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    Av«r« 2, 1856.] THE LEADER. 739

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    SUBALPIKE PICTURES. The Suhalpine Kingdo...

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    Lake Jstgami. Lake Naomi; Or, Exploratio...

    the ancieiht hauntsof the brute creation . Such a storm as this is described by Mr . ^ AnxiersB 6 * i > himself : — One afternoon , heavy and threatening clouds suddenly gathered in the eastern horizon ¦ 'the thunder rolled ominously in the distance , and the sky-was rent by vivid lirfitmnga . Knowing , from long experience , its imports , we instantly set about SSg everything under shelter that could be injured by the vret . This was hardly accomllisTied when large , heavy drops of rain began to descend , and m a few seconds the sluice-gates of heaven appeared to have opened . The storm did not last above half an hour ; but this short time was sufficient to convert the whole country into one sheet of water . The noise , moreover , caused by the river , and a number of minor mountain-streams , as they rolled down their dark , muddy torrents in waves rising often ^ J ^^& ZStt ^^ ttZX & SZZ TZ cK £ the river , shared a similar fate . Indeed it must have been a miniature

    ¦ UOlUt—C « „ — i . ¦ , 1 _ 1 . t « l- » 4-1-iJt nrArl / Tci * - * - » o rtVt ir » o-i * TT trrr % a Here is an instance of the foresight with which the world ' s machinery was originally wound up and set a-going : — One morning , . to our surprise , Ve found the whole ground about our encampment covered with larvae of a dark green colour . Whence , or how , they came there , was to us quite a mystery . We at length conjectured that at some previous period a swa ™ otTocust / in P osing the place , had deposited thexr ova in the sand andno * that the green grass began to spring up ( which provided them with suitable food ) their projeny emerged in the shape of worms . At the same time many thousand storks appeared , and evidently much relished the rich and abundant repast . The larvse appear to be almost as destructive as the full growa insect . They are called by the Boers " voet-gangers , " or foot-goers , to distinguish them from their -winged development : — ^ In some places they might be seen packed ia layers several inches in thickness , and myriads were crushed and maimed by our waggon and cattle . Towards nightfall they

    crawled on to the bushes and the shrubs , many of which , owing to their weight and numbers , were either bowed down to the ground or broken short off They were of a reddish colour , with dark markings ; and , as they hung thus suspended , they looked like clusters of rich fruit . As they hopped along the path and among the grass , their appearance was no less curious and striking . These " voet-gangers are justly dreaded by the colonists , as no obstacle seems capable of staying their progress . They are said to cross stagnant pools—ay , even the Orange river—by the leading multitudes throwing themselves heedlessly into the water , where they are drowned , thus affording the survivors a temporary bridge . Fires , which are lighted in their path in the hope of staying their course , are extinguished by their myriads . " All human endeavours to diminish their numbers , " says a recent author , " would appear like attempting to

    drain the ocean by a pump . " It would be impossible to follow Mr . Andersson in his wanderings , or even to notice his many startling adventures and hair-breadth escapes ; and this sort of reading , however full of pleasurable excitement at the moment , is not particularly instructive , or suggestive of practical results . Much more to the purpose is the author ' s description of some of the native tribes with whom he became familiarly acquainted . The least barbarous appear to have been the Ovambos , an agricultural people dwelling in the rich plains of Ondonga . The landscape now , presented an apparently boundless field of yellow corn , dotted with numerous peaceful homesteadSj and bathed in the soft light of a declining tropical sun . Here and there , moreover , arose gigantic , wide-spreading , and dark-foliaged timber and fruit-trees , whilst innumerable fan-like palms , either singly or in groups , completed the picture .

    The inhabitants of this charming country are of a gentle and peaceable disposition , though formidable enemies when fighting in self-defence They have no towns or villages , but live in separate homesteads , in patriarchal fashion . The population is estimated at a hundred persons to the square mile , a very considerable number for the interior of Africa . Unlike other tribes , they owe allegiance to only one chief , who is distinguished by his weight , excessive corpulence being considered a royal attribute . The Ovambos resemble all agricultural people in a liberal hospitality . They are also remarkably honest , and scorn to pilfer the smallest thing . A man detected in theft would be speared to death in front of the royal residence . Pauperism is unknown in this happy land , even the aged and infirm being amply provided forthough in other parts ot' Africa their death would be

    , accelerated by violent means . Matrimony is regarded as a question of cattle . The number of alh Ovambo ' s wives is solely regulated by his bovine possessions . In humble circumstances a bride will fetch two oxen and a cow ; but in the upper circles of society a . daughter would not be parted with for less than two cows and three oxen . The obesity of the king raises him above all such base considerations . His Majesty could boast of one hundred and six . charming consorts , who had never cost him so much as a calf . It is deemed approaching to high treason to speak of the king ' s death or to allude to his heir apparent—the thought being so frequently the offspring of the desire . The Ovmnbos arc not only agriculturists , they have also much wealth in herds of cattle and swine , in ilocks of sheep , and in poultry . " Their chiof article of export is ivory , which they procure from elephants caught in pitfalls . "

    Among certain tribes circumcision is practised , but without reference to any particular age . The ceremony ia performed at airy period between infancy and manhood , but the children of an uncircumciscd father cannot inherit tho rogal dignity . " Rain-makers" are usually found in every tribe , though they seldom , or iiovcr , die a natural death . " There is not one tribe , " writes Mr . Mofliit , " whose people have not imbrued their hands in tho blood of these impostors , whom they first adore , then curse , and lastly destroy . " Tho Bcchuanns believe that they originally emerged from a cave , while the Damaras assert that their ancestors sprung from a tree . The world waa then enveloped in darkness until a Dainara struck a light , upon which the wild animals fled from the presence of man , but the ox , tho sheep , and tho dog gathered fearlessly round the blazing brand . The Nanmquas would seem , from tho following legend , to have some faint glimmering of tho doctrine of immortality : —

    Once upon a time , tho moon called tho haro , and commundud him to convoy to man tho following mossago : " Aa I die und am bom uguiu , so you ahull diu and bo again alive . " Tho haro hastened to oboy ; but instead of Haying , "Aa I die and am born again , " ho said , " Aa I dio und am not born again . " On liia return the moon

    inquired what words he h « a ^ conveyed t o mankind ; and on being informed , the luminary exclaimed , " -What ! have you said ; to man , * As I die and am not born again , so you shall die and not be again ialive ! " And with this : he hurled a stick at the hare , witt such force as to split open his lips , / which ' is the cause of the peculiar formation of thi * animal ' s mouth . The hare quickly betook himself to flight , and is said to be flying to the present day . The old Namaquas used to say : " We are still enraged witl the hare , because he has brought such a had message , and we will mot eat him . " If is curious to observe the old Breton superstition touching the Bisclavaret , or Were-Wolf , still extant among the Namaquas , merely substituting

    the lion for the wolf . Those who are conversant with the ancient . Fabliaux will remember that in the Lai du Bisclavaret , by Marie de France , the treacherous wife carries off the garments of her unfortunate lord , and thereby prevents him from resuming the human form . In like manner great stress is laid in the Namaqua legend on the careful putting aside of the . skill petticoat , for it is only the Bushwomen who arc supposed to possess this faculty of transformation . As the hair and claws begin to develop themselves , she retires to one side and throws off her petticoat ; and as the mane and tail gradually disappear , the lion goes up to the bush , and , putting on the garment , becomes once more a woman .

    Av«R« 2, 1856.] The Leader. 739

    Av « r « 2 , 1856 . ] THE LEADER . 739

    Subalpike Pictures. The Suhalpine Kingdo...

    SUBALPIKE PICTURES . The Suhalpine Kingdom : Experiences and Studies in Savoy , Piedmont , and Genoa . By Bayle St . John . 2 Vols . Chapman and Hall . We have said that this is a book of pictures . The touring season is now commencing , and many are the steps that will be bent towards the capital of Piedmont , which may for the first time become a place of pilgrimage from the West . Whoever designs to cross the Guier , at the Pont Beauvoisin , and to traverse Savoy on the way to Turin , may be glad to anticipate a glance at landscapes , men , and manners by the way . This is an evening scene , near the valley of the Isere : — On arriving at a little hamlet I took counsel of a blacksmith , who said that there was a practicable but rather intricate path to the AVhite Chapel . It proved to be steep , narrow , winding , and slimy ; and had been worn in the rock between high hedges and trees . Water oozes into it , and trickles down on all hands . 'Tis almost

    as much a stream as a path . Some cows , with chins on the ground and hind-quarters high ut > in the air , were sliding down , urged by the shrill cry of a boy , whose head looked * like a porcupine . A blear-eyed youth , with a woollen night-cap a foot and a half high , and a girl who seemed all waist and heel , were standing very fondly together in a break that led into a field . Near the summit , amid trees , beneath which shadows were rapidly thickening , very fantastic forms flitted . They seemed occu * ed ; and were probably giviug the last touch to the agricultural labours of the dajg ^ - 1 thought of sailors , seeing that all was right and tight between sunset and dartr" ! H tall thin man , with large hands and feet , who ran softly by , crying " La ! la . ' la ! " was no doubt engaged on a matter of business ; but pantomime that does not explain itself very clearly produces the impression of insanity . All manner of odd thoughts

    came to my mind . The last remnants of day were visible through a grove of chesnuts , beyond which the ground sloped rapidly . The dark trunks of the trees formed , as it were , a huge grating of black bars against a background of the colour of clouted cream . The roofs of one or two huts , rising above the horizon , seemed cut out of black paper . Overhead were clouds not very far off . There was a little light around , just sufficient to distinguish general forms ; but neither grass nor leaves . The people that passed appeared to have verv dark shadows where there faces ought to have shown . I had not been out alone so far from cities in the hills for many years . Night sounds , such as filled the air in that high place , had become unfamiliar to me . There were some sharp cries , but whether of birds or beasts I knew not ; and gentle gusts of wind , that passed along like sighs , brought inexplicable murmurs from amidst the trees .

    Imagination works strangely under such circumstances . The patli seemed so long , that I thought I must have lost my way . I came to a hamlet , and looking into a hut where a very old woman was nursing a baby , and doing some work by a light which would have tried the youngest eyes , asked for the Chapellc Blanche . This was like asking for St . Paul ' s in London . Straight ahead , of course . It was quite dark when I foil into the high road again . And this is a glimpse of Morning among the Alps : — On leaving La Rochette early in tho morning , I began to ascend , moving due north , a low range of hills covered with fields , alternating with ehesnut groves , through the browning leaves of which tho sun shone bright and warm . There is nothing so lovely as an autumnal warm morning amid tho mountainswhen goldon light gleams on some broad slopes whilst others are still cold and gloomy ; when dew is still trickling from leaf to leaf on its way to the grass , already covered with damp as with a white bloom ; when all seems moist , from the blue of tho sky fretted with white clouds to the green of tho fields speckled with white pigeons , from tho steep roofs of the houses fertile in moss to the bark of the trees , to the plank on

    which you cross tho stream , tho railing on which you put your hand , the dust that will not move as you trudge over the path , to the coats of the cattle that stand drooping their dank tails here and there ; even to the cyo of tho large fair girl who looks nakaiico at you from under her milk-pail , and the lip of tho mother who drops her kerchief and kisses her infant as a stranger passes by : all deliciously moist , but of a moisture that you know ia about to evaporate like breath from a pane of glass ; lioat and honest labour will dry it all presently . Meanwhile one would aa soon think of Romeo holding up an umbrella lout Juliet ' s tears might wet him from her balcony , as of avoiding to steep oho ' h feet , one ' s hands , one ' s face in that refreshing bath . 1 brushed through the bushes purposely , whilst tho dew-dropa sparkled to tho ground , and swarms of birds with hurried wing made somicircuits on either linnd to find a resting-placo in tho branches again . How transparent wcro tho shadows under tho treea ! how misty the Bimny expanses ! Tho rivulets that sometimes dispersed over the path , Hometimea gurgled amidst rootn and pebbles , sometimes oozod along amidMt iiio . s . h , caught hero and there tho rayo that nlantod in , and glittered like liquid Hteol in tins light of a furnace . Nature voro a dress embroidered with green and gold .

    Since Rousseau was at the Hospital of Catcolnnnens , in Turin , tho placo has not been described , except by Mr . Bayle St . . John : —¦ Tho O « pi / . io in situated in a small court , from which you ascend by a diflmal private utaircaHO to a grout oaken door . Ueforo wo were admitted , uoinebody looked BUBi ) iciounly at m through tho wicket . Then we wore ohown into tho sombre rooma by tho iiibuoctor , a little , dark , contomptuous-lookiug woman . She took us first to her own bedroom , whoro there was a pour ncgresu from Soudan undergoing tho operation of

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 2, 1856, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02081856/page/19/