influenced by various deep-rooted habits engendered on the ocean, sailors should be stamped with a generic character, eccentricity of manner, utter carelessness about the present, and utter fearlessness about the future? The navy watches them with paternal care, as can be testified by many a "goose" at Greenwich. But far different is the fate of merchant seamen. They are turned adrift the moment their ship gets into dock, their places are supplied by lumpers, and they are no more regarded by either master or owners than so many bags of shakings would be: and it has been established by evidence before Parliamentary Committees, that this custom, in one branch alone, the coal trade, adds more than a hundred thousand a-year to the amount of the consumer's expenses; for the crews of colliers are absolutely prevented from performing the delivery of their cargoes, which ought to constitute an independent part of their peculiar duty. On landing, it may be that Jack's purse is tolerably ballasted with rhino; his first object is to purchase a watch, which he insists shall be a strong one; his next is to rig himself with true-blue, and long-quartered shoes, in all the taste of a Sea-Adonis. Perchance he mounts a horse, when away they go with more velocity than discretion, and he is lucky if not speedily thrown on the mane,* for the steed is usually some rip too well known to be bestrode by any but a stranger, and either as frolicksome and wild as Mazeppa's, or as ill-conditioned as Rozinante. The cruise and all its nameless consequences rapidly follow-a southerly wind enters the pockets, and in a few days the ephemeral Croesus is taken in tow by the heartless crimps; and so far from the burnt child dreading the fire, this is repeated each voyage, with little variation; for the unreflecting tar, acquiring no experience from the past, is ever open to fresh temptation. Now we maintain that it will be a worthy legislative enactment which will bind the employers and the employed by stronger ties, and thereby rescue the latter from the snares of the unprincipled scoundrels who snap them up. Still more lamentable is the shameless destitution of their old age, which, from the alternating vicissitudes of their avocation, is too frequently premature. When worn out, gaunt misery "marks them for her own." See the contrast of the man-of-war's man: at comfortable moorings, he still associates with his kind, fights his battles o'er again, and may even find messmates with whom he had joined in the shout of victory. We recollect a picture of touching interest in Noble's didactic poem "Blackheath," where a veteran elm in Greenwich Park, and wate coming up the Thames to be bro

recoils on themselves. In the heat of the moment they will follow any example, however outrageous; and therefore those who " go down to the sea in ships and occupy their business in great waters," ought to be duly organized. Captain Biden relates numerous anecdotes of this refractory spirit, of which we will extract one, by way of instance.

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Captain W. H. Biden, commanding the Thalia, going upon deck on the 14th of October, at sea, observed several of his crew swimming under the bows and alongside; he questioned the officer of the watch about allowing such impropriety, considering the danger from sharks, &c., who replied he had ordered them in, but they would not obey; the boatswain had endeavoured to prevent the men going overboard, without effect: the captain then ordered them on board. After some hesitation on the part of Thomas Rogers, (seaman,) this order was obeyed; the hands were then turned up, and the ship's company were made acquainted that swimming or going overboard was contrary to the regulations of the ship; a spirit of disaffection betrayed itself among several of the men, and Rogers came forward in the most daring manner, declaring he would go overboard in spite of the Captain or any one else. This man's insolence became so inflammatory, that he was ordered on the poop, which he reluctantly obeyed, but burst out into mutinous language. Captain Biden then ordered him to be placed in confinement; he then became outrageous, seized an iron belaying-pin, and threatened to knock down the first person who attempted to put him in irons, and made all the resistance in his power. The Captain then endeavoured to wrench the belaying-pin from him, and succeeded, at length, in securing this turbulent fellow, upon which two other seamen declared they would also go in irons; they were in consequence sent as prisoners on the poop. This was not the first or second offence Rogers had been guilty of, particularly on one occasion, in a heavy gale of wind, when the strops of deadeyes of the main rigging broke, and all the hands were ordered up to secure the mainmast; this skulking vagabond refused, until his captain went down to send him up, and then, like a lubberly scoundrel as he must have been, falsely declared he had been on deck all day, and was knocked up; what seaman, even in such a case, would have so excused himself when the mainmast was in danger?

"An inquiry was afterwards held into the conduct of these men. Rogers declared he had a right to go overboard to bathe when he pleased, and that he took the belaying-pin to defend himself, suspecting it was the captain's intention to flog him.

"J. Maclellan declared if some people were put in irons, others must do their duty; to avoid which he would rather be a prisoner than do the duty of others,'

"Thomas Thomas was most insolent, declaring, if Rogers went into irons, he would be d-d if he would not go. This fellow had been guilty of theft, and pardoned upon promise of future good behaviour; being charged with this breach of promise by his present misconduct, he replied Captain W. H. Biden was as bad

every daring attempt to dispute his authority, or excite, in any way, others to follow an example which may, by ill-timed lenity and forbearance, be followed by open mutiny. In the case I have described, the majority of the crew were well inclined, which induced my brother to stay the hand of severity; but how mortifying to submit to such contumely, and seek redress in vain, where we are told a remedy is always at hand, and where justice should ever preside.”

a

We once witnessed a scene of a similar kind in a West Indiaman : the commander, who was an active naval officer, being treated with contempt by a kind of "twice-laid" sailor, as great a rascal as ever swung at a fore-yard, and not recollecting the eastern axiom that “ man should denounce no more than he can perform," threatened to clap him into irons: the fellow walked up, squared his arms, and with an aggravating tone and gesture, strengthened with such emphatic asseverations as seamen love to employ, bellowed—“ bring them here! I'll throw 'em overboard, and perhaps you after them." Yet this blatant blusterer, who might have distressed a mild or weak commander, being firmly collared and well shaken, was instantly proved to be a spiritless bragadocio; and his insolence originated in the illdefined extent of power which can be exercised in trading-vessels.

It is but just that the situation of master, on board merchant-men, should be so filled as to guarantee the proper fulfilment of any enactments which the government might be pleased to make. And reflecting on the command of a ship having been deemed, by maritime nations, an affair of such importance as to have been regulated by express ordinances, we have felt mortified at the disgraceful manner in which hundreds of our ships have ploughed the ocean. Where ignorance, incapacity, intemperance, and cupidity, are united in him who holds an apparent command, it is not unreasonable to expect the consequent degradation and demoralization of the seamen. With shame we confess to have met no such analogous absurdity among other nations. Examinations for estimating the qualifications of candidates for such appointments took place in Spain so far back as 1530, and in France from 1584. The Hanse Towns were also particularly scrupulous, for they not only demanded the proper experience, but also certificates of honesty and morality. Why then should England, the gem of the ocean," be the only country where the too confident shipowners are at liberty to make the dirtiest bargain they can, and place a needy lubber in a responsible and honourable berth? Formerly there was much more care in the disposal of these commands, and there were few English masters who were not proprietors as well of a portion at least of their vessels.

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From the tone and temper observable on these pages, our readers will acquit us of being innovators, or partisans of wholesale reforms, whether brewed by saints or by sinners. Yet we are not so blindly jealous of the institutions of our ancestors, as to deem it sacrilege to improve whatever may be found bad; or to provide for present and future exigencies, with due regard to the policy of other powers, as affecting our security and welfare. While, therefore, we detail the inconveniences which necessarily result from the present mystified way of managing our narine affairs, it is with a view to taking effectual steps for removing them. This is a task of no common difficulty, and not to be accomplished by merely falling back upon the costly

ill-digested statutes of the Admiralty Court; for these, however partially adapted to the ages through which they have been endured, are confessed to be utterly unfit for grappling with the present state of commerce and navigation. As the arguments for furbishing up this farrago are more specious than valid, arrangements must be made, as sweeping as those by which Louis XIV. quashed the troublesome compound of quibbles and quiddities which debilitated the marine strength of France, when he politically gave his country an entire new body of mercantile and naval laws.

Authority and precedent are the avowed foundations of our Admiralty jurisprudence; yet new decisions of individual judges, grounded upon fanciful analogies to some former case, are constantly erected into maxims of law; and an adherence to remote sources of authority, in opposition to the plain standard of reason and common sense, involves every fresh question in inextricable confusion. While the stability of the law is relied upon in theory, its uncertainty in practice is notorious; and in fact, decisions depend more upon the personal character of the judge, than upon any fixed or ascertained principles. Thus right or wrong become subordinate considerations; the question is, not what is just, but what is law! and that law is not to be found in any written enactment, but in the ever-varying opinion of presiding judges.

When we hear ignorant men murmuring about "good old times," and the like, we hardly know what they are driving at, except that the simplicity of the cry creates a smile. Do they wish for the times of religious intolerance, of political persecution, of forced service, of burnings for witchcraft, of such trials and executions as those of Raleigh and Doughty? It is clamoured by some of the scribes of "the Press," on the topic in question, that the ancient Rules and Customs of the sea are quite sufficient for the well-being of the merchant service. We should be glad to know which of those "Rules and Customs" appeared to them so efficient. They could hardly mean the obsolete rigmarole for coasting craft, contained in the Rhodian and Oleron laws; still less can they allude to those of Wisbuy, or of the Hanse Towns, because they are mere fudges from the former. Few, we think, would desire the restoration of the discipline which, as the Harleian MSS. inform us, was prevalent in the golden days of Queen Elizabeth, when ducking, keel-hauling, beaching, and cutting off hands, were amongst the minor punishments; and when it was deemed propitious of fair winds, to have all the "shippe-boys" soundly flogged every Monday morning. According to this summary code, "If anye one slept in his watche, for the first time he was to be headed with a bucket of water; for the second time, he was to be haled upp by the wrysts, and to have two buckets of water poured intoe his sleeves; for the third time, he was to be bounde to the mayne-mast with plates of iron, and to have some gunn chambers, or a basket of bulletts tied to his armes, and so to remaine at the pleasure of the captaine; for the fourth time, he was to be hanged at the boltsprite with a can of beere and a biscott of breade, and a sharpe knife, and soe to hange, and chuse whether he woulde cutt himself downe, and fall intoe the sea, or hange still and starve." Here's a pretty alternative! Why modern blacklisting, polishing, swab wringing, and diluting of grog-the cat-the rope's end-the bilbo-the scraper the bear--the holy-stone-are to this as a mosquito-bite is to an ulcer!

SURVEY OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA IN 1825-6.*

THE harbour of Angola is very extensive, with a great depth of water. I should, however, recommend all European vessels not to anchor within one mile and a half of the town; for, as the nights are in general calm and oppressively hot, the sea-breeze becomes of the utmost importance, and by lying close under the island, it may be enjoyed with some degree of regularity. Numerous fortifications command the bay at every point. The strongest and principal garrison is situated on the brow of a hill on one side of the town, mounting nearly eighty guns. In addition to this are three others; one built on a rock communicating with the main land by a drawbridge, having also a very strong battery of sixty-four guns, commanding the harbour in every direction. The town of Angola is the most extensive settlement which the Portuguese possess on this coast. When approached from the southward it presents rather a grand and pleasing appearance, being situated on an eminence, surmounted by the garrison before mentioned. The houses are of stone, spacious and substantial, as Portuguese dwellings on this coast generally are; regularly and even tastefully built, with several churches and a cathedral. The market is tolerably supplied during the season, but filthy in the extreme. singular they do not take a greater pride in this one particular, for I believe, from the principal market-place of Lisbon, to that of their smallest settlement, they are noted for the dirty state of their towns, and the various offensive effluvia which they constantly inhale. Numerous military are stationed here; the privates composed chiefly of convicts from Portugal; many of the officers are also sent to this country for trifling offences committed at home. Two instances came to my knowledge, the one was merely for murdering a padrè, the other for putting a sister, who was a bit of a shrew, upon the fire, which was the natural cause of her becoming a cinder. For these trifling offences, being men of some interest, they suffered the penalty of transportation, and here appeared to enjoy themselves despite of padrès and sisters! Many of them are, however, most gentlemanly men and good officers, having served, in several instances, with our army when on the Peninsula. We invariably experienced the greatest politeness and attention from them whenever we were on shore.

It is

Every description of provisions was at this time selling for the most exorbitant prices; even water is very scarce, on account of having no springs or rivers in the neighbourhood. In order to obviate this inconvenience, a number of large boats are constantly employed in fetching it from Bengo River, which is about nine miles to the northward, and upon them the town and ships depend entirely for their supply. We were informed that every description of tropical fruit was abundant here during the summer months; and the oranges are said to be finer at this place than any other along the coast. We had not, unfortunately, an opportunity of judging, in consequence of the rainy season having set in. The only thing we found at all plentiful were herrings, which our people caught so fast, that we were compelled to throw them overboard by boatsfull. The zoological productions in the

* Continued from page 463.