into slavery; and the Christians are always ready to purchase either the plaintiff or defendant, or both; together with all the witnesses, and any other human creature who is of a dusky colour, and worships the great idol Boo-Boo-Boo, with eleven heads.

No great division of labour can of course be expected in such a state of society. Every man is a city in himself, and is his own tailor, hairdresser, shoemaker, and every thing else. Among the Foolahs, however, some progress has been made in the division of employments. The tanner and the blacksmith are distinct trades; and the ingenuity which they evince in overcoming obstacles, by means so inadequate to those which Europeans possess, may convince us what a stock of good qualities human nature has in store for cases of emergency. They put to sea canoes of ten tons burthen, hollowed from a single tree; and although they are ignorant of the use of the potter's wheel, make earthen pots fit for every domestic use. Dr. Winterbottom thinks they may have learnt their pottery from Europeans; but if this is true, it is rather singular they were not instructed by the same masters in the use of the potter's most convenient and most prominent instrument. The common dress of the men consists in a shirt, trowsers, woollen cap or hat, which they buy of Europeans. Those who can afford it, are fond of decorating themselves in all the second-hand splendour they can purchase at the same market; and Monmouth Street embarks its decayed finery for the coast of Africa, where Soosoo rakes and loungers are joyfully vested in the habiliments of their Bond Street predecessors. The dress of the Pagan African is never thought complete, unless a variety of gree-grees, or amulets, be superadded; these are to guard against every possible accident; but, as Dr. Winterbottom observes, are such very cumbersome protectors, that in all real dangers they are commonly thrown away. The Mahomedan religion is inimical to dancing, singing, and all the lighter species of amusement. Riding on horseback is the only exercise of those Africans who have adopted this dull faith. Sedentary amuse

ments, such as reading and writing, which flatter the literary pride with which they are puffed up, are most congenial to their habits. The collation of manuscripts, which they perform with industry and accuracy, takes up much of their time. The Pagan African, on the contrary, is commonly a merry, dancing animal, given to every species of antic and apish amusement; and as he is unacquainted with the future and promised delights of the Arabian prophet, he enjoys the bad music, and imperfect beauty of this world, with a most eager and undisturbed relish.

There is something so natural, and so closely derived from human governments, in the notion of the immediate interference of Providence, that mankind are only weaned from it by centuries of contradiction and discussion. In all cases, where crime is alleged, the accused is obliged to prove his innocence, by submitting to an ordeal. If he is burnt by red-hot iron, or scalded by boiling oil, he is immediately hurried to the gallows, with a zeal proportioned to the force and perspicuity of the evidence. In the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, a curious species of pharmaceutical tyranny is resorted to for the purpose of ordeal. The bark of a particular tree, of purgative and emetic qualities, is infused into a large quantity of water, of which the prisoner is to drink about six calibashes quite full. If this judicial and inquisitive drink take a superior direction, and return by the aperture through which it is admitted, all is well; but if the least honourable and elegant of its powers predominate over the other, and it evince a disposition to descend, all opportunity of changing its line of egress is prevented, by the immediate elevation of the accused person to the gibbet.

The desire of penetrating into futurity, and the belief that some persons are capable of doing it, is as difficult to eradicate from the human mind, as is the belief in an immediate Providence; and consequently, the Africans not only have their ordeal, but their conjurers and magicians, who are appealed to in all the difficulties and uncertainties of life, and who always, of course, proserve their authority, though they are perpetually showing, by

the clearest evidence of facts, upon what sort of foundation it rests. But the most singular circumstance in the history of barbarians is, that tendency to form interior societies, comprehending a vast number of members, and rivalling the government in their influence upon public opinion. Such is the Areoy Society at Otaheite, and such the Society of the Purra in Africa. Every person, on entering into this Society, lays aside his former name, and takes a new one. They have a superior, whose commands are received with the most profound veneration. When the Purra comes into a town, which is always at night, it is accompanied with the most horrid screams, howlings, and every kind of awful noise. The inhabitants, who are not members, are obliged to secure themselves within doors. Should any one be discovered without, or peeping to see what was going forwards, he would infallibly be put to death. Mere seclusion of females is not considered by the Society as a sufficient guarantee against their curiosity; but all the time the Purra remains in town, the women are obliged to clap their hands, to show they are not attempting any private indulgence of espionage. Like the Secret Tribunal which formerly existed in Germany, it punishes the guilty and disobedient, in so secret a manner, that the perpetrators are never known, and, from the dread of the Tribunal, not often enquired for. The natives about Sierra Leone speak of the Purra men with horror, and firmly believe that they have all strict and incessant intercourse with the devil.

This account of Africa is terminated by a single chapter on Sierra Leone; a subject on which we cannot help regretting that Dr. Winterbottom has not been a little more diffuse. It would derive a peculiar interest from the present state of St. Domingo, as the perils with which West India property is now threatened must naturally augment curiosity respecting the possibility of a pacific change of that system; and we should have read with pleasure and instruction the observations of so intelligent and entertaining a writer as Dr. Winterbottom, who is extensively acquainted with the subjects on which he

writes, and has a talent of selecting important matter, and adorning it. Dr. Winterbottom says he has been in Africa some years, and we do not doubt the fact; he might, however, have written this book without giving himself that trouble; and the only difference between him and a mere compiler is, that he sanctions his quotations by authority, and embellishes them by his ingenuity. The medical volume we have not yet seen, but this first volume may be safely purchased.

LETTERS WRITTEN IN A

MAHRATTA CAMP

DURING THE YEAR 1809. (E. REVIEW, 1813.)

Letters written in a Mahratta Camp during the Year 1809. By Thomas Duer Broughton. 1813. Murray, Albemarle Street.

THIS is a lively, entertaining, well-written book; and we can conscientiously recommend it to our readers. Mr. Thomas Duer Broughton does not, it is true, carry any great weight of metal; but, placed in a curious and novel scene, he has described what he saw from day to day, and preserved, for the amusement of his readers, the impressions which those scenes made upon him, while they were yet strong and fresh. The journals of military men are given to the public much more frequently than they used to be; and we consider this class of publications as one of great utility and importance. The duties of such men lead them into countries very little known to Europeans, and give to them the means of observing and describing very striking peculiarities in manners, habits, and governments. To lay these before the public is a praiseworthy undertaking; and if done simply and modestly (as is the case with this publication), deserves great encouragement. Persons unaccustomed to writing, are prevented from attempting this by the fear of not writing sufficiently well; but where there is any thing new and entertaining to tell, the style becomes of comparatively little importance. He who lives in a Mahratta camp, and tells us what he hears and sees, can scarcely tell it amiss. As far as mere style is concerned, it matters very little whether he writes like Cæsar or Nullus. Though we praise Mr. Broughton for his book, and praise him very sincerely, we must warn him against that dreadful propensity which young men have for writing verses. There is