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Critical Notices Of The Literature Of The Last Three Months,
follow Mr . Baker , with rifle and hound , in Ceylon , * ramble in search of sport with tho Hon . Ferdinand St . John , f through Germany , France , Italy , and Russia , endure the privations which Mr . Mansfield ' Parkyns J so heroically bore in Abyssinia , and AA'hich were , by the bye , neither light nor ordinary , or accompany Mr . Alfred Wallace § in his travels on the Amazon ancl Rio Negro ; although we are by no means favourably struck with his description of the morals of tho white colonists . Here , for
instance , is a picture of "Senhor Joas Antonia Delima , a merchant , and a man of some standing at Burra . Going up to his house , says Mr . Wallace , I was introduced to the family , which consisted of two grown-up daughters , two young ones , and a little boy of eight years old . A good-looking ' Mameluka , ' or half-caste , of about thirty , was introduced to me as the ' mother of his younger children . ' Senhor L . then informed om * traveller he did not patronize matrimony , and thought everybody who did a fool . He illustrated the advantages of this freedom bobservingthat
y , the mother of his elder daughters having grown old , and being unable to bring them up properly , or to teach them Portuguese , he had turned her out of doors , and got a younger and more civilized person in her place . The poor woman had since died of jealousy , or ' passion , ' as he termed it . When young , too , it appears she had nursed him through an eighteen months' illness , and saved his life ; but be seems , nevertheless , to have thought that he did right in turning her off . —
' for , ' said ho , ' she was an Indian , and could only speak her own language ; and so long as she was with them , my children would never have learnt Portuguese . '" From travels for pleasure , we pass to those performed under the pressure of duty and obedience ; ancl nowhere do Ave find a more plain , unvarnished tale of a campaigning life , than that detailed Avith so much quiet pathos by Captain Ring . [| There is always necessarily much that is terrible and painful in details connected with battles ancl Avar ; but there is something
peculiarly awful in the armed struggles between civilization and barbarism . Here is a scene from the great book of life , which , for absorbing interest and powerful portraiture , is almost unequalled . We have it so completely before our eyes , we are in the midst of the bush , the yells of Kaffirs fill our ears , and cheer after cheer seem to tell the talc of the progress of the deadly bayonet . " The road being exceedingly steep , narrow , and rugged , the cavalry in front
marched down at a foot's space , the infantry following , and the Fingoe levies bringing up the rear . The enemy , concealed in the thick bush , opened fire upon us the moment we entered the pass , wounding one of our men . AVe returned their fire whenever the smoke showed us where they lay , and thus continued our descent , with a desultory fire on both sides , till about half-way down , when they showed in greater force , filling the bush on both sides of us . The Fingoes in the rear now evinced their fears so decidedly as to encourage a party of Kaffirs armed Avith assegais , to rush in among them . This completed their panie , and , firing right and left at random , they rushed down the narrow path en masse upon our
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Critical Notices Of The Literature Of The Last Three Months,
follow Mr . Baker , with rifle and hound , in Ceylon , * ramble in search of sport with tho Hon . Ferdinand St . John , f through Germany , France , Italy , and Russia , endure the privations which Mr . Mansfield ' Parkyns J so heroically bore in Abyssinia , and AA'hich were , by the bye , neither light nor ordinary , or accompany Mr . Alfred Wallace § in his travels on the Amazon ancl Rio Negro ; although we are by no means favourably struck with his description of the morals of tho white colonists . Here , for
instance , is a picture of "Senhor Joas Antonia Delima , a merchant , and a man of some standing at Burra . Going up to his house , says Mr . Wallace , I was introduced to the family , which consisted of two grown-up daughters , two young ones , and a little boy of eight years old . A good-looking ' Mameluka , ' or half-caste , of about thirty , was introduced to me as the ' mother of his younger children . ' Senhor L . then informed om * traveller he did not patronize matrimony , and thought everybody who did a fool . He illustrated the advantages of this freedom bobservingthat
y , the mother of his elder daughters having grown old , and being unable to bring them up properly , or to teach them Portuguese , he had turned her out of doors , and got a younger and more civilized person in her place . The poor woman had since died of jealousy , or ' passion , ' as he termed it . When young , too , it appears she had nursed him through an eighteen months' illness , and saved his life ; but be seems , nevertheless , to have thought that he did right in turning her off . —
' for , ' said ho , ' she was an Indian , and could only speak her own language ; and so long as she was with them , my children would never have learnt Portuguese . '" From travels for pleasure , we pass to those performed under the pressure of duty and obedience ; ancl nowhere do Ave find a more plain , unvarnished tale of a campaigning life , than that detailed Avith so much quiet pathos by Captain Ring . [| There is always necessarily much that is terrible and painful in details connected with battles ancl Avar ; but there is something
peculiarly awful in the armed struggles between civilization and barbarism . Here is a scene from the great book of life , which , for absorbing interest and powerful portraiture , is almost unequalled . We have it so completely before our eyes , we are in the midst of the bush , the yells of Kaffirs fill our ears , and cheer after cheer seem to tell the talc of the progress of the deadly bayonet . " The road being exceedingly steep , narrow , and rugged , the cavalry in front
marched down at a foot's space , the infantry following , and the Fingoe levies bringing up the rear . The enemy , concealed in the thick bush , opened fire upon us the moment we entered the pass , wounding one of our men . AVe returned their fire whenever the smoke showed us where they lay , and thus continued our descent , with a desultory fire on both sides , till about half-way down , when they showed in greater force , filling the bush on both sides of us . The Fingoes in the rear now evinced their fears so decidedly as to encourage a party of Kaffirs armed Avith assegais , to rush in among them . This completed their panie , and , firing right and left at random , they rushed down the narrow path en masse upon our