goddess of fire, by which was probably meant heat; for the ancients did not understand the true distinction between heat and light, but often spoke of them together as one element. Vesta was drawn in a car by lions; which may signify that she presided over quadrupeds, because they are peculiar to the earth, and the lion is the chief of them.

"Mars, the god of war, represented the upper part of the arm, which is the part from whence proceeds the effort of throwing a spear, or slinging a stone, or striking. This deity, most abstractly, represented the beginning of violent motion, from whence colli

"Ceres represented the belly, or the powers of nutrition, and therefore presided over agriculture.

"Minerva represented the part of the arm between the elbow and hand. Like Mars, she was a warlike deity, but she was also the goddess of reason, that is, not of intellect, like Neptune, but of the active power of inferring and judging, and of the knowledge of tendency, or whitherwards. She likewise presided over weaving and spinning. The owl was sacred to her, because she was the goddess of speculative vision, or what the Greeks called gas, the knowledge of boundary, but without sensation.

"Mercury represented the hand, and was the god of thieves. He presided over traffic, which is giving and receiving; and one of his attributes was the purse. He was the god of wrestlers, from grasping. His statue was placed at the meeting of roads, from pointing. He was called the inventor of the lyre, because it was played upon by the hand; and therefore, although Apollo was the god of harmony, Mercury presided over practical skill in music. He was the god of eloquence, probably from gesture in arguing and persuading. And, as the hand is the most moveable part, he was considered in general as the deity who presided over ingenuity, cleverness, and rapidity of apprehension."

The art of bookmaking flourishes on both sides of the Channel. The narrative of the wreck of a French merchant ship on the coast of Africa, -the captivity of part of the crew who yielded to the empressemens of some of the wandering Arabs, who are always on the watch for sea mercies, and who, after kindly inviting them to land, seized their persons, and plundered their ship-and their subsequent adventures till ransomed by the Consul at Magadore, is dilated into two goodly 8vo volumes, adorned with lithogra*phic engravings, and accompanied with an appendix of pieces justificatifs.

The work, however, is not without interest; it is written in an easy flowing style, and if it communicates nothing new, it at least gives a lively picture of that small portion of Africa through which our author and his companions passed, and of the manners of the Moors and wandering Arabs of the desert.

Mais commencer avec le commence

ment, the book is the production of M. Charles Cochelet, a passenger in the brig Sophie, going out "former un etablissement agricole," or in other words, to settle in Brazil.

The Sophie sailed from Nantes. on

6

the 14th of May, 1819, and on the 13th of the same month, was wrecked about twenty leagues to the north of Cape Bojodoré. The ship, it seems, was carried out of her course by the currents, which, as is well known, set to the eastward along the African coast, and which M. Cochelet thinks, it is high time were put an end to; ne doit on pas esperer que les autorités maritimes prendront enfin des mesures propres a prevenir ces accidens." We fear it will not be easy to prevent such accidents in ships managed like the Meduse frigate, or the brig Sophie.

The Captain wished first to make Madeira, and then the Canary Islands, for the purpose of correcting his longitude, but missed them both; when abreast of the latter islands, however, he had a good observation for the latitude, and as no land was in sight, he ought in common prudence to have stood to the westward. On the 29th, they were, by observation, in lat. 27°. 4; and on the evening of the same day, land was seen about eight leagues to the east; but still, with inconceivable infatuation, the course was not altered. M. Cochelet very properly remarks," il eut eté prudent a mon avis de virer de bord;" but this opinion he kept to himself, "retenu par un sentiment d'amour propre qui m' empecha de' temoigner une frayeur a laquelle d'autres pouvaient bien n' etre pas accessibles." At length about half past three in the morning of the 30th, the ship struck. The coolness and dis cipline of the crew are thus narrated:

"The moon set about 40 minutes past three in the morning, and in less than an hour, the sun would have shewn us our situation; the sea, which till then had been

smooth, and often calm, began to be agitated by a strong breeze from the north; all at once a violent shock was felt. The

·

ship struck at the heel, and beat upon the rocks, avec un fracas epouvantable. M. Mexia exclaimed, We are lost.' I sprung from my cabin. We threw ourselves into each other's arms, and each endeavoured to inspire the other with resignation; but how difficult the task to possess it in so dread ful a situation, when numbers at the same instant behold their end approaching, and expressed by the signs of despair, the abandonment of every earthly affection! I went upon deck, and in the midst of consternation and tumult, heard nothing but

cries of take in sail' hoist out the

boat.' I asked the terrified captain, what he thought of this frightful event. • What can I think?' he replied; I know no more

than you do where we are. I can see nothing.' In the mean time, the ship, impelled by the force of the wind, was driven farther upon the shoal, experiencing, every time she struck, a shock which endangered the masts. A thick fog surrounded us and obscured our view of the land; a feeble twilight shewed it indistinctly; and from the configuration of the clouds, we imagined ourselves in a gulph, surrounded on all sides by immense rocks. At length the ship became completely fixed, and experienced no other motion than that produced by the sea beating upon her. In an instant the sails were furled, and we succeeded, by unheard-of efforts, in getting the long boat into the sea. An anchor was carried out to the north-west, but all our

attempts to heave the ship off were in vain ; our misfortune was irreparable, and as the day dawned, the horrors of our situation

were revealed to us. It was not in the midst of islands, as we believed, that cruel destiny had thrown us A flat sandy beach, without bounds, presented itself to our view-it was on the main land-on Africa --on that inhospitable and barren coast, that has always been the terror of mariners.

"It would be impossible to paint the What fate awaited us on this detested regrief that took possession of each of us. gion.'

The conduct of the officers under these circumstances, was not less extraordinary. We are not told that any attempt was made to lighten the ship; they suffered themselves to fall into the power of the natives, although the weather continued moderate, and their boat was riding safely by a hauser in the lee of the vessel; the whole crew only consisted of thirteen, and they knew that the Canary islands could not be more than twenty or thirty leagues distant.

After passing to and fro several times between the ship and the shore, the natives got possession of the officers, passengers, and one sailor, in all, six persons. The sailors, with greater prudence, kept on board, and, after a feeble attempt to rescue their superiors, set sail, and, in two days, made the island Fortaventura. M. Cochelet and his friends took care to land their trunks and luggage, intending, no doubt, to proceed by the diligence, but the natives very unceremoniously took possession of their goods and chattels, and obliged them to assist in unloading their ship, which they did very leisurely, and then burnt her. The savages into whose hands they had thus fallen, are represented as the most hideous monsters that exist in human shape, and as the last link in

the chain that connects man with the brute creation.

On their landing, their chief, named Fairry, gave them a most gracious reception, holding out one hand, in token of friendship, and with the other pointing to heaven, and repeat ing "Allah akbar," "God is great." He then led them to a sand hill, kindly offering to carry their arms, and shewed them the desert, with the purpose, no doubt, of letting them know how entirely they were in his power.

"If this was his object, he accomplished it completely; for it was impossible for me to observe without dismay this sea of sand, the horizon of which mingled itself with a sky of fire; and the calm and silent immobility of which was a thousand times more striking than the agitation of the ocean during a tempest."

The politeness of the natives was soon changed for the most capricious tyranny and contempt. By the women, in particular, they were obliged to perform the most abject officesprepare their food, of which they did not deign to give them a share, or dig in the sand for a scanty pittance of brakish water.

Our author was sent off to the ship to assist in searching for argeono, or money. It was in vain to intimate that he could not swim-prompt obedience was necessary, and he contrived, with some difficulty, to get on board.

He found the Africans engaged in a furious attack on two pigs, these unclean animals being the abhorrence of all true Musselmen. Having no provisions but what the ships afforded, and being withal but indifferent judges of salt meat, before eating any part of it they constantly called on our French men to distinguish the beef from the pork, by lowing like cows, or grunting like hogs,

When the ship beat so high that the ladies could go off, they were obliged to act as stepping-stones, to assist them in ascending the ship's sides.

"They placed themselves, without ceremony, upon us, and afterwards made use of their hands to finish their clambering. If you consider that they were the most repulsive creatures in the world, and almost destitute of clothing, you will have little difficulty in believing that it was a very singular task for us to supply the place of stepping-stones to these women. It seemed, without doubt, very diverting

to them, for they appeared to take a pleasure in it, which they expressed by shouts of laughter, of the coarsest and most in

sulting nature that can be imagined.”

The most unreasonable of all their demands, however, was in sending them aloft to unbend the top-sails. The only expedient that occurred to them, to enable them to obey this command, was to cut away the masts.

"During more than two hours, we applied the axe with redoubled force. They gave way at last, but with such a crash, that I was struck with the effect produced by the noise of their fall, reiterated as it was, for a long time, among the hillocks of sand, by echoes, of which perhaps, till then, they were unconscious. For the first time, without doubt, the silence of many ages had been disturbed. So violent and transient a commotion, rendered more dreadful still the calm by which it was succeeded, and with which this frightful desert was reinvested, perhaps for ever."

For about ten days they were employed in plunder. The natives shewed the most astonishing want of discrimination in their selection of the booty. Money and provisions were the great objects of their avidity— buttons were more valued than diamonds-the finest laces lay neglected on the beach, or were used to tie the mouths of sacks-but, above all, to a literary man, the dispersion of so many works of merit, was most afflicting.

"How many copies of works of merit will be for ever deprived of readers! T have seen thousands of volumes, containing the most opposite sentiments, borne equally by the wind into the interior of the desert."

Letters and newspapers were equally scattered; the touching remembrance called up by one of the latter, we shall not attempt to translate.

"L'autre rendait compte de la belle representation d'Athalie, que recemment on venait de donner avec tant de pompe à l' opera. Je me rappelai avec douleur, qu'un mois s'etait a peine ecoulé depuis que moi meme j'avais assisté a ce spectacle, dont j'avois admiré la magnificence. Que de reflexions vinrent alors m'assailir ! Je jetai tristement ces feuilles a mes pieds, elles me causaient trop de regrets, par les souvenirs qu'elles me retracoient."

In the midst of these melancholy reflexions the captain came up with a face of satisfaction, announcing the apparition of two " jolies Parisiennes,”

whom a disaster similar to their own had thrown on this inhospitable coast. M. Cochelet thought the poor man's head turned by his misfortunes; he however followed him, and saw, by the glimmering fire in their tent, two ladies "en veritable costume de bal," one of them in a robe "de crepe rose, garnie des fleurs, et l'autre une robe de satin blanc, brodée en lames d'argent. Both of them had caps and feathers of the last Parisian fashions.

"I had not yet been able to see the divine figures which such elegant equipments led me to ascribe to their wearers. I approached nearer, and, to my great astonishment, under those beautiful coverings, which our Parisian 'marchandes de modes' had, without doubt, prepared for other heads, I see the horrible Sinné, with his frightful hair, and my maser Hamet, who was no less terrible."

On the 10th of June a party of Bedouin Arabs arrived; they were distinguished from their former friends by the splendour of their dress and arms, and their noble and imposing demeanour; they were commanded by Sidi Hamet, a chief who is well known as having rescued Ryley and his companions, and also the crew of a ship belonging to Glasgow, which was wrecked on the same coast about six years ago. Sidi Hamet purchased the Frenchmen from the natives, and on the 17th set out with them on their route through the descrt for Wednoon, or Ouadnoun, as it is here spelt.

A journey in the desert can never become a party of pleasure. The sufferings of the party are related in the same minute and lively manner, but do not admit of abridgment. Previous to their arrival at Wednoon, Sidi Hamet sold them to the Cheik Berouc, who resided there, and from thence they transmitted a statement of their case to Mr Wiltshire, the English Consul at Mogadore.

The French agent there forwarded their case to the consul at Tangier, and through his intervention they were ransomed by the Emperor of Morocco. After remaining three months at Wednoon, during which one of their companions died, they proceeded to Mogadore.

They were now mounted on mules, but their sufferings had not yet ended; exhausted with heat and fatigue after a journey of six days, they arrived at Tarodant, a populous town belong

ing to the Emperor of Morocco; they entered the town in the evening, but, upon the cry of "Nsara!" or "Christians!" the inhabitants pursued them with hootings and imprecations, and they were with some difficulty protected by their escort. They were lodged in a pavilion in a garden belonging to the Emperor, and committed to the charge of two renegades, a Spaniard and an Italian, who treated them with the utmost hospitality and kindness' The description of this delicious garden recalls the stories of the "Arabian Nights."

"Perhaps none ever passed by such a sudden transition from a situation so miserable to one so transporting. A moment before we were abandoned to the most painful disquietudes, in the midst of a crowd of infuriated savages, and now, inaccessible the tranquillity which was procured us by as we were to their approach, that isolated state which was the constant object of all our desires. This change, from one condition to another, was so rapid, that the cries and imprecations which we had heard appeared to us the effect of a dream. The most complete silence reigned around us the noise of some spouting streams of water, and the hollow murmuring of the woods, agitated by a light breeze, alone disturbed the calm of a delightful into a garden of vast extent. evening. We found ourselves transported The dark

ness prevented us from judging of its beauty, but the perfume of orange trees, with which the air was scented, promised us a

delicious abode.

"A magnificent alley, embellished on both sides with groves of that fruit tree, led to a pavilion, situated at the end of the garden.

"As soon as day-light appeared, I began to examine the place where I was astonished to find myself, and of which I cing to the terrace, which was contiguous had as yet but an imperfect idea. Advanto the pavilion, I beheld the vast extent of the garden, concerning which I could not form a correct judgment the evening before. This first impression which one feels, but cannot express, when the return of day unfolds to view a delightful, and, as yet, unknown situation; the freshness of morning; the perfume exhaled from a thousand orange-trees covered with blossoms; the appearance of so many overflowing fountains, so many sources of enjoyment, to which we had been as yet strangers, left a delicious impression on all our minds.

"The height of the walls which surround the garden first arrested my attention: they are as high as those of the town, and indented in the same manner.

The