We must add Mr. Ellis's description of the appearance of the volcano during the night.

'Between nine and ten o'clock, the dark clouds and heavy fog, that since the setting of the sun had hung over the volcano, gradually cleared away, and the fires of Kirauea, darting their fierce light athwart the midnight gloom, unfolded a sight terrible and sublime beyond all we had yet seen.

The agitated mass of liquid lava, like a flood of melted metal, raged with tumultuous whirl. The lively flame that danced over its undulating surface, tinged with sulphureous blue, or glowing with mineral red, cast a broad glare of dazzling light on the indented sides of the insulated craters, whose roaring mouths, amidst rising flames, and eddying streams of fire, shot up, at frequent intervals, with loudest detonations, spherical masses of fusing lava, or bright ignited stones.

The dark bold outline of the perpendicular and jutting rocks around formed a striking contrast with the luminous lake below, whose vivid rays, thrown on the rugged promontories, and reflected by the overhanging clouds, combined to complete the awful grandeur of the imposing scene. We sat gazing at the magnificent phenomena for several hours, when we laid ourselves down on our mats, in order to observe more leisurely their varying aspect; for, although we had travelled upwards of twenty miles since the morning, and were both weary and cold, we felt but little disposition to sleep. This disinclination was probably increased by our proximity to the yawning gulf, and our conviction, that the detachment of a fragment from beneath the overhanging pile on which we were reclining, or the slightest concussion of the earth, which every thing around indicated to be no unfrequent occurrence, would perhaps precipitate us, amidst the horrid crash of falling rocks, into the burning lake immediately before us.

'The natives, who probably viewed the scene with thoughts and feelings somewhat different from ours, seemed, however, equally interested. They sat most of the night talking of the achievements of Pélé, and regarding with a superstitious fear, at which we were not surprised, the brilliant exhibition. They considered it the primeval abode of their - pp. 215, 216.

volcanic deities.'

6

From the account of the natives of the district, Mr. Ellis collected that this volcano had been burning from time iminemorial; that in the earlier ages it used to boil up and inundate the adjacent country, but that for many kings' reigns past it had kept below the level of the surrounding plain, continually extending its surface and increasing its depth, and occasionally throwing up, with violent explosion, huge rocks or red hot stones. These eruptions, they said, were always accompanied by dreadful earthquakes, loud claps of thunder, with vivid and quick succeeding lightning.' About half a mile distant from the volcano the travellers found two or three small pools of fresh and sweet water, which, independently of the luxury they afforded, were great natural curiosities. They appeared to have been formed by a natural process of distillation.

The surface of the ground in the vicinity was perceptibly warm, and rent by several deep irregular chasms, from which steam and thick

vapours continually arose. In some places these chasms were two feet wide, and from them a volume of steam ascended, which was immediately condensed by the cool mountain-air, and driven, like drizzling rain, into hollows in the compact lava on the leeward side of the chasms. The pools, which were six or eight feet from the chasms, were surrounded and covered by flags, rushes, and tall grass. Nourished by the moisture of the vapours, these plants flourished luxuriantly, and, in their turn, sheltered the pools from the heat of the sun, and prevented evaporation. We expected to find the water warm, but in this respect we were also "agreeably disappointed.' — p. 210.

We regret that our limits prevent us from following our travellers in the remainder of their tour through the island, or indeed from noticing any thing further in this valuable and excellent work, except a few of the customs which serve most strongly to mark the character of the people. The following specimen of liberality on a question of religion might be held up to the imitation of countries which deem themselves civilised. Mr. Ellis, conversing with an old woman after one of his sermons, to which she had been an attentive listener, asked her if she thought Jehovah was good, and those happy who made him their God?" She answered, He is your good God (or best God), and it is right that you should worship him; but Pélé is my deity, and the great goddess of Hawaii.' This poor barbarian was, it seems, not insensible to the rights of conscience.

Infanticide, we lament to say, still prevails throughout all the Sandwich islands, and, with the exception of the higher class of chiefs, is practised by all ranks of people. The laws and usages of the islands acknowledge in the father a right over the life of his offspring; and, among the lower orders, however numerous their children, parents seldom rear more than two or three. All the others are destroyed, sometimes shortly after birth, generally during the first year of their age.' More than half of the children of the country are thus cut off in infancy. The principal motive which gives rise to this horrid practice is idleness, and the trouble of bringing children up! The people are fond of a wandering manner of life, and consider children a burden and a restraint! It is some consolation, however, to know that this depraved custom prevails less extensively now than before the introduction of Christianity. The children who are permitted to live are familiarised with the sea at a very tender age, and from boyhood upwards they are induced by the heat of the climate to spend a great portion of their time in the water, where they gambol about and go through a great variety of games.

Like the natives of some of the back settlements in North America, the people of the Sandwich islands use dogs as an article of food, and generally prefer them to pigs, goats, and kids. The government of the islands is an absolute and hereditary monarchy. The rank of the chiefs is also hereditary; and the king can raise

those who have no claim by birth, to any office or distinction which he thinks proper. The present prime minister, who is called by foreigners" William Pitt," was elevated to his station from being a chief of the third or fourth rank, and has been in office a long time.

Perhaps the most extraordinary tradition among the people of these islands, or of any other country in the world, is that which relates to a celebrated personage whom they call Kana. He is said to have been so tall that he could walk through the sea from one island to another; stand with one foot on the island of Oahu, and the other on Tauai, which is seventy miles distant.' This is not all. On one occasion the people of Hawaii offended a king of a distant island, who in revenge walked off one fine morning with the sun in his pocket, and left them in a state of utter darkness. It was no trouble to Kana to walk after him, take the sun from him, and then to fix it in the heavens, where it has remained ever since! This is somewhat extraordinary, it must be owned; yet the philosophic reader will find a great deal of matter for reflection in the traditions of the Sandwich and other islands of the Pacific. The mystery is, how it happens that they coincide so frequently with those of the ancient Pagan nations of Europe, and sometimes even with those of the Jews, for they have also, it seems, amongst them, vague stories of an universal deluge!

ART. XII. Narrative of the Surrender of Buonaparte, and of his Residence on board H. M. S. Bellerophon; with a Detail of the principal Events that occurred in that Ship between the 24th of May and the 8th of August, 1815. By Captain F. L. Maitland, C. B. 8vo. pp. 248. London. Colburn. 1826.

ALTHOUGH little novelty as to the leading events connected with the surrender of Buonaparte to Captain Maitland was to be expected in a narrative of them published eleven years after they occurred, yet we own that we opened this volume with a highly excited curiosity, and found it in every page full of interest. Facts, about which there was some uncertainty, are related in their true colours; circumstances, which were before exaggerated, are here reduced to their simple and natural shapes; several mere fictions are exposed, and some anecdotes and traits of Buonaparte's character and conduct while on board the Bellerophon are related, with which we were not before acquainted. The details given respecting Buonaparte's suite, though of course less interesting, serve to exhibit some of those individuals in a light in which they had not hitherto appeared. From the official documents interspersed through the work Captain Maitland completely justifies the whole tenour of his conduct, during a most extraordinary and anxious service, as an officer and a man of honour, and triumphantly vindicates himself

from the vindictive charge made by Napoleon and his followers, that he was promised an asylum in England before he surrendered himself, and that there was a violation of good faith in the treatment which he received after he placed himself at the disposal of our government.

We are informed, in the preface, that immediately after the events recorded in this narrative took place, it was written for the private perusal of the author's friends, but that, for many causes, which he has not thought fit to explain, he deemed the publication of it at that time inexpedient. Though the greater number of those causes had been long since removed, he still had no intention of bringing it forward until, by accident, it fell into the hands of a most celebrated literary character,' (we believe Sir Walter Scott,) who expressed a favourable opinion of its merits, and strongly recommended its publication. We have been some time aware of its existence, and feel indebted, as no doubt so will the public at large, to the eminent individual to whose advice and influence we owe the appearance of a work in every respect so important.

It appears that on the 30th of May, 1815, Captain Maitland being in command of the Bellerophon received orders from Sir Henry Hotham to proceed off Rochefort, for the purpose of preventing a corvette from putting to sea, which, according to information in possession of the British government, was to carry proposals from Buonaparte to the West India colonies to declare in his favour.' He was also to reconnoitre the roadstead of Rochefort, and report to the Admiral the number and state of the ships of war lying there. Having performed this duty, which afterwards turned out to have been a most providential measure, he was employed until the 28th of June in capturing such French vessels as came within his reach. On that day he first received intelligence of the defeat of Buonaparte at Waterloo, and on the 30th, by a boat that came off from Bourdeaux, he received a letter, without date or subscription, written on very thin paper, in English, and concealed within a quill,' intimating the probability that Buonaparte would attempt to effect his escape from France on some part of the coast from La Teste to Bourdeaux, and desiring a sharp eye to be kept on all American vessels sailing from thence. The intelligence announced in this letter was the more extraordinary, as it must have been written on the 29th of June, when we know that Buonaparte was still at Paris. Was the object of it to divert the attention of the British squadron from the port of Rochefort? Or was it the announcement of a plan that had been really concerted, and afterwards abandoned? However this may be, Captain Maitland was of opinion that Buonaparte was much more likely to make the attempt at Rochefort, where there were two large frigates, a ship corvette, and a large brig ready for sea. On the 7th of July he received a dispatch from Sir Henry Hotham, fully confirming this opinion, and directing him to use the utmost vigilance in order to prevent Buonaparte from escaping.

At this time several ships were actively engaged in looking out for Napoleon in the Channel, and about the latitude of Ushant, off Cape Finisterre, and indeed along the whole coast, so that even if he had eluded the Bellerophon, he would still have scarcely had: any chance of getting to America in safety. On the 10th of July, General Savary and Count Las Cases came out from the Isle d'Aix in a small schooner under a flag of truce, and presented to Captain Maitland a letter from Count Bertrand, stating that Napoleon having abdicated the throne of France, and chosen America as a retreat, and being in expectation of receiving a passport from the British government for which he had applied, he wished to know whether it was intended to throw any impediment in the way of their voyage. Captain Maitland answered, that as the two countries were at war he could not permit any ship of war to put to sea from Rochefort, without specific orders from his commanding officer, Sir Henry Hotham, then in Quiberon bay. This he added in order to induce Buonaparte to wait for the Admiral's answer, as he apprehended that if the frigates attempted to force a passage at that time, he had not sufficient assistance to prevent them. On the 14th, Count Las Cases, attended by General Lallemand, came out again to know if an answer had been received from the Admiral, and to say that the Emperor was willing to proceed to America, even in a British ship of war,' if the British government would sanction it. Captain Maitland answered, that he had no authority to agree to any arrangement of that sort, but that he was ready to receive Buonaparte into his ship and convey him to England, without entering into any promise as to the reception he might meet with there. During the conversation that followed General Lallemand said, that the Emperor was living at the hotel in the Grand Place at Rochefort, and was highly popular there, whereas it is now known that during the whole of these negociations Napoleon was on board one of the frigates at the Isle d'Aix.

Some days before this a plan was thought of for enabling Napoleon to escape in a Danish sloop, concealed in a cask stowed in the ballast, with tubes so constructed as to convey air for his breathing.' Information of this plan was conveyed to Captain Maitland, and it appears that nothing prevented its execution but the fear that it was too hazardous; for if the vessel had been detained a day or two, the fugitive would have been obliged to make his situation known, and thereby forfeited all claims to the good treatment he hoped to ensure by a voluntary surrender.'

Upon the return of Las Cases and Lallemand on the 14th of July, to the Isle d'Aix, they reported Captain Maitland's answer to Napoleon. It has been since made known, that in a council held on the night of the 13th, it was determined that Napoleon should throw himself on the generosity of the English people; and he wrote the celebrated letter to the Prince-Regent, in which he compared his situation to that of Themistocles. He, therefore, had