they learn English, and the manners of civilized her figure as fully exposed as the most classic life, and get plenty to eat. Probably the parents sculptor could have wished. It is to be observed, hope, in this way, to endow their offspring with however, that the sable hue is in itself a kind of some of the advantages which they suppose the veil, and takes away from that sense of nudity white man to possess over the colored race. So which would so oppress the eye, were a woman sensible are they of their own inferiority, that if a of our own race to present herself so scantily atperson looks sternly in the face of a native, when tired. The native lady in question was tall, finely about to be attacked by him, and calls out to him shaped, and would have been not a little atloudly, the chances are ten to one that the native tractive, but for the white clay with which she runs away. This effect is analogous to that has seen fit to smear her face and bosom. Around which the eye of man is said to exert on the her ankles were many rows of blue beads, which fiercest of savage beasts. The same involuntary also encircled her leg below the knee, thus supand sad acknowledgment of a lower order of be- plying the place of garters, although stockings ing appears in their whole intercourse with the were dispensed with. Her smile was pleasant, whites. Yet such self-abasement is scarcely just; and her disposition seemed agreeable: and, cerfor the slave-traders, who constitute the specimens tainly if the rest of Jack Purser's wives (for this of civilized man with whom the natives have was one of the nine-and-twenty) be so well-fitted hitherto been most familiar, are by no means on a to make him happy, the sum total of his conjugal par with themselves in a moral point of view. felicity must be enormous." It is a pity to see such awful homage rendered to the mere intellect, apart from truth and good-representative of a middle class between the savage and the civilized; the maker of enormous gains by his dealings between the two; and the husband of twenty-nine wives.

ness.

Jack Purser was a large shrewd Krooman; the

USES OF A BUSTLE.

"The most remarkable article of dress is one

"It is a redeeming trait of the native character, so far as it goes, that women are not wholly without influence in the public councils. If, when a tribe is debating the expediency of going to war, the women come beneath the council-tree, and represent the evils that will result, their opinion which I have vaguely understood to constitute a will have great weight, and may probably turn the scale in favor of peace. On the other hand, if part of the equipment of my own fair countrywomen-in a word, the veritable bustle. Among the women express a wish that they were men, in the belles of Axim, there is a reason for the exorder that they might go to war, the warriors de- crescence which does not exist elsewhere; for the clare for it at once. It is to be feared, that there little children ride astride of the maternal bustle, is an innate fierceness even in the gentler sex, which thus becomes as useful, as it is unquestionwhich makes them as likely to give their voices ably ornamental. Fashion, however, has evifor war as for peace. It is a feminine office and dently more to do with the matter than conprivilege, on the African coast, to torture prison-venience; for old wrinkled grandams wear these ers taken in war, by sticking thorns in their flesh, beautiful anomalies, and little girls of eight years and in various other modes, before they are put to death. The unfortunate Captain Farwell underwent three hours of torture, at the hands of the women and children. So, likewise, did the mate of Captain Burke's vessel, at Sinoe."

There are many remarks of this kind on the various phases of native habits and life, with the same strange blending of the ludicrous and sorrowful. On the whole, the condition of the African is wretched enough; and the officer doubts if the influence of the missionaries, in those portions of the territory where the colonists exercise jurisdiction, has been salutary. In points of this kind he speaks with considerable authority, because with evident frankness. We cannot so freely admit his freedom from a certain bias, in speaking of the prospects of the Liberian colony. His sanguine expressions on this head are certainly not borne out by the facts and examples he adduces.

But we have said enough to direct the reader's attention to the volume generally, (it appears to be part of a series, to which Mr. Headley's silly book above noticed seems also to belong, in the shape and on the plan of Mr. Murray's excellent Colonial Library;) and we shall occupy what remains of our space with the lively extractable matter it so much abounds in.

AN AFRICAN BEAUTY.

"Sitting with my friend Jack Purser, yesterday, a young woman came up, with her pipe in her mouth. A cloth around her loins, dyed with gay colors, composed her whole drapery, leaving

old display protuberances that might excite the envy of a Broadway belle. Indeed, fashion may be said to have its perfect triumph and utmost refinement in this article; it being a positive fact, that some of the Axim girls wear merely the bustle, without so much as the shadow of a garment. Its native name is 'tarb koshe.'"

of the "tarb koshe" in our London shop-winAnd truly, to judge from "native" specimens dows just now, one might argue, from a late enormous growth in its proportions, a growing tendency in civilized life to that Axim fashion of dispensing with any other garment.

AFRICAN MORALITIES.

"Should the wife be suspected of infidelity, the husband may charge her with it, and demand that she drink the poisonous decoction of sassy-wood, which is used as the test of guilt or innocence, in all cases that are considered too uncertain for human judgment. If her stomach free itself from the fatal draught by vomiting, she is declared innocent, and is taken back by her family without repayment of the dower. On the other hand, if the poison begin to take effect, she is pronounced guilty; an emetic is administered in the shape of soap; and her husband may, at his option, either send her home, or cut off her nose and ears.

"There is one sad discrepancy in the moral system of these people, as regards the virtue of the women. No disgrace is imputed to the wife who admits the immoral advances of a white man, provided it be done with the knowledge and consent of her husband. The latter, in whose eyes

the white man is one of a distinct and superior or- | There, her heart, while in one sense it decayed. der of beings, usually considers himself honored would burst forth afresh from the sod in a profuby an affair of this nature, and makes it likewise sion of spontaneous flowers, such as her living a matter of profit. All proposals, in view of such fancy lavished throughout the world. But now, a connexion, must pass through the husband; no verdure nor blossom will ever grow upon her nor, it is affirmed, is there any hazard of wound-grave. ing his delicacy, or awakening his resentment, whatever be his rank and respectability. The violated wife returns to the domestic roof with undiminished honor, and confines herself as rigidly within the limits of her nuptial vow, as if this singular suspension of it had never taken place."

A SEA-HORROR.

"As the gig was coming alongside, under sail, the tiller broke, and the coxswain, who was steering, fell overboard. He was a good swimmer, and struck out for the ship, not thirty yards distant, while the boat fell off rapidly to the leeward. In less than half a minute, a monstrous shark rose to the surface, seized the poor fellow by the body, and carried him instantly under. Two hundred men were looking on, without the power to afford assistance. We beheld the water stained with crimson for many yards around-but the victim was seen no more! Once only, a few seconds after his disappearance, the monster rose again to the surface, displaying a length of well nigh twenty feet, and then his immense tail above the water, as if in triumph and derision. It was like something preturnatural; and terribly powerful he must have been, to take under so easily, and swallow, in a moment, one of the largest and most athletic men in the ship. Poor Ned Martin !

L. E. L.'S GRAVE AT CAPE COAST CASTLE.

espe

"If a man may ever indulge in sentiment, it is over the ashes of a woman whose poetry touched him in his early youth, while he yet cared anything about either sentiment or poetry. Thus much, the reader will pardon. In reference to Mrs. M'Lean, it may be added, that, subsequently to her unhappy death, different rumors were afloat as to its cause, some of them cruel to her own memory, others to the conduct of her husband. All these reports appear to have been equally and entirely unfounded. It is well established here, that her death was accidental.”

SUNDAY IN MADEIRA.

"Sunday is not observed with much strictness in Madeira. On the evening of that day I called at a friend's house, where thirty or forty persons, all Portuguese, were collected, without invitation. Music, dancing, and cards were introduced for the entertainment of the guests. The elder portion sat down to whist; and, in a corner of a large dancing-room, one of the gentlemen established a faro-bank, which attracted most of the company to look on or bet. So much more powerful were the cards than the ladies, that it was found difficult to enlist gentlemen for a single cotillion. After a while dancing was abandoned, and cards ruled supreme. The married ladies made bets as freely as the gentlemen; and several young ones, though more reserved, yet found courage to put down their small stakes. I observed one sweet girl of sixteen, standing over the table, and watching the game with intense interest. Methought the game within her bosom was for a better worth the observer's notice. Who should more serious stake than that upon the table, and win it?-her guardian angel? or the gambling fiend? Alas, the latter! She bashfully drew a little purse from her bosom, and put down her

stake with the rest."

AN AMERICAN MAN-OF-WAR'S CREW.

"The first thought that struck me was the inappropriateness of the spot for a grave, and cially for the grave of a woman, and, most of all, a woman of poetic temperament. In the open area of the fort, at some distance from the castle wall, the stone pavement had been removed in several spots, and replaced with plain tiles. Here lie buried some of the many British officers who have fallen victims to the deadly atmosphere of this region; and among them rests L. E. L. Her grave is distinguishable by the ten red tiles which cover it. Daily, the tropic sunshine blazes "The private history of a man-of-war's crew, down upon the spot. Daily, at the hour of pa- if truly told, would be full of high romance, rade, the peal of military music resounds above varied with stirring incident, and too often darkher head, and the garrison marches and counter-ened with deep and deadly crime. Many go to marches through the area of the fortress, nor shuns to tread upon the ten red tiles, any more than upon the insensible stones of the pavement. It may be well for the fallen commander to be buried at his post, and sleep where the reveillé and roll-call may be heard, and the tramp of his fellow-soldiers echo and reëcho over him. All this is in unison with his profession; the drum and trumpet are his perpetual requiem; the soldier's honorable tread leaves no indignity upon the dead warrior's dust. But who has a right to trample on a woman's breast? And what had L. E. L. to do with warlike parade? And wherefore was she buried beneath this scorching pavement, and not in the retired shadow of a garden, where seldom any footstep would come stealing through the grass, and pause before her tablet?

sea with the old Robinson Crusoe spirit, seeking adventure for its own sake; many, to escape the punishment of guilt, which has made them outlaws of the land; some, to drown the memory of slighted love; while others flee from the wreck of their broken fortunes ashore, to hazard another shipwreck on the deep. The jacket of a common sailor often covers a figure that has walked Broadway in a fashionable coat. An officer sometimes sees his old school-fellow and playmate taken to the gangway and flogged. Many a blackguard on board has been bred in luxury; and many a good seaman has been a slaver and a pirate. It is well for the ship's company, that the sins of individuals do not, as in the days of Jonas, stir up tempests that threaten the destruction of the whole."

From the United Service Magazine. REMARKS ON THE DEFENCES AND RESOURCES

OF CANADA IN THE EVENT OF A WAR.

This is a matter of so recent a date that we shall that some seeds of discord may yet remain among not make any observations upon it; only we fear them, which will, no doubt, be fostered by the

BY CLAUDIUS SHAW, ESQ., K. S. F., LATE OF THE Sympathizers on the frontiers, and we may not find

ROYAL ARTILLERY.

(Continued from No. 61.)

the generality of our Canadians quite as loyal as we could wish, as they may consider some of their sores not quite healed, and be inclined rather to annoy than assist; though their hatred for the Americans may prevent them from openly assisting our enemies, yet perhaps they may take an opportunity to try and throw the yoke off alto

HAVING endeavored so far to give a sketch of the localities of Canada, and point out some of the blunders which took place during the last war, in the hopes that in case of another, these, being shown, may be shunned, we shall next proceed together. give a sketch of the inhabitants of the different All through Canada there are at present three districts, whom it was our lot, from the peculiar political parties; one is staunch to the British circumstances in which we were placed after leav- rule, another is favorable to the Americans, and ing the service, to mix much among, and thus had the third wish for having Canada an independent opportunities of getting an insight into their char-country. Between these we shall have a difficult acter which does not fall to the lot of many indi-game to play. viduals. Having been much employed in survey- As this is meant to be more of a descriptive ing in several parts of the province, I came in than a political sketch, we shall confine ourselves contact with all descriptions of people, from the more to it than the latter, as it is hoped it may be highest rank to the farmers, as my former station instructive to parties going out in command or and connections entitled me to associate with one, otherwise, by making them a little acquainted with while my occupation brought me into contact with the nature of the country or people they may have the other. to deal with when they arrive.

To follow the same course as in the former part, we must proceed again from below and round Quebec.

Along the frontier from where the two provinces used to divide the country was settled in the first instance by old soldiers; but the never-wearying soul of Jonathan soon discovered that our land was pleasant, and in a short time he calculated to squat.

wall, Brockville, and along the shores up to Kingston, bringing their disagreeable habits and manners along with them.

We have not said much of the principal towns, nor the society that may be met with in them; no doubt the variety is great, as they form a nucleus It is hardly necessary to mention that the coun-in which all parties meet, and it is only by becomtry from Gaspé to above Montreal was formerlying personally acquainted with them that all their included as Lower Canada, and was settled by qualities can be duly appreciated. We shall, French emigrants, as they were the first Europeans therefore, confine ourselves to the different districts who took possession of these parts. No class of as we found them. people could be more happy and contented than were these French Canadians at the period the last war broke out. The young men mostly employed themselves in the fur-trade, going up every year to the north-west country, to take provisions and stores, and bring back peltries, or furs; they Governor Simcoe gave encouragement to all came home every autumn with plenty of money to comers, and many Americans settled among our keep them all winter. The old men had culti-people, especially in the neighborhood of Cornvated their lands, and sufficient food had been raised to maintain their families in abundance all the long winter. Plenty of fuel had been cut in the woods, waiting for the snow to enable them to bring it in. The snow fallen, the Canadian thought no more of work till the next spring. Visiting among neighbors, dancing, and frolic became the order of the day. As long as the snow lay on the ground nothing else was thought of through all this region. It is impossible that any people, not even Mr. Polk's Arcadians, could be more happy. The war broke out; that did not affect them much-winter still brought its enjoyments-perhaps some near the large towns, or on the immediate frontier, might have found a little difference; but they were governed by their old laws; they followed their own religion, and if their troublesome neighbors could not agree it was no great fault of theirs. They perhaps did not love the English government or people, but they loved the Americans less; they therefore became loyal subjects, and made good militia; beside, they formed some very good fencible regiments. Some few miles back from Brockville a settleThe voltigeurs and chasseurs, in their grey cloth-ment of half-pay officers and pensioners was formed ing, formed, from their knowledge of the country, at Perth. This is a very extensive district, and most efficient troops. After the war they settled may, of course, be relied on in the event of a disdown again in their former happy state; but some turbance.

We must, however, exclude from this the Glengarry settlement, where, a few years ago, the Gaelic was spoken as purely as on the shores of Loch Lochie, and no doubt is still. These may always be considered good subjects. Many of their strange neighbors proved so during the last war, as they said all their property was on the British ground, and, as they were very comfortable and happy, they would defend it. But how are they to be judged of now? many of these men talk of independence, and many would rather be one of the States, than as they are. Some people last war went over to the States, and gave up their property; others, again, remained on their property, pretended to join the British, but gave information to the enemy. How are these people to conduct themselves when they may split into three parties? Two to one against the existing government.

restless beings, such as Papineau and his clique, Above Kingston, along the shores of the Bay got among them, told them things they never of Quinté, a large arm of Lake Ontario, is a setdreamt of; they were fairly O'Connellized, and tlement mostly composed of Germans; they are a rebelled! quiet inoffensive race, minding their own business,

and troubling their neighbors but little. They conceive their own territories to be in danger, it cultivate their rich soil, and live happily amongst would be quite impossible to prevent them from each other, caring little for change or innovation. taking a share in the operations. The country above this, till near Toronto, was Many tribes, such as the Mohawks, Hurons, but little settled at the time of the last war. Well Chippewas, and others, are so mixed up with our do we remember marching twenty miles without own countrymen through the provinces, and have seeing a house now all along here the country is become partly civilized, cultivating land, and well-settled, chiefly with emigrants from England adopting other European customs, that we might and Ireland, and everything is much improved. look upon them as our fellow-subjects, especially Of course here we may expect many loyal sub-as they swear fealty to their great mother, Vicjects; but no doubt politics run strong, and, from the mixture of parties from all sides, there must be a variety of opinions.

The next people who settled among them were sailors rather an odd mixture-but they agreed very well together. Many emigrants also joined them; and, as these settlements were very impor-wounded, and commit all sorts of barbarities tant, it was necessary to place a superior class of people in them.

company they belong to. Every man, however, others, as a soldier must be, and that no genuine is a good marksman, and would soon learn enough American, having the true spirit of liberty, would to be useful in the bush. Here, indeed, they ever degrade himself so far as to be a rigular. would have the advantage over regular troops; for if they only knew how to extend and close to the right and left, and advance or retire by word of command, or bugle, they would be sufficiently drilled for any purpose for which they might be wanted; and as it would be only in case of invasion, or a disturbance in the immediate neighborhood, that the sedentary militia, as they were called last war, would be required to take the field, they would be found sufficiently drilled by the knowledge of a few simple manœuvres.

Corps could be formed, such as there were last war, of young men, who would enrol themselves, as did three regiments, under the name of incorporated militia, and do duty as regular troops. These corps were highly distinguished, and the officers now receive half-pay.

Yet every man, who is capable of bearing arms, is a militia-man, and they pride themselves on it. They have several days' training every year, and have some idea of discipline; they are good shots, and would be ready the moment war is declared to cross the frontier into Canada. They are proud of military fame, and, as they would consider themselves aggrieved in the present case, they would think themselves patriots, and would fight with the greatest enthusiasm.

As Brother Jonathan is not in any way particular about gaining his ends, so long as he succeeds, he will try a plan of thinning our ranks besides fighting; he will entice the men to desert, especially regiments lately arrived from England. As he speaks the same language, he can at any time cross the river, and get among the soldiers, In the militia now will be found many pension- especially when they may be on the march, and ers and half-pay officers, which was not the case are billeted in different houses along the road, and formerly; and as the population is so much in- will use every inducement to entice them away: creased by emigration from the parent country, the and as these deluded wretches are sure to find force will be much greater, and as these may gen- themselves deceived by the fine promises that erally, especially from the rural districts, be con- have been made them, they will be obliged to ensidered good subjects, it will be better. Yet list in the American army, and fight against their there is so much liberty, according to the Yankee old comrades. ideas, crept in among them, and so much of the During the last war we did not lose many by spirit of radicalism spread through the province, desertion, but immediately peace was declared that great precaution must be taken as to whom they went over by dozens; dragoons fully equiparms are given, for fear of their being turned ped-their horses and arms brought them someagainst the government. As the late rebellion thing; and what was very extraordinary, there showed that there were many turbulent characters were instances of old soldiers deserting, who in a to deal with, who would willingly take the oppor- few months would have been entitled to their distunity of an invasion to either declare themselves charges and a grant of land. independent, or be for joining the United States. The latter is most to be dreaded in the first instance, as the independents might resist the others and support the government, and then, after there had been some war, they would see their weakness, and cling by the present government for some time.

There is not the least doubt but that Canada will, in course of time, declare its independence. This is but natural; but it is too soon yet. There is not wealth enough in the country: nor are they sufficiently strong or united to carry such a measure, or, if carried, to support it. The country is still too thinly populated to guarantee it, and they would be exposed to the insidious attacks of the Americans.

As we had frequent opportunities of seeing the American troops, a few remarks upon them may not be unacceptable.

The regular army at present is but very small, and that is chiefly employed on the frontiers of the States, on the Indian territories, and has not a disposable man. In their ranks are very few real Americans; they are composed of all nations, and generally the worst characters. It is nothing but the severest discipline that keeps them at all in order. There are a great many English deserters among them, who, not liking the work in the States which they were set to, thought it better to become soldiers again than starve. The Americans generally have a dislike to being soldiers. The business does not at all suit their disposition, for they are never happy unless they are trading and scheming in some way or other; and they consider it almost a disgrace to be a soldier, as they conceive a man must be a poor dispirited creature who demeans himself to be under the control of

A pay-serjeant of a company deserted as he took some money with him, there was some little stir made about it. We happened to be acquainted with the American general who commanded opposite, and meeting him one day on our side, he mentioned the circumstance voluntarily himself, saying that one of his young officers seeing such a fine fellow, had enlisted him; but that as soon as he (the general) had heard of it, he ordered his immediate discharge. A few days after, some of our officers, going to the American side, called upon the general to pay their respects, and the door was opened by this very man, in full American regimentals-the general's orderly serjeant!

When generals of their regular army do such things, what can be expected from inferiors, or from people who of their own accord would entice soldiers to desert, thinking that they were performing a patriotic action, and doing their country a benefit?

The regular officers of the American standing army are at present all educated at the Military Academy at West Point, in the state of New York; but their numbers are very small, so that, in the case of a fresh eruption, they would have to raise officers, as they did before, from lawyers without business, broken-down shop-keepers, and all sorts of half-educated idlers. As the system of equality brings the people on such a peculiar footing, discipline out of the ranks is hardly to be expected, especially among the troops from the western states. A party of these, last war, landed upon the property of a gentleman in easy circumstances, who farmed very extensively. As it was early in the morning it was probable many had not breakfasted, for in a few minutes every fowl,