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Gleanings Literary Notices.

Piney Tallow.-At this period of commercial difficulty in the India trade, it is singular that no person has thought of importing the piney tallow of Malabar. This substance is obtained by boiling the fruit of the Veteria Indica. The tallow forms,a solid cake on cooling, and is generally white, sometimes yellow, greasy to the touch, but rather waxy; it is almost tasteless, and agreeable in smell, in which respect it resembles common cerate. It is solid and tenacious, so that a mass of nine pounds, cast into a round form, could not be drawn usunder by two men with a fine iron wire, and even with a saw its division was a matter of much difficulty: it, however, easily melts at 97 Fahrenheit, at which temperature its specific gravity is 8965, and at 60 deg. it is 9260. At the town of Mangalore five hundred weight of piney tallow may be obtained for fifty rupees, being at the rate of 2d. per pound.

Patents.-The number of patents for inventions granted since the reign of Charles II. to the present time, exceeds 5,500, of which nearly 2,000 having been granted since 1815, are still in force. Years of speculation are remarkable for increase of patents; the number obtained in 1818 amounted to 140, while that year of extravagance, 1825, produced no less than 249.

Costume.-The following is in general the Sunday costume of the people of Brunswick:-a cocked hat, a white coat lined with scarlet, and reaching quite down to the heels, white leather breeches, with frequently black, and often red stockings, with enormous shoe buckles.

Waste of Coal.-In returning a few years ago from Berwick upon-Tweed, a stranger was much surprised, as night came on, on seeing two enormous fires near Newcastle.-Upon inquiring, he found that they were from small coal, which does not readily sell, and which is therefore separated by screens from the larger blocks. Prodigious heaps are thus formed at the mouths of the pits; and from the decomposition of the pyrites, they take fire and continue to burn for years. One of these huge mounds was but a few miles from the road-it was said to cover twelve acres of ground, and to have been burning for eight years. As all that small coal might be made use of to produce coal gas, he says the legislature should interfere to prevent such a shameful waste; for no less than 100,000 chaldrons of coal are thus annually destroyed on the banks of the river Tyne; and nearly the same quantity on the Wear. Beneath these burning heaps he found a heap of blackish scoria, which resembles basalt, and is used for mending roads.

Mushrooms.-It may not be amiss to observe, that in cooking mushrooms for the table, they should always have an onion boiled with them, stripped of its outer skin. If in this process the onion becomes either black or blue, the mushrooms should not be used; if they are harmless, the onion will remain white.

Large Lobster.-During the late easterly gale, a lobster, weighing 21 pounds, was taken on Nantucket beach. Its claws were of the ordinary size. It was brought to the city, and is said to be the largest ever seen here, excepting one obtained at Cape Cod, by Commodore Hull, to decide a bet of £50, made in England by Admiral Cochrane, that he could produce a larger lobster from America than could be found in England. This gained the wager; it weighed 27 pounds.-United States Gazette, Dec. 11.

Cowper's Chair.-The chair of Cowper, in which the mind-exhausted frame of the poet of domestic sympathies and devotional feeling, was supported, has been placed in the theatre of the Institution, Park-street, Bristol. and appropriated to the use of the chairman of the Philosophical and Literary Society. The chair was presented to the Society by Richard Welsford, Esq. of Marlborough.

Carpets.-This luxury, which is now to be found in most of our houses, is of modern invention; the floors of the first houses in England were strewed with common rushes so late as the year 1580. Hats were not worn by men until about the year 1400; before that time they wore hoods and cloth caps.

Tea and Coffee.-It is now two hundred years since tea and coffee were first introduced into Europe; it was only used by princes and grandees until 1557, when a tea shop was opened in London, and resorted to by all those who could affords to drink it. Coffee was introduced about the year 1652, and was sold only at public-houses, which, from that circumstance, acquired the name of coffee honses. Previous to the introduction of tea and coffee, the people of England drank beer and wine. Tobacco was first carried from America to England, by Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, about the year 1586.

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Progress of the Arts in France.-At the last sitting of the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry at Paris, a prize of 1,000 francs was awarded to Mr. Coffin, of New York, for a machine to remove fur from skius employed in making hats; by this machine, four workmen are able, in four hours, to do the work of twenty-five, according to the old process. A prize of 2,000 francs was awarded to Grenet and Gompertz, for an improved method of making glue. A gold medal of 500 francs to M. Delapierre, for an improvement in the manufacture of paper with silk. The prize of 3,000 francs, offered by the Society for the best process of making paper with the bark of the mulberry-tree, has been increased to 5,700 francs, to be awarded in 1830; and two prizes of 12,000 francs are proposed, one for the best means of securing safety in explosions of steam-engines, and the other for a steam-engine boiler which shall be less liable to explosion than those now in use.

Bible Society.-The Protestant Bible Society of Paris distributed, as gifts, during the year 1828, 22,446 Bibles, and 3,447 New Testaments. In the same year they sold, at a very low price, 3,676 Bibles, and 2,708 Testaments; making together 5922 Bibles and 6155 New Testaments. Since the period of its first foundation, this society has circulated 103,740 copies of the Scriptures.

Literary Notices.

Just Published.

No. 13 of the National Portrait Gallery, in Imperial 8vo. (being the first number of Vol. II. of this splendid work,) present Likenesses and Memoirs of the Right Hon. George Canning-Davies Gilbert, P.R.S. and Viscount Whitworth.

Also No. 13 of the King's Edition of the above Work, in Royal Quarto, with the choicest proof impressions of the plates.-No. 1 to 12 will be ready in the course of the month.

Fisher's National Illustrations:-Part III. of Ireland-Part I. of Devonshire and Cornwall-and Part V. of Lancashire, are ready for delivery.

The Family Library, Dramatic Series, No. I., Masinger. Vol. I. 12mo.

The Drama brought to the Test of Scripture, and found wanting, 12mo.

The Family Oblation, or Prayers for Domestic Worship, original and selected. 12mo.

Jacob, or Patriarchal Piety. By the Rev. Edward Craig, A. M. 12mo.

Brief but Bright Journey through the Dark Valley, or the Last Days of Mary Mackey. By a Minister. The Pulpit, part 87.

Report of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society for the year 1829.

The Picture of India, Geographical, Historical, and Descriptive, in 2 vols.

The Traveller's Lay. By Thomas Maude, Esq.. Discourse on various Subjects relative to the Being and Attributes of God. By Adam Clarke, LL. D., F.A.S., &c. Vol. III.

The Christian's Affection to the House of his God. By Thomas Swan.

In the Press.

The True Character and Probable Results of American Revivals, a Discourse. By the Rev. J. Blackburn.

By Dr. Ure, a New Edition, nearly re-written, of his Dictionary of Chemistry.

Landscape Illustrations of the Waverley Novels, From Drawings by Messrs. Barrett, W. Daniel, R.A., Dewint, C. Fielding, S. Prout, Painter in Water Colours to the King, Brockedon, J. D. Harding, R. R. Reinagle, R.A., Robson, T. Stothard, R.A., Stanfield, and W. Westall, A.R.A. The Engravings executed in the most finished style by Messrs. William and Edward Finden.

Preparing for Publication.

On the 17th of May will be published, (containing 36 Portraits,) Vol. I. of the National Portrait Gallery of Illustrations and Eminent Personages of the Nineteenth Century: with Memoirs, by W. Jerdan, Esq. F.S.A., &c. &c.-Imperial Octavo, half-bound in Morocco, £2. 2s.-Proofs, on India paper, £3 8s.

Early in May will be published, the Drama of Nature, a Poem, in 3 books, by Joseph Mitchell Burton, boards, 5s.

By Mr. Strutt, an Edition in Royal Octavo, of his Sylva Britannica, complete in one volume. It will be enriched with several additional subjects, comprising, in the whole, Sixty Plates of the celebrated specimens of Forest Trees, in England and Scotland.

LONDON: PRINTED AT THE CAXTON PRESS, BY HI. FISHER, SON, AND CO.

[subsumed][merged small][graphic]

NORTH-EAST VIEW OF THE DISTRICT OF FA-RE, IN HUAHINE.

Fisher Son & Co London, 1830.

THE

Emperial Magazine;

OR, COMPENDIUM OF

RELIGIOUS, MORAL, & PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE.

JUNE.]

"PERIODICAL LITERATURE IS THE GERM OF NATIONAL LEARNING."

NORTH EAST VIEW OF THE DISTRICT OF FA-RE, IN HUAHINE, IN THE SOUTH SEAS.

HUAHINE is the most windward island of that group, which, by Captain Cook, was denominated the Society Islands, in honour of the Royal Society, at whose recommendation the voyages to the South Seas, which led to their discovery, were undertaken. At that period, both the island and its inhabitants presented a very different aspect from what they have since assumed. The intervening years have introduced Christianity, and many of the arts of civilized life; in consequence of which, the savage character has in a great measure disappeared. Much of the soil also is cultivated; and the natives are making rapid advances in the acquirement of useful knowledge, and in applying it to purposes beneficial to their interests, both in time and eternity.

In the month of June, 1818, this island was visited by several English Missionaries, among whom was Mr. William Ellis, from whose observations published in his late work, entitled Polynesian Researches, we extract the substance of the following account:

"We arrived at Huahine late on the evening of the 19th, and some of our party went on shore, but it was not till the morning of the 20th, that we reached the anchorage in Fa-re harbour.

"Here I looked abroad with new and mingled emotions on the scene in which I was to commence my labours, and probably spend the remainder of my life. The clear sky was reflected in the unruffled waters of the bay, which was bordered with a fine beach strewed with various shells. The luxuriant convolvulus presenting its broad and shining leaves in striking contrast with the white coral and sand, spread across the beach even to the margin of the water, over which the slender shrub or the flowering trees often extended their verdant branches, while the groves of stately bread-fruit, and the clumps of umbrageous callophyllum, or tamanu trees, and the tall and gracefully waving cocoa nuts shaded the different parts of the shore.

138.-VOL. XII.

[1830.

"The district of Fa-re, bordering the harbour of the same name, is about a mile and a half, or two miles in length, and reaches from the shore to the centre of the island. It is bounded on the south by a range of mountains separating it from the district of Haapape, and on the north by the small district of Buaoa, whence a long, bleak point of land, called Faao, extending a considerable distance into the sea, and covered with tall cocoa-nut trees, add much to the beauty of the shore, and the security of the harbour. A ridge of inferior hills dividing the district in the centre, greatly increases the picturesque appearance of its scenery.

"A small river rises on the northern side of this ridge, and flowing along the boundary between the two districts, meets the sea exactly opposite the northern entrance. Another stream, more broad and rapid, rises at the head of the principal valley, and flows in a circuitous course to the southern part of the bay. The district is well watered and wooded. The lower hills, at the time of our arrival, were clothed with verdure; and the mountains in the centre of the island, whose summits appeared to penetrate the clouds, were often entirely covered with trees. All was rich and luxuriant in vegetation, but it was the richness and luxuriance of a wilderness. Scarcely a trace of human culture could be seen.

"A few native houses were visible, but there were not probably more than ten or twelve in the district, and the inhabitants might be occasionally seen guiding the light canoe across the bay, or leisurely walking beneath the grateful shade of the spreading trees. They were the rude untutored tenants of the place; their appearance and their actions being in perfect keeping with the scenes of wildness by which they were surrounded. The only clothing most of them wore, was a girdle of cloth bound round the waist, while a shade of cocoa-nut leaves covered their foreheads. But notwithstanding these appearances, it was impossible to behold, without emotions, either the scenery or the inhabitants.

"The accompanying plate exhibits an

2 I

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View of Fa-re, in the Society Islands.

accurate representation of the outline and scenery in the northern parts of the district and harbour, although it was taken at a period subsequently to our arrival, when the landscape had been improved, by partially clearing the ground near the shore, and erecting a number of houses.

"In the forenoon of the day, after we came to anchor, accompanied by Matapuupuu, we walked through the district in search of a house for Mr. Orsmond and myself, and at length selected one on the southern side of the bay, belonging to Taaroarii, the young chief of the island. Towards noon most of our goods were landed, and taken into our new habitation. It was a large oval building, standing within ten or twelve yards of the sea, without either partition or even sides, consisting simply of a large roof supported by three pillars along the centre, and a number round the sides. The floor was composed of stones, sand, and clay. Mr. and Mrs. Orsmond occupied one end, and we took up our abode in the other.

"When our goods, &c. were all brought under its cover, and the boats had returned to the ship, we sat down to rest, but could not avoid gazing on the scene around us, before we began to adjust our luggage. Large fragments of rock were scattered at the base of the mountains that rose on one side of our dwelling, the sea rolled within a few yards of the other; and in each direction along the shore, there was one wild and uncultivated wilderness. A pair of cattle that we had brought from New South Wales, with a young calf, all of which had been landed from the ship during the morning, were tied to an adjacent bread-fruit tree; two or three milch goats from Eimeo, fastened together by bands of hibiscus bark tied round their horns, had already taken their station on the craggy projections at the foot of the mountain, and were cropping the herbage that grew in the fissures of the rocks. One of our little ones was smiling in the lap of its native nurse, while the other was playing on the dried grass lying by the side of the boxes on which we were sitting; and the natives, under the influence of highly excited curiosity, thronged around us in such numbers as partially to impede the circulation of the air.

"Our first effort was to prepare some refreshment. The chiefs had sent us a present of bread-fruit and fish, but both required cooking. This was observed by a native youth about fourteen or fifteen years of age, who leaving the crowd came forward, and offered his service to dress some bread-fruit. We gladly accepted his offer,

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| and, finding him faithful, he became our servant, and continued with us till we removed from the islands. Acquainted with his work, he fixed two large stones in the ground for a fire-place, and bringing a bundle of dry sticks from the adjacent bushes, lighted a fire between the stones, upon which he placed the teakettle. While he was thus employed, we removed some of the boxes, and piled up our luggage as well as we could, and the food being prepared, we sat down to a comfortable repast of fried fish, bread-fruit, plantains, cocoanut milk, and tea. As a beverage, we always preferred the latter, although the former is exceedingly pleasant.

"The large island of Raiatea lies immediately to the west of Fa-re harbour, and by the time we had finished our meal, the sun was partly hidden behind the high and broken summits of its mountains. This admonished us to prepare our sleeping place, as the twilight is short, and we were not sure of procuring light for the evening. The natives perceiving our intention, cut down four stout sticks from the neighbouring trees; these we fixed in the earthen floor, and fastening sheets and native cloth from one to the other, enclosed our bedroom. Two chests were then carried into it, upon which we spread our bed, making up one for the children, by the side of our own, on some packages that lay on the floor.

"Having procured some cocoa-nut oil, as night approached, we prepared our lamp in the following manner. A small portion of cotton wool we wound round the thin stalk of the leaflet of a tree; a cocoa nut was then divided into two parts, one of which was filled with oil, and the stalk connected with the cotton was erected in the kernel, and ready to be lighted. These were the only kind of lamps we had for several years, but, though rude in appearance, they gave a good light, when kept steady, and sheltered from the wind. Shortly, however, after sun-set this evening, the land breeze came down from the mountain with more violence than we had expected, and having no shelter for our lamp, we found some difficulty in keeping it burning; but, tying our screen down with strips of bark, to prevent its being blown aside, at an early hour we retired to rest. Here, notwithstanding the novelty of our situation, the exposure to the breeze from the mountains, the roaring of the heavy surf on the reefs, the inroads of pigs, dogs, and natives, with no other shelter than the screen and a pile of boxes, we passed a comfortable night, and

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