were it really an impression, it is not a very flattering one, or the encomiums which are lavished on the beauty of the feet of Boodhoo are very improperly bestowed. It is hardly worth enquiring how it was formed; and whether it is entirely or only partly artificial. From its appearance and other circumstances, I believe it to be partly natural and partly artificial. There are little raised partitions to represent the interstices between the toes; these are certainly artificial; for a minute portion, which I secretly detached, was a mixture of sand and lime, similar to common cement, and altogether different from the rock itself. Lower down, on the same rock, there is a little niche of masonry, dedicated to Samen, who is also worshipped on the peak, being considered the guardian god of the mountain. Within the enclosure is a small house of one room, the residence of the officiating priest; and this, and two small huts outside the parapet, is all the shelter that the mountain affords. There is nothing else on the summit deserving of notice, that I am aware of, excepting a grove of rhododendrons, (rhododendron arboreum,) which, studded with large red flowers, made a very handsome appearance. It is situated on the east and north-east side of the mountain, immediately outside the parapet, and is considered sacred. This shrub, or rather tree, the natives say was planted by Samen, immediately after the departure of Boodhoo; and, that it is peculiar to the Peak, and found in no other part of the island. The latter assertion I have since ascertained to be quite erroneous; the tree is common on all the higher mountains of the interior, and it occasionally makes its appearance at elevations little exceeding 2000 feet above the level of the sea. "We passed the night on the mountains; and, it was the first night, since I had entered the tropics, that I had occasion to complain of cold. There was no moon, the sky was cloudy; stars of the first and second magnitude only making their appearance: once or twice, that we looked out, we saw what might be called 'darkness visible,' and the giant forms of the mountains, sublime in obscurity. The next morning, just before sun-rise, we were awoke by the shouts of a party of pilgrims, just arrived. Having no toilet to make, we were in the open air in an instant. It was indeed a glorious morning; and we had reason to thank the pilgrims for waking us. The rising sun painted the sky with gold and purple, and threw over the whole scene such a rich purple light, that I never before saw equalled. "The party of pilgrims that had just arrived consisted of several men and women, all native Singalese of the interior, neatly dressed in clean clothes. They immediately proceeded to their devotions. A priest, in his yellow robes, stood on the rock close to the impression of the foot, with his face to the people, who had ranged themselves in a row below; some on their knees, with their hands uplifted, and joined palm to palm, and others bending forward, with their hands in the same attitude of devotion. The priest, in a loud clear voice, sentence by sentence, recited the articles articles of their religious faith, and duties; and, in response, they repeated the same after him. When he had finished, they raised a loud shout; and, he retiring, they went through the same ceremony by themselves, with one of their party for their leader. "An interesting scene followed this: wives affectionately and respectfully saluted their husbands, and children their parents, and friends one another. An old greyheaded woman first made her salems to a really venerable old man; she was moved to tears, and almost kissed his feet: he affectionately raised her up. Several middle-aged men then salemed the patriarchal pair; these men were salemed in return by still younger men, who had first paid their respects to the old people; and lastly, those nearly of the same standing slightly salemed each other, and exchanged betel-leaves. The intention of these salutations, I was informed, was of a moral kind,-to confirm the ties of kindred,-to strengthen family love and friendship, and remove animosities. "Each pilgrim makes some offering to the impression of the foot, and to Samen. I observed several of them: one presented a few small pieces of copper coin, another some betel-leaves, another some areka-nuts, another some rice, and another a piece of cloth. The offerings were placed on the impression, and almost immediately removed by a servant who stood by for the purpose; they are the perquisites of the chief priest of the Malwatte Wiharè. "Before the pilgrims descend they are blessed by the priest, and exhorted to return to their homes, and lead in future vir tuous lives." "I shall conclude," continues our author," with transcribing the exordium of a curious Sanus, written in the time of king Kirtisseré, relative to and descriptive of the Peak:- Our Boodhoo, who acquired Niwané; who came into the world like other Boodhoos; from whom is derived the food of life (religion); who is celebrated for his thirty-two great manly beauties, and for the eighty-two signs connected with them, and for the light which shines a fathom round his body, and for the beams of light that dart from the top of his head; who is the preceptor of three worlds; who is acquainted with the past, present, and future; who, during four asankeas of kalpés, so conducted himself as to be an example of the thirty great qualities; who subdued Mareya and his attendants, and became Boodhoo:-in the eighth year from that event he rose into the air, spread beams of light of six different colours round his person, and stamped the impression of his foot, bearing the noble marks Chakkralaksana, and the 108 auspicious tokens, on the rock Samantakootaparwate;which is celebrated for the cold and lovely waters of its rivers, for its mountain torrents, and for its flowery groves, spreading in the air their sweet-scented pollen;which is the crown of the Virgin Islands, rich in mines of all kinds of precious stones, like a maid decked with jewels.'" The lake or tank of Mineré is described as a very interesting object. "Its great size, fifteen or twenty miles in circumference, entitles it to to be called a lake; but, as it is ar- The "The manner of my guide, who led me to the embankment, was very characteristic, and not a little amusing. He kept always a little in advance, walking cautiously, as if on an enemy's ground; his eye constantly wandering about and penetrating the thickets, as if to avoid being surprised by an elephant, bear, or leopard. The only wild animals I saw during our walk, with the exception of a few monkeys, were four or five large alligators. Turning round a little headland of the lake, we suddenly came within a few feet of them, as they lay on the sandy shore, basking in the sun. instant they saw us, and heard the report of my rifle, they plunged into the lake, and disappeared under water; a circumstance that may convince even the timid, that on land, at least, they are not dangerous, particularly when I mention that we were only two in company; that they were in the act of flying even before the rifle was fired; and that the sand where they were, contained their eggs. This we discovered accidentally: walking over the sand, we heard distinctly feeble cries from beneath; some egg-shells lying on the shore immediately suggested the cause, and, on digging in the sand from whence the noise issued, two or three young alligators made their appearance, and we found several eggs. It was curious to observe the propensity of these animals to use the weapons with which nature has furnished them; they all bit at the stick with which I touched them; savage from birth, and shewing more instinctive hardihood than their runaway parents. The egg was was about the size of a gooseegg, but larger, and at its extremities more rounded. Its earthy shell was brittle, and easily separated. Like the shells of the eggs of all the other lizards that I have examined, as well as that of the turtle, and of birds, it consists chiefly of carbonat of lime, and a little albumen, with very slight traces of phosphat of lime. The membrane beneath the outer shell too, like that of other lizards and of the turtle, was thick and remarkably tough and strong. The alligator of Ceylon is never seen in rivers amongst the mountains or hills; it is confined to the low country, and abounds most in the lakes and tanks in the northern and southern parts of the island. It appears to be the crocodilus biporcatus of M. Cuvier.* It occasionally attains a great size: I have heard of one taken that was seventeen feet long. Even in its own element, it rarely attacks man; but there are instances of its carrying off individuals; and the large one, just alluded to, had seized and swallowed a native." 9.-A Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea and Beering's Straits, for the purpose of exploring a North East Passage, undertaken in the years 1815 1818, &c. By Otto Von Kotzebue. It is pleasing to see nations vying with each other in the pursuit of knowledge, instead of marshalling their armies in embattled opposition. While Britain sends her adventurers on a north-western expedition, Rus sia projects an exploratory voyage towards the north-east from the southern ocean; with this difference, however, that the former is more strictly a national object and encouraged by the promise of large remuneration,-while the Russian enterprize, under Von Kotzebue, was undertaken at the expence of a munificent individual, count Romanzoff, chancellor of the empire. We hail the appear ance of these volumes in a good English translation. The first contains an account of the voyage from Cronstadt to Copenhagen, England, Teneriffe, Brasil, the coast of Chili, Kamtschatka to the newly discovered Kotzebue's Sound, behind Beering's Straits, Oonalashka, California and the Sandwich islands: the second gives the journal of the advance of the expedition to the newly discovered Radack chain, the St. Laurence islands, and thence to St. Helena to Revel: the third presents us with remarks and opinions of the naturalist of the expedition, and an appendix containing general remarks on the voyage and interesting details of a scientific description. During this voyage the Coral islands were more accurately examined than has ever been done before; and a discovery has been made on the coast of America to the north of Beering's Straits, which escaped captains Cook and Clarke. The following is a curious account of a native of Ulle or Ulloah, one of the Carolinas. He was found at Aur, one of the group of the St. Lawrence islands, near the southern entrance of Beering's Straits. * Regue Animal, tom. ii. p. 20. "Kadu "Kadu was born in the island of Ulle, belonging to the Carolinas, which must lie at least 1,500 English miles to the west from here, and is known only by name on the chart, because Father Cantara, in 1733, was sent from the Ladrones, as missionary to the Carolinas. Kadu left Ulle with Edock, and two other savages, in a boat contrived for sailing, with the intention of fishing at a distant island; a violent storm drove these unfortunate men quite out of their course: they drifted about the sea for eight months, finding but seldom, fish for their food, and at last landed, in the most pitiable situation, on the island of Aur. The most remarkable part of this voyage is, that it was accomplished against the north-east monsoon, and must be particularly interesting to those who have been hitherto of opinion that the population of the South Sea islands commenced from west to east. According to Kadu's account, they had their sail spread during their whole voyage, when the wind permitted, and they plied against the north-east monsoon, thinking they were under the lee of their island; this may account for their at last coming to Aur. They kept their reckoning by the moon, making a knot in a cord, destined for the purpose, at every new moon. As the sea produced abundance of fish, and they were perfectly acquainted with the art of fishing, they suffered less hunger than thirst, for though they did not neglect during every rain to collect a small stock, they were often totally destitute of fresh water. Kadu, who was the best diver, frequently went down to the bottom of the sea, where it is well known that the water is not so salt, with a cocoa nut, with only a small opening; but even, if this satisfied the want of the moment, it probably contributed to weaken them. When they perceived the island of Aur, the sight of land did not rejoice them, because every feeling had died within them. Their sails had long been destroyed, their canoe the sport of the winds and the waves, and they patiently expected death, when the inhabitants of Aur sent several canoes to their assistance, and carried them senseless on shore. A Tamon was present at the moment; the iron utensils which the unfortunate men still possessed dazzled their deliverers, and they were on the point of striking the fatal blow, to divide their spoil, when Tigedien, the Tamon of the island of Aur, fortunately came in time to save their lives. When Kadu afterwards offered all his treasures to the preserver of his life, he was generous enough to refuse them; he took only a trifle, and forbade his people, on pain of death, to do any harm to the poor strangers. Kadu, with his companions, went to Tigedien's house, who took paternal care of him, and conceived a particular affection for him, on account of his natural understanding and kind heart. According to his reckoning it must be about three or four years since his arrival here. Kadu was engaged in the woods, when the Rurick came in sight, and he was speedily sent for, as they expected from him, who had travelled far, and was generally accounted a very sensible man, an explanation of this strange phenomenon. He had often told them of ships, which, though they |