We may now pass briefly over the uneventful conclusion of these voyages. On the 26th of February the Vincennes, Porpoise, and Oregon sailed from Singapore; and on the 10th of June, after touching at the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena, the former vessel arrived in safety at New York.

all kinds of epistles are sent him, for the sole purpose of drawing His Grace of his autograph. We have seen many of the Duke's answers, and give a few.

The

'Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington informs Michael Wiggins that the coat he wore on the field of Waterloo was not the original model of the present D'Orsay paletot. Comte D'Orsay is much too honorable a man to steal any thing from the Duke of Wellington, or-as the Duke firmly believes-from any body else.'

'Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington has received John Jones's letter. The late Duke's

debts may be paid, and they may not. The Duke of Wellington informs John Jones that he shall not pay them.'

And in this shameful manner is the courtesy of the noble Duke every day played upon. The Irish papers give the last instance of these intrusions upon his Grace's time, with, of course, the answer it provoked.

Somebody called the Duke's attention to the new cotton shirts adopted by the Army, and to the potato-sickness. The Duke went at once into the shirts, but would not touch the potatoes :

Such is the outline-in itself, no doubt, sufficiently dry and uninteresting-of one of the longest and most laborious cruises The Duke of Wellington desires Peter ever undertaken. To the unimaginative Snout to take note that he is Commander-inreader, our barren list of dates and locali- Chief of the army, and not a hatter. Thereties will be little more than a detached ta-fore it is not the Duke's business to see that ble of contents; only worth setting down the wig of the statue of George the Fourth, for the practical purpose of saving him Trafalgar Square, should be covered.' some trouble in exploring a voluminous work. But to those who, themselves engaged in the tranquil occupations of civilized life, can appreciate the courage required to endure a lasting separation from its enjoyments, we rather think that our sketch will appear a record of some interest. There is surely something striking, with even in the common-place simplicity which such voyagers as Captain Wilkes generally relate their adventures;-apparently unconscious that, in passing years among dangerous seas and Cannibal IslandUpon the other parts of Mr.'s letter, ers, they have been employed in any manthat is, the state of distress existing in the ner different from the ordinary routine of neighborhood of —, consequent on what is their profession. The patient zeal neces-called the potato disease, the Duke of Welsary for such an enterprise is very differ- lington begs leave to suggest to Mr.ent from the hardihood which we have seen he is the Commander-in-Chief of the army.' And therefore, as Mr. ought to have prompting some spirited young men to serve a campaign with Don Carlos, or to known, is not called upon to cry eyes right' already knew pass a hunting season with the Paunee In- to the potatoes. But Mr. as much. All he wanted was the Duke's audians. It differs from the mere love of extograph, and he it.-Punch. got citement and adventure, as the courage of a martyr differs from the courage of a solthat dier; and it is not too much to say, many a naval Commander has obtained the honors of a hero, by a display of firmness and talents far inferior to that which can only gain for Captain Wilkes the sober reputation of a judicious and scientific voyager.

THE DUKE AND HIS AUTOGRAPH.-Field Marshal Duke of Wellington-although he beat Napoleon-is a simple, ingenuous soul, continually duped by a gang of ladies and gentlemen and others who-with a morbid taste for ink and paper-pursue men of mark for their autographs.

From the Literary Gazette.

that

LIFE AMONG THE ALGERINES. Algeria and Tunis in 1845. By Captain J. C. Kennedy, 18th Regiment. 2 vols. 12mo. H. Colburn.

A LIGHT, slight, and pleasant excursion, through portions of Africa occupied by or under the influence of the French, in which the writer was accompanied by Lord Fielding, and also joined by Count de Goltz, a Prussian officer of engineers, with whom the English travellers met at Algiers. As the Duke is known to answer every let-It is written in a frank soldierly style, ter-no matter its import-addressed to him, speaks very handsomely of the French offi

cers, from whom, throughout, every friend- hundred fellow-beings had in a few seconds ly and hospitable attention was received; been hurried unwarned into the presence of and, if it does not convey to the publicated in the confusion from Count de Goltz and their God. Lord Fielding having been separmuch that is new, is nevertheless accepta- myself, was one of the first who reached the ble as a recent glance at a country of gen-scene, and met the survivors of this sad event; eral interest to readers of every class. officers, soldiers, and sailors, mixed with laSoon after landing at Algiers, an impro-dies, some dressed for an evening party, and vised explosion of a magazine gave our military tourist a military salute. Enjoying an evening stroll in the Place de Gouverne ment, we are told:

that were still standing cracked in various ly thrown together, the portions of the walls places; the houses occupied by the flag-captain and the captain of the port much damagthe lantern of the phare' broken, and the aded, the sides nearest the explosion blown down; miralty slightly damaged. During this and employed searching for the bodies, many of many succeeding days the troops were busily which were not discovered for some time; one

6

others risen from their beds with infants in their arms, as they had rushed from the neighboring houses in the first impulse of terror: the moans of the wounded, alas! but few in number, were mingled with the screams of "Three sides are nearly enclosed with their husbands, parents their children, and the frightened children; wives were seeking handsome well-built houses in the French friends each other; no one knew who had style, and the fourth, facing the sea, juts out in an obtuse angle, of which a portion of the perished, or who had escaped, and in some cases this dreadful uncertainty lasted until northern face is occupied by a mosque of no architectural beauty, and the other, overlook-morning; members of the same family having in the darkness and confusion taken refuge ing a battery of heavy guns, affords a splendid in different houses. Next morning on visiting view of the port, the shipping, and the bay of the scene, we found that a large building, sitAlgiers. In the Place are the principal ho- uated between the admiralty and the lighttels, the fashionable cafés, and the best shops. house was a heap of ruins; blocks of stone, As the night closed in, the cafés blazed with light, and the square was thronged with off-huge beams, and masses of masonry confusedcers, soldiers, sailors, Jews, Moors, Arabs, the wealthy merchant and the poor colonist, the freed negro, the awkward conscript of the last 'tirage,' and the handsome dragoon in the soldierlike uniform of the 'Chasseurs d'Afrique,' mingled together in a scene of picturesque confusion, each following his own method in search of pleasure after the toils of the past day. This scene of gayety was, however, soon to change. At ten o'clock we left the Café de la Perle, and lingering near the entrance with the sound of the music still ringing in our ears, were startled by a bright flash in the direction of the harbor, a sheet of flame rose into the air, instantaneously followed by a loud explosion, and then several smaller ones in rapid succession: the ground shook as with an earthquake, and broken glass from the windows facing the sea, fell in showers around us. For a few seconds a dead silence reigned; the crowd seemed paralyzed-not a word was spoken-each looked round upon his neighbors as if seeking information from those as ignorant as himself. Then with one impulse, as if the spell that had held the crowd motionless had been suddenly broken, a rush was made towards the harbor. Every body spoke at once; a hundred wonderful and contradictory rumors passed from mouth to mouth with extraordinary rapidity. Abd-el

poor

wretch was found alive amid the ruins on

the fourth day; and in one long room, used as an artillery barrack, and containing rows of beds on either side, nearly fifty bodies were found lying in death, as they had laid them down to sleep; and in the centre, the crushed and disfigured remains of a party engaged at play, the stakes before them, and the cards still firmof Madame ***, the wife of the port-captain, ly grasped in their stiffened hands. The fate her friends, who, to the number of thirty, were was most melancholy. Whilst in the midst of that evening collected at her house, she heard her child crying in the adjoining room, she hastened to soothe it, and, on crossing the passage from one door to the other, the exously; her child in one room, and her husband plosion took place: she was killed instantaneand friends in the other, escaping unhurt. The daughter of Madame P***, a little girl between four and five years of age, was asleep Kader and the Arabs are attacking the city, in a room, part of the roof of which was blown cried one. It is an earthquake.' No, no, it down; she was taken out of bed and carried is the English, it is 'la perfide Albion, ex- from the port to the Grand Place still asleep, claimed another, who, according to her usual neither the noise of the explosion, the falling custom, has, without declaring war, seized ruins, nor the removal, having awoke her. upon the harbor and the fleet. 6 Nonsense,' answered another, I tell you the great mag-proved to be one hundred and one killed and The total loss by this melancholy accident azine on the Mole has exploded, and the light-thirteen wounded. The cause of the explosion house, the arsenal, the admiralty, the admiral will probably for ever remain unknown.” and all his staff, are blown up.' This last re

port, although greatly exaggerated, unfortu

nately proved to be too true; upwards of a The origin of the French invasion is

comes the northern part of the basin, of the Mzi-a series of abrupt elevations with an arid soil and a burning sky. And lastly, at Laghouat is the Great Desert, where you find coast to within four leagues south of Boghar, grain is cultivated, without irrigation. After that, water must be artificially supplied, except in some elevated or damp situations. It is probable that the system of irrigation introduced by the Arabs into Spain is derived the same methods of cultivation that they had from the conquerors having employed there been forced by necessity to follow in tilling the sandy soil of Airica.

neither mountains nor water. From the sea

stated in connexion with an account of the rising 11,000 feet above the level of the sea, Kasbah, or the Dey's private apartments and whose climate, extending as far as Bog(now a barrack), within which is a small har, resembles that of the south of France. The Little Desert-an elevated district, but room where was "given the famous coup scantily watered. The mountainous country de chasse-mouche,' an event pregnant with of the Djebel Ammour, and the Djebel Sahary, consequences of such vital importance to from four to five thousand feet in height, and the Dey and the regency. On the 27th of twenty-five leagues in width. Further south April, 1827, the eve of the feast of the Beyram, the diplomatic corps were, according to custom, presented to pay their respects to the Dey. During the interview an angry discussion took place between the Dey and the French consul, which ended by the Dey in a passionate moment striking the consul in the face with his fan. To this blow the subsequent events that have taken place are to be referred; it cost the Dey his throne, drove him an exile to die in a foreign land, caused the ruin of the Turkish dominion, which had endured for upwards of three hundred years, and in replacing it by an European and Christian government, must, sooner or later, work a most beneficial change in the condition of the northern coast of Africa, however dim and distant such a prospect may appear at present. This room is now used as a poultry-yard; and, singularly enough, as we entered, a cock strutting on the deserted divan proclaimed his victory over some fee-ci, cypresses, pines, and in the higher parts bler rival by a triumphant crow, an appropriate emblem of the real state of affairs." The proud Cock of Gaul no doubt felt himself at home in the ex-harem; and his strutting and crowing on the deserted divan, just as if it were a dunghill, would make a picture for Landseer, conveying a potent animal-moral, and prophetic of the farther fall of Turkey; the motto,

'O Dey and Night, but this is wondrous strange Leaving the Cock in possession, the visitors set out for the interior, penetrated several mountain passes, stopped at Medeah, and thence took a trip to the Little Desert to see the natives at home, and have some sport in the way of hunting and shooting. Before quoting a few of the incidents, we may as well copy the view of the country traversed between the 34th and 37th degrees of latitude, i. e. between the Mediterranean and the Great Zahara.

"The regions to the southward of Algiers, lying between the 34th and 37th degrees of latitude, possess six climates perfectly distinct from each other. The plain of the Meteedjah, which is low, warm, and damp. The chain of the Atlas, twenty-five leagues in width,

"In the Meteedjah grow the aloe, palm, cactus, and orange, which do not flourish in the Atlas, the trees of which are those of the south of France-such as evergreen-oaks, elms, cork-trees, pines, cypresses, &c. The trees of the Desert are the lentisci, the karouba, the juniper-which attains the height of thirty feet, and, in damp places, the tamarisk. In the chains of the Djebel Ammour and Djebel Sahary the trees are confined to the lentis

about the Ksars the fruit-trees of Europe and of the mountains, the ilex. In the gardens Africa are seen flourishing side by side. In the Meteedjah the palms are unproductive, and are not to be met with again until to the south of the Djebel Ammour, where they yield most abundantly, in a country where wheat and barley are scarce and dear, and the date is the principal article of food. Here nature puts on a peculiar aspect; the vegetable productions of the soil, the minerals, the birds, the reptiles, and the insects, all follow one type-the type of Central Africa. In the Great and Little Deserts the higher parts consist of little else than rock; while in many of the less elevated portions, a thick bed of vegetable earth of an excellent quality, is found. In the months of May and June, the Little Desert is covered with herbs, affording an abundant pasturage, superior to what is then Desert there is no grass, except in certain found on the Djebel Aminour. In the Great moist places. At the end of June the grass dries up, and the flocks then eat it as hay. In November fall the first rains, and verdure again returns. Throughout the desert truffles are found in immense quantities, whitish in color, and without any great flavor: they are, nevertheless, a recherché and wholesome addition to the table, and are even an object of commerce, when preserved by drying. The lion and the panther, which are tolerably common in the wooded mountains of the Atlas,

LIFE AMONG THE ALGERINES.

367

ing their dress, and both writing and speaking Arabic fluently; he is thus able to communicate with the tribes under his government without the medium of an interpreter. On our asking some questions about a lion that we had heard belonged to him, he said he would introduce us at once, and turning to his servant, desired him to bring up Sultan. In a few minutes the door opened and the lion entered the room, the man only leading him by a tuft of his mane. animal, two years old, and full grown, all but He was a magnificent his mane; which although only a foot long, made nevertheless a respectable appearance; he did not seem to care about our being strangers, but walking about the room like a large dog, permitted us to take liberties with him, such as patting him, shaking a paw, and making him exhibit his teeth and claws. He showed, however, a marked predilection in favor of his old acquaintances, and lying down before them, turned on his back to be scratched. After a scratch yawn, and was fairly settling himself for a or two he began to nap, when a cigar was puffed in his face-a proceeding he evidently did not approve of rising in a hurry, curling up his lips, and wrinkling his nose, he exposed to view a splendid set of teeth, a sure sign that he was not pleased.

are not to be found in either the Great or Little Desert. On leaving Taguine, the ostrich begins to appear, as well as a large species of antelope, called by the Arabs 'louache.' In the Great Desert the horned viper, a serpent of a very dangerous species, is numerous; and there are also lizards, nearly three feet long, with a flat, denticulated tail. The largest serpents are rarely more than seven feet and a half in length. When the sea-breeze, having passed over the Meteedjah, reaches the Atlas, its temperature becomes reduced, and it deposits its humidity in the form of clouds, rain, or snow; then, carried on over the Little Desert, the clouds are dispersed by the increased heat of the soil, only to be again re-formed on the ranges of the Djebel Ammour, and finally disappear as they pass over the burning plains of the Sahara. Thus, often in the Little Desert the weather will be beautiful, while the Atlas and Djebel Ammour, to the north and south, are both enveloped in clouds; and when General Marey's expedition crossed the ridge of the Djebel Ammour in the midst of a violent storm, the sky was serene and clear, and the weather lovely in the deserts on either side of the mountains. As by these moun tains a large portion of the moisture carried by the winds is intercepted, comparatively but a small share reaches the elevated plains beyond (except during the winter, when the rain falls in torrents), but being almost entirely dependent for water on what comes from the heavens, and that source being closed for the greater part of the year, the soil is burntly against his knees." up, vegetation cannot exist, and these plains become a desert. In the Atlas and the Djebel Ammour snow falls every winter, and lies on the ground for several weeks. It has been seen on the Djebel Sahary in the month of May. But little snow falls in the Meteedjah or the deserts, and when it does, it melts almost immediately."

The history of the Razzia of General Marey in 1844 is reprinted from a pamphlet privately circulated by that distinguished of ficer; and will, we dare say, especially interest military readers; but all that we need say of the General is, that he did every thing in his power to render the expedition of our countrymen agreeable to them. That he got them to see as many of the lions as he could may be granted, when we mention that among the rest he exhibited to them a lame one of his own.

store him to good temper; and bearing no A hearty sneeze seemed to remalice, he returned a friendly pat bestowed upon him by Captain Martenot, who had been the aggressor, by rubbing his head caressing

In the Little Desert where the sporting was pursued, Captain Kennedy proceeds to describe the battue.

The

"Day was breaking when we were aroused next morning by the arrival of a party of the Arabs who were to assist at the hunt. morning was bitterly cold, the thermometer standing at 43 degrees; and a dense mist covring the face of the mountains, rendered objust rising red and angry through the fog, jects at twenty yards invisible. The sun was when we set forth for the spot that had been fixed upon by the Arabs for our first beat, where we arrived after half an hour's walk. In the mean time the aspect of the morning was changed; the sun, having dispersed the fine day. Filty Arabs were collected when mist, shone gloriously, giving promise of a

we came up, a number that afterwards swelled to nearly two hundred, many of them mount"During the evening (says Captain Kenne- joined us from the neighboring tribes; a muled, who, having heard what was going on, dy) we learnt much that was interesting con- tude of dogs was also gathered together, for cerning the Arabs from the General, who is where the brushwood is so thick, it is difficult more intimately acquainted with the Arab to force the boars to break cover, without accharacter, and with their manners and cus- tually coming upon them: and therefore any toms, than perhaps any other officer in the little barking cur that has a tolerable nose is French service. For several years command useful. The Righas are held the best sportsant of the Spahis (the Arab cavalry in the paymen in this part of the Atlas, and are passionof the French), he lived among them, adopt-ately fond of hunting; a single man will some

boring ravine, but not until a two-year old had been shot by an Arab, and a fine old boar severely hit. He managed to get away; and we afterwards heard, on our return to Medeah, that he had been tracked, and sent to General Marey a day or two after by the Arabs. The chase having taken a contrary direction to our camp, we had a long walk before us under a broiling sun; the breeze had died away, and the stunted trees and bushes afforded no shade at noon. At one o'clock we reached the tent, where the thermometer in the shade stood at 92 degrees, after eight hours' hard work, well repaid for our labor by the magificence of the scenery, and the excitement of a sport so novel in all its features."

AN ARAB WEDDING.

An Arab wedding, in a high family, of fered at least one incident of a novel nature, and curiously characteristic of the people :

"As soon as we had taken our stand in the front row, the music, which had ceased for a few minutes, struck up, and the lady in the midst commenced her performances; inclining her head languishingly from side to side, she beat time with her feet, raising each foot alternately from the ground with a jerking action, as if she had been standing on a hot floor, at the same time twisting about her body, with a slow movement of the hands and arms. Several others succeeded her, and danced in the same style, with an equal want of grace. A

times follow a boar for two or three days by the track, and kill him at last with a single dog, seldom firing unless within a few yards; when killed, the only use they make of the meat is to feed their dogs; and, if near a French station, they occasionally take it there for sale. Some of the dogs are handsome, powerful animals, resembling those bred in England between a greyhound and a foxhound, are courageous, and will singly attack a boar. These dogs are rare, and valued accordingly; a fine one being seldom parted with by an Arab, unless tempted by a high price. The place of rendezvous was the summit of a wooded ridge, sloping gradually down to a ravine below, the ground narrowing with the declivity, and enclosed on both bands by the steep sides of the surrounding mountains. The twenty voltigeurs, placed at intervals among the Arabs, were formed in an extended line along the ridge, two of the guns, and all the dogs remained with them; the rest of the guns, descending quietly, were posted on the bank of a small stream that ran through the valley, at the points where it was considered probable that the boars would attempt to pass. When we were all placed, the signal was given from below, and the line advanced, making as much noise as possible in beating the cover, the infantry firing blank cartridge, the Arabs shouting, and the dogs barking. Nothing, however, was found; and the two next ravines were also drawn blank. In the fourth beat we were more fortunate; recent traces of the presence of the game were discovered. The boar could not be far off, and laying on the dogs, a dozen voices roared out 'Haloof, ha-powerful inducement to exert themselves was loot" (pig, pig); a general rush was made in not wanting, for one of them more than once the direction of those who had viewed the received some tolerably severe blows, both game, the noise redoubled, and the scene be- from a stick and the flat of the sword; what came most exciting. The ravine, steep, rocky, the reason was I do not know, but suppose and clothed with thick brushwood, seemed to that either she was lazy or danced badly. be alive with men, the burnished barrels of the While the dancing was going on the spectavoltigeurs glancing in the sunlight as they tors were not idle; armed with guns, pistols, pushed forward from bush to bush, keeping up and blunderbusses, with enormous bell mouths, an irregular fire, each shot marked by a curl an irregular fire was kept up. Advancing a of white smoke rising from the copse, and the step or two into the circle, so as to show off report repeated again and again, echoing before the whole party, an Arab would present among the hills. The Arabs, with their long his weapon at a friend opposite, throwing himguns, and the loose folds of their bernouses self into a graceful attitude, then suddenly waving in the air, as they rushed at full speed dropping the muzzle at the instant of pulling over the roughest ground, mingled their wild the trigger, the charge struck the ground close cries with the yelling and barking of the dogs; to the feet of the person aimed at. After each on the ridges overlooking the ravine, the report the women set up a long continued horsemen watching the motions of those shrill cry of lu-lu, lu-lu, and the musicians rebelow, to enable them to cut off the boars doubled their efforts. The advance of one if they should take to the hill, were galloping man is usually the signal for others to come about at a fearful pace over the rocks and forward at the same time, all anxious to surstones, now lost sight of in some deep gully, pass their friends and neighbors in dexterity then seen clambering from rock to rock, their and grace. Ten or a dozen men being crowdanimals more like goats than horses, and hav-ed into a small space, sometimes not more than ing regained the crest, every movement of the six paces wide, brandishing their arms, and, steeds and their excited riders was visible to excited by the mimic combat, firing often at us below, each figure standing out in bold re- random, it is not to be wondered at it accidents lief against the deep blue of a cloudless sky, happen occasionally to the actors or bystandNotwithstanding the exertions of the mounted ers. Among the most remarkable, a fine athparty, the game crossed the hill into the neigh-letic youth had particularly attracted my at