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    live within the ,-1 6 . THE LEADEE. [No....

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    AFRICAN HISTORY AND PROSPECTS. ^ Western...

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    A Company Of Tourists. Wandej-Ings Among...

    . Sketches and Adventures in Madeira , Portugal , and the i ' ^ J ™™ /^™' By the Author of " Daniel Webster and his Conteniporaries . ( Sampson IZwTv ^ deira has become a siekly topic in England , , but the author of thts volum ^ is an American , and the ^ land has beea curiously neglected by American travellers . This volume is intended to reflect , for the benefit of ^ eW World readers , the actual aspects of Madeira and Andalusia . It woufcl have answered its purpose better had the writer been less ambitious of displaying his personality . He starts with apirouette , in a line that is meant to be of Rabelaisian flavour , and , after gossiping at random from the En glish to the Spanish coast , reaches a climax of absurdity at Cadiz . Me was % tunned , he says ; his " thoughts were suspended" by the sight of a Spanish girl . Hair , eyes , lips , hands , nails , waist , hips , and shoulders , leave him , like Lord Byron , dazzled and drunk with beauty , and he raves about the Spanish girl ' s natation , undulation , propulsion , in contrast with " the heavy strut of the Englishwoman , the senseless wiggle of the French , the affected shuffle of the American lady . " And , thence diving into an

    eccentric dissertation on half-forbidden topics , the author of Webster and his Contemporaries succeeds in showing that , in travelling as in writing , he can make himself supremely ridiculous . A First Trip to the German Spas and Vichy . By John Aldridge , M . D . ( Dublin : M'Glashan . )—It will be sufficient to indicate Dr . Aldridge's route , and to say that tourists following him will find this little volume a charming companion by the way . He went from Ostend to Bruges , visiting the churches and museums . Thence , by way of Ghent , he proceeded to Antwerp , Liege , Cologne , Bonn , and Coblentz , gossiping of familiar places , in a pleasant , familiar way . Of Wiesbaden , Kissingen , Homburg , Baden-Baden , and Vichy , he g ives particular despriptions , adding a professional essay on the nature and uses of natural Spas . We are persuaded that to disseminate the " praise of Spa-water is to increase the securities of health , Dr . Aldridge argues in opposition to the idea that it is necessary to suppose the presence of any artificial or recondite chemistry , any unexplored and unintelligible influence , galvanic , telluric , or spiritual , in the composition of

    Spas . Italian Sights and Papal Principles . By J . J . Jarves . ( Sampson Low . ) —The last volume published by Mr , Jarves—on France- -was a failure . It was impertinent , gross , and repulsive . This is better—in spirit , in plan , in substance . Its worst offence is , that it professes to be illustrated with woodcuts , which are , in the majority of cases , exaggerations of caricature . Mr . Jarves himself tells at large of Florence , Rome , Venice , and Pompeii ; enters into elaborate details -with respect to the manners and ceremonies of the Papal Court , and is drawn , at length , into a discussion , of the political prospects of Italy . The opinions of an American on this subject might not be uninterestin g had Mr . Jarves any claims to the representative . But he has

    nothing very striking to say or suggest . Venice , he thinks , hates Milan ; Pisa hates Leghorn ; Leghorn hates Florence . The people of Lucca sigh for a grand-duke ; Venice dreams of her doges ; the Tuscans are proud of their miniature despotism ; Genoa is restless under the irritation of Piedmontese supremacy ; the Lombards prefer Austria to Italy . Genoa , _ no doubt , has not forgotten that it was once governed by better institutions than those of the Subaloine Kingdom ; but where did Mr . Jarves attain this knowledge of Italian history—especially of the fact that the Lombardo-Venetian States have been conciliated by the depraved rapacity of the Austrian Government ? Having disparaged his political chapters , we are bound to add that his p ictures of Italian manners , whatever they want in accuracy , are redolent of life and humour .

    Gleanings after " Grand Tour " -ists . ( Bosworth and Harrison . )—These are the notes and reminiscences of a tourist who began his Italian journey among the March strawberries of Naples , and ended it among the June strawberries of the Grisons . Like certain birds , he followed the summer , in search of flowers and beauty . But , for grace and gaiety , we counsel no readers to look in this volume . It is a mass of incongruous twaddle , forced , affected , conceited , full of prejudices that are incomprehensible , jokes that are ignominious , and criticisms worse than the prejudices or the jokes . The publication of such a book is an impertinence . The writer , who , we suspect , had been let out upon Italy from some public office , winds up with a comparison of London with Ferrara . Why was he not satisfied with the Bim and the strawberries ?

    Live Within The ,-1 6 . The Leadee. [No....

    live within the ,-1 6 . THE LEADEE . [ No . 331 , Saturday ^ i — ¦ " - —^^—^^ M ^^^ M—^ i ^ l ^ l ^^^^^^^^ -..- ¦ . »• •*!• . « »¦_

    African History And Prospects. ^ Western...

    AFRICAN HISTORY AND PROSPECTS . ^ Western Africa : its History , Condition and Prospects . By the Rev . J . Leighton Wilson , eighteen years a Missionary in Africa , and now one of the Secretaries of the American Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions . Sampson Low , Son , and Co . Westbbn Africa is that portion of Africa lying between fort San Luis , and Capo Frio . It is divided into several kingdoms unhappily famous in the annals of the slave trade , rich and luxuriant in soil and vegetation , and possessing populations demoralized indeed , but vet differing greatly amongst themselves in the scale of civilization . It is pleasant to learn that some tribes are enterprizing whilst others know no other state of existence than that of animal repose ; that some are bold and wealthy whilst others arc sluggish and indigent , that some are intelligent and promote education by the means of schools , whilst others are ignorant , and seek enjoyment in the lowest kinds of pleasure .

    It was to these shores that the Portuguese in early times , and after them the English , the French , and the Dutch were lured in the hopes of finding inexhaustible riches in gold , ivory , bees ' -wax , and apices . It was here that they established forts and factories , and endeavoured to promote their own prosperity -without regarding the miserable condition of the natives . It was from these s hores , too , that the Portuguese drew their first cargo of slaves , a cargo which , strange as it may appear , received the approbation of the Pope , and soon becuino a thriving and a fearful traffic . Our most recent account of these countries is from the pen of Mr . Wilson , who is in some degree qualified to speak of their condition , from having resided eighteen years amongst the inhabitants . Music and poetry amongst the Jaloea of Senogamhia ore severely handled .

    But the veys are , perhaps , the most remarkable tribe on this part of the coast . Though not a numerous or powerful family , they have recently invented an alp habet for writing their own language and enjoying the advantages of a written system . To this they are indebted entirely to their own ingenuity and enterprize . The characters used in this system are perfectl y original , and have been invented by the p eople within the last twenty years . The idea of the possibility of expressing their thoughts in writing was doubtless suggested by the Mandmgoes , who use the Arabic characters , or by Europeans , with whom they have partial intercourse in the way of trade . It has , however , no similarity with the Arabic or any European character . Metallic types have been cast in London with which little books have been written , so that the natives can now enjoy the fruits of

    The bards or musicians are not permitted to walls of the town , to keep cattle , or to drink sweet milk , and are refused inter ment on the ground that nothing will grow where one of their caste has been buried . The Mandingoes , however , are a superior race . Their children are r egulail y educated , though the education they receive is exceedingly limited . They are singularly attached to their mothers . " Strike me , put dont curse my mother ^ " is a proverb amongst them , and illustrative of this feeling . It may perhaps be wrong to limit this prominent affection to the Mandingoes . All the native tribes of Africa partake more or less of this filial sentiment—a fact which the friends of slavery should read , mark , and inwardly di gest when they attempt to palliate the cruelty of separating the children from their p arents . Amongst the Susus , who are more industrious than the Mandmgoes , the great ambition is to have a colony , we might call it of domestic slaves , the possession of a thousand raising the master to the rank of a prince . These are procured by purchase and are said to be treated more in the light of dependants than slaves .

    their own enterprize . The specimens of the printed writing which we have seen are clear and bold , and indicate a very extensive alphabet . Of this , however , it would be presumptuous to offer an opinion , knowing nothing of the language . It is , however , very peculiar , and partakes something of the nature of hieroglyphic and something of short-hand writing . The inhabitants of the Grain Coast may be included under one denomination , and termed the 3 £ ru race . Under this general term will be found men of nobler physical form , of more muscular development , and more real energy of character than either the Fulahs and Mandingoes of Senegarabia or the inhabitants of the Gold Coast . Their manly and independent carriage , their grace of manners—we are comparing them with the other tribes of Western Africa—their frank , open countenances , their robust and ¦ vvell-DroDortioned forms , are verv prominent when contrasted with the other

    native races . Their colour varies from the darkest shade of the negro to that of the true mulatto . Their heads , however , are narrow and peaked , which betokens rather a low order of intellect . Not a few of them serve an apprenticeship onboard foreign vessels which trade along the coast . A part of the wages of the apprentice is paid to the father in advance . When he returns home , if he has been able to save much of what his friends consider this world's goods , festivities of every kind take place . Guns are fired , the fatted sheep is killed—if his success admits of it , a bullock—dances are started , and paeans in celebration of his achievements are sung . For a day or two be is paraded about the streets , and taught to imagine himself the most important person of the village . In the meantime a domestic council is held , including father , brothers , uncles , and cousins , who divide tie booty , and if the adventurer succeeds in securing one or two handsome cloths , a bluii cap , or ) a cotton handkerchief or two for his mother or a favourite sister , he may think himself very fortunate . The next step is to provide a wife for the prosperous sailor , and negotiations for this purpose are immediatelset on foot by the family .

    y The houses of the Km people arc little else than circular huts , with peaked roofs varying from twelve to thirty feet in diameter , and from twelve to twenty in height . The body of the house is generally five or six feet high , over which the peaked roof is fitted on like a . cap , projecting , however , over it for several leet so as to protect the house from the beat of the sun ana from the rain . The lower part of the house , which is in most cases a single room , serves the threefold purpose of a parlour , kitchen , and bedroom . In some of the more genteel residences , however—the West-end of the community— a small space is partitioned off " , so as to form a sleeping apartment . The attic , or upper part of the house , is used as a granary . At Ashnntec ,

    where the style of building is somewhat similar , the houses are sometimes very large , and have many rooms . The walls and doors are painted with a species of chalk , and pictures of animals and grotesque figures of nil kinds are drawn upon the panels and window shutters . The houses of the nobles and principal men are so constructed as to inclose a hollow square , into which the apartments of the dilFerent wives all open . In the houses ol the Kru population the fires are made on the floor , and the smoke escapes : is best it can . Sometimes the floors are paved with palm-nuts , which , when polished , acquire almost metallic lustre ; but generally they are made of ehiy beaten almost as hard as mason-work . The furniture is simp le : u ' ^

    earthen pots of native fabrication in which they keep their drinking water , a few iron pots , a few wooden bowls , half a dozen plates , and one or two wash-basins , a mat to sleep on , a block of wood for a pillow , a pine chest to servo as a wardrobe , and a few low wooden utools constitute the list oj articles to be found in the generality of these houses . In the middle oi most villages or towns stands the " Palaver " -house , where the public business of the community is transacted by an assembly of the people n » d : i council . . ,,,. Mr . Wilson ' s book is not entirely based upon his own experiences , -i" imule

    travels and studies of Laing , Gray , Goldberry , and others have been subservient to the purpose and cfliciency of the present volume , llowevci , a residence of eighteen years amongst it people half Pagan , half Malx " " medan , living pretty equally in the mime moral and civil degradation , innst have familiarized Mr . ' Wilson sufficiently with the ! manners , customs , hiiu condition of most of the tribes to judge of the correctness of the authors whose materials he occasionally uses . We regard , therefore , this work hh «¦ valuable contribution to our stock of travel-books . The accounts we luivo

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 26, 1856, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_26071856/page/20/