pered with good humour, that it is impossible ever to be offended. That they have such a fondness for intrigue is perhaps to be ascribed less to libertinism than to their mode of education. Their genius is fertile in expedients, and there is no jealousy so lynx-eyed, nor seclusion So rigid, but they have skill enough to escape. "A stranger unacquainted with the character of Spanish women, is led frequently to suppose them licentious from their using liberties of speech which appear to us indelicate, but which proceed solely from their ingenuous nature. They converse on all topics with the utmost freedom, and speak without reserve on those subjects to which the most distant allusion is sufficient to cover one of our own Countrywomen with blushes." The lower orders of women are universally employed in the manufacture of cigars, of which the consumption is immense. A girl can make in one day, without extraordinary effort, from five to six bundred of them. The siesta after dinner is indulged in by all classes, and only interrupted by violent storms which occasionally visit these regions and terrify the superstitious inhabitants, who instantly place a consecrated taper before the Virgin, and prostrate themselves with fear and trembling before the crucifix or the figure of their patron saint; in this position they remain till the storm has ceased, opulent classes. The poncho is Notwithstanding the savage cruelty which the Spaniards here exercise towards their beasts, they treat their slaves with great humanity and gentleness. The tasks imposed upon them are light, the punishThere are few free negroes, but ments inflicted are seldom severe. many mulattoes. "You see every intermediate shade from the european to the negroe, and every 'shadow of a shade' produced by the intercourse of these with the native Indian." pages concludes his descriptive The anonymous author of these sketches with a sigh of regret that a country so fertile in itself, so valuable considered as a dependency of Great Britain, and which might have been attained almost without bloodshed, should have been snatched from our grasp and lost with dishonour by the cowardice or incapacity of some of those who had the conduct of the enterprize. He does not fail to pay a high compliment to Sir Home Popham for one of the most presumptuous, arrogant, and impudent letters which was ever penned-his circular letter to the mayors and corporaThe poncho is a convenient gar- tions of the different manufacturing ment chiefly worn by the peasan- towns in this kingdom. This cutry, although from the expensive rious composition was treated at manner in which they are oc- the time with the contempt and casionally wrought, they must derision it deserved; fortunately sometimes be used by the more for him it is now forgotten. ART. XIII. A History of the Island of St. Helena, from its Discovery by the Portuguese to the year 1806; to which is added an Appendix; dedicated by Permission to the Honourable the Court af Directors, for Affairs of the United English East India Company. By T. H. BROOK, Secretary to the Government of St. II lena. 8vo. pp. 409, THE local situation of St. Hejeua bestows upon it a value which Bature, in one of her parsimonious moods, refused to confer from her man inhabitants; there was not a quadruped found upon it; the creaming sea-fowl built her solitary unmolested nest among its cliffs; and a few scanty patches of meagre vegetation marked the natural sterility of the soil. This island, however, is of such great importance to the East India company, from its situation in the homeward track of their vessels, from the excellence of its harbours, from the abundance and purity of its water, from the singular salubrity of its climate which soon recovers the sickly crews of ships that touch there, and lastly, from its local adaptation for the annoyance or protection of our dominions in the east, that its history, natural, civil, and political, acquires at least an adventitious interest. its circumference about 28; and its surface, in acres, 30,300. By a census taken in the year 1805 of the population of the island, it contained 504 white inhabitants, 1560 blacks, of whom 329 were free; making a total of 2064, exclusive of the garrison and civil establishment of the company. Lands are supposed to yield a nett profit of between 7 and 8 per cent. The price of labour is high: a carpenter's wages are 6 or 7s. a day, a mason's 4 or 5, &c. The value of slaves de pends on their character; 150%. has been paid for a good husbandman, and a annoyance or man, and a man of bad character may be purchased for 301. Provisions are dear, with the exception of fish: mutton from 14 to 18d. per lb. pork from 18 to 20d. do. Grown fowls from 9 to 12s. each; turkeys from 30 to 40 do. geese 25 to 30-ducks 10 to 12. Potatoes 8 to 10s. per bushel: milk 4 to 6d. per quart, and eggs 5s. per dozen. These were the market prices for the year 1805: they vary of course, according to the de mand which must necessarily be ex tremely uncertain. The average number of ships for five years which annually touched at the island from 1801 to 1805, both inclusive, were 165. In time of wat large fleets are detained for convoy, and pour forth a population which is frequently equal to that of the island. Salt meat is sent from. London and rice from Bengal, but such an extra-consumption of stock and refreshments must raise the price of provisions. The natural history of St. Helena was given to us a few years ago by an anonymous author who indulged some ingenious speculations on the volcanic formation and structure of the island. To our review of that scientific volume* we refer those readers whose curiosity leads them to this sort of research. The civil and political history is that which principally solicits attention in the present article. The introductory chapter of the work before us contains a descriptive sketch of the island and its productions: it agrees very generally with the more ample account given in the work we have just alluded to. The island of St. Helena is situated 15° 55' south latitude, and 5° 49′ west longi tude from Greenwich. It lies with in the limit of the south-east trade wind-which indeed is the only wind that visits it-and is distant 400 leagues from the coast of Africa, which is the nearest continent. The extreme length of the island is 10 miles; its breadth 63; * See Ann. Rev. Whether the Portuguese, who were the first discoverers of this island, were expelled from it by the Dutch, or in consequence of their rapid successes in the east deserted it in favor of their new ac quisitions, is not certain. The Dutch IV. pp. 38. et seq. however succeeded to the posses sion of it, which they retained till the year 1651, when they established a colony at the Cape of Good Hope, and abandoned St. Helena. On this event the English East India company immediately settled on it, and ten years afterwards, obtained a title to it by charter from Charles II. It was retaken by the Dutch in 1665, and recovered within a twelvemonth by the English who have held it ever since. A new charter was granted by Charles II. in 1673 to the East India company, constituting them lords proprietors of the island with the rights and powers of sovereignty. From this period for about fourteen years the history of the island is only an account of successive insurrections against the governor on the part of the settlers. When matters had become a little more tranquil by the mild influence of martial law, various plans were suggested for improving the new settlement. Captain Poirier, who had emigrated from France, introduced the culture of the vine, which however did not succeed at that time. A design was formed to establish plantations of sugar-cane, cotton, indigo, and tobacco: an attempt was also made to collect salt-petre with which the earth was supposed to abound in many places, and similar efforts were made to collect sea-salt. From negligence, mismanagement, or ignorance, all these projects failed the spontaneous growth of tobacco indeed for many years, and even at the present time, shews the soil and climate to be congenial to that plant. About the same time, many other shrubs and plants were introduced, of which only the apple, peach, mulberry, and quince have come to perfection. The author of the little tract we before alluded to mentions that the peach is likely to be entirely destroyed by the, ravages of a microscopic insect which, had bid defiance to every attempt for its extermination. Mr.. Brooke says that peaches are now abundant, so that the little enemy.. has somewhere found its conqueror. Grapes, figs, oranges, and lemons ripen well in the rich soil and shelter of the valleys near the sea: cherries have been tried without success; gooseberry. and currant bushes turn to evergreens, and do. not bear fruit. The introduction of slavery was nearly coeval with the first settlement of the island restrictions were laid on the importation of slaves in the year 1679, from an apprehension that they would become dangerous from their number. These resrtictions, however, were taken off: slaves multiplied, and were employed in the various works of meditated improvoment, No attempt. was made, to concili-, ate the affection or esteem, either of the white or black inhabitants, notwithstanding the dreadful consequences which must result from the combination of the two against the government of the island, With respect to the inhabitants, they were restricted even from gathering eggs which the sea-birds laid on the rocks round the coast, except on certain specified days in the week; and a man who had ta. ken a sea-cow and appropriated to himself all the oil obtained from it, was fined five pounds for not having presented a share of it to the "honorable company" as an acknowledgement of their royalty and property, and for their use and service! How bloody was the black code it is unnecesary, to say: wherever such a code has been introduced, the same tyger spirit of ferocity has prevailed. Conspiracies followed each other with various success. Governor Johnson fell a victim to the plot 1693. of a man named Jackson, in the year A few months afterwards, a general spirit of insurrection per vaded all ranks and classes-planters, soldiers, and blacks: the following sentence was passed upon three blacks; one was "to be hanged in chains, alive, on Ladderhill, and starved to death, two to be hanged and cut down alive, their bowels taken out and their quarters and heads to be put in some publique crossway, for the publique view of all Negroes." Captain Poirier succeeded Governor Johnson, and was himself succeeded in his office by Captain Roberts, whose wise and energetic administration rescued the island from its former confusion. He gave orders to the engineer on the very day he landed to draw out a plan for a battery to be erected at Munden's Point; and two days after, a resolution was passed in council to construct the present square fort in James's Valley, together with a new government house. Rewards were offered for the discovery of limestone quarries for the projected buildings. Planting and pasturage were attended to; groves of gum-wood and lemon trees were planted and protected, and much care was bestowed on the culture of the shrub from which the. castor oil is extracted. Waste grounds were enclosed and, irrigated, new attempts were made to bring the vine and the sugar-cane to perfection; and in a very short time Governor Roberts exhibited to the council specimens of sugar, rum, wine, and brandy. The vigor of his administration, however, rendered him obnoxious to several persons on the island, and in order to avoid the repeated mortifications to which a rigid line of conduct exposed him, he resigned his situation. To follow Mr. Brooke through his long dry detail of successive governors, their frauds, misde meanors, and oppressions, would be a very uninteresting and uninstructive task. Now and then a man was sent to the island who was desirous to improve it; but in former times at least, these characters were rare. It will suffice to notice the adoption of a few measures which had a permanent effect upon the island. Great ap prehensions were entertained of the evil consequences which must inevitably result from the indiscriminate destruction of wood: whilst that of a mature age was daily cut down for building or for fuel, the young plants were destroyed by the trespass of cattle, sheep, and goats. Various laws were enacted to remedy this evil, but none seem to have been effectual 'till a very bold one passed under the government of Mr. Byfield (in the year 1731) commanding the destruction of all the sheep and goats in the island for a period of ten years, an allowance being made of two years to the planters for the reduction of their flocks. This vigorous measure had its desired ef-` fect: indigenous trees shot up spontaneously in great numbers, and many parts of the island are now convered with wood, which for many years before had been destitute of timber. In the following passage is given a description of goat-pounding: "A spectator, unaccustomed to the scenery and rural economy of the is land, cannot but he struck with the sin gularity of a St. Helena goat-pounding. The eye, fearfully wandering over the abyss beneath, here and there catches a glance of the fill that murmurs at the foot of the declivity. On the opposite side a dreary rugged mountain is seen to patch of herbage is discernable, but the rise stupendous; here and there a small general appearance exhibits little more than huge impending rocks, and the apertures of caverns, which afford ;* shelter to the nimble inhabitants of these wilds. The intervention of hanging In the year 1762 were established courts of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery; the offices of sheriff and constable were at the same time instituted, and from that period, indeed, all judicial proceedings have been conducted very -nearly in the same manner as in the English courts. Convictions, punishments, and determinations Under the administration of Mr. Brooke, who went out in the year 1788, many excellent regulations were adopted for the external defence and internal tranquillity of the island: one is particularly wor thy of notice, and had it occurred to Mr. Windham might have been feet, in the house of commons. Frequoted by him, perhaps with efquent and severe floggings had been inflicted upon delinquents under former governors: Mr. Brooke endeavoured to produce an inpres sion on the minds of the soldiers rather than on their bodies. For minor offences, flogging was commuted for labor; but so perfectly depraved and lost to all sense of sheme were many of them, that |