1. The Hebrew copies were equally obnoxious to adulteration as the Greek.

2. But the Hebrew copies afforded, subsequently to the Jewish war, greater facilities and opportunities of adulteration than the Greek. The latter were then diffused everywhere; whereas, of the former many had been lost and destroyed, and the existing copies were found only in the hands of comparatively few Jews.

3. The temptation to adulteration was much greater in the Hebrew than in the Greek. The Jews, in their rage and vexation at being confounded by the CHRISTIANS out of their own Scriptures, were led, as a last and desperate resort, to deny that they found such things in their Hebrew copies, and to make alterations accordingly. Justin Martyr, Irenæus, and other of the earliest of the Christian fathers, distinctly accuse the Jews of this. 4. The motive which would lead them to tamper with the genealogies, in order to shorten the times between the Creation and the Birth of CHRIST, was, that they might enable themselves to deny that the time for the advent of the Messiah was yet come. It had been their belief that Messiah was to come in the sixth millennary age of the world, which he did, according to the longer computation; hence the motive to shorten it to make out the time was not arrived, as this, their own tradition, had been much used against them by the Christians. Ephrem Syrus, who died A.D. 378, distinctly alleges that they corrupted the genealogies on this account. The Armenian annalist, Abulfaragi, has a longer statement to the same effect.

The defalcations of the Hebrew genealogies may be proved by the concessions of the early Jewish writers.

This defalcation may also be proved by undeniable internal evidence, found both in the antediluvian and postdiluvian genea/logies*.

The patriarchal generations, both before and after the Deluge, according to the shorter Hebrew computation, are repugnant to the course of nature. Their sons are born too soon in proportion to the sum of their age. According to this account, the antediluvians, who lived so much longer, had children sooner than the people after the Deluge, down to Abraham, the sum of whose lives was so comparatively short.

The shorter Hebrew calculation is also absurd, and inconsistent with history, sacred and profane. Eusebius saw this very clearly,

as we have stated.

Taking the shorter computation, idolatry must have begun and prevailed and the patriarchal government must have been overthrown by Nimrod and the builders of Babel, during the life-time of Noah, the second founder of the human race, and his three sons. Shem, Ham, and Japhet.

If Shem lived tili the 110th year of Isaac, and the 50th year of Jacob, as this computation alleges, why was he not included in the covenant of circumcision made with Abraham and his family? or why is he utterly unnoticed in their history?

How could the earth be so populous in Abraham's days, or the kin, dems of Assyria, Egypt, &c., be established so soon after the Deluge, as results from the shorter computation? The following dates may be usefully subjoined to this state

ment:

The present mode of computing events from the Birth of Christ is said to have been first practised by a Roman monk, named Dionysius, about the beginning of the sixth century. Though the Christian era, as a means of reckoning time, was early adopted in Italy, it was long before it came into general use throughout Europe. It is supposed that Dionysius made a mistake of four years in calculating the period of the birth of Christ; and that, therefore, the present year, 1840, should be 1844. But, adding 1840 to 5411, we have 7251 years as the age of the present dispensation of the world; and on the supposition that the calculation is anything like correct, the period has passed when, according to some Jewish and Christian expectants, the Millennium, or Sabbath of the world, was to begin, which, it was supposed, would commence when the world had fulfilled its six secular days of a thousand years each.

STEAM ON THE PROPONTIS AND HELLESPONT. No one, unless they have seen it, can duly appreciate the bustle and confusion attendant on the departure of a steamer from the Golden Horn. In the Thames, at Liverpool, or even at Malta, there is some order observable amid all the uproar; but at Constantinople there is not the slightest vestige of such a thing to be seen. The most methodical and regular men, unless accustomed to travel, are always in a bustle at landing or embarking, and it cannot be expected that the half-civilised natives of Stamboul should show a superiority on this point. From the first streak of sunrise till the hour the steamer sails, on the day of her departure, her sides are crowded with caiques of all sizes, each occupant striving to get his own person and luggage on board, perfectly unmindful of any one else, and omitting to notice that by waiting in regular order he would obtain his point sooner ;-but no, the caiqujhi bawls out bannabac (literally, " look at me,' but signifying "take care"), and seeing a vacant space of probably three inches between two caiques, each striving to push the other aside, with dextrous under-water movements of the oar he dashes the iron-bound prow of his boat quickly between them, and driving them both from the disputed point, takes possession, and leaves them both to seek the next opportunity of approaching the side-ladder. It has often surprised me that these caiques never upset when coming thus in violent collision, for they look very cogly, but the reverse is the case: and I never knew an instance, during several hundred times that I was alongside a steamer in the Golden Horn, of one upsetting; the passengers for the most part sitting in the bottom, and the height of the sides accounting for their general buoyancy.

One day last summer, business called me to Smyrna; so, engaging my passage at the proper office, I packed up my bed and carpet bag, and sent my tchotcuk (servant boy) for a chamal (porter) to carry them down to the baluk bazaar (fish-market), which is the general place of embarkation at Galata. On arriving at the quay, my chamal was instantly assailed by twenty persons, each calling upon him to deposit the luggage in his caique. I stood back at some distance to watch the scene. It was evident from my English carpet bag that I was a Frank; and the boatmen, probably imagining that I was one of the milord travellers, were more than usually clamorous for the patronage of my porter: and really it must have been hard for him to resist the sweet words pouring from all sides, and doubtless he must have been proud to hear the Mussulman boatmen shouting to him Effendim gel borda (my dear sir, come here), and the Christian ones, Sen Christian, ben Christian, Christian baraber gel borda (you are a Christian, I am a Christian, Christians should be together, come here). However, it was no use; my chamal kept possession of the baggage until I made my appearance; the cry was now Captan, Captan, gel borda, and I was surrounded by nearly a dozen boatmen, who were however more polite than those on the Thames, because, as soon as I selected my boat, they refrained from disputing my choice.

The luggage being safely stowed, so that the passenger and it properly trimmed the boat-a point on which the caiqujhi is remarkably particular, my Mussulman bent to his oars, and pulled for the Vapore, which is the name by which they best know a steamer, although it is the Italian word, the Turkish being Tchek-jeemec. As we pulled across the Golden Horn, I was asked the usual number of idle questions, in regard to what country I came from, where I was going, and what was my employment ;all of which I professed not to understand, except the first: as I knew that in the event of a row at the side of the steamer among the caiqujhis, being known to be an Englishman was useful, I told him that I was one; he said, "English are good man, you are a good man ;" to which I replied I was. He rejoined, the Padisha and the Sultana Ingles were baraber, intimating that the Sultan and the Queen of England were friends. Chatting in this manner, we reached the side of the steamer. At the moment we touched the outside range, my boatman showed himself a man of genius: he lay for a moment quietly on his oars, and watched the shoving off of a large caique that had just put on board the steamer a Turkish Bey's wife (princess) and attendants-the point of his prow was inserted in the crowd of little caiques around him, and in another minute we gained the ladder, while all the other caiques were thrown off to the distance of several feet. At the moment, I could not discover how this dextrous manoeuvre was managed, until I saw the caiques laying hold of ours on every side, to prevent their being further distanced; and now I observed that my saiqujhi had seen the steamer swing, and consequently, instead of pulling up against the stream, among the boats, had pulled to the

head of them, and closely dropped in stern first, as the steamer swung a little more from them. Now there was nothing but uproar and confusion; and I several times thought that, what with the holding on of some caiques, and the running up against us of others, we would have been upset, or pulled under water. The boatmen continued to vociferate against the unfairness of being shoved out, while mine, on his part, dubbed me an English Captain, and seemed quite contented to rest all his defence on that one point, as he never ceased calling out Bu Captan Ingles, until my baggage and self were safely on board the steamer: I then threw a little more than his regular fee in the bottom of the boat, and he pulled towards the shore.

On getting on board, I found all in equal bustle, and every one doing his best to increase it. The pious Mussulman was anathematising the Christians as infidels, and the Christian was engaged much after the same manner, but both taking care to be as little personal (but general) in remarks as possible. There were talkers loud and low, in jest and in anger, in at least twelve or fourteen languages, the one half of those addressed not knowing a word of what was said to them, but answering in an equally unknown tongue.

The hour advertised for sailing was 4 P. M.; and the nearer it approached, the confusion became greater. When four struck, a large bell was rung, and all who did not intend to proceed with the steamer were ordered to quit her. The empty caiques that had been hovering about then approached, and took off friends and acquaintances, considerably clearing the deck, but crowding the water around the steamer. A second bell was soon after sounded, and the chain cable began to clank on the windlass, but passengers and luggage continued to arrive, and friends to depart: many still remained in the vessel, however, that were known did not intend to go with her, and the most importunate of these were dragomans or valets, who by remaining thus to the last moment might ensure a few piastres to execute some forgotten commission. The despatch-boat came alongside about half-past 4; the bell was rung for the third time; signals were made for no more boats to come off; those around the steamer were ordered to look out for themselves; the ladder was hauled up, the gangway shut, a few more turns given to the windlass; the Captain called out, A turn a-head-stop herhalf speed-full speed; the foam curled from both sides; and we stemmed the current setting in from the Euxine.

At this moment, it was discovered that we had three or four dragomans, &c. on board, who had remained to the last, and had been too late: the captain at once refused to hail a boat or put them on shore, telling them they ought to have looked better after themselves. As the steamer held out from the Seraglio Point, the captain called to ease her, then to stop her, and a caique was seen rapidly pulling from the Custom-house quay. I asked the steward why the captain stopped for this caique, and would not do so for some much nearer; and he told me that it had in it a government Tatar, whom, according to arrangements, they were always obliged to wait for, if once in sight. The boat was well manned, and came sweeping towards us at good speed; it was not long, therefore, before the Tatar was standing on the deck, in his red, rich, and flowing robes; and the caique that brought him consented to take the drugomans ashore, on condition that they would pay a backshise (present), about twelve times the amount of the ordinary fare, and which they were glad to do. Once more the engine was in motion, and our vessel moved quickly along the eastern and south-eastern walls of "The City of the Faithful.” The Seven Towers were passed in half an hour, and ere six o'clock, Asia and Europe, Stamboul, Tophana, and Scutari, seemed blended in one mass, and soon after disappeared from our view.

After we had fairly left the Golden Horn, I had time to observe the appearance of the craft in which I was embarked. It seemed to have two engines, each of seventy-horse power, and capable of going seven and a half miles an hour. The quarter-deck was raised a few feet above the main-deck, and was ascended by steps in the centre; both sides of it were littered with Turkish mats and coverlids. On the larboard-side were located the Turkish Bey's wife and attendants, thus:-On the deck were laid down several thick quilted cotton mattresses, plentifully covered over with others of a thinner and more pliable form. On one of them sat the Sultana, surrounded by her female attendants; while towards the one end were four eunuchs, whose time seemed to be engaged in attending to the women and children,-bringing the first coffee, and fire for their pipes, and dandling and amusing the latter. The Sultana was an immensely fat-looking personage; her body entirely enveloped in a dark-green cloth cloak, and her face'

and head, with the exception of the eyes, or rather eye. for she had but one,-covered up in the usual white muslin shawl. The attendants were of various ages, colours, and appearances, but all dressed in the same way. There was one, however, who next to the Sultana claimed attention,-a little girl of about thirteen, who, I subsequently learned, was her daughter, and whom she was taking to Asia Minor, to marry her to some young Turk. The children were three in number,--boys of about three, five, and seven years. They were, like all Turkish children, remarkably beautiful, and dressed in the usual fantastic and tasteful costume of Osmanlee juveniles, having little red caps, with a shawl tied round their brows, and their bonnets enriched with a variety of gold Turkish coins.

The starboard-side of the quarter-deck was occupied, like the larboard, with mats and coverlids; on one of which reposed a female, evidently the mistress of four slaves who sat around her. She was the wife of an old, grey-headed, and bearded Effendi, who had a black eunuch attending, and occasionally carrying messages from his master to his mistress. The old gentleman, however, seemed to care no more for the slaves than if they had been so many dogs; and certainly did not entertain them, during the whole voyage, by once personally entering into conversation with them. He held in his hand a bag of paras (the fortieth part of a piastre, and equal to the sixteenth part of a penny), in which small coin he paid for everything he had. The money was all newly struck; but why he carried these small pieces, so difficult to count, I could not learn; but whatever demands were made upon his purse by the wants of himself or his female household, he accompanied the payment of them with a growl and an exclamation of Tchok para ! (Too much money), while slowly counting out the sum demanded. From the quarter-deck, and all around the waist of the vessel, I found little temporary erections raised on the centre, and along the bulwarks, for screening the passengers from the hot sun or the cold dew; they were in the tent-bed style, and the floor raised a couple of inches or so above the deck, for the purpose of allowing the rain or sea-water to run under, and the awning might be about three feet high. In these little pulpits or beds sat Mussulmans male and female, cross-legged upon mats, some of them smoking their pipes, others eating, not a few reclining in sleep, and some on their knees, engaged at their prayers. Few Christians, if any, occupied part of these divisions. It was not the least amusing part of this scene, to see these men all armed to the teeth, having a couple of pistols stuck in a belt, and a sword at their side, or the pistols stuck into a shawl round their middle, with a great yatagan, or Persian knife, about thirty inches long, garnishing their girdle. On proceeding to the fore part of the vessel, I found that it had no covering; and the parties occupying it were mostly Greeks of the lower class, with a few poor-looking French, Italians, and Germans, every one doing his best to find a suitable place for his mat for the night, and which made it almost impossible to pilot oneself along, without trampling on some unfortunate Christian. On descending to the second-cabin, I found it fitted up much in the same way as our own channel steamers. There were bed berths all around, a table in the centre, and lamps hung from above. The passengers consisted of Greeks and Italians of the middle class; three of the former and two of the latter were sitting at one end of the table, drinking punch, while two or three more lay extended on the seats, or were groaning in the berths. The only two females I observed were a pretty black-eyed little Fanariote and her mother, who was taking her down to Smyrna for her education, and a brother of hers, going there for the same purpose. It was the first time any of the family had been in a steamer, and though not two hours from port, they were evidently much discomposed; the boy whom I had met before, asked me if I did not think it cattiva; and on my replying that it was bellissima, the girl looked at me with an eye of the most intense anxiety, until her brother told her that I said it was beautiful, and that we could not expect less motion before we were at our port. She at once groaned out some Greek prayer, and was assisted into her berth or couch. I next betook myself to the engine-room, where I was roughly collared by two Italians, who said that no Mussulman was allowed to descend the ladder. I scolded them in bad Italian, and worse Turkish, for not knowing that I was a Frank, although dressed in Oriental costume; and was then allowed to descend, where I found the first engineer (English) and the second (German) sitting down to a very sensible-looking repast. The first I had known for some months; he introduced me to "his second," and invited me to partake. I had tasted nothing since breakfast, and besides had not seen such good English-looking cheer for some time-so required no second bidding. The Englishman

knew no German, the German no English; nevertheless they were good friends, and understood one another by a sort of conventional language, partly made by themselves, partly from the varied jargon which they heard every day; and though not lingua franca, was a species of it. Dinner was soon despatched; and I had just finished when a message came from the captain, whose steward had been seeking me all over the vessel, that dinner was ready in the cabin. This I thought something like what seamen call "a Portugee devil, when good, too good;" but I knew, whether or not I did much execution, it was necessary to attend; so bidding good-bye to my friends the engineers, I made for my second dinner-table.

On my appearance in the cabin, I found dinner already begun. I sat down; but having already eaten so heartily, made but a poor figure, though I certainly never saw in any steamer a better dinner than was now served, and in variety of cookery, far surpassing what is met with in Western Europe. The cookery was Italian; and the dessert composed of every delicate fruit of the Levant. There was on the table a caraf with brandy, hollands, and rum, and another with Smyrnian and Tenedos wine. The first caraf was not touched, and the second very sparingly used. The company consisted of an Austrian Italian, the first dragoman of the English Ambassador to the Porte, two young Greeks, one old Armenian in the Turkish dress, a Frenchman, and myself. The conversation was for the most part in French, a language which we all understood, except the Armenian; and he sat looking anxiously from one face to another, endeavouring, apparently, to pick up, from the expression of the countenance, what he could not do from that of the tongue; and from his account of the conversation to me afterwards, he appeared to have been pretty successful on several points.

After dinner we again proceeded to the deck, the cabin being most insufferably hot. The sun had set, and there was only a redstreaked sky and a blackish-looking sea to be seen. Marmora was not yet visible, and we had lost sight of the Thracian coast. The quarter-deck was now quite still; the princess, her daughter, and her slaves, were all sound asleep in one mass; some of them extended at full length, others with their knees doubled up to their chins, and others, again, sitting cross-legged, with their heads and shoulders leaning against the bulwarks. The eunuchs were asleep at the extremity of the group, and the children covered up somewhere among the women. The old Turk, on the other side of the quarter-deck, was also asleep; at a little distance from him lay his blackey, and a few feet further his female household. The maindeck was equally quiet; a few only were smoking, all the others reposing, or seeming to do so. The fore-deck was more noisy; here there was less outward covering from the evening dew, and those who were thus exposed had apparently fortified themselves inwardly, as not a few were drunk, noisy, and quarrelsome. I accordingly retreated to the cabin, where all was quiet, with the exception of some snores from my companions of the dinner table -even the captain was not to be seen. The cabin felt too hot, and I again proceeded on deck, and endeavoured to find a place on which to spread my mat, but in vain; and I unwillingly left the nice cool deck, and again descended to the warm cabin, where I tumbled into my couch, and sleep having been invited by the fatigues of the day, I was soon in the land of Nod.

How long I enjoyed unbroken slumber I know not; it appeared to me only a few minutes, when I was awakened by an unusual bustle and running to and fro upon deck, and, popping my head and foot over the bed, I found three or four more in the same act. On inquiring what was the occasion of the noise, we were told that the Turkish fleet was in sight, and those passengers who intended to join it must get prepared. The sun had not long risen, and I could just distinguish the tall and stately masts of the Mahmoudie; but as the fog cleared away, I recognised other thirteen sail, being the Capudan Pasha's division. This part of the fleet had sailed only two days before us, and we had at least a hundred passengers for it. All was now animation; Mussulmans and Christians were either at their devotions, or packing their beds and travelling gear. The Tatar had risen from his mat, and was looking towards the termination of his charge; the dragoman was complimenting our captain, while the latter was speculating upon the destination of the fleet, and the chances of seeing his friend again with his head on his shoulders. As we approached the fleet, the vessels began to get under weigh, and before we were amongst them they had all their canvas set, and were slowly dropping down the Dardanelles. About an hour and a half after we had first descried the first ship, we were in the midst of them. A boat with the crescent floating in her stern, and pulled by eight rowers, approached. It was steered

by an Englishman, who commanded one of the sultan's steamers ; he hailed our skipper in English, and asked for the English dragoman, who, with the Armenian, the Tatar, and two others, embarked, and pulled towards the Mahmoudie. Other two or three large boats now made their appearance, and received their apportionments of more plebeian messengers, soldiers, and sailors. The steam was again put on, and we soon left the pasha's division of the fleet behind. In about half an hour after we passed these ships, we came in sight of the other division, under the Capudan Bey, lying at anchor, but apparently ready for setting sail as soon as they saw the flag-ship, whose guns were now heard distinctly, although her form could not be seen. The fleet consisted in all of eight line-of-battle ships, ten large frigates, fourteen smaller craft, and two steamers; and looked much more warlike and ship-shape than it had done the previous year.

At eight, breakfast was served in the cabin, to the captain, Frenchman, and myself; all the others of the dinner table had gone. The Turks on deck had breakfast after their own way-men, as well as women, being provided with sundry baskets of good things and ate where they had slept the night before; and although in many cases different parties sat near one another, there was no interchange of civilities. Men and women alike finished the repast with a cup of coffee and a pipe.

On the fore-deck, the Greeks, &c. were more jovial, and were not wanting in sausages, ham, fish, caviar, cheese, bread, rakee, and wine, which were in many cases freely shared from one to another.

As the morning warmed, the wind began to freshen, and the greater part of the passengers were sick, displaying all the variety of groaning and gesturing which the inhabitants of so many different countries may be supposed capable of; and certainly a Cruikshank would have found more comicalities in that forenoon than he had ever met with in any one previous day.

With sunrise in the morning we were leaving the Propontis; passengers were landed, and others taken on board at Galipoli, the village of the Dardanelles, Abydos, and Sestos, with as much indifference as is done in the Thames. Lemnos, Tenedos, and the supposed site of the battle-ground of the Trojan heroes, were rapidly passed; no one seemed to know anything of their ancient history, and knowing nothing, could not be supposed to take any interest in it. There was ancient Greece, but where were the ancient Greeks?

Nothing out of the usual course of steam-boat voyages occurred during the day. We took a Greek ecclesiastic, of some rank or another, a little inferior to a bishop, on board at Abydos. He was instantly assailed for blessings, which he bestowed most liberally on all around him; and among others, I got one unsolicited. I told him I was a protestant, and did not attach any virtue to his blessing. He asked me to sit down beside him, and said he would soon make "a good Greek of me." I sat down, and he pulled out a quart bottle, and handed it to me. I asked him what it was? he replied Rakee. I declined, however, to take any of it, as I had no glass; but he put the bottle between his lips, and took a long swig, and I knew enough of oriental etiquette to understand that I could not now refuse; so I put the mouth of the bottle between my teeth, and followed his example. It was the strongest rakee I ever tasted, and when he saw the water standing in my eyes, he seemed pleased, and assured me that it was real Tenedos. The work of conversion now commenced; but he spoke so fast, and with so much gesture, that I understood very little of what he said; and on every clinching argument he always handed me the rakee, which I made a feint of tasting; and after the debate had continued an hour, he was so conglomerated with his potations, and so wrapt up in his discourse, that I was allowed to slip off. The argument, at least on one side, was carried on as long as the priest could talk; but at last his tongue failed him, and he sunk down on his mat, with his empty rakee bottle in his arms, and fell into a sound sleep, from which he did not awake until we arrived at Smyrna. Towards evening the island of Scio was in sight, and by midnight we were nearing the Gulf of Smyrna. The quarter-deck was clear of mats on the starboard side, and I laid mine down upon it. The breeze blew still fresher than during the day, and a heavy swell made the steamer roll very much. The Turkish princess, to whom I had spoken several times during the voyage, sat upon her couch, and called to me, "Captan Ingles, gel borda-ġel borda." I went to her; she was in great fear that the vessel would go down, and asked me what was to be done. I told her that in a few minutes the rolling would cease; and she wondered much how I knew. As soon as the steamer doubled a point of land, the forejib was hoisted; after which she lay comparatively quiet. The lady

wood cutters were still on shore, who were rescued from their perilous situation by the intrepid conduct of Crozet, the second in command, who went ashore with a sufficient number of wellarmed followers, and brought off the wood-cutters and their tools in triumph, drawing a line on the beach, and threatening to shoot the first man who should pass that boundary. The moment the last man had embarked, the natives, who had seated themselves on the beach, ran with wild cries and hurled a flight of javelins and a shower of stones at the French, and set fire to the huts they had erected for the sick. The French poured in a volley of musketry, which did great execution, and enabled them to make good their retreat. They afterwards revenged themselves by burning several of the native houses and destroying their inhabitants, and in the deserted huts they found pieces of human flesh, some of them cooked and marked by the teeth of the savages, too sure proofs of the melancholy fate of their companions. The cause of this massacre was considered inexplicable. They treated us," says Crozet, "with every show of friendship for thirty-three days, in the intention of eating us on the thirty-fourth :" and thus the New Zealanders were universally accounted a race of treacherous barbarians and cannibals, unworthy of trust or friendship, and rather to be treated as wild beasts than men. But the account of the origin of this affair, given by one who had been engaged in it to Mr. Earle, who visited and resided in the country in 1827, is very different, and although varying in some of the particulars from the French account, (which is not unnatural in a narrative of events of so distant a date, given from memory,) serves to show that the catastrophe was brought on by the obstinacy of the French, in persisting to offend the natives in a point connected with their most venerated institution.

Mr. Earle tells us that his friend George, a chief residing at the Bay of Islands, "recollected perfectly the French navigator Marion, and made one of the party that murdered him and his people. His observation was, 'They were all brave men, but they were all killed and eaten !'

"He assured us that the catastrophe was quite unpremeditated. Marion's entire ignorance of the customs of the New Zealanders occasioned that distressing event: as I have before observed, that strangers, not acquainted with their religious prejudices, are likely to commit some fatal error; and no action is more likely to lead a party into danger than an incautious use of the seine; for most of the beaches (best suited for that purpose) are tabooed t. This led to the dreadful fate of Marion and his party. I understood, from George, that when Marion's men assembled to trail their net on the sacred beach, the natives used every kind of intreaty and remonstrance to induce them to forbear; but either from ignorance or obstinacy, they persisted in their intentions, and drew their net to land.

"The natives, greatly incensed by this act of impiety, vowed revenge; and the suspicions of the French not being roused, an opportunity soon presented itself of taking ample retaliation. The seine being very heavy, the French required the assistance of the natives in drawing it on shore. These wily fellows instantly consented to the task, and placed themselves alternately between each Frenchman, apparently to equalize the work. Consequently, in the act of pulling, each native had a white man before him; and on an appointed signal, the brains of each European were knocked out by a tremendous blow of the stone hatchet.

"Captain Marion, who, from his ship, was an eye-witness of their horrid murders, instantly hastened on shore with the remainder of his crew to avenge the slaughter of his countrymen. Led on more by ardour than prudence, he suffered himself to be surrounded, was overpowered by numbers, defeated, and every one was put to death."

The catastrophe of the ship Boyd, whose crew were to a man massacred (a woman, two children, and a boy, alone being spared),

-Sea.

Earle's Narrative of a Nine Months' Residence in New Zealand in 1827. The ceremony of the taboo is common in most of the Islands of the South its exact nature does not appear to be precisely understood, but it is considered as a religious ceremony, which renders the object sacred. Thus when a New Zealander has planted his ground, he procures it to be tabooed by the proper official, who does not appear to bear the character of a priest or holy man, and it is then death to trample over or disturb any part of this consecrated ground. Again, when a New Zealander sells any portion of his land, the contract is completed by tabooing (or tapuing, as the word is sometimes written) it "to the purchaser," as it has been expressed by those who have given evidence on this subject before the Parliamentary Committee appointed to receive evidence relative to New Zealand; by which it is rendered sacred against all except the purchaser; religious ceremonies being thus called in to give greater solemnity to civil contracts.

which occurred in 1809, renewed all the apprehensions entertained of the savage character of the New Zealanders, and for a time put a stop to the exertions of the missionaries who were preparing to take steps for the establishment of a colony. But this, as in the case of Marion, has been traced to the conduct of the visitors, and making allowance for the manners of a warlike, high-spirited, but uncivilized people, we may exonerate them from blame in this transaction.

Captain Thompson, the master of the Boyd, brought with him a native chief, named Philip, whom he took on board at Sydney. He insisted that this man, who in his own country possessed rank and consequence, and who deserved to be treated at least with courtesy, should perform the most menial offices on board the vessel, and, on his refusal, tied him up and flogged him like a common sailor. When he reached his native shore, can we wonder that the exasperated and outraged chief should urge his friends to take a terrible revenge? "George," says Mr. Earle, " laid the blame entirely on the English, and spoke with great bitterness of the ill treatment of Philip. He described, and mimicked his cleaning shoes and knives; his being flogged when he refused to do this degrading work; and finally, his speech to his countrymen when he came on shore, soliciting their assistance in capturing the vessel, and revenging his ill treatment. Over and over again our friend George, having worked up his passion by a full recollection of the subject, went through the whole tragedy. The scene thus portrayed was interesting, although horrible. No actor, trained in the strictest rules of his art, could compete with George's vehemence of action. The flexibility of his features enabled him to vary the expression of each passion; and he represented hatred, anger, horror, and the imploring of mercy so ably, that, in short, one would have imagined he had spent his whole life in practising the art of imitation."

The colonisation of New Zealand may be dated from the establishment of a settlement by the Church Missionary Society in 1814. When it was found that the natives not only permitted these settlers to live in perfect security, but even treated them kindly, the dread of the natives began to subside, and other emigrants quickly followed. The South Sea whalers, who are never to be deterred by fancied fears, were among the first to open up the resources of New Zealand. They found that such excellent harbours as surround the coasts were very convenient for obtaining supplies of wood and water, and, after pigs had been introduced by the settlers, of provisions. They found that New Zealand flax made excellent whale-lines‡, and were not slow in discovering the natural bent of the natives to a seafaring life; and at this moment many of them are serving on board our vessels, some in offices of trust; and did the regulation of our marine permit it, English vessels might be navigated by New Zealand commanders.

The rapid increase of European intercourse with New Zealand led to the formation of a Company for its colonisation as early as 1825, who purchased land, and obtained a promise of a charter of incorporation; "but it unfortunately happened that this agent, mistaking a war dance, which was got up in compliment to him, for one intended as the prelude to his destruction, was so affrighted that he made the best of his way from the country. The abandonment of the enterprise by their agent, and the unusually depressed state of the money market, in the year 1826, discouraged the company from prosecuting their design, upon which they had expended £20,000 §."

The want of any sufficient authority to control the European part of the population has hitherto been a great check upon the exertions of honest settlers, while the incursions of runaway sailors and escaped convicts from Sydney have been facilitated and almost encouraged. The country has been inundated by a torrent of desperadoes, who, though justly held in contempt by the natives, still do incalculable mischief. Such a state of affairs has made it a difficult task for the missionaries so to conduct themselves as to avoid the appearance of encouraging the excesses of their countrymen ; and from this cause they may have been led to perhaps the extreme of caution in their intercourse with Europeans. Their situation at length became so difficult, and the want of a sufficient power to control the settlers became so evident, that the governor of Sydney, in concurrence with the Home Government, appointed a consul "accredited to the missionaries at the Bay of Islands." This, to say the least of it, was placing the missionaries in a false position, for they were not the representatives of any government, nor were they possessed of any authority. It was one

See Mr. Enderby's evidence before the Parliamentary Committee. f Walton's Twelve Months' Residence in New Zealand.