a curious historical and descriptive work compiled by a Chinese Commissioner who visited the Principality about 1720, I had obtained some general knowledge of its political and social state. The people are a half Japanese, half Chinese race, among whom the Confucian civilization flourishes in a remarkable degree. They have preserved themselves in virtual independence, as regards internal administration, of the neighbouring empires of Japan and China, by rendering homage to both. With the Court of the latter they have maintained a regular ceremonial intercourse since the days of our Richard II. They have always endeavoured to keep off Occidentals, by the passive means of absolute non-intercourse on the part of the people; the displeasing effect of which is, however, obliterated in the minds of all visitors by the mild, submissive, and in other respects, cheerful bearing which accompanies it. Our visit in the Nile will be ever memorable as the era of a change in their international politics. For by putting on the international screw, in ways that routine diplomacy in Europe has no notion of, we succeeded in making them, without a word of threat on our part, open for the first time the gates of the Royal Citadel to Occidentals. We were received by the venerable old Regent; for the young Prince was a boy and was understood to be weeping with his Royal Mother in her private rooms during our visit, in dismay at that grave political event. But both on that, and on other occasions on which I saw the Regent, I earnestly impressed on him the necessity of giving up, once for all, their system of furnishing Occidental vessels with supplies, and refusing remuneration, -a system which I shewed them must prove ruinous to their limited resources, now that their country was certain, do what they might, to be visited every year more and more. The Nile paid for everything she got; and an officer of

* The reader can here see the reason why I make frequent use of “Occidental" rather than "European." In speaking of affairs in the extreme East a collective term is necessary which includes Americans as well as Europeans. I may speak of Christian nations and Christian Civilization, but there would be an objectionable incongruity in such a term as Christian vessels.

the American Japanese Expedition told me, that, on their squadron touching there (at a later period) Commodore Perry was received with little hesitation or alarm within the Royal Citadel; also that remuneration was readily taken for the provisions supplied.

The main island of Loo choo (there are some 35 lesser ones under the sway of the Prince) consists, so far as we could see, of nothing but a long coral reef, that has been geologically raised from the ocean. It is about the size of an English county; and is beautifully undulating, with occasional precipices of coral; but there are no mountains. The Royal Citadel, which is seated on the most elevated point in the island, can hardly be more than five or six hundred feet above the The high ring wall of this citadel, and the palatial halls and dwellings within its circuit, are all built of coral; while, on the south side, the wall skirts the edge of a coral precipice of 60 to 100 feet deep. A jagged portion of the edge of this precipice struck me as having, in miniature size, something of the irregular turreted configuration of a baronial castle; and it was seated on the top of a little "donjon keep" in solid coral, that I took my contemplative view of the most polished gem that adorns the bosom of the blue Pacific.

sea.

The experienced reader and writer will have perceived that, after dealing with the drier questions of civilization, I have seized an opportunity to do a little easy descriptive writing. But I may explain, that they would hardly appreciate the feelings, with which I regarded the prospect before me, did they know nothing of the associations of past history and the then present politics that toned my mind. The royal minor, who it was very likely indeed, was then with his mamma, peeping down at me from a palace window, was literally "the descendant of a long line of princes." I had been the cause of what I knew was to them and theirs, a portentous change in the national policy. I thought it likely that they regarded me as an enemy; though, as is often the case under such circumstances, I had acted as their best

friend. For I clearly saw that they would sooner or later be compelled to open the palace gates,-possibly by some dignityhurt representative; and my general experience of Occidental proceedings in the weak Orient told me that, in such case, it was very unlikely the bullying would be done so gently as by Captain Loiyer and myself; while the necessity of the Loo chooans taking money for supplies, might not chance to be quite as strenuously and solemnly insisted upon by every passing whaler.*

It was with such thoughts about the people of the locality that I viewed the prospect. I was seated on the verge of the old world, where its contrast with the new was greatest. On my right lay China with its oldest of old Asiatic civilizations; on my left lay California with its newest of new American institutions. Ethnologically, Loo choo belonged to the old world, geologically it rather belonged to the new; for while on the coast of China nothing was seen but gray granite, here all was coral. The undulated surface of the island was cultivated throughout by artificial terracing, with the exception of some of the higher portions which were reserved for pine woods; the effect of the whole, viewed from my position, being that of extremely varied and beautiful garden and park scenery. Let the reader picture to himself this garden fringed around by a belt of white breakers and white coral reefs, all glistening under a bright sun, that made the azure sky overhead look more azure and the deep blue Pacific, more blue and peaceful; and, if he succeed but partially in reproducing the scene, he will not fail to thank me for furnishing him with its chief features.t

* I had afterwards reason for believing that the authorities did rightly interpret my motives in trying to make them see what they could, and could not, do with safety and advantage, in dealing with different classes of people from the West.

+ When we had our formal interview with the Regent in the palace, we were accompanied by a guard of honour composed of some 30 or 40 seamen and marines, who marched by our sedans from the landing-place at the port of Napoo up to the gates of the Citadel, a distance of about three miles; and were well feasted by the authorities, while an entertainment was given to us.

On

Now what had the hand of man, what had agriculture and trade, done to disfigure this? Nothing whatever. On the contrary, had the island been left to the spontaneous activity of nature it could not, as a semi-tropical jungle, resembling those islands we see in the Indian Archipelago, have been the lovely place it was. I never before so felt the force of the word, charming, as applied to landscape.

The last prospect I shall notice, was that, which I had from the top of the great Pyramid. But that has probably been oftener witnessed and described, by reading and writing English, than even that of the gale and solitary steamer on the north coast of England. It was, moreover, chiefly the historical associations awakened by the scene that occupied me on the Pyramid.* I will therefore only remind the reader, that the Nile valley owes whatever of beauty it possesses entirely to man. Where he stays his hand in the labour of irrigation, there begins immediately the barren waste of the desert; and were he to cease his labours altogether, what is not dreary desert would be ugly swamp.

To sum up, the habitable surface of the globe may be divided into sea; swamps or marsh flats; dry plains, more or less undulated; and precipitous mountains.

Where the dry undulated country is left to uncontrolled nature, it is usually covered with a dense forest, always monotonous and often impassable from its tangled brushwood. When changed by controlled nature (agriculture) and traffic, is not the sole effect to make it more beautiful and to make its beauties more accessible?

We know positively that the whole effect of economical progress on marshy flats is beautifying.

Lastly, it is difficult to conceive any description or degree

On our return, curious to know what the men thought of the whole affair, the Captain called his coxswain aft to enquire. It was a pleasing rebuke to both of us when the man instead of bringing out the expected laughable Jackism, endeavoured to express the strong sense felt, he said, by the men generally of the great beauty of the scenery.

⚫ See page 40.

of agriculture or trade that could deprive the mountain precipices, the coast cliffs, and the sea of their rugged beauties and sublimities.

In so far, therefore, agriculture and trade have no debasing effect: they are either passive as to the cultivation of man's sense of the beautiful and the sublime, or their effect is positively improving. But even allowing (what does not seem to be the case) that some of the less striking beauties of spontaneous nature disappear before their progress, is not that disadvantage a hundredfold outweighed by the fact, that trade makes the more striking beauties and grandeurs of nature easily accessible to millions, who but for it would never once see them? Were it not for our excursion trains, in every way the produce of "debasing trade," there are literally millions, even in this our sea-girt isle, who would pass their lives without once listening to the grand music of the ocean and gazing at its sublime expanse. And the same excursion trains carry thousands of our townspeople-who without them would have had much difficulty in getting an occasional sight of the tamer scenery in the plains-right up to the Lake District, to Loch Lomond and to the Trosachs; the characteristic beauties and grandeurs of which cannot, I repeat, be regarded as doomed to obliteration by any economical progress conceivable.

Which state of Greece was it, let me ask, that gave birth to the great philosophers, orators and artists whose works have contributed so much to the present intellectual, moral, and æsthetic cultivation of Europe? Was it Sparta, which devoted herself almost exclusively to the "loud war" that our poet laureate bepraises, or was it industrial and commercial Athens? Nay more, which of these two states was itSparta who kept always drilling her youth for war, or Athens who eagerly pursued debasing trade—that produced the most talented leaders in war? Sparta could send out "Kings" that fought stubbornly and died heroically, but did she produce better generals and admirals than Miltiades and