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diff --git a/11308-0.txt b/11308-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..98b6481 --- /dev/null +++ b/11308-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2425 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11308 *** + +[Illustration: Front Cover] + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE BOOK + +OF + +ENTERPRISE & ADVENTURE; + +BEING AN + +EXCITEMENT TO READING. + +FOR + +YOUNG PEOPLE. + + +A NEW AND CONDENSED EDITION. + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ABSALON. + + + +LONDON + + + +1851. + + + + +PREFACE. + +The object of this Volume is that of inducing young people to read, to +cultivate in them a habit of reading and reflection, and to excite the +imagination, the feelings, and the better emotions of their nature in a +pleasurable and judicious manner. + +The pieces selected are such as will be likely to exert a beneficial +influence upon the reader, to inspire him with heroic enthusiasm, and to +lead him to despise danger. + +In our perpetually migrating population, no one can tell who will not be +called upon to brave the vicissitudes of "flood and field;" and to show +how perils may be surmounted, and privations endured with energy and +patience, is to teach no unimportant lesson. + +Nothing whatever has been introduced into this Volume, but such subjects +as will teach a dependence upon Divine Providence, in aid of +self-reliance and self-sacrifice, while details of war and bloodshed +have been studiously avoided. + +THE EDITOR. + + + +CONTENTS. + + +ARABIAN HOSPITALITY, ETC. + HOSPITALITY OF THE ARAB + HORRORS OF AFRICAN WARFARE + CROCODILE SHOOTING + +REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF COURAGE IN A LADY + +INDIAN FIELD SPORTS-- + METHOD OF CATCHING BIRDS + THE HYENA + THE BEAR + SAGACITY OF THE ELEPHANT + ANECDOTES OF THE TIGER + +DEATH OF SIR JOHN MOORE + +PERSIAN TYRANNY + +SKETCHES IN VIRGINIA-- + ROCK BRIDGE + WIER'S CAVE + +THE CHRISTIAN SLAVE + +VIOLENT EARTHQUAKE IN CALABRIA + +ESCAPE FROM A SHIP ON FIRE + +ANECDOTES, ETC.-- + THE ALBATROSS + VISIT TO A PENGUIN ROOKERY + THE SEA ELEPHANT + VISIT FROM THE NATIVES AT TERRA DEL FUEGO + CHILIAN MODE OF CAPTURING WILD HORSES + FIGHT BETWEEN A WHALE AND A KILLER + WAR DANCES OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS + HISTORY OF PADDY CONNEL + +EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE FROM DROWNING + +ADVENTURE IN THE DESERT, AND MURDER OF A + SHEIKH + + + + +BOOK OF ENTERPRISE & ADVENTURE. + + + + +~Arabian Hospitality--African Warfare, &c.~ + + +The following three extracts are from a work of considerable merit, +intitled "The Crescent and the Cross." It contains, not only much +valuable matter relative to Egypt and Abyssinia, but many interesting +anecdotes, of which we give a specimen. + + + + +HOSPITALITY OF THE ARAB. + + +In 1804, Osman Bardissy was the most influential of the Mameluke Beys, +and virtually governed Egypt. Mehemet Ali, then rising into power, +succeeded in embroiling this powerful old chief with Elfy Bey, another +of the Mamelukes. The latter escaped to England, where he was +favourably received, and promised assistance by our government against +Osman, who was in the French interests. At this time a Sheikh of Bedouin +stood high in Osman's confidence, and brought him intelligence that Elfy +had landed at Alexandria. "Go, then," said the old Bey, "surprise his +boat, and slay him on his way up the river; his spoil shall be your +reward." The Sheikh lay in wait upon the banks of the Delta, and slew +all the companions of the rival Bey: Elfy himself escaped in the +darkness, and made his way to an Arab encampment before sunrise. Going +straight to the Sheikh's tent, which is known by a spear standing in +front of it, he entered, and hastily devoured some bread that he found +there. The Sheikh was absent; but his wife exclaimed, on seeing the +fugitive, "I know you, Elfy Bey, and my husband's life, perhaps at his +moment, depends upon his taking yours. Rest now and refresh yourself, +then take the best horse you can find, and fly. The moment you are out +of our horizon, the tribe will be in pursuit of you." The Bey escaped +to the Thebaid, and the disappointed Sheikh presented himself to his +employer. Osman passionately demanded of him if it was true that his +wife had saved the life of his deadliest enemy, when in her power. "Most +true, praised be Allah!" replied the Sheikh, drawing himself proudly up, +and presenting a jewel-hilted dagger to the old Bey; "this weapon," he +continued, "was your gift to me in the hour of your favour; had I met +Elfy Bey, it should have freed you from your enemy. Had my wife betrayed +the hospitality of the tent, it should have drank her blood; and now, +you may use it against myself," he added, as he flung it at the +Mameluke's feet. This reverence for hospitality is one of the wild +virtues that has survived from the days of the patriarchs, and it is +singularly contrasted, yet interwoven with other and apparently opposite +tendencies. The Arab will rob you, if he is able; he will even murder +you, if it suits his purpose; but, once under the shelter of his tribe's +black tents, or having eaten of his salt by the wayside, you have as +much safety in his company as his heart's blood can purchase for you. +The Bedouins are extortionate to strangers, dishonest to each other, and +reckless of human life. On the other hand, they are faithful to their +trust, brave after their fashion, temperate, and patient of hardship and +privation beyond belief. Their sense of right and wrong is not founded +on the Decalogue, as may be well imagined, yet, from such principles as +they profess they rarely swerve. Though they will freely risk their +lives to steal, they will not contravene the wild rule of the desert. If +a wayfarer's camel sinks and dies beneath its burden, the owner draws a +circle round the animal in the sand, and follows the caravan. No Arab +will presume to touch that lading, however tempting. Dr. Robinson +mentions that he saw a tent hanging from a tree near Mount Sinai, which +his Arabs said had then been there a twelvemonth, and never would be +touched until its owner returned in search of it. + + + + +HORRORS OF AFRICAN WARFARE. + + +There appears to be a wild caprice amongst the institutions; if such +they may be called, of all these tropical nations. In a neighbouring +state to that of Abyssinia, the king, when appointed to the regal +dignity, retires into an island, and is never again visible to the eyes +of men but once--when his ministers come to strangle him; for it may not +be that the proud monarch of Behr should die a natural death. No men, +with this fatal exception, are ever allowed even to set foot upon the +island, which is guarded by a band of Amazons. In another border +country, called Habeesh, the monarch is dignified with the title of +Tiger. He was formerly Malek of Shendy, when it was invaded by Ismael +Pasha, and was even then designated by this fierce cognomen. Ismael, +Mehemet Ali's second son, advanced through Nubia claiming tribute and +submission from all the tribes Nemmir (which signifies Tiger), the king +of Shendy, received him hospitably, as Mahmoud, our dragoman, informed +us, and, when he was seated in his tent, waited on him to learn his +pleasure. "My pleasure is," replied the invader, "that you forthwith +furnish me with slaves, cattle, and money, to the value of 100,000 +dollars."--"Pooh!" said Nemmir, "you jest; all my country could not +produce what you require in one hundred moons."--"Ha! Wallah!" was the +young Pasha's reply, and he struck the Tiger across the face with his +pipe. If he had done so to his namesake of the jungle, the insult could +not have roused fiercer feelings of revenge, but the human animal did +not shew his wrath at once. "It is well," he replied; "let the Pasha +rest; _to-morrow he shall have nothing more to ask_." The Egyptian, and +the few Mameluke officers of his staff, were tranquilly smoking towards +evening, entertained by some dancing-girls, whom the Tiger had sent to +amuse them; when they observed that a huge pile of dried stalks of +Indian corn was rising rapidly round the tent. "What means this?" +inquired Ismael angrily; "am not I Pasha?"--"It is but forage for your +highness's horses," replied the Nubian; "for, were your troops once +arrived, the people would fear to approach the camp." Suddenly the space +is filled with smoke, the tent-curtains shrivel up in flames, and the +Pasha and his comrades find themselves encircled in what they well know +is their funeral pyre. Vainly the invader implores mercy, and assures +the Tiger of his warm regard for him and all his family; vainly he +endeavours to break through the fiery fence that girds him round; a +thousand spears bore him back into the flames, and the Tiger's +triumphant yell and bitter mockery mingle with his dying screams. The +Egyptians perished to a man. Nemmir escaped up the country, crowned with +savage glory, and married the daughter of a king, who soon left him his +successor, and the Tiger still defies the old Pasha's power. The latter, +however, took a terrible revenge upon his people: he burnt all the +inhabitants of the village nearest to the scene of his son's slaughter, +and cut off the right hands of five hundred men besides. So much for +African warfare. + + + + +CROCODILE SHOOTING. + + +The first time a man fires at a crocodile is an epoch in his life. We +had only now arrived in the waters where they abound; for it is a +curious fact that none are ever seen below Mineych, though Herodotus +speaks of them as fighting with the dolphins, at the mouths of the Nile. +A prize had been offered for the first man who detected a crocodile, and +the crew had now been two days on the alert in search of them. Buoyed up +with the expectation of such game, we had latterly reserved our fire for +them exclusively; and the wild-duck and turtle, nay, even the vulture +and the eagle, had swept past, or soared above, in security. At length +the cry of "Timseach, timseach!" was heard from half-a-dozen claimants +of the proffered prize, and half-a-dozen black fingers were eagerly +pointed to a spit of sand, on which were strewn apparently some logs of +trees. It was a covey of crocodiles! Hastily and silently the boat was +run in shore. R. was ill, so I had the enterprise to myself, and +clambered up the steep bank with a quicker pulse than when I first +levelled a rifle at a Highland deer. My intended victims might have +prided themselves on their superior nonchalance; and, indeed, as I +approached them, there seemed to be a sneer on their ghastly mouths and +winking eyes. Slowly they rose, one after the other, and waddled to the +water, all but one, the most gallant or most gorged of the party. He lay +still until I was within a hundred yards of him; then slowly rising on +his fin-like legs, he lumbered towards the river, looking askance at me, +with an expression of countenance that seemed to say, "He can do me no +harm; however, I may as well have a swim." I took aim at the throat of +this supercilious brute, and, as soon as my hand steadied, the very +pulsation of my finger pulled the trigger. Bang! went the gun! whizz! +flew the bullet; and my excited ear could catch the _thud_ with which it +plunged into the scaly leather of his neck. His waddle became a plunge, +the waves closed over him, and the sun shone on the calm water, as I +reached the brink of the shore, that was still indented by the waving +of his gigantic tail. But there is blood upon the water, and he rises +for a moment to the surface. "A hundred piasters for the timseach," I +exclaimed, and half-a-dozen Arabs plunged into the stream. There! he +rises again, and the blacks dash at him as if he hadn't a tooth in his +head. Now he is gone, the waters close over him, and I never saw him +since. From that time we saw hundreds of crocodiles of all sizes, and +fired shots,--enough of them for a Spanish revolution; but we never +could get possession of any, even if we hit them, which to this day +remains doubtful. + + + + +~Remarkable Instance of Courage in a Lady.~ + + +In the Life of Thomas Day, Esq., an anecdote is related of Miss B----, +afterwards Mrs. Day, shewing with what remarkable effect presence of +mind and courage can tame the ferocity of the brute creation. + +Miss B. was, on one occasion, walking in company with another young lady +through a field, when a bull came running up to them with all the marks +of malevolence. Her friend began to run towards the stile, but was +prevented by Miss B., who told her, that as she could not reach the +stile soon enough to save herself, and as it is the nature of these +animals to attack persons in flight, her life would be in great danger +if she attempted to run, and would be inevitably lost if she chanced to +fall; but that, if she would steal gently to the stile, she herself +would take off the bull's attention from her, by standing between them. +Accordingly, turning her face towards the animal with the firmest aspect +she could assume, she fixed her eyes steadily upon his. It is said by +travellers, that a lion itself may be controlled by the steady looks of +a human being; but that, no sooner a man turns his back, than the beast +springs upon him as his prey. Miss B., to whom this property of animals +seems to have been known, had the presence of mind to apply it to the +safety of her friend and of herself. By her steady aspect she checked +the bull's career; but he shewed the strongest marks of indignation at +being so controlled, by roaring and tearing the ground with his feet and +horns. While he was thus engaged in venting his rage on the turf, she +cautiously retreated a few steps, without removing her eyes from him. +When he observed that she had retreated, he advanced till she stopped, +and then he also stopped, and again renewed his frantic play. Thus by +repeated degrees she at length arrived at the stile, where she +accomplished her safety; and thus, by a presence of mind rarely seen in +a person of her youth and sex, she not only saved herself, but also, at +the hazard of her own life, protected her friend. Some days afterwards, +this bull gored its master. + + + + +~Indian Field Sports.~ + + +We give a few anecdotes illustrative of the above, from a work intitled +"Sketches of Field Sports, as followed by the Natives of India," from +the reading of which we have derived much pleasure. The authority is Dr. +Johnson, East India Company's Service. + +He begins by informing his readers, that the "Shecarries" (or professed +hunters) are generally Hindoos of a low caste, who gain their livelihood +entirely by catching birds, hares, and all sorts of animals; some of +them confine themselves to catching birds and hares, whilst others +practise the art of catching birds and various animals; another +description of them live by destroying tigers. + + + + +METHOD OF CATCHING BIRDS. + + +Those who catch birds equip themselves with a framework of split +bamboos, resembling the frame of a paper kite, the shape of the top of a +coffin, and the height of a man, to which green bushes are fastened, +leaving two loop-holes to see through, and one lower down for their rod +to be inserted through. This framework, which is very light, they fasten +before them when they are in the act of catching birds, by which means +they have both hands at liberty, and are completely concealed from the +view of the birds. The rod which they use is about twenty-four feet +long, resembling a fishing-rod, the parts of which are inserted within +one another, and the whole contained in a walking-stick. + +They also carry with them horse-hair nooses of different sizes and +strength, which they fasten to the rod: likewise bird-lime, and a +variety of calls for the different kinds of birds, with which they +imitate them to the greatest nicety. They take with them likewise two +lines to which horse-hair nooses are attached for catching larger birds, +and a bag or net to carry their game. + +Thus equipped, they sally forth, and as they proceed through the +different covers, they use calls for such birds as generally resort +there, which from constant practice is well known to them, and if any +birds answer their call they prepare accordingly for catching them; +supposing it to be a bevy of quail, they continue calling them, until +they get quite close; they then arm the top of their rod with a feather +smeared with bird-lime, and pass it through the loop-hole in their +frame of ambush, and to which they continue adding other parts, until +they have five or six out, which they use with great dexterity, and +touch one of the quail with the feather, which adheres to them; they +then withdraw the rod, arm it again, and touch three or four more in the +same manner before they attempt to secure any of them. + +In this way they catch all sorts of small birds not much larger than +quail, on the ground and in trees. If a brown or black partridge answers +their call, instead of bird-lime, they fasten a horse-hair noose to the +top of their rod, and when they are close to the birds, they keep +dipping the top of their rod with considerable skill until they fasten +the noose on one of their necks; they then draw him in, and go on +catching others in the same way. It is surprising to see with what cool +perseverance they proceed. In a similar manner they catch all kinds of +birds, nearly the size of partridges. + + + + +THE HYENA. + + +A servant of Mr. William Hunter's, by name Thomas Jones, who lived at +_Chittrah_, had a full grown hyena which ran loose about his house like +a dog, and I have seen him play with it with as much familiarity. They +feed on small animals and carrion, and I believe often come in for the +prey left by tigers and leopards after their appetites have been +satiated. They are great enemies of dogs, and kill numbers of them. + +The natives of India affirm that tigers, panthers, and leopards, have a +great aversion to hyenas, on account of their destroying their young, +which I believe they have an opportunity of doing, as the parents leave +them during the greatest part of the day. The inhabitants, therefore, +feel no apprehension in taking away the young whenever they find them, +knowing the dam is seldom near.... Hyenas are slow in their pace, and +altogether inactive; I have often seen a few terriers keep them at bay, +and bite them severely by the hind quarter; their jaws, however, are +exceedingly strong, and a single bite, without holding on more than a +few seconds, is sufficient to kill a large dog. They stink horribly, +make no earths of their own, lie under rocks, or resort to the earths of +wolves, as foxes do to those of badgers; and it is not uncommon to find +wolves and hyenas in the same bed of earths. + +I was informed by several gentlemen, of whose veracity I could not +doubt, that Captain Richards, of the Bengal Native Infantry, had a +servant of the tribe of _Shecarries_, who was in the habit of going into +the earths of wolves, fastening strings on them, and on the legs of +hyenas, and then drawing them out; he constantly supplied his master and +the gentlemen at the station with them, who let them loose on a plain, +and rode after them with spears, for practice and amusement. This man +possessed such an acute and exquisite sense of smelling, that he could +always tell by it if there were any animals in the earths, and could +distinguish whether they were hyenas or wolves. + + + + +THE BEAR. + + +Bears will often continue on the road in front of the palanquin for a +mile or two, tumbling and playing all sorts of antics, as if they were +taught to do so. I believe it is their natural disposition; for they +certainly are the most amusing creatures imaginable in their wild state. +It is no wonder that with monkeys they are led about to amuse mankind. +It is astonishing, as well as ludicrous, to see them climb rocks, and +tumble or rather roll down precipices. If they are attacked by any +person on horseback, they stand erect on their hind legs, shewing a fine +set of white teeth, and making a cackling kind of noise. If the horse +comes near them, they try to catch him by the legs, and if they miss +him, they tumble over and over several times. They are easily speared by +a person mounted on a horse that is bold enough to go near them. + + + + +SAGACITY OF THE ELEPHANT. + + +An elephant belonging to Mr. Boddam, of the Bengal Civil Service, at +_Gyah_, used every day to pass over a small bridge leading from his +master's house into the town of _Gyah_. He one day refused to go over +it, and it was with great difficulty, by goring him most cruelly with +the _Hunkuss_ [iron instrument], that the _Mahout_ [driver] could get +him to venture on the bridge, the strength of which he first tried with +his trunk, shewing clearly that he suspected that it was not +sufficiently strong. At last he went on, and before he could get over, +the bridge gave way, and they were precipitated into the ditch, which +killed the driver, and considerably injured the elephant. It is +reasonable to suppose that the elephant must have perceived its feeble +state when he last passed over it. It is a well known fact, that +elephants will seldom or ever go over strange bridges, without first +trying with their trunks if they be sufficiently strong to bear their +weight,--nor will they ever go into a boat without doing the same. + +I had a remarkably quiet and docile elephant, which one day came home +loaded with branches of trees for provender, followed by a number of +villagers, calling for mercy (their usual cry when ill used); +complaining that the _Mahout_ had stolen a kid from them, and that it +was then on the elephant, under the branches of the trees. The _Mahout_ +took an opportunity of decamping into the village and hiding himself. I +ordered the elephant to be unloaded, and was surprised to see that he +would not allow any person to come near to him, when at all other times +he was perfectly tractable and obedient. Combining all the +circumstances, I was convinced that the _Mahout_ was guilty, and to get +rid of the noise, I recompensed the people for the loss of their kid. As +soon as they were gone away, the elephant allowed himself to be +unloaded, and the kid was found under the branches, as described by the +people. I learnt from my _Sarcar_, that similar complaints had been made +to him before, and that the rascal of a _Mahout_ made it a practice to +ride the elephant into the midst of a herd of goats, and had taught him +to pick up any of the young ones he directed; he had also accustomed +him to steal their pumpions and other vegetables, that grew against the +inside of their fences like French beans, which could only be reached by +an elephant. He was the best _Mahout_ I ever knew, and so great a rogue +that I was obliged to discharge him. + +The very day that he left my service, the elephant's eyes were closed, +which he did not open again in less than a fortnight, when it was +discovered that he was blind. Two small eschars, one in each eye, were +visible, which indicated pretty strongly that he had been made blind by +some sharp instrument, most probably by a heated needle. The suspicion +was very strong against the former keeper, of whom I never heard +anything after. The elephant I frequently rode on, shooting, for many +years after this, through heavy covers, intersected with ravines, +rivers, and over hollow and uneven ground, and he scarcely ever made a +false step with me, and never once tumbled. He used to touch the ground +with his trunk on every spot where his feet were to be placed, and in +so light and quick a manner as scarcely to be perceived. The _Mahout_ +would often make him remove large stones, lumps of earth, or timber, out +of his way, frequently climb up and down banks that no horse could get +over. He would also occasionally break off branches of trees that were +in the way of the _Howdah_, to enable me to pass. + +Although perfectly blind, he was considered one of the best sporting +elephants of his small size in the country, and he travelled at a +tolerably good rate, and was remarkably easy in his paces. + + + + +ANECDOTES OF THE TIGER. + + +An occurrence nearly similar happened to me soon after, which put an end +to my shooting on foot. From that time to the period of my leaving +_Chittrah_, which was many years after, I always went out to shoot on an +elephant. The circumstance I allude to was as follows:--Fifty or sixty +people were beating a thick cover. I was on the outside of it, with a +man holding my horse, and another servant with a hog's spear; when those +who were driving the cover called _Suer! Suer!_ which is the +_Hindoostanee_ name for hog. Seeing something move the bushes about +twenty yards from me, and supposing it to be a hog, I fired at the spot, +with ten or a dozen small balls. Instantly on the explosion of my gun, a +tiger roared out, and came galloping straight towards us. I dipped under +the horse's belly, and got on the opposite side from him. He came within +a few yards of us, and then turned off growling into the cover. + +When the people came out, they brought with them a dead hog, partly +devoured. These two cases, I think, shew clearly that tigers are +naturally cowardly. They generally take their prey by surprise, and +whenever they attack openly, it is reasonable to conclude that they must +be extremely hungry; which I believe is often the case, as their killing +animals of the forest must be very precarious. It is the general opinion +of the inhabitants, that when a tiger has tasted human blood he prefers +it to all other food. A year or two sometimes elapses without any one +being killed by a tiger for several miles round, although they are often +seen in that space, and are known to destroy cattle; but as soon as one +man is killed, others shortly after share the same fate. This, I +imagine, is the reason why the natives entertain an idea that they +prefer men to all other food. I account for it otherwise. Tigers are +naturally afraid of men, and, in the first instance, seldom attack them, +unless compelled by extreme hunger. When once they have ventured an +attack, they find them much easier prey than most animals of the forest, +and always to be met with near villages, and on public roads, without +the trouble of hunting about for them through the covers. + +A tigress with two cubs lurked about the _Kutkumsandy_ pass, and during +two months killed a man almost every day, and on some days two. Ten or +twelve of the people belonging to government (carriers of the post-bags) +were of the number. In fact, the communication between the Presidency +and the upper provinces was almost entirely cut off. The government, +therefore, was induced to offer a large reward to any person who killed +the tigress. + +She was fired at, and, adds Mr. J., never ... "heard of after;" from +which it may be presumed she was wounded. It is fortunate for the +inhabitants of that country, that tigers seldom survive any wound; their +blood being always in a state predisposing to putrefaction, consequence +of the extreme heat, and their living entirely on animal food.... + +Two _Biparies_[1] were driving a string of loaded bullocks to _Chittrah_ +from _Palamow_. When they were come within a few miles of the former +place, a tiger seized on the man in the rear, which was seen by a +_Guallah_ [herdsman], as he was watching his buffaloes grazing. He +boldly ran to the man's assistance, and cut the tiger severely with his +sword; upon which he dropped the _Biparie_ and seized the herdsman: the +buffaloes observing it, attacked the tiger, and rescued the poor man; +they tossed him about from one to the other, and, to the best of my +recollection, killed him; but of that I am not quite positive. Both of +the wounded men were brought to me. The _Biparie_ recovered, and the +herdsman died. + +[Footnote 1: _Bipar_ signifies merchandise, and _Biparies_ are people +who buy grain, and other articles, which they transport from one part of +the country to another on bullocks.] + +An elderly man and his wife (of the lowest caste of _Hindoos_, called +_dooms_, who live chiefly by making mats and baskets) were each carrying +home a bundle of wood, and as they were resting their burdens on the +ground, the old man hearing a strange noise, looked about, and saw a +tiger running off with his wife in his mouth. He ran after them, and +struck the tiger on the back with a small axe: the tiger dropt the wife, +who was soon after brought to me. One of her breasts was almost entirely +taken away, and the other much lacerated: she had also several deep +wounds in the back of her neck, by which I imagine the tiger struck at +her with his two fore paws; one on the neck, and the other on the +breast. This, if I may judge from the number I have seen wounded, is +their usual way of attacking men. The old woman was six months under my +care, and at last recovered. + +As an old Mahometan priest was travelling at mid-day on horseback, +within a few miles of _Chittrah_, with his son, an athletic young man, +walking by his side, they heard a tiger roaring near them. The son urged +his father to hasten on; the old man continued at a slow pace, observing +that there was no danger, the tiger would not molest them. He then began +counting his beads, and offering his prayers to the Almighty; in the act +of which he was knocked off his horse, and carried away by the tiger; +the son ran after them, and cut the tiger with his sword; he dropped the +father, seized the son, and carried him off. The father was brought to +_Chittrah_, and died the same day; the son was never heard of +afterwards. In this instance, I think, the tiger must have been +ravenously hungry, or he would not have roared when near his prey; it is +what they seldom or ever do, except in the very act of seizing.... + +Some idea may be formed how numerous the tigers must have been at one +period in Bengal, from the circumstance, that one gentleman is reported +to have killed upwards of three hundred and sixty. + + + + +~Death of Sir John Moore.~ + + +From Mr. Southey's History of the Peninsular War, a work of sterling +merit. + +Marshal Soult's intention was to force the right of the British, and +thus to interpose between Corunna and the army, and cut it off from the +place of embarkation. Failing in this attempt, he was now endeavouring +to outflank it. Half of the 4th regiment was therefore ordered to fall +back, forming an obtuse angle with the other half. This manoeuvre was +excellently performed, and they commenced a heavy flanking fire: Sir +John Moore called out to them, that this was exactly what he wanted to +be done, and rode on to the 50th, commanded by Majors Napier and +Stanhope. They got over an inclosure in their front, charged the enemy +most gallantly, and drove them out of the village of Elvina; but Major +Napier, advancing too far in the pursuit, received several wounds, and +was made prisoner, and Major Stanhope was killed. + +The General now proceeded to the 42nd. "Highlanders," said he, "remember +Egypt!" They rushed on, and drove the French before them, till they were +stopped by a wall. Sir John accompanied them in this charge. He now sent +Captain Hardinge to order up a battalion of Guards to the left flank of +the 42nd. The officer commanding the light infantry conceived at this +that they were to be relieved by the Guards, because their ammunition +was nearly expended, and he began to fall back. The General, discovering +the mistake, said to them, "My brave 42nd, join your comrades: +ammunition is coming, and you have your bayonets!" Upon this, they +instantly moved forward. Captain Hardinge returned, and pointed out to +the General where the Guards were advancing. The enemy kept up a hot +fire, and their artillery played incessantly on the spot where they were +standing. A cannon-shot struck Sir John, and carried away his left +shoulder, and part of the collar-bone, leaving the arm hanging by the +flesh. He fell from his horse on his back; his countenance did not +change, neither did he betray the least sensation of pain. Captain +Hardinge, who dismounted, and took him by the hand, observed him +anxiously watching the 42nd, which was warmly engaged, and told him they +were advancing; and upon that intelligence his countenance brightened. +Colonel Graham, who now came up to assist him, seeing the composure of +his features, began to hope that he was not wounded, till he perceived +the dreadful laceration. From the size of the wound, it was in vain to +make any attempt at stopping the blood; and Sir John consented to be +removed in a blanket to the rear. In raising him up, his sword, hanging +on the wounded side, touched his arm, and became entangled between his +legs. Captain Hardinge began to unbuckle it; but the General said, in +his usual tone and manner, and in a distinct voice, "It is as well as it +is; I had rather it should go out of the field with me." Six soldiers +of the 42nd and the Guards bore him. Hardinge, observing his composure, +began to hope that the wound might not be mortal, and said to him, he +trusted he might be spared to the army, and recover. Moore turned his +head, and looking stedfastly at the wound for a few seconds, replied, +"No, Hardinge, I feel that to be impossible." + +As the soldiers were carrying him slowly along, he made them frequently +turn round, that he might see the field of battle, and listen to the +firing; and he was well pleased when the sound grew fainter. A +spring-wagon came up, bearing Colonel Wynch, who was wounded: the +Colonel asked who was in the blanket, and being told it was Sir John +Moore, wished him to be placed in the wagon. Sir John asked one of the +Highlanders whether he thought the wagon or the blanket was best? and +the man said the blanket would not shake him so much, as he and the +other soldiers would keep the step, and carry him easy. So they +proceeded with him to his quarters at Corunna, weeping as they went.... + +The General lived to hear that the battle was won. "Are the French +beaten?" was the question which he repeated to every one who came into +his apartment; and he expressed how great a satisfaction it was to him +to know that they were defeated. "I hope," he said, "the people of +England will be satisfied! I hope my country will do me justice," Then, +addressing Colonel Anderson, who had been his friend and companion in +arms for one-and-twenty years, he said to him, "Anderson, you know that +I have always wished to die this way--You will see my friends as soon as +you can:--tell them everything--Say to my mother"--But here his voice +failed, he became excessively agitated, and did not again venture to +name her. Sometimes he asked to be placed in an easier posture. "I feel +myself so strong," he said, "I fear I shall be long dying. It is great +uneasiness--it is great pain." But, after a while, he pressed Anderson's +hand close to his body, and, in a few minutes, died without a struggle. +He fell, as it had ever been his wish to do, in battle and in victory. +No man was more beloved in private life, nor was there any general in +the British army so universally respected. All men had thought him +worthy of the chief command. Had he been less circumspect,--had he +looked more ardently forward, and less anxiously around him, and on all +sides, and behind,--had he been more confident in himself and in his +army, and impressed with less respect for the French Generals, he would +have been more equal to the difficulties of his situation. Despondency +was the radical weakness of his mind. Personally he was as brave a man +as ever met death in the field; but he wanted faith in British courage: +and it is faith by which miracles are wrought in war as well as in +religion. But let it ever be remembered with gratitude, that, when some +of his general officers advised him to conclude the retreat by a +capitulation, Sir John Moore preserved the honour of England. + +He had often said that, if he were killed in battle, he wished to be +buried where he fell. The body was removed at midnight to the citadel of +Corunna. A grave was dug for him on the rampart there, by a party of the +9th regiment, the aides-du-camp attending by turns. No coffin could be +procured; and the officers of his staff wrapped the body, dressed as it +was, in a military cloak and blankets. The interment was hastened; for, +about eight in the morning, some firing was heard, and they feared that, +if a serious attack were made, they should be ordered away, and not +suffered to pay him their last duty. The officers of his staff bore him +to the grave; the funeral service was read by the chaplain; and the +corpse was covered with earth. + +Thus, with a solemn splendour and a sad glory, closed the career of a +gallant but unfortunate commander. + +We subjoin the beautiful Ode on the Death of Sir John, written by the +Rev. Mr. Wolfe:-- + + THE BURIAL OF SIR JOHN MOORE. + + Not a drum was heard, not a funeral-note, + As his corse to the ramparts we hurried; + Not a soldier discharged his farewell-shot + O'er the grave where our hero we buried. + + We buried him darkly at dead of night, + The sods with our bayonets turning, + By the straggling moonbeam's misty light, + And the lantern dimly burning. + + No useless coffin inclosed his breast, + Not in sheet or in shroud we wound him, + But he lay like a warrior taking his rest, + With his martial cloak around him. + + Few and short were the prayers we said, + And we spoke not a word of sorrow; + But we stedfastly gazed on the face that was dead, + And we bitterly thought of the morrow. + + We thought, as we hallowed his narrow bed, + And smoothed down his lonely pillow, + That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head, + And we far away on the billow! + + Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone, + And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him,-- + But little he'll reck, if they let him sleep on + In the grave where a Briton has laid him. + + But half of our heavy task was done, + When the clock struck the hour for retiring; + And we heard the distant and random gun + That the foe was sullenly firing. + + Slowly and sadly we laid him down, + From the field of his fame fresh and gory; + We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone-- + But we left him alone with his glory. + + + + +~Persian Tyranny.~ + + +Sir R.K. Porter, in his travels in Persia, met with the sufferer from +despotic tyranny and cruelty whose story is here related. He informs us, +that the benignity of this person's countenance, united with the +crippled state of his venerable frame, from the effects of his +precipitation from the terrible height of execution, excited his +curiosity to inquire into the particulars of so amazing a preservation. + +Entering into conversation on the amiable characters of the reigning +royal family of Persia, and comparing the present happiness of his +country under their rule, with its misery during the sanguinary +usurpation of the tyrant Nackee Khan, the good old man, who had himself +been so signal an example of that misery, was easily led to describe the +extraordinary circumstances of his own case. Being connected with the +last horrible acts, and consequent fall of the usurper, a double +interest accompanied his recital, the substance of which was nearly as +follows:-- + +Having by intrigues and assassinations made himself master of the regal +power at Shiraz, this monster of human kind found that the governor of +Ispahan, instead of adhering to him, had proclaimed the accession of the +lawful heir. No sooner was the intelligence brought to Nackee Khan than +he put himself at the head of his troops, and set forward to revenge his +contemned authority. When he arrived as far as Yezdikast, he encamped +his army for a short halt, near the tomb on the north side. Being as +insatiable of money as blood, he sent to the inhabitants of Yezdikast, +and demanded an immense sum in gold, which he insisted should instantly +be paid to his messengers. Unable to comply, the fact was respectfully +pleaded in excuse; namely, "that all the money the city had possessed +was already taken away by his own officers, and those of the opposite +party; and that, at present, there was scarce a tomaun in the place." +Enraged at this answer, he repaired, full of wrath, to the town, and, +ordering eighteen of the principal inhabitants to be brought before him, +again demanded the money, but with threats and imprecations which made +the hearers tremble. Still, however, they could only return the same +answer--"their utter inability to pay;" and the tyrant, without a +moment's preparation, commanded the men to be seized, and hurled from +the top of the precipice in his sight. Most of them were instantly +killed on the spot; others, cruelly maimed, died in terrible agonies +where they fell; and the describer of the dreadful scene was the only +one who survived. He could form no idea of how long he lay after +precipitation, utterly senseless; "but," added he, "by the will of God I +breathed again; and, on opening my eyes, found myself among the dead and +mangled bodies of my former neighbours and friends. Some yet groaned." +He then related, that, in the midst of his horror at the sight, he heard +sounds of yet more terrible acts, from the top of the cliff; and, +momentarily strengthened by fear of he knew not what, for he believed +that death had already grasped his own poor shattered frame, he managed +to crawl away, unperceived, into one of the numerous caverned holes +which perforate the foot of the steep. He lay there in an expiring +state the whole night, but in the morning was providentially discovered +by some of the town's people, who came to seek the bodies of their +murdered relatives, to mourn over and take them away for burial. The +poor man, feeble as he was, called to these weeping groups; who, to +their astonishment and joy, drew out one survivor from the dreadful heap +of slain. No time was lost in conveying him home, and administering +every kind of assistance; but many months elapsed before he was able to +move from his house, so deep had been the injuries inflicted in his +fall. + +In the course of his awful narrative, he told us, that the noise which +had so appalled him, as he lay among the blood-stained rocks, was indeed +the acting of a new cruelty of the usurper. After having witnessed the +execution of his sentence on the eighteen citizens, whose asseverations +he had determined not to believe, Nackee Khan immediately sent for a +devout man, called Saied Hassan, who was considered the sage of the +place, and, for his charities, greatly beloved by the people. "This +man," said the Khan, "being a descendant of the Prophet, must know the +truth, and will tell it me. He shall find me those who can and will pay +the money." But the answer given by the honest Saied being precisely the +same with that of the innocent victims who had already perished, the +tyrant's fury knew no bounds, and, rising from his seat, he ordered the +holy man to be rent asunder in his presence, and then thrown over the +rock, to increase the monument of his vengeance below. + +It was the tumult of this most dreadful execution, which occasioned the +noise that drove the affrighted narrator to the shelter of any hole from +the eye of merciless man. But the cruel scene did not end here. Even in +the yet sensible ear of the Saied, expiring in agonies, his execrable +murderer ordered that his wife and daughters should be given up to the +soldiers; and that, in punishment of such universal rebellion in the +town, the whole place should be razed to the ground. But this last act +of blood on a son of the Prophet cost the perpetrator his life. For the +soldiers themselves, and the nobles who had been partisans of the +usurper, were so struck with horror at the sacrilegious murder, and +appalled with the threatened guilt of violating women of the sacred +family, that they believed a curse must follow the abettors of such a +man. The next step, in their minds, was to appease Heaven by the +immolation of the offender; and, in the course of that very night, a +band of his servants cut the cords of his tent, which, instantly falling +in upon him, afforded them a secure opportunity of burying their +poniards in his body. The first strokes were followed by thousands. So +detested was the wretch, that in a few minutes his remains were hewn and +torn to pieces. It does not become men to lift the veil which lies over +the whole doom of a ruthless murderer; but there is something in the +last mortal yell of a tyrant, whether it be a Robespierre or a Nackee +Khan, which sounds as if mingled with a dreadful echo from the eternal +shore. + + + + +~Sketches in Virginia.~ + + +The Rock Bridge is described by Mr. Jefferson, late President of the +United States, as one of the most sublime of the productions of Nature. +It is on the ascent of a hill which seems to have been cloven through +its length by some great convulsion of Nature. + +Although the sides of the bridge are provided in some parts with a +parapet of fixed rocks, yet few persons have resolution to walk to them, +and look over into the abyss. The passenger involuntarily falls on his +hands, creeps to the parapet, and peeps over it. Looking down from this +height for the space of a minute, occasions a violent headache; and the +view from beneath is delightful in the extreme, as much as that from +above is exquisitely painful. + +The following beautiful sketch is from the pen of the Rev. John Todd, of +Philadelphia, author of the Student's Manual, Simple Sketches, and other +admired works. + + + + +ROCK BRIDGE. + + +On a lovely morning towards the close of spring, I found myself in a +very beautiful part of the great valley of Virginia. Spurred on by +impatience, I beheld the sun rising in splendour, and changing the blue +tints on the tops of the lofty Alleghany mountains into streaks of +purest gold; and nature seemed to smile in the freshness of beauty. A +ride of about fifteen miles, and a pleasant woodland ramble of about +two, brought myself and my companion to the great NATURAL BRIDGE. + +Although I had been anxiously looking forward to this time, and my mind +had been considerably excited by expectation, yet I was not altogether +prepared for this visit. This great work of nature is considered by many +as the second great curiosity in our country, Niagara Falls being the +first. I do not expect to convey a very correct idea of this bridge; for +no description can do this. + +The Natural Bridge is entirely the work of God. It is of solid +limestone, and connects two huge mountains together, by a most beautiful +arch over which there is a great wagon road. Its length from one +mountain to the other is nearly eighty feet, its width about +thirty-five, its thickness forty-five, and its perpendicular height +above the water is not far from two hundred and twenty feet. A few +bushes grow on its top, by which the traveller may hold himself as he +looks over. On each side of the stream, and near the bridge, are rocks +projecting ten or fifteen feet over the water, and from two hundred to +three hundred feet from its surface, all of limestone. The visitor +cannot give so good a description of the bridge as he can of his +feelings at the time. He softly creeps out on a shaggy projecting rock, +and, looking down a chasm from forty to sixty feet wide, he sees, nearly +three hundred feet below, a wild stream foaming and dashing against the +rocks beneath, as if terrified at the rocks above. This stream is called +Cedar Creek. He sees under the arch, trees whose height is seventy feet; +and yet, as he looks down upon them, they appear like small bushes of +perhaps two or three feet in height. I saw several birds fly under the +arch, and they looked like insects. I threw down a stone, and counted +thirty-four before it reached the water. All hear of heights and of +depths, but they here _see_ what is high, and they tremble, and _feel_ +it to be deep. The awful rocks present their everlasting butments, the +water murmurs and foams far below, and the two mountains rear their +proud heads on each side, separated by a channel of sublimity. Those who +view the sun, the moon, and the stars, and allow that none but God could +make them, will here be impressed that none but an _Almighty_ God could +build a bridge like this. + +The view of the bridge from below is as pleasing as the top view is +awful. The arch from beneath would seem to be about two feet in +thickness. Some idea of the distance from the top to the bottom may be +formed, from the fact, that as I stood on the bridge and my companion +beneath, neither of us could speak sufficiently loud to be heard by the +other. A man, from either view, does not appear more than four or five +inches in height. + +As we stood under this beautiful arch, we saw the place where visitors +have often taken the pains to engrave their names upon the rock. Here +Washington climbed up twenty-five feet, and carved his own name, where +it still remains. Some, wishing to immortalise their names, have +engraven them deep and large, while others have tried to climb up and +insert them high in this book of fame. + +A few years since, a young man, being ambitious to place his name above +all others, was very near losing his life in the attempt. After much +fatigue he climbed up as high as possible, but found that the person who +had before occupied his place was taller than himself, and consequently +had placed his name above his reach. But he was not thus to be +discouraged. He opened a large jack-knife, and, in the soft limestone, +began to cut places for his hands and feet. With much patience and +industry he worked his way upwards, and succeeded in carving his name +higher than the most ambitious had done before him. He could now +triumph, but his triumph was short; for he was placed in such a +situation that it was impossible to descend, unless he fell upon the +ragged rocks beneath him. There was no house near, from whence his +companions could get assistance. He could not long remain in that +condition, and, what was worse, his friends were too much frightened to +do anything for his relief. They looked upon him as already dead, +expecting every moment to see him precipitated upon the rocks below and +dashed to pieces. Not so with himself. He determined to ascend. +Accordingly he plies the rock with his knife, cutting places for his +hands and feet, and gradually ascended with incredible labour. He exerts +every muscle. His life was at stake, and all the terrors of death rose +before him. He dared not look downwards, lest his head should become +dizzy; and perhaps on this circumstance his life depended. His +companions stood at the top of the rock, exhorting and encouraging him. +His strength was almost exhausted; but a bare possibility of saving his +life still remained; and hope, the last friend of the distressed, had +not yet forsaken him. His course upwards was rather oblique than +perpendicular. His most critical moment had now arrived. He had ascended +considerably more than two hundred feet, and had still further to rise, +when he felt himself fast growing weak. He thought of his friends, and +all his earthly joys, and he could not leave them. He thought of the +grave, and dared not meet it. He now made his last effort and succeeded. +He had cut his way not far from two hundred and fifty feet from the +water, in a course almost perpendicular; and in a little less than two +hours, his anxious companions reached him a pole from the top, and drew +him up. They received him with shouts of joy, but he himself was +completely exhausted. He immediately fainted on reaching the top, and it +was some time before he could be recovered! + +It was interesting to see the path up these awful rocks, and to follow +in imagination this bold youth as he thus saved his life. His name +stands far above all the rest, a monument of hardihood, of rashness, and +of folly. + +We lingered around this seat of grandeur about four hours; but, from my +own feelings, I should not have supposed it over half an hour. There is +a little cottage near, lately built; here we were desired to write our +names, as visitors of the bridge, in a large book kept for this purpose. +Two large volumes were nearly filled in this manner already. Having +immortalised our names by enrolling them in this book, we slowly and +silently returned to our horses, wondering at this great work of nature; +and we could not but be filled with astonishment at the amazing power of +Him who can clothe Himself in wonder and terror, or throw around His +works a mantle of sublimity. + + + + +WIER'S CAVE. + + +About three days' ride from the Natural Bridge brought Mr. Todd and his +companions to a place called Port Republic, about twenty miles from the +town of Staunton. Here they prepared themselves to visit this other +natural curiosity. + +The shower was now over, which had wet us to the skin--the sun was +pouring down his most scorching rays--the heavy thunder had gone by; we +threw around our delighted eyes, and beheld near us the lofty Alleghany +rearing his shaggy head. The south branch of the Shenandoah river, with +its banks covered with beautiful trees, was murmuring at our feet--a +lovely plain stretched below us, as far as the eye could reach; and we, +with our guide, were now standing about half way up a hill nearly two +hundred feet high, and so steep that a biscuit may be thrown from its +top into the river at its foot--we were standing at the mouth of WIER'S +CAVE. This cavern derives its name from _Barnet Wier_, who discovered it +in the year 1804. It is situated near Madison's Cave, so celebrated; +though the latter cannot be compared with the former. + +There were three of us, besides our guide, with lighted torches, and our +loins girded, now ready to descend into the cave. We took our torches in +our left hands and entered. The mouth was so small that we could descend +only by creeping, one after another. A descent of almost twenty yards +brought us into the first room. The cave was exceedingly cold, dark, and +silent, like the chambers of death. In this manner we proceeded, now +descending thirty or forty feet--now ascending as high--now creeping on +our hands and knees, and now walking in large rooms--the habitations of +solitude. The mountain seems to be composed almost wholly of limestone, +and by this means the cave is lined throughout with the most beautiful +incrustations and stalactites of carbonated lime, which are formed by +the continual dripping of the water through the roof. These stalactites +are of various and elegant shapes and colours, often bearing a striking +resemblance to animated nature. At one place we saw over our heads what +appeared to be a _waterfall_ of the most beautiful kind. Nor could the +imagination be easily persuaded that it was not a reality. You could see +the water boiling and dashing down,--see its white spray and foam--but +it was all solid limestone. + +Thus we passed onward in this world of solitude--now stopping to admire +the beauties of a single stalactite--now wondering at the magnificence +of a large room--now creeping through narrow passages, hardly wide +enough to admit the body of a man,--and now walking in superb +galleries, until we came to the largest room, called WASHINGTON HALL. +This is certainly the most elegant room I ever saw. It is about two +hundred and seventy feet in length, about thirty-five in width, and +between thirty and forty feet high. The roof and sides are very +beautifully adorned by the tinsels which Nature has bestowed in the +greatest profusion, and which sparkle like the diamond, while surveyed +by the light of torches. The floor is flat, and smooth, and solid. I was +foremost of our little party in entering the room, and was not a little +startled as I approached the centre, to see a figure, as it were, rising +up before me out of the solid rock. It was not far from seven feet high, +and corresponded in every respect to the common idea of a ghost. It was +very white, and resembled a tall man clothed in a shroud. I went up to +it sideways, though I could not really expect to meet a ghost in a place +like this. On examination I found it was a very beautiful piece of the +carbonate of lime, very transparent, and very much in the shape of a +man. This is called WASHINGTON'S STATUE--as if Nature would do for this +hero what his delivered country has not done--rear a statue to his +memory. + +Here an accident happened which might have been serious. One of our +party had purposely extinguished his light, lest we should not have +enough to last. My companion accidentally put out his light, and in +sport came and blew out mine. We were now about sixteen hundred feet +from daylight, with but one feeble light, which the falling water might +in a moment have extinguished. Add to this, that the person who held +this light was at some distance viewing some falling water. + + "Conticuere omnes, intentique ora tenebant." + +We, however, once more lighted our torches; but, had we not been able to +do so, we might, at our leisure, have contemplated the gloominess of the +cavern, for no one would have come to us till the next day. In one room +we found an excellent spring of water, which boiled up as if to slake +our thirst, then sunk into the mountain, and was seen no more. In +another room was a noble pillar, called the TOWER OF BABEL. It is +composed entirely of stalactites of lime, or, as the appearance would +seem to suggest, of petrified water. It is about thirty feet in +diameter, and a little more than ninety feet in circumference, and not +far from thirty feet high. There are probably millions of stalactites in +this one pillar. + +Thus we wandered on in this world within a world, till we had visited +twelve very beautiful rooms, and as many creeping places, and had now +arrived at the end,--a distance from our entrance of between twenty-four +and twenty-five hundred feet; or, what is about its equal, half a mile +from the mouth. We here found ourselves exceedingly fatigued; but our +torches forbade us to tarry, and we once more turned our lingering steps +towards the common world. When we arrived again at Washington Hall, one +of our company three times discharged a pistol, whose report was truly +deafening; and as the sound reverberated and echoed through one room +after another till it died away in distance, it seemed like the moanings +of spirits. We continued our wandering steps till we arrived once more +at daylight, having been nearly three hours in the cavern. We were much +fatigued, covered with dirt, and in a cold sweat; yet we regretted to +leave it. From the farther end of the cave I gathered some handsome +stalactites, which I put into my portmanteau, and preserved as mementos +of that day's visit. + +To compare the Natural Bridge and Cave together as objects of curiosity, +is exceedingly difficult. Many consider the _Bridge_ as the greatest +curiosity; but I think the _Cavern_ is. In looking at the Bridge we are +filled with awe; at the Cavern with delight. At the Bridge we have +several views that are awful; at the Cave hundreds that are pleasing. At +the Bridge you stand and gaze in astonishment; at the Cave awfulness is +lost in beauty, and grandeur is dressed in a thousand captivating forms. +At the Bridge you feel yourself to be _looking_ into another world; at +the Cave you find yourself already _arrived_ there. The one presents to +us a God who is very "wonderful in working;" the other exhibits the same +power, but with it is blended loveliness in a thousand forms. In each is +vastness. Greatness constitutes the whole of one; but the other is +elegant, as well as great. Of each we must retain lively impressions; +and to witness such displays of the Creator's power, must ever be +considered as happy events in our lives. While viewing scenes like +these, we must ever exalt the energy of creating power, and sink under +the thoughts of our own insignificance. The works of nature are +admirably well calculated to impress us deeply with a sense of the +mighty power of God, who can separate two mountains by a channel of +awfulness, or fill the bowels of a huge mountain with beauties, that +man, with all the aid of art, can only admire, but never imitate. + + + + +~The Christian Slave.~ + + +We venture to extract another of Mr. Todd's Simple Sketches, so +charmingly are they described. + +The sun had set, and I began to be anxious to find a place of rest for +the night, after a day's ride under a sultry sun. I was travelling in +South Carolina, and was now not far from a branch of the Cooper river. +The country here is a dead level, and its surface is covered with thinly +scattered pines. I came to an old church--it stood solitary; not a house +in sight: it was built of wood, and much decayed. The breezes of evening +were gently sighing through the tops of the long-leaved pines which +stood near; while still nearer stood several large live-oaks, which +spread out their aged arms, as if to shelter what was sacred. On their +limbs hung, in graceful folds, the long grey moss, as if a mantle of +mourning, waving over a few decayed tombs at the east side of the +church. These oaks give the place a very sombre and awful appearance; +they seemed to stand as silent mourners over the dust of generations +that had sunk into the grave, and waiting in solemn expectation that +others would soon come and lie beneath their shade in the long sleep of +death. The time of day, and the sacredness of the spot, were so +congenial to my own feelings, that I involuntarily stopped my horse. + +My curiosity was now excited by seeing a very aged negro standing and +gazing steadily on a small decaying tomb. He seemed to be intent, and +did not observe me; his woolly locks were whitened by age; his +countenance was manly, though it bore the marks of sorrow; he was +leaning on his smooth-worn staff, the companion of many years. I was +somewhat surprised on seeing this aged African silently meditating among +the vestiges of the dead, and accordingly roused him from his reverie. +He started at first, but his confidence was soon gained. There is a +spring in the bosom of every Christian, which throws a joy into his +heart whenever he meets a fellow-christian during his pilgrimage here +below. I found the old negro to be an eminent Christian, and we were +soon acquainted. I inquired what motive induced him, at that hour of the +day, to visit these tombs. Instead of answering my question directly he +gave me the following account of himself, in broken language:-- + +About sixty years ago, this negro was living under his paternal roof in +Africa. He was the son of a chief of a small tribe, the pride of his +parents, and the delight of his countrymen; none could more dexterously +throw the dart; none more skilfully guide the fragile canoe over the +bosom of the deep. He was not far from twenty years of age, when, on a +fair summer's morn, he went in his little canoe to spend the day in +fishing. About noon he paddled his bark to the shore, and, under the +shade of a beautiful palmetto-tree, he reclined till the heat of +noon-day should be passed. He was young, healthy, and active; he knew +none whom he dreaded; he was a stranger to fear, and he dreamed only of +security, as he slept under the shade of his own native tree. Thus, +while our sky is encircled with the bow of happiness, we forget that it +may soon be overspread with darkness. When this African awoke, he found +his hands bound behind him, his feet fettered, and himself surrounded by +several white men, who were conveying him on board of their ship;--it +was a slave-ship. The vessel had her cargo completed, and was ready to +sail. As they were unfurling the sails, the son of Africa, with many +others of his countrymen, for the last time cast his eyes upon his +native shores. Futurity was dark,--was uncertain,--was despair. His +bosom thrilled with anguish, as he threw his last farewell look over the +plains of his native country. There was his native spot where his had +lived, there the home of his infancy and childhood, there the place +where he had inhaled his earliest breath--and to tear him from these, +seemed like breaking the very strings of his heart. + +[Illustration] + +After a melancholy passage, during which the African was forced to wear +double the irons to receive double the number of lashes, that any of +his companions received, on account of his refractory spirit, he was at +length landed and sold to a planter in the place where he now resides. +There is nothing new, nothing novel or interesting, that ever takes +place in the life of a slave--describe one day, and you write the +history of a slave. The sun, indeed, continues to roll over him; but it +sheds upon him no new joys, no new prospects, no new hopes. So it was +with the subject of this narrative. His master was naturally a man of a +very humane disposition; but his overseers were often little else than +compounds of vice and cruelty. In this situation the negro lost all his +natural independence and bravery. He often attempted to run away, but +was as often taken and punished. Having no cultivated mind to which he +could look for consolation--knowing of no change that was ever to take +place in his situation,--he settled down in gloominess. Often would he +send a silent sigh for the home of his youth; but his path shewed but +few marks of happiness, and few rays of hope for futurity were drawn by +fancy's hand. Sunk in despondency and vice, he was little above the +brutes around him. + +In this situation he was accidentally met by the good minister of the +parish, who addressed him as a rational and immortal being, and pressed +upon him the first principles of religion. This was a new subject; for +he had never before looked beyond the narrow bounds before him, nor had +he ever dreamed of a world beyond this. After a long conversation on +this subject, the minister made him promise that he would now "_attend +to his soul_." + +The clergyman could not, for many months after this, obtain an interview +with his new pupil, who most carefully shunned him. But though afraid to +meet his minister, he still felt an arrow of conviction in his heart. +Wherever he went, whether asleep or awake, to use his own words, his +promise, "me take care of soul, stick close to him," He now began in +earnest to seek "the one thing needful". By the kindness of his master +he learned to read his Testament, and to inquire more about Jesus. He +was now very desirous to see his minister; and before a convenient +opportunity occurred, he was in such distress of mind as actually to +attempt two several times to kill himself. His minister visited him, +conversed and prayed with him. + +"_Oh_," he would say, "God never think such poor negro, he no love so +much sinner, he no before ever see such bad heart!" The mercy of Christ, +and his compassion towards sinners, were explained to him, and his soul +was filled with "joy and peace in believing," He now rejoiced and +thanked God that he was brought from his native shores, as he had a +fairer country, and purer enjoyments presented to his view, after the +scenes of this transitory world shall be over. He now became more +industrious and more faithful. By uncommon industry he raised money +sufficient to purchase his own freedom. He next bought the liberty of +his wife, and had nearly completed paying for that of his only +daughter, when she was liberated by the hand of death. His wife soon +followed her, and left this world a perfect void to the husband and +father. His every tie that bound him to earth was now broken. Having no +earthly enjoyment, he now placed his affections on heaven above. It is +easy for the Christian to make rapid progress in holiness when not +fettered by worldly cares. + +It was now dark, and I must leave my new acquaintance. I left him with +his face wet with tears, still standing beside the tomb--the tomb of his +old minister! This good man had been his faithful and constant guide, +and though his ashes had been slumbering for years, the negro had not +yet forgotten how to weep at their urn. I could not but admire the +wonderful dealings of God, in order to bring men to himself. Happy +minister! who hast been the instrument of covering a multitude of sins! +Happy negro! his is not this world. Though no sculptured marble may tell +the traveller where he may shortly lie--though he never trod the thorny +road of ambition or power--though the trumpet of fame never blew the +echo of his name through a gaping world--still those eyes, which will +soon be closed in death, may hereafter awake, to behold, undaunted, a +world in flames, and these heavens fleeing away. + + + + +~Violent Earthquake in Calabria.~ + + +In nature there is nothing which can inspire us with so much awe as +those violent outbreakings which occasionally convulse the earth, +creating fearful devastation, overthrowing cities, and destroying much +life and property. The following is a description of one which occurred +in Calabria and Sicily in the year 1783; and which, from its violence, +overthrew many cities, creating an universal consternation in the minds +of the inhabitants of the two kingdoms. + +On Wednesday, the fifth of February, about one in the afternoon, the +earth was convulsed in that part of Calabria which is bounded by the +rivers of Gallico and Metramo, by the mountains Jeio, Sagra, and +Caulone, and the coast between these rivers and the Tuscan Sea. This +district is called the _Piana_, because the country extends itself from +the roots of the Appenines, in a plain, for twenty Italian miles in +length by eighteen in breadth. The earthquake lasted about a hundred +seconds. It was felt as far as Otranto, Palermo, Lipari, and the other +Æolian isles; a little also in Apuglia, and the _Terra di Cavoro_; in +Naples and the Abruzzi not at all. There stood in this plain a hundred +and nine cities and villages, the habitations of a hundred and sixty-six +thousand human beings; and in less than two minutes all these edifices +were destroyed, with nearly thirty-two thousand individuals of every +age, sex, and station,--the rich equally with the poor; for there +existed no power of escaping from so sudden a destruction. The soil of +the _Piana_ was granite at the base of the Apennines, but in the plain +the _debris_ of every sort of earth, brought down from the mountains by +the rains, constituted a mass of unequal solidity, resistance, weight, +and form. On this account, whatever might have been the cause of the +earthquake, whether volcanic or electrical, the movement assumed every +possible direction--vertical, horizontal, oscillatory, vorticose, and +pulsatory; producing every variety of destruction. In one place, a city +or house was thrown down, in another it was immersed. Here, trees were +buried to their topmost branches, beside others stripped and overturned. +Some mountains opened in the middle, and dispersed their mass to the +right and left, their summits disappearing, or being lost in the +newly-formed valleys; others slipped from their foundations along with +all their edifices, which sometimes were overthrown, but more rarely +remained uninjured, and the inhabitants not even disturbed in their +sleep. The earth opened in many places, forming frightful abysses; +while, at a small distance, it rose into hills. The waters, too, changed +their course; rivers uniting to form lakes, or spreading into marshes; +disappearing, to rise again in new streams, through other banks, or +running at large, to lay bare and desolate the most fertile fields. +Nothing retained its ancient form, cities, roads, and boundaries +vanished,--so that the inhabitants were bewildered as if in an unknown +land. The works of art and of nature, the elaborations of centuries, +together with many a stream and rock, coeval perhaps with the world +itself, were in a single instant destroyed and overthrown.... +Whirlwinds, tempests, the flames of volcanoes, and of burning edifices, +rain, wind, and thunder, accompanied the movements of the earth: all the +forces of nature were in activity, and it seemed as if all its laws were +suspended, and the last hour of created things at hand. In the meantime, +the sea between Scylla, Charybdis, and the coasts of Reggio and Messina, +was raised many fathoms above its usual level; overflowing its banks, +and then, in its return to its channel, carrying away men and beasts. By +these means, two thousand persons lost their lives on Scylla alone, who +were either congregated on the sands, or had escaped in boats, from the +dangers of the dry land. Etna and Stromboli were in more than usual +activity: but this hardly excited attention, amidst greater and graver +disasters. A worse fire than that of the volcanoes resulted from the +incidents of the earthquake; for the beams of the falling houses being +ignited by the burning heaths, the flames, fanned by the winds, were so +vast and fierce, that they seemed to issue from the bosom of the earth. +The heavens, alternately cloudy or serene, had given no previous sign of +the approaching calamity; but a new source of suffering followed it, in +a thick fog, which obscured the light of the day, and added to the +darkness of night. Irritating to the eyes, injurious to the respiration, +fetid, and immoveable, it hung over the two Calabrias for more than +twenty days,--an occasion of melancholy, disease, and annoyance, both to +man and to animals.... + +At the first shock, no token, in heaven or on earth, had excited +attention; but at the sudden movement, and at the aspect of destruction, +an overwhelming terror seized on the general mind, insomuch, that the +instinct of self-preservation was suspended, and men remained +thunderstricken and immoveable. On the return of reason, the first +sentiment was a sort of joy at the partial escape; but they soon gave +place to grief for the loss of family, and the overthrow of the domestic +habitation. Amidst so many aspects of death, and the apprehension even +of approaching judgment, the suspicion that friends were yet alive under +the ruins was the most excruciating affliction, since the impossibility +of assisting them rendered their death--(miserable and terrible +consolation)--a matter of preference and of hope. Fathers and husbands +were seen wandering amidst the ruins that covered the objects of their +affections, and, wanting the power to move the superincumbent masses, +were calling in vain for the assistance of the bystanders; or haply they +lay groaning, night and day, in their despair, upon the ruinous +fragments. But the most horrid fate--(a fate too dreadful to conceive or +to relate)--was theirs, who, buried alive beneath the fallen edifices, +awaited, with an anxious and doubtful hope, the chances of +relief--accusing, at first, the slowness, and then the avarice, of +their dearest relations and friends; and when they sank under hunger and +grief--with their senses and memory beginning to fail them--their last +sentiment was that of indignation against their kindred, and hatred of +humanity. Many were disinterred alive by their friends, and some by the +earthquake itself; which, overthrowing the very ruins it had made, +restored them to light. It was ultimately found, that about a fourth of +those whose bodies were recovered, might have been saved, had timely +assistance been at hand. The men were chiefly found in attitudes +indicating an effort at escape, the women with their hands covering +their face, or desperately plunged in their hair. Mothers were +discovered dead who had striven to protect their infants with their own +bodies, or lay with their arms stretched towards these objects of +affection, when separated from them by intervening masses of ruin. + + + + +~Escape from a Ship on Fire.~ + + +From the "Missionary Annual" for 1833. + +Many of the party, having retired to their hammocks soon after the +commencement of the storm, were only partially clothed, when they made +their escape; but the seamen on the watch, in consequence of the heavy +rain, having cased themselves in double or treble dresses, supplied +their supernumerary articles of clothing to those who had none. We +happily succeeded in bringing away two compasses from the binnacle, and +a few candles from the cuddy-table, one of them lighted; one bottle of +wine, and another of porter, were handed to us, with the tablecloth and +a knife, which proved very useful; but the fire raged so fiercely in the +body of the vessel, that neither bread nor water could be obtained. The +rain still poured in torrents; the lightning, followed by loud bursting +of thunder, continued to stream from one side of the heavens to the +other,--one moment dazzling us by its glare, and the next moment +leaving us in darkness, relieved only by the red flames of the +conflagration from which we were endeavouring to escape. Our first +object was to proceed to a distance from the vessel, lest she should +explode and overwhelm us; but, to our inexpressible distress, we +discovered that the yawl had no rudder, and that for the two boats we +had only three oars. All exertions to obtain more from the ship proved +unsuccessful. The gig had a rudder; from this they threw out a rope to +take us in tow; and, by means of a few paddles, made by tearing up the +lining of the boat, we assisted in moving ourselves slowly through the +water, providentially the sea was comparatively smooth, or our +overloaded boats would have swamped, and we should only have escaped the +flames to have perished in the deep. The wind was light, but variable, +and, acting on the sails, which, being drenched with the rain, did not +soon take fire, drove the burning mass, in terrific grandeur, over the +surface of the ocean, the darkness of which was only illuminated by the +quick glancing of the lightning or the glare of the conflagration. Our +situation was for some time extremely perilous. The vessel neared us +more than once, and apparently threatened to involve us in one common +destruction. The cargo, consisting of dry provisions, spirits, cotton +goods, and other articles equally combustible, burned with great +violence, while the fury of the destroying element, the amazing height +of the flames, the continued storm, amidst the thick darkness of the +night, rendered the scene appalling and terrible. About ten o'clock, the +masts, after swaying from side to side, fell with a dreadful crash into +the sea, and the hull of the vessel continued to burn amidst the +shattered fragments of the wreck, till the sides were consumed to the +water's edge. The spectacle was truly magnificent, could it even have +been contemplated by us without a recollection of our own circumstances. +The torments endured by the dogs, sheep, and other animals on board, at +any other time would have excited our deepest commiseration; but at +present, the object before us, our stately ship, that had for the last +four months been our social home, the scene of our enjoyments, our +labours, and our rest, now a prey to the destroying element; the +suddenness with which we had been hurried from circumstances of comfort +and comparative security, to those of destitution and peril, and with +which the most exhilarating hopes had been exchanged for disappointment +as unexpected as it was afflictive; the sudden death of the two seamen, +our own narrow escape, and lonely situation on the face of the deep, and +the great probability even yet, although we had succeeded in removing to +a greater distance from the vessel, that we ourselves should never again +see the light of day, or set foot on solid ground, absorbed every +feeling. For some time the silence was scarcely broken, and the thoughts +of many, I doubt not, were engaged on subjects most suitable to immortal +beings on the brink of eternity. The number of persons in the two boats +was forty-eight; and all, with the exception of the two ladies, who bore +this severe visitation with uncommon fortitude, worked by turns at the +oars and paddles. After some time, to our great relief, the rain ceased; +the labour of baling water from the boats was then considerably +diminished. We were frequently hailed during the night by our companions +in the small boat, and returned the call, while the brave and +generous-hearted seamen occasionally enlivened the solitude of the deep +by a simultaneous "Hurra!" to cheer each others' labours, and to animate +their spirits. The Tanjore rose in the water as its contents were +gradually consumed. We saw it burning the whole night, and at day-break +could distinguish a column of smoke, which, however, soon ceased, and +every sign of our favourite vessel disappeared. When the sun rose, our +anxiety and uncertainty as to our situation were greatly relieved by +discovering land ahead; the sight of it filled us with grateful joy, +and nerved us with fresh vigour for the exertion required in managing +the boats. With the advance of the day we discerned more clearly the +nature of the country. It was wild and covered with jungle, without any +appearance of population: could we have got ashore, therefore, many of +us might have perished before assistance could have been procured; but +the breakers, dashing upon the rocks, convinced us that landing was +impracticable. In the course of the morning we discovered a native +vessel, or dhoney, lying at anchor, at some distance: the wind at that +time beginning to favour us, every means was devised to render it +available. In the yawl we extended the tablecloth as a sail, and in the +other boat a blanket served the same purpose. This additional help was +the more seasonable, as the rays of the sun had become almost +intolerable to our partially covered bodies. Some of the seamen +attempted to quench their thirst by salt water: but the passengers +encouraged each other to abstain. About noon we reached the dhoney. The +natives on board were astonished and alarmed at our appearance, and +expressed some unwillingness to receive us; but our circumstances would +admit of no denial; and we scarcely waited till our Singalese +fellow-passenger could interpret to them our situation and our wants, +before we ascended the sides of their vessel, assuring them that every +expense and loss sustained on our account should be amply repaid. + + + + +~Anecdotes of the Albatross, &c.~ + + +The author of the following extracts is Mr. Augustus Earle, whose life +has been one of wandering and peril, traversing every quarter of the +globe. The account of his residence for nine months among the New +Zealanders is very interesting; but a description of their cannibal +habits will not suit the taste of many of our young readers. We shall +therefore accompany him to the Island of Tristan d'Acunha, upon which, +by accident, he was left, where he amused himself hunting goats, sea +elephants, albatrosses, and penguins; while, like another Crusoe, he +occasionally watched for the ship that should release him from his +island prison. His work is intitled "Nine Months' Residence in New +Zealand," &c. + + + + +THE ALBATROSS. + + +Being a fine morning, I determined to ascend the mountain. As several +parties had before gone up, they had formed a kind of path: at least we +endeavoured to trace the same way; but it requires a great deal of nerve +to attempt it. The sides of the mountain are nearly perpendicular; but, +after ascending about two hundred feet, it is there entirely covered +with wood, which renders the footing much more safe; but in order to +get to the wood, the road is so dangerous, that it made me almost +tremble to think of it,--slippery grey rocks, and many of them +unfortunately loose, so that when we took hold, they separated from the +mass, and fell with a horrid rumbling noise. Here and there were a few +patches of grass, the only thing we could depend upon to assist us in +climbing, which must be done with extreme caution, for the least slip or +false step would dash one to atoms on the rocks below. By keeping our +eyes constantly looking upwards, and continuing to haul ourselves up, by +catching firm hold on this grass, after an hour's painful toil we gained +the summit, where we found ourselves on an extended plain, of several +miles expanse, which terminates in the peak, composed of dark grey lava, +bare and frightful to behold. We proceeded towards it, the plain +gradually rising, but the walking was most fatiguing, over strong rank +grass and fern several feet high, with holes concealed under the roots +in such a way, that no possible caution could prevent our occasionally +falling down into one or other of them, and entirely disappearing, which +caused a boisterous laugh amongst the rest; but it frequently happened, +while one was making merry at the expense of another, down sunk the +laugher himself. A death-like stillness prevailed in these high regions, +and, to my ear, our voices had a strange, unnatural echo, and I fancied +our forms appeared gigantic, whilst the air was piercing cold. The +prospect was altogether very sublime, and filled the mind with awe! On +the one side, the boundless horizon, heaped up with clouds of silvery +brightness, contrasted with some of darker hue, enveloping us in their +vapour, and, passing rapidly away, gave us only casual glances of the +landscape; and, on the other hand, the sterile and cindery peak, with +its venerable head, partly capped with clouds, partly revealing great +patches of red cinders, or lava, intermingled with the black rock, +produced a most extraordinary and dismal effect. It seemed as though it +were still actually burning, to heighten the sublimity of the scene. The +huge albatross appeared here to dread no interloper or enemy; for their +young were on the ground completely uncovered, and the old ones were +stalking around them. This bird is the largest of the aquatic tribe; and +its plumage is of a most delicate white, excepting the back and the tops +of its wings, which are grey: they lay but one egg, on the ground, where +they form a kind of nest, by scraping the earth round it. After the +young one is hatched, it has to remain a year before it can fly; it is +entirely white, and covered with a woolly down, which is very beautiful. +As we approached them, they clapped their beaks, with a very quick +motion, which made a great noise. This, and throwing up the contents of +the stomach, are the only means of offence and defence they seem to +possess. The old ones, which are valuable on account of their feathers, +my companions made dreadful havoc amongst, knocking on the head all they +could come up with. These birds are very helpless on the land, the +great length of their wings precluding them from rising up into the air, +unless they can get to a steep declivity. On the level ground they were +completely at our mercy, but very little was shewn them; and in a very +short space of time the plain was strewn with their bodies, one blow on +the head generally killing them instantly. Five months after, many of +the young birds were still sitting on their nests, and had never moved +away from them; they remain there for a year before they can fly, and +during that long period are fed by the mother. They had greatly +increased in size and beauty since my first visit to them. The semblance +of the young bird, as it sits on the nest, is stately and beautiful. The +white down, which is its first covering, giving place gradually to its +natural grey plumage, leaves half the creature covered with down; the +other half is a fine compact coat of feathers, composed of white and +grey; while the head is of a dazzling, silvery white. Their size is +prodigious, one of them proving a tolerable load. Upon skinning them, +on our return, we found they were covered with a fine white fat, which I +was told was excellent for frying, and other culinary purposes; and the +flesh was quite as delicate, and could scarcely be distinguished in +flavour from lamb. Besides our albatross, the dogs caught some small +birds, about the size of our partridge, but their gait was something +like that of the penguin. The male is of a glossy black, with a bright +red hard crest on the top of the head. The hen is brown. They stand +erect, and have long yellow legs, with which they run very fast; their +wings are small and useless for flying, but they are armed with sharp +spurs for defence, and also, I imagine, for assisting them in climbing, +as they are found generally among the rocks. The name they give this +bird here is simply "cock," its only note being a noise very much +resembling the repetition of that word. Its flesh is plump, fat, and +excellent eating. + + + + +VISIT TO A PENGUIN ROOKERY. + + +The spot of ground occupied by our settlers is bounded on each side by +high _bluffs_, which extend far into the sea, leaving a space in front, +where all their hogs run nearly wild, as they are prevented going beyond +those limits by those natural barriers; and the creatures who, at stated +periods, come up from the sea, remain in undisturbed possession of the +beaches beyond our immediate vicinity. The weather being favourable, we +launched our boat early in the morning, for the purpose of procuring a +supply of eggs for the consumption of the family. We heard the +chattering of the penguins from the rookery long before we landed, which +was noisy in the extreme, and groups of them were scattered all over the +beach; but the high thick grass on the declivity of the hill seemed +their grand establishment, and they were hidden by it from our view. As +we could not find any place where we could possibly land our boat in +safety, I and two more swam on shore with bags tied round our necks to +hold the eggs in, and the boat with one of the men lay off, out of the +surf. I should think the ground occupied by these _birds_ (if I may be +allowed so to call them) was at least a mile in circumference, covered +in every part with grasses and reeds, which grew considerably higher +than my head; and on every gentle ascent, beginning from the beach, on +all the large grey rocks, which occasionally appeared above this grass, +sat perched groups of these strange and uncouth-looking creatures; but +the noise which rose up from beneath baffles all description! As our +business lay with the noisy part of this community, we quietly crept +under the grass, and commenced our plundering search, though there +needed none, so profuse was the quantity. The scene altogether well +merits a better description than I can give--thousands, and hundreds of +thousands, of these little two-legged erect monsters hopping around us, +with voices very much resembling in tone that of the human; all opened +their throats together: so thickly clustered in groups that it was +almost impossible to place the foot without dispatching one of them. The +shape of the animal, their curious motions, and their most extraordinary +voices, made me fancy myself in a kingdom of pigmies. The regularity of +their manners, their all sitting in exact rows, resembling more the +order of a camp than a rookery of noisy birds, delighted me. These +creatures did not move away on our approach, but only increased their +noise, so we were obliged to displace them forcibly from their nests; +and this ejectment was not produced without a considerable struggle on +their parts; and, being armed with a formidable beak, it soon became a +scene of desperate warfare. We had to take particular care to protect +our hands and legs from their attacks: and for this purpose each one had +provided himself with a short stout club. The noise they continued to +make during our ramble through their territories the sailors said was, +"Cover 'em up, cover 'em up." And, however incredible it may appear, it +is nevertheless true, that I heard those words so distinctly repeated, +and by such various tones of voices, that several times I started, and +expected to see one of the men at my elbow. Even these little creatures, +as well as the monstrous sea elephant, appear to keep up a continued +warfare with each other. As the penguins sit in rows, forming regular +lanes leading down to the beach, whenever one of them feels an +inclination to refresh herself by a plunge into the sea, she has to run +the gauntlet through the whole _street_, every one pecking at her as she +passes without mercy; and though all are occupied in the same +employment, not the smallest degree of friendship seems to exist; and +whenever we turned one off her nest, she was sure to be thrown amongst +foes; and, besides the loss of her eggs, was invariably doomed to +receive a severe beating and pecking from her companions. Each one lays +three eggs, and after a time, when the young are strong enough to +undertake the journey, they go to sea, and are not again seen till the +ensuing spring. Their city is deserted of its numerous inhabitants, and +quietness reigns till nature prompts their return the following year, +when the same noisy scene is repeated, as the same flock of birds +returns to the spot where they were hatched. After raising a tremendous +tumult in this numerous colony, and sustaining continued combat, we came +off victorious, making capture of about a thousand eggs, resembling in +size, colour, and transparency of shell, those of a duck; and the taking +possession of this immense quantity did not occupy more than one hour, +which may serve to prove the incalculable number of birds collected +together. We did not allow them sufficient time, after landing, to lay +all their eggs; for, had the season been further advanced, and we had +found three eggs in each nest, the whole of them might probably have +proved addled, the young partly formed, and the eggs of no use to us; +but the whole of those we took turned out good, and had a particularly +fine and delicate flavour. It was a work of considerable difficulty to +get our booty safe into the boat--so frail a cargo--with so tremendous a +surf running against us. However, we finally succeeded, though not +without smashing a considerable number of the eggs. + + + + +THE SEA ELEPHANT. + + +I saw, for the first time, what the settlers call a _pod_ of sea +elephants. At this particular season these animals lay strewed about the +beach, and, unless you disturb them, the sight of a man will not +frighten them away. I was determined to get a good portrait of some of +them, and accordingly took my sketch-book and pencil, and seated myself +very near to one of them, and began my operations, feeling sure I had +now got a most patient sitter, for they will lie for weeks together +without stirring; but I had to keep throwing small pebbles at him, in +order to make him open his eyes, and prevent his going to sleep. The +flies appear to torment these unwieldy monsters most cruelly, their +eyes and nostrils being stuffed full of them. I got a good sketch of the +group. They appeared to stare at me occasionally with some little +astonishment, stretching up their immense heads and looking around; but +finding all still (I suppose they considered me a mere rock), they +composed themselves to sleep again. They are the most shapeless +creatures about the body. I could not help comparing them to an +over-grown maggot, and their motion is similar to that insect. The face +bears some rude resemblance to the human countenance; the eye is large, +black, and expressive; excepting two very small flippers or paws at the +shoulder, the whole body tapers down to a fish's tail; they are of a +delicate mouse colour, the fur is very fine, but too oily for any other +purpose than to make mocassins for the islanders. The bull is of an +enormous size, and would weigh as heavily as his namesake of the land; +and in that one thing consists their only resemblance, for no two +animals can possibly be more unlike each other. It is a very curious +phenomenon, how they can possibly exist on shore; for, from the first +of their landing, they never go out to sea, and they lie on a stormy +beach for months together without tasting any food, except consuming +their own fat, for they gradually waste away; and as this fat or blubber +is the great object of value, for which they are attacked and +slaughtered, the settlers contrive to commence operations against them +upon their first arrival, for it is well ascertained that they take no +sustenance whatever on shore. I examined the contents of the stomach of +one they had just killed, but could not make out the nature of what it +contained. The matter was of a remarkably bright green colour. They have +many enemies, even in the water; one called the killer, a species of +grampus, which makes terrible havoc amongst them, and will attack and +take away the carcass of one from alongside a boat. But man is their +greatest enemy, and causes the most destruction to their race: he +pursues them to all quarters of the globe. + + + + +VISIT FROM THE NATIVES AT TERRA DEL FUEGO. + + +During our stay, we had, at various times, visits from the natives. They +were all at first very shy, but after they found our friendly +disposition towards them, they became more sociable and confiding. + +On the 11th of March three bark canoes arrived, containing four men, +four women, and a girl about sixteen years old, four little boys and +four infants, one of the latter about a week old, and quite naked. They +had rude weapons, viz. slings to throw stones, three rude spears, +pointed at the end with bone, and notched on one side with barbed teeth. +With this they catch their fish, which are in great quantities among the +kelp. Two of the natives were induced to come on board, after they had +been alongside for upwards of an hour, and received many presents, for +which they gave their spears, a dog, and some of their rude native +trinkets. They did not shew or express surprise at anything on board, +except when seeing one of the carpenters engaged in boring a hole with a +screw-auger through a plank, which would have been a long task for them. +They were very talkative, smiling when spoken to, and often bursting +into loud laughter, but instantly settling into their natural serious +and sober cast. + +They were found to be great mimics, both in gesture and sound, and would +repeat any word of our language, with great correctness of +pronunciation. Their imitations of sounds were truly astonishing. + +Their mimicry became at length annoying, and precluded our getting at +any of their words or ideas. It not only extended to words or sounds, +but actions also, and was at times truly ridiculous. The usual manner of +interrogating for names was quite unsuccessful. On pointing to the nose, +for instance, they did the same. Anything they saw done they would +mimic, and with an extraordinary degree of accuracy. On these canoes +approaching the ship, the principal one of the family, or chief, +standing up in his canoe, made a harangue. Although they have been +heard to shout quite loud, yet they cannot endure a noise; and when the +drum beat, or a gun was fired, they invariably stopped their ears. They +always speak to each other in a whisper. + +The women were never suffered to come on board. They appeared modest in +the presence of strangers. They never move from a sitting posture, or +rather a squat, with their knees close together, reaching to their chin, +their feet in contact, and touching the lower part of the body. They are +extremely ugly. Their hands and feet were small and well shaped; and, +from appearance, they are not accustomed to do any hard work. They +appear very fond and seem careful of their young children, though on +several occasions they offered them for sale for a trifle. They have +their faces smutted all over, and it was thought, from the hideous +appearance of the females, produced in part by their being painted and +smutted, that they had been disfigured by the men previous to coming +alongside. It was remarked, that when one of them saw herself in a +looking-glass, she burst into tears, as Jack thought, from pure +mortification. + +Before they left the ship, the greater part of them were dressed in old +clothes, that had been given to them by the officers and men, who all +shewed themselves extremely anxious "to make them comfortable," This +gave rise to much merriment, as Jack was not disposed to allow any +difficulties to interfere in the fitting. If the jackets proved too +tight across the shoulders, which they invariably were, a slit down the +back effectually remedied the defect. If a pair of trousers was found +too small around the waist, the knife was again resorted to; and in some +cases a fit was made by severing the legs. The most difficult fit, and +the one which produced the most merriment, was that of a woman, to whom +an old coat was given. This, she concluded belonged to her nether limbs, +and no signs, hints, or shouts, could correct her mistake. Her feet were +thrust through the sleeves, and, after hard squeezing, she succeeded in +drawing them on. With the skirts brought up in front, she took her seat +in the canoe with great satisfaction, amid a roar of laughter from all +who saw her. + + + + +CHILIAN MODE OF CAPTURING WILD HORSES. + + +A party of four or five horsemen, with about twenty dogs, were seen +formed in an extended crescent, driving the wild horses towards the +river with shouts. All were armed with the lasso, which was swinging +over their heads, to be in readiness to entrap the first that attempted +to break through the gradually contracting segment; the dogs serving +with the riders to head the horses in. They continued to advance, when +suddenly a horse with furious speed broke the line, passing near one of +the horsemen, and for a moment it was thought he had escaped; the next +he was jerked round with a force that seemed sufficient to have broken +his neck, the horseman having, the moment the lasso was thrown, turned +round and braced himself for the shock. The captured horse now began to +rear and plunge furiously to effect his escape. After becoming somewhat +worn out, he was suffered to run, and again suddenly checked. This was +repeated several times, when another plan was adopted. The dogs were set +on him, and off he went at full run, in the direction of another +horseman, who threw his lasso to entangle his legs and precipitate him +to the ground. The dogs again roused him, when he again started, and was +in like manner brought to a stand. After several trials he became +completely exhausted and subdued, when he stood perfectly still, and +allowed his captors to lay hands upon him. The shouts of the men, the +barking of the dogs, and the scampering of the horses, made the whole +scene extremely exciting. + + + + +FIGHT BETWEEN A WHALE AND A KILLER. + + +This day, on board the Peacock, they witnessed a sea-fight between a +whale and one of its many enemies. The sea was quite smooth, and offered +the best possible view of the whole combat. First, at a distance from +the ship, a whale was seen floundering in a most extraordinary way, +lashing the smooth sea into a perfect foam, and endeavouring apparently +to extricate himself from some annoyance. As he approached the ship, the +struggle continuing and becoming more violent, it was perceived that a +fish, apparently about twenty feet long, held him by the jaw, his +contortions, spouting, and throes, all betokening the agony of the huge +monster. The whale now threw himself at full length from the water with +open mouth, his pursuer still hanging to the jaw, the blood issuing from +the wound and dyeing the sea to a distance around; but all his +flounderings were of no avail; his pertinacious enemy still maintained +his hold, and was evidently getting the advantage of him. Much alarm +seemed to be felt by the many other whales around. These "killers," as +they are called, are of a brownish colour on the back, and white on the +belly, with a long dorsal fin. Such was the turbulence with which they +passed, that a good view could not be had of them to make out more +nearly the description. These fish attack a whale in the same way as +dogs bait a bull, and worry him to death. They are armed with strong +sharp teeth, and generally seize the whale by the lower jaw. It is said +that the only part of them they eat is the tongue. The whalers give some +marvellous accounts of these killers, and of their immense strength; +among them, that they have been known to drag a whale away from several +boats which were towing it to the ship. + + + + +WAR DANCES OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS. + + +Wishing to see their war-dances, I requested the chief Pomare to gratify +us with an exhibition, which he consented to do. The ground chosen was +the hillside of Mr. Clendon, our consul's place, where between three and +four hundred natives, with their wives and children, assembled. Pomare +divided the men into three parties or squads, and stationed these at +some distance from each other. Shortly after this was done, I received a +message from him, to say that they were all hungry, and wanted me to +treat them to something to eat. This was refused until they had finished +their dance, and much delay took place in consequence. Pomare and his +warriors were at first immoveable; but they, in a short time, determined +they would unite on the hill-top, which was accordingly ordered, +although I was told they were too hungry to dance well. Here they +arranged themselves in a solid column, and began stamping, shouting, +jumping, and shaking their guns, clubs, and paddles in the air, with +violent gesticulations, to a sort of savage time. A more grotesque group +cannot well be imagined; dressed, half-dressed, or entirely naked. After +much preliminary action, they all set off, with a frantic shout, at full +speed in a war-charge, which not only put to flight all the animals that +were feeding in the neighbourhood, but startled the spectators. After +running about two hundred and fifty yards, they fired their guns and +halted, with another shout. They then returned in the same manner, and +stopped before us, a truly savage multitude, wrought up to apparent +frenzy, and exhibiting all the modes practised of maiming and killing +their enemies, until they became exhausted, and lay down on the ground +like tired dogs, panting for breath. One of the chiefs then took an old +broken dragoon-sword, and began running to and fro before us, +flourishing it, and, at the same time, delivering a speech at the top of +his voice. The speech, as interpreted to me, ran thus: "You are welcome, +you are our friends, and we are glad to see you," frequently repeated. +After three or four had shewn off in this way, they determined they must +have something to eat, saying that I had promised them rice and sugar, +and they ought to have it. Mr. Clendon, however, persuaded them to give +one of their feast-dances. The performers consisted of about fifteen +old, and as many young persons, whom they arranged in close order. The +young girls laid aside a part of their dress to exhibit their forms to +more advantage, and they commenced a kind of recitative, accompanied by +all manner of gesticulations, with a sort of guttural husk for a chorus. +It was not necessary to understand their language to comprehend their +meaning; and it is unnecessary to add, that their tastes did not appear +very refined, but were similar to what we have constantly observed among +the heathen nations of Polynesia. Their impatience now became +ungovernable; and hearing that the rice and sugar were being served out, +they retreated precipitately down the hill, where they all set to most +heartily, with their wives and children, to devour the food. This, to +me, was the most entertaining part of the exhibition. They did not +appear selfish towards each other; the children were taken care of, and +all seemed to enjoy themselves. I received many thanks in passing among +them, and their countenances betokened contentment. Although they were +clothed for the occasion in their best, they exhibited but a squalid and +dirty appearance, both in their dress and persons. + + * * * * * + +We now end our extracts from this very entertaining Work,--upon the +resources of which we have so largely drawn,--by the history of Paddy +Connel, as described by himself, and who had been a resident among the +Feejeean savages for nearly forty years. + + + + +HISTORY OF PADDY CONNEL. + + +One day, while at the Observatory, I was greatly surprised at seeing one +whom I took to be a Feejeeman, enter my tent, a circumstance so +inconsistent with the respect to our prescribed limit, of which I have +spoken. His colour, however, struck me as lighter than that of any +native I had yet seen. He was a short wrinkled old man, but appeared to +possess great vigour and activity. He had a beard that reached to his +middle, and but little hair, of a reddish-grey colour, on his head. He +gave me no time for inquiry, but at once addressed me in broad Irish, +with a rich Milesian brogue. In a few minutes he made me acquainted with +his story, which, by his own account, was as follows:-- + +His name was Paddy Connel, but the natives called him Berry; he was born +in the county of Clare, in Ireland; had run away from school when he was +a little fellow, and after wandering about as a vagabond, was pressed +into the army in the first Irish rebellion. At the time the French +landed in Ireland, the regiment to which he was attached marched at once +against the enemy, and soon arrived on the field of battle, where they +were brought to the charge. The first thing he knew or heard, the drums +struck up a White Boy's tune, and his whole regiment went over and +joined the French, with the exception of the officers, who had to flee. +They were then marched against the British, and were soon defeated by +Lord Cornwallis; it was a hard fight, and Paddy found himself among the +slain. When he thought the battle was over, and night came on, he +crawled off and reached home. He was then taken up and tried for his +life, but was acquitted; he was, however, remanded to prison, and busied +himself in effecting the escape of some of his comrades. On this being +discovered, he was confined in the black hole, and soon after sent to +Cork, to be put on board a convict-ship bound to New South Wales. When +he arrived there, his name was not found on the books of the prisoners; +consequently he had been transported by mistake, and was, therefore, set +at liberty. He then worked about for several years, and collected a +small sum of money, but unfortunately fell into bad company, got drunk, +and lost it all. Just about this time Captain Sartori, of the ship +General Wellesley, arrived at Sydney. Having lost a great part of his +crew by sickness and desertion, he desired to procure hands for his +ship, which was still at Sandalwood Bay, and obtained thirty-five men, +one of whom was Paddy Connel. At the time they were ready to depart, a +French privateer, Le Gloriant, Captain Dubardieu, put into Sydney, when +Captain Sartori engaged a passage for himself and his men to the +Feejees. On their way they touched at Norfolk Island, where the ship +struck, and damaged her keel so much that they were obliged to put into +the Bay of Islands for repairs. Paddy asserts that a difficulty had +occurred here between Captain Sartori and his men about their +provisions, which was amicably settled. The Gloriant finally sailed from +New Zealand for Tongataboo, where they arrived just after the capture of +a vessel, which he supposed to have been the Port au Prince, as they had +obtained many articles from the natives, which had evidently belonged to +some large vessel. Here they remained some months, and then sailed for +Sandalwood Bay, where the men, on account of their former quarrel with +Captain Sartori, refused to go on board the General Wellesley: some of +them shipped on board the Gloriant, and others, with Paddy, determined +to remain on shore with the natives. He added, that Captain Sartori was +kind to him, and at parting had given him a pistol, cutlass, and an old +good-for-nothing musket; these, with his sea-chest and a few clothes, +were all that he possessed. He had now lived forty years among these +savages. After hearing his whole story, I told him I did not believe a +word of it; to which he answered, that the main part of it was true, but +he might have made some mistakes, as he had been so much in the habit of +lying to the Feejeeans, that he hardly now knew when he told the truth, +adding, that he had no desire to tell anything but the truth. + +Paddy turned out to be a very amusing fellow, and possessed an accurate +knowledge of the Feejee character. Some of the whites told me that he +was more than half Feejee; indeed he seemed to delight in shewing how +nearly he was allied to them in feeling and propensities; and, like +them, seemed to fix his attention upon trifles. He gave me a droll +account of his daily employments, which it would be inappropriate to +give here, and finished by telling me the only wish he had then, was to +get for his little boy, on whom he doated, a small hatchet; and the only +articles he had to offer for it were a few old hens. On my asking him if +he did not cultivate the ground, he said at once no; he found it much +easier to get his living by telling the Feejeeans stories, which he +could always make good enough for them;--these, and the care of his two +little boys, and his hens, and his pigs, when he had any, gave him ample +employment and plenty of food. He had lived much at Rewa, and, until +lately, had been a resident at Levuka, but had, in consequence of his +intrigues, been expelled by the white residents, to the island of +Ambatiki. It appeared that they had unanimously come to the conclusion, +that if he did not remove, they would be obliged to put him to death for +their own safety. I could not induce Whippy or Tom to give me the +circumstances that occasioned this determination; and Paddy would not +communicate more than that his residence on Ambatiki was a forced one, +and that it was as though he was living out of the world, rearing pigs, +fowls, and children. Of the last description of live stock he had +forty-eight, and hoped that he might live to see fifty born to him. He +had had one hundred wives. + + + + +~Extraordinary Escape from Drowning.~ + + +The following Narrative of an extraordinary escape from drowning, after +being wrecked among the Rapids of the St. Lawrence, first appeared in +the _Liverpool Mercury_, the Editors of which state that they have +published it by permission of the writer, who is a well-known merchant +of great respectability in that city. We have extracted it from the +pages of the _Edinburgh Magazine_, the Editor of which remarks,--"We +have been induced to transfer it into our Miscellany, not merely from +the uncommon interest of the detail, but because we happen to be able to +vouch for its authenticity." + +On the 22nd day of April, 1810, our party set sail in a large schooner +from Fort-George, or Niagara Town, and in two days crossed Lake Ontario +to Kingston, at the head of the river St. Lawrence, distant from Niagara +about 200 miles. Here we hired an American barge (a large flat-bottomed +boat) to carry us to Montreal, a further distance of 200 miles; then set +out from Kingston on the 28th of April, and arrived the same evening at +Ogdensburgh, a distance of 75 miles. The following evening we arrived +at Cornwall, and the succeeding night at Pointe du Lac, on Lake St. +Francis. Here our bargemen obtained our permission to return up the +river; and we embarked in another barge, deeply laden with potashes, +passengers, and luggage. Above Montreal, for nearly 100 miles, the river +St. Lawrence is interrupted in its course by rapids, which are +occasioned by the river being confined in comparatively narrow, shallow, +rocky channels;--through these it rushes with great force and noise, and +is agitated like the ocean in a storm. Many people prefer these rapids, +for grandeur of appearance, to the Falls of Niagara. They are from half +a mile to nine miles long each, and require regular pilots. On the 30th +of April we arrived at the village of the Cedars, immediately below +which are three sets of very dangerous rapids (the Cedars, the +Split-rock, and the Cascades), distant from each other about one mile. +On the morning of the 1st of May we set out from the Cedars, the barge +very deep and very leaky. The captain, a daring rash man, refused to +take a pilot. After we passed the Cedar rapid, not without danger, the +captain called for some rum, swearing, at the same time, that ---- could +not steer the barge better than he did! Soon after this we entered the +Split-rock rapids by a wrong channel, and found ourselves advancing +rapidly towards a dreadful watery precipice, down which we went. The +barge slightly grazed her bottom against the rock, and the fall was so +great as to nearly take away the breath. We here took in a great deal of +water, which was mostly baled out again before we were hurried on to +what the Canadians call the "grand bouillon," or great boiling. In +approaching this place the captain let go the helm, saying, "Here we +fill!" The barge was almost immediately overwhelmed in the midst of +immense foaming breakers, which rushed over the bows, carrying away +planks, oars, &c. About half a minute elapsed between the filling and +going down of the barge, during which I had sufficient presence of mind +to rip off my three coats, and was loosening my suspenders, when the +barge sunk, and I found myself floating in the midst of people, baggage, +&c. Each man caught hold of something; one of the crew caught hold of +me, and kept me down under water, but, contrary to my expectation, let +me go again. On rising to the surface, I got hold of a trunk, on which +two other men were then holding. Just at this spot, where the Split-rock +rapids terminate, the bank of the river is well inhabited; and we could +see women on shore running about much agitated. A canoe put off, and +picked up three of our number, who had gained the bottom of the barge, +which had upset and got rid of its cargo; these they landed on an +island. The canoe put off again, and was approaching near to where I +was, with two others, holding on by the trunk, when, terrified with the +vicinity of the Cascades, to which we were approaching, it put back, +notwithstanding my exhortations, in French and English, to induce the +two men on board to advance. The bad hold which one man had of the +trunk, to which we were adhering, subjected him to constant immersion; +and, in order to escape his seizing hold of me, I let go the trunk, and, +in conjunction with another man, got hold of the boom, (which, with the +gaff, sails, &c., had been detached from the mast, to make room for the +cargo,) and floated off. I had just time to grasp this boom, when we +were hurried into the Cascades; in these I was instantly buried, and +nearly suffocated. On rising to the surface, I found one of my hands +still on the boom, and my companion also adhering to the gaff. Shortly +after descending the Cascades, I perceived the barge, bottom upwards, +floating near me. I succeeded in getting to it, and held by a crack in +one end of it; the violence of the water, and the falling out of the +casks of ashes, had quite wrecked it. For a long time I contented myself +with this hold, not daring to endeavour to get upon the bottom, which I +at length effected; and from this, my new situation, I called out to my +companion, who still preserved his hold of the gaff. He shook his head; +and, when the waves suffered me to look up again, he was gone. He made +no attempt to come near me, being unable or unwilling to let go his +hold, and trust himself to the waves, which were then rolling over his +head. + +The Cascades are a kind of fall, or rapid descent, in the river, over a +rocky channel below: going down is called, by the French, "Sauter," to +leap or shove the cascades. For two miles below, the channel continues +in uproar, just like a storm at sea; and I was frequently nearly washed +off the barge by the waves which rolled over. I now entertained no hope +whatever of escaping; and although I continued to exert myself to hold +on, such was the state to which I was reduced by cold, that I wished +only for speedy death, and frequently thought of giving up the contest +as useless. I felt as if compressed into the size of a monkey; my hands +appeared diminished in size one-half; and I certainly should (after I +became cold and much exhausted) have fallen asleep, but for the waves +that were passing over me, and obliged me to attend to my situation. I +had never descended the St. Lawrence before, but I knew there were more +rapids a-head, perhaps another set of the Cascades, but at all events +the La Chine rapids, whose situation I did not exactly know. I was in +hourly expectation of these putting an end to me, and often fancied some +points of ice extending from the shore to be the head of foaming rapids. +At one of the moments in which the succession of waves permitted me to +look up, I saw at a distance a canoe with four men coming towards me, +and waited in confidence to hear the sound of their paddles; but in this +I was disappointed; the men, as I afterwards learnt, were Indians +(genuine descendants of the Tartars) who, happening to fall in with one +of the passenger's trunks, picked it up, and returned to shore for the +purpose of pillaging it, leaving, as they since acknowledged, the man on +the boat to his fate. Indeed, I am certain I should have had more to +fear from their avarice, than to hope from their humanity; and it is +more than probable, that my life would have been taken to secure them in +the possession of my watch and several half-eagles, which I had about +me. + +The accident happened at eight o'clock in the morning. In the course of +some hours, as the day advanced, the sun grew warmer, the wind blew from +the south, and the water became calmer. I got upon my knees, and found +myself in the small lake St. Louis, about from three to five miles wide; +with some difficulty I got upon my feet, but was soon convinced, by +cramps and spasms in all my sinews, that I was quite incapable of +swimming any distance, and I was then two miles from shore. I was now +going, with wind and current, to destruction; and cold, hungry, and +fatigued, was obliged again to sit down in the water to rest, when an +extraordinary circumstance greatly relieved me. On examining the wreck, +to see if it was possible to detach any part of it to steer by, I +perceived something loose, entangled in a fork of the wreck, and so +carried along. This I found to be a small trunk, bottom upwards, which, +with some difficulty, I dragged up upon the barge. After near an hour's +work, in which I broke my pen-knife, trying to cut out the lock, I made +a hole in the top, and, to my great satisfaction, drew out a bottle of +rum, a cold tongue, some cheese, and a bag full of bread, cakes, &c., +all wet. Of these I made a very seasonable, though very moderate use, +and the trunk answered the purpose of a chair to sit upon, elevated +above the surface of the water. + +After in vain endeavouring to steer the wreck, or direct its course to +the shore, and having made every signal (with my waistcoat, &c.) in my +power, to the several headlands which I had passed, I fancied I was +driving into a bay, which, however, soon proved to be the termination of +the lake, and the opening of the river, the current of which was +carrying me rapidly along. I passed several small uninhabited islands; +but the banks of the river appearing to be covered with houses, I again +renewed my signals with my waistcoat and a shirt, which I took out of +the trunk, hoping, as the river narrowed, they might be perceived; the +distance was too great. The velocity with which I was going convinced me +of my near approach to the dreadful rapids of La Chine. Night was +drawing on; my destruction appeared certain, but did not disturb me +very much: the idea of death had lost its novelty, and become quite +familiar. Finding signals in vain, I now set up a cry or howl, such as I +thought best calculated to carry to a distance, and, being favoured by +the wind, it did, although at above a mile distance, reach the ears of +some people on shore. At last I perceived a boat rowing towards me, +which, being very small and white-bottomed, I had some time taken for a +fowl with a white breast; and I was taken off the barge by Captain +Johnstone, after being ten hours on the water. I found myself at the +village of La Chine, 21 miles below where the accident happened, and +having been driven by the winding of the current a much greater +distance. I received no other injury than bruised knees and breast, with +a slight cold. The accident took some hold of my imagination, and, for +seven or eight succeeding nights, in my dreams, I was engaged in the +dangers of the Cascades, and surrounded by drowning men. + +My escape was owing to a concurrence of fortunate circumstances, which +appear almost providential. I happened to catch hold of various articles +of support, and to exchange each article for another just at the right +time. Nothing but the boom could have carried me down the Cascades +without injury; and nothing but the barge could have saved me below +them. I was also fortunate in having the whole day. Had the accident +happened one hour later, I should have arrived opposite the village of +La Chine after dark, and, of course, would have been destroyed in the +rapids below, to which I was rapidly advancing. The trunk which +furnished me with provisions and a resting-place above the water, I have +every reason to think, was necessary to save my life; without it I must +have passed the whole time in the water, and been exhausted with cold +and hunger. When the people on shore saw our boat take the wrong +channel, they predicted our destruction: the floating luggage, by +supporting us for a time, enabled them to make an exertion to save us; +but as it was not supposed possible to survive the passage of the +Cascades, no further exertions were thought of, nor indeed could they +well have been made. + +It was at this very place that General Ambert's brigade of 300 men, +coming to attack Canada, was lost; the French at Montreal received the +first intelligence of the invasion, by the dead bodies floating past the +town. The pilot who conducted the first batteaux, committing the same +error that we did, ran for the wrong channel, and the other batteaux +following close, all were involved in the same destruction. The whole +party with which I was escaped; four left the barge at the Cedar +village, above the rapids, and went to Montreal by land; two more were +saved by the canoe; the barge's crew, all accustomed to labour, were +lost. Of the eight men who passed down the Cascades, none but myself +escaped, or were seen again; nor indeed was it possible for any one, +without my extraordinary luck, and the aid of the barge, to which they +must have been very close, to have escaped; the other men must have +been drowned immediately on entering the Cascades. The trunks, &c., to +which they adhered, and the heavy great-coats which they had on, very +probably helped to overwhelm them; but they must have gone at all +events; swimming in such a current of broken stormy waves was +impossible. Still I think my knowing how to swim kept me more collected, +and rendered me more willing to part with one article of support to gain +a better. Those who could not swim would naturally cling to whatever +hold they first got, and, of course, many had very bad ones. The Captain +passed me above the Cascades, on a sack of woollen clothes, which were +doubtless soon saturated and sunk. + +The trunk which I picked up belonged to a young man from Upper Canada, +who was one of those drowned; it contained clothes, and about £70 in +gold, which was restored to his friends. My own trunk contained, besides +clothes, about £200 in gold and bank notes. On my arrival at La Chine, I +offered a reward of 100 dollars, which induced a Canadian to go in +search of it. He found it, some days after, on the shore of an island on +which it had been driven, and brought it to La Chine, where I happened +to be at the time. I paid him his reward, and understood that above +one-third of it was to be immediately applied to the purchase of a +certain number of masses which he had vowed, in the event of success, +previous to his setting out on the search. + + * * * * * + + + + +~Adventure in the Desert, and Murder of a Sheikh.~ + + +I was awakened for a few minutes, as early as three o'clock on the +following morning, by the sound of many voices in loud and earnest +conversation, amongst which I recognised that of Sheikh Suleiman; but as +noisy conversations at such early hours are by no means uncommon with +these restless spirits of the wilderness, I gave no heed to it, and +composed myself for sleep again, intending to rise by about half after +four, in order to get a dip in the Red Sea, before resuming the march; +and this intention I fulfilled; but just while throwing on the few +clothes I had taken with me, I heard suddenly a loud strife of many +tongues bursting forth, not in our encampment, but in a small copse or +grove of palm trees, about two hundred yards distant. At once the +thought rushed upon my mind, that the Mezzeni had overtaken us, and were +meditating an attack, now that we were so near the place of their main +encampment. This was directly confirmed by the sound of a gun-shot in +the palm-grove, which was soon followed up by a second. I ran up towards +the encampment as rapidly as possible; and just as I reached it, another +shot rang awfully upon my ear. I found our party in a state of the +greatest consternation, and gathered closely together, gazing wildly +towards the grove. The first thing I learnt, was the harrowing fact, +that poor Suleiman had just been murdered by the Mezzeni! It was an +astounding announcement. To what would this desperate blow lead--here, +in the Desert? The prospect of further bloodshed was terrible. It would +have been insupportable, but for the influence of that inward calmness +which is the privilege of the children of God. We were braced up for the +worst, and stood gazing upon the scene, in full expectation that out of +a deep and deadly spirit of revenge, we should be immediately +overpowered by the enemy, and held entirely at their mercy--as any shew +of defence against so many as had now come down upon us, would have been +utterly futile, and might have led to the destruction of us all. How +wild and desolate this awful theatre of death appeared, while, with the +sound of gun-shots still vibrating in our ears, we thought of Suleiman +writhing in his death-throes, and anxiously watched the movements of the +murderers. We were motionless--almost breathless. Each man among us +gazed silently upon his fellow. Our suspense was not of great duration, +but long enough to get the heart secretly lifted up in communion with a +God of mercy. And there was sweet peacefulness in that brief +exercise.... My worst fears were groundless. The hearts of all men are +in God's hands. Our helplessness must have been a powerful matter of +temptation to the blood-stained men, over whom the departed soul of +Suleiman was hovering. But God restrained them.... + +Having slaughtered their victim, the Mezzeni (of whom above forty were +counted), quietly marched back towards Nuweibia, without exchanging even +a word with us; leaving behind them the corpse of poor Suleiman--a sad +memorial of their malignant vengeance; while several others of their +tribe, who had been lying in ambush beyond the scene of terror, came +forth from their hiding-places, and joined their retreating comrades. + +My heart almost sickens at the recollection of this dreadful +transaction, while referring to the notes made on the spot, and +compiling from them the particulars of this sad page. + +As soon as the enemy had fairly departed, I took Hassenein with me, and +advanced carefully towards the copse of palm trees, where I found the +mangled body of poor Suleiman quite dead, but with the agony of the +death-pang still visible on his sunburnt and swarthy features. It was a +terrible sight, thus to behold the leader and confidential companion of +our wild route, lying as the clods of the valley, and saturated with his +own life-blood. And how, in a Christian's heart, was the sense of the +sad reality heightened, by knowing that the poor sufferer was a follower +of the false prophet--a Mahommedan--ignorant of Him who was "delivered +for our offences, and raised again for our justification." I have seen +death in many forms; but I never beheld it with so dread an aspect as it +here assumed. + +I was more than half inclined to withhold the minute particulars of the +dark tragedy, when arriving at this part of my narrative; but they now +fasten themselves upon my mind, and I feel constrained to leave them on +record. + +Suleiman had received three balls through his body, and four +sabre-gashes on his head, which was also nearly severed from the trunk; +and his right arm, which had been evidently raised in an attempt at +warding off a blow, was all but divided near the wrist. We returned to +the encampment, where our Arabs were sitting together, still terrified. +At length a few of them who volunteered their aid, went and washed the +body--wrapped it in an unfolded turban, and prepared it for immediate +interment. They hastily formed a resting-place, about a mile upwards, +towards the hills which skirted the plain in which we were encamped, by +raising four walls of large loose stones. Having made all ready, they +brought up the remains of their leader, laid across the back of his +camel, and, with deep emotion, deposited them in their final abode, +arching it over with large masses of stone, and quitting it with what +appeared to me like deep expressions of vengeance against the tribe, on +which lay the guilt of his murder. + +I turned away from the tomb with a heavy heart.... Was my way to the +Holy City of my God to be tracked with blood? + +On making a careful inquiry into the particulars immediately connected +with this sad catastrophe, I collected the following:--It appeared, that +while we were resting on the previous day at Wadey el Ayún, the Mezzeni +came down in order to make a final effort at supporting, without +bloodshed, their claim to conduct travellers through their territory to +Akabah. Sheikh Furriqh was of the number, as I have already stated. When +he was about to retire, after an unsuccessful attempt, an Arab of his +tribe came and secretly informed him that his (Furriqh's) nephew had +been shot on the previous day by one of Suleiman's tribe, in reference +to the very question then pending. On receiving this information, +Furriqh at once broke off all negotiation, and quitted the encampment. +It is believed that Suleiman never knew the fact which had been +communicated to Furriqh; but news was brought to him that the Mezzeni +intended to pursue us with an increased force; and this quite accounts +for all the anxiety and timidity which he evinced during the afternoon +and evening preceding his death. It appears that the Mezzeni, bent on +accomplishing their purpose, gathered together their force, and, +following us at dromedary speed, arrived at the encampment as early as +two o'clock in the morning--that a deputation from them came to +Suleiman, while some of the rest remained in the palm-grove, and others +went in advance, and formed ambuscades--that Sheikh Furriqh was one of +the deputation--that Suleiman shewed them the usual hospitality of +breaking bread with them--that the conference ended without any +adjustment of the matter in dispute--that after the deputation had +retired to the copse, two Arabs of a neutral tribe, who had come with us +from Mount Sinai, went to the Mezzeni in order to mediate, but were +unsuccessful--that while they remained Suleiman was sent for, and that +having broken bread with the Mezzeni, he had a right to expect that his +life would be held sacred--that Suleiman had scarcely reached the +adverse party, when Sheikh Furriqh said--"We do not care about the +money, but there is blood between us;"--that instantly one of the +Mezzeni shot him through the body, and that Furriqh cut him down with +his sabre, while two other shots which were fired took effect upon him. +My recollection of Furriqh, from the first moment that he appeared in +our caravan, is such as to convince me that he would readily commit such +an act as this--so subtle--so cruel--so cowardly--without one feeling of +remorse or misgiving. + + + + +POPULAR JUVENILE BOOKS, + + +Of established reputation, which may be safely placed into the hands of +Children, blending Amusement with Instruction. + + * * * * * + +DARTON'S HOLIDAY LIBRARY. + + +A SERIES OF SHILLING VOLUMES FOR THE YOUNG, BY APPROVED AUTHORS. + +No. 1. MARY LEESON, by MARY HOWITT. Illustrated by JOHN ABSOLON. + +No. 2. TAKE CARE OF No. 1, or Good to Me includes Good to Thee, by S.E. +GOODRICH, Esq., (the Original Peter Parley). Illustrated by GILBERT. + +No. 3. HOW TO SPEND A WEEK HAPPILY, by Mrs. BURBURY. With Illustrations. + +No. 4. POEMS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN, by "ADELAIDE," one of the amiable +Authoresses of "Original Poems." With Illustrations. + +No. 5. THE YOUNG LORD, by CAMILLA TOULMIN; and VICTORINE DUROCHER, by +Mrs. SHERWOOD. With Illustrations. + +No. 6. PAULINE, a Tale from the German. With Illustrations. + +No. 7. HOUSEHOLD STORIES. With Illustrations. + +Nos. 8 & 9. IN-DOOR AND OUT-DOOR SPORTS. + +No. 10. STORIES OF ENTERPRISE AND ADVENTURE; or AN EXCITEMENT TO +READING. Illustrated with Wood Engravings from Designs by ABSOLON. + +No. 11. THE BOOK OF RIDDLES, ETC. + + +Critical Remarks. + +"The Volumes of DARTON'S HOLIDAY LIBRARY which have reached us, comprise +a most interesting Series of Books for Young People, written by some of +our most Popular Authors, and all having a tendency towards the +formation of correct principles and habits in the minds of the Young. +They blend amusement with instruction in the most delightful manner. We +cordially recommend them as by far the best books of their class." + +[Illustration: Back Cover] + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Book of Enterprise and Adventure, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11308 *** |