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A tree, of the value and easy culture of which so very | plements of navigation. After suffering the greatest encouraging accounts were given, could not but attract fatigue, being exposed to the full action and vicissitudes the notice of the public generally, and more especially of the elements, and forced for some time to bear famine, of those colonists of Great Britain who lived in a climate they reached the Dutch settlement of Coupang, in the warm enough for its cultivation. An application to be island of Timor, without the loss of one individual furnished with plants of the bread-fruit tree was accord-by disease, though they had traversed at least five ingly made to George III. by the planters and others thousand miles of sea. Nay, so ardent was Bligh as a interested in the West Indies, and it met with a favourable seaman, that, amid all those perils, he was occupied in reception. The Bounty, a vessel of about two hundred making some very valuable observations. and fifteen tons burthen, was fitted up for a voyage to The Dutch governor of Coupang showed them every Otaheite. Lieutenant (afterwards Admiral) Bligh, who attention; and, from the care that was taken of them, had accompanied Cook on his last voyage, and shown twelve were enabled to return to England. Though himself an officer of great talents, enterprise, and bravery, the adventure had failed, every body was disposed to was appointed to the command. bestow all praise on the adventurer; and he was promoted to the rank of captain, and appointed to the command of his Majesty's ship Providence, in order to repeat the voyage.

The Bounty was skilfully fitted up for her intended purpose, and put to sea about the middle of November, 1787. This voyage, which had occupied ten months, terminated on the 25th of October, by the arrival of the Bounty at Otaheite.

No time was lost in putting the instructions for the conduct of the enterprise into execution. The young shoots that sprung from the lateral roots of the breadfruit trees were taken up, with balls of earth, where the soil was moist; and this operation was continued till they were in possession of one thousand and fifteen live plants, secured in seven hundred and seventy-four pots, thirtynine tubs, and twenty-four boxes. To complete this cargo took them till the 3d of April, 1789; and Bligh sailed on the 4th, passing from Otaheite through the group of islands, and bidding adieu to the natives with whom he and his crew had been on the most friendly terms during their stay.

Hitherto there had been no perils to contend with but those of the sea; but when four-and-twenty days had clapsed, and they were, of course, far from any land, a new scene took place, which frustrated for a time the bounty of the government and skill of the commander. Under the cloak of fidelity, a mutiny had been forming of a very determined and extensive nature; and so well had the mutineers disguised their intentions, that not one but those who were in the plot had the slightest suspicion of it.

The known bravery of Lieutenant Bligh made the mutineers afraid to attack him awake; and so, on the morning of the 28th of April, he was seized while asleep in his bed, by a band of armed traitors, and hurried upon deck in his shirt; and, on coming there, he found the master, the gunner, one of the master's mates, and Nelson the botanist, who had been with him under Cook, confined in the fore-hatchway, and guarded by sentinels. The launch was hoisted; and such individuals as the mutineers did not like were ordered to quit the ship, and forced if they refused or hesitated. Eighteen individuals out of the forty-six remained true to the commander. Four of the men, who kept their allegiance, were detained by the mutineers contrary to their wishes. The cause of this singular mutiny, for which none of the usual motives could very well account, could not with certainty be known; but it was generally supposed that the instigator was Mr. Christian, one of the master's mates. Bligh himself says, in his most interesting account of this voyage and mutiny, "It will naturally be asked what could be the cause of this revolt? In answer, I can only conjecture that the mutineers had flattered themselves with the hope of a happier life among the Otaheitans than they could possibly enjoy in England."

Thus, after they had made certain of the successful termination of an enterprise, which was looked upon with a great deal of interest, both in a scientific and an economical point of view, Bligh was disappointed-and he and his faithful associates were sent adrift upon the wide ocean, in an open boat, with only a hundred and fifty pounds of bread, a few pieces of pork, a little wine and rum, a quadrant and compass, and a few other im

The Providence, with the Assistant, a small ship in company, sailed on the 3d of August, 1791. On the 9th of April, 1792, they reached Otaheite; and, by the 17th of July, they were ready to leave the island, having on board twelve hundred and eighty-one tubs and pots of plants, all in the finest condition. These plants were distributed amongst the colonists at St. Helena, St. Vincent's, and Jamaica; and the ships finally returned to the Downs on the 2d of August, 1793.

But, after all the peril, hardship, and expense thus incurred, the bread-fruit tree has not, hitherto at least, answered the expectations that were entertained. The banana is more easily and cheaply cultivated, comes into bearing much sooner after being planted, bears more abundantly, and is better relished by the negroes. The mode of propagating the bread-fruit is not, indeed, difficult; for the planter has only to lay bare one of the roots, and mound it with a spade, and in a short space a shoot comes up, which is soon fit for removal.

Europeans are much fonder of the bread-fruit than negroes. They consider it as a sort of dainty, and use it either as bread or in puddings. When roasted in the oven, the taste of it resembles that of a potato, but it is not so mealy as a good one.

Alexander Selkirk.-His manner of life during his solitude was, in most particulars, very remarkable; but there is one circumstance which was strangely verified by our own observation. He tells us, amongst other things, that as he often caught more goats than he wanted, he sometimes marked their ears and let them go. This was about thirtytwo years before our arrival at the island. Now it happened that the first goat that was killed by our people at their landing had its ears slit, whence we concluded that he had doubtless been formerly under the power of Selkirk. This was indeed an animal of a most venerable aspect, dignified with an exceeding majestic beard, and with many other symptoms of antiquity. During our stay on the island we met with others marked in the same manner, all the males being distinguished by an exuberance of beard, and every other characteristic of extreme age.-Anson's Voyage,

Canine Sagacity. - A respectable correspondent sends us the following curious anecdote :-"Some time since I lent a small spaniel bitch (still in my possession) to two friends, started in a potato field, and closely pressed, till in the heat who were amusing themselves hunting rabbits. One was of the chase the bitch plunged into a deep coal-pit, full of water to within seven feet of the brink, and completely hid from view by thick shrubs and brambles. In this she continued swimming about until nearly exhausted, when she was perceived by one of the gentlemen to make frequent but vain attempts to extricate herself by catching at a twig that overhung the pit. This suggested to him the idea of making the little animal's sagacity the medium of saving her life. The handkerchiefs and cravats of himself and his companion were immediately tied together, which, with a small knot at one end, were let down to the bitch. She, with the utmost quickness of perception, instantly seized the knot in her mouth, and was thus drawn out of the pit."

THE WEEK. NOVEMBER 30.-The birth-day of Dr. Jonathan Swift, the celebrated Dean of St. Patrick's. He was born at Dublin, or, according to other accounts, at Cashel, in the county of Tipperary, in 1667. Both his father and mother, however, were English; and the latter was aunt to John Dryden, the great poet, who was therefore Swift's cousin. She was also related to the wife of Sir William Temple; and this connexion, after Swift had studied the usual time at Trinity College, Dublin, opened an entrance for him into public life. Having in his twenty-first year come over to England and paid a visit to Sir William at his seat of Moor Park in Surrey, the retired ambassador was so much pleased with his conversation, that he kept him with him for several years. Here Swift used frequently to meet King William, with whom he soon became a great favourite. He seems, however, to have eventually fallen out of the good graces of his Majesty, by declining the offer of a captaincy of horse, on the plea that his inclination lay more towards the church. In 1694 he took orders; and proceeding to Ireland, he received a prebend in that country from the Lord Deputy Capel, to whom he had been recommended. This, however, he soon after resigned, and returned to Sir William Temple, with whom he resided till the death of that eminent person in 1700. Temple, besides a sum of money, left his papers to his young friend; by whom a selection of them was soon after published in two volumes. Swift's next patron was the Earl of Berkeley, who, on being appointed one of the Lords Justices for Ireland, took him with him as his secretary and chaplain. On Lord Berkeley's return to England Swift went to reside at Laracor, a small living which he held in the county of Meath; and it was soon after this that he published his first political pamphlet, entitled A Discourse on the Contests between the Nobles and Commons in Athens and Rome,' being a defence of the existing administration. In 1704 appeared anonymously his famous 'Tale of a Tub,' accompanied by the Battle of the Books;' in which performances he first gave evidence of that power of satirical humour which has proved to be the most distinguishing quality of his genius. These publications were followed by others of a political character, in which he appeared as the champion of the Tory party; and to such importance did he quickly raise himself by these services, that in 1710 he was sent for to England by Harley and St. John, and immediately taken into their most intimate confidence. It appears, indeed, that for some time public affairs were in a great measure directed by his advice. Meanwhile he continued his services with his pen, and gave to the world a succession of able tracts in support of the policy of his patrons. This period also, the most brilliant, and probably the happiest of his life, was that of his chief intercourse with Pope, and Arbuthnot, and Addison, and his other illustrious literary friends. It was generally expected, and by himself, no doubt, as well as by others, that his active and useful partisanship would be rewarded by the highest professional advancement; but when a place on the English episcopal bench at last became vacant, the Queen, at the instigation, it is said, of Sharpe, Archbishop of York, objected to the extreme levity of some of his literary performances, and especially of his 'Tale of a Tub,' and would not consent to his promotion. He was forced, therefore, to be contented with the Deanery of St. Patrick's in Dublin, of which he went over to take possession in 1713. He now withdrew himself for some years from politics, and even from the press, occupying his time chiefly in regulating the chapter of his cathedral, into the management of whose affairs he introduced many useful reforms. It was not till 1720 that he again appeared as an author, by the publication of his celebrated Drapier's Letters,' in exposure of the scandalous job of a patent granted by the government to

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a person named Wood for the coinage of Irish farthings from debased metal. The patriotic and successful stand which he made on this occasion for the rights and interests of his country raised him to unbounded popularity, and acquired for him an influence in Ireland probably greater than was possessed by any other individual, and which he never afterwards lost. In 1726 appeared his Gulliver's Travels,' which of all his works has most contributed to extend and perpetuate his fame. This book is the most remarkable example in literature of the combination of that which is fitted for the comprehension of the initiated few, and of that which is addressed to the multitude; for, while it abounds with strokes of general and political satire which can only be perceived by those who have both been in the habit of reflecting upon human nature and society, and are well acquainted with the history of the author's age, it con tains at the same time scarcely a sentence which is not intelligible and full of interest even to the youngest reader: it is a book at once for philosophers and for children. The latter, however, probably read it after all with the most delight, though they, as it were, only half understand it; for it is much more captivating, and also, in an extended sense of the word, much more true, as a work of imagination than as a work of philosophy. After this Swift sent to press various other shorter performances, partly of a political and partly of a miscellaneous nature; and it was also during this latter part of his life that he wrote some of the most elaborate and spirited of his poetical pieces. In 1736 he was seized with a deafness and giddiness from which he never recovered, and which gradually increased into a general decay of his whole system, till at last, in the beginning of the year 1742, both his bodily and his mental faculties were reduced to a state of almost entire prostration. He lingered, however, in this lamentable condition till the 29th of October, 1745, when he expired in the seventyeighth year of his age. Swift's works have been several times printed in a collected form; but the last and best edition is that with a Life and notes by the late Sir Walter Scott, in nineteen volumes octavo. He occupies a very high rank among the prose authors of England. If the quality of a pure style, indeed, were to be estimated by its freedom from anything poetical, Swift would be the greatest of all our writers of prose. But although his diction is to an almost unrivalled degree plain and unornamented, it yet derives, from its union of perspicuity with idiomatic expression, a singular terseness, strength, and vivacity. His poetry seldom rises to anyThe most remarkthing properly deserving that name. able attribute of his genius is that exquisite sense of the ludicrous, which, combined as it was with great powers of observation, and controlled by the most unerring sagacity and judgment, enabled him to assume and support a tone of grave humour, in which he has certainly never been excelled. Much of what he wrote, however, in this style is debased by a coarseness which is very offensive, and is calculated to convey anything rather than an agreeable impression of his general disposition and habits. Indeed very little can be said for the moral character of this great writer. It may be allowed that he was charitable, and free from the love of money; but this is nearly all that can be advanced in his favour. His selfishness, in almost every thing else, displayed itself in the most intense form; even those who experienced his kindness were obliged to take his rudeness and unfeeling insults along with his bounty. His imperious and ungenerous nature was always best pleased with the meanest servility, in any who sought his aid or patronage. But the blackest and most indelible stain on his memory, is the story of his treatment of the two females whose affections he courted and gained, only to ruin their peace and send them in succession to a premature grave. The first of these was a Miss Johnson,

whom, after many years delay, he at last consented to marry privately, in 1716; but he never would acknowledge their union, and his wife died in consequence, of a broken heart, in 1728. Meanwhile he had attached to himself his second victim, Miss Esther Vanhomrigh, with whom he is supposed to have first become acquainted about the year 1712; this lady, on discovering, in 1723, the secret of his marriage, died of the shock. He has, in different poetical pieces, celebrated the former of these unfortunate women under the name of Stella, and the latter under that of Vanessa.

[Bust of Swift.]

THE SLAVE-SHIP.

THERE was no sound upon the deep,
The breeze lay cradled there;
The motionless waters sank to sleep
Beneath the sultry air;
Out of the cooling brine to leap

The dolphin scarce would dare.

Becalm'd on that Atlantic plain
A Spanish ship did lie;-

She stopp'd at once upon the main,
For not a wave roll'd by:

And she watch'd six dreary days, in vain,
For the storm-bird's fearful cry.

But the storm came not, and still the ray
Of the red and lurid sun
Wax'd hotter and hotter every day,
Till her crew sank one by one,
And not a man could endure to stay
By the helm, or by the gun.

Deep in the dark and fetid hold

Six hundred wretches wept;

They were slaves, that the cursed lust of gold
From their native land had swept;
And there they stood, the young and old,
While a pestilence o'er them crept.

Cramm'd in that dungeon-hold they stood,
For many a day and night,

Till the love of life was all subdued

By the fever's scorching blight,

And their dim eyes wept, half tears half blood,-
But still they stood upright.

And there they stood, the quick and dead,
Propp'd by that dungeon's wall,—

And the dying mother bent her head

On her child, but she could not fall;

In one dread night the life had fled

From half that were there in thrall.

The morning came, and the sleepless crew
Threw the hatchways open wide ;-
Then the sickening fumes of death up-flew,
And spread on every side ;-
And, ere that eve, of the tyrant few
Full twenty souls had died.
They died, the gaoler and the slave,-
They died with the self-same pain,
They were equal then, for no cry could save
Those who bound, or who wore, the chain;
And the robber-white found a common grave
With him of the negro-stain.

The Pest-ship slept on her ocean-bed,
As still as any wreck,

Till they all, save one old man, were dead,
In her hold, or on her deck.-

That man, as life around him fled,
Bow'd not his sturdy neck.

He arose,-the chain was on his hands,

But he climb'd from that dismal place;

And he saw the men who forg'd his bands
Lie each upon his face ;-

There on the deck that old man stands,

The lord of all the space.

He sat him down, and he watch'd a cloud

Just cross the setting sun,

And he heard the light breeze heave the shroud,

Ere that sultry day was done;

When the night came on, the gale was loud,

And the clouds rose thick and dun.

And still the negro boldly walk'd

The lone and silent ship;

With a step of vengeful pride he stalk'd,

And a sneer was on his lip,

For he laugh'd to think how Death had baulk'd

The fetters and the whip.

At last he slept ;-the lightning flash

Play'd round the creaking mast,

And the sails were wet with the ocean's plash,

But the ship was anchor'd fast,

Till, at length, with a loud and fearful crash,
From her cable's strain she past.

Away she swept, as with instinct rife,

O'er her broad and dangerous path,
And the midnight tempest's sudden strife
Had gathering sounds of wrath;

Yet on board that ship was no sound of life,
Save the song of that captive swarth.

He sang of his Afric's distant sands,
As the slippery deck he trod;

He fear'd to die in other lands
'Neath a tyrant master's rod;

And he lifted his hard and fetter'd hands

In a prayer to the Negro's God.

He touch'd not the sail nor the driving helm,

But he look'd on the raging sea,

And he joy'd,-for the waves that would overwhelm Would leave his spirit free;

And he pray'd, that the ship to no Christian realm Before the storm might flee.

He smiled amidst the tempest's frown,

He sang amidst its roar;

His joy no fear of death could drown,-
He was a slave no more.

The helmless ship that night went down
On Senegambia's shore!

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THE PENNY MAGAZINE

42.]

OF THE

Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.

October 31 to November 30, 1832.

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WINDSOR Castle, which has, during the last seven years, | magnificence and convenience, is surrounded on the been converted from a very incommodious and in many north, east, and south sides by a very beautiful domain respects unsightly dwelling, into a palace unsurpassed for called the Little Park. This park has no doubt been VOL. I. 2 X

A tree, of the value and easy culture of which so very | plements of navigation. After suffering the greatest encouraging accounts were given, could not but attract fatigue, being exposed to the full action and vicissitudes the notice of the public generally, and more especially of the elements, and forced for some time to bear famine, of those colonists of Great Britain who lived in a climate they reached the Dutch settlement of Coupang, in the warm enough for its cultivation. An application to be island of Timor, without the loss of one individual furnished with plants of the bread-fruit tree was accord-by disease, though they had traversed at least five ingly made to George III. by the planters and others thousand miles of sea. Nay, so ardent was Bligh as a interested in the West Indies, and it met with a favourable seaman, that, amid all those perils, he was occupied in reception. The Bounty, a vessel of about two hundred making some very valuable observations. and fifteen tons burthen, was fitted up for a voyage to The Dutch governor of Coupang showed them every Otaheite. Lieutenant (afterwards Admiral) Bligh, who attention; and, from the care that was taken of them, had accompanied Cook on his last voyage, and shown twelve were enabled to return to England. Though himself an officer of great talents, enterprise, and bravery, the adventure had failed, every body was disposed to was appointed to the command. bestow all praise on the adventurer; and he was promoted to the rank of captain, and appointed to the command of his Majesty's ship Providence, in order to repeat the voyage.

The Bounty was skilfully fitted up for her intended purpose, and put to sea about the middle of November, 1787. This voyage, which had occupied ten months, terminated on the 25th of October, by the arrival of the Bounty at Otaheite.

No time was lost in putting the instructions for the conduct of the enterprise into execution. The young shoots that sprung from the lateral roots of the breadfruit trees were taken up, with balls of earth, where the soil was moist; and this operation was continued till they were in possession of one thousand and fifteen live plants, secured in seven hundred and seventy-four pots, thirtynine tubs, and twenty-four boxes. To complete this cargo took them till the 3d of April, 1789; and Bligh sailed on the 4th, passing from Otaheite through the group of islands, and bidding adieu to the natives with whom he and his crew had been on the most friendly terms during their stay.

Hitherto there had been no perils to contend with but those of the sea; but when four-and-twenty days had clapsed, and they were, of course, far from any land, a new scene took place, which frustrated for a time the bounty of the government and skill of the commander. Under the cloak of fidelity, a mutiny had been forming of a very determined and extensive nature; and so well had the mutineers disguised their intentions, that not one but those who were in the plot had the slightest suspicion of it.

The known bravery of Lieutenant Bligh made the mutineers afraid to attack him awake; and so, on the morning of the 28th of April, he was seized while asleep in his bed, by a band of armed traitors, and hurried upon deck in his shirt; and, on coming there, he found the master, the gunner, one of the master's mates, and Nelson the botanist, who had been with him under Cook, confined in the fore-hatchway, and guarded by sentinels. The launch was hoisted; and such individuals as the mutineers did not like were ordered to quit the ship, and forced if they refused or hesitated. Eighteen individuals out of the forty-six remained true to the commander. Four of the men, who kept their allegiance, were detained by the mutineers contrary to their wishes. The cause of this singular mutiny, for which none of the usual motives could very well account, could not with certainty be known; but it was generally supposed that the instigator was Mr. Christian, one of the master's mates. Bligh himself says, in his most interesting account of this voyage and mutiny, "It will naturally be asked what could be the cause of this revolt? In answer, I can only conjecture that the mutineers had flattered themselves with the hope of a happier life among the Otaheitans than they could possibly enjoy in England."

Thus, after they had made certain of the successful termination of an enterprise, which was looked upon with a great deal of interest, both in a scientific and an economical point of view, Bligh was disappointed-and he and his faithful associates were sent adrift upon the wide ocean, in an open boat, with only a hundred and fifty pounds of bread, a few pieces of pork, a little wine and rum, a quadrant and compass, and a few other im

The Providence, with the Assistant, a small ship in company, sailed on the 3d of August, 1791. On the 9th of April, 1792, they reached Otaheite; and, by the 17th of July, they were ready to leave the island, having on board twelve hundred and eighty-one tubs and pots of plants, all in the finest condition. These plants were distributed amongst the colonists at St. Helena, St. Vincent's, and Jamaica; and the ships finally returned to the Downs on the 2d of August, 1793.

But, after all the peril, hardship, and expense thus incurred, the bread-fruit tree has not, hitherto at least, answered the expectations that were entertained. The banana is more easily and cheaply cultivated, comes into bearing much sooner after being planted, bears more abundantly, and is better relished by the negroes. The mode of propagating the bread-fruit is not, indeed, difficult; for the planter has only to lay bare one of the roots, and mound it with a spade, and in a short space a shoot comes up, which is soon fit for removal.

Europeans are much fonder of the bread-fruit than negroes. They consider it as a sort of dainty, and use it either as bread or in puddings. When roasted in the oven, the taste of it resembles that of a potato, but it is not so mealy as a good one.

Alexander Selkirk.-His manner of life during his solitude was, in most particulars, very remarkable; but there is one circumstance which was strangely verified by our own observation. He tells us, amongst other things, that as he often caught more goats than he wanted, he sometimes marked their ears and let them go. This was about thirtytwo years before our arrival at the island. Now it happened that the first goat that was killed by our people at their landing had its ears slit, whence we concluded that he had doubtless been formerly under the power of Selkirk. This was indeed an animal of a most venerable aspect, dignified with an exceeding majestic beard, and with many other symptoms of antiquity. During our stay on the island we met with others marked in the same manner, all the males being distinguished by an exuberance of beard, and every other characteristic of extreme age.-Anson's Voyage,

Canine Sagacity. - A respectable correspondent sends us the following curious anecdote :-"Some time since I lent a small spaniel bitch (still in my possession) to two friends, who were amusing themselves hunting rabbits. One was of the chase the bitch plunged into a deep coal-pit, full of started in a potato field, and closely pressed, till in the heat water to within seven feet of the brink, and completely hid from view by thick shrubs and brambles. In this she continued swimming about until nearly exhausted, when she was perceived by one of the gentlemen to make frequent but vain attempts to extricate herself by catching at a twig that overhung the pit. This suggested to him the idea of making the little animal's sagacity the medium of saving her life. The handkerchiefs and cravats of himself and his companion were immediately tied together, which, with a small knot at one end, were let down to the bitch. She, with the utmost quickness of perception, instantly seized the knot in her mouth, and was thus drawn out of the nit."

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