aptience of those whom it is my heart's desire to serve. Let me therefore conclude in the words of that Sacred Book which we love : "The time is short: and the grave approacheth, in which there is neither wisdom, nor knowledge, nor device." L. H. S.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

NATIVES OF OTAHEITE.

The persons of the Otaheitan men are in general tall, strong, well limbed and finely shaped; equal in size to the largest of Europeans. The women of superior rank are also above the middle stature of Europeans, but the inferior class are rather below it. The complexion of the former class is that which we call a brunette, and the skin is most delicately smooth and soft. In their motions there is at once vigour as well as ease; their walk is graceful, their deportment liberal, and their behaviour to strangers and to each other affable and courteous. In their dispositions they appear to be brave, open, and candid, without suspicion or treachery, cruelty or revenge. They are delicate and cleanly, alfost beyond example.

The natives of Otaheite, says Captain Cook, both men and women, constantly wash their whole bodies in running water three times a day; once as soon as they rise in the morning, once at noon, and again before they sleep at night, whether sea or river be near them or at a distance. They wash not only the mouth but the hands, at meals, almost between every morsel; and their clothes as well as their persons are kept without spot or stain.

The greater part of their food is vegetable; hogs, dogs, and poultry are their only animals, and all of them serve for food. "We all agreed," says Cook, "that a South Sea dog was little inferior to an English lamb," which he ascribes to its being kept up and fed wholly on vegetables. Broiling and baking are the only two modes of applying fire to their cookery. Captain Wallis observes, that having no vessel in which

water could be subjected to the action of fire, they had no more idea that it could be made hot, than that it could be made solid; and he mentions that one of the attendants of the Queen, having observed the surgeon fill the tea-pot from an urn, turned the cock himself and received the water in his hand, and that as soon as he' felt himself scalded, he roared out, and began to dance about the cabin with the most extravagant and ridicu lous expression of pain and astonishment, his companions, unable to conceive what was the matter, staring at him in amaze and not without some mixture of terror.

The food of the natives, being chiefly vegetable, con sists of the various preparations of the bread fruit, of cocoa nuts, bananas, plantains, and a great variety of other fruit, the spontaneous products of a rich soil and genial climate. Their drink, says Cook, in general® consists of water, or the juice of the cocoa nut; the art of producing liquors that intoxicate by fermentation, being at this time happily unknown among them; neither did they make use of any narcotic, such as opium, betel nut, or tobacco. One day the wife of one of the chiefs, came running to Mr. Banks, and with a mixture of grief and terror in her countenance, made him understand that her husband was dying, in consequence of something the strangers had given him to eat. Mr. Banks found his friend leaning his head against a post, in an attitude of the utmost languor and despondency. His attendants brought out a leaf folded up with great care containing part of the poison of the effects of which, their master was now dying. On opening the leaf Mr. Banks found in it a chew of tobacco, which the chief had asked from one of the seamen, and imitating them, as he thought, he had rolled it about in his mouth grinding it to powder with his teeth, and had ultimately swallowed it. During the examination of the leaf he looked up at Mr. Banks with the most piteous countenance, and intimated that he had but a very short time to live. A copious draught of cocoa nut milk, however, set all to rights, and the chief and his attendants were at once restored to that flow of cheerfulness

and good humor, which is the characteristic of these single minded people. There is, however, one plant from the root of which they extract a juice of an intoxicating quality called Ava; but Cook's party saw nothing of its effects, probably owing to their considering drunkenness a disgrace.

The women, who on other occasions always mix in the amusements of the men, who are particularly fond of their society, are wholly excluded from their meals, nor could the latter be prevailed on to partake of any thing when dining in company on board the ship; they said it was not right. Even brothers and sisters have each their separate baskets, and their provisions are separately prepared; but the English officers and ment when visiting the young ones at their houses, frequently ate out of the same basket and drank out of the same cup, to the horror and dismay of the older ladies, who were always offended at this liberty; and if by chance any of the victuals were touched, or even the basket that contained them, they would throw them away.

In this fine climate houses are almost unnecessary. Their dwellings consist generally of a thatched roof raised on posts, the eaves reaching to within three or four feet of the ground; the floor is covered with soft hay, over which are laid mats, so that the whole is one cushion, on which they sit by day and sleep by night, They eat in the open air under the shade of the nearest

tree.

A people so lively, sprightly, and good humored as the Otaheitans are, must necessarily have their amusements. They are fond of music, of dancing, wrestling, shooting with the bow, and throwing the lance. They exhibit frequent trials of skill in wrestling; and Cook says it is scarcely possible for those who are acquainted with the athletic sports of very remote antiquity, not to remark a rude resemblance of them in a wrestling match among the natives of a little island in the midst of the Pacific Occean.

The island of Otaheite is in shape two circles united by a low and narrow isthmus. A belt of low land, ter

minating in numerous valleys, ascending by gentle slopes to a central mountain about seven thousand feet high, surrounds the larger circle, and the same is the case with the smaller circle on a proportionate scale. Down these valleys flow streams and rivulets of clear water, and the most luxuriant and verdant foliage fills their sides and the hilly ridges that separate them, among which are scattered the smiling cottages and little plantations of the natives.

The following remarks, by the Rev. Mr. Stewart, are worthy of consideration, as forcibly contrasting the former with the present state of the islanders.

'If the aspect of the people in general, and the animated declaration and lively sensibility, even to tears seemingly of deep feeling, of those who have a full remembrance and who largely share in their own experience of the evils of heathenism, are to be accredited, the islanders themselves are far from being insensible to the benefit and blessing of the change they have experienced; and would not for worlds be deprived of the light and mercy they have received, or again be subjected to the mental and moral darkness and various degradations they have escaped."

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

ABDUHL RAHHAHMAN.

This interesting individual, commonly called the "Moorish Prince," was a native of the celebrated city of Timbuctoo, in Central Africa, of which city and the province connected with it, his grandfather was king. Ab duhl's father, when a young man, was sent to conquer the Soosoos, a nation living at the distance of some twelve hundred miles. He succeeded, established a new kingdom called Foota Jallo, (the same with which the Liberians have had some intercourse,) and founded its capital, Teembo, now known to travellers as one of the largest cities on the continent. He went back and forth several times from Teembo to Timbuctoo, from