all my notes and observations, with memoirs and collections, sufficient for a full and ample history, not only of Sumatra, but of Borneo, and almost every other island of note in these seas,-my intended account of the establishment of Singapore,-the history of my own administration,-eastern grammars, dictionaries, and vocabularies,—and last, not least, a grand map of Sumatra, on which I had been employed since my arrival here, and on which, for the last six months, I had bestowed almost my whole undivided attention. This, however, was not all: all my collections in natural history,-all my splendid collection of drawings, upwards of two thousand in number, with all the valuable papers and notes of my friends, Arnold and Jack; and, to conclude, I will merely notice, that there was scarce an unknown animal, bird, beast, or fish, or an interesting plant, which we had not on board; a living tapir, a new species of tiger, splendid pheasants, &c., domesticated for the voyage: we were, in short, in this respect, a perfect Noah's ark.

All, all has perished! but, thank God, our lives have been spared, and we do not repine.'-p. 566–569.

In stating his misfortunes to the Court of Directors, in a firm and manly tone, free from all murmuring or complaint, he thus continues, after describing the loss of the ship:

It however pleased the Almighty Disposer of events to temper his judgments with mercy, and to allay the storms and currents which so constantly prevail in these seas during the present monsoon; and through the steady and great exertions of the men in the boats, we had the satisfaction to make the land in the morning, within about fifteen miles from Bencoolen. The flames from the ship, which had served to assist us in keeping a direct course to the land, had likewise been seen on shore, illumining a circumference of not less than fifty miles, and boats had been sent out in every direction to our assistance. By the aid of one of these we reached Bencoolen about four o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, after having had to contend with an unfavourable current, and latterly, a turbulent sea and adverse wind, for upwards of sixteen hours, every moment of which, under our destitute circumstances, and the boisterous nature of this coast, was pregnant with a degree of anxiety and apprehension not to be described. The state both of Lady Raffles and myself, already worn down, by illness and affliction, to the last stage of existence, was ill calculated to support the privations and exposure to which we were subjected; and long before we reached the harbour, she had fallen into a succession of fainting-fits, from which we with difficulty recovered her.

It may, however, be satisfactory to state, in concluding this melancholy account, that no lives have been lost, and that the whole of the ship's company and passengers have reached this port in safety, thankful to the Almighty for his mercies.

Submitting, as it is my duty to do, with patient resignation to this awful dispensation of Providence, I make the following statement, not

in the spirit of complaint, for I repine not, but simply as illustrative of my personal circumstances and prospects, as they stand affected by this dire and unlcoked-for calamity.

'After a service of nearly thirty years, and the exercise of supreme authority as a governor for nearly twelve years of that period, over the finest and most interesting, but perhaps least known, countries in creation, I had, as I vainly thought, closed my Indian life, with benefit to my country, and satisfaction to myself; carrying with me such testimonials and information as I trusted would have proved that I had not been an unprofitable servant, or a dilatory labourer, in this fruitful and extensive vineyard.

This lovely and highly interesting portion of the globe had, politically speaking, long sunk into insignificance, from the withering effects of that baneful policy, with which the Hollanders were permitted to visit these regions, when it fell to my lot to direct the course of the British arms to the island of Java; and there, on the ruins of monopoly, torture, and oppression, in all its shapes, to re-establish man in his native rights and prerogatives, and re-open the channel of an extensive commerce. Political events required our secession from that quarter; but the establishment of Singapore, and the reforms introduced on this coast, have no less afforded opportunities for the application and extension of the same principles.

In the course of those measures, numerous and weighty responsibilities became necessary. The European world-the Indian world(the continental part of it at least)-were wholly uninformed of the nature of these countries, their character, and resources. I did not hesitate to take these responsibilities as the occasion required them; and though, from imperfect information, many of my measures in Java were at first condemned, I had the satisfaction to find them, in the end, not only approved but applauded, far beyond my humble pretensions, and even by those who at first had been most opposed to

me.

I need refer to no stronger case than that of the Marquis of Hastings.

During the last six years of my administration, and since I have ceased to have any concern in the affairs of Java, the situations in which I have been placed, and the responsibilities which I have been compelled to take in support of the interests of my country, and of my employers, have been, if possible, still greater than during my former career; I allude to the struggle which I have felt it my duty to make against Dutch rapacity and power, and to the difficulties that I had to contend with in the establishment of Singapore, and the reforms which have been effected on this coast.

In addition to the opposition of avowed enemies to British power and Christian principles, I had to contend with deep-rooted prejudices, and the secret machinations of those who dared not to act openly; and, standing alone, the envy of some, and the fear of many, distant authorities were unable to form a correct estimate of my proceedings. Without local explanation, some appeared objectionable;

while party spirit and Dutch intrigue have never been wanting to discolour transactions and misrepresent facts.

It was at the close of such an administration that I embarked with my family in the Fame, carrying with me endless volumes and papers of information on the civil and natural history of nearly every island within the Malayan archipelago, collected at great expense and labour, under the most favourable circumstances, during a life of constant and active research, and in an especial manner calculated to throw light, not only on the commercial and other resources of these islands, but to advance the state of natural knowledge and science, and finally to extend the civilization of mankind.

These, with all my books, manuscripts, drawings, correspondence, records, and other documents, including tokens of regard from the absent, and memorials from the dead, have been all lost for ever in this dreadful conflagration; and I am left single and unaided, without the help of one voucher to tell my story, and uphold my proceedings, when I appear before your Honourable Court.'-p. 570-572. And, never forgetful of those who were at any time placed under he adds:

his care,

In expressing my deep-felt gratitude to the inhabitants of this settlement, for their sympathy in our sufferings, and genuine hospitality, I can only say, that having been thrown back on their shores most unexpectedly, we were naked, and they clothed us-hungry and athirst, and they fed us-weary and exhausted, and they comforted and consoled us ;—and I pray to God that your Honourable Court, as the immediate guardian of their interests, will bless this land of Sumatra in return, even for their sakes.'—p. 574.

So heavy a misfortune was enough to have overwhelmed in deep despondency any ordinary man; but Sir Stamford rose superior to all such calamities. Lady Raffles observes that neither murmur nor lamentation ever escaped his lips; and on the ensuing Sabbath, he publicly returned thanks to Almighty God for having preserved the lives of all present under circumstances from which there appeared no human probability of escaping. His active mind was neither depressed nor damped, but instantly resumed its wonted ardour. After this irreparable loss of all he had been collecting for so many years, and which, we are told, filled one hundred and twenty-two cases, the very next morning he re-commenced sketching out the map of Sumatra; set all his draftsmen to work in making new drawings of the most interesting specimens of natural history; despatched a number of people into the woods to collect animals; and though, by death or absence, he was deprived of all his scientific assistants, in the course of two months he succeeded in getting together a very respectable collection, part of which now forms the most valuable portion of the Zoological Museum. Indeed it was he who first

suggested,

suggested, and, in co-operation with another star of our country still more recently lost to our view, Sir Humphry Davy, planned and established that society as it now exists.

On the 8th April, he embarked in the Mariner, and arrived at Plymouth on the 22d August. It was not till April, 1826, that Sir Stamford could obtain from the Court of Directors an opinion of his services, which at length they gave, under the three heads of Java, Sumatra, and Singapore, cautious and qualified enough. They thus conclude with regard to his general services :

The government of Sir Stamford Raffles appears with sufficient evidence to have conciliated the good feelings of, at least, the great majority of the European and native population; his exertions for the interests of literature and science are highly honourable to him, and have been attended with distinguished success; and although his precipitate and unauthorised emancipation of the Company's slaves, and his formation of a settlement at Pulo Nias, chiefly with a view to the suppression of a slave traffic, are justly censured by the Court, his motives in those proceedings, and his unwearied zeal for the abolition of slavery, ought not to be passed over without an expression of approbation.'-p. 599.

Sir Stamford had vainly indulged in the hope of passing a few years in the tranquillity of domestic life, and with this view purchased a small estate at Hendon; but a sudden attack which his friends fondly hoped was not apoplectic, had evidently shattered him. My attack,' he says, 'was sudden and unexpected, but fortunately was not apoplectic, as was at first feared: he felt, however, that, as he says in one of his letters, it had shaken his confidence and nerves;' and that his head was not quite what it should be.' A very few weeks more, and the final blow came. His amiable relict thus concludes this interesting and instructive Memoir :

The few letters which have been introduced in the last pages are sufficient to prove that the death-blow had been struck-the silver cord was broken at the wheel. His sense of enjoyment, indeed, was as keen as ever, his spirit as gay, his heart as warm, his imagination still brighter, though his hopes in this world were less. He was contented with the happiness of the present moment, and only prayed for its continuance. That his prayer was not granted is his everlasting gain. Yet even here, and after so many trials and privations, he enjoyed no common pleasures: the delight of being united to friends from whom he had been so long separated; the charms of society; the interests of literature and science; the general improvement of man; and, above all, the nearer charities of domestic life, all combined to engage and occupy his mind. His heart was full of enjoyment; and in the retirement for which he had so long sighed, and surrounded by all the ties which it had pleased God to spare to him,

he

he indulged his happy spirit. In the midst of all these best of worldly treasures, in the bosom of his family, that spirit which had won its way through a greatly chequered course, was suddenly summoned to the throne of God, on the day previous to the completion of his fortyfifth year, the 5th of July, 1826.'—p. 600.

A great man said, some fifty years ago, what has been repeated by fifty other persons, our empire in India hangs by so frail a thread, that the touch of chance may break it, or the breath of opinion may dissolve it.' Chance and opinion are unquestionably two powerful agents for good or for evil; but we cannot help suspecting, that, considering the placid and pliant materials to work upon in that empire, if a Raffles were placed at the head of each of the three Presidencies, and of a fourth, or central one, which ought, as we think, to be established, chance' would be less liable to injure, and opinion the influence most likely to strengthen, the frail thread,' which binds to a foreign yoke from eighty to a hundred millions of human creatures.

ART. VI.-Journal d'un Voyage à Temboctoo et à Jenné, dans l'Afrique Centrale, &c., 1824-1828. Par René Caillié. Trois tomes, avec un Atlas. à Paris. 1830.

THE

HE French have contributed so little, of late years, to the improvement of geography, that when the mountain has brought forth the mouse, the tiny animal is so fondled aud dandled, and crammed, that it swells out to the unwieldy size of an elephant. This is precisely the case with regard to the three volumes and its atlas (for a French work is nothing without an atlas) now before us. 'Here,' says some one, speaking of Caillie's travels in Africa, here we have a subject of glory for France, and of jealousy for her eternal rival! That which England has not been able to accomplish, with the aid of a whole group of travellers, and at an expense of more than twenty millions, (bravo!) a Frenchman has done with his scanty personal resources alone, and without putting his country to any expense.' Mortifying as it may be to the writer of this paragraph, we can assure him, with great truth, that, so far from being jealous,' a very small fraction of the eternal rival' will ever know or care whether M. Caillié has or has not visited Timbuctoo, and will concern themselves still less about the 'glory' which France imagines herself to have reaped from his travels. What does this eternal cant and whining about the jealousy' and 'rivalry' of England imply, but a constantly-recurring consciousness of the intellectual and physical superiority of our countrymen over theirs?

The