and arms. The second consists of a history of the Wahabys, compiled from such information, written and oral, as the minute enquiries of Burkhardt had enabled him to accumulate. The history extends from the earliest appearance of these fierce reformers down to 1816, the period of the author's return to Egypt, where a premature death closed his career. The office of editor has been carefully and judiciously discharged by Sir W. Ouseley. Who knows not of the Arabs-the descendants of Ishmael-the nearest relatives of the chosen seed the men whose hands are against every man, as every man's hand is against them-the sunburnt wanderers of the desert? And who is not always happy to receive new intelligence, however scanty, of this strange people? Of their tribes bordering upon, or interepersed between, the settlements which surround Arabia, we have heard much-more than tends to elevate our opinions of them. The history of the uncontaminated inhabitants of central Arabia, by one who lived long amongst them, is a pleasing novelty. Burkhardt is not without hopes that prolonged researches may yet serve to throw new light upon the ancient history of this people. The laws the whole frame of society among the Bedouins, point to an origin much earlier than Mahomet. If, indeed, this conjecture should be realized, what new lights might we not expect to be shed upon the history of man by the early annals of this most numerous division of the Semitic race. "If, therefore, the civil laws of the Bedouins originate with Mohammed, and if, since his time, history does not mention any legislator of the Desert, we must seek for one in more remote ages of antiquity; but throughout Arabia, every thing is involved in darkness and uncertainty; and we have no reason to imagine that any Arab chief or king, who flourished at that early period, and of whom we know little besides their names, had extended his authority over the desert parts of Arabia, or ruled over the Bedouins. The ancient code of one Bedouin tribe only has reached posterity; but the Pentateuch was exclusively given to the Beni Israel; and we remain totally unacquainted with the internal laws of the numerous nations that surrounded the chosen race. "Perhaps a discovery may yet be made of Arabic manuscripts, capable of throwing light upon these points; for, notwithstanding all the literary treasures contained in our libraries, not one-tenth of the Arabian historians have hitherto found their way to Europe. Perhaps the discovery of ancient monuments and inscriptions in Nedjd and Yemen may lead to a disclosure of new historical facts; but even though posterity should be left in ignorance on those subjects, the present state of the great Bedouin commonwealth of Arabia must be considered a most interesting field for enquiry, as it offers to our contemplation the rare example of a nation, which, notwithstanding its perpetual state of warfare, without and within, and the frequent attempts made for its subjugation, has preserved for a long succession of ages its primitive laws in all their vigour, the observance of which has been enforced merely by the national spirit and uncorrupted manners of its rude but patriotic members." The sketches of Arab character sprinkled through the work are numerous and pleasing. Ferocious valour does not seem to be a predominant feature. Nor is it in any society where a false sense of honour has not called it into existence. That the Arabs, however, are not deficient in true bravery, will appear from the following extract: "The Arabs, however, have evinced on some occasions great firmness and courage; but when they fight merely for plunder, they behave like cowards. I could adduce numerous instances of caravan-travellers and peasants putting to flight three times their number of Arabs who had attacked them: hence, throughout Syria, they are reckoned miserable cowards, and their contests with the peasants always prove them such; but when the Arab faces his national enemy in open battle, when the fame and honour of his tribe are at stake, he frequently displays heroic valour; and we still find among them warriors whose names are celebrated all over the Desert; and the acts of bravery ascribed to them might seem fabulous, did we not recollect that the weapons of the Arabs allow full scope to personal prowess, and that in irregular skirmishing the superior qualities of the horse give the rider incalculable advantages that this valiant slave, when mounted upon his mare Ghaover his enemies. Thus we read, in the history of Antar bara, killed with his lance, in a single battle, eight hundred men. However incredulous respecting the full amount of this statement, I may here be allowed to mention the name of a modern hero, whose praise is recorded in hundreds of poems, and whose feats in arms have been reported to me by many ocular witnesses. Gedoua Ibn Gheyan el Shamsy is known to have slain thirty of his enemies in one encounter; he prided himself in having never been put to flight, and the booty which he took was immense. But his friends alone benefited by this, for he himself continued always poor. His life at last was sacrificed to his valour. A war broke out in the year 1790, between the Ibn Fadhel and Ibn Esmeyr tribes, while most of the Aenezes engaged themselves on one side or the other. After many partial encounters, the two sheikhs, each with about five thousand horsemen, met near Mezerib, a small town on the Hadj road, nearly fifty miles from Damascus, on the plain of Hauran, and both determined on a general battle that should terminate the war. The armies were drawn up in sight of each other, and some slight skirmishing had commenced, when Gedoua (or, as the Bedouins in their dialect called him, Djedoua) formed the generous resolution of sacrificing his life for the glory of his tribe. He rode up to Ibn Esmeyr, under whose banners the Shamsy then fought, took off his coat of mail, and his clothes to his shirt, and approaching the chief, kissed his beard, thereby indicating that he devoted his life to him. He then quitted the ranks of his friends, and, without any arms besides his sabre, drove his mare furiously against the enemy. His valour being well known to the troops of both parties, every one waited with anxious expectation the result of his enterprise. The strength of his arm soon opened a way among the hostile ranks; he penetrated to their standard, or merkeb, which was carried in the centre; felled to the ground the camel that bore it, by a stroke on its thigh; then wheeled round, and had already regained the open space between the two armies, when he was killed by a shot from a metrás, or foot-soldier. friends, who had seen the merkeb fall, rushed with a loud cheer upon their enemies, and completely routed them; above five hundred foot-soldiers having been slain on that day. Whenever the merkeb falls, the battle is considered as lost by the party to whom it had belonged." His It is We have already remarked that the Bedouins of the desert were a more moral race than those who had mingled with the fixed residenters of the land. always thus; an unmixed race attains a degree of civilisation, which suffers taint, before it gains a new impulse, by coming in contact with men living under a different dispensation. There is a chivalrous sentiment in the wild Arab. and young women, or the young men, assemble upon an "About two or three hours after sunset, either the girls open space before or behind the tents, and begin to sing there in chorusses until the other party joins them. The girls then place themselves either in a group between the the number of the females be but small, they occupy a men, who range themselves in a line on both sides, or if line opposite to that of the men, at a distance of about thirty paces. One of the men then begins a song (kaszyde), of which only one verse is sung, repeating it many times, always with the same melody. The whole party of men then join in the chorus of the verse, accompanying it Standing close together, the whole line inclines sometimes with clapping of hands, and various motions of the body. towards one side, sometimes towards the other, backwards and forwards, occasionally dropping on one knee, always taking care to keep time by that movement, in measure with the song. While the men do this, two or three of the girls come forth from the group, or line of their companions, and slowly advance towards the men. They are completely veiled, and hold a mellaye, or blue cloak, loosely hung over both their outspread arms. They approach with light steps and slight bows, in time to the songs. Soon the motions of the girls become a little more lively, while they approach within two paces of the men; but still dancing (as it is called,) continuing to be extremely reserved, strictly decent, and very coy. The men endeavour to animate the girls by loud exclamations, with which they interrupt their song from time to time. They make use for this ptir 6 mirthful or his mournful moods; but our readers shall pose of exclamations and noises, with which they are accustomed to order their camels to halt, to walk, and The following morceau is a genuine picture of a shipful trot, to drink, and eat, to stop, and to lie down. They do not address the girl by her name, which would be a breach of middies. A finer hearted and more mischievous batch of politeness, according to Bedouin manners, but style her "At length, the idea began to gain ground amongst us, 'camel,' affecting to suppose that she advances towards them of imps never existed. This fiction is continued in search of food or water. during the whole dance. Get up, O camel;' walk fast;' that the poor beast had been put an end to by some diabothe poor camel is thirsty;' come and take your evening lical means; and our ire mounted accordingly. This susfood; these, and similar expressions, are used on the occa-picion seemed the more natural, as the officers said not a done with our dog. While we were in this state of excitesion, added to the many guttural sounds in which camel- word about the matter, nor even asked us what we had ment and distraction for our loss, one of the midshipmen, drivers talk to their beasts. To excite the dancer still more, some of the gay young men spread before them upon the to the expression of our thoughts. ground their own turbans, or headkerchiefs, to represent who had some drollery in his composition, gave a new turn food for the camel. If the dancing girl approach near enough to snatch away any article of dress, she throws it behind her back to her companions; and when the dance is finished, the owner must redeem it by a small fee paid to the girl. I once released a handkerchief by giving to the girl a string of pretty beads made of mother-of-pearl, observing that it was meant as a halter for the camel; with this she was much pleased, and hung it round her neck. After the dance has continued five or ten minutes, the girl sits down, and another takes her place, beginning like the former, and accelerating her movements according as she herself feels interested in the dance. If she seems animated, and advances close to the men's line, the latter evince their approbation by stretching out their arms as if to receive her; this dance, which continues frequently for five or six hours, and till long after midnight, and the pathetic songs which often accompany it, most powerfully work upon the imagination and feelings of the Arabs, and they never speak of the mesamer but with raptures. The feelings of a lover must, on this occasion, be carried to the highest pitch. The veiled form of his mistress advances in the dark, or by moonlight, like a phantom, to his embraces; her graceful, decent steps, her increasing animation, the general applause she receives, and the words of the song, or kaszyde, which are always in praise of beauty, must create the liveliest emotions in the bosom of her lover, who has, at least, the satisfaction of being able to give full scope to his feelings by voice and gestures, without exposing himself to any blame." The cause of the Bedouin's superiority in this respect over other Mussulmans is thus explained: "The Bedouins have more frequent opportunities of becoming acquainted with the daughters of their neighbours: their love is often conceived in their youthful days, and fostered during a series of years; and such is the prudery of a Bedouin girl, that whatever may be her sentiments with respect to a lover, she will seldom condescend to let him know them, and still less to suffer any personal liberties, The firm however convinced of a reciprocal affection. assurance of her honour and chastity must powerfully influence his heart; and as a Bedouin's mind and imagination are always strong and sound, not pampered into sickly sensibility, or a depraved fancy like the townsman's, it is to be supposed, that virtuous impressions being once made, take a firm hold. The custom of divorce, we must acknow. ledge, does not speak much in favour of any lasting attachment; but I would rather ascribe it to the unruly temper of those wild sons of the Desert, than to any want of feeling in their character." These fragments may serve to give the reader some idea of one of the most interesting works we have met with. Fragments of Voyages and Travels, including Anecdotes THIS book is worthy to rank in the juvenile library along with Sir Walter's Tales of a Grandfather, and we could not say more in its behalf if it were our own. Its tone is that of a brave, amiable, and well-principled man gossiping with his children, but never, in his attempts to amuse them, forgetting to impress upon their minds the necessity of looking this world and its affairs in the face, with a manly and practical spirit. It narrates much of the Captain's experience on shore and afloat. We do not exactly know whether we admire him most in his "This gentleman, who was more than twice as old as whole of our class, by the gentleness of his manners, and most of us, say about thirty, had won the affections of the the generous part he always took on our side. He bore like a father to those amongst us who, like myself, were amongst us the pet name of Daddy; and certainly he was quite adrift in the ship, without any one to look after them. He was a man of talents and classical education, but he had entered the navy far too late in life ever to take to it cordially. His habits, indeed, had become so rigid, that they could never be made to bend to the mortifying kind of discipline which it appears essential every officer should run through, but which only the young and light-hearted can brook. Our worthy friend, accordingly, with all his abilities, taste, and acquirements, never seemed at home on At all events, old Daddy board ship; and unless a man can reach this point of liking for the sea, he is better on shore. cared more about his books than about the blocks, and delighted much more in giving us assistance in our literary pursuits, and trying to teach us to be useful, than in rendering himself a proficient in those professional mysteries, "What this very interesting person's early history was, which he never hoped to practise in earnest himself. we never could find out; nor why he entered the navy; nor how it came, that a man of his powers and accomplishments should have been kept back so long. Indeed, the youngsters never enquired too closely into these matters, being quite contented to have the advantage of his protection against the oppression of some of the other oldsters, who occasionally bullied them. Upon all occasions of difficulty, we were in the habit of clustering round him, to tell our grievances, great and small, with the certainty of always tient and friendly listener. finding in him that great desideratum in calamity-a pa "It will easily be supposed, that our kind Daddy took more than usual interest in this affair of Shakings, and that he was applied to by us at every stage of the transaction. He was sadly perplexed, of course, when the dog was finally missing; and, for some days, he could give us no comfort, nor suggest any mode of revenge which was not too dangerous for his young friends to put in practice. He prudently observed, that as we had no certainty to go upon, it would be foolish to get ourselves into a serious scrape for nothing at all. "There can be no harm, however,' he continued, in his dry and slightly sarcastic way, which all who knew him hand slowly across his mouth and chin, There can be no will recollect as well as if they saw him now, drawing his their dear departed friend Shakings; for, whatever is come harm, my boys, in putting the other dogs in mourning for of him, he is lost to them as well as to us, and his memory ought to be duly respected.' "This hint was no sooner given than a cry was raised for crape, and every chest and bag ransacked to procure badges of mourning. The pointers were speedily rigged up with a large bunch of crape, tied in a handsome bow, upon the left leg of each, just above the knee. The joke took immediately. The officers could not help laughing; for, though we considered them little better than fiends at that moment of excitement, they were, in fact, except in this instance, the best natured and most indulgent men I remember to have sailed with. They, of course, ordered one of the officers remarked to us, seriously, that as we had the crape to be instantly cut off from the dogs' legs; and now had our piece of fun out, there were to be no more such tricks. "Off we scampered, to consult old Daddy what was to be done next, as we had been positively ordered not to meddle any more with the dogs. "Put the pigs in mourning,' he said. "All our crape was expended by this time; but thi 1 want was soon supplied by men whose trade it is to discover resources in difficulty. With a generous devotion to the cause of public spirit, one of these juvenile mutineers pulled off his black handkerchief, and tearing it in pieces, gave a portion to each of the circle, and away we all started to put into practice this new suggestion of our director-general of mischief. above words are pronounced, there are cast into the grave, "At the commencement of this part of the service, one of the seamen stoops down, and disengages the flag from the remains of his late shipmate, while the others, at the words we commit his body to the deep,' project the grating right into the sea. The body being loaded with shot at one end, glances off the grating, plunges at once into the ocean, and— In a moment, like a drop of rain, "The row which ensued in the pig-sty was prodigiousfor in those days, hogs were allowed a place on board a man-of-war-a custom most wisely abolished of late years, since nothing can be more out of character with any ship than such nuisances. As these matters of taste and cleanliness were nothing to us, we did not intermit our noisy labour till every one of the grunters had his armlet of such crape as we had been able to muster. We then watched our opportunity, and opened the door so as to let out the whole herd of swine on the main-deck, just at a moment when a group of the officers were standing on the fore part of the quarter-deck. Of course the liberated pigs, delighted with their freedom, passed in review under the very nose of our superiors, each with his mourning knot displayed, grunting or squealing along, as if it was their express object to attract attention to their domestic sorrow for the loss of Shakings. The officers were excessively provoked, as they could not help seeing that all this was affording entertain-main-chains. ment, at their expense, to the whole crew; for, although the men took no part in this touch of insubordination, they were ready enough, in those idle times of the weary, weary peace, to catch at any species of distraction or devilry, no matter what, to compensate for the loss of their wonted occupation of pommelling their enemies. He sinks into its depths with bubbling groan, Without a grave, unknell'd, uncoffin'd, and unknown.' "This part of the ceremony is rather less impressive than the correspondent part on land; but still there is something solemn, as well as startling, in the sudden splash, followed by the sound of the grating, as it is towed along, under the "In a fine day at sea, in smooth water, and when all the ship's company and officers are assembled, the ceremony just described, although a melancholy one, as it must always be, is often so pleasing, all things considered, that it is calculated to leave even cheerful impressions on the mind. conceive, do sometimes occur for a sea funeral, sufficient to "Occasions, however, as gloomy as any sad heart could strike the sternest natures. The most impressive which I recollect, of the numbers I have witnessed, was in the flagship, on the coast of North America. "The matter, therefore, necessarily became rather serious; and the whole gang of us being sent for on the quarter-deck, we were ranged in a line, each with his toes at the edge of a plank, according to the orthodox fashion of these gregarious scoldings, technically called toe-the-line matches.' "There was a poor little middy on board, so delicate and We were then given to understand that our proceedings fragile, that the sea was clearly no fit profession for him: were impertinent, and, after the orders we had received, but he or his friends thought otherwise; and, as he had a highly offensive. It was with much difficulty that either spirit for which his frame was no match, he soon gave token party could keep their countenances during this official of decay. This boy was a great favourite with every body lecture, for, while it was going on, the sailors were endea--the sailors smiled whenever he passed, as they would have vouring, by the direction of the officers, to remove the bits done to a child-the officers petted him, and coddled him up of silk from the legs of the pigs. If, however, it be diffi- with all sorts of good things-and his messmates, in a style cult-as most difficult we found it-to put a hog into which did not altogether please him, but which he could not mourning, it is a job ten times more troublesome to take him well resist, as it was meant most kindly, nicknamed him out again. Such at least is the fair inference from these Dolly. Poor fellow!-he was long remembered afterwards. two experiments; the only ones perhaps on record-for it I forget what his particular complaint was, but he gradually cost half the morning to undo what we had effected in less sunk; and at last went out just as a taper might have done, than an hour-to say nothing of the unceasing and out- exposed to such gusts of wind as blew in that tempestuous rageous uproar which took place along the decks, especially region. He died in the morning; but it was not until the under the guns, and even under the coppers, forward in evening that he was prepared for a seaman's grave. the galley, where two or three of the youngest pigs had wedged themselves, apparently resolved to die rather than submit to the degradation of being deprived of their mourning. "All this was very creditable to the memory of poor Shakings; but, in the course of the day, the real secret of this extraordinary difficulty of taking a pig out of mourning was discovered. Two of the mids were detected in the very fact of tying on a bit of black buntin to the leg of a sow, from which the seamen declared they had already cut off crape and silk enough to have made her a complete suit of black. "As soon as these fresh offences were reported, the whole party of us were ordered to the mast-head as a punishment. Some were sent to sit on the topmast cross-trees, some on the top-gallant yard-arms, and one small gentleman being perched at the jib-boom end, was very properly balanced abaft by another little culprit at the extremity of the gaff. In this predicament we were hung out to dry for six or eight hours, as old Daddy remarked to us with a grin, when we were called down as the night fell." There is genuine feeling and high descriptive talent in the account of a midshipman's funeral. "The land service for the burial of the dead contains the following words: "Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, of his great mercy, to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; în sure and certain hope,' &c. "Every one, I am sure, who has attended the funeral of a friend and who will this not include?-must recollect the solemnity of that stage of the ceremony, where, as the "I remember, in the course of the day, going to the side of the boy's hammock, and, ou laying my hand upon his breast, was astonished to find it still warm-so much so, that I almost imagined I could feel the heart beat. This, of course, was a vain fancy; but I was much attached to my little companion, being then not much taller myselfand I was soothed and gratified, in a childish way, by discovering that my friend, though many hours dead, had not yet acquired the usual revolting chillness. "In after years, I have sometimes thought of this incident, when reflecting on the pleasing doctrine of the Spaniards-that as soon as children die, they are translated into angels, without any of those 'cold obstructions' which, they pretend, intercept and retard the souls of other mortals. The peculiar circumstances connected with the funeral which I am about to describe, and the fanciful superstitions of the sailors upon the occasion, have combined to fix the whole scene in my memory. "Something occurred during the day to prevent the funeral taking place at the usual hour, and the ceremony was deferred till long after sunset. The evening was extremely dark, and it was blowing a treble-reefed top-sail breeze. We had just sent down the top-gallant yards, and made all snug for a boisterous winter's night. As it became necessary to have lights to see what was done, several signal lanterns were placed on the break of the quarter-deck, and others along the hammock railings on the lee gangway. The whole ship's company and officers were assembled, some on the booms, others in the boats; while the main rigging was crowded half-way up to the cat-harpings. Overhead, the mainsail, illuminated as high as the yard by the lamps, was bulging forwards under the gale, which was rising every minute, and straining so violently at the mainsheet, that there was some doubt whether it might not be necessary to interrupt the funeral, in order to take sail off the ship. The lower deck ports lay completely under water, and several times the muzzles of the main-deck guns were plunged into the sea; so that the end of the grating on which the remains of poor Dolly were laid, once or twice nearly touched the tops of the waves, as they foamed and hissed past. The rain fell fast on the bare heads of the crew, dropping also on the officers, during all the ceremony, from the foot of the mainsail, and wetting the leaves of the prayer-book. The wind sighed over us amongst the wet shrouds, with a note so mournful, that there could not have been a more appropriate dirge. "The ship-pitching violently-strained and creaked from end to end so that, what with the noise of the sea, the rattling of the ropes, and the whistling of the wind, hardly one word of the service could be distinguished. The men, however, understood, by a motion of the captain's hand, when the time came-and the body of our dear little brother was committed to the deep. "So violent a squall was sweeping past the ship at this moment, that no sound was heard of the usual splash, which made the sailors allege that their young favourite never touched the water at all, but was at once carried off in the gale to his final resting-place!" We wish the captain had kept aloof from his American controversy in a book of this kind, and had steered clear of politics; but we are too highly pleased with his work to quarrel with him for any thing-at present. "From Calfskin Hall, through Raleigh, Rochford, Wakering, Dash'd the blue chariot and four undock'd roans; Goes growling, to seem brave, and bullies all the way. "That gallant equipage 'twixt sea and land, The fat old coachman cursed the amphibious way, "To count the beads of matrimonial duty; Confess the sins of waltzing and flirtation; And vow to suffer penance in her beauty, By fasting from the food of adulation, And bearing solitude with resignation.At last they landed at their swampy goal, But, save the Lady's Maid, who rued her station, The next ebb-tide saw every menial soul, With steeds and coach retrace their course along the shoal." Landscape Illustrations of the Waverley Novels. Part XII. London: Charles Tilt. Edinburgh: Thomas Ireland, jun. 1831. We are really astonished at the uniform excellence of these Illustrations. The view of the "Solway Sands," in the present number, is a highly poetical piece of landscape composition. The same may be said of " Manor Glen" the scene of Cannie Elshie's mortal peregrina"Stirling Castle" is an able drawing, although not characterised by the same high feeling as those we have just named. "Wharucliffe" is beautiful. tions. Portrait of Miss Fanny Kemble, in the Character of Portia. Engraved by Woolnoth, from a Miniature by C. F. Tayler. London: Harding. Edinburgh: Henry Constable. 1831. A PLEASING engraving. The forehead and eyes are extremely like. The mouth and chin are failures. The breadth, from cheekbone to cheekbone, strikes us as too great. MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE. THE CAUSE OF SCIENCE, AND THE EFFECT OF JOBBING. Or WHO has not heard or read of the renowned Doctor John Dousterswivel Macculloch-the abhorred of the of the Lowlanders the beloved of Dunkeld House-the Highlanders the execrated of the Islanders-the despised paragon of pedants-the magnifico of mineralogists— and the very "Jupiter" of jobs? And who that has either heard of the exploits of this winged surveyor, or read his authentic and veracious work on the land of warm hearts and wild mountains, can be so absurd as to affect astonishment or surprise at any proceeding in which it may suit the ease, convenience, or interest of this famous worthy to embark? The Stone Doctor, as his friends of the North call him, is a privileged man. dinary rules have no application to him. And hence, when the poor fellow, acting in character, and duly sustaining the reputation he has already acquired, happens to be caught tripping in the matter-of-fact, or caught en flagrant délit, with ill-gotten gear in his hands, people good-naturedly observe, " It is just what we would have expected." This comes of having a good name! But, to speak it gravely, some circumstances have lately been brought to light, concerning the Doctor and his proceedings, to which his privilege will scarcely apply. The rogue has been sponging on the public in general, as erst he did on the Celts in particular and to an extent which a Parliamentary paper, embodying a mass of documentary evidence, could alone render credible. Will it be believed that, in this age of economy and retrenchment, when the treasury coffers are far from full, and the people's pockets nearly empty, the Munchausen of mineralogists has, nevertheless, contrived, in the course of four years, to bag about L.6000 of the public money, and to found a sort of claim to upwards of L. 1500 more, making in all between L.7000 and L.8009, without the shadow of an equivalent or return of any description, and upon pretences of which it was not more disgraceful in the jobber himself to put forward, than in the late Treasury to recognise and sustain? Could any one have dreamt of or imagined such an atrocity? Yet there is nothing apocryphal in the matter. The facts, which we deem equally curious and instructive, are these: In 1814 the Doctor was chemist to the Board of Ordnance, with a salary of L.566 per annum, and an allowance of L.65 for an assistant. At this time, circumstances occurred in the prosecution of the trigonometrical survey, which were supposed to have detracted from the accuracy of the observations, caused either by the attraction of the high lands and mountains on the plumb-line of the zenith sector, or by the inequality in density of the matter more remote from the earth's surface; it was therefore deemed expedient to institute a minute geological and mineralogical examination of the nature of the ground in the north of England, and more particularly in Scotland. Accordingly, on the 30th May, 1814, the Master-General of the Ordnance appointed Dr Macculloch to this duty, with an allowance of 20s. per day for personal expenses, and 2s. per mile for chaise hire: and, in the nominal capacity of geological and mineralogical observer, he attended the survey till 1820, when his further services were dispensed with. While thus occupied, however, his functions as Ordnance chemist were of course sus pended; but as his salary still went on, it constituted his remuneration, while the extra allowance made him was merely intended to cover his personal and travelling expenses. But the Doctor, it would seem, had early re-ships' orders, "by immediately proceeding to Scotland," solved to make a good thing of this extra allowance. The amount of his bills for 1814 and 1815 is not stated in the return; but it appears, by a letter from the secretary to the Ordnance, that, under the head of travelling charges merely, and exclusive of his personal expenses, the Doctor claimed L.423 in 1816, L.415 in 1817, L.546 in 1818, and L.477 in 1819. fide disbursed. But the Doctor did not by any means view the matter in the same light. In his letter of the 10th July, intimating his readiness to obey their lordfor the purpose of continuing his survey, he recurs to his ordnance allowances, and particularly to that for travelling, which, he says, was "two shillings per mile-the miles being stated as direct distances when proceeding to any object, and being stated as PER DIEM when engaged in the examination of a district," thus preparing the way for the wonderful achievements which were to follow. But, formidable as Doctor Dousterswivel undoubtedly is at the charge, there was no great scope for the exercise of his talents in 1826. He did not set out till the middle of July, when summer was nearly past and gone; and, accordingly, he only charges L.956, 18s. 6d. on account of that season, which is paid him without deduction or abatement. The particulars of this charge not being given in the return, we are precluded from making any detailed remarks upon it; but, as we have his accounts for the years 1827, 1828, and 1829, we shall now proceed to notice a few of their prominent peculiarities. The first, and by far the most important of these, is the account of miles alleged to have been travelled in each of those years, or rather seasons. The period of operations being limited to six months, or 184 days, the Doctor states himself to have travelled 7743 miles in 1827,8713 miles in 1828, and 7568 miles in 1829, which, at 2s. a-mile, give L.774, 6s., L.871, 6s., and L.756, 16s., as the expense of travelling alone, in each of those seasons respectively. We shall take the intermediate season of 1828, and endeavour to analyse the account for that year. In six months, or 184 days, the Doctor travelled 8713 miles; a distance considerably exceeding the length of the earth's diameter. But it appears from his bill that he travelled from London to Glasgow, being 403 miles direct, which he might have accomplished in two days by travelling day and night; while, in returning to London, he seems to have started from Dumfries, distant 332 miles, which he could scarcely have performed in less than two days. This reduces the time employed on the actual business of the survey to 180 days, and the number of miles said to have been travelled on it to 7978; which, divided by 180, gives an average rate of daily travelling of from forty The pecuniary operations of the Doctor, however, form the least extraordinary part of his conduct. He neglected, or, which comes to the same thing, he did not perform the duties assigned him. Colonel Mudge having observed that the irregularity of the earth's density more or less affected every operation for determining its diameters, the Doctor was required to point out fit places for ascertaining by experiment the amount of the deviation caused by this lateral attraction. But, up to the present hour, he has not complied with the requisition. In 1821, his detailed report was called for, as essential to the prosecution of the trigo- | nometrical survey. The Doctor, however, replied, that he would be ready to give a detailed report of the exami. nation of the mountains whenever the problem of the earth's density should be resumed! On this miserable subterfuge, Captain Colby, who had succeeded Colonel Mudge in the superintendence of the survey, remarks, that it will of course not be resumed till the fit place is discovered; | -that, if the Doctor delays his report till its resumption, four years' labour will have been thrown away and that the report on the stations where the plumb-line might deviate ought not to be delayed. But delayed it nevertheless was, sometimes on one pretext, sometimes on another and at length, on the 20th January, 1829, that is, nine years after the Doctor's services had been dispensed with by the ordnance, and three years after he had been employed by the Treasury, we find the secretary to the former department, writing to the Treasury in the following terms:-" The Board [of Ordnance] beg leave to recommend to the Lords of the Treasury, by way of securing to the public the full benefit of the geological survey, that no further payment be made to Dr Macculloch, on account of travelling or other expenses, UNTIL HIS ENGAGEMENTS TO GOVERNMENT HAVE BEEN FULLY AND SATIS-four to forty-five miles. But, supposing that the Doctor FACTORILY COMPLETED!" By means of some species of influence, whether ducal or not we cannot pretend to say, the Doctor, however, contrived to have this interdict withdrawn a few months after; and in consequence he obtained a Treasury warrant for pocketing another fifteen hundred pounds of the public money. So much for Dr Macculloch's connexion with the Ordnance department. On the 13th of January, 1826, the Doctor's appointment of Ordnance chemist ceased, and on the 16th April, the Doctor made a tender of his services to the Treasury, setting forth, among other things, that while employed under the Ordnance, he had been promised £300 a-year, over and above his salary of £566 as chemist—of which there is not a shadow of proof, nor so much as even a hint in any of his communications with the Ordnance department; and that, besides 20s. a-day for personal expenses, he was allowed 2s. a-mile for all distances, HowEVER TRAVELLED-which is directly contrary to the fact, Mr Byham expressly stating, that the master-general appointed Dr Macculloch to this duty, with an allowance of 20s. per day personal expenses, and 2s. per mile CHAISE HIRE!" By a Treasury minute, dated the 4th July, it appears that the Doctor's tender was accepted, and an allowance of L.2 a-day made him as remuneration for his labour, together with a sum not exceeding L.90 for an assistant; but their lordships made no specific allowance for travelling, personal, and other expenses; probably under the very natural impression, that the Doctor would have the grace to charge no more, under these heads, than the sum he had actually and bona) 66 was Christian enough to rest on the Sundays, the number of days employed on the survey would be further reduced to 155, and the average rate of travelling increased to from fifty-one to fifty-two miles a-day. Now, one of two things must be true: Either this statement is false, and by consequence knavish; or, if the Doctor really travelled the distances for which he charges in his bill, it is physically impossible that he could have made any survey at all! But, from the nature of his employment, no less than from that of the country which he was sent out to survey, the Doctor could not in general follow the direction of roads, where such existed, nor travel along roads, where none existed at all. His course lay through mountainous tracts, along the courses of rivers, in every direction, in short, except that pursued by ordinary travellers; and, accordingly, he himself says, "I never remain more than one night at any place, and never can tell in what direction I shall go, where the GEOLOGY, and not rowNs, are my guide!" Will it be believed, then, that, travelling in this manner, through the wildest and most desolate tracts of the Highlands of Scotland, following the direction which the geology, and not towns, pointed out, Dr Macculloch could have compassed at the rate of from fifty-one to fifty-two miles a-day for 155 days consecutively? There is not a man living possessed of the physical strength requisite for the performance of such a task, even although he had had nothing else to do than to travel continuously and without intermission. But the Doctor's “duty being to examine the surface and interior of the earth, observe quarries, descend into mines, and |