an immense distance below, whilst the pinnacles of the mountains reach the clouds.

At the head of this chapter there is an admirable plate, representing this picturesque pass, drawn by Mr. Drayton. After viewing an interesting, fertile, and, in some parts, well cultivated portion of the island, they returned to Funchal by the Corral, a deep gorge of singular beauty, which is usually visited by travellers. On their return they passed over a beautiful country, meeting with forests of laurels sixty feet high and four feet in diameter, and occasionally falling in with arborescent heaths of equal size with those already described. No traces of extinct craters were found in this part of the island; the rocks were composed of volcanic brescia, with the surface much decomposed. The mountain paths which they traversed on this occasion, are, in some places, almost inaccessible; the ponies they mounted had to leap from rock to rock, at an angle of 45° with the horizon. The lovers of the picturesque, if endued with sufficient courage, would be amply gratified by pursuing the route passed over by our adventurous naturalists.

The author has given much useful, and, no doubt, correct information, respecting the produce of the island, its revenues, population, statistics and natural history, which, for want of room, we must omit, and refer our readers to the work itself.

On the 25th of September, the expedition sailed from Madeira, and, on the 7th of October, reached Porto Praya, in St. Jago, one of the Cape de Verde Islands, having passed over the reported position of the shoals called, on the maps, Maria Rock, Don Felix, and the Bonetta Rocks, without discovering them, after a search which renders it certain that they do not in reality exist.

In the instructions, the squadron was directed to ascertain positively the existence of the shoals and vigias laid down in the charts as being in their route, in order that the navigator might be warned of the real existence of such dangers; or, if not found, that they might be swept from the charts of those seas. The character of the vegetation, and, we should suppose, the character of the people, were unequivocally African. The governor was black, and the officers and soldiers of the garrison half-naked negroes,-the houses and streets filthy in the extreme, and the interior of the dwellings dirty and comfortless. Fruits, vegetables and good water, are to be had in abundance,-the latter drawn from a foun

tain surrounded by a variety of tropical trees and plants,dates, cocoa-nuts, bananas, papayas, sugar-canes and tamarinds, with grapes, oranges and limes, forming what would be an enchanting spot, were it not for the crowds of squalid beggars, dirty soldiers, naked children, lepers, half-dressed women, boys with monkeys, asses not bigger than sheep, and hogs of mammoth size.

For the short time they remained at St. Jago, the naturalists were actively employed, and many specimens were added to the collections in ornithology, botany, shells and zoophytes. Bats were the only wild mammiferous animals seen here.

On the 9th of October, the squadron passed over the supposed position of Patty's Overfalls, and were becalmed in its proximity for forty-eight hours, without seeing any thing like a shoal. Hence they steered to that of Warley's shoal, laid down in lat. 5° 4" North, long. 21° 25" West, and passed over it without perceiving shoal water or danger of any kind.

On board the Peacock, on the 30th October, in latitude 1° 30", long. 18° W., they witnessed a remarkable appearance, resembling the Aurora Borealis, radiating from the northwest point of the horizon. It continued an hour, distinct and beautiful, although it was bright moonlight.

They crossed the line in long. 17° West, which enabled them to pass over and examine the supposed position of Triton Bank, laid down in 17° 46 long., and 32" South latitude, which they did without perceiving any signs of a shoal. They next searched for a vigia laid down in the charts, without finding it; nor were they more successful in discovering Bouvet's Sandy Isle, or the volcano supposed to have been seen by that distinguished navigator, Admiral Krusenstein.

On the nights of the 12th and 13th of November, a watch was kept for the periodical shower of stars; a few only were seen on the 13th, in south latitude 15°, and west longitude 24° 25".

On the 16th November, the magnetic Equator was passed in latitude 13° 30" south, longitude 30° 18" west,-the variation being found to be 10° 30m. west.

The maximum heat on the passage from the Cape de Verdes, was in 9° 24m. water 83.5,-while the air was 81.6.

It decreased on striking soundings to 75, and on soundings to 69.

On the 23d of November, the squadron, with all sail set, entered the magnificent harbour of Rio Janeiro, unsurpassed in extent, beauty and security, by any in the world. We remember full well the picturesque appearance of the mountains, which encircle and shelter it on every side,-the luxuriant vegetation of the vallies and hill-sides,-the peaks formed by the Sugar Loaf, the Gavia, and the Corcovado,and the view of the cities and towns which skirt the shores and dot the islands that embellish this vast basin, covered, as it ever is, with fleets of ships, with their waving flags, while steamers and boats of various descriptions ply in every direction, and give life and spirit to its waters. No one who has entered this harbour, will ever forget the striking effect it produces upon the most sluggish nature. The beauty of the scenery, in sailing up this bay, continues unabated,the shores being surrounded with picturesque peaks, varying their outline with every change of position, and the bay studded with islets covered with tropical plants, among which are seen tufts of bromelia and cactus, while orchidea plants abound on the rocks and trees. Indeed, the vegetation of Rio fixes the attention more than any other thing. Here, every plant grows into a shrub or tree, and fruit trees are seen bearing fruit and flowers at the same time; the cecropia with its candalabra branches, and the prevailing yellow blossoms of the trees, give a peculiar and lively character to the woods.

Arrived at Rio, the greatest activity prevailed in every department of the service. The vessels of the squadron were repaired; the instruments and stores were landed at the island of Euxados, where observatories were established; the government and its officers affording every assistance that could be desired. What a contrast, says Capt. Wilkes, to the treatment Capt. Cook met with, some seventy years before, from an ignorant and jealous colonial government.

It is observed, that dull sailing vessels should endeavour not to cross the line westward of 20° longitude, but that fast sailers will shorten their passage very much, especially when the North-East monsoons prevail, by crossing as far West as 26°.

The writer gives an elaborate account of the different races of Africans which compose the slave population of

Rio, with wood-cuts showing their distinctive physiognomies, and the marks by which they may be recognised. The Minas are considered the most intelligent and trustworthy, being chiefly employed as confidential servants, artisans and small traders. They are natives of that portion of the continent known under the general designation of Upper Gui! nea, including the countries in the interior as far as Timbuctoo and Bornou, being the whole of that country lately explored by the English expeditions. The slave trade is still carried on to a great extent along the whole coast of the Brazils, in despite of treaties and laws, and the vigilance of cruisers. Dr. Pickering and Mr. Brackenridge made an excursion to the Organ mountains, in search of plants, and succeeded in adding some interesting specimens to the botanical collection. At the top of the pass, they found a native fig-tree of enormous size, its low horizontal branches covering a space of one hundred and forty feet in diameter. Among the plants or trees,--for here all plants attain the height of trees, were cupheas with deep purple or lilac flowers, lobelias fifteen feet in height, with spikes of blue flowers three feet high, and acacias in full flower; the chrytopodium andersonii grew on the rocks in bunches. Mr. Brackenridge succeeded in climbing one of the lofty trees of the Auracania Braziliensis, bringing away two fine cones.

They found the Mato Virgen, or primeval forest, more accessible than the forests of our own country, and penetrated it in every direction with great ease. A good idea will be formed of the richness of the Brazilian Flora, by the fact that, when mounted in the tree-top, specimens of three flowering trees not before seen were gathered, and three species of the misletoe. On this excursion they found epiphytic orchede, slender cecropias rising to the height of one hundred feet without a limb, arborescent fern trees forty feet high; bromelias, bigonias, and numerous parasitical plants, hanging from the trees in great profusion. The trees of the forest were of immense size, and difficult of access, having trunks nearly one hundred feet high below the branches, with climbing plants dangling between their straight trunks, resembling the tackling of a ship. A little incident that occurred to these gentlemen, will show the difficulty they encountered in collecting botanical specimens. It is thus related :

"They had observed for a few days a beautiful yellow flowering

tree, that was very conspicuous in the forest. Believing that it could be easily come at, they made the attempt to reach it, but without success, finding that instead of being a low tree, it was high and inaccessible. Determined not to be foiled in their pursuit, they went off in search of others in sight. These, to their surprise, were on the opposite side of a river. Nothing daunted, Mr. Brackenridge crossed it, though deep, and endeavoured to scale the tree. What had appeared near the ground, now proved a tree of some sixty feet in height, with a smooth and slippery bark, and he returned to his companion empty-handed. Dr. Pickering next made the attempt; after crossing the stream with difficulty, he reached the desired object, and endeavoured to climb, but after reaching some forty feet, was obliged to acknowledge himself vanquished On their return they found a small tree of the same kind they had been searching for, which proved to be a species of cœsalpinia."

It is to persevering exertions like these, that we owe the valuable collections, in every branch of natural history, sent home by the expedition, and now in the Patent Office in Washington.

Captain Wilkes, with a party of officers and naturalists, made an excursion to the summit of Corcovado, which they reached after some hours of laborious exertion. They were amply repaid for their toil, by the magnificent view of the bay, harbour, city, and surrounding scenery. He says, that, "to form an idea of the beauty of Rio and its environs, the traveller must mount to the top of the Corcovado, or some other high peak in its neighbourhood."

The narrative contains a well-digested account of the political and social condition of the Brazils,-its population, revenue and commerce,-which we have not space to extract or to comment upon. We think it unfortunate that an imperial government should exist in the Western hemisphere, and without being propagandists, cannot forbear to express our hope and belief that such a form of government cannot endure in America, but will, in due time, be superseded by a federal republic, or be followed by a dissolution of that extensive territory into three independent States. The country is slowly improving, the spirit of liberty gradually extending,-education becoming more general,-and the press more accessible to the great body of the people. These causes, added to the low condition of the finances of the country, will surely, in the end, produce the downfall of any throne established in the new world, while the extent of territory is too vast, and the peculiar interests of its great natural divisions too dissimilar, to allow of any other than a