"A serpent and a young crocodile dwelt in the same part of the country. The serpent fixed itself in a tree by the water-side; and underneath the same tree the young crocodile watched for prey. After a time a dog came to drink; the crocodile pursued him; down came the serpent to stop the crocodile. "What have you to do with me?" said the crocodile.—"Why, you are seeking to eat everybody that passes this way," replied the serpent—"Be quiet,"—said the crocodile, "lest I give you a blow with my tail, and cut you in two."—"And pray what are you?" asked the serpent: "I suppose you are thinking that, because I have neither hands nor feet, I can do nothing; but, perhaps, you have not looked atmytail, how sharp it is."—"Cease your noise," replied the crocodile, "or I'll just break you in two." The serpent, then becoming excessively angry, struck the crocodile with his tail, and wounded his loins, so as nearly to break his body. All the fish were astonished; and, addressing the crocodile, said, "How is this,—you that can conquer people and cattle, however large, and anything else?" The crocodile, ashamed, dived out of sight; while the serpent resumed his place on the tree. The crocodile, however, hoping to repay him, kept watching for prey. After a time, there came a goose to the water. The crocodile pursued, and got hold of him; when down came the serpent, to stop him, as before. "Where are you going?" cried the crocodile.—"Let that goose alone," said the serpent, "lest I kill you." The crocodile replied contemptuously, and the serpent, enraged, exclaimed, "Well, this time, see if you are not the worse for it;" and then he struck the crocodile, and wounded him on the face, and made him scream again. So he was conqueredthat, time, and the goose got off. Then all the little fish came again, and said to the crocodile, "How is it that you are beaten by that foolish serpent? You are wise and powerful, and that little fellow conies and beats you." Completely ashamed, again the crocodile hid himself in the water, and began to think by what means he might conquer this serpent upon the tree. After thinking a long time, the crocodile determined on boring a hole through the root of the tree; and for a whole week he kept on boring. Presently, a dog came to drink; afterwards a goose; also a man; but, the crocodile keeping at his work, the serpent exulted in having intimidated his adversary, and said, 'There's nothing so strong, then, as I am." The crocodile heard him, and labored with all his might to finish boring at the root, one branch of which remained to cut. The crocodile then watched at the water-side a good while, when down came the dog to drink: the crocodile pursued him; the serpent, as before, came to oppose him, calling out, "Let that dog alone there, lest you get the worst of it."—"You," said the crocodile, "do not fear God. Yonder dogs deceive us, and that's the reason I pursue them: as to people, I never touch them, unless they are guilty of witchcraft. I only eat the small things,—so just letmealone." When the serpent heard that, he replied, "Thereisno God; for if there were, I should have had both hands and feet: there is no God at all. But I will have your carcass to-day." Then the dog and the serpent together made an attack on the crocodile; the crocodile got weaker, and dived in the water; when all the little fish came again, and expressed their astonishment, as before, that he should be conquered by that little serpent, "Wait a little," said the crocodile, "and you will see I am not conquered by him." The serpent got up the tree as usual; the crocodile watched,—bored the hole completely,—then looked up, and saw the serpent sound asleep on a branch overhanging the water; then, cutting what remained of the root, the tree broke and fell into the water, the serpent falling with it. Then all the fishes acknowledged that the crocodile was superior, for he had got the serpent into the water, and made him dive in it, and kept him under water half-an-hour. The serpent, however, survived it, and repented of what he had done. "Oh! that I had never opposed you; only let me go, and I will never attack you again."—"Ah!" said the crocodile; "but as often as I pursued the dog, I was pursued by you; so you must suffer in your turn." Thus the crocodile made him heartily repent before he let him go. "Then," said the serpent, "if ever I touch you again, may I be conquered." After that, the crocodile let him go. He was glad to get off; but he had been beaten, and took an oath not to renew the attack when the crocodile went to look out for prey. The crocodile, however, owed the dog a grudge, because he had attacked him, and so laid all his family under a curse to devour the dog whenever opportunity offered. "Unless you do that," said he, "may you die without posterity; for yonder dog took part with the serpent against me."
MR. STANLEY. "Well, George, are you like the serpent? Have you had enough of the water?"
GEORGE. "Oh! no! I shall be very sorry when the voyages are over."
MR. STANLEY. "You have been on the ocean a weary while. Have you, like Sir James Ross, reached either of the Poles?"
GEORGE. "No, sir; but we have been very near the North Pole; have we not, Charles?"
CHARLES. "Yes; in the Arctic Ocean we have been as high as 80° parallel of north latitude to Spitzbergen; and in the Antarctic as high as the 66° parallel of south latitude, to the New South Shetland Isles."
MR. STANLEY. "Well done! You will not then start any objections on the score of cold, to accompany me to Kerguelan's Land?"
"Oh dear, no!" exclaimed the boys. "We do not mind the cold."
MR. STANLEY. "Kerguelan's land was discovered in 1772 by Monsieur de Kerguelan, a French navigator, who took it for a continent, and so reported it to his government. He was sent back the following year to make critical examination. Three years after this, Captain Cook fell in with the island, and, not finding it of any importance, called it Isle of Desolation. But, despite its name, it is not a bad place by any means. It is a safe and commodious harbor, and abundance of fresh water. However, considering its latitude, it is exceedingly bare of vegetation; and there is only one plant which claims attention, that is the famous cabbage discovered by Captain Cook. For 130 days his crew enjoyed the luxury of fresh vegetables, which were served out with their salt beef and pork, and prevented sickness among them."
GEORGE. "Are there any animals on the island?"
MR. BARRAUD. "Numbers of birds; penguins, albatrosses, gulls, ducks, cormorants, &c.; and the island is the resort of seals and sea-elephants."
CHARLES. "It cannot be a very pretty place?"
MR. STANLEY. "Here is an idea of it. The whole island appears to be deeply indented by bays and inlets, the surface intersected by numerous small lakes and water-courses. These becoming swollen by the heavy rains, which alternate with the frost and snow, accompanied by violent gusts of wind, rush down the sides of the mountains and along the ravines in countless impetuous torrents, forming in many places beautiful foaming cascades, wearing away the rocks, and strewing the valleys below with vast fragments."
CHARLES. "That isgrand, but decidedly notcomfortable."
GRANDY. "Sailors need great powers of endurance to undergo such hardships as they must continually encounter on these voyages of discovery. How grateful we ought to feel towards the brave men who hazard life, property, everything to extend our knowledge! for how many happy hours are we indebted to their researches! how often have we perused with delight, the voyages, the discoveries, the exciting descriptions of enterprising sailors! and all, perhaps, without reflecting that the very adventures which have so much amused us, may have been the ruin of all their hopes, and the destroyer of all their happiness in this world. While you are sipping your wine, preparatory to our last voyage, I will tell you a true
"Four years ago I left the port of Boston, the master of a fine ship bound for China. I was worth ten thousand dollars, and was the husband of a young and handsome wife, whom I married but six months before. When I left her, I promised to return to her in less than a twelvemonth. I took all my money with me, save enough to support my wife in my absence, for the purpose of trading when in China, on my own account. For a long time we were favored with prosperous winds; but when in the China seas a terrible storm came upon us, so that in a short time I saw the vessel must be lost, for we were drifting on the rocks of an unknown shore. I ordered the men to provide each for himself in the best possible manner, and forget the ship, as it was an impossibility to save her. We struck: a sea laid me upon the rocks senseless; and the next would have carried me back to a watery grave, had not one of the sailors dragged me further up the rocks. There were only four of us alive; and when morning came, we found that we were on a small uninhabited island, with nothing to eat but the wild fruit common to that portion of the earth; and there we remained sixty days before we could make ourselves known to any ship. We were at length taken to Canton; and there I had to beg, for my money was at the bottom of the sea, and I had not taken the precaution to have it insured. It was nearly a year before I had an opportunity of coming home; and then I,a captain, was obliged to ship as a common sailor. It was two years from the time I left America that I landed in Boston. I was walking in a hurried manner up one of its streets, when I met my brother-in-law. He could not speak nor move, but he grasped my hand, and tears gushed from his eyes. 'Is my wife alive?' I asked. He said nothing. Then I wished that I had perished with my ship, for I thought my wife was dead; but he very soon said, 'She is alive.' Then it was my turn to cry for joy. He clung to me and said, 'Your funeral sermon has been preached, for we have thought you dead for a long time.' He said that my wife was living in our little cottage in the interior of the state. It was then three o'clock in the afternoon, and I took a train of cars that would carry me within twenty-five miles of my wife. Upon leaving the cars I hired a boy, though it was night, to drive me home. It was about two o'clock in the morning when that sweet little cottage of mine appeared in sight. It was a warm moonlight night, and I remember how like a heaven it looked to me. I got out of the carriage and went to the window of the room where the servant girl slept, and gently knocked. She opened the window and asked, 'Who is there?' 'Sarah, do you not know me?' said I. She screamed with fright, for she thought me a ghost; but I told her to unfasten the door and let me in, for I wished to see my wife. She let me in and gave me a light, and I went up stairs to my wife's room. She lay sleeping quietly. Upon her bosom lay her child, whom I had never seen. She was as beautiful as when I left her; but I could see a mournful expression upon her face. Perhaps she was dreaming of me. I gazed for a long time; I did not make any noise, for I dared not wake her. At length I imprinted a soft kiss upon the cheek of my little child. While doing it a tear dropped from my eye and fell upon her cheek. Her eyes opened as clearly as though she had not been sleeping. I saw that she began to be frightened, and I said, 'Mary, it is your husband!' and she clasped me about my neck, and fainted. But I will not describe that scene. She is now the happy wife of a poor man. I am endeavoring to accumulate a little property, and then I will leave the sea forever."
MR. WILTON. "A vote of thanks for Grandy. That little narrative has agreeably refreshed our minds, while the wine and cake has had the like effect on our bodies. Now, voyage the last!"
GEORGE. "Oh, papa! that sounds so strangely. I cannot bear the last of anything; and now particularly, it reminds us how soon our happy evening meetings will be at an end, and naught left but the bare recollection of them."
MRS. WILTON. "Well, my dear, I will not distress you by repeating the obnoxious word. We will start anew, and sail round the coast of Africa. We are a goodly party, and I dare venture to say, shall not lack for amusement during the voyage."
MR. STANLEY. "Then we are not to go so far south as Victoria Land, and see all the wonderful things Sir James Ross saw?"
MR. WILTON. "No: we have been in the cold long enough, and I am rejoiced that we have no more enormous icebergs to encounter—no more still ice-fields stretching away in every direction, or clashing and grinding under the influence of mighty storms—no more mountains cased in eternal ice; but we have really bid adieu to the wintry desolation of those frozen regions that
'Lie dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms.'"
MR. STANLEY. "I am glad to get into a more genial climate, and I perceive our next voyage commences in the Mediterranean; that is, if it be the intention of our young discoverers to call at the bays on the north of Africa."
DORA. "It is our intention, sir; and the first gulf, called Malillih, is on the coast of Morocco. Mrs. Wilton has kindly undertaken the land survey."
MRS. WILTON. "Morocco is now only the remains of a state, although at one period, when the Moors were in the zenith of their power, it was a splendid country. Still, however, the inhabitants entertain the loftiest ideas of themselves and their native land, and half-naked creatures as they are, they style the Europeans 'agein,' or barbarians, and hold them in contempt."
GRANDY. "But the Moors, although Mohammedans, are not destitute of virtues; and, as a peculiarly good trait in their character, a Moor never abandons himself to despair; neither sufferings nor losses can extort from him a single murmur; to every event he submits as decreed by the will of God, and habitually hopes for better times. We might learn something even from the Moors."
MR. STANLEY. "Ay! but we must keep at a distance if we wish the ladies of our party to learn; for the Moors would altogether object to teach them, as women are there regarded merely as tools—creatures without souls. They would not admire our ladies either, for their idea of female loveliness is most singular. Beauty and corpulence are synonymous. A perfect Moorish beauty is a load for a camel; and a woman of moderate pretensions to beauty requires a slave on each side to support her. In consequence of this depraved taste for unwieldy bulk, the Moorish ladies take great pains to acquire it early in life; and for this purpose, the young girls are compelled by their mothers to devour a great quantity of kous-kous and to drink a large portion of camel's milk every morning. It is no matter whether the girl has an appetite or not, the kous-kous and milkmustbe swallowed, and obedience is frequently enforced by blows."
DORA. "How very disagreeable! I scarcely know which is the worst stage of the affair, the cause or the effect."
EMMA. "I should say thecause; for the fat comes by degrees, and cannot inconvenience them so much as swallowing quantities of food and drink when they require it not."
MR. WILTON. "They have other quaint notions. Among the points of etiquette which prevail at the court of Morocco, the following is mentioned:—The worddeathis never uttered in presence of the Sultan. When it is unavoidable to mention the death of any person, it is expressed by such words as, 'He has fulfilled his destiny;' on which the monarch gravely remarks, 'God be merciful to him!' Another point of whimsical superstition is, that the numbersfiveandfifteenmust not be mentioned in presence of the sovereign."
GEORGE. "I should be continually saying forbidden words if I were there; so we will go on, if you please, pilot."
EMMA. "I have the bays. They are Boujanyah, and Storah, on the coast of Algiers. This state is inferior to Morocco, both in extent and fertility; but the city has a grand harbor, is itself very populous, and contains some splendid ruins."
DORA. "I have the gulfs. They are Tunis, Hammamet, and Khabs, on the coast of Tunis, which was once the seat of Carthaginian power, but like the other states, is now reduced to a tithe of its former greatness, although it is still one of the finest cities in Africa. It has a good harbor and fortifications. The manufactures are silks, velvets, cloth, and red bonnets, which are worn by the people."
MR. WILTON. "There is yet another Barbary state to pass: who has a word for Tripoli?"
CHARLES. "I have, madam. Tripoli is the most easterly, and the most wretched of the Barbary states. It extends straggling along a great extent of coast, where may be seen the enormous Gulf of Sidra or Sert, called by the natives 'Djou al Kabit,' or Gulf of Sulphur, and the Gulf of Bombah. Tripoli received its name from once containing three cities of considerable importance, which are now little else than ruins."
MRS. WILTON. "The 'Research' has not tarried long on that coast, at any rate. We must now suppose ourselvesauthorsinstead oftravellers; and without thinking of impossibilities, straightway carry our ship overland, across the Isthmus of Suez, and launch quietly on the waters of the Red Sea."
MR. BARRAUD. "It is scarcely fair to pass Egypt without a recognition: the Egyptians would sympathize with us in our partiality for theancient element. They are special lovers of two things—gardens and water. Even stagnant water, if sweet, they consider a luxury; running water, however dirty, they hold to be extremely luxurious; when during the inundation, the canal of Cairo is full, all the houses on its banks are occupied by persons, who sit in their leisure hours, smoking by its muddy waters; but the height of their enjoyment consists in sitting by a fountain—this they esteem equal to paradise."
MRS. WILTON. "In the Red Sea there are eleven gulfs of moderate dimensions, and some small bays: we will not wait to examine them, as they are not important; but how are we to sail out of this sea? George, will you undertake to pilot us?"
GEORGE. "I know no other way out than through the Straits of Babelmandeb, by Abyssinia, of which country I should like to have a description."
MRS. WILTON. "The country consists of a succession of hills and valleys, the former for the most part well-wooded, and the latter fertile; with the climate mild upon the whole for so tropical a latitude. For the people and customs I must refer you to some other more intelligent member."
MR. STANLEY. "The present Bishop of Jerusalem[18]went to Abyssinia some years ago; and he has sketched a few interesting particulars concerning the people. 'As soon as a child is born, it is immediately taught to drink lukewarm butter, with a little honey. After the age of six or seven years, the children are considered servants. The boys are shepherds, till the age of fourteen or fifteen, and reside with their parents; but if their parents are poor, they leave them, by their own choice at the age of eight or nine years, in order to get their livelihood by keeping cattle elsewhere. The girls are occupied in managing the little affairs of the house; and begin to fetch water, which is always at a distance, as soon as they can walk steadily. At the age of eight or nine years they begin to fetch wood from the mountains. There are some fathers who send their children into convents to have them instructed; but there are many who will not do this, lest their children should become monks: on this account many boys desert their parents, in order to seek instruction for themselves. Some enter the house of a priest as servants during the day, and they receive instruction at night. Others go, after the lessons are over, to get food by begging. There are also many persons in easy circumstances who support those children who seek for instruction without the help of their parents. Nearly all the great men send their children into convents to learn reading, and to repeat the psalms from memory; this is all the instruction they receive. The daughters of the higher class learn nothing but spinning and managing the affairs of the house; there are, however, afewladies who can read.'"
MR. BARRAUD. "They seem early accustomed to habits of industry; but in other respects, the training of the children is not very rigid: almost the only crime they punish them for, is stealing. Mr. Stanley's author, Bishop Gobat, says, he saw a mother, usually of a very meek temper, and who would not see a man cause suffering to the smallest reptile, burn the skin off both the hands and lips of her daughter, only nine years of age, for having dipped her finger into a jar of honey!"
EMMA. "Oh! how extremely cruel! they surely are not Christians."
GRANDY. "They are—and differ very little from the Roman Catholics of more civilized countries. Some of the points of variation in their doctrine are as follow:—They believe in no separate purgatory; but that almost all men go to hell at their death, and that from time to time, the Archangel Michael descends into that place of torment, in order to deliver men's souls, and to introduce them to paradise, sometimes for the sake of the prayers and meritorious works of their relatives and their priests. They have a great number of tales in support of this doctrine; the one they most frequently make use of, is the story of a man who had done nothing but evil when on earth, except that he had always observed thefaston Wednesday and Friday. When he died, he descended into hell, to a dark place; but had always two lights surrounding him, by the assistance of which he could go to the gate which separated hell from paradise. The Archangel Michael then went to receive him; saying, that the two lamps which had saved him, were thefastswhich he had observed on Wednesdays and Fridays."
MR. STANLEY. "That is one of the fallacies of the Romish Church. But I am not surprised that popery acquires such power over the ignorant; for it assails the mind through every sense; through the sight by its pageantry, the hearing by its splendid music, the smell by the delicious odor of the incense, and thus gratifies and soothes its votaries by the application of forms destitute of power. But enough of this; if we venture on such a subject, we are continually reminded, that to speak evil of other sects is malicious, and that we cannot disapprove of a man's doctrine without having an uncharitable feeling towards the individual.Imost strenuously deny the truth of that assertion; for I reckon many amongst my dearest connections, whose friendship I value extremely, but whose religious tenets I utterly repudiate. But I fear this is incomprehensible to the youngsters; we will return to business.
"The coast of Africa, from the Red Sea to the River Juba, which is as far as the equator, is inhabited by a tribe called Somauli, who are reckoned to be descendants from the aborigines of the country, and were early subjected to the laws of the Koran, by the Arab merchants trading with them. They are a mild people, of pastoral habits, and confined entirely to the coast; the whole of the interior of this portion being occupied by an untamable tribe of savages, called Galla, perhaps the most uncultivated and ferocious people in existence."
EMMA. "We shall cross the equator before we enter another bay; then, in the parallel of 3° south, lies the Bay of Formosa, on the coast of Zanguebar; and 4° nearer south, is the little island of Zanzibar. I am a stranger here."
MRS. WILTON. "Zanzibar is a most valuable possession of the Imaun of Muscat, on account of its abundant produce of grain and sugar. The climate is particularly fatal to Europeans, so that the crews of vessels trading there are never allowed to sleep on shore. But there is perhaps no place, where refreshments are so cheap as in this island: fowls may be had for two shillings the dozen, sugar twopence, and rice one penny a pound; and a large bullock is sold for one sovereign."
CHARLES. "No great advantage to get food cheap in a country so unhealthy that you lack the appetite to eat it."
MR. BARRAUD. "No; we will not go there to victualourship. Here are the Seychelle Isles almost in the latitude of Formosa Bay; suppose we ''bout ship' and look in upon them. There appear to be fifteen, and navigators say they are composed of granite rocks. Their chief inhabitants are French Roman Catholics, who have very little of either religion or morality, but spend the greater portion of their time in dancing and gambling. All the blacks resident on these isles are unhappy slaves, although their owners live in luxurious indolence."
GEORGE. "They are such small islands, and some of them so close that, if I lived there, I would build bridges to go from one island to another."
MR. BARRAUD. "The inhabitants do that without a bridge. They have numerous canoes, built and fitted with much skill and neatness. In these they pay their visits, and at the close of a party a stranger would be surprised at hearing the announcement—'Madame le Jeune'scanoeis waiting!' instead of Madame le Jeune'scarriagestops the way.' But that is the fashion in the Seychelle Isles. Torches are at hand; the ladies and gentlemen are lighted to the water, where some stout negroes almost in a state of nudity, await to transport them to their own island."
DORA. "That may be very delightful when you are accustomed to it, but I should prefer a carriage.
"There are no more indentations until we enter Mozambique Channel, where we shall find Pemba Bay and Sofala Bay."
MRS. WILTON. "Pemba Bay is on the coast of Mozambique, which belongs to the Portuguese. The harbor of Mozambique is formed by a deep inlet of the sea. At the entrance are three small islets, which, together with reefs and shoals, render the anchorage perfectly safe in the worst weather. The city stands on an island of the same name, formed of coral, very low and narrow, and scarcely one mile and a half in length. The streets in the city are narrow, although the houses are mostly lofty and well constructed; but the place in itself is fast sinking into insignificance, and its finest buildings falling rapidly into decay. Mozambique, like many other cities of the world, is now reduced from its ancient wealth and vice-regal splendor, to the almost forgotten seat of desolation and poverty."
MR. WILTON. "Between this island and Sofala Bay is the slave town Quillimane. It is in a commodious situation and one of the finest countries in the world; but is continually in a state of turmoil, from the different tribes striving by mutual conflict to obtain prisoners for sale to the Portuguese, who wickedly excite the wars and fatten and grow wealthy on the blood and wretchedness they produce."
GRANDY. "The port of Sofala, its castle, its town; in short everything relating to it, is most interesting; for in olden time this was the Ophir of King Solomon, whence his fleets returned laden with gold, algum-trees, and precious stones."
GEORGE. "Then the Ophir of Sumatra is not the real Ophir, but only named after the place in Africa, because it was rich in gold?"
MR. WILTON. "Exactly so, George. I did not then explain it, as I wish you to feel sufficient interest in the subject to inquire into the truth yourself."
DORA. "Delagoa Bay. This coast is a continued tract of land and sand-hills from fifty to five or six hundred feet high, with a few straggling black rocks."
MR. WILTON. "The inhabitants of this coast are a harmless race, but have their own little peculiarities; and one of the greatest luxuries in life in the opinion of a Delagoan is smoking the 'hubble-bubble.' A long hollow reed, or cane, ending in two branches the lower one immersed in a horn of water, and the upper one capped by a piece of earthenware, forming a bowl, is held in the hand; they cover its top, with the exception of a small aperture, through which by a peculiar action of the mouth, they draw the smoke through the water below; they fill the mouth, and after having kept it there some time, they eject it with violence from the ears and nostrils. It makes them giddy, half stifles them, and produces a violent coughing, accompanied by profuse perspiration, and yet these people consider it highly strengthening and beneficial."
CHARLES. "Is not Caffraria near here?"
MR. STANLEY. "Yes: but you must go a few miles inland to see them; for the Caffres have an extraordinary dislike to water, and will never trust themselves on it, but from extreme necessity."
MR. BARRAUD. "The Caffres (Kaffirs) are worth looking at, for they are a fine, handsome race of men, nearly black, with very good and pleasing features. Their dress, male and female, is composed principally of softened hides; but the women are so fond of ornaments as often to wear fifty necklaces at one time. Their huts are constructed in the form of a beehive, and are perfectly water-tight and warm. In times of peace the men tend the cattle, the women cultivate the land. The elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, hippopotamus, lion, and various others are hunted in Caffraria with great spirit by the natives. Of a Divine Being whom they call 'Uhlanger,' or 'Supreme,' they have some idea; but as to a state of future rewards or punishments they are altogether in ignorance. Sorcery and witchcraft in various forms most extensively prevail, and are the causes of much cruelty."
GRANDY. "To hundreds of the Caffres, however, the preaching of the everlasting Gospel has been productive of much temporal and eternal benefit; and an interesting illustration of this occurs in some of the missionary records, which also exemplifies the character of the unconverted Caffre.
"A little girl about eight years of age, was reclining on the ground, in the cool of the day, when four wolves rushed upon the place. One of them seized the child by the head, a second by the shoulder, and the other two by her legs. The people of the kraal with all possible speed flew to her help, and succeeded in releasing her, but apparently too late. They tried for a few days to help her with their medicines; but finding all hope fail, and as from the heat and flies she had now become loathsome, they gave her her choice, either to be put to death by the youths of the place, or go to the woods to die or be farther devoured as might happen. The little girl chose the woods. In this forlorn condition she determined to cast herself on the mercy of the missionaries; and although she had never been at the station, she believed from what she had heard, that could she reach the place, she should receive that protection and help which her unnatural relatives refused to give. With this resolution she set out; and although she had to travel several miles through deep glens, she succeeded in reaching the station, an awful picture of deformity and suffering, all but in a state of nudity, covered with large wounds to the number of fourteen, among the most ghastly of which was that of the head and face, where the wolf having endeavored to grasp the whole head, had torn the mouth open to the ear, stripping the head of the upper part of its covering and making a ghastly wound of eight inches. Through the mercy of God she recovered, and was scarcely at all deformed; but she refused ever to return to the cruel people who forced her into the woods to die. She became a Christian, and the Rev. Mr. Shaw, who relates the incident, says, that one day, as he was walking a little distance from his house, he heard some one engaged in fervent prayer; he listened, it was the voice of a child; and going towards the place, he beheld in a secluded spot among the weeds, the young Caffre girl who had been rescued from the jaws of death, earnestly pouring out her soul to the God of her mercies, when she thought no eye saw, and no ear heard her, but God."
MRS. WILTON. "How encouraging for the missionaries to find that the seed had been sown on good ground, and was brought to bear the fruit of righteousness through the blessing of the Almighty God!"
DORA. "Algoa Bay is on the coast of that portion of Cape Colony, known by the name of Albany. It was discovered by Bartholomew Dias. His sailors becoming discontented with their long voyage, hesitated to proceed any further, and he, to satisfy their scruples, landed with the chief officers and several seamen, on an island in this bay, hoping by the touching solemnities of religion to soften a decision so discouraging to his adventurous hopes. He caused the sacrament to be administered at the foot of a cross which he then planted with his own hands, and which has given the name of Santa Cruz to the island. There, upon this rugged spot, at present only visited by a few fishermen, and where European foot had never before trodden, were the symbols of Christianity first displayed in the Southern Ocean."
MRS. WILTON. "Graham's Town is the emporium of these eastern frontier districts of Cape Colony, and its main streets present a scene of incessant commercial activity; while almost every article whether of utility or of ornament, may be as readily obtained as in most of the provincial towns of the mother country. There are several good inns, where visitors may command and receive every reasonable comfort and attention. Religious services are well attended, and numerous schools established, in which the children are making encouraging progress. The flowers and fruits of most parts of Europe flourish here, and the climate is unexceptionable. There are a great many missionaries in Graham's Town; and on the whole it may be safely averred, that the general intelligence of the inhabitants is not a whit inferior to that of the middle and lower classes of any country in the United Kingdom."
EMMA. "Camtoos or St. Francis Bay, is a few miles further along the coast, and Plestenburg, Mossel, Vaccas, and St. Sebastian's Bay, are among those in the south of Cape Colony.
"Cow Bay, or Bahia das Vaccas, is in latitude 34° south, longitude 22° east, and is so called on account of the vast number of sea-cows which used to frequent it in former times. The chief value of these animals is in their ivory tusks, which, being harder than those of the elephant, and not so liable to turn yellow, are much more esteemed by dentists. Their hides are also valuable for harness leathers; and the skins of the young ones make handsome coverings for trunks.
"St. Sebastian's Bay is at the mouth of Breede River, and is said to possess good holding ground. It is seldom visited, except by vessels intending to enter the river; and, as that is not our intention, we will pass it, and go on until we come to False Bay, near the Cape of Good Hope."
MR. WILTON. "False Bay is rather asoundthan abay. It contains within its capacious bosom several fine and safe inlets, among which Simon's Bay is the most important, for there is the naval arsenal anddépôt: but the proximity of the metropolis, and its more convenient bay, distant only twenty-one miles, diverts the whole of the trade from this excellent and perfectly land-locked harbor."
MRS. WILTON. "The Cape of Good Hope is a crown colony. Its affairs are administered by a governor and a lieutenant-governor. The first has his residence at Cape Town; the second, at Graham's Town. With much truth we may describe the inhabitants of Cape Colony at large, as a serious and religious people. In the towns and villages the strictest attention is paid to a close and regular attendance on public worship; and in the country districts, where churches are 'few and far between,' and the opportunities difficult, the private altar is every morning and evening duly served by the head of each family. The Lord's Supper is administered four times a year at every town and village, when the greater part of the population make a point of resorting thither with all the members of their families, though the distance to be traversed for the purpose often exceeds 200 miles."
MR. BARRAUD. "Cape Town is situated on the shores of Table Bay, which is the chief harbor of the Cape of Good Hope, and is exceedingly commodious; and close by rises a mountain of the same name, to the height of 3582 feet, by a declivity so gradual, that it has been ascended on horseback. I do not wish to detract from the general goodness of the inhabitants of Cape Town, but I must say they are an eager money-getting race. On the arrival of a ship from England an auction is generally held, and the various articles exhibited, damaged and sound, under the shade of some tree in the centre of the town; where an Englishman would be amused to see one of the first merchants shuffling round with a handful of tea, and telling the audience that it is just upon the rise, and recommending that he be allowed to send home a pound or two."
MR. STANLEY. "When I was there a few months since, I was much struck with the appearance of the streets. They are broad and handsome; but a wideditch, which the townsfolk dignify with the name of a canal, runs through the centre. There is generally but little water in this ditch, but millions of restless mosquitoes, which populate the whole town, and (I speak from experience) are a perfect torture. The houses being mostly plastered, have a stone-like and cleanly appearance, with their green Venetian blinds, and plantations of acacias and other Eastern trees, waving gracefully in front of them. The climate is salubrious, and provisions of all kinds abundant and cheap. I was within a very few miles of Constantia, so famous for its wines. Unfortunately I had no time to visit it, but a description given by a gentleman,[19]who was there much about the same time, will, perhaps, answer our purpose better than my account. He says:—'The approach to Constantia is as romantic and beautiful as it is possible to conceive, from the mixture of the English shrubs and flowers with those of Southern Africa. Here we passed by a long hedge of monthly roses, all in full flower. Over our heads waved the fine foliage of the banana and plantain. There was a long vineyard loaded with grapes, and the African negroes employed therein. Now we pass an avenue of English oaks; and this brings us to a fine large octagonal building in the Dutch style, which is the residence of the proprietor of Lower Constantia.' Mr. Leigh next describes the interior of the wine vaults as 'a long building, 100 yards or more; on either side enormous butts, with polished oak ribs, kept in the cleanest style.' As I cannot offer you a glass of wine from these celebrated butts, I will not detain the party any longer."
CHARLES. "The finest bay in the world falls to my share. It is Saldana Bay, which is capable of containing at safe anchorage the whole British fleet, during all seasons of the year."
MR. WILTON. "But dame Nature, always capricious in her favors, has denied fertility to the adjacent soil; and the supply of water is limited, in consequence of which it is seldom resorted to, except by foreign whalers fishing on the coast. Almost the same may be said of St. Helena Bay, and for the same reasons. How many more bays in Cape Colony?"
EMMA. "Only one, papa, and that is Donkin's Bay. We must then sail along the Hottentot coast until we arrive at Walwisch Bay."
GEORGE. "Papa, are not the Boschmen dwelling somewhere near here?"
MR. WILTON. "Why, they are a wandering people, and can scarcely be said to hold any definite territory of their own; but they are to be found north of Cape Colony, and are thus designated from the place of their residence, which is in the bushes or woods. They are a dirty, wild, savage people, and make a boast of the most inhuman actions, to get glory from their companions. They neither cultivate the ground, nor tend cattle, but are dependent on the chase for animal food."
MR. STANLEY. "Many superstitions and traditions are entertained by these rude people; among them there is one related by Sir J.E. Alexander as follows:—
"It is believed in the land that some of the Bosch people can change themselves into wolves and lions when they like. Once on a time, a certain Namaqua was travelling in company with a Bosch woman carrying a child on her back. They had proceeded some distance on the journey, when a troop of wild horses appeared; and the man said to the woman, 'I am hungry, and I know you can turn yourself into a lion: do so now, and catch us a wild horse, that we may eat.'
"The woman answered, 'You'll be afraid.'
"'No, no,' said the man; 'I am afraid of dying of hunger, but I am not afraid of you.'
"Whilst he was yet speaking, hair began to appear at the back of the woman's neck, her nails began to assume the appearance of claws, and her features altered. She set down the child.
"The man, alarmed at the change, climbed a tree close by. The woman glared at him fearfully, and, going to one side, she threw off her skin petticoat, when a perfect lion rushed out into the plain. It bounded and crept among the bushes, towards the wild horses; and springing on one of them, it fell, and the lion lapped its blood. The lion then came back to where the child was crying, and the man called from the tree, 'Enough, enough! do not hurt me! Put off your lion's shape. I will never ask to see you thus again.'
"The lion looked at him and growled. 'I will remain here till I die,' said the man, 'if you do not become a woman again.'
"The mane and tail then began to disappear; the lion went towards the bush where the skin petticoat lay; it was slipped on, and the woman, again in her proper shape, took up the child. The man descended, partook of the horse's flesh, but never again asked the woman to catch game for him."
GEORGE. "This is very droll: but I think they must be very ignorant people to believe such absurdities."
EMMA. "I have Walwisch Bay. There is a broad sandy beach around it, and sand-hills heaped up in various forms inland, and the general aspect of things here is very wild and Arabian-like. The climate is healthy and good. It is hot in the beginning of the year; but from May until August it is cool and pleasant."
MRS. WILTON. "About three miles from Walwisch Bay, or Bay of Whales, is a Hottentot village, containing nearly 300 inhabitants, who are a friendly, harmless people, but very indolent and filthy. Both sexes dress alike, in the skins of animals sewed together with the sinews of the same animals, in the form of a blanket, which they throw over their shoulders, with the hair-side next to their bodies. The women are only distinguished by the profusion of their ornaments. These consist of shells, bones, and minerals of different kinds, and are worn about the neck and wrists. They are all expert hunters and fishers. They devour their fish raw, and the small ones without even divesting them of their entrails; what they cannot eat they pickle with salt procured at the head of the bay."
GEORGE. "What nasty disgusting people, to eat raw fish!"
MR. WILTON. "In appeasing the cravings of hunger they are, in fact, horribly disgusting, being actually more fond of the entrails of cattle and sheep than of any other part; and when an animal is killed, these people positively devour its entrails raw, even before they are cold, while they will refuse to partake of the carcass, cooked or otherwise."
DORA. "Now we pass on to Great and Little Fish Bays, which are on the coast of that wretched slave country, Benguela."
GRANDY. "Ah! poor Africa is cursed with evils, unknown to the rest of the human race in any section of the globe—reptiles of the most deadly venom, beasts of unparalleled ferocity, deserts of sand, and moral deserts a thousand times more appalling. But her greatest curse of all is the white man's cupidity, tearing asunder the tenderest ties of human nature, and plunging villages and families into mourning and despair. The hyena, the tiger, the crocodile, are creatures existing by the will of God; the man-stealer is a sin-created monster! The depredations of the former are the effects of hunger; those of the latter avarice—the meanest passion that can enter the human breast."
MR. WILTON. "It is now sixty years since Great Britain commenced offensive warfare against the African slave-trade; but grieved am I to say that little good has resulted from it; for the slave-trade is still carried on as extensively as ever. Our ships, which are continually on the look-out to recapture the slave-vessels, scarcely ever take more than fifteen in the course of twelve months; and the cost of maintaining this force to our country is 600,000l. annually. This money, in my humble opinion, might be more advantageously laid out—mean in reference to this degraded and demoralized quarter of the world, Africa. It might be expended in planting industry, knowledge, and security; in fact, in civilizing the wretched people; and surely that would more effectually check the slave-trade than the occasional capture of one or two cargoes. For the African slave-trade is not thecause, but theeffect, of African ignorance, as any wretched creature there will seize and sell his more wretched neighbor for the paltry sum of a dollar."
MRS. WILTON. "This civilization will take years to effect; for deep-rooted evils cannot be destroyed in a day, among an ignorant and prejudiced people."
EMMA. "We are at Fish Bay. Dora, willyoucontinue."
DORA. "Yes: Fish Bay is one of the finest places in the world for fishing with a 'seine,' by which thousands of barrels of excellent fish are caught in the course of the year."
GEORGE. "What sort of a town is Benguela?"
DORA. "Small: it consists of not more than 200 houses, mostly one story high. Everything good to eat can be procured here; but there is no good water, except in the rainy season."
MR. STANLEY. "Then we had better make all sail, and get away, for it would be sad work to be becalmed with—