the neighbouring nations by the appellation of wild men. The Bijugas are above the middle size, muscular, boney, and well proportioned; they have the appearance of great strength and activity; their noses are more elevated, and their lips less thick than their neighbours; their teeth good, which are sometimes filed to a sharp point like the teeth of a saw; their hair woolly, and shaved into every fanciful form, or shape, which can be imagined, from wearing the whole of it to none; what they do wear is generally dressed with red ochre and palm oil, as ours is with powder and pomatum. Every Bijuga is a warrior; his amusement the chace, his delight war. Not so far advanced in civilization as their neighbours, they are yet ignorant of weaving the cotton into cloth; a deer, or a goat-skin, is therefore the only dress of the men. In their arms they are the more splendid. A long buccaneer gun, kept in the most perfect order, is carried in the right hand; a solingen sword, about four feet long, and as sharp as a razor, not figura. tively speaking, for it is sometimes employed as one, is slung on the left shoulder, the hilt of it coming close under his arm. In his left hand he holds a round convex shield, formed of interlaced withes, covered with buffaloe's hide. The same hand grasps a spear. Except a few days in the year, when he prepares the ground for, and sows rice, war and the chace is his sole occupation; and he is never without his arms; to keep which in the most perfect order is his greatest pride. No people understand the use of them better than they do with their gun they seldom miss their object; and with their spear or assagaye, I have seen them strike a reed about ten inches long, and not thicker than a tobacco pipe, : at the distance of twenty yards; and in the use of the broad sword, they are more active and expert than any people whom I have ever seen. When they attack, they first discharge their guns kneeling and supporting the left elbow on the left knee; they then throw it down, and advancing to a proper distance, covering themselves with their shield, they launch their assagaye, and then have recourse to their sword. They approach squatting, with their shield nearly covering their whole body; its convex form is admirably adapted to turn off the enemy's shot, indeed a musquet ball will not penetrate it. Unconnected by any ties with the neighbouring nations, whom they generally hold in contempt, they consider the world as their own; and that what it contains they have a right to plunder. If they can be compared to any State known in Europe, it must be to the Algerines : they war with every body, and always plunder the weak; but there is one nation against which they are particularly inveterate, no living person in either remembering even traditionary peace between them, this nation, mild and inoffensive, as the Bijugas are the reverse, is held in such sovereign contempt by them, that, regardless of number, wherever they meet, they attack them. This nation is the Biafara. Bulama was for a long time the chief object of contention between these hostile nations, till at length the Biafaras, tired and worn out with the continual attacks of their martial neighbours, evacuated the island, and retired to Ghinala, up the Rio Grande. Here, however, they would not be safe, if, happily for them, the Bijugas were not far behind all their neighbours in their knowledge of the adjacent shores, and the management of boats. This is the more extraordi. nary, as an insular situation has al ways been supposed favourable to early his people. early improvement in the navigation out of the same calabash with The nearest of the inhabited Bijuga islands to us at Bulama, was that of Canabac, the inhabitants of which had, (besides Bulama, till we purchased it from them,) the islands of Galenas, so named from the quanty of Guinea fowls upon it; Ilos dos Porcos, or Hogs Island, and those of Mayo, Jamber, and Honey, all uninhabited, for hunting islands; on the last two they annually cultivate rice. It did not appear to me that the Bijugas of Canabac had any slaves in their island; those of their own nation are probably never reduced to that state, unless for the crimes of witchcraft and adultery; and then, most likely, instantly sold to the Portuguese, as well as all those who might have fallen into their hands by the chance of war. Their women, who seemed to perform all the menial domestic duties, are as simple in their dress as the men; a thick fringe made of the shred of palm leaves, about six inches long, tied round their waist, formed their only covering. Their government, like all others on the coast that I know any thing about, is monarchical, but the power of the sovereign seems trifling; he cannot be known from his subjects by any external mark of dress, or respect shown to him; and he eats any of As to their confined notions of religion, I believe that they are the same as those of their neighbours; but they have one peculiarity; and that is, of sacrificing a cock, prior to their undertaking any thing serious, or sanctioning any weighty measure; such as the undertaking an expedition for plunder, selling one of their islands, or even entering into trade with a person whom they have not known. Should a white stranger go to their island, with a view to make a treaty or the forming of any connection with them, they would previously sacrifice one or more cocks; and from the examination of the gizzard (I was given to understand,) they pretend to ascertain whether the motives of his visit are good or evil. When in Jalorem's house, I observed a little round place made of clay somewhat resembling an oven, in one corner, and I asked Gillion, my interpreter, what it was, and said that I should like to look inside of it. He desired me not to look at it too much, for Jalorem's people would not like it, it was his gris-gris house:" now in this place, I believe, but am not certain, their sacrifices take place. It is singular, that the presents which I received from the women of Bellchore, Jalorem, and the king of Suoga, were always cocks, and generally perfectly white ones. On Canabac there are two towns or villages, each governed by a separate king, who, when I was at Bulama, were named Bellchore, and Jalo rem. Bellchore is the dread of the neighbouring people, and is reckoned the greatest warrior the Bijuga nation ever produced. He still boasts of having set fire to the town of Bissao, notwithstanding its strong fort fort and numerous garrison; and, to others, he will probably boast of hio triumph over us on the western point of Bulama. He is old, but upright and active, and stands full six feet high: his large black eyes, the fire of which seventy rains have not yet extinguished, are the most penetrating I ever saw his nose is long, large, and projecting; his teeth regular and white; his limbs well proportioned; his understanding clear and acute; and in both body and mind he stands pre-eminent among his countrymen. But his courage, his policy, his restless activity, his daring enterprizes, and his love of war, which have rendered him the admiration of his countrymen, have procured him, at the same time, the hatred and detestation of all those nations that lie within the reach of his lawless expeditions. Jalorem, on the contrary, is distinguished from the rest of his country men, by his mildness and peaceable disposition. Particulars of an Attempt to form an English colony among the BIJUGAS. From the same. THE Calypso sailed from Goree on the 19th, and on the 21st anchored in Bijuga channel. On the 24th she got sight of the island of Bulama, and sent all the boats armed on shore. The next day one of the boats having returned, the ship got under weigh, and proceeded towards that island, where she anchored in the evening. On Sunday the 3d of June, instead of assembling the colonists at prayers, and taking that opportunity of pointing out to them their precise situation, the difficulties they had to encounter, the necessity of order, regularity, sobriety, and industry; in short, the virtues that would ensure Feb. 1806. the prosperity, or the vices that would tend to the destruction of the colony; instead of doing this, which their situation imperiously called for, every one was wandering about the island in pursuit of some favourite amusement. Some were on the shore fishing among the rocks, or seeking crabs and mussels; others taking oysters from the Mangrove branches, while many were inland, botanizing, or hunting after lizzards; and others chasing, some butterflies, and some elephants; a few were sleeping by the hut where the arms were kept, and some of the women were sitting in its shade: thus were the colonists scattered at 2 o'clock when the Bijugas made an attack. They began by firing a volley into the hut; which rousing those who were asleep in it, as they rushed out, they were shot, Those who were near the beach, and ran towards it on hearing the firing of musquetry, in order to get on board, were intercepted by another party, and met with the same fate. In short, all the men who were near the hut, at the time of attack, were either killed or wounded; and all the women and children taken prisoners. Some at a little distance hid themselves behind the rocks till the firing had ceased, and by that means they escaped to the ship; and all those who were distant in the woods, many of whom did not return until very late, escaped also. On board the Calypso, during this dreadful scene on shore, all was disorder, all confusion. They indeed sent two armed boats on shore as soon as they could, to receive and protect those who had fled to the beach for assistance; but the work of death was done; the object of the savages accomplished. They had surprised and destroyed; and then, loaded with booty, had retreated to the bushes. When the boats reached the shore the the firing had ceased, and a few colonists, who had been alarmed at it, having been near enough to hear, without seeing its effects till they passed the dead bodies, were standing up to the neck in water, waiting to be taken on board.. Of those who were absent in the woods, some heard, and some did not hear the firing,but they all returned, although late, in safety. In this melancholy affair we had five men and one woman killed, four men wounded, and four women and three children taken prisoners. There can be no doubt the Biju gas had watched the motions of our people for the two or three preceding days; and most likely from the 30th of May, when their war canoe first made its appearance, and they had observed them straggle into the woods in the morning by twos and threes, and return again in the evening, and that those who remained at the hut were generally asleep from one to three during the greatest heat of the day, and that no watch whatever was kept. They had therefore chosen the best time for commencing their attack, when those who were not absent were asleep. That they had watched us closely was evident from their firing at first at no individual person, but into the block-house where the people were sleeping; and as they ran out, they Children taken.-Two of Mrs Baker's, one of Mrs Harley's *Died of their wounds. were killed or wounded one by one. The Bijugas immediately after rushed into the block-house, where they found sixty stand of arms loaded and primed, which they instantly seized, and turning against the colonists, killed them with their own weapons. Not one Bijuga was either killed or wounded; indeed a single musquet had not been discharged at them, for those at a distance from the block. house were unarmed; and those who were in it fell victims to their incautious conduct, ere their half-opened eyes could discover the cause of their alarm. Kitchen utensils, wearing apparel, and other European articles, highly prized by the savages, besides sixty stand of arms, with a quantity of ammunition, was the rich booty obtained by them after their daring attack; and bad as that was, it were well had it been all. The Bijugas had foreseen that our people would endeavour to escape to the beach opposite the ship in the moment of attack; they had therefore sent a party round to cut off their retreat, which they did effectually; and the poor women and children who had fled from the hut were all taken prisoners. Some degree of humane consideration seems to have regulated the conduct of these savages, for they never attempted, in the attack, either to kill or wound any of the women or children; though after it was over, and they were retreating through the woods, they committed an act of cruelty on one of them, which is not to be reconciled even with the lowest possible degree of feeling. Among all who suffered on this occasion, the fate of Mr and Mrs Gardiner was certainly the most cruel, and the most lamented. He had been wounded by a mus Died at Canabac, just after their quet ball, and was endeavouring to redemption, reach the beach, when he was intercepted septed by one of the party of the islanders that had been stationed for that purpose. To go back was certain death; to advance towards the ship, it was necessary to pass this man. Unarmed, and weakened by loss of blood, Mr G. advanced, bowing as he approached; but the savage, regardless of his humiliation, made a stroke at him with his welltempered cutlass, which Mr G. at. tempting to parry with his hand, it was severed from the arm at the wrist *. He passed on into the water, and was one of those standing up to his chin in it, when the boats from the Calypso arrived to carry them on board. He died a few days afterwards. His wife having witnessed the fate of her husband, was a prisoner in the hands of the savages; these having rifled the block-house and stripped the dead †, began their retreat with their prisoners and booty across the island. Mrs G. was unfortunately lame, and, unable to keep pace with their rapid march, they therefore shot her. (To be continued.) Europeans can scarcely form an idea of the order in which these savages keep their arms. Their cutlasses I can compare only to razors. They try their edge on the back of the nail, as we do razors in Europe. They answer to them very frequently, the purpose of a knife. I have seen one of them draw his sword and cut off a steak of venison with as much ease as a butcher would with his long sharp knife in our markets. The blades are about four feet long, and Solingen is marked on them all. One of the slain had on a pair of what are called musquito trousers, which buttoned at the ancle; these ignorant people, not knowing how to unbutton them, and unable to strip them off with out it, cut off both the feet for that purpose. To their Honours the SUPREME JUDGE and SUPERINTENDANTS of the PoLICE of EDINBURGH, The Remonstrance of all the WALLS of that City and Suburbs, Respectfully represents, THAT they have been grossly and unjustly accused, in a Petition from the RIGHT HAND AND THE LEFT, addressed to your Honours in the last number of the Scots Magazine; and that, impressed with a consciousness of their innocence, they feel it a duty incumbent upon them, to step forward in vindication of their character, by repelling the charges brought against them in said Petition, and to claim your Honours' protection : That your Remonstrants humbly conceive, that so far from their being the cause of the improprieties and disorder specified by the Petitioners, they are entirely guiltless of any one of the charges narrated: That they have long and respectably maintained their station in this ancient city, and uniformly supported a character creditable to themselves and beneficial to society; and that having hitherto received the unqualified approbation of all the inhabitants of the most unblemished reputation, and of the first station in public and private life, they likewise conceive is a convincing proof of their veracity: That, emboldened by this conviction, and stimulated by a desire to expunge every stain wantonly and maliciously thrown on their character, they firmly and positively deny that they possess any of the qualities which it has been asserted they inherit: That they have no power whatever, either attractive or repulsive in their nature, and that the whole fault of irregularity, confusion, and interruption, originates, not in them, but in the very Petitioners. who |