the bay; and while lying at this place, Captain Wilkes received the disastrous news that the Peacock, whose non-arrival had for some time caused him great anxiety, had been wrecked at the mouth of the Columbia. On the 3d of August the Vincennes and Porpoise put to sea from New Dungeness, and on the 6th arrived off the mouth of the Columbia. Here they were joined by the Flying-fish, on board which vessel was Captain Hudson, from whom Captain Wilkes now received the report of the late misfor tune. to destroy Utiwa. They were opposed in landing by a flotilla of canoes, which they dispersed with a loss of twelve men killed; after which they burned the town, and returned on board without having been able to find any traces of their unfortunate shipmate. We have already shown the necessity of prompt and effectual retaliation in all cases of this sort; and we may add, that in the present case it was the more indispensable; because the natives, in their entire ignorance of civilized war, might very easily have been induced to entertain a most danIt appeared that after departing from gerous opinion of their own superiority. Oahu, eight months previously, the Pea- On the 8th of May, being then nearly in cock and Flying-fish had continued for sev- the latitude of the Sandwich Islands, Caperal weeks cruising to the southward, in tain Hudson resolved to proceed at once to search of various small islands and coral his rendezvous in the Columbia. The Peareefs which had been reported to exist; but cock, therefore, altered her course to the most of which they were unsuccessful in eastward; and on the 17th of July, after discovering. On the 28th of January, 1841, stopping for a few days at the Sandwich they discovered an island, previously un- Islands, arrived off the mouth of that river. known, lying to the north of the Samoan The bar at this place is well known to be group, which Captain Hudson named Bow- extremely dangerous of passage; nor was ditch Island; and on the 6th of February there any pilot to be procured at the time of the Peacock arrived off the island of Upolu, the Peacock's arrival; but Captain Hudson and anchored in the harbor of Apia on its being considerably behind the time fixed northern coast. On the 6th of March they for his presence, and having with him cerleft the Samoan group, and stood to the tain written instructions upon which he north-west, and on the 14th they made the considered himself justified in relying, remost southerly island of the Ellice group. solved to make the attempt. On the 18th, They continued their course in the same accordingly, the Peacock stood for the direction for nearly two months, during shore; but, though every possible precauwhich time they touched at most of the tion was taken as she approached it, she small islands comprising the Ellice and struck in a very short time upon a shoal, Kingsmill groups. They found great diver- and remained immovably grounded. It was sity of character among the natives; but soon found that her situation was hopeless; the generality appear to have displayed the on the 19th, her crew reached the land worst characteristics of the Polynesian race; without loss, though not without considerand on one occasion their treacherous fero- able difficulty and danger; and on the morncity was the occasion of very serious mis-ing of the 20th, it was found that the ship chief. This was at Taputeouea, or Drummond's Island; one of the largest of the Kingsmill group, and supposed to contain about ten thousand inhabitants. The natives, who appeared a remarkably warlike and ferocious race, had been repeatedly guilty of insulting behaviour to their visitors; and had more than once shown a very suspicious wish to decoy them into situations unfavorable to defence. At length one of the Peacock's seamen, who had gone on shore to visit a town named Utiwa, failed to reappear on board. Every inquiry was made without effect, until no doubt remained of his assassination by the natives. Captain Hudson then resolved to punish the outrage; and on the 9th of March sent on shore his boats, with orders had gone to pieces in the night. We must not omit to add, that Captain Wilkes expresses himself perfectly convinced of the propriety of Captain Hudson's determination to attempt the passage of the bar; and speaks in the highest terms of his conduct during the shipwreck. The loss of the Peacock made it necessary to alter, in some degree, the general plan of the expedition. The Vincennes, under Captain Ringold, was immediately dispatched to San Francisco; while Captain Wilkes, with the Porpoise and Tender, passed the bar, and anchored off the town of Astoria. His first care was to provide a vessel for the accommodation of the Peacock's crew, as well as to assist in the future operations of the squadron; and this he fortunately found means to effect. An port to the blooming solitude of a Tropical American merchant brig, then lying in the Island, or to the silent desolation of a Poriver, was purchased on behalf of the go-lar coast. There could scarcely be a vernment, named the Oregon,' and placed stronger contrast between two inhabited under the command of Captain Hudson. regions, than between the scenes at present While the necessary alterations in the visited by the Vincennes, and the savage equipment of their new consort were going cannibals of the Fejee Isles, or the sordid on, the Porpoise and Flying-fish proceeded fishermen of the north-east coast. Manilla to explore the navigable part of the Colum- is a true Spanish colony; and the colonists bia. They left Astoria on the 18th of have introduced among the natives all the August, and ascended the river as far as picturesque and voluptuous indolence of Fort Vancouver; where they were very their national manners. It is difficult to hospitably received by the officers of the imagine ourselves in the Pacific Ocean Hudson's Bay Company. They remained when we read of the Prado with its groups at this place from the 28th of August to the of smoking or gambling loungers; of the 14th of September; during which time par- Tertulia with its guitars, dances, and ties were constantly employed in surveying lemonade; or of the courteous officials, the surrounding country; and on the latter with their sonorous names and formal poday they set out on their return to Astoria, liteness. The natives of Sooloo, on the where they anchored on the 1st of October. other hand, are in all respects Asiatics; On the 5th of October, the weather be- and, with their slender forms and effeminate ing favorable, the Porpoise and Oregon features, bear far greater resemblance to passed the bar; and on the 10th they were the Hindoo than to the Malay or Polynesian joined by Captain Wilkes with the Tender. race. It is curious to recognize, in the The three vessels then stood to the south-deportment of the petty despot of this obward; and arrived in San Francisco Bay on scure island, the same puerile eagerness to the 19th, where they found the Vincennes at display dignity and compel servility, which anchor. Captain Ringold, who had arrived has so often excited the surprise of Euroin the bay on the 14th of August, had alrea-pean Embassies at the splendid courts of dy made considerable progress in explor- Delhi or Ispahan. In other respects, these ing the Sacramento river; and in a few days every thing was in readiness for the final departure of the squadron from the north-west coast. On the 22d of October, the Vincennes, Porpoise, Oregon, and Flying-fish left the harbor, and on the 17th they arrived at Honolulu. On the 27th of On the 12th of February the Vincennes November the squadron again put to sea, left Sooloo, passed to the westward of Borand took their last leave of the Sandwich neo, and anchored on the 19th in the road Islands. The Vincennes and Flying-fish of Singapore; where she found the Porthen parted company from their consorts; poise, Oregon, and Flying-fish. The place and standing to the westward, entered the is a perfect Emporium of Eastern comSea of China, and anchored in the roads of merce; but its prevailing character appears Manilla on the 13th of January, 1842. On to be Chinese; and the temples, jossthe 21st they left Manilla; the Vincennes, houses, and junks of the natives, are adornparting company from the Tender, crossed ed with all the ingenious deformities which the Sooloo Sea to the southward, and on characterize the labors of that singular the 3d of February anchored off the town people. At this place the Flying-fish was of Soung, which is the capital of Sooloo, a reported unseaworthy, and was.consequentsmall island lying to the north-east of Borneo. ly, to the great regret of the whole SquadThe late Captain Basil Hall has, with ron, disposed of by public sale. Captain his usual vivacity, described the forcible Wilkes expresses the natural regret of a impression which the different habits of seaman, in parting with a faithful compandifferent nations make upon the seaman;ion of a long and dangerous expedition; who, instead of passing from one to the but the recollection of the melancholy fate other by the gradual progress of a land traveller, has nothing but the difference of climate to prepare his imagination for the change from the bustle of an English islanders seem to bear a very indifferent character; being, according to the description of Captain Wilkes, perfidious and cowardly in disposition, and, like most of the natives of the East Indian Archipelagos, inveterate pirates. which, three years before, had befallen the Seagull, a vessel of the same class and size, deterred him from making the attempt to carry her to the United States. We may now pass briefly over the une- all kinds of epistles are sent him, for the sole ventful conclusion of these voyages. On purpose of drawing His Grace of his autothe 26th of February the Vincennes, Por- graph. We have seen many of the Duke's answers, and give a few. poise, and Oregon sailed from Singapore; 'Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington inand on the 10th of June, after touching at forms Michael Wiggins that the coat he wore the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena, the on the field of Waterloo was not the original former vessel arrived in safety at New model of the present D'Orsay paletot. The York. Comte D'Orsay is much too honorable a man to steal any thing from the Duke of Wellington, or as the Duke firmly believes-from any body else.' 6 'Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington has debts may be paid, and they may not. The received John Jones's letter. The late Duke's Duke of Wellington informs John Jones that he shall not pay them.' And in this shameful manner is the courtesy of the noble Duke every day played upon. The Irish papers give the last instance of these intrusions upon his Grace's time, with, of course, the answer it provoked. Somebody called the Duke's attention to the new cotton shirts adopted by the Army, and to the potato-sickness. The Duke went at once into the shirts, but would not touch the potatoes: Such is the outline-in itself, no doubt, sufficiently dry and uninteresting-of one of the longest and most laborious cruises The Duke of Wellington desires Peter ever undertaken. To the unimaginative Snout to take note that he is Commander-inreader, our barren list of dates and locali- Chief of the army, and not a hatter. Thereties will be little more than a detached ta-fore it is not the Duke's business to see that ble of contents; only worth setting down the wig of the statue of George the Fourth, for the practical purpose of saving him Trafalgar Square, should be covered.' some trouble in exploring a voluminous work. But to those who, themselves engaged in the tranquil occupations of civilized life, can appreciate the courage required to endure a lasting separation from its enjoyments, we rather think that our sketch will appear a record of some interest. There is surely something striking, even in the common-place simplicity with which such voyagers as Captain Wilkes generally relate their adventures ;-apparently unconscious that, in passing years among dangerous seas and Cannibal Islanders, they have been employed in any manUpon the other parts of Mr. -'s letter, ner different from the ordinary routine of that is, the state of distress existing in the their profession. The patient zeal neces-called the potato disease, the Duke of Welneighborhood of -, consequent on what is sary for such an enterprise is very differ- lington begs leave to suggest to Mr.--that ent from the hardihood which we have seen he is the Commander-in-Chief of the army.' prompting some spirited young men to And therefore, as Mr. serve a campaign with Don Carlos, or to pass a hunting season with the Paunee Indians. It differs from the mere love of excitement and adventure, as the courage of a martyr differs from the courage of a soldier; and it is not too much to say, that many a naval Commander has obtained the honors of a hero, by a display of firmness and talents far inferior to that which can only gain for Captain Wilkes the sober reputation of a judicious and scientific voyager. ought to have known, is not called upon to cry eyes right' to the potatoes. But Mr. already knew as much. All he wanted was the Duke's autograph, and he got it.-Punch. From the Literary Gazette. LIFE AMONG THE ALGERINES. Algeria and Tunis in 1845. By Captain J. C. Kennedy, 18th Regiment. 2 vols. 12mo. H. Colburn. A LIGHT, slight, and pleasant excursion, THE DUKE AND HIS AUTOGRAPH.-Field through portions of Africa occupied by or Marshal Duke of Wellington-although he under the influence of the French, in beat Napoleon-is a simple, ingenuous soul. which the writer was accompanied by Lord continually duped by a gang of ladies and Fielding, and also joined by Count de gentlemen and others who-with a morbid taste for ink and paper--pursue men of mark Goltz, a Prussian officer of engineers, with for their autographs. whom the English travellers met at Algiers. As the Duke is known to answer every let-It is written in a frank soldierly style, ter-no matter its import-addressed to him, speaks very handsomely of the French offi cers, from whom, throughout, every friend- hundred fellow-beings had in a few seconds ly and hospitable attention was received; been hurried unwarned into the presence of and, if it does not convey to the publicated in the confusion from Count de Goltz and their God. Lord Fielding having been separmuch that is new, is nevertheless accepta-myself, was one of the first who reached the ble as a recent glance at a country of gen-scene, and met the survivors of this sad event; eral interest to readers of every class. officers, soldiers, and sailors, mixed with laSoon after landing at Algiers, an impro-dies, some dressed for an evening party, and vised explosion of a magazine gave our others risen from their beds with infauts in military tourist a military salute. Enjoying their arms, as they had rushed from the an evening stroll in the Place de Gouverne ment, we are told: neighboring houses in the first impulse of terror; the moans of the wounded, alas! but few in number, were mingled with the screams of their husbands, parents their children, and the frightened children; wives were seeking friends each other; no one knew who had house was a heap of ruins; blocks of stone, huge beams, and masses of masonry confusedthat were still standing cracked in various ly thrown together, the portions of the walls tain and the captain of the port much damagplaces; the houses occupied by the flag-cap "Three sides are nearly enclosed with handsome well-built houses in the French style, and the fourth, facing the sea, juts out in an obtuse angle, of which a portion of the perished, or who had escaped, and in some northern face is occupied by a mosque of no cases this dreadful uncertainty lasted until morning; members of the same family having architectural beauty, and the other, overlook-in the darkness and confusion taken refuge ing a battery of heavy guns, affords a splendid in different houses. Next morning on visiting view of the port, the shipping, and the bay of the scene, we found that a large building, sitAlgiers. In the Place are the principal ho-uated between the admiralty and the lighttels, the fashionable cafés, and the best shops. As the night closed in, the cafes blazed with light, and the square was thronged with officers, soldiers, sailors, Jews, Moors, Arabs, the wealthy merchant and the poor colonist, the freed negro, the awkward conscript of the last "tirage,' and the handsome dragoon in the sol-ed, the sides nearest the explosion blown down; dierlike uniform of the 'Chasseurs d'Afrique,' mingled together in a scene of picturesque confusion, each following his own method in search of pleasure after the toils of the past day. This scene of gayety was, however, soon to change. At ten o'clock we left the Café de la Perle, and lingering near the entrance with the sound of the music still ringing in our ears, were startled by a bright flash in the direction of the harbor, a sheet of flame rose into the air, instantaneously followed by a loud explosion, and then several smaller ones in rapid succession: the ground shook as with an earthquake, and broken glass from the windows facing the sea, fell in showers around us. the lantern of the phare' broken, and the admiralty slightly damaged. During this and employed searching for the bodies, many of many succeeding days the troops were busily which were not discovered for some time; one poor wretch was found alive amid the ruins on the fourth day; and in one long room, used as an artillery barrack, and containing rows of beds on either side, nearly fifty bodies were found lying in death, as they had laid them down to sleep; and in the centre, the crushed and disfigured remains of a party engaged at play, the stakes before them, and the cards still firmy grasped in their stiffened hands. The fate of Madame ***, the wife of the port-captain, For a few seconds a dead silence reigned; the crowd seemed paralyzed-not a word her friends, who, to the number of thirty, were was most melancholy. Whilst in the midst of was spoken-each looked round upon his neighbors as if seeking information from those her child crying in the adjoining room, she that evening collected at her house, she heard as ignorant as himself. Then with one im- hastened to soothe it, and, on crossing the pulse, as if the spell that had held the crowd motionless had been suddenly broken, a rush passage from one door to the other, the exwas made towards the harbor. Every body ously; her child in one room, and her husband plosion took place: she was killed instantanespoke at once; a hundred wonderful and con- and friends in the other, escaping unhurt. The tradictory rumors passed from mouth to daughter of Madame P***, a little girl bemouth with extraordinary rapidity. 'Abd-eltween four and five years of Kader and the Arabs are attacking the city, in a room, part of the root of which was blown age, was asleep 'It is an earthquake.'No, no, it down; she was taken out of bed and carried is the English, it is 'la perfide Albion,'' ex- from the port to the Grand Place still asleep, claimed another, who, according to her usual neither the noise of the explosion, the falling custom, has, without declaring war, seized ruins, nor the removal, having awoke her. upon the harbor and the fleet. Nonsense,' The total loss by this melancholy accident answered another, I tell you the great mag-proved to be one hundred and one killed and azine on the Mole has exploded, and the light-thirteen wounded. The cause of the explosion house, the arsenal, the admiralty, the admiral will probably for ever remain unknown.” and all his staff, are blown up.' This last re cried one. port, although greatly exaggerated, unfortu nately proved to be too true; upwards of a The origin of the French invasion is 6 and whose climate, extending as far as Boghar, resembles that of the south of France. The Little Desert-an elevated district, but scantily watered. The mountainous country of the Djebel Ammour, and the Djebel Sahary, from four to five thousand feet in height, and twenty-five leagues in width. Further south comes the northern part of the basin of the Mzi-a series of abrupt elevations with an arid soil and a burning sky. And lastly, at Laghouat is the Great Desert, where you find neither mountains nor water. From the seacoast to within four leagues south of Boghar, grain is cultivated, without irrigation. After that, water must be artificially supplied, except in some elevated or damp situations. It is probable that the system of irrigation introduced by the Arabs into Spain is derived the same methods of cultivation that they had from the conquerors having employed there been forced by necessity to follow in tilling the sandy soil of Airica. stated in connexion with an account of the rising 11,000 feet above the level of the sea, Kasbah, or the Dey's private apartments (now a barrack), within which is a small room where was " given the famous coup de chasse-mouche,' an event pregnant with consequences of such vital importance to the Dey and the regency. On the 27th of April, 1827, the eve of the feast of the Beyram, the diplomatic corps were, according to custom, presented to pay their respects to the Dey. During the interview an angry discussion took place between the Dey and the French consul, which ended by the Dey in a passionate moment striking the consul in the face with his fan. To this blow the subsequent events that have taken place are to be referred; it cost the Dey his throne, drove him an exile to die in a foreign land, caused the ruin of the Turkish dominion, which had endured for upwards of three hundred years, and in replacing it by an European and Christian government, must, sooner or later, work a most beneficial change in the condition of the northern coast of Africa, however dim and distant such a prospect may appear at present. This room is now used as a poultry-yard; and, singularly enough, as we entered, a cock strutting on the deserted divan proclained his victory over some fee-ci, cypresses, pines, and in the higher parts bler rival by a triumphant crow, an appropriate emblem of the real state of affairs." The proud Cock of Gaul no doubt felt himself at home in the ex-harem; and his strutting and crowing on the deserted divan, just as if it were a dunghill, would make a picture for Landseer, conveying a potent animal-moral, and prophetic of the farther fall of Turkey; the motto, 'O Dey and Night, but this is wondrous strange Leaving the Coek in possession, the visitors set out for the interior, penetrated several mountain passes, stopped at Medeah, and thence took a trip to the Little Desert to see the natives at home, and have some sport in the way of hunting and shooting. Before quoting a few of the incidents, we may as well copy the view of the country traversed between the 34th and 37th degrees of latitude, i. e. between the Mediterranean and the Great Zahara. "The regions to the southward of Algiers, lying between the 34th and 37th degrees of latitude, possess six climates perfectly distinct from each other. The plain of the Meteedjah, which is low, warm, and damp. The chain of the Atlas, twenty-five leagues in width, "In the Meteedjah grow the aloe, palm, cactus, and orange, which do not flourish in the Atlas, the trees of which are those of the south of France-such as evergreen-oaks, elms, cork-trees, pines, cypresses, &c. The trees of the Desert are the lentisci, the karouba, the juniper-which attains the height of thirty feet, and, in damp places, the tamarisk. In the chains of the Djebel Ammour and Djebel Sahary the trees are confined to the lentis about the Ksars the fruit-trees of Europe and |