March 26.-Accompanied Senhor B- to several of his orange-gardens in the town. Many of the trees in one garden were a hundred years old, still bearing plentifully a highly prized thin-skinned orange, full of juice and free from pips. The thinness of the rind of a St Michael's orange, and its freedom from pips, depend on the age of the tree. The young trees, when in full vigour, bear fruit with a thick pulpy rind and an abundance of seeds; but as the vigour of the plant declines, the peel becomes thinner, and the seeds gradually diminish in number, until they disappear altogether. Thus, the oranges that we esteem the most are the produce of barren trees, and those which we consider the least palatable come from plants in full vigour. Our friend was increasing the number of his trees by layers. These usually take root at the end of two years. They are then cut off from the parent stem, and are vigorous young trees four feet high. The process of raising from seed is seldom, if ever, adopted in the Azores, on account of the very slow growth of the trees so raised. Such plants, however, are far less liable to the inroads of a worm which attacks the roots of the trees raised from layers, and frequently proves very destructive to them. The seed or 'pip' of the acid orange, which we call Seville, with the sweeter kind grafted upon it, is said to produce fruit of the finest flavour. In one small garden eight trees were pointed out which had borne for two successive years a crop of oranges which was sold for thirty pounds. * * The treatment of orange-trees in Fayal differs from that in St Michael's, where, after they are planted out, they are allowed to grow as they please. In this orangegarden the branches, by means of strings and pegs fixed in the ground, were strained away from the centre into the shape of a cup, or of the ribs of an open umbrella turned upside down. This allows the sun to penetrate, exposes the branches to a free circulation of air, and is said to be of use in ripening the fruit. Certain it is that oranges are exported from Fayal several weeks earlier than they are from St Michael's; and as this cannot be attributed to greater warmth of climate, it may possibly be owing to the plan of spreading the trees to the sun. The same precautions are taken here as in St Michael's to shield them from the winds; high walls are built round all the gardens, and the trees themselves are planted among rows of fayas, firs, and camphor-trees. If it were not for these precautions, the oranges would be blown down in such numbers as to interfere with or swallow up the profits of the gardens; none of the windfalls or ground-fruit,' as the merchants here call them, being exported to England. * * Suddenly we came upon merry groups of men and boys, all busily engaged in packing oranges, in a square and open plot of ground. They were gathered round a goodly pile of the fresh fruit, sitting on heaps of the dry calyx-leaves of the Indian corn, in which each orange is wrapped before it is placed in the boxes. Near these circles of laughing Azoreans, who sat at their work and kept up a continual cross-fire of rapid repartee as they quickly filled the orange-cases, were a party of children, whose business it was to prepare 794 the husks for the men, who used them in packing. These youngsters, who were playing at their work like the children of a larger growth that sat by their side, were with much difficulty kept in order by an elderly man, who shook his head and a long stick whenever they flagged or idled. * * A quantity of the leaves being heaped together near the packers, the operation began. A child handed to a workman who squatted by the heap of fruit a prepared husk; this was rapidly snatched from the child, wrapped round the orange by an intermediate workman, passed by the feeder to the next, who, sitting with the chest between his legs, placed it in the orange-box with amazing rapidity, took a second, and a third, and a fourth as fast as his hands could move and the feeders could supply him, until at length the chest was filled to overflowing, and was ready to be nailed up. Two men then handed it to the carpenter, who bent over the orange-chest several thin boards, secured them with the willow-band, pressed it with his naked foot as he sawed off the ragged ends of the boards, and finally despatched it to the ass which stood ready for lading. Two chests were slung across his back by means of cords crossed in a figure of eight; both were well secured by straps under his belly; the driver took his goad, pricked his beast, and uttering the never-ending cry 'Sackaaio,' trudged off to the town. The orange-trees in this garden cover the sides of a glen or ravine, like that of the Dargle, but somewhat less steep; they are of some age, and have lost the stiff clumpy form of the younger trees. Some idea of the rich beauty of the scene may be formed by imagining the trees of the Dargle to be magnificent shrubs loaded with orange fruit, and mixed with lofty arbutuses Groves whose rich fruit, burnished with golden rind, Hung amiable, and of delicious taste. In one part scores of children were scattered among the branches, gathering fruit into small baskets, hallooing, laughing, practically joking, and finally emptying their gatherings into the larger baskets underneath the trees, which, when filled, were slowly borne away to the packing-place, and bowled out upon the great heap. Many large orange-trees on the steep sides of the glen lay on the ground uprooted, either from their load of fruit, the high winds, or the weight of the boys, four, five, and even six of whom will climb the branches at the same time; and as the soil is very light, and the roots are superficial-and the fall of a tree perhaps not unamusing-down the trees come. They are allowed to lie where they fall; and those which had evidently fallen many years ago were still alive, and bearing good crops. The oranges are not ripe until March or April, nor are they eaten generally by the people here until that time-the boys, however, that picked them are marked exceptions. The young children of Villafranca are now almost universally of a yellow tint, as if saturated with orange juice. M.D., late naturalist to the New Zealand Company, Travels in New Zealand, by ERNEST DIEFFENBACH, 1843, is a valuable history of an interesting country, destined apparently to transmit the English language, arts, and civilisation. Mr Dieffenbach gives a minute account of the language of New Zealand, of which he compiled a grammar and dictionary. He conceives the native population of New Zealand to be fit to receive the benefits of civilisation, and to amalgamate with the British colonists. At the same time he believes in the practice of cannibalism often imputed to the New Zealanders. Life in Mexico, during a Residence of Two Years in that Country, by MADAME CALDERON DE LA BARCA, an English lady, is full of sketches of domestic life, related with spirit and acuteness. In no other work are we presented with such agreeable glimpses of Mexican life and manners. Letters on Paraguay, and Letters on South America, by J. P. and W. P. ROBERTSON, are the works of two brothers who resided twenty-five years in South America. The Narrative of the Voyages of H.M.S. Adventure and Beagle, 1839, by CAPTAINS KING and FITZROY, and C. DARWIN, Esq., naturalist of the Beagle, detail the various incidents which occurred during their examination of the southern shores of South America, and during the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. The account of the Patagonians in this work, and that of the natives of Tierra del Fuego, are both novel and interesting, while the geological details supplied by Mr Darwin possess a permanent value. details, few of them novel or striking, but apparently written with truth and candour. The work fatigues from the multiplicity of its small statements, and the want of general views or animated description. In 1842 the author published two additional volumes, describing his tour in the slavestates. These are more interesting, because the ground is less hackneyed, and Mr Buckingham felt strongly, as a benevolent and humane man, on the subject of slavery, that curse of the American soil. MR BUCKINGHAM was an extensive traveller and writer. He published narratives of journeys in Palestine, Assyria, Media, and Persia, and of various continental tours. He tried a number of literary schemes, establishing the Oriental Herald and Athenæum weekly journal, and was a successful lecturer. He had published two volumes of an autobiography, when he died somewhat suddenly in 1855, aged sixty-nine. Notes on the United States during a Phrenological Visit in 1839-40 have been published by MR GEORGE COMBE, in three volumes. Though attaching what is apt to appear an undue importance to his views Among other works on America we may mention of phrenology, Mr Combe was a sensible traveller. the Western World, by ALEXANDER MACKAY, three He paid particular attention to schools and all volumes, 1849, a very complete and able book; Things benevolent institutions, which he has described with As they are in America, by WILLIAM CHAMBERS; and care and minuteness. Among the matter-of-fact Life and Liberty in America, by CHARLES MACKAY. details and sober disquisitions in this work, we'A visit to America,' as Mr Chambers has said, 'is meet with the following romantic story. The usually one of the early aspirations of the more author had visited the lunatic asylum at Blooming- impressionable youth of England. The stirring dale, where he learned this realisation of Cymon and stories told of Columbus, Sebastian Cabot, Raleigh, Iphigenia-finer even than the version of Dryden! and Captain John Smith; the history of the Pilgrim Fathers fleeing from persecution; the description of Penn's transactions with the Indians; the narratives of the gallant achievements of Wolfe and Washington, and the lamentable humiliations of Burgoyne and Cornwallis; the exciting autobiography of the Philadelphian printer, who, from toiling at the press, rose to be the companion of kings-all have their due effect on the imagination.' The facilities afforded by steam-boat communication also render a visit to America a matter of easy and pleasant accomplishment. In [An American Cymon and Iphigenia.] In the course of conversation, a case was mentioned to me as having occurred in the experience of a highly respectable physician, and which was so fully authenticated, that I entertain no doubt of its truth. The physician alluded to had a patient, a young man, who was almost idiotie from the suppression of all his faculties. He never spoke, and never moved voluntarily, but sat habitually with his hand shading his eyes. The physician sent him to walk as a remedial measure. the neighbourhood, a beautiful young girl of sixteen Spain, with its fine scenery and romantic assolived with her parents, and used to see the young ciations, has been well described by MR RICHARD man in his walks, and speak kindly to him. For some FORD (1796-1858), author of a Handbook for Spain, time he took no notice of her; but after meeting her 1845, and Gatherings from Spain, 1846. The latter for several months, he began to look for her, and to work is the best modern popular account of Spain. feel disappointed if she did not appear. He became Two remarkable works on Spain have been published so much interested, that he directed his steps volun- by MR GEORGE BORROW, late agent of the British tarily to her father's cottage, and gave her bouquets of and Foreign Bible Society. The first of these, in two flowers. By degrees he conversed with her through the volumes, 1841, is entitled Zincali, or an Account of window. His mental faculties were roused; the dawn the Gipsies in Spain. Mr Borrow calculates that of convalescence appeared. The girl was virtuous, there are about forty thousand gipsies in Spain, of intelligent, and lovely, and encouraged his visits when which about one-third are to be found in Andalusia. she was told that she was benefiting his mental health. The caste, he says, has diminished of late years. She asked him if he could read and write? He The author's adventures with this singular people answered, No. She wrote some lines to him to induce are curiously compounded of the ludicrous and him to learn. This had the desired effect. He applied romantic, and are related in the most vivid and himself to study, and soon wrote good and sensible dramatic manner. Mr Borrow's second work is letters to her. He recovered his reason. She was named The Bible in Spain, or the Journeys, Advenmarried to a young man from the neighbouring city: tures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman, in an Great fears were entertained that this event would attempt to circulate the Scriptures in the Peninsula, undo the good which she had accomplished. The young 1844. There are many things in the book which, as patient sustained a severe shock, but his mind did not the author acknowledges, have little connection with sink under it. He acquiesced in the propriety of her religion or religious enterprise. It is indeed a series choice, continued to improve, and at last was restored of personal adventures, varied and interesting, with to his family cured. She had a child, and was soon sketches of character and romantic incidents drawn after brought to the same hospital perfectly insane. with more power and vivacity than is possessed by The young man heard of this event, and was exceed-most novelists. ingly anxious to see her; but an interview was denied to him, both on her account and his own. She died. He continued well, and became an active member of society. What a beautiful romance might be founded on this narrative! America, Historical, Statistical, and Descriptive, by J. S. Buckingham, is a vast collection of facts and [Impressions of the City of Madrid.] [From Borrow's Bible in Spain.] I have visited most of the principal capitals of the world, but upon the whole none has ever so interested me as this city of Madrid, in which I now found myself. I will not dwell upon its streets, its edifices, its public squares, its fountains, though some of these are remarkable enough but Petersburg has finer streets, Paris and Edinburgh more stately edifices, London far nobler squares, whilst Shiraz can boast of more costly fountains, though not cooler waters. But the population! Within a mud wall, scarcely one league and a half in circuit, are contained two hundred thousand human beings, certainly forming the most extraordinary vital mass to be found in the entire world; and be it always remembered that this mass is strictly Spanish. The population of Constantinople is extraordinary enough, but to form it twenty nations have contributed-Greeks, Armenians, Persians, Poles, Jews, the latter, by the by, of Spanish origin, and speaking amongst themselves the old Spanish language; but the huge population of Madrid, with the exception of a sprinkling of foreigners, chiefly French tailors, glove-makers, and perruquiers, is strictly Spanish, though a considerable portion are not natives of the place. Here are no colonies of Germans, as at St Petersburg; no English factories, as at Lisbon; no multitudes of insolent Yankees lounging through the streets, as at the Havannah, with an air which seems to say the land is our own whenever we choose to take it; but a population which, however strange and wild, and composed of various elements, is Spanish, and will remain so as long as the city itself shall exist. Hail, ye aguadores of Asturia! who, in your dress of coarse duffel and leathern skull-caps, are seen seated in hundreds by the fountain-sides, upon your empty watercasks, or staggering with them filled to the topmost stories of lofty houses. Hail, ye caleseros of Valencia ! who, lolling lazily against your vehicles, rasp tobacco for your paper cigars whilst waiting for a fare. Hail to you, beggars of La Mancha! men and women, who, wrapped in coarse blankets, demand charity indifferently at the gate of the palace or the prison. Hail to you, valets from the mountains, mayordomos and secretaries from Biscay and Guipuscoa, toreros from Andalusia, riposteros from Galicia, shopkeepers from Catalonia! Hail to ye, Castilians, Estremenians, and Aragonese, of whatever calling! And, lastly, genuine sons of the capital, rabble of Madrid, ye twenty thousand manolos, whose terrible knives, on the second morning of May, worked such grim havoc amongst the legions of Murat! And the higher orders-the ladies and gentlemen, the cavaliers and señoras; shall I pass them by in silence? The truth is, I have little to say about them; I mingled but little in their society, and what I saw of them by no means tended to exalt them in my imagination. I am not one of those who, wherever they go, make it a constant practice to disparage the higher orders, and to exalt the populace at their expense. There are many capitals in which the high aristocracy, the lords and ladies, the sons and daughters of nobility, constitute the most remarkable and the most interesting part of the population. This is the case at Vienna, and more especially at London. Who can rival the English aristocrat in lofty stature, in dignified bearing, in strength of hand, and valour of heart? Who rides a nobler horse? Who has a firmer seat? And who more lovely than his wife, or sister, or daughter? But with respect to the Spanish aristocracy, I believe the less that is said of them on the points to which I have just alluded the better. I confess, however, that I know little about them. Le Sage has described them as they were nearly two centuries ago. His description is anything but captivating, and I do not think that they have improved since the period of the immortal Frenchman. I would sooner talk of the lower class, not only of Madrid, but of all Spain. The Spaniard of the lower class has much more interest for me, whether manolo, labourer, or muleteer. He is not a common being; he is an extraordinary man. He has not, it is true, the amiability and generosity of the Russian mujik, who will give his only rouble rather than the stranger shall want; nor his placid courage, which renders him insensible to fear, and at the command of his czar sends him singing to certain death. There is more hardness and less self-devotion in the disposition of the Spaniard: he possesses, however, a spirit of proud independence, which it is impossible but to admire. Mr Borrow has since published Lavengro-the Scholar, the Gipsy, the Priest, 1851; and Romany Rye, a sequel to Lavengro. These works are inferior in interest to his former publications, but are still remarkable books. Mr Borrow is a native of Norfolk. A. H. LAYARD. Few modern books of travels or narratives of dis covery have excited greater interest in this country than the two volumes published in 1848, Nineveh and its Remains, by AUSTEN HENRY LAYARD. Mr in 1817) had travelled extensively in the East, and Layard (born in Paris, of French Protestant parents, was devoted to the study of Eastern antiquities and banks of the Tigris, were traditionally known as the site of the ancient Nineveh; the French consul at Mosul, M. Botta, had made interesting discoveries at Khorsabad; and, stimulated by his example, Mr Layard entered on a course of excavations at the same spot. The generosity of Sir Stratford Canning-now Lord Stratford de Redcliffe-supplied funds for the expedition. In October 1845, Mr Layard reached Mosul, and commenced operations at Nimroud, about eighteen miles lower down the Tigris. He descended the river on a raft. manners. The vast mounds near Mosul, on the [Appearance of Nimroud.] It was evening as we approached the spot. The spring rains had clothed the mound with the richest verdure, and the fertile meadows which stretched around it were covered with flowers of every hue. Amidst this luxuriant vegetation were partly concealed a few fragments of bricks, pottery, and alabaster, upon which might be traced the well-defined wedges of the TRAVELLERS. ENGLISH LITERATURE. cuneiform character. Did not these remains mark the me as I approached, standing near a heap of baskets As Whilst I was superintending the removal of the earth, which still clung to the sculpture, and giving directions for the continuation of the work, a noise of horsemen was heard, and presently Abd-ur-rahman, followed by half his tribe, appeared on the edge of the trench. soon as the two Arabs had reached the tents, and published the wonders they had seen, every one mounted his mare and rode to the mound, to satisfy himself of the truth of these inconceivable reports. When they beheld the head, they all cried together: "There is no god but God, and Mohammed is his prophet!' It was some time before the sheikh could be prevailed upon to descend into the pit, and convince himself that the men's hands,' exclaimed he, but of those infidel giants of whom the prophet-peace be with him!-has said that they were higher than the tallest date-tree; this is one of the idols which Noah-peace be with him!-cursed before the flood.' In this opinion, the result of a careful examination, all the bystanders concurred. The 'cuneiform character' referred to is the arrow-image he saw was of stone. This is not the work of headed alphabet, or signs and characters found on bricks, on cylinders, on the remains of ancient buildings, and on the smooth surfaces of rocks, from the Euphrates to the eastern boundary of Persia. Professor Grotofend deciphered certain names in these inscriptions, and his discovery has been followed up by Sir Henry Rawlinson, Dr Hincks, and others, with distinguished success. Mr Layard commenced his operations at Nimroud on a vast mound, 1800 feet long, 900 broad, and On digging down into the 60 or 70 feet high. rubbish, chambers of white marble were brought to light; then sculptures with cuneiform inscriptions, winged lions with human heads, sphinxes, bassreliefs representing hunting-pieces and battleOne scenes, with illustrations of domestic life. discovery caused great consternation among the labourers. [Discovery of a Colossal Sculpture.] On the morning I rode to the encampment of Sheikh Abd-ur-rahman, and was returning to the mound, when I saw two Arabs of his tribe urging their mares to the top of their speed. On approaching me, they stopped. 'Hasten, O Bey,' exclaimed one of them-hasten to the diggers, for they have found Nimrod himself. Wallah, it is wonderful, but it is true! we have seen him with our eyes. There is no god but God;' and both joining in this pious exclamation, they galloped off, without further words, in the direction of their tents. On reaching the ruins I descended into the new trench, and found the workmen, who had already seen at The semi-barbarism of the people caused frequent In about twelve difficulties; but the traveller's tact, liberality, and courage overcame them all. months, eight chambers were opened. Additional funds for prosecuting researches were obtained through the trustees of the British Museum, and ultimately twenty-eight halls and galleries were laid open, and the most valuable of the exhumed treasures transmitted to the British Museum. Mr Layard afterwards commenced excavations Kouyunjik, on the plain beyond the Tigris, opposite Mosul, and was there equally successful. In 1849, he undertook a second expedition, funds having been supplied (though with a niggardly hand) by the trustees of the Museum and the government. On this occasion, Mr Layard extended his researches to Babylon and the confines of Persia, but the most valuable results were obtained in the field of his former labours, at Nimroud and Kouyunjik. The sculptures were of all kinds, one of the most remarkable being a figure of Dagon-a four-winged male divinity. There were representations of almost every mode of life-banquets, processions, sieges, forts, captives in fetters, criminals undergoing punishment, &c. The Assyrians appear to have been familiar with the most cruel barbarities-flaying alive, impaling, and torturing their prisoners. In 797 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. the mechanical arts they were inferior to the government sent to Sahela Selasse, the king of Egyptians, and in moving those gigantic sculptures Shoa, in Southern Abyssinia, whose capital, Ankober, they had no motive-power but physical force-the was supposed to be about four hundred miles inland captives, malefactors, and slaves being employed. from the port of Tajura, on the African coast. The The well-known emblems of Egyptian art appear king consented to form a commercial treaty, and on those Assyrian marbles, and Sir Gardiner Major Harris conceives that a profitable intercourse Wilkinson considers this as disproving their early might be maintained by Great Britain with this date. They are all, he concludes, within the date productive part of the world. 1000 B.C., illustrating the periods of Shalmaneser and Sennacherib; and Mr Layard is also of opinion that the Assyrian palaces he explored were built by Sennacherib, who came to the throne at the end of the seventh century before Christ. The mounds at Nimroud, Kouyunjik, and Khorasan would seem to be all parts of one vast city or capital-the Nineveh of Jonah, which was a three days' journey, and contained 100,000 children, or a population of half a million. The measurement of the space within the ruins gives an area almost identical with that assigned by the prophet. The account of this second expedition was published by Mr Layard in 1853, under the title of Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon. He afterwards entered into public life, was a short time Under-secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and member of parliament for Aylesbury; he visited the Crimea during the war with Russia, and on his return was one of the most urgent in demanding inquiry into the management of the army. zeal was not always controlled by judgment; and those who had most cordially admired him as the enlightened and intrepid explorer of Eastern antiquities, were not disposed to regret that the constituency of Aylesbury, in 1857, declined to return him again to parliament. [City of Baghdad, or Bagdat.] His We are now amid the date-groves. If it be autumn, clusters of golden fruit hang beneath the fan-like leaves; if spring, the odour of orange blossoms fills the air. The cooing of the doves that flutter among the branches begets a pleasing melancholy, and a feeling of listlessness and repose. The raft creeps round a projecting bank, and two gilded domes and four stately minarets, all glittering in the rays of an Eastern sun, rise suddenly high above the dense bed of palms. They are of the mosque of Kaithaman, which covers the tombs of two of the Imaums or holy saints of the Sheeah sect. The low banks swarm with Arabs-men, women, and naked children. Mud hovels screened by yellow mats, and groaning water-wheels worked by the patient ox, are seen beneath the palms. The Tigris becomes wider and wider, and the stream is almost motionless. Circular boats of reeds, coated with bitumen, skim over the water. Horsemen and riders on white asses hurry along the river-side. Turks in flowing robes and broad turbans; Persians in high black caps and close-fitting tunics; the Bokhara pilgrim in his white head-dress and way-worn garments; the Bedouin chief in his tasseled keffiih and striped aba; Baghdad ladies with their scarlet and white draperies, fretted with threads of gold, and their black horse-hair veils concealing even their wanton eyes; Persian women wrapped in their sightless garments; and Arab girls in their simple blue shirts, are all mingled together in one motley crowd. A busy stream of travellers flows without ceasing from the gates of the western suburb of Baghdad to the sacred precincts of Kaithaman. An account of the Highlands of Ethiopia, by MAJOR W. CORNWALLIS HARRIS, H.E.I.C. Engineers, three volumes, 1844, also abounds with novel and interesting information. The author was employed to conduct a mission which the British Since the period of Mungo Park's travels and melancholy fate, no explorer of Africa has excited so strong a personal interest as MR DAVID LIVINGSTONE, a Scottish missionary, whose Researches in David Livingstone. South Africa were published in 1857. Mr Livingstone had then returned to England, where his arrival was celebrated as a national event, after completing a series of expeditions, commenced sixteen years before, and which he is still prosecuting, for the purpose of exploring the interior of Africa, and spreading religious knowledge and commerce. The narrative describes long and perilous journeys in a country, the greater part of which had never before been visited by an European, and contains a great amount of information respecting the natives, the geography, botany, and natural products of Africa. In the belief that Christianity can only be effectually extended by being united to commerce, Dr Livingstone endeavoured to point out and develop the capabilities of the new region for mercantile intercourse. The missionary, he argues, should be a trader-a fact known to the Jesuits in Africa, and also to the Dutch clergy, but neglected by our Protestant missionary societies. By the introduction of the raw material of our manufactures, African and English interests will be more closely linked than heretofore; both countries will be eventually benefited, and the cause of freedom throughout the world will be promoted.' To these patriotic and national advantages indicated by Dr Livingstone, his work possesses the interest springing from a personal narrative of difficulties overcome and dangers encountered, pictures of new and |