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DINBURGH

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CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF "CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE," "CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE," &c.

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NUMBER 430.

VISIT TO AN ESTABLISHMENT FOR PRESERVING FRESH MEAT. WE lately had an opportunity of visiting an establishment of this nature-one of the very few which as yet exist in these islands-and were so much struck by what we saw, and by a consideration of all the connected circumstances, that we have thought it might be worth while to submit the whole to the public.

The establishment visited by us was that of John Gillon and Company in Leith, which stands almost alone in Scotland; there being only three on a limited scale in the provinces; while in England there are, to the best of our knowledge, only two, and in Ireland two or three. The Messrs Gillon and Company's establishment was set on foot so lately as August 1838, and already it is, in mercantile language, a great concern, the individuals employed being upwards of a hundred, while the capital must be many thousand pounds. It is distinguished by several improvements, which make it worthy of particular notice.

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It is perhaps necessary for the sake of most readers to explain that the object is to preserve fresh food, animal and vegetable, in air-tight tin cases, so that it may be sent to any part of the world, and used at any distance of time from that when it was prepared. Those who have been accustomed to think of only the ordinary and well-known ways of preserving meat, by salt (or some corresponding foreign body), or by extreme drying, will be taken somewhat by surprise when we advert to a method which dispenses with those expedients, so sure to be injurious to the meat; and proceeds upon the simple expedient of a complete seclusion of the substances from contact with the atmospheric air. This was a principle totally unknown till some French chemists, amidst the exigencies of the Revolution, discovered it; since which time, the means for effecting it have been greatly improved, so that the trade of preserving cooked food, and sending it abroad, is now pursued to an immense extent in France. It is a scientific discovery worthy of a nation which, more than any other, seems to aim at rendering science directly subservient to the increase of human happiness.

A large irregular pile of building, situated in a court entered from Mitchell Street in Leith, is the scene of Messrs Gillon and Company's operations. Certain apartments serve for stores of meat, fowls, and other articles of provision; and there is one devoted solely to the business of cleaning neats' feet, of which many hundred sets are used weekly. The whole of the uppermost floor of a large portion of the building is used as a place of cookery, the steam and fumes flying off through ventilators in the roof. Along one side are ranged nine boilers upon furnaces, of 100 gallons contents each, in some of which neats' feet are boiled for the purpose of obtaining the gelatinous product, a large element in soups of various kinds; while in others are boiled knuckles of beef, and those other inferior parts of meat from which cooks extract what they call stock, the basis of all soups. Each of the boilers is fitted with an inside case, pierced like a cullender, and in this the meat is boiled, so that it never can adhere or burn during its preparation. The liquor from the feet and the liquor from the meat are received into troughs, where they are cooled. There is in both cases an oily scum from the boilers. From the neats' feet comes a whitish oil, which is sold for greasing the machinery used in silk factories. From the inferior parts of meat is derived an oil of superior quality, resembling butter, which is very useful as an element for the preparation of barley broth and other messes. The last is sold at fivepence a pound, and is at that price cheap and economical. The poor people

SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 1840.

are so sensible of its value, that much more is called
for than can be supplied, and sometimes they will
come for it from a great distance. The soups, of which
nearly twenty kinds are exported by Messrs Gillon
and Company, from real turtle and mulligatawny
down to ox-tail, are prepared in the usual way from
the stock and other proper materials, but on such a
scale of concentration, that, when used, it is necessary
to add water equal to half the quantity. They are
poured into round canisters, in pints, quarts, and larger
quantities, and then sealed up in a manner which will
afterwards be described. Several peculiar Scottish
soups are prepared at Messrs Gillon and Company's
establishment, chiefly for the sake of Scotchmen resi-
dent abroad, particularly those in the East Indies.
Amongst these are sheep's-head broth, hotch-potch
and cocky-leeky; the last a strong soup prepared
from a cock, which is spoken of by King James in
"Nigel" as an excellent article. The haggis, "great
chieftain of the pudding race," is another peculiar dish
prepared by the Company. It is, as is generally
known, composed of minced tripe and liver mixed with
suet, oat-meal, and spice, and boiled in the stomach of
a sheep. One of these savoury messes, which are only
too good for those who affect to loathe or despise them,
was in January last eaten at the celebration of Burns's
birth-day in Dumfries, after having made a voyage to
India and back. Burns's own haggis, if, instead of
being eaten fifty years ago, it had been subjected to
the same process, would have been in a state equally
fit to regale the company.

In the same upper floor which contains the boilers,
we saw a host of women engaged in preparing various
dishes, fish, flesh, and fowl. Many were busied in
cleaning and cutting vegetables, as parsnips, beet-root,
turnips, and carrots, the two last being amongst the
largest articles of export to the East Indies, where, it
seems, they do not grow. Two women, whose fate we
could not help pitying, though perhaps without just
cause, had a whole day's work before them in the peel-
ing and cutting of onions-sage and onions with gravy
being much in demand at sea and abroad, for sauce to
ducks and pork. Four men were busy cutting away
flesh from the bones of mutton and beef, to be arranged
in roasts, of from two to six pounds, a whole cloud
of which we saw spitted upon a novel-looking jack,
of ingenious construction, before a large fire. These
little roasts are put into the ordinary cases, which are
then filled up to near the top with gravy. We may
vainly attempt to imagine what a treat such a thing
must be to a little cabin company dining in the middle
of the Pacific, or to an officers' mess posted in Aff-
ghanistan, in whose ears, perhaps, the "Glorious Roast
Beef of Old England" is at the same time sounding.
In another part of the room we saw great quantities
of minced collops in preparation. Such, if we recollect
rightly, were all the objects engaging attention for
that day. If we had returned on another, we should
of course have found the people at work on other
dishes, there being about ninety in all prepared in
the establishment. It would be tedious to enumerate
these; but we may mention, that, amongst the num-
ber, are corned and seasoned beef, veal in seven diffe-
rent forms, roasted and jugged hare, cow-heel and
potted head, turbot, haddocks, salmon, and other native
fish, together with oysters and lobsters, both for sepa-
rate eating, and to be used as sauce. We may add,
that we have tasted some of the oyster soup, as well
as the separate oysters, after they had been to Calcutta
and back, and found them both excellent. The king of
Prussia is a regular customer of Messrs Gillon and Com-
pany for these two articles and turtle soup. We must
not omit cream, by which tea might be sweetened in

PRICE THREE HALFPENCE.

China itself, and a certain kind of concentrated gravy in very small packages, designed to furnish an invalid in any part of the world with the soothing and nourishing dish styled amongst us beef-tea. Neither perhaps ought we to overlook a special article entitled Meg Merrilies Soup, a composition from game of all conceivable kinds, designed to imitate that with which the gipsy of Derncleuch regaled the terror-chilled soul of Dominie Sampson.

We were next conducted to the workshops where the cases are made, a part of the establishment by no means the least important, for it employs thirty tinplate workers, every three of whom have a boy under them; that is, forty persons in all. Some cases are made in a square trough-like form, with a lid closing the top, being designed to hold herrings laid at length. But the shape mostly used is that of a round canister, and of this shape there are cases of all sizes, from that of an ordinary snuff-box to a boy's hat. Lids are prepared for these cases, with a hole of an inch or half inch diameter in the centre, and these lids are soldered on after the viands have been put in. There then remains the hole in the centre, upon which, at an after stage of the process, a suitable piece of tin like a button is soldered on, thus closing up the whole, but still leaving a vacancy within filled with common atmospheric air, which, if suffered to remain, would taint the food, and defeat the whole aim of the persons concerned. With respect to the subsequent process for extracting the air, we are not at liberty to enter into particulars, a mercantile interest being concerned in it. When the cases have been exhausted of air and finally closed, they are japanned, for their preservation from damp, labelled, and tested as to their soundness, the ultimate proof of which is their exhibiting, if quite tight, a dimple or slight collapse in some part of their surface, generally in the bottom. Being now finished, they are stored in binns along the sides of a great wareroom, exactly like bottled wine in a merchant's cellar; and are thence taken by the warehousemen, and packed up in barrels for exportation. It may be added, that, when the meat is to be used, the case can be cut up with a seaman's knife, or, more conveniently, with what is called a lever knife, an implement invented by Mr Gillon, and of which specimens are sent abroad with almost every package of goods. This knife consists of a handle, no more than sufficient to fill a single hand, with a small but firm hook projecting from it, somewhat in the form of the blade of a reaper's hook, and with the same degree of sharpness, but with a close instead of a sweeping curve, the whole being of such a size that it might be carried in a waistcoat pocket. The point being inserted through the tin, the operator is enabled to cut up the case with ease, by using the fore end of the handle as a fulcrum, on which to rest the instrument, while the handle is alternately and quickly raised and depressed.

considering that bones and all other refuse are exThe prices of the food thus prepared are not high, cluded, that it is cooked, often in a concentrated fashion, and that there is in every instance a case varying in cost to the preparer from twopence to a shilling. We have been informed, that, in older establishments, higher prices have hitherto been exacted, and the general use of prepared fresh meat at sea and in distant policy, for moderate prices would secure a greater countries thereby prevented. This is short-sighted amount of business, and yield in the long-run greater profits. Messrs Gillon and Company have proceeded upon the more enlightened principle, and, while taking goods, have contented themselves with moderate profits. the utmost care with regard to the quality of their

theory being that they must have been embedded
while in a frozen state, and, the air being excluded,
had been thereby prevented from reviving when the
temperature was altered. If these views be sound,
the salmon of the Tay might quite well be packed up
alive, but frozen, and sent in air-exhausted cases to
Hindustan, where, on the cases being opened, we
venture to predict that the animals would be found as
hearty as when they made their first visit to the ocean.

A TALE OF TAHITI.

with such feelings, and longed for the return of the
teachers of the new and mild religion. His wishes
were ultimately gratified.

had been banished to the neighbouring island of
During the civil broils alluded to, the Tahitian king
Moorea. Adversity made him, like Utami, regret
the loss of the men of peace, and he got several of them
recalled to Moorea. With them came M. de Freron,
a French Protestant, whom early misfortunes had
deprived of every social tie, but whose benevolent
nature, far from being thereby rendered morose, had
only become imbued with a double portion of philan-
thropy. His saddened spirit sought relief in visiting
climes far remote from the scenes of his former happi-
ness; and having himself found consolation in religion,
he devoted himself to the task of pointing out that
great source of comfort to others who knew it not.
For this purpose he had visited Tahiti with the South
Sea missionaries, and with them he had been forced
to leave it, but not until he had formed various friend-
ships there, and particularly with Utami and his
family, the latter consisting of a daughter, two sons,
and an adopted nephew of the old chief. On being
recalled to Moorea, M. de Freron took the earliest
opportunity of crossing to Tahiti, to see these dear
friends, to whom he had been a cherished counsellor
and guide,

The consequence is, that, while the use of reserved
meat is not now necessarily confined to invalids and
persons of luxurious habits, as in a great measure it
was formerly, they have already obtained an amount
of business much exceeding that of several concerns
which have been a good many years in operation.
On the day when we were there, an order had ar-
rived from Liverpool for nearly five thousand cases
of different kinds of animal and vegetable food, the
aggregate price of which would probably be from four
to five hundred pounds. Messrs Gillon and Company
usually prepare from 800 to 1000 cases per day; and IN the island of Tahiti, one of the loveliest of the many
gems that stud the mighty Pacific, the earliest mes-
as yet they have never been able to accumulate a
sengers of the Christian faith found themselves alto-
considerable stock of any one article. Not long agogether unable to accomplish the objects for which they
they had a contract for no less than eight tons weight had left their homes, and sacrificed all the ties of friend-
of meat and vegetables (including eight thousand little ship and comforts of civilisation. They could not
cases of concentrated gravy) with the Lords of the uproot the idolatrous delusions, watered by the blood
of countless human sacrifices, which time had so firmly
Admiralty; the whole being for Captain Ross's ant-planted in this oasis of the ocean, nor break the hold
arctic expedition, and every article warranted to keep which designing priests had gained over the minds of
sound for three years. It may be added, that, in the their countrymen-a race of people naturally quick
mercantile service, soup and bouilli and some other in intellect, and well disposed, but simple, ignorant,
antiscorbutic soups are now given by many owners to and credulous. The first Tahitian missionaries were
compelled to leave the island, partly from despair of
their crews, under the conviction that they are cheaper, doing good, and partly to ensure the safety of their
as well as more wholesome, than prime mess beef. lives. But their labours had not been utterly thrown
Our visit was upon the whole a most gratifying one, away. After their departure for neighbouring islands
though many of the sights presented were not of the of better promise, Tahiti fell into a state of strife and
kind which in ordinary circumstances are beheld with disorder, and several chiefs, who had paid particular
attention to the missionaries, were led to think with
pleasure. We regarded the establishment as in itself regret of their peaceful and virtuous lessons. An old
a remarkable result of enterprise and ingenuity, see-chief named Utami, above all others, became impressed
ing that Mr Gillon might almost be said to have
struck out the trade for himself, had bethought him
of many signal improvements in it, and had found
business and prosperity where many men in his cir-
cumstances would have languished in comparative
indolence and obscurity. But the establishment ap-
peared in a far more interesting light when we con-
sidered it as a practical result of science, holding forth
an augury of great reductions in the existing amount
of human discomfort and misery. At present, ex-
cepting in the small extent to which this mode of
preserving meat has as yet operated, the fate of all who
sojourn on the face of the deep, and of many other in-
dividuals placed in peculiar circumstances, is to diet
upon salted meat alone, a form in which it is much
less agreeable to taste, much less digestible, and apt
to be productive of disease, as was signally shown in the
condition of the British navy fifty years ago. Of what
great importance must it be to such persons that they
should be able, in the longest voyages, to feed more or
less upon fresh provisions! Looking only to the feel-
ings which must possess the many wanderers in remote
climes when they eat what they have been accustomed
to partake of amongst their friends at home, and what
M. de Freron was landed at the beautiful village of
therefore cannot come before them without awaken- Matavia, whence, in the evening, he walked alone
ing the most tender memories and associations, we towards the inland dwelling of Utami. Around him,
must see a great importance in the preparation of on his route, lay a most lovely landscape, in which the
preserved fresh food. Other utilities in the discovery cocoa-tree, with its graceful head, the bread-fruit and
might be pointed out, as, for instance, its enabling plum-trees, with their respective garbs of dark and
nations to send to each other, in a fresh and sound light green, and the plantain, conspicuous for its
gigantic leaves, held a prominent place. At length,
state, the various animal and vegetable products of the abode of the chief, composed of upright pillars of
their respective countries. It is obvious that, if the wood, and thatched with pandanus leaves, like other
cases only be made thoroughly exclusive of the atmo-native huts, came within the traveller's sight; and he
sphere, we might have the turtle of Cuba fresh, in- recognised the creepers upon the walls, and the hedges
stead of their being starved by a long voyage, and of prickly pear, which he had instructed and helped
might, in exchange, send out the mutton of the Scot- the family to plant, making the place far more beauti-
tish Highlands and the salmon of our rivers, in all ful than common native dwellings. All was silence
their original delicacy of flavour. At present, the
as M. de Freron approached, and he entered, with his
wonted salutation of "Peace be to my friends who
price of an oyster in the market of St Petersburg is dwell here!" Looking forward to the upper end of
exactly a ruble, or tenpence, there being no such crea-
the long apartment, he then saw his old friend sitting
ture in the seas of that part of the world. Not long on the ground, with his daughter, and his adopted son.
ago, while as yet Edinburgh could boast that she had As M. de Freron advanced a few steps farther, he
oysters, the same money bought a long hundred, or 120. comprehended, at one glance, by the listless folding of
There can of course be no need for the Russians pay- their hands, their bent heads, and eyes fixed on the
ing so exorbitant a price for the article, if it can be ground with looks of profound grief, that they were
deploring some heavy misfortune. But he had barely
readily sent to them from a country where it is to be time to make this observation, when the girl started
had at such a low rate. The absolute certainty of from the mat on which she was sitting at the feet of
preservation by exclusion of the air, is the one little her father, and came forward to meet him. The form
point on which such results depend; and that this of Amaita was of the most graceful and symmetrical
is easily practicable, and that the food will accordingly proportions, and her garments of snow-white native
be preserved in all climates, and for an indefinite cloth floated round her in light drapery, while, con-
length of time, has been satisfactorily proved. Last trary to her usual custom, her long black tresses were
year, some turtle was eaten in Dublin, which had been hanging round her shoulders, instead of being gathered
kept in a similar way for twenty years! It would have and fastened on the top of her head. The paleness of
been not less eatable in the thirtieth century, if the expression of her features, and the tears that were
her clear and slightly olive complexion, the mournful
case could have held good so long; for with the great dimming her bright black eyes, showed M. de Freron,
principles of nature it may well be said that a day is as she came towards him under the light of the candle-
as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. nuts, that he had not been mistaken, and that some
Perhaps the principle might be carried out to even recent calamity was pressing heavily on her heart.
more wonderful results. It is well known that fishes
and reptiles, if congelated, or frozen up in a mass of
ice, may be revived at any distance of time by merely
thawing them. Our readers will further remember
some speculations which appeared in a former number
of the present work, respecting the instances of such
creatures found alive in masses of solid rock, our

"Our good friend has returned," she exclaimed in eager accents; "a messenger from the true God has come to console my father."

"Welcome, welcome to the wisher of peace!" cried the old chief, "but peace can dwell no longer here, for I no longer behold the light of the sun, and a darkness yet greater than the want of sight hath fallen upon me. He who was to me brighter than the morning

sky, my son-my Fetia-ura (red star)-hath set in
blood, and my race is doomed." Full well did their
auditor know the horrible meaning of these latter
pronounced.
words, which seemed to curdle his blood as they were

"Trust in the God of the Christians, my father," said Amaita, as she pressed the old man's withered hands to her forehead, to her cheeks, and to her lips, while her bright tears fell rapidly upon them.

"Yes, my father," said Paitia, his adopted child, "this good teacher will instruct you how to pray, and the great God will listen, for he is merciful, and unlike our gods, whose cruel priests take delight in our blood and our tears." But the old man's grief was too strongly mingled with a thirst for vengeance so natural to the heart of a savage, to admit of his reaping any consolation from the mild doctrines of meekness and resignation which he knew would be inculcated by his visitor, who, foreseeing that it would require some time to calm his wounded and exasperated spirit, sought for the present merely an explanation of what had happened. The tale was soon told by Paitia, who beckoning to M. de Freren to leave the hut with him, was no sooner out of the old chief's hearing than he commenced his short narrative.

The respect, it appears, in which the old chief held many of the truths which emanated from the religion brought by the missionaries, though they had not shed on his darkened path the steady light of the sun, had like bright meteors served partially to illumine his way, and in their light he had renounced many of his former errors. Among those, was his habitual regard for a singular society of men called Areois, whose pretensions to the respect of their countrymen arose from the alleged divinity of their origin, and their close connection with the priests. These Areois were a multitudinous set of idle and privileged profligates, whose lives were spent in journeying from place to place, and in performing pantomimes and dances, and in encouraging the most degrading vices, which they represented as being religious rites particularly pleasing to the gods. Whenever these people appeared in a district, it was the duty of the chiefs belonging to it to provide them with sumptuous entertainments, and for this purpose to lay such heavy contributions on the people around them, that famine and misery were the inevitable consequences of their visit. The Areois had come near to the dwelling of Utami, and had demanded the usual boons. The old chief repulsed them, and the consequence was an outery of so violent a nature as alarmed the whole neighbourhood. Still Utami persisted in his contempt of their mad and wicked claims, and the Areois and the priests, in a state of savage irritation, came to his house to punish him. One of them fired off a gun close to his face, and, though loaded only with powder, it destroyed the poor old man's sight. Nor did the vengeance of the Areois rest here. A few days afterwards Utami's eldest son disappeared, and as the Areois were known to have offered up a human sacrifice at the time, no doubt existed as to the victim. This was a catastrophe the more terrible, as it was the well-known custom of this fanatical band to consider a family, from which they thus took one victim, as "doomed," and to go on with their revenge until they had cut off every male of the house. Fully aware of this, Utami wished his family to fly from Tahiti, but this they could not and would not do, because he would not go with them. "I am blind-I am useless-I am doomed," said he ; "I will stay." The noble Amaita offered to stay with her father, and entreated that her younger brother, and her father's adopted son Paitia, should fly, but the boy alone was prevailed upon to go. He escaped by night, and in secret, to Moorea. Paitia, to whom Amaita was far dearer than any object of mere relationship, would not leave Utami and his daughter. Such was the account given to M. de Freron of the condition of the chief and his family.

When M. de Freron re-entered the house, he found that Amaita had spread out for him, on plantain leaves, a repast of fruit at once delicious and refreshing. This finished, the good stranger entered into converse with the unhappy family, who hourly looked for the second coming of the Areois to take off the old man as their next victim. That night, and many successive days, M. de Freron passed in the house of Utami, being only absent occasionally at Matavia, engaged in the task of teaching all who would listen to him. But it was when beside the old chief, his adopted son and his daughter, that M. de Freron felt most deeply interested. The two latter persons loved each other with a love simple and pure as their own hearts. They had no need of lovers' vows; they understood what passed in the minds of one another as if by intuition. The tears of the one had never fallen without those of the other; the smile came at one moment to the lips of each. Paitia had but one wish-to give pleasure to Amaita. For this he had climbed the loftiest rocks.

and had often travelled many leagues alone in his frail canoe, to bring up pearls for her from the bottom of the deep. These gems Amaita prized, not because of their intrinsic value, but because they had been sought by him for her, and won at the price of toil and danger. The sight of this pair's affection was delightful to M. de Freron, as it broke out and revealed itself even amid agonising suspense and distress. He had the pleasure, too, of noticing, that at each succeeding visit, his arguments appeared to impress the old man more strongly, and to render him less and less averse to the idea of personal flight from Tahiti.

H

Encouraged by this change, M. de Freron went back, on one occasion, to Matavia, with the purpose of craving the help of some young men who were favourable to Christianity, and whom he could trust, to procure a canoe, in which with their assistance he hoped to convey the old man, with Amaita and her lover, to Moorea, and determined, if Utami still persisted in his obstinate refusal to accompany them, to brave his anger, and by overpowering him and forcing him into it, to save him and his family from destruction. In this plan he was hastened by a visit which he received late in the day from one of the priests of Oro or Orono, the principal deity of the natives, who had become a secret convert, and who informed him that a human sacrifice was to be offered on that very night, and that either the old chief or his adopted son was to be the victim. Meantime, we shall return to Amaita, who on the evening of the same day received the like information from a young man usually employed about the principal marae or temple. This lad had been saved from the jaws of a shark by her deceased brother, and a strong sense of gratitude caused him to seek Amaita, and promise that, by means he dared not divulge, he would make himself acquainted with the time of the next sacrifice, and inform her of it. This promise his vigilance had enabled him to perform, but too late to be of material service. No sooner, however, did Amaita become acquainted with this as tounding intelligence, than she prepared to execute a desperate resolution previously formed in dread and in silence. M. de Freron, who had made known his schemes to Amaita respecting her father, had not been deceived in believing that a change had passed over the mind of Utami, and the latter now granted to her vehement entreaties and touching persuasions a promise that he would no longer oppose their plan for his escape. This promise she caused him to repeat in the most solemn manner; and, satisfied that he would keep it under whatever circumstances, she left him to seek her lover. Him she urged to set off without delay for Matavia, to inform M. de Freron of her having prevailed on her father to depart, and to aid in bringing round the canoe in which they were to make their voyage, that he might direct in mooring it at the mouth of a small river, in a situation where it could be effectually

concealed till her father reached it.

But though Paitia agreed with her that M. de Freron should be immediately made acquainted with her father's change of purpose, he refused to be himself the messenger, and proposed sending a person he could trust, violently opposing the idea of leaving her. "No, no!" he said, "I cannot go from you; something will happen to frighten or to hurt you in my absence -tell me not to leave you-I will not go!" Much perplexed by this opposition to her wishes, and dreading every moment that he might penetrate her purpose, though profoundly ignorant of the information she had just received, she used every entreaty to persuade him; and finding them inadequate, she at length reproached him with want of true regard to her, while each word she uttered smote upon her own conscience and upon the tenderest sensibilities of her nature. These reproaches he could not bear from her who was infinitely dearer than all besides; and with a foreboding which foretold some dire misfortune to her he loved, he rapidly set off for Matavia, when the evening was far spent. Again did she ply her father with tears and caresses, till his reiterated assurances of keeping his promise to leave Tahiti rendered her completely easy on that subject. Thus, having satisfied herself that all had so far been managed to her wish, she addressed herself to the task of preparing for that fearful fate which she had long contemplated, as the only means by which it might be in her power to serve her father and her lover. The escape of her youngest brother was kept a secret, and she had still some of his clothes. The complexion of the males of Tahiti, even in youth, is much darker than that of the females. She had provided herself with the juice of a plant which dyed her skin of the masculine hue. She was one year older than her absent brother; and when she had put on his clothes and added the tipirta, or upper garment, having an aperture through which the head is passed, and which covered the shoulders, breast, and back, she could scarcely have been distinguished from him even by the searching light of day, and therefore felt secure in the deception, for she knew that her murderers would not arrive till midnight.

And this dreadful hour had nearly come, when, thus equipped, she turned on her old blind father one long last look of eternal farewell, and walked forth, under the overspreading trees, to the opposite verge of the open meadow, now illumined by the splendour of a full moon, and near to that valley through which it was necessary that the expected emissaries of the priest should pass. And here she waited, that she might be ready to present herself when they appeared; and while she there leaned her back against a tree, and stood in all the majesty of true heroism and self-devotion of woman's love, whether she sent upwards her earnest gaze towards the starry worlds rolling above her in the clear vault of heaven, or clasped her hands upon her breast, and bent her head in the act of fervent prayer to the God of the Christians, the fearful and overawing thoughts of death mingled strangely and appallingly with those of tenderness and triumph. They may kill my body," she said, "but they cannot touch my spirit; that will rejoice for ever in having saved my father, and my more than brother, who will

soon know how Amaita loved them !" At length she bent her ear towards the ground, and distinctly heard the approach of footsteps, while a sickness of soul came over her, which seemed to suspend all vital motion. Again she stood erect, and presently four men emerged from the wood. She darted forwards with frantic haste, and stood with her figure conspicuously revealed in the bright moonlight.

Few days had elapsed after reaching a place of safety, when the lovers were baptised by one of the missionaries; and after another short space, the benevolent M. de Freron had the pleasure of seeing these young people, whom he loved with a father's affection, united for life. And when some time after the king and his adherents were recalled from banishment by the people of Tahiti, and profound peace and brotherly love reigned among the natives, who became Christians almost to a man, and her father was resigned to his fate, and grateful for the blessings still left him in a promising son, and the heroic Amaita, she was completely happy. M. de Freron, whose kind and guileless heart had known nothing but misery amid artificial life, determined to set up his staff of rest in the elysium of Tahiti; and by doing all in his power to advance the temporal and eternal interests of its inhabitants, ensure to himself that affection without which the world is a desert.

quickly gave place to joy when she entered the boat, and once more embraced her father, and saw Paitia at her side. The canoe had escaped the search of the murderers, though they had approached so near that their voices were heard by those who were in it. Their safety arose from the boat being moored in a dark alcove formed by the branches of the aoa or banian of the east-that most magnificent of the vegetable tribe. At that instant a yell issued from the cruel wretches, As the light canoe left the shore and breasted the who immediately perceived and ran towards her. Two waves, all was for some hours silent in the lovely scene of them began to ascend a cocoa-nut tree, to gather around, save the dash of the waves which rolled deeply the leaves with which it was their practice to construct and grandly on, till they struck the outward ledge of a long basket, into which they put the body of the the coral reef. But when the glorious sun arose, and victim, while bearing it to the temple. The other two all, save the blind old chief, beheld the lovely tints approached the trembling girl, while their eyes glared of earth and sky, and the calm ocean lying around fearfully upon her, and their whole features were dis-like one immense sapphire, so brightly smooth and so torted by an expression terrific, revolting, and unna- deeply blue, and they began to near the beautiful island tural. They seized their silent and unresisting victim, of Moorea, every pulse beat with delight, and a new and drew her towards the edge of the darksome wood. stream of life seemed poured into the veins of Amaita. Already was the arm of her assassin raised high above her head, while his hand grasped the fatal club which was to prostrate her on the earth, when, hark! a voice close at his ear-wild, loud, and threatening-called to him to desist, and Paitia, clearing some intervening brushwood, with the bound of a tiger springing on his prey, and with his eyes flashing fire, his whole frame violently trembling, and the big drops of cold perspiration standing on his pale forehead, seized the man's arm, and exclaimed-"Touch her not-it is a woman it is Amaita-no disguise can hide her from me. Ah, cruel that she is, she wears her brother's clothes, who hath escaped far beyond your reach. If you doubt," he said, "behold how she has deceived you;" and he tore from her shoulders the upper garment which concealed them, and exposed to view the contrast between the dyed part of her skin, and that which lay under the tapirta. It was enough; they were satisfied of the deception; but all the rage of their hearts burst forth at being thus foiled. "Come," they said with imprecations, "this Paitia is the adopted one; he is knit to the old man's heart as his own son; it shall suffice to lop off this branch till we return to hew down the withered tree;" and they attempted to seize him, but he slid through their hands like an cel. He was fleet of foot, and, darting from them, had gained the skirts of the forest in an opposite direction, when one of the men who carried a musket fired, and he fell. The frantic shrieks of Amaita were prolonged amid the woods and the rocks, as she flew towards the spot, while the men, feeling now sure of their victim, and calling to their comrades to join them, approached it more slowly. Vain, however, was their search; Paitia was nowhere to be seen; while Amaita, who had followed them for a time, now returned to the open meadow, in the fond hope of his having found a place of concealment, from her knowledge of the spot towards which he had bent his flight, and lest, by her approaching it too nearly, she should excite suspicion.

SCOTTISH AND IRISH AGRICULTURE. BY MARTIN DOYLE.-SECOND ARTICLE.

HAVING described the progressive improvements on a Scotch estate, and the enterprise of the gentleman by whom these improvements were effected, I shall now, for the sake of contrast, offer an account of a supposed tract of land in Munster or Connaught, of the same area and quality with that in Dumfriesshire. Admitting that such tract had fallen under the absolute control of the owner subsequently to the extinction of the forty-shilling freeholds, and granting, for illustration sake, that the impediments of excessive population on petty subdivisions of land had been surmounted, by dragging the wretched occupants out of their homes" by hook or crook" on the expiration of their leases, by their voluntary emigration on receiving reasonable gratuities, or, as has been far more usual, by a humane and gradual consolidation of little holdings, I am justified in asserting, that the Irish landlord (with such rare exceptions as confirm the general hypothesis) would not have set his shoulders to the work of improvement in the same way, on the same scale, and with the same skill and perseverance, marked out and pursued by Sir Charles Stuart Menteath.

Meanwhile, M. de Freron had arrived along with the trusty friends who were to convey the old chief and his daughter to the boat; and having seen him safe on his way towards it, he had set out in search of Amaita and Paitia. The latter had left him at Matavia, and, fearful of the least delay, after learning what the priest had communicated to M. de Freron, had flown by all those shorter paths which he alone knew, and thus gained the time which saved Amaita. M. de Freron found her, and had no sooner heard what had just passed, than he urged her to join her father, and offered himself to remain and seek Paitia. To this she would not listen, but fearing for his safety should the murderers return disappointed, trees extensively, and formed fences round his plantaThe Irish landlord would probably have planted she advised that they should hide themselves till their departure; and having crept into the underwood, they tions; he would have formed and executed roads, but lay there till the men returned, and passed so near at the expense of the country, through his estate; he that they distinctly heard their conversation. From would have endeavoured to let his lands in the largest this they learned that they had not found Paitia, lots which the circumstances of the country in geneand that having been equally unsuccessful in their ral, or of the estate in question in particular, would search after the old chief, they were then hurrying on to select some other victim for the approaching sacri- have permitted, but he would never have dreamed of fice. Scarcely were their figures lost in the gloom forming hedges or wall-fences for the accommodation of the valley, when Amaita flew with the speed of of tenants or the embellishment of the estate, far less lightning to the spot where Paitia had fallen. friend, though unable to keep pace with her, followed Her would he have expended three years' rental from his the sound of her footsteps as fast as he could, till he own pocket, according to Scotch practice, on the erecreached a small open space amid the trees. While he tion of substantial houses and offices for a respectable stood here, Amaita came to his side. She appeared to emerge as by enchantment out of its solid mass, followed class of yeomanry. No: he would have let his farms at the highest rates, and left every description of imby Paitia, while she cried out in accents of the wildest joy, "He lives! he lives!" He had been wounded, provement, and the building of their houses, to the but not dangerously. The musket ball had struck and tenants themselves, who by this system too frequently glanced off from the joint of his left shoulder, and his find that their capital is prematurely exhausted on two friends having bound up the wound with a sleeve unremunerating though necessary labours: nay, if torn from M. de Freron's shirt, he was able to accompany them. The cavern where he found refuge had there were limestone on the property, the landlord been pointed out to him some time before by Amaita, too often would have left the expense of forming and he had, as she conjectured, made for it when limekilns to the tenantry, and made no exertion to escaping from death. Feeling still unassured till they facilitate the conveyance of fuel to them, or of acshould reach the canoe, they now hurried on their way tively developing any of the resources of his property, towards it. But their path lying in the direction of though his own interests and those of his successors Amaita's habitation, they perceived as they approached it, that a red lurid smoke obscured it from their sight, were so deeply involved. and presently saw the red embers of the few trees that had immediately surrounded the hut, and the building itself prostrate on the ground.

Amaita had loved her dwelling and the beautiful plants she had long so fondly trained around it, and she left the desolated spot as one turns from the grave of a buried friend. But her friends were still safe; she had lost no riches; and this feeling

Since the abolition of the "forties" as a desirable class of tenantry, and their consequent disappearance of a somewhat higher class of occupants, with a genefrom the soil in a great degree, and the introduction ral improvement in rural economy, there has been no doubt an increasing attention to many of those principles which long experience in Great Britain has

proved to be sound and beneficial as regards the enlargement of farms, the encouragement of draining, and building and manuring; but still these improvements are not in the first instance executed by the Irish landlord as a matter of rule and necessity. It is true he often contributes a portion of the materials, such as slates and timber, for farm buildings, if the tenant engages to raise the walls with stone and mortar in a permanent manner, but in the great majority of instances, even this aid is withheld.

It is not easy to account for all the contradictions of practice between the Irish and Scotch landlords (for it is these only who are here compared); and the difficulty of solution is increased by the consideration that some landlords have estates in both countries, and yet pursue diametrically opposite modes of management in each; they do not or can not assimilate their practice in each.

There are, I think, two very obvious causes for the difference to which I have alluded in these modesthe difference of tenure, and the remarkable disparity in the number of rural occupiers of all classes.

First-A lease in Scotland expires at the termination of nineteen years. In Ireland the lease continues very frequently for thirty-one years, with three concurrent lives, and rarely for less than twenty-one years, with three lives concurrent. Practically, these leases may last for sixty or seventy years; and at one time it was not unusual to grant leases which endured for nearly a century.

These long leases in Ireland are most pernicious in their effects. They indispose the landlord from doing any thing for his property, and render the tenant indifferent as to his mode of general management, for he views the grounds very much as if they were his own property, or an inalienable inheritance in his family. Experience proves that leases for farms should neither be too short nor too long, but be of a fair duration, say for nineteen or twenty years at the utmost, and drawn up in such terms as will give both landlord and tenant a deep interest in the well-being of the farm. There can be no question, as far as the interests of agriculture are concerned, that it is beneficial to infuse occasionally new energy, new modes of practice, as well as speculative experiment, into farm management; and it is clear that, according to the plan of long leases, nothing of the kind can be done in Ireland, except the farmer possess the rare qualification of being both a capitalist and an enthusiast in his profession.

Second-The remarkable disparity in the number of rural occupiers of all classes.

The number of those who have any just pretensions to the appellation of farmers, is not a fifteenth in the agricultural counties of Scotland that it is in any of the well-cultivated parts of Ireland. And this, among other causes, is attributable to the prevailing practice on the part of the Scotch heritor, of providing houses for the tenantry. This policy leads him to build as few as possible, and he therefore consolidates his farms to the utmost.

In the pastoral districts of the southern parts of Scotland, there is also the same contrast as to population, when compared with that of the hills and mountains of Ireland. The Irish traveller is in truth amazed as he perceives the manifestations of very extended tillage, without the numerous cottages or cabins on which his eye has been used to rest, either in frequent villages or isolated cottages. "Where are the labourers?" he says to himself; "where can they live?" When he sees some half dozen solid and unpicturesque little habitations in a single row near a great stack-yard, he thinks it impossible that these can contain one-fourth of the work-people necessary to cultivate some hundreds of acres in the perfect way which he beholds, perhaps for the first time in his life.

When told that on a farm of six hundred acres, under a four or five shift rotation (one-fourth or twofifths being in pasture), seven ploughmen only are with nine or ten women in winter and fifteen in employed; that one hedger, one shepherd, one steward, summer, execute the entire ordinary work of the farm, his surprise is unqualified:

The man exclaims with lifted eyes,

"Can these till farms of such a size?"

They can, and do, with some extra hands in harvest. And this unvaried system of employment provides most comfortably for the families which are located on the respective farms. Every occupier of a farm cottage being bound to furnish one work woman or

grown-up boy, there is no necessity for looking beyond the regular occupiers of the limited number of hinds and cottars for extraneous labour, unless draining or other extraordinary operations should be required. We thus see that in Scotland farming is conducted according to the strictly correct rules of economical science; the plan is to obtain the largest possible amount of produce, and at the same time not deteriorate the ground, at the lowest possible outlay, and this is accomplished in a manner the most interesting and surprising.

On six hundred acres of fully cropped land in Ireland, there would be five times as many labouring families; of these, many of the males would be irregularly employed, and the women only in the spring ad harvest periods; and there would be continual applications for "leave to toil" from the wretched inhabitants of the hamlets and small towns adjacent to such farms, presenting, as Burns has remarked, that

SCOTCH LOWLAND HIND.

5 bolls of oatmeal at 35s.

66

most mortifying picture of human life, a man seek[From this comparison between Scotch and Irish ing work and finding none." But besides the dispa- agricultural arrangements, the result seems to be, that rity of numbers, the traveller is struck with the great in Scotland rural affairs are conducted in a spirited and difference, in the means of subsistence, or in the wages energetic manner, and with the employment of consiof labour. I shall place the wages in juxtaposition, and, derable capital, so as in effect to reduce farming to a as regards the Scotsman, on a much lower rate than profitable and precise course of business, while in Ire that given in a published work by Mr Sellar of Sutherland, which lies within sight of its shores, all kinds of land, who supposes the labourer to earn, with his wife agricultural operations are conducted in a rude and far and children, L.51, 9s. 4d. per year; but this appears to from profitable manner, whether the interests of the me excessive. farmer, the landlord, or the public, are concerned. Whatever be the advantages of the Scotch system, they are clearly traceable in the first instance to the exertions of the landed gentry, of whom Sir Charles Stewart Menteath is an honourable example. The Scotch landlord rarely scruples to sink capital on his farms for the purpose of improving them and of reaping the benefit at the distance of a few years. This, it seems, is done by only a very few Irish land-proprietors, who, generally speaking, leave their poor tenants to struggle on without professional skill, capital, or enterprise; and the consequence is that meagre, disorderly, and unprofitable husbandry, which one sees in nearly all quarters of Ireland, and which is often a burlesque on the name of agriculture.—ED.]

2 bolls of barley at 30s.

1 boll of peas

*1000 yards of potato drills, at least

Carriaget of six carts of coals

Keep of a cow

Liberty to keep 6 hens and 1 cock, or money instead Cash

Lint (flax) ground, or 500 additional drills of potatoes Work woman's labour

L.8 15 0 3 15 0

1 10 0 200

1 10 0 700

0 10 0 200 1 0 0 610 0

L.34 10 0

If the hind has a son employed on the same farm in the same capacity, he has the same allowance, except a cow, in lieu of which he receives L.5 in cash, so that one family may earn about L.60.

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L.18 10 0

WILDE'S NARRATIVE OF HIS VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.*

SECOND NOTICE.

OLD RUSSIAN GEORGE.

MR WILDE, in the course of his voyage southwards, touched at Corunna, on the coast of Spain, where the This is a lamentable contrast for the Irishman, who yacht remained with the party for a few days. In could not subsist at all, were it not that he usually the course of his stay he visited the memorable field takes potato land manured, for which he pays about of Corunna, accompanied by a remarkable personage, L.6, 10s., and by the produce of this he may be said George Daboish, otherwise Old Russian George," as to support his family altogether. He has, however, guide. The history of this man presents a striking very frequently an acre of rented land himself, in example of the instability of human affairs. We give which case he is much better off; and if he has a grown-it in Mr Wilde's own words. up son or two to earn wages also, the unfavourableness of this account is considerably diminished. I have not in either case estimated the value of a house and little garden, though this is greatly in favour of the Scotch cottar or hind, who pays for a good habitation, kept in repair for him, only one month's harvest work by his workman, who is fed by the farmer during that period. The Irish cottar has either built his own cabin, paying a rack-rent for the land connected with it, or pays in cash or labour from L.1, 10s. to L.2 for the use of it; and if it should fall upon his head without crushing his brains, he has no assistance from his employer in most cases for rebuilding or repairing it. Not so in Scotland. In the comparison of wages I have placed to the account of the Irish cottar L.2, 10s. as the profit upon his pig, and L.1, 10s. for his poultry, because it is necessary to show his entire means of subsistence; but for these items he is not indebted to his employer in the slightest degree; they constitute no part of his wages in any shape, so that he really carns, in general, but L.12, 10s. per year! Compared with the hind of any common farmer even in the pastoral districts of Yarrow or Ettrick, he is miserably paid.

L.10 0 0 600 500

These have in money wages at least 5 carts of potatoes Keep of a cow Besides the wages of a female occasionally, and liberty to cut peat, which is led home for them.

If the difference in the number of cottages on Scotch and Irish farms respectively be great, so also is there a wide distinction in the external appearance and internal condition of them. Many of the Irish cottages may be gaily whitewashed in the exterior, and in this respect they seem superior to the houses of the Scotch peasantry. But look within! In the comforts of the interior, the neat bedsteads, clean bedding, well-formed floor, general furniture, and cleanliness, the Scotch

cottages of all classes, even in those pastoral districts to which my observations have just now referred, have a manifest and decided superiority. The clothing, also, of the inhabitants is incomparably better, as labourers, and where the rates of labour are so ample. may be expected where there is no surplus supply of And as to food; who sees hams and flitches of bacon suspended over the fireplace of the Irish peasant, or the ample supply of meal which the Scotch hind possesses? Alas! my country! would that many of the distinctions which now prevail, and to some of which I have adverted, were removed altogether! But among these I do not include the great disparity in the size of farms. The consolidation of these to any thing like the degree attained in Scotland, would

be totally unsuited to the existing circumstances of Ireland, as they regard population and capital. Farms of from thirty to fifty acres are better suited to the pecuniary means and the general condition of the people of Ireland, than those of much greater extent; and any violent effort to increase this average would be both cruel and impolitic.

limit

* The hind finds seed only, and hand-hoeing. Ile pays for the coals at the colliery. [The writer of this being a stranger in the country, prosents, we think, rather too favourable a view of the condition of the Scottish hind. He is evidently not aware of the fact that these

hinds, or farm-labourers, are liable to dismissal at pleasure at the end of yearly terms, and, upon the whole, lead a drudging and body-killing life. When they get old or enfeebled, they are frequently turned adrift, to make room for others more young and vigorous, and thus the provincial and large towns have become is unquestionably a serious evil, and has been often made the subject of complaint by town authorities.—Ed. C. J.]

receptacles for aged paupers from the landward districts. This

"His history is remarkable-by birth a Russianan Italian by descent-married to a Spaniard-and, although naturalised in Spain, claiming England for his country. Few men in his condition have seen more of what is termed life. He has with truth 'braved many a rough sea's storm' in his day-the very sport of the element he made his home. At an early age he was bound to the master of an English merchantman trading to the Black Sea, out of which he was, shortly after, pressed on board a British manof-war. From this he took French leave at Cork, and having travelled across the country for some days, alone and penniless, he found himself at what he not inaptly calls the mutiny of Vinegar Hill. He re-entered the merchant service, and some years afterwards was wrecked returning from the West Indies as matehaving suffered unspeakable hardships in an open boat for three weeks, during which time they were reduced to the horrible alternative of

Who should die to be his fellow's food.'

From this state of misery and privation they wereprovidentially rescued by one of our Kinsale hookers, for the inhabitants of which place he still retains feelings of the utmost gratitude. He again entered the navy, and immediately after served at the Nile; was boasts the honour of an acquaintanceship with Nelson; wounded at Trafalgar, on board the Bellerophon; and was present when Parker suffered at the yard-arm, after the mutiny at the Nore. He served in one of and seems perfectly acquainted with all the transacthe transports in this bay, at the time of the retreat,. tions concerning it. After this he betook himself to the merchant service; soon rose to be a master, and and he alone of all his crew saved. He was thrown had acquired some wealth, but was again shipwrecked, ashore, and beside him lay his ship's compass, the sole remnant of all his earthly possessions. He still preserves it with the greatest veneration, and exhibits it with delight to strangers.

The ocean's greedy wave had robbed him of his quench, the fire of his enthusiasm, so characteristic of home; the rocks and sands had spoliated his wealth; the drenching spray had damped, but could not his calling, till love, all-powerful, induced him to resign the ocean for one of the dark-eyed maids of Corunna.. He married; and here, by years of industry and perseverance, he rose to comfort, if not to wealth. Short-lived was his day of happiness. In the year 1823, when the French bombarded this town, his house, which stands outside the walls, was struck by a random ball, and in the very spot where he had concealed all his treasure (some thousands of dollars), which the French soldiers soon pounced upon; and he had actually to swim to one of the Spanish vessels fearing their vengeance for concealing his own property in the harbour. Still he has weathered the storm, and supports himself in some comfort by the proceeds of a small posada sacrata, or lodging-house. He is now a stout old man of seventy-six-a fine honest tar of the olden days of long queues and wide trousers. He has seen much of the world, and, what is rare in his profession, profited by it; to use his own expression, a man who travels much seldom dies a fool." He is master of most of the European languages, and speaks English well. His long yarns of the days of Nelson, and the various scenes he had been partaker in, were highly amusing. He is universally known in Corunna as old Russian George.""

* Curry and Company, Dublin. 2 vols. 8vo 1940.

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LOPEZ THE CARLIST.

CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH JOURNAL

Corunna, whose population belongs to the Queen's or Christino party, has been fortunately exempted from the effects of civil war; yet circumstances have Occasionally occurred to remind the people of this Carlist brigands frequently in- | desolating contest. tercept the mails, and render travelling exceedingly dangerous. An event occurred in connection with one of these robberies, a few years ago, so characteristic of Spanish law and injustice, that Mr Wilde cannot help recording it.

"Towards the latter end of October 1835, the insurgents of Gallicia posted a notice, that all persons found conveying the mail of her majesty the Queen of Spain should be shot. The government courier proceeding from Corunna to Madrid, soon after this notice, was murdered, the bags cut open, and the letters destroyed, it was supposed, by a Carlist named Lopez. Count Pablo Morillo, then captain-general of that province, enraged at such conduct, declared, that if they shot another courier, he would shoot the brother of Lopez. These brothers had been previously tried for an offence in no way connected with political affairs; were both acquitted; but the unhappy victim to injustice was detained in prison on suspicion, while his brother joined the insurgents as their chief.

The captain-general would not listen to the advice offered him by many, and amongst these several of the consuls of the place, to issue a proclamation of his intention to shoot the brother of Lopez if they committed a similar act. In a few nights after, on a Saturday, a courier, with both his horses, was shot two leagues from Corunna,

The count, a most violent man, would hear no remonstrance, and instantly ordered this unfortunate man for execution, and would not even allow him time to prepare for the other world, but hurried him off, desiring the confessor to do so on his way to the spot where the courier was shot the night previous.

At two o'clock on a Sunday, this man was led out, accompanied by a prisoner named Ramos-the one to be shot, the other to witness the fate he next was to suffer, should another courier fall by rebel hands. When they arrived at the place of execution, and Lopez was told by the provost-marshal his excellency's know of all this?-I order, he replied, 'What do have been in prison a year, and know nothing of my brother's crimes; why should I suffer for him! But I have long thought I should-I am ready,' and sat down on the chair.

*

The company of Urbanos returned, after this sad scene, with Ramos riding on an ass, sunk and unmanned. Both prisoners were in the queen's uniform as officers.

It were but to be expected that the brigand Lopez would commence a fearful retaliation. He still haunts the mountain passes in this neighbourhood, the terror of those who have wealth to lose the Rob Roy of Gallicia. Although the thirsty soil may have drunk up the stream of life that flowed from the wounds of this innocent man-the hot vapour rising from off that purple tide has ascended on high, an evidence against this guilty land."

EGYPTIAN COFFEE.

In voyaging up the Mediterranean, the yacht touched at Gibraltar, Algiers, and Alexandria, and from the latter place the party proceeded inland by the Nile to Cairo. So much has been written lately of Egypt and Mohammed Ali, that we spare the reader any extracts on the subject, and confine ourselves to the author's account of the Egyptian mode of preparing coffee, and a curious fact in natural history:

We generally dined early; and as there were at Cairo several visitors of various countries, who like ourselves could not obtain accommodation in the other inn, we were not at a loss for society, both agreeable and instructive, as we enjoyed our pipes and coffee. I was anxious to see and become acquainted with the manufacture of coffee, which far surpasses ours in flavour and aroma. The preparation of this is another royal monopoly. I visited the factory, a large oblong room, containing a series of roasters over stoves runIIere the fresh beans are ning down the centre. placed, attended with the greatest care, and watched with such nicety that a single minute is not allowed to elapse after they have acquired the desired state of torrification until they are removed. They are then placed in large stone mortars, set in a raised bench of stone-work, which surrounds the whole apartment, and opposite each of these is placed a man who pounds the contents with an immense metal pestle, worked with both hands, to a state of the finest comminution. The coffee is then sifted, the coarser grains separated, and again submitted to the pounding process, which is continued till it is reduced to an almost impalpable powder; so fine, indeed, that it not only imparts its flavour and essence to, but absolutely mixes with, the All the men engaged at the work were black slaves, nearly naked, as the heat is very great; and in producing the finest description, some spend a whole day at a few pounds of berries. It is not ground in a mill, but is always reduced by pounding to a state of the finest powder. When the coffee is about to be prepared for use, the water is boiled in the coffee-pot, the coffee put in at the point of boiling, suffered to simmer some time, the vessel shaken, and allowed to stand a few minutes in order to settle, and then poured off; and it has this peculiarity over every other, that

water.

so fine is the powder that both with what is dissolved
and suspended in the fluid, it is thick, and at the same
state not always got in the kahwehs or coffee-shops,
time perfectly clear. This is its state of perfection; a
where it is often muddy, and always too thick for the
taste of Europeans."

THE SCARABEUS.

In travelling over the desert-" Another animal
that particularly called my attention, and excited my
admiration, was the Scarabaeus, or sacred beetle; these
were running about in all directions in the warm sun-
shine, engaged in rolling their balls over the desert
with such industry, and in so curious a manner, that
I cannot refrain, although on the path to the Pyra-
mids, from stopping to notice the little animal so
famed in Egyptian story, and that formed so conspi-
cuous a part in the symbolic language and the mytho-
logy of this ancient people. The more I consider the
habits and manners of animals, the more am I con-
vinced that it was an accurate observation of their
natural history and instinct that arrested the atten-
tion of the ancients, and on which was formed much
of their hieroglyphic system. This was not peculiar
to the Egyptians, for we find the car of Bacchus
drawn by tigers, evidently alluding to his conquest of
a country to which those animals were peculiar; and
in like manner are represented the conquests of Alex-
ander, not expressed in words or any written charac-
ter, but shown forth by the representations of the
animals peculiar to each region, as depicted in the
mosaic pavement at Præneste.

These little creatures, which are possessed of amaz-
ing strength and perseverance, form balls of clay and
camel's dung, which they mix up into a kind of mor-
tar, very like that used by swallows to construct their
nests; in these they deposit their eggs, and thus it
forms a crust or shell to the larvae within; they then
The male is provided
roll these balls, when sufficiently dried, over the sand
in a truly remarkable manner.
with two projections in the form of horns on the
head, and uses them as a lever to raise and push the
ball forward from behind, while the female mounting
before keeps it revolving onwards by drawing it down
with her fore feet. Sometimes three or four will get
about one ball, either for the mere sake of work, or to
get it over any impediment. Others, again, propel
them with their hind legs, and will sometimes assume
the most grotesque attitudes, literally standing on
their heads and pushing at them with their hind feet.
So far as I am able to judge, they keep rolling these
balls about over the sand for the whole day, and do
not merely place them in holes, like other coleopter-
ous insects. I have watched them at evening; and as
soon as the sun had set, they invariably deserted their
charge, and returned to their holes; and what is more
remarkable, if the day became suddenly clouded, off
they waddled, and left the ball till a gleam of return-
ing sunshine again called them to work with renewed
vigour. It appears to me, from the manner they rolled
these balls, they intended that the sun should act
equally on all sides of them, and thus secure the heat
in the process of incubation. It may, however, be but
for the purpose of drying the surface.

Scarabæi, in every shape and attitude, and of all
sizes, are figured on the Egyptian monuments, are
used in the hieroglyphics, and models of them are
generally found on the breasts of mummies; besides,
many of a smaller size form part of the necklaces worn
by such. In these two latter positions they may have
stones and gems, as signets having the names of the
been used as amulets. Others are carved in different
was the emblem of creative power, of the earth, and
Ptolemies, &c., cut in hieroglyphics on the face. It
of the sun, in which latter case the ball alone is often
used."

STEAM-BOAT DISASTERS IN AMERICA.
IN the North American Review for January last,
there appears an article of some interest on the steam-
boat disasters which so frequently occur on the Mis-
sissippi and other western waters. The causes of these
mostly traceable to a reckless carelessness and selfish-
disasters, as we are informed, are very various, but are
ness on the part of the owners and captains. Some
or logs of drifted timber adhering to the bottom of
vessels are pierced and instantaneously sunk by snags,
the stream; others come in tremendous collision with
each other at night, on making sudden bends in the
river, and on these occasions one is usually sunk; a
fully greater number of boats are burnt by the falling
of ignited sparks of wood from the flues upon the piles
on the upper decks, and to avert which casualties no
of dry wood, cotton, and other inflammable articles
are explosions of the boilers, the causes of which we
care whatever is taken; but the principal disasters
shall shortly explain, condensing our information from
the article before us.

stances are not uncommon of pressure to the extent of
two hundred and fifty and even three hundred pounds
excessive and undue pressure is used on board any
being employed. Strange to say, the knowledge that
crowding to it in preference to proceeding by boats
under more prudent management. Such is the uni-
particular boat, does not prevent passengers from
versal desire to "get on" with the greatest possible
Of course, boats are
speed, that steady boats of moderate power are inva-
riably deserted, if boats of the more speedy but more
dangerous class are at hand.
generally constructed to suit this prevailing mania.
The reviewer presents the following incident as an
“ In the spring of 18:38, it was our lot to embark at
illustration of the recklessness of captains and im-
prudent indifference of passengers:-
St Louis in a new and very splendid steam-boat bound
The boat was evidently built
for Pittsburg. Her captain was a young man of some
experience on the river, and of a very ambitious and
energetic character.
with a view of embracing all the accommodations and
ness of the cabin, and the order and neatness apparent
improvements then known; and our party were con-
gratulating themselves upon the comfort and cleanli-
shore, steam was got up beyond the limits of safety,
throughout. Before casting off her fasts from the
and the boat shot up the strong current of the Missis-
sippi, and, turning above the town, dashed by the
sengers. As this, however, was no more than the
wharves with a velocity frightful to behold, but which
usual practice for crack boats on leaving port, we
seemed peculiarly exhilarating to both crew and pas-
necessary landings for wood and other purposes were
thought nothing of it; but the haste with which her
managed, and the excited condition of her crew, soon
to make a brag trip. Now, there were no doubt some
made manifest (what was afterwards confirmed by the
express declaration of the captain) that it was intended
few among the passengers, whom a knowledge of this
really alarming fact rendered uneasy and apprehen-
sive; but upon a large majority it produced no other
feelings than those of pleasing excitement; and the
watching of her rapid progress, and estimating from
time to time her rate of speed, seemed to form an
whose speed was equal to our own, and one after an-
agreeable relief from the usual monotony of a steam-
other was easily passed, till, between Louisville and
boat voyage. No boat was for some time encountered
two escape pipes and double engine showed her to be
one of the mail-boats that ply between the two places,
Cincinnati, a vessel was discovered in our wake, whose
and reputed to be one of the fastest boats on the

western waters.

As each bend of the river occasionThe excitement on board of our boat ally disclosed her to view, it was evident that she was gaining on us. vied with each other in stimulating the exertions of now became tremendous. Captain and passengers the firemen. Rosin was freely thrown into the furnaces, and the thundering of her paddles, and the was heard from the passengers, those who felt alarm quivering of the boat, told of the increased action of contenting themselves with keeping astern, as far as the steam upon her engine, while no warning voice it proved, were unavailing. The power and speed of possible from the scene of danger. These efforts, as the mail-boat carried her by us, while our captain a deep oath, that the next time he encountered this We landed in concealed his mortification as best he could, swearing rival, he would pass her, or blow his own boat out of time, however, had not yet come. the water. Fearfully was the pledge redeemed. His captain and his fast boat. The newspapers recorded safety, and all tongues were loud in applause of our formed, and the challenge was thus in effect thrown the trip just accomplished as the quickest ever perout to all other captains to emulate this dispatch.

A few days afterwards, in Philadelphia, a friend, aghast with horror, informed us that news had just The question ever signalised the western waters. rose instinctively to our lips-Was it the Moselle ? It was but too true. The rashness of the captain had arrived, of the most frightful explosion which had most fearfully recoiled upon his own head, hurling nocent victims, and this, too, the result of an effort to with him to destruction more than a hecatomb of inprevious trip. pass the very boat which had outstripped him on his

The

This disastrous explosion, the most terrific, we believe, recorded in the history of steam, awakened for a time the public from their apathy. In Cincinnati, the scene of the disaster, a public meeting of the citizens was called, where, among other resolutions having for ferers, one was passed, raising a committee of five, to their object principally the relief of the surviving sufsuch preventive measures as may be best calculated result of the investigations proved that the explosion inquire into the causes of this calamity, and to report on board of the Moselle, which utterly demolished the boat and destroyed the lives of one hundred and fifty hereafter to guard against like occurrences.' The greater proportion of the steam-vessels on the western waters, and also on some of the eastern, are vitable consequence of the increased expansive force built on the leading principle of excessive speed. They people, took place while there was a sufficient supply are built lightly and fragilely, and carry boilers and of water in the boilers, and was the natural and inehigh-pressure engines, which are urged to exert a power perfectly appalling to think of. The pressure of the steam, confined by an overloaded safety-valve, on the sides of the boiler is never less than one hun- while she lay for fifteen or twenty minutes with no case submitted to previous trial. This strain, how- make it. Satisfactory evidence was procured to show have required a pressure of two hundred and thirtydred pounds to the square inch, and the boiler is in boilers closed, and a furnace as hot as dry wood would ever, though much greater than it should be, is that the valve was loaded with a weight which would trifling in comparison to what is very generally employed to urge the engine to the top of its speed. In-seven pounds to the square inch to raise it.”

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