since, probably, not one in five of the first men in America ever visit England; of these one in five, not one in ten employ baggage agents at all; and of these one in ten of one in five, only a moderate per centage employ Mr. Sherlock, inasmuch as there are various other baggage agents in Liverpool who gain a livelihood by attending to the baggage of first-class Americans. So that Mr. Sherlock's "all the first men in America" dwindle down to one in a thousand, or thereabouts. In a word, this very respectable, but not very brilliant, old gentleman was one of that class known by lawyers as "too willing witnesses." At the conclusion of his examination, I explained to the Surveyor-General that it would be very easy for me to torment this witness, and to make him appear very ridiculous; but that as I believed him to have sworn to what he, at all events, believed to be true, and that as his evidence was wholly negative and irrelevant, I would not waste time in cross-examining him.

"The Board observe that Mr. Dent did not identify the recipient of his money among the thirteen officers who alone were employed, on 11th June last, to examine the baggage by the City of Paris, when those officers were paraded before him on the 30th ultimo."

This extract is of a piece with the rest of the report, and exhibits a suppressio veri, et suggestio falsi, which, for the credit of the English nation, is, I trust, unique among the reports of English Government officials. I am irresistibly led to the conclusion that dishonesty is not confined to the subordinate officials among the officers of her Majesty's Customs, when I see THE BOARD resorting to such pitiful trickery and shuffling as this, in order to deceive the readers of ONCE A WEEK, and to cover up their own shortcomings. They must have very little confidence in the integrity of their officers when they can descend to such means to smother inquiry.

Allow me to state the facts, without any suppressio veri. I have no object to gain by suppressing or wilfully misrepresenting anything. I am not paid a large salary for neglecting duties which I ought to perform. I can afford to tell the truth, and will do

So.

The room in which the investigation at Liverpool took place is a very large one, capable of containing, I should think, se

veral hundreds of people. A number of men-I should think not less than FIFTY or SIXTY-were brought in, in a body, and stood in a row before me; and out of all these-not out of thirteen, as stated in the report-I was asked to pick out the man to whom I had given a gratuity. Nothing is said about this regiment of officials in the published report. The readers of ONCE A WEEK are led to suppose that only "the thirteen officials who alone were employed on 11th June last to examine baggage by the City of Paris" were paraded before me; and that out of that thirteen I ought to have been able to pick a man whom I had seen but once in my life, and then only for a moment, in a great crowd; he being then dressed in the uniform of the Customs officials, and thus looking almost as much like his fellows as one grain of wheat looks like the other grains which go to make up a bushel. But the fact is far otherwise. I was left to pick out the official in question out of a great crowd, some of whom were in uniform and some not. As I informed the Surveyor-General, I was very much averse to identifying the culprit; and, as he well knew, I scarcely looked at them. The Surveyor-General could not fail to notice this; but being a gentleman, and, as I then believed, sympathizing with my disinclination to identify, he did not insist upon my scrutinizing the regiment before me. Indeed, so swift and cursory was the glance I bestowed upon them, that I doubt if I should have recognized my most intimate friend had he been among the number.

The long and short of the matter is simply this. Her Majesty's Commissioners know that my article has drawn public attention to a grievance which they, in common with the rest of Englishmen, know to be, what I have already called it in the pages of this journal, "a public nuisance and a national reproach;" and they imagine that the social and official positions which they occupy will enable them to smother inquiry, and to crush a young writer like myself-a stranger, whom they suppose to be without means or influence to stand upon his right. This supposition is only one more blunder down to their account. At the present day, the power of the press is too great and wide-spread, and is exercised too conscientiously, to permit truth to be stamped out by any man or set of men.

A few words as to how far the evidence, reluctantly as it was given, supports the statements contained in my former article and letter. I am told that "the two cases specially referred to by Mr. Dent in his evidence, with the view of proving that the delivery of packages without examination may be secured by 'tipping' the officers, are founded partly upon hearsay and partly upon surmise, and cannot therefore be accepted as any proof that a gratuity was even offered, much less that it was accepted, in either case."

It may well be asked what degree of proof her Majesty's Commissioners would consider conclusive evidence of venality, seeing that they consider the instances given by me to be founded "partly upon hearsay and partly upon surmise." I have sworn that a gentleman apprised me of his intention to get his cigars passed without payment of duty by means of "tipping" an official. I have sworn that immediately upon his landing I saw him take an official apart, and that immediately afterwards the said official passed and marked his luggage without examination. This her Majesty's Commissioners consider no proof that a gratuity was either given or accepted. In the other case, I state that I saw the hands of an official and a steerage passenger meet together for an instant, and the hand of the former then go into his pocket; whereupon he passed the baggage with a very cursory (if any) examination. This, say the Commissioners, "cannot be accepted as any proof that a gratuity was even offered, much less that it was accepted." I have sworn in my own case to the actual receipt by an officer of a gratuity. This, say her Majesty's Commissioners, is no evidence of venality, because the offer came from Mr. Dent; although I have especially sworn that the official's manner satisfied me that I should be kept waiting some time unless I "tipped" him. This is the spirit in which her Majesty's Commissioners receive evidence as to the conduct of their officers. Well, I am quite satisfied that the public should decide between us. Dr. Johnson once said, in reply to an addle-pate who was deaf to argument, "I have found you a reason, sir-I am not bound to find you an understanding."

With reference to the evidence of the other persons who were examined, you, Mr. Editor, have said all that needs to be said on the subject. Their evidence goes to

show-what? Simply that they never saw gratuities given, and that they are the very last persons in the world who would be likely to see anything of the kind. They are the very persons of whom venal subordinates would be specially wary. The evidence of these gentlemen, moreover, is entirely negative. It is, indeed, as you have shown, no evidence at all. You have pointed out that if such testimony were entitled to any weight in courts of justice, it would be impossible to convict any criminal of any offence whatever.

During the investigation, it was suggested to me that porters, unconnected with the Customs, are allowed sometimes to mark baggage when the trunks and packages (as in the case under consideration) are numerous. If I recollect aright, Mr. Fox swore to this in my presence. The inference sought to be thrust upon me was that the persons whom I saw receive gratuities were porters, and not Customs officials. My reply to this luminous refutation of venality was that if porters are permitted to pass baggage, and to exercise the functions of Customs officials, the superior officers are bound to see that those functions are exercised properly; otherwise, so far as the public are concerned, the blame rests upon such officers and upon no one else. This is not permitted to appear in the report, because it does not reflect lustre upon her Majesty's Commissioners.

One word more. Since the investigation was held, I have come in contact with various gentlemen who are able to furnish ample testimony, if any were needed, as to the venality of Customs officials. But can I ask these gentlemen to voluntarily come forward and subject themselves to the annoyance and notoriety of official investigation? Let her Majesty's Commissioners furnish me with a guaranty that the names of these gentlemen will not be dragged before the world, that no proceedings will be instituted against them, and that they will not be asked to identify the corrupt officials with whom they have come in contact let them do this, and I will undertake to procure from both sides of the Atlantic such an amount of evidence as will carry conviction to the mind of every sane human being who is unconnected with her Majesty's Commissioners. So far as the Board themselves are concerned, I do not undertake to convince them. There is an old proverb about "a man convinced against his will." So long as the Board are

prepared to back the corruption of their subordinates by refusing to believe anything to their discredit, such subordinates may ply their trade with impunity. No matter how many persons may swear to having witnessed corruption, baggage agents and others will no doubt be found to swear that they never saw gratuities given; and so long as evidence of this kind is allowed to override positive evidence that gratuities are given, her Majesty's Commissioners will remain convinced that the integrity of their Liverpool officials has been wantonly impugned."-I remain, Mr. Editor, yours truly,

I

JNO. CHAS. Dent.

WINTER REVERIE.

CANNOT wake a gladsome note to-day,
For Winter's chilling hand is pressing sore
Upon my heart; untunes my every lay-
My lyre rings out no more.

The birds are flitting restless to and fro
In silence, as in grief too deep for words;
And my sad heart is sorrowful and low,
And restless as the birds.

The golden tints of autumn's varied dress
Have long since faded, and the trees are bare;
No flowers now the saddened earth doth bless,
Or scent the winter air.

The withered leaves have long since ceased to fall,
E'en as the hopes of life dropped one by one;
And grief, that hovers with a cloud-like pall,
Blots out from me the sun.

But ah! while yet I write, the sun doth break
Thro' leaden clouds-doth shed a cheerful ray.
Now will I cherish, for that sunbeam's sake,
A brighter hope to-day.

WALTER SEDWIN.

A CRUISE FROM TOR TO MASSOWAH.-PART I.

IN

N the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine I was located as a general merchant in Alexandria, the port of Egypt, trading between Dundee, Egypt, and Massowah, one of the ports of Abyssinia.

I feel a regret mingled with pleasure in relating my rambles through a land which has been renowned from the earliest ages, and is replete with the noblest ruins of art and antiquity.

Egypt was the parent of science, the nursery of heroes; but now, alas! the monument of decayed greatness.

It is the land to which Our Saviour was

carried by his mother and adopted father; and yet, to-day, Alexandria and Cairo are only the Cities of the Plain of the Christian era.

No man's life was safe if his enemy could afford to part with a few dollars for his assassination. Men, women, and children used to be robbed and murdered in their own homes. A common brooch and the wedding ring were considered of more value than the life of the owner. A blacksmith's wife lost her life owing to her love for Birmingham jewellery. One night, during the absence of her husband, the assassins entered the house through the skylight and strangled her with a piece of wire. In their hurry to get away, they chopped off the hand which had the most rings on it. This the rascals returned to the husband through the post the next day.

Two days after the feast of Easter, which is celebrated by the whole of the Jewish nation in memory of the intended destruction of the Jews in the Persian empire, in company with two Jews and a young Englishman I bade good-bye to Alexandria, and the rascals I left behind me. My countryman was about twenty-two years old. He was a perfect stranger to me, having accidentally made my acquaintance a few days before at the hotel where I lodged. We remained the first night at Cairo, and proceeded to Suez by train next morning. We found Suez full of dust, dirt, camels, donkeys, dogs, flies, fleas, and pilgrims. The population of Suez then, as now, was composed of English, French, Italians, Germans, Arabs, Turks, Copts, Abyssinians, Indians, and Persians. Most of the Englishmen were employés of a famous steam navigation company, whose head office in Egypt is in Alexandria. The rest of the population were traders, sailors, labourers, beggars, Custom House officers, smugglers, and dealers in wet coals. The coal merchants were the most independent and the richest men in Suez. Although they sold their coal for five pounds per ton, it never cost them more than a few pence, which they paid as hush-money to those who were acquainted with their infamy. Having made myself thoroughly acquainted with the ways which they adopted to procure their merchandize, it may not be amiss here to describe it. The coal depôts belonging to the various steam companies whose steamers call at Suez are situate ashore. The large steamers anchor about

one mile and a half from the town of Suez. The coals are put in bags and shipped on board large flat-bottomed lighters and Arab boats. The whole of the boats are worked by Arabs, most of whom speak English, and many of them both French and Italian. The commanders of lighters and boats have always in their possession several coal bags of their own. When they proceed a certain distance from the town, where the water is shallow, they throw a bag, or more, overboard; and then take a small quantity from each of the remaining bags, so as to make up the number for which they were responsible. At low water, the depth of the channel between Suez and the anchorage is seldom over five feet. When the bag is thrown over, there is a string with a large cork and red rag fastened to it. On the first opportunity a party dives and secures the bag, which he takes and conceals until the darkness of the night enables him to remove it to the warehouse of his employers.

The scavengers of Suez are the dogs, who are always lean, prowling, and hungry. They eat anything and everything; and, what is very remarkable, if they find one of their own species unable to move they deyour him at once. Almost every second native of Suez has but one eye. The cause of this deformity is dust, and the scarcity of fresh water to wash with.

Things are now more changed. Suez has become an European town, fresh water is procurable much cheaper than in London, and the flags of all commercial nations are daily to be seen steaming up and down the harbour.

Having left Alexandria before the arrival of the English mail, we patiently waited at Suez to receive our letters from the postmaster of Suez. The day after the receipt of our letters we shipped our merchandize, baggage, and provisions on board a large, open Arab boat, bound for Yambo, Jiddah, and Massowah. At Suez we were joined by five Abyssinians, two Christians, three Jews, and a Turk bound for Archico, a Turkish military station, situate on the main land about ten miles from the island of Massowah. The Abyssinians were returning from Jerusalem, and, like ourselves, on their way to Tigria, Northern Abyssinia. Although Jew and Christian are to be found kneeling side by side in Jerusalem, in their native country they hate each other much worse than the Persians and Turks. Our

boat was manned by an Arab captain, who was assisted by a pilot over 84 years of age.

As fresh water was almost as dear as milk, we took only sufficient to carry us to Tor, the only town or village on the Arabian coast between Suez and Jubal. On the evening of the 28th of April, the nacodah, or captain, announced that he was ready to start for Tor the moment the crew and passengers had finished their prayers. The Mohammedans turned their faces towards Mecca; but the Abyssinian Jews and Christians turned theirs in the supposed direction of Jerusalem. Having the shamal, or north wind, in our favour, we made the port of Tor a little before sunrise next morning. Tor is a small, stone-built village, the port of those districts surrounding Mount Sinai. There are sixteen houses and a Greek chapel, and a population of eighty-eight persons, eightyfive of whom are Christians, two Mohammedans, and the Greek priest of the village. The Christians are date-growers and watercarriers; and the two old Mohammedans are partners, and trade in dates, fish, coffee, sugar, butter, and flour. In one of our excursions, on our way home, we had an opportunity of observing a curious process in the vegetable world. It has already been taken notice of by naturalists, but is too uncommon to be known to readers of every class. The date trees were now in blossom, and we remarked the Arabs to be busied about the branches. It is necessary to engraft all fruit trees to obtain good fruit; but the propagation of the date is in another manner. There are male as well as female date trees, which are distinguished from each. other by the colour and shape of the blossoms. The male tree yields no fruit; but the gardener must be careful every spring to cull as many blossoms from the male as will serve his purpose. One of these, at least, he must enwrap and bind up in a blossom of the female tree, without which it will prove as barren as the male. The singularity of this operation is heightened by its being discovered by a people who are at present grossly ignorant.

There are seventy-three species of dates known among the Egyptians, Syrians, and Arabians; and yet out of this large number there is only one quality which is considered safe to be shipped by sea, which is known among the Arabs as El Jhahadiah.

I found an immense quantity of this date in the neighbourhoods of Bussarah, Muscat,

Zanzibar, and Gennah, on the River Nile. In the neighbourhoods of Bagdad, Bussarah, and Hillah, in the province of Irac or Mesopotamia, the gardeners substitute the law of nature instead of the artificial process. The females are planted in clusters, and a male tree is generally planted in the midst of every four or five female trees. When the flower of the male tree becomes dry in the blossom, the wind scatters the seed far and near, and the female tree becomes fruitful. The dates of Tor and around Mount Sinai are very small, dry, and sweet. They are sold by weight, in packages covered with kid skins. Both sheep, goat, and kid skins are procurable along the shores of the Red Sea for less pence than the shillings they cost in Europe. The chief use they make of the goat and kid skins is to convert them into bags for carrying water or holding butter or oil. Formerly skins of every description were dear, and in great demand; but since the introduction of casks and earthern jars among the dealers in butter and other soft merchandize, the price of hides and other skins has been very much reduced.

On the 14th April, we had completed our supply of wood and water, and taken on board a sufficient stock of provisions to serve us on our passage. We procured our water from the wells of Horeb, which the natives of the district religiously believe to be that spring mentioned in Scripture in connection with Moses and his followers in their flight from Egypt.

This belief is as deeply rooted in the hearts of the Mohammedans as that of the Christians and Jews. Mohammed Ali, the grandfather of the present Viceroy of Egypt, built a house over the pond formed by the streamlet, which is about three miles from where the water gushes from the side of the rock.

On the morning of the 15th, we embarked with an additional passenger, a poor old emancipated Abyssinian slave, who, after twenty years' suffering, became so old and useless to his master that he released him from his bondage. They live upon such crumbs as they pick up in the streets, like so many dogs without owners.

About noon of the 16th April, being favoured with a fair breeze and fine weather, we spread our sails, and about sunset we passed before Chadwan and Jubal, leaving the rock of Tyran about six miles to our

left. Tyran is a conical, bare rock; but is much resorted to by fishermen and divers, on account of the sponges, turtles, and sharks which abound in the neighbourhood. The sharks they spear, but the sponges and turtle they dive for. Many of them can remain two minutes under water, and then not appear much exhausted.

We picked up a fair breeze from the mainland, which died away about two hours after sunset, when we anchored for the night in a small coral cove, close to the island of Sanafir.

The Arabs have a peculiar mode of anchoring their boats among the rocks and coral islands of the Red Sea. When the ruban, or pilot, has selected the anchorage, either himself, the captain, or one of the crew puts two wooden plugs in his nose, and jumps overboard with a rope, to which is attached two large hooks, which he fastens to the rocks, or to some hard coral formation, which must be unfastened every morning by hand.

Whichever way we look, the mountains on shore, and rocks and coral islands, are visible to us. This is an extraordinary and dangerous sea. It is getting worse and worse every year. Although we are not more than six feet from the edge of the reef, yet we cannot get soundings underneath our boat.

There are hundreds of new islands gradually springing up to the surface of the water. The appearance of these islands is undoubtedly the work of the coral animal; but I do not believe, nor can I be persuaded by any philosopher in the world, that the foundations of those marine principalities were commenced at the bottomless ocean.

During my rambles along the Pacific coast and in the East and West Indies, I noticed four kinds of coral formations-lagoons, coral fringes, encircling reef, and barriers. The lagoons are coral rings, encircling a portion of the sea, and only exist in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Although they all differ in formation and appearance, yet they are the works of the same animals. These rings often rise between five and ten feet above the level of the sea.

Having paid great attention to the coral animals of the East and West Indies, I will describe their habits for the information of the readers of ONCE a Week.

They are neither insects nor water spiders; but small, soft, gelatinous animals, with whose bodies is to be found an admixture of stony matter much resembling flint. They