and busy. Here he found Terrasso-weea, and the kind old man gave him a cordial reception. Singularly enough, Mr. Duncan met in this place, with a former acquaintance, a Tripolese merchant, who recognised him as one of the adventurers in the disastrous expedition to the Niger. Here, too, he was greeted 'with a low bow,' by a tall fine-looking man,' who addressed him in Spanish first and then in English. This person proved to be a liberated slave from Bahia, where he had been for ten years 'head-cook to the firm of Boothby and Johnston, of Liverpool.' He looked back to that time with regret, and it is stated by Mr. Duncan, that his story has been confirmed by his old masters, who spoke of him with cordial regard.

The received tradition respecting the fate of Mungo Park and his companions, rests mainly on the authority of Amadi Fatouma, who accompanied him as guide, but had left his service just before the deadly collision with the natives. This man's narrative not only vindicated himself from all blame, but claimed for him merit as a sufferer on Park's account from the treachery of the subordinate authorities and the anger of the king. Terrasso-weea, on the contrary, unhesitatingly affirmed that Fatouma was the traitor; and expressed a strong suspicion that the chief was either instigator or accomplice. He was, at the time, residing with the King of Yaouri, as malaam, or priest, and he said that the entire transaction passed under his immediate observation. Excepting in a few circumstantials, his statement runs nearly parallel with the current report. The demand for toll, or wages, on pretext of non-payment, the resistance by Park, the violent conduct of the authorities, with the consequent fight and massacre, are the main features of both histories; and where they differ, that now before us seems to be in all respects the most trustworthy. Terrassoweea farther expressed an opinion that with a little more coolness and promptitude, the party might have escaped. The general feeling of the natives was with Park, and it was not until he wounded the king's messenger, that they became exasperated. If, abstaining from direct violence, he had put aside the officer, and cast off from the shore, it is probable that no very earnest opposition would have been made to his departure.

'I questioned him respecting the falls represented to have been the cause of his canoe upsetting, but he declared that there are no such falls as to impede in any way the navigation of a canoe of any size for more than two hundred miles higher up, but merely a rapid current passing between some large boulders of granite, between which he had himself passed nearly the number of days in two moons. He further stated in reply to questions from me, that Park was taken out of his canoe alive, but would not speak when taken before the

king. All the property in the canoe was claimed by the king, and some of it distributed in presents to his courtiers.'-Ib. p. 182.

Having thus effected his double purpose, Mr. Duncan prepared, very reluctantly we suspect, for his return journey, which he accomplished without material difficulty. The officers and men whom he had left on the frontier to await his coming, were relieved by his re-appearance from their apprehensions that, the defective vigilance which had permitted his evasion would be severely visited by their master.

'I had been cautioned by my Dahoman caboceer, early in the morning previous to our marching, not to touch either a flower or a shrub of any description, or even pick up a pebble, as I had been in the habit of doing when I observed any thing new on my journey. I took little heed of this wholesome injunction, supposing that his motives were merely to prevent any delay on the road, as the day was likely to be rainy. Upon observing a succession of this plant, as I rode along, I carelessly laid hold of, and broke off a portion of the stem of one which was extremely brittle. A yell was instantly raised amongst my soldiers, and in a moment it was snatched out of my hand, and thrown a considerable distance from the path, while another soldier seized my horse's head and pulled it on one side from the plant. Upon inquiring the cause of such an unceremonious proceeding, I was a sured that I had run into extreme danger myself, as well as all those near my person, as this plant was the most deadly poison to be found in that country, and that even the vapour from a fracture or wound in the stem or any other part of it, from which a milky liquid almost in a stream exudes, which comes in contact with the eye, invariably causes total blindness, and death immediately if any particle of the juice comes in contact with the blood.'-Ib. p. 194.

Mr. Duncan states further, from his own observation, that in this immediate neighbourhood blindness is exceedingly prevalent, not only among the human habitants, but to a remarkable extent among domestic animals, and that his inquiries on the subject were invariably answered by reference to this active poison. The natives of the hill-country of Dassa are said to employ it in warfare with destructive effect; and the army of Dahomey was not long since compelled to desist from a menaced invasion by the simple but savage expedient of poisoning the wells. These mountaineers appear to possess the secret of extracting, without danger to themselves, the venomous juices, and this fact, if ascertained, would suggest the probability of exaggeration as to the extent and subtlety of their injurious operation. The description of the plant itself, as given by Mr. Duncan, shows clearly enough that it belongs to the Euphor

biaceæ, a tribe including a large proportion of the vegetable poisons.

The fierceness and jealousy with which these negro highlanders guard their territory showed themselves in a rather curious way, as the traveller and his escort passed along the mountain road. It has been stated, that Mr. Duncan was cautioned against 'picking up a pebble' while on this forbidden ground. He forgot or disregarded the admonition; an unusual specimen attracted his attention, and it had no sooner beeu placed in his hand, than, like the clansmen of Roderick Dhu, armed men started up on every side. The noise and the rush were tremendous. Mr. Duncan's guards made ready to repel aggression, but carefully abstained from any act or movement likely to provoke it. The gestures and clamour of these wild warriors became at length so savage and exciting, that Mr. Duncan proposed to try the effect of a volley, but was reminded by his Dahoman conductor, that, however irritating all this might be, it was not unprovoked. We should like to know more of these mountain races. It has been said that their language is identical through the entire range; this, however, is contradicted by Mr. Duncan, we doubt not on sufficient grounds.

The expedition reached the capital on the 24th of August, and the excellent King of Dahomey, who might have justly felt and expressed grave displeasure, contented himself with asking, what the Queen of England would have said, if her subject had been killed while under his protection?

It is, we think, abundantly clear from all this, that the roads to the interior are by no means blocked up, either by unreasonable suspicion, or by an inhospitable feeling towards strangers. During Mr. Duncan's progress, though he had to encounter some shrewd questioning, there seems to have been no indisposition anywhere to commercial or friendly intercourse. His word was taken; there was no espionage, no gendarmerie, no passport system; he went and came without challenge and without danger. The only flaw in all this was of European origin; when he talked of traffic, he was asked if he would purchase slaves.

Here, however, we must close; not that we have exhausted either the extractive or the suggestive matter of the book, but we are trespassing on our limits, and we must take leave of Mr. Duncan; not without recording our admiration of his energy and perseverance; expressing, moreover, a hope that after serving his country in so many ways, his talents may still be made available, in some safe and quiet department of official duty, rather than in the labours and hazards of a wandering ie.

ART. III.-An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists, by the Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice. With an Account of the Trial of Jesus. By Simon Greenleaf, L.L.D., Dane Professor of Law in Harvard University. Second Edition. Revised and Corrected. 8vo. Pp. 568. London: Maxwell and Son.

THIS is, to say the least, a great rarity in the republic of letters. For a lawyer, of the very highest repute in his own profession, to undertake the defence of the Four Evangelists, and to apply his knowledge and skill in sifting evidence to the establishment of their credibility, is a novel and pleasing fact, of which the new world may justly boast over the old. A late learned French advocate, A. M. J. J. Dupin, undertook, and very ably executed a reply to Joseph Salvador's Trial and Condemnation of Jesus.' But it was a short tract, and consisted chiefly in a judicious display and orderly arrangement of the facts stated by the several evangelists. Other instances might be named of legal gentlemen engaging in the general defence of revelation. But in our own country it would be difficult to find an instance parallel to this of Professor Greenleaf. His work consists of an examination of the testimony given by the Four Evangelists, conducted according to the rules laid down by courts of law, for testing the evidence brought before them, followed by a complete harmony of the gospels, after Dr. Robinson, with notes explanatory of difficult passages, and apparent discrepancies.

Legal knowledge has, before now, been brought to bear upon particular critico-theological questions, and much has been written upon the nature of the evidence required to substantiate miracles and revelation generally. But we do not recollect any other instance of a learned and practised jurist, enjoying a European, as well as an American reputation, of a very high class, undertaking the whole question of the credibility of the gospels, in their simple, grammatical sense. Moreover, this able work by Professor Greenleaf contrasts very advantageously, at the present time, with the English edition of Dr. Strauss's 'Life of Jesus.' The latter, characterized by the most unnatural, unhistorical application of a purely imaginary theory of myths to the alleged facts of the gospels, by which they are sought to be placed on the same level with heathen mythology; and the former proving, by the application of the severest tests, that they possess all those marks of credibility and authenticity which are required by the highest legal authorities, in documents and witnesses brought before the tribunals. Dr. Greenleaf's work,

though not intended as an answer to Strauss, is a very sufficient one. It may not be uninteresting to our readers, if we place before them the striking contrast, in point of reasoning and practical good sense, presented by these two writers, upon the same important question-the credibility or incredibility of the Four Evangelists. We find, ready to our hand, in a recent work, the following brief and judicious analysis of that vaunted and elaborate theory which once made so much noise in Germany, and the publication of which in our own country has created no small stir, but which is, we trust, rapidly waning in all coun tries, to its final disappearance. We extract from The People's Dictionary of the Bible,' under the word Gospel,' the following delineation of Dr. Strauss's 'Life of Jesus :

'The theory which Strauss has advanced, in order to account for the origin of the gospel and of Christianity, is as follows: there existed, in the time of the Emperor Tiberius, a Jew, by name Jesus, born at Nazareth, who having for some time lived in Galilee, became a scholar of John the Baptist. When, in the hazardous work of preaching repentance, John had been cast into prison, Jesus, on independent grounds, undertook a similar task, aiming to produce a moral reformation among the people, and being possessed with the superstitious notions of the day, in regard to miraculous aids, he expected a divine interposition by which Israel would be set at liberty, and David's throne restored. This view, set forth by Jesus, found acceptance in the long cherished expectations entertained of the coming of the Messiah, so that at last the question arose among the people that Jesus might himself be the Messiah. To this notion Jesus was at first opposed, but, by degrees, he fell in with the popular opinion. Meanwhile, the authorities of the land regarded him with aversion, and sought to compass his death. Jesus knew their full designs, but found comfort and support in the sufferings of prophets, and, after their example, persevered in his teachings, till at last he was apprehended, and put to death. As soon, however, as his disciples had recovered from the dismay into which the fate of their master had cast them, they set about attempting to explain the contradiction which presented itself between their conception of Jesus, as the Messiah, and the termination of his career. In this state of mind they turned to their Scriptures, and found that the Messiah was to suffer and die, before he entered into his glory. Jesus had been slain, but then was not extinct. He had entered into his glory, and would appear again. With these ideas working in their minds, they believed that they actually saw him, the illusion being aided by the excitable imaginations of females, and the possible appearance in their circle of some unknown person.