than forty, principally Italians. Sanguine hopes were entertained of underselling our West India markets in the Mediterranean."

The description of the person of the present enlightened governor of Egypt, Mahmed Ali, will attract attention :

"His highness was plainly dressed. He is not above five feet nine inches high, but of a most pleasing and open countenance, without any indications whatever of age; on the contrary, he does not seem to be above thirty-nine or forty, though he is older. He sat down with his legs under him on a sofa, with a large pillow to support his back. His manner was delightful, soft, mild, and courtly, such as would bear a comparison with the most polished European prince."

The monumental works of Egypt, after those of India, appeared to Colonel Fitzclarence less wonderful than he expected; and we know not a better rule by which he could have furnished to the European public an idea of the vastness of the latter, the Egyptian fabrics having hitherto been deemed the most astonishing in the world. He ascended the great pyramid; but the details of his visit to those inexplicable structures, although highly interesting, do not afford any particular descriptions which we can select as new. But we must not conclude our analysis of this most entertaining volume without some account of Belzoni, the enterprising and indefatigable Italian, whose single exertions have added more to the knowledge of Egyptian antiquities, than all the learning of the learned since the days of Herodotus. Colonel Fitzclarence describes him as the handsomest man he had ever seen, about six feet six inches in stature. His passion is the love of fame; and for this he is content to pick a scanty living by selling to travellers the relics that he discovers. It is much to be regretted, that a subscription were not set on foot to enable him to prosecute his researches on a greater scale.

"He professes that his great anxiety is to become known to the various antiquaries of Europe, and to be taken by the hand by them. Although he is very far from being in even a state of mediocrity with respect to fortune, he is ambitious of fame, and of becoming celebrated for his discoveries. He said, he looked upon it as a fortunate circumstance I had passed through Egypt, and trusted I should be able to speak of him in England so as to bring his merits before a nation to which he declares himself to be most devotedly attached. A great nation, like England, should not miss the opportunity of making their own, a man of such superior talents. He possesses, to an astonishing degree, the secret of conciliating the Arabs, and literally makes them do what he chooses. His commanding

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figure, amazing strength and height, which ever have in barbarous countries a great effect, aid him much in his enterprises. In moving the head of the young Memnon, which has been sent to the British Museum, and the bulk of which made the French despair of carrying it away, he had nothing to assist him but what he found on the spot.'

Again, before parting from this work, we must repeat our entire satisfaction. It is the most amusing volume of travels that has appeared for many years. Without any pretensions to a learned character, it unites to a highly animated style, such as few works of learned men ever possess, a degree of information, and a variety of knowledge very extraordinary, considering the active professional life which the author has led; and, if he has not been aided by Mr. Hamilton, the compiler of the Indian Gazetteer, he may lay claim to be ranked among the best topographical writers on India.

II.

Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, with a Statistical Account of that Kingdom, and Geographical Notices of other Parts of the Interior of Africa. By T. EDWARD BOWDICH, Esq. Conductor. 4to. pp. 512.

THE Mission left Cape Coast Castle on the morning of the 22d of April, 1817, proceeding in a NN.W. direction. They descended a steep hill into a beautiful valley, covered with pines, aloes, and lilies, the soil exceedingly rich, and the vegetation most luxuriant: The country, indeed, for a considerable extent, appears to be beautiful and romantic.

They entered Coomasie, passing under a sacrifice of a dead sheep, wrapped up in red silk, and suspended between two lofty poles. Upwards of 5000 people, the greater part warriors, met them with awful bursts of warlike music, discordant only in its mixture; for horns, drums, rattles, gong gongs, were all exerted with a zeal bordering on frenzy, and they were halted whilst the captains performed a war-dance in the centre of a circle of warriors.

The dress of the captains was a war-cap, with gilded rams'horns in front, the sides extended beyond all proportion by immense plumes of eagles' feathers, and fastened under the chin with bands of cowries. Their vest was of red cloth, covered with fetishes and sapphies (scraps of Moorish writing, as charms against evil) in gold and silver, and embroidered

cases of almost every colour, which flapped against their bodies as they moved, intermixed with small brass bells, the horns and tails of animals, shells and knives; long leopards' tails hung down their backs, over a small bow covered with fetishes. They wore loose cotton trowsers, with immense boots of a dull red leather, coming half way up the thigh, and fastened by small chains to their cartouch, or waist-belt; these were also ornamented with bells, horses' tails, strings of amulets, and innumerable shreds of leather. A small quiver of poisoned arrows hung from their right wrist, and they held a long iron chain between their teeth, with a scrap of Moorish writing affixed to the end of it. A small spear was in their left hands, covered with red cloth, and silk tassels; their black countenances heightened the effect of this attire, and completed a figure scarcely human.

This exhibition continued about half an hour, when we were allowed to proceed, encircled by the warriors, whose numbers, with the crowds of people, made our movements as gradual as if it had taken place in Cheapside; the several streets branching off to the right, presented long vistas, crammed with people; and those on the left, being on an acclivity, innumerable rows of heads rose one above another; the large open porches of the houses, like the front of stages in small theatres, were filled with the better sort of females and children, all impatient to behold white men for the first time; their exclamations were drowned in the firing and music, but their gestures were in character with the scene.

"When we reached the palace, about half a mile from the place were we entered, we were again halted, and an open file was made, through which the bearers were passed to deposit the presents and baggage in the house assigned to us. Here we were gratified by observing several of the caboceers pass by with their trains, the novel splendour of which astonished us. The bands, principally composed of horns and flutes, trained to play in concert, seemed to sooth our hearing into its natural tone again by their wild melodies; whilst the immense umbrellas, made to sink and rise from the jerkings of the bearers, and the large fans waving around, refreshed us with small currents of air, under a burning sun, clouds of dust, and a density of atmosphere almost suffocating. We were then squeezed at the same funeral pace up a long street, to an open-fronted house, where we were desired, by a royal messenger, to wait a farther invitation from the king. Here our attention was forced from the astonishment of the crowd, to a most inhuman spectacle, which was paraded before us for

some minutes; it was a man whom they were tormenting previous to sacrifice; his hands were pinioned behind him, a knife was passed through his cheeks, to which his lips were noosed like the figure of 8; one ear was cut off, and carried before him, the other hung to his head by a small bit of skin; there were several gashes in his back, and a knife was thrust under each shoulder blade; he was led with a cord passed through his nose, by men disfigured with immense caps of shaggy black skins, and drums beat before him. The feeling this horrid barbarity excited must be imagined. We were soon released by permission, to proceed to the king, and passed through a very broad street, about a quarter of a mile long to the marketplace.

"Our observations, en passant, had taught us to conceive a spectacle far exceeding our original expectations; but they had not prepared us for the extent of the display of the scene which here burst upon us: an area, of nearly a mile in circumference, was crowded with magnificence and novelty. The king, his tributaries, and his captains, were resplendent in the distance, surrounded by attendants of every description, fronted by a mass of warriors, which served to make our approach imperious. The sun was reflected with a glare scarcely more supportable than the heat, from the massy gold ornaments which glistened in every direction. More than a hundred bands burst at once on our arrival, with the peculiar airs of their several chiefs; the heroes flourished their defiances, with the beating of innumerable drums and metal instruments, and then yielded for a while to the soft breathings of their long Alutes, which were truly harmonious; and a pleasing instrument, like a bag-pipe without a drone, was happily blended. At last a hundred large umbrellas, or canopies, which could shelter thirty persons, were sprung up and down by the bearers with brilliant effect, being made of scarlet, yellow, and the most showy cloths and silks, and crowned on the top with crescents, pelicans, elephants, barrels, and arins and swords of gold; they were of various shapes, but mostly dome; and the valances (in some of which small lookingglasses were inserted) fantastically scolloped and fringed; from the fronts of some, the proboscis and small_teeth of elephants projected, and a few were roofed with leopard-skins, and crowned with various animals, naturally stuffed. The state hammocks, (Query palanquins,) like long cradles, were raised in the rear, the poles on the heads of the bearers; the cushions and pillows were covered with crimson taffeta, and the richest cloths hung over the sides. Innumerable small

umbrellas, of various-coloured stripes, were crowded in the intervals, whilst several large trees heightened the glare, by contrasting the sober colouring of nature.

"The king's messengers, with gold breast-plates, made way for us, and we commenced our round, preceded by the canes and the English flag. We stopped to take the hand of every caboceer, which, as their household suites occupied several spaces in advance, delayed us long enough to distinguish some of the ornaments in the general blaze of splendour and ostentation.

"The caboceers, as did their superior captains and attendants, wore Ashantee cloths of extravagant price, from the costly foreign silks which had been unravelled to weave them in all varieties of colour as well as pattern; they were of an incredible size and weight, and thrown over the shoulder exactly like the Roman toga; a small silk fillet generally encircled their temples, and massy gold necklaces, intricately wrought, suspended Moorish chains, inclosed in small square cases of gold, silver, and curious embroidery. Some wore necklaces, reaching to the navel, entirely of aggry beads; a band of gold and beads encircled the knee, from which several strings of the same depended; small circles of gold, like quivers, rings, and casts of animals were strung round their ancles; their sandals were of green, red, and delicate white leather: manillas, and rude lumps of rock gold, hung from their left wrists, which were so heavily laden as to be supported on the head of one of their handsomest boys. Gold and silver pipes and canes dazzled the eye in every direction. Wolves and rams'-heads, as large as life, cast in gold, were suspended from their gold-handled swords, which were held round them in great numbers; the blades were shaped like round bills, and rusted in blood; the sheaths were of leopardskin, or the shell of a fish like shagreen. The large drums, supported on the head of one man, and beaten by two others, were braced round with the thigh-bones of their enemies, and ornamented with their skulls. The kettle-drums, resting on the ground, were scraped with wet fingers, and covered with leopard's-skin. The wrists of the drummers were hung with bells, and curiously-shaped pieces of iron, which jingled loudly as they were beating. The smaller drums were suspended from the neck by scarfs of red cloth; the horns (the teeth of young elephants,) were ornamented at the mouthpiece with gold, and the jaw-bones of human victims. The war-caps, of eagles'-feathers, nodded in the rear, and large fans, of the wing-feathers of the ostrich, played around the ignitaries; immediately behind their chairs (which were of