meats are burned up, and retain not a dop of gravy: the boiled meats were also overdone, and quite stringy. The French are exceedingly fond of mixtures, that is, meat stewed with vegetables, and a great quantity of garlick, spices, &c. On this account I have frequently risen hungry from a table of thirty dishes, on the dressing of which much pains had been bestowed, and principally on my account. The only good dinners I ever ate in these countries were at the houses of English or Americans, who had taken pains to instruct their servants in the proper mode. Neither could I relish their pies or tarts, &c. as an inspection of their pastry-cooks' shops had prejudiced me strongly against them. "I have before mentioned, that the exterior appearance of Paris is superior to London; so, in this respect, are their houses: they are very lofty, and have a great deal of gilding and finery about them; but, in the interior, they are not by any means so neatly or comfortably fitted up as the English houses. "The pleasures of life depend much upon the attainment of three things:---1st, A clean comfortable, and private house, to reside in. For such a situation, a stranger in Paris may seek in vain 2dly, Good eating and drinking. Of this pleasure I was deprived by the badness of their cookery. 3dly, A facility of procuring those things which are requisite for our comfort. The better classes of the inhabitants probably enjoy these means, but they are unåttainable by a traveller. "A lodging-house in Paris, which is probably eight stories high, and contains fifty or sixty persons of both sexes, has only one entrance, and one yard. The noise and dirt made by such a crowd may be easily imagined. In these houses it is not customary to hang bells; and as the servants never think of visiting the rooms but once a day, that is, when they make the bed and bring up water, it becomes absolutely requisite for a person, who wishes for any comfort, to hire a servant of his own, to whom he is obliged to pay a guinea a week. In France, they seldom think of cleaning the grate, or fire-place; it is consequently a disgusting object; whereas, in England, I always thought it an ornament to the room, and a good coal fire more beautiful than a bouquet of flowers. "In some of the streets of Paris, there are, at night, a few lamps, which yield a glimmering light, barely sufficient for a man of keen sight to find his way; and as the shopkeepers do not light up their windows as in London, the city has then a very sombre appearance. In those streets which have not lamps, you frequently see a lantern suspended from the roof of a house by a long rope, which, in the day-time, has a disgusting and mean appearance. The streets in Paris are not flagged on the sides, as in London; a rough pavement extends all the way across the street; and as the carriages drive up close to the doors, the foot-passengers are in constant danger of being driven over: on this account there is no pleasure in walking the streets of Paris, either by day or night. "The French in general, and especially the Parisians, are extremely 3C 2 1 1 tremely courteous, affable, and flattering. They never make use of the simple words Yes or No, but have always some circuitous phrase ready, expressive of the honour you confer, or their re. gret. In pointing out the road, or explaining any thing to a foreigner, they are indefatigable, and consider such conduct as a proof of their good breeding and humanity. You may call on a French gentleman at any hour, and relate to him your whole story twice over: he will listen with the greatest patience, and never betray a discontented look. How superior, in this respect, are they to the irritable and surly Englishmen! Whilst travelling, or when dining at French ordinaries, I was frequently surprised to see with what good humour the gentlemen put up with bad food, and worse wine; and whenever I complained, they took great pains to persuade me things were not so bad, and that the master of the house was not in fault." "In a London coffee-house, if a gentleman calls for breakfast, the waiter will at once bring him all the requisites on a tray, and afterwards eggs or fruit, if called for. This he does to avoid running backward and forward, to which the English have a great objection. But in Paris, although the waiter perfectly knows by expérience what ar ticles are requisite, he will first bring the coffee, then the sugar, a third time the milk, and, before you can possibly breakfast, he must have made half a dozen trips to the bar. When a number of persons are assembled, such conduct causes the greatest con fusion, and a total want of all comfort. He "Then "My barber in Paris used to bring with him a large copper basin, and a coarse cloth, somewhat like the bags out of which the horses in India eat their corn. Having tied the latter under my chin, he then threw some water into the bason, and, with a piece of soap, having made a quantity of lather, he daubed it all over my face, neck, and breast, while he himself was wet up to the elbow; after which he commenced his operation of shaving. Disgusted with this mode, I asked him one day if he had ever been in England. answered, that he had. said I, "you must have seen that there the barbers carry only a small box, which contains both soap and brush, and a couple of razors, with which they can shave fifty people in a morning, without daubing their customers, or dirty, ing their own clothes. Why do you not adopt their mode?" He replied: "Your observation is correct: I have both a box and brush at home; but, as the French do not like them, and I cannot introduce the fashion, they have therefore never been used; but in future, I shall bring them for your use." "The men in France are I think better looking than the English, their clothes are made to fit the body, and are of more lively colours; many of them also wear ear-rings and other ornaments. "The French women are tall, and more corpulent than the English, but bear no comparison with respect to beauty. They want the simplicity, modesty, and graceful motions of the English damsels. Their Their fashion of dressing their hair was to me very disgusting, as it exactly resembled the mode practised by the common dancinggirls in India; that is, by dividing the hair into ringlets, two of which hung on the cheeks in an affected careless manner. They were also painted to an excessive degree, were very forward, and great talkers. The waists of their gowns were so short and full-bodied, that the women appeared hump-backed; whilst the drapery in front was so scanty as barely to conceal half their bosoms. Although I am by nature amorous, and easily affected at the sight of beauty, and visited every public place in Paris, I never met with a French woman who interested me." This distinction between French and English women, and his preference of our fair countrywomen, is not more honourable to Abu Taleb's taste and discrimination, than to his virtue and good sense. We greatly regret that our limits preclude us from giving any passages from his descriptions, during his interesting journey from Constantinople, through Diarbekir, Mousul, and Bagdad; whence he proceeded to Bussora and Bombay, and finally returned in safety • to Calcutta, after an absence of five years. From Mr. Stewart's Appendix we learn, that Abu Taleb, after being appointed to a lucrative and honourable situation at Bundlecund, died there in 1806. Mr. Stewart has high claims to the thanks of the public, for introducing to their acquaintance such an interesting and well-written production: and if the original Persian M. S. could be circulated in our oriental territories, through the medium of the press, we conceive that it would produce, in the minds of the natives, impressions highly favourable to the British nation, and to its interests in India. Present State of the Spanish Colonies; including a particular Report of Hispanola, or the Spanish Part of St. Domingo, with a general Survey of the Settlements of the South Continent of America, as relates to History, Trade, Population, Customs Manners, Sc. with a concise Statement of the Sentiments of the People, on their relative Situation to the Mother Country, &c. By Wm. Walton, Jun. Svo. 2 vols. The extraordinary revolutions which have taken place in the new world, impart a peculiar interest to every work that professes to give correct details of the physical and political state of South America. Mr. Walton having in early life visited the people and countries here described, had opportunities of collecting various information not generally known; but he unfortunately lost, partly by capture, and partly by shipwreck, his materials. All that part, therefore, of the present work, which has not been supplied to the author by recent publications, must be regarded as written from memory, without the aid of particular documents. Haring premised thus much as to Mr. W's sources of information, we proceed to give an outline of his work. The first volume relates chiefly to the former and present state of Hispanola; the topography, animal, estimate of the most sensible among them; for the late and exist thinned their numbers, and a state of continual warfare, with dubious issue, has driven many to seek quiet in other countries. Their onsets are still often sanguinary, and quarter is seldom given by the victor. Thus, in point of population, they are on nearly an equal footing with their Spanish neighbours. mal, vegetable, and mineral productions, of which he describes at considerable length. St. Domin-ing intestine divisions have greatly go, or Hispanola (so called, to distinguish it from Haiti, the name given to it by the natives) was discovered by the great Columbus; and is the largest, and most fertile of all the Antilles. It stands in 18. 19 degrees N. latitude, and from 68 to 74 W. longitude from London, opposite and near the Spanish main. It is situated between Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Cuba, in the Caribbean sea. Ray nal and the Spanish authors say it is 200 leagues long, and from 60 to 80 wide, but even our most correct maps are very imperfect, nor is it easy to traverse and survey wilds, trodden only by the huntsman or the fugitive negro; to the scale of latitude and longitude, therefore we are indebted in great measure for its measurement. The French part of the island is not quite a third of the whole; the remainder, or the Spanish Division, is estimated at 3175 square leagues; and contains about 104,000 persons of all ages. The natives are said to be strong, active, and healthy. "In the year 1790 the French division contained 497,000 souls, of which 38,000 were whites, 9,000 people of brown colour, and 450,000 blacks. The wars of Rigaud, Toussaint, and the French destruction, are estimated at nearly one half, and emigration, and the natural decrease of blacks when left to themselves, may be safely calculated to equal one third; by which it would result, that the present population consists of about 100,000 souls, a statement that even exceeds the "General Petion holds possession of the S. side of the island, at the head of the brown colour, but their line of division varies, as each party advances or recedes, and the seat of government is at Port au Prince. He is of a sensible humane character; tutored in the schools of Europe, his mind has received an expansion that fits him for the helm of government, and his exterior an address that would distinguish him in a court. Ill suited perhaps to witness scenes to which his station, as a military commander, exposes him in the field of battle, the tear of sensibility often bedews his cheek at the sight of slaughter; and though brave, enterprising, and bold, he values more the responsive glow of a humane act, than the crimsoned laurel he has plucked from the brow of his adversary; he sighs at the purchase of victory with the sacrifice of those subjects he loves: in short, nothing can be more descriptive of his peculiar virtues, than the motto of an English artist, at the foot of his portrait. Il n'a jamais fait couleur les larmes de per -sonne." " "Though the disorganized state and continually threatened inva sion of his country, require all his time in the field, he casts a provident eye on the well-being of those he heads as elective president; and though his code of laws does him credit, yet the civil administration is extremely relaxed, and the tenure of property very insecure. The Mole of St. Nicholas has been the chief seat of contest, and very frequently the scene of personal bravery on both sides. His revenues come principally from the rents of confiscated French estates and houses, import and export duties, local taxes, &c. By means of a general requisition of all above fourteen years of age, he musters about 9000 men, of whom the regulars have a good appearance, and his population has been increased by collecting the people of colour who lately left St. Domingo, though most prefer the present quiet security of the Spaniards. Nearly all males are forced to join the army, and the women are left to gather the crops, two thirds of which go to the profit of the farmer, after reimbursing the hire of assistants; the remaining third to the government, whose officers strictly at tend to its collection. He has a small fleet of light vessels, but they seldom meet the foe. The French governors of St. Domingo made repeated overtures to him, which he had the good policy and prudence to disregard, but in case of ill success in that implacable enmity which exists between the contending chiefs of colour, his territory may yet become the seat of intrigue, either by reviving the embers of civil discord, or improving the moments of defeat; nay are not these plans and measures already anticipated? or else is there no foundation for the following authenticated report "General Rigaud has been sent by Buonaparte to St. Domingo, with a view of establishing a footing or interest in the island, either by rendering one or other of the rival chiefs dependent on him, by proffers of assistance, or by creating a third party in opposition to both. Rigaud had arrived at Port au Prince in April, and had Petion." had opened a negociation with "Christophe, who is in possession of the N. side, at the head of the black colour, is nearly the reverse in character to Petion, and perhaps better fitted to sway over that class of people he is called to command. More the self-raised despot, than the elected chief of his sable myrmidons, they tremble at his active coercion, and his army thus possesses the advantages of superior discipline, though his talents are much beneath those of his rival. Many of his acts would not bear the scrutiny of philosophic justice, but where terror is equally to be the lever of action, his character is the best suited. His population is the largest, and his troops amount to about 10,000 men. His fleet is also the most numerous, and consists of two corvettes, nine brigs, and a few schooners, the force of which he is now attempting to augment from North America; but though it possesses the exterior of organization, and is under the command of a white admiral, it seldom leaves the harbours, and requires no naval chronicle to record its feats. The empress, relict of Dessalines, re |