the banks of the Outaouais, to resound with the voice of cheerfulness. They adapt (n rowing) their strokes to the cadence of their straius, and redouble their efforts by making them in time. In dragging the canoes up the rapids, great care is necessary to prevent them from striking against rocks, the materials of which they are composed being slight and easily damaged. When a canoe receives an injury, the aperture is stopped with gum, melted by the heat of a piece of burning charcoal. Fibres of bark, bruised, and moistened with gum in a liquid state, are applied to larger apertures; a linen rag is put over the whole, and its edges cemented with gum. "The total number of men contained in the canoes, amounts usually to about three hundred and seventy-three, of which three hundred and fifty are navigators, eighteen are guides, and five are clerks. When arrived at the grand depôt, on Lake Superior, part of these ascend as far as the Rainy Lake, and they are usually absent from Montreal about five months. The guides are paid for this service thirty-seven pounds sterling, and are allowed besides a suitable equipment. The wages of the person who sits in the front of the canoe, and of him whose office it is to steer, are about twenty-one pounds sterling each; those of the other men, about twelve pounds ten shillings of the same money. "To each mau a blanket, shirt, and pair of trowsers are supplied; and all are maintained by their employers during the period of their engagement. The advantage of trafficking with the savages, is likewise permitted; and some individuals procure, by this means, a profit amounting to more than double their pay." We will now give a short sketch of their voyage, without including the descriptions of the different parts which they visit, though teeming with interest, and elegantly written, as they would pass the bounds of a review. From La Chine the voyagers repair, with their fleet of canoes, to St. Ann's, where the course of the river is so interrupted that they are compelled to unload. While ascending the Outaouais, they meet with the rapids, and draw their canoes to the shore, except one, which they join in dragging up, and lodge in a place of security. At night they encamp on the islands upon the borders of the river. On the northeast shore, about sixty miles higher up. than the falls called Les Chats, they reach the ruins of the old French fort, Coulogne; sixty miles further, that of Defen; and at a distance of two hundred and seventytwo miles from the latter, Point au Baptême, where such persons as have never travelled thus far are plunged into the waters of the Outaouais, an ordeal from which they may be exempted by paying a fine. About one hundred and twenty miles from Point au Baptême, they leave on their right the great branch of the Outaouais, flowing from Lake Tamiscaming, and proceed through the smaller branch, the distance of thirty-six miles, when the fall of Paresseux opens on their sight.Twenty-five miles further, they walk along a carrying place of eight hundred paces, named Premier Portage Musique, cross a lake of nearly the same extent, and enter on the second Portage Musique, of twelve hundred paces. From hence to the source of the smaller branch of the Outaouais, the distance is thirty miles. On quitting this river, they proceed by a portage of twenty acres to the winding stream, named Chaussée de Castor, some of whose sinuosities are avoided by two other portages of five hundred paces each. They then enter Lake Nipissing, fifty miles long, and whose discharge into Lake Huron, through a course of a hundred and eight miles, is called French River, on which there is a carrying place. They then navigate their canoes along the northern coast of Lake Huron, and pursue their route to the cascades of St. Mary. "In travelling to the north-west, by the Outaouais river, the distance from Montreal to the upper end of Lake Hurou, is nine hundred miles; the journey may be performed, in a light canoe, in the space of about twelve days; and in heavy canoes, in less than three weeks. "About one-third of the men winter in the remote territories, during which they are occupied in the chase, and for this service their wages and allowance are doubled. The other two-thirds are engaged for one or two years, and have attached to them about seven hundred Indian women and children, maintained at the expence of the company. The chief occupation of the latter, is to scrape and clean the parchments, and to make up and arrange the packages of peltry. "At the portages, where waterfalls and cataracts oblige them to unload, the men unite in aiding each other to convey the canoes and goods across the land, by carrying the former | the cold, the causes of its long duration, upon the shoulders of six or eight men, and the latter upon the back. A package of merchandise forms a load for one man, and is sustained by a belt, which he places over his forehead. the method of travelling in winter, the roads and houses of that country. The three hundred and fifty-nine pages that follow (the whole volume consists of six hundred and two) are equally rich in "The period of engagement for the clerks information, especially that which relates is five or seven years, during which the whole to the Americans in general, the Iroquois, of the pay of each is no more than one hunthe Mexicans, Caraibs, Brazilians, and the dred pounds, together with clothing and board. When the term of indenture is expired, a clerk || Peruvian empire. The last chapter conis either admitted to a share in the company, tains an interesting dissertation on the or has a salary of from one hundred to three origin of language, in which our author hundred pounds per annum, until an oppor- proves that Indian tongues may be arranged tunity of a more ample provision presents under rules of grammar, and gives speci mens of four different languages. As we are compelled to pass through such a wide and teeming field without gathering any quantity of goods, a salary of about eighty-portion of the wealth it contains, we may five pounds per annum. steersmen, who winter, have about fifty pounds sterling; and they who are termed the middle men in the canoes, have about eighteen pounds sterling per annum, with their clothing and maintenance. itself. "The guides, who perform likewise the functions of interpreters, receive, besides a The foremen and "The number of people usually employed in the north-west trade, and in pay of the company, amounts, exclusive of savages, to twelve hundred and seventy or eighty men, fifty of whom are clerks, eleven hundred and twenty are canoe men, and thirty-five are guides. be allowed, at the end of our journey to snatch the last opportunity of plucking some instruction, before we bid it a reluctant adieu. We will, therefore, select some of the examples from the Algonquin language. Abae winikan Alim Alimouse "The beaver-skin is, among the savages, the medium of barter; and teu beaver-skins are given for a gun, one for a pound of powder, || Agackouet and one for two pounds of glass beads. Two martin-skins are equal in value to one beaverskin, and two beaver to one otter-skin." The following chapter is filled with matter of the highest interest; and we are sorry to be obliged to withhold the information which it contains from our readers, but want of room will not allow us to insert more than the heads of it. It treats of the former state of colonial government--the introduction of the criminal code of England-the Quebec bill-the new constitution gives a sketch of that system-of the division of Canada into provinces, and of these into counties. It lays before us the advantages of Canadian settlers, the state of society, the manners and character of the inhabitants, or landholders, the mode of clearing lands, the acquisition of property, the seigneuries, the various produce of soils, and their cultivation. From thence it leads us to Upper Canada, and gives us an account of Agackoueton Ante, or Sankema Babelouchins Entayank Irini In Inini This dictionary of the Algonquin tongue contains an immense number of words, with their signification, to which we refer our readers. After perusing the foregoing extracts, we trust our readers will deem our sense of cient time to reap a rich harvest. Their the value of this work founded on truth; works may be compared to the efferand yet we have not laid before their eyes vescence produced by the union of an acid the most interesting parts, which were with an earth; his to the brilliant, regular, mostly too long to be inserted in a re- and solid crystals, which result from that view, and too excellent to be curtailed.- union when a certain period has been sufThe fear of being accused of partiality fered to elapse. His style is florid, but not cannot actuate those who are totally unac- luxuriant; simple, when describing sim. quainted with the author of the book ple objects; strong and animated, when which they praise, and who speak nothing || painting the sublime landscapes of natures but the real sentiments to which its merits the wilds of North-America, the cataracts gave birth. We, therefore, pronounce the of its majestic rivers, or the character of Travels through the Canadas, the best work its uncivilised inhabitants, and the works of this nature, in our opinion, which has of the Europeans, and of those who have for many years appeared to increase the submitted to their yoke. Mr. Heriot's restores of knowledge. It is far superior to || marks are just, opportune, and true; and all the tours published by our modern the numerous and elegant engravings, with travellers; it is not a collection of notes which his book is strewed, and the designs hastily taken, uncouth, unimportant in of which he supplied, as well as the map themselves, and dressed in the most com- of the Canadas which accompany them, mon-place language, it is a treasure of in- || do him the greatest honour as an artist. formation laboriously acquired, not superficial but deep, not heaped up with a miserly care, but generously laid open to the public, and displayed to the greatest advantage. Our author, unlike the generality of tourists, has not skimmed over his subject; he has allowed observation a suffi We should sincerely rejoice, did any future work of Mr. Heriot give us a new opportunity of fulfilling the most pleasant duty of an impartial reviewer, that of doing justice, and granting a due tribute of praise to real merit. LETTERS FROM ENGLAND. ART. VI.-Letters from England, by Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella. Translated from the Spanish. In Three vols. 12mo. Pp. 1100. Longman and Co. We have attentively perused these worthy of attention, One of these rules well-written, instructive, and amusing is: The critic ought to be entirely volumes, of which we shall give an impar-ignorant of the author who comes before tial account, with specimens selected so as to enable the reader to judge for himself whether the work does not merit his further consideration. No reviewing critic has any right to give a scope to his own opinions, and to endeavour to appear as an original writer, and nothing can more display the difference between the real man of letters and the shallow pretender, than the manner in which this task is performed. In the fourth number of Dr. Aikin's Athenæum, is a paper on Reviews, to which we beg leave to refer, as containing rules for criticisin, which appear to us well him, except so far as he is an author, or makes known his profession and designation in his title-page, and he should never, on the strongest ground of popular report, assign a work to a writer who has not avowed it. If he does not prefix his name, he has, probably, a good reason for not doing it, and the reviewer has no right to violate his secret." We are so well satisfied of the truth and propriety of ali the rules for criticism given in the above-mentioned essay, that we shall always endeavour to follow them. Accordingly we do not hesitate to assert that this book was not written by a Spaniard: and || We shall now commence our relation of the contents of these volumes. The first contains twenty-six Letters, of which six describe the journey from Falmouth to London through Truro, Exeter, Dorchester, and Salisbury; the remaining twenty are all from London. As the style is perfectly correct, and bears evident marks of being that of an experienced scholar, there is no need of our making long quotations merely as specimens of that style, so that we shall select only such as may entertain and inform our readers, and inspire them with a desire to read the whole work, These extracts are of course unconnected, and being, individually short, may be considered as a small part of an argumentative index. The first letter is dated April 1802. The heath which extends, with casual interrup-| tions, from Bagshot to Egham, not less than fourteen miles, is crossed. "Nothing but wild sheep, that run as fleetly as hounds, are scattered over this dreary desert; flesh there is none on these wretched creatures; but those who are only half-starved on the heath, produce good meat when fatted; all the flesh, and all the fat being laid on, as graziers speak, anew, it is equivalent in tenderness to lamb, and in flavour to mutton, and has fame accordingly in the metropolis. "At Staines we crossed the Thames, not by a new bridge, now for the third time built, but over a crazy wooden one above a century old. The river here divides the two counties of Middlesex and Surrey; and the magistrates having agreed upon the necessity of building a bridge, did not agree exactly as to its situation; each collected materials for building a half bridge from its respective bank, bat not opposite to the other." We must refer to the book for the re mainder of the history of this missed bridge, as well as for what our author says about iron bridges, especially of the great Sunderland bridge, of which the span is 236 feet, and the height 100. The account ends thus: "It is curious that this execrable improvement, as every novelty is called in England, should have been introduced by the notorious politician, Paine, who came over from America, upon this speculation, and exhibited one as a show upon the dry ground in London. "The country on the London side of Staines has once been a forest; but has now no other wood remaining than a few gibbets, on one of which, according to the barbarous custom of this country, a criminal was hanging in chains." A The hint of the expression about woods, occurred a few years ago. A house and is probably taken from a circumstance that grounds were advertised to be sold, with a hanging wood, pompously set forth. person who wished to purchase them, went to view the premises, but could not find the wood. On applying to the auctioneer, the answer was, "My dear Sir, be calm, you must have overlooked that inestimable little jewel the gallows, on the north side of the paddock; and if that is not a hanging wood, I don't know what is." Don Manuel arrives in London, and of St. Paul's church, says, "The sight of this truly noble building rather provoked than pleased me-unless another conflagration should lay London in ashes, the Londoners will never fairly see their own cathedral. Except St. Peter's (at Rome), here is beyond comparison the finest temple in Christendom, and it is even more ridiculously misplaced than the bridge of Segovia (at Madrid) appears, when the mules have drank up the Manganares." Spaniard; he must have known that the This is an unbecoming remark for a little river above-mentioned, is in summer almost dry, but in winter is very much swollen by the melting of the snows, and. by the almost unceasing rains during five or six weeks in the months of November and December. He has omitted the standing joke about selling the bridge to buy water. On the proclamation of the peace in April, 1802, the Don observes, "The theory of the ceremony, for this ceremony, like an English suit at law, is founded on a fiction, is, that the Lord Mayor of London, and the people of London, good people! being wholly ignorant of what has been going on, the King sends officially to acquaint them that he has made peace; accordingly the gates at Temple-bar, which divide London and Westminster, and which stand open day and night, are on this occasion closed; and Garter, king at arms, with all his heraldic peers, rides up to them, aud knocks loudly for admittance. The Lord Mayor, mounted on a charger, is ready on the other side to demand who is there. King Garter then announces himself and his errand, and requires permission to pass and proclaim the good news; upon which the gates are thrown open. The poorest brotherhood in Spain makes a better procession on its festival. "A very remarkable accident took place in our sight. A man on the top of a church was leaning against one of the stone urns which ornament the balustrade; it fell, and crushed a person below. A Turk might relate this story in proof of predestination." This was the New Church, in the Strand; the young man who was killed had, in compliance with the request of his mother, promised her he would not enter into the crowd, and accordingly took his station in the church-yard. The story might probably have been told by other species of religionists besides Turks. "The inscription on the transparencies at M. Otto's house in Portman-square, on the illumination night, was at first, Peace and Concord; but a party of sailors in the morning, whose honest patriotism did not regard trifling differences of orthography, insisted upon it that they were not conquered, and that no Frenchman should say so; and so the word Amity, which can hardly be regarded as English, was substituted in its stead. "Illuminations are better managed at Rome. Imagine the vast dome of St. Peter's covered with large lamps, so arranged as to display its fine form; those lamps all kindled at the same minute, and the whole dome emerging, as it were from total darkness, in one blaze of light. This, and the fire-works from St. Angelo, which from their grandeur, admit of no adequate description, prevent those persons who have Supplement.-Vol. III. beheld them, from enjoying the twinkling light of halfpenny candles scattered in the windows of London, or the crowns and regal cyphers which here and there manifest the zeal, the interest, or the emulation of individuals." On extraordinary occasions not only the cupola of St. Peter's, but also the whole front, and the colonade are illuminated. Thousands of rockets are let off from the castle of Saint Angelo, and towards the conclusion, the whole area of the castle casts forth fountains of fire, as if from the mouth of a volcano, and the reflection of these fire-works on the river Tiber, on the banks of which the castle is situated, is inexpressibly beautiful, especially to the spectators on the bridge. The whole of the ninth letter is an account of the execution of Governor Wall; from which we shall only mention that "The joy of the mob at seeing him appear on the scaffold was so great, that they set up three huzzas,-an instance of ferocity which had never occurred before. The miserable inan, quite overcome by this, begged the hangman to hasten his work. When he was turned off, they began their huzzas again; but instead of proceeding to three distinct shouts, they stopped at the first. The feeling which at one moment struck so many thousands, repressed their acclamations at once, and awed them into a dead silence when they saw the object of their hatred in the act and agony of death, is surely as honourable to the popular character as any trait which has been recorded of any people, in any age or country." A Turk might relate several circumstances mentioned in this letter as additional proofs of fate. The tenth letter is on martial law, wherein the author says: "The martial laws of England are the most barbarous which at this day exist in Europe. The offender is sometimes sentenced to receive a thousand lashes;-a surgeon stands by to feel his pulse during the execution, and determine how long the flogging can be continued without killing him. When human nature can sustain no more, he is remanded to prison; his wound, for from the shoulders to the loins it leaves him one wound, is dressed, and as soon as it is sufficiently healed to be laid open again in the saine manner, he is brought out to undergo the remainder of his sentence. And this is repeatedly and openly practised in a country, where they read in their churches, and in their houses, that Bible, in their own language, which saith, forty stripes may the judge inflict on the offender and not exceed." G |