-The Hottentots confirmed the fact noticed by some ornithologists, that the female Ostriches leave some of their eggs near the nest, for the nourishment of the young: but, from the improvident manner in which the boors hunt down these birds and purloin their eggs, they have become rare within the boundaries of the colony, and may finally disappear. The Witte Kraai (White Crow) of the Dutch proved on inspection to correspond with the description of Vultur Percnopterus, or the Sacred Vulture of Egypt.

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'On the body of a dead ox,' says the author, I observed several large vultures, feeding in harmony with a number of crows. This being the first time I had seen this species, I attentively watched its manners for a long while with a telescope. It was of an imposing size; and its solemn, slow, and measured movements, added to its black plumage, possessed something of a funereal cast, well suited to its cadaverous employment. An excellent picture of the manners of a vulture is drawn by Virgil, in the third book of the Eneid, in his story of the harpies; too long to be quoted here, but which the sight of these birds, and their habits, brought immediately to my recollection, and served greatly to increase the interest with which I viewed them. There was a heaviness in their gait and looks, which made one feel half inclined to consider them rather as beasts of prey, than as feathered inhabitants of the air. When not thus called forth to action, this bird retires to some inaccessible crag, sitting almost motionless in melancholy silence for days together, unless the smell of some distant carrion, or too long an abstinence, draw it from retirement, or force it to ascend into the upper regions of air; where, out of sight, it remains for hours, endeavouring to get scent of its nauseous food. These birds must possess the sense of smelling in a degree of perfection far beyond that of which we have any

idea.

The Vulture, however, like the Eagle, is possibly guided to its distant repast more by its acute sense of vision than by that of smell, and soars aloft that it may embrace an ample range of observation.

Cape Town is well supplied with fish from the surrounding seas: but fresh-water species are scarcely ever seen, and even eels are regarded as a rarity. The deepest pools of the Sack River yield the Geel-visch, (Yellow fish,) Cyprinus æneus of the present author, being entirely of a yellow green, with a brazen lustre. The flesh is white, and of a very delicate flavor. The Silurus Gariepinus, or Platte-kop, (Flat-head,) is of a plumbeous hue above, whitish beneath, nearly three feet long, with the head very flat, the eyes extremely small, and the mouth bearded with very long filaments. The flesh, which resembles that of the Conger-eel, is reckoned rich and nutritious. It is a remarkable circumstance, and one which

is confirmed by the general observation of the colonists, that it is only those rivers which run to the western coast, (that is to say, to the northward of the Cape of Good Hope,) in which this fish is found; whilst, on the contrary, eels have never been seen in any but those which fall into the ocean eastward of that cape.'

Papilio montana, which affects the loftiest ridges, was the only insect found on the top of Table Mountain. At the Zak River was discovered an Anthia, resembling the decempunctata, but without the white spots; and another species of the same genus was denominated effugiens, from the velocity of its movements and the difficulty with which it is caught. -An undescribed black beetle, from its frequent occurrence on the road, was designed Moluris vialis. A species of Acheta, resembling the domestic cricket of Europe, attracted the attention of the travellers by a loud and teasing noise, which it emitted for about a quarter of an hour at sun-set; while Aphodius vespertinus, of an uniform dark chesnut hue, and scarcely two lines long, proved particularly troublesome at candle-light. On the banks of the Gariep, Mr. Burchell observed a new species of Mantis,

Whose presence,' he says, 'became afterwards sufficiently familiar to me, by its never failing, on calm warm evenings, to pay me a visit as I was writing my journal; and sometimes to interrupt my lucubrations by putting out the lamp. All the Mantis tribe are very remarkable insects; and this one, whose dusky sober coloring well suits the obscurity of night, is certainly so, by the late hours it keeps. It often settled on my book, or on the press where I was writing, and remained still, as if considering some affair of importance, with an appearance of intelligence which had a wonderful effect in withholding my hand from doing it harm. Although hundreds have flown within my power, I never took more than five. I have given to this curious little creature the name of Mantis lucubrans ; and having no doubt that he will introduce himself to every traveller who comes into this country in the months of November and December, I beg to recommend him as a harmless little companion, and entreat that kindness and mercy may be shown to him.'

The hillocks constructed by a large species of black ant are generally from two to three feet in height, and, though much perforated within, are sufficiently hard and firm to bear the weight of a man, or even sometimes that of a loaded waggon; when they are carefully avoided, to prevent an overturn.

The few geological notices dispersed through the volume are too scanty and insulated to detain us: but so far from expressing regret or disappointment at the author's omissions, we are rather astonished that, in the course of his painful

and

and perilous wanderings, he was enabled to accomplish so much. Of his manner and style, it may suffice to remark that they are generally distinct and forcible, though occasionally verging on the confines of romantic sentimentality. In taking leave of him for the present, we have only to state that, admiring as we do the feelings and the deeds of ethical independence, we are yet antiquated enough still to respeet the government of noun and verb, and to vow allegiance to the rules of correct composition. We are confident, therefore, that he will pardon us for submitting to his revision such expressions as the following: (p. 13.) agreeable to the plan;'

6

6

(153.) At this season the weather is generally rainy at the Cape, although in the present year they set in,' &c.;-(182.) each are;'-(236. misprinted 266.). Mistaken the tract for track; (261.) when there happen to fall an unusual quantity of rain;'-(262.) 'of which there was evident proofs;' (263.) generally lie concealed a large sort of coot(275.) Just as the luxurious feast, or the frugal meal, bring either disease or health;'-(276.) an irruption on her arm at the part where she had been vaccinated;' (308.) but covered with fine grass, green only at bottom, while their withered stalks remaining, showed them to be chiefly a kind of Poa;' -(319.) whose course and source is unknown;' (482.) The whole waggon-load of meat was totally eaten up;'-(499.) they feel friendly disposed;'-(576.) such whose annual variation in declination have been well ascertained.'

C

ART. V. Memoirs of Charles Brockden Brown, the American Novelist. Author of " Wieland," "Ormond," "Arthur Mervyn," &c. With Selections from his Original Letters, and Miscellaneous Writings. By William Dunlap. 8vo. 10s. 6d. Boards. Colburn and Co. 1822.

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pp. 337.

A LIFE not of long continuance, passed in thought and reflection, can supply but very meagre materials for a biographer. All the most valuable details, viz. the results of the individual's contemplations, his progress in intellectual acquirements, his observations on his own feelings, the history, in short, of his own mind, are peculiarly and necessarily confined within his own knowlege; and all that is left even for the most partial friend to accomplish is probably a barren and unsatisfactory history of the incidents of an unpretending career, and a catalogue of the works which the deceased had published. On this account, all the memoirs of literary men should be auto-biographic; and it is only when

L 4

the

the subject of the memoir has left in his writings a picture, as it were, of himself, that the biographer who undertakes to delineate his character has any chance of rendering the copy either interesting or valuable. What cold and dull materials would the life of Gibbon, for example, seem to have afforded to a stranger's pen, and yet what can be more amusing and instructive than his own journal? Among those who have in fact written their own lives, without the formality of collecting the details together, Dean Swift stands conspicuous: the most perfect idea of his singular but powerful genius, of the history of his unhappy life, nay even of all his petty and amusing personal peculiarities, may be obtained from his correspondence; and more especially from that very curious and entertaining portion of his writings, the Journal to Stella. His able and judicious modern biographer, Sir Walter Scott, availing himself of these great advantages, has produced a life of the Dean which, had it even proceeded from the pen of Cadenus himself, could scarcely have been more interesting. The life of Alfieri, also, is another instance to prove how much the value of an author's memoirs depends on his being his own historian.

With regard to the present volume, we have to regret that the subject of it, certainly a man of very considerable talents, did not leave either any account of himself, or any sufficient materials from which his friend Mr. Dunlap might have been enabled to supply the deficiency. A correspondence, by no. means copious, appended to the Memoirs, is the chief source of our information concerning the novelist's personal character; while the biographer's early acquaintance with him has enabled him to relate, with fidelity, the few incidents of a secluded and inactive life. In another point of view these memoirs are curious and interesting. The life of one of the American literati, written by another, (for this, we believe, is not Mr. Dunlap's first appearance before the public,) is too unusual a production not to excite our attention; and it is on this account principally that we are induced to notice the work at some length, though the reputation, which Mr. Brown's writings procured for him on this side of the Atlantic, would alone be sufficient to render any information respecting him acceptable to our readers.

Charles Brockden Brown was born at Philadelphia in the year 1771. A weak and sickly constitution, unfitting him for the more boisterous pleasures of childhood, compelled him at a very early age to seek for occupation and amusement from books; and, like Pope and Gibbon, he appears to have owed to this circumstance his taste for literary pursuits.. Before he attained his sixteenth year, he had accustomed his

pen

pen to frequent composition both in prose and verse; and, with that youthful and adventurous boldness which characterizes the mind of genius, he had already sketched the plan of three distinct epic poems. Amid all these intellectual delights, it became necessary for him to chuse a profession, and he accordingly selected the law; no doubt, as the one which afforded him the widest field for mental exertion. He is said by his biographer to have made very considerable progress at this time in his legal studies; and to have been distinguished, in a professional society of which he was a member, by his sagacity, sound judgment, and research. He furnished, according to one of his friends, "a model of the dry, grave, and judicial style of argument." Had we, however, been allowed to judge of his probable success in this logical pursuit from his subsequent writings, we should certainly have believed him to have been singularly. unqualified to excel in it; since in all his novels he manifests so remarkable a want of coherence and regular design, so complete an absence of all attention to probability, and such a display of exuberant fancy and feeling, that we should have been persuaded that the mind of the novelist could never be disciplined into that of the lawyer. Indeed, in his aversion to his legal duties he soon displayed his inaptitude for them; and after a little time he finally relinquished them, without having adopted any other pursuit. To his disappointed friends he attempted to justify this desertion, by adducing those common-place and scarcely specious arguments against the practice of the law, which could appear convincing only to persons as young and inexperienced as himself. His mind, thus deprived of its healthful occupation, began to prey on itself; and he now became as unhappy as that man must necessarily be who is gifted with a lively and active turn, and a quick fancy, but has no means of employing his time and thoughts. His temperament, indeed, appears to have been of that morbid kind which we often remark in men of genius, and which too frequently renders life rather a burden than a blessing to its possessor: his mind was unhappy by organization; innately and originally miserable. To divert in some degree the tædium vitæ with which he was oppressed, he had recourse to travelling; and at New York he met with several friends, in whose society he found both instruction and amusement. In this city, in the year 1798, he witnessed the appalling devastations of the yellow-fever; and of his dangerous ac- !! quaintance with that dreadful pestilence, he has made considerable use in his novel of " Arthur Mervyn." He was himself attacked, though not seriously, by the disease,

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