BOOKS.

WALPOLE'S FOUR YEARS IN THE rectrIc.* " &mut. months of light study and heavy indiscretions" having re- duced the Honourable Frederick Walpole's purse, paled his cheek, and weakened his constitution he rejoined her Majesty's service, and was ap- pointed Midshipman, or constitution, Mate, to the Collingwood of 80 guns, then (m 1844) about to sail for the Pacific. With her he continued till she was relieved in 1848; having in the interim risen to the grade of Lieutenant, and visited Valparaiso the chief port and Santiago the capital of ; Juan Fernandez, of romantic memory ; Lima, and several towns on the coast of Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, and California ; as well as the Society and Sandwich Islands and one or two less known groups. At some of these places the visits were little beyond e,alls,„ and Mr. Walpole saw no more than could be seen in a few days' "leave" made Ow most of. At the Sandwich and Society Islands his sojourn was longer, Ins means of observation were more extensive; and, though the tempo- rary interest is past and the subject regards history or the future, he was at Otabeite while the French were trying to establish their dominion, and again when they had succeeded. Chili, however, was his head-quarters after the Collingwood's cruises : he seems to have resided there for con- siderable periods on leave of absence ; and certainly his account of the pleasures of the Pacific appears to bear out Mr. Cobden's views of the easy berths enjoyed by the officers of a man-of-war on a foreign station. At the same time, as Lieutenant Walpole has considered it his "duty to forbear all mention of ship or officers, and of all public transactions," it is probable that we have only the fair weather side—the summer season of the service.

The book before us is the general result of the author's experience, not a continuous narrative ; Mr. Walpole presenting his subjects in a chap- ter or series of chapters treating of particular matters. By this means, he avoids the tedium and commonplace that attend a full relation of travels when there is nothing remarkable to relate ; one section con- tains general description, another the account of any striking loci- dent,—as the author sporting adventures in the Andes. Mr. Walpole also possesses the qualifications to make a readable if not a valuable book. He has a fond of animal spirits, and the good-nature of the sailor, with his disposition to look on the bright side of things, and to push on through the gloomiest. His style is smart and lively,—the results of a turn of mind, not of a studied mode of composition ; nor is he devoid of vigour. Some sketches of South American history were perhaps scarcely needed ; but they are brief, rapid, and may be useful to a person not very well read in the subject, as they are obviously suggested by the scenes. The passing notice of Madeira and some other passages might have been omitted or contracted. But the comparative novelty of many of the places, people, and occurrences—the associations with which some of the spots are connected—and the freshness, vivacity, and unaffected good-nature of the writer—make up a very pleasant companion-book. The first chapter gives a short account of the most remarkable inci- dents of the voyage to Valparaiso ; whence the author returns to Ma- deira and Rio. The description of the Midshipmen's berth is not only a graphic little sketch, but is an apt sequence to our last week's paper on the case of the Naval Assistant-Surgeons. This is the scene to which the orders of the Admiralty persist in inducting the members of a learned profession.

"It was a little after noon, when, having performed the ceremony of reporting myself on deck, I descended to see my mess, and make acquaintance with my new mesamittes. The gun-room door was open; and even a landsman might have known from the noise that there dwelt the mids.' Two deal tables, very old, very shaky, though originally built by men who knew midshipmen well, and cut with devices that woufd puzzle an antiquary, were placed on either side. The space left clear was occupied by two pugilists, who, under the instruction of a famous fancy man, were milling like mad. Beer abounded in large jugs; admir- ing gazers on the fight sat round, drinking the same; in the ports men of milder mood were solacing themselves with pipes and cigars. One or two, fresh from quieter scenes, were perseveringly trying to read or write. Desks, books, the gifts of tender mothers perhaps, or of fathers who hoped for clever sons, were piled in the corners, together with boat-gear, sword-sticks, and heaps of other things past mentioning. From such a beginning you may judge what our life was to be. None liked it then more than your humble servant; and I actually underwent a course of lessons in boxing,—which seems to consist in standing up and paying a man to lick you most completely; rather a work of supererogation, as in our nightly rambles at Portsmouth we found people who did it as well for

Such are the scenes by day. The following pictures the sleeping ac- commodation.

"The lieutenants, lucky fellows! have their own cabins, (cupboards seven feet long by eight or nine wide) with a hole three inches round, to admit light and air. This lets in a gleam big enough to shave by, if properly used. The mids sleep in two large low places called the fore and after cockpits, in large bags hung up at either end. Sounder, however, is their sleep there than that of many a prince beneath his silken quilt. These hammocks are lashed up, and taken on deck every morning at half-peat six; so there is no compulsion to turn out, only you must. Here, in action, is the surgeon's paradise: legs and arms are taken off men sewed together, and men cut to pieces. In such a place as this Lord Nelson and thousands of others have breathed their last. All the mids wash and dress in public; and a noisy, skylarking scene it is, till time has cooled the love of practical jokes: then it tires."

This sketch of the albatross, also from the voyage out, is as picturesque alt any we have met with.

"The albatross is more wary, and affords better sport. Its bill is very pecu- liar, large and flat, and terminating in a formidable hooked point. It is a curious fact that his bones are quite hollow and empty ; a beautiful provision of nature. His enormous wings mark his vocation to be a wanderer of the trackless ocean, no part of which is too distant for his inspection: be where you will, there, like a guardian, he is with you. In the heaviest gales he seems perfectly at home, swooping about, now up to windward, now going down on the very whirlwind; now high above, without motion, save a tarn of his head as he surveys you with his fixed imperturbable eye; anon he walks up in the very teeth of the blast, and • Four Years in the Pacific, In her Majesty's ship “CollIngwood." By Lieutenant the honourable Frederick Walpole, R.N. In two volumes. Published by Bentley. disappears. It seems odd, bat really I sun half inclined to think they return so land every night: they always flew that way at sunset, and even on the clearest nights I never saw one. In the morning also, they always rejoin the ship a short period after daylight When you mark the incredibly short time they take to reach you from the verge of the horizon, this seems more probable than at the first mention of it. Well, but spite of his riding the tempest and not caring for the blast, he has loved, not wisely but too well, a small bit of pork; so well, in fact, as not to notice a cod-book and line attached to it. Repentance comes WO late; but with an attempt to better himself as the line is gathered in, he puts his huge web feet and enormous wings out; so the odds are even he breaks away. Slack the line, however; suddenly inau's cunning overcomes brute strength, and falling head over heels, he is on board before he knows anything more about it And now, freed from the hook, see what a poor figure he cuts in the lee-scuppers! not being able to stand, the wind catches him under the tail and throws him nearly over: there he sits, like a great booby, snapping his bill this way and that in impotent rage I Ne sutor ultra crepidans' Albatrosses may be fine fellows in the air, but they have not good sea-legs."

The different places visited along the South American coast, from Val- paraiso to Monterey, exhibit sketches equally smart and clever with

those we have quoted. The account of Chili is of a fuller and more in-

forming nature. Besides his sojourns at the port and the capital, our author made excursions in various directions, sometimes to pay visits,

sometimes to the smaller towns, and sometimes in search of sport or the picturesque. The following is a picture of country life among the wealth- ier Chilian landowners.

" The court-yard was very large. On two sides of it were the apartments of the family. The sitting-rooms alone had glass in the windows, the other rooms had merely wooden lattices; but the weather was so delightful, who would have required more Huge trunks of trees hewn square served for seats under the verandah, the large roof affording ample shade. On the other two sides were granaries and offices of all sorts: being far from any resources, each house must be complete in itself. All stores are brought in waggons from the capital. About forty homes were picketed round, many ready saddled: them were also veloches, all dusty as if fresh from the road. Though it was but eight in the morning the young ladies were up end dressed, and looked as fresh and handsome as Am country air, early hours, and health could make them. I had luckily performed an elaborate toilette by the river, so felt quite fit to join them at once. Besides the family, which was large, there were several visitors in the house, some who regularly resided there. One of these, a Spaniard, who had held high office in Peru during the rule of Spain, was indeed a favourable specimen of the cavalier° — a thorough gentleman of the old school. The quiet ease of his manner, his refined deference to ladies, his courtly mien, reminded one of what one reads of, and made one sigh to think how ill all this is exchanged for the brusquerie of our modern school. Another, who officiated as priest to the family and as tutor to the chil- dren, was a Jesuit, I believe; and if amenity of manners, great powers of con- versation, infinite knowledge of men and countries, could have won, his must have been a successful ministry. There was a soft persuasion, a seeming deep serenity in his words, very difficult to withstand. He had travelled much, and seemed to have culled fresh experience from each journey. Well read, he brought this knowledge to bear on his own experience most wonderfully; and all along there was a humility, a deference to the opinions of those whom he conversed with, in- expressibly charming. Father, the memory of our intercourse will long be en- graven on my mind; and if sincerity is to be ever judged by outward show, you were, I hope, sincere. "My guide, who as he lived at his own expense on the road, had neither eaten nor drunk, but hadtaken out the halts I made in sleep, rushed away in search of a meal that ehould cost him nothing, leaving my cattle alone. The boys belong- ing to the establishment, however, advanced, took oft' the saddles, and with a lath dismissed the tired animals to the outside, where all was pasturage; and there I found they were to rest till I left. The saddles were quickly transferred to other animals, tied to rails opposite my bedroom-door: on my saying I should not want them, it was answered, Oh, Sir, there they can remain till you do'; and during my stay a fresh horse was always ready for instant mounting within five yards of my door."

On industrial practices of any kind it is hazardous for strangers to pass an opinion, since what seems bad on the view may be found by experience to be adapted to the circumstances of the country. Many of the South American mines yielded a profit by the cheap and rough method of native working, that under the improved system of the British companies ab- sorbed the profits in the expenses. So it is often in agriculture. That which horrifies the English farmer, is found, if not the best, yet the best that can be done. The plan of threshing in Chili, though an improve- ment in point of rapidity upon that of Palestine, looks a strange wasteful method ; yet Mr. Walpole seems to intimate that not much loss attends upon the process in the fine climate of Chili. The threshing-festival stands in the place of our harvest-home. "In a far-off part of the plain the vast crops of our host's corn had been col- lected; and all the family—some on horseback, some in carriages—proceeded at an early hour to the grand function of threshing it out. The trolls, as this pro- cess is called, is a great rural feast. We rode over the track of stubble fi.eni whence it had been cut, putting up partridges in numbers as we cantered along, till shouts and a crowd showed us where the entertainment was to be seen. Se- veral sheds of boughs had been made, in which were refreshments provided by the landlord. A company of horsemen were keeping together an enormous herd of horses, principally mares and foals. It was said there were three thousand— I am sure I did not count them ; and a most singular appearance they had, for these animals are never used except for this purpose. use rest of the year they are allowed to graze at liberty on the lower slopes and valleys of the mountains. The best are picked out for sale and the use of the estate. The mares had been subjected to a process that did not add to their beauty; this was a close crop of their tail and manes. I was told this was necessary to prevent their falling a prey to the puma, which abounds here, and which, darting from ambush on the horse, is generally thrown off by the startled animal if he has not this means of securing his hold. None of the animals I saw here were fine, save one magnifi- cent bay mule, whom it required a keen eye to distinguish from a horse. The people, too, have such a different taste in horses from ourselves! Great fat and a large tail are essentials; but they are well aware that the horses they prize for showing off in the capital are not good for work; so they ride lees showy and more useful animals in the country. "A huge circle was railed in by enormous posts, the interstices fenced with bushes: this was filled with the straw unthreshed, to a height of full six feet "The approach of our 'party seemed the signal for operations to commence, and the horsemen drove the herd of horses up a lane formed of empty waggons

the corn-ring. At first they could only get on by furious jumps, but ere the whole drove were in, half the grain at least was trodden down. Several horse- men now stood in the entrance, and the rest, dividing the horses into droves, with shouts, yells, and whirling lassoes, began to make them gallop round. In the centre was an enormous pile, which, as that on the sides became trodden down, into

was hove on to them. Every two or three minutes the whole body turned and galloped the contrary way: to avoid giddiness, some of the old stagers ran into the centre, and were only compelled to leave after many cuts and shouts. " The fatigue to the poor animals must have been tremendous, and the horse- men at the entrance had frequently to stand back and allow some poor weak foal to go out. This opportunity was generally taken advantage of by others also; and then began a hunt: the horsemen who were outside were in instant pursuit, and with wild shoots, flying ponchoes, and unerring lasso ready, galloped after them. Few, I noticed, ever allowed the lasso to be thrown, but when they found speed would not clear them, resigned themselves to their fate, and came sulkily back. In fact, all allow that such is the severity of the shock occasioned by being caught, that an animal who has once felt it never forgets it. This can easily be believed, and the very boys in driving cattle can check the most refractory horse by siecelya whirl or two of the long thong they have at the end of their rein. After the animals had, with a few short intervals, been driven about for three hours, they were let out; nor did any seem anxious to wander far, so exhausted and done were they all. When it is considered that these animals are principally mares and young foals, the smallness and weedy appearance of the race of horses in the country is easily accounted for; as, with few-exoeptions' all at some period of their lives undergo this work. They come down fat and full from the rich pastures of the valleys, and this labour generally quite uses them up."

Mr. Walpole was at Monterey during part of the Mexican war ; and he gives a slight account of the goings on there. Here is his picture of Fremont and his band of explorers ; though, as it turned out, of soldiers, either by secret instructions or implied understanding.

"During our stay Captain Fremont and his party arrived, preceded by another troop of American horse. It was a party of seamen mounted, who were used to scour the country to keep off marauders. Their efficacy as sailors, they being nearly all English, we will not question. As cavalry they would probably have been singularly destructive to each other. Their leader, however, was a fine fel- low,and one of the best rifle-shots in the States. Fremont's party naturally ex- cited curiosity. Here were true trappers, the class that produced the heroes of Fenimore Cooper's best works. These men had passed years in the wilds, living on their own resources: they were a curious set. A vast cloud of dust appeared first, and thence in long file emerged this wildest wild party. Fremont rode a- head, a spare active-looking man, with such an eye! He was dressed in a blouse and leggings, and wore a felt hat. After him came five Delaware Indians, who were his body-guard, and have been with him through all his wanderings: they had charge of two baggage-horses. The rest, many of them blacker than the Indians, rode two and two, the rifle held by one hand across the pommel of the saddle. Thirty-nine of them are his regular men, the rest are loafers picked up lately: his original men are principally backwoodsmen from the State of Tennes- see, and the banks of the upper waters of the Missouri. He has one or two with him who enjoy high reputations in the Prairies. Kit Canons is as well known there as the Duke is in Europe. The dress of these men was principally a long loose coat of deer-skin, tied with thongs in. front ; trousers of the same, of their own manufacture, which, when wet through, they take off, serape well inside with a knife, and put on as soon as dry: the saddles were of various fashions, though these and a large drove of horses, and a brass field-gun, were things they had picked up about California. The rest of the gang were a rough set; and perhaps their private, public, and moral charaeters, had better not he too closely examined. They are allowed no liquor, tea and sugar only: this, no doubt, has much to do with their good conduct, and the discipline too is very strict. They were marched up to an open space on the hills near the town, under some large firs' and there took up their quarters in messes of six or seven in the open air. The Indians lay beside their leader. One man, a doctor, six foot six high, was an odd-looking fel- low: may I never come under his hands ! "The party, after settling themselves, strolled into the town, and in less than two days passed in drunkenness and debauchery, three or four were missing.

'Sharp is the knife, and sudden is the stroke, And sorely would the Yankee foemen rue If subtile poniards wrapt beneath the cloak

Could blunt the sabre's edge or clear the cannon's smoke.' They were accordingly marched away into those wilds of which they seemed much better citizens. In justice, however, to the Americans, I must say they seemed to treat the natives well, and their authorities extended every protection to them. One of the gang was very uncivil to us, and threw on us the withering imputation of being Britishers, with an intensity of scorn that must have been painful to himself: on inquiry, he was found to be a deserter from the Marines. In fact, the most violently Yankee were discovered to be English fellows, of high principles, of course."

There are some very striking descriptions of scenery in the different groups of islands visited by Mr. Walpole, and interesting accounts of the people and their kindness, mingled with some political reflections. One of these, a wonderful exhibition of natatory powers, we will quote : for the remainder we must refer to the volumes. The scene of the feat is the Sandwich Islands.

"One of the greatest attractions was a waterfall, about three hundred yards up the river. It needed not the feats done there to make the fall of the Wail uka or River of Destruction worth looking at. The river ran for some hundred yards or so in rapids, over rocks and stones, the banks, crag, and precipice, two hundred feet high, whose rudeness was softened and refined by tendrils and creepers, that hang down to the foaming water, which illnaturedly jerked them as it rushed by. A huge rock divided the stream, one half of which dashed petulantly on, and met a noisy fate down the fall; while the other, of a milder, gentler nature ran along a channel of solid rock, and fell in one heavy stream a depth of ;bout twenty-five feet, joining the rough waters below. A little turmoil succeeded the Junction; then they flowed quietly on, like brothers, arm-in-arm, till they fell again, and soon were lost in the salt waters of the ocean.

"The great delight of the natives is to go down this fall. They sit in the channel I have described; they utter a shout, a scream of joy, join the hands gracefully over the head, and, one after another' the girls of Hilo descend, emerg- ing like sea-nymphs in the eddy below. The figure, as it gleams for an instant in the body of water, appears to those standing below quite perfect; and the ga7 shouts and laughing taunt to follow, has led to the death of many; for there is some secret current that not only drowns, but carries away the body too. The feat was attempted by three of our men; but none, I think, did it twice. "The descent of the lower fall is a lesser feat, and thesensation of going down it head foremost delightful: even that, however, is often fatal; and during our stay hem, a man was lost merely through making a false step from the bank. The surprising agility of the women especially baffles description. One will sit by your side on the high bank, and remain so till you throw a stone into the Rater with all your force; then down she jumps, straight as an arrow, her feet crossed one over the instep of the other, and emerges with a laugh, holding up the stone. On first attempting to rise to the surface after going down the fall, the water seems, from the force of the current, to be matted overhead, and it is Only by striking out into the eddy that you can rise: this the girls manage to Perfection. They kick out their feet both together, and replaiting their hair with their hands, they float about the edge with a grace that is beautiful to see. Then the water is clear and blue, not cold, frosty, half-thawed. As lazily one watched the stream, down dropped from the ledges overhead, and cut the bright water, what SOon reappeared, a man or woman. These ledges are fifty or eighty feet high ; Tot none seemed to regard it as a feat, and the merry laugh told you it was done Oat to surprise the European. We appeared contemptible in our own eyes as we skarried from the rain with our umbrellas: but we soon yielded to wiser teachiog, threw care away, got wet and dry again without minding it, swam, and enjoyed it as much as they did."