8 FEBRUARY 1851, Page 17

A TRANSPORT VOYAGE TO THE MAURITIUS AND BACK. * THE lively

and agreeable author of "A Hot-Water Cure" and " Paddiana " likes to lie fallow, although both his subjects and his style are of the " light " kind, which many seem to think can be struck off as regularly as the month comes round. In this reticence he shows his prudence. Nature, so far as any single intellect can find time and means to look at her, is not very various, and reminiscences or observations soon involve somewhat of generic repetition. The smart style palls by too frequent recurrence ; whereas, let a few years pass by, and the writer comes out as good as new. The vivacious manner, too, may not be so easy as it appears, at least with matter to match.

The topics of this writer's present volume are, a voyage which he made some years ago from Cork to the Mauritius with a detachment of his regiment ; a sojourn in Mauritius, with descriptions of the life and character of its inhabitants ; and three calls that he made on his return home, at Algoa Bay, the Cape' and St. Helena. In such a theme there is not much prospect at first sight : men in marching regiments and the commissariat are doing more than this in the way of adventure daily, to say nothing of "commercial gentlemen," colonists, and travellers for the pleasure of it. The old soldier makes his book amusing, as Hazlitt says Junius beat down Horne Tooke, "by the mere force of his style." The embarkation at Cork—the voyage with a fair wind, in a calm, and in a storm—daily life at sea and the company on board—with severe/ " yarns " supposed to be spun by the captain and mate, are stale subjects enough, but are made amusing by the writer's power of delineation. The Mauritius, with its French, English, and mixed Coloured population of a date before the abolition of slavery, have • A Transport Voyage to the Mauritius and Back; touching at the Cape of pond Hope and St. Helena. By the Author of "Paddiana," 'A Hot-Mater Cure, ' &c. &e. Published by Murray.

greater novelty; but the writer was not there long, and had little more time than suffioed to look about him. Algoa Bay, with its Hottentots, Boers, and .game—the Cape boarding-house and its inmates, with the sights and company of the olden time—are also new as subjects for sketches. St. Helena is barren as well as lone; and that part of the book, though short, might have been spared.

Subject, in the sense of a theme containing substantial matter Or information, is, however, nothing to the writer. Provided there be fun, point, or peculiarity in incident, person, or thi as it is enough for him. The workmanship surpasses the material. -Give him but the ingredients we have named, and he will turn out a lively sketch, a good story, a sensible remark on life, or hit off a social weakness, and all done with a vivacity that titillates and entertains. It is true, there is a dark side to the luminary ; and when the necessary ingredients fall short, the cook is occasionally prone to try what skill can do without means, and falls somewhat into the trick of "writing." These lapses, however, are rare, and well managed. A "good story," or the sketch of a "character," is a strong point with our author; and both these are contained in the tale of Major Holder and his hats. The subject of the joke was an Indian officer at the Cape on leave of absence, and an inmate of the boarding-house where the writer was located.

The most singular character which Cape Town presented was a Major Holder, of the Bombay Army. In dress he was entirely unique. He wore invariably a short red shell-jacket, thrown open, with a white waistcoat, and short but large white trousers, cotton stockings, and shoes; on his head a cocked-hat, with an upright red and white feather, the whole surmounted by, a green silk umbrella, held painfully aloft to clear the feather : to this may be added a shirt-collar which acted almost as a pair of blinkers on either aide. In person he was ample, but somewhat shapeless; and he had a vast oblong face, which neither laughed nor showed any sign of animation whatever.

"The history of the Major's cocked-hat was as follows. Strolling into an auction at Bombay, he was rather taken with the reasonable price of a cocked-hat, which the flippant auctioneer was recommending with all his ingenuity. Going for six rupees—must be sold to pay the creditors. No ad vance upon six ? Shall we say ?' In an evil hour the Major bid for the hat, left his address, and returned to his quarters, the happy possessor of a bargain.' "Seated at breakfast the next morning, a procession is observed approaching the house ; four men carrying a large packing-case slung to a pole, and headed by a half-caste, with a small paper in his hand.

"'Major Holder, ear, brought you the cocked-hats, ear; all sound and good, sar ; wish live long to wear out, ear. Here leer bill, which feel obleege you pay, ear.' 'Whereupon he puts into the hands of the astounded commander a document, headed Major Thomas Holder, of H.E.I.C.'s — Regt., Dr. to estate of --and Co., bankrupts, for 72 cocked-hats, pur chased at auction,' 8m. &c. &c. . I "It was in vain that the Major remonstrated after he understood the predicament in which he was placed; in vain he appealed to the auctioneer— to the company present; it was too good a joke, and they would have given it against him under almost any circumstances. Major Holder was a rigid economist ; he had also a mind which admitted but one idea at a time, and, indeed, not very often that. Ile was possessed of six dozen of cocked-hats, and they must be worn out. Being mostly in command of his own regiment, he had unlimitedehoicse as to his own head-dress; so he commenced the task at once. From thenceforth all other hats or caps were to him matters of history. At the economical rate of two hats a year, he might safely calculate upon being much advanced in life before the case was exhausted. True, there were drawbacks : he was much consulted about auctions by his friends; many inquiries made of him on that point ; bills of auctions, and especially anything relating to cocked-hats, forwarded to him by the kind attention of acquaintance ; and a question very currently put to him by the ensigns was, Tom, how are you off for hats ?' "The interest generally taken in the Major's hats was far from dying, even after the lapse of years : the less likely to do so, indeed, from the circumstance of their forming epochs in history,—as, Such a one got leave in Tom's fourth hat' ; or, I hope to be off before Tom changes his hat' ; or, ' make you a bet that Jack's married before another hat's gene.' "When this individual arrived at the Cape he was understood to be in his fifteenth hat : but there occurred some confusion in the Major's chronology ; for it was understood that, owing to the practical jokes played there, no less than three hats were expended during the short month of his stay. To correct this, he adopted the plan of sitting upon his hat at dinner • but as he were no tails to his jacket, and left the feather protruding behind, it had to a stranger the appearance of being a natural appendage to his person."

There are some good sketches at Algoa Bay, both of the savages and civilized—or at least the settlers. Here is a native convert.

"Anything more dreary and uncomfortable than a converted savage I have never seen in the form of humanity. He has discarded all spirit and picturesqueness with his karma, and set up cant and the narrowest bigotry with his highlowa. "We had a precious specimen at Mrs. Hunt's : a young man of a sepia colour, superior to the Hottentot as touching his tint, though on a level with him as touching his nastiness. Be had not arrived at the highlow state; but, having been the servant of some good man about the bay, had imbibed an inveterate taste for psalmody. Sitting the livelong day propped -against the shady side of a wall, he poured forth with endless iteration his one hymn, of which every part was unintelligible but the concluding words of each verse— 'Do sufferings off de Lawn:Elbe.'

From morn till noon, from noon till dewy eve, unless specially employed elsewhere, which happened rarely, did he drawl out this deplorable ditty. He attached no meaning to the words, and knew no more about the Lamb or his sufferings than one of the lower animals. To read, write, or attend to any serious haziness within hearing of such a nuisance was impossible ; accordingly he became a butt for the missiles of those engaged in more profane occupations: apples, potatoes, segments of pumpkin, were hurled at him, with arroccasional handful of wet clay from the well, where the serving-man Ben was pursuing his subterranean work. This functionary had atteMpted to get up a counterirritation by instructing one of the Hottentots in a melody of a totally different character; one verse of which ran thus—

Father was a Mantatee, Mother was a ringoe, Sister was a shocking B.,

And I'm a rogue, by Jingo,' to the tune of Yankee Doodle: but the unwearied persistency of the sacred songster drove all secular opposition out of the field."