brew, and Hindostanee; into the last of which languages he translated the Old Testament. Bishop Heber placed a high value on his services in India, and mentioned the impossibility of supplying his place in the schools and pulpits of Calcutta. We shall only add that the account of the illness and death of Sir Henry Blossett, the Chief Justice of Bengal, forms an interesting part of the present narrative.

A Treatise on Roads. By the Right Hon. Sir Henry Parnell, Bart. 8vo. 7 plates, pp. 438.

WE think the name on this title will surprize our numerous civil engineers, but it need not; for, although we some time since had to notice a financial publication of this talented author; have since observed him recorded from the proceedings of a Committee, as the singular instance of a member of Administration retiring from power, because his principles of military economy, as Secretary at War, were not adopted; and subsequently found him actively engaged in the details of a new national Bank; the gist of the present work is rather financial than technical -more directed to the management than the making of Roads.

There seems to us to be little of novelty in it, though much to attract attention to what is already known, but which some how or other is involved in mystery. That there still remain very bad roads in this highly civilized kingdom no traveller can deny if we understand Sir Henry rightly, this arises from a defect of accurate surveys; and certainly that defect must exist, if it be yet to be learned that the road going round a hill may be as short or shorter than that going over it; seeing that without any geometrical knowledge, the merest shepherd could shew as much; that horses suffer less in going over a plain than up and down hill should also certainly have been known. If this ignorance arose from economy in trustees, we can only say that, like some other economists, they must be, in the country phrase, penny wise and pound foolish!

As to cuttings and embankments, notwithstanding the skill which we have often watched in the old hedgers and ditchers, and drainers (particularly those of Essex), we are quite ready to

admit the utility of Science and of Mr. Macneill's Tables; and whenever operations on a scale worthy of them take place, we say also, "Employ the best engineer, the most solvent contractor, and pay both very liberally ;' but we do not think that these would occupy themselves on what every body knows-as that the proximity of trees makes avenues damp in wet weather, and excludes the sun from them; and that these consequences are unfavourable to roads. We should hardly think, notwithstanding the modern doctrine of Mr. MacAdam, that "it is no matter whether the substratum of a road be soft or hard"; however neglect is too often apparent, that foundation would yet be disregarded. We know from the Romans (and the remains left of their public ways, of which the most perfect are to be found in the less frequented parts of Portugal) that they studied it minutely; and no modern soldier would think of making a surface till he had remedied any defect in the foundation, by whatever materials are within his reach. Nay, it has been suggested to us, that Mr. MacAdam himself proves little less; since, however he may throw his loads of broken stone on a soft soil, or it may harden by commixture, it is evident that, from pressure, it requires, as we see every day, fresh loads to supply the defects, whether by rut or hole, and that thus the former loads are surely substrata. And an anecdote has also been mentioned to us concerning a dignified pupil of Mr. MacAdam in a foreign country. Maj.General Sir John Milley Doyle introduced the system to the late John VI. of Portugal, who made a road to Cintra, his summer palace. Every visitor of this fashionable Richmond Hill can tell that a little beyond its centre, as well as other places, this road, for want of reiterations of stone, has become a swamp; from which all carriages have to turn aside upon a patch of the dark blue Roman stones. On the approach to Cintra, stands the old English country house of the late Queen Carlotta, built almost on a swamp, and its approaches are only paved with gravel; it is, notwithstanding, as perfect as any avenue in England; and this, although embosomed with trees, from its excellent substratum.

In Spain the Administrators of the Diligencias, we are also led to fear, failed in their attempts to introduce the system; France, a nearer neighbour, must be left to speak for herself. Sir Henry Parnell, in recommending improvements, addresses the interests of all concerned; he justly holds that mending a bad road costs more than making a good one, besides the waste of horse power in carriage; he suggests improvements on the present regulations, and would have a more responsible body than the present local trustees. In treating of canals and railways he gives a preference to the former, which is well founded; for their utility and success have been, during the last century, rendered certain; while the proposed general extension of railways and locomotive carriages has yet to be proved, and has many disadvantages, not experienced in peculiar localities, to overcome. On the whole, it is a very useful treatise on a most interesting subject; and from the rank and talent of its author, will doubtless tend to call forth that public attention to it which is everywhere required.

LONG after the south-eastern coast of New Holland had received its settlers, and its forests had been cleared, its plains cultivated, its harbours filled with ships, its hills covered with flocks, and its valleys filled with houses; all that enormous extent of country that lay west and north-west of the Blue Mountains, was terra incognita. These mountains offer, it appears, an uninterrupted ridge or spine, through whose barrier no river can, of course, force its way; so that streams, rising close to each other, immediately flow off in opposite channels. After some vain and ill-directed efforts to pass these mountains, Surveyor - general Oxley penetrated to the marshes of the Lachlan and the Macquarie; but was unable to proceed with his discoveries. Other expeditions followed; at length (1828) Captain Sturt was appointed to follow Mr. Oxley's steps, and ascertain the extent of that basin into which the Macquarie was supposed to fall, and whe

ther any communication existed between it and the streams that fall westerly. The account of this expedition is given in the first volume of this work. Capt. Sturt was enabled to pierce beyond the point which stopped Mr. Oxley, and to discover anohter river, which he called the Darling, in honour to the Governor who sent him.

We do not think that any advantage could be derived to our readers from following Capt. Sturt's path through hitherto unexplored marshes, or exhausted plains; but we shall rather briefly mention some general discoveries that are the result of this expedition.

In the first place, the natives of different tribes met with, appear to be in the lowest state of savage existence; hardly able to procure food, and that chiefly fish, sufficient to support life. They are subject to a severe and fatal cutaneous disease, which carries them off in great numbers; probably owing to the low, stagnant, marshy country in which they live.

The country, as far as Capt. Oxley could penetrate, or as far as the hori zon extended from the spot where he was obliged to terminate his expedition, seems to be a low marshy basin; the reservoir of the rivers that flow into it. The periodical droughts, recurring about every eight years, form an extraordinary phenomenon in this country; they were so severe at the period of Capt. Sturt's expedition, that the largest trees perished and fell, rivers were dried up for 30 or 40 miles, and plants and saplings were growing in their channels. The wild dogs were reduced to skeletons; and the emus, and smaller birds, were in a state of utter exhaustion. The whole country wore a dull, wretched, melancholy aspect, so as much to affect the spirits and disposition of the people whom Capt. Sturt took with him. The vegetable Flora does not appear extensive; the Eucalyptus Mannifera appears to be the most common tree; but some beautiful birds, as the crested pigeon and rose-coloured cockatoo, were seen. The wild turkey exists in some parts. This expedition of Capt. Sturt's extended in distance about 1300 miles, in a direction north-west. It is true, that not much in the way of

present advantage has been gained by this expedition; but an opening has been made; a clearer knowledge of the nearer ground has reached us, though the distant horizon is still enclosed in clouds and obscurity. One striking observation Capt. Sturt makes; that is, of the want of vegetable matter on the surface of New Holland, which leads him to consider it as comparatively of new formation; while, on the neighbouring island of Norfolk, it abounds in the greatest profusion. The main discovery is this, that the river Macquarie ceases to exist near the spot where Mr. Oxley's expedition terminated; and that another river, fed by salt springs, was discovered about one hundred miles to the westward of the Macquarie, running south and west.

The second volume is employed in the narration of another expedition undertaken for the purpose of tracing the course of the Morumbidgee, and of ascertaining whether it communicated with the coast that forms the southern boundary of the colony. After they had been almost seven days on this river, they entered a new river running from east to west, called the Murray, into which the Morumbidgee flows; and several days after, another river flowed into the Murray, which Capt. Sturt considered to be the Darling-the river he discovered in his former expedition. Another tributary stream, called the "Lindsay," was joined here from the south-east; and soon after the Murray entered a lake of 50 or 60 miles in length, and 30 to 40 in breadth, lying eastward of Gulf of St. Vincent, and extending to the shore of Encounter Bay. Should the river that flowed into the Murray prove to be the Darling, a great discovery will undoubtedly be made, that will connect the north-eastern parts of the interior with the southern coast. This, however, has still to be verified, and is very doubtful.

This expedition was admirably conducted, through many difficulties, privations, and dangers. The natives, though fearful from ignorance of our strength, were always inclined to be hostile; and several times had the party that attended Capt. Sturt completely in their power, had they known it. The country was uninteresting, the plants discovered few, and the adGENT. MAG. VOL. I.

ditions made to the geological department very rare. The emu is permitted to be eaten only by the aged savages, it is supposed lest the breed should be destroyed, by their being used for the general food. Fish is not relished by the natives, but eaten because other provisions are scarce. The tortoise is much liked. The savages roasted the birds killed and presented to them, and eat them feathers and all. The black swan, with its sweet silvery note, was seen; and some magnificent parroquets and kangaroos. That the natives are occasionally cannibals cannot be doubted; one man having been discovered, who had killed his child, and eaten it. The expedition returned, without the loss of a single man, (which they owed entirely to the good feeling and subordination existing among them, and the admirable preparations made for them,) after an absence of six months, safe to Sydney.

A Narrative of the Naval part of the Expedition to Portugal under the orders of Dom Pedro, &c. By Capt. Mins, K.T.S., late Second in command of the Squadron, &c.; with a Vindication of himself, &c. 8vo. pp. 353. Plates.

IT is singular that this should be the first of, as we believe, several publications concerning the Invasion of Portugal on the part of the young Queen Mary, that has presented itself to us, notwithstanding the necessity for accurate details on all points, and which were so well merited by this country, from its having led the way to her recognition by the European Powers. We are sorry that this first exhibits a series of embarrassments which, if extended, must have greatly impeded the Queen's Government, as well as inflicted injury on the cause.

We regret also that Capt. Mins did not arrange his work as he did his title, by separating the vindicatory matter from the narrative, because the former obviously obstructs the latter, and might, but for the powerful evidence adduced, lead to some doubts of the facts.

However, our readers require that we should furnish some account of those facts, which shall be done as briefly as possible; premising, only

K

for their information, on our own parts, that Capt. Sartorius commanded the Pyramus frigate in the Expedition under Lord Amelius Beauclerk, sent to Lisbon by Mr. Canning with the troops under Sir W. Clinton in the winter of 1826; that he remained as Commodore after his Lordship's departure; that he was generally conceived an enthusiast in the constitutional cause, and when its persecution commenced under the ministry of Don Miguel, he sheltered some of its objects on board his ship; that when Brigadier-General Sir John Milley Doyle was imprisoned in the Newgate of Lisbon, he went in all the naval pomp of his commánd to visit him, with a hope of its inducing some relaxation, and it was not his fault that it was in vain; that in society on shore Capt. Sartorius was "the gayest of the gay," played the guitar with great taste, and moreover sketched beautifully some Portuguese scenery. This much, and a broken off marriage, remains on record in Lisbon concerning him; and no more. The first point that strikes us in this work, is the Captain's change of the a in his name to e, as if to assimilate himself with the memory of the Roman general Sertorius, still so strongly preserved in Portugal.

On the agents of Don Pedro expecting a loan through Mr. Maberly, and determining to form a navy, about the end of 1830, Capt. Sartorius was engaged to command it, with the rank of Vice-Admiral, and the power of appointing officers, and the selection of ships for purchase in England. Among others engaged and strangely neglected (in particular one of the most enterprising characters of the age, who was to be the Admiral's right-hand man," left behind at the last moment) was the present author, ultimately second in command. The Congress, a Swedish frigate, afterwards named Rainha (the Queen), and Asia, an English one, afterwards Donna Maria II., were purchased for 19,000l.; and also the Juno for troops. In fitting them out they were interrupted by the agents of Don Miguel, who got them seized under the Act of Parliament, till they were claimed as French property, and sent to Belleisle. Capt. Mins was sent to Plymouth to engage seamen, who were afterwards

The

left behind, and at length, with fifteen officers and 200 men, sailed in the Lord Blayney for Belleisle. A gale drove them into Milford Haven, when the men mutineyed, and one hundred were left behind. On Dec. 18 they reached their destination, whither, on the same day, the Admiral also arrived. ships were still without stores, and the men in revolt. After much delay and many vacillations in the Admiral's appointments, Capt. Mins was appointed to the Maria as Second, and with the Rainha (with the Emperor on board), Maria, Terceira armed schooner, to land communications in Portugal, sailed on the 10th of Feb. 1832. Dates and names are rather confused, but we suppose we take them rightly: Capt. Mins had on board a large portion of the court and state of Portugal: Marquez Fronteira, Condes Villa Real, Taipa, and Lumiar; Baron Rendulfe, Generals Vasconcellos, &c. and Senhor José Silva Carvalho, present Minister of Finance, besides others. On the 24th he anchored off Angra (Terceira), was fully aided by Villa Flor, then Regent, and was joined by a valuable officer (Capt. Popham Hill) with marines; also the Terceira having performed her duty-" but no news of the Admiral." (p. 24.) Capt. Mins then proceeded, from bad weather, to Orta (Fayal); was received with joy. He returned to Terceira, and the Admiral had then arrived in bad order; one must, in common charity, suppose from the same cause that drove Mins away. After some vexations, the Rainha went to Fayal to refit, and Mins was ordered to take some Portuguese to Porto Santo (Madeira) with sealed instructions for a very general cruize; it was certainly very odd that the Admiral defeated his own as well as the Government orders, by determining to accompany him; we must not adopt ex parte a statement of numerous preventions of making prizes by him, or of consequent revolts. Porto Santo was occupied. It was certainly mal-àpropos in the Admiral to send the American ships, whose consul had been civil, away. He, however, then returned to Terceira, leaving Mins to blockade Funchal, the capital. With his one ship he nevertheless took prizes, fitted one with guns, and complimented the Admiral by calling it the Sartorius.

On the 30th April he received orders to repair to St. Michael's, and there found the Emperor at Ponte Delgado, displeased that he had not, in fact, disobeyed his Admiral. An extract of a letter of Capt. Boid, secretary of the Admiral, is given in p. 49, very damnatory indeed to both, if not in some way relieved by the context not given. As relates to the cause, however, sufficient already appears to evince a misunderstanding, on the part of the Admiral, with regard to his Second in command, which is ever dangerous in war, whether by sea or land. At all events, the Emperor must have found himself very unusually embarrassed on board his "British Fleet."

As far as we can guess, on the 27th June, 1832, the fleet, with 7,500 troops disposed in forty-two transports, sailed for Portugal, without any plan of operations, any point of rendezvous, &c., and by means only of the Emperor's well-known energies in such cases (as often on record, we add, at Rio Janeiro) disembarked in the vicinity and took possession of Oporto. Whether the place of embarkation was, as here stated, Mindella, or, as we believe, Matozinhos, or both, is of no import; they did land, the enemy retiring in a most extraordinary manner.

We must leave Capt. Mins to tell the intervening extraordinary tale (64 et seq.) to come at the conflict between the two fleets, in which we again find difficulty. His arriving at Cascaes, and being warned off by the English fleet there, was narrated at the time. He and his companion ships "anchored in the south passage of Tagus" (the safest), "saw the enemy's fleet between Belem and St. Julian's" (north side), took many vessels; and, if we understand rightly, was recalled by the Admiral from that position which the world has believed would have been the best for taking the enemy in detail. However, at length occurred the signal for action. Some mischief occurred, in which the Maria would appear to have suffered the most, though chiefly consisting in manœuvres, in which the Miguelites seem to have outdone their opponents; and our wonder is excited not to find any mention of their Admiral Joao Felles, an elevé of our Nelson. Admiral Sartorius, however, obtained credit, with

the assent of Capt. Mins, unless as relates to his being left to be battered by the enemy, which greatly annoyed his people. Honours were obtained by the Admiral for the senior officers, which the author, though he shared them, thought ill deserved, and but an excitement to better desert.

Again (p. 92) on the 22d they set sail for Lisbon, and arrived on the 25th off the Tagus. Out came the Miguelite fleet again, prizes were taken, but new squabbles occurred with the Admiral. A small schooner of one gun was despatched to Oporto to announce the sortie, whose commander, taking a prize, "carried her to Falmouth, plundered her, and decamped." Irregularities of the Admiral determined Capt. Mins to resign. His ship became injured in action, while the Admiral was firing his stern guns; mutual vituperation now occurs, and in fact every thing but about the enemy. The squadron, however, anchored at the Bayonna Islands, and the enemy were six miles off in Vigo Bay. Capt. Morgell, a brave officer, was sent to supersede Mins, and, instead, as might be expected, he advised reconciliation, and the second action occurred, and the Maria was again placed in jeopardy. The Admiral some how or other was now on board

of her, and the enemy's flag-ship only about 300 yards to her lee quarter; and besides some demonstrations, every thing was prepared to fight her, which the Admiral declined, saying he wished to communicate with Oporto. This was certainly not in the Old English fashion of "sunk, burnt, and destroyed as per margin." Nevertheless, the enemy got sufficiently peppered to return to the Tagus; and the opposing fleet to return to the Douro.

Mins with difficulty sailed to Vigo to refit. Bad weather brought thither the Admiral and others of the fleet, and also the London steamer with Marquez Palmella, &c. from communication with whom Capt. Mins asserts intrigues of the Admiral against him, and also shews his own useful services in provisioning Oporto. We can easily believe that the Princess Isabel Maria had exerted means to escape from her brother Miguel at Braga, because we have reason to know that she had before intended it from Lisbon. We