according to our theory, their external advantages have not operated equally in their favor, they are degraded proportionally beneath even those whom they otherwise excel. Their dwellings are generally almost unfit for the swine and vermin who hold them in joint-tenancy with themselves. Sacrifices, tortures, the dooming of widows, polytheism and polygamy are more or less in vogue. The people are ferocious in some parts, filthy in others, and extremely simple, credulous and superstitious in all. In array and revenue alone, the rulers have an advantage over the Indian chiefs; in personal dignity and domestic comfort they are not to be compared. An English shed is a palace, in contrast with their best houses; and, indeed, the travellers thought most of them much less tolerable than an indifferent pig-sty.' One of the best was precisely in the shape of the roof of a barn inverted, with only a hole through the inward apex for the emission or admission of smoke, light, rain, air and scorpions. Leaving various other minutia to the reader's imagination, we may say of the African cities that their size is their chief recommendation, and confirm the remark by extracting our travellers' sketches of BAJIEBO and ZAGŌZHI. Both are situated on the Niger.The former being one of the most populous marts on its whole length, we allow it the precedence in description.

'For dirt, bustle and nastiness of all kinds, this place, we think, can scarcely be exceeded. For two hours after our arrival we were obliged to wait in a close and diminutive hut, till a more convenient and becoming habitation could be procured for our reception, and the pleasure of the chief with regard to us should be known. Here we were visited by a number of the inhabitants, consisting both of Falátahs and Noufanchie (Nouffie people). Among the former was a sagacious and intelligent old man, who has travelled a long, long way on the Niger, even beyond Timbuctoo; and he states, that that town is several miles from the banks of the river. We were sadly incommoded by these visiters, who scarcely allowed us to move or breathe; which, joined to the heat of the weather and the insufferable stench, rendered our situation truly comfortless and distressing.

'We were at length removed from this horrible hole, and conducted to a hut in the heart of the town, in which wood fires had been burning the whole of the day, so that the wall was almost as warm as the sides of a heated oven, insomuch that it could hardly be endured. Yet, to render it more unpleasant still, a large, closely-woven mat was placed before the door-way, in

order to prevent a thousand eyes from staring in upon us this excluded every breath of air.'-Vol. II. pp. 43, 44.

As for Zagōzhi,

The town is built on a bog, for such it appears to us, and it lies so close to the water, that in fact hundreds of huts are literally standing in it. So little regard do the people appear to have for what is termed comfort, that they suffer the walls of their dwellings either to fall to pieces, or permit large chinks and holes to remain in them, which freely admit the wind and rain; while the floors, which are made of earth or clay, are so soft and damp, that a slender stick may easily be thrust into them by the hand to any depth.'-Vol. II. p. 83.

We cannot dismiss these exceedingly entertaining volumes, without a passing acknowledgment of that noble liberality which, for the last half century in particular, has distinguished the British Government, and not less the Association for promoting African discovery, in their movements upon that continent. Some of them indeed have been attended with deplorable calamity, and many have ended in disappointment; but the more honor, for these very reasons, belongs to the perseverance which has at length triumphed over all obstacles. Hereafter, the Niger will be as accessible a haunt of the steam-boat, as the Missouri has just been shown to be to the mouth of the Yellow Stone; and for some time to come, accessible to a much better purpose. An immense trade will be carried on with the Africans, opening a new and vast avenue for foreign manufactures and foreign navigation. Such, at least, should be the ultimate result; for where is there, on earth, a people more easily to be civilized, or a country filled with such inexhaustible materials for industry, wealth and commerce? The slave-trade, indeed, must be swept from the coast, before many advances can be made. But what surer mode can be adopted for that end, than to seal those prolific sources of the curse which exist in the indolence and ignorance of the abused natives, and to fortify them in better habits by the protection and the interest of a legitimate traffic? Certain it is, under present circumstances, that no more promising system is likely to be set in motion; and certain it also is, that the evil in question never was more flagrant than it has been during the last fifteen years. Something has been done; enough indeed by the Liberian Colony alone, to indicate the true course to be pursued. But na

tional legislation, and a few cruisers and prize-courts of limited jurisdiction, are not destined to accomplish the object. Nothing short, we conceive, of such a final civilization as will make agriculture and honest trade more honorable and profitable in the eyes of the natives than the traffic in slaves, and nothing less than an actual occupation of the exposed coast meanwhile, can be reasonably expected to rescue this rich and fair region from the ferocious iniquity which has been so many ages gloating over its barbarism, and gorging itself with its blood.

NB. O. Prabode.
oston)

ART. V. American Forest Trees.

Sylva Americana. By D. J. BROWNE. Boston 1831.

The word Sylva can never be pronounced, without recalling the memory of Evelyn, who, retired and unambitious as he was, has long been numbered among the benefactors of mankind. It was no small service, to recommend the cultivation of ornamental trees, as a happy and elevating employment for men of leisure and fortune. Many a desolate village has been covered with beauty, and many a fiery street of the city shaded, in consequence of the enthusiasm inspired by his memory and example. Much too has been added to the glory of the visible world and the sources of philosophical contemplation, by taking these lords of the forest from their retirement, and placing them before the eye: for what nobler object can there be, than a tree which has battled with the storms of ages, and still calmly waves from it the assault of the mightiest gales, standing in lofty independence, and throwing wide its protecting arms, as if it were offering shelter and shade to generations yet to come? It is true there are many, to whom they would have little value, if regarded merely as materials and suggestions of thought; but there are none, to whom their usefulness does not make them important. Man must resort to them to build and furnish his dwelling, and then solicit their friendly shield to defend him from the summer sun. In winter, he must resort to them again; and they are ready to cast away their verdure to let in the sun,-and to light up his dwelling with their cheerful fires;' like feudal vassals, willing either to live or die in the service of their chief. Even nations also

are compelled to lean their mighty arms for support upon the neglected trees of the wood; the oaks which Evelyn planted, aided to bear the thunder of England in the bright chain of victories which ended at Trafalgar. It is consoling to think how much can be done by men in private stations for the benefit of their country and mankind. They are apt to feel as if their power was too limited to carry any responsibility with it; as if their voice died away upon the air when they spoke, and they could give no impulse beyond the reach of their arm; and yet here is an example of a man of private station and moderate fortune, who lived two centuries ago, and who is still successfully exhorting men to make themselves useful and happy in the way which he recommends, so that his advice and example are still forming characters, inspiring labors, and securing services to mankind which would otherwise be wholly lost. We should be glad to know the name of the statesman of that age, of any party, Cromwell or Clarendon, whose influence is thus felt at the present day, either in the world at large, in his own country, or in any human breast.

In this country, the example of Evelyn is likely to do more in future than in his own, unless some great change takes place in the internal condition of England. We are told that ten years ago there were but twenty thousand landholders in England, setting aside the Clergy and Corporations. The mere tenants at will have no interest or ambition to plant trees, without the hope that their descendants will sit under the shade; or rather, the reflection that they have no spot of ground which they can call their own, prevents their taking an interest in any kind of improvement. In this country the state of society is as different as possible: there are hardly twenty thousand in any territory of equal extent with England, who are not proprietors of land, or freeholders. There the nobility and gentry, if they chance to be men of taste, are too much engrossed with politics, or the pleasures of the capital, to find much gratification in pursuits of this kind; there are some who set a worthy example, but there cannot be many to follow it. The success of Sir Henry Stuart, in Scotland, who converted a barren heath into a noble forest, might strike the imagination of thousands; but the great proportion of those who would be most desirous to imitate him, would probably be those who were not proprietors of land sufficient for a grave. Owing

to our different circumstances, we are confident that such writers will do more for this country than their own. Our climate is more favorable to this kind of vegetation; we need it to generate and preserve moisture, and to shelter us from our summer suns, which burn with fiercer heat; we have more room to allow them, and our forests are so crowded, that there is less temptation to hew it down for the fires. But all such considerations are less effectual, than the pride which every man feels in his own paternal acre. Even if he have but one, he desires to have it such as to attract the passing stranger's eye, and to bear a comparison with the estate of his richer neighbor in taste and beauty.

We speak of the natural tendency to improvement; we do not mean to say that this taste is by any means universal, even in this portion of our land. The suggestion of Cicero, that every man thinks he can live a year, is true here as well as elsewhere. He is therefore willing to plant his field or garden, from which he can reap the fruit, while he feels less inducement to plant trees which he may never live to enjoy. We have inherited little taste of this kind from our fathers. Besides that their whole life was a warfare with the forest, and that land was not considered cleared till it was bare as the sea-shore, it was evidently no particular object for them to cultivate trees near their mansions, as a convenient stalking-horse for the Indian marksman. Their children, as a matter of course, followed their example, though the necessity for it no longer existed. Even now, the pioneer of civilization begins his improvements, as he calls them, by cutting down every tree within gunshot of his dwelling; and when, at length overpowered by the solicitations of his wife or daughter, he reluctantantly proceeds to plant, the result of his labors appears in a few long leafless poles, standing in solemn uprightness waiting for the miracle of Aaron's rod. But it is sufficiently evident that a better taste is growing among us, owing partly to the exertions of individuals, and partly to the natural tendency of growing prosperity and ambition. Our forests offer us treasures, such as few lands can rival and none can possibly exceed. We are told that in the United States there are one hundred and forty species of forest trees of the larger size, while in France there are but thirty of the same description, of which eighteen enter into the composition of the forests, and seven only are employed in building. The wild splendor of our

VOL. XXXV. No. 77.

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