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Leader (1850-1860), 11th February 1860, Edition 2 of 2, Page 16

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      Travel Anp Enteltphise.* Mr. J, G. Kohl,...

      stand-point . It was to the Indian Character that he mainly directed his . attention ; and , as the tribe we have just mentioned is rapidly expiring-, the traits preserved by him are all the more valuable . His talents are decidedly descriptive . He paints what he sees from first impressions , and is seldom at fault in depicting the appearances accurately . The cradle in which the Indian squaw deposits her child has perhaps never been so well described , at any rate so genially . Mr . Kohl ' sympathises with her tenderly . He watches the mother as she props her small boy up against the tree , aruns up and kisses him , puts his hands , ribbons , or cap straight , or sits idown for a miaute on the grass , lost in admiration of the little one . And then adds , naively , " Indian mothers are devotedly attached to their children , althongh they may possess no attractions for Europeans . "

      These Ojibbeways , natural though they be , are indeed human . Their , wigwams are , after all , decent dwellings . " There are poor peasants in . ^ Lithuania and Ireland , and wretched Jews in the Polish towns , housed no better or . no worse than many of these savages . And the tents which the gipsies put up in Southern Russia and Wallachia , are many of them less artistic and comfortable than the wigwams of the Cyibbevyays . " We should reflect on this statement ; and even we Englishmen can point to an Arab race at home whose dwellings are at least improvable . The rites and ceremonies of the Indians Mr . Kohl also contrives to touch with a human interest , . and reports the speeches made at them with spirit . What can be ¦ better than this brief touch P—

      "Another , with a long rattlesnake ' s skin round his head , and leaning on ixia lance , told his story objectively , just as a picture would be described : — ' Once we Ojibbeways set out against the iSioux . We wereone hundred . Oiie of ours , a courageous man , a man of the right stampj impatient for distinction , separated from the others , and crept onwards into the enemy's country ; The man discovered a party of the foe ; two men , two women , and three children . He drept round them like a wplf , he crawled up to them like a snake , he fell upon them like lightning , cut down the two men , and scalped : them . The screaming women and children he seized by the arin > and threw them as prisoners to his friends , who had hastened up at his war yell ; and this lightning , this . snake , this wolf , this man , my friends , that was— -I . T have spoken !*"

      We meet with some specimens of mutual affection between the Indian and his dog 1 , which exists notwithstanding that the latter is ill-used by . his impatient master . The worse he is treated * the better the poor brute loves his lord / Having lost his owner ,, one dog " sat down , wearied and despairing , in the market-place , and began addressing ; such a lamentable ^ howl to heaven , that all the neighbours ran up to see what the matter could he . " On the pifety of the Indian , also ,. Mr . Kohl has something peculiar to say ; and describes the process how they pass frptn moriotheism to idolatry and fetich-worship . The matter , however , is too long to give entire ; though , as a story , it is higMy noticeable , and relates to the piece of copper which , when sent to the United States by our traveller , drew iheir attention to the metallic treasures of the district . The chief from wliom he obtained it became a Ghri 8 tian .

      On the subject of conversion , Mr . Kohl states that " we must be cautious not to exalt ourselves too much , and deny the natural goodness of the rest of humanity . " The virtues of the Indian are the chief obstacles to his conversion . His charity and liberality are boundless;—lie will tolerate the murderer , but not the stingy man kittle prone to cupidity , the Indian wars solely for revenge . *• When a young- Indian prepares an expedition , he never dreams , like the thievish comrades of Ulysses , about the plunder he can obtain , but only of the relatives he can avenge , and the blood-foes he can punish , Oil the battle-field his first and most important business is to take the scalp of the enemy he has killed . Having this , he is satisfied , and leaves the ornaments on the corpse , which a predatpry Arab or AflTg-han would fall upon first . " Mr . Kohl writes in a true loving spirit , and repays the hospitality he received with befitting 1 gratitude . He sets the conduct of his lxosts in the fairest light ; lie remembers the stories told him , even

      by an ungainly old woman , with pleasure , and repeats them in the jpoat attractive form ; he dwells upon their traditions with reverence , and finds the best and most Christian meaning ? for them ; he regards their symbolism and allegories with affection ; even to their painted faces he became reconciled ; and he condescends to minutisa and particularity of detail which testify to his diligence and labour , but jit the same time prove that it was a labour of love . Sports , often described before , are here again described with fresh emotion . But particularly does he dwell on the Indian virtues ; restating at the end of the book what he had stated in the beginning and middle , namely , that " the Indians practise mnny Christian virtues naturally , and hence they are quite easy to them when they are converted . In conclusion , he tells us further , that " the Indians living 1 round Lake Superior are as attached to their Kitohi-Qami , as the French Swiss to their Lake of Geneva . " But wo xjinst here close our notice of a delightful book , which cannot be read without instruction .

      We shaft connect with this book one of a somewhat different character , though associated with travel ; inasmuch as it displays the energy and fortitude of the civilized man in subduing 1 natural impediment * in order to advance discovery and science . It is not the wild savage here who is , the hero , but the cultivated heroic European—the brave , the dauntless Englishman , that we have portrayed . Captain Osborn has told the tale of Sir John Franklin in an enthusiastic spirit , and with ptotureaquo power . « The'canvass g lows , the figures live and breathe , H © begins his narrative with young Franklin ' s innate lovq of the sea . Sipnt on board a merchant-ship in order to disgust him with his profession , Franklin boldly mastered the discomforts , and heard pf Nelson and the Nile with a bounding heart that yearned ; to partake the danger-and the glory of great

      enterprises . And within a year " the Lincolnshire boy " shared in the terrible sea fight of Copenhagen . We next rfind him on hoard the discovery-ship Investigator , and thus introduced to that career which has made his name famous to all generations . The vessel was commanded by his relative , Captain Flinders , who had already explored the great South Sea but proving unseaworthy , the vessel was exchanged at Port Jackson , in 1803 , for H . M . S . Porpoise , which was wrecked soon after among the reefs of Torres Straits . Franklin obtained a passage in . the Earl Camden , commanded by Nathaniel Dance , which / formed part of a fleet of fifteen East Indiamen , that , voyaging from the Canton river , had to encounter the French privateer , the Marengo . 74 , Admiral Linois , and his three satellite frigates , and came off with flying colours . Truly , Captain Dance was a gallant commodore . This was the sight then witnessed without wonderbut not without admiration recorded—

      -, namely , " a French squadron of men-of-war , perfectly equipped , led by one of their most distinguished officers , retreating before a fleet of armed merchant-ships . " Franklin was destined to be yet a partner in a more glorious victory—that of Trafalgar , in 1805 . On a subsequent occasion — that of the attempt to capture New Orleans— -he was for the first . time wounded . The long peace threw Franklin back on maritime discovery , and on the 2 oth April , 1818 , he was sailing with the Jirst Arctic expedition of this country down the Thames . The adventure is described , with all its appalling' detail of horrors , by Captain Osborn . In six months the vessels returned from the North Sea , shattered and no longer seaworthy . Franklin ' s ship , indeed , had been discovered to be so leaky , from some , shipwright's carelessness , that it was needful to keep half a watch of men ever at the pumps . So constantly at fault have been the arrangements made by the Admiralty !

      Within a year after this , Franklm returned to the frigid zone * exploring the coasts of arctic America ; and did not return until 1822 ; wheii the . tale he had to tell astonished his countrymen—such hardships had been endured , such fortitude exhibited , such honour achieved—furnishing " a beautiful example of the triumph of mental and moral energy over mere brute strength . " . We need not lengthen this article hy relating the particulars of Sir John Franklin ' s last voyage , undertaken at the age of sixty j of the uncertainty that hung dyer its issue ; or of jthe endeavours made by the country , and Sir Jobn _ Franklin ' s widows to ascertain , the fate of the adventurous commander and his noble crew . Captain Osborh has put together the discoveries made by ¦ "'The Fox ; " has placed in a striking li ght the fact that Sir > John Franklin had attained his object before death overtook him . It is thus presented :- ^ - ' . ~ ¦¦¦ ¦ . . . ' .

      "A record was left by Gore and Des Voeux , in a cairn beyond Gape Victory , on fcbe west coast of King William ' s Land . It tells us that ' On May 24 , 1847 , all were well on board the ships , and that Sir John Franfclin still commanded . ' Graham Gore probably traversed the short distance between this cairn arid that on Cape Herschel in a week , and we can fancy him , and the enthusiastic Des Voeux . casting one glance upon the longsought Shores of America , arid hastening back to share their delight with thole imprisoned in the ships . Alas ! why do their shipmates meet the flushed travellers with sorrow imprinted on pale countenances ? Why aa they cheer the glad tidings they bring , does the tear suffuse the eye of these rough and hardy men ? Their chief lies on his death-bed j along career of honour and of worth is drawing ., to its close . The shout of victory , whiclv cheered the last hour of Nelson and of Wolfe , rang not less heartily round the bed of the gallant Franklin , and lit up that kind eye with its last gleam of triumph . Like them , his last thought must have been of his country ' s g lory , and the ? welfare of those whom he well knew must now hope in vain for his return . "

      Thus has Captain Osborn , by an allowable exercise of the faculty , called oil his imagination to supply an hiatus of history which there is no hope of our ever beinjr ablo to fill up with a chronicled fact . In like manner , and in a similar spirit , he . has pursued the sorrowful tale to its close * and painted from fancy -the fate of brave men , who perished in the midst of a career of usefulness and honour . Mourn not for them ; for their virtues are written on the tablets of their country ' s heart I .

      140 The Leader And Saturday A?Ialy$T. [F...

      140 The Leader and Saturday A ? ialy $ t . [ Feb . 11 , 1860 .

      Recent Novels.* Rilhe Author Of Getting ...

      RECENT NOVELS . * rilHE author of Getting On has allotted himself a difficult task . A It might appear , at first sight , that to write a novel based on subjects with which every man , woman , and even child , whatever their position in society , may be supposed to be familinr , would not , in the end , turn out so formidable an undertaking aa an attempt to depict the ideas , manners , and customs of a past generation , But this is , in reality , not the case . The latter style of production , indeed , necessitates a great deal of laborious study in the perusal of old manuscripts and other ancient authorities j but the real safeguard of the author lies in tin ' s very necessity , which prevents the majority of people from seeking the information which would enable them to ¦

      P * > i . 1 _ 1 L _ . A . _ ii _ A . . O J . 1 . 1 ^ 1 ! m arrive at a true judgment aa to the correctness of the novelist in depicting 1 characters belonging 1 % o an age separated from us by so great a period of time . The modern novelist , however , who revels amid the haunts of every-day life , enlarging upon topics on which nre entertained so many opinions , topics at once political and theological , must necessarily expose himself to the remorseless shafts and party criticism of one or other of the contending factions of i } ho day . It js utterly impossible that ho should so > regulate his ideas , and the modes by which he gives expression to thorn , as to steer dear of seotarian or part y enmity j in pleasing 1 one , it follows « s ft natural consequence that ho offends another ; and thus ho finds his

      * Gownff On : A Vau Qfmodorn Jsnffllah L...

      * GoWnff On : a VaU qfModorn JSnffllah Life . Two Vola . Jivmea Hogg and Sons . . Wfle in Slfftty . Two Vole . Chapman and Hull . ' Tho Hallow Islo Traflo < l >/ . 'l'hroo Vols . Glvapman and Wall .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 11, 1860, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11021860/page/16/