our tomes ponder on such items as "A rhinoceros chases me round a bush ;" "Affray with a porcupine ;" "Stynk Vontein again;""A snake under my pillow;" "Roasted locusts ;' "A colony of baboons;" "Struggle with a boa constrictor;" "Meet a grim lion face to face at midnight;""Huge crocodiles;" "The man-eating lion slain ;" "The vultures with the shadowy wings;""Indescribable fish ;"...... When has a reviewer had such a theme to descant on? Mr. Gordon Cumming relates that he bagged during his African tour a hundred and five elephants to his own gun, to say nothing of lions, lionesses, rhinosceroses, hippopotamuses, hyenas, giraffes, ostriches, boas, and the like "small deer.' The cream of his shooting bag may be seen at this moment at Hyde Park Corner. There, in the African Exhibition, is a display of game, such as probably never was gathered together since the days of Noah. Our office, however, is with the narrative, which shall speak for itself. The selection of isolated passages to convey a general idea of the work is far from an easy task. The author's style is singularly terse; he hardly allows himself half words enough for what he has to say. But from his point he is inflexible. His hunting adventures are nothing else. He went to Africa to shoot, which he most emphatically did, and for ought his journal tells, he did little else. The scenery, wild and strange as it was, called from him scarce a cursory allusion. In one or two instances, indeed, the natural characteristic oozes out. The hunter having slain many elephants in the country of "Bamangwato," proceeds to the capital, where he essays to buy more ivory in the shape of tusks from the chief, King Secomy. This monarch has a bright cye to his own interests, and dodges deep to get the better of his customer. Don't he wish he may get it? Hear Mr. Gordon Cumming. "Although I voted the trading an intense bore, it was, nevertheless, well worth a little time and inconvenience on account of the enormous profit I should realize. The price I had paid for the muskets was £15 for each case containing twenty muskets, and the value of the ivory I received for each musket was upwards of £30, being about three thousand per cent., which, I am informed, is reckoned among mercantile men to be a very fair profit." Apparently, Mr. Gordon Cumming was led to this conclusion by professors of the Hebrew persuasion. Again: "On the 2nd, I marched into Graham's Town, and sold my ivory well; the ivory and ostrich feathers realizing in the market somewhere about one thousand pounds. "It's guid to be merry and wise." The most sensitive sensibilities ever moved by the Chinese nymph of tears-"Green-tea"-on reading this "Hunter's Life" must admit that the game of Africa was born to be circumvented to death. In that quarter of our planet everything and everybody is "killing" up everything and everybody it can. Hottentots consume hyenas, and hyenas eat Hottentots, as the chance may be. Lions show their breeding by feeding on venison whenever they can; and the rhinoceros lets slip no opportunity of ripping open the abdomen of the king of the forest. The eel, which we are told has a natural penchant for being skinned, must be a native of Southern Africa. Buffaloes gore buffaloes; zebras kick zebras; hippopotami are amphibious; so are crocodiles; the amphibious animals devour each other alternately. We may as well open a volume at random, for one extract will support our views as well as another. Here is a sample : "Shortly after this I found myself on the banks of the stream beside which my waggons were outspanned. Following along its margin I presently beheld a bull of the borèlé, or black rhinoceros, standing within a hundred yards of me. Dismounting from my horse, I secured him to a tree, and then stalked within twenty yards of the huge beast under cover of a strong bush. Borèlé, hearing me advance, came on to see what it was, and suddenly protruded his horny nose within twenty yards of me. Knowing well that a front shot would not prove deadly, I sprang to my feet and ran behind the bush. Upon this the villain charged, blowing loudly, and chased me round the bush. Had his activity been equal to his ugliness my wanderings would have terminated here; but by my superior agility I had the advantage in the turn. After standing a short time eyeing me through the bush he got a whiff of my wind, which at once alarmed him. Uttering a blowing noise, and erecting his insignificant, yet sancy-looking tail, he wheeled about, leaving me master of the field, when I sent a bullet through his ribs to teach him manners." Apropos of Hottentot-eating is the following episode, which furnishes a fine bold bit of contrast in a pleasure tour :— "On the 29th we arrived at a small village of Bakalahari. These natives told me that elephants were abundant on the opposite side of the river. I accordingly resolved to halt here and hunt, and drew my waggons upon the river's bank within thirty yards from the native village. Having outspanned, we at once set about making for the cattle a kraal of the worst description of thorn trees. Of this I had now become very particular since my severe loss by lions on the first of the month; and my cattle were at night secured by a strong kraal, which enclosed my two waggons, the horses being made fast to a trektow stretched between the hind wheels of the waggons. I had yet, however, a fearful lesson to learn as to the nature and character of the lion, of which I had at one time entertained so little fear; and on this night a horrible tragedy was to be acted in my little lonely camp of so very awful and appalling a nature as to make the blood curdle in our veins. I worked till near sundown at one side of the kraal with Hendrick, my first waggon driver; I cutting down the trees with my axe, and he dragging them to the kraal. When the kraal for the cattle was finished I turned my attention to making a pot of barley broth, and lighted a fire between the waggons and the water, close on the river's bank, under a dense grove of shady trees, making no sort of kraal around our sitting-place for the evening. "The Hottentots, without any reason, made their fire about fifty yards from mine; they, according to their usual custom, being satisfied with the shelter of a large dense bush. The evening passed away cheerfully. Soon after it was dark we heard elephants breaking the trees in the forest across the river, and once or twice I strode away into the darkness some distance from the fireside to stand and listen to them. I little at that moment dreamed of the imminent peril to which I was exposing my life, nor thought that a bloodthirsty man-eater lion was crouching near, and only watching his opportunity to spring into the kraal and consign one to a most horrible death. About three hours after the sun went down I called to my men to come and take their coffee and supper, which was ready for them at my fire; and after supper three of them returned before their comrades to their own fireside, and lay down. These were John Stofolus, Hendrick, and Ruyter. In a few minutes an ox came out by the gate of the kraal, and walked round the back of it. Hendrick got up and drove him in again, and then went back to his fireside and lay down. Hendrick and Ruyter lay on one side of the fire under one blanket and John Stofolus lay on the other. At this moment I was sitting taking some barley broth; our fire was very small, and the night was pitch dark and windy. Owing to our proximity to the native village the wood was very scarce, the Bakalahari having burnt it all in their fires. "Suddenly the appalling and murderous voice of an angry, blood-thirsty lion burst upon my ear within a few yards of us, followed by the shrieking of the Hottentots. Again and again the murderous roar of attack was repeated. We heard John and Ruyter shriek "The lion! the lion!" Still, for a few moments, we thought he was but chasing one of the dogs round the kraal; but next instant John Stofolus rushed into the midst of us, almost speechless with fear and terror, his eyes bursting from their sockets, and shrieked out, "The lion! the lion! he has got Hendrick: he dragged him away from the fire beside me. I struck him with the burning brands upon the head, but he would not let go his hold. Hendrick is dead! Oh, God! Hendrick is dead. Let us take fire and seek him." The rest of my people rushed about, shrieking and yelling as if they were mad. I was at once angry with them for their folly, and told them that if they did not stand still and keep quiet the lion would have another of us, and that very likely there was a troop of them. I ordered the dogs, which were nearly all fast, to be made loose, and the fire to be increased as far as could be. I then shouted Hendrick's name, but all was still. I told my men that Hendrick was dead, and that a regiment of soldiers could not now help him; and hunting my dogs forward I had everything brought within the cattle-kraal, when we lighted our fire and closed the entrance as well as we could. "My terrified people sat round the fire with guns in their hands till the day broke, still fancying that every moment the lion would return and spring into the midst of us. When the dogs were first let go, the stupid brutes, as dogs prove often when most required, instead of going at the lion rushed fiercely on one another and fought desperately for some minutes. After this they got his wind, and going at him disclosed to us his position; they kept up a continual barking till day dawned, the lion occasionally springing after them and driving them into the kraal. The horrible monster lay all night within forty yards of us, consuming the wretched man whom he had chosen for his prey. He had dragged him into a little hollow at the back of the thick bush beside which the fire was kindled, and there he remained till the day dawned careless of our proximity. As the lion lay upon the unfortunate man he faintly cried, "Help me! help me! oh, God, men help me!" After which the fearful beast got a hold of his neck, and then all was still, except that his comrades heard the bones of his neck cracking between the teeth of the lion. The next morning, just as the day dawned, we heard the lion dragging something up the river side under cover of the bank. We drove the cattle out of the kraal, and then proceeded to inspect the scene of the awful tragedy. In the hollow where the lion had lain consuming his prey, we found one leg of the unfortunate Hendrick, bitten off below the knee, the shoe still on his foot; the grass and bushes were all stained with his blood, and fragments of his pea-coat lay around. Hendrick was by far the best man I had about my waggons, of a most cheerful disposition, a first-rate waggon-driver, fearless in the field, ever active, willing, and obliging: his loss to us all was very serious." How little, truly, does one half the world know how the other lives-or dies! The mighty hunter who led, and most gallantly, in these scenes, in the detail of his exploits is singularly chary of personal reference. His modesty is surpassed only by his daring. His "life" makes no pretence at literary polish or attic periods. It is probably a simple transcript from his journals. It certainly goes to support the axiom that there is no rule without an exception; for it proves that there is something new under the sun in the taste which it develops. Mr. Gordon Cumming, if pluck and perseverance be fair and gracious properties, has, past peradventure, “given the world assurance of a man." Burning for a nobler wood-craft than his native land afforded, he took for his device the motto of the gallant Sidney, " Aut viam inveniam aut faciam;” and he worked out his problem by fiery Capricorn, even to the banks of the bright Limpopo. PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS OF THE METROPOLIS. "But now farewell to each and all, adieu WORDSWORTH. In commenting upon the most remarkable incident of the past month -a month, by the way, abounding in notabilities-reference should not be made to the ineligibility of Rothschild to sit, or the incapacity of the Hippopotamus to walk, the running down of the Exposition of 1851, or the ascension of Bell's balloon, the more "last words" on the interminable Gorham question, or the lionising of the Nepaulese visitors; but to "something more exquisite still," the sweet voice of Sontag at HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE. Great as this consummate artist has been esteemed for her high and powerful genius, never did she exhibit such transcendental powers to claim the most intense admiration as shine forth in "La Figlia del Reggimento," with all the effulgency of the lately arrived great Diamond of the East. Twice has she performed the part of Maria in this pleasing opera of Donizetti; and notwithstanding the great success achieved in the same character by Jenny Lind, it may be fairly stated that Madame Sontag can bear the test of comparison without the slightest fear of the consequences. The navieté, the artless simplicity, the natural gaiety, tempered with so much grace, infused into the cha racter, combine in rendering this personation of the vivacious vivandiere, one of the most truthful, and, at the same time, fascinating pictures ever presented. Her singing could not be surpassed. For instance, where is the syren that could approach her in the cavatina "Convien partir"? Never was heard anything to compare to the sweetness of this sustained note. To this most wonderful vocal effort there is to be added the ever agreeable "Rataplan ;" and in addition there is the Tonio of Gardoni, in which this favourite tenor is heard with considerable delight. But we regard this performance of Sontag alone in so high esteem, that we earnestly urge the reader, however far distant when this meets his or her eye, to lose not a moment, but jump into a coupé on the nearest line of railway, and hasten to Her Majesty's Theatre, for the season is fast drawing to a close, and hear Sontag, and see Carlotta Grisi and Amalia Ferraris, "To all that binds the soul in powerful trance, "La Juive," as an opera, is not in any way calculated to inspire us with a more lofty estimation of the merits of the composer than that which had been formed after an acquaintance with other works of M. Halévy. Viewed as a spectacle, it must be admitted that the COVENT GARDEN directors have been lavish in their arrangements to a degree seldom beheld. The besetting fault is the extreme length, a complaint that may be reasonably urged against the majority of operas produced at this theatre; it being no uncommon occurrence for the evening's performance to last from eight o'clock at night until after one o'clock in the morning and this, at this particular season, when the thermometer indicates the raging of a heat as intense as an alderman's affection for Smithfield and turtle. Christian fortitude not being able to bear this treatment quietly any longer, we are induced to beg of the management to adopt a more summary mode of entertainment. Rachel has taken her departure, after fulfilling an engagement which has been, it is pleasing to mention, of the most satisfactory kind in its result to the manager. Mr. Mitchell has secured the services of Mrs. Fanny Kemble, late Mrs. Butler, and late Miss Fanny Kemble, to give half a dozen readings of Shakspeare at THE ST. JAMES'S. At the termination of the course the season will be brought to a conclusion. 66 The other theatres have brought their seasons to a termination, with one or two exceptions, such as the STRAND, where young Talfourd's "Alcestis" has made a favourable impression, many of the puns being of a sparkling kind, and the ADELPHI, where the audience, by one consent, is nightly doomed to undergo all the agreeable sensations of Tartarus. How humanity can possibly offer itself up night after night as an alarming sacrifice" to the fire that rages in this most unventilated of buildings is a problem of so complicated a nature that we venture to assert as our honest conviction that it would even prove to be a "poser" to the gentleman who ingeniously outwitted the Sphynx. The state of the atmosphere must be our plea in extenuation for not remarking upon the percolated idioms of Madame Celeste, or the unmeaning buffooneries of the stock company. The OLYMPIC has been opened for "a season of six nights," and, sooth to say, judging from the first night's performance, the managerial promise is not likely to be violated, at least, as far as concerns extension of the term. The ancient play of "The Malcontent" has been revived, which is more than can be said of the modern malcontents, who experience no revivifying influence in witnessing this exceedingly stale, musty, dreary, and dull production. The closing of the LYCEUM and HAYMARKET calls for no further observation than the extraordinary run and success of "The Island of Jewels" at the former, and the renewal of the uncomplimentary allusion to the Opera Houses in Mr. Webster's valedictory address, which savours exceedingly of the kick given to the prostrate monarch of the forest, by the animal famed for the development of its auricular organs. The manager of VAUXHALL GARDENS having arrived at the reasonable conclusion that the public will not pay to witness equestrianism, unless it be of a high order, and that the horses in the circle will not go down, has determined that they shall go up; consequently he has made arrangements for Mr. Green to outrival the deeds of Phoebus in his control of a fiery steed, on which he is to be mounted, on an early occasion of ascending in his balloon! Many of the fashionables remaining in town, |