and these heads are kept in boxes it was Sunday, and the people here for those who want them, and they do not work on Sunday, only the are called wigs, and they are placed priests, and they go to church as they over the hair. Another image of jus- do in Otaheite, but their clothes are tice was here, and he was formerly a finer for church; and the ladies, who chief, for this is the great place for are the women, look beautiful, and images; and on the outside is another each has their book, and it is red, beon a horse, and he is a king, because cause it is the Bible. And a young he rides upon a horse which is made missionary priest went up by steps, of iron. And one of the men in the and sung, and the people sung, and it black clothes came up to me and said, was delightful for Omai to hear; and How do you do, my dear fellow? another priest or minister stood up and I, Omai, did not know him, for he higher on the wall, and he read from had a wig; and he took me by the a large book and prayed-the book was hand and laughed, and then I knew the same as the Bible at Otaheite, but him, for I, Omai, had seen him at a bigger; and it was pleasant to hear feast of dinner, and he was a chief. that man read; and, while some lookThen I could not help laughing, not I, ed out at the window, some slept, be to see this chief in his dress of justice. cause the noise was pleasant. And we And as we came out of the crowd, all rose and sat down again on seats, I, Omai, saw a number of boxes with and then rose and walked away. And holes for the people to put in money this is a Sunday, and the preaching of for the great red chiefs who judge; the church in the great island of Edin for there is no justice in the island of burgh, which is called Britain. And Edinburgh, nor any thing else, with- it is the same in Otaheite, but differout much, a great deal of money. ent."

"My Captain took me then to see the books belonging to the judges. How many there were, I, Omai, cannot tell, nor can it be known in Otaheite; for I began to count and number them on my fingers; but they were not to be counted, they are so many, and there are three great housefuls placed in rows, and so like one another, that no one can distinguish them. And the chief of the books put one before me, and desired me to look at it; and it was a picture of Otaheite; but it was black and white, and not like; and yet it was like, for all its blackness. And another book of a picture was turned over, and it was a written image of me, Omai; and I knew it--but then it was not me-it was the father of my father, the great Omai the traveller, who was the friend of the maker of the book, the great Captain Cook; and I looked at it and sighed, for I was in the island of Edinburgh, and at many great distances from Otaheite.

"The Captain took me also to a great Morai, where all the people are buried when they die, by putting them in chests made of black wood. In the middle of this morai stands a house, which is rather not a house, because it is a church; and the bells, which are large kettles of iron, rung, and the people went in crowds, for

Our author's next visit was to the Castle, and an exhibition of paintings; and he has described these as intelligibly as he could, though we fear the reading public of the South-Sea Islands will still have much to learn on both subjects. The account of a public dinner is more interesting, and the arrangements more capable of imitation by the corporations, if there be any such, in Otaheite.

"I, Omai, was taken," says he, "by the good Captain to a great feast; for the people of this country must all eat at certain times appointed by the chiefs. And it was in a house, or rather temple, for eating and drinking, where money is paid to the commander of eating men; and his name, which is very like the name of me, Omai, in printing, is written over the door, and it is Oman, for it is not Omai. And this Oman is a little fat man, and not like me, Omai. And there was a great crowd of hungry people; and black dress is worn when eating, and for mourning; and how many tables were there! and how they looked! and how they were covered with white cloth, and dishes, which were blue, and birds and houses on them, which were not alive, because they were painted! and the glasses and knives, and spoons of white shining metal, I cannot tell, for they were beyond the power of me, Omai, though learned

by the missionaries of England, to
count them. And the chiefs of the
eaters cut the meat for the others, as
if they were servants, and give to each
what they like, and nobody finds fault;
and he gave me, Omai, a stranger,
more than I could eat. And the clang-
ing of the knives was wonderful; and
one asked another if they were thirsty,
and they filled their glasses and drank
wine, for water is never drunk, and
nodded, and felt contented. And an
Eree next me filled up my glass with
yellow wine, and he nodded his head,
and we became friends, and I nodded
my head, which is the same thing as
rubbing noses in Otaheite; and his name
was Eree Bailie; and he was fat. And
he was a man unlike any of the men in
Otaheite. And there was a second
dinner after we were all filled; and
the people began to eat again; but I,
Omai, did not eat much, for I had eat
of roast dog, which is called lamb, and
it is cut into pieces, and very delicious.
And yams were there, which are called
in English potatoes. And then there
was music; and their drums are form-
ed of hollow pieces of wood or bark, and
they are rubbed with sticks, and not
beat, for they are called fiddles, and men
hold them on their shoulders, and beat
with their fingers; but the sound was
pleasant; and the flutes were not blown
by the nose, for it was done by the mouth.
And the head man made a speech, and
the company rose, and clapped their
hands to the sound of the music, and
roared prodigiously. And another
speech was made by the chief, and it
was called a thumper, or bumper,
which means that the little measures
of wine should be drunk up at once.
And there was more clapping of hands,
and the musicians played louder, and
I, Omai, could have danced, and all
the company, only there was not room.
And there were many more speeches;
and when the speeches pleased the
people, they beat on the table and
stamped on the ground, and roared
like the sea-cow; for that is the way
the English of Edinburgh shew their
gladness at public eatings ;-and I,
Omai, the son of a chief in my own
country, stamped likewise, and roared
louder than them all; and they cried,
Bravo!' which means, Very well
done, my friend.'

"The wine that is drunk is not like our kava, for it is true wine, and it is VOL. XI.

of many colours. Some is called port or porter; some is named ale, sherry, and whisky; but all are comfortable for the stomach, and make a man strong. I cannot tell how many speeches were said, for there were so many; and my head began to grow giddy, for the table was running round; and it was the noise, for it could not be the wine, which was very good. And I rose to go away; and it is the nature of English wine, that it takes away the power of walking from strangers; so I fell down, and there was a laugh; and I heard no more; and I awaked next day in my bed, in the good Captain Fraser's-and the dinner eating was like a dream."

Our next extract shall be Omai's account of his visit to the University.

"And the good Captain took me to the great school of this country, which is a college, and is a town of itself, it is so very large. How many rooms there were, and how many seats in them for the young men, I cannot tell, though I, Omai, saw them myself, for they were so many. In one house was a great conjurer, who did things very wonderful, and impossible to conceive. He changed the colour of water by his breath; and fired like a cannon, though it was only the black powder of snuff, such as is eaten with the nose; and he was not afraid, for he was a chemistwhat that is I cannot tell. And in the Doctor's house, where are kept the bones of the great warriors of England, there were the heads of chiefs all put together so wonderfully, that they grinned as I, Omai, the son of a chief, looked at them. And there were bottles innumerable, filled with diseases, which the doctors take from men for money, and keep there so as they may not get out again to make the people sick.

"And in another house were all the beasts in the world, and birds and fishes; and they looked so like alive, that I thought to see them moving; but they were not alive, for they were dead, and their skins were stuffed, and they got no meat. And the beasts are not all beasts, for some have four feet, which I saw, and are only quadrupeds, and many, which are geese, and men, and other birds, have only two; and I looked to see if there were any but with one foot, but could not find itonly the serpents have none. And the 4 X

doctors of the College have a language to themselves; and it is not English, nor understood in Otaheite; and all the names of the beasts, which are animals, are in it; and it is Latin. And the name of one bird was Falco, and another Leo, and another Simia; and a cow is Bos, and Phoca is a seal, or sea-cow. But it would have taken me, Omai, all my life to write them so beautiful and small; and the Captain said it would not do; so I gave it up. What is the use of this houseful of beasts, I, Omai, cannot tell, for they cannot be eaten, but only looked at; but money was paid for the look, and it was wonderful; and the stones

and shells were also beautiful.

"And the wise men who teach in this great school read, and the young men listen, and write it down; and this is a lecture-which is not a sermon; for there is no singing or Bibles; and it is not a church, but a college. And the garden of the college, where the medicine plants grow, is not in the town, for it is in the country, near to the great Morton's; and the scholars are taught to know plants by Linnæus, and their names; and he is a tall man, and shook me, Omai, by the hand, in a house of glass, which is all light; and we are friends; and I will gather medicine plants for him in Otaheite-that shall I, Omai, do. And this is not all the college, for there are also books, a great many, which I could not count, and they call it a Library, that is, books are a library. And the people here, the book-man said, live by devouring books: but this I could not understand."

We believe it was ourself who gave Captain Fraser and his friend a note to see the printing establishment of Messrs Ballantyne & Co. ; and we had entirely forgotten the circumstance, till the following passage in Omai's narrative met our view. We are afraid, however, that his description will convey but a confused idea of this most interesting of all the mechanical arts; nor is it likely that the handicraftsmen of Otaheite will be able to bind books from his slight notice.

"And the printing, that is the stamps of writing that the good men have at Otaheite, there is a great many here, and I saw them and their tables made of wood with holes, and the young men who pick them. And they

put pitch upon the small nails which are types, and strong men press upon the paper, and it comes out a book. This I, Omai, saw in the great bookwork of the island of Edinburgh, which is near the steeples where light is made for burning. And the shoemakers put leather upon them, and sew them; how neat it is!-a true book to be read, and gold names on the back."

Had we not been afraid of rendering this article too long, we should have now quoted Omai's account of an interview with "the Man of Skulls," as he is pleased to term some phrenological gentleman who had taken the trouble to measure the diameter of his head. But as we have little doubt that Mr Blackwood will find it his interest speedily to reprint the volume, we conclude with one extract more.

"And the people of this wonderful island have a book, and it is written with printed letters every new moon; and the people look at it and laugh, for there is the figure of a black man on the outside; and the cover of this book is like the bark of the bread-fruit, and it makes the people wise; for the English people of the island of Edinburgh are wiser than all the world. And my Captain said, I must take this book to Otaheite, for it would make our chiefs wise; and he took me to the place where they are made, and it is a library, and the book-man who makes them gave us twelve different books with the black man's head; and when he asked my name, and knew that I was Omai, the son of a chief, and had come so far to see his book, he was delighted, and the chiefs of books in his house were also delighted, and took me by the hand; and though money is taken for these books, yet he would not take money from my Captain; and this is called a present by the men of the great island of Edinburgh.

"And the chief of the wise men who write these books, he is called Ambrose, and he took us to his house, and ordered wine to be brought to me and my Captain, and would not let us away, though the Captain said he must go. And a supper of birds was brought, which are called chuckies in English, and a curious fish, which is a finanhaddy, and it is not at Otaheite ;

and toddy-wine, which is warm because it is heated by fire, and which sailing men call grog. And there was a doctor there, and a warrior who was an Engine, with a red face, and who was funny with my Captain and laughed, and he mixed the toddy-wine. And then reeds were brought with thimbles at one end, in which was fire, and they put them into their mouths, and the sinoke came out, for they were

fire-eaters, and Captain Fraser did so too-and this is smoking. And the book-man, whose picture is on the wise book, he said nothing but laughed, and took a black powder from a box and put it into his nose, for it was snuff. And they said much which I did not understand, for who in Otaheite can speak like the great wise men of Ambrose ?"

THE MAGIC LANTERN, OR SKETCHES OF SCENES IN THE METROPOLIS.*

A gentlemanly-looking man-name unknown-with large black whiskers, came into the back-shop a few days ago, and, after some pleasant and intelligent chit-chat among a body of contributors, put down on the table a long, lean, blue-looking volume, which he said had amused him on his voyage down from London in the James Watt steam-boat. "You will find it, gentlemen, a very lively little affair, and you will not glance over its pages with the less interest for being told that it 'emanated' (that was his identical word) from one of the most beautiful and graceful ladies in all England." One and all of us pricked up our small, short, thin ears at these words, and O'Doherty handing over the volume to OURSELVES, we opened the Magic Lantern, and saw, at half a glance, that our friend with the large black whiskers was a man of discrimination and veracity. It is, as he said, a very lively little affair; but which particular one of the "most beautiful and graceful ladies in all England" constructed and lighted it, wein our simplicity and ignorance know not, and may never know. The time has been, that we would have gone to London for the express purpose of being introduced to a lady whom we believe to be graceful and beautiful, because the large-whiskered gentleman solemnly avowed it, with his hand on his heart, and whom we know to be excessively clever, because we ourselves, who are not a large-whiskered gentleman, have perused 72 closely printed pages of her effusions. Now we are old and rheumatic and gouty, and cannot stir from home; but should this lady ever visit our metropolis, our

*

crutches shall carry us to the Royal Hotel, that is certain, and, leaning upon them, devoutly shall we hail the fair star of the south rising on our northern horizon.

But what, in the name of old Elwes and Joseph Hume, can be the meaning of the coarseness of this paper over which we are now drawing our fore finger? Had this been a matronly treatise on household frugality, an attempt to undersell Mrs Rundle's System of Cookery, such paper and such boards would have been in good-keeping-its outward appearance seems to remind one more of the kitchen than the drawing-room table. Indeed, but for the evidence before us, we should as soon have believed that Pence-save Joseph had convinced the rose-tree that it could effect a great saving to nature, if in future it made use of its withered leaves for the vehicle of its fragrance, instead of the bloom and blossoms which it annually squanders, as that such a writer as this could have been persuaded by him to send forth the perfume of her prickly fancy in such a shape as this. But we can only refer it to the inexplicable mysteries of the sex. However, as we have no doubt that the person of this fair author would look most beautiful even in the dress of a peasant girl, although that of a countess might be more natural and befitting her loveliness, so her mind beams forth through the dim, dull, dirty blue, in which the saving knowledge of Joseph Hume has induced her to wrap it on the present occasion, although we hope soon to see it in hot-press and wire-wove, and cerulean azure.

The "Magic Lantern" exhibits a

Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Browne. 1822.

few scenes peculiar to London in a light and easy manner. A satirical gaiety is its general character, and in many passages the style, which has the colloquial piquancy of dramatic dialogue, sparkles into wit; but the impression is nevertheless strongly serious-owing, we fear, to the justness of the ridicule. Indeed, the work throughout, exhibits our fellow-beings, perhaps, too much as they actually are, and of course in a less favourable point of view than that in which any of us would wish to be seen. Vice, full-grown, is no where brought into view-and indeed it is no business of a female ever to do that but the steps which Folly takes towards it are pointed out with almost masculine shrewdness, and at the same time with true feminine delicacy.

The first sketch is called the Auction, and describes, with a humour often bordering on pathos, the sort of sympathy which commonly prevails among the groups who are seen at occasions of this kind, especially when the sale is of the furniture of some ruined friend.

"The mansion that I was now in, had lately been the residence of a family of dis tinction, and bore evident marks of good taste. The furniture was rich and elegant, and chosen with a view to use as well as ornament; the pictures were the chef d'auvres of the best masters; and a library of well-chosen books, with globes, fine maps, and all the apparatus for astronomieal and geographical studies, marked the intellectual pursuits of the late possessors. "The morning room of the female part of the family next excited my attention ;here were all the indications of female elegance and female usefulness the neat book shelves, stored with the best authors; the writing-table, with all its appendages; the drawing-table, on which the easel and pencils still rested, and the harp and pianoforte, with the music-books still open, all spoke the refined taste and avocations of the owners of this room, and how sudden had been the ruin that had expelled them from it.

"Some pictures, with their faces turned to the wall, were placed in a corner of the room, and curiosity induced me to examine them. I found them to be coloured drawings, admirably executed, and evidently portraits. On examining them more close ly, I discovered that some of the accompaniments were copies of parts of the furniture now before me. One of the draw. ings represented two very lovely girls performing on the harp and piano-forte, and

never did I behold a sweeter personification of a duet, Both warbling of one song, both in one key; as if their hands, their sides, voices, and minds, had been incorporate. Another represented a most animated, intelligent-looking girl, reading to nance, though pale and languid, was exone who was drawing, and whose countepressive of genius and sensibility. Here then, thought I, are the late actors in this domestic scene; and, as I gazed on the sweet faces before me, my interest became excited to a painful degree.-Imagination pictured those delicate-looking females driven from their home, stripped at once of all the elegancies of life, and sent to brave a world, the hardships of which they

were now for the first time to learn. I saw
fection-I saw the last looks of parting
them cling to each other in an agony of af.
sorrow which they cast on this scene of
happy hours for ever gone by; and I saw
the efforts they made to compose their tear-
ful countenances, and to regain some por-
tion of fortitude, while with hurried steps,
as if afraid to trust themselves with ano-

ther parting glance, they left the apartment.
My heart bled at the picture which my
fancy had painted, and I hastened into the
room where the sale was going on, to lose
thing presented a contrast to the quiet
the poignancy of my emotions. Here every
and confusion, on every side. Here was a
scene that I had quitted. Noise, bustle,
groupe of fashionables, male and female,
whose bows of recognition, and smiles and
whispers, betrayed that they were more occu-
pied with each other than with the auction.
At another side was a set of elderly ladies,
whose scrutinizing glances, and airs of sa-
tisfied self-importance, were expressive of
their conscious superiority. Next to these
were some gentlemen, of a certain period
in life, who had left their clubs to look in
at the sale, and whose sapient looks and
such scenes.
whispers declared them well accustomed to
The rest of the crowd was

.

composed of brokers, and dealers in bijouterie, who evidently wished the fashionables way."

es, the fair writer proceeds in the folAfter many lively and caustic touchlowing strain:

"By the bye, apropos, of balls-what very pleasant ones we have been at in this house! poor Mrs B- will give no more balls; for, I understand, they are quite ruined. Well, I declare, now that I think of it, I am very sorry; for there are so very few people that give pleasant balls. Here the conversation became general, cach of the ladies, young and old, mingling their voices: Well, I must say, I always thought how it would end,' says one. What a very conceited woman Mrs Bwas!' cries another. Yes, and what fuss people made about the beauty and accom