ly. On parting, I made him a present of a portrait of Tammeamea, and he left me with a hearty shake of the hand, again recommending me to his gods. Young Kareimoku received the presents for the king, and shouted with joy when he put on one of my embroidered uniforms, of which I had made him a present. Soon after our friends had left us, we hoisted all our sails, and with a brisk land breeze, sailed S. W. by W. in the direction of Radack.

FROM A LATE ENGLISH PAPER.

ACCOUNT OF THE ISLAND OF JOANNAH. Joannah, one of the Cormora Islands, is situated in latitude 12° 5' south, longitude 45° 40' east. We cast anchor in the roads there on the 4th of June, and had soon the pleasure of seeing at least twenty canoes making off for us: they were filled with natives, who by their kindness as well as lauguage proved that they in some degree merited their proudest title“ Brother Englishmen.” The canoes excited a good deal of interest, being each merely the trunk of a tree hollowed out, and kept upright in the water by a sort of cross-bar, which projects three or four feet on the side of the boat, and touches the water, thereby keeping the frail machine in equilibrio, while it is propelled by oars or paddles of a long narrow shape, resembling egg-spoons. The dress of the rowers is very scanty, while that of the chiefs is of all the colours of the rainbow, and every fashion which has been introduced since the days of Elizabeth. English clothes have ever been esteemed a rarity, and it is no uncommon thing to see the left-off coat of a British soldier or sailor upon the back of a right honourable! Their titles are purely English, and have been bestowed by such gentlemen as whim or good nature prompted :-It was really amusing to see the Prince of Wales, my Lord Random, Lord Rodney, and Rear Admiral Blanket selling fruit, or bartering it for old shoes, coloured cotton handkerchiefs, needles, pins, or penknives; in short, deigning even to solicit the washing of dirty linen! The island, as it appeared from the ship, was beautiful in the extreme, and Dr. G- and myself were in consequence determined to view a little of the interior. In the morning, therefore, we set out, attended by our respective guides, each with a “ Nock” in hand, hoping to do much execution. Before ten o'clock we killed several guinea-fowls, ringdoves, parrots, and magpies; and as the sun became powerful, we retired to the beach, with the intention of proceeding to the town under the friendly shade of an umbrella. Little were we aware of the honour that awaited us! we had the felicity of being introduced to majesty itself! While ranging about from house to house, Rear Admiral Blanket came up to us, “joy sparkling in his countenance," and said that he was commissioned by the king to solicit the honour of a visit! Our own comfort required a change of dress; but this we were told should be overlooked, as the king would value the visit more if made at the time he required it; to the palace, therefore, we proceeded, and were soon admitted into the audience chamber, to whith we ascended by a long narrow and dark staircase; the apartment might be twenty feet in length, by about fifteen in breadth, with the throne at the furthest end elevated about four or five feet, and with seats opposite to and on each side of it

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covered with crimson silk. We waited at least a quarter of an hour before the king arrived; but our impatience was rendered tolerable by the fanning which we received from hand-punkahs, dexterously used even by the lords in waiting, and above all by the antic gestures of one or two women, who appeared to steal a sight of us from a sort of half-enclosed verandah raised immediately behind the throne. They crept out on all fours; appeared timid, yet curious, anxious to see, and yet afraid of being seen. The king himself at last appeared : a man of about forty or forty-five, rather inclining to corpulency, very black, and with very dim weak eyes; his countenance is far from beautiful, yet there is an expression in it which indicates much mildness and benevolence.-His majesty received us most graciously, and said in broken English, and also through the medium of his interpreter, that he was glad to see any of our nation at Joannah. He inquired particularly after King George!” and as a proof of the love he bore him, we had an entertainment, which consisted of oranges, sweet limes, eggs, tea, milk, cocoanut water, tamarinds, and many more good things, of all of which we were hospitably urged to partake, the king himself saying, "My house is yours, all I have is yours! Ask what you want, you shall then have!" The good man complained of sickness, which the doctor promised to remove by a draught, which was afterwards sent from the ship. The king's son too was also sick, so the doctor proceeded to his residence, leaving me with the sable monarch and his attendants: my faithful-shooting guide, “ Cid Abdallah,” standing behind me with my favourite “ Nock.” It appeared to be the etiquette that the meanest person should have access to the room where the king sat, but those nobles who were admitted to a nearer approach, seemed duly to appreciate the honour, and in kneeling attitude received the commands of the sovereign. In the antichamber of the king, English muskets were displayed, and on his social board, English china, and even English plate appeared. A book is kept, in which many acts of kindness and humanity, extended to those who had been shipwrecked or cast away on the island, are faithfully recorded, and none more so than one furnished by the Captain of the Admiral Gambier. His majesty was clothed in a light body dress of silk; a loose robe of crimson satin, bordered with gold lace (which his attendants took care to display) hung over his shoulders, and on his head he wore a rude sort of coronet, ornamented with emerald and topaz; on his feet he wore sandals, and by his side hung a large tulwar, the hilt of which was adorned with similar ornaments as the crown. The king seemed to value coloured handkerchiefs, and said his ladies esteemed sweet-smelling oils; both of which articles were presented to him. There are no adders on the island; it abounds with the most delicious fruits, which grow spontaneously. The land is very high, one mountain rising above another, like seats in a well-arranged gallery, while the vales are clothed with every thing to please the taste and charm the sight.

The town is a miserable one, and the houses (with the exception of one or two which are built of stone) composed entirely of such "materials” as our Indian villages; there is a fort too, but Ì rather think its situation only can be boasted of. The inhabitants are all Mahometans, and go to mosque regularly. They are allowed many wives, and are exceedingly jealous of them. Both men and women stain their teeth yellow with the henna plant, and the toe-nails of many of them are painted red. The idea of a devil or evil spirit is perfectly familiar to thein; and from what I could collect, they seem to think him an enormous fish, that pounces upon his prey from the depths of the sea, spouting fire from his nostrils as he approaches his victim. As a place of refreshment for shipping, it is highly to be prized; there are no harbour dues, and provisions may be obtained at nearly the following prices :

—A bullock, four dollars; a fine kid, half a dollar; a dozen small but excellent fowls, one dollar: while fruit can be bought for the merest trifle. Two of the Chiefs have visited Calcutta, and seem to retain a grateful recollection of their visit, and of the kindness shown them by our illustrious governor. There is little or no trade carried on at Joannah, their farthest trips by sea being only to Madagascar and Mohilla, from which latter place they procure some cloth and rice in exchange for molasses. Next to the blessings of religion, perhaps no greater

blessing could be conferred upon this people than small presents of powder and shot, implements of husbandry, and above all, a proper press for squeezing the sugar-cane, which here flourishes in great beauty.

FROM THE EDINBURGH REVIEW

An Introduction to Entomology, or Elements of the Natural History

of Insects. With Plates. By William KIRBY, M. A., &c. &c. and William Spence, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. Longman, 1818.

We believe that it requires great enthusiasm to deal accurately with little things; and that it is, consequently, impossible to meet with a reasonable or sober entomologist. We do not mean, therefore, to interfere with the two enormous letters which introduce this work, and certainly do not underrate the value of this branch of Natural History; but we must own, that we are by no means convinced that the study of insects is the very best thing in the world to form the understanding and elevate the mind. That the habit of looking for microscopic differences or analogies among the legs or antenne of gnats and spiders, will render a person extremely acute in such matters, we have no manner of doubt: but how the quick perception of such differences among resemblances, or the reverse, is to lead to that general intellectual eminence which constitutes an able lawyer, a discerning judge, a great general, a sagacious physician, a painter, an orator, or even an exciseman, we are really at a loss to conjecture. We do not say that such studies will weaken a strong mind, or that a first-rate philosopher may not be a very good entomologist; but we are very sure that such an education as this has prevented many a mind from expanding, and multiplied the class of triflers who, innocently enough, wear out the long disease of life in impaling butterflies, or changing the last heterodox colour in the last feather of a pigeon's wing. It may very well be, that natural history is too much despised in this country: we believe that it is; and we think it fully as laudable a pursuit as running after foxes, or corrupting Cornish boroughs; but Messrs. Kirby and Spence seem to have forgotten that ours is a busy, country-except these said fox-hunters, we scarcely know one who is not employed--whereas, in Germany and elsewhere,

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if men did not dissect grubs and invent crabbed namés, they must hang themselves from pure ennui. However, as we do not here mean to write an essay on education, we shall, without further ceremony, proceed in mediam rem.

Many of our readers are probably unaware, that, amid all the forms of destruction that surround them on every side, death sometimes lurks among the dainties of the breakfast table. Honey is occasionally poisonous: that it produces uneasiness to particular individuals, most persons know; and that this is not the effect of the sweet itself, but of some foreign poisonous ingredient, we have often ascertained. Thus the honey of the Highlands is often injurious to persons who can use that of Narbonne with impunity; and there is no doubt that, in all cases, it derives this bad quality from particular flowers; possibly, in this country, from that of heath. In some cases, the effects are even fatal. The story of the poisoning of the Greek soldiers in the retreat of the Ten Thousand, is known to every schoolboy; and the effects of the honey, which they had eaten near Trebisond, were extremely violent. The probable cause has been ascertained, by combining a remark of Tournefort with some recent observations of Dr. Bartram. The former observed, that this country is covered with some species of Rhododendron; and, in America, it was found, by the latter, that the honey made in the neighbourhood of these plants was unwholesome. But the Kalmia latifolia appeared to have produced the most injurious consequences; as many persons died near Philadelphia from eating honey which the bees had procured chiefly from that plant. We ought to add, that the whole of the analogous American plants are suspicious; and that it is therefore imprudent, in this country, to keep hives where there is access to extensive collections of them. These remarks include all the Rhododendrons, Andromedas, and Kalmias, with a few other shrubs too little in fashion in gardens to require notice.

The injuries caused by various insects to those vegetables which are objects of cultivation, comprise a very important branch of the history of these animals; and it is one, indeed, in which the labours of entomologists have really proved useful. By discovering the mode and times of their breeding, hatching, or laying eggs, observers have been enabled to point out the seasons at which it is most easy to destroy them. But their labours have also been of great use in tracing the animal through its transformations, and thus enabling us to determine the destructive parent of an innocent progeny, or the reverse. It may be worth while, for example, for housewives to know, that it is not the moth but the maggot that eats our blankets; and that, if such articles be exposed to light, during the laying season, they may be neglected all the rest of the year.

Many insects, in the state of larvæ, or maggots, destroy wheat, and that in such quantities as to cause serious losses in agriculture, amounting even to many hundred acres in some cases. They insinuate themselves into the young plants below the surface, and devour the centre of the shoot. The parents of these are various beetles (in the popular sense), of the genera Carabus, Harpalus, Melolontha, and others. But, of all these pests, that known by the name of the Hesnian fly, in America, is the most formidable, although its systematic name and nature are yet unknown. The ravages of this insect were

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first noticed in 1776, and it was supposed to have been brought from Germany by the Hessian troops. Beginning in Long Island, it proceeded inland at the rate of 15 or 20 miles a year, till at last it extended over a space of 200 miles. Neither mountains nor rivers stopped them;" they “ crossed the Delaware like a cloud,” and even filled the houses of the inhabitants. Rye, barley, rice,--all other grains, in short, have their appropriate enemies; contending for possession against him who forgets that he himself is the greatest devourer of wheat and barley, rice and maize. But

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and beans, clover, turnips, grass, hops, tea, sugar, vines, apples, pears, and peaches, and what not all have their peculiar admirers among the insect tribes.

The account of the ant of Barbadoes, the Formica saccharivora, is almost terrific; and we refer to it, because we know the authority to be good. We do not mean by this to insinuate that the word of the respectable authors is not valid. On the contrary, we think their own observations worthy of all confidence. But it is at the same time obvious, that they are somewhat too trusting-may we use the word credulous ?-with respect to many of their quotations from others. Perhaps this is an unavoidable effect of entomology, instead of that "suspension of judgment" which we were promised from this study. But, indeed, if we admit all that Huber, Kirby and Spence, have told us about bees and ants (an article on which will be found in one of our past numbers), and there seems no reason to withhold our assent, it is not very easy to say what we are not to believe respecting this most extraordinary part of creation. The ant in

question appeared, it seems, “about seventy years ago in such infinite hosts in the island of Granada,” as to put a stop to the cultivation of the sugar-cane. “A reward of 20,0001. was offered to any one who should discover an effectual mode of destroying them. Their numbers were incredible: they descended from the bills like torrents ; and the plantations, as well as every path and road for miles, were filled with them.” Rats, mice, reptiles, birds, and even some of the domestic quadrupeds, were killed by them. “Streams of water opposed only a temporary obstacle to their progress; the foremost rushing blindly on to a certain death, and fresh armies continually following, till a bank was formed of the carcases of those that were drowned, sufficient to dam up the waters, and allow the main body to pass over in safety below.” They even rushed into the fires that were lighted to stop them. This pest was at length exterminated by a hurricane.

Of all the descriptions of armies of locusts that we have read, nothing comes near to that of Major Moore, the well known author of the Hindoo Pantheon. When at Poonah, "he was witness to an immense army," of these animals, “which ravaged the Mahratta country, and was supposed to have come from Arabia.”_" The column which they composed, extended,” (as Major Moore was informed) “ five hundred miles; and so compact was it, when on the wing, that, like an eclipse, it completely bid the sun, so that no shadow was cast by any object; and some lofty tombs, distant from his residence not two hundred yards, were rendered quite invisible.” Hasselquist tells us, that the Pacha of Tripoli once raised an army of 4000 men, to fight the locusts that had invaded his dominions. Queen Christina,