29 JUNE 1844, Page 15

SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

Tamara, Travels in Southern Abyssinia. through the Country of Adal to the Kingdom of Shoe.

By Charles Johnston, M.R.C.S. lu two volumes Madden and Co.

Patuclea.gs OF POLITICS, Political Philosophy. By Henry Lord Brougham. F.R.S. &c. Part III.—Of De- mocracy. Mixed Monarchy. [Under the Soperintendeuce of the Society for the

Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.] Charles Knight and Co.

Fiction. Hildebrand, or the Days of Queen Elizabeth; an Historical Romance. By the Au-

thor of ". The King's Son." In three volumes Mortimer.

PHILOSOPHY OF LEGENDS. Introduction to a Scientific Cystem of Mythology. By C.O. 151 filler. Author of "The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race," &c. &c. By John Leitch.

Longman and Co.

JOHNSTON'S TRAVELS IN SOUTHERN ABYSSINIA.

JOHNSTON was a medical officer of the steamer Phlegethon ; but resigned his appointment in 1841, in order to indulge a long- cherished wish to penetrate the interior of Africa. Having been introduced to several members of the Government in Calcutta, be experienced from them every disposition to forward his adventurous propensities ; and at last he was put in charge of stores forwarded from Aden to the Embassy in Shoa, of which Major Halms was the head. Traversing the line of desert-country passed by the Major in his progress to the Highlands of Ethiopia, and equally dependent upon the native tribes that were engaged to conduct him, though with less of attendance and material pomp, Mr. JOHNSTON arrived safely at his destination ; where about one of the first things he did was to quarrel with the Ambassador. This difference shut him out from the countenance of the Mis- sion; whilst an intermittent fever, that he had contracted in India and never shook off, was aggravated by the rainy season, sometimes incapacitating him from leaving his couch, and generally from much active exertion. Hence he saw but little of the kingdom of Shoa. A town called Aliu Amba was his principal domicile, as the air of that place agreed with his disorder ; and, with the exception of some visits to Ankobar, to have interviews with the King, SAHALE SELASSiE, and an occasional excursion, he remained here during his sojourn—or at least as long as his narrative continues, for he breaks off abruptly, in consequence of having filled two volumes. We gather, however, from incidental remarks, that a sort of hollow truce was effected between Mr. JOHNSTON and Major 1:bums, by the efforts of Captain GRAHAM, an officer of the Mission ; and that our author finally returned with the Embassy. As Mr. JOHNSTON's journey was shorter than that of Major HARRIS, and his opportunities of observation were very much less, it follows that his narrative possesses little novelty beyond what arises from the different views taken of the same subject by differently-constituted minds. Of this kind of difference there is plenty ; for Mr. JOHNSTON does not merely differ from Major HARRIS in his estimate of the savage tribes that occupy the deserts between Shoa and the sea, or in his views of the geographical cha- racteristics of Abyssinia and the surrounding countries, and many points in the history and religion of Shoa—he depreciates the Em- bassy and contradicts the Ambassador. According to Mr. JOHN.. siva, our influence is lost in Shoa, and that of the French para- mount : the Monarch was entrapped into signing a treaty without understanding its stipulations, then hectored diplomatically for violating what he had not understood : if credit is due to any one except the King himself for liberating his brothers, Mr. JOHNSTON claims the merit from Major HARRIS ; and in short, he intimates that had not the Embassy departed when it did, it would have been cavalierly dismissed. Upon the more narrative parts of the Highlands of Ethiopia Mr. JOHNSTON is equally unceremonious ; missing no opportunity of having a " fling at them." We have already intimated our own doubts * as to how far the literary animation of Major HARRIS may not have somewhat coloured his sketches, making them brighter than nature : but beyond this we cannot enter into the personal controversy,—which is indeed not very satisfactorily or convincingly managed, either in these volumes or in a species of pamphlet by Major HARRIS, entitled " Introduction to the Second Edition of the Highlands of Ethiopia." As regards our "influence" in Abyssinia, we believe its importance overrated by both travellers, especially by Mr. JOHNSTON. We still retain our opinion that Shoa for purposes of national commerce is value- less, and will continue to be so for many years, on account of the national character and the natural obstacles in the desert lying be- tween its table-land and the Red Sea. Any benefit to British trade or the African race must be attempted from the rivers falling into the Indian Ocean on the South-eastern or Eastern coast.

As a book of travels, Mr. JOHNSTON'S work has much less variety and adventure than the Highlands of Ethiopia ; not merely from the personal circumstances already mentioned, but from this au- thor's having traversed the desert at a more favourable season as regards both heat and water. His position, however, was better adapted to observation of the people. Travelling merely in the character of an agent and without escort, he had to rely solely on the caravan for protection, or, more correctly, upon such friends as he could make : when he arrived in Shoa, his very scanty means and his quarrel with the Embassy limited him entirely to native society ; and his ill health, confining him to the house, exhibited this society in its homely and domestic phases. Hence we are not surprised that he has formed a more lenient opinion of these people than Major HARRIS, who saw less of them, and, as a great man with great patronage to bestow, from a much less favourable point of view. The pictures of native character and native manners * Spectator, 6th January 1844. are by far the most valuable and interesting part of Mr.JoussroN's book ; and we think he would have done wisely had he limited his publication to material of this kind. His long disquisitions on the origin and genealogy of the African peoples, as well as his conjec- tural views upon the geography of the region, have no attraction for general readers, and are out of place as they stand. His nar- rative, wanting interest and story to sustain it, is, like his journey, long, and, notwithstanding the magnitude of his volumes, incom- plete. For this abrupt conclusion we can conceive no excuse. That the work is too large for the information it conveys, may readily be conceded ; but inexperience is an insufficient defence. A person contemplating two octavo volumes, and filling nearly a thousand pages, should form some plan, and estimate the part ex- ecuted as he goes along.

Although Mr. JOHNSTON cannot pretend to the animation and vivacity of HARRIS, and his defective plan or no-plan renders his book as a whole heavy, yet his style is not devoid of the merit of clearly and unpretendingly reflecting his original. The following is a pretty landscape-sketch.

AN OASIS.

It was a beautiful spot which was selected for the encampment ; the whole surface of the earth being one extensive green sward of fresh young grass. Mimosa-trees there grew to an extraordinary height, festooned from the top- most branches with a many-flowered climbing-plant,which, extending from tree to tree, formed a continued suite of the coolest bowers. The auto also offered its thick shade of round velvet-like leaves; from amidst which. its short white trunk seemed to represent the painted tent-pole of some bright green pavilion, of the richest material. Doves in all directions fled startled at our approach; only to return immediately, with louder cooing, to the quickly-remembered care of their young, who, in flat slightly-built nests of dry sticks and grass, lay crowding to the centre, as if aware of the insecurity of their frail-built homes. Hares in great numbers bounded from beneath our feet, and after running a few yards, would turn to gaze again upon the intruders on the quiet of their retreats ; whilst the tall stalking bustard scarcely deigned to notice our arrival, but, seemingly intent upon his beetle-hunt, slowly removed himself from the increasing noise. The scene was particularly inviting to me after the stones and sand of the previous few days' journey.

SELLING CHILDREN BY THE DANRALLI ARABS.

Many of the Dankalli Bedouins do certainly sell their female children. Garahmee, as I have before observed, had thus disposed of three, and Moosa of two daughters; and on more than one occasion I had offered to me for sale, girls from ten to fourteen years old, at the price of about four or live dollars each. In merchandise, the value of a really handsome slave girl appears much more trifling than when paid for in hard dollars; as six or seven cubits of blue sood, worth about two shillings in England, is a more than sufficient tempta- tion to induce even a mother to part with her child. These bargains, I ob- served, were always transacted with the female relatives; but the returns, I was told, were generally handed over to the fathers or brothers. The girls were frightened to death at the idea of being sold to me, but seemed happy enough to leave their desert homes in search of fortunes elsewhere, with masters of their own colour ; and both parents and children, in these business transactions, supported themselves most stoically, although on the eve of being separated for ever.

DILEMMAS WITH THE LADIES.

I was, as usual, strongly recommended whilst staying at Murroo to take a wife, like Ohmed Mahomed, Ebin Izaak, and in fact all the rest of my com- panions; who, as is usual, had taken to themselves, temporary helpmates. One of the girls, who presented herself to me as a candidate, was stated by her friends to be a very strong woman, and had bad as many as four or five hus- bands. I thought this a rather strange recommendation ; but it was evidently mentioned that she might find favour in my eyes. I dismissed her very un- ceremoniously, as if I did not altogether understand the proposal; but at the same time, gave her as proofs of my regard for her people, and of my strong platonic attachment to herself, a few red beads, and a little paper, that she had asked for in the first instance as her dower.

It requires some little address to keep clear of these unscrupulous ladies; and I frequently had cause to fear that my constant rejection of their addresses would be construed into an affront to the tribes to which they belonged. An Arab friend of mine 1 met at Mozambique, named Said Hamza, told me of an adventure of his in the country of the Muzeguaha, some five or six weeks' journey up the large river that empties itself into the Indian Ocean at Lemon. He had been fined by the chief for forming some matrimonial connexion with- out his authority ; so he determined to have nothing more to do with their women. A girl coming into his hut, he accordingly walked out ; and this caused a much greater quarrel than before, for the whole tribe asserted he had treated them with contempt by his haughty conduct towards the girl, and de- manded to know if she were not good enough for him. Said Hamza in the end was again mulcted of a lot of brass wire and blue sood, before he could allay the national indignation, which his extreme caution had thus excited.

Such delicate dilemmas are best avoided, as I have before remarked, by en- gaging the first old woman that makes her appearance. To her must be re- ferred all new comers of her sex; and she will generally manage to send them away without compromising the traveller at all.