guère plus l'une que l'autre.'-A man of learning and talents, but of sen- Our next and last extract presents a clever summary of Lafayette's history, talents, and virtues. "That the capacity of Lafayette was far less eminent than his virtues, we have already had frequent opportunity to remark. To eloquence he made no pretensions, but his written compositions are of great merit; clear, plain, sensible, often forcible in the expression of just sentiment and natural feeling, always marked with the sincerity so characteristic of the man. His conversation was unavoidably interesting, after all he had seen and had suffered; but his anecdotes of the American War and French Revolution were given with a peculiar liveliness and grace, set off with a modesty and a candour alike attractive to the listener. He was extremely well informed upon most general subjects; had read history with care and discrimination; had treasured up the lessons of his own experience; was over-scrupulous in his applications of these to practice, somewhat apt to see all things through the medium of American views, generally forgetting the progress that men had made since 1777, and almost always ready to abandon what he was engaged in, if it could not be carried on precisely according to his own conscientious views of what was prudent and right. But in private life he was faultless: kind, warm-hearted, mild, tolerant of all differences civil and religious, venerated in his family, beloved by his friends, and respected even in his manifest errors by all with whom he ever held any intercourse. The appearance of such a personage at any time is of rare occurrence; but by one whose life was spent in courts, in camps, in the turmoil of faction, in the disturbances of civil war, in the extremities of revolutionary violence, it may well be deemed a wonder that such a character should be displayed even for a season, and little short of a miracle that such virtue should walk through such scenes untouched." We observe in the preface to the present volume, that Lord Brougham complains of a very general opinion and utterance regarding the former Illustrations and work under the same title, which were circulated by the press, viz., that it was a "republication" of what had originally appeared in the Edinburgh Review. He says than such a statement nothing can be more untrue." His Lordship should use more measured terms in regard to a point which can be so easily tested and ascertained; otherwise his strong representations and asseverations on other less patent subjects will come to be suspected. There is in fact, in plan, substance, and details a great similarity, yea a sameness of reading in many parts of the two publications mentioned, while in portions before us we 2 have, as already stated, a remarkable uniformity in the manner of following up a book-making and most excursive system, that should he write twenty times as much of the same sort and style would never add to his literary, oratorical, or political reputation. But that there may be no misconception in regard to the novelties in the volume before us, as compared with his papers in the Northern periodical above named, we copy his own account. He says,"Much of George IV., the Emperor Napoleon, Lord Eldon, Sir W. (William Lord Stowell) Scott is new; Mirabeau's public character, with the whole of Sir P. Francis, Mr. Horne Tooke, Lord King, Mr. Ricardo, Charles Carrol, Neckar, Carnôt, and Madame de Staël, are new." ART. VIII.-Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M.S. Adventure and Beagle, between the Years 1826 and 1836. 3 vols. London: Colburn, 1838. THE narrative of these Voyages details the observations and the incidents in the course of a close and scientific examination of the Southern shores of South America, and during the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. In the first volume, we have Captain King's journal of the first expedition, which took place between the years 1826 and 1830; -in the second, Captain Fitzroy's narrative, belonging to the Survey conducted between 1831 and 1836; and in the third, Mr. Darwin, the Naturalist's remarks and discoveries, who accompanied the second expedition of the Beagle, are compressed. These voyages were undertaken, and for a long time energetically pursued, with the view of extending and perfecting our knowledge, nautical, geographical, and scientific, of some of the most dangerous, interesting, but previously inadequately examined regions, shores, and seas of the globe; and the results, as now published, form an ample return for the money and time thus expended. For variety and value of information, few books of the kind surpass this collection; care, study, and numerous as well as excellent artistic illustrations having been abundantly employed, to render the work worthy of its design, the enterprises and labours which it describes. To the reviewer, however, the narratives before us of these voyages present a tantalizing subject, not merely because the contents consist to a great extent of nautical details, scientific discussions, and journalized notices, which hardly admit of condensation or easy illustration; but because there are several journals, each minute on very many points that require to be thus handled, but each also frequently traversing the same ground, and referring to the same facts that have been observed and taken up by the others. We shall therefore confine ourselves to such notices of the natives described, to such incidents, and to such scientific remarks as possess a popular interest; leaving to those who desire to study the prolix and dryer calculations and proceedings, the task of analysis and critically testing the conclusions. We at once conduct the reader to the Straits of Magellan, a region of sterility and storm, though we learn that the former of these characteristics is by no means so complete, nor particular spots of the shores and adjoining land so uninteresting in regard to natural beauty and luxuriant productions, as has generally been represented by navigators and seamen. In certain places there are evergreen groves, and, in sheltered spots, the veronica grows to the height of twenty feet, with a stem six inches in diameter. When the weather moderated and became comparatively fine, humming birds and large buzzing bees were observed to ply their organs as if they had been much nearer tropical regions, instead of mountains covered with eternal snow, and of terrible glaciers down to the sea side. But the Patagonian natives who, soon after the voyagers entered the Strait, were seen on the northern shore, and with whom intercourse was maintained, deserve a more particular notice. The Patagonians are wanderers, traversing vast regions of bleak and barren plains. They wrap themselves in ample mantles, so large indeed as to cover the whole body, made chiefly of the skins of guanacoes, and sewed together with the sinews of the same animal. All were robust, the head, length of the trunk of the body, and the breadth of shoulders, being of a gigantic size. We further learn concerning the race the following particulars : "The Patagonian women are treated far more kindly by their husbands than the Fuegian; who are little better than slaves, subject to be beaten, and obliged to perform all the laborious offices of the family. The Patagonian females sit at home, grinding paint, drying and stretching skins, making and painting mantles. In travelling, however, they have the baggage and provisions in their charge, and, of course, their children. These women probably have employments of a more laborious nature than what we saw; but they cannot be compared with those of the Fuegians, who, excepting in the fight and chase, do everything. They paddle the canoes, dive for shells and sea-eggs, build their wigwams, and keep up the fire; and if they neglect any of these duties, or incur the displeasure of their husbands in any way, they are struck or kicked most severely. Byron, in his narrative of the loss of the Wager, describes the brutal conduct of one of these Indians, who actually killed his child for a most trifling offence. The Patagonians are devotedly attached to their offspring. In infancy they are carried behind the saddle of the mother, within a sort of cradle, in which they are securely fixed. The cradle is made of wicker-work, about four feet long and one foot wide, roofed over with twigs, like the frame of a tilted waggon. The child is swaddled up in skins, with the fur inwards or outwards, according to the weather. At night, or when it rains, the cradle is covered with a skin that effectually keeps out the cold or rain. Seeing one of these cradles near a woman, I began to make a sketch of it, upon which the mother called the father, who watched me most attentively, and held the cradle in the position which I considered most advantageous for my sketch. The completion of the drawing gave them both great pleasure, and during the afternoon the father reminded me repeatedly of having painted his child ('pintado su hijo'). One circumstance deserves to be noticed, as a proof of their good feeling towards us. It will be recollected that three Indians, of the party with whom we first communicated, accompanied us as far as Cape Negro, where they landed. Upon our arrival on this occasion, I was niet, on landing, by one of them, who asked for my son, to whom they had taken a great fancy. Upon my saying he was on board, the native presented me with a bunch of nine ostrich feathers, and then gave a similar present to every one in the boat. He still carried a large quantity under his arm, tied up in bunches, containing nine feathers in each; and soon afterwards, when a boat from the Beagle landed with Captain Stokes and others, he went to meet them; but finding strangers, he withdrew without making them any present. In the evening my son landed, when the same Indian came down to meet him, appeared delighted to see him, and presented him with a bunch of feathers, of the same size as those which he had distributed in the morning. At this, our second visit, there were about fifty Patagonian men assembled, not one of whom looked more than fifty-five years of age. They were generally between five feet ten and six feet in height: one man only exceeded six feet-whose dimensions, measured by Captain Stokes, were as follows : Height Round the chest Ft. in. 61 41 34 341-834 I had before remarked the disproportionate largeness of head and length of body of these people, as compared with the diminutive size of their extremities; and, on this visit, my opinion was further comfirmed, for such appeared to be the general character of the whole tribe; and to this, perhaps, may be attributed the mistakes of some former navigators." A sort of Christianity was found among a tribe of this race; but it seems to have been traced to an authoritative female of the name of Maria, who spoke a corrupted Spanish, and who came from another region of South America, having been borne, as she said, in Paraguay. There is one inducement to visit them-this is, the cheapness and abundance of guanaco meat, -four thousand pounds having been obtained for ten pounds of tobacco, forty biscuits, and six pocket knives. At first, a biscuit was considered equivalent to forty or sixty pounds of meat; but as the demand increased, the price rose four or five hundred per cent. Accompanying the Beagle towards the Southern extremity of the globe, we arrive on the coast of Tierra del Fuego; and find some incidents described which led to several unforeseen but deeply interesting consequences. The ship being at anchorage, the Master was sent to make a survey of a neighbouring shore. The absence of the party became so protracted as to occasion alarm. At length three of the men reached the ship in a kind of canoe, made with clay, sent by the Master to say that the boat had been stolen by the natives, as well as most of the provisions. Means were immediately adopted to succour and save the Master, as also to recover the boat. But the Fuegians were too cunning and expert for the pursuers, so that instead of the recovery of the stolen property, our people seized several families, thinking that by this measure prompt restitution would be made. The whole, however, effected their escape by swimming ashore during night, excepting three; viz., Fuegia Basket, a little girl; a youth, to whom was given the name of Boat-memory; and another young man, who after a spot in the vicinity, got the appellation of York Minster. A lad was afterwards obtained, whose price was a button, and who got the snip-like appellations of Jemmy Button. The four were brought to England, but Boatmemory died; the other three being sent to Walthamstow with the view of being educated and civilized. We quote some notices of their progress and future lot and prospects: "Passing Charing Cross, there was a start and exclamation of astonishment from York. Look!' he said, fixing his eyes on the lion upon Northumberland House, which he certainly thought alive, and walking there. I never saw him shew such sudden emotion at any other time. They were much pleased with the rooms prepared for them at Walthamstow; and the schoolmaster and his wife were equally pleased to find the future inmates of their house very well disposed, quiet, and cleanly people, instead of fierce and dirty savages. At Walthamstow they remained from December 1830 till October 1831." The boy and girl made considerable progress, but the man York Minster was hard to teach, except mechanically : "He took interest in smith's or carpenter's work, and paid attention to what he saw and heard about animals; but he reluctantly assisted in garden work, and had a great dislike to learning to read. By degrees, a good many words of their own languages were collected (the boy's differed from that of the man and the girl), and some interesting information was acquired respecting their own native habits and ideas. They gave no particular trouble; were very healthy; and the two younger ones became great favourites wherever they were known." Captain Fitzroy was once more appointed to prosecute still further the survey of the coasts of South America, and he took back with him the three Fuegians, who longed to behold again their native land and to meet and mingle with their own race. A Mr. Matthews also accompanied them, it being thought that a fair opportunity had occurred to introduce civilization and Christianity in the Far |