source of advancing coute qui coute to bring on a general action.

"Presuming, however, that similar offensive and defensive means would be at command on both sides, the contest in the first instance would resolve itself into one of light troops, whose attacks, being mutually supported, would (agreeably to the supposition that the new arm must supersede personal contact) be succeeded by a continuous fire from two extended hostile lines, till greater destruction on one side should lead to victory on the other.

"Tactics of this kind, with two long extended lines, are not, however, likely to follow the introduction of a more powerful engine, nor is an incessant fire of musketry more likely to become the sole means of gaining a battle in these days than it was when the greatest of all changes in warfare occurred by the use of gunpowder as a propellant. We all know that the substitution of the matchlock for the arrow did not by any means put an end to close attacks, although, comparatively, a much greater range was the cousequence than that now under consideration.

"This, indeed, does not appear to be sufficiently great to enable light troops to act in the manner contemplated; since, unless closely supported, they would in turn be exposed to a rapid attack of cavalry or mounted infantry. But it must not be forgotten that spherical case-shot from 9-pounders would take full effect on the enemy's musketeers at a distance beyond the range of his muskets; so that a few rounds of the former, with some rockets and rolling shot, must drive such parties in before they could take their intended position, and of course previously to the action becoming general. Except, therefore, in the supposed case of a battle to be decided entirely by musketry, an attack must, although attended with much heavier loss, be made, as heretofore, by infantry or cavalry, under the protection of a concentrated fire of artillery playing upon some part of the enemy's line. Therefore, beyond ceasing to expose dense columns, which even under ordinary circumstances have frequently failed in Spain and elsewhere, a modification of the tactics of the different arms will probably be the only changes caused by the introduction of the new musket."-pp. 301-3.

But the new musket is destined to exercise an important influence on defensive as well as offensive combinations. All our present fortresses of the bastioned kind are constructed with a view to combine the range of the ordinary musket, say 240 paces, with the fire of great artillery. A fortification on the modern model consists of a polygon of a greater or less number of sides, having projections at the external angles. These projections

or bastions are so formed as mutually to command one another, and protect the intervening front, or curtain; and this protection being afforded by the conjoint fire of cannon and musketry, the range of the latter prescribes the limit of each front, and the necessary number of bastions: we have, consequently, hitherto been obliged to set up a bastion (a very costly erection) at every 200 or 250 yards of the rampart. The extended range of the new musket will enable engineers to double the length of their curtains, and reduce the number of their bastions by at least one half. On this subject Colonel Portlock has communicated an interesting memorandum to our author (p. 281). He considers that 600 yards will be about the limit of the future line of defence. Any one who has inspected the enormous earth-works, cuttings, and embankments of a regular modern fortification, Lille, for example, Arras, or Valenciennes, can easily conceive what a diminution of complexity and expense would follow such an extension of the faces of the polygon. The same simplification would extend to field works, now likely to become a more formidable obstacle to the march of a hostile force than at any time hitherto. When it is considered that our whole system of armament, tactics, and fortification, is likely to be so largely affected by these changes in the musket, we will not, we trust, be thought too technical or particular in the account which we have endeavoured to give of these improvements.

It remains to say something of another projectile, the rocket. Against bodies of troops this is even a more formidable weapon than cannon shot; for it is seen in its approach, and does execution as well by the alarm which the sight of it occasions, as by its detructive momentum, which is continued by a series of leaps nearly parallel to the surface, and not in a parabolic curve, like a round shot. It has a flight and penetrative power equal to a 12-pounder cannon ball; and if capable of equally certain direction, would undoubtedly be one of the most terrible of warlike weapons. The difficulty of directing it, however, has hitherto prevented its extensive employment in our armies. But the Austrians and Americans have bestowed great attention on its improve

ment; and it is understood the American Government have purchased from a Mr. Hales a method of firing it very effectually without a stick. On this subject Colonel Chesney states:

"The serious objection of the tail, or stick, in the case of this weapon is understood to have been overcome by Mr. Hale's invention, who has, it appears, by some means (unknown to the writer) succeeded in placing inside the case, not only the materials which give impetus to the projectile, but also, combined with the means of propulsion, the power of giving the missile a spiral motion, commencing at the instant the rocket begins to pass along the tube through which it is fired.

"The federative Government of Switzerland caused extensive experiments of the power and advantages of this weapon to be made, under the superintendence of a committee of artillery officers; and a number of rockets were fired from a stand at 5, 10, 15, 25, and 27 degrees of elevation. A target was placed at 1,200 paces, and the rockets used on this occasion were 10-pounders, the smallest of Mr. Hale's invention, his largest being 100-pounders. One fired at 5 degrees went on like a serpent, and never rose above 6 feet from the ground. Another, at 10 degrees, made its first graze at 500, the second at 1,300, the third at 1,900 paces, and without rising more than 9 feet from the ground during its flight. One discharged at 15 degrees first struck the ground at 1,200 paces, the second time at 2,200 paces, and when rising again the shell exploded; its greatest lateral deviation was about 50 paces. A single 10-pounder rocket was fired at Woolwich by Mr. Hale, in the presence of some of his friends, on the 30th of March, 1849. A wrought-iron tube, moving on a cast-iron stand, was used on this occasion, and the rocket, being discharged at an angle of 20 degrees, without previously grazing, penetrated 10 feet into wet, close, loamy soil, at the distance of 5,200 feet, which is scarcely less than the effect of the 12-pounder shot at the same distance.

"It is understood that the Government of the United States, after testing the efficiency of Hale's rockets by a series of experiments made under the direction of a committee of artillery officers, purchased the secret, and used this instrument with the greatest advantage during the late Mexican

war.

It is believed that the Russian government has also acquired the secret."―pp. 308-10.

It must be admitted, that while foreign Governments have been thus active in perfecting their means of ag

gression and resistance, we have not kept pace with their improvements in any department of our land service. But we have no doubt of our ability to overtake and surpass them all in whatever relates to the improvement of warlike machines, as we have already done in those of peaceful production. Notwithstanding all that has been said of the perverted ingenuity of men in devising instruments for their mutual destruction, we have not the slightest doubt that war, so far as it depends on machines, is, of all the mechanical sciences, at the present day, the most imperfect. If any turn of affairs should now direct the constructive genius of the British to improvements in offensive weapons, we have the strongest conviction, that before the lapse of a year, war within our borders would be rendered almost impossible, in presence of the tremendous agencies capable of being evoked by the chemist and the pyrotechnist. We cannot, perhaps, look forward to the time when the certainty of mutual destruction will deter all armies from conflict; but we do indulge the hope that the certainty of being exposed to the most destructive agencies that physical science can devise, and courageous skill put in operation, will at no distant period deter any invading army from setting foot on the soil of the United Kingdom.

We have at the head of industrial production, a Prince, who has justly won the title of a master-workman in all the arts of peace; but unless we can preserve what we produce, our industry is labour lost. We hope his Royal Highness may never have occasion to exercise his authority as a chief in battle; but nothing could add a nobler renown to the name he has already won, than to be known hereafter as the perfecter of those arts of defence which are still essential to secure us the enjoyment of the fruits of our industry.

We observe, as a token of good omen, that Colonel Chesney has been permitted to dedicate his work to Prince Albert. Whatever effect the book may have in promoting the reforms it proposes, we shall be well satisfied if it induce his Royal Highness to direct the intellects of the able men who surround him to the application of physical science to improved methods of defensive warfare.

ARCTIC America, chiefly through the abundant and well-authenticated information contained in the work before us, is about to be as well and as generally known as some of the countries of central Europe. Its physical geography, natural history, botany, and climatology; the nations which haunt its ice-bound shores and snow-clad plains, with their routine of existence and present condition; the aspects of the leading localities, the manner of voyaging, and the incidents of life there, are so fully and so graphically given, that we, for the first time, feel that we are acquainted with this longforbidden, most extensive, and remotest territory. There is, we suspect, a prevailing impression that the races of such a winter-world, are at once so barbarous and so wretched, as to be beyond the pale of hope. This, as a little reflection might lead one to suppose, is a grave mistake. Although, in general, they have not passed that primary stage of manners, the hunter state, they exhibit, as amongst themselves, many favourable traits; and the rigours which they encounter are the circumstances which move our pity most. These are, indeed, sufficiently appalling, yet they are not without resources which enable them to withstand them. The Esquimaux, for example-or, as the name is always written in these volumes, the Eskimos-possess the surprising art of building houses of ice and snow; they also frame furniture of the same everpresent and light materials, and add out-houses, stores, and kitchens, with even, and very commonly, the luxuries of vapour-baths. Thus, aided by the nature of their diet, are they enabled to exist where others would be sure to perish. Their difliculties, in fact, arise less from the severity of the climate than from those ordinary attributes of savage life, improvidence and the passion for the chase. Accordingly, as they are provided with some regulated industry-whether as fur-hunters, or, in their probable hereafter, as min

ers-they may attain to more settled habits, and missionary efforts may advance their character. We already discern the small beginnings of such better times. Throughout the wide realm of the Hudson's Bay Company, a certain amount of order now prevails, and Christianity is making progress amongst a few of the tribes, especially amongst the Cree Indians.

We have said so much, to bespeak the attention of our readers to the intrinsic interest and substantial merits of the books before us. There are, besides, topics connected with the fate of Franklin to which it is needless to allude, as everybody knows that the sympathies of the public, as well as those of the whole civilised world, are deeply engaged in it. There is another feature in the undertaking of Sir John Richardson, but never once referred to in his pages, which we think it good to notice. He had, as our readers are aware, his share of adventure, hazard, and fatigue. He had settled at home, married, and was in the enjoyment of a well-deserved appointment. These advantages he resigned, to seek, at an advanced period of life, and amidst perils which he had before experienced, and could therefore perfectly appreciate, his missing friend. This is one more of the many fine traits which have been elicited by the case of Sir John Franklin.

For the masses of fresh information in the natural sciences collected by Sir John Richardson, we must refer to the record of his labours. It would be impracticable for us to give any systematic or compact account of them. We shall content ourselves with endeavouring to outline his boat voyage to the mouth of the Mackenzie glancing at his winter residence within the Arctic circle, noticing his observations on the snow-tribes, and concluding with a short statement of the several expeditions now engaged in the search for Sir John Franklin, their hopes, and apprehensions.

The expedition under the command

of Sir John Franklin, having for its object the accomplishment of a northwest passage by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific, sailed from England on the 19th of May, 1845. It consisted of two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, whose crews amounted in all to 130 souls. On the 26th of July, the two ships were seen by the Prince of Wales whaler, Captain Dannett, moored to an iceberg, in latitude 74° 48' North, longitude 66° 13' West, waiting for a favourable opportunity of entering or rounding the "middle-ice," and crossing to Lancaster Sound, distant, in a direct westerly line, about 220 geographical miles. A boat from the ships, manned by seven officers, boarded the whaler, and Captain Dannett was to have dined with them on the next day, but a breeze springing up, he separated from them.

In January, 1847, Sir John Ross addressed a letter to the Admiralty, stating his impression that the ships were frozen up at the western end of Melville Island, and that, unless relieved, their return would be for ever prevented by the accumulation of ice behind them. He also made known his apprehensions to the Royal and Geographical Societies, and the attention of the public was directed to the subject.

The Lords of the Admiralty conceived that the second winter was too early a period of Franklin's voyage to afford ground for alarm; still, with a promptness which does them credit, they called for the opinions and advice of the officers who had been engaged in Arctic navigation. The result was, that they determined to send out three searching expeditions-the first to Lancaster Sound, under the command of Sir James Clark Ross; the second to Beering's Straits, to be entrusted to Captain Kellett, who was at that time engaged in surveying the Pacific coasts of America; and the third down the Mackenzie, under the superintendence of Sir John Richardson."

The object of the last, with which we are most concerned, was to examine the coast between the Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers, as well as the shores of Victoria and Wollaston Lands, between which Sir John Richardson was much disposed to believe that there is a passage northwards, and that so, it would be the direct route from the continent to the unknown tract be

tween Cape Walker and Banks's Land, into which Sir John Franklin was expressly ordered to take his ships. Had he done so, and, supposing that his return was barred by the closing in of the ice behind him, it seemed highly probable that the annual progression of the ice southward would carry him into Coronation Gulf the Bay of Biscay of the line of coast between the Mackenzie and the Coppermine, and into which the latter river flows. however, the ships had been abandoned before they reached Coronation Gulf, it was thought likely that the crews would be found in that direction on their way to the continent. These observations, with a look at a polar map, may enable our readers to understand the precise purpose of the expedition.

If,

There are two routes to Cumberland House, beyond Lake Winipeg, one of the advanced stations of the Hudson's Bay Company, hitherto regarded as the Ultima Thule of travellers in America, and to which only a few have reached, but which was fixed on as the starting point of the present expedition. The first is from Montreal, by lake and river canoe navigation to Lake Winipeg; and this, on account of the badness of the portage roads between some of the lakes, and the labour and consequent expense attending the carriage of goods, is now but little used by the Hudson's Bay Company for trading purposes. The other, and less costly course is, from York Factory, in Hudson's Bay, to Lake Winipeg, a distance of little more than three hundred miles; and though the navigation is interrupted by rapids and cascades, it admits, in most seasons, of boats carrying much larger cargoes than could be transported by the canoe route. The company's ships, two in number, sail annually from the Thames, on the first Saturday in June, bearing supplies-the one for Moose Factory, at the bottom of St. James's Bay; the other for York Factory, on the west coast of Hudson's Bay. The crews, boats, and stores, destined for Sir John Richardson's expedition were embarked on board these ships, and sailed from the Thames on the 15th June, 1847; and arrangements having been made for their wintering, Sir John, coming by Montreal, was to join them as early as he could in the following year.

The boats were four in number, and

had each a crew of five men, besides a bowman and steersman skilled in running rapids. Five seamen and fifteen sappers and miners had been selected from a number who offered. The proportion of the former was small, because, as Sir John states, he knew from experience that, as a class, they march badly, particularly when carrying a load; and the latter were intelligent artisans, six of them joiners, four blacksmiths, armourers, or engineers.

We may mention as an evidence of the public feeling, that while Sir John was waiting for the proper time to leave, he was daily receiving letters from officers of various ranks in the army and navy, and from civilians of different grades in life, expressing their eager wishes to be employed in the expedition. "It may," he says, "interest the reader to know that among the applicants there were two clergymen, one justice of peace for a Welsh county, several country gentlemen, and some scientific foreigners, all evidently imbued with a generous love of enterprise, and a humane desire to be the means of carrying relief to a large body of their fellow-creatures."

Spring having at length arrived, Sir John Richardson sailed from Liverpool on the 25th of March, 1848, in the Hibernia steamer, and landed at New York on the 10th of the following month. He was accompanied by that fearless traveller Mr. Rae, chief trader of the Hudson's Bay Company, and who proved to be an invaluable assist

ant.

They were, it seems, in advance of the season. They had to wait one day for the disruption of the ice on Lake Champlain, and so did not reach Montreal until the fourth day after leaving New York. Again they embarked on the St. Lawrence, on the 19th, the steamer having commenced running the day before, and reaching Saut Ste. Marie, at the outlet of Lake Superior, on the 29th, found the lake covered with drift ice, and were obliged to wait for its breaking up until the 4th of May. Embarking that day, they completed the navigation of Lake Superior on the 12th, and, on attaining Dog Lake, near the summit of the water-shed which separates the St. Lawrence and Winipeg valleys, they learned that an Indian crossed it on the ice the day before, and that it had only broken up that evening. They reached the mouth of the river Wini

peg on the 29th of May, but their passage through the lake of that name was much impeded by the ice, from which they could not disengage themselves until the 9th of June. On the 13th of June they arrived at Cumberland House, on the river Saskatchewan, the head-quarters of their crews: thus accomplishing a journey from New York of two thousand eight hundred and eighty miles, amidst the difficulties of the season, in two months and three days. The delays incident to such a journey may be estimated by the fact that at every portage, canoes and lading have to be carried on men's shoulders, and that the portages are frequent. Thus the ascent to the summit of the water-shed between Lakes Superior and Winipeg, by a river with an unattainable Indian name, is made by about forty portages; and a still greater number occur in the descent to the Winipeg.

We pause for a moment to give our readers a sketch of the physiognomy of the shores of Lake Superior, which are assuming a nearer interest to us in consequence of their mining prospects:

:

"On the bluff granitic promontories and bold acclivities which form the northern shore of Lake Superior, the forest is composed of the white spruce, balsam fir, Weymouth pine, American larch, and canoe birch, with, near the edge of the lake and on the banks of streams, that pleasant intermixture of mountain maple and dogwood which imparts such a varied and rich gradation of orange and red tints to the autumnal landscape. Other trees exist, but not in sufficient numbers to give a character to the scenery. Oaks are scarce, and beech disappears to the south of the lake.

The American yew, which does not rise into a tree like its European namesake, is the common underwood of the more fertile spots, where it grows under the shade to the height of three or four feet, in slender bush-like twigs. On the low sandstone islands, deciduous trees, such as the poplars and maples, abound, with the nine-bark spiræa, cockspur thorns, willows, plums, cherries, and mountain-ash. When we entered the lake on the 4th of May, large accumulations of drift snow on the beaches, showed the lateness of the season; none of the deciduous trees had as yet budded; and the precocious catkins of a silvery willow (Salix candida), with the humble flowers of a few Saxifrages and Uvulariæ, gave the only promises of spring."-vol. i., pp. 55-57.

An Arctic summer is well calculated to teach the value of time, and our