earth and the fall of the houses, covered the town from view, whilst the tower of the garrison chapel, the only object visible above the dust, rocked for a few seconds, and then fell through the roof; and, from the high perpendicular rock at the north end of the island of St. Lorenzo, a slab, supposed thirty feet thick, separated from the top to the bottom of the cliff, and fell with a tremendous noise into the sea. The wharf, or pier, was cracked three parts across, showing a chasm of eighteen inches wide; the chronometers on shore, except those in the pocket, and most of the clocks, stopped, whilst the rates of chronometers afloat were, in many instances, altered. A great number of lives were lost; amongst whom were four priests killed in the churches, one of them by the falling of an image, at whose base he was at prayer. The Volage's chain cables were lying on a soft muddy bottom, in thirty-six feet water; and, on heaving up the best bower anchor to examine it, the cable thereof was found to have been strongly acted on, at thirteen fathoms from the anchor, and twenty-five from the ship. On washing the mud from it, the links, which are made of the best cylinder wrought iron, about two inches in diameter, appeared to have undergone partial fusion for a considerable extent. The metal seemed run out in grooves of three or four inches long, and three-eighths of an inch diameter, and had formed (in some cases, at the ends of these grooves, and, in others, at the middle of them) small spherical lumps or nodules, which, upon scrubbing the cable to cleanse it, fell on the deck. The other cable was not injured, nor did my friend hear of any similar occurrence amongst the numerous vessels then lying in the bay. The part of the chain so injured was condemned, on the vessel's being paid off at Portsmouth, and is now in the sail-field of the dockyard; and, I should think, a link of it would be worth preserving in the museums of the different scientific bodies. That the phenomena of earthquakes are produced by volcanic explosion, there can be little doubt; and that they are frequently accompanied by powerful electric action has long been known to which of these causes are we to look for the powerful effects here witnessed ?- -Communicated by Captain Bagnold to Brande's Journal, June, 1829. ENGLISH CHARACTERISTICS.* THE English are the only people to whom the term blackguard is peculiarly applicable From the Atlas. No. CLXIV. by which I understand a reference of every thing to violence, and a contempt for the feelings and opinions of others. It may be affirmed of them, with few exceptions, from the highest to the lowest, whether gentle or simple, they would all rather use force to gain their point than have no occasion for it, and regard good-will and complaisance as perfectly insipid and out of character. They think it French grimace and affectation. A common blackguard in the street runs up against you if he can, to show he is as good as you; and asks you if you complain, how you can help yourself? And the fine gentleman at the play (altering nothing but the name) enters the boxes with a menacing air, as if prepared to force his way through some obstacle, which he habitually anticipates and resents beforehand. A true Englishman, on coming into a coffee-room, looks round to see if the company are good enough for him, to know if his place is not taken, or if he cannot turn others out of theirs, and is not easy unless he can give himself supercilious airs the whole time he is eating his beef-steak, towards some one worse dressed than himself, or else assume a vastly significant and independent spirit in answer to the smallest appearance of advantage over him. There is always much "internal oath," preparatory knitting of the brows, implied clenching of the fists, and imaginary shouldering of affronts and grievances going on in the mind of an unsophisticated Englishman. clown resorts to club-law-it is a word and a blow with him; the citizen comforts him, self that he has the law on his side, and that the magistrate has a spite at the delinquent. Every thing is done against the grain. Even the laughter-loving Venuses of our isle would much rather lend their gallants a box on the ear than accept an offer of love or money from them; and it is the prospect of unlimited gin, of calling names, of doing nothing, and thrusting their hard, red hands into white kid gloves, which fills the ranks of this profession to the overflowing of our streets and theatres nightly. These halfnaked vestals, planted against the pillars in the lobbies, or marching up and down armin-arm with Tom-and-Jerry admirers, smart book-keepers, or lawyers' clerks, are the triumphs of English modesty and manners. A peace-officer in this country is the only person who refuses to lift a finger, and pro ceeds with infinite caution and repugnance in suppressing the natural growth and glory of the soil, rows and actions of assault and battery. If a fellow in the street makes an outrageous noise, and threatens to knock any one down, the watchmen, in pure sympathy and admiration of his prowess, let him pass:: if a poor woman falls down in a fit through intoxication or want, they have her to the watch-house in a moment. They have no The compassion for the weak and helpless; their heads are full of blows and bludgeons. Such is our love of liberty; such the spirit of our constitution and our clime! If this subject be harping on a grievance, at least it is not an imaginary one. MR. FASHION. gold ones prove nothing, the rich man leaves them off. So it is with all the real advantages that fashionable people possess. Say that they have more grace, good manners, and refinement than the rabble; but these do not change every moment at the nod of fashion. Speaking correctly is not proper to one class more than another: if the fashionable, to distinguish themselves from the vulgar, affect a peculiar tone or set of phrases, this is mere slang. The differences between grace and awkwardness is the same one year after another. This is the meaning of natural politeness. It is a perception of, and attention to, the feelings of others, which is the same thing, whether it is neglected by the great or practised by the vulgar. The barrier between refinement and grossness cannot be arbitrarily effaced. Nothing changes but what depends on the shallow affectation and assumption of suvulgar. So Pope says in his elegant way— periority: real excellence can never become "Virtue may choose the high or low degree, used to say, that just before the women in his time left off hoops, they looked like bats. Going on from one affectation to another, they at last wore them close under their arms, so that they resembled wings growing out from their shoulders; and, having reached the top of absurdity, they then threw them aside all at once. If long waists are the fashion one season, they are exploded the next; as soon as the court adopt any particular mode, the city follows the example, and as soon as the city takes it up, the court lays it down. The whole is caricature and masquerade. Nature only is left out; for that is either common, or what is fine in it would not always be found on the fashionable side of the question. It may be the fashion to paint or not to paint; but if it were the fashion to have a fine complexion; many fashionable people must go without one, and many unfashionable ones would be at the CLIMATE OF NEW SOUTH WALES.* height of it. Deformity is as often the fashion as beauty; yet the world in general see no other beauty than fashion, and their vanity, or interest, or complaisance, bribes their understanding to disbelieve even their senses. If cleanliness is the fashion, then cleanliness is admired; if dirt, hair-powder, and pomatum, are the fashion, then dirt, hair-powder, and pomatum, are admired just as much, if not more, from their being disagreeable. The secret is, that fashion is imitating in certain things that are in our power, and that are nearly indifferent in themselves, those who possess certain other advantages that are not in our power, and that the possessors are as little disposed to part with as they are eager to obtrude them upon the notice of others by every external symbol at their immediate control. WITH regard to the climate of Sydney, winter sets in with May, spring with September, summer in November, and autumn in March. Mr. Martin observes, that it is only during the summer months that the hot winds occasionally blow, and raise the mercury to 120 deg. Fahrenheit, when exposed to the wind. When these siroccos are about to occur, the sky assumes a lurid appearance, the sun is hid from view, the with tremendous violence, and can only be wind suddenly shifts to the NW., and blows compared to a fiery blast issuing from an At immense furnace; the dust is whirled with rapidity; distant thunder is heard. night the flashes of stream-lightning present a continually illuminated horizon; vast We forests become a universal blaze of fire, and the flames, borne along with the blast, readily find fresh fuel, carrying terror beNot only does the field of corn, ready for the fore, and leaving ruin and desolation behind. sickle, become a charred stubble, but houses and domestic animals are reduced to a heap think the cut of a coat fine, because it is worn by a man with ten thousand a year, with a fine house, and a fine carriage as we cannot get the ten thousand a year, the house, or the carriage, we get what we canthe cut of the fine gentleman's coat, and thus are in the fashion. But as we get it, he gets rid of it, which shows that he cares nothing about it; but he keeps his ten thousand a year, his fine house, and his fine carriage. A rich man wears gold buckles to show that he is rich: a coxcomb gets gilt ones to look like the rich, and as soon as the *From the Edinburgh New Philosophic Journal. -No. XIII. At a meeting of the Medical and Physical Society of Calcutta, held in Chowringhee, on the 4th of South Wales," by Mr. Martin, was read and disOctober, "A Sketch of the Topography of New cussed, from which the above is taken. of ashes; and man himself, while attempting to save his property, has sometimes fallen a victim to its ravages. Fortunately these winds seldom last long, rarely more than two days at a time. Their termination is marked as decisively as their commencement. The air becomes darkened; a severe thunder storm comes on, accompanied with rain and hail, the latter of a very large size; the wind shifts to the SE., and a cold southerly squall sets in, which lasts for a few hours, when the sun re-appears, the sky assumes its usual pale blue, and the atmosphere acquires its wonted serenity. Collins speaks of these siroccos as killing birds, beasts, and men, who are exposed to them; but Mr. Martin has ridden through the forest when the red-hot charcoal beneath his horse's feet, and the falling columns of fire from trees in his path, made it highly hazardous, without feeling any other effect than excessive fatigue, after riding forty or fifty miles in such an atmosphere. Rainy weather is most frequent in the month of March, sometimes in February or January; it lasts about twenty days, and occasionally the rivers are so swollen by the mountain torrents, as to sweep away from the banks stacks of corn, dwelling houses, men, and cattle. The month of April, which is the Australian autumn, is very similar to the same month in England; fires are very pleasant in the morning and evening. May is truly delightful. The winter months, viz. June, July, and August, have an extremely bracing effect on a debilitated constitution: the atmosphere being not only cool, but entirely divested of the humidity which characterizes an English winter, the greatest height of the mercury being 63 deg., and the lowest 27 deg. The ground is covered with a hoar frost in the morning, and ice, about the thickness of a Spanish dollar, is found even some hours after sunrise. On the mountain road to Bathurst, snow of two feet in depth has remained on the ground for several days, and ponds have been frozen over sufficiently thick to admit of a loaded waggon being driven over them without breaking. Mr. Martin exemplifies by a fact, that the winters of New South Wales are delightfully mild. He has placed, at night, at Paramatta, a vessel of milk under a tree in his garden, and in the morning, while eating the iced cream, plucked the ripe and ripening oranges and citrons. Frequently a second crop of pears and other summer fruits is produced in winter, and trees blossom again. Mr. Martin thinks that neither time, civilization, nor cultivation, has diminished the claim of New South Wales, since our earliest knowledge of it to the appellation of the "Montpelier of the world," merited by its moderate temperature, dryness of atmosphere, and congeniality to the human conVOL. III. H Indi stitution. Many of the diseases which afflict mankind are totally unknown there. viduals arriving in the colony with constitutions impaired, are soon restored to health, and attain a robust old age. The smallpox has not yet made its appearance among the colonists. Shortly, however, after the first settlement, in 1788, it raged among the aborigines in the neighbourhood of Sydney, and nearly depopulated the country. The caves on the sea-shore were found filled with dead bodies, and in some places were observed the deceased left to perish without human aid; those who had strength remaining having fled from the contagion to the interior of the country, leaving the dead to bury the dead—a circumstance not at all usual among that simple race of men. Neither measles, hooping-cough, nor scarlet fever, have yet been seen in the colony. Hydrophobia is equally unknown. Cutaneous eruptions are rare; but among the aborigines a scaly disease covers their bodies, which they ascribe to a constant use of fish. Females seem to be in a great measure exempt from the suffering denounced on our first parents. The aborigine, when seized with the throes of labour, if on a journey, stops on the way side, and is attended by her husband, who sprinkles her with water unti parturition is over, when the new-born babe is wrapped in a soft paper-like bark, and the mother arising, resumes her progress in search of food. Mr. Martin mentions a very curious fact. The increase of population, he says, has been most rapid, and is to be accounted for by the number of females born, the proportion being, with regard to males, as three to one! The greatly preponderating number of females brought forth among domesticated animals, will account for the countless herds of cattle which overspread the colony. Viewed as a place of convalescence for individuals suffering under the influence of tropical diseases, Mr Martin is of opinion that New South Wales appears to possess many advantages. The voyage is sufficiently long to benefit an invalid, without his being exhausted by its duration, if the passage be made through Bass's Straits, or to the southward of Van Dieman's Land. After arriving at Sydney, any climate requisite, whether cold or warm, may be chosen in twenty-four hours. There is an extensive and elegant society, a perfectly English town, and as fine animal food as is to be had in the world, together with all the delightful vegetables and fruits, which are so seldom to be found good out of England. MYSTERIOUS STORY.* IN the year 1805, as a poor mason was returning one evening from his daily labours, he was met in an obscure street in Paris by a well-dressed man, whose face he never remembered to have seen before, but who stopped him, and inquired of him to what trade he belonged. On being answered that he was a mason, the man said, that if he would wall up a certain niche which would be shown to him, he should receive as his reward fifty louis-d'ors. The stranger added, that he must submit to have his eyes covered, and to be carried in that state for a consider able distance. To all this the mason readily consented, partly from curiosity, and partly from the greatness of the reward offered to him for so inconsiderable a work. The stranger immediately placed a bandage over his eyes, and having led him by the hand for a few paces, they came to the spot where a carriage waited for them, into which they both got, and it drove rapidly off. They soon got out of Paris ;-at least so the mason conjectured, from the noise of the wheels going over the stones having ceased. After having proceeded thus for about two hours, the rattling of the stones returned, and they seemed to the mason to have entered another town; shortly after which they stopped, and the mason was taken out of the carriage, and led through several passages, and up a flight of stairs, till they came to a place where he heard the sound of voices. Here his eyes were uncovered, and he found himself in a large room, the walls, roof, and floor of which were entirely hung with black cloth, excepting a niche on one side, which was left open. By the side of it were placed a considerable quantity of stones and mortar, together with all the tools necessary for the work upon which the mason was to be employed. There were also several men in the room, whose faces were covered with masks. One of these came up to the mason, and addressing himself to him, said, "Here are the fifty louis-d'ors which were promised you; and there is only one condition to be exacted from you, which is, that, you must never mention to any person what you may see or hear in this place." This the mason promised; and at this instant another man, who was also masked, entered the room, and demanded if all was ready. Upon being answered in the affirmative, he went out, and returned again in a few minutes with two other men, both masked, and one of whom, *The principal features of this singular story were dramatized, with good effect, about twelve months ago, at one of the Minor Theatres, under the title of "The Mason of Buda;" but the scene and the catastrophe were entirely changed. from the whiteness of his hair, the mason supposed to be an old man. These three dragged in with them a very beautiful young woman, with her hair dishevelled, and her whole appearance betokening great disorder. They pushed her with great violence towards the niche, into which they at length succeeded in forcing her, notwithstanding her struggling and resistance. During this time she never ceased alternately uttering dreadful screams, and crying for Once mercy in the most piteous manner. she got loose from her persecutors, and immediately prostrated herself at the feet of the old man, and embracing his knees, besought him to kill her at once, and not to let her suffer a cruel and lingering death; but all in vain. When the three men had at last forced her into the niche, they held her there, and commanded the mason to commence his work, and wall her up. Upon witnessing this dreadful scene, the mason fell on his knees, and entreated to be permitted to depart, without being accessory to this act of cruelty. The men however told him that this was impossible. They menaced him, if he refused to perform his promise, with instant death; whereas on the other hand, if he complied, they said he should receive an additional fifty louis-d'ors when he had completed his work. This united threat and promise had such an effect upon the mason, that he instantly did as he was commanded, and at last actually walled up the poor victim, so as to She was then render her escape impossible. left to perish by slow degrees, without light, air, or sustenance. When the mason had finished, he received the fifty additional louis-d'ors; his eyes were again covered; he was led through various passages as on his arrival; and finally put into the carriage, which drove off rapidly as before. When he was again taken out of it, his eyes were uncovered, and he found himself standing on the exact spot in Paris where he had first met the stranger. The same man now stood beside him, and addressing him, desired him not to stir from the place where he then was for five minutes, after which he was at liberty to return home; adding, that he was a dead man if he moved before the time prescribed. He then left him; and the mason having waited the five minutes, proceeded straight to the police-officers, to whom he told his story; and they considered the circumstance so curious, that they carried him immediately to the Duke of Abrantes. The duke at first imagined his account to be an invention; but upon his producing the purse containing the hundred louis-d'ors, he was compelled to believe it. The strictest search was immediately made in and about Paris for the discovery of the perpetrators of this horrid murder; but in vain. The Emperor Napoleon particularly interested himself in it, and special orders were issued by him to the officers of the police, to leave no means untried to attain their object. Many houses were searched, in the hope of finding some place which had been lately walled up, and which answered to the account given by the mason;-but, notwithstanding all these endeavours, nothing further has ever transpired respecting this dreadful mystery. [The above story was related by General Hulon,* in the winter of 1816-17, one evening at Sir Sidney Smith's, in Paris. The general stated that he had it from Marshal Junot, Duke of Abrantes, who was governor of Paris at the time it happened, and must therefore, necessarily have been well acquainted with all the circumstances attending it]. TURKISH LADIES OF FASHION. A TURKISH lady of fashion is wooed by an invisible lover, in the progress of the courtship a hyacinth is occasionally dropt in her path, by an unknown hand, and the female attendant at the bath does the office of a mercury, and talks of a certain Effendi demanding a lady's love, as a nightingale aspiring to the affections of a rose ! A clove, wrapped up in an embroidered handkerchief, is the least token of condescension the nightingale can expect; but a written billet doux is an implement of love which the gentle rose is unable to manufacture. The father of the lady at length is solicited for her hand, and he orders her to give it, and to love, honour, and obey her husband in short, they are married by proxy, before the cadi, and the light of her * General Hulon is brother of Madame Moreau, widow of the general of that name. From Travels in Turkey, Egypt, Nubia, and Palestine, in 1824-5-6-7. By R. Madden, Esq. M.R. C.S. 2 vols. London, 1829. lord's countenance first beams on her in the nuptial chamber. This change in her condition is one which every spinster envies: if she be the only wife, she reigns in the harem over a host of slaves; if there be two or three more, she shares with them the delights of domestic sway. Every week, at least, she is blest with a periodical return of her husband's love: he enters the harem at noonday, and at sunset, after the fatigue of sauntering from one bazaar to another, and from the public divan to the private chambers-he performs his evening ablutionsone obsequious lady fetches a phial of rosewater to perfume his beard, another bears a looking-glass, with a mother-of-pearl handle, another carries an embroidered napkin ; and supper is brought in by a host of slaves and servants; for in most harems the ordinary attendants have access to the women's apartments. The women stand before him while he eats, and when he finishes, a number of additional dishes are brought in for the ladies, whose breeding consists in eating with the finger and thumb only, and in not devouring indecorously the sweetmeats, of which they are exceedingly fond. When supper is removed, and the servants disappear, there are few harems where small bottles of rosoglio are not produced; and of this liqueur, I have seen the ladies take so many as three or four little glasses in the course of ten minutes. One of the female slaves generally presents the pipe on one knee; and sometimes one of the wives brings the coffee, and kisses the hand of her lord at the same time; this ceremony every wife goes through in the morning, none daring to sit down in his presence but such as have the honour of being mothers: but, in the evening, there is very little etiquette, and very little truth in the assertion of Pauqueville, that "the Turks retire to their harems without relaxing the least particle of their gravity." The reverse of this statement is near the truth; the orgies of the evening, in most harems, are conducted with all the levity of licentiousness, and the gravity of the Moslems totally disappears : their roars of laughter are to be heard in the adjoining houses; and, in my opinion, the gravity of the Turk during the day is only the exhaustion of his spirits from previous excitement. I have seen him reclining on the divans, smoking his long chibouque, one of his wives, and generally the favourite, shampooing his feet with her soft fingers, and performing this operation for hours together. This is accounted one of the greatest luxuries of the harem; and an opium-eater assured me, the most delightful of his reveries was imagining himself shampooed by the dark-eyed houris of Paradise. The women vie with each other in eliciting the smiles of their common lord; one |