X. 1. Souvenirs d'Orient, par Henri Cornille. 2. Souvenirs, Impressions, Pensées, et Paysages, pendant un Voyage en Orient, 1832, 1833. Par A. de la 3. Moniteur Ottoman. Weekly Newspaper, Turkish and XII. Pensées d'un Prisonnier, par le Comte de Peyronnet . XIII. Réponse de Lucien Bonaparte, Prince de Canino, aux Mé- XV. Du Duché de Savoie, ou Etat de ce Pays en 1833. Par XVI. 1. Die wahre und die scheinbare Bahn des Halleyschen Kometen bei seiner Wiederkunft im Jahr 1835, dargestellt und erklärt. Von Möbius, Professor der 2. Beiträge zu einer Monographie des Halleyschen Ko- 3. Neue Erfahrungen und Ansichten über die Kometen, insbesondere über den 1835 wiederkommenden Miscellaneous Literary Notices, No. XXIX., from Belgium, Fin- land, France, Germany, Naples, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States List of the Principal New Works published on the Continent, from THE FOREIGN QUARTERLY REVIEW. ART. I. Reise um die Erde, ausgeführt auf dem Königlich Preussischen Seehandlungs-Schiffe, Prinzess-Louise, commandirt von Capitain W. Wendt, in den Jahren 1830, 1831, 1832. (Voyage round the World in the Prussian Ship the Princess Louise, by Dr. F. J. F. Meyen.) 2 vols. 4to. Berlin. 1834. NOTWITHSTANDING the numerous narratives of Voyages round the World, the successful accomplishment of which, instead of being matter of wonder, is now an every-day occurrence, such accounts are still looked for with impatience if they are known to have been conducted by men from whose labours new information may be expected, and are read with interest if they afford any real addition to our stock of knowledge. It might, indeed, be supposed that preceding adventurers had left little to be told respecting most of the countries which navigators, not bound on a voyage of discovery, but on a commercial enterprise, had occasion to visit. Thus, for instance, with regard to the work before us, it may be asked, what novelty can we expect from Brazil, Chili, Peru, or China? We have not only accounts of voyages to all these countries, but numerous and authentic narratives of travels in the interior, which must have anticipated all, and more than all, that a transient visiter of the coast can hope to learn. May we not almost say of such a voyager in the words which Schiller puts into the mouth of Max Piccolomini: But voyaging along the barren coasts, Like some poor ever-roaming horde of pirates, House on the wild sea, with wild usages, Nor know aught of the main land, but the bays.-- Of fair and exquisite-O! nothing, nothing, Facts, however, do not justify this view of the subject. The * Wallenstein: translated by S. T. Coleridge. VOL. XV. NO. XXIX. B very frequency of such communications has made us so familiar with remote countries, not only in general, but in detail—not merely with the outlines of national character, but even with individuals that we are interested in them as old acquaintance and are desirous of knowing what has happened to them since we last heard of them. Thus, for instance, ever since the death of Cook, the Sandwich Islands have become as interesting to us as many of our own distant possessions-to which, in fact, they now in some measure belong. The celebrated Tameameah and his introduction of European civilization, the labours and conduct of the Missionaries, the establishment of Christianity, the visit of King Rhio to England, and his death among us, all serve to render any real and authentic intelligence welcome. Besides, in the present state of the navigation, commerce, and manufactures of Great Britain, it is indispensably necessary to have recent information from every part of the world. It is above all desirable that this information should be authentic, and on this account it must be important in many instances to confront the accounts given by our own countrymen with those of foreigners. It is possible that the speculators in mining operations in Mexico or Brazil may hold out fairer prospects than facts would justify; that Missionaries may describe in too glowing colours the results of their labours, and that without intentional misrepresentation in either case. But further, in reply to those who would object that little novelty can be looked for, we must be allowed to observe, that the old proverb, "there is nothing new under the sun," is in a certain point of view wholly exploded. The immensely extended sphere of modern education embraces an infinity of objects which were formerly the exclusive domain of the learned; and every branch of natural history, botany, zoology, mineralogy, has now become a popular and favourite pursuit. In this field new discoveries are daily made, which are not merely interesting in themselves, but of the utmost importance to the arts, commerce, and manufactures. Numerous instances of this kind will doubtless occur to our readers, but we may mention an important one of the most recent date. The British government, having received satisfactory information of the fitness of the timber of the Cowdie tree of New Zealand for spars for the navy, sent the Buffalo to that country for specimens. That vessel has just returned, and brought a cargo far exceeding all expectation. Before the return of the Buffalo, an enterprising and experienced naval officer, who has formed an establishment of his own in New Zealand, had offered, and, we believe, contracted with the government, to furnish spars of this kind from that island, at a lower price and of better quality than those from the Baltic-a circumstance, which, in the not impossible contingency of a war with Russia, may be of essential importance to this country. Every body is aware of the numerous and splendid additions made of late years to the ornaments of our parks and gardens by plants introduced from foreign countries. The beautiful and various heaths from the Cape-the dahlia, now so general-the camellia japonica, and innumerable others, are comparatively recent. We have seen a volume of original drawings, nearly 200 years old, representing the flowers cultivated at that time in the English garden; how poor was the ornamental Flora of those days when contrasted with the abundant treasures which we now possess! How many valuable species of pines have we become acquainted with, and some introduced into our parks, through the splendid Monography of the Genus Pinus of Mr. Lambert, who is still indefatigable in collecting materials to complete his great work, and whose magnificent herbarium, unrivalled by any private collection in Europe, is constantly enriched by acquisitions from all parts of the globe! After premising these general observations, we must say a few words of introduction to the work before us. This was the third voyage of a Prussian ship round the world, but no detailed account of the first and second has been published. They were undertaken by the Royal Company for Maritime Commerce, and seem to have fully answered the purpose for which they were projected, of establishing a commercial intercourse between Prussia and distant countries. The author, Dr. Meyen, accompanied the expedition on board the Princess Louise, as physician and naturalist, and the work before us bears ample testimony to his industry, zeal, and ability. The Princess Louise left Hamburg on the 9th September, 1830, but in consequence of adverse winds, and violent storms, first in the German Ocean and the Channel, and afterwards in the Atlantic, did not arrive in sight of Cabo Frio till the 14th of November, and on the following day she reached the bay of Rio de Janeiro. Dr. Meyen complains much of the inaccuracy of the charts of this coast; he says, that several new islands, not laid down in the charts, were discovered close to the shore. Among them is a small island, with a new house upon it, almost 4' to the east of Punto Negro. In crossing that part of the Ocean called the Sargasso Sea, from the vast quantities of sea-weed, fucus sargasso, Gmel., which is identical with the fucus natans. of Turn, and Lin., he expresses his conviction, contrary to the opinion of Von Humboldt and Martius, that these sea-plants do not grow on shoals, from which they are detached by various causes, but that they germinate and grow in the water on which they float. B 2 We commence our extracts with some of the author's observations on Brazil: "At the time of our visit to Rio de Janeiro Don Pedro was still Emperor of Brazil. We were eye-witnesses of the disturbances which afterwards forced this extraordinary man to abdicate his throne. The police and the administration of justice were at that time already in so relaxed a state that they were unable to maintain public order. At sunset pickets of soldiers were stationed at all the approaches leading to the principal streets, and every passenger was challenged. It was by no means an unusual occurrence for five or six murders to be perpetrated in one night. In many houses the slaves were chained down during the night, that their masters might sleep with a feeling of security. The capital resembled a volcano, of which every one dreaded the eruption without exactly knowing how it would break out. Justice will avenge itself on the white man for the barbarities which he has for centuries exercised on millions and millions of negroes. The fate of Brazil is inevitable; three-fourths of the population are people of colour, only onefourth being of Caucasian origin....... When we visited Rio the importation of slaves bad ceased; the legal import had been prohibited since the 1st of July in the same year-yet the trade in slaves was still carried on in the interior, as well in those who had been already imported as in others who were still smuggled in. Forty thousand negro slaves were on an average annually imported into the Brazils; and in the few last years previously to the abolition of this lucrative trade there was a considerable increase in the importation, so that two or three slave ships entered the harbour of Rio every week." We will not follow our author through his description of the still existing horrors of the slave-trade, even after the prohibition of the further importation of slaves, conformably to the treaties made with England. His report of a visit to the warehouse of a slave-dealer, where the greater part of the unfortunate victims were children, branded with red-hot irons, generally on the noblest parts of the human body, fully corroborates all the preceding accounts of that atrocious system, and of its demoralizing effect on minds which are in other respects not destitute of feelings of humanity. "To our astonishment," says he, "" we found at Rio people of the country, distinguished for their education and humanity, who coolly assured us that we were mistaken in imagining that the negroes belong to our species. Agreeably to this principle the slaves are treated, and, as the people at Rio boast, with extraordinary mildness. A person must have long resided there, and become gradually accustomed to the sight of this misery and degrading oppression, before he can understand such language. "If a stranger visits the depôt of a slave-merchant, the latter receives bim with the greatest civility, cordially shakes him by the hand, and assures him of the uncommon excellence of his merchandize. He immediately orders some of the poor wretches to stand up, and, stick in hand, makes them exhibit their capabilities. But if these atrocious |