A grove which springs through levell'd battlements, Ivy usurps the laurel's place of growth; - While Caesar's chambers, and the Augustan halls, And thou didst shine, thou rolling moon, upon The dead, but sceptred sovereigns, who still rule It will be easily seen that this drama was never intended for representation, and it would therefore be unfair to criticise it as a theatrical effort. Our opinion of it as a poem may be collected from what we have already expressed; and, in terminating this article, we cannot refrain from repeating a hope that the time will come when we shall not associate with the muse of Lord Byron ideas of all that is terrible, gloomy, and forbidding. ART. VII. A Voyage round the World, from 1806 to 1812, in which Japan, Kamschatka, the Aleutian Islands, and the Sandwich Islands, were visited. Including a Narrative of the Author's Shipwreck on the Island of Sannack, and his subsequent Wreck in the Ship's long Boat. With an Account of the present State of the Sandwich Islands, and a Vocabulary of their Language. By Archibald Campbell. Illustrated by a Chart. 8vo. pp. 288. 9s. Boards. Longman and Co. 1816. THIS HIS is in fact not so much the detail of a circumnavigator as the adventures of a young seaman, who, by a series of strange and disastrous events, has been reduced at an early age to extreme helplessness and consequent penury. In this state, after his return home, he was accidentally noticed by Mr. Smith, who dates from Jordan-hill, in Scotland, and discovered to have made a voyage round the world: when compassion and curiosity jointly induced Mr. Smith to draw up, and to publish for Campbell's benefit, a narrative of that voyage, in which he himself is made to tell his own story, speaking in the first person. We learn that this son of misfortune was born at a village near Glasgow, and at the age of thirteen was bound apprentice to the master of a ship. In 1806, he was pressed into a man of war, but made his escape, and entered as seaman on board the Thames East Indiaman, in which he sailed to China. There he was inveigled to desert, and to enter on board an American ship named the Eclipse, belonging to Boston, but which had been chartered by the Russian American Company, and was now bound to Kamtschatka and the Russian American settlements, with a cargo of Chinese goods. The Eclipse sailed from the river Canton in May 1807, Campbell then not having quite completed his 20th year. In June, the ship anchored in the port of Nangasaki under Russian colours, but was strictly guarded there by the Japanese, and prevented from having any communication with the shore; though they supplied the voyagers with provisions. On the third day, the American captain, seeing no prospect of being allowed to trade, made sail and departed. The Japanese were at that time much incensed against the Russians, who had invaded some of the southern Kurili islands. On July the 8th, the voyagers entered the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paulin Kamtschatka, where they remained during a month. The monument raised to the memory of Captain Charles Clerke, the coadjutor of Captain Cook, and which was repaired or re-erected by Captain Krusenstern and his officers, is noticed. The harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul affords the most perfect shelter from the sea: but, owing to the great height and position of the mountains, it is subject to heavy squalls, in consequence of which a very uncommon accident had recently happened there. A Russian ship, named the Slawa Rossii, which had formerly been commanded by Captain Billings, and after him by Captain Sarytscheff, having loosed the sails for the purpose of drying them, a sudden squall laid her on her beam-ends, and she filled and went down. From Kamtschatka, the Eclipse sailed (in August) for the American coast, which she approached in a most unfortunate manner. The land was first made in the night, about ten o'clock; and, before the crew were well aware of any danger, the ship struck, but went on, and, the sea running high, she beat so hard against the ground that the rudder was unhung and the stern-post forced upwards. In less than an hour, she went to pieces. The long boat had been cleared, and the fastenings which secured her to the ship had been cut, when a tremendous sea precipitated the whole crew into the water, and the boat, having nothing to hold her fast, drove away. Fifteen men tried to save themselves on one of the masts, and others got on the bowsprit. After thirteen hours, dreadfully passed, the Captain, one of the mates, and Campbell, landed from the mast: the rest had been washed away, and had had yielded to their fate. Four men reached the shore from the bowsprit, but two of them expired almost immediately. The land on which they were cast was one of the eastern of the Aleutian or Fox islands, in latitude 54° 27′ N.: by Captain Cook named Halibut island, by the natives Sannack. The people discovered muscles and fresh water, and many things floated to the shore from the wreck; and they also found the long boat. • One or two of the seamen's chests drove ashore, and amongst them mine; it contained only one shirt and my Bible, which I had put into one of those squares common in sailors' chests for holding case-bottles, and in which it was firmly fixed, in consequence of having swelled with the water. I was at great pains in drying it in the sun, and succeeded so well that I could read any part of it. It was afterwards saved from a second wreck; and in my future hardships and sufferings, the perusal of it formed my greatest consolation. It is still in my possession, being the only article I brought with me when I returned to my native country." Having saved much of the wreck, the Captain and his associates were encouraged to set about building a vessel large enough to sail to the Sandwich islands, where they did not doubt of meeting with American ships. Towards the end of September, which was above a fortnight after their disaster, they were joined by a party of native Americans, who brought them fish, and berries cured with seal-oil, which Campbell and. his companions then deemed no small luxury; and, which was of more consequence, one of the natives kindled a fire (for they had been all this time without one) in the following manner: He laid a piece of soft wood on the ground, and took another within his teeth; between these he put an upright piece of a harder quality, which he twirled rapidly round with a thong of hide, as we would a drill; the friction soon kindled the soft wood, and by placing it in dried grass, and blowing it, it burst into a flame. We lost no time in broiling the fish, and enjoyed the first com fortable meal we had since the shipwreck. The next day about forty Indians, men and women, came and encamped beside us ; they made huts for themselves, by setting up planks, leaning against each other at the top, and throwing earth upon them, over which they put a covering of grass.' The natives shared all that they had with the wrecked seamen, in the most liberal manner; and, a few days afterward, the Russian commandant of Oonalaska, having been informed of the ship's loss, arrived at the place. In order to obtain some necessary stores for the equipment of the vessel which they were building, it was determined that the long boat should be sent to Kodiak, and Campbell went in her. The crew departed with moderate weather: but about noon the wind freshened to a smart gale and the sea rose, fre X 3 quently quently curling over the stern in an alarming manner, till we adopted an expedient of which I fortunately recollected having read in the voyages of some Dutch navigators, who used oil to smooth the sea. Upon trying the experiment, it proved an effectual remedy. We lashed a keg of oil upon the taffrail, allowing a small stream to run from it, which spread a scum over the surface in our wake, and completely prevented the waves from topping.' They stopped at an island named Ungar, where was a Russian settlement, which had undergone a dreadful calamity." "The whole of the male inhabitants, except the Russian overseer and his son, and the Indian interpreter, having gone out to catch seals, about three weeks before this time, a severe gale of wind came on, which their slight canoes were unable to resist, and every one of them perished.' Alexandria, formerly named St. Paul, is the chief place on..Kodiak, and is the principal Russian settlement among the Fox islands. After having accomplished the business on which she was sent, the long boat departed from Alexandria to return to Sannack; and, in attempting to make this passage, it was the fate of poor Campbell to be visited with sufferings far greater than those even which he had endured in his shipwreck. It was now the month of January; and, on the second day after they had left Alexandria, bad weather forced the crew into a bay on the northern side of Kodiak. The place yielded nothing towards their support; and, at the end of ten days, the dread of famine obliged them to put to sea again, in the hopes of reaching a settlement named Karlouski, which lay at no great distance to the west. 'On the morning of the 21st,' Campbell relates,' we launched the boat and stood over towards the main land. When about midchannel we discovered that the boat had sprung a leak; at the same time a heavy fall of snow came on, accompanied with violent squalls. The leak gained so much upon us, that it became absolutely necessary to run for the nearest shore. Had the day been clear, we might have got back to the harbour we had quitted in the morning; but the snow rendered it so dark that we could scarcely see a boat's length a-head; we had therefore no resource but to put before the wind, and trust our lives to Providence. The first view we had of the shore was most alarming; we were completely embayed, with a heavy surf breaking amongst the rocks, whilst at the same time the violence of the gale, and the state of the boat, were such as to preclude any hopes of working out of the bay. We therefore turned the bow to that part of the shore which seemed clearest of rocks, and a sea carried us so far up, that, when it retired, we were left almost dry; next wave carried us a little farther, upon which the second mate imprudently let go the anchor; when it retired we all jumped out, and reached the shore in safety. Upon the return of the swell, the boat swung 13 round round with her head to the sea, and being prevented by the anchor from driving farther up, she almost immediately went to pieces upon the rocks. That part of the island on which we were cast was quite barren, and many miles distant from the nearest settlement, the path to which lay across mountains covered with snow. • After collecting what we could save of the wreck of the boat, we set out in search of some place to shelter us for the night, and fortunately discovered, at no great distance, one of those huts that are constructed for the use of the fox and bear hunters. It was too small to admit of a fire in the inside; but the number of people crowded into it rendered the cold less intense; and we lighted a fire in the open air, at which we made ready our provisions.' They now deliberated whether to attempt their way to Karlouski across the mountains, or by going along-shore at low water: but the danger of travelling over the snow made them prefer the latter. On the morning of the 22d, they quitted the hut. It Having proceeded some distance, we were interrupted by a reef of rocks, over which it was necessary to wade. I was provided with strong seal-skin boots, but unfortunately, in crossing, they were filled with water, which, the cold being so severe, the exercise of walking did not prevent from freezing. In a short time I lost all feeling in my feet, but was able to keep up with my companions, till our progress along shore was completely stopped by a mountain which projected into the sea. Finding it impossible to get round the base, we attempted to climb over the summit. was very steep, and in many places crusted with ice. I had by this time entirely lost the power of my feet, and, with all my exertions, was unable to keep pace with my companions. In many places I was forced to dig steps in the ice and snow, with a pair of boots I had on my hands for that purpose. At length, after great labour and fatigue, I gained what I imagined to be the summit; it proved, however, to be little more than half-way up, and the higher part of the mountain was quite inaccessible. I endeavoured to descend again; but in a short time found that the state of my feet rendered the attempt unavailing. I had no alternative but to slide down; and therefore throwing away the boots, and placing my hands behind me, to direct my course, I came down with such velocity, that, at the foot of the hill, I sunk at least ten feet into the frozen snow. I was at first almost suffocated, till I made a little room by pressing the snow from me. I called as loud as I was able for assistance, but could not make my companions hear me, although I heard their voices perfectly well calling upon me. I at length relieved myself, by compressing the snow till it became sufficiently hard to bear my weight. I then planted my feet into it, and reached the surface. We turned back, and endeavoured to proceed by a valley which lay behind the mountain. My feet by this time were frozen, never to recover; and I was so ill able to ascend, that I was frequently blown over by the wind, and sometimes driven a considerable way down the hill.' |