hitherto been in the habit of observing, with regard to this unhappy class of beings, could not fail of being grateful; and at the same time it excited a degree of curiosity as to the nature of the establishment.

"On Sundays, they all regularly attend the performance of divine service; and it is astonishing how ambitious they are to appear at church neat and clean. The deportment of the congregation, during divine service, was truly devout. The discourse delivered by one of the fathers, was short, but replete with good sense, pathetic, and well suited to the occasion; tears flowed abundantly from the eyes of those, to whom it was particularly addressed. The females sung in a style that was plaintive and affecting; and their voices were in general sweet and harmonious."

Mr. Campbell in his travels in 1812-13, thus speaks of the Moravian missionary settlement of Gnadenthal." As we passed the houses, we were gratified by the civilized appearance of many of the Hottentots, although others were dressed in their loose sheepskins. They saluted us in a friendly manner. After dinner we took a circuit round the settlement, calling at several of the houses of the Hottentots, which were neat and clean. Some of the houses had four apartments which were whitened, and had some articles of furniture: but many other houses were as mean as those I afterwards saw at Bethelsdorp: every house, however, had a good garden, stocked with fruittrees, which are equally ornamental and useful."

Their grateful sense of the improvement of their condition by the labours of the missionaries, is indicated by the following honest effusion of a poor Hottentot at one of their public meetings at Bethelsdorp, in 1815. "We are all Hottentots. We never had a house. We never were considered as human beings. We never were allowed to look into a farmer's house; but to-day we are here, sitting together in a large white house (the place of worship.) We never had a wagon; and, now there are more than 20 wagons at Bethelsdorp, belonging to us Hottentots! Look at the women! they never had any decent clothes; now you see them sitting among us in white and various colours. We never had the honour of knowing any thing of God or his word; but now we can read and write; and the greatest thing which God has fa

voured us with, is his sending to us, poor Hottentots, his servants who daily explain to us his holy word."

CAFFRES.

Persons.'

The Caffres differ in every respect from the Hottentots. They are an uncommonly fine race of men as to external form and figure, tall, robust, and muscular. Though black, or nearly so, they have not a line of the African negro, either in their countenance or persons, but the contour of their visage and head resemble that of Europeans. Their countenance is open and manly, generally overspread with a smile, their eyes large and black, their hair short and curled, and their teeth as pure as ivory. They are thought to be of Arabic origin.

Character and Mode of Living.

The character of the Caffres is represented in a very favourable light: they are mild, benevolent, and hospitable; at the same time brave, and devoid of suspicion. Few unlettered nations have so much appearance of civilization.

They are more addicted to agriculture than the Hottentots. Pasturage, however, is a more favourite and general occupation, and their chief possession is cattle. Their oxen are remarkable for their size and strength, and are used for all the purposes to which horses are applied in other countries. To have a young and handsome riding ox is one of the principal objects of ambition to the young chiefs.

Habitations and Dress.

Their habitations are generally circular, in the form of bee-hives, but larger and better constructed than those of the Hottentots. The frame is of wood, which is plastered by a kind of mortar, and covered with matting,

The Caffres rub their faces and bodies with a solution of red ochre, and practise tattooing. The dress of both sexes consists chiefly of a long cloak made of skins, which

in summer the men throw entirely aside. They wear a profusion of ornaments, such as rings of ivory, bracelets of copper or iron, shells, brass buttons, and beads.

Government, &c.

They are governed by chiefs, whose authority consists in the respect and love of their subjects. The chiefs are distinguished by a brass chain, suspended on the left side of the head from a wreath of copper beads.

They have only an imperfect and vague idea of the Deity, and a future state. Their intellectual attainments are extremely limited. Their knowledge of numbers scarcely reaches beyond counting their fingers. They have no vestige of a written character, yet their language is soft and harmonious, and altogether unlike that of the Hottentots.

Marriage and Burial.

Marriage is a mere bargain made between the lover and the parents of his mistress. Daughters are considered the property of the parents, and are always disposed of by sale. The common price of a wife is an ox or two cows. Polygamy is permitted, but the common people, in general, have not the means of purchasing and supporting more than one wife.

The honours of burial are bestowed only on the chiefs. The children are deposited in the ant-hills; but all the rest are thrown into an open ditch, and there left, without covering, to be devoured by the wolves. But however shocking and unnatural this practice may appear, yet the Caffres entertain a great respect for the memory of their deceased friends.

AFRICAN ISLANDS.

ST. HELENA.

St. Helena is a small but celebrated island in the Atlantic ocean, 400 leagues from the coast of Africa. It is

10 miles long, and 63 broad, comprising about 30,000 acres, of which 8,000 have been brought under cultivation, but the greater part is a barren waste. It is used as

a place of refreshment for the returning East India ships. This extraordinary spot of ground is regarded as a most interesting natural curiosity. When first seen at sea, it presents the appearance of a naked and rugged rock, extremely abrupt at its northern extremity, but more shelving towards the south. Upon a nearer approach the central eminences are perceived to be clothed with verdure, and towering to the clouds. Upon drawing still nearer, these are again shut out from the view, and nothing is beheld but a girdle of inaccessible precipices overhanging the ocean, some of them exhibiting the most fantastic shapes, and others rent down to their base, disclosing the most hideous chasms.

These rocks are principally basaltic; and the strata are observed to lie in every possible direction. The whole has every appearance of being produced by a sub-marine volcano; or, what some consider more probable, being the summit of a great sub-marine mountain, which had formerly been a volcano. The sea around the coast is of an unfathomable depth, and vessels may pass within a cable's length of almost perpendicular cliffs 1600 feet in height.

There are only four openings, in the great wall of rock surrounding St. Helena, by which it can be approached with any kind of facility; and the only anchorage is in Chapel Valley bay, on the northwest side of the island. Diana's Peak, the highest point of land, rises nearly 2,700 feet above the level of the sea.

James's Town, the principal place, is situated in a narrow valley between two mountains. The view, on each side from the streets, is awfully sublime, and discovers enormous masses of rock impending over the valley, in a manner sufficiently alarming to the mind of a stranger.

St. Helena is famous for having been the prison of Bonaparte, who was sent to this island by the allied sovereigns of Europe, in 1815, where he remained till his death, which took place on the 5th of May, 1821.