of\nthe beauty of the .palm-trees, particularly of the oil-bearing\npalm, which is the loftiest of the genera. He saw many from\n60 to 80 feet in the stalk, without any branches; the trunk is\nblack in colour, and from one to two feet in diameter, through-\n* \" Chamferings,\" or gutters, like flutings on a column.\nout its entire length. The head, which is loaded with leaves,\nbears a round fruit, covered with a yellow pulp, from which the\npalm-oil is extracted.\nA wild fig-tree, of extraordinary size and shape, also attracted\nhis attention. It was not very high; but its trunk was cut with\nso many chamferings that it seemed to be composed of several\ntrees, whose trunks joined to each other, most of them spreading chiefly more towards the roots, where they formed a kind\nof buttress. This trunk, which was only fifteen feet high, was\ndivided into several large branches, well covered with leaves,\naffording an agreeable shade. Here the inhabitants had built\na public hall; the floor was raised two or three feet above the\nearth, and composed of several forked shoots, planted near\none another, over which cross-shoots were laid. The whole\nwas covered with hurdles put close together, and some mats\nover them. Here the villagers held their assemblies, and here\nthey met to smoke and converse.\n.Among other forest-trees described by M. Adanson, are\ntwo species of Taberncs montana, remarkable for the beauty of\ntheir foliage, which is of a bright green. There was likewise a\nnew species of Bignonia, remarkable for the bulk of its flowers,\nand the singularity of its fruit, which hung like large cucumbers\nat the end of its branches. Also several species of anonas or\npine apples, most of them loaded with excellent fruit.\nIn 1796, nearly half a century after the time of M. Adanson, our great countryman, Mungo Park, traversed Senegambia,\nand the narrative of his labours forms one of the most interesting records of travel to be found in the language. Among\nother travellers who have journeyed through the regions\nbetween the Senegal arid Gambia, may be enumerated, Dochard\nin 1820, De Beaufort in 1824, Caillie four years later, also Dr.\nBarth, and Raffenel; but their itineraries, as regards the position\nof places they visited, are singularly at variance with each other,\nand with those of Mungo Park, the father of African research.\nOne of the best works of \"travel into the interior of the\nstates bordering on the French possessions) is from the pen of\nM. Mollien, who, in the year 1818, traversed the country of\nBondou and \"Fouta D'jallon, and explored the sources of the\nrivers Gambia, Rio Grande, and Senegal.\nThis gallant and enterprising young Frenchman, filled with\nardour and youthful enthusiasm, penetrated tire mountainous\ndistricts from whence these great rivers of Senegambia take\ntheir rise, and thus inaugurated the series of discoveries which\nhave since been prosecuted with such success by his countrymen, chiefly officers of that navy which has produced such\nnames as La Perouse, Bellot,and other ardent votaries of science,\nconducting his researches at the imminent-risk of his life, it is.\nmarvellous how much M. Mollien accomplished; and succeeding travellers have paid a tribute of respect to his abilities and '\nthe sufferings he cheerfully encountered in the cause of geographical research. The country he traversed was, forty-two\nyears later, thoroughly explored by M. Lambert, a lieutenant\nof marines, and this officer pays a graceful tribute to his adventurous countryman, and laments that the recent death of\nM. Mollien robbed him of the gratification he must have derived '\nfrom the knowledge that his labours and sufferings had received\nin M. Lambert's official report the recognition that was their\ndue. The latter officer recounts, in graphic terms, the hard- '\nships he encountered, almost in an equal degree with his\npredecessors:\u2014\nI The long marches under a burning sun, or under torrents SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN WEST AFRICA.\nn\nof rain, while fever racked his frame; the fords of the rivers\nswelled by the rains and rendered almost impassable; deserts\nwithout shelter and without food; the attacks of armed robbers,\nand the horrors of famines.\" All these miseries, which had\nalso overtaken M, Mollien on the banks of the Rio Grande,\n. aggravated by the suspicions pf the natives, who, says M. Lambert, firmly believed that white men were cannibals, pursued\nhis enterprising successor in the exploration of Bondou and Fouta\nD'jallon, which were the scenes of his labours.*\nIn the year 1817, a countryman of ours, Captain Campbell,\nmade an attempt to penetrate to the Niger through Fouta\nD'jallon, but was obliged to abandon the undertaking, after\nlosing all his horses and beasts of burden.' More successful\nwas M. Hecquard, who,'between the years 1849-52, visited\nsuccessively the country watered by the Gaboon, Casamance,\nAlbreda on the Gambia, and also Fouta D'jallon; and his\nresearches, which were published in 1853, are embodied in a\nvolume entitled, \" Voyage sur la Cote et dans l'interieur de\nl'Afrique occidentale,\" and may also be found in Volumes VIII.\nand IX. of the Revue Coloniale (Second Series). M. Lambert,\nwhom we have already mentioned, was next in the field. He\nquitted Senegal (Saint Louis) on the 20th February, i860, for\nthe purpose of exploring the Fouta D'jallon, and accomplished\nhis task most satisfactorily.\nThe country of the Fouta D'jallon, of which a race called\nthe Djalonke's were the inhabitants, was conquered by the\nFoulahs, who are most austere Mohammedans. It was ruled\nat this time by two almamys, or chiefs (whose authority is spiritual\nas well as temporal), named Sori-Ibrahima and Oumar, the latter\nof whom was particularly recommended to M. Lambert by\nColonel Faidherbe as a person whose alliance was to be courted\nby the French officer, as his sympathies were with France. The\nFoulahs, who are now masters of Fouta D'jallon, had lived\nin the country as tributaries under their hereditary chiefs.\nAbout a century ago, some of these chieftains acknowledged as\ntheir king one-of their number, named Seri, who was settled\nnear Faucoumba. Seri permitted his brother Seidi to take the\ntitle of alpha, or supreme chief, on the condition that the alphas\nshould always be elected by the inhabitants of Faucoumba.\nOn Seri's death, without heirs, Seidi transmitted to his son,\nKikala, his title and his power. Malic and Noutrou, the two\nsons of the latter, bore the title of alpha in succession, and\nlived in peace with the Djalonke's; but Ibrahima, the son of\nthe former, was the first to commence that system of conquest\nand conversion to Islamism which characterises Mohammedans\nin other countries. Gradually the number of his subjects,\nFoulahs and converts, increased, and he commenced the conquest of Fouta D'jallon, which occupied him the remainder of\nhis life; for he not only had to subjugate the Djalonke's, but\nto repel the attacks of the idolaters who- came from the banks\nof the Niger to their assistance. He was victor in 100 battles,\nand killed, it is said, 164 of the kings and chiefs who were\nopposed to him. Having vanquished the pagans of the east,\nIbrahima turned his arms. against those of the north, and\nforced Maka, king of Bondou, to embrace Islamism and take\nthe title of almamy ; then passing the Falerrje and the Senegal,\nhe advanced in his career of victory as far as Kounikari, in the\nheart of Kaarta, nearly 500 miles from Timbo. The rapidity\nof his movements gained him the title of Sori, or the \" mom-\n* Voyage dans le Fouta D'jallon, February  to June,  i860.   Revue\nMaritime et Coloniale, Vol. II. (1861)\ning.\" At length this great warrior resigned all power into the\nhands of his son, called Alpha Se'tif. There was peace during\nIbrahima's life; but, on his decease, after a glorious reign of\nthirty-three years, a period of anarchy supervened, and\neventually the kingdom of Fouta D'jallon was divided into two\nstates, ruled by Oumar, and a descendant who assumed the name\nof Sori Ibrahima. Between the death of the founder of the\nrace and the accession of Oumar, there was a period of twenty-\neight years of anarchy I and in i860, at the time of M. Lambert's\nmission, Oumar had reigned fourteen years.\nDisembarking zX the mouth of the Rio Nunez, M. Lambert\nstarted for the interior on the 8th of March. Passing through\nthe basin of the Kakriman, he visited Assanquere, belonging to\nOumar, and Faucoumba, the holy city of Fouta D'jallon,\nregarded as the cradle of Mohammedanism in these parts.\nThis sacred city has the privilege of nominating the almamys;\nostensibly the right is vested in the elders of the city, but the\nmost influential men of the entire country assemble to take part\nin the deliberations, and often blood is spilt by the adherents of\nthe respective aspirants for the throne. At Faucoumba, M. Lambert had an audience of the Almamy Sori Ibrahima, the same\npowerful chief of whom M. Hecquard had so much cause to\ncomplain. At this time he was about forty-five years of age, and\nis described by M. Lambert as an almost pure-blooded Foulah,\nwith a reddish complexion resembling that of an Egyptian statue;\nhis expression was stern, and his figure obese for one of his race,\nowing to the sedentary life he led. At the audience, M. Lambert delivered to the almamy a letter from Colonel Faidherbe,*\nGovernor of Senegal, and the reception accorded to him was\nvery gracious. From Faucoumba, M. Lambert proceeded to\nTimbo, a town of the same size, and containing about 3,000\ninhabitants. Timbo is the capital of the Almamy Oumar,\nbetween whom and his coadjutor in the government of Fouta\nD'jallon there exists a great rivalry. Oumar offered, in M. -Lambert's opinion, a very favourable contrast to his rival at Faucoumba; of much the same age, and exhibiting a similar tendency to obesity, he was more gentle, while displaying greater\nenergy of character and a more princely dignity of demeanour.\nOumar was very dark, owing to Iris mother and grandmother\nbeing of Djalonke\" blood.\nAfter interviews with Oumar, and being present at the\nmeetings of the senate, which he describes at length,\nM. Lambert took his departure from Timbo, but was unable to\npenetrate to Labe, the chief city of the Fouta D'jallon, having\na population of 10,000 souls. He says, | two motives hindered\nme from entering Labe*; one was the animosity of the reigning\nchiefs, and the other a custom by which it appears Europeans\nare debarred from entering the city. Neither M. Hecquard\nnor M. Mollien was able to penetrate within the walls.\nThe- inhabitants, they both say, entertain in respect of the\nriver which flows through the city\u2014and which having its\nsource in Mount Kolima, flows into the Faldme under the name\nof Doumbe'le'\u2014a superstition which induces them to keep it\nsacred from the gaze of any white man.\" After receiving the\nwaters of the Doumbe'le', the Fend or Faleme' flows through\nthe Bondou country until it is merged in the Senegal.\nNear Labe* is. Mount Tontourou, from which issues the two\nrivers, Kakriman and Gambia, and a little to the south, in the\n* This was the same officer who commanded with such distinction the\nFrench forces opposed to General Manteuffel during the hopeless struggle\n' waged by the Government of National Defence after the disaster of Sedan. ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\ncountry of Timbo, the Fale'me' and the Senegal take their\nrise. In the same chain, due north of Labe\", is Mount Pellat\nand another lofty peak, from which take their rise many\nof the affluents of the Gambia and Rio Grande, so that this\nregion, though limited in extent, is the source of all the rivers\nof Senegambia.\n\u2022 The following are the positions of the principal sources of\nthese streams as laid down by M. Lambert:\u2014\nSenegal\nFaleme\nGambia\nRio Grande\nKakriman, or Kissi-\nKissi\nLatitude.\nIO\u00b0    50'\n10\u00b0\n11\u00b0\n11\u00b0\n48'\n27'\n28'\nLongitude.\n130 40'\no'\n43'\n45'\n14\u00b0\n13\u00b0\n13\u00b0\nilp\nflowing to the N. E.\n\u201e      N.E.\nN.\n\u201e      W.\nS.S.W.\nBetween the months of June and October, i860, M. Bourrel,\nenseigne de vaisseau in the French navy, accomplished the\nexploration* of the country of. the Moors of Brakna, situated\nbetween the territories of the Moors of Trarza and the\nDouaich Moors, which had been already explored by M. Mage\nin a voyage undertaken some years before his great journey\ninto the Western Soudan. Of this journey of exploration,\nundertaken between the years 1863-66, we will now give a brief\nrecord.\nLieutenant Mage, of the French navy, accompanied by\nDr. Quintin, a naval surgeon, was engaged in this undertaking, under the auspices of General Faidherbe, who had returned to the colony of Senegal for his second term of office as\ngovernor. The following letter of instructions to Lieutenant\nMage from that officer, indicates the nature of the mission on\nwhich he proceeded:\u2014\n\" Your mission is to explore the- line which connects our\nsettlements on the Upper Senegal with the Upper Niger, especially with Bamakoo, which seems to be the nearest point at\nwhich the Niger is likely to present no serious obstacles to\nnavigation, as far as the Falls of Boussa.\n\"The main object in view is to be prepared, as soon as the\nFrench Government shall think fit to give the order, to form a\nline of posts, at intervals of about thirty leagues, between\nMedina and Bamakoo, or any other place on the Upper\nNiger which seems more favourable as a commercial centre on\nthis river.\nI It would probably be necessary to establish three intermediate posts between Bafoolabe' and Bamakoo.\n\"If by means of these posts, which would serve as warehouses for merchandise and natural products, and would\nafford protection to the caravans, we could form a commercial\nhighway between Senegal and the Upper Niger, may we not\nhope by this means to supplant the commerce of Morocco with\nthe Soudan?\n\" The merchandise going from Soueyra to supply the\nSoudan has to be conveyed four hundred leagues on the\nbacks of beasts of burden, across a desert, without provision\nand without water, before arriving at the Niger. For every\neight or ten hundredweight there must be five camels, and at\nleast one guide, travelling for at least three months.\n\" The commerce of Morocco with the Soudan is now chiefly\nprofitable to England, and it encourages slavery in Morocco.\nWe should then have a double advantage in suppressing it.\n\" To carry out this project it will be necessary to secure\n* The narrative of this expedition may be found in the Revue Man-\ntime et Coloniale for 1S61,\" Vol. II., p. 511.\nthe friendship of a great chief, such as El Hadj Omar is now,\nin the central Soudan. This Marabout, who formerly put so\nmany obstacles in our way, might in future bring about changes\nthe most advantageous to the Soudan and to ourselves, if only\nhe would enter into our views. And for himself, he might\nrealise great profits from this trade on the Upper Niger..\n\" I send you there as ambassador to El Hadj Omar. It\nseems certain that lately this chief was master of Kaarta, of\nSegou, and its tributary provinces, including Timbuctoo, that\nis to say, master of the whole course of the Upper Niger,\nbetween Fouta D'jallon and Timbuctoo. It is now reported by\nsome that he is dead; by others that he is all-powerful in\nMacina. If you find on your arrival that he is dead, you\nwill address yourself, in my name, to his successor, or if his\nempire is dismembered, to the chiefs of the countries through\nwhich you will pass.   I will give you all the necessary letters.\nI Your mission with regard to the. posts to be established\nbetween Bafoolabe\" and Bamakoo, and the proposals to be made\nto El Hadj Omar, or his successors, being accomplished, you\nmay either descend the Niger to its mouth, or proceed to\nAlgeria, Morocco, or Tripoli.\"\nOn the 13th October, 1863, Lieutenant Mage and his com-\n. panion started from St. Louis in a gunboat, and, after inspecting -\nthe different posts on the left bank of the Senegal\u2014the\nRichard Toll, Dagana, Podor, and others\u2014landed on the 19th\nat Bakel, where he received the final verbal instructions of\nGeneral Faidherbe. On the 26th he started for Medina,* the\nlast French station, situated on the banks of the Senegal, where\nhe arrived four days later. From hence he made some explorations of the river above the falls of Felou, and on the\n3rd November, 1863, finally took his departure and .plunged\ninto the unexplored country, which, as well as Kaarta, Segou,\nand other cities, he has described in his travels.t\nM. Mage having traversed the country between the Senegal and the Niger, proceeded down that river until he\nreached the city of Se'gou-Sikoro. %\nThe army of Ahmadou, son of El Hadj,\u00a7 took part in\nthe military operations against the Bambaras and other tribes.\nM. Mage was present at the battle of Toghou, the storming of\nDina, and the siege of Sansandig, all of which the French officer\ndescribes in his interesting work. Ahmadou's army, seized\nwith one .of those unaccountable panics to which undisciplined\n* This fort was besieged by El Hadj Omar in 1857, and was relieved\non 18th July by Colonel Faidherbe, Governor of Senegal between 1857 and\ni860, and again in 1863, when he was succeeded by M. Laprade, also a\nColonel of Engineers.\n\\ The full narrative of M. Mage's travels from the Senegal to the Niger\nhas been published, and a translation appeared in VoL II. (1870) of the\nIllustrated Travels.\nX Mungo Park, in his travels, speaks of four cities of the name of\nSegou, two on each side of the river Niger. \"The probability,\" says\nMage, \" is that he supposed that Segou-Bougou, or 'village of gardens of\nSegou,' and Segou-Coro, the 'old Coro,' opposite, had but one na.me and\nformed but one place. That he made this mistake seems the more likely,\nas he speaks of the high towers of the king's palace, the ruins of which I\nsaw at Se'gou-Sikoro, which, according to him, was the only two-storeyed '\nbuilding in existence there at the time of the conquest, and belonged to Ali.\nAt Segou-Coro there must have been two palaces, as the ruins of them are\nstill to be seen ; and some portions of the high wall which have remained\nstanding show that they were not ordinary dwelling-houses. I tried to\nreconcile Mungo Park's description of the towns as they were in his time \u25a0\nwith what I saw, but the result was scarcely satisfactory.\"\n\u00a7 Hadj or Haji means \" pilgrim,\" a distinctive appellation affixed to\ntheir names by all Mohammedans who have made the pilgrimage to the\nholy shrine of the Prophet at Mecca. SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT  FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN   WEST  AFRICA.\n13\ntroops are so much liable, suddenly broke up their camp,\n\"and if,\" says Mage, \" fifty horsemen had just sallied forth\nfrom the gates of Sansandig, Ahmadou and his great army\nwould have been powerless to resist them. Thus ended the\nsiege of Sahsandig.\"\n11 reached Segou,\" he adds, \" I scarcely know how, and very\nnearly fell a victim to a long and dangerous attack of marsh fever,\nAhmadou, by one pretext or another, delayed ratifying it for\nsome months, and M. Mage found his departure frorri Segou\nindefinitely delayed. At length, on the 2nd of May, seven\nmonths after the affair of Sansandig, Ahmadou summoned the\nFrench officers to his palace, and after an interchange of presents, they were dismissed with many expressions of regard.\nI The most important result of my mission,\" says M. Mage,\none of the most distressing and dangerous symptoms of which is\nviolent nose-bleeding. I owed my recovery to the unremitting and\ndevoted care of Dr. Quintin, and also in great measure to the\njoy occasioned by the long-wished-for return of my messengers\nfrom St. Louis, with news from Europe and letters from my\nfamily and friends.    They brought me also exact instructions\nfrom the governor how to deal with Ahmadou, and a fresh\nsupply of presents for him,  by which means I succeeded at I\nlast in coming to some definite understanding with him, and I\nin obtaining from him the ratification of a treaty, consisting of\nseven articles, by which French subjects were  permitted  to\n.travel, 'not only in all the countries then under Ahmadou's\ndominion, but also in those which he may hereafter acquire.\nThis treaty was concluded on 26th of February, 1866, but |\nI I will doubtless be the enabling the Duilas of Kaarta to come\nI and buy merchandise in our settlements, arid carry it, in times\nof peace, to Segou in exchange for gold and slaves.\n\"The only way for France to acquire any political influence\nj or position in Soudan would be, I think, by sending an expedi-\nI tion up the Niger in boats, which might either be taken up the\n! rapids at Boussa, or carried thither in pieces, and put together\nI above them.     Once in the district of the Upper Niger, with\neven a small number of well-manned gunboats, almost anything\nI might be done.     Dr. Barth, writing  on  the same  subject,\nsaid,  ' I believe that the way  to   improve the condition of\nAfrica would be to establish colonial settlements on the principal rivers, which would form so many centres of civilisation\nand industry.'\" 14\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nA Visit to the Borders of Ashantee.\nBY  J. A. SKERTCHLY.\nAt four o'clock in the afternoon of the nth of April, 18.71, the\nbrig Astarte, in which I had taken a passage from England,\ndropped her anchor off the town of Assinee on the Gold Coast,\nafter a tedious passage of thirty-five days from the Lizard\nPoint From the roadstead there is nothing very striking in\nthe appearance of this, the longest town on the West Coast;\nthe red-tiled roof of the French Factory, the glaring corrugated\niron structure of Messrs. Swanzy's house, and the clump of\nhigh trees called Draco Grove (with the white stone marking\nthe grave of an unlucky Frenchman, standing out in striking\ncontrast to the sombre olive of the woods), being the salient\nfeatures of the scene.\nAlong the bright orange-sandy beach the heavy -surf was\nbeating with ceaseless fury, each breaker gleaming white in the\nsunshine as it curled over and dashed itself in impotent rage\nagainst the shore.\nA straggling line of huts, some presenting their gables, and\n' others their sides to the roadstead, stretched for a mile along\nthe narrow \"spit of sand which separates the waters of the\nAssinee River from those of the ocean; while on the farther\nside of the stream -the roofs of the houses, and the curious\ndove-cot turret of the French settlement at Blokoos, were\nvisible through occasional rifts in the trees.\nThe next morning Captain Haynes and I prepared for our\nlanding, which here, as indeed everywhere along this surf-\nbound coast, is an unpleasant if not dangerous proceeding.\nAlthough we were down in the cabin, we could hear the approach\nof the surf-boat, here called canoe, urged along by the powerful strokes of her crew of thirteen Elmina men, who kept time\nin their strokes by a peculiar hissing snort, something like.the\n\u2022technical sound made by English grooms when rubbing down\na horse. On going on deck we were met by the \" bos'n,\" who\nwith the customary \"maunin capt'n\" delivered a something to\nCaptain Haynes, which upon investigation proved to be a note,\nor \"book \"as he called it, but so saturated with water as to\nbe almost reconverted into its pristine pulp.\nAdopting the vernacular, I asked the \"bos'n\" if \"the sea\nlive good.\" \"He be not too good for true, but not too full\nyet.\" \" You fit put cap'n and I for beach ? \" \" We fit s'pose\nyou go one time.\"\nThe note brought by the canoemen informed us that if\nwe intended landing we must do so by the first boat, otherwise the breakers would be too high for a dry, if a safe, passage through them.\nThe captain and I therefore took our seats in the bow\nof the surf-boat, and the crew seating themselves in pairs on\nthe gunwales, plied their palmate-shaped paddles, while the\n\"bos'n,\" standing erect in the stem-sheets, steered his craft by\nmeans of a long oar. We were scarcely a hundred yards from\nthe vessel ere one of the crew struck up an extempore ditty,\nthe subject of which was most probably ourselves, to judge by\nthe frequent looks in our direction, and the bursts of laughter\nas some allusion emanated from the singer.\nAs we neared the line of outer breakers, the long heaving\nswell grew higher and more sudden, and our boat\u2014a Bristol-\nbuilt surf-boat, shaped very similarly to a life-boat\u2014now rose\nupon the summit of one of the water}' hills, and then sank in\none of the valleys, hiding ship and beach from our view.\nThe tug of war now commenced in earnest, and the mono- \u25a0\ntonous chant of the canoemen was hushed as the roar of the\nsurf beat audibly upon our ears, and we could see the\ntossing, leaping surf along the shore. Our boaf s crew were\nwell trained in their dangerous avocation, and the | bos'n \" was\nwell known as a lucky one. Nevertheless, as his crew ceased\npaddling, and his piercing eye scanned each roller as it came\nalong, gathering strength in its course until it toppled over in\nits mad race towards the shore, it was evident that it was an\nanxious time, and that his skill was about to be put to a\nsevere test Landing on the western coast of Africa is\nalways a dangerous undertaking, and our passage through the\nsurf at Assinee may be taken as a specimen of the welcome\na traveller must expect on his arrival on its unhealthy\nshores.\nAs the boat is kept poised by the dexterous strokes of the\ncanoemen, roller after roller slips under us until the skilful eye\nof the a bos'n\" detects one of less imposing aspect, and we\nprepare to go in upon it. The canoe is urged forward by a\nfew strokes, and instead of the roller passing under us, we are\ncarried along upon its watery back. The excitement now becomes intense as we near the point where the upper portion\nof the wave, unimpeded by the friction of the bottom, gains\nso'far upon the base as to convert the moving hill into an\nadvancing canopy of olive-hued water, and at length a\ngleam of snowy foam shoots along the summit, as with a\ncrash and a roar the breaker topples over. In heavy surf\nthe breakers will present a wall of water eighteen feet high,\nand a breaker of ten feet drop is of everyday occurrence.\nAs we were hurried along, the canoemen excitedly shouted\ndirections out to each other to paddle a backwater, and at length\nwe saw the olive hue of the breaker just before us assume, first\na pea green, and then a snowy white, and then we knew the\ncrisis was at hand. With a crash and roar the huge breaker\nseemed to disappear beneath us, and a seething chaos of foam\nto take its place. On rushed our boat, borne on the headlong\ntorrent, with her bows deeply immersed, and her stern high\nup on the foamy fragments of the breaker ; all the skill of the\n\"bos'n\" was now required to keep us before it, while the frantic\ncries of the canoemen, as they madly plied their paddles to\nkeep pace with the rush of waters, showed their excitement.\nNor were their efforts altogether efficacious in preventing mishap, for our canoe swerved to the left, and heeling over at a\nfearful angle, threw me on the top of the captain, while the\nfoaming waters rushed into the boat and well nigh swamped\nus. By a vigorous stroke of the stern oar, combined with the\nrapid paddlings of the boatmen, we, however, once again presented our sharp stern to the succeeding breaker, which came\ntumbling over a few yards behind us, like a miniature Niagara,\nand catching us in  its   powerful embrace, again hurried us A  VISIT  TO  THE  BORDERS   OF  ASHANTEE.\n*5\ntowards the beach. The view of the oncoming breaker was\nmagnificent. A solid wall of olive-hued water would rise up\nand up, until it seemed as if it would overwhelm us, when,\nwith a graceful curl its head would shoot into a foamy line, and,\nwith a rush and a roar, would dash itself into fragments upon\nthe shoal water in front of it.\nShould a boat be too far advanced upon the breaker when\nit thus breaks, it is violently hurled over the dangerous precipice, while, if not sufficiently forward, it will be caught by the\nsucceeding breaker and either buried at once beneath its\noverhanging head, or rolled over and over, helpless as a straw,\nby its furious torrent.\nAfter passing over two other breakers, each smaller than\nthe preceding one, we were carried at railway speed upon the\nback of the third, and stranded high up on the sloping beach;\nand the canoemen, joyfully throwing their paddles overboard,\nto be carried ashore by the surf, leaped out and dragged the\nlightened boat out of the reach of the succeeding wave, assisted\nby a crowd of labourers, who tailed on to a long painter and\nsoon had the canoe out of harm's reach.\nNo sooner had the boats touched the sand, than the captain\nand I were carried off in the arms of a couple of stout negroes\nand thus spared a further wetting. Assinee is one of the\nprincipal trading ports of the Ashantee nation. These latter\nrarely come to the coast to trade for themselves, since the coastline is in the possession of various tribes who act as brokers\nbetween the Asharitees and the Europeans. They receive the\ngold-dust from the Ashantees on their northern frontier, and\n- purchase the required goods at the factories -on the coast,\ncharging a by no means moderate commission for their trouble.\nWe cannot, therefore, be surprised at the Ashantees wishing, to\nhave a coast-line of their own, when they have to obtain all\ntheir supplies at the hands of such extortionate brokers.\nA factory on the coast of Africa is very different from what\nwe know by that name in England. We will describe the one\nbefore us as a specimen.\nA long shed, built of the stalks of the bamboo-tree (Raphia\nviniferd) planted closely together and thatched with grass, is the\nusual form of building. Within it is a broad counter extending\nright across the shed, behind which the various wares are\nexposed for sale, far out of reach of any of the nimble-fingered\ngentry. Hanging from pegs we see strings and bunches of\nbeads of every possible shape, hue, and size, from the diminutive\nseed-beads no larger than dust-shot, through all gradations to\nfancifully-patterned affairs, each as large as a walnut.\nLooking-glasses for the sable Venuses and Adonises to\nexamine their charms; razors, knives, scissors, needles, combs\n(like miniature garden-rakes), bottles of scent, and pomatum,\ngaudy cricketing-belts, and a hundred other articles are displayed. Ranged on shelves are textile fabrics of every description. Chintzes, prints, calicoes, domestics, romals, and a host\nof other kinds of every conceivable pattern. Here is one\nwhich might be adopted as a morning dress by any English\nlady, so delicate is the pattern, while close by and in great\ndemand, is a roll of \" pineapple cloth,\" a bright blue fabric with\ngaudy life-sized pineapples of bright orange by way of relief.\n- Crimean shirts, straw hats to protect skulls upon which you\nmight flatten nails with impunity; umbrellas to prevent any\ndandy from spoiling his complexion, white pants and shoes,\nchairs, workboxes, desks for people who cannot write, and a\nhost of other knick-knacks.    Nor is the inner man forgotten,\nfor hard by we see a hogshead of rum being rapidly emptied, as\nit is doled out by pint, quart, or gallon; stuff that would turn\nany civilised stomach by its very smell.\nFor those who can afford it, there are gaily-coloured liqueurs\nof every description, gorgeous to the eye and .poisonous to the\nstomach. Guns of all descriptions, from brass blunderbusses,\nand good old Tower muskets, down to scarlet-butted buccaneers\nwith seven-foot barrels, so that if a man has pulled the trigger\nand wishes to shoot a different object to that at which he had\npreviously aimed, he will have opportunity of so doing ere the\nshot leaves the barrel.\nBehind the counter the head trader and his assistants are,\nbusily engaged in supplying the wants of their customers, who\nare by no means behind Europeans in the mysteries and delights\nof shopping. A negro matron with a child straddling on her\nleft hip, and a short black pipe in her mouth, will take as much\ntime in buying a few yards of print, braid, or a few beads, as\nany of her more civilised sisters; while the purchase of a gun\nis always a serious matter. A hunter or warrior wishes to buy\na gun. One is handed him over the counter from a long case\ncontaining perhaps a score. He cocks it and snaps the flint,\nI No good, it does not talk,\" i.e., strike fire. Another is handed\nover to him with a like result, and in this manner the\npurchaser would go over every gun in the factory if he were\npermitted. But when the second gun is handed to him, the\nfirst is usually taken away, and when the second is pronounced\na bad talker, the first is again handed back, and this exchange\ngoes on until the purchaser finds one to his liking.\nBut, it will be asked, What do the people bring-in exchange\nfor these articles? Along the Gold Coast gold-dust is the\nprincipal article of exchange, with a small quantity of palm-\noil and kernels. The gold-dust is the product of the washings\nof the streams and ancient river-beds in the hilly country in the\ninterior, notably in Ashantee, which is by far the richest gold-\nproducing country in Africa. Thousands of slaves are there\nemployed in washing the precious metal from its grosser matrix,\nand the dust, and often nuggets, are partly exchanged for European commodities and partly for the products of the markets of\nthe Semiticised races to the north of the Kong Mountains.\nNor is roguery wanting in this trade. To say nothing of\ngold-dust made in Brummagem and sold by unprincipled\ntraders to customers as bad as themselves, the Ashantees are\nexpert in the art of gilding and plating silver or baser-metals\nwith gold. Many an acute trader has been woefully taken in\nwho has relied upon the powers of aquafortis and the touchstone for the detection of the spurious from the real.\nEach factory has a regularly organised staff of gold-takers,\nwhose sole duty is to assay each sample of gold brought to\nthe factory, and who, or their masters, are responsible for any\nbad metal which has passed through their hands.\nOutside the factory at Assinee is a little shed, with a noisy\ncrowd around it. This is the office of the gold-takers, and we\nwill enter and look on.\nThe officer, a Fantee, naked from the waist, sits behind a\nlow table upon which are several touchstones, a pair of small\nscales, a magnet, and several copper vessels called blow-pans,\nshaped not unlike bankers' scoops, but without any handles,\nThese, together with a few small feathers, are the assaying\nimplements of the professional gold-taker. .\nLet us watch his movements. Here comes a stalwart\nfellow, with as  much clothing upon him as would make a i6\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nmoderate-sized duster. His hair is elaborately decorated with\nminute corkscrew curls, and a few of the scarlet feathers of the\ngrey parrot. His beard is also artistically dressed in rmglets,\neach being ended off by a string of a few beads, threaded on\nthe hair. Carefully untying a knot in one corner of his scanty\ncloth, he produces a small package about the size of a cherry,\nneatly wrapped up in paper within an envelope of leaves, and\nthe whole carefully tied up with raw cotton. This he lays\nbefore the gold-taker, and then, fumbling in the intricate mazes\nof his woolly head, produces a second package. Daintily\nopening each, he shakes the gold-dust into one of the blow-pans,\ncarefully smoothing each crumple, lest an atom of the precious\nmetal should be left behind, and then stands looking with\neager eyes while the gold is \" blown.\"   Taking the pan in his\njust purchased with the fruits of six months' toil. Close by, is\na sable Venus robing herself in a brand new chintz, emblazoned\n\"with half the animals in Noah's ark \"proper.\" Here again is\na hunter trying his powder. The gun is loaded with a handful of loose powder, and discharged, reckless of thatched roofs\nand open powder-kegs, to say nothing of singed wool and\nscorched cheeks. Then, again, groups are eagerly discussing\nthe various merits of sundry bottles of villainous perfumes and\nsemi-rancid pomatum, all with pipes in their mouths. Urchins'\nof both sexes, dressed in a string of beads, caper madly about,\nand revel in the loose sand like pigs out for a frolic, while\nshouts of laughter, interlarded with violent gesticulations and\ntalking at the very top of their voices, add to the hubbub.\nBesides the regular traders, there are often half-a-dozen of\nASHANTEE BELLES.\nleft hand, the gold-taker, by a few dexterous movements, brings\nthe smaller particles to one end of the pan. He then stirs his\nmagnet among the auriferous particles a few times. No result.\nThen,- holding the pan slightly inclined, he puffs a few times\ninto the small atoms. A few fly off; these are specks of mica\nthus selected by the wonderfully adjusted breath of the gold-\ntaker. He then takes up one of the feather tips, and carefully\ngoes over each particle of the gold-dust; now testing a suspicious-looking piece by the touchstone or by the taste, selecting those which he suspects to be mixed with earthy matter, and\nbreaking them and finally weighing the blown gold, and giving\nthe owner a'\" book \" of the amount of good gold. This docket\nhe takes to the trader, and obtains goods to its amount. In\nsome instances, where the purchaser is well known, credit is\ngiven, but it is always with considerable risk.\nOutside the factory is an amusing scene. The buyers and\nthose who have purchased are having a brisk argument over\nany and everything. Here a devotee of Bacchus is busily engaged in absorbing immense quantities of Brazilian caxaca,\nthe wives of the dependants of the factory doing a brisk trade\non their own account Bottles of liqueurs, packets of needles,\nor even single ones, tape, thread, cloves for perfuming purposes, buttons, and similar small ware, are their principal\narticles of sale. Gold-dust is here also the medium of exchange, but instead of the akies and tokoes, corresponding to\neighths of an ounce, as used in the larger purchases, the srrialler\nfractions of an ounce are here used. The gold-dust is put in\none scale, and a bead, or red berry something like a holly-\nberry, or other small article of previously-ascertained weight,\ndetermines the amount of gold to be given for the article. In\nthis way the weight of a red berry is equal to fourpence-half-\npenny of gold-dust, and a small seed-bead is equal in value to\nthree-halfpence when counterpoised by gold-dust. Nor is the\namount of gold obtained in these small pinches in a single day\ninconsiderable, for when trade is brisk, one of these coster-\nI mongers, as they may be called, will take two ounces of dust,\nwhile in the factories 300 ounces per diem have been taken.\nThere had been a palaver between the Ashantees and A VISIT TO  THE BORDERS OF ASHANTEE.\n'7\nAmakie, the king of Apollonia, resulting in the discomfiture of\nthe latter. A few days after our arrival we saw several large\ncanoes coming down the river, one of which contained the\numbrellas of four Ashantee chiefs. The following morning a\nmessenger arrived at the factory to inform us that the Ashantee\ngeneral was about to call upon us to pay his respects. Rum,\nbottles of beer, and other liquors were prepared for the reception, and we waited anxiously for the approach of the high\nofficial. Presently a noise as if the utensils in a kitchen were\nhaving a fight, mingled with loud braying of horns, announced\nthe approach of the cortege. Soon a body of twenty-six stalwart warriors made their appearance, dressed in cotton tunics,\nheavily fringed and ornamented with beads, and confined\nround the waist by a broad sash, in which a short dagger was\nstuck. Several strings of beads, to which various charms were\nattached, depended from their necks, while beads, bunches of\nfeathers, fetiche twigs, and other mysterious relics, were profusely tied among their woolly locks. All wore armlets and\nanklets, and carried highly-polished muskets, with covers for\nthe muzzles and locks formed of cowhide. They performed a'\nseries of corybantic dances as they advanced towards the factory,\nwhirling themselves round on one leg, gesticulating violently,\nand twisting their guns about as if they were broom-handles.\nNext came the band, composed of players on the gong-gong,\nor African cymbal; horn-blowers, whose instruments were\nsmall scrivellos, or elephants' tusks, with a hole at the smaller\nend through which they blew, while the hand closed the wide\nend more or less, and thus regulated the note. Drums of\nseveral kinds, from tree-trunks borne on a man's head, and\nplayed with a couple of crooked sticks by a drummer following,\nto curious affairs shaped like hour-glasses, with a most flat, un-\npleasing note. Besides these, there were castanets played by\nthe thumb and forefinger, and tambourines of calabash-ware.\nThe noise was effective, but the music questionable.\nThe sword-bearers of the chief followed, carrying these\nemblems of rank swathed in white calico, with the hilts of solid\ngold exposed to the public gaze. The stool-bearers of the\ngreat man succeeded, carrying curiously carved stools about\nten inches high, shaped somewhat like a beaver hat set upon\nits crown. These were richly inlaid with gold, and, like the\nswords, each had its covering of white calico. Then came the\nshield-bearers, carrying large oval shields like those in use\namong the Kafirs, richly studded with gold; and last came the\nexecutioner and doctor, or medicine-man, of the chief.\nThe first of these is always known by his whitened face and\ncap of monkey-skin, with the head in front. He carried an\nimmense circinal-ended sword, with a blade fretted like a fishslice, and evidently capable of decapitating a person at a single\nblow, a very different affair to the miserable little knifelets in\nuse in Dahomey for a similar purpose. The office of executioner is by no means a sinecure in Ashantee, and the servant\nis not unfrequently required to exercise his office upon his\nmaster. As might be expected, there is a peculiar respect\nshown to the Ashantee Calcrafts.\nThe chief was shaded from the sun by a magnificent\numbrella of bright scarlet silk, with blue, green, and yellow\ndevices sewn on the wide lappets. He was dressed in a striped\ntunic of native manufacture, and ornamented with nuggets of\npure gold sewn on it. On his breast a large plate of gold,\nshaped like a star, was suspended from a string of coral, while\na dozen heavy bead necklaces testified to their wearer's rank\n243\nand importance. A turkey-red sash supported a gold-hilted\ndagger, and a walking-stick with a ponderous head of the same\nprecious metal was carried before him. On his fingers and\nthumbs he wore several rings of various native patterns, one in\nparticular, which must have weighed an ounce, representing two\ncannons attached to a hoopj| Nuggets of gold were attached\nto his hair and beard, and altogether at least a pound of this\nmetal must have been fixed about his person.\nThe chief saluted us and shook hands with us, Ashantee\nfashion, grasping hands and filliping the middle fingers together.\nThe rum, ale, and other liquors were then dealt out, the\ndoctor first tasting the glass of the chief, to prevent poisoning,\nand then pouring out a small libation to the manes of his\nancestors, ere the great functionary deigned to touch the\ncoveted fluid.\nMeanwhile guns were fired, songs yelled rather than sung,\nand the wildest dances performed, in -which he who raised the\ndensest cloud of dust seemed to be the best dancer.\nThese Ashantees were fine tall fellows, in the full vigour of\nmanhood, whose athletic forms contrasted favourably with those\nof the coast tribes. Cruel, bloodthirsty, superstitious, and\ntreacherous as they are known to be, yet there are traces of a\nhigher standard of civilisation than among the negro coast tribes.\nThey are by far the most formidable tribe on the, western\ncoast, the Dahomans included; and it is only a matter of surprise that they have not long ere this made themselves masters\nof the whole coast-line between Grand Bassam and the River\nVolta.\nIn 1807 they advanced in their victorious career to forts\non the coast occupied by the Dutch. They attacked the fort\nof Anamaboe, and after killing half the inhabitants and reducing\nthe defenders of the fort to eight persons, the governor (Meredith)\nutterly beaten, made a treaty with the king, by which he acknowledged his sovereignty over all the coast tribes, including\nCape Coast Castle, Accra, and Elmina.\nAfter this treaty, the Ashantees withdrew their troops, and\nnothing more of importance transpired until 1816, when they\nappeared before Cape Coast Castle, and reduced the English\ngovernor to the last extremity. They were at length bought\noff by a large sum in gold-dust, which they demanded as\narrears of tribute due to the Fantees.\nIn 1822, Governor McCarthy refused to pay tribute as had\nbeen hitherto paid by the former governors, and thereupon the\nAshantees, calling the English \"treaty-breakers,\" overran the\nFantee country. The governor, woefully underrating the\nvalour of the Ashantees, took the field against them, but was\ntotally defeated on the banks of the Prah on January 21st,\n1823, the governor and all the other officers, with two exceptions, being either killed or taken prisoners. Peace was again\nobtained by the payment of tribute, but the war again broke\nout, until the Ashantees were at last defeated near Accra.\nIn 1864 the Ashantees again took up arms, because the\nEnglish refused to deliver up two captives claimed by them.\nTwelve hundred men, chiefly natives, officered by Englishmen,\nmarched against them, and, as might be expected, literally\nwithered away before the combined effects of fever and\nwounds.    A mere handful returned to Cape Coast Castle.\nThe present war originated on the handing over of the\nDutch fortress of Elmina to the English, which the Ashantee\nmonarch declared should never have been done with his\nconsent until all arrears were paid.    Bine illce lachryma t ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nThe  Government  Expedition Round the  World.\nBY CAPTAIN J. E. DAVIS, R.N.\nIn a previous volume of the Illustrated Travels, a brief\naccount was given of the object and preparation of an expedition then about to leave England on a voyage of scientific\ndiscovery to various parts of the world; and, as H.M.S.\nC\/uillenger has now completed what may be termed the first\nsection of her voyage, having surveyed the North Atlantic,\nancl passed into the South Atlantic, an outline of her work\nso far accomplished will doubtless prove interesting.\nThe Challenger left Sheerness on the 7th December, i872>\nand Portsmouth on the 21st Previous to sailing, the Council\nand Committee of the Royal Society, at the invitation of the\nLords of the Admiralty, visited the ship, and inspected all\nthe fittings and appliances furnished for carrying out the\nobjects of the voyage ; and as everything asked for had been\ngiven, the arrangements, fittings, and supplies were found\nmost perfect; indeed, so complete was the outfit, that to this\ntime nothing has been found wanting, excepting material to\n-replace that used, and some slight modification in appliances\nsuggested from experience as improvements.\nOn her voyage down the English Channel and across the\nBay of Biscay, the Challenger experienced such stormy weather\nas to preclude taking deep soundings; but as the track ovei\nwhich she passed had been previously sounded by other ships,\nit was not considered a loss of time. But more favourable\nlatitudes were soon reached, and on the 30th, when to the\nsouth-west of Cape Finisterre, the first deep sounding was\ntaken in 1,125 fathoms, and the first haul of the dredge made.\nThe former was successfully made, but the latter proved\n.abortive by the dredge emerging bottom up. A second\ncast proved more successful, and a specimen of the Gonstryx,\nwith some star-fishes, rewarded the naturalists and set them to\nwork. Another sounding was taken in nearly 2,000 fathoms;\nbut in the attempt to dredge, the dredge fouled or got entangled in some rocks; and after every endeavour made, the\nrope broke and the dredge was lost.\nThe Challenger entered the Tagus on the 3rd January,\nand anchored off Lisbon. A few days afterwards the King of\nPortugal visited the ship, and expressed himself greatly\ninterested in the voyage.\nThe picturesque beauties of the neighbourhood of Lisbon\nwere a source of much pleasure to the gentlemen of the expedition, and various places were visited, of which Professor\nWyville Thomson has sent interesting accounts home, and\nwhich have appeared in a contemporary periodical. After a\ndelay of some days from stress of weather, the expedition left\nche river on the 12th for Gibraltar. In 600 fathoms, near Cape\nSt. Vincent, a fifteen feet beam-trawl was let down, and proved\nvery successful; for, in addition to a number of star-fishes,\nseveral fishes were brought to the surface. These-presented a\nmost singular .appearance. Unlike star-fishes, they are unable\nto accommodate themselves to the various degrees of pressure;\nand on being relieved from the amount they had been accustomed to, the expanded air caused them to swell to bursting,\nwimst the eyes protruded from the head in globular projections.\nWhen twelve miles off Cape St Vincent, the dredge was\nlet down in 525 fathoms; but, with a short drift, the depth\nincreased to 900 fathoms, so steep was the incline at that\ndistance from the shore. The dredging and trawling proved\nmost successful, and Gibraltar was reached on the 18th.\n. Eight days were spent at Gibraltar, in which time a new\nsurvey was made of the mole, and a measurement of the meridian between that place and Malta, made by means of the\nelectric telegraph. On the 26th of January, the Challenger left\nGibraltar, pursuing a westerly course to get on the direct line\nbetween Lisbon and Madeira. The soundings on the way\nout were most interesting, as by far the deepest water was found\nriearer the shore than at the extreme of the westerly course, and\nprevious soundings still further west are shoaler still, leading to\nthe hypothesis that another, but-submarine basin, similar to that\nof the Black Sea and Mediterraneari exists, with its outlet between- the Canary Islands and Madeira. Such a basin, could\nthe surface of the ocean subside to present it as such, would\nbe most grand, with Madeira as a mountain of 13,000 to\n20,000 feet above the surrounding land on the north,' and\nTeneriffe rivalling the loftiest range of the Himalayas to the\nsouth, imagination could scarcely depict a more wonderful\nsubject, and the Gibraltar promontory, with the headlands and\nmountains we now so much admire, would dwarf into insignificance.\nSpecimens of the beautiful Euplectella, or the \"Venus's\nflower-basket\" of the Philippine Islands, and which is the\nsiliceous skeleton of a sponge, were brought up in the trawl, in\na riving state, from 1,090 fathoms; some-fine sea-urchins were\nalso brought to light, and in another haul, from 2,125 fathoms,\nmany star-fishes and holothurids were obtained.\nOn the 3rd of February the expedition reached Madeira,\nand greatly were the beauties of this almost tropical island-\nenjoyed. Attention has, of late years, been turned to the.\ngrowth of the sugar-cane and the manufacture of sugar, and\nwith some success, for two factories are kept in constant work,\nbut the want of roads through the island is a great drawback,\nto the prosperity of the people; indeed, the communication is\nso bad, that the inhabitants on the north side of the island are,\nnecessitated to place their produce in water-tight casks and\nfloat, them off through the surf to small vessels to take round\nto Funchal for exportation; a little energy and outlay would\ngreatly add to the material prosperity of the island. After\ncoaling, the Challenger proceeded to Santa Cruz, Teneriffe, and\na party of naturalists landed for the purpose of ascending the\npeak-; they succeeded in getting beyond the snow-line, about\nthree parts of the way up, but the guides then refused to\nproceed further, and no inducement would make them alter\ntheir determination, so the party were obliged, of necessity, to\nrelinquish the task.\n. On the 14th, the ship left Santa Cruz to commence the\nreal work in sounding across the Atlantic to Sombrero, and\nsounding, trawling, and dredging, became the daily labour.\nObservations were also commenced for ascertaining the tern- perature of the ocean at various depths, a work of much labour,\nas the line had to be hauled' in and let out again very often,\nthe observations generally consisting of 15 at every station, the\ntemperature'being obtained at every 100 fathoms to 1,500, and\nvery often, in particular localities, these fifteen observations\nwere supplemented by many more intermediate ones.\nAs might be expected in the vicinity of a volcanic island, the\nbottom was found uneven, with steep acclivities and depressions, but, at the same time, prolific in objects of interest; some\nfine specimens of sponge, having much the appearance of the\ntinder-fungus, and other interesting objects, were brought up,\nand soon after, a new species of Crustacea was found in the\ntangles of the dredge, or brought up from 1,900 fathoms; this\nspecimen was remarkable for possessing no organs of vision,\nindeed, no eye-stalks; it was in shape similar to the lobster or\nprawn, nearly five inches long, having ten legs of most delicate\nform, edged with a close fringe of yellowish colour. Professor\nWyville Thomson gave the name of Deidamia leptodactyla to\nthis remarkable animal.\nThe deepest water of the section, 3,150 fathoms, was obtained on the tropic in longitude 35\u00b0 11' W. The dredge\nbrought up scarcely any trace of organic matter; the bottom\nconsisted of smooth impalpable clay of a reddish or dark\nchocolate colour, which, in water, was held in suspense\nfor some time. This nature of bottom extended over a distance of from 700 to 800 mile^; and it is noticeable on this\nsection that wherever the water exceeded a depth of about 2,700\nfathoms, this red clay was found, but within that depth it consisted of the usual globigerina ooze of the Atlantic. In one\nof the soundings, that taken on the 21st, in 2,740 fathoms, the\nsounding-rod, when it came up, was found to be entangled in\nthe first 100 fathoms of line, that quantity having been paid out\nafter the weights were down; this proves that the deep-sea water\nat that time must have been perfectly still, and that the rod\nmust have been sticking upright in the mud at the bottom.\nIt must not be understood that-the work of the expedition\nconsisted only in sounding; whenever opportunity occurred, and\nthe sea was smooth enough, boats were lowered, and the naturalists were away with tow and drift nets catching everything,\nhowever small, that dared to float on the waters, or come up for\nbreath, and this gave more employment in selecting, examining,\nand describing the animals found; when anything remarkable\nwas obtained, it was placed in the aquarium to be watched,\nand notes were taken of its actions. The serial temperatures\nalso occupied much time, so that the observations of the day\nfrequently occupied twelve hours, and the sorting, arranging,\nand tabulating ran into the small hours of the night, and\nfrequently, hours were expended in sifting and examining the\nmud brought up, with no adequate return for the labour.\nWater also was brought up from great depths to ascertain the\nspecific gravity, and for analytical examination.\nOn the 16th of March, the Challenger anchored at St.\nThomas's, and immediately commenced refitting, which the\nwear and tear of the work (which is very great), necessitated.\nObservations were obtained for magnetism and longitude, and\nthe chart of the harbour corrected.\nThe harbour, one of the finest in the world, still presents a\nsad spectacle from the effects of the terrific cyclone of 1867. A\nnumber of wrecks being still to be seen, arid many small houses,\npartly built of timbers and bulkheads of ships, present melancholy evidence of the destruction to shipping in the hurricane\nmonths. A curious instance of the creation of a rock was\nfound, which, but for the explanation given, would cause some\nspeculation. This artificial rock is in the bay west of Cairn Hill,\nand is about two feet above high water; a cargo of cement\nwas deposited there from a wreck, and has become as solid as\nconcrete.\nYellow fever invests this fine harbour with very ill repute,\nand it is a saying on the island that when the anchor is let go,\nyou should \" go down and make your will.\" The authorities\nhave done much to remedy the spread of this dreadful scourge,\nand have established a coaling depot, from which fever-stricken\nships can obtain supplies without communicating with the\nshore.\nBefore quitting St. Thomas's, the Challenger's officers and\ncrew were called upon to perform a .pleasant duty, in extricating some fellow-sailors from a dilemma. A dismasted\nEnglish ship had anchored in the channel between St. Thomas's\nand St. John's Islands, and was in want of assistance, which\nwas willingly rendered by towing her safely into harbour. She\nturned out to be the iron ship Verona, which; on her voyage\nfrom New York to Liverpool, had been thrown on her beam-\nends in a violent squall, and the captain was obliged to cut\naway her main and mizen masts to right her. In this condition she was found by the ship Rowantree, Captain Barry,\nwho proceeded to render assistance by taking the crew on\nboard his vessel, but, on examination, Captain Barry did not\nconsider the Verona's case hopeless, and tried to persuade the\nofficers and men to return to their ship, but as they determinedly refused, he permitted his own mate and a volunteer\ncrew to go on board, and the gallant fellows, after a passage of\nfifty-seven days, during which th&y suffered very many hardships and privations, succeeded in getting her in safety to\nSt. Thomas's.\nOn the 24th March, the Challenger left St. Thomas's, and\npassing to the southward of Saba Island, commenced sounding and dredging in the shallow water near the islands. The\ndredging proved most successful in star-fishes, shells, and\nsponges, but, unfortunately, a boy was so seriously injured by\nthe splitting of a block, caused by the dredge fouling the\nbottom, that he died the same afternoon. This accident\ncaused a gloom throughout the ship, as the lad was much liked.\nProceeding on her voyage, when at a distance of only .eighty\nmiles from the land, the deepest water ever gauged by the line\nand plummet was found, the circumstances of wind and weather\nbeing favourable, the sounding, in 3,875 fathoms, was successfully taken. This enormous length of line, nearly four miles\nand a half, with three hundredweight of sinkers, ran out uninterruptedly to the bottom of the \" mighty deep,\" taking\nnearly one hour and a quarter in doing so; the last hundred\nfathoms taking two minutes thirty-six seconds to run out.\nAbove two hours were occupied in heaving the line in, the\nweights of course, being left on the bottom. The two thermometers that were attached to the line near the sinkers were\nboth broken, and, although they had been tested to a pressure\nequal to nearly three tons to the square inch, they were unable\nto bear the enormous pressure of 730 atmospheres, or nearly\n11,000 pounds (four tons and three-quarters) to the square\ninch. The dredge was lowered with four hundredweight of\niron attached, to cause it to sink quickly, and 4,400 fathoms\n(five miles) of rope reeved out; but the result was not commensurate with the labour and time used for the purpose, as 20\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nthe dredge brought up only a small quantity of mud. The\nremains of the lad killed the day before were consigned to this\ndeepest of watery graves.\nThe next day, soundings were obtained in 2,800 fathoms,\nand, with but little alteration, the depth remained the same to\nBermuda, at which island the Challenger arrived on the 4th\nApril. This interesting group of islands has generally been\nclassed with the coral islands of the Pacific, but, from the observations made by the Challenger, this classification will cease.\nThe islands of the Bermuda group are certainly coral, but\nthere is no certainty or probability that the mountain or peak\nwhich forms the base of the islands ever was above water, and\nthe rriagnetic disturbance of the needle observed by Commander Maclear at various stations on the group, is sufficiently\nconclusive that there has been no subsidence. As a depth of\nupwards of 2,000 fathoms is found at a short distance round the\ngroup, the islands must have been formed on the summit of a\npeak similar to, and about the same height as that of Teneriffe.\nOther peaks of the same character exist in the North Atlantic,\nsuch as the Sainthill Bank with 100 fathoms on it, and the\nMilne Bank with eighty-one; but as the limit at which the\nliving polyp is found is said not to exceed thirty fathoms, there\nis sufficient cause why islands do not crown their summits, and\ncould a small shaft be sunk on Bermuda at the spot where the\ngreatest magnetic disturbance is found, it would probably not\nproceed far before the volcanic rock was struck.\nAfter refitting and filling up with coal, the Challenger proceeded on her voyage, and, after sounding and dredging near\nthe island, stood to the north-west towards New York. When\nforty-five miles west from Bermuda, and the dredge at the\nbottom, a boat was anchored to it, and the current, or motion\nof the water, tested at various depths, it was found twice as\nstrong at fifty fathoms' depth as at the surface, and evidences\nof the existence of sub-currents were found as far down as 500\nfathoms, but running in diverse directions.\nOn passing the edge of the Gulf-stream, the temperature\nof the surface -water suddenly became seven degrees warmer,\nand this temperature increased three degrees more to the centre\nof the stream. Great efforts were made in this most interesting\nposition to obtain a sounding, but the strength of the current\nbeing so great (between three and four miles an hour), the ship\nwas set away at once from the sinkers, and all efforts to keep\nher I over the line \" were unavailing; when 2,600 fathoms had\nrun out it was supposed that the sinkers had reached the bottom,\nbut on heaving the line in, the weights were found attached,\nand no indication on the rod of its having reached the bottom;\na second trial was equally unsuccessful, and Captain Nares\nwas reluctantly obliged to relinquish the task; he, however, took\nall the observations in sea temperatures and currents that were\npossible, and from these the deduction has been reached that\nthe Gulf-stream is at this point nearly sixty miles wide and\nabout 100 fathoms deep, the strength of the stream at the\nstrongest being about three and a half to four miles an hour.\nThe depths found on this section averaged about 2,600\nfathoms to the southward of the Gulf-stream, and from 1,700\nto 1,300 northward of it to the edge of the bank, 120 miles south\nof Long Island. The course was then changed for Halifax,\nwhere the ship arrived on the 9th of May, leaving again on a\nreturn direct course to Bermuda. A sounding of 2,800 was\nobtained in the Gulf-stream on this passage, where, of course,\nthe set of the current was  not so  strong.   After this, the\nsoundings were similar to those obtained to the westward, viz.,\n2,650 fathoms.\nFrom Bermuda the Challenger retraced her course across\nthe Atlantic direct for the Azores, not regretting to leave\nBermuda, as the weather was setting in uncomfortably warm.\nOn the afternoon of leaving, soundings were obtained in 1,500\nfathoms, and the next day, 14th of June, in 2,360 fathoms.\nThe following day being Sunday, no soundings were taken;\nindeed, whenever it could be avoided, the daily toil of sounding,\ndredging, &c, was not pursued on Sunday, and, setting apart\nthe fact of it being the sabbath, it is always found that sailors,\nas well as others, work the better for their day of rest, and the\nwork of the week is cheered by the knowledge of the coming\nSunday.\nOn the 17th, in 2,850 fathoms, the trawl was let down with\n3,120 fathoms of rope, and this enormous depth was swept\nwith the trawl, bringing up numerous star-fishes, some sea-\nslugs and worms, and one or two stones. The depth did not\nvary much until the 24th, when it commenced shoaling, and\non the 25th, from 2,200 fathoms, a remarkable crimson prawn\nwas brought up, together with one or two other specimens, and\nthe next day a small turtle was captured on the surface of\nthe water: it had evidently got out of its latitude, and was\ncovered with small crabs and barnacles. At daylight on the\n30th, the peak of Pico was seen, and the same, day the\nChallenger anchored in Horta Bay, but, much to the disappointment of all, particularly the naturalists, who were prepared to\nbag every new thing on the island, they found small-pox prevailing, and it was deemed prudent not to communicate, but to\nbeat a retreat, which was done, the ship going to San Miguel,\nwhere, no contagious disease being found, they were enabled to\nland on the islarid.\nA party was formed, more for the ride than exploration, to\nthe Val das Furnas, a valley containing hot springs or caldeiros,\nmuch frequented by the gentlemen of the island, some of\nwhom possess villas near them. Much did the party enjoy the\nride along the road that skirts the coast to the eastward, and\nthe exquisite scenery that surrounded them or opened out at\nevery turn of the road. At Villa Franca the carriages had to\nbe dispensed with, and donkeys were brought into requisition\nto mount the steep sides of Pico Cedros, causing no little\nmerriment among the party. At a sudden turn near the summit they came in full view of the valley; with its lake below and\nthe white villas studding the side of the hills, near the springs.\nAll were enchanted with the magnificence of the scenery, and\ncould scarcely credit that the island, being within such an easy\ndistance from England, should not be more visited and better\nknown than it is. The party remained a day at the Val, examining the caldeiros and thoroughly enjoying the beauties of\nnature.\nThe expedition left San Miguel on the 9th for Madeira,\nsounding by the way, the depth being about 2,000 fathoms, with\n2,600 midway between the islands. Again, to the disappointment of the voyagers, they found the same dread disease prevalent at Fayal, at Madeira, which shut off all communication,\nexcepting to receive their letters, and they at once proceeded\nto Cape Verde Islands, the soundings between which do not\npossess much interest. The Challenger reached St. Vincent on\nthe 27 th July.\nThat a very faint idea can be conveyed, in a short paper, of\nthe results of the seven months' voyaging of the Challenger, can THE GOVERNMENT EXPEDITION ROUND THE WORLD.\nreadily be imagined, and a still fainter conception can be had I down, and the rope paid out for this often exceeded by one-\nof the labour in attaining those results.    As a summary, it may | fourth the actual depth of water.   At upwards of fifty stations,\nbe stated that four soundings were taken which exceeded 3,000 f serial temperatures were observed, generally at every 100\nfathoms in depth, 56 between 3,000 and 2,000, and 48 between fathoms down to 1,500 (the work of the nautical depart-\n2,000 and 1,000, whilst those below the latter depth were not ment alone): it was only on the completion of each of these\ncounted.    At about sixty stations, the trawl or dredge was let | operations that the natural history department commenced. 22\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nNotes of Travel in the Interior of Japan.\nI\nBY\nFUJI-SAN.\nFuji-san, or Fuji-no-yama, the peerless mountain of Japan (incorrectly spelt Fusiyama by most foreigners), is a special object\nof reverence to the natives. Its ascent is made every summer\nby many scores of pilgrims, who may be seen wending their way\nin white garments along the highroads leading to its base. But\nthe numbers here, as elsewhere in Japan, are not so numerous\nas formerly. The events of the last fifteen years, from the\nperiod of the opening of the treaty ports to foreigners\n\u2014such as the civil war which broke out at the beginning of\n1868, and which resulted at once in the overthrow of the \"last\nof the Tycoons,\" and the restoration of the governing power\ninto the hands of that mysterious sovereign, who till then had\nbeen almost a myth, residing within the walls of his palace at\nthe Kioto, or capital; the astounding changes which have\nfollowed in quick\u2014alas ! too quick\u2014succession, ending in the\ndownfall of the feudal system, in the abolition of the Daimios,\ntheir numerous retinues, and their lordly state; the governmental raid against Buddhism, which was the more popular\nand more widely spread of the two forms of religion\u2014all this\nhas changed the nature of things, and may well have damped\nthe ardour oi* devotion in many, and disturbed their faith.\nBut though religions are changed and customs alter, Fuji\nremains immutable, and is, and ever will be, a grand mountain,\nstanding out as it does high above all surroundings, whether in\nwinter, when its huge cone is wholly covered with snow, or in\nsummer, when the hot sun has melted the snow, and laid bare\nits rocky sides.\nI have gazed on it at all seasons, and from many points\u2014\nfrom the time I perceived its summit peering out of the mist>\nsixty or eighty miles off, as we neared the coast by sea, till I\nleft again, one summer's day, when from the Bay of Yokohama\nit revealed itself from head to foot in majestic repose. I have\napproached it from several sides, have lingered about its base\nin spring, and again in midwinter, and, studying it under\ndifferent aspects, under the varying circumstances of atmosphere\nand place, have learnt to feel for it much of the reverence\nof a native.\n'The ascent has been several times described\u2014I never\nattempted it. There are three points from which.travellers can\nstart: Murayama on the sea side, Subashiri and Yoshida on\nthe land side. Yoshida seems to be the most favourite point\nof departure. I once walked, in the month of March, with an\nEnglish friend, from Murayama to Gotemba, not far from\nSubashiri, and, here is the substance of some of my jottings by\nthe way.\nBesides our two selves, the party consisted of two native\nguards belonging to the Bette-gumi, a body of two-sworded\nmen, specially appointed to accompany and to protect\nforeigners, a learned scribe called Shiraki, an amateur from\nSatsuma, who slouched along in black trousers, which but. too\nplainly showed his bandy legs, and my little two-sworded valet,\nSh6tar6.\nWe had slept the night before at Yoshiwara, a post-town on\nthe T6kaid6, one of the principal high-roads between Yedo and\nKioto, and from there the ascent of Fuji properly commences.\nMONTA.\nIt was an easy day's march through Omiya up to Murayama, and when there, we held a council as to our future route.\nThe native map was brought out, and, squatting on the mats,\nwe peered over it, to find some new road which could be\ntraversed, instead of retracing our steps along the Tokaido.\nWe soon discovered a track leading round the base of the\nmountain, and we intimated to Shiraki that this should be our\nroad. The learned man, a true Japanese, immediately raised\ndifficulties; it was not a regular post-road, and how could we\nget coolies for the luggage? We persisted; whereupon Shiraki\nrose, and disappeared to make inquiries of the people in the\ninn. On his return he looked more aghast than ever, and said\nthat there was only one house in ten or twelve miles, and then\nbut a poor village, and how were they (the natives) to procure\nfood for themselves? We, of course, had taken much provisions with us. Upon this, knowing the nature of the men, I\ncontented myself with pointing out upon the map the place to\nwhich I intended to go, and with remarking that if we could\nnot travel round the mountain, we must ascend to the top, and\ndescend on the other side. This, in the. month of March, was\nenough to freeze the natives with horror. And then we two\nEnglishmen went out for a walk, and to admire the sunset,\nwhich cast flames of burnished gold over the precipitous sid^s\nof the mountain.\nWhen we returned, everything was settled. Shiraki had\nmade the wonderful discovery that they could take food from\nMurayama, a great idea, which solved the difficulty. So we\nhad our supper, arid after seeing one of the guards execute a\ncharacteristic posture dance, arrayed in a lovely silk shirt of\nmany colours, we went early to bed.\nThe next morning was cloudless, and the view down upon\nthe plain lovely in the early light We started at half-past\nseven, not, however, before Shiraki had again mentioned the\nwonderful fact that there was only one house between Murayama\nand Jiurigi, the village where we were to partake of our midday\nmeal.\nThe cavalcade consisted of ourselves, all walking except\nyoung Shotaro, who, being lame, was conveyed in the common\nbasket, kago, of the country; three coolies to carry the Japanese-\nmade boxes containing the luggage of my friend and myself,\nand two pack-horses laden with the food and the remainder of\nthe luggage.\nWe wound gradually up the brown moorland, where there\nwas little vegetation, except a species of straw-grass, much\nused in thatching; every now and then we flushed a pheasant,\nwhich flew rapidly away, and anon we heard the sweet notes of\nthe uguisu, and the thrilling song of the lark. There were no\ntrees; the dried torrents full of lava, and the lava-stones strewn\nall over the ground, giving ample reason for this lack. As we\ngradually reached higher ground, and the view became more\nextensive, snowy tops of mountains, far away in the province of\nShinshiu, came in sight, the white forming a beautiful fringe to\nthe lower range. We gradually approached the peaks of\nAshidakayama, the neighbour of Fuji, and eventually reached\nthe one house, tenanted by a hunter and his family. It was but\na small hut   There were two dogs, and a strange shrivelled NOTES OF TRAVEL IN THE INTERIOR OF JAPAN.\nlooking cat; some awful instruments in the way of guris, a\nspotted deer-skin, and bits of flesh of wild animals hanging up\ninside. It was a lone spot, but the hut was not without its\nmats, the only sign of comfort.\nAfter a short halt, we continued along the path, and passing\nclose to the foot of Ashidakayama, at a quarter-past eleven\nreached Jiurigi, a miserable hamlet in a sheltered hole. Here\nwe took our meal,- and then strolled leisurely along a dreadfully\ndirty road, thawed into mud by the sun after the previous\nnight's frost. Then through a wood of mountain maple, some\nyew, and different kinds of pine, and, emerging from this, we\ncame upon two consecutive views\u2014one of the eastern side of\nFuji, mostly covered with snow\u2014the other of a broad valley at\nour feet, the intervening space being filled up with gently\nsloping land, covered with the straw grass already mentioned.\nIn front, the valley was partly backed by the high mountains\nof Hakone\\\nIt was past four when we reached the little village of Inno\n(say seven miles), where we put up at the house of the principal man, and found ourselves once more amongst habitations\nand human beings.\nSome three-quarters of an hour before sunset, we strolled\nup into an adjacent wood, where we witnessed the most lovely\neffect on Fuji. We were standing in a clearing, the mountain\nfilling up the background, and being, as it were, set in a frame\nby two trees of the arbor vita species. Beyond them, the\nmiddle distance was cleared ground, and then a line of dark\nfirs, and other trees. The mountain itself, mostly covered\nwith snow, was of a colour resembling pearl-grey, and where,\nhere and there, the rock was bare, it had, owing to the peculiar\ninflection of the sun's rays, assumed a light colour, which\nrecalled the appearance of a pond where snow has fallen and\nfrozen on the ice. But the whole cone thus harmoniously\nblended, resembled a pearl of enormous size rising up into the\nclear blue sky. Clouds there were, here and there, but while\nthe top of the mountain, and sometimes the whole mass that\nwas visible, was perfectly clear, ever and anon there flitted\nacross its surface right fleecy clouds, which, \"tipped with fire\nfrom the setting sun, contrasted vividly with the colour on Fuji,\nand heightened the singular beauty of the scene. The jagged\npeaks of Ashidakayama, which we had passed in the afternoon,\nwere bathed in glowing red, and opposite to Fuji the whole\nrange, with the Hakone\" peaks towering aloft, warmed up in\nresponse.    It was a lovely sight indeed !\nNext morning we had a two hours' walk down into the\nvalley to Gotemba, famed for having been the resting-place of\nthe great warrior Yoritomo, when he came a hunting in these\nwild parts, nearly 700 years ago.. From there we proceeded\nacross the Uto-toge\" to the Baths of Miyanoshita, the route\ndescribed by Baron Hiibner in his work, \" Pjomenade autouf\ndu Monde.\" It was a long day's march of some twenty miles.\nAnother point from which there is an excellent view of Fuji\nand the surrounding range, is from the heights in the temple\ngrounds of Katasd, a little village much frequented by foreigners,\nwho come to visit the sacred island of Enoshima. At Katase-\nwas the execution ground for Kamakura, when the latter was\nthe capital of the Shoguns, and the name of the spot was\nTatsu-no-Kuchi, or the Dragon's Mouth.'\nWe tarried several days on this trip in one of the two\nlittle inns of the village, detained partly by bad weather, partly\nby good company, and one  morning, whilst inspecting the\nadjacent temple, called Riyokoji, or Jakkozan, we discovered a\ncurious old picture, dilapidated in appearance, and hanging up\nin the worst of lights. It represents a man squatting on the '\nground, waiting in all resignation for the executioner's sword,\nwhich is raised on high, to sever his head from his body. But\nthe sword was not destined to fall. It was stayed by the rain\nand fire to be seen descending from heaven. So I told\nShiraki to go to the priests, and buy a copy of the legend, and\nwhen we had some idle time, I made a free translation of\nit with the learned man, and found that it was written by one\nof the Buddhist sect of Nichiren. Here it is, and the reader\nwill be struck by its similarity to the legends which abound in\nearly Christian history:\u2014\nI Now the temple of Riyokoji contains the holy image of\nSaint Nichiren, founder of the Buddhist sect of that name.\n\" In olden times, in the summer of the year which corresponds to A.D. 1271, there was a great drought throughout the\nland, and all the people were lamenting sorely. Whereupon\nthe minister Hojo Tokimune\" called on his reverence Riyok-\nwan, of the temple Gdkurakuji, to offer up prayers for rain. At\nthis the priests of that temple were greatly rejoiced, and two\namongst them, Irisawa and Suwo by name, thinking to spread\nabroad the virtues of Riyokwan, went to our founder, and\nrecounted what had happened. Our founder having listened\nto them, answered :\u2014\n\" ' I, Nichiren, have been studying the sacred books, and\nI know the origin of calamity. Now, inasmuch as in Japan\nmen are scoffing at the religion of Buddha, the seven calamities\nare surely coming upon us. This is a matter which men do not\nunderstand. It is as if you were to treat a man for a disease,\nwithout knowing its cause. You would simply increase the\ndisease gradually.'\n\" Now his reverence RiySkwan had been raising his voice\nto. heaven for full fourteen days, and had done his utmost.\nBut, pray as he would, not a drop would fall, so there was\nnothing for it but to leave the altar and return home.\n\" Then our founder on his side lifted up his prayer, and lo 1\nthe rain fell heavily.    And the people seeing this, marvelled.\n\"But Riyokwan harboured ever-increasing resentment against\nNichiren, and wishing to compass his death, brought many\nfalse charges against him to the ears of the Minister Tokimune',\nwho was deceived thereby, and, not distinguishing the right\nfrom the wrong, ordered Nichiren to be beheaded.\n\"Whereupon, on the 12th day of the 9th month of the\nsame year, a body of several hundred soldiers, armed cap-a-\npie, forced their way into Matsubagayatsu, in Kamakura, seized\nour founder, placed him on a horse, and led him about\nthe city. Between twelve and two in the night they arrived\nat Tatsu-no-Kuchi, and there they seated him (as was the\ncustom when a criminal was to be beheaded) upon a carpet\nmade of skins.\n\"Then a devoted Samurai, who followed our founder's\nteaching, knelt before him, and having already determined\nto share his fate, and to be his attendant to the Mountain of\nSpirits, he waited in readiness for what might happen.\n\"At this time our founder, joining his hands as in prayer,\nlifted up his voice, saying:\u2014\n1' Now the end of the world draweth nigh. Even though\nthe good gods are leaving our country, they will dwell in the\nheads of honest men. So says the proverb. I, Nichiren, am\nthe exponent of true doctrine.    It cannot be that the many 24\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\ngods of our country, whether of heaven, or of earth, will\nbreak the covenant .of the Mountain of Spirits, and withhold\ntheir protection from me.'\n| Before he had ended, the executioner had raised his long\nsword aloft, when lo! a miracle. Suddenly the earth quaked,\nthe thunder rolled, and the lightning flashed\u2014the sword of the\nexecutioner was broken in three pieces, and he could stir\nneither hand nor foot.\nI Thus was fulfilled what is written in the sacred books:\nI The sword of a fathom long shall be broken in pieces.'\n| In the land of Nippon is the province of Sagami; in the\nprovince of Sagami is Katase\"; and in Katase- is Tatsu-no-\nKuchi. There Nichiren's life was stayed by the divine grace\nof Hokk6 Kiyo, and hence the place shall also be called\nJakkod6.\n\" Bearing this in mind, his reverence Nippo carved a holy\nimage of our founder, and begged for the privilege of setting it\nup in Tatsu-no-Kuchi.   Our founder shed tears for joy, and said,.\nI' Forasmuch as this is the spot where Nichiren's life was\nstayed, our soul shall stay in this image.'\npilgrims to fuji-no-yama.\nI Now had this miracle not taken place, the revelation of\nthe Deity Shogiy6, as it is written at the close of the sacred\nbooks, would have been falsified.\nI In the whole heaven it thundered and lightened out of\nreason, meteors were seen in the sky, and a voice proceeding\nfrom space resounded in the palace, saying, 'Should Nichiren\nbe killed, the land of Nippon will be destroyed.' Whereat\nevery soul in the palace, from Tokimune\" downwards, was\namazed. < Nichiren must be pardoned at once !' they cried.\n' A messenger on a swift horse must forthwith be dispatched\nwith a letter of full pardon.'\n\"This is what is found in the sacred books : 'His heart\nwas transformed, and he forthwith sent off a man.'\n\" Verily, every tittle of his holy sufferings accords with what\nis written in the sacred books.\n\"At this timemany converts weremade, and itisthusrecorded:\n| And the holy image was consecrated. After that, it was\nset up in this temple, and became renowned for its divine\nefficacy in healing.\n\"As it is said in the Books : ' Blessed are all they who retain merciful feelings in their hearts.' Bearing this text in mind,\nall worshippers who will come and pay their devotions with the\nfeeling that they are worshipping his holy face in the flesh, will\nnot^ only be proof against sword-wounds, but will escape calamities of all kinds. They will, without doubt, by divine grace,\nenjoy happiness in the world, and save their souls hereafter.\nI These things are to be seen written in \"detail in the holy\nbiography of the founder.\"\nMy companion on this and many other trips was an artist,\nwell known to all foreigners, and to many natives, in Japan.\nA more cheery and accommodating fellow I never met.\nNothing  came   amiss   to him;   he   was   equally  at   home. 244 26\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nI\nwhether in \"gilded saloons,\" or squatting on the mats in a\nwayside inn, cheroot in mouth, talking Japanese with much\nfluency, and sipping diminutive cups of light-coloured tea;\nequally happy on the one side with the best of European\nfood, eaten with knife and fork, and washed down with Bordeaux ; and on the other with fish-soup, rice (conveyed into\nhis mouth with chopsticks), and warm sake; a polyglot, with\ninexhaustible good nature, and much appreciation of humour.\nHe was always sketching; and it was curious to see, when he\nhad brought his paint-box out, sat down, and commenced a\nsketch, how the natives began to gather around; and how,\nwhen gradually there appeared upon his canvas a likeness\nof their sacred mountain, as they had been accustomed to\nview it from early childhood, full-grown men and women, let\nalone the children, whose number was legion, stared with wonder\nand delight at the seeming miracle.\nOne evening, as we rested at the Baths of Miyanoshita,\nafter a lazy day, our natives made merry and had a feast, and\ntowards the close, Shiraki came across to us, and, making the\nusual low bow to the very mats, he raised his head, bent\nforward on his outstretched palms, and respectfully asked if we\nwould not honour them with our august presence. So we went\nwith him and joined the party, and whilst the. safce cup went\nround, and we pledged each other, song followed song, and\nposture dance; and all at once the Satsuma man raised his\nvoice and poured forth a harsh, monotonous screech from the\nrepertoire of his own province; and then he finished up with a\nwild dance, such as, hi said, was the fashion of the inhabitants\nof the Liukiu Islands. It was a queer performance, applauded\nby us out of politeness, but not encored.\nAnd all the time there was a certain degree of respect plainly\nshown in the manner of these men towards us; respect which\nwas much more to be noticed in former years than now when\u2014\nalas!\u2014with European customs and dress, a Japanese but too\noften puts on what he perhaps thinks are European manners,\nand thereby loses that quiet dignity and perfect ease for which\nhe was really distinguished. But even now, if a foreigner will\ntreat his guards well, and after the custom of the natives; if\nhe understands how to travel like a Japanese of rank, and to\nblend that happy mixture of familiarity and dignity which characterised the lord in his intercourse with his retainers, he will\nfind, or I am much mistaken, great civility and a proper\namount of deference on the part of his guards. They are,\nafter all, men of gentle blood, of the military class, and they\nhave, at least till lately, preserved in much the old traditions.\nBut the feudal system is gone, never to return; and the ancient\nrelation of lord and vassal, of daimio and kerai, has received a\nrude shock, from which it can never recover.\nWe left our natives to finish their revelry, and sing, and\ntalk, and smoke their wee pipes; and we found our beds ready.\nThey were, of course, made on the mats. A Japanese mattress\u2014or rather two or three, for they are thin\u2014being laid\non the mats, my own sheets were placed on top\u2014I never\ntravelled without them and my pillow\u2014and a warm Japanese\nquilt upon the sheets; we always crept in early, and though\nsometimes the bed was a little hard, sleep came pretty readily\nto the tired travellers.\nWe used to find it best to take our bath of an evening,\nbef-;re sitting d >wn to dinner. About the first order given\nwas to light the fire which warmed the water, and we took it\nvery hot; not, however, anything like as hot as the Japanese,\nwho, through constant use, could sit calmly in water which,\nwould have scalded us. I am sure that this constant use\nof almost boiling water is very deleterious to the natives,\nand that it is one chief cause why the women lose\nthat firmness of flesh which is noticed so early. Even\nbefore they are twenty years old they have become soft\nand flabby. It has been somewhat the custom to describe\nthe Japanese as a very cleanly race. I am sorry to be\nobliged to dispel this notion, but I cannot admit a man to\nbe cleanly, although he boils himself in hot water every day,\nif he puts on the same clothes afterwards for weeks together.\nWould an Englishman who wore the same underclothing for\nsix weeks be accounted cleanly, even if he | tubbed \" every day\nduring that period ? It is sad to have to undeceive the public\nin their pleasant notions; but is it not better to tell the honest\ntruth about a country: better, indeed, in the ultimate interest\nof the natives themselves ? Many of these Japanese, who take\ntheir daily bath, are devoured by that dreadful malady, the very\nname of which can hardly be penned; well, it must out\u2014\" the\nitch.\" And why? Often because the vermin have stuck to\ntheir clothes, and they have worn the same clothes day after\nday, and month after month. I used to keep a pot of sulphur\nointment for the use of my household.\nI had-wandered about Fuji in spring, and had approached\nit in summer, and it now remained to make a journey to its\nbase in mid-winter. So one cold January, a friend and I\nstarted off from Yedo with our usual retinue, our guards and\nretainers, and our Japanese cook, and following the K6shiu-\nkaid6, much of which has been described by Baron Hiibner\nand others, we made our way to Yoshida, already mentioned\nas one of the starting-points for the ascent I cannot well\nexpress my feelings as to the magnificence of this mountain\nscenery in the winter time; when the weather is once settled,\nthere is often a\"period of about six weeks, during which each day\nis bright and almost cloudless, and, from the peculiar clearness\nof the atmosphere, distances are diminished, and everything\nstands out sharp and well-defined before one's eyes. The cold\nwas great from evening to morning, and always in the shade,\nbut during the day in the sunshine it was pleasantly warm, and\neven hot. As we neared our goal, on the loveliest morning that\ncould be conceived, with not a cloud in the sky, the glorious\ncone of the sacred mountain rose high, motionless, and white\ninto the air, a giant spectre of exceeding beauty. That morning quite compensated us for any inconvenience we suffered\nfrom the cold, and every traveller who can spare the time\nshould follow our example, and he will be rewarded.\nFrom Yoshida we proceeded round the base about seven\nmiles to the little village of Yamanonaka, situated in a hole\nclose to a frozen lake, the snow lying several inches deep.\nHere it was bitterly cold, and I never shall forget the next\nmorning, when I opened the little ink-bottle by the side of\nmy be,d, and dipped my pen in, to find the fluid completely\nfrozen, so that to record the events of the previous day, I had\nfirst to thaw each pen-ful over the brazier of charcoal just\nbrought in by the attendant.\nThe route from-Yoshida homewards as-far as the well-\nknown hamlet of Miagase\" leads through wild alpine scenery,\nwhich should be missed by no traveller in Japan. The mountains abound in game. But more descriptions here would\nonly weary. From Miagase- we returned to the eastern capital,\nthe snow falling very heavily during our last day's march. AN AUSTRALIAN SEARCH  PARTY.\n27\nAn Australian Search Party.\nBY CHARLES  H.  EDEN.\nIn a former narrative, published in the preceding volume of\nthe Illustrated Travels, I gave an account of a terrible\ncyclone which visited the north-eastern coast of Queensland in\nthe autumn of 1866, nearly destroying the small settlements\nof Cardwell and Townsville, and doing an infinity of damage\nby uprooting heavy timber, blocking up the bush roads,\n&c. Amongst other calamities attendant on this visitation was\nthe loss of a small coasting schooner, named the Eva, bound\nfrom Cleveland to Rockingham Bay, with cargo and passengers. Only those who have visited Australia can picture to\nthemselves the full horror of a captivity amongst the degraded\nblacks with whom this unexplored district abounds; and a\nreport of white men having been seen amongst the wild tribes\nin the neighbourhood of the Herbert River induced the inhabitants of Cardwell to institute a search party to rescue the crew\nof the unhappy schooner, should they still be alive; or to gain\nsome certain clue to their fate, should they have perished.\nIn my former narrative I described our exploration of the\nHerbert River, lying at the south end of Rockingham Channel,\n.with its fruitless issue; and I now take up the thread of my\nstory from 'that point, thinking it can hardly fail to be of\ninterest to the reader, not only as regards the wild nature of\nthe country traversed, but also as showing the anxiety\nmanifested by the inhabitants of these remote districts to clear\nup the fate of their, unhappy brethren. I may also here\nmention, for the information of such of my readers as may not\nhave read the preceding portions of the narrative, that Card-\nwell is the nariie of a small township situated on the shores of\nRockingham Bay; and that Townville is a settlement some\nhundred miles further south, known also as Cleveland Bay.\nHOW WE EXPLORED GOULD AND GARDEN ISLANDS.\nWe were all much pleased at a piece of intelligence brought\nup by the Daylight, to the effect that a party of volunteers had\nbeen assembled at Cleveland Bay, and intended coming up in\na small steamer to the south end of Hinchinbrook, to assist in\nthe search for the missing crew. As it would be of the utmost\nimportance that both parties should co-operate, I sent my boat\ndown to the mouth of the channel, with a note to the leader\nof the expedition announcing our intention of landing on the\nnorth end of the island and working towards the centre; and\nrequesting them to scour their end, and then push northward,\nwhen we should most probably meet in the middle of the\nisland. The boat had orders to wait at the bar until the\narrival of the steamer, and then to return with all speed. In\nthe meanwhile, the Daylights discharging her cargo, and\nwe were making preparations for what we well knew would\nprove a most arduous undertaking; the sequel will show that\nwe did not overrate the difficulties before us.\nAt the risk of being tedious, I must explain to the reader\nsome of the peculiarities of Hinchinbrook Island. Its length\nis a little short of forty miles, and its shape a rude triangle, the\napex of which is at the south, and the north side forming the\nsouthern portion of Rockingham Bay.    Now this north side is\nby no means straight, but is curved out into two or three bays\nof considerable extent, and in one of them stand two islands\nnamed Gould and Garden Islands. The latter of these was\nour favourite resort for picnics, for the dense foliage afforded\ngood shade, and, when the tide was low, we were enabled to\ngather most delicious oysters from some detached rocks.\nGould Island is considerably larger; but, rising in a pyramid from the sea, and being covered with loose boulders,\nit was most tedious climbing. From the township we could,\nwith our glasses, see canoes constantly passing and repassing\nbetween these two islands; and as the Daylight had a particularly heavy cargo this trip, and would not be clear for\nthe next-two days, we made up our minds to search the\nislands, and drive the blacks on to Hinchinbrook, so that\none of our parties must stumble across them when we swept\nit. This may seem to the reader unnecessary trouble, but\nmost of our party were conversant with the habits of the\nblacks and their limited method of reasoning; and we judged\nit probable that the Herbert River gins would have at once\nacquainted the Hinchinbrook blacks with our unceremonious\nvisit, and warned them that we should probably soon look\nthem up also. Now on the receipt of this unwelcome intelligence, the first thing that would strike the blacks would be\nthe facilities for concealment afforded by Gould or Garden\nIslands, more particularly had they any captives; and they\nwould say to themselves that we should certainly overlook\nthese two out-of-the-way little spots; and when we were busy\non Hinchinbrook, they could easily paddle themselves and\ntheir prisoners to some of the more distant chain of islands,\nwhere they could lie by until all fear of pursuit was past. .\nSuch was the opinion both of the troopers and of the experienced bushmen; and as we were fully resolved to leave\nthem no loophole for escape, we jumped into our boat and\npulled gently over to Garden Island.\nIt was about seven o'clock in the morning when we started,\nsix strong\u2014four whites, and Cato, and Ferdinand\u2014well armed,\nand with a good supply of provisions. The sun was already\nvery hot, and the water smooth as glass, save where the prow of\nthe boat broke the still surface into a tiny ripple, which continued plainly visible half a mile astern. I find it difficult to bring\nbefore the reader the thousand curious objects that met us on\nour way. The sullen crocodile basking in the sun, sank noiselessly ; a splash would be heard, and a four feet albicore would\nfling himself madly into the air, striving vainly to elude the\nominous black triangle that cut the water like a knife close in\nhis rear. Small chance for the poor fugitive, with the ravenous\nshark following silent and inexorable. We lay on our oars and\nwatched the result. The hunted fish doubles, springs aloft, and\ndives down, but all in vain ; the black fin is not to be thrown\noff, double as he may. Anon the springs become more feeble,\nthe pursuer's tail partly appears as he pushes forward with redoubled vigour, a faint splash is heard, the -waters curl into an\neddy, and the monster sinks noiselessly to enjoy his breakfast\nin the cooler depths beneath.    And now we. come to a sand ILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nbank running out some miles or so into the bay, and on which\nthe water is less than three fathoms. Here the surface is\nbroken by huge black objects, coining clumsily to the top,\nshooting out a jet of spray, and again disappearing. We let\nthe boat glide gently along until she rests motionless above the\nbank, and stooping over the side with our faces close to the\nwater, and sheltered by our hands, we can peer down into the\nplacid depths, and see the huge animals grazing on the submarine vegetation with which their favourite feeding-place\nis thickly overgrown. But what animal is he. talking about ?\nthe reader will ask. It is the dugong (Halicore Australis), or\nsea-cow, from whence is extracted an oil equal to the cod-liver\nas regards its medicinal qualities, and far superior to it in one\ngreat essential, for instead of a nauseous disagreeable flavour,\nit tastes quite pleasantly. It frequents the whole of the northeastern coast of Australia, and when the qualities of the oil\nbottom, and beneath which are situated the udders, with teats\nexactly like a cow's. Its flesh is far from bad, resembling lean\nbeef in appearance, though hardly so good to the taste, and\nthe skin can be manufactured into gelatine. I have often\nwondered that this most useful' animal was not oftener captured. A fishing establishment with a good boat, a trained ^\ncrew, and proper appliances for extracting the oil, could not\nfail to return a large profit to the proprietors, and every now\nand then they could kill a whale, one or more of which could\nbe frequently seen disporting themselves in the waters of the\nbay.\nBy ten o'clock we had reached Garden Island, and beached\nthe boat on a long sandy spit that stretched into the sea.\nLeaving one man as boat-keeper, we spread ourselves into\nline, and regularly beat the little island from end to end, but\nwithout finding a single black; we could, however, see their\nl II\nTftfe\nBAY   O.N   IllNCUlNBROUK   laLAND,   WITH   NATIVES.\nfirst became known, it was eagerly sought after by invalids who\ncould not overcome their repugnance to the cod-liver nastiness.\nThe fishermen, however, spoilt their own market, for greed,\ninduced them to adulterate the new medicine with shark oil,\nand all kinds of other abominations, so that the faculty were\nnever quite certain what they were pouring down the throats of\ntheir unhappy patients. Thus the oil lost its good name, though I\nam convinced from personal observation that fresh, pure dugong\nis quite equal, if not superior, in nourishing qualities to cod-liver\noil, and do not doubt that a time will come when it will enter\nlargely into the Pharmacopoeia. The animal itself is so peculiar, that a brief description of it may not be here amiss. Its\nfavourite haunts are bays into which streams empty themselves,\nand where the water is from two to five fathoms in depth,\nfeeding on the Algce of the submerged banks, for which purpose\nthe upper lip is very large, thick, and as it turns down suddenly\nat right angles with the head, it much resembles an elephant's\ntrunk shorn off at the mouth. Its length averages from, eight\nto fourteen feet; there is no dorsal fin, and the tail is horizontal ; colour blue, and white beneath. Its means of propulsion are two paddles, with which it also crawls \\long the\nsmoke-signals arising from Gould Island, and observed several\nheavily-laden canoes making the best of their way towards\nHinchinbrook. Our search having been unsuccessful, we hurried\ndown to the boat, with the intention of cutting the fugitives\noff, but found to our disgust that the tide had fallen so low\nduring our absence that our united strength was insufficient to\nmove the boat, so we were perforce compelled to remain until\nthe return of the water. This did not in reality so much\nsignify, indeed, some of the party were rather averse to\nour plan of intercepting the canoes, arguing that if closely\npressed, the blacks might make an end of their captives.\nHowever this might be, there was no help for it, we were\nstuck fast until the afternoon, so had to summon such philosophy as we possessed, and while away the time as best we\ncould. The boat's sail; spread under the shade of a tree, kept\nthe intense heat a little at bay until after dinner, and this most\nessential part of the day's programme have been done ample\njustice to, and the pipes lighted and smoked out, we wandered\nabout the long space left bare by the tide, amusing ourselves by\ncollecting oysters, cowrie shells, and periwinkles.\nThe way we captured the two latter was by turning over the AN AUSTRALIAN SEARCH  PARTY.\n29\nrocks, to the under sides of which we found them adhering in\ngreat numbers, sticking on like snails to a garden wall. Some\nof the cowries were very beautiful, particularly those of a deep\nbrown colour approaching to black. This kind, however, were\nrather rare, and the lucky finder of a large one excited some\nenvy. These beautiful little shells are of all sizes, from half an\ninch to two inches in length. When the stone is first turned\nover, the .fish is almost out of its home, and the bright colour\nof the shell is hidden by a fleshy integument, but a few seconds\nsuffice for it to withdraw within doors, and then the mottled\npattern is seen in its full beauty. The best way to get the\nshell without injury to its gloss, is to keep the fish alive in a\nbucket of salt water, until you reach home, and then to dig a\nhole a couple of feet deep, and bury them. In a month or so,\nthey may be taken up, and will be found quite clean, free\nas glass, and whenever you got a fall\u2014which happened on an\naverage every five minutes\u2014bleeding hands and jagged knees\nbore testimony to a couch of growing bivalves being anything\nbut as soft as a feather bed; also the oysters cling so fast that\nthey might be taken for component parts of the rock, and only\na cold chisel'and mallet will induce them to relinquish their\nfirm embrace. Three or four of the party had ventured out,\nand we had secured a large sackful, after which we all retired\nto the tent, except one of our number, who, having a lady-love\nin Cardwell with an inordinate affection for shell-fish, lingered\nto fill a havresac for his inamorata. We were comfortably\nsmoking our pipes and watching with satisfaction the tide rising\nhigher and higher, when a faint \" coo-eh\" from the direction of\nthe rock reached us, followed by another and another and\nanother, each-one more shrill than the last.\nSATIN' BOWER-BIRDS\nss\nfrom smell, and as bright in l.u; as during life. I have tried\nboiling them, heaping them in the sun, and various other\nmethods, but this is undoubtedly the best.\nShould it ever fall to the lot of any of my readers to have\nto cook periwinkles\u2014and there are many worse things, when\nyou are certain of their freshness\u2014let them remember that they\nshould be boiled in salt water. This is to give them toughness ; if fresh water is used, however expert the operator may\nbe with his pin, he will fail to extract more than a moiety of\nthe curly delicacy. These little facts, though extraneous to our\nsubject, are always worth knowing.\nAt one end of Garden Island, and distant from it about\n200 yards, stands a very singular rock, of a whitish hue, and\nwhen struck at a certain angle by the sun, so much resembling\nthe canvas of a vessel, that it was named the \"Sail Rock.\"\nAt low tide this could be reached by wading, the water being\nlittle more than knee-deep. Its base was literally covered with\noysters of the finest quality. The mere task of getting there\nwas one of considerable difficulty, for the rock was as slippery\n\" By Jove, Wordsworth's in some trouble !\" exclaimed one\nof our party, and, snatching up our carbines, we hurried to the\nend of the island at which stood the Sail Rock. The tide had\nnow risen considerably, and the water between the rock and\nourselves was over four feet deep, and increasing in depth each\nmoment. We saw poor Wordsworth clinging on to the slippery\nwall, as high up as the smooth mass afforded hand-hold.\n\"Come along, old fellow!\" we shouted; \"it's not up to\nyour neck yet.\"\nHe turned his head over his shoulder\u2014even at the distance\nwe were, its pallor was quite visible\u2014and slowly and cautiously\nreleasing one hand, he pointed to the water between himself\nand the island.\n\"By Jove!\" cried the pi'ot, \"he's bailed up by a shark,\nlook at his sprit-sail!\" and following his finger we saw an enormous black fin sailing gently to and fro, as regularly and methodically as a veteran sentry paces the limits of his post.\n\" Stick tight, old man ! we'll bring the boat,\" and leaving the\npilot to keep up a fusillade at the monster with the carbines, 3\u00b0\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nwe darted back. I shall never forget the efforts we made to\nlaunch the boat, but she was immovable, and every moment\nthe tide was rising, the little ripples expending themselves in\nbubbly foam against the thirsty sand. We strained, we tugged,\nwe prised with levers, but unavailingly, the boat seemed as if\nshe had taken root there and would not budge\" an inch. A\nhappy thought struck me all of a sudden, as a reminiscence of\na similar case that I had seen in years gone by came back in\nfull vigour\n\" Give me a tomahawk,\" I said.\nOne was produced in a minute from under the stern-sheets.\nMeanwhile I had got out a couple of the oars.\n\"Now, Jim, you're the best axeman, off with them here !\"\nHalf a dozen strokes to each, and the blades were severed\nfrom the looms.\nI Now boys, lay aft and lift her. stern.\"\nIt was done, and one of the oars placed under as a roller.\n\" Now, launch together.\"\n\" Heave with a will.\"\n\" She's moving-!\"\nI Again so.    Keep her going.\"\n\"Hurrah!\" and a loud cheer broke forth, as, through the\nmedium of the friendly rollers, the heavy boat trundled into\nthe water.\nThe pull was long, at least it seemed to us long, for we had\nto round the sandy spit before we could head towards the rock,\nand nearly got on shore in trying to make too close a shave.\nWe could hear the crack of the pilot's carbine every few\nminutes, borne down to us by the freshening breeze, and the\nagonising \" coo-ehs \" of poor Wordsworth, whose ankles were\nalready hidden by the advancing waters; added to this, we\nhad only two oars, and the wind, now pretty strong, was dead\nin our teeth. I was steering, and Jim was standing up in the\nbows with his carbine for a shot, if the shark offered such an\nopportunity. As we neared the rock we could distinctly see\nthe black fin within six feet of the narrow ledge on which the\npoor fellow was standing, and only when we approached to\nwithin a couple of boats' lengths, did the ferocious brute sail\nsullenly out to sea, pursued by a harmless bullet from Jim's\nrifle. Poor Wordsworth dropped into the boat fainting from\nterror, exhaustion,- and loss of blood, for, although he was unconscious of it all the time, in his convulsive grip, the sharp\noyster-shells had cut his hands to the very bone. A good glass\nof grog and some hot tea\u2014the bushman's infallible remedy\u2014\nsoon brought him round, but the scars on his hands and knees\nwill accompany him to his grave. He afterwards described\nthe glances that the shark threw at him as perfectly diabolical,\nand confessed that had it not been for the cheery hails of the\npilot, he should most certainly have relinquished his hold, and\ninet with a death too horrible to contemplate.\nIt was now about three o'clock in the afternoon, and the\nboat being launched, we resolved to reach Gould Island before\ndark. The tent was soon struck, the provisions stowed away,\nthe priming of the carbines looked to afresh, and in a few\nminutes we were sweeping across the small belt of water that\nseparated the two islands. We approached the shore with\ncaution, for, as I mentioned before, the sides of Gould Island\nare everywhere very steep, and hQstile blacks, by simply dislodging some of the loose masses of rock, could easily have\nsmashed the boat and its crew to pieces without exposing\nthemselves to the slightest danger.   Noiselessly, and with every\nfaculty painfully alert, we closed the land, sprang on to the\nrocks, and at once set about the tedious task of breasting the\nhill. Hill climbing, under the vertical sun of North Australia,\nis by no means an enjoyable undertaking, more particularly\nwhen the loose shale and rock gives way at every stride, bringing-down an avalanche of rubbish on the heads of the rearmost\nof the party. Encumbered with our carbines, we made but\nslow progress, and it was nearly six o'clock before we attained\nthe summit, from whence we saw several canoes making their\nway with full speed towards Hinchinbrook.\n\"So far then, so good,\" we said; \"we have made certain\nthat none of the rascals are lurking about the two islands, and \u2022\nwe are sure to get them now, when we sweep Hinchinbrook.\"\nWe had now done everything that was possible until the\nDaylight had finished unloading, and so spread ourselves out\nabout the island to see if the blacks had left any of their\ncurious implements behind thein. We were in no hurry to get\nback to the township, so purposed having supper where we\nwere, and pulling back in the cool of the evening, by the light\nof the moon, which was just then in full glory. We found\nplenty of traces of the blacks, the embers of their fires even\nstill glowing, but they had carried off everything with them,\nand no trophies crowned our search of Gould Island; and yet\nI am wrong, for I got one memento, which I have by me still,\nand which is so curious to lovers of natural history that I am\ntempted to describe it. In rummaging about, I came to a place\nstrewed with old bones, shells, parrots' feathers, &c, close to\nwhich stood a platform of interwoven sticks. I \"was terribly\npuzzled at first to account for the presence of this miniature rag\nand bone depot, and my astonishment culminated when Ferdinand informed me that\u2014\n\" Bird been make it that fellow; plenty d d thief that\nfellow, steal like it pipe, like it anything.\"\nIt then flashed across me that I had fallen in with the\n\" run I of the bower-bird, of which I had so often heard, and\nhad so often sought for without success.\nThe satin bower-bird (Ptilonorhynchus holosericus) belongs\nto the family of starlings, and though tolerably common in New\nSouth Wales, is but a rare visitor to the hotter climate of\nNorthern Queensland. The plumage of the adult male is of\na glossy satin-like purple, appearing almost black, whilst the\nfemales and the young are all of an olive-greenish colour.\nThe peculiarity for which this bird is generally known, is its\nhabit of constructing a sort of arbour of dry twigs, to act as a\nplayground. These bowers are usually made in some secluded\nplace in the bush\u2014not infrequently under the shady boughs of\na large tree\u2014and vary considerably in size, according to the\nnumber of birds resorting to them, for they seem to be joint-\nstock affairs, and are not limited to one pair. The bower itself is somewhat difficult to describe, and a better idea can be\nformed from the engraving, or by visiting the British Museum,\nwhere several are shown, than I can ever hope to set before\nthe reader in words. A number of sticks, most artistically\nwoven together, form the base, from the centre of which the\nwalls of the structure arise. These, walls are made of lighter\ntwigs, and considerable pains must be taken in their selection,\nfor they all have an inward curve, which in some \"runs\"\ncause the sides almost to meet at the top. The degree of\nforethought that these self-taught architects possess is strikingly exemplified in the fact that, whilst building the walls, any\nforks or inequalities are turned outwards, so as to  offer no\nmm AN AUSTRALIAN SEARCH PARTY.\n3i\nimpediment to their free passage when skylarking (if it is not\nan Irishism, using such an expression with regard to a starling)\nand chasing each other through and through the bower, to\nwhich innocent recreations, according to the testimony of\nMessrs. Cato and Ferdinand, they devote the major part of their\ntime. Their love of finery and gaudy colours is also most\nremarkable. Interwoven amongst the twigs of which the\nbower is composed, and scattered about the ground in its\nvicinity, are found bleached bones, broken oyster, snail, and\ncowrie shells, and not unfrequently, in the more civilised\ndistricts, pieces of coloured rag, and fragments of ribbon\npilfered from some neighbouring station, for, in search of\nattractive objects to decorate his playground, the bower-bird\nentirely ignores the eighth commandment, and, I fear, justifies\nthe  somewhat  strong  expression  of \" d d thief\"  which\nFerdinand bestowed on him. Indeed, so well are his filching\npropensities known to the natives, that they make a practice\nof searching the runs whenever any small article of value is\nmissing, and often succeed in recovering the lost object.\nI find that I have been using the pronoun he hitherto,\nwhilst describing this insatiable love of finery, but on reflection\nI cannot but think that I am utterly wrong, and that when\nmore is known of the domestic arrangements of the bower-bird,\nit will be found that the lady alone is responsible for this\nmeretricious taste, and that the poor he, whom I have so un-\nblushingly accused, is in reality gathering berries and fruit for\nthe little ones, guiltless of the slightest inclination towards\npicking and stealing.\nThese birds live and thrive in confinement, and busy themselves immensely in the construction of runs, but they never\nmultiply whilst captive. Indeed, the place and manner of\ntheir breeding is as yet a mystery, for, so skilful are they in\nconcealment, that even the lynx-eyed blacks have failed to\ndiscover their nest.\nWe found the descent to the boat incomparably preferable\nto the tedious climb of two hours previous, and, thanks to the\npromise of a \"nobbier of rum each,\" Cato and Ferdinand\ntransported my precious \"run\" in safety to the stern-sheets;\nthe sun having then sunk in crimson beauty behind the coast-\nrange, and the breeze having fallen to the faintest whisper, we\nshoved off, and pulled leisurely over the calm bay to Cardwell,\narriving about ten o'clock, to hear the welcome news that the\nDaylight would be ready for us on the following afternoon.\nHOW WE  EXPLORED  HINCHINBROOK ISLAND.\nThe sun was just showing above the distant sea-line, and the\nbay was lying motionless as a mirror, with a rosy hue thrown\nacross its placid surface, when I awoke on the following morning, stiff from the clamber of the preceding day. The short\nhalf-hour before the rays of the sun have attained an unpleasant\nfierceness is most enjoyable in Australia, particularly in a wild\nregion such as Cardwell, where birds, beasts, and fishes pursue\ntheir daily avocations, heedless of the presence of man. My\nhouse was situated at the extreme north end of the township,\nand far apart from the nearest dwelling\u2014so much so, in fact,\nthat it was only by a stretch of the imagination that I could\nsay I was included within the village boundary. On the side\nfarthest from the settlement lay the virgin bush, whilst outside\nthe garden at the back, all was wild and rude as Nature had\nleft it, except a small clearing I had made for the growth of\nmaize,  sweet potatoes,  &c.     Now  this  clearing had many\nenemies, and of many species, ranging from feathered and\nfurred to biped. The cockatoos came down in such clouds\nas almost to whiten the ground, and made short work of the\nmaize; the bandicoots and the township pigs dug up and\ndevoured the sweet potatoes, just as they were becoming large\nenough for use\u2014commend me to your half-starved pig to find\nout in a moment where the juiciest and finest esculent lies\nburied\u2014and the chattering little opossums stripped the peach-\ntrees of their wealth, in which labour of love they were eagerly\nassisted by the flying-foxes during the night, whilst any that\nhad escaped these nocturnal depredators became the Spoil of\ntwo or three idle boys, who loafed about all day, seeking\nmischief, and, as always happens, succeeding in finding it, even\nin this sequestered region. From this it will be seen that my\nefforts in the direction of husbandry were attended with some\ndifficulty, and, despite a real liking for the animal world, I had\nimbibed a holy hatred of that particular section of its society\nwhich insisted on devouring my substance under my very nose,\nonly retreating to the nearest tree until my back was turned,\nand then resuming operations with unblushing effrontery. By\nway of a mild vengeance, I had got into the habit of coming\nout every morning directly I awoke, with my gun, and easing\noff both barrels amongst the cockatoos, wallabies, or whatever\nparticular class of robbers happened to be afield at the moment\n\u2014a practice which served as a safety-valve for my injured feelings, whilst at the same time it provided me with a cockatoo\npie, or a good bowl of kangaroo-tail soup.\nOnce, in my indignation at finding my palings broken down,\nand some sugar-cane, that I had been most carefully rearing,\nrooted up and destroyed, while the author of the mischief, a\nhuge sow, innocent of the restraining ring (I would have hung\nthe ring of the Devastation's best bower-anchor to her snout,\nhad I been allowed to follow out my wishes), stood gloating\nover the havoc she had caused. Then, in my wrath, I had\nhastily loaded a carbine with a handful of salt, and prematurely\nconverted a portion of my enemy's flank into bacon; but even\nthis just act of retribution was not to be accomplished without\nfurther loss to myself, for oq receipt of my hint to move on,\nher sowship dashed straight ahead, and brought down a whole\npanel of my fence about her ears, owing to which the village\ncows, which I had often observed throwing longing glances over\nthe paling at my bananas, doubtless apprised of their opportunity by the evil-minded and malicious sow, took a mean\nadvantage of the weakness of my defences, and on the same\nnight devoured everything in the garden that they thought\nworthy of their attention.\nThough I had now become hardened to the many injuries\nthus'heaped upon me, and had almost discontinued all attempts\nat cultivation, I still retained the habit of stepping out into the\nverandah every morning with my gun, but more with an eye to\nthe pot than for any other reason.\nBeautiful as the scene always was, it struck me that day as\nbeing of unusual splendour. The tall gum-trees, with then-\nnaked stems, and curious hanging leaves that exasperate the\nheated traveller by throwing the scantiest of shadows, glistened\ndew-beaded in the rising sun. The laughing jackass, perchod\nupon a bare limb, was awaking the forest echoes with his\ninsane fits of laughter, alternating from a good-humoured\nchuckle to the' frenzied ravings of a despairing maniac.\nSuddenly ceasing, he would dart down upon some hapless\nlizard, too early astir for its own safety, and, with his writhing 32\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nprey in his bill, would fly to some other branch, and after\nswallowing his captive, burst forth into a yell of self-gratulation\neven-more fiendish than before. The delicate little \"paddy\nmelon,\" a small species of kangaroo, turned his gracefully-formed\nlittle head, beautiful as a fawn's, and, startled at the strange\nfigure in the verandah, stood hesitatingly for a few seconds,\nand then, bending forward, bounded into the scrub, the noise\ncaused by the flapping of its tail being audible long after the\nlittle animal itself was lost to sight. The white cockatoos,\nalarmed by the outcry of the sentry\u2014for, like the English\nrooks, they always tell off some of their number to keep a lookout\u2014who with sulphur-coloured crest, erect and outstretched\nneck, kept up a constant cry of warning, rose from the maize\npatch, the spotless white of their plumage glancing in the sun,\nand forming a beautiful contrast to the pale straw-colour of the\nunder portion of their extended pinions. With discordant\nscreams they circle about, as if a little undetermined, and then\nperch upon the topmost branches of the tallest trees, where\nthey screech, flap their wings, and engage in a series of\neither imaginary combats, or affectionate caresses, until, the\ncoast being clear, they are again enabled to continue their\nrepast.\nA curious and indescribable wailing cry is heard in the air,\nsingularly depressing in its effect, and a string of some dozen\nblack cockatoos flit from tree to tree, the brilliant scarlet band\non the tail of the male flashing as he alternately expands and\ncontracts it, to keep his balance whilst extracting the sweets\nfrom the flowers of the Eucalypti. Few things present so great\na contrast as the cries of these two birds\u2014of the same family,\nand so alike in everything but colour\u2014and yet both are disagreeable : that of the white variety from its piercing harshness,\nand that of the black from an indefinable sensation of the approach of coming evil it carries with it\u2014at least, such is the effect\nit always has upon me. On strolling to the paling and looking\ninto the clearing\u2014for although my gun is in my hand, it is loaded\nwith ball cartridge, and I do not fire\u2014the nimble little bandicoot\nscuttled away towards his hollow log, looking so uncommonly\nlike a well-fattened rat, that I mentally wonder how I could\never have had the courage to eat one, and a flight of rainbow-\nhued Blue Mountain parrots, who have held their ground to the\nlast, whirr up with a prodigious flapping of wings, and, alighting\non a gum-tree, can be seen hanging about the blossoms, head\ndownwards, sucking out the honey with their uncouth beaks\nand awkward little tongues, which seem but badly adapted to\nsuch a delicate task. But I find I am digressing terribly, and\nthe gloomy winter days of England, which make the recollection of a bright tropical morning so agreeable a task to contemplate, must be my excuse.\nAfter breakfast, I hurried down to the beach to see if Tom\nFrewin, the skipper of the little cutter, Daylight, would be\nlikely to keep his promise, and have the vessel ready to start\nby noon. I found him busily engaged with his not over-\nnumerous crew\u2014for it consisted only of a man and a boy,\nbesides himself, though Mrs. Tom, who also lived in the tiny\ncraft, ought to be counted as no inconsiderable addition to the\nvessel's complement, for she did the cooking, and on occasions\ncould take the tiller and steer as cunningly as the gallant Tom\nhimself. I found him hard at work hurrying the cargo over\nthe side, assisted by the townspeople, who all showed the\ngreatest anxiety that no time should be lost in setting out for\nthe relief of the shipwrecked men.    Everything thus pointing\nto the probability of our getting away that afternoon, the provision question had to be next considered, for the party would\nbe numerous, and the exact time our expedition would take\ncould scarcely be correctly estimated. We knew Government\nwould refund us for any reasonable outlay, and so determined\nour search should not be cut short by any scarcity of food, and\nour fears of overshooting the mark and laying in more than\nwe could consume, were allayed by Mr. McB , the storekeeper, who generously offered to supply us, and to take back,\nwithout charge, anything that remained at the expiration of\nthe trip. All difficulties being thus disposed of, we were left at\nliberty to make our own private arrangements, until one o'clock,\nby which time the Daylight would have laid in her water, &c,\nand be ready to start.\nBut I must now say something of the party itself, which\nwe were compelled to limit to ten men, inclusive of the native\npolice. These consisted of the pilot and his crew of two men,\nMr. Dunmore, the officer in command of the police, with the\ntwo troopers, Ferdinand and Cato, three volunteers, and myself. Where all were anxious and willing to aid in the good\ntask, it would have been invidious to select, and the volunteers\ndrew lots from a bag in which all were blanks but three, the\ngainers of these lucky numbers becoming members cf the\nparty..\nOne other addition we had, and right yeoman's service\nshe did, for it was a she, reader, as the sequel will prove.\nAbout eighteen months before, the troopers had visited Hinchinbrook Island, to recover stolen property, and in one of\nthe native camps had found an exceedingly pretty gin of some\nfourteen summers. The personal charms of this coy nymph of\nthe forest had proved too much for the susceptible heart of\nFerdinand, who, regarding her as his lawful prize, had borne her,\nirate and struggling, to the boat, from whence she was in due\ncourse transported to the police camp (mounted on the pommel\nof the saddle in front of the adventurous swain), where, in a very\nshort time she became perfectly at home, and under the name\nof Lizzie, made Ferdinand a remarkably pleasant wife.\nCertainly the blacks are a curious race, the like of which\nwas never before seen under the sun. For two days after\nLizzie's arrival in camp, she refused to speak or eat; for the\nnext two days she ate everything she could lay her hands on,\nbut still kept an unbroken silence; and for another two days,\nwhenever she was not eating, she \" yabbered \" so much and so\nfast that the other gins looked on aghast,- unable to get a word\nin edgewise, so continuous was the flow of Hirichinbrook vituperation. On the seventh day, as if by magic, she brought her\ntirade to a close, went down to the creek with the other gins to\nfetch water, cooked her husband's supper, appeared perfectly\nreconciled to her change of life, and henceforth, from her sharpness, the aptitude with which she picked up the broken English\nin which the officers communicate with the troopers, and her\ngreat knowledge of the surrounding country, she became a\nmost useful acquisition to the camp, and Dunmore used frequently to say that Lizzie was worth three extra troopers. One\nof the most extraordinary things about her\u2014and she was not\nunique, for all the Australian blacks are alike constituted in this\nrespect\u2014was the facility with which she seemed to rupture all\nthe natural ties of kinship and affection. Her own tribe\u2014her\nfather, mother, sisters, all were apparently wiped from her mind\nas completely as writing is removed from a slate by a sponge;\nor, if ever remembered, it was never with any mark of regret. A MID-WINTER JOURNEY FROM REIKIAVIK TO  KREISUVIG.\n33\nA  Mid-winter Journey from Reikiavik   to Kreisuvig.\nEXTRACTS   FROM  THE   DIARY   OF  J. E. H. T.*\nReikiavik, Christmas Day.\u2014Ready for a start to-morrow.\nDr. Hjaltelin has proved everything that everybody said of\nhim, and more too. I fully believe I might have gone to\nhim without any note of introduction at all, and he would\nhave been equally good and kind. Had his fortune depended\non his exertions, or had I been his best and dearest friend,\nhis efforts could not have been greater than they were on-\nmy behalf. Few men live in so secluded a part of the world\nand have such -a world-wide reputation as Dr. Hjaltelin.\nthe funeral party, a very different procession from that of\nyesterday, slowly wending its way, on foot, in truly reverential\ngravity, to the simple \" God's acre\" of the place. The deceased was evidently well known in Reikiavik, as the doors\nwere generally closed along the ane of the procession, whilst,\naccording to custom, sprigs of juniper were laid before the\ndoors.\nHarnifiord, 26th December.\u2014From Reikiavik this morning,\nseven miles en route.   Dr. Hjaltelin failing in persuading the\nBRINGING A CORPSE TO  REIKIAVIK.\nI had an opportunity of witnessing a purely Icelandic\ncustom yesterday. The day being bright, comparatively, I\ntook a walk with the doctor into the country\u2014i.e., over the\nlava-fields beyond the town\u2014with the view of enabling me\nto judge of the kind of work I had before me in my trip\nto Kreisuvig. When just beyond the skirts of the capital,\nwe observed a company of natives on ponies riding at a reckless speed, considering the nature of the ground they had to\npass over; had it been a later hour, I should have surmised\nthat they were hastening to reach the town before the close\nof the short day. Across the back of the foremost horse was\nsecured a long case or box which, but for the frailty of\nthe articles, I should have said was a case of eggs, when to\nmy astonishment the doctor pronounced it to be the funeral\npageant of a defunct patient of his, the wife of a man of consideration in the neighbourhood, and what I thought was an\negg-case contained the deceased. They soon passed us at full\nspeed, the coffin dangling more at the side than on the back\nof the animal that bore it, and which evidently did not quite\napprove of his inanimate load. The doctor informed me that\nthe body would be placed in the church for the night,, and\nburied the next day; and this morning, the sky overcast, and\nin the semi-darkness of an almost Arctic Christmas, I saw\n* Edited by Captain J. E. Davis, R.N.\n245\nI British tourist's usuai guide, Zoega, to accompany me at this\ni season, has done the best he could,,and procured a man\nwho informs me he once went to Kreisuvig many years back\u2014\nHeaven grant his memory be retentive ! The,generous doctor\nhas insisted on his servant Jon accompanying me; item, sent\nhis own pony in case my resolution of walking weakens. The\nday has been excellent; the air of that bracing, exhilarating\nnature one so enjoys here, rendering a man indifferent to\nj temperatures- he would wrap up against further south.\nOur road on leaving Reikiavik was awful!\u2014laid by nature's\nself, and left as laid: it is composed of loose lumps of basalt,\nvarying between one and two feet in height, with far too\nnarrow interstices, that demanded increasing watchfulness\nwhere to step; some mile or so out, we did come upon a\nroad, and one of considerable length; unfortunately, however,\nit had been constructed of peat alone, piled some two feet\nabove the general level, and now consequently forms a bog\nof that precise depth. We had also threaded our way for a\nconsiderable distance by side of a second example of Icelandic\nconstructiveness ; one, however, equally unprofitable, since,\nhaving been extemporised by placing the larger stones aside,\nits surface had been rendered lower than that to the right\nand left, and a winter stream, recognising a utility in the\nthing, now monopolises it\u2014half ice, half slush.    This neglect 34\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nof the formation of roads, preventing any wheel-traffic over the\nisland, is too bad, inasmuch as these very impedimenta themselves, in situ for the purpose, would produce the finest possible\nroads under a few stout hammers; the excuse given for this,\nwith all other shortcomings here, is that the island's main\nsources of revenue have been given away to Danes in times\npast by the crown.\nThe view as we passed over the snow-mantled hills south\nof Reikiavik was certainly grand ; on the left, at some twelve\nmiles distance, as the crow flies, the lofty plateaux of the\nLangalid, all draped in purest white, spread round rightwards,\nback, and away; their fronts a series of projecting conical\npromontories of lava heaps, resembling gigantic rubbish-shoots\nrather than anything else describable; more towards the centre,\nas well as in front of these, lay lower ranges, then more to the\nright came the Sveifluhals and Nuphlidarhal, which the guide\nsays we cross to-morrow, and then the Fagradalsfjall, with, in\nfront, Keilar, one of those extraordinarily perfect pyramid-\nshaped mountains; greatly inferior to Bulandstinder at Beru-\nfiord, however, being only about one half the height, or fifteen\nhundred feet. Other more distant mountains, massed and\ndetached, completed the view, as the whole sunk into the\nocean on the right. The foreground was occupied by long,\nundulating hills, with, upon the right, small projecting arms of\nthe Skerjafiord. Between the farthest of these and the mountain ranges at back all seemed a plain, while, according to\nGunglusson's map, it must be the great lava-field we have to\ncross to-morrow.\nBy the way, as touching this so much talked of map, I do\nnot find it goes half enough into detail for effective use ; most\nof .the elevations laid down having been apparently accepted\nupon observations taken probably from the trigonometrical\npositions alone, and thus mountains of all shapes are depicted\nby simple circles and ovals; still it is a wonderful work,* if\ncontrasted with the small means for its production, and its\nminutiae having been mostly supplied by the various parish\npriests and farmers.\nThe country we have passed over is most sterile, the hillsides being either covered with the basaltic masses as above,\nor in other parts, where damp winds have been prevalent,\nleaving these stones upon their slopes broken up by the winter\nand (judging from the rounded shapes of the dehris) melted\naway into dark gravel-sized stuff, both, however, equally\ngrassless.\nThese grassless tracts, together with the boggy flats, both\nelevated and depressed, formed the principal features of our\nroute to-day; twice or thrice, however, small greener knolls\nappeared, and each of these oases had its stone and turf wall,\nand in the midst a turf-roofed cottage, the wall enclosing the\nhome paddock of the farm. On close approach, these paddocks\npresented a singular appearance, being occupied by hillocks,\nmore or less arranged in lines, end to end, each being from one\nto two feet in height and across, and from two to five or six in\nlength, all being close shaven. The places resembled well-\nkept churchyards, and, indeed, on their first appearance, I\nthought they were such, and speculated on the doubled-up\nposition in which the underground tenants must be lying. These\nHocks are produced by grass, rooted on the lee side of stones,\nand gradually growing over.\nAbout four miles from Reikiavik we turned the extremity\nof Foosogar, a small fiord edged by overhanging cliffs of a\nbrown tuff, about twenty feet in height;   a number of wild\nducks were disporting themselves here.\nWe entered upon the lava-fields about two and a half miles\nfrom this place, but darkness was not far distant, so I hurried\non, reserving all observations for my return, and I was not\nsorry to reach the bottom of a breakneck path down the cliffs,\nand indistinctly trace the houses of Harnifiord clustering and\ndotting its black beach. Coasting this round some half mile, I\ndelivered the introduction the dear old doctor had given me to\nmy present host, an Icelandic merchant, and a very hospitable\nfellow. He has feasted me upon various dishes converted\nfrom beeves, sheep, and pigs\u2014these last being rare here\u2014given\nme excellent claret, brandy, and cigars, and lastly imparted\nabundance of information upon various subjects.\" His kind\nwife, moreover, who does not speak any English, seems as\nhospitable as himself. I am now about turning in under an\neider-down bed or coverlet, somewhat of the shortest, though\nsimilar to that chronicled in the adventures of Messrs. Brown,\nJones, and Robinson. Query: Do the Scandinavian races\nsleep coiled up ?\nOne last jotting. I have seen in the sitting-room rosebushes, fuchsias, and hydrangeas in fullest leaf, and learn they\nare preserved in this perfect condition by removing them, in\nthe beginning of October, from the light into the dark corners\nin which they stand, where, being now and then slightly watered\nand dusted, they will retain their full verdure till the spring .\nand pursue fresh growths without parting with this year's leaves\n\u2014some leaves upon the rose-trees were pointed out as two or\nthree years old.\nKreisuvig, 27th December.\u2014I was roused this morning by\nmy unexceptionably hospitable host at five o'clock\u2014in furtherance of the programme laid down by the guide last evening\nthat we should start at six, and so ensure time to get over our\njourney, malgre any storms by the way, before the long night\nreturned. This would be nothing of a journey in England, but\ntraversed under daylight of only some five hours' duration, and\nacross a desolate and uninhabited track, and where a sudden\ntempest, obliterating the route, might snow one up indefinitely\namidst frozen iriountains, a short distance may turn out a\nseriously lengthy one. Here in Iceland, all land locomotion is\nin abeyance during winter; even the mail we brought out will\nonly be delivered in the spring.\nSix o'clock arrived, but no guide or Jon, and it was not\nuntil seven that, after repeated summonses, they appeared.\nWhen they did, it was only to say the weather had changed;\nsnow was falling, and it had become too dangerous to proceed.\nUnfortunately, we had no British representative in these regions\nto threaten malcontents with; however, I did the best I could,\nand tried blandishments, objurgations, and altercations, mingled\nwith assurances that nothing should be given for work already\nperformed, &c, so that at last they Were induced to load the.\nbaggage ponies, and off we started in the darkness, kneading,\nsquashing, and splashing through mud and mire, and stumbling\namong turf-lumps. I soon, however, discovered by my compass\nthat all this was mere show, and that we were making a long\ncircuit round Harnifiord instead. In vain I led the way, and\nveered southwardly; follow me they would not. At last, about\neight o'clock, a mysterious light appeared to pervade the foggy\ngloom, probably from some aurora invisible to us; this cheered\nthem somewhat, and free libations of whisky being applied,\nthey discovered, under that inspiring influence, that after all A MID-WINTER JOURNEY FROM  REIKIAVIK TO  KREISUVIG.\nthe weather seemed more promising, so at length turned south.\nAt daybreak, about ten o'clock, we found ourselves at the left\nof a group of mountains\u2014we ought to have crossed on their\nright; ascending back along their sides, we at length got into\nthe proper track, and then descending, entered the lava-fields\n\" proper.\nAt the commencement of this district, large tabular sheets\nprincipally preponderated, together with hills, and masses of\nbasalt. As we proceeded, great bosses, or dome-shaped blisters\nof lava, some twenty feet or more in height, showed themselves ; these were apparently solid, though ruptured at the top\nby great cracks, where temporarily imprisoned gases had made\ntheir exit. One I specially examined had a deep chasm half-\nfilled with rubbish, and some three feet across, running round it,\nas though its mass of materials had contracted towards the centre.\nSmaller and greater fissures soon began to open out, some\nof these fully twenty feet in depth, others choked up by rubbish\nblocks; these fissures gradually increased into a perfect network of crevasses, crossing in all directions, and with narrower\nprolongations upon our track, very dangerous where the slight\ncovering of snow had drifted deeper. Pits appeared, too, down\nwhich everything had sunk perpendicularly for many feet, and\n. the vesicular masses heaped about the upper surface became\nmore and more thrown about as we proceeded. At length we\nreached the thick of this ancient turmoil: a scene, I was told\nin Iceland, unique to this special locality, and elsewhere only\nknown in Hawaii or Owyhee. Disorder and convulsion here\nrioted uncontrolled, and the huge\u2014sometimes chocolate, sometimes purplish\u2014heaps of no describable form, were to be seen as\nthough tossed about above the chasms in every possible position. Some of these assumed the forms of great bushes with\noverhanging branches, others of quaint grottoes, and not a few\nwere remarkably like unto exhibitions of high art in the way of\ncockney rockery decoration.\nHere and there some among the smaller of these affected a\n\u25a0narrow and pinnaculated appearance, and ended in fine points,\nand among themi several, not perhaps more than two and a\nhalf feet in diameter at the base, were composed of lumps\nfantastically perched one on the other, as though by human\nhand, to see what could be done, had attained a height of eight\nor ten feet. Fragile as these appeared, on examining two or\nthree I found them hard as cast-iron, and requiring sharp blows\nwith my heavy geological hammer before I could knock off\nsmall pieces.\nMost of the masses were more or less stained with lichens\nof many hues ; there was little grass, but up the bases of these\ngrotesque lava piles nestled and crept many of the larger mosses\nwe see in England, while exquisitely green sprays of the Uva\n' ursi and other berries, as well as small-leaved ivies, spread and\nwandered around their feet; the bottoms of the fissures I looked\ninto were massed up with blocks and snow, but the richest\nbrowns and most glowing purples shone among the recesses.\nOur path, now up, now down, crossed over lava-sheets and\nblisters, and we marched rapidly on over some five or six miles\nof this quaint wilderness\u2014not a bird or animal to be heard or\nseen throughout it, a couple of dried eyes and two or three\nfeathers alone showing that life in any shape had for long back\nvisited this waste. Towards the end of this distance the\nfissures again became fewer, and the flatfish tabular sheets of\nlava more extensive, and here I was struck in observing\nsurfaces of full six to eight yards in length rippled over by long\n35\ncurved sharp lines, precisely similar to what one sees on the\nsands just left by a retreating sea acted on by a light wind\u2014\n\" As is the ribbed sea sand.\"\nThough poured forth, heaven knows how long back, they all\nseemed engraved but yesterday, even those upon our track\nwere but slightly worn.\nWe next came upon boggy ground again, and then debris\nfrom the mountains, afterwards ascending a sloping gorge, which\nled up into the heart of the Nuphlidarhals. Here the rocks\nagain became basaltic, and here, too, other exceedingly unpleasant phenomena commenced, in shape of sharply-driven\nstorms of snow, which hardened and iced our macintoshes as\nstiff as statuary; in midst of these storms, and still plodding\nupwards, we at a turn of the ravine to the right came upon an\nextraordinary mass of dislocated rock of many thousand tons,\nsteeply piled up,'while all the other masses round it, apparently\nsimilar in composition, remained solid as usual; this huge heap\nconsisted of cubical and oblong-shaped blocks, all pitched up\ntogether in utter disorder; they were tolerably uniform in size,\nranging from six to ten feet, and the whole roughly resembled\nthe heaped up ruins of some cyclopean building. Clambering\nto the top with difficulty (about thirty feet in height), I found its\ncentral portion depressed several feet; the only guess I could\nmake as to the cause of this phenomenon is that it had\nformed some sort of small crater, or chimney, up which cold\nwater had been suddenly ejected while the mass was hot;\nhad even powder been the agent, the ruin would not have been\nso perfect.\nNot long after leaving this, we began to descend, and\ncontinued our route along an elevated flat valley from a\nquarter of a mile to a mile and a half in width; this I take\nto be what is put down as Mohals on the map; there again\nfissures not unfrequently existed, and these principally lengthwise with the valley. Here also large and apparently solid-\nbosses, as well as hollow blisters, were present; and here,\nlastly, in crevices in large blocks fallen from the cliffs above,\nI have got my best specimens of a pitchy-looking lava, formed\nin hollow blisters, and as thin as paper.\nIn midst of wind-gusts and short, but literally blinding\nsnow-storms, we pursued our course for between two and three\nmiles along this valley, until we arrived at a spot where, upon\nthe left, some stones placed on a projecting rock, marked the\ncommencement of a rough track mounting the cliff side. We\nascended it, and shortly looked down into what appeared to be\nan ancient crater, eighty yards in diameter, and with its bottom\noccupied by a frozen pool. I tried in vain to procure water,\nand in default ririxed whisky with snow; this, however, instead\nof melting, absorbed it, so I ate all up. Again proceeding,\nwe crossed the summit, travelling easterly, and shortly after\nbegan to descend into the Kreisuvig valley, the continuation\nof the Langalid range showing across it: there, too, sulphur-\nfumes became smellable and increased, until, at a turn of the\npath, I saw one of the brennestein in full steam below. I\nscrambled down by a short cut, while the ponies were taking\ntheir usual route. After a hasty look around and at a strange\ncircular lake with perpendicular cliffs, I'quickly rejoined the\nmen, and we pursued our way under the fading light, stepping\nand stumbling over turf heaps, similar to those in yesterday's\njourney, until, ascending a gentle rise, we arrived at this little\nchurch, where I have to locate during my sojourn, and certainly 36\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nthe first moments of my arrival have been among the most\ndismal I can recall. On the church door being opened, a\nfearful odour issued forth, compounded, as it now appears, of\nunwashed wool-fleeces, worn garments, and ill-preserved fish;\nmy only resource was to light up and smoke in self-defence.\nMy baggage opened, I improvised a grand illumination,\nas it would seem from the admiration of the people here, of\nfour candles stuck on one of the beams crossing the structure\nsome seven feet above the floor, and this enabled me to\nexamine my domicile. The building is oblong, the boarded\nroof being high-pitched, and reaching to within six feet of the\nfloor at the sides, each side having two small windows.    The\nthe kitchen of the establishment, a wretched hole, dimly illuminated by my bull's-eye and a piece of wick in the usual iron\noil-dish lamp; as the passage, so the roof arid walls of this\nden were black. A little brushwood was smouldering upon\nthe high-raised hearth, and getting more added to this, I proceeded to cook a curry with rice, in tins brought with me,\nthe people looking on meantime. The very water offered was\nin vessels not beyond suspicion, so I went to the brook at\nthe foot of the hill and obtained a private supply; I also carefully limited myself to the upper half of the milk furnished.\nMy cookery over, I gave tastes all round,  only one (a\nwoman) expressing pleasure  at my concoction, the  rest all\nFUNERAL IN REIKIAVIK.\nmain space, or aisle, is occupied on right and left of a central\nway, by wooden rail-backed benches, the further ones draped\nwith the odoriferous clothes of the farm people. At the west\nend, the space is further occupied by the church bell and a\nlot of large boxes filled with the fleeces and fish already noted,\nwhile above them a sort of low loft is formed by boards laid\nacross from side to side. About nine feet from the east end,\nthe pews or sittings stop, and in the centre of this space,\nagainst the east wall, a sort of high press, fronted by a little\nraised pen, does service as the altar and elevated portion of\nthe chancel thereto belonging. In front, and to the left of this\nstands the pulpit, also elevated about a foot above the floor j\nthis pulpit is my store closet, and I have had my air-bed laid\non the floor behind it, on the left of the altar.\nThese dispositions made, I went over to the farm to see\nwhat I could manage in the way of cooking a dinner. Entering by a low door, notwithstanding my police lantern, so black\nwas everything that I had to grope my way, well stooping,\nalong a narrow passage, to where a cross burrow took me into\npanted somewhat, showing their tongues ; I then returned here\nto the church, and made a serious feast upon a bench on the\nside of the chancel, the population following me and reverently\nplacing themselves in the side pews, and discoursing in\nwhispers while the Grand Lama fed; the said population much\napproved of whisky and water afterwards, the women most\nespecially.\nI now \"turned in\" and smoked myself to sleep. The\nnight had become bitterly cold, and the place was very melancholy altogether, a dreariness only to be exceeded by the\nhorrors of the cookery den.\nKreisuvig, 28th December.\u2014I awoke last night some time in\nthe small hours, shaking like mad in a sort of rigor, coupled\nwith fearful leg-cramps; a state of affairs little to be wondered\nat with a nicely iced wind attacking me from all quarters\nthrough crannies in the wall and floor. There was nothing for\nit but to get out in the cold and perform various pas seuls in\ndarkness in the aisle; till, the pain being somewhat assuaged,\nI groped my way back and buried myself under the clothes- A MIDWINTER JOURNEY FROM  REIKIAVIK TO  KREISUVIG.\n37\nheap, nose inclusive, where I lay shaking some time until sleep\ncame back.\nAbout eight I awoke again, considerably refreshed, and,\nthat being the hour I was to be called, to enable us to have\nthe whole of the daylight at the sulphur hills, and, neither Jon\nnor guide appearing, I dressed myself and made a second\n. inroad into the farmhouse, the door of which I found could be\nopened. Here, in two little dens and four fixed wooden bedsteads, were six men, the same number of women, and some\nhalf-dozen children, all nicely simmering; neither the sight nor\nthe smell was agreeable, so I retreated, and betook myself to\nthe kitchen, where I made my breakfast fire.    The therrriometer\nto a foot, give out water and jets of steam as they gurgle and\nbubble away; this water having its source visible in streamlets\nrunning into them from above.\nI found the temperature in the vicinity of these holes fully\n2t2\u00b0 Fahrenheit, a few inches below the surface. Having\nlarge stones thrown in as standing ground, I leant over, and,\nwhile half-cooked by the issuing steam, was surprised to smell\nnothing else, no sulphuretted hydrogen or sulphurous acid\nfumes are emitted; therefore, if any amount of these gases .exist\nbeneath, they must be mutually decomposed. The sulphur\nappears to rise in a nascent state, since it evidently takes\nup  oxygen as it passes through the air, becoming tolerably\nINTERIOR  OF KREISUVIG CHURCH,  ICELAND,\nregistered seven degrees of frost. About ten o'clock, the men\nbeing ready, we retraced our way along the Kreisuvig valley\nbetween two and three miles, and there ascended a rise to\nwhere a small wooden house stood, erected by an Englishman\nwho has obtained possession of the property. The roof was\noff, blown away some distance, where it was still visible, the\ndoor was down, and yet\u2014to the honour of these poor people\nof the vicinity be it recorded\u2014the shovels and pickaxes, with\nother iron tools, deposited within some seven or eight years ago,\nwere still there. Where should we find such honesty at home ?\nWe then proceeded up to the first sulphur-springs, or more\nproperly banks, a short distance above, and afterwards visited\nthe rest near. These brennestein are situated in small outer\ngorges or ravines of augitic mountains of jagged, peaky, irregular\ncontour, seemingly a good deal disturbed since their formation.\nThey occupy points along the lines of central depressions or\nchief points of these gorges, and consist of banks or collections from twenty to eighty feet or more in diameter; in the\nmidst of these heaps, holes, varying from two or three inches\npowerful two or three hundred yards away, and it was actually\nunpleasant at Kreisuvig in some gusts at night. The mud-\nbanks are formed out of the stones and pieces of rock which\ndescend into them, the alkaline ingredients of these being\neaten out by the hot sulphur and moisture present, and all\nsoluble products then washed away, the rest of the ingredients\ndecomposing into clays. Specimens I have taken appear to\nshow some five or six varieties of rock, and I have each of\nthese in a series of stages, from solidity through porosity and\nfriability into pasty homogeneous mud. Cutting vertically\nthrough the cooler and more solid portions of these banks, the\nclays appeared in sharply-defined patchwork shapes, of all\ncolours, according to the ingredients of their formants; these\ncolours were inside too\u2014reds, whites, yellows, splendid purples\nand lilacs, orange and blue, some of these last also very pure.\nWhere the snow covering all the surface (saving the hot\nmud heaps) left indications leading one to examine spots,\nthe rounded and steep beds of clay around these brennestein\nshowed interesting mineral matter; layer below layer of purest 38\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nIll\nsulphur, in long fibrous crystalline structure, appear in vanous\nplaces ; in others, a beautiful deposit of white stellated crystals\nof sulphate of lime. In full daylight to-day, I saw streams of\nlight issuing from the north-west and moving towards the\nzenith; I presumed from their position it must have been an\naurora, and if so, an uncommon phenomenon in daylight.\nAfter taking several hasty sketches, as well as bitter cold\nfingers permitted, we returned to the church. Since then I have\ncooked some dinner, eating it in public as before, the interest\nattachable to a live foreigner not having ceased. Everything is\n. packed up ready for an early start: so now one glass more of\ntoddy, and to bed. By the way, at the further end of the\nchurch there is a respectable collection of books, some hundred\nor more, purchased by the people for reading in these long\nwinters; among them are copies of the New Testament in\nIcelandic, printed at Oxford. .\nHarnifiord, 2gth December.\u2014I rose at five, this time duly\ncalled\u2014catlicked and breakfasted; the lazy lout Jon, however,\ncould not be got into marching order until seven o'clock, when\nwe started. The snow for the most part had gone, but ft was\ncold and foggy, and, as the guide kept too far along the track\nwinding under the .rocks to the left of the church hill, I found\nabout eight o'clock, upon looking at my compass, that we were\nproceeding to the southward straight towards the sea. For\nsome time the guide would not change his route; but, finding\nat last his mistake, he became much alarmed, and wanted\nme to halt while he tried back to get some one to show\nthe way; refusing this, I induced him to go in my direction, and so, \"when day dawned, and things were sufficiently\nperceptible, we found ourselves well in the Kreisuvig valley\nnear Greenavatn Lake, through having lost two hours by the\nman's mistake.\nIt was near nightfall when we left the lava-fields, and\ncrossing the left shoulder of the hills which we had made more\ndifficult than was necessary on our outward journey, descended\nlong sloping undulations down into Harnifiord; it became dark\nlong ere we got there, and, after waiting outside the house of a\nmerchant named Klausen, the sheriff of the district, for some\ntime, while he examined my passport, in shape of an introduction\nfrom Dr. Hjaltelin, I was admitted and solaced with an excellent\nmeal. Being wet from head to foot, and as tired as damp,\nafter the ladies left the dining-room I fell into a doze as I sat,\nand awoke to find myself the centre of a circle of admirers.\nSeeing my weary state, my old host kindly left at once with me\nfor his house, about half a mile round the little bay. Arrived\nthere, I soon got warmed and freshened up, and, as before,\nspent a most agreeable evening. I have now retired to roost\nbetween twelve and one o'clock in my host's snug room, under\nthe eider-down bed-quilt, the length of which, on this occasion,\nI do not grumble at.\nReikiavik, 30th December.\u2014-Having only seven miles, walk\nbefore me, I did not rise till past eight this morning, and it was\nnearly ten o'clock when, after a capital breakfast, I parted from\nmy kind host and his hospitable wife, who, I find, these two\nnights have vacated their own bed to make me comfortable.\nThe journey back, sloppery and slippery from the sheets of\nmelting ice, has been worse than in going. We altered our\nroute, and traversed about a mile of Skerjufiord beach, but as\nit became dark, I was compelled to take to the turf-bog road;\nit was terrible work, squashing wearily away above one's ankles .\nat every step for a good three miles, until at length we left for a\nyet more horrible portion close to Reikiavik, already noted.\nAt last I arrived at my quarters ; Dr. Hjaltelin came to look\nafter me. Well has he been called, in Lord Dufferin's \" High\nLatitude's,\" the j oiliest\u2014and truly have I to add for myself, the\nmost kind-hearted and generous\u2014of doctors.\nAfter a good dinner, under the doctor's auspices, &c, now\nfor bed.\nI Trekking\" and Hunting in South Africa.\u2014II.\nWhile hunting in the land of the Amatonga, I and my friend\nsucceeded in killing a leopard; which is not a kind of game\nso often bagged as many people here in England seem\nto imagine. The African leopard is an animal of shy and\nretiring habits, and as crafty and ferocious in disposition\nas he is beautiful in- appearance. All through the wild interior of South Africa (to the bush-lands of which it is now\nprincipally confined) the leopard is regarded with fear and\nhatred, and his death is regarded as that of a general foe.\nNot only do the goats and sheep belonging to a kraal in the\nneighbourhood of which a leopard has taken up his quarters\ndisappear, but he is even known to attack the calves and half-\ngrown cattle; instances being on record of leopards destroyin\u00b0-\neven full-grown stock. A coward except when wounded\nand brought to bay, the leopard has then plenty of what is\ncommonly called \" cat-in-a-comer courage;\" and, like the rest\nof the feline race, is possessed of an astonishing amount of\nvitality, the proverbial \"nine lives\" seeming to be exemplified\nin.this specimen of the genus, and he frequently \"dies hard,\"\nfighting gallantly to the last gasp, and inflicting terrible wounds\nupon his destroyers. A leopard having for some time\nhaunted the neighbourhood of a kraal in the vicinity of\nwhich we had formed our camp, it was resolved to watch\nthe spot, near a small rivulet, where the fresh footprints were\ndaily to be seen.    Soon after  sundown, Y  and myself,\naccompanied by one of our Kafirs, took up our stations\namong the thickets which bordered the little watercourse,\nhaving previously tethered a kid in a small opening among the\ntangled bushes, little hope being entertained of getting a shot\nunless the leopard could be induced to show himself in the\nopen. In order to render the bait more attractive, a piece of\nstring had been tied somewhat tightly round one of the ears of\nthe kid, which caused it to keep up an incessant bleating.\nThough we remained lying in wait until the first streaks\nof dawn began to redden the horizon, the leopard never put in\nan appearance, and we returned for a few hours' slumber in \"TREKKING\" AND  HUNTING  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA.\n39\nthe wagon, wet through with the heavy dew, and much disgusted with our want of success.\nThe following night a gun was \" set,\" that is to say, the\nstock was fastened firmly to a tree, and the barrel supported\nby a forked stake, driven into the ground, at such a height that\nthe leopard passing in front of the muzzle would receive the\nheavy charge with which the gun was loaded. A line was\nattached to the trigger, which line, after being brought round a\nsmooth stake driven into the ground in the rear of the gun, was\nstretched across the track, and fastened to another stake, in\nsuch a manner that upon the leopard pressing with his chest\nupon the string, during his nocturnal rambles, the contents of\nthe gun would be immediately lodged in his body. This plan,\nsometimes successful, however did not answer on this occasion, as not only was the set gun found in statu quo on the\nfollowing morning, but the remains of a red bush-buck were\ndiscovered near the spot, only partially devoured, proving that\nthe leopard, so far from being pressed by hunger, was living\nluxuriously. It was resolved to keep one more night watch,\nand the carcase of the buck being drawn, so as to leave a scent,\ninto a small open glade, after sunset we again took up\nour position. The night set in darker than had been anticipated ; to see any distance was impossible.    We watched and\n' listened till midnight had passed, and still no leopard. At\nlength a soft slight rustling was heard amongst the thick cover,\nas if some beast were forcing his way through the underwood.\nWe held our breath, intently listening, but the noise had\nceased, and we began to think that the leopard had turned\naside, and again buried himself in the,depths of the bush, when\nY  suddenly made out the dusky form of the leopard,\nstooping in the act of cautiously seizing upon the carcase of the\nantelope. In a moment his gun was at his shoulder, and two\nloud reports rang out in the still night, as one after the other\nboth barrels were let fly. A minute or two passed away, and\nthe leopard was heard groaning and growling in the bush, and\noccasionally spitting and sputtering like an angry cat. As it\nwould have been as useless as it would have been dangerous\nto attempt to pursue a wounded leopard through a thick bush\non a dark night, operations were delayed until the following\nmorning, when the bush was hunted through by means of a\nbody of Kafirs and a number of dogs, and the wounded leopard\nfound and dispatched; not, however, before he had so badly\nlacerated one of the dogs who had boldly attacked him, that\nthe animal had to be at once destroyed.\nThe Amatonga Kafirs, during the whole period that we\nremained in their land, were constantly bringing the skins\nof tiger-cats to the spot where the wagon was outspanned and\nour camp was formed, and offering to barter them for\nvarious trifles, such as knives and pieces of blue cotton material.\nWe succeeded in obtaining by barter the whole set of ivory\nwhich had furnished the jaws of a hippopotamus. The men\nwho sold the ivory gave a most extraordinary account of the\nmanner in which they had secured it, declaring that they had\nfastened a rope through an incision in the skin of the hippopotamus, which they had previously wounded, and that, to save\ntheir powder and bullets, they had dragged the animal from the\nwater and dispatched him with their assegais. As the powder\nwhich these men procure is for the mOst part of a very inferior\ndescription, it requires a tremendous charge to load a gun effectively, and of course it is an article for which they have to pay\nrather heavily.\nOne of the greatest annoyances experienced in Amatonga-\nland arose from the thievish propensity of the natives. It was\nnoticed that whenever any of these men were allowed to linger\nabout the camp, as was necessarily often the case when they\nhad brought skins and trifles for barter, or were waiting for their\nrations of flesh from the game which had been slain during a\nhunt at which they had assisted, some article, perhaps a knife\nor a fork, or a spoon (in one instance an article apparently\nuseless to a savage, a pepper-box of white metal, was carried\noff), was sure to be missing; and although the wagon sjambok\nwas administered pretty freely once or twice in the case of a\ndetected thief, still the annoyance was found to be irremediable\u2014\na love for petty larceny being a besetting sin among the Amatonga people. Possibly were they a race more advanced in\ncivilisation, they would be considered kleptomaniacs.\nDelagoa Bay, and the district around the Portuguese settlement there, is perhaps the least healthy portion of the whole\nof the decidedly unhealthy land of the Amatonga, the natives\neven, at times, during the summer or wet season more especially,\nappearing to suffer from the effects of the climate.\nBoth I and my companion, during our stay in Amatonga-\nland, missed greatly the morning draughts of the peculiarly\nrich new milk of the little Zulu cows, and the thick, clotted,\nsour milk, from which all the watery part or whey had been\ndrawn, called amaas by the Zulus, both of which we had\ngenerally been able so easily to procure while in the country of\nthat people, at a price varying from a few strings of beads to a\nbrass snuff-box.\" We found the inyouti porridge * and the abouti\ninyouti (Amatonga beer) but poor substitutes. The Kafirs who\nhad accompanied the party, however, were revelling in the unaccustomed luxury of an abundance of meat of different descriptions, quantities of flesh being continually seen, strung upon\nlong strips of hide, and festooned along the sides of the wagon.\nAbundant as was the supply, the Kafirs always seemed loth to\nleave any fragments of meat upon the ground when changing\ncamp, and would often pass the night,, after a long and fatiguing\nday, in cooking and feasting, seeming to find eating to repletion\na more restorative process than enjoying what more civilised\nbeings consider \" nature's sweet restorer.\" Gorging upon flesh\nseems almost to intoxicate the Kafir race, and, during a feast,\nthe laughter and conversation are generally very loud, and the\nsnatches of uncouth song frequent. The paunch of an animal\nand all the clotted blood, which is generally found within the\ncarcase of large game when it has been shot through the vitals,\nare always secured and cooked as an especial delicacy.\nBetween the rivers Maputa and Pongola a large number\nof wild ducks and geese were met with, as also several\nspecies of crane. Flocks of Guinea fowl frequent this district,\nand although they do not afford particularly exciting sport,\nowing to the reluctance with which they rise, and their great\nrunning powers, they are undeniably an excellent kind of game\nfor the spit\nAs the supply of flour began to run short, we found it necessary to place our party on short rations. Most men find\nthe necessity for a certain amount of bread of some description with a flesh diet, and the maize and millet messes made by\nthe South African savages are but poor substitutes for the white\nman's bread, though many hunters and traders spend weeks or\nmonths among the natives, subsisting upon maize, as prepared\n# Inyouti is a small seed which is boiled into a thick mess or porridge,\nand is a staple article of diet among the Amatonga tribe. 40\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nby the race * among which they are sojourning, milk, when it is\nto be procured, and such meat as they are able to obtain by\nshooting. Those men who take flour among their stores generally make it into bread by mixing a little carbonate of soda\nwith the dough, and cooking it in the form of scones in the\nfrying-pan.\nWhile encamped by a piece of still water, much infested by\ncrocodiles, Y , who was amusing himself by lying in wait\namong the bushes which fringed the edge, and firing whenever\none of the reptiles \" showed a head,\" seeing a crocodile climbing\nupon a little islet, waited until the greater part of his body was\nexposed, when he planted a rifle-ball behind the shoulder,\ncausing the monster to roll over immediately. As the ugly brute\nwhich, once having made, the people who make them never\nseem to think of refilling.\nDuring our stay, perhaps rather longer than was prudent,\nin this sickly land, we succeeded in bagging several buffaloes\nand rhinoceroses. As often happens, we had obtained them\nwithout any extraordinary difficulty, though of course all animals\nof such size and power die hard, and will, upon occasion, fight\nvigorously for life. As a rule, a buffalo bull, when found\nleading a solitary life, is a dangerous animal, and a cow when\naccompanied by her calf will show an amount of desperate\nfearlessness both of men and firearms.\nBuffaloes, when assembled in herds, are not generally to be\nconsidered as particularly dangerous,  the chief efforts of a\n111\nTHE LAST STRUGGLE.\nlay struggling and floundering, half in and half out of the shallow\nwater around the islet, a, number of other crocodiles, attracted\nno doubt by his splashings, appeared upon the scene, and\nseizing him in their jaws, dragged him off into the still depths\nof-the sluggish lagoon, whether out of a tender regard for the\nsafety of their fellow, or with a view to making a banquet off\nhis remains, was not apparent.\nOne of the dangers to which both horsemen and pedestrians\nare exposed, while hunting in the Amatonga country, is that of\nfalling into one of the numerous pitfalls\u2014made by the natives\nfor the purpose of entrapping game\u2014which are to be found\nin all directions where the wild animals are abundant, and\n* The manner of preparation of the maize bread, or millet porridge,\nvaries a little among the different tribes. It is not uncommon, when asking\nfor n corbi (maize bread) to have a dish formed out of a piece of calabash\noffered, containing a handful or two of maize boiled whole, and when this\nmaize has been kept in a hole underground for some months, and acquired\na disagreeable smell therefrom, the mess is anything rather than appetising.\nwounded member of the herd being more often directed to\nkeeping up with his companions than waging war with his\nenemies, though when from his wounds and loss of blood he\nhas become \"sick and sulky,\" and from his failing powers has\nbeen left in the wake of the retreating herd, he often becomes\ndecidedly a formidable antagonist even to a hunter of cool\ntemperament and quick eye.\nOn the arrival of the day decided upon for trekking, one of\nthe oxen was found to be sick, and before he had accomplished\nthe half of his day's work, it was found necessary to outspan\nhim; and although he managed to accompany the wagon for a\nshort distance, he finally sank down and died, almost without a\nstruggle. The Kafirs, although the sides of the wagon were\nhung around with meat, could not reconcile themselves to the\nidea of leaving so much flesh behind them, and several of\nthem rejoined the wagon at the next outspanning place, loaded\nwith the horrible meat cut from the diseased bullock. These\nfellows declared that the beast had not died from \" mahakahn\" FEMALE ELEPHANT PROTECTING  HER YOUNG.\n246 42\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\n1\nI'IP\u2122\nl-niii!\n(lung sickness), the most deadly, the most infectious, and most\nto be dreaded of all the long catalogue of diseases to which the\ncattle belonging to the dweller in South Africa are liable.\nAfter several days of slow and difficult trekking, we arrived\nonce more in the dominions of the white man, viz., in the\nTransvaal Republic.\nThe Boer inhabitants of the Transvaal, though possibly not\nparticularly partial to the English settlers in the various South\nAfrican colonies, are yet conspicuous for their ready hospitality\nto travellers of all nations. The more wealthy men among\n.them are possessed of fine brick-built houses, with well-stocked\norchards, and flocks and herds and troops of horses, while the\npoorer members of the community have to content themselves\nwith dwellings built of sods cut from the veldt, and get through\ntheir day's work without a very abundant supply of Kafir or\nHottentot labourers, but, as a rule, the African Boers take\nlife rather easily, though somewhat monotonously. The Boer\nis generally out of doors, and has his first pipe lighted before\nthe sun has shown itself, and has generally commenced his\nslumbers by what the Englishman would consider an early\nhour in the evening. These Boers pride themselves much\nupon theif horsemanship, and it must be admitted that, putting\naside their appearance in the saddle, they will ride a vicious\nhorse or a troublesome colt with great pluck and firmness.\nOnce in the Transvaal territory, the trekking became easier,\nbut the air at night was found bitterly cold after the warm\nAmatonga coast.\nMooi River Dorp being at length reached, a fresh store of\nsupplies was laid in, and it was resolved\u2014the cattle remaining\nin good condition, to make a trip into the game country in the\nneighbourhood of the salt springs at Zoutpansberg, a country\nabounding in game, and where the elephant is still to be found.\nZoutpansberg is an unhealthy district, and is only visited by\ntraders, hunters, and travellers.\nWhile en route for the elephant country, the wagon was\noutspanned by the house of a Boer, who, after freely granting\npermission for the oxen to be released from the yoke and\nallowed to feed (permission is always asked to outspan when it\nis wished to do so in the neighbourhood of a Boer's house),\nand having joined in drinking a glass of spirits with us,\nrequested us to pass the night at his house, and join in a wild\nboar hunt upon the next morning, which invitation was immediately accepted.\nOn the following morning two or three neighbours had\nridden over before sunrise, with half a dozen dogs of the large\npowerful breed which is preserved by the Boers, and the whole\nparty betook themselves to the veldt, where, after rambling\nabout for an hour or more, they presently discovered a couple\nof those hideous specimens of the race of swine, vlack vark,\nthe wild boar of South Africa, and the dogs at the same time\ngetting view of them, set off in pursuit, when a really exciting\nchase commenced, the boars galloping along at a good pace\nwith their short tails carried erect, giving them a most comical\naspect, until the dogs coming up with the hindmost, seized\nhim by the ears, and, clinging to him like bull-dogs, enabled the\nhunters to come up with and dispatch him without much difficulty. The other boar was followed up, and, hard pressed by\nthe dogs, plunged into a swollen river, and though shot dead\nby repeated bullets while endeavouring to cross, was not\nbagged, the rapid current carrying him away. These vlack\nvark will  sometimes, when wounded or hard pressed,  turn\nupon their pursuer, and have been known to wound horses\nseriously with their large blunt-pointed tusks.\nDuring the long slow trek to the country of the Maccatees,\nmuch of the game common to the veldt country was shot, including wildebeeste ignoo), springbuck, blesbok, and harte-\nbeeste. All these animals travel in large herds over the plains,\nand sometimes the different species are found mingled in one\nvast troop,, the striped quaggas even being found with the\nhorned antelopes.\nThe Boers living in districts where game is abundant, often\nbuild hiding-places, in which they conceal'themselves for the\npurpose of obtaining a shot, without the trouble of saddling\nup and galloping long distances in pursuit of the antelopes.\nArrived at the hunting districts where the elephant is to be\nfound, but little time remained to either Y or myself, one\nof us having engagements to meet within the colonies on the\ncoast, now distant about 700 miles. A small quantity of ivory\nwas purchased from the natives, but not upon particularly\nadvantageous terms, for we were not, perhaps, remarkably good\njudges, and had tolerably keen and cunning bargainers to deal\nwith in the savages.\nOne young bull elephant was bagged, Y  and I discovering him in company with two others of his kind, and\nendeavouring by going up wind to stalk the game. However,\nbefore we could approach within shooting distance, the elephants took alarm, and started off, throwing up their trunks.\nand trumpeting loudly, whereupon. Y and I, mounting our\nhorses and driving in spurs, after a long bursting gallop contrived to come up within range, and though three bullets\nevidently struck one of the elephants, he continued his way,\napparently but little impeded by his wounds. The horses\nbeing thoroughly \"pumped out,\" the pursuit had to be abandoned for that day, but at the first signs of daylight the following morning, the spoor, heavily marked by blood, was taken\nup and followed, a number of natives joining the party, until\nthe wounded elephant, abandoned by his companions, was\ndiscovered and shot down, after receiving a tremendous number of bullets, which for a long time seemed only to have\nthe effect of making him charge down with mad fury towards\nthe spot from which the shot had been fired. Both white\nmen and natives had some narrow escapes of falling victims\nto his fury\u2014weakened as he must have been from the wounds\nreceived upon the previous day\u2014before he sank with loud\ngroans upon the earth, groans such as are to be heard from\nno other animal upon earth.\nWhen returning to camp, a large female elephant was discovered in the open country, accompanied by a calf about half\ngrown. Owing to the condition of the horses\u2014wretchedly fed\nof late\u2014after their gallop of the previous day, it was found\nimpossible to come up with her. A shot or two at long range\nwas fired, and a bullet apparently took effect, but she con<\ntinued her rapid course, guiding her young by means of her\ntrunk, and though while crossing a river a party of natives,\nwho had concealed themselves upon its bank, threw their\nassegais at her in great numbers, she appeared too solicitous\nfor the safety of her young to regard them, and, travelling at\na rapid pace over a rough country, was lost to sight before\nthe shades of night had set in.\nThe long journey to Natal was only performed by buying\nfresh oxen at two different places along the road, and selling\nthe remains of the \" used up \" spans at a sacrifice. -ACROSS SIAM TO  CAMBODIA.\n43\nAcross Siam to Cambodia.\nBY  J.   THOMSON,   F.R.G.S.\nOn the nth of March, r866, we left the ancient temple of\nNakhon, where we had been staying for a fortnight in one\nof the salas, or temporary sheds erected for the accommodation of the devout Buddhists who make pilgrimages thence\nfrom the surrounding provinces. During the fortnight, my\ncompanion had been busy collecting information regarding\nthe country, while I was engaged in making a ground-plan\nof the building, and in completing a series of over forty\nviews of the exterior and interior of Nakhon Wat. We proceeded to the ruins of the ancient city, a distance of about\ntwo miles north of the temple, through a forest of gigantic\ntrees.    The path was shady, and the morning comparatively\n1,  the thermometer showing a temperature of\nFahr.\ncoo\nThe city is environed by a massive wall that makes a circuit\nof twenty-four miles. When in front of the southern gate, I\nrested on the trunk of a fallen tree, where I enjoyed a full\nview of its noble proportions. The gateway presented a\nwide,, gaunt opening, in the form of a pointed arch, of about\nthirty feet in height by half as many wide. The once strong\n-gates had been removed in some bygone age, and the metal\nhinges riven from the shattered stones. The morning sun\ncast a deep, broad shadow beneath the arch, which contrasted\nwell with the bright foliage beyond, and the stately trees that\nhave their place in the heart of the city.\nReared high above the gateway, there was a series of\ntowers crowned with a colossal head, and four faces, representing Brahma; the image was partly concealed with parasitic\nplants, whose clusteririg leaves suggested a wreath rudely cast\naround the stony brows of the sage. Beneath the arch on\neither side were the roofless, deserted chambers once occupied\nby the city guard. The fine masonry of the stone walls was\nstill apparent, although partly covered with a deep green coat\nof velvet moss, and draped with pendent vines. If I was\nstartled with the massive proportions of the gateway, I was\ndoubly so with the change' time had wrought within the city.\nIt was now a deserted waste; great forest trees had grown\nover the cairns \"and mounds that marked the ruins of its ancient\nhouses. There was not a trace of building to be seen for\nhalf a mile, save the great outer wall. We had a temporary\nhut erected on a comparatively clear space close to the\nverge of a great stone tank. On the following day we were\ntaken by our guide to numerous buildings, all more or less\nin a ruinous state, and buried in almost impenetrable forest and\njungle. One not far from our quarters was said to have been\nthe palace of the Leper King, whose finely-sculptured statue\nwas standing on the top of a mound close by. The walls of\nthis building were nearly all levelled to the ground. The high,\nmised platform, however, on which the palace stood, still remained, with its broad terraces and flights of steps, whose bold,\ngrotesque sculptures clearly pointed to a higher antiquity than\nthat of Nakhon Wat. At one or two of the approaches\nthe massive entablature was supported by elephants cut in\nfull relief out of the stones, after they had been fixed in\nposition.    The trunks of these animals projected so as to form\npillars, a graceful base being obtained with the lower extremities of the trunks twisted into groups of lotus-flowers. The\nwhole design conveyed an impression of massiveness and\nstability, blended with tender and artistic feeling.\nBy far the most striking building was the \" Prea-sat-ling-\npoun,\" a great temple with fifty-one towers of stone, each\ncrowned with the four-faced Brahma, the faces looking towards\nthe cardinal points of the compass, so as to indicate the all-\nseeing attribute of the deified chief of Hindoo mythology.\nThis marvellous building, like the others, was almost totally\nconcealed by the rank, tropical growth of trees and plants,\nrooted in the fissures of its ruined walls. We had to cut our\nway through the underwood into its dark chambers and passages, where, on entering, we were struck with the cold, damp\nwings, and startled with the wild shrieks of a thousand bats.\nIt was a dark, dismal place, doubtless the haunt of wild beasts\nand slimy reptiles, who, with the exception of a few slaves\nliving in hamlets scattered over the waste, are the only inhabitants of the city. The sculptured galleries of this temple betokened a high proficiency in art, and in many of them one could\ntrace an advanced knowledge of mechanical appliances\u2014the\nlever, screw, and wedge ; the fine workmanship of the chariots,\nand thin light wheels; the caparisoning of horses, and the\narmour and weapons of warriors. In one bas-relief of a procession, a party of men were drawing what greatly resembled a\nmodern gun-carriage, but in place of the gun it was mounted\nwith an immense crossbow.\nIt would have taken months to explore this city. We had\nonly been in it two days when our servants were stricken with\njungle fever; and on the third day, feeling ourselves the effects\nof the malarious atmosphere, we left with regret for the town of\nSiamrap, where we found our friend the old governor of the province busy burning the remains of the late Phra Palat, and the\nbodies of three other deceased persons of rank. The funeral\npyre was placed beneath an imposing structure, having a spire\nnot on the whole unlike a village church of the Gothic order.\nA pavilion was also erected to accommodate 200 spectators.\n\" On the day of cremation, there was a procession of Buddhist priests, followed by a band of musicians, and a troop of\nhired mourners making up the train. The mourners kept to\ntheir work bravely; the chief leading off with a shrill wail',\nwhich was immediately followed by a chorus of sobs. While\nthe bodies were yet burning, the townsfolk were enjoying a\nfeast, theatricals, and a variety of amusements, gambling being\none of the most widely patronised. A dwarf and a giant, and a\ntroupe of pretty Lakon girls, who danced to the time of inspiriting music, contributed greatly to the entertainment\nNext day we proceeded on elephants to the Liche Mountains, distant about thirty miles from Siamrap, and said to be\nthe place from Which the stone was obtained by the ancient\nbuilding race of Cambodia. The mountains possess abundance of micaceous sandstone, of the same quality as that used in\nNakhon Wat, and in Nakhon Thorn; and in certain localities\nwe thought we could trace ancient quarries, but the mountains 44\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nwere so thickly overgrown with forest as to be in many places\nquite impenetrable.\nSeveral ruined buildings were passed on the way, displaying\nthe same finish and beauty which are the distinguishing features of all the ancient buildings of the country. On our return\nwe pushed on without delay to the head of the great lake, \"Tale\nSap,\" which geographically is one of the most remarkable lakes\nof Eastern Asia. Its length is about 120 miles, and its average\nbreadth about sixty miles. Its depth during the dry season is\nonly from three to four feet, while during the wet season, when\nthe snows melt in the mountains of the north, it forms a backwater to the Mekong River, and attains a depth of from forty\nto fifty feet, submerging a great portion of the surrounding\ncountry. The fisheries on this lake are a great source of profit\nto the inhabitants. We found on our downward voyage that the\nnatives had established themselves in fishing villages on different parts of the lake. These villages, or lake dwellings, are\nraised on piles made of the hard wood which abounds in the\nneighbouring forests, surmounted by a platform of bamboo, on\nwhich half a dozen or a dozen bamboo huts are erected. This\nplatform is common property, and is used for drying and curing\nthe fish that are caught in enormous quantities when the water\nsubsides.\nAt the beginning of the wet season, when the flood rises,\nthese lake-dwellings \u2014 which in some respects resemble the\nancient lake-dwellings of\" Switzerland\u2014are abandoned, and\ntheir owners betake themselves to agricultural pursuits on the\nhighlands. Great quantities of fish-oil ate made in the Cochin\nChina settlements, which line the banks of the river that forms\nthe main outlet of the lake. This oil is chiefly made from a\n'species of black fish, not unlike the shark in size and appearance. Near the lower extremity a narrow neck of water divides\nthe lake into two, giving it a fiddle shape.\n\u2022 After noon, on the 24th, we reached the small French gunboat, which had conveyed Captain de Lagree, and were most\ncordially received by the officers on board.\nCompong Luong was the first trading-place of any pretensions which we reached on our downward voyage. We landed\nhere on the morning of the 26th. There are many Malays in\nthe town, as its name, which sounds of Malayan origin, would\ndenote. Malay settlements are indeed common on both banks\nof the river.\" It is, however, uncertain at what time the Malays\ncame to the country.' They have their own chiefs, adhere to\ntheir own customs, and are Mohammedans.\nCompong Luong bazaar presented a most animated scene.\nThe people were well dressed, busy, and prosperous-looking.\nWe reached Penompinh on the night of the 27th, and anchored\noff the king's palace. Just below this, there is the confluence\nof several streams, the chief of which are the Mekong and the\noutlet of the great lake. The king treated us with great\ncourtesy, placing a house at our disposal close to his palace.\nHe also honoured us with repeated invitations to his table,\nwhich was well and sumptuously furnished with native and\nforeign delicacies; the latter produced by the culinary skill of\nhis French cook. This in itself was not wanting in attraction,\nas we had not enjoyed a well-cooked meal for over a month.\nThe last we had, indeed, was at Nakhon Wat, when we bought\na bullock, as we found we required some strengthening food.\nThis animal afforded us half a dozen good meals. We tried to\npreserve portions of the carcase, but it was a sickening failure,\non account of the intense heat. We had made a great mistake\nin trusting at all to the supplies of the country.\nThe king was young, and of pleasing manners, presenting a\ndignified and imposing appearance, when dressed in his native\ncourt robes, studded with the rarest gems. I made a portrait\nof his Majesty, which gave him great satisfaction. A second\nwas not so successful, as he was dressed in the uniform of a\nFrench general officer. I remember the dress seemed strange\nto him, and there was a difficulty about the boots, which 1\nbelieve he had to borrow from his cook.\nWe were well received by the French officers resident at\nthe place, and by M. le Fouchieur, who was then engaged in\nbuilding a palace for the king. The palace, I have been\ninformed, is still unfinished. We accepted an invitation to\nwitness a \" lacon,\" or theatrical performance, in which the\nladies of the court and their female slaves were the performers. The motions of the dancers were graceful, and\ntheir dresses sparkled with an array of rare and costly\ngems.\nThe king provided us with elephants for the five days'\njourney to Kamput, a port in the south of the Gulf of Siam.\nThis part of cur journey proved tedious, as we had to traverse\na shelterless sandy plain at the hottest season of the year, and\nsuffered repeatedly for want of pure water. The district\nin the neighbourhood abounds in high, forest-clad mountains\nand richly cultivated valleys, which presented a succession of\nmagnificent views, as we made our way through the pass that\nleads to the port.\nNotes of Travel in the Interior of Japan.\u2014II.\nBY\n' MONTA.\nAmongst the spots within easy distance of Yokohama there is\none favoured nook, where the patient whose lungs are delicate\nwill do well to linger; where he will have shelter from cold\nwinds, hot baths from the mineral springs in the very hostelry\nin which he has taken up his abode, and quiet. I mean Atami.\nHere Sir Rutherford Alcock sought refuge, for a time, from the\nincessant cares and duties of his diplomatic position; and here\nthe artist and I found ourselves one evening, during that March\nexcursion which formed the subject of so much of my last\narticle.\nWe had experienced a considerable number of changes of\ntemperature.    In the hills it was always fresh, and at night, in fe3\u00bb 46\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\n\u25a0Pi\n111\nthe neighbourhood of Fuji, it had been really cold. In the\nMiyanoshita valley, on the contrary, we had found it depressing,\nboth from the situation and from the number of hot springs in\nthe neighbourhood. At Atami it was warm. We were down in\na little bay, looking to the south-east, the hills giving shelter\n\u2022from the north, and the steam from the medicinal water helping\nto heighten the temperature. No shivering of an evening,, no\ncowering over the hibachi, with its live charcoal, and no extra\nquilts at night.\nThe two rooms we occupied were charming, and I can\nrecollect how we sat in them\u2014that is, squatted or lolled on the\nmats, one whole morning, each occupied according to his own\npeculiar taste, bargaining for boxes of camphor-wood, writing or\npainting, or anon together gazing out at the pretty view in front,\nover a little cultivated patch and a number of thatched roofs,\nto the bay, and to a bluff rising up to the right. Beyond, in\nthe sea, a portion of the volcanic island, Vries, was visible, the\nsmoke rising from the crater; in front a small' island, and, to\nthe left, the other buildings belonging to the inn. Why, by-\nthe-bye, should inns always be called tea-houses by foreigners ?\nForeigners in England do not call the Charing Cross Hotel or\nthe King's Arms a bitter-beer house.\nThere is a charming route along the coast, from Atami to\nOdawara, to be recommended for pedestrians. It is tolerably\nhard work, but there is a great charm in the diversified scenery\nas you proceed round the face of cliff after cliff projecting into\nthe sea. The weather was quite hot the afternoon we started;\nthe trees were budding; violets, wild clover, and dandelion filled\nthe hedges, and in each diminutive valley small fields rose in\nterraces upwards, and were green with the growing grain.\nLittle villages nestled at the foot, almost in the water, in snug\nsheltered nooks, and here and there were groves of orange-trees,\nstately camphors, and feathery elegant bamboos. There is an\nexcellent little inn, clean and quiet, at the small village of\nYoshihama, a depot for much fish, which is taken from there by\nsea to supply the Yedo and Yokohama markets. There we\nhalted for the night.\nThe next morning we had a lazy walk to Odawara. I suppose it was not twelve miles, but it took us over four hours.\nThere was so much to look at\u2014orange and camellia, wild peach\nand cherry trees in blossom, the rose and white of the former,\nand the white of the latter contrasting beautifully with the dark\ngreen of the firs in the nooks down by the shore. Stone fences\nguard the seaward side of the road, to prevent the wild boars\nwhich have their abiding-place in the neighbouring mountains,\nfrom breaking into the fields, or attacking the peasants' houses.\nAs long as one travels in those parts of Japan which are frequented by foreigners, things go on pretty smoothly, and, with\na little patience and a courteous bearing, much pleasure is\nwithin every one's reach. But if you will extend your rambles\nfar away, to parts where foreigners are unknown, and where you\nare entirely in the hands of the natives, you must make up your\nmind to draw largely on your patience, or you had better stop\nat home. I was once in the island of Shikoku (called Sikok in\nthe maps), and was bound for the opposite island of Kiushiu,\nthe most southerly of the group of four, which, not to mention\nsome smaller ones, properly constitute Great Japan, and my\nonly companions were three Japanese, one of whom was to be\nmy special protector, having been given to me as such by a\nnobleman of high rank, who had been friendly to the I ugly\nbarbarians \" for many years.\nWe had started at night in a sailing-boat with a little low\ncabin, where we had to crouch down; and there was hardly\nroom for us all to be stowed away to sleep. I had been told\nthat there was always a wind in the morning which came down\nfrom the mountains, and would waft us merrily across fifty or\nsixty miles by noon the next day. But, unfortunately, the next\nmorning there was no such wind, and, by means of ponderous\noars, we were rowed into a little harbour, which was lined by a\nfew houses, and there we had to remain three days. A second\nattempt was equally unsuccessful, and we were weather-bound in\nanother harbour for three days more, so that, in fact, it took us\na week to cross from one island to the other. During all this\ntime I had leisure enough to watch my three companions, and\nto see how perfectly contented, or apathetic, they were. They\nlet fall a few general expressions, such as the inevitable shikaia\nga nai (there is no help for it), koniattd koto (tiresome business),\n&c, generally concluding with a laugh. But they really did\nnot seem to care when they got across, and were quite happy\nwhen they squatted down on the mats round a hibachi, warming\ntheir hands over it, and chattering about nothing at all. It\nis the peculiarity of the people. I believe they had arrived at\nthe point of civilisation which it was possible for them to reach\nin their isolation; everything with them was fixed, and their\nlives passed on in a.regular uniform groove. They were never\nin a hurry; time was no possible object; if a certain thing was\nnot done to-day it would be done to-morrow, or next day, or\nnext week, or next month, or not at all. As for business, as\nwe understand the word, they had not, nor have they yet in\ngeneral, the least notion of it. What a flurry and confusion we\nforeigners must have caused, and still cause in them, we are\ngenerally not ready enough to understand or make proper\nallowance for. I can quite comprehend how they\u2014in the first\ndays of foreign intercourse, especially the native officials\u2014tried\nto throw all kinds of obstacles in our way, which is not as their\nway; and how, after lazily exhausting all their powers of argument, and all their arts and equivocations, they would suddenly\ngive up and agree to everything we had demanded, without a\nsingle word more.\nAnd so day after day passed, and my companions smoked\ntheir diminutive pipes, ate their fish and their rice, were\namused with a trifle, and chattered continually. And I seemed\nby degrees to catch their humour, lay aside my impatience, set\nto work at my journal or a book, and when the time for our\nmeal arrived, get my legs under me as best I could, and manipulate my chop-sticks with the best of them. Sometimes I\nhad some -meat, which was chopped up into small pieces and\nwarmed; sometimes a wild duck; here and there during our\njourney we bought a pheasant for something under a shilling,\nand my handy little two-sworded valet cooked it; then there\nwas always rice to finish up with, and I found that, by pouring\nsome Japanese tea over it, it became much more palatable. I\nhad luckily brought a box containing three dozen of Bordeaux,\nand that I eked out marvellously, and it was' a real consolation.\nBut some of their messes I could not manage to swallow.\nOthers were more easily eaten. I recollect one dish, called\nSatsuma shiru, composed of mizo, a kind of bean, mixed up\nwith bits of raw fish, to which were added some rice, and a\nlittle cut-up leek, and on the top powder of orange-peel was\nsprinkled. All this was cooked up into a certain decree of\nconsistency, and my companions enjoyed it immensely.\nWhen we at last reached the coast of Kiushiu, and were\nHhi|i NOTES  OF TRAVEL  IN  THE  INTERIOR  OF JAPAN.\n47\nfairly housed in a small inn in one of the narrow streets of\nSaganose'ki, in the territory of the former prince\u2014then called\nthe Chiji\u2014of Higo, we found that no intimation of my advent\nhad been received, and I confess that it gave me a little twinge\nwhen I heard Shimauchi, my guardian samurai, ask the landlord whether there would be any danger to me, if I crossed the\nisland to the castle town of Kumamoto, without waiting for the\ncredentials. The answer was, however, satisfactory, but still I\ncould not help remarking to my own guard, Saito, that it would\nbe a pretty business if I were to be killed.\n\" Oh, no,\" he replied ; \" it is all right, they won't do that.\"\nAnd he added, with much emphasis and determination, that\nif such a thing were to happen, he should never return to the t\neastern capital, but would at once commit hara kiri. Whereat\nmy youthful valet laughed somewhat doubtingly. He never\nwould have done so valiant a deed, I'll be bound. But Saito\nrepeated that he should most certainly put an end to himself;\nit would be his yaku\u2014i.e., duty. And so it would. But I\nam glad he was not put to this test, brave little fellow as he\nwas.\nThe journey across the island in this winter time was uninteresting; first across a plain, then up into the high ground,\nin the centre, and past a volcano, called' Asosan. Poor food\nand lodging, and little fine scenery to compensate. There was\nsome smoke issuing out of the crater of Asosan, as we journeyed\nin view of it, and we asked one of the coolies whether this was\nalways the case.    His answer was very characteristic.\n\" You see,\" said he, \" there is the shrine to the god,\" and\nhe pointed to a spot on the side of the mountain. \" When\nthis god is angry, he vomits forth much smoke; when he is in\ngood humour but little.\"\nThis was all we could get out of the man, and it was\nuttered in a tone of perfect conviction.\nBefore we reached Kumamoto, an official from the Chiji\narrived to greet me, and he informed us that the credentials\nhad reached their, destination. So, on the morning of the fifth\nday, we started on our last short journey, and when near the\ntown, I for one was much astonished to find some mounted\nofficers, and two sets of soldiers, of twenty-five each, waiting to\nescort me. So I got out of my kago, and, walking in line with\nmy three Japanese between the two detachments, each of\nwhich was preceded by a drummer, I entered the city, the\nnoise of the drums alternating with the shrill notes of a bugle\nplayed in utter disregard of tune. Thus we marched past the\ncastle hill, and through the crowded streets, every one having\nturned out to see the first foreigner who had penetrated into\ntheir capital for centuries. There may have been scowling\nlooks, though I saw none, but kept steadily on, with a feeling\nof doubt sometimes entering my mind as to whether I was an\nhonoured guest, or a prisoner treated with much deference.\nAt last we reached the house set apart for the Chiji's guests,\nand there, to m'y surprise, I found a table laid out in European\nstyle\u2014Mappin's knives and forks, carpets, and other foreign\nappliances. The Chiji, his brother, and several high officials\njoined me at dinner. Meat there was, and game, bread had\nbeen baked for me, and bottled beer flowed in profusion. In\nfact, there was no end to the civility shown me, and a steamer\nwas even put at my disposal to carry me to the confines of the\nneighbouring province of Satsuma, in order, as was alleged,\nthat the long mountainous journey by land might be avoided.\nThen the Chiji asked me if there was anything I wished to see\nin Kumamoto, and I stated my desire to visit the old castle.\nHe laughed, and replied that it really was not worth seeing,\nbut of course I could visit it if I wished. On my asking\nwhether the natives were not allowed access to it now, he replied that anybody could go there; with the modern system\nof warfare such places were no longer of any use.\nBut next morning a change came over the scene. The\nsteamer was said to require repairs, and the time of departure\nwas put off. I therefore suggested that we might visit the\ncastle in the meanwhile. Soon after, an official presented himself, and, in an interview with Shimauchi, stated that the Chiji\nbegged that I would not visit the castle that day; if I had been\nstaying\" several days\u2014which they knew I was not\u2014the visit\nmight have been arranged, but he was afraid for my safety, and\nbegged I would not stir out without a guard of soldiers. I\ndemurred to this, but my \" guardian \" was earnest in his request\nthat I should not go out alone, and as he had to answer to his\nlord for my life, I felt that I must comply with his request. It\nappeared, too, that the Chiji had remarked, during dinner, that\nKumamoto was not yet opened, using the word generally\ntranslated \"civilised;\" that there were still some men who\nhated foreigners, and he had hinted at danger. In fact, the'\ndesire was to keep me in-doors till I started, and to get me\nout of the country by sea, as being the safest method. All\nhappened as they wished. I was escorted out of the town by\nmore soldiers, and conveyed in the steamer to the confines of\nSatsuma, my arrival having been duly notified to the officials at\nthe frontier village of the Higo territory. To give .time, for\nthis, the departure of the steamer had been delayed. Into\nSatsuma I passed without let or hindrance, and travelled on by\nland, without any particular incident, to Kagoshima, the town\nwe bombarded in 1863 to obtain reparation for the murder of\nMr. Richardson, and the wounding of Mr. Clarke and Mr.\nMarshall, both now ho more.\nBut enough of travelling for this time. Let us turn to a\ndifferent subject.\nAmongst the many festivals in Japan, there are what are calle'd\nthe Sekku, one of which takes place on the seventh day of the\nseventh month, when the streets of every town are gaily decorated,\nand in the centre of the yard of each house a tall bamboo-tree\nis set up, the upper branches of which are hung with festoons,\nand streamers of parti-coloured strips of paper. It is the\nfestival of the goddess Tanabata, otherwise known as Ori Hime\",\nthe Lady of the Loom. The.legend is described in the following manner in the columns of the jF'apan Mail.\n. Ori Hime is the patroness, in the native Pantheon, of the\narts of penmanship and weaving, and to her the Japanese youths\nand maidens pray for the gift of skill therein. The strips of\ncoloured paper, indeed, are but degenerate representations of\nthe true offerings, for in the early golden age the men were\nwont to dedicate to her the noblest verses they could compose,\nwritten on the finest paper, while the women offered up the\nchoicest products of their looms. She is identified in the\nheavens with a star of about the sixth magnitude on the border\nof the Milky Way, where she shines with a subdued constant\nlight, opposite to her husband Hikoboshi, or Kengiu, the neatherd. It is her special calling to weave the garments of the\ngods.\nIt will be observed that in her character and her attributes,\nshe bears a strong analogy to the Minerva of the Romans,\" the\nPallas Athene, of the Greeks, except in the matter ot the rigid 43\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nvirginity with which the classical goddess was credited. But\neven in this respect there is an approach to resemblance; for\nOri Hime, though a wife, is only admitted once a year to the-\nconnubial couch. According to this beautiful Japanese myth,\nshe and her husband toil throughout the year at their respective\nemployments, in sight of each other, but separated by the broad\nand ever-flowing River of Heaven (the Milky Way). Only on\nthe seventh night of the seventh moon of every year do the loving\ncouple meet, and even then they are indebted to sub-celestial\naid for the means of coming together; for, regularly on that\n' evening, says the story, the rook and the raven, side by side,\ncelebrate the memory of the Shogun Iyeyasu with much revelry,\nbeating the tsudzum'e (drum), dancing, and singing, \"Tokugawa\nI ke ni go man zai,\" which being interpreted means, \"May the\nTokugawa house live ten thousand years.\" Because of the\nexpression in the song, the dance has been named manzai.\nThe meaning of this word is j ten thousand years,\" and thus the\nsong expresses the hope that the Tokugawa house may last uninterruptedly for that period. (Delusive hope, indeed!) Hence,\nin the time of the Tokugawa Shoguns, during the first month\nof every year, people from the province of Mikawa celebrate\nthe beginning of the year, journeying to Yedo, and dancing\n-*?^8\nIII!\nJAPANESE  MUSICIANS.\nopen out their wings, forming a bridge that spans the River\nof Heaven, and over this Ori Hime' passes to the dwelling of\nher spouse, crossing it again at the approach of dawn, to\nresume for the space of another year her unremitting toil.\nIn the beginning of the Japanese year, as Mr. Mitford has\nrelated in the Fortnightly Review, mummers are to be seen\ngoing about in Yedo, in pairs, dressed up in imitation of\ncourtiers, the one holding a fan, the other carrying a drum.\nThese are the manzai, the former being called tayu, and the\nlatter saizd. Of their origin, this is what one of my teachers\ngave me, somewhat freely translated :\u2014\nThe manzai dates its origin from the period of the establishment of the Tokugawa dynasty of Shoguns. (This was the last\nTycoon dynasty in Japan.) Iye'yasu, its founder, was born\nin the province of Mikawa.    Hence the people of Mikawa\nat the houses  of the townspeople, the hatamotos, and suchlike.\nAnd they are still to be seen, at the same period, unless\nindeed the rage for pulling down all that is old, all that is\npicturesque, all that is national, has extended even to these\npoor mummers. What a change it is ! Is it wrong to regret\nold Japan ? When I arrived in that far-off country, the feudal\nsystem was still existing, the old relations of lord and vassal,\ndaimid and kerai, flourished: Japanese .walked about in picturesque dresses, were distinguished by courtly manners and\nnoble bearing; but now it is all flannel shirts and paper collars,\nchimney-pot hats and seedy black clothes, American rowdyism\nand European snobbism\u2014an imitation, and a poor one\u2014whilst\nthe old faithful relations, the innate politeness, the thoroughbred air, are gradually fading away. An Australian Search Party.\u2014II.\nBY  CHARLES  H.  EDEN.\nBetween one and two o'clock, the report of a little swivel\ngun, with which the taffrail of the Daylight was armed, echoed\nover the bay, and announced to the party that all was in\nreadiness. In a very few minutes we were all mustered on\nthe beach, looking, I must confess, remarkably like brigands,\nin our slouching and high-crowned Californian hats, coatless,\nand with shirt-sleeves either tucked up or cut off above the\nelbow, which, with the carbine that each man carried in his\nhand, and the revolvers, knives, &c, stuck into the waist-belts,\nmade our tout ensemble such, that I am convinced no honest\ncitizen, with a plethoric purse, who saw us thus for the\nfirst time, would have felt quite at his ease in our company.\nWith a ringing cheer from the townspeople assembled on the\nbeach, under the shade of the big trees, we shoved off, and,\nmanned by willing hands, the cable rattled in, in a fashion that\nmust have astonished the old windlass, accustomed to the leisurely\nproceedings that usually obtained on board the Daylight, The\nsail was soon clapped on, the little vessel heeled over to the\nsea-breeze now setting in pretty stiffly, and ten minutes after\nquitting the shore we were down in the hold, the captain and\nhis lady occupying the cabin. Making our preparations for the\nnight, which consisted, I may mention, mainly of spreading out\nour blankets, whilst the Daylight, with the Government whale-\nboat towing astern, was beating up against the adverse wind\nfor the north end of Hinchinbrook, where we purposed\nanchoring for the night, and commencing our search on the\nfollowing morning.\nWhat with a contrary wind and tide, it was not until past\nten o'clock that we glided into the little bay, and, shortening\nsail as noiselessly as possible, let down the anchor by hand to\navoid the rattling of the chain through the hawsehole, which,\nin the stillness of the night, would have certainly reached the\nkeen ears of the blacks, were there any in the neighbourhood,\nand caused them to shift their quarters. The little inlet or\ncreek in which we now found ourselves, was entirely new to\nus, and we were indebted to Lizzie for the discovery of such\na quiet retreat. With straining eyes, our novel pilotess stood\nat the heel of the bowsprit, extending an arm in the direction\nshe wished the vessel to go, and, her task completed, she wrapped\nher blanket round her active little body, scarcely shrouded in\nthe striped twill shirt that constituted her sole attire, and, sinking down in the waterways under the lee of the gunwale, was\nsoon sound asleep\u2014a sensible proceeding, which, as soon as\neverything was secured, we hastened to imitate.\nWe had arranged our plans for the morrow in the following\nmanner. Before dawn, the whale-boat was to land all the party,\nincluding Lizzie, with the exception of the pilot and his two\nmen. He was to return to the Daylight after having put us\nashore, and, getting under weigh as soon as the wind was strong\nenough, was to take her round to a small inlet on the island,\nsome distance down Rockingham Channel, and there await\neither our arrival or further instructions. Our expedition was\nto join him there in two or three days at the farthest, perhaps\nsooner; but. whatever happened, he was to remain with the\n247\ncutter at the rendezvous, and on no account, nor under any\ninducement, was he to quit until he either saw or heard from\nus, however long the time might be. During the daytime the\nwhale-boat was to be kept hauled up alongside the cutter, with\nthe carbines belonging to the crew loaded and triced up under\nthe thwarts, ready for immediate service, and a bright look-out\nwas to be kept on the channel, in both directions. If the\nnatives attempted the smallest communication with the mainland, the whale-boat was to give chase immediately, and either\nintercept and capture the canoes, or compel them to return to\nHinchinbrook Island.\nSuch was the rough plan we sketched out for the guidance\nof the Daylight. With regard to ourselves, we could make no\nstanding rule, for the country was comparatively unknown to\nus, and we must, Micawber-like, trust to something turning\nup, and, in the pursuit of this happy event, must follow whithersoever fortune and Miss Lizzie thought fit to lead us.\nAt least an hour before dawn we were astir, and swallowing\nthe scalding tea that the man on watch had prepared : this\ndone, and a snack of damper and cold meat eaten, we got\nquietly into the boat and were pulled ashore. Until daylight,\nwe were unable to make our way, for paths there were none,\nand the ground was dangerous from the quantity of stones,\n&c, so we were compelled to sit down quietly and smoke our\npipes until we could see to pick our way. In the tropics there\nis but little dawn; the sun springs up without heralding his\napproach by a lengthened gradation from darkness to night,\nas obtains in more temperate climes, and but little patience\nwas requisite to enable us to commence oui search. As many\nof our readers are doubtless aware that in. Australia no journey\nis ever undertaken on foot; that the real bushman would think\nhimself sunk to the depths of abject poverty, if he had not\nat least one horse of his own; and that a man will wander\nabout for a couple of hours looking for a horse to carry him\nhalf a mile, when he might have gone to his destination and\nback half a dozen times, in the interval wasted in searching\nfor his steed. Knowing this, they will doubtless wonder why\nwe did not bring our mounts with us, and perform the journey\ncomfortably, in place of the tedious method we now adopted.\nIt must not for a moment be imagined that the great assistance\nhorses would have afforded us had not been duly weighed and\nconsidered, and our reasons for leaving them behind were as\nfollows :\u2014From the little we knew of Hinchinbrook, and from\nthe description Lizzie gave of the country, they would have\nbeen rather in our way than otherwise. The whole island is a\nmass of lofty volcanic mountains; and the passes through the\ngorges so strewn with huge boulders, debris, and shale, that\nwe should have been compelled to lead our nags, and thus they\nwould have only proved an encumbrance. This was one reason,\nand apparently a very good one, but I doubt if it would have\nhad much effect upon our party, who could hardly contemplate\nany undertaking without the agency of horseflesh, had not a\nmore cogent argument been forthcoming, to which they were\ncompelled to give in their adherence.\n\"Ml 5o\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nI\nEll\n\" The Daylight is quite big enough to carry them all, for\nsuch a short distance, if they're properly stowed,\" said Jack\nClark, the roughrider, who was a zealous advocate for the\nconveyance of his pet quadrupeds.\n\" Of course she can,\" said another; \"and we shall get the\nwork over as quickly again.\"\n\"How will you land them?\" I ventured to suggest; \"for\nthe cutter can never go near enough to the shore to walk\nthem out\"\n\"She can't get within a quarter of a mile,\" said the pilot;\nfor at this time none of us knew of the little inlet, into which\nLizzie so deftly guided us.\n\" Pitch them overboard, of course,\" cried Jack; \" they'll\npretty soon make for the land; and I'll send my mare Gossamer\nfirst: she'll give them a lead, I'll bet.    Cunning old devil!\"\nThe impetuosity of Jack was fast gaining converts, when\nCato pulled Dunmore quietly by the sleeve, and said\u2014\n\" Marmy, baal you take 'em yarroman like 'it Hinchinbrook ; my word, plenty of alligator sit down along of water.\nHe been parter that fellow like 'it damper.\"\n| By Jove! Cato's right,\" said Dunmore; \" we forget all\nabout the alligators and sharks. I won't let the boys take their\nhorses, and shall not take my own. I lost one horse from an\nalligator last year, on the Pioneer River, and Government\nwanted to make me pay for it,, and I'll take care I don't risk\nlosing three. Bring Gossamer, if you like, Clark, but, take my\nword for it, you'll never see her again.\"\nThis unexpected contingency; the prophesied fate of\nGossamer, which was as the apple of Jack's eye; and the point-\nblank and sensible refusal of Dunmore to hazard the Government horses, completely turned the tables. After a little inward grumbling, Jack consoled himself, saying\u2014\n\"Well, at all events, I can think of riding !\"\nAnd thus it came to pass that we landed on Hinchinbrook, with no means of locomotion beyond those with which\nnature had endowed us.\nAnd now, headed by Lizzie, and walking in single file and\nin silence, we struck out for the interior of the island. The\npath\u2014if path it could be called, for it consisted only of a dim\ntrack beaten by the naked feet of the blacks\u2014wound in and out\namong the long grass, which, as we approached the foot of the\nmountain range, became exchanged for boulders and loose\nshale, which rendered walking most tedious, and played the\nvery mischief with our boots. Here even this track seemed, to\nour eyes, to die out; but Lizzie led the way confidently, and\nevidently with a thorough knowledge of what she was about\nWe had now been walking for more than three hours, and\nhad apparently only got half way up a kind of gorge in the\nmountains, which seemed to become gradually narrower and\nnarrower, and from all appearances afforded every prospect\nof terminating in a cul-de-sac. A watercourse must at some\nperiod have run down this ravine, for the boulders were\nrounded; but it was now quite dry. As the sides of the\nmountains drew nearer, our path led along this watercourse,\nand the walking became dreadfully fatiguing. The boulders\nwere sometimes so close as to render walking between impossible, and then it became necessary to clamber over them,\nwhich, loaded as we were, was very painful. If, on the\nother hand, we attempted to journey on the top of the boulders,\nthey were not only of unequal heights, but sometimes so\n'vide apart, that a good spring was requisite to get from one\nto the other. Lizzie was the only one of the party who\nappeared thoroughly at home; her light figure bounded from\nrock to rock with the greatest ease and rapidity. Even Cato\nand Ferdinand, barefooted as they were, seemed to be a long\nway from enjoying themselves, and for us wretched Europeans,\nwith our thick boots, that obtained scarcely any foothold, we\nslipped about from the rounded shoulders of the rocks, in a\nway that was anything but pleasant\nThus we scrambled along for another hour, at the expiration of which we could only see a blank wall of mountain before\nus, up which it would have been both inlpossible and useless\nto climb. Wondering where the deuce Lizzie was leading us,\nwe blundered along until we arrived at the base of the perpendicular cliff, and saw that by some convulsion of nature the\nravine now branched off at a right angle to the left, and\ngradually widened out into a beautiful and gently declining\nstretch of country, perfectly shut in by hills, and into which a\npretty little bay extended, with several canoes on its placid\nsurface. We were distant from the beach about three miles,\nand could see clearly the smoke of several fires; while with\nbinocular glasses we could make out the figures of the blacks\nfishing, and of the piccaninnies and gins romping in the sand.\nLizzie was a sight to see, as she pointed triumphantly to\nthe unconscious savages, and, trembling with eagerness, tapped\nthe butt of Dunmore's carbine, as she whispered\u2014\n\"Those fellow sit down there, brother belonging to me,\nplenty you shoot 'em, Marmy.\"\n\"You take us close up along of those fellow, Lizzie ?\" said\nDunmore.\n\" Your Marmy, plenty close, you been shoot 'em all mine\nthink,\" replied our amiable little guide, who, enjoining the\nstrictest silence, at once put herself in riiotion, bidding us, by\na sign, to follow her.\nFor more than an hour and a half we crept cautiously\nalong, sometimes crawling on all fours where the country was\nopen, and frequently stopping, while Lizzie went noiselessly\nforward and reconnoitred, before beckoning to us to advance\nagain. The direction in which she led us lay at the base of\nthe hills, which on one side bounded the little plain and its\nbay, and though we could form but a crude idea of where we\nwere going, owing to the thickness of the undergrowth, yet it\nwas sufficiently evident that the young lady was one of nature's\ntacticians, and meditated a flank blow at her unfortunate\nrelatives. Proceeding, we came at last within a stone's throw\nof the beach, and could hear the mimic waves roiling on the\nsand, at no great distance, on our right hand. Lizzie now\npointed to a small belt of vine shrub that lay in front of us,\nand indicated that immediately outside it were the gunyahs, or\nhuts; and, | plenty you shoot,\" she added, showing her white\nteeth as she grinned with glee at the thoughts of the cheerful\nsurprise she had prepared for her old companions. \u2022 We were\nnow thoroughly on the qui vive, for we thought this unknown\nbay would be the very spot in which the blacks were likely\nto seclude any prisoners from the Eva, and accordingly\nwillingly followed the lithe figure of our little guide, as she\nwound her way through the tangled brake, like a black snake,\nand with a facility that we in vain attempted to imitate.\nThe troopers\u2014who had reduced their clothing to a minimum,\nfor their sole vestment consisted of a forage-cap and cartridge-\nbelt\u2014wound along as noiselessly as Lizzie; but we poor whites\t\nwith our flannel shirts and other complicated paraphernalia that custom would not permit us to dispense with in the matter-of-\nfact way they were laid aside by our sable allies\u2014were getting into\ncontinual trouble; now hitched up helplessly by a lawyer vine,\nwhose sharp prickles, like inverted fish-hooks, rent the skin; now\ncrawling unsuspiciously against a tree-ants' nest, an indiscretion\nthat the fierce little insects visited with immediate and most\npainful punishment; or else, becoming aware, by unmistakable\nsymptoms, that we were trying to force\" a passage through a\nstinging tree-shrub. Whenever we thus came to grief, Lizzie\nwould stop, turn round, and wave her arms about like a semaphore, indicative of impatience, contempt mingled with pity,\nand warning.\nLuckily for us, the belt of scrub was not of great extent;\nLizzie had already reached its edge, and was peering cautiously\nthrough, and we were struggling along, each after his own\nfashion, when bang went a carbine, the bullet of which we\ndistinctly heard whistle over our heads, and turning round we\ngot a glimpse of Jack, the roughrider, hung up in a vine, one\nof whose tendrils had fired off his weapon; and had just time\nto hear him exclaim, \" If I'd only been mounted, this wouldn't\nhave happened,\" before we broke cover, and all further concealment being now unnecessary, rushed recklessly on to the\nencampment.\nBut we were too late to capture any of the men, for I need\nhardly tell the reader that never had we intended to make use\nof the curt arguments that Lizzie had relied upon for cutting\noff the abrupt exit of her quondam friends ; it would be quite\ntime enough to coirimence a system of reprisals when it was\nascertained that the blacks had actually been guilty of any\natrocity. At present it was mere surmise on our part, and\nputting altogether on one side the natural reluctance to shed\nblood, an aggressive policy would have been an unwise one,\nengendering, as it infallibly would, a bad feeling against any\nother luckless mariners whom the winds and the waves might\nin time to come cast upon the inhospitable shores of Hinchinbrook Island.\nThe sudden report of Jack's carbine, which occasioned a\nmomentary halt, and the few seconds required to burst through\nthe scrub, afforded sufficient time for the male portion of the\nencampment to make their escape at speed, in different directions, some taking to the water, where they were picked up\nby the fishermen in the canoes ; others diving into the nearest\ncover, and being lost to sight without hope of recovery.\nThe women and children followed the tactics usual on such\noccasions, and flung themselves into a heap, similar in colour\nand contour to that described in a previous chapter, when\nwe\" searched the Herbert River. The same thing took place\nagain exactly; we sat down in a circle round them, waiting\nfor the deafening \" yabbering\" to die away, which \" yabber-\ning\" burst forth in all its pristine discord, whenever one of\nthe party made the slightest movement. Time and patience,\n-however, had the desired effect, restoring tone to their not\nover sensitive systems, and at the expiration of half an hour, we\n.could distinguish sharp, bead-like black eyes peering at us out\nof the mass, which had now sunk into silence, but burst out\nagain louder than ever, when Lizzie made her appearance\nfrom one of the gunyahs\u2014perhaps the paternal roof, who\nknows ?\u2014where she had retired, swelling with indignation, and\nas sulky as a whole team of mules. Finding that no one\ntook any notice of her, and half an hour's reflection having, I\nsuppose, convinced her, that if she wanted to make a display\nbefore her relations, now was the time, her ladyship came\nslowly up to the circle, and commenced an attack on poor\nDunmore, as she knew him best. To transcribe her words\nwould be impossible, for she put in a native sentence whenever she found herself at a loss for an English one, but the\nburden of her plaint was this :\u2014\n\"Plenty d d fooly fellow, white fellow\"\u2014a string of\nHinchinbrook vernacular\u2014\" Baal you been shoot 'em like 'it\ndingo\"\u2014more Hinchinbrook, but evidently, from the accompanying gestures, indicative of intense disgust\u2014\" Baal mine\ntake any more along of black fellow camp \"\u2014half sobs\u2014\" Baal\nmine care suppose you fellow all go like 'it \"\nAnd she summarily consigned us to the bottomless pit, as\nthe only place at all suited for such stupid idiots who could\nrefrain from shooting blacks when so grand an opportunity\npresented itself. Her eyes flashed fire as she delivered herself\nof her woes, and at the concluding sentence she stamped her\nlittle foot, and flinging a short waddy she held, with remarkable\ndexterity and no mean force, into the midst of the sable mass,\nshe turned round to depart with the dignity of a tragedy\nqueen, when Dunmore jumped up, caught her, and holding\nher wrist, walked off a little way from us.\n\" You like 'it one fine fellow red shirt, Lizzie ? Mine give\nyou one with plenty long tail. Baal any other gin along of\ncamp have shirt like 'it you; and when piccaninny sit down \" (for\nthere was a prospect of her presenting Ferdinand with a little\npledge of affection), \" mine give that fellow two budgeree flour-\nbag shirts, suppose only you good fellow girl Lizzie.\"\nEvidently, Dunmore knew the way to the young lady's\nheart\u2014we nicknamed him \" Faust\" afterwards\u2014for at the\nmention of the red shirt, with the lengthy tails, her eyes lost\ntheir fierceness, and the allusion to the piccaninny completed\nhis victory, and changing at once from one extreme to the\nother, as only a black or a child can, Miss Lizzie took her seat\nin the circle, lighted her pipe, commenced nodding to, and\nchatting most affably with, her relatives, and looking so kind,\nthat it seemed impossible to believe thatr an intense longing\nfor bloodshed and cruelty had so shortly before lurked in\nthe breast of the pretty, smiling little savage who was now\nbeside us.\nDuring the task of pacifying Lizzie, the \"heap\" had\nagain sunk into comparative silence, and only a confused\nmurmur was audible from its depths. Allowing no time to be\nlost, Dunmore said to Lizzie\u2014who was puffing out huge mouth-\nfuls of smoke, greatly to the astonishment of the other gins,\nwho looked as if they expected to see her suddenly blaze up\u2014\n\" Lizzie, you ask, suppose they been see any white fellow on\nisland ? White fellow in plenty big canoe. That fellow canoe\nbeen come like 'it shore. You tell them, j Baal white fellow\nhurt you, suppose you been show, where brother belonging to\nhim sit down.'   You tell them that, Lizzie.\"\nLizzie proceeded with the greatest gravity, and evidently\nwith an overwhelming sense of self-importance, to put the required questions, whilst we anxiously awaited her replies.\n\" Well, what they been say ?\" exclaimed Dunmore at last,\nwhen there was a momentary break in the conversation.\nI should imagine that the vernacular of the Hinchinbrook\nIslanders was not pre-eminently adapted for the noble intricacies of diplomatic intrigue. In the first place it contains but\nfew words, and none representing any number higher than five,\nso that even the courtly nobleman now presiding over Foreign 52\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\ni\nAffairs, would find the smooth flow of his amenities subjected\nto rude shocks; and as for expressing any large number either\nin words or figures\u2014say, for instance, the Alabama indemnity of\nthree millions\u2014to do so, would tax to the utmost the genius of\nthe late Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lizzie, in her first flash\nof pride, as representing a plenipotentiary armed with extraordinary powers, had commenced negotiations with the dignity\nand slowness of speech adapted to so exalted a personage.\nBut the shrill chorus which emanated from the audience was\ndecidedly antagonistic to grave deliberation, and the anxious\ncuriosity of the woman superseding the self-imposed role of the\ndiplomatist, our envoy lost the pompous tone she had first\nadopted, and a volley of queries and replies was exchanged so\nrapidly, and with such appalling shrillness, that we onlookers\nran a great risk of being either deafened, or driven out of our\nsenses. At the first slackening of the wordy warfare, Dunmore\nput his question, and then Lizzie said\u2014\n\" Baal there been any white fellow along of here.\" '\n\" You been sure, Lizzie, ask suppose they been see any big\nfellow canoe.\"\nAgain the same hideous noise now took place, but I will\nnot tire my readers with too minute a description of a scene\nwith which they must now be pretty conversant, suffice it to\nsay, that what with the real or pretended stupidity of the gins,\nand the imperfect English of our interpreter, we were more\npuzzled at the conclusion of the debate than we had been at\nits commencement.\n\" Had they seen a vessel ? \"\n\" Oh, yes, big fellow, with wings like 'it bird.\"\n| How long ago ? \"\n\" Plenty long time ago.\"\nI One moon ago ? \"\n| Yes, one moon ago.\"\nI Sure it was one moon ? \"\nI No, thought it must be one day ago, and plenty smoke\nsit down along of big canoe.\"\nAltogether the skein was too tangled for us to attempt to\nunravel it. They had seen vessels evidently, both sailing ships\nand steamers, but whether it was yesterday, or ten years back,\nthere were no means of ascertaining; but to make certain that\nwe were not being deceived, we instituted a strict overhaul of\nthe gunyahs, in hopes of finding something that might give us\na clue to the fate of the missing men. When we broke up our\ncircle for this purpose, the component parts of the \" heap \"\nassumed an upright posture, and it was remarkable to witness\nthe awe with which they regarded Lizzie. At first they seemed\nafraid to approach her, and stood some five yards distant,\nwatching,her whilst she puffed out the smoke from her relighted pipe, and posed herself in an attitude of becoming\nsuperiority, for she saw clearly enough that the happy moment\nfor making an impression had arrived. Gradually they drew\ncloser and closer, and at last, three of the eldest gins going\ndown on all fours, crept slowly up until close in front of her, when\nthey stopped, and buried their withered old faces in the sand\nat her feet. After enjoying their humiliation for a few seconds,\nshe condescended to speak to them, and very shortly they were\n\u202201 chattering away on the most amicable terms.\nMeanwhile the gunyahs or native huts, and the camp,\nhad been thoroughly searched, but without bringing to light\nanything European, except a few bottles, and a pint pot\nwhich had been accidentally left behind by one of the party\non the occasion of Lizzie's abduction. The gunyahs were\nbetter constructed than usual, and consisted of saplings bent\nin an arch and covered with tea-tree bark, a great improvement on all the native dwellings we had hitherto seen, which.\nwere generally little better than a rude screen against the\nwind. But our time was precious, for we carried but little\nprovision; and we could not afford to loiter about, even in so\npleasant a spot as this little bay; so, after dispatching a hasty\ndinner, we started off afresh, to the immense relief of the gins,\nand got out of the valley by another pass, which Lizzie showed\nus. I must not forget to mention one ludicrous circumstance,\nwhich convulsed us with laughter. The gins showed such\ncuriosity about Lizzie's pipe, that she handed it round and\nmade them each take a puff. Their expressions, when the\npungent smoke caused them either to sneeze, cough, or choke,\nwere most laughable; and I have no doubt that it is still a matter\nof wonder to them, and a fruitful source of debate over the\ncamp-fires, what pleasure the white man can find in filling his\nmouth with smoke, apparently with no better object than to\npuff it out again as soon as possible. Our course now lay due\nsouth, and the travelling was much the same as in the\nmorning, that is to say, as bad and as fatiguing as it well\ncould be. Lizzie said she could take us to another bay, where\nthere were sure to be more blacks; and so we trudged patiently\nalong under her guidance, with the sun blazing down so fiercely\nthat the carbine-barrels became quite heated. Our new path\nwas very similar to the last one, seeming to come to an abrupt\ntermination, but really shooting off at an angle, and leading\ndown to a bay, which opened out to our view about five\no'clock, and did not present nearly so pretty an appearance as\nthe one we had just left, for the ground seemed swampy, and\nthe beach was a nasty muddy mangrove-flat. We were also\ndisappointed in not finding any blacks ; but as there is nothing\nso bad that it has not some redeeming quality, so this dreary-\nlooking swamp had its advantages, for the trees were loaded\nwith Torres Straits' pigeons, and sea-crabs were abundant.\nThis would enable us to lay in an extra day's provisions, and\nto extend our search, if necessary, before visiting the Daylight,\nfrom which vessel we were now separated by more than twenty\nmiles of unknown country, inclusive of a mountainous range.\nWe determined not to shoot any pigeons that night, for they\nwould only keep the less time; and, having lit our fire by the\nside of a small creek, we had supper, and were soon sleeping\nthe sleep of the weary, the watch having instructions to call us\nat an early hour for the purpose of replenishing our larder\nbefore the birds took their departure for the mainland.\nA pint pot of tea swallowed\u2014what a blessing.it is that this\nglorious beverage is so portable that abundance can always be\ncarried\u2014three of us sallied forth with our carbines, from which\nwe had extracted the bullets and substituted shot, each taking\na different direction, the troopers guaranteeing a crab\nbreakfast, and Lizzie cutting and peeling wooden skewers\nto roast the game on; for in this climate nothing will\nkeep beyond a few hours, unless partially cooked. I struck\naway towards the left- with the intention of making the\nmangroves as soon as possible, where I knew I should find\nplenty of birds. The walk of the day previous had made me\na- little stiff; but I felt lightly clad, without the heavy\nblanket, which I had left in camp ; and, by way of getting rid\nof the stiffness, I started off at a run and soon reached\nmy destination, where I sat down until there was sufficient o\n-J\n.4\nW\nO\nIS\nim\n1 54\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\ndaylight to enable me to see the game. As I rested on the\nroot of a tree, perfectly motionless, I saw something large\nmoving among the mangroves; but the dawn was as yet so\nuncertain that I could not distinguish whether it was a human\nbeing or not.\n\" If that is a black fellow,\" I thought, \" he's worth all the\npigeons put together, and I'll wait quietly to try and capture him;\"\nfor the object I saw was moving in the direction my companions\nhad taken; and if it were a native, he would be certain to return\nby the road he had come, when he heard the firing. Sitting\nstill, waiting for anything or anybody, when waited on yourself\nby hungry mosquitoes, may be agreeable enough to Mr. Feni-\nmore Cooper's typical Red Indian, but I can safely say that it\nis anything but pleasant work to a thin-skinned Englishman.\nDaylight had now fully come, and I was beginning to hesitate\nas to whether I had not better bag some of the birds that were\nfluttering over my head, and get out of the swamp as fast as I\ncould, when I heard the distant report of a gun, and said to\n'myself, \" Well, I'll give the nondescript five minutes more, and\nif it doesn't turn up by then, I'll blaze away at the pigeons.\"\nHalf the allotted time had barely elapsed, when another report\nbroke the stillness of the morning, and immediately afterwards\nI heard a rustling among the mangrove-leaves, and a slight\ncrackling, as though some heavy weight were passing over the\narched roots. I stayed quiet, almost breathless, as the noise\ncame nearer and nearer, and, turning my head, I peered through\nthe bush behind which I had taken up my quarters, and saw a\nfine-looking black gliding cautiously from one to another of the\ninterlaced mangroves. He was evidently quite unsuspicious of\nany danger in front, and kept all his faculties concentrated on\nthe direction in which he had heard the carbine-shots, which\nnow followed each other rapidly, as the two gunners fired at\nthe birds as fast as they could load.\nI Now,\" thought I, I if I can only cut you off so as to keep\nyou between me and them, I am pretty certain to capture you,\nmy friend;\" and, judging my time, I rushed from behind my\nbush, and was within ten yards of him before he saw me. In\nhis amazement he dropped the long fish-spear with which he\nwas armed, stood one moinent undetermined, and then made\nhis way, with the greatest agility, from tree to tree, not back\ntowards my friends, as I had fondly hoped, but straight for the\nbay. I followed as fast as I could, but he went two paces to\nmy one. I confess I felt sorely tempted to handicap him with\na charge of small shot, lodged somewhere about the calves of\nthose lean legs that were carrying him over the roots with such\nprovoking rapidity, and have often wondered since why I\nrefrained ; but I did, and continued to scuttle after him, now\nslipping down and barking my shins, now nearly losing my\ncarbine, and often compelled to sprawl on all fours. He was\nnow forty or fifty yards ahead of me, and I was nearly giving\nup the useless chase, when an unforeseen accident turned the\ntables in my favour, and caused me to push on with redoubled\nvigour. As we approached the bay, the whole of the roots and\nlower portions of the mangroves became thickly studded with\noysters, whose shells, sharp as razors, cut the bare feet of the\nfugitive; while, on the contrary, they proved of assistance to me\nby preventing my thick boots from slipping off the treacherous\nroots. I now gained ground as fast as I had previously lost it,\nand made certain of capturing my prisoner on arriving at the\nend of the mangroves, through which I could already catch\nglimpses of the sea.    Animated by the thoughts of bringing a\ncaptive into camp, from whom we should probably gain\nvaluable information, I jumped from tree to tree in hot pursuit,\nand when the bay opened out clearly, I was only a short\ndistance in the rear.\n\" Now I've got you,\" I muttered, as the black fellow jumped\non to the last stool of roots, and as I was eagerly following,\nholding my breath for a tussle ; when, to my intense mortification, he plunged headlong into the sea, leaving me disconsolate\nand out of wind, to get back as best I could. I waited until\nhis head reappeared, which was not until he had put a good\nthirty yards between us, and, pointing my carbine, shouted to\nhim to return or I would fire. It was quite useless. He went\nquietly out seaward, and at the last, when I turned unwillingly\nto retrace my steps, I saw his black head bobbing about on the\ncalm surface. When, after a series of involuntary feats on the\nmangrove rope, I again stood on terra firma, all the pigeons\nhad left; and I was compelled to make my way back to camp,\nempty-handed, muddy, cut about the shins, and with my boots\nalmost in tatters. \" So much,\" thought I, \" for trying to catch\na black fellow single-handed.\"\nMy companions had shot plenty of pigeons, after roasting\nwhich we started for the interior of the island, and without\nmeeting \u25a0 with anything beyond the ordinary routine of bad\nbush and mountain travelling; certainly encountering nothing\nthat would justify me in inflicting a prolix description upon\nthe reader\u2014we arrived late on the following evening at the\nrendezvous, found the Daylight safely at anchor, and thus\ncompleted one portion of our search, without having obtaine\nthe faintest clue to an elucidation of the mystery of the Eva.\nThe pilot reported that, to the best of his belief, no blacks\nhad succeeded in making their escape to the mainland; several\ncanoes had attempted to cross, but they had been seen and\nintercepted, though none of their occupants had been captured.\nOne canoe he had taken possession of, and now showed us,\nwhich was, I think, the most primitive piece of naval architecture any of us had seen Canoe it could hardly be called,\nfor it was only a sheet of bark curled up by the action of fire ;\nthe bow and stern formed by folding the extremities, and passing a tree-nail, or, rather, a large skewer, through the plaits.\nWhen placed in the water, the portion amidships, which\nrepresented the gunwale, was not four inches above the surface,\nand so frail that no European could have got into it without a\ncapsize, though the black fellows are so naturally endued with\n.the laws of equilibrium that they can stand upright in these\ntiny craft, and even spear and haul on board large fish.\nWe slept in the hold of the Daylight that night, after\nmaking all arrangements for a start at early dawn. We trusted\nthat the Cleveland Bay party would have performed their\nportion of the task, and thoroughly overhauled the southern\npart of the island, and fully expected to fall in with them on the\nfollowing day.\nOur road lay through most abominable country\u2014stony,\nprecipitous, and in places covered with dense vegetation.\nThe traces of blacks were abundant, and we could travel but a\nshort distance without falling in with some of the numerous\ncamping-places. In many of these, the fires were still smouldering, but the inhabitants had cleared out, most probably warned\nby those whom the whale-boat had intercepted. Each camp\nwas subjected to a rigid scrutiny, but without revealing anything European, except fragments of bottles, to which we\nattached no importance, for they were probably flung ov\ner- AN AUSTRALIAN  SEARCH PARTY.\n55\nboard by some passing vessel, and carried ashore by the tide.\nThese are highly valued by the blacks, who do not use them\nfor carrying water, but break them, and scrape down their\nspears with the fragments.\nTo make a spear must be a.work of many weeks' duration, when the imperfect implements at the natives' disposal\nare taken into consideration. In the first place, his missile\nmust be perfectly straight, and of the hardest wood; and\nno bough, however large, would fulfil these requirements, so\nit must be cut out bodily from the stem of an iron-bark\ntree, and the nearer the heart he can manage to get, the\nbetter will be his weapon. His sole tool with which to attack\na giant iron-bark is a miserable tomahawk, or hatchet, made of\nstone, but little superior to the rude Celtic flint axe-heads, that\nmay be seen in any antiquarian's collection. These are of a\nvery hard stone, frequently of a greenish hue, and resembling\njade; and, having been rubbed smooth, are fitted with a\nhandle on the same principle that a blacksmith in England\ntwists a hazel wand round a cold chisel. The head, and the\nportion of the handle which embraces it, then receive a plentiful\ncoating of bees'-wax, and the weapon is ready for use. Fancy\nhaving to chop out a solid piece of wood, nine feet long, and\nof considerable depth, from a standing tree, with an instrument\nsuch as I have described, which can never, by any possibility,\nbe brought to take an edge ! I have frequently examiried .the\ntrees from-which spears have been thus excised, and the small-\nness of the chips testified to the length of the tedious operation;\nindeed, it would be more correct to say the segrhent had been\nbruised out than excised. Having so far achieved his task,\nthere is still a great deal before the black can boast of a complete spear, for the bar is several inches in diameter, and has\nto be fined down to less than one inch. Of the use of wedges\nhe knows nothing, so is compelled to work away with the\ntomahawk, and to call in the aid of fire; and when he has\nmanaged to reduce the spear to something approaching its\nproper size, he gets a lot of oyster-shells, and with them completes the scraping, and puts on the finishing touches. It may\neasily be imagined what a boon glass must be to the savage,\nenabling him to do the latter part of the operation in a tithe of\nthe time.\nI am afraid that it is often the habit with us Australians to\neither destroy or carry away as curiosities, the weapons and\nother little things that the blacks manufacture, utterly regardless\nof the loss we thus inflict upon them; for without his weapons\nthe wretched native is not only defenceless against neighbouring tribes, who would not scruple to attack him when unarmed,\nbut he is also literally deprived of the means of subsistence.\nWithout his spear, he is unable to transfix the kangaroos and\nwallabies on which he so much depends for his daily food, and,\nrobbed of his boomerangs and nullah-nullahs, the wild duck\ncan pass him scatheless, and the cockatoo can scream defiance\nfrom the lofty trees. I know that this practice of returning\nladen with native spoil is more frequently the result of thoughtlessness or curiosity than anything else. The implements\nappear so trumpery, that the European thinks they can be of\nlittle use to anybody, but the bad blood thus engendered\nbetween the aborigines and the settlers is greater than would\nbe easily credited. Another reason, I would venture to submit, in opposition to this custom is, that in case of the blacks\ndoing any mischief, no method of punishing them can possibly\nbe devised equal in severity to the destruction of their weapons.\nA tribe is rendered more helpless and more innocuous by this\nthan by shooting .down half the males, and I am sure that if\nthey once found that only in case of mischief was this punishment resorted to, we should hear infinitely less of cattle-spearing\nand shepherd-murdering than at present obtains. I mention\nthis, not from any good-will towards the blacks, who have been\ncauses of much sorrow to me and mine, but because I am sure\nthat a discontinuance of this idle habit would tend to lessen\nthe existing causes of friction hetween the two races.\nIn one of the camps-we found a blanket\u2014not, O reader,\nmade of the finest wool, deftly woven at the looms of Witney,\nbut a blanket of Dame Nature's own contrivance, stripped by\nthe aboriginal from the bark of the Australian tea-tree {Melaleuca squarrosa), no small shrub, but a noble fellow standing\nfrom 150 to 200 feet high, and generally found in the neighbourhood of fresh water, or in the beds of creeks. The bark\nof this tree is of great thickness, and composed of a series of\nlayers, each of which can be easily separated from its neighbours, and, in' fact, much resembling a new book, just issued\nfrom the hot-press of the binder. From a portion of this\u2014the\ninner skins, I imagine\u2014the blacks manage to make a flexible,\nthough not over warm, covering for the winter nights, or for the\nnewly-born piccaninnies. The whole of the process I am not\nacquainted with, but from all I could gather from Lizzie, the\nbark is stripped in a large sheet at the end of the rainy season,\nthe inner cuticle of several leaves carefully separated from the\nremainder, and placed in fresh water, weighted with heavy\nstones to retain it in its position. After the lapse of a certain\ntime, known only to the initiated, it is taken out, hung up to\ndry, and at a peculiar stage, before all the moisture has evaporated, it is laid on a flat rock, and cautiously beaten with\nsmooth round stones, which operation opens out the web\nsufficiently to make it quite pliant, after which it is allowed to\ndry thoroughly, and is then ready for use. These vegetable\nblankets are very strong, and must be a great protection\nto the naked savages; -but, despite the ease with which they\ncan be obtained, and the small time' and labour occupied in\ntheir preparation, but few of the gins have them, and none of\nthe men.\nWe also found several fish-hooks of \"a most peculiar shape,\nand made out of a curious material. In shape they were like\n-a circular key-ring, with a segment of exactly one-third cut out.\nOne end was ground sharp, and to the other was attached\nthe line, cleverly spun from the tea-tree bark. Now, of all\nshapes to drive a Limerick hook-maker to despair, none, one\nwould think, could have been invented better than this, for the\nodds are certainly ten to one against its penetrating any portion\nof a fish, even though he should have gorged it. The material\nof which these quaint hooks are made is tortoise or turtle\nshell, for both tortoises and turtles abound on this coast, the\nformer frequenting the fresh-water creeks and lagoons, and the\nlatter the sea. Whether they were cut out of the solid, or\nwhether a strip was soaked, bent, and then dried in the sun\nuntil it became firmly set in the required shape, I never could\nascertain, but most probably the former plan was adopted.\nThe whole island seemed to teem with game, and had we\nbeen able to fire, we should speedily have made a good bag,\nbut this we dared not do, so I made a mental resolve to return\nat some future time and make amends for this enforced\nrestraint. At nearly every step, we put up some bird or beast\nstrange to European eyes.\nnf! 56\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nI have no doubt it is known to most of my readers that\nAustralia is destitute of Ferce proper, and that elephants, lions,\ntigers,  &c,  are unknown.    They will also know that   the\nseveral species of bats, the whole of the animals on the continent are marsupial. The brains of this species are very small,\nand they sadly lack intelligence, in which respect they exhibit\nGROUP OF KANGAROOS.\n^^^^t^^^^'^^g I ^Tu\u00b0rnederful affinit? to  the aboriginals who live by their\nless advanced state than the young of other animals     But Of v                8\nperhaps it is not so generally known that, with two or three the EnSshTe^n        \"V\"** ^ HI difaent kbds' but\nexceptions, such as the dingo or native dog, the platvous and tw ?      \/    n<\u2122 so well acquainted with this curious animal\n|       platypus, and | that it needs no description.    There are two things about it, 1\nSENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT  FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN WEST AFRICA.\nhowever, that I may with propriety here point out\u2014viz., the\nuse of the pouch, and the various ways in which the kangaroo\nis serviceable to the settler. The average size of the ordinary\nfemale kangaroo is. about six feet, counting from the nose to the\ntip of the tail; and, marvellous though it may appear, the young\nkangaroo, at its birth, is but little over an inch in length, having\na vague kind of shape, certainly, but otherwise soft, semi-transparent, and completely helpless. Now the pouch comes into\nuse. The little creature is conveyed there by the mother's\nlips, and immediately attaches itself to one of the nipples,\nwhich are retractile, and capable of being drawn out to a con-\n57\nsiderable length. Thus constantly attached to its parent, it\nwaxes bigger daily. From two to eight months of age it still.\ncontinues an inhabitant of its curious cradle, but now often\nprotrudes its little head to take an observation of the world at\nlarge, and to nibble the grass amongst which its mother is\nfeeding. Sometimes it has a little run by itself, but seeks the\nmaternal bosom at the slightest intimation of danger. It quits\nthe pouch for good when it can crop the herbage freely; but\neven now it will often poke its head into its early home and\nget a little refreshment on the sly, even though a new-comer\nmay have succeeded to its place.\n\u2022 \u2022tcz\u00bb\u00bb\u00abj3\u00bb\u00bb\u2014\nI'll ^\n'\u2022jtfK\n'Ik I\nDAGANA,  ON THE SENEGAL RIVER.\nSenegambia,;   With an Account of Recent French Operations in West Africa.\u2014II.\nBY  LIEUTENANT C.   R.   LOW,   (LATE)  H.M.   INDIAN  NAVY.\nEUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS IN WESTERN AFRICA : A SUMMARY OF THEIR\nHISTORY AND PRESENT POSITION. THE EARLY STRUGGLES OF THE\nFRENCH : WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR POSSESSIONS IN SENEGAL\nAND THE GABOON.\nPrince Henry, third son of John I. of Portugal, was undoubtedly the originator, and, for many years, the inspiring\ngenius and chief director of all the discoveries in Western\nAfrica. He took up his.abode near Cape St. Vincent, and, though\nonly twenty-one years of age, this valiant soldier added to his\nlaurels as the able defender of his country against the Moors,\nthe merit of being the protector and organiser of geographical\nresearch on the West Coast of Africa. From the year 1415,\nwhen this prince \"first ordered a vessel to explore the unknown\nseas to the southward, which, however, only approached Cape\nBajador, to 1463, when he died, several expeditions were\ndespatched, and a large extent of coast-line discovered, and\nadded to the Portuguese Crown. In 1446, Diniz Fernandez\nwas the first to sight\u2014we cannot say discover\u2014Cape Verd, as\nthe Carthaginians under Hanno had, cetituries before, rounded\nthat promontory, and in the following year Lancelot entered\nthe Senegal. About the same time, Tristan Nunez pushed his\ndiscoveries as far as the Rio Grande, and the river called after\nhim. In 1461, the Portuguese erected the first fort at Arguin,\nand ten years later the voyagers of this nation, who pushed\ntheir researches but slowly, reached Elmina, which they called\nOro de la Mina, from the quantity of gold they found there.\n248\nIn the same year the islands of St. Thomas, Prince's, and\nAnnabon, in the Gulf of Benin, were discovered, and these\nstill remain in the possession of the degenerate countrymen of\nVasco da Gama, Bartholomew Diaz, Albuquerque, and the\nlong list of worthies whose achievements will rescue the name\nof their country from oblivion, or from being pronounced with\naught but respect.\nA fine castle was built at Elmina by order of John II. of\nPortugal, in 1481, and, three years later, Diego went as far\nsouth as the mouth of the Congo; but all these discoveries\nwere thrown into the shade by the achievements of the two great\nseamen, one of whom was the first to round the Cape of Good\nHope, and the second to reach India and land at Calicut by\nthat route. We, who have profited by their discoveries, and have\nwrested these possessions from the descendants of the proud\nmasters of the Indies and lords of Guinea,* should never cease to\nremember that we owe Hindostan and Cape Colony to the enterprise of a nation who were the first among the maritime powers at\na time when England was torn and bleeding with the contentioris\nof faction, and the manhood, the chivalry, and intelligence of the\nnation were sacrificed in the miserable and protracted struggle\nknown as the Wars of the Roses. Before the close of the\nfifteenth century, the Portuguese had built magnificent forts at\nElmina and Arguin, and had established trading factories at\n* The Pope gave the title of\nPortugal and the Algarves.\n' Lord of\u00bbGuinea \" to John II., King ol 58\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nII\nSenegal, Gambia, Rio Grande, on the Gold Coast, and on the\nCongo River, while they not only had the control of the entire\nWest Coast from Senegal to the Equator, but had colonised the\nprovinces of Benguela and Angola,* where they have remained\nto this day. Captain Thomas Windham, about the middle of\nthe sixteenth century, was the first Englishman who sailed for\nthe Gold Coast, where he procured 150lb. of gold-dust; and,\nin 1553, a company of London merchants dispatched him to\nthe same destination, but the expedition was unfortunate, and\nof 140 men who sailed from England, but 40 returned. Other\nexpeditions followed in quick succession, including one commanded by the noted navigator, Sir John Hawkins, who incurred\nQueen Elizabeth's displeasure for his participation in the slave\ntrade; but the most successful British adventurer was William\nTowrson, a man of great daring, courage, and resource, who\nin 1556 twice successfully beat off a vastly superior force of\nPortuguese men-of-war, as well as a French squadron.\nThese were the first ships of the latter nationality that visited\nthe West Coast. A French writer of the name of Villaud de\nBelfons, according to Labat, claims for his countrymen the\nhonour of having been the first explorers of the coast of\nAfrica. He states that a company of adventurers sailed from\nDieppe to the Guinea coast, as early as the year 1346, and\nformed commercial colonies at Cape Verd and in other parts\nof the coast, as far as Elmina, where they erected a castle in\n1383, just a century before the Portuguese made their appearance there. This writer affirms that they gave French names\nto all these places. Rio Fresco was known as the \" Bay of\nFrance;\" \" Petit Dieppe\" was the name of a settlement\nformed at the mouth of the St. John's near Basa; and a\nplace on the Grain Coast now known as Grand Sestro was\ncalled \"Sestro Paris.\" It is also said that large quantities\nof ivory and pepper were imported into France, but that in\nconsequence of European wars, these settlements were abandoned long before the Portuguese entered the field. This\naccount, says the Rev. J. Leighton Wilson\u2014to whose valuable\n\"Western Africa\" I am greatly indebted\u2014is not sustained by\ncontemporaneous writers, French or Portuguese; the natives\nalso have no traditionary records of any such visitors to their\ncountry, and Azembinja, the architect sent out by the Portuguese Government to build the castle at Elmina, found no\ntraces of any former fort at that place.\nIt was in 1595, that the first Dutch vessel visited the West\nCoast, and in 1621, the States General granted a charter to a\ncompany called the \" West India Company;\" five years subsequently the French chartered a similar company; and five\nyears later again, Charles I. granted a charter to an English\ncompany with the avowed purpose of carrying on the slave-\ntrade. Previous to this date, the Dutch had purchased the\nisland of Goree, and had also wrested from the Portuguese\nseveral of their most valuable possessions in Senegambia, and\non the Gold Coast, which were transferred to the Dutch commercial company. Thus, in 1637, the Castle of St. George\nd'Elmina was captured, after a protracted and gallant resistance ; and soon the Dutch seized Axim, and other factories,\nand also the islands of St. Thomas and Prince's, as well as the\nPortuguese possessions at Congo and Angola. These latter\nwere, however, restored to them on their agreeing to renounce\n* St. Paolo de Loanda, in the province of Angola, and the neighbouring\ncountry, is described by Winwood Reade, in pp. 250-264 cf Vol. I. of his\n\"African Sketch-Book\" (1873).\ntheir forts and factories in Senegambia. The Dutch now sought\nto oust us from the Gold Coast, and the famous Admiral De\nRuyter was sent from Holland with a large force to recapture\nsome of their possessions that had fallen into the hands of the\nBritish Admiral Holmes. Hence arose the war between the\nDutch and ourselves, when they sought to wrest from us the\nsupremacy of the seas. At length, in 1667, peace was declared,\nand the -English company were left in the possession of a\nsingle fort at Cape Coast. In 1672, a new English commercial corporation, called the \"Royal African Company,\" was\nchartered, and they enlarged Cape Coast'Castle, and built new\nforts at Dixcove, Accra, Secundee, and other points\nA writer on recent events on the Gold Coast, throws some\nlight on the causes that led to the disaffection of some of the\ntribes inhabiting the western district of the British Protectorate.\nPrevious to 1868, the English and Dutch forts were scattered along the Gold Coast as nearly as possible alternating\nwith one another. For instance, Appolonia was English;\nAxim, Dutch ; Dixcove, English; Bootry, Dutch; Elmina,\nDutch; Cape Coast, English; and there were English and\nDutch Accras within a gunshot of each other. Both Governments found this system to work badly for their revenue, and\nthe inhabitants of neighbouring towns under different protection were inevitably jealous of each other. It was then arranged that an exchange of the forts should be made. The\nDutch took all to the west of Cape Coast Castle; the English\nall to the east. We seem to have quieted our eastern district\nfairly well, but the Dutch found' great trouble and little improvement in revenue from the western. The old English-\nprotected tribes did not wish to take the Dutch flag, and some\nof their towns, Dixcove, for instance, were bombarded for\nnot accepting it, and thus arose ill-feeling and strife between\nCape Coast and Elmina, and other neighbouring pairs of tribes.\nIn 1872, the Dutch, worried by these internecine wars, decided\nto abandon the Protectorate, and ceded to us their forts, and\nwith them, as it seems, the legacy of the Ashantee war.\nThe wishes of the natives were not consulted on either occasion, and although some of the tribes formerly protected by\nEngland were glad to return to us, all of those formerly protected\nby the Dutch were decidedly against the transfer. Theydisplayed\ngreat sympathy with the Ashantees, and, when they had the\nopportunity, supplied them with provisions and munitions of\nwar, and otherwise acted in a hostile manner towards us.\nOur officers accordingly fourid it necessary to bombard and\ndestroy the native towns of Elmina, Chaman,. Bootry, Aquidah,\nAppolonia, and some others, all within that district. Thus, it\nmay be said, we, in a measure, brought our recent troubles upon\nourselves, for we violated one of the guiding principles of our\npolicy in arbitrarily exchanging territory without consulting\nthe wishes of the people concerned, though doubtless presents\nwere made to the chiefs.\nDuring our quarrels with the Dutch in the latter part of\nthe seventeenth century, the French were quietly pursuing their\ncommercial enterprises on the Senegal. In 1626, they formed\na settlement in the island of Goree, which has continued to be\n-their head-quarters ever since. The French India Company\nnot only supplied all the slaves that were needed in their West\nIndian possessions, but were extensively engaged in the \" carrying trade\" for the Spanish Government, though nevertheless\nnot only they, but their successors\u2014a second, third, and fourth\ncompany\u2014became insolvent. Ill\nSENEGAMBIA,   AND  RECENT FRENCH OPERATIONS IN WEST AFRICA.\n59\nThe French now began to commit aggressions on the Dutch,\nas these had formerly done on the Portuguese; and Arguin*\nand Goree were both seized and never restored to their original\npossessors. Towards the end of the seventeenth- century, the\nEnglish and French became involved in hostilities, and, in 1692,\na British naval force seized both Goree and St. Louis, though\nthey were retaken in the following year, when Bathurst, our\nsettlement at the mouth of the Gambia, was destroyed by way\nof retaliation. It was rebuilt, but changed hands three times\nin three successive years, and for a long period continued in a\nstate of dilapidation and neglect. On the restoration of peace,\nthe English, Dutch, and French companies carried on their\noperations with much energy and success. Sieur Brue, appointed\nDirector-General of Senegal in 1697, for twenty years managed\nFrench affairs with as much sagacity as Bosman did those of\nthe Dutch. About the year 1700, the French erected a small\nstation at the Assinee River, on the Gold Coast, but it was\nultimately abandoned as unproductive, though our neighbours\nstill maintain a nominal protectorate over that portion of the\ncoast. During the Revolutionary war, this country seized all\nthe French settlements on the West Coast of Africa, but they\nwere restored in 1817.\nThe French settlement at the mouth of the river Gaboon,\nnear the equator, was founded in 1842, and, in the following\nyear, an American mission was opened at Baraka, eight miles\nup the river, which the natives call M'pongo. The territory of\nthe Gaboon, known by the natives as Empungwa, extends\nalong the river about forty miles, and some thirty along the\ncoast Its inhabitants are described as a fine race of negroes,\nwho carry on an active trade with Europeans in ivory, ebony,\nand dye-woods, and, surreptitiously, in slaves. The inland\nregion is almost totally unknown, our only authorities being\nWinwood Reade and Du Chaillu. The climate of the French\nsettlement is unhealthy, owing to vast and unwholesome swamps\nalong the river's banks, but, as in other parts of the West Coast\nof Africa, the country inland, the abode of the now famous\ngorilla\u2014our \" poor relation,\" according to Darwin\u2014is not unwholesome.\nGoree, for a town in West Africa, presents a respectable\nappearance, owing to its possessing some fine public buildings.\nThe island of the same name, on which it is built, is situated\nimmediately south of Cape Verd, and separated from the mainland by the Strait of Dakar; it is some three miles in circuit,\nand consists of a naked mass of black basalt, in some places\nrising perpendicularly several hundred feet The landing-place\nis in a small sandy bay on the north-east side of the island. In\nthe centre, on an elevated plateau, stands the fort, and in a\nsandy plain at the foot of the rock lies the town of Goree,\noccupying about two-thirds of the entire area of the island. It\ncontains some handsome and extensive buildings, conspicuous\namong them being the barracks. The roadstead, which is well\nsheltered, and affords a safe anchorage for eight months of the\nyear, is on the north-east side of the island. Goree is the chjef\nentrepdt of French trade on the West Coast of Africa, though,\nfrom its limited extent, it produces nothing, and is deficient in\n* In Vol. XVI. (1845) of the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical\nSociety, may be found an account of the island of Arguin, by Captain\nJohn Grover, F. R. S. The number of the inhabitants, who are semi-savages,\nis about sixty, and they subsist on fish, with a little rice, but have neither\ngrain nor vegetables of any kind. The water is described as plentiful and\nexcellent; though claimed by the French, it has long been resigned to its\npresent possessors.\nwater.    The new port of Dakar, opposite the island of Goree,\nis the principal seaport in Senegal.\nOne of the Times correspondents gives some particulars of\nthe present aspect and condition of the French colonies on the\nWest Coast of Africa.\nThe steamers of the Messageries Maritimes Company plying\nbetween Bordeaux and Brazil, call at Dakar for coal, and are\nable to go in-shore to load, there being a commodious artificial\nharbour. A depot for stores to supply men-of-war, and a large\nsupply of coal, are kept at Dakar by the French Government.\nMeat, vegetables, and provisions of all kinds can be obtained at\nreasonable prices S and it is, altogether, a place which deserves\nto be better known. The local government is, as in most\nFrench colonies, entirely a military one ; and the raison d'itre\nof the occupation of Senegambia appears to be simply a desire\nto benefit France; in this respect offering, it will be admitted,\na marked contrast to the civilising and unselfish policy that'\nmarks our rule of the Gold Coast.\nAt the French colony of Gaboon, the establishment has\nlately been considerably reduced. It is quite independent\nof Senegal, and of very much less importance. The admiral\ncommanding on the station is its governor, and most of its\nofficials, if not all, are naval officers. The Protectorate of Grand\nBassam and Assinee on the Gold Coast, is included in its\ngovernment The resident officials in the Protectorate were\nwithdrawn in 1872, owing to their inability to exercise control\nover the native chiefs. At the Gaboon are substantial, well-\nbuilt public buildings, stores, hospitals, barracks, and a small-\ndockyard, also a large depot of coals. The military garrison\nhas been removed since the Franco-German war, and the care\nof the settlement is entirely in the hands of the navy. A\nbishop is at the head of the French missionary establishment\nat the Gaboon. He has resided in Africa for more than\ntwenty-five years, and is over seventy years of age. Although\nwithin a few miles of the equator, the climate is not at all\nunpleasant, except during the rainy season. The captured slaves\nused to be released here when the export -trade was rife. A\nfew are still sometimes taken on their way from Cape Lopez\nto Prince's Island in canoes, and liberated at Gaboon. This\ncan hardly be called an export trade, and of course there\ncontinue to be slaves all along the coast for home purposes\n\u2014in fact, some British traders own them. The French\nGovernment have directed the governor to make the settlement pay its own expenses. For this purpose he placed an\nexport duty on goods, which our merchants say is oppressive,\nand hinders trade.   Import duties are not so much objected to.\nOf the Spanish and Portuguese colonies on the West\nCoast, the same writer says:\u2014\"A governor-general rules over\nthe Spanish colony of Fernando Po and its dependencies. He\nis generally the commander of a small ship of war stationed\nthere. His officers perform civil duties. There used to be\na large establishment there at one time, but now it is ready\nto fall to pieces. The dependencies are Corisco and An-\nnabon; but at the latter island the sovereignty of Spain is\nnot acknowledged by the inhabitants, who speak Portuguese,\npay no tribute, have no resident Spanish official, and see the\nSpanish flag less often than any other. A governor-general\nrules over the important Portuguese province of Angola, and\nthe fertile islands of St. Thomas and Prince's. He lives at St.\nPaul de Loanda, a really handsome town, with a magnificent\nnatural harbour.    There are several other respectable towns in\nm 6o\nILLUSTRATED\" TRAVELS.\nthe province, and a considerable population of Portuguese,\nBrazilians, and half-castes, besides Africans.    The province is\ncapable of a large trade, but it is hampered by local legislation.\nDifferential duties place almost all the over-sea carriage in\nPortuguese bottoms. Great complaints are made of the venality\nof customs officers, and of the arbitrary character of the justice\nadministered.   In 1872, the inland tribes drove the Portuguese\ninto their garrisons, and white people became anxious for their\nexistence in the province.   At one time, the water supply of the\ntown of St Paul's was in danger of being cut off by the natives.\nSince the export slave trade ceased, the condition of Angola has\nmuch fallen off.    In a short time domestic slavery is to cease;\nand then, the people say, it will be entirely ruined.    Its natural\nproductions are large and important,  especially coffee and\naquadente.    Fine cattle are reared in the south; fish is plentiful\nand easily cured; and the native population is considerable in\nnumber, and, for Africans and liberated slaves, fairly inclined to\nwork.    The climate in some parts of Angola is very salubrious\nand delightful.\"\nwhich burnt a lamp, and was adorned with the image or picture\nof some saint. Baptism and other Christian rites were administered, and monogamy was observed. On the other hand, the\nwomen were little better treated by their husbands than their\nsisters on the continent. Moreover, these islanders were certainly not less superstitious than their pagan brethren, and\nmixed up many of their old Fetish customs with their Christian\nobservances.* They had a strong belief in ghosts, and, adds\nthe writer already quoted, \" they were poor and dirty, keen\ntraders, great rogues, fond of rum\u2014even the ' Bishop'\u2014and\nI can't say their Christianity improved them.\"\nThere certainly must be a fine field for the missionaries of\nall denominations in countries where it is the custom to bury a\ncertain number of a great man's wives and slaves with his dead\nbody, to serve him in the next world, and to sacrifice maidens\nat the entrances of rivers to propitiate the God of the Sea, lest\nhe should silt them up and put a stop to navigation. Some of\nthe mission stations are an excellent example to the natives-of\nneatness and order, without departing from simplicity.    The\nSOR,   ON THE MOUTH OF THE SENEGAL RIVER.\nThe missionary establishments   on  the West  Coast are\nrepresentative of all the Christian churches,  and  of many\nnationalities in our possessions ; the Wesleyans being, after the\nChurch of England, the most successful and energetic. English,\nGerman, American, French, and Portuguese are at work.   The\nmissionaries of the last two nations confine themselves to the\npeople living under the rule of their respective governments,\nand are, of course, Roman Catholics.    The Portuguese, who -\nhave been on the coast longer than -any other nation, and who\nhave left signs of their occupancy at one time in almost every\nplace of importance, have had mission stations in many places\nnow abandoned, and in their own province of Angola large and\nsubstantial churches  and convents are to be seen falling to\nruin.     Some outward effects of their teaching may be seen\nat Loanda, such as pens, paper, and slates, which, as articles\nof trade, are sent up the Coanza River to a coffee-producing\ntiibe, who   have  no  missionaries   among  them   at  present.\nThere was only one instance that came under the notice of\nthe   Times  correspondent  where  any  religious   observances\nremained among the people after the  missionaries had left,\nand the results were scarcely such as can be deemed satisfactory.      It was at the island of Annabon, which contains\nabout 600 inhabitants, and no less than thirty-two churches,\nwith a native priest who called himself bishop and schoolmaster.\nEach of these churches was furnished with an altar, before\nstations at Old Calabar and Gaboon are beautiful with flowers\nand gardens, full of useful and ornamental trees, shrubs, and\nvegetables. These the natives are taught to cultivate, and they\nare learning to appreciate their value. At Gaboon, the native\nM'pongwe language has been reduced to writing, and is taught\ngrammatically in the schools of the American Mission, and the\nFrench Roman Catholic missionaries have also translated some\nof the Gospel? into it.f\nThe French engaged in many expeditions of exploration\ninto the interior of Senegambia between the years 1730-74, but\nthe most valuable, as far as results, was that of M. Adanson, in\n1749-54, already referred to at lengjh. Under the auspices of\nthe British West African Association, founded by ninety persons\nof wealth, chief of whom was Joseph Banks, many Englishmen penetrated into the interior, and we need only mention\nthe honoured names of Ledyard, Lucas, Houghton,  Mungo\n* In the narrative of the Expedition to the river Niger in 1841, under\nthe command of Captain Trotter, R.N., from the pens of Captain\nAllen, R.N., and Dr. T. R. H. Thomson, Surgeon, R.N., maybe found\n(see Vol. II., p. 54) an account of some of these ceremonies, bearing, they\nsay, \" evident marks of being a mixture of Fetishism and Christianity.\"\nt The language spoken by the tribes who inhabit the greater part of the\nGold Coast, is called the \" Otyi,\" or, as we have corrupted the pronunciation of the word, the \"Oji.\" A grammar has been published of the Oji\nlanguage, and one-also of the Accra, or Ga, language, into which the Bible\nhas been translated by a member of the Basle Mission. THE KHANATE OF KHIVA.\n61\nPark, Houseman, Nicholson, and others, to show that England\nhas right nobly done her duty as the pioneer of geographical\nresearch in Central Africa.\nThe task attempted, though unsuccessfully, by Major\nHoughton at the instance of the West African Association,\nnamely, the exploration of the Niger by way of the Gambia,\nwas a little later entrusted to Mungo Park. The greatest of\nall African travellers ascended the Gambia, and, after crossing\nseveral kingdoms and surmounting incredible difficulties, arrived\non the 21st of July, 1796, at Segou, the capital of Bambara,\nwhere he had the gratification of \" seeing the majestic Niger\nglittering in the morning sun, as broad as the Thames at Westminster, and flowing slowly to the eastward.\" After tracing\nthis river a short distance to the eastward, he returned to\nEngland. Again, in 1805, he started, under the auspices of the\nColonial Office, \" to pursue the Niger to the utmost possible\ndistance to which it can be traced;\" and, after losing two out\nof three officers, and thirty-nine out of forty-two men who\naccompanied him, embarked on the Niger. This traveller\nsafely navigated the men as far as Bassah, where the small\nparty were attacked by some natives, and perished while\ndefending themselves to the last*    Other  expeditions were\n* Mr. John Duncan, formerly* private in the 1st Life Guards, in his\n\"Travels in Western Africa in 1845 and 1846,\" gives a different version of\nconducted by Captain Tuckey, RN., by Gray, Ritchie, and\nLyon, and in 1822 by Oudney, Denham, and Clapperton, who\ncrossed the Great Desert from Tripoli, and penetrated nearly\nto Lake Tshad.\nAgain, in 1825, this adventurous traveller journeyed into\nthe Western Soudan as far as Sakatah, where he died,\nbut it was reserved for his faithful servant, Richard Lander, f\naccompanied by his brother John, to trace the Niger, from\nits confluence with the Chadda to the sea, and therefore the\nhonour of solving the great Niger question may be divided\nbetween Lander and our other distinguished countryman,\nMungo Park, the discoverer of its source.\nAnother Englishman, Major Laing, was the first to penetrate to Timbuctoo, but he paid for the honour with his life.\nM. Caillie, a Frenchman, was more fortunate, but his journal\nis very meagre.\nthe death of the great traveller, but the above is taken from an account\nwhich appears in a deeply interesting but tragic record of African travel,\nentitled, \"The Narrative of the Expedition to the Niger in 1841,\" under\nCaptains Trotter and Allen, R.N.; and was the result of an investigation\nconducted by one of Park's guides, sent in the year 1810 by Colonel\nMaxwell, the British Governor of Senegal.\nt For the full account of the journeys of Captain Clapperton and Richard\nLander, the only survivor of the expedition in which his master perished,\nsee the admirable work of the latter, entitled \"Records of Captain Clap-\nperton's last Expedition to Africa,\" 2 vols. (1830).\nThe   Khanafe   of Khiva.\nNow that the much-talked-of Khivan Expedition has been\nbrought to a successful issue, and the Russian eagle floats\nover the mud walls arid luxuriant gardens of the Central Asian\nstronghold, it may not be uninteresting to our -readers to glance\nback at the origin of the expedition, review its conduct, and\ngather what details we may from Russian sources regarding its\npeople, climate, and physical aspect But whilst doing so,\nwe must acknowledge our indebtedness to a pamphlet recently\npublished by the \" Universal Traveller\" of St. Petersburg,\ngiving a complete account of the Khanate in question.\nKhiva, as it is well known, is an oasis, surrounded on all\nsides by burning sandy deserts. The fertile part is formed by\nan intricate system of irrigation. .Canals extend like a network in all directions, and assist the industry of man, which\nhas formed this luxuriant garden out of a howling wilderness.\nThe source from which these canals start is the Am00 River,\nthe Oxus of the ancients. This important stream, rising in\nthe gigantic mountains of the Hindoo Koosh, rushes down\nin a north-easterly direction, as a rapid mountain stream, to\nthe burning plains of Central Asia, where its turbid waters\nmove along to the shallow Aral Lake ; but before reaching its\u00bb\ngoal, it passes through the Khanate of Khiva, whose system of\ncanals drains the main stream to such an extent, that some of\nits branches dry up altogether, whilst even the main stream\nbecomes so exhausted, that only about three or four feet depth\nof water is found at its mouth.\nHaving thus indicated in a general way  the position of\nKhiva on the map, we may add that its position in the midst\nof so many hundred miles of arid and, for the most part,\nwaterless desert, offered a convenient refuge for malefactors of\nevery description. Thither captive. Russians were dragged\nfor sale by the nomad Khirgizes and Turkomans of the\nsteppe^- Persia was deprived of her population in the same\ncruel manner; peaceful caravans, even if they were so fortunate as to escape being pillaged altogether in the desert, were\nsubjected to extortionate duties imposed by the servants of the\nKhan; and, to the expostulations of Russia or Persia, the\nKhan, secure in the midst of the impassable wastes which\nseparate his kingdom from the neighbouring powers, replied\nby evasive answers or insolent defiance.\nPeter of Russia, rightly surnamed the Great, was the first\nwho took measures for the repression of this intolerable\nevil. In the year 1717, Prince Bekovich Cherkasski was dispatched, with about 6,000 men, for the chastisement of\nKhiva.\nSailing from Astrakhan with his flotilla, he landed his\ntroops at Gurieff, near the mouth of the Ural River. In the\nbeginning of June he commenced his march, by Emba, across\nthe plateau of the Ust Urt, and defeated the Khivans in an\naction which lasted two days.\nFinding that he was unable to cope with the Russians in\nthe open field, the Khan had recourse to treachery. Peace\nbeing made, the Khan induced Bekovich to scatter his troops\nin the town of Khiva, for the convenience of quartering.\nNo sooner was this effected, than a general massacre ensued.\nThe Russian troops were exterminated, and Bekovich himself\n10\nfemir\nltjtt.3 62\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nII !\nwas one of the first to fall a victim to his own credulity and\nlack of experience in Asiatic character. Thus terminated this\nsanguinary drama.\nFrom this period 122 years elapsed before the next attempt\nto coerce Khiva was again made. This was the expedition of\nPeroffski in 1.839, contemporaneous with, and destined by\nthe Emperor Nicholas as a sort of reply to, our own ill-fated\nexpedition to Afghanistan. Both experienced a similar fate.\nPeroffski was compelled by the rigour of the elements to retrace his steps, and he re-entered Orenburg in a disastrous\ncondition.\nWe now arrive at the third campaign against the refractory\nKhanate, which has just been brought to a successful conclusion in our own times, and it may not be distasteful to our\nreaders to have a very short and concise account of the plan\nof operations adopted by the Russian general, and of the way\nin which this plan has been carried into execution.\nThe general scheme was this:\u2014Four detachments were to\nconverge from various points upon the objective point of the\ncampaign, the city of Khiva. By this,-the chief difficulty of the\nundertaking was in a great measure lessened\u2014we mean the\nsupply of water\u2014for in those frightful wastes, where the sand\nitself burns like a red-hot iron beneath the feet, water, that\ninestimable treasure, is rare, like all treasures. Wells are few\nand far between, and even where they exist, they are soon\nexhausted, and will supply water but for a limited number of\nmen. Thus an advance in a number of independent columns\nbecame inevitable, and even these were obliged to effect their\nforward movement en 'echelon, as it is termed, i.e., in separate\nbodies on the same road, but with the interval of a day's or\nseveral days' march. But to return to the enumeration of the\nvarious columns of march, in number four.\n1. From Tashkend, on the Sir or Jaxartes, under the command of Aide-de-camp General Kaufmann, the generalissimo\nof the entire expedition, a column was directed on the Amoo^\nwhich was to be crossed near Shourakhan.\n2. From Orenburg, under Lieutenant-General Vereffkin,\nacross the Ust Urt to Cape Oorgoo and the western confines\nof the Khanate.\n3. From Krasnovodsk, on the Caspian Sea, under Colonel\nLomakine, to join No. 2 at Cape Oorgoo.\n4. From Chikishliar, at the mouth of the Attrek River,\nunder Colonel Markosoff, to join No. 3.\nWe may add that the whole of these columns succeeded in\ntheir tasks, except No. 4, which was compelled, by the severity\nof the weather, and the unheard-of difficulties it encountered,\nto return to Chikishliar, the point from which it had advanced.\nThe result of the campaign may be described in a few\nwords. General von Kaufmann's column penetrated to the\nAmoo in face of the hardships imposed by the alternation of\ndriving snowstorms, muddy thaws, and fierce and torrid heats,\nencountering but insignificant opposition from the enemy.\nBut on his arrival on the Amoo, he found that the Khivans\nhad taken up a position, and erected some hasty fortifications\non the left bank of the river near Sheik-Aryk, a little above\nShourakhan. A well-directed cannonade on their part was\nquickly silenced by the superior weight of metal and precision\nof the Russian artillery, and the enemy hastened to retire, but\ncarrying off his artillery. This spot, Sheik-Aryk, was now\nchosen by General von Kaufmann for the passage of his\ndivision, which was effected during the five days from   the\n30th May to 3rd June. The difficulties and hardships of\nthe undertaking were now at an end. The Russians were\nin the fertile portion of the Khanate, which is described as\nbeing densely covered with habitations and vegetation.\nNews was received that General Vereffkin, after having\npicked up the Krasnovodsk detachment at Kungrad, and\nstormed several towns which, attempted to obstruct his passage,\nhad entered into communication with the Tashkend column\nfrom Kitsi, lower down the river. Further details are contained\nin official reports. The' town of Khiva surrendered to the\nRussian arms on the 10th June.\nSuch, in its broad outlines, is the history of the Khivan\nquestion, from Peter the Great down to our own times.\nWhether Russia will prove the philanthropical friend of\ncivilisation which she professes to be; whether she will enlighten the pitchy darkness of Central Asia, and open up\nchannels for trade and industry never before dreamt of; or\nwhether, on the other hand, she will make use of her commanding positions, to assume an attitude prejudicial to the\ninterests of our Indian Empire, is a matter which the future\nalone can decide. But, leaving these questions to the politician, let us now turn our attention to the people of this\nremote quarter of the globe ; let us sketch their manners and\ncustoms, and endeavour to portray, as distinctly as our space\nwill-allow, the general physical appearance of their country.\nAs the Khanate itself is surrounded by deserts, it can have\nno well-defined boundaries, as they vary and shift with the\nwavering allegiance of the predatory tribes which surround it.\nBut, confining our attention to the fertile portion of its territory,\nwe may estimate its surface at 400 square miles. The valley of\nthe Amoo or Oxus, in its lower course, presents a perfectly\nflat surface, broken only by the mountains .of Sheikh Jely on\nthe right bank; they extend along the lower course of the\nriver, and their north-eastern slopes lose themselves in the\nsands of the Kizil Room (or Red Sand) desert. They are\nsaid to contain iron ore and marble'of inferior quality.\nBefore quitting this subject, we take the opportunity of\nmentioning another remarkable elevation within the limits of\nthe Khanate. We mean the plateau of Ust Urt. It is a sort of\ntable-land extending from the Sea of Aral to the Caspian, and\nterminated by abrupt cliffs or precipices, which are scored in\nall directions by clefts and ravines, in many places so steep as\nto preclude ascent; the elevated surface is destitute of water,\nand here and there are to be found those \" solonchaks,\" or\nsalt-marshes,\" which are supposed to be caused by the desiccation, in the course of ages, of large masses of salt water. The\nAral Sea or Lake is supposed by many to be undergoing this\nprocess.\nTo the south-west of the Ust Urt lies the Kara Bugaz, or\nBlack Gulf, which is united to the Caspian by a channel about\n250 yards broad and 28 feet deep; and through this channel\nceaselessly flows a mass of water from the Caspian into the\nBlack Gulf, at the rate of about three miles per hour. Notwithstanding this constant influx, the waters of the gulf are\nextremely shallow, so great is the amount of evaporation under\nthe ardent sun of those climes; and the quantity of salt which\nis deposited in a solid state is so great that the very banks are\nencrusted with it Of course no living -creature can exist\nwithin its waters, and the daily amount of salt poured in a\nstate of solution into the gulf is estimated at the enormous\namount of 350,000 tons per diem Returning from this slight digression, let us glance at the\nchief feature of the Khivan oasis, the feature to which it owes\nits exuberant fertility\u2014we mean the river Amoo. This, the\n\u2022classic stream of ancient Kharesm, waters for a distance of\nnearly 300 miles the cultivated portion of Khiva. Before\nfalling into the Aral Sea, it forms several arms, the largest of\nwhich, the Ulkoon, has a breadth of from 250 to 300 yards,\nwith an average depth of twenty-eight feet. The river, however, owing to the constant drain on it for purposes of irrigation, to evaporation, and to the sandy nature of the soil through\nwhich it passes, so decreases in volume before reaching the\nAral Sea, that but three or four feet of water exist on the bar\nat its mouth; and thus even this, the largest of the branches,\noffers obstacles to navigation. 'The river freezes at the end of\nSeptember, and thaws again in February. Its water is turbid,\nbut wholesome and pleasant to the taste. The natives assert\nthat the water of no river in the world is so \" blessed.\" It is\nsaid to excel the water of the Nile. Arminius Vambery, the\ncelebrated traveller, shared this impression, but attributes it to\nthe fact that he arrived on the river from the arid steppes,\nwhere the water which is procurable is of very inferior quality.\nNear Pitniak, the system of artificial canals commences;\nthese spread like a network throughout the whole country.\nThey are bridgeless and fordless, so that they offer considerable\nobstacles to the advance of an enemy. This difficulty was\nprovided for by the Russian Government by dispatching\nportable iron bridges with the expeditionary force, but much\ntime was, as a matter of course, lost by the constant delays\ncaused by the laying down and taking up of these bridges.\nThe fruitful land extends in narrow zones along these canals,\nwhilst in the intervals stretch patches of barren land fit only for\nnomads.\nAs is perhaps well known to our readers, the Amoo or Oxus\nonce flowed into the Caspian Sea, and its ancient course can\nstill be plainly traced in that direction. The Khivese confirm this, but add that it was not by any great convulsion of\nnature that it was effected, but by the hand of man. They\nrelate that in the time of Sultan Mehemet, Shah of Kharesm,\nthe waters of the Amoo were diverted by his order, to fertilise\na district lying between the right bank of the river and the\nAral Sea, but that, accidentally, the canal which he caused to be\ndug for this purpose was of such dimensions that it drained the\n.natural course of that river. The question of re-directing its\nwaters into their ancient channel has Tjeen much discussed in\nRussia, as by this means they would acquire a secure and convenient route into the heart of Central Asia; but we believe\nthe question as to its feasibility has been answered in the\nnegative; not that it would be impossible to draw off the flow\nof water into this cpurse, as the Caspian lies on a very considerably lower level than the Aral, but it is believed that the\nsand of the desert would swallow up the whole of the water\nbefore it reached the Caspian, and the whole object of the\nundertaking be thus frustrated.\nThe Khivans relate a legend which seems to confirm the\nsupposition regarding its former course; it is this: Sultan\nMehemet had a slave named Khoja, who, for services rendered\nto his sovereign received his liberty, and permission to call\nhimself Khoja Tarkan. He turned his newly-acquired liberty\nto account by performing a journey down the Amoo, and\nacross to the western shore of the Caspian. They say that he\nlanded at the mouth of -the Volga, and founded a town which\nhe named after himself. And even to this day the Khivese\nnever call Astrakhan anything else but Khoja Tarkan, and the\nCaspian, Khoja Tarkan Aral (sea).\nWith regard to the climate of Khiva, the winters are short,\nbut severe. Spring commences in February, or early in\nMarch; at the end of the latter month the vines, pomegranates,\nand fig-trees begin to bud; and in the commencement of\nApril are covered with green. The heat becomes excessive in\nJuly, and the atmosphere is then suffocating from the dense\nclouds of dust which fill the air. Frost commences again in\nSeptember, but is not severe till November. They harvest\ntheir wheat in June, and apricots and plums begin to ripen\nabout the same time. The leaves of the trees fade and fall\nabout the first half of November. The summer nights, though\nthey are not oppressive, are not so cool as they generally are in\nother southern lands. Winter approaches in December, and is\nvery uncertain; in some years no snow has fallen, and the\nAmoo has only frozen at the banks. Snow seldom falls in\nsufficient quantities to cover the ground entirely, and thunderstorms and hail never occur. The dryness of the atmosphere\nis excessive, especially in autumn. The prevailing winds are\neasterly and north-easterly. The westerly wind is remarkable\nfor its fury, often overthrowing tents and breaking trees; it\nrages only in the spring, when the trees are beginning to\ndisplay their foliage.\nThe population of the Khanate is estimated at between\n300,000 and 400,000 souls. It is extremely mixed, consisting\nof Uzbeks, Turkomans, Karakalpaks, Khirgizes, Sarts, and\nPersians; the first-named predominate. It is at once evident\nthat their race is intermixed with that of Iran; they wear\nbeards, which, according to the expression of Vambery, is\nquite a foreign element in a Turanian; but the colour of the\nskin and outlines of the face indicate their Tartar origin. In\ncharacter they are superior to their neighbours; they are\nhonourable and straightforward, but still quite as savage as\nthe nomads around them. After the modern Osmanlis, we\nmay rank them as the most promising among the various types\nof Eastern nations.\nVambery, though giving this favourable account of the\nUzbek race, recounts many startling anecdotes regarding the\nsame, which go far to contradict his own statements. Such\nis the following scene which he himself witnessed. One day\nhe descried, in the square of one of the palaces, a group of\nthree hundred Turkoman prisoners, covered with rags, tormented by the fear of death and the pangs of hunger.' These\nwere divided into two gangs; those under forty years of age\nwere set apart to be sold into slavery;. the others, or \" greybeards,\" as they are termed, were reserved for punishment at\nthe discretion of the Khan. The first they chained in groups\nof about ten or fifteen together, and then marched them off.\nThe second, submissive to destiny, quietly awaited their doom.\nWhilst some were led to the scaffold, and others to the\ndungeon, eight old men, on a sign from the executioner, laid\nthemselves flat on the ground. The former having bound them\nhand and foot, put out their eyes, wiping each time his bloody\nknife on their grey beards. The imprisoned are subsequently\nreleased to find a living as they may. Wonderful as it may\nseem to our readers, scenes of this nature appear to excite no\nhorror in the minds of the inhabitants of Central Asia; they\nthink their own conduct perfectly natural and conformable to\ncustom, law, and religion.    The reigning Khan commits the\niH? ILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nIll\nmost inhuman cruelties that he may acquire the reputation of a\ndefender of the faith. It is sufficient to exchange glances with\na woman covered with a veil to be severely punished. Religion\nenjoins that the man be hanged, but the woman is buried up\nto her waist, near the gallows, and stoned to death. But, as\nthere are no stones in Khiva, they use hard balls of mud. At\nthe third stroke, the wretched victim is covered with dust, and\nher mutilated corpse is horribly treated. Such scenes as these\nare inconceivable to us, brought up in the midst of the order\nand security of civilised Europe; but it must be remembered,\nas some slight palliation for the conduct of the Khivese, that\nthe victims of the wholesale executions are generally wild beasts\nin human shape, and have no more scruples regarding life and\nproperty than the tiger wandering in the jungles.of Bengal.\nMany of us have seen, amongst the pictures by M. Vere-\nshagin, on Central Asian subjects, at the Crystal Palace, the\ncelebrated one representing the tribute of heads. It now\nappears that there is a regulated reward for this inhuman chase;\nrobes of honour, rising proportionately in value, are set apart\nfor the collector of four, twelve, twenty, and forty neads; in the\nsame manner that, in the time of our Saxon kings, a reward was\nset upon the head of every wolf slain, and that at the present\ntime a price is set upon the heads of tigers in British India.\nIt is a little astonishing to hear, after this, that the Khivese\nare, from the Khan to the beggar, zealous in the cause of education. There are several colleges in Khiva, the finest of\nwhich is that of Medemin Khan; a two-storeyed building,\nbuilt in 1842, by a Persian architect It contains 130 cells,\nand accommodates 260 students. It is supported by general\nsubscriptions, and the proceeds of certain landed property set\napart for its support.\nCrushed by a grinding depotism, it is not astonishing that\nthe people should be remarkable for their gross ignorance and\nlimited wants. In domestic life their poverty is of the most\nsqualid description. Their abodes are rickety huts, made of\nclay, whose sole furniture consists of felt among the poor, and\ncarpets spread on the bare ground among the rich ; also a few\nboxes, in which wearing apparel is kept Their food is of the\nsimplest and most modest description; it consists of roast\nwheaten cakes and a decoction of some grain, such as peas\nbeetroot, &c. Pillau is only used by the wealthy. They use\nthe oil of the sesamum to light their houses.\nThey display great ingenuity in the cultivation and irrigation of their gardens. These are dug out to a level below that\nof the canals which surround them; instead of manure, they\nuse small heaps of earth, taken from around then-dwellings \u2022\nthis ls sometimes enriched by dry grass, cinders, or the clay\nfrom ruined habitations mixed with straw.\nAs may be imagined, this sort of manure is not so fertilising\nas guano, but, nevertheless, it is spread over the fields and\nproduces good results. The water is then allowed to flow till\nit covers the garden to the depth of several inches; when this\nhas subsided and the surface of the ground, though still retaining some degree of moisture, has ceased to be muddy the\ngarden is carefully dug up; the seed is then placed in the\nground, and a second flood is directed on to its surface The\nnumber of irrigations requisite is determined by the weather\nand the nature of the crop; wheat, rice, barley\/millet, lentil\nand peas, are among the cereals cultivated in the Khanate\nAmong the luxuries of the fruit garden, the melon' has\nacquired a world-wide fame in Khiva, and it is' said that Suva\"\nmelons are sent yearly to the Emperor of China amongst the\npresents sent to him from Chinese Tartary. Apricots, plums,\ngrapes, peaches, apples, quinces, and pomegranates are cultivated with much success ; also the Jidda, a sort of berry which,\nwhen dried, is used with flour in confectionery.\nThe Khivese almost always have gardens round their\nhouses, as they are very profitable on account of the profusion\nof fruit; they are surrounded by a high clay wall, and are\ngenerally of an oblong shape; a reservoir is usually to be seen\nin the centre, filled from the neighbouring canal, and from it\nradiate, in all directions, little streams of water for the supply\nof the various beds in the garden. Add to this, rows of lofty\npoplars bordering the walls and shading the reservoir, and we\nhave a picture of a garden in Khiva\nCattle breeding does not thrive, owing to the want of pasture. In the settled part of the Khanate they rear rams, homed\ncattle, camels, asses, ahd horses.\nManufacturing industry is much less developed here than\nin the rest of Central Asia; it cannot even supply the extremely\nlimited wants of its inhabitants. They manufacture articles of\nsilk and cotton for wearing apparel, but there is scarcely any\nmanufacture of metallic wares, and the Khivan, careless of the\nvalue of his time, will travel twenty miles to market in order\nto barter a few needles for some other trifles. In the markets\nof Khiva the 'Turcomans also procure their corn in exchange\nfor Persian prisoners, who are treated by the natives with great\nrigour and cruelty. Travellers declare that any Khivan will take\na bribe to assist a slave to procure his liberty, but will assuredly\nlay in wait for him in some quiet spot as he is effecting his\nescape, and shoot him with as little compunction as he would\na dog; of course having previously pocketed the ransom.\nRussia annually exports to Khiva goods to the value of\n2,000,000 roubles, consisting chiefly of cloths and cotton goods,\nwhilst Khiva exports to Russia the yearly value of 1,000,000\nroubles, half of which represents raw cotton.\nCommunication is carried on by horsemen, who, when important intelligence is to be disseminated, sometimes ride as\nmuch as eighty miles a day; goods are transported on bullocks\nor camels, and these animals compose the vast caravans which\ntraverse the deserts separating the oasis from the Russian settlements on the Ural and the Sir..\nAlmost all the towns are surrounded by mud walls, though\nthese are so rickety that they could offer no sort of defence worthy\nof the name. The environs of the towns consist of cultivated\nfields ; here and there stand detached houses ; silver streams of\nwater meander in all directions; whilst long rows of poplars,\nsuch as we see in the south of France, complete the picture.\nThe houses are all constructed on one plan ; the materials\nused being posts made of willow-bushes, and clay, which is\nmixed with straw, to give it greater tenacity and durability\nAH houses are surrounded by square mud walls enclosing a\ngarden, in the centre of which is generally found a tank of water\nThe dwelling is so constructed that a corridor runs to the\nentrance dividing the house into two squares, which are again\nsub-divided into smaller squares by mud walls, along which\nare constructed the various apartments. These are built in a\nsingle storey, and are flat roofed, with trellis windows and carved\nwooden doors. Along the upper storey runs a closed gallery for\nthe convenience of the ladies of the harem. Each courtyard\nhas generally its own tank and garden, filled with willows and\nfestooned with vines. A TRIP TO  LIVONIA AND  BACK.\n65\nA   Trip to Livonia and Back.\u2014\/.\nBY  MRS.   M.   G.   HOGG  GARDEN.\nUnless the reader is much better informed than I was, lie\nwill probably have no idea where Livonia is, and may very\nnaturally inquire. Had any one asked me the question six\nmonths ago, I think I should have hazarded the reply, \" In\nthere\u2014never supposing, however, that 1 was meant to accompany him\u2014I assented, grumbling not a little at the prospect\nof being left so long. But by-and-by, when informed that\nI too was to go, the case assumed a very different aspect.    It\n\u00ab5\nLETTISH FARMHOUSE.\nGreece.\" But as geography has at no time been my strong\npoint, it is to be hoped there are few so ignorant. But for the\nfew I beg leave to explain that, so far from being in Greece,\nLivonia is in Russia, and is one of the Baltic Provinces.\nIt is in Russia certainly, and yet it is scarcely Russian.\nThe people are still called Lettish, have not become Rus-\nsianised, and are distinct in race, language, and religion, from\ntheir conquerors. How long the provinces along the Gulf\nof Riga and the east coast of the Baltic have belonged to\nRussia, I do not know; probably a hundred years or so, at\nwhich date they were taken from Sweden, to which kingdom\nthey had long appertained.\nRussia ! It sounded so charmingly far off, and almost barbarian, that I quite relished the idea of a trip to the Baltic.\nWhen my husband first proposed to me the subject of his going\n249.\u2014vol. vi.\nwas all right, and upon very short notice, we packed up our\ntraps, and set off.\nThis was on the 12th of April, 1873, and on the morning\nof the 16th we found ourselves in Hull, en route for Riga.\nHaving secured passages in the Columbine, bound for Hamburg, we went on board towards dusk, with all our baggage.\nWell, the first thing we heard then was, that the Columbine\nwas not nearly loaded, and could not by any possibility sail till\nnext morning. This was comforting, as my husband was\nbound to present himself in Riga on the 21st, and we had\nalready missed the steamer from Leith by a few hours only.\nBut as I What cannot be cured must be endured,\" there was\nno help for it. It was, moreover, not a little provoking to be\ndeprived of a night's rest, which we might have had at the\nStation Hotel.\nAm\u2014\nM 66\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nOf course, there was the option of returning thither, and\nrising at four or five in the morning in order to be on board\nagain in time to catch the tide ; but, too much tired out to undertake any new move, I resolved to remain on board, and take\nwhat sleep chance would allow.    Notwithstanding an incessant\nnoise, or succession of noises, I slept, if not soundly, at least a\ngreat deal, so that quantity made up in some degree for quality.\nDuring the night I was the subject of a strange optical\ndelusion, which, in the days of ghosts, might have passed for\na veritable apparition.    Before going to rest, I had been told\nthat three other ladies were to share the cabin with myself,\nand that they might be expected on board any time during the\nnight.    The stewardess, among whose duties not the least important seemed to be the one of taking rest, had undressed,\nand reclined on the cabin sofa opposite my berth.     At my\nrequest, the cabin door was left open.    About four, just as the\nfirst streaks of dawn began to stream in through the windows,\nI was roused by a noise on deck, and my vivid fancy at once\ndecided that this must be the arrival of the young lady\nwho was to occupy the berth over mine.     It was not the least\nsurprising, therefore, to  observe a young person ina white hat\nwith a dark ribbon and a white neck-scarf, in the cabin, and\nlooking inquiringly first at the stewardess and then at myself,\nas if to ascertain which, if either of us, was sufficiently awake\nto receive her.    The stewardess was sleeping\u2014the sleep of the\njust, let us hope\u2014and so sure was I that this was my fellow-\npassenger to be, that the words were formed on my tongue to\nask if she wished the stewardess, when it occurred to me that\nthis was a strangely still young person, to stand there in the\ndead of night without making her presence known by either\nword or deed.    I did not speak, but lay watching her movements to see what she would do next, with a sort of undefined\ndread creeping over me, that, after all, this was not a young\nwoman in a white neck-scarf, but some voiceless being out\nof the night's silences who had come to mock me in the dawn.\nI was not  superstitious  enough to be afraid,  but just\nsufficiently so to   feel uncomfortable,  under the  continued\nfurtive glances of this visitant.    So unpleasant was it, that I\ndrew the bed-clothes over my head, convinced that when I\nlooked again, she would surely have disappeared.    Not so,\nhowever.     When I looked again,  she was  still there,  and\nmore clearly defined than before, so that now I could even\ndiscern her features.     But still she was silent.     \" Strange\nbeing!\" thought I, \" whoever you are, I wish you would either\nspeak or go away.\"     It was horrible.    But I now became\nconvinced that it was caused by the light streaming from the\nbull's-eye window, along with the gentle movement of a little\ncurtain.   Though how such an appearance should have been\nproduced by these simple causes, I am unable to say.    Only as\ndaylight grew stronger, my young friend disappeared.    But the\nimpression which it left on my mind was most distinct, and\nshows how people may see ghosts when no ghosts are'present\nThe impression only wore off when the true young lady made\nher appearance, and proved to be unlike the other, and to\nwear a black hat, and no white neck-scarf.\nAt breakfast next morning, as we sailed down the Humber,\nwe had quite a large muster of passengers. We were all there,\nwith the exception of a stout man in a very short coat, with his,\nwife and daughter, who, on the maxim of being prepared\nbeforehand, determined to remain on deck.\nWe had a naturalised New Yorker returning to Germany,\nhis native land, only a slight foreign accent betraying that he\nwas not an Englishman. He was far more of an American\nthan a German, his sympathies being clearly all in favour of\n\" the greatest country in the world.\" Then we had a young\nEnglishwoman, whose slightly foreign accent belied her English\nname, who was going home to Germany; a flaccid-looking\nEnglish youth going to school at Lubeck, and a smart young\nManchester man, who spoke of the \" kuptun,\" who, with his\nbrother, and another, completed the party.\nWe were at this time sailing quietly down the Humber,\nand were all resolved to put a bold front on it, and eat a good\nbreakfast. Then we sat mildly up on deck, looking at the\ntwo flat uninteresting banks of the river, till on passing Spurn\nHead Lighthouse, the \"kuptun\" announced that we were\nfairly at sea: a fact which too soon we learned by nauseous\ninternal indications. There was no mistake. We were, notwithstanding our good resolutions, to experience all the horrors\nof sea-sickness.\nTrying to look brave, and feeling very much the contrary,\nI remained on deck for the lengthened space of nearly ten\nminutes, and then fled precipitately to the cabin, just in time\nto save my reputation.\nOh ! the horrors of that day. Let me draw a veil over its\nmemory.\nOf all the gallant band who met that morning at breakfast,\nthe \" kuptun\" had only one companion at meals during the\nrest of the passage (and that was the New York German) until\nSaturday at dinner, when we were in the Elbe, and once more\nin smooth waters.\nThis good ship of ours, the Columbine, was deck-loaded by\nthe head with huge, cumbrous threshing and other agricultural\nmachines, some of them destined for the Vienna Exhibition\nabout to be opened; and what with the heavy deck-load and a\nhead wind, the passage was a very long one, extending to sixty\nhours instead of the specified time of forty-eight We were,\ntherefore, twelve hours late, and the sun was getting low as we\nsteamed up the Elbe.\nIn one respect the delay proved to our advantage, as it\nafforded us. an opportunity of seeing the sun sink gloriously\nin the river, a prettier sight than which I have seldom seen\u2014\nilluminating, as it set, as with a million of golden lamps, the\nhouses on either side of the river.\nThe Hanoverian side is flat and bare, with nothing to break\nthe monotonous level but the everlasting windmills, which\nform so prominent a feature in every German landscape. The\nHolstein side is more interesting, and as we neared Hamburg,\nbecame even attractive, with its green-wooded cliffs and pretty\nvillas, forerunners of the wealthy town a few miles further on.\nBlankenese, composed of a crowd of handsome summer\nresidences, is succeeded by Altona, a place of the same kind,\nless modern, and probably less fashionable, than the former.\nThe latter is now part of Hamburg, although it had at one\ntime been only a suburb.\nIt was about 8 p.m. when we reached the Kaiser's Quay.\nAlthough that meant only 7.20 at Greenwich, it was already\nalmost dark.\nArrived at the Kaiser's Quay, we began for the first time to\nexperience the inconvenience arising from our defective education. We could not talk German; and.as most of the other passengers could do so, and as, upon the same principle as that\non which the longest postmen get the shortest coats, we had\nL A TRIP TO  LIVONIA AND  BACK.\n67\nmore luggage than the others, and were, therefore, left to\nstruggle in single combat with tragers. Several of these functionaries came on board the moment the Columbine touched\nthe quay, offering assistance.\nThe main object of our existence, at that moment, was to\nI call a coach or let a coach be called.\" But this, it seemed,\nwas a task far from easy to fulfil. Tragers, it is true, undertook\nto bring any number of cabs ; but then, as it turned out, there\nwas only a very limited number to call from. The steward\nundertook to manage the tragers, and to speak German to\nthem. His efforts in this direction consisted principally in the\noracular utterance of \"was kostet,\" and in talking English\nvery loudly, and slightly broken, not with German, but with\ntranspositions. It sounded wonderfully like the thing; and it\nwas at least three weeks before my husband awoke to the fact\nthat the obliging little steward had all the while been speaking\nEnglish. Not very much was effected by it, however ; and, to\nadd to our misfortunes, a great dispute arose regarding the\nright of way between half-a-dozen tragers, who abused each other\nas street porters in all lands do.\nIn the midst of these difficulties it was fast growing dark,\nand cabs, to all appearance, seemed unobtainable. However,\nwe at last succeeded in getting our luggage taken on shore; and\nwhen we reached the stand, it was to find the last cab driving\noff with some of our more fortunate fellow-passengers. There\nwas another cab, it is true, but minus a horse. We were' told\nthat one was immediately to be put in; so in the meantime I\nsat down on my trunk to wait the result.\nIt was not long in deciding itself. The steed destined for\nour conveyance to Streit's Hotel was brought out in the midst\nof much noisy declamation from several persons. The first\nthing which happened was the horse taking the staggers, and\nrolling down within a few feet of me and my goods.\nThe case was becoming desperate. It was dark,- and, as\nfar as I could -judge, we were sitting on the lines of a railway.\nThe steward at this juncture authoritatively announced that\nI the gentleman goes not with this horse.\" Even had we felt\ndisposed to make so wild an attempt, it was not possible, as the\npoor animal was in a fit, and was at that moment being held down\nby three or four men. At length the tragers proposed what\nI suppose they had intended to propose all the time\u2014that they\nshould take the luggage on a wheelbarrow\u2014and to this I gladly\nassented, although the distance was not less than a mile and a\nhalf. We have all heard of that fabulous position, \" sitting on\na mine of gunpowder,\" and I was much in the same position,\nsitting, as I believed then, on the lines of a railway, where, at\nany moment, I expected to see a train put me and my trunks to\nflight. Whether this was the case or not I have never ascertained ; but this I do know\u2014that trains seem to traverse the\nstreets of Hamburg at will, and why not on the Kaiser's\nQuay?\nKeeping the tragers well in view, we walked through the\ntown till we reached Streit's Hotel, in a very travel-stained\nand way-worn condition indeed. I may say that I went\nalone through the streets of Hamburg in the dark, as my\nfirst introduction to the Continent. For, although I started\nwith my husband, he soon left me far behind, wisely\nthinking that if he lost the luggage he-might never see it\nagain, but that I, having a Scotch tongue in my head, would\nnot lose myself, even in a foreign city. So, sometimes running,\nand sometimes loitering, but never venturing more than a\ncursory glance at the many attractions by the way, I toiled on.\nWhat'the people at Streit's may have thought of my dishevelled\nappearance I do not know; but this I know, that the comforts\nof that unexceptionable house proved in the highest degree\nacceptable after the disagreeables we had encountered.\nSunday, April 20th.\u2014\"Here no Sabbath bell awakes the\nSabbath morn.\" As we only arrived in Hamburg late last\nevening, all the novelty of a foreign city has unfortunately\nburst on me on the Sabbath, a fact which very much interferes with the proper observance of that day. In so far as the\nSabbath is to be regarded as a day of rest, Hamburg is without\none. There seems little, if ariy, cessation from labour here;\nwhile the work of pleasure goes on at accelerated speed. How\nvery strange it seems to one accustomed to a quiet Scotch\nSunday, to observe the various contrivances for misspending the\nday of rest which people have recourse to. I was awakened\nby the vigorous practising on a piano near at hand, which has\nbeen resumed at intervals during the day.\nThere is a beautiful sheet of water in front of our window,\nthe \" Binnen \" Alster, divided from the \" Grosse \" Alster by an\nembankment, over which passes a line of railway. Here\npleasure-boats of every description ply unceasingly. Trains,\nomnibuses\u2014some of them three-storeyed\u2014carriages, market-\ncarts, butchers', bakers', and greengrocers' boys are constantly\non the move; .everything, in fact, going on as briskly as\nusual. Churchgoers are few, and those few seem principally\nwomen and children. The entire scene is so ungodly that it\nmakes one wonder how a late celebrated Scottish divine, and\nmany living, though not distinguished, divines, should have\nlent their aid to convert our Scotch Sunday into a Continental\none in even the smallest degree.\nAfter breakfasting at 10 a.m. on omelette and excellent\ncoffee, such as one gets only on the Continent, we made\nour way to the English church. The service was decidedly\n\"low,\" the sermon evangelical, and the congregation small.\nReturned by* way of the Ber den Hutten, passing many\npretty parks, and what we took to be the Botanical Gardens,\nand found our way home by the Ganse Market, where there\nwere no geese, but where we found all the shops open; many\nare closed until 11 am., that being the hour when divine\nservice closes.\nDined at the table d'hote, where there was a large party and\na very good dinner. Some of the dishes were peculiar, but\nseemed to be much relished by the other diners, although our\nEnglish palate refused raw salmon, with cauliflower and white\nsauce. In the evening saw much of the town, which pleased\nus greatly. The new part is so clean, and the houses so\nelegant, while the quaint old buildings of the more ancient part\nare delightful. Observed only one or two intoxicated persons.\nThey looked like sailors, and were most likely English. Could\nnot find any of the churches open, but saw crowds flocking to\nthe theatre.\nA strange problem suggested itself to my mind. . Which is\nto be preferred ? Sabbath-breaking and sobriety, or church-\ngoing and intemperance ? The only answer I could find was\nthat both are so bad, it is impossible to choose between\nthem.\nApril 21st\u2014Passed a sleepless night, the traffic having\ncontinued all night almost without intermission, and rose at\n6 a.m. We started by rail for Berlin at 7.45. The weather\nwhich yesterday was cold, clear, and blowy, was to-day like 68\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nttai!\nmidsummer; the heat continued to become more oppressive\n' all the way to Berlin, so that when I arrived at the city of the\nlindens I was melting, and had long before followed the example of the old servitor recorded by Dean Ramsay, and \"cast\nmy coat,\" and became doubtful how long I might be able to\n\"thole\" the rest of my attire.\nThe country all the way was bare and flat, but in good\ncultivation, with scarcely anything to interrupt the unvarying\nmonotony, but a frequent recurrence of windmills with their\nhuge wings. Observed that vegetation was much \"further\nadvanced than at home.\nReached Berlin about four o'clock. After a good deal of\ngesticulation and general misapprehension by all parties, succeeded in collecting our luggage, which consisted of fiinf\ngepdcke. Went in an omnibus with a\npair of the worst horses ever put in\nharness to the Ost Bahnhof. As this\nstation is at the other side of the town\nfrom that at which we entered- Berlin,\nwe had an opportunity of seeing a\nlarge portion of the imperial city as\nwe bumped and tumbled along in the\nomnibus. The streets are rough, narrow, and badly paved, and altogether\nthe aspect of the town was not inviting, although there are many handsome buildings. Of course there are\nsoldiers everywhere, and barracks very\nfrequently, and a general military air\npervades the place.\nWe now began to realise to the\nfull the inconvenience of coining to a\ncountry where we did not know the\nlanguage. My French was nowhere,\nwhile my scant stock of German\nwords was of little use, as I did not\nrecognise them when spoken in the\nquick guttural tones of a Berlin porter,\nand English seemed of no use.\nHaving to pass several hours here,\nwe were much at a loss how to dispose of the numerous travelling companions, without which\nwe could not move, including a bonnet-box\u2014which I many\ntimes wished at the bottom of the North Sea\u2014bags, rugs,\na walking-stick, and two umbrellas. The fiinf gepdcke\nbeing always cared for by the railway people, we had no uneasiness regarding them. But the kleine gepdcke were a sad\nDother. In Prussia there are none of those ladies' waiting-\nrooms which in England are such a useful institution. The\nWarte Saal, so called, is in general a first-class restaurant,\nwhere, of course, one may sit as long as one desires, by\ngoing on ordering repeated pints of beer, veal cutlets, or cups\nof coffee. But what we recognise as a waiting-room is not\nknown there.\nNeither is there anywhere a \" left luggage-room,\" of which\ntravellers at home all know the convenience. No one had an\nidea what was wanted when in my best German I asked for\nsuch a place. So away we went following Trager No. n\ncarrying the kleine gepdcke to the waiting-roorn. Here we\nfound a waiter who knew a very little English, and with the\naid of his little English and my little German, we at length\nTEASANT WOMAN  OF LIVONIA.\ncommitted the kleine 'gepdcke to the entire care of Trager\nNo. ii till 10.30. This is the proper and only thing to do, it\nseems; but as we did not receive any ticket or any pledge that\nwe should recover them, it was not without fear and trembling\nthat we saw them borne off in triumph by No. 11.\nWater is at a discount, and, along with soap, is a luxury to\nbe had only by paying for it Having washed our hands, for\nwhich four silbergroschen apiece was charged, and dined, we\nsallied forth to see the town. We drove to the Unter dan\nLinden, the quarter where the imperial Schloss and other grand\nedifices are. And certainly they are very fine buildings, and so\nmany standing side by side, that they give an idea of great\nmagnificence.\nJust on alighting at the bridge, we discovered that something\nmore than common was going on;\ncrowds having gathered on the pavements. One after another splendid\nequipages drove past filled with splendidly-dressed ladies and gentlemen, all\nin feathers and diamonds. We discovered it was the Opera-house, an\nimmense building, and these were\nroyal and other great personages,\nmany of them, no doubt, conquerors\nand diplomatists going to the play.\nI looked hard for Bismarck, but could\nnot see anyone at all resembling\nthe grim-featured statesman of the\nEmperor William. The occupants of\none of the carriages were greeted with\nloud and prolonged cheers. We\ncaught a glance of a tall young man,\nand were informed that it was the\nKron Prinz, whose recent illness may\nhave rendered him especially interesting to his future subjects.\nThe Schloss is an immense and\nfine building, in no way separated\nfrom the street. Jndeed, a free passage is open to all right through the\nquadrangle. Notwithstanding the\nmilitary character of the Prussian rule, there is less of seclusion\nin the royal homes than generally belongs to the residences\nof kings. The Emperor of Germany lives, indeed, in the\nmidst of his people. We walked through the palace quadrangle, and drank from a fountain we found close by what\nseemed a \" back door.\" Whatever other good properties this\nwell may have possessed, I must say the water was extremely\nbad, the worst I almost ever tasted. That the imperial city,\nwith its magnificent structures, its statues of victory, and far-\nfamed avenues, is badly drained, our olfactory nerves afforded\nus too evident proof.\nWith the aid of a lady whom I by chance discovered to\nspeak English, we succeeded in collecting all our gepdcke,\nfiinf and kleine, although it proved no easy matter to catch\nTrager No. 11.\nLeft Berlin at 11.5 p.m., and reached Konigsberg next\nday at 12.30. There was nothing worth seeing during the\njourney, much of which was necessarily performed in the dark.\nWe saw nothing but an unbroken stretch of bare-looking flat\nland   for miles on  either side.    Caught just  one moment's A TRIP TO  LIVONIA  AND  BACK.\n69\nglimpse of the Baltic as we approached  Kdnigsberg.    Met\nthe Herr W . and. his son at the station there, and departed\nagain at 12.59. Konigsberg seems strongly fortified, but is\nwithout interest. As we proceeded, the country continued to become every mile more unattractive. The nearer we approached\nto Russia, the evidences of civilisation receded, while those\nof a severer climate increased. The carriages we saw at the\nstations were no longer entitled to the name. The poorest\ncadger's cart in Scotland was infinitely superior to these wretched\ndirty boxes without springs, with rope reins, straight shafts, and\nwith the horse or horses harnessed almost at the end of them,\nless, population scantier, the traps worse, the- people dirtier,\nand advancement altogether at a discount.\nThe railway-stations are particularly good externally, and\nare all built after one pattern\u2014a castellated one. Looking\nso picturesque outside, one is disappointed to find them so\ndeficient in the comforts and conveniences one is used to.\nThey are, however, generally supplied with good refreshment\nrooms, where tea, coffee, and other things can always be had\ngood and cheap. I had not fortitude, however, to try anything but the two former, my nerves being affected by the\npervading scent of raw ham, garlic, and other delicacies.\ni\nRUSSIAN RAILWAY STATION.\nso that they seemed quite a distinct article, and to have no\nconnection with the machine behind. The driver in almost\nevery case looked like a not very clean but very ragged beggar.\nHe brandishes a great whip, and cries \" Hur-r !\" in the wildest\nmanner, but deposits his fare safely, notwithstanding our worst\nanticipations to the contrary. Many of them looked like\nprivate conveyances, and their freight consisted of ladies and\ngentlemen, but yet my representation is no exaggeration.\nWe were now coming into the region of long greatcoats.\nThe men working in the fields wore them down to their heels,\nand looked vastly eccentric ploughing mounted on horseback,\nor with two or three yoke of oxen; planting potatoes or sowing\ngrain, it was all the same, in all cases, they wore the long\ngrey coat.\nAs we neared the frontiers of Russia, cultivation became\nWe reached the Russian frontier about four o'clock. As\nthe train stopped here, for some strange reason, twenty minutes,\nwe alighted, and partook of coffee. We were now fairly in\nRussia. Five minutes after leaving Eydkuhnen, we stopped\nagain at what turned out to be Wirballen. My husband, who\nlived in a state of chronic mystification as to the hours of\narrival and departure of the train\u2014a frame of mind which the\nfrequent study of\" Bradshaw's Foreign Guide \" seemed rather to\nincrease than diminish\u2014was, at this time, under the impression\nthat Wirballen was two hours' distant from Eydkuhnen; and\nwas, I believe, preparing himself for a comfortable nap, when\nthe sudden pulling up of the train put so agreeable an intention to flight A dozen or so of functionaries, in white aprons\nand bibs, besieging the door of each carriage, showed us that\nsurely the tug of war had now come,    The dreaded soil house 7o\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nI\nliif\nhad been reached at last. I had had the fear of this miserable\nnecessity before my eyes ever since leaving home, and now it\nhad come quite unexpectedly. At Hamburg, with the exception\nof being made to open a small hand-bag, containing a pair of\nold red slippers and some ginger-bread, we experienced no difficulty : but in Russia matters assumed a very different aspect.\nA civil service functionary, attended by a military satellite, at\nonce opened the carriage door, uttered the word \" Pass,\"\nadding a good deal of unintelligible lingo which may have\nbeen Russ, and probably was German, but quite unintelligible\nto us. We tried him with the tickets. Well! he took them,\nlooked at them, and then returning them, said once more the\nword \" Pass.\"\nThe circumstance of a passport being in our possession, or\never being demanded, seemed entirely to have escaped our\nmemory; but, by a sudden inspiration, my husband discovered\nall at once what was wanted, and, hunting out the passport\nfrom a mass of other papers, presented it The functionary\nhaving got this, appeared satisfied, and carried off. all our\nkleine gepackt, from the bonnet-box down to the two umbrellas and a walking-stick. Still very much at sea as to the\nnext move, we dolefully followed our belongings. These were\ncarried into a large hall with a kind of counter all round,\nenclosing a sort of inner court. Here, the presiding genius, in\nthe shape of a Russian official, a gentleman-like person in\na civil uniform, walked about, carrying a bundle of passports.\nThe kleine gepdcke having been deposited on the counter, we\nstationed ourselves as guards over them. We kept constantly\nrepeating, \" Ja! Fiinf gepacke,\" and fingered a bunch of keys\nin order to evince our perfect willingness to have everything\nwe possessed examined. Also, we and various functionaries\ngesticulated freely. Presently, the presiding genius advanced,\nand made a remark, when we again ariswered \" Ja!\" and\nI Fiinf gepacke.\" I had recourse also to my favourite query\n\"Sprechen Sie English?\"\nI Nein.    Parlez-vous Frangais ? \"\n\"Nein.\"\nHe then shrugged his shoulders, and retired with a hopeless air. We shrugged ours, and looked after him with an air\nequally hopeless.\nAt this juncture, a Russian gentleman, seeing the awkward\nand somewhat ludicrous posture of affairs, came, with excellent\nEnglish, to our relief. What the actual result, but for his timely\nintervention, might have been, it is difficult to conjecture as\nthey are very strict, and refuse to let anyone pass without\nshowing their luggage. Soon after, we were beckoned to the\nother side, where the fiinf gepdcke were ranged. These were\nall opened, one after another, very superficially examined and\nour keys returned. It was really rather humiliating to see\na one's things-one's best bib and tucker-displayed before\nall the passengers. We have the comfort, however, of knowing that each one is so engrossed by Iris or her own share\nm the work, that they have neither time nor inclination to\nconcern themselves with the things of other people. Having\nno contraband goods, we, of course, got back our pass, paid\nseveral silver pieces, and were given to understand we were\nnow at liberty to proceed into the Russian Emperor's dominions.\nAt Wirballen  we saw many Russian soldiers.    They are\nvery shabby, and marvellously dirty and mean.    One of them\nof whom I asked a   question,   but who  could not speak\nGerman, actually followed me round the room, asking remuneration\u2014\" backshish.\" Poor fellows, one does not wonder that\nthey should take any opportunity of augmenting their scanty\npay, which, I am told, is only three roubles a year, that is, eight\nshillings 1\nHalf a score of ragged urchins followed us, asking \" backshish.\" Having no other coin, I threw one of them an English\nhalfpenny, which he examined with a mixture of pleasure and\nsurprise, and scampered off to exhibit the rdra avis to his\ncompanions.\nHere, too, we began to see the fur-lined coats. The\npoorest labourer, as well as the richest merchant or landowner, has his pelz. Homely enough some of them certainly are, but yet pelz. Those worn by the poorer classes\nare generally composed of sheepskin with the fleece inwards.\nThey are, doubtless, comfortable wraps for the wearers, whose\ndirty habits are proverbial; but they are the filthiest-looking\ngarments imaginable, and give the wearers less than a human\naspect. The lower class of Russians are extremely dirty, while\nthe higher are refined and highly cultivated. When once a\nlow-class Russian gets on his clothes, he grudges to take\nthem off again, and so tumbles down to sleep in sheepskin\ncoat and leather knee-boots. On Sunday, however, the Russian, who is-generally, when not drunk, very devout, performs\nhis ablutions.\nWe were, when at Wirballen, one hour and forty minutes\nbehind Greenwich time.\nUp to this point, we had travelled with great comfort by the\nsecond class, but had at Hamburg been recommended to take\nfirst-class tickets through Russia. It was really quite an uncalled for piece of extravagance, as the second class in Russia\nis quite as good as the first at home, if less comfortable than\nthat class in Russia\nWe were now first class, and certainly the carriages are\nmost luxurious. They are ten or eleven feet broad, and have\nsleeping-sofas, stoves, and other conveniences, all self-contained\nin one compartment\nThe speed is not forty miles an hour, but the trains jog\nalong very smoothly and pleasantly\u2014if one is not in a great\nhurry\u2014stopping from five to twenty minutes at every station,\nand stations occur very frequently. But when once people get\ninto the frozen regions, they are not in a great hurry, and this\nslow luxurious mode of travelling suited us admirably.\nAt Duneberg'at 6.30 a.m. Here we parted with the\nfriendly Russian, when we changed carriages, and proceeded\nen route for Riga, having made an immense detour since leaving\nKomgsberg, in order to join the St. Petersburg line, from which\nwe now branched off.\nWithout further incident, we reached our destination about\nnoon of the second day since leaving Hamburg. It was the\n23rd of April. Pools and streams were covered with ice and\nthetemperature was extremely cold, although we did not feel\nit inside highly-tempered carriages, heated since quitting\nDuneberg, with hot water, and steaming like a Turkish bath \u00b0\nMen and women, boys and girls, all are muffled up. The\nsmall boys in long pelz-lined coats, and the little girls in long\ndresses, look great oddities, while ladies, old and young, have\ntheir heads tied up in shawls or hoods, and the working -\nwomen, who do not use bonnets, wear shawls on their heads,\nput on so-as to hide much of the face, and entirely cover the\nhead.    It 1S a much more modest attire than the flaunting A TRIP TO LIVONIA AND BACK.\n71\nhead-dresses adopted by the same class at home. The ladies\nin their large muffs, like those of our grandmothers, and\nthe children, boys and girls, in trousers down to their heels,\npresent a curious contrast to the ladies and children in the\nstreets of London or Paris. In fact, everything looks odd,\nbut one quickly becomes accustomed to the oddest sights, and\nwe soon ceased to exclaim, \" Just look !\" \" How absurd !\" &c,\nas we were constantly doing the first few days.\nWe saw Riga on the first day in its worst aspect. It\nwas a grey, bleak, cold, miserable day, and any little beauty\nclaimed by the Livonian capital can be seen only in bright\nweather and sunshine. On that day the sun steadily refused\nto shine; add to this that we had been travelling for sixty-two\nhours, and were dirty, dishevelled, hungry, and thirsty, and\nyou will not wonder, kind reader, if my spirits fell below zero.\nHaving secured the services of Trager No. 9, we committed\nto his care the fiinf gepacke. The British consul having been\nexpected from St. Petersburg by the train, we had the benefit of\nIris carriage to the hotel, the consul having failed to appear.\nThe St Petersburg Hotel, a large, ramblingj dirty old place, is\nsaid to be the best hotel in Riga. There we drove, and at\nonce proceeded to wash, that being decidedly what we stood\nmost in need of at the moment.\nA waiter was found who professed to speak English. We\nordered breakfast, and, much to his surprise, requested that\nit should consist of tea and veal cutlets. The idea of taking\ntea to breakfast seemed something so novel and ridiculous,\nthat I suspect the waiter in question surmised that there\nmust be something materially wrong with the Englander\u2014if\nnot mentally, internally.\nWe left our home in the north of Scotland on the 12th\nof April, and, after eleven days' travelling, found ourselves\nsuddenly projected backwards to the nth. It did strike one\nas odd to find, in this nineteenth century, a great empire still\nmaking use of the Old Style.    But so it is.\nThere is a very large theatre in Riga; indeed, it is by far\nthe most prominent building in the town. One of our fellow-\ntravellers was Miss Minnie Hauck, prima donna from one of\nthe operas in St. Petersburg. A comely, pleasant-looking\nyoung woman, accompanied by a mother, a maid, a little Spitz\nlapdog, and, we were told, a male companion. The latter\nadjunct, if in existence at all, must have possessed the property\nof making himself invisible. Not so the Spitz. This interesting\nlittle being was turned out at almost every station, and by a\nblue ribbon attached to its neck, was marched up and down\nthe platform for a constitutional.\nMademoiselle Hauck has since been electrifying the inhabitants, and the Spitz I saw hale and hearty, promenading\nwith the maid and the blue ribbon.\nMANNERS   AND   CUSTOMS.\nTo an Englishwoman who had never previously been out of\nher own country, this is a prolific theme. It could, however,\nbe briefly stated, by saying that everything here is unlike everything at home.\nMay 2nd.\u2014I have just seen a funeral pass. An hour ago\nwe observed that the middle of the street was strewn with sawdust and sprigs of fir. This, it seems, is always done along\nthe course which a funeral of any distinction is to take. The\nprocession commenced by six or eight-mourners walking two\nabreast j then followed the hearse, drawn by four black horses,\neach covered with a heavy black cloth, deeply fringed, and\nreaching to the horse's feet. The hearse was a low flat car,\nalso covered with black-fringed cloth. Upon it was placed the\ncoffin, or rather sarcophagus, fluted and with a gilded-figure of\nthe Saviour on the cross laid on the top. A wreath of flowers is\nplaced at head and foot, and many bows of broad white satin\nribbon, with long ends streaming, and one or two round gold or\nsilver plates are hung at the back. These plates are afterwards\nlaid on the grave, and record the name, age, and date of death\nof the deceased. The hearse was succeeded by a long train of\ncarriages, many of them empty, some of them containing ladies\ncarrying large bouquets of gaily-coloured flowers, but with no\nmourning on. There might be fifty carriages on this occasion.\nProbably this may not have been an interment, but only the\ncarrying of the body to the dead-house, where it rests till the\ntime of actual burial. Many, however, are taken direct from\nthe house to the grave, while others are left in the house for\nten days or a fortnight. Of course, in winter the dead cannot\nbe interred.\nThere are, we are told, about 15,000 soldiers in Riga, the\nentire population of which is only 150,000. One cannot look for\na minute without seeing some of them in their long, dingy grey\ncoats and great boots; boots, coats, and soldiers being all\nalike dirty. The officers also wear the grey coats, but they are of\na brighter shade, and are decidedly cleaner. Their head-dress\nis a broad flat bonnet with a red cord, while the soldiers wear\na little fez cap. Upon the whole the officers look well, although\nthey want the smart appearance which' generally attaches to\nthat class. The crack regiments never come here, but I\nbelieve they are very-smart, and the officers of the Guards\nhighly cultivated. There are barracks everywhere, but they are\nsaid to be dirty in the extreme, and certainly one is always\ngreeted by an offensive smell when in close proximity to them.\nIn order to augment their small pay, the common soldiers\nare allowed so many days a week or month to hire themselves\nout to work; and it is no uncommon thing to see them working\nat the docks or standing in the market waiting to be hired.\nTheir officers, however, receive a large' portion of their\nearnings, so that the poor fellows are not much richer for\ntheir hard work.\nEvery public office is guarded by the jiolice, who are\narmed, wearing long swords. They know everything, these\npolice, and are especially well informed as to the movements\nof strangers like ourselves.\nDrunkenness is common among the Russians. But as it is\npossible to get drunk for one penny, it is not to be wondered\nat. The intoxicating drink of the lower classes is vodka, a\ncoarse brandy made of rye; that of the higher classes is\nchampagne. When a Russian gets drunk, he never becomes\nquarrelsome, but sings and insists on embracing, probably on\nkissing, his boon companions.\nThe German portion of the community do not get drunk..\nIf they did, probably beer would be the beverage chosen for\nthe purpose.\n\" Bier ist gut,\" says the plethoric German, and probably no\nEnglishman will dispute the point with him.\nTea is extremely fine, also extremely high-priced. It has\nthe advantage of coming overland, and is consequently so pure\nand unadulterated that a very small quantity is required for the\ntea-pot. The Russians drink tea very weak, with lemon or\npreserves, and, of course, no cream, which ruins the flavour. K\ni\nj. i *\u25a0\u25a0\n9s\n7*\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nWe soon got to prefer it to the strong black congou patronised\nby the washerwomen of England. The orthodox tea-pot is j\nsomewhat peculiar in shape, and consists of two parts; the j\nupper contains the tea, which is poured through the small silver i\nstrainer attached to the mouth, while the under contains hot j\nwater, which serves the double purpose of keeping the vessel\nhot and filling up the cups, into which only a small quantity of .\ntea is put.\nOf cooking it is perhaps as well not to speak.    They do\ntheir best, and if that fails to satisfy the fastidious palate of j\nJohn Bull, it is his misfortune, not their fault.  We say, \" They |\ncannot cook,\" and they say, \" We don't know how to;\" and it is\ndifficult to decide the knotty point as to which is right.    But\nwhen one gets a very tough beef-steak sent up less than half- |\ncooked, and floating in oiled butter; and when salmon trout are\nboiled with cloves or caraway-seeds, and has for sauce what looks I\nlike pink cream and vinegar, we do feel\ndisposed to exclaim with the Yankee, \" Do\nyou call this cooking victuals ? \"\nThe heterogeneous mixtures contrived\nby a German cook must be seen and tasted\nto be understood. It looks as if, regardless of results, he seized at random upon\nanything eatable\u2014fish, flesh, fowl or vegetable\u2014and, mixing them all together, calls\nit \"Suppe,\" and exclaims, \" Suppe istgut.\"\nThose blessed Germans for whom he\ncaters are as happy with a potage of potatoes, asparagus, veal and eels, besides a\nfew other integrants, as if it were good\nwholesome food. Such is life, and thus\nvarious are the palates of mankind !\nReligion is at a low ebb here in Riga.\nBeing, however, a free German town, all\nreligions are tolerated. Every man is at\nliberty to worship God according to his\nconscience. If we may judge from appearances, however, conscience seems to\nbe very easily satisfied. It is not fashionable for the upper classes to attend church\n(I speak of the Germans), the lower classes\ndo not, or possibly cannot; so that the few who do so must\nbelong to the middle class. The Greek Church is the established religion, but Lutheranism is in the ascendant. The\nRussians in their own way are a religious people. Here there\nis also an English church, a Jews' synagogue, and a Roman\nCatholic chapel; the last is probably the best attended. The\nPapists have decidedly the better of the Protestants in this\nrespect: that their superstition prescribes as much religion as\npossible, while the purer creed of the Protestant seems to ask,\nI How little will serve? \" and apparently those in Riga seem to\nmake less than the minimum serve them. I am sorry to say\nthat, with a few exceptions, the English are not better than the\nLutherans. The single service on Sabbaths is curtailed as\nmuch as possible. There are many English here, but even this\nsingle service is very badly attended, although the church is\nclose to the harbour, and is a most comfortable little edifice.\nYesterday was Confirmation Sunday in the Lutheran Cathedral. Taking the privilege of strangers, we walked in, but,\nunfortunately, just in time to see the last of the noviciates\nleaving.\nLIVONIAN  PEASANT  BOY\nThe Domkirche is seven hundred years 'old. It is built of\nred stone, with a part of the roof slated, the rest being roofed\nwith red tiles. The interior is lofty, with a double row of large\nunornamented pillars up the entire length of the building,\nwhich is seated like an ordinary parish church at home. The\nwalls and pillars are whitewashed, and are covered with a. thick\ncoating of dust, reminding one of the Words which the poet\nLongfellow puts into the mouth of Lucifer when visiting just\nsuch a church\u2014\n\" Dust on the pulpit, dust on the stajrs,\nDust on the benches, and stalls, and chairs.\nThe pulpit from which such ponderous sermons\nAre thundered down on the brains of the Germans,\nAs if some great Bible, bound in lead,\nHad fallen and knocked them on the head.\"\nThe altar, surmounted by a large painting, and covered with\nblack velvet and rich white lace, bore two\nlarge lighted candles and a gilt figure of\nChrist on the cross. There were some\ncrosses up and down, and a few pictures,\nbut, except for these, it might have been\na Scotch Presbyterian kirk, and reminded\nme not a little of the Old West Kirk'in\nAberdeen.\nIn addition to the actual building now\nknown as the Domkirche, there are many\nother buildings occupying a large space\nall round. These are now ordinary dwelling-houses, but must in the olden time\nhave been ecclesiastical buildings. Underneath -some of them is a series of vaulted\naisles, approached by a flight of steps, and\ndimly lighted by rows of windows looking\nupon an open court. This is called the\nUntergang, and is at all times open.\nLeaving the Domkirche, we -visited St\nPeter's, also an ancient structure\u2014six\nhundred years old, we were told. It is\na large red brick building, in shockingly\nbad order outside,, but in good repair\nwithin. St. Peter's is in better taste than\nthe cathedral, although similar in style. The pulpit is of\nvariegated marble, with a heavy canopy of the same overhead,\nand stands at the side of the middle aisles. A great deal\nof bright blue paint, although at first looking somewhat\ntrumpery as a decoration for a sacred edifice, has rather a\ngood effect in relieving the whitewashing which here, as in the\ncathedral, covers the walls. . There are many coats of arms,\nshields, and gilt memorial plates hanging in this church,\nwhich give a striking .effect to the tout ensemble.\nWe entered too late to hear the liturgy read, the sermon\nbeing in progress when we arrived. The preacher was a thin\nyoung man wearing a black gown and white plaited ruff, like\nthose in which Queen Elizabeth is usually painted. He\nlooked like a quaint old picture. Probably his sermon was\nthe purest of theology, but his manner was dry and cold. '\nNor could one wonder much that it should become so, for in\nall that vast church there were not more than a hundred\nhearers, and those were principally women. Strange people\nkept coming in and going out during the service, which\nlasted only for an hour.    The people looked little interested, NOTES  OF TRAVEL IN THE INTERIOR OF JAPAN.\n73\nand many of them had no books. The congregation kept\ntheir seats during the singing as well as at prayers, the pastor\nalone standing. The organ was good, and the music slow and\nsolemn. I was unable to discern any air, but as all the\nhymns are prose, the music is probably more a cadence than\na tune, and it pleased me very much.\nApril ?,oth (O.S.).\u2014A week ago there was a night's rain,\nand for a few days following we had summer. Now it is\nagain cold; but not such cold as there was before the rain;\nwe have  no stoves heated now, and have had our double\nwindows removed; this latter is, however, premature, as we\nfeel the cold indoors more, owing to the want of them.\nNature underwent an entire resurrection in these few days\nof sunshine. There is no middle course here, and the grass,\nfrom being a sort of dull grey colour, has all at once sprung\ninto the bright verdure of summer\u2014literally of summer, for\nwe lack the delicate tints 01 green which make our early\nspring so peculiarly beautiful. The trees, which one short\nweek ago had neither bud nor blossom, are fast getting into\nleaf, and yet we are everywhere told it is a late season.\nA JAPANESE GIRL PLAYING ON THE KOTO.\nNotes of Travel in the Interior of Japan.\u2014III.\nIt is curious to note how entirely the Chinese and Japanese\ndiffer, and the question may well be asked, Which is to be the\ngreater race in the future, the original or the imitative ?\nBut Yedo is changed indeed. Even the old sign-boards,\nwith their Chinese characters, are being replaced by badly-spelt\nEnglish. At one of the temples in Shiba, as I read the other\nday in the Japan Herald, there is written up : \" No shod man\nwill visit over this point;\" and the following other instances\nof the rage for a display of a little knowledge of our tongue,\nas well as of the device to attract customers, are quoted :\u2014\n1 The worshipping site of all people.\"\n\"The new umbrella, and repair it, and took change its\ncloth.\"\n\" Looking house for foreign newspaper.\"\n| An eating-house providing for the health, the happiness,\nand the pleasure.\"\nPoor Yedo! And talking of this same eastern capital\n250.\u2014vol.-vi.\nmakes me enter a solemn protest at the dreadful barbarism our\nmaps and books and newspapers are generally guilty of, in\nwriting its old name \" Yeddo.\" This mode of spelling could\nnot by any possibility be right; the word is composed of two\nChinese characters, one pronounced ye and signifying water,\nthe other do and signifying door, so that \" Yeddo\" is little better\nthan \"Jeddo,\"as it is sometimes written. Indeed, it sometimes\nhappened that letters addressed to Jeddo made a preliminary\ntrip to Jeddah, and after sojourning in the regions of the Red\nSea, and broiling in the heat there for some time, came gradually\non to Yokohama, with \" Try Jeddo \" written on the envelope.\nBut take another instance. Why should the treaty port in the\nisland of Yezo (not Yesso), be called Hakoda<#? There is\nno character for di in Japanese, and the proper name for the\nnorthern port is Hakodate. Again, the favourite liquor of the\nnatives is sakS, not saki, which is a cape, and you could hardly\nbe expected to pledge your friend in a cup of cape (unless it\nlie\nWBSS Ill\n74\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nwas Cape sherry), and gulp it down. Instances could be\nmultiplied to any extent, but the above are amongst the most\nnotable and popular mistakes of the kind.\nThe Yedo of to-day is very different from that of five or six\nyears ago, though even then it was sadly shorn of its former\nsplendour. I can well recollect my first visit to it in the\nsummer of 1868, when there was hardly a foreigner in the\nwhole space occupied by the city, and when we walked along\nthe streets armed with revolvers, closely followed by native\nguards, and we looked cautiously about us, watching each\nscowling face, and each move of the \"swashbuckler's\" arm as\nwe neared him. I can remember particularly some very\nvillainous-looking fellows, one with an enormously long sword,\nwho looked reckless and shabby, quite ready to rob. a purse\nor cut a throat, more especially if belonging to a \" barbarian.\"\nThen we would meet a proud daimio, issuing with a numerous\nretinue from the enceinte of the Castle, no longer occupied by\nthe \" Tycoon,\" who was already a \" gone coon.\" First would\ncome musicians, after whom a mass of retainers on foot, and\nin their midst two men on horseback, the lord richly attired in\npurple silk, his banner floating in the breeze. That same man\nwill be seen to-day, clad in European clothes, without music or\nfollowing, trotted along the street like any other fellow in a\njinrikislia, which is a sort of large perambulator on two high\nwheels, drawn by a consumptive coolie.\nSome extracts from letters written by me to England at\nthat time may not be without interest to the reader. They\nare in this wise:\u2014\nYedo seems to me charming, from a certain mixture of\ntown and country which pervades it. The city extends for\nmiles and miles round the bay; and as you look at it from the\nwater, you see but little town. In some places the grounds\nof some noble's abode stretch down to the shore, and one's\neyes rest upon green grass and beautiful trees. When you have\nlanded and walk about, there is endless variety. You pace\nalong streets with rows of poor uninteresting hovels, sometimes\nhaving shops of a better aspect\u2014there is one street full of druggists, another mostly occupied by book and picture sellers\u2014\nand then all at once you appear to leave the city, and come\nto what is country; you gaze on fine trees, green grass, and\nextensive grounds; sometimes there are lanes reminding you\nof England, and the houses are few and far between, and then\nagain, after a while, you reach a street full of poor houses,\ncrowded with people, and you are, as it were, in another city.\nThen you pass across a little bridge spanning a canal full of\nboats, after the manner of the sketch on page 77, and so on\nonce more through crowded streets. From the little Japanese\nhouse where I was staying, on an eminence near the entrance\nof the city from the Yokohama side, and not far from the bay,\nwe looked out upon a sea of tiled roofs of various forms,\nspreading out in all directions, and trees and green in profusion blending with them to make up one harmonious whole.\nOne day we went to see a Japanese of noble birth, who\nexpected our visit At the door were retainers, who squatted\non their heels, and bowed low as we approached. We took\noff our boots at the entrance, and then we were conducted\nthrough matted rooms (never any furniture), and along a\ncovered passage out on a porch or verandah which looked\nupon a sort of grotto-garden, and passing by a room where\nthe household\u2014women arid children\u2014were all gathered together, we reached another, where the master received us at\nthe threshold, and bade us welcome. The room was nine feet\nby six. He sat, or rather squatted, on a blanket spread upon\nthe mats; his feet were bare. Before him was his smoking\napparatus, and by his side were rolls of Japanese paper, on\nwhich he was writing\u2014i.e., painting characters with a brush\nfull of Indian ink. He was so civil as to have a chair brought\nfor me, but my companion squatted down upon a cushion with,\nto me, most enviable facility. From time to time during our\ncall, a handmaid, or another female, who I believe was his\nwife, came to the edge of the room, and, kneeling down,\npresented us with little cups of tea, sweetmeats, or fruits, then\nbowed, rose, and disappeared. Anything more primitive I\nnever saw. And so it seemed to be everywhere. In the house\nwhere I was living\u2014a house full of funny little rooms all\nmatted and divided by paper sliding screens\u2014we used to leave\nour shoes on the verandah, and go about in socks or barefooted, and our food was brought in three times a day from a\nJapanese cooking-shop hard by ; but to me, indeed, it was not\nby any means palatable, and I longed for roast beef and\npotatoes.\nIt was some little time after this that I had my first experience of Japanese singing-girls. They play on various\ninstruments. In this instance the samisen, a sort of guitar,\nwas alone used, and it is learnt, seemingly, with as great assiduity\nby all girls as the piano is practised by our English maidens.\nThere is also the koto, the form of which, and the manner of\nplaying upon it, are best exemplified by our engraving.\nThree geisha, as the singing-girls are called, appeared in\nour little house at the appointed time in the evening. One,\nwho was much older than the others, rejoiced in the name of\nthe \"Butterfly;\" then came the \"Dragon,\" taller and with a\nmore oval face, and finally little Daikichi, or \" Fortunata,\" as\nit might perhaps be translated. She was- by far the freshest\nand most attractive of the three. When they came in, they at\nonce squatted down according to their wont, bowed their beads\nto the mats several times, and muttered a few complimentary\nwords of salutation, wholly unintelligible to me. After that,\nthey placed themselves close together in a row, and remained\nperfectly silent, quite a little picture. My friend\u2014lucky\nfellow\u2014was an adept in Japanese chaff, and immediately\nbegan to talk to them in his most engaging manner, asking\ntheir names, and coquetting with them considerably. As soon\nas they found that one of the foreigners could speak their\nlanguage, their tongues were loosened, and they prattled away\nin fine style; but still, every now and then, they seemed a\nlittle awed, a silence ensued, and at last they asked why\nI did not speak: it frightened them and made them ill at\nease. The answer was obvious; I knew but a few words of\nJapanese. Still, they were not perfectly happy. However,\nby degrees, as they found that I did not attempt to eat them,\nand did not behave indecorously or rudely, they took some\nheart, and then asked, whether any more foreigners were\ncoming. On receiving an answer in the negative, they manifested great relief; from that moment the entente cordiale\nwas established, and the evening passed away harmoniously.\nSeveral Japanese were present, and song and posture dance\nsucceeded each other with the usual tokens of satisfaction, and\nwith even a touch of enthusiasm.\nThey were very natural and graceful in their manner, these\nlittle artistes, and they were very curious to examine the different\narticles in a foreigner s house.     They went off into one of our NOTES  OF TRAVEL IN THE INTERIOR  OF JAPAN.\n75\nbedrooms, and dodged about the wash-stand, and then remained in astonishment before the iron bedstead, the first of\nthe kind they had ever seen. Upon this it was suggested that\nthey should get upon the bed, to feel what it was like; and they\nactually did, one after the other, and lay there all in a bunch,\nto our intense amusement and their own. Then they were\neach presented with a cake of brown Windsor soap, with\nwhich they were highly delighted, putting it up to their foreheads and bowing by way of thanks, according to the native\ncustom.\nThe singing, to my ears, was harsh and noisy. Between\nthe songs, cups of sake were freely interchanged, and in the\nmiddle of the entertainment the girls left the room, one at a\ntime, each returning in a different dress, putting on instead of\nwhite skirts, coloured ones; the \" Dragon\" in particular had'\nput on a beautiful brocade-silk girdle, and a figured red petticoat\nI said, for fun, that I should make up to the elderly\nI Butterfly,\" and my companion immediately told them all that\nI was in love with her (may he be forgiven the invention!),\nand this caused much amusement\n\"Honto des ka?\" (really) asked the two others, all in a\nbreath, and very earnestly, bobbing their heads at me.\nI owned the soft impeachment as best I could, and the\n\" Butterfly \" was grateful. She passed the sak'e cup to me at\nleast four times, till I really began to be alarmed, and felt that\nI had been somewhat rash in my avowal.\n\" But do shave your whiskers off to-morrow morning,\"\nsaid little Daikichi, with a bit of expressive and earnest\npantomime, illustrating the operation on her cheek.\n\" Couldn't be done,\" I answered in broken Japanese.\n\" Oh do 1\" More similar pantomime, this time by both\nDaikichi and the \" Dragon.\" You look like Danzo; now do\ncut them off to-morrow, pray do !\"\nIshikawa Danzo, it appeared, was a famous actor in Yedo,\nwho often came on the stage with a beard, and to whom they\nfancied I bore some resemblance.\nThen came questions about Yokohama\u2014what, sort of a\nplace it was, how much they would like to see it, &c. Of\ncourse at that time there was a good deal of curiosity to visit\nthis \"barbarian\" settlement, about which people talked so\nmuch.\n\" But come, now,\" resumed Daikichi (as it was translated\nto me)\u2014this time very earnestly\u2014holding her chin with one\nhand, whilst the other travelled rapidly up and down her fresh\ncheek, \" do cut your whiskers off to-morrow!\"\nA general prayer followed from all to the same effect.\nWhen it was all over, and they were about to depart, I\nintimated to Daikichi that I was going to Yokohama in a day\nor two.\n\" Oh, I don't care,\" she said, almost contemptuously, \"you\nwon't take me there; you're no use.\"\nThereupon all three, together with a little girl who helped\nwith the supper, an old woman who attended upon them, and\nan old man who carried their things, took their leave with\nmany graceful bendings and sweet sayonaras (good-byes), and\n\u25a0the pleasant evening came to a close.\nSometimes at these entertainments there are taikonwchi, or\njesters, as well, and they possess great comic talent. One of\nthem I saw began by imitating all sorts of birds, and whistled\ntnore shrilly than any English boy, putting one or two fingers\ninto his mouth. Then he got upon a stool, and threw himself\ninto a number of comic postures. Afterwards he took four fans,\nopened them, and held one between the big and second toe of\nhis foot; another he fixed on the top of his head, and the\nother two he held in his hands, and forthwith went through a\nseries of rapid and graceful evolutions with the fans, standing\nalmost all the time on the unoccupied leg. But such tricks\nhave, I fancy, been often seen in England. There was a\nsecond taikomochi, who seemed to be very.humorous, but his\nnative jokes were naturally incomprehensible to me. At the\nconclusion of the performance he commenced writing characters with the usual brush on two long strips of paper, placed\nagainst the wall, when all at once he took the brush in his\nmouth, and, with marvellous rapidity and ease, went on\npainting characters as before.\nThere is, in fact, no end to the mummery and buffoonery\nthat goes on in Yedo, even in the streets. The manzai I have\nalready mentioned. There are a number of small boys,\narrayed in queer, clown-like dresses, who tumble about, and\namuse or frighten the children by their contortions ; and there\nare, besides, a number of itinerant musicians, girls whose\npeculiar hats are well shown in the figure to the left of the\nannexed engraving.\nBut all this is not \" Travel in the Interior.\" Let the reader\naccompany my party, starting from Yedo, four or five in number,\nall on horseback, and about to traverse that long alluvial plain\nwhich extends for some sixty miles inland from the capital of\nwhat foreigners were pleased to call the Tycoon; a title, by the\nway, which the Shogun, or general, ought never to have assumed,\neven when it is spelt Tat Kun, \"great prince,\" an epithet of the\nMikado, and simply assumed by the government of the ruler\nof Yedo, to raise their chief in the estimation of the newly-\narrived foreigners.\nBefore we got on our horses or ponies, the baggage had been\ndispatched. We had provided ourselves with much food and\ndrink for the journey. Tinned soups and meats, Wiltshire bacon\nand Oxford sausages, coffee, Chinese tea, and*chocolate, a cheese\nwhich we never could manage to finish, biscuits and jams in\nplenty, and even fidlh de foie gras. Then we had a supply of\nexcellent light claret, and there were a few bottles of sherry,\nbrandy, and vermouth. We had our native guards, of course,\nand somebody to cook, besides a man particularly attached\nto my service, who was always under the delusion that he\nwas teaching me Japanese. He belonged to the Tokugawa\nclan, that of the late Tycoon, and one day he told me that\nwhen the war broke out in 1868, he was fired with much\nardour, and a desire to fight for his lord, and so he spent\nall the little money he possessed in one great junket, and,\njoining the northerners, went forth to battle. He said that he\nwas in three fights; that his side was victorious in the first, and\nso far he thought it great fun : but when they were beaten in\ntwo other engagements, he changed his ideas about soldiering,\nand gave it up, confessing that he was now determined to\ndevote himself to hard study, and especially to that of the\nEnglish language. Heaven knows he had not mastered the\ngrammar of his own, and I should never have thought of\nasking him the meaning of even the nominative case. He\nwas, however, a thoroughly good-natured* fellow, a genuine\nJapanese, always on the giggle, always ready to be amused, and\nI recollect that he was especially delighted with a miserable\npinchbeck watch that he had bought from one of his friends,\nIII (Mi\nmi H&r*t!\no\na\na\nS3\n<\nw\n\u25baJ\nO NOTES  OF TRAVEL IN THE  INTERIOR OF JAPAN.\nHe lived at that time in the wooden house in my compound,\nwhere the priest, my landlord, and his god, had their abode,\nand where he and the priest used to squat down on their poor\ncalves, making themselves more and more deformed every day\nin these lower extremities. Here they ate their rice together,\nand whenever I passed on my way out, with my revolver and\nmy dog, they would bow down their heads to the ground, and,\nno doubt, proceed to talk over the \" barbarian,\" and his queer\ncustoms. What the bald-headed priest did in that shed which\nhad become a temple, I never could make out; he never seemed\n77\nfound in that country. There were tall trees, too, of the\nsame species, making together a dense mass of dark evergreens, and there were pines and firs of many varieties, and\nbamboo, with its light leaves of delicate green, a few paddy\nfields in the neighbourhood of Yedo, then there were fields\nof upland-rice, carrots, turnip-radishes, beans, and many other\nvegetables.\nHeavy rain began to fall as we reached the inn at Warabi.\nEverything looked clean arid comfortable; how should it not\nbe, where there is no furniture\u2014not a carpet\u2014nothing but\ns*\nA CANAL IN THE MERCANTILE  PART OF YEDO.\nparticularly busy; he did say some prayers of a morning after\na bell, which used to awake me, had been tolled vigorously,\nand probably he sometimes buried a corpse in a wooden box\nin the cemetery behind the shed, but that was about all.\nThe provisions and .some of the baggage were carried\non pack-horses, and coolies took charge of our remaining\neffects. It was a fine afternoon in the month of June, when\nour cavalcade started, and we rode joyously some eleven miles\nto Warabi, the first post-station on the Nakasendo, one of the\nprincipal roads from Yedo to Kioto. The air was cool and\npleasant, and after we had left the city we passed through j\ndelicious scenery, reminding one of English country roads,\nonly that there was a greater profusion of many shades of\ngreen. The trimly-cut hedges were often composed of the\nbeautiful evergreen now so well known as the Cryptomeria\nJaponica,  the nearest approach to a cedar which is to be\na number of apartments, the floor of each consisting of clean\nmats ? A table was soon constructed with some of the wooden\nshutters which surround the outer side of the verandah at night,\nand close up the house. The table thus made rested upon\nlarge casks, and smaller casks served us for chairs. After\na substantial supper, we retired early to rest Beds were soon\nimprovised, consisting of Japanese mattresses laid upon the\nmats, and our own pillows and bedclothes. I have already\nrecorded, that on such journeys I always took my own pillow\nand sheets. Over this bed there fell a mosquito curtain,\nsuspended at each corner from a cord, which was fastened to a\nhook nailed into the corresponding corner of the room. Thus\nwe slept, heedless of the little wretches that buzzed outside,\nthough, in the course of our journey, not always, I am bound\nto say, undisturbed by other lively creatures, without wings,\nwhich often sadly infest the mats.\nill 78\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nAn Australian Search Party.\u2014III.\nBY  CHARLES  H.   EDEN.\nb-\nffwiii\nA full-grown \" paddy melon,\" a small and beautiful species\nof kangaroo, bearing the same resemblance to the \" boomer\"\nthat a Cingalese mouse-deer does to an elk, was once given to\nme as a pet, and we became great friends. Whenever I went\ninto the room and opened my shirt or coat, the little fellow\nwould bound in and coil himself snugly away for hours, if permitted ; thus showing, I think, that he still retained a recollection of the snug abode of his clrildliood. Like most pets, he\ncame to an untimely end\u2014in fact, met with the fate that\nultimately befalls all the members of his tribe who are domesticated and allowed to run about the bush huts in Australia.\nThe fireplaces are large recesses in the wall, and on the same\nlevel as the floor. Wood only is burnt, and large heaps of\nglowing ashes accumulate, for the fire never really goes out, by\nnight or day. As long as it is blazing, the pet kangaroo will\nkeep his distance, but when it has sunk down to living coals,\nhis foolish curiosity is sure to impel him, sooner or later, to\njump right into the thick of it; and then\u2014and here his want\nof brains is painfully shown\u2014instead of jumping out again at\nonce, he commences fighting and spurring the burning embers\nwith his hind feet, and, as a natural sequence, is either found\nhalf roasted, or so injured that his death.is inevitable.\nThe uses to which the settler puts this animal are many.\nHe has to take the place of the stag when any hunting is going\non (as the dingo has to act for the fox); and most remarkably\ngood sport an \" old man \" or \" boomer \"\u2014as the full-grown\nmales are called\u2014will afford; and most kangaroo dogs bear\nwitness, by cruel scars, how keen a gash he can inflict with his\nsharp hind claw when brought to bay. From ten to twelve\nmiles is by no means an unusual run, and when thoroughly\nexhausted he makes a stand, either with his back against a\ntree, or in the water. In both of these positions he is no\ndespicable adversary, and will do much damage to a pack of\nhounds, by grasping them in his short fore arms and ripping\nthem open, if on land; or by seizing and holding them under,\nif in the water. Instances are on record of a despairing\nkangaroo dashing through the dogs on the approach of a dismounted hunter, and severely wounding him. The common\npractice when the animal is brought to bay is to ride up and\npistol him. But, however he may be killed, his useful qualities\nhave by no means departed with his breath. His skin, properly\ncured, will make good door-mats, boots, saddle-cloths, stockwhips, gaiters, and numberless other useful articles. His long\nand heavy tail is much valued for the soup it yields; and the\nhams can be cured, and, thus preserved, find many admirers.\nThe hind-quarters of a large \" boomer \" will run little short of\nseventy pounds; and, with the tail, form the only parts commonly eaten by Europeans.\nThe birds that we encountered were of every form and size ;\n'pigeons, some coloured like parrots, others diminutive as\nsparrows, and of the same sombre hue : pheasants, quail, every\nkind of feathered fowl that could gladden the heart of the\nsportsman, were found in abundance, and amongst these the\nscrub turkey and its nest    This latter bird is so little known,\ntiiat i am tempted to give a short account of \\\\,\nThe Australian scrub turkey (Tallegalla Lathami) is\ncommon in all the thick jungles in the north of Queensland,\nand, though smaller than the domestic bird, is sufficiently like\nit to be easily recognised, having the same wattle, and neck\ndenuded of feathers. The most remarkable feature about this\nturkey is its nest, which is composed of sand, leaves, and sticks,\npiled up into a great mound three feet or so in height, and ten\nor more in diameter. This enormous mass is not the unaided\nwork of one pair, but of a whole colony, and the material is got\ntogether by the bird grasping a quantity in its foot, and throwing\nit behind him; the ground in the immediate vicinity of the\nmound is thus entirely stripped of every blade of grass, or fallen\nleaf. In process of time, the heap partially decomposes, and\nwhen the female judges that enough heat has been engendered\nto serve her purpose, she proceeds to lay her eggs. These are\nenormous when compared with the size of the bird, and are not\nsimply deposited and covered over, but buried at a depth of\neighteen or twenty inches, each egg nearly a foot from its\nneighbour, and standing on end, with the larger half uppermost\nThus they remain until hatched, though how the bird manages\nto plant them with such dexterity has, I believe, never been\nascertained; no one yet having been sufficiently lucky to witness\nthe proceeding. Directly the little birds chip the shell, they\nrun about with the greatest agility, and their capture is exceedingly difficult. A nest with freshly-laid eggs is a glorious find,\nfor several dozen are frequently extracted, and are most delicious\neating.\n. The evening was fast approaching, when we camped for the\nnight by the side of a nice clear water-hole in a sequestered\nvalley, and, after bathing and having tea, we tried our luck at\nfishing, for these holes are sometimes full of eels. We prospered,\nand soon had several fine fellows on the bank, from whence\nthey were speedily transferred to the hot ashes, and roasted in\ntheir iritegrity; they were thus spared the skinning, to which, it\nis averred, custom has habituated them. Ferdinand and Cato\nwere collecting firewood for the night, for, in the position we had\nselected, we were not afraid of making a good blaze, and we\nwere sitting and lounging round the fire, conjecturing what had\nbecome of all the blacks, and how soon we should fall in with\nthe other party, when Lizzie\u2014who had. accompanied the\ntroopers\u2014came rushing back, and said :\u2014\n\" One fellow snake been bite 'em Cato ; plenty that fellow\ngo bong (dead) by-and-by, mine believe.\"\nWe all jumped up, and, sure enough, poor Cato came slowly\ntowards us, looking the ashy-grey colour to which fear turns the\nblack, and followed by Ferdinand, who dragged after him a\nlarge black snake, the author of the mischief.\nIf Australia is exempt from wild beasts, the number of\nvenomous reptiles with which it is cursed make it as dangerous\nto the traveller as other tropical countries in which ferocious\nanimals abound. Hardly a tree or a shrub can be found that\ndoes not contain or conceal some stinging abomination. The\nwhole of these are not, of course, deadly, but a tarantula bite, or\na. centipede sting, will cripple a strong man for weeks, while a\nccumbing.    gu^\nfeebl\ne constitution stands a fair chance of su Eft\nAN AUSTRALIAN SEARCH PARTY.\n19\nof all these pests, none can equal the snakes, which not only\nswarm, but seem to have no fear of man, selecting dwellings by\nchoice for an abode. These horrible reptiles are of all sizes,\nfrom the large carpet snake of twenty feet, to the little rock viper\nof scarcely half a dozen inches. The great majority of these\nare vonomous, and are of too many different kinds for me to\nattempt their enumeration here. The most common with us\nwere the brown, black, and whip snakes, and the death-adder,\nall poisonous; and the carpet-snake, harmless. The brown and\nblack snakes run from two to eight feet in length, frequent the\nlong grass, chiefly in the neighbourhood of swamps, and from\nthe snug way in which they coil up, and their disinclination to\nmove, are highly dangerous. The latter is very handsome, the\nback of a brilliant black, and the under portion of a sea-shell\npink. Their skin is sometimes used by bushmen as a cover to\ntheir waistbelts, which are much beautified thereby. The whip-\nsnakes are of all sizes, and of all colours; in fact, under this\nname the colonists include all the slender climbing snakes, so\nmany of which inhabit Australia. In my opinion, these are the\nworst; for they come boldly into your room in search of\nwarmth, and may be found stowed away in a boot, or under\nthe pillow, or in any place where they are least expected. Last\nand worst of our venomous snakes comes the death, or deaf,\nadder, for it is called indiscriminately by both names, and amply\njustifies either prefix. This hideous reptile is very thick and\nstumpy in proportion to its length, which rarely exceeds two\nfeet, whilst its circumference maybe put down at one-fifth of its\ntotal measurement. The tail is terminated by a small curved\nspike, which is commonly regarded as the sting; but though\nwhen touched it doubles up, and strikes with this horn, as well\nas bites, I do not think the tail does any material damage, but\nthis opinion one would find it difficult to make a bushman\ncredit. I once saw a man take a death-adder up\u2014quite unintentionally, you may be sure\u2014between two shingles, and it\nimmediately struck backwards with both head and tail, the two\nextremities luckily meeting above his hand. From the sluggish\nhabits of this reptile, it is popularly accounted deaf, and it seems\nquite unalarmed even by the report of a gun. You may walk\nover it a dozen times, as it lies basking in the sun, usually in\nthe most frequented part of the road, and it will take not the\nslightest notice, but if touched, however gently, it bites at once.\nWhen I first went to Cardwell, I was talking about death-\nadders, and the naive remark made by one of the inhabitants\namused and at the. same time rather terrified me, for the\nperfect knowledge he exhibited of the reptiles showed plainly\nhow common they were there.\n\" Nasty things,\" he said, \"but Lord, they won't hurt you.\nBest not try to get one alive into a bottle, though. I tried\nthat little game on^ with a pickle-jar and a stick, but I couldn't\nget him in, and he doubled up and very nearly bit me; his tail\njust grazed my hand as it was.\"\nI thanked my informant, and assured him from the bottom\nof my heart, that whenever I did try to coax a death-adder into\na bottle, I would benefit by his experience and use the greatest\ncaution.\nThe eye of this snake' is remarkable for its vivid yellow,\ncrossed by a black longitudinal pupil. The colour of the body is\na mixture of dull hues, and the abdomen pinkish; the head\nbroad, thick, flattened, and its tout ensemble hideously repulsive.\nBut I am digressing, and leaving poor Cato still uncared for.\nThe snake, which was a very large one, had been laid hold\nof by the boy in the imperfect light, and had instantly bitten\nhim in the wrist, on which the punctures of the fangs were\nplainly visible. A handkerchief was at once tied round the\nwounded limb, with a small pebble so placed as to compress\nthe brachial artery inside the forearm, and with the iron ramrod\nfrom a carbine as a lever, we screwed this rough tourniquet up\nuntil the circulation was in a great measure cut off. Luckily\nDunmore had a pocket-knife with him, for the sheath-knives we\ncarried were but rude instruments for surgery, and with the\nsmall blade he slashed the bitten part freely, while Lizzie,\napplying her lips to the wound, did her best to draw out the\nsubtle venom. Some of us carried flasks, containing various\nspirits, and the contents of these were at once mixed\u2014brandy,\nrum, hollands, all indiscriminately\u2014in a quart pot, and tossed\noff by the sufferer, without the slightest visible effect. Had the\nspirit taken the smallest hold upon him, we should have felt\nhope, for if a man suffering from snake-bite can be made intoxicated, he is safe. But the poison neutralised the potent draught,\nand poor Cato showed no indication of having swallowed\nanything stronger than water. With the superstition inherent\nin the blacks, he had made up his mind to die, and his broken\nEnglish, as he moaned out, \" Plenty soon this fellow go bong,\"'\nwas painful in the extreme.\n\" It's no use,\" said Dunmore. \" I know these fellows\nbetter than any of you, and Cato will never recover. I had a\nboy down on the Mary River, who was knocked down with\nlow fever. Half a- pennyweight of quinine would have put\nhim to rights, but he had made up his mind to die, and when\nonce they have done that, all the drugs in a doctor's shop\nwon't do them any good.\"\nEverything we could think of was proposed, but speedily\nrejected as useless.\n\" Pour a charge of powder on the wound,\" said Jack Clarke,\n\"and then fire it, that will take the part out clean enough;\"\nbut we agreed that it would be putting the boy to unnecessary\npain, for the poison must be already in the system and beyond\nthe reach of local remedy; and the patient had become drowsy,\nand repeatedly begged to be left alone and allowed to go to\nsleep.\n\" We must walk him about,\" said Dunmore, \" it is the only\nchance, and, painful as it is, I must have it done. Remember,\nI'm responsible for the boy, and no means must be left untried.\"\nI had withdrawn a little from the group, and as I stood\nsome distance off, outside the circle of light thrown by the fire,\nI could not help thinking what a scene for the painter's brush\nwas here presented. The dark outline of the lofty gums looked\nblack and forbidding as funeral plumes, against the leaden\nsky. The rugged range starting up in the rear, cast a threatening gloom over the little valley in which we were encamped,\nand the distant thunder of a falling torrent could, with little\n. effort, be interpreted as a dull voice of warning from the mountain. The fitful glare of the fire, now sinking, now rising as a\nfresh brand was added, threw a ruddy glare over the actors in\nthis strange scene; showing the hopeless face of the poor\npatient, the undemonstrative countenances of his sable com*\npanions, and the anxious air apparent in the white men, more\nparticularly in Dunmore, as he knelt over his follower, and tried\nto inspirit a little hope by dwelling on the chances of recovery.\nThe fantastic dresses, and the wildness of the spot, all combined\nto add a weird aspect to the group; and recalled forcibly to 8o\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nSfft\nFftUHllM.,.,\nthe mind those  scenes of Pyrenean robber-life, so faithfully\nportrayed by the magic pencil of Salvator Rosa.\nBut drowsiness was fast closing the eyes of poor Cato, and,\nas the last chance, we compelled him to walk about, despite\nhis piteous prayers for repose. It soon became evident that\nour labour was thrown away, for he dropped heavily down from\nbetween the two men who were supporting him, and no power\ncould induce him to rise. A heavy stertorous sleep overwhelmed him, his breath came gradually slower and slower, and\nabout two hours from the time of the accident, poor Cato\npassed away, peacefully and without pain.\nCan no antidote be discovered for this virulent poison?\nEmpirics are common who profess to cure snake-bites, but I\ndoubt if they ever really succeed. It is beyond all question\nthat in the early days of Australia, and whilst this beautiful\ncontinent was held by Great Britain as nothing more than a\nuseful place for the safe custody of her criminal classes, a convict named Underwood discovered a remedy for snake-bite,\nand in many cases treated it successfully. The story has by\nno means died out in the colonies, of the good old laws of\nbrutal terrorism, under which, when a bitten man was brought\nto Underwood, the latter proceeded to apply his remedy, stimulated by the pleasing threat of a severe flogging, should his\ntreatment be of no avail. He appears to have been a man of.\ngreat firmness of purpose, for he never could be betrayed into\ndivulging his secret, though many unworthy means were resorted\nto for that end. The utmost that he would acknowledge was\nthat the antidote was common, and that Australians trampled\nit under-foot every day of their lives. The way he became\nacquainted with the remedy was by accidentally witnessing a\nfight between a snake and an iguana. The latter was frequently bitten, and in every case ran to a certain plant and ate\nit before renewing the contest, in which it was ultimately victorious, leaving the serpent dead upon the plain. Underwood\ndemanded his pardon and liberty as the price of his precious\nknowledge, and I believe a mixed commission of military men\nand civilians deliberated on the case at Sydney, and decided\nnot to grant the convict's request. In due time he died, and\nwith him perished his invaluable secret. It is to be presumed\nthe commission knew what they were about, but undoubtedly\ntheir adverse decision has been a real misfortune to all those\nwhose lives are passed in a country inhabited by venomous\nreptiles. We are much indebted to Doctor Fagren for the\nexhaustive researches he has made into the action of snake-\npoison and its remedy\u2014the result of which the reader can find\nin his elaborately got-up volume, entitled \"The Thanatophidia\nof India\"\u2014and on looking over the concise directions given\nby him for immediate use in the event of such an accident, I\ndo not see that we could possibly have done more than we did,\nconsidering the limited material we had at our command.\nPerhaps, had it been a white man, with a strong constitution,\nhe would have pulled through; for the settled conviction that\nhe was doomed, doubtless accelerated the death of the black\nboy; but the action of the poison is so rapid, that most cases\nterminate fatally. Two instances I know of, in which - the\npatient recovered. The first was an Irish labourer, who whilst\nreaping took up a snake, which bit him in the finger. He\nwalked at once to the fence, put his hand on a post, and severed\nthe wounded member with his sickle. Irishman-like, he forgot\nto move the sound fingers out of the way, and two of^hem\nshared the fate of their injured companion.     Paddy walked\ninto the nearest township, had his wounds dressed, and felt\nno inconvenience from the venom. Under the soubriquet of\n\"Three-fingered Tim,\" this individual may frequently be\nmet with at Sydney, and, for a glass of grog, will be delighted\nto recount the whole affair, with the richest of Milesian\nbrogues. The second case was that of a woman. She was\ngoing from the hut to the fireplace, when she trod on a\nsnake, which bit her just below the joint of the little toe;\nfor, like Coleridge's Christabel\u2014\n\"Her blue-veined feet unsandali'd were.\"\nShe was in a terrible position; her husband, and the other\nman for whom she acted as hut-keeper, had both gone out\nwith their flocks some hours previously, and there was nobody\nabout but a poor half-witted lad, who hung about the place\ndoing odd jobs. She was a resolute woman, and made up her\nmind how to act, in far less time than it takes me to set it\ndown on paper. Coo-ehing for the lad, she went into the hut,\nand came out again with a sharp tomahawk and an axe.\n\" Take this,\" she said, handing the latter to the boy, \" and\nstrike hard with the back of it when I tell you.\"\nThus speaking, she placed her foot on a log of wood, adjusted the keen edge of the tomahawk so that when struck it\nwould sever the toe and the portion of the foot containing the\nbite, and, holding the handle of the tomahawk steady as a\nrock, with firm determination gave the words\u2014\n\" Now, Jim, strike !\"\nIt needed three blows from the back of the axe to complete\nthe operation, for the poor lad grew frightened at the sight of\nthe blood; but the undaunted woman encouraged him, nerved\nhim to a fresh trial, and guided the tomahawk as coolly as\nif she were cutting up a piece of beef, until the shocking\ntask was completed. With Jim's assistance, she then bound up\nthe foot to arrest the bleeding, and, accompanied by him, rode\nten miles into the township, and, need I say, in due course\nrecovered.\nIn these instances the reader will see that the measures\ntaken were both prompt, and such as would require more\nnerve than is possessed by the ordinary run of mortals. In\nthe above cases, also, the bitten part was capable of being\nremoved; but for a bite on the wrist, had such an extreme\nmeasure as immediate dismemberment been performed, the\ncure would have been as fatal as the disease.\nPoor Dunmore was terribly cut up at' the premature death\nof his follower; Lizzie, having smothered her head with fluffy\nfeathers from some cockatoos that had been roasted for\nsupper, employed herself in chanting a most weird kind of\ndirge over the body, to which she beat a species of accompaniment on the bottom of a pint pot; while Ferdinand, by Dun-\nmore's directions, had set to work to strip a sheet of bark off a\ntea-tree, to act as a rude coffin. A great difficulty now presented\nitself, for we had no tools whatever, and how could we dig a\ngrave ? In such hard ground, knives would make no impression, and the body must be buried deeply, or it would be\nrooted up by the dingoes, whose howl we could plainly hear\naround us, as they bayed at the moon. We spread ourselves\nout in different directions, in the hope of finding some rift\nor recess that would answer the purpose, but, in the imperfect\nlight, we failed to discover anything, so were compelled to wait\nfor dawn. I do not think any of us slept much. One of\nour  little party suddenly snatched away in so unforeseen a SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN WEST AFRICA.\nmanner, gave us all food for reflection\u2014for which of us knew\nthat the same fate would not befall him to-morrow ? When I\ndropped off into a slumber, it was so light and broken, that I\nseemed to be conscious of Lizzie, continuing her melancholy\ndrone, and battering monotonously on the tin pannikin, nor\nwas I surprised when in the morning I ascertained that such\nhad really been her occupation all night; for the purpose of\nkeeping the body from harm, she avowed, but, I am inclined to\nthink, much more from fear of sleeping in the neighbourhood\nof a dead body, for the blacks are dreadfully superstitious, and\nfrightened to death of ghosts.\nAt daylight we were lucky enough to find a tree that had\nbeen blown down in the late hurricane, leaving a hollow where\nits roots had been torn out of the ground. In this natural\ngrave we laid the poor trooper, wrapped in his bark shell, and,\nhaving raised a pile of stones upon the spot, of such dimensions as to preclude the probability of the body being disturbed by dingoes, we went on our way,- silent and melancholy.\nFRENCH SETTLEMENT ON THE SENEGAL RIVER.\nSenegambia ; With an Account of Recent French Operations in West Africa.\u2014\/\/\/.\nBY\nLIEUTENANT  C.   R.   LOW,   (LATE)   H.M.   INDIAN  NAVY.\nHOW THE FRENCH FOUNDED \u25a0 AND EXTENDED THEIR POSSESSIONS IN\nSENEGAMBIA; WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR RELATIONS WITH\nTHE NATIVE TRIBES OF THE INTERIOR, AND THE TOPOGRAPHY\nOF THE COUNTRY.\nWe will now give a further account, derived from French official\nand other documents, of their possessions in Senegambia.\nSenegal5 is the oldest of the French colonies, for we read\nthat, as far back as 1364, the formation of commercial establishments was commenced by Norman navigators, on that portion of the West Coast of Africa extending from the mouth of\nthe Senegal River to the extremity of the Gulf of Guineat\n* Senegal was priginally called Zenaga by navigators, from the name of\nthe people, Zenaga, who inhabited the right bank of the river.\nt We have already said that this is denied by English' writers, and\nthose of other countries, and it is certain that no remains exist to attest\n251\u2014VOL. VI.\nNearly a century later, in the year 1446, the Portuguese\nformed a settlement on the shores of Senegal, and in 145.5,\nerected a fort on the island of Arguin, which the Dutch afterwards took on the 5th of February, 1638.\nFrom 1626 to 1644, a-company of merchants from Dieppe\nand Rouen were engaged in establishing commercial depots on\nthe African continent, which they placed under the superintendence of managers of their own selection.    In 1644, these\nthe truth of this statement, nor have any facts been brought forward in\nproof of its authenticity. However, it is made on the authority of responsible French authors, and, in a measure, may be said to bear offictal en-\ndorsement, as it is to be found recorded in papers issued under the authority\nof the French Ministry of Marine. It will be found also that some of the\ndates given hereafter do not accord with those quoted by us from other\nthan French sources. 82\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nIMBU\nestablishments were sold for the sum of 150,000 livres tournois* to the West India Company, which had been formed in\nthe month of May of the same year. It did not, however,\nlong retain possession of them, for, in accordance with the\nprovisions of a royal warrant, dated the 9th of April, 1672, it\nwas compelled to transfer all its property, and the privileges\nconnected therewith, to a new company which, in June, 1679,\nreceived, by letters patent, the title of the \"Senegal Company,\" and was granted the exclusive right of trading between\nCape Blanco and the Cape of Good Hope.\nTwo years before, the French had wrested the island of\nGoree, the stations of Rufisque, Portadal, and Joal, from the\nDutch, and their right of possession was confirmed by the\ntreaty of Nimeguen, 10th of August, 1678.\nThe \" Senegal Company,\" ruined by the heavy losses it\nsustained during the war with the Dutch, was obliged in\nJuly, 1681, to cede to a company which assumed the name of\nthe \" Guinea and African Coast Company of Senegal,\" its rights\nand possessions, in consideration of the sum of 1,010,015 livres\ntournois, or a little more than ,\u00a342,000. By royal warrants of\nthe 12th of September, 1684, and 6th of January, 1685, the\nextent of its concessions was reduced, and its sphere of action\nlimited between Cape Blanco and Sierra Leone, from which\ntime the company changed its name to that of the \" Senegal\nCompany,\" and, in 1694, in turn gave place to the \"Royal\nNorth Cape and African Coast Company of Senegal,\" which,\nfour years later, built the fort of St Joseph, which was destroyed\nby a flood in 1701, was rebuilt, and then burnt by native rebels\non the 25th of December in the following year. This company existed until 1709, when, being placed under liquidation,\nit was compelled, by royal decree, to dispose of its privileges,\nfor the sum of \u00a310,000, to another company, which received\nits letters patent on the 30th July of that year, and likewise\ntook the name of the \" Senegal Company.\"\nIn 1713, the fort of St. Joseph was rebuilt at Makana, and\ntwo years afterwards the fort of St. Pierre de Kainoura was\nconstructed on the left bank of the Faleine\".\nIn 1717, the Moors of Senegal ceded Portendik to the\nFrench, and the transfer, as well as that of the island of\nArguin, which they took in 1724, was confirmed by the treaty\nsigned at the Hague on the 13th of January, 1727. By an act\npassed on the 13th of December, 1718, and approved by\na minute of the State Council on the 10th of January following,\nthe said \" West India Company \" purchased all the property of\nthe Senegal Company for the sum of 1,600,000 livres tournois,\nor rather more than \u00a366,660; the French Government at the\nsame time granting them perpetual privileges, which were to\nextend over the coast country between Sierra Leone and the\nCape of Good Hope. Several forts in the interior were restored by this company, and it also built the fort of Podor on\nthe western extremity of the island of Morfil; it administered\nthe country, and made the most of its commerce until 1758,\nthe year in which the English took Senegal and Goree. The\nfort of St. Louis fell an easy prey to the British navy, but\nCommodore Keppel encountered some difficulty in effecting\nthe reduction of Goree, the fortifications of which M. Adanson\nhad pronounced a few years before to be \" impregnable.\" The\nBritish force consisted of four sail of the line, and four frigates,\nand, after a gallant resistance, the governor, who shortly before\nhad foiled the efforts of a smaller squadron, surrendered.\n* Equal to about .\u00a36,250 sterling.\nBy the treaty of 1763, Goree alone was restored to France,\nbut on the 30th January, 1779, Senegal was retaken by the Duke\nde Lauzun, and in the treaty of peace concluded between the\ntwo nations on the 3rd of September, 1783, the right of the\nFrench to its possession was acknowledged, after which the\naffairs of the colony were presided over by governors, officially\nappointed by the French Government Between the years\n1763-1787, Cape Verd, and the neighbouring country between Point Mamelles and Cape Bernard, together with the\nisland of Dakar, was ceded to the French by the Darnel, or\nKing of Cayor. The right of trading in gum, which had\nbeen granted on the 1st of July, 1784, to the Guinea Company, was relinquished by it in 1785, and transferred to a\ncompany which first took the name of the \" Gum Company,\"\nbut a year later, changed it to that of the \" Senegal Company.\"\nThis corporation did not, however, long enjoy its monopoly,\nfor it was dissolved by an act of the French Revolutionary\nAssembly passed on the 23rd of July, 1791, which also\ndeclared the trade with Senegal free to the whole of France.\nIn the year 1800, the English took the island of Goree,\nbut were not successful in their attempt against St. Louis; the\nformer should have been restored to France in 1802, in accordance with the provisions of the treaty of Amiens, though it\nappears this was not done, and on the 18th of January, 1804,\nsome French privateers, assisted by a detachment of the Senegal garrison, attacked and recaptured the island of Goree. It,\nhowever, soon again fell into the hands of the British, as\ndid also Senegal itself, which surrendered on the 14th of\nJuly, 1809.\nThe treaty of Paris of 30th of May, 1814, stipulated that all\nthe settlements of which the French were actually in possession on the 1st of January, 1792, on the West Coast of Africa,\nshould be restored, but these provisions were not carried into\neffect until the 1st of January, 1817, when was organised an\nexpedition for the re-occupation of Senegal, which terminated\nso sadly with the disastrous wreck of the Medusa on the\nArguin Bank.\nThe French colonies in the west were at this time limited\nto the islands of Senegal and Goree, the latter about no\nmiles further south.\nSt. Louis was then merely a trading depot, where the few\nEuropeans who had settled there bartered their commodities for\ngum, the only product the native dealers bought from the Moors.\nThe fertility of the country was, however, soon discovered, and,\nafter careful investigation, it was ascertained that the nature of\nthe soil of Senegambia was, beyond doubt, most favourable to\nthe growth of cotton and indigo, and although the attempts\nmade to utilise these fertile plains may not have been successful, owing to the means employed, subsequent events\nhave fully proved the soundness of the conclusions then\narrived at. On the 8th of May, 1819, the governor of the\nFrench settlements concluded a treaty with the king and principal chiefs of Ualo, by which the latter agreed to cede\nabsolutely all islands and lands in Ualo which the French\nmight wish to cultivate, in consideration of the payment of an\nannual tax, and in 1820 and 1821, the forts of Richard Toll\nand Dagana were built on the left bank of the Senegal River\nfor the protection of the stations they intended to establish.\nThe first of these two forts, situated at the confluence of\nthe Taouey and Senegal, commanded that part of Ualo which\nconverges on St Louis from the shores of Lake Guier, and SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT  FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN WEST AFRICA.\n83\nalso served as a base of operations against the Darmankours\nand other desert tribes, whilst the fort of Dagana held in check\nthat portion of Ualo beyond Lake Guier\u2014Dimar, for instance\n\u2014and could also be used as a base for operating against the\nTrarza Moors, should they ever make a sudden descent on\nthe village of Gae. Later on, in 1842, a third post was established at Merinaghen, at the southern extremity of Lake Guier,\nwhich completed the occupation of Ualo.\nThe fortified stations of Medina, Sansandig, St. Joseph,\nand Farabana, which the old companies had established from\ntime to time, had disappeared, but the local government, feeling the importance of a settlement in these parts where the\nDouaich Moors cultivated vast forests of gum-trees, entered\ninto negociations with the king of this country, and, in 1818,\nbought from him the land upon which Fort Bakel was built\ntwo years later.\nIn 1824, a company which took the name of the \"Commercial and Agricultural Company of Galam and Ualo,\" secured\nfor itself the privilege of extending its commerce into Upper\nSenegambia. Other companies, however, in course of time,\nsprung up, and the monopoly was withdrawn in 1848.\nIn the midst of various difficulties, and under the pressure\nof this monopoly, the colony had really made but little progress ; the cultivation of cotton and indigo, attempted from\n1820 to 1830, had ended in failure, and the French, after\nhaving established themselves at certain points, neglected their\ninterests, thinking it sufficient to put in an occasional appearance on the Senegal for commercial purposes only, whilst the\nMoorish chiefs of the right bank of the river had been maturing\ntheir plans for obtaining the command of the left bank. At\nlength it became necessary to punish them severely for their\ndepredations, and this was done in repeated expeditions,\nnotably in 1826 to 1830, 1832 and 1843. But more remained\nto be accomplished before peace could be insured. The native\npopulation on the left bank of the river, also, finding that they\nderived but little benefit from the protection of the French,\nhad succumbed to the yoke of their Moorish oppressors on the\nright bank, and, indeed, the political situation had become so\nintolerable, that in 1851, the home government took the\nmatter in hand, and gave the necessary orders for permanently securing the French position in the colony.\nThe work of placing matters on a satisfactory basis was\nentrusted to Colonel (now General) Faidherbe, an officer of\nEngineers, who was appointed governor in 1854, and the\nsupreme power could not have been placed in abler hands.\nHis first act was to regain possession of the left bank of the\nriver from the Trarza Moors ; this he accomplished after four\nyears' war, and the King of the Trarzas, after enormous losses,\nsigned a treaty in May, 1858, which was destined to inaugurate a new era. Ualo, and other adjacent territories, were\nalso added to the French possessions.\nIn the meantime commercial centres had been established\nat Podor and Dagana, to reopen at these points the annual\nfairs which had been held in other parts of the country. This\nchange was a great boon to French commerce; but the\nTrarza and Brakna Moors could only be induced to consent\nto it by force. The navigation of the river had been at the\nsame time freed from a host of obstacles which seriously interfered with the traffic.\nSimultaneously with the appointment of Faidherbe as\nGovernor of Senegal, a terrible  war  broke out in Western\nSoudan. El Hadj Omar, a powerful Mohammedan chief, attempted to subjugate the whole basin of the Senegal, in order\nthat he might destroy the European settlements, and set up a\nvast Mussulman empire. The French had to fight hard for\ntheir bare existence, and maintained a contest which spread\nover more than 900 miles of country, from St Louis to the\nbasin of the Niger, and devastated the greater part of the land.\nThis desperate struggle was only terminated in i860 by a\ntreaty concluded with one of the lieutenants of El Hadj\nOmar, at a time when the latter, driven back from Senegal\nafter several defeats, found himself embroiled in hostilities\nwith the powerful empire of Bambara, or Segou. The most\nbrilliant feats of arms in this campaign were the defence of the\nfort of Medina, an advanced post established in 1855 near the\ncataracts of Felou, to cover the important station of Bakel,\nby Paul Holl, a half-caste of Senegal; its relief by the governor\nin person after a three months' siege, on the 18th of July, 1857,\nand the capture of the large fortified village of Gue'mou, on the\n25th of October, 1859, by Lieutenant-Colonel Faron.\nThe treaty, concluded with Omar's lieutenant in August,\ni860, defined a frontier-line between those countries over\nwhich the French did not pretend to exercise authority, and\nwhich they abandoned to the Mohammedan chief, and those,\nalmost equal in extent to Algeria, which they either claimed as\ntheir absolute possessions, or which were to remain under\ntheir protection. In order to complete the facilities for commerce, and to ensure, the safe navigation of the river, stations\nwere established at Matam, in Damga, in 1857, and at Salde\",.\nor Te'bdkout, in Central Fouta, in 1859.\nThe following resume of some of the most important events\nwill give an idea of the commercial and territorial aggrandisement of the colony of Senegal during this epoch (1854 to\ni860).\nIn 1855, the Bank of Senegal was opened, a government\nprinting-office established, and a colonial official newspaper\nstarted\nIn 1856, the annexation of Ualo, which, has been already\nreferred to, was effected, as well as that of the villages of\nDagana, Bakel, and Senoudehou, and the islands of Thiong\nand Ndiago.\nIn 1857, the English relinquished their right to all maritime trade between the mouth of the river St John and\nPortendik, receiving the factory of Albre'da, on the Gambia, as\nan equivalent. In 1858, the annexation of some villages and\nvarious lands in the vicinity of St. Louis was effected, and a\ntreaty of peace concluded, by which the native chiefs ceded the\nlands in the upper part of the province, and, amongst others,\nthose on the left bank of the river Senegal, from Bakel to its\nconfluence with the Faleme; the treaty also assuring to the\nFrench the privilege of establishing stations 'wherever they\nmight think proper along this latter river.\nIn 1859, Fouta was dismembered, and divided into three\nindependent states, viz., Damga, Central Fouta, and Toro;\nthe province of Dimar was also annexed. In i860 and the\nsucceeding years, the neighbouring countries were explored by\nMM. Vincent, Mage, Pascal, Lambert, Bourel, and other travellers. Damga was also annexed, and Toro tendered its\nsubmission. The reactionary movement which had commenced\nat St. Louis soon spread to Goree, whose dependencies at\nthe time only consisted of the settlement of Albre'da, on the\nGambia (afterwards ceded to England), the islands of Djoque\" 84\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nand Carabane, on the river Casamanza, and Sedhiou on the\nUpper Casamanza, which had been purchased some years previously from the natives of this river.\nSince 1854, the French, reclaiming former privileges, have\nexercised the rights Over Cape Verd awarded by treaties concluded in 1763, 1765, and 1787, with the King of Cayor. This\ncountry and the adjoining district were overrun in 1861 and\n1862 by various columns under the successive commands of\nGovernors Faidherbe and Jaureguiberry,and were thus gradually\nbrought under French regime, finally accepting their suzerainty.\nOn the 1st of February,  1861, a treaty was concluded, by\nBanjiars of Kamabel in 1859 ; and Governor Laprade against\nthe Karones at Hilor and Courba, and the Jigonches at Thionk\nin i860; to which may be added that of the same commandant against Souna, and the Balantes of Couniara in 1861.\nIn the course of the year 1862, complications arose Jn\nCentral Fouta, in consequence of an attack made by the\nToucouleurs upon some friendly tribes; and three expeditionary columns were sent out in July and September, 1862,\nand January, 1863, to operate against these fanatics, who were\neasily vanquished, and forced to sue for terms of peace.\nFrom this time the imposition of arbitrary taxes upon the\nCIVILISED NEGROES OF GOREE.\nwhich the whole coast-line between St. Louis and Goree, to a\nbreadth of seven and a half miles, was ceded to the French ;\nand the province of Gandiole, near St. Louis, together with that\nof Diander, facing Goree, was also added to their possessions.\nIn 1859, the kingdoms of Baol, Sine, and Salum, were occupied by French troops; and three treaties were concluded\nwith the kings of those countries, which led to the formation of\nsettlements at Rufisque, Portadal, Joal, and Kaolack.\nSeveral successful operations had likewise during the period\nbeen made into the Casamanza country, which resulted in the\nannexation* of the greater part of the lands irrigated by this\nriver; the most notable being those of Commodore Pinaud to\nCagnut in 1851; of Commodore Protet against the Jigonches and\n* Treaties of the 7th of November, 1855; 9th of January, 18595 J4th\nof February, 1861; and 17th of March, 1863.\nFrench traders was discontinued; Sedhiou has become the\ncentre of a flourishing trade, and the river Songrougou, an\naffluent of the Casamanza, has been explored, and a new field\nfor commercial enterprise thrown open to the French nation.\nMuch of the success of the colony is no doubt due to the able\nadministration and untiring energy displayed by many of its\ngovernors; and in proof of which it is only necessfcry to\nmention the names of such men as Admiral Protet, who served\ntwice in the same capacity; Faidherbe, who served three\ntimes; and Jaureguiberry, the two latter of whom have likewise\nproved their ability and patriotism during the desperate struggle\nwaged before Paris and in the north of France during the\nrecent great European war, after the capitulation of the French\nregular army at Metz and Sedan destroyed the last prospect of\na successful issue to the unequal conflict  86\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nThe geographical extent of Senegambia may be described\nas embracing the basin of the Senegal, which, from the mountains of Fouta D'jallon to its mouth, is nearly 1,000 miles in\nlength, together with the forts and settlements on the western\ncoast of Africa, from Cape Blanco, in the north, to Cape\nSierra Leone, in the south. The colony is divided into two\narrondissements, or divisions\u2014Upper and Lower Senegal; the\nlatter includes that part of the country which is accessible by\nwater at all seasons, and may be said to extend 250 miles up\nthe river; whilst the former comprises that portion beyond this\npoint, which is isolated from December to July, the navigation\nof the river being impracticable during those months.\nThe following are some of the chief places of importance\nin the French possessions, viz., Cape Blanco, Arguin, Portendik,\nSt. Louis (Senegal), Merinaghen, Dagana, Podor, Salde-, Matam,\nBakel,   Medina,  Senoude\"bou,   Farabana,   Goree,   Rufisque,\nPortadal, Joal, Sangomar Point, Kaolack, Carabane, Sedhiou.\nThe sandy islet on which St. Louis, the chief town of the\n- colony, is built, is about one and a.half miles long, averages\n200 yards in breadth, and has a superficial area of about eighty-\nthree acres.     It has but slight elevation, the highest portions\n,   not being more than six and a half feet above low water mark.\nThe town is easy of access from the east, but it is unapproachable from the west \u2022  The arm of the river, which here runs\nparallel to the sea-shore, from which it is separated by a tongue\nof sand about four hundred yards wide, called Barbary Point,\nand upon which stands the small village of Guet N'dar, immediately opposite St. Louis, is from 200 to 300 yards broad.   In\nthe estimation of French authorities, St. Louis is undoubtedly\nthe finest town on the West Coast of Africa, and, in comparison\nwith others, it certainly is of considerable size, as it contains\n400 brick-built houses, laid out in terraces, and about 4,000\n.  thatched huts, inhabited by natives.    The public buildings are\nalso quite sufficient for all the requirements of the colony, and\nare very creditable structures.     The town is not fortified, for,\naccording to the official report, its natural position renders it\nunassailable by direct attack; and a battery on the sea-coast\nprotects it from the possibility of bombardment    Besides the\nisland on which St Louis stands, there are several others at no\ngreat distance, both above and below, formed by similar bifurcations of the stream, the most important of which are Thiong,\nDe Safal, De Babague\", De Sor, and   De Roup.    Within a\nradius of from eight to ten miles there are also several villages,\nwhich have, during the last few years, likewise been placed\nunder French administration.     Beyond these limits the Ualo\ncountry commences, and extends for about 170 miles, as far as\nthe village of Dagana, the left bank of the Senegal forming its\nnorthern, and the Cayor country its southern, boundary; while\non the east it is separated from Djioloff and Dimar by Lake\nGuier and the Bounoun.\nIt is generally believed that the Ouoloff race were formerly\nunited under one king, who bore the title of Bour-ba-Djioloff\nand that this empire was subsequently broken up, and three\nindependent states formed, one of which was Ualo, with territory\non both sides of the river; that tract of country, however\nwhich it originally possessed north of the Senegal, was more\nthan a century ago conquered by the Trarzas, and a great\nport.on of the inhabitants fled and settled in one of the\nprovinces of Cayor, called Ndiambour, where they remain to\nthis day. Ualo has since then had no territory whatever\nbeyond the left bank of the Senegal.    Its fonn of government\nwas in itself exceedingly complicated, and the difficulties of\nadministration were greatly enhanced by the intrigues of the\nTrarzas, whose constant aim was to promote dissension, and\nso by degrees weaken its power.    The chief ruler, or head of\nthe Ualo country, was styled Brak; he was chosen from one of\nthe three principal tribes, whose princes, as well as the chiefs of\nsome of the other tribes, bore the title of Kangam.    The law of\ninheritance was generally observed in the election of the Brak,\nbut it was very peculiar in its requirements, being collateral\non the women's side, that is to say, upon the death of a chief,\nor father of a family, his sister's son inherited, to the prejudice\nof his own children.    According to the usages of the country,\nwomen were debarred from ascending the throne, though in two\nrecent instances this ancient custom was abrogated in favour of\ntwo queens who assumed the reins of government.     Their accession was regarded with especial favour by the Trarzas, who\nvery soon made capital out of it, as we shall presently see.\nIn 1819, the French sought to deprive the Trarzas of their\ninfluence in Ualo, with a view to settling there themselves, and\ncultivating the land ; but two years later, weary of the struggle\nfor power, they withdrew from the contest; in 1827, however,\na fresh attempt was made, but it also terminated unsuccessfully,\nand the Trarzas still maintained their ascendency.    On each\noccasion the Moors wreaked terrible vengeance on the people\nof Ualo, for the assistance they had rendered the French, and\nm l833> Queen Guimbotte, finding her country devastated, and\nreceiving no aid from her former allies, in accordance with the\nwishes of her subjects contracted a matrimonial alliance with\nMohammed-el-Habib, King of Trarza, in the hope that she\nmight thus save her country from further ruin.     Fresh efforts\nwere now made by the French, to prevent this absorption of\nterritory on the right bank of the river by the Trarzas, but\nwithout avail, and, after a two years' campaign, peace was\nconcluded, and they again retired from the country.   This last\nwar was not, however, altogether fruitless, for the Moors had\nbecome somewhat alarmed, and in the treaty of peace of 1835,\nwhich terminated the war, they renounced all  their  claims\nto Ualo, in favour of the children of Queen Guimbotte and\nMohammed-el-Habib.     In the subsequent contests with the\nTrarzas in 1843, 1848, and 1850, Ualo invariably sided with\nthe latter, and opposed the French, and at the commencement\nof the war in 1854, it adopted a similar course.    The French,\nhowever, in this instance, acted with such firmness and energy]\nthat in less than two months Ualo was cleared of its inhabitants'\nand their allies.    The desire to rid themselves of many subsidies, the payment of which they felt to be humiliating, and\nthe determination to make their occupation of Senegal perfectly\nsecure, were no doubt the real motives which induced the\nFrench to engage in the last war, the prosecution of which\nand the annexation of the country which followed, in 1855 involved the formal violation of the treaty of 1835, as Guimbotte\nhad given birth to a son, named Ely, who had always been\nacknowledged as the heir presumptive, and was virtually in\noccupation of the throne in ^54, when the war broke out\nAfter the annexation of Ualo, the village of Dagana was separated from it and added to the adjoining settlement of Dimar\nand other villages were also annexed, the villages being placed\nimmediately under  French  regime.    The remaining portion\nof the country was divided into four \"circles \"\u2014that portion\neast of the Taouey, and of Lake Guier forming the circle of\nDagana;   that part which  borders on the Senegal, between SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN WEST AFRICA.\nthe Taouey and Maka-Diama, constituting the circle of Richard\nToll; that bordering on Lake Guier from Temey to the fort of\nMerinaghen, the circle of Merinaghen, and the whole of the\ncentral portion (formerly the province of Bequio), that of the\ncircle of Lampsar. Four native chiefs were appointed to\nthe command of these circles, and were placed under the\norders of an officer resident at Richard Toll, appointed by the\ngovernor of the colony.\nThe population of Ualo, previous to the war of 1854, was\nabout 16,000. Its chief productions are dried fish, and an\noleaginous seed called bereef* which is now exported in large\nquantities; the soil also is well suited to the cultivation of\ncotton.t The fortified posts are Richard Toll, on the banks of\nthe Senegal, and Merinaghen at the extremity of Lake Guier. In\nascending the river, the next tract of country on the left bank is\nthat of Dimar, which was annexed to the colony on the 18th of\nJune, 1858; it produces millet J in great abundance, and cotton\nis also grown in small quantities. The principal military post is\nat Dagana, which is protected by a fort Adjoining Dimar is\nthe dis trict of Toro, formerly a province of Fouta, but surrendered\nto the French on the 10th of April, 1859. On the western\nextremity of the island of Morfil, belonging to Toro, is the\nfortified post of Podor, and the establishment of a station at\nthis important place has had a very salutary effect upon the\nnative inhabitants, who are gradually being weaned from their\nattachment to the Foutas, and assimilating themselves to the\nFrench. Beyond Toro, and between it and Damgar, lies\nCentral Fouta, or Fouta Proper; this tract of country is inhabited by Foulahs and Toucouleurs, fanatic tribes who have-\nalways been hostile to French rule. The form of government of this portion of Fouta is that of a republic with an\nelective president. The only law is the Koran. The head of\nthe republic, or Almamy, as he is termed, is always a Mohammedan priest, or marabout of intelligence, who is elected\nand dismissed by public assemblies, which are invariably noisy\nand turbulent, and are entirely guided in their deliberations by\nthe wishes of the hereditary chiefs of the principal tribes.\nFouta is an excessively turbulent state, incapable of unity of\naction in any cause, except that of religion, when the various\ntribes forget all their differences, and rise as one man for the\n* Bereef, or maff, is the seed of the Cucumis melo and Cucurbita miroor,\nand contains 30 per cent, of very fine fluid oil, much resembling olive oil,\nand is useful for alimentary and saponaceous purposes. Other oleaginous\nplants are to be met with in the colony, but especially in the Casamanza\ndistrict.\n+ Cotton grows wild in almost all parts of Senegal, but particularly in the\nupper parts, where it attains a moderate height, thrives for seven or eight\nyears, requires no cultivation, and bears abundantly for the first four years.\nThe whiteness of its fibres is never spoiled by any parasite, nor is the plant\nitself ever destroyed by insects; the only way in which it suffers is from\nthe desert wind, which carries away the feathery seed that has not been\ngathered in time. The Senegal cotton is remarkably fine, and of great\nstrength, although shorter than American cotton. Another species, called\nkoral (Hirsulum herbaceum), is also grown in the lower provinces. It is\nsown in November after the harvest, and gathered in the following June.\nIt is white in colour, and very stout in quality; the natives use it for the\nmanufacture of cloth for their own garments, but it is of too coarse a nature\nfor exportation, and, indeed, is not grown in sufficient quantities for such a\npurpose.\n% Millet is almost the only meal used by the natives, who make a sort\nof porridge of it, which forms the chief item of their daily food. It is cultivated on both sides of the Senegal, but chiefly on the left bank ; it is sown\nin July, before the rainy season, and harvested in November. Rice, maize,\nand a species of haricots called niibes, are also cultivated and used by the\nnatives.    The rice grown in Kaarta is particularly fine.\n87\naccomplishment of their object A signal example of this was\ngiven in the religious war that broke out in 1857, soon after\nFaidherbe's first appointment as governor, at the instigation\nof El-Hadj Omar, whose aim was to subjugate the whole of the\nneighbouring countries, and to establish one vast Mussulman\nempire, but who happily failed in the attempt. Fouta, as its\nname indicates, is a state which owes its origin to the Pouls\nor Foulahs. The western portion of the country was formerly\ninhabited by the Ouoloff Serers, whilst the Malinkds of the\nSoce\" race occupied the eastern parts. About 400 years ago,\nthe Foulahs of the Delianke\" or Djalonke tribe, under a chief\nnamed Koli, conquered the country, and, as a natural consequence, intermarried with the natives and inhabitants, thus\ncreating a half-caste race, who were called Torodos (an appellation which seems to have been derived from the ancient name of\nthe country, Toro, but which now only attaches to a province),\nand, becoming zealous Mohammedans, overthrew the hereditary\nand absolute power of the Djalonke\" chiefs, and succeeded in\nestablishing, about 150 years ago, a Mussulman dynasty under\na warrior named Abd-oul-Kader, who, assuming the title of\n\"Almamy\" (which Was borne for a time by two other chiefs),\nconquered in succession all the states of Senegal, except Cayor.\nAbd-oul-Kader met with reverses in the latter part of his\ncareer, and was killed, at the age of eighty, by Aissata, Almamy\nof Bondou, whose brother he had caused to be put to death at\nthe commencement of his reign. On the death of Abd-oul-\nKader, that unity which had made Fouta the most powerful\nstate of Western Africa ceased to exist. It seemed, however,\nto have revived under the efforts of Omar, and there is\nlittle doubt that it would have been thoroughly re-established,\nand the Crescent regained its ascendency, had not the weight\nof French power been brought to bear against this fanatical\ndisciple of Mohammed. The inhabitants of Fouta are exceedingly insincere, and excessively avaricious; they are also\ngreat thieves, and are partial beyond measure in the administration of justice; still they have their good points, and\ntheir devotedness to their religion, which they unfortunately\ncarry to a pitch of the most furious intolerance, their patriotism, and hatred of slavery, may fairly be considered as\nredeeming qualities. They are also industrious, particularly\nin the cultivation of the land, which is considered a most\nhonourable pursuit. The chief products are different kinds of\nmillet, fine herds of cattle, ground-nuts,* raw hides, and a\nbreed of small horses, which, though inferior to the animals\nreared by the Moors, possesses many valuable qualities.\nThe tract of country which lies to the east of Central\nFouta, to which it was formerly attached under certain laws\nof confederation, is called Damga, and was annexed by the\nFrench on the 10th of September, 1859. Matam, on the\nbanks of the river, the commercial centre, is a post of much\nimportance. To the east again of Damga lies the territory of\nGadiaga, inhabited by Soninkes, and extending from the small\nstream of Ngue'rer above Dembazane\", as far as Boungourou,\nfrom which point it is separated, by the river Fale'me', into\ntwo parts, the countries on either side forming the states of\n* The Arachis hypogaa is an annual leguminous plant, which does not\ngrow more than one foot above the soil; it produces a nut of about the\nsize of a small filbert, from which is expressed a clear inodorous oil. It is also\neaten by the natives, who consider it a great delicacy, and the stalks form\nexcellent food for cattle. The cultivation of this plant has increased\nconsiderably during the last few years, and the nut is now exported in\nlarge quantities. ILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nI\u00bbl\nGuoy and Kamera. The inhabitants the Soninke's, are said\nto have come many centuries ago from Kaarta. In 1819,\nthey sold the site on which the fort of Bakel stands, to the\nFrench, and in 1844, disputes arose among their chiefs about\nthe collection and distribution of the tax paid by the French\nfor their occupation of this post, which resulted in a civil war,\nin which the people of Tuabo suffered great losses; and it was\nat the close of this war that this portion of the country was\ndivided into two states. The province of Guoy, to the west of\nthe Faleine', was governed by a chief who resided at Tuabo, and\npreserved the title of Tunka,* while that of Kamera, on the\nto embrace the cause of El Hadj, whereas those of Kamera,\nsiding with their former allies, were subjected to his implacable\nvengeance, to which he gave vent in a terrible massacre at\nMakhana in 18.54. In Gadiaga there are many Mohammedan\nvillages, and when El Hadj found himself, for the moment,\nmaster of Upper Senegal, he deposed the Bakiri chiefs, and a\nMussulman from one of these villages was proclaimed spiritual,\nas well as temporal, ruler, under the title of Almamy. After\nthat, the people of Gadiaga were obliged to abandon their\nvillages no less than ten times, because they did not know with\nwhom to side, being in mortal fear of the French, and at the\nNEGROES OF SENEGAMBIA.\nother side of the Faleme\", was ruled by the sons of Samba\nYacine,f three of whom were put to death by El Hadj, and a\nfourth was killed in a subsequent war; Bakar, whom the French\nappointed chief of Makhana, being the only one who\nsurvived.\nOwing to the relative positions of these two states, Guoy\nand Kamera, the former, in time of trouble, naturally looked\nto Fouta for aid, whilst the latter invariably sought for assistance from the chiefs of Bambara and Kaarta, in the upper\ndistricts\u2014and thus it happened that in the struggle between\nj Fouta and Kaarta, in which the French were concerned, the\ninhabitants of Guoy were induced by the Toucouleurs of Fouta\n* \"King,\" in the Soninke language.\nt 11 was this chief who, by the aid of the warlike Bambaras, effected\na wholesale slaughter of the Bakiris of Tuabo.\nsame time having a wholesome respect for the fanatic El Hadj.\nTaking advantage of this war, the French possessed themselves\nof the village of Bakel, which is now thoroughly European, and\nis a position of considerable importance, protected by a fort of\nthe same name. The inhabitants of Gadiaga may be considered as the most commercial people in Senegal. They\nsend caravans far into the interior, and supply many important\nadjuncts to the trade of St. Louis, amongst others, Laptots * for\nthe naval service. The chief products are millet, indigo of\ngood quality, earthnuts, vegetables, and sesamum.\n* Laptots are blacks employed as sailors in the French naval service at\nSenegal. They are engaged by the year, and may attain the rank of\nquartermaster, and, when they acquire sufficient experience in the pilotage\nof the river, that of pilot-master, or \" captain of the river \" of the first anQ\nsecond class. A THIRD-CLASS  PASSENGER'S JOURNEY ACROSS AMERICA.\n89\nA Third-Class Passenger's Journey Across America,\nBY E.   T.   COLEMAN.\nThe overland journey from New York to San Francisco, and Goat Island on our left, and on our right a long pile of trestle-\nvice versa, has been more than once described by first-class work.    This extends to from two and a half to three miles, the\ntravellers, but no one has as yet given the experiences of a 1 waters of the bay being shallow.   The railway company wanted\nthird-class   passenger.     These are  altogether different,  and | to carry the line originally to Goat Island, which is nearly one\nfiBiiii\nWSM&m.\n'mw>ir-ii\u00ab MiSi!l!ll!!l Did\n\/a ^W^MrHlifc.\nIHHHi\nBAPTISM AMONG THE  MORMONS.\nthe record of what I saw may be interesting to that large\nsection of the community who cannot afford to travel first\nclass.\nI started from the ferry at San Francisco at half-past six\np.m., on the 10th of October last, to reach the railway on the\nother side of the bay, having first delivered up my baggage\nat the luggage office, and received brass checks in exchange,\nwhich make the company responsible for it as far as Omaha,\nwhere travellers change cars, and have to get their baggage\nre-checked for Chicago, or whatever place their destination\nmay be. The company will only take boxes, trunks, or portmanteaus, and carpet-bags; one hundred pounds weight being\nallowed, and all excess is charged for. Small packages or loose\nparcels may consequently be carried by the traveller in the train.\nMidway, crossing to the eastern side of the bay, we pass\n252\u2014vol. yi.\nmile long by half a mile broad. But this was opposed by the\nproperty-holders of San Francisco, as a city would necessarily\nhave been built up round the terminus, which would have\nbeen a formidable rival to San Francisco. The general government would also not sanction the project, lest, the bridge\nthat would be necessary to run the trains on to the island,\nshould intercept the current, and -cause a sediment to be\nprecipitate*d, which would ultimately fill up the bay to such\nan extent as to impede navigation. We pass the end of this\nbridge or trestle-work, steaming aiong close to its northern\nside, and presently, stepping ashore, find the cars of the Central\nPacific Railroad in readiness to receive us. After a short\ndistance, the train reaches Oakland, which is six miles from\nSan Francisco, and to which it stands in the same relative\nposition as Brooklyn does to New York. 77*51\n9\u00b0\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nI started from San Francisco with three others from the\nsame hotel, who had travelled down with me from Portland,\nOregon\u2014only three more joined us at Oakland\u2014for the great\nstream of travel, more particularly the emigration, flows westward.   We  had  thus a whole  car to ourselves, and ample\naccommodation for sleeping.    The  American  cars   are   far\nsuperior  to  the   cattle-boxes  in  which    English   third-class\npassengers are thrust.    Strictly speaking, there are no third-\nclass cars, only first and second.    They are about fifty feet\nlong on the average (the Pullman palace and sleeping cars\nbeing sixty feet).   The seats, which are generally cushioned,\nare placed transversely to the length of the car, and accommodate two passengers to each, with a passage through the centre\nof the car.    There is a stove at each end; in one corner is a\nreservoir of water and wash-hand basin.    The backs of the\nseats are reversible; by taking advantage of this, turning one\nof them back, removing the opposite seats and placing them\ntransversely, i.e., lengthwise across the seats, and side by side,\nsufficient space is afforded to sleep on.    The seats, of course,\nare barely long enough to lie on at full length; this I remedied\nby piling the extra luggage I carried with me at the ends of the\nseats, so that my feet could rest upon it    But where the seats\nare of wood and consequently not removable, the traveller\ncan make a bed by passing a rope from seat to seat, crossing and recrossing it in a zig-zag fashion, till a kind of hammock is made in the centre\u2014that is, between the two seats\t\nso that the traveller can sleep very well  by stretching himself across them diagonally.    In the absence of a rope, the\ntraveller must forage about at one of the stations for a wide\npiece of plank.    Having brought a pair of blankets, sheets,\nand a pillow with me, I was enabled to make a good bed, and\nthus improvised a kind of Pullman's sleeping-car on a small\nscale.    In the day-time, after folding up my bedding, I used to\nleave the seats as I had placed them at night, and thus had\na little compartment, or kind of state cabin, to myself, where I\ncould take my meals and read or write without being disturbed\nby the other passengers, who had also each their compartments.\nI  had brought  candles with me, so that when  wakeful at\nnight I was able to read.   John  Bull likes to have all his\ncomforts  about him, and a gentleman  once  observing  my\nlittle arrangements, said to me, | Well, sir, you seem to have\nquite a little store here.\"    Our train was a freight one, and\nthrough the night we made a great number of stoppages, for\nthe purpose of taking in grain, fruit, &c.    The early morning\nshowed a level  country divided  by fences  and dotted with\noaks.    It was covered with a yellow stubble, a type, to my\neager imagination, of that golden California I had so often read\nof, and whose fertile valleys I now saw for the first time     Fig-\ntrees abounded, there were also  plenty of peach and apple\ntrees; on the train stopping near a junction, several of the\npassengers got out and-helped themselves from an orchard\nIt is not my purpose to write a guide-book, only to notice\nthe more prominent features met with on the journey We\nreached Sacramento, the capital of California, shortly before\n9 am. The approaches to this city are well wooded \u2022 we\ncrossed a number of avenues, all bordered with finely-grown\ntrees, cottonwood, with the sycamore, locust, and acacia \u2022\nthe former predominating, as usual on the Pacific coast'\nwhen m the neighbourhood of bottom lands. There were\nalso a considerable number of fine specimens of the weeping willow.    The railroad passes along the river Sacramento,\nwhich is about a quarter of  a mile broad,  its  banks  lined\nprincipally with cottonwood trees.    I counted no less than\nfourteen steamers, mostly passenger ones, some few for freight\nloaded with grain.    We stopped here an hour, enabling those\nwho wanted it, to breakfast.   All of us brought provisions for\nthe journey, meals being expensive, as much as seventy-five\ncents (three shillings) in some places.    The stoves are convenient for cooking at, so that we had no trouble in boiling\nwater for tea and coffee.    I had bought a good-sized ham at\nSan Francisco, and got the cook at my hotel  to  boil it for\nme; this, with a supply of bread, butter, and cheese, enabled\nme to supply the wants of the inner man.     Most of the passengers had a variety of luxuries with them, and lived well.\nThey had tins of oysters, sardines, canned peaches, cold fowl\nand ham, hock of Californian production, and plenty of the\ninevitable whisky.    One of my companions got out, and for a\ndollar bought a box a foot and a half long, by nearly the same\nin breadth, and some six inches deep, full of the largest and\nfinest  grapes I ever   tasted.   On   leaving   Sacramento, we\nobtained a fine view of the Capitol with its  cupola  in the\nRoman style of architecture.    It is built on the plan of the\nCapitol at Washington, and is the finest building on the Pacific\ncoast.    We passed by a large  sandy river-bed,  called the\nAmerican River; it presented an extraordinary spectacle, being\nquite dried up, and was about the size of the Sacramento, a\nbridge across it being 5,750 feet long.    Shortly after leaving\nSacramento, we passed for many miles through beautiful parklike scenery, and came to the junction of the Oregon and\nCalifornia line with the Central Pacific, eighteen miles from\nSacramento.     The   scenery  became  more   undulating, with\nglimpses of distant hills or mountains, till we entered upon a\nrocky country, the ground being strewn with  large granite\nboulders.    One of the stations is called Rocklin, from the\nnumber of rocks in its neighbourhood.   The railroad company\nhave excellent quarries, from which they have taken a great\ndeal of stone for building purposes.   Their workshops are built\nof granite.    Rocklin is 160 miles from San Francisco, and has\nan elevation of 249 feet above the sea.    A different character\nis here observable in the vegetation, the white pine succeeding\nto the oak.   At Newcastle a glorious view burst upon our\nsight-a distance or series of distances with an expanse such\nas one seldom sees.    The eye ranges over a vast extent of\napparently boundless country; and, looking over league beyond\nleague to the far distant horizon whose line can scarcely be\ntraced, a feeling of exhilaration possesses the traveller and one\nrevels in the sense of space, boundless, illimitable as that of\nthe great deep.    It is to be noted here for the information of\ntravellers, that much of the most beautiful scenery of the Cen\ntral Pacific Railroad lies on the south side of the line    This\nsection of the country is of interest to the miner, for here we\nfirst come to  the  field of his  operations.     Large piles of\ngravel may be seen which have been washed over and over\nagain for gold, and ditches are seen  coiling round the hiU-\nsides, constructed to bring water for sluicing and washing the\n'pay-dirt     After leaving Newcastle, the scenery consist of\ngently swelling hills topped with pines.   Auburn,aprettyphce\nrecalled to us the opening Hues of \" The Deserted Vihige'2\n\" \u00abnCet tUbum! loyeUest Tata\u00abe of the plain,\nWhere health and plenty cheered the labouring swain\n\"K here smiling spring its earliest visit paid\nAnd panmg summer's lingering blooms defayU\" A THIRD-CLASS  PASSENGER'S JOURNEY ACROSS AMERICA.\n9*\nIn the early days of California, this was one of the richest\nmining camps. Here, on a shed full of wood close to the\nstation, the waggish owner, with a touch of humour, has inscribed\u2014\" Beware of the Dog.\"\nThe telegraph-poles along the line are constructed in the\nform of crosses, which remind one of Catholic countries on\nthe continent of Europe. Before approaching Clipper Gap,\nthere are some fine views to the south of the line, with magnificent middle distances, hills covered with firs, relieved here\nand there with ground tints of rich madder brown and burnt\nsienna. Some manzanita bushes were pointed out to me;\nthey have dark reddish-brown trunks, and make beautiful\ncanes when a straight one can be picked out, varnishing up of\na rich mahogany colour. Passing a mining camp, we noticed a\nwagon full of quartz, drawn by six mules. After passing Colfax,\na small place containing about a thousand inhabitants, at an\nelevation of about 2,424 feet above the sea, we came to\nCape Horn, a tremendous precipice seen dimly in the twilight;\nthe road winds round this, then by a sharp curve crosses a\ndeep ravine, over a trestle-bridge 878 feet long, and 113 feet\nabove the bottom of the ravine. From the top of this bridge\none looks down into a valley 2,000 feet below; so great is its\ndepth, that a passenger, who had passed it in the daytime, informed me that a team of horses below looked no bigger than\ngoats.\nSunday, October 12th.\u2014No going to church to-day; the\ntrain won't stop for that; we give a passing thought, a sigh of\nregret to the Sunday-school we were wont to attend, and the\nbeautiful service of the Episcopal church which one can never\ntire of hearing. Early next morning, about five o'clock, at-\nTruckee, a coloured man came \" on board \" with hot coffee at a\nbit (6d.) a cup, and pie or cake, 6d. each. We were amused at\nthe brusque off-hand manner of this man. From his rough and\nready way, telling us \"to hurry up,\" \"now's your time, boys,\"\nand so forth, it was evident that he looked down on third-class\npassengers, and considered us as so many cattle. As a\nforeigner, I have always been struck with the perfect courtesy\nand consideration with which the upper treat the lower classes,\nas well as with the similar feeling with which the lower classes\ntreat each other, that is to say, on the Pacific coast. I have\nseen a judge of the District Court of the United States, himself\na man of education and refinement, address a working man\nwith the utmost courtesy and respect. So true it is that in the\nStates every one is a gentleman, and this is one of the most\nbeautiful features of American civilisation. We are now among\nthe foothills of the Sierra Nevada, and, as proof of our elevation, see a thin coating of ice on the road. A few miles after\nleaving Truckee we pass from California into Nevada. The\nwell-remembered features of mountain scenery now begin to\nappear. We are hemmed in on either side by steep rocky\ndeclivities covered with debris. The mountain streams have\nshallow, rocky, boulder-strewn beds, and every now and then\nthere are tunnels through the solid rock. During the night we\npassed through a number of snow-sheds, built to ward off\navalanches ; it was like going through tunnels. In other parts\nof the road fences are made use of. These are in the form of\nthe letter A. They are generally about six feet high, and 100\nfeet long, and are set up in places where drifts occur. We\ncrossed in the night the summit pass of the Sierra Nevada,\n7,017 feet above the sea, and 243 miles from San Francisco.\nReno is an important place, being the nearest point to Virginia\nand Washoe cities, with other mining towns which cluster\naround. Its principal business is forwarding. While waiting\nat the station, we observed an enormous casting of a wheel\nupon a truck; it was eleven feet six inches in diameter, by a\nthickness of seventeen inches, and was estimated to weigh\n25,000 pounds (twelve and a half tons). It was intended to\nbe used for pumping up water in a quartz mill. After leaving\nReno, we come to the plains, or Great Nevada Desert, which\ntried emigrants so sorely in the olden time. Figure, reader, a\nlevel sandy tract, thinly scattered with stunted bushes (sage-\nbrush),'about one foot and a half above the ground, and devoid\nof trees or water, arid and parched\u2014a region of desolation, totally\nwanting in colour, being one monotonous tint of raw umber.\n\" We gain the top : a boundless plain\nSpreads through the shadow of the night,\nAnd onward, onward, onward seems,\nLike precipices in our dreams,\nTo stretch beyond the sight\"\nIn some places the surface is nearly white, owing to the\npresence of alkali, and at one of the stations I noticed a large\nheap of it, like snow. We passed by Humboldt River, the\nlargest and longest in the State of Nevada, and came in the\ntwilight to Humboldt Lake, which is from ten to fifteen miles\nlong, by from five to ten miles broad, being small in summer\nand large in winter, during the rains and immediately after\nthem. The old emigrant road, which we have now been\nfollowing for the last hundred miles, passes close to the western\nmargin of the lake. It is strewn with the bones of animals\nwhich dropped down from want of water and exhaustion. Being\na freight train, our rate of travel was very slow; I was informed it was only eight miles an hour from San Francisco to\nOgden; after that, twelve miles an hour to Omaha, and from\nthere to Chicago fifteen or twenty miles, from which latter\nplace the trains go at express speed to New York. One reason\nfor our frequent stoppages was that the train constantly overshot the time allowed it to make stated distances, or else we\nstopped to allow an express or other train to pass by, there\nbeing only one line. At this rate I begin to think we shall\nnever get to our journey's end, and make up my mind that\ntravelling is to be henceforth my normal state of existence, so\ncall philosophy to my aid, and make myself comfortable, no\nvery difficult matter with novels, magazines, newspapers, and\nplenty of \" grub \" on board.\nMonday, October 13th.\u2014After travelling all night, on waking'\nup in the morning we still find ourselves steaming through the\nGreat Nevada Desert, nothing to be seen but sand, alkali, and\nsagebrrsh, with bare hills or mountains far away. About half-\npast six we stopped at Winnemuca, a station of considerable\nimportance as a forwarding point to Idaho Territory, and intermediate places. The railroad company have here a semicircular \" round-house \" ofsixteen stalls, for the locomotives,\nand an ice-house. Stopping at a little wayside station, I\nnoticed the smallest restaurant I had ever seen; it was about\nsix feet square, and I wondered how people could make a\n\" square meal\" there.* Then at dinner to-day such clouds of\nalkali-dust blew in at the window, that my ham became quite\npowdered with it, and I was in danger of mistaking alkali for\nfat.    My fellow-passengers proved to be pleasant companions,\n* In the States a \"square meal\" means a full set meal, as distinguished\nfrom luncheon, or other slight repast. 92\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nWX\nand we all agreed very well together; there was a constant\ninterchange of little courtesies, which made travelling pleasant\nOne of them had a pack of cards, and they would often play\nat euchre, but not for money, to their credit be it said. Another,\npulling out a cigar one day, we jokingly observed that we must\nobject to it, considering that, for a third-class passenger, it was\ngiving oneself airs.\nTuesday, October 14th.\u2014A wild bleak-looking tract of\ncountry. We are still travelling through sagebrush deserts, but\nwith signs of cultivation occasionally. The hills are powdered\nwith snow, and icicles hang from the steps of the car, showing\nthat it is freezing. Our elevation is 5,800 feet. We ran out\nof wood, so got out on the train stopping to water the engine,\nand each of us gathered an armful of decayed stumps of sagebrush. Passed a track of rye-grass, which is coarse; cattle will\nonly eat it when they cannot get anything better.\nWednesday, October i$th.\u2014A good deal of snow on the\nground. We entered Utah Territory during the night, and are\nnow crossing the Great American Desert At 8 a.m., a few\nmiles beyond Matlin Station, we came in sight of the Great Salt\nLake towards the east, our route being north-easterly. The\nwaters of the lake extend away to the horizon ; above its sharp\nline ranges of mountain peaks rise out of the water. The shores\nof the lake approach close to the road. Ogden is 881 miles\nfrom San Francisco. It was here that the junction of the Central\nPacific with the Union Pacific Railroad (which completed the\ncommunication across the continent) was inaugurated with imposing ceremonies in the presence of Governor Stanford, of\nCalifornia, and a number of high civic dignitaries. Nevada sent\na silver spike, California a tie or sleeper of laurel-wood beautifully polished, and a small rail of solid gold, about one foot long,\nto unite the two lines. On this occasion the Central Pacific\nRailroad performed the celebrated feat of laying ten miles of\ntrack in one day, the greatest ever achieved by any railroad, the\nUnion Pacific never having been able to accomplish more than\nseven miles in one day. When the junction of the two lines\nwas effected, the locomotives approached each other till they\ntouched, when the engineers stepped forward arid shook hands\nwith each other. After the ceremony, the laurel-wood tie and\ngolden rail were taken up, ordinary ones being substituted in\ntheir places; the former was cut into pieces, and distributed\nas souvenirs among those who took part in the ceremony.\nOgden presents the usual appearance of Mormon towns, the\nhouses being widely scattered, with fine gardens and orchards\naround them. One of the passengers had been to Salt Lake\nCity, and gave us an account of the Mormons. Among other\nthings, he witnessed the ceremony of baptism. It appears from\nhis description that this, like the rite as practised by the Baptists, is confined to adults, but with this exception, that the candidate appears before the altar nearly in a state of nudity, and\nwith his eyes bandaged, which would seem to be partly drawn\nfrom masonic customs. Shortly before reaching Ogden, a\ndomestic tragedy took place. The teapot gave way, sprang a\na leak, an alarming thing to happen to a confirmed tea-drinker.\nArrived at Ogden, the tea-drinker rushes out of the cars, teapot in hand, frantically inquiring of every one he meets if there\nis a tinman at hand. The conductor informs him none within\nhalf a mile of the station. The train moves off; our tea man\ncollapses, is inconsolable; deprived of his beloved beverage,\nhe has to wait till next day, when we arrive at a station called\nRock Springs.    Here our tea man is again to be seen flying\nabout in an excited state, vehemently swinging his teapot No\ntinman to-be found here, so he goes into a store and buys a new\none. Proceeds to make a brew, which is successful. The tea-\ndrinker is jubilant\u2014virtue rewarded! At\" Ogden we leave\nchurches, schools, and other indications of civilisation behind,\nnor shall we meet with them again till we get to Cheyenne, on\nthe other side of the Rocky Mountains, in the State of Wyoming, close upon Nebraska, a distance of upwards of 400 miles.\nA mile or two beyond Rock Springs we noticed two coal-pits,\nthe entrance to the seams being on a level with the railroad.\nTen miles after leaving Bitter Creek Station, we came to a long\nridge of sandstone bluffs, rising to a considerable height above\nthe level of the surrounding country; one of these being flat on\nthe top, and projecting at the sides, is called Table Rock.\nThursday, October 16th.\u2014We wake up in Wyoming Territory,\nhaving crossed the frontier in the night. The landscape has a\nwintry aspect, bleak and sterile, being covered with snow, not\na trace of man visible ; icicles hang from the car, for we are now\nat an elevation of 6,300 feet above the sea, and are gradually\nascending to the summit of the Rocky Mountains. The train\nstopped at Greenwater to breakfast. Here there are marked\ngeological features. The rock formation, which is of sandstone,\nseems to have been acted on by water at some former period.\nIt is split up into fantastic shapes, here like the ruins of a castle,\nthere like extensive fortifications. In one place there was a\nsquare-shaped mass, exactly like a ruined tower. A man had\na quantity of fossils for sale, mostly of fish found in this formation at a considerable height above the level of the surrounding\ncountry.\nFriday, October mSm\u2014In the ahemoon, on approaching\nLook-out Station, saw two herds of antelopes; counted one,\nseventeen in number. We are now entering the rolling prairie\ncountry, where for fifty miles, either way along the road, vast\nherds of elk, deer, and antelope are found at different seasons\nof the year, the elk appearing mostly in the winter, when the\nsnow drives them from the mountains. We passed in the night\nthrough Sherman, the summit pass over the Rocky Mountains,\nso called from General Sherman being the tallest man in the\nFederal army.    This place is 8,235 feet above the sea.\nNext day was a glorious one; warm and sunny, the snow\ngradually disappearing as we descended to the plains. In the\nafternoon we came to Prairie Dog City, occupying several\nhundred acres on each side of the road. The dwellings of the\nlittle animals whose colony is thus designated consist of a little\nmound burrowed out of the sandy soil, about a foot above the\nground, with a hole at the top. They squat on their haunches,\nor else stand on their hind legs, barking at the train as it goes\nby. These animals are of a light tawny colour on the back, white\non the belly, and on the inside of the legs. They resemble a\nguinea-pig more than a dog, having the large back which is so\nmarked a feature in the former animal. Some of the passengers kept popping at them with revolvers. Saw two buffaloes\npretty near, standing still, in a dogged, vicious-looking manner,\njust as English bulls do. On the other side of the line, at some\ndistance, there was a herd of about fifty. They generally go in\na line, one behind another. Close to the road there was a dead\nbuffalo, which some passenger had, I suppose, wantonly shot.\nIt lay as it fell, a huge blackish mass, with a great hump in the\ncentre. We should have liked to have impounded it, as the\nhump is said to be of a remarkably fine flavour. For 200 miles\nbefore we reach Grand Island is the Great Buffalo range. in\n\"A\n<\nS5\nO\niz:\no 94\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nSunday, October jgth.\u2014We are now fairly in the plains,\nwhich, generally speaking, begin at Cheyenne and continue up\nto Omaha The old emigrants had hard times of it in crossing\nthe plains, having to travel 1,500 miles, without anything but\nbuffalo chips to use for fuel. Now things are somewhat different One meets with farmhouses occasionally, especially in\nthe neighbourhood of the stations. We reached Grand Island\nabout the middle of the day. This is a large station, but it does\nnot need any description, for there is a great family likeness\namong all these new towns. They are all hurriedly run up,\nand built in the cheapest way possible, with slight frameworks\nof timber, the stores being always of a single planking, or thickness of lumber,* as it is called, the private dwelling-houses\nbeing a little more substantial. The accompanying illustration\ngives a fair notion of a Western town. There were a number\nof Comanche Indians stalking about in indigo-coloured blankets\nand mocassins. Observing a kind of brass-headed tomahawk\npeeping out of the folds of a blanketed Indian, I made signs\nto him to let me look at it; when, folding his blanket about\nhim, he stalked off, scowling at me as if his dignity had been\noffended. The women were more sociable, and I bought a\npretty bead necklace of one of them for the magnificent sum\nof 25 cents (is.). We pass by the North Platte River, whose\nacquaintance we first made at Fort Steele in Wyoming Territory,\nmore than 400 miles west of this point It rises in North Park,\nColorado, distant about 800 miles. The South Platte has its\norigin in the South Park of the same territory, and is distant\nnearly 300 miles. The south bank of this was in the olden\ntime \" one broad thoroughfare, where the long trains of the\nemigrants, with their white-covered wagons, could be seen\nstretching away for many miles in an almost unbroken chain.\"\nNow, on the northern side of the railroad, in almost full view of\nthe old emigrant road, the cars are bearing the teas and silks\nof China and Japan, the fruit and grain of California, into a\nthousand channels. After crossing the North Platte, we traverse\na level grassy country, consisting of rolling prairie, well watered,\nand are now entering upon the great valley of the Platte, a rich\ntract of agricultural land, almost as boundless as the ocean.\nAs far as the eye can reach, nothing can be seen but the most\nbeautiful grassy plains.\nAbout half an hour before reaching Omaha, where we were\nto change cars, an official belonging to the company entered\nthe train and gave us information as to hotels, and also offered\nto change any money we might require into greenbacks, which\ncirculate at Omaha. We arrived at this place, the capital of\nNebraska, at 12 o'clock p.m., but it took an hour before we\nwere allowed to leave the cars. My reminiscences of Omaha\nare not very agreeable. First of all, we were carried a considerable distance beyond the station, then had to wait a long\ntime. After- this, we were moved back a short distance, and\nthen shunted on to five or six different lines ; after which we\nwere shunted back again; then the locomotive was removed\nfrom the front, and brought round to the rear. Finally we were\ntaken back about a mile or two, then brought forward for\nabout the same distance, all of which appeared to us sufficiently\nsenseless and idiotic, or else to be undertaken for the express\npurpose of imperilling our lives or limbs, seeing that it was a\ndark night. All trades have their tricks, and the only explanation that I could arrive at, as to the cause of these mysterious\n* In America, lumber means timber suitable for building.\nmovements, was that the railway company wanted to make\ntheir passengers thoroughly disgusted, and force them into the\nfirst-class in.future. When at length we were let out, we hurried\nto a house belonging to the company, expecting to get some\nsupper, but were disappointed, owing to the lateness of the\nhour. A party of us then started off into the town in search of\na restaurant or hotel that might be open. A dark frosty night\nadded to our discomfort. We could not find one, and came\nback thoroughly disgusted, vowing that we would shake the\ndust off our feet against Omaha, as an inhospitable, one-horse\nplace. I unpacked a portion of my luggage and made a supper,\nwith a cup of hot coffee to console me for my misfortunes. My\nblankets and bedding being all packed up, I laid myself down\non the floor of the car, and got about a couple of hours broken\nsleep.\nMonday, October 20th.\u2014About 4 a.m. we were woke up\nto get our luggage rechecked. About 5.30 we got off, and\nshortly afterwards came to a place called Council Bluffs, on the\nwestern side of the river Missouri, so called because the Indians\nwere in the habit of meeting on these bluffs and holding\ncouncil. We then crossed the Missouri by a suspension bridge,\nabout one-third of a mile in length. Our new cars were well\ncushioned and comfortable in every respect, and we had the\nluxury of ice with our water. I noticed an .unusual attempt at\ndecoration connected with machinery, viz., an engine with a\nsmall tin figure on it of an Indian shooting with a bow and\narrow. We travelled all day through an undulating and fertile\ncountry, well stocked with farms. The stations have some of\nthem pretensions to architectural beauty, and everything indicates that we are fast approaching civilisation. The day is\nglorious, warm, and balmy, and it seems to be that beautiful\nperiod known as the Indian summer. The speed with which\nwe now travel revives my spirits, somewhat depressed by the\nstern and savage aspect of the Rocky Mountains, and the bleak\nscenery of the Great American Desert. All day long, as\nthe train threads its devious course by winding rivers, through\nwoodland glades, across gentle uplands, I revel in the quiet\nbeauty of these pastoral scenes, these sylvan haunts. A deep\njoy pervades my being, a quiet, calm, contented state of mind,\nwith a sense of peace to which my breast has long been a\nstranger; for, after eleven years of a wandering and chequered\nexistence, I am nearing my native land.\nWe reached Chicago next morning at half-past seven. Here\ncars are changed again. Finding that we could not leave till\nthe evening, I sallied forth to see the town, first getting my\nluggage re-checked for New York. The city is the finest I\nhave yet seen. The streets are very wide, and the side-walks\nflagged with stone; the buildings all superb, as well in point of\nsize as in decoration, and all are either stone or brick, five and\nsix storeys in height; everything is neat and clean looking, very\ndifferent from San Francisco, which is dingy and dirty. I was\nstruck with the immense height and thickness of the telegraph-\npoles, which were more like masts, reaching up to about two-\nthirds of the height of the houses. But what most impressed\nme were the ruins of two churches that I saw, and of the\ncourt-house, all of which looked really picturesque. These\nruins, particularly those of the churches, being in the Gothic\nstyle, must, seen under the softening influence of moonlight, >\nbe perfect. As it is, surveying them in broad daylight, l\nstrange feeling comes over one, seeing ruins silent and sad,\nwhile the full roar and tide of existence sweeps round them. DISCOVERIES IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA.\n95\nThere was an \"Inter-State\" Exhibition of Industry, with\na picture gallery. The latter was to me of the most interest\nThere were two noteworthy pictures. One, the painting commemorative of the burning of Chicago, by E. Armitage, R A\nwith the motto, \"Resurge Chicago;\" the other, by Bierstadt\nentitled \"Autumn in the Sierras.\"\nI went up to the top of a tower in the exhibition building,\nand got a good view of Chicago. It seems, as far as one could\nsee on a murky day, to be surrounded on three sides by Lake\nMichigan. Hardly a trace of the great fire is to be seen. The\nday was bitterly cold. I was wearied with eleven days and\nnights of constant travel, and must confess that I enjoyed the\nwarm fire and luxury of a cigar in the smoking-room of the\nexhibition, more than the ten thousand beautiful objects\nwhich everywhere met my eyes as I sauntered around the\nbuilding.\nI was glad to return to the railroad depot, and enter once\nmore the dear old cars, which seemed to me like home, so\nfamiliarised had I now become with travelling. I made myself\ncomfortable with \" the cup that cheers but not inebriates,\" but\nwas not allowed long to retain possession of my \" state room,\"\nfor such a crowd of passengers came in, that I was obliged to\ngive up two of the seats, managing, however, to retain the re\nmaining two; this did not occasion me much concern, being\nnow near the journey's end.\nWe left Chicago at 5.15 p.m., by the Michigan Central\nRailroad, the train being an express one, and about.half-past\nthree in the morning stopped at the Grand Junction Station to\nchange cars. After waiting about a couple of hours, and\nhaving breakfast at a good hotel, we went on by the Great\nWestern Railway to Detroit. Here we left the cars again, and\ncrossed by a steam ferryboat over the Detroit River to the\nCanadian side. The road passes by Lake Ontario, whose\n\u2022waters extend to the horizon. About 5 p.m. I stopped at\nClifton to see the Niagara Falls, and proceeded thither on the\nfollowing morning, a distance of two miles. At 5.10 p.m. I\nresumed my journey by the Erie Railroad, which starts from\nthe same station as the Great Western, having been just twenty-\nfour hours at Clifton. At Buffalo we had to change cars for\nlast time; the latter portion of the journey we followed the\nthe windings of the river Susquehanna for many miles through\nsome beautiful scenery in the State of New Jersey. Finally\nwe reached New York about half-past one p.m. on the 24th of\nOctober, having been\u2014including the day spent at Chicago, and\nthe day and night passed at Niagara Falls\u2014nearly fourteen\ndays on a journey of 3,030 miles.\nErnest Giles' Discoveries in Central Australia.-\u2014\/.\nAustralian energy has experienced no diminution since the\ncompletion of the great land-telegraph;* but, on the contrary, has availed itself of the telegraph-line as a basis of explorations into the still almost unknown interior of the continent. As a first attempt, a small expedition was fitted out\nunder the patronage of Baron F. von Miiller, in the colony of\nVictoria, and entrusted to Mr. Ernest Giles, an experienced\npioneer. A Mr. Carmichael volunteered to accompany him,\nand, with one other attendant only, a man named Robinson,\nGiles started for the interior, and arrived on the 22nd August,\n1872, at the Finch River, opposite \"Chambers' Pillar,\" which\nwas the point fixed upon for an excursion into the unknown\ncountry to the west of the telegraph-line.\nChambers' Pillar is an extraordinary mass of sandstone,\nvisible from a great distance, and surrounded by red sandhills covered with scrub. It rises out of a sort of pedestal,\nabout 80 feet high, to a height of about 150 feet.\nOn the 23rd of August, Giles turned his back on this place\nwith the intention of following up the Finch River to its source.\nThe bed of the stream is here very rocky, and they were often\nobliged to ford it under great difficulties. On one occasion\ntwo natives were observed who would not venture within hailing distance, but came back next day, accompanied by a third,\na warrior whose formidable war-paint bespoke his hostile intentions. Giles rode towards them, when they took precipitately to flight, the warrior showing extraordinary agility in\neffecting his escape to the friendly shelter of the nearest trees.\nAt the mouth of the Mount Mimi Creek, the Finch emerges\n\u2022 See Illustrated Travels, voL v., p. 306.\nfrom a mountain district of considerable length and breadth.\nThe river is closely hemmed in by hills of red sandstone, piled\nup in the most grotesque forms, and full of cracks and crevices.\nHere they met with a party of twenty or thirty natives, who\ntook to flight precipitately, as usual, leaving all their possessions behind. The valley through which they were passing,\nGiles calls the Glen of Palms, from the abundance of beautiful\nfan-palms (the first which they had met with on their journey\nfrom the south), which were growing in the bed of the river,\nand even in the water. Stony and sterile as was the district,\nthe travellers were much struck with the wonderful profusion of\nbeautiful flowers of all colours and odours.\nOn leaving the Glen of Palms, which is about forty miles\nin length, and forms the only break in the hills, the travellers\narrived at a sandy plain, thinly covered with trees. After traversing this for twenty miles, they reached a northern range of\nmountains, higher and more imposing than those which they\nhad lately left behind Here the Finch flows out of a narrow\ngorge, before the southern opening of which the expedition\nencamped on the 5 th and 6th of September. On climbing a\nhill near the camp, Giles was able to distinguish three separate\nranges of mountains. The most northerly rises to a height of\nmore than 4,000 feet above the sea; while the height of the\nothers is not under 2,000 feet. The most southern, and the\nlowest consist of sandstone, and the middle, and probably the\nnorthern also, of basalt. These mountains are a continuation\nof the Macdonnell Range; and Giles saw high confused\nmasses of mountains to the east, and one straight precipitous\npeak particularly attracted his attention. 96\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nAs the gorge of the Finch proved to be impassable for\nhorses, and no other passage through the mountains could be\nfound, Giles turned to the west along a watercourse which he\ncalled Rudall Creek. This led them past an isolated range\nof red and white sandstone hills, which received the name of\nGosse Range. The surface of the valley of Rudall Creek consisted alternately of high sand-hills covered with the troublesome Spinifex, or porcupine grass; plains with clumps of\nmulya-trees, and stony ridges overgrown with Eucalyptus;\ngrass-trees were also observed, a great rarity in this part of\nAustralia.\nRudall's Creek, like the Finch, flows from the mountains\nthrough a narrow impassable gorge, and Giles was therefore\nobliged to cross the barren hills to the west, and thus reached\nanother creek (Carmichael's), which turned more to the west\nthan the one they had first quitted. A little further on, the\nriver divides into several arms, and flows through a marshy\nfertile plain, where they met with many emus, kangaroos,\ncrows, eagles, quails, and pigeons. About this point two of\nthe mountain ranges ended, the middle one turning back towards the east in very regular steps or notches, each of which\nforms a crooked red wall, so that the chain looks like a gigantic flight of steps in perspective.\nGiles wished to make another attempt to cross the mountains, one range of which still continued to run to the west as\nfar as they could see; and he and Carmichael proceeded to\na mountain seven or eight miles north of the camp, and about\n1,600 feet above it, in order to reconnoitre. On reaching the\nfoot-hills, they found that they were separated from the mountain by a yawning chasm, on the opposite side of which it rose\nin a perpendicular wall of basalt fifty or sixty feet high, and so\nregularly divided by cracks in opposite directions, that it\nseemed to be composed of building-stones piled together without mortar. It could only have been ascended on the north\nside, and as Giles was now convinced that no practicable pass\nfor horses could be found here, he abandoned the attempt,\nand determined to continue his route to the west.\nThey pursued their course in this direction for some days,\nencountering great difficulties from want of water, and the\ndesertion of horses. The Macdonnell Range still continued\nparallel to their course on the north, and exhibited a breadth of\nfrom forty to forty-five miles. Giles was much surprised that he\nmet with no river-bed flowing from so large an extent of mountains of a greater length than ten or twelve miles. The Macdonnell Mountains had been known before as a peculiarly\nhealthy and fertile district; but their great extent, which may\nbe compared to that of the South Australian mountains, was\npreviously unsuspected.\nLeaving the basaltic walls, and following a creek which led\nthem at first through an open country covered with long dry\ngrass and beautiful casuarinas, the expedition arrived, on the\n18 th September, at the extremity of the chain of hills which\nthey had had to the left for some time, and had called Gardiner's Range. About this time water failed them, and their\nroad led over sandhills covered' with scrub, which immediately\nabsorbed any rain which fell upon it. Finally Giles reached a\nmountain which he named Mount Udor, where a little water\nwas to be found in the clefts of the rocks. But the view from\nthe top of the hill was anything but reassuring. The main\nrange was passed, having turned in a northerly or northwesterly direction; but both to the north and west, little could\nbe seen but a confused mass of hills covered with scrub, and\nno river-bed of any kind could be discovered.\nThe inhospitable and waterless character of this district\nwas only more fully proved by an excursion to the west, during\nwhich Giles met with nothing for 300 miles but rocks or sandhills, covered with porcupine-grass, which wounded the feet of\nthe horses, and on returning to the camp he determined to turn\nin a southerly direction, as it was impossible to penetrate\nfurther to the west for want of water. A mare which had\ndropped a foal in this desolate region was obliged to be left\nbehind.\nNo water was found on the first day, during which they\ntravelled, as usuai, over dreary sandhills; but they noticed a\ncave, the sides of which were covered with odd pictures of\nsnakes, and the impression of children's hands in coal. This\nhad evidently been a camp of the natives; and Giles soon discovered a rocky basin filled with clear pure water in a little\nvalley (Glen Edith) filled with wild fig-trees and surrounded\nwith fantastically-shaped sandstone hills. Here again were\ncaves with rude native drawings. Many of these were outlines\nof the human hand.\nThe expedition rested here some days, and the mare was\nbrought over from Mount Udor. The whole neighbourhood\nseemed desert and waterless; and it was only after two or three\nfruitless excursions in different directions, that Giles was able to\nremove the camp to the Vale of Tempe, a little further south,\nwhere an abundance of fresh green grass and Eucalyptus was <\nmet with.\nDuring the last excursion, Giles saw from the hills about\nthe Worrill Pass, a high mountain to the south, apparently\nabout seventy or seventy-five miles distant; and, as he hoped\nto find a considerable river running from it to the west, he and\nCarmichael started in this direction, with provisions for a week,\nleaving Robinson in charge of the camp. On the first day\n(October 17 th), the road lay again over sandhills and through\nscrub, and they were obliged to camp without water. Besides\nthe high mountain, a peculiar hazy appearance was visible\ntowards the south, which Giles could not understand. He'\nthen pushed on through Glen Thirsty to the Worrill Pass.\nAfter allowing the horses one day's rest, they turned again\nto the south on the 20th of October. They immediately\nemerged from the hills into thick scrub ; and, after riding\nfifteen miles, they reached a marshy watercourse, with traces\nof very salt water. They found a crossing, climbed a high\nsand-hill, and stood at the edge, of an immense salt plain,\nwhich stretched away to the west for a long distance. They\nattempted to ride round it to the east, but, after riding some\ndistance, and climbing another sand-hill, could see no termination in this direction either. The salt-marsh lay just across\ntheir path, and it was impossible to cross it The crust on\nthe surface would indeed support the weight of a man! but\nthe horses broke through, and almost disappeared in the bog\nbeneath. The breadth of the salt-marsh, which Baron von\nMiiller subsequently named Amadeus Lake, is about six- or\nseven miles; and Giles estimates it to lie 700 or 800 feet\nlower than the neighbourhood of Mount Udor. The continued\nslope of. the land to the south had filled him with hopes of\nfinding a large river-bed, a fresh-water lake, or at least meadows overgrown with Polygomun; and now their road to the\npromising mountains in the south was barred by an impassable\nsalt-marsh. THE  SCHONEBRUNNEN AT NUREMBERG\n253\u2014vol. vi. feSS\niliiil   :\n93\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nA   Visit  to  Nuremberg.\nBY E.  DELMAR MORGAN,   F.R.G.S.\n\" In the valley of the Pegnitz, where, across broad meadow-lands.\nRise the blue Franconian mountains, Nuremberg the ancient stands.\"\nNuremberg is one of the most interesting towns of South\nGermany, and well deserves a visit. Situated on both banks\nof the river Pegnitz, in the midst of a level plain at the foot\nof the mountains of Franconia, the ancient city, girt by its\nwall, with towers, and* bastions, and moat, retains its medieval\narchitectural beauty, uninjured by time or the despoiler's\nhand. As you pass along the crooked streets, with their old-\nfashioned high-gabled houses, the quaint market-place where,\namid fruit and vegetable stalls, rises the beautiful fountain; as\nyou pause to admire some richly-carved Gothic church, full of\nold paintings and sculpture, your thoughts revert to the days\nwhen the imperial city stretched its hand through every land,\nand its wealthy burghers traded with the distant East.\nHere lived Albrecht Diirer, the painter and.engraver, the\npupil of Wohlgemut. Hence he went forth to study the\nfine arts in the schools of Italy, returning to his native city-\nin order to impart to his countrymen the results of his travel\nand labours, and engraft the classical taste of Italy on the\nrude art of Gothic Germany. Here, too, lived and laboured\nPeter Vischer, the sculptor and brassfounder; Adam Krafft,\nthe sculptor and architect; Hirschvogel, the first manufacturer of glazed pottery in Germany; Hans Sachs, \" the cobbler bard;\" and a host of others, whose names have been\nhanded down to posterity through their works, which are\nstill preserved in the ancient city.\nThe castle-keep still frowns from yonder height as in\ndays of yore, when emperors and burgraves resided in it;\nhere may still be seen the marks of iron hoofs hewn into\nthe rock, to remind one of the daring leap of Eppelein von\nGailingen, and in the courtyard the linden-tree planted by\nQueen Kunigunda.\nThe most ancient, and, in our opinion, the most interesting, church of Nuremberg is St. Sebald, dedicated to that\nsaint, according to the legend, because he had expressed\na wish to be buried wherever a yoke of oxen should leave\nhis body. The oxen dragged the body to the chapel of St.\nPeter, built in the eighth century by Bonifacius, which has\ngrown into the present handsome church. The architecture\nis for the most part Gothic, retaining, however, some traces\n\u25a0 of the Byzantine style. Over the Braut Thor (the bride's\ndoor) are carved in stone the five wise and five foolish virgins,\nholding their lamps. Above the Peterskapelle is suspended a\ngigantic metal crucifix, one of the earliest works of art of\nNuremberg. At the time of the restoration of the church in\n1625, this cross was painted black, so that it might not attract\nthe avarice of the invader; hence the Nurembergers derived\nthe nickname of Herrgottschwarzer (the Lord's black- men).\nThe interior of the church is full of paintings by the old\nNuremberg masters, Wohlgemut, Hans Kulmbach, Albrecht\nDiirer, and Kreuzfelder, stained glass windows by Veit Hirschvogel, statues and bas-reliefs by Adam Krafft, and carvings in\nwood by Veit Stoss.    But the monument most worthy of\nattention is the tomb of St. Sebald himself, which stands in the\nchoir. This beautifully designed and wonderfully executed\nbronze monument was made by Peter Vischer, assisted by his\nfive sons, Peter, Hermann, Hans, Paul, and Jacob. They all\nlived with their wives and families in one house, together with\ntheir father, and were occupied thirteen years in the work. It\nis evident that their labour was one of love, for the small sum\nof money, 2,402 florins, paid to them, could not have been an\nadequate remuneration for the time and toil expended upon it\nThe whole monument is fifteen feet high, eight feet long, and\nfour and a half wide. It rests on twelve snails and four\ndolphins. The chief figures, about half way up, represent the\ntwelve Apostles, who \" guard from age to age their trust;\" and\nabove these are twelve smaller figures of the fathers of the\nChurch. Inside is the coffin, inlaid with gold and silver, containing the remains of St. Sebald. The arched roof is supported\non eight columns, and bears on its summit a little figure of the\nchild Jesus standing erect on a globe. On the west side is a\nstatue of Vischer himself, in working dress, chisel in hand;\nwhile in a corresponding niche facing the east is one of St.\nSebald. Vischer, like others of his fellow-citizens, studied for\nsome years in Italy. His first important work in Germany was\na monument to the Archbishop Ernest, placed in the cathedral\nof Magdeburg; but his masterpiece is the one we have just\ndescribed.\nThe Schonebrunnen, or the Beautiful Fountain, occupies a\nprominent place among the works of art in Nuremberg, its\ngraceful proportions and elaborate workmanship arresting the\nattention of the passer-by. The original fountain was erected\nin the middle of the fourteenth century, when it was covered\nwith gilding and colour. In 1587 it was restored at a great\ncost, but after that time it was almost neglected and allowed to\nfall into decay, until King Maximilian ordered its restoration,\nwhich was accomplished under the auspices of Albert Reindal,\ndirector of the school of arts, who made 164 drawings, in\naccordance with which this beautiful work of art was entirely\nrenovated between the years 1821 and 1824, every care being\ntaken to follow out the original design. The Schonebrunnen\nrises to a height of sixty feet; in the lower part are statues of\nthe Grand Dukes of Mayence, Treves, and Cologne, Clevis\nof France, Charlemagne, Judas Maccabeeus, Joshua, and David,\nJulius Ca;sar, Alexander the Great, and Hector, besides other\nheroes. Above these, but on a smaller scale, stand Moses\nand the prophets; the fountain is surrounded by an iron railing\nmade in 1586 by a blacksmith of Augsburg.\nIn the accompanying engraving may be seen the Frauen or\nMarien Kirche (the Roman Catholic church) dedicated to Our\nLady, and occupying the site of the former synagogue, which\nwas destroyed during the persecution of the Jews, in the middle\nof the fourteenth century. In this edifice, among other curiosities, is an old clock of wonderful mechanism, made by George\nHeuss in 1509; formerly, when the hours struck, figures issued\nfrom a door and passed in front of one seated, representing the\nEmperor Charles IV.     Nuremberg was always celebrated for its manufacture of clocks and watches; it was the birthplace\nof Philip Hele, the inventor of the latter, which were known\nby the name of | Nuremberg eggs.\" Hardly a step from here\nis the Fountain of the Gansemannchen; cleverly executed in\nbronze by Lebenwolf, stands the \" little man,\" with a goose\nunder each arm, water spouting from their bills. Crossing the\nPegnitz by the Konigsbrucke, and ascending the Konigstrasse,\nyou soon arrive at the Lorenzkirche, which, although not so old\nas St. Sebald, rivals it in the beauty of its architecture and\nrich carvings. Like that church, too, it contains in its \"pix\nof sculpture rare,\" a relic of the skill and industry of one of\nthe early artisans of Nuremberg. This beautiful structure,\nwhich stands by a column on the left hand side of the choir,\nconsists of a Gothic spire of carved stone, rising from the floor\nof the church to a height of sixty-four feet, the pinnacle turned\ndownwards in the shape of a crozier or episcopal staff. It was\nintended to serve as a receptacle for the holy elements. The\nciborium, placed on a low platform, is supported by the kneeling\nfigures of Adam Krafft, the architect, and his two assistants;\nabove are a succession of bas-reliefs, representing the later\nscenes in the life of Christ In one He may be seen taking\nleave of His mother; in another, on the Mount of Olives;\nhigher still is the Last Supper, the bringing before Caiaphas,\nthe crowning with thorns, the scourging, the Crucifixion, and,\nlast of all, the Resurrection.\nNot far from this church is the old Carthusian Monastery,\nrecently converted into the Germanische Museum, which contains, besides the archives and library, a most interesting collection of pictures, epgravings, armour, and pottery. But the\nprincipal attraction of the institution is the large fresco by\nKaulbach, painted in 1859 on the wall of the church, and\ngiven by him to the Museum. The subject is the visit of Kaiser\nOtho to the tomb of Charlemagne at Aix-la-Chapelle, symbolising\nthe object of the Museum, namely, to bring to light the treasures\nof German knowledge and art from the depths of past centuries.\nAnother remarkable picture (to be seen in the gallery) is the\nportrait of Hieronymus Holzschuher, by Albrecht Diirer, still\nin the possession of the Holzschuher family. It is to Hirsch-\nvogel, one of the citizens of Nuremberg, that Germany is\nindebted for the manufacture of majolica; in 1503 he travelled\ninto Italy, and learned the art of enamelling pottery at Urbino,\nreturning in 1507 to establish in his native city the first manufactory of this ware; but, sculpture and carving being more\ncongenial to his taste than painting, the works he produced\nare ornamented in relief, and not upon a flat surface, like the\nItalian ware.\nThe potters of Nuremberg were likewise celebrated for\nglazed tiles of great size, for covering stoves; and at the Royal\nMuseum at \"Dresden is a splendid specimen of old Nuremberg\npottery\u2014a pitcher of green glaze with a medallion in relief\nof exquisite modelling, for which her artists were renowned,\nbearing the date 1473.\nWe can scarcely take leave of Nuremberg without mentioning the ancient singers of Germany, for it was\n\" Thro' these streets so broad and stately,\nThese obscure and dismal lanes,\nWalked of yore the master-singers,\nChanting rude poetic strains.\"\nLike their predecessors, the minnesingers, they included\nmen of every rank and calling; and although Northern\nGermany produced by far the greater number, still the South\ncould boast of possessing at Nuremberg the most famous singer\nof his day\u2014\n\" Hans Sachs, who was a shoe-\nMaker and a poet too.\" *\nThe son of a tailor, he was born in 1494, during' a fearful\nepidemic of the plague. At the age of fourteen his father apprenticed him to a shoemaker, and he soon after made the acquaintance of Leonard Nunnenbeck, a weaver, and well-known\nmaster-singer of the time, who appears to have initiated him\ninto the mystery of verse-making. Having passed several years\nwandering from place to place, visiting the schools of art at\nMayence and Strasburg, he returned to settle in his native\ncity, where he resided to the day of his death, sometimes plying\nhis trade, sometimes instructing others in the composition ot\nverses, but more often busied with his own compositions. The\namiability of his disposition earned for him the love and respect\nof all, and obtained for him the appellation of \" Honest Hans\nSachs.\" His writings were very voluminous, and he lived to\nsee a complete edition of his own works, which were published\nat Nuremberg in 1558, in five folio volumes. One of his most\ncelebrated hymns was written during the terrible siege of that\ncity in 1561\u2014\" Warum betriibst du dich mein Herz.\"\nHarsdOrffer, one of the founders of the sentimental school,\nmore than a century later, was also a native of Nuremberg; he\nbelonged to one of the oldest families of its ancient mercantile\naristocracy, and was a wealthy and important magistrate and\nmerchant His writings, both in prose and verse, sacred and\nsecular, were many in number; and in 1644 he engaged in a\npoetical contest with a rival poet named Klai. A garland of\nflowers was the prize for which they contended ; but so equal\nwere the combatants, that the judges were unable to decide\nupon the victor; a flower from the wreath was therefore\nawarded to each, which event gave rise to the founding of a\nnew order, that of \" The Flowers,\"- the remaining blossoms\nbeing sent to other friendly poets, thus inviting them to join\ntheir ranks. This order, which still exists, celebrated its two\nhundredth anniversary in 1844. The usual meeting-place of its\nmembers was at Pegnitz, near Nuremberg, and they were\ntermed, on account of their pastorals, \"the shepherds and\nshepherdesses of Pegnitz.\"\nAlthough so renowned a place in mediaeval times, Nuremberg is not a city of great antiquity. It was unknown in\nRoman times, and had attained no great celebrity before the\n10th or nth century. During those periods it was frequently\nvisited by the Emperors of Germany, and was particularly\nfavoured by Frederick Barbarossa, who endowed it with valuable\nprivileges. In 1219 it was raised to the rank of a free city of\nthe empire. Its prosperity-gradually declined under the weight\nof debt incurred by the exactions of armies, both hostile and\nfriendly, during the European wars of the last two centuries, and'\nit was not till after it was taken possession of by Bavaria, in 1806,\nthat a turn took place in its fortunes, and its trade revived.\nAnd now we must bid farewell to Nuremberg. The glory\nhas departed from its ancient halls, but the light of other days\nstill lingers around it The painters, the sculptors, the artists\nwho made the city famous, still live in their works; and\nfuture generations will never cease to revere the place where\nthe Muses established their home in the troubled times of\nthe Middle Ages.\n* See \"The Christian Singers of Germany.\"   By Catherine Wink-\nworth.    (Macmillan & Co.)\ni;24l IOO\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nA   Trip to Livonia and Back.\u2014II.\nBY  MRS.   M.   G.   HOGG  GARDEN.\nWhere everything is new, it is difficult to know what is best\nto select as worthy the pages of a diary. Prawns, or floating\nvillages, are to me very interesting, and therefore I shall speak\nof them. These are a feature peculiar to Russian rivers. The\nformer is the proper name, the latter that which their appearance suggests to myself, and perhaps when I say they are\nlike a cluster of Noah's arks, the juvenile mind will more\nreadily form an idea of the prawns of tire Dwina (or Diina) as\nit is here pronounced.\nThe prawn is formed of rough\nboards put together in the form of\na big boat, flat bottomed, and with\nsides five or six feet high. The whole\nis covered with a canvas roof, sloping\nup to a beam going lengthwise across\nthe top. This roof has an opening\nat one end, which serves the double\npurpose of door and window. In\nthese floating tents, which may be\ncounted by scores, the produce frbm_\nthe interior is conveyed to the various\nshipping ports, the men in charge\nliving in the boats, many of which\nare finished at the top by a circle of\nwooden benches, where, I suppose,\nthe captain takes up a position to\nwatch the course of his craft. They\nneed little seamanship, however; these\nprawns guiding themselves very much\ndown stream, and such management\nas they do require is usually effected\nrather with oars than with a rudder.\nShould extra hands be wanted, they\nmay easily be   picked up along   the\nbanks of the river.    The Russian is by nature Bohemian, and j\nwill readily give his work for a free passage, black bread, and\ntea, without which he would feel himself \" at sea \" indeed.   We j\ndaresay it is not an uncomfortable  mode of travelling.    The\nseverest of the weather is already past before the prawns set |\nsail, and the bags of grain or flax must form a comfortable\ncouch enough for men unaccustomed to the luxury of a feather\nbed six feet by five.   There are several of these prawns, and\nwhen a dozen or twenty are grouped together, they present\nmuch the appearance of an Eastern village of tents.\nAnother strange feature of the Russian rivers is that of the\nrafts. These, however, have been so often described, that it\nis almost needless to say much about them. As soon as the\nwinter ice and snow disappear, the timber which has been\ngetting ready during the winter is dragged to the river, and\nhaving been lashed firmly together into square rafts, a small\nstraw hut is erected on the centre as a place of shelter for the\nnavigators, and the whole structure is launched. As they have\nlong distances to travel, these rafts must often be many weeks\non the voyage ; but nothing, we fancy, will better suit the taste\nof the indolent Russ than to float lazily down stream, if he\nis given tea, tobacco, and black bread, little work, and plenty\nof sleep. In the shipping season, the Dwina is literally covered\nwith rafts and prawns, making the river look almost as busy as\nthe market-place.\nPerhaps the most attractive thing at Riga is its floating\nbridge. This is thrown across the Dwina where it is a quarter\nof a mile broad, and over it traffic of\nevery kind passes in an unceasing\nstream. It is level with the water,\nand forms a dock for loading vessels.\nThe prawns which have come down\nfrom the interior may open their doors\nhere, and discharge their cargo on\none side of the bridge, the bags of\noats or barley having only to be carried on the shoulders of the stowers,\nacross the bridge into the ship lying\nready on the other side. These floating bridges, of which, I believe, there\nare now many in Russia, have been\nfound to answer the purpose well,\nhaving this great advantage over other\nbridges, that as soon as the frost sets\nin, the flussbriicke is removed, so\nthat the floods and masses of ice\nwhich the breaking up of the winter\nsnows in spring brings with it, pass\nunheeded, while she is lying high and\ndry, quietly waiting till the danger is\npast.\npeasant. There   is   also  a   handsome  iron\nbridge a little higher up, across which\nthe railway travels, and which is used both for foot-passengers\nand vehicles.\nApril 22nd.\u2014Still struggling hard against the difficulties of\nthe German language. It seems to grow more difficult every\nday, or at least I grow more keenly alive to my ignorance,\nand the learning it is such uphill work, that I begin towonder\nif even time will surmount the difficulties.\nRiga has two good parks, a little one out of town called\nthe \" Kaiser's Garten,\" is really a fine park, with several of the\nmost beautiful avenues of trees I ever saw. But it is badly\nkept, and seems to have fallen out of repute. The other,, in\nthe Vorstadt, is a neat little park, presented to the town by a\ncitizen, after whom it is named Wermer's Park. Our idea of\na park, formed from those of London, is quite different from\nthat of the Germans\u2014and Riga is German ifi all its institutions\nand tastes, although regulated by \"Russian laws.\nWermer's Park, then, is free to all classes of the community, who as freely avail themselves of the liberty; but it is\nconducted on the following system.   The grounds are leased to the keeper of a first-class restaurant, the best in town.    The\nlessee keeps the grounds in order, provides music and ether attractions.    Every evening, Wednesday and Saturday excepted,\nfrom the first of May, a large military band performs, for the\nmortal space of six hours, in a small covered theatre.    As it is\nlighted with gas, neither rain nor the fall of night interrupt the\nperformers, while all around the  audience are chinking beer,\ncoffee, or champagne, or\neating ices, veal cutlets,\nand so forth, while only\na few promenaders are\ngiving heed to the music.\nThese said performances  partake considerably of the Eastern type\n-\u2014drums   and   cymbals\nbulking largely on  the\near.   And the drummer\ngoes at his work with a\nwill, giving one the impression that, so far as\nhe is concerned,  music\nis   merely a   matter   of\nstrength of arm. Making\nallowance for this preponderance of drum, the\nbands   here   play   very\ncreditably, and keep excellent   time,    a   result\nwhich the lusty efforts of\nour friend with the drumsticks   tend   to    bring\nabout     Everything    in\nRussia is, as all the world\nknows, on a vast scale.\nIt is a vast empire, with\na    population     almost\ndefying calculation, with\nan   army   of  millions;\nconsequently   the   regimental bands are larger\nthan is usual.    There is\nquite  a  crowd  of performers  every night in\nthe little round theatre,\nand we think the leader\nhas all the more credit\nwho is able to keep them\nto such good time.\nThe soldiers here seldom march to the sound of music,\nonly to that of a small drum, by which they are also drilled.\nOne often hears them singing as they return from drill, never\nas they go, and it is not uncommon even to see them dancing..\nIt certainly looks wild and barbaric, but it is nevertheless a fact.\nNow that summer days have come, and the soldiers have\nlaid off their dirty grey coats and large boots, I confess they\ndo look a little better; although their uniform is not a bright\none, and their persons and accoutrements nicht ausgezeichnet\nrein. There are some smart fellows, both among officers and\nmen, and their discipline is said to be excellent The present\nEmperor is a good man, who means well towards his people,\nLADY   OF   RIGA\nhaggle\nand has tried to ameliorate the condition of the army, which,\nunder the iron rule of'his father was badly fed, badly clothed,\nand badly housed, besides being subjected to the lash, and\nother most degrading punishments. But things are changing\nfor the better. Flogging is abolished, education is provided\nfor the men, and the way opened for them to rise by ability\nand good conduct.    Let us hope that  the  good deeds of\nAlexander II. will bear\ngood fruit, and be followed j by still greater\nreforms. We shall yet\nhear of the Russian millions as something different from the half barbarians they have hitherto been regarded.\nIt is but nineteen\nyears since the death of\nNicholas, and if so much\nhas been done in that\ntime, what will not another nineteen effect for\nthe Russian soldier.\nMay 10th.\u2014To-day\nI went shopping with Madame M . The mode\nof doing business here\nreminds one of what\nmighthavebeen practised\nin Edinburgh at the time\nwhen the Lucken-booths\nflourished in all then-\nglory. What is most\nunheard of in more advanced communities is\nhere the common practice. Except in a few of\nthe best shops, it is usual\nfor the customer to\nhaggle over the price\nasked, and \" Too dear \"\nis generally the remark\nwith which the demand\nis met. The transaction\n__ _ ends   by   the   customer\n\u2014g r^S.^ -' \" paying no more than a\nthird less of the price at\nfirst asked.\nIt is necessary to\nfor, of course, with such corrupt practices in use, the\nmerchant lays upon the price just so much as he can afford\nto take off, and it is only from ignorant and unwary customers\n\u2014like the newly-arrived Englishman\u2014that he ever gets his first\nprices.\nThat the largest empire in Europe is one hundred years\nbehind the age, it is needless to deny. Here is the climax of\nall conservatism, and I confess that, although my politics, if I\nhad any, used to be those of the Marquis of Salisbury, I am\nfast developing into a disciple of John Bright. Too much of\na good thing is converting me.\nCloth is sold by the ell, a short measure of about twenty 102\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\ninches, while the price is as high or higher than one yard of\nthirty-six. A pound is only fourteen ounces, while paper bags\nare scarcely used. You buy a pound of sugar put up in what\nwe used to call screws. The native produce of the country is\nnot dear, but all imported goods are extravagantly so. This\nclass of goods is universally called English. The most un-\nEnglish-looking things in the world we are told are English,\nwhich is an all-prevailing excuse for asking an exorbitant price.\nIn the poorer class of shops, market-stalls, and open booths,\none is sure to be cheated. The people have the character of\nbeing very dishonest, and certainly my small experience goes\nto bear out that imputation. Many of these shops are kept by'\nJews, and one may be pretty sure they will not be behind other\nnations in the matter of cheating.\nThe fact is, that the Hebrews have almost a monopoly of the\ntrade in Russia, although they do not come to the front, and\nuntil very lately were much oppressed as a people. The large\ntrade in flax, grain, and timber passes originally through their\nhands, and there is scarcely a bale of flax or a bushel of grain\nshipped, out of which a Hebrew has not already made his\nprofit. Here, as in other lands, there are many of the chosen\npeople scattered throughout the country. Some are said to be\nwealthy, but most of them look miserably poor, and might\ncompete with the Russ in the matter of .uncleanliness. Go\nwhere he will, the reputation of riches clings to the poor Jew.\nIt is not always true, and in Russia they are not known to\npossess a single rood of land\nHOME  IN  A  PINE  FOREST.\nMay 19th.\u2014Since the above entry, we have changed our\nplace of abode. Failing to get furnished lodgings in Riga,\nwe have rented for the summer a small log house at Sassenhof,\na pretty village on the other side of the Dwina. Like all\nsuburban places in Russia, Sassenhof is entirely built of wood,\nand is composed of many pretty villas and cottages situated\nin a pine wood. Our house is very small, and our menage\nthe most unpretending. We have two rooms, a verandah, and\n\" an English kitchen.\" The latter, however, being as remotely\nunlike an English kitchen as one thing with four walls can\nbe to another with four walls. What the expression implies in\nRiga is in general a very small, often dark closet, with a \" close\ncooking range \" in it. That in our little cottage is a shade\nbetter, as in it one has room to turn, though not to \" swing\na cat,\" in addition to its being provided with a window. An\nalte frau officiates as cook and housemaid, while I am my\nown butler, and perform the duties excellently. The frau\ndoes not know a word of English: our conversation, therefore,\nis not very intelligible; nevertheless, we contrive to understand each other wonderfully, with a good deal of dumb show;\nand when even that fails, we summon the aid of an English-\nspeaking gouvernante.\nI shall have little to mention now, as my life here will\nbe as uneventful as in that dullest of homes in the north of\nScotland. We all know what a convenient subject the weather\nis, and how frequently conversation without it must have\ncome to a standstill. The weather since we came to Sassenhof\nhas been warm but changeable. To-day, which is the 31st of\nMay (New Style), it is intensely hot.\nAll nature is in full bloom; a short-lived bloom, it is true,\nbut rich and varied while it lasts. Three weeks ago there was\nscarcely a green thing to be seen, and now fruit is forming on\nthe bushes. So rapid is here the transition from winter to\nsummer. The cuckoo keeps up his note unceasingly, and\nsounds sweet and weird by turns.\nWe cannot thoroughly realise the extent of the confusion\nwrought at the destruction of the Tower of Babel. One must\ncome to Russia to do that. There are one hundred and twenty-\neight languages spoken in this country. It is truly confounding\nto us islanders, accustomed to hear only one language familiarly\nspoken, to find peasants and servant girls talking fluently several.\nIf not in Russia, then where was the Tower of Babel ?\nLettish is the language talked here and throughout Livonia;\nbut there is also Estnish, the language of the adjoining province of Esthonia, in addition to German, Russ, and French,\nwhich one hears all around.\nRather a remarkable thing here is that it is next to impossible to obtain correct information upon any subject whatever. It may be owing to the want of correct statistical\ninformation, or to the close, inquisitorial police system by\nwhich people are driven by self-defence into the way of\n\"knowing nothink.\" Either they do not know, or their perceptions are so varied, that what is black to one mind is white\nto another.\nFor instance, one says to us, \" Oh! don't furnish. Furnishing is very expensive, arid if you have to sell, you get\nnothing for it\"\nAnother says, \" Furnishing, you know, is so cheap here,\nmuch cheaper than in England; and if you sell, you lose almost\nnothing.\"\nI have already stated that there are 15,000 soldiers in\nRiga I have repeatedly been told so, but I did not believe\nit, and have since been told there are 1,500, 1,000, 2,000.\nI shall probably never discover which of these conflicting\nstatements-is true.    Probably it is the last; possibly the first.\nAgain, we are told, \"Oh, there is no oatmeal here;\" to\nwhich we reply, \" Why, this is the land of oats !\"\n\" Yes, that is true, but there is no meal made of it. One\nmust bring meal from Scotland.\"\nWe shake our heads and say, \" Well, that is a pity.\"\nFarther, another one remarks, \" Shouldn't you like to have\nsome oatmeal?\"\n\" Yes, very much indeed. But you know there is none\nto be had here. One must send to Scotland for it,\" we credulously remark, and are answered,\u2014\n\"Why, there is plenty in the village shop. We have it\nevery week for dinner.\"\nIt is very puzzling to find out what may and what may not\nbe had. Truth lies at the bottom of a very deep well indeed,\nin the province of Livonia.\nThe great annual holiday (feiertag) Whitsuntide (or\nFfingsten), about which we have been hearing for weeks, has\ncome, and is now almost gone. This is the third day, Sunday\nbeing the first, but preparation for its celebration commenced\nlong before. It seems to correspond to our own Whitsuntide\nin the matter of cleaning up, every house having been turned\nupside down, as at home.\nThere was service in all the churches on Monday, while\nSunday was, of course, a festival. Even the English church,\nwhich takes things easily in general, had service on Monday.\nTo do the majority of the inhabitants justice, the idea of a religious festival seemed to be the one farthest from their thoughts.\nEvery one seemed bent on pleasure, and upon that alone.\nIP A  TRIP TO LIVONIA   AND  BACK.\n103\nThis is the way in which the followers of good Martin\nLuther celebrate the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day\nof Pentecost. These people have the same Bible as we have,\nthe same creed, almost the same religious forms, and yet,\nbecause they have let slip the fourth commandment, they appear\nalmost God-forgotten (Goltlosen). There may be the form of\nworship without the reality; but surely there can be no real\nreligion where there is no outward worship. God sees the\nheart, it is true; but where the Sabbath is devoted from dawn\nto sunset to all sorts of folly and amusement, is it harsh to say,\n\" There is no religion \" ?\nGod knows that the whole community cannot be like this.\nHere, surely, there remain the thousands who have not bowed\nthe knee to Baal.\nThe Lettish people, I am glad to find, have more regard\nfor the Sabbath than Germans or Russians.\nOn Whit Sunday we visited several churches, among them\na Lutheran one. Here we found a large, attentive congregation, and an earnest-looking minister. But, as the service was\nin Estnish, we were none the wiser for his teaching.\nTuesday.\u2014Still feiertag, as we found to our misfortune. No\nbread this morning. This is, it seems, the bakers' holiday.\nWe had plenty of fresh bread on Sunday and Monday, but\nto-day we are obliged to go. without. Probably we had been\ntold that this would happen; but it had fallen on unconscious\nears.\nEvery man his own dairymaid. It is customary here for\nevery household to make its own butter. One always fares\nbest in Rome when he does as the Romans do. So I also\nmust make butter, and on the most limited scale possible.\nMadame is a Russian lady of good family, with whom\nwe have formed a most agreeable acquaintance. She talks\nEnglish very fairly, and French equally well with her native\ntongue.\nWe went together to the butcher's shop, where, having\npurchased a roast of beef, I proceeded to carry it home\nwrapped in a sheet of paper.    Such are the unsophisticated\nhabits of the district.   To Madame  such a system must\nhave seemed very barbarous (or the reverse), as people of her\nclass have not been used to \" help themselves.\" I fancy such\npeople have reduced incomes since the liberation of the serfs\nten years ago. It is the natural consequence, inasmuch as\nthe work on their estates, which used to be executed free, has\nnow to be paid for at a high rate of wages. As yet, the effects\nof the liberation seem only evil. The people all at once set\nfree, without education, run into excess both as regards their\ndemands for wages, and, what is worse, in the use of intoxicating liquor. The consequence is, that a great proportion\nof the peasants are in wretched poverty, while their former\nmasters have very considerably reduced incomes, their tastes\nand habits remaining as extravagant as they were before.\nTime will probably remedy these evils, and, as education\nadvances, it is to be hoped the peasants will'become more\ntemperate.\nThe English in Riga seem to have brought along with them\nall the magnificent exclusiveness which distinguishes them\nthroughout the world. Yes, England is a splendid country,\nwhich we are all of course proud* to belong to, and her\nwomen are splendid creatures, no doubt, whether one meets\nthem on the shores of the Baltic or in Belgravia, only that\nm\nthe great ladies, of the former are probably beyond the pale of\nthe latter. Be that as it may, I do not think the English run\nmuch risk of entertaining angels unawares.\nWe have now resided two months in Riga, and neither\nEnglishman nor Englishwoman, clergyman nor clergyman's\nwife, has ever said a kind word or offered a civility to us.\nWe have received much kindness, but it has all been from\nstrangers and not from our countrymen. I confess, however\u2014\nwithout the slightest soupgon of sour grapes in the confession\u2014\nthat this magnanimous conduct.on their part has afforded\nme much satisfaction. It is so edifying to be able to sit at\na distance and admire them, their feathers and diamonds,\ntheir equipages and lordly residences, and to be able to exclaim exultantly, \"Yes, these are our countrywomen.\" Although\nthere is no entrance for us into the little circle.\nI Anathema maranatha,\" you are not of us. Of course,\nyou may come to the same church, and even approach that\naltar at which we condescend to kneel; but come not nearer,\nwe are, you know, the Bite of Riga\u2014perhaps of the kingdom\nof heaven, who knows ?\nThe police are everywhere, and know everything. Our\npassport has been already three times taken from us since\nwe came to Riga, each time vised, and on each occasion\nwe had to make a small payment On the last we obtained\nliberty to remain here till the ioth of October. And should\nwe decide on remaining after that date, we must get a ticket\nof residence, for which, I think, three roubles yearly is\ncharged. Should we, however, decide on leaving, we must\nget permission to do so, and have the passport vised once\nmore.\nNo newspapers whatever are allowed to enter Russia by\npost. The government issues a printed list of those papers\nand periodicals which are allowed to enter the empire, and\nany of them can be ordered through the postmaster or a\nparticular bookseller who has permission to supply the said\npublications.\nReaders are included among the post-office officials, whose\nduty it is to look over the papers. Should anything against\nRussian policy occur, the paragraph is painted out. Several\nEnglish papers are on the list, including the Times, Daily\nTelegraph, Pall Mall Gazette, Weekly Scotsman, &c. The\nMorning Post had been forbidden shortly before we went,\nsomething subversive of the imperial policy having been\nfound in that rather mild journal.\nTime and patience would fail me to tell.of the payments\nto officials, great and small, which one must pay, if one is to\nget along with any comfort. Bribery on a large scale is still\n-rampant in free Russia. If you do not tip the post officials,\nyour letters will be delayed, perhaps opened, or not delivered.\nA large mercantile house will have as much as ^\"50 to give\nin geschenke to the post-office alone, each Christmas, besides\npaying for a private box. All telegraph and custom-house\npeople\u2014and many others besides\u2014come in for a share of\nthe pie.\nBefore setting up in. business\u2014before a man can buy or\nsell on his own account, or sign the name of a mercantile firm\n he must pay into seventeen guilds, the  sums being due\nannually. These amount to upwards of \u00a3110 a year. Add\nto this the \" tips,\" whose name is legion, and you will find that\ncarrying on business in the dominions _of the Czar of all the\nRussias is not an easy affair. io4\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\n'i f.li\n!li;.-:KS'l!\nThe English reader may be disposed to doubt the truth\nof all this, but it is perfectly true, notwithstanding that this is\nthe nineteenth century.\nAccording to our views of things, one would think that\nhere the world was  turned upside   down, so   erratic is the\nmode of doing many things.    In driving, for  instance, the\ncoachman takes the right side instead of the left, when meeting\nanother conveyance.    To us this looks very awkward.    At\nfirst I was in constant anticipation of a catastrophe occurring,\nbut  have gained courage from  the   fact  of nothing having\nhappened.    The men here must be splendid drivers.    They\ngo through unheard-of difficulties, retaining all the time the\nmost stolid countenances.    Cheapside is a mere joke to the\nstreets of Riga.     These are in many places so narrow that\nthere is only room to  pass, and there is a constant stream\nof conveyances of every kind, from the magnificent equipage\nof the Burgomaster or Post Director, to the humblest country\nbuggy  driven   by an old woman.     Everybody drives  at a\nfurious pace, and yet one never hears of an accident.    It is\nmarvellous!   The horses.\nare small but very fleet,\nand there seems no lack U fiB\nof them. \u25a0 EJssrs^^BJBEjBjllj\nNo   conveyance  has\nless   than   four   wheels,\neven  the   wheel-barrows\nhave four, and it is more\ncommon    to    see    two\nhorses than one in even\na small   carriage,   while\nthree  or four harnessed\nabreast   is an  every-day\noccurrence, and one man\ndrives four   at   a flying\npace   without   any   difficulty.\nThe   women    always\nknit stockings, and this they do with five needles.     They\nenjoy raw herrings, and consider cold potatoes a luxury, and\nambitious, and so the wedding day was fixed. \" Marry first,\nlove afterwards, if not your husband, someone else,\" is the\ncustom of high society here; \" and if your husband is jealous,\nit makes the intrigue all the more exciting.\"\nFate, at the eleventh hour, opened a door of escape, which\nthe honourable, perhaps the mistaken, feelings of the bride led\nher to decline.    Two days before the marriage, the mother\ndiscovered that Colonel V  was not rich,  and that her\ndaughter's fortune formed not the least of her attractions in\nthe eyes of her betrothed. She is told by her mother that now\nshe is at liberty to break off the marriage. The lover wept\nand besought j Sophronia had promised, and determined to\nabide by her word. Escape had come too late. She became\nhis wife.\nColonel V  loved his fair young wife, and was ready\nto serve her like one of her slaves. She, however, soon discovered that there was an incompatibility between them, such\nas, in her eyes, was insurmountable. She made up her mind\nto this, and accepted the consequences.    She was intellectual\nand imaginative, he was\ni\n1\n!*\neat with relish the leaves of beetroot. I had a young maidservant who seemed quite chagrined because I would not\nallow her tc put fat into oatmeal porridge, while, to my\ngreat surprise and her own satisfaction, she ate up all the\ndripping.\nMadame is a Russian of good birth.   Her history has\nmuch of romance in it, while she is enthusiastic, accomplished,\nand handsome.\nSophronia was the eldest of three daughters. They lost\ntheir father while they were yet children, so that they were left,\nalong with a brother, to the guardianship of their mother, who\nseems\u2014if one can judge from what was said concerning her\u2014\nto have been an ambitious person. To each of his children\ntheir father had left a large fortune, consisting of an estate and\nmany serfs. Sophronia grew up beautiful, spirituelle, talented, |\nand became an accomplished musician. .\nBefore she attained her sixteenth year her mother arranged\nfor her a marriage with Colonel V , who was her senior\nby eighteen years. This suitor, favoured by Madame la Mere,\nwas not acceptable to her daughter. Sophronia did not return\nhis affections; but ladies in Russia do not marry for love, and\nhe was reputed rich.   The daughter was young and the mother\nundeveloped and mechanical; she was a\nlinguist and fond of\ntravel, he knew no\nlanguage but his own,\nand preferred remaining\nat home. She did not\nlove her husband, but,\nunlike many of her\ncountrywomen, she loved\nno other person, and\nsought for sympathy only\namong men of intellect\nand cultivation, among\nwhom she shone as a star.\nColonel   V  and\nhis wife agreed pretty\nwell, notwithstanding these discrepancies. He managed the\nhouse, she received visitors, and surrounded' herself with\nelegancies.\nVery young and altogether inexperienced, when she reached\nher majority her husband induced her to sign a document by\nwhich she made over her estate, without reserve, to him. It\nwas a sense of justice which mainly influenced her to do this.\nj I cannot give him love,\" she said; \" I will, then, give him all\nelse.\" But, as the sequel will show, it was an unfortunate step\non her part.\nBefore Madame V was seventeen, her son was born,\nand she henceforward became an invalid.      Her\nLIVONIAN   LANDSCAPE.\nboy\nwas\neverything to her, her husband nothing.\nAs the boy grew up, his father's miserly proclivities developed themselves. On his son, although an only child, he\ngrudged to bestow a liberal education; it was that which his\nmother esteemed most highly, and which she resolved her son\nshould have at all hazards.\nOrdered by the physicians to travel, Madame V visited\nvarious watering-places at home and abroad.    Colonel V\t\ncould not live such a life, so his wife travelled with her\nattendants only. But, although always the centre of admiration, nowhere did she see- anyone sufficiently attractive to\nplease her.   She remained without an intrigue, to the surprise A TRIP  TO  LIVONIA AND  BACK.\ni\u00b05\nof her acquaintances, probably of her husband also, who had\nnot reckoned on this pretty wife of his proving so faithful to\nhim whom she had never loved.     Colonel V  was not\nso faithful.\nIn the separations which necessarily occurred, he found\nother female attractions to console him for the absence of his\nwife. He formed an intrigue with one of the waiting-women.\nAssociating with low persons, his tone and manners became\nassimilated to theirs. His society was not agreeable to his\nwife, and she did not distress herself about his amours.\nSoon after these domestic events followed the liberation\nof the serfs, and a\ngreatly reduced income. This was a\nmore serious affair to\nboth than conjugal\ninfidelity. The waiting-woman was no\nlonger a slave; she\nwas free, and the\nmother of several\nchildren living somewhere on the premises. She began to\nassume airs, while\nColonel V , magnifying his poverty,\ngrew more miserly\nevery day.\nIt was no longer\nrespectable for Sophronia to reside in\nthe house of her husband. Her brother\ninterfered, and she\nleft it. Yet, strange\nas it may sound,'this\nill-matched pair are\nnotentirely estranged.\nShe visits her estates\nnow and again, and\noccasional letters pass\nbetween them. It is\n' like the stories in the\nold Scottish ballads.\nWhen Madame visits\nher estate the mistress becomes again the maid, and waits on\nher former lady, as if she were still the humble serf-girl. And\nyet she lives,  in  the wife's  absence,  on  equal terms with\nColonel V , has a governess for her children, and servants\nto wait on her.\nThe most distressing part of the story remains to be told.\nSophronia's property was now that of her husband, with the\nexception of a very small part inherited since the deed making\nover the estate was executed. Still one would expect that under\nthe circumstanoes she is entitled to a separate maintenance.\nNot so. By the laws of the empire, if a woman is possessed\nof property at the time of her marriage, it frees her husband\nfrom all such claim; and, moreover, he has it in his power to\nleave her estate to anyone.    The law of primogeniture does\nnot exist.    Colonel V draws the revenue from the estates,\n254\u2014vol. vi.\nARCHIMANDRITE   OF A RUSSIAN  CONVENT.\nand gives her nothing. The act was her own, and she must reap\nthe results of her own folly. Her son, who is in the Guards, is\nas good a son as can be, but is unable to do anything. He\nhas, however, done what was in his power, for he has quarrelled\nwith his father on her account; and will possibly thereby be\ndisinherited.   While his mother, poor lady, is in a consumption.\nPoor amiable Madame V has no hope beyond the\ngrave, for which she daily longs. No faith further than this,\nthat the future cannot be worse than the present. \" It must,\"\nshe says, \" be either something better or annihilation.\" How\ncan she be happy or at rest with so meagre a hope ?\nThe Shah of\nPersia has since been\na great traveller. He\nis the first Shah who\nhas left his country.\nIs it not written in\nthe laws of the Persians that their monarch may never have\nhis feet off the soil\nof Persia? The reigning sovereign, however, has found a\nmethod to obviate\nthe difficulties which\nresult from this law.\nHe has the soles of\nhis boots filled with\nearth.\nThis ingenious\nShah has lately been\nin Russia, and, as all\nthe world knows, sent\nhome from Moscow\nthe three wives by\nwhom he was accompanied. Once in\nEurope, these ladies\nwished to do as European ladies do, and\nwere much chagrined\nthat such an arrangement was incompatible with the rules\nby which the Shah\ngoverns his harem. Especially was the chief wife bent on\nappearing at the opera, and was very dissatisfied, and, I fear, in\nan ill-humour, because her lord forbade it. What course was\nopen to the monarch but to send his three mutinous wives\nhome with all convenient dispatch ?\nIt would appear that this Eastern potentate is the slave of\nfemale attractions. Whenever he saw a pretty woman, he exclaimed, \" Oh, this is beautiful! Get for me this woman.\" He\nis reported to have cast very covetous eyes upon the Czarevna\nherself.\nAt a ball in St Petersburg, being struck with the beauty of\nthe wife of a merchant who was there, he at once ordered his\ngrand vizier to bring her to his house.\nIt was embarassing, but the monarch must be obeyed.\nAnd the lady, who with her spouse had an eye on the main io6\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\n'   and   lollypops   from   Mittau,  and\nlasts for several Weeks. One\nthrough the fair on our way from church.\nWe found the door of the cathedral above shut, with a biU\nplaced on it, announcing that it would not be opened till further\nnotice. It was a glaring instance of the church giving place to\nthe world. Below, in the Untergang, trade was going on at a\nbrisk rate. One of the entrances to the church was in the fair\nand on it too was placed a handbill. It is true many of the\ntraders were Jews, but the buyers were not What can the\nJews think of the Christians' Sabbath ?\nchance, and had doubtless heard of the jewels and changes of\nraiment carried in the baggage of the Shah, at once consented'\n- to the request. She went, but accompanied by her husband,\nher sister, and other relatives, making quite a family party.\nGreat was the consternation of the grand vizier. The monarch\nwas so enraged on seeing all these people instead of the lady\nalone, that he ordered the minister to be flogged, and insisted\non this sentence being executed on the spot It was only by\nthe interposition of Prince Gortschakoff that he was induced\nto delay such a degradirig exhibition till his return to Persia.\nEre that, we hope he will have relented towards his luckless\nprime minister.\nPicture to yourself Mr. W. E. Gladstone coming under a\nseverer lash than that dealt from the lips of the eloquent author\nof \u00a3 Lothair!\"\nJohanne is the great annual holiday among the German\nand Lettish people, and has been celebrated last week. The\n24th of June (Old Style), is said to be the birthday of St. John\nthe Divine, though how the birthday of the simple Galilean\nfisherman should have been handed down with such precision\nduring eighteen centuries, it is difficult to understand. But the\ntradition is received with faith here, and the day is celebrated\nin a variety of ways. One, and that most universally, is by\ngiving presents. Servants receive Johanne from their employers,\nbut as it is part of their engagement to do so, it is scarcely\nentitled to be called a gift.\nThe evening before Johanne's day is called Kranz (or crown)\nAbend, when wreaths formed of green leaves are worn by the\npeople, the vessels and boats on the river are hung with\nsimilar crowns, while every house, probably every apartment,\nshares in this leafy tribute to the memory of St. John. It is a\npretty custom when confined to maidens or children, but when\nadopted by old and ugly women as a means of cozening charity\nout of the pockets of the charitable, it becomes an absurdity.\nAn aged beldame, without a tooth in her head, came on\nSaturday, wearing a crown of enormous proportions, and carrying her basket filled with smaller crowns, which she presented\nto her customers, and at the same time chanting a rude carol,\nthe import of which I do not know. She got her Johanne,\nbut 1 in my ignorance, rejected her crown, supposing that she\nwished me to buy it. She looked much surprised, possibly\noffended: feelings, however, which twenty kopecks turned into\na smile of satisfaction. Many similar visitors came, all singing\nthe same rhyming croon.\n] Johanne is also celebrated by the holding of an annual fair\nin the Domkirche, or rather in the part of it known as the\nUntergang. Is it not a strange use to put ecclesiastical\nbuildings to? It is literally to establish in the house of God\nthe tables of the money-changers. There are stalls with all\nsorts of merchandise, from the rich Circassian silk from\nMoscow, to gingerbread\ntoys from Leipsic. This fair\nSunday we walked\nJune 6th.\u2014Attended a monster concert given by the General\nof Division, where we were told to expect four hundred performers. It was held in the park in the open air, and was\nconsequently dependent for success upon the elements, over\nwhich not even a General of Division has any control. The\nperformers were the bands of the various regiments at present\nin the camp here, and if there were four hundred, I feel\nquite safe in saying that one hundred of them were drummers. Trommels are always a conspicuous element in the\nmusical displays of Riga, and this occasion was to be no exception to the rule.\nThe park is small, and I should think there were not fewer\nthan 10,000 persons present, each of whom paid thirty kopecks;\nthe proceeds were for the poor. The restaurant was literally\npacked, and as for listening to the music, the noise occasioned\nby the hum of voices and the passing to and fro of feet made\nhearing it on the gallery impossible. It was a relief to go and\nstand among the mob near the band-stand. The music was\ngood; but, alas ! the elements after the first hour did not\nprove propitious. The rain came down with a violence such\nas, fortunately, one seldom sees away from Greenock. The\npoor soldiers, who had donned their very best white knickerbockers for the occasion, were seen flying about in a spongy\nstate, with their pocket-handkerchiefs tied round their necks for\nprotection. The hundred trommels were, however, under\nshelter, so it was all right when the rain cleared off, which it\ndid by and by. We, however, were glad to clear out before .\nthat occurred, declaring we would go to no more monster\nconcerts.\nIt may,be I am too cynical. But it does seem a doubtful\nsort of pleasure, that of sitting for hours looking at a crowd of\nbadly-dressed women and paunchy Germans satiating themselves\nin the refreshment-room while the music is disregarded by\nthemselves and cannot be heard by others.\nA much pleasanter sight awaited us in seeing the sun sink\nlike a golden pillar in the Dwina as we crossed the fine iron\nbridge. Yes, Riga looks beautiful on a summer's night in the\nlight of the setting sun, while the ships lie peacefully on the\nbosom of the river, and the white-roofed prawns are asleep\non its banks. Yes, the Dwina is a.graceful river, even though\nher banks are flat and sandy, and the loiterers on them dirty\nand drunken.\nJune ph.\u2014We visited to-day Dubvelt, the fashionable\nsummer resort of the Riga people. It is a watering-place about\ntwo hours distant by water from the town, and lies on the\nbanks of the river Aa, which is a tributary of the Dwina. The\nAa is, however, a large full river, navigable for a considerable\ndistance.\nDubvelt is a pretty place, with plenty of people enjoying\nthemselves. The elite, as well as those who are not counted\nso, crowd down there en masse, and to the adjoining places\nMahenenhof and Bilderlinshof. There are also many visitors\nfrom other places, even from as far off as Moscow and St.\nPetersburg, who frequent this really pretty spot.\nThere is no scenery there worth mentioning, and yet it is\npretty. The village is built on a narrow strip of land havin-\nthe river in front of it, and the Gulf of Riga behind on the\notter Five minutes' walk takes you from the one to tb\nand the breezes from the Baltic are no doubt\nafter the long winter with its frozen windo\nhouses.   The pretty little log hous\nie other,\nvery renovating,\nws and hot airless\nlses, with their overha\n\u2014.1 A TRIP TO  LIVONIA AND  BACK.\n107\neaves, tasteful verandahs, and nestling among trees, look very\nnice, cool, and picturesque.\nThe population in the season is from 30,000 to 40,000.\nThere are several excellent hotels, and a market daily. There\nis a fine ball-room, in which an assembly is given once a week\nor so ; and a tolerably good band performs each evening out of\ndoors.\nThere is no more than one small Lutheran church, in which\nservice is held every second Sabbath. It holds a few hundreds ; and that is all the provision made for the spiritual wants\nof the Protestants during the four months over which the\nseason lasts.\nTo me the principal attraction was, of course, the Baltic.\nIt felt so curious to be walking by the Gulf of Riga, and picking\nup aiew tiny shells as memorials of that distant shore. As is\nwell known, the Baltic is a tideless sea, and although Dubvelt\nis a watering-place, it cannot be called \" the saut-water,\" for\nhere the water is scarcely brackish. The sand is very fine and\nwhite, and the little shells exceedingly delicate, but there is no\nvariety. It looked so like home here, that I could have believed myself walking on Portobello Sands, the bathing coaches\nand long stretch of sand were so similar. A point of land in\nthe distance we were told was Courland. The water was as\nsmooth as a lake; very unlike the tempestuous sea we encountered on the Baltic a few weeks after.\nThe bathing regulations are most exemplary. Ladies and\ngentlemen have different hours for bathing; of course, where\nthere is no tide, all hours are alike, nor are gentlemen and ladies\nallowed to walk on the beach at the same time; and these\nregulations are enforced by police stationed at the different\nways of access to the beach. At 7 p.m. all these restrictions\nare withdrawn, and the whole world of Dubvelt is at liberty\nto exhibit itself on the white sands of the Gulf of Riga\nJune 21st.\u2014Went to the Saturday evening service in the\nGreek church. To my taste there is nothing either solemn or imposing in the ceremonial. Without disrespect to the conscientious\nprofessors of that faith, it struck me as being ridiculous. Possibly,\nhad we been acquainted with the tongue in which the prayers\nwere recited, it would not have appeared such mummery; but\neven in this respect we were not very far behind the others\npresent, who were all of the humbler classes. I believe that\nfew, if any, understand the ancient Sclavonic in which the\noffice of the national church is conducted. The people are\ntaught the prayers in childhood, and know by instinct exactly\nthe right time to sign the cross and when to prostrate themselves.\nThese two acts of worship occur very frequentiy; but each one\npleases himself at what petition he shall do this, so that there\nis always some one lying about, while others are gazing into the\nshrine of his or her saint, and another is busy crossing himself.\nThe congregation was a very small one. Almost every one\nas they entered bought a small taper, which they lighted before\nthe shrine of their favourite saint. The men stand at one side,\nthe females at the other. The church glitters in silver and\ngold (or rather gilding), but is otherwise plain and ugly. The\nlarge gates separating the mercy-seat from the outer part of the\ninterior were of fretted work, and were only thrown open when\nthe chief priest came forth; immediately on his passing within\nagain, they were shut. As this was done many times, we had\nplenty of opportunities to see into the holy of holies. The\nassistant-priest opened and closed the gates. They both wore I\nmagnificent robes of cloth of gold, richly wrought with coloured |\nflowers; the chief wore also a small velvet hat without a brim\n(it was a bona fide \" tile \"); his appearance was so absurd that I\nshall not attempt to describe it. With his mantle so stiff that\nit would not bend, his long hair and his comical little hat, he\nlooked like what we call in Scotland \"an old wifie.\" He\nwalked for a little up and down the altar wafting the incense\ncenser, while the deacon bore before him a large lighted candle\nin a silver candlestick four feet high. The deacon was a large\nstout man, who, with his gorgeous robe, long hair, and high-\nheeled long boots, strutted about in a devil-may-care sort of\nway, reciting prayers in a stentorian voice.\nThere was a third priest, wearing only the ordinary black\ngown, which was greasy and dirty. His office was to read.\nSometimes he read at a lectern at one end of the altar, sometimes at a reading-desk in the body of the church; but always\nwith his back to the people. When he came to the reading-\ndesk, he carried along with him a small righted taper, which he\nheld while he read. He read a long extract from a book, and\nthen returned, carrying the book in one hand and his little\ntaper in the other.\nThe most curious part of the performance was that of\nkissing the book. The deacon carried his large candlestick\ndown and placed it beside- the reading-desk. He was closely\nfollowed by his superior, carrying a handsome folio volume,\nbound in purple velvet, with a gold cross on the board. This\nhe deposited on the desk, took off his little hat, and, bending\nover the book, kissed it reverently. The deacon did likewise,\nand retired; then almost all the persons present advanced,\nprostrated themselves, and approaching, kissed the book, which\nthe priest presented to each in turn.\nWe remained upwards of an hour, and when we left, the\nservice was still proceeding. As there are no seats whatever,\nthe service must be very fatiguing to persons of weak con-\nstitutkra. The priests look a dirty dissipated set, and such is,\nunfortunately, the reputation which they bear. They are quite\nan uneducated class. Of late, however, an edict has gone\nforth appointing that every priest shall undergo an examination\nand have a diploma before he can receive ordination. In a few\nyears, therefore, the priesthood will be a better educated\nclass.\nMuch in the Greek Church is obviously derived from the\nHebrew rituals. The priesthood runs in families, while the\ndaughters of the priests are, in their turn, married to priests,\nwithout even a show of love-making or consent asked.\nGovernment charges itself with the support of the national\nchurch; but does it so meagrely that the priests are no better\noff than peasants. In fact, to speak of a priest, among high-\nclass Russians, is only another name for what is base and contemptible. There will, perhaps, be found exceptions to this\ngeneral rule; but that they are despised by the upper classes is\na fact beyond dispute.\nThe high posts in the church are all given to monks,\nwho are a more cultivated class, although, I believe, equally\ndisreputable as to moral character.\nProtestants might do worse than copy the Greek Catholics\nin the matter of Saturday evening services. It is a becoming\npreparation for the duties of the day of rest. On Saturday\nevening no public places of amusement are open. The Metropolitan strictly prohibits any breach of this rule, and even the\nEmperor must have no opera on that night. On Sunday, however, no such restrictions exist.\nPIE io8\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nNotes of Travel in the Interior of Japan.\u2014IV.\nBV   \"M0NTA.\nON THE  NAKASEND&.\nThe next morning was wet, so we took things quietly, and\nstarted towards half-past ten.    We trotted on very steadily in\nprofusion of different kinds of trees. Groves of fir and bamboo;\nlittle clumps of various shades of greenery; stretches of road\nwhere the trees inclining to each other from either side formed\nlib i\nA LADV  TRAVELLING.\nSTRAW-SHOE SHOP.\n!]!\u00a7!\nthe rain, which eventually ceased, and then we found that our\nnative guards had dropped behind, the pace being too severe\nfor their little horses. Still the road was in general very good,\nand there were no hills. The scenery, rain or no rain, was even\nprettier than that of the previous afternoon.    There was such a\nnatural arches over our heads ; and covers where we could not\nbut fancy that game of every description must lurk. But that\nwas our English way of looking at them ; far away as we were\nfrom our own dear native land, we still kept it always in remembrance, and thought of the time when, gun in hand, we had NOTES OF TRAVEL IN THE INTERIOR OF JAPAN.\n109\nturned out joyously on an autumn morning,  intent upon\nslaughter.\nWe passed through one village called Ageo, the whole of\nwhich had been nearly burnt to the ground some three months\npreviously; of many a wooden house nothing was left but the\nstones on which the principal posts had rested.    A sad scene\nfare of Yedo, which is in fact the prolongation of the Tokaidd\nfrom the suburb of Shinagawa to the Nihon Bashi, have been\nsadly interrupted. Persons arriving from Yokohama, after\ntraversing some portion of the long street between houses,\neach of which is decorated with a long, slender, green-branched\nbamboo\u2014a pretty vista\u2014come upon a scene of entire desola-\nA NATIVE  POSTMAN.\nof desolation, and one to be met with year after year, in whatever part of Japan one may chance to be travelling. The\ninhabitants are used to it, and when the fire comes, they gather\nup what they can, and hurry off with it to their mud \" godowns,\n\u25a0which for the most part are fire-proof, and in those buildings\nthey live, move, and have their being, tin the clever carpenters\nhave quickly reconstructed fresh dwellings of wood.\nThere was a terrible fire in Yedo just before the Japanese\nNew Year in 1870, and its effects were thus described in the\nJapan Weekly Mail of the 5th of February.\nI The New Year's festivities in the Od6ri, the great thorough-\ntion. The great fire which raged on the night of last Friday\nweek, extended along the line of the 6d6ri, from a point a little\nbeyond the new road leading at right angles to the gates of\nHama-go-ten, to another point not far from the Ki6bashi, the\nlast bridge before reaching the Nihon Bashi. (Bashi is the\nJapanese for bridge, and from the Nihon Bashi, often called\nNiponBas by foreigners, distances are measured along the\ngreat roads, as with us in the old time from  Hyde Park\nCorner.)\n\"The area laid desolate may be computed at four or hve\nmiles in circumference, and every wooden building, from the no\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nlit!'.\nJapanese Foreign Office (luckily unharmed) to the outer moat\nof the Castle has been destroyed; the fire-proof godowns alone\nremain standing.\n\" And fortunate it is for the poor burnt-out inhabitants of\nthe city that their godowns remain, for in them, at least, great\nnumbers can huddle together and find room to lie down, and\nsome warmth and shelter during these piercing winter nights.\nThe two great mercers' shops, which no one who has been\nin Yedo can help remembering, are in ruins, and the owner\nof one of them is Stated to have lost property to a very\nlarge amount. The dwelling-place of Terashima, Vice-Minister\nfor Foreign Affairs, is utterly destroyed, and though the Foreign\nOffice itself escaped, the yashiki opposite to it, and several in\nits rear, are razed to the ground. The Shimbashi, a bridge in\nthe principal street, is entirely burnt, and the great traffic over\nit is diverted to less direct thoroughfares.\nI It was truly melancholy to walk through the ruins on the\nSunday afternoon, and to observe how effectually the' fire had\ndone its work. Every combustible atom had been destroyed,\nthe fire-proof godowns alone reriiaining, dotted here and there,\nand standing like the little Dutch toys of a child in a bare\nnursery. But a fire in Yedo has this marked difference from a\nfire in a great European city. No mass of smouldering material\nremains, retaining a large body of fire which it takes weeks of\nexposure and a constant supply of water finally to extinguish.\nThere are no heaps of white-hot brick-work, masonry, or iron,\nradiating for many days a heat which is instantly felt on approaching them. Here everything is utterly destroyed, ashes\nalone remain, and within twenty-four hours all is bustle and\nactivity in order to reconstruct. Artisans are busy in all\ndirections, the street looks like a quarter of carpenters, and\nresounds with the stroke of adze and hammer, wooden shanties\nof the frailest .construction, yet enough to afford some shelter,\nare run up within an incredibly short space of time, and in\nthese the hibachi (charcoal braziers), the kettle, and the heavensent tea, form a hearth and board round which hundreds gather\nand chatter merrily.\nI Already many substantial wooden buildings are in a forward state; every one seems to be doing his best to repair the\ndamage as quickly as possible; there is no useless lamentation;\nall are cheerful, engaged, and active. The women, the children,\nand the weak are provided for in the godowns, the strong are\nat work, and in a month there will be few external signs observable that any great misfortune has happened, save that the\nvisited quarter of the town will look fresher, cleaner, and newer\nthan formerly. Yet, poor souls, they cannot but have suffered\nmuch, both in purse and spirits. Their New Year was just upon\nthem; much of the gladness we associate with Christmas were\nthey looking forward to; new stocks of clothes had been laid\nin, or old ones been redeemed from the pawnbrokers, where,\nfor reasons of thrift, they had lain since last New Year season,\nand all preparations had been made for the great feast of\nTuesday.\nI Now, thousands are homeless, and many penniless.\nThere is no spare money, and there are no fine clothes,\nneither show nor theatre is for them or their little ones, no\nsake, no choice fish or savoury condiment will relieve the taste\nof their monotonous rice; but hard ill-paid work by day will be\nsucceeded by sleep in a dark close godown, or a shanty, through\nthe crevices of which the cold heartlessly penetrates. The\nquarter of the geisha, or singing-girls, has gone in the general\ndestruction, and no sound of samisen enlivens the once merry\nplace of their sorig.\"  .\nIn three hours we had reached Konosii, a good-sized town,\nand as we had ridden over eighteen miles, and the horses of\nour guards were tired, and the bettos (grooms) and luggage\nwere far behind, we wisely determined to go no further that\nday. Our bettos only arrived at four o'clock, and the rest of\nthe cavalcade came dropping in at intervals. We already found\nby experience that twenty miles a day is as much as can comfortably be managed on such a journey.\nOur leisure time before sundown was employed in visiting\nthe two temples of the place, one of which is embowered in\na profusion of magnificent Cryptomeria and various firs, quite\nmajestic to behold, though the trunks were not very fine.\nThere was also a species of plantain, with broad green leaves,\nfully six feet in length.\nIt was here that our bettos began to be troublesome. They\nhad already attempted to get money out of us by having the\nforage charged at an exorbitant- rate, and at Kcmosu they tried\nanother plan, viz., borrowing money from the landlord, who\ncomplained to us after they had started in advance the next\nmorning, and expected that we should reimburse him. This,\nof course, would never have done, as it would have opened the\ndoor to any amount of extortion; but we told him he might\ncome on to the next resting-place, arid the matter should be\ninvestigated. This suggestion he, or one of his men, followed,\nand the man told us there that he was satisfied. But it was\nonly after we had finished our trip that we found what a system\nof robbery these rascally grooms had carried on at almost every\nstopping-place. Complaints- came in to the Government from\nall sides, to our great annoyance; but three of the number\nwere taken up and tried; of these, one died in prison, and the\nother two. were sentenced to three years' banishment, with hard\nlabour, to some distant island.'\nThe route along the plain continues through various post-\ntowns as far as the castle-towns of Takasaki and Annaka, where\nwe enter a pretty valley, with a serrated ridge of mountains to\nthe left. There was much to remind one now, as elsewhere, of\nScotland; clumps of dark firs mingling with, lighter shades of\ngreen covered the sides of the valley and hills, and it only\nrequired some heather to complete the likeness. Mulberry-\ntrees from three to six feet high bordered the fields, and the\nsides of the road were garnished with a quantity of wild strawberries, their beautiful red colour tempting us to pluck and eat\nthem; but we found them positively devoid of taste. As we\nproceeded up the valley, the road became stony and uneven,\nand instead of the tiles on the house-roofs, large stones were\nfixed in rows, as a protection against the heavy winds. At\nSakamoto, a village consisting of a long street upon an incline\nand backed by green hills, we made a halt, as we were now to\ngo over a pass.\nFrom this time forward, for many days, we remained among\nthe mountains forming the backbone of the island. Mostly\nof volcanic origin, they must in ages gone by have made up\nthe whole island, and the plains which are to be found bordering the sea, such as that from Yedo on the south, and that on\nthe north-east, in which the province of Echigo is situated, are\nevidently mere alluvial districts originally covered by the sea.\nSoon after mid-day we started again, and almost imme-.\ndiately arrived at the foot of the Usui Toge-, or Pass, which\nseparates the province of J6shiu from that of Shinshiu.    The NOTES  OF TRAVEL IN  THE INTERIOR  OF JAPAN.\nin\nroad soon became too steep and stony for riding, so we dismounted, and with little intermission walked up and down the\npass to the village of Karuizawa. As we wound up, the views\nof the country we had left were beautiful. It was a lovely afternoon. At our feet was the valley down to Annaka; the little\nvillage of Sakamoto, and a smaller one which we had previously\npassed, lay below us, two flat-looking patches of roofs, with the\nstraight road running through them like a line of railway, firs\nand other trees of a lighter green skirting the villages, and the\nwhole of the surrounding ground divided into patches 01\ncultivation. To the right of the valley, as we looked back,\nwas a continuous range of hills, most of them feathered to their\nvery tops, and many with bold serrated summits. In the distance stretched the wide well-cultivated plain. On the top ot\nthe pass we found a shrine dedicated to one of the native\nShinto gods, designated under the appellation Gongen. Then\nwe began to descend, and soon a pleasant valley opened before\nus, with a high, mamelon in front, not unlike one of the Eildon\nHills, except that the summit was uneven. At Karuizawa we\nhalted for a short time, and dispatched our bettos to Oiwake',\nwhere we were to sleep. The pass had occupied two hours\nand a half, and it is reckoned to be somewhat over six miles.\nThe' ride to Oiwake\" was along an uninteresting basin, containing much grass land, and surrounded by hills of an un-\npicturesque form. The paddy was of a poor quality, the plots\nwere laid out in terraces, and there was a little wheat and\nbarley. The air became almost cold, and we soon found out\nthat we were on a much higher level. When at the honiin we\nwere told that there were no mosquito-nets to be had; nor\nwere they required.\nFrom Oiwake' the ascent of the volcano Asamayama is\nmade.    It is still somewhat active.\nAt this post-town, the roads to Kioto and Niigata diverge.\nThe latter leads one down a valley for twenty miles to Uye'da,\none of the centres of the silk industry, the dry climate being\npeculiarly favourable for the production of good silkworms'\neggs. The other road, the Nakasendo, pursues an undulating\ncourse till it rises to the Kasatori Toge\", from the refreshment-\nhouse on the top of which Asamayama and the neighbouring\nmountains are well seen, set as it were in a picture, bounded\nin the foreground on either side by tall trees. I have travelled\nby both routes, and on the day when I rested at the little\nrefreshment-house aforesaid, a dense volume of smoke was\nrising from the volcano's crater, and the proprietor told us how\nthat smoke was his weather-gauge; how when it went off to\nthe right the morrow would be fine, and how rain followed\nwhen it took a direction to the left. The range is pretty well\neast and west. The road now descends rapidly down a picturesque and well-wooded ravine to Nagakubo, which can also be\nreached from Uye'da by a rough cross-country route. Let us\nconsider ourselves still on the Nakasendo, and, having proceeded up a valley from Nagakubo, to have taken up our\nquarters at the post-town of Wada.\nThere is here a very Spacious honjin, almost a mansion,\nwith beams of clean wood, and delicate carving and carpentry,\nshowing a combination of simplicity and taste which awakened\nour curiosity. It appears that when the Imperial Princess Kazu\nwas affianced to the Shogun Iyefriochi, last but one of the\nTokugawa dynasty, she travelled by this route, and the honjin\nhad been built for her reception.\nThe ascent of the Wada Pass is long but gradual, occupying\nnearly a couple of hours. In this summer season wild roses in\nplenty scented the air, Wisterias and azaleas were in blossom;\nand soon leaving the mulberry behind, we found ourselves\namongst mamelon-shaped hills covered with grass, rushes, and\nherbs, and a quantity of different trees, such as oak, chestnut,\nwalnut, and, higher up, a number of birches. On the highest\nhill, -however, there were no trees, but a solitary azalea in\nblossom was growing close to the summit. There we lingered,\nresting our horses; larks were trilling their lively song, a solitary cuckoo was uttering its monotonous note, and other birds\nwere filling the air melodiously on the bright summer's day.\nAt Shimonosuwa there are again two roads. The Nakasendo climbs a steep hill, from the top of which there is a\nsplendid panorama on a clear day, the cone of Fuji towering\nin the very remote distance above the Lake of Suwa. The\nvillage at the bottom is Shiwojiri, containing a picturesque\nline of houses, the ornamental gables of which face the street,\nand bring to mind many a village in Norway or Sweden.\nThe other road is the Koshiukaidd, which soon entering the\nprovince of Koshiu, leads past the castle-town of K6fu to\nYedo.\nFollowing, the K6shiukaid6,. we put up near the lake at\nKaminosuwa, and wandered about inspecting the silkworms.\nThis reminds me of a curious legend which I found in a book\ncalled No san hiroku, or \" Record of the Secrets of Silk-culture,\"\nrespecting the origin of the names given to the four rests, or\nperiods of torpor, which the silkworm undergoes during its short\nexistence. My translation of this fanciful legend, after it had\nbeen touched up by a more skilful hand, ran as follows :\u2022\u2014\n\" There once lived in India a great king called Rini, concerning whom it is thus written. His queen, the Lady K6kei,\nbore him one daughter, the Princess Konjiki, and then died.\nThereupon the great king took unto himself another queen,\nwho, sore smitten with jealousy, hated the daughter, and slandered her to the father, so that he sent her away to be exposed\non the mountain of the Roaring Lion. But, doubtless by the\nprotection of Providence, she abode there unharmed, and afterwards returned to her native land, riding on a lion. Upon\nthis she was again exposed on the Falcon mountain. Then\nmany noble falcons, frequenters of the spot, brought food and\nsupported her. And the story coming from afar to the ears of\nthe retainers of the king, they went away secretly to the mountain, and escorted the princess back to the .capital. But again\nthe queen could not endure the princess's return, so she caused\nher to be transported to the island called Ocean's Eye. This\ntime fishermen preserved her life, and sent her back to the\ncapital of her native country. The queen, greatly enraged,\nordered the retainers to dig a deep hole in the garden of the\npalace, and to put the princess to death by burying her in it.\nAfter which a bright light shone out from the spot, whereat\nmen marvelled. And the great king had the earth dug up,\nand there the princess was found still unhurt. Then again she\nwas set adrift in the open sea in a canoe made of a mulberry\ntree, and the boat was cast ashore in the Bay of Toyora in the\nprovince of Hitachi in Japan. The people of the place rescued\nher and fostered her, but in no long time the princess breathed\nher last. It may be that her spirit being transformed, she\nturned into a silkworm. However that was, the four rests of\nthe silkworm are called the Lion's, the Falcon's, the Boat's, and\nthe Garden's Rest, after the four calamities which befel this\nIndian princess.''\n<*\n'Ii'sHI \u25a0L.\nli\nfe^Btt-K\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nSene-gambia \\ With an Account of Recent French Operations in West Africa.\u2014IV.\nBY\nLIEUTENANT   C.   R.   LOW,   (LATE)   H.M.   INDIAN   NAVY.\nTHE TOFOGRAPHY AND PRODUCTS OF THE  FRENCH SETTLEMENTS AND\nNATIVE  STATES  OF  SENEGAMBIA.\nBambouk is a Malinke, and not a Mussulman country, and is\nsituated in the eastern angle formed by the Faleme\" and Senegal\nRivers. It is of large extent, and is divided into many independent\nstates, the chief of which are Farabana, Niambia, Kankoula,\nNiagala, Tamboura, formerly called Natacon, Die'be'-Dougou,\nand Kounka-Dougou, towards the south, with Kamanan and\nKoundian bordering on the Falemd. Farabana, which is situated\nopposite to Senoudebou and Sir-\nmanna, which is opposite to Medina, are the two states that have\nalways been particularly friendly\nin their relations with the French\nfrom the time of their first appearance in the country; and it\nis a fact worthy of notice with regard to Farabana, that, situated as\nit is in the midst of a country where\nslavery is rampant, and where\nthe possession of slaves is looked\nupon as the one thing needful,\nit is a safe refuge for the fugitives\nof this unfortunate class of beings,\nwho are free the moment they\nset foot in Farabana, and at once\nbecome citizens of this brave\nlittle republic, which goes to war\nwith its neighbours rather than\ngive up one of these refugees.\nIron is found in abundance\nin Bambouk, and gold is met\nwith in all parts; indeed, it was\nwith a view to the working of the\ngold mines that the French were\ninduced, as far back as 1716, to\nexplore this portion of the country.\nThe result of these explorations\nwas favourable, but, owing to various adverse circumstances,\nannexation was not effected until the year 1858, when\nKe'ne'bia was occupied. On either side of the Senegal,\nfrom Diakhabel as far as the confluence of the Bating and\nBaoule*, is situated the state of Khasso (or Casson as it\nappears to have been designated in the old maps of the country). Its inhabitants are chiefly Foulahs who speak Malinke-,\nwith some free Malinke's proper, who are still to be found on\nthe left bank of the river. The soil is very productive, more\nso even than that of Bondou, and the scenery is extremely\npicturesque.\nThe Foulahs or Pouls originally came from Bakhounou, and\nwere for a time merely shepherds to the Malinke's, who then\nwere masters of this portion of the country, but by degrees they\nbecame more numerous, and were eventually sufficiently powerful to supplant their former masters.    For the space of fifteen\nBLIND MAN OF SENEGAMBIA\nyears Khasso remained united under a famous chief, Aoua-\nDemba, but at his death it was dismembered by its powerful\nneighbour Kaarta, and split up into several independent states\nunder the sons of Aoua-Demba. In 1855, when El Hadj had\ngained possession of the Upper Provinces, and had secured\nKhasso, leaving a garrison to hold the country while he pushed\nforward into Kaarta, and during the two years' struggle which\nfollowed, Khasso remained undisturbed, the French having\nmeanwhile taken up a strong position at Medina; but, as soon\nas the conquest of Kaarta was\neffected, El Hadj returned to\nKhasso, and the inhabitants of\nthe right bank tendered their\nsubmission, whilst those of the\nleft bank fled to Bambouk. El\nHadj now moved against Medina, and laid siege to the fort,\nwhere all the inhabitants of the\nneighbouring villages had taken\nrefuge and placed themselves\nunder the protection of the\nFrench. The place was besieged\nfor three months, but a gallant\nand obstinate resistance was\noffered, and at length, on the\n18th of July, 1857, the besiegers\nwere driven off, and completely\nrouted by a mere handful of\nmen led by the governor. This\nreverse was disastrous to the\ncause of El Hadj, and put an\nend, for a time, to the struggle\nwhich had arisen between the\nFoulahs and Mandingoes, or\nin. other words, between the\nMussulman and non-Mussulman\nstates in Senegambia.\nOn the right bank of the\nSenegal, with Khasso intervening between it and the river, is\nsituated the tract of country called Kaarta, a very fertile district, inhabited by a tribe originally known as Bamana \u2014 a\nname which the French have changed to Bambara, by which\nthey are universally known\u2014who speak a Malinke' dialect. The\nform of government is monarchical. The people of the state\nare very warlike, and Kaarta is looked upon as one of the\nmost powerful of the Upper Provinces. It maintains a sort\nof permanent army, divided into, several corps, which takes\npart, in consideration of heavy payments, in any wars in which\nthe states of Khasso, Gadiaga, or Bondou, may be engaged, invariably acting in opposition.to Fouta, and has thus acquired\na considerable influence in those countries. In all their campaigns, the Bambaras always captured large numbers of slaves,\nmany of whom they sold, at the same time,, reserving a\nlarge proportion whom they trained as fighting men.    These  \u00a3\n'Kli\nmm\n114\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nlatter were well organised, and in time became a very powerful\nbody, with chiefs who themselves were slaves. They were at\nthis time subjected to great cruelties on the part of the king,\nand on one occasion so harsh was his treatment of one of their\nchiefs, that a general revolt ensued, and these soldier-slaves\nquitted the country with their families. Their masters pursued\nthem, but so strong was the position they had taken up, that\nit was found impossible to dislodge them, and after a while\nthey continued their migration eastwards, finally settling in the\nkingdom of Segou. The chiefs of Kaarta, living as they do,\nsolely by rapine, are cruel in the extreme and exceedingly vicious, \u25a0\nand the Djiavaras\u2014a Soninke\" race, who had been subjugated\nby the Bambaras, and inhabited that portion of Kaarta whicri\nthey formerly ruled\u2014no longer able to endure their tyranny,\nbroke into open revolt, and a civil war ensued. El Hadj was\nat this time contemplating the conquest of Kaarta, and, profiting\nby their internal divisions, endeavoured, by promising them\ntheir independence, to induce the Djiavaras to join him. In\nthis he succeeded, and with their assistance, in 1858, completely\nrouted the Bambaras, who took refuge in Fouta Dougou. The\nDjiavaras, however, soon discovered they had gained nothing\nby the change of masters, and, after the French success at\nMedina, took up arms against their former ally. As to the\nBambaras, a portion returned to Kaarta, and a large number\nsettled in the vicinity of Medina, Bakel, and Senoude'bou,\nunder the protection of the French, where they have remained\nto this day.\nKaarta, although exceedingly fertile, exports nothing but\nslaves, gold, ivory, and a few cotton goods.\nFrom St. Louis as far as Bakel, the right bank of the Senegal is overrun rather than inhabitated by three great tribes of\nMoors of the desert, known as the Trarzas, Braknas, and\nDouaichs. These Moors were formerly insolent and great\nplunderers, but some severe lessons have been administered to\nthem, and they have now acquired a wholesome respect for the\nFrench name, and all French subjects and protege's. The\nTrarzas are the nearest to St. Louis, and occupy that portion 01\nthe country extending from the banks of the river to the small\nstream of Morghen opposite to Gae, having an average depth of\nabout 300 miles. The Braknas inhabit the line of country which\nruns along the right bank of the river from the' Morghen to the\nsmall stream of El Modinalla, facing Fouta Toro; and the territory of the Douaichs commences at the El Modinalla and\nstretches as far as the Gangara territory in the interior, and in\nthe direction of Tagant\nWe will now proceed to give a brief description of the states\nbordering on the coast to the south of the Senegal.\nThe nearest to the Senegal is that of Gandiole, which was\nformerly a part of Cayor, but has belonged to the French since\n1861. It is about five miles south of the mouth of that river,\nand is composed of three villages close together. It contains\nrich salt mines, from whence the people of the interior chiefly\ndraw their supplies. The adjoining country of Cayor extends\nalong the coast from the south of St. Louis as far as Cape\nVerd, a distance of about 120 miles, and has a depth averaging\nfrom sixty to ninety miles. The whole of the coast, to a depth\n.of about nine miles, belongs to the French. Cayor is governed\nby a king with absolute power, whose title is that of Darnel, and\nwho arrogates to himself the right of pillage, and also has the\npower to kill or sell his subjects as he pleases. It is a flat and\nsandy country, and in the dry season water is only to be pro\ncured from very deep wells. It is divided into Cayor Proper\nand Ndiambour; this latter state is thoroughly Mussulman,\nwhilst in Cayor Proper, although there are some few Mussulman\nvillages, the great bulk of the population are not Mohammedans.\nAt the close of the last century, Ndiambour, restless under the\nsovereignty of a king without any religion, took part with\nAbd-oul-Kader in his religious war, and freed itself from Cayor.\nAs soon, however, as the war was ended, religious enthusiasm\ndied out, and the Darnel succeeded in again subjugating this\nprovince.\nAt the commencement of the war in 1854, Cayor was a\ntributary of the Trarzas, who had taken possession of a portion of\nNdiambour, and founded the village of Ouadan, and, so greatly\nwere the Moors feared,and so little sympathy had the inhabitants\nof Cayor for the French, that the latter received no support\nfrom them in their campaign against the Trarzas. Cayor Proper \u2022\nis divided into several provinces. The territory of Dialakhar\nwas detached from Cayor by the French, and added as a suburb\nto St. Louis. . Toube\" is a small tract of country, containing a\nfew villages, about three miles from St. Louis; it formerly\nbelonged to Ualo, but was conquered by Cayor, and given\nover by it to the Trarzas, after which it was taken possession\nof by the French, and is now a suburb of St. Louis. The\nFrench have also fortified posts at Lompoul, M'boro, and\nM'bidgen, which likewise serve as stations for the line of telegraph from St. Louis to the island of Goree, about ninety miles\ndistant. A fort on the southern and most elevated portion\u00bbof\nthe island commands a large open roadstead, which is quite safe\nduring the dry season. On the mainland immediately opposite\nGoree is the province of Diander, which originally formed a\npart of Cayor, but is now under French rule. From Rufisque,\nits principal port, telegraphic communication has been established with most of the other French settlements. Dakar, the.\nextreme point of Cape Verd, is separated from Goree by a\nnarrow channel, about 2,200 yards in breadth, and the French\nhave here constructed a port and established a depot for the\nvictualling of the Brazil line of Transatlantic steamers.\nFurther south are the districts of Baol and Sine, countries acknowledging the French suzerainty. In the former, they have\nthe factory of Portadal, and in the latter that of Joal, both of\nwhich are protected by crenelated towers. To the south again\nof Sine is situated the province of Salum, intersected by a\nriver of the same name, on the banks of which, at Kaolack, the\nchief commercial town, the French, in i85o, constructed a fort.\nOn the other side of the Gambia, and about 150 miles from\nGoree, is situated the island of Djogue\", belonging to the French,\nat the mouth of the Casamanza River; and on the left bank of\nthe same river they hold the territory and island of Carabana,\nand the island of Guimbering; and higher up on the right bank\nthey have the districts of Boudhie, in which is the factory of\nSedhiou, Pakao, and Yassi, and on the left bank, Souna and\nKerakounda. Following the coast-line, and at the distance of\nabout 250 miles below the Casamanza, we come to the Rio\nNunez and Rio Pongo, both of which have been explored by\nthe French, but on neither have they as yet established any\nfortified posts.\nThe quadrilateral formed by the Senegal on the north, the\nGambia on the south, the Atlantic on the west, and the Faleme'\non the east, constitutes the boundary of the country of Djioloff.\nThe central portion is almost a desert, but it is thickly peopled\non its margin.    Formerly it was very powerful;  now it is SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN WEST AFRICA.\n\"5\nreduced to impotence,.from the separation of the other Ouoloff\nand Serer states, and from the constant raids of the Moors and'\nToucouleurs of Fouta Two hundred years ago \"Bour-ba-\nDjioloff\" was supreme among the kings of Cayor and Ualo,\nand even among those of Sine and Salum, although these\nchiefs were at the time almost independent; and even now\nthat \" Bour-ba-Djioloff\" has sunk so low in the social scale, it\nis said these princes still go through certain forms of respect\nwhen in his presence. The pasturage in parts of Djioloff is\nvery good, and the inhabitants are enabled to rear fine herds\nof cattle, which form a tempting bait for the Moors of the surrounding countries. It is supposed there are also large forests\nof gum-trees in the interior. The fort of Merinaghen was\nconstructed with a view to attract the commerce of Djioloff in\nthat direction, but the people have such a dread of the Moors,\nwho infest the roads, and are naturally so timid, that they\nshrink from intercourse with the French, so that, as yet, little\ngood has resulted from the occupation.\nIn M. Adanson's work on Senegal, to which we have\nalready made reference, may-be found perhaps the best and\nmost copious account of the natural history productions of\nSenegambia That accomplished botanist, whose researches\nextended over five years, speaks with admiration of the varied\nand luxuriant products of the field and forest of the country\nbetween the Senegal and Gambia The vast girth of the\nbaobab or calabash tree excited his unmeasured wonder; while\nthe beauty and grace of the palm raised in his mind those\nfeelings of admiration it never fails to create in those who for\nthe first time find themselves beneath the grateful shade of the\nfan-like leaves which form its lofty crown. The palm-tree, in\none of its numerous species, greets the eye of the traveller in\nalmost every clime of the torrid zone. On the low and arid\nbanks of the Tigris, on the flat and otherwise uninteresting\nshores of the Malabar coast and the Maldive Islands, amid\nthe luxuriant forest growths of Ceylon and the Straits Settlements, and in the far-off islands of the Pacific Archipelago, the\n\" sea-loving\" cocoa, and others of the numberless species of\nthe palm-tree, flourish and gladden the hearts of the inhabitants,\nwho rightly regard this tree as the most priceless of the\ngifts of a bountiful Providence, whence they derive not only\"\nthe principal articles of their meat and drink, but also the\nmaterials from which they construct their houses, boats, cordage,\nclothing, and, indeed, almost every comfort and necessary of\nlife.\nSir John Malcolm, in his charming \" Sketches of Persia,\"\ntells an anecdote illustrative of the estimation in which the\nPersians, during his first mission to Teheran in 1800, regarded\nthe date-bearing species of the palm-tree, and we can vouch\nfor it that though it does not serve so many useful purposes as\namong the maritime populations of the islands and shores of\nthe Indian or Pacific Oceans, yet the Arab tribes, who wander\non the banks of the Shatt-al-Arab and Tigris, could not support existence without its grateful shade from the mid-day sun,\nor its delicious juicy fruit\nMalcolm says, \" When I looked on the desert, arid plains\nwhich lie between Abusheher* and the mountains, and saw the\nignorant, half-naked, swarthy men and women broiling under\na burning sun, with hardly any food but dates, my bosom\nswelled with pity for their condition, and I felt the dignity of\n* Abusheher is the proper Persian name, but the town is better known\nto Europeans by the abbreviated appellation of Bushire.\nthe human species degraded by their contented looks. ' Surely,'\nsaid I to Khojah Aratoon, an Armenian (known in the Mission by the name of Blue-Beard), ' these people cannot be so\nfoolish as to be happy in this miserable and uninstructed state ?\nThey appear a lively, intelligent race\u2014can they be insensible\nto their comparatively wretched condition ? Do they not hear\nof other countries'? have they no envy, no desire for improvement?' The good old Armenian smiled and said, 'No;\nthey are a very happy race of people, and so far from envying\nthe condition of others, they pity them. But,' added he, seeing my surprise, 'I will give you an anecdote which will\nexplain the ground of this feeling.\n\"'Some time since, an Arab woman, an inhabitant of\nAbusheher, went to England with the children of a Mr. Beau-\nman. She remained in your country four years. When she\nreturned, all gathered round her to gratify their curiosity about\nEngland. \" What did you find there ? Is it a fine country ?\nAre the people rich ? are they happy ? \" She answered, \" The\ncountry was like a garden; the people were rich, had fine\nclothes, fine houses, fine horses, fine carriages, and were said\nto be very wise and happy.\" Her audience were filled with\nenvy of the English, and a gloom spread over them which\nshowed discontent at their own condition. They were departing with this sentiment when the woman happened to say,\n\"England certainly wants one thing.\" \"What is that?\" said\nthe Arabs eagerly. \"There is not a single date-tree in the\nwhole country \\\" \"Are you sure?\" was the general exclamation. \"Positive,\" said the old nurse; \"I looked for nothing\nelse all the time I was there, but I looked in vain.\" This information produced an instantaneous change of feeling among\nthe Arabs; it was pity, not envy, that now filled their breasts;\nand they went away, wondering how men could live in a\ncountry where there were no date-trees!'\"\nSir John Malcolm says that during the remainder of that\nday's march he pondered over the seeming contradiction between the wisdom of Providence and the wisdom of man.\nThe conclusion he came to conveys a moral that perhaps it\nwould be as well if Baron Reuter, and other great capitalists\nwho are about to flood the country with schemes for the material resurrection of Persia and her people, would bear in mind,\nand bring about the great changes and innovations that follow\nin the wake of civilisation gradually, and without too great a\nshock to the feelings, and even prejudices, of an ancient and\ninteresting race.\n\" I went so far,\" says the sagacious Elchee, \" as to doubt\nthe soundness of many admirable speeches, and some able\npamphlets I had read, regarding the rapid diffusion of knowledge; and began to think it was not quite honest, even\nadmitting it was wise, to take away what men possessed ot\ncontent and happiness, until you could give them an equal or\ngreater amount of the same articles.\" But revenons a nos\nmouions.    \"Let us return to Senegal and her palm-trees.\nOn the Senegal coast, says M. Adanson, there are forests\nof date-trees, and also groves of the oil-bearing palm, which\noften grows to the height of eighty feet without any branches,\nuntil you reach the head, which contains the small round fruit\nfrom which is expressed the palm oil. The date-tree, on the\nother hand, seldom rises higher than from twenty to thirty feet\nIts trunk is round and straight, of a dun colour, and six inches\nat the most in diameter.' From the. top there issues forth a\ncluster of leaves from eight to nine feet in length, which extend\nwigs 11.6\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nrift, IJ\nw\n-all round, their ends bending towards the earth.    From the\nbottom of the tree spring a great number of stalks like that\nfrom the crest, but they seldom shoot so high as four or five\nfeet    These stalks spread so much round the tree that where-\never the date grows in forests you find it difficult to open a\n\u25a0 passage through its prickly leaves.    The fruit has a sugary,\n.agreeable taste, infinitely superior, in M. Adanson's opinion, to\n\u2022 the very best dates of the Levant.    And, indeed, the same\n. may be said of the dates of the East, for the flavour of the\nJuscious fruit, fresh-gathered, on the banks of the Tigris is\nhardly discernible .in the dried-up article that is retailed in the\nstreets of London.    Both these descriptions of trees yield the\npalm wine which is in such general use among the natives.\nM. Adanson describes some of the methods by which the\n^natives extract the wine, which is exactly the colour of whey.\n\u25a0They cut a stalk a few inches under the crown, and leave only\nsome leaves standing, which they lay above the incision, and\nfasten with a peg to the tree. The extremity of these leaves is\n.afterwards folded into a calabash, or a small earthen pot,\nnarrow-mouthed, and suspended so as not to be detached from\n.the leaves, or to fall. By this method the sap which issues\nfrom the stalk distils along the leaves, and is collected together.\nan the earthen pot The second method of extracting the\npalm-wine consists in making a round hole under the head of\nthe tree instead of cutting it; and in introducing into this hole\n.a few folded leaves, which serve as a gutter or passage to\n-convey the liquor into the pot or vessel fastened to it\nIn extracting the juice from a very tall tree, as from the oil-\npalm, there is a great deal more difficulty in the operation.\nThe following method adopted by the natives is described by\nM. Adanson, and bears a great resemblance to the practice of\n.the natives of India when, they climb the lofty palms for the\nsame object,* which we have detailed in this periodical. They\n.take a girth of the bark of the Baubinia or of the palm-leaf\n-dried in the sun, beaten and twisted, and having a breadth\n.three times the thickness of the finger. At one end they make\n.an eyelet-hole, into which is inserted a little stick fastened\nacross the other end. This girth must be neither too pliant\n\u25a0nor too stiff, but it should have a sufficient elasticity to prevent\nit from giving way too much. The band, when laid in a circle,\nhas a diameter of two and a half feet, and, when stretched by\n.the man's body and the tree, it becomes an oval, leaving the\n.distance of a foot and a half between both Having provided\nthemselves with cord, a knife, and some pots they tie themselves, as it were, to the palm with this band, and climb up at\nfirst with their feet; then working with their hands and knees\n-till the part of the band round the tree becomes lower than\nthat which supports their body, and serves them as a rest;\nthen they draw near the tree in order to raise the opposite end,\nand continue the process of raising themselves by their hands\n-.until they get to the top of the tree. The girth cannot slip,\nbecause it is always kept very tight, and the trunk of the tree\nis very rough. Having gained the summit, they sit on the\nband, and, having their arms at liberty, proceed to carry out\nthe object of the ascent They first make an incision, and\n.then fasten the vessel so that the juice flows into it; and when\n:this is full, they lower it down with the cord they have brought\nup with them. In descending, they lower the girth, and it is\nsurprising with what agility and celerity they reach the ground.\n* See \" Bombay and the Malabar Coast.''   By Lieutenant C. R. Low\n(late) I.N.   Illustrated Travels, Vol. IV. (1872), p. 42.\nThe people are so dexterous that accidents are of rare occurrence; and the only point requiring care is the. condition of\nthe band.\nThe trees furnish but a small quantity daily of this liquor,\nand it soon becomes sour. The natives do not drink it until\ntwenty-four hours after it is drawn, when it has fermented\nenough to stimulate the palate agreeably. It is \"drinkable till\nthe third day, when it grows heady; after that time it turns\ninto bad vinegar, and has a most disagreeable smell. It is at\nits best when freshly drawn, when the flavour is sweet with a\nslight tartness, that renders it a very pleasant beverage.\nThe banks of the Senegal above Dagana, and as far as\nMatam, are fringed in most parts with shrubs of a prickly\nnature, intermixed with creepers of various kinds. The'Gonakie,\na tree the wood of which is exceedingly hard, is found in clumps\nbetween Dagana and Salde-, and will prove a valuable commodity in the commerce of the future. The forests of gum\ntrees, which the Moors turn to such good account,, are chiefly\n.to be met with on the right bank of the river.\nSegou, which extends along the banks of the Djoliba, or\nUpper Niger, for a distance of more than 300 rriiles from\nKangaba, or. Kaniaba, to Djenne\",. is a :very powerful norr-\nMussuhnan state; and has as tributaries, among .others, the\ncountries ofBakhounou, Foulah Dougou, Gadougou, Mandin,\nBalea, Ouassoulou. Its form of government is that of,an\nabsolute and hereditary monarchy. It is a state of great commercial importance, and profitable trading relations might be\nestablished between it and the French, but for the countries\nintervening between Segou and Senegambia, which are either\nhostile, or offer no encouragement to the French in their\nattempts to open up the commerce of these parts. A similar\nprejudicial influence is exercised by the Moors, who fear that\nif more intimate relations with civilised nations were permitted,\nthey would soon be deprived of the monopoly they at present\npossess. As matters are now, the French have but little.intercourse With the people of Segou. The chief products are\nslaves, gold, ivory, and a sort of large cotton shirt without\nsleeves, called \" boubous,\" dyed with indigo, and elaborately\nembroidered with silk, obtained from Europeans, most probably\nfrom the English in Sierra Leone. Some of the more costly\nof these boubous are worth several hundreds of franc's.\nThe chief rivers on that part, of the West Coast of Africa\nwhere the French have their settlements, are the Senegal, the\nFalem6 (its principal affluent), the Salum, the Gambia, the\nCasamanza, the Rio Cacheo, the Rio Geba, the Rio Grande,\nthe Rio Nunez, the Rio Pongo, and the Malle'cory.\nThe Senegal is formed by two rivers, the Bating and the\nBa-Khoy, which rise in the mountains of Fouta-D'jalon, and\nunite at a place called Bafoulabe\". \" Bores \" are of frequent\noccurrence in this river, and affect the position of its mouth\nconsiderably; indeed, the changes thus produced are said\nto range over a coast-line of some ten miles.- The Senegal\nseparates the southern portion of the Sahara\u2014which is the\nhome of the Moors, who are wanderers and shepherds\u2014\nfrom the country of the negroes, who are sedentary in their\nhabits, and occupy themselves with the cultivation of the\nland. Its total length is about 1,200 miles, and near the\nmouth it is from a mile to a mile and a quarter in breadth.\nFifty or sixty miles higher up it averages only from 400. to\n600 yards, and at the island of Morfil it is little more\nthan 160 yards.    Above Salde-, however, it widens again, and SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH OPERATIONS IN WEST AFRICA.\n117\nis in places as much as from 850 to 900 yards broad. The\ndepth just above its mouth averages from 32 to 39 feet, and\nit maintains this depth for a distance of about 270 miles, as far\nas Mafou, the first shoal, where the depth is little more than\nfour feet during the dry season. During the rainy season the\nriver rises considerably, and generally overflows its banks\nthroughout its entire length. The rising may be compared in its\naction to a tide, which, commencing to rise at Bakel in the early\npart of September, and flowing in the direction of the mouth\nof the river, does not reach St. Louis until five weeks- later.\nThe waters of the river are at their lowest in the month of\nJune, and they commence to. rise in July, reaching their highest\nLake Guier to the south-east, joins the Senegal. At Merinaghen,\nLake Guier takes the name of the \" Marigot of Bounoun,\" and\nis almost dry during the dry season, but spreads its waters to\nan extent of some forty miles, during the rains. At Salde,\na marigot, or rather an arm of the river, detaches itself from\nthe main stream on the left bank, and rejoining it again above\nPodor, forms a large island, the largest in the river, called Morfil.\nThere is a great abundance of fish in the Senegal, and amongst\nother kinds, a species of electric fish, and a large description of\nfresh-water oyster, which is not eatable.\nThe Faleme',  like the Senegal, has its source in Fouta-\nI D'jalon, and unites with the latter river near Arondore, after\nFALLS ON THE UPPER SENEGAL.\ntowards the end of September, at which time the surrounding\ncountry for several miles is generally inundated. This inundation usually lasts for a month, and, after that, the waters subside\nwith great rapidity.\nThe Senegal would be navigable for large craft were it not\nfor the bar at its mouth, which impedes their entrance. Between\nthe months of. August and November, vessels drawing twelve\nfeet can clear it, and get up as far as Richard Toll, about ninety\nmiles from the mouth ; steamers can ascend as far as Medina,\nnear the cataracts of Felou, about 750 miles; and vessels\ndrawing eight feet of water can ascend as far as Mafou, 270\nmiles, at all seasons of the year.\nThe Senegal has a large number of small affluents, which\nare known in the country under the name of marigots. Near\nSt. Louis these marigots form several large alluvial islands,\n.which are mostly inundated during the rising of the river. At\nRichard Toll, on the left bank, a small river-called the Touaey,\nabout twenty-four miles in length,  and  communicating with\nhaving run some 300 miles. It is navigable during the rainy\nseason for about 120' miles, from its confluence with the\nSenegal, for vessels drawing about six feet.\nThe Salum, which derives its name from the territory\nthrough which it runs, flows into the sea about sixty-five miles\nto the south of Goree. At about forty-five miles from its mouth\nit divides itself into two branches, one, the Salum, an exceedingly tortuous stream, having an easterly course, passes Kaolack\n\u2014where the French have a settlement, receiving its supplies\nfrom the vessels which ply between Goree and Casamanza\u2014\nand finally exhausts itself in a plain some thirty miles\nfurther ori. The other, generally known as the Sine, takes a\nnortherly course, and for the first ten miles from its junction\nwith the Salum, forms' the western boundary of the province of\nSalum; wending its way from thence through the Sine country,\nit passes through the large village of Fatick, within five mile's\nof the capital, Diakhao, and loses itself in a large inundated\nplain.    The mouths of the Salum form a vast delta, and some\nKS nS\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nof the branches communicate with the Gambia. The water of\nboth the Salum and the Sine is salt, and the tide is felt as far\nas the plains in which they lose themselves; they are navigable\nthroughout their entire length at high water for vessels drawing\nfrom six to eight feet. The banks of these rivers are low, and\nbordered with mangrove-trees and plains covered with beds of\ncrystallised salt.\nThe Casamanza, which rises in the mountains of Kabou,\nempties itself into the Atlantic, about 120 miles to the south of\nGoree, and thirty-six miles south of the Gambia. Sandbanks,\nfour or five miles in length, obstruct the mouth, and there are\nonly three entrance channels; the centre one, about 1,250\nyards wide, is the only one practicable for vessels drawing more\nthan twelve feet, and this only at high water. Flowing as it does\nthrough an alluvial soil, the Casamanza varies very much in\nbreadth; the channel decreasing in depth as the river widens,\nvessels drawing about six feet can ascend as far as Sedhiou,\nwhich is a little more than 100 miles from its mouth, its total\nlength being about 190 miles,   For some distance from its.\nmouth the river is bounded on both sides by a series of low\nislands, separated by marigots, or small streams; but these\ngradually disappear as you ascend the river. On both banks\nthe mangrove is found in great profusion, and as far as Boudhie'\nthere are also extensive beds of ooze, which makes landing very\ndifficult up to this point. The Songrougou is the principal\naffluent of the Casamanza, and flows into it on the right bank\nat about sixty miles from its mouth. Carabana and Zighinchor\n(a Portuguese station   unfortified)  are   the chief places of\ntrade.\nOne of the most important, in a commercial point of view,\nand one of the most frequented rivers on the West Coast of\nAfrica, is the Rio Nunez, which'is approached by a channel a\nmile wide, and from sixteen to eighteen feet in depth. The\nprovince of Karkandy, which borders on this river, and extends\nfrom Wakaria to its mouth, is by far the richest and most\ncommercial district of these parts. The great centre of commerce, and the rendezvous of all the caravans from the interior,\njs the village of Boke\", about eight miles from its source.\nA South African \u00a7 Tiger\" Hunt,\nBY A SOUTH AFRICAN COLONIST.\nm\nAfter a few weeks passed in a neighbourhood very thinly-\npopulated, at least by white settlers, where our sole amusement\nhas been the occasional wandering forth, gun in hand, in quest\nof game, of which the supply, both winged and four-footed, is\nalmost as scanty as that of companionable beings, it is with\ngreat joy that we hear the report circulated by the natives of the\ndistrict that three \" tigers,\" a female and two well-grown cubs,\nhad taken up their quarters in a long, bush-lined ravine not\nvery far distant from the house in which we are sojourning.\nThe footprints of a \" tiger,\" as the leopard is very generally\ncalled in South Africa, have been noticed for some time past\nin the vicinity of the largest, most rugged, and most thickly-\nwooded kloof (ravine) in the neighbourhood, inducing the\nnatives to believe that these tigers have settled down, for a\ntime, at all events, in a spot certainly most admirably fitted by\nnature for their concealment\nSeveral natives, as a matter of course, with the strongest\nasseverations and most vehement gesticulations, state that they\nhave both seen and heard the eengue (leopard) upon several\noccasions. Making all allowance for the Kafir's strong love for\nromance and exaggeration, the fact is indisputable that a hoary-\nheaded old savage, the owner of four or five wives, a troop of\nmarriageable, and consequently marketable, daughters, and \"a\ntolerably numerous herd of cattle, is mourning the loss of a\npromising little iiola (young heifer), the said itola having\nwandered from the herd into the bush, where she has been\nfound dead, mangled, and half devoured.\nThe old fellow has, we hear, previously borne the loss of a\nyoung goat almost stoically; but cattle, he asserts with\nmuch emphasis, are his maali (money); and when we. consider that all the cash which he has been able to obtain from\nhis youth upwards, either by labouring for, or by selling maize,\npumpkins, fowls, and milk, to the white inhabitants of\nthe district, has been hoarded, to be invested in cattle\nas opportunity offered; that each of his wives has been\npurchased from her father, and paid for by so many head\nof cattle; and that for each of his daughters he will demand,-\nand without doubt obtain, a certain number of cattle, his\nposition is really somewhat analogous to that of a more civilised being, who suddenly awakes to the fact that he has for\never lost a portion of his capital through the breaking of a\nbank, the failure of a speculation, the foundering of a ship, or\nsome other calamity. The old Kafir, no doubt after an absurd\namount of bragging and vowing vengeance, which he is, of\ncourse, perfectly unable to wreak, upon the leopards, does\nthe wisest thing possible under the circumstances, and seeks\nthe aid of his white neighbours, knowing full well that by the\nagency of their isibahm (gun), or equally deadly moti*\n(medicine) lies his best chance of clearing the bush of his\nenemies; and, being well aware that our host is a great lover\nof hunting, applies to him in the first instance.\nAll idea of poisoning the remains of the calf is scouted, and\nit is at once agreed that a regular hunt shall be instituted, in\nwhich all neighbours and friends are to be invited to join, and\nas large a muster of natives and dogs as possible is to be\nobtained, the gunners to be posted, and the bush driven\nsecundum artem.\n* The remains of an animal which has been killed by a leopard are\nsometimes poisoned by means of strychnine ; and as the leopard frequently\nreturns to feast upon the carcase, he may be thus destroyed. The natives\ncommonly speak of all the white man's medicinal remedies and pcLons by\nthe one word moti. A SOUTH  AFRICAN  \"TIGER\" HUNT.\n119\nOn the morning appointed for the hunt, the Kafirs begin\nto arrive in small gangs before the sun has risen, and, squatting\nupon their haunches in front of the \"stoep,\" as the verandah is\ncommonly called in South Africa, immediately set to work at\ntwo of their favourite amusements, namely, gossiping and snuff-\ntaking, with the usual accompaniments of laughter, gesticulation,\nsneezing, coughing, and shedding of tears, created, no doubt,\nby the excellence of the speaker's humour, and the potency\nof the gwi (native snuff). These Kafirs are all armed with\nknobkerries and assegais, and accompanied by a host of dogs.\nWhen large gangs of Kafirs are employed to drive the bush for\nantelope, it is usual to deprive them of their weapons, owing to\ntheir propensity for \" mobbing \" and destroying every head of\ngame which they can by any possibility secure, thus depriving\nthe white hunters to a great extent of their sport; but on\nthis occasion, as the game to be sought for is often dangerous\nwhen wounded, permission is accorded to all hands to carry\nsuch weapons as they think fit.\nTwo of our neighbours having ridden over in time for an\nearly breakfast, that most agreeable of all meals is hurried\nthrough in a very unceremonious fashion, guns are taken up,\nflasks and belts adjusted, horses are brought round, and a\nstart is made for the spot agreed upon for the \" meet.\"\nAs we ride through the thick grass and tangle, our horses'\nlegs, and even the boots of their riders, become thoroughly\nwet with the heavy dew which still clings to the herbage,\nwhile a thick humid mist hangs over the valleys, and the\nair is much cooler than would be expected by a recently-\narrived Englishman. However, dews, mists, and, unfortunately,\ntoo often cool air, speedily disappear before the early sun's\nrays.\nWhile riding to the rendezvous, one of us succeeds in\nknocking over an impoonzie* which the curs belonging to\nthe Kafirs seem disposed to \" break up \" on the spot, and\nfrom which they are, with some little difficulty, driven off.\nEverything seems wonderfully quiet and still as Ave ride\nalong; for, with the exception of an occasional piping of\nsome small bird, the only sounds to be heard proceed from\nour own party, and the Kafirs are talking but little among\nthemselves as they stride rapidly along, keeping well up with\nour horses.\nArrived at the rendezvous, the scene changes, and we find\nourselves exchanging greetings in the midst of a body of armed\nwhite men, and surrounded by a host of black fellows bristling\nwith assegais, from whose throats comes a constant running fire\nof salutation, \"Sacu bona baas!\" (\"I see you, master!\"); \"Sacu\nbon'umgan!\" (\"I see you, sir!\"); \"Sakubona makosi!\" (\"I see\nyou, chiefs!\"); with the occasional addition to the salutation of\nthe nickname by which any one of us is known among the\nnatives of the district. Orders are quickly given to the Kafirs\nto commence driving, and a few small coverts-are drawn, with\ndeafening shouts and yells, and two  pretty little  ipelef are\n* The antelope called by the Kafirs impoonzie, and by the Dutch\nsettlers named duykerbok, is the Cephalopus of zoologists, and is a\nsmall, elegsntly-shaped buck of a grey colour, carrying small, straight\nhorns. There are four varieties of the duykerbok to be found in South\nAfrica, viz., Cephalopus Grimmii, CepJialopus Burchellii, Cephalopus\nCanlpbellia:, and Cephalopus Naialensis, all of which are very similar in\nsize and general appearance.\nt The ipete of the Kafirs, and the blauio bok of the Africander.\nDutch, is the Cephalopus pygmaus of zoologists, and certainly does not\nexceed an English hare in weight.\nbowled over; but we hear nothing from the Kafirs of any trace\nof the \"tigers.\"\nA number of the smaller clumps of bush having been\nthoroughly beaten out, it is agreed at once to search the long,\ndeep, densely-wooded valley which the leopards are believed to\nhaunt. We gunners, having fastened our horses under the\nshade of some spreading trees, march off to such parts of the\nopen high lands bordering the ravine as, owing to a thinness of,\nor an opening in, the bush, offer a chance of seeing the driven\ngame pass.\nSeveral of us take up our position upon a sort of natural\nterrace formed by a rough line of rock, and where, from\nthe stony nature of the soil, the side of the ravine is less\nluxuriantly clothed with vegetation, thus affording a better prospect of a shot than is to be hoped for in the somewhat remote\ncontingency of a leopard being forced from such a stronghold into the open.\nI Here we sit chatting and comparing notes with each other\nconcerning the various bush hunts at which we have been present, while we enjoy the picturesque peep through the heavy\ncovert, which our station commands, full of rough pieces of\njutting rock, quartz, and huge smooth boulder-stones, from\namong which curious-looking plants of various kinds, beautiful\nlilies and ferns, perhaps of great value to a collector, crop up\nin all directions down to the trickling stream which winds\nthrough the bottom of the ravine. All agree that a \" tiger,\"\nunless he be labouring under the effects of some poison or\nother which has been laid for him, is but rarely seen, and\nstill more rarely killed, during a bush hunt. \u2022 We have not to\nwait long before we hear the abominable row made by the\nnatives as they commence driving the bush; loud shouts,\nsavage yells, and at times an extraordinary song, mingle with\nthe loud barking of dogs, varied by occasional whistling of a\npower not to be equalled even in the gallery of a London\ntheatre.\nAs the driving party approaches the spot where we are\nstationed, we distinctly hear game of some kind moving in the\nbush, and presently a little ipete, while trying to hurry across\nthe opening before us, is knocked over, and lies beside a great\nboulder, where he fell, presenting a crumpled appearance (if I\nmay use the term which best describes the effect of a tremendous\nchargewf buck-shot upon so small an antelope at a short range).\nBuck-shot is generally considered sufficiently effective for leopard-shooting, and bullets, for obvious reasons, are rarely used\nat a bush hunt where several white sportsmen and a large concourse of natives are gathered together. No attempt is made\nto pick up the little buck, as we are all, of course, expected\nto keep our stations during the drive. From time to time\nthe reports of guns are heard in various directions, and, after a\ntime, the dogs begin to cross the glade which we overlook,\nsome yelping and barking in great excitement, others rattling\nalong silently and steadily with noses to the ground, according\nto their different idiosyncrasies. The dogs are soon followed\nby the natives, who come whooping, and singing, and beating\nthe bush with sticks, knobkerries, and the shafts of their\nassegais. Two or three of the beaters, leaving the bush, accompany us as we walk along the edge of the ravine a little,\nand but a little ahead, of the driving party, one of whom has\npicked up, and thrown over his shoulders, our little antelope.\nSuddenly the Kafirs within the bush are heard calling to\none another in an excited manner, and in partially suppressed 120\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\ntones, and their fellows who accompany us, whose sharp ears\ncatch every word and sound, state that a leopard has been\nseen in the covert, and we all press forward more rapidly as\nthe shouting beaters, who are, no doubt, crowding after the\nfresh \" spoor \" (footprints) of the leopard, declare that the game\nis running ahead of us. As we near the different spots where\nwe know the' remaining gunners of our party are posted, we\nlisten anxiously for a shot, nor have we to wait long, for a\ncouple of tremendous detonations from an evidently veryheavily\ncharged gun, follow each other in rapid succession; in fact,\nboth barrels are fired almost simultaneously.. These reports are\nfollowed in a short time by another, fired some distance ahead,\nand English voices are heard shouting directions in the native\ntongue to the Kafirs. Soon we get the signal to advance,\nwhich we do with some caution, the white men calling to each\nother by name, and the natives continuing their shouting and\nyelling until we arrive at the spot where the furthermost of our\nguns have been posted. '.':, '\nOur friend who fired the double shot, affirms that he struck\nthe I tiger,\" and the man who afterwards obtained a shot also\ndeclares that he hit the animal. By custom, the skin or trophy\nof any game killed by South African hunters, is the property\nof the man who first struck the animal, though several others\nmay fire upon it, and even another administer the coup de\ngrace.\nAfter a long consultation, it is agreed that the part of the\ngorge beneath us shall be thoroughly searched by the Kafirs\nand dogs, a work not altogether unattended with danger,\nshould the leopard be, as it is believed he is, wounded, and\ncrouching among the thick tangle of the dense covert.\nThe Kafirs, calling their dogs together, enter the bush\nwithout any signs of fear, though not without some caution,\nand we white men advance, keeping together as much as the\nrough nature of the ground and the thickness of the bush will\nadmit of our doing; guns being, it is needless to remark, particularly dangerous weapons in the hands of men, however\nskilled in the use of them, who cannot' see each other.\nBefore we have struggled far through the covert, the word\nis  passed quietly by the natives from mouth to mouth that\n\"There is  the   'tigei'!\" and hurrying forward, there he is,\nlooking very bright and handsome, and also very fierce, as he\nbends back as if about to spring among the dogs, who surround\nthe tree in which he has taken up his quarters, his mouth\nopening and showing his long white tushes as he gives vent to\na hissing spitting sort of growl.    He is, of course, shot down ,\nimmediately, and comes tumbling among the dogs, who seem\nbut little disposed to worry him, eagerly as they have been\nbaying him so long as he was \" treed.\"   Two or three tremendous cracks administered on the head as the leopard rolls over\nand over, striking wildly at the dogs with extended claws,\nfinishes matters, and a beautiful, sleek-coated young leopard,.\nnearly full grown, lies stretched before us; his partially open\neyes, now rapidly glazing, and retracted upper lip, showing the\nwhite teeth and long white tushes, and still giving him a fierce,.\nuntamable, and sinister look.    After a lengthened inspection of\nour victim, we wend our way to the-shady spot where our horses\nare tethered, and stf down to an alfresco \" tiffin,\" some baskets\nof provisions haying been not altogether forgotten when the\narrangements were made for a \"tiger\" hunt.\nAlthough the ravine was subsequently drawn  more than\nonce after our hunt, no more was seen of either of the other \\\nleopards said to frequent it.\n \u2022\u2022\u00a3=\u00bb\u2022\u00ab ?\u2022\n\u00ab\nA Fortnight among the Dolomites.\nBY A.  CUST,  M.A.\nIt was with no common curiosity that on the 14th of Lily\nast I strolled through the sultry streets of Botzen to find my\nbearings, and in particular catch my first view of the Dolomites\nfor which I was to start that afternoon.     Report and reading\nhad alike stimulated my curiosity respecting those-mountains;\nbut it was perhaps to the vigorous description of them in the\nPlayground of Europe,\" which had clad them in my imagination with a mysterious and magical charm, that I mainly owe\nhe pleasantest episode of the summer's tour.     It would add\nto my Pleasure in penning these recollections, if I thought that\nthey would help to make more general a similar curiosity\nand a knowledge of the beauty and accessibility of a region in\nwhich I found myself almost a solitary wanderer\nThe Rosengarten, which I soon made out, is well seen\nwhVh ' r' lGft \"S \" litUe d\u00b0ubt as t0 th* lectio; n\nwhich my road out of the town lay.    My first resting-place was\no be Walschenofen in the Carneid Thai.    On entering The\n35   uadtr h \"\"I ?e IUXUri0US kndscaPe * the mS:\nNalley suddenly changed for a bold ravine extending for some\ntitti,\nmiles, along whose rocky walls a skilfully constructed road is\ncarned-now leaping the chasm on a bridge, now piercin* an\nawkward corner  with  a  tunnel.     The  modest  toll  at   the\nentrance of the valley seems well deserved, for a road which'\nhas overcome such obstacles, and opened out an easy route on '\naside where access to the Dolomite region was before troublesome.    Above the ravine the valley opens out, and reveils '\nglimpses of the mountain range towards which it ascends\nAfter some hours' walking, I came upon a village with a\ntiny church and a large white house. The village proved to\nb, Birchbrucke, and the house to be partly inn, and partly\ntrtndl\"     W P PedeStrkn BP S- -7 -de\nhe landlc l s suas.ve conversation, and I was beguiled into\ntaking m  abode for the ni^     nor 8 H\nmorning this failure to complete my last three miles when I\nsaw the hopelessly miserable inn at Walschenofen.    Let \"h\ntaveller halting in this Valley profit by my experience       [\u25a0\nJan and comfortable room, a civil landlord\" and\" the choice;'\nof fish at supper m the \"garden,\" are blessings not to b \"\n1 Saw\nA FORTNIGHT  AMONG THE  DOLOMITES.\n121\nlightly despised. And eloquent, too, to tempt the wanderer\nto stop were the peaceful iJaeauties of the scene. Below me as\nI sat, the villagers and gendarmes were playing at their favourite\nbowls; close by stood the diminutive church, with a bell\nabsurdly out of proportion to it, and a bell-ringer\u2014who\npresently rang the vespers from outside\u2014still more so, reaching\nas he did half way up the tower, while at the sound of the vesper-\nbell pealing through the still valley, to be answered far away by\nothers, the simple people stopped their game and doffed their\ncaps ; in the background, the divided valley unfolded to view\nthe Reiter Joch looming up one vista, and the Rosengarten up\nanother; and over all was falling the solemn evening calm.\nNext day clouds lowered over the mountain-tops, and prevented me from forming more than a partial judgment of the\nvening, rose, in sheer grey rock and glacier, the snow-capped\nmonarch of the Dolomites, frowning down in awful desolation\non a fair reach of rich pasture-land, which stretched back in\neven, upward slopes from the stream, and was fringed by a\nsemicircular belt of pines that converted it into a vast amphitheatre ; while outlying trees from the main barrier, dotting it\nhere and there, promised shade to the lounger, or foreground\nto the artist who should be bold enough to try to compass the\nprospect in one sketch; and, if either wanted convincing of the\nenormous scale of the scene, stray groups of herdsmen or\ncattle\u2014the latter retiring in minute perspective up the mountain\nshoulders\u2014were at hand to assist his imagination. No great\nmountain with which I am acquainted raises its entire mass in\nview to the spectator at so near a point, not being parted from\nEARTH PILLARS NEAR BOTZEN.\nscenery of the Caressa Pass. On the right, however, some\nDolomite pinnacles half revealed themselves through the mists.\nThe Fassa Thai, into which I now descended, is famous among\ngeologists, but disappointing to the lover of scenery, as the\nrounded shoulders mostly shut out the higher peaks that\nrise behind them. I deviated froni my direct course for\nPredazzo in order to visit the upper end of the valley, and put\nup for the night at Campidello. Here the valley makes a\nbend, and its previous monotony is forgotten in continually\nincreasing wildness and grandeur. Next morning I followed\nit up towards the Fedaya Pass; the Marmolata, the highest of\nthe Dolomites (over n,ooo feet), lay in front as I advanced,\nbut even his attractions could not blind me to those of the\nwonderful peaks that rise above Campidello, in shattered tower\nand spire, presenting one of the most remarkable outlines\namong these Alps. As these passed out of view, the valley\nbecame wilder and fnore contracted, till at length I emerged\non the view which was the main object of my walk. Immediately above me, a gentle hollow and quiet stream only inter-\n256\u2014vol. vi.\nhim even by a ravine. I descended that afternoon to Predazzo,\nwhere is a comfortable inn, and the following day crossed the\nCostouzella Pass to San Martino di Castrozza. The top of this\npass is a wide tract of pasture-land\u2014varied with shrubs in its more\nbroken parts\u2014which stretches nearly at a level for more than a\nmile, and supports numerous cattle, presenting to the eye a\nwarm luxurious green, to which blue-grey rocks, which start up\nin parts, embosomed in the shrubbery, offer a delicate contrast. At its distant extremity (as it appears when approached\nfrom Predazzo), the plateau dips into a ravine, or rises in\nbolder cliffs of curiously twisted strata, and a deep ruddy hue,\nwhich still further heightens the effect of the rich verdure at\ntheir feet; while towering above them, and beyond the ravine,\none of the most magnificent mountains that I have seen in the\nAlps\u2014the Cimon della Pala, \"a shattered wall of dolomite\nabout 11,000 feet in height\"\u2014completes the view. Gleaming\ncold and clear, his pale grey, suffused with indistinct yet all-\npervading pink, rising buttress above buttress, riven and rent\nand seamed, so intermingling shadow and cleft, and mass and Ill*\nspur, as to baffle definition, yet glistening with hard uncompromising outline, his main peak, like a cathedral tower far out-\ntopping its flanking gable-ends, raised aloft in scornful defiance\nof the. elements that have scored his face with ruin, he formed\na sio-ht not easily to be forgotten. On the side of Primiero,\nthe sky was overcast with clouds, and mists were seething up\nfrom the valley, continually threatening to break down-in rain,\nor obliterate the fair prospect; their ragged edges, however,\nconstantly appearing to advance, yet never passing a certain\nboundary line, seemed to meet with an equally persistent foe\nin the pure sunlight of the pass, which disposed of their rolling\nranks as fast as they rose to the attack. A newly-made carriage road crosses the pass, which I followed till it led me to\nthe edge of the valley of the Cismone, then a long vista of mist\nand rain. I Avas now within the hostile lines, and encircling\nvapours cut me off from the mountain and the ravine which lay\nin front of it. Hoping to gain a last and nearer view, I left\nthe road, and carefully steered my course through the driving\nmists in the direction of the ravine.\nI was rewarded. After fleeting glimpses, caught far up in\nthe sky, and departing as suddenly, I finally emerged from the\nmists, and stood on the brink of a deep-cut valley-head,\nbeyond which rose the Cimon della Pala As he stood there,\nhow almost- wholly unveiled, now almost hidden from sight,\nnow reflecting from every stone and snowy crevice the clear\nthough uncertain sunlight, now battling with the billowy\nvapours, and dipping his proud head under them as they shot\nover him, or flinging them off his ice-bound buttresses like\nfrothy foam, he impressed my mind with a feeling which those\nwill best participate who have visited the spot. Straight from\nthe wild and dreary hollow he reared some 6,000 feet of broken\nrock and ice: if definition was before difficult, confusion was\nnow ten times confused. Precipices there may be at a steeper\nangle, but here, from cliff piled on cliff, and buttress tossed on\nbuttress, welded together by interlacing snow and glacier, the\neye was carried upwards till it rested, with, a strange awe, on\nthe dizzy central peak. Will the comparison be thought degrading if I liken the apparent architecture of the mountain\nto that of a garden rock-work which has been forced in the\nmiddle somewhat from its original symmetry by pressure of\nthe soil from behind, and which to an ant on the walk would\nappear made up of successive rocks, loosely resting on one\nanother at various angles, without visible connection, and\ncrowned by one more erect and tottering than the rest ? I\nsucceeded, with patience, in sketching an outline of the\nmountain, bit by bit, as, phantom-like, each part assumed existence only to elude my grasp, and had just made up my mind,\nthough cold and stiff, to put in some shading, when\u2014crash\noverhead! a thunderclap pealed, and that from the serene\nquarter of the sky. .No second warning was needed, and it\nwas not without a feeling of relief that I hurried away from the\nsavage and mysterious glen.\nI abandoned my original intention of going on that night\nto Primiero, which I fancied that I could see far away below\ndown the valley, and stopped at San Martino, hoping, moreover, to see something more of the fine scenery at the head of\nthe valley next day; however, for once in a way, the morning\nwas hopelessly damp and cloudy, and I had to content myself\nwith trudging down to Primiero. To this town Mr. Stephens'\nvigorous description in the book above mentioned had made\nme eagerly look forward; under the circumstances, therefore,\nof the inauspicious weather and my descent from a scene of\nsuch bewitching grandeur, a little disappointment at first sight\nwas not unnatural. No one, however, approaching Primiero\nfrom below, can fail to be impressed with the extreme charm of\nits situation, nor could it well be better placed for making\naccessible the various beauties of the valley, commanding, as\nit does, not only the main branch, but also the Val di Canali.\nI had pictured to myself Primiero as having become by\nthis time a place of some resort; and a fortnight's inexperience\nhad made me rather look forward to meeting my fellow-men at\na table d'hdte, but when, in my innocence, I inquired about the\nlatter of the good people, the term seemed almost unknown to\nthem, and during all my stay, so far as I knew, I constituted\nthe sum total of all the visitors in the place ! When, however,\nthe day shall come when beauty of scenery is loved for its\nown sake, or for whatever other reason, the tide of fashion\nshall have set to Primiero, and caused the quiet and sedate\nAquila Nera to give place to a modern hotel, then, I fear, must\nthe levelling influence of civilisation begin to rob the old town\nof its character, and turn the heads of its people. As it is,\nPrimiero is quaint and primitive, and the lazy, old-fashioned,\nout-of-the-world, respectable inhabitants, thronging its streets,\nor sitting in front of the houses, are a sight to see; even the\nmost unreflecting, when he beholds at evening well-to-do,\nmiddle-aged citizens playing their staid and respectable game\nof bowls in the principal street in front of the hotel, must be\nconscious of the vast gap between them and the ordinary\nBritish townsmen of the nineteenth century. All is orderly,\npeaceful, and neighbourly, mob ruffians, and beggars seem only\nan evil dream of more advanced humanity; but perhaps no\nabsence struck me so much as that of fast, dressy, or swaggering young men ; the younger generation seemed either to have\ndisappeared, or to imitate the demure and old-world ways\n.of their elders; no one seemed before anyone else in fashion\nor civilisation. All seemed contemplative, good-humoured,\nand contented with their present state of things, and no doubt\nLondon might have been burnt up without my hearing of it or\nany one being discomposed.\nNewspapers there may have been, but, like the beggars,\nthey did not protrude themselves on my observation, and of\nnews from the outside world I was ignorant almost for weeks\ntogether during this part of my tour. Nor did curiosity appear\nto throw the worthy people off their balance: though I must\nhave appeared to them strangely and wonderfully got up;\nstalking collarless through the crowded streets, I never met\nwith a disrespectful look or word, and struck no spark of hope\nin tout or guide to prey on my helplessness.\nOn Sunday, of course, the streets were more than usually\nthronged, but still there was the same composed and sedate\ndemeanour, quiet talking, or gossiping, and absence of joviality\n(externally, at least) as on week-days. Mass seemed to be\nover by nine in the morning, to judge by the crowds of people\nstreaming down the street. It was pleasing to see the gaunt\nrustics, who had flocked in from hamlet or chalet, in their\nSunday best, their coats, as is their universal custom, thrown\nover the back like a cloak, the sleeves hanging loosely down,\nawkwardly shuffle along with wide mountain strides on their\nroad to church, and then, as they gained the door, thrust first\none arm, then the other, with solemn deliberation and apparent\nreluctance, into its sleeve, doff their caps, and reverently enter;\nor if they passed the open door, denote their respect perchance with lifted cap or bended knee. All, moreover, was done with\ngravity and dignity, and, in spite of their uncouthness, a certain\nhomely mountain grace. The poorer women, who the rest of\nthe week walked barefoot\u2014and seemed to prefer doing so\nwhere possible, as they would be seen sometimes carrying their\nshoes in their hand\u2014on Sunday, -with their other finery, put on\nboots, and the evident want of custom made their gait curiously\nungainly.\nMy small quota of praise must goto swell the apparently\nuniversal tribute to the comforts of the Aquila Nera. My\nbedroom was clean and roomy, and my dinner well cooked.\nAs to the landlady, the grumpiest of tourists could hardly find\nit in his heart to quarrel with the kind-hearted, motherly\nMadame Bellini. No sooner was my step heard on the stair\nafter my day's walk, than one of the family, or a barefooted\ndomestic, followed up to know my wants, and these were as\npromptly supplied. The inn shared the peculiarities of the\ndistrict, and beyond the visitors book had little to denote the\nadvent of strangers. The general guest-room was on the first\nfloor, the sitting-room of honour being the passage between the\nbedrooms on the floor above, with a small balcony at each end,\none of which looked over the main street. Here I ate my meals\nin solitary state. Of the ground floor I remember little, save\nthat it contained a courtway, and appeared more tenanted by\ndogs than human beings. A more ambitious member of the\nformer class was apt to invade my domains, which, however,\nwere more permanently occupied by a cat, to whom perpetual\nhabit had given the appearance of always peering round a\nstair corner to see if one of her canine friends were approaching.\nThe\"' scenery about Primiero derives much of its charm from\nits varied character. The most prominent features are the\ngroups of Dolomite mountains lying between the two branches\nof the valley near the point of junction of which, as above\nmentioned, the town stands. These mountains are the Saas\nMaor and the Cima Cimedo; and their marvellous shapes and\nrich colouring no one who visits Primiero is likely to forget.\nAt the base of the latter may be seen one moment strange\npinnacles, the existence of which, a change of light the next,\nmay lead the spectator to doubt. To satisfy his scepticism,\nthe latter will probably feel inclined to mount the rounded\ngrassy knolls, sprinkled with pines and chalets, which lead\nimmediately up to them. At the foot of this green hill, and\nsimilar ones on the other side, though of a more broken kind,\nand varied by bolder ridges, lies a large fertile reach of level\nvalley, devoted to the cultivation of maize, and traversed by\nroads joining the three outlying villages, whose spires form a\nconspicuous object in the landscape. Beyond the broadest\nextent of this little plain, smiling with crops, and stream, and\nvillage, the eye rests on a solid wall of Dolomites, lying to\nthe right of the last-named mountains, from which it is apparently cut off by the head of the Val di Canali, though really\npart of the same ridge, and forming a background to the\nrocky promontory on which stands out the ruined castle of\nLa Pietra. Behind the town rises at once a steep hillside,\nin walls, and paths, and terraces, between which nestle grass-\nfields overshadowed with the luxuriant foliage of Spanish\nchestnuts or similar trees, the whole forming a bright green\nprospect grateful to the eye, and tempting the spectator to\nexplore the paths or enjoy the shade. Amid so many accessible\nbeauties, ladies would find Primiero good head-quarters.\nCloudy weather prevented me from making some of the\nwalks-which I-had contemplated; I will record, however, such\npoints of interest as fell in my way. After following one of the\npaths on the hill-side behind the town, leading at a pretty high\nlevel down the valley, and affording fine views in both directions,\nI descended on Mezzano, and turned up the fine gorge of the\nNoana : this eventually brought me out on more open scenery,\nwhere were fine contrasts of meadow and chalet, deep ravine\nand wild rocky hills, near the Alp di Neva. Here I found a\npath across the ravine, and returned to Primiero over the\nMonte Tase. When clear, the view from the latter hill must\nwell repay the climb. A short and rapid descent from the\nridge set me on a wide semicircular slope of grass, seeming\nto stretch below me in one hill-side of meadow dotted with\npines to the distant valley, without a fence to be seen, and\nclosing up behind to' the summit of the ridge amid thicker\ngroups of trees which formed its border. Round where I\nstood, a broad hollow, from which the last hay was being\ncarted away, extended for nearly half a mile along the gently\nswelling hill-side, almost as smooth and fair to look upon as a\ncroquet-lawn. The grass on these hills is mown more neatly\nand closely than with us, and in surprisingly steep places. The\neye rested with peculiar pleasure on the rounded knolls and\nundulations contrasted with their setting of pines or broken\nground, rugged mountain, or melting distance; and the soft\nslopes were hardly less grateful to the foot than to the eye.\nThe day before I left, I walked past La Pietra (let me in\npassing recommend the view of the latter from the far side of\nthe ravine on its right as seen from Primiero; the effect, as I\nsaw it, was most impressive\u2014the desolate, inaccessible castle,\nbright in sunshine against the massive purple of the Dolomites\nin shade in the background) up the Val di Canali, and then to\nthe left up the wilder and more gloomy Val di Pravitale, both\nrunning up deep into the Dolomite range. Leaving the stream\nin the latter valley on my right, I partly went forward, partly\nascended, through the woods for some time, till at last, leaving\nthese, I came out not far from the actual base of the Dolomites,\nand close to one of the glistening, wlrite slopes of debris characteristic of these mountains, and easily mistaken at a distance\nfor snow.\nI now commanded the head of this stern glen, studded\nround with towering peaks, which unfortunately were then\nclad in mists almost down to their feet. Without ascending\nfurther, I bore to the left through the woods, and after\nemerging from them, along the hill-side, keeping nearly at the\nsame level all the way, till I finally attained the angle of the\nridge separating the Val di Cariali from the main valley, and,\nbesides surveying Primiero, offering a view towards the\nCostouzella Pass. Here I was. at the spot to which I had\nlooked with longing eyes from Primiero; and if the mystery of\nthe pinnacles above mentioned was to be solved, now was the\ntime; but lo! though I was almost at their very feet, they\nwere tenfold more mysterious than ever, appearing and disappearing in the mist like magic, or assuming new forms to\nbaffle me when they appeared again. No sooner had I\ncertified myself that I had detected a pinnacle-side, than the\nmocking mists would obliterate it and reproduce it perhaps\nnext moment as a shadow or a cleft, or transform what was\nnow a tapering needle, into a buttress or angle of a mightier\nmass. Outline was impossible; one behind another they\nrose, their forms dim and magnified, and seeming to tower 124\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nto an indefinable height, while looming behind them all in\nthe murky obscurity, I felt the presence of, but never saw, the\nmountain mass whose skirt they only fringed. In the dark\nvapours which seethed round this central mass, writhing about\nthe ghastly pillars, one might have pictured black fumes dimly\nrevealing a troop of white-robed witches scowling round their\nmagic caldron. I left them to a gloom which caught no\ncheering glow even from the sunset, and descending towards\nPrimiero, my way again in part over undulating lawns, I\nreached the valley near Siror.\nI left Primiero, after a four days' stay, with regret. The bill\nwhich Madame Bellini handed me at parting, though portentous in length\u2014the component parts of the meals being put\ndown separately\u2014only amounted to about \u00a3i.\nMy route for the Cereda Pass led me once more by the\nnow familiar way to the castle, and as I passed under its walls,\nI failed not to turn to catch the last glimpses of Primiero\nsnugly reposing below at the end of the fertile valley. The\nmists which accompanied me over the pass furnish an excuse\nfor not criticising its scenery. I will content myself with\nrecommending to the pedestrian the pleasing and varied route\nby Frassene.\nAvoiding Agordo, I turned up the Valley of the Cordevole.\nThe latter is enclosed on both sides by fine rocky mountains,\nwith the tremendous aspect of whose frowning precipitous\ncliffs, or rather steps of rock, I was much struck. The river is\na carrier of timber, large quantities of which lay in piles en-\n. tangled about its banks or caught at corners, and ever and\n' anon I saw gangs of timber-men, as inert or intermittent in\nactivity as the logs themselves, with long spiked and hooked\npoles, rarely doing anything but standing about the deadlocked or stranded timber contemplating matters. Comparatively few logs were in motion, but sometimes great thuds\nand bumps were heard as they came dashing down over the\nrocks, or some monster log would heave in sight, fighting its\nway down amid attendant smaller fry.\nI found quarters for the night at Ceuceuighe. The inn\nwas small and rough, but the landlord obliging and attentive.\nNext day I pushed my course up the valley, passing the Lake\nof Alleghe, which chiefly derives its beauty from the Civetta.\nThis mountain rises immediately behind the village of Alleghe,\nwith varied steps and luxuriant buttresses, above which the\nvertical cleft-riven final rocks, peculiar to the Dolomites, rear\nthemselves in grim majesty. The far side of the lake, whithei\nI was rowed by two laughing damsels, afforded me a fine view.\nI did not recross, and instead of rejoining the road above the\nlake, followed the old track on the right side of the stream.\nHere I got into difficulties, as the road was broken down in\nparts, and the bank steep. After two ineffectual attempts to\nford the stream, and wading up part of it, I reached Caprile,\ndisgusted at having wasted some two hours of valuable time\nover a mile!\nCaprile possesses a decidedly superior inn to that at\nCeucenighe, and lies in the midst of beautiful scenery. Above\nthe village my track for the Tre\" Sassi Pass mounted steeply at\nfirst, and in an unexpected direction, and then after making a\nsudden turn, and landing me despairing into a pathless but\nbeautiful Alp, kept along the steep valley-side at a high level.\nIt was bountiful in rich scenery, commanding striking views\nover the upper end of the valley of the Cordevole and its\nbranches.    The Civetta, which a good authority calls the most\npicturesque of the Dolomites from certain points of view, kept\nme perpetually looking back, and, when at last it received the\nfull rays of the setting sun, the effect was startlingly beautiful:\nthe whole mass was the pale pink colour of the dolomite rock,\nintensified more and more by the declining rays, which\nlingered on it till it glowed like a pale moon. The Dolomite\nMountains so seen have a bewitching beauty all their own. I\nstopped at the village of Andraz, and found a more comfortable\nlittle inn than might have been expected; however, it was of\nthe smallest and most rustic kind.\nI had fine weather next day for the Tre- Sassi Pass, on the\ntop of which I spent nearly five hours sketching my old friend\nthe Marmolata, one of the most striking features in the view\nfrom there. During this time, in which not only was I dodging\nround a bit of rugged pine in order to retain possession of its\nshadow for my paints, but the Marmolata itself was transformed\nfrom the clear purply-brown and distinct shadows with which\nhe first appeared into a general indistinct bluish grey. No\nhuman being crossed the pass to break the solitude. A herd\nof cows, however, came racing down the hill with great\nactivity, amusing me by the practised confidence with which\nthey used their hind legs to glissade in slippery places. The\ndescent is a long and gradual one, but made interesting by the\nnew scenery which it continues to unfold. Mount Tofana imprints his character, and a stern one it is, on this side of the pass,\ncommanding it at every turn with bleak dark walls, and in one\nspot only condescending to be picturesque, though in a savage\nsort of fashion, where he opens a gap in his range and displays\nan array of tusk-like pinnacles glistening in the light and\nguarding the opening to the dark mass behind, the void\nseparating them from which being, when I passed, obscured and\nintensified by rolling mists. The cream of the whole descent,\nhowever, and perhaps the most remarkable view which I\nobtained during my tour, came upon me as a turn in the route\ndisclosed the Ampezzo Valley. Cortina itself was concealed\nby broken ground, but the broad valley below the town\nstretched away full in sight for some distance, and on the\nopposite side of it towered two of the Dolomite giants, the\nCroda Malcora and the Autelao, forming a vast range, about\nwhose summits light clouds were hovering; while cloud and\nmountain were so intermingled that it was difficult to say where\none ended and the other began. The whole mass, moreover,\nwas almost as aerial as the clouds themselves, and as light in\ncolour. The latter was almost indescribable, and I can,.but\nfeebly attempt to transfer to the reader my impressions of it,\nand of a scene which affected me more at the time than almost\nany which I can remember. The natural pinky hue of the\nDolomites was then increased by the fast declining rays of the\nsun, which fell through sparse openings in the clouds from\nbehind. In the parts where the light directly fell, a lovely rose\ncolour shone bright and intense, one spot in particular being\nof a glowing crimson ; while the main portion, which was not\ndirectly illuminated, was hardly less striking, being of a pale\ncream tint, streaked with a ravelled and intricate texture of\ngrey-blue stripes, and suffused with a delicate and impalpable\nstrawberry tinge, descending moreover into the valley in long\ntongues of de'bris of a ghastly whiteness. The picture had\nsomething weird and unearthly'about it. I thought that I had\nbefore me as realities what I had been apt to imagine to be\nonly the wild creations of artistic fancy. I ought to have had a\nTurner or a Dante* by my side; the one would have found it hard A FORTNIGHT AMONG THE DOLOMITES.\nI25\nto exaggerate the sublimity and loftiness of form, the delicacy\nof tracing, and the aerial tones of those Ampezzo mountains ;\nmay be that circumstances favoured me, and that I might hereafter return to the spot to find its magical charm\u2014partly, no\nMS\nVIEW  IN THE TYROL.\nthe other might have realised in them the peaks of Elysium.\nI felt that I had done well to come to Cortina last, and wondered that  I  was  so  little  prepared  for such  a view.    It\ndoubt, one of surprise\u2014diminished. Once seen, however, a\npicture of such a kind has an unfading life of its own amid\nthe stored up memories of the past    Descending lower, and 126\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nIs\nPI\nrounding the hill which had hitherto concealed Cortina and\npart of the valley, I sat down on one of the highest meadows\nwhich sloped up from the town, to drink in the last glory of the\nsetting sun. His rays had by this time imparted a vividness\nas of glowing coals'and a colour incomparably deep and lovely.\nSlowly I descended towards the town, watching the changes, as\nthe bright loveliness, its last flickering glow withdrawn, faded\ninto dim spectral hues: till with the cold pallor of death\naround, it sank below the level of the tall campanile. I crossed\na narrow ravine, and was at once in a bustling throng, calling\nfor letters at a post-office, inquiring my way to the Stella d'Oro\n\u2014a small world of life had burst upon me, and an awakening\nfrom a trance could hardly have been more complete.\nNext morning, as I somewhat expected, the valley had\nwidened, the mountains grown lower, and gently receding\nmeadows seemed to offer a tempting way back to the lofty site\n(really, I suppose, some 2,000 feet above the town) of my\nvision of the previous night. And as for the aerial mountains,\nso humbled were they, that looking at their slanting forms from\nthe street, a man might have been tempted to call the campanile the most majestic object in sight! Well known though\nit may be, I must not fail to recommend the walk over the\nTre- Croci Pass to the forester's house, whence is seen the\n\" cirque \" of the Croda Malcora My return home from there\nwas accompanied again by marvellous sunset effects. From a\ndeep pool under the waterfall in the centre of the cirque, in\nwhose icy cold water I bathed, I looked down a wooded\nravine, beyond which rose across the valley a remarkable\npyramidical mountain\u2014Mount Campoduro (?)\u2014which the declining rays had already painted a glowing red, marking out its\nshadows in strong relief of deep blue; deep blue also was the\ncurved band of dark pine wood that stretched in the shade at\nits feet, while- bright and green in contrast was the setting of\nthe picture\u2014the. graceful trees that bent over the ravine.\nSolitude becomes in tenser amid the solemn stillness of such a\nscene, and the very motion of the slowly-creeping shadows on\nthe mountain had a fascinating power. When I arrived at the.\ntop of the pass, two opposite pictures were striving for the\npalm of beauty. Behind, the mountains of the Aurowyo\nValley were bathed in the full glow, the pale blue shadow of\nthe valley slowly creeping up their bases, and once more was\nI charmed with delicate pinks and lighf aerial tones playing on\ncurling cloud and ruddy rock caressingly intertwined and wooing alike the warm rays. In front, Monte Tofana had hung\nforth one vast pendent' streamer across his side and far away\nbeyond him to the left, which threw into dim obscurity his\nmighty flanks, while above it he reared Iris twin peaks amid\nfleecier clouds, and the sun from behind to the right shot a\ncarmine streak slantwise, which half suffused both summit and\nstreamer, and half hid them in a radiant haze.\nI will not leave Cortina, my last halting-place among the\nDolomites, without a passing recommendation of the Stella\nd'Oro and its obliging hostesses. This time the passage of\nhonour was occupied at first by a party of American ladies,\nwith whose loquacious elderly maid (English apparently) and\nsome foreigners I shared the ordinary salon, and she was the\nonly person I had heard speaking my native tongue for more\nthan a fortnight! I stayed three nights, and my bill came to\nabout six shillings a day. Punctual as I was in arriving at the\npost-office at 5 a.m., in order to cajtch the public conveyance\nadvertised at that hour, I found the faithless  vehicle had\ndeparted, saving its conscience, however, as I discovered, by a\npencil alteration in the office time-table of 5 into 4.30. The\ncloudy morning not tempting me to prolong my visit at Cortina, I set off to walk in high ill-humour\u2014not lessened by my\npresently catching sight of the omnibus lazily crawling along a\nreach of road in front, whence I conceived a vain hope that I\nmight overtake it at some zigzags I wrongly imagined to exist\nfurther on\u2014and only vanishing finally under the influence of\nthe good beer and fine scenery of the Schluderbach. This is\nthe name of a comfortable inn on the road, apparently frequented by tourists. It is almost a solitary house, which is\nalso the case with another inn at Landro, two miles further on.\nBetween them lies the Diirren See, from the far side of which\nis obtained a singularly perfect view of the Monte Cristallo,\nwhich rises in three square blocks, separated from each other\nby deep clefts. I spent some hours at this .spot, and left it at\nlast in order to obtain a view of the Drei Zinnen, another\nremarkable mountain well seen from Landro, before a later\nvehicle, which I expected about one, drove up. I was packing up my drawing materials, or just about to do so, when I\ncaught sight of a fine black bull close at hand, surveying me\nwith curiosity. He presently turned his head aside and went\non grazing, while I comforted myself with the thought that he\nwas not an English animal, but not also without a glance at\nthe neighbouring trees. After some quieter scenery, bold\nprecipices accompany the traveller to the end of the valley,\nand follow him out of the Dolomite region into the broad\nPusterthal with their parting frowns. Some three hours' drive\nfrom Landro brought me to Niederndorf, whence I took train\nfor Lienz, arriving at the latter place about 6.30 p.m., July 27.\nI had thus been nearly a fortnight among the Dolomites,\nand came away well satisfied with the route which I had\nselected, and favourably impressed alike with the beauty of the\nscenery, and the pleasure of travelling in the region. Some\nreaders may thank me for the following information. The\nDolomite Alps form part of an irregular group of mountain-\nranges lying south of the main chain of the Alps, and separated\nfrom it by the valley of the Drave. The group bears the\ngeneral name of the South Tyrol and Venetian Alps. The\ngreater part of what I have described is included in the Tyrol:\nthe Italian portion of my route commencing on the east side of\nthe Fedaya Pass, and ending with Caprile. Dolomite (so a\ngeological text-book informed me) is a kind of crystallised\nlimestone, so called from a French savant, Dolomien. The\ngreat characteristic of the Dolomite Mountains is grand and\nvaried rock scenery, in which respect I know no general\nscenery in Switzerland to compare with them except the Italian\nside of Mont Blaric. Their forms are quite unique, being\noften extremely bold and varied. The clefts in the rock,\nwhich, to speak roughly, run vertically, having opened a way\nto destructive agencies, the latter have seized the advantage to\ncarve the originally compact mountain into irregular parallel\nfnasses, like a series of gigantic ruined blocks or pillars ; sometimes-also leaving fantastic pinnacles at the base of the mountain. The natural cleavage of the rocks crossing these fissures\nat right angles, assists the demolition, and adds squareness to\nthe shapes. This variety and beauty of outline is combined\nwith remarkably rich and delicate colouring. The general\neffect on the eye is a ruddy or pinky hue, which, when intensified by the sunset rays, forms a spectacle which can hardly\nbe forgotten : a nearer inspection shows the main rock, where FROM END TO END OF STROMOE.\n127\nunbroken, to be a pale grey, but interspersed at the same time\nwith numerous fractured surfaces where  masses have been\ncleft away, which are uniformly a rich yellow ochre, bordering\non the ruddy, or quite pink (in one well-known ins'tance near\nSchluderbach, almost amounting to crimson), and streaked\nperpendicularly with black, as if ink had run down them from\nabove.   At a distance, however, an indefinite blending results,\nthe general tone produced being pale, but peculiarly pleasing.\nThe higher peaks range between 10,000 and 11,000 feet in\nheight: though, however they may yield the palm of sublimity\nto some of their giant rivals, the spectator feels that there is no\ndelusion about the genuineness of their beauty. ' The stately\nprince of the Oberland or Pennine Alps, lifting his head into\nrarer air, draws thence a mantle of snow and ice\u2014the main\nsource of his beauty\u2014with which to clothe himself and hide\nhis barren flanks: while the lowlier Dolomite returns his cold\ndisdain by pointing to charms which need no meretricious aid.\nI had an opportunity now of comparing the two classes of\nmountain scenery, for going direct to the considerably higher\nrange of the Gross Glockner and Venediger, I was forcibly reminded of the poverty and meanness of the mountain shapes\n(excepting the   highest snow-peaks), and  the  common-place\nappearance of the familiar secondary ranges of the ordinary\n- Alps.    Perhaps, also, the valleys among the Dolomites are less\nmonotonous and more abounding in small beauties than some\nof those among the other ranges\u2014such at least as weary the\ntraveller with their trench-like form and single vista of snow at\nthe far end.     Where, however, the attractions are of such\ndifferent types, comparison is difficult, and while some of the\nbeauties of the higher snows are unrivalled, and the .physical\nenjoyment to be derived from them of a higher kind, I can\nbelieve \" that a traveller who has visited all the other mountain\nregions of Europe, and rerriains ignorant of the scenery of the\nDolomites, has yet to make acquaintance with Nature in one\nof her loveliest and most fascinating aspects \" (Ball's \" Guide\nto the Eastern Alps \").\nTo judge from my own experience, such travellers must be\npretty numerous. The only English I saw were two ladies at\nPredazzo, and the servant above mentioned at Cortina; and\nan inspection of the visitors' books showed that only three\nother parties had preceded me during the month, and these\nwere veteran admirers of the Alps. Till I came to Cortina,\nwith the exception just mentioned, I saw no one of any nation\nwho looked like a tourist, walking, or driving, or stopping at\nan inn. The attractions indeed offered by comfortable hotels\nespecially designed for tourists are nearly absent; but on the\nother hand, one of the great charms of a tour in the less frequented parts of the Tyrol is that the traveller shares the peculiarities and life of the'country, and is able to see something\nof the characteristics and friendly disposition of the people,\ninstead of perpetually sliding without a jar along\" a high level\nof imported civilisation which traverses the stream of native\nideas that silently flows beneath it, without having anything in\ncommon, or ever directly coming in contact with it.\nIn cheapness, if this be an object, the Tyrol and its adjacent districts are pre-eminent. Without intentional economy,\nsave that I went on foot, my tour in the Dolomites from\nBotzen to Lienz cost me hardly four pounds. Low charges\nreached their extreme at San Martino di Castrozza, where I\ngot dinner, with half-a-bottle of wine, bed, and breakfast,\nfor about is. 3d.! This, however, was an exceptional case,\nbeing a semi-religious establishment. As a cheap item, I may\nmention wine, which I found palatable and wholesome, and\nof which I more than once obtained half a bottle for 2|d. Perhaps, however, some of the pleasantest and cheapest inns I\ncame across were in the Bavarian Alps, where supper, bed, and\nbreakfast would cost about half-a-crown.\nTo those ignorant of the Tyrol, I may be allowed to\nsuggest the following round\u2014from Munich by the Bavarian\nAlps, and especially the beautiful Tegernsee, to Innsbruck;\nthence by rail to Botzen, and .through the Dolomites to Lienz\nand Heiligenblut (Gross Glockner); thence by Furleiten, the\nKonigs See, &c, to Salzberg, and so back to Munich.\nSuch a round, from Mittenwald in the Bavarian Alps to\nMunich, cost me between \u00a310 and \u00a311, and was completed\nin twenty-seven days, which' was not, however, a sufficient\nlength of time to enable nie to enjqy properly an excursion so\nfull of variety and interest.\nFrom  End to End of Stromoe.\nBY  LIEUTENANT VON\nStrqmBe, the largest of the group of FserOarne, is, as nearly\nas possible, twenty-seven miles long and seven broad, and\nwith a view of ascertaining its capabilities for electric telegraph\npurposes, it was decided that a party should travel overland from\nThorshaven to Haldersvig, whilst our vessel proceeded round\nby sea to the last-named place, where we were to rejoin her.\nOur expedition overland consisted of Colonel Shaffner, Dr.\nJohn Rae, the Arctic traveller, and myself.    We engaged two\nmen to act as guides and porters, and, with well-provided\nknapsacks, at noon on August the 4th, left Thorshaven.   The\n* Edited by Captain J. E. Davis, R.N.\ndistance to be accomplished, as the crow flies, was only about\nsixteen miles, but the inlets of the fiord, and the inequalities of\nthe ground, cause that distance to be, in reality, doubled.\nThe land extends in a north-north-east direction, the fiords\nwhich run into it from east to west being branches of the Sound\nbetween the islands. Our road led us over many hills and\ndales in succession, varying-in height from 200 to 2,400 feet,\nwhich rendered the travelling extremely tedious, but when we\ncommenced our observations, and had measured some heights\nwith the mountain barometer, we began to be rather proud of\nour undertaking.   Whenever we could, we selected the top of 128\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\n!\u00ab!:\nthe ranges for our road, in order to obtain a good view of the\nsurrounding lower country.   Passing a little below the summit\nof the heights at the back of Thorshaven and round the head of\nKalbaksfiord, we reached Kollefiord in the evening, at the\nhead of which we saw the first dwelling since our departure,\nand, having accomplished a good day's work, we made up our\nminds to remain there for the night   The proprietor, Ole\nChristian Dane, of Ore-enge, received us with much cordiality.\nHe seemed to be a man in good circumstances; his house and\nbuildings appeared in good order, and there was none of the\nuncleanliness with which, in general, all descriptions of Fseroe\nhouses abound; on the contrary, it looked a pattern of order\nand cleanliness.    The room into which we were conducted\nhad a well-scoured floor, and an unmistakable air of comfort\nabout it, but, remembering the old German proverb, 1 Aussen\nblank, innen krank\" (Outside bright, inside rotten, or tarnished), I made up my mind for a little closer investigation,\nafter having asked our host's permission, which was readily\ngranted.    In another room, which had a rent in the roof to let\nthe smoke out, I found the host's five daughters busily engaged\nin knitting, spinning, carding wool, &c.    Some ot these young\nwomen were so good-looking that I almost felt inclined to give\nup my intention of further investigation; but my determination\nto convince myself of the truth of the existence, or the contrary, of filthiness, was so great as to overcome this temptation,\nand then, continuing my inspection, I was glad to find everything as I could have wished it\u2014clean and neat.\nAfter visiting the outhouses, which were in keeping with\nthe house, we returned to the salen, where the handsome\nLouisa, a charming picture of homely F^roe industry, seen\nby the light of a bright crackling fire, presented a study for a\nRembrandt, but my enjoyment of the picture was stopped\nshort by the mistress of the house, who made her appearance,\nand invited us to a smoking hot repast, which she had prepared\nexpressly for her \"aristocratic visitors,\" and which, after our\nheavy tramp, we enjoyed with truly plebeian appetites; afterwards Louisa brought in some excellent coffee.\nThe hearty hospitality of Ole Christian Dane will not be\nforgotten by any of our party, and as a Dane I felt much pleased\nwhen the Doctor exclaimed, \" How gloriously happy must be\nthe mother-land which possesses such peasants as these in her\ndependencies ! Indeed, I must go and see it\"\u2014and if such\nshould come to pass, I hope that the mother-land will give this\nfamous Arctic traveUer a reception that will not fall short o*\nthat of our Fajroe peasant.\nWe came to the conclusion that the tales of the filthiness\nof the Fseroese were greatly exaggerated. We visited these\npeople quite unexpectedly, and were unanimous in our opinion\nthat the accusation is unfounded. Some one may say that\nwe had become partial, that Louisa and the coffee had made\na very favourable impression.\nOne of our guides, Jacob Jacobson, a peasant twenty-three\nyears of age, was so interested in our barometer that he was\nnot content until he understood its application; he also evinced\na particular desire to learn the foreign language we spoke\nDr. Rae won his heart by presenting him with an English book\nfor beginners, and I feel assured he will soon be able to make\nhimself understood by Englishmen.\nThe following morning-we were early afoot. It was arranged\nthat Shaffner, with one of our guides, should follow the valley\nof Kollefiord, and await the arrival of Rae and myself at a house\na few hours' march from Ore-enge,' while we, with the other\nguide, ascended Ben Skarling, a hill immediately to the west\nof Ore-enge, and the highest in Stromoe.    Our host insisted on\nshowing us the way, as the side of the mountain was steep\nand dangerous, and consequently never ascended by strangers;\nbesides, he would like  to  \"see the  gentlemen ascend  the\nmountain;\" and, having taken leave of our kind friends at\nOre-enge, we commenced our ascent, which, however, was not\nso easy as we imagined.    We were soon enveloped by the\nmorning fog, which covered the upper half of the mountain,\nand hid the summit from our view; soon the fog was lying like\na vast cloud below our feet.    We had now reached an altitude\nof about 1,600 feet, and found ourselves on a spot so precipitous\nthat it seemed impossible to get any further.   We were obliged\nto lean on the side of the hill in following our host (who was\nan experienced and reliable mountaineer) in a path scarcely a\nfoot wide.   The fog spread out below had one advantage\u2014it\nhid the abyss beneath from our sight, for the least giddiness\nwould be sufficient to cause an unaccustomed climber to lose\nhis footing, and precipitate him into the depth below; and\neven experienced as we were, feelings akin to dread came\noccasionally over us, and caused us to stop, draw a long breath,\nand press convulsively with all our energy against the mountain\nside, before we went further.\nWe reached the summit of the mountain at ten o'clock,\nand for a short time enjoyed a glorious view. A finer\nglimpse of wild island scenery could not well be imagined.\nScarcely had we^time to realise the beauty of the vision, and\ncomplete our barometric measurement\u2014which, by Rae's computation, made the mountain 2,506 feet above the sea, this\nagreeing with that of Forchammer\u2014when a thick fog enveloped\nus, and as we were dressed in light summer costume, and were\nwarm from the labour of our ascent, a cold shiver crept through\nus, and as a strong gale began to blow at the same time, our\nsituation became suddenly anything but comfortable. The\nwind soon dispersed the fog, and hastily donning some warmer\nclothing, and following the Highland custom of depositing a\nstone on the existing cairn (as the mountain is but seldom\nascended), we commenced our descent. Snow soon succeeded\nthe fog, and the weather became bitterly cold. Rae and I\nreached the foot of the mountain before our guides, from whom\nwe received great praise.\nCrossing the valley of Kollefiord, which is well watered by a\nstream, which we crossed at a ford a little more than knee-deep\nat two p.m., we met Shaffner at the rendezvous, which was at\nthe house of Sens Christian Jacobsen, a peasant. It was Sunday, and the whole family-four sons and four daughters, with\ntheir children-were assembled, and their Sabbath service had\njust concluded when we arrived. We intended to continue\nour journey and declined the offer of change of raiment, but\ngladly partook of some food which was quickly prepared for us.\nAt the further end of the room I discovered two young mothers\nsupplying nourishment to their little ones; they innocently\nlooked up and smiled as I noticed them. '\nAt Qualvig we put up at the house of one John Johansen a\npeasant, whose  house was the picture of  cleanliness  and\nWe here obtained much information relative' to the island\nand after a refreshing night's sleep, which we much needed, we\ndoufth^ne^m\u00b0minS' aDd' f\u00b0ll0wing the trend <* *e ^ast\nalong the Sound, got safely on board the Fox in the evening SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN WEST AFRICA.\nSenegambia;  With an Account of Recent French Operations in West Africa.\u2014V.\nBY LIEUTENANT  C.   K.   LOW,  (LATE)   H.M.   INDIAN  NAVY.\nTOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY {continued)\u2014ALSO\nMETEOROLOGICAL NOTES, AND ETHNOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF\nTHE NATIVE TRIBES.\nOn the lin,e of coast between Cape Blanco and the mouth\nof the Gambia .there are but few safe anchorages. About 45\nmiles to the south of the cape, and 270 miles north of the\nmouth of the Senegal, is the roadstead of Arguin; little is\nknown of it, and it is deemed by the French as of no practical\nthe construction of a jetty 820 feet in length, with a view to\nforming a port of call for the steamers of the Brazil line. The\nonly lakes in Senegal worthy of the name, are Lake Cayor, on\nthe right bank of the river in the Trarza territory, and Lake\nGuier, in Ualo. In the winter time, these lakes are filled by\nthe waters of the Senegal, and in the dry season the river is,\nin turn, fed from the lakes. Near the mouth of the Senegal,\nat Gandiole, there are several salt-pans, which furnish large\nVIEW ON THE SENEGAL.\nutility. A little further to the south is the Bay of Portendik,\nbut here it is difficult to make the land, and the approach to\nthe anchorage is dangerous. The best holding-ground for\nvessels wishing to communicate with St. Louis is Guet N'dar,\nopposite the town, where there is a depth of from 40 to 50\nfeet, with a bottom of sand and ooze. The holding-ground in\nthe roadstead outside the bar of the Senegal is good, the\ndepth of water varying from seven to thirteen fathoms, at distances of between two to five miles from the bar. Inside the bar\nthe anchorage is very good, with seven or eight fathoms. At\nGore\"e, the roadstead is to the north-east of the island, and\nis sheltered from winds blowing from the south-south-west to\neast-north-east. It is deemed perfectly safe during the eight\nmonths of the year between November and July. About two\nand a quarter miles from the north point of Gore\"e, on the\nmainland, between Dakar and -Bel-Air Points, lies the Bay of\nDakar, in which, in 1863, the French Government commenced\n257\u2014vol. vi.\nquantities of salt for the use of the colony and for traffic with\nthe interior. These pools or pans are from 600 to 1,100\nyards long, and from 400 to 800 yards broad, and the water\nis so thoroughly saturated with salt, that the yield is quite\none-third of its volume. There are also some salt marshes\nat Nguiel, in the centre of Ualo, but these are only worked\nfor domestic purposes.\nSenega] and its dependencies are divided by the French into\nseven arrondissements, the chief centres of which are St. Louis,\nRichard Toll, Dagana, Podor, Bakel, Gore\"e, and Sedhiou.\nThese arrondissements comprise the following tracts of\ncountry: namely, St. Louis, the whole of the French territory bounded on the north by Ndiago and a lme running\nfrom this point through Maka, Ndiol, and Merinaghen; on the\neast by Lake Guier, and the district known as Dakar-Mdgnele';\nand on the south by the frontier-line of Cayor as far as\nM'bidjem.\nJin 130\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nIsdltwS \"\u25a0\u25a0'-. \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0\nH' i\nThe arrondissement of Richard Toll comprises the whole\nof Ualo; that of Dagana, the native and French villages of\nDagana, with its suburbs and all Dimar; that of Podor, the\nnative and French villages of Podor with the suburbs, the\nwhole of Toro and the post of Salde*; that of Bakel, the\nposts and villages of Bakel, Medina, Se'noude'bou, and\nMatam, the eastern portion of Guoy and Damga; the\narrondissement of Gore\"e comprises Cape Verd, Diander, the\nFrench posts and establishments at Dakar, Rufisque, Mbid-\njem, Joal, Portudal, and Kaolack in Salum; that of Sedhiou,\nthe whole of the French possessions and establishments in\nCasamanza, and all those that may yet be established to the\nnorth of the Casamanza River.\nThe temperature in Senegal is extremely variable, and, at\nthe mouth of the river, with an east wind blowing, has been\nknown to vary'as much as 200 in one day. At St. Louis,\nduring the month of January, which is the coldest month of\nthe year, the temperature is seldom or ever lower than 520\n(Fahrenheit); it commences to rise from February, and\nusually reaches its maximum (95\u00b0), in July, August, and September. In the dry season, however, with an east wind, it is\nsometimes as much as 970 in the shade, and 1460 in the sun.\nThe temperature in the upper districts, as a rule, averages 70\nor 8\u00b0 more than on the coast; and at. Podor the thermometer\ngenerally registers as much as 1490 in the shade. But though\nthe hottest season of the year at the coast is, as has been\nsaid, from July to September, the same is not the case in the\ninterior; at Bakel, for example, in i860, the temperature was\nas high as 107\u00b0 in April; fell with the rains during the months\nof May, June, and July, and, in September was as low\nas 909.\nWhen an easterly wind prevails at St. Louis, the atmosphere becomes excessively dry, and it is not an unusual thing\nto see the hygrometer (Saussure's) registering zero, indicating\na total absence of moisture in the air. On the western coast\nof Africa there are only two seasons, the wet and the dry.\nThis latter generally lasts in Senegal for about eight months,\nfrom the last days of October to about the middle of June,\nduring which time scarcely a drop of rain ever falls; from\nDecember to May, however, fogs and mists are very prevalent.\nThe rains are generally heaviest from the middle of June\nto the end of September, and are accompanied by heavy\nstorms. In the month of November, the land-winds from the\neast-north-east, commonly called the Harmattan, commence to\nblow during the morning, after which they are almost invariably replaced by sea-breezes from the north-north-west\nThey increase, however, day by day, both in force and duration,\nuntil, in January, they last almost throughout the entire day.\nAfter this, they gradually lose their strength, and, by March,\nhave ceased altogether, and are replaced by sea-breezes, which\ngradually gain strength as the land-winds die away; and, in\ntheir turn, blow during the greater part of the day, from April\nto the end of May. In June, these again give place to winds\nwhich blow less regularly from the same quarter, and oscillate\nbetween west-north-west and west; and, in July, August, and\nSeptember, shift still more to the south, returning to north-\nnorth-west in October.\nThe heaviest \" bores \" generally occur between the months\nof January and April, and last sometimes as long as twelve\ndays; they, however, almost always cease at the new and full\nmoons.\nIndependent of the Europeans in. Senegal, there are two\ndistinct races of fair people who are met with on the right\nbank of the river\u2014termed, respectively, the Berber and the\nArab. In the opinion of such writers as St. Augustin,\nIbn Khaldoun, and Leon, all three themselves Africans, the\nformer are descendants of Ham, and are not Semitic, like the\nJews and the Arabs. But, considering the very few good\nreasons adduced in favour of such a conclusion, one is strongly\ntempted to doubt the Canaanitish origin attributed by the\nArabs to this race, and to ask why they may not be regarded\nas the aboriginal race of- this vast and beautiful plateau. It is\ntrue that Ibn Khaldoun, an Arab writer of-the fourteenth\ncentury, and the historian of the Berber race, says that, according to tradition, Northern Africa was a mere desert previous to\nthe immigration of the Canaanitish nations; but, as this assertion\nis merely founded upon popular traditions, no great importance\ncan be attached to it. As regards the name Berber, which the\nArabs were the first to assign to this people, some think the name\nmerely implies the term for barbarians which the Romans gave\nto them, as they did to all foreign nations, in consequence of\ntheir social condition ; however this may be, it is certain that\nthey had, and still have, a language of their own, unique,\nalthough embracing many dialects, and that they were divided\ninto many nations, each of which was again divided into\nseveral tribes. They occupied Northern Africa before the\nPhoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks, or Romans, had formed any\nsettlements on its shores; and their residence in the country\nis of more ancient date than that of any historical record.\nIbn Khaldoun, in his historical accounts, is even obliged to\nconfine himself to such vague statements as the following:\u2014\n\" The whole of Northern Africa, as far as the country of the\nblacks, has been inhabited by the Berber race during a period\nof which we know neither the commencement nor anything of\nits former history.\" Elsewhere he writes, \"All the facts we\nhave cited in our history, prove that the Berbers were always\na powerful people, brave and numerous; a distinct nationality,\nlike many others in the world, such as the Arabs, the Persians,\nthe Greeks, and the Romans.\" The two most noted nations of\nthe Berber race were the Zenata and the Zenaga (which the\nArabs write Sanhadja). These latter spread themselves over\nthe regions south of Morocco, as far as Senegal. Nomads,\nbrave and fierce, they'wandered through these hot climates\nwith their camels, which constituted their chief wealth, and\ntrafficked with the negro races, from whom they received gold\nand slaves in exchange for camels and rock-salt, which they\nbrought from various parts of the Sahara. If it be true that\ncamels from Arabia were only introduced into Africa in the\nthird century, the peregrinations of the Zenagas towards the\nsouth could not have an earlier date, for a nomadic life in\nthese parts is impossible without camels.\nIn the fifth century of the Hegira\u2014corresponding to the\neleventh of our era\u2014the Zenagas of the Senegal,* played a con-'\nspicuous part in the events of that period. They formed a\nsect called Almoravides,t and, impelled by religious enthusiasm,\nretraced their steps northwards, swelling their numbers as they\nwent, and founded, under Yousef ben Tachfin, a Senegalese of\nthe tribe of Lemtouna, the empire of Almoravide, which com-\n\u2022 Arab writers have often confounded it with the Niger, under the\nappellation of \"Kile of the Blacks.\"\nI El Morabetin, which has been corrupted inta Marabout by navicators\nand tradersi \u00b0 SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH  OPERATIONS IN WEST AFRICA.\nH\nprised the whole of Barbary, the Sahara, the Balearic Isles,\nSicily, and one half of Spain. At the same time they commenced\na religious war in Senegal and the districts of the Niger\nagainst the idolatrous blacks, which resulted in the conversion\nof a portion, and the expulsion of those who resisted: they\nalso founded Mohammedan colonies, which eventually became the most important centres of commerce in Soudan. The\npower of the Almoravides was not, however, of long duration,\nand succumbed altogether about the middle of the thirteenth\ncentury, when an Arab tribe, the Beni Hassans, said to be\nnatives of Yemen, spread themselves throughout Africa, as far\nas the borders of Senegal, and conquered the Zenagas, imposing a tax upon them; they also completed the subjugation\nof the negro races, whom they converted to Islamism, and\nwere supreme on both banks of the river. At the present day\nthe Moors on the right bank of the Senegal are divided into\nthree great tribes\u2014the Trarzas, the Braknas, and the Douaichs,\nwho, again, are divided into families or clans. The Arab and\nthe Berber elements are equally apparent in these great tribes;\nin the two first, the original Berber families are tributary to the\nwarlike Beni Hassan; but in the case of the Moorish Douaichs,\nthe Berber race or Zenagas, formerly conquered by these Arab\nwarriors, have regained the pre-eminence in Tagant\nThe territories of the Braknas extend, on the right bank\nof the Senegal, from the affluent Mahguen to El Modinalla.\nThe Braknas of the present day are a composite race, as,\nindeed, are also the Trarzas; that is to say, they consist of\none-third original Arabs, descendants of the Beni-Hassan;\none-third Berbers, descendants of the Zenaga; and one-third\nfull-blooded negroes, slaves, or freedmen, who lead a nomadic\nlife with their masters or employers.\nThe institutions of the Braknas and Trarzas are also\nidentical. The king is selected from a branch of the Brakna\nfamily, properly so called, with the sanction of the other principal branches of the family.\nThe ancestors of the Braknas * was Berkani, son of Had-\ndadj, as Terrouz was the father of the cognate family of the\nTrarzas. He had five sons\u2014Caroum, Litama, Asman,\nAouisse\", and Abdel-Jabar. Caroum was the father of Abd-\nallah. Abdel-Jabar was the father of Ahmed, from whom is\ndescended the tribe of Ouled-Ahmed. The Litamas, descendants of Litama, inhabit the country near Matam; and,\nalthough Braknas, do not acknowledge the authority of Sidi\nEly, the present King of the Braknas. The Ouled-hiaie'-ben-\nAsmans inhabit Adrar, and choose a king from amongst\nthemselves. The Aouissiats dwell partly in Tagant and partly\nin Adrar. Abdallah, Berkani's grandson, had eight sons;\nfirst, Mohammed, the father of Siid, from whom sprang the\nOuled-Siids; Nocmach, Oubeich, and Nageuz, from whom\nsprang, respectively, the Ouled-Nocmachs, the Ouled-Oubeichs,\nand the Ouled-Nageuz; these four tribes are especially\nprivileged to bear the title of Ouled-Mohammed. Secondly,\nEly, who had four sons\u2014Heyba, Nasri, Baccar, and Seddoum,\nwho were respectively the fathers of the Eel-Heybas, the Eel-\nNasris, the Eel-Baccars, and the Eel-Seddoums. Third,\nMansour; fourth, Baccar; fifth, El Moctar; sixth, Ainud;\nseventh, Kreichat; and eighth, Aouisse\", from whom the Ouled-\nMansours, the-Ouled Baccars, the Ouled Moctars, the Ouled-\nAimids, the Ouled-Kreichats, and the Ouled-Aouiss^s take\ntheir names. All these tribes collectively style themselves\n# Brakna is the plural of Berkani.\nOuled Abdallah, and each one has its own chief. Sidi Ely\nhimself is only head of the tribe of Ouled-Siid, descendants of\nBerkani-Seddoum, and is more an Arab sheikh than a king.\nBetween.  Abdallah\u2014the   patriarch   of  the   Braknas\u2014to\nAhmedou, there reigned eight kings.   Ahmedou was a remarkable prince.    He was raised to the throne in 1817, and, up to\nthe day of his death, in 1841, was remarkable for his great\nsagacity, firmness, and success in war.    During this quarter of\na century he raised the power of his country to the highest\npoint it had ever attained, while he showed his wisdom in\nkeeping on terms of close alliance with his formidable neighbours, the French, with the exception of a brief period in\n1819, when the King of the Trarzas raised the whole country\nagainst the white colonists.   On the death of Ahmedou, the\nBrakna state became torn with civil dissension, so .that the\npower he had cherished with so much assiduity became almost\nannihilated.   Two of the most influential chiefs of his party\ndied at the same time as their master, namely, his paternal\nuncle, Mohammed, and his paternal uncle Khoddich, a very\ninfluential prince; but still the partisans of the late prince\nsucceeded in placing on the throne his son, Sidi Ely, a child\naged eight years, his cousin, Mokhtar Sidi being named regent,\nand successor in the event of his decease.   But this prince\narrogated to himself all political power, and though he gained'\nthe   adhesion   of  the Ouled-Ahmed and Ouled   Nocmach,\nwho had been in opposition during Ahraedou's reign, the\nOuled Siid were now, in their turn, malcontent.   A civil war\nraged between these two parties.    The French Governor,\nM. Bouet,  declared for Mohammed-er-Radjel, a cousin of\nAhmedou, who was the nominee of the chiefs of the Ouled-\nSiid,  which tribe had always possessed the right to select a\nmonarch from among the descendants of Aghrichi, fifth King\nof the Braknas, himself one of the tribe.   Mokhtar Sidi, the\nregent,  having   interfered with  and   robbed   some   French\ncaravans, as well as fired at and killed merchants under the\nprotection of the tricolour, the Governor seized him and sent\nhim prisoner to Gaboon, where he died.   As he left only an\ninfant child, Mohammed-el-Habib, the powerful king of the\nTrarzas placed his partisans under the orders of his nephew,\nMohammed Sidi, aged fifteen years.    This youth was then\nnamed king of the Braknas by his uncle, and soon the party\nhitherto led by Mohammed-er-Radjel also acknowledged him.\nMohammed-el-Habib,\nnot\nfinding   his   nephew submissive\nifterwards named as king Mahommed Sidi, the son of\nhostilities that ensued, the French,\nto retain  Brakna  as a state inde-\ncome to\nterms   with\nenough, a\nAhmedou. During the\nwhose only desire was\npendent of Trarza, first sought to\"\nMohammed Sidi, who was recognised as king by the majority\nof the tribe. This prince, personally, desired nothing better\nthan to be on good terms with his powerful neighbours, but\nhe was overruled by his uncle. On their overtures being\nrepelled, the French acknowledged Sidi Ely, who was allied\nto the Douaich Moors, and this prince finally established himself on the throne.\nAccording to M. Caille, the population of Brakna numbers\nsome 63,000 souls, of whom 23,000 belong to the warlike\nraces, and 40,000 to the tribes of Marabouts.\nThe tribes are, individually, very jealous of each other.\nEven Sidi Ely is only the head of the Ouled Sidi; every tribe\nhas its own chief, or sheikh; and, like the Highlanders m\nthe times of the early Stuarts\/the tie of allegiance that binds\nW$\\ 132\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nthem together is very slight. The Brakna chiefs ally themselves with the neighbouring tribes. Thus Mohammed Sidi\nsought the alliance of the King of Toro, while Sidi Ely\nsecured the friendship of the most powerful chiefs of Fouta.\nBesides the division of the Braknas into tribes, each tribe\nis again divided into families, each family having its\nown particular head. The following are the five principal military tributaries of the princes of Brakna, named\nZenagas:\u2014 - -\ni   The tribe of the Ahralin, composed of mulattoes ot\nArab origin.   These pay tribute to the Ouled Siid only, and\nare engaged in war with Sidi Ely, these latter do. not pay\ntribute.* ..' Jj \u2022 .    \u201e\n, The Ahratins, a word which signifies \"freed captive.\nWhere a captive has been a long time with a tribe, his social\ncondition improves, and frequently his master gives him his\nliberty and some property. He then becomes an Ahratrn, and\nhis condition is still further improved, for a master has the\nright to kill his captive whenever he chooses; but when once\nan Ahratin, it becomes necessary to obtain Sidi Ely's sanction\nbefore he can be put to death. This consent is very rarely\ngiven, and, indeed, is very seldom sought, for the rkgime of the\nm\nA   MARABOUT.\nin time of war place themselves under the orders of these\nprinces, and constitute their chief power. They are good\nwarriors, mustering some 1,300 tents, and are most devoted\nto Sidi Ely. It generally happens that the tributaries are\nmore wealthy than their princes, who pride themselves upon\npossessing nothing of their own. They receive their tribute,\nwhich consists of a milch cow, twice a year. As a rule,\nthe tributaries own flocks of sheep and goats, as well as\nherds of cattle, and are altogether much better off than their\nmasters.\n2. The tribe of the Llama, which is subdivided into three\nfamilies:\u2014The Gueddala, who are always in camp with Sidi\nEly; the Chellouha, tributaries of the Ouled Siid, also with\nSidi Ely; and the Bassins, one portion of whom follow Sidi\nEly, and the other the leader of the opposing faction. Whenever the princes to whom the Ahralins or Llama are tributaries\ntributaries is more paternal than anything else. The Ahratins\nare subdivided into four families: the Ahratin Ouled-Siids,\nwho pay tribute to the Ouled-Siids and Sidi Ely, whose\ncamp they follow; the Ahratin Tanacks, who are tributaries\nof the king, to whatever family he may belong; the Ahratin\nOuled-Mansours, who, together with the Touabirs, hold the\ncountry between the Braknas and Douaichs, and pay tribute\nto the Ouled-Mansours; and the Ahratin Ouled-Elys, who\nfollow the fortunes of their prince, Ahratin Ouled-Ahmed.\nThe Marabouts also have Ahratin tributaries.\n4. The large tribe of the Touabirs\u2014who are as numerous\nas the whole of the Ouled-Siids,  Ahratins, Ahralins,  and\n* Colonel Faidherbe, in his valuable work on Senegal, speaks of the\nGueddala and Chellouha as two tribes of tributary warriors, of Berber\nand not Arab origin. Our account is derived from the pages of M.\nB our el, who traversed Brakna in i860. SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH  OPERATIONS IN WEST AFRICA.\n*33\nLlamas together, or Sidi Ely's party\u2014are turbulent and undisciplined, and, taking advantage of the internal wars of the\ncountry, do not acknowledge any authority, and refuse to pay\ntribute. The kings and principal chiefs are their suzerains;\nBaccar, king of the Douaichs, taking precedence. The others\nare Rassoul, chief of the Chratit, in Tagant; Sidi Ely and\nBrahim Ouled-Ahmeida, chief of the Ouled-Nocmachs. Sidi\nEly has a strong party\namong them, whom he\nturns to good account\nin time of -war, but is\nquite unable to keep\nthem in subjection.\n5. We now come to\nthe large and important\ntribe of the Marabouts,\nwhich numbers some\n50,000. Their mode\nof living is different\nfrom that of the warlike\ntribes; they lead a quiet,\npatriarchal life, and are\nUnder the chief of their\ntribe, or family, who\nsettles all their differences, appealing, when\"\nnecessary, to the great\nMarabouts of the country, Chirr Sidia, chief of\nthe Ouled-Bierys, and\nChirr Seibeta, chief of\nthe Dhie'd6bas.\nThey live quite independently of the warlike tribes, though they\nsometimes declare in\nfavour of one particular\nparty, to which they\nrender assistance in the\nshape of horses and\nclothes; but by so doing\nthey do not incur the\nenmity of the opposite\nside; and they are, in\nfact, treated throughout\nthe country with a degree of consideration\nalmost amounting to\nveneration. The Marabouts are exempted from\nall service to the princes ; should the latter, however, in any of\ntheir expeditions come across a Marabout camp, they expect\nto be provided with food and shelter; whilst the fighting\ntribes are obliged, not only to afford them assistance of a like\nnature, but are compelled to ensure their safety, an undertaking\noften difficult of accomplishment.\nIn a Marabout camp, all Mussulman practices are strictly\nobserved. The children from their early youth are taught to\nread, to write, and to cypher; they are also instructed in the\nKoran and the El-K'halil, or \" Book of Justice.\" With the\nprinces, on the contrary, learning is regarded as useless, and\nA  PORTER   OF   SENEGAMBIA.\nthey are therefore compelled to employ one or two Marabouts\nin their camps, who act as their judges and advisers, and carry\non all correspondence. The Marabouts employ their captives\nto collect gum, which they themselves take down to Podor\nevery year between the months of January and June, bringing\nback supplies of millet and cloth. They also rear large herds,\nand cultivate millet, which they harvest in May.    By their\nindustrious habits, they\nare   enabled   to   enjoy\ncomforts which are quite\nunknown   to the other\ntribes.    Their tents are\nquite   luxurious,   being\nlarge and  comfortable;\nthey   are   divided   into\ntwo   compartments   by\ngrass mats very nicely\nplaited, and on the floor\nare   spread   lambskins,\nneatly   sewn    together,\nwhich form a good carpet.      Everything   tells\nof comfort; and within\nthere   are   to  be  seen\ncabinets from Adrar, in\nwhich the women keep\ntheir   beads  and other\nornaments ;     coloured\nbags   of  goatskin, and\ncases with   shelves,   in\nwhich  are  kept,  under\nlock   and   key,   books\nwith gilt edges, bound\nin morocco leather, containing   the   verses   of\nthe Koran, and the precepts   of   religion and\njustice.    Their children\nare clothed from their\ninfancy, whilst those of\nthe fighting tribes attain\nthe  age   of  twelve   or\nthirteen before they wear\na garment resembling a\nshirt    without   sleeves.\nAbundance   reigns    in\ntheir camps,  and   they\nare   never  reduced   to\nextremities     like    the\nprinces, who often have\nnothing but milk to live upon.    Although they are a religious\nsect, the Marabouts are not, as we have seen, altogether unmindful of the good things of this world; they have large\nnumbers of captives who work entirely for the benefit of their\nmasters, who give them but little to eat, and employ them all\nday in collecting gum.     Should the supply be small, there is\nscarcely any torture to which these unfortunate wretches are not\nsubjected; for instance, it is a common thing for them to be tied\nto a board, and left exposed to the sun, having most probably\nbeen beforehand well thrashed with a stick.    Strange to say,\nsuch is not the case with the captives of the fighting tribes\nJ*\nSftffl J34\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nI**.\nwho are much better off, and are looked upon by their masters\nas belonging to their own households; and, indeed, a captive,\nafter he has been any length of time with his master, generally\nexercises considerable influence over him.'\nThe Marabouts are of Berber origin, of which race they have\nall the characteristics; their faces are full of deceit, and they\nhave an uneasy expression of countenance. They are better\neducated than the fighting men, but are not naturally so intelligent ; they are also more fanatical, and at heart stronger\nopponents to civilisation. They have tributaries, Marabouts\nlike themselves, and Ahratins.\nThe Moorish tribes, then, may be said to be divided into\nfour principal castes : the Hassans or warriors, the Marabouts,\nthe tributaries, and the captives! the two former retaining all\nrights and privileges, and making common cause against the\ntwo latter. . The tributaries are vassals or slaves, and the captives are looked upon as the pariahs of the country.\nThe princes are allied by a federal bond; and Sidi Ely,\nwriose proper title is | sheikh,\" is the head of the federation; but.\nhe is not permitted to engage in any undertaking without first\nconsulting the other princes, and assembling the council, or\njemaha, as it is called, and each of the princes has the privilege of refusing to join,him in time of war, if he considers it\nwould be prejudicial to his own interests to do so.\nThe power of the king is, as we have seen, very insecure,\nand various attempts have been made to subvert it, from time\nto time, by the Ouled-Nocmachs and others; but Sidi Ely,\nbeing a staunch ally of the French, has, with their assistance,\nbeen able to maintain his supremacy.\nNext in authority to Sidi Ely come the chiefs of the tribes.\nIn  each tribe or subdivision of a tribe, there is a head of a\nfamily, and last of all come the heads of families proper, whose\nauthority, though lowest in order of precedence, is undoubtedly\nthe most absolute.    Each prince, or sheikh, is master among\nhis own people, and treats all the other princes as his equals.\nThe only privileges belonging to Sidi Ely, are the possession of\nall the Ahratin-Tanacks, the crown tributaries, and the collection of the taxes on trade, in addition to which he is the final\nappeal in cases in dispute between any of the sheikhs, and\nenjoys certain honours attaching to his title, such as marching\nat the head of the camp, the right to order the tabala\u2014a sort\nof tomtom\u2014to be beaten for the council, &c.    The tributaries\nare the vassals of the princes; they are supposed to follow\nthem in time of war, and to remain under their orders, a law\nwhich is, however, frequently infringed.    The tributaries have\nlikewise their own chiefs  and heads of families, who are\nelected by the tribe and confirmed iri their appointment by\nSidi Ely.   When Sidi Ely has an order to transmit, he sends a\nmessenger to the chiefs of the different tribes, who inform the\nchiefs of the camps ; the tabala is then beaten, and the people\nassembled, and the intelligence, whatever it may be, is com\nmumcated.   The Marabout caste follows that of the princes \u2022\nthey do not mix themselves up directly in political affairs but\nthe princes, and especially the chiefs,  seek their suffrages\nbecause it strengthens their influence.\nThe dismantling of a Moorish 'camp is a curious sight\nAfter the prayers at sunrise-which no good Mohammedan\never neglects, and as soon as the cows have been milked the\ntents are struck, and in the twinkling of an eye they are folded\nand Placed on the camels'backs, on which are also stow d\ntheir goods and chattels, and on the top of all sits a MoT\nwho drives the camel by means of a stick and a rope attached\nto a ring passing through its nostrils.    The women ride upon\na saddle called   a Jeffe, and  have their children by their\nside, driving the camels themselves.    Their position to one\nunaccustomed to it would at first appear somewhat perilous,\nbut the camel is sure-footed and can be trusted, which is more\nthan can be said of the bullocks, which in some parts are\nemployed as beasts of burden, for they will carry a tolerably\nheavy load quietly for a certain time, and will then suddenly\nroll on their side, precipitating both rider and load to the\nground.    It is quite an undertaking to start them again, for\nthey have to be completely unloaded before they can be made\nto rise and be re-loaded.    On resuming their journey they are\nsure to repeat the performance before they have gone very far.\nSome excuse may certainly be made for the eccentricity of\ntheir proceedings, as the poor beasts are invariably loaded to\nexcess.    The country is not generally favourable for cattle, as\nthe pasturages are very  scant,  yet the   Brakna cows give\nexcellent milk.    The wealth of the Moors consists chiefly in\ncattle, sheep, and goats, which they possess in large numbers.\nThey get their camels from Tagant, where they are plentiful\nand well-bred.    Horses, which are very scarce, come either\nfrom Fouta 'or Tagant, and are small in size, but very strong\nand hardy.\nThe order of march of the king's cimp is as follows: in\nfront go the cattle, driven by the captives, and guarded both\nin front and rear and on the flanks by mounted escorts, who\nhave their matchlocks slung across their shoulders. After the\ncattle follows the camp, Sidi Ely, with the principal chiefs,\nleading, all armed and on horseback.\n^ When the camping-ground, which has been directed by the\nchief, is reached, each tribe is allotted its own particular site :\nthe Ahratins next to the Ouled-Siids, who are in the centre,\nthe Ouled-Mansours taking the other flank.    In every camp 1\npark is formed for the cattle, which is surrounded by prickly\nshrubs, to ensure their safe custody.     Each person superintends the unloading of his beast and the putting up of his\ntent, the work being actually done by the captives, who then\ngo and fill the goatskin gourds at the nearest marsh, the\nshepherds also taking the flocks to water, and by the time\nthey have satisfied their thirst, there is little left but liquid\nmud.   This, however, is a matter of trifling importance to the\nMoors, whose first care is for their cattle.    The water in these\nmarshes is often not more than a foot in depth, and of small\nsuperficial extent, and, as the vegetation in these swamps is\ngenerally very rank, the supply is not only insufficient for their\nnumbers, but is also in most cases exceedingly impure.   When\neach family has found its proper camping-ground, the captives\nset to work to put up the tents.    The tents of the Moors are\nmade of  pieces  of  woollen material manufactured in the\ncountry, cut into strips, with small pieces of twisted leather\nfastened to the extremities.    The tent is first spread upon the\nground, the pickets are then driven in, the poles are then\nadjusted, and the whole thing set up.    Entrances are formed\nby removing some of   the pickets,  and when more air is\nwanted, the corners of the tent are raised on a pole or props\nplaced m a slanting position.    In windy or rainy weather the\npickets are driven well home, so that nothing can find its way\nunderneath the walls, and a trench is also dug all round\nthe tent to drain off the water, so that they are kept cool\nduring the hot weather, and can also be made perfectly secure '\u25a0ml\nLAHORE AND AMRITSIR, THE CAPITALS OF RUNJEET SINGH.\nl35\nagainst the effects of storm or rain. Inside, the women place\ngrass mats, sewn with thread, made from the bark of a tree.\nOn one side is placed the sera, another sort of mat, made of\na particular kind of veed-(gerit) found on the banks of the\nriver. These reeds are placed lengthwise, side by side, and\nstrips of goatskin, coloured red and yellow, are interlaced\nso as to form patterns of stars, roses, &c, which have a\nvery pretty effect By the side of the stra, and in a corner\nof the tent, stands the lagal, a sort of camp bed, made of\nvery small branches of the imjija tree, tied together with\nstrips of leather; the tagal rests on three wooden sleepers placed\nupon the ground, which raise it and keep it free from wet\nA compartment for the slaves is formed by means of a mat-\nscreen. Other bags in which their effects are stowed are then unpacked, and lambskin carpets or rugs, or real carpets, if the individuals are rich, are spread over the mats. The saddles, bags,\nand whatever else is not wanted, are stowed away in one corner.\nIn addition to the above, the Moors also carry with them\ncabinets, containing their trinkets, beads, and other knick-knacks,\ngoatskin bags tanned and coloured, two or three calabashes,\nan iron saucepan, a supply of butter and millet, a pestle and\nmortar for pounding the millet, and other necessaries, all of\nwhich are carried by one camel. After the tents have been\nset up, the Moors generally take a rest During the heat of\nthe day they eat but little, seldom or ever taking anything but\na little sour milk; their morning meal or breakfast, if such a term\ncan be applied, is also very scant, consisting merely of milk;\nbut at night they make up for lost time, and eat most heartily.\nThe Moors reckon their periods of time by the moon, in\nconjunction with the sun, and each month dates from the first\nappearance of the small crescent after the sun has set; at this\ntime the Marabouts are always more earnest in their evening\ndevotions. As the moon rises in the heavens, so is the time\nand duration of their evening merry-makings regulated; the\nmen chat in front of their tents, or, perhaps, go out of the\ncamp for political discussions; during these parleys tobacco is\nfreely exchanged, and any one whose tobacco-box (garba) is\nwell-filled, is sure to meet with the approbation ot the audience.\nThese tobacco-boxes are very simple, and consist merely of a\nsort of wooden horn with a stopper; but their pipes (touba)\nare works of art\u2014they are composed of a stem, or tube, and\na bowl, the latter being made of a hard wood, which is\nblackened; inside this is inserted a second bowl of iron,\nshaped to fit the casing; the stem is also of polished iron, and\npatterns are traced upon the wooden bowls by the smiths in\nbrass wire. The greatest care is taken of these pipes by the\nMoors, and those possessing handsome specimens generally\nhave them attached to a chain, which they wear round their\nnecks. Hanging beside it is an ornamental leather bag (bell),\nwith several divisions; the steel for striking a light (zenad) is\nplaced in one of these, and in another the tinder {gapla), and in\na third the flints (t'emiche). When a Moor lights his pipe he\ntakes a whiff and passes it to the most important personage\npresent, who, in turn, passes it to his neighbour, each one\nbeing restricted to two whiffs. Conversation now becomes\nanimated, though the Moors are very sensible on this point,\nno more than one person ever attempting to speak at a time.\nThe women, meantime, will perhaps go out in troops with the\ncamp tabala and sing their war-songs; the tabala beating\nthe cadence, and the women beating an accompaniment with\ntheir hands. These songs, far from being as wild and savage\nas those of the blacks, are sometimes really melodious.\nPerhaps the most merry and lively of all the Moorish\nclasses are the griots (musicians), who sing of the exploits of\nAhmedou and Sidi Ely, to the accompaniment of a kind of\nguitar, which they carry about with them. Their songs, which\nat the end of each verse are followed by a few chords on the\ntidini or guitar, are monotonous, but the words are often\npoetical, generally quite in the Oriental style, full of comparison\nand hyperbole. On the occasion of any particular event, it\ndevolves upon the griots to compose a song suitable to the\noccasion, and at once to give utterance to it. After a battle,\nthey are especially happy in their compositions, and praise to\nthe utmost all the heroic deeds and good qualities of their\nchiefs, especially if he is known to be of a generous disposition, and likely to acknowledge their efforts by some\nsubstantial reward. It is astonishing to what an extent some\nchiefs are carried away by their feelings on hearing their\npraises sung, so much so, that to the tributaries it is a time of\ndeep anxiety, lest a chief, in a moment of ecstasy, should be j\ntempted, as is often the case, to deprive them of their flocks\nand herds, and thus effect their ruin, in order to fulfil his\npromises and satisfy his sudden thirst for liberality. The\npoets are quite aware of the advantages they enjoy, and profit\naccordingly. Their persons are, to a certain extent, regarded\nas sacred, and, in time of war they go from one side to the\nother without molestation; indeed, each prince strives to\nprove himself more generous than his enemy; and, as a result,\nthe grioi often acts as a spy in one camp, and the next day will\ndo the same for the opposite party.\nLahore and Amritsir, the Capitals of Runjeet Singh.\u2014I.\nThere is much in Lahore and Amritsir,,the largest and most\ncelebrated cities of the Punjaub, to interest the traveller.\nThough Mooltan has, from a military point of view, owing to\nits strong fortifications, always been regarded as of chief importance, and its acquisition in 1848-49 cost us^a long siege,\nyet Lahore and Amritsir were - respectively the secular and\nreligious capitals of the Sikhs, who were 'for the most part\ncongregated about those cities. Lahore traces its origin to Lo,\nthe son of Rama, whose wife Seeta is still worshipped. This\nRama was the ancestor of the Rajpoot princes of Meywar\u2014\nwhose history the author of this paper has detailed in an article\non Rajpootana which appeared in Vol. V. of the Illustrated\nTravels.\nWhen, in the beginning of the eleventh century, Mahmoud 136\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nof Ghuznee, | the Destroyer,\" swept through Upper India\nin his career of victory and desolation, Lahore fell into his\nhands in 1009, and remained in possession of the Ghuznevide\ndynasty until 1186, when it was captured by Mahomed Ghore.\nSubsequently to this event, Lahore frequently changed hands,\nas the Punjaub became the prey of a succession of weak and\nturbulent rulers, among whom the Afghans generally predominated, until in 1526, Baber, the founder of the Mogul\ndynasty, gained the sanguinary victoiy of Paniput, and for\nmore than 200 years his successors, including such great\nnames as Akhbar and Aurungzebe, were supreme throughout\nthe Punjaub. In 1748, Ahmed Shah, an Afghan of the Doo-\nranee clan, finding the power of the Moguls broken by the\ncapture of Delhi,\u2014when Nadir Shah, the sovereign of Persia, led\nhis victorious legions against the degenerate descendant of\nTimour, who, it was said, \" was never without a glass in his\nhand and a mistress in his arms,\"\u2014overran the Punjaub with an\nAfghan army, and made himself master of Lahore, and eight\nyears later the Mogul emperor formally ceded to him these\nconquests. Soon after these events, the power of the Sikhs\nbegan to assume a formidable aspect, and in 1768 they made\nthemselves masters of the country east of the Jhelum. Thirty\nyears later Shah Zemaun, the Dooranee King of Cabul, for the\nthird time invaded the Punjaub, and captured Lahore, but\nbeing immediately recalled by an insurrection in Afghanistan,\nquickly left the country. This monarch, whose sudden and\nsuccessful invasion caused grave disquiet in Calcutta, and\nexcited the apprehensions of the great Marquis of Wellesley,\nwas destined to afford a signal example of the instability of\nhuman greatness, of which the history of the states of Afghanistan, Persia, and the Punjaub during the past century present\nsuch numerous examples.\nZemaun Shah, not many years after his invasion of Upper\nIndia, was deprived of sight, became a British pensioner at\nLoodiana, from whence he was sent to Cabul in the evil days\nwhen his brother, Shah Soojah, was our puppet king, and on\nthe return of Sir George Pollock's victorious army in 1842,\nwas once more brought back to his former residence, and\nreverted to his pension of ^3,000 a year.\nThe expulsion from Cabul in 1809 of the weak and intriguing Shah Soojah, and consequent subversion of the\nAfghan monarchy, facilitated the rise of Runjeet Singh, one of\nthe most remarkable men the East has produced during the\ncentury.\nRunjeet Singh, whose ancestors were Hindoos of the Jaut\ncaste, was the grandson of Charat Singh, a common highwayman, who raised himself by his courage to be the leader of a\ndivision of Sikhs. This man's son, Maha Singh, was also a\nfamous chief, and married the daughter of Gajpat Singh of Jhend,\nby whom he had a son, the celebrated Runjeet, who was born\non the 2nd November, 1780. Soon after his birth he was\nattacked with small-pox, and though he recovered, his face was\nmuch disfigured, and he lost the sight of one eye. Hence he\nwas called Runjeet Singh Kana, the One-eyed. His father\ndied when he was twelve years of age, and, after living for five\nyears a life of debauchery, at the early age of seventeen he\nseized the reins of power, caused his mother, a debased and\ndesigning woman, who had brought him up in ignorance and\nvice, to be poisoned, and dismissed his guardian. When Shah\nZemaun advanced into the Punjaub, Runjeet Singh did homage\nthrough a deputy at Lahore, and when, in January, 1799, that\nmonarch suddenly returned to Cabul, Runjeet, having restored\nto him some guns, was invested with the government of\nLahore, of which he obtained possession by stratagem \\ for all\nthrough life this extraordinary man displayed little generalship,\nbut gained his ends by cunning and diplomatic tact.\nIn 1809, having extended his power over the greater part\nof the Punjaub, and either by chicanery or violence secured the\nterritories of independent Sirdars when they died or quarrelled\namong themselves, he concluded with the British Government\na treaty, which was negotiated by Mr. (afterwards Lord) Metcalfe, which provided that Runjeet Singh was to confine his\nconquests to the north bank of the Sutlej. In 1810 he failed\nin his attempt to capture the strong fortress of Mooltan, but,\nhaving reorganised and carefully trained his army on the\nEuropean system, he effected the capture of that stronghold\neight years later, as well as of Peshawur, from whence the\nAfghans were driven never to return.\nHe now styled himself the Maharajah of the Sikhs, and in\nthe following year conquered the territories to the west of the\nIndus, and Kashmir. In 1831 took place the celebrated\ninterview between this remarkable man and Lord William\nBentinck, the Governor-General, who placed in his hand a\ndocument promising him the friendship of the British Government. This interview was remarkable for the lavish magnificence displayed by Runjeet Singh, whose tents and equipments\nwere the talk of all British India. At this interview the wily.\nSikh chieftain imbibed a wholesome fear of the white troops,\nwho were manoeuvred before him, and it had been well for the\nindependence of the nation he consolidated had his successors\nbeen inspired with equally sagacious views as to the certain\nresult of a struggle with so superior a military power. Four\nyears after this interview, Gholaub Singh, a vassal of the Maharajah, reduced to subjection the extensive hill state of Ladakh,\nor Middle Tibet, and a few years later, the district of Balti, or\nLittle Tibet.\nThe conclusion of the famous tripartite treaty between the\nMaharajah, Shah Soojah, and the British Government in 1838,\nwas the last political act of importance of Runjeet Singh, who\ndied in July, 1839. He was succeeded by his weak son,\nKurruck Singh, who died soon after, it was believed of poison.\nHe was succeeded by his son, a prince of rare promise, who\nwas killed by the falling of a-beam, which also was the work of\nassassins. Shere Singh, a reputed son of the old \" Lion of the\nPunjaub,\" also met a violent end at the latter part of 1843,\nand on his decease supervened a period of chaos and sanguinary anarchy, which eventuated two years later in a Sikh\narmy of 100,000 men suddenly crossing the Sutlej, with the\navowed intention of sacking Delhi and Calcutta. The struggles\nat Moodkee, Ferozeshuhur, and Sobraon taught the Khalsa\nsoldiery a terrible lesson, but the insurrection of 1848-49\nshowed that no measure short of the annexation of the Punjaub, and disarmament of the magnificent army drilled with\nsuch assiduous care by Runjeet Singh and his European\ngenerals, and terrible even in their death-struggles at Chillian-\nwallah and Goojerat, could secure peace to the Christian domination which had raised its power on the ruins of the Mogul\nsovereignty, and testified its right to rule by subjugating the\nGoorkha, the Mahratta, and every other aspirant for empire. '\nLahore is now the capital of the provincial government of\nthe Punjaub, and close to its walls are the military cantonments of Meean-Meer. ill-\nI\n258\u2014vol. vi.\nm 138\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nSU!\nOne of the sights of Lahore is the Shalimar* Gardens,\nsituated about three miles from the city. The road is through\na suburb, over which are strewed remains of palaces and serais\nof vast extent, though of no great antiquity. Near them are\nthe more modern palaces, constructed by the Sikh Sirdars of\nRunjeet's day, and the road from Lahore to the Shalimar leads\nthrough the serai of Noor Jehan, an extensive structure like a\nfortress.\nThe Shalimar is a large building, for the entire garden is in\nfact an edifice, and not a garden at all. It is about half a mile\nlong, with three successive terraces rising one above the other,\nand formerly contained 450 fountains, the water from which\ndescended into marble tanks. Masson says that Runjeet\nSingh barbarously defaced this superb monument which the\nEmperor Shah Jehan had constructed with vast labour and\nexpense, and removed a large portion of the marble embellishments to his new capital, Amritsir. The Baron von Hugel,\n'who visited the Shalimar Garden, speaks of it as being a mile\nand a half long, and a \"quarter of a mile broad. He says, \" The\nentrance of the building, which is constructed of fine marble,\nis the prettiest part of it; from this spot the ground falls, and\nat a quarter of a mile further on is a large reservoir, which is\nnearly as extensive as a lake. Close to it are several buildings\nhuddled together, some tasteful enough\u2014indeed, the whole\nmight well have served as a model for the pleasure gardens of\nthe age of Louis XIV. The Shalimar is well kept, and many-\nvery fine trees, particularly the Santareh oranges, thrive abundantly. Runjeet Singh frequently passes a day or two at this\nplace. Here Nur Jehan was wont to hold yearly fairs, where\npleasure became madness. A straw hut, built by Runjeet\nSingh, has a strange appearance in the midst of so much that\nbreathes of royal magnificence.\"\nOne of the greatest ornaments in the neighbourhood of\nLahore is the tomb t of the Mogul Emperor Jehangir. It is\nvery extensive and beautiful, of a quadrangular form, with a\nminaret at each corner rising to the height of seventy feet\nThe principal material is red sandstone, but there is a profusion of ornaments executed in marble, arranged in elegant\nmosaics, representing flowers and texts of the Koran in\nArabic and Persian. These texts consist of a hundred repetitions of the name of God in different modes of expression.\nThis beautiful monument, which is situated about three miles\nfrom Lahore, is separated from it by the river Ravee, which\nhas undermined one side of the building, leaving it open to\nthe influences of the weather. Of the three lofty cupolas, one\nis rent asunder in the middle,, and the Ravee threatens to\nengulf the entire tomb. Runjeet Singh gave it as a residence\nto a French officer, who caused it to be cleared out and put in\nrepair, but died shortly afterwards. His fate was considered\nby the Mohammedans as a retribution for his impiety in desecrating the sacred pile, which has since been closed up. There\nare many other similar tombs, among them being one erected,\naccording to tradition, to a youth named Anarkalli, a favourite\nof one of the Mogul emperors, who, having seen him smile at\na lady of his zenana, caused him to be built up in a brick cell\nand raised this splendid mausoleum over him.\nIn the days of the Sikh ascendency, the wall around Lahore\nwas twenty-five feet in height, but the British Government\n* Shalimar means \" House of Joy.\"\nt This, and other monuments are described in more or less detail by\nMoorcroft, Burnes, and Von Hugel.\ncaused it to be lowered Runjeet Singh ran a good trench\naround the wall, and beyond this constructed a line of works\nround the entire circumference, mounted them with heavy\nartillery, and gave orders for clearing away such ruins and\nother objects as might yield shelter to assailants. The circuit\nof this line of fortifications, says Moorcroft, exceeded seven\nmiles. In the north-west angle of the city stood the fort or\ncitadel, containing extensive magazines and manufactories of\nwarlike stores.\nLahore contains several handsome mosques. One of the\nlargest of these is the Padshah Mosque, said to have been built\nby Aurungzebe, though Hugel attributes it to Jehangir, a lofty,\nmassive structure of red sandstone, ornamented with spacious\ncupolas. Runjeet Singh, with his intolerance for Mohammedanism, converted it intcbarracks.\nAnother mosque, the Vizier Khan, is also a fine edifice,\nornamented with lofty minarets, and covered with varnished\ntiles inscribed with Arabic sentences, which are popularly\nsupposed to comprise the entire Koran. The Senara Mosque\nis another splendid edifice; but during the occupation of\nLahore by the Sikhs, all these fine structures were desecrated\nby the ruling sect, who killed swine and stalled their horses\nwithin the court\nThe streets of Lahore, which are very narrow, contain\nnumbers of lofty but gloomy houses, enclosed within extensive\ndead walls. The bazaars, though numerous, and stocked with\na profusion of costly wares, are in general mean, and of no\ngreat size. There is an abundant supply of water from wells in\nthe city ; and the neighbouring country is well cultivated, and\nprovides fruit and vegetables, which are sold at a cheap rate in\nthe bazaars. Lahore is still one of the most considerable and\npopulous cities in India; but it is a mere shadow of its former\ngreatness in the time of the Mogul emperors, when, according\nto Rennell, it was nine miles in length, with a population of\nprobably not less than one million souls.\nLike the rest of India, Lahore and the Punjaub generally\nhave benefited by the educational advantages which have\nresulted from the policy inaugurated by the famous despatch of\nSir Charles Wood (now Viscount Halifax), of the 19th of July,\n1854. Before this date an establishment had been founded at\nLahore, which was at once a vernacular school and a college\nfor the study of Hindoo and Mohammedan learning and\nEuropean knowledge, through vernacular media A portion of\nthe funds was contributed by the British Government, and the\ngreater part by subscriptions from Bhopaul and other native\nstates, the chiefs and people of which regarded the maintenance\nof the school as inseparably connected with British protection\nand supremacy, so that, as Major Cunningham, the author of\nthe \" History of the Sikhs,\" wrote, \"it is a kind of fashion to\ncontribute to the school.\" So early as 1849 the number of\npupils was 541.\nBut a new educational era was inaugurated in the establishment of three universities at Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay,\nconferring degrees on the principle of the London University,\nto which all colleges and schools capable of supplying the\nhigher education were to be affiliated. The Calcutta University, which was incorporated in 1857, exercises functions\nover Bengal, the North-West Provinces, the Punjaub, Oude,:\nand the Central Provinces, and has an endowment of .\u00a323,700\na year. In the Punjaub, according to the last-published Blue\nBook on the \" Moral and Material Progress of India,\" there LAHORE AND  AMRITSIR,  THE CAPITALS  OP  RUNJEET SINGH.\n^9\nare 1,325 Government, and 547 aided, schools and colleges.\nThe two colleges affiliated to the University are at Lahore and\nDelhi, and each of these colleges has fifty-six students.    The\nPunjaub University College has for it objects the encouragement of the study of Eastern classical literature, the improvement of the vernacular, and the diffusion of European science.\nIts  scholarships  amount to  the value  of about  \u00a3840.\nAmong special schools in the Punjaub is one at Umbala for\nthe education of Government wards, and the sons of natives\nof rank, where there are ten pupils ; and there is also an Anglo-\nArabic school at Delhi under Government management, which\ngives instruction to 243 Mohammedan students.    In the province there are also five Government and eleven aided high\nschools, and 103 Government and fifty aided middle schools.\nThe village or primary  schools  number 1,060 Government\nand  166 aided, with an average of thirty-five scholars each.\nThere are also three Government and six aided normal schools.\nThe condition  of the female schools   in  the Lahore  circle\nis described as improving, there being 125 Government and\n314 aided girls' schools, with about 8,000 scholars.    Yet out of\nabout three million children in the Punjaub, only some 100,000\nreceive instruction, which is disseminated at an expenditure of\nabout \u00a362,000.\nOn the-annexation of the Punjaub in 1849, Sir Henry\nLawrence introduced the system of settlement and land\nrevenue in vogue in the North-West Provinces. But there\nwas one peculiarity, for whereas in the latter government the\n\u2022 village communities were only partially preserved, in the\nPunjaub, including the Delhi district, all the old village communities were often perfect, each with a cultivating body and a\ncomplete internal system of management. In the Punjaub the\nbulk of the proprietors are cultivators, and each village undertakes the payment of the revenues assessed upon it, such payment being contributed by the individual members of the\ncommunity in proportion to the extent of their holdings. The\nrevenue is very punctually paid, and sales of land unknown.\nThe settlement officers, who are invested in this province with\njudicial powers, make the assessments with the proprietors of\nthe village for a term of years, under the orders of the financial\ncommissioner. When, in 1849, our annexation rendered a\nsettlement of the land revenue necessary, payments in cash\nwere exacted, instead of in kind, at rates so high, as to\nrack-rent the whole country. This cruel and impolitic course\npressed hard upon the people, and denied them the possibility\nof accumulating funds to provide against the rainy day of a\nfamine or drought (to employ a paradox). Mr. P. Egerton,\nthe present financial commissioner of the Punjaub, made the\nfirst regular settlement. In the account of the land revenue\nsettlement of the district of Lahore by Mr. Leslie Saunders\u2014a\nsuccessful administrator, who has since been promoted to the\ncommissionership of Ajmere\u2014it appears that by large remissions of arrears and future reductions, the people were encouraged to return to the lands from which they had been\ndriven. Over the whole district, covering 3,600 square miles, he\n' reduced the land-tax eleven per cent. This was the root of\n'til prosperity. Population at once began to increase, by\nnatural means as well as immigration, till Mr. Saunders' new\nsettlement finds that it has just doubled, being 789,666 in 1868.\nThis sentence in his report expresses the truth, and it would\nbe well for India if it could be applied to more of our districts :\n\u2014\"I  found the  people  in  the highest state of prosperity.\nCultivation had  largely increased,  owing   to the moderate\nassessment\"   And yet only half of the cultivable land is\nunder the plough.    Because of this, and of the increase of\ncanal water,  the  Lieutenant-Governor has committed  what\nmany may consider   the mistake  of   sanctioning   the new\nsettlement for only ten years, instead of thirty.   As it is, this\nbrief   ten   years' settlement has   raised   the land-tax from\n\u00a365,505 to \u00a377,623, of which latter sum \u00a314,179 consists\nof cesses for roads, schools, police, and municipal purposes\u2014a\ntotal increase of sixteen per cent    Surely that is high enough\nto justify the Government in letting one generation of peasant\nproprietors alone in the enjoyment of the little margin of profit\nleft to them.    Mr. Saunders, who fixed this increase, recommended that the assessment should not be changed for the usual\nterm of thirty years, and the people undoubtedly expected this.\nThe population returns for the Punjaub for 1872 give the\nnumber of the inhabitants as 17,600,000, with a density of 172\nto the square mile.    The Mohammedans largely preponderate,\nnumbering nine millions, the Hindoos six millions, while the\nSikhs, the ancient lords, only number one million.    In Lahore\nand the surrounding district the proportion of the population\nto the square mile is 218, or 527 to each village which has an\naverage of 1,500 acres.    Rather more than half of the inhabitants are Mohammedans, and there are only 3,000 Christians\nas yet    The rest\" are Hindoos, half of them of the ordinary\ntype, and half Sikh dissenters.    There are some 80,000 low-\ncaste men, whom no religious sect acknowledges.   The toiling,\npatient Jats form the prevailing element of all these classes,\nfor they were forcibly converted to Mohammedanism in large\nnumbers.    The lower classes of Mohammedans are the cattle-\nlifters of the country, who find an asylum in its hilly and desert\nportion,'and troubled us much in 1857, when their leader was\nkilled.    As  much as three-fourths  of the whole   2,319,585\nacres is held by 76,147 peasant proprietors, and the rest is\ncultivated by 51,715 tenants who still pay their rent chiefly in\nkind,\" at the rate of one-fourth of the produce on irrigated, and\nfrom a half to one-third on unirrigated, land.     Competition\nhas not yet unseated custom, as in more populous districts\nwhich have been longer under our rule.    All classes live on\nthe wheat that they can raise.    Each proprietor holds on an\naverage twenty-seven acres, and each tenant cultivates twelve.\nThe farmer's wife works as hard as he does.     In one of the\nlittle dark rooms opening out into a courtyard, she may be seen\nall day long, except when she carries the mid-day meal  to\nher husband in the field.    In a corner the old mother-in-law\nis at work on the spinning-wheel, while the children feed or\nmilk the buffalo and dry the dung for  fuel.    At night the\nfamily sleep on the flat roof of the house, after the second\nmeal.    Occasionally the flesh of the goat or kid is eaten with\nthe \" scone\" of wheat or millet.     \" Post,\" or water in which\nthe  pod of the poppy has been steeped, is the drink of all\nclasses, while the Sikh takes ardent spirits when he can get\nthem   ' Wrestling is the national amusement, and next  to\nthat, ram, quail, and cock fighting.    The favourite ballads are\nlove-songs.     The wife  keeps  the  purse  and  manages the\nfamily marriages, though she is more a domestic servant than a\ncompanion in the European sense.    Every village has a guesthouse    The brother-in-law must marry his deceased brother's\nwife by the easy rite of \" Chudderdalna,\" or throwing a sheet\nover the parties.    The market price of a wife vanes from ten\nI to fifty pounds. fcjffijv-'.fTOvJir;,\n\"Wi\n'WLi\n-~)rifl\n140\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nNotes of Travel in the Interior of Japan.\n-V\nBY  \"MONTA.\nON\nTHE k6shiukaid6.\nI have often since thought what an impression the sight of the\ndifferent travellers and people we met on the road first made\nupon me. The samurai of gentle blood walking along slowly\nand sententiously, with his retainer following close on his footsteps, his luggage carried by a shuffling coolie in those two\nconvenient wooden boxes, attached to each end of a pole; the\ncame up to the capital of the Shflgun in days gone by with a\nthousand men-at-arms, are content to land at Yokohama with\na following of six or eight samurai, and from thence a short\nrailroad journey brings them to the seat of government of\nthe restored monarch, the divine Mikado, who drives about m\na European carriage, and shows his face to the lowest of his\nsubjects.\n^^^^m^^^^^^m^\nTYPES OF THE SHOPKEEPER CLASS.\nlady travelling in shut-up kago (called by foreigners a norimon,\nwhereas norimono, or \" drive-thing,\" is the generic term for all\nthese conveyances, open or shut, which are borne by coolies\nin their scanty dress); then the lightly-clad messenger, who\nruns express from post to post, with his packet of letters or\ndespatches attached to a pole resting on his shoulders; Buddhist priests with their bald heads ; whole families of the lower\nclass journeying slowly on foot; men on pack-horses riding\nhigh and uncomfortably upon the top of their baggage; beggars\nin rags squatting by the road-side, and bowing down to the\nground as we passed, whilst they muttered glibly their demand\nfor alms. The great processions of daimios, and of other high\nand mighty personages, are now-a-days but seldom seen; the\nnobles have found out the comfort and economy of a voyage in\na steamer, lasting two or three days, compared with a long and\nexpensive journey, lasting twelve or thirteen ; and those who\nBut on the day we reached Shimonosuwa we found that the\nprincipal lodgings were engaged for the Prince of Owari, who \u2022\nwas returning to his country with a large number of retainers,\nand so we pushed on to Kaminosuwa at the other end of the\nlake, close to Takashima, then the seat of a daimio, and there\nwe stopped the night. All about here are hot springs of sulphur, and there was one in the honjin where we alighted. The\npeople of the house brought in some splendid eels, and some\nkoi. a coarse-tasted fish of the carp species. The lake, which\nis devoid of picturesqueness, seemed about three miles long\nand half as broad.\nAt Kaminosuwa, one of the retainers of the daimio of the\ndistrict (Takashima) paid us a formal visit, and stated that he\nwould have the honour of escorting our party for some distance\nthrough his lord's territory, and the following morning he\nappeared, and preceded us on horseback as far as the post- station of Kanazawa, and several two-sworded men followed us\nstill farther. I wonder if this system still continues, and if so,\nwhether the escort wear Japanese clothes and their two swords,\nor European clothes, and how they are armed. That the\nswords are mostly given up is one reform, at least, with which\nwe can sympathise.    But what a change it is !    That deadly\n-instrument is laid aside which\nused to be looked upon as \" the\nliving soul of the samurai? as\n\" the precious possession of lord\nand vassal from times older than\nthe divine period.\" No greater\nproof is needed of the change in\nJapan, In the first attempt at\na kind of parliament, after the\nrestoration of the governing\npower to the Mikado \"(see\npapers presented to Parliament, Japan, No. 3, 1870),\ntwo clauses were brought forward for debate. The first was\nthat it should be made optional\n. for every one, except government officials and soldiers, to\nwear swords or not, as he\npleased. The second was that\nit should be made optional for\ngovernment officials and soldiers to dispense with the short\nsword or not as they pleased.\nThese propositions were unanimously rejected by 213 members. It is curious to read\nthrough the debate, and see the\narguments of the speakers.\nHere are some of them.\nThe custom of wearing two\nswords is the natural offspring\nof the national disposition to\ndo honour to the soldier caste,\nand deserves our warmest admiration. If this custom be\nnow abolished, the first, step\nwill be taken towards curbing\nthe high spirit of the samurai.\nEven if it be made optional by\nlaw to wear swords, what\nsamurai is there with a spark\nof the yamato damashii (national spirit) in him who will throw away his sword ? The\nsacred vital energy of our divine country depends upon this\nweapon. While the words \"soldier\" and \"samurai\" exist,\nits use should not be abolished. If it be made optional to\ndispense with wearing swords, it will become impossible to\ndistinguish between samurai and merchant. Swords are\nworn as a necessary article of dress ; the morals of the empire\nwill be injured and become effeminate; literary habits will\nspring up if their use is dispensed with.\nIn a paper read on the 26th of November last, before trie\nnewly-formed Asiatic Society of Japan, and due to the pen of\nMr. Thomas McClatchie of   Her Majesty's Consular Service,\nmuch valuable information is contained respecting \" The sword\nof Japan; its history and traditions.\" We learn, for instance\nthat the four makers of swords who seem to be best known in\nJapan are Munechika, Masamune', Yoshimitsu, and Muramasa\nOf these Munechika is by far the oldest; he was born in 938\nA.D., and his sWords were famous from 987 a.d. downwards.\nMasamune\" and Yoshimitsu acquired their renown towards the\nend of the 13th century, while\nMuramasa did not appear till\nnearly a century after them.\nThese makers, as indeed all\nsmiths of any note, had their\nown marks which they engraved\n. on the hilt of the sword, most\nfrequently accompanied by a\ndate, but as, of late years, the\npractice of counterfeiting the\nmarks of well-known makers\nhas been largely indulged in,\nthese are not always to be depended on. The profession of\nthe smith was deemed an\nhonourable one, and those\nwho engaged in it were generally men of good family. Of\nlate years the famous smiths\nreceived from the Court a*\nhonorary rank, which was in\nproportion to the renown they\nhad gained.\nWhen I was in Yedo, I\ngradually collected the different\nparts and ornaments for a pair\nof swords. I began with the\nlong sword; bought the blade,\nand then chose a tsuba or guard\nof metal, curiously wrought, and\nillustrative of a Chinese legend,\nwhich Mr. Mitford happened to\nhave translated when in China,\nand which I cannot resist inserting here.\n\" W6n Wang, the father of\nWu Wang,   the first  Emperor\nof the   Chou   dynasty,   and  a\ncontemporary of Saul, King of\nIsrael,  dreamt a   dream.    He\ndreamt that he saw a beast like\nj a boar flying.    Not knowing what to make of this, he applied\n! to the Court seer for an explanation.    The seer replied that the\ninterpretation of the dream was that he should have a wise\n' minister.     So Wen Wang sallied forth in quest of this wise\nj man     At last he came to a river called Wei-shiu-ho.    Here he\nI found an old man fishing.    This was Tai Kung, who, during\n1 the reign of the wicked Emperor Chou Hsin, had rived in a\n1 cave in a mountain, and passed his time in studying.    Wen\n! Wang had with him his two sons, and sent them to ask the old\n\u2022 man the way.    Tai Kung replied, ' The little fishes have come\n, to me, but the big fish stops away.'    On hearing this oracular\nresponse, which conveyed a reproach to Wen Wang for his bad\nSHOPKEEPER. 142\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nWIHSKl'.i\nm\nli   : i!     II\nmanners in not asking the way himself, but sending his children\ninstead, he at once knew that Tai Kung was the minister\npromised by his dream, invited hirh to get into his chariot, and\ncarried him off. He was then eighty years of age. After the\ndeath of Wen Wang, his son Wu Wang treated Tai Kung with\nthe honours due to a father, for it was by his wise counsels that\nthe dynasty was consolidated on the throne. Tai Kung lived\nnearly a hundred years, and at his death received divine\nhonours; in some books he is made the captain of the other\ngenii, assigning to each their particular duties.\"\nThe tsuba represents on one side the old man fishing, and\non the other are seen the tops of the large palanquin (not a\nchariot) of the Emperor, and of the smaller conveyances of the\ntwo sons, together with the flag, &c. It was a great pleasure\nand occupation picking up the different ornaments, and finally\nthey were placed in the hands of a skilful man, and the two\nswords were turned out in the best native style.\nThe road we pursued to Kofu, the principal town of the\nprovince of KSshiu, was particularly stony, and prevented our\nhorses from often breaking into a trot. In the villages we\nobserved patches of hemp growing in most of the cottage\ngardens. No doubt much of the inhabitants' clothes were\nmade of this hemp. After crossing a watershed, we descended\nby a dreadfully stony road into a well-wooded valley. Here\nwe came upon some beautiful trees of the willow species,\nhedges of Cryptomeria, and a few mulberry-trees. We arrived\nat the town of Tsutaki about one o'clock, and rested for nearly\n.two hours. When we started again, we were still accompanied\nby some of the two-sworded men who had come on foot all\nthe way from Kaminosuwa They walked before us as far as a\n\u2022bridge just outside Tsutaki, and then made, their humble bows\nas we passed on our way. This was the boundary between\nthe provinces of Shinshiu and Koslriu. The afternoon was\ndelightful, and another hour and half, by a roughish road down\na valley, brought us to Daigahara, a small place full of unsophisticated people, and a dirty inn full of little creatures that\nshall be nameless. There was, however, a delightful absence of\nthe two-sworded element, and types of the class shown in the\nillustration on page 140 were not wanting. We walked about,\nand found a shop where there were a number of polished\ncrystals. The stone is found in the neighbouring hills, and\nseems to be of a very pure kind. \u25a0\nN.B.\u2014If you travel on horseback, provide yourself with\nseveral pairs of extra horse-shoes. It was about this time we\nbegan to be sorely troubled for the want of such. The only\nman of our party who had the -forethought to bring an extra set\nnever required it; and these shoes were too small for the other\nhorses. At this village, however, as luck would have it, we found\na native who had been in a blacksmith's shop in Yokohama\nNext day we had again a rough journey. The valley we\nfollowed was poorly cultivated, and the bed of every torrent,\nnow containing but little water, was so broad, and so full of\ngreat stones, that we could easily imagine how violent these\ntorrents would be when filled in the rainy season, or after\nthe melting of snow from the mountains. In some cases\nstrong stone breakwaters were thrown out at intervals, at a\ncertain angle, into the beds, in order to turn off the stream,\nand thus prevent the fields from being inundated. As we\nproceeded, we had a glimpse of the summit of Fuji, peering\nout from amongst the clouds\u2014but that was all. In clear\nweather the view must be very fine.\nWhat with one or two horses' shoes getting loose, and\nthe stony nature of the road, we all eventually took to walking,\nand it was near midday when we reached our halting-place.\nAfter a fresh start we soon arrived at the bottom of the\nvalley, and, passing over a slight eminence by a better road,\nlooked down into an extensive plain surrounded with hills.\nOnce more we saw cultivation; paddy-fields, and trees, and\nvillages dotted here and there; but little of Kofu was visible,\nand all was in marked contrast to the wild country we had left\nbehind us. By four o'clock we were housed in a comfortable\ninn in the large town, which, as already mentioned, is the\nprincipal one of the province.\nHere we were again amongst the military class. Men with\ntwo swords abounded, for there was the usual castle in the\nmidst of the houses, and we were told that it had been one of\nthe strongholds of the last dynasty of Shoguns. Let us transport ourselves for a moment to the Middle Ages, and let us\nsuppose ourselves in this castle-town. Now look at the two\nillustrations\u2014the one representing a common shopkeeper, with\nhis book and his soroban, or calculating board (page 141). As\nhe was then, so is he now. The other (page 144), warriors in\narmour, things of the past. As they were then, so they are\nnot now.\nIn the account of \" A Trip into the Interior of Japan,\" by\nLieutenant Sandwith, R.M., the author mentions his visit to\nthe castle of Kofu in 1871.\n\" The moat,\" he says, \" surrounding the castle is full of\nlotus-plants. On crossing a very dilapidated wooden bridge,\nthe guard told us to be careful of the snakes, and hinted that\nwild animals in the shape of foxes were occasionally to be\nseen amongst the ruins.\n\" Inside the gate was a piece of grass-land with a large\nhouse standing in the centre of it, but slowly falling into decay.\nThe gateway was wide and strong, made of stout timber, the\nshape of the gate following the shape of the wood. The copper\nbindings had been torn off in the same ruthless manner in\nwhich all castles have been stripped since the commencement\nof the revolution.\n\"The castle walls are strongly built, and a terrace surrounds the edifice, with small holes every three or four feet for\narrows and guns to be discharged from.\n\" The citadel is in a very decayed condition, trees having\nfallen and broken the walls down in many places. Grass and\nweeds grow everywhere, giving an untidy appearance; in fact,\nthe whole place is allowed to go to ruin.\"\nI Kofu is a straggling town of some 15,000 inhabitants. It\ncontains a famous confectioner's shop, where we made divers\npurchases of dried fruits, which are sent in quantities to Yedo.\nK6fu to Hanasaki. A long day of some twenty-five miles.\nWe were off before eight o'clock, delighted to find a better\n-road commencing from the farther side of a river which we had\nto ford. We continued along the plain, divided into numerous\npaddy-fields ; and as we proceeded, the mulberry-trees became\nmore and more plentiful. In every village, trays of silk-cocoons\nwere drying in the sun, now rather powerful. The tops of the\nhigh mountains were covered with clouds. At Katsunuma we\nbegan to ascend; and here, on the slopes, we observed a\nquantity of vines, trained on horizontal trellis-frames, resting i\nupon poles at a height of seven or eight feet from the ground.\nDried preserves are made from the grapes; but, as far as I\ncould learn, no species of wine was fabricated from them.    I\nHI NOTES  OF TRAVEL IN  THE INTERIOR OF JAPAN.\n1\/t$\nwould not assert positively that there is no wine in Japan, but\nI have never in my various journeys to different parts of the\nempire seen any.\nWe now entered a beautiful ravine, the sides of which were\nfinely wooded and precipitous. Soon after eleven we reached\nKomakai, a little straggling village on the side of the hill, and\nthere we made a halt, and applied ourselves diligently to investigate and consume the contents of a small basket of provisions\nsent on for the midday meal. At two o'clock we mounted our\"\nhorses again, riding up to the top of the Sasagd Pass, and\nthence by a long descent on the other side to Hanasaki.\nMulberry-trees were in abundance, both in patches and bordering the fields. They are mostly old trees, which are cut down\nevery year. The honjin at Hanasaki was full of cocoons ; so full\nthat there was no room for travellers; and we were therefore\nobliged to put up at a smaller inn, and were much cramped.\nTo add to our troubles, the provisions did not arrive till ten\no'clock; but we had some compensation in a dish of excellent\ntrout\u2014one about a pound in weight\u2014caught in a big river\nnot far off.\nWe found nothing but mares in this province; and as in\nother provinces we had only seen stallions, it was clear that\nthere was some cogent reason for this arrangement, and it was\nnot difficult to understand that in a mountainous country where\nthere are steep defiles and narrow roads overhanging precipices,\nthe mixing of the two sexes would prove dangerous. No\nwonder, we thought, that a man of inferior rank, when travelling\non horseback, dismounts on meeting a superior in rank, and\nholds his horse on the narrow path whilst his superior passes\nby. Such a measure would be dictated not only by the feudal\nsystem, but by the simple law of safety. There are breeding\nestablishments ~in different parts of the country, and there\npeople can make their purchases. The best horses seem to\ncome from the north. All their mouths become hard and\nspoiled from the habit of sawing away at them which the\nmounted samurai indulges in when he wants to urge on his\nanimal to a sharp trot.\nOn the following morning we soon reached Otsuki, whence\nthere is a road to Yoshida, at the base of Fuji. Two days\nmore, and our pleasant trip was finished, and I found myself\nonce more in the eastern capital.\nAs I write these lines, I am sad with the news of the\nburning\u2014on the night which ushered in the New Year\u2014of\nthe great temple at Shiba; one of those sights which, with the\nshrines and tombs of several Sh6guns of the Tokugawa dynasty,\nevery foreigner hastened to see. And not only is the loss of\nthe temple, but also of the great bell, to be deplored. The\ncolumns of the Japan Mail are before me, and from them\nlet me borrow (the courteous editor will excuse me) a few\ndetails respecting the bell. They are written by an English\nresident in Yedo, in a series of papers entitled, \" Our Neighbourhood.\"    He says :\u2014\n\" The great bell of Shiba is no more ! As the polestar to\nthe mariner, so was the bell of Shiba to the simple-minded\nneighbours. For twice a hundred revolving years its glorious\nmonody was heard, telling to the farmer by the clear or\nmuffled tone of its vibrations, a coming change of weather.\nTo the old folks listening to its peal from early infancy to\ngreen old age, its familiar voice spoke hopefully in youth,\nencouragingly at man's estate, solemnly in life's decline. And\nnow\u2014it will never more be heard !     Its voice is silenced for\never. Its last expiring note was throbbed out on the chill\nnight air of New Year's Eve, when the roaring flames which\nswallowed up the temple beside which it had hung for so many\nyears, extended their fatal embrace to the structure which\nsurrounded it, and temple and bell, so long associated, perished\ntogether.\nI Two hundred and two years ago, the third Sh6gun,\nIyemitsu, superintended the casting of this bell, and presented\nit to the Temple of Zojoji. A princely gift! It is said that\nof a still summer's night, as its golden notes rolled forth, the\ncountry round, for incredible distances, was flooded by the.\nmelody; nay, that the Daimio of Odawara in his castle could\nhear on such occasions the mellow music, now swelling and\nnow falling, as wave piled on wave, crested, rolled shoreward,\nand was broken.\n\"Alas ! for the grand old bell. Its deep-toned vibrations\nwill never again diffuse themselves in eddying circles at dead\nof night across the slumbering city. Some vulgar clock will\nhenceforth proclaim the time of day with hideous regularity.\nNo more little by-ringings at off times and festivals; but two\no'clock will follow one o'clock with punctuality, and the\npleasant element of uncertainty will be eliminated for ever.\n\"As might have been expected, the last moments of the\nbell were a mixture of the sublime and pathetic. Aroused by\nthe cry of' Fire 1' the aged custodian, emerging from the box\nin which he slept beside the bell he loved so well, was seen to\ntake his place, and ring the double stroke which betokens\n\u2022alarm\u2014unwonted accents for the bell, which hitherto required\nthat each series of vibrations of its solemn monotone should\ndie away before it spoke again. It seemed now, however, as\nif the danger made its pulse beat quicker. Its voice was as\nclear as ever, but its utterance more rapid. How sublime it\nseemed, as it tolled its own knell amidst the crackle and roar\nof the fire!\n\" But now the air grows thicker. It is hard to breathe, as\nthe flames, leaping forth from the main building, are seen to\nlick the belfry with their forked and gleaming tongues. In the\nold bell-ringer's face, lit up by the fire, agony and despair are\nplainly written. Yet, though scorched and half-stifled, he will\nnot quit his post. What to him is life without his bell?\nSo, regardless of all around him, he continues to toll. But\nnow a dull red glow is seen in one side of the ponderous\nmetal, the dragon on its summit, in which, it is said, the spirit\nof the bell resides, is white with heat, and the crackling of the\nburning timbers betokens that the end is at hand. Already,\nunder the influence of the heat, the note is changing from a\npaean to a moan. The ring by which the bell is hung grows\nhot\u2014is melting\u2014aNnoment more, and the glorious old relic,\nits last utterance strangled in its birth like a stifled sob, has\nfallen! A shower of sparks flies heavenwards, and, save for\nthe fire, there is silence, and the Temple of Zojoji and its great\nbell are among the things which were.\n\" Of the three celebrated bells of Japan, that of Shiba held\nthe second place as regards size and importance, Kamakura\nhas the largest, that of Miidera is the third of the series.\"\nWhat the origin of the fire was, does not seem to be known.\nIt may have been, as suggested, an act of incendiarism on the\npart of some shaven-pated Buddhist priest, furious at the\nchanges which have come over the temples of his creed since\nthe restoration of the governing power in+o the hands of the\ntrue sovereign.    Or it may have been\u2014more likely perhaps\u2014\nfew\nilS\nd! 144\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nthe result of accident, or of some miserable piece of carelessness which, in these insouciant people, is but too common.\nBut it is sad to think that the devastation which came upon\nthe big temple in the enclosure of Uye'no, where others of\nthe Shoguns lie buried, should have equally come upon the\none in Shiba. In the former case it was the effect of war, and\n. was done to dislodge a number of swashbucklers who had\ngathered together in the beginning of 1868, and were robbing\nThe firemen, as usual, were at their posts, and if reckless\nexposure of life could have saved the building, they surely\nwould have done it But there was little work for them to do.\nTheir leaders, according to the Japan Herald, were distinctly\nvisible when the smoke lifted, standing immovable on the\ninterior platform of the temple. - They were in a double\nline, grasping their strange standards, and surveying the scene\nwith the stolidity  of statues.    Trieir   uncouth   head-dresses,\nTHE TYCOON'S GUARDS.\nand plundering peaceable citizens at night. There can be no\nquestion of rebuilding either temple, at least in the former\nstyle. Simple Shinto shrines might perhaps be substituted ;\nbut this government will rather let the burial-places of usurping\nTycoons go to ruin.\nLuckily the night was perfectly calm, and therefore the\nflame and smoke rose almost perpendicularly, so that there was\nno fear of the fire spreading, and the neighbouring shrines and\ntemples were never in any danger. It is some consolation to\nthink that of the glories of Shiba very much still remains. The\nfine entrance-gate, too, was spared.\nparti-coloured clothes, and livid faces, lighted up by the flames\nwhich swept round them and scorched the emblems in their\nhands, made a picture so ghastly and unearthly in its blazing\nframework, that it could hardly be looked upon without a\nshudder. There they stood, until a part of the roof had fallen\nin, and then, quite unseen amidst the mass of smoke which\nfollowed, withdrew\u2014nobody but themselves knew how, and\npresently they reappeared in the gallery of the lofty gate, where\nthey presented an aspect as weird as before, though no longer\nsurrounded by exciting peril. These standard-bearers assume\nthe positions of danger solely to stimulate their followers. A  Trip to Livonia and Back.\u2014III.\nBY  MRS.   M.   G.   HOGG  GARDEN.\nw*.\nJune 23rd.\u2014I heard a curious anecdote of court etiquette,\nrelating to an occurrence at the imperial court two years a\u00bbo.\nA certain lady, not of\nthe highest rank, or\ndistinguished by the\nhighest cultivation,\ncertainly, but yet exalted enough to be\nadmitted at court\nalong with her\ndaughter, who was\nhandsome, and admired by one of the\nGrand Dukes, was,\nby invitation, present at the ball given\nby  the    Empress.\nMadame       and\nher daughter were\nreceived by the. Empress, who condescendingly, as is her\nhabit, addressed a\nfew polite words to\nMadame  . Mademoiselle had the\nimprudence and audacity to reply. Of\nher doing so the Empress took no per?\nsonal notice, but,\nsummoning one of\nher state dames, said,\nloudly enough to be\nheard by all in the\nneighbourhood,\u2014\n\"Tell this lady,\nshe must not dare\nto open her lips here,\nunless she is addressed.\"\nThe court dame\nobeyed; the young\nlady nearly fainted,\nretired, and afterwards\nhad a fever for many\nweeks\nRUSSIAN   SENTINEL   AT   RIGA\ncould  be roused from her slumbers.      The good frau had,\nGerman-like, worn herself out in preparation for her birthday,\nand I suspect she got\nlittle additional sleep\ntill four a.m. next\nday. The mutter's\ngeburtstag must be a\nfestival.\nShe received upwards of thirty bouquets, three monster\ncakes, besides gifts\nfrom all the members\nof her family, including a roll of rouble-\nnotes from her husband, and offerings\nfrom her grandchildren.\nIn the evening\nthere was a large\nparty assembled sans\nc'eremonie, of which .\nwe formed a part.\nTilings did not proceed exactly like a\nsimilar party at home;\nand, to English eyes,\nit looked curious\nto see the girls in\nhigh walking dress,\nand the yourig men\nin morning clothes,\nalthough it was a\ndance. Except while\nthey were dancing,\nthe gentlemen and\nladies keep quite\napart, and flirtation\nmust be a luxury enjoyed only in private.\nThe moment the\ndance concludes,\neach cavalier leads\nhis partner to her\nseat, bows and retires.\n1 brought on  by the affront which her forwardness had     So afraid are they of being too attentive, that a gentleman\nght upon her. I durinS a round dance chanSes his Partner verv often>    When\nbrougnt upon uCi. -                                                       ...                      . f, _\nJuly 2oM.-This being the birthday of our kind nachbarin, he has made the circuit of the room with her once, or at the\nMadame B , I was wakened from my first sleep at midnight I most twice, he takes her to her seat, says,\nby the  strains   of   music.      Three   excellent   male   singers\nDanke sehr,\" and\ntakes up another young lady. I suppose it is prudery, for the\nserenaded the lady. Very good singing and very good music | Germans are no doubt quite as fond of a little flirtation as we\nit was ; \" Sleep sweetly\" being one of the songs selected. I are, and as dress and the mode of living are not so extravagant,\nAnd, as good luck would have it, the matron fulfilled the wishes the men marry younger here than at home, where a j'oung\nof her friends, for it was only after repeated shaking that she    man dares not to venture to submit to the nuptial knot unless\n259\u2014VOL.   VI.\nnm 146\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nmm\n1EL\nwell able to keep the smart young lady of his choice in silks\nand hairpads.\nWhen it grew dark, we were summoned to see the garden\nilluminated with coloured lamps hung on the trees, while from\ntime to time fireworks were sent up and, except for heavy rain,\nall went merry as a marriage-bell, although it was only the\nbirthday of an old woman.\nWe left before midnight, but dancing was kept up till four\nin the morning. Thus ended the mutter's geburtstag, the\njollity of which was justified on the plea adduced on other\nsimilar occasions, that it only comes once a year.\nJuly 22nd.\u2014This is the birthday of the Empress of all the\nRussias, and is observed as a holiday, as a matter of course.\nThe Greek Church has some pretty customs, one is that all\nsuch holidays shall be treated as religious festivals, and, in\nconsequence, this was a high day. Unfortunately we did not\nhear of it in time to be present; but my husband reached the\ndoor of the cathedral just in time to witness the exit, in stars\nand silver, of the excellencies who had been devoutly praying\nfor Her Serene Highness. She is a German of the house of\nHesse, and as such is not a favourite with the advanced\npatriotic party of the empire.    More need to pray for her.\nThe English are in great favour just at present, the marriage of the Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna with Prince\nAlfred having been announced. This marriage seems to give\nuniversal satisfaction here; and as the lady is said to be rich,\namiable, and plain-looking, we may calculate on the conjugal\nhappiness of our sailor prince.\nOUR DEPARTURE FROM RIGA.\n\" All that's bright must fade,\" says the poet; so just as we\nare beginning to feel at home, and to make some pleasant\nacquaintances, word comes that we are to leave Riga. So be\nit; for there is no use attempting to gainsay the cantankerous\nhumours of certain parties at home, whose will in this matter\nmust be law.    So to England we must return.\nStrange as it may seem, I regret to leave Riga I did not\nthink, three months ago, that I could ever have felt such a sensation as that of regret, if told that I was to leave it Homesickness, however, having once been got over, one gradually\nfalls into the ways of a strange place and of strange people,\nand although Riga is in itself a place destitute of attractions,\nyet we have grown to like it, and would willingly have remained\nover the winter.\nJuly 26th.\u2014As usual, it has proved very difficult to obtain\ncorrect information about the departure of the steamers. It\nseems impossible to say whether the Hull boat will sail on\nTuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday:\neach of these days having been named by the different individuals connected with her as that on which she is likely to be\nready.\nJuly 10th.\u2014-Yesterday we went to St. Martin's Church\u2014\nthe pretty white edifice on the hill overlooking the Dwina, and\nstanding sentinel, as it were, over the burying-ground lying\nbeneath in the hollow. This parish church and the large\ncemetery beyond occupy the very prettiest position one can\nimagine. The graves here are curious, each being a little\nraised mound, surrounded by a narrow footpath, and covered,\nnot with grass, but with a small low-growing green plant, and\nplanted here and there with flowers, the whole kept with much\ntaste.      Head-stones of all kinds, as at home, are here   from\nthe handsome granite column of the wealthy, to the humble\nwooden cross of the Lettish peasant These are all the graves\nof Lutherans, the Greek Church having separate places of interment. All the inscriptions on the tombstones, without exception, begin with, \" Hier ruhet in Gott;\" and many have, on the\nreverse side, and especially when the grave is that of a young\ngirl or child, \" Schlummere sanft;\" which is pretty and appropriate, meaning, as it does, \" Slumber softly.\"\nBut to return to the church, from which we have strayed for a\nlittle while among the graves of the parishioners. On arriving,\nwe found the building filled to overflowing. Lettish was the.\nlanguage in which the services were conducted, and it was the\nCommunion Sabbath. The whole scene reminded us of just\nsuch an \"occasion\" in a parish kirk in Scotland, although-\nthe language was strange to us, and the customs a little\ndifferent.\nWe were glad thus by chance to have the opportunity of\nwitnessing the celebration of this ordinance in a sister Church.\nIt was very simple, resembling more the Episcopalian than the\nPresbyterian form, although in other respects the Lutheran\nceremony is more like the latter. The communicants knelt\nat the altar, when the pastor put into the mouth of each the\nbroken bread, and held to their lips the poured-out wine,\nsaying the same words to every communicant separately. But\nhe used no book, nor gave any address, merely pronouncing a\nbenediction, and making the sign of the cross, after which the\ncommunicants retired, a 'new set taking their places.\nIt was quite a country congregation, only a sprinkling of\nbonnets being visible. The singing was solemn and hearty, and\nthe organ fine for a country church. The pastor seemed an\nearnest, pious individual; but we have learned he is not the\nregular pastor, but a stranger from the interior, who has been\nsupplying the place for a few weeks. Martin's Kirche is not\nusually well attended; but under the ministrations of this\nstranger it is so crowded that it is difficult to obtain a seat.\nThus it supplies one more instance in confirmation of the old\ndictum, that wherever there is a good preacher there is sure to\nbe found a good congregation.\nWhen the morning service was over, the marriage ceremony\nwas performed, the young couple having entered alone while\nthe communion was being dispensed. The bride, with a blue\ngown and a long white veil, and wreath of white flowers. It\nseemed all a matter of course, and the ceremony produced\nno flutter in the rest of the congregation. The service was\nextremely simple and pretty, and being in German, I foT-\nlowed a good deal of it. The bride and bridegroom stood\nalone at the altar, there being neither bridesmaids nor best man,\nnor did any one give away the bride. The pastor placed the\nring on the finger of each, and then blessed them, laying a\nhand on the forehead of each. Thus they were made man\nand wife for evermore.\nPerhaps not for evermore, however, for the marriage tie is\neasily dissolved here. One couple I heard of who are at present trying for a divorce simply because of incompatibility of\ntemper. The gentleman in question had married his niece\nafter having educated her. This grade of relationship is no\nbarrier in the Lutheran Church\u2014at least, so we are informed\n\u2014but the result seems to have been unsuccessful, as she tells\nhim now she can only love him as an uncle, not as a husband.\nThis ill-matched pair have one child, who is to remain with the\nmother, the husband supplying her with funds for the main- A TRIP  TO  LIVONIA  AND  BACK.\nU7\ntenance of the little girl; while both of the parents, I suppose,\nwill be free to marry again.\nJuly $ist.\u2014To-morrow we are to have an auction of our\ngoods and chattels, fortunately few in number; after this was\ndecided on, we went to the steamer, about the sailing of which\nthere seems as much doubt as ever.\nAugust 1st.\u2014To-day saw our small household broken up,\nour goods for the most part bought up by Jew furniture-dealers,\nand ourselves once more in our old quarters at the Hotel\nBelle Vue for the night It was with a saddened spirit that I\nbid adieu to Sassenhof and our kind friends there. So much is\nour happiness or unhappiness founded on the minor circumstances of our daily lives, that I, who only a few weeks before\nwas ready to shed tears on account of our forlorn condition,\nwas now equally ready to weep because I was being torn from\nthe place which had then looked so desolate; but which I\nhad now learned to love. But this is life. How true it is\nthat \" here we have no continuing city.\"\nThis has also been zfeiertag, namely, \"Apple-day.\" It\nis a curious, but possibly a very salutary, custom in a country\nwhere cholera is a yearly visitant. Until this date apples\nare not regarded as safe to eat To-day, which is a church\nfestival, the apples are blessed, and pronounced good for\nfood.\nVOYAGE HOME.\nI here begin to quote from a species of diary kept by my\nhusband.\nAugust 12th (New Style).\u2014Had a sale at Sassenhof, when\nHerr H  sold all our dishes, our -pots and pans, trummel\nand brushes, and last, but not least, the handsome furniture\nwhich had formed the honour and glory of our happy little\nestablishment This done, and the money in hand, I hurried\noff to Riga, leaving him to follow with all gepacke, great and\nsmall, by rail. We once more found ourselves in the H6tel\nBelle Vue with our little friend the Kellner, and his ready\nwelcome.\nAugust 13th.\u2014Found that the Metz, the steamer belonging\nto Kiel, in which we had secured a passage, was positively to\nsail this afternoon. So we get our traps all ready, our roubles\nconverted into London drafts, dined with our kind Russian\nfriend, Madame  \u2022 , in the park restaurant, bade her an\naffectionate adieu, and then took train for Miihlgraben. Here\nwe found one of the seamen of the Metz waiting with the\nlong-boat to take us on board.\nSailed at eight p.m. Passed a tolerably comfortable night,\nand hoped for fine weather and smooth water. But, alas!\nThursday opened with a head-wind, rough sea, and seasickness. Both of us were forced to keep close to our\ncribs. Meanwhile, we passed the coast of Courland, and bade\nadieu to Russian territory. We were able, with an effort,\njust to look out now and then, and saw distinctly the\nislands of Gothland and Oland; and retired finally with promises of better weather, both from the captain and the setting\nsun.\nSaturday.\u2014On awaking, I was charmed to find the Metz\nsailing along in smooth waters, so we both ventured to go on\ndeck after having breakfasted below. In due time we were\nable to enjoy a good dinner of soup and roast beef.\nTo-day we have been sailing for hours along the Swedish\ncoast, which we saw clearly at a distance of about three miles.\nThis portion of the coast is lower than the southern part, but\nnot so flat as that of Courland and Livonia, which we had left\nbehind. We marked the lighthouse of Sandhammern, the village\nof Torp, and many white churches and grey windmills dotted\nat intervals along the shore. The churches are invariably\nwhite in Sweden, and serve as useful landmarks to seamen,\nwhile, we trust, they hold up also the Gospel beacon to those\non land.\nWe have likewise sailed through a perfect navy of ships. I\ncounted more than forty on one side of us alone, at one time.\nThe weather is lovely. We saw a solitary seal disporting himself (seehund, our German mate called him). Yesterday the\ncaptain shot an eagle, a bird which is rarely met with at sea.\nIt had perched on the top of the mast, but unfortunately, in\nattempting to fly, it fell overboard, and Captain Heinrich\nStiffen lost his spoil.\nThis afternoon we sighted the island of Moen, belonging\nto Denmark, passed the lightship Falsterbo, and shordy after\ndiscovered the lighthouse of the same name, with the white\nchurch close by. Falsterbo is an imposing red building with\ntwo towers.\nWith an occasional glimpse of Denmark on the left, and\n.with the Swedish coast ever more or less clearly seen on our\nright, we pass inside a lightship, and at eight; p.m. cast anchor\noff a small Danish town of the same name. We anchored,\nbecause the captain did not .consider it advisable to pass\nthrough the Sound without daylight.\nWe were now, however, distressed to learn that one of the\nstokers was so seriously unwell that the captain would be under\nthe necessity of calling at Copenhagen; landing the sick man\nthere, and procuring a substitute.\nSunday morning, about six o'clock, we-anchor in Copenhagen\nRoads, and, running up the white flag, inform all whom it\nmay concern, that the Metz has sickness on board. We send\nfor a doctor, and a shrewd-looking Dane comes. There is\nmuch cholera in the Baltic ports at present; Copenhagen,\nhowever, has a clean bill, and quarantine regulations are very\nstrictly enforced. After considerable delay, and the arrival of\nmany bottles of disinfectants, the poor stoker is taken on shore,\nand conveyed to the hospital. Although it is not cholera at\nall from which he is suffering, the Danish doctor informs us\nthat we cannot land. No one on board must land, except\nthe captain, to seek fresh hands, and that only under\nprotest. So we chew the cud of disappointment and set\nourselves to watch, as far as possible, what' is going on upon\nthe shore.\nWe manage to get a good view of Copenhagen through our\npowerful glasses. The entrance is protected by three forts,\nbetween which and the town boatloads of soldiers and marines\ncontinued passing and repassing during the day. We saw the\nchurch steeples and heard the bells, and even remarked\npassengers walking on the boulevards. The Schloss, also a large\nbuilding in the town, we could see; but were told by our pilot\nthat the royal family were not there, but at a country palace\nwhere we now know from the newspapers they, on that day,\nentertained the Prussian Crown Prince.\nThe harbour for men-of-war vessels is quite filled with the\nsame, all happily laid up at present\nThe number of ships of all sizes and of all nations\u2014\nsteamers, many huge ones, and others the smallest ever built,\nI should fancy\u2014vessels, boats, and canoes is something quite\nenormous.    Crowded passenger-boats are continually arriving\ninr i4S\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nand departing for Malmo, Helsingborg, and other neighbouring\nports and all this life and bustle, together with the repeated\nfiring of- guns in honour, first, of a boyish Danish prince\nvisiting a man-of-war in the roads, and again of a Russian man-\nof-war which had arrived with a Russian prince on board, did\nnot impress us with the idea of Protestant Denmark being\na  Sabbath-observing\nnation.  ^^\nMonday at five\na.m. we were again\nunder weigh. Passing through theSound\nwe see the island\nof Hveen (Anglice\n\" Wain\") with its\nlighthouse, and presently are off Elsi-\nnore.\nElsinore is a\nrather flat, low-lying\ntown, with nothing\n\" stern \" in its aspect.\nWherever Thomas\nCampbell may have\npicked^up his idea of\nit, it is not a correct\none. It proved rather\na disappointment to\nfind the lines we had\nbeen familiar with\nfrom childhood, and\nwhich I had been repeating all the morning, turning out a delusion\u2014\n\"On thy stern and\nstormy     steep,\nElsinore.\"\nNevertheless it is\nan interesting spot,\nand, with the fortifications in the foreground, looks very\npicturesque.\nHere we see a\nvast multitude of\nshipping bearing the\nflags of all nations.\nOn the Swedish coast\non our   left we   see\ndistinctly the town of Helsingborg, and further along the coast\nmany handsome residences. That coast is now bold and\nrocky, fulfilling better our expectations of Swedish scenery\nthan what we had seen on Saturday, and looks very inviting\nwith its sea-girt outline of hills and cliffs, castle and town.-\nThe coast of Zealand is also here very beautiful, but of a\nsofter character than the opposite shore. The Danish coast\nis all along thickly studded with substantial-looking villas,\nand here and there pretty little villages nestling among the\ntrees beside the sea.\nElsinore looks a quaint  old\" place.    Here,  formerly,  all\nvessels paid toll to Denmark\u2014a sort of black mad levied by the\nsea-kings, and handed down to the present generation. Now,\nhowever, the custom has been discontinued, and the passage is\nfree. Judging from the fleet of ships now there, it must have\nproved a rich source of revenue to Denmark. The only\ntribute now observed is honorary, and every vessel displays her\ncolours to the descendants of the Vikings as she passes\nthis, their capital of\nthe sea\nThe Danish or\nZealand coast now\ngradually receded\nfrom our sight, but\nwe keep that of\nSweden still in view\ntill the afternoon. We\npass the village of\nWiken, with its white\nchurch conspicuously\nroofed with red.\nThen follows a picturesque village with\nits windmill and beacon. At 9.30 a.m.\nwe are passing the revolving lighthouse of\nKullen, when Sweden\nin turn disappears.\nWe are now in the\nKattegat, and make\nfor the lightship of\nAnholt, which we see\nat 2.30.\nHere terminates\nmy husband's journal,\nand with it the record of our excursion to Livonia. Of\nour voyage home it\nis not necessary to\nsay anything, for\nthere is nothing to\nrecord in the open\nsea but a succession\nof many yawns and\nineffectual longings\nfor terrafirma. In addition to these drawbacks, we encountered again, as before in the North Sea, a\nhead-wind, a rolling sea, and\u2014worst of all\u2014sea-sickness. Had\nthere been anything to see, this' last so prostrated our powers\nof observation that we most certainly should not have seen it.\nQuery : Is there always a head-wind in the North Sea ? I can\nonly say that my slight experience goes far to answer the question in the affirmative.\nHowever, in time our tedious voyage was over, and the\nevent we looked forward to arrived at last; the English coast\nRUSSIAN  DEVOTEES,   RIGA.\nhove in sight, and landing at Middlesborough at 6\nfound ourselves at the end of our journey.\nam., we THE TRAGEDY  OF  MITIARO,\nIN  THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.\n149\nThe Tragedy of Mitiaro, in the South Sea Islands.\nBY   THE   REV.   W.   WYATT  GILL,   B.A.\nWhen standing on the eastern shore of Atiu (south-west of\nTahiti) and looking towards the edge of the'horizon, a distance\nof thirty miles, the eye is attracted by a fringe of cocoa-nut\ntrees apparently growing out of the sea. This is the island of\nMitiaro, about nine miles in circumference. The land is low,\nand the shore rugged. From its size, it ought to be capable\nof sustaining a population of several hundreds; but on close\nIn reality, all these luckless voyagers had been slain and\neaten by the Mitiaro Islanders; a perilous gratification, truly,\nseeing that they were so few in number compared with the\nnatives of the large and fertile island of Atiu. Unfortunately\nfor these cannibals, out of a canoe-load of Atiuans appointed\nto die, three ran away to the bush, and at night threw themselves upon the mercy of Nukuhiva, eldest son of Maro, King\nw*\n\u2022fifTr*\nSit:;\n[)\u00bb>>.*\nF||i-l\u00bb-i\ntJjS   *\nNATIVE OF TAHITI.\nA SANDWICH ISLANDER.\ninspection, it proves to be a very barren islet. The centre,\nwhich in most of the islands of the group is occupied with\nsmall valleys and valuable taro patches, is in Mitiaro a lake of\nbrackish water, a mile across. Abundance of fish is found in\nthis lagoon, which is deep and has a subterranean communi*\ncation with the ocean. The inhabitants of Mitiaro probably\nnever exceeded two or three hundred. In 1819\u2014about\nfour years prior to the introduction of Christianity\u2014a fearful\nmassacre almost bereft the island of inhabitants.\nThis barren islet was originally peopled from Atiu. Entire\nsimilarity of traditions and language incontestably prove this.\nLatterly the intercourse between those islands became very\ninfrequent. Occasionally a canoe of young men, anxious to\nsee the world, .would start from Atiu for the little fringe at the\nedge of the horizon; but none of them ever came back. The\nAtiuans could see the mat-sail canoes half-way to Mitiaro;\nand from the continuance of favourable winds believed that\nthey safely reached their destination. Their non-return was\nan enigma.\nof Mitiaro. They were saved by Nukuhiva, but Maro and all\nthe islanders well knew what their fate would be should these\nAtiuans ever get back to their own island. They accordingly\nsought opportunity day by day to kill the guests of Nukuhiva.\nBut their intended victims never once left the presence of their\nprotector day or night, until a favourable wind blowing for\nAtiu, Nukuhiva himself led them to the beach, and launched\ntheir canoe. Very dismal were the forebodings of Maro and\nthe majority of the people, as the homeward-bound carioe was\nlost to sight.\nThe three Atiuans, as soon as they got back, told their\ntale of horror, and demanded vengeance. This was most\nheartily responded to by Roma-Tane (Rongo-ma-Tane), King\nof Atiu. New canoes were to be at once hollowed out, and\nold ones to be put in thorough repair, for a descent upon\nMitiaro. Nearly a hundred canoes, large and small, were got\nready. The largest would carry twenty warriors, the smallest\nfour. At that time, Atiu was densely populated; of late years\nthe attractions of a dissipated life at Tahiti have reduced the i5\u00b0\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nStan\nl;-'i:\nPS\niii\niSSMgii\nm4\npopulation to 1,000. All males above the age of sixteen were\nrequired to join the expedition. Probably upwards of 800\nmen started for the little island of Mitiaro, under the auspices\nof Teronga, titular god of Atiu. The significant name given\nby Roma-Tane to this miniature Armada was \"Exterminators\"\n(Tupa enua), or, literally, \"land-weeders,\" regarding the devoted\nnatives of Mitiaro as noxious weeds to be entirely rooted out.\nLong before this fleet reached Mitiaro, excellent preparations for defence had been made by Maro and his mere\nhandful of people. A strong fort was built on the eastern\n(the weather) side of the island, which is exceedingly rugged.\nIn building this fort they were materially assisted by the\narrival of a double canoe-load of Aitutakians,* one of whom\nis still living.\nSome years previously, a drift canoe from Tahiti, a distance\nof 400 miles, had been well received at Mitiaro. As Joba\nand his friends left Tahiti prior to the destruction of the idols,\nthey could not impart a ray of light on the vital subject of\nChristianity; but he had a wonderful tale to relate about the\nI puffers,\" or guns of the white race; for Joba himself shot a\nman at Tahiti. To avoid retribution, he and his friends\npreferred to trust themselves to the unknown ocean. These\nrefugees had become incorporated with the islanders where\nProvidence had conducted them, and taught them how to\nmake their fort impregnable to invaders unacquainted with the\nuse of fire-arms.\nThe fort was round, built of large blocks of coral. Upon\nthe top a flooring of iron-wood timbers was laid, with an\nopening communicating with the lower chamber. All around\nwas a stout railing of iron-wood stakes firmly lashed together\nwith strong rivets. Piles of rounded stones for slinging were\nplaced at convenient distances on this elevated platform. In\nthe lower chamber were stored a large quantity of husked\ncocoa-nuts, and large calabashes of fresh water.\nThe brave Mitiaroans did not immediately take refuge in\ntheir fort, upon the arrival of their foes. They resolved to\ncontest their landing. The invaders finding it to be impracticable to land at the usual place one canoe at a time, took\nadvantage of the favourable surf to run their canoes ashore at\nall points of the reef. This unexpected plan gave them the\nadvantage of numbers; so that the Mitiaro natives, despite\ntheir fierce onslaught, were forced to retire. At this crisis,\nthe chief of Atiu discovered that a party of the defenders\nwere Aitutakians, and appealed to their leader Ruapu, as his\nblood relative, to come over to his side. They did so. But\nthe Tahitians proved faithful to their adopted country, and\nwith the Mitiaroans made for the fort on the opposite side of\nthe island. The women and children and the aged occupied\nthe lower chamber defended by a rough wall of coral. The\nwarriors alone occupied the open platform.\nBut where was Nukuhiva?   As he was distrusted by all, he\nwas ignominiousfy thrown down amongst the non-combatants.\nThe fort was not immediately attacked.    The invaders busied\nthemselves with building extempore houses on the beach, close\nto their canoes.     The thatch consisted  merely   of  plaited\ncocoa-nut branches laid thickly on.    It was now arranged that\na third of the invading force should next day attack the fort.\nThey did so; but whilst scarcely a missile of the besieged\nmissed its mark, those of the attacking party either went over\nI The people of an island which is situated at a distance of over one\nhundred miles from Mitiaro.\nthe fort, or harmlessly struck the breastwork. So effectually\nwere the Atiuans repulsed, that some were in favour of putting\nback to sea at once.\nAfter waiting a couple of weeks for the healing of their\nwounds, a grand united assault was made upon the fort\u2014to\nlittle purpose, however. As on the former occasion, the stones\nof the besieged told terribly upon the advancing party; but\nnot a man inside the little fort was harmed.\nThe Atiuans drew off to a safe distance to consult upon\nthis very unfavourable state of things, when the traitor Nukuhiva suddenly rushed up through the opening, carrying a fair\ndaughter, and putting her over the breastwork, shouted to\nRoma-Tane to come and fetch her as his future wife. His\ncountrymen were paralysed by this treacherous act, but no\nhand was uplifted to kill the son of their aged king. The\ninvaders now for the first time were permitted to get near the\nfort. They took the girl from her father's hands, scaled the\nfortifications, and dragged every living soul out of it by main\nforce. Thus the entire population of this little coral islet\nwas led in mournful procession to the encampment of their\nfoes near the sea They had not proceeded fai when Pone,\nthe great warrior of Mitiaro, was slain. The rest were blandly\nassured that they would be treated kindly by the conquerors.\nIt is in allusion to these deceitful promises that the Atiuans\nthemselves originated the ironical nickname so well known\nthroughout the group, \"the meek-faced Atiuans\" (mata-mata\nvaine Atiu).\nUpon arriving at the beach, they were divided out four or\nfive to each house, and carefully guarded lest they should\nescape into the bush. \u25a0 Parties now set off; some to collect firewood, others to cut banana-leaves for the ovens\u2014and mighty\novens they were. The sun was just setting in all its glory\nbefore their eyes, when the work of slaughtering the defenceless\ncaptives began. The fellows appointed to this task by Roma-\nTane slew the captive inmates of each house in succession;\nmen and women dying first, the little children being reserved\nawhile, as they were unable to run away. In one instance,\nwhilst they were slaying the other captives, a mother snatched\nup her infant and slipped unperceived through the plaited\ncocoa-nut leaf covering the side of the house, and ran as fast\nas her legs could carry her into the neighbouring thickets.\nWhen at last her escape was discovered, there was a great'\nhubbub, and parties went off in search of her. Happily they\ndid not discover the trembling victim. Akeamimitama contrived to subsist with her little girl until the invaders returned\nto their own land. When a few years later Christianity was\nintroduced, she became a regular and attentive hearer of the\nword. She has been dead several years; but the \"babe\" is\nyet livings and is a member of the little church at Mitiaro.\nThe bodies of the slain were piled up for the purpose of\nbeing counted, divided out, and cooked. One poor woman\nhad her skull cleft by the stroke of a wooden sword. She was\nlaid on the ghastly pile by the side of many others. The\nmurderers returned for a new batch of victims; upon depositing them on the top of the former ones they found her missing.\nThis was very extraordinary. Could one of their own number\nhave carried off the body? That could not be, for the\nAtiuans had resolved to devour all save Nukuhiva. As it\nwas by this time quite dark, torches were lighted to discover\nwhat had become of this poor woman. The trail of blood\nleading to the bush revealed the singular fact that consciousness THE VICTORIAN  ABORIGINES.\ni5i\nhad returned, and the victim had actually slid off the gory\npile and crawled to the bush. Great excitement prevailed\namongst the Atiuans, who were resolved to find her. Very\ncarefully did they scrutinise the track of the fugitive, but had\nat last to give up the search, consoling themselves with the\nthought that it was impossible that she could live.\nShe did live, however. Her own account of the event in\nafter years was, that on coming to consciousness her first\nendeavour was to press together the two sides of her head, and\nwhilst thus engaged she slipped off the heap of dead. She\nnow thought it possible to escape, and slowly entered the bush,\nwhich was hard by. In her heathen darkness she invoked the\naid of Mo'o, incarnate in the blackbird, who was supposed to\ndelight in hiding fugitives from their pursuers. Though exceedingly faint from loss of blood, she managed to get to some\ndistance, and crouched behind a rock in the forest, listening in\nterror to the voices of her pursuers. When these died away,\nshe tore off a piece of the only garment on her\u2014her petticoat\u2014\nand bound it as tightly as possible round her head. She now\nslept soundly, and on waking looked for a few juicy ripe\n\" nono \" apples (Morinda citrifolid) to satisfy her hunger and\nraging thirst. She wisely remained in her hiding-place a few\ndays, until it seemed probable that the invaders had taken\nadvantage of a favourable wind to return home. She now\nwent in search of her relative, Nukuhiva, who would certainly\nbe spared.\nHer conjectures were correct The Atiuans were gone,\nand Nukuhiva received her kindly. The frightful wound in her\nhead was dressed and bound up afresh. She was then a young\nwoman, and eventually was married to an Atiuan who came to\nlive on the island. She attended the instructions of the first\nteachers, and discovered that Jehovah, not Mo'o, had saved\nher from her pursuers, in order that she might hear the message\nof mercy contained in the Gospel of peace. When Rauraa, a\nnative of Mangaia, who was for several years teacher at Mitiaro,\ncompleted the first stone church in 1850,.she attended the\nopening services, although very feeble. She soon afterwards\npassed away, we may hope, to the better land. She was bald\nfrom the forehead to the back of the head, in consequence of\nthe cleaving of her skull. Her son, Toa, was appointed\n\u2022evangelist at Penrhyn's in i860. He was a fine young man,\nand of irreproachable character.    Unhappily he was not versed\nin the wiles of unprincipled white men; for, in 1862, he and\nhis people were enslaved by the Peruvians, and are believed\nto have all perished in South America\nTo return to our story. As many of the slain as possible\nwere cooked and eaten that night. But there were too many\nto be disposed of at one meal. Stories are related of Atiuan\nwarriors claiming the bodies of entire families who had in\nformer years been guilty of devouring their sons. Such victims\nwere arranged in a circle; the Atiuan father addressing the\nspirit of his long-since deceased boy thus, \" Bravely hast thou\nbeen avenged, my beloved son. I have glutted myself on the\nflesh of those who ate thee !\" And thus the satisfied warrior\nslept in the midst of the dead!\nLittle children\u2014vainly calling \" Ake !\" (\"mother\")\u2014were\nliterally skewered together, three or even four at a time, and\nsinged over a huge fire, like pigs, previous to being placed in\nthe oven!\nIn a day or two the invaders were ready to return home,\nafter parcelling out the island amongst the chiefs of Atiu. The\nflesh of their victims was re-cooked and carefully packed away\nin their canoes, so that their wives and children at home might\npartake of the horrid banquet. As, after all, several bodies\nremained uncooked, these were dragged to the long sandy\nbeach facing Atiu, and arranged at proper distances as sleepers\n(oropapa), over which the heavier and more valuable canoes\nwere run into the sea. The Atiuans returned in triumph to\nrelate their achievements to their families. Nukuhiva remained\non Mitiaro as their vassal, after his old father Maro had been\ncooked and eaten. Roma-Tane added the Mitiaro girl to his\nharem.\nA number of Atiuans were appointed to live on Mitiaro as\nrepresentatives of the chiefs who still claim the whole of the\nisland of Mitiaro. There are at the present time about 180\ninhabitants on the island, of whom forty are church members.\nIt is a wonderful thing that God should have converted\nthis Roma-Tane, and made him the chosen instrument for the\ndestruction of idolatry and the establishment of Christian\nworship at Atiu, Mitiaro, and Manki. Truly God's ways are\nnot like man's ways ! The destruction of Mitiaro took place\nin 1819, only two years prior to the introduction of the Gospel.\nMost of the parties concerned in the horrible tragedy of 1819\nwere known to the present writer and his missionary brethren.\nThe  Victorian Aborigines.\nBY JAMES   BONWICK,   F.R.G.S.,  AUTHOR  OF\nSome thirty-two years ago the writer fell in with a man who\nhad for a great portion of his life lived with the wild blacks m\nthe country now called Victoria. William Buckley was the\nname of this wild white man.\nA soldier of the King's Own Regiment, he stood six feet six\ninches in height. But his intellect was not corresponding to\nhis towering stature; and his lack of mental vigour may have\nled to that weakness of morals which brought him from the\nbarracks to a convict ship. A new place of exile was to be\nsettled, and the fleet sailed to Port Philip, some five hundred\n\"THE  LAST  OF  THE  TASMANIANS,\"   ETC.\nmiles from Botany Bay. Three months' trial of the locality\nsatisfied the Lieutenant-Governor, Collins; and, in removing\nto Van Diemen's Land, the colonisation of Port Philip, now\nVictoria, was delayed for more than thirty years.\nBefore the camp was broken up, Buckley made his escape.\nIt was naturally supposed that he died of hunger in the bush,\nor that he had been killed by the natives. But when John\nBatman's party, in 1835, re-settled the shores of Port Philip, a\ntall figure in the midst of a tribe arrested attention. 1 hough\nin the undress of the nation, with long and shaggy hair, he r52\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nil\nI\nSoB-SHU''\nnil\nHi\nm\nproved to be the runaway prisoner of 1803. Gradually recovering his English speech, he told his simple tale. He was\nthen induced to leave his black friends, whose affectionate\nattachment to him was strikingly evidenced. For a few\nmonths it was believed that, being trusted by the wild men,\nhe might be a great protection to the squatters' flocks, as the\ntribes had taken a great fancy to mutton, and exchanged\nspears with bullets. But the giant was too feeble for any\nenterprise, and retired from his old haunts to Hobart Town.\nThis was the man to give the story of Victorian savage life,\nand relate the traditions of a people ignorant of any whites but\nhimself. But the silent man, who when he walked the streets\nstared at the clouds in front of him, noticing no one around,\nhad no story to tell of the Victorian aborigines. The little\ndrawn from him was so. unintelligible as to be unreliable.\nHe had lived as they, teaching them nothing. He was neither\nbrutalised nor degraded by contact with them. If not displaying virtues, he had no apparent vices. Provided by the\nColonial Government with his rations, he glided through his\nremaining days as a being whose thoughts were far from the\ncommon haunts of his countrymen.\nBut the history of the Victorian aborigines differed little\nfrom that of other tribes in Australia. Small parties, wandering as families or subdivisions of a native community, knew no\nchange but the hunt by day and the gossip by night Occasionally, yet very rarely, there might be the excitement of a\nfight But usually the contest was brief, the casualties were\nfew, and the evening corroborrie of conciliation most frequently\nended the struggle. Still, as the retired tenants of our wayside hamlets have something for their tongues to tell, or to\nstir their sluggish blood, the aborigines in the forests of\nVictoria had pretty scandals to amuse then fireside parties,\nwhilst chronicles of the day's doings beguiled the evening\n\u2022 hours.\nEuropeans came to disturb their solitude. As a sudden\nstorm after a peaceful summer day alarms and scatters both\nwinged and creeping roamers of the woods, so the advent of\nthe clothed strangers brought terror and desolation to the\naborigines. The white man's woolly kangaroo seized the\npastures which the meek-eyed marsupial had thought its own,\nand the territory mapped out with tribal boundaries was afterwards fenced across to keep off native trespassers.\nGradually conflicts ceased between the native inhabitants\nand the new-comers. The blacks submitted to their fate.\nSome retired to the few solitudes left, and respected property\nwhile they hunted. Others were willing' to fraternise with the\nsettlers for a bit of white bread and a glass of rum. Almost\nthe only known people without an intoxicant for drinking or\nsmoking, they readily accepted the liquor and pipe of civilisation. They thenceforth worked or begged for means to indulge the habit of drinking.\nThe following story will illustrate one phase of this pseudo-\ncivilisation.\nIn 1852, i visited a storekeeper at the new diggings of\nBallarat. The site of the present flourishing township was\nthen a charming grassy plain, dotted over with trees, amidst\nwhich gleamed the white tent of the Gold Fields Commissioner,,\nwho could thence overlook the miners washing in the creek\nbelow. On my way round the hill, I fell in with a party of\ndrunken natives, men and women, who had been treated for\nfun by some of the rougher diggers.    The yells and laughter\nof the maddened throng disturbed the nighfs rest of many,\nmyself among the number.\nRising early from my grassy couch, I strolled through the\nforest, along the paths of which men were already proceeding\nto their claims. All at once I came upon a black fellow, lying\ngroaning upon the turf. As two or three diggers approached,\nhe lifted aside his ragged shirt, his only garment, and showed\nhis bowels protruding through a gashed wound. Shivering\nwith cold, and groaning with the pain, he could only reply\nto our question\u2014\n\" Long Tom, him do it, him drunk.\"\nA doctor was sent for, but no hope of recovery was entertained.\nThe fate of woman in the tribes may be conjectured. Her\nfall was the greater, and her suffering was the worse. The\nsaddest sights it has been my lot to see here have been connected with the fall and suffering of the dark-skinned lubras.\nWhatever their sorrows in a native state of barbarism, these\nhave been intensified in the last days of the tribes.\nThe extinction of the Victorian aborigines is near at hand.\nIt is easy to say, with Captain Burton, that the savage \" is but\na temporary denizen of the world, who falls in the first struggle\nwith nature;\" but there have been savages who have been\nraised by a superior race. Still it must be admitted that the\nAustralians are, as Mr. Markham says of the Indians, \" marching slowly down the gloomy and dark road to extinction.\"\nThe Victorian blacks for a time resented the white man's\noccupation of their forests and plains ; but the number perishing by violence could not be considerable. Food is so plentiful in the bush that none could die of hunger. Epidemics\nin so healthful an atmosphere have ever been mild. And yet,\nupon the authority of the police magistrate of the Omeo District, there were 500 natives there in 1835, and but two men\nand three women alive in 1858. Mr. Commissioner Tyers\ndeclared that in fifteen years the Gipp's Land men decreased\nfrom 800 to 80. Mr. Protector Parker knew of 178 around\nhim, in certain recognised tribes, reduced to ninety-one in a\nfew years. Only two dozen remain of two tribes once mustering 300. The Geelong Register, speaking of a neighbourhood\nwell known to Buckley when he sojourned with the blacks,\nsays: \"The Corio tribe is nearly extinct, as King Jerry and\none male companion are all that are now known to reside in\nthe district.\" Dr. Thomson, the earliest settler there, told me\nhe had seen corroborries of several hundreds of that tribe.\nThe work of destruction is going on. The coast tribes of\nPort Philip Bay mustered ninety-two in 1848, and thirty-six in\n1858 ; and yet all this time every possible care was taken of\nthe race by officers appointed by Government. From so early\na period as 1838, \"protectors\" were set to guard the interests\nof the original inhabitants, and supply their wants. The protectors were in most cases men of Christian life and feeling,\nwho honestly sought to do their duty to the poor creatures;\nand yet they saw them perishing around them.\nThe mortality among the women is greater than with the\nother sex. Again and again, in my rambles through Victoria\nhave I been assured that the lubras were rapidly disappearing.\nIn one tribe I counted fourteen males above the age of boyhood, and but three females of any age. Of the sixty natives\nat Carr's Plains, one writes, \" the women are old and decrepit,\nwith the exception of two.\" Others tell the same sad story of\n\"nothing but old women left.\" :*SE\nTHE VICTORIAN ABORIGINES.\n^\nWhat, then, are the causes of this wholesale slaughter?\nUnquestionably one disease, the product and consequence of\nvice, has hurried many to an early grave. The want of cleanly\nhabits, the removal from medical attendance, and the very\nrecklessness of despair, operate in the multiplication of victims.\nBut drink, the active incentive to the vice referred to, is\ndirectly and indirectly the great cause of aboriginal decline.\nAll authorities bear testimony to the insatiable desire for\nliquor among the natives.\nSimilar reports to the following are being addressed to the\nVictorian Government by magistrates :\u2014\" I regret to have to\nreport that the aborigines still indulge to excess in intoxicating\nliquors, and have greater facilities than formerly for procuring them, owing to the great increase of public-houses and\nbeer-shops.\" Legislative enactment failed to check the evil.\nMr. Colin Campbell, the much-esteemed settler at Buangor,\nofficially complained thus :\u2014\" The vicinity of the public-house\nis a great temptation, and I have already pointed out that the\nPublicans Act is unavailing, as it only prohibits giving liquor\nin any quantity which shall produce intoxication, with a penalty\nof only five pounds. The giving of liquor under any circumstances should, I think, be severely punished.\"\nThe Australian blacks are worse affected than Europeans\nby drinking habits. When in liquor, they are apt to quarrel\nand murder one another, being especially brutal then towards\nthe women. They cast aside what little clothing they may\nhave, and lie exposed in the wet and cold. Already debilitated\nby excesses and the ravages of disease, consumption comes on,\nand rapidly carries them off. We may well have an official say,\n\"I regret to have to report that the thirst for intoxicating\ndrinks is as great as ever, and the miserable remnant of a once\npowerful tribe is fast drinking itself into the grave.\"\nConsumption is the fatal form taken by disease. It is a\ncommon saying in the colony, \" Touch a black fellow in the\nchest, and he dies.\" Some medical authorities assert that the\nmalady is contagious among the race.\nWhile this decline is going on among the native population,\nthere are few births to fill the vacant places by the camp-fires.\nIn one year, recently, there were but two children born in the\nPortland Bay District, a part of Victoria covering many\nthousands of square miles. Count Strzelecki had a theory\nthat a native would never have a dark infant after having had\noffspring by a white man. The simple truth is that her habits\nand state of physical system had arrested the process.\nHalf-castes are, singularly enough, almost the only children\nborn in the aboriginal camp. In spite of a natural feeling of\nshame and jealousy, the men often treat the little ones with\nkindness, and are proud of the prattlers. But upon arrival at\na certain age, they in almost all cases disappear. Although\nthe whites have been nearly forty years associated with the\nblacks, it is rare indeed to recognise a half-caste, other than an\ninfant.\nIn physique the Victorian aborigines are not to be despised.\nI have seen specimens of the race worthy to be models for the\nstudio, with grace of movement and becoming dignity. Their\neyes, for expression of emotions, are very attractive, especially\nin the gentler sex. This is the description of a Port Fairy man,\nby Dr. Ludwig Becker, who perished in the expedition of\nBurke and Wills:\u2014\" His age was eighteen years; height five\nfeet two inches; complexion light chocolate brown; flat nose;\niaws very much projecting; mouth large; lips sharp, edged\n260\u2014vol. vi.\nwith a reddish hue; teeth complete, and pure white; chin\nsmall and receding; well-shaped eyes, the iris nearly black,\nthe white of the eye has a light yellowish tint; eyelashes long\nand black j head well-formed; forehead rising nearly perpendicular from horizontal; black and bushy eyebrows; hair jet-\nblack and full; his voice is a fine manly baritone.\"\nMajor Mitchell, who named this fair country Australia Felix,\nis not of the opinion of one who declared he was at a loss\nwhere to place the bush natives\u2014\" whether as the next rink\nabove the monkey, or below it.\" On the contrary, in referring\nto one, the traveller writes : \" He was a very perfect specimen\nof the genus homo, and such as never to be seen except in the\nprecincts of savage life. The deep-set yet flexible spine; the\ntaper form of the limbs; the fulness, yet perfect elasticity of\nthe muscles; the hollowness of the back, and symmetrical\nbalance of the upper part of the torso, ornamented, as it was,\nlike a piece of fine carving, with raised scarifications most\ntastefully placed; such were some of the characteristics of this\nperfect piece of work.\" Mr. Gellibrand, the co-founder, with\nJohn Batman, of the Port Phillip Settlement, said of the\nnatives, \"They are a fine race of men; many of them are\nhandsome in their persons, and all well-made.\"\nWhile the old women among them are assuredly ugly, the\nyounger ones have often excited pleasure from the grace of\ntheir forms, the vivacity of their eyes, and the beauty of\ntheir busts. A Murray River lady is thus described: \" Her\nbreasts were spherical, her hair was parted in glossy ringlets,\nher mouth exhibited a noble show of ivory, her head was\nthoroughly Caucasian in shape, and her eyes\u2014brilliant, restless\norbs, with thin, long, black, voluptuous lashes\u2014completed her\nfascinating appearance. Her opossum rug was worn with the\ntaste of a drawing-room belle. The occasional coquettish partial fall of her robe to expose her beauty, with the half-bashful,\nhalf-delighted gaze at the spectator, when she discovered her\nwilful and naughty inadvertence, could not but provoke a\nsmile.\nIn intellect the Victoria aborigine shines, as says Mr. West-\ngarth, \" with a lustre of his own.\" Mr. Protector Parker went\ntoo far in asserting that \" they are just as capable of receiving\ninstruction, just as capable of mental exercises, as any more\nfavoured race.\" Having seen lads and lasses in native schools,\nI can testify to their aptness in learning geography, but sad\ndefect in arithmetic. They delighted in oral lessons, though\ndelivered in a foreign tongue, and were quite susceotible when\nthe story appealed to their feelings.\nIn character, the race has not the cruelty and treachery of\nsome savages. They are most tender-hearted and indulgent\nparents. While favouring their weaker partners with an occasional waddying on their thick skulls, the sufferer generally\nowns to a fault at the bottom. In wars there was little bloodshed, and no injury was ever perpetrated upon women and\nchildren. Though unwilling to name a departed friend, the\nmourning for him is sincere. I was once present at a camp\nwhere an old man was sitting over his lonely little fire in sad\ngrief about the loss of his wife. Presently\", his married daughter\narrived, the news having been carried to her at a distance.\nThen the old man rose up, leaned his head upon her neck, and\nbuist into tears. The other natives near set up a sympathetic\ncry in unison, as father and daughter wept together. The aged\nwere ever held in respect, and the choicest morsels reserved\nfor their taste.    Sir George Grey left this noble testimony\n';V\\ i<4\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\n1\nrespecting the Australians: \" In their intercourse with each\nother I have personally found the natives speak the truth, and\nact with honesty.\" Many have formed an adverse opinion;\nbut from those who have treated them fairly, and have known\nthem the best, I have always heard the kindest view expressed.\nTheir commonest kind of dwelling is a rude, brack-wind,\nbrushwood hut, with its back to the wind, and front to the\ncamp-fire of the family. One sees strange fashions among\nthem. I remember a native whose beard, duly greased with\nemu fat, and curls tended by fingers, would have excited the\nenvy of a pasha.\nRoasting was their only mode of cookery. Wild animals,\nbirds, ducks, eggs, fish, and native roots and fruits were their\nfood. There were roots that were poisonous in a raw state,\nbut which they learnt were wholesome after roasting. Sometimes a hole was made, the provision being laid upon heated\nstones, and clean grass spread above it. While the men\nhunted kangaroo with their spears, fetched down birds with a\nstick, trapped smaller runners, and netted or hooked the fish,\nthe women were busy gathering grubs from decayed wood,\ncatching snakes and lizards, picking up sea-shells, or digging\nup roots with sticks to deposit in their net-bags.\nIn their home life, if sources of enjoyment were limited,\nthe causes of trouble were circumscribed. They had neither\nthe varied joys nor the accumulated annoyances of civilised life.\nBut they were not without a desire to attract attention, and\nnot without a sensitiveness to applause. In decorations they\nrelied upon simple efforts. A few judicious strokes with yellow\nand red ochre, charcoal, or pipe-clay, were employed to set oft\ntheir persons, though feathers, flowers, and bunches of leaves\nwere not neglected. A necklace of stringed bits of reeds, with\na narrow apron of emu feathers, sufficed to adorn the beauty\nat a dance as far as dress was concerned, since skins were\nonly required in cold or wet weather. The beau well greased\nhis hair and beard, though the belle contented herself with a\ncropped head.\nFor amusements they have many playful games, with plenty\nof romping, and much laughter at funny stories or witty\nsallies. They are decidedly opposite to the Indian, for they\nare a laughter-loving race. In songs of an improvisatore order\nsome are remarkably clever, bringing in many a local hit for\neffect. Traditions, with so easy-going a people\u2014so scattered,\nand so wanting in national sentiment\u2014have little point and but\ntrifling antiquity.\nBut their dances are often highly suggestive and beautiful.\nTo the thoughtful colonist, a visit to a corroborrie is deeply\ninteresting. He looks upon- performances nearly allied to the\nreligious rites of Assyria and Phoenicia. He recognises a symbolic worship, wholly unintelligible to the Victorian aborigines\nnow, but which must have been derived long ages a\u00abo from a\nhigher condition of being. Some of the symbolical dances of\nthe Australians resemble those still practised in other and far-\ndistant places, and are similar, to some described by classic\nauthors of antiquity. The \" dance of death,'' described by Mr\nProtector Parker in his pamphlet, and personally spoken of to\nmyself, may have a dim reference to the legend of weeping for\nthe death of Thammuz or Osiris, and rejoicing at his renewed\nrife He saw the natives assemble upon a dark night and\nconduct some singular movements beneath a mass of foliar\nearned by the dancers. Then followed a Very long inter val\nof solemn silence.    All at once I joyful cry was raised, the\"\nwomen beat their opossum-skin rugs with vigour, the chant\nwas in a high and jubilant key, and hearty laughter and congratulations closed the corroborrie.\nThe moonlight nights of summer, in the delicious atmosphere of Victoria, were ever the chosen times of friendly tribal\ngreetings and lively dancing. The men are the performers\nwith feet, and the females with hands and tongues. The first\nare only dressed in pipe-clay and ochre lines, with bunches of\nleaves round knees and ankles, or held in the hands, which\nrustle pleasantly in harmony with the dance, and vibrate to the\npeculiar muscular quiverings of the limbs. The old wives and\nmaidens loudly testify their approval, though no accepted\nlover receives an English reward, since kissing is unknown to\nAustralian and other benighted races.\nLove matches are not unknown in the leafy gunyahs of\nVictoria, though primitive habits remain. As in the days of\nAbraham, an engagement is made without the girl having the\npleasure of courting, though she is not, as at that time, a purchasable article. Usually, in her infancy, she is promised to\nsome friend of the family. Should her betrothed die, or\nchange his mind, she is given by her parent or brother to\nwhom she pleases; though, in the forest of the wilds, as in the\nsalons of Paris and Berlin, a father seldom forces a child\nto wed an objectionable person. In the case of a native girl,\nas with Rebecca of old, she is content to go with the man, for\nsuch is the custom of her people.\nThe old story of the maiden being felled by a waddy, and\nthen dragged to the lair of her wild beast of a husband, is\na libel on the tribes. For all that, there is at the last moment\na well-understood and arranged-for little battle between the\nparties, and the lady prides herself upon resisting until blood is\nshed. Mr. McLennan has, in his work, many a story of bride-\nstealing, and of the sham-fights between the friends of the\ntwo parties for possession of the pretty one. The same\nfashion is kept up still in many out-of-the-way parts of Europe\neven in Wales.\nThe wife has few rights to desire or have in a propertyless\nnation. Her wants are few, and easily obtained; her toils are\nfew, and easily performed. Tribal customs shield her from\nviolence, or procure her sympathy. She may be jealous of her\nhusband,^ or excite the jealousy of her lord. He would resent\nan invasion of his hearth-privileges with the eagerness of a\nTurk, but is sometimes as generous as was Cato in pleasing\nmale visitors at home. When the indulgence of a new love\nsubjects a lady to trial, the pair may seek shelter within the\nboundaries of another tribe. But since the quasi-civilisation of\nmodern times, there is far less delicacy or decorum among the\naborigines of Victoria. Their land is gone, their nation is lost,\ntheir camp-fires are few, their dignity has departed, their laws\nare dead, and there is no longer a majority to observe the\nrules of propriety.\nTheir burial customs are not kept as in olden times But\nweeping and wailing are known, while women gash their\nbodies, or heap hot ashes on their heads. The deceased\nis doubled up, knees and chin together, and put into a hole-\nor the corpse is placed in a hollow tree, on a scaffold of sticks'\nor in the branches of a tree. Some used to burn the body a-s*\nthe Romans did. Affection led a mother to'carry along with\nher the mummied form of a child, and a wife to suspend from\nher neck some bone of her departed partner.\nHope of a future gave a dim light to the darkness of their AN AUSTRALIAN SEARCH  PARTY.\nsorrow. The tribes had a belief in spiritual existence, and\nevidently held the doctrine, now again revived in modern\ntimes among us here, that the spirits of men hung about them;\nthough, like as with ourselves, there was more thought of\nspirits of darkness that might injure, than of spirits of light to\nbless. Aboriginal dances had repeated reference to this belief-\nAt times, a party, to the accompaniment of energetic songs,\nwould seem to be sweeping some ghostly agencies away with\nboughs.\nSuperstitions are abundant, though less cruel than elsewhere. As the whites, even when missionaries, had difficulties\nof language to prevent a knowledge of native views, and as the\npeople themselves, from shame or fear, gave often incorrect or\ncontradictory versions of their rites, our means of learning the\nbush creed have been limited indeed. Subsequently, however,\nthe teachings of settlers brought further confusion into aboriginal metaphysics. Though never idolaters, though never even\nworshippers of fetishes, without religious services, and without\na priest, they have certainly, in their man-making ceremonies and\ncorroborries, a shadowing of belief, with some comprehension\nof a First Cause. But there is little doubt, however, that,\nfrom their talk of the dead \"jumping up white fellows,\" they\nbelieve in re-incarnation, or the old doctrine of transmigration\nof souls. Their language and customs evidently connect the\nAustralians with the .aboriginal tribes of Southern India\nIn addition to the work of\" protectors,\" missions have been\nestablished among the dark ones of Victoria. I have been\ndelighted to visit the native schools, and ready to acknowledge\nthat some aborigines have left this earth with a perception of\nhigher, nobler truths than they heard from their fathers. The\nMoravian missionaries in particular have done much good. In\nGipp's Land they have got men and women to labour a little,\nas well as learn something of a Christian faith. But hope is\nnearly dead in the native breast. Death is busy with the\nmiserable remnant, and there are no infantine smiles to cheer\nthe living. Again and again does the black rush for comfort\nor stupor to the bottle, and the lesson of the school is forgotten.\nIn a few years the forests of Victoria will cease to echo\nthe coo-ee of the aborigines.\nAn Australian Search Party.\u2014IV.\nBY  CHARLES  H.   EDEN.\nOur next day was a repetition of the last; camps in abundance, but no blacks, and we had as yet seen no signs of the\nTownsville party. At night we camped by the side of a large\ncreek, and, after supper, were lying down, with the intention\nof making up for the broken slumbers of the previous night,\nwhen Ferdinand, who had moved higher up the stream to get\na private eel for himself and his lady, came back and shook\nDunmore, saying\u2014\n\" Manny, big fellow fire sit down up creek.\"\nWe. were on our feet in a moment, and, stealing quietly\nthrough the bush, soon saw the glare, and on our nearer\napproach, could make out many recumbent figures round the\nfire, and one man passing to and fro, on guard.\n\" By Jovo! it's the Cleveland Bay mob,\" said Dunmore;\nI we must take care they don't fire into us. Lie down, or get\nbehind trees, all you fellows, and I'll hail them.\"\n\" Holloa there ! \" he cried, when we had all \" planted \" (in\nAustralian parlance signifying \" concealed \") ourselves. \" Don't\nfire, we're Cardwellites ! \"\nIn a moment the sentry's rifle was at his shoulder, pointed\nin the direction whence the voice came ; but it was my old friend-\nAbiram Hills, ex-mayor of Bowen, a thorough bushman, and\npossessed of great nerve, whose turn it then happened to be\nto keep watch over his slumbering companions. As quickly as\nit had been raised, his rifle fell into the hollow of his arm, and\nshouting out, \" Get up, you fellows, here are the Rockingham\nBayers !\" he rushed forward, and in a moment was shaking\nhands with Dunmore, while the sleepers, uncertain whether it\nwas an alarm, stood rubbing their eyes, and handling their\ncarbines so ominously as they peered into the darkness, that\nwe deemed it the best policy to remain under cover until their\nfaculties had grasped the fact that we were not enemies, and as\nsuch to be slain incontinently.\nIt is a startling thing to be hailed suddenly in the silence\nof the bush, and had a less experienced sentry than Abiram\nbeen on guard, he would most likely have fired. We had also\n-b :fore our eyes the case of a party who not long before had\ngone out to chastise the blacks, and having split into two\ndivisions, opened a brisk fire upon each other when they drew\nnear again, luckily without effect. Some of these warriors we\nknew to be amongst ourselves, so it behoved us to exercise\ncaution.\nOur greeting was most cordial, and we were soon all\nassembled round the fire\u2014now blazing up with fresh fuel\u2014\nsmoking the pipe of peace, which we moistened with a modicum of grog from the well-filled flasks of the Cleveland Bayers,\nand coriiparing notes, previous to making our plans for the\nmorrow. Like ourselves, they had found plenty of camps, but\nnot a living creature in them; and they were as perplexed as\nwe were as to what had become of their occupants. On their\nway up from Townsville, they had seen smoke-signals thrown\nup from the mangroves at the mouth of the Herbert River,\nand these were answered both from the range behind Card-\nwell, and from Hinchinbrook, so it was evident there were\nblacks on the island, though most likely concealed in some of\nthe hidden valleys, which, from the volcanic nature of the\ncountry, were so plentiful, and so difficult to find.\nLizzie was now brought forward, and subjected to a most\nrigid cross-examination,  with  which  I  will not  trouble the\nI reader.    She said that  they must have crossed over to the ILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nWe were\nmain-land, for every place had now been 'searched,\nin despair, when Abiram Hills said\u2014\n\" Baal bora ground been sit down along of Hinchinbrook,\nLizzie ? \"\nA I bora ground \" is a particular place to which the blacks\nare in the habit of resorting at certain seasons of the year,\nto hold \" corroborries \" or dances, and also to perform divers\nmysterious rites on the young people of both sexes attaining\nthe marriageable age. What these solemnities really are, is\nbut little known, and they seem to differ widely in each tribe.\nIn some, the young girls have a couple of front teeth knocked\nout; in others they lose a joint of the little finger; and at that\ntime the hideous lumps\nwith which the men embellish their bodies must be\nraised. These curious ornaments are formed by\ncutting gashes in the flesh\nthree-quarters of an inch\nlong, and stuffing the\nwound with mud, which\nprevents the edges from\nadhering, and when the\nskin grows over, leaves a\nlump like an almond. The\nnumber, proximity, and\npattern of these adornments\nare according to the peculiar tastes of the family,\nand vary considerably, but\nthe breast, back, shoulders,\nand arms are usually pretty\nthickly sown, giving the\nappearance of a number of\nfresh graves, placed close\ntogether in a black soil\nfield.\nAbiram's question was\none of those lucky inspirations that sometimes strike\none, changing, as by magic,\nobscurity into distinctness,\nand pouring in a flood of\nlight where no ray could\nbe seen before.\nNATIVE AUSTRALIAN.\nattention, when our little guide stamped her foot, and, trembling with indignation, said\u2014\n\" Plenty big bingey (belly) that fellow. Baal he been fill\n'em like 'it sundown ! \"\nThe travelling was worse than ever now; up and down\nsteep ravines in which the tangled scrub grew so thickly that\nprogress was almost impossible, and we were compelled to\nwade along the bed of the creek; now tripping over a\nsharp ledge of rock, now floundering up to the waistbelt in a\ntreacherous hole; past the base of a beautiful waterfall, where\nthe action of the torrent had worn a hollow basin in the rock,\nin which it sparkled, cool, transparent, and prismatic, in the\nrays of the burning sun,\nand where the view, so\nunlike the generality of\nAustralian' scenery, was\nperfectly bewitching; on,\nthrough more scrub, through\nswamps, and over stiff\nmountains, wet, draggled,\nmoody, and cross, crawling\nalong after the little black\nfigure in front, that held\nsteadily on its way, as\nthough hunger and fatigue\nwere to it things unknown.\nAt length, about three\no'clock in the afternoon,\nwe found ourselves in a\nsort of natural funnel in\nthe reck, the end of which\ngrew narrower and narrower\nas it wound about in curious\ncurves.\n| Close up now,\" said\nLizzie, \" water sit down\nalong of other side; baal\nblack fellow get away.\"\nWe \"halted for a few\nminutes to get breath, and\nto steady ourselves, and\nthen, keeping close together, stepped out of the\ngloom}''   passage   into  the\nMy word !\nedL\nbroad daylight.    It was a\nizzie, her whole face lighting up with    beautiful sight.    The \" bora ground \" had been selected in a\neagerness and joy \u2014\" my word, close up  mine been forget. I miniature bay, of about three acres in extent, closed in by per-\nMine   know   one   fellow bora  ground,  plenty black fellow pendicular rocks, and attainable only by boat, or by the passage\nsit down there, mine believe.    My word, plenty d d fooly through which we had just arrived.     In this secluded spot a\nme \u25a0 quantity of cocoa-nut palms were growing, waifs, carried there\nWe could see from the girl's face that we were now on the by the ocean from the distant South Sea Islands, fructifying and\nright scent, and having ascertained that she  could  take us ' multiplying on the hospitable shore, and shielded from the\nto the \" bora ground \" by the following evening, we finished tomahawk of the native, on account of the shelter they afforded\nour pipes, and lay down to sleep, thankful for what promised\". his mysterious retreat.    Under the palms stood several conical\na possible solution of the mystery. j huts, or lodges, of considerable dimensions, used, I presume, on\nThe Cleveland Bay party consisted of seven white men state occasions for the deliberations of the elder warriors.    But\nand  two  black boys, so we now mustered a strong force, the thing most pleasing to our eyes, was the sight of some two\nLizzie would hardly allow us time to swallow our breakfast, hundred natives, of both sexes, and all ages, who now started\nso impatient was she to be under weigh; and one wretched to their feet, with wild cries of alarm, and motions expressive of\nman, lingering for a moment later than the rest of us, over a the utmost terror, at this sudden invasion of their retreat by\nslice of beef and damper, found himself the object of general ' the dreaded white man. AN  AUSTRALIAN  SEARCH  PARTY.\niS7\nSome of the blacks flew to arms at once, and stood with\npoised spears in a menacing attitude, whilst the gins and piccaninnies cowered together on the beach.    We had our carbines\nin hand, cocked, and prepared to defend ourselves in the event\nof hostilities, which we earnestly hoped to avoid.    Lizzie, who\nhad at last begun to understand that slaughter was not our\nobject, and who had been reconciled to our tame proceedings\nby the promise of much finery, now advanced towards the\nthreatening natives and made a speech in their own language, |\nto  the  effect   that   we\nwished  to do them no\nharm,    beyond     ascertaining   whether   there\nwere any whites among\nthem,    though,    if   we\nfound murder had been\ncommitted,   we   should\ndiscover   the   perpetrators, hold them answerable, and punish them.\nRewards   were    offered\nfor any information that\nwould lead to a knowledge of the real fate of\nthe  shipwrecked   crew,\nand an exaggerated estimate  of our strength,\nand the capability of our\nfirearms, was  given  by\nour interpreter,  on her\nown  account,   and was\nperfectly  intelligible  to\nus from  the  signs and\ngesticulations she made,\nand the scorn with which\nshe pointed to the rude\nweapons of her countrymen ;  for   the  intrepid\nlittle girl had marched\nfearlessly up to the group\nof warriors.\nAfter delivering her\nspeech, Lizzie withdrew\nto us, and we waited,\nrather anxiously, the\nturn that affairs would\ntake;    for    a   peaceful\nsolution would be far preferable to a fight, in which, though\nwe must ultimately be the victors, yet success would only be\nachieved at considerable loss of life, probably on both sides.\nWhilst matters rested thus, and the blacks were holding an\nanimated discussion, one of the troopers espied a solitary\ndingo on the rocks overlooking the \"bora ground,\" and distant\nfrom us about fifty yards.    Lizzie at once said\n-  I Suppose you shoot 'em   that fellow dingo, plenty that\nfrighten black fellow.\" ,\n\"By Jove, Lizzie, what a good idea!\"-we said. \"YUios\nthe best shot; for it will be fatal to miss ?\"\n\"Let your boy fire,\" said Abiram, \"it will astonish them\nmuch more if they see it done by a black; and let Lizzie\nwarn them of what is going to take place.\"\n\" You believe you shoot 'em that fellow dingo ?\"  asked\nDunmore of Ferdinand.\n\" Your (yes), marmy, mine believe.\"\n\"Plenty big glass of rum, suppose you shoot 'em bony\n(dead),\" added Abiram.\nThe trooper's eyes glistened, and he licked his lips as if\nthe spirit were already won.\nMeanwhile Lizzie had told her countrymen to watch the\ndog, and they would  see him killed, and the blacks  stood\nstraining their eyes at\nthe doomed dingo, who,\nwith pricked ears   and\nAUSTRALIAN   GRAVE\ndrooping tail, stood\nmotionless against the\nsky-line, intently surveying the unusual scene\nbeneath, and wondering\nprobably how soon he\nshould get the relics of\nthe roasted fish, whose\nfragrant odour had assailed his nostrils, and\ndrawn him into his present position.\nIt was a moment\nof intense suspense\nwhile the trooper raised\nhis carbine\u2014slowly and\ndeliberately; no hurry,\nnot even the quiver of\n| muscle, for his mind\nwas on the rum, and he\n'recked little of the moral\ninfluence of a successful\nshot;\u2014we drew a long\nbreath of relief as the\nweapon flashed forth,\nand the dog, making a\nconvulsive bound forward, fell stone dead at\nthe foot of the rocks,\nwhere it was instantly\nsurrounded by the awestruck savages, who carefully examined the body,\nand thrust their fingers\ninto the bullet-hole, for\nthe ball had passed clean through the animal, just behind the\nshoulder-blade. .   ,\nThe trooper first loaded his empty barrel, and then twitching Abiram by the sleeve, whispered, \"You give 'em rum now\npfenty you make him strong, mine believe.\"    His   ask was\naccomplished, and that the reward, should immediately follow\nwas with him a natural consequence.\nFerdinand's shot and Lizzie's eloquence had, however, rid\nus of all further trouble. The blacks laid down their arms,\nand expressed themselves quite willing to assist us j any way\n\u25a0j vehemently denied having seen any white men but\nacknowledged that some had been heard of on the Macalister\nSer,td thought they were detained by the tribes inhabit-\nin, its banks.     They were cognizant of our expedition up the\nksa 153\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nS!|;,'!fJ\nII II!l|5qSSE.i\nHerbert, and knew that we were searching Hinchinbrook, but\nnever thought we should have found them in their present\nposition.\nIt was now evident that further search on Hinchinbrook\nwas useless. There was no reason to doubt the truth of what\nthey told us, for Lizzie would have gathered information had\nthere been any outrage, or some small piece of rag or blanket\nwould have betrayed them. That the unfortunate men might\nbe on the Macalister was not improbable, and thither we must\nbend our steps, as the last resource. If we were unsuccessful\nthen, we could only conclude that the vessel had foundered at\nsea, and we should have the melancholy satisfaction of knowing that we had done everything in our power to rescue the\nsufferers.\nWe camped for the night at one extremity of the little bay,\nwhile the natives occupied the other, in which there was a well\nsunk, where we supplied ourselves with fresh water. We soon\nbecame on friendly terms with our wild neighbours, but took\ncare never to linger amongst them singly, and always had our\nweapons ready for immediate use.\nIn the evening Lizzie came over from the blacks' camp,\nwhere she had been holding a great palaver, and asked us if we\nshould like to see a \" corroborrie,\" or dance; and, much pleased\nat getting a glimpse of the native customs, and glad of anything\nto break the monotony of our lives, we followed her to the\ngroup of palms, and there took up our positions to watch the\nproceedings. A tremendous fire was soon flaming on the\nbeach, near it the gins and piccaninnies assembled, with bits\nof stick, clubs, and calabashes, on which to beat time. Some\nthirty of the men then stood up, aimed with spears, tomahawks,\nnullah-nullahs (war-clubs), and boomerangs, and commenced a\nseries of ludicrous antics, to a most melancholy dirge chanted\nby the women, a kind of rude time being observed.   Gradually,\nhowever, they grew excited, and worked  themselves up by\ngoing through a sort of mock fight; and when at the last the\nwomen danced round them with torches,  all howling and\nshrieking at the top of their voices, and banging the calabashes\nwith kangaroo bones or anything that would add to the noise,\nthe whole scene reminded one of the infernal regions broken\nloose.   This lasted an hour, at the end of which time we withdrew, after expressing ourselves highly gratified, and the whole\ncamp was shortly buried in repose.    We kept double sentries,\nbut we might have all gone to sleep, for there was no symptom\nof treachery.    At daylight we had breakfast; gave the warriors\nand gins a few trifling things we could spare, such as knives,\ntwo or three blankets\u2014for we hoped to reach the township\nthat nigrit\u2014and, wonder of wonders to  the  savages,  some\nmatches (nearly all of which they expended in verifying the fact\nthat they would go off), and then took our departure from the\n\" bora ground,\" guided by a native, who showed a very short\nway, unknown to Lizzie, by which we arrived at the Daylight\nearly in the afternoon, to find that the latter had been joined\nby the Black Prime, the steamer that had brought up the\nCleveland   Bay  party.    We  quitted  in  our   little  craft for\nCardwell, and the Townsville men went south in their steamer,\nintending to get some shooting at the Palm Islands before\ngoing home for good.    Eleven o'clock that evening saw us at\nour township, fully determined to carry out the work thoroughly\nby searching the Macalister River, an account of which I hope\nto give in a future chapter.\n\/\/\/ the Colorado Country.\n*i|||\n1\nI propose in these notes to give some description of my adventures in the western wilds of North  America after leaving\nDenver, the \" City of the Plains,\" of which, however, I tired\ncompletely after a couple of weeks' sojourn in a society made\nup of sick men and roughs out of work.    Everybody who ever\ncame to Colorado has described the journey by the Denver\nand Rio Grande Railway to  Colorado Springs, seventy-five\nmiles south of Denver.    During the ride you pass over a point\n8500 feet high, and can catch a glimpse of Spanish Peak in\nMexico, 170 miles away.    They say that when Major Pike of\nthe- American army first discovered the mountain called after\nhim, Pike's Peak, he expected to reach it that night, but did not\nfor a week afterwards.    By this you may imagine how curious\nthe effect of the atmosphere is-for instance, from my window\nhere, the aforesaid Pike's Peak looks about five miles distant\nthough it is  at-least twenty-five miles  to the base  of the\nmountain.\nWell! the journey to the Springs was most interesting\nand beautiful, in spite of the endeavours of an indefatigable\nYankee next me, who seemed resolved to have my answers to\nat least twenty questions regarding myself. The first of such\nquestions usually is, '' Whar was you raised ? \" and it is a little\npuzzling to a \" Britisher \" to firid himself addressed as if he\nwere a hot-house plant, possibly being transferred, by way of\nan experiment, to another climate. My friend told a good story\nof a Chinaman, an ingenuous native of San Francisco, whose\nobject in life, strange to say, was to resemble a white man.\nAt last an idea struck him: he went to a barber's and had\nhis sacred pigtail shorn off; then he imbibed half-and-half\nuntil he was heard to say, with delight, as he staggered out of\nthe saloon, \u00ab Hoop! me all same as 'Merican now, hair cut\nshort, and dead drunk! hurrah ! \"\nWhen I got to Colorado Springs, I endeavoured to find\nsome place to \"board\" at, and should have succeeded most\nlikely too, if the good lady of the house I inquired at had not\nbeen out Her husband, poor creature, was there, but, as he\nconfessed at last, \u00ab my wife's boss here mostly : 8 so the \" boss \"\nbeing out, I had to try elsewhere. I noticed there was a grand\npiano in the sitting-room, though the house was very dirty and\npoor-looking. People here I found very kind and ready to\noblige one, at least as a general rule.\nMy great object had been to go up into the mountains, or\nat any rate to move a little out of the way of civilisation so\nwhen I heard of a good \"ranch\" (or farm) about forty miles m\nIN  THE  COLORADO  COUNTRY.\n*59\nfrom the town and in the heart of the mountains, where the\nranchman's wife made the \"best coffee in the territory\"\n(they nearly all do that), I resolved to make a start up immediately. The ranchman, or farmer, happened to be a regular\nold Western man, one of Mark Twain's \"Glorious Forty-\nniners ;\" that is, he had been in California in the early days\nof 1849, when one long string of wagons stretched across the\nplains from the Missouri River to Sacramento, and when hostile\nIndians made times pretty \" lively \" for them. In those days\nmen lived exclusively on wild meat, even for months, sometimes having nothing else, neither bread, salt, nor anything. One\nman's food for three months was antelope meat and beans,\nand it is a singular fact that of all luxuries you can offer him\nnow he cares least for \" antelope and beans.\"\nIt is most amusing and strange to listen to the yarns of\nthe old Western men one meets out here, yarns that\u2014like the\nI tiny passenger \" who, once admitted, kept on increasing and\ntaking up more seats than belonged to him\u2014if the innocent\ntake them in readily, will grow and grow till even he is obliged\nto confess that, in Yankee parlance, he is \" crowded considerable.\" Some of their yarns are true\u2014indeed, many of them\u2014\nif you take off extraneous ornament. Early times in the West\nwere full of adventure.\nThe road up to the mountains, after leaving the valley,\nwinds through the Ute Pass, a succession of deep gloomy\ncanons, mountains, torrents, and beautiful back glimpses of\ngreen pines and snow-covered mountains. The transparency\nof the atmosphere, I think, adds tenfold to their beauty. On\nthe way we stopped to take mountain fare at a little wayside\nhouse, where, by the way, there lived a perfect Amazon in the\nshape of the fair daughter of the ranch. Her father would fondly\ndeclare that his \" gal could just ride any Texas steed you ever\nseed.\" She was a splendid rider, and of course had been accustomed to riding bare-back nearly all her life. Old L remarked to me that she would as \" lief be on the back of a' bucking broncho' as anywhere.\" Nearly all the horses out here are\nwhat are called \" bronchos,\" and you do not often get one that\nhas not a strong tendency towards \"bucking.\" If a man\nseeks for a quiet animal, one at least without vice, he asks for\na \" mustang\" or a \" States' horse,\" or even an Indian pony.\nMany ponies are raised from Indian stock, as the horses of the\nIndians are always gentle, though their good ponies are very\nfleet and lively. My own little pony is of full Indian blood, as\ngentle as a lamb, and very fast for his inches.\nTalking of Indians, it is only a short time since I went to see\nthe Utes' camp near here, and I was much amused too, though\nI had expected to find the camp only a scene of uninteresting\ndirtiness. Their wigwams were picturesque and larger than I\nanticipated. Some were painted very gorgeously. Indeed,\npaint was the predominating impression left on my mind after\nseeing their camp. The \" bucks\" were painted, the squaws-\nwere painted, and even an intelligent-looking little papoose\nthat appeared to have some curiosity respecting me, had one\nside of its face red and the other yellow. All these papooses\nhad bows and arrows, and were taking \"pot\" shots at different\nmarks. I believe they can shoot very well, but I had no opportunity of observing. I went up to one wigwam. There was\nthe copper-skinned gentleman lying at full length on the ground,\nrolled in blankets (the Government provides these Indians\nwith blankets, and with firearms to kill the white folks with).\nThe \" lady,\" a wrinkled and smoke-begrimed squaw, was cooking\nsomething over the fire and attending to business, while that\nsplendid personage, her husband, was trying to distract his\nthoughts by a little sleep. That is the way it happens that\nthe Indians die so much from consumption as they do now-\na-days. They procure as many blankets as they can afford,\nand wrap themselves in them, being all the grander the more\nclothes they have on; then perhaps they gamble their blankets\naway, or trade them off with one another, and are obliged to lie\non the ground exposed to all weathers, the consequence is they\nget ill and die off.\nThese Utes always bury a man's belongings with him (I\ndo not mean his grandparents, but his rifle, &c.); and they take\nhis horses and kill them over the grave, for they bury in the\nground and do not burn or put the corpse in a tree, as some\ntribes do. The Utes, who are our nearest Indian neighbours,\nhave been peaceable for some time towards the whites; but\nthey are constantly on the war-path against their \" hereditary\"\nenemies, the Arapahoes and Cheyennes. The Utes I visited\nhad about forty ponies that they had just captured from the\nArapahoes. Nevertheless I do not think the Utes are great\nwarriors ; they are a comparatively small iaci, and only brave\nto the Indian extent of not being afraid to fire at a white man\nfrom behind a tree. In their own battles they are very cautious,\nin the fear that \" someone might get hurt,\" like Tweedledum\nand Tweedledee \"in the \" Looking-glass \" sequel to \"Alice's\nAdventures in Wonderland.\" Their great idea is to capture\nponies. \" Uncle Sam\" is supposed to keep these Indians on\ntheir reservations, but they appear to go exactly where they\nlike, as I saw in a paper the other day, \" using their reservations\nmerely for a place of refuge after doing harm.\" The Cheyennes\nare now giving serious trouble at Fort Laramie, north of Denver\nand have killed quite a number of ranchmen and others. In\ndeed, only last year the Cheyennes made a raid within six\nmiles of this place, and carried off a large quantity of cattle.\nThey were pursued by a number of citizens hastily organised,\nbut nothing was done. People out here say, very naturally,\n\" What is the use of an Indian policy which sets apart reservations for the Indians, forbidding them by treaty to leave them,\nand then takes no notice of the fact that there is scarcely a\ntime of the year when the Indians are not off their reservations?\" It seems a farce to have reservations at all. The Utes\nhere at present declare that their \" great father Grant\" has bid\nthem go in peace and scalp the Arapahoes, for some of the\nbraves have just returned from Washington with their annual\nallowance of pocket money, and have been treated, as usual,\nas \" Pets of the President.\" Now they have ordered out the\nmilitary against those that are giving trouble near Fort Laramie.\nThere is no danger to speak of from Indian's here usually,\nas a few men well armed are enough to keep them from being\ntroublesome. If you happen to be where they are troublesome\n\u2014the time, as they say, to be apprehended is not when you see\nIndians, but when you don't see them. An old man remarked\nin a mysterious manner to me one day that no one would ever\nknow how many Indians he had killed.\n\"Ah!\" said I, \"how many do you think? Have you\noften been in danger with them ? \"\nClosing his left eye he exclaimed, \" I never killed no\nIndians. Yet,\" he added, after a minute, \" I've had 'em within\nsix foot of me with their tomahawks.\"\n\"Then,\" said I, \"I presume you must have found some\nmeans to prevent their getting your scalp.\"\n;y|\n1111 i6o\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\n1\nmm\nPin\nill\n\" It may be and it may not be,\" he said, \"but no man will\never know anything about it.\"\nThat old man, having been one of the first settlers, had\nprobably saved his \" skelp \" many times at the expense of the\nlife of an \" Injun \" or two. He told me that when the Indians\nonce surrounded a train of wagons in California and demanded\nbread, some one got hold of a bottle of strychnine and doctored\nsome loaves before the Indians got them, and the next morning,\nsaid he, \"there was the Injuns\njust a lying around.\" This is\nan illustration of the value set\non the life of the red man.\nWhether the story is exactly\ntrae or not\u2014I fancy it is\u2014those\nfirst settlers, the miners, were a\nterribly rough lot.\nI have heard people confirm\nwhat Mark Twain relates in\nI Roughing It,\" regarding the\nstrange enthusiasm of the rough\nmen when they caught sight of\nthat strange and long-forgotten\nobject\u2014a real live woman; how\nthey would collect in crowds\nand cheer and wave their hats\nwhen the rarity came among\nthem. Men lived there for\nyears\" without seeing a woman,\nfor it was some time before\nwomen could come to live in the\nwild Western country.\nThe mountain road up to\nL 's ranch is a very beautiful one, there are such lovely\ndistant views of eternally snow-\nclad mountains. They look like\nicebergs exactly, the same sharp-\npointedness about them, and\nthe same shade of deep unfathomable blue. This \" Snowy\nRange,\" as they call it, is from\nfifty to one hundred miles away,\nso that the effect is most curious\nand lovely; the intervening\nspace between one's point of\nview and the snowy mountains\nis filled up with pine-clad mountains of greater or less height,\nlooking a little like the waves of\nthe sea as you look over them to the distant peaks.\nIndeed, by climbing to the top of any small mountain here,\nyou get the most wonderful panoramic views I ever saw,\nreaching to mountains one hundred or more miles away on\neach side of you. The mountains are full of what they call\n\"parks,\" open level flats covered with luxuriant grass.\nThe predominant formation for the peaks is the \"sugar-loaf.\"\nWhen you ask to be directed anywhere, the number of\nparks and sugar-loaf mountains you have to shape your course\nby is most confusing, for you cannot for your life see much\ndifference between one sugar-loaf mountain and another\nand the parks are often as much alike.    Pike's Peak, from one\npoint of view, looks, I think, a little like Table Mountain, but\nit presents a different aspect from each quarter. The refining\ninfluence of scenery appears not to be very observable in the\ningenuous natives of these parts, but that is possibly because\nthey have not been born and bred in it. Stopping at a mountain house of refreshment, you are lucky if you escape the\nalmost inevitable beefsteak, nearly always of a most unyielding texture.    I always thought that England was proverbially\nthe home of the beefsteak, but\ncut here there is no end to the\ndish; you never get anything\nelse. Mutton is a rarity, the only\nchange from beef being wild\ngame. Since I have been here\nI have become acquainted with\nelk meat as well as mountain\nsheep and buffalo. Elk meat I\ndo not like, the flavour is too\ncoarse. I fancy the mountain\nsheep is the best tasting game\nin the Rocky Mountains; it is\nnot so very unlike mutton, with\na delicate gamey flavour. But\nwild meat soon palls upon one,\nof course \u2014 even venison one\ngets heartily tired of.\nWhen    I   reached   L\u2014-\u2014's\nranch, I found it a compact little\nframe-building situated  just on\nthe Platte River, which is at this\npart of its course of no width at\nall.    It flows almost from south\nto north, which puzzles one as a\nthing that ought not to be, until\none  gets used to it, and comprehends that it cannot now be\naltered.    I found here the luxury\nof   a   bed   and   clean   sheets,\nalthough it was in the  Rocky\nMountains.   We are, you see, on\nthe road up to Fairplay, which I\nremember seeing quoted as the\nhighest town in the world some\ntime ago\u2014it is over 10,000 feet.\nNow   there    are   several   little\ntowns above it, so that its preeminence is  taken  away.    The\nname of the  town\u2014Fairplay\u2014\narose   thus:   a   man   in   these\n.   having committed  a mortal offence against another,\nenemy \"waited  for him\" with a double-barrelled gun,\nsomewhere near where the town now stands.     He  did not\nget behind a stone wall, as the fashion is in Ireland, but stood\nm the open, as the  other advanced  unarmed towards him.\nWhen he was going to fire and avenge his wrongs, his enemy\nappealed to him in this wise, | My friend !   let us have fair\nplay, you have a gun\u2014I have not\u2014suffer me to go and procure\na weapon, and then let our little differences be adjusted.\"   His\ngenerous enemy consented.     Strange to say he did appear\nagain, this time armed to the teeth, and\u2014further the deponent\nsayeth not.\nUTE CHIEF.\nregions\nhis LAHORE AND  AMRITSIR,  THE CAPITALS  OF RUNJEET SINGH.\n161\nLahore and Amritsir, the Capitals of Runjeet Singh.\u2014II.\nIn  the  Punjaub  there  are  no hospitals  and dispensaries,\nbeing one to every 160,000 persons.    The grant-in-aid system,\nSchool, and then sent back to their own districts for employment by the local authorities.\n1\n;iil\nTOMB OF RUNJEET   SINGH,  LAHORE.\nby which, when the people erect a hospital at their own cost,\nand guarantee a fixed subscription, the medical staff is granted\nand paid by the Government, was introduced in 1866, since\nwhich time the number of dispensaries has been increased by\nforty-one. The Mayo Hospital, connected with the Lahore\nMedical School, was completed in March, 1872, with accommodation for 114 patients. A system prevails in several districts\nof the Punjaub by which medical aid is furnished to the people\nthrough the instrumentality of native doctors, or hakeems, whose\nsons are now frequently educated at the Lahore Medical\n261\u2014vol. vi.\nThe police of the Punjaub numbers 20,070 men, of whom\nfifty-three per cent, are Mohammedans, thirty Hindoos, and\nseventeen Sikhs. Of the entire number 8,500 are armed with\nmuskets, 11,000 with swords, and the remainder with batons\nonly. The total number of murders in the Punjaub in 1872\nwas 366, and of the culprits 105 were convicted and sentenced\nto death.\nAbout thirty-two miles from Lahore, and half way between\nthe Ravee and Be.eas Rivers, is situated Amritsir, the sacred\ncity of the Sikhs, and the cradle of their religion.     It owes\n\u2022I- 162\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nits importance, to a tulao, or reservoir, which Ram Das,\nthe fourth Guru, or spiritual guide of the Sikhs, caused to be\nmade here in 1581, and named Amrita Saras, or \" Fount of Immortality.\" It thenceforward became a place of pilgrimage, and\nbore the names of Amritsir, or \" Immortality,\" and Ramdaspore.\nIt is recorded that nearly two centuries later, Ahmed Shah,\nthe Afghan chief who founded the Dooranee dynasty, alarmed\nand enraged at the progress of the Sikhs, blew up the shrine\nwith gunpowder, filled up the holy tulao, and desecrated it by\nthe blood of kine, which were slaughtered on the site. On\nAhmed quitting the Punjaub, the Sikhs repaired the shrine and\ntulao, which now presents the appearance of a square reservoir\nof 150 paces, containing a great body of water, pure as crystal,\nnotwithstanding the multitudes that bathe in it, and supplied\napparently by natural springs. In the middle of the tank, on a\nsmall island, is a temple of Hari, or Vishnu; and on the bank\na small structure where the founder, Ram Das, is said to have\nspent his life in a sitting posture. The temple on the island is\nrichly adorned with gold and other costly embellishments, and\nin it is deposited the Grunth, or sacred book of the Sikhs, of\nwhich Dr. Trumpp is, we .believe, preparing an English translation. The original is carefully preserved at Kartarpore in\nJullundhur, and is often referred to for the correction of interpolations in copies. The Adh Grunth consists of the sayings\nof the founder, Baba Nanuk, and there is also the Grunth of\nGovind, the last Guru, after whom the Fort of Govindghur is\ncalled.\nA curious spectacle of human credulity and folly is\nafforded to the visitor who witnesses the crowd of people of all\nages and conditions of life who throng to the golden temple in\nthe sacred pool, there to listen to the holy words which are\nchanted night and morning, while the devotees throw money\nand grain around the book. There are some hundreds of\npriests attached to the temple, and the good houses occupied\nby these saintly personages show that their piety is not unmixed with love of mammon.\nAmritsir is a populous and extensive city. The streets are\nnarrow, but the houses in general are tolerably lofty, and built\nof burnt brick; and Amritsir may claim architectural equality\nwith most of the large towns of India, omitting such renowned\ncities as Delhi, Lucknow, and the Presidency capitals. Amritsir\nhas a considerable transit trade, and also possesses such manufactures as coarse cloths, inferior silks, and shawls in imitation\nof Kashmere.\nThe huge fortress of Govindghur dominates Amritsir, and\nforms a most striking feature in the landscape. Govindghur\nwas built by Runjeet Singh in 1809, ostensibly to protect the\npilgrims, but in reality to overawe the visitors to the holy\nshrine of the Guru, and to be the depository of his treasure.\nNear Amritsir is the famous Baree Doab Canal, so called from\nthe Doab between the Beeas and Ravee Rivers, which contains\nboth the great cities of which we are treating. Before the\nBritish annexation of the Punjaub, there was in existence\na canal, which followed the natural line of drainage by a\ntortuous course of no miles, and passed through the land not\nstanding in need of irrigation.* It was called the Hush Canal,\nand was constructed about 1633, by Shah Jehan, in order that\nthe royal fountains at Lahore might be replenished with water -\nfor this magnificent despot would squander vast sums on his\npleasures, but had no thought for his wretched subjects, who\n* Plue Book on the Moral and Material Progress of India, 1873.\nmight have waited for ever before their sovereign would have\ndreamt of laying out a rupee of the taxes he levied from them\nfor irrigational purposes. In Runjeet Singh's time a branch\nwas led to Amritsir to supply the sacred tank. Lord Dal-\nhousie's Government projected a great central canal which was\nto traverse the high land of the Baree Doab for 247 miles,\nreceiving its water from the Ravee, where that river debouches\nfrom the lowest of the Himalayan ranges at Madhopore.\nEmerging from a deep cutting on the high bank of the Ravee,\nthe canal crosses two mountain torrents, and gains the tableland, where it revivifies numerous ruined cities and villages,\nand rejoins the Ravee fifty-six miles above Mooltan. There\nwere also to be branches to Kassur, Sobraon, and Lahore, and it\nwas estimated that the entire expense, including the scheme of\nmaking the canal navigable, would be about \u00a3530,000. This\ngreat work was commenced in 1850, and water was first admitted into a portion of the canal on the nth of April, 1859,\nwhen it became evident that the scheme must be remodelled,\nowing to the great declivity of the bed in the upper portion,\nand the small discharge from the Ravee, which had been\noverrated. Hence the original estimates were here greatly\nexceeded. In 1870 the cost, without the Kassur and Sobraon\nbranches, had risen to ,\u00a31,260,250, and when completed, with\nthese branches, to \u00a32,000,000. According to the last published official report, 212 miles of the main canal is now\ncompleted, with 692 miles of distributing canals. The net\nreceipts for water were \u00a339,606, or three per cent, on the\noutlay, and there is also an indirect income estimated at\n\u00a326,000; so that the Government of India may be congratulated on having accomplished a beneficent and vast scheme of\npublic utility without loss to the exchequer.\nOriginally, the rates charged for water were uniform for all\ncrops, being four rupees six annas and eight pice per acre for\nwater given in flow, and one-half that sum for water lifted. After\nmuch consideration, it was resolved that the rates should vary for\ndifferent crops, and be divided into four classes : the scale per\nacre being for sugar-cane six rupees; for rice and gardens, four\nrupees twelve annas; for wheat, barley, cotton, and indigo,\ntwo rupees eight annas; and for other cereals and pulses, one\nrupee and eight annas. At the time of the issue of the report\nthere were 300^000 acres receiving water from the canal, and\nthe estimated value of the crops was eleven times the price\ncharged for the water.\nThe cynical remark made many years ago that, were the\nEnglish rule in India to cease, no trace of our occupancy would\nremain to attest the fact save a heap of broken beer-bottles,\ncan no longer apply; for during the last two decades of the\nhundred and seventeen years that have elapsed since Clive\nfounded the British Empire in India, on the plains of Plassy,\nsuccessive Governor-Generals have expended annually a large\nportion of the taxes raised from the people on public works.\nAt the present day, railways and telegraphs intersect the\ncountry with a perfect network of lines, while canals have\ncaused large tracts of country that were periodically afflicted\nwith drought, \" to blossom like the rose.\"\nThe main system of Indian railways is nearly completed,\nand the State railways, which are now under construction, are,\nfor the most part, supplementary to the trunk lines. There\nare now 5,204 miles of railway open for traffic, of which only\nsixty-eight were constructed by the State, the remainder being\nby guaranteed capital; but no more lines will be constructed by LAHORE AND AMRITSIR,  THE  CAPITALS  OF  RUNJEET SINGH.\n163\nprivate enterprise, and of 2,438 in hand, only 935 were by\ncompanies.     The most important of these State railways is\nthat from Lahore to Peshawur, 270 miles in length, a work of\n\u25a0 no small engineering difficulty, owing to the numerous rivers in\nthe Punjaub.    It was originally intended to construct this line,\n- of which the section between Lahore and Rawul Pindee was\nfirst put in hand, on the narrow gauge principle; and in spite\nof the warnings of some of the highest Indian military authorities,  including Lord Napier of Magdala, the work would\nhave been completed, had not the only body a Government\ndare not thwart,  the majority of the House of Commons,\npassed a resolution against a measure that would have necessitated a change of carriages for every soldier and article of war\nmaterial en route from Calcutta to Peshawur, as the line to\nLahore from the Presidency capital was on the broad gauge.\nAnd so the Indian Government was saved at the last moment\nfrom the perpetration of a gigantic, and what might have been,\nin the event of hostilities, a suicidal blunder.   The next State\nrailway in order of importance is also a Punjaub line, being\nwhat is called the \" missing link,\" the Indus Valley Railway,\n480 miles in length, running between Mooltan and Bhawul-\npore and Roree, where it crosses the- Indus, thence proceeding\n. to Kotree along the right bank of the river.    This line will\ncomplete the railway communication between Kurrachee and\nthe districts of the Punjaub, bringing that important and rising\nseaport into communication with the   railway system of the\ncountry.\nIn consequence of the general want of wood throughout\nthe Punjaub, owing to past neglect, exertions have been made\nsince the formation of the Forest Department, about sixteen\nyears ago, to preserve the supplies in existence.   About forty-\nfour miles   from Lahore, in the Baree Doab, is the Changa\nManga Plantation, which is supplied with water from the canal,\nfor irrigating the young trees.   When completed next year, it will\ncomprise 7,000 acres, of which 5,000 acres are already planted,\nand is expected to yield in 1881 a revenue of \u00a33,300 a year.\nPlantations are also being established on the Jhelum, near\nLoodiana, and near Delhi; and there are avenues along the\nbanks of the irrigation canals.    The dry belt of the Punjaub\nhas woods, on the high lands between the rivers, called rakhs,\ncomposed chiefly of the jhund'or kundi (Prosopis spicigerd), an\nacacia-like tree (Salvadora), and an arborescent leafless caper\n(Capparis aphylla).     The principal forests  of deodar are in\nthe valleys of the Sutlej, Beeas, Ravee, Chenaub, Jhelum, and\ntheir tributaries.     Forest  conservancy has  had  to   struggle\nagainst numerous difficulties arising from natural causes as well\nas from such practices of the natives as burning the jungles.\nIn the spring, when the leaves and grass of the deciduous\nforests dry up, the smallest spark suffices to create a conflagration, and fires are intentionally made, either for cultivation, or\nto cause fresh tender shoots of grass to spring up as fodder for\ncattle.    Within the past few years about 8,000 square miles of\njungle, forming a portion of the rakhs in the doabs between\nthe rivers, have been made over to the Forest Department, the\nprinciple of arrangement between  the Government and the\npeople being that the former should concede definite rights to\ncertain portions whence the villagers can take fuel at their\npleasure, while the Government right to the rest is considered\nabsolute.\nThe very name of Lahore and the Punjaub brings to the\nmind the figure of the formidable old warrior whose rule was\nalmost coeval with the entire period during which the Sikh\nnationality was the most powerful in  Upper  India.     The\npersonal appearance of Runjeet Singh,  the  \"Lion of  the\nPunjaub,\" is thus described, with photographic accuracy and\nminuteness, by the Baron Charles von Hugel, an intelligent.\nAustrian officer, whose work on the Punjaub and Kashmere is\none of the best and most interesting we have perused.   Writing\nin 1834,. after an interview with the Maharajah, he says:\u2014\nI Runjeet Singh is fifty-four years old.     The small-pox deprived him, when a child, of his left eye.     His beard is thin\nand grey, with a few dark hairs in it; according to the Sikh\nreligious custom, it reaches a little below his chin, and is\nuntrimmed.    His head is square and large for his stature,\nwhich, though naturally short, is now considerably bowed by\ndisease; his forehead is remarkably broad.     His left eye,\nwhich is quite closed, disfigures him less than the other, which\nis always rolling about, wide open, and is much distorted by\ndisease.     This large, brown, unsteady and suspicious eye\nseems diving into the thoughts of the person with whom he\nconverses, and his straightforward questions are put incessantly,\nand in the most laconic terms.   His speech is so much affected\nby paralysis, that it is no easy matter to understand him ; but\nif the answer be delayed for an instant, one of his courtiers,\nusually the Jemadar, repeats the question.     The scars of the\nsmall-pox on his face do not run into one another, but form so\nmany dark pits in his greyish-brown skin; his short straight\nnose is swollen at the tip; the skinny lips are stretched tight\nover his teeth, which are still good; his grizzled beard, very\nthin on the cheeks and upper lip, meets under his chin in\nmatted confusion; and his head, which is sunk very much on\nhis broad shoulders, does not seem to move easily.     He has\na thick, muscular neck, thin arms and legs, the left foot and\nthe left arm drooping, and small, well-formed hands.    Without\nexaggeration,  I  must call him the most ugly and   unprepossessing man I saw throughout the Punjaub.    He will sometimes hold a stranger's hand fast within his own for half an\nhour, and the nervous irritation of his mind is shown by the\ncontinued pressure on one's fingers.\n\" His costume always contributes to increase his ugliness,\nbeing in winter the colour of gamboge, from the pagri (the\ntartan, or Sikh cloth, on his head) down to his very socks and\nslippers. The Sikh pagri consists of a long narrow piece of linen,\nin which the hair is wrapped up. It is so fastened either in\nthe front or a little on one side, that one cannot see either end\nor knot. It lies down smooth on the head, one end hanging\nhalf way down the back. Runjeet Singh hides this end under\nhis upper garment. The angraka (coat) is tied over the chest,\nand reaches to the knee, and the trousers fall in many folds\ndown to the ankle. Over the whole is worn a mantle lined\nwith skins. The entire costume is, as I have, said, of yellow\npashmina, green being worn   sometimes   by him,  but   not\ncommonly.\n\" In summer he wears white muslin. At the festival of the\nBasant, he was particularly disfigured by the straw-coloured\ndress he wore with a slight intermixture of green in it. In\nearlier days he used to appear in divers ornaments, but this\ncustom he has long discontinued; and I never saw him wear\nany embroidery, brocade, or rich ornament of any sort. When\nhe seats himself in a common English arm-chair, with his feet\ndrawn under him, the position is one particularly unfavourable\nto him; but as soon as he mounts his horse, and with his \u00bb\n164\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nHsfsHr\nlifts\nsMirrl\n*W\nIfi-IT\nblack shield at his back, puts him on his mettle, his whole\nform seems animated by the spirit within, and assumes a cer- |\ntain grace, of which nobody could believe it susceptible.     In\nspite of the paralysis affecting one side, he manages his horse\nwith the greatest ease.\"\nThe special interest: of Lahore and the neighbouring district\nof Amritsir is that they form the cradle of the Sikhs, or \" disciples,\" the number living in the Maugha, their original home\nin Lahore, being 118,360. The founder of the sect, Baba\nNanuk, who died in the sixteenth century, left, says a writer,\ntwo sons, who became the heads of the two divisions of Sikhs\n\u2014the Udasses, who abstain from worldly matters, and the\nBedees, who, though priests, with the right to claim a penny\nfrom any Sikh they visit, engage in secular pursuits. But\nNanuk's spiritual descendants were his more religious disciples,\nafter some of whom parties of the Sikhs are called. After\nthe slaughter of the Guru by Aurungzebe, the Sikhs became\nmore united. Nanuk's successor, Guru Govind, first enforced the wearing of the long hair\nand beard, which are never cut and\ntrimmed, and the rite of initiation.\nHe also forbade the use of tobacco, and\nthe Hindoo thread worn across the\nshoulders, and gave the name of Singh,\nor \"lion,\" to every initiated Sikh. This\nrite of baptism is called the Pauhul, and\nis described by Saunders. The neophyte\nand the officiating priest first wash their\nfeet in water, and then the latter puts\nsome sugar into a basin of water, and\nstirs it with the khanda, or iron knife kept\nin the turban. He reads passages from a\nsacred book, and five shlokas, or verses\nof a sacred song called \"Samarak,\" in\nwhich the people join. The first of\nthese has thus been translated by the\nBaron von Hugel, of whose interesting work we have already\nspoken.\n\"I have traversed the world, Jogi and Jeti, in short, all sorts of devotees\nhave I seen\u2014\nHoly men and hermits, ahsorhed in the contemplation of God, of every\nsort and form.\nI have traversed every land, hut a truly God-fearing man have I never\nseen.\nWithout God's grace, brother, the works of man are not of the least possible merit.\"\nThe convert is then called on to recite this formula:\u2014\" Our\nGod; his name is truth ; the omnipotent; without fear; without enmity; immortal; ever immortal; say by the Guru's\npower that God is best. God ever and will be ever. And\nNanuk has said the truth.\" The sugar and water is put into\nhis palm, from which he drinks five times, exclaiming between\neach two draughts, \"Wah! Guru-jee-ka-Khalsa;\" \"Wah!\nGuru-jee-ka-Futteh !\" or, \"Victory to the Brotherhood, victory\nto the Priest.\" The novice is then sprinkled with the liquid\non his face and head five times, and is then enjoined always\nto possess the five articles whose names begin with the letter\nK, as long hair, a comb, bangles of iron, knee-breeches, and a\nknife. He is forbidden to associate with certain dissidents,\nand with those who shave the head. Such is the Pauhul of\nthe Khalsa, or brotherhood, whom we so often met on the\nbattle-field as foemen worthy of our steel.     If any of the five\nRUNJEET SINGH\nheterodox sects of Sikhs are present at the ceremony, they\nreceive sweetmeats; but no further communion is held with\nthem. Converts are received from almost every Hindoo\ncaste, who become equals, eat meat, and drink strong\ndrink. The lowest class of sweepers were admitted by Guru\nGovind, and as Muzbees did great service in the siege of\nDelhi, while many have become Christians. But other Sikhs\ndo not receive them as equals.\nOf all the Sikh sects, the Kookas, who venerate Nanuk,\nbut will not own Govind, have of late become the most\nnotorious. The sect was founded about twenty-seven years\nago in Rawul Pindee, by one Balak Singh, who died in 1863,\nwhen his principal disciple, Ram Singh, became the chief\npriest. He denied the sanctity of Govind, and placed faith\nonly in Guru Nanuk. His teaching is described as \" moral\nand monotheistic ; idol-worship was prohibited, distinctions of\ncaste forbidden, marriages of widows permitted, and morality\nand sobriety enjoined.\" Ram Singh was the son of a carpenter, and was born near Loodiana. He\nwas a man of considerable ability, and as\nhe acquired a reputation for extreme\nsanctity, his influence and the number of\nhis followers increased. The tendency of\nRam Singh's teaching soon became\npolitical and I aggressive; opposition to\nidolatry began to take an active form,\nand there were many disturbances during\nfairs and gatherings of Sikhs, which\nwere due to the intolerant behaviour\nof the Kookas. On the 24th of June,\n1871, they attacked the Mohammedan\nslaughter-houses outside Amritsir, when\nfour men were killed; and on the 14th\nof January in the following year, a body\nof two hundred of Ram Singh's followers attacked the little town of Malod\nto obtain arms, in order to make an assault upon Malair\nKotla, a few miles to the southward, in the territories of\nthe Rajah of Puttiala. After a sharp fight, they were repulsed; but the Darogah, or head native official of Malod,\nand several others, were killed. Troops were at once\ndispatched from Delhi, where the Camp of Exercise was\nassembled. Mr. Forsyth (now the able head of the Yarkund\nMission) who was Commissioner of Ambala, and the Rajah of\nPuttiala, who were both at Delhi, hurried back, and the latter\ncaused Ram Singh to be arrested. The main body of Kookas,\nbeing without leaders and arms, became powerless, and took\nrefuge in the jungles, where they were attacked by the Puttiala\nrajah's troops, and surrendered to the number of sixty-eight,\nof whom twenty-nine were wounded. The first British functionary to arrive on the scene, was Mr. Cowan, the Deputy-\nCommissioner, an able and high-spirited officer,- who had\nalready rendered good service to his country. In order to\nmake an example and strike terror into the Kookas and similar\nfanatical sects, which are always cropping up in some quarter\nof our Indian empire, Mr. Cowan caused the whole of his\nprisoners to be blown from guns. The Lieutenant-Governor\nof the Punjaub approved of this act, but the Governor-General\n(Lord Mayo) considered it high-handed and unnecessary, the\nrebellion having\nalready collapsed;  and the Home Govern\nment took the same view as the Calcutta authorities.    Ram\nSSHHi NOTES  OF A NATURALIST  IN  BURMAH.\n165\nSingh was banished to Burmah, and the Kookas have since\nremained tranquil.\nGolab Das, the founder of another sect, who bear his name,\nis also still alive, and sometimes very busy in initiating\ndisciples, who first present him with sweetmeats, then pray for\nknowledge of the right faith, then repeat the \" sohang\" and\ndeclare themselves immortal. Their morality may be imagined\nfrom the fact that their priest is living in open adultery.    But\nthey are cleanly in their person, admit any caste, though they\ndo not eat or intermarry with them, and dispute much in behalf of man's immortality, by which they mean absorption into\nthe substance of the Deity. The \" Updes Bilas \" is the sacred\nbook of the Golab Dasses.\nSuch are the Sikhs at the present day, whose fathers\nwere recruited from the lowest castes of Hindoos, and from\nthe Jauts.\nBURMESE NOBLES.\nNotes of a Naturalist in Burmah.\nBY MAJOR G.  E.  BULGER,  F.L.S.\nASCENT OF THE RIVER SITTOUNG.\nAbout the middle of the \" cool season,\" some years ago, I was\ntravelling in a native boat, on the Sittoung River, between the\ncantonments of Toungoo and Shwe-gycen. The weather was,\nas usual in January, characterised by warm days and chilly\nnights\u2014the former bright and pleasant, with clear and brilliant\nskies, and the latter sufficiently cold to render a blanket or two\nagreeable additions to one's bedding. The changes of temperature were very great during the twenty-four hours, the thermometer ranging between 90? in the afternoon, and 550 in the\nearly morning. A dense fog, also, usually set over everything\nas the air cooled, and this was not dispersed until the sun was\npretty high next day.\nThe Sittoung, even at a hundred and fifty miles' distance\nfrom the sea, is a wide and imposing stream, though it is\ngenerally shallow, and occasionally, in the dry season, rather\nsluggish. During the rains, however, when its waters have\nbeen swollen by the great downpour of the south-west monsoon,\nand the influx of a thousand tributaries, it rushes onward with\ngreat force and rapidity, through the most tortuous and winding\nof channels, to its grave in the Gulf of Martaban. According to\nthe latest authorities, the Sittoung has its source amongst the\nhills south-east of Ava; but beyond the British frontier, about\nthirty-five miles above Toungoo, little is known of it, as that\npart of the country has, I believe, never been explored\nThe upper portion of the river is called Pounloung, and the\nwhole length of the valley through which it flows is estimated\nto be about three hundred and fifty miles. For some short\ndistance below the frontier the banks are bold and high, and\npicturesque mountains in the vicinity add features of grandeur\n'M i66\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\niilil! !i\nSl!\nto the scenery; but, after passing Toungoo, the stream flows,\nfor the most part, through a flat and uninteresting country,\nrarely displaying anything more attractive than a dense, level\nforest, which degenerates below Shwe-gycen into a scrubby\njungle of thorny bamboos and elephant-grass, increasing in\nextent and monotony as the river widens in its journey to the\nsea. Occasionally, however, the blue hills, which are generally\nvisible in the distance, approach the course of the river, and\npresent, in combination with the sloping and forest-clothed\nbanks, views of uncommon beauty.\nThe Sittoung has a most remarkable bore\u2014probably the\nworst in the world\u2014which is caused by the conjunction of two\nportions of the tidal wave of the Indian Ocean. It rushes up\nthe funnel-shaped estuary, it is said, at the rate of nearly twelve\nmiles an hour, and with a height amounting, at times, to nine\nfeet In consequence of this phenomenon, the navigation\nof the estuary is almost, if not wholly, incompatible with\nsafety.\nThe native boats are curious but not uncomfortable vessels,\nthough, of course, they vary in the latter respect, according to\nsize, shape, and other peculiarities. They are nearly all built\non the same plan, and consist of a large canoe, usually of\n\"thingan\" (Hopea odorata), hollowed out of a solid log, in the\nsame manner as the \"dug-outs\" of North America, and about\na foot and a half in depth. Additional height and beam are\nsubsequently added by ribs and planking of teak, until the\nwhole depth of the vessel is about three feet, and the breadth\nabout four. It is partly decked and lined with split bamboos,\nbut the thwarts are of teak. Over the after-part, which is the\ncabin\u2014so to speak\u2014there is an awning of bamboo matting,\nwell thatched, of sufficient height' to allow a person to stand\nupright under it when the movable deck is taken away. People\narrange their cabins according to fancy, and I usually disposed\nmine as follows:\u2014Having put my bed as far astern as possible,\nI removed a portion of the bamboo decking, just in front of it,\nso as to admit of a table and chair being placed under shelter\nof the roof, and there I used to sit during the day, with my\nbooks, gun, and writing materials, so that I could take notes\nof the scenery as I went along, and be ready, also, for any\npassing birds, or sleeping alligators. We stopped every night\nabout sunset; but with the first peep of dawn next morning\nwere on the move again.\nThere are generally two rowers in each boat, with sometimes an extra hand or so, and a captain or helmsman, who sits\nat the stern in a huge lofty chair, and steers with a large broad\npaddle. These chairs are often elaborately carved, and made\nto resemble monstrous beasts or birds. The cooking is done\nin the fore-part of the boat, where a fire is constantly kept'\nburning for general use. Occasionally, in the shallows, better\nprogress is made by poling with stout bamboos than by\nrowing, and' sails are always used when the wind is\nfavourable.\nThe banks \u2022 of the river are scantily cultivated, and thinly\nsettled, though the number of small villages is considerable.\nThese villages are usually little collections of huts, constructed\nchiefly of split bamboos, and raised upon posts of teak or\nother wood, from three to six feet above the ground\u2014probably\nto keep them out of the water, which, in the rains, covers much\nof the low land. Beautiful trees, for which the Burmese evince\nan especial fondness, are grown abundantly, and particularly\nm the neighbourhood of pagodas and kioungs, or phoongie-\nhouses, where the yellow-robed priests of Buddha reside.\nCocoa-nut palms (Cocos nucifera) and palmyras (Borassus\nfiabelliformis), occasionally a tamarind (Tamarindus Indicd),\nnow and then a peepul (Fiats religiosa) or its relative (Ficus\ncordifolid), together with gaungos (Mesua ferred), and numerous\nothers, are found in these localities\u2014all of them evidently\nchosen for their ornamental qualifies, or for the fragrance of\ntheir flowers.\nThe peepul (Ficus religiosa) is, perhaps, the handsomest\nof all the large Indian figs, and its heart-shaped, poplar-like,\ntremulous leaves are so constantly in motion as to give it a\nvery peculiar and airy appearance. It is the most sacred of all\ntrees with the Burmese Buddhists, who regard it with feelings\nof the deepest veneration, almost equal to those which they\nentertain for Gaudama himself. But, far more charming in my\neyes, is their famous gaungo (Mesua ferrea), the \"nagacesara\"\nof the Indian poets. Its foliage is exquisitely beautiful, not\nonly from the individual loveliness of the leaves, but from\nthe elegant drooping growth of the branches; and its fragrant\nflowers, which look somewhat like little white ivory roses with\ngolden centres, have long and often been celebrated in Oriental literature. In the Eastern spring-time, too, an additional\nbeauty is given to its already redundant charms ; for then the\nyoung leaves and leaf-buds are of such a brilliant crimson, that,\nat a distance, the branches seem to be loaded with blood-red\nblossoms. The tree is sacred to Buddha, not only in Burmah,\nbut in Ceylon, where it is called the iron-wood, on account\nof the durability and intense hardness of its timber; and\nDr. Mason states that the Burmese believe their next god\nwill enter the divine state under the shade of its holy branches.\nWallich found it growing with Jonesia asoca, and the famed\nAmhersiia nobilis,. when he first met with the last-named\nglorious tree, near a deserted temple on the banks of the\nSalween River, in Martaban. The white-petalled flowers, with\ntheir golden stamens, are so eminently beautiful and fragrant,\nthat the addition of graceful foliage was hardly requisite to\nrender the Mesua worthy of the eulogium passed upon it by\nSir William Jones, who styled it the most delightful tree on\nearth, and declared that the delicate odour of its blossoms\njustly gave them a place in the quiver of Camadeva, the\nHindoo god of love. It is to them that Moore probably\nrefers in the two last lines of the following passage from\n\"Lalla Rookh:\"\u2014\n\"Then rapidly, with foot as light\nAs the young musk roe's, out she flew,\nTo cull each shining leaf that grew\nBeneath the moonlight's hallowing beams,\nIn this enchanted wreath of dreams;\nAnemones and seas of gold,\nAnd new-blown lilies of the river,\nAnd those-sweet flow'rets that unfold\nTheir buds on Camadeva's quiver.\"\nThe dried blossoms are sold in the bazaars of India for\ntheir perfume, and it is said that the Burman grandees stuff\ntheir pillows with the anthers.\nThe wild trees and lesser plants of the Sittoung jungles\nwere, to a great extent, unknown to me, though, in my short\nexplorations, I recognised many that I had seen in otherparts\nof the East Among them were the gorgeous red-cotton tree\n(Salmalia Malabarica), destitute of leaves, but crowded with\ncrimson-scarlet, tulip-shaped blossoms; several acacias, bamboos of, at fewest, three kinds, including Bambusa gigantea, NOTES  OF A NATURALIST IN  BURMAH.\n167\nthe largest known species; the sai (Shorea robusla); a brilliant\nErythrina, or coral-tree; a Gardenia, with a curious, hard, pear-\nshaped, many-seeded fruit; 'and the splendid dhak or palasi\n(Butea frondosd), rich in its flame-hued papilionaceous flowers.\nEpiphytal orchids were to be found in great abundance, as\nalso ferns of many kinds; and the jungles were laced and\nadorned with exquisite Co?wolvuli of almost ethereal beauty,\nas well as other climbers which I did not know.\nVegetation, during the rains, when the river is full, stretches\ndown, in most cases, to the water's edge, and is often so thick\nas to be almost impenetrable; but in the dry season, wide strips\nof naked sand are exposed to the busy investigation of many\nkinds of wading birds, which are sometimes found in great\nnumbers. Alligators are then frequently to be seen sunning\nthemselves upon the edges of the uncovered banks, and monkeys, deer, and elephants, as well as other wild animals, are\nplentiful in the neighbouring forests.\nBirds do not show themselves very much during the heat\nof the day, and, with the exception of a few wagtails, and little\nsand-pipers, the shores of the river are generally almost\ntenantless until the approach of evening. Then, indeed, the\nornithological world wakens up from its noontide sleep, and\nfeathered creatures of many kinds are constantly on the wing,\nbusily flying hither and thither, in search of food or roosting-\nplaces.\nThe spotted king-fishers (Cerylerudis) are most indefatigable\nin pursuit of their prey, and as they are plentiful and constantly on the move, even during the day-time, the traveller\nhas abundant opportunities of observing their mode of\naction. I have often watched them take up positions in the\nair, so to speak, about fifteen or twenty feet above the\nwater, and there continue, with their bodies apparently quite\nstationary, and their wings vibrating rapidly, until some tempting fish appeared : then, like rockets, down they went beneath\nthe surface, whence they generally returned with prizes, which\nthey carried off to the bank to eat. I have seen as many as three\nof these birds engaged in this performance at the same time,\nand rarely noticed a failure, though I have frequently remarked\nthem check their descent, when they had gone but a yard or\ntwo, and then resume their original posts of observation.\nParrakeets of two kinds (Palceomis rosa and schisliceps), as\nwell as the Indian lorikeet (Loriculus vemalis) were usually\non the move early in the evening, screaming harshly as\nthey passed my boat; and I often saw flocks of the little\ncormorant (Graculus Javanicus) and the glossy ibis (Falcinellus\nigneus) flying close to the water, and at great speed; while,\nhigh overhead, parties of adjutants (Leptoptilos argala) and\ngrey pelicans (Pelecanus Philippensis) swept through the air\nwith a singing noise like the moaning of a strong wind. Adjutants, vultures, cormorants, paddy-birds, and egrets roost in\ngreat numbers on large trees, and nothing, perhaps, appears\nso singular to a stranger as these vast assemblages, more\nespecially those of the egrets, whose white plumage renders\nthem very conspicuous. I have seen hundreds of them upon\na single tree, and have passed as many as a dozen trees so\n. loaded in the course of an evening. As my boat passed down\nthe stream in their proximity, the birds stretched out their\nand bodies and kept them erect and motionless,\nlong necks\npresenting an astonis\nwas almost ludicrous.\nhed and rather stupid appearance, which\nI  procured   good   specmi\nens  of the  spotted  sand-piper\n(Actitesglareola), the spur-winged lapwing (Hoplopterus ventralis),\nthe small godwit (Limosa agocefihala), the lesser-winged plover\n(^Egialitis minutus), and a species which T believe to have\nbeen Cheitusia inornata, although that most accurate observer,\nDr. Jerdon, states, in his \" Birds of India,\" vol. ii., p. 647, that\nhe never saw it out of Bengal. The description of my bird\ncorresponds with his, both in generic and specific characters,\nexcepting that, when shot, the orbital skin was orange instead\nof yellow. I also saw a goose (Sarkidiornis melanotus) and a\nlarge kind of plover, which, I think, was ^Edicnemus crepitans:\nhe rose with a single \"weet,\" and flew away beyond my reach.\nI occasionally observed sand-martens (Cotyle Sinensis) hunting\nin large flocks, near steep banks, which were everywhere perforated with their breeding-places, and I frequently came\nacross small parties of beautiful terns (Seena aurantia and Sterna\nJavanicd). I was fortunate also in securing a darter, or snake-\nbird (Plotus melanogaster), and, besides Ceryle rudis, I obtained\nspecimens of another king-fisher (Halcyon fuscus), the grey and\nyellow wagtail (Calobates sulphured), the white-faced wagtail\n(Motacilla luzoniensis), the little stint (Tringa minutd), and\na splendid golden-backed woodpecker (Chrysocolaptes sultaneus)\nwhich was shot near Shwe-gycen.\nOne fine evening, towards the end of my voyage, as we\nslightly altered our course to follow the winding of the stream,\na scene of wondrous beauty opened to my view, such as I\nnever saw before, and such as I shall probably never see again.\nBefore me, stretching for about three or four hundred yards\nto  the eastward, lay a broad reach of the great river\u2014the\nusually dull and muddy-looking water appearing of a pale and\ndelicate blue in the slanting beams of the sinking sun; then\ncame a narrow strip of bank, entirely clothed with luxuriant\nelepriant-grass\u2014green as emerald and crested with its blossom-\nspikes of waving silver; next a wall of tropical forest, in all\nthe exuberance of its profuse and varied beauty; then the\nmountains,   with   their  outlines   softened   and  rounded  by\nthe haze of distance ; and, lastly, the pale, cloudless azure of\nthe evening sky.    The forest displayed every phase of form\nand colour, from the massive and comparatively gloomy foliage\nof some  of  the more ponderous-looking trees, to  the light\nfeathery frondage and delicate green of the acacias, or the\nstill more airy-looking plumes of the graceful bamboo; but,\nconspicuous above all, and standing out in glorious relief from\nthe rich background of verdure, were the gorgeous crimson\nblossoms of hundreds of gigantic cotton-trees (Salmalia Mala-\nbarica) and the less imposing, but still magnificent and fiery\nflowers of Butea frondosa.    The declining sun shot his beams\nathwart this blooming wilderness, and lit up every glade and\nhollow of the woodland, so that each tree, and bush, and\nflower\u2014 even the mountains in the distance, the  river, and\nthe celestial arch itself, assumed new aspects under the influence\nof the golden light, and revealed themselves in all the pride\nof their fullest and most radiant beauty.    It is rarely that the\nnecessary conditions for such a magnificent forest landscape\npresent themselves in the same happy combination as on the\noccasion I refer to, for though none of the elements of the\nscene were in themselves very peculiar, I never, in all my\nexperience of India and Burmah, beheld any prospect of the\nsame description so imposingly grand as that broad reach of\nthe wild river, with its background of woods and mountains,\nglowing with light and colour, and sparkling in the lustrous\nbeams of the setting sun. \\ ;\":\n;s,tiSii\n\\\\mm\n\u25a0iJPai\nu&\\ 1 Eli1\nm\n16S\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nSenegambia;  With an Account of Recent French Operations in West Africa.\u2014VI,\nBY LIEUTENANT C.   R.   LOW,  (LATE)  H.M.   INDIAN  NAVY.\nETHNOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVE TRIBES\u2014THE TRARZAS\u2014\nTHE DOUAICHS \u2014 THE NEGRO RACES : FOULAHS, MAL1NKES,\nOUOLOFS.\nThe last chapter was devoted to a description of the Braknas,\n\u2022and we will now detail what is known of the Trarzas, which-\nThe Makil were subdivided into three fractions\u2014the Beni\nObeid-Allah, the Beni-Mansour, and the Beni-Hassan; this\nlast, whose instincts were purely nomadic, extended themselves\nthrough the Great Desert until they founded an empire on the\nbanks of the Senegal, conquering the Zenagas, on whom they\nMOORS OF WESTERN AFRICA,\ncome of the same stock\u2014the Beni-Hassan. As has been\nalready said, the Zenaga Berbers were the first white race who\nobtained dominion over the negroes in Western Africa. They\nwere supplanted in the eleventh century of our era, by the\nBeni-Hassan, who were themselves a fraction of the Makil.\nThis race, numerically weak when they issued from their native\nYemen, gradually increased in numbers as they marched westward, until they became one of the great powers of Africa.\nnot only imposed taxes, but the religion of Mohammed, which\nowes as many of its victories to the sword as to the conviction\nthat comes from within.\nThe country of the Trarzas is situated on the right bank\nof the Senegal, from the sea to the affluent called Mahguen,*\nopposite Gad, where it adjoins the territory of the Braknas,\nand has a variable breadth, averaging over 300 miles.    The\n* Mahguen is the native term for \"funnel.\" \"IS\n\u2022Is\n1 170\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nlii\nifera i\nname is, properly speaking, applied to some ruling Arab\nfamilies known as the Ouled-Dahman, Otiled-boo-Alia, the\nAleb, and the Moussat; these tribes rule all the population\nwithin the above limits, whether they be Arabs, Berbers, or\nNegroes. The French have applied, indiscriminately, the\nname Trarza to all these races, and the potentate they style\nKing of Trarza is really only Sheikh of the Ouled-Ah med-ben-\nDahman, elected to this position by the suffrages of his own\npeople, and consequently ruling all the above subject races.\n: The king is more or less powerful and respected according as\nhe is able to enforce his decrees; and, like most of these desert\nchiefs, holds his tenure only by the sword.\nThe Trarzas, then, are a branch of the great family of the\nBeni-Hassan Arabs, themselves a fraction of the Makil, who,\nhaving conquered the Zenaga Berbers, occupied the country\nbetween the sea and the river Mahguen. A portion of these\nBerbers, on account of the religious influence they acquired as\nMarabouts, or priests, afterwards escaped the imposition of the\ntribute imposed on their countrymen\u2014and as at Senegal the\nname Zenaga has become synonymous with tributary\u2014they repelled the name and called themselves Tolba, which is the plural\nof \"Taleb,\" signifying students, or monks. Thus the inhabitants\nof the Trarza country are composed half of Berbers, and half\nof Arabs, but as both these races have intermarried much with\nthe negroes, who have adopted the habits and vices of their\nmasters, it may be said that one-third of the people are either\nhalf-caste Arabs or Berbers, who, whether free or enslaved, are\nnomadic in their mode of life. As the term Zenaga has come\nto bear the general signification of tributary, so the word\nHassan denotes prince or warrior. Among other tribes of\nthe Beni-Hassan, not holding a prominent position, are the\nOuled-Rezg, who assert that they ruled the country before the\narrival of the Trarzas, and that they are of nobler origin ; but\ndriven by them to the south, they have become almost amalgamated with the Negroes of Ualo, and have little more\npolitical importance. The King of the Trarzas, Mohammed-\nel-Habib\u2014who has reigned for nearly forty years\u2014is absolute\nsovereign, and has less to fear from the hostility of any of the\ntribes, Arab or Berber, within his dominions, than from rivalry\nin his family. For during three years he waged a destructive\nwar with his neighbours, the French, and pertinaciously refused\nto come to terms, although his people, who had been ruined\nby trie ravages of the contending forces, sought to induce him\nto yield.\nAfter the Beni-Hassan come two Arab tribes of a distinct\norigin, called the Mehalla. They are named the Bouidat, who\ncame from Morocco about the eighteenth century; and the\nOuled-Reguig, from the same country, who settled more\nrecently. Of the tribes of Berber origin, only one exists at\nthe present day possessing martial qualities. This is the\nNirzig, the two fractions of which were the last to submit and\npay tribute to the Ouled-Dahman. Of the other tribes of\nBerber origin, all of whom are either Tolbas or Marabouts, the\nprincipal are: the Ouled-Diman, inhabiting the interior; the\nKoumlailen, who chiefly carry on the commerce of Cayor; the\nTendagha, who live near the French settlement at Senegal, and\nsupply the city with milk and-butter; the Ntabou, who have\nceased to speak the Berber language; the Tachedbit, who have\nalso most forgotten their mother-tongue; the Aid-Rmadjik,\nfamed, on the other hand, for the purity with which they speak\nit, and other less notable tribes.    The Aidou-el-Hadj, whom\nthe Negroes call \"Darmanko,\" and the French \"Darmancours,\"\nare an important tribe of Marabouts of Berber origin, and have\naccorded to them a certain independence of the Trarzas,\nwhich they claim from having been Ihe first to sell to\nEuropeans the gums which are a chief source of the wealth\nof the native inhabitants of Senegambia. Lastly come some\nminor tribes or fractions of freedmen, who are called Ahratin,\nof whom the principal is the Zomboti. The Ahratins are\nalmost full-blooded blacks.\nWe will now describe another division of the Trarzas, who\nare not only geographically distinct, but whose habits and\nmodes of-life are dissimilar. These warlike tribes are called\nEl Guebla (Southerners), and more than any of the others\nfrequent the river, on the left bank ot which they chiefly make\ntheir homes. As during the winter season the banks of the\nSenegal prove fatal to camels and high-bred horses, they breed\nchiefly immense herds of cattle, which find good pasture.\nThese tribes, which are much given to brigandage, are incapable\nof traversing the desert, and thus it has happened that during\nhostilities with the French, or internal dissensions, they are,\nlike the Marabouts, the chief sufferers. The following are\nthe chief tribes of the El Guebla: the Azouna, and Ouled-\nRezg, who are of the Beni-Hassan Arabs; and the Nirzig, who\nare Zenagas. Probably they will become completely separated\nfrom the Trarzas, and join the Ualo, but their predatory\nhabits will always make them a source of trouble to the French\nlords of Senegambia The Trarza Moors\u2014who, one hundred\nyears ago, paid tribute to the Ouolofs of Ualo, for permission to pitch their tents on the banks of the river\u2014at the\nbeginning of this century, seized on the right bank, and, more\nrecently, established their supremacy even in the Ualo territory on the opposite bank. As the protection of these native\nstates against the aggressive policy of the Moors did -not\nappear to the French Government of that date of sufficient\nimportance to warrant them in taking up arms in their favour,\nGuimbotte, Queen of Ualo, in order to avert the complete\nsubjugation of her people, and having no other resource, contracted a matrimonial alliance with the King of the Trarzas,\nMohammed-el-Habib. In a previous chapter we have already\ndetailed the political results of this marriage, as regards the\nstruggle for the possession of Ualo, which ensued between the\nFrench and Mohammed-el-Habib, acting on behalf of his son\nby Queen Guimbotte. It is certain that the French, by the\ntreaty of 1835, renounced their claims to this territory in\nfavour of the heirs of the queen; but, although a son, Ely, was\nborn to the royal pair, after many campaigns, in which the\nTrarzas assisted their weaker neighbours, Ualo was, in 1854,\nfinally separated from the Moorish state on the opposite bank\nof the Senegal, and became an integral part of that colony.\nUnder the reign of Mohammed-el-Habib the power of the\nTrarzas was extended on both banks of the river, and he not\nonly acquired a preponderating influence over some of his\nneighbours, the Braknas, but also over the desert tribes of\nOuled-Aida, and the Douaich Moors. In recent years his\ninfluence has greatly decreased, and the tribe no longer inspires\nthe dread it did some forty years ago.\nThe French traveller, M. Caille', who was for many years\nin political charge of the river, estimated the population of\nTrarza at 55,000 souls, of whom 25,000 belong to the warlike\ntribes, and 30,000 to the tribes of Marabouts. During the\nthree years' war they waged with the French, the resistance SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT  FRENCH  OPERATIONS IN   WEST AF\n;uca.\n171\nthey made was less than might have been expected, when it is\ntaken into account that they were armed with 6,000 muskets.\nThe Trarzas sell to the French, on an average, about\n400,000 or 500,000 kilogrammes* of gums,'and form caravans\nfor journeying into the interior with the articles of merchandise\nthey get in exchange.\nThe Moors did not trade with the French until the year\n1854, when annual fairs were established at certain places on\nthe river, selected in accord with them. The Government sent\nan officer to superintend the fair, to which all the Moors of\nthe desert, whether merchants or not, would flock as to a fete.\nThe French authorities paid a stipulated toll to the Moorish\nchiefs, who, in addition, levied dues on the merchant vessels\nwhich traded to the fairs. At length, on the repeated demand\nof the French merchants, who were restive under these\nexactions, this system was abandoned, notwithstanding the\nopposition of the Moors. Since that time the French buy\nthe gums, which form the staple of the country's products, at\ntheir fortified posts, Saint Louis (Senegal), Dagana, Podor,\nMatam, and Bakel, and that all the year round, instead of\nat stated intervals, while free trade exists in gums and all\nother commodities. The Douaichs were the first to accede\nto the new conditions imposed by the French, according to\nthe terms of which the Moorish kings, instead of levying\ncustoms on all merchandise, levied certain dues on exports\nas an equivalent.\nThe mode of succession to the Trarza throne is hereditary\nin the males, but with the consent of the principal branches\nof the royal family. All the Trarzas, properly so called, are\ndescended from Terrouz, from whom they derive their name,\nTrarza being the plural form of that word.\nThe Ouled-ben-Alia, the Aleb, and the Moussat are now\nthe least powerful among them, the Ouled Dahman, descended\nfrom Dahman, forming the ruling tribe of the nation. Of these\nthe Ouled-Ahmed-ben-Dahman, whose name implies that they\ntrace their ancestry to Ahmed, son of Dahman, are the chief\nfraction. They again are divided into two branches: the one\ndescended from Brahmin, son of Ahmed, called El Tounsi,\nwho do not furnish the kings, but have a voice in their election ; the other, descended from Addi,t the eldest of the sons\nof Ahmed, is again subdivided into two branches, one tracing\nits descent from Cherghi, son of Addi, called El Cherghi-Ouled-\nAddi,J who exercise much authority in the elections of the\nTrarza kings, though they are not selected from their ranks;\nand the other sub-branch descending from Ely-Chandora\n(mentioned in the history of the Pere Labat), and in which\nthe royal stock of the Trarza kings is recognised to exist.\nThe eldest son of Ely-Chandora was Amar, who succeeded\nhim, and all the kings up to 1817 were brothers, sons, grandsons, and great grandsons of this Amar-Ould-Ely. At length,\nwhen the succession rested with two princes, both too young\nto reign, Prince Amar-Ould-Mokhtar, a member of the royal\nfamily descended from Ely-Chandora, but not from Amar, the\nprogenitor of the reigning stock, was appointed regent, but\n* A.kilogramme is equal to 2-20 lb. avoirdupois.\nt This' chief has given his name to Portendik, corrupted from Port\nd'Addi.\n% The two branches, El Tour.si and El CherghiOuled-Addi, have received the sobriquet of Khandoussa (the name of an insect), under which\nthey are known in Senegal. They are the richest of the Trarzas, and when\nthey are discontented and cannot get the upper hand, they proceed into\nAdrar and join the Outed-yaya-ben-Othman.\nusurped the throne. Mokhtar, one of the young princes, after\nhaving struggled ineffectually against the usurper, resigned his\nrights, and after having led a wandering life, was shot at Saint\nLouis for having murdered a French subject Amar-Ould-\nMokhtar remained in peaceable possession of power, and when\ndying, bequeathed his seat to his son, Mohammed-el-Habib,\nwho, since his accession about 1834, remained undisturbed, and\nwe believe is still on the throne. There are, however, rivals,\nfor Mokhtar left a son who has not resigned his rights as the\nlegitimate heir, and there is also a second candidate in the\nperson of Alia, grandson of Amar-Coumba, himself a grandson\nof Amar-Ould-Ely. Mohammed-el-Habib had six brothers,\nsome of whom have died, and most have had no children.\nHe himself was not the eldest, and he lies under the imputation\nof having assassinated one of his brothers, called Ould-el-Eigat\nAnother of the family, Ely Khamleck, was killed in Cayor, and\nhas left a son called Ould-Ely-Khamleck. Mohammed has\nnamed as his heir to the throne his eldest son Sidi, whom he\nhad by a Trarza princess. He destines the left bank of the\nriver to his son Ely, the fruit of his marriage in 1833 with\nGuimbotte, Queen of Ualo, as already recounted. Mohammed-el-Habib has also three other younger children by a\nprincess of the Ouled-Dahman.\nThis prince has exercised considerable influence in the\naffairs of Brakna, and used his influence to force Mohammed\nSidi to refuse the alliance of the French, with whom he had\nalways been at enmity. It was in consequence of the unfavourable response to their overtures, that the European lords\nof Senegal turned to Sidi Ely, whom they recognised.\nThe territory of the Douaichs begins at El-Modirialla, on\nthe right bank of the Senegal River, and extends beyond\nGuidimakha, though it is in the desert interior that their power\nchiefly extends. Unlike the Braknas and Trarzas, the Douaichs\nare not dwellers on the banks of the Senegal, for though they\nsojourn there for commercial objects or to make raids on the\nNegro races, their ordinary camping-grounds are in the far\ndistant north, towards Tagant, which belongs to them. .\nThough the Douaichs present the same mixture of races as\nthe Braknas and Trarzas, and possess similar customs and institutions, yet there is one point in which they offer a marked\ncontrast. It is that the Zenaga race originally conquered and\nheld in subjection among them, as among their neighbours, by\nthe Beni-Hassan Arabs, have regained among the Douaichs the\nupper hand, and are now again lords where they were formerly\nslaves. Nevertheless, on account of the depreciatory significance attaching among the Braknas and Trarzas to the word\nZenaga, the Douaich princes do not voluntarily apply the\nopprobrious name to themselves.\nThe name of Douaich, which is not a generic term, but a\nnickname, is properly applied to the families of princes and\ntributary warriors, who take part in their civil wars. About\nfifty years ago the Douaichs broke up into two parties, inimical\nto each other: one has taken the sobriquet of Abakak, because\nduring the long war they waged with trieir brethren after the\ndisruption, they subsisted in the woods to which they betook\nthemselves, on a kind of gum called abakak, and the other call\nthemselves Chratit, a kind of hyena, because, being reduced to\nsimilar straits during the progress of the fratricidal war, they\nwere forced to sustain life on the hides of oxen, like their\nprototypes.\nAs we have already said, the Berber tribes-, in the present\nk^m\nla\n'4gf*3l\nfm 172\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nday known under the name of Douaichs, were formerly tributaries of various Arab tribes, descendants of the Beni-Hassan,\ncalled the Ouled-Embarek, Ouled-Naceur, and Ouled-Bella.\nAbout 1800, Mohammed-ben-Khouna, chief of the Douaichs,\nrefused to pay tribute. After him, Mohammed-Bakar commenced the war of independence, which was finally brought to\na successful conclusion by Mohammed-Chein, who drove the\nOuled-Embarek from the country now occupied by the\nDouaichs. The war with Ouled-Naceur was of much longer\ncontinuance, and with regard to the Ouled-Bella, they are almost\nextinct, though some of them, who became Marabouts, still\nassassinated by an Abakak, Racoud-Ould-Ely-Ould-Moham-.\nmed-Chein was hailed sheikh of the tribe. The Chratit are\nallied with Sidi Ely, King of the Braknas, while the Abakak\nhave coalesced with Mohammed Sidi, his rival, and Mohammed-\nel-Habib, the Trarza king. Besides the warlike tributaries*\nof the two Douaich tribes, there are also tributaries of an\ninferior order, whom they force into their service whenever\nthey can. On the side of the Abakak, there are the numerous\ntribe of Ladem, and on that of the Chratit, the Macht-souf, also\nvery numerous and rich. Lastly, we must notice the tribes of\nMarabouts, or merchants, all of Berber-Zenaga origin, except\n,3|-,.'|H\nCN THE Ul'PER SENEGAL.\noccupy the town of Tychit. In 1819, the son of Mohammed-\nChein, himself called Mohammed, was on the throne when he\nconstructed Bakel, on the Senegal River, which is now the\nchief town of an arrondissement of the same name, under the\nauthority of the French Governor of Saint Louis, and has a\npopulation of nearly 3,000 souls. When Mohammed died,\nleaving six sons, the eldest, called Souid-Ahmed, usurped\npower in the place of his uncle, the legitimate heir; hence\narose the division of the people into two parties\u2014the Abakak,\nwhosupported Souid-Ahmed, the hereditary heir\/and the Chratit,\nwho ranged themselves on the side of his uncle El-Mokhtar.\nSouid-Ahmed left five sons\u2014Mohammed, who succeeded him,\nBakar, the present king, and three others. After the death of\nEl-Mokhtar, Ahmed El-Mokhtar, his son, became the head of\nhis party, and  after his death, when his brother Bakar was\nthe Kountah, a large tribe of Marabout warriors, of Arab origin,\nwho inhabit the country of Tagant. Another powerful tribe is\nthe Ouled-Sidi-Mahmoud, of whom some few of the oldest men\nspeak the Berber tongue, which all the Douaichs have long\nsince forgotten. These latter are allied with the Chratit, the\nKountah being on the side of the Abakak, and often hostilities\nare waged between them. There are also the Tajakant, and the\nLamtouna, who still speak the Berber-Zenaga, and were in\npast times the most powerful tribe of this race.t    They say\n* The tributaries of the Abakak are, Ouled-Tahla, El Chebli, and\nOuled-Euouachkot; of the Chratit, Dayat.ldakfouni, Ideichelli. and Oulcd-\nbou-Lahia.    The Adjilat and Toghda are divided in their allegiance.\nt The other tribes of Marabouts are, the Torkos, the Tagat, the\nIdoualy, the Idabou-Lhas, the Aghlal (very numerous), the Ideyboussat,\nand the Mcssouma. WOMEN OF ELMINA. 174\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nthe Douaich princes were  then progenitors, which is good\nproof of the Berber origin of these latter.\nThe Douaich warriors make raids on the neighbouring\ndistricts of Gadiaga, Damga, Bondou, and Bambouk. Their\nchief trade is with Bakel, whither all their merchants convey\nthe gums which form the chief article of commerce. They\nsell also large quantities of oxen and sheep, and butter,\nmuch esteemed in the market, and fine horses. There is great\ndifficulty in making an accurate estimate of the Douaich\npopulation; but it is supposed by French authorities to be\nless numerous than the Trarzas or the Braknas. The Douaichs\nhave the reputation of being good soldiers, particularly when\nmounted. They maintain friendly relations with all the\npopulations of the Sahara Desert, extending northward and\nwestward to Morocco.\nTo the east of the Douaich country, and fronting Kamera,\nKhasso, and Kaarta, there are other Moorish tribes of whom\nsome keep up communications with the French in Senegal.\nThe Ouled-Embarek constitute a powerful Arab tribe,\nformerly lords over the Douaichs, and now their rivals. They\nare also of the Beni-Hassan tribe, of the same stock as the\nTrarzas and Braknas, for their ancestor, Embarek, was bf||||i|\nto Haddadj, father of Terrouz and Berkani. One of the most\nimportant fractions of the Ouled-Embarek is the Ely-Ouled-\nAhmar, masters of Bakhounou, a country inhabited by\nnegroes, and called by travellers and geographers, Ludamar,\na corruption of Ely-Ould-Ahmar. The Ouled-Embarek pay\ntribute to the Bambaras of Kaarta.\nThe Ouled-en-Naceur were formerly an integral part of\nthe Ouled-Embarek, but are now independent of them. They\nnever approach the river, and therefore do not come into\ncollision with the French, though frequently they are embroiled with their Douaich neighbours. The tribe of Askeur\nare distinct from the Ouled-Embarek, though they trace their\ndescent from the Beni-Hassan Arabs. They are numerous\nand of martial spirit, and sometimes engage in war with the\nDouaichs and Ouled-en-Naceur. Their territory abuts on\nthe Senegal near the highland of Makhana, where they receive\ncertain tolls from French traders; they in turn paying tribute\nto some villages of Guidimakha. The Askeur rule the El-\nGhouizi, formerly a fraction of the Ouled-Embarek, and make\nincursions into Bambouk* while they are allied with Khasso,\nwith whose daughters they intermarry.\nThe Ouled-Yaya-Ben-Othman form an independent tribe,\nalso descended from the Beni-Hassan, and living to the northeast of the Trarza country in Adrar, of which they are masters.\nAdrar includes some oases, of which the chief are Ouadan\nand Chingue'ti, inhabited by some holy Marabouts, or priests,\nof the Berber-Zenaga tribe of the Aidou-el-Hadj. Though\nthe Yaya-ben-Othman are less powerful than the Trarzas, they\nare very rich, owing to the trade they carry on with Morocco.\nTheir sheikhs call themselves Ould-Aida, after their ancestor\nAida When the two branches of the Trarzas, known under\nthe name of Khandoussa, were not strong enough to cope with\nthe king, the princes took refuge in Adrar, and there the\nYaya-ben-Othman became powerful enemies to Mohammed-\nel-Habib. The war between them was very protracted, and\nwas waged with varying success. In 1854, Mohammed-el-\nHabib treacherously killed Ould Aida; and some time after,\n\u2022 Bambouk and Khasso are situated on the opposite or left .bank of\nthe Senegal, in the delta between that river and the Falemfc\nwhen he became involved in war with the French, being unable to hold his own against both belligerents, he recognised\nthe son of Ould-Aida as Sheikh of the Yaya-ben-Othman, and\nmade concessions to the Khandoussa princes, who returned to\ntheir country.\nDuring the past twenty years the French have encountered\ntwo powerful enemies, both of whom were made to feel their\ninability to cope with an European power. These were\nMohammed-el-Habib, King of the Trarzas, and Hadji Omar,\nthe fanatical Mussulman sovereign of the races who were\nbanded together under his rule, and wagsd a holy war against\nthe small Christian colony in Senegal.\nLike the comparatively fair Arab races above described,\nthe black races of Senegambia are divided into distinct types,\nwhich are traceable in the more or less deep colouring of the\nskin, in the figure, and in features of the face, and in the degree\nof intelligence they exhibit. These races are much mixed\nwith one another, but the surest way of distinguishing them is\nthe study of their language and dialects. Confining our\nresearches to the basins of the Senegal and the Upper Niger,\nwe will briefly describe the black nationalities which inhabit\nthe parts which either form a dependency of France or are\nsubject to her influence.\nThere are three distinct races: the Foulahs or Fellahs,\nthe Malinke's, which include the Soninke's, and the Ouolof\nrace, to which are attached the Serers.\nThe Foulahs are of reddish-brown colour, with hair scarcely\nwoolly in texture, almost European features, and fine slender\nfigures.* This people, having intelligences well developed and\ncapable of considerable cultivation, are the most powerful in\nthat portion of the African continent comprised between the\n10th and 18th degrees of north latitude. The Mussulman\nraces who invaded the Soudan, found in these Foulahs a\npeople having a greater resemblance to themselves than any\nother in regard of intellectual qualities; they also were the\nfirst to embrace Islamism, and showed their superiority in\nthe powerful states they founded, such as Haoussa, Macina,\nFouta-Senegal, Bondou, and Fouta D'jallon. As the Berbers\nand Arabs since the nth century of our era played a great\npart in the destinies of these countries, so the Foulahs at a\nlater date have exercised a predominant influence among the\nblack races with whom they came into contact, converting\nthem by force of arms to the religion of Mohammed. Thus\nthe empire of Haoussa was founded in the commencement of\nthis century by a warlike Marabout called Othman Fou Dir.t\nFouta-Senegal (which, as well as Bondou and other states, has\nalready been described) owed its existence to another conquering priest, Abd-oul-Kader, who flourished in the end of the last\ncentury; making his acquisition a fresh centre for the spread\nof Mohammedanism. This fanatic gave the French a difficult\ntask in overcoming him. Again, the kingdom of Fouta D'jallon\nwas founded in a similar manner about the same time by a\nFoulah Marabout from Haoussa named Alfa-Sidi, who sub-\n* As we have said, there is a great admixture among the Foulahs as\nmany other races, and this description only applies to the pure-blooded\nFoulahs.\nt Fou Dir, in the Foulah language, means \" learned.\" If the statements of Foulahs, as gathered by French authorities, arc -to be relied upon, the founder of the Foulah supremacy in Central Africs, whom\ntravellers call Danfodio, and whose true name is Othman Fou Dh, father\nof the Sultan Mohammed Bello, of Clapperton, was a Toucouleur of\nFouta-Toro. A   BOAT  CRUISE IN  GREENLAND.\nr75\niugated the Djalonke's, the natives of the country; Macina\nlikewise owed its existence to a Marabout Sheikh, Ahmadou,\nwho established his supremacy at the beginning of this\ncentury, and in our day the redoubtable Marabout, El Hadj,\nfounded a new and vast Mussulman empire on the ruins\nof Kaarta and all the neighbouring states of the Upper\nSenegal, which might have flourished had he not made shipwreck of it by coining into collision with the disciplined\nlegionaries of France. In the migrations and displacements\ncaused by these wars of conquest and religion, the Foulah\nblood was mingled with that of subject-races, and their Negro\nneighbours, properly so called. When, in any of their colonies,\nthe black element assumes a predominant proportion, the j\nmixed race is designated in the Senegal language Toucouleur,\nthough of the origin of that word nothing is known. Of this\nhybrid character are the inhabitants of Fouta-Senegal, Bondou,\nand Fouta-D'jallon.\nOn the other hand, there are on the borders of Senegal\nsome Foulah tribes who have not yet embraced Mohammedanism, having preserved their manners and pure blood\namid all the influences around them; it is among these that\nmay still be seen people of the type we have depicted above.\nThe genius of the Foulah race is pastoral; so to speak,\nthey identify themselves with their flocks of cattle. In manners\nthey are very gentle and tractable, but excessively inclined to\ntheft. The more they mingle with the Negro races the more\nthey devote themselves to tillage, and it may be added they\ndo not gain by the loss of the Foulah peculiarities of face and\ncharacter. The language of the pure-blooded Foulahs is\nsweet and harmonious, and has not the harsh Arabic kh, which\ndistinguishes it essentially from all the languages of Southern\nAfrica. We are not aware that it has been studied by\nEuropean philologists, though it deserves to be. As a necessary consequence of their being Mussulmans, the Foulahs are\nanimated by a desire to trace their origin from some personage\nof the Koran. The Marabouts have therefore invented for\nthem a genealogy which traces their descent from one Fello-\nben-Hymier,* though it is a mere hypothesis unsupported by\n* The Arabic word hymier they affect to derive from the diminutive\nhaymer, which means \"reddish,\" and is descriptive of their colour.\nany evidence. This fable, however, is less incredible than\nanother by which their descent is traced to a Roman legion\nwhich was lost in the desert. The real ancestry and history of\nthis race is one that might interest an ethnologist, and Colonel\nFaidherbe, in his valuable treatise on Senegal, throws out a\nsuggestion that they are the representatives of the people who\ninhabited Egypt at the remote era when her civilisation placed\nher at the head of cultivated nations.\nThe pure Negro races are the Malinke' and Soninke', who\ninhabit the country north of the mountainous districts where\nthe Niger, Senegal, and Gambier take their sources. This\ntract includes at least fifteen more or less considerable states,\nnamed Segou, Kaarta, Bakhounou, Beledougou, Ouli, Kan-\ntora, Bambouk, Bar, Niani, Badibon, Sagala, Kismis, Souli-\nmana, Limba, Timisso, Balea The languages they speak are\ndialects of the same tongue, showing that they are one race,\nand, notwithstanding great diversities of blood, infinite territorial divisions, caused by wars and political events, and the\nvarying names adopted by the fractions who speak the same\ndialect, it is evident that they belong to the same family. The\nmost numerous fraction of this race, which in our day forms\nthe most powerful state, gives the name to the whole, and is\nthat known to English geographers as Mandingoes, though the\nFrench, restoring to them the name by which they are known\namong themselves, designate them Malinke's. According to\nthe rules of the language, Mali-nke\" means an inhabitant of\nMali, an empire referred to by Arab historians of the Middle\nAges who have written of this part of Africa.\nUnder this general term, Malinke\", are classed the populations of Kaarta and Segou, their language being similar.\nFrench writers also attach to them as a branch of the same\nrace the widely-spread nationalities known at Senegal under\nthe name of Sarakholle, whose true name is Soninke-, but\nwhose common origin is attested by the similarity of their\nlanguages. In the Sarakholle* tongue, which, in this instance,\nas in numerous others, shows a similarity to the Mandingo\nlanguage, Soni-nke\" means a native of Soni. But the signification of the word Soni is lost, as in the case of Mali,\nand it is not known whether it is indicative of a country or\na people.\nmF'> \\\n,i||'-HHji\n!' iiP\nA Boat Cruise in Greenland.\nDY  CAPTAIN  J.   E.   DAVIS,   R.N.\nFR FDERICKSHAAB.\nThe morning of October the 17th was fine, with a northerly\nwind. We were up early, but the state of the ice outside was\nsuch as to prevent a start in the ship tor Julianashaab, so we\ntook to the boats, and after breakfast went on shore for our\nwomen crews\u2014men could not be spared\u2014but found that we\ncould not obtain the number to complete without going to the\nvillage of Quanbe. We then took four men, who were to go\nwith us to that place, and then return in their kyaks, which we\ntook in tow.   We also found that the oars of our boats were too\nlarge and heavy for the women, so we substituted some of their\nown regular women's oars for them. We took our own coxswains, and Stephen and another as pilots.\nAll being ready, we left Frederickshaab with three boats\nbefore eleven o'clock, with a parting cheer from those left\nbehind in the ship. Young and Woods were in one boat,\nColonel Shaffner and Dr. Rae in the second, and Von Zeilau\nand myselt in the third. Owing to a mistake in our order, the\nwhale-boat (with Rae in command), was not fitted with a sail;\nbut Rae, like a true traveller, was not to be stopped by trifles, 176\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nand started with a smoke-sail. I saw that he was very busy in\nthe boat, and in a short time up went another sail, and before\nthe day was out, by working up some pieces of old tent and\nsome sheets, he had contrived to make a very respectable sail,\nand could keep up with the other boats.\nWe sailed up the fiord, at times passing through thin ice,\nand at one in the afternoon rounded the east end of Quanoe,\nand ran into a small cove close to the village. With two\nexceptions we here completed our lady crews, and two young\ngentlemen were induced to go in the whale-boat, the other\nmen returning to Frederickshaab.  Major von Zeilau, with much\nfiords to the southward. On reaching the summit we found\nthat the northerly winds had driven the ice down against the\nsouthern sides of all the fiords, filling up Narsalik Fiord, and\nrunning a considerable distance to seaward.\nThe pilots advised our not proceeding further, as, if the\nboats got outside the ice, there was much doubt if they would\nbe able to get in anywhere, and with women in the boats that\nmight prove awkward, even if an advance had not been dangerous, so we returned to Krikertok and pitched our tents for\nthe night, the women taking up their quarters with their own\ncountryfolk in the huts.\n.-\nNEAR FREDERICKSHAAB,\npw\nkLij i, 1\nforethought and discrimination, had carefully selected the four\nbest-looking young women for our boat, although, by the way, one\nof them was a widow. Philipina was my after oar, Christina next,\nPhilipina (the widow) the third, and Juliana my bow-woman.\nWe did not remain long at Quanoe, but made sail across\nthe fiord. The view was very fine, the mountains coming\ndown with precipitous sides into the sea, the summits of\nsome of them obscured in mist and covered with snow, which\ngradually diminished down the sides.\nWe next ran through Kassuslob Channel \u2014 only about\ntwo hundred yards wide\u2014having the island of Kassusfjeld\non the right and the mainland on the left. Soon after\nfour, we passed the small village of Krikertok, eighteen\nmiles from Frederickshaab, and half-an-hour after landed\non the small island of Illuiluvsak, from the summit of which\nwe would be able to  see the  state  of the ice across the\nIn one of the houses we found Christina, the orphan girl\nwe \"had subscribed for to fit out in clothes at Frederickshaab.\nIt appears there had been some disagreement at the settlement\nbetween the governor and the pastor about the said little girl;\nShaffner had very kindly offered to give a sum of money to\nenable the child to be educated, and the pastor wished to\nkeep her at the settlement for that purpose, but Mr. Tweedie,\nthe Governor, opposed it on the ground that if the girl were\nkept at the settlement all her relations would want to be with\nher, and it is against the interests of the Royal Danish Company to allow more than a certain number to reside at the\nsettlement on account of the hunting and fishing; at all events\npoor Christina was sent off to her friends, and a great deal of\nill-feeling was occasioned by the kind offer of the colonel.\nWe selected a cleau spot of snow for our tents, and the\nwhole village turned out to assist in haulins\ng our boats up on A  BOAT CRUISE IN  GREENLAND.\nthe rocks, and carrying our\ngear.    We divided our party in\nwhich served for\nthe tents, and turned into our blanket-bags\nbed, bedclothes, &c I cannot say that sleeping was very\ngeneral, none of us having been accustomed of late to quite\nsuch hard beds, and towards the middle of the night the cold\nbecame severe, although only at 280; but what was most\nprovoking to me, when lying awake and shivering, was to hear\ni77\nAfter consultation, Young determined to return to the ship\nand attempt to get south in her, as it was hopeless to think of\ndoing it in the boats; so we started and made good progress\nwith the tide until we came to Kassuslob Channel.. Here we\nfound the current running about three knots, and we could see\nthe ice almost pouring into the fiord. It was as much as we\ncould do to get through the narrowest part of the channel, for\nGREENLANDERS.\none of our party snoring away as he would have done in a\nfeather bed, and I could not help growling out, \" That fellow\nwould sleep on the top of an iceberg.\"\nWe were not sorry at early dawn to be stirring. Breakfast,\nboats, and all were ready about the same time, and after\npartaking of the meal we went across to the same island we\nhad been to on the previous evening to look at the ice outside\nbefore venturing out. It had not altered much during the\nnight, and the coast was still unfit for boat navigation; the\nwater was tolerably clear outside the shore-ice, but the wind\nwas blowing' half a gale from the northward.\n263\u2014vol. vi.\nthe wind, having the whole fetch across the fiord, swept down\nvery strongly, and caused a sea against which it was hard to\npull.\nOur gallant crews behaved nobly, and we helped them by\ndouble banking the oars. We were anxious to reach Quanoe,\nas that was the only place we could stop at on our way without\nlosing ground by returning. A great quantity of ice was in the\nfiord, but all travelling fast south.\nAt one o'clock we got to Quanoe village, all very cold and\nwet; so benumbed did I feel that I selected the oldest woman\nof the Village, who had come down to see us land, and with\nm 178\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nWMi-\nUp;\nm\nl%\nher had a regular dance on the rocks, much to the astonishment and delight of all hands. The old lady stepped out\nbravely, and would have kept it up much longer than I could;\nand although we might somewhat have failed as to elegance\nand grace, the desired effect was accomplished, and I left off\nin a perfect glow from the exercise.\n' We pitched a tent, proposing only to rest and dine, but the\nwind increased to a gale, and a nasty short sea setting into the\nfiord, Young resolved to remain until it moderated, and if it\ndid not, to remain the night.\nA kettle mess of preserved meat, salt pork, and broken\nbiscuit soon made us feel comfortable, after which, seeing there\nwas no chance of the wind moderating, we removed the tents\nhigher up on to a smooth surface, and prepared for remaining\nthe night.\nVon Zeilau, who, in consequence of the cold, had passed a\nsleepless night, resolved to make himself more comfortable if\npossible, and accordingly took a lodge for the season; this\nwas a hut built with a few stones and roofed in with turf sods\nas a storehouse for fish. He cleared away until he got space to\nsleep, and having obtained some heather and laid some matting\nover, he made his bed. I could not make up my mind to\nshare his quarters, although invited to do so, the smell of the\nfish was too strong. He, however, went fast asleep, but previous\nto his retirement he and I indulged in a luxury not often\nenjoyed on a Greenland boating expedition, and had we been\npreparing for some great necromantic feat, we could not have\nattracted greater attention from the natives than we did when\npreparing for a wash, and as we made several of them useful on\nthe occasion, they were much pleased at the same time; one\nheld the soap, another a towel, while a third held a small\nlooking-glass, a fourth a comb, and so on with every article of\nour toilet, all of which we placed in their hands with becoming\ngravity. Having divested ourselves of our coats and broken a\nhole in the ice of a small lakelet, we proceeded to wash, and\nwhether the natives considered we were performing a religious\nceremony or not, I cannot say, but not one of them smiled\u2014it\nwas evidently something new to them; but when we took a\npannikin of water and began to clean our teeth, their astonishment was unbounded.\nDr. Rae went off shooting (he shot two ptarmigan), the\ncolonel, Woods, and myself, decided to pay a round of visits to\nthe inhabitants, and left the tents with that intention; but as\nwe found nearly all of them in the first house we went to, we\ndid not get further on our visiting excursion. The house was\ntjie schoolmaster's, the largest in the village ; it had a comfortable appearance, and there was a clock in it. We found our\nthree coxswains, our women-crews, and the villagers. Room\nwas made for us, but the space was very limited.\nShaffner, who was a Virginian and an Anti-abolitionist,\nand who would not, in the United States, have ridden in the\nsame car with a coloured man, was here seated alongside an\nEsquimaux, who was very dark and dirty, so I took the opportunity of testing the colonel's principles by asking him if that\nwere a man or a \" nigger \" sitting by him. The colonel looked\nDund at his dusky companion and was somewhat puzzled, but\nsoon found an answer : \" A man here, but worth 800 dollars in\nthe States.\"   The colonel had not travelled in vain.\nThe schoolmaster played the violin, so we insisted on a\ntune, and after that we had a song, and then several songs.\nRae joined us, and we remained until the place became so hot\nand steaming that we could scarcely breathe, so were obliged\nto get out quickly.\nI afterwards went into the house in which the old lady\nlived who had been my partner in the dance when we landed.\nShe invited me in, and also invited me to sleep there, but that\nI declined. No doubt I should have slept warmly enough, but\nI had not been long enough among the Uskees to overcome\nmy repugnance to the smell. I had also made my preparations\nfor sleeping in\" the tent; a baby was asleep on the platform,\nand I had evidently disturbed the slumbers of a fine little\nfellow about four years old, who got up inpuris naturalibus to\nlook at me.\nIt was nearly dark when I got back to the tent. I found\nthat the colonel had company, and they were singing and\nmaking merry; so I took a walk a little way above the village\nand looked down on it from a slight eminence. While standing\nthere I could not help thinking of the strangeness of the situation I found myself in. That day three months I had been\nbusy preparing for the reception of Her Majesty, and at that\ntime may be said to have been associated with the highest\nsociety; but here with the lowest\u2014as far as social position\nmay be considered\u2014in a cold bleak region, so different from\nthe one I had left; and yet there was a charm in it all that\ncauses me, even now, to recall that scene with pleasure, although\n'I am afraid the remembrance would not have been so pleasant\nif I had had to endure the discomforts of that kind of life for\nany length of time.\nI was aroused from my contemplation by a summons to a\ncup of hot coffee, which was very acceptable, after which\nseveral of our lady crew appearing at the door of the tent,\nwe invited them in, and again we sang, and they sang, and\nwe all sang until it was time to turn in.\nA more good-tempered, laughing, willing set than these\nUskee girls I never saw ; nothing appeared to put them out;\nthey did not feel cold (that might be expected); they pulled\nwell; they carried loads; they were willing to sit up all night\nlaughing and singing, or to go to sleep and be up with the\ndawn\u2014nothing came amiss to them, and yet with all their\nlove of fun, there was nothing of an approach to impropriety \u2022\nthey were never separate from each other, and being sans\ncrinoline, and wearing sealskin breeches, they were better\nenabled to run about and mix among men than\" they otherwise would have been. Their pay was at the rate of five\nDanish dollars a month, or eleven shillings and sixpence (we\npaid them six) and their food, which consisted of a little coffee\nand a few rusks daily, and anything else they could pick up\nalongshore.\nAt nine o'clock we said good-night and turned in. We had\ntaken the precaution to put oil coats and waterproofs round\nthe weather side of the tent to keepvthe cold wind out, but\nduring the night it shifted to the eastward and blew right in\nat the door of the tent; so, with the temperature at 220,\nwe found it extremely cold, but I slept more comfortably than\nI did the previous night. I have no doubt that at the end\nof a week I should have slept as comfortably as in my own bed.\nWe had kept our boats afloat ready for a start in the middle\nof the night, if the wind had moderated, and Young had taken\nthe precaution of having a watchman to look after them, and\nwell it was he did so, for when the wind shifted it brought\na quantity of ice down on the shore, and they would have\nbeen crushed had they not been hauled up in time. \"LONG TOM\"  GOLD-WASHING.\n179\nI got up about three o'clock to have a look at the weather.\nIt was not so dark but that I could see to some little distance\nclear of the island. A quantity of ice had come round the\nnorth point and set right into the bay, large masses were\nsetting out of the fiord past the island with such rapidity that\nit looked as if they were shooting a rapid. One cannot\nhelp being struck with astonishment at large masses being\nmoved by machinery which give one such an idea of its power,\nand can look with mute wonder at the eternal fall of Niagara\nor Montmorency; but nothing impressed me with so much\nawe as seeing these icebergs, weighing thousands of tons, rushing past the land, without apparent cause, at the rate of three\nor four miles an hour.\nI stood  some  time  watching  them, but the wind was\nso  cutting I was glad to creep back again into my blanket-\nbag.\nWith the natural feeling of an Englishman, and with no\nmore than five in a tent, I did not like coming in contact with\nmy neighbours, and during the first night no sooner did I\ntouch one than I hitched away as quickly as possible, but\nthis night I happened to roll down on the top of the colonel\nwithout waking, and found him so comfortable when I did\nwake, that I did not care to hitch myself away, and enjoyed\na nice sleep in consequence.\nWe were up a little after five, and fortunately found a small\nlane of water to the westward, which enabled us to launch the\nboats and get our traps in. Directly after breakfast we started,\nand, under sail and pulling, got on board our ship by nine o'clock.\n!W\n\"Long Tom\" Gold-Washing.\nMy first sight of \" Long Tom \" was in February, 1852. \" Long\nTom,\" though never lying in a cradle, owed its existence to the\ncradle, and was, in fact, the offspring of the cradle. The\nillustration (p. 181) gives a representation of \" Long Tom \" and\nthe important part played by the same in mining enterprises.\nThe earliest gold-mining was the extraction of the glittering\nmorsels from the sands of auriferous streams. This was first\neffected, doubtless, by the primitive process of fingers and\nthumb. The coloured beauty whose hair was decorated by\nthe pretty yellow grains must have been an object of envy\nto her sisters in the tribe, and nuggeting became a new\nand profitable industry. The calabash, or any dish contrivance, hastened the process of washing, and revealed many\na sparkling hider in the sand. The cradle was a great advance\nupon the dish, and saved a deal of back-bending. \"Long Tom \"\ncame as a more effectual worker. The trough could be placed\nin the way of running water, which would readily carry off\nthe lighter particles of the washdirt placed in the arms of\nI Long Tom,\" and so leave the precious remains at the bottom\nof the trough.\nThe river Loddon, in the colony of Victoria, was the scene\nof the first \" Long Tom \" brought under my observation.\nWhat a notable journey was that of our party from Melbourne to the Loddon! A bullock dray, and not a railway,\nwas then the order of the day. But a good-looking horse\nundertook to carry us up in a spring cart. How jubilant were\nour feelings as we rattled over the macadamised street! But\nat the town boundary our first troubles began, for there the\nmain road terminated, and a deep chasm opened to receive\nthe wheels. Three miles on, the first stream had to be crossed.\nThe driver, by useful engineering, and a liberal use of thong\nand entreaty, got the panting beast in safety to the other side.\nThe joys of the road were then our own. The \" swag\" of\nprovisions, picks, shovels, dishes, and camp ovens proved to\nbe quite enough for our horse, whose motions were henceforth\nslow enough to permit us to stroll at ease. The ungrateful\nbeast, not satisfied with our walking henceforth and always,\nresolved that we should share with him the toil of the | swag,\"\nand took to studious reflection in the deeper ruts and mire-pits,\nas well as to the ill-mannered habit of jibbing. Fearing the\nsafety of the vehicle on the steep and roadless slopes of the\nhills, where each one had to make his own track, we had the\ncomfort of hanging on to the shafts and pushing up behind.\nIt was in that early diggings' time when drays were occasionally a month or six weeks doing one hundred miles.\nAfter traversing the basaltic plains spreading from Port\nPhilip Bay to the ranges, we entered the gloomy and dreaded\nBlack Forest, which had just gained its murderous reputation.\nThe primitive digger can never forget that dozen miles' passage\nof horrors. The seemingly never-ending, short, abrupt rises,\nwith the slough of despond on either side; the trees, giving no\nshelter from sun or rain, but displaying their grim blackness,\nfrom the forest fires; the constant view of broken-down drays;\nthe repeated tale of sorrow\u2014from cursing carriers who had lost\ntheir bullocks, from limping swagsmen repenting of their\njourney, from unfortunates stripped by bandits in the woods\u2014\ntogether with the ever-present thought of some coming calamity,\nmade the Black Forest the bete noir of the early miners.\nEmerging thence, the basaltic country reappeared, with\nimproved landscape and a soil delighting everybody having\nfarming tastes. The magpie joyously cracked his jokes from\numbrageous trees, the bell-bird uttered his musical complaints\nbeside the streams, while the cheering note of the laughing\njackass beguiled the tired traveller as he prepared his evening\nmeal.\nMost libellous stories are told of Australian birds. The\n\"Kangaro.o-home\" has been even called the \"Songless Land.\"\nBut the feathered ones have their admirers.    The poet sings of\n\"The silver-voiced bell-birds, the darlings of daytime!\"\nSpeaking of the Australian October,\nyellow tresses,\" he adds :\u2014\n' the maiden of bright\n]%m\n\u25a044afl%,\n' Then is the time when the water-moons splendid\nBreak with their gold, and are scattered or blended\nOver the creeks, till the woodlands have warning\nOf songs of the bell-bird and wings of the morning.\" m\n180\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nIi\nIj\niisf:*H^iii si\nOver and over again, in my\" wanderings in the bush, have I\nbeen charmed and soothed by those songs.\n\"And softer than slumber, and sweeter than singing, -\nThe notes of the bell-birds are running and ringing.\"\nBut then there is the merry \" whistling-dick,\" so independently jovial. The Malurus family can boast of superb\nwarblers. Finches, peewits, honeyeaters, wattle-birds, larks,\nsandpipers, \" cobblers'-awls,\" robins, plovers, wrens, blue-eyes,\nfantails, \" poor-soldiers,\" rifle-birds, quails, and | coachwhips,\"\nhave distinctive notes to please as well as interest The black\npiping crow is quite musical. Then the parrots, whirling over\"\nthe head of the tourist, are not unwelcome for their cheery\nnotes, as well as for their rainbow hues. A flock of cockatoos\nwill break the monotony of travel with their screams, whilst the\nwhirring noise of the nightjar is not unpleasant to the belated\ntraveller, whose lonely camping is saluted by the suggestive\ncry of the \"more-pork,\" proceeding from that nocturnal bird.\nThe change of geology is accompanied by a change in the\nnatural history not less than in foliage. The heavy, heartless\nsand region is relieved by the shaggy-looking,. harsh-leaved,\nbottlebrush-flowered honeysuckle of the forest, which is the\nresort of crowds of chattering honeysuckers, that dip then\nbrush-like tongues into the sweet cups of this repulsive-looking\ntree. The waving acacia and the full-leaved, verdant black-\nwood, love the rich soils. While the swamp-gum prefers the\nflats of rivers, the gaunt and naked limbs of the stringy bark\nstretch over the shingle, grit, and hungry loams of sterile\nwastes. Though forests came in our way up, especially when\nin the ranges, we were not troubled with scrub; that impracticable plague of pedestrians is to be met with in the moist\ngullies of the higher ranges of Australia, as it is in the rain-\nfavoured Western Tasmania and New Zealand.\nCamping for the night in the bush is thought most jolly by\nthe \u00a7 new chum.\" He has a dim idea that he can sleep with\nperfect comfort on the green carpet of nature beneath the\ngenial skies of Australia. I cannot say my experience has\nbeen so happy as the \" new chum's \" dream. If the weather be\nfine (for it does rain in Australia sometimes), the first part of\nthe evening is jolly enough beside the roaring fire after supper,\nand in merry company; but before dawri one wakes too often\nto tuck the blanket or rug closer in to the person, while the\ndew may be unpleasantly heavy, and the fire need often\nreplenishing. A shower in the night riiay send a cold stream\ntrickling under the sleeper, and bringing rheurhatisrii with it.\nOne night we camped under our cart, in some fear of ruffianly\nneighbours, who had managed to get more rum.than was good\nfor them, and who warned off expectant robbers by a liberal\nand not too careful discharge of guns and revolvers.\nWe had the misfortune\u2014we and the jibbing horse\u2014to lose\nour way \"among the Jem Crow Ranges; they do \"jurn'p so\" that\nthey were rightly named. On another occasion I met with a\nmining wit in that neighbourhood, who undertook to explain,\non geological grounds,-the origin of Jem. Crow. \"Look you\nhere, mate,\" said he, \"you see these 'ere hills going nohow\nalways.\" As I admitted the fact, he proceeded with the\nlecture. \"Once upon a time, you-see,\"whemthey'd made all\nthe rest of the world, they found they'd a lot of stuff left, and\nso they chucked it down here anyhow.\"\nHow we did \"wheel-about and turnabout\" in that Jem\nCrow district 1   Our horse jibbed exasperatingly, and we had\nsuch a deal of shoving up behind to do. To make matters\nworse, while the wretched beast had a good stock of food in\nthe cart, we had by that time consumed all our store. The\nquartz-gravel strewn over the hills was not satisfying to the\nappetite; though, when the twenty-fourth hour of our forced\nabstinence arrived, we began to look desperately at the tough\nhide of the stringy bark trees.\nAll at once we came upon a well-defined track that must\nlead somewhere. The jibber was released from the shafts, and\none of the party mounted him for an exploration, taking a pair\nof awakening spurs for the occasion. We others made a fire,\nsat on a fallen tree beside it, said very little, but individually\nwondered whether that fire would have anything to cook, and\nif so, when ? At length a distant coo-ee was heard, and soon\nafter our friend was seen gallantly swinging a quarter of\nmutton, and bearing a white bag that was suggestive of flour.\nHow provokingly savage we were with that mutton! It was\nscarcely warmed through. As to the flour, we mixed a little of\nit with water in our frying-pan, gave it a stir with a stick, and\nlet it simmer awhile over the embers; then, half cooked as it\nwas, we greedily devoured the \" Johnny cake,\" pronouncing it\nthe sweetest we had ever tasted.\nUpon arrival at the banks of the Loddon, we found some\nhundreds of our interesting countrymen, not too foppish nor\neven clean in their person and dress, engaged in the supposed\nfeminine employments of rocking the cradle and washing.\nHow changed was that place from the quiet, sylvan scene\nMajor Mitchell discovered in 1835-6! Then only the wild\nman of the woods held dominion there, and curious kangaroos\nwere for the first time- made acquainted with the mystery of\nthe white man's smoke and thunder. The squatter drove his\nflock up to the.vaunted fertile plains of the flowing Yarrayne,\nor Loddon. There he continued, unmolested but by mutton-\neating, fox-nosed dingoes, and mutton-stealing black fellows,\ntill that still more to be dreaded irruption of diggers came. .\nThese soon changed this sylvan solitude, awakening it with\nechoes that were sometimes less musical than profane.\nGraceful trees were rudely felled, the greensward was ruthlessly torn away, the soil, never stirred by man before, was\nroughly hurled aside, and the crystal stream, that had hitherto\nonly laved a bank of flowers, was now fouled with yellow mud\nfrom cradles and \" Long Toms.\"\nWhat a merry rattle there was of stones in the hopper!\nThe cradle had a movable top of iron-plate with holes in it.\nWhen the wash-dirt was thrown into the hopper, water was\npoured in by means of a tin vessel fastened to the end of a\nwooden handle; then, while one hand rocked the cradle, a\nstick in the other beat the stuff in' the hopper to break the\nlumps of moistened clay, till' nothing Was left above but well-\nwashed stones, which were then pitched aside. The dirt\ndropped through the grating, and bars across the bottom of\nthe cradle caught the heavier particles of gold, whilst sand and\nsmall pebbles were washed over the ridges. The cradling was\nstopped for the extraction of the deposit; this was put into a\ntin dish, carried to the. stream, and washed with a peculiar\nrotatory movement of the dish, till all the weighty black iron-\nsand passed over the rim, and left the clear, bright yellow\ngrains, spangles, or dust, to reward the rocker. \"Long Tom\"\ndid a similar work. A man stood by with a shovel to keep\nthe stuff moving, and to cast out the cleansed stones.\nIt was a beautiful metamorphosis that was produced by \"LONG TOM\"  GOLD-WASHING.\n181\nthis washing. Who that was not in the secret would suspect\nsuch a revelation of glittering gold from that heap of dirt?\nWhen I was by the Loddon, there was a certain old man, once\nbelonging to the Emerald Isle, who could not possibly understand the operation. Arriving one evening, he noticed the\ncare taken of a little heap of earth near the tent, and, upon\nasking for information, was told that it held some gold.' The\nold fellow looked at it, poked it about, and looked at it again.\nHe was sure he could see no gold at all. \"Put on your\nglasses, daddy!\" shouted one. He put on his spectacles and\nhad a further search, but with no more golden result.    He\nthey rocked gently, patiently, and perseveringly, and realised'a\ncapital return for their venture. All over old diggings the\nrefuse of cradles and \"Long Toms\" was afterwards thrown\ninto the wide pit of the puddling machine.\nThis was the washer that improved upon \" Long Tom.\" At\na distance it has the appearance of a horse-mill. A circular\nwooden basin, nearly a dozen feet in diameter, is constructed\nof rude slabs of wood; to a strong upright in the centre rakes\nare attached, which revolve with it as the arm turns by means\nof a horse walking round beyond the area. One person is\nengaged keeping the machine filled with auriferous wash-stuff\nHi\nill\n'LONG TOM     AT WORK.\n*s^s\nmade himself merry at the expense of his deluded friends. In\nthe morning some of the dirt was put into a dish and given to\nthe Irishman, who was instructed in the mystery of washing.\nWhen, at last, this seeming goldless deposit showed the\ntreasure, the.astonished old man exclaimed, \"Then sure the\ndivil himself came in the night and put it there.\"'\nWe were clumsy, careless washers in those primitive times;\nwe too often gave the cradle a rock too much, and pitched\nout the gold with the sand as the dirtied current flowed away.\nDesperate workers with the \" Long Tom\" were surprised to find\nsuch small results from their own labours, while quieter toiling\nneighbours were seen putting lots of gold from the trough into\nold wooden matchboxes, the caskets of the day. When,\ntherefore, Europeans had exhausted the wash-dirt of a locality,\nthe cunning, oblique-eyed Mongolians crept to the spot, dug\nout the washed stuff, put it again through the cradle, which\ndug from the neighbourhood. Water is kept flowing into the\nvessel, while the motion given to the rakes keeps the material\nin a state of working sludge; this process goes on with fresh\nwash-dirt, the ingress of fresh water, with the outflow of the\nbefouled liquid. The wooden bottom is riiade rather concave,\nso that while the earth is washed off &e gold may be retained\nbelow. At the end of a week or so the work is suspended,\nand the bottom is cleaned out for the gold.\nThe puddling machine, as a washer, is in its turn distanced\naltogether by the hydraulic process, which I have seen at work\nin the Sierra Nevada of Western America, but which is also\nemployed by the Australian miners, who are indebted to\nCalifornia for \"Long Toms,\" puddling machines, and.Cali-\nfornian pumps.\nTo support the hydraulic action, extensive companies are\norganised for the supplying of water, which is paid for at a l82\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nili'pi\nfixed rate by the consumer, according to the hose used by the\nminer. The flumes along which the water is conveyed are\noften many miles in length. When on the Pacific Railway, I\nwas repeatedly borne beneath the flumes. Hydraulic claims\nneed be up among the hills, as a fall is essential to give force\nto the water, whose pressure, according to a well-known law of\nhydraulics, is according to elevation and the surface upon\nwhich it acts.\nPipes of several inches in diameter\u2014as much as twelve to\ntwenty inches\u2014are made to fit into an iron box strong enough\nto resist the enormous pressure; flexible tubes of lesser size\nare connected with the box, and are held by sturdy miners\nwhen directed against a wall of earth. In this way it is not\nnecessary to dig down some twenty to fifty feet, or more, to\nreach the auriferous wash-dirt; but the hydraulic pressure is\nsufficient to tear down the whole depth at once. Arrangements are made, as in the cradle system, for bars in the course\nof the sludge to retain the heavier golden grains. Such a\nmining claim must be of great extent, so as to allow for trie\ndeposition of the finer gold.\nSome time ago it was calculated that there were in California eight thousand miles of fluming, costing twenty million\nof dollars. By this system of sluicing most effectual work is\nperformed, leaving little puddling to be done by the succeeding\ngeneration. At Ballarat, in Victoria, the charge for water is\ndependent upon the number of men in a claim, being about\n\u00a35 a day for a party of five. With a fall of fifty feet the\nstrength of the discharge turned upon a man would kill him\nimmediately. With a hundred superficial inches of water, a\ngreat many cubic yards of auriferous earth can be washed in a\nday by three men. Some sluices use 200 inches, and keep at\nwork night and day. If one bushel of stuff produces but\none-twentieth part of a grain of gold, the hydraulic process will\npay well in California. It is said that a pressure of a thousand\ninches is now brought to bear in a stream of six inches,\nyielding a prodigious force, sufficient, literally, to carry off a\nmountain into the sea.\nAnglo-Saxon energy and skill have strangely altered the\nsystem of gold-washing that prevailed in Brazil, and which was\nat first adopted by Californians. In Mr. Mawe's work we\nhave the following account of the process pursued after the\nfirst rude precipitation:\u2014\" For this purpose, wooden bowls\nare provided, of a funnel shape, about two feet wide at the\nmouth, and five or six inches deep, called gamellas. Each\nworkman, standing in the stream, takes into his bowl five or\nsix pounds weight of the sediment, which generally consists of\nheavy matter, such as oxide of iron, pyrites, ferruginous quartz,\n&c, of a dark carbonaceous hue. They admit certain quantities of water into the bowls, which they move about so\ndexterously that the precious- metal, separating from the\ninferior and lighter substances, settles in the bottom of the\nvessel.\"\nGold-washing has seriously interfered with the purity of\nstreams, and the comfort offish and men. Geological changes\nare being thereby effected; for rivers, finding their old beds\nfilled up with material, have to make new courses for themselves, while ports are exposed to serious risk of being choked\nup by the sediment thus brought down. Some alarmists are\nalready calculating upon the number of years required by the\nhydraulic hose to fill up the Bay of San Francisco, and close\nthe Golden Gates.\nBut gold-washing in the olden times of the diggings was\naccompanied by circumstances that gave some romance to the\ntrade. My two mates were my own medical man and the\nnephew of my lawyer; my near tent neighbour was a member\nof the Colonial Legislature, who rather luxuriated in the dirty\ndiscomforts to which he was exposed. Our living was hard\nenough, for food was not only dear, but difficult to obtain,\nunless it were mutton and beef. I have paid half-a-crown for\na loaf of bread; but then there was only one baker. In winter,\nthe flour sold at the rate of two shillings a pound because of\ncarriage. As a rule we made damper or \" Johnny cakes \" of\nflour. The meat was converted into chops and steaks, or\nbaked in a tripod oven amidst glowing embers. Our bedsteads\nwere slab shelves or home-made stretchers; only the luxurious\nindulged in a straw mattress; sheets were not dreamed of.\nExpenses were heavy enough outside. I have paid nine\nshillings for a small vessel of drinking water. My first load of\nwash-stuff cost thirty shillings for cartage to a water-hole for\nwashing. But fresh air, hard work, simple diet, and jovial\nsociety brought health to many a delicate dweller of cities.\nSong-singing was a common evening's diversion around the\nforest fire. \"A good time is coming, boys,\" was an especial\nfavourite, for it was soundly believed in. This is part of\nanother popular ditty of 1852 :\u2014\nI With spades and picks we work like brick's,\nAnd dig in gold formation ;\nAnd stir our cradles with short sticks\nTo break conglomeration.\n\" This golden trade doth not degrade\nThe man of information,\nWho shovels nuggets, with the spade,\nOf beauteous conformation.\n\" What mother can her infant stock\nView with more satisfaction,\nThan we our golden cradles rock,\nW hich most love to distraction.\n\" We dig and delve from six to twelve,\nAnd then, for relaxation,\nWe wash our pans and cradles shelve,\nAnd turn to mastication.\"\nThe gold-washing locality of the Loddon had an evil reputation in those ante-police days. Such names as \" Murderer's\nFlat\" and \" Choke 'em Gully\" had an awkward significance.\nFor myself I can say that, knowing them both\u2014flat and gully\u2014\nI was never molested, and never felt in fear. The sly grogshops were the seats of crime. Men under the inspiration of\nliquor, jocosely termed brandy, boasted of their wealth, and\nshook their nugget-holding matchboxes or wash-leather bags.\nWhen afterwards making their way to their tents, the boasters\nmight be relieved of their gold-dust, and have a broken head\nin the bargain.\nAll was not dark at the gold-washing in those ancient\ntimes. Though the roughs, free from the official surveillance\nof Sydney and Hobart Town, played a few pranks for awhile,\norder was never seriously disturbed. Sunday, from the very\nfirst, was observed as a day of rest; public sentiment sanctioned\nno work, but prescribed shirt-washing and elaborate cooking.\nAfter a time, preachers found their way up to the gold-fields;\nand mounted a stump. The Bishop of Melbourne had a\nmonster umbrella, under which he performed service to miners\nlounging upon the turf or sitting upon fallen trees. I heard\nhim thus deliver an admirable and most appropriate discourse. iip\nRAMBLES  IN ROME.\n183\nBut our chief instructors were diggers themselves, who were\nenrolled Wesleyan local preachers.\nNobody in those days had a dream of quartz-crushing; it\nwas nothing but gold-washing. In common with others, I used\nin my leisure to go and knock off pieces of auriferous quartz\nfrom the so-called Specimen Hill, which afterwards became\na profitable scene of crushing labour. Among the earliest\npictures of gold-washing that I remember was the following\nburlesque, entitled \"Symptoms of Insanity,\" and contained in\na Geelong paper, of September, 1851 :\u2014\n11. Rising early and proceeding to the creek, pulling the\nstones about, and washing the sand and gravel, then placing it\nin a box resembling a cradle, imagining the stones and sand to\nbe a child of earth with golden hair; rocking the child to sleep;\nthen taking the mud and gravel out and putting it into an\nexpecting dish, mixing it with water and shaking it, all the while\nlooking at the slush with the fondest solicitude for its safety;\nultimately throwing it away with disgust, and assuming the'\nappearance of intense disappointment.\n12. Repeating the above strange proceeding day by day.\n\"3. Troubled sleep at night, with frightful dreams of being\npelted by Midas with lumps of gold, upwards of 106 lbs.\nweight [alluding to the first-found great block], and being\nunable to pick them up, or of smaller nuggets sticking anywhere but in your breeches pocket.\"\nAlthough alluvial gold-washing is now of less consequence\nthan the work of quartz-crushing, yet the old Australian days\nof surface washing, and the institution of cradles and \"Long\nToms,\" with the utter transformation of colonial society, will\nnot be forgotten; nor can their influence upon civilisation\nand true progress be remembered without pleasure and\ngratitude.\nRambles   in   Rome.\u2014\/.\nBY A.   CUST,   M.A.\nSo rapid is the march of modern affairs, that the lapse of only\na few years may suffice to give to the traveller's recollections\nof a place an historical aspect, and separate him by an\nimpassable gulf from all subsequent visitors of the same place.\nA change of government, or a great war, may impart a totally\nnew character, and create a fresh set of impressions to affect\nthe observer. There can be few cities to which these remarks\nhave been more frequently applicable than to Rome. The\nvisitor to Rome, when she lay under the dominant sway of\na single ambitious mind, must have felt incapable of realising\nher state of free republicanism; and the same may be said of\nAthens; while the man who had seen either town in its time\nof self-governed independence would be stored with impressions which the other would either wholly miss or pick up imperfectly at second hand and from history. The Rome of the\nPopes is now as much a thing of the past as the Rome of the\nCaesars. Both have fallen, dragging with them and shaking\nto pieces in their ruin ten thousand associations which had\ngrown up round them from remote ages, clinging more and\nmore closely as tradition was heaped on tradition, and idea\nmoulded by idea, till Time's handiwork, seen in a tottering\npinnacle here and a crumbling stone there, unloosened and\nset free many a straggling and high-climbing thought, as the\nfinal catastrophe drew nigh. Men's minds, however, may be\never so much unsettled and prepared for a change by signs or\nwarnings, and yet it may not be till after the irrevocable event\nthat it is realised how all their associations twined around the\npast. Rome and the Papal Government were intimately\nconnected in every one's mind, and could not be separated\nwithout an effort, and those who put off till too late, or were\nunable to carry out a visit to that place, woke up to the consciousness that they would now never be able to compare\ntheir ideas with the reality, or deepen their associations by\npersonal observation. Doubly precious, then, to the more\nfortunate travellers will be their recollections, as not only\nenriching their own mind with a vivid picture, but supplying\nsenses, as it were, to others by which to gather freshness of\ndetail.\nBut it is not only when Time rudely jostles with his chariot-\nwheels a fabric of historical growth that he gives signs of his\npassage: on many a turning of the road, on many a stone,\ndoes he imprint traces of his flight, nor, indeed, it may be\nsafely asserted, does he leave any part of the route which he\nhas traversed exactly the same as before.\nIt is not only Rome herself, her people, her streets, her\nlife, that will be seen in a different aspect now from what\npresented itself a few years ago; but among other changes\nof smaller import, the approach to her, new facilities having\nsince sprung up, will\u2014if time be an object\u2014be made by a\ndifferent route from that which the present writer was forced\nto adopt. In 1866, tunnel had not robbed the Alpine\npass of its difficulty and grandeur, nor had railway beaten\ndown to ordinary dimensions the unique and romantic beauties\nof the Cornice Road. There were, moreover, no through\ntrains, and the connecting-links in Italy were uncertain. As\ntime with us happened to be precious, and we were anxious,\nif possible, to arrive in time for a certain Church festival, we\nfound that our only course was to embark at Marseilles for\nCivita Vecchia.\nThere are many, perhaps, who may still select this route\nfor its own sake : my best wish for such will be that they\nmay share the luxuriant beauty of the weather which made\nour slow passage a time of peaceful enjoyment.\nMany an East Indian will have in his memory a vivid\npicture of the wearisome railway journey from Paris; and this\ncan well be left to the imagination of my readers. The better,\nhowever, the latter realise the troubles of the train, the more\nrefreshing picture will they be able to conjure up of the blue\nwaves of the Mediterranean. But here I must cruelly repress\nthe fancy which I have myself almost already set afloat.    To\nra sfflr\nI\nmm\nIH.....\n'iFiii,,\nt\u00ab>\u00ab!fii y\nEstill\niijP\n184\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\ngain blue waves or any otherwise-coloured waves, a certain\namount of inquiring after boats, and wharfs, and times, is\nrequisite. And the dustier and more tired you are, the more\nbrightly gleam the glimpses of the cool sea you catch from the\nscorching streets, the more precious your time\u2014but I forget, we\nstarted with the supposition that your time was not particularly\nprecious, or you would have selected some other route\u2014so\nmuch the more, you resent the imperturbable laziness, the vexatious delays that beset your'path, and pervade the atmosphere.\nI will suppose you, by a mighty effort, to have discovered and\n\"Dinner?\" \"Two beds?\" and the like, are of no avail, and\nfrom whom\u2014if in reply to your eager question whether you\nhave time to get dinner before the boat starts, he has not\nrejoined with alacrity, \" Dinner! Oui, Monsieur, toute suite,\"\u2014\nyou may succeed in eliciting the information that he does not\nthink that any boat starts that night, or till a comfortable\nhour the. next morning. But can he find out for certain I\nHe does not know, but one will tell you at the port, and shall\nhe call the commissionaire to show you the way ? And before\nyou can answer a word, I can see him  dexterously slipping\njggrrRV^\nDBE32!\n5B\niEgS52jj|}!;\n\u00a3\nTSSSSij. t.\nHSffi\n*353\n1^^^^. s 3Lia pji'ea )ai\/-j r 1 i\"ssvi\u00abi'AE\u00abc.wvi\u00bb -n cQ-awiHtiaiii^^\nPORTO MAGGIORE,   ROME.\nrescued your luggage, and escaped, with temper indeed ruffled,\nbut not an item of your possessions missing or rifled, from the\nstation, and to be hurrying to the hotel\u2014there was only one,\nI believe, but it was a good one\u2014with a sort of notion\n(whether Bradshaw-imbibed or not, my wish to do justice to\nthat most useful work, and my imperfect memory, lead me\nto prefer leaving an open question) that a start may be made\nthat night, and full if not with the particular, at any rate with\nthe general, British idea of saving time.* I will further grant\nthat, arrived there, you have succeeded, amid the influx of\nfresh arrivals, in securing a waiter all to yourself, who will\ncondescend to listen to your broken French\u2014I beg your\npardon, I keep confusing you with myself\u2014after he finds\nthat   his   English    interruptions   of    \"Baggage    upstairs?\"\n* We left Paris at 7.45 p.m., arrived at Marseilles next day at I p.m.,\nand left at S a.m.\noff and his place taken by the smiling and ready commissionaire, with whom, moreover, you have the advantage of\nconversing in your native tongue. It is the habit of these\nEnglish-speaking gentlemen to assent, in some common\nphrase, to everything you say, whether they understand it or\nnot, and the traveller thinks he is getting on swimmingly till\nhe finds, when he forces a direct answer to a proposed dilemma\nfor which monosyllables and smiles avail not, that his obliging\nfriend has been totally ignorant of what he was talking-\nabout. You are informed, then, by this worthy, in reply to the\nquestion at what time the steamer starts, that he knows where\nthe boat starts from, and will be happy to conduct you there.\nDisgusted with everything, you now resolve to find your\nway alone, and step out into the street with its nothing-to-do\ninhabitants thronging the way, or basking in the sunshine.\nYou have not, however, shaken  off the attentions of your mm\nMl SiT\nRAMBLES  IN  ROME.\nwould-be conductor; with confidence\" still unimpaired, and\nbland politeness, as much at your service as ever, he dogs your\nfootsteps and it is only when the way is far gone that determined efforts make him understand that \"monsieur\" is not in\nthe humour- to be trifled with, or, what is more to the point\n185\nof a division of the road to plant himself firmly and in a\ndefiant attitude, in the branch of the road which they were\ngoing to take; the guide noted his threatening manner took\nthe hint, and went off. Another time the same friend was\nleft in charge of his companions' seats in a railway carriage \u2022\nV\nM\nS^E^ES^T.\nm*\n^ISia\nSB-\nSEg\n*m\nBe\nikSl\ni\nm\nml\nw.m\nfm\nm^3'\nTHE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN AND ST.  PAUL,   ROME.\nto give him anything. These men arc endued with admirable perseverance and patient endurance of rebuffs. A\nfriend of mine, who did not understand a word of any foreign\nlanguage, was travelling with two companions who were better\noff in that respect, and 'to whom, accordingly, in ordinary\nmatters, he left all transactions with the natives. On one\noccasion, however, when they were followed pertinaciously by\na guide, and all linguistic persuasions were insufficient to\ninduce the latter to turn back, my friend took the opportunity\n264\u2014vol. vi.\nhow much he was beset by chattering foreigners I know not,\nbut he stood at bay in front of the seats, and they were vacant\nwhen his friends returned. The best story, however, which\nthe party brought back with them was that in one of the towns\na cicerone persisted in following and plaguing them, and\nturning a deaf ear to all remonstrances, till at last one of them,\nhaving in vain exerted all his eloquence, losing patience\nbroke out, in German, into such vituperation as he could command, hurling at his head, \" Donner und Blitzen '.\" and finishing\nlift\nill.\nIJili] i8\u00a3\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nt&s\nhim off in decisive vehemence with \" Gehen Sie zum Teufel!\"\nThe guide, who had hitherto, from motives of remunerative\npoliteness, kept up the conversation in German, looked at him,\nand said with quiet emphasis, laying stress on the first word,\n\"Allright, sir!\" and walked away.\nHaving shaken off your guide, and found the jetty and the\nboat, you will find things in much the same lazy condition as\nin the town. If you succeed in finding anyone on board, or if\non board not asleep, you will learn that nobody ever dreamed\nof there being any hurry \u2022 there was never any thought of starting before to-morrow morning; so you had better stroll leisurely\nback and join the basking folk in the town, who know the habits\nof the place far better than any \"Bradshaw \" can teach you. As\nyou leisurely return, no doubt your steps will be quickened by\nthe more and more substantial proportions continually assumed\nby the idea of a comfortable repast, thrusting out the host\nof grievances as it expands; and that successfully accomplished, you may not improbably find yourself strolling out into\nthe street and surveying matters in general with infinite satisfaction, assuredly convinced that basking was part of the\noriginal fitness of things, and finally ending your wanderings in\nthe tempting casino over the way.\nLet not, however, all be Capua. With me you will ere\nthis have often turned a wistful eye to the hill above the town\nwith its little chapel crown. With me you will have instinctively\nfelt that this point once attained, human wishes could soar no\nhigher; that from this spot alone would your eye be satisfied\nwith a vista of town, and land, and sea. You will not only\nhave this intuition yourself, but will have been exercising your\ndiplomatic art to seize a favourable moment to impress the\nsame on your companion; delicate hints, carefully thrown out,\npatient submission to incredulity or disapproval will have\nformed the staple of your thoughts or conversation, from the\nmoment when you turned your back on the sleeping steamer.\nI will picture you, however, successful, not only conjuring\nyour friend, reluctantly persuaded at length, that it is just the\nthing to give him an appetite for his dinner, threading winding\nstreets and ways to the base of the hill, and whiling him on and\non and up and up, eloquently supported in your arguments or\nrepresentations by joyful sunbeams and glittering water, and\ngentle sea-breeze unknown to the lower regions; but finally\nemerging on the tops panting and perspiring with a triumphant\nj There ! I told you so !\"   And your friend sitting down and\nopening out his heart to the glorious view as breadth and\nexpanse and distance break in upon him, and really sharing in\nyour enthusiasm; but, partly to avoid stultifying himself, partly\nwith a wholesome dread of creating a precedent, contenting\nhimself with the remark, \" Well, it's not so bad when you are\nonce there !\"   And truly it is one of those scenes that does\none good to gaze on.    The town and its crowded harbour lie\nstretched at our feet, basking in the sunshine in blissful ignorance of the kind breeze that is fanning our brow.    Behind us\nretires the broad vale that embosoms and sets far on its way\nthe railroad to Paris; in front the wide glittering sea, joyously\ntossing itself, nay, actually quivering in every ripple with- delight\nin the glowing sunlight, playing merrily with the islets which it\nfondles to us breast, and ever and anon in glee imprinting on\nthem a kiss with white-foaming smile, or losing itself in dim\nblue distance far away to the right in faithful companionship\n.with the gently-trending coast.\nBut   why   do  our   eyes so   often turn  with  ling   \"\n?ermg\nglances to the islands embosomed in sparkling brightness?\nAre they not all sunshine and mirth, or do other memories\nstruggle to invest them with a sadder tinge, memories of dark\nprisons and blighted lives, memories of iron masks and Monte\nChristo-like adventures ?\nLet us, however, leave the tiny boats which appear to be\ncarrying the more curious to a nearer inspection of them, and\nturn into the chapel. Madonna of St. Lazarus, grateful landmark to the storm-beaten mariner ! How joyfully he must have\nhailed thee, how eagerly he must have watched for the first\nglimpses of thy shrine that shall assure him he is nearing home;\nhow fervently, when wrapped in the murky tempest, when life\nis in the balance, must he, almost picturing thy form hovering\nnear him in the mist, pour forth from his heart to thee his humble\nvows, and then when safe at last, with what manful strides must\nhe breast the hill to pay thee homage, and hang his votive\npicture on thy walls ! With hundreds of such humble offerings\nare the walls crowded, and the imagination would find it a\ndifficult task to realise only a small portion of the sufferings or\ndeliverances thus piously chronicled.\nBut the reader will by this time be as impatient to be afloat\nas we were on our arrival. Well, then, we are steaming slowly\nout of the harbour, and then along the coast to the left, past\nthe mysteriously-storied islands, still along the coast, rounding\nfirst one point, then another, and opening out a fresh romantic\nand rocky bay, as the last retires from view; nor is it till evening dusk that we begin to sheer out and slowly make the main.\nAll has been bright and blue around us, till with the slanting\nsun headlands and islands begin to sink into obscurity. Before\nus stretches the vast unknown in dim blueness; behind, a\nglimmering-haze of light, which is moulding into one bright\nindefiniteness, water and coast-line. Dimmer and dimmer\ngrows the distance, and brighter and brighter the haze in the\nquiet calm which alone the unthinking paddles with sacrilegious\nplash disturb, till at last,1n one glorious ecstasy of radiance, the\nprone sun dips his last spark beneath the wave, and distant\ncoast or isle stand out clear and dark against the gleaming sky,\nwhile the evening chill creeps on, and at length, with reluctant\ngaze around, we retire below.\nHaving at this stage a little leisure, let us hope that a meal\nis going on, which though of the greasy kind, will at any rate\nbe plentiful, and no doubt the keen night air will not have left\nus very particular.    Not so, however, one of the passengers,\nwho stays persistently on deck or in his berth, disdainfully\nslighting the repast and the olive-eating company, while his servant provides him with his wants.  He is the onlv other Englishman on board, and we took note of him from the first, as there\nwas some difficulty about getting his hunters on board.    He is\nof course, the \"milord\" of the occasion; but to us his companionship is pleasant; and, as he has spent several hunting\nseasons in Rome, the information he is able to give is attractive\nThe discomforts of hammocks and such matters over, we go on\ndeck to find another glorious morning, but our way only half accomplished. The steamer we are in is one of a slow-going French\nhne, and small and uncomfortable withal.    It was curious to\nnotice, and flattering to our maritime character, that the words\nof command to the engineer were given in English, and \u00ab Stop\nner !      Ease her!\" had a quaint sound from foreign lips.    We\nsee that we have another day before us; but what is that\nland that stands out so bold, and bolder and bolder as we advance?   It is Napoleon's island birthplace; and we are off RAMBLES  IN ROME.\n187\nm\nCape Corso, while the romantic Capreja occupies the attention\non the left. We wind round, we examine each rocky point\nand deep gully as, seemingly one mountain mass, Corsica frowns\nat us, leaving scarcely margin enough at its feet for a town to\nstand on, nestling at the foot of the hills.\nGradually we leave it behind, and other islands come into\nview, between or among which we steer our course. The most\nremarkable of these isElba, which presents endless varietyrof form\nas we move round it, making permanent recognition of its chief\nmountains or features a puzzling task to the sketcher. The\neye ranges from base to summit, over every variety of jutting promontory or broken retiring valley; and, as the broad fertile bay\nwhich forms the whole of the side first opposed to us, fringed\nwith its background array of mountain tops or ridges, slowly\nretires and is suddenly lost behind the long pointed headland\nwhich bounds it on the left, the peaks, till now seen in profile,\nleap into sudden and unexpected forinations, afterwards reforming on the other front, and marshalling their crests and towers\nin a new and imposing array.\nVery pretty these islands look, and endless the variety of\ninterest they afford, whether some historical association stirs\nthe mind, or the eye dwells on the changes which outline and\ncolouring undergo, with the varying distance or position with\nrespect to the sun's light. Now they revel in beautiful hues,\nnow drape themselves in a mistier grey, or again, as the evening approaches, are pencilled out in mysterious outline and\ndark purple against the illumined atmosphere, every uncertain\ndistance becoming certainty, and remote Sardinia herself\nmaking bold to lift up to view her pale peaks. But soon all\nour interest centres on the coast of the mainland, which we\nare nearing and gliding along. We have passed Cape Troja, and\nthe last sun's ray sees us making for Cape Argentario. Every\nheadland rounded seems to bring us nearer to our longed-for\ndestination. We are to be there to-night; dim ideas even of\nbeing able to get on to Rome without delay float through our\nmind\u2014of being yet in time for the midnight service under the\ndome of St. Peter's, due arrival for which we thought that we\nhad nicely calculated when we left England. Let the reader\ntake warning, or he will find with us that he has been reckoning\nwithout his host.\nIt was in the cold moonlight, at ten o'clock on Christmas\nEve, that we steamed into the harbour of Civita Vecchia.\nIslands and sunset effects had long faded from the eye, and all\nwas merged in pale glistening light, or colourless, heartless\nshade. Strangely gleamed the silent town and white harbour\nwalls as we approached; so quiet was all, we might have been\nentering a port of the dead; furtively, almost noiselessly, we\nstole rather than glided in, no one to notice us, no one to hail\nus, till we came to our moorage, and lay dead and quiet\nourselves, as if struck by the death-like spirit of the place-as\nif adding another phantom ship to the phantom fleet around,\nover whose lifeless shapes weird moonbeams were treading\ntheir ghastly dance. .\nSo we, too, creep down to our berths and join the universal\nslumber. We aroused ourselves, however, betimes, and hastened on deck, eager to disembark. The moonbeams, indeed,\nhad flitted themselves off, but their spell seemed to linger\nbehind. There were no signs of landing-there was no prospect of doing so for some time yet. Certain officials had to be\nroused on land before operations could even commence;\nbesides, what was the hurry?   Who on earth wished to land,\nor thought of hurrying, except a couple of foolish Britishers ?\nLook at \" milord,\" he had not yet left his berth, and was not\nthinking of doing so; no, he knew better. On the whole it\nwould be the best plan for the aforesaid Britishers to sneak downstairs, tail between legs, and get into their berths again. When\nthe great functionaries on land had finally got out of bed,\nshaved, washed\u2014but here I feel that my veracious history is\npassing into romance\u2014not till then did they arrive at the conclusion that they might as well be thinking of putting off to the\nsteamer. When this idea had been carried into execution;\nwhen thereupon had ensued and been transacted certain\nformalities; when each of us had received his lascia passare,\nwhich was obtained only after some delay, caused by the necessity of the document in question being signed by the cardinal\nin residence, whose reverence, if I remember right, we had\nbeen informed was at present engaged with his devotions, and\nit was a matter only for conjecture when these would be\nconcluded; then, and then only, were we permitted to land,\nfollowing in the wake of \" milord,\" who by this time was on the\nalert, and who proved of service to us in seeing us safely\nthrough the remaining red-tape; indeed, I am not sure that it\nwas not owing to his good offices and acquaintance with the\ncardinal which justified, him in intruding our mundane wants\non the \"good man's ears, that we were enabled to leave the\nship at the early hour of half-past eight.\nThe train was now our concern; but there was no hurry;\nit would not start for a long time yet, in fact, not till nearly\nhalf-past two in the afternoon; and meantime we should have\nplenty of time to look about us. So, after breakfasting at the\nstation, we sallied forth. This being the first time that our\nfootsteps had been planted on Italian soil, we eyed with\ncuriosity the little pent-up fortification-enclosed hat-box (I beg\nits pardon) of a town, with its fair and compact external aspect,\nand its internal array (excepting the open spaces on the side of\nthe harbour and railway) of one respectable street and the rest\npacked in squalid misery, heaven knows where. It was now,\nhowever, lifeless and empty, everybody being doubtless at\nmass, a short visit to which we were feign to accept in lieu of\nSt. Peter's. Was then the train also waiting for mass to be\nover before it started ? Possibly; and, perchance, considering\nin whose dominions we now were, the signature of his reverence\nmight again be requisite ere it was finally set in motion.\nHowever, time must be employed, and so, leaving the good\npeople to their ceremonies and noisy music, we strolled into\nthe country. Our first walk on classic ground! The very soil\nseemed to be sacred under our feet, and every turn of the road\nabout to reveal some monument of antiquity. I am not aware,\nhowever, that we discovered any certain relics, or noted any-\nthing definite, except that the sun was blazing overhead in a\n'fiery fashion quite contrary to English traditions of Christmas\nDay Yes! we came across one object that interested us\nmuch, and caused us to speculate freely-a fine old aqueduct\nin a grass-field by the road, spanning a ravine, and then apparently continued underground, with masonry projecting above\nthe surface at intervals, the object of which we did not understand, in the direction of the town. At length we are off!\nOur feelings had by this time become so dead and passive that\nI remember nothing of our start or manner of going, except my\nown feeling that we were moving through the heart of the old\nRoman Empire, that those barren hills were the outskirts_ of\nold Etruria, and that every road in sight might be the lingering\nm i88\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\n1\n'HPC'lil!\nremains of Roman work in days gone by. If this was my\nframe of mind on the way, my condition may be pictured when\nwe neared the imperial city herself.\nThe approach to Rome by rail, however, is not satisfactory;\nit would, perhaps, be difficult to make it less so, on this side\nat any rate.    To enter Rome with due regard to feeling and\nanticipation, the traveller should halt at some station near, and\ntake the road.   A route might then be selected which would\ngive vent to expectant feelings, and convey tolerably faithful\nfirst impressions.   When I come to think of it, it would have\nbeen worth an extra week for me to have been dropped from\nthe train on the Appian Way, and then allowed to walk slowly\ninto the town alone, drinking in at every footstep each wall or\ngate or ruin that gradually unfolded itself as I passed under\nthe old gate, contenting myself merely with general aspects\nand eager realisation, and gradually finding for myself the way\nthat I knew so well by the Sacred Road under the triumphal\narches, and past the Coliseum into the Forum.    Thus, stirred\nby mighty and noble associations, and almost bewildered by\nheart-stirring impressions, I might have   strolled on   to the\nCapitoline, whence on one side I could have looked back\nat the marvellous vista of Old Rome;  on the other side,\nwhen I had resolutely turned my back on the past, I should-\nhave spread before me, with its crowded streets and numerous\ndomes, the modern city.   Having duly studied this, I could then\nhave walked along the Corso, and\u2014and then it would have been\ntime enough to inquire about such earthly things as luggage and\nlodgings.   But, meantime, what impressions for life, never otherwise likely to be the same, would have been stored up!\nBut I left the reader on the Etruscan border, and, much as\nI dislike it, must get him thence somehow to the station at\nRome.    Well then, we sneaked round in some ignominious\nand ugly fashion till, almost without knowing it, we found\nourselves edging up to the walls, and then round and round\noutside, fancying we recognised some mound here, or ruin\nthere; but in reality seeing nothing well except the gravel on\nthe sides of the cuttings, in and out of which we dived, till\nbefore we could well realise the fact, we were creeping into the\nstation.    But at any rate, says the incredulous reader, you\nmust have passed through the walls by some opening or other,\nand then have noticed something for certain on right hand or\non left.    Once inside, I imagine that the view is mainly intercepted, and moreover the distance is short, one temple, however, contriving to make itself seen\u2014that of Minerva Medica;\nbut in the wall itself the entry is made so close by a remarkable\nmonument that I may be excused making mention of it    I\nallude to the Porto Maggiore, whose noble dimensions, however, are due to the accidental concurrence at this point (as is\nalso the case for some distance to the right) of the lines of the\nmore recent wall, and of a grand old aqueduct with three water-\nchannels.    The gate, then, is simply formed by two arches of\nthe Claudian Aqueduct, above which .appear the three channels\neach bearing its imperial inscription, the upper one being thai\nof the originator of the aqueduct.    In front of it is a curious\nmonument-discovered  in the present century when more\nrecent constructions were cleared away-the tomb of the baker\nEurysaces; it is chiefly faced by the stone mortars used by\nbakers for kneading dough.   I hope I have said enough now\nto make the reader agree with me that, even if he should have\nhappened to have been looking out of the right window at the\nright moment, and the view should have been uninterrupted it\nwill still be his best, or rather only, plan to take the first\nopportunity of walking to the spot.\nA railway station, in the most suitable place, is hardly a\nromantic object; how much less in Rome !   It has, however,\nthe advantage here of being close alongside of one of the oldest\nmonuments of the city, the agger of Servius Tullius.    Suppose,\nthen, my antiquarian reader, that you emerge from your carriage full of this agger and bent on making sure of this, at any\nrate before doing anything so prosaic as taking a cab; besides,\nyou will only have to look round a corner and then you will\nsee it before you.     Beaming, then, with anticipation, you burst\nout from the station, like a fox unearthed from a ditch, into the\nmidst of an open-mouthed pack of vociferating cabmen, who\nprobably would soon desist did they see you walking straight\noff; but with your first sign of doubt or indecision they have\nmarked you for their prey; and you turn from one gate or siding\nto another, hopelessly unable to explain your want or see the\nremotest vestige of a clue towards satisfying it, till you give up\nthe chase with a resigned sigh, returning at the same time to\nthe consciousness of not having made sure of your luggage,\nwhich accordingly you probably arrive in time to see being\ncarried off in different directions by unknown porters.    If you\nsucceed in collecting it, you are only too happy to be driven\ntamely to your hotel, hardly having spirit left to look about you\non the road, and mentally reserving your future romance till\nthe happy moment when your rooms shall have been secured\nand your dinner eaten, and everything mortal that intervenes\nbetween you and absolute freedom to stroll out unfettered\nhappily disposed of.    Had you, indeed, been a keener observer\non the way, you would have been little better off.    You might\nhave noticed immediately on leaving the station a long convent wall on your right, but might not, perhaps, have guessed\nthat it masked one of the most interesting monuments of the\nEmpire, the Baths of Diocletian.\nHaving allowed you, my eager friend, to expend your first\nenthusiasm, I must now turn back to ourselves. It must have '\nbeen nearly dusk when we arrived at the station, as it took us\nthree hours and a half to perform the journey from Civita\nVecchia, a distance of forty-five miles. After being safely\nbundled, effects and all, into a cab, we soon pulled up at the\nbasement of a house of which all we saw was the open entrance\nto a large stone staircase, with its little porter's lodge on one \"side.\nI must here, however, explain that we had written beforehand to engage lodgings at Madame-P 's, in the Viadella\nCroce, to whom some friends had recommended us. Inquiry\nat the lodge produced most unsatisfactory results, as we could\nget no information about Madame P\u2014\u2022 and it seemed as\nif we had mistaken the house. Dismay began to seize our\nalready sufficiently timid hearts. At this conjuncture it was\ndetermined to divide our forces. My friend was to remain\nwith the cab, while I made an exploring expedition up the\nlarge stancase; the reason for my being deputed on this\nmission being that I was the spokesman, as before coming I\nhad taken care to acquire the rudiments of Italian, of which my\nfriend knew not a word. It may be mentioned in passing that\nwe were fully imbued with the following notions:\u2014ist, that\nrapacity and a habit of overcharging were the characteristics of\nRoman drivers in general and ours in particular; 2nd, that\nRome was in a marauding and thievish condition in general at\nthat time; and 3rd, in particular that assassins had a peculiar\nfancy for the dark parts and corners of main staircases, from CORONATION OF THE ZULU KING CETYWAYO.\nwhich to dart out on unsuspecting lodgers in their passage.\nWith undaunted courage, however, I mounted storey after\nstorey, hoping to find some name on a door or other indication\nof Madame P , climbing endlessly up and up till I got to\nthe very top, and there (whether I rung a bell I know not) I\ncame across Madame P herself. Delighted with this discovery, after a hurried explanation that we were the party who\nhad engaged the rooms, and that the other gentleman was downstairs, 1 hastened down to inform my friend of my good luck.\nThe difficulty of settling with the cabman arranged, we soon\nfound ourselves, luggage and all, on Madame P 's landing.\nMadame was prepared with a friendly reception, but on the\nintroduction of my friend, who could not, when addressed,\nspeak a word of Italian, she was seized with a fit of laughter,\nwhich communicated itself to her daughter, and in this state\nushered us into our rooms, where, struck by the absurd aspect\nof affairs, we joined their mirth, till they retired to have their\nlaugh out, and left us to our own devices.\nIS\nA.\nii\n=^ssr;a\u00ab\nK\n\u25a0ran\nP\u00bb\n\u25a0!'**&\u00ab\n\u00aba\nvs@m\nasi^^\nWSS5S\nmm\n'38^>-rs^s\ngg^^gg\nTHE RIVAL ISIMBONGI,   OR COURT FLATTERERS.\nUS\nm\nCoronation of the Zulu King Cetywayo.\nMr. Thomas Baines, the well-known South African traveller\nand artist; accompanied last year the party which was organised\nin Natal for the purpose of visiting the territory of the Zulus,\nand being present at the coronation of Cetywayo, the new king\nof that once powerful nation. The result of his journey has\nbeen a series of spirited sketches and finished paintings, representing various incidents of the journey, an engraving from\none of which we now present to our readers.\nThe coronation of Cetywayo was treated in Natal, and by\nour own Colonial Department, as a matter of considerable\npolitical importance ; the ultimate object being to establish the\nsubordination of the Zulus to British authority, by placing the\nking in a position similar to that of the rajahs of the Protected\nStates'in British India, and securing the colony against future\naggression. Mr. Shepstone, the Secretary for Native Affairs, a\ngentleman of great experience, was entrusted with the mission,\nand was accompanied by a force of volunteer  artillery and\ncavalry from Natal. Much difference of opinion was expressed\nat the outset as to the policy of such a demonstration in honour\nof a savage chieftain; but the result proved the wisdom of its\npromoters. In the first place it brought about the willing submission of the whole Zulu nation to one chief, who was himself\nled to receive the badge of his sovereignty from the hands of a\nBritish representative. In the second place important concessions were obtained from the new king in favour of his subjects, such as the abandonment of the absolute power over their\nlives and properties which his predecessors exercised. Thus, in\nfuture, no man is to be put to death without fair trial for any\ncrime he may be accused of. The mission had also other indirect advantages : an accurate idea was obtained of the military\npower of the Zulus, by the inspection of the host of warriors\ngathered together from all sections of the country to celebrate\nthe event; it being estimated that the total number did not\nexceed 6,000, many of inferior physique, and all badly armed.\nm 190\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\n\u2022wit\nThe journey from Durban across the Tugela River to the\nterritory of Cetywayo was devoid of remarkable incident But\nthe cavalcade was a large one. It comprised, in the first place,\na staff of distinguished officers, including officers of the Royal\nEngineers and Artillery, a considerable number of missionaries,\nwho appear, however, to have failed in obtaining any important\nconcessions with regard to missionary establishments from the\nZulu chief; 160 Caffres from Natal; and, as escort, detachments from the following regiments:\u2014The Natal Carbineers\n(33, officers and men), Weenen Yeomanry (13), Alexandra\nMounted Rifles (17), Victoria Mounted Rifles (10), Richmond\nMounted Rifles (5), and the Durban Volunteer Artillery (33),\nbesides the wagon train and some fifty native servants. Mr.\nBaines' official position in the escort was that of \"Geographer\nand Artist to the Durban Volunteer Artillery.\" The distance\nmarched over from Durban to the site of the coronation\nwithin the borders of the Amathlabatini district, was 155\nmiles; the party having assembled early in the month of\nAugust last at Rendezvous Camp on the banks of the Tugela,\nand accomplished the remainder of the distance in ten days.\nThe route from the Tugela for the first twenty miles was\nalong the flat coast country; but after crossing the Inyingzane\nRiver, the expedition ascended to the higher plateau land,\nthreading an ascending gorge past the missionary village\n(belonging to the Norwegian Mission) of Echowe. Thence\nthe march continued, in a northerly direction, through forests,\nand along narrow defiles of the hilly ranges to the Coronation\nKraal, in 280 4' south latitude.\nThe coronation, on the 1st of September, was a very quiet\naffair, having been solemnised in a marquee in the presence of\nonly three witnesses; but Mr. Shepstone afterwards exhibited\nthe crown on the outside of the tent to the assembled subordinate chiefs and warriors. Great displays of fireworks, military\nmusic, reviews of the native troops, and parades of the British\nforce followed the ceremony. A prolongation of the festivities\nwas not to be thought of, for the assembling of so large a host\nspeedily exhausted the native resources; famine soon reigned\nin the camp, and the various sections of Zulu warriors were\nmarched off to their respective homes.\nOur engraving represents one of the incidents of the\ngathering, namely, a dispute between two court flatterers. Mr.\nBaines, in his explanation, says that during the visit of the\nZulu sovereign to the British camp, on the 28th of August, and\nwhilst Cetywayo was conferring with Mr. Shepstone in his tent,\nthe crowd outside were amused by the antics of the royal\nisimbonga (court jester or flatterer) whose office seemed to\nbe to proclarin his chiefs titles, sing his deeds, and recite his\nillustrious pedigree. He was on this occasion armed only with\na couple of sticks and a little shield, carried\u2014for the same-\nreason as gentlemen\/ormerly wore swords\u2014just to show he had\na right to carry arms. He commenced by shouting the praises\nof his master, and reciting the mighty deeds of the Zulu nation.\nThereupon, one of Mr. Shepstone's men, a Caffre wearing a\nhead-dress of towering plumes, encircled by a head-band\ncomposed of gaudily-painted playing-cards stitched together,\nchallenged the noisy swaggerer. A wordy contest ensued,\naccompanied by the most extravagant gestures. Mr. Shepstone's warrior, with his red-braided coat flying in the breeze,\nstrutted and bounced like an excited turkey-cock, while the\nother, gaunt and scraggy, dressed only in a few strips of leopard-\nskin, shouted in return, dancing like a mad Caffre crane. He\nproved more than a match for the unskilled warrior, and by\nthe vigour and dexterity of his movements, and the accuracy\nand precision of his riiemory, fairly drove the British champion\nfrom the field. In a short time, however, the defeated one\nreturned, but became so excited, and brandished his assegais so\nmenacingly in the face of the Zulu champion, that an official of\nthe mission was obliged to disarm him and prevent him from\nsupplementing the deficiency of his argument by a resort to\nphysical force. To those of the party who were acquainted\nwith the Zulu language, the dialogue of these two excited\npartisans was most amusing, from the flashes of wit and fine\nsarcasm with which the old and practised Zulu jester repeatedly\nsilenced his opponent\nlie Island of Minicoy.\nSpecial interest is generally felt in adventurers shipwrecked\non uninhabited islands, or in small colonies isolated from the\nrest of the world, like Tristan d'Acunha, or the small coral\nisland of which we now propose to give some account.\nThe island of Minicoy, or Minikai, lies in the Indian\nOcean, between the Laccadives and Maldives, about 280 miles\nwest of Cape Comorin, on the direct route between Aden and\nCeylon. It is crescent-shaped, the concave side being, turned\nto the north-west. It is only six and a half miles long, and\nthe northern part is very narrow; but the greatest breadth in\nthe southern portion is not over 1,400 yards. The lagoon on\nthe west is very shallow, and has a maximum breadth of three\nand a half miles; and the reef which encloses it on the west\nis always bare at low water. There are three passages through\nthe reef, but the largest is only twelve feet deep at high tide;\nthe others are only available for fishing-boats. There are,\nhowever, three moderately good anchorages off the island and\nreef. There is a small island lying in the reef near the southwestern extremity of the principal one. The island rises only a\nfew feet above the average sea-level, and some parts are still\nlower. A high dam, partly natural, and partly artificial, runs for\ntwo miles or more along the middle of the island, on the\neastern shore.    The whole island is covered with cocoa-palms,\nj the richer inhabitants owning as many as 2,000 or more.   At a\ndistance from the village, the underwood chiefly consists of a\nj thorny bush called \" ke'ora\" in Hindustani (Pandanus odoratissi-\nPius), which bears large white flowers of an agreeable odour.\nThe village of Minicoy lies nearly in the middle of the\nisland on its western, or sheltered, side; it is half a mile long,\nand must contain at least 300 houses. The houses are constructed of coral rock and limestone, and thatched with-palm-\nleaves. Each stands in a separate enclosure, the walls of which\nare formed of cocoa-leaf mats, while a hanging mat of the same\nkind forms the entrance.    Drinkable water is very abundant I AST JOURNEY AND DEATH OF DR. LIVINGSTONE.\n191\nhtly\nin the centre of the island, being even found close to the edge\nof the lagoon. Towards the extremities of the island it is less\nabundant, but drought is unknown. The water is sli\nbrackish, but by no means unpleasantly so.\nThe inhabitants are Mohammedans, and are of the same\nrace as the Maldive Islanders, with whom they intermarry. Two\nhundred years ago, they placed themselves under the authority\nof the Rajahs of Cannanore, for protection against the Malabar\npirates, and have remained subject to the former ever since.\nThe population numbers over 2,000 souls, and is divided into\nfive castes : the Malkufan, the Thuckurufan, Thuckuru, Kullu,\nand Raviri. The Malkufan are the owners of the island, and\nthe women are alone privileged to wear flowered, golden\nearrings. The Thuckurufan women wear earrings of gold\nwire, with beads. The women of these two castes are\npartially educated; the other castes are foreigners, and the\nwomen wear earrings of black thread. In every other respect,\nthe castes are dressed alike, and their costume is the same as\nthat worn on the Malabar coast. The women wear a long\nsilk robe reaching nearly to the feet, and generally of a dark\ncrimson colour.    The material is brought from Calcutta.\nThe men of the first two castes do not work, but employ\nthe others as sailors and fishermen ; but every employment on\nland, without exception, is consigned to the women, who clear\npaths tlirough the jungle, collect firewood, gather cocoa-nuts,\"\nmake cocoa-fibre, sugar, &c.\nPolygamy is not permitted, although the number of women\nconsiderably exceeds that of the men \u00a7 even the governor of\nthe island, Ali Malikan, has only one wife. If strangers come\nto the island, the unmarried girls sometimes send them offers\nof marriage. The two first castes only intermarry among\nthemselves, but the two next families intermarry with each\nother.    The Raviri must, however, marry among themselves.\nThe men are skilful seamen, and their fishing-boats are the\nbest which are to be seen on the Indian coast. They sail\nvery rapidly, although the sails consist almost entirely of\ncocoa-nut matting; and when the Peninsular and Oriental\nCompany's steamer, Colombo, went aground at Minicoy about\nthe year 1864, one of these little boats brought the news to\nCochin. But beside the fishing-boats, the highest families\npossess twelve small vessels called | odies,\" in which they\ntrade with Calcutta, Balasore, Ceylon, and Malabar. In\nnavigating their ships, they use English nautical instruments,\nand determine their position by means of \" Norie's Handbook\nof Navigation.\" When Captain Moresby surveyed these\nislands, he instructed one of the natives, who afterwards established a little school of navigation; but he is now an old man.\nThe people have no numbers in their own language, and use\nEnglish. Most of the men can speak Hindustani, but only a\nfew are acquainted with Malay or Tamil. The inscriptions on\nthe gravestones are in Arabic letters. There are gardens\nbehind the village, where the inhabitants cultivate pisang,\nlemons, betel-palms, pdn, bread-fruit, and papaws, and also\nvegetables; but corn and rice are not grown. Their provisions\u2014rice, dal, ghee, &c.\u2014are all imported. The chief\nproductions of the island are cocoa-nuts, cocoa-fibre, cowrie-\nshells, sugar made of cocoa-palm sap, and salt fish. The salt\nfish goes to Ceylon; most of the other exports to Calcutta.\nThe fish is first boiled in two parts of salt water and one of\nfresh, then dried, and lastly salted. It will keep for years, if\nburied in the ground; but becomes nearly as hard as wood.\nThe cocoa-fibre is prepared differently in Minicoy from the usual\nprocess in the neighbouring islands. The husks -are allowed\nto lie for a month or more in fresh water, instead of salt, and\nare then beaten with wooden flails on short planks, and are\nlastly spun into tow. This work, from collecting the husks to\nspinning the tow, is done by the women; but the cordage is\ntwisted by the men. The upper castes buy the tow and\ncordage from the others in exchange for rice and clothing.\nThe Rajah of Cannanore owns all the southern part of the\nisland, and derives his revenue from the sale of cocoa-nuts and\ncowries. He has a monopoly of the cowries, but the women\ncollect the cocoa-nuts for him, and receive five out of every\ntwenty for themselves. The Rajah has no claim to the husks,\nand is consequently popular at Minicoy, which is not the case\nin the other islands which belong to him, where he has the\nmonopoly of the husks.\nThere are a few lepers in the island, who have their own\nfishing-boat, and live in an isolated settlement about two miles\nnorth of the village, which they are not allowed to approach.\nThe principal other diseases are ophthalmia, rheumatism, itch,\nand dropsy. A few years ago, the small-pox was introduced\ninto the island by one of their ships, and carried off about 300\npersons. About this time, and subsequently, the small island\nat the south end of the lagoon was employed as a small-pox\nhospital. All small-pox patients are removed there, and tended\nby nurses who have already passed through the disease; and\nthose who die are buried there. After the epidemic, the\nRajah of Cannanore sent an Indian doctor to the island, who\nvaccinated all the inhabitants.\nThe climate of Minicoy is very uniform ; but the legions\nof mosquitoes are a great drawback to the enjoyment of life.\nThey are very small, penetrate everywhere, and sting through\neverything. All the inhabitants sleep under calico curtains;\nand the ordinary punishment for common offences, is to shut\nthe offender up in a house, naked, for a whole night, exposed\nto the intolerable torment of these insatiable insects. As in\nmost small communities, serious crimes are of rare occurrence.\nLast Journey and Death of Dr. Livingstone.\nThe fresh rumour of the death of Dr. Livingstone which\nreached England in February last, and which was then disbelieved by all who remembered the many false reports previously\ncirculated, has resulted in certainty. The mortal remains of\nthe greatest and noblest of.African travellers have been carried\nby his native followers from the distant interior, where he died,\nto Zanzibar; conveyed thence to England, formally identified,\nand interred amidst demonstrations of public sympathy such\nas have rarely before been witnessed, in Westminster Abbey.\nReaders of Stanley's book, \" How I found Livingstone,\"\nwill know that he finally quitted the company of our great\ntraveller at Taboro, in Unyanyembe, in March, 1872. At this\nplace\u2014a trading settlement of the Zanzibar Arabs, distant\nabout 450 miles from the sea-coast\u2014Livingstone waited five\nmonths for the men and stores which Stanley promised to send\nup to him as soon as he reached Zanzibar. They reached him\nin due time, and thus, freshly equipped and re-invigorated, he\nproceeded on what he intended to be his final journey\u2014final,\nalas! in a sense different from that which he intended; to IQ2\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nBlitSIS\n:\n!l ir\n'\u25a0Wll!\n!Pn\nvisit the so-called \" Fountains of Herodotus,\" and fix the\nposition of what he believed to be the southernmost springs\nof the Nile. The men sent up by Stanley proved to be a\ntractable body of natives; but among them were six young\nChristian negroes from the Church Missionary College at\nNassick, near Bombay; and it is to these faithful fellows\nthat the world owes the preservation and conveyance of the\ntraveller's body and his journals, thus preventing all the ill-\nconsequences of uncertainty as to his fate, and securing for\nthe world the results of his labours. These six negroes had\nvolunteered, by permission of the Church Missionary Society of\nLondon, to accompany the first search expedition organised\nby the Royal Geographical Society; and had left Bombay for\nZanzibar early in 1872, in obedience to a telegram sent from\nLondon to Dr. Price, the head of Nassick College. The collapse of the \" Search Expedition \" had left the brave lads at\nZanzibar without employment; but they volunteered to join\nthe party gathered together by Mr. Stanley, and arriving safely\nat Taboro, accompanied their chosen master on his onward\njourney. The new escort thus supplied to Livingstone had the\nadvantage also of being well-armed with the muskets and ammunition that had been furnished by the War Office in London\nfor the use of the abandoned Search Expedition of Dawson.\nOn leaving Unyanyembe, in August, 1872, Livingstone\nproceeded first in a southerly direction, and after a few marches\nturned westward, through the Ufipa country to the shores of\nLake. Tanganyika. Here he was in an entirely new country,\nabout 100 miles more southerly than the places visited by Burton\nand Speke, and afterwards by Stanley. The fragmentary descriptions of this part contained in some of his letters are, therefore,\ninteresting. He says, \" The eastern shore is very mountainous,\nand the rocks, chiefly mica-schist and gneiss, are tilted up on\nedge, like the leaves of a book when turned up on its back,\nand slightly opened. It seems as if a wedge, the breadth of\nthe lake, had been thrust up from below, forming afterwards a\ncavity where the water now stands, and pushing the strata up\non each side, in the way they now appear. The marching up\nhill and down dale was severe, and in many of my men produced subcutaneous inflammation in the limbs; but the able\nwillingly carried the helpless. Not a shower had fallen, and the\ngrass, mostly burned off, had left a surface covered with the\nblades scorched into ashes, from which the heat radiated as\nfrom the mouth of a furnace. Yet, out of this hard, hot surface, the flowers, generally without leaves, persisted in coming\nforth; a species of ginger, with its large purple and yellow\nblossoms, being the most conspicuous.\" Small rivers flowed\ninto the lake at the bottom of most of the valleys ; all of them\ncrossed by a bridge\u2014the usual felled tree. None were so\nbroad as to need a ferry.\nDoubling the southern end of this wonderful lake, the party\n\u2014now in about ten degrees of south latitude\u2014began to climb\nthe steep slopes of the cold and humid plateau of Urungu\nto an altitude of 4,700 feet above the sea-level. In this region\nit was the rainy season, when everything was green, and every\nplace sloppy and slippery. Livingstone had visited this regiori\nbefore, and had spent several months with an hospitable chief,\nwho had been of the greatest service in enabling him to complete\nthe exploration of the southern prolongation of Tanganyika\u2014\nthe bay or gulf, Liemba\u2014with its picturesque shores sloping\nupwards, 2,000 feet above the surface of the water, and dotted\nwith villages and plantations.    He now found the chief dead,\nHi r\nand the whole country reduced to starvation, in consequence of\nthe turmoil accompanying the election of a new king. To make\nmatters worse, the sky was continually clouded, and it rained\nnight and day. His followers had nothing but mushrooms,\nwhich grew plentifully on those cool and misty uplands, to\nsatisfy the cravings of hunger.\nFrom this country Livingstone proceeded to the .shores of\nLake Bangweolo, a vast sheet of water he had discovered four\nyears previously, into which a vast number of streams, and one\nconsiderable river (the C.hambeze), fed by the rains of these\nhighlands, discharge their waters, and out of which the great\nLualaba emerges on the north. It was during his marches\nthrough the inundated grounds on the borders of this lake that\nhe contracted the malady which caused his death. Fevers and\ndysentery, the evil effects of overwork and hunger, many and\nmany a time had attacked and been shaken off the strong frame\nof the lion-hearted traveller; but he had now tried his strength\nonce too often. Sixty years old, toothless, as he described\nhimself, and emaciated, his vital powers had lost their elasticity.\nIn a letter to Sir Bartle Frere, written evidently a few days\nbefore he was compelled to order his men to prepare his last\nhalting-place, he says\u2014\" Many long return marches, for days\ntogether, had to be made to extricate ourselves from the\nmeshes whose threads were from two to three miles broad.\nThe poor fellows carried me through the waters, though it\nwould have been more agreeable to me to wade, as I did when\nin former journeys I had unwilling freedmen for my escort.\nMy thighs became sore from resting all my weight by the hour\non their shoulders. They had hitherto done remarkably well.\nThe highest praise I could bestow would be that they equal\nthe Makololo. The rivulets flowing into this lake often spread\nout into estuaries, and make Bangweolo look as if she had a\nstring of oblong pearls round her neck. The country adjacent\nis all flat forest. An hour's march in this brings you to a rivulet\nflowing in a meadow, with one or two hundred yards of\nweeping earthen sponge on each side. Crossing this, and\nascending a few feet by a gentle slope, you enter forest again,\nor plod through great patches of ferns.\"\nOn reaching the western end of the lake, his ailments\nincreased, and he could go no further, even supported on the\nshoulders of his escort. He bid them build him a hut for\nshelter, and told them he had but little longer to live. \" He\nspoke much and sadly of home,\" records one of his servants.\nDates, from the time of his departure from Unyanyembe, we\nhave at present none, except the fatal April 27th, 1873, when\nthe last entry in his journal was made. According to Jacob\nWainwright, the best educated, of the six Nassick boys before\nmentioned, the date of the great traveller's death was the 4th\nof May. The idea of preserving the body and carrying it home\noriginated with the Nassick boys, who, having promised\nDr. Price, on leaving Nassick for the \" Search Expedition,\" that\nif Dr. Livingstone were dead they would not return without\nfinding and bringing to the coast his bones, they naturally\nthought that the conveyance of the dead body was in accordance with this promise. The entrails, including the heart, were\nburied at Ilala, where the traveller died, Jacob Wainwright\nreading the English burial service over the grave. The same\nfaithful lad accompanied the body to England, and was witness\nof the grand ceremonial in Westminster Abbey. The march\nof the sixty negroes who brought down the body extended\nover 1,200 miles, and occupied in all seven months. J?^^^ OPERATIONS  IN WEST AFRICA.\n*93\nSenegambia;   With an Account of Recent French Operations in West Africa.-VII.\nBY LIEUTENANT  C.   I  LOW,  (LATE)  H.M.   INDIAN NAVY.\nTRIBES BETWEEN THE SENEGAL AND THE GAMBIA.\u2014THE SERER-\nOUOLOF RACE.\u2014NATIVE STATES BORDERING ON SENEGAMBIA \u2014\nMOORISH MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS\u2014RELIGIOUS DEVOTION AND IN-\nDUSTRIES.\u2014PRESENT POSITION OF THE FRENCH COLONIES \u2022 THEIR\nADMINISTRATION AND  INTERNAL ECONOMY\nThe  Malinke's   and Sonink6s  are generally of tall   stature\nand muscular development, and, Negro-like, have heads of\nWe now come to the Ouolofs and the Serers.\nThe vast alluvial plains comprised between the Senegal,\nthe Faldmd, and the Gambia, are the cradle of a black race\ndistinguished from all those around them by physical and\nmoral characteristics no less than by language. This is the\nSerer-Ouolof race, speaking two languages which have the\nmost complete affinity between them, one of the chief points\nmm^^^m\nill\nNEGRO PORTERS.\nfrizzly hair. But though they undoubtedly possess the\nphysical traits of the race, these are not observable to the\nexaggerated extent we see among the Negroes of Equatorial\nAfrica and the countries about the Congo; thus there are\noften seen among them faces which have nothing disagreeable\nin them, though without possessing the good looks that are\ntraceable where there is an infusion of Foulah blood.\nThe Soninke's, and especially the Malinke's, are of warlike\ntemperament,' and are also much given to agriculture and\ncommerce; indeed, the Soninke's are the most commercially\ninclined people of Western Africa. The same holds good of\nthem as of most of the black races of the continent; they\ntrouble themselves little about their origin, and we know\nabsolutely nothing of it. Sorne European and Arabic writers,\nthe sum total of whose knowledge we have indicated, have\nwhiled away their leisure by surmises that these black races\nare descended from Shem; others say from Cain, without\nreflecting that, in common with the whole human race, they\nmust originate from Cain, that is to say, from Noah.\n265- -vol. vu\nof resemblance being that, with some exceptions, the words are\nmonosyllabic. The word Ouolof is the adjective by which are\ndesignated the people or anything else belonging to the\ncountry which is called Djioloff. The borders of this vast,\nalmost desert, tract are thickly peopled by a race formerly\npowerful, but, owing to disunion and the ceaseless raids of the\nTrarzas and Toucouleurs of Fouta, now reduced to the extreme\nof feebleness and political abasement. We have already\nbriefly described Djiolof, the country inhabited by the Ouolofs\nand Serers, and also two of the independent states after that\nempire became subdivided, namely, Oualo or Ualo, and\nCayor. The third, Djiolof Proper, was once powerful, but, like\nthe others, was ruined by this disintegration. This unhappy\nstate has been afflicted in recent times with a succession of\nirresolute or knavish kings, who pillaged the people, and made\nno efforts to give their subjects the advantages accruing from\nthe most elementary forms of government, while they arrogated\nI to themselves the vain title of Bour-ba-Djiolof. The French\nI have constructed  the fort   of   Merinaghen  in  the hope  of\nHi *94\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nH\n;:=-W|li g\nattracting the commerce of the country, but, we believe, with\nvery small results. The inhabitants of Djiolof fear the Moorish\ndepredators who lurk on the roads, and in their ignorance\nentertain a dread of the French, whom they have been taught\nto distrust by such men as Tanor, formerly King of Djiolof,\nbut who, desiring to possess the neighbouring state of Cayor,\nfomented troubles therein, and established himself with a band\nof marauders between the two kingdoms. Some years ago,\ndesiring a better understanding with their powerful white\nneighbours, they wrote to the French Governor of Senegal that\nthey were prepared to pay 200 cattle for the construction of a\nsmall masonry tower at Bounoun, five leagues to the east of\nMerinaghen, so as to afford protection to a settlement there.\nBounoun is a place of great strategical importance, being at\nthe point of intersection of the territories of Ualo, Cayor,\nDjiolof, and Fouta.\nThis place is situated in the midst of an arid desert, and\nas water is found here at all seasons, it is a point frequently\nvisited by marauding bands from all four nations, and by the\nMoors when on the march. The. construction of a fortified\npost and a village must therefore exercise a beneficial influence\non these warlike nationalities and the wretched people who\nsuffer from their depredations. It is said that this schems was\none of the projects that emanated from the brain of the great\nwarrior chief Al Hadji, then a simple villager of Oloar, in\nToro, but who has since played so momentous a part in the\npolitics of Western Africa; if so, it shows that he was capable,\nhad his energies been properly directed, of conceiving other\nprojects than those dreams of war and empire out of which\nwas to arise a vast Mussulman state ruled by himself\u2014dreams\nwhich brought such misery on his race, and ended in his own\noverthrow.\nSenegalese Fouta\u2014called by the French Fouta Senegalais\nto distinguish it from Fouta Toro\u2014adjoins Djiolof to the\nnorthward, and extends 450 miles along the left bank of the\nriver from Dagana to the small affluent known as Nguerer,\nnear Dembakane, thus including the island of Morfil, formed\nby two arms of the river between Salde\" and Doue. The\nprovince also possesses some villages situated on the right\nbank between Kaadi and Goumel. Senegalese Fouta is\ndivided into territories, corresponding in general with the\nrespective tribes that own them. Thus, starting from Dagana,\nwe come to the province of Dimar, extending from Gad to\nDoue*; the province of Toro, from Doue to Boki; the country\nof Lao,* from Boki to Abdallah-Mokhtara.\nTliere are also other minor subdivisions of little political\nimportance. Dimar, the province in the extreme west, is\npartially under French influence, and partially tributary to the\nTrarzas.\nThe two towns of Gad and Bakel, which lie nearest to\nDagana, having taken part with the French in the prolonged\nwar with the Trarzas, were granted their independence by\ntheir powerful allies. As for Toro, since the establishment of\nthe French  post   at Podor, it gravitated gradually towards\n* The people of Lao are called Lao-nko-be by a strange mixture of\ndifferent languages. Thus, in the Malinke and Soninkd, the word nki is\nadded to the name of the country to denote the inhabitants, and the word\nwould be Lao-nke ; in these languages the plural is formed by changing\nthe final a, t, i, into 011, so that this word becomes Lao-nkou. In the\nFoulah language they add bi to denote the inhabitants of a country, and.\nthus it has happened that to the plural form Lao-nkou has been added the\naffix be, and tb-   mire composite word appears, Lao-nkou-be.\nFrance.    Between it and Damga lies Central Fouta, which\nhas been already noticed in an earlier chapter.\nChief among the native states bordering on Senegambia, but\nwhich, from their remoteness, are not much under French\ninfluence, is Segou. Like Kaarta, its inhabitants are Bambaras. The reigning family of Segou was anciently that of\nMassassi-Courbari, but they were massacred on the occasion of\na revolt of slaves. Some few escaped and founded the kingdom of Kaarta; others were retained as captives in the\ncountry at Segou-Koro, which was their capital, and their\ndescendants, although treated with consideration, carry a silver\nchain as a badge of servitude. Since the sanguinary revolution that drove them from power, the throne has been occupied by the family of the chief of the slaves.\nThe present capital is Segou-Sikoro, near Segou-Koro, and\nis the most considerable city of any on the banks of the Joliba.\nSegou is a very commercial country, and employs, in place of\nmoney, a small sort of shell called kouroukice (cowries), which\nis imported by Europeans. The navigation of the Upper\nNiger is conducted by means of the native boats called\npirogues, constructed from the trunks of trees.\nTo the northward of Segou lies trie powerful Foulah state\nof Macina, which, unlike the former, has embraced the Mohammedan religion. The founder of Macina, named Sheikh-\nAmadou, a Foula taliba, or Marabout disciple, of Djenne',\ncarried on for forty years a great war with Segou, and the\nravages committed by the soldiers of the opposing nations\nwere of so devastating a character that a famine broke out in\nboth countries, and wrought great havoc among the unhappy\npeople, already decimated by the sword. After the death of\nSheikh-Amadou and Da, Ki'.'ig of Segou, their successors\ndesired peace. Since that time Macina has always exercised\na considerable influence on Segou, and in 1855 a singular\ninstance was afforded of the changed relations existing between\nthe two states. When Hadji Omar, the great Mussulman\nconqueror, after having subdued Kaarta, sought to turn his\narms against the unbelievers of the adjoining state, the Marabouts, or priestly order, in Macina, not wishing that the conversion of their neighbours should be undertaken by any\nzealots but themselves, took the people under their especial\nprotection, and thus succeeded in saving them from the tender\nmercies of the Hadji.\nThe French have little intercourse with the distant state of\nSegou, though occasionally some small caravans, with articles for\nbarter, proceed from the latter country to Bakel and the frontier\npost of Medina The French authorities at Senegal, during\nthe palmy days of the Empire, proposed the extension of their\nposts along the Bafing, the main stream of the Senegal, thus\ngradually pushing their way towards the Joliba and Segou; but\nsince their disastrous war with Germany, it is scarcely probable\nthat these proposals for aggrandisement will find much favour\nwith any government that may be uppermost among our Gallic\nneighbours.\nDuring the period of the fifteen years' war between the\nBambaras and the Djiavara,* the direct route between Medina\n* The Djiavara are a Soninke race inhabiting a part of Kaarta. Subjugated by the Bambaras of that country, they proved restive under 'the\nyoke, and when Hadji Omar undertook the conquest of Kaarta at the head\nof the Toucouleurs of Fouta-D'jallon and Senegalese Fouta, he took part\nwith the Djiavaras, and drove out their enemies, who took refuge in Fouta-\nDougou. It will be remembered that in an earlier chapter we mentioned\nthat the reiigious war undertaken by Hadji Omar devastated the continent &\u25a0*\"*\u00bb\nSENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT  FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN  WEST AFRICA.\ni9S\nand Segou\u2014that by way of Kaarta\u2014was rendered impassable,\nand a dktour to the northward was made, which occupied\ntwelve days, or twenty with beasts of burden. There is also a\nsecond route from Bakel to Segou, by Bondou, Bambouk, and\nFouta-D'jallon, though, being less direct, it occupies a longer\n' time to traverse.\nThe principal products of Segou are slaves, gold, ivory, and\nboubous\u2014already described as a species of shirt without sleeves\n\u2014made from country cotton beautifully dyed with indigo, and\nembroidered in the most elaborate manner with silk imported\nby European traders, who find their way either by caravans\nover the desert or from Sierra Leone, which maintains some\nsmall commercial intercourse with Segou. The Moors, fearing\nthat the external trade of Segou, which has hitherto been\nchiefly in their hands, will pass, like that of other countries,\ninto the hands of European merchants, seek to excite in the\nminds of these ignorant people fear and hatred towards their\nsuccessful rivals. One of the superstitions they have inculcated is to the effect that every Bambara king will die soon\nafter setting eyes on a white man. The population of Segou\nis reputed to be half a million of souls, but this estimate can\nonly be regarded as fanciful, as, indeed, beyond the town\nof St. Louis, and some villages near the French posts in\nUalo, are all estimates of the populations of these native\ncornraunities.\nAmong the Malinkes trie succession to the throne is collateral ; thus all the brothers and cousins of the reigning\nmonarch attain supreme power in succession, and after the\ngeneration is exhausted by the death of the last, then it passes\nto the younger members of the-family.\nFouta-dougou, one of the countries tributary to Segou,\nunder a king of its own, is inhabited by Malinke's and Foulahs\nspeaking the Malinke language, who are pastoral and agricultural in their pursuits, but not commercial. The country is\nmountainous, and is said to have 80,000 inhabitants. Bele-\ndougou is larger than the preceding state, and has a more\nnumerous population\u2014about 150,000 souls; these are Bambaras, having small aptitude for commerce, but are shepherds\nand cultivators of the soil.\nBakhounou, a tributary of the Ely-Ould Amar Moors\u2014the\nLudomars of geographers\u2014is, like the preceding states, ruled\nby a king. The inhabitants, being Bambaras, follow the mode\nof life of their race in Beledougou; they also deal in salt,\nwhich they extract for the Moors, who sell it to the blacks.\nThe other states dependent on Segou, namely, Gadougou,\nMaudin (including Balea), and Ouassoulou, are of little importance, and almost nothing is known of them.\nBoure\" is the chief gold-bearing-country of this part of West\nAfrica. It is situated on an arm of the Joliba, which flows\nbetween this river and the Upper Senegal or Bafing, and about\nninety miles from this last. The inhabitants are Bidigas, and\nspeak the Bambara language. Boure\" consists of a dozen\nvillages, distant only two or three leagues from each other, and\nsituated in the midst of a vast wooded plain. The town of\nBoure\", which lies about half-a-day's march from the tributary of\nthe Joliba already referred to, is the capital; it is of consider-\nfor a space of 300 leagues, extending from St. Louis to the basin of the\nNiger, and did not cease until August, i860, when a convention was made\nwith one of the lieutenants of the Hadji, who, repeatedly defeated by the\nFrench forces on the Senegal, was more successful in his struggle with the\nBambaras of Segou.\nable extent for an African town, and is surrounded by a mud\nwall. The people sink pits from which they extract the gold,\nand in these holes they find the water which they drink. The\ngold is found not only in the form of dust, but is also extracted\nfrom lumps of stone which they break. The people of Boure'\ndo not cultivate the soil, but they rear vast herds on the extensive pasturages. They are numerous, rich, well armed with\nmuskets, and, when they are attacked by their enemies, take\nrefuge in their mines. These pits are from 16 to 20 feet\ndeep, with long horizontal galleries.\nThe Djalonke's (inhabitants of Djalonka-dougou, and formerly of Fouta-D'jallon) are in the habit of buying the gold for\ntheir own use in Boure\", and the people of Balea come here\nalso for the same purpose, though they mostly resell it in\nFouta-D'jallon, or at the European mercantile factories on the\ncoast. Boure is a monarchy. The ruling classes are Mussulman, having been converted to the faith of Mohammed by\nthe Dioulas, travelling merchants, for the most part of the\nSoninke race.. The great mass of the people are indifferent,\nand, contrary to the tenets of the Koran, indulge in strong\ndrinks.\nThere is a route which leads from Bambouk to Boure, and\nbetween the two countries lies the fortified village of Tamba,\nwhich is hostile to Mohammedanism, and is made to pay\ntribute to Boure'. The capture and destruction of Tamba was\nthe first feat of arms of Hadji Omar in the holy war undertaken\nby him. After his departure, the town was rebuilt by those of\nthe inhabitants who had escaped the massacre which was the\nusual fate of all who opposed the sword of this remorseless\nproselytiser of Islam. The non-Mussulman states which surround Boure\"\u2014Djalonka-Dougou, Gadougou, and Fouta-Dou-\ngou_were hostile to the Hadji, though the. people of Bourd\nwere devoted to the interests of that chief. Owing to this\nI religious difficulty,\" these latter were also habitually in a state\nof war with Ouassoulou, which placed no faith in the religious\ntenets of the Koran;\nWe next come to Guidimakha. A Soninke' race were\nformerly supreme in Gangari or Gangara, a country situated on\nthe right bank of the Senegal, a little in the interior to the\nwest of Diafouna, a province of Kaarta, and opposite Gadiaga.\nInvaded, like all the others, by the Moors, who forced this\npeople to pay tribute after having converted them to Mohammedanism, they were obliged to quit their former home\nin the interior, and strove to maintain themselves by a predatory life. Falling back to the banks of the Senegal, they\nwere divided into two fractions; one formed a dozen large\nvillages on the right bank, extending from Diaguila, in front of\nBakel, to Khasso, under the Soninke' .name of Guidimakha,\nwhich'means \"the people of rocks;\" the other fraction traversed the river, and established themselves in Fouta-Damga,\nunder the name of Ae\"re-nke\", which also means \"the people of\nrocks,\" as aire in the Foulah language signifies \"a rock.\"\nThe principal village of Guidimakha-DiaguilaT-is perched\non a scarped rock on the brink of the river. The Soninke's\nare cultivators of the soil and merchants. They have organised\na sort of republic. In character they may be described as\nsuspicious, turbulent, and fanatical; notwithstanding, as they\nhave naturally commercial predilections, they mamtam business\nrelations with the French traders, though at the time of Hadj!\nOmar's supremacy they were forced to engage m hostilities\nagainst them, and to plunder the Moorish Kafilahs, which carried\nmm 196\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nasS*\niiS\ni'\"!,;!\nM\n\"HU\nWW!\ngums to Bakel. Before the war which desolated all this part of\nAfrica, the people of Guidimakha were tributaries of the Bambaras of Kaarta, and the Douaich Moors; but the Hadji freed\nthem from this imposition. The population of Guidimakha is\nestimated to be 30,000 or 40,000 souls. Their villages are\nlarge, and are fortified with strong mud walls.\nAt the beginning of the present century, the whole course\nof the Joliba, between\nTimbuctoo and Djenne.\ninclusively,   was   under\nthe rule of the Foulahs, p^s\u00a3^^0gSsi:\nwhich  had   superseded <r--^3si\u00a7lllllllll?#ip\nin all these countries the\nsupremacy of the Malinke\" or Bambaras, the\nSoninke's, and even the\nMoors. Within recent\nyears the Touaregs or\nBerbers, and the\nFoulahs, disputed the\npossession of Timbuctoo ; and, as we have\nmentioned when speaking of the country extending from that city\nto Djenne\", between fifty\nand sixty years ago,\nSheikh Amadou consolidated it into a\npowerful and compact\nFoulah state, under the\nname of Macina. On\nthe death of Amadou he\nwas succeeded by his\nson, who in 1856 successfully repelled Omar\nfrom his frontier.\nMacina has no trading\nrelations with the\nFrench, and, owing to\nits great distance from\nSenegal, and the repugnance to aggressive\nmovements on the part\nof the French colonial\nauthorities, it is probable\nthat the time is far distant before its political\ninstitutions can be a\nmatter of much concern to our French neighbours in West Africa. \u2022\nBondou, a Foulah state professing Mohammedanism, is\nsituated in the western angle, formed by the Senegal and\nFaleme\" Rivers, and consists of a desert tract extending to the\nrear of the country lying along the former river, and occupied\nby the Soninke's. According to tradition, it was founded by\nvoluntary cession on the part of the king of the Soninke's of\nGadiaga to the Foulahs, who migrated from Fouta-Toro and\nother countries.\nSince its foundation, Bondou has maintained its independence at the cost of its turbulent neighbour, Fouta. At first,\nalthough smaller in extent and inferior in population, the form\n^fH\nNEGRO MINSTREL.\nof its government, an absolute hereditary monarchy, gave it a\nhomogeneous power, which enabled.it to cope successfully with\nthe theocratic form of democracy prevailing in Fouta; afterwards\nit relied for support on the Bambaras, but during the religious\nwar, excited by Hadji Omar, was torn by warring factions. All\nthose who were swayed by fanatical considerations, or who were\nhostile to the reigning family, took part on the side of the\nHadji and Fouta; while\nthe partisans of the King\nof  Bondou  were   con-\nIsMil|i-:\u00a3~-'-.;:S:... strained to seek refuge in\nKaarta. At this conjuncture the French\nsought out Boubakar-\nSaada, son of a deceased\nAlmamy of Bondou, who\nhad sold them Senou-\ndebou in 1848, and declared him Almamy.\nAt first without followers, he gradually\ngained a powerful party\nof adherents, and, thanks\nchiefly to the support\nafforded by the arms of\nhis powerful allies, overcame all opposition, and\nbecame supreme in\nBondou. The party\nhostile to his claims\nquitted the country, and\nsettled, some in\nGuidimakha and others\nin Fouta. The founder\nof the royal house was\nAmady Aissata, who\nflourished towards the\nend of the last century,\nand waged war with\nAbd-oul-Kader, of\nFouta, whom he killed.\nAt the present time\nthere are two branches\nof this family\u2014that of\nBoule'bane', to which\nBoubakar Saada, the\nreigning monarch, be-\n\u2022*- ' longs;  and the branch\nof Koussam, ruling in .\nUpper Bondou, who is hostile to the French, but is said by\nwriters of that country to have always shown a disposition\nto ally himself with the ruler of the British settlements at\nGambier; though this probably is founded on a mistaken\nidea prevailing among our gallant neighbours that we invariably seek to thwart them in every quarter of the globe\nwhere they may desire to extend their colonial possessions.\nThe French formerly'paid custom duties for holding possession\nof Senoude'bou; but after Bondou, in 1854, made common\ncause with their enemies, they ceased to pay these dues, and\nmaintain their hold of that post by the law of the strongest.\nAt the time the state under consideration was weak and SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN  WEST  AFRICA.\n197\ndistracted, the Malinke's of Bambouk, who are only separated\nfrom it by the Faleme', occupied some villages on the left bank\nof that river; but as they acquired strength, the people of\nBondou gradually drove\" their invaders to the opposite bank;\nand at last, having crossed over themselves, starting from\nKe'nie'ba, they conquered all the right bank of the Faleme, an\nauriferous country, the acquisition of which excited the envy of\nthe neighbouring states. But as this part of Bondou declared\nfor that firebrand, Hadji Omar, and impatiently supported the\nyoke of Boubakar-Saada, the French in 1858 established themselves in Ke'nie'ba, thus playing off against one another both\nthe Malinkes of Bambouk, who were humiliated at seeing the\nthe Foulahs of Bondou lording it over them, and their ally,\none side of the body, from which one might conclude that the\nnegro manufacturer of this instrument had taken a hint from\nseeing a European fiddle. Generally the sancho is tuned by\nmeans of movable rings like the khasso. At least such is the\ncontrivance in several that have been brought from different\nparts of Western Africa. A khasso is also a negro instrument,\nthe body of which is often made of a huge pumpkin and the\nstrings of a tough fibre of a creeping plant.\nThe Moors have instruments differing somewhat in construction, and having, other names. These are of three sorts\n\u2014the tedini, a guitar with three horsehair strings ; the ardi, a\nharp with eight gut strings, much used at marriage festivals, and\na viola, called turbab, with three cords played with a bow, and\nHOUSE AT SEGOU.\nBoubakar, who was gratified to see his hold of the right bank\nstrengthened by the presence of his powerful allies.\nBondou is estimated to have a population of 100,000 souls.\nThe country produces fine crops of millet, rice, indigo, cotton ;\nalso honey and wax. Soon after their occupation of Ke'nie'ba,\nthe French strove to turn it to account as a gold-producing\nacquisition, though without much success. They have long\ncast a covetous eye on the mines of Boure\", and do not scruple\nto state that Ke'nie'ba is but the stepping-stone to the richer\nneighbouring country.\nThe inhabitants of Senegambia, like most barbarous races,\nare fond of music, though it must be owned their instruments\nare of the simplest construction, and their notion of harmony\ndoes not agree with ours. Two specimens of their instruments\ncan be seen at the South Kensington Museum, and may be thus\ndescribed :\u2014The sancho is a sort of guitar having the body\nrriade of wood, covered with snakes' skins. It has ivory turning-\npegs, not unlike those of a violin; and there is an F hole on\nmuch employed by shepherds. The songs are accompanied at\nthe end of each line by a twang of the strings; but, though the\nairs are monotonous, the words are oftentimes poetical, being\nlike the productions of Eastern poets, full of hyperbole and\nimagery. Most important of Moorish musical instruments is\nthe tabala, or drum, made like the tom-tom of India, of a\nhollowed cylinder (afrar), over which calf-skin is stretched by\nmeans of twisted hide. This is beaten by two sticks, and one\nor two deubouch-tabal, or wooden balls garnished with leather,\nsecured to the end of a leather thong fastened round the wrist\nof the performer. To play the tabula properly is an art. One\nman holds a stick, and another, standing opposite, holds a\nsecond stick and the deubouch. They commence by beating a\nroll with the sticks, and then they join in with frequent rapid\nblows from the deubouch, which give a certain pleasing though\nmonotonous musical effect The tabala beating the alarm can\nbe heard at vast distances, and the rolling and rattling sound\nas it echoes through the still night air of the desert is stated to 198\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nami\ni\n\u2022\nhave a magical effect Every Moorish chief has his tabala,\nand if two or more camps are united, then only the king's\ndrum\u2014as in the case of a powerful prince like Sidi Ely\u2014is\nbeaten when the camp is broken up. To announce this, three\nblows are struck in the evening and at sunrise, and two blows\nat any other time of day. Again, the tabala- announces\nimportant public notices. Thus ten blows for decrees which\nare published by the voices of the heralds; twenty blows to\nconvoke the council (jemahd) or to assemble the warriors; and\nthirty to sound the alarm (reitan), which consists of a series\nof quick rattling blows. When Sidi Ely's tabala has ceased,\nthose of the other chiefs commence in their turn, and thus the\nindolent can make no excuse for delay or inertness.\nThough the Moors break up their camp in early morning,\nyet so much time is consumed tending and milking their flocks,\nthat it is often eight o'clock before they are fairly on the\nmarch. The heat at this hour is of course intense, though\nthey appear indifferent, and frequently march bare-headed in\nthe sun at mid-day.* But the climate, though very hot, is\nperfectly healthy, and fevers, which are prevalent along the\nbanks of rivers, are unknown in the plateaus of the -interior,\nwhere pleasant breezes are constantly in motion, and render\ntravelling possible. Much of this healthiness is doubtless due\nto the fact that the Moors, while on the march, subsist on such\nsimple dietary as millet pounded and boiled in water. Sidi\nEly himself, like the Somaulies of East Africa, takes nothing\nbut milk, though M. Bourrel\u2014from whom while they were\ntravelling in company he occasionally begged.a little rice and\nmillet\u2014expresses an opinion that the diet is not sufficiently\nnutritious, and predisposes them to certain skin diseases with\nwhich the Moors are much afflicted. However this may be,\nsuch is not the effect a milk diet has upon the tall and athletic\nwarriors of Somauli-land.\nThe Moors are very strict Mussulmans, and, like the followers of the Prophet throughout Asia, the most ignorant and\ncruel of them will not fail to recite his prayers morning and\nevening, with the accompanying genuflections required by\ntheir religious code. Thus when journeying over the heated\nsands of the Sahara, they will as scrupulously fulfil these\nrequirements as if they were kneeling before the sacred Kaaba\nin the temple of Mecca itself, the sights and associations of\nwhich may well be supposed to excite their enthusiasm to fever\nheat.\nI At daybreak the marabout of the Moorish camp calls \" the\nfaithful\" to prayers, which he does in a recitative that has a\nmelancholy, but not unpleasing effect. Every one turns\nout and makes his orisons before his tent at the rising of\nthe sun; again at two o'clock in the afternoon; a third time\nat four o'clock; a fourth time at sunset, which is considered\nthe most solemn occasion, and finally on retiring to rest. So\nthat if prayer and much meditation were alone necessary to\nmake these wandering tribes highly moral and virtuous\nmembers of the body politic, they ought to be models of all\nthe vntues, which, however, they are not, for in spite of much\nand ostentatious prayer, they are habitual breakers of the\ndecalogue, are cruel to their slaves, and harry the lands of their\nweaker neighbours on the left bank of the Senegal.\nIn performing the act of worship, the Moots commence\nby turning towards Mecca; they place the hands on the earth\nand rub the palms with sand; they then carry the hands to the\n* \" Voyage dans le pays des Maures Brakna.\"   By M. Bourrel.\nforehead, the cheeks and the chin; again they rest the hands\non the earth, and rub the arms as far as the elbow. After that\nthey stand erect, the hands being raised above the head, and\nthen let fall to the thigh as they give utterance to a prayer\nwhich always finishes with the ejaculation, \"Allah Akbar!\" (God\nis great). They remain still while saying the prayer, and bow\nwhen repeating the name of the Almighty. They then fall on\ntheir knees and twice touch the ground with the forehead, while\nrepeating \"Allah Abkar;\" and afterwards rise and repeat the\nraca, as they call the act of worship, from the raising of the\narms to bringing them twice in contact with the earth. In the\nmorning prayers they make two racas; at two and four o'clock\nfour racas; at sunset, three, and at night, when retiring to rest,\nfour racas. Between each they remain a moment on the knees\nsaying a prayer, and raising the forefinger of the right hand to\nsignify there is only one God. The leading tenet of their\nreligion is expressed in the aspiration, \"La-illah-ila Allah Mohammed rassoul Allah\" (There is no other God but God, and\nMohammed is his prophet). The Mussulmans express their\nthankfulness after any mercy vouchsafed to them by the ejaculation, \"Al-hamd-ool-illah \" (Thanks be to God), and commence\ntheir writings with the prayer with which the Prophet heads\neach chapter of the Koran, \" Bism-illah el Rakhman-el Rak-\nheem \" (In the name of God the Great and the Merciful).*\nIn a Moorish camp the blacksmith's trade, which includjjiP\nothers, is perhaps more conducive than any other to thejSljm-\nfort and necessities of its inhabitants.    These useful ..Workmen\nhave two or three tents allotted to them, in which they manufacture the necessaries of their nomad fellow-co^dtrymen,\u2014such\nas calabashes, tent fittings, mallet=  to' drive the tent-pegs,\nstools, saddles,| bridles, bits^arid stirrups; while their wives\nmake lamb-skin  carpets, called  \"ekhlef,\" and leather bags,\n\"tessoura,\" in the manufacture of which they exhibit much\ntaste.    For the purpose of tanning the hides they soak them\nin a calabash full of ashes and water.    After some days, when\nthe hair has fallen off, they plunge the skin into a concoction\nof water and pounded husk called choumba, and it is ready in\nabout eight days.    They also employ the bark of the sumac-\ntree (Boscia Senegalensis).     Goat-skins are used for carrying\nwater, which, though it loses its freshness, acquires a certain\nflavour which the Moors do not appear to regard as unpalatable.    Calf-skins are also carefully dressed and dyed for covering saddles.    To obtain the red dye, the Moors use the grain\nof a kind of wild millet, which is pounded and boiled in water\nmixed with ashes. They also employ the leaves of the Jerkaia\ntree, which they dry, pound, and boil in water.   They then put\nashes into it and drain it through linen.    To get the yellow\ncolour, they dry and- pound the leaves of a tree called Taleou-\nlaket, or they buy from the Negroes the tuber of a plant called\ncourcouma, from which they extract the pigment by the same\nmethod.    A black dye is obtained from the earth mixed with\nthe dross of the iron of the forge diluted with water.    These\nblacksmiths know how to work up the iron which abounds in\nthe country near watercourses.     In their forges they make\nswords, hatchets, hammers, and all sorts of tools, some of which\n* See Sale's learned and exhaustive \"Preliminary Discourse\" to his\ntranslation of the Koran.\nt The saddles are made from the wood of the Adcrsaica tree ; and all\nother wooden utensils from that of the Taicklaia, as the Moors call the\nSoump Senegalais of the French, Balanites Mgyptiaca of naturalists,\nwhich has prickly leaves and a fruit much liked by the Moors. RAMBLES IN  ROME.\n199\nare very ingenious. Did space permit, we might describe some\nof these uterisils, such as the locks and the bellows for the\nforge, which are of curious workmanship.\nSome few remarks are necessary regarding the present\nposition and the administration of the French colonies in West\nAfrica before we commence the chapters detailing the operations undertaken by our neighbours in Seneganibia.\nThe population of the French settlements at Senegal and\nits dependencies was estimated in 1868 at 198,000 souls; and\nthat of the dependent native states was computed.at 150,000,\nwhile the people who were in commercial relations with the\nFrench colonies were placed at over one million. These two\nlast estimates were only approximate, as it was almost impossible to number a nomad population, for the most part Mohammedans. Of the European population there were 292 civilians,\nof w1 |m 204 were in St. Louis and 88 at Goree. In trie\nmilitary stations at the arrondissements of St. Louis, Richard\nToll, Dagana, Podor, Bakel, and Goree, there were stationed\n643 native troops, 433 laptots or native sailors, and 1,462\nEuropean soldiers, sailors, and government employes, with\ntheir families.\nThe administration of the colonies is confided to the\nGovernor of St. Louis. A commandant, responsible to this\nofficial, is placed in authority of the arrondissements of Richard\nToll, D.-gana, Podor, Bakel, Goree, and Sedhiou. These chiefs\nof arrondissements have under their orders chief of circles, chiefs\nof posts, an ' chiefs of villages, who are nominated by the\ngovernor. Two'cMefs of administration, a manager (ordonna-\nteur), and the head of Ebis judiciary, direct at St. Louis, under\nthe orders of the governor, the\"f!;3erent divisions of the public\nservice; a controller being placed to w tch 'he regularity of the\nadministrative service.\nA council of administration, under the presidency of the\ngovernor, and composed of the two administrative and judicial\nchiefs, the controller, and two of the most influential inhabitants, assist by their advice the chief of the colony, vote the\nbudget, and act in certain cases as an administrative tribunal.\nIn each of the arrondissements of the colony there is also a\nconsultative commission which assembles twice in the year for\nthe purpose of giving advice to the executive, and expressing\nthe wishes of the European and native population in all that\nconcerns agriculture, commerce, the plantations, the breeding\nof cattle, public instruction, the service of the militia, police,\nand public works. This commission, presided over by the\nchief of the arrondissement, is composed of the mayor (at St.\nLouis and Goree only), the principal authorities, two of the\nchief inhabitants, two merchants, a trader, and two heads of\nvillages.\nNative affairs, properly so called\u2014that is to say, all that\nconcerns the interests of the native population of the interior,\nwhether under French rule or no\u2014are regulated by a director\nreporting directly to the Governor, and assisted by two\ndeputies.\nThe harbour-masters' duties are conducted by two port\ncaptains, one at St Louis and one at Goree, two port-masters,\nand a superintendent of pilotage, having under his orders four\npilots. The service of roads and bridges is under the direction\nof the commanding officer of engineers. The police duties are\ndirected at St. Louis by a commissary and a sergeant, and\nat Goree by a commissary. There is, besides, a native corps of\nhorse patrols, consisting of three brigadiers and 30 troopers,\ndistributed throughout the arrondissements of the colony. At\nthe two chief colonies there are officers for registering titles to\nreal property.\nU ambles   in   Ro m \u00a7\u2014II\nBY A.   CUST,   M.A.\nTo wake up in Rome! Of all wakings up this must be the\nmost remarkable. In Rome, whose many century-stored\nhistory has moulded and influenced our thoughts from earliest\nyears, even apart from our consciousness thereof, the aim of\nour journey and centre of our recent longings ! In Rome, of\nwhich all we saw last night was a vociferous railway-station,\nand a brief whisking past sightless walls, and through a\nmodern square, in the dusk, to a quiet street; a large, lifeless,\nstone staircase, and remote retired rooms on its highest landing ! To wake up and have this gradually dawn upon us and J\nhalf believe it, and finally, when fully persuaded and aroused\nto full consciousness, to get up and look out of window hoping\nto get a glimpse of a fragment at least of the mighty city; and,\nin fact, beholding a fragment of it\u2014a narrow courtyard, with\nmysteries to boot, for its depth extends far below the limits\nof vision ! As we dress, we may find ourselves reflecting that\nfor all the world we may be in any other town, nay, in London\nitself, except for the absence of noise from the streets, and\nthe primitive airy room, which difference will be presently\nincreased when we find ourselves breakfasting without a fire,\nwhich is certainly somewhat against our Christmas habits at\nhome.\nRome may be said to differ from most towns in this respect,\nthat whereas in the latter the great point for the visitor to\nascertain is what there is to be seen, in her case the chief\nproblem is what to leave unseen. Where else will a three\nweeks' visit leave such a bewildering sense of deficiency?\nAnd that after resolute and persevering labour and contrivance ! It is here as it was with the first Great Exhibition,\nwhile the thing was still a novelty, and men were under the\ninfatuation that they must go round and see 'everything\u2014a\npleasing toil cut short in the middle, and otherwise surprised\nby the Imperative reminder of a return excursion ticket. The\nhopeless dejection of a three days' fruitless pursuit of the\nimpossible may be successfully imitated at Rome by asys-\ntemless and restless determination to see everything that is to\nbe seen in three weeks. I have little doubt that considerable success of this kind is attained in especial by Americans,\nwhose skill and practice in \"doing the thing\" thoroughly is\nonly equalled by their amazing rapacity and power of gorging\nsSKfis\nm\n\u2014 Kl\n\u00bb!!'3Ki-\n200\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nthemselves, so to speak, with course after course of the endless\nEuropean banquet set before them, without symptoms of satiety\nor weariness. .\nMultiplicity of objects of interest only increases their\nactivity and ardour, and they value a place by the thickness\nof its guide-book. The ordinary traveller, on his first morning\nin the imperial city, may well be excused if he feels a slight\nsinking of heart as his crowded ideal of the place and of what\nhe ought reasonably to get done in the time at his disposal,\nmingles itself with his waking thoughts, or makes reflective\nhis sipping of his coffee.   In the steam that rises from the\nI Well I guess I've made a very fair start to-day: I've done\nfive churches, two galleries, St. Peter's, and fifteen pages of\nruins ' \" as with unimpaired eagerness he schemes what part of\nhis guide-book to do to-morrow. Leave him, prudent reader,\nto his chatter and cicerone. With you this is no mere episode\nin a busy ceaseless devouring of the curiosities of Europe,\nthough you too have come to feed\u2014to feed mind as well as\neye, and at a feast you feel to be unique. Leave him and\nsuch as him, and join us in a quiet ramble. I will promise you\nthat our first day shall not be misspent, though a ramble be all\nit can boast of.   Yes, one day at least we will dedicate to the\nicegllti\ni\n^-\u25a0iSI I\n; \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0 'vlIfi^L HI\n;   mmsi MW,\nIMf?\n\"?\u00abK;\nW\n*mm\nHi\ntijjjpgig\nM\n'Mx\n'-mEWs* \u25a0 AT3f\u00abi\n-m\n-'^*3lilfe\u00ab'\nll rz\\ m  ..\u25a0\u25a0--.\nij3ffi||gP=-Xr:'-. 11\niTV\u2014\nipfPf\nm\nsfp\n\u25a0AB*\nKK\ny^cM.\nSfi\n111\nGg^-\\i$Sl>>'t^\npilMWMfill\nBill\nwms0^g^\u00a3\nmmmiiMmm\\^m\u00abmiSmMmv\u00bbiMimiii\\l^\nijiiipanipn^^\nSTAIRCASE OF THE SENATORIAL PALACE.\n\u00bb\u00bbWP\nMM:\ncup as he waits for it to cool, may there not fashion themselves and dance in misty confusion and never-ending succession, churches, palaces, Te Deums, catacombs, ruins, masses,\ngalleries, museums, till his mind grows bewildered in contemplation and disentanglement? May not there also hover\nround these, still further involving their mazes, advices, warnings, anticipations, commissions, experiences, not only perplexing, when present, but by their very absence at times afflicting\nwith the dread of having forgotten something that ought to\nhave been remembered ? But see our American friend, with\nwhat alacrity he is poring over his guide-book, how his spirit\nrises, and his zest quickens with the difficulty, how briskly he\nstarts off with his cicerone for his first round ! And with what\na relish shall we hear him this evening dilate on his day's\nwork\u2014\nspirit of the place\u2014on one day we will give free play to the\nreverential aspect with which our imagination, has clothed it\nFor this day let generalities float through our minds and\nimpressions silently gather themselves together, and come,\natom by atom, unconsciously here and there, and heap themselves up, and produce that effect, that internal picture,' which\nis the measure of our superiority to readers of a description\nonly, or inspectors of photographs; let them come free, whence\nthey will, unimpeded, unhampered by details, not frittered\naway and confused by too near inspections, as little as possible\ndiverted, tamed, print-sullied, by guide-books. Let them come,\nthey are precious, their opportunity cannot be recalled.\nSituated where we are, we cannot do better than ascend\nthe Pincian Hill. It is close by, and commands a striking\nview of the town.    There it lies, modern Rome !   We see it\n\u25a0mil  1KB\n1\n202\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nlii\nill I\nHill i\nml\niiii\nnow for the first time stretched before our eyes.    Before we\nwander in its streets we have done well to take a general\nsurvey of it.   We overlook, in fact, nearly the whole of the\nmodern city, and we can see it following the windings of the\nTiber, or shut in by its walls.    The old city is mostly hidden\naway almost out of sight behind the Capitol, embracing a\nspace, however, as we are aware, larger than that which we\nare now contemplating.     When I speak of the old -city, I\nmean what has been left unoccupied by  the   modern,   for\nancient Rome covered more or less thickly the whole space\nwithin the walls.    Still, we naturally turn beyond the Capitol\nfor old Rome, for there was the centre of her life, and her\ndensest population,  there her  noblest  buildings  have left\ntheir ruins.    On this side, full in the midst of our view, was\nthe Campus Martius, in early times open meadow-land by the\nriver-side, and outside the walls, which then ran up towards\nus, inclining to the left from the Capitol, and used for exercise,\npublic meetings, and parade, and afterwards, when included\nwithin the walls, and strewn with circuses, theatres, or temples,\nhowever gradually encroached upon by buildings, public or\nprivate,   always  retaining probably   something  of its   open\ncharacter.     Nearer us,  indeed,  the clusters of habitations\nthickened, parted in twain as by straightest tape line by the\nVia Flaminia, which ran direct from the Capitol, from the very\nheart of Rome's iron rule, to her northern colonies, to the scene\nof her victories over one of her deadliest foes,  from whose\nconqueror it received its name.    Of the road, all that twenty\ncenturies have been able to efface is its name; unswerving, its\ncourse still runs, as it ran of old, typical of the mighty empire whose last outward form indeed shrivelled up into the\nGerman reminiscence of it but just extinct, but whose spirit\nhas shaped the thought and history of Europe.    That road, or\nits northern continuation, was devised when the most skilful\ngeneral in the world was preparing his invading army; and it\nhung as it were on the shifting of a pebble on Time's watershed, which way the stream of history would flow.    Hannibal\ncrossed the Alps, but the road runs straight as ever; and Rome's\njurisprudence has filtered into the broad river of modem civilisation.    Still nearer our point of view, creeping up to our\nvery feet, were the gardens and villas of the rich, and the very\nspot on which we stand was then, as now, laid out in pleasure-\ngrounds, which gave their name to this end of the hill.   It is\nthis  quarter, then, that modern Rome has mainly chosen for\nher seat; and fortunate it is that it is so! fortunate that she\nhas left untouched, free almost to their native desolation, the\nchoicest remnants of her august predecessor.   While in the\nCampus Martius one has to trace the site of a circus or a\ntheatre by the configuration of the houses built over or round\nit; there, round many a monument of antiquity, the dust of\ncenturies has been allowed to crumble and accumulate, however devastated the original building of which it formed a\npart may have been.\nOn surveying the modern city, one of the first things\nwhich we are struck by is the number of its church-domes.\nWe are disappointed to find that the dome of St. Peter's\nis only one among many such\u2014larger, indeed, and marked\nby its position, but still neither conspicuously larger nor\ndistinguishable in form. Partly from this cause, and partly\nfrom its distance, St. Peter's does not impress us much from\nhere -. it does not, as we expected, tower above the other\nchurches and the town, and has none of the unique and majestic\naspect with which St Paul's lifts itself above the streets\nof London. Domes and campanili are the most striking\nfeature of modern Rome: they meet us at every turn,\nfrom every point of view, in every place likely or unlikely,\nthe campanili having especially the gift of omnipresence;\nstarting up apparently sometimes from some old ruin or from\nnothing at all to keep them in countenance. With these are\nmingled the long monotonous roofs of churches, convents, or\npalaces, devoid of architectural elegance or individuality.\nNothing is superior to anything else save in quiet grades, and\nwe miss altogether the imposing grandeur and unquestioned\neminence with which we have seen some Gothic structure assert\nitself in more northern towns. With all its drawbacks, however, the prospect can hardly fail to be pleasing and interesting, and amid a wilderness of sameness, three points at\nleast serve as landmarks\u2014the Piazza del Popolo at our feet,\nand the Capitol on our left marking respectively the northern\nand southern limits of the modern town; and lastly, between\nthem, and across the Tiber, the Castle of St. Angelo, guarding\nthe entrance to the Papal quarter, and St. Peter's, which rises\nbehind it With these to guide and fix our wandering gaze,\nwe shall at any rate carry away with us a correct general\nimpression of the bearings of the town.\nBefore we descend, let us take a look round the hill from\nwhich our observations have been taken.    That conspicuous\nbuilding which we passed on our way up along the easily\nmounting drive from the Piazza di Spagna deserves more than\na passing glance.    It is the Villa Medici, now the property of\nFrance, and used by her for the education of certain of her\nyoung artists.    Whatever be the value of its architecture, some\nof which, on the side facing the garden, is said to be due to\nMichael Angelo\u2014there can be no question as to the pleasing\nnature of its site.    Leaving the front, which commands the\nview of the town which we have been describing, let us pass\nto the rear, and stand under the shady portico.    We have now\nin front of us the spacious well-kept gardens of the villa, which\noccupy the whole breadth of the hill.    They are open to all\ncomers, and form an agreeable  continuation  to  the public\npromenade which covers the rest of the Pincian that lies on\nour left.   The trees we see in the distance belong to the wide-\nextended grounds of the famous Villa Borghese, to which we\nshall, some time, pay a visit.   Let us walk out into the sunshine\nalong that low wing of the building on our right which bounds\nthe garden on this side ; we shall find it adorned in niche and\nrecess by remains of ancient art; and, arrived at its end after\nsatisfying our curiosity about these, we shall be standing on\nthe brow of the hill looking over the city walls which form i s\nfacing.    Our view hence is chiefly confined to the villa beyond;\nbut still we shall find it a pleasant stroll along them to our\nleft.    So,  continuing,  we  shall presently leave the   Medici\nGardens, and enter the public grounds, two sides of which we\nshall traverse if we adhere to our walk by the walls, as the\n.latter here make a sharp angle in rounding the hill.    This\nwalk will bring us out at last above the Piazza del Popolo,\nand on to the promenade proper, from which we got our view\nof Rome.\nDuring our visit, we shall doubtless occasionally revisit this\nsP6t, partly to enjoy the evening prospect, partly to note the\nworld of fashion, for whom this is the Hyde Park of Rome.\nBands will play, and thronging lines of carriages will circulate or\nform stationary blocks, and the whole aspect of things will be RAMBLES  IN   ROME.\nnear akin to that with which we are so familiar. The Romans\nknow how to turn out their carriages, and hold their own against\ntheir foreign visitors. A fine day brings out large numbers of\nwell-horsed equipages S and in no town have we seen so close an\nimitation of our own customs. We shall be much struck, as we\nstay longer, with the number of aristocratic loungers in the town,\nscions, probably, of good families, with no profession or occupation in life save to dress well and swagger out in their carriages.\nNot that I mean there is anything of the | swagger \" in their\nmanner; far from it; they are quiet, refined, and unmistakably\ngentlemanly young men in appearance, reminding us more of\nthe English type of gentleman than any we have seen abroad,\nthough having perhaps more monotony of face than the latter,\nand less vigour of expression. Their features, however, are\nprepossessing, and they perhaps have the advantage in easy\ngrace of manner. They are as well dressed as English gentlemen, which is saying a good deal, in the quiet good taste which\nwe associate with the class. The contrast with the Parisians\nin this respect, so far as our observation extends, is very great.\nWe have made it a subject of remark in Paris that we rarely meet\nany man who, according to our notions, looks like a gentleman, here they abound. We have thought that in Paris, while\nthe women dress decidedly better than our own, the men bear\nno comparison to ours. Perhaps this arises from a difference\nof national standard as to how a gentleman should dress,\nwhereas international millinery law is much more indisputably\nestablished. Be this as it may, the first gentlemen we have seen\nin dress and bearing^ according to our ideas, are in Rome.\nWith respect to women, indeed, and the above remark on their\ndress, I know no town to compare with Paris so far as concerns\nthe neatness and taste displayed in dress by the middle classes.\nIt is a pleasing sight there to see the women who perhaps have\nbeen toiling and anxious all day, turn out cheerful-faced, chalty-\ntongued, with trim and becoming dress, in the evening, to sit\nlistening, work in hand, to music in the gardens of the Tuileries.\nHow about our trouble-browed matrons ? Have they the knack\nor opportunity of thus discarding care and untidiness for the\nnonce ? We do not observe in Rome either anything of the\nkind. But those elegant youths, how do they live ? What can\nthey do with themselves in the working hours of the day ? No\nfields of ambition open to them such as allure Englishmen into\nhealthy activity ? What excitement, business of state, or arms,\nin the dominions of His Holiness ? We cannot answer, and\nmust leave them to their monotonous carriage rounds.\nWe have now done our duty by the Pincian, and will bid it\nfarewell for the present, descending into the wide and sunny\nPiazza del Popolo. The piazza itself will invite us to linger.\nOn the side of the town we shall perceive that we are at the\nconverging point of three streets, which run like measured lines\naway from us, the central one, which sets forth flanked by a\nchurch on either side, being that which will mostly claim our\ninterest, for it is the famous Corso, and its rigid perspective,\nretiring far away into dim obscurity, has already been noticed\nby us as shaped by the conquering republic of old. On the\nother side is the city gate, under whose modern arch the old\nroad passes and never clears itself, so far as it continues in\nsight, of the lines of houses that stretch along it, replacing the\ntombs for which it was proverbial in days of yore. In the\ncentre of the piazza is one of those obelisks which are conspicuous among the ornaments of Rome, and which carry us\nback further even than the oldest ruin in the town, for they tell\nnot merely of the world-wide dominion which brought them\nthere, but of the conquered country from which they came, and of\nmysterious ages of the past, a thousand years before Romulus\nwas stranded in the Tiber. This which we are now looking\nat is one of the most celebrated of them, having been dug out\nof the Circus Maximus\u2014where Augustus had planted it as\na trophy of his Egyptian successes\u2014in the sixteenth century.\nPreviously to its removal by the emperor, which took place\nshortly before the commencement of our era, it was erect as\nnow, in front of some Egyptian temple. What a compendium\nof the world's history are the records on that one granite block !\nHieroglyphics of kingly exploits by the Nile, when histoiy was\nfirst shaping itself into intelligible permanency; inscriptions of\na Roman emperor in the \"golden age,\" when the literature\nand civilisation of the old pagan world were in their prime; and\nof a Roman Pope, when that old world had passed away and\nsuccumbed or merged into the new influence which had begun\nto undermine it almost from the date of the imperial writing,\nand papal civilisation and religion had succeeded to it and\nattained their full pride of career. But already, when that last\ninscription was written, had the word gone forth against the\npapal, with even more evident menace than before against the\npagan world. Already was the contest beginning to rage, and\nthat fiercely, which has eventually displaced papal sovereignty\nfrorri Rome, and shall eventually usher in a new world of\nhuman progress and enlightenment as surely as the old one was\ndisplaced by mediseval Christianity. The old granite block may\nhave received its last inscription, but it has yet other phases of\nhistory to witness. It will remain unaltered, unworn, by Time's\npassage ; it may stand erect and unmolested on its present site\nfor ages; but in no two successive centuries will it look down on\nthe same human beings passing below it. There is no granite\nlaw for the human heart; empires, superstitions, may come and\ngo, but the great soul of humanity progresses ever with ceaseless uninterrupted march. Osiris-worshipping monarch, philosophic emperor, Mary-adoring Pontiff-king, have had their day,\nand have passed away, but the stubborn granite shall dissolve\ninto its elements when the soul of man ceases to soar upwards.\nTurning our back on this threefold monitor of the past, we\nwill enter the Corso, and let it guide us whither we have been\nlonging to go\u2014to the heart of ancient paganism. The streets in\nRome we shall soon find have one peculiarity, that besides their\nnative narrowness and tortuous inclination, they are absolutely\ndevoid of footways. We shall have to pick our way as best we\ncan through the dirt\u2014and this may be taken as a clearly-ascertained fact that dirt, if ever it lingers in streets and makes careful stepping necessary, does not lose this habit in the city of the\nPopes, whose purifying influence has apparently been more devoted to the moral and religious than to the physical condition of\ntheir domain, dirt and want of habits of decency being probably\nnot amenable to infallible mandates\u2014and to run, moreover, the\ngauntlet of every passing carriage, either splashed by its mud or\njammed up against a wall. The Corso is certainly an exception\nto the lack of footways; even here, however, so inadequate are\nthese, or so accustomed are the people to do without them in\nless pretentious streets, that we see them thronging unconcernedly the middle of the street, however numerous the\ncarriages may be; but the latter, being likewise imbued with\nthe custom, proceed at a foot's pace, and even are careful not\nto run down or alarm people, and a London hansom would\nindeed be a marvellous sight if it were allowed to go ahead in\nml\nWi&l\nHi\nw, ILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\n204 _\nZ^eZZl^:^^^ I ^^^^^^^^^\nis ofa trying kind,being.mostly rough stones setonend,so ha ^\"^h the Piazza di Ara.Coeli opens out a good\npeo^^gtoride.out.dowdltom^ttoh^out^e ^ \u00b0l~h is not ^t on this side, and the incline an\nL gates.   We are not perhaps very highly impressed with the v ew.   1 he ne g 8 ^ ^ ^ q{\nCorso, shops and even palaces somewhat disappointing us ; bu ^^^^^V balustrade, save the place from\nwe aredrawingnearertotheCapitol;andoureagerness increases | stairs with the statuary\n1$\n!M*\nKV^\n*mz\nrm\nsimgm\n%\nVZP\nm\nm\n\u00a7m '\u2022 8\n?*\n^\njfejiS\nm.\n\"i \u00bbt-.\n^*i\nOT\nH\nIrVTJ\nJ^\n^\n-^\n^\n&\nm\nH*\nFRONT OF THE PORTICO OF OCTAVIA.\nas the bourn of our anticipations draws nigh. Piazzas, palaces,\nand churches we certainly pass worthy of notice, but we must\nreserve a detailed inspection of them for another time. The\nlast piazza, however\u2014di Venezia\u2014will cause a halt, if only\nfor reflection as to our route, for here the Corso is deflected\nto round the Capitoline, and we must consider which-way we\nintend to enter that most sacred shrine of out associations\u2014the\nForum. Two ways present themselves \u2014the most natural by the\nbending continuation of the Corso, which will wind round and\ndeposit us, entering sideways, in the Forum itself, under the brow\nof th\u00ab>-Capitol; the other; to which the reader shall be introduced,\nmeanness, though everything but the statues are modern.   On\nour left is a special broad flight of stairs, leading up to the\nChurch of the Altar of Heaven, which has displaced the temple\nof old Jupiter of the Capitol, so famous in history, so often\nbesieged, blood-stained, burnt to the ground.    Christianity has,\ntaken care to supplant her rival religion in its proudest seat;\nand kneeling pilgrims now painfully crawl to the spot where\nrope-dragged captives witnessed, if they got so far, triumphantj\nsacrifice to Jove. \u25a0  But we shall visit the church another time,.\nand then  have  more  to \"remark.    The   sculptures   on   the\nbalustrade we may leave for the present, after a general survey;  :o6\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\n\u00a7188\n!   I\nliiiKili!\nMl\ntiifll\nMill\nIP\nbut, full facing us as we have mounted the last step, in the\ncentre of the open space in front, is an equestrian statue that\nmay well arrest our attention and make us look and look again,\nand yet be loath to turn away, for it is one of the finest statues\nin the world.    That bronze figure, in this noblest of sites that\neven Rome could offer, is that of perhaps Rome's noblest\nemperor.    Certainly pagan philosophy never couched itself in\nso amiable a form as in Marcus Aurelius.    Of the statue itself\nI need say but little.    It is familiar through its imitations.    It\nis one of those works of art whose perfection strikes at once\neven the non-professional eye.    Horse and man are instinct\nwith life and action and vigour.    It is easier to divert our\nthoughts from the perfection of the statue than from the\ncharacter of Marcus Aurelius.    He was an instance of a type\nof character rare in the world's history ?   Nay, where are we to\nlook for a complete parallel ?   A deeply-conscientious, noble-\nminded man, and, at the same time, an able wielder of autocratic power.    He was one who preserved the maxims and\nmoral purity, the humble-minded amiableness and anxiety to\ndo his daily duty, the highest soul-philosophy and heavenward\naspirations, of his previous life intact, unsullied, fresh, as in his\nyouth when he sat by his mother's side and listened to words\nof love and wisdom, through the cares and anxieties of state,\nthrough the splendours and allurements of the sovereignty of\nthe world.     Through  the toilsome duties,  conscientiously,\nunflinchingly,  and successfully performed, of severe warfare\nagainst the barbarian foes that were more and more menacing\nthe frontiers of the empire, and through the corruption and\ndebauchery of a decaying civilisation around him, and of a\ncourt trained to the customs of some of the vilest and most\nworthless men who have ever disgraced a throne,  through\ncountless  difficulties, trials, vexations, disappointments,  despondencies, he preserved his moral purity to his dying day.\nAy, we know of these heart trials, and we know him as we\nperhaps know no other exalted character of history.    We can\nread his character in the pages of his own daily journal, and\nwe can pronounce it to be perhaps the noblest in heathendom.\nStoic philosophy, in many of its maxims, in its preference of\nduty before everything else, came near to the teachings of\nChristianity, but it never attained such a sweetness as in\nAurelius, in whom humility and resignation to the divine will\nare mingled with the resolutions and rules which he forms for\nhis guidance in life.    \" Simply and freely choose the better,\"\nsays he, \" and hold to it.\"    | Life is a warfare, and a stranger's\nsojourn, and after fame is oblivion.    What, then, is that which\nI able to enrich a man ?   One thing, and only one\u2014philosophy.\nBut this consists in keeping the guardian spirit within a man\nfree from violence,  and unharmed,  superior  to pains and\npleasures, doing nothing without a purpose, nor yet falsely and\nwith hypocrisy.   .   .   . Accepting all that happens and all that\nis allotted.   .   .   . and finally waiting for death with a cheerful\nmmd.\"   Such was the noblest philosophy of Paganism, in the\nhands of its noblest exponent.   We see Marcus, \" wise, self-\ngoverned, tender, thankful, blameless,\" says a much-respected\nwriter, \"yet with all this, agitated, stretching out his arms for\nsomething beyond.\"    So great an  emperor,  conqueror,  and\nphilosopher deservedly occupies with his statue the summit of\nthe Capitol\u2014a site interwoven with Rome's most ancient aid\nglorious traditions ] but there is something almost significant in\nthe manner in which, as he is there placed, he is turning his\nback on anaent Rome with all its creeds and crimes, and is\ngazing steadfastly forward to the present, with right hand raised\nand pointing to the Church of II Gesti, so conspicuous from\nthere\u2014the church dedicated to Him whom he unconsciously\nsought after and ignorantly persecuted; of Him who alone\ncould and will supply the \" something beyond.\"\nLet us make our way now between the spacious buildings\nwhich surround the remaining three sides of the piazza on the\nsummit, and a few steps will give us the view of old R.ome\nwhich has been our dream since we left England. It is almost\nlike a dream now, so like is it to what we expected, to what we\nhave seen sculptured or illustrated almost from infancy; and\nyet it is itself something not quite these, however near; something that impresses us anew beyond what the imitations could\ndo\u2014a difference, a feeling, an impression that we should be\nperhaps hopelessly at a loss to define, perhaps hopelessly\nunable to recall. First impressions are often not easy to\nremember; they are modified and changed, before we are aware\nof it, by subsequent visits, till a new picture is gradually drawn\nover the old one in our mind.\nWe are standing on the slope of the Clivus Capitolinus,\nleaning against the wall which borders the road and rises some\nheight above the space below, close under the wall of the\nTabularium.    It is unfortunate that the large and not very\npoetical building,  of whose facade the  latter forms part\u2014a\nbuilding which reminds one, looking at it from the Forum, of a\nfactory, and surmounted by a central campanile, with less appropriateness than the chimney we might expect to see smoking\nthere, though from our present situation we do not see its\nugliness, as we are looking away from it\u2014should prevent any\npossibility of getting a general view of the Forum from the\nCapitol itself; and it is only after descending part of the slope,\nhere contracted into a narrow road, that we clear the building\nand obtain an uninterrupted prospect.     At  our feet  is a\nrecently-restored portico of white marble, called that of the Dii\nConsenti; to the left the elegant trio of columns we know so\nwell which formed an angle of the Temple of Vespasian. The first\ntemple we see is one raised in honour of an emperor, carrying\nus back to the most degraded ideas which th; Romans of the\nempire conceived with respect to religion,  the deification of\nthe  emperors ; that which more than anything else precipitated the struggle between Paganism and Christianity, as the\nrefusal of the Christians to sacrifice to the image of an emperor\nwas a plain definite fact, implicating treason, which their enemies\ncould bring against them or test them with.    That beautiful\ngroup of eight columns, which we see in front of us, so associated with all our ideas of the Forum, is part of the Temple of\nSaturn, a much more venerable deity, in ill-keeping with his\nneighbour, bearing back our thoughts far beyond emperors and\neven consuls, to the earliest faith and worship of Italy, when\ngods were a reality, and religion a thing that had hold on men's\nlives, before a Pantheon was possible, and Rome had attracted\nto herself and fostered all the religious superstitions, vile and\nimmoral, or otherwise, of the conquered countries, and regarded\nor disregarded them along with her own.    On this side of the\nruin we can see what recent excavations have made clear, the\nancient Clivus,   or ascent to the Capitol, which further on\nwound round behind it to the right, and joined the Via Sacra,\nwhich ran to the right of that single column which bears the\nname of Phocas, the latest remnant which we have noticed yet\nthe name being that of one of the emperors of Rome's declining\nold age; and then to the left of^that nobler group of three m&.\nLEAVES FROM  MY JOURNAL  OF THE  \"FOX'S\" TELEGRAPHIC VOYAGE.\n207\ncolumns, over which, as over most of these Forum remains, many\na battle has been waged by antiquarians, who cannot, however,\nquarrel about its beauty; and after passing this, makes for\nthe Arch of Titus, which we can make out partly hidden by\nthe trees which line the modern road. Thence we will leave it\nto pursue its course, while we return for a moment to notice\na striking monument which we omitted, the Arch of Septimus\nSeverus. It lies to our left beyond the Temple of Vespasian ;\nbut we need not further describe it now, except to point out\nhow its base shows the accumulation of soil, as is indicated by the\nfact that the ancient road which passes under it is already considerably higher than the original road for which the arch was\nconstructed, must have been. The Via Sacra, however, does not\npass under it; and as we return to the latter, we may conjure\nup in our imagination the long streams of captives and spoils\nthat the old generals of conquering Rome led in triumph up to\nthe Capitol; and we may turn back to look for the entrance to\nthe Mamertine Prison on the right of the Capitol, with a shudder\nas we remember one captive king at least, who, after thus\ngracing the triumph, was thrust into that cold hole naked, to\nstarve to death. But this is in imagination, for we have not\nyet left our post of observation. Carrying our eye beyond the\nArch of Titus, the Coliseum, that grandest monument of\nimperial Rome\u2014we have seen that none of the conspicuous\nruins in the Forum belong to the republic, or even the early\nemperors, with the exception of the Temple of Saturn, which\nwas restored by Augustus\u2014forms the background to our picture.\nIt is not well seen, however, from here. Modern buildings\nintervene, and one impertinent campanile struts up before\nits very centre, as if to crow over the devastation which\nmediaeval barbarism has inflicted on one of the noblest buildings\nin the world. We shall visit it more closely some other time,\nand then have more to say. We must for the present be content\nwith this general view from the Capitol, for, so far from our\nAmerican friend with his five-church-steam up having belter\noccupied the day than ourselves, we find that we have rambled\nto such a purpose that we must forego our intention of walking\non to inspect it now.\nLeaves from my Journal of the \"Fox's\" Telegraphic Voyage.\u2014I.\n-BY  CAPTAIN  J.   E.   DAVIS,   R.N.\nFREDERICKSII.AAB.\n\" Oh, sleep it is a gentle thing,\nBeloved from pole to pole.\"\nMuch, indeed, did all hands enjoy the first uninterrupted sleep\nthey had had since leaving Iceland, and much refreshed we\nwere from it The first thing done was to get a little cleansing,\nboth with regard to the ship and men, but commenced with\nthe latter by washing clothes, the men not having had an\nopportunity of doing it since we left Iceland, owing to the\nweather and scarcity of water.\nWe soon had a number of Esquimaux on board and around\nthe ship; some had come out in their kyaks to meet us the\nday before, and to those of us who had not visited the coast\nbefore, their appearance created much interest. It is wonderful\nto see the ease and dexterity with which they handle their\nlittle craft, and to see one coming towards you end on, it\nseems literally as if the man were sitting on the water. We\nsent two of the men off to get some fish, and they soon returned with some fine cod, for which we paid a few biscuits;\nthe fish were a very acceptable addition to our table after so\nmuch insipid and tasteless preserved meat.\n\u2022 At our men's dinner hour a whole troop of boys came off\n(I suppose having a natural instinct for that hour), to see what\nthey could get, and they seemed greatly to appreciate a good\ndinner of soup and biscuit. These boys amused us very much\nplaying their games, some of which appeared very dangerous;\nbut we soon found that they had such a perfect mastery over\ntheir little kyaks that the danger was more apparent than real.\nThey were also very expert with their spears, for a biscuit\nhung by a rope-yarn at the whisker-end had such a shower of\ndarts at it that it did not remain long suspended; there was no\nquarrelling as to the ownership when once the biscuit was\nstruck, and the laughing, gabbling, and scrambling for their\narrows heightened the amusement.\nI selected some of these boys, and arranged them for\nWoods to photograph, and they remained in position like doorposts for nearly an hour while the chemicals were prepared,\nbut at the time of operation some of them moved, and the\nattempt to take their likenesses proved a failure; I believe the\nprincipal cause was in the chemicals, which had got out of\norder from being shaken so much.\nMy first object was to obtain observations for time, which\nI was enabled to do that afternoon. Some little boys were\nabout me, and at first I was rather alarmed lest they should\nshake the ground, but they remained very quiet, looking on\nwith mute astonishment. When I had completed my observations, I amused them by spilling a few grains of mercury on\nthe rock, which they all tried to pick up, laughing heartily at\ntheir repeated failures.\nOn the 3rd of October the mail arrived from Godhaab\u2014\nnot a mail as some of our readers may understand it to be,\nassociating it with bags of letters conveyed by steamer or rail,\nor even by the familiar red post-cart: the mail consisted of one\nletter, and its conveyance a kyak, the Esquimaux himself concentrating in his own person all the functionaries of the postal\narrangement.\nThe next morning was fine but very cold (temperature 19 ),\nthe whole distance from the ship to the settlement being frozen\nover; the boats had therefore some difficulty in getting to and\nfrom'the shore. We had the notables of Frederickshaab on.\nboard to dine with us-the Governor (Mr. Tweedie), and the\npastor or rector, Mr. Barford; also the captains of the three\n111\nhl!\u00abffl\nII\nS'sSTtll Hllj\n1fe;S\nF'\n208\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nII.\nllsliSli\nSiilli'\nP\"\nvessels, in port.    There was much health-drinking and speech-\nmaking during dinner, which seems to be a Danish custom.\nAfter dinner we went on shore, and I took my first view of\nthe settlement; it consists of a few neat wooden houses, the\nresidences of the Governor, rector, and Governor's clerk, the\nstore, schoolhouse, and church, and the huts of the natives.\nI Of course the moment we landed we were trie \" observed\nof all observers,\" the children in the settlement turning out to\nsec us, and following us up .\nfrom the shore. Colonel\nShaffner was soon a grand\nfavourite. On reaching'\nthe Governor's house, the\nentrance to which is by a\nflight of steps at the gable,\nthe summit of the steps\nhaving a small platform\nand rail, and as it had\nsomewhat the appearance\nof a hustings, I proposed\nto the colonel that we\nshould address the\nUskees, soliciting their\nsuffrages to elect one of\nus as Governor; and he\nimmediately began a real'\nYankee stump speech.\nAt first his audience stood\nlooking very sedately, of\ncourse not understanding\na word ; but as we went\non, they seemed to think\nthere ought to be some\nfun in it, although they\ncould not see it, and began\nto laugh and cheer lustily;\nthis brought one after\nanother from theirburrows;\na' few coppers and raisins\nthrown amongst them increased their delight and\ncheering, until at last\neVery boy, girl, and woman\nof the place came rushing\nfrom all- quarters, joining\nin the scramble; as darkness approached, the difficulty- of finding the shillings\nwas increased and the confusion also'. As our stock of skill ings\nand raisins was exhausted, we were obliged to leave off, but our\nUskee friends had evidently enjoyed the fun as much as we\ndid.\nThe Governor's house, though small, was extremely neat\nand clean, and his wife and four children patterns of neatness ;\nthe youngest, in arms, was brought in by its Uskee nurse, a\nbroad-faced, good-humoured-looking girl, who seemed to do\njustice to the better living of the Governor's house; the baby\ndid not approve of so much company, and expressed its disapproval in the usual way, and retired.\nSome books amused us until supper, the table being laid by\nthe mistress of the house, and to which, when ready, we all\nAN OLD ESQUIMAUX,\nseated ourselves; and here I may remark on a custom of the\nDanes, which to our ideas is at first extremely irksome and\nuncomfortable\u2014it is that of the mistress of the house attending\nto the guests as a servant. I found myself continually about to\njump up from my chair when handed things from behind it by\nthe Governor's wife, and it was some time before I could keep\nquite still, and I dare say she thought my standing up as strange\nas I thought her actions; at last I naturally resigned myself to\ndo in Rome, &c, and endeavoured to keep quiet\nand submit.\nSome corned beef, cold\nptarmigan, and white and\nbrown bread with butter,\nconstituted oar supper,\nwith Danish brandy (a\nweak spirit strongly flavoured with carraways) and\nrum to drink, and liqueur\nglasses to drink from,\nfollowed by some delicious\ntea with goats' milk.\nAfter this supper, or\n\" high tea\" we had some\nsinging and music. One\nof the Danish captains\nplayed some pretty Danish\nairs on the accordion very\nwell; the colonel sang all\nhis nigger songs over and\nover again, with the\nchoruses veiy prolonged:\nand the captain of the\nNorwegian barque sang\nsome very doleful ditties\nvery suited to his own\ncountry in the winter, so\naltogether we spent a very\npleasant evening.\nAs we  left to go on\nboard, six Uskee girls were\nsinging very nicely, in excellent time, which in the\nclear atmosphere sounded\nvery sweetly; and as my\nlady readers may wish to\nknow the burden of their\nsong, I am, by the kindness\nof the rector, who gave me the words, and to Mr. Kindler who,\nwith a good ear, set the music, enabled to give both, which\nwill be found on page 210 ; \" Illerkorsout, &c.\"\nOn a careful examination of the damage our vessel had\nsustained in her terrible battling with the ice, we were thankful\nto find that we were all sound under water, \u00a7. small leak somewhere not being deemed of much consequence; one of the iron\nshoes or fortifications just above the forefoot had been torn\naway and bent back, and there were some severe bruises above\nthe water-line ; the principal damage was confined to the upper\nworks, the bulwarks and stanchions all along the starboard\nside as far aft as the main rigging being adrift, but, with the aid\n!'\u2022 of two carpenters from the ships in the harbour, a few days' LEAVES   FROM  MY JOURNAL OF THE \"FOX'S\" TELEGRAPHIC VOYAGE.\n209\nsnowing whither,\nwork made all temporarily secure. Our prospects with regard\nto our mission were now most disheartening, and all idea of\ngoing to Labrador was given up.\nFrom our look-out hill, the sea, as far as the eye could reach,\nwas covered with heavy and thick ice ; the weather also, for the\ntime of the year, was unusually severe, the temperature varying\nfrom 190 to 250, while the newly-formed ice in the harbour\nwas sufficiently thick to enable the crews of the ships immediately within us to walk to the shore, and the natives were\nobliged to bring their kyaks down to a point near the ship, so\nthat we had the prospect of the winter rapidly setting in before\nwe could beat a retreat; but knowing how almost miraculously\nvast bodies of ice disappear and return without\nYoung was not one to\ngive -up, and although\nthe captains of the\nother ships, accustomed\nto the coast, said that\nthey would be obliged\nto winter where they\nwere, we did not anticipate that, and every\npreparation was made\nto take advantage of\nthe first movement of\nthe ice, and as the repair of the hull and\nsails were still going on,\nthe time was not lost,\nand the detention also\nenabled me to obtain\na complete set of observations, although the\nstate of the weather\nprecluded surveying\noperations to the extent\nof being useful for the\nconstruction of a plan\nof the port.\nThe skin of the\nbear we had shot was\nlanded for the purpose\nof being cleaned, much to the delight of the natives, who\nseldom see one on this coast, and the man who brings in a\nbear is looked on as a hero: great were the exclamations,\ntherefore, of delight and joy; the skin being produced, every\none crowded to see it; even the men seemed to forget their\nusual apathetic mood, and were roused at the sight of it.\nThe 6th of October being the birthday of the sovereign of\nthese realms, Frederick VII., King of Denmark, we prepared to\ndo all honour to the occasion : all the ships, by a preconcerted\nsignal, dressed ship at eight o'clock, at the same time the\nDanish vessels and the guns on shore firing a some what, irregular\nsalute of twenty-seven guns (the Danish royal salute) between\nthem. '\u2022 \"    '\nThe rector was to do the honours of the settlement by\ngiving a grand dinner on the occasion at two o'clock, to which,\nof course, we were all invited. Very punctually at that hour we\nassembled; the table occupied two rooms; the dinner consisted of\u2014First course : cold corned pork cut in thin slices and\nhanded round. Second course : venison from Godhaab, Arctic\n267\u2014vol. vr.\nGREENLAND   FAMILY,\nhare and ptarmigan (all very good with Arctic appetites); we\nalso had some very nice small turnips, grown in the colony,\nand corned French beans from Denmark; all of which good\nthings were diluted, first with schnapps, then wine, and a nice\nlight kind of beer made at the settlement; and when the substantial part of the meal was over, some champagne was pro-\"\nduced which was not an import of the colony, for it tasted\nvery much like that so liberally supplied to the Fox.\nThe health of the noble Dane in whose honour we had\nassembled was then drunk with all honours and a salvo from\nthe three guns outside; then Colonel Shaffner, and success to\nthe \" Telegraphum.\" I then proposed the health of the\nGovernor, which was followed by that of our host and hostess;\nthe major (Von Zeilau)\nhaving to do the double\nduty of translating our\nEnglish into Danish\nand their Danish into\nEnglish. Some one\nremarked that it was a\npity that ladies were\nnot permitted by custom to propose toasts.\nIt was suggested, and a\nvote carried unanimously, that on this\noccasion the \" standing\norders\" to that effect\nshould be suspended,\nand the rector's wife\nwas called on to propose one, and to my\nastonishment she at\nonce acceded to it, and\nin a fluent little speech,\nproposed the health of\nMrs. Shaffner and son.\nSo after one or two\nmore toasts we rose\nfrom the table, every\none shaking hands with\nevery one (a Danish\ncustom). We then retired to another room where those\nwho liked it began to smoke, and the Danish national air\nwas sung to the music of the accordion, after which six Uskee\ngirls came in and sang several songs. The airs of two of\nthem I am enabled to give on the next page (through\nMr. Kindler); although I am sorry I cannot give the words\nof \" Nullinuljanullji.\"\nWhile singing, they open their lips very slightly\u2014so little,\nindeed, that were their voices not heard, you would not know\nthey were singing at all.\nAfter partaking coffee, it being yet early, I went with the\nrector to make one or two calls on the natives, as I wished to see\nthem at home, and we visited two houses, representing the extremes of Uskee society. One was of the poorest description\u2014a\nwretched affair, and by no means so clean as it might have been;\nthe other was that of the schoolmaster, a well-to-do Uskee. This\nwas nice and clean, and well boarded above and beneath; but\nboth houses smelt intolerably of seal oil. The plan of the\nbuildings is such as I have already described ; but the school-\nEH*\nh.\npi\n'm\nIHifflf \u2014\nMi\ngiiiill\n111(11\ntill\n\u2022!lSa*'il\nmm\n*gij!\u00a3J BBS\nm\nwtt\nm\nt \u25a0\u25a0\u00ab\u25a0\n[1\nI'fl; |\n1^\nPHII\nlaSsasMlll i\n|\n2IO\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nmaster had a second room, and the outer, or living room, was\nornamented by one or two pictures, and a clock, of which the\nowner was very proud, as he was also of his twin children, one\nof whom was asleep, and the other at the breast of the mother;\nto effect this last interesting operation the auerak had to be\nraised above the breast. The schoolmaster, with much pride,\nproduced an accordion, that he had purchased with his own\nmoney, and had given seventeen Danish dollars (about \u00a32)\nfor it.    He played some tunes very well.\nAs we were returning to the rector's house, a man had just\ncome from hunting with two seals, which were being brought up\nby the ladies of his establishment; and when at a convenient\nplace they commenced, with a woman's (small cutler's) knife, the\noperation of flaying, which they did very skilfully ; a number of\nlittle boys were standing round waiting for their share of the\nblubber, it being a custom that every child should have a piece\nfrom each seal caught, orphans receiving double allowance. A\nlong strip of the blubber was cut off and notched, and, according to the number in each family, divided, the little fellows\ntaking it and sucking their fingers, ran off with the allowance\nfor their family with great glee.\nYoung had arranged to astonish the natives with an exhibition of such fireworks as the Fox was supplied with; and accordingly, on a preparatory signal being given, the whole population turned out, and astonished they were, and as each rocket\nshot in the air, men, women, and children cheered most lustily.\nThe finale was a blue light, burnt from each yard-arm ; and as\nthe men waved them round and round, it elicited tumultuous applause. The three shore-guns were fired, and all were\ndelighted with the display; and as everything is enjoyed by\ncomparison, these poor creatures, who had never in their lives\nseen a rocket or a blue-light, were as much pleased with the\nfew. that were let off as we should be with the most brilliant\npyrotechnic display.\nAfter the fireworks we went to the school-house, where, by\npermission of the Governor, dancing was to be allowed, the\nGreenlander being passionately fond of it. The room (not a\nvery large one) was much crowded. The crews of the Danish\nvessels had been allowed on shore for partners to the Uskee\ngirls; a strong smell of oil pervaded the room; two or three\nliving candlesticks held as many candles, which shed a dim\nlight on the scene, while three native fiddlers were hard at\nwork in the corner; the dancing was going on fast and furious,\nand as close as they could stow, to move. It was evident that\nthey thought no time was to be lost, for no sooner was one\ndance over than they struck up another. There was literally\nno breathing time. A reel, a polka, a waltz, and one or two\nnative dances followed each other in quick succession, and the\nwhole room shook to the well-timed beating of the feet The\ndress of the young ladies on this occasion proved of great\nadvantage, for had they worn either crinolines or trains, not\none-fourth of them could have danced. The ball was well\nconducted, and with the greatest propriety. All seemed happy,\nand to enjoy themselves. The girls did their part well, and at\nthe conclusion of each dance passed, a rag or handkerchief from\none to another to wipe away the perspiration, which was the\nnecessary consequence of their exertions, and then set to again\nwith renewed vigour.\nEarly hours were the order of the day; and a beautiful\nmoon and ribbon Aurora lighted us off soon after ten.\nThe following is the Uskee song mentioned in page 208 :\u2014\nILLERKORSOUT, INNUIT PIODLUDGIT.\nn.  Tempo di marche. S   K.   -\u20141\n\u25a0* # _- \u2014 ! w-. ^ =\u00bb-, 3 1   1    .1 :\u20141\u2014is -j-| ;1     \\&. ~\"\n\u25a0v    '  ' ' |Ti\n\"AUANGNARPASIKSOME INNOUPUT.\"   (F. T. Barfoed.)\nErin.   Vintren rase:\nAuangnarpasiksome innouput\nInnui't nusennersoussut,\nNajorominartorsoussudlo;\nIpingijatuju'i'tsaraut,\nKakkakardlutigdlo aputilingnik,\nTaessane tuktoniartaramik,\nKajartoramik illulialingme,\nNavisenartunnetuardlutik.\nr iblandt vore Fjelde,\nIla okiordlungniaranget,\nInnu'it kakutigordlutik\nAngudlengoaramik, taimaimet\nKemektulliarfirkararaut\nInnuidlo unnuktussidlarstnget,\nOkalluktuarnek nuannarat,\nAm a illerkorsortarnek ; illaine\nKemassout tapartarallutik.\nI give but two verses, but I shall be glad to oblige any lady\nwith the other four if she wishes to have them, but I think the\ntwo will suffice; no doubt in attempting it she will be struck\nwith the inordinate length of the words, but she must remember\nthat in the Innuit a word may, and often does, signify a sentence, which I can best illustrate by asking her to suppose the\nexpression \" ever-to-be-lamented-and-never-to-be-forgotten husband \" to constitute one word; it would almost eclipse any of\nthe words of the song; but much as may be the difficulty of\nacquiring the words, it sounded very sweetly as it died away in\nthe distance amid the snow-clad hills of Frederickshaab.\nn a-\nNI\nJLLIN\nULJAN\n1\nULLJI\n\u20141 i\n\u20141\u20141\nto-\u20144\u2014\\\u2014o-\n*\n=}\u2014\u25a0\n-\u00bb\u2014\u20145\n\u2014|\n. \u00ab_\u00ab_,\n-9\u2014 &~\n-0\u20149-\na .\n!^\u00bb4^\n1\n-\u00bb\u2014\u25a0\u20141\n-0\u2014j 1\nA_\nn &\u2022                          \u00bb*(               1       1                                                                            1\n-?rMF 1\u20141\u2014t-*\u2014'\u20141\u20141\u2014=\u20141 1 1 1 ' =-l 1\nTTK 1 ! t-\u00bb-i 9\u20149 -t-r^l\u2014M\u2014^\u2014 \u2014 i d\u2014\u00bb 1\u2014^-l 1\n\\J              9_^s           5&                                                                                     '    N.   \u2022                               \u2022   \u2022\n7\u2014w* \\~m 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 [ -1 n\n\u00aeri^^^^^=^3EE^|l\nP&pcj^p^zg\n-*\u2014\n0 *\n#^   - -1-\nd^b-\n] t   1\n=f=\u00b1\n-J\u2014L-\nt\n\u20141\u2014-*\u2014\n=1-^-11\nOp-\u20141\u2014\u00bb-\n-\u2022 rt-\n\u20141\t\n\u2014Hs1\n-JL\u20141\n-\u00bb 1\n-1-T=-\n=SL^.{j\n\u20144 1\nA -^~\n-#\u2014!\u2014\n\u25a0jr\nTg\t\n1   '\n_\u00a3 V 'i|.t\u00abn|Mrj\nTHE FIJI ISLANDS.\n211\nThe  Fiji Islands.\nBY W.  C.  MICHELL.\nDuring the last few years some attention has been directed to\nthe Fiji Islands, mainly in consequence of the distressing-\nnarratives which have reached this country relative to a widespread system of slavery which has unhappily sprung into\nexistence there. More recently, however, we have learned\nthat proposals have been made to cede the group to Great\nBritain, and, in view of their becoming a colonial possession,\nsome particulars regarding the country in question will be\ninteresting.\nFiji comprises a group of islands, about 200 in number,\nlying between the parallels of 15\u00b0 and 200 south latitude,\nand the longitude of 1770 east, and   1780 west; extending\nover an area of about 40,000 square miles of the South\nPacific Ocean.    Notwithstanding the number of islands, there\nare only about a dozen of them of any real importance, as the\nmajority are not many miles in circumference, with few inhabitants.    In approaching the group after a long sea voyage, the\nvarious islands rising up out of the sea present a very attractive\nappearance.   As you draw nearer and nearer, the numbers of\ncocoa-nut trees in combination with profuse tropical vegetation\nscattered over hill and dale form a fascinating picture  of\nnatural beauty, which cannot fail to strike a visitor with admiration.    It may here be said, that Fiji is distant 1,100 miles\nfrom Auckland, New Zealand; and 1,780 miles from Sydney.\nOn going ashore, a lively interest is at once awakened by the\nnovelty of the situation, which by no means diminishes as time\nadvances.    The coral reefs, too, lend a charm to the scene,\nsurrounding, as they do, the islands in all directions.    This\nnatural belt fringes the shore at a varying distance of one or\ntwo miles, forming an effectual breakwater, and the ever rolling\nbreakers  dash against this formidable barrier with an unceasing roar.    The waves breaking against the coral reef cause\na sheet of spray to dash upwards, and curling into fantastic\nshapes ever maintains an irregular line of singular foam of great\nbeauty.    And when the prismatic colours are reflected by the\nrays of a tropical sun, the grandeur of the scene is much\nenhanced.    Natural openings exist, here and there in the reef-\nbelt, causing gaps to prevail in the lovely picture, varying in\nwidth from a half to one or two miles, by which means ships of\nall sizes enter the numerous fine harbours of security.   \" Inside\nthe reef,\" refers to the sheet of water contiguous to the shore,\nand is commonly without a ripple on the surface.   This affords\na highway of safety for boats and canoes of the smallest size,\nand, being a favourite mode of travelling, distances of hundreds\nof miles may thus be accomplished in safety.    The islands are\nof volcanic formation, a feature so noticeable in the Pacific\nOcean, showing indubitably that at some time or other great\nconvulsions of Nature took place.     Every kind  of scenery\npresents itself for the delectation of the traveller.    Mountains\nreaching an elevation of more than 4,\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0 feet are in Viti Levu,\nwith numerous rivers of some importance to surprise a stranger.\nThe Rewa, for instance, a few miles from its mouth is as wide\nas the Thames at London Bridge, but it is\" not so deep, however.    This river is more than 100 miles in length, stretching\ninto the interior of Viti Levu; and, as its source is still unexplored, an opportunity is thus offered for a man of research\nto tell us all about it. The truth, however, must not be overlooked, that in the region beyond thirty miles from its mouth,\nthe country is still in the possession of cannibals; and it is\nfrom that cause alone that its source has not hitherto been\ntraced by white men. This remark holds good with all the\nrivers of importance in Viti Levu. Settlers have established\nthemselves by the sea-side, and a few miles up the rivers,\nleaving it to the process of time for further advancement to be\nmade in security.\nThe natives furnish evidences of their Papuan origin ; and\nas the thermometer is seldom lower than 65\u00b0 they are not in\nneed of much clothing.    A beneficent Nature has happily\nplaced them in a delightful climate, and a simple covering\naround their loins, named a sulu, of a coloured cotton fabric, is\nall that is necessary.    Such is the usual habiliment of the lotu\nnatives, but the cannibals have not yet even reached that stage\nof advancement    Much has been said of their idle habits, yet\nthose who make such assertions can never reflect on the natural\ncauses which tend to such a result.    The generous soil and\nclimate produces spontaneously fruits and vegetables, which\nare their main staples of subsistence; and as their remaining\nwants are so few, there is some reason for inaction.     Lotu\nis a name given to the natives on their renouncing cannibalistic\ncustoms, at the period when they are said to embrace Chris-\ntianity.    It is, however, a sweeping assertion to make when it\nis contended that Fijians are cannibals one day and Christians\nthe next.    The truth is, that changes have been brought about\namong the masses of the native Fijians by their giving up the\npractice of openly eating human flesh, and in its stead their\nmore or less observance of the Sabbath.    Generally they are\nnot by any means bad-looking, but in no way approaching the\nTonguese or Samoans in appearance.    A regularity of features\nis observable, however, among them;  and this is especially\nnoticeable in the children, for the majority of the little ones\nare really handsome.     Their youthful good looks, however,\nsoon disappear, caused by the exhausting nature of the climate\nand the privations which they experience through their irregular\nhabits.    The women are regarded as the workers of society,\nand a long file of them may often be seen carrying heavy\nburdens of wood on their backs for domestic purposes, which\nthey collect in the bush.    Young girls are by no means excluded from such toil, for they are often seen thus engaged as\nwell as joining their seniors in fishing.    The ordinary method\nadopted for catching fish is very primitive, and not rewarded\nwith much success.    A line of females is seen in the water a\nshort distance from the shore, numbering from twenty upwards,\nwhen those at each end make a noise and beat the water with\ntheir hands as they advance in the direction of shallower water.\nWhen a semicircle is formed, a simultaneous movement is made\nfor reducing the enclosed area whilst shouting and beating the\nwater with their hands becomes general.    A halt is then made\nby the outer ones, who place and hold in the water small pieces\nof netting, whilst those from the shore rush outwards with great\nshouting and excitement for the purpose of driving the fish\nthe nets.    In this simple manner do. they follow the pur-\ni' f\ninto\nsuit\nwith much cheerfulness, and they consider themselves well 212\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nrewarded if, at the end of this tedious process, half a dozen\nsmall fish are secured. These are at once placed in small\ngrass bags, which the women carry at their backs, when they\ngleefully proceed onwards, repeating the same action, it may be\nfor many hours, and thus fish a considerable distance along the\ncoast.\nAnother mode of fishing is by erecting fences, termed \"fish\nfences;\" and this may be regarded as the Fijian pot-hunting\nstyle of securing a supply, from the numbers of fish which are\nthus enclosed whenever the fences are kept in good repair.\nA considerable space is enclosed on the beach, at low water,\nby canes fastened together and placed at regular distances from\neach other, which is constructed as far out towards the sea as\npossible.    Openings are left here and there, and at high water\nenabled to espy numbers of fish, which they spear with great\ndexterity.\nIn colour the natives are not black, for their skins are more\nakin to the brown colour of an ordinary well-used portmanteau\nthan anything else we are acquainted with. A few may be\nsomewhat lighter, and others again to be encountered are of a\ndarker hue. The number of inhabitants cannot exceed 100,000,\nand of this number about 15,000 are cannibals. These latter,\nhowever, are only on one island, namely, Viti Levu. Still, that\n\u25a0is the largest in the group, being about 300 \"miles in circumference. The next in size is Vanua Levu, then comes Taviuni,\nKandavti, Koro, and the capital, named Levuka, is situated\non the shores of Ovaiau, facing the east.\nI believe the ferocity of Fijian cannibals has been much\nFIJI TYPES.\nsuch gaps are closed by cane-work previously prepared for^that\npurpose. As the tide recedes the fish that had entered are unable\nto escape, and thus at low water are left high and dry on the beach.\nIn this way. numbers of fish are secured, furnishing an ample\nsupply to the native inhabitants, but as they are unaccustomed\nto any process of curing, this practice is repeated as often as\nthey may be in want. Fish abound in all directions, but none\nof them are precisely similar to those with which the coasts of\nGreat Britain are famous for. The same remark applies to the\nfresh-water fish, for although the rivers are well stocked they\ncomprise only a variety of species peculiar to the country. In\nconsequence of the common prevalence of rocky patches it is\nfound impossible, however, to carry out any systematic course\nof sea-fishing after the English method, for in casting nets they\nwould speedily be torn to pieces by the sharp edges of coral\ncropping up in all directions. Fishing at night on the reefs a\nmile or two from the shore is also followed. The natives use\ntorches, and by the bright light thus shed around they are\nover-rated. It is not intended to deny that they kill and\neat each other. Nevertheless, they are not quite so bad as\nthey have been generally represented. Three years ago an\nItalian gentleman named Martelli, with his partner Wingate,\nresided.among them for nine consecutive months, in order to\nexecute a survey of land of about 200,000 acres in extent\nfor an insatiable Melbourne land company. The land in\nquestion is indubitably owned by cannibals, yet this survey\nwas planned and executed with a clear knowledge of such a\nfact; and at some future day the Melbourne shareholders will\nadvance claims to the same in order to be put in peaceable\npossession. The chief Thakombau is primarily responsible for\nthis piece of jobbery, inasmuch as he informed the surveyors,\nwho were strangers, that the land in question was his property;\nwhereas in truth they subsequently discovered that his representations in that respect were a tissue of falsehoods. Be that\nas it may, those I have named encountered great difficulties\n\u2014their lives were endangered\u2014yet they showed their wisdom THE FIJI  ISLANDS.\n213\nby never using their fire-arms; for instead of resorting to\nviolence in times of danger, they exercised a conciliatory policy.\nTo this happy forbearance do they owe their lives. Their\nstrange experiences, however, are of the greatest interest;\nand the particulars which they are enabled to furnish of social\nlife in savagedom is singularly attractive. It appears that\ntraditional laws are in force among the community of great\nexcellence; inasmuch as they are calculated to promote\nindustrial habits and the well-being of the people. Hard and\nfast lines, however, are drawn for the gooa regulation of the\ninhabitants, which are well observed; and this strikingly illustrates the fact that even cannibals have a common law for the\nof mankind. This is innate in their dispositions, and cannot\nin any way be ascribed to the religious teachings of Wesleyan or\nother missionaries. And it is my conviction, grounded on a\nknowledge of the subject, that a higher percentage of deaths\noccurs in civilised communities arising from the pursuit of vice\nthan has ever prevailed in Fiji from the results of cannibalism.\nIt is to be regretted, however, that, in common with many\nPolynesian races, the Fijians have not escaped the vituperation of\nthe white observer, who appears to revel in painting the dark sides\nof their nature, and purposely neglecting to cite any of their\nvirtues. In furtherance of such views, little' or no credit is\ngiven for their natural traits of goodness, which seem to be\nA  FIJIAN  DAMJE\nbeneficial governance of their communities.,  No one suffers\ndeath\u2014\" clubbed,\" as it is locally termed\u2014unless he or she has\nbeen guilty of an offence.    Unhappily, there is no modification\nof punishment acknowledged by them.    If any member of the\ncommunity transgresses, death ensues.    The will of the chief\nis absolute, and in some instances fatal punishment has followed on the perpetration of what, in our eyes, is a very trivial I\noffence.    Moreover, in their not infrequent tribal quarrels, the ;\nprisoners taken  in  war  are  commonly clubbed and  eaten. |\nEafing the flesh of their enemies is regarded by them as the\nonly way of exhibiting the supreme contempt and hatred with j\nwhich they look on their foes.    This, however, may be said of\nFijian cannibals, that, with the exception of their chiefs, they ,\nare the most moral people to be met with in any part of the j\nglobe.    It is a well-known fact that among the subordinate |\nranks of native Fijians, whether cannibals or not, a higher\nmoral standard prevails than can be found among other races\ndesignedly overlooked. Tribal communities with a chief at\ntheir head is the normal condition of aboriginal society in Fiji,\nand no exception to that rule prevails.\nThe first account we have of the discovery of Fiji is from\nthe records of the Dutch navigator, Abel Jansen Tasman, in\n1643, and we do not hear of the islands being again visited\nuntil Captain Cook lay-to off Turtle Island in the eastern part\nof the group, upwards of a century ago. Captain Bligh, of the\nBounty narrative, passed through Fiji twice towards the close\nof the last century, and about the year 1804 some English\nconvicts from New South Wales reached them in safety. They\nexperienced a lawless time of it, by espousing the cause of\ncertain chiefs who were mixed up in relentless wars with then-\nneighbours. The white man's knowledge was found to be of\ngreat assistance in such conflicts, and success usually attended\nthe side on which they were on. They thus acquired considerable influence and power among the natives, for the help\nm 214\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nJSM'S\nthey were enabled to afford in executing aggressive movements\ngained a widespread notoriety. Even in our day the natives\nwho do not mingle with the white settlers are willing to adopt\nthe same practice, for they would gladly hail the advent of\ncertain white men among them to direct their movements;\nthat is to say, among Fijians who are still in their natural\nstate; and we are acquainted with a case in which the most\nliberal overtures were made to a white man by a powerful chief,\nless than three years ago, for him to permanently take up\nhis abode in savagedom. The generous proposals included\nextensive tracts\" of fertile land, numerous wives, and, as it were,\nunlimited power. Such an offer was surely a temptation, but,\nunder the cannibalistic circumstances, it was declined with\nthanks; and perhaps wisely.\nIn the years 1839 to 1842 the Fiji Islands were visited and\nsurveyed by Commodore Wilkes, of the United States Exploring Expedition. Commodore Wilkes published a most\ninteresting narrative of his visit in the general work on his\nexpedition, which appeared in five volumes in 1845. Among\nthe illustrations to this work is a large and minute chart of\nthe group, which is probably the best that was known until\nrecently. Captain Denham also visited and examined the\narchipelago in H.M.S. Herald.\nAbout thirty years ago Fiji attracted the notice of certain\nreligious bodies, and the Wesleyans and Catholics- established\nmissions in the group. We have heard more of the Wesleyan\nmovement than of that of their confreres, from the fact of their\norganisations for publishing their doings being so perfect.\nThis, in combination with their greater numbers, has given\nthem a name; whereas the Catholics have been content to work\nunostentatiously, and without the blast of the trumpet. Father\nBreheret, at the head of the French Mission, has been in Fiji\nfrom the outset of the Catholic movement, and his healthy\nappearance after a thirty years' residence in the tropics, speaks\nvolumes in favour of the climate. The Wesleyans, however,\nmade considerable progress; and in 1857 an important point\nwas gained by the public acceptation of so-called Christianity\nby an influential chief named Thakombau. This was followed\nby the people over whom he ruled accepting the new religion,\nand their alleged renunciation of the practices of cannibalism.\nIn order to bring about lasting improvements, transitional\nperiods must be experienced, however, and the change of native\nFijians frorn their former customs to those of professed Christianity forms no exception to the rule. And it is a trite observation, frequently made, that their Christianity is only skin\ndeep, in which view unbiassed observers fully concur. Their\nreligious impressions are of the nominal type, and if aboriginal\nFijians are ever to be imbued with the spirit of true Christianity,\nother generations must arise who may enjoy the blessings of a\nreal education. In such humanising experiments it is impossible that indubitable results of great promise can be achieved\namong the ranks of the primitive race in which it was begun;\nbut if adequate machinery was provided for their offspring\nvery different results might accrue. So that in regard to the\nnative races in Fiji, if good works are to flourish in their midst,\nfar greater attention must be bestowed on the subject of\nschools for the young. Practically, there are only two places\nin the -whole of the group deserving the name of scholastic\ninstitutions; and the united daily attendance is by no means\nconsiderable.\nAs time advanced, white immigrants arrived from the Austra\nlasian colonies, and representations being made, Mr. Pritchard\nwas appointed Her Majesty's consul. This step brought the\nislands into greater prominence, and local influences being\nfavourable, an offer of their cession from the chiefs to Great\nBritain was made in 1859. On this fact becoming known in\nAustralia and New Zealand, many colonists were induced to\nproceed to Fiji in view of the immediate annexation of the\nislands to England. Mr. Consul Pritchard came to England\nfor the purpose of communicating to the Government that\nThakombau had ceded to Her Majesty the whole group over\nwhich his sway extended. The circumstances attendant on\nthis step were as follow:\u2014For various outrages asserted to\nhave been committed against the life and property of citizens\nof the United States, the American Government had imposed\nupon the islands a fine of 45,\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0 dollars, and the corvette\nVandalia, Captain Sinclair, was sent to enforce the claim.\nThis sum was quite beyond the means of the Fijian king to\npay; and the embarrassment led to the idea of the cession.\nCaptain Towns, a patriotic citizen of Sydney, fully persuaded,\nlike many other Australian colonists, that it would be highly\ndesirable for England to possess the Fijis, offered to give a\ncheque for the whole amount, in order to remove one of the\nobjections that might be urged against the acceptance of the\nking's offer. Her Majesty's Government, however, deemed it\nnecessary to obtain fuller information before any decision\nwas arrived at, and Colonel Smythe, R.A., was dispatched by\nthe Duke of Newcastle in order to make inquiries on the\nspot, into the state of affairs; and his report being against\nthe acquisition of the group, the offer was declined. Dr.\nSeeman, however, an eminent botanist, who had accompanied\nColonel Smythe, was in favour of annexation; and he subsequently wrote a book on the subject, pointing out with much\nclearness the natural advantages of the islands. He dwelt on\ntheir inherent fertility; and satisfactorily demonstrated that\nunder a beneficent government a state of great commercial\nactivity would spring into prosperous existence. As the islands,\nhowever, remained in their original state of disintegration, little\nor no progress was made by the settlers, and an uneventful\ncycle was experienced. Moreover, a partial exodus set in, for\nmany who had been attracted thither in view of English rule,\ndeparted in disappointment when they saw no chances of its\nhappy realisation. Those, however, who elected to throw in\ntheir fortunes with the islands never forgot their former dream\nof annexation. It only needed the slightest encouragement in\norder to rekindle the flame afresh with undiminished zeal. In\n1870 further efforts were made in this direction, which resulted\nin a petition being lodged at Her Majesty's Consulate, praying\nfor Great Britain to assume the sovereignty of the islands. This\nwas signed by all the native chiefs exercising a sway over the\ndistricts in which white men had acquired property, as well as\nby the settlers themselves. This memorial was duly transmitted\nto the Foreign Office by Mr. Consul March; but the authorities, however, did not deem the matter of sufficient importance\nto grant the petitioners any reply. By this time the culture of\ncotton had become the main staple of the islands, which had\nreached the point of success beyond the most sanguine anticipations of the settlers. This was due to the exceptional\ndemand for cotton created by the frightful results of the\nAmerican internecine strife. No heed, however, was taken of\nsuch a fact; and the most reckless expenditure was practised\nin establishing cotton plantations.   Without an iota of expe- THE FIJI  ISLANDS.\n215\nrience, men were told that no one could fail in the enterprise\nof highly profitable cotton planting in Fiji; and such views\nbeing freely circulated throughout the Australasian colonies at\na time of great depression there, led many to seek a home in\na tropical clime at the Fiji Islands. Among the new arrivals\nwere those who had literally no knowledge whatever of the\ncultivation of the soil; others had failed in previous undertakings, whilst many found in Fiji an Alsatia adapted to their\nproclivities. To use a gold-digging phrase, \" a rush\" took\nplace; and Levuka became filled with an eager throng of\nstrangers impatient to become cotton-planters. There was rich\nland in abundance, interspersed with tracts of very ordinary\ndescription, held by the natives and white settlers ; and little\nor no difficulties were experienced in finding locations for the\nimmigrants.\nFrom the earliest days of settlement in Fiji, the white\npeople have been constantly acquiring land from the original\nnative owners.    Hundreds of acres have exchanged hands for\na few worthless muskets.    Such unfair bargains were made in\ntimes of tribal wars.    The unscrupulous settler watched the\nconflict with a keen eye from the outskirts, and embraced his\nopportunity when he perceived  one of the combatants in\nstraitened circumstances.    At such a juncture overtures were\nmade  of supplying fire-arms  and ammunition  of the worst\ndescription to the defeated party, which in their ignorance, and\nthe impossibility of obtaining anything better, were  eagerly\naccepted.    As they had nothing to give in exchange but their\nland, this was hurriedly parted with, and, under the circumstances, disputes often arose subsequently as  to  the  exact\nboundaries of the land which was thus bartered away for war\nmateriel with which to overcome their enemies.    The crafty\navariciousness of the white man has often been palpably displayed under such circumstances.    Advantages of some magnitude have been taken of the natives in their ignorance, and\nthere can be no doubt that more than one-half of the land\nclaimed in Fiji by white persons legitimately belongs to the\nformer.    It is very doubtful, however, as to the natives ever\nobtaining their rights.    One of the many shameful instances of\nthis nature may be quoted in order to illustrate some measures\nadopted to acquire landed estates in an unsettled country.\nAt a period of war  between  certain  tribes  on  the Upper\nRewa,   about   six years ago, a white  man purchased for  a\nfew muskets a specific piece of land, about fifteen acres in\nextent.    Interpreters were duly engaged for the transaction, and\nthere can be no doubt as to each party to the contract being\nthoroughly acquainted with the exact area and boundaries of\nthe property which had thus changed hands.    The purchaser\nacquired  possession,  and  it was   not  long before  he  took\nsteps in  order to  claim from the Fijians a piece of land\ncomprising   about   1,500  acres.     Accordingly he advanced\nmeasures in order to assert his ownership, when the natives,\nin   a  menacing   manner,   denied his authority.     A serious\ncontention resulted,  and, in spite  of the remonstrances  of\nhis   fellow-settlers,   he   maintained  that   he  had   rightfully\npurchased the larger area.   As he could not be turned aside\nfrom his wrongful intention of claiming the land at all risks,\nthe Fijians (who were by this time at peace among themselves)\nunitedly threatened the settlers, and the matter became so alarming that all were compelled in haste to relinquish their land and\nhomesteads.    This occurred in one of the most promising\ndistricts in Fiji, and all the planters there irretrievably lost their\nworldly possessions, and consequently were compelled to start\nafresh in life.    One of them had invested \u00a3700, which had\nbeen the means of producing a flourishing plantation.    It may\nbe added, that no re-settlement of this district has since taken\nplace, nor does there appear as yet to be any signs of the\nwhite man again acquiring a footing there.    Again, it is a well-\nknown fact that at least half the land now in the possession\nof the white settlers was obtained from the natives by fraud;\nthat is  to  say, in the initial land transactions, it has been\ndemonstrated times out of number that when the Fijians allowed\nthe white man to have possession of certain blocks of land it\nwas their clear intention for such holding to be temporary only.\nIn so doing they had no conception of alienating their patrimony to strangers.    In other words, the natives regarded the\ntransaction as one of leasing their estates, whilst the white man\nhad no other intention than that of acquiring the freehold.\nThis has given rise to endless disputes, and is one of the fruitful sources  of outrages by the natives  against their white\nneighbours, whom they universally regard as aggressors.    The\nFijians feel that a grievous wrong has been done them; and this\ninjustice of the whites in Fiji, systematically upheld against\nthe natural owners of the soil, is a very serious matter.    It\nis likely, however, under any circumstances, that in the long\nrun the white man will take the place of the native, and in\ncourse of time the recollections of the subtle measures which\ngained him the ascendency will be swamped in the success of\nhis efforts.\nThe growing of cotton has not proved a remunerative enterprise in Fiji. Many unforeseen obstacles have arisen, and, after\na few years of its trial, the majority of those who entered upon\nits cultivation have become more or less involved. Such a\nresult has been caused by the absence of intelligent cultivation,\nand deterioratiori of the plant in consequence of hybrid seed\nbeing used. In some districts also, the rainfall is too considerable for cotton to be saved with success. In addition\nto cotton, the products of the coco-nut tree are largely\nutilised, for in copra and prepared fibre a somewhat extensive\ntrade has sprung up, which has the additional advantage of\nbeing remunerative. . Tortoiseshell and beche-de-mer also form\narticles of export. The collection of the latter was for a season\nneglected, but greater attention has been paid to it of late by\nsome Chinese who have located themselves at Levuka. Coconut oil, maize, and bananas, may also be reckoned among the\nexports. The sugar-cane is found indigenous throughout the\nislands, and about a-year ago general attention was directed to\nthe propriety of its cultivation in the place of cotton. In\nsugar-growing, however, suitable mills are requisite for crushing\nthe cane on its arrival at maturity, which needs a considerable\noutlay of money. In the absence of all confidence, however,\nin the stability of the local government, capitalists in Sydney\nwere unwilling to advance the means whereby the adequate\nmachinery might be erected; and therefore the commercial\nadvancement of the islands has, from that cause, been seriously\nretarded. In spite of such circumstances, the planters grew large\nareas of sugar-cane, and the result is, as might have been anticipated that cane to the value of ^30,\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0 has already arrived\nat maturity which will bean utter loss in the absence of proper\nappliances for its conversion into sugar. It must be borne in\nmind that sugar-cane in Fiji arrives at maturity within fifteen\nmonths, whereas, in many places, where the growing of it has\nbeen attended with marvellous success, a period of thirty months\nill\n-* ,1 2l6\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\ntranspires before it becomes ripe. This transparently proves\nthat Fiji compares very favourably with existing sugar-growing\ncountries in a state of prosperity. At present the only means\nof deriving wealth is from the cultivation of the soil, as no local\nindustries are in force from which remuneration may be drawn.\nThus, in whatever form revenue may be raised, the soil is ultimately responsible for its production. Tobacco arrives at\nmaturity in ten weeks, but in the absence of experienced hands\nin curing the leaf, and the want of capital, this branch of reproduction has not met with the attention it deserves. Such is\nthe generosity of the soil and climate, that four crops of maize\ncan be raised annually, whilst tapioca, sago, arrowroot, and\nother useful products grow in all parts like so many weeds, and,\nas such, have hitherto been neglected. Rice was tried by a\nplanter, and found to be an eminent success; and it is to be regretted that its systematic cultivation has never been adopted.\nAgain, the unfailing general rainfall renders the soil naturally\nfavourable to the growth of luxuriant vegetation; and in the\nutter absence of droughts, plants of every description grow\nwith unsurpassed rapidity. The average rainfall is upwards of\n150 inches annually. This is more than three times as much\nrain as falls in London during the year, but the excess in\nFiji is not by any means an inconvenience, inasmuch as the\ntropical sun readily absorbs the moisture which collects on\nthe surface. By turning up the soil in all parts of the group at\nany season, the most gratifying moisture is observable; and it\nis from this unfailing circumstance, in combination with a high\nrate of temperature, that vegetation receives no check whatever\nthroughout the year, and thus assumes that luxuriance which is\nthe surprise and delight of every stranger.\nFrom the number of new arrivals in Fiji it will be easily\nsurmised that adventurous spirits were not wanting, and those\nthat unhappily rose to the political surface had the worst reputations for turpitude. To the astonishment of every one, in\nJune, 1871, a Government was suddenly created by a few white\npersons, who claimed to have established a constitutional rule\nunder the dominion of Thakombau, a native chief, whom they\ndubbed \"King.\" These people also created themselves\nI Ministers,\" and prefixed the title of | Honourable \" to their\nnames. Among the number, one was a fraudulent bankrupt,\nanother had been dismissed the British and Victorian naval\nservices for misappropriation of public funds, whilst a third\nhad defrauded the people of Sydney to a considerable extent,\nand escaped criminal punishment by flight to Fiji. Of such unsatisfactory elements was Thakombau's \" Cabinet\" composed;\nand the employes whom the \"King's Ministers\" gathered around\nthem had no better reputations. In fact, a public knowledge of individuals having violated the law in other lands\nappeared to be a recommendation for their employment in the\nGovernment service, and it was therefore difficult to pick out\nany one associated with\" the Fijian authorities who had not\nhitherto committed a criminal offence of more or less notoriety.\nIn the face of such facts, it was natural that Mr. Consul March\nshould hold himself aloof from such an organisation. He\npointed out, with justice and perspicuity, the dangers likely\nto arise from the existence of any authority in Fiji composed of\nsuch heterogeneous materials, and his vaticinations have in\nevery respect been since fulfilled. The excellent warnings,\nhowever, of Her Majesty's consul were not acted upon, and, to\nthe amazement of unbiassed onlookers, the Fijian authorities\nwere recognised by Her Majesty's Government.    Throughout\nthe islands considerable opposition was from time to time\nmanifested against the local government, and its strength was\nsometimes greater than that of the authorities. This antagonistic party, however, were unwisely prevented from carrying into execution their meritorious views by the repeated\nwrongful intervention of the British naval authorities. The\nsettlers were subjected to the greatest oppression, under the\ndespotic rule of Thakombau's ministers, and they were incensed\nagainst the British navy, when they found that power ever\narrayed against them for the purpose of upholding a corrupt\nadministration with a puppet \" king \" at its head.\nIt is true, that at the initial stages of the existence of the\nFijian Government, many planters favoured its growth from\nthe fact that Thakombau had, just at that time, overcome\ntreacherously a tribe of Fijians known as the Lovonis, who\nwere sold by his \"Ministers\" into slavery, and thus realised\nupwards of ^\"5,000. Such a golden opportunity of selling men,\nwomen, and children to the planters, was a means of gaining\nrevenue as well as ephemeral popularity at the hands of the\nsettlers. As we have remarked, notwithstanding the accuracy\nwith which Mr. Consul March measured the Fijian Government,\nit was duly acknowledged by Mr. Gladstone's Administration.\nIt has been designated \"an interesting experiment;\" but were\nthose who coined that phrase aware that such \" an interesting\nexperiment\" had involved the wanton sacrifice of hundreds of\ninnocent Polynesians and the enslavement of thousands ? Such,\nhowever, has been one of the unhappy results of a local government in Fiji; and, for more than two years of its life, the British\nnaval authorities afforded it the most active support, in direct\nopposition to the views enunciated at Her Majesty's Consulate\nat Levuka. It is to that power that the prolonged existence of\nthis iniquitous organisation is to be ascribed; and the British\ntaxpayer can hardly realise that he is called on to contribute to\na force avowedly maintaining a nefarious scheme for the perpetration of crimes which are unsurpassed for atrocity in the\nhistory of the world.\nA high rate of temperature usually prevails, and it is in\nJuly and August that the coolest weather is experienced, whilst\nin February and March the heat is intense. The lowest\nreading of the thermometer recorded at Levuka last year was\n640, which was only of two hours' duration, between the hours\nof ten and twelve in the morning, whilst a south-east breeze was\nprevailing. Commonly the thermometer stands at about 700\nthrough the winter months. In February and March, however,\nthe thermometer is usually about 900 during the hottest portion\nof the day. The hills behind Levuka reaching an altitude of\n2,000 feet induces a high rate of temperature to prevail in the\ntown, and the mean average throughout the group is quite 50\nlower than that which is experienced there.\nIt appears that Fiji has incurred a public debt of ^80,000\nsince the creation of the Government, and that sum has been\nexpended in addition to the revenue collected. That is rather\na formidable item for a small community of producers, and\ntestifies to the recklessness of Thakombau's ministers. On their\naccession to power by a coup d'etat, there was no public debt\nin the islands, and therefore the sum named seems to be comparatively a large amount. The white settlers, however, who\nnow number about 1,000, express great faith in the natural\nproductiveness of the islands, and, as owners of large tracts\nof land, they are willing to accept the debt as it is, in view of thf\nbenefits calculated to accrue by annexation to Great Britain. NOTES  OF TRAVEL  IN  THE  INTERIOR  OF JAPAN.\nNotes of Travel in the Interior of Japan.\u2014VI.\nBY  \"MONTA,\"\nReturned to Yedo once more we found in a short time that I characters, few of which I ever understood, and all of which, I\nthe heat was becoming overpowering, and it was pleasanter to fear, I have now forgotten, and by dint of groping about and\nsit at home in light clothing during the day, with the paper questioning, I managed to translate, accurately enough for my\nslides drawn aside, gazing on the little garden with its dwarf I purpose, much that interested me about the peopl\nRELIGIOUS PROCESSION IN YEDO.\ntrees and its rustic bridge, and, farther out, on the bay dotted\nwith fishing smacks and other craft, than to brave the sun out\nof doors. It is an uncomfortable moist heat in the Yedo\nplain\u2014a heat which \"makes one languid, makes the perspiration\nrun freely, makes one's boots turn green after twenty-four\nhours non-use; so that one becomes indolent like the natives,\nand rarely goes out of the compound till the evening approaches. And then the creatures that infest the air! The\nmosquitoes buzz around you, and larger-winged things come\nbouncing in, attracted by the light, often even striking you\nsharply on the face. Till I at last established a punkah in\nYedo, to the infinite astonishment of my native friends, there\nIvas no possibility of dining by candle-light without shutting\nthe slides and being half-stifled by the heat.\nIn the early morning was the real time for work, and my\nteacher, and I would sit together and pore over a lot of Chinese\n268\u2014vol. vi.\nThere was a tale of vendetta, published <\/fficially, which\nparticularly interested me, and I will attempt to put it down\nhere in a concise form. The translation came out originally\nin a Yokohama paper.\nThere were two brothers, Suminoya, belonging to the Mito\nclan, one of the wildest and most anti-foreign in Japan. The\nfather served in the guards of the last \" Tycoon,\" at Kioto, and\nboth the sons were there in 1867, when they one day heard\nthat their father was lying severely wounded in the Matsubara-\ngawara, which is the stony bed of a stream running through\nI the western capital, and mostly dry. Upon this the retainers\nhurried to the spot, but found nothing. They then ascertained\nthat the body had been taken to a spot close to the quarters\nof the Mito retainers, and there they found it, but the swords\nand pocket-book of the unfortunate man, now dead, were\nmissing.    One of the brothers then hastened back to the scene 2l8\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nm\n1\nof the rhurder, and there he found a beggar, who gave him the\nfollowing account:\u2014That the murderer and the man who took\naway the body were not the same ; that the former was of tall\nstature, with a hempen tunic, white Kokura trousers, long\nsword with dullish-red scabbard ; that he seemed to have one\"\nperson with him, whose description was also given; that these\ntwo came along with drawn swords held downwards, and,\nsilently creeping up to a man, cut him in the back as he was\ncrossing a foot-bridge, whereupon they fled away westwards;\nthat the language, form of face, and manner of dressing the\nhair, seemed to him, without doubt, to be those of Tosa men.\nFrom the officials of the quarter certain particulars were\nobtained respecting the man who caused the body to be taken\naway, and the coolies who carried it declared that when it was\nleft near the quarters of the Mito retainers, the swords and\npocket-book were there, so that some one must have stolen\nthem subsequently..\nThe brothers had now one sacred duty to perform. In\nJapan it is a good deed to avenge your father's death by killing\nhis murderer yourself; nay more, it is, or was, a sacred duty,\nwhich every true samurai must undertake at once, and never\nrest till he has fulfilled.\nSo the two brothers, with resentment in their hearts, searched\nnight and day for a clue to the cowardly murderer of their\nfather, but they could hear nothing certain in the capital, and\nI therefore left their home with one fixed purpose of carrying out\nthe vendetta.    They first lay in concealment on the road to\nFushimi, and then putting away their swords, the insignia of\ntheir class, they prosecuted their enquiries.    One took service\nin the abode of a court noble in the province of Seshiu, and\nthe other became a menial in the house of the chief of the I\nTosa clan.    But time wore on, and they were no nearer the\nobject of their lives, so that in the spring of 1868 they both I\ngave up their places and put on their swords again.    They \u25a0\nfrequented different spots in the neighbourhood of the scene\nof the murder, and took opportunities of hearing the gossip of\nthe city.    In this way they learnt from a woman who kept a\nshop that the previous evening she had been to see a relation,\nand had there  heard  a  story from a man named Omiya\nGenzaburo that a retainer of the Tosa clan, called Yamamoto\nHataro, who used to frequent his house, had said that on a\ncertain day of the preceding year\u2014the very day of the deed, I\nfor it was the eve of the great festival of Gion\u2014he had cut\ndown a Mito man in the dry stony bed of the stream aforesaid.\nSo the brothers went to Genzaburo, and obtained the man's I\ndescription\u2014\" Tall, with hempen mantle, white Kokura trousers,\n\u2022sword with dullish-red scabbard of his own lacquering.\"\nHere, at last, was a certain clue \u25a0 the murderer's name\nwas known, and his clan. The brothers breathed again, and\npursued their sacred duty with redoubled energy.\nNow, so they found, on the 14th day of the 6th month of\nUdoshi, the very day in fact after the murder, a certain sword-\nsharpener had met Yamamoto, who forthwith asked him to\nsharpen his sword, and on looking at it he found its edge blunt,\nstains of blood (nothing uncommon) on the blade, and the\npoint notched: but two days previously he had'seen the\nsame sword, and then it was without blemish. After that, said\nthe sword-sharpener, Yamamoto went down to Osaka, and so\nthe brothers followed him thither, but he had already departed for his own country, with the intention, however, as they\nheard, of immediately returning to Ki6to.   Then the brother*\nfrequented two inns, where they were told he was in the habit\nof staying, being the resort of Tosa men. But it was all in\nvain. Then one brother pursued the calling of a coolie. But\n1869 arrived, and yet they had no tidings; then the elder\nbrother fell very ill, and his brother tarried with him till he\nbecame convalescent, after which he journeyed to Yedo,\nwhere it was supposed the murderer might be.\nNow, there was a certain Noguchi, who supplied timber to\nthe Tosa clan, and the elder brother pretended to take service\nwith him, and they went down to the castle town of Tosa, but\nthere he learnt that his father's assassin had suddenly left for\nYedo. So he went to see the latter's father, and obtaining a\nletter from him to his son, returned to Kioto, whence he proceeded to Yedo.\nIt was now 1870.\nIn February or March he called at the Tosa yashiki, in\nYedo, and succeeded for the first time in catching sight of\nYamamoto. They went out together, and he delivered to\nYamamoto the letter from his father, and also a forged letter,\npurporting to come from that Omiya who has already been\nmentioned as having been so useful in putting the brothers at\nlast upon the right scent.\nThe contents of the forged letter were as follows :\u2014\n\"This is a private communication. With regard to the\noccurrence at the Matsubara-gawara, on the eve of the festival\nof Cion in the Udoshi, a difficulty has arisen. A strict investigation is being made with respect rather to the lost things\nthan to the slain man himself. In his pocket-book there was\na bill of exchange from the Kajimaya in Osaka, and this is lost\nThe Kajimaya is much embarrassed, and detectives have twice\ncome to me to ask whether, as you were his murderer, you\nknow anything about the lost things. There is no trouble\nabout the slain man, but if you have these lost things to hand\nthere will be trouble about them. I beg, therefore, to inquire\nwhether you have them or not ? \"\nIt will be remembered that the deposition of the coolies who\ncarried the body away showed that the pocket-book was not\nthen missing, so that Yamamoto could not have stolen it.\nIt was agreed that an answer should be ready by a certaiB\nday, and this was its tenor:\u2014\n11 write you this line. I congratulate you all in being in\ngood health, and beg to assure you that all is well with me.\n\"I thank you much for the letter you have been kind\nenough to write. It was unfortunate that when you sent it to\nmy country I was in Yedo. You were then good enough to\nhave it forwarded to Yedo, where I received it on the first day\nof the second month. I understand thoroughly the meaning\nof your letter, and pray you not to trouble yourself, but to keep\nyour mind at ease. As I have not been able to go up to the\nwestern capital recently, I have not been to see you, for which\naccept my excuses. Now, owing to your change of abode, \u2022\nyour business is thriving, and your means of living exceedingly\ngood, at which I am extremely rejoiced. With all these numerous\ncustomers you must be full of work at your new house. Now\nas I am busy, you must have the goodness to take the foregoing\ncompliments for an answer.\"\nThe brother read this missive, which was not enough\nfor his purpose evidently. So he asked Yamamoto as to writing;\nabout the affairs of the slain man and the lost things as welL\nWhereupon the latter said :\u2014\n\" Although I cannot write more in this letter, if afterwards- NOTES  OF  TRAVEL IN  THE INTERIOR OF JAPAN.\n219\nKRfl\nthere is any stir in the matter, Omiya will not be implicated in\nthe least No trouble will come to him. Besides, I know\nnothing at all of the lost things.    You can tell him so.\"\nThis was all Yamamoto would say, repeating it several\ntimes, and declining to alter the letter.\nBut this was not enough; so the brother, looking up into\nthe face of his father's assassin, and concealing his hatred and\nthirst-for the blood of the other, described calmly what had\noccurred at the Matsubara-gawara, in the stony bed of the\nPine-moor stream, and then he asked him point-blank whether\nit was not he who gave the Mito man a sword-cut.\nYamamoto answered : \" In truth I know nothing about the\nstolen things, but I do know about the slaying of the Mito\n.man.\"\nStill he would not, when asked, give the name of the man\nwho was with him at the time, but brought the conversation to\nan end, and refused to utter a single word more with regard to\nthe occurrence.\nThe two then, having agreed to walk out together on the\nninth day, returned to their respective abodes.\nMeanwhile Yamamoto had received news of the death of\nhis father, so that he was obliged to go into mourning, and\ncould not leave the yashiki.\nMore delay and more patience on the part of the brothers !\nNow the elder brother had originally obtained access to\nYamamoto by giving himself out as the agent of that Noguchi\nwith whom he had pretended to take service, and with whom\nhe had gone to Tosa. He, therefore, still retained the garb of\na person of the lower class, and he had said that his coming to\nYedo was on some business connected with a cargo of timber,\nadding details of the trouble he had experienced in this private\nmatter. So at their last interview he had begged Yamamoto,\nif the matter were not speedily settled, to come to Noguchi's\nhouse in Yedo, and arrange it.\nWith this intent he went to Yamamoto on the i4di day of\nthe same month, and said :\u2014\nI Yesterday a timber-ship arrived. Please come to-morrow\nnight to Noguchi's house.\"\nAnd the rendezvous was fixed at a certain eating-house.\nAs Yamamoto was in mourning, he could not go by the\nfront gate, so he probably got over the fence or wall, and,\ntaking a kago, he reached the eating-house before eight o'clock\nin the evening.\nThere he met the elder brother, still of course in his lowly\ngarb. They walked on together some little way, when suddenly the younger brother, dressed as a samurai, sprang up\nfrom where he had been lying in wait, according to previous\nagreement, and exclaimed :\u2014\n\"You are Yamamoto Hataro, the murderer of my father at\nthe Matsubara-gawara.\"\nYamamoto answered, drew, and they crossed swords.\nWhereupon the elder brother drew a small sword from the\nbosom of his dress, and, thrusting at Yamamoto, closed upon\nhim. The two brothers then killed him, thus at last accomplishing their vendetta.\nP this moment an official of the Board of Punishments\nhappened to be passing by, and, challenging the brothers, asked\nwhat had happened. They informed him that they had-been\navenging their father's death, and begged him to have the goodness to certify to the same. They then cut the head off, and\nsaid they would go with it to the Censorate, an office entrusted\nwith various duties, but now abolished. Whereupon they left\nthe body as it was, and carried away the head, not touching\nthe sword or any of the things in the dead man's pocket-book.\nSuch was the tenor of the report of the Censorate, after\nan investigation had taken place, in consequence of the following request from the brothers :\u2014\nI In the sixth month of last Udoshi, our father, Toranosuke\",\nwas murdered at the Matsubara-gawara in Kioto by some\nenemy then unknown. We travelled about to different places\nsearching for a clue, and we discovered that Yamamoto Hataro\nof the Tosa clan, was, without doubt, the perpetrator of the\ndeed. In Yedo we confronted him and killed him, thus accomplishing the deed of vengeance which had long been our desire.\nWhereupon, according to law, we request that an investigation\nmay be made into the matter.\"\nThe Government deemed that the brothers should be\nhanded over to the keeping of the Mito \u2022 clan, and that the\nCensorate should hand over the head, and the Yedo authorities\nthe body, to the Tosa clan for temporary burial.\nThe punishment of the brothers was doubtless nominal,\nand would soon end, when they would re-appear as samurai\nof the Mito clan, and all men would praise their filial piety.\nIn a preceding article we followed the Nakasendo to the\nvillage of Shiwojiri. I was always disappointed not to have\nbeen able to continue that journey all the way to Kioto. The\nwhole length of it appears to be a little over 323 miles, and\nthe latter part especially abounds in fine mountain scenery.\nBut on the occasion in question we turned off to the right\nfrom the high road, and proceeded to the town of Matsumoto,\nsome ten miles distant, and there made a halt. We had been\ntreated to much changeable weather, and more than one of\nus had become unwell. Besides, I am convinced that the\ndaily use of tinned soups and preserved meats is not wholesome.\nIt cannot well be helped, for every one's stomach will not be\ncontent with Japanese food, but we gradually took more to\nfish, and fowl, and rice, and were the better in consequence.\nThat very morning one of our party felt exceedingly unwell,\nand it was quite a touching sight to see his Japanese servant,\nnot a two-sworded man, come up to his master's bedside, and\nfinding him still suffering (he had been ailing for a day or two),\ngive way to copious tears, saying simply enough that this\nwould not have mattered so much at Yokohama, at home,\nwhere a doctor could be sent for and many comforts were at\nhand; but here, so far away as we were, it was terrible.\nAfterwards, he came to me with a very grave face, and I had\nto assure him that his master would soon be well, and so we\ngot the latter a shut-up kago, and away he was carried. We\nhad, as already mentioned, only ten miles to travel, along a\nperfectly level plain, surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills,\non some of which there were still streaks of snow. But then\nwe were some 2,500 feet above the level of the sea. Indeed,\"\non the western side of the valley, snowy mountains are visible,\nwhich divide the provinces of Shinshiu and Hida.\nMatsumoto is a town of somewhat over 3,000 houses, with\na castle at the further extremity, then belonging to the daimio\nMatsudaira Tamba no Kami. Retainers of this noble, it may\nbe remembered, were on guard in 1862 at the British Legation in Yedo when two English marines were killed by a\nJapanese. This was when Lieutenant-Colonel Neale was in\ncharge, and for some time it was supposed that there had been\nseveral assailants, and, in fact, that a general attack on the\niiigll\n\u25a0\u2022i'lfii'iSn\nUwtvbj 220\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nwhole Legation was meditated, similar to that carried out in\nthe previous year at the very same place, during the reign of\nMr. Alcock. There certainly .were suspicious circumstances\npointing that way, but though the whole matter was never\nsatisfactorily cleared up, the better opinion seems to be that\nthere was only one Japanese concerned, who, for some reason\nperhaps only known to himself and his intimates, thirsted for\nthe blood of an outer barbarian.\nHowever that may be, we had no trouble in Matsumoto.\nOur own guards looked after us as usual, and the native\nofficials did their duty. The town lies on the eastern side of\nthe broad valley, and a low range of hills immediately to the\nnorth, running partly across, makes it almost appear at first\nsight as if the valley was a plain shut in on all sides, being\nabout twelve miles in length, and six or seven broad.    The\nand then stopping, aghast at their own rudeness and presumption. At last we prevailed upon them to advance up to the\nfestive board, or rather floor, and then, getting their feet under\nthem, they burst out into exclamations of surprise, delight, and\nthankfulness, increasing in intensity as the meal proceeded.\n\" This is indeed a thing to be thankful for !\" they cried with\none accord, as Crosse and Blackwell's best tinned meats were\nadded to the food on their plates, already full of divers (to\nthem) delicacies. They ate but little, being somewhat bashful\nin our presence, and being minded, like good fathers of families,\nto take this strange food home and share it with their wives\nand children. But it was a great success in a small way, and\nby degrees, as their native sake sent a glow through their'\nveins, they took courage, and our host especially (he was one\nof the party) became very jovial.    Next morning, his joy was\nS't\nSHOP IN YEDO.\nlow range being passed, the valley or plain again opens out,\nbut is considerably narrower.\nFrom Matsumoto we made an excursion by rough roads\nand over swift torrents to a village called Furumaya, distant\nabout fourteen miles, where there are great plantations of a\ncertain species of oak, on which the beautiful wild silkworm of\nJapan, the yamamai, feeds and spins in the open air It is\na most interesting sight, and we spent two charming days\namong well-to-do simple fanners, who showed every attention\nto the strangers. On the last evening, we invited the three\nprinapal men who had supplied us with information to a\nsmall feast, consisting partly of Japanese food and partly of our\nown    The tables were taken away, and down we all squatted\non he mats. - T    came Qur g^ but aimost ^ ^-4^\nhold they stopped, and humbly prostrated themselves, keeping\ntheir heads down on the mats. \" But come forward,\" we said\nJNo forward movement, only more bobbing of heads and\nprofuse excuses. \"But do come forward,\" we repeated,\nmtn 7 tCn inCheS' and again a halt> \"eads on the\nto   ;r rrVXuUSeS-   And S\u00b0 !t went on- \u00ab \"ting them\nto approach, and they sweeping along the floor by slow stages   '\nat its full, when the artist presented him with a picture rapidly\nsketched with a native pen on a broad roll of Japanese paper,\nrepresenting the whole of our party (characteristic likenesses\nenough) | the oak plantation hard by, with a view of a Fuji-\nshaped hill in the distance.   He rubbed his hands like a child,\n| and looking up at us in his glee, uttered unintelligible sounds^\nand almost shed tears of joy.    Sketches were made on fans\nfor the other two men, and altogether we flatter ourselves that\nthe impression left in this happy valley was none of the worst\nThere was one disappointment, however;   the  unknown is\nalways magnified, and the inhabitants, who had been looking\nforward to our visit with much impatience, had expected to\nsee nothing but giants, and unfortunately Nature  had not\nfavoured two at least of the party in that respect.\nIf one could only have heard the comments of these men\nupon the first foreigners they had ever seen! What is it the\nJapanese say of us? That is the interesting question, which\nis perhaps being somewhat answered in these later days.\nRetracing our steps to Matsumoto, we proceeded from there\nto Uyeda over the Hofukuji Pass (27 miles). From the summit we had a splendid view of Asamayama, perfectly clear and\n\u2014<l  222\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nliNh\nIt   !l\nil\nsmoking moderately, and beyond it of Adzumayama, another\nmountain, which seems to be still higher. Below was the valley\nof Uyeda, with some of the- houses of the town distinctly\n'risible, the foreground being made up of tree-covered hills,\nthrown about disconnectedly in different directions. We had\nhardly begun the descent, when we came upon several officers\nwhom the Lord of Uyeda had had-the civility to send all this\nlong way to greet us on reaching his territory. They bowed,\nand presented their cards, written as usual on small slips of\npaper, and then we passed on. There is indeed no end to the\ncivility we have met with; once it was a guard of soldiers drawn\nup to salute us as we went through a village; again, another\nguard accompanied us into a daimio's town; officers, were continually presenting themselves, either on the road or at the\ntowns, and one delightful man, who belonged to the Ina Ken,\naccompanied us from Shiwojiri to Matsumoto, and again this\nday to the pass. Very different from the old state of things',\nas depicted by Sir Rutherford Alcock !\nThere were some bullocks feeding on the mixture of grass,\nferns, &c, which was in plenty on either side of the road as we\ndescended, and we could not help expressing the wish that\nthere, as well as on many neglected grassy spots which we had\npassed, herds of cattle were browsing and being fattened up,\nso that a little more flesh and blood might be put into the\nJapanese of the future. That and good beer is what they\nwant, and in general they have taken very kindly to malt\nliquor.\nIt was in the districts that we had been traversing for the\nlast few days that we came upon a different species of dog to\nthe ordinary wolf-like animal which infests most towns and\nvillages known to foreigners. This dog is much livelier and\nbrighter, it has a shorter head and body, carries its tail erect,\nand does not make a practice of slinking away or barking on\nthe approach of the stranger. There is a reddish variety,\nwhich is particularly engaging, and we tried to buy a specimen,\nbut without success.\nWe were now uncertain of our route, but finally it was\nsettled that we should ride across the island, and reach the\ntreaty port of Niigata.\nUyeda is on the banks of a swift river, there called the\nChikuma. It is very puzzling at first to understand the names\nof the rivers. After you have got on quite right, as you think,\nyou suddenly hear a river called differently. The fact is, that\na certain portion of th'e stream is called by the department\nthrough which it is running, and then it takes another name\nfurther on, from some other department, or place, or province.\nThe river in question we generally knew as the Shinano-gawa,\nShinano or Shinshiu being the name of the province in which\nwe were travelling.' But at Uyeda and in its neighbourhood it\nwas always called the Chikuma-gawa. And so with a number\nof others.\nThe Shinano-gawa'eventually falls into the sea at Niigata\nThere was a terrible night of heavy rain, and then we\nstarted on our way to Niigata. We soon left the basin in\nwhich Uyeda is situated, and, rounding the corner, seemed to\ncome into a milder climate, where the valley contracts, the road\nwinding round the cliff on the right side of the stream. Fifteen\nmiles brought us to Yashiro, and then, turning to the left, we\ncrossed the Chikuma in a ferry-boat,-worked by men with a\ndouble rope attached on either side of the river; then along\nthe wide valley, or rather plain, to Tambajima, where we were\ntold that the Saigawa, a smaller stream which runs into the\nChikuma somewhat further down, had swollen so much owing\nto the previous night's rain, that it was impassable for horses.\n\" When will it be passable ?\" we inquired. They could not\nsay. Hoped it might be to-morrow. A forlorn hope at that\nmoment at least, for the mist or rain was gathering thick on the\nhills behind us, and especially on those where the sources of\nthe Saigawa should be. We know the nonchalance of the\nnatives; we know that often and often when we fiery Britishers\nwould be pressing on, and burning the pavement, as the French\nsay, they would so much prefer\u2014as well as that artist sunk in\nsloth\u2014to stay where they are, make a chair of their limbs, and\nsmoke their pipes upon the mats. So we are incredulous\nsomewhat, and have the horses taken down to the water; there\nwas no difficulty in getting them and ourselves over the first\nbranch in the ferry-boats, but when we arrived at the second\nwe were fairly puzzled. This stream was a good deal broader\nand swifter than the first, the big ferry-boat and its ropes were\nnot worth half a row of pins, and we ascertained that there was\na third branch broader and swifter still to be crossed before we\ncould reach Zenkoji. So we had to send the horses back to\nTambajima, for the night at least, if not for a fortnight, and we\nwere taken over the rapids in little boats which swayed about\nuncomfortably, and yet were handled by a couple of men with\na certain amount of rough skill. Then we walked on to\nZenkoji, the luggage and following coming in by degrees. We\nfound a charming inn, and our Japanese companion comfortably\ndoubled up on the floor writing his journal; he told us so quietly\nthat it was such a common thing for Japanese when travelling\nto be kept one, two, or three days by a swollen stream; they\nthought nothing of that. Poor comfort for the fiery Britishers,\nbut they calmed their angry passions and sat down to dinner.\nThe rain kept off, and next morning we were informed that\nthe Saigawa had gone down considerably, and that our horses\nwould be able to cross in the forenoon. So we felt comforted,\nand went off to see the big temple, which is famous in the land,\nand were taken round by obliging priests, and the curtain of\nsome holy shrine, duly lighted up, was raised for us, to the\ngreat satisfaction of the crowd behind, who paid their devotions\naccordingly, and threw offerings of cash over our heads in the\ndirection of the holy spot.' After that, we were taken mysteriously down some stairs into a very dark place, in entire\nignorance of the why or the wherefore (our native friend not\nbeing with us), and having groped our way painfully round, on\nthe tip-toe of expectation, we simply came back to the original\npoint of departure. It was an underground journey below the\nholy places, possibly of great supposed virtue in the eyes of the\nnatives, but, as far as we were concerned, entirely unprofitable.\nPerhaps we were simply taken in by those wily priests. Verily\nthey had their reward!\nWe were now approaching the Mikuni Pass. It is so called\nbecause on the summit the three provinces of Echigo, Joshiu,\nand Shinshiu meet. Mi is \" three,\" and kuni may be translated\nI province.\" It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to remark that there\nis no plural in the Japanese language.\nWe left the little village of Futai at half-past nine, and by\neleven reached that of Asakai, nestled close to tree-covered\nhills, and to the commencement of the ascent The trees, I\nsee by my diary, were beech, birch, oak, willow, besides many\nvarieties of pine, but these latter disappeared as we mounted\nhigher. FORSYTH'S MISSION TO THE AMEER OF KASHGAR.\n223\nAfter our lunch we had an hour's ride up a very steep road\nto the top of the pass, where there is a little house devoted to\nsome religious purpose. The view on each side was fine, but\nnot particularly striking; in front a bold glen, with mountains\nin the far distance. We thought we had now finished going up\nhill, but not a bit of it. After descending for a short time, we\nmounted again and passed an old barrier house. The timber\nwas very remarkable. Besides the trees already mentioned,\nthere were chestnuts and magnolias, and some fine old wild\nmulberry trees.\nThen we turned to the left, and continuing, sometimes\nup and sometimes down, came upon a point whence there was\na charming view of the plain which ends at Yedo, and of the\nmountains towards Mayebashi. From there we descended\nrapidly to the village of Nagai, where we arrived a little before\nfive.    Day's march 7J. ri.\nJuly 10.\u2014Started a little before seven, followed the valley\ndown, and came upon a silkworm district; the tall mulberry\ntrees gave way gradually to pollards of three or four feet high.\nThis day's journey was about 9 ri, and we slept at Yokohori\n\u2014that is, we\" remained the night there. But I find the following in my notes :\u2014\nI Spent an awful night! There was not a breath of air in\nour rooms, and I foolishly did not ask for a mosquito-net,\nthinking there would be no need of it.    But after having been\npestered with flies on our arrival, when I went to bed a quantity\nof small gnats came buzzing about me, and made my life\nmiserable. Then the people of the house were stirring about\nand talking till midnight; other unpleasant little creatures\nhopped about in too near neighbourhood to my person, a rat\nwas behind the arras, a dog howled outside, and after certain\nfitful snatches of sleep disturbed by dreams and put an end to\nby the same buzzing, and once by the artist calling out in his\nnightmare for the police, I was roused up by the crowing of\ncocks. Getting up tired, I was exasperated by the flies, which\nhad awoke still earlier, and settled and crawled on me, till, after\na slight repast, I rushed out and took refuge in the open air.\"\nThe descent into the plain was long and not particularly\ninteresting, so that no further description was needed. I must\nconfess to have felt a certain relief in leaving the mountains,\nin the midst of which we had been for many days, but still we\nmissed the pure air and cold atmosphere, and dropped down\ninto warmth and mosquitoes. The weather, too, changed, and\ninstead of the brilliant days which had succeeded each other,\nwith little exception, whilst we were in the mountains, we met\nwith much rain, which, to some extent, marred the pretty\nscenery of the plain.\nWe arrived at the end of our long and interesting journey\non the morning of the 14th of July, when we found ourselves\nonce more in Yedo.\nForsyth's Mission to the Ameer of Kashgar.\nThe news which has from time to time been received of the\nprogress of the expedition sent out, last autumn, by the Governor-\nGeneral of India, for the purpose of arranging a commercial\ntreaty with the new King of Eastern Turkistan, or the Ameer\nof Kashgaria as he is sometimes called, shows that the mission has been attended so far with perfect success. The large\nparty, consisting\u2014besides its chief, Mr. T. Douglas Forsyth and\nhis diplomatic staff\u2014of an efficient party of scientific men\u2014\nsurveyors, geologists, and naturalists\u2014has been everywhere\nreceived with Oriental hospitality, and the wished-for treaty\nhas been obtained, signed, and ratified.\nThe country of Eastern Turkistan, formerly a portion of the\nChinese Empire under the name of Chinese Tartary, now that\nwe are becoming, for the first time, accurately acquainted with it,\nproves to be one of the most interesting regions on the surface\nof the globe. The mist of romance with which it had been\ninvested by the \"Arabian Nights,\" and the fabulous descriptions of mediaeval travellers, is clearing away; but in its place\na clear picture is developed to our mental gaze not a whit less\ncalculated to' excite our imaginations. In the first place, its\nsituation and physical configuration are highly peculiar. It\nforms an elevated valley, or basin, in the very centre of the\ngreat land-mass of Asia, about 180 miles broad, and surrounded\non three sides by the loftiest table-lands and mountain-ridges\nin the world. The altitude of the plain above the level of the\nsea is between 3,800 and 4,200 feet. Thus, it is an Alpine\nvalley, like Cashmere, but on a colossal scale.     Shut in by\nmountains, the cloud-bearing winds from the ocean, on various\nsides, are stripped of their moisture by the condensing ridges\nbefore reaching its surface; but the same clouds dissolve in\nsnow on the ridges, which, by melting, gives rise to numerous\nperennial streams that descend to fertilise the valley. Thus, a\nsunny, bracing, healthy climate is produced, with sufficient\nirrigation to render the soil highly productive. The latitude,\n370 to 400, is that of Andalusia; the summers are exceedingly\nhot, at least in the day-time; but the winters are extremely cold.\nThe thermometer appears, at least in the nights and early\nmornings of winter, to hover .between the freezing point and\nsome degrees below zero of Fahrenheit; but this is attended\nwith a dry calm atmosphere, which seems to render the intense\ncold tolerable, even to constitutions acclimatised to the tropical\nplains of India\nOn the eastern side, the valley of Eastern Turkistan-is open to\nthe more arid country which extends, broken only by a number\nof sterile mountain ranges, to the frontiers of Mongolia and\nChina Proper. Long before the mountain streams which\nfertilise the plains of Kashgar and Yarkand reach those frontiers\nthey terminate in salt-lakes; and all the large towns, including\nthe civilised population of the country, is confined to the\nwestern part, where innumerable artificial canals have been cut\nfrom the streams, by the industry of the inhabitants, to irrigate\nthe adjacent districts. ' The country, although more open on\nthe side of China, is not much more accessible from that\ndirection, on account of the great distance to be traversed and\n5\nb&w*.\nII 224\nLLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nthe sterility of large portions of the intermediate country, much\nof which has not yet been visited by Europeans. The mountain ranges on the north, west, and south, consist of successive\nparallel ridges, with intermediate lofty plateaux. The width of\nthe southern barrier, which separates Eastern Turkistan from\nIndia, is estimated by Major Montgomerie. at 500 miles, and\nthe lowest passes over it are not less than 17,000 feet in height.\nThe western barrier, which includes the elevated table-land of\n'Pamir, the \" Bam-i-dunya\" or \" Roof of the World,\" has not yet\nbeen sufficiently explored, and its width is unknown, but the\npasses are of great elevation; this separates the country from\nthe northern bekships of Afghanistan and from the more\nnortherly khanates of Western Turkistan. The great northern\nbarrier consists of the southern ridges of the Thian Shan,\nseparating the Ameer's territories from the Russian Empire.\nThere is a pass between the Pamir range and the -northern\nfrontier, leading to the Khanate of Kokand; but the passes\nleading directly north to the Russian military stations had\nnever been explored until Colonel Gordon, with several members\nof Mr. Forsyth's expedition, ascended the principal one\u2014the\nTurgat Pass\u2014in the middle of last winter.\nCaptain Trotter, one of this party, in an account of this\nimportant journey which has just been received, says that the\nparty left civilisation and the very comfortable quarters granted\nthem by the Ameer, in Kashgar, on the last day of the old\nyear. The whole of their personal luggage was carried on six\nponies ; all articles not strictly indispensable being left behind.\nThe road at first passed along the east wall of the old city of\nKashgar, some five miles distant from the new city, where the\ncourt resided. Like Yarkand, it is surrounded by a large mud\nwall, varying from twenty to forty feet in height, and of great\nthickness, strengthened at numerous intervals by square towers.\nThe different branches of the Kashgar river were crossed by\nwell-constructed wooden bridges. The river in mid-winter contained but little water; the time of flood being in spring, when\nall the streams of the country are full with the melting of the\nsnows at their mountain sources. The direction taken by the\nparty was to the north-west, first along the Artysh valley, and\nthen up the narrower Taj end valley, where the mountain region\nof the Thian Shan may be said to commence. Here glimpses\nwere obtained of the snowy peaks of the range, of which a\ndistant view had been enjoyed from their residence in Kashgar. After a march of twenty miles up the valley they came.\nto a point where it suddenly narrowed, forming a deep gloomy\ngorge, overhung by precipitous mountains, rising 2,700 feet\nabove their camp. On the third day's march they proceeded\nsteadily up-hill for twenty-one miles, to the Chakmak forts,\npassing on their way the Pas Kurgan, or Lower Fort, constructed\nto defend the pass against invasion from the north. They soon\nafter reached the Russian frontier at Lake Chatir-Kul, finding\nthe pass, at its summit, about 12,800 feet above the sea-level,\nwith peaks rising around to a height of 15,000 feet; this, however, is only a low portion of the great range of the Thian Shan,\nwhich further to the north-east attains much greater elevation.\nThe ascent to the Turgat Pass is a gentle regular slope the\nwhole way, and it is open to laden camels even in mid-winter,\nthe slope from the Artysh Valley forming a gradient of about\n100 feet per mile. The only difficulties the road presents are\nwhere it crosses the stream, which in winter is partially frozen\nover for almost its entire length. Near both the forts the\noverhanging heights are so precipitous and inaccessible that it\nwould be almost impossible for an enemy to effect a lodgment\nin them. The Chikmik Fort is a place which Nature, aided\nby art, has made so strong that, if well defended, it would be\nalmost impregnable. Otherwise, the road descending from\nRussian into Kashgar territory offers no obstacle to the advance\nof a large army.\nWith regard to the people, Mr. Forsyth reports them as\nhaving attained a high degree of civilisation, considering their\nisolated position. The numerous cities and towns are well\nbuilt; and all classes enjoy a degree of comfort and well-being\nwhich surprised their visitors. They are industrious, peaceful,'\nand, as a rule, remarkably intelligent; energetic, and likely to\nbe quick to appreciate and adopt the advantages offered by\nEuropean service. Agriculture, stock-raising, and gardening\nare carried on so effectively, that there is more food produced\nthan is required for the existing population. During the few\nyears of peace which have succeeded, the successful revolt\nagainst the Chinese (which began in 1863), the population of\nthe large cities has increased, and everywhere the British\nmission observed the signs of a progressive thriving people.\nThe agricultural districts are studded with villages, farms, and\nhomesteads, which are not protected against attack, showing\nthat there is little fear of hostile inroads, robbery, or violence.\nThe population of the country was much scantier than the\nBritish mission had been led to expect; and they found a great\ndeal of land available for cultivation, and capable of irrigation\nby the numerous streams and canals, which, owing to the\nscarcity of hands, was lying neglected. Sheep and fowls were\nabundant; cows not quite so plentiful. The double-humped\nBactrian camel is very abundant, and makes a most efficient\nbeast of burden; but the members of the mission reserve\ntheir warmest praise for the Yarkand breed of ponies. Cap'tain\nTrotter says that each of his baggage-ponies carried over\nmountain passes a weight of at least 400 lbs., consisting of a\ncouple of heavy trunks, with bedding and other lumber piled\na-top of them, and the pony's attendant squatting on the apex\nof the pile. The Kirghiz sepoys in the Ameer's service in the\nThian Shan district are mounted on these sturdy ponies,\nwhose performances in climbing rocky slopes astonished every\nman of Colonel Gordon's party. These Kirghiz, some of\nwhom served as guides to the party, thought nothing of making\nshort cuts in the mountains by setting their ponies at the face of\nsteep slopes, where there was no visible path, and up which they\nascended by abrupt zig-zags to heights of more than 1,000 feet.\nThe bazaars and streets of Yarkand reminded Mr. Forsyth of\nConstantinople; and the restaurants and cookery, he says,\nwould put to shame anything he saw in that city. In the streets\nnumbers of barrows are wheeled about, loaded with excellent\ntoasted patties, bread, cooked vegetables, and so forth, which\nperambulating tradesmen offer for sale to the townsfolk. It is\nthe same with confectionery and other articles of common\nconsumption. Wherever the British Mission went they were\nreceived with the most profuse hospitality; but they found still\nsome traces of the jealousy which had prevented members of\nformer missions from straying far from the vigilant guardianship\nof their hosts, and were not allowed, without check, to pursue\ntheir scientific explorations. A great deal of valuable knowledge has, however, been obtained; not the least of which is\nthe clearing up of the geographical mystery of the Pamir tableland, which, according to the latest news, had been effected by\na portion of the party in an exclusion to the sources of the Oxus. RAMBLES  IN  ROME.\n225\nRambles   in   Rom e.\u2014III.\nBY  A.   CUST,   M.A.\nWe were at the- foot of the Capitol when the exigencies of our section of our narrative, is to give  an account of what we\nnarrative compelled us to part company with the reader, and saw and did.\nwe had spent so much of our time in the rambles described in Going down the hill, therefore, we were soon winding round\nour last chapter, in talking by the way, that we found ourselves and among the decayed buildings of which we took mark\nBg=2S{li!llllllll'||l!li!ll]l!il!llllli\nMARKET IN ROME.\nunable to see more that day, while at the same time we\npromised to continue our stroll, in our next We left off with\na hint that we were about to go back home, but in reality we\nhad thoughts of lengthening our walk, and leading the reader\nto gather that we were only stopped from going back by our\n. wish to take the post-office on our way, in order to send off\nsome letters. Frankness sat on both our brows and looked\nforth from both our eyes as our companion went out of sight\nover the Capitoline slope, and left us gazing still at the Forum.\nSoon, one says to the other (I am free to allow that I was the\nchief beguiler at such times), \"I think we might just stroll on\nto the Coliseum; we shall have lots of time, and we can go\nthere again with our friend.\"\nAnd so we  will let it be  supposed that  thus it came\nabout, and that we not only did this, but went round by St.\nPeter's on our way back.    Our intention, then, in the present\n2d9\u2014vol. vt.\nwhen we stood so long viewing them from above; and so far\nas the modern road and the bounds set up for hindering too\nnear prying let us, were following the general course of, or going\nparallel to, the Sacred Road, which we also.traced from there\nso far as we could. From fifteen feet of soil heaped up in\nmore than as many hundred years, we could now look down\non the stone-clad way, it may be once trodden with weary\nhopeless feet by our very ancestors as they were dragged in the\nconqueror's show. \u25a0 How little did either unhappy prisoner or\nhaughty crowd reck of these fifteen feet of soil 1 Foot by\nfoot, with march more relentless than ever Roman general's, the\ncenturies passing on have done their work ! and surer work too\nthan this : work not to be undone by craft of man. The spade\nhas dug out and cleaned from dust and earth those stones, and\nthey are as they were; but buried for ever are the flinty times\nwhich then curbed men's souls.    March on, proud Roman,\nn\nUSlJ&tiJbi\nt&^|\n\u2022Ml ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\n1\nI!\nwith thy sullen downcast Briton behind thy car: thou knowest\nnot that the triumph to which thou art, as thou think est, leading\nhim, is brief and fleeting; whereas thou art in reality leading\nhim, and his, to a triumph of which thou hast as little idea as\nof the fifteen feet of earth that are now above the spot which\nthou art scornfully treading, not of thy nation but of his, by\nmaking a first clearing for it, and starting it in a growth whose\nwide-spreading arms, moral and intellectual, should overshadow the countries of the world\u2014countries for the most part\nunheard of by thee, and unknown to thy legions\u2014with a force\nand endurance far mightier and higher than thy iron sway.\nNear or along the old road we went, and at last on its very\ntrack as we came to the arch built to the \" divine\" Titus;\npassing under which, what a glimpse of a new and yet more\nwonderful page of by-gone chronicle did we get, as those\nstone-cut Jewish captives and emblems of a diviner worship\nmocked their great conqueror's triumph by the contrast which\nthey seemed to call forth. But we left this for the time, and\nwent on to the Coliseum now close before us. We will not\nnow try to say much about, as we did not then to see much of,\nthis great building; partly because we had not yet risen to\nthe height of the subject, and our words are too feeble to\ngrapple with what is so fraught with thought and so well-\nknown, and partly because we have hopes of being able to\nreturn to the subject. Till then we will reserve what we have\nto say; and meanwhile it is a comfort to be freed from the\nneed, of it now. One thing easy to be seen we may remark,\nthat the most decayed side of the building is unluckily that\nof which we most readily get sight. The other and more\nwhole side is both turned away from the Forum and the\nPalatine, and, besides, ill-seen from the district over against it,\nowing to ground rising at once behind it. The reason is as\nplain as the fact, with which, indeed, luck had as little to do\nas decay. Had the building been left to be worn down by\ntime's touch, it would have been standing now, save a crack\nhere or a -stone displaced there, much as it was when it was\nthe chief masterpiece and pride of imperial workmanship. The\ngap was made where cartage was easiest; and besides siege\nhavoc, it was for long years a quarry for Roman nobles,\nwherefrom they might build themselves shrines, forsooth, for\nRome's art. And yet perhaps it is well that the Coliseum\nshould be half pulled down, and that old Rome's most\nlasting trace should not be that of her deepest shame\u2014the\nscene of senseless barbarity and luxurious profligacy without\nan equal in the history of civilised man.\nWe. turned our backs on it, and on the Forum and the\nCapitol, and left the old town, and all the thoughts belonging\nto it, behind \u2014it and its age, and the greatest type and truest\ngrowth of that age, of which we have just spoken\u2014and set our\nfaces towards the new, and the most real embodiment of the\nworship and thoughts of this, St. Peter's Cathedral. We are\nin the Piazza of St. Peter's, and there rises the dome before us.\nFifteen feet of earth have been heaped up, and fifteen centuries\nrolled away, since the crumbling decay we have left was\nstanding strong as the hills and full of life\u2014a life, alas ! more\ncrumbling and doomed than any downfalling Trail, a life of\novergrown godless debauchery;\u2014and now before our eyes, fair\nand new is the sacredest shrine of the worship and culture\nwhich overthrew the old and grew out from amid the rotting\nruin. The new civilisation has trodden under foot and taken\nthe place of the old, the new morality of the old, the new\nreligion of the old ; and this was the subtle work of the\nChristianity whose followers were a mean laughing-stock within\nthose other walls. That Christianity which has done all this\nand more, which has fought to the death other kingdoms of\nsin than that of Rome, and shall yet fight them, which has\noverspread with its light and purity a wider than Roman\nworld, has built up here its mightiest and costliest temple; and\nhas set in it to worship the Great Father of all, whom the best\nof the pagans but ignorantly sought after, and the sin-steeped\nmass sank further and further from, its highest and most\nrevered priest, whom it has delighted to honour, and crown\nwith befitting dignity and rank, as one of the kings of the\nearth. Let us go into this holiest shrine of Roman Catholic\nChristianity, and see its chief priest and what he is doing,\nand if we are at the right time we may see him\u2014great\nHeavens ! we may see him kissing the toe of one of the feet\nof St. Peter's statue\u2014a statue itself, some say, originally of an\nold pagan god! Again and again will he kiss it, and will\nfondly hold it to his forehead, and awe-struck worshippers\nwill devoutly watch the wondrous sight\u2014the great head of the\nearthly church paying homage to his greater forerunner, the\nrock on which that church was built. With wistful, prayerful\nlooks will they watch, on bended knee, or stooping to the\nground in their deep feeling of it, the solemn deed which they\nare allowed to behold so near, something so far above them\nand yet so simple and akin to them, nay, which they may even\ndraw near and do themselves\u2014they, the humble lowly ones,\neven as the holy vicar of Christ himself: and as all this sinks\ninto their inmost souls, will not they be ready in their so near\npresence to fall down and kiss the very earth in their bliss and\nabasement ? Suitably the while to the warmth and peace thus\nshed on these poor people's hearts by this source to them of\nheaven's light, a mild soft ray from God's sun is being poured\naslant over pillar and aisle.\nBut what of it, the statue, whether it be of Galilean Peter or\nCapitoline Jupiter ? Is it indeed of Peter, the lowly fisherman ?\nOf him who little thought when he was being crucified, head\ndownwards, by Old Rome, that his very statue's toe would be\nkissed for reverence by the loftiest lordship of New Rome in a\ntemple reared by her in his name ? Or do we more easily join\nit in our thoughts to the king of pagan gods, and trace it back\nto the old days when it stood garland-decked and drinking\nin the savour of sacrificial rites, wielding perchance forked\nlightning in the hand now raised to bless; while the same sun\nshining athwart the pillars of its heathen temple glanced on\npriests and victims and soldiers and people in long line far\ndown the sacred slope; receiving now a general's battle-field\nvows made good, now a peasant's muttered prayer ? What-,\never it be, whatever it has coldly allowed and granted with\nthat upraised arm and meaningless look, the very mystery of\nits origin, and its stiff roughly-cut shape, widely unlike the\nproductions of classical \u00abart, and differing equally from the\nflorid statues which line the nave of the cathedral, make it a\nsort of fitting link between the new and the old. It is difficult\nto assign its true age, but it gives to the mind a vague idea of\nthe past coming down to the present, the old superstitions\nmerging into the new, without readily made out mark of\nseverance of the one from the other. However, by whomsoever\nbrought, there it is; a thing dusky and grim, with but a chilly\nanswer for the warm hearts below\u2014chilly as the stone which\nI the stately pale-robed pontiff is kissing. RAMBLES  IN  ROME.\nAnd that other old man that we might have seen had we\ngone to St. Peter's on any day of a certain month many years\nago, what is he doing, stooping down to the floor? Is he\ngoing through some penance or devotion that bows him thus ?\nNo, as we should have seen on coming nearer, he is scrubbing\nthe floor with a brush, a pail of water at his side; scrubbing it\ntoo with a will, as if his heart was in his work and it meant\nsomething. Had we asked him what it did mean, and why he\nwas so at work, he would have scarcely raised his head as he\ngave us the curious answer, | To marry my niece !\" Which\nanswer would doubtless have shown good grounds for the\ndecrepit old man's eagerness, but hardly at first sight the\nmanner in which his toil was to bring about the longed-for\nend. By further asking we might learn that, on going to his\nfather confessor for a dispensation to marry his niece, he was\ntold that this should be given him if he cleaned the floor of\nSt. Peter's every day for a month. His love' for the young lady,\nwho no doubt sometimes comes to cheer the brave heart,\nand watch the pious task which is to win her, enables him to\nendure the labour, and he scrubs away hopeful and unwearied.\nDid Jupiter of the Capitol, whether hewn in that stone or\nany other, ever behold within his walls a stranger sight than\nthose two old men; the stone-kissing head priest of Christianity, and the stone-scrubbing lowly worshipper thereof?\nI But you have not yet made known,\" the reader may\nobject, I your first impressions of St. Peter's or the approach\nthereto.\" First impressions are like burnt paper, hard to catch\nhold of, and apt to crumble in the holding, and we would\nadvise young travellers, if at any time they wish to hold them\nfast and think they may be wanted, to write them down one\nby one then and there, as they pass through the mind; even\nthen, when they come to look at them again, they will hardly\nbelieve them, and perhaps wish to change something. We\nindeed took little note of our first impressions, and on that\nground will be brief. Something more, certainly, might\nhave been said about the approach. The bridge of St.\nAngelo, as it opened out to us the best view of the Cathedral, so was a fitting entrance to the Papal quarter. Those\nsoldiers drawn from other lands by zeal to defend the faith,\nwho were loitering under the walls of the castle which gave\nits name to the bridge, and was the Pope's stronghold, led\nus on by the temporal to the spiritual greatness. It was\nlegions that paved the way for Popes; and who can say that\nthe Church would have held her own, but for the fleshly arm on\nwhich she afterwards leaned ? But also, who can say how far\nher meddling with the courts of men, if it strengthened the\nrind of the faith, marred the kernel ? The street which now\nled us towards St. Peter's should, if it had known what a\nchance it had, have made straight for it; whereas, by glancing\nslightly aside, it allowed no sight thereof, till the piazza\nunfolded it to our eyes. Now was the time for pencil to jot\ndown feeling ! Perhaps our friends may know from our letters\nwhat this was : we do not. The square-shaped end of a large\nbuilding lay before us, coming to meet us with colonnade-arms\non right and on left, but hardly taking the place of our ideal\ncathedral, or severed enough from the kindred blocks at its\nside; looking, in fact, more like a sham street front hiding\nnarrowness and ugliness behind, than the mere end of a\nbuilding of like height and beauty. Nor is the architecture\nitself of this facade such as to give the impression of size; for,\nwhile it is neat and in keeping with itcelf, it is only an ex- I\n-aggerated form of what would be in a smaller building of the\nsame style; the windows and pillars not of themselves making\nus think that they are so much larger than common, as in\nfact they are. The closing up of the colonnades too,. while\nit may give greater beauty to the piazza, seems to box up the\nfacade and make it more unreal, not allowing that free openness around, which is one charm of our English cathedrals.\nThe latter, moreover, if sometimes too much choked up, gain\ngreatly by the comparison with trees or houses (and what\nmore fitting to be near than the grey-grown close ?) and by\ntowering over the rest of the town; whereas St. Peter's, as seen\nfrom here, not only loses all this, but has this square end,\nwhich is all we see of its nave, the roof too being hidden, out:\ntopped by the ugly galleries of the Vatican, which seems to\nform a united mass of building with it. And where was the\ndome, that dome put beside which that of our St. Paul's was\nas the moon to the sun ? If so, when we thought of ours, this\nwas as a sun behind clouds to the full shining of the queen of\nnight.    Far back it lay, its lower part sunken from sight.\nThe inside, again, hardly came up to our expectations; it\nwas less gorgeously fitted, and the huge statues in the nave\nsomewhat took off from its size. This, it is likely, has been\na feeling often expressed, as well as the after effect on the\nmind. In short, our first impressions of this renowned edifice\nwere not of an elevated kind.\nBut vesper sounds were not so much stealing over our\nsenses, as taking them by storm with high-pitched jarring, and\nwe hurried on to the chapel in which was being held the\nservice, which it had been our aim to attend, and for which we\nwere now late. We had been looking forward to it, since we\nhad seen the notice of it the night before, bethinking ourselves\nof pleasant reverent-seeming cathedral services at home, and\nsweet, soothing chants, softly swelling with deep-toned organ\nthrough quiet aisles from central choir; and we found, packed\naway in a side chapel, nasal twang, incense-swinging, and\nflippant behaviour. These three points mostly laid hold on\nour mind. Priests there were and robed dignitaries far more\nthan at our chief cathedrals; but they, not holding even the\noutward seeming of what we think reverence needful, as if\nthe thing were something to be got through, it mattered litt\nhow, might be seen lounging, yawning, or whispering. Besides\nthese and shoals of lesser church grades, who undoubtedly\nwere more earnest in their behaviour than those above them\u2014\nperhaps as men still struggling in life, and not having reached\nthe easy-going stage of winners of prizes\u2014the rest of the people\nthere were mostly listeners and strangers like ourselves, and\nthey, I think, not very many. As to the music, we will keep\nwhat we have to say for another time; much of what we heard\nnow issued from harsh, piping ecclesiastical throats as they\nanswered each other in grating intonation. Long did the catch\nof some of this twang sound in our ears ! Incensing had no\nmean part to play; curious to watch, if puzzling in meaning.\nWhether the number of times that each ecclesiastic was\nincensed betokened his rank, we cannot say. Anyhow, there\nwas a strange going to and fro and swinging, now here, now\nthere, now in front of this man, now in front of that, as if\nmighty things hung on the due handling of this censer-ritual.\nWave your censers, ye worshippers in the foremost church\nof Christendom, till each great one among you has had his\nfit share of savour; stir your coarse-voiced changeless echoes ;\nfill yourselves with your own and your church's loftiness, till\n\u20228 wm\n228\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nyou seemingly lose reckoning of the end and meaning of what\nshe teaches you to do ! Better than such are most melancholy\nravings and self-comfortings of Methodists in stifling meetinghouse, for they, at least, are in earnest. From this time we\nshall mostly have other things to do than to come to vespers\nat St. Peter's.\nThis over, we had little else on our mind save to wend\nour way back to dinner; after which we went straight to\nPiale's and read the news, as was our pleasant custom during\nthe whole time of our stay in the Eternal City. And thus is\ncompleted the account of our first day's ramble.\nfelt the delay all the more keenly as we were in a hurry to get\nback in time for those vespers we have been descanting on.\nNow that we are here, let us look round Piale's. It\nseems to us rather a nice place to come to when we have\nnothing to do in the evening, as we can see the papers and\nlearn what is going on, and being in the Piazza di Spagna, it\nis close by our lodging. Besides, as the shop-people speak\nEnglish, We have the comfort of getting rid for the while of\nour awkward essays at Italian. Not to speak of the library,\nthere are piles of photographs here, large and small, with which\nwe can amuse ourselves, till we some time or other make up\nH\ninKa\n5>'K\nTHE VILLA PAMrHlLI-DORIA,  NEAR ROME.\nPI\nBut stay! there is still a portion of our first day's work left\nundescribed, although it was alluded to at the commencement\nof this chapter. If Rome be as new to the reader as it was to\nus, he may forgive our garrulity, which has been the chief cause'\nof neglecting this portion of our programme. The post-office,\nhowever, is rather a prosaic subject, and moreover, to say\nthe truth, it took us a long time and much wandering about\nto find the building ; we were chagrined at our stupidity, and\nstill more so at Our clumsiness in speaking the language; and\nour failure to make the people in the streets understand, as a\nrule, much more than the first two words of our pet phrase,\nbeginning \" d6ve e;\" our own courteousness, on the other\nhand, in affecting to understand their replies was really praiseworthy, but we always afterwards went down the wrong street.\nHowever, we did find it at last, staring at us unmistakably,\nour minds to what amount we will beggar ourselves by buying.\nIt is an endless comfort to think that this bother may be put\noff for three weeks. We shall most likely find by then that\nwe have settled our liking on a good fifty old friends, more\nthan half of which we shall have sorrowfully to bid farewell\nto. We will not, however, groan over the thing beforehand,\nbut rather buoy ourselves up in reckless ease or unbelief of\nsuch ills.\nThere is a list here of the chief things going on in Rome\nduring the week; come and look if anything especial is down\nfor to-morrow. Why, there's \" High Mass at the Lateran !\"\nJust the thing for us: we are lucky to come in for it. We\nshall hear some good music at last, and be able at the same\ntime to see something of the Lateran itself. The reader must\naccompany us there, as it is one of the chief sights of Rome,\nclose by where we had been walking round and round.    AVe ! and one of the most interesting events of these ramble vm\nI\nm\nfi\nJB? 23\u00b0\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nIfc\nmm-\n\u25a0m\\\n\\mm\\\nteu'i\nGood morning! We have got a fine day for our walk\nto the Lateran, which is lucky, as it is a long way. The\nstreet is certainly straight enough almost from the Piazza;\nthere does not seem anything else, however, to remark about\nit till we get to that big church at the end, except that we\nought to be looking out for three of the seven hills, over whose\nslopes our road undoubtedly runs. It is lucky that we are\naware of this, as we may now fancy each height and hollow\nhaving something to do with it, though perhaps we may find\nourselves already at the church before we have made up our\nminds whether we made it out. However, it is something to\nknow now that we are there, that we have passed over the\nQuirinal and Viminal, and are now standing on the top of\nthe Esquiline. Have we time to go into the church? We\nhave not much to spare, still we may go in and take a look,\nand we can always come back another time to do it thoroughly.\nBut first, what do we think of this facade ? We don't know;\nand when we get to the other side we shall see another fagade,\nand shall not know what to think of that either, save that we\nlike one worse than the other. To say the truth, we are\nrather tired of these facades, and don't understand them.\nSham faces we are wont to think them, which serve only to\ndress up the side next the street, while all the rest is left bare\nand ugly brickwork. We are beginirng to be rather uncomfortable at the thought that we are not enough impressed\nwith the beauty of church architecture in Rome, it not being\nmuch to our taste or training. Perhaps had we been longer\nin Rome we might praise St. Maria Maggiore more, for it is\nreally a very fine building, and one of the oldest basilicas.\nInside, of course, when we had time to see it well, we were\nstruck with the fine nave and fair pillars of marble, and the\nconfessional before the high altar curiously wrought with choice\nst\u00aenes. We may safely, however, leave to the reader's fancy\nour minuter impressions of these things.\nTurning our back on the church, we find that the road\nbranches, without, however, leaving any doubt as to our way,\nfor the right one makes straight as the one we have just left\nfor the end of our walk. A little further, and we find ourselves clear of the houses and the modern town whose edge\nwe have been skirting, and can now look about us and mark\nwhere we are. We are standing on the slopes of the Esquiline,\nand are nearly in the midst of the Rione Monti, the largest in\nRome, and embracing a great part of what we have before\nspoken of as the old town. With this its people are in\nkeeping, for they boast old Roman blood. What we see of it\nfrom here is open ground up to the city walls, which enclose\nit on the far side; free from streets, that is, not otherwise\nopen; we wish it were, and the rest of old Rome left to its\ndecay and self-grouping lines of fallen greatness, amid which\nwe might be free to wander as we listed, and clothe it with\nthoughts such as no other corner of the world could call forth.\nAlas! so far as we are able to look forth'from where we are, we\nlook forth on a mingied maze of church or villa-grounds, each\njealously fenced in, from above which peep out old wall and\nmodern roof. In mass, when we are in the midst, it will yield\nus so little clue from its sameness, that our best understanding\nof it will be from our maps; in detail, it will challenge our wrath\nby straitly hemming us in between pairs of high walls, one of\nwhich is no sooner tired of dogging our steps, than another is\ntold off to take its place. Had we kept right on past the\nchurch, we should have been on another road, makin<* straight\nfor the walls like this, and like this ending in a pile of church\nbuilding, and St. Croce would have been our guiding star, as\nnow the Lateran. A little further a third as straight would\nhave split off from it to the left, making for the walls at the\nPorta Maggiore, being the old Via Labicana, besides which\nare two more branches to the left. The region is thus cut\nwith straight roads, mostly converging from the walls, or some\nchurch to which they owe their being or custom, on the great\nchurch of St Mary. If then we are much bent on strolling\nhereabouts, our chance of avoiding sameness and weariness\nwill be small, crossways even being mostly absent. Beyond\nthe last road we spoke of we may make out the line of railway,\nand this and the Porta Maggiore may bring to our mind our\ncoming into Rome, and our eager looking out for each trace\nof the past. What a time that seems ago ! This is only our\nsecond day in Rome, and yet it seems an age; and how we\nnow feel to be in the thick of what was then a strange\nunknown, of which we strained ourselves to catch glimpses as\nwe skirted it!\nBut our thoughts now turn to what is indeed the chief\nfeature in our forward view\u2014the great mass of the Lateran.\nIts squared top, and long, low-roofed rows of galleries, are\nbroken by turrets or pinnacles, but it does not show well as\na whole from this side\u2014at least, to our thinking. It is fortunate, perhaps, that Gothic art never took root here, as the\npoverty and heaviness of the mediaeval style sends us with all\nthe keener relish to the old, with which again its massiveness\nand strength are more in keeping. It is not our purpose, however, to disparage either the architecture or story of the Basilica\nof San Giovanni in Laterano, that calls itself the foremost\nchurch in Christendom; with which things we will leave the\nmore learned to deal. We have no time to lose outside, and\nhope, as we go in, that we may be able to get places, knowing\nwhat a crush there is at such solemnities in our country.\nThere is something more here like our chancel than we have\nyet seen, and this is separated from the body of the church by\na low balustrade, along part of the end and sides of which\npeople may stand and look over at what is going on within,\nthe inner ground itself being filled with a dusky, professional\nthrong. A few stragglers are leaning against the balustrade,\nmostly peasants or Papal soldiers, the latter of whom being\nstrangers, like ourselves, are here apparently from motives of\ncuriosity like ourselves. Do these guardians of his Holiness,\nhaving piously flocked for this end from afar of their own will,\nknow more than ourselves of what is being done at this holiest\nworship\u2014in this \" Mother and head of the churches of the\ncity and the earth ?\"t\u2014 know where there is beginning or\nending, meaning or fitness ? Why dresses are to be donned\nat this stage, doffed at that ? Nay, do they know better than\nourselves what the whole means ? how they, simple folk, ready\nto spill their blood for the Church, are to get good or blessing,\nlook on or cast in their prayers as they may, from this tangled\nweb that the Church has been busily spinning since Christ\ndied on Calvary, in full thought thereby to aid men to heaven,\nwhereas, for aught we can see otherwise, she was all the while\npatching up and thickening anew the veil, that her founder.\nrent in twain, between their souls and God ?\nGoing round to the far side, we find a block of seats and a\nlarger assemblage, among whom, however, we easily find room\nnear the mils, so as to get a good view of what is taking place\nwithin. We wondered as we came along that we did not see other HT\nRAMBLES  IN  ROME.\n2.11\npeople like ourselves hurrying along that stretch of road. It felt\nstrange that we alone of all Rome should be eager to go to the\nieast of St. John the Evangelist at his own shrine, and now we\nsee no token in the scantiness around us of any stir among the\npeople or fashion of the city on account of it. As the greater\ncrowd, so still more does the life and soul of the thing lie\nwithin those bounds where are gathered those whose work and\n\u2022care alone it is, and not with us or our neighbours outside. It\nis a piece of ecclesiastical duty to be got through with due\nniceties, and it is \"got through with the trained ease of professionals. We should hardly be thought likely to understand\nmost of it, and we do not. Large weight seems to be given to\nchanges of hood or mitre at the right times, which changes,\nthe dignitary on whom they were made undergoes with calm\nmien, it being hardly needful for him to stir so much as his\nhead or give the thing a thought while he is being robed or\nunrobed, having one head-piece pulled off or another put on\nby the skilful underlings. All this has surely its deep\nsymbolism; we neither can, nor care to unravel it. The \" fine\nmusic,\" however, that was to be our treat, is less beyond our\ngrasp, and on the earthly mould of this we can have our say.\nIt does not comfort us; we do not like it; we do not understand it much more than its heavenly meaning, whatever this\nbe; it will take us some time to get a taste for singing without\ntrebles or organ. Of one part of the service we feel sure\nat least as to what it is, which is something: it is a sermon\nwhich that young man, not high in rank in the church, is\nabout to preach, while the great men settle themselves to their\ncomfort. He goes on smoothly enough, and we are happy\nfor the time in trying to make up our minds whether he is\nspeaking Italian or Latin. To-night at Piale's we shall hardly\nscan so eagerly the list of church fetes.\nNow that it is over, let us take a walk down the nave, where\nwe see more of those great, unreal statues, and look into the\nside chapels in the aisles, the gorgeousness of one at least of\nwhich must force itself upon us if we are in the mood to praise\nanything of this kind; and then, having made up our minds\nthat it is a fine church, let us go out by the .east door at the\nend of the nave\u2014for churches here are not careful, as with us,\nwhich way they turn\u2014and we shall see something worth\nseeing. Do we mean the Scala Santa over against us to the\nleft ? No, we do not. The facade, then, behind ? No, our eyes\nare filled with that which is eternally true; with no built-up\nmock beauty hiding hideousness behind, here to-day, gone tomorrow, and having its place taken by something in more\ndoubtful taste than itself, fair only to a knowing few, or to men\nof one age and not of another; it is the bright-beaming sunshine o'er blue Alban hills and wide-swelling Campagna that\nhere attracts us. We thank thee, O makers of this fair-seeming\nbuilding and piazza, more for this flight of steps, from which\nwe can gaze forth over the city walls at this loveliness, than\nfor costliest shrines and blazoned altars, for ceremonies and\nmysteries. Better those blue hills and far-drawn aqueducts,\nthan nave unable even to boast of being old, so having ousted\n.-he first one, covered over ever so much with cumbrous excrescences and florid ornaments; than bronze pillars, however\ntruly snatched from the temple of Jupiter \u25a0Capitolinus; than\n_great high altar-tabernacle, proud with heads of St. Peter and\nSt. Paul in it held, which were to be shown to-day; than,\nfairest of all, the cloisters, which we shall see afterwards, with\ncurious mosaic-wrought twisted pillars; and, more curious still\n(forgive us a grim smile), a column split when the veil we have\nspoken of was rent! Better than these and such as these, is\nthe sunlight dancing over hill and plain; as it danced of old\nwhen good Marcus Aurelius was calming his soul with these\nsame lights and shades, and tuning its philosophic gaze in his\ngrounds at this spot away from the tricks and turmoil of the\nForum; as it danced in still older times, when perchance-a\nRoman soldier was pacing along the walls, looking out among\nthose hills for tokens of his foe in smoking village or villa:\nwhose fair, waving outlines, as we watch the light hues which\nare playing over them, we can fill up and people, as best we\nmay, with Rome's early story, and almost make out the sites\nof well-known names. But little other story do we want than\nthat told by the billowy breadth of the Campagna, as it bears\non its bosom, and floats straightforth on their way from the old\nimperial city, yonder mighty aqueducts and roads. Ay, they\ntell their own story, those mouldering arches far-reaching\nbackward from the eye; that Appian Way becoming a tiny\nstreak till lost to sight; tell, as perhaps nothing else can, of\nwondrous civilisation and all-conquering toil, of troops marching forth far beyond those hills to spread the same over a\nconquered world.\nAnd are we to see nothing of the Scala Santa ? Yes, we\nwill turn away from sun and landscape and go up the stairs\ninto the chapel at the top, and fancy the holy steps thronged\nwith pilgrims toilsomely climbing them on their knees; after\ntheir fashion, and to the best of their will and knowledge,\ntreading in their Master's footsteps (for do they not say the\nsteps were brought from the | Judgment Seat\" itself ?); and if\nwe think it a somewhat literal and stony fashion, we must not\nmake haste to blame them, but rather bethink ourselves what\npains more enlightened folk are at to tread in those steps\nliterally or otherwise ?\nWe must also have a look at the Baptistery, and then there\nis the Museum to be seen, perhaps better some other time,\nwhen we must not fail to see the old part with its statues and\narchitectural curiosities, especially marking, of the former, an\nunfinished statue of a barbarian, of the latter, a bas-relief of a\ncrane turned by pulleys and a water-wheel, and lifting up stones\nto build a temple.\nStraight before us, as we stood on the steps under the\nfacade, stretched a road alongside of the walls, calling to us\nwith its sunny breadth to take it on our way back, and with it\nthe Church of Sta. Croce in Gerusalemme, which was at its\nfar end. Let us now follow its call, and as we go, look out, if\nwe have not done so before, from under the Gate of St. John\nfrom which starts the modern road to Naples. Just before\nreaching the church, we can make out traces of the amphitheatre\nof the camp, built for the amusement of the soldiers. The\nchurch at whose door we now are, is again a basilica, being\nthe fourth in rank of the basilicas in Rome, and the third in\ndate of founding; St. Peter's having been founded a.d. 306,\nthe Lateran next (we believe), Sta. Croce in 331, and Sta. Maria\nMaggiore in 352\u2014the first three by Constantine. Yesterday we\nsaw St. Peter's, and to-day's walk has now shown us the rest,\nand a word on their name, \"basilica,\" may not be amiss.\nThe buildings so-called (the word is Greek, meaning a royal\nbuilding) were public halls, with double colonnades for purposes of justice or exchange, first brought into Rome after the\nconquest of Philip of Macedon. While the merchants assembled in the porticoes at the sides, the judge held his court\na\nw.\nUrn 232\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nBiSlKr\nmm;\ninside towards the end, on a raised platform or tribunal, which\nwas large enough to hold those about him as well as his own\nchair, and which, when semicircular, may have been partly\ncovered with a vaulted roof (sometimes called an absis) of its\nown. As these town-halls of paganism were sometimes bodily\nchanged into Christian churches, so did they give their shape\nto those built for the new religion when it had got an acknowledged footing. Such a one is the Church of San Giovanni\ne Paolo, which you may see by taking a winding cross-road\nfrom the other side of the Lateran, following the line of the\nClaudian Aqueduct; for traces of which you may amuse yourself\nby looking, and leading you by the Church of S. Stefano\nRotundo\u2014with its curious old outside, perhaps once that of a\npagan building, and with ugly pictures inside of martyrdoms\nwhich we do not intend to try to get in to see,\u2014and, still\nkeeping to the aqueduct, to the Arch of Dolabella, which was\nmade use of for this, and so to the church. This belongs to a\nPassionist convent; and is very old, having been built in the\nsame century as the Lateran, though having nothing to do with\nthe St. John of the latter, being called after two officers who\nlived at this spot, and were killed in the reign of Julian. The\nplan of these old churches consisted in a nave and two side\naisles with pillars between, with mostly a raised tribune at the\ninner end, partly jutting out from it, and vaulted over above.\nThe other end, in mediaeval times, was often seized upon to\ndeck with a facade, the architects having more liking for a false\nfront than for straightforward comeliness the same all round,\nwhich is the boast of many a lowlier church in our land.\nThe story of the Church of Sta. Croce is told on its tribune-\nvault, where frescoes show how the cross was found, and some\nof it brought here by St. Helena, whose chapel is underneath\nthe choir.\nBut we have seen enough for one day, and must be off!\nOur return walk lies before us by that straight road we were\nspeaking of, taking us right away back, without a bend to\nspeak of, to the Church of La Trinita de' Monti.\nit'jih-I\nIn the Colorado Country.\u2014II.\nm\nifi \u25a0\u25a0\nfl\n1   !\u25a0\nfili I\n!*rfllU\nHaving met an old schoolfellow at Colorado Springs who was\nengaged in farming at a ranch about twenty-five miles distant, in one of the \"parks\" of which the Rocky Mountains are\nso full, I arranged to accompany him on his next trip up, and\nto witness how a Christmas was kept in these rather remote\nregions. My friend, whom I will call Brown, had, I may\nmention, collected round him a good many English folks, so\nthat our party, though certainly not all aristocrats, would at\nleast be all Englishmen, a very essential thing as regards the\nkeeping of Christmas; for the Americans in these parts, where\ngaiety is scarce, make Christmas a day of dances and ball-\ngiving ; finishing with a terribly miscellaneous supper, instead\nof roast beef and pudding.\nBrown's ranch was beautifully situated in a gracefully'\nundulating park, not so very unlike many an English park,\nuntil you looked up on either side, and took in the ascending\nmasses of pines partially laden with snow, and the clearly-\ndefined rocky peaks, which seemed but a short five or six miles\naway, but were in reality fifteen or twenty. At our backs\nwas Pike's Peak, the one prominent feature wherever one goes\nhere; but looking from this point grander and more massive\nthan from the valley below, where one gets rather an imperfect\nview, owing to intervening hills. One part of the road\nthrough the park was a great crossing-place for the wild turkeys,\nwhich are to be found here (or rather are not often to be found,\neven in a long day's hunt), but which certainly do \" range \" in\nthe neighbourhood. As usual though, we saw no game. I\nhave found this always to be the case in travelling here, with\nthe solitary exception that on one occasion, riding home after\ndark, I caught sight of a coyote, or wolf, as he slunk over the\nbrow of a hill. Arriving at the ranch, I had an opportunity for\nnoting an exceedingly favourable specimen of what we should\ncall a farmhouse, in the Rocky Mountains. Brown, and the\n\"boys\" working for him, had just completed the erection of\na new house, abandoning the long low log cabin, plastered\nwith mud, which had been their former habitation. The new\nmansion had a framework of logs, but was boarded within and\nwithout, and boasted of an upper storey, altogether making a\nvery comfortable, though rather rough dwelling-place. The\nbest feature to one's eye, after a long drive in the cold, was an\nimmense fireplace, taking a third of the length of the sitting-\nroom, and throwing out the most cheerful light and warmth.\nFuel in Colorado is chiefly | pitch-pine,\" a wood that kindles\nlike tinder; but burns away a little too rapidly for solid comfort. It is, however, a great boon to be able to light a fire\nwithout difficulty wherever you maybe, in the woods, for instance,\non a hunting expedition, with feet and fingers nearly frozen.\nOn these occasions one blesses pitch-pine, with which a huge\nfire can be made in two minutes; for matches in the waistcoat\npocket are an \" institution \" of this country.\nChristmas-day dawned more like an old-fashioned English\nChristmas than England has seen for a long time. Everything\na \"mask of ice,\" and snow enough on the ground to give it a\ncheerful look. More frost too than you have at home, for I\nsuppose we had io\u00b0 below zero that night, and it was not\nunusual. In the evening we gathered quite a festive party\nround the table, and had the real orthodox roast beef and\nplum pudding of old England, drinking beer as well, to make\nthe resemblance greater (the beer had been specially procured\nat the town below, and was of the description called lager).\nAfter dinner the powers of the musician we had with us were\ncalled into requisition, and he accordingly discoursed sweetly\nfor some time on the concertina, ranging in melody from\n\"Pretty Polly Perkins\" to the \"British Gre-en-a-diers,\" arid\n\"God save the Queen.\" There was singing of various songs,\nand some exhilarating games of romps, and then a finish with\na large fail of egg flip, manufactured with care and plenty of\nspice, and with enough spirit to guard fully against the pos&i- IN  THE  COLORADO  COUNTRY.\n233\nbility of the eggs disagreeing with anybody. By that time\nevening wds over, and so ended a Christmas-day amongst people\nwho, however they might be thought of by those who carry\ntheir aristocratic ideas with them wherever they go, certainly\nwould yield to none in real good-heartedness, and patriotic\nremembrance of the \"old country.\"\nThe Christmas-day would have been quite uneventful but\nfor a little excitement caused by the house catching fire in\nthe middle of the night! Luckily it was only some of the logs\nimmediately over the fireplace, and a few buckets of water soon\nput it out; but in such a house, and in such a country (where.\nI estimated the elevation of Brown's ranch to be about\n7,500 feet above the sea-level, and at that height they are\nraising wheat, oats, and barley successfully, besides some kinds\nof vegetables. Brown's was the only place in the mountain\ndistricts where I heard of this being done; the chief business\nis stock-raising (for the cold is not too great for the cattle,\nstrange to say). As an old miner remarked to me, \"stock-\nraising and mining go together,\" and the mountain regions of\nColorado seem just cut out for both. In the valley there is\nsome sheep-raising, so that while one's food in the mountains\nis exclusively beef, on the plains it is equally confined to mutton.\nCANON  SCENERY IN COLORADO.\nwood becomes as dry as a bone), fire is a thing much more to\nbe feared than elsewhere. This may be easily seen by the destructive effects of the fires lighted in the woods by the Indians.\nOne travels for miles and miles over charred and blackened\nground, and through the remains of half-burnt logs, and the\nonly wonder appears to be that the fire was stopped, and not\nthat it travelled so far. This burning of the woods is the Ute\nIndian's unsportsmanlike way of procuring game; the hunters\nsurround the blazing pines, and catch the deer and other\nanimals as they rush out at the edges of the fire. The Utes\nconduct this kind of hunting in a wholesale way, as they do all\ntheir other sport, their object always being to slaughter as much\ngame as possible; and, of course, between the occasional\nvisits of the Utes, and the rifles of the white settlers, the game\nis rapidly disappearing in these parts. This is the way in all\nparts of the world when once civilisation has begun.\n270\u2014vol. vi.\nI had intended, after my visit to Brown's, to ride to another\nranch lying some twenty-five miles to the north-west of his,\nand as I was what every one terms a \"greenhorn\" (i.e., one\nnew to the country), Brown kindly offered to ride over with\nme, by what is called a nearer cut. ' Alas! for the delusion,\nas it afterwards turned out. Why should this fatal propensity\nto take the \"shortest cut\" be so deeply implanted in the\nhuman breast. What a deluding Jack-o'-Lantern, Will-o'-the-\nWisp, it is! You will see how nearly it brought us to grief.\nOur start was delayed, so that we were able to make only a\nfew miles the first evening, and halted at an old Dutchman's\nplace, when; we were regaled with \"slap-jacks,\" a delicacy\npeculiar to the Western country, and at night were allowed to\nspread our blankets on the floor. When it is remembered\nthat we were in a log shanty, which had only a temporary\nroof, and that the cold was intense, it will be easily imagined\ntoil\nwk 2\"34\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nW:']\nK\u00bb\nII m m-\nlitlli\nthe sort of night we had of it; our lodging being, if not\nactually on the \"cold ground,\" at any rate on a very hard\nassortment of pine boards. Do what I would, I could not\nhelp rolling from the blanket on to the floor, and, ugh! the\nshock. But by sunrise next morning it was all over, and in\nless than an hour we had breakfasted (again off \"slap-jacks\"),\nand were on our way. En passant, let me remark, what\npeculiarly harrowing arrangements these Mexican saddles are\nto one unused to them; a huge pommel straight up in front of\nyou, and a curve behind nearly reaching to the small of your\nback, stirrups like the scoops one sees in a coal-scuttle, into\nwhich your toes only go a few inches, and an arrangement of\nstraps which is decidedly puzzling to anybody but a native\nColoradian. Still, when one gets used to them they are the\nbest suited for travelling all day up hill and down hill, as one\ndoes here.\nAfter leaving the Dutchman's, our endeavour was to follow\nthe Indian trail, which would bring us out near where we wished\nto be. Now, an Indian trail is a thing easily lost, but remarkably hard to find again, it being but a faintly-worn track, perhaps eighteen inches wide; we had lost it more than once\nbefore we halted, in the midst of most lovely scenery, for a\nmid-day bite. Distant nearly one hundred miles was the snowy\nrange, translucent and azure blue in the sunlight, and between\nit and us stretched an endless vista of peaks, one above\nanother, as far on every side as the eye could reach; the\nscenery was wild and grand beyond description, for the sight\ntook in such a vast extent of mountains. The knowledge\nthat there were but few inhabitants, comparatively, in all that\nregion, lent to the situation all the peculiar charm that belongs\nto the unknown.\nWe were here travelling over part of the district which has\nrecently become interesting for the quantity of fossil remains\nof extinct animals which it has yielded. The late discoveries\nof Professor Hayden, the official Geologist of the United\nStates Territories, comprised some species of horses no larger\nthan Newfoundland dogs, and, still more wonderful, animals of\nthe elephant tribe no bigger than a domestic cat! As time\ngoes on, much more will be brought to light in this country,\nfor as far as such remains go, there is a very great extent of\ncountry unexplored which might be productive of further\nrevelations.\nThe investigations which have taken place in the summer\nof 1873, have added a great many species to the number\npreviously known. The productive district is the so-called\n\" bad lands \" of Colorado; the superficial deposits of which\nare found to be a vast cemetery of the extinct animals of the\n.Rocky Mountain region. Professor Cope, this summer, has\nfound more than one hundred distinct species, and some thousands of individual specimens ; seventy species being new to\nscience. These range in size from that of the mole to that of\nthe elephant. Sixteen species are reptiles. Among the more\n.curious of the extinct beasts are certain kinds which prove to\nbe nearly intermediate in structure between the deer and the\nhog; like the latter, they had no horns, and were about as\nlarge as sheep. These belonged to the cloven-footed class of\nquadrupeds. Besides horses and elephants, remains of seven\nspecies of rhinoceros have been dug up. One of the specimens\nis a perfect skull, with the teeth complete, and covered with the\n\u25a0moss-like crystallisation seen in the moss agate. But a strange\nbeast has been discovered, far more wonderful than any of\nthose I have already mentioned.    It is a horned animal, having j\nsome resemblance, in other respects, both to the rhinoceros\nand the elephant.\nSo seldom does the foot of man invade many of the\ndeep canons and wide gulches of these mountains, that in the\nvery region through which we passed the other day, a horse\nthat had been in all probability lost by some exploring party\nmany years previously was lately discovered, with his hoofs\ngrown to an enormous length, and every thing about him showing the length of time he must have wandered there in a\nperfectly wild state.\nI must hasten to tell of our further adventures. After\ntravelling a few miles further, we dropped the trail once more,\nand this time did not find it, and consequently were lost completely\u2014that is to say, although we could tell, by the position\nof certain prominent peaks, in which direction we should find\nsome habitation, yet we were so far from them that to get there\nby nightfall would be impossible, and if something didn't \"turn\nup,\" as a matter of course, we should have to camp as best we\ncould; with no blankets, a foot of snow on the ground, and no\nprovision beyond a small crust of bread, this for an invalid in\nsearch of health ! The prospect was not cheering, and we\ntravelled on, feeling rather blue, until by the most providential\ngood IuGk we stumbled upon an old disused wagon track, by\nwhich evidently sortie one had been hauling logs to a saw-mill,\nof which there are many scattered through the most thickly-\ntimbered parts of the mountains. It was a truly cheerful night,\nwhen at last we came upon a solitary log cabin, with its independent proprietor standing in front of his mansion, revolver\nand bowie-knife at his belt. On inquiry we found that we\nwere within half a dozen miles of our actual destination, so that\nwe had really come by a shorter way than by following that\ndeceitful Indian trail. Tired,,\" caved in,\" and almost famished,\nwe rode up to the door of the ranch house we were seeking,\nand I think if ever the luxuries of a big supper and of a bed\nto sleep in were appreciated by any mortal, they were that\nnight by your obedient servant.  .\nThe system of land distribution in Colorado is, that a man\nmay preempt 160 acres from the Government at five shillings\nan acre, but until a survey is made he cannot tell precisely\nwhere his land will run; still there is no trouble on this score.\nA man is bound to reside on his \" claim\" a certain time in\nthe year, or it is liable, in the phrase of the country, to be\n\"jumped,\" or taken possession of by some one else, still, if it is\nso, he is not altogether a loser, being paid for all imfrovements\nhe may have effected on the property.\nThe cattle herds roam at large over the mountains, and\nbecome exceedingly wild; indeed, the meat itself acquires a\nwild flavour. They find plenty to eat, and keep fat through\nthe winter, the only danger to the cattle-farmer lying in the\npoison weed which grows in some parts, and if eaten causes\nthe cattle to grow lean and ultimately die. I saw some cattle\nwhich had partaken of it, and they were easily distinguished\nfrom the rest of the herd, showing signs of speedily perishing.\nThe poison weed, however, is not common, and does not grow\nat a certain altitude; Many parts of Colorado possess as fine\ngrazing land as any to be found in the Western territories of\nthe States; and many of those who are rushing about from\none mineral district to another in these great mining re<rionsv\nwould find it far more profitable to settle down here to stock-\nraising. KASHMIR.\n2 35\nKashmir.\nWho has not heard of the Vale of Kashmir ? and who that has\nread the charming descriptions of Moore but has \"felt that if\nthere is any truth in them, and if the gifted bard of Erin has\nnot drawn upon his fervid imagination for those stanzas in his\nexquisite \"LallaRookh,\" describing the Feast of Roses and the\nbeauties of the famed lotus-bearing lake of Srinuggur; who, I\nsay, that has read that enchanting work\u2014which surely may\nfavourably compare with the effusions of any Persian poet, so\nsteeped in Eastern imagery and grace are its gorgeous descriptions\u2014but will agree with the natives of India who aver that\nKashmir was the Garden of Eden of our first parents ? In the\nnorth of India, sayst he Austrian, Baron von Hugel, to whose\ninteresting and trustworthy account of Kashmir we are much\nindebted in the following pages, a man is considered to betray\na total want of respect for the subject, who, whenever the name\nof the country is mentioned, forgets to add, \" which, beyond all\ncontroversy, was the earthly paradise.\" So say the Mohammedans, while the Hindoos embody the same belief in the\nlegends descriptive of the revival of the human race. The\nfirst authentic information concerning Kashmir appears to be\nderived from that nation whose geographical discoveries in the\nfifteenth century have placed their name on perhaps the highest\npinnacle of fame as dauntless voyagers and discoverers on land\nand sea. We refer, of course, to the Portuguese, whose religious zeal impelled them in this case, as in Hindoostan,\nwhere Francis Xavier, \"the Apostle of the Indies,\" during\nhis marvellous and unparalleled career, brought whole nations\nto the foot of the Cross, only, however, to relapse into idolatry\nwhen the master spirit had passed away. In the year 1572,\nexactly twenty years after Francis Xavier had fallen a martyr\nto his religious zeal and untiring energy, his kinsman, bearing\nthe same name, landed at Goa, to prosecute the high and holy\nmission. Xavier first travelled to the court of the great Akbar,*\nthe most remarkable sovereign of the Mogul dynasty. In\ncompany with a countryman, Benedict Goez, a native of the\nAzores, Xavier arrived at Agra, where he was well received by\nthe emperor, who showed his tolerant spirit by offering to\ntake him with him in his projected journey to Kashmir. The\nJesuit gladly availed himself of the invitation, and his remarks\nare published in a very scarce work (\" Hujus de Rebus\nJaponicis, Indicis,\" &c, Antwerp, 1605), but are described to\nbe of no particular value. The next traveller to place on\nrecord his observations of the country is Bernier, whose\nmotives for undertaking the journey were widely different from\nthose of his predecessor. Bernier was a young physician of\nenterprising mind, which urged him to travel and see that\nworld of which the brief and imperfect descriptions then in\nexistence only served to fire his desire for information and\nadventure. Voltaire says he was born in 1625, and in his\ntwenty-ninth year he quitted France, and, without any settled\nplan or object, wandered first through Syria and Egypt,\ntravelling thence to Surat, which he reached in 1657. At\nthis time Shah Jehan was nominally the Emperor of Delhi,\nbut his four sons were contending for the throne, which ulti-\n* Kashmir was conquered by Akbar in 1586, and became an integral\npart of his empire.\nmately was conquered by the most able of them, Aurungzebe,\nduring whose sanguinary and intolerant rule the land was\ndrenched with the gore of all such as refused to subscribe\nto the tenets of Mohammed.\nBernier repaired to Delhi, and entering the service of a\ngreat noble of the court as his personal physician, in 1665\naccompanied his master, who attended the emperor to\nKashmir, when that monarch proceeded thither for the restoration of his health. At that time Kashmir was in the plenitude of its glory. For fifty years it had been the favourite\nsummer resort of Aurungzebe's grandfather, Jehangire, and his\nfather, Shah Jehan, who had more especially occupied himself\nin embellishing the valley with palaces and gardens. The\nwealth thus brought into circulation by the protracted visits ot\nthe court and the extravagance of the great nobles, produced\ngeneral abundance, and all histories of Kashmir dwell upon\nthe reckless profusion and extravagance of the Mogul emperors\nand their courtiers.\nSpeaking of Bernier, a writer well qualified to judge says,\nI His patron was a friend and protector to science, and\nafforded him every facility for exploring the country; but\nunfortunately, speculative philosophy so preoccupied his mind\nthat the study of nature, and even statistics, had little or no\ncharm for him. This deprived his work of much value, notwithstanding which, it is an interesting record of the history of\nthat time, as its pages have the evident impress of truth;\nnor is it any slight praise when we say that Bernier is one\nof the most faithful writers that ever travelled, a merit the\nmore uncommon in those days when readers longed to be surprised by the marvellous rather than instructed by the true,\nand when, at all events, Bernier* had nothing to fear from the\nsuperior information of any European.\"\nThe third European visitor to Kashmir was Father Desideri,\na Jesuit priest, who, in 1714, reached the valley, where he was\ncompelled to winter; but his observations on Kashmir, contained in a letter from Lhassa in 1716, do not increase our\nstock of knowledge.\nThe same cannot be said of the next visitor to Kashmir,\nGeorge Forster, an officer in the Honourable East India Company's Madras Civil Service, who, in the year 1783, undertook\na journey through Bengal and Lucknow to Srinuggur the\ncapital, returning to England by way of Kabul, the Caspian\nSea, and St. Petersburg. This was a feat of no ordinary\ndifficulty in those unsettled times, when the civis Romanus sum\ndoctrine did not obtain in Central Asia, or even Upper India\nand Kashmir, for though Clive had, a quarter of a century\nbefore, laid the foundations of our Indian empire on the plains\nof Plassey, yet Ahmed Shah Abdali, the formidable founder of\nan Afghan dynasty, had subverted the power of the Mogul\n* On his return to France, Bernier published, in 1670, an account of\nhis twelve years' travels in India. He was one of that brilliant literary\ncoterie of the court of Louis XIV., which included such names as Racine\nand Boileau. Bernier died in 1688, and notwithstanding his assumption ot\na lofty philosophy, it is said that his death was occasioned by mortification\nat a bitter satire on himself. Though his travels are now almost forgotten,\nnowhere can be found a more impartial and truthful account of the manners\nand usages of India.\n'm\u00a3%\ni'i&\u00a3# 236\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nemperors of Delhi just as in 1739 he had witnessed his master,\nthe ferocious Persian conqueror, Nadir Shah, overrun Northern\nIndia, and bring as a suppliant before him that effeminate\nsuccessor of Baber and Akbar, of whom it was said that he was\n\" never without a glass in his hand or a mistress in his arms.\"\nAhmed Shah, more ruthless even than Nadir Shah, who\nconcealmaits which, during his short stay there, under a perpetual dread of discovery, prevented him from making any\nvery important use of his time; nevertheless his little work is\nvery attractive, and he relates his adventures in an unassuming\nmanner, and displays much goodness of heart.\nNearly forty years later another Englishman made two\nP>l\nK\ni\nML\nI\nllllli \\\nm\nMOUNTAINEER  OF  KASHMIR.\nfm\nspared the beautiful valley, ravaged Kashmir when in 1754*\nhe annexed it to his already overgrown empire. When Forster\nvisited the valley thirty years later, Timour Shah, the son and\nsuccessor of Ahmed, had been ten years on the throne enjoying\nthe fruits of his father's conquests, and a despotic viceroy,\n.Azad Khan by name, ruled Kashmir with a rod of iron. To\navoid persecutions, which had nearly cost him his life, we are\ntold that Forster was obliged to have recourse to disguises and\n* According to Elphinstone, Ahmed Shah subjugated the country in\nI752> and it remained under the sway of the Dooranee empire until 1819,\nwhen it was conquered by the Sikhs, who ruled it with a rod of iron for\nflirty years.\njourneys into Kashmir. Moorcroft was a veterinary surgeon,\nand obtaining the sanction of the Indian Government, he\ntravelled at his own risk and cost through the Himalayas to the\ntable-land of Thibet, with the object of ascertaining the feasibility of introducing into British India the famous breed of\nsheep, from the wool of which were manufactured the well-\nknown Kashmir shawls.\nThe enterprising traveller's journey was unproductive of\nany result, although he succeeded in obtaining a number of\ngoats, which were sent to Bengal and thence to England, but\nwere found to be of an inferior breed.\nIn 1820, Moorcroft, then officiating as director of a large KASHMIR.\n237\nstud in Bengal, again received permission from his Government\nto travel to Kashmir. Having obtained a pass from Runjeet\nSingh, the Sikh Maharajah, he proceeded through Lahore to\nLadak in his character of a horse-dealer; attended by a numerous suite, and accompanied by two young men, named\nTrebeck and  Guthrie\", Moorcroft became the channel of a\nyears, proceeded with a princely retinue towards Balkh. \" His\nbaggage,\" says Von Hugel, \" worth several lacs of rupees, was\ncarried, by 300 bearers, exclusive of all the animals employed;\nand this parade being displayed in sight of the natives, induced\nthe Sikh Viceroy, Moti Ram, to offer him a friendly warning,\nwhile his friend, Mohammed Shah Nakshbandi, of a Turkistan\nHOUSES AT SRINUGGUR.\ncommunication from the Rajah of Ladak tendering to the\nGovernor-General, as the paramount power of India, the\nallegiance which his ancestors had professed for the Mogul\nEmperors* The offer, unhappily for the rajah, was peremptorily declined, and Moorcroft was severely rebuked for having\nacted as intermediary, when he had no official status as the\nrepresentative of his government; we say \"unhappily for the\n.rajah,\" as, soon after, Ladak was conquered in a short campaign by the Sikh troops of Runjeet Singh, and suffered much\nat the hands of its arrogant invaders. From Ladak, Moorcroft\ntravelled to Kashmir, and after remaining there nearly two\n* \"Moorcroft's Travels,\" vol. i., p. 418.\nfamily, sent him a strong escort to serve him in case of danger.\nFrom Balkh he proceeded to Andkhoo. There he felt symptoms of a fever gaining on him, but he wrote to one of his\nIndian friends full of hope that the medicines he had taken\nto remove them would be effectual. In this hope he deceived himself. In three days from that time he was a corpse,\nand the same disease speedily cut off his two young English\ncompanions.\nThe next traveller to visit Kashmir was a Frenchman,\nVictor Jacquemont, who was commissioned by the J^ardin des\nPlantes to form a collection for them in India. General\nAllard, a countryman of his in Runjeet Singh's service, having\nm 1 ILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nproposed to him to visit Kashmir on his route, M. Jacquemont\ngladly accepted the offer. Armed with the permit of the\npowerful Sikh sovereign, and gifted with considerable natural\ntalents improved by cultivation, this French gentleman possessed every essential to turn his opportunities to account.\nJacquemont's researches were published by the Committee of\nPublic Instruction under the auspices of M. Guizot, the enlightened minister of Louis Philippe, under the title of \" Voyage\ndans l'lnde.\"\nPassing over the travels of the eccentric but talented Jewish\nconvert, Dr. Wolff, whose missions had for their object the\nconversion to Christianity of his countrymen, we come to the\nreally valuable work of Baron von Hugel,* of which a fluent\nand reliable translation has been made by Major T. B. Jervis,\nF.R.S.\nIn remembrance of his visit to Kashmir, Von Hiigel, who,\nduring his stay at the capital associated himself with two\nEnglishmen, Mr. Vigne and Dr. Henderson, carved the following inscription on a stone, to be set up in the little building\non the Char Chunar island :\u2014\nI Three  travellers in Kashmir, on  tlie   i8th November,\nBaron Ch. Hiigel, from Jamii; Mr. G. Vigne, from\nIskardii; and Dr. John Henderson, from Ladik, have caused\nthe names of all the travellers who have preceded them in\nKashmir to be engraven on this stone.\n\"Bernier, 1663; Forster, 1786; Moorcroft, Guthrie, and\nTrebeck,   1823:   Victor Jacquemont,   1831;   Joseph Wolff,\n2.\nI Two only of these, the first and the last, ever returned to\ntheir native country.\"\nSince the year 1849 when, after the final annexation of the\nPunjaub, Lord Dalhousie's government sold Kashmir to\nGholaub Singh, the Maharajah of Jamu, for something like\none million sterling; perhaps rather a questionable proceeding, though the impecuniosity of the Indian Treasury may\nbe pleaded in extenuation of so un-English a proceeding.\nSince that eventful year when Cashmere became a protected\nstate, the \"happy valley\" has been occasionally visited by\nBritish officers on leave for the restoration of their health or\nbent on sport, for which it affords a fine field; also gentlemen\nhave visited the country for artistic purposes, as Mr. Simpson,\nof the Illustrated London News, who has been well-nigh\neverywhere.\nWithin recent years, in addition to the Yarkand Mission,\nunder Mr. Forsyth, C.B., now in progress, two expeditions,\nconducted by our countrymen, have penetrated by way of\nKashmir to the capital of the famous Atalik Ghazee, now\nknown, by virtue of a firmaun of the Sultan of Turkey, as the\nAmeer of Eastern Turkistan, whose territories form a part of\nthe fabled Scythia of the classic world.    In 1868, Mr. Shawt\n* The German edition was published at Stuttgardt in four parts, octavo,\nat distant intervals, and at a very high price. The first and third parts\ncomprise the entire narrative or journal, of which Jervis's volume is a'trans-\nlation; the second part contains a summary of the ancient and modern\nhistory of Kashmir, abridged from Professor Horace Hayman Wilson's\npapers, published in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society, together with\nsundry miscellaneous particulars, geographical and physical, and an account\nof the productions, resources, and inhabitants of the mountain regions.\nThe fourth number is a sort of glossary and gazetteer, including miscellaneous details relating to the various political, civil, and military affairs of\ngovernment, the history of India, &c.\nt We are happy to leam that this gentleman, though not originally\nin the Government service, has been appointed Resident at Yarkand.\nmade his way from the Punjaub irito Kashgaria, and having\nvisited the capital of the Tartar potentate who, by his energy,\nhas carved out a crown for himself from the dominions of the\nEmperor of China, returned safely after an arduous journey,\nhaving added something to our geographical knowledge, and\nsignalised himself for daring and resource. His book gave a\ngraphic, but modestly-written account of his perilous march\nover the great table-land which, at a prodigious height, divides\nIndia from Turkistan, and forms a mountain barrier which\nno Russian army, even on the largest scale, could penetrate\nwhile a small British force barred the way. The second expedition, the records of which have just been published,* was\nunder the leadership of Mr. Forsyth, C.B., who recently filled\nthe office of Commissioner of Umball*, where his conduct of\naffairs during the Kooka outbreak excited so much diversity of\nopinion\u2014and Mr. Shaw, on account of his previous experience,\nand Dr. Henderson, were associated with him.\nThe joint work of Messrs. Henderson and Hume gives an\ninteresting description of the countries traversed, with photographs of scenery; and an appendix to it by Mr. Hume dwells'\nat considerable length on their natural history and vegetable\nproducts. This expedition, which has borne already most important fruits, arose from an anxiety on the part of Lord Mayo's\nGovernment, stimulated by the. favourable results of Mr. Shaw's\nnon-official adventure, to facilitate trade from the Punjaub\nacross the northern frontier into Eastern Turkistan. Our ally,\nthe Maharajah of Kashmir, gave his consent, and assisted\nthe progress of the party across his territories. The journey\nmay be said to have commenced at Jamu, the winter capital of\nthe Maharajah, a city perched on the extreme verge of the\nlow hills which form the northern boundary of the great plain\nof the Punjaub.\nAccording to the travellers the following arc the stages of\njourney through Kashmir to Yarkand :\u2014\nI The route from Jamu to Yarkand may be divided, for convenience, into six very distinct portions\u2014first, from Jamu to the\nCashmere Valley, nine days' journey, about 106 miles ; second,\nfrom the top of the Banihal Pass on the south side of the\nCashmere Valley, through the Vale of Cashmere, and up the\nSind Valley to the Zojila Pass, nine days' journey, about\n144 miles, fifty of which may be accomplished by boat\u2014viz.,\nfrom Islamabad to Srinuggur, and thence to the mouth of the\nSind Valley; third, from the Zojila Pass, through Ladak to\nChagra, one day's march beyond the Pangkong Lake, where\ncultivation ceases, twenty days' journey, about 281 miles (I call\nall this Ladak, including under that name the Dras Valley);\nfourth, from Chagra to where the lower Kara-kash Valley was\nentered, just beyond the Salt Plain, eleven days' journey, 185\nmiles, through a desert the whole way, at an altitude varying\nfrom 15,000 to 19,000 feet above the sea; fifth, along the\nlower Kara-kash Valley\u2014Sarikia, as the Kirghiz term it\u2014and\nover the Grim or Sanjou Pass to Sanjou, fourteen days'\njourney, 180 miles (this part of our route may be called Hill\nYarkand); sixth, from Sanjou to the city of Yarkand, six days'\njourney, the first three of them over a desert plain, with oases\nat the halting-places along the streams which come down from\nthe hills, 116 miles (this part of the road I call the Yarkand\n*\"From Lahore to Yarkand: Incidents of the Route and Natural\nHistory of the Countries traversed by the Expedition of 1870, under\nT. D. Forsyth, C.B.\" By George Henderson, M.D., and Allan Hume.\nEsq.    London, 1873. KASHMIR.\nJ39\nPlains). The total distance from Jamu to Yarkand being\nabout 1,012 miles\u2014rather roughly estimated by the road\ntaken by the expedition; about sixty-nine days' marching\nexclusive o\u00a3 halts.\"\nThe northern road from Jamu leads over hills to the vast\nsystem of mountain ranges which guard our great dependency\nfrom invasion by Tartar hordes or Russian armies. During\nthe journey from Jamu to the Vale of Kashmir and other\nparts of the way, the travellers usually followed the course\nof the waters which make their passage through the valleys\nbelow, and they seldom crossed heights except when passing\nfrom the line of one river to that of another. As the sterile\nplains of the Punjaub were left behind, nature began to wear a\nmore joyous aspect; the oak and the walnut rose in groups\nfrom the low jungle spreading out below; the hill-tops were\ndense with rows of pines; and terraces of rice-fields appeared\namid a landscape rich with exuberant verdure. The dark\nform of the lammergeyer soared also along the rocky heights,\nwhile in the hot air of the plains below, birds of tropical\nplumage were still found; and the scenery combined the\nmarked contrasts of grandeur and loveliness which nowhere\nare seen to greater perfection than amid this Himalayan region.\nThe expedition proceeded through the Banihal Pass to the\nVale of Kashmir, of which Dr. Henderson says :\u2014\n\"As regards vegetation and climate, Cashmere somewhat\nresembles the mildest parts of the south of England. Cherries\nand apricots ripen in June and July, grapes in August, apples\nand pears in September and October. The clouds which\nbring up the periodical rains from the Indian Ocean do not\neasily surmount the snowy range which bounds the valley to\nthe south, and consequently the rains are never so abundant\nnor so regular as on the Punjaub side of this range.\"\nWhile traversing Kashmir, the party travelled for days on\nthe Jhelum in boats of the following description :\u2014\n\" Each boat is about five feet wide in the centre, by forty'\nfeet to sixty feet long, and tapers to a point at either end.\nThe boatmen occupy the bow and stern, where they have\narrangements for cooking their food, and the centre part is\noccupied by the passenger, who has plenty of room for his\nbed, chairs, and table; an awning of grass matting, extending\nover the whole length of the boat, makes one as snug as\npossible. In these large boats, the paddles, shaped very much\nlike the spades on playing cards, with handles about three feet\nlong, are seldom used; going down stream the boat moves\nwith the current, and up stream two of the boatmen walk along\nthe bank and drag the boat by a tow-line. The servants and\nheavy baggage follow in a large boat, some little distance\nbehind, and the two boats only come together when breakfast\nor dinner is ready.\"\nThreading the Zojila Pass, the travellers entered the province of Ladak, proceeding to Leh, the capital of this secluded\ncountry, which was reached through a vast table-land, a region\nof huge wolds, raised thousands of feet above the sea, and here\nand there towering into lofty heights or sinking into deep-set\ndepressions, forming the water-courses of streams flowing to\nthe low lands.\nThe axiom that in all military operations in Central Asia,\n\"a small force is liable to be beaten, and'a large force is\nequally liable to be starved,\" holds good in a pre-eminent\ndegree of any army that should attempt to invade India by\nway of Kashmir, which is, we should say, even a less prac\nticable route than those via Candahar and the Bolan Pass, or\nthrough Affghanistan and the Khyber Pass, which latter has\nbeen the road adopted by mighty conquerors from the days of\nAlexander and Mohammed of Glrizni to those of Nadir Shah\nand Ahmed Shah Abdali.\nThe expedition having followed the Valley of the Dras,\nthence ascended that of the Indus, and on their arrival at Leh,\nwere joined by Mr. Shaw. After a short rest here they continued their journey towards Yarkand.\nThe second mission to Kashgaria under Mr. Forsyth, C.B..\ndispatched last year through Kashmir and by the Karakorum and\nChangchemmo Passes to Yarkand, promises even greater advantages, political and commercial, than the former one conducted\nby him in 1870; for the Ameer, thoroughly alarmed at the aggressive policy of Russia, and under the advice, doubtless, of his\nenvoy to Calcutta, who must have assured him of our pacific\naims, is anxious to secure our alliance against the Muscovite Bear,\nwhose capacious maw would seem capable of swallowing and\nassimilating all the Mussulman countries of Asia, if balked for\na time of the prize nearer home. The Maharajah of Kashmir,\nRunbeer Singh Bahadoor, K.C.S.I., aided by all the means in\nhis power the passage through his territories of Mr. Forsyth's\nmission, which was fitted out with a degree of splendour and\non a scale unknown since the early years of this century, when\nthe Indian Government dispatched three embassies, one to\nAffghanistan under Mr. Mountstuart Elphinstone, one to Lahore\nunder Sir Charles Metcalfe, and a third to Persia under Sir\nJohn Malcolm, the second conducted by that able soldier-\ndiplomatist, all on a scale of lavish magnificence.\nThe  Viceroy,  Lord  Northbrook, has acknowledged the\nservices of the Maharajah in the following handsome terms:\u2014\nI My Honoured and Valued Friend,\u2014I have already caused\nto be communicated to your Highness, through the Punjaub\nGovernment, the cordial appreciation in which the assistance\n\u2022rendered  by your Highness  to Mr. Forsyth, Her Majesty's\nEnvoy and Plenipotentiary to Yarkand, and to the Envoy of\nhis  Highness   the Atalik Ghazi,   on their journey through\nCashmere territory, is held by the Government of India    Intelligence of the safe arrival of the latter at the frontier post of\nYarkand has now reached me, and I desire to avail myself of\nthis opportunity persorially to inform your Highness of the\ngratification which your efforts to facilitate the journey of Mr.\nForsyth and the Envoy have afforded me.    Mr. Forsyth has\ninformed me of the admirable completeness of the arrangements\nmade under your Highness's  orders for the carriage of the\nmission and for the provision of supplies on the most ample\nscale at all stages on the route.    He has also made known\nto me the cordial co-operation afforded by your Highness's\nofficials throughout the journey.    It is to these arrangements,\nmade under your Highness's direction, that I mainly attribute\nthe successful accomplishment by the Yarkand Mission of the\narduous journey at a season of the year when considerable\ndifficulties might otherwise have been anticipated.    My friend,\nI feel sure that your Highness's services on this occasion will\nbe highly appreciated by the Government of Her Majesty the\nQueen, and will serve to draw closer the bonds of intimacy\nand friendship between your Highness and the British Government.    I beg to express the high consideration I entertain for\nyour Highness, and to subscribe myself your Highness's sincere\nfriend,\u2014Northbrook:, Viceroy and Governor-General of India\n\u2014Camp, Agra, the 24th of November, 1873.\"\nPL\nIII\n'PL\n\\mm 240\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\niim\n19k!\nThe Viceroy, in acknowledgment of these important services, now twice rendered, might remit the annual tribute paid\nby the Maharajah, though in the present embarrassed state of\nIndian finances, this is perhaps hardly likely to be done.\nKashmir, in which we include all the territories now ruled\nby his Highness Maharajah Runbeer Singh Bahadoor, K.C.S.I.,\nhas an extreme length from east to west of 350 miles, by a\nbreadth of about 270. Its northern boundary is the Karakorum\nrange, separating it also from Thibet on the east; on the south\nlies the district of Spiti, and on the west the Huzara country.\nWithin the limits of Kashmir are included the valley of the\nsame name, the provinces of Jamu, Bulti or Iskardu, Ladak,\nChamba, and others of less consequence.\n- The far-famed valley of Kashmir, to which this paper is\nmore particularly devoted, is about 4,500 square miles in\nextent, or a little less than four-fifths of the size of Yorkshire ;\nthe total length is about 120 miles from the snowy Panjal on\nthe south-east to the Durawur ridge in the north; and the\nbreadth sixty-five miles from the Futi Panjal on the south to\nShesha Nag on the north-east. Von Hiigel estimates the plain\nforming the bottom of the valley to be seventy-five miles long\nand forty miles broad, having a superficial extent of about\n2,000 square miles.\nThe general aspect of Kashmir may be described as a tract\nenclosed on every side by lofty mountains, having in the\ncentre a level table-land, the remainder consisting of an uneven\nexpanse formed by numerous gorges, through which passes\nafford means of communication between the valley and the\nadjacent countries. The extensive alluvial basin in the centre\nis watered by the Jhelum and its tributaries, which, fed by the\nabundant mountain snows and rains, find their way to the\nPunjaub.\nThe mountains enclosing Kashmir appear, according to\nVigne, to be of igneous origin, though the valley must at one\ntime have formed the bed of the ocean, as there are in many\nplaces great beds of limestone containing organic remains,\nprincipally marine. In June, 1828, the city of Kashmir or\nSrinuggur\u2014the first being the Mohammedan, the last the\nancient Hindoo name\u2014was shaken by an earthquake, which,\naccording to the same author, destroyed about 1,200 houses\nand 1,000 people. The earth in several places opened and\ndischarged fetid warm water, and masses of rock rolled from\nthe mountains amidst repeated explosions. This continued for\nabout two months, and, as usually happens in India after any\ngreat visitation, the cholera continued the ravages begun by\nthese mysterious forces of nature, and 100,000 people fell\nvictims to its ravages.\nAbu Fazel, describing the country more than two centuries\nago, mentions the frequency of earthquakes, to guard against\nwhich the houses were built, as in the present day, of timber;\nand Moorcroft observes, \"indications of volcanic action are\nnot unfrequent; hot springs are numerous; at particular\nseasons the ground in various places is sensibly hotter than the\natmosphere, and earthquakes are of common occurrence.\"\n\u2022Primary formations appear of rare occurrence, and hence\nKashmir is not rich in minerals, though iron ore is found in\nthe south-eastern extremity of the valley near Shahbad, imbedded in limestone. Lead ore was found in the same\nvicinity by Jacquemont, and Hugel speaks of copper ore,\nthough he denies the existence of gold or silver, which Vigne\nstates he was informed was to be found.\nTravellers who have had the opportunity of comparing\nMoore's descriptions of places and scenery with the reality,\nhave expressed different opinions regarding the accuracy of\nhis incomparable \" Lalla Rookh,\" and the question whether\nor no he has exceeded the limits of poetical licence accorded\nto writers in verse, has been discussed by numerous critics.\nThe beauty of the scenery, the mildness of the climate, and\nthe fertility of the soil, have induced Bernier, whose works\nMoore consulted, to declare his belief in the Eastern legend\nthat it was actually the Garden of Eden. This estimate of its\nloveliness, which is shared by Abu Fazel, who describes it\n\"as a garden in perpetual spring,\" is not ratified by Jacquemont, that astute observer and man of science, who expresses\nhis opinion that \" the appeararice of the enclosing mountains\nis grand rather than beautiful, presenting a striking outline,\nand nothing more, as Nature has done nothing to embellish\nthe interior; so that it is a grand frame without a picture, and\ntotally devoid of the picturesque charms of the Alps.\" Of\nMoore he speaks contemptuously as having embellished his\ndescriptions, \" according to the practice of lying usual among\nthe gentlemen of Parnassus.\" Not so thought a no less\nobservant traveller, who had better opportunities of making\nhimself acquainted with Kashmirian scenery than the\nFrench savant. We refer to Vigne, who was residing in\nSrinuggur at the time of Von Hiigel's visit, and who thought\nthat Moore's descriptions were sufficiently accurate, an opinion\nshared in by other travellers, and who was himself untiring in\nhis praise of the famous valley. However this may be, the\ndescriptions, if inaccurate or highly coloured, as is not improbable, from what the writer of this paper knows of Moore's\ndescription of Ormuz and other places in the Persian Gulf, or\nI Oman's green water,\" certain it is the versification is very\nbeautiful, and the imagery gorgeous and most appropriate. What\ncan breathe more thoroughly the true Oriental spirit than the\nopening lines, which might have been penned by Hafiz, or\nsome others of the anacreontic poets of Persia :\u2014\n\" Who has not heard of the Vale of Kashmir,\nWith its roses the brightest that earth ever gave,\nIts temples, and grottoes, and fountain as clear\nAs the love-lighted eyes that hang over their wave ?\nOh ! to see it at sunset,\u2014when warm o'er the lake\nIts splendour at parting a summer eve throws,\nLike a bride, full of blushes, when ling'ring to take\nA last look of her mirror at night ere she goes !\u2014\nWhen the shrines through the foliage are gleaming half shown,\nAnd each hallows the hour by some rite of its own.\nHere the music of pray'r from a minaret swells,\nHere the Magian, his urn, full of perfume, is swinging,\nAnd here, at the altar, a zone of sweet bells\nRound the waist of some fair Indian dancer is rinsring.\"\nHow beautifully descriptive this scene is of a calm evening\nin an Eastern city, when the muezzin calls the faithful to\nprayer; in its way, it is as perfect as Gray's incomparable\nidyll of English country life. The lake referred to by the\npoet is the famous Dal, so called to distinguish it from\nothers in the neighbourhood of the city, all of which communicate with the Jhelum, being situated on the right or northeastern bank of that river. The lake Dal, which is close to\nthe city, is surrounded by a ditch, to prevent its waters\nmingling with those of the Jhelum, and inundating the houses\nnear the lake which are built on the same level with it. The\nonly outlet is through a sluice called Drogshuh, which flows KASHMIR.\n241\ninto the Zaud, an arm of the Jhelum. j A channel lined with\nstone connects the river and the lake, and is the only means of\ncommunication without making a circuit of more than two\nmiles by water from the inhabited part of the town. In olden\n.times, we are told, the flood-gate was much nearer to the city,\n;but was removed to its present site in consequence of the\nterrace near the shore, leading into an avenue adorned with\nfountains and basins. Over these are raised small and fanciful\nbuildings on large arches, so as not to impede the view down\nthe avenue, which is so contrived as to give an exaggerated\nidea of its length,\nview of\nFrom the highly ornamented pavilions, the\nthe  more  distant buildings in the background is\nMl\nJil\n=sia\u00a3c**wJ3!-\u00a3-'\nf\nS^i\n\"JSf\nmmm\n111\nmm\nS\u00a7&\nM\u00a7P\u00a7\u00a3\nV8&\nw.\n\\%^Ssa\u00a3i\nHi\nass\ns&SS\nllillli\nPH\n1SH\n&t^\n\u00bb\n*s*\nssgeasgs*^\nANCIENT TEMPLE IN KASHMIR.\nlit-\n;\u00a7Jl\nwater of the lake discharging itself too rapidly; when a large j\nwhite stone lying in the great canal which leads to the Shalimar\nlardeis is covered, there is danger from the waters of the\n\/ake and the flood-gate is so constructed as to be self-closing.\nIhe lake, writes Von Hugel, is divided into several distinct ;\nparts.    Gagribal, the first and least division, is separated from\nthe rest by a narrow tongue of land 5  the  second, called ;\nRopelang, has a little island in the middle.    There is a beautiful garden in this lake called Nishad Bagh, or Garden of Bliss   ,\nbuilt by Jehangire after his first visit to Kashmir, before he ,\nconstructed the famous Shalimar.     It is entered by a fine {\n271\u2014vol. vi.\nexceedingly picturesque. The garden contains some beautiful\nplane-trees, but is ill-kept The next and most admired\ndivision of the lake is the Char Chunar, containing an island\nof the same name, so called from the four plane-trees planted\nby the Emperor Jehangire, two of which are still standing.\nThis is the island referred to by Moore, who, commending the\naspect presented by the lake at moonlight, says :-\n\" When mellowly shines\nThe light o'er its palaces, gardens, and shrines ;\nWhen the waterfalls gleam, like a quick fall of stars,\nAnd the nightingale's hymn from the Isle of Chenars S42\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nIs broken by laughs and light echoes of feet\nFrom the cool, shining walks where the young people meet,\u2014\nOr at morn, when the magic of daylight awakes\nA new wonder each minute, as slowly it breaks,\nHills, cupolas, fountains, call'd forth every one\nOut of darkness, as if but just born of the sun.\n# # * *\nWhen the East is as Warm as the light of first hopes,\nAnd Day, with his banner of radiance unfurl'd,\nShines in through the mountainous portal that opes,\nSublime, from, that valley of bliss to the world.\"\nThe mountain here referred to is the Tukht-i-Suliman\u2014\nSolomon's throne*\u2014which, terminating the semicircle round\nthe lake in the east, as the Poshkar Mountain does in the\nwest, forms a species of portal to the lake. The road to the\nmountain is over the bridge of the Drogshuh flood-gate, past\na quadrangular tower called Makabara, and through a splendid\navenue of poplar-trees, which, from their age and symmetry,\nform a most striking feature of the landscape. This avenue,\nwhich begins with a clump of plane-trees, is separated from the\ntown by an arm of the Jhelum, and leads to nothirig. Beneath\nthe tower is a miserable village called Drogshuh, and a ruined\nmosque of the same name; and not far from it is an unfinished\nedifice  called  Rustamghur, built  by Shere  Singh  the  Sikh\n* There are several mountainous masses of rock that bear this name in\nthe East. We know of one in Affghanistan, another near the frontiers of\nthe Punjaub, and one in Persia.\nSirdar. On the summit of the Tukht-i-Suliman is an ancient\nBuddhist temple, still in quite a perfect state of preservation,\ncomposed of masses of rock, with a curious doorway, and\nevidently of very great antiquity. This temple was used us a\nmosque, after the time of Shums-ud-Din, who ascended the\nthrone in 1315, and was the first to introduce Mohammedanism\ninto Kashmir.\nThe mountain is divided from the Thibetan chain to which\nit evidently belongs, and the view from its summit over the\nValley of Kashmir must be of marvellous beauty. Speaking\nof it, Von Hiigel says :\u2014\" Motionless as a mirror, the lake lies\noutstretched below, reflecting the vast chain of the Thibetan\nhills, while the extensive city is seen spreading along its shores ;\nand the Jhelum winds slowly, like a serpent, through the green\nvalleys, and, to complete the scene, the lofty Pir Panjal,* with\nits countless peaks of snow, forms on one side a majestic\nboundary.\" Near the lake is the beautiful wood of some\n1,200 planes, planted by Akbar, called Nazim, or Salubrious,\nand the trees of which, though considerably over 200 years old,\nare still in fine preservation. Here also is a garden built in\nsuccessive terraces, but now altogether in ruins.\n* The Mohammedans derive the name Pir Panjal from panch (five)\nand^V (saints) ; five pious brothers having, according to them, settled on\nit and performed several wondrous feats around. Europeans and Persians\ncall the whole mountain Pir Panjal, but the natives restrict this name to\nthe pass.\nSenegambia I With an Account of Recent French Operations in West Africa.\u2014VIII.\nBY  LIEUTENANT   C.   R.   LOW,   (LATE)   H.M.   INDIAN   NAVY.\nFRENCH ADMINISTRATION AND INTERNAL ECONOMY IN WESTERN\nAFRICA \u2014 THE FRENCH ON THEIR CONDITION AND .PROSPECTS\n\u2014THEIR OPERATIONS IN SERER, AND EXPEDITIONS TO KAYOR\nAND  THE  CASAMANZA ;    ALSO  OPERATIONS  IN  SINE AND  SALOUM.\nThe postal service has three offices; one at St. Louis, one\nat Goree, and a third at Bakel. At all the other stations and\nposts the office is under the direction of the military commandant. Senegal is in regular communication with France\nby means of two lines of steamers. The first and oldest line\nis that plying once a month between Liverpool and Bonny,\nwhich touches also at the British settlement of Bathurst, on the\nGambier. Formerly these steamers touched at Goree, but\nthis has long been discontinued, and now a vessel carries mails\nand passengers \u00b10 and from Goree and St. Louis and Bathurst,\nin connection with this line. The second is by the French\nline, so well known under the name of the Messageries Impe-.\nriales. By the law of the 17th of June, 1857, the Brazil\nsteamers of this line received a convention of 4,700,000 francs,\nfor which it was agreed that a bi-monthly communication\nshould be established alternately between Senegal and Marseilles and Bordeaux, though this arrangement was reduced\nto monthly communication between Bordeaux and Senegal.\nThese Brazil steamers touched at Goree, but the anchorage\nwas so inconvenient that the neighbouring port of Dakar was\nsubstituted ; thence a small local steamer performs the service\nto St. Louis. Thus letters sent from Bordeaux on the 25th\nof each month are delivered at Goree on the nth of the\nensuing month, and at St. Louis on the following day.\nThe telegraphic service of the Senegal colonies is conducted\nby three agents; one at St. Louis, who is charged with the\ndirection of the line under the orders of the chief engineer\nofficer; two others, whose duties consist of transmitting messages at the two extremities, St. Louis and Dakar; while the\nintermediary posts, Gandiole, Lampoul, M'boro, and M'bidgen,\nare served by sub-officers.\nThe interpreters employed under the orders of the director\nof native affairs, the commandants of arrondissements, and the\nchiefs of stations, form a special corps comprising a head interpreter, nineteen subordinates divided into four classes, and a\ncertain number of auxiliary interpreters.\nThe charge of municipal affairs is confided, in the cities of\nGoree and St. Louis, to a mayor, who is assisted by two\ndeputies.\nThe military forces of Senegal and its dependencies are\ncomposed of European and native troops, which form an\neffective strength of 93 officers and 2,162 men, distributed\nbetween the various stations of the colony. Before the Franco-\nGerman war, at the time the military operations we are about to\ndescribe were undertaken, the French garrison was distributed\nas follows:\u2014The  general staff consisted of  eight  officers, Ifi\nSENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT  FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN WEST AFRICA.\n243\nM\nincluding a lieutenant-colonel, the commandant of Goree, two\nlieutenants, and an enseigne devaisseau. The engineer staff was\ncomposed of a chef de battalion and ten officers, who had under\ntheir orders a body of 130 native labourers or artificers, of\nwhom three were superintendents.\nThe artillery staff consisted of a chef d'escadron, a director\nand commandant, and five officers. The troops of this arm\nwere a battery and a half of marine artillery, comprising six\nofficers and 219 men, and a detachment of 48 artificers, with\ntwo officers. Under this department is also placed a body of\n38 natives for transport duties.\nThe police was composed of one officer and twenty-five sub-\nofficers and gendarmes.\nThe cavalry, called Spain's Senegalais, consisted of a\n* squadron numbering nine officers and 141 horsemen; the\nmarine infantry of a battalion of six companies, forming an\neffective of 700 bayonets, including 23 officers; and the\nSenegal sharpshooters (Tirailleurs SSnegalais), also of a battalion\nof six companies, of a strength of 797 men, commanded by a\nlieutenant-colonel and 23 officers. This corps is recruited by\nvoluntary enlistments among the natives of Senegal. At the\n\u25a0 time under consideration, there were in garrison in Senegal and\nits dependencies four and a half companies of these sharpshooters, consisting of nineteen officers and 605 rank and file;\nthe remaining portiori of the corps being posted at the establishments of Grand Bassam and Assinee on the Gold Coast and\nat Gaboon, where also were stationed a small detachment of\nthe marine infantry.\nThere was also a body of well-trained local troops called\ndisciplinaires, which play a conspicuous part in the military\noperations we are about to describe. They \u25a0 numbered five\nofficers and 282 men.\nThe militia of the colonies, which was organised by a local\ndecree of the 31st January, 1833, is under the orders of the\nGovernor, and is composed, of three companies of sedentaires,\ncommanded by a chef de battalion and five companies of\nmobiles. Besides these permanent forces, the city of St.\nLouis and the villages under'French rule can furnish, in\ntime of need, a body of 3,000 volunteers, a portion of whom\nalways take part in any military operations that maybe in\nprogress.\nThe local marine is under the immediate orders of the\nGovernor, who is generally a naval officer, but when this is not\nthe case, an officer holding\" in the French navy .the rank of\ncapitaine de frigate conducts the duties of marine superintendent. The Senegal squadron consists of the following steam-\nvessels, some of which are only fitted for river service :\u2014\nL'Archimede\nof 80-horse\npower\nand carrying\n4\n12\n-pounders.\nL'Africain\n60\n\u00bb\u00bb\na\n4\n,,\nLe Podor\n60\n>\u00bb\n>\u00bb\n4\nit\nLe Grand Bassam 40\n\u00bb\n\u00bb\n\"\nLe Serpent\n3\u00b0\nJ J\n\"\n; 1\nLe Basilic\n3\u00b0\n) J\nu\n2\nft\nLe Crocodil\n20\nfj\n\u00bbj\n2\n\"\nLe Griffon\n20\na\na\n&\n)i\nLa Couleuvrine\n2\u00ab5\n\u2022 '\n1 >\n4\n\"\nLa Bourrasque\n2j\n>j\nn\n4\n\"\nThere are, besides, three vessels, one a sailing ship carrying\ntwo guns, and the remainder unarmed. The total horse-power\nis thus 390, and the number of guns 32, so that tins local\nmarine fonns a very respectable and efficient force for the\nprotection of French interests against native aggressors.    The\nstaff of these thirteen vessels is composed of eleven lieutenants,\nthree ensigns, and seven surgeons, while they are manned by\nabout 500 men, chiefly consisting of black sailors called\nlaptots, who have always shown themselves remarkably efficient\nand\" energetic in all military operations undertaken in the\ninterior, where they are employed in embarking and disembarking troops.\nThe greater part of the native population of the basin\nof the Senegal profess the Mussulman religion, which is, however, more or less perverted by superstitious and idolatrous\npractices. The chief of this religion resides at St. Louis,\nwhere there is a great mosque. As is the case in all countries\nprofessing Mohammedanism, the people are blindly attached to\ntheir faith, and' proselytising on the part of Roman Catholic\nmissionaries meets with but very small success. Since the\nyear 1843, Senegal has been provided with a regular church\nestablishment, which forms part of the so-called \" Apostolic\nVicariat of Guinea and Senegambia.\" The central point of this\nmission is Dakar, on the peninsula of Cape Verd; here is the\nresidence of a bishop, and the place to which missionaries,\nnewly arrived from France, are sent, so as to become acclimatised before commencing their labours. At Dakar also is an\nestablishment for the instruction of children, consisting of three\nschools where the brothers of the mission teach also the\nuseful arts and trades, as shoe-making, tailoring, carpentering,\nbookbinding, printing, and cooking. There is also at Joal a\nsimilar establishment for girls, conducted by the sisters of the\nImmaculate Conception, and near the same place has been\norganised a school of agriculture, more especially devoted to\nthe cultivation of cotton.\nIndependently of this Dakar mission, Senegal forms an\napostolic prefecture, of which the clergy are furnished, as at\nDakar, by the \" Congregation of the Holy Spirit,\" which has its\nhead-quarters in France. The Apostolic Prefect, who is the\nhead of Catholicism in the colony, is assisted by six priests\ndistributed between St. Louis and'Goree. Besides the three\nschools at Dakar and Joal, under the management of missionaries and sisters, there are twelve government schools, namely,\nat St. Louis and Goree, two schools each for boys, and two\nfor girls, one under clerical, and one under lay management.\nThere are also secular schools at Dakar, Dagana, Podor, Bakel\non the Senegal, and Sedhiou on the Casamance; and the sisters\ncf St. Joseph have, in addition, asylums at St. Louis and\nGoree. The government have also under instruction about\nthirty children of native chiefs, who are held as hostages for the\ndue observance of treaties. The inspection of the schools of\nSt. Louis is conducted by a commission composed of the\nchief justice, the apostolic prefect, the mayor, and one of the\nprincipal inhabitants representing the non-official element\nNotwithstanding this vast machinery for the education and\nconversion of the heathen, the French themselves own that\ntheir endeavours have met with but limited success, except at\nGaboon, where the climate is less overpowering to Europeans,\nand where the people are superior to those near the other settlements. The missionary school there is frequented by the\nchildren of the adjacent villages; natives are to be found who\nspeak French, English, and Spanish sufficiently to facilitate\ntrade; and we are told of a small hamlet of about 150 inhabitants, called Libreville, where the people, all former slaves,\nnow emancipated and Christians, contrast favourably with\nthose of Liberia, who have become insolent and ridiculous.\nHi\n'S<:\n\"v\\\njasplS\nkisSfcKil\nill\nmm\nmm\nMil 244\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nmm\nBiii.,,.,;\nGfitH-\nin\niliii\nThe courts of justice are regulated by the decree of 7th\nJanuary, 1822, modified by later edicts, and especially by that\nof the 9th August, 1854, according to which the courts were\nto consist of tribunal of First Instance, and Police, which sit\nat St. Louis and Goree, to which was added one at Bakel in\n1863 ; by a cour imperiale, now of course transformed into a cour\nrepublicaine, which holds\nits meetings at St. Louis,\nand by a court of assizes,\nwhich also sits at the\ncapital. The tribunals\nof First Instance consist\nof a presiding judge, a\nprocureur, and a notary,\nand take cognizance of\nall civil and mercantile\nactions, without appeal,\nto the value of 1,000\nfrancs capital, or 60\nfrancs interest, but with\nappeal when the sums\ninvolved are higher.\nThey also act as police\ncourts for the maintenance of order, and can\ninflict five days' imprisonment or 100\nfrancs fine.\nThe cour imperiale is\ncomposed of the chief\njustice, a councillor, a\ncouncillor-judge, and a\nnotary. The court has\npower over all the\nFrench establishments\non the West Coast, and\ntakes cognizance of all\nappeals from the lower\n. tribunals already described ; but appeals lie\nfrom its decisions to the\nCourt of Cassation in\nFrance. The Court of\nAssizes is composed of\nthe same functionaries\nas the last-named tribunal, with the addition\nof four assessors, chosen\nfrom the chief inhabitants, and the procureur. It adjudicates on all criminal matters,\nand the decision of the majority of the judges and assessors is\nbinding. The Court of Cassation, in the event of nullifying any\nsentence of the Court of Assizes, can order it to reconsider the\nverdict, in which case the court is composed of the Governor\nand two magistrates, with no previous knowledge of the points\nat issue. To facilitate the administration of justice, councils\nof arbitration have also been established at Bakel, Goree,\nDagana, and Sedhiou.\nIn all that concerns purely Mussulman questions of justice,\nas marriages, wills, and civil suits\u2014a decree of 20th May, 1857,\nestablished at St. Louis a Mussulman tribunal composed of a\nCadi, an assessor, and a. notary, who took cognizance solely ot\nquestions arising among native Mohammedans. The causes\nare conducted according to the forms of procedure common\namong these religionists, and an appeal lies to a tribunal composed of the Governor as president, a councillor of the supreme\ncourt, a member of the bureau of native affairs, and the Tamsir,\nor head of the Mussulman religion. The\nparties to such suit can,\nif they desire it, carry\nthe case before the\nFrench courts, who\nfollow their own form\nof procedure, with the\nassistance of a Moham:\nmedan assessor appointed by the Governor. The Mussulman\ntribunal dispenses justice\ngratuitously, and without\nany other charges than\nthose allowed by Mussulman law.\nAmong industries in\nwhich the natives of\nSenegal show much proficiency, is that of weaver,\nand the negroes manufacture clothes dyed with\ncolours of great brilliancy\nand variety; in numbers\nthe weavers exceed all\nother trades, though it is\nmarvellous what ingenuity is displayed by blacksmiths and other mechanics, considering the\nvery inferior tools they\nemploy. The gum,\nwhich forms the chief\narticle of export, is the\nproduce of the Acacia\nSenegalensis, called by\nthe natives vereck when\nit yields the white gum,\nand ncbueb when it gives\nthe red gum. It is\nchiefly found in the\ncountry of the Moors,\non the right bank of the Senegal; and that from Galam which\nthey take to Bakel, is the most highly prized. The gums on\nthe left bank are of inferior description. Senegal and Goree,\nand the neighbouring coast, abound in fish, and the negro fishermen subsist in a great measure on the proceeds of their toil,\nwhile they dry in the sun large quantities for export into the\ninterior. About 450 laptots are employed in the local marine,\nor in the fisheries, and the colonies possess 48 ships, of which\n25 perform long voyages, the remaining being coasters.\nThe animals employed in agriculture are oxen and asses;\nthe Moors also use camels. Little wood is found in Senegal\nProper, except the gonakie\" (Acacia Adansonii), used for ship-\nNEGR1 CHILD\u2014SKNEGAL, mil' &\nSENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN\nWEST AFRICA.\n245\nbuilding; but in the region of the Casamance are vast forests\nof cailcedra (Khaya Senegalensis), detarr (Delarium Senegalen-\nsis), n'dimb (Sterculia cordifolia), solum (Dialium nitidum), and\nthe vene (Pterocarfus erinaceus).\nThe commerce of Goree, of Joal in Sine, of Kaolack in\nSaloum, of Carabane and Sedhiou in Casamance, is entirely\nfree to the flag of every country. Such is not the case at St.\nLouis, where only certain foreign goods are admissible on payment of duties, while others can only be admitted in French\nbottoms.\nA trading company established in 1824, under the name of\nthe \"Commercial and Agricultural Company of Galam and\nUalo,\" monopolised the interior trade on the Senegal, but their\ncbuntrymen had, a few years ago, and have still, for aught we\nknow to the contrary, three; the Americans also had one, and\nthere was one native factory. The trade on this river was considerable, but the same cannot be said for that of the Rio\nPongo, which was very limited. Notwithstanding, however,\nthe restrictions against foreign flags as regards the river Senegal,\nby which the French practically enjoy a monopoly, the extent\nof the exports and imports to the French colonies is not such\nas to raise jealous feelings on the part of English traders to\nthe West Coast of Africa.\nEarly in this year, the Times Paris correspondent drew\nattention to an article which appeared in La Correspondant, a\nFrench magazine, entitled, \" La Guerre des Achantis,\" the\n3^S:\nWnMBfi\nFBS^\n\u25a0w\n_\u25a0  Bite*\n^Z.     #\u00b0\u2014UK\nSS^fcrrrS^jto-sgj^r\nmm\n\u25a0Mr\nI'-tHP\n\u25a0> V\"S.iill\n|;||\u00abL\"rf,\n\\w\nHOUSE AT SEGOU.\nprivileges were suppressed in 1848. Up to 1854, customs dues\nwere paid to the Moors on the right bank of the Senegal, but\nin the present day the trade of that river is entirely free,\nand the gums, which form the chief staple of commerce, are\npurchased at the fortified stations of Medina, Bakel, Matam,\nSalde, Podor, and Dagana. In St. Louis the chief articles of\nforeign import are blue cloth and rice from the West Indies,\ntobacco and refined sugar from America, and palm oil, wax,\nand ox-skins from Cayor, a portion of which is re-exported.\nThe foreign trade of Goree is limited, and it exports only what\nit receives from the mainland, for the island itself produces\n\"nothing. Its imports are almost entirely drawn from the\nmother country. The other stations, Joal, Kaolack, Sedhiou,\nand Carabane, on the Casamance or Casamanza, the latter at\nthe mouth of that river, show an increasing trade since their\nfoundation, and the river Songrougou, an affluent of the\nCasamance, has been explored.\nOn the Rio Nunez, the French have five factories, and our\nwriter of which advances a claim that had already frequently\nbeen put forward; and on the last occasion so recently as in\nthe Revue des Deux Mondes of 15 th December of the previous\nyear. These writers claimed for their countrymen the honour\nof being the first to explore the West Coast of Africa, and\nestablish themselves in that portion of the continent. \"As\nearly as 1365,\" says the author of the article in the Correspondant, \" Norman sailors, and particularly those of Dieppe,\nwho had already founded more to the north, Petit Dieppe, and\nPetit Paris,* explored then way as far as the Gold Coast, where\nthey founded, seventeen years later, the fort of La Mine, which\nbecame the town of Elmina, the focus of the present rebellion\nagainst the Eflgiish. French preponderance in that region was\nnot, however, of long duration, and finally our countrymen fell\nback upon their establishments at Senegal, as being more stable\n* In page 58 of this volume, there appears a more detailed account of\nthese statements, which originated with one Yillaud de Belfons, who has\nbeen quoted by M. Labat in his work..\nteis$\u00bbu\n|MSHP.Mi\npif\nmm\nMjjp\niiiga 246\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nv}..\nfit\nand better defended. An attempt at Assinee, from 1700 to\n1707, and the construction on the Slave Coast, in the kingdom\nof Dahomey, of the fort of Whydah, were the only proofs of\nvitality we gave in that country of blackskins from the period\nof decadence above referred to down to the present epoch,\ndining which several expeditions have been sent out from\nSenegal with the object of securing to our merchants establishments protected by our flag.\"\nThis assertion remaining unchallenged, the writer of this\nwork, seeing that no better qualified person undertook the\ntask of refutation, and in justice to a great nation, replied in\nthe columns of the Times, rebutting the claims advanced by\n. the French to regard themselves as the discoverers and first\nsettlers in West Africa, an honour to which the Portuguese\nwere entitled ; and pointing out that no documentary proof had\never been made public to substantiate the claim, which rests\nmerely on assertion, and has not only never been recognised\nby impartial writers, but is unknown among the natives of the\ncoast, who would have retained traditional records of such\nimportant events had they ever occurred.\nThe writer in the Correspondant gives some interesting particulars of those portions of the French settlements in West\nAfrica which are not included within the limits of Senegambia,\nbut are under the authority of the Governor of Senegal. The\ngovernment of Louis Philippe decided to extend their colonial\npossessions in the West Coast, and in 1838, the schooner\nMalouine, commanded by Lieutenant Bouet-Willaumez, afterwards the well-known admiral and senator, examined the coast\nof the Gulf of Guinea as far as Cape Lopez. During his sojourn\non that unhealthy coast, the young officer founded his reputation for energy, dash, and skill, and acquired such influence\nover the indigenous chiefs, that his crew gave him the nickname of 1 King Bouet,\" which stuck to him during the whole\nof his career. The three points of the coast which he designated as most favourable for settlement were Grand Bassam,\nAssinee, and Gaboon, which last is nearly 400 leagues from\nAssinee, and close to the Line, at the other extremity of the Gulf\nof Guinea. At Whydah he discovered the ruins of the establishment abandoned in 1797, still known in the country as the\nFort Francais, but which was not thought worth re-occupation.\nSoon after the voyage of the Malouine, the French Government\nseems to have determined to make some small settlements on\nthat coast of Africa; but it was not till 1842 that \"'King\nBouet,\" then captain commanding the French squadron on\nthe West African coast, concluded treaties with the native\nsovereigns. In 1843 he sailed from Goree, in command of a\nFrench squadron, escorting several merchant ships laden with\nstores, and took possession of the ceded territory without\nopposition from the natives. Since then installation, the French\nhave never had difficulties of the kind we have encountered\nwith the Ashantees. At Bassam, however, they have occasionally had trouble with the native traders or brokers who\ninhabit villages bordering on their settlements, and who\nfomented revolts out of jealousy of the European traders,\nwhom they saw ascehd the rivers in their boats, make their\nway into the lakes, and establish direct commercial relations with the tribes in the interior. An occasional armed\ndemonstration, and an expedition of a few hundred men sent\nout from Senegal, sufficed to check these aggressive tendencies,\nand the natives seem reconciled to the vicinity of the French.\nNotwithstanding this pacific mood of the black population,\ndoubts are expressed whether France will find it worth-while\nto retain her West African factories, which entail charges worth\nconsidering under the present financial circumstances of the\ncountry. In the recent discussion of the Naval and Colonial\nBudget, an intended reduction of 1,212,000 francs was shown\nto have diminished to 317,000 francs, the Ashantee war having\nprevented the intended evacuation of the Gaboon establishments, which had been already decided upon? The French\nGovernment felt that to withdraw at this time would look like\nretreating before the hostility of the natives, and so they remain\nfor the present.\nDenmark and Holland having ceded their establishments,\nthe flags of England and France are the only European colours\nnow seen on that part of the African coast. The writer in the\nCorrespondaiit rather deplored the probability that the latter\nwill be withdrawn when the expected defeat of the Ashantees\nshall have restored peace ; and proceeds :\u2014\" Without desiring,\nwhich would be very absurd (since we profit so little by Cochin-\nClrina and Algeria), to vie with Great Britain in colonial influence, we might in ordinary times have continued an experiment which has already cost us money and men's lives.\nNeither at Grand Bassam, nor at Assinee, nor at Gaboon, have\nwe restless and powerful neighbours; the most formidable\npeople is that of the Hahouins, east from Gaboon; and the\ntribes composing it, although they are brave and warlike, are not\nformidable to us, because they do not number 130.000 souls.\nThey proceed from the Crystal Mountains, and appear disposed\nto have intercourse with us, and to come to the coast to exchange their produce for ours. Small as the possessions are.\nit still is vexatious to abandon them, for one knows not what\nthe future may bring, and yve have already obtained some small\nresults. At Grand Bassam and at Assinee there is no agriculture ; but there is some appearance of it at Gaboon, and our\nships barter stuffs, spirits, arms, powder, beads, hats, and ready\nmade clothes for gold-dust, oil, ivory, wax, sandal-ware, ebony,\ncaoutchouc, &c. At Gaboon alone the trade in those articles\nannually amounts to about 2,500,000 francs.\" Having concluded our resume of the history and position of the French\nsettlements on the West Coast of Africa, for which we have\nfreely laid under contribution writers of both countries whose\nflags now alone fly in that part of the globe, we will proceed to\ntire second portion of our task, viz., some account of French\nmilitary operations in Senegambia, and neighbouring native\nstates, derived solely from French government records.\nENGAGEMENT AT THIES,  AND ATTACK ON THE FORTIFIED STATION\nOF POUT.\nThe inhabitants of the village of Tine's, in Serers-Nones,\nhad long troubled the peace of the neighbouring tribes of\nDiander,* by their frequent incursions, followed up by pillage\nand murder. It had become absolutely necessary to show the\nnatives who had submitted to French authority that the promises of protection made to them were not delusive. A column\ncomposed of' 167 men from the different regiments ot the\nGoree garrison, 94 from the disciplinaires of the third company, commanded by Captain Balot, and of 50 volunteers,\nwas organised secretly and rapidly, and with M. Pinet-Lacrade,\ncommander of the engineers at its head, reached Thie's after\na quick night march.\n* Diander is the name of the district in which Gor\nare situated.\nee and Cape Verde NOTES  OF TRAVEL  IN THE INTERIOR OF JAPAN.\nNotes of Travel in the Interior of Japan.\u2014VII.\nBY   \"MONTA.\nA few more incidents of our journey across the island, and\nthese I Notes of Travel \" must be brought to a conclusion.\nThe town of Zenkoji, viewed from an eminence close by,\nwas seen to be composed of one long narrow street; this is on an\nincline, and towards the western end it opens out into a broad\nstreet, and is terminated by the temple. It is nestled close to\nthe hills on the west side of the valley, watered by the Shinano\nand Sai rivers, which unite and flow on till they are lost in the\ndistance, not far from the confines of the province of Eclrigo.\nThe wide level valley was full of rich crops of grain, and\nfresh green patches of paddy, in the little squares which form\npreliminary nurseries before the tufts are transferred to the\nlarger squares, where they grow up in the wet earth. Wherever\nthe eye wandered, labourers were seen dotted about, intent\n. upon their work. It was a peaceful, happy scene, and we sat\nlong, lazily contemplating it, and more than reconciled to our\nforced delay. And as we sat we mused upon the past, the\npresent, and the future of Japan. And my thoughts, as they\nwere recorded in my diary, shaped themselves into some such\nform as this :\u2014\nI No one who travels about Japan, and who perceives its\ncapabilities, and how these capabilities have been hitherto\nnegiected, can well avoid feeling interest in Japan in the new\npath which she is now entering. That she has been neglected,\nand is so backward, is naturally the fruit of her entire isolation.\nTwo or three hundred years ago where were we ? No country\nwhich is so completely isolated can make essential and continuous progress. It may pursue its own peculiar civilisation,\nbut it will travel on in the same groove. Its higher class has\nlived an idle life in castles or a stirring life in native broils,\nand has never, any more than did our feudal barons, given a\nthought to the despised classes of merchants, artisans, or\nlabourers; these latter have passed their lives in an abject\nstate, fearing their lords and the military caste, ^and bowing\ntheir heads down to the mats in humility to them; they have\nbeen content to go on in the same simple way from father to\nson for centuries, and to pursue their trade without intelligence\nor atteniDt at improvements. Hence the rough nature of all\ntheir operations, and the enormous waste of labour. No\nthought of any progress, no interchange with other countries\nof ideas or inventions. Whether it be in agriculture, silk-\nculture, or what not, they have never seemed to strike out\nanything new, and as the rulers steadfastly refused to admit\nthe slightest light from abroad, we see an intelligent nation, a\nmagnificent country, almost in a state of barbarism, and only\njust awakening to life. What the country may yet become it\nis hazardous to predict. Japan has great capabilities, and if\nher sons will only give their minds a little to grave matters,\nand not take everything for granted, nor think, as they do, that\nto see is to understand, and that they can do everything\nwithout study and application, there are hopes that with\nEuropean inventions and skill, judiciously employed, she may\nin time take a fair stand among the nations of the earth.\"\nThey told us that there had been a terrible earthquake at\nZenkoji about twenty-four years previously, which knocked\nover many of the monuments which are still to be seen lying\nabout in the temple-grounds, and caused the death of many\npeople.\nThese earthquakes are one of the unpleasant features of\nJapan. Many and many a shock have I felt, and at first they\nrather interested me. It was a new sensation. But the longer\nI stayed in the country, the less I liked them. This happens\nto most strangers, I believe. There is, by degrees, a sort of\nfeeling of insecurity which comes over one, and a dread that\nthe next at least may be serious, perhaps fatal. Sometimes for\na few days they reCur continually, then again there is an entire\ncessation.\nIn 1854, a number of signs and portents are recorded by\nnative chroniclers. But these were put down, more or less,\nto the dreadful conduct of the advisers of the Sh6gun, who\nhad caused treaties to be made with foreigners, those outer\nbarbarians whose advent, as they said, laid the foundation\nof trouble at home and difficulties abroad, and indeed of\nmanifold misfortunes. Fires are recorded of dreadful dimensions. One in Ki6to is said to have broken out in the palace\nof the retired Mikado; the palace of the reigning emperor\ntook fire also, and the apartments of his majesty and family\nwere destroyed by the conflagration. The flames spread to\nthe town, and the author of the narrative called \" Genji\nyum'e monogatari\" records, with that zest for large numbers\nso common in their books, that a district was consumed including about two hundred and thirty streets of more than\nsix thousand houses. On the 13th day of the sixth month\nthere was a great earthquake along the line of the T6kaid&, and\nin the northern provinces; houses were overturned in places,\nand the high road opened and vomited mud and sand, causing\nthe death of a large number of people. On the fifteenth day\nof the seventh month there was a great rain-storm in the\nnorthern provinces, followed by a flood. On the fourth day of\nthe eleventh month, between seven and nine o'clock in the\nmorning, a violent earthquake occurred throughout the country,\nthe effects of which were felt most severely at Osaka; a large\nnumber of houses were overthrown, and a huge wave ran up\nthe three mouths of the Yodogawa, carrying large junks with\nit, the masts of which struck the bridges and carried them\naway. One hundred and fifty junks of different sizes were\ndestroyed. More people lost their lives by drowning than it\nwas possible to ascertain.\nAnd so the historian goes on, with more tidal waves,\nanother earthquake, whereby mountains were levelled and\nvalleys filled up \"throughout the country; and the next year\nagain more earthquakes are mentioned as occurring in Mutsu\nand Dewa, whereby many lives were lost; and again in Yedo,\nwhich is thus described :\u2014\n\"More than ten thousand houses, including the castle,\nresidences of daimios and of vassals of the Shogun, Shint6\nshrines, Buddhist temples, and citizens' houses were shaken\ndown; fires broke out in thirty places at once;   t'ie  flames\nMl\n:MMT\nt&VRx m>\nJo\n248\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nascended and spread on all sides, so that a great conflagration\nensued. The number of lives lost amounted to one hundred\nand four thousand ; the corpses were buried by the authorities\nin thirteen large temples.\" .\nIf the unfortunate \" barbarians\" have to answer for such\nfearful desolation, they are to be pitied indeed! And. the\nhistorian, having continued the dreadful catalogue even into\n1856, with even greater destruction of life and property, he\nconcludes his harrowing picture with the following sentence :\u2014\n\"These constantly occurring signs and wonders were\nattributed by the people to the anger of the gods at the con-\nbefore six, and, walking across the table-land, descended\nrapidly into a ravine full of a profusion of trees, such as oak,\nwillow, and cryptomeria. Crossing a stream which rushed\ndown from the mountains along a dark channel, overshadowed\nby the trees, we entered' the province of Echigo, and passed\nthrough the village which, like the stream, bears the name of\nSdkigawa, or Barrier River.\nHere was formerly one of those barriers which were all\nabolished after the fall of the Shogunate. When Dr. Willis was\nallowed to take that long journey north during the civil war\nof 1868, he passed along this road, and the report which he\nm\nH'Hf !\nTHE AMERICAN LEGATION AT YEDO.\ntinual pollution  of our  country by the  visits of the outer\nbarbarians.\"\nSoon after noon we were on horseback again, and we had\na lovely four hours' ride, at a very easy pace, to Nojiri, six and\na halfri. The ri is little short of two and a half miles. After\na succession of villages had been passed, the valley contracted,\nand we turned away from it to the left up one of the spurs of\nthe eastern chain. After much ascending and descending, we\nat last came down upon a little lake with wooded banks, and a\nlittle green island in the middle. Close to it is the village of\nNojiri, showing lamentable signs of devastation from a fire,\nwhich seemed to have destroyed almost every house. We were\nnow on the confines of the province of Echigo, and on the high\nmountain towering in front, called Mi6k6, streaks of snow still\nremained.\nyune 24.\u2014Chilly morning in this elevated region.    Left\ndrew up of his proceedings, wherein his eminent services are\nshown in attending to the requirements of 600 wounded men,\nand giving directions regarding the treatment of about 1,000\nothers, was duly published in a blue book. How he spoke\nout against the wanton sacrifice of human life manifest from\nthe absence of wounded prisoners, how he penetrated to\nAidzu's capital, and there tended many of the rebels, as well\nas the Imperialists, is worthy of all praise. But what I wish\nparticularly to quote here is his account of the difficulty he\nmet with at Se'kigawa, and it is better to use his own words.\n\" On my journey from Yedo to Takata, an incident occurred\nwhich illustrates a difficulty that may attend a foreigner travelling in Japan, even when his journey is undertaken at the\ninstance of the Japanese Government. About twenty miles-\nfrom Takata there is a mountain-pass with a guard-house under\nthe charge of the local daimio.     On my attempting to pass  250\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nVl|:\nthrough this barrier, as I had already done through other\nbarriers, several of the guards rushed out, and in a loud and\nmenacing tone of voice ordered me to take off my hat, and\nby placing hands on my shoulders attempted to force me into\nmaking obeisance. I disengaged myself from the hands of\nthe guards, and passed through without making the obeisance\nwhich it was attempted to force me into. I demanded an\napology from the chief of the guards for the conduct of his\nsubordinates, and the permission to pass unmolested through\nthe barrier. I could, however, obtain no redress. The chief\nof the guards justifying the conduct of his subordinates, I\ndeclined to proceed any farther on my journey until I received\nthe satisfaction demanded, and sent a letter to that effect to\nTakata. The following night two officials arrived from Takata.\nThey expressed the regret of the daimio at the treatment I\nhad received. The chief of the guards was called upon to\nmake a formal apology to me. The next morning I passed\nthrough the barrier a second time, to establish my right of\ndoing so, when a second apology was tendered in front of the\nguard-house. I hereupon expressed my satisfaction, and requested that no further steps might be taken in the matter, as I\nconsidered the rudeness shown me arose in a great measure\nout of ignorance. I have reason since to know that the chief\nof the guards is grateful to me for interceding on his behalf,\notherwise he would have lost his position for his conduct on\nthe occasion. With characteristic heroism he had expressed\nhis readiness\u2014should it be found that in the zealous discharge\nof his duties he had overstepped the bounds of propriety\u2014to\nput an end to his existence by harakiri, or disembowelling.\"\nUnder the Central Government these barriers were no longer\nneeded, and they were speedily abolished.\nWe were now on a very rough road, and walking our horses\nup and down one hill after another, came to where we had\na view of a plain, with a glimpse of the sea in the far\ndistance. We should now soon be well across the main\nisland. Quantities of pack-horses, all mares, met us and\ncaused much trouble with our native beasts. My pony especially distinguished himself by jibing and kicking, and quite\nalarmed me by suddenly rushing at one of the grooms and\nfairly knocking him over. They used to have rare fights of an\nevening and morning in the stables.\nIt was nearly eleven when we reached Arai, our resting-\nplace\u2014a  town full  of dried fish  and pack-horses, with a\nspacious honjin, from the back of which we looked out, as.\nseldom happens, upon much space, the usual garden being not\nclose to the house.\nWe now came down upon the plain, and passed through\nTakata an almost interminable town, composed of a quantity\nof long streets at right angles to each other, the foot-paths of\nwhich were mean arcades, composed mostly of the eaves of\nthe houses, which projected and were supported by wooden\nposts. Their object was, however, manifest. In winter the\nsnow lies deep in the streets, and the inhabitants can walk\nsecurely under the arcades, instead of uncomfortably in the\nsnow. What Takata may be in fine weather, I cannot say;\nthis day there was a sheet of rain, and the place looked most\nmelancholy.\nOur long day's journey of about thirteen and a half ri ended\nat Kuroi, a poor village close to the sea-shore, and the fresh fish\n\u2022we ate there and at Arai formed a pleasant change of diet\nJwie 2$th.\u2014Doubtful\nmorning\nThe alluvial plain stretches\nin a semicircle up to the base of the mountainous region, and is\nbounded by the high range of Miok6. Southwards we followed\na sandy road close to the shore. The trees all bent from the\nsea, and bare of leaves on that side, bore testimony to the\nviolence of the gales which visit this coast. Here and there\nwe saw remains of earthworks constructed during the war of\n1868. We reached Kakizaki in two hours, and after a rest\nwent on through the heavy sand on the shore for another hour\nto Hachizaki (six ri). The population seemed to consist almost\nexclusively of women and children, the men probably being\nout fishing. Women were working in the fields, and, engaged\nas coolies, were conveying travellers in kagos; one gang we\nmet on their returning from carrying some of our baggage,\nrunning and singing gaily as t.h\u00aby went home empty-handed.\nAfter lunch, we continued along the sand close to the sea,\nand then travelled up and down, a tedious journey, mostly on\nfoot, round the face of one cliff after another, till we reached\nKashiwazaki, a picturesque town with streets full of houses,\nhaving their gables to the front, and topped by a wooden\nornament like those at Shiwojiri. The eaves of the houses\nprojected into the street, and rested on wooden posts as at\nTakata.\nJune 26th.\u2014We consumed nearly five hours in our morning\nride from the coast inland. After passing the village of Mi6hoji,\nwe ascended a hill, the side of which was pierced by a number\nof petroleum wells, worked in the rudest manner. The liquid\nwas drawn up laboriously by means of a rope round a wheel to\nwhich two buckets were attached, and the wells being very\ndeep it took four men to work each one. The oil when\npurified by boiling is used in the neighbourhood for lamps.\nAs usual, a great waste of labour for very inadequate profit.\nThen we went down the side of a ravine into a plain where the\nyoung rice was growing, and at a little distance it looked like a\nmeadow, owing to a species of bean being planted all along\nthe ridges between the small fields.\nWe now came once more upon the Shinanogawa, become\na large stream, and, crossing it by a ferry, entered Nagadka, a\ntown which suffered sadly during the war, and had been\nalmost entirely rebuilt. The distance from this point to\nNiigata by water was said to be about forty miles, and we\ndecided to send our horses with the grooms to that place, and\nproceed ourselves by the river. So the next morning we went\nlazily down the stream in a long covered boat, a small one\naccompanying us with the servants and provisions. There was\nlittle of interest to be remarked. Indeed, high embankments,\nso necessary in the case of a river subject to great floods, lined\nthe stream most of the way, and shut out much of the surrounding country from our view.\nWe actually took eleven hours for these forty miles. Now\nand then one of the boatmen would dip an oar into the water,\nand indulge in a monotonous chant, but time was evidently\nno object, and we did not go much faster than the stream.\nAt last we arrived, and, stepping ashore, walked through the\ntown to our hostelry.\nWe had now reached the furthest point of our interesting\njourney, had crossed the main island, and were in the treaty\nport of Niigata. Let me transcribe my impressions of it, and\nour pleasant visit, from my diary :\u2014\nWhat shall we say concerning Niigata? It is an open\nport\u2014without civilisation, that is, in the European sense of\nthe word.   Here we have no bund, with its elaborate bungalows NOTES  OF TRAVEL IN  THE INTERIOR OF JAPAN.\n251\nand spacious club, no brilliant equipages with outriders, nor\neven the jaunty gig nor modest buggy, nor merchant princes\nwho ride down to their counting-houses in the morning, make\ntheir thousands, and ride round the road in the cool of the\nevening. Nor have we those terrors to pedestrians, the men\nwho love to get on horseback, but cannot ride, who go racing\nabout in the settlement, on the bluff, or round the racecourse,\nto the infinite dread of men, women, and children, and to their\nown doubtful enjoyment. There is not even a municipal\ndirection, nor any newspaper devoted to the abuse or praise\nof officials. Nor is there any theatre except a native one,\nwhere the usual interminable plays are performed, to the great\ndelight of natives, and the irrepressible yawning of foreigners.\nNone of these things are in Niigata; but it is an open port;\nforeigners can and do circulate freely wherever they list, and,\nfrom all appearances, We should say that triere is much more\nchance, for those who desire it, of becoming conversant with\nnative customs, and acquainted with natives of consideration\nand position, than in any other of the treaty ports of Japan.\nThe foreigners at present residing at Niigata are only\nsome twelve in number. There are several consuls who are\nmerchants; our own, who of course does not trade, and who\nlives in a spacious, but gloomy temple, guarded over by an\nIrish constable; there is a ship's compradore, there are two or\nthree men whose business is uncertain, and two or three rather\nsleepy stores. The society is enlivened from time to time by\nthe presence of an odd ship's captain or two, but they do not\ntarry longer than is necessary; their ships are too exposed on\nthis dangerous coast, and they are glad to get the cargoes on\nboard and be off. The town is situated at the end of the vast\nplain which extends fifty or sixty miles up to the foot of the\nmountains. It consists of a number of streets, in the middle\nof many of which are canals lined with trees, and upon the\ncanals small boats ply, drawing a couple of inches of water.\nWhen we were there, men were engaged in emptying these\ncanals, and depositing the mud along the banks, with what\nparticular object we could not ascertain; it certainly could not\nhave been pursuant to orders from the Board of Health, or\nwhatever is analogous thereto in Niigata. There is one street\nfull of temples, decorated with rose-coloured tiles, forming a\nmarked contrast to the ordinary shingle roofs weighted with\nstones. The statistics of last year give the number of houses\nat 6,665, and that of the inhabitants at 3\u00b0>537> of wllich\n13,722 were men, and 16,815 women. Hence the fair sex\ndecidedly predominates, and a much fairer race it is here, and\nindeed generally throughout the province of Echigo, than in\nother parts of Japan. The skins of both the men and women\nare often as white as those of Europeans, and we saw many\na comely female. These women, by-the-bye, have a curious\nhabit of canying their babies in front instead of on their backs,\nas is the usual custom in most parts of Japan. The people\nspeak a peculiar dialect, not easy to understand at first.\nThe amusements are neither numerous nor varied. Six or\neight hours at a theatre, or a boating-party to some tea-house\nin\\ pretty spot up the river, will about exhaust the sights,\nunless one is curious enough to go down and inspect the bar,\nwith the waves dashing over it in the slightest wind. There is\none great luxury both in Niigata, and generally in this province,\ni.e., the profusion of frozen snow. We saw people selling it in\nthe streets of the first town we reached; our bettos moistened\ntheir parched tongues with bits that they bought on the road,\nand here we revelled in it all day and every day. The worthy\nrepresentative of the North German Confederation, who, till\nthe return of our own consul, was like a father to us, treated\nhis guests to hock direct from his own dear Fatherland, a peculiarly grateful -drink, with lumps of frozen snow dissolving in\nthe clear liquid. But we had all kinds of luxuries unknown\nfor many a day. Bread was baked for our daily wants; the\nship's compradore killed a cow and we ate beef continually;\nthen there was excellent salmon, and other first-rate fish, and\nwe foreswore preserved meats utterly.\nThe weather was by no means oppressive, and, as usual\nwith us, it was generally fine. We were told that it became,\nvery hot in August. Last winter the cold appears to have\nbeen excessive, and the snow lay many feet deep in the streets.\nIt is then that the inhabitants find the benefit of the covered\nways which, in Niigata, as already mentioned in Takata, form\nfootpaths under the projecting eaves.\nNow for the return journey to Yedo.\nWe were to follow in general the road over the Mikuni Toge\",\nthough with some deviations. Its length is calculated at\nabout 225 miles.\nMy diary continues :\u2014\nyuly yd.\u2014Once more in the saddle, and following the\nbanks of the river on our way back to Yedo. We traversed -\nthe great plain, and on the 4th, after turning up in an easterly\ndirection, and crossing a low range of hills, we came into a fertile\nbasin, in the midst of which was Tochiwo, a long village of\n800 to 900 houses, situated on a small river. This was the\nhead-quarters of the surrounding silk district, and we were\nlodged in a clean house which boasted of some modem\nappliances, even to the luxury of a towel-horse. Our rooms\nlooked out across a garden, up to a mount covered with pine,\nbamboo, and other trees, from the top of which (a steep ascent\nindeed) there was an extensive view right away across the plain\nto the sea and the island of Sado. The mountains on the\nother side, which separate this part of Echigo from the Aidzu\ncountry, were of a glorious purple, save where thin lines of snow\nstreaked their sides. Here we fared well. Some of our beef\nstill remained; presents of large and small fish were offered up\nto us each day, and great blocks of frozen snow from the ice-\ncellar were always at hand to cool the hock we had brought\nwith us from Niigata.\nThe next day was devoted to an excursion to the neighbouring villages, where we inspected many cocoons; there\nwas also a waterfall to be visited, which was made much of by\nthe natives, and turned out to be nothing, in this dry season,\nbut a thin shred of water running down the bare and even\nface of a high rock.    The  gorge, however, in which it is\nsituated, is very fine.\nThe following morning we started once more, and rode\nthrough a hilly country, with very rough roads, and on the 7th\nwe joined the regular route to Yedo at Urasa, on a river which\nflows into the Shinano, further down the valley, which we now\nascended to Muikamachi. From this village boats go down\nin one day to Naga6ka, a distance of seventeen | They take\nrice each boat carrying from fifty to sixty piculs, and there\nare also passenger-boats, which charge one bu, something over\na shilling, for each person.    Three days are consumed m the\nreturn journey. ' .\nyuly 8^.-Started before eight through the paddy plain,\na very rough road, especially when the plain contracted and\nMill\nI\n^SfinifeSl\n^m Mil\"\nm\n252\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nwe began once more to ascend. Reached Yusana (five ri) at\n11 o'clock, having been caught in two or three showers.\nRoom in honjin open at the back. Iris in the garden.\nPleasant view up the valley.\nBut that was not the valley we were to follow. On leaving\nthe village we turned up to the right, and went over one of the\nsteepest passes we have yet met with, getting into a sort of\nScotch mist, which quite enveloped us. The road was dreadful, and it took us an hour and a half to reach the top of the\nShibahara t&ge. We then got off, and walked down the other\nside by an abrupt road. Then another valley opened out in\nfront, and turning to the left, we proceeded up the bank of a\nzigzags was quite precipitous.    We arrived about nine o clock\nat Futai, a little village which was burnt m the late war.\nIt was about this period that some of our party began to\nshow signs of the long journey telling upon them. Grooms\nfell lame and had to be carried in kagos, and at this very\nvillage of Futai, we were alarmed and grieved to see one of\nour guards, who had also exchanged his pony for a litter,\ncrawl out and sit down, utterly exhausted, on a bench. His\nface was yellow and his tongue was black; he was very feverish,\nand his throat was so ulcerated that he could hardly speak or\nswallow. So the amateur doctor of the party was called in,\nand that same evening gave proof of wonderful skill in the\niiii\n1111\nCOURT  OF   Jl'STICi:.\nlh\u00a3raL4\niSfc^i:\nstream to the poor village of Mitsumata. A day's work of\nonly seven ri, but quite sufficient, considering the villainous\nroads.    Heavy rain came on in the evening.\nJuly ()th.\u2014 Beautiful morning, without a cloud.    Left at\nseven, and after following the valley some little way, we began |\nto mount rapidly; the road, which was still of the roughest,\nwinding along the face  of the hill till we attained a high j\nelevation.    This took us an hour, and then we dipped down i\ninto another valley, and  then up the face of another high I\nhill, the middle of the road being rough corduroy, and climbing the hill by zigzags.    From the top we looked down to the I\nlittle village of Futai, nestled in a hole amongst high hills, and\n.straight before us there was a long ravine, one side of which\nwas covered with grass and fern nearly to the top, when they\ngave  place  to trees,   and the, other  side  entirely  wooded.\nThis ravine gradually rose till it was bounded by a three-\npeaked mountain on the horizon.    The descent by a series of I\nremedies he prescribed for this complication of disorders. A\nmustard plaister at the back of the neck to draw off the inflammation from the poor man's throat, quinine to allay the fever,\nand, to complete the prescriptions, antibilious pills after the\nrecipe of Cockle, of imperishable memory. This vigorous\ntreatment had the desired effect, and, in two days, the man\nwas nearly well. Great was the fame of our amateur doctor\namongst the natives of our party, and there was sometimes quite\na rush for chlorodyne, or other specifics. What one finds with\nthe Japanese generally is, that they are glad to consult foreign\ndoctors, and will take the prescribed medicine readily, on the\ncondition, however, that the cure shall be speedy; if it is not\nso, they soon tire of the foreign remedies, their faith is shaken,\nand they turn to their own physicians for advice. They never\npause to consider that certain maladies, such, for instance, as\nremittent fevers, cannot be cured in two or three days; they\nmust be made well at once by the new system, or they will not o\ng\nQ\n<\ng\n(i\nm\nu\nw\nO\nH\nO\ni\u00ab\nII\na\n-JsilS\ngl\n^IF\n111\nsifa\n.1$\n\"If\nII\n$$f Si\n'54\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nk.\nif\nVi 4\nsee the advantage of it over their own, at least that is my\nexperience.\nI don't know what their distinguished native doctors would\nhave thought of our treatment, but there were none iri the\nneighbourhood of the Mikuni Pass, and we had to prescribe\nas best we could.\nA great deal, no doubt, has been done in the way of introducing the European system in medicine, and the labours of\nsuch men as Doctor Willis, already quoted, have been incessant, and should bear much fruit. The Japanese are often\nsickly; their sedentary life, their poor diet, and the hereditary\ntaint of scrofula, the dread disease of leprosy and other sad\nmaladies, affect them terribly. They always seem to be ailing,\nbut many have been taking to meat and beer of late, and that\nmay work some improvement. I have mentioned leprosy ; I\ncannot say that I know anything of that disease, and I fancy\nthat little has been done in Europe to elucidate its nature, but\nthere is a great deal of it in Japan, and it seems to be in the\nblood of many and many a family. European doctors have\nhad much to contend with, and they may well sometimes feel\ntheir enthusiasm slacking when, as one of them remarked to\nme, a man who has troubled himself with medical studies\nfinds that he is hardly looked upon as a gentleman, and that\n\"his fee is a piece of sponge cake.\" The feudal system is\nindeed abolished, but its genius still lingers in the soul of\nmany a samurai, and does not he, the man of gentle birth,\ndespise the practitioner of medicine as something immeasurably\nlower than himself?\nIt has been said that the Japanese are hardly yet ripe for\nthe study of the European system of medicine; that in medicine\na little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and that this is what\nmost Japanese content themselves with. Is this so ? Here is\none of the problems of the future. Is the rush after civilisation to come to a break down, or is it to end in something\ncurable ?\nThat is the question now fairly before the world, and\nwe must not be content with the fulsome praises of interested\nor superficial writers, of the \" globe-trotters \" who \" do\" Japan in\nten days, and attempt to judge it accurately in their book, but\nwe should examine the whole matter carefully and honestly,\nand, in the interests of the Japanese themselves, tell them the\ntruth, whatever it may be.\nLeaves from my Journal of tlie \"Fox's\"  Telegraphic Voyage.\u2014II.\nBY  CAPTAIN  J.   E.   DAVIS,   R.N.\nml \u25a0\nlliiil\n1||\niiis if\nIII\nI if\nmi\"\nlibit\nFREDERICKSHAAB TO JULIANEHAAB.\nWith a fair and strong wind we left Frederickshaab and\nthreaded our way amongst a great quantity of loose ice out of\nthe fiord. On passing Vardoe we observed the Norwegian\nbarque ahead, and soon came up with her and passed within\nhail. She was coated with ice outside, or, as it is called by\nthe Danish sailors, she was \"over-iced.\" In this state, and\nsurrounded as we were with bergs and loose ice, the scene\nwas a vivid exemplification of Coleridge's beautiful imagery in\nthe | Ancient Mariner \"\u2014\n\" And ice, mast high, came floating by,\nAs green as emerald ;\nAnd through the drifts the snowy clifts\nDid send a dismal sheen :\nNor shapes of men nor beasts we ken\u2014\nThe ice was all between.\"\nThe captain and crew must have had an anxious time of it\nsince they left Frederickshaab. Young tendered assistance,\nand also offered to keep by the barque if she would go south,\nboth of which were declined. The captain said that the\ngovernor (Tweedie), who was taking a passage to inspect\nthe outer settlements, was \"bad in the head;\" i.e., out of his\nmind, and that he (the captain) was determined to get back\nto Frederickshaab if possible. We then went on our way with\na spanking breeze, but not with a steady course. The icebergs were so numerous and so close that we were continually\naltering course to avoid them; we must have passed some\nthousands in the course of the day.\nAt noon we were off the high island of Omenak, and at four\nin the afternoon were off Tindingen, a splendid peak of about\nsix thousand feet in height.\nYoung decided to keep out to sea during the night, in order,\nif possible, to get into the Torsukatch Channel in the morning,\nand we looked forward to a night of anxiety, for although the\nbergs began to thin a little as we went south, still there were a\ngreat many of them, and if the weather became thick from snow\nor fog, we should be in considerable danger. We rounded to\nunder close-reefed sails, and kept just sufficient way on to be\nable to avoid the ice. We were thankful the night proved\nclear; the moon helped us until eight o'clock, and then we had\nthe Aurora. Young was up all night, and as I could not sleep,\nI kept him company the principal part of it. The weather was\nintensely cold, and the spray of the sea freezing on the ship,\nthreatened us with being over-iced.\nThe next morning at four o'clock we made sail towards the\nland and got in with it about Arsut, the wind having increased'\nto a hard gale from north-north-west, and then bore away for\nthe_ Torsukatch.\nWe had a magnificent view of the land and fiords as the\nsun rose. Away to the north-eastward we could see the base of\nTindingen, but the lofty peak was hidden by the clouds. More\nto the eastward were the high rugged summits of Woman's\nHill, and the remarkable sugar-loaf peak of Omenarsuk, appearing like a detached rock. Southward of Omenarsuk was the\nwest end of Sennerut running up into high jagged peaks about\nfour thousand feet high, and forming almost a cliff to the sea.\nWe could see but little ice under the shore, as if the northerly\ngale were blowing it all away and spreading it out to sea LEAVES  FROM  MY JOURNAL  OF THE  \"FOX'S\" TELEGRAPHIC VOYAGE.\ns53\nLooking up Arsutfiord no ice we'j visible, and the lofty round\nisland of Arsut Omenak appeared to be clear to the rocks at\nits base, while to the south-east towards NunarSoit was a wild\nconfusion of islands, bergs, and drift-ice, which quite obscured\nthe view towards the entrance of the channel for which we\nwere scudding.\nPassing the islands Kitsiasuk and Thorstein, at noon we\narrived at the entrance of the Torsukatch Channel. The view\nat the entrance was as wild as the imagination could picture it,\nthe hard gale blowing a perfect whirlwind of snow round the\nsummit below the peaks, and it was curious to observe the\nsnow-cloud arrested by an eddy wind and sent up, and as suddenly caught by another and either sent back again in wild\nconfusion, or, forming a spiral cone, proceed upwards until,\nreaching the level of the summit, was dispersed.\nOn approaching the channel, we could not but feel anxious\nlest the entrance should be blocked with ice, as is sometimes\nthe case, caused at first by an iceberg grounding close to the\nentrance, and thus forming a nucleus for the smaller ice to\nattach itself to until the strait is blocked and the vessel intending to run through the channel is thus thrown on a dangerous\nlee-shore, so we kept a good look-out from the mast-head, and\nto our great satisfaction found it clear.\nThe entrance is about half a mile wide, but it narrows at\nvarious points to a quarter that width, and in one place to one\nhundred and eighty feet, so that excepting with a leading wind\nor powerful steam, the channel should not be attempted.\nThis is truly a beautiful passage, the scenery magnificent to\na degree, and as each point opened giving a view of the reach\nbeyond, it seemed as if fresh beauties had been prepared\nfor us.\nThere can be no doubt but that much of our enjoyment of\nscenery is dependent on the circumstances under which we\nview it. The most beautiful prospect of cultivated country in\nEngland loses much of its charm if a cold cutting north-east\nWind be blowing, which reminds one of colds, bronchitis,\nrheumatism, &c., and one is glad to leave the beautiful view for\nthe sheltered side of the hill. Much of the ecstasy of description of those who reach the summit of Mont Blanc, is, I suspect,\nfar more the production of the head than the feelings, of the\nwriting-desk than the mountain ; but with all of us in the little\nFox, our feelings were attuned for the occasion; from a hard\ngale and a heavy sea we had suddenly passed into sunshine\nand smooth water, and as we had the prospect before us of\ngoing the rest of the way to Julianehaab in the same delightful\ncalm\u2014as when the Torsukatch Channel is clear of ice, the\nother islands and passages usually are\u2014it seemed as if our\ntroubles were at an end, and from those who knew the danger\nand anxiety we had avoided by not being outside, many a\nheartfelt \" thank God \" escaped their lips as we glided along\nin the lake-like water, passing so close to the land that we\ncould see the ptarmigan and foxes.\nThe water must have been very deep through the whole\nchannel, as we found an iceberg about sixty-five feet high in\nabout the centre of the strait, and which must have had a\ndepth of upwards of eighty fathoms to float in.\nAs we were passing the bay south of the peninsula of\nItsblitsiak, a kyak came out, and we ceased steaming to allow\nit to come alongside; and then with two bights of a rope, one\nbeing passed under each end of the kyak, hoisted man and\nall in.    Our \"picked-up\" proved to be the royal mail, which,\nhaving\" conveyed the mail from Julianehaab to Arsut, was now\nreturning; and to shorten the distance had landed, and\ncarried his kyak across the Isthmus of Itsblitsiak, as is usual\nwhen travelling along' the coast; so the poor fellow was not\nsorry to get this unexpected lift on his journey. He told us\nthat a large English steamship had been at Julianehaab and\nremained three days, so we concluded that it was the Bulldog,\nwhich afterwards proved correct.\nFrom the Torsukatch we passed into the Mangobet Channel,,\nbut as it was not safe to run at night, the' pilot was consulted\nas to an anchorage. He said that he knew a good harbour,\nand showed the point on the' leeward side of the channel\nround which it lay; but, to our astonishment, on rounding the\npoint, we found the indentation so small that we should have\nbeen on shore had not Young dropped the anchor in time to\ncheck the vessel's way, and going astern, full speed, with the\nengines at the same time. By running out warps to an islet on\nthe opposite side of the strait, we got the ship well off shore\nand anchored in deep water; but this was not accomplished\nbefore it was pitch dark.\nNotwithstanding the comfort of being \" in skier,\" or within\nthe rocks, we were not altogether free from apprehension and\nanxiety, and that from a cause which, in July or August, we\nshould not have thought so much about, but the latter end of\nOctober made all the difference; and we could not look at a\ncontinually falling barometer without some degree of nervous\nfeeling; and although we were aware of the fact that, contrary\nto the usual theory, the barometer falls with a northerly wind\nand rises with a southerly one, still the degree to which the\nmercury had fallen caused us to believe that it could not be\nattributed entirely to that. On quitting Frederickshaab it was\n29-33, it was now 28-80, and still falling.\nBefore break of day, on the 22nd October, it was blowing\nhard from the northward (barometer, 28-70), but with no indication of bad weather, some small, hard-edged cirri clouds\nhovered in the north, otherwise it was clear and starlight. The\nmoment it was light enough to see, having had everything in\nreadiness, we started under steam to the southward, passed\nBondehaven which appeared to be a fine and safe harbour, and\nI think the pilots were mistaken the night before, and supposed\nthe cairn round which they said we should find a fine harbour,\nto be that of Bondehaven. We had great difficulty in obtaining\nany information from the best of our pilots; the Uskees appear\nto have a natural dislike to be questioned, and then when the\ninformation to be gained is by the interpolation of two inter\nprefers, it is almost an impossibility to get it correctly.\nAt eight o'clock we passed the small settlement of Kaksi-\nmuit, the port visited by Colonel Shaffner in his previous\nvoyage. The harbour lies on the south side of a small island ;\nit appears safe, but rather open to the southward,' and to the\ndanger of drift-ice in the violent south-south-east gales. The\nsettlement consisted of the usual inspector's house, a store,\nand a few native huts. A kyak came out and tried to catch\nus, but as it was blowing fresh and fair, the man was obliged\nto give it up.\nIt was very pretty passing through the narrow channels\nthreading the needle amongst the islands in deep water, as the\npresence of icebergs indicated. We had also a good view of\nthe inland ice which, from near Kaksimuit, is within twelve\nmiles of the sea.\nNotwithstanding the still falling barometer, the wind fell:\nIII\nmm\n\"\u2022'!!!\u25a0:\nffiifr\nm\n''\u25a0HmtSi 256\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nlight \u2022 and we had to encounter  newly-formed ice, through\nwhich we steamed easily, although it was sufficient to check our\nspeed.\nPassing through Ikarrusarrak Channel we came to ParrHeet,\nwhere a considerable number of Esquimaux from the hills\nshouted to us as we passed. It had fallen calm, so we had\nfurled the sails and were under steam alone, and great was the\nwonder of the natives to see a ship moving without sails\nor oars.\nAt two o'clock, just as we were turning into a channel, we\nobserved a loaded omiack coming towards us, several kyaks\nwere accompanying it: immediately they saw us they displayed\nthe ship, I am sorry to say, he was very drunk and very affectionate.\nThe omiack was deeply laden with casks, bedding, cooking\nutensils, and packages of every description in great confusion\n\u2014we took her in tow.\nFrom M> Motzfeldt we learnt that Sir Leopold M'Clintock,\nin the Bulldog, had left Julianehaab thirteen days before, and\nthat he had left a letter for Young which had been forwarded,\nnorth, by the very postman we had picked up in the Torsukatch\nChannel; and the poor fellow had to prepare immediately to\nstart on his way back, and try and overtake the letter at Arsut.\nHis preparations were soon made; he had a bit of seal blubber\nIHMniKj\n[liBs\nWW 1\niiil\nm3i.\nilll\nALONGSIDE THE GREENLAND KYAKS.\nthe Danish flag, and on coming up to them we stopped, and\nthe omiack came alongside. It contained M. Motzfeldt, the\nInspector of Kaksimuit, and his family; they were travelling\nback from Julianehaab. He asked to go back with us, which\nwas granted, so his wife, family, and women, came on board.\nHis wife (I believe the third) was a nice-looking Uskee, and\nhis children bore the impress of half-breeds; but, if report\nspeaks true of the Inspector of Kaksimuit, he is the pater of\nmore children than legally he ought to have.\nM. Motzfeldt is the oldest inspector, or governor, on the\ncoast, and well acquainted with a long range of it, therefore a\ngreat authority as a pilot, and as such took charge of the ship\nand piloted her to Julianehaab.\nI think that the Governor had been saying \" good-bye \" to\nhis friends, for he was rather elevated on coming on board;\nand his delight at again meeting the colonel was so great, that\nit led to many glasses of wine, &c, so that before he  left\non his kyak, and with his spears to find more, he was complete.\nHaving slung the kyak over the side, he wriggled himself in,\nand off he went.\nAt half-past four we came in sight of the few houses composing the settlement of Julianehaab, and a few minutes after\nlet go the anchor and secured the ship by hawsers to the rocks.\nJulianehaab harbour is but a small one, and a vessel going\nin at night is very liable to get too close in, and then have\nsome difficulty, and even danger, in getting out. This had\nbeen the case with the Bulldog; she had arrived in the fiord\nlate, and firing a gun, some boats went off\", and then, on going\ninto the anchorage, got too close in, and then, in backing out,\nstruck on some rocks (which from that circumstance were\nafterwards named Bulldog Rocks). Fortunately, the water was\nperfectly smooth, and at four o'clock she floated off easily, and\nwithout damage; she then dropped her anchor in the cove,\nsecuring her stern to the rocks by hawsers. NOTES  ON  THE ANCIENT  CITIES  OF  PERSIA.\nJ57\n'sta,\nNotes on the Ancient Cities of Ren\nIf we except the country between the rivers Tigris and H   i af,i H ' r   ,\n1    ' \u2022\u2022   | and other writers of the population of the country in former\nthe inhabitants now\nare not more than one-tenth their former numbers.   Sri John\nMMMMJMim IHH SB - 3E \u25a0 Han\u00ae\u00ae\nanc\nPERSIAN DIGNITARY.\npopulation as Persia. To what grandeur had it not attained,\nin ancient times, when, according to Herodotus, the army that\ninvaded Greece under Xerxes numbered 1,700,000 infantry,\nand 80,000 horse, with a fleet of 3,000 vessels; though,\nindeed, so much beyond the truth did this estimate appear to\nDiodorus Siculus, Pliny, .\/Elian, and other writers, that they\nfollowed Ctesias, and cut off about four-fifths.*\nEqually exaggerated are the estimates formed by Persian\n* Isocrates, in his Panathenaic speech, estimate's the land army, in\nround numbers, at 5,000,000.\n273\nMalcolm saw a manuscript, which was said to be taken from\nstate papers in the reign of Shah Sultan Hoossein,* in which\nwere detailed the numbers of the different tribes and citizens,\nthe total amount being computed at upwards of two hundred\nmillions. Sir John Chardin, who made his estimate nearly a\ncentury earlier, rates it at about forty millions ; but Pinkerton\nplaced it at six millions, which was, probably, near the truth.\nIn the present day, the population, which has been steadily\ndecreasing\u2014owing to famines and other causes, as polygamy,\n* This monarch flourished in the early part of the eighteenth century.\n'-Sips*\nifSi\n^i!lial 258\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nBjlL\noppressive government, and the debauchery of a great proportion of its inhabitants\u2014cannot much exceed four millions,\nbeing little more than that of London and its suburbs.\nNot less indicative of the former greatness of this interesting\ncountry are the ruins of its ancient cities and palaces. This\nhas been a fertile theme for the musings of the moralist in\nevery age and clime, and nothing more apposite can be named\nto recall to mind the utter vanity of all things mundane, and\nthe fleeting character of what the world calls glory and fame.\nAs the great national epic poet of Persia, Firdousee, says,\n\"The spider weaves its web in the palace of Caesar;\nThe owl stands sentinel upon the watch-tower of Afrasiab.\"*\nSuch may be the epitaph of Persepolis, the Elemais of the Greeks,\nwhich contains the grandest of all the ruined palaces in Persia;\nfor we are told that this edifice, in the erection of which a\nkingdom's wealth had been exhausted, which was adorned with\nevery ornament that the art of the world could supply, and the\nhistory of which was engraven on the imperishable rocks it was\nfounded upon, has not only fallen into decay, but that the name\nof the founder is a matter of doubt, and the language in which\nits history is written is no longer spoken by man.\nThe universal belief in Persia is that Persepolis was\nfounded by the celebrated Jemsheed,f a sovereign of the\nPaishdadian dynasty; but so fabulous is the history of his times\nthat he is said to have reigned over Persia for a period of 700\nyears. Tc this day, Persepolis is called Takht-e-Jemsheed\u2014the\nthrone of Jemsheed; and Persian writers state that Homai, the\ndaughter of Ardisheer Dirazdust, and mother of Darius the\nFirst (the Darius Nothus of the Greeks), greatly improved the\npalace, which she made her constant residence. The city of\nIstakhar, near which it stood, long survived the destruction of\nthfiT magnificent edifice by Alexander the Great, as described\nby Greek historians.\nA Persian author gives the following account of Persepolis,\nwhich Malcolm certifies, from personal inspection, as fairly\ncorrect. \" Jemsheed built a fortified palace at the foot of a\nhill, which bounds the fine plain of Murdasht to the northwest ; the platform on which it was built has three faces to the\nplain, and one to the mountain. It is formed of a hard black\ngranite. The elevation from the plain is ninety feet; and\nevery stone used in this building is from nine to twelve feet\nlong, and broad in proportion. There are two great flights of\nstairs to this elevation, so easy of ascent that a man can ride\nup on horseback; and on the platform a palace has been erected,\npart of which still remains in its original state, and part in\nruins. The palace of Jemsheed is that now called the Chehel-\nSetoon, or forty pillars. $ Each pillar is formed of a carved\nstone, is sixty feet high, and is ornamented in a manner so\ndelicate, that it would seem difficult to rival this sculpture\nupon hard granite in a carving upon the softest wood. There\nis no granite like that of which these pillars are made, to be\nnow found in Persia; and it is unknown from whence it was\nbrought    Some most beautiful and extraordinary figures orna-\n* Afrasiab was the great monarch of Turan or Tartary, who waged a\nlong and bloody war with Ky Kaoos and Ky Khoosroo (the Cyrus of the\nGreeks) his grandson, who ultimately captured and put him to death.\nt Jemsheed was the nephew of Jahamurs, the son of Hooshung, who\nwas the grandson of Kacimurs, the founder of the Paishdadian dynasty,\nand the first King of Persia. Sir William Jones states it as his opinion\n\" lhat the annals of the Paishda 1 or Assyrian race, may be considered dark\nand fabulous; those of the Kaiani family as heroic and poetical; and\nthose of the Sassanian kings as historical.\"\nt \" Forty,\" a\u00bb here applied, means \"many.\"\nment this palace; and all the pillars which once supported the\nroof (for that has fallen) are composed of three pieces of\nstone, joined in so exquisite a manner, as to make the\nbeholder believe that the whole shaft is one piece. There are\nseveral figures of Jemsheed in the sculpture : in one he has an\nurn in his hand, while he stands adoring the sun. In another,\nhe is represented as seizing the mane of a lion with one hand,\nwhile he stabs him with the other.\"\nThe ruins of the city of Persepolis have been described by\nnumerous travellers, and its history has been discussed by\nmany learned Orientalists. The principal feature it presents is\nan assemblage of tall, slender, and isolated pillars, and separate doorways and sanctuaries spread over a large platform,\nelevated like a fortification, from the level of the surrounding\nplain.* It would seem that the natural rock was hewn down\nto form the platform on which the great temple stood, and this\nplatform was then faced round with masonry, the workmanship\nbeing extremely solid. The stones are everywhere large and\nwell-hewn, but there is great irregularity in the general form of\nthe whole, large and small pieces being often dovetailed into\neach other. The flight of steps for ascending the platform is\nregular, easy, and of noble appearance. The two entrance-\ngates were guarded by sphinxes, which are finely sculptured.\nThe masonry is also described as excellent, and the blocks,\nwhich are of a bluish marble, are large, and regular in size and\nshape. There are two columns standing erect between the.\ngates of entrance, consisting each of three pieces, and having\nfor their base and capital a plinth resembling a lotus-flower;\nfrom the fragment of one of these it is seen that the several\npieces of which the columns are composed are joined together\nby a projecting part of the upper piece fitting into a corresponding aperture in the lower. The great mass of the ruins\nis on a platform higher than the first At the sides of the steps\nleading to it are sculptured processions, sacrifices, &c, of which\nNiebuhr has given drawings. They are all admirably executed,\nand from the striking resemblance they bear to similar sculptures at Thebes, in Egypt, afford a strong testimony to the\ntruth of the statement of Diodorus, that Cambyses, son of\nCyrus, f conquered Egypt, when he pillaged the country and\nburnt the temples, the treasures of which the Persians carried\noff into Asia, while they caused their captives, the workmen\nand architects of Egypt, to build the ruined structures at\nPersepolis, Susa, and elsewhere. According to the historian\nof Persia, the reign of Lohrasp (the successor of Ky Khoosroo,\nthe Cyrus of the Greeks) appears to include that of Cambyses and Smerdis the Magus; and the successful expedition\nto the west referred to in the pages of Herodotus, was the\nconquest of Egypt, while the manner and period at which he\nlost his life, obviously relate to the massacre of the Magi, or\nfollowers of Zoroaster.J    The ruins on this second platform\n* Buckingham's \"Travels in Assyria, Media, and Persia.\"\nt Herodotus informs us that Cyrus the Great\u2014the Koreish of the Scriptures\u2014was the grandson of Astyages, King of Media, whose daughter had\nbeen married to Cambyses, a Persian chief. Ctesias calls Astyages, As-\ntyigas, and tells us Cyrus was not his descendant, but married his daughter\nAmytis, after he had dethroned him. According to Xenophon, Cyrus is\nthe son of Cambyses, who was a Persian prince, his mother being a\ndaughter of Astyages, King of Media. The great conquests of Cyrus were\nmade during the reign of his maternal uncle, Cyaxares the Second, whose\ndaughter he married, and who named him his successor. Xenophon says lie\ndied at Babylon, Herodotus that he was slain in battle.\nt The whole subject of the history of Persia, and the identification of\nthe kings of Firdousee, the Persian historian and author of the \" Shah seem to have been those of a grand open portico, consisting of\nmany rows of columns, all fluted, with oblong blocks at their\nbase.\nOn a third and still higher platform is seen an assemblage\nof different sanctuaries, of perfect Egyptian' character. They\nare in the form of a square of about thirty or forty feet, with\nmany doors, composed of three pieces; two portals and an\narchitrave, with a cornice. Their inner surfaces are sculptured\nwith designs representing the sacrifices of beasts, and there are\nalso inscriptions in unknown arrow-headed characters, cut in\nmonoliths, which stand between these doors, and which are so\nhighly polished as to reflect almost like a mirror. The proportions of the doors are extremely massive, and their passages\nare so narrow as scarcely to admit of two persons passing each\nother. The portals of the gates of all the sanctuaries are\ncovered with inscriptions, and with sculptures of bearded\nwarriors armed with spears, bows and arrows, shields, and with\nhelmets; and also with representations of priests, some standing\nwith umbrellas held over them, and others sitting on chairs or\nthrones supported by rows of slaves.\nAt the back of the great temple, and hewn in the rocks, are\ntwo large cave-tombs, which may have been the receptacles of\nthe Sassanian kings; as Malcolm recites, how, after the final\ndefeat of Yezdijerd, at the battle of Nahavund, when the\nliberties of Persia were subverted by the fanatic Moslems who\nobeyed the reigning Caliph of Baghdad, the \" Commander of\nthe Faithful,\" the corpse of the last sovereign of the dynasty\nof Sassan, was interred iri the sepulchres of Istakhar, or Persepolis. In the rock-hewn caverns of this city, the parchments\ncontaining the precepts of the new faith of Zoroaster were\ndeposited by order of Gushtasp, the reigning King of Persia,\nabout the fifth century before Christ. A great amount of\nrubbish blocks up the mouths of these caverns, and we are not\naware that any attempt has been made to clear away the accumulation of ages and explore the recesses,- the contents of\nwhich might throw light on some of the most obscure portions\nof Persian history, even if the search was not rewarded by a\ndiscovery of the missing parchments or the mouldering remains\nof the Sassanian kings.\nThe hill-fort of Istakhar, from which these ruins take their\nname among the Persians, is entirely in ruins. It was last used\nas a place of confinement in a.d. 1492, when Sultan Ali and\nhis brothers, in the disputes to succession among the early\nSaffavean devotees, were imprisoned here for upwards of four\nyears.*\nThere are no marks of fire about the temple, though\nQuintus Curtius states that after the abandonment of the city by\nthe Persians and its \"occupation by Alexander, at a feast succeeding the pillage, Thais, a courtesan of Greece, induced the\ndrunken king to seize a torch, and set fire to the palace, an\nexample which was followed by all his officers. \"The\npalace,\" says this writer, \" was built chiefly of cedar, and the\ndestruction was so complete, that but for the Araxes, which\nran near it, pointing out its site, not a vestige of it could be\nfound.\" He observes that Alexander spared the citadel, and\nleft there a garrison of 3,000 men. Diodorus Siculus says,\nthat the Macedonian monarch abandoned Persepolis to the\nNameh\"\u2014or Book of Kings\u2014with  the sovereigns  of Herodotus and\nother Greek authors, is treated  at length, and with consummate ability,\nby Sir John Malcolm, in the Appendix to his \" History of Persia.\"\n* Malcolm's \" Hi-story of Persia.\"\npillage of his soldiers\u2014he spared the palace; and, according\nto Arrian, it was the castle that was burnt.\nThe journey from Shiraz to Ispahan abounds with remains\nattesting the ancient glories of Persia. Thus, besides Persepolis, a little further on the traveller comes to some ruins\ncalled Mader-e-Suliman, or the Mother of Solomon. These,\nsays the author of the \" Sketches of Persia,\" have been almost as\nmuch the object of conjecture on the part of travellers as the\nruins of Persepolis. Many insist that this is the tomb of Bath-\nsheba, the wife of Uriah and also of David, and the mothei\nof Solomon ; though there naturally arises the objection to this\nhypothesis that there is no record of either Solomon or his\nmother ever having been near the spot during life, so that it\nwas unlikely to have been selected as the burial-place of the\nlatter after death. Another account states it to have been the\ntomb of Suliman, the tenth Caliph of the race of Ali; but\nagainst this idea there is decisive evidence in the very ancient\nstyle of the architecture, and the inscriptions, which are in the\narrow-headed character. Some antiquaries, again, have identified it with Pasargadse, the resting-place of the mighty Cyrus.\nArrian says that Alexander learned with mortification that the\ntomb of Cyrus, at Pasargadse, had been opened and pillaged,\nand describes it as placed in the park of the castle in that city,\nsurrounded by a wood with fountains and meadows.\nOn the site of the modern Meshed,* was the ancient city\nof Toos. Meshed was deemed sacred as containing the tomb\nof the Imaum Ali Reza, and was particularly honoured by Shah\nAbbas, the greatest and last monarch of the Saffavean dynasty\nfounded by Shah Ismail, to whom also the country owes the\nSheeah sect of the Mohammedan religion as the established\nfaith. While the presence of Abbas at Meshed gave prosperity\nand security to the province of Khorassan, in which it is\nsituated, it enabled him to extend his conquest as far as Balkh.\nAbbas, though distinguished as a soldier, has acquired his chief\nclaim to the gratitude of his countrymen for the protection he\nextended to those engaged in commerce; and to the bridges,\ncaravanserais, and other public buildings he constructed,\nnotably the great causeway, 300 miles in length, in Mazan-\nderan, which exists to the present day. \" The modern\ntraveller,\" says Malcolm, \"who inquires the name of the\nfounder of any of the ancient buildings, receives the ready\nanswer, \" Shah Abbas the Great;\" not from an exact knowledge\nthat he was the founder, but from the habit of considering him\nthe author of every improvement. Sir John Chardin (see\nvol. iii., p. 12, of his works) well says of this most illustrious\nof the modern successors of Jemsheed, Cyrus, and Noslrir-\nvan: \"When this great prince ceased to live, Persia\nceased to prosper.\" On one occasion Abbas, to mark his\ndevotion, walked from his capital, Ispahan, accompanied by all\nhis officers, to Meshed, and the chief astronomer measured\nthe distance with a string. After having been sacked by the\nOozbegs, and the Afghans, Meshed was captured by Agha\nMohammed Khan, the founder of the present Kajir dynasty,\nwho, after receiving the submission of Shah Rokh, the unfortunate grandson of the great Nadir Shah, walked on foot,\nattended by his nobles, to the tomb of Imaum Reza, and\nknelt and kissed the ground in token of his devotion to the\nsacred site.\n* In the Illustrated Travels (vol. iv., 1873) is an article by the\nauthor of this paper, entitled \"Persia : her Cities and People,\" in which\nis a description of Meshed.\nII\n& 'i;is\niiSi\nCsmm\nMl\niiir\n\u20221\n\u00b1v$m 260\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\n!&\u2022!; :\nhurt!\nThe ancient city of Toos is chiefly famous as having been\nthe birthplace of Firdousee, the great historian of Persia, whose\nepic poem, the \" Shah Nameh,\" is considered by critics whose\nopinions are entitled to respect, as little inferior to the \"Iliad\"\nof Homer, while he holds the highest rank among all classes\nof his countrymen, who, from the king to the peasant, recite\npassages from the spirit-stirring stanzas in which are chronicled\nthe victories of Roostum and other national heroes over the\nwarriors of Turan, headed by Afrasiab and Peiran Wisah.\nRoostum was as conspicuous for sagacity as for valour, earning\nthereby the distinction of being regarded as the Nestor of the\nEast. It is related of\nFirdousee that his\npatron, Mahmood of\nGhiznee, one of the\ngreatest conquerors the\nEastern world has produced, was influenced\nby envious rivals to reduce the reward he had\npromised to the m.'.n\nwhose genius shed a\nlustre on his reign, which\nnot all his conquests in\nIndia and Persia could\neclipse. The proud poet\nspurned the gift, and\nadded to his poem a\nbitter satire on the king's\nwant of generosity; and,\nafter giving vent to his\nfeelings, retired to his\nnative city of Toos. At\nlength Mahmood, sensible of his ill-faith,\nsought to retrieve his\ngood name by sending\na large sum to the poet;\nbut the rich present\nreached the gates of\nToos as the body of\nFirdousee was being\nborne to its grave; and\nhis daughter, too proud\nto accept the gift which had been denied to her father, rejected\nit with scorn.*\nAbout eighty miles to the west of Shiraz are the ruins of\nthe ancient city of Shahpoor, founded by Sapor I., orShahpoor,\nthe second sovereign of the Sassanian dynasty, who succeeded\nArdisheer Babigan, the founder, a.d. 260. After his successful\ninvasion of Armenia, he defeated the Roman armies 'in many\nbattles, and took prisoner the Emperor Valerian, and near the\ncity of Shahpoor may be seen at the present day, carved\nupon a rock, a representation of the Persian monarch holding\nValerian prisoner, while he receives some ambassadors, who\nsupplicate the release of the royal captive. Opposite to this\nmonument are some more pieces of historical sculpture. In\none compartment is a king seated in state, amid a group of\nfigures, one of whom offers two heads to him.\nTo Shahpoor also, Persian authorities ascribe the founda-\n* Malcolm's \" History of Persia.\"\nTYPES  OF  MODERN  PLRiLnSS.\ntion of the modern city of Shuster,* situated on the Karoon,\nnearly 36 miles to the east of the ancient capital of Shus or\nSus, said to be derived from a Pehlevee word, signifying\npleasant; Shuster being the comparative, and meaning \"more\npleasant.\" Though Alexander must have passed close to the\npresent site of the ruined city of Shus, Arrian makes no\nmention of it, so that probably it did not exist in his day;\nthough the late General Chesney, in his admirable and\nexhaustive work, is of opinion that the village of Agines, which\nis mentioned as being 500 stadia from Susa, and through\nwhich Alexander passed with  his army, was on the  site of\nthe modern town of\nAhwaz, famous as the\nscene of one of the exploits of the army of Sir\nJames Outram, assisted\nby the Indian navy, during the Persian \\\/ar of\n1856-57. In the neighbourhood of this town,\nand extending at least\nten or twelve miles, are\nthe ruins of this ancient\ncity of Shus. All the\nmounds, which much resemble those of Babylon, are covered with\nhewn stone, bricks, tiles,\npottery, and heaps of\ncircular flat stones, perforated in the centre.\nSome of the mounds are\nof very great extent, and\none measures upwardr\nof 200 feet in height;\n500 yards to the west of\nthis is a ruined edifice\nentirely of stone, measuring fifty feet in height by\ntwenty in breadth, and\nhaving several flights of\nsteps, which, though\nmuch mutilated, may be\ntraced to the summit\nAbout a mile to the east, separated by a deep ravine, stands an\nimmense pile of materials, consisting of huge blocks of stone\nand bricks, which the Arabs aver are the remains of a palace;\nthe height is over 100 feet from the plain below, and on the\nsummit may be seen many stone foundations and pavements,\ntogether with several rounded troughs. The ascent to the\nsummit is gradual but fatiguing, from the numerous furrows\nwhich have been worn in its sides, apparently by water. One\nface of the pile is almost perpendicular, and some bushes\nof camel-thorn at the base are the sole specimens of vegetable\nlife to relieve the gloomy sterility of the surrounding landscape.\nAbout 800 yards in a northerly direction from this ruin is a\nconical mound, having a circumference of 500 feet, the sides\nexhibiting the remains of a wall nine feet in thickness; close to\nthis mound are seven square stone cisterns, sixteen feet long\nThe modern name of this province is Khuzestan ; it was the ancient\nSusiana mentioned by Arrian in his account of Alexander's march. NOTES  ON THE ANCIENT  CITIES  OF  PERSIA.\n261\nand proportionately deep, and some aqueducts which probably conducted water from a ravine to these cisterns.*\nAt the foot of one of these mounds stands the tomb of\nthe prophet Daniel. It is small, and though comparatively\nmodern, the belief is universal that the remains of the prophet\nhe buried beneath its walls.\nTravellers are shown the tower, where, according to tradition, Valerian was confined; but what renders this city most\nremarkable among the ancient monuments of Persia says\nMalcolm, is the dyke in its vicinity, which its founder'th ew\nacross the Karoon, to turn the course of that river into a\nchannel more favourable to agriculture.    This dyke is formed\nnarrates how Noshirvan, \"victorious, and rejected among\nthe princes of Asia, gave audience | his palace of Modair, or\nCtesiphon, to the ambassadors of the world,\" who humbly presented at the foot of his throne their offerings. We have seen\nthis palace, but how changed is the aspect it now presents from\nthat which met the dazzled gaze of these ambassadors as they\npassed beneath its portals eager with expectation, and trembling lest the mighty arbiter of half the world should receive\ntheir advances with a frown instead of the kind favour their\ngifts were intended to propitiate. Nought remains of this\npalace except a stupendous arch called to this day Tauk\nKesra (or Khoosroo), the  \"Arch of Cyrus.\"    It is nearly\nof cut stones, cemented by lime, and fastened together by\nclamps of iron : it is twenty feet broad, and 4,200 feet in\nlength, forming a solid mass, except at the centre, where two\nsmall arches have been constructed, to allow a part of the\nstream to flow in its natural bed. This work is among the\nfew of a useful character in Persia, which abounds in palaces,\nand, unlike the fate which condemns these to ruin and decay,\nthis dyke or \"bund\" fulfils the benevolent object which animated its founder, and fertilises the adjacent beautiful plain.\nAmong the most interesting of the many ruined cities on\nthe banks of the Tigris are Ctesiphon and Seleucia, situated\nopposite each other, the former having been built from the\nmaterials of the latter. Ctesiphon was the capital of Noshirvan,\nthe mighty monarch of the Sassanian dynasty, who, between\nthe years 531 and 579, raised the Parthian empire to the\npinnacle of its greatness. Gibbon, in his immortal work,\n* \"The Land of tt>-<5'in.\"    By Lieut. C. R. Low, (late)I.N. (1870).\nninety feet high by eighty-two feet broad at the base, and\ntowards the rear extends a roofless chamber upwards of 150\nfeet in length.\nGibbon graphically describes the downfall of Ctesiphon,\nwhen, in a.d. 637, the Arabs, with all the zeal and bigotry of\nconverts to the new faith of Mohammed, carried the magnificent\ncity by storm, put the unbelieving inhabitants to the edge of\nthe sword, and pillaged the palace of Noshirvan of all the\npriceless treasures stored within its walls by successive sovereigns. The sack of Ctesiphon was followed by its desertion\nand gradual decay, and the Caliph Omar was persuaded to\nremove the seat of government.\nSeleucia, on the opposite bank of the Tigris, was built\nfrom materials supplied from Babylon, as in its turn it suffered\na similar fate when Ctesiphon arose from its ashes. It was\nfounded by Seleucus Nicator, the successor of Alexander, and\nPliny says that its population numbered 600,000 souls.    Still &.\n262\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nm\nless remains of Seleucia to attest its grandeur than of Ctesiphon.\nTime, violence, and repeated inundations, have levelled every\nbuilding, and nothing can be seen but mounds covered with\nrubbish. All the countries under the dominion of the Sultan\nof Turkey and the Shah of Persia are cursed as with a blight,\nowing to the religion of their inhabitants, and the apathy and\nsensual indulgence of their rulers, and yet, in ancient times,\nflourishing communities covered the plains now occupied by\nthe ruins of Ctesiphon, Seleucia, Susa, and numerous other cities.\nThe territories famous in history as the empires of Babylonia, Assyria, and Parthia\u2014perhaps the most densely populated\nin the world, and gardens of smiling plenty, owing to the\nsystem of irrigation which was practised, of which the remains\nare apparent in Mesopotamia to the present day\u2014are little\nmore than desert wastes, and the traveller may journey for\nhundreds of miles without encountering more than a few\nwandering Bedouins, or a tribe of \" Eelyats \" earning a precarious living by their flocks and herds.\nWe are told that Khoosroo Purveez\u2014who flourished in the\nlatter part of the 6th century, and was the most recklessly extra-\n-vagantof any monarch of even the Sassanian dynasty\u2014employed\nhis enormous wealth in constructing palaces, one for every\nseason. Persian royal magnificence attained its climax during\nthe \"thirty-eight years of his reign, and native writers dilate\nwith wonder on his thrones, which were priceless, particularly\nthat called the Takh-dis, formed to represent the twelve signs\nof the zodiac, and the hours of the day; his treasures; his\nladies, of whom there were 12,000, every one, according to\nthese veracious Persian chroniclers, \"equal to the moon in\nsplendour and beauty;\" his horses, of which 50,000 stood in\nthe royal stables, and his 1,200 elephants. Having subdued\nthe kingdom of Persia, and caused Khoosroo Purveez to fly for\nhis life, though it was only to perish miserably at the hand of\nhis eldest son, the Roman Emperor Heraclius retired, says\nGibbon, \"after six glorious campaigns, to enjoy the Sabbath\nof his toils at Constantinople;\" and very soon the stately\npalaces built by the Persian monarch in the province of Irak,\nfell into ruin, and not a trace of them now exists.\nIn the same part of Persia, about six miles from the modern\ncity of Kermanshah, are some famous excavations from the rock\ncalled the \" Tauk-e-Bostan,\" the \" arch of the garden,\" which\nMalcolm describes as superior to anything of the kind in\nPersia These are hewn out of the foot of the mountain at\nKermanshah, the rock here rising in nearly a perpendicular\ncliff from the plain, with a small brook of clear water flowing\nat the foot, and spanned by two brick arches built in the side\nof the rock. The excavations consist of two caves, in which\nare the sculptured figures, some of which a well-travelled judge\nlike Buckingham considered equal to anything of the kind\nhe had seen in the temples of Upper Egypt. The small cave\nis some fifteen square feet in extent, and about the same\nheight in the centre of the arch, and both the sides and floor\nare perfectly level. The great cave, which is divided from the\nsmall one by a thick wall of rock only, is about twenty-five\nfeet square, and rather more than the same height, with an\narched roof. \" The outer part of the excavation,\" says Buckingham, \"presents a fine broad pilaster on each side, with a\ndevice of a chain and stems of flowers, winding round a central\nstalk, the arch itself being enriched with sculptured mouldings;\nexactly over the centre is an emblematical figure resembling a\ncrescent, and on each side are two angels, larger than life,\nand sculptured in bas-relief. They are robed in fine flowing\ndrapery, have expanded wings, and with one hand extend\ntowards the central symbol a circular wreath of flowers, while\nin the other they hold a vase also filled with flowers. At the\nextremity of this arched excavation is a gigantic figure of a man\non horseback, in full armour, which is supposed to represent\nRoostum, the hereditary prince of Seistan in the reign of\nKy Khoosroo (Cyrus), and the popular hero of Persia, .whose\nachievements in the lengthened war between Persia and\nTartary are described at much length in the \" Shah Nameh \" of\nFirdousee. The horse, whose neck, breast, and shoulders are\ncovered with an ample cloth, richly wrought, is clumsily\ncarved in alto-relievo, as are the other figures; but the rider\nis a spirited representation of the Iranian hero, whose \" seven\nlabours \" or \" stages \" have caused antiquaries to identify him\nwith the Greek Hercules. The figure is about nine or ten\nfeet high, and is in the act of poising his spear; the face is\nmasked, and the body is covered with a coat of armour, formed\nof network, finely woven into a close cloth. Above Roostum\nare three .figures, life-size, which are supposed to represent\nKhoosroo Purveez, his chief minister, and Shereen, his bride,\nwhose beauty and fidelity to her husband when he was a\nfugitive from his throne, has rendered her name and virtues\na favourite theme for Persian poets.\nThe side walls of the cave are covered with sculptures,\nfinely executed, representing in one compartment the hunting,\nof the wild boar along the banks of a river by men in boats\nand on elephants.; and on the other, the chase of a herd of\ndeer or antelopes.\nTradition has it, that these sculptures were the work of\nFerhad, a man of low descent, who was enslaved by the surpassing loveliness of Shereen. He was promised, say the\nPersian romancers, that if he completed his task, he should be\nrewarded with the person of Shereen\"; and when he was on\nthe point of completing his labours, Khoosroo, fearing to lose\nhis mistress, sent an old woman to inform Ferhad that she was\ndead. He was at work on one of the highest parts of the\nrock when he heard the mournful intelligence, and immediately\ncast himself down headlong, and was dashed to pieces.\nThe learned M. de Silvestre de Sacy has, however, in his\n\"Memories sur les Antiquites de la Perse,\" deprived this\nlegend of all foundation as regards these particular sculptures ;\nand, according to a translation of a Pehlevee inscription made\nby this philologist, it appears that two of the figures are\nintended for Shahpoor II. and his son Baharam IV. The\nformer was one of the greatest monarchs of the Sassanian\ndynasty, and his reign extended over a period of seventy-one\nyears, as he was crowned at the moment of his birth. The first\nof his military expeditions was directed against the Arabs of\nthe Persian Gulf, and the memory of the vengeance he took\non them is perpetuated by his title Zoolaktaf, or \" the Lord of\nthe Shoulders,\" which originated from his directing the shoulders\nof his captives to be pierced, and then dislocated by a string\npassed through them. Shahpoor recovered a great part of\nMesopotamia and five other provinces his ancestors lost, defeated the Roman forces, and annexed Armenia. Baharam, or\nVarahram, the Varanes of the Romans, associated himself with\nhis great father in the sculptures of Tauk-e-Bos'tan, and founded\nthe neighbouring city of Kermanshah, which is now a large\nand prosperous town, and the capital of one of the provinces\nof Persia. NOTES  ON  THE ANCIENT  CITIES  OF PERSIA.\n263\nAmong other ancient cities of Persia is Sari, the capital of\nMazanderan, which is a place of importance to the present\nday ; and within the last century there were yet standing here\nfour temples of the ancient Persians, described by Hanway as\n\"built in the shape of a rotunda, about 30 feet in diameter,\nand 120 feet in height.\" Among the few edifices of this description which escaped the persecuting spirit of the Mohammedans may be mentioned those near Baku in Mazanderan,\nwhere there are still some very ancient places of worship sacred\nto fire. These are of stone, and may be termed arched vaults,\nhaving an elevation of about fifteen feet. I To one of the\nsmallest\" says a writer, \" Hindu pilgrims still resort.\" A cane\nor pipe is fixed into the ground.near the altar, and through it\na light blue flame issues, like that emitted by burning fire,\nbut purer. Though this phenomenon would be produced by\nopening the soil in several other spots near Baku which are\nequally impregnated with fire, yet the flame in this temple is\ndeemed sacred and miraculous by the pious pilgrims from the\nGanges. The Guebres, or fire-worshippers, are confined to a\nsmall district of the town of Yezd, but the traveller occasionally\nencounters their agiare, or fire temples, in the most out-of-the-\nway localities, crowning some craggy rock or lonely elevation,\n- near Persepolis. Buckingham saw two fire-temples of which he\ngives drawings in his book. \" Their dimensions were five feet\nsquare at the base, and three at the top, and they were five\nfeet high. There were pillars or pilasters at the corners, and\narches in the sides. In the centre of each of these, on the top,\nwas a square basin, about eighteen inches in diameter, and six\nin depth, for the reception of the fire.\"\nIn Seistan, the frontier province between Persia and\nAfghanistan, and famous in Persian history as the hereditary\nprincipality of Roostum, are. some remarkable ruins, particularly those of Poolkha and Dooshak, or Seistan, described\nby Captain Christie, who travelled through the country. The\nmodern town of Jellalabad stands amid the ruins of the latter\ncity, which, from its extent, must have been as large as\nIspahan.\n\" In the north-westernparts of Persia,\" says Malcolm, \" there\nare few traces of its ancient splendour. Cormeah, a town in\nAzerbijan, celebrated as the birthplace of Zoroaster, and for\nits temples, has nothing left of its former grandeur. Tabreez\nstands on the site of the ancient Tauris, but nothing remains\nto attest its former greatness, though the town, notwithstanding\nthe frequent shocks of earthquake to which \"it has been subjected, is of considerable extent and commercial importance.\"\nAmong the most interesting of the ancient cities of Persia\n' Is Hamadan, the ancient Ecbatana, capital of Media. Sir\nWillkm Jones held that Tabreez was on the site of this city,\nthe antiquity of which is so great that it is recorded by Dio-\ndorus Siculus that Semiramis visited it 2,000 years before\nChrist; but Captain John Macdonald Kinneir, in his learned\nGeographical Memoir of Persia, has proved, beyond possibility of doubt, that Hamadan is the ancient Ecbatana, and\nquotes Pliny, Isidore, and Diodorus Siculus as his authorities.\nThe latter in particular, in describing the visit of Semiramis,\ngives some geographical features which identify Hamadan, as\nthe proximity of Mount Orontes\u2014the Elwand of modern times\n\u2014and the general want of water.\nIt was at Ecbatana that occurred the death of Hephaestion,\nAlexander's favourite, an event which caused the \" Macedonian\n\u2022 madman\" the most poignant grief.    Arrian details at length\nthe manifestations of his sorrow, and Plutarch also confirms\nthe account of the immoderate grief of the king, who, we are!\ntold by Arrian, \" neither tasted food, nor changed his apparel\nfor three whole days, but lay all that while either lamenting, or\nsilently endeavouring to conceal his grief, whilst he commanded\nsumptuous obsequies to be performed at Babylon, at the expense of 10,000 talents, and ordered a strict and public mourning to be observed throughout all the barbarian countries.\"\nHe also ordered the manes and tails of all his horses to be cut,\nand ^Elian states that he cast down the walls of Ecbatana to\nthe ground.\nThe modern town is chiefly remarkable for the tombs of\nMordecai and Esther, which are considered sacred by the Jews\nof the surrounding country, who make pilgrimages to the\nshrines. Sir Gore Ouseley has made a translation of the\nHebrew inscription on the dome, which is as follows:\u2014\n\"Thursday, 15th of the month Adar, in the year 4474* from\nthe creation of the world, was finished the building of this\ntemple over the graves of Mordecai and Esther, by the hands\nof the good-hearted brothers, Elias and Samuel, the sons of the\ndeceased Ismael of Kashan.\" The tombs, which are of black-\ncoloured wood, are evidently of very great antiquity; but the\nfollowing verses from the Book of Esther are still legible.\nI Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose\nname was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Slrimei, the\nson of Kish, a Benjamite. For Mordecai the Jew was next\nunto King Ahasuerus,-and great among the Jews, and accepted\namong the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his\nbrethren, and speaking peace to all Asia.\"\\ The Jews at\nHamadan have no tradition of the causes that led to the interment in this city of Esther and her uncle; and it is probable\ntheir bodies were removed from Susa after the death of\nArtaxerxes, the Ahasuerus of Scripture.\nThe province of Kurdistan, the Carduchia of Grecian\nhistory, contains the ruins of some noteworthy cities. Near\nthe town of Zohaub, the seat of the Kurdish Pasha of Bajilan,\na southern district of Kurdistan, are some ruins visited by\nBuckingham, who describes them, but who does not consider\nthem to be the Dastagherd of antiquity, which was totally destroyed by fire by orders of Heraclius. It has been said that\nthe present town of Zohaub occupies the site of the ancient\nHolwan, which was one of the abodes of Khoosroo Purveez,\nthough geographers differ again as to this, for Macdonald\nKinneir, a conscientious writer and eminent authority, has\nplaced Holwan at a place called Albania, near the thirty-fifth\ndegree of latitude. There are Khoords on the plains on each\nside of the Pass of Zagros, or the Tauk\u2014the \" arch \"\u2014in the\nmountains J of the same name, those on the west being subject\nto the Pasha of Zohaub, who is tributary to Baghdad, and\n\"those on the east to the Persian ruler of Kermanshah. The\nKhoords are the ancient Carduchians, on whose warlike qualities Diodorus, and other authors of antiquity, have expatiated.\n* According to the Jewish chronology.\nf In the Bible this phrase is \"speaking peace to all his seed.\" The\nmore general term, Asia, has probably been added by the vanity of tne\nwriter of the inscription.\nt There were several passes in Mount Zagros, noted by the ancients as\ncommunicating between Babylon, Susa, and Ecbatana.' Strabo mentions\nthree. Over one of these Alexander marched on his return from Ecbatana\nto Babylon, after his expedition against the Cosseans of the mountains\nduring the winter, with Ptolemy, his general, as detailed by Arrian\n(book 7, chap. xv.).\n1 'ir\"1   \u25a0\niMff:\nrill\n-SiS&Wii 1\nIt\n1\nIIS\n264\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nCarduchia, says the same writer, is the country through which\nXenophon conducted his celebrated \" Retreat of the Ten Thousand,\" as detailed in his \" Anabasis,\" as he had determined,\nafter the defeat of the younger Cyrus at Cunaxa, to avoid the\nbarren deserts by which the Grecian army had advanced from\nIssus through Thapsacus on the Euphrates, to Babylon. To\nthis day the Khoords retain their manly independence of\ncharacter, so different from the inhabitants of Baghdad and the\ncities of Persia. Though-nominally under the sway of Persia,\nthe Waly of Ardelan still exercises the functions and enjoys\nthe privileges of a sovereign prince. In Sennah, the capital,\nthere are mosques and priests, the people professing the Soonnee\nsect of the Mohammedan religion, but it is little more than a\nprofession, and they are governed by the usages of their\nancestors, and yield obedience only to their chief, though\nacknowledging the paramount authority of Persia. From the\ntime of Xenophon, who mentions their turbulence and dis-\nI obedience to the mandates of the Persian monarchs, the wild\ntribes of Kurdistan have maintained their independence, and\nthough they succumbed to the Macedonian phalanx, the Roman\nlegion, the wild hordes of Timour, and the levies of Abbas the\nj Great, and to  this clay acknowledge the  supremacy of the\nSultan and the Shah, yet their submission is little more than\ni nominal, and they have discharged their obligations sometimes\nby tribute and sometimes by military service.    Wild and war-\ni like, these  hardy and robust  mountaineers  have held their\nrugged hills and beautiful valleys against all permanent occupation by foreigners for twenty centuries, and the  Turkish\nI government, which claims the districts near the Tigris and in the\n! vicinity of Baghdad, as well as the Persians, who consider them-\ni selves paramount over those to the northward and eastward of\nj that river, alike refrain from pushing their suzerain rights to the\npoint of maintaining garrisons or appointing rulers over a land\nwhich it would be as difficult to conquer as unprofitable to hold.\nESQUIMAUX.\nLeaves from my Journal of the \"Fox's\" Telegraphic Voyage.\u2014III.\nBY   CAPTAIN  J.\nSoon after we had anchored, all the officials of the colony\ncame on board, and great was the amount of talking that\nwent-on. The major and Olafsen had it all their own way j\nand amidst the din, and tobacco-smoke, the only thing that'\ncould be made out was the Danish \" Yah, yah,\" and 1 tele-\ngraphum.\"\nThe barometer had at this time fallen to 28-37. Still we\nhad no sign of bad weather; but Wk that we were once more\nsafely moored, we did not feel so anxious as to the result\nIn this settlement we found very pleasant society, consisting of the Governor, M. Moller, a hearty old gentleman,\nhospitable and gouty, and his son Carl; Mr. Havre a very\nintelllgentlnan,who spoke English well; Mrs. Hayre,'a pretty\nhttle Danish lady; Dr. and Mrs. Proche, Mr. Neison, the\npastor, and Messrs. Anderson and Lytzen, with all of whom\nwe soon became intimate.\nE.   DAVIS,   R.N.\nThe day after our arrival was lovely, but cold. We attempted to wash the decks, but the water froze before it\ncould be got off, and it had to be scraped off. Young ascended\nthe hill at the back of the colony, which is about fifteen\nhundred feet high, from which he obtained a fine view of the\ncountry and fiords. No ice could be seen seaward, excepting\nbergs, and the entrance to the fiord was free. I was so much\nemployed that I could not visit the settlement until the next\nday, when, after dinner, I went on shore and saw the Governor\ndoctor, and pastor, and by the latter was shown the church,\na mce little building, but barely large enough for the population. On the communion table was a glazed earthenware\nfigure of the Saviour on the Cross; on one side, a picture of\nJohn baptising Christ; and on the other, Christ makinsr Himself known to the two disciples at Emmaus. There were also\nthree portraits in the church; one I M much interested to LEAVES FROM  MY JOURNAL OF THE \"FOX'S\" TELEGRAPHIC\nVOYAGE.\n265\nsee\u2014that of the good Hans Egede, the founder of the church\nin Greenland; another of Egede's son, who was the first to\npreach to the Esquimaux in their own language; and the other\nI could not find out who it represented. Another ornament\nwas a neatly-made model of a brig fully rigged, which was suspended from the roof; but what history there was attached to\nit I could not ascertain.\nOn quitting the church we visited the two burial-grounds.\nThe old one was on the hill-side, the bodies being placed on\na rock and built over, which was the old mode of disposing of\nthe dead, the natives having a great objection to interment;\nbut Christianity has overcome their repugnance, or superstition.\nThe new ground is in the valley, where they bury their dead.\nIn the old cemetery one\nof the tombs was partially\nbroken down, and we\ncould see the thigh-bones\nof a human being, with\nsome pieces of sealskin,\nin which the body had\nbeen wrapped, still adhering to it.\nI went to see the\nschoolmaster, who was a\nson-in-law of M. Motzfeldt. One of Motzfeldt's\ndaughters played some\nvery pretty airs on the\nviolin; she had also\ncaught many of the tunes\nof the negro melodies\nfrom the colonel singing\nthem.\nYoung made all the\ninquiries possible respecting Igaliko Fiord\nfrom the different authorities, and learnt that it is\nseldom frozen over, and\nthat it is generally free\nfrom ice, even in the\ndepth of winter; two circumstances tending to cause this, the first being that there\nare no 'glaciers at its head to create a supply of ice, and\nthe second, the fact that more water flows out of the fiord\nthan flows in, and the bergs and loose ice that are driven\nin by the wind and tide are generally carried out by the more\npowerful ebb.\nThe resident from Nennortalik being at Julianehaab at the\ntime of our visit, gave us some interesting particulars respecting the east coast natives, many of whom come round to\nNennortalik and Fredericksthal to trade, bringing bear and\nseal skins, which they exchange for tobacco, knives, needles,\nred flannel, &c.\u2014the last-named article being much used for\nadorning the women's hair, and trimming their dresses. This\nyear more natives had been round than usual, and one family\nfrom beyond Cape Bille, which is considered a great event, for\nthey had attempted it five successive summers, but had failed\nuntil this year. They described the east coast as being more\nfree from ice than it has been for a long period, and they had\nworked their way in shore in the omiacks.\n274\nWINTER QUARTERS,\nThe east coast natives use the bearskin in their dress very\nmuch, and they suffer at times in the winter from starvation,\nand have even resorted to cannibalism, but at those times they\nonly kill and eat the old women.\nWith the information received respecting this fiord, Young\ndecided to examine it by taking the ship to the head, and also,\nat the request of Colonel Shaffner, to examine the country as\nfar as the inland ice, in the event of being able to land a cable\nmore to the southward; to ascertain the practicability of bringing the wire across to this fiord if considered advisable ; and\nthe morning of the 25th being fine, we started early, and proceeded up the fiord, sounding on our way up, M. Motzfeldt\nacting as our pilot.    Mr. Carl Miiller accompanied us, together\nwith four women who\nwere to accompany the\ntravelling party as carriers.\nThe scenery all the\nway up the fiord, though\nbarren, was grand. We\nwere probably the first\nship, certainly the first\nsteamship, that had ever\nbeen in those waters.\nWhen about half-way\nup, and we had stopped\nto sound, an Uskee in\nhis kyak paddled close\nunder the stern, and\nchatted away to his\ncountrywomen on board,\nbut at the first turn of\nthe screw to go ahead\nhe was greatly alarmed,\nthinking it was something alive, and sheered\noff as quickly as possible.\nThere are no dangers\nin the fiord, and the\nlargest ship might navigate it by keeping' a\nhundred yards from the\nshores. Near the head, the fiord forms into two arms, one\nrunning to the eastward, the other to the northward. We\nrounded the point into the east arm, but soon came to\nnewly-formed ice, and so thick that we were stopped; it\nformed one sheet to the head of the arm, a distance of three\nor four miles. With some difficulty we backed out, and\nwent round the point forming the delta into the north arm;\nhere we were fortunate in getting into a nice little bay,\nwhich we named \" Fox Bay,\" where we anchored and moored'\nthe ship to the rocks.\nPreparations were now made for starting the travelling\nparty. The whale-boat, with provisions in, was hauled up on\nthe shore for a dep6t, and to enable the party to return to\nJulianehaab. The next day, after an early dinner, the travelling party, consisting of Dr. Rae, Colonel Shaffner, Von Zeilau,\none of the coxswains, and the four women, landed. Young\nand Motzfeldt accompanied them the first day's march; and\nthe human beings filing away among the barren-looking hills\nhad a very pretty effect.\nI!\nmm 3H1S!\n266\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\n', %4'l\nPlpi\nMl\nifiM\nI\nm\nSoon after they left, Olafsen, Woods, Slesser, and Carl\nMiiller started in a boat for the head of the north fiord, to\nexplore some ruins, supposed to be the ancient Brattalid, near\nthe farm of Igaliko. This party did not succeed in reaching\nthe farm until nightfall, and were obliged to examine the ruins\nby moonlight. It was very cold, so they did not remain long\non the spot.\nThe night was a brilliant moonlight one, and from the vessel,\nthe view at the head of the bay was very fine. Away in the interior rose the mountains of Niviarsidt and Jomfruerne, four to\nfive thousand feet high, and which we had seen from the east\ncoast. They now looked quite close, while all the undulations\nbetween them and the bay seemed more distinct than in the\nday. This lonely scene felt almost more lonely by the unearthly barking of the foxes on the shore. We had set some\ntraps to catch them, but they were too wary.\nI made a sketch survey of the bay, and obtained some\nvery good astronomical observations. It is a very snug and\npleasant spot for a yacht to' anchor in; the land about it is\nrich in vegetation, a quantity of brushwood and dwarf willow,\nin many places growing to the height of two or three feet,\nalso an abundance of juniper, and a long, coarse grass.\nOn my way to examine some ruins said to be in the next\nbay, I met Young and Motzfeldt; and as Young intended returning in the ship at once to Julianehaab, I was obliged to\nforego my visit and return with them.\nAfter leaving Fox Bay, the travelling party had passed\nround to the northward of the high mountain which divides the\ntwo arms of the fiord, then passed down to the head of the\nnorth-east arm, opposite Kaksiarsak, and encamped in a valley\nthere. The ground being frozen, the travelling was good, but\ngame scarce. They only saw four ptarmigan, two foxes, and\none hare on their march. Encamping, they made a good fire\nwith dead wood, a quantity of which was found on the spot.\nThey also discovered some ruins near, and used some of the\nstones to keep the tent down. The night being fine, and nine\npersons in the tent, they slept comfortably.\nVon Zeilau had quitted Rae's party to obtain a view of the\ninland ice, and intended then to have gone back to the ship,\nbut when we got to the vessel he had not returned; and, as\nthere was no time to be lost if we intended getting to Julianehaab before dark, we left the dingy, and a man, to await his\narrival and bring him down. We also sent off an Uskee with\nprovisions for Rae, as they had found on encamping for the\nnight that no provisions had been brought for the women, and\nthey were consequently short.\nWe got away by noon, and started right down the fiord;\nit soon began to snow, and the weather, got very thick; we\nkept the north-west shore on board and in sight, and reached\nJulianehaab just in time, for we had scarcely got the ship\nsecured, when it became so dark and thick that we could not\nsee a hundred yards.\nWe could not help thinking with some anxiety about Von\nZeilau, for if he had left Rae's party to return to the ship without a compass, with the thick snow, it would be impossible for\nhim to find his way to the boat; and even Rae and his party\nmust be critically'placed with a heavy fall of snow in the\ninterior. The only satisfaction we had was the knowledge\nthat, had we remained at Fox Bay, we could not have bettered\nhis condition.\nThe next day, Sunday, the 28th of October, was fine, with\na northerly wind. After-church, I went on shore, and found\nevery one very busy; the great event of the season\u2014the sailing of the Northern Light, the Company's annual ship\u2014was\nabout to take place, and great was the commotion on the occasion, and great the leave-taking that was to separate the exiles\nfrom their countrymen for another year. The ship sailed at\none o'clock, and the settlement sank to more than its usual\nquietness. The evening was lovely, and some girls singing very\nsweetly on the forecastle sent my thoughts far, far away.\nVon Zeilau returned in the middle of the night; he had\nreached Fox Bay half an hour after we left, and fortunately got\nto the boat before the thick weather came on.\nHaving surveyed the upper part of the fiord, we now proceeded to examine the entrance, to make sure that we should\nhave at least one port into which we could bring a telegraph\ncable; and having a fine day on Monday, we started in the\nvessel, for that purpose, sounding down the centre of the fiord,\na proceeding by no means either easy or pleasant; the temperature being some degrees below freezing-point, the line\nfroze as it came in, and a pile of ice formed under the reel, from\nthe dripping.\nThe difficulty of fixing the position of the vessel, both in\ngoing out and returning, was great, the whole country being\ncovered with snow; the points were not easily distinguishable,\nand every attempt to estimate a distance, even to an approximation, was a failure.\nReturning to our moorings, we made preparations for\nleaving, only awaiting the arrival of our land party, -about\nwhom we could not feel comfortable, as from an eminence we\ncould see that the fiord was frozen over from below Ekaluit,\nand of course it must be so to the head.\nWe did not lose the time thus afforded us, but made a\nsurvey of the fiord and anchorage, as far as it was practicable,\nbut it was cold, miserable work, handling instruments and\nsounding with the temperature at 200. Woods, also, with a\nperseverance that did him great credit, photographed everything worth photographing, although many of the negatives\nwere spoilt by the cold, the collodion cracking; it was literally\n\"the pursuit of knowledge under difficulties.\"\nA party of Moravian missionaries, with some of their wives,\narrived from the south, with the intention of going to Denmark\nby the Northern Light, and were much disappointed to find\nthat she had sailed, as they would have to wait another year.\nOne priest, who had been disappointed' three successive years,\nand was going home to be married, begged a passage of Young,\nwhich was granted, provided he could put up with such accommodation as we could give, which the poor fellow was quite\nwilling to do.\nAs an instance of the deceptive appearance of the land as\nregards distance caused by the clear atmosphere, I resolved to\ncross to the island of Akkia, immediately opposite Julianehaab,\non the summit of which I intended obtaining observations for\nlatitude; and the position commanding an extensive view ot\nthe coast\u2014a round of theodolite angles to all the neighbouring\nislands and points\u2014I started in what I considered ample time\nto insure being in position before noon; but it took twice the\ntime I calculated to get to the island, and then the Uskee\nguide told me it would take three hours to reach the summit,\nwhich, after the long pull, I could readily believe; so I was\nobliged to content myself by obtaining such observations as I\ncould from the summit of a small hill near the fiord. SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT  FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN  WEST AFRICA. 267\nSenegambia ; With an Account of Recent French Operations in West Africa.\u2014IX.\nBY  LIEUTENANT  C.   R.   LOW,   (LATE)   H.M.   INDIAN  NAVY.\nENGAGEMENT AT THIES,   AND ATTACK ON THE FORTIFIED  STATION\nOF POUT (coil iliucd).\nThe village of Tine's, which was surprised'at daybreak on the\n12th June, 1862, was quickly taken and destroyed, and 200\noxen fell into the hands of the French. The enemy, protected\nby a wooded tract of country, tried several times to recover the\nherd, but were repulsed on each occasion, and at length retired\nwith great loss.\nThroughout this expedition, led by Commander Pinet-\nLaprade, the men vied with one another in ardour and courage,\nand fought or marched for twelve hours continuously. The\ncasualties numbered only one man killed, and twelve wounded,\nincluding M. Gillet, surgeon of the second class, and five men\nslightly injured. Considering the small number of men engaged, this result proves how persevering the enemy had been\nin his fruitless attempts to recover the herd.\nThe severe lesson inflicted on the village of Thie's produced\nthe most salutary effect on the surrounding tribes. To prevent\nthe recurrence of those plundering incursions which had rendered the expedition necessary, Commander Pinet-Laprade\njudged it advisable to protect the road leading from Diander\nto Baol and passing by Pout and Tine's.\nIn fact, the caravans which bring the products of Baol to\nthe factories dependent on Goree, have to pass through a thick\nwood between Thie's and Pout, and they are often exposed\nthere to the attacks of the Serers-Nones of Diobas, a very\nsavage tribe, who, under shelter of their forests, have managed\nto remain independent of the neighbouring native states.\nA block-house was built at Pout, for the protection of this,\nroad, in April, 1863. On the following 13th of July, the\neight men who formed the garrison of this block-house,\nthinking the Serers would never dream of attacking them,\nwere surprised and massacred without offering the least resistance. The block-house was . sacked by the enemy, and\n' again occupied some hours afterwards by the sergeant in\ncharge, who had alone escaped and collected the contingents\nof the surrounding villages.\nA new and stronger garrison, commanded by the sublieutenant, M. Cauvin, of the 4* Infantry (marines), and\ncomposed of twenty men of the same regiment, of two artillerymen, and ten Senegal skirmishers, was placed in this blockhouse, which the Serers, emboldened by their first success,\nprepared to attack a second time.\nOn the 20th August, 1863, about 500 men arrived before\nthe block-house, and 150 of them approached and began the\nattack; but everybody was on the watch, so the enemy were\nrepulsed after an action of twenty-five minutes. The Serers-\nNones of Diobas suffered severe loss, which was estimated at\nnineteen killed and more than twenty wounded ; on the French\nside, one skirmisher and one courier slightly wounded. This\nfruitless attempt proved to the natives that their efforts against\nthis small garrisoned post were ineffectu\nThe ou\nunpunished\ntburst of the 13th July could not, however, remain\nColonel Laprade, chief commandant\nof Goree, at the head\nof a column of 700 regulars and 300 volunteers, having crossed\nthe woody pass between Pout and Thie's on the 27th April,\n1864, without encountering any resistance, occupied Thie's, and\nimmediately began to construct a guard-house there.\nOn the morning of the 30th, the troops crossed one of the\nmost difficult paths in the midst of the rocks and woods without striking a blow, and invaded the villages of the Serers-\nNones of Diobas, these having had a share in the massacre of\nthe little garrison.\nThese villages were pillaged and destroyed. The volunteers, who were alone engaged, had a few men killed and twenty\nwounded. Having inflicted this punishment, the troops re-\n' turned to Thies on the 1st Ma}-, and the colonel left the\ngarrison of Goree there to finish the construction of the guardhouse.\nTHE  CAYOR  EXPEDITION,   1861.\nIn the beginning of 1861, Cayor was the only state in\nSenegal witri which the French had no treaty of peace ; yet it\nextends from St. Louis to Goree, their two principal settlements on the West Coast of Africa. Up to the above year the\ncorrespondence between these two important towns had been\nconducted simply by a foot messenger, whose route lay along\nthe coast. The journey, of about fifteen French leagues, he\naccomplished in three days.\nThe country of Cayor is agricultural, and affords much produce. The farmers of the revenues, when transporting this\nproduce into the interior, were frequently pillaged or fleeced\nby the armed retainers * of the chiefs.\nBut the worst complaint that has ever been made against\nI the Cayor government is, that the king, or \" Darnel,\" when his\nordinary revenues do not sufficiently provide for his wants, and\nhe wishes to procure horses, brandy, powder, muskets, or any\nother article, arrogates to himself the right of carrying off, by\nmeans of his soldiers, not only the herds of oxen and other\nproperty of his subjects, but even his subjects themselves, freemen or captives, for sale either amongst the Moors, or the\ninhabitants of Fouta. Hence arose a frightful depopulation,\nand a want of security injurious to commerce.\nFor a long time the French contented themselves with\nregretting this condition of affairs, especially as regards the\nkidnapping of the wretched people, which was merely another\nphase of the slave trade, and one which, amongst all the chiefs\nof Senegal, the kings of Ooulof and Serer had alone preserved.\nThe\u00b0deshe to put a stop to these enormities, and to establish telegraphic communication between St. Louis and Goree,\nand have relays of horse-couriers and caravanserais to facilitate\nthe land journeys between the two towns, led the French, in\n18 50 to propose to Darnel Biraima, a treaty in which he made\nall these concessions. But hardly was the treaty signed, when\nBiraima died ; and his father and successor, Darnel Macodou,\nrefused to ratify it A military demonstration was therefore\ndecided upon against this chief, j order to compel the execution of the treaty made with Biraima.\n* These retainers are called \" tiedo.\"\n\u00abN Stt-rfM\n< fer1-\n268\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\naii^\nm\nAs a contest with Cayor appeared a serious undertaking,\non account of the Darnel's supposed strength, and the difficulties of a country in which there was no watercourse available for\nthe revictualling of the troops, reinforcements were sent to the\nGovernor from Algeria, in the end of December, i860.\nIn order to retain the troops the shortest possible time in the\ncolony, operations were immediately commenced; the Senegal\ncolumn, which had set out from Gandiole in the morning of\nthe 2nd of January, 1861, arrived at Benou-Mboro on the 6th.\nThe road lies along the course of some fresh or briny lakes\nand marshes, surrounded by charming oases of verdure where\npalm-trees predominate, and are cultivated for the sake of\ntheir palm-oil by custodians placed there by the chiefs of the\ncountries.   This belt of low-land and water, which is rather\nwith that of St. Louis at Benou-Mboro. The despatch-boats\nEtoile, Captain Aube, Africain, Captain Lescaze, and the cutter\nEcureuil, Captain Hamon, already arrived at Benou-Mboro,\nbegan the same day, notwithstanding the violence of the\nbreakers on this coast, to land the provisions and stores with\nwhich they were laden, assisted by the pirogues of Guet-Ndar.\nThe Governor took the general command of the troops,\nwhich numbered 2,200 men. These, consisting of 380 infantry\n(marines), were commanded by Captain Hopffer; three companies of Algerian skirmishers, and a squadron of Spahis,\nnumbering 100 horsemen. The mobilised militia of St. Louis\nhad furnished 250, that of Goree 125 men. There were,\nbesides, 300 volunteers from the suburbs of Goree. The\nartillery furnished two rifled guns, four mountain howitzers,\n!l!Pi\nmm\nNATIVE TYPES\u2014SENEGAL.\ni\nnarrow, lies about one or two leagues from the coast, and\ncontains no villages, but only a few groups of huts and flocks.\nFresh water is to be found there at all seasons, near the surface\nof the soil. Two or three leagues from Niayes, in the direction\nof the interior, is Cayor, which comprises many villages, some\nof them very large, but having water which is found only in\nwells, generally very deep.\nSix hundred men of the \"goums\"* of Oualo, commanded\nby Captain Azan, had been stationed on observation at\nMerinaghen, in case of serious hostilities being engaged in\nwith Cayor, and 300 volunteers from the outskirts of St\nLouis had taken up their position at Ker, in order to restrain,\nif needful, the population of Mbaouar, and to insure communication with the rear-guard.\nThe column of Goree, under the orders of Commandant\nLaprade, had set out from Rufisque at three o'clock on the\nmorning of the 4th January, and on the 7th effected a junction\n* \"Goum,\" a contingent furnished by every Arab tribe for military\nexpeditions.\ntwo rocket-tubes, and 200 men, commanded by Major\nDutemps; z.peloton of the military train, sent from Algeria, was\nunder Lieutenant Combalot. The captain of the Spahis of\nNegroni acted as chief staff-officer, M. Chassaniol was chief\nsurgeon, Captain Sub-director Maritz, chief engineer, Assistant-\nCommissary Liautaud was army-commissary, and Captain Flize\nwas entrusted \"with the direction of native affairs, guides, and\nrequisitions. The column being stronger than was necessary,\nthe volunteers from Goree were sent back to Taiba, in Diander,\nto take up their position there, and to insure communications\nwith Goree.\nThree or four days before, Darnel Macodou, hearing of the\narrival of the Governor at Tiakhmat and the approach from the\nsouth of the Goree troops, had left his capital, Mekhey, for\nNdande, eight leagues * to the north-east. He summoned his\nwarriors around him, declaring that he took this step, not for\nthe purpose of making war on the white man, but for the conquest of Baol, a neighbouring country, which he wished to annex\n* A French league is equal to 2-42 English miles. SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH  OPERATIONS IN WEST AFRICA.\n269\nto his own, as had been done in the time of several of his predecessors. From Ndande, he wrote to the Governor to say\nthat he was astonished to see him enter his country with an\narmy; that if he desired anything, he might ask it, and not\ntake it by force, and that if these observations were not agreeable to him, they should meet again, God willing.\nAfter replying to this letter by reproaching the Darnel for\nhaving broken his promises, and violated a treaty signed by his\npredecessor, the Governor hastened to place troops in the guardhouse at Mboro, in order that he might have his supplies and\nhis sick there, and set out at five o'clock on the morning of the\n12th, for Mekhey, the residence of Macodou, where he arrived\nCayor, with their forces, for the purpose of exciting the country\nagainst Macodou. This threatened greatly to complicate matters, so the Governor, believing it sufficiently proved that the\nDarnel would not wait for him, and fearing to plunge Cayor into\na civil war, whence could only result great losses to commerce\nwithout any compensating advantages, declared to these two\nchiefs that he was not at war with the Daniel, and that he would\nin no wise encourage their enterprise; and wrote to the Darnel\nthat since he confessed he could not resist him, and granted\nall his demands, the troops would return to the sea in order to\ncontinue the construction of armed posts.\nIn a march of eight hours, from four p.m. to midnight on\nASSAULT  ON THE FORT OF D1NA.\non the 13 th, after having bivouacked during the night of the\nI2th-i3th at Diati.\nThe distance from Diati to Mekhey is only a two hours'\nmarch. Water is abundant in both these villages, which have\nseveral large wells. But, this same night of the r2th-i3th,\nMacodou, hearing of the arrival of the French at Diati, and\nbelieving that they were marching towards him, escaped from\nNdande in great haste, and took refuge at Ntaggar, which is\neight leagues distant.\nTo withdraw eight leagues every time the French riioved\ntowards him was not the way to encounter his enemies in battle.\nBut, in fact, Macodou had completely changed his plans, for he\nnow wrote to the Governor that he would grant all he wished,\nbut that he begged him to advance no further into the country,\nand to await his envoys at Mekhey, or rather at Mboro.\nAbout the same time there arrived at Pire (a village situated\nabout ten leagues south of Mekhey) the King of Djiolof,\nSilmakha-Dieng, and Beur-Guet, a pr\netender to the throne of\n\"the 13 th, the column returned to Mboro, ana remained there\nduring the 14th and 15th. Silmakha-Dieng and Beur-Guet reentered Baol, and the former returned shortly after to Djiolof.\nOn the 16th of January, at five o'clock in the morning,\nthe French troops set out for Mbidjen, the second station, and\narrived there on the 19th, at nine a.m. The column was now\nonly 1,500 strong, the rest of the men having been left\n.behind at Mboro as superfluous.        ,\n. On the 19 th and 20th, the despatch-boat Etoile landed provisions and stores at Cayor, with the help of the pirogues of\nYof, notwithstanding the dangers of this anchorage. The\nwhole was transported from Cayor to Mbidjen, a distance of six\nkilometres,* by the troops and beasts of burden.\nOn the 21 st, at six a.m., judging that Commandant Laprade\ndid not need his co-operation, the Governor again left Mboro\nwith one half of his column, leaving the troops of the Goree\n* A kilometre is equal to 1,000 metres, and as a metre is equal to 39 -37\ninches, a kilometre measures o-62 of an English mile.\nw\nm\niii'iBi\ntagJii\nLmasii\nii! I!\n270\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nEll\nvfi.tr\nwG;\nM*Wi \u25a0\n^arrison and the Algerian skirmishers to construct the guardhouse under the direction of Captain Fulcraud, a task which\noccupied two days.\nAt nine o'clock on the 22nd of January, the Governor arrived\nat Mboro, and, considering that peace was secured, immediately\nsent back to St. Louis the mobilised militia. It was ascertained that the Darnel, with his united forces, had gone to Batal,\nsouth-west of Ntaggar, in the direction of Baol, which he wished\nto attack, but that the chiefs of his army were unwilling to\nmake war upon Baol. Besides, all the country was perfectly\nquiet, and the caravans \"still continued to travel over it.\nA gaitison of fifty men was therefore left at Mboro, and at\nfour o'clock in the afternoon of the 23rd, the troops, to the\nnumber of 700 men, set out to return to St. Louis, and on\nthe way the Governor intended to make choice of a site for the\nthird guard-house. He fixed upon Lampoul, which is nearly\nhalf-way between Gandiole and Mboro, ten kilometres from the\nsea and in very good condition. On the 27th, at half-past two\nin the afternoon, they had returned to Gandiole.\nThe squadron of Spahis commanded by Captain Baussin,\nwith Captain Flize, making a devour, had passed by Dianaour,\nthe chief town of Mbaouar, in order to threaten this district,\nwhich at times showed itself turbulent\nCommandant Laprade's column, after having passed by the\nclosed village of Sognofil, with a similar intent, had re-entered\nDakar on the 26th. The expedition being carried on during\nthe month of January, the healtii of the men was greatly\ntried by the extreme chill and dampness of the nights at this\nseason. Those who were without cloth trousers or blankets\nsuffered much, and frequently fell ill of diarrhoea. In December\nand January, cloth trousers are a necessity, though perhaps\nthey may be rather oppressive during the mid-day heat. As to\nblankets, they are too great a burden for the men, who have\nto carry their arms, ammunition, and sometimes their provisions.\nIn most of the large villages of Cayor there are wells which\nare capable of supplying a column of 1,500 men; at all events,\nwells are always to be found at a short distance for watering\nthe animals.\nAfter this expedition, a project of a treaty of peace was\nsent to Macodou, who returned it signed on February 9th,\nwith a letter full of protestations of friendship and promises to\nexecute scrupulously the stipulated conditions.*\n* The following is the original of this treaty:\u2014\n\"Art. 1.\u2014The Governor of Senegal assures to the Darnel, on all the\nfrontiers of Cayor, the receipt of his export duties on the produce of this\ncountry, as fixed by the customary tariff.\n\"Art. 2.\u2014The frontier of Cayor extends to Vinde-Bourli in the north,\n'o Tanma in the south.\n\" Art. 3.\u2014All the coast between Niayes and the sea is French. Niayes,\nbetween Vinde-Bourli and Tanma, remains the property of the Darnel.\n\" Art. 4.\u2014The Darnel guarantees perfect security on the road from St.\nLouis to Goree, passing by Lampoul, Mboro, and Mbidjen, to couriers,\nsolitary travellers, caravans, and detachments of troops.\n\" Art. 5.\u2014French subjects and their allies shall find throughout Cayor,\nfor themselves and for their property, the same protection that the subjects\no'\" the Darnel find in our settlements.\n\" Art. 6.\u2014The Darnel promises no longer to sell any of his free subjects,\nalso no longer to allow his tiedo to attack any village, with the sole purpose of pillaging it. He will no longer make slaves of the foreigners who\npass through his country.\n\"Act. 7.\u2014In compensation for the territories we annex, and which\ninclude the Salt-works of Gandiole (these salt-works will afford the colony\na considerable annual revenue), the' Darnel will receive :\u20141st, Acquittal\nOn the 12th of February, Lieutenant-Colonel Faron, having\nunder his orders 200 infantry (marines), 300 skirmishers of\nSenegal, 100 artillerymen, and 100 engineers, was sent to\ncarry on the construction of the third station, that of Lampoul, under the direction of Captain Gazel of the engineers.\nThe Etoile proceeded to land the stores on the coast, and the\ntransport across country for nearly three leagues was very\nlaborious, but the difficulties were happily surmounted, and the\ncolumn returned in good health to St. Louis, on the 21st\nof February. At the same time the material for the telegraph\narrived, and the line between St. Louis and Goree was immediately commenced.\nOPERATIONS ON THE CASAMANZA.\nBelow Goree is the mouth of the Casamanza, where the\nFrench have tolerably important commercial interests. The\nLower Casamanza has been completely subject to them\nsince the month of March, i860.\nIn November of the same year, M. Parchappe, midshipman,\ncommanding the small despatch-boat Griffon, had inflicted\na severe lesson on the Balantes, a nearly savage tribe half-way\nup the course of the river, destroying, with a handful of men,\nand after a long and well-contested action, their principal\nvillage, Couniara.\nThis officer had twenty-four men killed or wounded, and\nhimself received a slight wound in the chest. Twenty Balantes\nhad remained in the village, and the tribe had acceded to a\ntreaty.\nThere was yet revenge to be taken in Upper Casamanza,\nupon the large Mussulman negro villages of Souna, for a series\nof outrages and violence which had lasted many years. In\n1855, the people of Bouniadiou had' pillaged French vessels\nand massacred the crews. In i860, they had treacherously\ncarried off Lieutenant Falin, who had unsuspectingly disembarked on their coast. In 1856, the people of Sandinieri had\nrobbed the French factories, and in i860, they had insolently\ndeclared to the commandant of Goree that they would not\nexecute the treaties which they had themselves signed. At\nthe end of the same year, Diondoubou took part in a theft of\n2,500 francs in Sedhiou itself, and at length, on the 5th of\nFebruary, 1861, the inhabitants of Bouniadiou, a village of\nPacao, on the right bank, robbed the French revenue-farmers\nto the Value of 10,000 francs.\nIn these and other troubles in Senegambia, the Marabouts\nwere generally found to have acted the part of fomenters.\nWhen Mohammedanism in its most corrupt phase superseded\nthe ancient idolatrous worship which formed the only religion\nof the inhabitants of these regions, a sect of propagandists\ncalled Marabouts sprung into existence. This priestly order,\nwhich has been so frequently referred to in preceding pages,\nwas of so extended a character as to include whole tribes, and\nso insidious in its influence as to gain adherents wherever\ntheir ramifications extended. The Pere Labat,* one of the first\nand most reliable of European writers on this region, after\ndescribing the modest and sedate exterior of the Marabouts,\nof all the sums he owes for former pillages in Cayor; 2nd, Three fine\nhorses ; 3rd, too,000 francs in silver or in merchandise.\n\"Art. 8.\u2014If the Darnel governs his states wisely, the Governor promises\nhim his help against any of his subjects who may revolt, and even against\nhis foreign enemies.\"\n* See tome i., chap. xx. SENEGAMBIA,   AND  RECENT  FRENCH  OPERATION\nS  IN   WEST AFRICA.\n271\nwhich is merely assumed before strangers, adds :\u2014\"But when\nwe remove the veil and penetrate into their private conduct\nand real sentiments, all is found to be mere hypocrisy, dissimulation, avarice, cruelty, ingratitude, superstition, and\nignorance. In vain do you look for any of the moral virtues\namong them\u2014faith, honour, and a regard for their engagements, they have no idea of. They are a set of Mohammedan\nPharisees, who look upon external virtue as the means and\nnecessary instrument of secret fraud, drunkenness, and every\nvice that can debase the human heart.\"\nTo return to the instance of their evil machinations under\nconsideration. The Governor, having determined to put an\nend to the depredations to which his people were subjected,\nordered M. Pinet-Laprade, chief of the engineering battalion,\nand commandant of Goree, to proceed to the-Casamanza with\nhis garrison, reinforced by three companies of Algerian skirmishers just then in the colony, and commanded by Captain\nBechade.\nOn  the   5th  of February.   1861, he left Goree with the\ndespatch-boats    Diabnath,   Africain,   Grand  Bassam,   and\nGriffon; the cutter Ecureuil, the schooner Four mi, and the\n. Trombe.    The flotilla was commanded by Lieutenant Vallon,\nof the Dialmath.\nOn the 10th, at seven a.m., the troops disembarked, to the\nnumber of 700 men, opposite-Sedhiou, marched on Sandinieri,\nand carried this village at the point of the bayonet, notwithstanding the vigorous defence of the inhabitants, by driving\nthem step by step into the thick woods which surround the\nvillage. The French had only four wounded in this affair,\nwhile the enemy left behind them twenty killed and fifty\nprisoners.\nSoon after, a retaliatory attack of the Mandineroes was\nvictoriously repulsed by the French. Captain Millet, with 150\ninfantry (marines), had by an indirect movement attacked the\nenemy in the flank, whilst the skirmishers charged them in\nfront.\nAll was over before eleven o'clock, and at that hour, when\nthe heat was stifling, about twenty soldiers, who had been to the\nriver to quench their thirst, were suddenly surrounded by the\ncontingents of the right bank, who came, though rather late,\nto the help of the Sandinieri. The marine infantry and the\nAlgerian skirmishers flew to their arms, and, quick as thought,\nthey in their turn surrounded the assailants and threw into the\nriver those they did not kill on the spot. The party which\nhad been surrounded lost, before the arrival of this reinforcement, three men killed and two officers severely wounded by\nsabre and axe blows.\nThe next day, Commandant Laprade, leaving Lieutenant\nVallon with sixty laptots and 100 marines in the village of the\nrevenue-farmers of Sandinieri, to protect it, if needful, and to\nguard the flocks taken the day before, directed Captain\nFulcraud to destroy Diondoubou, with the Algerian skirmishers, and 100 men of the marines and artillery, commanded\nby Captain Prieur. The operation succeeded perfectly, notwithstanding the resistance of the enemy, who made an offensive\nmovement which was repulsed by the^ company of Captain\nPontecoulaut, and the column returned to Sandinieri about\n.one o'clock, having left at six in the morning. While this was\ngoing on, the Griffon, in order to make a diversion, had burnt\nthe village of Niagabar.\nIn the afternoon, the company of the  2nd regiment of\nAlgerian skirmishers (Captain Girard), having turned aside\nsome few hundred metres to render the last duties to a dead\ncomrade, received a lively discharge of musketry from the\nneighbouring thickets. Happy in finding an occasion to\navenge their comrade, the skirmishers, aided by the laptots\nand a section of infantry, rushed into the woods, surrounded\na party of the enemy, and killed a good number of them.\nThis was the last episode in the resistance of the Deople of\nSouna.\nOn the 12 th, at three o'clock in the afternoon, notwithstanding the offers of submission, the village of Bouniadiou\nwas burnt, the inhabitants having abandoned it at the approach\nof the French.\nOn the following day (13th), the chiefs of the left bank\n(Souna), and the right bank (Pacao and Yacine), came to\noffer their submission to the commandant of Goree, begging\nfor peace and protesting the most entire submission. Pardon\nwas granted them on conditions very advantageous to the\nFrench.*\nIn all these skirmishes, the enemy had left a hundred dead\non the field. The French had in all but four- killed and fifteen\nwounded.\nOPERATIONS  IN  SINE AND  SALUM.\nThe French had likewise to take revenge for acts of pillage\nand violations of treaties in the kingdoms of Sine and Salum.\nImmediately upon his return from the Casamanza, Commandant Laprade, with his garrison, reinforced by three companies of Algerian skirmishers, entered the kingdom of Salum.\nOn the 3rd March, 1861, he carried the capital by surprise,\nand, without striking a blow, took 300 prisoners; amongst them\nthe whole royal family (about thirty persons, men, women, and\nchildren).\nThe King of Salum quickly sued for peace..\nThe column next moved on Diakhao, the capital of Sine,\nand the king of this country hastily accepted all French conditions, in order to induce them to quit his capital.\nThus, in one week, the expedition was happily concluded,\nand the two kings swore in future faithfully to execute the\ntreaties; they also paid fines and gave hostages. The troops\nreturned to Goree on the nth March; and, notwithstanding\nthe overwhelming heat, left no stragglers in the enemy's hands.\nThe result of this surprise was to raise French prestige and\ninfluence, while commercial operations were everywhere immediately reopened.\nEXPEDITIONS   TO   CAYOR,    1861-64.\nIn a previous chapter appeared an account of the expedition\nundertaken in January, 1861, against the King of Cayor, which\nresulted in his signing a treaty of peace on the 9th of February.\n* The following is the original text of the treaty signed with these\nchiefs :\u2014\n\" Art. 1.\u2014Souna acknowledges the sovereignty of France.\n\" Art. 2.\u2014Any French subject may settle in Souna, purchasing from the\ninhabitants any land which he requires. He may cut down without charge\nall the wood he needs for his establishment and boats. No foreigner may\nsettle in Souna without the authorisation of the French Government.\n\" Art. 3.\u2014Frenchmen and foreigners trading in Souna will be subject\nonly to the charges agreed upon by the French authorities.\n'' Arc. 4. Souna is to restore immediately all plundered articles, and pay\n5,000 francs as a war tax.\n\u00ab Art. 5. As a guarantee for the execution of this treaty, Souna will\ndeliver up as hostages four of the sons of its principal chiefs.\n\u00ab Art. 6.\u2014All anterior conditions aic abrogated.\"\nI\n;\nfflW \u00abE.f<\n272\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\n,1-ifm!\n'mi'.\nMA\n.jij\u00abiw!i)i.\nlii\n^l!'!\nBut treaties of peace are valueless in the eyes of all African\npotentates, and this case was no exception. Scarcely was the\nink of the treaty dry, than Macodou violated its provisions;\nand accordingly the Governor of Senegal determined to chastise him. He set out from St. Louis on the 5 th of March,\n1861, accompanied by the garrison of that town, to which he\nadded 300 men of the militia. The weather was very unfavourable, and for ten days a burning wind from the east\nconstantly harassed the troops. After a two days' march, however, they arrived at the station of Lampoul, not far from\nwhich the armed retainers (tiedos) of the malcontent chief had,\ntwo days before, carried off some cattle belonging to Foulahs\nunder French protection, killing or wounding three men; on\nthe other hand, Lieutenant Joyau, the station commandant,\nshot four armed spies who had been seen prowling about\nhis station.\nHaving started in the night from Lampoul, the column\nadvanced direct upon the capital of Cayor, Nguiguis, where\nthe Darnel had sent word he was awaiting them. The troops\nspared the first villages, Kab and Robnane, which were inhabited by inoffensive people.\nAfter leaving Robnane, they came to the villages of the\nguilty tiedo; these were burnt. The column arrived on the\n9th at the well of Nkel, the centre of Cayor, two kilometres\nfrom Nguiguis. This excellent well, thirty metres deep, supplies several neighbouring villages.\nThe Darnel had retired to Niasse, in the south-east, instead\nof waiting for the troops, as he had promised.\nThis day and the next, on the march from Nkel to Mekhey,\nthe usual residence of the Darnel, the troops burnt all the villages within reach, to the number of twenty-five, including\nNguiguis, without show of resistance. The tiedo taken with\narms in their hands were killed.\nArrived at Mekhey on the 10th, at eight o'clock in the\nmorning, the French laid waste the village, and amongst other\nbuildings, the habitations of the Darnel; they also took 400\nprisoners, the greater number of whom were, however, immediately released by the Governor.\nHere they learnt that the tiedo had rallied around their\nking, and had begun to hold themselves in readiness for an\nattack; but it did not take place at Mekhey.\nIn the afternoon, continuing their march on Mboro, the\ntroops encamped at Diati. In the evening, just at the time of\nposting the guard, they were sharply attacked by a reconnoitring party of the enemy's cavalry. After a moment of\nconfusion, which generally takes place when young and half-\ndisciplined soldiers first come under fire, the French troops\nregained their equanimity. The Spahis vigorously charged the\nenemy, and continued the pursuit, after having killed twenty\nor thirty men. The squadron had three men wounded, one\nmortally, and two horses lost; also, one man had been killed,\nand another wounded, in the camp, at the time of the attack.\nSome prisoners who had been retained had profited by the\noccasion and escaped.\nThe night was calm. Seeing that the tiedo had decided to\nfight, the Governor, instead of setting out the next day for\nMboro, waited for them at Diati.\nSince the morning, cavalry had been sighted on all sides.\nThe artillery fired upon them when the parties were sufficiently\nnumerous, and at an easy distance.\nIn the middle of the day, the militia being at the second\nwell of Diati, one kilometre from the camp, they believed\nthemselves threatened by the enemy's cavalry, the number of\nwhich was increasing. The squadron was sent to give aid, if\nnecessary. It again encountered the tiedo, who were bravely\nawaiting it, charged them, and killed fifteen of the cavalry.\nCaptain Baussin, whose men were too much dispersed, seeing\ntwo parties of Senegal skirmishers coming to his assistance,\nthen gave the rallying-word. Three of his men were wounded,\nand two horses fell into the enemy's hands. Lieutenant\nMerlet had his cap pierced by a ball. The skirmishers, under\nthe orders of Captain Ringot, drove the enemy, with the help\nof the militia who were sent to reinforce them, nearly a league\nfrom the camp; and when Lieutenant-Colonel Faron himself\napproached, witlrthe rest of the battalion and a piece of\nartillery, to engage them, the enemy had completely disappeared.\nOne French soldier had been killed. The enemy left several\ndead on the field of battle.\nAbout half-past five in the evening occurred a serious\nattack upon the French camp by the Darnel's army, commanded\nby the Fara-Seuf, Dao-Coumba, Dior, and other chiefs.\nMasses of cavalry coming from Mekhey, defiled within reach\nof the guns, opposite the first line of the French camp, where\nthe infantry were posted, and moved on as they approached,\nuntil they faced the flank, that of the Senegal sharpshooters.\nThere they resolutely advanced on the troops. Lieutenant-\nColonel Faron received orders to lead his battalion 200 metres\nin advance of the front line, and opened a heavy fire on the\nenemy at a short range, whilst a rifled gun, under Captain\nAllier, who was stationed in an angle, fired at them volleys of\ngrape, with terrible effect.\nAfter an engagement of three-quarters of an hour, the\nenemy scattered and disappeared, whilst the darkness of night\nprevented pursuit.\nTwo parties of riflemen belonging to the 4th Regiment,\nhaving changed from the front to the left, had taken part in\nthe latter part of the action, in wliich there were only three\nmen wounded.\nThe enemy then retired to the village of Mekhey, and during\nthe night the killed and wounded were carried from Diati to\nthis place.\nThe state of supplies and the fatigue of the troops .unfortunately not permitting a march into the interior, and the\nGovernor, thinking the lesson given to the tiedo sufficient,\nordered the troops to depart the next morning very early,\naccording to custom, for Mboro, where they did not arrive till\neleven o'clock, after a march of eight hours. As the report of\na single gun is capable of throwing into disorder a column of\nhalf-disciplined troops preparing to set out on a night march,\nthe usual ringing of bells at the moment of departure was\navoided, but once en roide, the customary bells were heard, as\nthe column no longer feared, an attack.\nUpon the arrival of the troops at Mboro, about ten of the\nenemy's cavalry were seen observing their march from the\nheights. A few of the Pouls fired upon them, and put them to\nflight; which made it evident to the troops that the day after\nthe engagement of the nth, some of the cavalry had come\nfrom Mekhey to prowl about the neighbourhood of Diati.\nSuffering as they had done the day before, they certainly would\nnot have ventured near if they had seen the French, but finding\nno one, they profited by the occasion to go and recount to the\nDarnel the most incredible things; they boasted that they had Ill\n275\nIllllll\n111\nIBPlsilif\nbib\nif\n1 i i:|\n'SfiS&tg\ntail!\nMm\nSi\n111\n1\n1\n1\n5i\nlijy 274\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\n%\nSi\n\u25a0l*\",\nbeaten the French, massacred them and thrown them into the\nsea; and that the Governor and his principal officers were\nkilled. The unfortunate Darnel, completely duped by these\ninventions, immediately divided his army into two bodies, in\norder to intercept the retreat of some white men who had\nescaped from Diati, upon Goree and St. Louis. These two\ncorps were also to surprise the two guard-houses of Mboro and\nLampoul, and destroy them. But the tiedo instructed to\naccomplish these great things were the same who had been so\nroughly handled by the French at Diati; and not a single man\nof them was seen, either by the troops on their return from\nMboro to St. Louis, or by those stationed at the guard-houses.\nAll the villages of Cayor were mourning their dead. The\nvillage of Mekhey alone had lost twenty-five, and that of Diati\nthirteen men; the total loss can be imagined from this statement. Several distinguished chieftains were numbered with\nthe dead; amongst others the head of the army, who was\nkilled or else very seriously wounded.\nAfter a day's rest at Mboro, the column returned by\nLampoul to St. Louis. The troops were greatly fatigued,\nand the horses had been in want of barley for the last three\ndays, and consequently suffered much.\nOn their return, the French captured about 500 oxen; but\nthe tiedo, some days previously, had taken about the same\nnumber from the allies of the French in the neighbourhood\nof Ker, four leagues from Gandiole.\nDuring the whole expedition, twenty men only had been\nkilled or wounded on the French side. The corps which had\nhad most opportunity of distinguishing themselves were the\nSpahis, in their two splendid charges ; the Senegal skirmishers,\nwho repelled the principal attack; and the artillery, commanded\nby M. Dutemps, by the accuracy of their firing. The militia\nhad also behaved very well on the nth. The engineers, who\nhad already constructed the guard-houses with wonderful\nrapidity, supplied the reconnoitring parties, and secured the\nuse of wells, which was very important for an expedition in\nCayor. The detachment of the train of Algeria was most\nhelpful.\nAfter this expedition, which had cost Cayor so dear, it\nwas hoped that both parties would now keep quiet; and the\nGovernor decided, in accordance with the wishes of the\nmajority of the council of administration, to undertake no\nfurther expeditions against Cayor without fresh provocations.\n- Unfortunately this inaction only emboldened the Darnel and\nhis party. Having taken up his position at Ndiakher, at least\ntwenty leagues from Gandiole, he announced that he would recollect his troops and fight, if tke French again entered his\ncountry; or, on the other hand, would destroy Gandiole. In\nspite of a strong garrison placed at Gandiole, these threats influenced in a deplorable manner the French subjects and\nallies.\nIt was soon ascertained that the well of Gueoul, appropriated by the French, had been cleaned by the Darnel's orders,\nwhich showed that he intended going there with his army,\npreparatory to entering Ndiambour, and establishing himself at\nNguik. This, together with overtures of alliance with the\nTrarza, and a slightly seditious manifestation which had taken\nplace at Nder, in Oualo, in favour of the former state of things\nand of which a partisan of Ely had been the principal promoter, indicated that the situation was sufficiently grave. The\nFrench remained inactive, from a reluctance to resume hos\ntilities, on account of fears, perhaps chimerical,\never, there remained no possibility of hesitation\nSoon, how-\nOn the 3rd\nof April\u2014the same day on which the Governor had been to\nGandiole to receive news of Cayor, and to order the departure of a convoy of provisions for the new stations\u2014three\nof the enemy's chiefs fell upon Gandiole, by order of the Darnel,\nwith about sixty men\u2014of whom forty were cavalry\u2014appropriated a herd of 190 oxen, burnt a hut, killed one man, and\nwounded and carried off two others.\nOn the morning of the following day, the garrison troops\nand the three companies of Algerian sharpshooters, set out with\nthe Governor from St. Louis, and being joined by the garrison\nof Gandiole, bivouacked that night at Ker; and the next day,\nat nine a.m., came up with the guilty band at Keur-Alimbeng,\nfifteen leagues from St. Louis, killed sixteen men, and took\nfive prisoners. At the same time they pillaged and burnt the\nneighbouring villages, which had for some time been accessory\nto the misdeeds of the tiedo, and had been warned and threatened many times. The tiedo who managed to escape fled\ntowards Gueoul.\nThe column started the following night for this village,\nwhere it arrived about ten o'clock. No one was found there;\nthe forces which the Darnel had assembled having escaped with\nthe remains of the company beaten at Keur-Alimbeng.\nIn less than three days, the troops arrived within twenty-\nthree leagues of St. Louis.\nThe well that the enemy's troops had cleaned was now of\ngreat use. The French were in an excellent position, covering\nNdiambour, and hoping to have a decisive engagement with\nthe Darnel, since he was only a half-day's march from them at'\nNdiakher, where he pretended, during more than three weeks,\nthat he was re-assembling his army to fight.\nThe French governor now sent 1,000 volunteers to destroy\nthe villages in the neighbourhood of Gudoul, and the province\nof Mbaouar, keeping with himself only 1,000 men. But this was\nin vain ; it was ascertained that certain chiefs of the Diam-\nbours, or \" free men \" of Cayor, had declared to the Darnel that\nthey would not make war upon the white men, and that, consequently, the Darnel was reduced to inaction, and had retired\neastwards to Taggar. On the other side, circumstances were\nnot favourable for the column in advance to go into action\nat that time; information concerning the wells not being sufficiently certain, any more than the estimates of distances, and\nthe nature of the soil.\nDuring the three days passed at Gueoul, the volunteers\ntook some important prizes in Mbaouar and its environs,\namongst others, more than 1,000 oxen and some prisoners.\nThey carried off their spoil to Gandiole.\nAt Gu6oul, the well, forty metres deep, scarcely supplied the\ntroops. The soldiers were rationed, and the animals could\nonly be allowed an insufficient quantity of water. Every one\nsuffered from thirst.\nIn the evening of the 8th of April, the troops continued\ntheir march to Keur-Alimbeng. At the moment of departure,\nsome horsemen approached the bivouac, either intentionally\nor in the belief that the troops had left. When they came\nnear one of the French outposts, they fired two or three shots.\nThe Spahis gave chase, and brought back one of their horses.\nThe column arrived at two o'clock a.m. at Keur-Alimbeng,\nmuch fatigued, and suffering greatly from thirst They rested\nthere the next day, having still some hope of meeting with the AN  AUSTRALIAN  SEARCH  PARTY.\n27S\nenemy, as an appointment had been made by means of a prisoner sent back the day before. But nothing was seen of the\nenemy, and the troops returned the next day to Ker. A party\nof the troops-afterwards returned to St. Louis and Gandiole;\nand the construction of a guard-house at Potou, five leagues\nbeyond Gandiole, was immediately begun by the others, under\nthe direction of the head of the engineering battalion, M.\nMaritz. This station forms a part of the telegraph line from .\nSt. Louis to Goree, and serves at the same time as a protection to Gandiole and its agricultural districts.\nAs a result of this expedition, it would seem from intelligence subsequently received from Cayor, that discord reigned\namongst the chiefs of that country. The Darnel accused the\nfree men of leaving their country undefended; and these lattei\nretorted by reproaching him for not placing himself at their\nhead, as did the French governor, who always himself led\nhis troops into action. To this the Darnel replied that\nsuch was not the custom, but that the kings of Cayor ought\nalways to be far removed from the battle-field, and that,\nif they desired him to lead them, it must be from an intention to betray and abandon him, in order finally to get rid of\nhim. Envoys from the chiefs of the free tribes proceeded to\n\u2022St. Louis, and it appeared as if the people of Cayor began\nto appreciate the fact of their utter powerlessness against the\nFrench, and to perceive how dearly they had to pay for their\naggressions on their white neighbours. It was considered that\nthe obstinacy of Macodou was the chief obstacle in the way of\nthis peace; and in order to induce the people to nominate\nanother Darnel, the sale of arms and munitions of war for\ntransport to Cayor was prohibited, preparatory to the stoppage\nof all trade with the country. In May, of the same year, a\nfurther step was taken in this direction by Colonel Faron, proclaiming king at Mboul trie same Madiodio who, in 1856, had\npretended to the throne as \" Diaoudine,\" or chief of the Diarn-\n\" hours, or free men of Cayor, to whom belongs the privilege of\nelecting the Darnel in a general assembly of the nation. Sanguine hopes were entertained that, with a king nominated by\nthe French governor of Senegal, it might be possible progressively to ameliorate the anarchic condition of affairs in\nCayor. But it soon became manifest that Madiodio, chosen\nby the foreigner, and governing under foreign direction, was\nsure to have the national party as his antagonists, and would,\ntherefore, need French assistance, as his only troops were\nliedos, whose pay was the plunder they could lay'hands on.\nMadiodio, in order to please the French, and ensure the continuance of their protection, tried to put a stop to the plunder,\nbut this caused him the loss of all but a handful of his\nadherents. At the head of the opposing party was Lat-Dior,\na young man of seventeen or eighteen years of age, step-brother\nof the young Darnel, Biraima III., and son of Prince Silmakha-\nDiop. governoi of the province of Guet. Lat-Dior revolted\nagainst Madiodio, who, suffering a defeat, was forced to seek\nrefuge, on the 27th of January, 1862, in the fortified station of\nLampoul.\nAs soon as he was informed of these events, the new\nGovernoi of Senegal, Captain Jaureguiberry, who had scarcely\nbeen two months in the colony, marched on Ndande with a\ncolumn of 550 men. It had become necessary to show plainly\nthat treaties were not to be slighted, and to put down, without loss\nof time, a revolution, the results of which might have been the\ndestruction of French influence, of the commercial hopes of\nthe year, and of the order which was but just established in\nCayor.\nThe desired end appeared to be attained. Surprised by\nthe quick movements of the column, the rebels laid down their\narms without a blow, and submitted themselves to the decisions\nof France. Madiodio's authority was for the time being reestablished, and in order more easily to watch over the interests\nof the colony, and to open up to trade a fresh channel of communication with the interior of Cayor, the Governor concluded\nwith Madiodio and the principal Khangams a treaty, in which\nthe king engaged to open a road between Ndande and Potou,\nwhich passed through ten large villages; and to protect the\nproperty and persons of all the French and the caravans which\nmight frequent that road.\nCayor ceded to France, with every right of ownership, a\nterritory 500 metres square, situated about 200 metres from the\nwell of Ndande, and suitable for the construction of warehouses\nor other buildings necessary for the works which France might\nhave to carry on in order to fulfil her engagements with the\nking. Apart from this cession, the frontiers remained as they\nhad been fixed by the treaty of February, 1861.\nThe Diaoudine* Samba-Maram-Khay, a very powerful chief,\nsigned these new conditions with Madiodio and the Governor.\nThe latter then, with an escort of cavalry, effected his return\nto Goree by Diander; the greater number of the men, under\nLieutenant-Colonel Faron, encamped some days longer in\nCayor, and returned to St Louis when the country appeared\nperfectly quiet.\n* The \"Diaoudine,\" on a vacancy occurring in the throne, names the\nnew king, or \"Darnel,\" in a general assembly of the people; hence he\nstands next the sovereign in political importance.\nm\nAn Australian Search Party.\u2014V'\nBY   CHARLES   H.   EDEN.\nHOW WE EXPLORED THE MACALISTER RIVER.\nThe reader who has been good enough to follow me so far,\nwill see that hitherto our efforts had been unattended with the\nslightest success, and that the fate of the missing schooner and\nher living freight still remained buried in the deepest mystery.\nTo say that we were not disheartened by our numerous disap-\npointments would be untrue, for we we'.l knew that each\nclosing day rendered our chances of affording relief to the\nsurvivors more and more difficult; so much so, in fact, that at\nthe council assembled to discuss the matter in the barge dining-\niiil\n-tffl'RI\n1 i fj6\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nroom of the hotel, several voices urged the expediency of\nabandoning any further attempts. Much valuable time, they\nremarked, had been already expended by men to whom time\nrepresented money, nay more\u2014the means of living. Their\nown avocations imperiously demanded their presence, and\nalthough they were the last men in the world to desert their\nfellow-beings in extremity, still, in a country where every man\nlived by the sweat of his own brow, self-interest could not be\nentirely sacrificed.\nEven we, who were most anxious to organise another expedition, could not but acknowledge that the searchers had much\njustice on their side; but when we were discussing matters in\n\" Capitally ! \" was echoed from every side, and after sundry\ndrinks the party broke up; Dunmore and I hastening to make\nimmediate preparations for our new trip.\nThe Macalister River was at this time most imperfectly\nknown; for, lying to the extreme north of Rockingham Bay, its\nfertile banks had hitherto attracted little or no attention; the\ngreat sugar industry being then comparatively in its infancy in\n- Queensland. A dangerous bar at its mouth, over which heavy\nrollers were always breaking, made pleasure-seekers rather shy of\nattempting its entry, more particularly as the muddy mangrove\nflats held out small hope of aught save mosquitoes and blacks.\nSince then, the sugar-cane has become one of the chief sources\nniiiil\nLgggPiPI!\nAUSTRALIANS IN CAMP.\nrather a despondent tone, a new ally came to the front in the\nperson of Jack Clarke, the horse-breaker.\n\"Where do you propose going next?\" he asked Dunmore.\nI We must search the ranges at the back of the township\nfirst, and another party must go up the Macalister River,\" was\nthe reply.\nI Need both parties start at the same time ? \"\n| The chances of success would, of course, be greater if\nthey did,\" replied the officer, \"but still it is not absolutely\nnecessary.\"\nI Well,\" said Jack, \" suppose you take the pilot boat, and\ngo up the river, which will take much longer to explore than the\nranges ; and, at the end of a week, we shall have got our own\naffairs pretty straight, and will beat all the country at the back,\nand join you on the Macalister. What do you think of that,\nmates?\" he added, turning to the company. \"Won't that suit\nus all ? \"\nof wealth to the colony, and, in the search for land adapted to\nits growth, the Macalister was not likely to remain long.in obscurity. Along its beautiful banks were discovered many thousands of acres of magnificent black soil country, without a stick\nof timber to impede the plough, over which a furrow, miles in\nlength, could have been turned without an inch of deviation\nbeing necessary.\nWhere the wretched bark gunyah of the native stood, is\nnow found the well-finished house of the planter; and where\nthe savage pastimes of the bora ground once obtained, and the\nsmoke from cannibal fires curled slowly upwards to the blue\nvault of heaven, is heard the cheerful ring of the blacksmith's\nhammer, the crack of the bullock-whip, as the team moves\nslowly onward beneath the weight of seven-feet canes, and the\nmeasured throb of machinery from the factory, where the crushed\nplant is yielding up its sweets between the inexorable iron\ncrushers.    In this, our newest world, improvements when once AN AUSTRALIAN  SEARCH  PARTY\n277\nset afoot, proceed with marvellous celerity, and a turn of Fortune's wheel may in a single year convert a howling wilderness\ninto a flourishing township. But I find myself digressing again,\nand, resisting rambling thoughts, must revert to our preparations\nfor the morrow.\nThe meeting at which we had just been present, took place\non the morning following our return from the search on\nHinchinbrook Island; and not only was another day indispensable for the arrangements that were necessary, but we also\nfelt that one more night of-comfortable rest would render us\nbetter able to encounter the fatigues of the coming expedition.\nOnly bushmen and explorers can appreciate the intense enjoyment of a night of unbroken rest between the sheets, after\nknocking about for a length of time, catching sleep by snatches,\nand never knowing   the  luxury of undressing.     Turning in\nabout as many as the boat could carry comfortably.' A rendezvous had been arranged on a known portion of the river;\nthe other expedition was to start in seven days; and, according\nto our programme, if all went well, we should meet on the\ntenth, or on the eleventh day at furthest.\nThe sea-breeze was blowing steadily, cresting the tiny\nwaves which sparkled in the hot sun as they broke into foam,\nand under its grateful coolness we glided comfortably along,\nwith a flowing sheet. The bar at the mouth of the Macalister\nwas eighteen miles distant, and we hoped to cross it about sunset, when the breeze would have 'dropped, and the passage\nthrough the surf would be readily distinguishable; but our\nplans were completely upset by one of the troopers espying\nsmoke issuing from the scrub on a small creek, that entered the\nbay about half-way between the town and the Macalister.\nKANGAROO.\nORNITHORHYNCHUS PARADOXUS.\nlike a trooper's horse, \" all standing,\" as the nautical phrase is,\nmay be an expeditious method of courting the sleepy god, but\nit certainly is not the best for shaking off fatigue. Bound up\nin the garments you have carried all day, the muscles are\nunable to relax to their full, the circulation of the blood is impeded, and your slumber, though deep, is not refreshing; more\nparticularly when\u2014as had happened to us on this last trip\u2014\nour boots were so soaked that we were afraid to take them off,\nlest we should find it impossible to struggle into them in the\nmorning. Dunmore's camp was also some distance from the\ntownship, and he had to visit it to find out how matters had gone\non in his absence, to get another trooper in the place of poor\nCato, and to replenish his exhausted wardrobe and ammunition.\nBut I will not occupy the reader with all these minor\ndetails, nor with the numberless little trifles that it devolves\nupon the leader of such an expedition to remember, suffice it\nto say that by noon on the following day, all our preparations\nwere completed, and we shoved off from the beach in high\nspirits, the party consisting this time of nine, viz., Dunmore\nthe pilot, two boatmen, Lizzie, three troopers, and myself,\n\" We had better have a look in here,\" said Dunmore, \" there\nis no knowing where we may stumble on some information.\"\nAccordingly, the helm was put up, and we ran into the\nmouth of the inlet, with the wind right aft. Beaching the boat\non the soft sand, we sprang out, and advanced cautiously in\nthe direction of the s.moke, but, after several minutes of\nscrambling, we reached the fire only to find it deserted, its\noriginal proprietors having seen our sudden alteration of\ncourse, and sought the safety of the dense bush, where further\nsearch would have been useless.\nI Now that we are on shore,\" said Dunmore, \"let us make\na billy full of tea; it won't take long. Here, you boys, get 'em\nlike 'it waddy to make 'em fire.\"\nThe troopers and Lizzie dispersed in quest of fuel; Fer\ndinand walking up the bank of the creek, where he was soon\nlost to sight. A loud coo'eh from that direction soon brought\nus to the spot from whence it issued, and we found the boy\nstaring at several pieces of timber sticking out of the sand.\nI Big fellow canoe been sit down here,\" he said, on our approach,  and examining the protruding stumps, we soon saw\nn\n;u\n\"AS*\n*m 278\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nitm\nw\n\\\\m\nIII\nenough to convince us that the boy was right, and that we\nwere in the presence of a vessel, wrecked, or abandoned,\nHeaven only knows how many years ago.    With our hands,\nwith pint pots, with a spade we had brought with us-\n-mindful\nof the difficulty we had experienced in finding a resting-place\nfor poor Cato\u2014with every utensil, in fact, that ingenuity could\ndevise, we set to work clearing away the sand that had accumulated round the old ribs. Suddenly, the tin rim of one of\nthe pots gave back a ringing sound, as if it had struck against\nmetal, and in less than a minute, a much rusted cannon-shot\nwas exposed to view, and passed round from hand to hand. It\nwas of small size, weighing, perhaps, five pounds, though its\ndimensions were evidentiy much decreased by the wasting\naction of damp.\n\" By Jove!\" said Dunmore, | perhaps she was a Spanish\ngalleon, and we shall come across her treasure. Won't that be\na find, eh, old fellow?\"\nI She's more likely a pirate,\" I answered, as visions of the\nold buccaneers floated through my\" brain; and Edgar Poe's\nfanciful story of the \"Gold Beetle\" occurring to me, I sung out,\n\" Whatever you do, keep any parchment you stumble across,\"\nand abandoned myself to thoughts of untold wealth, whilst I\nwielded a quart pot with the energy born of mental excitement.\n\" My word 1 that been big fellow sit down like 'it here,\"\ncried Ferdinand, who, lying on one side, had his bare arm\nburied at full length in the sand. \" I feel him, Marmy, plenty\ncold.\"\nWe rushed to the boy's assistance, and speedily scraped\naway the shingle, until an old-fashioned gun was exposed to\nview; it was coated and scaly with rust to such an extent, that\nwe were unable to form any idea as to its age or' nationality.\nIt would most probably have been a twelve or eighteen-\npounder howitzer, for it was about four feet in length, and disproportionately large in girth; but one of the trunnions, and\nthe button at the breech, were broken off, the portion that had\nlain undermost had entirely disappeared, and the remainder\nwas so honeycombed, that beyond ascertaining that it was a\npiece of ordnance, we could elicit nothing from this curious\nrelic of a bygone generation.\nFurther search brought to light several more round-shot,\nbut in the same state as the first, and we noticed that in\nseveral places the timbers were burnt, most probably by the\nnatives, or the crew themselves, for the sake of the copper\nbolts.\nWhat a number of melancholy recollections are awakened\nby the discovery of a forgotten memorial of the past, such as\nthis nameless wreck; and if those old timbers could have\nspoken, what a strange record of hopes unfulfilled, and high\nadventure unachieved, would have been disinterred from the\ndark storehouse of the past! That the vessel came in her present position by accident, could hardly be supposed. More\nprobably, having struck on the Barrier Reef, or on some of the\nhidden coral shelves with which this sea abounds, she had been\ntaken into this secluded creek for repairs. Cook, the great circumnavigator, careened his ship at a spot not far distant from\nthis; but we were unanimously of opinion that this vessel must\nhave become embedded long prior to his time. Not only was\nthe framework some distance from the present bed of the\ncreek, but it was raised considerably above the water level.\nThat the eastern coast of Australia is slowly rising from the\nwaves is well known, for in the neighbourhood of Brisbane\nvaluable reclamations have beeri made within the memory of\nliving men; but at least two centuries must have elapsed to\naccount for the altitude attained by this old craft. Our regret\nwas great at getting no more certain information, but although\nwe persevered in digging until sundown, no casket of jewels, no\nbags of specie, and no mysterious parchments rewarded us;\nand with the darkness we were compelled to abandon our\nsearch, rather angry at having wasted several valuable hours to\nsuch little purpose.\nAs it would have been madness attempting to cross the bar\nbefore daylight, we hauled the boat up on the beach, and made\nourselves comfortable for the night. About one o'clock, the\ntrooper, who was on watch, awakened us with the news that\nthere was a light out at sea. We thought at first it could only\nbe some blacks in their canoes, spearing fish by torchlight, but\nit gradually drew nearer and nearer, until at last we could distinguish the distant sound of voices, and the faint rattle of the\niron cable as it flew out through the hawse-hole.\n\"Some coasting craft, I suppose,\" said Dunmore.\n\"Most probably, but we shall find out in the morning;\",\nand we were soon again in the land of dreams.\nBefore daylight we had finished breakfast, and by the time\nthe sun rose, were in the whale-boat, pulling towards the new\narrival. She was a dirty, weather-beaten, nondescript-looking\nlittle craft, half fore and aft schooner, half dandy-rigged cutter,\nand the look-out on board was evidently not very vigilant, for\nwe had almost arrived alongside, before a black head showed\nover the gunwale, and, frightened at seeing a boat-load of armed\nmen in such an unexpected spot, poured out a flood of shrieking jargon that would have aroused the Seven Sleepers, and\nwhich speedily awoke from their slumbers the remainder of the\ncrew. There seemed to be only two white men, one of whom\nintroduced himself as the captain, and asked us, in French, to\ncome on board. The vessel was the Gabrielle d'Eslonville\nof New Caledonia, commanded by Captain Jean Labonne,\nand had put into Rockingham Bay for water, during a\nbkhe-de-mer expedition. Anything to equal the filth of the\nfair Gabrielle, I never saw. Her crew consisted of another\nFrenchman besides the captain, and of seven or eight Kanakas,\ntwo of whom had their wives on board. As perhaps this extraordinary trade is but little known to the reader who has not\nresided in China, I will briefly narrate how it is carried out.\nFrom the neighbourhood of Torres Straits to about the\nTropic of Capricorn, extends, at a distance of fifty to a hundred miles from the shore, an enormous bed of coral, named\nthe Barrier Reef. There, untold millions of minute insects are\nstill noiselessly pursuing their toil, and raising fresh structures\nfrom the depths of the ocean. Neither is this jagged belt\n\u2014though deadly to the rash mariner\u2014without its uses. In the\nfirst place, a clear channel is always found between it and the\nmainland, in which no sea of any formidable dimensions can\never rise, and now that modern surveys have accurately indicated where danger is to be found, this quiet channel is of the\ngreatest use to the vessels frequenting that portion of the\nocean, for they avoid the whole swell of the broad Pacific,\nwhich now thunders against and breaks harmlessly on the huge\ncoral wall, instead of wasting its fury on the coast itself. In\nthe second place, on the Barrier Reef is found the Holothuria,\nfrom which the bechc-de-mer is prepared. It is a kind of sea-\nslug, averaging from one to over two feet in length, and four to\nten inches in girth.   In appearance, these sea-cucumbers are most RAMBLES  IN  ROME.\n279\nrepulsive, looking like flabby black or green sausages, and squirting out a stream of salt water when pressed. But despite their\ndisgusting appearance, they are a most valuable cargo, fiom the\nhigh price they fetch in the Chinese market, where they are a\nmuch-esteemed delicacy. The vessel that goes in quest of\nbiche-de-mtr takes several expert divers\u2014usually Kanakas, or\n, South Sea Islanders\u2014and having arrived at the ground they\npropose fishing, a sort of head-quarters is established on some\nconvenient island, where vegetables are planted, to stave off\nthe scurvy that would otherwise soon attack the adventurers.\n' This done, the little vessel proceeds to the edge of the reef,\nand begins work in earnest.\nThe sea-slug is found buried amidst the triturated\nsand, worn away by the constant play of the waves, and\n'only the experienced and keen-eyed Kanakas can detect its\nwhereabouts, by the fitful -waving of the long feathery tentacles\nsurrounding the mouth of the fish, which immerses its body in\nthe sand. The vessel being anchored, her boat is got out,\nand pulled to the smooth water within the reef, the divers\nkeeping a keen scrutiny on the milk-white floor for any indication of their prey. Suddenly, the man in the bows holds up\nhis hand, as a sign to desist from pulling'. He drops quietly\ninto the clear water, and the length of time that elapses before\nhis black head reappears, is enough to make a bystander\nnervous. Often the diver has to encounter his dread enemy\nthe shark, and if cool and collected, generally comes off victorious in the contest. The South Sea Islanders have a\nthorough knowledge of the habits of this salt-water pirate, and\nknow that by keeping underneath him, they cannot be touched,\nand they will fearlessly stab the intruder with their knives, and\navail themselves of his momentary departure to regain the\nboat I have known one instance of a native jumping into the\nwater to distract the attention of a shark that was swimming\nguard over his friend, and both escaped unhurt; but still,\ndespite their utmost skill, accidents do often occur. In shallow\nwater the beche-de-mer is caught with a five-pronged instrument,\nresembling an eel-spear. The animals are split open, boiled,\npressed flat, and dried in the sun, and after a sufficient number\nhave been taken, they are carried to the island rendezvous\nand there smoked with dry wood, which last process convert!\nthe slug into genuine beche-de-mer, fit for the market, and for the\npalates of Celestial epicures. I tried to cook, some, but after\nboiling it for a couple of hours in a quart pot, it came out like\na dirty piece of indian-rubber, and so tough that no teeth could\npenetrate it.\nCaptain Labonne welcomed-us very cordially\u2014the sight of\na strange face must have been a godsend\u2014and most hospitably\nasked us to share his breakfast, but as it consisted only of\ndried fish, which smelt most abominably, we declined, and he\nwas very grateful for a couple of pots of sardines which we gave\nhim out of our slender stock. The Gabrielle was on her way\nto Cardwell for fresh provisions and water, and after the\ndangers to be avoided had been pointed out by the pilot, we\nbade adieu to Jean Labonne and his queer crew, though not\nbefore one of our party had succeeded in jotting down the\nfeatures of a Kanaka diver, his wife and child.\na;i!(EI:\nRambles   in   Rome.\u2014IV.\nBY A.   CUST.   M.A.\nWe stated\" in out last that we were going to take a somewhat\nroundabout way back from the Church of Sta. Croce, by the city\nwalls and the Baths of Diocletian.     Although unsatisfactory at\nfirst sight to one full of notions respecting it only commensurate\nwith the space which the structure occupies on the map, from\nits being cut up and broken into irregular patches by modern\npiazzas, stations, or cloisters, so as to be absqlutely precluded\nfrom  intelligible  presentation of itself as a whole, part of it\nhas not only been excellently preserved, but forms one of the\nmost interesting churches in Rome.    This church is Sta. Maria\n'degli Angeli, consisting in the main of one smgle hall of the\nbaths.    Some idea of the marvellous proportions of the latter\nmay be conceived from the noble dimensions  of this  hall\nwhich has been so closely preserved, that eight of its original\npillars are still in situ.    As such it was to us, more prone as\nwe are to commend ancient than modern Rome, one of the\nmost interesting objects of our day's walk; and as a church,\nwe had no hesitation in calling it the finest we had yet seen-\nand that, too, fresh from three of the oldest basilicas 1    Such\nwas our spontaneous utterance of opinion at the time; whether\nthis is worth anything, is quite another matter      In fact, we\nwere delighted with the church, or rather the old hall; though\nwe felt in wonderfully good humour certainly with the ecclesiastical, for fitting on itself and taking care  of the secular\nbuilding in this case.    We called its ancient pillars exquisite,\nand were careful to mark that it contained the originals of\nmany of the mosaics in St. Peter's.    Simplicity and grandeur\nare undoubtedly gained for the old hall by its being relegated\nby religious art to a secondary place in the edifice she has\ndevised; if we may be allowed to call secondary that which\ndoes not contain the inmost sanctuary and highest altar.     For\nthe reception of these, a chancel has been added, opening out\nof the side of the hall, so that the latter does but fulfil the\nfunctions of a transept.    This subordinate position, however\nit may sink it in the eyes of the true believer, for us had the\neffect of leaving the hall to its own majesty, unmixed to a great\nextent with the foreign splendours of church tinsel.    It could\nhardly indeed have been better than as it is; and the eye is\nfree to rove over its perfections, undistracted by such ul-assortmg\nshrines as thrust themselves forward in the Pantheon.    Not,\nhowever, that the sacredest recess of the new religion clothes\niilf hero in despicable form; high art has been cal ed in to\naid her embellishment, and  Domenictuno's \u00abSt.  Sebastian\nalone would bend the sight-seer's steps hitherward.    On. the m*\nMl\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nopposite side, a fitting entrance has been secured by adapting\na circular hall of the old building. Besides this, perhaps the\nmost skilful adaptation of an old building in Rome, Michael\nAngelo designed the cloister belonging to the convent behind\nthe\u00b0 church. Our attention was here arrested by a curious\npiece of patient painting, the effect of which was so real as to\nconstitute a perfect deception. It was simply painted on a\nwall or door, from which it represented some simple subject so\nstanding out, that the closer inspection, which showed nothing\nbut the flat wall, produced a veritable surprise that would have\ngladdened the heart of the artist.\none which we selected for our opening attack. Tlijs was our\nfirst experience of the great difference between sun and shade\nin Rome, especially making itself felt in these palaces in\na much more palpable form rtihan any expression of it on\ncanvas. As we walked down the Corso, we were struck with\nthe careful way in which the natives edged out of the sunshine,\ncrossing the street to the shady side as if the sunbeams shot-\npestilence. We, on the other hand, rather gloried in the unwonted heat, after our shivering morning room, and our still\nmore shivering bath. In respect to which, however, -justice to\nmyself must lead me for once in a way to break into, split up,\n,2*\nm\nTOMB OF ST.  CECILIA.\nm\n. We next turned our steps to the Church of St. Bernard,\nwhich is also built out of, or rather wholly formed by, one of\nthe halls of the baths. It is circular in shape and much\nhumbler; and, a street separating it from the other church J\nand its appurtenances, it is difficult to conceive it at first sight\nas forming originally part of the same vast edifice. Our view\nof the latter was, as we have said, unsatisfactory, as no general\nsurvey can be obtained, and the impressions left can never be\nthose produced by the rival Baths of Caracalla, having to be\npicked out in detail and reunited with only partial success from\nthe various modern buildings that have perched themselves on\nvarious parts of its gigantic carcass.\nNext day we set seriously to work to get a beginning made\nof the palaces; prepared, if not with the enthusiasm of our\nfriends across the Atlantic, at least to do our duty like men.\nThe Doria Palace, one of the most splendid in Rome, was the\nand otherwise disturb that conventional, but also extremely\nconvenient, last-used pronoun, \"our.\" For I have a distinct\nremembrance of my not only being regularly the first to dare\nthe chilly wintry air\u2014as chilly as ever was felt from outside\nbed-clothes by pioneering hands at home\u2014but of being the\nsubject of considerable laughter and infidel and unfeeling\nremarks from inside the sheets on the part of my friend, as the\naudacity already sufficiently indicated by splashing water\ndoubled itself in pretended liking of it. For fear that forgiveness might never follow were I to insinuate that my example\ndid not prove contagious, I will leave that an open question.\nAfter such a process, however, whether it were this or nothing\nbut the strong-minded forcing oneself out of bed; after a breakfast which, though it might suggest that heat had not permanently abandoned the earth, but was present in sufficient\namount somewhere to boil an egg or two, left us still shivering, RAMBLES  IN  ROME.\n281\nno wonder that the pestiferous sun-rays clothed themselves for\nus in no demon form. At other times we were interested to\nobserve those same sun-shunners hoisting the 'umbrella of\ncaution if ever a stray rain-spot had marked the pavement\nround the next street-corner, divining that plague-bearing drops\nmight work their deadly will on them before they had time to\nunfold the same.    Let us not, however, smile at them; they\nClaudes, Raphael's portraits, Breughel's \"Four Elements,\"\nQuentin Matsys' \" Misers,\" Carracci's \" Assumption,\" &c. ? A\ndescription of these pictures, or a disquisition on the styles of\nart they respectively represent, would be strictly measured by\nthe text-book on the history of painting which I, speaking for\nmyself alone, crammed up and analysed before I went to\nRome.    On the same principle I had read part of Gibbon, and\nINTERIOR OF ST.   CLEMENTS  CHURCH.\nknow what they are about, as we should, were we to live\nlonger in the place. And possibly the idea struck us when we\nentered the icy palace walls, that after all they were not so\nextravagantly foolish about the sun. Perhaps another time,\nwe may say to each other, we should do well to bring our\novercoats. With a fresh shiver then, and a misgiving that it\nwas somewhat cold-catching work, we addressed ourselves for\nthe first time to what was some of the most genuine business\nwe had got to do\u2014picture-seeing.\nBut here our heart fails us !    What possible good can the\ninformation afford to any one, that we  much  admired  the\n276\nmade notes from him on the Roman emperors, and had\nstudied and made a sketch-map of the ancient geography of\nthe place; the result of all my preparatory studies being by\ncompression reduced to small compass, could be carried in the\npocket and. produced pat at any given moment, to the surprise\nor discomfiture of my less enthusiastic companion. Cramming\nup for an examination, however, is not thought in these days\nto imply depth of thought; and I am not going to lay myself\nopen to any such charge by needless exposition where I can avoid\nit, though I hold myself free to drop such remarks as the natural\ncourse of things may from time to time suggest themselves.\n1 ':| F-Sfc\n283\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\n14\nThus armed with this compact knowledge in note-book\nform, and keen to behold at length the works of the great\nmasters, we set out on our task. Room after room did we go\nthrough, each as conscientiously and laboriously as the other,\ntrying to pass nothing over, and carefully hunting for every\npicture noticed in our guide-book, and stopping before every\nwell-known name. The greater works we set ourselves most\nseriously to admire, and undoubtedly as a rule worked ourselves info a more or less warm appreciation of them. Nothing\ncould exceed the labour and patience with which we (my\nfriend was a little less assiduous and anxious about the matter\nthan myself) went the round of the gallery, though doubtless\nwe came to the end of our long labour with a sigh of relief,\nand gladly hailed the outside sunshine once more. And this\nwas only a type of other days' work, though certainly towards\nthe end of our stay the freshness began to wear off, and the\nsuccession of old masters to pall on us. With all our genuine\nadmiration for the masterpieces that fell in our way, I fear that\non the whole we were a little disappointed with the highest\nwork of the old masters, while easily recognising its superiority\nas a rule to that of predecessors or imitators. This might proceed from ignorance, but unquestionably our want of pleasure,\nsuch as it was, mainly proceeded from the great sameness of\nthe subjects. After a time, we got absolutely tired of a\nconstant series of Madonnas and the like, and we became\nalmost unable to trace the fine shades of difference that distinguished one of these sacred commonplaces of art from\nanother treated in an exactly similar way ; though doubtless to\nthe initiated, one might be worthless compared to the other.\nHowever, this sameness is intimately bound up with the history\nof the art, and we do not wish our feeling of it to leave too\nstrong an impression, for admire undoubtedly we did. Landscapes were more under our understanding, but here I at least\nwas compelled to draw the line of admiration; I could not\nby any means be worked up into enthusiasm for most of the\nClaudes and Poussins.\nFrom the Doria Palace we went to the villa belonging to\nthe same, noble family. The latter lies outside the walls\nbeyond the Janiculum, and the walk to it, whether in going or\nreturning, can hardly fail to be diversified and interesting; one\nmay go by the Ponte Sisto, and return by the Ponte di S.\nBartolomeo. On the way from the Corso to the former\nbridge, by judicious steering through the tortuous streets of\nthe district, you may pass by the remains of the theatre of\nPompey, one of the oldest in Rome. Since the days of its\ngreat founder it has passed through various vicissitudes, and\nfrom being a fortress, has ended its days like some monster of\nan extinct race, leaving its bones embedded imperishably in the\nrock. Thus have these old theatres yielded up their life and\nflesh, moulding only with their rounded skeletons the houses\nand streets that the sea of time has formed about them.\nBefore coming to the theatre we pass the Church of St. Andrea\ndelli Valle, into which we hope to enter on the Feast of\nEpiphany, to see the dressed-up figures over the altar. Passing the bridge, we skirt the Aurelian Wall, emerging by the\nPorta di San Pancrazio, where the main struggle took place\nbetween the Romans and the besieging French army, of\nwhich some traces meet the eye. The French, however, were\nmore considerate than older invading forces, and chose this\nspot for their attack, as being the least likely to damage\nthe   monuments  of the town.    The grounds of the Villa'\nPamphili-Doria, which commence a short space beyond the\ngate, are of large extent, and among the most varied in\nscenery of any at Rome. We loitered for some time in the\ngrounds, but avoided entering the villa, dreading the payment\nand the showing about which it involved. Among points of\ninterest in the grounds, we noted the fine side view they\nunfold of St. Peter's. On our return, after passing the gate,\nwe ascended to the right, to the Church of St. Peter in Mon-\ntorio, supposed to have been built near the scene 'of that\napostle's crucifixion, on the spot where was the old citadel of\nthe Janiculum. The exact site (so said) of St. Peter's\nmartyrdom is occupied by a beautiful temple-shaped chapel, in\nwhich may be seen the very hole made by the cross. More\ninteresting to us, however, than fairest art or hallowed site,\nwas the view of Rome which we got from outside the church.\nWe thought it far the best we had seen; for besides the better\nsituation of the hill for the town itself, it has the immense\nadvantage over the Pincian of a background of the ever-\nbeautiful hills beyond the Campagna. When you descend from\nhere, you will pass the Church of S. Maria in Trastevere, a\nchurch on a very old site at any rate, and, among other interesting objects, containing a number of columns in the nave, taken\nfrom pagan buildings. We also observed and admired some\nfine mosaics in the tribune. We turned aside to the right from\nthe direct road to the bridge, in order to visit the Church of\nSt. Cecilia. The body of the patron saint of this church, the\noriginal foundation of which is one of the oldest in Rome, was\nremoved from the catacombs; a beautiful statue represents\nher in her grave-clothes, as she was supposed to have been\nfound.\nReturning to the main track, and crossing the island in the\nTiber, whose shape and two-fold bridges will excite your interest,\nyou will have before you the remains of the theatre of Marcellus.\nIt was built by the first two Caesars, the last of whom dedicated\nit to Marcellus, the son of his sister Octavia. On its site is built\nthe Orsini Palace, and houses are constructed among its arches.\nClose to this is the Portico of Octavia, which was built by\nAugustus as a place of refuge for the sight-seers at the theatre\nin bad weather. What remains of this once considerable building is part of its vestibule, which may be seen in the modern\nfish-market. The original was destroyed by fire, and subsequently restored. The restorations made by Septimius Severus\nare traceable in the ruin, two of the older pillars having been\nreplaced by a brick arch. This one may plainly see on\napproaching the portico from the theatre, when the front of\nthe vestibule will lie before you, showing through ks opening\nthe Church of St. Angelo behind, to which the ruin forms a sort\nof outer entrance-court. On the left, you may see a second\nfront, facing the Pescheria. Each of these fronts had originally\nfour pillars, supporting an entablature and pediment. The\nwhole was in the best style of imperial art, though the havoc\ncaused by the fire was somewhat clumsily made good. Over\nthe brick arch above mentioned is seen one of the Corinthian\ncapitals, apparently still in situ, as also the upper structure.\nIn the vestibule of the church are more remains, as also in the\nneighbourhood. In the enclosure of the colonnade or portico,\nwas a temple of which some ruins may be traced, and, behind\nthis, a library celebrated by the ancients; it was also adorned\nwith some of the choicest statuary of Greek art.\nIt is difficult to imagine a greater contrast than that presented by the present aspect of this wretched part of the town,\n1 PUGET SOUND, AND THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.\n283\nas compared with its appearance when all these magnificent\nbuildings were  standing.     This  district, lying betweeri the\nCapitol and the Tiber, and  extending along the latter, has\npassed into a byword, a great portion of it being occupied by\nthe Ghetto, or Jews' quarter.   Amid filthy crowded streets, and\nfetid hovels, rise the remains of some of the finest buildings\nof old Rome.    It appears to have been a part of the city\ndevoted, to a great extent, to public pleasure, and was adorned\nwith splendid theatres and colonnades, embellished with works\nof art.    Open spaces also no doubt abounded, this being the\ncommencement of the  old Campus  Martius.      The ruins,\nhowever, and the knowledge we possess of the grandeur and\nsize of the buildings, but poorly represented by these, speak\nfor themselves.      In  close  proximity  were   the   theatre  of\nMarcellus, the Portico of Octavia, and the theatres of Balbus\nand Pompey, besides other buildings whose remains have disappeared.   The smallest of these theatres could accommodate,\nit is said, 11,000 spectators, and in front of that of Pompey\nwas again a magnificent colonnade.    This was one of the most\nfamous of a type of buildings for public recreation that modern\ncivilisation did not adopt from ancient, and which, therefore,\nit required an effort to bring before the imagination.     Within\nits ample enclosure there was included in this instance, besides\nstatuary, paintings, and plantations, a basilica.    In this district,\nso beautified of old, and perhaps more than I have ventured to\ndepict, some of the alleys that we came across were so literally\nfilthy and stinking, that my friend refused to have anything\nto do with them, and the result was, that either he stood waiting\nfor me while I went down one of them to search out some\nruin, or I reserved further investigation thereof for my before-\nbreakfast, or separate rambles.    Morning after morning I used\nto face cold and hunger to explore ruins which else must have\nbeen  neglected, especially directing my steps towards  the\nneighbourhood of the Forum.\nWere I to try to draw a comparison between the poorer\ndistricts of Rome and London, so far at least as my observation has extended in either, I should say that a first sight and\nglance at the external aspect of the streets alone, might lead to\na verdict in favour of London. This may, however, be resolved\ninto a national difference, rather than one of unfavourable\ncircumstances. If the Roman\" alleys are dirtier, the London\nones are equally, or more, dark and narrow. If want of cleanliness and decent habits make themselves felt even in the\nrespectable streets of Rome, at the doors of her palaces, and\nstill more in the open spaces of the Forum\u2014while wholly absent\nfrom the ordinary streets of London\u2014how must these stalk\nabroad, unfettered and festering, in her back slums and courts ?\nThese differences are national, and Naples is worse than\nRome.\nOf the dwellings themselves, however, in the latter place,\nas seen from the streets, my recollections are hardly so dismal\nas of the London ones.    Crowded and dingy they certainly\nwere, but I do not think that vacant despair was firmly seated\non his throne there as with us.     Dirty families might be seen\npeering forth from dark dens, but  they were  cheerful and\nchatty,   and   doubtless   some notion  of comfort   associated\nitself with their hovels, however humbly adorned.   In London,\nblank walls  sometimes seemed to be the habitation of as\nblank hopelessness.     Den appeared within den, dark  and\ncomfortless, amid a network of courts and   alleys.      What\nwonder is it if apathy and depression mark their faces, and\npallid looks and meagre forms attest the increasing degeneracy\nof these once stalwart sons of Britain ?   Can we cast a stone\nat Rome for her physical filth and blind superstitions, while\nwe are rearing up in tenfold worse  moral  degradation the\nbusy brains and hands of our mighty metropolis ?    England,\nor the highest part of her, seems at length awakened to her\ntruer self, and to be  making a genuine effort to cure what\nhas  hitherto  seemed to be an almost hopeless evil.    The\nwell-considered petition to the Home Secretary for compulsory\npurchase-powers   of sites   for   improved   dwellings for the\nLondon poor,  is the most  hopeful sign that has yet appeared ;  and the present Government will earn the gratitude\nof posterity, if they carry out their expressed intention of providing a remedy for an evil more baneful  and more nearly\npressing than the slave-trade.\n(IWatlM jl\nPuget Sound, and the Northern Pacific Railroad.-\n-I.\nm*m\nBY   EDMUND  T.   COLEMAN.\nAs the great drama of civilisation which is now in progress on\nthe Pacific slope of the American continent unfolds itself, attention is drawn to it by reason of the great influence which it must\nhave for good or for evil on the destinies of the human race.\nIt is therefore presumed that any information in regard to this\nsection of the American continent will not be unacceptable to\nthe public, as Puget Sound is close to the British possessions,\nand there is constant intercommunication between the two\ncountries. Moreover, the proposed Northern Pacific Railroad\nis one of the great enterprises of the day, and its terminus has\nbeen already located on the shores of Puget Sound, which may\nbe termed the ship-building entreP6t of the West, the lumber-\nyard of the world.\nI propose in the present article to conduct the reader along\na line of country which I travelled a short time since, during\nwhich I visited the principal points connected with the. western\ndivision of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and shall give the\nincidents and adventures that befell me, with such descriptions\nof the scenery and mode of journeying, as may serve to give\nsome notion of life in a new country, if not of the romance of\ntraVIlleft Victoria, Vancouver Island, for Port Townsend,\nPuget Sound, on the 25th of June, and on repairing to the office\nof my old friend, Mr. J. G. Swan, found that he had got into\nsomewhat questionable company, for the first thing that greeted\nrne on entering was the devil (an Indian one), hanging behind 28 4\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nthe door The room was full of curiosities; there were\nsundry grotesque and hideous looking masks-animals, as well\nas the human face divine-which had formerly been the stock-\nin-trade of a 1 tomanawos,\" or medicine-man. These diabolical\nlooking faces leered and scowled at me from all corners of the\nroom, and had I not been aware of my friend's hobby, I should\nhave doubted his sanity, or, at any rate, questioned his aesthetic\ntastes, in surrounding himself with such an odd collection of\nobjects. Altogether it gave me a new notion of the fittings up\nof an office in the remote North-West\nPort Townsend is the outlet of the lower end of the Sound,\nfrom 6,ooo to 7,000 feet above the sea. To the north is Port\nWilson, two and a half miles distant; there are strong tide rips\nhere, arid the following Indian tradition relating to them is interesting. A beautiful girl at Chemakum Creek, on the other\nside of Port Townsend, fell in love with an Indian; he ran away\nwith her, the canoe capsized, and they were both drowned.\nEver since there has been a tide rip at this ?pot. The Indians\nfirmly believe that their dead countryman and the forest maiden\nare still struggling underneath the waters, and that that is the\ncause of their disturbance, so they avoid the spot. At the\nextremity of the bluff before mentioned, and overlooking the\nI\nK*S    -\nTHE LUMBER-TRADE ON THE  PACIFIC.\nand consequently the port of entry. It was named by Vancouver after the Marquis of* Townshend. The lower and\nbusiness portion of the town is built on a spit; immediately\nabove this is a precipitous bluff, rising to a height of about\neighty feet. This forms an extensive table-land free from\nwood, which is adorned with the villas of the merchants and\nofficials. The views from it are magnificent, and taken altogether, finer than those from any other part of the Sound, the\nscenery being quite Alpine in character. Mounts Rainier and\nBaker, those lofty and snow-covered peaks, together with the\nCascade Range,\u2014\n\" Mountains that like giants stand,\nTo sentinel enchanted land,\"\n. may be seen here in all their majesty; while in the opposite\ndirection is the Olympian Range, which rises to a height of\nsea, there is a pretty little church, beautifully situated amidst a\nclump of firs. Standing in the presence of the great mountains,\nand fronting the everlasting sea, it is a noble site for the house\nof God, and is the first object that strikes the attention of the\nstorm-tossed and weary traveller on entering the Sound after\nthe dangers of the ocean. As its peaceful chime comes'wafted\nover the stilled waters, it reminds him that he is entering a\nChristian country, and is a symbol of that peace and rest denied\nto him in the storms of life ; of a house where he can lay down\nhis burden, and forgetting for awhile his cares, accept the\ninvitation of our Saviour, \" Come unto me all ye that labour\nand are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.\"\nOwing, in a great measure, to its being a seaport, and the\nseat of the custom-house, also to the establishment of a marine\nhospital, a good deal of business is transacted at Port Towns-\nend, much more than would be supposed from the small size \u00abIR\nII\ntiii\n||l\nIBntni.;.\nii|iii\nIII\nm\n;|i\nmm\n1 286\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\niilig\n\u25a0srt\nof the place, for it does not number more than 800'inhabitants,\nincluding the farmers in the immediate neighbourhood. It\nformerly had the unenviable reputation of being the most\nnotorious place on the coast for drinking, as Mr. Ross Browne\nhas with much humour described. But a great alteration has\ntaken place for the better, and \"a change has come o'er the\nspirit of their dream.\" Port Townsend has reformed, and\namended itself of its naughty ways. A considerable proportion\nof its inhabitants are Good Templars; a noble hall has been\nbuilt by them, which would be an ornament to a city, and\nreflects the greatest credit on this small community. Indeed,\nthe order of Good Templars flourishes on the Sound, and is\ndoing much good. At Port Madison, one of the mills, they\nhave a lodge, and no spirits at all are allowed to be sold ; the\nsame with regard to Seabeckj and at every place on the Sound\nthe order has its representatives. The Duke of York, an\nold Indian chief who was immortalised by Mr. Browne and\nTheodore Winthrop, still survives, together with his two wives,\nQueen Victoria and Jenny Lind. The duke is quite a swell;\nhe wears a black frock coat and nether garments of the same\ncolour, a Tyrol ese hat with a red feather, and a dress parade\nornament on his breast. His dignity is not merely nominal,\nas with most Indian chiefs, for if any one wants any of his\nsubjects they must go to the duke to engage them. Jenny\nLind does washing for the whites, she is very clean and skilful\nin her vocation; the same cannot be said of Queen Victoria,\n^who reigns only in filth and dirt. A pleasant ride may be had\nfrom Port Townsend to Port Discovery, a distance of seven\nmiles. The road passes through a pretty open valley behind\nPort Townsend, about three miles long by one-eighth of a\nmile wide, abutting on the harbour at one end, and coming out\njust beyond Point Wilson at the other. There are shells all\nover, and on digging, boulders of the same character are found\nas those on the sea-shore. It would appear from its low elevation that the sea formerly covered this valley.\nOn asking the stage-driver its name, he informed me that\nhe called it \" The Happy Valley,\" from the easy arid contented\ndisposition of the proprietors, as they would not take the\ntrouble to fertilise the land, or keep up their orchards. Probably they are all expecting.the railroad to come, this way, and\nmake their fortunes; so, like Mr. Micawber, they are | waiting\nfor something to turn up.\" A peculiarity has been observed\nwith regard to the different towns on the Sound, that the inhabitants all have exaggerated notions of the eligibility of their\nseveral sites for the terminus. I met here a rough and simple\nold frontiersman, who had never seen a railroad, and had a\nmost exaggerated estimate of the value of his land. A friend\nasked him whether he would part with any portion of it, should\nthe line be brought to Port Townsend. He said, \" No, sir \u2022 do\nyou suppose that I'm going to part with my hard earnings of\nseventeen years to a grasping monopoly?\" \" But,\" replied my\nfriend, \" consider what the increased value of your land will\nbe.\" \"Well,\" said he, pausing, and looking at my informant's\nhat, which happened to be an old one\u2014\" well, I'll tell you what\nI'll do now\u2014if the railroad comes here\u2014I'll give you a\nnew hat\"\nThere had long been a report of an enormous boulder in\nthe neighbourhood of Port Townsend, called the Tomanawos,\nor \" Medicine Man Rock,\" which had only been seen by one\nwhite man. It was said to be half a mile long, consequently\nmy curiosity was strongly roused, as, if only one-tenth true, it\nwould throw all known erratic boulders completely into the\nshade. I had visions of a flight of savants, equipped with\ngeological hammers, big words, and any number of ingenious\ntheories, to settle the fate of the monster; of reporters breaking\ntheir necks to get a sight of it, and write sensational letters;\nof speculators building hotels, and town lots running up, &c.\nA party was arranged, and we started on the 4th of July, there\nnot being any celebration at Port Townsend, owing to greater\nattractions at Olyrripia. It was a fine morning, and as we\ncantered over the sands which border the western shores of the\nharbour, I enjoyed the exhilarating sea-breeze and beautiful\nscenery. We followed the beach for four miles to a point\ncalled the Station, at the head of the harbour, an old military\npost now abandoned. There is a fine view from this spot of\nthe bay and the bluff on which Port Townsend is built, with\nWhidbey Island and Mount Baker in the background. After\nleaving the Station we entered the forest. The rhododendron\ngrows here in profusion, its beautiful flowers had nearly\nfaded; but their absence was compensated, in a measure, by\nthe gorgeous Indian yellow and crimson tints of the foliage.\nIn many-places the fire-weed (efilobium), a tall and elegant\nplant of a pink colour, grew in profusion. It is always found\nin damp and marshy places, and springs up wherever there has\nbeen a fire, hence its name. In one spot, covered 'with charred\nand scorched stumps and trunks, it shot up on all sides, its\nbeautiful flowers one blaze of pink, like a parterre in a garden,\nstrikingly contrasting with the desolation around\u2014life in the\nmidst of death. It was Sunday morning, and the stillness and\nholiness of the day invested the scenery with a double charm.\nAway from sordid cares and anxieties, alone with nature, and\nsurrounded by her grand works, one felt to be more immediately in the presence of the Almighty.\nAbout an hour after leaving the Station, we came to a small\nstream called Chemakum Creek, flowing from the southern\nportion of the peninsula on which Port Townsend is built. It\nis about ten miles long, and affords excellent trout-fishing.\nThere are fine agricultural lands all along it, and in the upper\npart are beaver dams. A road branches off here to Port\nLudlow, eighteen miles from Port Townsend. We passed two\nor three ranches, and after riding about twelve miles, came to\na small lake. Here we dismounted, and commenced a gentle\nascent, clambering over logs, and pushing through a dense\nbrush which abounded with blackberries. After proceeding\nabout a mile, we found ourselves on the top of a bluff, with the\ngreat rock close by, and only separated from it by a narrow\nravine. It was at once evident that it was not an erratic\nboulder, but that it had been originally a portion of the bluff\non which we stood, and detached from it by some convulsion.\nThe face of the bluff, which might be 150 feet high, is vertical.\nAt the bottom there is an accumulation of alkali, which has\noozed out from it. The height of the rock is about 150 feet\nby 75 feet wide. Its face is extremely precipitous; the writer\nand two others ventured up, and had some difficulty in reaching\nthe top, for there was scarcely any foothold or handhold. Only\nthree out of a party of seven made the attempt, and those who\nremained behind declared that the climbers looked just like\nflies sticking to a wall. The rock appears to be a species\nof trap. It is an oblong square, one end higher and narrower\nthan the other. On the further side it is still more precipitous.\nFrom it there is an extensive view, embracing Port Townsend\nharbour, with Whidbey Island (whose white bluffs reminded PUGET SOUND, AND THE NORTHERN PACIFIC  RAILROAD.\n287\nme of the English coast), and Mount Baker in the background.\nImmediately beneath is a small lake, circular in form, and\nabout one mile wide, fringed with bulrushes and yellow\nwater-lilies. The fishing is reported to be very good. Bands\nof elk come down generally about the middle of the day,\nto drink and cool themselves. They are in such large\nquantities, that the noise they make resembles that produced\nby a steamer in passing along. We noticed on the bluff,\nand at other points, water-washed stones and smooth rounded\npebbles scattered about, which  shows that the country has\nhere and there from the timber, and are composed mostly of\nsand, clay, and gravel. The fir shoots up very frequently\nto a height of 250 feet, and often attains 300 feet. The\naverage diameter of the spruces, firs, and cedars, is about five\nfeet, though cedars of twelve feet in diameter are frequently\nmet with; indeed, the extra size of the timber has made necessary a special manufacture of large saws, so that until the\nyear 1870, logs too big to be cut in the mills were left on\nthe spot.\nThe first place touched at is Port Ludlow. Here there is\nbeen submerged at. some former period. There is an Indian I a saw-mill, and the quantity of saw-dust which has accumulated\ntradition connected with the rock. A long time ago there is so great that it forms an embankment from the mill to the\nwere numerous attempts to clamber it, but without success, forest. At Seattle, where there is a mill, the saw-dust has\nAt last, one more daring than the rest, succeeded. Struck spread over the thoroughfare leading from it, so that horses and\nwith admiration  at this proof of prowess, he was made a | vehicles move noiselessly, and in walking along one feels as if\nmedicine man, and became renowned in those parts, being\nbelieved to  cure   all  the  diseases  to  which  flesh  is heir.\nAnother superstition  connected with the rock,  is  that the\nIndians believe that it  oscillates  at the full of the moon.\nWhile we were on the bluff, an interesting incident occurred,\nillustrative to me of American patriotism.   A young eagle came\nsailing by, and one of the party thoughtlessly forgetting that it I required a couple of men with a rope round its horns to hold\nwas the  4th of July, took up  his gun to shoot it.     This | it in when brought for our inspection.\ntreading on a Turkey carpet. There is a tame young elk at\nPort Ludlow, which at the time of my visit was two years old.\nIts height was 4 ft. 8 in., and it weighed 400 lbs. When fully\ngrown, they sometimes reach as much as 800 lbs.: their\naverage weight is 600 lbs., and growth is attained about the\nfifth or sixth year.    Notwithstanding its alleged tameness, it\naroused the ire of one of my friends, and he swore that he\nshould not touch the bird of freedom, declaring that it would\nbe a sacrilege, and vowing, with great credit to- his feelings, that\nhe would not do such a thing on a day like this, even if offered\n100 dollars. Eventually his argument prevailed, and harmony\nwas restored. We returned to Port Townsend in the evening,\nwithout any further adventures. Before quitting this subject, it\nmay be mentioned that there is an immense erratic boulder\nwhich lies on -Whidbey Island, near Coupeville. It is about\nseventy-five feet long by thirty-five feet wide, and perhaps\ntwenty feet in height  on one s\ntwelve feet  on the other.    It is of the trap formation and, I\n- resting on tertiary deposits in a level country, was no doubt\nbrought down from mountains far to the north of it, on the\nmainland, during the glacial period.\nThe party of directors and officials of the Northern\nPacific Railroad which visited Puget Sound in the summer of\n1869, touched at Port Townsend, and I was kindly invited by\nCaptain Ainsworth, President of the Oregon Steam Navigation^\nCompany,\"the host on this occasion, to join them; and had\nthus an opportunity of visiting the upper portion of the Sound.\nAfter leaving Port Townsend, the steamer rounds Point\nMarrowstone,* one of the four points proposed to be fortified;\nthe others being Admiralty Head, and Point Partridge on\nWhidbey Island, and Point Wilson on the mainland. These\n.command the entrance to the Sound as weU as Port Townsend\nharbour. Passing by Whidbey Island, the Sound opens out\ninto a broad expanse of oyer ten miles, and one enjoys a fine\nview of this inland sea. On either side a succession of bluffs,\nmostly timbered, and averaging from 80 to 100 feet in height,\nare seen extending mile after mile, broken in parts, and\nappearing in the distance like islands.    These bluffs crop out\n\u00ab \"In most of my excursions I met with an indurated clay, much\nresembling fuller's earth : the high, steep cliff forming the point we were\nnow upon seemed to be principally composed of this matter,, wh.cn upon\na more close examination appeared to be a rich sp3c.es of marrow tone\nfrom whence it obtained its name of Marrowstone Point.'-\" Vancouver s\nVoyages,\" Book ii., ch. 4.\nWe then arrived at Port Gamble, nine miles further, the\nIndian name of which is Teekalet This, as well as Port\nLudlow, is at the entrance of Hood's Canal, an arm of the\nsea which extends from the Sound about sixty-five miles in a\nsouth-westerly direction. The miUs founded here in 1853 are\nthe largest in the Sound. Some notion of the magnitude of\nthe operations carried on may be formed from the following\nitems. There is a flour-mill and two lumber-mills, one of which\nhas two engines, the other three; an iron planer, machine and\nblacksmiths' shops, and every requisite for manufacturing and\nside, shelving down to about     keeping in repair their own works.   One hundred and fifty thou.\nsand feet are turned out in twelve hours, but the average per\nyear is 30,000,000, besides spars, laths, pickets and piles, and\nfour or five millions of shingles; 600 men are employed, including those logging; the company own sixteen vessels, which\nare all barques or ships from 600 to 1,300 tons burden, and two\nsteam-tugs: this fleet is navigated by 200 men, officers, and\nsailors; altogether, 800 men are depending on this establishment. In common with the other mills, a general or variety\nstore is kept. A large proportion of their profits accrues to the\nmill-proprietors from these stores, as, owning their several\nsites, they will not allow strangers to set up against them.\nBefore proceeding further, it may be as well to mention\nthat the logging-camps are often at a considerable distance\nfrom the mills, sometimes as much as sixty miles. Each mill\nemploys a steamer, to tow the rafts or booms of logs, and take\nsupplies to the men working at the camps. Opposite the mills\nthere is an Indian encampment, connected with which there is\na tragic history.\nSeveral years ago, the Northern Indians who used to come,\ndown and work at the mills, committed considerable depredations in the neighbourhood. The governor of the territory\ndetermined to put a stop to this, and send them out of the\ncountry. Accordingly, orders were issued to the Massachusetts,\na man-of-war on the station, to drive them out of the territory.'\nIn compliance, the commanding officer told the chief to leave\nthe country; and informed him that he would be fired upon\nin the event of his refusal.    The chief defied him ; accordingly,\nfpi 288\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\ntwo parties were sent, one on each flank of the encampment,\na fire was poured in, their canoes and everything was burnt,\nand the chief was killed by a tree falling, on him. The\nIndians surrendered, and were taken to Victoria; they agreed\nto return to their country, and were provided with canoes for\nthat purpose. For some little time nothing was seen of them,\nand it was supposed that they had gone home, but they never\ndid so; for they hung about, and. after a little while came back\nagain. Acting on their system of revenge, viz., taking a life\nfor a life, they deliberated two or three days whom they should\nselect as a victim, and at length fixed upon Colonel Ebey,\nscenery around is romantic and beautiful, and well worthy of\na visit.\nReturning down the canal, and re-entering the main channel\nof the Sound, we came to Port Madison. Here, there is a\nMasonic Hall, and a lodge of Good Templars; not a drop of\nstimulating liquor is allowed to be sold in the place. Several\nfine schooners have been built here, and a ship was fitted out, in\n1871, that will carry 1,000,000 feet' of lumber. The panelling,\nrigging, castings, brass and copper finishings, were all from the\nsame yard. There was also on the stocks, at the time of our\nvisit, a clipper ship, which is the first vessel of the class ever\nIK\n34\nH91 M\nhfifBlt!\n\u25a0\n'.a^Kja\nGROLT   U1-'   INDIANS?\nCollector of Customs, as they knew that he was a tyhee or chief\namong the whites; and considered him to be of a corresponding rank to the chief they had lost. A party of them went\nto his house on Whidbey Island, at the spot now known as\nEbey's Landing (opposite Port Townsend), and ascertained\nif the inmates were armed, by cunningly inquiring whether\nthey could buy a gun. Strange to say, the house, though in a\nlonely place, was without defensive weapons. As night came\non the Indians approached; a dog barked, Colonel Ebey went\nto the door, and was immediately shot down. His wife'and\nfamily escaped by the back of the house, and fled tfc a neighbour's across the fields. The Indians took his head; and, four\nyears ago, the Hudson Bay Company recovered his scalp, and\nforwarded it to his relations.\nThe next mill site is Seabeck, about twenty miles further\nup the canal.    It has been established thirteen years.    The\nattempted to be constructed on the Pacific coast. Her\ndimensions were : length, 206 feet; 40 feet in the beam; 22\nfeet deep; and 1,200 tons burden.\nThe next place we visited was Seattle, the first town of any\nimportance after leaving Port Townsend, from which it is distant between forty and fifty miles, by the ship channel. It has a\npopulation of about 1,800, and derives its name from the chief\nof a tribe which was located here. The town is built on the\nslope of a steep hill-side, whose dividing ridge, between the sea-\nlevel and Lake Washington, is 400 feet in height, according to\nthe Pacific Railroad reports; substantially agreeing with the\nreading of my barometer, which made it only twelve feet higher.\nSeattle is a busy thriving place, and has all the appearance of\na town that is going a-head. This is partly due to the very\nprevalent belief, at one time, that the terminus of fhe proposed\nrailroad would be located here. KASHMIR.\n289\nKashmir.\u2014II.\nThe Char Chunar Island has a building in the centre consisting of a simple open hall with a little tower commanding a\nfine prospect of the lake; surrounding it is an ill-kept garden\nin which is a water-wheel, made of the wood of the deodar, or\nHimalayan cedar, which, though of great age, is in perfect\npreservation, and is employed to raise the water from the lake\nto the terrace. In the Char Chunar Lake is the famous\nShahmar Garden, which, with its palace, was the work of\nJehangire, who resided here with his favourite wife, the lovelv\nflowering shrubs. Some of the rivulets which intersect the\nplains are led into a canal at the back of the garden, and\nflowing through its centre, or occasionally thrown into a variety\nof water-works, compose the chief beauty of the Shalimar. To\ndecorate this-spot, the Mogul princes of India have displayed\naa equal magnificence and taste, especially Jehangire,* who,\nwith the enchanting Noormahal, made Kashmir his usual\nresidence during the summer months. The arches thrown over\nthe canal are erected at equal distances.    The palace contains\nBRIDGE AT SRINUGGUR.\nNoor Begum, the Noormahal* of Moore and Eastern romance.\nAt this point the lofty mountains slope gently to the plain,\naffording a broad expanse; and a canal half a mile long leads\nfrom the lake to the wooden entrance of the building. According\nto the custom of the period, six inferior edifices, placed in the\nmidst of an avenue of colossal plane-trees, lead to the principal\npalace. Von Hiigel describes as follows the Shalimar Palace :\n\" A small building is erected over a spring, the roof of which\nrests on twelve massive black marble columns. The whole\nforms a square of twelve fathoms, consisting of two covered\nwalks or terraces, between which are the halls, having on either\nside partitions of lattice-work, through which were to be seen\nthe once ornamented chambers. It is kept in good repair, as\nthe governors of Kashmir have always made it an occasional\nresort The garden is 376 paces long and 220 broad. Compared with the Nishad Garden, the view from the hall is very\npoor.\" Forster speaks with much greater enthusiasm of the\npalace and gardens. He says:\u2014\" One of the Delhi emperors\u2014\nI believe Shah Jehan\u2014constructed a spacious garden called\nthe Shalimar, which is abundantly stored with fruit-trees and\n* Noormahal signifies \" Light of the Haram.\"    The name of her lord,\nShah Jehan, means \" Lord of the World.\"\n277\nfour or five suites of apartments, each consisting of a saloon,\nwith four rooms at the angles, where the followers of the court\nattend, and the servants prepare sherbets, coffee, and the\nhookah. The frame of the doors' of the principal saloon is\ncomposed of pieces of a stone of a black colour, streaked with\nyellow lines, and of a closer grain and higher polish than\nporphyry. They were taken, it is said, from a Hindoo temple,\nby one of the Mogul princes, and are esteemed of great value.\"\nThe principal building in the garden at the present day has\na verandah on two sides constructed of black marble with\nyellowish streaks; so it is probable that they are the \" pieces\nof stone \" to which Forster alludes. The pillars, capitals, and\nlintels are all of the same material. The building is entirely\nsurrounded by the water of the canal, and a multitude of jets\ndeau continually play therein, cooling the air, and producing\na musical sound of falling waters.\nEastern writers speak with rapture of the joys of the famous\nFeast of Roses, which, says an old writer, Pietro della Valle,\nI continues during the whole time of their remaining in bloom;\"\n* Jehangire was the son and successor of the great Akbar, and was\nsucceeded by Shah Jehan. It was probably the former who constructed\nthe Shalimar.\niii\n|[\u00bb\n'MUM\niiiim\nm M\n2\u00a70\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\n\u25a0a u\nand Moore characteristically lavishes the choicest gifts of his\nmuse in describing the charms of the scene presented in the\nvalley.\n\"But never yet, by night or day,\nThe dew of spring or summer's ray\nDid the sweet valley shine so gay\nAs now it shines\u2014all love and light,\nVisions by day and feasts by night !\nA happier smile illumes each brow,\nWith quicker spread each heart unc.oses,\nAnd all is ecstasy\u2014for now\nThe valley holds its Feast of Roses.\"\nHerbert says, \"At the keeping of the Feast of Roses, we\nbeheld an infinite number of tents pitched, with such a crowd\nof men, women, boys, and girls, with music and dances.\" But\nit was the lake that formed the chief arena for pleasure in those\njoyous days of the Mogul emperors, when Kashmir was their\nfavourite residence. Such was the time, says Feramorz to the\nlove-stricken Lalla Rookh, when the youthful Noormahal\nwould glide over the lake with her lord; the \" magnificent son\nof Akbar,\" listening to the \"sounds of joy\" from countless\nboats as the tenants scattered showers of fairy wreaths over its\nplacid surface.\n\"Then the sounds from the lake,\u2014the low whispering in boats,\nAs they shoot through the moonlight;\u2014the dipping of oars,\nAnd the wild airy warbling that everywhere floats,\nThrough the groves, round the islands, as if all the shores\nLike those of Kathay, utter'd music, and gave\nAn answer in song to the kiss of each wave.\n\u2022W W \"IP 'Sr IP\nWhat a rapture is his,\nWho in moonlight and music thus sweetly may glide\nO'er the lake of Cashmere, with that one by his side !\nIf woman can make the worst wilderness dear,\n-   Think, think what a heav'n she must make of Cashmere !\"  -\nBut enough of Tom Moore, whose anacreontic poems, even\nthose earlier effusions, published under the pseudonym of\n\" Little,\" would rescue his name from oblivion, though he had\nnever given to the world his \"Lalla Rookh\" and the \"Irish\nMelodies,\" the choicest fruit of his genius.\nAccording to the impressions of a sober traveller, as they\nare recorded in the pages of Von Hiigel, there is nothing in\nthe approach to the capital of Kashmir to remind the traveller\nof the vicinity of a place of note; the Tukht-i-Suliman and\nfort being the most prominent features. Fine avenues of\nplane and poplar trees are the first signs of the former beauty\nof this favourite abode of the most luxurious sovereigns of\nIndia; but the Austrian traveller writes that he found himself\nin Kashmir \" before he was aware of it.\" His first impressions\nalso were not happy. \"All that I saw during my first day's\nstay in Kashmir, were the ruins of what once had been palaces,\nold dilapidated houses, streets of unexampled filthiness, a\npopulation strictly corresponding with them, a large boat full\nof old fisherwomen, who stunned me. with their inharmonious\nvoices, when they screamed out their song of welcome from\nthe canal.\" All this was disappointing, and though he does\njustice, even on the first day, to the glorious scenery of the\nvalley in which the capital is enshrined, he found, after some\ndays' research in the city, much to interest him, while there was\nreal beauty in the lakes and islands, though all betokened a\ncity that had seen better days.\nIn the eastern part of Srinuggur is the Maharajah's palace,\ncalled Shaherghur,* after one of the Mogul viceroys, who\nbelonged to the Sheeah sect, or followers of Ali, the nephew\nand son-in-law of Mohammed.\nThe principal entrance to the palace is from the banks of\nthe Jhelum, whence a broad flight of wooden steps leads to\na terrace and pavilion, adorned with curiously carved woods.\nOne of the most interesting sites in Srinuggur, as having been\nthe residence of Jacquemont, Vigne, and Von Hiigel, is the\nDilawar Khan Bagh, a garden on the banks of the great canal,\nwhich the latter describes as a beautiful spot, containing fruit-\ntrees, vines, and the Syringa Persica. In this garden were two\nlittle low square buildings erected by the side of a sheef of\nwater, and Von Hugel, not liking the filth of the lodgings that\nhad been, provided for him at the instance of the viceroy, took\nup his quarters in one of these buildings, the other being,\noccupied by Mr. Vigne. Here he hospitably entertained as\nhis guest the eccentric Dr. Henderson, a surgeon in the Hon.\nEast India Company's service, who had arrived in Srinuggur in a\nstate of destitution from Ladak, where he had been imprisoned\nby the rajah, who hoped to make use of him in checking the\noperations of Zerawar Singh, the general of Gholaub Singh, of\nJamu, though ineffectually, as Captain (afterwards Sir Claude)\nWade, the political agent at Loodiana, informed' Runjeet that\nDr. Henderson was only a plain traveller who was acting\ncontrary to orders in being in Ladak, and that his government\nwould place no obstacle to the Sikhs extending their conquests\nin the regions to the north of the Sutlej, according to the terms\nof the treaty concluded at Roopur with Lord William Bentinck\nin 1831.\nAmong objects most deserving notice are the seven bridges\nwhich span the Jhelum. The piers are described as \" composed\nof large cedar trees, fifteen or twenty feet long, and three feet\nin diameter, which are placed one over the other, in the form\nof a funeral pile, while large lime-trees, the seeds having been\ncarried to the place by birds, grow from this foundation, and\nshadow a part of the bridge. The cross-beams on which one\ntreads are everywhere in a condition to afford an excellent view\nof the river beneath; and huts and booths have been thrown\nup at different periods, on this slippery ground, although\nnothing is clearer than that a storm would involve houses,\nbridges, trees, and piles in one common overthrow. A storm\nhowever, or even a wind of any great violence, is a thing altogether unknown in Kashmir.\"\nI When the Mohammedan invaders conquered this country\nin the fourteenth century, these strange structures, were found\nin position; and since the termination of the reign of the last\nHindoo queen, Ranee Kotadevi, which, according to the\nAyeen Akbari, terminated in 1364, the last partial restoration\nwas undertaken by Ali'Merdan Khan, the viceroy of the\nEmperor Jehangire.\nThe mosques, or musjids, of Srinuggur, are all built of\ncedar, and are of peculiar architecture, being unlike those in\nIndia, and more resembling a Chinese temple. The Shah\nHamedan Musjid, situated on the Jhelum, is nearly square,\nwith a roof supported by slender pillars. About half-way up\nthe walls outside are balconies, ornamented with finely-carved\nwood and small columns. The roof, as in the other ecclesiastical edifices, projects over the outer walls, and is finished\n* The palace was built by. Ameer Khan Jehan, and was called\nNarsing-ghur by the Sikhs. Some writers erroneously derive the name\nfrom shaker (city). KASHMIR.\n291\nat the four corners with hanging bells; while on the summit,\nwhich rises in a pyramidal form, is a golden ball instead of the\nMohammedan crescent. Opposite to this mosque is that of\nthe celebrated Noor Jehan, which is called the new, or naya\nmusjid; it has never been completed, and is built of white\nmarble. Some distance from this is the Jumma Musjid, a\nbeautiful edifice in a ruinous state. The roof is supported by\nlarge columns hewn out of a single piece, and with a florid\ncapital and base. It forms a large square, each side measuring\n126 yards, and in the centre is an open space with a small\nbuilding open on all sides and raised a step. In other mosques\na tank for ablution is usually placed on this site.\nThe Jhelum offers a lively spectacle, owing to the numerous\nboats ever moving on its surface; and close to the shore stand\ncurious-looking bathing-machines, like cages, for the convenience of female bathers. Perched on the summit of the\nHarni Parvat Hill, and commanding the city, is the fort called\nKi Maram. The fortress was built on a perpendicular rock\nunder the Pathans by the governor, Ali Mohammed Khan,\nwhen he rebelled against the Afghan yoke. At the foot of the\nHarni Parvat, in a beautiful spot in the valley, Akbar built\nanother city now in ruins, which he called Nagarnagar, and\nenclosed it with strong walls and towers. Blocks of stone and\nlarge columns, brought from the more ancient temples of\nKashmir, lie around in desolate grandeur. Von Hiigel, to\nwhose account we are much indebted, was particularly struck\nwith a beautiful mosque built by Achan Mullah Shah, the\ngates of which are made of one single block of black marble,\npolished like a mirror, though the heavy hands of succeeding\nVandal-like possessors of the valley have been laid upon this\nedifice, as upon all others in the ruined city of the greatest of\nthe Mogul sovereigns. There are but two ways of entering this\nruined city; either through a lofty strong gate, or by a little\ndoorway under the walls, barely high and wide enough to\nadmit a man. Nagarnagar remains tenantless, and affords an\nimpressive text for the moraliser over the instability of human\naffairs.\nAbout two and a half kos * from Kashmiris Pampur, a place\nchiefly remarkable for its saffron fields. Five kos further up\nthe valley by land\u2014the water route being more circuitous\u2014is\nVentipoor, the former capital of Kashmir, of which the most\ninteresting ruins are two Buddhist temples, the smaller one of\nwhich is alone in tolerable preservation. Close to it is a hill,\nthe side of which is cut out in the form of terraces, each presenting for cultivation a small level surface, which are supported by walls of immense strength.\nVon Hiigel is of opinion that from these and other\nevidences of the great value attached to all cultivable land,\nthe population of the valley in the time of its greatest prosperity could have been little short of 3,000,000. Only fifty\nyears ago the people numbered 800,000 souls, of whom,\naccording to Elphinstone's computations, from 150,000 to\n200,000 dwelt in the capital, but it is certain that owing to the\nawful visitations of pestilence, earthquake, and famine, in the\nyears 1S28 and 1833, and more recently, the present population of town and country does not exceed one-fourth of that\nestimate. The city of Ventipoor, of which the only traces\nnow remaining  are  these  two   ruined  temples,  was   built,\n* The Hindoo kos, strictly speaking, is about 13,000 feet, or 2 miles 5\n\u25ba furlongs 153 yards.     Th._ Mohammedan kos may be taken at 35 to the\ndegree.\naccording to tradition, by Ven, one of the last Hindoo rajahs,\nwhose memory is still held in popular reverence.\nStill further up the valley on the. Jhelum is Bijbahar, also\nan ancient capital of Kashmir, and still, as regards importance,\nthe second town of the country. Across the fertile plain on\nwhich it stands, is Islamabad,* the ancient Anatgurh, which\nowed \u25a0 its celebrity to a sacred tank and spring, which still \u2022\nissues from the base of a rock ofblack marble. In connection\nwith this spring a legend is told of Raja Nara, the twelfth king\nin succession toAsoka, who founded his capital, Srinuggur, now\na heap of ruins, about fourteen centuries before the Christian\nera. A temple now stands over the hollow in the rock,\nwhence the water springs in great abundance, filling two small\nponds, and thence irrigating the adjacent plain. On the steps\nleading from the temple to the tank, Von Hiigel saw remains\nof deities of all ages\u2014Buddha, Siva, and the Lingam\u2014some\nseveral feet high. The temple was probably built by Arya,\nwho lived at the date of the birth of Christ. Not far from\nIslamabad is Mattan, a place exclusively inhabited by\nBrahmins, having a temple, a large square building surrounded\non three sides by smaller ones. Here also is a large tank,\nabout eighty yards broad, filled with fish, and supplied with\nwater by a spring which gushed from a rock. Not far from\nhere are some caverns, which serve as aqueducts to subterranean canals; they are of no great extent, if we are to judge'\nby the one explored by Von Hiigel, but the superstitious\nnatives fear to explore them, and people their depths with all\nsorts of supernatural inmates.\nOn the high plain between these rocks of Buaswan and the\nmountains of Islamabad\u2014about two miles north-east of the\nlatter\u2014lie the ruins of Korau Pandau, supposed by Jacquemont to be the ancient Srinuggur\u2014the holy city, as the\nBrahmins still call it. This ruined temple owes its name and\nexistence to the most ancient dynasty of Kashmir, the\nPandau, which native historians assert ended 2,500 years\nbefore the Christian era, having ruled the country nearly\n\u2022thirteen centuries. It is, however, certain that these ruins\nbear the impress of \" hoar antiquity,\" and they are impressive,\nnot so much from their size, as from a certain grandeur due to\ntheir massiveness and age. The Korau Pandau of Von\nHiigel\u2014called Kharia Panduwa by Moorcroft, and Srinuggur\nby Jacquemont\u2014is thus sketched by Vigne: \" At present\nall that remains of the Pandu Koru, or Temple of Martund,\nconsists of a central and rectangular building, surrounded by a\ncourt or quadrangle, and rectangular colonnade facing inwards.\nThe length of the outer side of the wall, which is blank, is\nabout ninety yards, that of the front is about fifty-six. The\nremains of three gateways opening into the court are now\nstanding. There are twenty pillars of the colonnade along\nthe outside of the wall now remaining, out of more than\ndouble that number. The height of the shaft of each pillar is\nsix feet, of the capital twenty inches, and of the base two feet.\nThe height of this enclosing wall is about fifteen feet, the\nthickness six feet. In the middle of this court is the temple,\nabout sixty feet long, thirty wide, and forty high. It is probable that it was formerly much higher, as there are indications\nof its having been surmounted by a pyramidal roof of stone,\n* According to Bahia-ud-din, a Mohammedan author as reliable as\nmany of his class, Anatgurh was built by the second King of Kashmir,\nKasaligham, 3,700 years before Christ. Its name was changed to. that\nof Islamabad, the \" City of the Faith,\" about the fifteenth century. 292\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nthe solid fragments of which are now scattered over the\nground, where they were probably thrown by an earthquake.\"\nAll the travellers above mentioned have expressed their\namazement at the strength and solidity of this building, the\nblocks of hard black marble of which it is constructed being\nfrom six to nine feet in length.\nTwo kos from Korau Pandau is Sahibabad, which has a\nsmall fort built by Noor Jehan, and three old Buddhist\ntemples, called Namedevi; and two kos further, at the eastern\nlimit of the valley of Kashmir, is Shahabad, a garden of the\nMogul emperors, near to which is Nornagh, erected by\nJehangire, and boasting a fine spring. All these palaces are\nnow in ruins. The Jhelum, soon after passing Shahabad,\nloses its name, and at Bauhal, twelve kos from Islamabad, is\nknown as the Sandran.\nThe number of passes over the Pir Panjal Mountains\ninto  Kashmir has been  variously estimated.*     Abu  Fazel,\nmula Pass, they took with them a six-pounder slung on poles,\nand borne by thirty-two men at each relay. The only time, we\nbelieve, a British force has entered into Kashmir, was when\nthe late Sir Henry Lawrence, during his memorable administration of the Punjaub in the early days of our occupation,\nmarched with some Sikh troops, who, under his guidance,\naided by one or two of his assistants, penetrated the snowy\nfastnesses of this remote region, and by his indomitable zeal\nand high courage, nipped in the bud a rising against the Lahore\nDurbar, whose power at that time had not been displaced by\nour annexation of the province.\nIndeed, far otherwise do the prospects of Kashmir appear\nto us, although a famine has, within recent years, desolated the\nprovince. The Maharajah would appear to be a real friend to\nthe British Government, and though, perhaps, we should be\ndoing him no injustice in attributing to selfish considerations\nthe assistance he has so generously afforded to Mr. Forsyth's\nm\nINDIAN  PRINCES,   FROM  NATIVE  PORTRAITS.\nthe author of the \"Ayeen Akbery,\" places them at twenty-\nsix, the native historian, Ferishta, ^at only three. More\nreliable are our countrymen, of whom Elphinstone, in his\naccount of Cabul, enumerates seven. Vigne mentions twenty,\nand adds that \" an active mountaineer could enter the\nvalley in many places besides the regular passes;\" and\nVon Hiigel speaks of twelve, adding that the four following\nare practicable at all times of the year: the Nalog, on\nthe eastern frontier; the Banihal, on the western frontier;\nthe Baramula Pass southwards, or Panch Pass on the\nwestern frontier; and the Baramula Pass westward, or Dul\nPass on the same frontier. Though some of the passes\nare practicable for horses there is no carriage-way into the\nvalley, and the Mogul emperors frequently brought elephants\nby the Pir Panjal Pass, or that through which the Bimber\nroad lies. Bernier recounts how he was present when the\nladies of Aurungzebe's zenana travelled on the backs of these\nsure-footed animals, though he states that many of them were\nprecipitated into the depths below. Other travellers have\nexpressed their astonishment how these huge brutes could\nhave travelled along these perilous and difficult paths, the soil\nbeing loose and crumbling in many parts. According to\nVigne, when the Sikhs invaded the valley through the Bara-\n* Thornton's \"Gazetteer.\"\nMission, yet his conduct proves that he is sufficiently alive to\nthe material benefits that will accrue to his subjects by fostering commercial relations between the British provinces and\nKashgaria.\nOn the extent and probable value of this trade opinions\ndiffer, and there are strong grounds for believing that the\ncountry ruled by that powerful and sagacious ruler, the Ameer\nof Yarkund, is poorer than has been hitherto supposed, and\nthat the stupendous passes and barren table-lands that intervene\nbetween Eastern Turkistan and Kashmir offer natural obstacles\nso numerous and well-nigh insurmountable, that trading caravans, like invading armies, will follow other channels. If so,\nAfghanistan is destined to a great future, and may play, commercially, as prominent a part in the future of these little-known\nbut interesting countries as it always has from a military point\nof view. ' From before the days of Mahmoud of Ghuznee and\nBaber, of Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali, the passes\nbetween Jellalabad and Peshawur have witnessed the influx of\nconquering armies; and it is certain, that if we ever have to\nstruggle for the maintenance of our power in India, with the\nonly enemy who can wrest the sceptre of Eastern domination from us, it will be through the Khyber Pass that the hosts\nof the Russian Czar will pass, and not through the portals of\nthe \" Happy Valley \" of Oriental poets. ^HE_CITY  AND VALLEY  OF  QUITO,   AND  THE  QUITONIANS.\nJ93\nSTREET VIEW IN QUITO.\nThe City and Valley of Quito,  and the Quitonians.\nThe capital city of the republic of Ecuador is situated in a\nravine of the Andes, almost immediately under the Equinoctial\nline, in lat. o\u00b0 13' 18\" south, long. 830 45' west of Greenwich,\nat an elevation of 9,520 feet above the sea-level, and on the\neast side of the dormant volcano, Pichincha, whose summit\nrises some 6,450 feet yet higher.\nSurrounded on all sides by high mountain-peaks, rising far\nabove the line of perpetual snow, the valley presents a scene\nof pastoral beauty; the bright green of the rich pastures,\nalways covered with verdure and enamelled with flowers of\nmost lovely colours, dotted  over with  cattle, and  set in  a\nframe of bold and ever-varying, beautifully-tinted mountains,\nwell repays the traveller the toil he has experienced in reaching\nit; while the extreme clearness of the air enables objects at\nthe distance of sixty or eighty miles to be seen with wonderful distinctness. The great elevation of Quito, and its position\nnear the equator, render the climate very agreeable and salubrious, proverbially spoken of by the natives as \" an eternal\nspring.\" The mean annual temperature is about 590 Fahr.,\nthe thermometer never exceeding 7op, nor falling below 45\u00b0 ;\nthe average diurnal range may be stated at io\u00b0. A journey of\nfour hours will place the traveller in the region of constant \u00bbTP\nfrost; or, in the space of half a day, he can descend the deep\nand sultry valleys that separate the mighty chains of the\nAndes; or, finally, he may visit the tropical forest extending\nto the shores of the Pacific. This variation of temperature,\ndependent on elevation, and occurring within narrow limits,\nfurnishes a daily and diversified supply of vegetable food.\nThe greatest fluctuations of the thermometer occur in autumn,\nand the greatest quantity of rain falls in April. From December to April, violent storms of rain and lightning almost daily\noccur in the afternoon. Earthquakes are also frequent; one\nof these visitations that occurred in 1797, with an eruption\nof Pichincha, when the city was surrounded with lava, is said\nto have destroyed in the province above 40,000 persons, and\nto have caused a permanent influence over the climate, and\nreduction in the temperature. Another took place on the\nmorning of the 22nd of March, 1859, involving a great destruction of property and the loss of many lives. The mean annual\nrainfall is 70 inches.\nWithin this sequestered spot, buried between treeless,\nsombre sierras, and isolated from the rest of the world by\ngigantic Cordilleras and impassable roads, lies | the city above\nthe clouds,\" magnificent Quito (with the dedicatory title of San\nFrancisco), laved on its south side by the little river Mach^ngara,\nacross which there is an ancient stone bridge. On the north\nis the plain of Ina-quito, or Rumibarnba, the battle-field where\nGonzales Pizarro defeated the first Viceroy of Peru, who lost\nhis life there; and the place chosen, two centuries later, by\nthe French and Spanish astronomers, for measuring a degree\nof the meridian. An alabaster slab with a Latin inscription, in\nthe church of the Jesuits, perpetuates the memory of this work,\nand the names of the officers who performed it. Formerly the\ncapital of the Quitu, its earliest history is lost in obscurity. It\nwas conquered in about a.d. 1000 by the Caras, a more\ncivilised race who came from the sea-board, who embellished\nit with temples and palaces. They worshipped the sun and\nmoon, and by them Quito, from its proximity to the equator,\nwas held in especial veneration as the favoured abode of their\ngreat deity. The fame of the region excited the cupidity Of\nthe Incas of Peru, who in 1640 commenced incursions into\nthe province, and fifteen years later, by the celebrated battle\nof Hatuntaqui, in which the Cara-Quitu king was killed, the\ncity was added to the realm of the Incas by Huayna-Capac,\nwho made it his residence and beautified it.   At his death civil\nwar ensued, in the midst of which, in\nPizarro vanquished\nthe country, and it became an appanage of the Spanish crown,\nand so continued until 1831, when it recovered its independence\nand a republic was established.\nUnder the diadem of the Incas, Quito assumed a magnificence which it never saw before, and has not displayed since ;\npalaces more beautiful than the Alhambra were erected,\nglittering with the gold and emeralds of the Andes. ' But all\nthis splendour passed away with the advent of the usurper, who\nremoved all the wealth of the city and .despoiled it of its\ngrandeur. A gloomy convent now takes the place of the\npavilion of the Incas, and a wheat-field covers the site of the\n,Temple of the Sun.\nThe city was rebuilt in 1534 by Sebastian de Belalcazar,\nand in 1541 endowed by the Emperor Charles V. with the\ntitle of \"very noble and very royal city.\" It encloses an area\nof about a square mile, and is, on the whole, one of the best-\nbuilt cities in South America.    The streets are straight and\nlaid out at right angles with each other, but at 45 \u00b0 with\nthe meridian, so that not a single public building faces either\nof the four cardinal points of the compass; they are about\ntwanty in number, of average width, and well paved. There\nare three principal squares, besides several less important\u2014\nPlaza Mayor, in the centre of the city, containing the chief\npublic buildings and the best residences, Plaza de San Francisco,\nand Plaza de Santo Domingo. The first of these is 300 feet\nsquare, and adorned with trees and flowers; the others are\ndusty and unpaved, being used as market-places.\n. Quito has some fine public buildings, nearly all of which\nare of the sixteenth century. They are built of brick, or a dark\nvolcanic stone from Pichincha, and are modelled after the old\nSpanish style. The cathedral, a plain structure with a steeple\nat one corner, is much less handsome than several of the other\nchurches; it occupies the north-east side of the Plaza Mayor,\nand has a splendid marble porch, and a terrace with a carved\nstone balustrade, but is sadly out of repair. The Government\nhouse, which also serves for the president's palace, stands on\nthe north-west side, and is an imposing edifice adorned with a\nfine colonnade ascended by two flights of steps; in it are the\nhalls of the audieucia, treasury, and archives, with the offices\nof the public secretaries and the gaol. Congress assembles on\nthe 15th of September in each alternate year, and consists of\neighteen senators and thirty representatives. The chambers\nare small and literally barren of ornament. The members sit\nin two rows facing each other, have no desks, and give an\naffirmative vote by a silent bow. Opposite to the cathedral\nis the archbishop's palace, an unpretending building, with\nprivate dwellings of modern and uniform architecture, of\nwhich also the fourth side is composed, and in which the city\nhall is situated. A fine brass fountain occupies the centre of\nthe Plaza; the other two squares are also each adorned with\na fountain. Passing thence to the Plaza de San Francisco, we\ncome to the church of that name on its north-west side, one of\nthe finest architectural buildings in the city; it is raised above\nthe level of the square, and has a noble terrace in front, from\nwhich descends a flight of stone steps, and is surmounted by\ntwo lofty towers; the interior is a perfect blaze of gilding. It\nwas built with the treasures of Atahualpa (the last of the Incas)\ndiscovered by an Indian, and is the richest. Attached to it is\na convent and a monastery; the latter being one of the largest\nin the world, but the greater part of it is in ruins, and one of\nwings is used as barracks. In close proximity to the last is\nthe church, or college, of the ex-Jesuits (expelled some few\nyears back), which is a more modern edifice. It has a fine\nfagade, with an elaborate front of porphyry, adorned with\nCorinthian columns finely sculptured by native artists. The\ninterior is very rich, consisting of gilt carved -w.ork, and contains a library, said to comprise 20,000 volumes, including\nsome very rare works. A part of the edifice is used as halls\nfor the university, and another part has been converted into\nbarracks.\nThe churches are numerous, and generally embellished with\nartistic decoration of figures, mouldings, and cornices of various\ndesign, both in wood and stone. Previously to the revolution\nthey were richly furnished with silver ornaments, plate, and\npaintings, but much of this wealth has since been turned to\nmore practical use. Attached to all the churches (except the\ncathedral) are unsightly, unadorned convents, which neutralise\nnearly all architectural effect.    The church r\\f La Merced is THE  CITY   AND   VALLEY   OF   QUITO,   AND   THE  QU1TONIANS.\n295\nquite an exception to the other ecclesiastical buildings of the\ncity, in the entire absence of gilding in its ornamental parts,\nwhile the buttresses and pilasters, on which its arches rest,\nhave a representation of network sculptured on them in good\ndesign.\nA small portion of the city is built on level ground, on\nwhich is situated the great square with the principal buildings;'\nthe remainder of the surface is very uneven. Two deep ravines\ncome down the mountain and traverse the city from west to\neast; they are mostly covered by arches supporting the houses.\nThe inequality of the site and its elevation above the Machan-\ngara render the drainage perfect. The city has an abundant\nsupply of water, obtained from several streams which flow\nthrough it in conduits.\nThe houses, which are spacious and convenient, are chiefly\nbuilt of unburnt bricks, the walls being often two or three feet\nthick, and have generally a balcony towards the street, with\nprojecting tiled roofs. On account of earthquakes they are\nseldom more than one storey in height, except in the neighbourhood of the Plaza Mayor. They usually surround a paved\ncourt-yard, in which there is sometimes a fountain or flower-\nplot, entered from the street by a broad gateway; around it\nare arches or pillars supporting a gallery, which is a passageway to the upper apartments; the ground-floor is occupied\nby servants. Generally speaking they are indifferently furnished\nand deficient in cleanliness. The shops are very small, without windows and with only wooden doors. The Indian habitations on the outskirts of the city are mere mud hovels,\nwithout and within a scene of dirt and disorder.\nOwing to the steep slope of the ground, it is difficult for\nvehicles to traverse the streets of Quito; there are two or three\ncarriages of antique fashion, drawn by mules, and perhaps half\na dozen carts; but it is hardly just to lay the blame of this\nabsence entirely to this cause. The Quitoukns are not a\ntravelling people, and from their isolation are far behind the\nage in respect to the advantages of modern applied science;\ncustom is omnipotent here, and hence the unskilled labour of\nthe poor Indian is called in requisition for the transport of\nall materials that require to be removed.\nThe population of the city is variously estimated at from\n40,000 to 80,000, but it is believed that the latter is considerably too high; the women are much more numerous than\nthe men. The white inhabitants\u2014a stiff aristocracy of 8,000\nsouls\u2014forming the governing class, are of Spanish descent,\nwhilst the coarse black hair, prominent cheek-bones, and low\nforeheads reveal an Indian alliance. They have a fair mental\ncapacity, quick perception, and are uncommonly civil and\npolite, but distrustful and procrastinating. Speaking on this\nhead, a recent traveller* remarks that \"the Quitonians put\nus to shame by their unequalled courtesy, cordiality, and\ngood-nature, and are not far below the grave and decorous\nCastilian in dignified politeness. Their compliments are without end; a newly-arrived foreigner is covered with promises :\neverything is at his disposal; but, alas ! the traveller soon\nfinds that this ceremony of words does not extend to deeds.\nHe is never expected to call for the services so pompously\n* Professor Orton, a member of the scientific expedition to the equatorial\nAndes and the river Amazon, made under the auspices of the Smithsonian\nInstitution of Washington, United States ; to whose highly interesting\nbook (\"The Andes and the Amazon \") we are indebted for much of the info -malion in this paper.\noffered. This outward civility, however, is not hypocritical, it\nis mere mechanical prattle; the speaker does not expect to be\ntaken at his word. The love of superlatives and the want of\ngood faith may be considered as prominent characteristics.\"\nContempt for labour\u2014a Spanish inheritance \u2014 and lack of\nenergy are marked traits in their character. Their wealth,\nwhich is not great, consists mainly in haciendas, or farms,\nyielding grain, cotton, and cattle. The pure Indians number\nperhaps 10,000; these are the serfs that do the drudgery\nof the republic, that till the soil, and are the beasts of burden.\nExcept a few foreigners and negroes, the remainder, constituting the bulk of the population, are Cholos, the offspring of\nwhites and Indians, in which the latter element stands out\nmost prominent. Though a mixed race, they are far superior\nto their progenitors in enterprise and intelligence; these are\nthe soldiers, artizans, and tradesmen, who keep up the only\nsigns of life in Quito. In dress, the gentlemen of the upper\nclass adopt the Spanish toga; and the ladies, the mantilla of\nthe mother country, though it is not worn so gracefully as on the\npromenades of Madrid; bonnets are almost unknown among\nthem ; a silk dress, satin shoes, and fancy jewellery complete the\nvisible attire of the belles of Quito. The ordinary costume of\nthe Indians and Cholos consists of a coarse cotton shirt and\ndrawers, and a silk, cotton, or,woollen foncho of native manufacture, the females adding a short petticoat belted round the\nwaist; the head, arms, legs, and feet are generally bare; they\nare very fond of bracelets and necklaces.\nFollowing the custom of their Spanish ancestry, bull-fights,\nor rather bull-baiting, into which the sport has here degenerated, is the national amusement of the Quitonians. This\nspectacle is performed in the Plaza de San Francisco, and is\nreserved for the most notable days in the calendar. Cockfights come next in popularity, and are bond, fide fights, little\nknives being fastened to the natural spurs, with which the\nfowls cut each other up frightfully. This interesting scene\ntakes place on Sundays and Thursdays, and is regulated by a\nmunicipal tribunal. Other pastimes are carnivals and masquerades.\nBusiness transactions are chiefly carried on in the marketplaces, which are abundantly supplied with beef, mutton, pork,\nand poultry, vegetables, and a great variety of fruits. Professor\nOrton gives us a very lively description of the Plaza de Santo\nDomingo, in the following words: \" The scene has a semi-\nOriental cast\u2014half-Indian, half-Egyptian, as if this were the\nconfluence of the Maranon and Nile. Groups of men\u2014not\ncrowds, for there is plenty of elbow-room in Ecuador\u2014in gay\nponchos, stand chatting in front of little shops, or lean against\nthe wall to enjoy the sunshine; beggars, in rags or sackcloth,\nstretch forth their leprous hands for charity; monks in white,\nand canons in black, walk in the shade of immense hats ; shoeless soldiers saunter to and fro; Indians from the mountains,\nin every variety ot costume, cluster around heaps of vegetables\nfor sale; women in red, brown, and blue frocks, are peddling\noranges and alligator-pears, or bearing huge burdens on their\nheads; children guiltless of clothing, and obtuse donkeys,\nwander whithersoever they will; and water-carriers, filling then-\njars at the fountain, start off on a dog-trot\"\nOf commerce there is scarcely enough to deserve the\nname. Without capital, without energy, without business\nhabits, Quitonians never embark in grand commercial schemes\nand industrial enterprises;  whilst the unst*\u00abe  condition  of\nM)%  THE  MOUNTAINS  AND  VALLEYS  OF VIRGINIA.\n297\nthe country does not encourage great undertakings. Quito\nis almost entirely dependent upon Guayaquil (distant 240\nmiles) for the productions of the outer world. The road\nthence, a mere natural path which rises to the altitude of\n14,000 feet over the slopes of Chimborazo, is open only six\nmonths in the year, causing a total suspension of communication during the remainder; but it is believed that with energy\nand some engineering skill this might be obviated, and a\nconvenient road constructed to a nearer port. Corn and othei\nagricultural produce are its principal exports, receiving in\nexchange European goods, and gold, silver, and other metals,\nbrandy, wine, and oil, &c, from the countries on the Pacific\nOcean.\nThere is but little manufacturing industry; some coarse\ncotton and woollen cloth, lace, hosiery, and silk and leather\ngoods are made, with gold and silver jewellery; the city is also\nhighly celebrated for its confectionery. Husbandry is more\npastoral than agricultural. Thousands of cattle are reared in\nthe valley, but almost wholly for beef. In common with all\nthe natives of the New Continent, the inhabitants have a\ndislike to milk. Some cheese and a little butter are made, but\nln a most primitive fashion. The same may also be said of\n- all agricultural operations; the spade is not known; hoes\nare clumsy and awkward. Corn is planted by making holes in\nthe ground with a stick, and dropping in the seed.\nThe established religion is the narrowest and most intolerant form of Romanism.* The oath of a Protestant is not\nregarded in courts of law.\" One-fourth of Quito is covered by\nconvents and churches; the former alone number fifty-seven,\nand are very extensive, sometimes spreading over eight or\nnine acres. There are more than 400 priests, monks, and\nnuns in the city. The native ecclesiastics are notorious for\ntheir ignorance and immorality. The imported Jesuits are the\nmost intelligent and influential clergy; they control the university and colleges, and education generally. The venerable Dr.\nJameson, of the University of Quito, writing in 1859, says :\nI Education  has never been patronised by the Government,\n* Through the efforts of the late United States Minister, the Hon. W.\nT. Coggeshall, a quarter of an acre of ground outside the city has been\npermitted to be enclosed for a Protestant cemetery. The first interment\nwas that of Col. Staunton, Vice-Chancellor of Ingham University, New\nYork, a member of the expedition previously referred to, who fell a victim\nto fever contracted in the lowlands, shortly after his arrival in Quito.\nor the members of Congress who assemble here yearly; for\nwhich reason, the system at present pursued must be considered\nobjectionable, inasmuch as attention is principally devoted to\nthe study of theology, law, and medicine, to the neglect of\npractical science.\" Before the time of Charles III. there were\ntwo universities, but they were then united into one. It has\neleven professors, with 285 students, of whom thirty-five are\npursuing law, and 'eighteen medicine; and a library of 11,000\nvolumes, nearly all old Latin, Spanish, and French works. No fees\nare paid by the students. But the education of the Quitonians\nis strangely dwarfed, defective, and distorted; and their knowledge, such as they have, is without power, as it is without\npractice. There are also two colleges for the instruction of the\nclergy, and a large establishment for the maintenance of\norphans and poor people. The city has but one newspaper\u2014\nEl National\u2014published occasionally by the Minister of the\nInterior.\nThe valley of Quito is remarkably healthy. Epidemics are\nunknown, as also are yellow fever, cholera, and consumption;\nwhile intermittent fevers, dysentery, and liver complaints are\nseldom heard of. The ordinary diseases are asthma and\ncatarrhal affections, and typhoid fever; the latter due to filth,\npoor diet, and want of ventilation. Disorders of the digestive\norgans are somewhat frequent, but they spring from improper\nfood and sedentary habits, the climate itself not being inimical\nto healthy digestion. Nervous and scrofulous diseases, and\ngoitre, are common among the mountains; and there is a hospital for lepers, with 112 patients.\nNature, in fact, has done more for Quito than the incapable\npeople who have settled in its valley; and it is impossible to\nlook upon tottering walls and impassable roads, upon neglected\nfields and an idle population\u2014poor as poverty in the lap of\nboundless wealth\u2014without regret. Nearly the only sign of\nprogress is the recent introduction of the grape and silk-worm;\nand these give so much promise of success, that the threadbare\nnobility have already begun to count their coming fortunes.\nThe only really live man in the republic was the late President,\nSefior Garcia Moreno, a man of wide views and great energy,\nstanding in these respects far above his fellow-citizens, under\nwhose direction it might not have been too much to hope that\nthis fine part of South America would awake from its torpor,\nand that its capital would be made more accessible to European intercourse.\nThe Mountains and Valleys of Virginia.\u2014I.\nBY  PROFESSOR  D.   T.   ANSTED,   M.A.,   F.R.S.\nMuch has been said of late years about the marvellous\nresources of the United States; and while, on the one hand>\nlarge capitals have been raised and companies started, with\nevery apparent ground for the anticipation of vast profits, on\nthe other hand, it -is certain that none of these undertakings\nhave been crowned with that kind of success which alone can\njustify the repetition of the experiment. It may be interesting\n278\nto the reader to know tne real state of the case, and what is\ntrue and false with regard to some of these assumed sources of\nnational wealth, compared with which everything on this side\nof the Atlantic shrinks into comparative insignificance.\nIt must be admitted that the American continent looms\nvery large when viewed with the eyes of those accustomed to\nresults   bearing   a definite   proportion to  territorial extent.\n1\n\\\nl|i;Jl I;\n%%\\\n!li\u00bb! 29-\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nII\nMl\nm\nmm\n\\\\m\nH\u00a7JRl!I\nAmerica, or at least the United States, is spoken of, and\noften considered, as a simple unit among inhabited countries,\nand in that sense is compared with single countries of Europe.\nIssuing like Minerva, fully armed from its parent, it has since\ngrown with such gigantic strides, spreading itself in every\ndirection, that it has already acquired a population equal to\nthat of the long-settled and civilised countries with which it is\ncompared; but this population is spread over so vast an area,\nas to be utterly insufficient to develop the resources of the\ncountry. All the elements of national wealth, both agricultural\nand mineral, lie in the most tempting manner before the native,\nthe emigrant, and the settler, but they are plucked with great\ndifficulty,, either because they require time, machinery, plant,\nand labour, to render productive; or because real and valuable\nas the products are, they have to be carried so far before\nfinding a market, that the cost of conveyance renders it difficult for them to compete with the results obtained in other\ncountries, where, if the quantity is smaller, the natural advantages inferior, and intelligent labour equally dear, there is at\nany rate greater compactness, and a population larger in\nproportion to the extent of the country, rendering it possible\nto undersell the grower and producer occupying the richer,\nbut less manageable country, in the markets of the world.\nOf all the States of the Union, Virginia enjoys perhaps\nthe greatest natural advantages of position, climate, fertility,\npicturesque beauty, and mineral resources. It has mountains\ncrowned with noble forests, wide and rich valleys, feeding\nnumerous flocks and herds, and notorious even in America for\nthe depth and range of their unexhausted, if not inexhaustible\nsoil, and wide plains susceptible of the highest cultivation.\nThese are watered and drained by several rivers, fed by\ninnumerable streams and rivulets. The hills on one side of\nthe great mountain ridge that traverses the state from northeast to south-west abound in iron ore of exceptional value,\nand the great plateau on the western side of this range of\nmountain country contains a great thickness of excellent coal,\nrendered available by numerous deep and narrow gorges that\nintersect the plateau, and allow the water to run off.\nVirginia\u2014the Old Dominion, or Old Virginia, as its sons\nlove to call their parent state\u2014was originally very extensive,\nand has been several times partitioned. What remains is still\n-as large as the whole of the British Islands. The last separation\ntook place since the war, and by it the western part of the\nstate was severed from the eastern, the boundary line being\nhere determined partly by natural features, partly by political\nconsiderations.\nI am well acquainted with Virginia and the adjoining\nterritories, having examined them with some care many years\nago, having always kept up an interest in their progress, and\nhaving revisited them last autumn. At one time much was\nhoped from the gold deposits of the eastern counties, but\ntheir discovery took place too near the time when the far\nmore brilliant discoveries of California were first brought\nbefore the world, to stand any chance of development. One\nof my first inspections in the state was of a gold mine in\nBuckingham County, and a very hopeful affair it would have\nbeen if all the available labour for such investigations had not\nbeen early attracted westwards. But the mineral wealth of\nthe country is not confined to its gold mines ; other metals of\nvalue, and many earthy minerals, have since been found. I\nhave seen very striking specimens of copper ore; there are\nlarge quantities of emery, in a state calculated to yield considerable profit, and there is a supply of remarkably good zinc\nore (carbonate and silicate), and excellent manganese ore.\nThere is also porcelain clay of considerable value, and good\nbrine-springs, from which salt is made. All these minerals are\nfound in low ranges of hills parallel to and outside the main\nAppalachian Chain. At the annual fair held in Richmond in\nOctober, at the time when I was in the country last autumn\n(1873), many specimens of these were exhibited, and obtained\na fair share of attention, side by side with samples of tobacco\nin all forms ; gigantic ears of Indian corn, huge cabbages and\ncauliflowers, and other vegetable productions; wool, both in\nthe fleece and manufactured, and a host of objects too varied\nto mention.\nThese annual fairs represent our agricultural shows, and\ninclude exhibitions of local produce of all kinds. Virginia has\nalways been a great breeding state. Before the war, negroes\ncounted among the produce, but I cannot say whether they\nwere then placed among the objects exhibited, as my visits to\nthe States were not made in the exhibition season. Now\nhorses, cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry, are multiplied in the\nvarious counties, and brought for the admiration of the multitude, some localities being celebrated for one, some for another\nbreed, and these live stock are well shown in numerous stalls\nand pens that form a large circle round the outer line of the\nexhibition area.\nBut in America nothing can be done without politics, and\nit was a part of the exhibition, not the least interesting to me\nto find one of the favourite orators of the state (a member of\nCongress, if not a senator) declaiming from a small hustings\nerected for that purpose, and surrounded by a shifting'\naudience of some hundreds of the visitors. The style of\neloquence was fully equal to the occasion, and the subject\nmatter was the importance of securing the exclusion of\ncoloured officials in the coming elections. The speech was\nmerely one object the more among many of varied interest,\nand fairly enough belonged to the occasion. The display of\nhorses, and some horse-racing going on, was, however, more\nattractive to the mass. I visited a similar fair at Staunton, in\nthe great and rich Valley of Virginia. Staunton is a very\nthriving and increasing town in a flourishing district. It\nshows no traces of the war, and is evidently growing very fast.\nThe exhibition of local produce here was in its way quite as\ninteresting as at Richmond, but of course much more limited,\nbeing confined to the immediate neighbourhood.\nThe Appalachian Mountains, and the outlying parallel\nmountain tract to the east, called the Blue Ridge, cross\nVirginia, and form the natural boundary between the old state\nand the slice recently, separated. The charii extends from\nCanada almost to the Gulf of Mexico, and affects in the most\nmarked manner the whole physical geography of North\nAmerica. There was a time, geologically not very distant,\nwhen the ocean occupied the vast Valley of the Mississippi,\nreaching almost to the North Polar Sea; when, through this\nocean instead of across the Atlantic, the Gulf-stream made its\nway; when the west coast of Europe was covered by glaciers,\nand when the reindeer was one of the most common quadrupeds of Southern France and the vine-clad valleys of the\nGaronne and its tributaries. The Appalachian Chain, not so\nlofty perhaps at that time, formed the backbone of a small c:\nAmerica; but all the general features of the country existed THE MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS OF VIRGINIA.\n299\nthen as they do now, and while the gently-sloping and low-\nlying plains on the eastern side were rich prairie-land, feeding\ncountless herds of buffalo and deer, the higher valleys and\nplains of the West were less accessible, and were intersected\nby deep ravines, resembling on a smaller scale the celebrated\ncan)ons of the Colorado. The gradual rising of the whole\ncontinent has now converted the ocean floor into a vast fertile\nvalley; but the canyons still exist, and penetrate far within the\nmountain range, forming at present a means of communication\nfrom east to west, and connecting. the Atlantic with the great\nWest.\nThe country, however, is so inaccessible, and the conveyance by ordinary roads over the mountains so tedious and\ndifficult, that beyond ac ;ess to some natural springs of mineral\nwater, situated in the midst of charming scenery, and equally\ncelebrated for their healing virtue and as places of pleasant\nsummer resort, there was hardly any communication between\neastern and western Virginia at the time\u2014now nearly twenty\nyears ago\u2014when I first visited the great Appalachian coal-field\nof the Kanawha Valley. It is on the western side of the ridge\nthat the coal-field first shows itself in an available form, and to\nget it to the eastern cities was at that time altogether out of\nthe question.\nThere are exceedingly few available gaps in the great\nmountain chain, and none of them are either low or in any\n. sense easy to get over. But after all, natural difficulties of\ncommunication\u2014where there is a willing population on one\nside and some object they desire to possess on the other\u2014are\nmade only to be overcome. There are two ways by whieh the\ntreasures of the West could be carried eastwards. A canal was\nfirst thought of and attempted, and will probably be completed\nat some not very distant day. But the canal which is to\nconnect James River with the Mississippi Valley, crossing\nVirginia in a westerly direction from the lowlands on the\nAtlantic, through the rich plains and valleys, stopped where it\napproached the mountains, which have to be penetrated before\nit can join New River and the Kanawha, by whose channels it\nwill have to be conducted to reach the Ohio. These streams\nrun through deep ravines, and wind amongst the mountains for\na long distance before they terminate in the Ohio, and the\nwork required to effect this junction required much larger\nfunds than could be obtained from Virginia in the slavery\ntimes. It is true there was then great wealth in the country,\nbut it was not of the kind that is available for public works\nof this nature. The canal was planned, many schemes, some\nextremely ingenious, were devised for penetrating the mountain,\nand securing an ample water supply in dry weather, but there\nwas no serious attempt made towards its completion.\nAfterwards came the time of railroads. In a new country,\neven although iron may cost a good deal, the iron road is the\nquickest made, and even the cheapest of all roads. A railroad\nwas commenced and constructed from Richmond, the capital\nof Virginia, towards the mountains, but there again the natural\nbarrier long remained too serious to be overcome. It required\nall the energy of a new company, starting with the greater part\nof the line already constructed, and expecting to make traffic\nnot only by opening out mineral wealth, but by creating a\npopulation on the western side, to overcome the many obstacles\nthat existed. After the war, when the state had been subdivided and Western Virginia created, and when the construction of railroads became one of the main objects of the most\nintelligent, and at the same time most speculative, American\ninvestors, this work was undertaken, and has at length been\nhappily carried through, though not without almost ruining the\nshareholders and debenture-holders, and even at last leaving\nthe completed line very badly supplied with rolling stock. But\nit is important to point out that the line itself, now known as\nthe Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, is admirably engineered, if\nnot always along the best selected line, and may compare, in\nthe nature of its work, with any line in any country. The\ndifficulties were enormous. For a long distance it is constructed on a ledge cut on the face of a nearly vertical cliff of\nhard rock, with a torrent running below. For miles the only\nmeans of access during its progress, was by the' aid of ropes let\ndown from the top of the precipitous cliff to a depth of\nseveral hundred feet. The road had to be carried through\nnumerous tunnels, presenting every variety of difficulty, but, in\nspite of all these, it was ultimately pushed through, and it\nreally has remarkably easy grades, and now, in its complete\nstate, the traffic can be carried on with perfect facility. At\npresent it runs through scores of miles of country very thinly\npeopled, and its use for a long while will be chiefly confined to\nthe conveyance of minerals.\nThere ought to be a very safe and certain supply of\nvaluable minerals to justify such a line, and it deserves careful\nconsideration as to how far the quantity of available mineral\njustifies the experiment. Let us consider for a moment the\nresources of the eastern part of America in reference to the\ntwo most important of all minerals, and the sources of the\nmost permanent wealth.    I mean iron ore and coal.\nPennsylvania, and especially the country about Pittsburg,\nand also the Cumberland district in Maryland, and a group 01\ntowns on the right bank of the Ohio below Wheeling, have\nbeen for many years the centres of the iron and coal trade in\nAmerica. Iron could be made there with local coal, but the\nore had to'be brought from.afar, and the coal to be lifted out of\nthe earth after expensive mining, and the result has been that\nto justify the smelting of iron on a large scale, and prevent\nthe American iron-master from being ruined by competition, a\nheavy protecting duty had to be imposed on all imported\nmetal, whether pig, bar, or sheet. With this duty the profits\nof manufacture were sufficient to enrich the iron-master in\nordinary times, when the price of labour was not exorbitant,\nand when the distant ores\u2014some of them carried a thousand\nmiles_could be obtained at a moderate cost. The great\ncoal-field of Pennsylvania, containing all varieties of mineral\nfuel, did not lie very favourably, either for extraction' or transport, and in order to encourage this industry also, protecting\nduties were levied. Thus the coal and iron trades in America\nhave been cultivated and fostered, but have not of themselves\nbeen able hitherto to compete on equal terms with foreign coal\nand metal conveyed across the Atlantic. And although the\nEnglish coal-miner and iron-master have had to incur very\nheavy expenses in originally reaching the minerals in their own\ncountry and bringing them into the market, the protecting\nduty and the heavy cost of conveyance across three thousand\nmiles of ocean, have not been sufficient to prevent a very large\nimport of coal and of iron in all stages of manufacture.\nThe Chesapeake and Ohio Railway affords the first and, at\npresent, the only means of access to deposits of iron ore and of\ncoal, the former in every respect superior, and the latter equal\nto the supplies from any of the mineral fields of Pennsylvania.\ni ILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nThe iron ore is of the finest quality, both in the valleys east of\nthe Blue Ridge, and between that ridge and the Appalachians.\nThis ore is in such quantity that it may be regarded as practically inexhaustible. It alternates with limestone bands, valuable as flux, and much of it is close to the line of rail. A few\nmiles of branch would bring millions of tons on the line at an\nexceedingly small cost.\nA hundred miles west of these deposits of ironstone, and\nfollowing the line of the railway, we enter the great coal-field\nworked now on the cliff of the valley, through which run the\nKanawha and its tributaries, and along which the railroad is\nconstructed. At least sixty feet of the finest coal of all\nvarieties, except anthracite, has been found to exist wherever\nsearch has been made. Some of the seams have been opened\nand worked to a considerable distance by tunnels entering\nfrom the hill-side. The coal is found to be uniform in thickness, very level in its position, and nowhere interrupted by\nthose fractures and disturbances that in England and other\ncountries are almost regarded as essential to its existence.\nSingle beds, five, six, eight, or even ten feet thick, are thus\nimmediately accessible, and the coal when got has only to be\nrun down hill to the railroad.\nHr'JBMi.\n...siswit\nINDIAN  COSTUMES.\nm\nPuget Sound, and the Northern Pacific Railroad.\u2014II.\nBY   EDMUND   T.   COLEMAN.\nThe belief that Seattle would be chosen as the site of\nthe terminus of the North Pacific Railroad was founded\non the fact that the Snoqualmie Valley in the neighbourhood, affords the lowest known practicable pass across the\nCascade Range. Indeed, it was high treason for any one\nto doubt but that Seattle would be the terminus. A friend\nof mine having ventured to differ with a lady on this\npoint, she put him down in a manner that astonished his weak\nnerves, and made him repent his temerity. The emigration\nwhich takes place over the pass from Oregon, and the eastern\nside of the mountains, has also contributed to aid the develoD-\nment of the town.    Seabeck,  Ports  Madison and  Blakely,\nFreeport, and Port Orchard, are all tributary to Seattle, and\ntake its produce. Building has been going on to a considerable extent of late years; and \" one of the most certain indications of the metropolitan character which this town is now\nassuming, is the fact of the moving of frame structures to make\nway for brick and iron.\" There are six churches, and no less\nthan seven distinct congregations, some of which meet in\nassembly-rooms. Of these there are two, built for lectures,\nconcerts, and other purposes. The University building,\nerected on the brow of the hill, is a noble-looking structure,\nwith a lofty portico of the Ionic order. The stores are very\nlarge and well stocked. PUGET SOUND,  AND THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.\n301\nIn common with the other towns on the Sound, the houses\nare painted white, which, together with shade trees planted\nin the principal thoroughfares, give a cheerful aspect to the\nplace.\nThe first claims were located in March, 1852, by the Hon.\nA. A. Denny, formerly delegate to Congress, William N. Bell,\nand C. D. Boren. They were chosen near each other for\nmutual assistance and protection, as the Indians were then\nnumerous and somewhat unfriendly.\nThe Snoqualmie Pass is seventy-five miles from Seattle in a\nsouth-easterly direction.-  A pass in the immediate neighbour-\nthe latter is sometimes called the true Snoqualmie, to distinguish it from the former.\nThere are two passages leading out of the Snoqualmie\nValley. First, the old Indian foot-trail, which diverges from\nthe present road to the south-east at a point about four or five\nmiles below the summit of the pass on its western side, and\ndebouches on the western side of Lake Kitchelas. It was\nimpracticable for horses, and is now abandoned. According\nto the official record, \"on the 20th of June, 1856, Major van\nBokkelen went up the Snoqualmie River from the falls, thirty-\nfive miles, passing through prairies for five and a half miles,\nSEATTLE.\nhood of the present one had long been known and used by the\nIndians, but it was impracticable for a wagon road; for the\nIndians in travelling select the loftiest ridges, regardless of\nheight, there not being so much chance of meeting with obstructions, such as fallen timber and the like, as when travelling\nat lower elevations. There is another passage across the\nmountains, from about five miles to eight and a half miles to the\nsouth, called the Cedar River or Yakima Pass, as it debouches\nin the valley of that name on the eastern side of the mountains.\nIt is 1,500 feet higher than the Snoqualmie Pass, and has been\nused for fifty years by the Hudson Bay Company. Much\nmoney has been spent to make it a wagon road. It has been\nabandoned by the Indians now for the last four or five years,\nowing to the superior facilities for travelling afforded by the\nSnoqualmie Pass. From its proximity, the Cedar River or\nYakima Pass is often confounded with the Snoqualmie, hence\nand the rest through forest greatly obstructed with timber.\nAfter passing the summit, he lost the old Indian trail, and\ngoing for ten miles south by compass, found another, and four\nmiles further reached Lake Kitchelas. As this trail ended at\nthe lake, he was obliged to force his way along its western\nshore for eight miles, over rocks and timber, and at its lower\nend reached the foot of the Yakima Pass.\"*\nSecond, the present road, which is to the north of the\nformer, and debouches on the eastern side of Lake Kitchelas.\nNow, the Hon. A. A. Denny, before mentioned, J. Boorst, and\nWilliam Perkins, claim to have been the first white men to\ncross the second passage above described\u2014viz., in August,\nx865\u2014and aver that Major van Bokkelen, who also claims to\nhave been the first explorer, must have crossed by \" the old\n* \" Pacific Railroad Reports,\" vol. xii., part i., p. 194. 302\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nill\ni\nIndian trail,\" or first-mentioned passage before described, as\nMr. Denny's party were unable to find the slightest sign of\nany human visitors until they arrived at Lake Kitchelas, on the\neastern side of the pass. On reading the official record above\nquoted, it will be at once seen that there is a discrepancy\nwhich is difficult to explain. It appears from it, that there is a\ndistance of fourteen miles between the summit of the pass and\nthe head of Lake Kitchelas, whereas, according to the report\n(dated April, 1869) of Mr. Edwin F. Johnson, late chief\nengineer to the Northern Pacific Railroad, the distance is only\n4-11 miles. It will also be observed that the words of the\nrecord, \" lost the old Indian trail,\" would seem to point out\nthat the first-mentioned route was the one followed by Major\nvan Bokkelen. Again, if he had crossed the summit by the\nroute now followed, he must have come out on the eastern,\nand not on the western shore of Lake Kitchelas, the former\nbeing in a direct line with, and nearest to the summit of the\npass, though it would be possible for a party travelling only by\ncompass to make the western instead of the eastern shore after\nleaving the summit*\nLarge sums have been spent to keep the road across the\npass open, and when the funds granted by the county or the\nterritory have been insufficient, the few settlers that there are\nalong the route have subscribed liberally to keep it in repair.\nSome notion may be formed of the traffic from the fact that\ntwo months after we crossed, when the rains had set in, and\nthe road was out of repair, from sixty to seventy wagons accumulated on the other side of the pass. The first wagon,\nafter making the road, went through from Black River, near\nSeattle, to Lake Kitchelas, a distance of sixty-six miles, in four\ndays.\nI was desirous of visiting the pass, so Mr. Denny was kind\nenough to arrange a party for that purpose, as well as to accompany it himself. We were joined by Professor Hall, of the\n. University, and Dr. Wheeler, of Seattle, and started on the\n25th of July. Mr. Denny was our leader. He carried an axe\nto clear away obstructions, for we heard that there was a good\ndeal of fallen timber, owing to the bush fires which were all\nover the country, so he looked like a firemanat the head of a\nMay-day procession. The pack animal came next, then followed Professor Hall. Just before starting, he had been\ncoaxed into buying a small box of cigars for the benefit of the\nparty. It was too late to be inserted in the pack, consequently\nhe was obliged to carry it; but the box proved to be useful,\nfor the pack-animal was lazy, so, in the absence of a whip, the\nprofessor, having first pocketed his dignity, made use of the\nsharp corners of the box to goad the animal with, much to our\namusement, as he had to lean forward in an awkward sort of\nway every time to reach the offender. Next came the writer,\nwho was artist and historiographer to the expedition. He was\nequipped with a note-book, and a black-lead pencil, ready to\ntake off everything and anybody. The rear was brought up by\nDr. Wheeler, surgeon to the forces. He was armed with a\nlancet, a bottle of \" pain-killer,\" and a box of pills, wherewith to\nsuccour the distressed, and alleviate suffering humanity. The\ndoctor was not able to start with us, but overtook the party on\nthe road. He had been delayed, taking in freight in the shape\nof a stock of combustibles to keep his pipe alight, being a\n* In making these remarks, the author does not in any way wish ,to\nimpugn the veracity of Major van Bokkelen, who is a gentleman of probity\nand good standing.\ngreat smoker. Indeed, he had such a large cargo, that on\nentering the house where we stopped for the night, and going\ninto the room where he had placed his pack, I was under the\nimpression that I had got into a lucifer-match manufactory, so\nstrong was the smell of brimstone.\nThe road for the first twelve miles was level, and lay\nthrough fir forests. The wild pea, which abounded, was\nfading, but its tints of raw sienna agreeably diversified the\nmonotonous greenery of the forest. Before reaching our destination, we crossed over Black River, which flows from Washington Lake, and is of some width at this point; then, passing\nby another stream, called Cedar River, which has its origin in\nthe pass of that name, we came to a large clearing surrounded\nby alders. In the centre there was a neatly-built farm-house,\nbelonging to a Mr. W. P. Smith, who made our party welcome,\nand invited us to pass the night. Next morning, on awaking,\nwe were alarmed at the appearance of Professor Hall, for his\nface was of a blue-black, and we imagined that he must be very-\nbad. But it speedily turned out, that the colour of his complexion was owing to a pair of new blankets of a blue colour,\nthe indigo dye having rubbed off on to his face; thus he\nappeared like a devil in a Christmas pantomime. This little\ninterlude was repeated every morning, and furnished an unfailing source of merriment to the party. On leaving Mr.\nSmith's, the road passed under some over-arching maples ot\nlarge size, leading to the forest, which abounds at this spot\nwith fine cedars. We passed through a level country, and by\na good road, to a settlement called Squawk, twelve miles from\nMr. Smith's; but, owing to the smoke caused by the bush-\nfires, it was vcty gloomy travelling. We made a lunch, and cut\nsome green oats for our horses, and bought some shelled oats,\nnot being certain whether we should reach a proposed camping-\nplace this night\nAfter leaving Squawk, we began to meet with the obstructions which we had all along dreaded\u2014a great fire had just\npassed over our track, and the trail was covered with fallen\ntimber, which was smouldering, so that the axe had to be\nbrought into use. Every Western man knows how to handle\nthis mainstay of the pioneer, and Mr. Denny plied it with\nvigour and skill, but we had some difficulty in getting our\nhorses through, as the flames frightened them. Singular effects\nare produced by these fires; the scorched trees assume rich\nred and yellow tints, exactly as if in the autumn season ; but in\nother places the charred and blackened trunks, the hideous\nstumps, leaves curled up to cinders, the earth strewn with\nashes, and the light of the- sun obscured, present a sad and\nmelancholy spectacle. About the middle of the day, the road\nopened out into a beautiful and park-like country, but we had\nto surmount three steep hills before camping. At length the\ntall firs began to dwindle, and the forest opened out, showing\nglimpses of the sky. Presently there was the welcome sight of\nthe tops of some cotton-wood trees, always an indication of\nbottom-lands and of water. We stopped about five o'clock, at\na Mr. Boorst's, on the outskirts of Snoqualmie prairie, about\nforty miles from Seattle, having only made 300 feet of elevation\nsince leaving Squawk. We camped in a beautiful orchard,\nwhich, with the farm-buildings, strongly reminded me of those\ncomfortable and substantial-looking homesteads which-are met\nwith in the valley of St. Gervais, on the Italian side of Mont\nBlanc\u2014homesteads that suggest peace and plenty\u2014a land\nflowing with milk and honey.     The ranch adjoins the river PUGET SOUND,  AND  THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.\n3\u00b03\nSnoqualmie, which runs at the rear of the house; and after the\nheat and dust of the journey, we enjoyed a refreshing bath in\nits cold waters.\nNext morning, three of the party started to visit the Falls of\nthe Snoqualmie. The river is about fifty yards broad, and\npresents the usual characteristics pertaining to the lower portions of streams in this territory; viz., long reaches of firs,\nsprinkled with cedar and maple, alternating with cotton-wood\nand alder; the banks are occasionally covered with a dense\ngrowth of willows and underwood, while at every sharp bend of\nthe stream there are piles of logs and driftwood, brought down\nby the spring freshets, and every now and then snags obstruct\nthe way. After proceeding down the river about three miles,\nwe came to the top of the falls, and crossed to the other side.\nWe then made a steep descent, through forest as usual, till we\ngained the river again, and walking up it along the banks,\nover smooth and slippery boulders, came to a point where the\nspectacle was superb. An\" immense amphitheatre of perpendicular cliffs bounds the view. These are apparently of a trap\nrock, with seams of quartz and sandstone, the latter uppermost.\nThe river plunges in one leap of 275 feet over the centre, with\na loud roar. Clouds of. mist and spray rise up from the basin\n. beneath, and a beautiful effect is produced by the waters in\ntheir descent. They resemble immense icicles, constantly\nelongating till broken, then reforming, and ever renewed. When\none reflects that this immense volume of water pours forth from\nday to day, from age to age, throughout the rolling centuries,\nwith its deep tone of music, its everlasting anthem, it gives\none a grand image of Almighty power, of the majesty of the\nCreator. I thought of certain grands eaux at Versailles, much\nvaunted in their day, and reflected how feeble are man's best\nworks, compared with those of God ! People who have seen\nthe falls earlier in the season, say that the month of June is the\nbest time for visiting them, as there is then a still larger\nvolume of water.\nWe resumed our journey on the following morning. Mr.\nBoorst joined us; we were also accompanied by an Indian\nwoman, who went by the name of the \" Widow,\" together with her\nyoung husband\u2014this being her tliird\u2014as he was to guide us to\na reported lead of plumbago near the pass which we were\ndesirous of examining. On leaving Mr. Boorst's, a fine view of\nthe Cascade Range presented itself. Shortly after, we entered\nupon the Snoqualmie prairie, which is about four miles long, and\nfrom one and a half to two miles wide. It was unenclosed, and\nreminded me of an English common, in the absence of trees,\nbesides being perfectly level, and covered with fern. There were\nblackberries, as well as a quantity of strawberries, and many plants\nof the same species as those found on open lands in England.\nEight settlers live here. They have all large farms, averaging\nfrom 100 to 200 acres. The principal produce is hogs. They\nalso raise cattle, and cure bacon, which finds a ready market at\nSeattle. Nearly all the open land hereabouts is taken up. We\nstopped at a ranch, and bought some hay, not being quite\ncertain where we should camp at night. After crossing a considerable ' portion of the prairie we came to the river, and left\nthe road, which continues on to the Cedar River Pass. The\ntimber growing on the banks comprises fir and cedar; it is of\na very fine quality, being suitable for lumber. Salmon run up\nin the winter, and up the Yakima or Cedar River in the early\nspring. Fording it, we crossed a couple of good-sized prairies,\nfrom one and a half to two miles across, divided by belts of\ntimber, and about eleven o'clock came to a very steep ridge,\ncalled I Perkins's backbone,\" as Mr. Perkins before mentioned\nfirst blazed the trail. It is about one mile in the ascent, and\ndivides the middle and south forks of the Snoqualmie, the lattei\nbeing the one we had hitherto followed. The ridge is very\nnarrow, in one part not more than ten feet across. Below, at\na depth of perhaps 500 feet, we could just discern the middle\nfork of the river, winding in a semicircle; for the day was\nobscured with smoke, which spoilt the views. We now entered\nthick timber. After travelling some distance, one of the party\nfeeling very unwell, we were obliged to camp early in the\nafternoon, at a spot in the middle of the forest, where there was\nno grass. This mattered but little to those of our animals\nwhich were of the Cayoosh, or native breed. They would eat\nanything\u2014fern, bramble, willow, and all kinds of plants, even\nthe prickly \"devil's club:\" nothing seemed to disagree with their\ndigestions. Next morning, we continued our path through the\nforest, crossing several gulJies, in which a kind of blue sandstone predominated, and we passed by a number of magnificent\ncedars in a hollow which was favourable to their growth. Many\nof these were twelve feet in diameter. As the afternoon came\non, the sun broke out, partly perhaps owing to our elevation\u2014\nfor we had been gradually ascending all the morning, and were\nnow above the smoke of the bush fires. We crossed the river\nseveral times in the course of this day's journey. About five\nmiles before reaching the summit, the old Indian trail before\nmentioned strikes off to the right, or south-east, and follows a\nridge leading to Lake Kitchelas on the eastern side.\nAbout this spot Mr. Boorst drew my attention to some\ncedars which had been stripped of their bark, and informed me\nthat it had been done by the Indians in the days before\nblankets were introduced by the Hudson Bay Company. They\nfirst stripped off large sheets of it, then laid them out on a flat\nstone or piece of wood, beating the strips out with a stick into\nfine threads; after which they worked them up into clothing.\nAbout two and a half miles below the summit of the pass, I\nnoticed a large mass of granite in situ, cropping out of the\nmountain side.\nThe ascent now became comparatively steep., The trees\nbegan to dwindle and thin out, affording in their openings\nglimpses of pine-clad heights, and bold escarpments of rock,\ntogether with precipices strewn at their feet with debris, exhibiting, in fact, all the features of a mountain country, for we were\nnow in the heart of the Cascade Range. Towards four o'clock\nwe emerged into an open tract of turfy, marshy, meadow land,\nabout a couple of acres in extent, and affording plenty of grass,\nwith here and there pools, bearing water-lilies, all hemmed in\nby the common red fir. We had gained the summit of the\npass. It is surrounded on three sides by lofty peaks bearing\npatches of snow. They have received the names of Mount\nGregory Smith, after the chairman of the board of directors of\nthe Northern Pacific Railroad, Mount Annie, after a lady on\nPuget Soundr and Mount Edwin F. Johnson, after the late\nengineer-in-chief to the railroad company. One of the\ncompany's surveying parties, the summer before last, determined the height of the pass to be 3,010 feet above the sea.\nA party sent to report on the greatest depth of snow, found it\nto be seventeen feet on the rst of March, and there was none\nwhatever ten miles on the western side of the pass ; also that\nthere was no drifting of snow, and not a single slide, thus\nobviating any necessity for the erection of snow sheds, *nid 3\u00b04\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nshowing that snow-ploughs will be entirely adequate to keep\nthe line in running order. We noticed heather, but it was not\nin bloom; also the mountain ash, and other plants peculiar to\nhigh elevations. There were quantities of berries, which were\nof a finer flavour and larger size than those growing on the\nlowlands. This is attributable to the drier atmosphere.\nAnother indication of our altitude was the squeak of the\nground hog.    A little further on, we found a wagon with a\nsingularly illustrative of her character, as will be shown. I was\nalso told that she was well known as the smartest and cleverest\ngirl in the country, being considerably above the average of\nIndian women, that she was a capital cook, and an expert\nseamstress, in fact, quite a notable girl. With such qualifications it needs scarcely to be added, that she was decidedly\nstrong-minded, and remarkable for having a will of her own.\nThe fair damsel had been on a visit to the other side of the\nINDIANS  OF OREGON.\nfamily in camp.    They had come from Utah, and had passed\nthrough Idaho and Montana.    One of the party informed us\nthat he had walked  1,500  miles by the side of the wagon I\nsince leaving home.    They had run out of flour, and were very\nglad to get some from us.\nAfter we had made our evening meal, and were seated\nround the camp-fire, an unprotected female came along, somewhat to my surprise, in this wild spot. She was on horseback,\nand turned out to be an Indian girl who was known to some\nof the party. I was informed that she went among the whites\nby the cognomen of Sally, but that her real name was the\neuphonious one of \"Tow-wow-why-a-pim,\" a word which, in the\nClick-a-tat language means to throw a thing away, and was\nmountains, and was now returning to the Snoqualmie pr?irie\nto get some clothes. In personal appearance she was of\nmiddling stature, inclining to be fair rather than dark, not\ndecidedly pretty, but what would be called comely. We invited her to sit down and partake of our cheer. She had not\nbeen long seated when, observing that Dr. Wheeler's wideawake was rent, she pulled out a housewife, and very neatly\nmended it. Presently she disappeared, having left to make\nher toilet, and returned in another dress, with ear-rings and a\nnecklace, while her brown hair was neatly plaited, and fell in\nbraids over her shoulders.\nNext day we resolved to descend to the eastern side of the\npass, but first moved our camp about a quarter of a mile 279\n\u00a7\u00bb\nI\n!W-=\nI\nIIS 306\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\n\"If\n1\nfarther, to a more convenient spot, where there was better\nwater. In descending, when about half-way down, we came\nto some mud-holes, which extended over a large piece of the\nroad. These are the worst obstructions that can be met with\nin travelling in this country, not so bad for horses as they are\nfor wagons. In the present instance timbers had been\nthrown over, but these were all displaced. After a vain\nattempt to restore them to something like order, we had to\ngive it up, and lead our horses up the steep mountain-side\nover logs, and through a dense brush, round to the other side\nof the obstruction. Had I not witnessed it, I never could\nhave believed that it was possible to bring wagons over such\na road as that we travelled on. In fact, what is called a\nwagon-road is nothing but a rough uneven trail, full of obstructions, with the trees cut down on either side, very often\nbarely wide enough for a wagon to be urged along- However bad the obstructions may be, it is seldom that the inge-\nluity of the teamsters is at fault. When logs that have fallen\nacross are too big to be cut through, and there is no passage\nround, \" skids \" are placed against them: i.e., small logs or\ntimbers piled up on either side against the large one; thin\nflat pieces are then placed across, reaching from the ground\nto the top of the log, so as to form an incline; the wagon is\nthen hauled up by ropes, and let down in a similar way on the\nother side. Sometimes cattle and horses sink so deeply into\nmud-holes, that they can only be drawn out with ropes. In\na journey I made over the Natchez Pass, my pack-animal sunk\ninto a hole up to his girths; the pack had to be undone, and\neverything taken off before he could be got out.\nAfter crossing a couple of small streams in which salmon\nmay be caught, we arrived in three hours and a half at Lake\nKitchelas, being the foot of the pass, a distance of over four\nmiles from the summit. Like the Natchez, the descent on this\nthe eastern side of the pass is easier than that on the western.\nAccording to Mr. Johnson's report before quoted, there is an\nelevation of 900 feet in three miles on the western side, and\n456 feet in five miles on the eastern. The average inclination or\ndescent of the Snoqualmie Valley is ninety-six feet per mile. With\nthe exception of \" Perkins's Backbone,\" and the three steep hills\nbefore mentioned, the grade of the whole route is very gentle,\nand hardly to be felt. Lake Kitchelas is about six miles long\nby from two to three miles wide. We followed its margin for\nabout two miles, and halted near a perpendicular bluff which\njuts out into the lake, and beyond which the road cannot be\ncarried. Parties travelling from the opposite side cross the\nlake by means of a raft which is large enough to carry a wagon\nand horses. There is said to be splendid trout-fishing, but\nProfessor Hall and Dr. Wheeler were unable to catch anything.\nWe gained a view of the lower portion of the Cedar River\nPass on the opposite shore of the lake, and in the distance to\nthe north-west, a notch in the mountain-ranges indicated the\nSnoqualmie Pass. The trails from these two unite one mile\nbelow the lake, in the fertile and well-watered valley of the\nYakima. The population of this district is about 500; there\nare a number of stock-ranches, and the cattle are driven across\nthe Snoqualmie to Seattle. \" In this valley are some of the\nfinest agricultural lands to be found in the territory, where the\nsettlers have raised good corn; and a climate so mild in\nwinter, that it has been considered, for a number of years, the\nsafest place to winter large herds of cattle east of the Cascade\nMountains.    Ninety-six miles above the mouth of the Yakima\nare extensive forests of yellow pine, which can be rafted down\nduring high water to points along the line of road.\"* We\nreturned to dinner. Sally and the fair | Widow \" had been out\ngathering berries, and brought in a plentiful supply, which\nserved us for dessert. We had an accession to our company\nin the person of San-i-wah, chief of the Snoqualmie Indians,\nwho, together with his nephew, was travelling to the prairie.\nThey were mounted, for all the Indians in this part of the\ncountry keep horses, and go about like gentlemen; some of\nthe chiefs on the eastern side of the mountains have as many\nas a hundred. The nephew was a handsome boy, with long\nhair, dark bright eyes, and a swarthy complexion like a gipsy.\nA red feather depended from his slouched hat; he wore\nleggings, and altogether reminded me of a picture that I have\nseen of a Spanish contrabandista.\nAfter the toils and fatigue of the day, these meetings round\nthe camp-fire are very pleasant; every one is disposed to be\ncheerful, and contribute his quota to the evening's amusement,\narid so the song and the jest go round. \" Who can make flapjacks ?\" says one preparing the evening meal. \" I,\" says the\nwriter; \"that's one of my accomplishments.\" Quoth Mr.\nDenny, \" My accomplishments are to eat them.\". \" Take care,\ndoctor,\" says another, \" that you don't go too near the fire,\nor you'll explode, with such a quantity of matches about\nyou,\" and forthwith the doctor explodes\u2014in a fit of laughter. Some one complains that his pipe is stopped up; he is\ngravely informed that it won't draw owing to the rarity of the\natmosphere, in consequence of our high elevation. Sally and\nthe \" Widow,\" who were old friends, were excellent company,\nwhich made a pleasant time of it for us: in fact, we enjoyed\nhere in the wilderness the inestimable advantages of female\nsociety. The ladies would not sing at first, being somewhat\nshy, .and waited for us to set them an example, so Dr. Wheeler\ngave a song. The ice then broken, the \"Widow \" commenced,\nand sang a plaintive air, a kind of dirge without words; she\nknelt, as is the custom of Indian women, and kept time by\ngently beating with her hands raised, singing sweetly and with\npathos. As she knelt with her face upturned, locks dishevelled,\nand the flickering light of the fire playing on her features, they\nwore a rapt melancholy expression which made her, though\nplain, for the time being perfectly beautiful. In view of the\napproaching extinction of the red man, I could almost fancy\nthat she was some inspired prophetess chanting the dirge\nof her race. Dr. Wheeler, who has a knowledge of music,\ndeclared that the air was perfectly original. She stood up\nafter this and danced in a peculiar fashion, like the Copts\nand Arabs; jumping up and down, swaying her head from side\nto side, and making a corresponding motion with her hands,\nwhile Sally got hold of a bread-pan, and kept time by beating\nit with a pannikin, singing as well. Strange to find among\nthese Indians customs analogous to those of the Mesmerists.\nThe \"Widow\" having made a pair of mocassins for Dr. Wheeler,\nhe paid her liberally, and she showed her gratitude after the\nfollowing fashion. Placing her hands above his head, then\nslowly lowering them, she stroked it gently down on each side\ntwo or three times, then brought her hands together above his\nhead, looking up, as if praying and invoking blessings on him.\nThe doctor complained of a headache, and the \" Widow\" undertook to cure him.   She placed her hands above his nose, made\n* \" Letter upon the Agricultural and Mineral Resources of the North-\nWest Territories.\"   By Philip RiU. PUGET SOUND,  AND  THE NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.\n3\u00b07\nas if drawing them together three or four times, then bringing\nthem slowly down towards herself, and up into the\" air, palm to\npalm, said that he was quite well.\nThe Indians on the eastern and western sides of the\n' mountains have much intercourse with each other, and go\nfishing and hunting. They intermarry, and are very migratory,\nspending one portion of their time in the Snoqualmie country,\nanother in the Yakima Valley. The Snoqualmies are a small\ntribe. Those inhabiting the Yakima Valley are called Click-a-\ntats (Klick-i-tat), and their language is very euphonious.\nClick-a-tat is said to mean a bear, in the Walla-Walla dialect.\nA portion of the Snoqualmie Indians also speak this language.\nThere are no flat-heads among them; this custom only prevails\nwith the coast tribes. The Indians hunt the mountain sheep\nin the fall, while their wives gather berries, which are dried,\nand kept for the winter's use. The sheep frequent the highest\npeaks like the chamois in Switzerland, and the meat is dried\nand packed down to the valley for the winter's consumption.\nNext day was devoted by the party to prospecting. Some\nrich iron ore was discovered on the western side of the pass,\nwhich, in the event of the railway passing this way, could be\nworked to advantage. Iron ore, of the kind known as red\nhaematite, is believed to exist on Hood's Canal, in the neighbourhood of the Olympian range. As coal, limestone, and\nwood for charcoal are on the spot, it might be worked at a\ncomparatively trifling expense. It may be as well to state here,\nthat gold has been found on the Snohomish River, twenty-five\nmiles above \"Snohomish City.\" A few miners, in the summer of 1869, made fair wages, and expected, with improved\nappliances, to do much better in the ensuing season. Last year\ngold was discovered in a stream in the Olympian range of\nmountains, fifteen miles back from the head of Port Discovery;\nthe miners finding fifteen colours to the pan.\nWe prepared to return to Seattle, and resolved to reach\nMr. Boorst's\u2014a distance of twenty-six miles\u2014the same day.\nSan-i-wah and his nephew, together with Sally and the \" Widow,\"\njoined us, which made our cavalcade quite a long one. Sally\nhad a peculiar saddle, something like a square frame, in which\nshe sat. She was an accomplished rider. I could see her far\nahead, jump off her horse, tighten its girths, and mount again\nwith all the dexterity and agility of a jockey, reminding me\nof the old song\u2014\n\" Sally came lip, and Sally came down,\nAnd Sally flung her heels around.\"\nWhen we had -made nearly half our journey, and were about\nto ford a stream, I was surprised by the sound of a flute, and\nbegan, in the stillness and quiet of the woods, to indulge in\nvisioris of Arcadia, of a pastoral life. Turning round, I beheld\na short, fat, podgy-looking little man, in shirt-sleeves, who, with\ntwo others, had passed us early in the morning on foot, coolly\nsitting on a log with a flute to his mouth, perfectly absorbed in\nthe divine art. The unromantic appearance of this individual,\nthe incongruity and absurdity of a man playing a pastoral in a\nwild, savage, and inhospitable countiy, like that we were traversing, where no one stops a moment longer than is actually\nnecessary, struck me as astonishing, ludicrous, and absurd, if net\nattended with danger. I thought I must be dreaming, and\nshould not have been at all surprised to see next, some Phyllis\nor Chloe, responding to his tuneful ditties. Sally left us about\na mile before we got to Mr. Boorst's, having to call at a farmhouse to get some clothes.    She appeared'in the evening with\na new dress on, and sat down with a pair of knitting-needles\nbusily engaged in making a pair of stockings. Next day we\nresumed our homeward journey. The parting with Sally was\naffecting. I could not speak Chinook; indeed, it is not exactly\nthe kind of language for sentiment. I therefore snivelled and\nwhimpered, and made use of a pocket-handkerchief, which was,\nalas! for the poetry of the thing, no longer white, and made\nsuch other demonstrations as testified to her the impression\nshe had made upon me. I feel bound in justice to state that\nshe received all my advances with the coolness and self-\npossession ot a veteran flirt, and remained evidently heart-\nwhole. Altogether, to speak seriously, there was that about this\ngirl which excited our deep commiseration. Young, comely-\nlooking, with gifts above those of her class, and which might,\nunder restraining influences, have adorned a higher sphere, she\nhad literally thrown herself away, and made shipwreck of her\nfortunes. So true it is that the red race must ultimately\ndwindle away, and be crushed before the advancing wave of\nwhat, in our pride and self-satisfaction, we call civilisation.\nAfter a day or two spent at Seattle, filling up sketches and\ncompleting notes, I accepted the invitation of Mr. Birmingham,\na gentleman from San Francisco, to accompany him to the\nWashington Lake Coal Mines in order to examine the seams.\nMr. Birmingham engaged a guide, and drove to a spot on the\nshores of the lake, six miles distant. This noble sheet of water\n(the Indian name of which is Dwamish) is nearly nineteen\nmiles long by from one to two miles wide. It affords splendid\nviews of Mount Rainier, with the Cascade and Olympian\nranges, and there, later, I spent some very pleasant days at the\nresidence of J. A. M'Gilvra, Esq., late Member of the Legislature\nfor Washington Territory. We took a boat to cross the lake,\nand had to steer by compass, as there was a thick smoke and\nfog. After proceeding a considerable distance, on nearing the\nopposite shore, we found that we had made a mistake in our\ncourse, so we turned the boat's head and'made another start\nThus much time was lost After rowing about three hours, as\nthere seemed no chance of reaching our destination in a reasonable time, seeing a bight, we ran up to it to lunch. While thus\noccupied, we could just discern a sail looming through the fog.\nI proposed to hoist a shirt on a pole after the manner of shipwrecked mariners, but no one seemed willing to divest himself\nof this necessary article of attire, so we had to endure the mortification of seeing the sail gradually disappear, but fell back on\na bottle of pale ale which Mr. Birmingham had the forethought\nto bring along. There was no cup to drink it out of. In this\nemergency we dispatched the contents of a box of sardines,\nand converted it into a tumbler. At length, about two o'clock,\nwe gained the wharf; from this point we had a walk of about\nfour miles to the furthest of the seams, the greater part of the\nway being a' steep ascent. On the road we observed some\nvery fine cedars. Passing over some large flat slabs of sandstone, through a narrow passage with precipitous walls of the\nsame formation, we came up to a tunnel about fifty yards long, by\nthree feet wide and six feet in height, running on a level. The\nseam pitched at an angle of 45', and dipped to the west the\nsame as in the Bellingham Bay Coal Mine. The second seam,\nwhich is not distant from the first a furlong, has also been\ntunnelled on a level to an extent of 170 feet, from four and a\nhalf to five feet wide, and about the same in height. Generally\nspeaking, the seams are from three to thirty feet thick; one in\nSquawk Prairie in this neighbourhood being thirty feet.    The ISi\n308\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nQlli\nDSfl I.\nKffi\nll\nllms\n111\nI Bi\n11\niil\npill\n1$\n1\nkIIN\nBq\n*Mg\ncoal is semi-bituminous and of the tertiary formation. It contains less sulphur than the Bellingham Bay coal, but consumes\nmore rapidly than that of Nanaimo. It is supposed that the\nveins run all across the country in the same direction as those\nof the Bellingham Bay Mine, in fact extending up to it. The\nseams at these mines, four in number, are within the radius of\na mile ; they are supposed to be parallel to each other and to\nextend under the lake, as they crop out on the opposite shore.\nThe mines have since been fully opened, communication having\nbeen effected with Seattle,\nand the coal is now in the\nmarket, 200 tons a day being\nturned out. While on this subject, it may as well be mentioned that coal-banks exist\non Green River in the neighbourhood, and a good quality\nof coal of the same formation\nas that of Washington Lake\nhas been found at Skookum-\nshuck, fifteen miles below\nOlympia. There are five distinct ledges here, of which the\nlargest is fifteen feet thick,\ncropping out on the surface.\nIt is found in a dozen different\ntownships on the north side\nof the Columbia River, and in\nseveral places on the Cowlitz\nRiver, Mr. Carleton (employed\non the Northern Pacific Railroad survey) discovering a vein\nsix feet thick near the pass of\nthat name. It crops out in\nfive or six townships in King's\nCounty, on the Puyallup River,\nin Pierce County, on the headwaters of the Snohomish, on\nthe Steilaquamish, on the\nSkagit and Lummi Rivers,\nand on the Straits of Fuca at\nClallam Bay. Specimens have\nalso been obtained from near\nthe Snoqualmie Pass. In fact\nthe whole countiy is one im-\n\"mense coal-field, underlaid by\nbeds of coal frequently fifteen\nto twenty feet thick. We had\nnot  time  to visit the  other\nseams, which are two and half miles from the wharf in another\ndirection. . The fog and smoke having cleared off, we were\nable to cross the lake, and get back to our hotel without any\nmishap.    I now bade adieu to Seattle.\nIt will be seen from the foregoing that society and travel is\nvery pleasant among Western men. It is a great mistake on\nthe part of the educated traveller, coming from a state of high\ncivilisation, to suppose that he is going to explore a savage\ncountry, and that Western men are all rough and primitive in\ntheir ways. Of course there is always a certain proportion of\nuncultivated men, but the fact is, that a great proportion of\nthe people one meets with in the Western States are men\nSAN-I-WAH, IN WAR COSTUME\nof intellect and refinement\u2014men who have emigrated from\nEngland and the Eastern States of America, mostly with some\ncapital. They are largely endowed with energy and enterprise, for it is such, and not the lazy thriftless sort, who naturally\nseek a new country. These always welcome the intelligent\ntraveller, particularly those who, like myself, are bent on exploring the country, and making known its resources ; to such\nthey always give a helping hand; and many a night, ay, and\ndays, passed at hospitable houses could I recount if need be.\nAnother thing that surprises the traveller, is the degree of material civilisation\nwhich has been reached in\nthese Western waters. The\nmail steamers running from\nOlympia to Victoria contain\nall the comforts and luxuries\nof those in Europe. Capital\nmeals, with all the delicacies\nof the season, and elegancies\nof table furniture, &c, are\nserved on board these boats\nat fifty cents (two shillings) a\nmeal; and there are bars attached, which are open all\nday, agreeable to the Araeri-\n-can custom. The cabin accommodation is clean, neat,\nand exceedingly comfortable,\nan important thing when we\nconsider that the passage from\nOlympia to Victoria is often\nthe greater part of it made\nduring the night. These remarks also apply to the\nlittle mail steamer which runs\nfrom Seattle to Bellingham\nBay.\n\"Ah quel plaisir d'etre en\nvoyage !\"  Blessings on the art\nof travel!    Is there anything\nin  the thousand-and-one remedies of the pharmacopoeia\nat all comparable to it ?   Are\nyou sick, way-wfiary, and life-\nweary, take a  dose of fresh\nair, and \"throw physic to the\ndogs.\"     One plunges into a\nmoral vapour-bath, and comes\nout a new man.     Our purse lined with   a   sufficiency for\nthe trip, with the last new sensation novel in our trunk, we\ndefy the blues.    Our cares and troubles are all laid upon the\nshelf,  put away in. pigeon-holes, docketed and filed till our\nreturn.    We take the accidents of travel with the most perfect\ngood humour, for what is time to us on a journey of pleasure?\nIn town we should be irritable, and put out directly. Revelling\nin our liberty, heedless of the morrow, we enjoy the present,\nand will smoke, laugh, and joke with the'first new-comer; for\nwe are a cosmopolite, a citizen of the world; and are at home\nwherever there are honest men and virtuous women, and of\nsuch there are in this territory. SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH OPERATIONS IN WEST AFRICA.\n309\nSenegambia ; With an Account of Recent French Operations in West Africa.-X.\nBY  LIEUTENANT  C.   R.   LOW,   (LATE)   H.M.   INDIAN  NAVY.\nTo continue our stay    In the month of July a fresh rebellion I Lat-Dior, by the most signal violation of the treaty he had\nMalVr T ?% TCCeSSfuL      HaVln\u00a7 b6aten     himSClf Signed' havin\u00a7 PillaS^ ^ means ^ ^ tiedo, more\nafetrndld f     T fPr\u00b0fTf     ,ng'f a[th\u00b0Ugh h*   ^  n0t    than thirty viUa\u00abeS in <**\" durin\u00a7 the mon* * ^madan\ndescended from the family Fal on the father's side.* alone.\nI TheJrder f this\/evolt had been the diaoudine, Samba- It can be imagined what must have been the government\nMaram-Khay, who, jealous of Madiodio, had formed ambitious of a young man of eighteen years of age and his aunt Debbo\nprojects.    The Senegal Government, believing Madiodio quite both of them in a constant state of intoxication, and surrounded\nunable to sustain a conflict, had abandoned him, declaring by professional brigands.\nWOMEN  OF SENEGAL.\nitself neutral. Its native agents went further. They hindered\nMadiodio in his preparations for resistance, telling.him that\nthe Governor was tired of all these quarrels; and they\nencouraged the aggressive preparations of Lat-Dior, saying,\n\" If you conquer, we will recognise you.\" In fact, he was\nrecognised by the Government, and a treaty even was signed,\nin which the French obtained the right of forming military\nposts in the midst of Cayor.\nThe former governor, M. Faidherbe, promoted to the rank\nof brigadier-general, had returned to the colony on the 14th\nof July, 1863. A grant had been allowed on the budgets of\n1863 and 1864, for the creation of military posts in the very\nheart of Cayor. These stations were designed to provide for\nthe future repression of plundering, which was being carried on\nthroughout the country .with greater frequency than before;\n* To become king, it was necessary to be of the family of the Fals on .\nthe father's side, and on the mother's of that royal family, a branch of\nwhich (that of Gueidj) has reigned about 150 years, after having supplanted\nthat of Madjior.\nIt was now high time to attend to the state of the country,\nfor the young Lat-Dior, who was fearless of consequences,\nalready talked of winning back the ancient boundaries of\nCayor on the St. Louis side, which included Toube', within\ngun-shot of the chief town of the French, and also attempted\nto ally himself with the Trarza Moors. -\nThe Governor was authorised, in November, 1863, to put\ninto execution the measure for which funds had been granted.\nIn consequence of this, he set out from St. Louis, November\n23rd, with the garrison troops and a considerable supply of\nprovisions; four days afterwards, he rejoined Lieutenant-\nColonel Laprade, of the engineers, commander of the distriet\nof Goree, who had also set out with his troops from this point.\nAt the same time, the vessels of the Senegal fleet, whose\nco-operation has always been so indispensable in all warlike\nexpeditions, landed materials for building at Mboro, half-way\nbetween St. Louis and Goree.\nThese movements and transports were only rendered possible by the aid of some 300 or 400 camels hired at Gandiole,\n11\nII 3io\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\n\"\u00absail:\nI   I\n;9u:ffl\nfor the train mules were scarcely sufficient for the artillery and\nambulances.\nThe French were joined by their natural ally, the dethroned\nMadiodio, whose men, early in 1863, had taken part in the\nFouta expedition, and had behaved very well. Unfortunately,\nthe Diambours and Samba-Maram-Khay now openly joined\nLat-Dior. Notwithstanding this, Lat-Dior retreated from\nCayor before the Governor's column, which pursued him-to the\nfrontier, and he took refuge in Baol. A redoubt had been\nconstructed the same day the troops arrived, at Nguiguis, the\ncapital of Cayor, where there are abundant wells and earth for\nbricks, a rare thing in that country.\nThe Governor, having returned to Nguiguis, and believing\nthat Lat-Dior had renounced a power which he had usurped by\nhis revolt of 1863, acknowledged his old ally, Madiodio, as King\nof Cayor, and concluded the following new treaty with him,\nwhich was signed by Brigadier-General Faidherbe, and Madiodio, on the 4th of December, 1863, at Mboul.*\nGeneral Faidherbe then left the command of a sufficient\nbody of troops in the hands of Lieutenant-Colonel Laprade,\nand set out for St Louis, in order to check- the Moors, who\nwere at that time giving cause for uneasiness.\nM. Laprade immediately pursued Lat-Dior, who had\nreturned to a position near the frontier of Cayor, effected a\njunction with his rear-guard at Ndari, in Baol, and put him to\nflight. After this, Samba-Maram-Khay, the best ally of Lat-\nDior, and the life of his councils, again allied himself to the\nFrench and to Madiodio, with whom he was reconciled at\nNguiguis.\nA sufficient garrison was left at Nguiguis to protect the\nworkmen, if necessary, and the troops had all returned to their\ngarrison quarters by die 20th of December.\nContrary to all expectations, Lat-Dior, at the head of his\nforces, immediately re-entered Guet, an extreme eastern province of Cayor, and by the 24th, he was at Ndiague, on his\nway to Coki, a large village of the province of Ndiambour,\nwhere he hoped to find the same co-operation he had formerly\ndone during his rebellion of 1862; but this province, which\nwas desirous of complete annexation to the colony, refused\nhim its help, and the Governor sent a small column, commanded\nby Captain Flize, of the marines, to support Coki in its resistance.\nLat-Dior immediately withdrew from Ndiambour, but in\nthe direction of Nguiguis, announcing his intention of attacking\nthere his rival, Madiodio. The column of Goree received\norders to re-enter Cayor immediately, under Lieutenant-Colonel\nLaprade;   and the major of the marines, M. de Barout, set\n* \"Art 1.\u2014The French Government nominates Madiodio King of\nCayor.\n\" Art. 2.\u2014The King of Cayor recognises the suzerainty of the French\nEmperor, and places himself under the protection of France.\n\"Art. 3.\u2014The provinces of Ndiambour, Mbaouar, Andal, and Sanio-\nkhor, are separated from Cayor, and annexed, at their own request, to the\nFrench possessions.\n\"Art. 4.\u2014The Governor secures to the King of Cayor export duties, &c.\n\"Art. 5.\u2014The Icing formally renounces all right of selling his free\nsubjects, or pillaging villages, or making slaves of the foreigners who may\npass through his country.\n\" Art. 6.\u2014The king promises to govern with justice, &c.\n\"Art. 7.\u2014If the king fulfils his engagements faithfully, the French\nGovernment promises its aid against his rebellious subjects and foreign\nenemies ; and the king promises to join his forces'with those of the French\nagainst the aggressions of the Moors, &c, who may carry on brigandage in\nthe French territory.\"\nout with troops from St Louis; Captain Flize also marched\nwith his column on Nguiguis.\nMeanwhile, Captain Lorans, of the engineers, entrusted\nwith the direction of the works at Nguiguis, and commanding\nthe garrison, having been persuaded by Madiodio and Samba-\nMaram-Khay that with his co-operation they would be strong\nenough to conquer the common enemy, set out on the night of\nthe 29th of December, 1863, with a company of skirmishers,\na howitzer and eight gunners, twenty-five Spahis, and twenty\ncoloured working engineers, followed Madiodio's forces, and\nattacked Lat-Dior at Ngolgol, a distance of three leagues.\nThe encounter took place at daybreak.\nThe enemy was more numerous than was expected. The\nallied army, composed of ill-disciplined men, made a feeble\nresistance, at the same time losing ground, so that Captain \u25a0\nLorans' small company were all at the mercy of the enemy at\nthe moment when a large company of cavalry, out-flanking the\ntwo wings, completely surrounded them. It was now apparent\nthat nothing remained but to die bravely. Captain Lorans,\nand the captain of the skirmishers, M. Chevrel, who was\nwounded, both dismounted and stoically watched\u2014until they\nwere themselves killed\u2014the destruction of their men, who\nfought bravely to the last. The seven gunners, and the adjutant,\nGuichard, were cut to pieces on their cannon. The little company of Spahis, quite lost in the midst of a terrible hubbub in\nwhich it was impossible to distinguish friends from foes, succeeded in extricating Madiodio, and with the loss of its chief,\nSub-Lieutenant Duport St. Victor, and four men, reached\nNguiguis with the Darnel and eight wounded men.\nThe victors pursued the runaways as far as the redoubt,\nwhence they were repulsed with considerable loss.\nIn short, out of a column of about 140 men, the number\nthat returned was reduced to twenty Spahis, eight of whom\nwere wounded, two officers, one doctor, and six skirmishers, of\nwhom three were wounded.\nThe allies, too, suffered great loss. After this disaster, in\nwhich the honour of the French arms alone remained, Lat-Dior,\nknowing that three columns were converging towards him,\nagain fell back on the frontier of Baol. Immediately orders\nwere sent to the troops to effect a junction at Nguiguis, under\nthe command of Lieutenant-Colonel Laprade, and to pursue\nLat-Dior even into Baol. The column took the direction of\nthis frontier, but Lat-Dior, making a detour, avoided it, reentered Cayor, and marched into Guet, by \"Ngol, his birthplace, where he could consequently count on the devotion of\nthe inhabitants. Lieutenant-Colonel Laprade passed four\ndays in punishing the villages in which he found the spoils of\nthe French soldiers, and in intimidating the King of Baol, so\nfar as to prevent his harbouring any of the enemy, or allowing\nthem to leave their families and property with him in order to\ncommit aggressions in Cayor; then, on the 9th of January,\n1864, he began to march direct on Lat-Dior.\nOn the morning of the 12th, drawing near Loro, in the\ndistrict of Ngol, he found the enemy awaiting him in battle-\narray, in number about a thousand regular troops, and 3,000\nvolunteers. The enemy was also superior in cavalry. The\nFrench arrived opposite them at seven o'clock in the morning.\nThe enemy's position had been judiciously chosen. The\nfoot soldiers were sheltered behind a thick hedge which\nformed the border of a plain, in the centre of which was\nstationed Lat-Dior, and a strong reserve, so that the valley LEAVES  FROM  MY JOURNAL  OF THE  \"FOX'S\" TELEGRAPHIC VOYAGE.\n?n\nwhich the French must cross was admirably scoured by the\nenemy's musketry; on the wings of this position was stationed\na large body of cavalry. Before seriously engaging the troops,\nLieutenant-Colonel Laprade, taking advantage of the wide\nrange of his guns, halted the column at about 400 metres from\nthe enemy, made the scouts, the sharpshooters, and the\nengineers fall back, and began the action by the fire of the\nartillery, supported by three companies of infantry.\n. The enemy replied, but without injury to the French troops.\nSoon the cavalry began to move, and threatened the French in\nflank and rear; but here it was kept in check by the fire of the\ninfantry company of disciplinaires, and also by that of two\nmortars on the left of the column. When the enemy appeared\nsufficiently shaken by the fire of the French guns, the bugles\nsounded the onset, and the troops advanced and took up their\nposition at a distance of 200 metres from the enemy's ranks.\nThen the three companies of infantry, with colours flying, and\ncommanded by the chief of the battajion, M. de Barolet, broke\ninto the centre of the army of Lat-Dior, crying, \" Vive l'Em-\npereur!\" Captain Baussin, commanding the squadron of\nSpahis, received orders to charge the column broken by the\nfire of the infantry, \u2022 and, to complete their discomfiture, the\n3,000 auxiliaries rushed in afterwards. The terrified enemy fled\nin all directions. Their infantry was crushed, and the cavalry\nwas saved only by the rapidity of their horses. The pursuit\nwas continued to a distance of four leagues froth the battlefield, and the horizon was lighted up with the flames of the\nsurrounding villages. At three in the afternoon the French\nauxiliaries returned to the camp, laden with spoil.\nAfter this encounter, in which the enemy left more than\n500 dead upon the field, Lat-Dior fled with his cavalry towards\nthe south. The column, on its return to Nguiguis, found the\nvillages along its route totally deserted; and the volunteers,\nscattered in various directions for several leagues, marched\nwith the air of masters over a country which, but a few days ago,\nwas the centre of a vast conspiracy formed against the French\nGovernment. The loss of the French, compared with that of\nthe enemy, was insignificant; three volunteers killed, Captain\nDecheverry of the marine infantry, twenty-three soldiers, and\ntwenty-six volunteers wounded, but the greater number slightly.\nAfter the brilliant exploit of January 12 th, the expeditionary\ncolumn performed the pious duty of burying the dead who\nhad fallen on the 29th of December. This ceremony took\nplace on the 15th of January, at five o'clock in the evening, with\nthe usual military honours.    On the morning of the 15th, Lat-\nDior, followed by his cavalry, left Cayor for Baol, and fled\nprecipitately to the south-east extremity of this country. The\nKing of Baol, faithful to the promise he had made the French,\nafter a few days of parleying, drove the refugees from Ten-011-\nMekbey, in the direction of Sine, in which he was assisted by\nPen-da-Tioro, a powerful chief of Baol, whose authority was\nequal to that of the king.\nLat-Dior was again abandoned by some of his allies, and\nMadiodio, stationed near Nguiguis, was constantly joined by\nnew friends. On the 25th, the former, who had taken refuge at\nNgaguiam, on the frontier, between Baol and Sine, had only\na small number of men with him, and was refused permission\nto take refuge in the estates of the King of Sine.\nDuring the next few days, Tegue and Pen-da-Tioro, fearing\nour displeasure, renewed their efforts, and completely drove\nthe refugees from Baol. Lat-Dior, with his followers and their\nfamilies, reduced to the last extremity, dying of hunger, and\nwithout shelter, returned to Tcfrirounguel, the extreme southeastern point of Cayor, and, hard pressed by want, his cavalry,\ncommanded by Maissa-Mbay, attempted some raids in the\ncountry. A small party of observation was hastily despatched,\nand Captain Ringot, who commanded it, \"arrived at Nguiguis\non the 8th of February,\nLat-Dior continued to remain at Tchirounguel, which in\nthe country was called the entrance into Baol. The column of\nCaptain Ringot, in which was Captain Flize, director of political\naffairs, marched straight on him, and arrived February the 12th,\nat Keur-Mandounbe. Some said Lat-Dior would surrender;.\nothers, that he and his men would sooner die than yield. He\ndid neither, but continued his retreat; but this time the last\nchief of the Cayor Diambours who, up to this time, accompanied him, abandoned him, carrying with them the dioung-\ndioung, or tom-tom of war, which was the sign of the king's\nauthority; and definitively submitted to Madiodio. Lat-Dior,\nwith about thirty horse, took refuge in the direction of Mbake\";\nthe allies pursuing him as far as the frontier of Salum.\nAffairs being, as it was supposed, concluded, the troops returned to Nguiguis on the 19th, and on the 23rd they arrived\nat St. Louis. Nothing could be more satisfactory than the state \u2022\nof the men's health. The most remarkable thing in this last\nexpedition was, that in reply to a simple appeal, 6,000 volunteers, armed with muskets, joined the little band of French\ntroops. Never before had more than 2,000 volunteers marched\n\u2022 in conjunction with the French. Now, 10,000 could with ease\nbe found for any war that might be undertaken.\nLeaves from my Journal of the \"Fox's\" Telegraphic Voyage,\u2014IV.\nBY  CAPTAIN  J.\nJULIANEHAAB.\nDuring our sojourn both at Frederickshaab and Julianehaab,\nMr. Woods had many opportunities of photographing groups\nof the natives, a work of some difficulty, as the extreme cold\ncracked the collodion; but he had most patient sitters, who\ndid not feel the cold, and who would sit for an hour without\nmoving a muscle or even winking   the eye.     They   were\nE.   DAVIS,   R.N.\nevidently impressed with the solemnity of the preparation\nprevious to being taken, but heartily enjoyed the fun of seeing\nthe result when the photographs were shown them. But to\ncontinue my narrative.\nThe travelling party not having returned by the 2nd of\nNovember, Young resolved to go and look for them, and\nstarted in the cutter, taking with him M. Motzfeldt, Woods, ILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.'\nand an Uskee crew. He had a fine northerly breeze to take\nhim up, but on reaching Illuit (salmon river), found that he\ncould proceed no further ori account of the ice, so he attempted to return, but it was blowing too hard, and after\npulling until two in the morning, he gave it up and landed.\nYoung would have walked to Igaliko, but could not prevail on\nany of the Esquimaux to accompany him, although he offered\nthem many inducements.\nYoung returned to the -ship, much mortified at not being\nable to accomplish his object;  but he immediately made\narrangements   for  two  men   to  start with  kyaks  the next\nmorning early, hoping that they would be able to get over the I\nsheet ice in their light craft, although it could not be done in I\noff, Young determined to make the attempt with a crew of our\nown men, for although we found that the Esquimaux could stand\nthe cold very well, they had not the energy and stamina for\nhard work, and when once they began to flag soon gave in\naltogether, and there was much more endurance of fatigue in\nour own men. So, taking a sledge, with provisions for a week,\nand accompanied by Von Zeilau, the schoolmaster (as interpreter), and Christian (a young Esquimaux), we started.\nOn shoving off, every soul in the ship was up to give them\nthree hearty cheers, and bid them \"God speed,\" and we did\nnot forget them when, an hour after they had gone, we had\nDivine service, and we prayed for those that \"travelled by\nland or by water.\"\nA GREENLAND LAKE.\na boat; but, to Young's annoyance, he found in the morning\nthat they had not started. It turned out that the mother of one\nof the men who had agreed to go, prevented him, and the other\nwould not go. The\" authorities had no power to compel them\nto act up to their agreement.\nWe now began to be seriously anxious about Rae and his\nparty, for although it was hoped they were safe at Igaliko, we\ncould not feel sure, and could not help fearing that some mishap had befallen them. No fear was had for Rae; his experience and his gun would keep him going, but for the colonel\n(he being unused to travelling on foot, and a heavy man)\nand the four women, who could neither make themselves\nunderstood, njr understand, we could not but feel some degree\nof alarm; and as none of the Esquimaux at Julianehaab could\nbe prevailed on to go overland to communicate with them, we\nsupposed that they were similarly circumstanced in their wish\nto communicate with us, and it was now clear that if they were\nto be_ found it must be by our own exertions; and although\nthe risk was great to any party from the ship being also cut\nAlthough I have not always recorded it, I may here observe\nthat no Sunday was allowed to pass without the Church\nservice and lessons being read; and the men were well supplied with Bibles before leaving England.\nWhen Young started, Motzfeldt manned a whale-boat they\nhad at the settlement, and started afterhim, and joined Young\nat Ekaluit, but taking no provisions with himj Young had to\nfeed both him and his men.\nMonday being the Sth of November, the men asked permission to burn a \"guy,\" which I gave, provided the Governor\nhad no objection; and I sent a message to M. Miiller explaining the nature of the ceremony, and he readily acquiesced\nwith the men's wish, and gave them some oil barrels and wood\nwherewith to make their bonfire.\nj In the afternoon, Christian returned, and brought a note\nfrom Young, telling me that he was then on the fast ice\nabove Illuit, and was to start that morning for Igaliko, and\nhe hoped to reach that place at night. He also directed\nme  to  send a boat on   the Wednesday   morning   to   the LEAVES  FROM  MY JOURNAL OF THE \"FOX'S\" TELEGRAPHIC  VOYAGE.\n313\nbefore.^ I ^ fiOTd' t0 l0\u00b0k \u00b0Ut f\u00b0r him 1 hC did n0t retUm I Stran\u00a7e freak 1the \" ktak \" (^ilors).    The Governor was\n..-.,. first visited, and three cheers given him; then M. Motzfeldt's\nAt six in the evening, all being prepared to burn the \" guy,\" | house, where the same honours were paid; and after parading\nGROUP OF ESQUIMAUX WOMEN AND  CHILDREN.\nhe was first paraded round the decks, and then taken on shore,\nwhere a torchlight procession was formed, with the music of a\nthrough the settlement, the \" guy \" was duly burnt with all the\nhonours, the Uskees entering into the fun with the greatest zest,\nfife and a gong.   All the settlement turned out to see the    cheering as lustily as our own men.\n280 fll\n\u00a5\nijijif \u25a0\nHi\n11'bifc\n1\nill\ncr4\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nMy journal of November 6th commences, \"Again\u2014thanks\nbe to God for His many mercies\u2014the missing party has returned in safety;\" and I do not know when I had felt more\ntruly happy than when I again shook my fellow-voyagers by\nthe hand, and bid them' welcome.\nI had sent Dr. Slesser, after dinner, up the hill, not that I\nexpected he would see anything; but when he came back he\nreported our boat returning, without being able to make out\nwho were in her. This news caused great excitement among\nus, and as darkness was setting in, it was not until they were\nclose alongside that we knew that they were safe.\nYoung had found some thin drifting ice in the fiord opposite Ekaluit, at which point he arrived at night, where he\nremained, and, as before remarked, was joined by Motzfeldt.\nThe next morning, at nine o'clock, they reached the fast ice,\nand found it to bear tolerably; so, starting with the sledge\nladen with provisions, they made for the head of the fiord.\nSeveral times the ice cracked beneath the weight, and twice\nthe sledge and men went through the ice, so the men were\nall wet, and the contents of the sledge saturated.\nAt four in the afternoon they saw some natives on the hillside, and by firing their guns attracted their attention; they\nafterwards came down to them, and told Young that the travelling party were (as we had hoped and expected) safe at Igaliko.\nYoung wrote a note to Rae, requesting him to come to the\nwhaleboat encampment as soon as possible, and sent it off by\nthe natives; he then made for the whaleboat with the sledge,\nreaching it at five o'clock, arid pitching the tent for the night, but\nscarcely to sleep, as all being wet and frozen, it was simply out\nof the question, and they had to keep moving to keep warm.\nThe night was fortunately calm, so they did not feel the cold so\nmuch as if there had been a breeze. The temperature was\n18\u00b0 Fahr.\nIn the middle of the night they were rejoiced to hear the\ncries of our missing friends, and were soon joined by them.\nThe tent would not now contain the party. Some walked\nabout to keep themselves warm, and the remainder, by huddling\ntogether in the tent, managed to get a little sleep ; but as time\nwas precious, they were astir at four in the morning, and\nleaving the whaleboat, and all they were unable to carry, they\nstarted at half-past six; during the journey they broke through\nthe ice only once, reached the boat in safety a little after noon.\nMaking sail, they arrived on board at five o'clock.\nFrom sleeping, or rather lying down, in wet clothes, and\nhaving walked in the two days between thirty and forty miles\nin nothing but stockings, Young and his party, after being again\nseated in the boat nearly five hours, were so stiff that they\ncould scarcely move; but after a good night's sleep they were\nall right again.\nDr. Rae and his party were unfortunate at starting, for, as\nhas been stated, it was arranged that Motzfeldt should look to\nthe women being duly provisioned for the journey, and that\nsettled, Dr. Rae made all the arrangements respecting his\nown party, and before starting asked if the women had their\nprovisions, and was answered in the affirmative; and on\narriving at the first camping-ground, much to his annoyance,\nfound that the women had brought nothing. They were consequently reduced to twelve rations to last seven people\nfor three or four days, and, in addition, they had to give\nYoung and Motzfeldt supper and breakfast; but the former,\nknowing the state of the larder, went to bed with an appetite,\nand came away the next morning after breakfast with a larger\none.\nNovember 7 th was a leave-taking day to our kind friends\nat Julianehaab, as, if we intended getting away from the coast,\nthere was no time to be lost; the mean temperature being\ntwenty degrees, we should soon have been frozen in. I went\non shore and said good-bye to all, and gave a copy of\nShakespeare's Plays to Mr. Lutzen, who was much pleased\nwith the little present. In the afternoon, we entertained all\nthe Danish ladies and gentlemen of the colony at dinner.\nOur little cabin would not hold all our guests, so we improvised\na second table in the chart-room. There was, of course, much\nspeech-making and health-drinking, and wishing success to\nourselves and the \" Telegraphum.\" On leaving the ship we\nsaluted our guests with a few rockets, and they landed, much\npleased with their entertainment.\nHOME.\n\" Hoist, hoist, every sail to the breeze,\nThe course of my vessel improve ;\nI've done with the toil of the seas,\nAnd, sailors, I'm bound for my love!\"\nAs may be conjectured, Young had quite given up the idea\nof going to Labrador, or of pursuing our researches further,\nowing to the lateness of the season. The winter was setting in\nrapidly, and the delay of a few days might, even now, render\n\u25a0our getting away a matter of some difficulty. The nights were\nlong, and the days proportionately short; so the best thing to\nbe done was to get safely off the coast while we could.\nAll being prepared, on the morning of the 8th\u2014having*\nreceived on board all letters for \u25a0 Europe\u2014our passenger,\nM. Galico (the Moravian missionary) and Christian, our Uskee,\nwith two kyaks, &c, we weighed, and steamed down the fiord,\ntaking M. Motzfeldt\"s omiack in tow. She was laden as we had\nmet her on our way to Julianehaab ; and when off the entrance\nto Pardleet Channel he cast off, and gave us three very decent\ncheers, which we returned.\nOn our way out we obtained a few more soundings to complete our series, and then shaped our course to the southward.\nIt was dark at half-past four; at five o'clock we came across\nthe weather-point of a small stream of heavy ice, and before\nwe could get round we were in it, and received some very\nheavy blows; but, eventually, bored through it without any\nmaterial injury being done.\nOur only danger now, and by no means a small one, was\nfrom icebergs; we had the satisfaction of knowing that their\nnumbers decreased daily, but until we were clear of them\nit was nervous work. When in bed my head was within a few\ninches of the iron block, through which one of the steering-\nchains was rove; and although, ordinarily, the noise occasioned\nby it would not disturb me, I knew now that when the helm\nwas suddenly put, either one way or the other, it was to avoid\nice, and then sleep was out of the question; but when I heard\nthe quartermaster whistling, and the chain only rattling, I could\ngo off to sleep well.\nAs we proceeded south, and the temperature rose \u25a0 with\nthe fact of being homeward-bound, the spirits of all on board\nrose; and the \" Campdown Races\" were in full force every\nevening.\nAs we were bowling along homeward, and each one, in an\nticipation of leaving the vessel, was getting his traps togethei LEAVES. FROM  MY JOURNAL  OF THE  \"FOX'S\" TELEGRAPHIC  VOYAGE..\n315\not together for\nand discarding the old clothes that had been g\nthe occasion, Von Zeilau, with a mysterious air, came to me,\nand opening a paper, said, \" Do you see that ?\" I looked, and\nit appeared to be a soiled white necktie. So I answered, \" Yes,\nI see a dirty tie, and the sooner you send it to the laundress\nthe better.\" \" Send it to the laundress 1\" exclaimed he, with a\nlook of horror; \"no, that will never be washed. This is the\nnecktie I wore when presented to your Queen, and it is sacred\nfrom the wash.\" How happy it must have made you, my dear\nmajor, when the \"dearest wish of your heart\"\u2014viz., our\nPrince of Wales's marriage with a daughter of Denmark,\u2014\nbecame an.accomplished fact!\nOn Sunday, the nth, we saw what proved to be the last\niceberg. As usual, we had Divine service, and I cannot but\nbelieve, from the deep attention of-all hands, that there was\na hearty feeling of thankfulness to Almighty God for all the\nmercies we had received, and for our safety after the many\ndifficulties we had experienced.\nChristian soon began to pick up English words, and make\nhimself at home. Poor Galico, the Moravian, had to \" rough\nit\" by sleeping on the deck of the cabin; and although he\ncould not speak a word of English, we cheered him up with the\nprospect of what was before him, as he would have the choice\nof three ladies for a wife.\nThe Moravian brethren would have sent him out one, but\nwith that arrangement he would have had to abide by their\nselection, whereas, by coming home, he would have the choice\nof three. Poor fellow, he well earned a good wife, and I hope\nhe got one.\nAs we came into the Channel it was amusing to see\nChristian's astonishment at the number of ships we passed;\nand before we got to Southampton Docks he came to the conclusion that, as in his country every man owned a kyak, so in\nEngland every man owned a ship.\nOn the morning of November 23rd we sighted the Start\nLight, and in the afternoon anchored in Portland Roads. Here\nour cabin passengers left us, and three days after a tug came\nfrom Southampton, and took us round safely into the docks.\nAs we passed up Southampton Water the steamer for New\nYork passed down; and from her deck a gentleman waved his\nhat and bid us welcome back. He proved to be the veteran\nMaury, of the United States Navy.\nWe had now done our work, and done it well and successfully ; we should not, therefore, have been surprised at being\ninvited to another such banquet as was given us before we left.\nBut, like the return of Martin Chuzzlewit from the thriving\ncity of Eden, I suppose we had insulted our friends by coming\nback. It was plain that no advertisement was wanted now.\nA ball was to take place at the mayor's a day or two after our\narrival; but no cards came to the returned ones. It was significant !\u2014Telle est la vie.\nWhat prevented the line of telegraph being carried out is\nnot a part of my task. - Either the money market was \" tight,\"\nor English capitalists did not \" see their way \" through with\nAmerican projectors, or they were jealous of them ; but, from\nwhatever cause, year after year passed away without anything\nbeing done until the concession lapsed by time; since which\nanother concession has been granted by the Danish Government to some other gentlemen, and a company was formed to\ncarry out the scheme; but the last heard of it was not paying-\nout the cable, but winding-up the company, which, considering\nthe great success that has attended the Atlantic Telegraph,\nwas, perhaps, the best thing that could have happened for the\nshareholders. At the same time, I cannot but express a regret\nthat my old messmate, Colonel Shaffner, did not receive any\nreward for all his labour and sacrifices.\nBETWEEN   ICELAND  AND  GREENLAND.\nThe following part of the \" Leaves from my Journal\" should\nhave preceded those that have already appeared; but as the\nparts were not intended as a continuous narrative, the reader\n.is asked to accept this simply as suppleriientary notes on our\nvoyage from Iceland to Greenland.\nOn Friday, the 31st of August, having embarked all our\nparty, we left Reikiavik with a light breeze, all glad to get\naway, as we considered we were now embarked on the most\nimportant part of our voyage, and all felt very much elated,\nhaying but one regret\u2014that it was not the 31st of July instead\nof August.\nOur cabin party consisted of Captain Allen Young, who\naccompanied Captain McClintock (now Admiral Sir Leopold\nMcClintock) in his search for Franklin; Colonel T. Shaffner,\nthe concessionnaire of the route ; Dr. John Rae, the Arctic\ntraveller; Lieutenant von Zeilau, of the Royal Danish\nArmy, with the brevet rank of major while in the Fox;\nM. Olafssen, a member of the Icelandic Diet; Dr. Slesser;\nMr. J. E. Woods, Mr. Kindler, the engineer, the second mate,\nand myself.\nFine weather is not of long continuance in these latitudes ;\nand in the night we had a strong breeze, and before the next\nmorning it became overcast and misty. Although by our\nreckoning we should have been well clear of the land, we\ncaught a sight of it, and supposed it to be Point Malariff; and\nit was not until the 2nd of September that we finally lost sight\nof Iceland.\nFairly on our voyage, as a ship prepares for action by a\ncareful examination of arms and implements of warfare, so we,\nin anticipation of meeting our enemy\u2014the ice\u2014prepared our.\nimplements, the ice-anchors, which were all got up, fitted, and\nplaced ready for use.\nThe ice-anchor is simply a bar of stout iron, rather pointed\nat the ends, and bent somewhat in the form of the letter S; and\nwhen used, a man with an ice-axe jumps out on the ice to\nwhich the ship is to be fastened, while another follows with an\nice-anchor over his shoulder; he again is followed by men with\na hawser. The first gives one or two good digs with the axe\ninto the ice, the second man inserts the long point of the\nanchor into the hole, and the third places the eye of the\nhawser over the small end of the anchor, and toggles it, to\nprevent it slipping off in case of the anchor jumping\u2014that is,\nslipping out of the hole in which it is placed.\nOn the morning of the 4th it was calm, but a breeze sprang\nup from south-west, which increased to a hard gale, and raised\na heavy sea; the wind increased throughout the night so much,\nthat by five in the morning we had reduced our sail to storm-\nsails, and were \" hove-to.\" At seven, a heavy sea broke on\nboard, carrying away our bulwarks and stanchions forward on\nboth sides for about thirty feet, sweeping the decks of hatches,\ncasks, and all loose gear; the boatswain and one of the men\nbeing severely injured by being washed to leeward.    Young 316\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nmM\nPfKi\nmi\nsaw the sea coming, and cried out to the men to run aft, and\nall did so excepting the injured men; but we felt ourselves\nfortunate at not losing any, for the fore part of the ship was\ncompletely buried under water; and it was also fortunate the\nbulwarks went, and so relieved the ship, or the sea would have\nswept the decks fore and aft. At nine, another fearful sea broke\non the ship, but luckily struck the same place, and so merely\nswept clean across her.\nWe now \" battened down \" the hatches forward, and sent\nall the crew aft and below; for, with such a warning as we had\nhad, we could but see the probability of our decks being swept\nPitiable and melancholy did our poor little ship look from the\nhalf-poop, looking forward, the sea washing over her like a\nhalf-tide rock; but by the mercy of Providence we were spared\nfurther disaster. The next day the wind moderated and\nthe sky cleared, and we set to work\u2014not to repair damages,\nfor that was beyond our means\u2014but to put up some spars as a\nsubstitute for the bulwarks washed away, and to enable the\nmen to go forward without danger; and as the forecastle had\nbeen flooded, and the men's clothing and bedding saturated,\nwe were thankful to get a few hours' drying weather for them.\nThe men, during the gale, had the deck of the cabin for their\nbed, and no dry clothes.\nOn the evening of the 7 th a fine aurora was visible, forming\nan arch, and ending in a serpentine form.\nAnother gale on the 9th, the sea making a clean breach\nthrough the gaps forward. Passed a piece of drift-wood, also\nseveral pieces of seaweed with barnacles on them; these, with\nthe high temperature of the surface water (49 \u00b0), convinced\nus that we were not yet within the influence of the Arctic\ncurrent.    (Latitude 62^\u00b0 north; longitude 33^\u00b0 west.)\nThe night was very dark, and one of anxiety; for the ship\nplunged heavily, sending the sea rushing aft, floating our boats\n(which were inboard), and dashing against the poop; and we\nwere now where we might expect to meet with ice, and such\nwas the darkness, we should have been into it almost before we\ncould see it.\nWe tried the temperature of the sea surface every hour, and\nat four o'clock on the morning of the 12 th, the decrease of\ntemperature, the smoothness of the sea, and the keen cutting\nair indicated our sudden approach to ice. Shortly before daylight, a light stream of ice was seen ahead, and then a rather\ncompact heavier oceanic stream lay across our desired course;\nand as the sun rose we got our first glimpse of Greenland,\nwhich proved to be Cape Bille and the adjacent coast. High\npeaks and bold round-topped hills, partially covered with snow,\nand all apparently resting on a glacier, rose to our view as we\narjproached the land within twenty miles, presenting an appearance wild beyond description. Passing through the loose\nsailing ice, which on near approach proved to be very open, we\nsecured the ship to a floe-piece to \".water ship.\"\nIt must not be supposed that on our passage across we\nhad neglected the work we came to do. On every opportunity\nwhen the weather permitted we had obtained soundings, and\nmade all the observations on the currents possible; and, like\nMark Tapley, kept up our spirits under what even he would\nhave considered very creditable circumstances; and the\ncolonel's \"Campdown Races,\" widi chorus, frequently rose\nabove the storm or was heard between the gusts.\nGreatly did we enjoy the smooth water, and a run on the\nice was very acceptable after so many days' confinement on\nboard; for the boats being in upon the deck greatly cramped\nour space, and three steps and turn is not very lively exercise\nto either mind or body.\nA description of one day of our social life on board will\nsuffice to give an idea of how we passed our time. Breakfast\nwas on the table at eight, after which Young and myself, being\nthe executives, were soon at work\u2014Young about the general\nduties of the ship, and I to winding chronometers, taking observations, &c.; while our cabin passengers usually got into a dissertation on some topic, very often on some subject connected\nwith the manners and customs in America, Denmark, or England, and their respective merits, in which each disputant considered he was bound to uphold the dignity of his country; and\nif they came to high words they were not angry ones; whilst I,\nfrom my chart-room, or workshop, occasionally came to the\nrescue of the one that was getting the worst of the argument;\nand\u2014irrespective of country, or indeed of my own opinion\u2014\nhaving set the vanquished up, they would set to work again\nwith renewed vigour; then bury the tomahawk, and betake\nthemselves to the deck, and the pipe and cigar of peace, and\noccasionally get very much in the way when any evolution was\nto be performed.\nIt is no compliment to all the gentlemen to say that I had\nonly to ask any one to do anything, or assist me, and it was\ndone; Dr. Rae would compare the chronometers with me, or\nmeasure out any number of drops of chloroform for my sea-sick\nstomach; Woods and Slesser would register the reading of\nthe instruments, and write the meteorological journal. The\ncolonel would talk and sing for me all day long if I wished;\nZeilau would smoke for me, and Olafssen would sleep for\nme, and half a dozen more; or, as the major would say, with\na slight upward curl of his moustache, \"only as an Icelander\ncould sleep.\"\nAt seven bells, the \" sun being over the fore yard,\" the\ncolonel, like a good Yankee guardian angel as he was, would\nalways have a glass of Bass's bitter ale ready for me at dinner,\nat two, at which our principal dishes were composed of preserved meat, vegetables, and soup. Our table was well supplied with wine, but no one sat long after dinner; at six we\nhad tea and coffee, and at eight, brandy and water, &c, and\nby ten all were in bed.\nTo resume my narrative. A large number of icebergs were\nin sight, and by those who had not seen any before, they were\ngazed at with much interest; and even to those to whom they\nare no novelty, they are always beautiful. The clear, deep, arid\nintense cobalt blue of the cracks, fissures, and caverns, the\nfantastic forms they often take, and the delicately frosted overhanging icicles like the richest frosted silver fret-work, render\nthem always interesting subjects of study, either in respect to\nthe grandeur of size, curiosity of form, beauty of colour, or\nminute delicacy of fret-work.\nIn the evening a thick fog came off the land, which cleared\naway towards the next morning, when we stood in towards the\nland, abreast Anarket Fiord, hoping to find an opening that might\nenable us to reach the land; but it soon became evident that\nthat was not to be effected this side of Cape Farewell; far as\nthe eye could reach\u2014and from the clearness of the atmosphere\nthe distance was great\u2014there was a fringe of solid packed\nice of some three or four miles in depth along the whole\ncoast.\nThe day was lovely, the sky bright and clear, and the sun ^VESJROM_MY JOURNAL OF THE  \"FOX'S\" TELEGRAPHIC  VOYAGE.\n3i7\nfeelmg quite warm as the wind fell almost to a calm. As the\nsun rose we had a magnificent view of the coast; far in the\ninterior were the peaks of Niviarsicet, Jomfruerne, and\nInnungoarsoak, connected with each other, and with the peaks\nand hills of lesser altitude running down towards the coast, by\nglaciers appearing as smooth plains of ice; while the almost\nperpendicular cliffs of Omenarsuk, destitute of snow, appeared\nintensely black in contrast to the glare of the ice-blink. Nearer\nthe densely packed ice interspersed with bergs, and nearer still\nthe more open sailing ice, with the intensely blue water, afforded\na scene of almost unequalled grandeur.\n'The colonel, who had been dreaming of telegraphic posts\nbut it was evident that he had not made acquaintance with\nhuman beings, for they soon doubled on him, pulling round\nthe floe-pieces and cutting him off; and as he was endeavouring\nto get on one piece, Young shot him through the head, and poor\nBruin was soon hoisted in, the frying-pan put on the fire at the\nsame time, and bear-steaks were the order of the day. The\nskin was a beautiful one,* and the \"real bear's grease \" was put\ninto casks.\nBaffled, in our efforts to reach the land, we now coasted\nalong the pack edge to the southward, and found that it led us\nrather out from the shore. From the mast-head we could see a\nfew lanes of water, and as the barometer was high and steady,\nAN ICELAND  FARM.\nto carry his lines to the opposite shore, soon saw that that part\nof his scheme was not practicable, and that his cable would\nhave to be submerged to go round the cape, and also that\nthe length of his longest section would be greatly increased\nthereby. But he bore up bravely under his disappointment,\nand whatever he may have felt he did not show it, and sang\nI Campdown Races \" with as much energy that evening as\never.\nHaving such a fine day, we made the most of it by fixing,\nfrom our observations and triangulation, the points of the land\nand the most prominently marked features; we also made\nsketches of the land, so that by another vessel visiting this\nportion of the coast, the various points could be well distinguished.\nSoon after noon the cry of \"A bear in sight 1\" brought all\nhands up the hatchways, as if the bottom of the ship had\nfallen out. The bear was seen swimming towards the ship, and\ngreat was the excitement and rush for rifles and guns. Young\nand Rae went off in the dingy in chase.  The bear swam bravely,\nwe hoped for an off-shore wind to disperse the ice and enable\nus to get in shore; the wind, however, kept to the south-eastward, and although light, it had the effect of hardening the\npack on the shore.\nNotwithstanding the high barometer, the weather began to\nthicken, and soon the wind increased to a gale. It was not\nsafe to run during the pitch-dark night, as several pieces of ice\npassed us.\nAgain the wind fell light and, changing to the north,\ncame down upon us in a gale.\nOn the 15th, we made the land about Cape Farewell, its\nappearance at a distance of seventy miles being that of a\nnumber of steep high islands. Running into a stream of ice we\nwore and got out of it as soon as we could. This ice was sixty\nmiles from the land, a distance generally supposed to be free,\nand there was no difference in the temperature of the surface\nwater to indicate our near approach to it.\n* Young had this skin cured and tanned, and presented it to Lady\nFranklin.\nI^El Ji8.\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nAt an Australian  Corobborey.\u2014\/.\nBY J.   A.   SKERTCHLEY.\nIn 1864 I was paying a visit to a friend at Nine-mile Creek,\nnear Ballarat My host was a well-to-do sheep-farmer, a\ndescendant of an English fox-hunting squire, who had not\nleft his sporting propensities behind him when he quitted the\nI old country,\" as the numerous trophies of kangaroo heads,\nopossum skins, and other victims to his gun, which decorated\nthe walls of his \" den,\" amply testified.\nHis house may be taken as a sample of a genuine Australian\nhomestead. Like many others in the colony, it was mostly\nconstructed of wood, and of a single storey only. A wide\nverandah ran round three sides of the square block of which\nthe house consisted, while jalousied French windows opened\ninto the sitting and bed rooms. At one angle was the '.' den \"\nbefore alluded to, which was by far the most comfortable room\nin the house. Here my host was accustomed to set out his\nentomological captures, skin his birds, and perform other\nnecessary work in connection with his museum in miniature.\nThe stables, sheep-pens, and other outworks were in the rear,\nwhile a spacious lawn, studded with gigantic-thorned acacias,\nextended down to a \"creek\" which gurgled along in the\nwinter, but which in the parching summer season was reduced\nto a series of stagnant pools or \" water-holes,\" as they are here\ncalled. A pair of splendid rose cockatoos were jabbering away\nin the verandah, while at the opposite end to the \"den,\" a\nspacious aviary confined about a hundred parrakeets, sparrows,\net id genus omne.\nAlong the banks of the stream several tall gum-trees\nstretched their skinny arms aloft, while beyond, the regular\nAustralian \" bush \" commenced in earnest. The \" run,\" consisting of I know not how many acres, was considered to be\none of the finest in Victoria, and the owner had, from, his\narrival in the colony, studiously endeavoured to obtain and\npreserve the good-will of the \" blacks,\" as the aborigines are\ncalled. Several of these natives were employed upon the\nestate as shepherds, living in huts with their wives or | gins,\"\nand rearing a numerous progeny of sable imps, whose sole\noccupation appeared to be getting into one scrape as soon as\nthey were delivered from another. One gaunt fellow officiated\nas groom or coachman, whenever the family \" buggy \" was put\nin requisition to convey the ladies of the family to a dinner at\none of their neighbour's, the said \" neighbours \" living from ten\nto twenty miles away. Upon these occasions the gentlemen\nalways rode on horseback, and in a country where horses can\nbe purchased for a few pounds, the mounts of the sterner sex\nwere always the finest animals to be procured. Many of the\nnatives take wonderfully to horses, and I have seen a cab in\nMelbourne itself driven by an aborigine, who smacked his\nwhip and hailed, \" Ceb, sah !\" in correct professional style.\nIn consequence of the kindness of my host, his estate was\na general El Dorado for all the neighbouring blacks, who, if\nthey could establish themselves in his service either as\nshepherds, bullock-drivers, or faggoters, considered their\nfortunes made. Hence there were always plenty of \" loafers \"\nto be  met with, picking up a precarious  subsistence  upon\nthe scraps of the kitchen, and always on the look-out for\na job. Once rated, however, their energies suffered a wonderful decline, and they subsided, with few exceptions, into lazy\nsleepy servitors, whose delight appeared to reach its consummation in reclining at the foot of a gum-tree thinking of\nnothing.\nThe only thing that seemed to rouse them from their\nlethargy was the sight of a kangaroo, a flight of ducks or other\nwild fowl, when their appetites incited them to a state of\nactivity, in vivid contrast to their usual laziness.\nIt had been the custom of my host to make an annual\npresent of blankets to the neighbouring blacks, and the event\ncaused a considerable number to assemble in the vicinity, eager\nto participate in the bounty of my host. Besides the blankets,\nknives, fish-hooks, hatchets, and other useful articles were\npresented to many of the principal natives. The day after our\narrival was the anniversary of this fete, and we gladly availed\nourselves of the opportunity of making a personal inspection\nof the natives as they appeared on a gala day.\nThe rendezvous was at one of the squatter's huts, situated\nabout two miles from the.homestead, and thither the lumbering\ndray had preceded us, heavily laden with coarse grey blanket-\nstuffs and various knicknacks, besides a lighter vehicle, on board\nof which various comforts for the inner man were stored, as\nit was customary to make a kind of pic-nic of the occasion.\nThe shanty was a rude structure of rough sawn boards,\nwith a titanic chimney of hard-baked mud surmounted by\na civilised chimney-pot. In front was a miniature stockade,\nformed for the purpose of enclosing the bullocks and horses\nwhen the annual branding came on. By the custom of the\ncolony, any unbranded animal becomes the property of the\nfinder, consequently, a general muster of the stock is held once\na year, when the foal and calves are submitted to the hands\nof the brander. Whenever a horse or bullock is sold, it is\ncustomary for the seller to rebrand the animal with his mark\nreversed above the old brand, as otherwise the buyer might be\naccused of possessing stolen animals.\n\u2022 There is a report that a certain squatter was accustomed to\nadopt as his brand a frying-pan, and he had no particular place\nto put it on. Hence, whenever it was desirable to obliterate\nany of the old brands, it was easy to clap the hot frying-pan\nover the old mark, which, of course, rapidly disappeared. It\nis said that, as a reward for his ingenuity, this gentleman has\nnow received a government appointment for seven years.\nA few hundred yards beyond this stockade was a large\nwater-hole, round which about sixty \"blacks,\" with their\nfamilies, had assembled. Some of them had been on the\nground for several weeks, and had run up their wagawas,\nas a slight protection from the cold, for, although the days were\nhot enough, it was no unusual thing to find a thin film of ice,\nformed in vessels containing water, in early morning. These\nwagawas were of the rudest possible construction f four poles,\nor rather sticks, about four feet long, w\nere stuck upright in the\nangles in a square with a side of about eight feet.    The tops AT AN AUSTRALIAN  COROBBOREY.\n3i9\nof these were connected by other poles, and a rude wattling\nformed the foundation of the roof. Over this substratum a\nquantity of the leaves of a species of mimosa were thickly\nstrewn, and thus a slight shelter was obtained. With a single\nexception, there was not the slightest attempt at wattling the\nsides to keep off the wind, but the shelter of a gum-tree trunk,\nor thicket of acacias, was deemed sufficient protection.\nIn front of a few of these huts a small fire was smouldering\nwith the remains of a meal of fish procured from the neighbouring stream, scattered about. The fish were caught in\nsnares constructed by preference of kangaroo sinew, or, failing\nthat, of horsehair. A long rope twisted out of the bark of a\ntree was fastened by each end to a stake driven in an opposite\nside of the stream, and kept afloat by little pieces of dried\nwood. A series of nooses of horsehair were fixed to the rope\n. close together, and upon any fish attempting to pass through,\nthe loop caught the fins, and thus drew it tight round the body\nof the fish, which was at once secured by the fisherman, who\nanxiously watched his snare from the bank. Others again\nsecured the larger members of the finny tribe by transfixing\nthem with thin spears, formed out of a hard wood, and the\nhead sometimes barbed with fishbones, but oftentimes merely\nhardened in the fire and notched.\nAs is usual among savages, the lords of creation, after providing for the day's subsistence, had left the cooking and the\nkeeping up the fire to be performed by their wives, or \" gins.\"\nThese specimens of humanity were not by any means prepossessing. The men were of middle height, with round\nbullet heads, and skinny cadaverous features, and their whole\nappearance denoted anything but a well-stocked larder. They\nwore a scanty loin-cloth, and some of the swells had an old\ntattered blanket or rug of skins thrown over the left shoulder.\nThe ladies were even more scantily clothed than their lords,\nas only a very few had the skin-cloak,, and many were only\nsaved from complete nudity by the veriest scrap of clothing.\nAll had their ears pierced with holes large enough to put\na walnut through, and the head men wore decorations of a\ngreen stone, some increasing their charms by the aid of a plug\nof the same material inserted in the cartilage of the nose.\nTheir hair, jet-black and curly, was unkempt and matted\ntogether, and, like the negroes of the Gaboon, many carried in\nit a thin stick, as a means of chastisement to its troublesome\ninhabitants.\nBesides the fishing-spears, they were provided with clubs,\nthe knobbed extremities of some hard-wood tree, often\nfancifully carved and burnt into wavy patterns, the curious\nboomerang, and a knife, or hatchet, a present from some white\nsettler. Their method of cooking the'fish was to slit it up and\nopen it out like a kippered herring, and then suspend it at the\nside of the fire from a thin twig stuck in the ground. Sometimes they make a gridiron of a few green twigs, upon which\nthe flesh of some duck or rat is half burnt, rather than cooked;\nand at other times a meagre soup is manufactured, the cooking\nutensil being a hollow piece of wood, or slab of bark, and the\nwater being heated by dropping red-hot stones into it.\nThey are capable of enduring a considerable amount of\nhunger, as indeed their precarious method of subsistence\nnecessitates, but when an opportunity is afforded them, will\ngorge themselves to stupor. With the cunning of a fox, and\n\u2022 the subtlety and stealth of a cat, they lie in wait for any animal\nthat may come in their way, and in the dissatisfied distr.cts\nemploy the same arts to waylay some unsuspecting squatter,\nor creep snake-like through the grass till within spear-shot of\nsome shepherd or traveller, who, oblivious of danger, is\nwhiling away his time under the shadow of some tree, or\nperhaps reposing after the toils of the day.\nUpon our arrival, they roused themselves from their\nlethargy, and assembled in a confused mass round the entrance\nto the stockade. Many of them had been known to our\nhospitable host for several years, and as he greeted them with\na friendly nod, or called them by name, their pleasure was\ntestified by sundry grunts and grinnings, that could hardly be\ncalled laughs. Meanwhile the blankets, hatchets, knives, and\nother valuables, had been unloaded, and every preparation\nmade for their distribution. The ladies of the party produced\nneedles and thread, and a few ready-made gowns, or rather\npetticoats, for the more modest attirement of their sable\nsisters.\nA tall, gaunt fellow, whose unpronounceable name was\ninterpreted as meaning \" a son of a blue gum-tree,\" was then\ncalled, and our host, through the medium of one of his native\nbullock-drivers, requested him to inform his countrymen that\nhe wished them to understand that no disputes must arise as\nto the distribution of the blankets, &c, since, if any person\nreceived more than another, it was a reward for some meritorious action, such as the restoration of a strayed bullock, or\nfor faithful services performed. If any one of them were\nenvious of the good fortune of another, he could, by conducting\nhimself in an honest, straightforward manner, secure a similar\nreward to himself.\n\" It appeared that upon the distribution of the presents last\nyear a serious dispute had arisen, in consequence of an additional present being made to one of the natives, who had\ntracked up and restored seven bullocks, which had strayed\nfrom the estate.\nAfter the harangue, the blankets were distributed to the\nmen and their wives, amidst frantic gesticulations and the\nwildest jabbering, expressive of delight. One aged black, the\n\"Curly Snake,\" whose tottering, cadaverous limbs were scarcely\nadequate to the support of his emaciated body, upon receiving\nhis blanket made a low obeisance, and, leaning for support\nupon the shoulder of his grandson, told his countrymen that\nI they must ever after look upon the property of Mr. H\t\nas their own, and protect it in every way that laid in their\npower; and if they found any of his sheep or cattle in the\nbush, they must bring it back again to the owner, and not\nkill and eat them, for if they did so they would lose a good\nprotector, and all white men would execrate their very name.\"\nA loud and prolonged series of howls and grunts succeeded\nthis speech, and several others followed, the orator declaring\nthat they would seek for Mr. H 's cattle whenever he\nlost any.\nAfter the blankets were given out, a number of knives,\nfish-hooks, hatchets, and other useful instruments, were presented to the sooty crew, many of whom testified their delight\nby cutting and hacking at every tree and bush in their vicinity,\njust as any child would do when he first came into the possession of a knife.\nMeanwhile the wives, or \"gins,\" were being made the\nhappy recipients of the bounty of the ladies of the homestead,\nwho were giving away petticoats, needles, thread, scissors, and\nlooking-glasses.    The reception of the latter was the universal\nf  11 320\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\n_JBfflffl\nIHlli  I:\nsequel for a good stare at the sable features of the recipient,\nand the grotesque faces and clownish grimaces, made before\nthe reflectors, were ludicrous in the extreme.\nSome of the women had brought curiously-plaited baskets\nas presents to the i lubras,\" as they called the white ladies;\nwhile others again exhibited specimens of their skill as feather-\nworkers, in the shape of fans, which they displayed in the hope\nof exciting the acquisitiveness of some purchaser.\nSome exhibited curiously-ornamented bags, formed of\nclosely-plaited grass, and profusely decorated with the vertebra;\nof snakes, feathers, and small seeds, scraped and polished until\nthey looked like beads. Others, again, offered for sale rudely\nbut elaborately carved spears, waddys, boomerangs, paddles,\nand other implements. Rugs composed of two or three dozen\nopossum-skins, or of various species of ruminants, and other\ntrophies of the hunter's skill, often the produce of two or three\nyears' laborious chase, found ready purchasers, while the eye\nof the naturalist was delighted by the sight of several fine\nspecimens of the parrot tribe, some lately killed, and others\nalive, confined to a stick by a tough thong of kangaroo sinew.\nThe distribution occupied about two hours, after which we\nsat down to a very substantial luncheon, spread with true\ncolonial hospitality in the meagre shade of a clump of gum-\ntrees near the squatter's hut. While busy discussing the\nmerits of the savoury viands, I will give an example of the good\nresults ensuing from the liberality and kindness of our host,\nMr. H .\nThree years before our visit, he was riding along one of\nthe comparatively shadowless glades of a forest composed of\ngum-trees, stringy barks, and other sparsely-leaved trees, when\nhe suddenly started at a low groan issuing from a thicket on\nhis right hand. Reining in his steed, he listened, and in a few\nseconds a prolonged moan verified his suppositions that some\nfellow-creature was in distress. Carefully picking his way\nthrough the thorny shrubs, he came upon a native lying in a\ndoubled-up attitude at the foot of a stately gum-tree. The\nunnatural position of his left leg at once revealed, the origin of\nhis sufferings, for it was fearfully shattered, and the arm on the\nsame side also hung useless by his side. Another moan escaped from the pale lips of the sufferer, which at once pierced\nthe humane heart of our host.\nAlighting from his horse, which, well-trained animal that\nhe was, never attempted to move away, he gently raised the\nwounded man. A perfect shriek of agony burst from the\nnative at the slightest movement, as he fell back in a dead\nfaint. By his side a speared opossum, and a shred of his\nclothing hanging from one of the limbs above him, revealed\nthe source of his mishap, for it was evident that when busily\nengaged in the capture of opossum or other game, he had\nfallen from the branch and fractured his arm and lee. Givins-\nthe wounded man a draught from the brandy-flask he carried,\nhe gave him to understand by signs that he was to lie still\nwhile he went for assistance. Luckily 1 number of workmen\nwere engaged in the erection of a shanty within a mile of the\nspot, and, hastily constructing a rude litter, the wounded black\nwas carried thereon to the hut. After setting the bones and\notherwise attending to his wants, he rode off, leaving instructions that the black was to receive every attention. In a few\nweeks the native, whose name proved to be Awagga, was able\nto move about, and upon being declared convalescent, was\noffered the post of shepherd on the rim.\nTime went on and the event was forgotten, when one\nmorning one of the ladies went out for a ride to meet her\nfather.    On arriving at the rendezvous Mr. H was not\nthere, so, alighting from her horse, she sat down upon a\nfelled tree to await him. From the lady's own account of the\nevent, she appears to have fallen into a kind of doze, and was\nawakened by feeling something cold and slippery round her\nneck. Casting her eyes downwards, she was horrified to see\nan enormous snake twined round her arm, with one of its coils\nround her neck, while its fiery eyes looked straight into hers, as\nits head waved with an undulatory motion within a few inches\nof her face.\nA wild shriek of terror burst from her lips as she started\nup, when she perceived Awagga running towards her, calling\nout something at the top of his voice. With great presence of\nmind she stayed her first impulse of running haphazard into\nthe bush, and awaited the native's approach. Still the snake\nkept up the pendulous motion of its head, while its scintillating\neyes glittered as ri\" with bitterest malice.\nPoising a waddy for a few seconds to ensure his aim, Awagga,\nwith a skilful stroke, dashed out the reptile's brains, whereupon, overcome with the excess of her feelings, the young lady\nfainted away, while at the same instant her father, who had\nheard her shriek, came galloping up.    Of course Mr. H '\nwas profuse in his expressions of gratitude to Awagga, but he\nreplied, \" Why do you thank me ? you found me wounded in\nthe bush, and cured me, and shall not I protect your lubras\nfrom harm when in my power to do so ?\"\nLuncheon over, we again mounted our horses, and after a\npleasant ride arrived at the homestead, where our host informed us that on the following day the natives would hold a\npalaver dance, or \" corobborey,\" in honour of the distribution\nof the gifts of their kind benefactor.\nWe started for the rendezvous about three in the afternoon,\nand in about an hour reached the camp, which had been\nremoved to the banks of a reedy creek some six or seven miles\ndistant from the scene of the distribution.\nAlthough the natives could have only been on the spot a\nfew hours, the huts were already run up, and their fishing-lines\nhad afforded an ample supply of delicate fish. I here noticed\nan aged gin busily engaged in pounding the stalks of a peculiar\nplant, which when macerated in water is baked on the glowing\nembers of their wood-fires, and forms a kind of damper, by no\nmeans unpalatable\u2014at least, to a hungry stomach.\nA party of women were bustling about, collecting all the\ndead wood they could find, with which to build the corobborey\nfire, while their better halves were proudly strutting before us\nin all the bravery of their new blankets. Some of the most\ncivilised (?) were smoking tobacco, and, as among their sable\nbrethren of Africa, the shorter, dirtier, and larger the pipe,\nthe better was it appreciated. It must certainly take a long\napprenticeship to be able to enjoy a smoke out of a filthy\nbowl, whose villainous opening, owing to the shortness of the\nstem, is brought exactly beneath the nostrils.\nOnly one of the gentlemen was making preparations for the\nevening's entertainment, and he was squatted between the\nknees of his valet de chambre, who was busily employed in\nrubbing over his skin a mixture of gum, red clay, and pounded\nmaggots, the larvae of some species of insect, which he\nevidently esteemed to be a veritable Rowlands' Macassar, or\nBalm of Columbia. A RIDE FROM GONDAR TO  GALABAT.\n321\nA Ride from Gondar to Galabat, Abyssinia.\nBY  E.  A.   DE  COSSON,   F.R.G.S.\nOn the night of the 14th of May, 1873, we were at Gondar, the | lightning, following one another in rapid succession, cast a\nlurid and fitful light over the ruins of the ancient town.    We\ncould hear the frightened horses and mules plunging madly as\ncapital of Ethiopia, through which mountainous country C\t\nand I had been wandering for many months in search of sport\nABYSSI\nNIAN PRIEST AND  MONK.\nand amusement. On this particular evening, however, the\nsport and amusement were of a very qualified description, for a\nday of burning heat had been succeeded by a night of storm\nand rain, such as is only to be experienced in tropical latitudes.\nEven the double roof of our tent was quite inadequate to keep\nout the torrents of water which poured down upon it like a\nsecond deluge, bidding fair to float us bodily into the swollen\nstream below; while every now and then fierce gusts of wind\nwhistled through the straining cords, and flash after flash of\n281\nthey pulled at their tether ropes, but there was no one to watch\nthem now, for guards, servants, and porters had all fled to the\ntown for shelter, and we were as solitary on the isolated bluff\nof rock where our tent was pitched, as if we had been encamped\nin the desert of Sahara. However, there was little to fear\nfrom man or beast. On such a night as this the most ravenous\nhysena or daring leopard would prefer the darkness and safety\nof his lair to the lightning and tempest outside; and as for\nman, though he sometimes emulates the cruelty of a beast of\nI $2 2\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nMwjji\nprey, he rarely equals him in courage when bent on an evil\npurpose.    So when our evening pipes were finished, C\t\nand I lay down on our soaking carpets, and were soon as\nsound asleep as if we had been lying on beds of down, instead,\nof in three inches of mud and rain-water.\nNext morning still the same deluge of water came pouring\ndown; we could not even get a fire to cook our food by: so,\nf'eserting.tlie camp, we visited Christopholos, the magician of\nGondar, who went with us to explore the beautiful ruins ol the\ncastle of the \" King of Kings \" (a magnificent palace alone in\nthe wild mountains of inner Africa), which is one of the greatest\nwonders of the capital of Ethiopia. But I must defer the\ndescription of this to some other time.\nOn the following morning, May the i6th, not a sign of the\nstorm remained. The tropical sun had spread its glamour\nover the land, and though the swollen river still rushed madly\nover the grey rocks, its spray glistened with the varied colours\nof the rainbow, and the air was sweet with the fragrance of\nflowers, and gay with the song of birds and insects. Our tent-\ntoo, was no longer deserted. The Governor of Gondar, the\nchief who was to accompany me to the borders of Abyssinia,\nand many others, were waiting outside to see me, for to-day I\nhad decided to start on my homeward journey through those\ngreat plains of Sennaar and Upper Nubia which lay between\nme and Khartoum, on the White Nile.\nThough it was now the hot season, and I was told that this\nroad would be a sort of Gehenna on earth, I preferred to\ntake it, as I hoped to travel faster over the desert on a camel\nthan I could through the interminable and'roadless mountains\nof Abyssinia. I had duties in England which called me\nhome, and already I had tarried till the last moment at the\ncourt of the King of Ethiopia, taking advantage of his friendship to try to induce him to put an end to the slave-trade in\nhis dominions, a step which I knew, if carried out, would strike\na heavy blow to the slave-markets of Upper Nubia, where\nGallas brought through Abyssinia are at a great premium. The |\nking,, who had discussed the matter with great frankness and\nintelligence, had agreed at my solicitation to bind himself by a\nwritten promise to the English Government, given under his\ngreat seal, that he would allow no merchants to buy or sell in,\nor transport slaves through, his country, and that he would set\nfree all slaves then existing. But, of course, so important a\nmeasure could not be taken without opposition from his chiefs,\nand day after day had passed without my being able to obtain\nthe written promise I desired.    At last, to precipitate matters,\nC  and I had retired to Gondar, much to the annoyance\nof the king, who, like a true Abyssinian prince, wanted us to\nremain for ever at his court, and now that the last day had\narrived to which I could possibly delay my homeward journey,\nthere were still no letters from the king, and I felt sad at heart,\nfor the work of the last three weeks seemed to have been\nthrown away.\nIt did not take long to prepare for my departure.    C\t\nhad decided to remain in the highlands of Abyssinia through\nthe coming rainy season, and I was henceforward to be alone.\nI therefore left with C  the tent and baggage, and determined to take with me only what was absolutely necessary for\nthe homeward journey. A bag of flour, another of coffee, some\npieces of native cloth, cartridges for my Westley-Richards riflej\nand some seven hundred dollars in silver, composed the\nprincipal part of my luggage, which was packed on four mules.\nBefore the sun was high we were all in the saddle, and\nwinding down the ravine leading to the river which flows below\nGondar. As we approached it we saw a young maiden bathing\nherself in its sparkling waters, all unconscious of our gay cavalcade, but when our horses entered the stream she looked\nround, and with one bound disappeared among the rocks, like\na frightened Diana.\nMy Abyssinian friends now bid me farewell, and C\t\nand I rode up the rocky ascent of \" The Mountain of the\nSun,\" at the other side of the river. We had nearly gained\nthe top when we saw two horsemen following us at a gallop,\ntheir horses covered with foam and mud, as if they had ridden\nall night. One was mounted on a beautiful little cream-\ncoloured horse, with silver harness, which had been given me\nby the king, but which I had left behind at his camp when I\nstarted for Gondar. The other carried a packet of letters,\nwhich, throwing himself from his horse, he placed in my hand.\nTo my great delight I found they were the letters from the\nking to Lord Granville, promising, if the English Government\nwished it, to use every means to abolish the slave-trade in.\nEthiopia. This was extremely cheering, for there was no\ndoubt the king would consider Iris sealed and written promise\nto the Government as binding, and with a very little encouragement from the Foreign Office, would do much to check the\nslave-trade in this part of Africa, especially as all the Abyssinian slave-traders being Mohammedans, he does not regard\nthem with favour.\nIt was now time for my friend C to leave me, so we\nsaid farewell and parted, he to return to the king's court at\nAmbachara, where he wished to stay some time longer, and I\nto continue my solitary journey northward through the plains\nof Nubia.\nI felt very sad as our two little parties lost sight of one\nanother, for who was to tell if we should meet again, or either\nof us get home at all? Life, which at all times is uncertain,\nseems doubly so in Africa, where the wanderer has to encountei\na treacherous climate, a warlike and uncivilised people, and\nforests teeming with large game. He will, however, do well\nnot to let gloomy thoughts occupy his mind. As Sir Samuel\nBaker truly says : \" In this country any grief of mind will\nensure an attack of fever, to which all are more or less predisposed during the unhealthy season.\" I believe one of the\nsecrets of health in all countries is to encourage cheerfulness\nin ourselves and in others.\nFor some way my road lay over a nearly level table-land,\nabout west-south-west, towards Tchelga. Abyssinia is composed of a number of table-lands, intersected by deep valleys\nand ravines, which form the beds of the various rivers. These\ntable-lands are at different elevations, some being more than ten\nthousand feet above the level of the sea, while others are much\nlower. The country is also traversed by several ranges of\nmountains of the most fantastic shapes, some of which are higher\nthan the highest of the European Alps. As there are no roads,\ndifferent races are often found living within a few days' march\nof one another, varying as .much in all their characteristics\nas if they were people of different nations.\nThe people whose country I was now skirting, the Kumant,\nhad certainly not a prepossessing type of countenance; their\nheads were narrow and pointed, their jaws heavy and projecting. I was told they were worse than the Gallas, for they\nwould even kill a man for a single piece of ief (the common A RIDE FROM GONDAR TO  GALABAT.\n323\nbread of the country). Their mode of gaining a livelihood\nwas, if not honest, ingenious, for they lived by carrying wood\nto Gondar to build houses with, and, generally, soon after the\nhouse was finished, returned at night and set it on fire, so as\nto have to bring wood again to build it afresh : thus they were\nnever without work.\nAt sunset we forded the Atbara, here quite a little stream,\nand not long afterwards the barking of dogs announced our\napproach to Tchelga, where I had decided to halt for the night.\nThis village was composed of a number of round huts, made\nin the usual Abyssinian manner, of mud and branches, covered\nwith tall thatched roofs sloped like extinguishers. My guards\nsoon captured some fowls, and cutting their heads off, placed\nthem in a flat dish full of butter and red pepper to cook. Some\ntef, a jar of honey, and a basket (lined with hardened cow-\ndung) full of milk, completed the entertainment. It is a fact\nwhich, though true, I fancy few people will believe, that\nAbyssinian fowls run about after their heads are cut off. They\ngenerally run round and round in a circle for several seconds,\nand end by tumbling right over, very naturally, not knowing\nin which direction they are going.\nThe Shoum, or head man, of Tchelga was not there, but the\n' chief who had been sent by the king to accompany me led me\ninto one of the round houses for the night. It was, as usual,\nswarming with animal life, and sleep was out of the question.\nThis, however, had its advantage, as I was able to start before\ndaylight next morning. My guards were all footsore by this\ntime, so I let them go back to the king, only taking with me\nmy Arab cook, Mustafa, and three native servants who had\nbeen my gun-bearers all through my stay in Abyssinia.\nAs we left Tchelga I saw a beautiful green snake, three feet\n\u2022long, which, by the shape of its head and body, must have\nbeen one of the many venomous kinds that abound here.\nPresently we met the Shoum, a grey-haired old man, with\na long straight double-edged sword slung over his shoulder,\nlike that used by the Hamran elephant-hunters. He at once\nturned back and accompanied me, with his servants, a couple\nof gigantic negroes, naked to the waist, who were armed with\nPortuguese matchlocks, some four hundred years old, which,\nhowever, they appeared to regard with great pride.\nI had many thousand feet to descend before I should bid\ngood bye to the mountains of Abyssinia, and we were all day\nfollowing the course of one of the tributaries of the Atbara, as\nit made its way down through endless ranges of mountains to\nthe plains of Nubia. The thunder rolled all day, and the\neffect of the detonations as they were echoed back from peak\nto peak was very grand. Towards evening one of my servants\nfell sick and had to be placed on my second horse; presently\nwe entered a forest, and soon the darkness became.so intense\nthat we could not see one another as we rode under the trees;\nso on coming to a clear space, where there was a pool of water,\nwe halted, and taking care to keep close to our beasts, for fear\nthe leopards might carry them off, lay down dumerless, to wait\nfOT Sfmorning we continued our way through the wood,\nwhich was full of flowering trees with beautiful creepers hang-\nr   .      o f,\u201em their boughs.     At last we came m\nins in gay festoons from tneir Dougns. , ...   -    \u2022\n1      f        e camels eating the young branches of the mi-\nmosas^a sign that we were beyond the mountains of Abyssinia\nwhere the St-fboted camel cannot travel    ^*^Z\nfrontier village of Abyssinia, though not long ago Galabat also\nowed allegiance to it; but the Egyptian Government, though\nalways declaring that it has no wish to go to war, has by\ndegrees encroached much on the Abyssinian frontier, and a\ngreat feeling of hatred exists between the two nations. Between\nGalabat and Wakhni there is a considerable tract of bush,\nwhich, being under no rule, is infested by wild beasts and\nhostile bands of natives who live by plunder.    I had arrived\nat Wakhni on the market-day, so as to avail myself of the\ncompany of the Mohammedan merchants on their way back to\nGalabat, for none of the Abyssinians who were with me would\nventure nearer the Egyptian frontier; but unfortunately it began\nto rain, and the merchants said they would not start until the\nfine weather came, though as they were half-naked, and well\nrubbed over with butter, I don't think the water would have\ndone them much harm.    I now tried to get some men from the\nShoum, but he said he could not get them for me, nor was he\nanswerable in any way for my safety; in fact,  he acted so\nsuspiciously that I began  to fear he was meditating some\ntreachery.    Once I started with my own servants, but though\nI had always treated them with much kindness, and thought\nthem faithful, as  soon as they got into the bush they all\ndeserted me, with the exception of Mustafa the Arab; so we\nwere obliged to return, as we could not have managed the\nmules alone\u2014those refractory animals requiring at least three\nmen to put their loads on.\nAlthough I had returned to the hut given me by the shoum,\nI was determined to get out of his hands as soon as possible;\nand at last, by the offer of a good reward, I succeeded in\ninducing a wild-looking Arab, armed with a shield and spear,\nwho was possessed of a camel, to undertake to accompany me\nout of the village at midnight, and lead me to Galabat; so,\nwhen every one was asleep, the camel was brought to the door\nof my hut, and the packs of the mules, with the exception of\nthe sack of dollars, placed on its back; then Mustafa and I,\neach mounting a horse and leading a mule behind us, glided\nnoiselessly through the village, and disappeared into the bush\nbeyond.    That Arab seemed to have an instinct for the road;\nit was so dark that we could only tell by the sound of our\nvoices if we were still together, and yet our guide led us clear\nof all obstacles, till the welcome arrival of daylight, when I\ngalloped on in front of my companions, to enjoy the beauties\nof the forest undisturbed.\nAs the sun rose high in the heavens, the whole atmosphere\nquivered with the heat; the birds ceased to sing on the trees;\nthe blue lizard lay motionless on the rock by the wayside; a\npair of beautiful gazelles stood gazing at me dreamily from the\nshade of some sweet-scented mimosas, among the boughs of\nwhich sat a little green monkey. Not a sound stirred the air,\nsave the hum of the insects among the flowers; all around was\nthe tangled vegetation of the bush. It was, indeed, one of\nthose scenes of tropical beauty, such as Dord has depicted in\nhis illustrations to \" Atala.\"\nSuddenly my horse stopped, for in all the beauty of matchless strength and symmetry, a leopard walked noiselessly across\nthe glade before him, his long tail curling and uncurling, and\nhis beautiful spotted skin glistening in the sunshine with a richness and depth of colour never seen in the caged animals that\nare brought to England. In a moment more I had dismounted\nand fired, and the leopard lay gasping on the ground, glaring at\nme with an expression of rage I shall never forget, but he never\nuttered a cry, only as I approached him with my hunting-knife 324\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nMi\nIK\nn\n\u2014for I did not wish to throw away my second cartridge\u2014he\nuttered a low growl, which fairly put my horse to flight. I\nthought he could not move, but was mistaken; twice he tried\nto spring forwards, but not having strength to do so, he suddenly made a plunge into the tall bush grass behind him and\ndisappeared. I fired a parting shot as he went, but it whistled\nharmlessly over him, nor could I find him in the grass, which\nwas eight feet high, and so thick that I could not see a foot in\nfront of me; perhaps it was fortunate I did not come upon\nhim, for my horse had gone off with my cartridges, and a\nwounded leopard is no pleasant vis-d-vis. As for Mustafa\nand the Arab, when they heard my rifle and saw my horse\ncome back, they halted and prepared to return, saying, with\nEastern wisdom, \" Bismillahl why should we go on if our\nmaster is dead and does not want us ? \"\nNext day I had an encounter with a panther, which might\nhave been unpleasant in its consequences. We had forded the\nriver Gondowa with some difficulty, as it was wide and rapid;\nand after encamping for the night in a secluded part of the\nbush, had started two hours before daylight, for with my dollars\nto take care of and so small a retinue, I was anxious to get\nthrough this part of the country as soon as possible, when a\nlarge panther, taking advantage of the darkness, succeeded in\nstealing close up to my horse unperceived. Luckily my rifle\nwas ready cocked in my hand, and just then the morning star,\nrising from a bank of cloud, threw a ray of light on the\npanther, who was already crouching for a spring. I did not\nwait to think whether my horse\u2014it was the new one given\nme by the king\u2014had been taught to stand fire, but let fly both\nbarrels at the panther, who was not three yards from the\nmuzzle of my rifle. However, what became of him I was never\ndestined to know, for the next instant my horse reared upright\nand bolted with me into the bush, quite regardless of the\nlong thorns with which most African trees are armed, which\nwere anything but pleasant for me, or of the strong native curb\nwith which I tried to stop him. At last, however, after a considerable detour, I managed to get back into the track again,\nfurther on, where I found my men, who had tried to follow me.\nOn May the 20th I reached Galabat, where I was hospitably received by Jusef, a Mohammedan Abyssinian merchant.\nThere was a large camp of Egyptian troops above the town,\nunder the command of a black general, a native of Nubia, who\nappeared to have made every preparation for a war with\nAbyssinia should the occasion occur. I had been told that,\nnotwithstanding the Egyptian Government had professed to\nsuppress slavery, and that Galabat was now entirely occupied\nby Egyptian soldiers, I should yet find a public slave-market\nthere, where I should see many Galla and Abyssinian slaves\u2014\nsome of whom were even Christians\u2014bought and sold. I\ntherefore expressed a desire to Jusef that he would show me\nthe slave-market, and he readily agreed to accompany me\nthere. We rode into a large field outside the town, where\nthere were a number of long low booths, made very roughly of\nbranches. Each of these booths was divided into several\nlittle compartments, the interior of which was hidden from\nview by curtains of native cloth hung in front of them. The\nslave-merchants sat smoking beside their booths with Arab\ngravity. We visited them one after the other, and they led us\ninto the different compartments, expatiating on the beauty and\nmerits of their slaves, very much as a dealer shows off his\nhorses.      Galla   and Abyssinian girls  were numerous,  and\naveraged from thirty to seventy dollars each. They had\nvery little clothing, and sat crowded together in their little\ncells, with the sun burning down on the flat roof close above\ntheir heads, in an atmosphere which was perfectly stifling.\nMany of these young girls were very beautiful; their colour\nwas often not darker than that of a Spanish gipsy; then-\nfeatures were small and delicate; their forms proportioned\nlike those of a Greek statue; and their eyes large and lustrous.\nI have been told that they are of a gentle and affectionate disposition, and faithful and loving to those who treat them\nkindly. They did not seem to know any Arabic, and their\nmasters made them do what they wished by signs. Though\nthey were all so young, I did not see a single smiling face\nthere, and their lot seemed a sad one indeed\u2014transported into\na strange country to be given up body and soul to the highest\nbidder. I believe they are generally bought by merchants who\nsend them to Arabia, where, if they happen to be Christians,\nthey are soon made to renounce their faith. Occasionally, it\nmay happen that one of these girls gets into a good harem,\nbut numbers die on the way, from change of climate, change of\nfood\u2014too often indeed the want of it\u2014and the long journey\nunder a broiling sun. I believe all people who live among\nmountains love their country; and I have often thought how\nfondly these poor girls must think of their native hills, when\nlike caged birds they look through their lattices at Jiddah, on\nthe hot sands of Arabia el Hidjaz ! Indeed, I remember when\nI was at Jiddah hearing that one of these fair prisoners had\njust flung herself from her window into the street below,\npreferring death to captivity. Of what these poor creatures\nsometimes have to endure from the brutality of the men who\ncapture them, and take them down to the markets of Upper\nNubia in regular droves, like so many cattle, I cannot speak\nhere. It even now makes my blood boil to think about it. I\nfancy a slave-dealer soon forgets that a slave has any feelings.\nWhile I was in one of the booths, a beautiful young Galla girl\nhappened to take the fancy of an old man who might\u2014except\nso far as beauty was concerned\u2014have very well been her grandfather. She was made to stand up and display her beauty,\nthe customer taking great care in the meantime to examine\nher teeth, feet, hands, and knees, very much as people look at\nthe points of a horse. Then came the haggling about the\nprice, the old octogenarian beating down the merchant, dollar\nby dollar. All this time the girl was looking on with straining\neyes, trying to read her fate in the merchant's face, for she\ncould not understand what he was saying. There are two\nmarket-days at Galabat every week for slaves, and as this was\nthe second, I fancy she was doomed to be sold, for the merchant wanted to get rid of his stock, but they were still\ncheapening her when I left; however, I will not linger over so\nrevolting a picture.\nThe traders of Galabat will not guarantee the health of\ntheir slaves, nor even allow them to be inspected by a\ndoctor. The mortality among them is fearful. If the King of\nEthiopia be encouraged to keep his promise to permit no more\nslave-dealers or dealing in his country, the markets of Upper\nNubia and Arabia can no longer be stocked with Gallas and\nAbyssinians, some of the fairest and gentlest of Africa's\ndaughters. Nor can Egypt neglect long to follow the example\nof her less civilised neighbour. Surely it is the duty of all\nChristian countries to spare no labour to bring this infamous\ntraffic to an end. SSi'li\n'!,:\u00ab 326\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nPuget Sound, and the Northern- Pacific Railroad.\u2014III.\nBY  EDMUND T.   COLEMAN.\nI\nIn passing Commencement Bay, the traveller must not omit\nto look out for Mount Rainier, which is seen rising beyond\nthe head of the harbour in unequalled majesty, and is\ngenerally considered to be the grandest view on the Sound.\nPassing by Tacoma,* where the Northern Pacific Railroad\nCompany has located the terminus, of which we shall speak\nsubsequently, our course is now directed to Olympia, about\nsixty-five miles distant. The shores of the Sound gradually\ncontract and.approach each other till they form a passage\ncalled the \" Narrows,\" about ten miles long, and from half a mile\nto less than a mile wide. Hence the navigation of this passage\nis difficult for ocean-going ships, and it is increased by strong\ncurrents, which flow at the rate of from ten to twelve knots an\nhour. Now it will at once be observed that this is a formidable objection to all those places south of it, which have\nbeen severally proposed for the terminus, viz., Steilacoom,\nNisqually, JSfew Jerusalem, and Olympia. Mr. Hadlow, late\nof the Tacoma Mill,\" informed me that by' locating it on the\nocean side of the Narrows, his firm saved one dollar in the\nfreight of every 1,000 feet of lumber.\nPassing by Steilacoom, to be described further on, we\ncome to Nisqually, euphonised from \"Squally,\" the Indian designation. This place is six and a half miles south of Steilacoom.-\nIt is not now of any importance, but merits a passing notice, as\nbeing the first place on the Sound where the pioneer planted\nhis staff, at a period long before Olympia, Steilacoom, and\nSeattle were started. For here the Puget Sound Agricultural\nCompany, an offshoot of the Hudson Bay Company, raised the\nEnglish flag in 1834; and the Company's ships brought freights\nfor Fort Nisqually. Here also the Cross was first raised; hence\na dignitary of the Roman Catholic Church takes his title from\nthis spot, viz., the Right Reverend A. M. A. Blahchet, D.D.,\nBishop of Nisqually, \" in partibus infidelium.\" There is now\nonly an old warehouse and a saw-mill moved by water-power.\nThe fort, which is about one mile inland, will be described\nfurther on. The water of this harbour is deep, being thirty-\none, forty-two, and fifty fathoms. Another objection is the\nexistence of mud-flats outside.\nPassing by New Jerusalem, which at present only exists in\nthe fertile imaginations of speculators and surveyors, we come\nto Olympia, the head of navigation, and territorial capital. It\nis theSprettiest town on the Sound. Shade-trees, principally\nmaples, have been planted in the leading thoroughfares, reminding one of the boulevards in French cities. The tired wayfarer,\nharassed with the cares of business, and weary with his tramp,\nsits down for awhile to rest; soothed by the beauty of the\nspot, refreshed by the living green, he forgets for a moment that\nthere are such things as dollars and cents, and indulges in\na pleasing reverie, in a dream, it may be, of absent friends, of\nhome. The town is built at the extreme southern limit of\nthe Sound, on a peninsula about one mile and a half in length\nformed by Budd's Inlet and an arm of the Sound, and rising\n* Thisis generally understood to be the Indian name of Mount Rainier,\nbut a tribe near the Cowlitz Pass pronounces it Tah-ho mah.\nby a \"gentle slope from the water, which is rather less than one\nmile wide at this point. The tides rise and fall twenty\nfeet (in spring-fides twenty-five feet), consequently there are\nextensive mud-flats at low water, which cover over 1,300 acres.\nThe lower portion of the town is built on a spit, and one\neffect of the rise of the tide is that the streets become flooded.\nOn the evening of my arrival, going out for a stroll, I was\nsurprised to find the waters up to my hotel; thus seeing buildings rise up out of the sea on all sides, it brought before me in\nthe moonlight a vision of Venice. The first claims were taken\nup in 1846, the town was incorporated in 1859, and the population is estimated to be about 1,800. Rents are very high,\nat the time of my visit every house was let, and even rooms\ncould not be had. There are two \u25a0 suburbs, separated by arms\nof the Sound from the town; Swanto.wn on the east, and\nMarshville on the west; the latter is approached by a bridge\n445 yards in length. The arm which it spans, called Budd's\nInlet, extends to Tumwater, two and a quarter miles distant,\nwhich is very prettily situated, and worthy of a visit. The road\nrises from Olympia by a gentle ascent of about a mile, then\ngaining the brow of the hill, it opens upon a table-land, and\npasses through a forest Soon one hears the distant music of\nfalling water; presently, through a break in the trees, looking\ndown a steep bank covered with bramble, fern, and hazel,\nis seen at the bottom of a deep ravine or gorge, the foam and\nsparkle of a waterfall, leaping over a face of rock, and embowered in foliage; altogether quite an Alpine scene. Further\non are three other falls or cataracts; these are formed by the\nriver Deschutes; with the one above mentioned their total'\nheight is eighty-four feet. The average amount of water-power\ndoes not fall far short of 4,000 horses, and the water in the\nhighest freshets never exceeds a depth of four feet on the\npresent mill-draws. There are a couple of flouring-mills, a\ntannery, a manufactory for wooden water-pipes, a factory for\ncutting weather-boarding in the Eastern style, two sash and\ndoor factories, two turning and cabinet factories, and a sawmill, worked by water-power. A few stores and dwelling-\nhouses, all painted white, give a cheerful and sparkling aspect\nto the scene, relieving the monotony of the fir-forests. There\nare 120 houses, with a population of about 300. The return to\nOlympia can be varied by crossing a bridge which connects\nthe two sides of the arm at this spot, and materially shortens\nthe road.\nOne of my objects in visiting Olympia, was to examine the\nCowlitz Pass, which has been proposed as a route for the\nNorthern Pacific Railroad. I was informed that a Mr. Long-\nmire, living on Yelm Prairie, twenty-five miles from Olympia,\nand who, in conjunction with Mr. Packwood, was the first to\nexplore and cut the trail, might perhaps be able to put me in\nthe way of crossing the Pas's. Accordingly, a friend having\nlent me a horse, I left Olympia one morning by the Tumwater\nroad, and, when near the latter place, diverged to the east.\nAfter riding about four miles, and passing a small lake in a\nhollow, the road opened out on a large prairie called Chambers's. PUGET SOUND,  AND THE NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.\n327\n.The weather was beautiful; in the still grandeur of a summer\n. morning, the distant pines that skirt the horizon being bathed\nin mist, these vast extents of unbroken country produce in\none an almost indescribable sense of exhilaration and freedom.\nThe soul revels in the sense of space, of vastness; hour after\nhour passes by, one never feels alone; withdrawn from\nmateriality, in intimate communion with nature, the lines of\nthe poet are realised\u2014\n\" I love all waste and solitary places ;\nThere we taste the pleasure of believing what we see\nIs boundless, as we wish our souls to be.\"\nAfter crossing the prairie there is a belt of timber, followed by\na succession of prairies, divided by strips of forest, the open\nlands being all enclosed and cultivated; but the soil is not\nvery good, being gravelly; more adapted for stock-raising than\ncereals. Deer abound; they come down at night to crop the\ngreen oats ; by lying in wait for them they can easily be shot.\nOne of the attractions of Olympia, as a place of residence, is\nthe abundance of fine sport in the adjacent woods and waters;\ndeer, bears, cougars, rabbits, and racoons are plentiful, within\nthree hours' ride of the town. The waters of the bay are\nliterally alive with ducks; at least seven varieties have been\ncounted. Oysters are found there, and also on the Samish\nnear Bellingham Bay; though small, they are considered to be\nequal to the eastern ones in flavour. Salmon abounds along the\nwhole coast, and forms the staple diet of the Indian. Salmon\ntrout may be seen in certain states of the tide jumping after the\nsmall fry at the end of Finch's or Percival's wharf. Below, on\nthe Columbia River, the Indians lay in considerable quantities\nof sturgeon, or, as it is called by the settlers on the lower part\nof the river, Chinook beef; and within thirty miles of the\nnew town of Kalama, on the same river, the late terminus of\nthe Northern Pacific Railroad-, more than 500 persons are\nengaged in the salmon fishery. A company has been established\nat Port Townsend for curing and salting cod-fish, which extends\nits operations into northern waters as far as the Ochotsk Sea.\nElk are especially abundant on the head-waters of the Chehalis,\nalso upon the northern slopes of the coast range at the back\nof Port Discovery and Sekwim (Sequim) Bay, near the last\nlocality. They are met with here in numbers during the\nwinter, being driven by the snow off the mountains. Judge\nDennison keeps a pack of hounds, and has excellent sport at\nPort Townsend; the hounds chase the deer till they take to\nthe water; they are then easily captured. On Whidbey Island\nthere is also good hunting. In the woods on its southern and\nnorthern extremity, is found the white deer; though now, I\nbelieve, getting scarce, their venison is a favourite and much-\nprized article of food. Generally speaking, all the streams in\nthe territory, which are numerous, are full of trout. At Cape\nFlattery, the Indians, as soon as the spring begins to open, put\nout to sea in their canoes, some ten or fifteen miles, to kill the\nfur-seals, which at this season are migrating north. They are\nin countless myriads, and on a calm day can be seen for miles,\njumping and splashing about in the water. Mr. Longmire was\nnot at home, but the family invited me to stay. In the country\ndistricts of this territory there is much hospitality, and the\ntraveller is always sure of a welcome. I returned next day to\nOlympia.\nI could not find any one to take me Over the Cowlitz\nPass, either for love or money, for it is scarcely ever travelled,\nso that the trail is overgrown, and* very difficult to find; consequently, after taking some sketches of the neighbourhood, I\ntook the stage which runs from Olympia to Steilacoom, to get\nto Fort Nisqually. The road passes through a succession of\nprairies, divided by belts of timber, for about eight miles. A\ntremendously steep hill, called Nisqually Bluff, is then descended, at the foot of which is a creek called McAllister's,\nwhere excellent fishing may be had. The road then lies over a\nbottom about two miles in length, extending to Nisqually River;\nthis point being about two miles from the Sound. The river,\nwhich is about 150 feet wide, is crossed by a ferry-boat moved\nby a rope; about a quarter of a mile beyond this, the route\nlies up a hill, and through forest; traversing this for about\nthree-quarters of a mile, one emerges upon a level country,\nbeing the famous Nisqually Plains, the greater part of which\nwere owned by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, before\nmentioned.\nFort Nisqually, fifteen miles from Olympia, is then shortly\nreached. The Nisqually Plains are sixteen square miles in\nextent, and lie in an irregular oval between Puget Sound and\nthe Cascade Range, with the Nisqually reservation on the south,\nand the Puyallup reservation on the north. They contain\nabout 80,000 acres of prairie land, and 15,000 of swamp, lakes,\nand timber. The soil is generally gravelly, except along the\nborders of creeks, where it is a black loam, consequently\nbetter adapted for stock raising, than for wheat or cereals.\nThe plains \"are interspersed with beautiful lakes, and scattered\ngroves of timber, mostly of oak and fir, the former of which\nmust be of great value for shipbuilding and other purposes.\"\nThe surface is smooth and level, rising, in a succession of\nterraces or benches, from ten to forty feet in height, and\ngenerally parallel to the mountains. These terraces are a\npeculiar feature, and are supposed to have been caused by\nwater. It is surmised that the whole of this country was\nformerly submerged, as the rounded stones and smooth pebbles\non its surface indicate, and that the water in receding formed\nthe terraces. These are grass-covered, and quite flat and\nsmooth on the top, sloping at the sides, sometimes extending\nin a perfectly straight line for half or three quarters of a mile.\nIn fact they have more the appearance of being the work of\nart than of nature, wanting only flowers and statues to make\nthe traveller fancy that he is in some park or garden. On a\njourney across the Natchez Pass, I observed that there was a\nsuccession of benches, but much loftier than those just spoken\nof, and which extended nearly up to the mountains. At short\nintervals on the plains, there are lakes, small, but beautifully\nclear; of these there are about a dozen, varying in size from\n1,500 acres to ten or a dozen, besides numerous ponds and\nrunning streams, the country being well watered. Around are\nbeautiful groves of poplar, aspen, ash, and maple, with a few\npines and oaks. Scattered over the surface are rounded hills\nlooking like islands in the level plain, and covered with groves\nof fir, which sometimes grow on the slopes of the larger benches.\nAltogether the plains resemble a magnificent park, ornamented\nby the skill of the landscape-gardener; while to the south-east,\nand in full view from all parts, rises the majestic peak of Mount\nRainier, the highest in the territory; estimated by Commodore\nWilkes, by triangulation, to be 12,300 feet above the sea level.\nIt is remarkable for its symmetry and beauty of outline, which\nis something quite architectural, the general form of the mountain being that of a great pyramid.    The summit consists of 32*\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nn.\none central peak, flanked by two lower and smaller ones, both\nas nearly as possible of the same size and shape. Here may\nalso be seen Mount Adams, in the neighbouring state of Oregon, and, on a clear day, the distant peaks of Mounts Hood\nand Baker.\nThe original Fort Nisqually was built in the year 1834,\nnear the Sound, within one third of a mile of the salt water,\nand about half a mile from the present one, which is more\ninland. The latter -was commenced by Dr. Tolmie, in 1847,\nand erected in one year. Some details may be interesting, as,\nwith the exception of the pickets, the fort is a perfect model\nhouses for the employe's of the company, three houses outside,\nfor Indians, and two large barns, with other farm-buildings.\nThe bastions were outside the pickets, so as to command an\nattacking force; they are about thirty-five feet in height, and\nconsist of two storeys, ten or twelve feet square. In the lower\none, which has gun-ports, there was a twelve-pounder and a\none-pound swivel gun, the upper chamber being loopholed for\nmusketry. Thus at this spot, completely in the wilderness\u2014\nfor Steilacoom and the neighbouring settlements were not then\nstarted\u2014there flourished a community which contained within\nitself the germs of civilisation.    The following items will give\nPit HP* I1111P If' \\ lillil 1\np b^^p^s^^^^^\n^gggM^^^SIk\nm\nA FAMILY   GROUP ABOUT TO SETl'LE.\nof those built by the Hudson Bay Company. It is planned\nnorth and south, square with the cardinal points of the compass, and covers a little over an acre. There are two bastions\nat opposite corners, thus commanding hostile approaches on\nall sides. The pickets were stout timbers, made of firwood or\npine, over twenty feet high and about eight inches by twelve in\ndiameter. Towards the centre there is a roomy residence for\nthe agent, with a large verandah; and a row of acacias, planted\nin a grass-plat bordered with flower-beds, shelters the house.\nThe original block-built house used as a residence for the agent\nat the old fort, is in the centre. It was found to be too small\nfor family purposes, and was consequently devoted to other\nuses. There is a blacksmith's shop and forge, a paint-shop,\ngranary, and fur-press, all block-built; a store with fur-room\nabove, carriage-house, dairy, kitchen, hen-house, two dwelling-\nsome notion of the business transactions of the company in\nits palmy days :\u2014In the year 1854 it possessed 6,000 head of\ncattle, 8,000 sheep, and 300 horses, wild and tame. Ten or a\ndozen stations were scattered over the plains. Of white men\nand natives, including the officials and a couple of clerks, there\nwere upwards of fifty. But now its glories are gone, its sun is\nset; the long outstanding claims of the Hudson Bay and\nPuget Sound Agricultural Companies in Oregon and Washington Territory have been settled by the American Government,\nby payment of $650,000, and the stars and stripes now\nfloat where once waved the Union Jack.\nI received a hearty welcome from Mr. and Mrs. Huggins\nand their amiable family. Mr. Huggins is the agent of the\ncompanies above mentioned ; his genial manners and integrity\nof character have made him a favourite in this part of the w\n\u25a0s\ni\nH\nO\nw\n2;\n282\nla 33\u00b0\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nIll\ncountry; in fact, he is called the popular agent of an unpopular\ncompany. In this charming retreat, the abode of innocence\nand virtue, my days glided along peacefully and quietly.\nRecent suffering had impaired my health, but the pure,'bracing\nair, the comforts and quiet of a home, restored it, and filled me\nwith a deep sense of gratitude to the Almighty. Away from\nthe cares and vexations of a town life, of my daily occupation,\nI realised Milton's lines\u2014\n\" and Wisdom's self\nOft seeks to sweet retired solitude,\nWhere, with her best nurse, Contemplation,\nShe plumes her feathers, and lets grow her wings,\nThat in the various bustle and resort of the world\nWere all too ruffled, and sometimes impaired.\"\nAbove all, the daily contemplation of that matchless peak,\nMount Rainier, filled me with awe and wonder, awaking\nthoughts and feelings which had long been dormant; and I\nbegan, perhaps for the first time in my life, more fully to realise\nthe significance of those words of the Psalmist\u2014\"I will lift mine\neyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.\" Should\nthe Northern Pacific Railroad pass through this section of the\ncountry, a revelation of power and glory will meet the eyes of\nthe tired wayfarers, such as is rarely vouchsafed to man\u2014one\nthat will startle them from their lethargy and worldliness, and\nfill their hearts, to quote the words of Mr. Ruskin, \" with the\ndeep and pure agitation of astonishment.\" It will teach them\nthat there are other things in this world than are dreamt of in\ntheir philosophy\u2014something more than dollars and cents.\n' THE NATCHEZ PASS.\nBeing desirous of seeing this portion of the country, Mr.\nHuggins secured me an Indian, named Simon, not without\nsome difficulty, the weather being unfavourable for travel, and\nthe natives averse to undertaking the journey. The terms the\nIndian demanded were exorbitant, and I had no alternative\nbut to comply. Two dollars a day for himself, one dollar fifty\ncents for his horse, and the same for a pack animal, gold coin.\nThis, with a dollar a day for my own horse (supplied by the\nPuget Sound Company)\u2014a moderate charge\u2014may serve to give\nsome notion of the expenses of travelling in this corintry. I\nlaid in a stock of provisions for a fortnight, bought sundry pots\nand pans, and made all the arrangements for a tramp into the\nmountains. Having so many things to get, I found that I was\ncompletely set up, and wanted nothing but a little wife to go at\nonce into housekeeping. My horse (an American one) never\nonce failed me, though I was on his back sometimes ten hours\na day, and he carried my blankets in addition. The work was\nso severe, that the Indian's horses, which were of the Cayoosh\nor native breed, broke down, and gave out long before we returned. The Indian' was never tired of admiring my horse.\nI Ah!\" he would every now and then exclaim, | that's a\nshookum [strong] horse,\" laying great stress on shookum.\nThe future historian of Washington Territory will please to\ntake notice that the Natchez Pass expedition which I had the\nhonour of organising was composed as follows :\u2014\nCommander, E. T Coleman; Lieutenant, Simon; Artist\nand Historiographer, E. T. Coleman ; Interpreter (with'the aid\nof a Chinook dictionary), E. T. Coleman; Indian Guide,\nSiriion; Hunter, Simon; Cook, Simon.\nThe expedition was well-found in every respect, and was\nbesides, liberally furnished with a first-class old Hudson Bay\nBrown Bess musket and a couple of jack-knives.\nThe Natchez (Nachess) Pass has long been known to the\nIndians. A military road was commenced across it from Walla\nWalla to Steilacoom in the year 1853, and completed in the\nyear 1855. It has been used by the Hudson Bay Company\nfor fifty years, but abandoned as a wagon-road for the last\nfifteen. When gold was discovered at Similkameen, in British\nColumbia, parties from this neighbourhood travelled thither\nover the pass. My guide informed me that Indians traverse\nit now, in all months of the year.\nWe left the fort on the 1st of October. It was a lovely\nday\u2014quite a summer morning; not a breath of wind stirred the\nair; the distant mountains were veiled in a dreamy haze, and\nseemed sleeping in their strength. After the recent rains and\nwar of the elements it seemed as if Nature were reposing\u2014as\nif she made a pause, and took a breathing-moment, before\nplunging into the gloom and desolation of winter. When we\nhad travelled about ten miles, and passed some of those peculiar\nterraces before mentioned, we left the plains, and entered the\nforest. The late rains had cleared the atmosphere, and washed\neverything clean, which brought out the full beauty of autumn,\nwith its clear and deep blue, sky, while the cool air and the\nabsence of dust made riding delightful. The clearness of the\natmosphere in these latitudes is something remarkable, and I\nknow nothing comparable to it in my experience of Europe,\nunless it be in Switzerland. There is a penetrating, searching\nintensity of light, a depth and transparency in the shadows,\nand a clearness and sharpness about everything, which fills the\ntraveller with wonder, and, to compare great things with small,\nreminds oiie of a fine photograph.\nWe were travelling through a wood of young spruces; the\nbright sunlight flecked the path, and ran down the slender\nshafts of the innumerable trees in lines of silver; everything\ngleamed and glistened, and stood out, sharply cut and defined,\nwith a brightness and lustre that were quite metallic; save\nwhere the delicate and feathery sprays of the trees were revealed, as they crossed and interlaced with each other, hanging\nover fan-like; and, pierced by the sun's rays, resembled webs of\ngossamer, full of beauty, tenderness, and mystery. The loveliness of the scenery and the beauty of the day impressed me\ndeeply; there was a holy calm in the woods, over the broad\nwastes, and in the mountains; it seemed as if Nature rejoiced,\nand was conscious of the unspeakable blessings that lay in\nstore for her\u2014of a great highway that should link the nations\ntogether, and scatter the blessings of peace and plenty over a\nsmiling land\u2014as if she were conscious of the great destiny it\nwas hers to fulfil, when her waste places should no longer be\ndesolate, but that they should \" rejoice and blossom as the\nrose.\" When I reflected that amid these scenes the savage\nIndian sought the blood of the white man,-and desolated\nmany a home;* when I thought of that still greater conflict,\nthat for four years laid waste some of the fairest provinces of\nthe broad Union, and contrasted it with the peace that now\nreigns throughout the land : the beautiful language came home\nto me\u2014\"Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and\npeace have kissed each other;\" \" Through the tender mercy\nof our God, whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited\nus.\" These and other passages occurred to me, as alone\nadequate to express my feelings. I suppose that these balmy\nand halcyon days are that period known as the Indian summer,\nwhen the earth, resting from her labours, enjoys the fruition of\n* In the Indian war of 1856. PUGET  SOUND,  AND  THE  NORTH ERN   PACIFIC   RAILROAD.\n331\nthe year, and is lighted up with transcendent loveliness, before\nplunging into the gloom and desolation of winter.\nAfter travelling about sixteen miles, we descended a steep\nhill, and crossing some flats, whence there was a fine view of\nthe Olympian Range, on the other side of the Sound, came to\nthe Puyallup reservation, or Siwash Town, as the Indian termed\nit.    It was a little out of our direct course, but the Indian\nwanted to see his friends, and I thought it policy to oblige\nhim.   The Puyallup Valley is from two to four miles wide, and\nruns clear up to the mountains; it is covered\u2014that is, in the\nlower part, extending over the reservation\u2014with a heavy growth\nof timber, consisting of arbor vitse, spruce, elder, alder, cottonwood, and vine-maple, with a thick underbrush, interspersed\nwith willow.    The soil is rich, but somewhat sandy.    Hops\nare cultivated, and 20,000 pounds of a fine quality were raised\nlast year.   We crossed the Puyallup River, which is from 150 feet\nto 200 feet wide, and travelled through the reservation.   There\nare a number of ruined and deserted cabins and log-houses\nalong the banks; these formerly belonged to settlers, who were\nbought out by Governor Stevens to form the reservation, which\nextends about six miles up the river.    After leaving it, we\nentered upon a rich farming country, and passed by a number\nof ranches.    There is a large quantity of good land, which was\nnot taken up, and would require very little trouble to clear.\nLate in the evening we arrived at a small, settlement called\nPuyallup Bottom, having made about twenty-two miles.    Here\nwe camped, and bought three bushels of oats, as there is a\ndeficiency of grass for a considerable portion of the journey.\nNext morning we crossed a small stream, and mounted a very\nsteep ridge, which was 543 feet high by aneroid barometer.\nDescending on the other side, we came to a small prairie,\nwhere there are two or three settlers, who constitute the advanced post of civilisation in this section of the country.   After\nthis there was another steep, but shorter, ascent, which appeared\nto be a bench.    We then crossed a prairie about a mile in\nwidth, and came to a large swamp, which was up to our horses'\nin water.    The  track lay through a wood,  extending\n300 and  400 yards.    This led to a prairie called\nConnell's, which, together with the swamp, was the scene of\na decisive engagement in'the Indian war of 1856, when the\nsuffered a defeat at the hands of the volunteers; from\nto thirty being killed, and many wounded.    Four\nwounded; these were conveyed to a farmhouse\n: prairie.    Another version given me of this affair is that\nfour white men were killed, and that the balance of the party\nretreated to the farmhouse before mentioned, and got away in\nthe night.    It is said that the white men were over-confident,\nand acting upon the advice of one of their number, trusted too\nmuch to their influence over the Indians, and the supposed\npeaceable disposition of the majority.    Soon after this two or\nthree families on White River were murdered in a most barbarous manner, and  Mr.  Huggins informed me  that three\nminers who had obtained an outfit at the fort disappeared, and\nwere never seen again.\nwar had its origin in the Indians treacherously kili-\nknees\n' between\nnatives\ntwenty-five\nwhite men were\nThe\nid west of the Cascade\nng some of our best citizens both east an<\nMountains, not sparing women and children, in the teeth of\nthe faith of solemn treaties. It was not caused as has been\nfalsely asserted, by bad conduct on the part of the citizens,\nwho have been habitually kind to the Indians.\n* Message of the Governor of Washington Territory, 1857.\nAnother version of the causes that led to the war is as\nfollows:\u2014\nThe Indians were dissatisfied with the reservation which\nGovernor Stevens had laid out; he sent for three of the chiefs\nto Olympia, in order to make some arrangement with them.\nThey would not come, being under the notion that they would\nbe imprisoned, so the governor organised and dispatched a\nbody of rangers after them, armed to the teeth. The Indians\nheard of these measures, and imagining that they were going\nto be hanged or exterminated, banded themselves together, and\ntook the offensive. The principal engagements that took place\nduring the war were fought in this neighbourhood.\nDescending Connell's  Prairie, we came to White River\n(whose course is east and west), occasionally skirting it for a\nconsiderable distance.    Puyallup, White, and Nisqually Rivers\nall head together on the south side of Mount Rainier.    White\nRiver is a rapid, glacier-fed torrent, full of boulders, and derives\nits name from the alkali and mud brought down by it; when\nthe waters subside, the alkali can be seen on its banks.    It\nbears the features usually met with on the upper portions of\nrivers in this territory\u2014such as may be seen on the forks of the\nLummi, Skagit, and Nisqually Rivers\u2014viz., extensive flats or\nreaches left dry by the spring freshets, and strewn with stones\nand boulders; the bed of the stream reduced to a comparatively narrow channel, with a succession of ripples.  The banks\nare gravelly and sandy; in some.parts they are quite flat, and\nsubject to overflows, while at every sharp bend there are huge\npiles of logs and driftwood.     The growth of firs, alder, and\ncottonwood along the banks is more sparse, and smaller than\ntowards the lower portion of the river.    Often the banks are\nundermined by the force of the current, leaving the roots of\ntrees exposed, and then trunks falling over the stream\u2014scenery\naltogether of a savage and dreary aspect, compared with the\nlower and more beautiful portions of these rivers\u2014a region of\ndesolation\u2014Nature, stern  and unsympathising, at war with\nherself.    We forded this river with some trouble, owing to the\nforce and swiftness of the current, and once or twice got out of\nour depth.    It is full of large boulders, which are smooth and\nslippery, and added to the difficulty our horses had in making\na footing.     This has  always  been  considered a dangerous\npassage, and several persons have been lost at this point at\nvarious times.     In the Pacific Railroad reports this river is\nspoken of as 1 a perfect torrent, fordable only three months\nof the year.\"\nOn reaching the opposite bank, we came to another steep\nbluff, or bench. These are peculiar features of this portion of\nthe country, in contrast with the Snoqualmie route, from which\nthey are absent, and are like a succession of gigantic steps from\nthe salt water to the foot of the pass. Surmounting the bluff,\nwe then crossed a prairie, passing a trail on the left, orwest,\nwhich leads to an Indian village called Muckleshute, where\nthere was a military post during the Indian war. We then\nentered a dense forest, and stopped in the afternoon at an\nopen patch, about four acres in extent, close to White River,\nwhere in common with other prairies on the way, there is\ngood grass ; this being the last place where we could get food\nfor the horses before arriving, at the summit of the pass, about\nforty or fifty miles further on.    We made about twenty-four\nmiles on this day.\nBad weather now came on.    I had brought along a large\nwaterproof ground-sheet, convertible into a small tent-\"httee 332\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\n1\n'ouse,\" as the Indian called it,\u2014and with this made myself snug,\nand bade defiance to the elements. It rained for a couple of\ndays, greatly to my chagrin; but I consoled myself with thkik-\niu<* of that celebrated general who, under similar circumstances,\nwas reported in \" a state of masterly inactivity.\"\nOn the first night, our horses strayed down the trail a considerable distance. To 'prevent a recurrence of this, Simon\nfixed some sticks across it at both ends, and this converted\nour little prairie into a paddock.\nAt length the rain ceased, and we resumed active operations. Our course lay through a very rough country, heavily\ntimbered, but the trail was much better than I expected to\nfind. We came in the middle of the day to White River again.\nCrossing it, a long ascent led up to the top of Mud Mountain,\nas it is called. Before reaching this, in going along a portion\nof the road which had been corduroyed, the pack-animal\nslipped into a mud-hole up to his girths, some of the ^ timbers\nhaving got displaced. After several ineffectual attempts to get\nhim out, the pack had to be undone, and everything taken off,\nbefore he could be released.\nWe were now fairly in the mountains, and among the foothills of the Cascade Range. Looking back on our course in a\nwesterly direction, the view was striking. There were three\nlofty and round-topped mountains, all nearly of the same\nheight, between two of which our route had laid. Beyond\nthese, in the distance, were the gleaming waters of the Sound.\nOn another side lay several summits clothed with firs, which\nstrongly reminded me of the beautiful scenery of \" The Seven\nMountains,\" near Bonn, on the Rhine.\nMud Mountain is well named, for a more dirty, swampy\nplace I never saw. The trail became so bad that it was totally\nimpassable; and I began to be afraid that the predictions of\nsome of my friends before starting on this journey, that I\nshould be unable to make it, were about to be realised. Big\nholes full of water frequently occurred. In one place, where\na fallen tree blocked up the road, and there did not appear\nroom for a horse to go under it, we found a passage by descending into a large mud-hole underneath, full of water. There\nwas barely room for my horse to pass, the log grazing the\nsaddle as it crawled under.\nA great fire had taken place here, and the trail was blocked\nup with fallen timber, big logs crossing each other in all directions, pools of water, and sloughs of mud. The corduroyed\nroad was all torn up or burnt, the timbers displaced, and\neverything charred, black, and grim.\nIn the midst of this scene of desolation, I noticed the\nskeleton of a dead horse, which added to its horror. The\nbones lay bleaching just as it fell, and there were portions of\nthe hide still adhering. It was a ghastly spectacle, and made\nme tremble for the possible fate of the poor animals for which\nI was responsible.\nThe Indian stopped, and wanted me to turn back\u2014he was\nafraid that his horses would get their legs broken; but my\nmotto was | Onward,\" so I reassured him by promising to pay\nfor any damage that might happen to them. He then set to\nwork with the axe; but it took nearly a couple of hours, even\nwith my assistance, before we could cut a passage through, and\nput the road in something like order.\nAfter crossing this mountain, the top of which is a tableland, we descended, and entered a thickly-timbered forest.\nOne of the most beautiful trees at this time of the year is the\ndogwood. The colour of its foliage exactly resembles the rich\nand mellow tints of the evening glow. In the spring it bears\nwhite flowers. The vine-maple, earlier in the season, has the\nbrightest and most transparent green of any tree that I know\n\u2014resembling the beautiful colour known as emerald oxide of\nchromium. The Douglas fir is the principal tree met with in\nthese forests, but there is a sprinkling of cedar.\nPassing through the timber, we came again to White River;\nfor it sweeps round Mud Mountain to the south. When\nwagons and cattle formerly crossed the pass, they went by a\ndifferent route, following more in the wake of this stream. At\nno time were wagons ever taken across from the western to the\neastern side of the pass, the difficulties being much greater on\nthis side.\nWe followed the banks of the river for about a furlong, and\nre-entered the forest; then, coming to the river again, crossed\nand recrossed it, at times travelling in its dried bed and watercourses or sandy bottoms; then, entering the forest once more,\narrived at a spot where there was a mining excitement a few\nyears since, as evidenced by the remains of an arastra and a\ncouple of log-built houses, with a quantity of quartz and shingles\nstrewn about. There was not any grass here, so our horses fell\nback on the oats we had provided for them.\nNext morning we commenced the ascent of a steep mountain side, and in about three-quarters of an hour came to the\nquartz ledge. The track here was very precipitous\u2014not much\nwider in some places than one's hand\u2014and the path was so\nslippery, and covered with debris, that we had some difficulty\nin getting our horses over.\nA little further on, we passed two more ruined log-built\nhouses, at the top of the ascent. After this, there was a long\nand weary journey for a great part of the day, through forests\nwhich seemed interminable\u2014ascending, descending, and crossing spurs of mountains\u2014till we arrived at the river. Skirting\nthis for a short distance, we entered upon an open tract, about\na mile in extent, tolerably level and free from timber, passing\nby a sharp and lofty ridge running east and west, which the\nIndian informed me could be seen from Fort Nisqually. It\nwas nearly bare of trees, and had smooth but steep slopes,\npartially grass-covered. Along the- lower portion were the\nscorched and blackened trunks of a fir-forest The day was\nfine. A curious and beautiful effect was produced by the deep\nshadows which the trunks cast on the ground. They interlaced\nwith each other, and, with the dark trunks, appearing exactly\nlike lattice-work, so that one could not say which was tree\nand which shadow, both being of exactly the same depth and\ncolour.\nAfter crossing this tract, we entered the forest, and came to\na small, shallow, and gentle stream, with a rocky bed, about\nforty feet wide\u2014called, I believe, Greenwater. The Indian\nname is Tee-ah-no-wins. Its course is very winding, and we\ncrossed it no less than sixteen times.\nI Near the junction of Whitewater and Green Rivers there\nis a remarkable peak, called La Tete, from a large rock on\nits slope resembling the head and neck of a man. This is\nan important point, as it forms the gate of the mountains on\nthe west.\" *\nLeaving the Tee-ah-no-wins, we' surmounted two hills, the\nhighest of which is about 1,500 feet; then, crossing a shallow\nstream, which might be the Greenwater again, came to the foot\n* Pacific Railroad Reports. lill^^^^\"1\u2122\n1ACKW00DSMEN   ASD   INDIANS. 334\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nfflf\nml\nof a tremendously steep mountain, which forms the western\nside of the pass, and is nearly three miles and a half in height,\nthat is, in the ascent. This spot is 2,820 feet above the sea,\nby aneroid barometer, 73^ miles from Steilacoom, and 3f to\nthe first prairie near the summit of the pass, which is about a\nquarter of a mile further.\nThe road up this mountain, instead of being in zig-zags,\nis perfectly straight, which adds considerably to the labour of\nascending. After travelling all day\u2014for the evening had now\nset in\u2014I was not prepared for its excessive steepness, having\nhad a misunderstanding with the Indian, who wanted me to\ncamp early in the afternoon at the open tract before mentioned,\nwhere there was a little grass; but I objected, having lost so\nmuch time already, and determined to push on at all risks.\nThis made him sulky.\nWhen I had made a considerable portion of the ascent,\novercome with fatigue, and faint with hunger\u2014for we had\nnot made a mid-day meal\u2014I sat down, the Indian going\nout, shouting from time to time to let me know where he\nwas.\nThe sun had set, and I resumed my journey in the twilight;\nbut it soon became dark. Presently I was sensible of being\noff the track, by stumbling against trees and logs. In this\nemergency, afraid of being lost, and unable to make the Indian\nhear me, I imagined that he was still sulky, and meant to take\nhis revenge for my not stopping when he wanted by leaving\nme to pass the night out in the cold; so, sitting down with my\nback against a tree, and revolving schemes of vengeance, I soon\nfell asleep. This could not have been long, when I was roused\nby shouts, and awoke, cold and stiff. In a moment I forgot all\nmy animosity\u2014the Indian, then, was faithful. Guided by his\nvoice, I recovered the track; he brought my horse, and, the\nworst part of the ascent being over, led me in a few minutes to\nthe place where he had stopped, having been occupied in relieving the pack animal of its burden.\nThere was no water here, no food for the horses, and\nnothing for ourselves but a small piece of bread. We had to\ngo to bed supperless, save that I had a drink from a brandy-\nflask\u2014a very poor substitute for the solids. Unable, in the\ndark, to get poles wherewith to put up the tent, we did not\npass a very comfortable night. Our only enjoyment was that\nof a fire. This warmed the outer, but not the inner man.\nHunger woke us up early next morning. .We resumed our\njourney, still ascending the mountain; but the road was not\nso steep as that of the previous evening. After crossing several\npatches of snow, in about three-quarters of an hour we gained\nthe summit, and camped in a small prairie about four acres in\nextent It was surrounded with a dense body of small-sized\nfirs, instead of being bare of trees, as one would have imagined.\nWe soon had a blazing fire, and, to make amends for our enforced abstinence, drank an incredible quantity of that best of\nall beverages for mountain travellers, tea.\nThe summit consists of a succession of small prairies, about\nseven or eight in number, opening one into another. The\nlargest of these contains about fifty acres, with a lagoon two or\nthree acres in extent. I noticed the hemlock, marsh-mallow,\nwild pea, and other plants. Mountain-ash was scarce. There\nwas a dwarf willow in the neighbourhood of water. Mount\nRainier can be seen from the second of these prairies, in a\nsouth-westerly direction, at a distance of fifteen miles ; and two\npeaks are observable.\nThe day was beautiful. There was a cirrus sky, and as the\n\u2022 sun gained power, it became quite warm ; but when night drew\non it was very chilly. The wind rose, and sighing in the tree-\ntops, s\\vept in fitful gusts through the vast forests that surrounded\nus. As I lay reflecting that we were the only human beings in\nthese vast solitudes, far, far away from all human aid, the\nsolemnity of the scene was impressive. In presence of the\nvastness and immutability of Nature, how insignificant does\nman appear! \" In the morning he grows up and flourishes,\nin the evening he is cut down and withered; he fleeth also as\na shadow, and continueth not.\"\n>;=:\u00ab\u00ab\u00ab;\u25ba-\nSouth African Recollections.\nBY AN  OLD  COLONIST.\nNotwithstanding the ideas prevalent among our stay-at-home\nfellow-countrymen concerning the roughness, inconveniences,\nand many drawbacks (ideas which are, I am bound to admit,\nnot utterly groundless) entailed by an existence in the African\ncolonies\u2014there is a certain charm in a life spent amidst\nwild scenery, in a climate healthy and luxurious (though\nperhaps rather too warm at certain seasons of the year), varied\nby an occasional mixing in the society of some of the towns or\nsettlements, or a hunting trip into the wildest portions of the\ninterior, at present, and for several generations likely to remain,\nunder the sway of the chiefs of the various savage tribes so\nthickly scattered over the whole South African continent.\nThe belief current among many people in England, I\nsuppose, is, that the planter or farmer is in the almost daily\nhabit of knocking over an antelope or two, while walking or\nriding over his land, or when looking after his working gangs\nof coolies and Kafirs, or inspecting his flocks and herds; and\nthat an occasional stand-up fight with an infuriated lion or\nleopard is a contingency quite on the cards. These, at all\nevents, were my own impressions previous to leaving England\nfor South Africa many years ago. This state of things, however, is very far from being the actual fact, as every resident\nof even a few months' experience in any of the South African\ncolonies is well aware.\nA few antelopes, or \"bucks,\" as they are generally called in\ncolonial parlance, may be shot from time to time upon, or in\nthe immediate vicinity of, many of the farms or plantations,\nmore especially where the occupier is owner or lessee of a\nlarge tract of land and much given to \" preserving.\" In those\ndistricts where the land-holders are careless as to how, when, SOUTH AFRICAN  RECOLLECTIONS.\nor where the bucks are destroyed, and how many regularly\norganised native hunting-parties are carried on over their land,\ngame of all kinds is, as a natural consequence, exceedingly\nscarce.* The licensed Kafir gunners also\u2014who are provided\nwith a permit, granted by the local magistrate, to carry a firearm and ammunition, supplied to them by their masters, and\nwho act as \" pot-hunters \" for the benefit of the. larders of such\nof the settlers as choose to apply for a license to employ a\nI shooting Kafir \"\u2014no doubt, do some mischief to the sporting\nand game-preserving interest. These fellows\u2014quiet and yet\nactive in the bush, quick of sight and sharp of hearing, and\nready to detect the slightest sign of any animal haunting the\nground they hunt over, content also to lie hidden in the cover\nby the hour at a stretch, perhaps relieving the tedium of a long\nwatch by the indulgence in an occasional pinch of snuff, strong\nenough to choke a crocodile\u2014are generally indefatigable in the\npursuit of game. To any one knowing the Kafir's strong predilection for the flesh-pots, the exceedingly short distances at\nwhich he generally fires upon his quarry, which is almost always\nshot while stationary, eitiier browsing upon the leaves or lingering over some little rivulet within the bush, and the enormous-\ncharge which, if entrusted with the loading of his gun, he likes\nto use, it is rather difficult to believe in his stories of wounded\nbucks which have escaped him, when he accounts for expended\nammunition, and to think that all the slaughtered bucks find\ntheir way to the white employer's table.\nThe native appreciation of the possession of fire-arms has\nunhappily been recently too well exemplified in the mutiny of\nLangabilele and his tribe within the colony of Natal.\nCertainly a great variety of sport is to be obtained in South\nAfrica, both from the different species and character of the\ngame pursued, and the different modes of pursuit. There is\nbush-hunting, in solitude, or accompanied by a single native;\nstalking antelopes upon the wide plains and among the beds\nof reeds; shooting from the saddle after a rattling gallop in\nthe rear of some troop of wildebeeste, hartebeeste, springbok,\nblesbok, or quagga; the more hazardous chase of the mighty-\nelephant, and the frequently dangerous rhinoceros and buffalo,\nand even the tamer sport of shooting partridges or quails,\nover a couple of pointers, bred in the colony and retaining all\nthe docility of their British ancestors, though 'generally rather\nwoe-begone in appearance, and often perfectly ragged as to\ntheir mangy-looking and tick-tormented ears. It is certainly a\nmuch more difficult matter for a sportsman to keep his dogs in\ngood condition in tropical lands than in the cooler northern\nclimes, though it is not by any means impossible to be the\npossessor of well-bred and healthy dogs even in the hottest\ndistricts of South Africa.\nBUSH-HUNTING.\nBush-hunting is conducted upon three different plans. The\nhunter, according to one plan, wanders through the heavy woodland, either alone or with one or more natives, and perhaps a\ndog or two, well under control: in this manner elephants,\nbuffaloes, rhinoceri, and the various kinds of antelopes haunting the bush are frequently shot. Another plan, often adopted\nby the fanners in the neighbourhood of the settlements, is to\n\"drive\" the bush by means of gangs of natives, and a number\nof dogs, while they and their neighbours and friends, anned with\n* In some of the colonies along the South African coast, four-footed\ncame is seldom found.\nguns, are posted at such spots as command a view of any\nopening in the bush, or from which the bucks are likely to\nseek the open. The third method of bush-shooting\u2014namely,\nlying up in the dense cover near some waterhole, rivulet,\nor other known haunt of the bucks, during the early morning\nhours or the short-lived tropical twilight\u2014is not generally\nmuch relished by English sportsmen, though I knew one man,\nalso an excellent shot in the open, who had a strong predilection for this kind of sport. His usual plan was to climb into\na tree somewhere in the depths of the bush, and there, in\nperfect silence and solitude, he would await the approach of\nthe game as long as sufficient light remained to afford any\nprospect of a successful shot. In shooting large game, such\nas elephants and hippopotami, night watching and still hunting\nare often the most successful methods of obtaining the ivory.\nOne of the most astonishing facts which will be noticed\nby the bush-hunter, is the marvellous manner in which the\ntroops of small grey monkeys, with which the woodlands\ngenerally abound, disappear, I had almost said vanish, upon\nthe near approach of mankind. I remember upon one occasion\nwhen walking with a friend towards some bush-land, much\nfrequented by bucks, at early dawn, coming suddenly upon a\nhost of these small monkeys out upon the open grass-land,\nwhen we managed to knock over three of them with our\ndouble-barrels before they gained the concealment of the bush;\nbut, as a rule, these little monkeys are not easily surprised and\nshot: and shooting a monkey is, after all, almost a melancholy\naffair, the actions of the little parody of a man, when mortally\nwounded, being rather too human to be agreeable; the bite of\na wounded monkey is also a decidedly sharp one, not unfre-\nquently taking the piece completely out. Young monkeys are\noften caught in the bush, and may be easily brought up on\ncow's milk, and when grown up make, according to my notions,\nabout the most disgusting pets imaginable; but, of course,\nde gustibus non est disputandum, and the common bush-monkey,\nthe hideous baboon, and the monkey called semanga by. the\nnatives, and much valued by them on account of its skin, are\nsometimes to be seen domesticated about the houses of the\ncolonists.\nAmong those men living in the more isolated districts of\nSouth Africa, where the supplies for the kitchen are only to be\nobtained by the gun, or drawn from the troops of fowls\ngenerally to be found about the homestead, the bacon rack,\nand such cows as may happen to be in condition to afford, and\nable to pick up sufficient grass to enable them to produce\nmilk,t it is an almost daily duty devolving upon some member\nof the household to betake himself at daybreak, or at sunset,\nto the neighbouring bush-lands, and there squat in the densest\npart, concealing himself as well as may be, in hopes of obtaining, by a lucky shot, fresh meat for the larder.\nA certain knack is required in shooting bucks or other game\nin the luxuriant woodlands shaded by the tall overhanging\ntrees, and among the numerous thick trunks, slender stems,\nand heavy undergrowth, during the shades of evening, or in the\nuncertain light which illumines the covert at early dawn, notwithstanding the short distances at which the animals generally\npresent themselves to the view of the hidden hunter. Retrieving a wounded antelope in a dense piece of bush is not at\nany time an easy matter, should the wound not happen to be a\nf The grass during the winter months in most districts is very poor\nand scanty, more especially at a distance from the coast-line. 336\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nparticularly severe one, as a buck retains a deal of activity, and I believe that I can hardly give a better idea of what hunt-\n'av s \"ry speedily, Ind with but little noise or commotion, ing by driving the bush is than by a short account of one of\n\u25a0\u25a0\"casing a considerable amount of lead \"concealed | our \"gatherings.\" At a tolerably early hour in the morning a\nTout Iris person,\" as Artemus Ward would have said.    Also | party of eleven Englishmen meet at the bush side, punctuality\nBUSH-HUNTING.\nan antelope, however \" hard hit,\" is not likely to cry out unless\nseized by dog or man.\nSome men, not possessing, I suppose, the \"bump of\nlocality,\" as it appears the phrenologists designate the faculty\nof finding your way over strange ground, are very apt to lose\nthemselves where the bush is thick and extensive, especially\nwhen darkness sets in, which it does in these regions very\nsuddenly.\nbeing well maintained\u2014\" wait for no man,\" being the ordtr of\nthe day. An immense gang of Kafirs are, and have been for\nsome time, in waiting with a whole posse of dogs. Kafirs,\nthough indolent enough when actual labour is required of them,\nare generally eager enough to join in a drive-hunt, partly no\ndoubt from love of the spprt, and partly in anticipation of the\nwaste parts of any animals which may be slaughtered, and of\na drink of \" canteen,\" as they are in the habit of calling all\n\u2014%* SOUTH AFRICAN RECOLLECTIONS.\n337\ndistilled or fermented liquors manufactured by Europeans. If\nallowed, to carry their spears and clubs (assegais and knobkerries), their pleasure is of course much enhanced.\nThere is but little trouble in selecting the first piece of\nbush to be driven, as all the clumps\u2014some of them extending\nDver many acres\u2014are known to be the sanctuary, at all events,\nof numerous antelopes and wild pigs; and the natives speak\nvery confidently about the leopards which have lately been,\naccording to their account, both seen and heard there. We are\nsoon all at our posts, two of us resting among some huge\nstones and boulders, overlooking a long avenue in the bush,\nwhere, owing to the exceedingly rough and stony nature of the\nground, but few trees are capable of holding their own, and\nwhere the weed and undergrowth is very slight.   The gang of\nthere is a pig!\"); and soon a couple of large wild swine come\ntearing across the opening opposite which we are posted; one of\nthem receives a heavy charge of buck-shot directly in the face,\nwhich appears to do him but little injury,* and a' tremendous\npeppering from the second barrel as he, desperately, turns back\nto face beaters and dogs within the shady bush, no doubt\nintending to make a bold dash through the invading host;\nbut worried and \" mobbed \" by the curs, he soon finds escape\nimpossible, and yields up his life under the assegais of the\nnatives, not, however, before he has, with his blunt, ugly yellow\ntusks, broken so many of the ribs of one of the dogs, that\nthe wretched animal has to be put out of pain by a blow upon\nthe head with a knobkerry. Shortly after th;s incident, the\ndogs begin to appear crossing the opening opposite which we\n\u25a0 KAFIR.\nNATIVE OF THE MOZAMBIQUE COAST.\n.natives having entered the bush at its farthest extremity, commence singing and roaring;   the dogs,  at the same   time,\nyelping and barking in chorus.   The first symptom that some\nof the denizens of the leafy retreat are beginning to think that\nthere is something unusual going on in their head-quarters, is\nevidenced by a few large-sized birds flying swiftly through\nthe wood, not rising, however, above the tops of the trees.\nNext a slight, a very slight, rustle, and there'goes a little buck\n-bang goes a fowling-piece, and over the little creature rolls;\nand, after displaying four legs, hardly thicker than tobacco-\npipe  stems,  during a short struggle for life, lies motionless\namong a patch of ferns.    No one moves to pick up the game,\nand the empty barrel has hardly been reloaded, before two\nmore antelopes, of a larger size, rush past, one of which is\nknocked over, while the other plunges into the cover apparently unscathed.    Frequent reports are now heard, and it is\nevident that the game, within the bush, have taken the alarm\nand are in motion.    Suddenly we hear cries from the beaters :\n\"Engooloobal engoolooba! nanqua engooloobal\" (\"Apig . a pig.\n283\nare stationed\u2014some eagerly hunting with nose to the ground,\nothers yelping and running backwards and forwards in the\nmost erratic manner. The dogs are soon followed by their\nblack owners, who, in high glee and good humour, pick up\nand examine the dead bucks; and after some jocular remarks,\nagain commence their march through the bush with the usual\nshouting and singing; and the only chance remaining to us of\na shot is at some small antelope who may succeed in breaking\nthrough the line of beaters and escape the vigilance of the\ndogs. One drive-hunt much resembles another in incident.\nNo sportsman can expect to bag many head of game \" to his\nown gun,\" and upon many occasions but little game is bagged\nin the aggregate. . .        .\nThe most laborious, as well as the most exciting, kind of\nbush-hunting is that in which one or two white hunters-either\nalone or accompanied by a couple of natives, of known skill\nand courage-toil through the sultry bush amidst thorns and\n* The brain of the South African wild pig is peculiarly small, besides\nbeing protected by a rather strong frontal bone. 332\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\ntangle of all descriptions, now struggling through undergrowth\nalmost impenetrable, now creeping upon hands and knees to\nsome spot where game' is supposed to be enjoying a noontide slumber; at times hardly daring to draw breath freely,\nfearful of disturbing, too soon, the rest of some monarch of\nthe waste; at other times tearing with all possible speed\nthrough tlie more open avenues in pursuit of some wounded\nanimal, or avoiding the terrific onslaughts of some of the\nspecies of game which, when wounded, are more ready to\nshow fight than to run from the hunter. Much inconvenience\nand annoyance in this kind of hunting are often felt from the\ncloseness of the bush, where no breeze seems to circulate\nfreely\u2014from drought, as profuse drinking, even where watercourses are abundant, which is not always the case, must be\navoided when much \" fagging \" has to be done\u2014from thorns of\nall sizes and degrees of tormenting power\u2014and from ticks and\nother insects. Of course, in hunting over bush-ground rarely\ntrodden by human foot, much uncertainty exists as to the kind\nof game likely to be fallen in with; and many a small antelope,\nas he gallops past the loaded double-barrels, owes his safety\nto the hope of the hunter that other and nobler game may\nbe in the vicinity.    My friend N , after many hours of\nsevere fagging, through cover which had well-nigh exhausted\neven his \" niggers,\" upon shooting a large bush-buck, as it ran\nby in tempting proximity to his gun, had the mortification of\nseeing three young full-grown lions making off just as he\nmade sure of the antelope, by discharging the second barrel,\nnot being quite satisfied with the effects of the first upon an\nanimal so notoriously tenacious of life as a bush-buck. The\ngun, a muzzle-loader, was of course reloaded as quickly as\npossible, and the lions tracked for some distance; but no more\nwas seen of them. The | king of beasts,\" contrary to a somewhat general opinion, is very frequently more ready to flee\nfrom than to risk a combat with the hunters; though no one'\nwould deny that he very often, and more especially when\ndesperately wounded, will fight to the death, and is then\na most formidable antagonist.\nHunting through heavy beds of reeds is particularly\nfatiguing, as these reeds grow very thickly together, and offer a\nremarkably firm resistance to any man making his way through\nthem, as they often grow to the height of seven or eight feet\nNevertheless, these reed-beds, in some localities, have to be\nhunted through in pursuit of some of the larger kinds of game,\nwhich are much given to resting among them during the heat\nof the day.\nWhile hunting through woodland or cover of any description in Africa, there is always a slight amount of risk from the\nattacks of some kind of venomous snakes. Some of these\nreptiles frequent the overhanging trees, while others (such as\nthe hideous puff-adder) rest among the stones and boulders;\nand some kinds will even rush out, with lightning rapidity,\nfrom among the rank weeds, upon any disturber of their haunts,\nand with swollen necks strike vigorously upon the foe. These\nsnakes, of a black colour, are very deadly; but I think that a\nthick shooting-boot and strong leathern gaiters will generally\nbe found proof against their sharp poisonous fangs; at all\nevents, I have found such to be the case in more than one\ninstance.\nVELDT-HUNTING.\nHunting upon the large open plains, or veldt, as they are\ncalled\u2014the Dutch word being generally adopted throughout\nthe English as well as the Dutch settlements\u2014is a sport totally\ndifferent from the others of which I have endeavoured to give\nsome description. The game commonly to be found upon\nthe plains consists of wildebeeste, hartebeeste, springbok, and\nquagga. All these animals are gregarious in their habits, and,\nat some seasons, the different species are to be found mingled\nin one vast troop, traversing the great veldt in search of such\nspots as may, either from the presence of hidden springs,\nor the vicinity of water-courses, or other natural causes,\nafford them a little grazing-ground amidst plains covered with\ndead and utterly innutritious grasses. The nomad Boers, or\nTrek Boers, as they call themselves\u2014men who, like the gipsies .\nof European countries, wander from place to place as they find\nsuitable grazing for their flocks and herds, living in wagons\nand tents\u2014obtain a frequent supply of meat from these troops\nof wild animals, and make large supplies of biltong from the\nflesh by merely drying it in the sun, having previously cut\nit into long strips. A bundle of biltong has something the\nappearance of a collection of leather straps, and is about as\npalatable ; when eaten au naturel, it can be enjoyed only by a\nvery hungry man, though there are modes of cooking it which\nrender it more appetising.\nI can call to mind many a day's sport upon the veldt;\nthough, of course, this kind of hunting is entirely free from\nthe excitement and uncertainty of the chase carried on beneath the overshadowing boughs of the forest; danger there\nis none, with the exception of an occasional | cropper,\" from a\nhorse putting his foot into a hole dug by the ant-eater; as a\nman armed with a gun would hardly allow himself to be gored\nby a wounded wildebeeste.\nBut now for a short description of a gallop after some\nwildebeeste, enjoyed by a party of four\u2014two Englishmen,\nand two Africander-Dutchmen. By what would, in England, be\nconsidered a very early hour (the Dutch race, in Africa, at all\nevents, are very early risers), all the party are mounted and\nriding slowly over the veldt towards a large collection of\napparently small black dots; but with an eye used to the veldt,\nand a glance through the telescope, these are seen to be a troop\nof wildebeeste feeding. The horses are ridden at a walking pace until within eight hundred yards of the troop;\nwhen some of the out-scouting old bulls, who appear to act as\nsentinels, commence capering about in the most extraordinary\nfashion; and as we approach still nearer, and obtain a clearer\nview of them, their appearance is grotesque in the extreme, as\nthey go through their eccentric antics and flourish their\nlong horse-like tails. As, however, they close up and begin to\nmove off in a body, one of the Dutchmen, armed with a roer,\nas he terms his rifle, furnished with an ivory sight of his own\nconstruction, dismounts and fires; his knowing old hunting\nhorse not even flinching at the report or the flash ; and as the\ndust raised by the stampede of the retreating troop clears\naway, a wildebeeste is seen rolling over and over, and kicking\ndesperately upon the ground. Almost before the Dutchman\nhas reloaded and settled himself in his saddle, we are off at a\nbreak-neck pace, endeavouring to get within smooth-bore range\nof the fast disappearing game. No thought is at present\nbestowed upon the wildebeeste which we leave wounded\nbehind us, nor even upon one of the horsemen whom we also\nleave behind us, his horse having planted a fore-foot in an\nant-eater's hole, causing thereby to his rider an \"unlimited\ncropper.\"    It  is only after a long gallop, and by means of SENEGAMBIA,   AND  RECENT  FRENCH   OPERATIONS IN  WEST AFRICA.\n00\n39\njudicious riding, that any shots are obtained at the wildebeeste. One of the old bulls who has received a wound\nwhich, although- it incapacitates him from keeping up with\nhis^ companions, does not very materially interfere with his\nactivity, shows fight, and really looks very ferocious, stamping violently with his fore-feet, snorting and blowing loudly,\nand erecting the shaggy mane-like hair with which his neck is\nadorned; he is, however, easily dispatched by a bullet in the\nforehead, while making a rather vicious charge for a wounded\nanimal. Returning by the spot where the first wildebeeste was\nbrought down, we find a number of vultures already busy\nwith him; while sundry small specks far overhead, in the\nclear blue sky, announce the arrival of more of these voiac ious\nbirds.\nSenegambia I With an Account of Recent French Operations in West Africa.\u2014XI.\nBY\nLIEUTENANT  C.   R.   LOW,   (LATE)   H.M.   INDIAN  NAVY.\nOPERATIONS ON THE GAMBIA,   1862.\nIn December of the year 1861, Colonel d'Arcy, who had succeeded to the governorship of the British colony of Bathurst, on\nthe Gambia, and was, probably, the ablest of the administrators of that dependency, paid a visit to Colonel Faidherbe,\nthe Governor of the French settlements, and asked for the cooperation of some troops against the natives of Gambia. For\na century and more English and French interests were almost\nidentical as regarded keeping in check the fierce tribes who\nwere numerically powerful enough to overwhelm the small\nsettlements which were like oases of civilisation and peace in\nthe midst of the desert of barbarism, fanaticism, and ignorance,\nby which they were surrounded.\nThe first organised English settlement on the Gambia was\nthat of James Island, which was purchased, subject to a small\ntribute to the King of Barra, and fortified in 1664, by Commodore Holmes. Taken by the French, whose rival fort at\nAlbreda brought them into frequent hostilities with our settlers,\nit was restored to us at the Peace of Ryswick.* Again taken\nby the French in 1702, and in 1799, and again set free only to\nbe pillaged by English filibusters, it became one of the first\ncentres of the slave trade. \" But,\" says the Rev. R. C. Jenkins,\nthe author of an interesting paper on the English settlements\nof the Gambia, \" the rivalries between the English and French\ncompanies engaged in the African'trade produced so many\ncomplications and so many losses that, after vainly endeavouring first to establish articles of accommodation, and then of\ncoalition, the merchants were compelled, after the capture of\nJames Island, in 1702, to propose a treaty of neutrality with\ntheir more powerful neighbours.\" However, from various\ncauses the French settlements declined and became less re-,\nmunerattve, and in 1858 they were glad to exchange their\nportion of the settlement of Albreda for Portendik, thus leaving\nus the sole European settlers, our acquisition of the island of\n* A French writer in the Revue Algtrienne et Coloniale for 1859, speak.\ning of the neighbouring French possessions between Cape Verd and the\nGambia, says, \" In 1678, the Treaty of Nimegue definitively abandoned\nto France on this coast, the ports of Rufisque in Cayor, Joal in Sine, and\nPortudal in Baol, which Admiral d'Estrees had conquered from the Dutch\nin the previous year. In 1679, Admiral Ducasse imposed on the lungs of\nCayor, Baol, and Sine, a treaty by which a strip of sea coast, six leagues\nin d;pth, extending from Cape Verd to the river Salum, was ceded to\nFrance The Treaty of 1783, which regulated the rights of England and\nFrance, recognised this surrender.\nSt. Mary being increased by the cession of some laud appertaining to the King of Combo, who made over this territory to\nMajor O'Connor, a former governor of Gambia, in return for\nhis having punished the rebel Marabouts of the town of Sab-\nbagee. On the island of St. Mary, a sand-bank about five\nmiles long by two broad, the town of Bathurst was built, in the\nyear 1816 ; \" selected,\" as the author of \" Wanderings in West\nAfrica \" observes, with epigrammatic alliteration, \" for proximity\nto mud, mangrove, miasma, and malaria.\" In 1821, the settlements on the Gambia were made a dependency of Sierra\nLeone; but in 1842 they acquired a separate government,\nwhich the colony enjoyed until the beginning of 1866, when,\" in\npursuance of the decision of a Committee of the House of Commons\u2014which appears to be for ever settling and unsettling the\ngovernment of the West African settlements\u2014Gambia was\nagain placed under the Government of Sierra Leone. By a\ntreaty signed in 1826, the sovereignty of the north bank of the\nGambia River, to the extent of one mile inland from a point\nwestward of St. Mary's Island to the Junkarda Creek, considerably eastward of James Island, was ceded to the British crown.\nThe position of the French and ourselves on the Gambia\nand neighbouring states being thus defined, we will proceed to\ngive some account, derived entirely from French sources, of the\nFrench operations on the Gambia River in the years 1862-65.\nTo the application for help, of Colonel d'Arcy, the French\nGovernor, Colonel Faidherbe, says the writer in the Revue\nAlgerienne, replied, that if it were a question of relieving\nSt Mary's, Bathurst, he would not hesitate to help him; but,\nto go and attack the native states, when French interests were\nnot involved, was quite another affair.\nIn the beginning of February, 1862, a steamer brought a\nfresh letter to Goree from the English governor, no longer\nasking for the help of more men, but begging M. Faidherbe\nto send an expedition into the country of Sine and Salum, coincident with that which the English were going to despatch\nin that of Badiboo.\nThe French Consular Agent, in seconding this request,\nwrote: \" No one conceals it here, it is spoken of openly,\nmerely the prestige of the French name would, in this simultaneous attack, prove a powerful auxiliary; and would not only\nobtain success, but yet further increase, if possible, the moral\ninfluence which must, without dispute, ensure to you soo\u00bber of\nlater the domination of a portion of these tribes.\" 340\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nColonel Faidherbe replied that it would indeed be advantageous that the two operations should take place simultaneously,\nso as morally to influence one another, but that he was at the\npresent moment engaged in an expedition in Casamanza, and\nthat he could not yet state precisely when he should be free to\noperate against Sine and Salum.\nSome time after the exchange of this correspondence, and\nafter a fresh demand from the Governor of Gambia, the commander (ad interim) of Goree placed at his disposal a captain\nof artillery and some men,' with two howitzers and fifteen\nmules.\nThe English expedition was composed of about 2,000 men\nand a large flotilla. The expedition ascended the Gambia to\nabout thirty-six miles above Bathurst, and the troops disem-\nto the Mohammedan religion. On the other hand, Macodou,\nthe former king, driven from Cayor by the French in May, 1861,\nand father of King Samba-Laobe, tried to dethrone his son, and,\nat the head of the tiedos who had followed him in his flight, had\nengaged him in several encounters, and been successful in\nsome of them.\nMacodou, who was addicted to strong drink, and who, as an\nold enemy of the Mohammedan priests, having fought against\nthem in Cayor, found it would answer his purpose to make\nfriends with Maba, promised, with the fullest intention of breaking his word, that he and his men would turn Mohammedans\nif Maba succeeded in completely driving his son out of Salum\nand having him proclaimed instead.\nThere was, however, one hindrance to these designs.    Maba\nFORT BAKEL.\nbarked near the town of Saba, where they arrived on the 21st\nof February.\nThe place, defended by 3,000 combatants, and strong\nstockades, was taken by assault after a desperate contest, in\nwhich the Mandingoes lost 200 men and had 300 wounded.\nTwo sons of the king and his principal chief were amongst\nthe dead.\nOn their side the English had five killed and twelve wounded.\nAfter this combat, an armistice of three days was granted, at his\nrequest, to King Badiboo.\nATTACK UPON THE GUARD-HOUSE OF KA0LAK,   1862.\nFor some months the Mohammedan, Maba, chief of Nioro,\nat the head of the band of fanatics which had just devastated\nthe right bank of the Gambia, meditated an attack on Salum,\nwhose king, Samba-Laobe, an ally of the French, had passed\nthrough the villages with only a small number of faithful allies.\nThe aim of Maba was, he said, to convert the tiedos of Salum\nand Macodou knew well that France would never consent to\nrecognise as king of Salum the enemy that she had driven out\nj of Cayor; so they resolved to surprise the station of Kaolak,\nwhere the last partisans of Samba-Laobe had taken refuge after\ntheir expulsion from Cahone, the capital of Salum.\nThey did not anticipate, however, the watchfulness and\nenergy of Sergeant Burg, of the infantry (marines), who, for\nI several years had commanded the tower of Kaolak with a small\ngarrison of twelve men, and who had had occasion to mistrust\nthe natives, owing to his having received several unexpected\nattacks from them during their quarrels with one another.\nIn the month of October, 1862, masses of the enemy, to\nthe number of nearly 5,000 men, led by Macodou and Maba,\nsurrounded the station, which happily was protected on one\nside by the river, and attacked the little garrison for fourteen\nhours in the most furious manner.\nSergeant Burg manoeuvred in so skilful a manner the twelve-\npounder mountain howitzer which surmounted the tower, whilst \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0I 342\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\ni'm\nm%\nIS\nhis men employed their rifles so well, that the surrounding trees\nsoon afforded the enemy no shelter, and they were at length\nobliged to retire, leaving behind them the bodies of 250\nmen and 70 horses.\nMaba and Macodou, the former dangerously wounded, did\nnot feel safe until they were out of Sah fij\nThis energetic defence, though on a small scale, is worthy of\na place in a chronicle of French operations in Senegambia.\nAfter this brilliant action, the grateful Samba-Laobe resumed\nhis sway; the tower of Kaolak was surrounded by -a temporary\nfortification, and the garrison was reinforced.\nEXPEDITION TO THE RIP,  ON THE BANKS OF THE GAMBIA,*   \\\nNOVEMBER,   1865.\nIn the year 1862, Maba, chief of Nioro, having established\nhis authority in Ript and some of the other small states bordering on the Gambia, attacked Salum, and succeeded in taking\npossession of it after many reverses. He represented himself\nas being a prophet sent from God to deliver good Mussulmans\nfrom the tyranny and exactions of the tiedos, and openly\nannounced his intention of replacing the drunken' tyrants\n(hereditary chiefs of the Ouolof states of Senegambia) by\nMarabouts of his own selection, under whose rule, peace, order,\nand justice would prevail in the country formerly given up to\nplunder.\nA word here as to these Marabouts, of whom mention has\nso often been made in preceding pages. It may be taken as\nan axiom of human nature, that the more ignorant, degraded,\nand superstitious a people may be, the more are they under\npriestly influence; and this particularly holds good of the\nMarabouts. Though Mohammedanism spread itself over the\ncountry between Morocco and Senegal, it did not extend its\ninfluence to the river Gambia until a more recent period.\nPere Labat, and the earlier authorities, generally describe the\ninhabitants of these parts as idolaters, utterly destitute of religion.\nWhen the religion of Mohammed grafted itself upon this condition of idolatry, it produced a hybrid religion, retairiing the\nworst featuies of both systems. Among the worst of the distinctive features of Mohammedanism thus introduced was a violent\npropagandism, of which the very life and soul was the priestly\norder of Marabouts; an institution so extended as in some instances to include whole tribes, and so insidious in its influence\nas to draw into its meshes families and tribes of other races\nand beliefs, thus everywhere inspiring distrust and suspicion.\nLabat, an acute and accurate observer, after describing the\nmodest and sedate exterior of the Marabouts, adds:\u2014\" But\nwhen we remove the veil and penetrate into their private conduct and real sentiments, all is found to be outside, and mere\nhypocrisy, dissimulation, avarice, cruelty, ingratitude, superstition, and ignorance. In vain'do we look for any of the\nmoral virtues among them\u2014faith, honour, and a regard for\ntheir engagements, they have no idea of. They are a set of\nMohammedan Pharisees, who look upon external virtue as the\njmeans and necessary instrument of secret fraud, drunkenness,\nand every vice that can debase the human heart\"J\nAlthough the example of Al-Hadji\u2014who had sought, like\nMaba, to conceal his ambitious projects under the mask of\nreligion\u2014caused the purity of this new reformer's intentions to\n* A full account of these and other operations may be perused in the\nlocal Moniteur of Senegal.\nt Rip is a small state, called in some maps Badiboo.\n% Labat, tome i., chapter xx.\nbe suspected, the administration of Senegal, occupied at the\ntime in putting a stop to plunder in Cayor, thought it best to\nallow Maba to carry out his intentions, and judge of his conduct\nby the results. Under these conditions he accomplished the\nconquest of Salum.\nAs we have already mentioned, the King of Salum, when\nhard pressed by Maba in 1862, took refuge under the walls\nof Kaolak, where the army of the latter, which had imprudently pursued him, was decisively repulsed. From this time,\nMaba, far from acting according to his professed intentions,\nplainly showed that instead of improving the condition of the\ncountry he had just conquered, his only desire was to enrich\nhimself at the expense of the inhabitants; to capture them for\nsale at the slave-market, and to destroy everything for the\nbenefit of the brigands who composed his army. Wishing,\nhowever, if possible, to avoid a fresh contest with a man who\nhad never hitherto actually threatened the states bordering on\nFrench territory, and on which trade was mainly dependent,\nthe local government proposed to Maba, who had been negotiating with them since his defeat at Kaolak, a recognition of\nhis rights as chief of Salum, independently of the authority\nwhich he already exercised in the provinces bordering on the\nGambia, on condition of his binding hhnself in a solemn treaty\nwith all the chiefs of the Ouolof states, \u25a0 strictly to respect\nthe rights of his neighbours. This treaty was signed in 1864.\nMaba was at that time established in the village of Maka, two\nleagues from Kaolak; he fortified it with great care, and made\nit his capital. Everything went on w.ell until the beginning of\n1865; but, in the month of June, yielding to the solicitations of\nhis supporters, who flattered his ambitious projects, he suddenly\ninvaded Djiolof, almost destroyed it, and immediately threatened\nBaol and Cayor, at the same time strengthening his relations\nwith Fouta, and attempting to induce the Trarza Moors to engage with him in a rebellion against the French Government.\nThus threatened, the French could no longer hesitate; and,\nafter acting simply on the defensive during the winter season,\nthe Governor entered the field with all his available troops as\nsoon as the weather permitted. On the nth of November, the\nunited column left Dakar for Kaolak, arriving on the 23rd,\nafter having traversed Cayor, Baol, Sine, and Salum. On their\nway, the troops were joined by the contingents of these states,\namounting to more than 2,000 cavalry and 4,000 foot.\nWhen it is considered that a few years ago the French\npaid tribute to these states; that then commerce was subject to\nall kinds of imposts and exactions; that plunder was carried on\nwith impunity close to the French towns and even under the\nvery walls of French guard-houses, it was strange to find all the\nforces of these same states unite, at the call of the Governor, to\noppose, as a common enemy, a man whose confessed object was\nto destroy French influence.\nOn the morning of the 24th the troops began to march on\nMaka, which Maba declared he would vigorously defend, and\nwhere he pretended God would give signal proof of the protection accorded him. But, at the last moment, he thought\nit more prudent to.abandon the place without striking a blow;\nand retired to Rip, where the troops were to follow him, in\norder to accomplish the destruction of the impostor's power\nin hi-j own country, and insure the safety of the colony.\nThe- abandonment of Maka, which was strongly fortified,\nand to the possession of which Maba attached the greatest\nimportance, was a moral check which presaged his ruin. SENEGAMBIA,  AND   RECENT  FRENCH  OPERATIONS  IN WEST AFRICA\n343\nWhilst marching through the above-mentioned districts, the\nFrench officers were struck by the extraordinary abundance of\nthe crops, especially in Cayor, which had been plunged into\nthe most frightful distress by three years of famine, but which\nhad completely recovered, owing to a bountiful harvest, and to\nthe generous help afforded by the administration of Senegal,\nassisted by local funds.\nOn the 26th of November\u2014after having spent the 25th at\nKaolak in re-organising the troops and taking all necessary\nmeasures for the success of operations in Rip\u2014the Governor\nordered the departure of the troops at four o'clock in the\nafternoon.\nOn the 28th, the troops passed the river Salum at the ford\nof Tguer, and on the 29th encamped at Tiket, on the. frontier\nof Rip. Twelve leagues remained before reaching Nioro, the\ncapital, where the troops would find water, and for ten of these\nthe way was by a narrow path leading through a thick wood.\nThe difficulties were great, and were increased by the trying\nclimate, which caused much suffering to the troops. On the\n29th, at three in the afternoon, the column, numbering 4,000\ninfantry -and 2,000 horse, set out. During the night they\nhalted for five hours near the little village of Ngapakh, and\nmarched again at daybreak on the 30th. Shortly before eight\nin the morning, the advanced guard, composed of the native\nengineers, signalled the enemy's outposts, who fell back.\nThe guides showed symptoms of hesitation; everything\nseemed to announce the near approach of the enemy.\nAt half-past eight, the report of a gun fired on the vanguard was the signal for battle.\nMaba had stationed all his forces in the forest, in the\nfollowing order. The most reliable 'troops were placed at\nright angles to the path on which the column would have to\ndeploy, to be in readiness to obstruct their passage; the others\nformed an oblique line ready to attack the troops on the left\nflank, and attempt to turn them.\nThe Governor had decided not to take up his position\nuntil the moment of meeting the enemy, on account of the\nnature of the ground, and the thickness of the woods, which\npresented great difficulties to the marching of the troops.\nThere was, too, no time to be lost in reaching the spot where\nwater could be obtained.\nAt half-past eight, the corps of native engineers, on arriving at the foremost ambuscades, was received with a sharp\ndischarge of musketry; but they stood their ground. The\nGovernor, who was at the head of the column, immediately\nsent the laptots, commanded by Lieutenant Duplessis, to the\nhelp of the engineers, and ordered Commandant Ringot to\nsend two corps of infantry to the left of the path. Having taken\nthese measures, the signal was given to commence the action.\nThen began a somewhat severe struggle, in which officers and\nmen alike displayed their accustomed valour. The enemy\nmaintained his position with great pertinacity, but was forced\nto retire before the French bayonets. The squadron of Spahis,\nto whom the Governor had sent orders to hasten to the right,\nplayed an important part in the action. Placed on the left\nwing, they had to cut their way through the opposing ranks of\nthe enemy, and acquitted themselves in a most creditable\nmanner. The sharpness of the contest may be imagined by\nthe losses sustained. Captain Croisier, who commanded the first\ncorps of marines, was mortally wounded; the second surgeon\nwas killed; Lieutenant Duplessis received four wounds;\nthe\nsergeant-major of the engineers, three. Captain Canard, who\ncsmmanded the squadron of cavalry, was also shot in the arm.\nOne-fourth of the effective force of the \" disembarkation companies \" was killed or wounded. The engineers had six men\nkilled and ten wounded. The Governor himself was shot in the\nleft shoulder at the beginning of the action, which happily did\nnot prevent his continuing to- command the troops. Ensign\ndes Portes, a staff-officer, received severe bruises; and several\nmen belonging to the escort were wounded, or had their horses\nkilled. But the exertions of the troops were rewarded with\ncomplete success. The forces of the enemy defending the\npath and the oblique line, which operated on the left of the\ncolumn, were overwhelmed and closely pursued until they were\ndriven out of the woods.\nWhilst the head of the column was accomplishing its task,\nthe enemy's right, cut off from the rest of their forces, accidentally found itself at close quarters with the artillery. For a time\nthe latter was thrown into disorder, and about ten of the ammunition mules were killed, and their burdens stolen. The enemy\nwas, however, soon attacked by the Senegal sharpshooters, who\nformed the left of the column. Captain Bargone and a native\nsub-lieutenant were wounded. At nine o'clock, the whole\ncolumn debouched into the little glade outside the village of\nSoukhoto, where some stragglers from the enemy had taken\nrefuge. But they were promptly dislodged by the artillery,\nwho, though surrounded by difficulties, had succeeded in\nleaving the wood at the same time as the vanguard of the\ncolumn. There were still two leagues to be traversed before\narriving at Nioro. After a few moments' halt, the troops were\nagain on the march, but it was soon apparent that the guides\nwere following an uncertain route. When asked, they confessed to being afraid of marching in a straight course to\nNioro, and at half-past ten the troops found themselves again\nin the village of Soukhoto.\nThis incident, however, did not disquiet the Governor, who\nhad determined on arriving at Nioro in the course of the day.\nBut the men, who could not judge of the real situation as\ntheir leader could, might have felt some apprehension. They\npreserved, however, the greatest confidence.\nA thousand litres of water were distributed to the European\ntroops, the Governor having taken the precaution to load his\ncamels with this supply; and M. Lasmolles, sub-lieutenant of\nSpahis, now in command of the volunteers, received orders to\nmake a reconnaissance in the direction of Nioro, in order to\nfind some springs. He was accompanied by a body of sharpshooters under Captain Maurial, and by the laptots. Hearing\nfrom M. Lasmolles that the volunteers had fallen in with the\nenemy, and that the cavalry might render good service, the\nGovernor immediately dispatched it. Thus reinforced, the\n5,000 volunteers, jealous of then share of the glory, briskly\ncharged the enemy, who had lost heart in great measure, and\npursued them to the further side of Nioro, where the entire\nforce re-assembled at six in the evening.\nDuring this charge, Lieutenant Perraud, who had taken\nthe command of the squadron since Captain Canard had been\nwounded, received two wounds. . This officer had had his\nhorse killed under him in the morning.\nThe enemy was now defeated, dispersed, and thoroughly\ndisheartened. The flames issuing from the villages of Dam-\nagan, commanded by Lat-Dior, and of Nioro, the capital 'of\nRip, announced the success of the French to the whole country; 344\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nAfter this no resistance was made, and during the ist and 2nd\nof December the volunteers were employed in destroying the\nspoils of the brigands who had so long intimidated the whole\nof Senegambia. More than thirty large villages, filled with the\nproduce of the year's harvest, were burnt. The valley of\nPaouos, and the forest, which had been the scene of the action\nof November 30th, were strewn with the dead bodies of Maba's\narmy. The volunteers took more than a thousand prisoners.\nIn the evening of the 2nd of December the troops returned to\nKaolak, arriving at six. The volunteers set out for Signi with\nthe object of ravaging that small province, which served as a\nhalting-place to Maba's men when crossing the desert between\nSalum and Djiolof.   The King of Djiolof, who had joined the\nprovinces of Fouta, Guidimakha, and Kaarta, which form one\ncontinuous tract of country. In extending his conquests in ah\neasterly direction from Kaarta, he drew his supplies from Fouta,\nin the west, and the possession of Guidimakha, the connecting\nlink between these two countries, was therefore of the greatest\nimportance to him. This was all the more necessary, as he met\nwith constant opposition from expeditions organised under the\nprotection of the French post at Bakel, situated on its confines.\nIn order, therefore, to protect his communications between\nKaarta and Fouta, and with the desire also of injuring as\nmuch as possible the French settlement, by intercepting its\ncommerce with the Moors of the right bank, he determined to\nconstruct a stronghold at Guemou, which would at the same\nENTRANCE OF THE PALACE AT SlLGOU.\nGovernor's army again, had gone to take possession of his\nstates. The success of this campaign was complete. Its consequences were as follows :\u2014Security for all the states between\nSenegal and the Gambia, which had been threatened by the\ndevastating bands of Maba. An immense increase of French\ninfluence in these states, which had now been thoroughly\noverawed; and which could no longer entertain any hostile\nprojects. Finally, a consolidation of peace in the river districts, resulting from the fear of an invasion such as that of\nRip.\nTHE DESTRUCTION OF GUEMOU,   OCTOBER  17-29,   1859.\nPerhaps the most brilliant feat of arms performed by the\nFrench in Senegambia was the destruction of the fortified\ntown of Gue\"mou, held by a strong body of fanatical warriors,\nwho resisted with a fierce heroism not often witnessed in this\npart of the world.\nFor some years previous to the time in question, that great\nMoslem chief, Al-Hadji, had carried on his operations in the\ntime serve as a dep6t from whence his troops might draw supplies when on the march in those parts.\nHis design'was carried out as follows :\u2014The village, which\nwas built in the form of a rectangle, measuring some 330 by\n220 yards, was surrounded by a loop-holed wall or parapet of\nmud, about ten feet high, thirty-one inches thick at the base,\nand twenty-three at the top, strengthened by the insertion of\nboughs of trees ; and at about thirty yards in advance of each\nface, ambuscades were formed by digging pits which were\nscreened by small parapets in front of them. In the interior\nof the work, several mud huts having thatched roofs were\ngrouped together. Each cluster contained a family, and was\nsurrounded by a mud wall which rendered it capable of defence,\nin the event of the main wall being destroyed or breached.\nAt the centre of the western face, which commanded the\napproach from Diogountoro, a redoubt was thrown up, which\nenclosed also the mosque arid residence of Al-Hadji's nephew,\nSir6 Adama, the governor of the province.    This redoubt RAMBLES  IN ROME.\n345\nwas very well designed, and consisted of three concentric\nenceintes; the first was formed by a mud wall similar to the\none already described as enclosing the village; the second\nline of defence was formed by a palisade made of the trunks of\ntrees, placed four deep, and measured some ten feet in height.\nThe third or inner line was like the outer, also of mud. Between\nthe outer and second line of defence and in front of the gateway\nof the latter, a masonry redan of considerable strength had\nbeen constructed receiving flank defence from two detached\ncircular structures also of masonry. A well for the supply of\nthe garrison completed the tout ensemble. The population of\nthe village was between 4,000 and 5,000, but its numbers had\nbeen increased by contingents from neighbouring villages,\nfounded by Al-Hadji.\nRambles   in   Rome.\u2014V.\nBY A.   CUST,  M.A.\nPerhaps the reader will allow me here to quote part of a letter\nof mine, written home, even though it should involve going\nover some old ground.    \" Here we\nhave been in Rome a week.   What  r\na time it seems! .... I suppose you will be anxious to hear all\nabout the Eternal City. Well, my first\nimpressions are those of disappointment at the exterior of the town. I\nwas prepared for the comparative\nfewness of ancient ruins, but not for\nthe exceeding narrowness arid dirtiness\nof the streets in the modern part, and\nthe vexatious enclosures and difficulty\nof getting a view in the old part of the\ncity. I had looked forward to wandering with melancholy but unimpeded\ninterest over the. slopes of the old hills\nand the sites rich in famous story;\nbut, alas ! with the exception of the-\nForum, rum where you will, your unvarying companions are endless walls,\nwith seldom even a gate or opening,\nseven or ten feet high; inaccessible\nconvents and locked-up vineyards\noccupy and deface, or ugly churches\nmock at and insult, the relics of the mighty past. However,\nin most other respects, my expectation is more than gratified.\nNo words can express my appreciation of the exquisite symmetry of the more perfect remains of ancient architecture and\nsculpture, which nobly contrast with the degenerate attempts\nof later ages. The greater part of the churches at Rome\nare externally mean' and contemptible, though certainly\nsplendid internally; but even in the latter respect their\nnoblest ornaments, their beautiful pillars, are either the actual\nspoil of some temple or palace, or a faithful imitation of past\ngenius.\n\" You will be glad to hear that there is not the shadow of\na disturbance here, and the streets and Campagna are perfectly secure. The Pope seems very popular, and the soldiers\n\u2014of whom there must be extraordinary numbers, as we never\nstir without seeing some\u2014seem on most friendly terms with\nthe people. The Zouaves seem great sight-seers, and look\nabout as much as we do.\n284\nTHE VIOLINIST  OF RAPHAEL\n\"The first day, after breakfast, we strolled out with immense interest to get our first sight.    We first ascended the\nPincian, from which we got our first\n\u00aeSEGSffiB\u00a3\u00a3EflR3lg impressions.    The view bears out your\ndescription, and is very fine; but I\nwas impatient to stand on more classic\nground, so we descended on the Porta\ndel Popolo, and thence down the Corso.\nFinally I was gazing with awe on the\nspot where thronged the world's conquerors to hear a Cicero or a Cassar.\nThere, uncovered, you may see the\ncauseway of the Clivus Capitolinus, up\nwhich rolled the triumphal car, and\npart of the rostrum whence Tully stirred\nthe slumbering soul of the republic.\n\"The Coliseum I found even\nnobler than I expected; the exterior\nof the perfect side is one of the\nfinest effects of architectural grandeur\nI ever saw. Of course I thought of\nthe Christians 'sublatos ad leones,'\nbut my sympathy with them is, I\nconfess, very much lessened by their\npresent triumph. Seldom do you see\nan old building but you are greeted\nwith ' Sixtus V. restituit et ab impia superstitione expurgavit,'\n&c, ad nauseam. Here stands a saint in place of a Trajan,\nthere a Jupiter looks down with dignified contempt on a\ncrowd of devotees who kiss his toe under the belief that he\nis St. Peter; nor does old Tonans think them better men\nthan those who greeted him with sacrifice in the olden\ntime.\n\"St. Peter's I have several times been in. The exterior\nI am disappointed with, as I do not admire that style of\narchitecture for a church, although the whole effect of the\npiazza is undoubtedly very fine. But the interior, on first\nentering it, struck me as the most splendid I had ever seen.\nIt is most magnificent, and there is nothing to mar the effect\nor offend the eye; as you say, it is very difficult to realise the\nimmense size, which the beautiful proportions of the different\nparts, and the gigantic statues, have the effect of lessening. The\ndome is beautifully light and elegant; but from the outside it\ndoes not strike you as being much larger than St Paul's,, or as 316\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nstanding utterly unrivalled amid the numerous domes of the\ntown. We saw a gorgeous service\u2014high mass\u2014at the Lateran\non Sk John's Day, and a still more brilliant Te Deum on the\nlast day of the year in the Church of II Ge'su, where the Pope\nwas present, with numerous soldiers, lights, &c The Pope\nwas much cheered by the populace outside. But the church\nI admire most is S. Maria degli Angeli\u2014the great hall in\nDiocletian's Baths\u2014a noble place, with exquisite ancient\npillars and the originals of many of the mosaics in St. Peter's.\n. . . . At the Rospigliosi Palace we much admired the\n'Aurora' (by Guido), 'Adam and Eve' and 'Triumph of\nDavid' (Domenichino), 'Twelve Apostles' (Rubens). At\nthe Sciarra Palace are some exquisite gems\u2014' Player on\nViolin' (Raphael), 'Modesty and Vanity' (Leonardo da\nVinci), 'Maddalena delli Radici' (Guido), 'Bella Donna'\n(Titian). We had a fine walk to see the Villa Pamfili-Doria,\nwhere are beautiful grounds, and got by far our best view of\nRome from the Church of S. Pietr.0 in Montorio\u2014site of Arx\nJaniculensis\u2014on our way back. We also saw the Borghese\nVilla, where is a most exquisite collection of ancient statues,\nsome of which\u2014being the first I had seen\u2014sent me into\nraptures, as Ceres, Venus Genitrix, &c. In the latter, the\ndrapery struck me as something infinitely beyond the grasp of\nmodern art. But since then the Capitol Museum and the\nantique part of the Vatican filled me with ever-increasing\nadmiration and astonishment.\n\" It was very cold at night when we came; now it is warm\nand rainy. Yesterday we walked a'ong the Via Appia, and\nsaw Metella's tomb and the circus of Maxentius. Yesterday\nmorning we had some vivid thunder and lightning. At the\nCapitol I much admired the ' Europa,' which I recognised at\nonce, and the ' Sibyl.'\n\" Our lodgings are very comfortable and clean. We get\nbreakfast and coffee in the evening in our room, and dine at a\nrestaurant, generally getting a good dinner, including wine, for\ntwo shillings. Our lodgings come to about thirty shillings\na week between us, which is exceedingly cheap for Rome at\nthis time; but Madame P  is rather a swell, and has, I\nbelieve, one daughter a marquise and another a contessa. We\nwere introduced to one, who is a captain's lady and lives here,\nand who lends us a piano in the evening.\"\nThe better-known pictures of the Old Masters have more\ndifficult work to do than those of modern artists, which claim\nadmiration as they appear each successive year. The latter,\nlike some landscape seen for the first time, are free to convey\ntheir own impressions, and to burst 'upon the spectator in their\nfull vigour and utmost perfection\u2014to do, in fact, the work\nthemselves once for all, and not after previous trials by\ndeputy. The former are mostly familiar to us from early\nyears by every kind of imitation, and they have not only to\nprove themselves superior to their rivals, but to the most\nfaithful copies of themselves, which have already discounted\nthe original effect on the mind which the pictures were intended to convey. It is with feelings of a different kind, then,\nthat one approaches these; so well knowing what to expect as\nto be vaguely in dread of disappointment. Rarely, however,\nwas it in our eyes that they failed to hold their own. If their\neffect was not new, the mellow tint of age, or an instinctive\ngreatness and power, or a depth and unconscious ease of expression, made themselves all the more strongly felt by contrast with more studied copies.\nThe Rospigliosi Palace does not weary by length and\ntediousness, however much it necessitates an uncomfortable\nposition of the head in order to see its choicest ornament,\nGuido's \"Aurora.\" Those who take exception to this painter's\npale colouring will be startled into admiration, if not prepared\nfor them, of the bright hues which are lavished on this fresco;\nand which retain, in a \"wonderful manner, their clearness and\nfreshness. On this account the copyists seemed more successful in this case than in most others. The school of the\nCarracceschi, which preceded the final decline of painting, has\nfurnished, besides this, two more of the chief ornaments of the\npalace\u2014Domenichino's pictures above named. The \" Adam\nand Eve in Paradise after the Fall\" is, perhaps, cne of this\npainter's three best pictures. He and Iris school were the\nlast to add anything original to the accumulated stores of art\nwhich have made Italy famous. Henceforward the stream of\npainting flowed on in an uneventful, mechanically guided\ncourse, feeding on the genius of the past, and labouring to\nconvert its intuitions into regulations for its own safe progress.\nAt the Sciarra Palace, the pictures above-mentioned carry\nus back at once to the golden age of Old Art, introducing us\nto three important types. Leonardo da Vinci is one of the\nfirst great names, as Guido and Domenichino are among the\nlast, which greet us in the period of the full establishment of\npainting. Taking him as a type of the Florentine school,\nthough he set up a school of his own at Milan, and had too\nmuch originality to be tied by the mannerisms of others, we\nhave in the next two the highest representatives of the Roman\nand Venetian schools, Raphael and Titian.\nIn the \" Modesty and Vanity\" Leonardo's characteristic\nsoftness of shading, and delicacy and roundness of form, are\nprominent. The \" Player on the Violin \" is in Raphael's third\nand most perfect style, that which raised him to the topmost\npinnacle of art. It carries its own date, showing that it was\npainted two years before the great artist's death.\nThe Villa Borghese afforded us great pleasure : we now,\nfor the first time, were able to realise the perfection attained\nby the Greeks in statuary. The human form seemed to be\ndepicted with a graceful ease and unaffected truth, quite\nbeyond anything we remembered of modern sculpture. Nor\nwas it only in one or two choice specimens that this was the\ncase; it seemed to be a natural characteristic of all the work,\ngreat or small. This innate idea of grace was especially conspicuous in the foldings of the drapery, which was as true to\nnature as if the naked statue had been made first and the light\ntexture afterwards flung over it. It was wonderfully free from\nheaviness or clumsiness, the folds hanging and grouping\nthemselves with an ease that nothing could surpass. The idea\nof modern statuary most present to our minds was probably\nderived from the gigantic figures which line the nave of St.\nPeter's; and in which, certainly, there is no doubt that the\ndrapery is cut out of stone. In the ancient statues also there\nis an absence of conventionalism, and of following the rules of\na school or affectations of art, which is not equally apparent in\nlater efforts, unless it be, indeed, that the school which they\nfollowed had so succeeded in unaffected imitation of Nature,\nthat anything else than the following of Nature is now invisible\nto us. Whatever be the means or cause, however, the result\nis that grace and nature contrast in the one with florid exaggeration in the other.\nNor has mediasval art, as being the successor, the excuse\nJ RAMBLES  IN   ROME.\n347\nof pioneers or beginners. With the ample remains of antiquity in her midst, to the sight of which she had been accustomed from infancy, she failed to recognise the fact that they\nwere simply the closest embodiment of Nature that had been\nattained by man; and disdaining anything so inartistic and\ninglorious, when she had once obtained praise from a degenerate race for improvements on them and Nature, she marked\nthese improvements and fondled them as safe rules whereby\nto attain excellence and win fame. Thus did she set up her\nschool, and woe betide whoever did aught else than modify or\nagain improve upon her rules, or attempt to go straight to\nNature untaught by her. By careful education, the eye was\ntaught to lose sight of differences from Nature, of stoniness of\nhair or robe; but to seize with avidity tricks and conventionalisms which were a secure path to distinction. For sculptors\nmust earn their bread, and the market must be courted; and\neven where means and genius are present, ingrained habits are\nrarely wholly discarded.\nHowever much the truth and beauty of ancient art may\nhave been recognised and even lauded, yet there remained the\ncurious state of things that a totally different manner of ex-\"\npression of Nature by means of stone was alone cultivated\nand patronised, as though being of equal or perhaps superior\nmerit. As if two dissimilar imitations of the same natural\nobject could both be equally true; as if, because what then\nflourished was a distinct school of art, with a gradual growth,\nand history, and famous names, the antique was, after all, only\nanother school of art, of perhaps greater excellence, but still\nbelonging to the past, and not now to be reproduced, or sought\nafter, any more than many other things so belonging and duly\nadmired. The antique, in short, was a thing by itself, of which\nevery one admired the excellence, but which nobody thought of\nimitating.\nBy the use of a few set phrases, people of all kinds,\nschools, or sects, save, themselves a great deal of trouble.\nThe terms are familiar, and it is not necessary, after a time,\nthat they should convey any definite meaning. Supposing that\nthis were not the\" case, and, instead of slipshod or cant\nphrases, people had to set their minds to work on each occasion to find language really expressive of what they considered\nto be the state of the case, what a world of trouble would they\nbe involved in, what awkward encounters might possibly\nensue with possible actualities, or with other people in the\nsame circles of society that applied to the same thing language\nof an opposite description I How fortunate that society,\nhaving once agreed to apply certain names to certain things\nor classes of people, with possible historical or original meanings in the terms, but irrespective of after changes either in\nthese or the nature of what they are applied to, likes to adhere\nto these! And in any case, however true or partially applicable the name used may be, it does not necessarily follow\nthat people using it, do so otherwise than as a matter of habit,\nand without thinking of the extent of its truth or applicability.\nIndeed, one great advantage of having a number of terms\nready to hand for things is, that one can think of these and\nspeak of them intelligibly to others, without any present reflection on their actual condition or circumstances of which\neven possibly we may be ignorant. Or the term used may\nbe one in itself that actually misleads from its partial, if not\nuntrue; application, diverting the mind from one important\nset  of  considerations  affecting the subject in  question,  to\nanother which is less important, and the result only of circumstances. Of course this is, in great measure, the result of\nimperfection of language, or change in the meaning of words;\nat the same time, it appears to be more the case in the refinement of society, and the development of civilisation, than was\nlikely to be amid younger races, where fresh expressions of\nlanguage were continually needed for fresh contact with facts,\nand old forms of speech were not so much stereotyped by\nuniversal diffusion of conventional ideas, as is the case at the\npresent day, in books or newspapers, till ring of words is lazily\nor unconsciously substituted for range of thought, as genuine\nand definite descriptions had to be thought out and applied.\nThe deficiencies of these might be felt and acknowledged at\nthe time, and would not necessarily involve a corresponding\ndeficiency of understanding and reflection; still less would\nlanguage be likely to find expression where definite mental\nconception was altogether wanting.\nIt does not necessarily follow that people speaking of \" the\nAntique \" do so without due conception of what the word is\nintended to be applied to; but, undoubtedly, in regard to the\nsubject of which we are treating, it is quite possible for people\nso doing not to bethink themselves that they are speaking of\nthe truest representation of Nature which the world has ever\nseen; and that, therefore, when they say that so-and-so\nis after the antique, they mean that, so far as this is true, it is\nfaithful to Nature. Or rather they may be misled, and think\n(at least, they seem to have thought in mediaeval times), that\nas there is progress in all things, antique models are to be\ngreatly admired indeed; but rather improved upon than imitated. First equal them, my friends, and then improve upon\nthem. If the rides and devices of your school, which you are\nso proud of, and whose great men you so reverently follow, lead\nyou, as a rule, to different results from those obtained by the\nancients, whose work, you will, perhaps, acknowledge, if asked\ndirectly, to be truer to Nature, revise your rules and search for\nother devices; for, after all, you will allow that the imitation\nof Nature is your object, and not perfection in attaining to a\ncertain conventional standard.\nFew mornings in Rome can be more profitably employed\nthan one spent in the Museum and Hall of the Conservators on\nthe Capitol. Nowhere are-the objects of attraction so varied\nand the interest so sustained throughout The collection, in\nfact, is typical of the manifold character and history of the city\nin which it was made. To start with the museum, let us briefly\nmention a few of the more striking things worthy of notice.\nThe universal aptitude and skill of the ancients in all kinds of\nsculpture is illustrated in a remarkable manner in their sarcophagi. The sides or lids of these massive memorials of the\ndead naturally suggesting ornamentation of some kind, bas-\nreliefs more beautiful than anything else of the kind we could\nremember are the result Whether it be that only the more\nesteemed of these have been preserved to us, or whether, as is\nmore probable, considering the purpose for which they were\ndesigned, we have specimens of work of all kinds, and some\nhumble hand, unknown to fame, may have produced designs\nhardly now to be equalled, nothing can more impress the mind\nwith the deeply ingrained sense which the ancients had of\nnatural simplicity, and their intuitive grasp of lines of beauty\nand proportion. Whatever the cause\u2014whether from the\nteaching and example of certain original master-minds, or\nfrom the habitual accustoming of the eye to the grace and 348-\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nn\nm\nI\nsymmetry of the human form, which greater freedom of dress\nand custom, and the physical perfection produced by care\nand training, gave room for to an extent unknown among\nus\u2014their mind naturally seems to have been imbued with\nthe highest appreciation of truth and beauty in these matters.\nBetween their genius and that of more modern times no more\nforcible comparison could be made than by placing such\nsculptural conceptions alongside of those designed for a\nsimilar purpose in Westminster Abbey. The hideous structures in the latter place are, fortunately, no longer admired,\nbut their creation by a Greek chisel would have been im-\n\u00bbpossible. If the highest flights of modern genius will not\nbear comparison with the sculptures of the Parthenon, still\nless will the general talent of the nation, as evinced on\nchurch walls or tombstones,\nwith that of the ancients as\nunpretendingly shown where\nsimilar opportunities present\nthemselves. The chasteness\nand neatness, the absolute\nsymmetry and graceful grouping of the designs on these\nstone receptacles for the ashes\nof the dead vividly contrast\nwith the graceless conventionalities and cumbersome extra-\nvagin cies which disfigure the\nresting-places of some of England's most distinguished men.\nAnd yet there is no reason to\nsuppose that artistic talent was\nnot sought for in the latter\ncase as in the former\u2014or\nrather, this is more probable\nin the latter, from their pretentiousness of site and the\n'greatness and public character\nof the names, whereas the\nsarcophagi may have been of\nprivate persons, and intended\nfor concealment in the recesses of a tumulus.\nOf those contained in this\nmuseum, two especially excited our admiration, the subject of\nthe bas-reliefs in one being taken from the life of Achilles,\non the other being a combat between Theseus and the Amazons. In the Villa Borghese is another which we noticed, containing the Labours of Hercules. These sarcophagi abound in\nthe museums. I much fear that the \" future New Zealander\"\nwill hardly take the trouble to collect our tombstones.\nThe room containing the busts of the emperors, in chronological order, is not the least interesting part of the museum.\nHe who has studied the history and characters of these men,\nand their influence for good or evil, may well here lend himself to the musings of the past, as he dwells on face after face,\nand tries to clothe it with its merit or infamy. He will try to\ngrasp with his eye the characteristics of family after family, or\nage after age; to see how not only fashions of headdress, but\nalso types of face alter; to trace, perhaps, in imbecility of\ncountenance the degeneracy of the empire. A world of deeds\nor crimes will crowd before his memory as he follows up the\nROMAN  PRIESTS\nstream of time\u2014as, perhaps, nowhere else is possible\u2014from\nthe thin, hard-lined face of the man whose consummate sagacity\npaved the way for, and gave his name to, all the rest, through\nvoluptuaries and semidevils, through warriors and philosophers, to the Syrian Heliogabalus, whose \"infamy surpasses\nthat of any other age and country,\" or that dabbler in\nscience, cookery, gardening, oratory, and aught save\nstatesmanship, the mild and indolent Gallienus,- from noble\nRomans to the sons of slaves or peasants, Arabians or\nDanubians. Surely nowhere is such a motley assemblage;\nand all drawn, I thought, by contemporaneous hands, and\nwhat was still more remarkable, with apparent simple truthfulness, and without affectation of flattery or dressing up of\nugliness.    In that one room you may carry your eye round\nat a glance over three eventful\ncenturies of the world's history\n\u2014a period which began with\nthe highest power, and ended\nin the disestablishment of\nclassic Paganism.\nFor the rest, if we hurriedly\nmention the broken slabs of\nthe ground-plan of Rome, inserted in the wall of the staircase, the centaurs found in\nHadrian's Villa, the Venus of\nthe Capitol, the doves of Pliny,\nthe statues in one room of an\nAmazon, Flora, and (most\nbeautiful of all) Antinous,\nalong with the noblest ornament of the museum, and the\nmost touching piece of sculpture in the world, \" The Dying\nGladiator\" \u2014 one of those\nmasterpieces of art that rises\nundeniably superior to all the\nimitations of it\u2014we have done\nenough to indicate the interesting nature of the contents\nof the museum.\nPassing on to the Hall of\nthe Conservators, we find more\nancient works of art or remains, and a modern picture-gallery.\nOf one room the famous bronze Wolf of the Capitol is the\nmain occupant, puzzling the curious\u2014not with the story of its\nown early years as a statue. In the same room is a bust\nof Junius Brutus. Among the antiquities are the \" Fasti\nConsulares,\" found in the Forum, being records of the officers\nof state up to the time of Augustus. The picture-gallery, is\npoor compared to many in Rome. It introduces us, however, to a second great painter of the Venetian school, Paul\nVeronese, of whose pictures the \" Rape of Europa\" is one of\nthe finest. He is noted for his splendour of effect and inventive powers; but his heroine in this instance is hardly\nof the graceful form of youthful feminine beauty, of which his\nschool do not seem to me to have had much idea, and\nreminds one of the most stalwart type of a buxom country\nlass. One of the Academicians is also well represented\u2014\nGuercino, of whose paintings the \"Sibilla Persica,\" \"Santa\nPetronilla,\" and \" John the Baptist\" are fine examples; while\nItei nil\nO\nId *5\u00b0\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\nif the founder of the school of the Tenebrosi\u2014to which Guer-\ncino belonged\u2014Caravaggio, the \" Four Evangelists \" deserves\nmention. We admired, moreover, a Madonna by Annibale\nCarracci, one of the trio of that name who, by then eclecticism\nand reduction of art to a system, paved the way for the\nprinciple which their scholars adopted when they made art\nsubservient to its means, and which resulted, as above mentioned, ia the Academic School, and the uniform mediocrity\nwhich way the sole heirloom of the brilliant genius of mediaeval\nlialy.\nOn the staircase of the palace a fine series of bas-reliefs\nwell merit attention. They are six in number, representing\nvarious events in the life of Marcus Aurelius. Now he is\ncelebrating a triumphal entry; now granting peace or making\nan harangue.\nIt is not only the sculpture that is interesting, but the\nvivid picture thus given of the public bearing on so many\ndifferent occasions of this best of the Roman emperors,\non every incident of whose life, whether as man or prince, the\nmind is eager to dwell.\nThe Government Expedition Round the World.\u2014II*\nBY   CAPTAIN  J.   E.   DAVIS, R.N.*\nThe narrative of the deep sea exploring expedition of H.M.S.\nChallenger, commanded by Captain G. S. Nares, and under the\nscientific direction of Professor Wyville Thomson, now continuing its researches in the Pacific, was, in a former number,\nbrought up to its arrival at St. Vincent, Cape Verde Islands,\non the 27 th of July, 1873, after having traversed the Atlantic\ntwice in an east and west direction.\nPrevious to the arrival of the Challenger at St. Vincent, a\nseaman-schoolmaster had arrived from England to meet and\njoin the ship. He left the hotel one afternoon for a walk,\nand to the surprise of the landlord did not return, and as\nnothing was heard of him the next day, the authorities and\nthe English consul were made acquainted with the fact, and\nsearch was instituted, but without effect. At first it was supposed he had committed suicide; but he had not exhibited any\nof those peculiarities which are so often remembered after such\na deed' is committed, and he had left his desk open as he\nhad been writing to his wife, with no word in writing that could\nlead to the supposition that he meditated self-destruction.\nIt was then supposed that he had been murdered, and a small\nreward was offered, which reward was so considerably increased\nby Captain Nares, on his arrival, as to ensure detection had\nsuch a crime been known to have been committed; but to no\npurpose. After much fruitless search, the body was at length\nfound high up in the mountains, with all effects\u2014such as watch\nand chain, and money\u2014intact It is supposed the poor fellow\nhad gone for a walk to reach the summit to look for his ship,\nand had either over-taxed his strength, or lost his way, and\nthus perished.\nIt was reported that the valuable pink coral was obtained\nat a spot near the islands, and that a trade existed in that\nornamental article of commerce, from Porto Praya; Captain\nNares sent to dredge in the locality, but only a few pieces of\nthe 'common red coral of the Mediterranean were found, and a\ncurious fact in connection with it is, that the same temperature\n(52\u00b0) was found at 80 fathoms, as exists in the coral-growing\ndistricts of the Mediterranean.\nThe Challenger left the Cape Verde Islands on the 9th of\n* ^ continuation of the article at page  18 of present  volums  of\nIllustrated Travels.\nAugust, and carried aline of soundings to the south-east, parallel\nto the coast of Africa. At a distance of ninety-five miles from\nSt. Jago, 2,300 fathoms were obtained; this depth increased to\n2,575 fathoms, and this line of soundings was continued\nto latitude 3\u00b0 north, where 2,500 fathoms were found. The\ncourse of the ship was then changed for St. Paul Rocks, and\nabout the same depth continued to about 300 miles from the\nrocks, when the water gradually shoaled. The bottom generally\nconsisted of the usual globigerina ooze.\nThe Challenger arrived at St. Paul Rocks on the .27 th, and\nwas moored to the lee-side of the largest by hawsers to the\nrocks. Landing was difficult; the constant swell coming\nround the rocks produced such a confused sea that great care\nhad to be taken when the time came for a spring and a\nscramble, as the bow of the boat rose on the top of the wave.\nThese rocks, situated so nearly on the Equator, are all contained within a radius of a quarter of a mile, the highest being\nonly sixty feet above the sea level, and is covered with white\nguano, glazed over with salt from evaporated sea-water. A\npaper was found placed within a bottle recording the fact\nthat the captain of the Anne Millicent had landed there on the\n19th of July, the previous year. The only inhabitants of this\nretired spot were the booby and the noddy, better known\ngenerally from Byron's couplet,\n'' They caught two boobies and a noddy,\nAnd then they left off eating,the dead body,\"\nthan from a more intimate acquaintance. Here they were in\nmyriads, and tame enough to be caught by the hands; the\nthe nests of the noddy were numerous, but as the breeding\nseason was past, but few eggs were found. The rocks were\nransacked in every nook and corner by the scientific staff, but\nthey found little to repay them for their labour.\nFrom St. Paul Rocks the Challenger proceeded to Fernando Noronha, and midway between them obtained a depth\nof 2,475 fathoms.\nFernando Noronha, is a penal station to the empire of\nBrazil; the settlement is in San Antonio Bay, and consists of a\nsmall fort or citadel; the residence of the soldiers comprising\nthe guard, and the village in which reside\u2014rather than are\nconfined\u2014the convicts ; each convict having a small patch of ground to cultivate, some of them being permitted to have their\nwives with them. The prisoners only become so in a literal sense\nfor offences committed on the island. The Governor freely gave\nCaptain Nares permission to take scientific notes of the island,\nand great preparation was made for the onslaught on the vegetable as well as the animal life on the morrow. Whether'the\nGovernor had misgivings as to the nature of the foreign ship's\nvisit, or felt the effect of sleeping over his ready acquiescence\nto Captain Nares' request, is not known, but certain it is he\nrepented having given it, and the next morning withdrew his\npermission on the plea that he could not accept the responsibility without authority from his superiors. Remonstrance was\nin vain, the commandant was obdurate, and as going to Rio\nJaneiro to obtain the sanction of the superior authorities was\nout of the question, the Challenger left the inhospitable island,\nsteering towards the main. land of South America at Cape\nSt. Roque. The depth of 2,275 fathoms was found midway\nbetween Fernando Noronha and the main; it then shoaled\ntowards the continent The Challenger reached Bahia on the\n14th of September.\nAfter greatly enjoying the glorious luxuriance of the vegetable world around St. Salvador Bay, and partaking of the very\nkind hospitality of the British residents, a sudden case of yellow\nfever occurring on board caused Captain Nares to leave the\nport sooner than he had intended. The necessity of preserving the health of his crew for their arduous duties was a matter\nof paramount importance, and all haste by steam and sail was\nrnade to get the ship into a temperate climate. Fortunately\nno other case occurred.\nA great disappointment was met with when trawling on the\n3rd of October, in lat 260 15' south, long. 32\u00b0 56' west, after\nsounding in 2,350 fathoms. On heaving in the trawl it was \u25a0\nsoon ascertained, by the strain on the line, that something much\nheavier than usual was in the bag, and care was taken to\nheave in slowly and gently for fear of losing the prize; speculation was rife as to the nature of the catch, a monster nugget,\na mermaid, or the great sea serpent, were suggested; but\nwhatever it was, curiosity and anxiety were evident in every\nface, and as the treasure trove neared the surface, all hands\nwere up ready to receive it. The span came above water,\nthe tackle was overhauled to hoist it inboard, when a crack\u2014\nthe swivel between the chain and the trawl-rope had snapped\n\u2014and the trawl and its precious burden sank in the abyss of\nthe ocean. The disappointment was naturally general, and\nthe ancient proverb, \" There is many a slip between the cup\nand the lip,\" was fully realised.\nAs if to compensate for the disappointment, when trawling\nshortly after, in 1,900 fathoms, they obtained a rich harvest of\nfishes, prawns, starfishes, corals, &c, which in some measure\nrestored the equilibrium of the philosophic mind.\nOn the 7 th of October, the Challenger anchored off the\nsettlement of Tristan da Cunha, another oasis in the desert of\nthe vast Atlantic. This group consists of but three islands, the\nonly one inhabited being that at which the Challenger had anchored. They have been repeatedly visited, in years far back,\nfor the number of fur seals that were found on them, or in\nmore recent years, as an oasis to obtain refreshments on the\nlong voyage. In 1817 it became the outer guard-house to the\nisland prison of the great Napoleon, from which guard-house\nsprang the colony; and although the generation of Corporal\nGlass, the founder of the settlement, has passed away, some of\nhis descendants are still inhabitants. A man named Green, who\nmarried one of the corporal's daughters, is the tacitly acknowledged head of the settlement, which elevation he maintains\nmore by the virtue of a venerable white beard, and as owner\nof a red ensign, than by the suffrages of his fellow-citizens;\nand no doubt the fact of his having entertained the son of\nhis Queen, H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, in 1867, not a\nlittle added to the dignity and security of his governmental\ntenure.\nAt the time of the Challenger's visit there were about\nfifteen families residing in comfortable stone cottages, with\nroofs of thatch topped with sods of turf, but for want of mortar\nmost of them are not wind tight. Their possessions consist of\ncattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry, of which they have abundance,\nand occasionally do a good trade with passing ships, and if\nreport does not belie them, they are equally good at driving\na bargain as their more civilised fellow-men of the continent, and as they sell their produce for hard cash it is\ndifficult to conceive what they do with their money. At the\ntime of the Challenger's visit, beef, mutton, and pork, were\nabout fourpence per pound; and a goose, five shillings.\nThe settlement now boasts of the name of \" Edinburgh,\"\nnot derived\u2014as might be supposed\u2014from the modern Athens,\nbut in honour of the visit of the duke of that title. It consists\nof about a dozen scattered houses, and the number of inhabitants is eighty-four.\nCaptain Nares was told by the settlers that, nearly two years\n. before, two Germans had been landed from an American whaler\non Inaccessible Island\u2014one of the group about twenty miles\nsouth-west of Tristan da Cunha\u2014that they had seen them once\nor twice, and since their last visit, nine months before, they had\nseen smoke rising from the island; but whether the men were\ndead or alive then, they did not know. It was Captain Nares'\nintention to visit the other islands if time permitted, and this\ninformation was an additional inducement to carry it out; so\nthe Challenger accordingly proceeded to the island, and anchored\nin a small bay on the east side. A hut was seen, also a boat,\nand soon after, much to the relief of all on board, the two\nGermans were seen standing on the beach. They were soon\non board, and were apparently greatly delighted at the prospect\nof release from their island prison; for Captain Nares offered\nto give them a passage to the Cape of Good Hope, which they\ngladly accepted. It did not take them long to get all their\nworldly goods together, and with light hearts they left the\nisland to carve their way in the great world as best they could.\n. Their story reminds us of Robinson Crusoe. The younger of\nthe two men\u2014for they were brothers\u2014Gustav Stoltenhoff, had,\nin 1870, barely escaped with life from a burning ship, when at\nno great distance from Tristan da Cunha, and the boat in which\nhe escaped landed at the settlement, where the saved crew\nremained eighteen days, when they were taken off by the North-\nfleet (the same vessel that was sunk, with such melancholy loss\nof life, near Dungeness), and were landed at Aden. Gustav\nmade his way back to Germany, which country in his absence\nhad been engaged in war with France; and he found his\nbrother, who had been serving in the army, was discharged\nand without occupation.\nIt is evident that from the time young Gustav left Tristan\nda Cunha, where the shipwrecked man had been kindly and\nhospitably treated, he had conceived the idea of returning to\nthe island;  and, as his brother had to commence life ane\nMfl\nhe 352\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nwas easily persuaded to accompany him; thus, with that steady\npurpose which is so marked in their countrymen, they capitalised\nall their worldly goods and worked their way as seamen to\nSt. Helena.\nHere they invested their little stock of money in purchasing\nthe necessaries suitable for their island home, and with great\ndiscrimination did they lay it out; but unfortunately their\nmeans did not admit of their purchasing a new boat, with\ntheir money they could only procure an old whale-boat, much\ntoo large and heavy for two men to handle, and much too old\nto last long. | Their stores consisted of biscuits, flour, rice, sugar,\ntea and coffee, salt, a small quantity of tobacco and pepper,\ngetting low, without any visible prospect of replenishing it.\nThey captured some seals, but were unable to use them for\nfood. They also succeeded, by means of the long tussock\ngrass, to reach the summit of the island, where were a few goats\nI and many pigs; some of these they shot, but the flesh of the\nlatter was almost uneatable^ from their having fed on sea-birds.\nUnfortunately their ladder, the grass, caught fire, and deprived\nthem of that source of food, except by rounding the point and\nscaling the cliff on the other side; and, shortly after, their boat\nwas so badly stove that they were obliged to cut it in two, and\npatch up the best half with a square stern, made from the other\nI half.    This they named the Sea Cart.    But after a  time they\nrflPffBf\nBRAZILIAN NEGRESS AND CHILD.\nMARKET WOMAN OF BAHIA,\nempty barrels for oil, lamp, matches, a rifle, fowling-piece,\nammunition, some garden tools, seed potatoes and other seeds,\n&c, and a few books. With these they embarked on board a\nwhaler for Tristan da Cunha; but whilst on the passage they\nwere persuaded by the captain not to go to the settlement, but\nto land on Inaccessible Island, and they were accordingly landed\nwith all their belongings,-on the 27th of November, 1871.\nA few days after they landed, a party of men arrived from\nthe settlement, and helped them to move their goods round\nto a more sheltered part of the island, and showed them how\nto build a hut; leaving them then, the brothers commenced\nthe stern battle for life. Of course the first thing to be done\nwas to get a roof over their heads for shelter, and, as is often\nthe case, the first attempt was a failure, so they had to commence again; but, while this was being effected, and a patch\nof ground cleared for planting se<*d, their stock of provisions was\nwere deprived of this means of getting round the point, by an\nirreparable injury to the boat. Still they struggled on; at one\ntime living entirely on penguins' eggs; at another, on the produce of their little garden ; some food turning up as the other\nfailed. Often on the point of starvation, and rendered weak\nfrom want of food\u2014a merciful Providence always came to the\nrescue\u2014until the Challenger came and took them off.\nAfter visiting Nightingale Island (the other island of the\ngroup), which was nothing but a huge rookery or nursery for\npenguins, of which the number was incredible, the Challenger\nproceeded on her voyage towards the Cape. The weather\nprevented sounding so frequently as was wished; but the\nsoundings taken indicated-a deeper channel on that side of the\nAtlantic than on the other.\nThe Challenger arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on the\n28th of October\u2014all well on board.\nJ P^GET^OUND,  AND  THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  R ULROAD\n353\nPuget Sound, and the Northern Pacific Railroad.\u2014IV.\nBY   EDMUND  T.   COLEMAN.\nNext day I resolved to descend to the eastern side of the\npass. After proceeding'a quarter of a mile or more, to my\nsurprise we made a considerable ascent; on looking at the\nbarometer, it marked 4,899 feet above the sea. According to\nMr. Johnson's Northern Pacific Railroad report, it is i,9oo\u00b0feet\nhigher than the Snoqualmie Pass, and, therefore, 4,910 feet\nabove the sea. There was a good deal of snow and some ice\non the eastern side.    In descending, small prairies of all sizes\ncame trotting up the road; I reined-in, to give the Indian an\nopportunity of shooting it; the little animal passed through my\nhorse's legs, and those of the Indian, stopping every two or\nthree steps, looking about, and taking it very leisurely\u2014in\nfact, it ran literally into the jaws of death; but something was\nwrong with my guide's gun, so the poor little thing escaped.\nOn making one of the numerous crossings of the Tee-ah-no-\nwins, the Indian drew my attention to something in the stream,\nA STREET IN SEATTLE.\n\u2014some no bigger than town lots\u2014occurred at intervals. No\ndoubt, at some future time, as civilisation advances, and all the\nlower valleys are cultivated, cattle will be driven up to these\npastures (especially in diy summers) from the over-crowded\nplains below. The descent is not nearly so steep as on the\nwestern side. At the foot of the pass, which is about 3,221\nfeet above the sea, we crossed the Natchez River; this spot is\njust eleven miles from the western side of the pass. A little\nfarther there is a beautiful prairie, about ten acres in extent, the\nmountain side being dotted with noble firs on grassy slopes,\nfree from underwood, and quite park-like. In returning, the\nIndian stopped not far from the summit to gather some roots,\nwhich he said were good for healing wounds and bad cuts;\nand that this was the only place in the country where the roots\ncould be found. On looking at the plant I was satisfied that\nit was a common kind of water-dock, and suppose that the\nIndian had some superstition as to the virtues of the plant in\nthis particular locality.\nOn   the  following   morning we  commenced   the   return\njourney.    The snowhad all melted on the western side of the\npass.    In descending, a curious instance presented itself of the\nunsophisticated nature of the game in this country.    A rabbit\n285\nand motioned me to keep quiet. I looked, and could not\ndiscern anything, but observing him prepared to fire, looked\nagain, more intently, and found that what appeared to be the\nshadow of a rock in the water was a heap of motionless\nsalmon, so closely packed together that they presented the\nappearance of one uniform shade of blackish-grey. The\nIndian took a shot, but could not kill any; he, however, secured\nquite a number of grouse as we went along. These furnished\nus with a good supper\u2014an agreeable change from the everlasting bacon which was our staple, morning, noon, and night.\nWe pitched tent towards the afternoon,in a prairiewhere there\nwas some timothy-grass, showing that a white man must have\nfirst planted it.\nOn arriving next day at White River we had some trouble\nin crossing, and got out of our depth, partly owing to our going\nwith the current, so that we were very nearly carried away I\nbut turning our horses' heads up stream at the most critical\nmoment, after a few struggles we got into shallower water, and\ngained the opposite bank. It was fortunate, as there was a riffle\nimmediately below. At length, on the second day after leaving\nthe summit of the pass, we emerged from the foot-hills and\ndescended into the broad and fertile valley of the Puyallup. 554\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\niif\nHI\nlifts\nis\nm\nM'\nThe pastoral and lovely scenery of the lowlands, the evidences\nof plenty and prosperity on every side, a fays riant, as the\nFrench term it, are inexpressibly soothing to the imagination\nsated with the splendour, overawed with the ruggedness and\ndesolation, the stern grandeur, of mountain scenery; and that\npeace and calm fell upon me which the consciousness of\nlabours accomplished seldom fails to bring. Instead of returning by the Puyallup reservation, we stopped six miles short of\nit; crossing the river, and after that a short stream called Stuck\nRiver, which flows into the Puyallup. We had now a long ride\nthrough fir-forests, but the road\u2014a wagon one\u2014was good;\nand about four in the afternoon we gained the Nisqually\nPlains. It is surprising to see the amount of work horses, as\nwell as men, get through in a new country. There were yet\nupwards of twelve miles to accomplish before reaching the\nfort Our poor animals were jaded and tired; there was no\nhelp for it, we had to put them on their mettle. The Indian,\nwho never spared his whip, gave my horse a fillip, and by way\nof coaxing him, said, \" Come, Joe, git 'long; you good bed, you\nplenty oats, t'night.\" We got into a smart gallop, and cantering by turns, arrived at Nisqually as darkness set in, having\nbeen nearly eleven hours in the saddle.\nAfter a day's rest at Fort Nisqually, I bade farewell to my\nkind host and hostess, and took the stage to Steilacoom, which\nis six miles distant. This place is somewhat shorn of its former\nglory, owing to the abandonment of the military post which\nwas established here in 1849, and given up in 1867, the troops\nbeing ordered to Sitka. The garrison was built in 1852, and\nthe buildings were valued at 70,500 dollars. They were purchased, three years ago, by the territory for a lunatic asylum.\nAll the surroundings are of a character to win back the diseased\nmind to a healthy tone. The town is situated on the slope of\na steep hill over 200 feet in height, and commands a fine view\nof the Olympian Range with the adjacent sound. There was\nnot much doing, and the place had a dead-alive sort of look.\nThe only busy person was the sheriff; idleness being the root\nof all evil, I suppose he keeps people straight. So much joking\nand bantering was going on in a store where the principal\ninhabitants had dropped in to have a chat, that it seemed' as if\nthe normal condition of the place was that of a state of chaff.\nNevertheless, the unequalled rides and drives in its vicinity,\nsituated as it is on the verge of the Nisqually Plains, combined\nwith the salubrity of the air, must always make it attractive as\na place of residence. A woollen factory has been erected here,\nand carried on for some years, but it has lately been given up.\nThere is a Catholic convent, with a good school attached. The\npopulation is estimated to be between 300 and 400.\nTacoma, twelve miles to the north, is situated on Commencement Bay. Here the Northern Pacific Railroad terminus has\nbeen located. It is not far from the objective point where the\nbranch line will leave the sound, should it cross the Snoqualmie\nPass, and it is nearer to it than Seattle, by ten miles. I had\nthus an opportunity of witnessing the infancy of civilisation\u2014\nof seeing a town-site reclaimed from the wilderness. On leaving\nthe forest, one enters a clearing which is laid out with grand and\nimposing streets, with a few log-houses and shanties on the\noutskirts, but there were not more than half a dozen unfinished\nbuildings: these embraced an hotel, a store, and, alas ! for the\ntemperance cause, two whisky shops; while stumps, logs, and\nlumber blocked up and encumbered the roads. Amid all this\ntoughness and dirt, of planks starting, of walls yet unpapered,\nI was surprised to find that a good dinner was prepared at the\nhotel. The table-cloth was of snowy whiteness, while the arrangement of the dinner service, and of my bedroom, were as\nclean and neat as might be found in a capital. The host, Mr.\nSteele, is a celebrity, and was well known formerly as one of the\nrichest and most enterprising miners in Cariboo; being worth\nat one time at least 80,000 dollars. He has for a long time been\n\" down on his luck,\" but has now \" struck it rich,\" having found\nI good prospects,\" and is taking out pay, since the railroad\ncame along; so that his \" lead \" has turned out to be a rich one.\nWhile looking about at a saw-mill in the neighbourhood, a\nperson came up in a working dress, \" begrimed with the defacements of the labour,\" and accosted me. I did not at first\nrecognise him, but it turned out to be Mr. Samuel Hadlow, then\none of the partners in the firm, a gentleman whose acquaintance\nI had made at Olympia. After taking me over the mill, Mr.\nHadlow invited me to dinner. He shared this meal with the\nworkmen, taking the head of the table, in the good old patriarchal\nfashion; and told me that he got on much better with the men\nliving in this way, and bearing his share of the work. Halt a\nmile from the mill, there is a large granite boulder, covered\nwith hieroglyphics, of fish, animals, &c. It is five to six feet\nlong, nearly round and -smooth, and, lying on the beach, is\nvisible at half-tide. This is, I believe, almost the only instance\nknown of Indian carving in stone. The natives have no\ntradition concerning it. Save close in shore3 the anchorage\nof this harbour is too deep, being 55, 60, and 100 fathoms,\nand the holding ground is hard. Returning to Steilacoom, I\nwent on to Bellingham Bay, and after a fortnight's stay in\nthe pleasant and hospitable home of the Hon. Mr. Eldridge\n(now member of the Legislature), during which it rained incessantly, and prevented me making sketches that I wanted,\ntook the little steamer, Mary Woodruffe, which carries the mail\nfrom Seattle to the bay, and stopped at Fidalgo Island, which\nis half-way to Port Townsend. It adjoins the mainland, and is\nonly separated from it by the Swinimish slough. The harbour\nis somewhat small, being too narrow, but sheltered from southeasterly gales, while the anchorage is convenient. I was kindly\nreceived by Messrs. Moncks and Cagey, settlers on the island.\nAfter spending a day in visiting the harbour of Fidalgo\nIsland, accompanied by Mr. Cagey, and taking sketches, and\nbeing weather-bound another day, the succeeding morning I\ntook a canoe, with an Indian, expecting to reach Coupeville,\non Whidbey Island, the same evening; but on getting into the\nSwinimish slough, the tide was against us, and so strong, that\nwe could not, though I took a paddle to relieve the Indian,\nmake more than one mile an hour, if so much. Consequently,\non arriving at the telegraph station, I was fain to accept Mr.\nGilleland's hospitality for the night, having only made about\neight miles. Next morning I made another start, but on coming\nto Whidbey Island, and rounding into Crescent Harbour, which\nmust be crossed to reach Coupeville, it came on to blow, with\nrain, and there was such a heavy sea, that we were in danger of\nbeing swamped, the canoe being a small one. It was necessary\nto turn about, make for the shore, and endeavour to get to a\nfarmhouse, \u2022some two and a half miles distant But this did\nnot much improve matters, as our course being nearly parallel\nwith the shore, we were brought broadside on to the waves.\nAt length we gained terra firma, and managed to make a land\ning ; but the wav\ncontents got quite wet   What with a continuous rain we were\n'es poured in so, that my carpet-bag and its PUGET  SOUND,  AND  THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC   RAILROAD\n355\npretty well drenched, and cut sorry and not very heroic looking figures. A walk of about three-quarters of a mile took '\nus to the farmhouse, leaving the Indian to pack my bag. The\nworthy proprietor gave me a dinner, and fed my pilot, who\nI then discharged, and accepted of a seat in a wagon, as\nmy host was fortunately going to a settlement at Oak Bay\nwith some produce.\nA drive of three or four miles brought us thither. The\nsun had set, but I took another canoe, and running up the\nharbour, got round into Penn's Cove, and crossed over to\nCoupeville. The night was dark, but a solitary light from afar\nshed its feeble ray over the waters, and guided us to our destination. I got in somewhere about nine o'clock, having been\ntwo days making thirty-one miles. So much for travelling in a\nnew country.\nFor the information of tourists, it may be here stated, that\nthey can always in uncertain weather depend upon being safe\nin Chinook or salt-water canoes. These are larger, and of a\ndifferent build, to the \" shovel-nosed\" or small flat-bottomed\ncanoes, requiring at least two Indians to manage one. On no\naccount should white men unaccustomed to these waters attempt to navigate them in canoes without Indians in doubtful\nweather. There are many sad instances on record of loss of\nlife from this cause.\nAt Coupeville, I passed a week very pleasantly at the house\nof Major Haller, late on the staff of General M'Clellan. In\nthe pure moral atmosphere and refined society of this happy\nhome\u2014one perhaps endeared to its denizens by the difficulties\nwith which, in a new country, it was created\u2014I rested awhile\nfrom my wanderings; and returned to Port Townsend for\nthe winter, braced up anew to fight the battle of life, and\nstrengthened for the season's work.\nAfter the Christmas holidays, I went across the sound to\nlook at the harbour of. Muckilteo. The steamer touches at\nTulalip, which is ten miles to the north of Muckilteo, and is\nthe largest Indian reservation on the sound, embracing five\ndistricts. The number of Indians is about 3,000; there are\ntwenty-five tribes,\u2014some of these do not number more than\nfifteen to twenty; the largest is 300. They are decreasing at\nthe rate of ten per cent, per annum. Father Chirouse, who has\nbeen on the coast for twenty years, and is so well known for\nhis efforts to ameliorate the condition of the red man, conducts\na mission here, in conjunction with two assistants. There is a\nschool where sixty children are fed, clothed, and educated; it\nis superintended by four sisters of charity, and is kept open five\nhours a day. The remainder is devoted to clearing land, building fences, and other pursuits of agriculture. There is a stock\nranch of 500 acres, and some of the Indians possess cattle.\nThey also work a saw-mill; and one of them is so intelligent\nthat he acts as book-keeper. They take contracts for getting\nout logs for the Port Gamble Mill Company, finding their own\nmaterials and provisions, paying the teamster (who is a white\nman), and otherwise managing the whole business without white\nlabour or superintendence. The girls are taught the domestic\narts, and even the etiquette of social life ; they are also taught\nto play on the piano and melodeon. There is a fine chapel\nattached to the mission; it contains a cabinet organ, which is\nplayed by one of the scholars. The children\u2014of whom one half\nare boys, the others girls\u2014are taken away from their parents\nentirely. This is found to be the only true system to eradicate\ntheir wild habits. The school accommodation was not sufficient\nfor the demands on it, and a new balding was added in the\nfall of 1870.\nFrom time to time, Father Chirouse takes a few of the more\nadvanced pupils to the different mills on the sound, and holds\nexhibitions; when recitations, Indian dances, scalping scenes,\nand the Tomanawos or medicine-man mysteries, are acted.\nThey also answer questions in geography and the history of\nthe country. Besides the agent, there is a doctor, a blacksmith,\na carpenter, and a clerk. Captain Hill, U.S.A., the resident\nagent, informed me that he had much trouble with the Indians;\nthat they were like children, and came to him with every little\ntrouble that arose, oftentimes about something that is not the\nvalue of two bits. It is interesting to notice that in the list of\noffences, one of the most common is that of stealing one\nanother's wives. The greatest difficulty Captain Hill had to\ncontend with is whisky selling. There are a low degraded\nclass of white people hanging around, as many as thirty being\nemployed in this infamous traffic; and it is generally impossible\nto prosecute them from the difficulty of getting proof.\nMuckilteo aspired to be the terminus of the Northern Pacific\nRailroad, and future great city of the North-West. It does not\ngive much promise at present of future greatness, for as we drew\nup to the wharf, only one man could be discerned on it, and three\npigs on the beach. The land around belongs principally to\nMessrs. Frost and Fowler, who kindly accommodated me during\nmy stay here. \"Squire Frost\" is a member of the Legislature,\nand the firm own a lager beer brewery, which supplies Port\nTownsend and the neighbouring mills with this mild beverage.\nA steam-tug passing by, the captain kindly gave me a passage\nover to Port Gamble; thence I got to Port Townsend in a little\nsloop or plunger,* the regular steamer not being due; and this\nconcluded my labours, though I visited the sound the ensuing\nsummer, and gathered fresh material for this narrative.\nWe will now consider the passes across the Cascade\nRange, which have been proposed for the passage to the railroad to the sound. The chain borders the eastern side of\nit, running north and south at an average distance of about\nseventy-five miles from the coast, and rising to a height of\nbetween 6,000 to 7,000 feet above the sea.\nOn looking at a map of the proposed route for the railroad,\nit will be seen that after leaving Lake Superior, the line takes\na direction almost due west to Pen d'Oreille, Lake Kootenay,\nnear latitude 48 degrees, and longitude 116 degrees; instead\nthen of making direct for the salt water, it deviates from its\ncourse, and takes a great bend to the south-west by way of\nWalla Walla, but should the line or a branch from it be carried\nafter leaving Pen d'Oreille across the Spokane Valley, direct\nto the northern end of the sound, so as to secure the nearest\nharbour to the ocean, it must strike salt water at a point in the\nneighbourhood of the Snohomish, Skagit, or Lummi rivers\nIn the event of there not being a practicable pass through the\nCascade Range in this neighbourhood, it is still open to the\n* There is a considerable number of these small craft plying on the\nsound, both for freight and passengers. In the absence of the regular\nsteamers, the traveller, if pressed for time, can generally hire one at a\nmoderate cost, especially when, as is notunfrequentlythe case, there are one\nor two more willing to join. \" Bunks \" are fitted up in the cabins, but the\ntraveller must provide his own blankets. And the skipper will fry a steak\nand make a cup of tea or coffee, at the regular hours, without extra charge.\nThose who wish to see the country leisurely will find this mode of travelling\nvery independent and very pleasant. 356\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\ndirectors of the railroad^ should they decide on bringing it by\nway of the Snoqualmie, or any one of the passes to the south of\nthat, to carry a line along the shores of the Sound to Whidbey\nIsland or Bellingham Bay, the country being open, and not presenting engineering difficulties. The passes hitherto proposed\nare five in number, viz. :\u2014i, The Skagit Pass; 2, Cady's\nPass;   3,  Snoqualmie  Pass;   4,   Natchez Pass;   5, Cowlitz\nPass.\nTo these I propose to add three more, which, on investigation, appear to me to be worthy of consideration, viz. :\n6, A passage between Bellingham Bay and the eastern side\nWenachee nearly on the same ground, hence the pass to the\nSawk should have about the elevation of 5,117 feet,* but owing\nto the lateness of the season the party failed to reach the summit\nby about twenty-five miles. If the pass to the Sawk is as low\nas that to the Skykomish, it will prove very clearly the best\nroute for an easy descent from the Wenachee summit to the\nSound.\" t From the summit of the Wenachee to the Columbia River is sixty miles. \"For fifty miles from the north\nof the Snohomish River, the valley is most favourable for\nrailroad construction, the land of excellent quality, and the\ntimber large, perfect, and abundant.\"    Mr. Treadway, in his\nA SETTLEMENT   IN   WASHINGTON TERRITORY.\n4\nof the mountains south of Mount Baker; 7, a proposed pass\nto the north of the Natchez; 8, a pass to the south of Mount\nRainier.\nSkagit Pass.\u2014There is reason to believe that one exists\nin the neighbourhood of this river, lower than the Snoqualmie,\nas it is the only stream which cuts through the Cascade Range,\nand being the largest river in the territory, it is reasonable to\nsuppose that its valley must afford a practicable pass at some\npoint. Surveying parties have been out the last two summers\nto explore this section of the country. Their reports have not\nyet been printed, but it is known that a route by the Skagit\nwill be ninety miles shorter than any other.\nCady's Pass.\u2014This was explored by Mr. Carleton, under\nthe direction of General Tilton, assistant engineer to the\nrailroad company. It is situated between the head-waters of\nthe north and south forks of the Skykomish; its elevation was\nfound to be 6,147 feet above the sea; \" from it to the south-east\nanother summit was found between the main south fork of the\nSkykomish, and the Wenachee, which was found to be 1,030\nfeet lower, giving for the latter summit an elevation of 5,117 feet\nThe Sawk and the Skykomish have their connection with the\nreport of the examination of the Skagit (embodied in Mr.\nJohnson's), mentions the existence of a trail or portage only\nthree miles long, from the waters of the Sawk, southerly to\nthose of the Steilaquamish, five miles above the Suiatl branch\nof the Sawk; where the elevation of the former is only 1,270\nfeet above the sea. The shortness of this portage indicates\nthe possibility of a depression at this point which will permit a\nline to descend from the Wenachee summit by a lower gradient\nand enter the Steilaquamish Valley, where an easier descent to\nthe sound may possibly be effected than by following in the\nvalley of the Skagit.\nSnoqualmie Pass.\u2014This was fully described in the first\n\"article on this subject, to which the reader is therefore referred.\nBut it should be mentioned here that though the height and\nsteepness of the adjoining pass of Cedar River, or Yakima,\nrenders it unfit for the passage of a railroad, it is possible that\na line brought by way of the Snoqualmie Pass may, after crossing the summit, follow the Cedar River Valley to the sound, the\n* Report of Edwin F. Johnson, late Engineer-in-chief to the Board of\nDirectors, April 1869.\nt Ibid. ZZ^L^^^VHE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.\nA     X.   \u2022 3S7\ngrade being more uniform and gentle than thai- nffu e\u201e\u201e\u201e   ^   I        , \"\nmie Valley. g ^ *\"< \u00b0f &e Sn0<lual-    road <*s* of the Columbia River is brought to that at a point near\nCowlitz Pass. \u2014This is about H rll 1 HIH ^ \u21220Uth \u00b0f the Yakima' the distance froni this point to a\nRainier, and has been expfored by th   M^iH    M \" ^ ^ M H \u00ab\u00bb* - Seattle is fo^nd\ny company.    Its | to be about fifty miles longer by the Cowlitz than by theSno.\n^rsr^^^^-^P^P\nv^s^\nVIEW  ON   PUGfcT   SOl'ND.\nheight was found to be 4,210 feet above the sea, or 1,110 feet\nhigher than the Snoqualmie Pass. *    \"If the main line of the\n* This is an error. On a journey made in the direction of this pass, I\nfound that \"Bear Prairie,\" which is the divide between the Cowlitz and\nNisqually rivers, was 2,781 feet above the sea, by aneroid barometer.\nNow, this is the point from which the railroad surveying party commenced\ntaking their altitudes; and from some measurements made along the Nisqually Valley, they assumed Bear Prairie to be 1,770 feet above the sea level,\nand having found the summit of ihe pass to be 2,440 feet above Bear Prairie\ngave the total altitude as above.    But according to my observation as above\nqualmie Pass line, while this latter has\" greatly the advantage in\na less elevation of its summit, in a less extent of maximum\ngrade, in curvature, and in probable cost.\"+\nA passage between Bellingham Bay and the eastern side\nof the mountains (not now used).\u2014There is a tradition among\ngiven, the summit of the pass must be about 5,221 feet above the sea or\n2,211 feet higher than the Snoqualmie Pass, the aneroid only giving an\napproximate result.\nt Mr. Johnson's Report. 358\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nthe Indians at the bay that this pass was formerly used by\ntheir ancestors. The Lummis and those living on the eastern\nside were at war. During a battle Mount Baker burst forth,\nthe fires from the volcanoes destroyed the trails, and they have\nnever since been used. Another tradition is, that the Lummis,\nbeing worsted in battle during their retreat, set fire to the\nforests and destroyed the trails to prevent their enemies following them. I requested the Hon. C. E. Finkboner, in\ncharge of the Lummi Reservation, to make inquiries among\nthe Indians. He informed me that the Nootsac Indians, who\noccupy the upper portion of the river, report that they formerly\npassed over a trail from the head-waters of the south fork of\nthe Lummi to the head-waters of the north fork of the Skagit\nor Baker's River (the latter flowing into the former south of\nMount Baker); that some of their people have even hauled\ncanoes over it, and packed large loads down the Skagit, and\nthey pronounce it passable even at this day. But it is necessary to state that these reports should be taken with caution,\nas Indian trails are not generally the most practicable route for\na railroad.\nA proposed pass to the north of the Natchez.\u2014This is in\nthe immediate neighbourhood of the above, and would start from\nthe point on the Natchez River at the eastern side of the pass,\nwhere the old wagon road commences to ascend it. \" Deviating north about one mile, it would pass up the small branch\nrunning parallel with and north of the wagon road; after\nentering the mountains by this gorge about ten miles, the road\nwould then turn sharp and pass through the Cascades with a\n\u2022 tunnel of less than one mile in length, and at a lower altitude\nthan can be had on the Snoqualmie Pass, with a tunnel of four\nmiles in length. Passing out of the tunnel, the road would\ncontinue down Green River to White River, and thence on to\nPuget Sound. By the Snoqualmie Pass to Puget Sound, the\ndistance would be ninety miles farther; the mountains would\nhave to be crossed at an elevation of at least 800 feet greater,\nand by a tunnel' of four or five miles, instead of less than\none mile in length. The approaches to the Snoqualmie, especially on the east, are much longer and more difficult, where,\non the west side, the road must leave a direct line, bear south\nand run down Cedar River, or encounter a perpendicular descent\nat the Snoqualmie Falls of 272 feet, and in a mountain gorge\nwhere it is impossible to distribute the grade. After issuing from\nthe mountains by the Natchez Pass, the road can, by building\nabout thirty miles additional, reach Seattle, Tacoma, and Steilacoom, or even intersect the proposed road from the Columbia\nRiver, at or near the head of the sound. The route by the\nNatchez Pass will be found 100 miles the shortest, and cost\nless per mile to construct. The course of this route is almost\nan air line. It traverses the best lands east of the mountains,\nand the best and largest body of timber on the Pacific slope.\nWhite River and the adjacent streams abound in coal of excellent quality. East of the mountains the Wenass, Yakima,\nColumbia, and Spokane valleys, contain thousands of acres of\nas fine farming lands as any in the country.\" *\nA pass to the south of Mount Rainier (doubtful).\u2014A\nreport is cun'ent at Steilacoom, that there is a pass immediately\nto the south of Mount Rainier, between the Cowlitz Pass and\nMountain, within two or three miles of it; which does not,\naccording to the Indians, contain more than a foot of snow\nupon it in the depth of winter. I have not been able to get\nany definite information concerning it, as no white man has\nbeen across. Mr. Johnson, in his report before quoted, mentions a valley at the east fork of the Cowlitz, and that it | is\nlow where it leaves the Cowlitz, only 1,310 feet by the survey,\nabove the sea.\"t\nThe foregoing pages contain the leading facts on the\nsubject of this great enterprise. It is difficult to say whether\nrailroad directors have chosen the best site for the terminus:\nbe that as it may, a future radiant with the rainbow of promise\nopens out before the dwellers of the land; and they who have\ninaugurated this great undertaking may say, in no proud spirit\nof vaunting, that they will have delivered a new. message of\npeace and goodwill to the nations\u2014one that shall bind the\nEast and West in one unbroken link; so that \" the solitary\nplace shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom'\nas the rose.\" *\n* Mr. L. P. Beach, in the Pacific Tribune, Olympia paper,\nt This is probably estimated too low, see note on page 357.\n% The author desires his acknowledgments to  Mr. J. G. Swan for\ncertain statistical information in these articles.\nThe Government Expedition Round the World.-\u2014III.\nBY CAPTAIN J.   E.  DAVIS, R.N.\nAt Simon's Bay the Challenger was thoroughly refitted, and\npreparations made for the stormy weather likely to be experienced in the Antarctic Seas. The accumulated collection\nof natural history specimens was duly looked to, cased, and\ndispatched for England; and, having bid adieu to friends, the'\nship sailed on her voyage, on the 17th of December, having\non that day been (within a few days) just a year from England. .\nStrong westerly winds carried the expedition swiftly towards\nPrince Edward Islands, and the usual thick drizzling weather\nof those latitudes accompanied them, but the ship was well\nfound, and by a timely supply of good warm clothing gratui\ntously furnished to the men, they were equally prepared with\nthe ship for the work before them.\nChristmas Day was anything but a merry one, and the unseemly croak of a penguin that suddenly rose alongside did\nnot cheer them on the way. Still it was Christmas Day, and\nthey were not without the means of good cheer in a hearty\ndinner and pleasant companionship, which makes Christmas\nChristmas still, wherever it is passed. On the evening of that\nday the weather cleared, and Marion Island was first, and\nPrince Edward Island shortly after, seen, their summits being\nshrouded in mist.\nMarion Island rises upwards of 4,000 feet above the sea, THE GOVERNMENT EXPEDITION ROUND THE WOR\nand is completely snow-capped. The summit is about four\nmiles across, and presents the appearance of a series of rugged\nnipples. On the slopes are numerous extinct craters, some\nwith the red volcanic ashes round them, and the sides of the\nhills are thickly studded with lava boulders. The island is\nabout 35 miles round its shores. Prince Edward Island is not\nso large, being only 15 miles in circumference. It lies 13 miles\nto the north-east of Marion.\nOn the 26th, the weather being moderately fine, the\nChallenger bore up for Marion, and succeeded in landing on\nthe lee side; the scientific staff, with the surveyors, were\nsoon at work collecting all within their reach, whilst the ship\npassed backwards and forwards between the islands dredging.'\nThe ground round the shore is very uneven; spurs coming\ndown from the mountains with deep valleys or gullies between\nthem, down which poured the ice-cold water from the melting\nsnow above, keeping the mixture of moss and grass which\nlined the sides so saturated with water that it more resembled\na bog than anything else.\nThe Kerguelen cabbage was found in great quantities, and\nproved a very acceptable addition to the table, notwithstanding\nits slightly medicinal flavour;  but the great feature  of the\nisland was the birds' nests, the ground being literally covered\nwith them, for while the smaller birds' took refuge and built\nin the hollows of the ground, the larger albatrosses covered\nthe higher'ground, their nests being raised about two feet\nabove the surface.    The birds took no notice of the intruders,\nand did not move  from their nests, that of the  albatross\nbeing easily robbed by thrusting the mother bird off the side of\nthe nest with a stick, and taking the egg before she could recover her equilibrium.    They snap with their huge beaks, and\nmake an ugly wound if they succeed in hitting an uncovered\npart.     Three species of penguins  were found.     The king\npenguin lays its egg without a nest, and if disturbed will take\nup the egg between.its legs in a fold of the skin under the\nbelly, and hop away out of danger, again sitting on the egg\nwherever she stops.\nAn attempt was made to land on Prince Edward Island,\nbut without success, and the  Challenger bore away for the\nCrozet Islands.    Hog Island, the westernmost of this group,\nwas made on the 30th, in the evening; and next morning all\nthat could be seen of it were the breakers on the rocky fringe of\nits shores.    Penguin Island was also seen through the mist, the\nsummits of both appearing as sharp pinnacles.    On the after-\n' noon of the 2nd January a fine view was obtained of both\nPossession and East Islands, the two peaks of the first-named\nrising to nearly 5,000 feet above the sea.    As the Challenger\napproached this island, it was found that the sun shone on it\ncontinuously, the ship suddenly passing out of the fog into\nbeautifully clear weather, whilst behind her the fog; formed a\ndense wall.    The lofty hills of the island had the effect of dispersing or absorbing the fog, leaving the lee side of the island\nclear- and it was observed that the albatrosses took advantage\nof this meteorological fact, invariably building their^nests on\nthe lee side, as not one could be discovered on the weather\n* SidThe Challenger approached to within half a mile of Navire\nBav and saw the ruins of a hut and some casks near it, but\nthere was To much swell on to land. She, however fired a\ngun and remained some-time to attract attention, lest any\nhuman being should be on the island, but finding no response,\nshe steered away for Kerguelen Island, and on the morning of\nthe 7 th anchored in Christmas Harbour.\nAs the visit of the expedition to Kerguelen Island was\nprincipally to collect facts bearing on the establishment of a\nposition from which the transit of Venus (taking place on the\n9th of December, 1874) could with greatest chance of success\nbe observed, no time was lost in collecting this information, by\nsurveying various harbours, and noting the localities which,\nwith the same meteorological conditions as were found at\nPossession Island, were most clear from the almost proverbial\nmist of these latitudes. The ship visited Betsy Cove in\nAccessible Bay, Island Harbour in Royal Sound, Greenland\nand Cascade Harbours, all of which places were surveyed and\notherwise examined, to an extent that the time at disposal\nwould admit of.\nAt Betsy Cove\u2014or, as it is called by the whaling and\nsealing fraternity, Pot Harbour, from the fact of its being much\nfrequented for the purpose of frying down the blubber to oil\u2014\nthey fell in with a sealing schooner, and at Island Harbour\nwith another\u2014two of a small squadron owned by the same\nfirm of Americans, and employed at Kerguelen and Heard\nIslands in seal and whale hunting. From the masters of these\nvessels much valuable information was obtained, which their\nlengthened stay at the islands enabled them to give.\nThe scenery in Royal Sound is described as being very fine,\nand many photographic views were taken of the neighbourhood. Ducks were plentiful, and many interesting'additions\nwere made to the natural history collection, but the uncertainty\nof the weather was not favourable to the work, and it was only\nby taking advantage of every moment, as the weather cleared,\nthat anything could be done.\nOn the 27 th of January the Challenger again cast anchor in\nChristmas Harbour, and a cairn was erected on the north-east\npoint of the harbour, within which was deposited a notice of\nthe proceedings of the ship, with meteorological register, and\nall other information obtained,-for the use of the observers of\nthe transit of Venus. This was done as a precaution, as it was\nnot known if, after the arrival of the expedition at Melbourne,\nthere would be time to transmit the intelligence to England\nprior to the sailing of the transit expedition.\nOn the last day of January the expedition left Christmas\nHarbour, and after passing round to the south point of the\nisland (which was named Cape Challenger), it bore away for\nHeard Island.\nBetween Kerguelen and Heard Islands much unevenness\nof bottom was found; midway 150 fathoms was obtained, and\ntwo soundings of less than 100 fathoms were had, whilst at\nother times no bottom was obtained with 220 and 425 fathoms\nof line.\n'Light airs and fogs prevailing, it was not until the morning\nof the 6th that Meyer's Rock and M'Donald Island were\nsighted, and soon after Heard Island was seen to the eastward.\nThe same afternoon the CMlenger anchored in Corinthian\n^Heard Island, the principal of the group, is 25 miles long,\nand about 7 broad; it has no good harbour, and the protection\nto vessels is only due to the direction of the wind and the set\nof the swell. The mountains in the centre are said to be\n6,000 feet high, and are covered with ice and snow and\nfrom which glaciers extend to the sea, the melted water from\nthem extending some distance from the shore, and in some 360\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nplaces the muddy stream discolouring the sea-water a quarter\nof a mile ofi.\nCaptain Nares pronounced Heard Island as an unfavourable position for observing the transit of Venus, preferring two\npositions on Kerguelen Island.\nA sudden fall of the barometer prevented the expedition\nremaining at Heard Island so long as Captain Nares wished,\nand, taking its warning, he put to sea\u2014not before it was\ntime, for on clearing the north end of the island a northerly\ngale broke on the vessel, and on the next morning a heavy sea\nstruck the ship, and stove in the two foremost ports on the\nmain deck, washing everything out of the sick bay; but as the\nday advanced the wind moderated, and the sun shone with\ngreat brilliancy.\nOn the nth of February the first iceberg was seen, in latitude 6o\u00b0 52'. It was about 700 feet long and 200 feet high, and\ngreatly was the sight of one of these floating ice-islands enjoyed\nby those who had never seen one before; but, as is usual, their\nfrequency and danger soon put an end to the enjoyment, and\nthe hearty wish of the experienced is that they may never see\nanother. On this day soundings were had in 1,250 fathoms,\nafter which a most successful haul with the dredge was made.\nOn the night of the 13th, and with a thick fog, the Challenger ran into the ice-pack, but before any damage was done\nshe was enabled to force her way out. , As the ship was not\nstrengthened for resisting collisions with ice, it was not prudent\nto run greater risks than was necessary, so she was \"hove to\"\nfor the night. The next morning she was near the edge of a\nclose pack, through which no lanes of water could be seen\nfrom the mast-head, another sight of wonder to the uninitiated.\nThe Antarctic Circle was crossed on the 16th of February,\nin longitude 780 22' east, the ship having followed the western\nedge of the pack for 150 miles, which now trended north-east\nFollowing this edge they rounded the north end, and kept to\nthe eastward, towards the \" Termination Land \" of Wilkes. On\nthe 18th heavy falls of snow were experienced, the temperature\nfalling to 220. On the 20th, seventy-eight icebergs were seen\nfrom the ship's deck. The following day, as the weather was\nfine and the sea smooth, an iceberg was successfully photographed, and then two shots were fired into it from the 12-\npounder gun. The first shot, which was fired from the distance of only about 30 yards, brought down a great quantity\nof fragments, but the second merely buried itself in the ice.\n. On the 23rd, in the evening, the pack was again met with,\nand the ship being then about twenty miles from Termination\nLand, a good look-out was kept for it. The ship was.much\nnearer the position of it than Captain Wilkes had been, but,\nalthough the weather was fine and clear, no land could be in\nthe position assigned to it.\nOn the 24th, a sudden gale sprang up, which brought with\nit thick weather; whereupon, for the purpose of shortening sail,\nthe ship was taken under the lee of an iceberg, and whilst in\nthat position a sudden lull in the wind occurred, causing the ship\nto forge ahead, and strike the berg with such effect as to carry\naway the jib-boom, but fortunately without doing any damage\nto the ship. Heavy falls of snow, added to the heavy gale,\nrendered the position of the vessel, surrounded as she was by\nicebergs, most critical, for the length of the ship could not be\nseen through at any time. In the afternoon, and during the\nheaviest part of the gale, a berg was seen to leeward, close to\nthe ship, and on to which she was drifting. There being no\nroom to steam ahead to pass it, the only alternative was to\nback the sails, and steam astern full speed. Fortunately the\nship gathered sternway, and just cleared it. After clearing it,\nCaptain Nares tried to get under its lee, to use it as a breakwater, but the gale was blowing so hard that the ship could not\nbe brought head to wind, and she was obliged to be allowed to\ndrift. Fortunately, before night fell, during a lull, the ship was\nbrought round under the lee of a berg, and as the' space between the two icebergs was now known to be clear, she was\nkept drifting backwards and forwards between them throughout\nthe night.\nThe following day was fine, and the pack being near\nand open, the ship was run some distance within the edge,\nagain approaching Termination Land, and this time to within\nfifteen miles of its assigned position without its being seen.\nOn the 26th of February, after sounding in 1,975 fathoms\nand dredging, another gale suddenly sprang up, and another\nperiod of intense anxiety was anticipated; but, fortunately, on\nthis occasion one of the much-dreaded icebergs relieved them\nby giving its friendly aid, the ship, by means of steam, being\nenabled to keep her position under its lee throughout the night.\nThe next day the Challenger bore up for Melbourne, the last\niceberg being seen on the 4th of March, in latitude 53\u00b0 17'\nsouth, longitude 1090 23' east. The expedition reached\nMelbourne on St. Patrick's Day.\nSenegambia ; With an Account of Recent French Operations in West Africa. XII.\nBY  LIEUTENANT  C.   R.   LOW,   (LATE)   H.M.   INDIAN   NAVY.\nWhen it was known at Gu^mou that a hostile force had\nreached Bakel, Sire- Adama and his followers would not allow\nany arrangements to be made for the safety of the women and\nchildren, being determined to repulse the attack or perish together in the attempt. The flotilla, under the direction of Commander Desmarais, landed at Diogountoro, on the afternoon of\nthe 24th of October, 1859, a column of troops with Colonel\nFaron in command; Lieutenant Vincent, chief of the staff; and\nSurgeon Mahe-, of the Navy, in charge of the ambulance.\nThe column was composed as follows, viz.:\u2014400 volunteers\nfrom Bakel, Bondou, and Gadiaga, under the command of\nCaptains Cornu and Flize of the Marines, the former the\ncommandant of Bakel; 200 men of the 4th Regiment of\nMarines,  under  Captain  Millet;    256  native  sailors,  under \\1ty\np\n2;\n\u25a0\n286 3$2\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\ny&\nCommander Aube; 490 men of the Senegalese battalion of\ntirailleurs, under Captain Pineau; 50 Spahis, under Lieutenant\nde Casal; 400 volunteers from up country, under the command\nof the Bondou chief, Boubakar-Saada; 44 marine artillery,\nwith 4 mountain howitzers, under Captain Vincent; 5 artillery\nhorses to draw the guns, and 8 mules, completed the total.\nThe ammunition boxes were carried by hand, and the troops\nwere supplied with sixty rounds of ammunition and provisions\nfor two days, per man.\nThe distance from Diogountoro to Gue'mou is about eight\nmiles, and after the first few hundred yards of plain, a small\nstream, about thirty feet wide and eighteen inches deep, has to\nbe crossed, after which the nature of the jungle for the next\nfive miles is such as to compel a march in single file; it then\nbegins to become gradually less dense; and after another mile\nhas been traversed, open ground is again met with. The\nvillage becomes visible at about seven miles from the starting-\npoint, and is apparently about one mile distant. Having now\narrived in sight of the object of attack, the position was carefully reconnoitred by the commander of the expedition; and\nCaptain Vincent received orders to take up a position with\ntwo of the howitzers, about 500 yards from the west front,\nwhich was the side immediately facing the direction of their\napproach. The first few shots dislodged some of the defenders\nwho had been posted in the ambuscades in advance of the\nfront now being attacked; and as they were seen to enter the\nmain work through gaps purposely left in the wall of the south\nside, the French naturally concluded that similar means of\n.ingress and egress were provided in the north face. The\ntwo remaining howitzers were now brought up, and added\ntheir fire to that of the two already in position, and at the\nsame time two sections, consisting of about fifty marines,\nadvanced in skirmishing order towards the extremities of the\nfront attacked, to watch the north and south faces. Colonel\nFaron then determined to assault the two last-named fronts, as\nthe gaps already alluded to would greatly facilitate the entry, of\nthe attacking party; and to carry out his intention divided his\nforces into two columns of attack. The left column, which was\nto operate against the north face, was placed under the orders\nof Commander Aube, and consisted of two sections of infantry\nand two of laptots; whilst the light column, which was to attack\nthe south face, was made up of a section of Spahis and four\nsections of Senegalese tirailleurs, under the command of Cap.\ntain Pineau. The volunteers were ordered to take up positions on the extreme right and left of these columns. The\nartillery were then ordered to advance, and opening a heavy\nfire at 200 yards, many of the defenders were dislodged and\ndriven out of their ambuscades. A number of the inhabitants\nwere then observed to make their escape towards some woody\nhillocks lying some distance off to the rear, upon which the\ntirailleurs were ordered to extend, and encircle the enceinte,\nso that they might either kill or capture all those who should\nseek safety in flight.\nThe time for a general advance having now arrived, Pineau's\ncolumn was reinforced by two sections of laptots; whilst the\nreserve, composed of the artillery and four sections of Senegalese\ntirailleurs, got into a position as soon as all stragglers had been\nwhipped up. The artillery having received orders to cease\nfiring as soon as the assaulting columns had entered the fort,\nthe two columns were moved forward to the attack, with instructions to make good use of their bayonets.    The right column,\nthe first to arrive at the point of attack, received the fire of the\ndefenders still in ambush, from the very muzzles of their pieces,\nand at the same time a brisk fire was kept up upon them from'\nthe loop-holes in the inner and outer lines of defence. The\nFrench consequently suffered severely; several were wounded,\namongst others, Sub-Lieutenant de Casal, who was shot through\nthe thigh. The coloured troops, unable to divest themselves of\ntheir native ideas of warfare, even after one or two years' training,\ninsisting on lying down and firing from a recumbent position, in\nspite of the remonstrances and example of their officers, who\nentreated them to continue their advance. As it was_ of importance that the right column should have effected its purpose\nbefore the left reached the walls of the fort, Colonel Faron,\nseeing how matters stood with the former, at once galloped to\nthe front and assumed command. At the sound of his voice\norder was restored, and Spahis, laptots, and tirailleurs, at once\nrising and following their gallant leader, who received a slight\nwound from a musket-ball, rushed into the interior of the fort\nthrough the gaps in the outer wall. The defenders were driven\nback on all sides, and the troops, following their officers, continued their advance until they were brought up by a wall\nhaving externally the same appearance as the defences of the\ngroups of huts\u2014which latter had been fired in all directions\n\u2014but which they soon discovered to be the redoubt already\ndescribed, and a work not to be taken without much difficulty\nand loss of life. The casualties on the side of the French\nwere already numerous enough, for Lieutenant Delentre,\nMidshipman Bourrel, and Sub-Lieutenant Lambert, with several\nothers, were already hors de combat; and Colonel Faron, seeing\nthe critical position of the column, and feeling that it was\nnecessary to take decisive measures for the attack of this\n-entrenchment, ordered the troops to fall back; he had no\nsooner done so than he received two bullet wounds, one of\nthem in the cheek. Just at this moment the head of the left\ncolumn made its appearance, having met with less resistance,\nand Commander Aube was congratulating Colonel Faron on the\nsuccess of the enterprise, when the latter, pointing to the formidable obstruction which held them in check, quickly revealed\nto him the real state of affairs. Scarcely had he finished\nspeaking, when he received a fourth wound from a bullet\nwhich struck him in the upper part of the breast and completely\ndisabled his right arm. Already faint from loss of blood, he\nwas compelled to hand over the command of the attack to\nCommander Aube, the senior officer present, and, dismounting,\nwas carried to the rear, from whence he continued to issue his\norders. It was now deemed advisable to make arrangements\nfor breaching the face of the redoubt; and, for this purpose, two\nof the howitzers were brought up to within twenty-five yards of\nthe redoubt, under command of a young officer named Cintre',\nwho showed the greatest intrepidity, and stimulated his men to\nfresh exertions by his courageous example. After a considerable\nquantity of ammunition had been expended, the breach, after\nexamination, was not considered practicable. It was now half-\npast ten, the heat was excessive, and the troops were very\nfatigued; a little rest was therefore found to be absolutely\nnecessary before returning to the attack. During the short\ninterval of repose that was permitted, Commander Aube, an\nable and brave officer, assisted by Lieutenant Vincent, made a\ncareful reconnaissance of the position. The other officers also\nwere not idle, for Midshipman Mage, a smart and intelligent\nyoung fellow with Sub-Lieutenant Lecreurer, had rallied round SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH  OPERATIONS IN WEST AFRICA.\n363\nthem some men from the different corps, and were very shortly\nafterwards joined by Lieutenants Monquin and Jacquet, with\ntwo sections of European troops, with which force they\ncompletely blockaded the redoubt. In the meantime, Captain\nFlize was instructed to inform the commanding officer, Colonel\nFaron, of the state of affairs, and to beg him to send a further\nsupply of ammunition; Lieutenant Benech had also received\norders to carry off the wounded, who had remained in the\nvicinity of the redoubt since the commencement of the attack,\nwith but scant protection from the burning rays of the sun.\nThe mission was effected, but not without loss of life; for\nLieutenant Benech, the officer in charge, who had, poor fellow,\nearned for himself a good reputation and was much respected,,\nwas laid low by a ball which struck him in the forehead; and\nit is worthy of note that the French remarked that, throughout\nthe whole of the engagement, all those who were killed on their\nside were struck in the head.\nTowards noon, Colonel Faron ordered Commander Aube\nto make a fresh attempt with Captain Vincent's artillery and a\nreinforcement of fifty picked men, under the command of Captain\nMillet, an officer full of pluck and sang-froid; and after an hour\nand a quarter's pounding by the artillery, an effort was made to\ncarry the work by storm; but the attacking party were repulsed,\nthe breaches not being practicable. The artillery then resumed\ntheir fire, but, having expended all their ammunition in a quarter\nof an hour, a second assault was determined on. Sub-Lieutenant Jacquet, followed by two or three men of the marines,\nwas the first to enter the redoubt, and was closely followed by\nLieutenant Monquin, Captain Millet,, and Midshipman Mage,\nwith some Europeans and natives. The forty or fifty survivors\nof the defence were quickly dispatched by the bayonets of the\nassaulting party; not, however, without a stubborn resistance, in\nwhich Lieutenant Monquin was severely wounded. Sire\" Adama\nand the chiefs who were with him died without showing the\nslightest symptoms of fear. All was over now, and the gallant\nefforts of the French and their allies were at last crowried with\nsuccess. The volunteers could not be restrained from plundering\nthe village, but the rest of the troops were satisfied to carry\naway their dead. The French losses amounted to one officer\nand thirty-eight men killed, and six officers and ninety men\nwounded, including the volunteers; whilst those of the enemy\namounted to 250 killed, and 1,500 who were made prisoners.\nColonel Faron ordered the men back to camp about four\np.m., and arrangements were at once made for conveying\nthe wounded back to Diogountoro. The officer of engineers,\nSant by name, a man of considerable skill and energy, was\nthen instructed to blow up the works, and a sufficient quantity\nof powder for the purpose was happily found inside the\nvillage. The fields of millet, almost ripe, were also fired\nby the volunteers, apparently an extreme act, but one which\nwas necessitated by the exigencies of the case. Captains\nCornu and Flize were further instructed to march upon\nKomendao, a dependency of Guemou, with a party ot volunteers, and destroy the village, which was accomplished without\nopposition. The following day was devoted to dispatching\nconvoys to Diogountoro, burying the dead and completing the\ndestruction of the village, and before nightfall the whole of the\ntroops were once again on board the flotilla.\nThe chief honour for the success achieved in this expedition, so glorious to French arms, is of course due to M. Faron.\nThe Governor knew he could not do wrong in placing the utmost\nreliance on his skill and resolution, and the result proved that\nhis confidence was not misplaced. M. Faron, from his first\narrival at Senegal, when he took part in the expedition to Moinre\"\nto attack the camp of the native king, proved that he was\npossessed of no uncommon capacity, which received a brilliant\nconfirmation in this affair at Gudmou.\nTHE ENGLISH ON THE GAMBIA,\u2014CONCLUSION.\nThe author of \"Wanderings in West Africa,\" an acute\nobserver; who has some familiarity with our colonies on the\nGambia, writes of the relative positions of the French and ourselves :\u2014\" The warlike Imperial policy contrasts strongly with\nour Quaker-like peacefulness; about Gambia the natives have\nsneeringly declared that they will submit to the French, who\nare men, but not to us.\" This was penned in 1863, in the\npalmy days of the Empire, when the military expenditure was\nprofuse, and Imperial generals were always on the look-out\nfor pretexts to extend the power and influence of France, but\ncan hardly hold good on the West Coast since Sir Garnet\nWolseley's victorious successes.\nIn consequence of the aggressive conduct of the tribes\nbordering on the British settlements on the Gambia, who were\ninstigated by the Marabout, Mabah, Colonel D'Arcy, in 1861,\nresolved to attempt a more energetic policy than that proposed\nby the Colonial Office.\nTo make the narrative intelligible, we must give some\ndescription of the career of the notorious Mabah, derived from\nthe-works before referred to.\nBorn among the Ouoloff tribe of the kingdom of Saloum,\nand thence expelled for some crime committed at an early\nage, he took refuge in Bathurst, where he worked for some\ntime as a labourer in the carriage of ground-nuts, one of the\nmost important articles of colonial exportation. In the course\nof a few years he had amassed a sufficient sum to enable him\nto take a conspicuous part in the neighbouring kingdom of\nBadiboo, in which, by permission of the Soninke\" king, he\nfounded a town, to which he gave his own name, and in which\nhe took up his abode. Soon after, he embraced Mohammedanism, and was admitted into the priestly order of Marabouts,\nin which he acquired a considerable reputation for sanctity.\nAt this period, and too probably at his instigation, the attacks\non the persons and property of our settlers on the part of the\nKing of Badiboo became so frequent and flagrant as to point\nto the necessity of the most vigorous and decisive measures\nfor preserving the safety of the colony. Taking advantage of\nthe arrival of the Avon transport with the triennial relief on\nboard, the Governor organised an expedition rather of a\ndemonstrative than of an aggressive character; and aided by\nthe prompt co-operation of Commodore Edmonstone, threw\na force of about 800 men of the West India regiments, with a\nhundred of the Gambia Militia Artillery, into Badiboo, the\nmilitary portion of the expedition being commanded by\nLieutenant-Golonel Murray. The natives, who had thrown up\nearthworks to prevent a landing, defended them with great\nspirit, and a few days afterwards resisted the invading force\nwith obstinacy and resolution at the stockade of Sabba, where\nthey were supported by a large body of cavalry. This led on\nto a regular engagement, in which they were signally defeated\nby our troops, and the stockade effectually destroyed, though\nnot without the loss of Lieutenant Hamilton, R.N., and three\nsailors, who fell at his side.     The day after, the principal 364\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nffitfB\nchiefs were sent in, on the part of the king, to sue for peace,\nswearing on the Koran that they would no longer molest our\ntraders, and giving hostages to guarantee their fidelity.\nThe importance of this short campaign, and the value of\nits results were not only recognised in the promotions of those\nwho had contributed to them, but were made the subject of\na complimentary despatch to the Governor from the then\nUnder-Secretary for the Colonies.\nThe course of Mabah during this campaign was singular\nand unexpected. After taking part in the resistance given to\nour troops at the beginning, he soon perceived that it must be\naltogether futile in the end, and at once determined to cast his\nlot with the British, with whom he acted to the close of the\ncampaign. This rendered his position in Badiboo a dangerous\none after the departure of our force, while his new familiarity\nwith European warfare, and his knowledge of the irresistible\npower of religious fanaticism among the native populations,\nsuggested to his mind the idea of a rebellion, in which the\nobjects of his ambition would be fully attained. His early\ncareer had been a sufficient resemblance to that of Mohammed\nhimself, to present the idea that he might be destined in later\nlife to share the military success of the great prophet of his\nfaith, and to claim some portion of his inspiration. Accordingly, he added the prophetic to the priestly order, and placed\nhimself at the head of his followers with such energy in this\nnew character, as to find that he was soon able to overrun the\nkingdom of Badiboo, whose inhabitants only saved themselves\nfrom destruction by crossing the river to the Soninke kingdom\nof Yanimaroo.\nIn April, 1862, the death of the King of Barra produced a\nnew complication, which the Governor had foreseen and endeavoured to avert by exacting an oath from Mabah, that he\nwould not extend his arms beyond Badiboo. But the anarchy\nwhich prevails on the death of a native king, and continues\nduring the three months in which the elective monarchy is in.\nabeyance, offered a temptation to the successful chief which\nhe was unable to resist. The Marabouts who lived in Barra,\nand who had probably invited the intervention of their coreligionist, eagerly joined him when he turned his force against\nthat disorganised kingdom. And here a singular incident\npresented itself. From the mysterious organisation of their\nsystem, the Marabouts, like the Jesuits of old, had become the\nobjects of so deep a terror to the ignorant Soninke's, that the\nbelief spread like a panic through their entire body that a\nMarabout was in every household.\nA paralysis of fear and distrust supervened, and the hosts\nwhich had professed their determination to defend their capital\nand their king to the very last, melted away less before the\ndread of an outward enemy than at the suspicion of an enemy\nwithin their own camp. Escaping to Jessoul, a large Soninke\".\ntown just within the limit of the ceded mile, and sending their,\nwomen and children to the fort for protection, they rallied, and\nawaited the approach of the prophet. But British guns were\nnow too near him to permit him to do more than gaze upon\nthe tempting prize.    The scene was impressive.\nThe prophet-king was in full view of the coveted prey, and\nopposite to the representatives of the British power, under\nwhose protection the terror-stricken exiles had placed themselves, seated on a priedieu chair, and dreamily chanting the\nservices of his religion, his mind being probably more engaged\nin calculating the chances of the conflict he had so nearly\nprovoked. A sudden resolution broke up this strange reverie,\nand rising up as though he had been too long inactive, he\nhastened back to Badiboo, which during his absence had been\ninvaded arid burnt by the native King of Salem.\nIn person, it is said, Mabah was like Saul, towering a whole\nhead and shoulders above his people. He was at the time of\nwhich we speak fifty-five years of age, with a countenance\nseverely disfigured with small-pox, which gave him an almost\nunearthly appearance. At the same time\u2014what is very usual\nin Africans\u2014the conformation of his nose was European, a\nfeature which gave him increased influence among the natives,\nwho attach the idea of a higher 'intellect to the prominence of\nthe bridge of the nose. Such was the personal appearance of\nthis too successful chief.\nA long and dreary course of warfare and reprisals followed,\nthe political results of which were less decisive than the social\nand practical consequences were deplorable. For the beautiful\nBarra country, which had been the granary of our colonies on\nthe Gambia, became a desert, and the wretched cultivators of\nthe soil poured in upon Bathurst, leaving hundreds dead\nalong the path of the mournful exodus, and bringing upon\nthe Governor and the unfortunate colony a weight of misery\nand pauperism, which needed administrative powers of no\nordinary strength and elasticity to support. The civil war in\nthe meantime, which during 1862 had been like a gathering\ntempest rumbling in the distance, was now fast approaching\nthe British possessions, and threatened at any moment to\ninvolve the ceded district on the north of the river in misery\nand ruin.\nMr. Jenkins, in his interesting paper, combats the unaccountable prejudices of many in influential and even official\npositions in England, in regard to the conflict of races and\nreligions in Western Africa. Many such persons even went so\nfar as to assume that \"drunken Pagans\" were being supported\nagainst \"abstemious Mohammedans,\" \"half-idolatrous Soninke's\"\nagainst \" Marabout pietists.\" This is certainly very hard to\nconceive, inasmuch as not only the unanimous expressions of\nthe chiefs of the colony, but the independent testimony of\nGeneral Faidherbe himself, who was actually under the eye of\nthe authorities, whose description of the faithlessness and cruelty\nof the prophet, \" who, under the cloak of religion, as sent by\nGod to propagate Islamism, left nothing but ruins behind\nhim,\" was too truthful a commentary on the recorded experience of Colonel D'Arcy, to permit any intelligent man for\na moment to be the victim of so strange a delusion. It\nshould also be borne in mind the fact that within the ceded\nmile, there were protected towns both of the Marabouts and\ntheir Soninke- rivals, and that the continual and painful difficulty of the Government at Bathurst was by carefully balancing\ntheir claims and pretensions against one another, to prevent\nthem from coming into direct antagonism; The settlement of\nthe Ouoloff chief before referred to, which had been with\ndifficulty tolerated during the calm which succeeded the\ndemonstration at Albreda, soon led the way to an open\nrupture with the British, the capture of ninety head of cattle\nfrom Masambar's grazing-ground, and at the attack of\nSiterninko, a Soninke* town, occurring almost at the same\nmoment.\nThe warning which these outrages provoked from the\nGovernor appeared at first to have some success. But on the\n-?4th Tune, 1866, a sound of heavy  firing from the direction 11\nI 366\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nkSk\nof Bantang-Killing proved to the inhabitants of Bathurst that\nnew difficulties must have arisen within the limits of the British\nprotectorate. The news that Bantang-Killing had been surrounded and attacked by the Marabouts rapidly followed, and\nthat Masambar had, by a vigorous resistance both on the land\nand on the river side, succeeded in beating off his assailants.\nOpportunely assisted by H.M.'s ship Mullet, which had just\nanchored in the harbour, Colonel D'Arcy proceeded up the\nriver, and having raised the blockade which had been formed\nby the Marabouts, discovered the existence of a formidable\nleague against the persecuted chief, between certain towns, all\nlying within the ceded mile, and claiming the protection of the\nBritish flag.\nAs there was no time to write to the Governor of Sierra\nLeone for instructions, and the arrival of a man-of-war in the\nriver presented an opportunity for establishing, probably by a\nmere demonstration of power, the supremacy of England\nwithin the ceded mile, Colonel D'Arcy proceeded up the\nriver in the Mullet, Captain Robinson, R.N., supported by the\nDover, as far as Albreda, at the head of a small but gallant\nforce, consisting of about 350 men, regulars and volunteers,\nwhose disembarkation was completed on the morning of\nthe 28th June. Having-promptly disarmed the Marabout\nresidents in Albreda, who had formed part of the aggressive\nforce at Bantang-Killing, he was joined on the 29th by 500\nallies under the chief of Jessow, who had made common\ncause with Masambar, on account of the unprovoked massacre\nby the Marabouts of the unarmed Soninke's while working\nin the fields, in the attack on Siterninko during the preceding\nweek. Ordering the captain of the Dover to steam up to\nSicca, about four miles from Albreda, by which movement the\ndesertion of the enemy of the stockaded towns of Sicca, and\nJillifree (which were immediately destroyed by the allies) was\neffected, Colonel D'Arcy spent the res.t of the day in preparations for attacking the enemy, whose forces he could now\nforesee would be concentrated in a single stronghold, and\nwhose plan of resistance evidently had long been laid.\nAt six o'clock on the morning of the 30th June, the 4th\nWest India Regiment, under the command of Major Mackay,\nadvanced to Bantang-Killing, where they were joined by\nMasambar's troops, about 250 strong, which formed the left\nwing of this small army, the men of the 4th West India Regiment being in the centre of the force, and about a hundred\nvolunteers, under the immediate command of the Governor\nhimself, in the rear; the allies under the command of Major\nPrimet, of the Gambia volunteers, forming the right flank.\nPassing from Bantang-Killing to Lamin along the bank of the\nriver, and supported by the Mullet, which, dropping down the\nstream, anchored off that place, they found that the town had\nbeen rapidly evacuated, and after destroying it, they proceeded\ntowards Tubaba-Kullong, which they reached about mid-day\nunder the furnace-heat of an African sun in June. Unfortunately during a skirmish in the bush with the Marabouts of\nAljamadoo, who were advancing to the support of their coreligionists, a considerable part of the allies met with a partial\nreverse, and having lost their prince and leader Sarjoo, fell\nback in d.sorder upon the main column, causing a panic\namong the followers and ammunition carriers, who, throwing\naway their burdens, fled in confusion to Albreda,\nTubaba-Kullong\u2014\"the white man's well,\" destined also to\nbecome the white man's grave\u2014was a large, strongly-stockaded\ntown, rising on one side from the river which reached its\ndefences at high tide, and backed by a bold rising ground on\nthe north. It was occupied by a large body of the enemy,\nwho, being well under cover, kept up a continuous and fatal fire\nagainst the assailants of the stockade from the east. The first\ndesign of Colonel D'Arcy was to shell the town from the hill\nwith rockets and howitzers, while the Mullet was supporting\nthe attack with a flank fire; but at this emergency it was found\nthat the supplies which had been brought from Bathurst had\nbeen fatally injured by damp, for the rocket-tubes burst from\niron-mould or otherwise, and that the enemy were able to\nquench the flames; the women being distinctly visible, in the\nglare of the fires, endeavouring, not without success, to\nsuppress the rising flames by means of wet cloths attached to\nlong bamboos\u2014a work to whose almost inevitable perils the\nheaped-up-dead within the fort gave afterwards hideous testimony. Hundreds of warriors were in the meantime defending\nthe stockade with desperate courage, leisurely picking off the\nforemost ranks of the assaulting party, directing their principal\naim at the Governor, who being almost the only officer mounted,\nand being so well known to the natives from his flowing white\nbeard, presented a prominent target to then deadly double-\nbarrelled guns. The terrible struggle had lasted till about four\no'clock, and while no impression had been made upon the\ntown, the position of the assailants was every minute becoming\nweaker and more critical. The fire of the Mullet was wild\nfrom the distance she lay off, and as the shells from her\n68-pounder went screaming over the town, its defenders were\nheard shouting ironically, while the war-drum beat defiantly,\nand the fire from the stockade continued in volleys without\nintermission. It then became necessary to carry the place by\nassault, with pioneers in front\u2014a plan of attack whose signal\nresults at Sabba and other places were too well known to\nthose who, like the Governor, were acquainted with African\nwarfare. This was still more necessary on this occasion, from\nthe fact that the warriors of five towns, 800 in number, were\nconcentrated behind the stockade. The counsel of the more\ntimid was to fall back on Albreda, but the bold and more\nvigorous, inspired with the fearlessness of the Governor, and\nputting implicit confidence in his experience, resolved to carry\nthe town or perish in the attempt.\nThe author of the \"British Settlements on the Gambia\"\ndescribes what followed, in spirited terms:\u2014No sooner had\nthe little council of war, rapidly and earnestly held under the\nshade of a palm-tree at a short distance from the stockade,\narrived at the only worthy decision in such an emergency,\nwhen, conscious of the necessity of adopting extraordinary\nmeans at so urgent a moment, the officers of the detailed\nstorming party of the 4th West India Regiment, Lieutenants\nMarshall, Jenkins, and Kelly, at the suggestion of the Governor,\nhastened through the ranks, addressing to the soldiers as they\npassed energetic words of appeal and encouragement; reminding them that now the opportunity had come for proving their\nprowess; that the only Europeans who were with them were\ntheir officers ; that the honour of their race was in their hands.\nThe reply was worthy of the address : \" Lead us, gentlemen,\nand never fear but we will follow.\" And the rush to the\nstockade under a raking fire from the town and from the hill\nbehind was a sufficient proof of its sincerity. Foremost in\nthe attack, and in the very centre of the front, was the Governor himself, whose well-known and characteristic appearance SENEGAMBIA,  AND  RECENT FRENCH  OPERATIONS IN WEST AFRICA.\n367\nmarked him out for the fire of the enemy. Leaping from his\nhorse, with Ensign Kelly on his right, and Lieutenant Jenkins\non his left, whose loud and earnest appeals to the men to \" stand\nby the Governor \" were heard by him even in the din of warfare,\nand amid the clouds of smoke that hid from him all around, he\nfirst mounted the stockade. At this critical moment his\nsword was shattered to pieces, and throwing the handle over the\nstockade, and bidding the men follow it, he called for an axe to\ncut down the stockade. Ably seconded by the pioneers Boswell\nand Hodge, of whom one fell nobly in the moment of victory,\n\"while the other lives to wear the well-earned cross of valour,\nhe effected an entrance into the fort, supported by the regulars\nunder Captain Barnard, and by the volunteers under Mr.\nHurst, and in a few minutes the gallant, but diminished band\nwere in full possession of the stronghold of the rebellion. But\nthe confusion of the assault had hardly settled down into a\ncalm, when the fatal losses became apparent. The officers and\nfour men of the 4th West India Regiment on either side of him\nhad perished in the very moment the breach was effected.\nLieutenant Jenkins had fallen on the one side, struck by a\nbullet aimed from a banting* at Colonel D'Arcy himself,\nwhile Ensign Kelly lay mortally wounded on the other. In\nthe one case death was instantaneous; in the other only a few\nhours of unconsciousness intervened. The devoted secretary.\nof the Governor, Mr. Hurst, who took up so successfully the\nwork of the fallen, survived but for a few weeks. Escaped from\nthe perils of warfare, he fell a victim to the fatal pestilence\nwhich \" turned the victory into mourning,\" and almost\nobliterated in the minds of the people of Bathurst the memories\nof a day which must ever fill so important a place in the history\nof their colony. The entire town of Tubaba-Kullong was soon\nin the hands of the allies, and the enemy, driven from this last\nstronghold, took to the open country, where they fell, after\nfighting bravely, by the sword of the allies under the gallant\nMajor Primet, of the Gambia Volunteers. While the losses on\nour side were unusually severe, and the bravery of both regulars\nand irregulars was read too fully in the list of the killed and\n. wounded, the losses of the enemy were far more numerous,\nand the courage with which they had clung to their posts to the\nlast was witnessed by the heaps of the dead, who were piled up\non the very verge of the stockade. The results of the affair of\nTubaba-Kullong were almost as sudden as the success itself.\nThe rich Barra district from being a scene of terror and confusion sank into perfect tranquillity; agricultural labours were\nresumed, and mercantile operations were carried on along the\nriver With perfect security, t\n* A banting is a temporary tower, so constructed as to enable a marksman to fire over the stockade down upon the assailants. On this occasion\na well-known elephant-hunter, named Malamin, was seated surrounded by\nloaded double-barrelled trade guns. He it was, it is supposed, who slew\nSo rapidly the officers and men of the storming party j but their deaths\nwere avenged, as he fell inside by the hand of the Governor, in this wise :\nOn finding that the Governor and Private Hodge were inside the stockade,\nhe ran down the ladder, placing the muzzle of his fire-lock on the Governor's head; but the priming alone burnt Lance-Corporal Warner, lying\ndesperately wounded in the stockade, passed his loaded fire-lock into the\nGovernor's hands, and Malamin fell dead. Here the Governor remained\nfighting desperately, Warner and Hodge loading for him, till his faithful\ninterpreter, John Day, brought up Lieutenant Hunt, of the Volunteers,\nand a party of the 4th to his relief, and the Marabouts fled in disorder,\nonly to be slain by the allies on the glacis as they left by the North Gate.\nt The success of a vigorous policy had been already tested by General\n(then Major) O'Connor, formerly Governor of the Gambia, in the recovery\nThe necessity for attacking Aljamadoo on the following\nmorning was obviated by its evacuation by the enemy. The\nallies who proceeded thither burned the town, so that five of\nthe rebel towns were now destroyed, and the rest of the Marabouts of the kingdom of Barra outside the ceded mile retreated\nin consternation to Badiboo, swarming across the Jocardo\ncreek.\nOn the first of July, the force returned to Bathurst in the\nMullet, numbering of all ranks, sixty-one killed and wounded,\nand the Governor discovered on his arrival that 800 Marabouts\nfrom Goonjoor had already started to attack Bathurst, but the\nintelligence of the fall of Tubaba-Kullong made them retrace\ntheir steps, and compelled them to send a deputation of \" holy\nmen \" to supplicate for peace. This completed the evidence of\nthe fact which the perspicacity of the Governor had detected from\nthe first, that the conspiracy had spread itself through the entire\nMohammedan population on both sides of the river, and that its\nvigorous repression was necessary to the very existence of the\ncolony. The people of Bathurst, estimating the danger from\nwhich they had so narrowly escaped\u2014for in the event of a failure\nof the little army on the north side of the river, the natives of\nGoonjoor, and other districts in Combo, were already prepared\nto march upon Bathurst itself\u2014gave substantial proof of their\nappreciation of Colonel D'Arcy's conduct by presenting him with\na valuable sword of honour, whilst the fragments of the shattered\nsword were kept as charms by the native warriors, and the Marabouts of Goonjoor sent a mission to the Governor, swearing by\nthe Koran that they would never again venture to side with their\nco-religionists against the British. This oath, says the writer\nwhom we are now quoting, they will keep so long as their fears\nof our power prevail, but with their fathers' graves in our\npossession at Sabbajee, they keenly watch their opportunity to\nregain their lands.\nWe have now concluded our survey of the French in Senegambia, and hope that some information has been imparted to\nour readers not readily accessible to all of them. The French\nhave many advantages over us in their settlements on the\nWest Coast, owing to the superior salubrity of the climate;\nbut although the object for which we first established ourselves\non the Gold Coast\u2014the repression of the slave trade\u2014no longer\nrequires our presence there, and notwithstanding that the fatal\ncharacter of the climate may give the whole of our possessions,\nand not Sierra Leone alone, the suggestive and well-earned title of\n\" the White Man's Grave,\" yet, by a recent determination of our\nGovernment, it has been decided that our occupation is to be\npermanent. It only remains for us, therefore, to adopt measures\nto locate our officials and troops in the most salubrious parts,\nand to Lord Carnarvon may safely be left this task, and the other\nmeasures of reform he has sketched out from his place in Parliament. Now that Denmark and Holland have withdrawn from the\nCoast of Africa, the flags of England and France alone wave\non those shores; and though there, as in every quarter of the\nglobe, they have met in sanguinary strife, let us conclude by\nthe expression of a hope that, for the future, the only rivalry\nbetween two great friendly nations may be in spreading\nthe blessings of civilisation.\nand destruction of the Sabbagee, in the district of British Combo, where the\nmost beneficial results have been secured by a single energetic movement\nThough the losses on that occasion also were considerable, the lesson then\ngiven to the Marabouts on the south side of the river has been so effectual,\nthat the internal peace of British Combo has never been since disturbed. ?68\nILLUSTRATED  TRAVELS.\nThe Mountains and Valleys of Virginia.\u2014IL\nBY  PROFESSOR  D.   T.   ANSTED,   M.A.,   F.R.S.\nThere can be no doubt that when these mines and deposits\nof iron ore are in full operation, and the railroad is employed\nin feeding the furnaces that are being constructed near it at\nvarious points, we shall have a development of the iron and\ncoal trade that will render protection altogether unnecessary,-\nsuccessors.    This kind of success is only beginning to be\nappreciated in the United States. _\nAlong the line of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, m a\nvery few years from the present time, there will, however,\ndoubtless be a series of manufacturing towns and a string of\nMINING IN THE WEST.\nand will enable America to be supplied with all the iron and\ncoal it needs on the most favourable terms. What can hinder\nor interfere with this development, and why has it not long\nsince come into operation ? The answer is at hand. The\nrailroad is only just completed, and cannot even now be said\nto be in full work. The coal-mines are only now in course of\nbeing opened, the furnaces are in course of construction, the\niron ores are hardly yet out of the ground on any large scale-\nAll these things, however profitable and remunerative, require\ncapital to be started, and .of capital for such purposes there is\nlittle to be had. For mere speculative purposes, there is no\ndifficulty in raising hundreds of thousands of pounds, but for\nthis steady development, which, if undertaken in the proper\nway, affords an absolute certainty of success, there is little\ninclination in America, except among the few individuals who\nsoon become millionaires and leave the ground open to their\niron furnaces, the latter making iron at a cost positively smaller\nthan it can be made either on the Clyde or in Cleveland, the\nquality of the iron being superior, and the quantity limited\nonly by the demand. It is impossible not to see that much of\nthe trade in iron and many of the important manufactures now\ncarried on in Pennsylvania will be removed to this new locality.\nUnder these circumstances there must be a demand for iron\nore and coal which will justify an exceedingly large extraction,\nand cannot fail to develop the resources of the district on a\ngigantic scale.\nFew things are more interesting than to watch the commencement and growth of a great industry, but it is not often-\nthat there is an opportunity of doing so from the commencement, as there is usually a certain amount of doubt as to the\nexact spot whence it will be found in practice most convenient\nto start.    No such doubt can be felt in the case before us. THE  MOUNTAINS  AND  VALLEYS  OF VIRGINIA.\nFrom.Charlottesville, 100 miles west of Richmond, where a\nline of rail crosses the main line of the Chesapeake and Ohio\nand passes a series of deposits of iron ore of. extraordinar^\nvalue for richness and purity, to Clifton Forge, a distance of\nnearly 100 miles by rail, there is an uninterrupted tract, on\nany part of which furnaces may be built with advantage but\nalong a certain part of the way the railway crosses or runs\nparallel to the belts of ore, and here, where the ore is obtainable almost without expense of carriage, there will naturally be\nthe starting-points. As, however, for many purposes, it is\nadvisable to mix the ores, those of the eastern district' being\n369\nbeds slope more rapidly than the valley, and at the further\ndistance of eighty miles, being 371 miles from Richmond by\nrail, the highest bed of the series has been intersected at the\nwater level, and after this all disappears under the surface. This\ntakes place not far from the city of Charlestown, the capital of\nWest Virginia, situated on the Kanawha River, fifty miles from\nthe Ohio by rail.\nThere are, within this breadth of country, at least a dozen\nseams of coal known to be workable and all of good quality.\nThey include some of extraordinary value among them, being\nbands of cannel coal, fetching a large price in the great cities.\nA WESTERN  SETTLEMENT.\ngenerally magnetic, and often containing manganese, while\nthose of the western belong to the class of brown haematites,\nhardly any spot having any local advantages is excluded..\nWater power will, of course, give an increased value to some\nlocalities, and will be the cause of their early selection. Many\nother subordinate but sufficient reasons will be found to act,\nbut ultimately all the land will greatly increase in value as any\nof it may be utilised for purposes of manufacture.\nThe distance of the furthest point west where iron ore is\nnow found near the line of the railway to the nearest point to\nthe east where coal is found, is another hundred miles, but everi\nwhen reached, it is not everywhere that the coal can be opened\nto immediate advantage. The lowest beds of the series first\nappear, and are a thousand feet above the valley. Gradually\nthe valley cuts across the coal-seams under more favourable j\nconditions, for although both slope towards the west, the coal- |\n287\nwhere it is used for enriching the gas made from ordinary coal.\nThere are also bands of \"splint coal,\" a singularly hard, clean\nvariety, hardly known in the European coal-fields, which may be\nused raw in the furnace to make an iron equal to charcoal iron,\nand which can bear exposure to sun and rain without injury for\nan indefinite period. Such coal is invaluable in the tropics. It\ncan be carried on board ship with little loss and no danger; it\nyields gas on distillation, but does not give off any on pressure\nor exposure, and is quite equal to the best bituminous coal for\nhousehold purposes, gas-making, steam-engine work, and the\nreduction of metals. The other coals are bituminous coals of\ngood quality, having little ash, and burning well, yielding much\ngas on distillation.\nThe Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad cuts across the great\ncoal-field thus characterised, almost at right angles in its\ncourse down the valley of the New River and Kanawha, these 37\u00b0\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\na\ntwo names being applied to the one stream (properly called the\nKanawha) which rises in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, and rushing down impetuously in a narrow, closed channel\nfor a long distance, being at first a mountain torrent, but\nafterwards a navigable stream, and which finally enters the\nOhio at Point Pleasant. The Kanawha, however, although\nnavigable in the ordinary sense of the word, is practically\nclosed during part of the autumn by shoals formed opposite its\nchief tributaries, of which there is a large number, and during\npart of the winter by ice. It is thus ill-adapted for coal transport, as when the demand is greatest the boats are sometimes\nunable to go down. At such times there is not only a check\nand inability to supply the market at its greatest need, but\nwhen a thaw comes and the boats are freed, there is so large a\nquantity suddenly thrown on the market, that the price\nrealised is even smaller than during the summer, when the\ndemand is naturally slack. Thus, the railroad is really the\nonly means of conveyance to be depended on, and must ultimately supersede boats.\nThe Kanawha is a large river and runs through a plateau,\nreceiving at short distances all the way on both sides smaller\nstreams of the same character, with precipitous banks, and\ndraining the country behind often for more than a hundred\nmiles by narrow valleys, gorges, and ravines, admirably adapted\nto render accessible the coal-measures that are intersected by\nthese clefts. It is impossible to have conditions more favourable for getting out the coal than are presented by this conformation of the country. The beds are nearly level; they are'\ngenerally above the water-line; they can be worked without\npumping, entered without shafts, and the coat has to be lowered\ninstead of lifted.\nWith the' coal as with the iron, there are some localities\nmore favourably situated than others. In some cases branch\nrailways will have to be constructed, and expenses incurred to\nmove and carry the coal to market, while in others the coal is\ngot out on the cliff-side and lowered at once into the railway\ntrucks. The companies who come first into the market and\nobtain the best tracts will, no doubt, enjoy an advantage over\nthose whose lands lie out of the way and are less manageable\nBut in all coal districts there is this difference, and it does not\nprevent the least accessible from giving in due time very fair\nprofits to the coal-owner.\nThe development of the coal trade in the Kanawha, as that\nof the iron trade in the country to the east, is a matter of\ncertainty, and it is hardly possible that the time can be distant.\nBut, however profitable and however certain the return, no\ngreat business in minerals and manufactures can be carried on\nwithout capital; and capital in the sense here meant is very\ndifficult to find in America,\nThere is always so much to do with it that nobody can\nlock it up. Those who have the command of a little capital\ninstead of being content with investing it in a tract of moderate\nextent, which their means would enable them to work, are\nalways tempted to commit themselves by a small present payment to the acquisition of thousands of acres, instead of buying\nout-and-out and working vigorously a few hundreds. They\nconsider that by selling these lands again, after time has\nincreased their value, but before the rest of the purchase-\nmoney has become due, they will get their money returned\nmore rapidly, and will be able to repeat this process.\nIf half the dollars that have changed hands in reference to\nback lands that will not be opened for half a century had been,\nemployed in prudently opening the lands close to the railway\na market would have been already created, and the demand so\nmuch longed for would have existed. Now, those who do\nwork the coal are obliged to let it go into the hands of agents,\nwho make more profit per ton in the way of commission for\nbuying and selling than the coal-owner realises for the getting.\nIt is evident that with proper management this profit of agency-\nwould belong to the coal-owner.\nBut, after all, the time that has elapsed since the railway was\nopen for coal traffic still amounts only to about six months.\nIn other countries, so short a time would not be thought much\nto create a large mineral traffic. In England, pits that were\nopened\u2014of which the first beginning was suggested when the\ncoal famine occurred nearly two years ago\u2014are still advancing,\nand will not yield a profit for another year or two. Fifty\nthousand pounds would not be thought a large sum to invest\nin England to sink a pit and bring into full work a property\nof a very few hundred acres, this sum not including purchase-\nmoney. In one of the properties on the Kanawha, three miles\nfrom the main line, purchased in October last, half that sum\nwould suffice to pay the cost of the freehold, the construction\nof a railway, with its plant, the whole work of 'opening the\nmine, and all accessory charges, and, with proper management,\none hundred tons of coal a day might be sent to market before\nthe close of the present year. And yet, with all this, people\nare impatient, not to say dissatisfied.\nThe valleys of Virginia and the land adjacent are called on\nto play a great part in the future history of America. Where\nthere are great stores of coal and iron, near together and\naccessible, it is impossible that there should not be manufactures, and the great centres of manufacture cannot be without great political importance.\nThere is also everything to induce emigrants, and especially\nmechanics, to occupy this district, although at present the\npopulation is very small. The white inhabitants a few years\nago were notoriously the least energetic and the most badly\nprovided for of all people in the States, and even now there\nis a good deal of poverty, though, as the property changes\nhands, the quality of the owners improves. In speaking thus, I\nallude chiefly to Western Virginia, where the coal is found.\nIn the Valley of Virginia, and others in the Old Dominion,\nthere is and always has been a more active and prosperous\npeople. Slavery as an institution had its redeerriing features in\nthis state, but its abolition will ultimately prove a great benefit.\nIt will raise the character of the white labouring classes, and\nremove from them the stigma of poverty, bitterly felt by the\npoorer white families when all the land belonged to a few large\nholders, who, however, were little the better for their lands and\nthe slaves belonging to them. The war has left little bitterness\nbehind, and another generation will obliterate all traces of it.\nPerhaps none of the railways in America, and few in other\ncountries, traverse scenery more strikingly beautiful than the\nChesapeake and Ohio line. Through the whole of that part of\nthe line crossing the great mountain range there is a long, but\nby no means monotonous, succession of cliff and river scenery,\nbroken by occasional glimpses of gigantic forests, and here\nand there opening into glades of the most romantic beauty.\nAll this part of the Kanawha, and all the stream with the\nwhole of all its numerous tributaries on each side, from this\npoint as far as  Charlston,  drains  no other rock than coal- AN  AUSTRALIAN  SEARCH  PARTY.\n37i\nmown in any part\nmeasures, and from every vertical wall of cliff seams of coal\nmight be entered and worked. There may be other localities\nas remarkable, but they have not come within my experience.\nI am sure there is nothing more accessible ki\nof the world where coal has been worked.\nTo come back now to the remarks in the first paragraph of\nthis article, let us summarise in a few words the result of what\nhas been said. It seems certain that along the line of the\nChesapeake and Ohio Railway, now recently completed, there\nexist stores of mineral wealth, which, with the advantage of\nready access, ought to be rapidly developed and ensure enormous benefit to all concerned. But in the first place, the\ncapitalists in America have so much of undeveloped wealth\nthat they seem disinclined to develop any. The iron and\ncoal trades of Pennsylvania and the north live under protection, and being strong do not like to see themselves superseded. Things have gone long in a certain groove, and it is\nnot easy to move them out of it. When strangers come in and\nattempt to do this, a good deal of jealousy is felt, and there is\na strong disinclination to permit them to realise great profits.\nEfforts are made to ruin their prospects, with the hope of\nentering into possession of property already partly opened\nand therefore sooner available; and these causes act so far as\nto check the full and earnest progress that might end in early\nsuccess from the introduction of foreign capital.\nThe difficulty of opening a large trade in America lies\npartly in the vast distances over which everything has to be\ncarried, and the greediness of the railway directors, who are\ntoo apt to endeavour to take so much of the profits as hardly\nto make it worth while for the producer and manufacturer to\nrisk their time, intellect, and capital. The carriage of coal\nvery soon amounts to a sum so large as to be almost prohibitory, and it is only by arrangement with the railway for\nthrough-rates, that the coal can be carried to a distant market\nThis will not affect the manufacture of iron; but that is still\nyoung, and wants some years to grow. It is evident that the\nsuccess of the collieries on a large scale much depends on the\nconsideration of the railway authorities, and the assistance they\nmay give to enable the coal-owner to enter the distant market\nwith much chance of success. At present there is every prospect of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway directors proving\nreasonable, and enabling the new companies to do a profitable\nbusiness. If this were established in one case others would\nsoon follow, and American enterprise would again become\nfavourably looked at among those in England who are seeking\na legitimate opening for the investment of their spare earnings.\nAn Australian Search Party.\u2014VI.\nBY  CHARLES  H.   EDEN.\nWe now pulled for the mouth of the Macalister River, and\non sighting the bar shortly before eight o'clock, were glad to\nfind but little surf running. On our way we passed several\nwater-snakes, one of which seemed of large size, but we were\ntoo distant to form any accurate estimate of its length. It was\nnot altogether without misgivings that we encountered the ridge\nof sand that extended completely across the entrance of the\nriver. Only one of our party had ever crossed it before, and\nit was known to be very dangerous. The calm water rolled\nitself up in smooth walls, which sailed majestically along until\nthe upper portion broke into a line of white, and soon the\nentire mass rushed onward in a sheet of foam.\nThe great danger in crossing a bar is, that the helmsman\neither loses his head and permits the boat to present her broadside to the surf, or that the steering power is not sufficient to\nkeep her head straight. Neither of these misfortunes befell us\nin entering the Macalister, for, from the hour we had selected,\nthe sea was at its quietest, and we got over without shipping a\nthimbleful of water. We found a broad expanse studded with\ndense mangrove flats, and it was with difficulty we ascertained\nwhich was the main channel. We pulled on until about noon,\nby which time the mud swamps had disappeared, and we were\nfairly in the river, which much resembled the Herbert, of\nwhich I have already given a description, except that it was\nsmaller, and that the vegetation was more luxurious. On landing, we lit a fire, and cooked our dinner, consisting of ducks\nand moor-fowl that we had shot on our way up.     I never\nremember seeing water-fowl in such profusion as here. The\nducks and geese were literally in tens of thousands, and the\nbeautifully-plumaged moor-fowl quite blackened the mangrove\nbushes as we passed.\nThe scenery was perfectly lovely. Tall palms shot up in\nevery direction; wild bananas spread forth their broad leaves,\namidst which were seen the bunches of fruit; and the larger\ntrees\u2014fig, Leichhardt plum, etc.\u2014threw their branches across\nthe river, and there interlacing, formed a leafy canopy\nsuch as we imagined was unknown in Australia. Some\nof the young palms we cut down for the sake of the\nhead, which is very pleasant eating. Stripping off the\nleaves, you come to a shoot twenty inches or two feet in\nlength, the interior of which consists of a white substance\nresembling an office ruler in thickness, and which tastes\nsomething like a chestnut, but is much more miiky and sweet.\nThe fruit of the wild banana has a most delicious flavour, but\nis so full of small seeds that it is impossible to swallow it The\nhuge fig trees, with which the banks of most of the northern\nrivers abound, have the peculiarity that the fruit is found growing on the trunk, and not at the extremity of the smaller\nboughs. On an enormous stem, and at a distance of only a\nfew feet from its base, are seen bunches of figs, and these,\nthough of smaller size than the European fruit, are very\npalatable, if they can be selected free from insects. Usually,\nthe ants have been first afield, and have taken up their abode\nin the very heart of the fig, forming a most undesirable mouth- 372\nILLUSTRATED   TRAVELS.\n!*i\nIWS\nful for the unwary stranger. The wild plums are very good,\nbut to attain perfection, should be buried for some days previous to eating. I trust these details will not prove tedious to\nmy readers, but I know from experience the benefit arising\nfrom even a slight knowledge of wild fruits and herbs, which\nhave often quenched thirst and assuaged hunger when other\nfood was wanting, and rendered endurable what would otherwise have been a painful journey.\n' We camped that night where darkness overtook us, close\nto a thick scrub which lined the bank of the river, and we paid\nfor our stupidity in not selecting a more open spot, for myriads\n\u2022of mosquitoes put sleep out of the question. The truth was\nthat this belt of scrub had lined the river for several miles past,\nand we hoped at every turn to come to a break, but night set\nin whilst we were still between the leafy walls.\nDaylight came at last, and we pushed onward. An hour\ntook us into a beautiful black-soil plain of great extent, without\na stick of timber, and well watered, not only by the Macalister,\nwhich meandered through its centre, but by several large\nlagoons, overgrown with the lovely white lotus, and crowded\nwith waterfowl. The existence of such a planter's paradise\nwas totally unsuspected, and we all gazed spell-bound on this\nsplendid tract of country, possessing every requisite for successful cultivation, and a water road for the produce. Dunmore\nwas a true prophet when he exclaimed\u2014\n\" Before a year is past this will be settled upon.\"\nA fine sugar plantation now stands on | Bellenden Plains,\"\nwith superb cane growing in unwonted luxuriance, and horses\nand cattle have taken the place of the kangaroos, that we on\nthis first visit found grazing there in troops. In the distance\ncould be seen the coast range behind Cardwell, which seemed\nto recede inland as it trended towards our position, and\nsweeping lound, approached the sea again farther north, forming a natural boundary to a vast space of available country. A\nsilver line shone out on the mountains, and with our glasses\nwe could make out that it must be a waterfall of very large\ndimensions. We at once agreed that it must be the source of\nthe very river we were on, the Macalister, but, as the sequel\nwill show, we found so many streams, that most probably we\nwere mistaken in our judgment. We resolved to make this\ncharming spot our head-quarters for the present, as we.had\neverything to be desired\u2014water, game, etc.\u2014close at hand,\nand, from the absence of timber, no blacks would be able to\nsteal upon us unperceived.\nLeaving the pilot and one man in charge of the boat, we\ntrudged along through the high grass, which reached to our\nmiddles, and was dripping with moisture from a shower that\nhad fallen during the night; and, after a tedious walk, reached\nthe edge of the scrub. It was thicker than anything we had\nencountered before, the density of the foliage totally excluding\nthe sun, and giving rise to a dank humid odour that struck a\nchill to the heart directly you entered. We wound along the\npath, or rather track, that the blacks had made, with the\ngreatest difficulty. It was all very well for the troopers, who\nhad stripped, but our clothes hitched up on a thorn at every\nother step. One of our most provoking enemies was the\nlawyer vine, a kind of rattan enclosed in a rough husk, covered\nwith thousands of crooked prickles. These, with their outer\ncovering, are about an inch and a quarter in diameter, and\nextend to an enormous distance, running up to the tops of\nlofty trees, and from thence either descending or pushing on\nward, or festooning themselves from stem to stem in graceful\ncurves of indescribable beauty. From the joints of the parent\nshoot are thrown out little slender tendrils, no thicker than a\nwire, but of great length, and as dangerously armed as their\nlarger relation. These miserable little wretches seem always\non the watch to claw hold of something, and if you are\nunhappy enough to be caught, and attempt to disengage yourself by struggling, fresh tendrils appear always to lurk in\nambush, ready to assist their companion, who already holds\nyou in his grasp. I have measured the length of one of these\ncanes, and found it over 250 paces; and this is not the\nmaximum to which they attain, for I have been assured by\nmen employed in cutting a telegraph road through the scrub\nthat they had found some over 300 yards long. They seem to\nretain the same circumference throughout their whole length,\nand, as the bushman puts everything to some.use, the lawyer\nis divested of his husk, and takes the place of wire in fencing,\nbeing rove through holes bored in the posts as though they\nwere ropes. It is almost needless to add that this cane derives\nits soubriquet of \" lawyer\" from the difficulty experienced in\ngetting free if once caught in its toils.\nAnother of the torments to which the traveller is subjected\nin the North Australian scrubs, is the stinging-tree (Uriica\ngigas), which is very abundant, and ranges in size from a large\nshrub of thirty feet in height to a small plant measuring only a\nfew inches. Its leaf is large and peculiar, from being covered\nwith a short silvery hair, which, when shaken, emits a fine\npungent dust, most irritating to the skin and nostrils. If\ntouched, it causes most acute pain, which is felt for months\nafterwards\u2014a dull gnawing pain, accompanied by a burning\nsensation, particularly in the shoulder, and under the arm,\nwhere small lumps often arise. Even when the sting has quite\ndied away, the unwary bushman is forcibly reminded of his\nindiscretion each time that the affected part is brought into contact with water. The fruit is of a pink, fleshy colour, hanging\nin clusters, and looks so inviting that a stranger is irresistibly\ntempted to pluck it; but seldom more than once, for though\nthe raspberry-like berries are harmless in themselves, some\ncontact with the leaves is almost unavoidable. The blacks are\nsaid to eat the fruit; but for this I cannot vouch, though I have\ntasted one or two at odd times, and found them very pleasant.\nThe worst of this nettle is the tendency it exhibits to shoot up\nwherever a clearing has been effected. In passing through the\ndray tracks cut through the scrub, great caution was necessary\nto avoid the young plants that cropped up even in a few weeks.\nI have never known a case of its being fatal to human beings;\nbut I have seen people subjected by it to great suffering,\nnotably a scientific gentleman, who plucked off a branch and\ncarried it some distance as a curiosity, wondering the while\nwhat was causing the pain and numbness in his arm. Horses\nI have seen die in agony from the sting, the wounded parts\nbecoming paralysed; but strange to say, it does not seem to\ninjure cattle, who dash through scrubs full of it without receiving any damage. This curious anomaly is well known to\nall bushmen.\nFor a couple of hours we followed the tortuous windings of\nthe track, without we white men having the faintest conception\nwhere we were going, though the troopers and Lizzie declared\nthat we were pushing straight through. At length a ray of sunlight became visible, and in a few minutes we emerged from the\nsombre depths of the jungle, and found ourselves on the banks AN AUSTRALIAN  SEARCH PARTY.\n373\nof a splendid river, the Mackay. Traces of blacks were seen\nin .every direction, the white sand being covered with their\nfoot-prints. Abandoned gungales were plentiful on the opposite\nbank, which was clear of scrub, and whilst we were eating the\ndamper and beef with which each of the party was provided,\nLizzie espied a thin column of smoke at no great distance.\nWe approached it as cautiously as possible, taking advantage\nof every shrub that offered a cover, and finally, lying down and\nworming our way through the grass on all fours, a mode of progression that is in itself particularly fatiguing and objectionable*\nbut not without excitement, for we never knew the moment when\nwe might chance to put our hands on a dormant snake, or find\nourselves sprawling over a nest of bulldog ants.   We were successful incompletely surprising the camp, which consisted entirely\n' of gins and piccaninnies, all the males, as usual, being out\nhunting.    The gins spoke quite a different language from that\nof the Hinchinbrook and Herbert River people, and Lizzie\nwas a  long time before she could make them understand.\nThey  seemed  to  know nothing of any white men,  nor, I\nmay say, of anything else in  particular.    They were ignorant   where  the  Mackay rose,  or where it debouched, and\ncould give us no information regarding the waterfall we saw\non the distant range, what river it supplied, or what kind of\ncountry was between us and the hills.    Altogether they were\na most unsatisfactory lot; and having rummaged their camp\nwithout finding any suspicious articles, and threatened them\nwith wholesale destruction if they gave warning of our approach\nto any other tribe, by either smoke signals or messengers, we\ndeparted, much disgusted.\nOn arriving at the edge of a small copse, at a short distance\nfrom the camp, we found the arsenal of the male portion of the\ntribe.    Why they had stacked their arms so far away from the\ngungales we never could make out; but there they were, consisting of the usual spears and shields, and, in addition, several\nof the enormous swords used by these natives, of which we\nhad often heard, but that few of our party, except Dunmore,\nhad  ever  seen.    These  curious weapons  are made of the\nheaviest iron-bark wood, are about five feet in length, by as\nmany inches in breadth, and about an inch thick in the centre\n\u2014rather more than less, and both edges scraped down to as\nsharp an edge as the material will receive.    They are slightly\ncurved \u2022 but the most wonderful part about them is the handle,\nwhich is so small that a European can with difficulty squeeze\nthree fingers into it.    The mystery is, how do they use them ?\nfor Goliath of Gath could never have wielded an instrument as\nheavy as this with one hand.    It is supposed that the warnor\nraises the cumbrous weapon on his shield, and having got\nwithin sword's length of his enemy, lets it drop on his head.\nThis' portion of a black's frame is undeniably hard; but such\na blow would crush it like an egg-shell; and as he may be\ncredited with suf.icient sense to know this, it seems difficult to\nunderstand why he should stand still and allow such a disagreeable operation to be  performed.    Whether_or n      he\nuse of these weapons has been discovered since I left Austral a\nI am unable to say; but certainly up to that time \u2122ho*\u00a3\nin their neighbourhood were unable to appreciate the varied\nexcellencies they doubtless possess. iiPPHU\nWe pursued our way up the Mackay River in hopes of\nfindmg some termination to the thick scrub on the opposite\nbanL so that we might return to our boat without having to\nthrea'dTts intricate ma'zes again; and in this we were successful,\nfinding a break in the jungle an hour before sunset, which at\nonce admitted us to the plain, through the centre of which ran\nthe Macalister, and in due course we reached our camp, where,\nafter having a glorious \"bogey\" (the Australian term for\nbathing) in the river, and overhauling each other well, to see\nthat no ticks were adhering to our skins, we had supper, and\nturned in, having done little good, except finding a road to the\nMackay less tedious than the one we had taken in the morning.\nThe ticks that I mentioned just now, are little insects no bigger\nthan a pin's head when they first fasten on to you, but soon\nbecome swollen with blood until larger than a pea. They do\nno harm to a man besides the unpleasant feeling they occasion,\nbut they almost invariably kill a dog.    Nearly all our dogs fell\nvictims sooner or later to either the alligator or the tick.\nHOW WE EXPLORED THE MACKAY RIVER.\nWe now determined to carry with us enough tea, sugar, and\nflour to last for a week, and to work up towards the unknown\ncountry at the head of the Mackay, leaving the boat in its\npresent position, under the charge of two men.    We intended\nto  push  towards  the   range   whence   both the   Macalister\nand the Mackay rivers drew their supply; and as the former\nstream in its windings over the open plain approached within\na mile of its large neighbour, we resolved to move the boat a\nlittle further up before starting on our new expedition.    By\noccasionally lightening her, and dragging her over the shallows,\nthis was accomplished in a couple of hours, and we finally\nhalted at a bend in the river where the bank was high, enough\nto shield the boat from all observation, whilst the scrub bordering the Mackay, standing at less than a quarter of a mile\ndistant, the men left behind could easily see if any considerable\nbody of blacks moved between the two streams, and could\ntake the bearings of all smoke arising from fires in the dnec-\ntion of the coast, so that we might visit them hereafter, if\ndeemed necessary.    The fact of two rivers, each containing a\nconstant supply of water, being found in such close proximity\nto each other, caused much remark, for none of us had ever\nobserved a similar instance in Australia, which is as a rule\nvery deficient in permanent rivers.\nWe now turned our attention' to getting sufficient provisions\ncooked to last the exploring party for three days, as we were\ndetermined to employ the utmost vigilance, and show as little\nsmoke as possible, for nothing creates such suspicion amongst\nthe aboriginals as seeing fresh fires constantly lighted unless\naccompanied by the smoke signals, which I have described in a\nformer chapter.    As we were utterly ignorant of the code they\nemployed, we resolved only to light our fires at night and not\neven then unless we found some sequestered spot where the\nflame would be unseen.   Some of us at once started for a large\nlagoon that we had passed in the morning, and creeping up\nhrough the long grass, found its surface quite covered with\nwater fowl of everj description, from the black swan to the\ndutiful pigmy goose.    A volley, fired at a concerted signal,\nStrewed the surface of the lake with the dead and wounded,\n!nd we were compelled to stand idly on the bank until the\nId wafted the game ashore, for at the report of the guns two\n^hree heavy splashes and.as many dusky forms gliding into\nthe wler blkened that we had disturbed alligators, eitiier\nhaving a nap, or lying in wait for kangaroos and wallaby\ncombg down to drink.    More than one house now stands on\nthe margin of this lagoon, but their inhabitants are still afraid 374\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\nto bathe in the broad sheet of water spread so invitingly before\nthem.\nHaving secured our game, we returned to the boat, and\nafter plucking and splitting open the birds, some were roasted\nover the fire for immediate use, but by far the greater number\nwere boiled in a pot, which was portion of the boat's furniture\nwhen on an expedition. One of the troopers had with a tomahawk stripped off a sheet of bark, and on this was manufactured a gigantic damper. For the information of such of my\nreaders as may be unacquainted with Australia, I must explain\nthat damper is unleavened bread, well kneaded and baked in\nthe ashes. But simple though such a rough form of loaf may\nseem from the above description, it is in reality a very difficult\nthing to turn out a thoroughly good damper, and only practice\nwill enable the new-comer to obtain the sleight of hand necessary for the production of a first-rate specimen. In form a\ndamper resembles a flat cheese of two or three inches thick,\nand from one to two feet in diameter. Great care and much\npractice are requisite to form this shape so that no cracks shall\nappear, and when this is done the work is by no means over,\nfor the exact heat of the fire must be judged by the cook,\notherwise he will either burn up his dough, or it wi]l come out\na crude, sodden, uneatable mass. A, good wood fire that has\nbeen burning several days, and has gained a quantity of ashes,\nis the best; but wood is plentiful enough in the bush, and if\nyou only know the right kind to use, you find no difficulty in\nsoon providing yourself with a glorious heap of glowing embers.\nScraping away a hole in the centre of the fire a little larger than\nthe disc, you gently drop it in with your hands, strew it over\nwith enough powdery white ash to prevent the embers coming\ninto actual contact with the dough, and then cover the whole\nwith the glowing coals. Only practice can enable the bushman to judge the exact depth of this layer, which, of course,\ndiffers in every case, according to the size of the damper. It\nis left in this fiery bed until small cracks appear on the covering, caused by the steam forcing its way out. This is a sign\nthat it is nearly done, confirmation of which is sought by introducing a knife-blade through the ashes, and sounding the crust.\nIf this gives back a hard sound, the damper may be considered\ncooked, and is then withdrawn, stood carefully on its edge\u2014\nnever forget this\u2014and is ready to eat when cool.\nAs there was nothing very particular to do that afternoon,\nwe watched the troopers spearing fish, in which they were most\nskilful. There is in some of the Australian rivers a splendid\nfish, called the Barri mundi, which not only much resembles\nthe salmon in appearance, but, like it, requires running water\nand access to the sea. Many a time I have vainly tried to\nlure them from their watery depths, but no bait would tempt\nthem that I could ever hit on, though I have little doubt that\na fly or artificial minnow would prove killing. We could see\nthem in the Macalister, lying with their heads pointed up\nstream, and seemingly motionless but for the slight waving of\nthe tail that retained them in their places. Having cut several\nslender switches, not thicker than a tobacco-pipe stem, and\nsharpened one end with a knife, the trooper Ferdinand, who\nwas by far the most expert amongst his brethren, grasped this\napparently inoffensive little weapon between the thumb and\nmiddle finger, whilst the blunt end rested against the ball of\nthe forefinger. Stooping down, he approached to within four\nor five yards of the fish, which were only a few inches from the\nsurface, and suddenly jerking his switch forward, it entered the\nwater almost horizontally, and rarely failed to transfix a Barri\nmundi, which, darting forward, was soon hampered by the\nweapon catching in the weeds, and became the prey of its\nsharp-eyed captor, who had never lost sight of it in its endeavour to escape. This fish is excellent eating, and averages\nfrom eight to thirty pounds in weight\nAs Dunmore and I were strolling along a small lagoon overgrown with water-lilies, he pointed out to me a pretty graceful\nlittle bird, about the size of a jack-snipe, but with longer legs,\nand most extraordinary claws. I am ashamed to say I shot\nthis poor little fellow, to examine him, and found that each toe\nmeasured at least three inches from the leg to the extremity of\nthe claw. This is to enable the bird to run along safely over\nthe floating leaves of the lotus, on which plant it seems to get\nits living. I had never seen one before; and the simple\nmanner in which Nature had adapted it to its peculiar line ot\nlife struck me as both curious and beautiful. What this little\nbird's scientific name is I never heard, but we colonists call it\nthe \" Lotus bird.\"\nAs there was a remote chance of the party left with the\nboats coming in contact with the blacks, it was deemed\nadvisable to leave them a trooper, who would more readily\nrecognise their whereabouts than the white men; therefore a\nboy, known by the not euphonious sobriquet of \"Killjoy,\"\nwas selected to remain with the pilot and his two boatmen, and\nafter dividing the big meat damper in five equal portions, the\nexploring party, consisting of Dunmore, Ferdinand, Larry,\nLizzie, and myself, struck out for the opening in the scrub on\nthe Mackay river. We descended into the sandy bed, and\ncrossed to the opposite side, which was much more open\ncountry, consisting of park-like land, lightly timbered, but the\nsoil not nearly so rich as the fertile plain through which wound\nthe Macalister. It would be tedious to weary my readers with\na minute account of our doings each day; enough to say tha\nwe passed through new country of every description, crossing\nfrom side to side of the Mackay, to cut off its many bends, arid\nthat our progress was but sl6w, the distant ranges seeming\nhardly nearer on the third day than they were at starting. We\nwere disappointed in not meeting with any blacks, though their\ntraces were plentiful; and we had commenced to fear that the\ntribe we had surprised five days before had given warning of\nour approach, when Ferdinand reported smoke a couple of\nmiles on our right. It was about mid-day when this was seen;\nand having made a hurried meal off the damper, which I may\nhere state answered its purpose admirably, we crept towards\nthe fire with the utmost caution. Our route took us away\nfrom the river, and on arriving at the edge of a small belt of\nscrub, we could make out that the fire was by the side of a\nwater-hole, but the two hundred yards between it and ourselves\nwas so open, that surprising the camp seemed almost impossible.\nThe hour was in our favour, for the blacks were lying about\nlistlessly, resting themselves after the fatigues of procuring the\nfood of which they had just made a meal. They numbered\nabout twenty of both sexes, arid were evidently quite unconscious of our proximity. Detaching the two troopers to make\na detour, and cut them off from the scrub in that direction,\nDunmore, Lizzie, and I remained perfectly motionless for\nabove an hour, and then, judging that the boys must have\nreached their position, we advanced towards the camp swiftly\nbut silently. We got over a third of the distance before the\nblacks saw us, and then ensued a general scrimmage.    The AN  AUSTRALIAN  SEARCH  PARTY.\n375\nwomen and children jumped into the lagoon, and the men,\nsnatching up their weapons, threw a volley of spears with such'\nforce and precision* that, had we been twenty yards closer, it\nwould have gone hard with both my companions and myself.\nAs it was, the missiles nearly all fell short, seeing which the\nwarriors dropped their arms and took to their heels, running\ndirectly for the spot where Ferdinand and Larry lay in ambush.\nBoth Dunmore and myself fired our carbines over the heads of\nthe retreating Myalls (wild blacks), which completed their\npanic, and one of them, rushing recklessly forward, was captured by the troopers, and brought by them in triumph to the\ncamp, amidst the yells and jabbering of the gins and piccaninnies.\nAfter half an hour or so, seeing that no harm was intended\nto them, the women came out of the water, and we were very\nmuch pleased to find that they readily understood Lizzie. On\nbeing addressed by her, the warrior, who had hitherto maintained a sullen and defiant attitude, became conversational,\nand readily replied to all the questions put to him by Dunmore. Unlike most of the blacks, he appeared to be very\nlittle frightened at the situation in which he found himself, and\nseemed instinctively to know that all danger was past. On\nbeing questioned regarding the shipwrecked crew, he denied\nall knowledge of any vessel-having been lost, but said at once\nthat a white man had lived with this tribe for many moons,\nthough he was dead now. This rather astonished us, and we\nasked it any relics were still in the camp, upon which one of\nthe gins produced an old sheath-knife, worn down nearly to\nnothing by constant sharpening; half a dozen horn buttons, one\nof them still sewn to a fragment of moleskin; and an empty tin\nmatch-box. We asked how long the white man had been dead,\nand were told that he died three moons before, of fever, and\nthat we could see his grave if we liked, for it was within a day's\njourney. There was an openness about this tribe, and a frankness in their answers, that made us certain that all we heard\nwas the truth, and as they had evidently befriended this poor\nwanderer, we were anxious to repay them in some measure,\nand strengthen the kindly feelings.they felt for the white men,\nso we told Lizzie to assure them that our visit was only to\nsearch for our lost brethren ; that we should like to visit the\ngrave, if one of them would guide us; and that in return for\ntheir services we would give them a new knife and a tomahawk.\nAs they were profoundly ignorant of the use of fire-arms,\nand we wished to impress upon them the irresistible power of |\nthe white man, it was agreed that we should ask them to guide\nus to the nearest place frequented by kangaroos, and pick off\ntwo or three of these animals in their presence, if possible.\nThey were very curious to know the meaning of our \"lightning\nsticks,\" and we repaired, escorted by nearly the whole tribe, to\na neighbouring water-hole, where we could remain concealed,\nand get an easy shot at any game coming down to drink. We\nwere not kept long waiting, for within half an hour a couple of\nwallabies came hopping leisurely along, and were very cleverly\ndropped in their tracks, one by Dunmore, the other by Larry.\nOur hosts were in ecstasies, and seemed very grateful that a\nsimilar fate had not befallen some of their number in the\nmorning; but we made Lizzie explain to them clearly that our\nobject was not to hurt our black friends, unless they were\nwicked\u2014ill-treating white men, or spearing cattle. A couple of\nnoble emus now came stalking slowly towards the water, and,\npassing within forty yards of our hiding-place, both fell victims\nto the breechloaders of Dunmore and myself.\nThis beautiful bird inhabits the open country throughout\nAustralia, where at one time it was very comriion, but is now\nrarely seen in the settled districts. However, in the north\nemus may be found in plenty; and I do not think there is the\nslightest fear of their becoming extinct, as some writers suggest.\nAll my readers must have seen this bird at the Zoological\nGardens, and remarked its likeness to the ostrich, both in form\nand habits; but the prisoner portrays but poorly the free\nmajestic gait of the wild inhabitant of the plains. The colour\nof the adult bird is a greyish brown, the feathers are very loose\nand hairy, whilst the height of a fine male is often nearly seven\nfeet. The usual mode of capturing these birds is to ride them\ndown, using dogs trained for the purpose to pull them to the\nground. The dogs should be taught to reserve their attack\nuntil the emu is thoroughly tired out, and then to spring upon\nthe neck; but an unwary puppy will- bitterly rue his temerity\nshould he come within reach of the powerful legs, which deal\nkicks fiercely around, and of sufficient power to disable any\nassailant. The ostrich always kicks forward, in which he differs\nfrom the emu, whose blow is delivered sideways and backwards,\nlike, a cow. This bird is very good eating, if you know the\npart to select; the legs proving tough and unpalatable, while\nthe back is nearly as tender as fowl. But to the bushman the\nmost valuable thing about the emu is its oil, which is looked\nupon as a sovereign remedy for bruises or sprains when rubbed\ninto the affected part either pure or mixed with turpentine.\nThis useful oil is of a light yellow colour, and from its not\nreadily congealing or becoming glutinous, it is in much request\nfor cleaning the locks of fire-arms. It chiefly resides in the\nskin, but also collects in great quantities near the rump. The\nusual mode of obtaining it is to pluck out all the feathers, cut\nthe skin into small pieces,- and boil them in a common pot;\nbut a still simpler plan, though less productive, is to hang the\nskin before a fire, and catch the oil as it drips down.' A full-\nsized bird will yield from six to seven quarts. The food of the\nemu consists of grass and various fruits. It emits a deep\ndrumming sound from its throat, but no other cry, that I ever\nheard. Its nest is only a shallow hole scraped in the ground,\nand in this hollow the eggs, which vary in number, are laid.\nDr. Bennett remarks that \"There is always an odd number,\nsome nests having been discovered with nine, others with\neleven, and others again with thirteen.\" When fresh they are\nof a beautiful green colour, and are in much request for\nmounting in silver as drinking cups ; but after a little while the\ncolour changes to a dirty brownish green. One peculiarity\nabout the nest is, that the parent bird never goes straight up to\nit, but walks round and round in a narrowing circle, of which\nthe nest is the centre. I once caught seven little emus, only\njust out of the shell; but shutting them up for the night in an\nempty room, I was horrified the next morning to find that they\nhad all been killed by rats. The young ones have four broad\nlongitudinal stripes down the back, which disappear as they\ngrow up. The emu is easily domesticated, and on many cattle\nand sheep stations tame specimens are running about the\npaddocks. To my mind they are an intolerable nuisance,\nalways doing some mischief\u2014either frightening the horses, or\nstealing things from the workmen. I saw one cured of his\nthievish propensities for a long time. He always loafed\nabout the  kitchen when dinner was b<ting. served, and if 376\nILLUSTRATED TRAVELS.\n1>1\nthe cook turned his back for a moment, his long neck was\nthrust through the window, and anything within reach\u2014from an\nonion to a salt-spoon\u2014disappeared with marvellous celerity.\nBut my friend caught a Tartar when he bolted two scalding\npotatoes, steaming from the pot. He rushed round and round\nthe little paddock, and at last dropped down as if dead, from\npain and fatigue. Poor wretch, he must have suffered dreadfully ; and I am sure we all pitied him, except the cook, whose\npatience he had quite worn out\nOur sable allies were gratified beyond measure-when we\npresented them with the game, and a great feast took place\nthat evening. We neglected no opportunity of gaining information about both the shipwrecked crew and the unknown\nwhite man, whose grave we were to visit on the following\nmorning. Through Lizzie we questioned different individuals\nseparately, but they all agreed that such an event as the loss of\na vessel and the arrival of her crew amongst the blacks, could\nnot possibly have happened without their hearing something of\nit From their imperfect knowledge of time, and their difficulty\nin expressing any number higher than five, we could not form\nthe slightest idea how long the white man 'had lived among\nthem ; but they pointed to the ranges behind the township of\nCardwell as indicating the place where he first joined them.\nWe camped at the opposite end of the water-hole, not\nthinking it judicious to remain too close to our allies, and kept\na strict watch during the night; but we might all have enjoyed\na good sleep in perfect safety, for the blacks were far too busy\nstuffing themselves with emu meat to think of treachery.. Before\nsunrise we started, guided by our late captive and two of his\ncompanions. After a tedious walk, we arrived at an open\nplain, on which the grass was trodden down in every direction,\nin some places worn quite away by the feet of the natives\u2014for\nthis was the great \" bora ground \" of the coast tribes, where the\nmystic ceremonies mentioned in a former chapter took place.\nTraversing the sacred plain, our thoughts busy in conjecturing\nthe weird scenes that the posts had witnessed, we came to\na little creek whose clear stream babbled cheerfully among\nthe rocks, and soon saw a giant fig-tree, which our guides\nindicated as being the spot we sought. As we approached\nwe perceived a greyish-looking form on a large limb about ten\nfeet from the ground, and a closer inspection revealed to us\nthat it was unmistakably the body of a white man, rolled up in\ntea-tree bark, and kept in its position by fastenings of split\ncane. We could not examine the corpse very minutely, for it\nwas too offensive; but from the portions of the face that still\nremained, and the long blonde locks and red beard, we satisfied\nourselves that the poor wanderer was not one of the Eva's\ncrew; indeed, we judged that his death must have taken place\nsome time before the loss of that vessel. We were much\npleased to observe the respect with which the natives had\ntreated the remains, and as they think that exposure either on\na platform or in a tree is the most honourable way in which a\ncorpse can be disposed of, we left the body as we found it, and\nreturned to the camp, where we passed the night.\nOur damper was now at an end, and we had no flour with\nus, so made up our minds to return to the boat. On talking\nthe matter over, it seemed quite clear that the shipwrecked\nmen had never been thrown on this part of the coast, and that\nany further exploration would only be lost time. On the following morning we presented the tribe with our knives, and\nsome matches, and taking a friendly leave of them, started for\nthe Macalister, accompanied by two of the warriors. We\nreached the boat on the sixth day, found the pilot and his\nparty well, and having dismissed the blacks, with the present of\na tomahawk and a blanket, we started at once for the place\nlower down the river, which had been agreed upon with Jack\nClark as a rendezvous. When we arrived at this spot on the\nfollowing day, the horsemen had not turned up, so we amused\nourselves as best we could, fishing, shooting, and eating damper\nthickly plastered over with honey, for Larry had found a\n\" sugar-bag.\"\nThe way the trooper performed this feat was not a little\ningenious. Having noticed several bees about, he caught one,\nand, with a little gum, attached to it a piece of down from a\nlarge owl that somebody had shot. Releasing the insect, it\nflew directly towards its nest, the unaccustomed burden with\nwhich it was laden serving not only to make it easily visible,\nbut also impeding its flight sufficiently to admit of the boy\nfollowing it. The nest was at the top of a large blue gum-\ntree, about three feet in diameter, and sending up a smooth\ncolumn for fifty feet without a branch or twig. Most people\nwould have given up all thoughts of a honey feed for the day;\nnot so Mr. Larry, whose movements we followed with considerable curiosity. Divesting himself of his clothing, he\nrepaired to an adjoining scrub, and with his tomahawk cut out\na piece of lawyer cane twenty feet in length. Having stripped\nthis of its husk, he wove it into a hoop round the tree of just\nsufficient size to admit his body. Slinging his tomahawk and a\nfishing-line round his neck, he got inside the hoop, and allowing\nit to rest against the small of his back, he pressed hard against\nthe tree with his knees and feet. This raised him several\ninches, when with a dexterous jerk he moved the portion of\nthe hoop furthest away from him a good foot up the stem, and\nthus\u2014somewhat on the same principle that boys climb a chimney, for the hoop represented the chimney\u2014he worked himself\nupward, and in much less time than I have taken to describe\nit, was astride on the lowest branch, and chopping vigorously\nat the hollow which contained the golden store. The use of\nthe fishing-line now,became apparent, for we bent on to its end\na small tin billy (round can), used for making tea, and by\nhauling this up and filling it, Larry soon supplied us with honey\nenough to fill our bucket and the boat's baler. As perhaps\nmy readers may be tempted to wonder why the bees did not\nattack the naked hide of the robber who was thus rudely\ndespoiling them, I must state that the wild Australian bee is\nstingless. It is a harmless little insect, not much larger than\nthe common house-fly, and though it produces abundance of\nhoney and wax, it has not been subjected to domestication, and\nfrom its diminutive proportions and its habit of building on\nvery high trees, probably never will be. The English bee has\nbeen most successfully introduced into Queensland; and many\nof the farms in the neighbourhood of Brisbane make a good\ntiling out of their honey and wax.\nA meeting was held the next day, at which it was agreed\nthat all further search would be useless, and, indeed, I am\ncertain that every possible measure had been attempted for the\ndiscovery of the missing men. There seems every reason to\nthink that the ill-fated Eva was sunk in the cyclone. Most\nlikely she went down in deep water, and all on board her were\ndrowned. Such was the supposition that received most favour\nat the time, and with it we must rest content until the great\nday when all secrets are revealed.      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For permission to publish, copy, or otherwise distribute these images please contact digital.initiatives@ubc.ca.","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/rights","classmap":"edm:WebResource","property":"dcterms:rights"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/rights","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; Information about rights held in and over the resource.; Typically, rights information includes a statement about various property rights associated with the resource, including intellectual property rights."}],"Series":[{"label":"Series","value":"Illustrated travels","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isPartOf","classmap":"oc:PublicationDescription","property":"dcterms:isPartOf"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/isPartOf","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included."}],"SortDate":[{"label":"Sort Date","value":"1869-12-31 AD","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/elements\/1.1\/date","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/elements\/1.1\/date","explain":"A Dublin Core Elements Property; A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource.; Date may be used to express temporal information at any level of granularity. 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Rare Books and Special Collections. G170 .I45 1869","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/source","classmap":"oc:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:source"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/source","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; A related resource from which the described resource is derived.; The described resource may be derived from the related resource in whole or in part. Recommended best practice is to identify the related resource by means of a string conforming to a formal identification system."}],"Subject":[{"label":"Subject","value":"Voyages and travels","attrs":{"lang":"en","ns":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/subject","classmap":"dpla:SourceResource","property":"dcterms:subject"},"iri":"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/subject","explain":"A Dublin Core Terms Property; The topic of the resource.; Typically, the subject will be represented using keywords, key phrases, or classification codes. 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