The Emperor's arrival commenced the grand display. He took his place under the curtains of the royal pavilion. The dead were removed; perfumes were scattered through the air; rose-water was sprinkled from silver tubes on the exhausted multitude; music resounded; incense burned; and, in the midst of these preparations of luxury, the terrors of the lion combat began.

A portal of the arena opened, and the combatant, with a mantle thrown over his face and figure, was led in, surrounded by soldiery. The lion roared and ramped against the bars of its den at the sight. The guard put a sword and buckler into the hands of the Christian, and he was left alone. He drew the mantle from his face, and bent a slow and firm look round the amphitheatre. His fine countenance and lofty bearing raised an universal sound of admiration. He might have stood for an Apollo encountering the Python. His eye at last turned on mine. Could I believe my

senses! Constantius was before me!

All my rancour vanished. An hour past I could have struck the betrayer to the heart. I could have called on the severest vengeance of man and heaven to smite the destroyer of my child. But to see him hopelessly doomed; the man whom I had honoured for his noble qualities, whom I had even loved, whose crime was at worst but the crime of giving way to the strongest temptation that can bewilder the heart of man; to see this noble creature flung to the savage beast, dying in tortures, torn piecemeal before my eyes, and this misery wrought by me-I would have obtested earth and heaven to save him. But my tongue cleaved to the roof of my mouth. My limbs refused to stir. I would have thrown myself at the feet of Nero; but I sat like a man of stone, pale, paralysed-the beating of my pulses stopped-my eyes alone alive.

The gate of the den was thrown back, and the lion rushed in with a roar, and a bound that bore him half across the arena. I saw the sword glitter in the air: when it waved again, it was covered with blood, and a howl told that the blow had been driven home. The lion, one of the largest from Numidia, and made furious by thirst and hunger, an animal of prodigious power, couched for an instant, as if to make sure of his prey, crept a few paces onward, and sprang at the victim's throat. He was met by a second wound, but his impulse was irresistible, and Constantius was flung upon the ground. A cry of natural horror rang round the amphitheatre. The struggle was now for instant life or death. They rolled over each other; the lion reared on its hind feet, and, with gnashing teeth and distended talons, plunged on the man; again they rose together. Anxiety was now at its wildest height. The sword swung round the champion's head in bloody circles. They fell again, covered with gore and dust. The hand of Constantius had grasped the lion's mane, and the furious bounds of the monster could

not loose the hold; but his strength was evi-
dently giving way: he still struck terrible
blows, but each was weaker than the one be-
before; till, collecting his whole force for at
last effort, he darted one mighty blow into the
lion's throat, and sank. The savage yelled,
and, spouting out blood, fled bellowing round
the arena. But the hand still grasped the
mane, and his conqueror was dragged whirl-
ing through the dust at his heels. A univer-
sal cry now arose to save him, if he were not
already dead. But the lion, though bleeding
from every vein, was still too terrible, and all
shrank from the hazard. At length the grasp
gave way, and the body lay motionless on
the ground.

to honest curses.

I lay helpless under him. I felt his fiery breath-I saw his lurid eye glaring--I heard the gnashing of his white fangs above me..

as if struck. Gore filled his jaws -Another An exulting shout arose.-I saw him reel as mighty blow was driven to bis heart.-He sprang high in the air with a howl-He dropped; he was dead. The amphitheatre thundered with acclamation.

With Salome clinging to my bosom, Constantius raised me from the ground. The roar of the lion had roused him from his swoon, and two blows saved me. The falchion was broken in the heart of the monster. The whole multitude stood up, supplicating for our lives in the name of filial piety and heroism. Nero, devil as he was, dared not resist the strength of the popular feeling.

He waved a signal to the guards; the portal was opened, and my children sustaining my feeble steps, and showered with garlands and ornaments by innumerable hands, slowly led me from the arena."-Salathiel.

COFFIN DEALERS IN JAVA.

What happened for some moments after I know not. There was a struggle at the portal; a female forced her way through the guards, rushed in alone, and flung herself upon the victim. The sight of a new prey roused the lion; he tore the ground with his talons; he lashed his streaming sides with his tail; he lifted up his mane, and bared his fangs. But his approach was no longer with a bound; he dreaded the sword, and came snuffing the blood on the sands, and stealing round the body in circuits still diminishing. The confuTHERE are many coffin-makers in this great sion in the vast assembly was now extreme. city, where death so often keeps his court, and Voices innumerable called for aid. Women slays not only his ordinary thousands in the screamed and fainted; men burst out into indig-course of the year; but, at particular seasons, nant clamours at this prolonged cruelty. Even strikes down his tens of thousands in the the hard hearts of the populace, accustomed as houses-in the streets-in the fields: walking they were to the sacrifice of life, were roused with the pestilence in darkness, and slaughterThe guards grasped their ing with the arrow that flieth at noon-day. arms, and waited but for a sign from the cmWe noticed particularly the Chinese coffins, peror: but Nero gave no sign. which are not only exposed for sale in every undertaker's work-shop, but are frequently seen placed at the doors of their own dwellings; for a China-man likes a good bargain of any kind, and will eagerly buy a coffin for himself if he can get it cheap, though he hopes to live forty years; nor does the sight of it annoy him with any feeling less pleasant than the recollection that he has his money's worth in it. These coffins are not expensive, being made both solid and spacious out of four thick blocks of timber, the upper one forming the lid and projecting over the edges, with a Ishoulder-piece; the body of the chest, thus compacted, is nearly cylindrical. The buryingplace of the Chinese belonging to Batavia, like one which we have elsewhere described, is on the slope of a hill, where the graves are disposed in the most exact order, as cells, with their precious deposits sealed up in masonry, or brick-work, with ornaments according to the rank or riches of the deceased. A second corpse is never laid in a sepulchre already occupied.—Bennet and Tyerman's Voyages.

I looked upon the woman's face. It was Salome! I sprung upon my feet. I called on her name; I implored her by every feeling of nature to fly from that place of death, to come to my arms, to think of the agonies of all

that loved her.

She had raised the head of Constantius on

her knee, and was wiping the pale visage with
her hair At the sound of my voice she looked
up, and calmly casting back the locks from her
forehead, fixed her gaze upon me. She still
knelt: one hand supported the head, with the
other she pointed to it as her only answer.
again adjured her. There was the silence of
death among the thousands round me. A
sudden fire flashed into her eye, her cheek
burned. She waved her hand with an air of
superb sorrow.

"I am come to die," she uttered in a lofty
tone. "This bleeding body was my husband.
I have no father. The world contains to me
but this clay in my arins. Yet," and she
kissed the ashy lips before her, "yet, my
Constantius, it was to save that father
that your generous heart defied the peril of
this hour. It was to redeem him from
the hand of evil that you abandoned a quiet
home! Yes, cruel father, here lies the noble
being that threw open your dungeon, that led
you safe through conflagration, that to the
last moment of his liberty only thought how
he might preserve and protect you." Tears at
length fell in floods from her eyes.
"But,"
said she, in a tone of wild horror, "he was
betrayed; and may the Power whose thunders
avenge the cause of his people, pour down just
retribution upon the head that dared"-

I heard my own condemnation about to be
uttered by the lips of my child. Wound up
to the last degree of suffering, I tore my hair,
leaped on the bars before me, and plunged
into the arena by her side. The height was
stunning; I tottered forward a few paces, and
fell. The lion gave a roar and sprang upon me.

THE TWO FOUNTAINS. (From Moore's Evenings in Greece.)

I saw, from yonder silent cave,

Two fountains running side by side;
The one was Memory's limpid wave,
The other cold Oblivion's tide.
"O Love!" said I, in thoughtless dream,
As o'er my lips the Lethe pass'd,
"Here, in this dark and chilly stream,
Be all my pains forgot at last."

But who could bear that gloomy blank,
Where joy was lost as well as pain?
Quickly of Memory's fount I drank,
And brought the past all back again:
And said, "O Love! whate'er my lot,
Still let this soul to thee be true-
Rather than have one bliss forgot,
Be all my pains remembered too!"

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We have received communications from R. C.,
A Hater of Slavery, A Buxtonite, and A. S.
We are particularly obliged by the contribution of
Marian, and hope we shall have to thank her for many

more.

THE TOURIST. MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1832.

ON THE DISUSE OF SLAVE SUGAR.

name.

We have commonly heard it alleged that such an attempt is hopeless; but we are persuaded to the contrary. This is the common plea of supineness, and should be treated as such. Suppose it were well founded, would it justify our continued encouragement of cruelty and murder? If we can effect no improvement in the condition of the slave, we are yet bound to abstain from the infliction of injury. If we cannot manumit, we must refrain from rivetting his chains. We owe it to ourselves as well as to the negro to wash our hands of this pollution.

tain, the still more fearful waste of human | West India planter as an encouragement of life discovered, in an average decrease of seven- his expensive and murderous system, and after teen Negroes annually out of 314-or eighty- all are insulted and threatened with rebellion. five slaves, being equal to one-fifth of the whole When will the national conscience be aroused population, cut off in the space of five years! to the moral obliquity of such a course? When, The estates of John Thorp, situate in the pa- especially, will British Christians do justice to rish of Trelauney, show a diminution of num- their principles, by withdrawing their patronbers, within the same period, amounting to age from so accursed a traffic? The system is two hundred, out of a population of 2809. But within our power, and we may do with it as on the coffee plantations, where night-work is we please. If our rulers refuse to manumit unknown, mark the contrast; on a plantation the slaves, we may accomplish it ourselves, having 214 slaves, the average increase for five by a process which, though slower, will be as years is three per cent. per annum ; and, taking effectual. If the opposition of the West India HUMAN nature has been termed a bundle of an extensive parish, the staple commodity of party prevent any parliamentary enactment, inconsistencies. Conflicting opinions are fre- which is coffee, the average increase through- we have only to exclude their produce from quently entertained by the same person, and out is not less than three per cent, per annum. our dwellings, and the triumph of humanity practices are sanctioned at open variance with Can there be a more convincing proof of the will be achieved. Let us, then, combine with the profession made. A very limited know-shocking waste to which human life is subject a zeal and self-devotedness worthy of the ledge of mankind will be sufficient to convince on sugar estates (and owing mainly to the cause. Let associations be formed throughout us of the accuracy of such a representation. system of night-work), than this? And yet to the kingdom for the exclusion of West India We have only to compare the conduct with the such a system must the man of grey hairs, or sugar. Let the ministers of religion take a recorded sentiments of men, in order to be the mother of a numerous offspring, after toiling lead in this movement, and outraged humanity assured of their frequent incongruity. On no throughout the day, under the scorching beams will rise from its oppressions, and bless our point is this inconsistency more gross and pal- of a tropical sun, submit; and again be expable than on that which is referred to in the posed to the bleak north wind, to the chilling title of this paper. It is well known that a mists of heaven, or to the pelting rain; and, large and rapidly increasing portion of the Bri- when overtaken with sleep, to lie down faint tish public regard colonial slavery as a process and weary, and at the risk of a heavy punishof slow murder; and they appeal triumphantly ment, under the great canopy of heaven, withto the population returns of the sugar islands out another comforter, save Him, who pities in justification of their estimate. It is not sim- the oppressed." ply that they view slavery with disfavour,From the population returns we learn, that that they regard the coerced and unremunein fourteen sugar colonies the decrease of the rated labour of the African as impolitic and Negroes, on an average of the last eleven years, unrighteous. Such a conviction would, in all has been 58,601. The advocates of slavery honesty, pledge them to abstain from the conhave endeavoured to account for this decrease sumption of slave produce, to withhold from by various theories, which are sufficiently dissuch a system of exaction and wrong the proved by the notorious fact, that the Maroons But positive benefit must follow. If the slightest share of their patronage. But the in Jamaica, the free blacks throughout our co-slave-holder finds the sale of his sugars greatly truth of the matter is, their conviction of the lonies, and even the slaves in America and diminished, he will, as a mere matter of cominiquity of British colonial slavery is much on the coffee plantations in our own islands, mercial policy, modify his system, so as to meet the views of his customers, and to prestronger than we have supposed. They believe are uniformly increasing. The decrease on it to be a barbarous and cursed system, involv- sugar plantations cannot therefore be account- serve himself from ruin. Let him once pering the worst features of rebellion against Goded for by circumstances which exist equally in ceive that the British public are thoroughly with unparalleled cruelty to man. And yet the case of those other classes. There must resolved no longer to encourage him in their they patronize it: they encourage the planter obviously be something in the nature of their market, and he will abandon slavery rather in the perpetration of wrong, yea, they bribe employment, and its duration and intensity, than abide by its consequences. The same which shall account for a difference so palpa- plan would work redemption to the slaves in ble.-This argument is strengthened by the various other ways. It would materially lessen fact, that the rate of decrease in the sugar the value of slaves, and thus facilitate manucolonies bears an observable proportion to the mission. This appears by the returns from the quantity of sugar produced. In Demerara, slave colonies printed May 9th, 1826, and numTrinidad, and the Mauritius, for instance, bered 353. These returns embrace a period of whence the exportation of sugars has been five years-from the 1st of January, 1821, to largest in proportion to the number of slaves, the 31st of December, 1825. Amongst other the Negro population has decreased most ra- matters, they furnish the number of slaves sold pidly; while in Barbadoes and Dominica, where in execution for their masters' debts, specifying little sugar is grown, the slaves have slightly their age, sex, price, &c. Hence we learn the increased; and in the Bahamas, where no average price of slaves in the different islands, sugar is raised, their increase has been rapid. and the following are some of the results The increase in the latter case has been sub- ascertained. In Demerara, a sugar colony, sequent to the abandonment of sugar cultiva- the value of the slave is £86 sterling, and in tion. As long as the soil would furnish a crop Berbice £90; while in Barbadoes, whence nually diminished; but, immediately that it be-£28; and in the Bahamas, where no sugar of sugar-canes, the slaves in the Bahamas an- little sugar is exported, his price is reduced to came too exhausted for this purpose, the same raised, he may be purchased for £21 8s. How race multiplied. The depressing force was much greater the facility of manumission in removed, and nature acted on her general the latter islands than in the former!-and how much more enviable in consequence the condition of the slaves!

him to coerce the labour of his slaves to a mur

derous extent. But how, it may be asked, is this done? How can charges of so serious a nature be established? Nothing is more easy. We consume the articles which the planter sends us, and more especially his sugar, to which our observations now extend. It is in the production of this latter article that the misery of the slaves is perfected. They are worked on an average through the year sixteen hours per day, and their labour during the greater part of this time is performed under the impulse of the whip. Human nature cannot endure such exaction. It is a demand which her powers are not competent to meet; and we find, what general principles would have led us to anticipate, that the negro po

pulation throughout the sugar colonies is rapidly decreasing.

"Of all the evils to which the Negro is liable, throughout the whole system of slavery, there is not a greater than this-night-work on sugar estates. In proof of this, my Lord, only look at the facts to be found in a late return to Parliament, of the average increase and decrease of slaves for the five preceding years to 1828, on the principal properties in Jamaica, distinguishing coffee and other plantations from the sugar estates. We find from these returns, one sugar estate with 663 slaves, on which there has been an average decrease of ten. On another, with 242 slaves, a decrease of fifteen; and on a third, called Blue Moun

law.

Such is the fact. What, then, is the course which we pursue? Manifestly such as no moral principle or humane feeling can sanction. We receive the sugar raised at this sacrifice of human life. We exempt it from fair competition with free-labour sugar by our bounty and protecting duties. We give on an average several hundreds annually to each

is

But this is not all. The time of a slave in a sugar colony is of more value to his master than in any other. Hence the labour exacted from him is more protracted and intense, and the opportunities of improving his own condition are proportionally smaller. But, further, in sugar colonies, the slaves are mainly dependent on imported goods with which their * Rev. J. M. Crew's Letters to the Duke of quantities as barely suffice for the maintenance masters supply them. These are given in such Wellington, 1830.

very

shal

of life, and nothing can, in consequence, be | It was suspected that the waters of this sea
saved by the negro as part of the price of his were gradually sinking; but a Memoir in the
redemption. But when the cultivation of Swedish Transactions for 1823 has put the
sugar ceases, the master finds it for his profit change beyond doubt. From latitude 56 to
to give provision grounds to his slaves, on 63 degrees, the observations show a mean fall
which they raise their own support. Hence of one foot and a half in forty years, or four-
they become the small poulterers and green- tenths of an inch annually, or three feet four
grocers of the community, and are enabled, in inches in a century. The Baltic is
many cases, gradually to accumulate a suffi- low at present; and, if the waters continue to
cient sum to purchase their freedom. The sink as they have done, Revel, Abo, and a
system, therefore, which we recommend, ope- hundred other ports will, by and by, become
rates in their favour two ways: it reduces their inland towns; the gulfs of Bothnia and Fin-
value, and it supplies them with money. Eng- land, and ultimately the Baltic itself, will be
lishmen! let your hereditary love of freedom changed to dry land.
dictate the course you should pursue. Open
every door of escape to your oppressed and
wretched fellow-subjects. Restore to them, by
every means in your power, the rights of which
they are deprived, the joys which have long
been strangers to their breasts. Then will you
have the purest satisfaction which is allotted
to humanity on earth, and will shield your
country from those appalling evils with which
a retributive providence will otherwise visit it.

SUBSIDENCE OF THE BALTIC.

A SINGULAR and interesting fact has been ascertained respecting the level of the Baltic.

EPITAPH

ON THE MARQUIS OF ANGLESEA'S LEG.

Attributed to the Right Hon. George Canning.

Here rests and let no saucy knave
Presume to sneer and laugh,
To learn that mouldering in the grave
Is laid-a British calf.

For he who writes these lines is sure
That those that read the whole
Will find such laugh is premature,
For here, too, lies a sole.

And here five little ones repose,
Twin-born with other five,
Unheeded by their brother toes,
Who now are all alive.

A leg and foot, to speak more plain,
Rest here of one commanding,
Who, though his wits he might retain,
Lost half his understanding.

And when the guns, with thunder fraught,
Pour'd bullets thick as hail,
Could only in this way be taught

To give the foe leg-bail.
And now in England, just as gay
As in the battle brave,

Goes to the rout, review, or play,

With one foot in the grave.
Fortune in vain here show'd her spite,
For he will still be found,
Should England's sons engage in fight,
Resolv'd to stand his ground.

For fortune's pardon I must beg-
She meant not to disarm;
And when she lopp'd the hero's leg,
She did not seek his h-arm;

And but indulg'd a harmless whim,
Since he could walk with one,
She saw two legs were lost on him,
Who never meant to run.

Mark with what fatal skill yon deathful pair
The web of human destiny prepare;
Life's brittle thread those ruthless sisters hold,
And swift around the impetuous wheel is roll'd.
A third more dreadful sister near them stands,
The fatal shears extended in her hands,
Eager to strike the blow, and seal the doom
Of some pale victim trembling o'er the tomb.
ANON.

THE ancient mythology recognized a power superior to that of the gods, namely, that of fate, or necessity. Hence Herodotus quotes an oracle which declared that "God himself could not shun his destined fate;" and in the fragments of

of a very singular figure common in the Latin language, being derived from the word parco, " to spare," because, forsooth, they spare nobody!

Philemon we find the following sentence: | by an ancient commentator, is an instance
"We are subject to kings, kings to the
gods, and the gods to necessity." In-
deed, to such a height was this impiety
carried, in the earliest ages of Greece,
that we find Homer and Hesiod teaching
that the gods themselves were generated
by Necessity of Night and Chaos. The
same power exercised an uncontrolled
dominion over the events and duration of
human life, and in this character is re-
presented by the three sisters, seen in the
above engraving. They were called
Parcæ; which name, as we are informed

Their personal appellations were, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos; of whom the first held a distaff, the second spun the thread of human destiny, and the third cut it short with a pair of scissors-thus determining the close of life. The ancients imagined that the Parcæ used white wool for a long and happy life, and black for a short and unfortunate one.

DECISIVE BATTLE BETWEEN THE
IDOLATERS AND THE CHRISTIANS
IN THE ISLAND OF TAHITI.
THE 12th of November, 1815, was the most
eventful day that had yet occurred in the his-
tory of Tahiti. It was the Sabbath. In the
forenoon, Pomare, and the people who had
come over from Eimeo, probably about eight
hundred, assembled for public worship at a
place called Narii, near the village of Buna-
auia, in the district of Atehuru. At distant
points of the district they stationed piquets;
and, when divine service was about to com-
mence, and the individual who was to officiate
stood up to read the first hymn, a firing of mus-
kets was heard; and, looking out of the building
in which they were assembled, a large body of
armed men, preceded and attended by the
flag of the gods, and the varied emblems of
idolatry, were seen marching round a distant
point of land, and advancing towards the
place where they were assembled. It is war!
it is war! was the cry which re-echoed through
the place; as the approaching army were seen
from different parts of the building. Many,
agreeably to the precautions of the Missiona-
ries, had met for worship under arms; others,
who had not, were preparing to return to their
tents, and arm for the battle. Some degree of
confusion consequently prevailed. Pomare
arose, and requested them all to remain qui-
etly in their places; stating, that they were
under the special protection of Jehovah, and
had met together for his worship, which was
not to be forsaken or disturbed even by the
approach of an enemy. Auna, formerly an
Areoi and a warrior, now a Christian teacher,
who was my informant on these points, then
read the hymn, and the congregation sang it.
A portion of scripture was read, a prayer offer-
ed to the Almighty, and the service closed.
Those who were unarmed now repaired to
their tents, and procured their weapons.

[or defence, made with strongly twisted cords of
romaha, or native flax, and armed with a mus-
ket and a spear. She was supported on one
side by Farefau, her steady and courageous
friend, who acted as her squire or champion;
while Mahine was supported on the other by
Patini, a fine, tall, manly chief, a relative of
Mahine's family, and one who, with his wife
and two children, has long enjoyed the paren-
tal and domestic happiness resulting from
Christianity,-but whose wife, prior to their
renunciation of idolatry, had murdered twelve
or fourteen children.

one of the idolaters, who had outrun his companions, sprang upon him before he was aware of his approach. Unable to throw him on the sand, he cast his arms around his neck, and endeavoured to strangle, or at least to secure, his prey, until some of his companions should arrive and despatch him. Raveae was armed with a short musket, which he had reloaded since wounding the chief; of this, it is supposed, the man who held him was unconscious. Extending his arms forward, Raveae passed the muzzle of his musket under his own arm, suddenly turned his body on one side, and, pulling the trigger of his piece at the same instant, shot his antagonist through the body, who immediately lost hold of his prey, and fell dying to the ground.

Pomare took his station in a canoe with a number of musketeers, and annoyed the flank of his enemy nearest the sea. A swivel mounted in the stern of another canoe, which was commanded by an Englishman, called Joe by The idolatrous army continued to fight with the natives, and who came up from Raiatea, obstinate fury, but were unable to advance, or did considerable execution during the engage-make any impression on Mahine and Pomarement. vahine's forces. These not only maintained their ground, but forced their adversaries back; and the scale of victory now appeared to hang in doubtful suspense over the contending parties. Tino, the idolatrous priest, and his companions, had, in the name of Oro, promised their adherents a certain and an easy triumph. This inspired them for the conflict, and made them more confident and obstinate in battle than they would otherwise have been; but the tide of conquest, which had rolled with them in the onset, and during the early part of the engagement, was already turned against them, and, as the tidings of their leader's death became more extensively known, they spread a panic through the ranks he had commanded. The pagan army now gave way before their opponents, and soon fled precipitately from the field, seeking shelter in their pari's, strongholds, or hiding-places in the mountains; leaving Pomare, Mahine, and the princess from Raiatea, in undisputed possession of the field.

Before the king's friends had properly form-
ed themselves for regular defence, the idola-
trous army arrived, and the battle commenc-
ed. The impetuous attack of the idolaters,
attended with all the fury, imprecations, and
boasting shouts practised by the savage when
rushing to the onset, produced by its shock a
temporary confusion in the advanced guard of
the Christian army: some were slain, others
wounded, and Upaparu, one of Pomare's lead-
ing men, saved his life only by rushing into
the sea, and leaving part of his dress in the
hands of the antagonist with whom he had
grappled. Notwithstanding this, the assailants
met with steady and determined resistance.
Overpowered, however, by numbers, the viro
or front ranks were obliged to give way. A
kind of running fight commenced, and the
parties intermingled in all the confusion of
barbarous warfare.

"Here might the hideous face of war be seen,
Stript of all pomp, adornment, and disguise."

circumstances it was, that the Christians, when
not actually engaged with their enemies, often
kneeled down on the grass, either singly or
two or three together, and offered up an ejacu-
latory prayer to God-that he would cover
their heads in the day of battle, and, if agree-
able to his will, preserve them, but especially
prepare them for the results of the day, whe-
ther victory or defeat, life or death.

In assuming the posture of defence, the The ground on which they now fought, exking's friends formed themselves into two or cepting that near the sea-beach, was partially or three columns, one on the sea-beach, and covered with trees and bushes; which at times the other at a short distance towards the moun- separated the contending parties, and intertains. Attached to Pomare's camp was a num-cepted their view of each other. Under these ber of refugees, who had, during the late commotions in Tahiti, taken shelter under his protection, but had not embraced Christianity; on these the king and his adherents placed no reliance, but stationed them in the centre, or the rear. The Bure Atua requested to form the viro or front line, advanced guard; and the apoa viri, or cheek of their forces; while the people of Eimeo, immediately in the rear, formed what they called the tapona, or shoulder, of their army. In the front of the line, Auna, Upaparu, Hitote, and others equally distinguished for their steady adherence to the system they had adopted, took their station on this occasion, and showed their readiness to lay down their lives rather than relinquish the Christian faith, and the privileges it conferred. Mahine, the king of Huahine, and Pomarevahine, the heroic daughter of the king of Raiatea, with those of their people who had professed Christianity, arranged themselves in battle-array immediately behind the people of Eito, forming the main body of the army. Mahine on this occasion wore a curious helmet, covered on the outside with plates of the beautifully spotted cowre, or tiger-shell, so abundant in the islands; and ornamented with a plume of the tropic, or man-of-war bird's feathers. The queen's sister, like a daughter of Pallas, tall, and rather masculine in her stature and features, walked and fought by Mahine's side, clothed in a kind of armour

The battle continued to rage with ficreeness; several were killed on both sides; the idolaters still pursued their way, and victory seemed to attend their desolating march, until they came to the position occupied by Mahine, Pomare-vahine, and their companions in arms. The advanced ranks of these united bands met, and arrested the progress of the hitherto victorious idolaters. One of Mahine's men, Raveae, pierced the body of Upafara, the chief of Papara, and the commanderin-chief of the idolatrous forces. The wounded warrior fell, and shortly afterwards expired. As he sat gasping on the sand, his friends gathered round, and endeavoured to stop the bleeding of the wound, and afford every assistance his circumstances appeared to require. "Leave me," said the dying warrior: "Mark yonder man, in front of Mahine's ranks; he inflicted this wound; on him revenge my death." Two or three athletic men instantly set off for that purpose. Reveae was retiring towards the main body of Mahine's men, when

Flushed with success, in the moment of victory, the king's warriors were, according to former usage, preparing to pursue the flying enemy. Pomare approached, and exclaimed, Atira! It is enough! and strictly prohibited any of his warriors from pursuing those who had fled from the field of battle: forbidding them also to repair to the villages of the vanquished, to plunder their property, or murder their helpless wives and children.-Ellis's Polynesian Researches.

SIMPLE EXPEDIENT.

IN the granite quarries near Seringapatam, the most enormous blocks are separated from the solid rock by the following neat and simple process. The workman having found a portion of the rock sufficiently extensive, and situated near the edge of the part already quarried, lays bare the upper surface, and marks on it a line in the direction of the intended separation, along which a groove is cut with a chisel about a couple of inches in depth. Above this groove a narrow line of fire is then kindled, and maintained till the rock below is thoroughly heated, immediately on which a line of men and women, each provided with a pot full of cold water, suddenly sweep off the ashes, and pour the water into the heated groove, when the rock at once splits with a clean fracture. Square blocks of six feet in the side, and upwards of eighty feet in length, are sometimes detached by this method, or by another equally simple and efficacious, but not easily explained without entering into particulars of mineralogical detail.-Herschel's Natural Philosophy.

LAST DAYS OF VOLTAIRE.

We have very full details of the last days of this distinguished person. He came to Paris, as is well known, after twenty-seven years' absence, at the age of eighty-four; and, the very evening he arrived, he recited himself the whole of his Irene to the players, and passed all the rest of the night in correcting the piece for representation. A few days after, he was seized with a violent vomiting of blood, and instantly called stoutly for a priest, saying, that they should not throw him out on the dunghill. A priest was accordingly brought, and the patriarch very gravely subscribed a profession of his faith in the Christian Religion; of which he was ashamed, and attempted to make a jest, as soon as he recovered. He was received with unexampled honours at the Academy, the whole members of which rose together, and came out to the vestibule to escort him to the hall; while, on the exterior, all the avenues, windows, and roofs of houses, by which his carriage had to pass, were crowded with spectators, and resounded with acclamations. But the great scene of his glory was the theatre; in which he no sooner appeared than the whole audience rose up, and continued for upwards of twenty minutes in thunders of applause and shouts of acclamation, that filled the house with dust and agitation. When the piece was concluded, the curtain was again drawn up, and discovered the bust of their idol in the middle of the stage, while the favourite actress placed a crown of laurel on its brows, and recited some verses, the words of which could scarcely be distinguished amidst the tumultuous shouts of the spectators. The whole scene, says M. Grimm, reminded us of the classic days of Greece and Rome. But it became more truly touching at the moment when its object rose to retire. Weakened and agitated by the emotions he had experienced, his limbs trembled beneath him; and, bending almost to the earth, he seemed ready to expire under the weight of years and honours that had been laid upon him. His eyes, filled with tears, still sparkled with a peculiar fire in the midst of his pale and faded countenance. All the beauty and all the rank of France crowded round him in the lobbies and staircases, and literally bore him in their arms to the door of his carriage. Here the humble multitude took their turn; and, calling for torches, that all might get a sight of him, they clustered round his coach, and followed it to the door of his lodgings, with vehement shouts of admiration and triumph. This is the heroic part of the scene; but M. Grimm takes care also to let us know that the patriarch appeared, on this occasion, in long lace ruffies, and a fine coat of cut velvet, with a grey periwig of a fashion forty years old, which he used to comb every morning with his own hands, and to which nothing at all parallel had been seen for ages, except on the head of Bachaumont the novelist, who was known, accordingly, among the wits of Paris, by the name of "Voltaire's wig-block."

This brilliant and protracted career, however, was now drawing to a close. Retaining, to the last, that untameable spirit of activity and impatience which had characterized all his past life, he assisted at rehearsals and meetings of the Academy with all the zeal and enthusiasm of early youth. At one of the latter, some objections were started to his magnificent project of giving a new edition of their dictionary, and he resolved to compose a discourse to obviate these objections. To strengthen himself for this task, he swallowed a prodigious quan

tity of strong coffee, and then continued at
work for upwards of twelve hours without in-
termission. Thiş imprudent effort brought on
an inflammation in his bladder; and, being
told by M. De Richelieu, that he had been
much relieved in a similar situation by taking,
at intervals, a few drops of laudanum, he
provided himself with a large bottle of that
medicine, and, with his usual impatience,
swallowed the greater part of it in the course
of the night. The consequence was, as might
naturally have been expected, that he fell into
a sort of lethargy, and never recovered the use
of his faculties, except for a few minutes at a
time, till the hour of his death, which hap-
pened three days after, on the evening of the
30th of May, 1778.

The priest to whom he had made his con-
fession, and another, entered his chamber a
short time before he breathed his last. He
recognized them with difficulty, and assured
them of his respects. One of them, coming
close up to him, he threw his arm round his
neck, as if to embrace him; but when M.
a Curé, taking advantage of this cordiality,
proceeded to urge him to make some sign or
acknowledgment of his belief in the Christian
faith, he gently pushed him back, and said,
"Alas! let me die in peace." The priest
turned to his companion, and, with great mo-
deration and presence of mind, observed aloud,
"You see his faculties are quite gone." They
then quietly left the apartment; and the dying
man, having testified his gratitude to his kind
and vigilant attendants, and named several
times the name of his favourite niece, Madame
Denis, shortly after expired.

Nothing can better mark the character of the work before us, and of its author, than to state, that the dispatch which contains this striking account of the last hours of his illusobscene epigram of M. Rulhiere, and a gay trious patron and friend, terminates with an critique on the new administration of the Opera Buffa.

There are various epitaphs on Voltaire, scattered through the secret of the volume: we prefer this very brief one, by a lady of Lausanne:

"Ci git l'enfant gaté du monde qu'il gata." Among the other proofs which M. Grimm has recorded of the celebrity of this extraordinary person, the incredible number of his portraits that were circulated deserves to be noticed. One ingenious artist, in particular, of the name of Huber, had acquired such a facility in forming his countenance, that he could not only cut most striking likenesses of him out of paper, with scissors, held behind his back, but could mould a little bust of him, in half a minute, out of a bit of bread; and, at last, used to make his dog manufacture most excellent profiles, by making him bite off the edge of a biscuit which he held to him in three or four different positions!-Edinburgh Review of M. Grimm's Correspondence.

MODES OF LIVING AMONG THE
CHINESE.

THE modes of living among the Chinese
are, of course, very different, according to the
rank and wealth of the people; but the ex-
tremes of luxury and misery are no where
more ludicrously contrasted. Those who can
afford to purchase rare and expensive delica-
cies grudge no cost for them, as is proved by
the price paid for edible birds' nests (glutinous

compositions, formed by a kind of swallow, in
vast clusters, found in caves in the Nicobar
and other islands), 5000 dollars being some-
times given for a picul, weighing 1332 pounds.
In the streets, multitudes of men are employed
in preparing these for sale, with a pair of
tweezers, plucking from them every hair, or
fibre of feather, or extraneous matter; and, at
the same time, carefully preserving the form
of the nests, by pushing through them very
Sharks' fins are
slender slips of bamboo.
highly prized, and, when well-dried, they fetch
a great price. The beche-de-lamer (a horrid-
looking black sea-slug, formerly described),
brought from the Pacific Islands, is also ex-
ceedingly esteemed by Chinese epicures. But,

while the rich fare thus sumptuously, the mass
of the poor subsist on the veriest garbage.
The heads of fowls, their entrails, their feet,
with every scrap of digestible animal matter-
earth-worms, sea-reptiles of all kinds, rats, and
other vermin, are gredily devoured. We have
noticed lots of black frogs, in half dozens,
tied together, exposed for sale in shallow
troughs of water.

We have seen the hindquarter of a horse hung up in a butcher's shop, with the recommendation of the whole leg attached. A lodger in our hotel complains that, his bed-room being over the kitchen, he is grievously annoyed in a morning by the noises of dogs and cats, which are slaughtered below for the day's consumption-but not at our table. Not a bone nor a green leaf is ever

seen in the streets: some use or another is found

for every thing that would be refuse elsewhere. -Bennet and Tyerman's Voyages.

Oh! if less could e'er content you,

Or you'd buy from Eastern isles,
You would fill our hearts with gladness,
And our tearful eyes with smiles.
Then we should have time to rest us,
And our weary eyes might sleep;
We could raise provision plenty,

And we might the Sabbath keep.
"Twould not hurt us, Massa gentle,
If you should our sugar leave;
We should only fare the better,
So you need not for us grieve.

'Tis while plenty sugar's wanted,

That we suffer more and more:
Ease us, Massa, ease our sorrow!

See, it is within your power.

It should be enough for Massa,
If we work as English do;
All to want poor Negro's sugar,
Makes our toil a killing woe.